The Magnificent Davao del Sur Coliseum

Almost every weekend, I have to travel from General Santos City to Kabacan. Though there is a much shorter route (but taking three rides – Gensan to Koronadal City, Koronadal to Tacurong City, and Tacurong to Kabacan), I usually take the longer one (from Gensan to Digos City and from Digos to Kabacan). The latter is thirty minutes longer, but the trip is more continuous and the sites along the way are prettier and much inspiring.

One of the beautiful things I got to see during these trips is the Davao del Sur Coliseum located along the highway at Barangay Matti, Digos City.

General Santos City Celebrates 16th Kalilangan Festival

The 16^th Kalilangan Festival and the 73^rd Foundation Anniversary celebration of General Santos City have officially opened last Tuesday, February 21, 2012. The city skies were covered with dazzling colors as a grand firework display graced the opening program during the night.

This year’s theme is “Convergence in Divergence: Enriching Heritage, Bridging Culture”, denoting that the celebration will give more fun and entertainment out of the culture and heritage the city offers. Activities will mainly focus on the diversity of General Santos City as represented by the Christians, Muslims and Indigenous People (IPs). The opening ceremony has highlighted this as presentations showcased the rich culture of the Generals.

Grieving

A friend is grieving, and so am I. We grieve for personal reasons. We grieve when fate strikes us at our weakest point and time. And whenever we grieve, we turn to someone who can give us peace and solace.

So tonight, we walked the dark streets of Gensan City Park. Amidst the merrymaking in the bazaar and amusement park nearby, souls were grieving. After the long walk, we arrived at Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.

My Grandmother's Backyard Cemetery

Private cemeteries are common here in the Philippines, especially in small towns like those here in Mindanao. What I mean by “private” is the tiny piece of backyard lot where owners bury their dead, not the large memorial parks owned and ran by private people. These backyard cemeteries can be literally found in the yards, but others can be large expanse of lands where grand mausoleums are constructed.

There are rules and regulations set by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board regarding memorial parks and cemeteries in the Philippines. Many factors are considered here, like sanitation requirements, road traffic, sizes of coffins and spacing, and many others. There are procedures to be undertaken before the license to operate can be used.

Rainy Days in General Santos City

The whole city has been experiencing severe rainfalls for the last few days. This is a huge difference in the weather pattern of General Santos City where the first quarter of the year, before the start of summer, is very hot and warm.

Just last night, I went home drenched in cold rain. I was looking after our store at the Oval Plaza (it is the Kalilangan season, and I and a friend set up our own food store in the area) when the rain poured. It was past six when the rainshower started and it did not wane until half past eight. It was torrential and for just minutes, the plaza was flooded, the waters going inside the stores. I was thankful that the flood immediately subsided after the rain died down. There was a frightening quiet for some time.

SOCOTECO II Executes Rotational Brownout

The whole General Santos City is currently experiencing rotational brownout. It started last February 10, 2012 and will continue until February 23.

SOCOTECO II, the city’s power supplier, has been announcing the said power interruption for almost a week but the Generals seemed not to heed about it. So when it finally came, a thousand complaints were heard. And we can expect to hear them until next week.

Nonito Donaire, Jr. Claims WBO Junior Featherweight Belt

The people of General Santos City is cheering once again as their fellow General and boxing champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. emerged victorious in his junior featherweight debut against Puerto Rican boxer Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas boomed as the “Filipino Flash” captured the vacant WBO junior featherweight belt.

The entire fight had been very exciting. It started off fairly slowly with the first few rounds going to Donaire as he was simply the more active fighter. In the third round Donaire became a bit frustrated by Vazquez’s defensive ways and began to mimic him and clown a bit. The fight was quite close in the middle rounds. But in the ninth round, Donaire established a lead as he threw Vazquez in an eight-round drop. Vazquez somehow gave Donaire some big shots a couple times, but was never able to take advantage.

Foods of the Generals

The Generals (people of General Santos City) love food. In every occasion, whether a birthday party, festival, feast of a patron saint, reunion, get-together, or any other celebration, Generals do not think twice in serving good foods and hefty meals. Even on a simple beach outing, Generals spend for food. So what are the favorite foods of the Generals? Which foods are the Generals’ true delights? Here are some of these foods: