Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards Honors Creme of the Crop Artists for the Performing Arts

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Congratulations to all the winners at the Philippine Legitimate Stage Artists Group (Philstage) Gawad Buhay Awards held at the at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) last June 6, 2014. It's my first time to see Audie Gemora dressed up like a drag queen while singing “Keep It Gay” pretentiously so attending the awards night was very much humorously rewarding for me as well.

Audie Gemora won the Outstanding Male Featured Performance in a Musical Award.....and I thought the movie version of The Producers was one of the most hilarious musicals I have ever seen. I am now hating myself for missing out on the Pinoy theater version. I hope there's a re-run soon so I could be the first one to sign-up.

The Gawad Buhay Awards are conferred to the best and brightest theater artists by a jury that views all the productions by Philstage member companies over the previous calendar year.

Christian Bautista and Karylle hosted the night dressed initially in their glamorous Cinderella theater show outfits which earned a resounding praise from the audience.

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As I sip my cold drink and enjoy the morning breeze, I wonder about my future. I am thinking of a well-postured woman, with a lot of wisdom in her heart and mind. I am thinking of a woman that has no financial problem because she has the best job a woman could ever dream of. I wonder if I can mold my present to that kind of future.

Then, the sun directly hit me in the face as if it was angry with what I am doing. I asked myself "What am I doing wrong? There’s nothing wrong with dreaming. I can dream even if it is an endless dream." Well, you know what’s wrong? It is wrong letting time pass by and letting myself do nothing but enjoy the summer heat. It is wrong to dream, only if you are not doing anything to make it possible.

A year of endless paper works already ended and it is time to have some bonding moments with the people that surround me, and share the moments with them.

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The Ilocos province is a perfect place for your most craved me-time or a perfect place for couples- or in my case, with my family. About 400 kilometers from Manila and about 8 hours of travel by car is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vigan, Ilocos Sur. This is where we spent our summer vacation, and I'm here to tell you our adventure in the city where time stood still.

Vigan City is the capital city of Ilocos Sur and the seat of the provincial government. It was once a thriving center for trade and commerce among the people of Ilocandia and the Cordilleras.

The name Vigan came from the Ilocano word "kabiga-an" pertaining to the plant "biga" which is a tuberous plant that once grew along the banks of its rivers. The must-sees and must-do's wonders of the tiny yet culture-filled Vigan can be toured within two days. It is one of the few remaining 16th century towns in the Philippines.

People describe Vigan as a place where "time stood still" because it is the most intact example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia, and is well-known for its cobblestone streets and a unique architecture that fuses Asian building design and construction with European colonial architecture and planning.

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Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd is a venture capital firm that manages more than S$200million and builds & invests in global infocomm technology startups.

Managing more than S$200 million, Infocomm Investments is an active VC that accelerates the development of start-ups in their formative phase, and invests further as they move towards growth and expansion. Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI) is a leading start-up accelerator that Infocomm Investments has partnered to run accelerator programmes in Singapore for innovation-driven, tech product start-ups.

This partnership is the first-of-its-kind in Singapore, where Infocomm Investments’ entry as an anchor investor helps scale-up acceleration programs and build a strong pipeline of high quality, tech product start-ups able to scale globally.

On the 19th – 20th of June 2014, Infocomm Investments team members will be visiting Manila to drive awareness among tech teams & start-ups for JFDI (Joyful Frog Digital Incubator), an accelerator program run in partnership with Infocomm Investments. The team will also be keen to meet startups seeking Series A or B investment.

JFDI is the first accelerator in Southeast Asia to bring to the region the winning formula for boosting start-up success pioneered by Techstars in the United States. JFDI takes teams of entrepreneurs from idea to investment in 100 days, with greater than 60% success raising an average S$650,000 per team.

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Treat the whole family to a day of fun and games with Avida’s Come Alive in BGC!

Happening on Saturday, June 14 at the Bonifacio High Street Activity Center, attendees will have a chance to experience the dynamic and active lifestyle of the North Side of BGC with activities such as virtual soccer match, photo booths, life-sized Jenga, and many more. Cool giveaways and free Krispy Kreme doughnuts also await participants.

Don’t miss this exciting event for a truly one-of-a-kind Father’s Day celebration. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/AvidaLandPH and www.avidaland.com

My Dream Island Wedding Now Fulfilled at The Lakeshore

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Whenever I see beautiful weddings, I reminisce the days when my wife and I once became equally busy preparing for our own wedding plans. Like all other couples that are planning to get married, we both wanted it to be truly special, and tried our best to give everything we got just to make it the most memorable celebration of our lives.

But also like most couples, we were both young and inexperienced, so there were a lot of struggles. Sometimes we get so caught up in making the big day polished and perfect that we forget to have fun and live in the moment. But what I liked most about all the effort and brainstorming to come up with our own dream wedding is that we shared equally memorable times of sleepless nights, wandering thoughts and hopeful expectations as we drew near that special day when we finally exchange vows, delightful laughter and sweet promises.

