Visiting the Aguinaldo Shrine

I have been to Kawit for a number of times since a family friend lives in Bgy. Sta. Isabel, but while we have to pass the Aguinaldo Shrine before getting to Bgy. Sta. Isabel, I have actually never set foot at the said shrine. Not until I got a post-Christmas trip invite there.

Originally a shorter place, the Shrine, the home of Former President Emilio Aguinaldo, was extended to give room to his growing family.

We were escorted inside by Sir Bennett, one of the tour guides there. What we liked about him was that he knew everything about Aguinaldo and the revolution. He also has a knack for geography and can name the places you can see from the fifth floor, or the Manila-Makati Tower.

The view below the Manila-Makati Tower.

He also led us to some interesting features of the house, like Aguinaldo's medicine cabinet with all the bottles preserved...

...the Philippine map placed at the ceiling...

...and one of the first press rooms ever built for the Philippine media. For a sportswriter who had a lot of experiences inside the press rooms of three indoor sports arenas and the press room of the Palarong Pambansa, I was appalled by what an old school press room looks like.

This was what a press room looked like before aircons were even invented.

Also, Sir Bennett revealed to us that the Aguinaldos put up a mini-sports center underneath their home. It included a swimming pool and, guess what, a bowling alley. He told us that there are plans of renovating the bowling alley.

Believe it or not, this was once Kawit's first-ever bowling alley.

We wonder why Sir Bennett is very knowledgeable of everything Aguinaldo. A descendant of the former chief executive, incumbent Kawit Vice Mayor Paul Abaya, gave us an answer later in the night. He told us that Sir Bennett's family has been close with the Aguinaldos. He even witnessed the burial of the former president at the backyard of his residence in 1964.

Abaya then invited us to the year-end concert featuring the band of one of my churchmates, Mayonnaise.

The special night, which curiously took place on Rizal Day, ended by a fireworks display that lighted up Kawit.

Unfortunately, my friend did not respond to my tweet, so I presumed that he and his family went to Pangasinan, which has been their usual post-Christmas activity. Anyway, I still had fun in my return to Kawit.

Wedding fair to start New Year at SM Megamall

Meet the best suppliers for your upcoming wedding or debut at the 16th Ultimate Wedding and Debut Fair to be held at SM Megatrade Hall 3, 5/F SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City on January 3-4, 2015.

Be entertained with various acoustic performances and learn a thing or two on wedding planning by our event planner exhibitors.

Also, get a chance to win an awesome 3-day, 2-night accommodation at Tugawe Cove, Caramoan Islands.

Simply register at www.weddingfairphilippines.com/weddingfairregistration and visit us during any of the two-day fair. No purchase required to be part of this raffle.

16th Ultimate Wedding and Debut Fair is presented by Island Exhibit & Events Management Link, Inc., together with AskJenneToday.co, Jack & Jenn Catering, Rotary Club of Las Pinas East, and Myther Events and Expo Inc.

This event is sponsored by Island Cove, VOffice, Center for Pop Music Philippines, Prestige Cruises, Easy Taxi with media sponsors GMA, BridalBook.ph, Kasal.com, View Magazine, and When in Manila.

FlipGeeks organizes geeky Christmas party

FlipGeeks, the number one portal for everything geek culture, The Appraisery and Rumpus Room is holding a "Geek Xmas Party" at Cubao Expo on Sunday, December 21, 2014 from 3pm to 12am. There will be various activities including raffles, board games and video games for the geek community, bloggers, and media people to enjoy. Registration to join the activities will start at 3pm and those registered will be entitled to one ticket for the raffle.

Together with FlipGeeks, owners Victor Prieto (The Appraisery), and Kiko Aquino(Rumpus Room) joined forces to bring us the "Geek Xmas Party" to help develop the local geek community by instilling a deeper sense of community between geeks – helping bridge the gap and enhancing the geek experience. This is made possible by the various members of the geek community, bloggers and media people bringing together various audiences of geek culture from comic book fans, moviegoers, video game fans, etc.

FlipGeeks' partners, The Appraisery and Rumpus Room, are also hosting activities for everyone. Get ready to be introduced to board games through The Appraisery and enjoy it with your friends. If the virtual world is more to your liking, let Rumpus Room show you how it's done.

Parties beyond ordinary only at Victoria Court

Victoria Court offers world-class suites, each one distinct from the other.

