Abreeza Cinemas: One of a Kind Movie Experience

We all know how going to the movies has always been one of human being’s most celebrated pastimes. Somehow it has become one of the best ways to spend an hour or two. Now Abreeza takes this experience to a different level because of their one-of-a-kind features.

For one, you can now book your seats online simply by logging on to www.sureseats.com.  You may pay through your Mpass and/or your credit card and may even have the option to get notified for Abreeza Cinemas’ upcoming events through the same site. Moreover, if there’s a blockbuster movie that you’ve been waiting see to in advance, you can buy your tickets a few days before its first scheduled screening day. Now you don’t have to line up to make sure you get that coveted seat!

After you book your seats with first-of-its-kind convenience, the great experience continues when you actually walk through the cinema strip and get ready to watch your movie of choice. At the counter, you can already pay your tickets through credit and debit cards. On the side, digital posters (the first in the city!) will run the movie ratings, synopses and other mall promos. If you’re a munching moviegoer, you will love our snack trays and Tater’s cinema delivery feature. For your kids, booster seats are also available to refine their cinema experience.

As of this writing, Abreeza Mall has 2 digital cinemas (2D and 3D) and they are continually redefining the entire movie experience by adding better side-features. Stay tuned for fun blockbuster promos and don’t forget to visit Abreeza Mall’sFacebook Page to check out the movie schedule. See you at the Abreeza cinemas!

Davao Photo Contest Alert: Abreeza's Family Weekend Treats September 28-30, 2012

Good news to all our fun-loving, moment-capturing shutterbugs! Abreeza Mall officially announces its photography exhibit and competition with the theme “Abreeza’s Family Weekend Treats”. Want to know how to qualify? It’s this simple:

This coming September 28-30, 2012, Abreeza gives the center stage to the kids and the kids-at-heart for various interactive kiddie shows and activities happening all throughout the mall. Key spots are the following: GF Supermarket hallway, GF Abreeza Park Dining, 2F between Bambu and Gforce and 3F Roof Garden.  For your pictures to qualify, they have to depict uniquely captured moments from one of the activities held in these areas.

All entries must be printed in an 8x10in photo paper, submitted separately in a short sized brown envelope from October 1-3, 2012 from 9:00AM to 10:00PM at the Abreeza Admin Office, 2^nd floor, or in one of the Concierge counters at the ground floor. Indicate your name, contact number and title of the photograph at the back of your printed photo entry. Entries may be in vertical or horizontal orientation. All entries will be judged with the following criteria:

Composition/ Subject – 40%

Artistic Appeal – 40%

FB/ Twitter Vote – 20%

Every contestant can submit up to 3 entries. For the FB and Twitter vote, all pictures submitted will be uploaded to the official Abreeza Facebook Page so you can tell your friends to comment or tweet about the picture and you can earn points through that! One vote per comment per person on FB and one vote per tweet will be the counting for online voting. All comments and tweets made before October 3, 2012 will be included in the official point count.

After that, a closed-door judging will take place on October 4, 2012, facilitated by Abreeza’s selected group of professional photographers. The photo exhibit will run on October 4-7, 2012 at the 2F Robinsons Hallway.

This exciting contest will commence on October 9, 2012, where the first prize winner will get P15,000, P10,000 for the 2^nd prize and P5,000 for the 3^rd prize. Stay tuned for more exciting events for the entire family! Abreeza has a lot more up their sleeves!

Davao Bloggers Proudly Announce First-of-its-Kind Blogging Workshop

Davao Bloggers, the official blogging organization of the Davao region, announces Blog Weekend Bootcamp, an intensive 3-day blogging workshop. The workshop is scheduled on September 21-23, 2012, at Malagos Garden Resort, Calinan, Davao city.

This stay-in workshop will include 2 full days of lectures, forums and exercises and will be punctuated with a socials night on its final day. If you want to be a blogger and make the most out of what could be a very lucrative career, then this workshop is truly the right place to go. 

The Blog Weeekend Bootcamp boasts of rich coverage of the key issues in blogging today. Topics and speakers are as follows:

Keynote Speech – Janette Toral, Blogging Pioneer, Author, E-Commerce Consultant
State of Blogging and Social Media in the Philippines – Jay Frank de Jesus, Emerging Media Specialist, US Embassy
Blogging 101 (Blog Set-up) – Aileen de Jesus, Head of Outreach, Google Southeast Asia
Creative Writing – Rene Lizada, Writer, Columnist
Photo Blogging – Jojie Alcantara, Journalist, Award-winning Photographer
Blogging Ethics – Roy Geonzon, KBP President, Davao Chapter
Niche Blogging – Justin Cooke, Chief Idea Generator, Adsense Flippers
Video Blogging – Kring Elenzano, Director, Producer, Actress, Host and Vlogger

“It’s more than just one-of-a-kind, it’s truly the first of it’s kind here in Davao city. We wanted to raise the bar of blogging—in terms of content, ethics and maybe even monetization—in this side of the country. Did you know that Davao Bloggers was the first organized association of bloggers in the country? We felt that it’s time to launch a truly meaningful and educational event especially now that our members are growing exponentially….and the appreciation for blogging has now approached mainstream consciousness.” This is a statement by Dulce Rose Lada, President of the Davao Bloggers. Ms. Lada, along with the other Davao Bloggers officers, is spearheading the event planning and coordination of the Blog Weekend Bootcamp.

Registration for the Blog Weekend Bootcamp is only P1500 (and P1300 if you register on or before September 14, 2012!). For this, you can have your own event kit, 3 days and 2 nights accommodation at Malagos Garden Resort, full day’s meals, and a chance to win the exciting prizes Davao Bloggers, and the event sponsors, have prepared for you.

Aside from the walk-ins and the independent registrants, Davao Bloggers are also reaching out to schools and accepting 1 scholar per school. This is part of their advocacy to promote better use of social media and to better the quality of online publication. Truly, the blogging scene in Davao city is growing. Be a part of this and reserve a slot for this workshop! I hear seats are filling up! :-) See you!

Join the SM Eco Bag Design Contest!

Join the SM Eco Bag Design Contest!

SM City Davao is inviting all young designers to join the SM ECO BAG DESIGN contest and get a chance to have their own design featured in all SM Eco Bags Nationwide and win P25,000 plus THE NEW IPAD (16gb).

This contest is open to all high school and college students enrolled in the school year 2012-2013 in the Philippines only. It will run from July 13 to August 9, 2012. Judging of entries will be on August 13, 2012.

For more details and for the complete list of mechanics, visit this link: www.facebook.com/smcitydavao.

To fill up the registration form, CLICK THIS LINK as well. You're welcome and good luck! :)

BonChon, Now Open in Davao

BonChon Chicken Philippines opened their first store in November 2010. In just a little over a year with 20 branches in Metro Manila, BonChon may be considered one of the fastest-growing fried QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) in the country, apart from being the biggest Korean-style crispy friend chicken chain locally.

Reports say that the company is in an "aggressive expansion" mode, and more stores will be opened within the next few months, dotted all over Luzon and VisMin area. Just last week, they officially opened their first outside-Metro Manila branch, and it's here in Davao city. Another cool reason to visit Davao, ain't it?

BonChon Davao is located at the ground floor of SM City Davao Annex. If you haven't tasted their chicken yet, you are missing a huge chunk of your chicken eating life. They've got chicken so crispytastyjuicy it will put those P25 per slice meat to shame. Other must-tries include their KimChi coleslaw, Calamari, Fish and Fries and Banoffee pie.

For more info about BonChon, check out their website at www.bonchon.com.

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! :-)

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This event is organized by the Davao Bloggers.

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.

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More pictures:

One10FM, the hotel's bar and music lounge.

Newly renovated deluxe room.

The Indoor Garden/ Aviary

The hotel hallway

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Visit this affordable Davao hotel's website at www.theroyalehouse.com.