General Santos: The Tuna Capital of the Philippines

One of the perks of my work is I am able to visit several provinces throughout the year for free, both from my previous and current work. For the second quarter and within my first week in the new job, I got to travel to Bukidnon, but since it is a work-related travel, I wasn't able to go around aside from the 4 corners of my room (aside from the fact that it is fly in, fly out trip).

So this quarter, one of my many scheduled business trip is my recent "revisitation" of General Santos City. It has been years since I first stepped on the Tuna Capital of the country, but it really had this special place in my heart. General Santos City was my first ever plane destination back in highschool for the National Students Press Conference. Good old times.


ARRIVALS
Since I am working for a big company who recently bought shares in PAL, we are sort of required to take PAL flights. Good thing for me, since I never liked how Cebu Pacific handles their flight schedules. We are all aware of the rants and irritations of our fellow air travellers.

Anyhow, upon arriving to Tambler Airport in General Santos, we are greeted by the festive atmosphere. There were dancers who performed as we waited for our baggage and thus, I wasn't able to take a video of them. As I walked out, I was offered by van drivers to take theirs for 150 pesos. This is the cheaper alternative to taxis, however, you have to wait for the van to be filled up. So I decided to take the taxi instead. As you walked to the parking area, you would see taxis all around and they have a fixed rate of 300 pesos as they drop you in front of your end destination for the day.



ACCOMMODATION
As a perk of my job, I was able to control all the details of my job and one thing that I loved the most is searching for a hotel. Two days before my trip, I looked for a decent hotel (which is in my budget and at the downtown), thus, I came across Phela Grande Hotel.

Phela Grande Hotel is one of the two Phela Grande hotels in General Santos. Phela Grande Convention Center, located in the National Highway connecting Polomolok and General Santos is a bigger lodging facility with convention amenities. Phela Grande Hotel, the one that I stayed in for 3 days, is conveniently located along Magsaysay Avenue in Dadiangas West, General Santos. I reserved a single standard room (since I was alone for this trip) and didn't not have to pay on the bank ahead of time. Instead, they charged me upon check in for the said downpayment. They currently have a promo of 976 pesos a night (for single standard room), inclusive of breakfast.

As a travel enthusiast, the first thing I did when I entered the room is to take pictures. I have this fascination of taking room pictures just in case. The room is quite big for me and my two bags. :) But I loved the homey feeling of it. They have wi-fi in the lobby and you have Internet access through LAN cords. In the lobby, you have the banquet where hotel guests take their breakfast and they have their own coffee shop. I tried the wi-fi at the lobby and it was relatively fast (I saw that it was powered by PLDT WeRoam) but I wasn't able to try the LAN since I am using my Pavizio tablet na. (Yihee! And I still owe you the review for this gadget.)

Shucks, makalat na gamit. 

Makalat pa din.

The Source of Light

Over-all, my stay in Phela Grande is probably one of the best, if not the best. I bought tuna for my dad (what more I can buy as pasalubong for my seafood loving dad when I'm in the land of tuna) and asked the hotel staff if I can have it refrigerated for the rest of the night. They gladly accepted the request. All things may have been perfect when they didn't forget my room service request for drinking water. :( called around 8pm and asked for drinking water, but nobody arrived.


GETTING AROUND GENSAN
One thing that I loved about GenSan is how their tricycles looked. They looked like mini jeeps, able to transport 6 passengers, not including the driver themselves. Getting around GenSan is quite difficult. Sometimes, drivers would choose passengers that go to one place to save up some gas. So it takes a lot of luck to find a tricycle that would transport you if you are going in a bit off of their usual ways. Fare is about 10-20 pesos per way, depending on your destination.

Aside from these tricycles, you can try the "habal-habal", a single motorcycle for maximum of 2 commuters. This is not the typical habal-habal that you will find in the rest of the Mindanao areas, since it doesn't have the plank that stretches on the side of the road, carrying 5-8 people. Fare of these habal-habal in GenSan is 20 pesos per head and they would transport you anywhere you want to go. However, I noticed that most of these habal-habal do not provide helmets but maintain a good 10-20 kph run in the highway.