The most sought after suites are the Asgard inspired from the movie Thor, the romantic Marrakesh Suite, Batcave from The Dark Knight, and other fun exciting themes for you to choose from.

Our guests have a wide choice of rooms depending on size, design and preferred themes: standard, deluxe, and suites with variants of mini-suites, regular suites and super thematic suites, all different themes. At Victoria Court, no two rooms are the same.

Now known for its thematic parties and events, Victoria Court offers a wide array of suites and amenities that promises a party beyond ordinary.

Bachelorette and stag parties are one of our biggest clientele but we have our share of celebrity shoots, MTV's, and press conferences too.

In fact, Victoria Court hosted the pressers of Asia's Next Top Model and Juana Change the Movie.

We also housed the international battle rappers for their Araneta Dreams Battle Royale and Japan's RWB Legend Nakai-San. Hitting number 1 on the MYX charts is Kyla who shot her MTV in our James Bond inspired room - Casino Royale.

We also have an award-winning F&B team working round the clock to create extraordinary dishes available 24 hours a day.

Our team has recently won top cooking competitions such as the Chefs on Parade, the Philippine Culinary Cup Challenge and the MAFBEX Cooking Competition. Try our extensive menu. Taste our distinction.

So many events, so many suites, all with different themes… Choose the theme that suits your needs.

For inquiries and reservations, please call us at 0917-9810084.

Follow @victoriacourtvc on Twitter and Instagram, like our Facebook Fan page: facebook.com/VictoriaCourtPH, or check our website at victoriacourt.biz for new promos and events. 

Sykes turns SMX Pasay to E-Heads concert area in Christmas celebration with Buendia

Ely Buendia captivates the crowd with the timeless hits of his band
Eraserheads.

Over 6,000 Sykes employees gathered at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City to celebrate one "Popstatic" year-end party.

Hosted by TV personality Karen Pamintuan and Magic 89.9 DJ's Tony Bueno, Sam Gogna, and Eric Virata also known as the Boys' Night trio, the Sykes Christmas party became entertaining from the start.

The BPO company first handed out service awards to their longtime and most trusted employees.

Then a K-Pop dance contest took place where some of the best dance groups from different Sykes Metro Manila zones battle it out.

Manila South took home the win.

As the main highlight of the pop-culture themed year-ender, Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia rocked SMX Pasay with the timeless hits of his 90's band.

Wendel Garcia, his bandmate at Pupil, one of his two other rock groups, also made an appearance and helped Buendia in bringing the music on drums.

Even Sykes' big bosses, Dean Van Ormer, Marc Guison, and Kenneth Juarez, pulled off an entertaining stunt as they danced to Robin Thicke's hit single "Blurred Lines".

Also, PHP2 million worth of prizes were given away to lucky Sykes employees in the raffle draw.

Sykes' branding and communications director Cecile Venancio lauded everyone who was involved in organizing the Christmas party.

"We only get to do this once a year, so we make sure that they all feel valued," she said.

Even the Cebu-based Sykes employees got a taste of the happenings in Pasay as a simultaneous Popstatic year-end party took place at the Queen City of the South.

About 3,000 Sykes employees from Cebu attended the said event.

Some more places to visit at the Riverbanks Center

Aside from the new Science Centrum, the Riverbanks Center also boasts of three more museums. Here is the list of the other three:

The Spirit of Bethlehem

This hanging Christmas tree is part of the Spirit of Bethlehem collection.

The Spirit of Bethlehem is a private collection of over 500 belens/nativity sets/posters/paintings and sculptures from all over the world.

It boasts of numerous pieces from here and abroad, collected through decades of devotion to the Infant Jesus, by its owner Gigi Abaya-Carlos.

Belens/Nativity sets from different countries like the United States, Mexico, Spain, Israel, Africa, Guatemala, China, and from the different regions of the Philippines will certainly catch your attention because they reflect the culture from where they originated. Some are made from different materials like papier mache, stones, glass, clay, resin and more. About 80% of these Belens are proudly Philippine-made.

Museum of Miniatures

After seeing all the Belens, one is awed by the collection of tiny but real-looking replicas of things you would find in all the different rooms of a European mansion. It is a collection of shadows boxes filled with Lilliputian pieces of 1:1 scale.

