I am About to Travel

After several months of hiatus in traveling due to important matters that I need to attend to in the head office, I am set off to travel again. This coming Monday, I will be visiting the beautiful Legazpi City, Albay. Will surely take a lot of pictures there. Standby for my posts!

A Bamboo Shelter in a Garbage Dump City

I do believe that we Filipinos are at par with our neighboring countries when in comes to talent. And sometimes, we even go beyond their expectations. It has come to my knowledge that a Filipino architect named Gonzalo 'Jun' Raymundo, Jr. was selected as one of the top ten finalists in the prestigious Guggenheim Art Shelter Competition. Here is his entry:



Allow me to post the press release of the Philippine Embassy regarding the said competition.

FILIPINO ARCHITECT SELECTED AS FINALIST IN GUGGENHEIM ART SHELTER COMPETITION

18 SEPTEMBER 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Filipino architect Gonzalo “Jun” Raymundo, Jr. who is based in Quezon City, Philippines was selected as one of the top ten finalists in the prestigious Guggenheim Art Shelter Competition.

The Guggenheim Art Shelter Competition is an exhibition contest sponsored by the Guggenheim Museum and Google SketchUp. It is open to both amateur and professional designers who are challenged to come up with various 3D designs inspired from different shelters in any part of the world using Google SketchUp and Google Earth. Submissions were received from nearly 600 contestants in 68 countries around the world. Ten finalists were then drawn from this pool of contestants for the People's Prize Award, which will be chosen through an online public voting. Currently, Mr. Raymundo is leading the voting polls.

In a statement, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Willy C. Gaa said, “Mr. Raymundo has exhibited exceptional skill in design and architecture. Truly, his work best reflects ingenuity, workmanship and culture that the Filipino people can be proud of. I encourage members of the Filipino community to extend their support to Mr. Raymundo by casting their votes for his meritorious piece of art.”

Mr.Raymundo’s work entitled, “A Bamboo Shelter in a Garbage Dump City,” is a bamboo design shelter built on a concrete base situated at a garbage dump in the Philippines. The bamboo wall represents a strong sense camaraderie or “bayanihan” to signify that “where there is unity there is strength.” His work collectively symbolizes “sustainability and hope.”

The voting period will run until 10 October 2009. A link to the voting page can be accessed at: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter/vote-for-shelters/

Please do find time to vote for him, it will only take you a matter of 3 seconds. You need not to register or anything. Let us support our fellow Filipino who is trying to make our country known to the whole world.

Joven's Grill and Seafoods, Cebu City

After passing by the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge, we felt some rumblings in our stomach. Since it is already past 12 noon, we find a place to have our lunch. And what more could be satisfying than an eat all you can restaurant.

Joven's Grill & Seafoods

We had our lunch at Joven's Grill and Seafoods located at A.S. Fortuna ST., Banilad, Mandaue City, Cebu. Their contact number is (032)-345-1641 and (032)-344-5376.


It is a buffet eat all you can meal, similar to that of Kamay Kainan. But I just have two (2) servings.

Vegetables. I always prefer vegetables over any other viand.

Crabs. I normally have a serving of this when available.

Joven's Grill and Seafoods is open daily from 10 in the morning until 8 at night. After an hour of food satisfaction, we left the restaurant and proceeded to work (even it is a holiday).

Marcelo Fernan Bridge

I arrived in Cebu last September 7 (it was a holiday) around 10 in the morning. Unlike in Metro Manila, the sun is up and shining there. After getting our baggage, we set on our vehicle and travel from Mactan Island (where the aiport is situated) to Cebu Island.

We pass by a bridge that connects the two islands, the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge. I had seen a few Cebuanos enjoying and swimming in the body of water. Wish the river back in my hometown is clean enough to have that kind of enjoyment.




I felt like a child wanting to plunge into the water with that kind of scene.

As we go on, I had an opportunity to take a shot of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. It is the bridge that connects the two islands and is newer as compared to the bridge that we were passing by. It was named after the former Supreme Court Justice of the Philippines.



The bridge was opened August of 1999 with the length of 1,237 meters and center span of 185 meters and had known to be one of the longest and widest bridges in the Philippines.

I also got the chance to have a photo of it in a much nicer angle at one of our pitstops.

The Wonders of Surigao, Philippines

I have been to this island, specifically the Lake Mainit. But I haven't shared it here yet. This is just a quick post to share the following video as requested by Bonnie Sanchez. Hope this helps.



There are really a lot of wonderful unexplored islands in our country, the Philippines. Sadly, most of us wanted to go somewhere else. Have you seen one of the Amazing Race leg that was taken somewhere in Palawan? Who would have thought that we have a paradise-like place like that? I really love to wander around our country first, before taking on my tour on foreign lands. And Surigao will be a great destination.

Reflecting About the Weather

I feel hot and sticky outside. Good that I am now within the comforts of my air-conditioned room here in a hotel at Pangasinan. Now, I feel much better. As I am reflecting about the weather, I wonder how do the people around the world, experiencing the same heat as I do, surpass their day-to-day activities. Or, what do these people do to get rid of the sticky feeling caused by the heat. On the other hand, how and what do people do that live in the coldest part of the world?

Nonetheless, I suppose I am sharing the same thoughts as the people living in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, China, Arizona, and the like. And that view is that, beyond the kind of weather that we have, we still have something to be thankful for. There were still advantages of having such kind of weather.

Anyhow, in case you wanted to move to other countries and find yourself wanting to stay somewhere of the same weather, you might want to try visiting a site about Arizona real estate, the Scottsdale Fine Properties. They got their agents’ biography and email listed in their site; so, no rooms for being fooled by unauthorized agents.