For my last night in GenSan, I opted to visit KCC mall, one of the two biggest malls in GenSan, aside from Robinsons. This is their version of SM. However, on my way to KCC, I noticed the ongoing construction of SM City GenSan, which I think is bigger than our Megamall. KCC is a far from my hotel, about 10-15 minute tricycle ride. And since I am the lone passenger, I paid 20 pesos for the trip. On my way back, I managed to find a tricycle going to Magsaysay and paid only 10 pesos. However, I have to wait for 5 minutes for the tricycle to be filled before we actually go.




I spent a little time in GenSan, and without companion, I make sure I am on the safe side. Never had the time to try local food, but I plan to go back and visit GenSan again.



Links:

Phela Grande Hotel: www.phelagrandehotel.com

You are old when...

I came across this 9gag post last week, in time for a friend's wedding.

Yes, I am not young anymore. I just turned 26 last month, and I can feel I am on the mature side of the spectrum, backed up by the image above.

It is my first friend's wedding, since I was more into attending relative's wedding. :) Aside from being my first wedding ceremony, I have the fun and pleasure of taking pictures of my good friend and her husband, their families along with former officemates and arms and shoulders of that photographer. (Good thing I was using the long range lens of my camera, I was able to capture moments while sitting and staying away from that arms and shoulders.)

Anyways, below are the pictures (not-so-artistic) I have taken during and after the ceremonies. Forgive me, as it was my first time and I have more to learn on my camera.

I forgot to take a picture of my wedding outfit, but I am planning to re-do it since it was comfortable. My lone picture of the wedding (the disadvantage of being a photo enthusiast): 

PS. I still have to write my Pavizio X1 review. I plan to write it by the end of the week. Sorry for the delay.

From the twentysomething me... :)

I recently read this article and I was inspired to write an entry about it:

To the twentysomething who wants to change the world By Antoinette Jadaone (The Philippine Star) Updated June 30, 2012 12:00 AM

Dear Fresh Grad,
I think I saw you yesterday along Makati Avenue, wearing the most smart-casual attire your closet will allow, waiting for the traffic light to change to red. You were clutching a brown envelope — they contained your résumés, right? But you looked a little flustered. Did your job interview not go so well? It’s your fifth interview in six weeks, I hear? Don’t worry, they say “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” to almost everybody. Hindi ka nag-iisa. Oh, your best friend nailed her interview on the first try? And your other ka-barkada, too? Well, good for them. Wag ka lang inggitera.
I know, I know. You’ve imagined yourself to be in your dream job immediately after graduation, getting paid (a lot), and doing what you love to do (so “it doesn’t feel like work at all,”). You saw yourself changing the world, while live posting it on Twitter.
I must say, your imagination’s pretty impressive, and you must’ve been reading a lot of Steve Jobs. Darling, the real world doesn’t work that way, and definitely not that fast. So your two friends who nailed it on their first try? I’ll bet you’ll spend at least one Friday night with them at a karaoke bar, singing your angst away. Alanis’s Hand in My Pocket is a good first song, by the way.

Buying Starbucks

You’ll find a job yourself soon. It won’t be your dream job, but hey, at least it will pay for happy hour. You will be asked to buy Starbucks for your boss’s guests, and while walking out of the office, you’ll tell the universe, “Nag-graduate ako ng cum laude para lang bumili ng kape?” When you return, the boss will be angry to know that you forgot to put Splenda in his coffee, and the universe will tell you, “E kape nga lang hindi mo mabili nang maayos, cum laude ka pa nyan ha.” You will print the wrong report. You will be yelled at for a lousy job someone else did, and you will be yelled at for a job you put your whole heart into. You will be told you’re stupid, and if you’re lucky, the whole office will be there to hear it. You will cry in your cubicle. You will lose the promotion to the boss’s son, or to someone less hardworking than you. You will learn about dirty office politics, and you will be frustrated to know that you can’t do anything about it. You will figure in office tsismis, and you’ll make your Twitter account private. You will see your friends going to Boracay, Bangkok and Europe, having the time of their lives, while you’re left here, living paycheck to paycheck, wishing you were born an Ayala, a Gokongwei, or a Gosling. You will think about quitting. You will lose the sparkle and the passion. You will forget about your ultimate dream when the real world crushes it right before your eyes.
But please don’t.

