Saturday, December 22, 2012

St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral: A Historical Landmark in Dumaguete

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Dumaguete city has its own share of historic structures and one of these is the St. Catherine of Alexandria Church or more popularly known as the Dumaguete Cathedral. It is the main reason why the nearby Quezon Park is crowded during Sundays. It is the main Roman Catholic Church in the region and it is the seat of the Diocese of Dumaguete.

Our Dumaguete tour brings us to this famous church or cathedral of Dumaguete, and likewise to the bell tower or belfry located at its side. The Dumaguete Cathedral Church is located along Perdices Street, fronting Quezon Park where the Dumaguete Tourism Office can also be found.

"The cakes and pastries of Sans Rival in Dumaguete have really no rival. Thanks to Trinidad “Tita Trining” Teves-Sagarbarria, the founder of Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries, and her children who inherited the same passion and continued the baking legacy she founded.

What started as a small-time garage bakeshop in 1977, Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries evolved into a cozy cafe. Now considered as a local icon providing Negrenses with the sweet and deliciously baked goodies for more than three decades now. To date, the bakeshop has become the place to go for a guaranteed sweet and appetizing food experience.

Who would dare resist their trademark Silvanas or their house specialty Sans Rival, their best sellers. Personally, I have never tasted Silvanas as creamy as theirs before, I fell in love at first bite, and the taste got even better as I came near to my last." - lakwatsero.com

I definitely have to agree with the previous statements. My first bite of the famous Sans Rival Silvanas and Sans Rival was indeed a dreamy delight worthy of a few more bites.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We got to eat at this authentic Chinese food restaurant called the Peking Garden after an event at the Trinoma Activity Center in North EDSA, and I finally received some real special treatment dining at this restaurant.

The traditional serving of food that is done one course at a time was already very rare nowadays. These days we seem to be going fast food for obvious reasons - that we are all living in a fast-paced world, and that fast food restaurants are ruling the restaurant industry because everyone is so busy and needs quick meals ready in just a few minutes.

Waiting time means loss of productivity for many. Some would even resort to ordering food for take-out. So I was glad that some restaurants still observe the traditional way of serving food in a fine dining atmosphere.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Pool Bar, as the name implies, is a bar by the pool. Though almost every resort that I know of has their own pool bar right beside their pools, this resort named their pool bar as simply The Pool Bar. I'm referring to the one located at the Thunderbird Resorts hotel in Rizal.

The Pool Bar serves snacks like sandwiches, and cocktails like the Roaring Rum Giggle and the Noisy Lovers, and even what they cal "mocktails" referring to non-alcoholic beverages like the Gilligan Island and the Absolutely Sexy.

Sandwiches and burgers are the best choices but - if you're as eccentric as I am - you have to choose the type of bread you prefer to go with the sandwiches....believe me you'll be better off adhering to my suggestion.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Koi Restaurant features a fusion of popular Asian cuisine and select Mediterranean dishes. Its salad bar offers a sumptuous selection of appetizers, soup, and fresh breads.

It is the main restaurant at Thunderbird Resorts Rizal. It serves food from breakfast, lunch to dinner and even in between meals.

We had the opportunity to try out their complimentary breakfast, plus lunch at noon. We also visited the place during dinner time but my friends and I decided to eat dinner by the poolside instead so we could night swim at the pool as well.

ROSE Manila was closed down before the end of the year. They have loved being part of so many happy occasions in the last 14 months, and the last night of service last December 21 would be a night to remember. This is a tribute to a great restaurant that has bid farewell recently.

ROSE was a dynamic, fun, and unusual Japanese restaurant located in Manila's Fort Bonifacio district.

Their cuisine was unique, based on the Japanese philosophy of using natural flavors enhanced by classic French cooking techniques.

A sense of whimsy was created by carving a stream into their granite sushi bar and fresh fare is literally floated from the kitchen aboard model boats. Guests also have the option to order from the menu.

If you don't know what Lego is then you probably were not born on Earth.

Its the most creative and innovative toy ever invented that has been imitated by many already. It's the best toy to give to children to enhance their imagination and make builders, engineers, and the likes, out of them.

Lego (trademarked in capitals as LEGO) is a popular line of construction toys manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts. Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct such objects as vehicles, buildings, and even working robots.

As their Facebook page says: Novo7 Tech is a premiere retailer of high quality consumer electronic devices. Keeping innovations within reach!