The miniatures are part of the collection of the late Aleli Vengua, a passionate artist who handcrafted most of the pieces herself. A lot of the materials used were scrap from items in our day to day living, be it plastic, wood, aluminum, fabric, and glass.

Each room is designed with so much detail and attention that one will never want to look away.

The Joey Velasco Gallery

Right next to The Spirit of Bethlehem is the Joey Velacso Gallery, now home to the spiritually moving art pieces and legacy of the late Joey Velasco. The artist was only 43 years old when he passed away because of a life-threatening kidney disease. Best known for his works “Hapag ng Pag-asa”, or “Table of Hope”, which depicts the Last Supper with Jesus and street children instead of the disciples, Velasco has stirred the hearts of many with his paintings.

Those who have seen his paintings will certainly attest that it is not just a gallery. Though there is an appreciation of art, it is more of a place of reflection. It is a “living museum” where art reflects the spiritual dimension of day to day living and sparks social awareness. According to Ms. Queeny Velasco, wife of the late painter/writer, it is a museum of “faith and patriotism”.

The gallery is being supported by the Joey Velasco Foundation (JVF) whose current priority is to give support to the Hapag Kids and their families of Hapag Village in Amparo, Caloocan City. The JVF created livelihood projects for them, gives training to enhance their skills and other activities for the value formation of the community.

To check out these places, go to the Riverbanks Center along A. Bonifacio Avenue in Marikina City. For more inquiries, visit Riverbanks' website.

BuzzFeed partners with WeChat

BuzzFeed, the it-place for “share-worthy” content, has just announced its partnership with WeChat to bring news and entertainment to WeChatters around the world. The partnership is the media company’s first major collaboration with an international messaging app – a big step in broadening the perception of messaging apps as content platforms.

"As we start to see an increase of readers share content via private messaging, coupled with the rapid growth of mobile, we're looking for new ways to distribute news and entertainment to our thriving international audience,” said Scott Lamb, VP of International at BuzzFeed. “WeChat’s innovative technology and strong international user base is a natural fit for our first major partnership with an international messaging platform.”

BuzzFeed currently has a readership of 175M globally with 50M readers each month outside the US and 50% of traffic from mobile. WeChat, the fastest growing mobile social communications app, has also seen significant growth this past year with a user base of over 468M monthly active users and young demographic who already enjoy BuzzFeed content.

By following the BuzzFeed official account on WeChat, readers will experience a more personal way of engaging with their favorite content on mobile:

• Followers will receive a daily piece of viral content circling the web directly on their smartphones.

• They can chat with BuzzFeed for customized content with special keywords such as cats/dogs/lol/omg/fail/win/wtf, which will be updated on an ongoing basis.

• And easily share their favorite BuzzFeed stories on WeChat to friends through chats or Moments.

 "We are excited to offer BuzzFeed content on WeChat for our users to enjoy reading and share with friends," said Poshu Yeung, VP of the International Business Group at Tencent, the company behind the WeChat app. "This is a great example of how WeChat’s innovative social, messaging and gaming feature set serves as a platform to create new interactive experiences.

A return trip to the Science Centrum

I was in my third grade when I had my one and only visit to the Philippine Science Centrum, which was still situated in Manila City then. Now, after almost 18 years, I was back at the Science Centrum, now based inside the Riverbanks Complex in Marikina City. Obviously, a lot has changed in the Science Centrum in the past 18 years.

While it's now not that accessible as it was then (it was once located at the Manila U-Belt area), it's more spacious, giving more room for new exhibits to be placed.

One of the Science Centrum's additions was this stationary bike in which once you tried it, the CFL's will light up, teaching us more about kinetic energy.

Another item I saw in today's Science Centrum that I did not see in my past visit was this finger tingler. We were lined up in a circle while holding our hands. I had my hand in the tingler, and once the exhibitor activated the machine, we felt the electricity. The machine teaches how electrocution can be passed.

Another cool thing I saw was this weighing machine that compares my earthly weight to that of the other planets. Thanks to the difference in the gravity level of each planet, we can be lighter or heavier at another planet. In fact, I found out that I can be about one-third of my size if I go to Mars!

Some more cool machines I found inside the new Science Centrum building were this apparatus, which can give you the experience to fly...

...and this one, which one turned on will emit an electric current as seen by the naked eyes.

I also tried out its shadow photo booth, but unfortunately, my photo of its was too dark enough. I also failed to take a photo of some optical illusion areas, but they were cool.

