csz97 Blog Folio: September 2014

September 09, 2014

September 9 Program

The City Govt has lined up various activities to honor the September 9 heroes and to commemorate the brave as it stand united with the people of Zamboanga in defending the Philippine flag.

Mayor Beng Climaco will lead the different activities starting today and tomorrow, the first year since the September 9, 2013 siege.

Activities on Monday, September 8, include the 8am flag raising ceremony in front of City Hall, a visit to project sites under the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R) by media people at 9am, “Kumustahan” or dialogue with media at 11am, blessing and inauguration of the newly constructed City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) building at Pettit Barracks at 12 noon and subsequently, CDRRMC meeting at the new building at 1pm.

On September 9, the activities will include the groundbreaking of houses on stilt in Mariki at 8am and the turnover of 120 housing units and 16 housing materials assistance in Paniran, Sta. Catalina at 9am.

In the afternoon at 1:30 at the City hall lobby will be the opening of an Art Exhibit that is an offshoot of a 10-day Art Healing Workshop held at the City Coliseum; Ecumenical Service at 3:30pm at the Plaza del Pilar; mass at Fort Pilar at 5:30pm and candle lighting ceremony in front of City Hall at 6:30pm.

All the events encompass the theme healing the wounds of the past and moving forward to building back a better Zamboanga.

Mayor Climaco has spearheaded a series of camp dialogues with internally displaced persons (IDP) leaders as a form of psychosocial intervention to minimize the effects of the trauma caused by last year’s siege.

Other organizations and institutions or agencies have also lined up activities in line with the thrust of honouring the heroes, commemorating the brave, united in defending the Philippine flag. (Sheila Covarrubias)

September 08, 2014

Ho Chi Minh City Day and Night Walking Tour

Day 2! Good morning Saigon!!! I'm to lazy to write now so here's Joed's journal about this day:

First morning in Vietnam. We had our first Vietnamese breakfast. Walked around Bui Vien with Jelan from dawn till sunrise to get a feel of how urban Vietnamese jumpstart their day. We went to a coffee shop nearby to chill while waiting for our appointment with Ms. Ha. After visiting Innoviet's office and meeting an awesome bunch of new Vietnamese friends we officially started our walk around the city.
1) 23/9 Park
2) Benh Tanh Market
3) Trang Nguyen Statue
4) Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
5) Notre Dame Cathedral

It was 12 noon and the sun's heat is scorching so we decided to rest and have our lunch (Jelan's inside story to be discussed in my blog). We followed the local Vietnamese (office employees) to see where they go for lunch and yes, we found a wonderful cafe in a hidden alley. Then there was an outpour, it seems that the clouds just have to cool off the heat for us. :) The food was soo good. We rested for a while and continued our walk:

6) Ho Chi Minh City Hall
7) Ho Chi Minh Post office
8) Reunification Palace

It was around 3:30 pm and everyone seems exhausted so we went back to Innoviet to get our stuff and check-in at Saigon Youth Hostel. We just love this accommodation because of its location. After freshening up, we went walking around Pham Ngu Lao to try some Vietnamese Street Food. After getting our tummy full, we get ourselves ready to see the Water Puppet Show (A must see cultural show in Saigon). We had dinner at Viet Restaurant and finally meet Bao. If we would have known that Bao would treat us for a more authentic Vietnamese food experience eating on the streets we could've waited. But anyhow, first day is overwhelming with happiness and perfection. :)

September 02, 2014

Vietnam-Cambodia Trip Day 1: Off to Ho Chi Minh!

One of the best moments of my life (so far) is travelling with these awesome group of people. Joed, Apple and her boyfriend who was also my college mate, GP, who was about to finish their MBA's decided to book an 8-day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia on the New Year's eve to take advantage of Cebu Pacific's holiday Piso fare. They chose August 19-27 because there were two holidays and it's also perfect for me since midterms would be done by that time. The trip was also a birthday treat for me and Apple who are turning 24 this year. I just followed my gut feeling and accepted their invitation to join them. Carla, Jelan and Jervin also booked their tickets and so a total of 7 of us would be goin on the trip.

Joed, who already have an experience in travelling outside the country and who was very much enthusiastic about our trip was the one who researched and arranged our tour. We had 8 months to plan our itinerary and budget our expenses and, thankfully, our group were very efficient in doing so. Obstacles and last-minute problems were inevitable but still we pushed through our plans until the day finally came.

We met at the Zambo Airport at 11:30AM and we were on our superhero tees which i gave them on my birthday. We arrived at Manila at 3PM and decided to go to SM Mall of Asia to have our tummies filled. We had Cinnabon together with my brother, Aljo, who is studying in Manila. Then, we had our sumptuous early dinner at Sizzling Pepper Steak.