Jack's Ridge in Davao City

As the welcome to Jack Ridge says, Experience Davao at Jack's Ridge. The place is at the top of the hills of Davao city and you can definitely see the whole city from atop.  For people who are from Manila it is something similar to the view atop Antipolo or the Tops view in Cebu.

According to some people in davao, Jack's ridge is a place where the Japanese retreated to when the Filipinos and Americans tried to take back the country form their hands.  Below the ridge are caves that the japanese created to be able to hide from the onslaught of the american forces.

Today the only japanese you can see are tourists enjoying the place since the place is a soothing one to have dinner, drinks and fun. Jack's ridge has nice restaurants and hang out points where you can see the whole city's lights.

There is nothing really special about the food in the restaurants , just your usual sisig, inihaw na pusit, tuna belly, blue marlin. Nothing much to brag about the taste of the food. This time its the place that really is important.

If you are a first timer or a person who enjoys admiring great places then Jack's Ridge is a place that you nshjouldnt miss going to when you are in Davao city.

The Original Colasa's in Davao

When in Davao, the Best barbecue in town has got to be COLASA's.  The very famous davaoeño way of barbecue is quite intriguing that it has a branch here in Metro manila.

Their Barbecues range from all parts of the chicken together with the liempo and chorizo as they call it.  We ordered individually with additional orders of Chicken Ass which is turning out to be the favorite of the group.

One thing I learned in travelling in the Philippines, is that in different places they also have different names for their food. There is a certain type of seaweed that I grew up eating which Ilocano's call Ar-ar-rusep. In the south the same seaweed delicacy is known as Lato.  It is usually mixed with tomatoes, onions or just plain salt to give it some great taste. Its something nice to have around.

During the past 8 years that I have been going to Davao, my visit is not complete without having dinner at Colasa's.

Best Tasting Steak ever

I remember, March of 2008 I was able to visit the Del Monte farm in Bukidnon and see its beauty. Unfortunately though because the work that had that time made me miss one of the best things that the del Monte farm had to offer- its food. 

There are many popular restaurants surrounding the Del MOnte farm. In fact del Monte even made a village to house their employees.  The best place to eat del monte's fabled steak is at their Cawayanon clubhouse. 

When one of our guests Spanky E.  ordered their pineapple juice I was quite intrigued by the taste and looks of it. It was a juice freshly made from the millions of pineapples harvested in their farm. So even though I am not a pineapple juice drinker I ordered one just for the taste of it.

One by one our orders came which started with their mushroom soup which was so yummy that I wanted to ask for seconds but declined since I might get full right away.  

We ordered Pork Sirloin for our driver, obviously the cheapest in their menu, which did not disappoint also considering it had three big pieces of most probably the best Porkloin the driver has ever tasted.

Just to make sure that we will come out full, we added a Salisbury Steak to add to the Steaks we ordered.  The Hamburger in itself was quite filling and we waited for the Main event to arrive before we indulged in such voraciousness.

Then the steak arrived and we were all excited to eat.  We ordered two large steaks cut into two which means their steaks are really big.  We were told that the reason their steaks became famous is obviously because of its taste.  

At the same time the tasted was made special because the Cows that these steaks come from are fed with Pineapple Pulpbits or simple pineapple itself that gives their meat extra juiciness and when eaten there is a sudden rush of taste that I cannot explain.

The taste is something that will make you want to go back and eat again. Just like the usual steaks the price is quite expensive since their steaks range from small, medium and large sizes which comes from P600 to P1400. That is why every bite I made is savored and everytime I swallow I take time to savor the mouth watering taste of the best steak I have ever eaten.

Call me lucky or whatever, what is great is that I will be able to go back again next year when our National Youth Convention goes through its Mindanao romp.  I will definitely make this trip once again and go back to the land where tastiness is King!

