And The Winner Is...

The 2016 Philippine Election was harsh to say the least... with mudslinging back and forth... A lot have been said of candidates, debates left and right, a lot of drama, action and thing is, its not only the candidates that have been slinging mud, its also the supporters, seemingly ready to kill or die for their chosen candidates, and many chosen to take on the characteristic of their idols.... Fierce competitors each of them, fiesty Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Laid back Mar Roxas, the ever colorful Miriam Santiago, the neophyte Grace Poe and the seasoned veteran Jojo Binay. It seems like a good set of candidates, each with their own personalities, characters and chips that make up for an interesting set of candidates...

Anyways, its over... The people have spoken, resoundingly I should say. Although, I would have to admit that I didn't vote for the winner... I fear his style of governing, but he won.. fair and square... all the other candidates agree, he has won a landslide victory... and the other candidates conceded and congratulated him for his win. So the 16th Philippine President is none other than the former mayor of Davao, Rodrigo Duterte.. so he won't be Mayor Duterte now, but President Duterte. I'm still reeling, but I'm hoping for the best for the country. I pray that he can deliver what he promised, then perhaps I can breathe easy, knowing that my country is in the right hands.

The Vice Presidency is still much contested, again mudslinging all over the place. It is sad that it has come to this, but well... what can I say? that's Philippine politics for you.

Praying and hoping for the end soon... so we can all move forward and start healing our country after the bashing it has received from its very own people...

Philippine Election and The Miss Universe Pageant

Looking through my browsers news feed I see two predominant topics... The Philippine elections and The Miss Universe Pageant.

Predominant in politics is Grace Poe's disqualification and her resolve to still run - though my thoughts go.. how could you still run if you are already disqualified?????  Well, instead of saying, we are honoring the decision of the Comelec but will still exercise all legal means to try to reverse the decision, they go the dirty way and say that the Comelec is "bullying" her or that it is a move by an opponent and keeps on pointing to everyone but herself for this fiasco....  You know very well that Philippine Politics is dirty... why go and muddle in the mud? Hmmm... something to think about perhaps... No BS about wanting to help, because I know a lot of people that don't need the power of a position to help people out.. Even if you are not in a government position you can still help... and please no BS still about being able to help more if you're in position. It's really becoming old... this disqualification bouts and all the hoopla surrounding it. It is a shame that the Philippine political arena is  filled with substandard issues... I continue to maintain my stand that I haven't seen one presidential aspirant worthy of my vote. All I see on all sides is politicking, mud slinging and not one person is really keen on helping the Filipino people move up from the slump they are in. Next is the recent SWS survey that counts the top contenders for the presidency. well, same old same old.. nothing new, nothing to report really.

Now, the Miss Universe Pageant, that is something that brightens the day of most Filipinos today as our Ms. Philippines Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach won the prestigious pageant albeit without some controversy as the host made a mistake in announcing the winner. Well regardless of that controversy, fact remains Philippines won and indeed a great Christmas gift for the Filipino people from our newly crowned Miss Universe.

Perhaps when I'm more able, I'll give a more indepth post regarding the Miss U pageant and perhaps I'd already have a candidate in mind for the presidency but for now, let's just keep it as is.


^_^

Z Compound: An Obscure Food Place in Malingap

Maginhawa Street or Matalino Streets in Teachers Village is fast becoming known as a place to go to when you are wanting to get some eats. When you traverse along these roads you'll find yourself delighting at the sites and may find yourself in a quandary deciding where exactly to eat with the variety of choices.

My hubby and I love to discover places to eat and we decided to go to teacher's village and go on a food adventure, we wanted to find somewhere new to eat and to Maginhawa we went, we found the usual quandary of food stalls, mostly filled as it was lunch time, I wasn't really that hungry yet and we didn't find anything we fancied, we explored the area and turned one corner to Malingap Street, still looking for a good place to eat, and we came across this (pardon the term) shabby looking compound, and saw a store sign that say "Bagneto" I think it was, and well, Bagnet is a delicious concoction, so we decided to stop there and try it.

Z Compound is a mid sized lot with a host of food stalls inside nothing really extra ordinary. It was still the middle of the day, so I half expected it to be closed. since these types of food areas tend to be closed or have only a few stores open as more often than not they are open in the afternoons towards the evenings...

Yea so my expectations were half right since the bagnet place, we originally stopped for was closed :( but we caught the site of a unique food stall, it was a black container van and they sold set meals which pulled our fancy... Beer candied bacon and pulled pork with your choice of sauce and a host of others and we decided we didn't want to look anymore and decided to try these treats

We sat at a table behind the stall, it was hot but the area was shaded although there were no electric fans around, so we felt the heat, perhaps the biggest downfall of eating in open spaces like that in the middle of the day. Anyways we waited for a little while and was enticed by the smell of the bacon cooking... After around 10 mins of waiting time our food was served and it was delicious. The bacon was fried just right and the pulled pork was as soft as they said.

