Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Synergy: Electrical and Electronics Engineering Summit 2014 Event Highlights

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Synergy is where students from various courses related to the field of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, technology, and information meet to learn and share thoughts and ideas on how their fields of study can help the everyday lives of Filipinos. It hopes to inspire students into thinking and building technological and engineering innovations which can further the country's progress. Synergy is mainly envisioned to go beyond learning the concepts and exploring the theories acquired from the academe.

Now on its third year, Synergy presented a four-day gathering dubbed as Synergy: Electrical and Electronics Engineering Summit 2014 held last November 19 to 22, 2014. The event was an opportunity for the future engineers to showcase their potential skills and intellect in a whole new level.

With chosen speakers from trending companies in the technological industry, students also build their career vision and skill potential derived from their interest and key study. The event focused on the development of one’s professionalism, and in turn, as an avenue to be part of building the country.

This year's Synergy was composed of five major events namely Techno Talk, Ingenious Ideas, Revolutionary Robotics, Dynamic Discourse and Corporate Connection.

Young Actors Join Ballet Philippines In “MANHID: The Pinoy Superhero Musical”

Wazzup Pilipinas!

On February 2015, “MANHID: The Pinoy Superhero Musical” wraps up Ballet Philippines’ 45th anniversary season. Set in an alternate present day Philippines where the EDSA revolution failed, this musical features heroes and villains with superpowers, and a people sick with Kamanhiran (Apathy).

Leading the cast of superheroes as Bantugan “Tag-inip” Buenaventura is Sandino Martin, who recently won Best Actor at the Cinema One Originals Awards Night for his role in “Esprit de Corps”. Bantugan is a journalist with the power to communicate with the other superheroes through his dreams. Alternating the role is Ballet Philippines Apprentice, Mark Anthony Grantos.

Female lead Lam-Ang “Amihabagat” Panganiban, who controls the Amihan and Habagat winds, will be played by Regina de Vera and Teetin Villanueva. A resident actor of the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company, de Vera won the Gawad Buhay award for Outstanding Female Lead Performance in a Play in 2013 for “Der Kaufmann”. Villanueva is a recent Theatre Arts graduate from UP Diliman. Her thesis role performance as Hermana Augusta Beata in Floy Quintos’ COLLECTION earned her nominations for the 26th Aliw Awards and BroadwayWorld Philippines’ Awards in 2013.

Gold Villar takes on the role of Alunsina “Mura-dugo” Albano, who has the power to draw blood through her curse words. Villar is a senior teaching artist for the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and has been part of productions Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang, Batang Rizal, Si Juan Tamad, Ang Diablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto and most recently, Rak of Aegis.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

All Day is an up-and-coming Filipino-owned convenience store chain that already has around 100 stores nationwide. It aims to take the "convenience store" idea a level higher than the traditional convenience stores we know by offering more than the usual products and services, and mainly to provide an everyday neighborhood store for the residents in the nearby subdivisions of Vista Land, and to those who would like to go into franchising the brand.

Apparently, there's now a bigger and better All Day they are now calling 'All Day Mart' that further exceeds our expectations of its former predecessor. It's smaller than the grocery stores you will find in the large malls, but has an excitingly broad selection of grocery products from many popular brands, as well as special services for added convenience.

Your friendly neighborhood Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas was recently invited to celebrate the grand opening of All Day Mart Cerritos Heights located within the perimeter of Camella Cerritos Heights subdivision in Daang Hari Molino Bacoor, Cavite. Gracing the event were real estate mogul and former Senator Manny Villar and his lovely daughter Camille Villar who both led the ribbon cutting and blessing of the store last January 20, 2015.

The All Day Mart has many parking spaces but since its really a neighborhood store that opens early in the morning, there's no stopping the nearby residents from coming to the store on foot after a few minutes of jogging or running around the community. This is also the best place to hang-out to have some yummy snacks and refreshing drinks at any time of the day.

SM City Baguio Cuts Down 60 Pine Trees Like a Thief in the Night

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SM City Baguio is under fire for cutting down at least 60 pine trees like it's a heinous crime. The pine trees were gone overnight via a rushed job employing hundreds of men. Everyone was in a frenzy over the Pope being in the country that only a few people noticed. If our figures are right, there are now182 pine trees gone in this portion of SM City Baguio.

