The Dabawenya

The Von Trapps at SM Lanang Premier

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:39:00 +0000

If you are a child of the 90‘s, then you are probably familiar with the Tagalized version of “The Von Trapp Family Singers,” an animated cartoon series during my childhood.

Yes, I grew up with the cartoon series and their music. I think I have watched it so many times (every summer, I believe) that I’ve often daydreamed of being one of the Von Trapp children.

It was not until High School that I found out there was a movie (and a Broadway musical!) about the same family. It was my High School English teacher who made us watch Julie Andrews’ movies over and over again at the school AV room (I thank her for that), and so I was hooked with The Sound of Music. I sang the movie’s soundtrack (whenever I am alone, of course!) and watched The Sound of Music a couple of dozen times again, without ever getting tired of each scene.

Who would ever thought that after 14 years of loving the Von Trapp family and their story, I would be able to cover an event that showcased the great grandchildren of the late Captain Von Trapp? Well, certainly not me!

Last December 7, 2012 at the SM Lanang Premier Event Center, Captain Georg Von Trapp’s great grandchildren (Sofia, Melanie, Amanda and Justin) from Werner Von Trapp’s (the Captain’s second son from his first wife, portrayed as Kurt in The Sound of Music) son Stefan, engaged the Dabawenyos with their exquisite voices and warm smiles. They sang a few songs from The Sound of Music, some Christmas songs and lastly, the SM Christmas jingle.

I was also able to see them up close at the Bistro Selera during their press conference prior to the event. I must say they were a pretty smiley bunch. Although the eldest, Sofia (correct me if I’m wrong), was absent at the press conference because of fever, they were very kind enough to answer all the questions thrown at them by the members of the Davao City Press.

Unfortunately for me, they didn’t sing my favorite The Sound of Music song which is “So Long, Farewell.” I guess it wasn’t part of their repertoire. It would’ve made a great last song, if it were up to me.

Also, their father, Stefan Von Trapp, was with The Von Trapps for the whole leg of their Philippine tour. I saw him in the audience during the event and tried to look for him whilst the 4 Von Trapp children were signing autographs for their CD so I could get a picture taken with him. Sad to say, I never saw him again. Nevertheless, I went home with a big smile on my face knowing that somehow I met a member of the REAL Von Trapp Family Singers.

SM Lanang Premier Elevates Yuletide Entertainment With The Von Trapps

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:22:00 +0000

The city’s premier shopping and lifestyle hub brings yuletide entertainment to global level with the special mall show featuring The Von Trapps on Dec 7, 5pm at SM Lanang Premier Atrium.

MeetSofia, Melanie, Amanda, and Justin von Trapp. They are the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp, father of the famous singing family whose story captivated the world in the musical The Sound of Music. The siblings have continued the tradition of the family’s exceptional musical gift and love of singing, sharing songs and heart-warming family stories of life before and after coming to America. The foursome has included the Philippines to be part of their world tour for the entire month. Their remaining trips for 2012 are all set for various parts of the US.

Songs like The Sound of Music (same title as the movie and musical), My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Edelweiss and Maria are some of the songs that even today’s generation has become familiar with one way or another.

Filipinos in particular easily relate to the story behind the Von Trapp family for the mere fact that they are tightly knit and love to sing together.

The Sound of Music tells the story of how Maria, tasked to look after the Von Trapp children, became a permanent part of the family’s life. Their lives have been interwoven by their love for music – a love that Maria introduced and picked up by Captain Georg Von Trapp, the orphans’ doting father. The Captain fell in love with Maria, and eventually got married to start a whole new adventure with the entire family as they moved out of Austria on to the US.

For over four decades now, the touching story of the singing Von Trapp family has been captivating the hearts of millions of people around the world. Different versions have been told in movies and theater musicals, but the music remains the same.

Since then, members of the family have gone their separate ways to build their own families. Music, however, continue to run through their veins and keep them together despite distances. That family treasure of musicality was revived for public performance when four great grandchildren decided to travel together and share their family’s music to the rest of the world.

Catch this rare musical event in Davao City only at SM Lanang Premier on Dec 7, 5pm at the Atrium. For inquiries you may call the Marketing department at 285-0951.