If you can still recall our blog coverage of a surprise wedding proposal, followed by another article which tells the story of the planning stage for an island dream wedding, we now bring you the story of the actual wedding itself - the culmination of a love story between two individuals that are now intimately bonded as one and both ready to face the beginning of more wonderful chapters in their lives as husband and wife.

The fairy tale-like island wedding plans I told you about last December 2013 just came true last April 26, 2014, and this is their wedding story retold through my eyes. I am totally inspired by their love story. I also remembered that endearing wedding proposal that brought most of the attendees to an emotion of mixed tears and delight.

There were a million blessings to be thankful during the wedding day, and many of them are enveloped in this blog article. The scenes you are about to see are so breathtaking that we strongly suggest that you take a seat before you scroll down. So, just sit back, relax, and let this love story unfold right before your eyes!

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Almost all the techie stuff you need to run your business smarter was there at the Samsung Business Solutions Center and Industry Solutions Launch held last June 5, 2014. We were introduced to technologies that we've heard and seen mostly on cable TV features but this was the first time we've seen and used them in action. Samsung Electronics Philippines Co. (SEPCO) unveiled to us its Industry Business Solution Center that will showcase the breadth of Samsung solutions available to business productivity and creativity.

There is truth in saying that a well-connected and fully-automated office that takes advantage of the existing technologies to enhance the business processes will eventually benefit well in the long run and will continue to do so as long as it frequently adapts to emerging technologies.

The best business partner is with a technology provider that will tend to all your business requirement needs to make you excel in all your endeavors and continue to outperform the competitions. You'll be surprised to learn that investing on a more advance system may not actually break the bank and may lead to a more fruitful operational efficiencies and benefits to put you in a competitive edge.

ECOLEADERS INC.: Linking Nature and Technology, One Drop a a Time

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Only less than 1 percent of the world's fresh water is accessible for direct human use because 97.5% of the water on Earth is salt water and out of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, 70% is frozen in the ice caps of Antartica and Greenland, and are present either as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as ground water not accessible to human use.

The amount of water available is being threatened by the rapid rate of population growth. If the current water usage trend continues, two-thirds of the world's population - or 5.3 billion people - will be vulnerable to water shortages.

ECOLEADERS INC., the global and exclusive distributor of friendly and green solution products, has recently announced during its blessing of its Quezon City showroom and office, that they are the exclusively distributing US brand Ecoloblue Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) appliances - the most technologically advanced and sustainable AWGs in the world. They envision the AWG products as an effective solution to the water shortages we are already experiencing right now.

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Acupuncture has long been associated with pins and needles which is why a lot of people balk at the thought of trying it. Many Filipinos are scared of the needle and having a few being poked at you to treat a sickness is not their idea of fun. Truth be told, most would choose to suffer through their illness than have some needles be stuck on them. Thankfully, Doc Philip Nino Tan-Gatue, an acupuncturist, is more than willing to shed light as to why Acupuncture is nothing to be afraid of.

1. What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture, in the narrow sense, refers to the insertion and manipulation of needles into the body, usually at set locations known popularly as “points”. In the broad sense, it refers to a collection of procedures related to needling. The word itself comes from the latin acus meaning “needle” and pungere meaning “to puncture” and it involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles. These needles are then manipulated by hand or by electrical stimulation. Needles can be placed on sites of local pain or on pre-defined acupuncture points that lie on pathways of Qi known as “meridians” or “channels”.

2. What are its benefits?

The most important benefit that acupuncture offers comes from the fact that it does not involve administering or taking any medication. There are patients who, for various reasons, are unable or unwilling to take or to increase medication dose or number. These include patients on kidney or liver failure, or simply patients who want to take less medication - pharmaceutical or herbal - to keep from "overloading" their systems.

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There are so many unemployed individuals in our country yet our government claims there has been an increase in the number of jobs that have been introduced in the country brought about by the influx of BPO's or call centers that hire by the hundreds in just a few months. However, not many of our people are a perfect match for the jobs available so what happens is a number of job mismatches happening all over the country. The end result: not many are staying in their companies and finding new jobs elsewhere, or those who stayed are not really happy or satisfied with their current job.

The main reason is usually due to the the increase of interests on courses that do not really have an accompanying demand and availability of jobs as required by employers. Many of the recent graduates find themselves underemployed or just accepting jobs that are available but does not really match their skills and academic background.

We can't really do something about what jobs are in demand because that is based on what businesses are growing or expanding based on economic progress, but there's a new job search engine site created by German and Filipino web developers that is offering a cool way to help you land in a job that suits your skills and at the same time, relieves employers from the stress of hunting for the right talents.

JobMatch.pro, the latest innovation from the German IT provider- ISI Teletrade, was launched simultaneously in Manila and Germany to address the lingering problems of job mismatch. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) pegged underemployment or those still looking for another job at 7-million while unemployment is at 2.96 million. The site uses an intelligent software that recognizes suitable talents while blocking those unmatched applications.At least with this site, we get an opportunity to try out first at companies that where identified matching to our qualifications.