PH Tourism Bullish To Achieve Higher Volumes As EU Lifts Ban

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Philippine tourism keeps exceeding expectations as international visitors reached 2.011 million from January to May this year, reflecting a 10.54 percent growth over 1.819 million of the same period last year. The figure represents a historic first in breaching the two-million mark in the first five months of a year.

All key tourism markets are bullish, led by Korea and the United States with a compounded stake of 39.55% in the total inbound traffic. Korea continues to secure the top rank, rallying 489,389 tourist arrivals to the country.

While the U.S. economy has yet to recover from recession, the number of American tourists leapt by 2.58 percent, with 306,056 arrivals compared with the same period last year. Visitors from Japan accounted for 179,984 or 8.95 percent of the overall visitor volume. The Chinese market, on the other hand, saw an uptick at 18.35 percent, rising to 163,879 from 138,466 arrivals. Australia has kept the fifth spot with 88,190 visitors keeping Taiwan at bay for two straight months now. Nevertheless, Taiwan generated 79,297 arrivals, possibly foreign independent travelers (FITs) who have more flexibility to pursue their travel itineraries.

Moonleaf Tea Shop Celebrates 1st Anniversary

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We congratulate Moonleaf Tea Shop The Columns Sen. Gil Puyat, Makati branch on its first year anniversary.

Special acoustic song numbers from guest performers namely Ebe Dancel, LM Cancio and Ai Dela Cruz, made the occasion livelier, and a photo-booth allowed the guests to bring home souvenir photos of themselves.

"The Caramel Milk Tea is the  bestseller, but the Hakka, Vanilla, and Wintermelon all earn raves from  bloggers. The house milk tea is sweet, simple, and refreshing."

I specifically like the Oolong and Wintermelon Milk Teas - my all-time favorites and I believe of almost everyone else of my friends. But don't let that stop you from experimenting on the other flavors and maybe you'll discover a new favorite of your own.

Iktus is the Grand Winner of the Sun Broadband Quest

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Iktus was declared as the grand winner of the Sun Broadband Quest last night, July 12, 2013 held at the Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan.

Iktus was originally "Icthus" which was the Greek word for "fish" mainly because the fish ius a symbol of Christianity. The band believed that the name is catchy and truly tunog-Pinoy. Iktus is composed of Carissa Panaligan (lead vocalist) and Andrei Panaligan (bass), Andrew Panaligan (drums) (hhhmmm brothers and sisters??) and Augusto Mendoza (guitar)- all hailing from the Colegio De San Juan De Letran from Calamba. The group was formed last 2005 and has already won several awards in the many band competitions they have joined throughout the years.

The band finds inspiration in both local and foreign bands like Rivermaya, Silent Sanctuary, Sugarfree, Itchyworms, Urbandub, Flyleaf, Paramore, Switchfoot and Run Kid Run.