Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, August 12, 2013

It's More Fun in Kebabers!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I first learned about kebabs when I won a grill ideally designed for cooking kebabs at a company sponsored event. The grill had a pair of long shiny metal skewers. Skewers are thin metal (or wood sticks) used to hold pieces of food together. They are used while grilling or roasting meats, and in other culinary applications. More or like similar to what is used for barbecues.

According to Wikipedia, kebabs are a wide variety of skewered meals found worldwide that originated in the Middle East, and later were adopted in the Balkans, the Caucasus, other parts of Europe, as well as Central and South Asia. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab cooked on a skewer. In the Middle East, however, kebab refers to meat that is cooked over or next to flames; large or small cuts of meat, or even ground meat; it may be served on plates, in sandwiches, or in bowls.

As what their Facebook page says, Kebabers is considered to be the first Kebab fast-food in the Philippines. It is the only Persian Fastfood Restaurant that serves affordable yet quality Middle Eastern cuisine with a twist of Filipino taste.

You've got to try out their variety of kebab dishes all created for a pleasurable dining experience.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is very much involved in promoting Eid'l Fitr celebrations in the Philippines as another tourist attraction in the Philippines.

Events promoting Eid'l Fitr festivities are lined up at the Atrium of The Block at SM City North EDSA until August 18 to highlight the amazing culture and crafts of our Muslim brothers.

A mini-exhibit started the celebrations at the Podium in Ortigas Center last August 2 to 8 and then August 9 began the opening of the Eid'l Fitr Festival to greet everyone Eid Mubarak.

The Eid'l Fitr Festival is organized by the Magbassa Kita Foundation led by it's chairperson, former Senator Santaniuna Rasul is featuring a variety of activities from country displays by the different Islamic embassies in the country; institutional exhibits by LGUs, government agencies, and donor agencies working on peace and development initiatives; trade fair products from Mindanao; fashion exhibit on traditional Muslim attires; interactive Salam villages; and cultural presentations.

The sights, sounds and even the food during the opening of the festivities was remarkably fascinating. Do check out the details of the event from my previous blog:

http://www.wazzuppilipinas.com/2013/08/dot-joins-filipino-muslims-in-eidl-fitr.html

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Statement of Secretary Edwin Lacierda on Gilas Pilipinas’ silver medal finish in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships:

"The Aquino administration joins the Filipino people in congratulating Gilas Pilipinas for winning the silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships—and with it, a ticket to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

This victory is the culmination of years of hard work, belief, and perseverance from our players and their families, from our coaching staff, from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas led by Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, and, most of all, from the entire Filipino nation, who has always stood behind the national team through their struggles and triumphs.

In unison, the nation urged our team forward, and with consummate “puso,” they laid everything on the line for flag and country. Gilas Pilipinas has shown the world that no one can outsize the heart of the Filipino. May their performance inspire every Filipino to relentlessly pursue excellence, no matter what field they find themselves in, so that, together, we may fulfill our shared aspiration of a Philippine nation greater than ever before."

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Ukiyo-e", Japanese traditional woodcut printing exhibition is on view at Baguio Museum from August 10 to 27. The exhibition is part of a month long celebration of Tanabata Festival in Baguio.

The art of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), originated in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) during the period of Japanese history, when the political and military power was in the hands of the shoguns, and the country was virtually isolated from the rest of the world.

It is an art closely connected with the pleasures of theatres, restaurants, teahouses, geisha and courtesans in the even then very large city. Many ukiyo-e prints by artists like Utamaro and Sharaku were in fact posters, advertising theatre performances and brothels, or idol portraits of popular actors and beautiful teahouse girls.

But this more or less sophisticated world of urban pleasures was also animated by the traditional Japanese love of nature, and ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige have had an enormous impact on landscape painting all over the world.

credits: unknown owner ( japanguide.com)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Who loves travelling here?
Well I do!
You see travelling isn't just the sceneries but also the memories. It is not only a mere pleasure but sometimes it turns into treasure.
Sometimes the most boring place is where you can calm your heart and ease your mind.
So this time, I'll tell a very nice story about a person's desire to go to Japan, especially to Kyoto, and that person is me.

