Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Miss Philippines Bea Rose Santiago is Miss International 2013

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"I want to give a merry Christmas to the Philippines. I want to close the pageant this year with a slam." - Bea Rose Santiago

Filipinas are the most beautiful women on Earth! Proof to that is another win by Bea Rose Santiago as Miss International 2013.

Her winning speech was powerful enough that everyone must have felt deep within the very nerves and hitting the bones hard.

"The whole world saw how our country has suffered. One by one, other countries helped.You have opened my heart and eyes on what we can do to help each other. If I win the crown, I will help promote camaraderie among countries. I will work to sustain the spirit of sympathy and the spirit of hope. As long as we work together, there is hope." - Bea Rose Santiago

Wazzup Pilipinas!

One of the letdowns of social media is that we can now cowardly rant against anybody behind the safety of our homes or offices while typing away madly on our computer keyboards or smartphone/tablet keypads. What we fail to realize is that the rant is more likely a call for attention when we felt we were terribly wronged. It is our way to ask for sympathy from others. "Come on everyone, join in on the party. Let us all gang up and hurt somebody!"

What made us snap? We felt our ego was bruised so now we desire to take revenge. We feel we deserve some form of retribution. So what do we do? We rant non-stop until our so-called friends, and everyone else that's clueless within our area of influence, comforts us and share the hate we have against our enemies.

What is alarming? Since the others do not really know even a cinch of what transpired between us and the other party, they will fan the flames just to further heat up our anger and create a bigger fire. Instead of wishing for "world peace" just like our beauty pageant contestants, many will only add further hatred into the equation causing an even bigger chaos. And because we subjected the accused in an unfair and misplaced context to save our own shortcomings, we managed to convince others that we were maltreated.

Is this how we take care of our perceived rotten apples? Strike them down further instead of lifting them up and showing them how to correct the errors of their ways? Thank you very much for these wonderful questions.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The action behind the camera has become one of the most intriguing contemporary art forms in the country. Despite being the youngest of Philippine creative styles, film making has succeeded in immortalizing the rich culture and character of the Filipino people through the silver screen.

Even with the challenges that face the industry such as the growth of illegal camcording and movie piracy, filmmaking continues to captivate and engage many young talents. One such passionate artist is Gino M. Santos, who, at the age of 24, has made waves in the local film scene.

Gino is a two-time Gawad CCP honorable mention awardee with his experimental short “Bangungot” and his short movie musical "Ang Tangke" (The Water Tank), the latter of which vied in the 19th Contravision Film Festival in Berlin. With award-winning director Brillante Mendoza as his mentor, Gino continues to hone his craft with the best from the trade and raise the standards for local filmmaking.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We were given three chances to guess which we think was the most searched about in the Philippines, and most of us were wrong!

It was really surprising, and only reveals two probable facts. It's either a lot of people were really curious and concerned of the tragic lost, or many really love the person from the very start of 2013 until the end of the year when he met a very unfortunate accident.

Yes! Paul Walker was the most searched about term in Google Philippines!

I am not sure if this is comforting enough for him to know that many recognized him as influential for others, but the guy really made an impact to the Filipinos.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A month since Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines, the country is still staggering. The Church of Scientology Mission of Manila immediately activated their Volunteer Ministers to help. They were joined by Volunteer Ministers from abroad who have continued to provide relief to help the country recover.

The Typhoon, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, slammed into the country November 8 with sustained winds as high as 195 mph. More than 5,000 died and the United Nations estimates 1.9 people were forced from their homes. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the storm disrupted the livelihoods of more than 5 million people leaving 2.4 million in need of food.

The Scientology Disaster Response Team, led by veteran Scientology Volunteer Minister Ayal Lindeman of New York and members of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour, is working with government agencies and humanitarian organizations to help with the distribution of food and supplies.

Wazzup Pilipinas!
Thirteen "YouTube singers" from across the globe dedicated their time and talents to this project, which is designed to help raise global awareness for the still ongoing need for aid and relief in the most hard hit areas in the Philippines.

