Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

GrabCar+ Now Offers Premium Rides to the Public

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Wouldn't it be impressive if you gallantly arrived at an event coming out from a Hummer vehicle?

Now that would have raised a lot of eyebrows! Many would have their mouths and eyes wide open in amazement. Imagine your Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas aboard a luxury vehicle that most people would only dream of having but never be able to get within our lifetime. Only a few affluent people would be able to tell stories of riding in one of these awesome vehicles.

But I guess our luck will now change due to a new service being offered by GrabCar, the Philippines leading car booking app. They recently launched their newest line featuring luxury vehicles like Fortuner, Montero, Camry, Tucson and the Hummer, that you can rent via their mobile app GrabCar+. Now you can ride in style and luxury aboard any of these premium vehicles at very affordable prices compared to renting at traditional agencies.

The launch was held at A Space Manila located in Makati city where selected members of the media, including some potential GrabCar+ peers, witnessed the introduction of this latest endeavor which originated from the same people who brought us GrabTaxi.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Google Philippines is proud to bring to the country the Android One program with the aim of bringing high-quality smartphones to as many Filipinos as possible. While 1.75 billion people already have smartphones, over 5 billion more do not.

Partnering initially with two leading mobile phone providers Cherry Mobile and MyPhone, there will be the Cherry One and MyPhone Uno smartphones implementing the Android One platform, that comes with the latest version of Android, available in many retail stores nationwide. Lollipop is said to be the fastest and most responsive Android version being 2x faster than the previous one.

More of the features were introduced to members of the media by Google Vice President of Product Management Casear Sengupta during the grand launch held at Whitespace Pasong Tamo in Makati last February 17. It was only during that day when we found out what the mysterious Google announcement was all about. the invitation to the event was sort of vague but I guess many of the other attendees had a hunch since the Philippines was not the first country to receive a similar launch.

Google has been working with hardware partners in shipping these devices in multiple countries around the world namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and now the Philippines.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Last week was a little bit inconvenient for my Delicious Diet program. Aside from my Internet connection being faulty, I had several events scheduled last week that I wasn't really able to regularly post on my social media accounts. I was also worried that the meals would go rancid so I didn't dare bring the meals with me. As indicated on their microwave-friendly plastic packaging, the meals need to be refrigerated. But probably the most obvious reason why I decided to skip some of the Delicious Diet meals was there would commonly be equally sumptuous meals served at the events.

When I am required to go out to attend event or do some errands, it is more convenient to travel light so bringing the meals with me would not be ideal. However, I noticed that even just after more than a week of Delicious Diet meals, I became quite choosy with the meals I eat. I would see myself picking the most nutritious dishes and getting smaller portions from any restaurant I would dine in. Unlike before that I would consume a plateful of all dishes from the buffet table, now I seem to pick only the healthier options and without going back for seconds.

Not only has Delicious Diet motivated me to choose my food intake wisely, it has encouraged me as well to impart this knowledge and discipline to my family.

My wife has somehow imitated the Delicious Diet portions for her and our children's packed lunch. The reusable microwave-friendly plastic containers were reused and her co-workers would notice the Delicious Diet labels that are now color-coded based on breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is strange though that Delicious Diet didn't include a label for the snack

Piolo Pascual is Essilor Brand Ambassador Campaigning for Healthy Vision

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Your friendy neighborhood Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas recently got an invitation to attend the launch of Essilor's Project Transform, an awareness program for healthy vision. It was held last February 16 at 55 Events Place located at 55 Scout Rallos street along Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City.

Top global ophthalmic lenses manufacturer Essilor launched a public awareness campaign on the importance of good vision in response to reports that over 20 million Filipinos are in need of visual correction. They recruited top celebrity Piolo Pascual as their brand ambassador to encourage Filipinos to take care of their eyes more. Statistics shows that only a few Filipinos would take the time to visit a doctor to have their eyes checked. Thus the conditions would have worsen before going to an eye expert is considered.