....and yes indeed! It did allowed me to get a chance to experience using a tablet PC when the branded counterparts were way too expensive.

This is where I got my Onda Valkeyrie V712 tablet PC of which I am very satisfied with regards to the looks, features and performance. I never encountered any problems so far. It was very dependable and suitable for my basic needs of surfing the web, checking my e-mails and Facebook timeline, plus the added photo and video capturing capability - and immediate upload via an Internet wi-fi connection when available.

Their stores also sells accessories or peripherals to maximize the usage of your tablet PCs.

Novo7 Tech is an authorized reseller of Eight Gold Locks (EGL) Marketing Corporation which supplies the Ainol and Onda tablet PCs.

They also have these cute USB figurines imitating the images of famous superheroes like the Green Lantern, Captain America and the Punisher, and other cartoon characters like Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Star and even Angry Birds characters. There's also a Muppets or Sesame Street character like Elmo.

The battery bank was very useful to give you the extra power in emergency cases where you ran out of tablet PC power.

The HD Conversion cable will allow you to connect your HDMI port into a VGA output like your LED monitor or TV, or even a multimedia projector.

Hey, there's even a USB Ethernet adapter

and some portable speakers

and if you want some internet connection...

MicroSD cards!

More USB choices in the image of more famous animated characters!

My favorite next to Spongebob! - Patrick! .... and an Angry Bird!

There's also one with bothe Spongebob and Patrick...and also some shaped like a guitar!

Check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Novo7Tech

Joe's Italian Restaurant of Los Banos Laguna: Pasta Perfection

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A very quaint and modest pasta restaurant in Los Banos, Laguna was our dinner venue one night after a tedious event that day.

The restaurant is housed at the ground floor of a three-story house, which according to the staff, was just previously a garden and garage the owners converted into a pasta dining experience that Los Banos is now proud of to be one of the must visits when you're in town.

Joe's Italian Restaurant is a pasta experience that can tingle your choosy taste buds for a worthy and satisfactory meal adventure. The choices for pasta are quite a selection, and the serving size is value enough for your money.

There's this great museum that you can find in Los Banos, Laguna and its located at the premises of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). They call it the RiceWorld Museum and Learning Center where it showcases everything about rice, rice and rice.

I was at IRRI for two days attending an event sponsored by them and a Telecoms company (SMART), and had the opportunity to wander around their impressive museum. The collection of old equipment and tools that can be found at the museum were fascinating and quite a historical experience.

I believe the health of future generations is entirely dependent on the individual and collective choices that we are making today. Investing in young people as learners, leaders, peer educators and role models is the foundation of a more prosperous society and economy.

The youth is one of the world’s most precious resources. This means that creating meaningful opportunities for youth to grow and develop can only expand to have a positive impact on human development overall, as this investment establishes a framework for a more engaged society as a whole. We need to instil in today’s children the empowering knowledge that their ideas and actions can and will have an impact, which is why capacity building from a young age is so critical for a prosperous future. Access to education and health is instrumental for poverty reduction and to ensure economic growth and social sustainability.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines has a brand new hotel in Laguna and its practically just a few months old. I was fortunate enough to be among the first one to try out the accommodations when an NGO sponsored an event for a group of techies and developers and the hotel was the chosen place for the entire group to stay.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national Scout organization of the Philippines. Its mission is to imbue in the youth the love of God, country, and fellow men; to train young people to become responsible leaders; and to contribute in nation-building.

The BSP was chartered under Commonwealth of the Philippines Act No. 111 on October 31, 1936. Its predecessor was the Philippine Council chartered by the Boy Scouts of America in 1923 through the work of American, Chinese, and Filipino businessmen and interest groups.

Mang Adolfo and His New Polo Shirt

Reposting from a Fcaebook post of WIM Writer Raisa Tan:

I'd probably get into trouble with my mom for talking to strangers, it's a bad habit of mine that I can't seem to get rid of. Hi mom, if you read this, I LOVE YOU!

Anyways, after buying myself lunch, I was on my way home from work when I noticed a man stretched out under the sun on a layer or two of cardboard. Anyone who's stepped outside today would know that today's weather isn't "bask under the sun like you're at the beach" weather, it's more of, "i'm burning alive under the sun" weather. So to see him there, bothered me.

