ZUProme Xpress

The 30 Day Blogging Challenge ended yesterday. For the entire month of October, I was able to do daily blogging. It feels great that I was able to accomplish such task! It’s no easy feat considering there were some challenges along the way, and I fulfilled them all!  I’m a bit exhausted from my Siquijor trip with the Cebu bloggers (I’ll blog about it in the coming days) but I don’t want to break the streak, so here I am trying to make another blog post.  LESSON LEARNED Here are the lessons I learned from this blogging exercise: 1. Blogging becomes a habit if you do it for 30 consecutive days. It feels off that I won’t be able to blog in a day. If not every day, probably I wish to blog at least twice a week. Blogging has not become a part of my daily life. 2. Write for your readers, not just for yourself. When writing for my blog, I realized not I should write something that will give value to my readers. I’m not just writing a diary but a ...

As part of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, today I will thanking 30 people/things/anything-I-like for whatever-reason-I-know. If it sounds a bit crazy, well, it is.  Zuprome says thank you to these 30 people/group/things/technologies/whatever-it-is for helping me survive each day of my life and as a blogger in Zuprome. My sincerest gratitude to you, my fellow mates and partners in crime. 1. UP Cebu To my alma mater, thank you for teaching me all the random things in this world. With you, I wouldn’t be able to meet the crazy people of my life and I am most grateful of accepting me in your university. I hope, at the end of the day, it’s not just me who’s always proud of you. Mayta ikaw sad nako. 2. Family To my Mama, Lola and everyone who have always been on my side no matter what happened, thank you for believing in me. Thank you for helping me become what I am and owe every success I got to all of you. I will do my best to make you proud of me. ...

It has been 25 days since I started joining this 30 Day Blogging Challenge of Cebu Blogging Community. Out of the 26 blog posts, I decided to curate the top 10 most-read blog posts and give some takeaway from these blogging journey that you can on your blog, too. Since I started joining the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, no challenge has passed without me accepting it. Today, we were tasked to write a blog post covering 10 of the blog posts from this challenge. With that, I decided to curate this 10 most-read blog posts.  10 MOST-READ BLOG POSTS 10. How This Blog Became Zuprome Okay, I didn’t expect this blog post to get attention from the community. I was just told to be vain for a moment and talk about myself. I don’t know how to be not too vain so I decided to write about the history of Zuprome. With this entry being included in the top 10 most-read blog posts this month is a shock to me. Why would vanity be something that people love to read? If you dare, you c...

Who are the top performing universities in Cebu? It’s difficult to find the top universities in Cebu without the guidelines for such list. If given a chance, I wouldn’t want to create this blog, and it’s the CHED and other academic institution’s job to come up with this list. Giving my personal opinion doesn’t make a credible source and I know that students will always insert their opinion and extend their support to their university. Having a credible list is definitely a challenge. The following can be basis for your personal ranking: board exam rating, performance of graduates, courses offered, teacher quality, and teacher-to-student class ratio. With that, I need your help by voting the best universities in Cebu. If you believe that the university included on this list isn’t performing well, you can vote it down. (Disclaimer: This is an unofficial ranking and only based on the respondent's views and opinions. This does not represent the blog site...

Have you been to Cebu City? The Queen City of the South is the one of the most popular cities in the Philippines along Manila and Boracay. If you are a Cebuano, you have probably realized that many streets in Cebu are named after famous people in history. I decided to gather 10 common streets in Cebu and create a list of meaningful information about these streets. 1. Colon Avenue Named After: Christopher Columbus (c.1450/1451–1506) Trivia: Cristobal Colon, or more popularly known as Christopher Columbus to many, is an Italian explorer. He has completed 4 voyages across the Atlantic ocean. Location: Colon Street is in downtown Cebu. Previously known to be the center of commerce in the city, Colon is now to known to be the Divisoria of Cebu. 2. Gorordo Avenue Named After: Bishop Juan Bautista Perfecto Garces Gorordo (1862–1934) Trivia: Did you know Bishop Juan Bautista Gorordo is one of the former Bishop Emeritus of Cebu from 1910 to 1931? Locat...

Many of us Filipinos love traveling so much. However, traveling isn’t always something that can happen on a whim. When the country you really want to visit requires information-heavy visa applications and a visit (or multiple visits) to that country’s embassy, it can certainly tarnish the fairy tale feel. The process itself can take a while, and since there’s no promise you’ll actually receive that visa in the end, it can also end up being cost-ineffective. But don’t let that discourage you from traveling. Stay positive! There is hope. Not all countries require that pesky visa. In fact, Philippine passport holders have a treasure trove of countries they can visit. Limits vary, but some countries allow you to stick around for more than 90 days! Here’s a breakdown of these countries and their respective limits. This information was compiled by the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs, Wiki and GMA News Online. Visa-free (zero limits): Cape Verde Islands Comoros St. H...

Traveling requires more than going out and spending your time in a different environment. It requires planning, patience and a good state of mind. It is a great opportunity to explore new places, meet new friends, learn new things and rediscover yourself. For me, a fulfilling trip is one that is spent with positive attitude and good vibes. You should know by now a few tips on traveling like planning ahead your itinerary, going beyond your comfort zones and appreciating the little things. Here let me share 5 tips on how to keep your good vibes while traveling: 1. Don't forget your earplugs. This , my friend, is a traveler's best friend. At some point on your trip, you'll need to muffle the sounds of annoying passengers, noisy engines, crying babies, barking dogs and more. Make sure to keep your cool and turn that good music on. But be sensitive when to use it especially when traveling with someone or with your friends. 2. Don’t be afraid to laugh a...

Have you fallen in love with UP Cebu yet? If not, this collection of photos might just do that. Upon doing a regular search on Instagram one day, I realized that UP Cebu is a picturesque university that is both close to nature and, of course, close to the heart of every Iskolar. Here are 10 lovely photos were taken inside the UP Cebu campus that proved this place is full of stories we all want to hear. As a UP Cebu graduate, here are 10 things I realized while looking at these photos. 1. We Know Oble A photo posted by Rebekah (@_rebekahxd_) on Apr 6, 2015 at 6:56pm PDT We have met Oble since we stepped into this university, or even before. We have been children of Oble that know one thing: we are here not just to study but be involved in the community.  2. We Are Oble A photo posted by Trinidad C. S. (@chmarkme) on Mar 23, 2015 at 8:38pm PDT You may have noticed it yet but we are the Oblation. As Oble, we are brave en...

Blogging is one of the things you can do if you love writing. Consider your blog as a project that you can venture into while you’re still alive. There are many benefits of blogging. It can become your portfolio, you can earn money from it, and it can connect you to your community. For those people who are interested in blogging, they ask: how to start a blog? There are many resources you can get online and today, I am giving you easy steps in creating your blog. START. These are the 7 easy steps in starting a blog. 1. Choose your niche. Know what you want to write and choose a topic that is close to your heart. Be original in your content and make sure to choose a consistent voice in all your blog posts. If possible, you can write your voice as if you’re talking to your readers. 2. Select your blog name. In choosing a blog name, make sure to aim for simplicity. It shouldn’t be hard to remember and it matches your domain name. Try to Google your blog...

Among the various islands in the Philippines, Cebu is one place that you should consider visiting in your lifetime. For someone who have lived in this province for my whole life, I can assure you that there is more to explore.  I have not personally been to all the top travel destinations in Cebu. My goal is to explore the wonders of Cebu. I plan to wander around this island sometime in the near future. If that happens, I might consider writing a travel blog, too. For now, I have here a list of travel destinations that you should visit in Cebu, Philippines according to bloggers. While reading these blog posts, I cannot help but create a blog about it and share it to you. 1.  Temple of Leah  by Emjae Fotos The construction is still ongoing as of this writing, but it’s already open to the public. It’s dubbed as the ‘Taj Mahal of Cebu’ since this majestic wonder is also a gift of a husband to his loving wife. Teodorico Adarna devoted this temple to the...

FOREVER. Where to next? (c)  @collinz88 The search for forever is on!  Let us tell all the advocates of #WalangForever that forever can be found in Cebu. The Queen City of the South is not only popular as a tourist destination but also a home of things forever. 10. UP Cebu. Forever ang internet. If you’re a student of UP Cebu, don’t mind connecting to the wifi of the university. Either it will take forever for you to connect or if you successfully passed the first test, forever man sad ang pag-load sa mga website. 9. Ayala ug SM. Forever ang linya sa taxi. If you don’t have a smartphone, taking the taxi especially on a Friday night will be forever. Tip: download a booking app like GrabTaxi or Cebuano-owned startup called miCab. Welcome to team #WalangForever. 8. Casa Verde sa IT Park. Forever ang kagutom kon Friday. Have you been craving for pork ribs on a Friday night? Don’t plan to go Casa Verde in IT Park if you want to avoid the long...

Upon hearing that the community of Cebu bloggers formally known as Cebu Blogging Community will conduct at 30-day blogging challenge this October 2015, I didn’t hesitate to participate.  Joining such an activity is definitely a challenge to me since I haven’t successfully done a 30-day challenge prior to this one. I attempted to do several challenges before like reading one literary piece per day or jogging everyday but failed due to my busy schedule and, honestly, I had some problem with commitment due to my dramatically diverse lifestyle. If asked why I decided to participate this 30 Day Blogging Challenge, here are the reasons why: 1. More Posts Blogging, especially for neophytes, is definitely a tedious challenge. Starting a blog is so easy that keeping it alive after years, or even just months, may not be possible for those people who are too busy to focus on other things.  Thus, joining this 30 Day Blogging Challenge will definitely benefit ...