If you want to see them, just go to the new Philippine Science Centrum located at the E-Com Center of the Riverbanks Complex, A. Bonifacio Ave., Marikina City. From Cubao, New Manila, or Sta. Mesa, just ride a jeep bound for SSS Village or Calumpang. For more of the Science Centrum and the other museums inside the Riverbanks, visit Riverbanks' website.

FYI to satisfy your cravings for Christmas with new foodie shows

This December, FYI unveils new programs that will surely inspire your next gastronomic getaway:

Taste of Vietnam (Tuesdays at 8pm)

Immerse yourself in the hearty, local flavors of Vietnam with Taste of Vietnam. Host Robert Danhi takes us on not just a food odyssey in Taste of Vietnam, but a voyage into across the country trying local food as he meets fascinating people along the way, unveiling the hidden charms of Vietnam as he curates this dynamic culture to find the deepest flavors in each community.

Atul’s Spice Kitchen: Malaysia (Tuesdays at 9pm)

Explore Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a melting pot of Asian flavors with Atul’s Spice Kitchen: Malaysia. Double Michelin-starred chef, Atul Kochhar travels to Malaysia  in Atul's Spice Kitchen: Malaysia, exploring the country’s traditional cuisine and its spice trade influenced by Chinese, Indian, Portuguese, Thai and Arab flavours. In the first episode Atul lands in the diverse capital of Kuala Lumpur, discovering hidden gems, sampling authentic Nyonya dishes and preparing a Rogan Josh for a wedding. 

The Feed (Premieres 4 December, Thursdays at 10pm)

Travel to the West and discover what’s been tickling the tastebuds of America with The Feed.Join culinary expert Gail Simmons; superstar chef Marcus Samuelsson; and comedian and food writer Max Silvestri anchor a rollicking adventure into the world of culinary and food culture in America as they share their take on today’s most innovative food trends. Each episode of The Feed pits the unlikely combination of these three personalities against each other in unconventional food challenges that allow each competitor to show off their unique perspectives on the food world. 

Dulaang UP presents "The Country Wife"

Acclaimed director Tony Mabesa adapts and directs Dulaang UP’s fourth offering for its 39th season, the Philippine premier of William Wycherley’s The Country Wife. A classic sex comedy written in 1675, it satirizes hypocrisy and human judgment that dominated the Puritan Regime, issues that still hound contemporary society. DUP also stages Ang Misis Kong Promdi, a direct Filipino translation by Nicolas B. Pichay.

The Country Wife's plot revolves around the lives of men and women of high society; lives that are entangled in a paradox of love, marriage, reputation, mores, sexual conduct, and politics. A notorious philanderer’s homecoming ignites a series of infidelities and indiscretions. An innocent young woman from the countryside speaks honestly of her thoughts and desires posing a challenge to the gendered norms and moral codes of 16th and 17th century London. 

An ensemble of seasoned theatre actors headlines the cast- Martha Comia and Sue Prado alternate as Mrs. Margery Pinchwife the “country wife” of the title, who visits London for the first time and there slowly loses her innocence. Neil Ryan Sese and Jay Gonzaga take turns playing the lecherous and manipulative Harry Horner. George de Jesus and Tarek El Tayech play Jack Pinchwife, the jealous and potentially violent husband to country bumpkin Margery. Issa Litton and Karen Gaerlan essay the role of the intelligent and morally upright Alithea. Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino suits up as Mr. Sparkish, a dimwitted and narcissistic playboy, together with alternates RS Francisco and Arvin Trinidad. Ian Ignacio and Carlo Tarobal take the stage as Frank Harcourt, a rake who falls in love with the admirable Alithea.

Completing the stellar cast are Leo Rialp, Jacques Borlaza, Adriana Agcaoili, Dolly De Leon, Brian Arda, Sigmund Pecho, Bea Paloma, Rizzy Alejandro, Joanna Lerio, Ron Biñas, CesAldaba, Francis Mata, Aurora Yumul, Chona Fernando, Gian Carlo Patelo, Regina Mendezona and Yvonne Ricaro

The artistic team is a collaboration of some of theatre’s most creative minds. Lights design by Shakira VillaSymes, sounds design by Jethro Joaquin, technical direction by MelitonRoxas Jr., set design by Clint Ramos, costumes by Eric Pineda, dramaturgy by Joanna Lerio, and photography and posters by Dino Dimar.  

