Tourists will find the mall very handy when replenishing resources, getting cheaper laundry, buying food, getting souvenirs, watching a movie and simply eating out. Aside from shopping and eating, tourists with kids like us will find many kid friendly areas and kiddie rides to keep your kids from getting bored. I give the mall a rate of 4 out of 5.

The weird thibg is, a lot of people were staring at the Tuk Tok, it appears that it is not as common as we thought it was. Anyway it was a fun riding on the Tuk Tok through the beautiful city of Tagbilaran. If you stay at the Dao Diamond Hotel, you can utilize the Tuk Tok for nearby travels for free. Quite a fun ride

We have been considering a number of hotels and resorts but what made us finally decide on picking Dao Diamond Hotel over the others was the knowledge that they help and hire deaf Boholanos. It was nice that while we are out vacationing, we are helping out deaf children and an institution with a noble cause.

Dao Diamond Hotel Owners

I was not very impressed when I looked at the pictures of the hotel online, so I was not expecting much when we arrived. However the venue was a lot more nicer in person than the pictures gave it credit for. Here is a picture that I took of its lounge:

Dao Diamond Hotel Lounge

Dao Diamond’s room and everything else exceeded my expectations. There was a also a nice swimming pool in which we took a leisurely swim during our first day of stay. Here are more pictures:

Dao Diamond Room

Dao Diamond Pool

With the staff being deaf, the hotel was very silent and conducive to relaxation and sleep. In fact we never had a problem sleeping, even our two boys slept well.

All the deaf staff were polite and very accommodating, however some of the non-deaf staff are the ones that give a negative vibe, they seem to be unattached and uncaring. There was even an instance where a non-deaf female staff did not address our concern properly, and as I understand it, it is a problem with her character and not the hotel.

The only thing that I think the hotel should improve on is their food. We were not too impressed with what we’ve been served. There was even an awkward incident where we ordered for Mami, and we were served with a bowl of soup without noodles. And when we asked the non-deaf female staff for assistance, she just brushed us off saying she does not know. This is the same non-deaf female staff that we had problems with the other day. To make the long story short, a male staff was nice enough to realize the mistake and after a few minutes later gave us the Mami bowl with noodles.

Another problem we encountered was their Wi-Fi connection, which did not work for a few days, but then again this could be a problem with their ISP.

Other than the above mentioned, everything went smoothly. The place was clean, the beds were soft, the sheets were great, the aircon is working and not noisy, hot water works fine and the place simply looks and feels great. If you are looking for a hotel that is conveniently located near a mall and the airport – I highly recommend that you check Dao Diamond Hotel out. We will surely be staying there again when we visit Bohol again in the future. Even with our little probles, I will still give Dao Diamond Hotel a 5 out of 5.

It shows a few OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) that have been staying for years abroad and were given the opportunity to return home for free by the famous softdrinks company. Working abroad is a popular “goal” for Filipinos, lured by the promise of better pay – aspirants would apply for IT jobs, ERP Jobs, Medical care jobs and any job that would give them better pay.

Sadly, I felt that the video was an obvious ploy to use real life emotions to promote an unhealthy product. I would call it a semi-reality TV commercial which just like the product it endorses, hides the ugly inconvenient truth.

What the video did not show is how many OFW families are being broken everyday just for the sake of that imaginary financial stability. The video also failed to show the children who are growing up without the much needed guidance from their parents.

What use is the house that they are paying for if they don’t live under one roof? How many of these unguided children will grow up to be good productive citizens?

The video also seem to neglect the many opportunities within the country that intelligent Filipinos could have been cultivating instead of going the easy route of working “abroad”.

My definition of true “family” love is staying with your family and trying to make ends meet without sacrificing your time together. A family should stay together, but sadly in this modern “relativistic” times – even the definition of family can change to whatever is more convenient. It was heart warming to see the reunions, but it is heart wrenching to think that these OFW had to wait many years for a silly softdrink product to give them free tickets when they can, if they REALLY wanted, to go back home with their own money.

