Dino World visits Davao

At NCCC Mall in Davao they are currently featuring a display of “Dino World”. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with the exhibition, and would recommend it to anybody who has kids especially. I had heard of the exhibition a few weeks ago but didn’t think much about it, but today I was taking my son, Aaron to NCCC Mall for a haircut, and he asked if we could visit Dino World, so I said I’d be happy to take him.

To visit the Dino World display, you must go to the Third Level of the mall to buy your ticket. Tickets are P120 per person, which is quite expensive for here, although I personally found it reasonable. After purchasing your ticket, you then proceed up to the Fourth Level of the Mall for the exhibit. I didn’t really know what to expect, but had an open mind.

One thing that impressed me about the exhibit was that each group of guests is given their own tour guide to take them through and explain all of the various displays to them. Although I don’t remember her name, our tour guide was a nice girl who was a recent graduate from college, and was very knowledgeable about the various dinosaurs. She really made the tour informative and interesting. The first stop is a hall that has a number of different fossils on display – everything from Petrified Wood to Dinosaur Eggs, very interesting. Next, we went into another area and saw literally hundreds of other fossilized animals and sea creatures from back during the time when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The next visit on the tour was the highlight of the exhibit, it was Dinosaur Land, where they had replicas of many types of dinosaurs on display. These dinosaurs moved and made sound, and I was surprised – the looked so REAL! It shocked me to see how real they looked, and I really enjoyed hearing about each of the different dinosaurs there. After finishing up at Dinosaur Land, we were taken to see a 3D Movie. I was a little surprised, because I thought the movie would be about dinosaurs, but instead it was a 3D cartoon about soccer! Oh well…

I recommend Dino World if you are in Davao and want to check out something that the whole family will enjoy!

Mindanao’s own kabab!

Have you ever heard of Majid’s Kabob?  It’s a Persian Kabob place located on Rizal Street in Davao City.  I had seen and heard of Majid’s Kabob over the years, but had never given it a try before.  Well, a few weeks back, I was flipping the channels on the TV and came upon a little feature program that was being filmed at Majid’s.  I decided that I’d give them a try and see if the kabobs were as good as I had heard.

So, the next day for lunch, Feyma and I headed down to Rizal Street to give Majid a visit!  Majid is an Iranian Immigrant who has been living in Davao for some years now, I’m not sure how many.  He decided to open up a place selling the traditional Persian Kabobs that he knew from his ancestry.

At Majid’s they basically have about 5 or 6 different items on the menu, mostly different types of Kabobs.  They have Chicken Kabobs, Beef Kabobs, Pork, etc.  They also have a few plate meals too, but we decided to stick with the Kabobs, since that is what the place is famous for, right?  We ordered some beef kabobs and some chicken kabobs to get an idea of what different types tasted like.

Now, the first thing is that when they serve you the kabob, it is not on a stick like you might expect.  The kabobs are cooked on a metal skewer like you see in the photo.  After the cooking, it is taken off the skewer, and served to you with a piece of pita bread and some grilled tomatoes.  At your table there is some garlic sauce and other types of condiments to choose from.  I put the meat on the pita bread, opened up the tomatoes and put it on top, and smeared the whole thing with garlic sauce, rolled up the pita bread and ate it.  Delicious!   It was really a unique flavor that is unlike anything I had tasted before.  Both Feyma and I preferred the beef kabobs to the chicken, although both were tasty.  The prices were quite inexpensive too!

If you are in Davao, I highly recommend Majid’s Kabob, which is located on Rizal Street, just across the street from Rizal Promenade.  Give them a try!

The friendship of Roberto and Mike

Over at Mindanews there is an interesting opinion piece online right now.  It’s written by Father Roberto C. Layson, who writes a regular column for Mindanews.  As you can tell by his title, Roberto is a Priest, formerly a Parish Priest in Pikit, North Cotabato.  I’ve been to Pikit a couple of times, and I have an interest in that area of Mindanao.  Roberto, in his column, talks about an experience with his friend, Mike, who is a Muslim from the nearby town of Pagalungan.   Father Roberto says:

Mike is a Muslim and lives in the neighboring town of Pagalungan. I knew him since 1997 during the Rajahmuda war in Pikit.  He was the first Muslim I knew after I was transferred to Pikit from Jolo, Sulu. Since then, we became good friends.  For a while he worked with me under the Integrated Rehabilitation Program of the Immaculate Conception Parish of Pikit until he decided to mobilize their own NGO called IMAN which caters to the needs of the local residents in Pagalungan town.

Roberto goes on to talk about an event where he went to Mike’s house to visit with the family, particularly because of the graduation of Mike’s daughter from Ateneo de Davao University.  Roberto had a hand in helping Mike’s daughter be able to study at the Ateneo, and it seems that Mike’s family is so grateful to Roberto for that.

It’s really a touching story that Roberto tells, and I enjoyed reading it.  The other day, I had made a post about peace negotiations, and I said that if we all just treated our neighbors with respect and friendship, regardless of their religion, then what the government and MILF did was really meaningless anyway.  The story about Roberto and Mike really drives this home.  It shows that these two guys have been able to overcome religious differences and be true friends with each other.

Mindanao needs more people like Roberto and Mike!

This is Cute!

I took a photo of this kid right underneath this interesting signage.  I could imagine a huge ”bubble” right above him with the same text as he paid little attention with his surroundings.  Of course I took as it as an opportunity and aimed for that perfect shot.  

Photo taken in Bgy. Nuevo Trabajo, Agusan del Sur.

Election Paraphernalia Car Stickers

 I saw this car parked at SM Davao City.  

It used to be posters, now they even have car stickers!

I’m not certain whether it was an alarming sight or a just another car with those stickers.  . .