Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Thursday, May 8, 2014

R16 Philippines 2014: After-Event Highlights

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R16 in the Philippines was held last march 29, 2014 at the Mall of Asia. It is a b-boy competition with a joint collaboration with the Challenge Cup and Breakin The Law. The battle consists of a 1 on 1, 2 on 2 and a crew on crew bboy as well as a freestyle solo division with the categories in Popping, Locking and Allstyles.

Different dancers from the community in the Philippines flocked Mall of Asia to take part in this prestigious international battle founded by BBoy Dyzee of the Supernaturalz Crew. Winners for the b-boy battle and the Popping and Locking solo categories will fly to Singapore for the Southeast Asia R16 leg this coming June.

It was a groundbreaking event as the different dancers did what they do best in their craft and battled it all out against the different crews and dancers. For the Challenge Cup solo bboy competition, it was Babster and Allen who faced it off in the finals with Babster winning the final round and one to represent in Singapore.

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Gadgets have proliferated nationwide and it seems everyone even has more than one of these technological wonders that have swept the country due to the decrease in prices making it very affordable and easy on the budget.

The surge of China made products has also managed to penetrate a wider customer reach thus exposing everyone to the many possibilities of apps, customization and accessories. Just like everything else that we own, we would always want to match our gadgets with the coolest add-ons that will further improve our experience with our gadgets.

Philteq, one of the trusted distributors of networking products and computer peripherals for home and office, launched last May 6, 2013 at the E's Bar of EDSA Shangri-La Hotel another segment that will surely hit the mainstream – the digital lifestyle appliances, which is actually several choices of tech accessories with certain attitudes to fit your lifestyle.

Southern Plains: New High Performance Facility Rises In Laguna

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The country’s national Rugby team, the Philippine Volcanoes have found a home in Laguna. Tucked away in Southern Plains Subdivision in Calamba is a high performance facility built by Randell Carman, long time Philippine resident and founder of the HMR Group of companies.

An avid Rugby supporter, Randell built the facility to as the headquarters of the Alabang Eagles Rugby Club and to meet the Volcanoes’ need for a training camp. The field is also used by the PRFU’s local leagues and Rugby development programs

The newly built high performance facility can be seen from the highway and recently hosted the Philippines’ game versus Japan, Asia’s number 1-ranked Rugby team. The facilities include one International Standard Rugby field, one training field, two swimming pools, clubhouse for 300 pax, air-conditioned function hall for 250 pax, fully–equipped kitched and outdoor BBQ area.

Adjacent to the property are newly-built accommodations that can house 60 athletes in fully air-conditioned, dormitory-type facilities with four private rooms for coaching staff and a common room.

While it was primarily built for Rugby, Southern Plains can be used by other athletes, teams and even corporations for the team-building activities.

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Historian Ambeth Ocampo will talk on "Great Expectations from Philippine Museums" on May 17, 2014, Saturday, at Yuchengco Museum from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The talk is presented by the Alliance of Greater Manila Area Museums (AGMAM) in celebration of International Museum Day.

Open to AGMAM members, museum professionals, supporters of museums, and those interested in knowing more about museums, the talk will dwell on Dr. Ocampo's observations of museums here and abroad in light of new museology, community and audience engagement, and globalization.

Dr Ambeth Ocampo is a popular historian whose books and Philippine Daily Inquirer column have placed a different perspective on figures and events in Philippine history. His work as a historian has brought him to different libraries and museums here and abroad.

Lecture fee is P150, while AGMAM members attend free of charge. To reserve slots, email agmam.membership@gmail.com or call Yuchengco Museum at 889-1234.

Logitech Color Collection for 2014: ExpressYourself in Style with Eye-Catching Colored Mice

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Gone are the black, silver or white colors of tech gadgets and accessories. People are now more expressive that they want to match their gadgets with their unique personalities. Each color is reflective of some of our traits and would sometimes be quite accurate in defining us as a person.

When I was invited to attend an event which required us to wear something colored pink, purple, green and blue, I knew it would be the same colors of the new products that was being launched last May 6, 2014. Held at the Crowne Plaza located at Ortigas Center in Pasig city, was the launch of Logitech's New Color Collection for 2014.

I wore green to the event, not because its my favorite color, but because I wanted to try out something new, and a gadget or tech accessory that's colored green will be something different for me. Later I found out the color has a few meanings behind it which also somehow reflects my personality.

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There are 37 volcanoes in the Philippines, of which 18 are still active volcanoes. Volcanoes can cause violent and destructive outbursts or eruptions causing disastrous effects such as airfall deposition, pyroclastic flows, rain triggered debris flows and lava flows.

