Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, February 1, 2016

Rehabilitated MRT-3 Escalators Now Fully Operational

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Jardine Schindler restores first batch of worn-out conveyance facilities.

All refurbished Schindler-brand escalators of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) are now open for public use, providing some relief to commuters — especially senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women — while the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is striving to modernize the system through facility upgrades.

“Passengers can expect a more convenient commuting experience with the rehabilitated escalators now up and running. The restoration of these conveyance facilities is a small step towards long-term progress that will make a valuable difference in the lives of daily commuters,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

The P22.11-million project was awarded to Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation in June 2015 through the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (PS-DBM). The contractor holds proprietary rights to rehabilitate the 12 Schindler-brand escalators as the brand’s exclusive distributor.

The projects to rehabilitate the other batch of escalators, which includes 34 Mitsubishi-brand facilities, and to replace 32 elevators are currently under procurement by the PS-DBM.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Australians have very good reasons to be proud of their country. It's a country where workers can actually live on their wages and save to have a secure retirement. Just like in the Philippines, the kids can study primary and high school for free. Young people have many options to study, prepare, and build their careers. If you move to Australia, you can really build a life there, as countless migrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees have done. Truly, Australia has much to celebrate and be grateful for. Through many ups and downs over 200 years, Australians have built a fair, open, prosperous, and progressive society."

Happy Australia Day to my Aussie friends!!! or should I say, Happy Aus- Straya-Day mates? Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

We got Australia Day off to a great start when many of us jumped off the sober January wagon to celebrate with fellow countrymen and Filipino friends at Skippy's Bar and Grill at the Forum of Bonifacio Global City (BGC) last January 26!

My Radyo Inquirer friends and I got invited by the owners of Skippy's Bar and Grill themselves, namely Stephen and Cristina Bird, to celebrate Australia Day at their bar. I had an earlier event at a nearby restaurant along High Street so it was very convenient for me to drop by as early as their call time of 4 pm. Though I was a bit full already from the restaurant event, there's no stopping me from trying out Skippy's Bar and Grill's specialties.

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Hackathons have made the word "hacker" so glamorous nowadays because it now means someone who wants to change and improve the world. The numerous organizations and companies who have either organized or sponsored such events and encouraged even the youth to participate are totally making hacking a heroic act.

By 2020, the number of devices connected to the Internet is expected to exceed 40 billion and it would be awesome to get started in creating and innovating ideas that would help us lead the trend.

From the organizers of the very successful Hack The Climate events, they now also present to you the IOT Summit Philippines - An Internet of Things expo and hackathon. The event aims to introduce you to the IoT ecosystem consisting of hardware, software and cloud providers.

Our guests were Elaine Cedillo, Diego Ramos, and were joined by Chris Misola, a Technology Evangelist from Microsoft who is a major sponsor of the IoT Summit, plus the HR Head of 8Layer Technologies who shared to us some of the job opening of their tech company.

What is the Internet of Things? Internet of Things (IoT), which is where just about anything can be provided with unique identifiers and given the ability to transfer data without requiring human interaction.

Be able to drive revenue opportunities & solving business problems across multiple industries & in nearly all business functional areas. This will be very useful for technology & business decision makers to evaluate IoT and its impact on their businesses, and for you to unleash the power of IoT through cloud, big data and analytics.

If you want to collaborate / participate as an exbitor or sponsor, please email info@econnext.com

Check out their Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/iotexpoph

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Are you ready to laugh your wits out? Because the Funniest Marketing Event of the year entitled “Punchline: Funniest Road to Marketing Success” is coming this February 5, 2016 at SM City Sta. Mesa, Cinema 9 Quezon City. It will be a day full of outrageousness and unlimited Marketing knowledge.

“Punchline: Funniest Road to Marketing Success” is a one day seminar that will be all about the lighter side of Marketing, the side in which we will discover the opportunities that lie in humor and the importance of creativeness and wittiness to achieve success. The topics will be about the significance and importance of “Witty Philippine TV Commercials” and the triumph of “Humor as a Business”.