The Country Wife runs from November 19 to December 7, 2014 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, 2nd floor Palma Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman. For tickets, sponsorships, and show buying inquiries, call Samanta Hannah Clarin or Camille Guevara 926-1349, 433-7840, 981-8500 local 2449 or email dulaangupmarketing@gmail.com.

Bih-Zahr: Giving fun all day

From Bih-Zahr's Facebook page

Bih-Zahr (read as bizarre) RestoBar is a cozy restaurant during the day and a hip-hop, rock and rainbow haven in the night.

Located at No. 6 Scout Borromeo Street, South Triangle, Quezon City, it offers a wide variety of promos and group bundle of food and drink that is very light on the pocket.

Our menu offers an extensive variety of great food and cocktails for everyone’s taste. To name a few of what we offer on our menu like Sinuglaw, Pork Sisig, Sisig Pizza, Fish and Chips, Gambas, Nachos, Beef Salpicao, Steak, Chili Fingers and Dynamite.

Our chef would recommend you to try our Pancit Bihon and Pancit Guisado, it may sound that you already have tasted it a gazillion time, but when you taste our pancit you can say “This is it!”.

We also offer a wide variety of cocktails for our ladies and mocktails for those who do not drink alcohol and on the rocks drink like rum and  whiskey.

Bih-Zahr RestoBar offers a week of different activities starting with:

Monday Blues-where all the music is soothing to the ears that will relax you

Tuesday’s Ladies Night-all ladies will get one (1) free cocktail upon entering and ladies will rock the night away

Wednesday 80’s-turn back time as we en route you to the sound of the 80’s

Thursday's Rainbow Party-a night filled with laughters from our LGBT invited friends

Rocker Fridays-they will rock until you drop.  

Hip-Hop Saturdays-lots of scratching and DJing.

Batangas to experience "Sandstorm"

On November 21st, The Philippines will bring forth a festival that will fuse its biggest talents in one massive celebration of sound–the Sandstorm Electronic Experience, produced as a collaboration between So Familiar Productions, The Wildfire Productions and Trance Till Dawn.

The event aims to make a staple when it comes to the music festival in Southeast Asia as well as  to make the Philippines, the next music destination.

The festival will be a 3 day event at 3 stages and over 50 of the country’s greatest performers from Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod  and Davao are representing every group from the city’s forward-thinking best scene producers, the enigmatic underground techno enthusiasts, the soulful house music lovers, the iconic bass music elite, to every hard hitter of the country’s biggest clubs and more.

Sandstorm’s official venue is the Southcrest Beach Resort. A 15 hectare of a scenic land near the beach in San Juan, Batangas.

The events' major transportation sponsor DLTB bus line will be shuttling guests from Manila–Batangas–Manila. Tickets are sold from P7,000 for VIP and P4,500 for General Admission.

Some of the industry’s biggest names embellish the lineup. Huge icons such as Deuce Manila, Motherbass, Red-I, Pav Parotte, Funk Avy, Martin Pulgar, Similar Objects, The Zombettes, John Odin, and Mecaha have been revealed to be performing for the festival.

Joining the list are 2 international artists to be revealed in the coming days.

A unique facial experience

By Ivan Saldajeno, Dugout Philippines

JUST like women, men need facial care too, so it's not surprising that boys go to facial centers too. However, I found a very unique facial center inside the Bonifacio Global City.

Skin Philosophie, formally called Skin Philosophie Medical Aesthetic and Lifestyle Solutions, offers a unique kind of treatment. I tried it out.

In my previous facial experience, I had my face sprinkled with warm water. However, at Skin Philosophie, there are no water sprinkler, and the machines used for the facial are totally different from the others.

Some of the machines used in my facial.

However, like the other facial centers, the mission is the same: to have a youthful skin free of the nasty pimples.

The entire facial process

After an hour of the clinic's signature facial, my face got refreshed, younger-looking, and clearer, that is, most of the pimples are gone.

Aside from the facial, Skin Philosophie, owned by Dr. Kyla Talens, offers other services.

In fact, Skin Philosophie offers a fat-burning radio frequency treatment where anyone who avails of the said service can shed off those unwanted fats and have that beach body he or she wants for the beach outings.

(Update as of April 1: For this summer season, however, Skin Philosophie offers an 80 percent discount on its RF treatment. For only PHP560, you can blast out the fats from you. The promo is good until May 31.)