This is probably why the Philippine Rugby team was nicknamed "Volcanoes" to mean power and destruction to everyone that blocks their path towards deserving victory. True enough, they represent the Philippines in international rugby competitions thus they need to excel and show to the world that nobody messes with the Philippines.

But after reading some information about them, I found out that the team name Philippine Volcanoes was adopted from the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment composed of Filipino Americans who saw battle during World War 2. The first Philippine National Rugby Team that participated in their first international tournament was a mix of Expat and Filipino players. Thus, the team name.

Though the Philippine Volcanoes have their own share of losses, their performances in previous matches which already earned them worthy recognitions makes us hopeful for more victories soon. Rugby is fast emerging to be another popular sport in the Philippines that it would be nice to emulate a winning team and let it transcend to the next generations.

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What a wacky pose, especially for First Pinay World Pool Champ Bing Amit, who's posing like "I don't really know what". But what would you expect from such a young group of athletes with so much energy to keep them up and alive especially now that they are among the new brand endorsers of USANA products.

Personal care and high-quality supplements manufacturer USANA was proud to introduce to the members of the media 10 familiar faces in the world of Philippine sports that already made a name for themselves after earning several recognitions in their respective field of expertise.

Although only 7 personally made it to the press conference held at the USANA main office located at the Enterprise Tower in Makati, the other 3 were also mentioned during the presentation. The most recognizable for me was Taekwondo Hunk Japoy Lizardo because of his other brand endorsements giving him plenty of TV and print ad exposures.

The other athletes are Tin Patrimonio - the Venus of Women's Tennis, Janice Lagman - the Aphrodite of Taekwondo Poomsae, Aly Valdez - Women's Volleyball Phenom, Gaby dela Merced - The Racing Goddess, Niel Flores - Men's Volleyball Rising Star. Those who did not made it to the presscon were Abe Avena - Asian Senior Golf Champ, PJ Tierro - the Tennis Rising Star, and LA Tenorio - Team Gilas Pilipinas Power Point Guard.

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There's a quite new (only a few months old) Spanish Mediterranean restaurant at Rockwell, Makati located at the La Joya building along Joya Drive that you should check out. The restaurant is named after a famous street in Barcelona and is from the same hombres who gave us the Las Flores Tapas and Bar Restaurant over at Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

Rambla, with Spanish Chef Pepe Lopez as head chef, now offers special brunch dishes available during weekends. I was invited by Uri Singla, one of its owners, to try out them out so I could share my experience to everyone here in my blog. It was several months when Uri and I last saw each other, and I was glad he remembered to invite me again to share an afternoon with them.

Actually, I was earlier invited to try out some aged-old cocktails when they invited Giancarlo Mancino over at Rambla as a guest bartender but I had a previous appointment that I couldn't let go that night so I just sent over some representatives. They said the guy owns his own Vermouth and will present a master class for a few press people. According to my representatives, Giancarlo explained the process of the aged cocktail and gave everyone a chance to try them all. Too bad I missed it, but I have an article about it on Wazzup Pilipinas contributed by one of the representatives.

Anyway, I am grateful there was another event at Rambla where I got to dine on some of Chef Pepe's brunch creations available from 11 am until 4 pm.

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Telu Events is hosting another speed dating event on May 31, 2014 entitled “Speed Dating: Around the World in 15 Dates.”

Specialized in organizing themed speed dating events, Telu Events will now focus on the theme on travel. All participants will receive Telu customized passport and boarding pass upon registration and the venue will be designed with travel paraphernalias. One will be able to date 15 people in one night at 5 minutes each and leave the rest of the matching to the organizers.

Still unsure? Speed dating events are organized not only for romantic pursuits but also to allow people socialize in a quick, fun and no pressure environment. Participants are usually professionals who want to meet people and expand their network for work, friendship or love. Some wanted to include such events as part of their bucketlist of things to experience. Telu Events always sees to it that participants go through age group and personality profiling to ensure high possibility of matches.

It’s time to get loose! It’s time to make this summer different from the rest!

Two Week MRT-3 Express Train Trial Starts on May 7

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In the meantime that the Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) long-term solutions – mainly the addition of 48 train coaches and the automation of ticketing systems – are still on the way, Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3) management is exploring immediate measures to improve the rail system’s services.

After the successful testing of extended operating hours last February to March, an experimental run called the MRT-3 Express Train service will be conducted for two (2) weeks, from May 7 to 20.