Punchline will be hosted by Bekimon a well known comedian, event and TV host and actor. Our First Speaker will be Stanly Chi, he is a stand-up comedian, a cartoonist in Manila Bulletin, a columnist, a video blogger in Spot.ph’s Suplado in the city, a radio host at UR 105.9’s, and also a renowned author of Chicken Mami For The Sawi, Men Are From QC Women Are From Alabang and Suplado Tips 1 and 2. Our second speaker is Mr. Gil Velez; He is a Strategic Planning Consultant at Domiguez Marketing Communications, Inc. and a Professor in the University of Santo Tomas, College of Fine Arts and Design. And also a surprise guest will be joining us to fill the venue with laughter.

A Weekend of Everything That Flies at the 20th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

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It was really cool to find out that there's going to be another awesome spectacle up in the air of Pampanga soon!!!!

The Baby Dino hot air balloon will be joining the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Air Force City, Clark Air Base, Pampanga on Feb 11-14, 2016!

It reminds me a game that I used to play when I was a child. It would be an amazing opportunity to ride it or at least capture it on photo while it rises from the ground up into the clouds. There were 496 sorties/flights recorded on the 19th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in 2015. I wonder how many would be up in the air this year.

Bring your family and friends. Lift off from the airfield in a hot air balloon! The hot air balloon ride tickets are at 350USD per person. There are several ways to get them! From our offices, through our online portal, through TicketNet, from selected TicketNet outlets, or at the Fiesta gates!

There are also VIP Passes at 6000Php per person that can get you Priority Entrance, Complimentary use of the Balloon Launch Patio, Air-Conditioned Lounge, Breakfast buffet, Lunch buffet, Afternoon high tea, Complimentary snacks & beverages.

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Meet Krissy the eagle of Pampanga! Unleash the animal within and watch Krissy fly with the Hot Air balloons in Pampanga! Like Jungle Circuit Party to know more about Jungle Circuit Party- Hot Air Balloon Festival Pampanga!

CUE Company x Kris Nuevo Events Managementpresents:

PAMPANGA, GET READY TO UNLEASH THE ANIMAL WITHIN!

Join us at The Mansion on FEBRUARY 12, 2016, Friday. Buy your tickets now for PhP300 only at SM Cinemas Nationwide or online https://smtickets.com/events/view/4141

Featuring Filipino International DJs DJ Toy Armada (#1 billboard remixer), DJ Jay Santos (International Circuit DJ) and DJ Brian Cuaa (award winning producer/arranger) Plus International Brazilian DJ,Roméo Cavalcante and Cosmo Bachelor Model, MC Orion.

Wazzup Pilipinas is a proud media party.

For inquiries and table reservations:
Alex Rivera of Cue Company @ 0995.537.3989

Crystal Jade Dining IN Offers New Set Menu for Chinese New Year 2016

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I'm currently flabbergasting on a tongue-in-cheek look at what the year of the fire monkey means for markets and a handful of well-known global personalities.

We all know that the monkey is an ambivalent animal that is loved for his human-like antics but mostly disliked for his lack of social grace and unpredictability. Though some find it humorous, not everyone is pleased, So, will the Year of the Fire Monkey live up to mimic its animal counterpart?

The predictions I hear lately have a state of having simultaneous conflicting reactions, beliefs, or feelings towards some object, or having an attitude towards someone or something that contains both positively and negatively-valenced components.

Will the year 2016 become not as stellar as optimists hoped it would be? I'm still hoping progress continues for the year and the rest to come even if it takes a longer wait. But who is doubting? The start of the year has been very awesome for me so whatever experts say, it all lies on our unwavering optimism and that persistent determination to rise up again after every fall. Sometimes you are at your most peak when your vulnerability is being tested.

As always, I've been very lucky to be among the few selected bloggers to get an invite to the launch of a new set menu for Chinese New Year 2016. From January 22 until February 28, Crystal Jade Dining IN will be offering the Chinese New Year 2016 new set menus. Revel in the elegance of their newest dishes as families partake of what the restaurant has to offer for CNY 2016.

"Experience the worldwide celebration of the Year of the Red Fire Monkey with Crystal Jade Dining IN as they hold a month-long celebration with four delectable treats and an enticing spread of all-time favorites highlighted by new dishes to help attract good fortune and auspicious tidings this 2016."

Microsoft's Hour of Code Program

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Microsoft Philippines, in partnership with Mojang AB and Code.org, led the Hour of Code for the visually impaired students from the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB). In line with Microsoft’s vision to empower every individual on the planet to achieve more.