Participants in this video include Zendee Tenerefe and Aldrich Talonding, both of whom famously appeared on the Ellen Show. A pair of American Idol 'veterans' are also in the mix in the form of Marvin Calderon Jr and Jett Hermano, while talented Filipino singers from as far away as Austria and Australia also took the time to record and send in footage of themselves singing different parts of 'The Prayer', which we then painstakingly edited together to form an utterly moving and compelling virtual choir that was only made possible through the advent of social media.

We are especially pleased to include the latest Filipino singer to have gone viral internationally - Joyce Jimenez, the sweet little blind girl from Davao who captured the hearts of netizens around the world with her soulful rendition of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Best-selling Ultraportable in the Market is Available with Infinite storage. ASUS announces the availability of the Transformer Book T100, a 2-in-1 ultraportable laptop with a detachable 10 inch tablet HD display. Powered by the latest Intel Atom ‘Bay Trail’ quad-core processor and that can be used as a standalone Windows 8.1 tablet. With a slim design and durable finish, Transformer Book is not only one of the lightest laptops currently available at just 1.07kg, but also one of the lightest 10-inch tablets around, at 550g.

Currently breaking sales records, the ASUS Transformer Book T100 now comes with a 32GB memory on the tablet and an additional 500GB memory on its dock. In addition, ASUS offers an infinite amount of storage for one year with ASUS WebStorage for an infinite amount of fun!

Just 10.5mm thin in tablet mode, Transformer Book’s 10.1-inch display has a crisp 1366 x 768 resolution and features IPS technology for wide 178-degree viewing angles with excellent daylight visibility. Capacitive multi-touch gives fine fingertip control in tablet mode, while exclusive ASUS ‘Reading Mode’ technology adjusts the display automatically to make the screen easier to read for long periods. ASUS SonicMaster audio technology gives true-to-life sound which delivers one of the loudest yet crystal clear audio for a 10 inch tablet and Transformer Book also features the latest USB 3.0, 802.11a/b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and Micro SD slot (Up to 64GB) for optimal connectivity with other devices.

Wazzup Pilipinas is the Most Outstanding Filipino Community Blog Site of 2013

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Congratulations to Wazzup Pilipinas!!!

The National Customers' Choice Annual Awards Council Confers Wazzup Pilipinas as the Most Outstanding Filipino Community Blog Site of 2013. Awards ceremonies will be on Jan. 24, 2014, 6pm.

Great news to end the year!!! See you at the awarding ceremonies this January 2014!!!

Wazzup Pilipinas was recognized as one of the Top Ten Emerging Influential Blog of 2013 by Digital Filipino, an organization managed by Janette Toral, one of the top social media gurus of the Philippines. This recognition was voted by fellow bloggers, and now this time the national recognition is coming from the vote of customers - our readers, followers and supporters. This makes it more significant and truly meaningful

Thank you for recognizing Wazzup Pilipinas! We will continue to be the most outstanding Filipino community blog site!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Axe Apollo Space Academy (AASA) chose its first Filipino astronaut. The masculine fragrance company presented to the media community, Chino Roque as the pioneer of the Pinoys dream to step foot in the moon.

Last December 9th 2013, At the URBN Bar and Kitchen in The Fort strip, the press community met the top 3 contenders, from The Philippines, in the AXE’s campaign to bring aspirants to the outer space and had a chance to know Evan Ray Datuin, Ramil Santos and Chino. It’s a great privilege to have a face to face encounter with these guys who just got off the Axe Apollo space camp.

Datuin, Santos and Roque were surrounded by camera flashes and back to back interviews from different broadcasting stations and print media representatives. Gino and one of the ultimate heart throb and idol of the mass; Ramon Baustista hosted the gala.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This travel adventure we call life is what we make of it. No matter how dedicated we are, sometimes we will be tempted to change our plans and veer away from the proposed path to admire the view, touch the trees, taste the food, or take the most photos. Whatever the reason, we all deserve to decide how and when we will get to our destination.

It wouldn't also be realistic enough if it were all smooth sailing, if there were no potholes on the road, if there were no storm clouds to slow us down. Even a train gets derailed. Even a space shuttle has limitations to its reach. We will therefore sometimes get delayed, miss our ride, or worst....never reach our destination. It's a universal truth.