SM Lanang Premier's Royal Christmas Event 2012

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:51:00 +0000

The air was filled with Christmas spirit as the Manila String Machine, Ms. Rochelle Venuti (wife of Romano Venuti of Swiss Deli and Picobello Ristorante Italiano), Davao City National High School Girl’s Choir (headed by Ms. Elena Barradas-Gementiza) and Juliet Bahala (the grand prize winner of 2007 Star of Davao) serenaded us with the Christmas melodies last November 10, 2012 at the SM Lanang Premier Event Center.

SM Lanang Premier unveiled a certainly grandiose 40-foot Christmas tree to the viewing public at the Royal Christmas 2012 event. The grand Christmas tree was lit by a Davao City royalty, no other than the former 1973 Miss Universe, Margie Moran Floirendo, together with the LCB Performing Arts Center students dressed as fairies.

At the same event, Ms. Debbie Go, SM SuperMalls Assistant Vice President for Operations in Mindanao launched their Christmas charity program, the SM Care Bears of Joy. For every 100 Pesos, you will get 2 bears. One will be given to charity and the other one, you get to keep for yourself. Ms. Debbie Go was accompanied by the Ballerinas from the Agnes Locsin School of Ballet in the ceremonious arrangement of bears.

Of course, a Christmas event wouldn’t be complete without Santa Claus. Together with his elves, Santa Claus came to give gifts to the children from the City Social Services Development Office.

Other personalities who were present at the Royal Christmas 2012 event were Mr. Art Boncato (Department of Tourism Region XI Regional Director), Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, Mr. Jerome Yeo (SM Lanang Assistant Mall Manager), and Mr. Russel Alaba (SM SuperMalls Group Brand Manager for Visayas and Mindanao).

Sukob

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:07:00 +0000

If you’re a Filipino, you’re probably thinking of Kris Aquino’s movie that goes with the same title. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not reviewing the movie. I wanted to explore the origins of an old Filipino wedding superstition called "Sukob."

So, what is Sukob? Literally, Sukob means “to share a cover or shelter” in the Tagalog language¹. In the Filipino superstition, Sukob means sharing a year.

They say there are two types of Sukob²: Sukob sa Patay and Sukob sa Kasal.

'Sukob sa Patay' happens when an immediate relative³ dies within the same year as his or her wedding. If your parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece died within the same year of your wedding, the Filipino elders say it’s “Sukob sa Patay” and a curse will fall upon your family.

'Sukob sa Kasal,' on the other hand, happens when your sibling⁴ marries on the same year as your wedding year. Based on my research, I haven’t found any article that limits the Sukob sa Kasal superstition between two brothers or two sisters on the same year. Most of the articles I’ve found defines Sukob the Kasal as a curse between siblings. If a brother marries on the same year as the sister, then it is said to be “Sukob sa Kasal.” Just like Sukob sa Patay, it is believed that a great misfortune will fall upon your family when the curse takes effect.

Now that we’ve defined the two types of Sukob, let’s explore its origins. Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) Media Director said, in a Manila Bulletin article⁵dated December 26, 2010, that Sukob is “not a Christian practice rather a cultural practice among Filipinos… in Christian belief it’s not there.” On a Female Network forum⁶, one of the members said, “Nauso daw yan dati during Spanish times from the Catholic Church mismo. Ang anihan daw kasi twice a year lang. The church required na yung proceeds ng isang anihan ibibigay ng buo sa church so the family is just left with isang anihan for themselves during the year. It means na once a year lang pwedeng gumastos sa kasal kaya di pwede twice may ikakasal in one year. At kasi baka pati yung bigay sa church is magalaw pa daw. Yan ang nabasa kong origin ng sukob. Dinagdag na lang yung mga malas na part but financial ang main reason talaga.⁷”

Although I wasn’t able to factually establish the origins of the superstition Sukob, one fact is consistent: Sukob is not a Christian practice as it is not in the Bible. Therefore, one can only assume that it may have originated from Filipino Pagans. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find literature to support this supposition. Also, I tried to search wedding beliefs, Christian or otherwise, from other countries just to check if other nations share our sentiment about this curse. I was astonished to find out that the Roman Catholic Church has embraced Pagan wedding practices⁸ (i.e. wedding ring) in our present-day wedding ceremonies. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Church were the responsible party for the spread of the Sukob superstition.

If you ask me, I personally do not believe in Sukob, whether it’s Sukob sa Patay or Sukob sa Kasal. I do not believe in any superstition, at all, period. I grew up in a modern-day Philippines where the nearest thing to a curse would be the election results (Yes, our government is cursed. Surprise!).

