I Love Davao: November 2015

Jollibee Opens Its 25th Store In Davao

Jollibee, the Philippines' largest and leading food chain has recently opened its 25th store in Davao City at Quimpo Boulevard corner Sandawa Road. It's the 106th store in Mindanao.

Jollibee Quimpo Boulevard

Jollibee Quimpo Boulevard Drive Thru branch is open 24 hours and is very close to Davao Ecoland Bus Terminal. Its proximity to the bus terminal make it more convenient to the passengers who have early trips. They can now eat their favorite breakfast meals in Jollibee.

The lucky first customer of Jollibee Quimpo Boulevard

In 1991, Jollibee opened its first Davao store in Bolton. It's the 100th branch of the company and historically the first centennial store. After almost 25 years of existence, Jollibee Bolton continues to offer langhap sarap goodness to its diners.

Customers lining up on the opening day

Mindanao has three centennial stores, the 100th in Davao City, 500th Basilan, and 800th in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. According to Grace Mercado, Jollibee's Operations Director, three more stores will open in Mindanao this year- two in Zamboanga City and one in Tandag City.

Celebrate Thanksgiving Day at Vikings

Looking for a place to celebrate this year's Thanksgiving Day on November 26? Look no more, Vikings Luxury Buffet at SM Lanang Premier Davao offers sumptuous buffet that will surely satisfy your gastronomic cravings for traditional American dishes, including turkey and decadent desserts.

Vikings Davao Sous Chef - Richtofen Barraquias

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday widely celebrated in Canada and the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessings Canadiand and Americans have received in the preceding year. It is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Since the Philippines is pretty much have a close ties with the US, a number of Filipinos celebrate Thanksgiving Day along with the US.

Roasted Turkey with Apple and Bacon Pudding

Vikings Luxury Buffet in SM Lanang Premier has invited us for a taste test of their Thanksgiving menu in addition to a lot of dishes already offered in their buffet. It was an afternoon of great food and good company.

I personally loved the Crab and Roasted Corn Chowder that they served. The aroma of the roasted corn was ambrosial. It was definitely a good start of a great meal.

Crab and Roasted Corn Chowder

Of course, the star of the lunch was the Roasted Turkey with Apple and Bacon Pudding. The stuffing was good and the turkey meat was just divine. You can never go wrong with a roasted turkey. The sauce added flavor to the perfectly cooked turkey meat.

Roasted Turkey with Apple and Bacon Pudding

The Toasted Cashew and Spicy Pickled Shrimp (appetizer) was also one of my favorites. The sweet and nutty toasted cashew complements well with the slightly spicy pickled shrimps.

Toasted Cashew and Spicy Pickled Shrimp

Other dishes served were Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad, Oven Baked Shellfish with Lemon, Garlic and Butter Dressing, Grandma's Meat Loaf Muffin and American Pie and Pumpkin Squares for desserts.

Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

Oven Baked Shellfish with Lemon, Garlic and Butter Dressing

Grandma's Meat Loaf Muffin

Pumpkin Squares

American Pie

Come and visit Vikings Luxury Buffet at SM Lanang Premier and enjoy a variety of dishes at an affordable rate. Indeed, a good value for money!

Smokees at Munchtown Diner

Started as a cinema to-go counter at Promenade Greenhills Movie House, Munchtown Diner has grown into a full-service restaurant at SM Lanang Premier in Davao City. Celebrity Chef Robby Goco started the diner in Metro Manila and was brought to Davao in 2014 by business partners Carlo Lorenzana and Marga Nograles. (Read: Must-Try Restaurants in Davao City)

Smokees at Munchtown DIner

Munchtown is offering its diners with comfort food suited to every generation. Recently, they re-launch their Smokees with a smaller serving size. Smokees or Polish Dog are high quality kind of hotdog. They are exclusively made for Munchtown Diner by Chef Robby Goco. The bread / bun is made by Royal Bread Haus Davao so you'll be assured that they are freshly baked.

Munchtown's Carlo Lorenzana

The 13 variants of Munchtown Diner's Smokees are:

Chicago Dog P165

Naked Dog P125

BLT Dog P180

Deputy Dog P195

Taco Dog P215

Chili Dog P165

Reuben Dog P235

Le Poodle P140

E.B.T.K.S. P190

Pizza Dog P160

Surf Dog P125

New York Classic P140

Philly Dog P180

Visit Munchtown Diner at the Ground Floor Fountain Court of SM Lanang Premier, Davao City.

Munchtown Diner Menu

Filipino Comfort Food at Rekado

Opened a few months ago, Rekado is one of the most promising new restaurants in Davao City. It offers sumptuous Filipino Comfort Food with a twist. It is located at 1050 Jacinto Extension, Bgy. 11-B, Davao City. (Read: Must-Try Restaurants in Davao City)

PLDT HOME widens market leadership, adds 3x more subscribers in Q3

Leading home digital services provider PLDT HOME has fortified its leadership in fixed broadband, commanding a market share of over 70% at the end of the third quarter of 2015, with record breaking subscriber gains that is three times more than its nearest competitor.

PLDT HOME Marketing Head Gary Dujali

PLDT HOME, a unit of leading telco and digital services provide PLDT, has remained the preferred broadband provider in the country as it registered double-digit growth in digital services such as the PLDT HOME Telpad, the all-in-one tablet, landline and broadband, the triple-play service where broadband and landline services are bundled with Cignal digital TV, as well as the home monitoring system FamCam.

“PLDT HOME continues to strengthen its leadership with more digital services via the Connected Home,” said PLDT and Smart EVP and Head of Consumer Business Ariel P. Fermin. “The fixed line subscriber base reached about 2.3 million at the end of the third quarter of 2015, 54% of whom have fixed broadband subscriptions.”

