BER MONTHS SPECIAL

Pinoys Celebrate BER Months:
Jose Mari Chan Memes, Jollibee Kiddie Meal Collection, Mall Dancing Lights, Christmas Decoration Hunting and More

  SEASONAL  

It is time of the year when everything becomes colorful, full of excitement and a meme-filled fun! 
Well, in the Philippines, the last day of August means the eve for BER Months. This modern celebration is a traditional expansion or evolution of Christmas where in Filipino Christians get to celebrate the season as early as September. Why it's called Ber Months? Well,it's actually an imaginative wordplay made by someone that spread to the Filipino lingo. All months from September leading to Christmas Eve on December has BER letters at its end.

But new fun practices emerged from this contemporary tradition. Usually, on August 31, or even early as July, fun memes of Jose Mari Chan, a popular Filipino producer/composer/singer turned businessman, spreadlike wildfire to Social Media. The memes are teasers and reminders that BER Months are coming. 

Funny Holiday Memes

Here is a video of JMC's Memes Special Collection:  

 WATCH THIS VIDEO 

These meme ideas were based from another Ber Months tradition that have been practiced ever since.  As early as August 31, we get to hear Christmas Music or Paskong Pinoy OPM sounds like Jose Mari Chan's Christmas in our Hearts and Perfect Christmas being blasted from loudspeakers in malls, jeepneys (modern transport buses), parks, resorts or in homes. On the foreign side, Maria Carey's I'll be Home for Christmas also is dominating yuletide playlists after playlist in the streaming platforms like in many Spotify, Amazon Music or YouTube Music in this time of year.

 Paskong Pinoy is a different cultural heritage based on Western Christmas celebration and Spanish traditions but with twist of barrio style fiesta.

JOLLIBEE KIDDE MEALS

Every Ber Months, Jollibee toy collectors are getting busy visiting branches if there are new Kiddie Meal toys.

 WATCH THIS VIDEO 

Christmas Lights Extravaganza

Malls in the Philippines becomes more festive and colorful in BER Months, blasting Christmas OPM and Traditional Xmas music:  

 WATCH THIS VIDEO 

Giant Christmas Trees in malls lure and spread magica on
families and barkadas as early as September

This cultural phenomena was embraced by many Filipinos as they get to enjoy Christmas earlier than other in the world. For many, Ber Months means different Local Government Agencies (LGUs) get to have grand launching of their Christmas villages or giant Christmas trees. Some get to have switching of light ceremonies. Mall take advantage of this early months for them to easily magnet buyers in purchasing Christmas decors, lanterns and lights. Online shops like Lazada and Shoppee are also in line with this tradition.

Decoration Hunting

Decors you might need this coming Christmas/BER Monts fro your house or office
(for members of Landers Superstore):  

 WATCH THIS VIDEO 

Christmas Village

Some rich Filipinos get to share the Christmas Spirit by giving free tour of their Christmas decorations  to other people who love the magic of Christ's birth. 

 WATCH THIS VIDEO 

Well, the usual culprit of these new traditions is the commercialization of Christmas. Creatives from advertising agencies and marketing managers of malls and grocery stores are putting their heads hard on thinktank tables to make interesting adverts and promotional materials so people will spend more during the holidays. Getting the buyer's attention is one great element of why Rodolph the Reindeer was created. 

Television companies are also sources of making the holidays evolve drastically by introducing new Company Christmas IDs with their talents singing a new Christmas song that they wish would somehow become viral.
Nonetheless, Christmas Spirit should still be anchored with faith, peace, love and hope which are the primary factors that the Bible wanted to convey for us to spread to our fellow men, believers or non-believers. 

COWORKING SPACE: WFH/VA's POWER OUTAGE SOLUTION

Working in Bacolod BUT there are POWER OUTAGES! INTERNET PROBLEMS! 
Well, a trip to a CoWorking Space is the Answer

 LIFE HACKS | COWORKING LIFESTYLE 

When the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC) took over CENECO, Bacolod's long-time electric company, many feared that the joint venture would cause more problems just like what happened with the consolidation of Primewater with BACIWA, the water provider of the city. NEPC, on the other hand, promised fewer brownouts or unannounced power outages when they took over until... 

Damaged Feeder Transformer in Bacolod (left photo: Negros Power)

August became a fateful month for many consumers when, according to NEPC-CENECO, the 13-year-old transformer of the Alijis substation caused 7 Feeders to fail. It was beyond repair and needed a new one. This event took NEPC's engineers by surprise. It caused a massive blackout in many areas of Bacolod especially down South, affecting a lot of consumers whose businesses and lifestyles rely on electricity.
One of the consumer sectors affected a lot is the WFH or Virtual Assistant (VA) workers who relied heavily on steady power at home. Also, without power, internet connection is cut off. Trouble is no longer a friend to these people who have overseas bosses to report to.

Arendo Coworking Space has Globe and PLDT internet providers 

for WiFi connectivity redundancy

So, these remote workers have been in panic mode. Some were looking for temporary ways to do their jobs by buying expensive generators that only last four hours. Gas prices, as we all know, are not that cheap these days. When NEPC told consumers through press releases that this could take two weeks to be solved, the affected Work at Home individuals had a big question in mind - What to do next?

Watch video Short

If you are one of these VAs or someone who do Work from Home jobs, one great solution to this uncontrollable event is to look for a place that has a steady generator, two fast internet providers (Globe and PLDT Fiber connection), private rooms, clean toilet, electric sockets and most of all a relaxing atmosphere with a pantry for unlimited coffee. This way you can reach productivity without worrying that anytime another major outage could happen. In Bacolod, there is one place that offers all of these mentioned. Arendo CoWorking Space, now in its 7th year, is a tried and tested place for students and freelancers to study and work with high productivity in mind. Arendo, as a business, has even survived the trials of Covid lockdowns in 2020. 

Pantry at Arendo Coworking Space

This secure CoWorking space is also very accessible as it is located at Roli's Arcade building along Lasalle Avenue and it is near to many establishments like McDonald's, Jollibee, 711, Watson's, and iMart.

ARENDO CoWorking's Website: https://arendo.com.ph/ 

FOLLOW ARENDO CoWorking's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ArendoCoworking 

Sanyog Manapla

A GRAND SECTORAL AND CULTURAL-RICH FIESTA IN MANAPLA

 EVENT | TOWN FIESTA

In Manapla, a town one-hour drive from Bacolod going to North of Negros, August is the most exciting, colorful, and vibrant month of the year. It's aside from the BER months which Manapla also celebrates with glee. 
And why August? The town's patron saint St. Roch's, feast falls on August 16 and in lieu with this Manaplahanons get to celebrate their annual fiesta that now goes beyond religious practices but also now commemorates culture, heritage and living legacies. 

Manapla's fiesta has evolved into a more modern approach but with focus on on the livelihood of the people like farming, fishing, puto making, dinuguan cooking, art and more.
Innovation has changed how Manaplahanons celebrate fiesta. Powerful sound systems, music sync to hi-tech lights and  large LED monitors don the stage. However, the heart of the festivity is more than just these innovative visuals. Under the leadership of Mayor Escalante, councilors and municipal staff, they opted a different approach. A myriad of activities were lined up for different sectors of the municipality. 

 WATCH THIS VIDEO

This sectoral kind of fiesta encompasses different members of the community from the children to the youth to adults to senior citizens, women, LGBT members and more.
Geographically Manapla is beside the sea. So, the fishermen had their boat race (bangkarero). It is a salute to the fishing sector that thrives in the town. The sport lovers got to see action in the ring through boxing at the plaza, basketball league and biking events that showcased the sporting abilities of local and individuals in Negros island who were invited to join. The party lovers, meanwhile, were treated with nights of music from well-known acts, DJs and bands from Manila. 

The local artists were also given a platform to showcase their raw talents through an art competition which, again, is a success as the artworks were so done well. The LGBT+ community of Manapla had their fun evening by showcasing costumes inspired by the products of Manapla.

On the last day of the the 154th Manang Pula Festival, despite some setbacks like an occasional brownout and rain, the events were resounding success. Merrymakers were treated to a thousand free Manapla puto and a bowl of dinuguan cuisine. There was happiness and fun! It was an infectious fun! It was evident in the vigor and smiles of participants of the puto cooking and dinuguan contest as well as in the participants of the Manang Pula dance showdown which had 12 entries from different barangays. The dancers and prop people braved the heat to perform in the street and arena dance competitions. The performance and the announcement of the results were shot live in social media through influencers Arkipila Go, Couple Feet and I Love Manapla.

HERE ARE THE RESULTS:

Street Dance Competition 

2nd Prize - Brgy Purisima
1st prize - Brgy. 1A
Champion - Brgy 1                                      

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Most Disciplined Tribe - Brgy. Punta Mesa
Best in Costume Design -  Brgy. San Pablo 
Best in Manang Pula in Character - Brgy. 2-A
Best Bernardo in Character - Brgy 1-A
Best in Production Design - Brgy. Punta Salong
Best in Choreography - Brgy 1 A

Best in Arena Dance Competition  

2nd Place - Brgy. Punta Mesa 
1st Place - Brgy. San Pablo  
Champion - Brgy. 1-A 

Many OFWs went to home to experience again the fun and food. Surrounding the plaza were the usual features of a festival: food park, ukay ukay tents, rides and others. On the eve of the fiesta, the Manapla National High School also spent their homecoming/reunion gathering and show at the public plaza.

