Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Candelaria, Zambales: A Period of Pleasure and Productivity

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Adventure, sleepless nights, stress-free activities, swimming, workshops, movies and many more. These are just some of the things that usually comes out first in our mind when we hear the word "SUMMER". But for others, it's far different from what we usually think.

Some people believe that these things mentioned above are just stereotypical ways of describing what summer is all about because for them, summer is about doing what you ought to do - doing what you like and doing things you're comfortable with.

An example of people who believe in this idea are those who spend their summer productively. They study their lessons in advance and engage in different kinds of activities that can enhance their talents and skills. Another example are those people who just stay in their homes and watch movies, read books, play computer games, or just sleep all day long. They do things they think they are comfortable with or things that gives relaxation and peace of mind.

I think that I belong to these groups of people because I've spent my summer productively and I also made sure that I was able to relax and enjoy. I had fun all throughout the vacation even though I rarely go to malls, beaches and other places outside our municipality. I can say that I had fun because I followed my own way of having a well-spent summer by maintaining balance between productivity and pleasure.

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Are you a tourist from another country visiting Manila or a local who’s looking for a place to stay for a night or two? Well, Tune Hotels may just be the right place to book a room.

Tune Hotels is a pretty new establishment in the Philippines and has already established name in different countries as far as England, Australia, and Thailand just to name a few. They have branches sprouting in different parts of the Philippines and the branch that we were able to have a staycation at was the Ortigas branch. Fairly new, just opened last February.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were welcomed and assisted by the staff, which is actually unexpected as the hotel isn’t a 5 star hotel since it caters for backpackers who just need a night or two to have a good nights rest before venturing of to another adventure around the metro.

Legazpi, Albay: Summer Bonding Time Back Home with Family and Friends

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Every year we always have our leisure day or week, especially during summer. Some may go on a vacation together with their family. They go to their provinces or try other adventures to discover other places.

Like me, I also had a vacation trip to our province in Legazpi, Albay.

It's really nice to go there every year to visit our relatives and family friends. It took us almost 14 hours traveling from Manila to Legazpi. It would have been only for 12 hours but because of heavy traffic and road constructions, it took an additional 2 hours to reach our destination.

After a few days of resting in our house, we decided to go somewhere. We went to Daraga Church to attend the mass which was about The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ. After that was a long way to our next destination. I've got a chance to have a glance of the very prestigious university in Bicol - the Bicol University. It was huge and has very nice facilities. An idea struck in my mind "I want to try studying here."

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I enjoyed two nights of Bimini Bahamas experience. It's my break from work to enjoy and celebrate the shore. The beach has super-fine white sand, The water is emerald-colored. All-in-all, we had a great time!

Bimini is the closest Bahamian island to the United States that is located just 50 miles off Florida’s coast. The island boasts of miles of pristine beaches. Bimini is historically significant and is popularly known as Ernest Hemingway’s favorite escape. Hemingway led the way for fishermen who pilot their own boats across the Gulf Stream from Florida to follow in his footsteps, and pit themselves against some of the world’s feistiest game fish and each other. Jimmy Buffett spent some time there to write his book, and Martin Luther King, Jr. also composed parts of his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech at the island. A bronze bust of his image is at the Bimini Craft Centre in Alice Town.

It's historical complexity and renowned past which includes Bimini Road, believed to be the remnant of the legendary Lost City of Atlantis, are just some of the reasons why visitors from around the world enjoy an opportunity to frolic within its shores.

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The Asian Medical Students’ Association Philippines (AMSA Philippines) proudly presents Hustle to Serve: Marketing Basics for Social Advocates.

This distinctive one-day seminar aims to provide basic knowledge on marketing for student organizations as well as funding for social advocacy projects. It shall serve as an empowerment platform for youth advocates who aspire to implement carefully-crafted and financially-sustainable project s in their respective universities and communities. Basic skills and knowledge on marketing and finance shall be taught and shared in this seminar in order to more equip more young leaders in creating sustainable products, pursuing passion projects and implementing social innovation projects that benefit not only their immediate community, but the society at large as well.

Hustle to Serve: Marketing Basics for Social Advocates will feature four speakers who are trailblazers and innovators in their respective fields. The first speaker is currently the administrator of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (KRIS Library) named Ms. Arizza Nocum. She will be discussing “Fund-Raising for Non-Profit Organizations.” Ms. Kirstin Lopez, co-founder of an online crowdfunding platform called The Spark Project, will be talking about the scope of her work during the talk “Crowdfunding for Community Building.” This will be subsequently followed by Ms. Roxy Navarro’s take on “Pragmatic Pursuit of Passion Projects.” Last but not the least, Nina Gerodias, Founder of the University of the Philippines Business Leagues, will discuss “Marketing for Student Organizations.”

The seminar will be held on June 21 (Saturday), 1-5 PM, at the Multipurpose Room 403, 4th Floor, Tan Yan Kee Building, University of Santo Tomas.

