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NBA superstar Kobe Bryant arrived Manila last Tuesday, September 4. The league’s most popular player and Nike endorser came in style using a private jet of Nike International. Fresh from winning the FIBA-Americas Cup in Las Vegas, the Lakers star came to Manila first as part of this year’s "Kobe Supernatural Asian Tour" to connect with basketball fans, share his expertise on the game with kids and to launch his new shoe Kobe 2. This idea behind the tour that took Kobe to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taipei and China all in 5 days.

Manila had him for a day, and what a day it was. Schedule was tight. First he met with a room full of mediamen. After waiting for almost two hours for Kobe to arrive, the members of the press had their fill as Kobe gamely smiled for the cameras and answered questions. After the group, Sports Unlimited had the chance for an up close chat with the 6 foot 6 basketball icon.

In the afternoon, I followed Kobe to Bonifacio High Street where thousands of fans welcomed LA Lakers guard. He visited the Nike shop, met with the kids from the Eliseo Belen School and threw basketballs.

Oh, I can’t forget, he sampled riding in a very special jeepney made just for Kobe. Donning LA Lakers jerseys and clicking their cameras, fans patiently stood under the sun to see their idol. A lot has happened since Kobe first came to the Philippines in 1998, 3 NBA titles, a game high 81 points, a
court case where he was charged with sexual assault which was eventually dropped.

In Manila, it was pure Kobe Mania fans chanting his name. They were chanting his name and Kobe loved it.

Later in the day, Kobe was on the basketball court at the ULTRA where he gave a taste of his tough workout to seven lucky kids. A number of popular PBA players also came with their sons to watch Kobe. He showed drills to improving defense and building stamina, and shared the very important mindset pursue your dreams, hard work is key to success.

Bryant capped the day by wowing fans with some fancy dunk moves. It was a short visit Kobe made in Manila, but it was certainly one the fans will remember and talk about for a long time.

Kadayawan Festival
"Kadayawan" is the mother of many other festivals in the region as it honors Davao's heritage. The Kadayawan Festival was institutionalized in 1986 to unite Dabawenyos. It was then called Apo Duwaling, a name which brings together the city's two icons, Mt. Apo and the exotic walingwaling orchid. Two years later, it was re-named "Kadayawan sa Dabaw."

Kadayawan is a warm and friendly greeting derived from the dabawenyo word “DAYAW" that means good, valuable, superior or beautiful. Such is this week-long festival. A celebration of life! A thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living. Kadayawan celebrates anything that brings good fortune.

Kadayawan Sa Davao is an enriching experience with a difference as it explores the past, present and future of Dabawenyos. Its sights and sounds reflect the merry spirit of this festival and the appreciation of the city's indigenous ancestry.

The city of Davao comes alive when it holds this yearly festival. The streets are adorned with local fruits and vegetables and are full of costumed dancers dancing to the local beat for days on end.

Pretty much the whole month of August is festival fever in Davao! Mindanaoans, Filipinos from all parts of the country, balikbayans and tourists from different parts of the world come here to experience the diversity of cultures that Davao has to offer.

With the passing of years... Kadayawan has turned into a festival of festivals in the region. It celebrates the "Lumads” its indigenous people, as well as the thriving flora industry this city has long been known for.

As we were leaving the street dancing festivities, we happen to chance upon kids who opted to pass on the dancing and instead, they played sepak takraw. Future SEA Games gold medalists perhaps? Very, very possible. But for now, these kids are giving out the essence of what this festival is all about. It’s a time for fun and abandon. No matter what you choose to do in the streets.

As we said earlier, Kadayawan is a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, and all events of this festival are reflective of the living heritage of Davao. With that said, fast forward to long time ago, Davao first loomed in history as a Moro settlement in the banks of this river. Old Dabawenyos relied on the Davao River and rain for their water needs.

As Davao city celebrates its annual Kadayawan Festival, it also held this Davao River Festival as a tribute to the lives that thrived here in the yesteryears and the many more possibilities of life with the river in the new millennium.

