55 years.   This 2024, First Balfour First Balfour is celebrating its 55 years of corporate existence.  That is a big number of years, especially for a construction company in the Philippines.  Only 4 major construction companies in the country are older than First Balfour.  As an employee of FB for more than 20 years already, the Bicolano Penguin (BP) is proud and happy of this milestone.      To celebrate this milestone achievement, the company's management have lined up a handful of big events.  For the 1st Quarter of 2024, First Balfour ..read more

The Bicol Region abounds with  tales of epic heroes and mythical beings.  There is of course the Ibalong Epic  and the Legend of Mount Mayon .  In these epic tales, there is mention of a legendary being called Asog. He is either a legendary chieftain of native tribesmen or a pre-colonial priest or shaman imbued with magical powers to destroy or heal. Mt. Asog , a mountain with an elevation of 1,140 MASL situated between  Iriga City and Buhi Municipality is named after this mythical being.  Lately, the Bicolano Penguin (BP ) has found out ..read more

  "It's not the destination, it's the journey." At my age, marathons are not anymore about the finish time.  I ditched my Garmin many blue moons ago. The marathons can be about the route, filled with many significant  places. To paraphrase the immortal words of American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, it's not the finish time (whether you establish a new Personal Best time)  but the journey, Enjoying the journey, about the getting there, is every bit as important (or even more important) to me as arriving at the finish line and looking at the number of hours and ..read more

  #PayingitForward  Awake already in the way too early morning hours of the 18th of February, I found myself running behind a bunch of runners dressed in funky dinosaur suits on the asphalt roads of Filinvest Alabang. Hashtagged on the back of their yellow shirts were the words "Paying it Forward." These sane individuals are,  after all,  acolytes of The Bull Runner herself who preached about building a running community where members pay it forward. Paying  it forward by being a dream chaser and a pacer in the annual TBR Dream Marathon (TBRDM) which is the only ..read more

"One of Naga City's well kept secret is not secret anymore. Feliciana is simply the favorite of many discerning diners in the Heart of Bicol."  Sometime in November of 2023, I wrote a comment in Facebook about my favorite restaurant in Naga City.  It felt good and it felt true.  Location of Feliciana.  A stone throw away from Naga City Hall.  With its newly renovated premises along Dover Street, which is just a stone's throw away from Naga City Hall, more and more diners are able to enjoy the good food of Feliciana and more and more jaded reviewers ar ..read more

Happy New Year. Manigong Bagong Taon. Mauswag na Ba-gong Taon. Malipayong Bag-ong Tuig. Masinadyahong Bag-ong Tuig.  Maupay nga Bag-ong Tuig.  Naragsac nga Baro nga Tawen. Maaligwas ya Balon Taon.  Masaplalang bayung banwa.  Prospero Ano Nuevo.  It is the 1st week of 2024. It is that time of the year when people of all shapes, sizes, weight, wealth,  gender, creed and sports list down their New Year's Resolutions.  New Year's resolutions are the determinations we set ceremoniously at the beginning of  every year. The New Year represents a fresh start ..read more

Bulacan is a province of patriotic Filipinos. Arguably, it can be said that Bulacan  is the cradle of Philippine nationalism for after all the First Philippine Republic was established in Malolos back in 1898. Likewise, the Malolos Constitution, the first republican constitution in all of Asia, was drafted and ratified in Bulacan.      Bulacan  was one of the first 8  provinces to take arms against the Spanish colonizers in 1896.  Given this, Bulacan is also a province with its more than fair share of heroic generals who fought for Philippine inde ..read more

 "Every dog is a lion at home." There is a saying, at times attributed to the 19th century British publisher H.G. Bohn and at times to a  Ukrainian proverb , that is used to suggest that people tend to feel more comfortable, confident, and powerful in their own familiar surroundings.        After watching up close our dog Freedom participate in the Challenge Run 2023 & Pack Walk for a Cause  last Aug 20, I guess we can say that this proverb applies to our canine friends too, literally and figuratively. Truly, Freedom was in his ele ..read more

  Halfway thru the full mary  route, as I near yet another hydration station resplendent with bountiful fruits and snacks and the fabled smile of Boholano volunteers, I figured already how the Bicolano Penguin (BP) will write about the 2023 Bohol International Marathon (BIM). I shall write about it by describing it in terms of the B.O.H.O.L. acronym.  BEAUTIFUL.  ORGANIZED.  HOSPITABLE.  & OVER sa LECHON. Let us proceed. BEAUTIFUL. From the moment I arrived at the Bohol-Panglao International Airport  to the moment I checked in at the  ..read more

  15km race participants firing on all cylinders at the start.  Dec 30.  Second to the last day of the glorious year 2022 witness the running of the Riverside Run  in the blooming City of Iriga.  Hundreds of runners participated the 3kms, 8kms and 15kms race(s), the last of which Bicolano Penguin joined.  Race details But this article is not about the BP. It is more about the organizing entity of Riverside Run. LACO Batch 1998 organized this running event. LACO stands for La Consolacion College Iriga City  and 1998 refers to the y ..read more