“We hope that this trial run will yield positive results for passengers. Ideally, it will increase mobility – meaning it will get commuters from their origins to their destinations more quickly – as well as lessen waiting time at our most congested stations during peak hours,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

Based on historical passenger volume data, most peak-hour weekday morning riders begin their trips at the North Avenue station. A substantial number also start from the Quezon Avenue, GMA-Kamuning, and Cubao stations. Most of these passengers alight at the Buendia, Ayala, Magallanes, and Taft Avenue stations.

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Reacting to initial reports that an Ombudsman case has been filed against him and other officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in relation to the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) Project, Secretary Joseph “Jun” Abaya vouches that laws and rules were properly followed in the project’s bidding process.

“We were sure to follow all bidding rules and processes very carefully. The process was completely aboveboard. This is why we are ready to face this complaint – as long as what you do is right, you have nothing to fear,” said Abaya.

“We have not received any official copy of the complaint yet. At this stage, we are only reacting to several news reports. We will review the complaint once we receive a copy, but we are not worried since we know that there was nothing irregular in the bidding out of the project,” he added.

According to initial reports, the complaint filed before the Ombudsman was made by a group called the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers or NCFC.

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brite spokes by Kuoni (www.britespokes.com) is a new travel brand from an established tour wholesaler Kuoni that is now offering vacationers a variety of thematic trips, exclusive experiences and personally enriching adventures that were previously only available to independent travelers.

“We are excited and energized to launch brite spokes – a brand that will truly stand out in today’s evolving travel industry,” said Mark C. Morello, CEO, of brite spokes. “After a soft launch of the branded product in 2013, we’ve spent the past year developing itineraries that even the most seasoned travelers will find unique and packed with ‘remember forever’ experiences,” he continued.

brite spokes is seeking to capture the growing number of vacationers that over the past decade have repeatedly told researchers and pollsters that they are looking for experiential travel for their vacations.

"brite spokes experiential vacation packages have been created with current and developing travel trends in-mind as well as on-going feedback from our frontline researchers who test-run all of our itineraries to ensure seamless and exciting vacations," Morello added. “With a millennial mindset comes a travel brand focused around the kind of trips clients dream about and would plan if they had the time, as well as vacations other people actually want to hear about when travelers return home,” said Morello. “brite spokes representatives have great taste, incredible connections and stellar credentials ensuring their capability to effectively plan unique and spectacular travel experiences,” he added.

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Color Dash upped its game last March 2, Sunday on its second year. This time, it was presented with the Call Center Association of the Philippines. Sixteen (16) colors dashed more than 5000 agents with family and friends.

The event started early in the morning with a warm up led by two fit ladies, Michaella Recto and Andrea del Rosario. The crowd had a great time doing their stretches buckled up with inspiration to get fit. As the gun start was fired, everyone was blown with colors at the start line. They were dashed with several colors throughout the course. When they reached the finished line, the sponsor booths were ready to accept them.

Several fun photo booths can be seen together with fun games like a sports drink bong by Easy Taxi while Manila Water had a roulette to give each spinner a prize amongst the other exciting booths.

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Get a chance to win approximately $40,000 in cash and prizes at the Epson International Pano Awards. Epson, a leading digital imaging company, invites professional and amateur photographers around the world to enter their panoramic photography competition that is now on its fifth year. The competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers and early-bird entries are now open until 13 July 2014.

The Epson International Pano Awards is dedicated to the art of panoramic photography. It showcases the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and is the largest competition for panoramic photography. Advances in digital photography and editing software has resulted in a surge in the popularity of image stitching, especially in the panoramic format. Panoramic film photography also remains alive and well.

"Without a doubt, this world-class photographic competition represents an ever increasing standard of quality in both image capture and print. Each year we are seeing more and more captivating entries and the outstanding quality continues to impress me," said Craig Heckenberg, Business Unit Manager for Epson Australia.

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The Philippines' Department of Tourism (DOT) has recently released an international TV commercial showing that fun never fades in Boracay, Philippines - Asia's 24/7 island. The video advertisement intimately promotes Boracay as the place to be this summer. It encourages everyone to have their next vacation on the white sand beaches of this tropical paradise.

Boracay has been the ultimate beach destination. You are always "in" if you're hanging out there especially during summer. They've even coined a word "LaBoracay" capitalizing on the usually long break during Labor Day.

LaBoracay is an unofficial holiday festival that kicks off on May 1, the same time the Labor Day in the Philippines is commemorated.

Thousands of people from all over the country flock the island of Boracay, to have fun, bask in the sun and relax. Every part of the White Beach is filled to the brim with people enjoying the music, dancing, drinking and all kinds of merriment.

Every year the parties get wilder with a promise of one unforgettable summer experience.