Davao City together with Sports Unlimited and of course Dabawenyo Sonny Dizon has been showcasing sport tourism that this part of our country is tailored-made for. That's why this year's river festival included a river race where both sports enthusiasts and recreational paddlers got to enjoy and participate.

The Davao River, a 9.4 kilometer stretch that leads to the city is ideal for kayaking! In this race, participants had a choice of entering with a single kayak, a triyak, which has 3 paddlers or a raft which had 5 to 6 paddlers. Whichever you chose to enter the race with, all participants started at the same time and the rule was May the best paddlers or paddlers win.

Most of us city dwellers don't have a river at our disposal, but Dabawenyos have the good fortune of having this river as a perfect place for kayaking which is a great sport for connecting with nature.

Here's some fitness and health info on paddling. It provides a tremendous stimulation to your lower back and abdominal muscles plus, it also works out the upper back, biceps, triceps, shoulders and forearms.

For all the runners out there, you may want to combine paddling to your cardiovascular workout when you get the chance, so there is a nice balance between lower and upper body workout as running tends to concentrate mainly on your lower body.

A river race like this provides an excellent environment for mental relaxation and physical challenge. Exercise while enjoying and exploring the beauty of the great Davao outdoors. Paddle to adventure. Du-aw na sa Dabaw!

All the sights and sounds of the Kadayawan Festival are exciting but you know Marc, when it comes to the sounds of a rifle, the action in a shooting range and the chance to get some target shooting in, he's there in a flash! The rifle we are using is a 22 caliber long rifle which is what is used for competition in the Olympics. This specific type of firearm is generally used in shorter range. It is effective within about 500 feet from the target. The low-cost, minimal recoil and low noise make the 22 caliber long rifle ideal for recreational shooting.

You all have seen us target shooting before but since safety should always take top priority when shooting. Instructions about the basic handling of the firearm you are using are essential before you get into actual shooting and target mastering.

Here are some helpful information and interesting shooting tips for you. Shooting is about concentration, self discipline and great self control. Despite what you see in the movies, anger or any emotional reaction before you shoot often affects fine accuracy which takes away the possibility of hitting the bull’s eye. So it's essential that you are CALM, COOL and COLLECTED right before you press that trigger.)

The great thing about the sport of shooting is that you can choose your own level of competition and compete against others of similar skill.

Shooting is one of the most popular events in the Olympics. This is one sport discipline that Filipinos can excel in because it does not require physical strength or height to succeed. So with that said, will our country's first Olympic gold come from the sport of shooting? We will have to wait for Beijing in 2008 to find out.

There is no question that the Filipino, no matter what time of year has two favorite past times. Shopping and eating. We got to indulge in both at this Kadayawan Festival.

The trade fair held at the SM Mall of Davao was one of the highly anticipated activities of the festival. We were overwhelmed by the array of products from various producers and distributors based in Davao and other parts of Mindanao. The trade fair also boasted the best fruits, vegetables, processed foods, fresh foods and handicrafts that this region of our country has to offer.

We had such a great time at the trade fair, and we left with two things on our minds.
How truly proud we can be of the beautiful and delicious products that come out of this region of our country and that the creativity and ingenuity of the Filipino is truly amazing.

All that shopping worked up our appetites, which brings us to the other favorite Filipino past time, eating. We were treated by our long time Dabawenyo friends Sonny Dizon with his wife Jackie and Congressman Anton Floirendo Lagdameo to a gourmet sit down dinner prepared by the students of The Center for Asian Culinary Studies of Davao City together with Chef Toto Erfe.

With the ingredients that you can get in Davao that are oh so fresh, combined with the talent of the Filipino to excel in the art of cooking, the dinner we had was absolutely wonderful.

There are a lot of worlds to enjoy and celebrate in Davao City, and the Kadayawan Festival brings together all those worlds during this week-long celebration. Now we know why all roads lead to Davao during Kadayawan.