TANDUAY RUM FESTIVAL (FOOD PARK WALKING TOUR and MORE)

TANDUAY RUM FESTIVAL
FOOD TRIP AT THE PARK

   EVENT | 9 DAY CITY FESTIVAL 

Go eat! Go drink! Go Drunk! Go Enjoy! But don't sin! 
The Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival is a merriment that targets not only rum aficionados but also the entire family who want to take a respite and break from life's monotony away from home. Despite the event's title, the Rum Festival actually is a merriment that also targets everyone. The food park Bacolod City Government Center is the hub of the festivity.
During this time, different street food kiosks are lined up to tame everyone's gastronomic demands. 

Name it and you have the famous Bacolod Chicken Inasal leading the array of grilled cuisines. With hotdogs to isaw to pork bbq and more, unli rice is up for grabs as well as free soup to complement them. While  those who love
talaba (oysters) so much , won't be disappointed as kiosks have those fresh ones, too. Right there and then, after you choose what you desire, it's up for waiting and grilling time before the eating begiins. Well, as the song goes, smoke gets in your eyes, literally.

 

Two giant balloon replicas of Tanduay bottles were installed and  lighted up at the BCGC park grounds while barrels of the famous rum maker adorned the Bacolod letters icon. At the entrance of the food park, there's an Instagrammable wall that greets everyone. The wall is painted with a visual story about Filipino and Bacolod culture, focusing on bayanihan, blue collar job employees seemingly preparing and sharing food and, well, drinking a beverage (which we assume is Tanduay).

Meanwhile, walking around the food park, you get to meet some pretty Tanduay promo models in their red and white dress, duo musicians who plays pop and classic music, friendly security people, and ukay ukay sellers. Of course, as the name suggests, you get to see bartenders inviting you to taste their mixes of alcohol drinks (not for free).

The Bacolod Rum Festival started in 2019 and returned after the pandemic in 2022. Usual activities include, Rum Barrel Painting contest, Flairtending & Mixology Competition, Rum Education Day (Field Trips to Tanduay plant in bacolod), Culinaria Competition, Parade and Street Dance Competition, Motorcade of Tanduay's Ambassadors and Special Guests, Food Park, Music Festival and it usually culminates with a free concert at the BCGC grounds like Ely Buendia of Eraserheads who performed on August 19, 2023. For year 2023, Juan Karlos and Allmost Music will sing their hearts out LIVE at the BCGC where the Rum Festival food park is located.

TREK TO MAMBUKAL RESORT'S MAGNIFICENT 7 

(Did We Reach All Seven Waterfalls?)

   NATURE WITH HIKING TIPS and VIDEO BELOW   

THE FOREST PATH TO THE WATERFALLS

Negros Occidental is home to the mystic Mt. Kanlaon and other neighboring volcanoes. In these mountain ranges, thousands of waterfalls abound. And in Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia, you can find seven power waterfalls feeding the resorts' man-made lake and swimming pool with its cool waters. 

Hiking to these 7 falls, however, takes time, patience and energy plus a lot of safety nets should be considered as there are occasional landslides and, of course, the terrain can get  muddy and slippery on rainy season. Flashfloods are also a given phemonenon as the North Negros Forest is catch basin and can bring high levels of water. That's why the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, the institution that owns and maintains Mambukal, closed down the hiking trail, for the meantime, for the safety of tourists. 

It is advised to do the trail during summer to avoid these muddy paths. Of course, water is much more clean and bluer. 

WATCH THIS VIDEO FEATURE

As you can see in the video above, we only reached the 3rd falls as we were saving our energy back to the main resort plus for another adventure to Don Salvador Benedicto in the afternoon. We ate a light breakfast at the resort before we trekked so it gave a extra jolt for our us to walk around the forest. The stairs to the 2nd falls was so steep and slippery, you need more energy to go up safely. The 3rd waterfalls was even more challenging to reach. The sheer power of the falls blow off the dew drops to the stairs, making it slippery.

BRIDGE OVER SERENE WATERS

Going back, we took some group and selfie photos. But, one can wonder how such picturesque place exist. There's a speechless wonderment while we were taking photos of the ecology that overpowers us. Our nature photographs and videos for MANG INTERESADO youtube channel can tell it vividly and these images included some stick insects that are seemingly saying hello to us. These little creatures are indeed amazing to look at as it blends well with the flora of the place. On top of it all, you will be awe-struck with Mother Nature's bounty: stunning scenery, clear waters, the living flora and refreshing environment.