Make Passion Last

The truth is, you will never be as passionate as your Fresh Grad self ever again. Make that passion last as long as you can. I don’t want to be dramatic, but really, that sparkle? Once it’s gone, you can never take it back. Oo, parang virginity lang.
So while you have it, savor the moment. Go make mistakes, while you’re still expected to be imperfect. Go cry in the cubicle, while your age allows it. Go sing Hand in My Pocket and You Learn at the karaoke bar, while you’re still “young and underpaid.” Go chase your dreams and change the world. The best time to change the world? It’s right after college, when you are f*cking sure you can.
See, you will become 26. Then 28. Then 30. And you will be busy looking for money to pay for the bills, or yelling at your assistant who printed the wr ong report, and you will just forget about the world you badly wanted to change before.
How old are you again? Actually, I don’t really need to know. You were glowing from where I saw you, and that gave away your age. So stand up straight, clutch your résumés, hold on to your dreams, and stay glowing as long as you can. Make the most of your youth. I swear, you’ll miss it when it’s gone, and by that time, you will only be able to write about it.


Best regards,
An Ex-Fresh Grad

I never experienced walking along Makati Business District nor sending out resumes to various companies. I was a simple graduate back then, I just wanted to look for a decent job straight out of college. One thing for sure, my age, I graduated past my 20's, and the pressure is on. While the rest of my highschool classmates are on their 2nd year on their work or 2nd work already, I am just starting out. I would always imagine myself as a part of these big multinational companies, spending hours on the road for business travel or for more lavishness, jetsetting in several countries. Yes, inggitera ako. My orgmates from my college org managed to land a job with a Php40,000 paycheck, while I'm receiving a quarter of it monthly. Aside from that, they get to travel the world for free, while my only travel is my everyday commute from our house to our office. 


Luckily, I never had to experience the gruesome application period. I was absorbed by the company where I spent my internship with. For the past two years, I spent all my weekdays on reports, data tables, clients that would give you headaches, migraines and even heart attacks, aside from your officemates that seemed to have no care in the world, while you, yourself are busy taking their workloads out of their hands. I never experienced buying coffee for my boss, but I spent coffee dates with my officemates. I may not be able to travel the world, but I got to see how beautiful Pinas is. I got to meet people, talk about their lives, ask them about their jobs as they ask me back. They seemed to be interested on what I do, how I do it and why I chose a local agency rather than go for a multinational one. 


I never had the courage to answer it back. But I believe, "kapag palay na ang lumapit, matitiis ba siya ng manok?" It already knocked on my door and why not let it in?


After two years of staying, I thought it might be time to move on and pursue another career. Getting back to square one is never easy and with the lack of experience of actual job application process, I imagined myself as another fresh grad. Dealing with traffic, commuting while I'm wearing a pencil skirt, carrying a bag with shoes on it as I comfortably wear my slippers as I run from one building to another. I may be a late bloomer, but it gave me wisdom. Being 24 or 25 back then and with the learning from my client, I managed to look positively on things. I treated every failed interviews as means of improving myself, how I handle the situation, how I talked about myself and plans for the future. I had 5 applications then, all of them are for multinational companies. One rejected me right after I sent my resume. I managed to pass the exams for the second one, but never got the application interview call. I have been interviewed for the third to the last one, but never had the offer. It brought me down, really down that every night as I sleep, I would ask myself, "what is wrong with me?". I even asked my significant other why he loves me, while these companies cannot see that same thing. 


I was ready to give up and accepted the fact that I might be staying on the local agency for the next n number of years. I stumbled upon a job opening and tried it out. Luckily, here I am, learning the ins and out of my new job.


For the new grads, you may not be able to land a job that you really liked on the first try, but even if you did not, make the most out of it. Learn from your officemates, clients, mentors and managers. That coffee buying is not a janitorial work, it tests you how well you listen to your boss, understand each direction and give up a good coffee that he/she would like. While you hear office tsismis, you should never ever make more stories out of it. That would give you the true sense of confidentiality - that everything you hear and see in the office must not get out or else, you'll jeopardize yourself and rest of your officemates. 


Everything you experience, whether negative or positive, make good things out of it. Always look at the brighter side. Your classmate may have landed a job that pays double than yours, but is he/she happy with her colleagues? If he/she was able to tour the world, is he/she able to see the Philippines like yours? Can he/she spend a good afternoon with friends, eat streetfoods and balot, cry out on these teleseryes and listen to radio news? Can he/she buy a 35 peso ukay-ukay polo shirt and say its from UK?


Learn to look at things in different perspectives. And more so, learn to love your self and be contented for now. Time will come, you'll experience things the way they do.