“PLDT HOME’s fixed broadband has continuously reinforced its industry leadership with its significant array of new digital services and compelling content, providing entertainment to customers everywhere, whether they are at home or away from home. Beyond telecommunications, we are delivering entertainment, peace of mind, and urban comfort to our subscribers,” he said.

At the start of the third quarter, PLDT HOME announced its roster of content bundled with broadband subscription from South East Asia’s number one video-on-demand provider iflix and the region’s leading broadcaster Fox International Channels to live HD channels from Cignal. These services exacerbated the growth of broadband subscription supported by a strong and aggressive activations program.

PLDT HOME has also launched the first and only Quadplay, the innovative bundling offer where mobile services are packaged with voice, data, and cable television, providing customers with connectivity everywhere. It is the mobile service that contains PLDT HOME DSL broadband, PLDT landline, Cignal Digital TV and Smart mobile.

According to PLDT HOME Marketing Head Gary Dujali, “With Quadplay, we are solidifying our leadership in the broadband market. The service will reinforce the trusted benefits of PLDT HOME brands as we offer our customers a one-stop shop for all their communications and multimedia needs to enable them to experience a richer digital lifestyle in a connected home.”

"Following a strong Q3 performance, PLDT HOME introduced the TVolution stick—a device that turns any HDMI-capable TV to a fully functional Windows computer, and more recently, PLDT HOME Fibr rolled out speed boosts for all subscribers and broke new ground with the unveiling of the country’s first 1 Gbps broadband connection, further enriching PLDT's product portfolio for a digitally connected home," Dujali said.

The PLDT Group’s robust and resilient fixed and wireless networks, with its most extensive fiber optic footprint that spans over100,000 kilometers, enables it to offer reliable broadband services that can simultaneously deliver voice, video, and data at faster speeds and larger capacities through various devices – from computers, tablet, and cellphones, to television sets.

Nikolo Salazar's Art Exhibit at SM City Davao

Nikolo Salazar is a Tacloban-born young artist who is making a buzz about his inspiring work of art. He is one of the victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and is now helping children cope with disaster trauma through art. He is one of those thousands of Filipinos who went through a nightmare when typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban in 2013.

Over a year after typhoon Haiyan, Nikolo is showcasing his work of art through a series of exhibits in the Philippines. This week, Nikolo brought his pieces to Davao City. He's art exhibit is open to the public at the Ground Floor of SM City Davao - Annex Building until Sunday, November 8, 2013.

Press Release: Family advocate of Christian-Muslim relations awarded in 5th JFVA

The Mambuay family, originally of Marawi City, was honored as one of the six exemplary Filipino families during the 5^th Jollibee Family Values Awards (JFVA). The family’s mission to create a better understanding between the Muslim and Christian faiths through non-violent communication earned them the distinguished recognition.

Amina Mambuay imparts that kindness towards one another should prevail so that everyone can see past their differences in beliefs.

The JFVA is the company’s annual search for exemplary Filipino families whose works of compassion and generosity make a significant difference in their communities. Now on its milestone 5^th year, the campaign hopes the new batch of winning families will serve as role models and inspiration for other Filipino families.

The Mambuays, Nathaniel and Amina with their daughters Sarah, Lara, and Farrah, have been promoting a culture of non-violence and peace by creating conducive environments for dialogue and discussion, without fear of hostility. They started out by conducting peace seminars in their neighborhood, which later extended to nearby municipalities, and eventually to other regions.

Amina Mambuay has made it her life mission to fight prejudice against Muslims through proper communication, under the notion that hate is born out of ignorance.

In 2013, the family established KalilintadPilipinas, Inc. using their own funds and the help of a friend in Germany. The organization conducts trainings, workshops and seminars on peace and non-violent communication to different groups in Mindanao.Youth peace camps were also facilitated by the Mambuay children.

Aside from the family’s core advocacy of promoting peace, they also extend educational support to less fortunate children and hold values formation seminars for prison inmates.

Nathaniel and Amina shared that their experience of being subjected to wrong prejudice for being Muslims in the past, motivated them to pursue this cause for peace and understanding. Instead of nursing hate for the discrimination that they faced, they used this as an impetus to initiate change.

Nathaniel and Amina Mambuay conduct peace seminars in places with mixed religious beliefs to help create a harmonious environment and more productive community.

“We know that [the eradication of prejudice against Muslims] won’t happen overnight, but what’s important is that we raise awareness on what is going on and we’re doing something to change this,” said Nathaniel.

Monsignor Elmer Abacahin of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro personally vouched for the Mambuays’ advocacy, noting the strong moral foundations of the whole family that serves as an inspiration to others.

The Mambuay Family, composed of (leftmost and rightmost) Nathaniel and Amina, and daughters (L-R) Lara, Sarah, Farrah, and granddaughter Zafirah, brings home P300,000 for being one of the six Jollibee Family Values Awards-winning families, which they could use to further their peace advocacy-- bridging the gap between the Muslim and Christian faiths.

“The whole family is very involved in and committed to their inter-faith and inter-religious dialogues. In fact, we coordinate with the Mambuays in our efforts to reach out to Muslims,” said Rev. Msgr. Abacahin.

The Mambuay family received a cash prize of P300,000, P10,000 worth of Jollibee gift certificates, and a trophy designed by renowned sculptor Michael Cacnio for winning in the JFVA. They joined the roster of five other outstanding Filipino families championing various causes, who were also recognized during the Gabi ng Parangal para saPamilyang Pilipinoawards night.