Escaping the City Lights

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The buildings, the different noises, the blinding lights, the angry voices of the drivers stuck in the traffic, things that can be observed in a place where time fly so fast, that if you’re not fast enough to catch up, you’ll be left out. It can be so tiring at times, you think you’ve been fast enough but in a matter of seconds, so many things can happen. This is the city. This is where I grew up, like I said it can be so tiring, but you only need to do two things in order to release the stress brought by the life in the life in here, and that is to take a break and escape.

On the night of May 29, we left the busy streets of Manila, together with my parents, my sisters, my grandma and uncle, we went on an 12 hour drive to my grandmother’s hometown, Bangued, Abra.

The car ride to Abra was really fun; stories were exchange while 90’s music is being played. Everyone shared their funny stories, trying to kill some time, except for me. I just enjoyed listening and laughing along with them.

After almost 7 hours of drive, tiredness suddenly kicked in, one by one, everyone started to drift to sleep, but I didn’t. Instead I try to enjoy the silence, I opened the window beside me and the fresh air came rushing in, it’s so calming. I looked outside and I can see these lights being emitted by the buildings, it’s not too much, but it’s something, at least for me. I'm so far away from the city. Finally.

Donnalyn Bartolome is "KakaiBabe"

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She spills her heart out in her videos doing all sorts of stuff from DJ'ing, acting, singing, rapping, doing a monologue, and other crazy things she can think of while in "emo" mode - that state where she relates as her most creative point in time when she can come up with the most weirdest, nastiest, yet charming expressive ways while still remaining cute in front of the video camera.

Oh, yes! She's the only one who can get away with almost anything with panache while her ever-growing fans continue to love her cute antics because she is simply an adorable petite cutie pie that one can't get bored with!

Donnalyn Bartolome is a natural and candid personality who is so very tele and photogenic that you want to hug and kiss her little body tight that it could almost become flat. Nah, just kidding! Everyone just loves this 19 year old girl with a smile that could launch a thousand, if not a million, ...albums.. if given the opportunity.

But I guess that thought is about to come true as she has already launched a single titled "KakaiBabe", and soon, an album with enough tracks to sweep the nation by her lovely pop and R&B-rapping rhythm plus an endearing attitude that is worthy of praises.

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Hot, humid, burning, sizzling, dry, steamy – words that are usually used to define summer. But disregarding the weather, summer is the perfect time to travel, to have parties, to enjoy and have fun with our loved ones.
We often go to the beach, visit our province, see tourist spots and do many more uplifting activities during the summer season.

Summer is also the ideal time for students like me to kick back, relax and not worry about school related stuffs. Sleeping late and waking up early, doing loads of school works, only motivated by allowance,.... finally I’ll be able to have the chance to take a break from all these exhausting things.

Finally my resting period came, but as much as I want to be carefree, I can’t help but to think that I’ll be spending my last days in high school. I’ll be in 4th year in the upcoming school year, and that also means I’ll be taking College Entrance Exams.

I badly want to pass UPCAT and graduate at UP Diliman, so I was double-thinking if I’ll have summer review or not. I’ve been thinking about it for days and with the influence of a friend of mine I decided to join her in summer review sessions.

I thought that my summer is going to be boring and drab since I won’t experience much fun as I’ve expected, but I ended up eating my own words. Didn’t know that taking summer review could also be fun. We were based in UP Diliman and excitement did flow in me as soon as I stepped into the campus.

Wazzup Pilipinas!There's quite a huge number of freelancers at present because of the many potentials one can do when one works at his or her own pace and convenience. We set our own standards, arrangement details, and can where almost anywhere and at anytime we prefer. We can even work in our pajamas at home while sipping coffee and sitting comfortably in our favorite chair.

The only problem with the setup is we tend to sometimes get too lax and worry-free if we work at home. Working at coffee shops exposes us to a lot of distractions plus the annoying look on the crew's face since we occupied our spot for almost the entire day. Also, we can't really impress our clients if we meet them at nearby coffee shops or hotels since many still prefer to work with professionals who have their own business offices.

One Asia Center is a new serviced office provider located in the Central Business District of Makati City. They lease fully furnished Executive Serviced Offices, as well as offer Virtual Office, Business Solutions and support services.

We had an opportunity to visit the place and found it ideal for our needs to work in a conducive environment minus the high expense of having to deal with setting up our own office address. The place will be great to meet with potential clients and to work with colleagues for projects and brainstorming sessions. We also believe it will be great for our other needs like workshops and training programs since its equipped with the necessary office amenities.

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LINE Corporation, owner and operator of the free globally renowned call and messaging app recently announced the launched of the family app “LINE Selfie Sticker” for iPhones to add a refreshingly creative and colorful twist for taking selfies.

LINE Selfie Sticker can be used to make original stickers out of self-portraits, or “selfies” in just three simple steps. First, users take a picture of their own face, and then they choose their favorite character from over 130 illustrations covering 17 exciting themes, including LINE characters, astronauts, skateboarders, wedding gowns, cheerleaders, monsters, and more. After that, all users have to do is fit the illustration to the original picture and tap it when they are done. In just three taps, users have their own original stickers they can send to friends.