Of course, there's a new Television Commercial (TVC) showing Piolo Pascual as their brand endorser and will be shown to the public via cable channels starting March 1. The latest infomercial features brand ambassador Piolo Pascual performing various activities - swimming, reading, driving - and how good vision helps him accomplish these tasks effectively.

It is without any doubt that Piolo Pascual is an epitome of good health and fitness as he works really hard to make himself healthy and looking very well. We all know that celebrities should invest a lot on their physical appearance to keep looking good infront of the camera. They also need to maintain their good health since all these showbiz obligations requires stamina and endurance to keep going even through the wee hours of the night. Their job expects them to stay in condition for every call to perform, be interviewed, or mingle with their fans, sponsors and supporters.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Are you ready for another night to remember!? Gear up and put your best camp ranger outfits on as Karpos Multimedia together with Globe brings you to another music and arts festival every beaming soul awaits – Wanderland Day Camp 2015! An annual feel good habit happening on the 25th of April 2015 where the Globe Circuit Events Ground will serve as a huge nest of loads of fun, adventure, dining, and eargasm from noon ‘til midnight.

Ready to pump up sweet melodies across Wanderland, we are proud to announce the full line up for Wanderland Music & Arts Festival (Day Camp 2015)!

Headliner: Kid Cudi (exclusive in Southeast Asia)
RAC (DJ)
Augustana
Youngblood Hawke
The Jungle Giants
Lewis Watson
Hale
SINYMA
Kate Torralba
Wanderband: The Strange Creatures
Austin

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Getting value for our money has always been among our primary concerns as consumers. We would like to be able to purchase only the best priced products among the many sellers out there offering diverse items and services.

What is more frustrating is to find out we bought a product that is available from other sellers at a much lower price. Since it is nearly impossible for us to be able to shop all around looking for the best price for a common item sold by a multitude of sellers, we would sometimes end up buying from sellers that sell the goods at a higher price.

PricePanda now conveniently collects nearly all significant sellers of items and allows us to compare them easily. There are also plenty of reviews about diverse products especially electronics stuff. This gives us the power to intelligently choose among the many offers. This also helps the sellers to make their prices more competitive thus creating more benefits to the buyers.

The site helps us to find the best offer and shop immediately! Being the largest price comparison site in South East Asia, PricePanda always have the latest prices available. They refresh the prices of the shops continuously so we would never have to spend too much money again.

17th Head Graphene XT Junior Tennis Satellite Circuit

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In an effort to discover the country's next big local tennis sensations, Globe Telecom is partnering with Head Philippines to bring you the 17th Head Graphene XT Junior Tennis Satellite Circuit which will feature tennis tournaments for young Filipino tennis players at 17 key cities nationwide starting March 10 until June 7.

Present at the press conference held last February 18, 2015 at Contis Bakeshop and Restaurant are Globe Telecom VP for Cluster Sales Albert Tinio, Head Philippines/Dynamics Sports Corporation Managing Director Liza Tang-Yuquico, and Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) Representative Chris Cuarto.

Albert Tinio said Globe Telecom participates in major sports activities as sponsor to help manifest their desire to create a wonderful world for Filipinos. They have supported many sports programs and events such as the 'Football Para Sa Bayan' advocacy so they also believe they can make a difference
to budding tennis players who have the innate talent, spirit and passion to make it big in the tennis circuits both local and international.

1st Philippine Healthcare Social Media Summit: Synegies in Social Media and Healthcare

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All my flight are packed, I'm ready to go ..... to Cebu for the weekend!

Got an invitation to attend the very first social media summit on healthcare. Quite surprised it will be held in Cebu, so I needed to book a flight a day before since it's a whole day event to be held at the Radisson Blue Hotel located at Serging Osmena Boulevard corner Juan Luna Avenue in Cebu City. This means I should be there by February 20 and return back to Manila either on the night immediately after the event or the next day February 22. I chose the latter so I could roam around Cebu for a few hours. It's not everyday you get the chance to visit Cebu.