Hour of Code aims to introduce basic computer programming to persons of all abilities through a unique coding tutorial based on the classic game, Minecraft.

Twenty-three elementary and high school students from PNSB completed the Hour of Code session with Aleandre Kwan, Microsoft Philippines Citizenship Specialist, and Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) volunteers.

About the Author:

Ross is the Pambansang Blogcaster ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart. He blogs as an advocacy to help the country in making itself known as a prime tourist destination proving that it is really more fun in the Philippines.

Follow him @ Wazzup 365 | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Dailymotion | Instagram

Choose Art This Valentine's Day with Ballet Philippines' Opera

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As a special Valentine’s treat, young professionals aged 30 and below may avail of a 30% discount on the 6pm shows of Ballet Philippines’ Opera - February 13 and 14 at the CCP Main Theater. Tickets may be purchased with this discount at the CCP Open House, the Pasinaya Festival on February 7, the Ballet Philippines office or through BP at 5511013.

Ballet Philippines “Opera” is choreographed by French dance maker Redha based on Gabriel Barredo’s acclaimed installation of the same title. The unique show seamlessly merges contemporary art and dance into a new groundbreaking production.

“Opera is a special production for lovers of contemporary art and dance, it breaks many barriers and transcends our expectations of a dance show” muses BP’s Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Morales. “We are offering this special promotion for the young art loving generation to give them a special option for Valentine’s”.

The original “Opera” exhibition was first presented at Silverlens Galleries in January 2015, and was recently toured to Singapore last November in time with the opening celebrations of the National Gallery Singapore. For the ballet, Barredo is creating a staggering array of new sculptures, which will comprise the production’s set design.

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The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE), electrified the iconic Stadium Negara with another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action. Fight fans in Malaysia were on the edge of their seats as the best in local and international mixed martial arts talent battled it out inside the ONE Cage. In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting defeated the Philippines’ Eric “The Natural” Kelly by submission and took the time to call out reigning champion Marat Gafurov in the post-fight interview.

Visit the official ONE: CLASH OF HEROES photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ivh34n9pza3q94o/AADwuMwRg-gnDecd5AIBoQyTa?dl=0

In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, an exhausted Ev Ting pulled out a gutsy victory over Eric “The Natural” Kelly of the Philippines, winning by submission in round three. Ting dominated the striking exchanges throughout the bout, blasting Kelly with various combinations. Kelly spent most of his time defending against Ting’s aggression, biding his time and pacing himself for a distance finish. In the third, Ting latched on a standing Guillotine that transitioned into a mounted Guillotine, leaving Kelly no choice but to tap out.

“Marat Gafurov I’m coming for you, where is that belt at?” said Ting, looking for a shot at the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

“With the new weight cut policy I wanna fight as much as I can and fight full time to feed my family. I want to fight Marat Gafurov. The fight was harder than I expected. I didn't know he could take so much hits. I respect Kelly as a fighter and it was a great fight,” Ting added.

CD-R King’s iRover Hoverboard: Liberating Your Feet Off the Ground

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Have you ever tried levitation? Glide without touching the ground? Uncanny as it seemed to be, Super Saiyans of Dragon Ball Z & Magneto of the X-Men amongst others have perfected that kind of ability. Picture yourself doing so. Isn’t it exciting?

CD-R King, your one-stop media provider once again spices up an extraordinary treat with the iRover - a high-tech yet affordable gadget in-line with CD-R King’s effort to bring technology to the general public.

iRover lets you experience superiority in balance. It makes you gain control and progress at your own pace liberating your feet off the ground. An exhilarating thrill that makes one experience the same. CD-R King provided the hoveroard utilized by eleven Housemates in one of their weekly task at Pinoy Big Brothers, were Miyo emerged as the Pinoy Big Brother 2015 winner.

iRover is the newest hovercraft unit released by CD-R King, designed not just for comfort but also tone your leg and foot muscles, contrary to the concern of some parent on cutting the walking strides of their kids whenever they utilize the board. iRover uses the smart balance technology that uses leg muscle in moving around thus it can help strengthen your lower body.

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Animal Planet premieres a new set of stunts for the month of February every animal enthusiast should not miss!