Here it goes,

My mother was a former secretary of a pediatrician or we simply call her a nurse.
The doctor, Dra. Isada, went to Japan for travelling purposes. As I scrutinize the photos taken, I realized that they were in Kyoto and what's more is that it's in Kankakuji!

Wazzup Pilipinas Joins the Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2013 Writing Project

Wazzup Pilipinas!

WazzupPilipinas.com is thinking of joining the Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2013.

Of course, we are including our WazzupPilipinas.com community blog in the list. As they say, love and proudly promote your own home.

Wazzup Pilipinas was created as wazzuppilipinas.blogspot.com only last September 2012 and was turned into WazzupPilipinas.com just last March 2013. Thus we are requesting for your help to include us also in your list of top ten by blogging about it.

You can follow the instructions here : http://www.influentialblogger.net/2013/06/join-top-10-emerging-influential-blogs.html

We would also like to get your help by suggesting other new blogs out there that were created only last July 1, 2012 and onwards so we could include them on our list of top ten.

Thanks and more power to our community!

Laguna Blogging Summit Core Team Meetup at Greenwich

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Laguna Blogging Summit core team is all excited for the upcoming biggest social media and blogging event happening in Laguna this year - The 2nd Laguna Blogging Summit!

At another meetup at Greenwich Philfirst, Ayala Avenue Makati branch, the team discussed possible ways to make the 2nd Laguna Blogging Summit bigger and better as compared to the first one. The organizers aim to make the second run of the Laguna Blogging Summit more memorable and exciting for the attendees. There were also talks of continuing to hold online contests and raffles for the promotion of our beloved sponsors as well as the summit itself.

Special guest speaker that day was Pepi De Leon, one of the pioneering member of the 1st Laguna Blogging Summit core team and a professional blogger and social media specialist as well. His topic was all about the Domain Name System or DNS. He also shared the advantages of using a dot com domain rather than the free Blogger or Wordpress sites.

Impromptu speaker was Ross Del Rosario who shared the improvements he experienced when he decided to convert his Wazzup Pilipinas blog from a free blogger site to a dot com. His site, WazzupPilipinas.com, is a new community blog that is only a few months old but has already a lot of viewers and is partnered with many prime agencies and establishments.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Naga smiles to the world with Xplore Naga 2013 Blogging Contest. WIN A TRIP FOR 2 to Naga + Tour of Camarines Sur on September 12-14!

Simply answer this question on your blog: Why do you want to Xplore Naga?

Post on your blog and paste link on The Photography Academy- Manila's Facebook Page. Winner of the most interesting answer will win! Contest deadline is on August 31. Winner announcement on September 4.

Xplore NAGA 2013 is the Biggest Social and Travel Project to hit the Philippines this year. An Opportunity to Support the Love the Philippines Movement by the New, Effective Leaders of today.

DOTC Says NAIA Terminal 3 Will Be Fully Operational by 3Q of 2014

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Takenaka Corporation of Japan, for the latter to complete and integrate the systems works for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takenaka, the original subcontractor, will complete the works within 12 months, allowing Terminal 3 to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2014. These works include baggage handling, flight information displays, computer terminals, gate coordination, and fire protection systems, among others.

With this agreement in place, the DOTC commits to having Terminal 3 fully operational by August 2014.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A child’s birthday is a meaningful occasion that parents are most excited to celebrate. It deserves nothing but the best, thus to capture that precious moment, Mom and Dad go all out in throwing in the “perfect” party elements in their tot’s birthday bash – from choosing a unique theme, a spacious venue to, of course, servings of great-tasting food.

Finally, parents can now fully experience the dream party they wish for and more of what their little one deserves at Papa John’s, as the home of top-choice pizzas adds that magical “pizzazz” to their celebrations with its New Kiddie Party Theme Packages.

Officially unveiled via a Grand Pizza Party exposition recently held at the Event Center of the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, the event --- in partnership with Magnolia, Nestle Ice Cream, Toy Kingdom, PBA, Great Food, Hershey’s, Viva Video, SM Cinema and SM Megamall -- featured lots of active play and crafts booths, fabulous raffle prizes and sweet treats for kids and adults alike, giving them a delightful preview of Papa John’s latest kiddie party theme offerings.

