I’m not sure what the place is called, though. I know, I know… I should’ve asked. Anyway, it reminded me of a food trip plan I’ve been trying to cook up for some weeks now: a pizza party! More on that later.

Listed below are Davao’s pizzerias. Did I forget anyone?

• Pizzaiolo @ Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao
• Picobello @ Gaisano South Citimall
• La Toscana on Quirino Ave.
• Coco’s on F. Torres St.
• Shakey’s on Gov. Duterte St.
• Pizza Hut @ Gaisano Mall
• Yellow Cab @ SM City

Which ones are your favorites? My best choices are Pizzaiolo and Picobello. The others are of varying degrees of quality: how you rate them depends on your taste and your budget.

The last three are fast-food types. They’re OK, too, but I just wish we had Brooklyn Pizza here in Davao…

This entertainment establishment, which has its roots in Cebu, has a coffee shop, and a number of private rooms for small and medium-sized groups. Each room is equipped with karaoke machines that load your chosen music via remote control. I just wish they had more updated tracks, though.

The main branch of K1, on F. Torres St., also has a spa. The massage service is good, but I don’t know why they call themselves a spa, because they don’t even have a sauna. Don’t count on getting a hot shower either, because the bathing facilities are at bare minimum, if you get my drift. Still, I would recommend their massage.

They have another branch on Quimpo Boulevard, Juna Subdivision, Matina, across the street from the Central Convenience Store there. No karaoke there, though — just the massage and coffee shop.

Both coffee shops have free Wifi. Food is decent and so is the coffee (but they could do better). I like the one in Matina — it’s quieter, although it’s a lot smaller.

The main branch is in one of the city’s busiest entertainment centers, so it can get rowdy over there. But if that’s your trip, go!

The Waterfront in Lahug is one of the largest hotels in Metro Cebu. The property has a total of 561 guest rooms, in all of 18 floors. In the picture, I wasn’t just posing — they really do have wireless Internet access in all of their rooms. They also have free Wifi at the expansive lobby.

Attached to the hotel is a convention center, where large-scale events such as the Philippine Ad Congress have been held. The Waterfront is also home to PAGCOR — it’s one of the largest in the Philippines, if I’m not mistaken. If you’d like to try your luck, have a go at the hundreds of slot machines or card tables that they have.

What I appreciate the most about the hotel is its location. It’s a stone’s throw away from the AsiaTown I.T. Park, where, aside from the prerequisite high-tech firms, there are nice shops and leisure establishments. The hotel is also just a 40-peso taxi ride away from the Ayala Center, Cebu’s newest mall and entertainment complex.

I think I spent half my time in Cebu at Ayala. After all, I came here for a much-deserved vacation, so I didn’t feel compelled to ply the touristy route. (I couldn’t avoid running into a potential business project, though… but I’m not complaining!)

There wasn’t enough time to sample the myriad culinary offerings of the Queen City, but I did get to try some proudly Cebu-grown restaurants. Lunch one day at Roma•mia, an Italian chain, was a very tasty cup (the size of a small bowl) of minestrone, and a platter of spaghetti, pizza and chicken. Also tried Pier One @ The Walk, but the food wasn’t all that impressive; we wanted to try Mooon (yep, 3 o’s), which is below Pier One, but each time we went they had a long waitlist.

A fusion-food place, oh georg!, was a treat. I regret that I didn’t take note of the dishes we had, but all of them were really good! It’s at the ground floor of Ayala Center, sitting between two wings called Paseo Ciudad and Paseo Marina.

Outside The Walk (which is inside the I.T. Park) is a restaurant that we used to have in Davao, but originated in Zamboanga. As expected, the grilled delicacies of Alavar de Cebu was sinfully delectable. Their Alavar Rice — a cup of high-grade rice swimming in a plateful of aligui (crab fat) — was to die for!

I also had a pleasant get-together with bloggers of Cebu at Bo’s Coffee Club on Osmeña Avenue. The Bo’s brand is originally from Cebu, and there are currently two franchisees in Davao; in Cebu, there are countless branches of this homegrown café.

My stay in Cebu City has been quite satisfying. I wish I could remain for a few more days, but I really don’t need to. My relaxing and rejuvenating stay is enough to allow me to look forward to another trip to the capital of the Visayas.

I went to Ayala Center to meet with a friend who’d arrived from Manila yesterday, and we had lunch at a nice restaurant in the mall (place called oh georg! — good food, I must say). The whole place felt like Makati or Ortigas… but not really.

There are high-end boutiques and shops that we don’t have in Davao… people are more stylish in the way they carry themselves… there are more foreigners around who look like they live here… And, of course, the Cebuano language is quite pervasive.