Frankly, the only thing that’s cursed is our mindset. We claim that we’re devout Catholics yet we follow a fictional (if not fabricated) belief. Mind you, I’m not only talking about Sukob here. There are a number of Paganistic beliefs that are, up to this day, still being followed religiously by most Filipino families.

In my personal experience, however, I have to put aside my own belief out of respect for our parents. My boyfriend’s grandmother (who was very close to our hearts) died last June 2012, making the year of 2012 Sukob sa Patay. As much as I would like to make them understand that Sukob is but a fabricated belief, we do not want to disrespect them by marrying on a whim.

I am hoping though that 20 to 30 years from now, at the height of the digital age, these types of superstitions and beliefs will be obsolete and people can marry as they please without provoking the ire of our elders.

References:

¹http://www.tagalog-dictionary.com/cgi-bin/search.pl?s=sukob

²http://www.pricescope.com/forum/bride-world-wide-grooms-grooves/jff-wedding-superstitions-t123946.html

³Definition: the person's "immediate family" shall include his or her spouse, fiancé or fiancee, parent or child, brother or sister, grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, and guardian or ward. http://famli.blogspot.com/2009/04/ted-failon-case-2-when-police-officers.html

⁴Definition: a brother or sister http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sibling

⁵http://www.mb.com.ph/node/294935/cbcp-official-#.UKGZqfPZ-IB

⁶http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php?topic=218305.40

⁷English Translation: It is said to be practiced by the Catholic Church during the Spanish era. They say harvest only happens twice a year. The Church required for the proceeds of the first harvest to be given entirely to the church, so the family is left with just one harvest for the whole year. It means the family can only afford for one wedding per year. They couldn’t allow two or more weddings because the money intended for the church cannot be spared. That’s what I read on the origins of Sukob. They just added the bad luck part, but the main reason was financially driven.

⁸http://www.gci.org/church/holidays/paganism

Penong’s Restaurant: The Worst In Town

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:13:00 +0000

Yesterday (September 15, 2012), our family went out to watch the John Lloyd-Bea movie, “The Mistress” at the Gaisano Mall Bajada cinema. After the movie, we were so hungry because we haven’t had dinner, so we decided to go to the nearby Penong’s Restaurant along Sta. Ana Avenue (if I’m not mistaken).

This isn’t the first time I have dined in Penong’s. The previous two instances (Ilustre branch and Quirino branch) were relatively better experiences because we were not as hungry as we were yesterday.

We ordered Inato 1 and 2, Bulalo, 2 unlimited rice, 3 bottles of mineral water and fresh fruits. After 15 minutes, they (the Penong staff) gave us little bowls of broth cubes soup. (I could taste MSG (monosodium glutamate) in it.) After another 15 minutes, they sent glasses of water. Another 15 minutes went by and we received our mineral water bottles. Yet another 15 minutes and 3 follow ups, spoon and fork showed up on our table. Two more follow ups and our order was on the table.

Obviously, we dove into our food starting with the mouth-watering Bulalo (Beef Bone Marrow Soup). Surprise, surprise! It was really, really, really salty. Now there were 4 of us who agreed that it was indeed salty and I’m sure we’re not making this up! I mean, we were starving and we would devour any food on our table as long as it’s edible. Why would we make such a fuss over how a Bulalo would taste like if we were THAT famished?

We returned our order and shared the BLAND pork and chicken barbecue that they served us because we were scared the waiter or cook would spit on our Bulalo.

It was, by far, the worst dining experience we have had. We returned and cancelled the order and yet there was no manager who even asked or cared about why the order was returned.

Looking back to my two previous dining experiences at Penong’s, I must say I should’ve seen this coming.

The very first time I dined there was when I was with a friend and I didn’t like the taste of their food and the quality of their service. This was circa 2009, I think. Yes, it’s affordable food but that doesn’t give them a license to sell dull, bland food. My brother said that it may be because the company has grown so much in terms of number of branches that they’ve lost their quality. Well, they’ve lost 4 customers yesterday so maybe this will serve as their wake-up call.

I went and checked out their website and in it they’ve written the words below as their Mission statement:

Penong's mission is to provide the highest standards of food quality and service by understanding our customers' basic needs and desires through focused forward thinking motivated by integrity, knowledge, fair profit and openhanded community core.

Well, guess what Penong’s? You’re not living up to your Mission statement. Maybe you should try rewriting the whole thing to really reflect the values of your company and maybe, just maybe, try upholding these values for a change. You may have only lost 4 customers yesterday but you can never tell what the future holds for you. Bad service will always be bad business.

