WALANG tulugan, walang dieta-dieta, hala Bira! This about sums up my 30th Kadayawan festival. It was an abnormal time for me, actually.
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| Walang tulugan? No problemo ! I downed one of these to keep me going all through the night ….& morning. |
At my age, I have shied away from late nights because recovery time takes longer. I have stuck to a strict diet to keep bad cholesterol at bay and it seems that I am losing my battle against the fats, which might lead to another invasive procedure. Topping the list is I hate the heavy traffic by the festival season brings about.
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| Walang dieta-dieta! Will power lost the battle against good food. |
This year, I did the opposite. I dared the heavy traffic, nodded to all the food tasting invitations, partied until morning like I was a couple of decades younger, and I will admit I enjoyed every second of it.
Let me hand down apples and refrain from hurling lemons. Kadayawan is all about food and merriment and to those who made Davao such a happy place to be this month, you deserve apples.
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| Noble cause for SEDA Abreeza. The hotel's Kadayawan promo was to benefit the Philippine Eagle longevity |
Marco Polo served not only a special fare, but presented the best of the city through the “Heart of Davao” exhibition. SEDA Abreeza took the noble cause channel and teamed up with the Philippine Eagle Foundation to raise funds to save the National Bird from extinction via its food and room sales promotion. Park Inn by Radisson took the fiesta route and tweaked their food promotion to include more people enjoying one complete meal order. SM Lanang Premier served another edition of Davao Gourmet Collective, a well curated one, with an exciting line up of purveyors cooking up specialties that once again tickled the taste buds of all who attended. Apples for everyone!
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| The best of Davao in a single stop. Marco Polo Davao showcased the Heart of Davao on the festival month |
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| A well curated edition of Davao Gourmet Collective drew in the foodies. Alibaba Shawarma is best newcomer |
A slew of musicmeisters, both international and local, came and ruled the Kadayawan nights. Even before the sun set the beat of the music made waves of sounds that lured in the citizens to the fairgrounds like Pied Piper to the town’s kids, only this had a happy ending.
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| Arcadia Pub Crawl. Holding the Huckleberry fort was DJ BadKiss |
Spectrum’s Invasion Tour hosted the Crocodile Park shindig, Manic Nightnings dished out a two-night fete—a pub crawl and a bigger party at the D’Leonor Inland Resort, and out of nowhere a Brazilika came into the picture, a nice addition to the party menu. Apples for you!
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| I stayed up late to join the first night of Manic Nightnig's momentous 2-night shindig. Here artistahin Aaron Villaflor Manic Mama Kat Dalisay & fellow manunulat Karla Singson |
I joined Manic’s first night event, the pub crawl, and managed to cover half of the list. I somehow found myself stuck like a fly to a spider’s web at Huckleberry. The crowd was the one I was most familiar with and decided to stay. Stay I did until way, way past bedtime.
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| Just like old times. The halfway point of the Arcadia Pub Crawl where I stayed & skipped the rest on the list |
The festival can’t do without its signature events and 2015 crowned a new Mutya ng Kadayawan, awarded gold to the best performer in the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan, the blue ribbon to the best in the Pamulak floral float parade and the top trophies to the creative minds of the Moda MindaNow fashion design tilt. To all the hardworking organizers and talented participants, congratulations and pleased take some apples.
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| The best of Moda MindaNow. The winning pieces of this year's fashion tilt |
It was a fun Kadayawan. I’m looking forward to another Hala bira! celebration next year.
For more photos of these events & more lifestyle & travel stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/ and http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 30, 2015.
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