Stella Artois Draught Masters Philippines Sendoff Party at Draft Gastropub

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We are sending our good luck to Raniel Dy, from Draft The Fort; Eduardo Mayani II, of Draft Alabang; and Jordan Bernarte, from Draft Greenbelt—winners of the pioneer Stella Artois Draught Masters Philippines set to conquer Regional Draught Masters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Stella Artois Draught Masters is a competition of both expert bartenders and Stella Artois fans to try their hand at Stella Artois’ time-honoured 9-step pouring ritual. Stella Artois launched the very first Stella Draught Masters Philippines on February 25, at the Draft Gastropub in Greenbelt 2. There were initially eight participants who exhibited their skills during the competition, but only three of them will represent the country.

A send-off party was held on May 13, that's a Friday night ...wow, it's Friday the 13th filled with music, food, Stella Artois beer, and friendly pouring competition among fans and the bartenders, held at Draft The Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. Thank you to Stella Artois, Booze Online and Draft Gastropub for hosting a send off for the three - Raniel, Eduardo and Jordan, who are excited to represent the country in June 2016.

To make the event a lot more interesting, attendees of the party were given a chance to test the skills of the local Draught Masters by personally taking part in the 9-Step ritual. There were elimination rounds where fans must compete with each other in the 9-step pouring ritual. The Stella Artois Draught Masters will judge who between two contestants did well, and the emerging winner will then challenge any of the Draught Masters on the next round. I am proud to say that I was only a few seconds slow as compared to the time of the Draught Master.

Say G Day at SM as We Continue to Celebrate 70 Years of Philippine-Australian Friendship

Wazzup Pilipinas!

There was an overflow of Australian goodies that day at The Block Atrium of SM North EDSA as all of us got to try out a delightful array of Australian-inspired or branded delicacies starting with flat white coffee from Vitonna or Bundaberg cold brewed drinks. There were meat pies from @PieFacePH, lamingtons, Tim Tam chocolate cream sandwich, and a lot more including cupcakes designed with the Australian flag.
But that's not the highlight of the event where your Pambansang Blogger was invited to. I was acually late to the Say G Day at SM event, a social media networking day where the organizers, led by the Australian Embassy with Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely, who invited bloggers and online influencers to celebrate the last leg of the exhibition celebrating the 70th year of Philippine-Australian friendship.

Attendees were given sort of a passport containing some information about the Celebrate Australia 2016 festival. The Australian Embassy partnered with SM Supermalls to host the Say G Day at SM roadshow exhibition which features a historical photo exhibition showcasing the depth and breath between the two countries - Philippines and Australia, parallel to an exhibition showcasing Australian lifestyle and culture, and some on education opportunities. Guests can take selfies from large displays of Australian tourist spots.

FYI, the celebration was launched at SM Aura in Tagig last February, then to SM City Cebu last March, then SM City Davao, and finally at SM City North EDSA for the final leg which will last until May 19.

I regret being late because of my failure to properly estimate my travel time from Makati to North EDSA. Even riding the MRT was problematic since there were several times when the ride seems to be too slow than the usual and times when we had to wait for some stations to clear from existing trains before we can proceed to it. It is no longer like it was before when it was newly built.

Western Digital Completes Acquisition Of SanDisk, Creating A Global Leader In Storage Technology

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Western Digital Corporation announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Western Digital Technologies, Inc. has completed the acquisition of SanDisk Corporation. The addition of SanDisk makes Western Digital Corporation a comprehensive storage solutions provider with global reach, and an extensive product and technology platform that includes deep expertise in both rotating magnetic storage and non-volatile memory (NVM).

The Company also indicated that the debt financing associated with this transaction has been consummated and that the previously obtained funds from this financing have been released from escrow to Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

"Today is a significant day in the history of Western Digital," said Steve Milligan, chief executive officer of Western Digital. "We are delighted to welcome SanDisk into the Western Digital family. This transformational combination creates a media-agnostic leader in storage technology with a robust portfolio of products and solutions that will address a wide range of applications in almost all of the world's computing and mobile devices. We are excited to now begin focusing on the many opportunities before us, from leading innovation to bringing the best of what we can offer as a combined company to our customers. In addition, we will begin the work to fully realize the value of this combination through executing on our synergies, generating significant cash flow, as well as rapidly deleveraging our balance sheet, and creating significant long-term value for our shareholders."

The integration process will begin immediately through the joint efforts of teams from both companies. As previously announced, Steve Milligan will continue to serve as chief executive officer of Western Digital, which will remain headquartered in Irvine, California. Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk, will serve as a member of the Western Digital Board of Directors, effective immediately.

"As a combined company, we will be best positioned to address the demands for data storage, which is growing exponentially every year," said Sanjay Mehrotra. "Growth and change go hand in hand, and we couldn't be happier to grow and change together with Western Digital. I look forward to contributing to realizing the potential of this combination as a member of the board."

Under the terms of the transaction, each outstanding share of SanDisk common stock was converted into the right to receive $67.50 per share in cash and 0.2387 shares of Western Digital common stock.

SanDisk shareholders looking for information with regard to the payment of the merger consideration should review the Public FAQ available in the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.wdc.com.