Campus Katz & All-Star Dancers combine forces

Here is an intermission number during the STI NYC at the SMX Convention center. The video shows the joint forces of the The STI College Paranaque's Campus Katz, an all male dance group, together with the All-female dance group - the STI All-Star Dancers. The song is "No Air by Jordin Sparks and 4 Minutes by Madonna & Justin Timberlake"

STI NYC @ the SMX

They came, they saw they conquered. 15,000 STI Students from different STI branches converged at the SMX Convention Center to witness STI's one of a kind and spectaular roadshow presentation, the STI 14th National Youth Convention. Preparation for the NYC in Metro Manila was quite difficult since we were looking at a new but bigger venue. In recent years the Aliw Theater was the home of the NYC but this year we moved to a bigger venue to accommodate more students. Fortunately the network did not disappoint as the STI schools confirmed record number of students as the two day convention reached 15,000 confirmed attendees. A record in the NYC.


Various problems usually crop up days before the event. This time it was a case of singers backing out. I actually talked to two separate STI singers who were champions of the STI Idol singing competition. Unfortunately they begged off. The most telling problem was the SMX sound system. I will just create a separate blog about it.


I would like to commend my dancers, my speakers and my team for a job well done. I received great feedback from the students and the administrators who were there during the convention.


Spanky Enriquez was his usual bubbly and eloquent self. "A Blog's Life" is now a certified hit as STI students are now starting their own blogs (I've read a few) and are starting their own Facebook accounts. I for one have chatted with a lot of students and they expressed their gratitude and excitement with the way Spanky taught them how to blog. As I write this piece I have already accepted at least 50 new friends in facebook from the Metro Manila convention. Great Job Spanx.


Dennis Evangelista was the top draw this time around. He reaarranged his presentation to give STI students lots of things to remember in making their "pesonality" work. His topic "Pesonality - Characteristics in Managing your peso" was a hit since the students were not only laughing, but more importantly learning from the many stories that Dennis shared. Dennis is really fit for this topic since he really gave his best to make sure that the students get their money's worth through the many insights he shared.


Jojo Recio was a fitting anchor. His topic "Think Link - connecting people" is a great encore for this convention. I remember one student's remark that the important thing she remembers is that relationships bring positive things to you! Jojo was his usual funny self and left the students with a lot of things to think about with regards to relationships.


One thing that I made sure would make our STI students proud was an intermission number by the all-male four time hataw sayaw dance champions Campus Katz and the all-female STI All-Star dancers.


I am quite happy that everything fell into place considering I have a new team and a lot has been on my plate lately. If you will just scroll down this blog you will notice that much has been happening to me lately and I am happy that I have pulled through. With the help of the Lord I am happy that the STI National Youth Convention has reached record numbers this year!

Go STI!

The STI NYC's new home in Metro Manila

Students line up outside the SMX

STI College is the only school that conducts a nationwide convention for its students. In previous posts I mentioned that the convention goes to various cities nationwide to give STI students additional knowledge on certain topics that are not usually taught inside the classroom.

Welcome Streamers

The NYC's biggest draw continues to be the Metro Manila Convention. STI students coming from Bataan, Olongapo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Lucena, San Pablo and other far flung areas join Metro Manila studes in witnessing this spectacular roadshow presentation.

STI kits are a thing of beauty

The STI National Youth Convention has been at the PICC for 9 years, the This year the NYC has found another venue to give its students one of a kind edutainment, the NYC is now at the SMX Convention Center. The

The SMX was flocked by 15,000 STI Students

The SMX Convention Center is just beside the Mall of Asia and its towering new building just shows that the NYC is truly expanding. The SMX function rooms 2 to 4 was picked to accommodate the 3,800 STI students per session. The NYC gave STI schools a lot to brag since it also gave the students an opportunity to shop at the Mall of Asia.

The NYC is just happy to be in such a great venue.

STI Convention in Bacolod City

The STI 14th National Youth Convention went to the city of smiles for another run of their spectacular roadshow presentation. Bacolod is the fourth leg of this nationwide convention that seeks to give STI students additional learnings.

This Bacolod leg is somewhat different from the other provincial legs since we were having morning and afternoon sessions just to accommodate the students from the STI College Bacolod, STI Education Center in Bacolod and students from STI Dumaguete.