Is bringing down 60 more pine trees enough justification to give way to an environment-friendly sky park? Is a "green" building, 2,000 trees already planted at the Busol watershed and 30,000 more within the next 3 years, sounds fair over a total of 182 uprooted trees, and possibly more soon?

Is SM City Baguio continuing to become the murderer of helpless pine trees as it blatantly rushed the uprooting of pine trees infront of the mall so they could build an expansion? Nagtatanong lang po.

Did SM City Baguio take advantage of the fact that our attention was focused on the Pope, so they cut down the trees thinking nobody would notice? Is "Money is the root of all the uprooting of trees!"

Dear @Pontifex, after your mass at SM MOA, SM City Baguio cuts the pine trees stealthily like a thief in the night. They come to take away your local businesses, and your trees too. If the pope was informed by the fate of those trees at SM City Baguio, I'm sure he would've cancelled the MOA event. There were rumors saying that they cut the trees during the exact moment the Sy siblings were shaking Pope Francis' hands. Oh humans! Such questionable stewards of God's creation.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Piling Obrang Vidyo (POV) is in their 11th year with their annual inter-collegiate video competition that will be held on January 24, 2015, Saturday at UP Cine Adarna Theatre.

POV encourages aspiring student filmmakers from universities and colleges around the nation debut their entries on the big screen. Participating schools this year include University of the Philippines, University of San Carlos, Meridian International College, Far Eastern University, Malayan Colleges Laguna, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, De La Salle Lipa, Ateneo de Manila University, Asia Pacific Film Institute, Southern Luzon State University, and Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba.

The finalists will be screened at 1 P.M., followed by the awards ceremony and an after party. The jury for this year’s Piling Obrang Vidyo includes Erik Matti, Nora Aunor, Ricky Lee, Dan Villegas, Benjamin Tolentino, Mikko Quizon, Richard Somes, and Teresa Barrozo for the Narrative Category. Rox Lee, Raya Martin, and Dodo Dayao for the Experimental Category. Keith Sicat, Raya Martin, Jewel Maranan, and Ditsi Carolino for the Documentary Category.

Several awards from various categories will be given, including: a Best Film from each category, a Viewer’s Choice Award, The Cinemaster’s Choice, and citations in the Narrative category for: Best Direction, Best Production Design, Best Performance, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Editing, and Best Music.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Nightime is never boring at Puerto Galera because it's practically when a different kind of fun begins due to the nightlife that can be found in town. There's so many bars and restaurants offering both great food and drink choices, lots of entertainment that ranges from stand-up comedy skits to singing impersonators, and of course, the booze that will keep you awake and eventually drunk the whole night, and with a hang-over on the morning of the following day.

You'll see the fire dancers, also called or poi dancers, wearing skimpy clothes while seemingly risking their bare skin from the fire they're playing with. Some of them do get a little burned all in the line of work but it comes with the job of making sure the island visitors visit your place instead of the many competitors nearby.

But we were dead tired from all the activities that day that going to town was no longer part of our itinerary. We simply needed a good night's dinner, watch a few minutes of cable TV to update us on the news, check on our e-mails and social media accounts, then immediately go to sleep in our comfy beds to regain the energy needed for tomorrow's next set of activities.

Infinity Resort serves many culinary delicacies as we have already relayed from our past stories about them from our breakfast and lunch dining experiences, and so it applies similarly to a sumptuous dinner for that night.

English Grammar Stuff That My Dad Habitually Overlooks

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The English language, in my opinion, is one of the easiest yet puzzling languages in the world. Many people believe that it is easy because of the fact that countless people all over the world know the language and learn it effortlessly. Because of this, it is often titled as the “universal language”, despite it only being second to Mandarin as the most spoken language in the world.

Now, for some people, English is a tricky language to be familiar with. There are things such as the Oxford comma, homonyms (words that sound alike but have different meanings), contractions, even the lesson that I’m sure we all took in class called subject-verb agreement and the like. Although it is generally easy to communicate in English, some of us, if not all, have their own little flaws, especially when speaking. I’ve heard that in places such as the United States of America, English grammar is usually not a big deal as long as your point is understood.