We also ordered lemon grass coolers and it was a simple concoction but it was good and a real refreshment... Aside from the heat from the sun, it was a well spent afternoon with good food and of course good company - my hubby.

So if you're ever in the area, you might want to try it out... It's not such a spectacular place or spectacular food but its good food that will fill your tummy that doesn't hurt the pocket much as well.

Mister Kabab's Shawarma

Me and my hubby loves to eat... and we love to try out new restaurants.  He for one loves mediterranean or persian or whatever you'd call shawarma, hummus, biryani and the likes.. I'm not sure what they are actually really. LOL. Sorry.

But yeah, I love pita bread and kababs and we have eaten a number of times at Mr. Kabab and at various branches including their main (I think) at West Avenue. We also tried at Technohub as well as at Fisher Mall.

At the last venue, I ventured to try the shawarma... and boy, was I deliciously surprised. Honestly, I never liked shawarma, those that can be bought at kiosks (sorry, but they are not nearly as good)  but as I said, I was deliciously surprised because Mr. Kabab's shawarma is totally delectable... I love it and I'm not one to easily like food, my hubby is a wonderful chef and he cooks really well and I'd like to think I am the same, so I'm very critical of food we eat out but as I said I'm happy to say that Mr. Kabab's shawarma is indeed a must try

^_^

So if you're ever craving for some shawarma... then you might wanna go and try the one at Mr. Kabab, and top it off with some yogurt shake, and I know you'll be pleasantly surprised.


So yeah, enjoy your delicious meal at one of Mr. Kababs place

So, Duterte is Running After All

Ya, you heard it right folks (ooppsss.. I might already be late here) Duterte, Davao's notorious mayor is indeed running for the Presidency... after much hoopla about him being too old, too tired, and everything else, he decided to run after all. Well, truth be told, it's not much of a suprise for me and I don't mean that to offend, but politics is politics and everybody has their own game plan and that was his, then so be it.

My thoughts... there are a few in my mind and yes, you'll all hear all about it! LOL

Well, my husband said that Duterte will be a gamble, a gamble since he might actually do some good and yet you fear that he will do something bad as well... and I would tend to agree.

Davao is one of the safest cities if not in the world then in the Philippines at least.... where you wouldn't be wary of putting out your mobile phones in the street, you wouldn't fear of it getting snatched and it would be such a wonder to have that in the whole country and this in the wake of my sis-in-law getting her coin purse snatched from her hand as she was paying for her fare in the jeepney. Yes, coin purse, we were a bit surprised that it got snatched because there was nary in it but a few coins for the purpose of fare, if you get my drift. So, it really got me to thinking of how sad our country has become that people will risk their lives, their freedom for measly coins. So in that sense, if the good mayor can bring about such peace and safety (the one they got in Davao) throughout the whole country then all the best for us isn't it?

On the other hand, his notoriety doesn't come without "just cause", he is known in Davao to be ruthless to criminals (hence but a few of them living in his city) and he isn't ashamed to say it to... He boasts of hurting other people or at the very least threatening to hurt them (please correct me if I'm wrong) because he felt that they were not doing their jobs right or that they were doing something wrong. Rumors of him executing criminals himself also abounds, although I don't think anyone can prove it (or perhaps they can, sorry, I'm not reallly in the know, it's just what I hear) and thing is, if I'm not mistaken, he hasn't denied nor confirm the truth to such rumors (or did he, again I'm not sure)

Yes, his ways maybe tough, it maybe rough but it gets the job done, one way or the other, and perhaps this is what our country needs? (this is a big question mark, of course). One may say that he did what was needed to be done and it was all for the good of Davao and if he becomes president and does the same, can we all justify that its just all for the good of the Philippines?

And as Mayor Duterte tosses his name inside the hat of wannabe presidents, a new rumble begins  and a new fighter comes out anew. Yes, choice is always a valuable commodity and perhaps one of the very reasons why the Philippines is such a beloved country, what with our DEMOCRACY  being exercised to the fullest extent...

Welcome To My Pilipinas

Hi, I'm Cyn

I am a Filipina work at home mom and contrary to most people, I really would rather stay here in the Philippines rather than work abroad as many other Physical Therapist (my chosen course) have chosen. I dabble in a little social media marketing and free lance writing and I love the idea of working at home. I am able to earn some whilst enjoying the perks of staying at home. I'm a frustrated artist (I love to draw but never really had the chance to really develop the skill) although I hope to remove the first word there one of these day :)

Anyways, I realize that I always have an opinion about stuff that's happening in my world and would love to share it with the world and this is the avenue I have chosen to do it. I hope that unlike most of the blogs I have started, this can become a regular thing, somewhere I can vent out my frustrations and/or enjoyment over stuff here in my home country.

As I said, it's far from perfect but it is my home and I have hope... In the meantime, enjoy the scenery as I see it...

Showbiz, politics, food, places and everything in between....