Decided to pull over, gave him my juice, which of course prompted me to give him my lunch and seeing how shabbily dressed he was, decided to give him a new polo. Look at how dashing he looks.

iZone-iHUB just recently had their site accessible to the Philippine technology community boasting the opportunities techies can get aside from the free access to WiFi, coffee, office space amenities, safety and security. This place serves as incubators for startup projects under the pseudo of Information Technology (IT) to be exposed to commercialization targeting a global market.

This place also function as a place for collaboration and development were techies from all walks of life to converge, iZone-iHUB believes that through collaboration, ideas can be nurtured and develop to become projects with value containing diverse technology driven input that can be categorized as innovative and unique.

The opportunities and possibilities offered by iZone-iHUB to the technology community is endless! iZone-iHUB has an on-going contest were an individual or group can win as much as fifty thousand pesos worth of prizes. By submitting their innovative projects to iZone-iHUB, the founder Mr. Daniel Pena who is a well-known business magnate and investor with 40+ years of experience dealing with businesses and start ups. This ensures your project will go to greater heights under his wing. You have an opportunity for your project to be commercialized or monetized under iZone-iHUB and also at the same time you get to win the prize.

iZone-iHUB will have a grand launch scheduled for January 18, 2013 were prestigious leaders and IT enthusiast will be attending to fully grasp what are the activities lined up for the year 2013 and they would also have the Techno Summit the following month which is February 16, 2013. Highlight of this event would be the twenty four (24) hour Hackathon event were participants from Colleges, Universities and Professionals would be able to work as a team or as an individual and compete in development an innovative project within the 24 hour window, participants would also have the opportunity to have this project exposed by presenting it on the event hall. Both events will be graced by renowned individuals under the technology industry and Representative Angelo B. Palmones himself would be present on both occasion to provide his idea about innovation and technology.

With the support that you will provide us, this can help in providing further exposure to the opportunities that we are willing to share to all pinoy techies and technology enthusiasts.

iZone-iHUB believes that the next big thing after Facebook would be coming out of the Philippines and this idea or project would be coming from this technology driven individuals. Support our cost and be part of this wave of change that iZone-iHUB started.

iZone-iHub Bloggers Conference

Blog about iZone-iHUB and win!

Calling all amateur and professional bloggers! Turn that golden hand to great prizes by attending our iZone-iHUB Bloggers Conference and by simply blogging about what’s to come for iZone-iHUB!

Mechanics
1.    The contest is open to all amateurs and professional bloggers. It starts upon completion of attendance to our blogger’s conference.

2.    Bloggers will be invited to attend the iZone-iHUB bloggers conference this January 4, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech site. Slot reservations are a must.

Venue: Penthouse 12^th floor 1 Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City 1605.

3.    Each blogger will publish a post (not more than 600 words) in their blogs regarding the events and what to expect from iZone-iHUB.

4.    Theme of the contest: iZone-iHUB as a beacon of innovation in the Philippines.
Note: entry should stick to the theme and the blogger’s knowledge/understanding of iZone-iHUB and the activities they have planned for. Bloggers are allowed to use a maximum of 5 photos and these photos should be relevant to the topic.

5.    Contestants are required to fill up the online registration form in order to join the contest. To register they need to visit this link: http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com. They will be required to fill up the required fields and provide the URL link of their blogs. (The registration form will appear on the site on the date of the Bloggers Conference)

6.    The entries must be published on their own respective blogs on or before the (Date) or for amateur bloggers you can contribute your entries to technology driven blog sites for exposure of your content. Again blogger must be registered in order to qualify.

7.    Deadline of submissions will be at January 14, 2013. ( 2 days before the Grand Launch)

8.    All entries will be judged following this criteria:

a.    50 pts – Traction of Blog (Unique visits, number of visitors from the time frame of the contest)
b.    30 pts – Quality (includes writing style / ability to understand iZone-iHUB and its goals)
c.    15 pts – Creativity ( Includes choices of words and overall layout of the entry)
d.    5 pts – Technicality (Should be written in English, use of Filipino and /dialect must be provided with English translation enclosed with parenthesis, word limit and number of photos in the entry.

9.    3 winners will be selected among all the entries.

10. Announcement of winners will be done in the Grand Launch event at January 16, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech Site.

11. Judge’s decisions are final and binding.

12. By participating, you are giving iZone-iHUB the right to use the blog in any marketing promotions, including announcement of winners of publicity purposes.