For further details, you can visit Skin Philosophie at the third floor of the Fort Strip at the corner of 28th Avenue and 7th Street at the Bonifacio Global City. You can also call the clinic at 2118762, 2158080, or 8567451. You can also visit its website at skinphilosophie.com or its Facebook page at facebook.com/skin.philosophie.

(Update: The writer is now an accredited lead generator for Skin Philosophie Medical Aesthetic and Lifestyle Solutions, and as a special offer by the writer, you can avail any of the services in the said clinic for five percent off. If you wish to do so, just post a screenshot of this post, print it or save it to your gadget, and present it to Skin Philosophie. Be sure you have made your reservation a day before your treatment schedule.)

Team effort pushes Eco to win in Tamron Goes Wild

Klienne Eco took the grand prize for taking the best macro photo in the first Tamron Goes Wild photography contest at the La Mesa Eco Park in Quezon City.

Eco braved the rainshower and took a beautiful picture of a snail walking through the park.

Eco walked away with a Tamron 90 mm VC lens as the first prize.

In the interview, Eco said that it was a total team effort for the photo as he and his two friends collaborated for to be made possible.

Roms Lopez won second place, while Marty Marcedo was third.

Both Lopez and Marcedo received Tamron non-VC lens.

On the other hand, Anthony Balbin won the Bird Man Race after taking photo shots of 30 different bird species at the park.

Balbin won a Tamron 150-600 mm lens.

FYI reveals new shows for November

Two new shows will premiere on FYI Channel this November.

Every Thursday at 9:00 PM starting on November 20, follow a group of chefs as they invent spectacular new dishes, on a whole new "epic" level in "Epic Meal Empire".

Meanwhile, on Fridays beginning on November 28 at 9:00 PM, watch as Shasta and her team take on 2 awe-inspiring design projects each week on "Red Hot Designs".

Also, "Bondi Vet" continues every Wednesday at 9:00 PM with an all-new season beginning on November 5.

HODD to organize huddle in Pasig

Storytelling is an age-old tradition of the world. It has been practiced to pass on information, make sense of experiences, and understand one another. It has the power to immortalize individuals and events, incite ideas and action, and bring people together. It is in the spirit of this powerfully unifying practice that Hero Of D Day and CSR World bring to you Share a Story, Save the World: A Volunteers’ Meet-up.

On the 8th of November, Saturday, 6:00 PM, aspiring and seasoned volunteers from the youth sector will meet at Co. Lab, Brixton St., Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City to tell their own tales and listen to others. Php 250will  avail  participants of  a  Hero Of  D Day kit,  certificate,  food,  drinks,  and an invaluable storytelling experience.

There will be an opportunity to share volunteer stories with fellow volunteers. Mae Paner, an advocate of  freedom,  justice,  good  governance,  and social  change is  slated to  speak at  the event. Geoanna Corneby, a Corporate Social Responsibility officer and an active volunteer for various NGOs that further youth development, empowerment of the poor, and nation building, will be conducting a writing workshop for the participants as a culminating activity as well.

Share a Story, Save the World: A Volunteers’ Meet-up is led by two groups one in the cause–Hero Of D Day and CSR World. Hero Of D Day is a social media organization that believes there is a hero in every one. Focusing the lens on the everyday hero, it recognizes great and small acts of heroism by collecting stories and publishing them online. CSR World is the youth department of Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation that ensures the knowledge and experience of young people on CSR 3.0–Citizenship, Sustainability, and Responsibility–are comprehensive and will enable them to be better citizens.

Both organizations focus on stories of volunteers and volunteerism and through this joint event, they aim to inspire participants to pursue their passion for helping others and live lives worth telling stories about.

To register for the event, please go to www.heroofdday.org/hoddhuddlecsrworld.

Easy Taxi partners with Belo, WeChat, Smart; unveils new cabs

Ross Del Rosario/Wazzup Pilipinas

Easy Taxi has partnered with four of Manila’s biggest brands as it aims to give Filipinos a unique, fast, and safe riding experience with the launch of the Easy Taxi Product Cars.

