Bojol Grill brings joy if you are having O Holy Night in Tagbilaran

My favorite at Bojol Grill- Adobong Manok at P90 only.

If you are in Tagbilaran and could not sing O Holy Night from your bed, try going out to Bojol Grill located near the  Plaza Rizal in downtown Tagbilaran. This is the only affordable watering hole that opens until three in the morning.

The place could be deceiving and if you are not keen on asking a habal-habal (yes dear, habal-habal is a way of life in this city) or a tricycle driver, you might not find it. Bojol Grill is smacked at the back of stalls infront of the National Museum of Tagbilaran.

Bojol Grill has an air-conditioned restaurant, several karaoke rooms (price ranging from P100 to P150 an hour) and the open air area for smokers and in case the smell of fried food intoxicates you inside.

The waiting staff are nice and courteous and the place looks clean. 

A note of caution- the restaurant is usually full of rowdy students on Sundays and Mondays, understandably because they just came from their hometowns, with pockets full of money to spend. Also, gays in different forms frequent the area.

That and all, Bojol Grill would be an interesting place to people watch while having your cold beer.

Snapshots from Bohol

I'm going to the place where love

And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.

Chris Daughtry

When was the last time I came home? July? And yet Bohol is still the place I know except for Tagbilaran which looks and feels too crowded.

Oh, Bohol. Yeah, this is Bohol. My Bohol.

First impressions: Massage at Nenen's Salon in Tagbilaran

There seems to be a different outlook between my Tagbilaran friends when it comes to massage. So finding one was a dilemma. One don't like Body and Sole because the place is tacky. The other don't like Thai. We finally agreed that Grand Royal Spa is good, but the place closed its business long time ago.

One friend suggested that I try Nenen's Salon and Spa (at Maria Clara Street, Tagbilaran City). I was quite surprised because I know Nenen's is a beauty parlor and this was the first time I heard they have a spa/massage. He said I should try it, suggesting a therapist he knew there came from Grand Royal.

So I went there, hoping to try a new experience.

But the therapist my friend suggested was no longer connected at Nenen's. Tired and weary, I submit myself to one of its therapists.

It was a disaster. 

I mean, I have been to a lot of massage centers and have been massaged by several therapists, but at Nenen's it was the first time I saw a therapist who would not leave the cubicle when you strip down. So okay, he is male and why should I care. 

The cubicle even was so small, with no lights and worse they put off the lights outside so I kept on bumping the barber's chair outside the curtained "cubicle." Somebody from the next cubicle turned on his/her mobile phone radio and played mushy songs. What an ambience!

The worst came when he finally did the massage, err, knead. No. PUMP! I don't know if it was a new technique but after applying lotion on my back he pressed it like it was having a cardiac arrest. I stayed silent. He spent 45 minutes and almost a bottle of lotion pumping my back.

Instead of getting relaxed, I felt tensed. The whole one hour session extended to almost two hours of kneading and pumping I already felt like a bread ready to be baked. I don't know why I did not let it stop. I was not even amazed. I wanted to know what the therapist would do next and see if he was doing it right.

Had my friends not asked the front desk why it took so long for the massage, the therapist might not stop. He left me lying there on the massage table. So I changed and came out oily and full of lotion on my body. And like a meek sheep, the therapist offered me a hot towel "to get the lotion off" when I was already fully dressed and already at the front desk.

The 200 pesos as introductory offer was not worth it. Maybe Nenen's Salon should stick to the salon thing and no longer entertain the massage part.

Just a friendly advice though.

(Picture from i.ehow.com)

The Moon and a Street in Tagbilaran

The moon is the only quiet witness to the deserted Tagbilaran street. It was only 9 in the evening. Sayang. My Sony Ericsson was not able to give justice to the beauty of the moon and the street that evening.

Breeding and Professionalism Matters

Remember Jerome Sala? That young man from the province of Bohol who bested others in ABS-CBN's Star in a Million 2005 show?

Well- he got married and started a hollow blocks business in his hometown of Pilar in Bohol. Management problems, I heard, had him with no projects despite winning that prestigious show.

And he did it again!

No, he did not win anything but I heard from the grapevine that Jerome Sala Ucab is banned from performing anywhere in Tagbilaran City and worst in the whole province of Bohol due to a conflict with Mayor Dan Lim and Governor Erico Aumentado. Sources say that Mr Ucab was requested to act and sing in the Dagohoy Musical to recap the Sandugo festivities on July 26 (Sunday) but he turned down the offer due to management (again!) and money matters. Chismosos and chismosas who heard the angry call of Mayor Lim was happily shocked with the words the famous mayor is known for.

Such a waste of talent! Mr Ucab should not let that Star in a Million win bloat his ego and become his waterloo. Fans of Mr Ucab should defend him now and perhaps explain his side.

Meanwhile, Cesar Montano and his wife Sunshine Cruz, who were asked to act on that same musical readly accepted their roles. Montano, who proudly wears his Boholano heritage everywhere, is proud to be part of that musical and is rehearsing his role when I wrote this.

This goes to show how breeding and professionalism affects a person.

(All pics from wikipedia.com)

On Assignment: Photo Shoot in Bohol

I arrive in Tagbilaran feeling a little bit nauseated. Although the weather is fine, the sea near Maribojoc towards Tagbilaran Bay is quite rough. When I alight from the Weesam Express, it is terribly hot in the pier area, as compared to the freezing conditions inside the fast craft. I feel a sore throat building up.

After a few months of not going home to this place, I suddenly felt alienated. Too many people. Too many motor vehicles. Too small a place. I noticed that Tagbilaran has become constricted and suffocating. That feeling when you are expecting a lot of space but all you see is a horde of sweaty smelly entities and a swarm of tricycles filling your lungs with dark smoke and dusts.

I have to squint my eyes. They hurt like hell from the pollutants and the bright sun. The vampire in me struggles with day jobs. To wither under the sun or die without food and comfort are hard choices to make.

The only thing I am glad is the election season that is obviously here. The roads in Tagbilaran suddenly become smooth and worthy of praise. At least the roads I have passed through. I wondered if the roads going to Mansasa looks like a real road now and not some cratered landscape you see in the sci-fi movies. Such is the magic of elections.

After visiting some friends and former officemates, I retreated to my friend’s house to rest.

Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Legends of the Fall

A meeting suddenly shifted focus on buangs (mentally ill) when an old resident of Burgos Street in Tagbilaran City asked everyone of us for ten pesos. I was amused because they also gave him the money. Interested, I asked the group who was the man and why were they shelling out tens.

They gave me this story instead.

Myth- The big acacias in Burgos Street (now Venancio Inting Avenue) in Tagbilaran City were occupied by engkantos of different kinds. A familiar story told amongst residents was whenever the roots of the trees extend to the houses in the area, somebody from that house would lose his mind.

Fact- Burgos Street is the home of the original drug addicts in Tagbilaran. Long before drug addiction is considered a nuisance, some of these people have concocted unimaginable drinks to get high. One story they told me is a lapad of gasoline mixed with one liter Sprite will bomb you out. Of course the katsobong is no longer fashionable but they mixed it with another potent ingredient.

Creepy, indeed.