The Animal Planet stunt CNY Special (Primates Uncovered) premieres a lineup of esc-apes this month. Join Professor Sally Boysen on her experiments with the chimpanzees Emma and Harper as she attempts to give the chimps an opportunity to communicate in short sentences in terms humans can finally understand. Ever wondered what they want to tell us, how they feel, and what it's like to be a chimp? Start your February with the one off Chimps: A Whisper Away From Us, February 1, Monday at 8PM.

Follow the Orangutan Fairy Godmother, Sue Sheward, together with a dedicated team of veterinarians, nurses, rangers and volunteers in their expedition of returning their endangered young charges to the wild. From lusty liaisons to triumphs over adversity to touching friendships and troublesome teenagers, all these and more at Meet the Orangutans, February 1, Monday to Thursday, at 9PM.

In the one off Almost Human, keep up with Jane Goodall and Bill Wallauer on their trek to find Gaia, one of their favorite chimps of Gombe. Witness as they share with viewers a compelling new view of these animals and take us to an emotional journey of understanding how chimps experience joy, maternal love, even deep emotions such as grief and perhaps even a kind of spirituality. Catch it at Almost Human with Jane Goodall, February 2, Tuesday at 8PM.

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City living doesn’t always mean expensive, and affordable doesn’t always mean low quality, as evidenced by the best affordable condos in Metro Manila.

Condominium living is quite common in highly urban places like Metro Manila, and just like the high costs of living associated with big cities, prices of condominium units also commonly tend to be significantly high.

This should not deter home seekers from choosing to live in Metro Manila, however, as there are many affordable options in the current market that do well to meet big city living needs while remaining reasonably priced. These condos are also quite accessible from major business centers, so commuting to and from work will be a breeze for future owners.

1. East Raya Gardens
Developer: DMCI Homes
Location: Pasig
Price: Php3–5 million
Distance from Ortigas Center: 19 minutes without traffic via Mercedes Ave. (based on Google Maps estimates)

Located along Mercedes Avenue in Pasig, this 2.9-hectare residential enclave is by DMCI Homes, and in keeping with the developer’s no-frills, distinctive style, also features a Balinese-inspired design. It is composed of eight medium-rise buildings complemented with 500 square meters of lush Balinese gardens and water features for a relaxing environment. Prices for units range here range from Php3 to Php5 million, with Lamudi currently having 96-sqm, three-bedroom unit currently listed for Php4,255,800.

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SAP announced the SAP Digital Boardroom, a planned breakthrough digital approach that aims to contextualize and simplify performance reporting across all areas of business in real time. Built on the SAP Cloud for Analytics solution, SAP Digital Boardroom is expected to utilize line-of-business data from the SAP S/4HANA suite and SAP HANA Cloud Platform to provide a single source of truth about a company’s critical business metrics. This approach aims to help companies monitor and drive change in the digital economy.

“SAP Digital Boardroom intends to provide total transparency to board members, executives and decision-makers with a comprehensive, real-time view of business performance across an entire company,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation. “We have incorporated fully automated business intelligence capabilities that aim to dramatically improve the quality and speed of reporting as well as collaboration in real time. As businesses continue to transform and evolve around the digital economy, executives will be able to use SAP Digital Boardroom for instant, data-driven insights that address ad hoc questions and improve decision-making. It will ultimately build trust between all board participants, employees and investors.”

"The SAP Digital Boardroom will enable an interactive board discussion, allow board members to analyze large volumes of information, plan scenarios, and zero in on sale opportunities in real-time," said Scott Russell, Chief Operating Officer of SAP for Asia Pacific Japan.

When required to make highly informed business decisions, board members, executives and decision-makers are often faced with separate reporting solutions that present data in a static, isolated way. SAP Digital Boardroom aims to harmonize the view of company operations across all lines of business on multiple devices. This view enables users to understand the past instantly, predict the future and conduct business successfully in today’s digital economy.

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Get ready for their return to Katipunan!

Watch The Comedy Cartel's "Friday Comedy Fix" at the Exile at Main Street Cafe Resto (between Jollibee and HSBC Katipunan) on February 5 (Friday),9:30PM!

Comedy Cartel is the pioneer of Point-of-View Stand-Up Comedy in the Philippines.

Free entrance so bring all your friends and let's all laugh our weekly bluesaway! See you there!