I am not accustomed to waking up early so it was very surprising that last Monday I was able to do it. And not only that, I was already at
Robinson’s Place Iloilo at the time I usually still am dreaming. After so many minutes of waiting, text messages and phone calls, our group was finally complete and then we waited, waited and waited.
And it all happened in a flash and in a very crowded place known as the
Office of the City Mayor. Through the efforts of
City Tourism Director Ben Jimena, members of the I
loilo Bloggers Inc. made a courtesy call with
Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog. In the brief meeting, we informed him of the upcoming
Visayas Blogging Summit and
Philippine Blog Awards-Visayas in November and personally asked his endorsement for the event. It was, as what they say, “approved without thinking” in the good sense and Nov. 27 was marked by the Mayor as the day he will deliver his welcome remarks to around 200 delegates.
It ended even before we realized what happened and thankfully we got a souvenir photo to remind us it actually did. Lunch was next in our agenda as we realized it was almost noon. We drove around the city changing decisions where to eat lunch from time to time and we finally decided to have respite from the urban jungle and the chaos we just had. And luckily we found just the right place to take a gastronomic breather.
The
Mango Tree restaurant and bar in Mandurriao is among my blog’s most sought-after gastronomic places in Iloilo City. Finally, I was able to visit and blog about it as we enjoyed the breather provided by the ambiance and the food (s
eafood paella, calamares, buffalo wings, chop suey and chicken bulgogi). We further discussed the tasks ahead of us as the restaurant provided an ambient atmosphere for our luncheon meeting.
Lunch and nature restored our vigor as we then head back to check out another venue, t
heVenue at
The Avenue. I would love to see the look on the faces of the delegates when we announce this - lol. Having visited this before, we just further checked the menu, the arrangement of the function rooms and other concerns we have. All agreed it would be a perfect place to host the
Philippine Blog Awards 2010–Visayas.
The heavy rains did not stop us to check yet another venue and this time it was the auditorium at the CAP building. Luckily it was arranged in such a way our event would be, so it almost approved on the spot. Getting a good deal with the person in charge made us decide to book the place right away as the venue for the
Visayas Blogging Summit.
Capping off our Monday chores was meeting the General Manager of the
Days Hotel – Iloilo. The
60% off deal that was formulated in that very eventful meeting excited us so much that minutes after; it was already in full swing, online. We even got an exclusive look at the hotel’s suites and the room they are offering the delegates of the upcoming blog events.
It was indeed another day full of good results, good eats, good company and almost everything good. From the Mayor’s endorsement and confirmation of our venues to the great deals and laughs (“
torotot”) we had a very eventful day despite of it being a manic Monday.
I am not accustomed to waking up early so it was very surprising that last Monday I was able to do it. And not only that, I was already at Robinson’s Place Iloilo at the time I usually still am dreaming. After so many minutes of waiting, text messages and phone calls, our group was finally complete and then we waited, waited and waited.
And it all happened in a flash and in a very crowded place known as the Office of the City Mayor. Through the efforts of City Tourism Director Ben Jimena, members of the Iloilo Bloggers Inc. made a courtesy call with Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog. In the brief meeting, we informed him of the upcoming Visayas Blogging Summit and Philippine Blog Awards-Visayas in November and personally asked his endorsement for the event. It was, as what they say, “approved without thinking” in the good sense and Nov. 27 was marked by the Mayor as the day he will deliver his welcome remarks to around 200 delegates.
It ended even before we realized what happened and thankfully we got a souvenir photo to remind us it actually did. Lunch was next in our agenda as we realized it was almost noon. We drove around the city changing decisions where to eat lunch from time to time and we finally decided to have respite from the urban jungle and the chaos we just had. And luckily we found just the right place to take a gastronomic breather.
The Mango Tree restaurant and bar in Mandurriao is among my blog’s most sought-after gastronomic places in Iloilo City. Finally, I was able to visit and blog about it as we enjoyed the breather provided by the ambiance and the food (seafood paella, calamares, buffalo wings, chop suey and chicken bulgogi). We further discussed the tasks ahead of us as the restaurant provided an ambient atmosphere for our luncheon meeting.
Lunch and nature restored our vigor as we then head back to check out another venue, theVenue at The Avenue. I would love to see the look on the faces of the delegates when we announce this - lol. Having visited this before, we just further checked the menu, the arrangement of the function rooms and other concerns we have. All agreed it would be a perfect place to host the Philippine Blog Awards 2010–Visayas.
The heavy rains did not stop us to check yet another venue and this time it was the auditorium at the CAP building. Luckily it was arranged in such a way our event would be, so it almost approved on the spot. Getting a good deal with the person in charge made us decide to book the place right away as the venue for the Visayas Blogging Summit.
Capping off our Monday chores was meeting the General Manager of the Days Hotel – Iloilo. The 60% off deal that was formulated in that very eventful meeting excited us so much that minutes after; it was already in full swing, online. We even got an exclusive look at the hotel’s suites and the room they are offering the delegates of the upcoming blog events.
It was indeed another day full of good results, good eats, good company and almost everything good. From the Mayor’s endorsement and confirmation of our venues to the great deals and laughs (“torotot”) we had a very eventful day despite of it being a manic Monday.