As the world’s biggest taxi booking application to date, Easy Taxi allows passengers to easily request for a taxi and track it in real time- all in just one click. Founded in Brazil last 2011, the startup has since expanded globally as it is made available in 4 continents, 34 countries, and in more than 170cities. Serving over 15 million users worldwide, with as much as 300 thousand drivers registered, Easy Taxi continues to grow globally at rate of three cities per month. Backed primarily by the largest e-Commerce incubator in the world, Rocket Internet, including other investors such as Millicon and iMENA, Easy Taxi is able to secure its foothold in emerging markets that it seeks to cater to. 

Beginning October 31 until December 31, Easy Taxi Product Cars will be roving around the streets of Manila, giving free rides to Easy Taxi users while offering a one-of-a-kind in-cab experience. The campaign was launched last Thursday evening at The Eastwood Open Park, with various celebrity endorsers of the different brands (Belo, Smart, and WeChat) gracing the event. Among the personalities spotted in the event were Crystal Belo, Phoemela Baranda, Chino Lui Pio, Luigi D' Avola, Vernice Enciso and other top executives from the business world. The night unveiled the four product cars, each with a distinctive offering for its passengers from freebies to free Wi-Fi in every vehicle. A short presentation, interview and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, with a sky full of fireworks to cap off the evening.

Raven Resort: Paradise at the West Coast

I've never been to Bataan all my life, until someone offered a free spot at the Mastering Online Ranking Conference at the Raven Resort. Looking for means to put our news site into a good competition with the other standalone sports news portals, I grabbed the opportunity (What's up, my EIC's?). From LB, I made a 190-kilometer journey to the said resort in Abucay.

The entrance of Raven Resort

So we made it to the Raven Resort for the two-day symposium. The first thing I noticed in the resort were the cabins. The houses there are country-themed, making it unique compared to the rooms inside the Calamba resorts.

I like this cabin the most because of the staircase at the side.

This was where I and an SEO expert stayed.

(top and bottom) The interior of our room

Also, the swimming pools, particularly the kiddie pool, were specially designed to make it more enjoyable for the families and the "barkada".

There are five slides, three bound for the kiddie pool and the other two bound for the adult pool. We tried taking selfies of ourselves sliding to the adult pool. As of the moment, I'm waiting for my friend to upload them.

There are two conference rooms inside the resort, and the organizers utilized both of them for the summit. They are spacious enough to hold big events province-wise.

Some critiques, though, for Raven are the basketball court and the parking lot. Probably, it's just me since I got used to playing in standard-sized courts, but the basketball court is too short, probably three-fourths of the full size.

An obligatory "ballie" at the basketball court

Also, with the lack of parking spaces, car owners resort to using the basketball court to park their automobiles, making it a hindrance to those who want to play basketball.

If not for the cars which are parked at the other side of the court, we
would have played some 5-on-5 pickup games.

Overall, however, I had fun (and gained some SEO knowledge) at the Raven Resort.

Even by ball approves Raven Resort!

For inquiries, go to ravenresort.com.ph or through its Facebook page at facebook.com/ravenresort.

Easy Taxi to make big announcement on Thursday

Easy Taxi, one of the top taxi-queuing apps, will make a huge announcement on Thursday.

But according to a highly-placed source, the announcement will have something to do with Easy Taxi's partnerships.

The source, who expressed anonymity, said that the app will begin a collaboration with a top beauty expert.

"I could not disclose more information because I was not given the green light yet, but a well-known beauty expert will become part of the Easy Taxi family," said the source.

He added that the announcement will be done through an event at Eastwood City in Quezon City.

My first facial experience

Before an event later in the night, I decided to use a freebie I got at Blogapalooza, a free facial at Bioessence. Prior to that, I've never tried a facial because I thought it's only a girl thing. But I realized men need it more.

Since I was in Pasig that time, I was referred to the Greenhills branch inside Shoppesville.

What makes Bioessence unique is that you will feel like you are a royalty inside one of the rooms.

Now, the facial proper. First, a facial cream was spread to me.

Then, my face was "steamed". Despite my eyes being nearly blindfolded, I still did a selfie!

Afterward, it's time to take out all those pimples.

Because I hit the facial center for the first time, it was expected that a lot of pimples will be taken off my face, and the result did not disappoint me.

Now, my face is now clearer and younger looking. Thanks, Bioessence!

About Bioessence:

Started as a simple clinic in Davao City in 1994, Bioessence now has over 50 branches nationwide offering skin care and slimming services. For more inquiries, call Bioessence at 09188232889.