On February 21, healthcare will ultimately connect to the rest of the digital world through the 1st Philippine Healthcare Social Media Summit in Cebu City, Philippines. In this event, we will be celebrating “Synergies in Social Media and Healthcare.”

With the theme “Synergies in Social Media and Healthcare” in mind, the aim is to bring healthcare professionals, academe, healthcare industry, patients and advocates together to discuss the role of social media in healthcare. At the summit, the Social Media and Medical Professionalism: A Manifesto from #HealthXPH will also be released.

For more information, visit them here.

Fly With Flickr at the 19th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

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With 1 Terabytes of storage, what would make you hesitate to post as much photos as possible? I don't really think a lifetime would be enough to fill up that storage with wonderful photos taken using Yahoo's Flickr. Unless you're a real hardcore photo-sharing addict, that huge free storage may take you a span of several mobile phone models before you are able to fill that up, and maybe by that time, Flickr will be upgraded to increase its storage capacity again.

Though I'm a bit jealous of iPhone users since they have certain capabilities not available for Android phone users, I still believe taking amazing photos still depends on the owner's artistic inclination. If you have that keen eye for creative shots, it takes very little need for photo-editing software to improve your captured images.

However, photography takes on a new level as ordinary individuals may be able to produce enhanced photos using a suite of sophisticated editing tools available in Flickr. There are filters, vignettes, auto-enhance, color balance, levels and exposure that gives you full control over your photos all the time.

This is why Yahoo Philippines invited us for a road trip to Clark Field, Pampanga be able to use Flickr at the opening day of the 19th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta last February 12, 2015.

Select members of the media, including your Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas, went on our way to Pampanga to witness the first day of the "Weekend of Everything that Flies."

DOT Awards Philippines' Tourism Stars

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The Department of Tourism (DOT) recently honored the first batch of individuals who have exemplified excellence and dedication in driving the Philippine tourism industry forward, under the Tourism Star Philippines (TSP) program.

TSP is a recognition program developed to celebrate the valuable contribution of Filipinos from the tourism industry, media, and local government units. Through TSP, DOT seeks to underscore the distinct Filipino brand of warm hospitality that marks our culture of tourism.

“TSP is established as a platform for the DOT to hold up people who will serve as powerful inspiration for anyone who wants to do well in the tourism industry,” DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. said. “That we are able to honor our awardees tonight is incidental to the even more important objective of presenting them as an inspiration for many more tourism supporters. This first ever TSP Awards is itself inspired by the overwhelming enthusiasm of the Filipino people for building a more dynamic, more inclusive tourism industry for our country,” he said.

The very first roster of Tourism Stars include Gerry Bie Dalimag and Bobby Adrao for the Individual Category; Drew Arellano of Biyahe ni Drew in GMA-7 and Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet for the Media Category; and Governor Joey Salceda of Albay for the Local Chief Executive (LCE) Category.

The above photo shows Tourism Star Philippines awardees and DOT officers. (L-R) DOT Assistant Secretary Art Boncata, DOT Undersecretary Maria Victoria V. Jasmin, DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr., Tourism Star Philippines winner for Individual Category Bobby Adrao, Tourism Star Philippines winner for Local Chief Executive Category Gov. Joey Salceda, Marcus and Luisa Calo-Medina, children of Ms. Susan Calo-Medina accepting the special recognition for their mother, Tourism Star Philippines winner for Media Category Anton Diaz, Tourism Star Philippines winner for Media Category Drew Arellano, and Tourism Star Philippines winner for Individual Category Andoy Dalimag.

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Epson, the undisputed global leader in projectors for the past 13 consecutive years, is offering a free CloudFone ICE 402E for every purchase of an Epson EB-X03 projector.