Some say that Cebu is trying to be like Metro Manila. But I seriously doubt that. This metropolis is like the national capital region in that it is an amalgamation of several cities, but the similarity ends there. Cebu has a character all her own.

The original purpose of my trip was to contribute to a journalists’ conference called Media Nation. Unfortunately, the organizers have postponed the event, giving Ces Drilon’s kidnapping as the reason. Yeah, I know, she’s been released already. Go figure!

The purpose of Media Nation, as I was told, was to discuss the Mindanao issue: particularly, the lack of media exposure of the real situation in Mindanao. The organizers’ postponement of the event is a surprising, yet typical, reaction to happenings in Mindanao. They said they needed to “process” the kidnapping (even though it was clear that Ms. Drilon was going to be released already). And the postponement was made more than a week after the kidnapping. Curious, isn’t it?

How serious about the true image of Mindanao are these Metro Manila-based media people, really?

Anyway, I’m still going to Cebu. My ticket’s non-refundable, and, while re-booking is possible, the Media Nation organizers cannot yet tell me when it will be held… Cebu Pacific’s airfare is dirt cheap, but there’s no way of booking an open ticket!

Besides, I’ve already set a get-together with Visayas bloggers. I’m going to meet with them on Sunday, 29 June, thanks to Winston, who arranged this informal meet-up. Winston and I thought of doing this so that we could share the MB experience with our Cebuano counterparts. I’d also like to take this opportunity to tell them about WordCamp Philippines. Hopefully, some of them will be able to attend.

I’m looking forward to staying at Waterfront Hotel in Lahug! I’ll blog about that, for sure.

Taken last 23 June 2008, when two photographer friends and I went on a photo shoot of Bankerohan Bridge. This is a view of the Davao River from the newly-reconstructed bridge.

These houses are on stilts, situated right on the riverbank. When the heavy rains come, the river’s water level rises treacherously close to the residents’ floorboards. Due to its breadth, it’s rare that the Davao River (at least this portion of it) bursts its banks… but it’s been known to happen.

Both are avid photobugs, and are members of the Fanatic Photographers Society, a very progressive camera club here in Davao. Naturally, they brought with them their Nikon DSLRs (a D80 for Christian and a D40 for Chattee) and an assortment of lenses and accessories. I brought my own point-and-shoot digicam… but it was only for composing shots.

We were on, around and above the bridge for about an hour, from before 8pm to almost 9pm. Too bad none of us had the guts to go under the bridge!

Speaking of guts, Chattee answered my dare to stand in the middle of the road to take pictures of the bridge head-on. I stood behind her, directing oncoming traffic, while Christian took photos of us making a scene.

One car, whose driver didn’t see us because he was behind an SUV, had to swerve to avoid hitting us after he overtook the SUV. Boy… talk about exciting (and stupid) stunts! Good thing I had my Press ID with me, just in case.

I’m thinking of more photo shoots of Davao City’s sights. Watch out for more right here!

So, here are some of the photos that the two intrepid photographers took for me. Thanks very much, guys!!!

This is a road in downtown Davao City. Can you identify it?

Tell me where you think this is by leaving a comment on this post. I will randomly choose a winner from among those who can guess it correctly. The prize? A gift certificate worth P1,000 from Picobello Ristorante Italiano! Make sure to leave your active email address so I can contact you in case you win.

I’ll throw in an extra P500 worth of gift certificate if you can also guess from where I took this photo today.

What I admire in him the most is his love for the language of his land. At age 8, he wrote a Tagalog poem, “‘Sa Aking Mga Kabata,’ the theme of which revolves on the love of one’s language,” according to biographer Teofilo Montemayor. Rizal spoke — nay, mastered — 22 languages.

He was martyred at the age of 35.

Know more about our national hero at www.joserizal.ph.

Her name’s Honey, and she’s a 4-month-old Beagle. Her owner, Onnie, also owns Studio Onnie, which is the most popular comedy club in Davao. Onnie loves dogs, and Honey is her youngest pet.

We have a 7-month-old Golden Retriever at home, Tuscan. When I got home after cuddling Honey the whole night at Studio Onnie, Tuscan behaved like he was jealous after he got a few sniffs off of me. But then my ear-scratching did the trick, as always.

That’s Tuscan, and he’s Pop’s dog. He’s training him to be his jogging partner. Personally, I don’t like big, hairy dogs — I’ve always preferred short-haired ones, and cute ones, like Honey. *sigh*

You know how much Beagles cost, though? A whopping 20 grand!! Whew! No thanks. I’ll settle for the once-in-a-while cuddling whenever I chance upon Honey at Studio Onnie.