Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Novo Tech 7 : Keeping Innovations Within Reach

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.

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"Coffee is a subject all of its own, from the selection of the right beans, the roasting, the grinding of the beans, the maintenance of the coffee machine, the heating of the cup, the right extraction of the crema, the heating of the milk to the right temperature, and then the serving of the coffee to the customer!"

Cafe AntonioCoffee and Resto for the past few years definitely was the shop that served only the best coffee in Dumaguete. However, it has recently morphed into becoming a full-fledged Coffee house and Restaurant!

We really took it to ourselves to visit the place after a friend suggested it. Our friend was a photographer, and a very artistic one with a definite eye for beauty, and as expected, the place was a photographer's heaven....but is it a food lover's heaven as well?

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"In the mountains of southern Negros Island, 12 km west of the town of Sibulan, Negros Oriental peacefully lie the captivating Lake Balinsasayao and its twin lake, equally breathtaking Lake Danao. One of the major tourist attractions in the province, Lake Balinsasayao is a protected Natural Park, home to an expansive ecosystem and great biodiversity.

The lakes are two small but deep crater freshwater lakes rising 1000 feet above sea level and separated by a narrow mountain ridge, situated in a hollow between four mountains, Mount Mahungot to the south, Mount Kalbasan to the north, Mount Balinsasayao to the east and Mount Guidabon to the west. Lake Balinsasayao lies to the northwest of the ridge and Lake Danao to the southeast" - Dumaguete Info

Next in our itinerary was the visit of the Balinsasayao Nature Park where the famous Twin Lake is located. At the Visitors Center was where you have to register and pay for the very small entrance fees.

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Probably for some fun and thrilling escapade, our hosts decided to give each one of us Php 200.00 to use in buying for our own choice of fresh food at the Dumaguete Public Market. They said cooking will be done by the resort's resident Chef.

There were eight of us in the group so instead of buying individually, we decided to combine our money and buy for all of us. It was actually exciting to make "tawad" with the public market vendors when we tried buying some seafood like a few kilos of squid, a couple of milkfish, some huge shrimps or "sugpo", a few kilos of tuna, and some mangoes to go with "bagoong".

I have to admit that it was a splendid idea adding some spice to our Dumaguete adventure.

"Negros Oriental is a hodgepodge of natural lakes and waterfalls, sure to calm the senses and the frazzled nerves. These attention worthy bodies of water are all subtly tucked away within the island of Negros."

We had to take a short hike to go to our next destination, the Red River Valley Waterfalls. In order to get there, we had to leave our van somewhere along the road where a caretaker is assigned to take care of all the vehicles, then cross a bridge made of "kawayan" or bamboo, then a few more steps uphill.

Funny is, there were people on motorbikes going pass us on the same road and across the bamboo bridge as well. I was surprised the bridge can take that much weight and stress from the motorbikes.

The red rocks in our path was an indication that we were near at one of our destinations for the day.

What causes rocks to weather to a reddish color?

The reddish color that you see in weathered rocks is caused by oxidation. The trace iron in the rocks, after having been exposed to the elements, primarily water, gets oxidized because of the oxygen found in water and making it turn red to reddish brown (typical color of rust).

Depending on the rock composition also, some rocks have layers that, after being exposed due to weathering, contain traces of other reddish particles that give the rock its reddish color.

This was the case for the Red Rock Hot Spring were you will see red rocks all around the vicinity surrounding the hot spring.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.