Putting that aside, as an entitled grammar Nazi (not to say that I don’t make mistakes, mind you,) and loving daughter to my dearest father, I’ve gathered up these habitually overlooked English mistakes I’ve noticed in him so far:

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Millions of Filipinos flock to hear Pope Francis' offers of hope and consolation to the poor at the concluding mass. People have stood since midnight and through the rain to see @Pontifex in Manila. A strong sign of faith and belief in a higher power. People can be seen holding up images of Sto. Nino chanting "Pit Señor" and "Papa Francisco." Present also is President Benigno Simeon Aquino II or otherwise known as PNoy or Noynoy has arrived wearing a baseball cap to attend the Mass. The Presidentiable family, including Kris Aquino wearing a yellow raincoat, is also here. PNoy and his coterie are surprisingly in blue (or was it black) jackets while the mass choir sings in various Filipino languages.

The Pope arrives and incenses the altar to begin the Mass in where we most commonly refer to as Luneta or Rizal Park where the monument of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal is erected. He also blesses a statue of Sto. Niño.PH celebrates the Feast of Sto. Niño to honor the Infant Jesus. Pope Francis speaks in Latin to deliver his message and as he consecrates the bread and wine, and blesses the Eucharist.

Before the mass, @Pontifex met with the Catholic volunteer Kristel Padasas' father and cousin sharing grief and condolences over her tragic death at Tacloban. It is unfortunate that the Pope is unlike Jesus Christ who is able to bring the dead back to life but I have an uncanny feeling that there is now an angel guarding the family of the deceased.

Providing musical accompaniment for "Gloria" (Glory to God) following after "Kyrie" (Lord have mercy) is a 1,000-strong choir and 200-piece orchestra performing for the concluding mass of Pope Francis at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila attended by an estimated 6 Million people all wanting to see and hear the Pope and his message to the Filipinos. The EDSA Shrine Rector Fr. Nilo Mangussads lead the orchestra.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

At an encounter with the youth, Pope Francis had expressed so many wonderful words of wisdom for the youth present at the grounds of the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in Espana, Manila. The Pope prayed for the 27-year old lady Kristel who died in Tacloban before proceeding with the program planned for the day.

There are so many beautiful words in Spanish that cannot be fully translated to English. How beautiful the Spanish language really is. I bet it sounds better in Spanish and understand the situation of the translator that not all Spanish words have an exact equivalent in English. What a waste that most Filipinos cannot speak it when our language is so close to Spanish. Que lastima!

The Pontifex said to allow ourselves to be surprised by God ... it will help us move forward. Indeed, all the so called surprises, including those that shocked us, is a way to lead us to a better and stronger future. "Don't be frightened by surprises. They shake the ground and make us unsure. But they move us forward."

"Why does God allow children to suffer?" Probably to teach us how to cry, to weep. There are certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed with our tears. "Don't be frightened of crying..learn how to weep!" In reference to the girl who wasn’t able to express her full statements in words, and could only only continue in tears, there are things we only understand with eyes that have been cleared by tears.

Pope Francis said "Be wise young people. To be wise: think well, feel well, and do well. Be surprised by the love of God." He then followed it up with "The danger is becoming a museum of information, of having everything, but not knowing what to do with it. No young museums." He captured it perfectly with "Youth Museum." Think of endless curation, self-motivated goals, putting achievements first.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It's not yet summer in the Philippines but there's a good reason to indulge and reward ourselves with some sweet cold treats as early as today.

Rita's Italian Ice is now in the Philippines! Yup! You heard me right! The largest Italian Ice concept in the world, offering a variety of cool treats including the famous Italian Ice, made fresh daily with real fruit, available in over sixty-five flavors including Old-Fashioned Frozen Custard, Sundaes, Light Custard, Frozen Custard Cakes, Custard Cookie Sandwiches made with Oreo, layered Gelati as well as their signature Misto and Blendini creations are finally here in the country to satisfy our desire for sweet deletable cool creations.

We went to their grand opening last January 16, 2015 to try out their cool product lines and experience the very first branch at VMall in Greenhills here in the Philippines - the very first branch in Southeast Asia. With over 600 stores in the U.S., Rita's Italian Ice Rita’s has been dedicated to serving up a big dose of happiness with their freshly made, delicious, custom treats, in a fun-filled atmosphere, spreading “Ice, Custard, Happiness!”

With some perks to give its first customers like a year's supply of Rita's Italian Ice for 1 year for the first 20 customers and and free Mango Italian Ice for the first 100 customers, some have literally camped out at their store area as early as 2:30 am to get the chance to win Rita's cool treats.