BITE magazine

I happened upon BITE completely by accident. My wife and I had finished some shopping in SM mall and hopped in a taxi to go home but, the taxi broke down just as it was turning out of the mall. So we walked back to get in the taxi line again but decided it was too long. Instead, we decided to have some coffee in a cafe overlooking the sidewalk. When the line was reasonable, we would get back in it.

There was a line in the coffee shop too. Standing there, the cover of the magazine caught my eye. I had decided to grab a copy as an impulse buy. When I got to the front of the line and ordered, I reached for a copy about to ask the cashier to add it to my bill when i noticed FREE was printed in large letters across the bar code. What a score.

BITE is really little more than a monthly pamphlet. The September issue I grabbed is about the size of a business envelope and only 40 pages. It focuses on topics important to the youth of today. Concerts, online gaming, that sort of stuff. This issue had an expose of the skateboarding scene in downtown Cebu.

Overall, I found the writing to be quite good. The magazine is published in English so I was able to digest it quite easily. The magazine is able to distribute for free because they are liberal with their add space. Unlike most US publications that do this, they keep content pages free of adds and the add pages free of content. This makes it much more enjoyable and easy to read. I also find myself taking the time to look at the adds when they are grouped together like that.

Next time you find yourself in Cebu City Philippines, try and pick a copy up. Until then, you can view it online. Some of the site is still under construction but, they are doing a very professional job. It is easy to navigate and organized well. Also the clutter is kept to a minimum on each page.

I guess it was actually pretty lucky that our taxi broke down. If it hadn't, who knows when, if ever, I would have found this wonderful magazine.