Bol-anon

The key to a very relaxing vacation is a good destination and a certain amount of advance information. Take that from a non-expert like me. :) As far as Bohol is concerned, with its many beautiful attractions and the very laid back atmosphere, I think you already have no. 1. As to no. 2, one of the things you should know is... where will you stay. Asa man? To help you, I have added a post on what I think is the most extensive listing of hotels, inns, pension houses and resorts in Bohol with their own official websites. The list should assist you in deciding where to stay there. I myself was amazed at the sheer number of options available. Bohol indeed has become a major tourist destination in the country. From the more popular hotels and resorts in Tagbilaran City, to the more affordable inns an persion houses, to the beach and nature resorts in Dauis, Panglao, and other municipalities (i.e. Anda, Bohol), to the more specialized diving clubs (Panglao, Cabilao, etc.), a bee farm and f...

Like almost every Boholano, I grew up to the sound of a radio tuned (by my late father of course) to the most popular local station on the AM band, Station DYRD . Our morning in Bohol then was not complete without listening to their 7 o'clock news anchored by Fred Araneta. We also did not miss listening to their public service program, Inyong Alagad, if only to be updated with the recent developments in the local scene and to hear all those "panawagan" and "reklamo". We lost that when we left home and settled here in Manila. A radio station can only be heard within a certain radius. So, for a while we could only reminisce about Fred Araneta delivering his profound sometimes funny "nuggets of wisdom". He used to say stuff like " Dinhi ning kalibutan, adunay daghang kawatan. Kini si Fred Araneta. " In this world, there are lots of cheats (or robbers). This is Fred Araneta! And he always said something new every morning. :) Things have change...

I miss barbecue. Whatever the world may call it.... anticuchos, kebab, souvlaki, kalamaki, satay, brochette, yakitori.... and though the word may take to mean either the process or the finished product (and sometimes a party in the garden under the heat of the summer sun), barbecue will always mean to me those thin slices of lean meat in bamboo sticks, cooked above coco charcoal in the streets fronting Tagbilaran.... the infamous Sky is the Limit. Sky is the Limit for me, is home to the 2 peso pork barbecue, the 3 peso grilled chorizzo, eaten with the 2 peices of 1 peso "puso" (hanging rice as they call it). Its the source of a poor student's meal at night time (they open from around 6 in the evening to dawn) and an unfailing rescue when one doesn't have the time or the strength to cook after a tiring day. I went home last June and apparently, a lot has changed in Tagbilaran even in just a year. When the Philippine Institute of Development Studies wrote some five to t...

Pope Benedict XVI named a Boholano as the new bishop of the Diocese of Borongan, Eastern Samar. Fr. Crispin Varquez succeeds Bishop Leonardo Medroso who was assigned to the Diocese of Tagbilaran in October 2006. Fr. "Bay" Varquez, as he is fondly called by close friends, is the outgoing vicar general in the Borongan diocese and curate of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. He joins 8 other Boholano bishops, out of a total of 71 in the country, now in active service, and will be the 14th Boholano bishop ever. Fr. Bay's appointment was announced by the Vatican at noon Saturday, 11 August 2007, Rome time. It was announced simultaneously in Manila by Msgr. Wojciech Zalsuki, charge d’affaires of the apostolic nunciature. Fr. Bay was born in Sevilla, Bohol to Sinforiano Varquez and Justina Barrete. He studied elementary and high school in Sevilla, his Philosophy at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Taloto, Tagbilaran City, and Theology at St. Au...

Today is a new beginning for this blog. As original author, I have invited fellow Bol-anons to join me here and co-author/co-maintain www.bol-anon.blogspot.com . In particular, I invited Miko (a.ka. Michael Canares) and Fiel (a.ka. Fiel Angeli Araoarao Gabin) to help transform this blog into a community blog. Miko of course is our super-achiever friend all the way from college (Divine Word College of Tagbilaran now know as the Holy Name University) who is now taking masteral studies at the London School of Economics lang naman. He keeps a personal blog called Miko's World at Friendster. Fiel, on the other hand, is our number one "updater" on social and other events in Tagbilaran City and Bohol. It is understandble because she judges beauty pageants and emcees programs one after another there. I understand she works for the City Government of Tagbilaran, among many others. She keeps a personal blog, My Blog , also at Friendster. Incidentally, both Miko and Fiel ar...