Indeed, hiking to these natural wonders is worth it.

HIKING TIPS
If you have the energy, determination and passion to hike to these 7 falls, we have some tips for you to keep in mind: 

1. You need to ask for a personal guide (comes with a fee) 
2. You have to list your full names on a manifest at the gate
3. If you hike in groups, you need to check each other 
4. Wear non-slippery shoes (hiking shoes are ideal). Don't wear slippers 
5. Watch out for falling rocks 
6. Be aware of the cliffs and zigzaging pathway (you might fall down if you don't check the mountainside pathway 
7. Wear comfortable shorts 
8. Bring canteen of container of water 
9. Careful in moving up the steep cemented stairs to the other falls 
10. Don't throw garbage in the forest. Take pictures only 
11. Appreciate nature but don't disturb their habitats 
12. Just in case, put some sunscreen and anti-mosquito lotion  
13. During rainy season, be careful as the water stream is stronger and deadly 
14. When hiking avoid making pranks and jokes 
15. Watch out for venomous snakes 
16. Don't eat too much before hiking 
17. Bring first aid kit 
18. Bring some reflective materials for easy detection (you can this when get stranded or lost in the forest.
19. Don't cook, don't smoke or bring materials that can cause fire in the forest
20. Always Remember: Safety First! (Hold on to Railings, Don't Run, Don't Jump esp on wet stones,  Walk slowly in slippery cliffs and don't swim during a rainy day (Flashflood might be happen) 

LONG EXPOSURE SHOT MAKES WATERFALL PHOTOS MAGICAL

LISTEN: BACOLOD MASSKARA FESTIVAL 2023 Theme Song (with lyrics)

Hear ye! It's the time of the year when,  every October, the streets of Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental, becomes alive again with reverie and people start to feel the happy vibes in the air during the BER Months (not becaiuse of Christmas season) but because of the Masskara themes are being displayed everywhere from malls to the streets.
Many already knew how this 3-week long festival started but for those who heard this festival for the first time, Masskara was created because of very sad events. In the 80s, Bacolod suffered many setbacks in its sugar industry thanks to the world p. That event back then caused havoc to the life of Negrenses and Bacolodnons because sugar was the lifeblood of the island. The sinking of the Negros Navigation MV Don Juan taht caused many deaths and missing people added to the injury to the economy. Thus the festival was born out of these sad events. Local artists convened to created a long-lasting event that will influence people to smile again in the midst of hardships. Smiling dancers with masks competed along the streets of the downtown area and people from all walks of life were attracted to the colorful costumes that were truly memorable, fun and creative. For years, its success gradually revitalized the economy and the spirit of Bacolodnons.  Under the leadership of Mayor Albee Benitez, MassKara came back after some years of hiatus due to the Pandemic.  On 2022, BALIK YUHUM (SMILES RETURN) becomes the battlecry theme of the post-pandemic Masskara.  
Fort the year 2023  on Mayor Albee's 2nd term, MassKara has a new theme called Sinadya sa Bacolod and it also comes with a THEME SONG performed by: Kyle Echarri, Janeena Chan and  Anthony Rosaldo . of the 2023 MASSKARA FESTIVAL (WITH LYRICS)  This is Released by Bacolod Yuhum Foundation | 

 

Mother Nature's Balance (The Elemental Machine Photomanipulation)

Model Photography, Photoshop Manipulation and concept by George Pontino Jr

Model:Apple of Manapla

Here's THE ELEMENTAL, an image inspired by the Mayan "End of the World" brouhaha which suggests that our dear Earth will face it's impending doom based on a ancient calendar the Mayan used.  But 12.21.12.  came but nothing happened. We are still here..alive and kicking. Environmental factors and ecological imbalance also inspired some of its final theme output.

This photomanipulation work doesn't reflect my usual favorite apocalyptic forces like a quakes, tsunamis, zombies and meteor showers to name a few. But this time, I like to show a thematic image of how to "Save the Earth from Doom." The image is a fantasy and mechanical theme utilizing my photography that I took of a model posing on a real machine that was used to grind sugar before the large milling companies in our islands were built.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: My photo edit connects with atomic matter, Mother Nature and its elements that are powerful symbols. This doesn't reflect the "Saving the Earth" concept directly but I wanted to portray that somewhere, somehow Mother Nature is real and she balances Earth using  her elemental machine, saving it from an impending doom. Hope you like this... (CHECK OUT THE STEP BY STEP IMAGE BELOW)

(Click to Enlarge images) 

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