SOCCSKSARGEN Experience Tour Day Zero

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Part 4 of a series.

After a very goat-y lunch at KeikoKen Kambingan, we finally had time to take a nap. I was especially happy since I was already more than 24 hours awake. Kuya Nonoy brought us back to Family Country Hotel where we were able to nap for a good two hours!

At 3pm, we were back in order and headed to Gaisano Mall of Gensan to watch the preliminary round of the Mr. and Ms. Gensan 2012 pageant. We then learned that a talent show was already held a few days before the preliminary show. This makes the Mr. and Ms. Gensan pageant, not just a showcase of beauty, but a holistic pageant where beauty, wits, grace and talent take center-stage.

Opening Production Number

If we weren’t informed beforehand, we could have easily assumed that what we were watching was already the coronation night, especially in terms of production value.

Mr. and Ms. Gensan 2012 candidates in their formal wear.

The twelve candidates opened the program with a dance number then they took turns in introducing themselves. This was followed by a casual interview of the candidates. They then took on the ramp sporting their swimwear. They graced through the ramp once more in their formal wear. The preliminary show gave us a preview of the upcoming coronation night, plus, we were also given an idea on who the frontrunners are going to be. Of course, each one of us had our own bets.

FishDance Semi-Finals

Following the Mr. and Ms. Gensan preliminary show was the semi-finals of the Fishdance Hiphop Dance Crew Competition. Each performance was really adrenaline-pumping. Some were hair-raising, especially when the stunts involved lifting and “throwing”. I bet the previous Showtime champions, XB Gensan and True Colors, both from General Santos City, came from this competition. Amazing showcase of talent, really!

We must have consumed our energy screaming at the showcase of talent as our tummies were already grumbling for dear food! Kuya Avel had the best idea and brought us to Tiongson Arcade.

Tiongson Arcade is a strip of food stalls along Tiongson Street which serve tasty meat and seafood fare. It actually reminded me of the ‘Sutukil’ restaurants in Mactan Shrine wherein you select your choice meat and seafood and decide how you want it cooked, either Sugba (grilled), Tula (soup), Kilaw (raw meat in vinegar). But, there’s a big difference between the two! Food at Tiongson Arcade is low cost and easy on the budget!

Pili lang!

No-frills dining! But wait, they have a flat screen LCD TV!

Foreground: one of the best tasting pork barbecue ever!; Background: heavenly Grill Tuna Panga!

Pinaputok na Tilapia. Pinaputok (Burst) is a method of preparation wherein the fish is seasoned, drenched in oil and topped with your favorite herbs and spices. The fish is then wrapped the native way, in banana or pandan leaves, but in this case, aluminum foil was used. It is then baked, grilled or steamed. Once your fish is cooked, you’ll have an explosion of flavors! When this dish was being served, I was already appetized by its inviting aroma. I then learned that they used butter instead of oil. Titillating!

Halaan (Clam) Soup

After the gastronomic feast, we flushed everything with overflowing Coke! Ahhh, life’s simple joys..

And if you thought we ended the night there, you are mistaken. We then headed to Robinsons Place Gensan for our last agenda of the night: coffee! I particularly requested that we stay in a homegrown coffee shop brand so we found ourselves at Coffee Club 101 at the mall’s al fresco area

Coffee Club 101′s counter

Coffee Club 101 serves their own coffee creations plus smoothies, blended drinks, pasta and sandwiches and cakes and pastries to pair with your drinks. I had their raspberry-flavored tea and my sweet tooth loved it. And yes, you’ll be glad to know that they offer free Wi-Fi!

Interesting light fixtures at Coffee Club 101.

While we were talking about random stuff, Sir Ruben noticed that the hanging light fixtures were swaying! OMG! Earthquake! Actually, my first earthquake experience ever! As I try to recount what happened, I am amazed that we actually opened our Facebook and Twitter first before anything else, and then we learned that what we felt was a magnitude 7.9 quake and that it shook almost the entire VisMin area! (Nagpost pa ba naman ng status bago nag-evacuate! LOL)

So, we calmly (no, actually I was really shaken. This was my first so I didn’t know how to react LOL) walked towards the open parking area and waited until the situation would be back to normal. I took the opportunity to call my loved ones back in Cebu and I was relieved to know that everyone was safe. A tsunami warming was hoisted but was immediately terminated after a few hours. After we felt the last aftershock, we went back to the coffee shop and continued chatting until we called it a night.

(…to be continued)

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