Epson customers who will buy an Epson EB-X03 from February 8 to March 9 will receive a free Android Kitkat CloudFone ICE 402E. The CloudFone ICE has a 4-inch WVGA IPS LCD display, and a dual sim/dual standby capability.

Epson launched the EB-X03 for customers who are looking for an entry-level projector but unwilling to compromise on performance. Priced at par with competitor models but featuring a high 1024x768 XGA resolution and 3x brighter colors compared to 1-chip projectors, the EB-X03 is designed to give better value to customers.

“The ‘FREE CLOUDFONE’ promo is for customers who insist on high standards and low costs,” said Lyn Lizarondo, Epson Philippines Product Manager for Visual Instruments. We are even adding a free phone as a bonus,” she added.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This Season of Love, Torque will be showing lots of Love! The Torque’s Scratch and Win Promo 2015!

Mechanics on how to join:

Promo is until March 31, 2015 at all participating torque stores nationwide.
For every p988 single or accumulated purchase of torque products, customer is entitled to get 1 (one) scratch card.

How to claim your prizes:

For megamanila:
6/f Kingscourt Bldg.2, Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City

For outside manila:

Prizes will be delivered at the store where purchase was made.

Redemption period: all prizes must be redeemed within 60 days after the announcement of winners.

Prizes are non-convertible to cash.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

From all the thousands brand in our nation and also in our world, are you even curious on how these BRANDS maintain their position in the market? Moreover, what are their strategies that these new and upcoming brands use to compete in the market against these top brands?

This 26th of February 2015 join us to answer these questions and learn more about brands at Bulwagang Balagtas, NALRC Building, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa Manila from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Don't let this chance melt because this is one day event only! So together lets all uncover the mysteries of brands as Iceberg Productions presents you ICE AGE: Keeping Afloat Among the Avalanche of Brands!

For more details and updates kindly visit us at https://www.facebook.com/icebergprodpup

Transcendence: The Domination of Digital Marketing

Wazzup Pilipinas!

“See with a different eye, visualize with a colourful mind, and manifest your thoughts with the energy within you”.

Celebrate this event on February 23, 2015, 11am to 4pm at SM City Sta. Mesa as they bring you beyond and explore the supremacy in the integration of Digital Marketing, learn new strategies from the calibre speakers from the industry and transform them into boundless ideas.

This event is co-presented by: CD-worx, Flawless, Universal Robina Corporation, X.O., Nestle.

In partnership with Belle de Jour power planner, Walter Bread.

Also brought to you by: GSM Blue Flavors, GSM Blue, Ulalam, and Swish.

Special thanks to: Relans and SM Cinema

WazzupPilipinas.com is a proud online media partner.

For tickets Reservation, call or text Jay Mark Balignasay, 09179678037.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Delicious Diet: Healthy, Balanced and Convenient Meals from Monday to Friday (February 9 to 13)

Wazzup Pilipinas!
I've mentioned before that "diet meals delivered straight to our homes" will be among the "in" thing for foodies especially the health-conscious ones (if ever you'd believe there are such people). As much as we want to dine on every new restaurant out there, we are still longing for dishes that would offer us a healthier lifestyle.

The reason why restaurants serving good food (outside of the junk and greasy dishes from most fast-food joints) are quickly becoming a majority of casual dining spots is because the restaurateurs are after the masses which are greater in number. Gone are the days when quality restaurants are only those that offer fine dining. Now, there are restaurants serving all kinds of internationally-inspired dishes may it be Japanese, Korean, American, Asian or from other parts of the world, that are affordable (or at least capable to meet the limited budget of average consumers with meager salaries) but superbly yummy in taste.

These restaurants may be facing another challenge competing with healthy meals that are now delivered to our doorsteps everyday. Delicious Diet offers meals composed of healthier ingredients and cooking methods served in recommended amounts that promote healthy eating. We now have a great alternative to visiting restaurants. We can now just call or order online to have Delicious Diet meals.