Author: Claire Algarme

  • My Music Festival 2015 in Malaysia: An Event to Remember

    My Music Festival 2015 in Malaysia: An Event to Remember

      There’s something exciting that’s happening in Malaysia! Its largest Live Band Music Festival is happening this 8 March 2015 at the Sunway Surf Pool in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Branded as My Music Festival 2015 or MMF2015, this mega live band festival will showcase 20 of Malaysia’s top performing live…

  • Tom N Toms Coffee: A Taste of South Korea in Bacolod

    Tom N Toms Coffee: A Taste of South Korea in Bacolod

    Who would have thought that a South Korean brand will arrive in the quiet city of Bacolod and give a jolt to the already vibrant food scene in the City of Smiles? Tom N Toms Coffee, which first opened ApGuJeong-Dong in Seoul in 2001 and now in the US, China, Australia,…

  • Eco-journeys and Environmental Education for Sustainability

    Eco-journeys and Environmental Education for Sustainability

    It was the right call at the right time. A former colleague from the development industry gave me a ring one morning. “Claire, I’m in Bacolod!” she exclaimed. She was to attend the 8th International Conference and Scientific Meeting (ICSM) that was being held in Talisay City, the city north of…

  • First-time in Imbiss, Bacolod: Food and Art in One Place

    First-time in Imbiss, Bacolod: Food and Art in One Place

    If you happen to be in Bacolod and you want to go German-style, there’s a great place for you to dine in. Literally means “snack” in the German language, Imbiss offers mouthwatering gourmet sausages and delightful food. [UPDATE 2023: This establishment has closed in this location and a new restaurant…

  • Iloilo City: A Neighbor Across the Seas Beckons

    Iloilo City: A Neighbor Across the Seas Beckons

    Old buildings and heritage houses, the sweet delicacies, the sweet-natured people, the sing-song language — there are so many things that Bacolod City shares with its neighbor across the seas, Iloilo City. And rightfully so. Many prominent families in Negros Occidental trace their roots in Iloilo. Through the years, residents of…

  • A Day at the Organic Market: the Joy of Eating Naturally

    A Day at the Organic Market: the Joy of Eating Naturally

    My appreciation for organic living did not happen overnight. In fact, it began more than a decade ago when I covered the Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival in 2014. That assignment introduced me to a community of passionate farmers, advocates, and entrepreneurs who shared one common belief: nature already provides many of…

  • My Papal Visit Experience: Seeing Pope Francis in 2015

    My Papal Visit Experience: Seeing Pope Francis in 2015

    The first month of the year 2015 is a great kick-off for the Visit the Philippines Year. January is full of festivities, and religious celebrations, at that. Throngs of people were expected to gather in Manila for the Black Nazarene,  in Cebu and Kabankalan for the Sinulog, in Iloilo for…

  • 15 Reasons to Have More Fun in the Philippines

    15 Reasons to Have More Fun in the Philippines

    Although the campaign, Visit the Philippines, was in 2015, every year is a reason to have more fun in my wonderful country, the Philippines. As a student of life where the world is my classroom, I always thirst for new things to unravel. That is why I pore myself reading…

  • My First Christmas Party with the Negrense Bloggers

    My First Christmas Party with the Negrense Bloggers

    The microphone has been passed and it was my turn to belt it out in the videoke. Good thing I was surrounded by enjoyable and exciting individuals who share the same passion as I am – singing and blogging! It was my first-time to join the Christmas party of the…

  • Krispy Kreme: Who’s flashing the Hot Now sign in Bacolod

    Krispy Kreme: Who’s flashing the Hot Now sign in Bacolod

    The neon light has finally come into life and the “Hot Now” sign is now turned on. Yes, the most awaited moment has arrived! Krispy Kreme has finally landed in the City of Smiles, Bacolod City — the Sugarlandia! Though the long wait is over, people lined up the day…

  • Beach-ready with artistic flip-flops

    Beach-ready with artistic flip-flops

    In a tropical country like the Philippines, flip-flops are part of the common staple among Filipino households. Whether one lives near the sea or in the mountains, he or she will always wear this kind of slippers around the house or when visiting neighbors or the market nearby. But with the advent of…

  • D Vitamin from Travelling

    D Vitamin from Travelling

    What do you get out of travelling? 1. Additional learnings 2. New friends 3. Fun experiences 4. and vitamin D! When you hit the beach or the pool, don’t you soak yourself under the sun? When you climb hills, when you trek on mountains, don’t you kiss the sun that is…

  • The best of Negros at the SMX launch

    The best of Negros at the SMX launch

    SMX Convention Center finally had its formal opening to set the stage for a more vibrant MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibition) sector in the province of Negros Occidental, particularly in the city of Bacolod. It was a launch like no other as locals and visitors from other cities and abroad…

  • First-time in Fresh Start Organic Farm in Talisay City

    First-time in Fresh Start Organic Farm in Talisay City

    In some grocery stores in Bacolod City, you will find some neatly packed greens bearing the name Fresh Start filling a portion of the shelves. They even have organic soaps and personal care products, too! So, who would have thought that I’d be stepping on the very land where their fresh produce…

  • Peñalosa Farms: Discovering the Heart of Farm Tourism

    Peñalosa Farms: Discovering the Heart of Farm Tourism

    There are places that simply let you admire the scenery. Then there are places that quietly change the way you look at life. Peñalosa Farms in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, belongs to the latter. What began as an ordinary morning drive from Bacolod City soon turned into one of the…