Users can adjust specific aspects of the stickers by changing the face size or angle, enlarging or shrinking text, or adding speech balloons with their own messages, creating unique stickers that can be used in any situation.

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After the highly successful “World Water Day Concert” and ”Earthday Jam 2014” , EARTHDAY JAM FOUNDATION, Inc. is now again ready to embark on another unique and exciting project dubbed CC TUNES (In Tune With Climate Change).

CC TUNES will be held on June 17 at the Activity Center of Market, Market in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig starting 4pm. This special music for advocacy event will feature eco-artist-producer Lou Bonnevie, pop-rock icon Kitchie Nadal with the young hot OPM bands Moonstar 88 , Silent Sanctuary , GraceNote and Mayonnaise. The activity will be hosted by actor-model Lorenzo Mara, Phoebe Walker and Pam Nieva of Eurasia and resident host Midi G. with guest celebrity Bb. Tourism Angeli Dionne Gomez and other surprise personalities.

The project is being undertaken in support with the global “World Environment Day” celebration and the Philippine Environment Month long festivities. In recognition with the international theme which is “Raise Your Voice, Not The Sea Level” – the concert will also feature speakers who will have short talks on the impact of climate change around the world with emphasis on small nations and the lessons to learn from these countries to overcome a number of environmental problems with only limited resources.

Wazzup Pilipinas!His name is Aaron Colton and he rides motorcycles for a living. He is an action sport athlete with over eight years of professional riding experience. He has already gained a broad respect throughout all disciplines of motorcycling, competing in Street Freestyle, AMA Pro Road Racing, AMA Pro Flat Track, as well as a handful of WORCS, supermoto and motocross races.

Last May 2014, US sportbike freestyle champion Aaron Colton impressed a lot of people in the busy streets of the Philippines as well as other parts of the country, when he pulled off incredible stunts doing breathtaking, gravity-defying acrobatics on a KTM Duke 690 during his visit to the Philippines.

The Philippines is known for having one of the largest motorcycle communities in Southeast Asia with over 4 million registered riders on the roads. The locals got a glimpse of something completely different from their daily commute when Aaron Colton stopped by for a one-wheeled tour through the Asian gem of Manila.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

What’s bigger than dinosaurs? Giant robots. What’s bigger than giant robots? Godzilla. What’s bigger than Godzilla? Freakin’ outer space! Where a bunch of aliens are busy guarding the galaxy.

There’s nothing that can compare with bigness. But sometimes, even the thought of “bigness” is an understatement when you find something that can contain all these things and add in a huge dose of fun and thrills. Prepare for the biggest one yet! It’s time for TOYCON 2014!!

The Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention, or TOYCON as it’s more widely-known, is Asia’s biggest and longest running convention for collectibles, toys, anime, comics, cosplay, gaming and anything and everything related to hobbies and collections. The convention has been ongoing since 2002 so it is now on its 13th year of thrilling fans and aficionados alike. It is, simply put, the biggest pop culture event in the country.

This year’s TOYCON will highlight the 75th Anniversary of DC Comics’ caped Crusader, Batman with a huge Batman display area, a life size Batpod, a kids’ activity area, exciting new Batman merchandise, and a gallery of art and collectibles of the Dark Knight Detective.

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In a move to reduce queuing time at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has recently concluded talks with international air carrier representatives to incorporate the international passenger service charge (IPSC), commonly referred to as terminal fees, in the price of airline tickets beginning in October 2014.

“We congratulate MIAA on this new policy. It improves traveling convenience and efficiency at NAIA by removing a whole process which unnecessarily adds to the passengers’ processing time, requiring them to line up when payment can be done ahead of time,” said Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jun Abaya.

According to MIAA, the integration of the IPSC into airline tickets will help address the congestion problem for departing passengers at NAIA, and will free up a sizeable area since the existing terminal fee counters will be removed.

Moreover, this policy is at par with international standards and practices, since among ASEAN Region countries, it is only the Philippines which collects terminal fees on a face-to-face basis at the airport.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Get ready to feature your latest technologies and offerings related to the film industry. Meet distinguished production companies, producers, distributors, filmmakers, artists, and academic institutions form all over the world, network and exchange ideas with the most prominent film practitioners, and be part of an international marketplace where you can target and tap a broader audience for your film-related products and services.

The International Film Expo 2014 will be happening soon in Manila on June 27 to 29, 2014 at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

Organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the organizers are positioning this event to be the Cannes Film Festival of Asia. They have actually gotten the commitment of ASEAN film organizations to send representatives to the show.

Filipinos are Southeast Asia's largest movie-going public. It comes as no surprise then that Philippine film making is considered as one of the most profitable ventures and investments you can make in this country.

So what are you waiting for, take your place in the spotlight and join this amazing event as an exhibitor or as an attendee.