Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Appreciating our Past and the Little Things: Reflections on the Gabii sa Kabilin

May 25, Gabii sa Kabilin 2012.

I was running all evening as a participant of the QR Code Hunt, an "Amazing Race-like" competition. With smartphone in hand,  I took pictures of every designated heritage site and uploaded each with my tweet using the #gabiisakabilin proudly showing to the world the Cebuano's rich heritage.


It was nice and interesting to note that most of the teams were composed of young people. The youth were rediscovering the old using the new, acquainting themselves with the past, using technology.

As sweat was falling down my face during the race, it dawned on me that educating the community about their heritage was like the race I was running. We were trying to catch up with time before it was too late.

In a period where the youth seem to care more of what is trending in twitter than their heritage, it is important to act right away to reintroduce the community to their heritage and culture. The Gabii sa Kabilin (GSK) did just that thanks to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) and its partners. The GSK is a good avenue for the Cebuanos to acquaint themselves with their rich past.

Aside from museum pieces and old newspaper clippings, the event showcased Cebuano food, song and dance, art pieces, and way of life all in a single night.

In one stop, I got the chance to try for myself how a poso (hanging rice) is being made. It was difficult for me to completely weave one poso wrapper.

In another stop at the Cebu City Museum, I got to see some beautiful paintings:

My QR Code Hunt teammate with one of the featured paintings
In the Halad Museum, I got to sing lines from the famous song "Matud Nila".

On the way to Fort San Pedro, I was able to re-experience riding the tartanilla. Not everyone gets to experience riding it nowadays.

I got to taste Cebuano food -- the bibingkas, the masareals, the lechon, etc.

GSK made me appreciate our heritage as well as the little things that we often ignore but are actually important. GSK made me recall my childhood.

So yes, now with GSK, I got to appreciate the poso which costs less than 5 pesos...Who would think making it requires considerable skill?

GSK made me appreciate our predecessors. Without them where would Cebuano society be?

GSK made me appreciate groups which try to preserve our Cebuano identity and heritage.

GSK will be a bigger event next year so that each participating institution should really coordinate with RAFI and come up way ahead of the GSK, their planned schedule outlining the activities in their respective venues so that visitors will be able to plan ahead their itinerary.

Maybe RAFI should consider also making GSK a whole day event maybe converting it into an "Adlaw sa Kabilin" (ASK) because the event has become so huge already and people would like to take time visiting each site.

This is an official entry to the 2012 Gabii sa Kabilin Blogging Contest.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bohol Wakefest 2012 on May 25 to June 25

Want to try a new sport? Why not wakeboarding?

Wakeboarding is one of the fastest growing surface water sport which is a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing and involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. A wakeboarder can be pulled by a cable system or a boat.

You may ask, where in the Visayas can I ever do this? There's nothing of this sort here. Wrong.

There will be.

Because The Board Shop (a Singapore-based company, premium one-stop wake gear shop in Southeast Asia distributing premium brands such as O' Brien wakeboards) in cooperation with the local government unit of Pandanon Island, Bohol will bring to you, BOHOL WAKEFEST 2012!

Press conference for BOHOL WAKEFEST 2012
It's a first of its kind month-long wakeboarding event happening on May 25 to June 25, 2012 according to Michael Tan, General Mangare of the Board Shop. In addition, he mentioned that visitors will learn how to wakeboard there also. Rates will be P600 for half day use and P900 for whole day.

Wakeboarding enthusiasts and wakeboarder beginners don't need to go to Luzon, CamSur or somewhere else outside the region to experience the thrill of wakeboarding. It is because a Sesitec System 2.0 will be installed in beautiful Pandanon Island for that good combination of beach lifestyle and watersports in a magnificent white sand island. Certainly this will a boost to local tourism as foreigners and local tourists will flock to the island.

To top it off, there will be a Wake Jam wherein wakeboarders and wakeskaters from all over Asia and the Philippines will be showing off their skills with a demo. This will be on the 9th of June.

Pandanon Island by the way, is found in the northern part of Bohol and one of Getafe, Bohol's baranggays. It is 70 to 80 minutes away from Mactan Island, Cebu and 20 to 30 minutes away from Getafe, Bohol.

Organizers are still working on packages that will include boat transfers to Getafe or possibly direct to Pandanon Island from Lapulapu.