Just because we fumbled, slipped or tripped once, or twice, or thrice,...doesn't mean we're gonna suck at everything forever. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in ourselves, because if we don't, then who will?

The people behind Gionee’s bestselling ELIFE series (From Left to right) Richard Bangayan, Gionee Philippines Vice President, Beally Pei Li, Gionee South East Asia Senior Sales Manager, Tom Zhou Xiao Ping, Gionee South East Asia Sales Director,Michael Bangayan, Gionee Philippines President, Katrin Gregorio, Gionee Philippine Mobile Business Division Head, Douglas Hu, Gionee Philippines Sales Head

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A global leader in mobile phone manufacturing and design, Gionee has recently launched the Gionee E6, the flagship smartphone from its bestselling ELIFE series at Eclipse Bar in Solaire.

Having attracted the attention of the midmarket segment with its impressive lineup of smartphones, the brand continues to innovate and develop new models that are specifically designed to create a better smartphone experience.

Just like the other models in the ELIFE series, the Gionee E6 is also very user friendly. As the world’s first smartphone with White OGS technology, the Gionee E6 is perfect for both highly mobile business folks or for those who prefer to make use of their smartphone as an entertainment device.

BLTX Small Press Expo: Geek Fun, Indie Insights & Best Practices

Wazzup Pilipinas!

What you'll see are images from the BLTXIV: Fourth Annual Better Living through Xeroxography Small Press Expo: Geek Fun, Indie Insights, and Best Practices!

The Youth & Beauty Brigade in partnership with Lopez Museum and Library held the semi-annual small press expo BLTXIV: Fourth Annual Better Living through Xeroxography Small Press Expo on December 14 (Saturday) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In support of the efforts of production and marketing of handmade items such as books, comics, anthologies, and magazines by the Filipino youth, featured at the expo were over fifty sellers with items that were difficult to find through mainstream channels, and not sold by major bookstores.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

AXE Apollo Space Academy (A.A.S.A) has finally selected the first Filipino astronaut to represent the Philippines in a flight to space. The legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Chino Roque meet for the first time.

Last January, AXE, the no. 1 fragrance brand in the world, unveiled a campaign to take the first Filipino to space with over 20 others from over 160 countries worldwide to celebrate the launch of AXE Apollo, its newest and possibly most iconic fragrance yet.

The Philippines was among the top countries that participated in the global campaign with over 28,000 applications for the opportunity to become the first Filipino to ever go to space.

From thousands, three candidates were selected to represent the country at the international AXE Apollo Space Camp held at the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. The three candidates underwent astronaut training with over 100 others from all over the globe. Finally, one has been chosen to take to space by 2015 as the first Filipino astronaut.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We can now say farewell to "Goodbye Gloria", "Pacquiao" and "Bin Laden" - among many other banned firecrackers.

They were last year's popular firecrackers. This year-ender's explosive new firecrackers are now names as "Goodbye Napoles" and "Yolanda".

Whoa! I'm just not so sure if Janette Napoles would leave a bigger bang than Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's namesake, but isn't the "Yolanda" a bit insensitive. I guess nobody would want to lit up something named after the typhoon that killed thousand of our countrymen from the Visayas.

Yeah...maybe it was so devastating enough to destroy many lives and properties, including the survivors' hopes and dreams, but I won't dare touch something that will just bring out strong emotions that may cause despair especially to the survivors of the calamity.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Epson recently announced its support for Kindle Fire Printing, an integrated wireless print solution from the all-new Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX tablets. A wide range of Epson Connect-enabled printers now deliver extensive mobile printing capabilities for the new family of Kindle Fire tablets with Amazon Fire OS 3.11, making it easier than ever for users to wirelessly print documents, photos, appointments and emails.

"Amazon just gave mobile productivity a huge boost, enabling Kindle Fire users to go beyond leisure and entertainment and use their tablets to stay connected and get the job done," said Ian Cameron, general manager of sales and marketing support at Epson.

"Collaboration and innovation are an important part of Epson's strategy to drive home and business productivity via powerful mobile printing solutions across a range of devices and platforms.

Today's on-the-go users require multifunctional, easy-to-use options, and support of the new family of Kindle Fire tablets provides yet another convenient and powerful way to access, share and print from anywhere."