To my readers, if you have had a similar, worst or better experience with Penong’s, let me know by writing your comments on the comments box below.

Welcome To My World

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

Hope you are all well.

I’ve been silent for the last couple of days (except in Twitter, where I spend most of my social media time) because I wanted to create a formal introduction of myself, the author of this blog. As you will notice, I will refrain from using my real name here because I have been hounded and hunted by a very dangerous stalker (but that is a completely different story, which I will probably tell you in another time).

So hello and welcome to my world, err domain!

Let me tell you something about myself so you can create your expectations about the website. I’ve been fond of blogging since high school, I think, when internet shops surfaced in almost every corner of my hometown. We’re talking circa 1997, when the mIRC was such a big hit. Although, I’ve been in the blogosphere for quite sometime now, I am no expert. I could tweak a HTML code or two, but I’m not an expert in web design or something. I would welcome any comment on my web design. I think I badly need critics, not that they’re scarce.

I digress. Now, I am very enthusiastic about sharing and letting the whole world know what I am up to, therefore when blogging turned into a fad in the early 2000, I ventured into Blogspot. I kept a personal blog for about 6 years and for confidential reasons, I had to let it go. I was also not too happy on where the blog was going. It was very intimate, almost like a public diary really. Thank God for the delete button, I was able to delete years of immature diatribe.

I had a vision of going pro on blogging which prompted me to purchase this domain. It was more of a fantasy, to be honest. I’ve observed that a lot of people are out there giving out their opinion on trivial matters of consequence, yet not a lot of them deserve an audience. Some are just doing it for the sake of earning dollars from affiliate programs, or Google Adsense. Others are sharing random stuff to random people without an actual idea of how their random audience could benefit from whatever they’re sharing.

Being the responsible netizen that I am, I feel that I have to share relevant things. I feel that if I couldn’t at least write a 400-word article about a certain topic, then it is not my turf. I do not want to babble about an issue which I have no personal knowledge of.

So before I sidetrack, once again I welcome you all to my domain. I may not be able to update everyday, but I sure will update this page with information that is useful to whoever will read the blog.

Ciao!

Slumbook: The Dabawenya

noreply@blogger.com (The Dabawenya) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:40:00 +0000

THE BASICS

Fullname The Dabawenya
Nickname (yung totoo) ~~I don't have a nickname~~ Gwapa
Hometown ~~The Galactic Empire~~ Davao City
Romantic Status In a Relationship
Gender Please shade the part of the spectrum indicating your gender as of press time.

FAVORITES

Band ~~too many to mention~~ Smashing Pumpkins, 311, Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Stone Temple Pilot, Alkaline Trio, Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, Smoking Popes, Popsicle, Moonpools & Caterpillars, +44, Blink182, Box Car Racer, Angels & Airwaves, Rufio, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, No Doubt, Paramore, At the Drive-in, A Day To Remember, Kitty, Tool, Planet Smashers, A Perfect Circle, Lacuna Coil, Cocteau Twins, Siouxie & The Banshees, Tsunami Bomb, Bikini Kill, Bob Marley, Matisyahu, The Specials, The Selecter, Tears for Fears, Urbandub, Wolfgang, Greyhoundz, Cheese, Jun Lopito, Cynthia Alexander, Fatal Posporos, Sugar Hiccup, Eraserheads, Orange & Lemons, Sugarfree, Cambio, Pedicab, Giniling Festival
Movie too many to mention
Actor ~~John Lloyd Cruz~~ Coco Martin
Actress Eugene Domingo
Food tortang talong
Color Shade one.

LET'S GET PERSONAL

Motto "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind won't matter and those who matter won't mind."
Likes ~~I like you~~ Seriously I like life and its complexities (naks!)
Dislikes Waiting
Define LOVE Love is like a Bubble Gum, kung mopilit makabuang!
Who is your crush? Char ui
Where did you meet? Hala ka-tsismosa o!
When did you meet? Di ko mag tell!
Who is your first love? GOD!!
Bakakon! Si God bitaw, ug akong parents! :P
Unforgettable Moment/s too many to mention
When? Where? With whom? Imbestigador ka?

DEDICATION

Thank you for letting me sign in your cute autograph (char)!

J.A.P.A.N. (Just Always Pray At Night)

xoxo,

The Dabawenya