It would have made a big difference if the OFWs on the video were given business or job opportunities within the country so that they can stay “happy” with their families. Unfortunately, the happiness that is promoted in the video is much like what Coca cola gives us, temporary and unhealthy happiness, which eventually turns into disease.

In fairness, the video was well made and have left many in tears, but sadly the video didn’t change anything, it didn’t even change the minds of the OFWs about leaving their country and families in the first place.

I waited for my excitement to die down before I attempted to write an objective review of Jason Mraz concert in Manila last October. Looking back, we truly enjoyed the concert, fan or no fan, you will simply be amazed at Jason Mraz’s sheer vocal prowess and musical talent. Jason and Toca confidently confronted thousands of screaming fans that filled the gigantic Araneta Colliseum.

Jason and Toca sang their hearts out, they sang all of my favorites including Butterfly and Dynamo of volition from Jason’s latest album. The concert was a major success, save for a few minor qualms. Most of my complaints will fall under technical difficulties or venue related problems.

First complaint is the lousy sound system. There was too much echo and there was not enough power to fill the stadium. Although as a fan, I am familiar with his lyrics, but newbies will probably have a hard time understanding what Jason was singing about. Next complaint is the decision to do an acoustic set at a giant venue like Araneta. Jason should have gotten himself a full band to back him up complete with sax and wind instruments – it would have been much more fun.

Still acoustic sets have that feeling of intimacy which die hard fans probably preferred, sadly these die hard fans only know Jason’s popular songs like You and I both, I’m yours and Lucky. Overall it was a great concert experience and was well worth the dread of traffic and the hard time we had parking our car.

And honestly I was a bit surprised because there was no mention in the news that Steve’s condition was already that bad. Just a few days after the announcement of iPhone 4s, Apple Macintosh again took the world by storm with the news of its leader’s demise.

The peculiar thing is, when I read the news, somehow I felt sad, and the reaction was virtually the same through out my social networking range. Its like everyone paused for a bit to think about this man, some were probably taking care of their ach payments, feeding their kids, driving to work, eating lunch etc… But I am quite sure that most of us dropped what we were doing when we heard the news and spent a bit of time thinking about Steve Jobs, his life contributions and comparing it to our own puny contributions.

Everyone took the time to remember this great achiever’s life. And to me that is already a great honor in itself for all of Steve Jobs accomplishments.

Still what’s done is done and people will move on. The news and the interwebs will be talking about useless things again in just a few days. I just hope and pray that Steve’s family is coping well and that Apple will continue to produce great innovative and quality products.

And I also hope that I learn something from the life of this man that successfully changed the way the world thinks.

Now if you smoke in your own private place, you can buy as many local cigars or padron cigars online and there will be no problem. Smoking is your choice, but RA 9211 is aiming to raise awareness about the effects of second hand smoke on other people and the environment.

I give the RA 9211 a 2.5 star for it’s good intentions, but lack of action…

It was also shown that most of the iconic Roxas Boulevard is now under water due to the high tide and storm surge combination earlier.  Since SM Mall of Asia is within close proximity to Roxas, I won’t be surprised if it was also flooded, specially since it stands on reclaimed land.

Let us all pray for our Filipino brothers that were affected by Typhoon Nesat / Typhoon Pedring…

Edit (Sept 30, 2011):  According to “skyscrapercity” MOA was NOT affected.  He maybe partly correct, there are images of wind damage, but none of flood damage.  It was shown on TV that the Baywalk side of MOA was damaged by the storm surge flood so…

If like me you are planning to get into running, you might want to check out the 1st ever Run Expo will happen on September 24 to September 25, 2011.  This will be held at SM Mall of Asia’s SMX Convention Center.

In this event running enthusiasts will meet face to face with the latest gadgets and gear related to running, as suppliers will be showcasing their best products.  This is a great business opportunity for suppliers to set up their owntrade show display booth. And of course this will be a good chance to get the best running gear and gadget at a discounted price.