I led the delegation of Team Mozilla Philippines to the very first Software Freedom Day Cebu 2012 last 15 SEP 2012 at the University of San Carlos (USC in Talamban). The team was composed of Joell, Kevin, Joyce, Tet, and myself. USC played a major role in the history of the Internet in the Philippines. I invite you to read this awesome article from our friend Jim Ayson.
~ Day 01 [Fri 14 SEP 2012] ~
We all had to rush to the NAIA Terminal 3 and catch our AirPhil Express flight, as traffic all over the metropolis was bad (talk about Pay Day Friday).
Our flight from MNL to CEB (305 nautical miles) was scheduled to depart at 1920H but we were not lucky that night: our plane took off minutes before 2000H.
Our “unluckiness” continued all the way to Cebu. Upon reaching the Crowne Garden Hotel (along Salinas Drive), the team is already somewhat “starving” due to the flight delay; it’s almost midnight and the last meal we had were just some fancy snacks at the airport (that’s before 1800H). Our hunt for a decent dinner (even if it is almost midnight) landed us at Chow City inside the IT Park. Well, let just this photo tell our experience at that awesome restaurant:
~ Day 02 [Sat 15 SEP 2012] ~
The SFD Cebu Day! The team is already up and running (somewhat) by 0600H. After breakfast at the hotel, we began the 15-minute journey to the University of San Carlos (USC-Talamban) for the celebration.
The organizers of this SFD celebration made a good job of having a very interesting lineup for the plenary session:
I made a presentation about the New Web Challenge and of course, the upcoming Firefox OS. And still, there is the “wow!” factor as in every time we will demo Tilt in Firefox.
Later that day, Kevin & Joell went up the stage during the breakout session for their Firefox OS & WordPress talks:
It was a very informative day. I learned some new geeky stuff from some of the resource speakers. Of course, the SFD Cebu 2012 celebration will not be complete without a class picture (courtesy of Jonathan Himbing):
We all went back to the hotel tired but with smile on our faces. Of course, a visit to Cebu will not be complete without having to taste “lechon” — so, we headed to the nearest branch of Zubuchon for dinner!
~ Day 03 [Sun 16 SEP 2012] ~
The third and final day of our stay in Cebu started early. I told the team that if they want to bring home some “pasalubong” (read as “danggit” — Cebu’s native delicacy; dried fish/squid), we will have to go early morning at the Taboan Market.
And we’re on our way to the airport (and back to stormy Manila) after lunch. And this is my “Mozillian luggage” for this trip:
The Twitter stream of #SFDCebu2012 can be found here: