Visit Davao!: June 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

Davao Celebrates Social Media Day this Coming June 30

Are you on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Foursquare, Instagram, WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Flickr, Youtube or other Social Media? Great news, now you can celebrate your baptism to this social revolution.

On June 30th, for the third time, the Social Media Day will be celebrated globally and Davao city will take part in the celebration! This is our first time to celebrate Social Media Day.

What is Social Media Day?

Social Media Day is an annual international event on June 30 that recognizes the digital revolution happening around the world. This is a global celebration of the technological advancements that have given so much development to the connected generation. This holiday is founded by Mashable, the “largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology”. They have more than 20 million monthly unique visitors and 4 million social media followers. It has also been recognized as one of the most engaged online news communities, as some of their content are syndicated to top news outfits such as ABC News, CNN, Metro and Yahoo News.

For this day, for Davao city, we will gather the city’s Social Media enthusiasts, bloggers and practitioners from the media, business owners, non-profit organizations and local government officials for a day of fun, community conversation, panel discussions and networking. Rounds of raffle contests are also expected! This will be held on June 30, 2012, 4PM, at MyFlexOffice, 3rd Floor KS Bldg. Sta. Ana Ave. (Infront of Penongs), Davao city.

And for this, we would like to thank our sponsors:

+ Smart Communications (https://www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications)
+ MyFlexOffice (https://www.facebook.com/myflexofficedavao)
+ Crea8tech Solutions, Inc. (https://www.facebook.com/crea8tech)
+ Trybpo Outsourcing (https://www.facebook.com/outsourced)
+ PREP (PR, Events & Promotions) (https://www.facebook.com/prepdavao)
+ Shirt Stop Enterprises
+ Bloom Facial and Spa (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bloom-Facial-and-Spa/175352611113)
+ KaiserWeb Solutions (https://www.facebook.com/KaiserWebs)

As of press time, Davao city is one of the 487 cities celebrating Social Media Day around the world! Do you want to know how to join this event? All you have to do is show yourself at the venue and plop P100 for registration. This includes snacks, swag and entry for the raffle contests.

For the participants of Social Media Day, we are encouraging everyone to use #smday and #smdaydavao as the official hashtags for Twitter updates. Through these hashtags, we can get updates from our friends all over the world who are also celebrating the Social Media Day! Don’t forget to tell (and bring!) all your friends and let’s get social! :-)

This event is organized by the Davao Bloggers.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Royale Compound Along Claveria

In the 80s, The Royale House was a mere ancestral home and a receiving salon for the guests of the Nograleses. Today, it houses not just one but 5 establishments that downtown Davao seems to be thankful for.

For one, The Royale House Travel Inn and Suites just got a facelift. The old, broody inn is now a bright, high-ceiling area, with a cozy restaurant at the side and a classy bar on its second floor. It now houses more than 50 newly renovated rooms, all with television sets, hot and cold showers, and their own intercom phone. You’d be surprised to know that the cheapest room comes with free breakfast and a welcome drink at the bar…and is priced at less than P800.

Sitting beside The Royale House is Tapsi Boy, an all-day-breakfast joint that sells rice topping dishes for P50. With more than 20 choices at their menu, you’ll never get tired of eating rice toppings your entire life. I may be kidding but taste their selection first and you’ll find out I just might not.

Also, as you all know, at the shoulder of The Royale House sits Dormitoryana, a ladies dorm with a comfortable hotel feel. There are rooms for 2, 3, 4 and rooms for 6, and the cheapest bed space goes for P999 a month. They just opened up slots last year and reservations have not faltered. Not a bad deal, especially if you count convenience.

Speaking of convenience, a new convenience store just opened downstairs. It’s Jack En Poy. With a catchy Pinoy name, you can never go wrong with this one. Shoppers say everything is reasonably priced, and the hotel and dormgoers love the idea that they don’t have to travel one or two blocks just to make a run for their toothpaste or favorite softdrink. More good news: they’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Lastly, The Royale House compound starts summer right by adding another vital establishment in their small ecosystem: a laundry shop name La Vada Mi. With more rooms for the hotel (which means more sheets and towels) and more dormers coming in, surely all these guests appreciate a little help in their laundry. Bobby Nograles, the General Manager of The Royale House boasts of dirt cheap deals for hotel service laundry and a commercial rate of P15-18 per kilo for regular customers.

Take a swing by this lively joint along the old Claveria street. You’ll see how it made the place more interesting than the serious banks and financial institutions that dot its periphery.

More pictures:

One10FM, the hotel's bar and music lounge.