Stories : Hear. Listen. Understand. Share Your Stories and Win a Trip for Two to Zoocobia and Zoobic Safari!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

What started out as the thesis of a group of BS Business Management students under the social entrepreneurship track, TriboCo. Kultura Kamp continued their operations even after they graduated last March this year. These youth are now committed to operate as an independent social enterprise.

Through cultural camps they encourage three things among their participants and partners: to embark, embrace and to empower.

Embark - to immerse among the indigenous groups and experience their way of life.

Embrace - to foster a sense of kinship with our indigenous brothers and sisters to understand, accept, and develop deep respect for their culture and way of life.

Empower - to empower both the indigenous people and the participants.

All this is ultimately geared towards the fight against ethnocentrism - the tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one's own.

Contest announcement below :

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Globe Telecom will start using Google business solutions and tools that will empower employees of the Philippine telecommunications company to serve its customers better.

“This collaboration will help build the capability of our people and transform the way we work to deliver superior customer experience,” said Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu.

According to Cu, Globe Telecom’s collaboration with Google will provide the company with flexibility to deliver more for its customers by enhancing mobility of close to 6,000 Globe employees, supportive of a 24-7 service.

“The decision to go Google will change the way we work as the new tools and applications will give our employees greater freedom to connect and collaborate anytime, anywhere, using any device. We believe that a collaborative workforce enhances employee engagement which, in turn, will delight our customers,” he emphasized.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Globe Telecom reinforces its commitment to environmental sustainability by promoting the benefits of using renewable energy among its partner communities in far-flung places which are deprived of electricity.

Globe, together with Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines, is spearheading a solar lantern distribution program in Batangas, Davao, and Benguet. The said provinces are part of the Community of Practice (CoP) strategy of Globe which brings together various advocacies and initiatives of the company in areas of environment, good governance, social services, entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.

“We employ a wholistic approach in the communities that we serve that is why we provide them with the tools to make their lives better. In this case, we decided on distributing solar lamps so that the people could avoid using coal and kerosene which are hazardous to their health and environment. More importantly, it is expected that the use of solar lamps will generate significant household savings which they can use for more productive undertakings,” said Fernando Esguerra, OIC, Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Hi everyone! My name is Mary Rose, a third year student of Pasig City Science High school. By the way I wrote this article to tell you about my first experience in eating Japanese food? How about you, what do you know about Japanese food? Have you ever tried eating it? If you want to know about my first experience in eating Japanese food, then just scroll down and read, I hope it can give you an insight what Japanese food tastes. By the way you can give your comments, negative comments are accepted.

When I learned that the assigned topic for me this quarter is Japanese food, I felt excited and nervous at the same time; excited because this is my first time I will taste Japanese food and nervous because the food I will eat is raw. The next day, I went to Sta. Lucia Mall to buy Japanese food. I bought Japanese food to a sushi bar named "Batosai".

When I saw the Japanese food displayed I looked at them with awe, because they look very delicious and the way the food was presented was very beautiful. While looking at the Japanese food, I had a little problem because it is very hard to choose among the choices displayed. In the end I bought a complete set of Japanese food. The set I bought has California maki, sushi and sashimi. By the way if you're curious how much is a complete set of Japanese food, it costs 185 pesos.

DOT, DSWD, and USAID Launch One-Step Project

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has inked a partnership with the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony held last 5 August 2013.

The convergence program, called The One-Step Project, seeks to improve the lives of the poor with more direct interventions through tourism. The One-Step Project is a step to include the poor at the start of the development process and integrate communities, including but not limited to the beneficiaries of DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid), in the tourism value chain.

Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. said the project aims to alleviate poverty by improving the “reach” and “power” of our people and to be given opportunities to succeed. “The eradication of poverty begins with the restoration of trust in leadership,” the tourism chief added.

The One-Step Project taps the potential of the 13 million poor Filipinos and the 2.1 million Pantawid households in nine priority tourism clusters. It aims to identify the poor households with greater propensity for success, particularly those living in the tourism clusters that host more than 21 million domestic and foreign tourists, and enroll them in tourism enterprises either as part of a destination community or a supplier community.