Spanky and I experimented this time on his Blog topic. Unknown to many, STI students were given user accounts by Google. That can be their platform in starting their blog. Since Jojo brought along his Smart Bro dongle, we attached it to the computer and was online during the presentation of Spanky. So what we wanted was a demonstration of how to start a blog.

Chad Lucero, a second year student from STI Dumaguete gamely volunteered for this one as he we will make a blog for him. After checking his email we opened his STI Google mail chadlucero@dumaguete.sti.edu and registered it for Google Accounts and later Blogger.com. Then it was time to Blog. We logged on to his new blogsite http://chadtlucero.blogspot.com/ and made two entries. One was about our speaker and the other was a greeting to the STI Dumaguete delegation. The exercise made the students realize that its as easy as 1-2-3 to start blogging.

Edgar Guzman, Smart commercial model and Daisy Siete mainstay wowed the crowd in his entertainment portion. All went well with the convention most specially the meals we had after as seen in the posts in this blog. Hope to be back in Bacolod again because the people there are simply amazing.

The 14th NYC in Iloilo

STI student shows off his NYC shirt

The STI 14th National Youth Convention went to the city of Iloilo for its fourth stop in its nationwide convention. The warm welcome of the students gave us more reason to give our best in making sure the students will come out more equipped in facing the world today.

NYC Host Bill Kosme

Students from STI College Kalibo, STI Barotac Viejo, STI Antique and host school STI College Iloilo trooped to the newly refurbished SM City Iloilo Cinema 6 to witness the NYC and learn from the different speakers that were there.

Spanky Enriquez

Spanky Enriquez, who is the COO of Universal Workers Inc.. and an accomplished blogger, started out with his topic by telling the story of the dela Paz and Pagdangaman. The incident really showed the power of blogging which networks followed for them to get an inside view of the incident that happened. His challenge in the end eventually made STIers believe that blogging can be a powerful tool to them.

Stanley Dimain

The toast of the town was the second speaker, Mr. Stanley Dimain. His combination of jokes and tips on how to be financially free kept the students on their feet. His wit and humor made the usually serious topic quite light and gave students additional insights on how to save up.

Jojo Recio

Jojo Recio, another STI Head Office Manager was not to be out done as he also gave a good account of himself with the topic "Think Link" Connecting people. His anecdotes and countless stories on how he built his network through relationships served him well.

Zara Aldana was captivating

Zara Aldana of Pinoy Big Brother fame and a former Mutya ng PIlipinas beauty entertained the crowd after the event. Students stayed on and had their pictures taken from the beauty and with me also as souvenirs when they get back to Manila. It was great to be back here in this city of wondrous smiles and I am already looking forward to getting back next year!

STI 14th National Youth Convention Kicks off in Baguio

Me and students from STI College Baguio

CLose to 3,000 STI Students from Northern Luzon flocked the CAP Cultural and Trade Center in Baguio City to witness the spectacular STI road show presentation entitled the STI 14th National Youth Convention. The event seeks to give STI students additional knowledge on specific subjects which is normally not taught in class. The theme for this year's NYC is "Connect, Communicate, Control - Cracking the Code to Success!'

Mhel G. with the speakers Spanky, Jojo and Stanley

I invited MR. Spanky Enriquez, former STI employee and now COO of the Universal Workers Inc., as guest speaker and he confirmed as he tackled the subject "A Blog's Life." This year's first topic encourages all STI students to start blogging. Eversince I started blogging I have always tried to infect everyone since it is something that is quite fulfilling. Mr. Stanley DImain was the second speaker who dwelled on cash management thorugh his topic " PESOnality, Characteristics of a managening your PESO!" The last topic saw Jojo Recio encourage students to build relationships and connect with every STIer he meets if possible.


This Road Show presentation will run from November to February and will culminate with the Metro Manila event come february. If this Baguio NYC is just a preview of the many conventions to come then definitely its one for the books. See you in the NYC!

Connect, Communicate, Control