Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Microsoft's Hour of Code Program

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Microsoft Philippines, in partnership with Mojang AB and Code.org, led the Hour of Code for the visually impaired students from the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB). In line with Microsoft’s vision to empower every individual on the planet to achieve more.

Hour of Code aims to introduce basic computer programming to persons of all abilities through a unique coding tutorial based on the classic game, Minecraft.

Twenty-three elementary and high school students from PNSB completed the Hour of Code session with Aleandre Kwan, Microsoft Philippines Citizenship Specialist, and Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) volunteers.

About the Author:

Ross is the Pambansang Blogcaster ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart. He blogs as an advocacy to help the country in making itself known as a prime tourist destination proving that it is really more fun in the Philippines.

Follow him @ Wazzup 365 | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Dailymotion | Instagram

Choose Art This Valentine's Day with Ballet Philippines' Opera

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As a special Valentine’s treat, young professionals aged 30 and below may avail of a 30% discount on the 6pm shows of Ballet Philippines’ Opera - February 13 and 14 at the CCP Main Theater. Tickets may be purchased with this discount at the CCP Open House, the Pasinaya Festival on February 7, the Ballet Philippines office or through BP at 5511013.

Ballet Philippines “Opera” is choreographed by French dance maker Redha based on Gabriel Barredo’s acclaimed installation of the same title. The unique show seamlessly merges contemporary art and dance into a new groundbreaking production.

“Opera is a special production for lovers of contemporary art and dance, it breaks many barriers and transcends our expectations of a dance show” muses BP’s Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Morales. “We are offering this special promotion for the young art loving generation to give them a special option for Valentine’s”.

The original “Opera” exhibition was first presented at Silverlens Galleries in January 2015, and was recently toured to Singapore last November in time with the opening celebrations of the National Gallery Singapore. For the ballet, Barredo is creating a staggering array of new sculptures, which will comprise the production’s set design.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE), electrified the iconic Stadium Negara with another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action. Fight fans in Malaysia were on the edge of their seats as the best in local and international mixed martial arts talent battled it out inside the ONE Cage. In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting defeated the Philippines’ Eric “The Natural” Kelly by submission and took the time to call out reigning champion Marat Gafurov in the post-fight interview.

Visit the official ONE: CLASH OF HEROES photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ivh34n9pza3q94o/AADwuMwRg-gnDecd5AIBoQyTa?dl=0

In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, an exhausted Ev Ting pulled out a gutsy victory over Eric “The Natural” Kelly of the Philippines, winning by submission in round three. Ting dominated the striking exchanges throughout the bout, blasting Kelly with various combinations. Kelly spent most of his time defending against Ting’s aggression, biding his time and pacing himself for a distance finish. In the third, Ting latched on a standing Guillotine that transitioned into a mounted Guillotine, leaving Kelly no choice but to tap out.

“Marat Gafurov I’m coming for you, where is that belt at?” said Ting, looking for a shot at the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

“With the new weight cut policy I wanna fight as much as I can and fight full time to feed my family. I want to fight Marat Gafurov. The fight was harder than I expected. I didn't know he could take so much hits. I respect Kelly as a fighter and it was a great fight,” Ting added.

CD-R King’s iRover Hoverboard: Liberating Your Feet Off the Ground

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Have you ever tried levitation? Glide without touching the ground? Uncanny as it seemed to be, Super Saiyans of Dragon Ball Z & Magneto of the X-Men amongst others have perfected that kind of ability. Picture yourself doing so. Isn’t it exciting?

CD-R King, your one-stop media provider once again spices up an extraordinary treat with the iRover - a high-tech yet affordable gadget in-line with CD-R King’s effort to bring technology to the general public.

iRover lets you experience superiority in balance. It makes you gain control and progress at your own pace liberating your feet off the ground. An exhilarating thrill that makes one experience the same. CD-R King provided the hoveroard utilized by eleven Housemates in one of their weekly task at Pinoy Big Brothers, were Miyo emerged as the Pinoy Big Brother 2015 winner.

iRover is the newest hovercraft unit released by CD-R King, designed not just for comfort but also tone your leg and foot muscles, contrary to the concern of some parent on cutting the walking strides of their kids whenever they utilize the board. iRover uses the smart balance technology that uses leg muscle in moving around thus it can help strengthen your lower body.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Animal Planet premieres a new set of stunts for the month of February every animal enthusiast should not miss!

The Animal Planet stunt CNY Special (Primates Uncovered) premieres a lineup of esc-apes this month. Join Professor Sally Boysen on her experiments with the chimpanzees Emma and Harper as she attempts to give the chimps an opportunity to communicate in short sentences in terms humans can finally understand. Ever wondered what they want to tell us, how they feel, and what it's like to be a chimp? Start your February with the one off Chimps: A Whisper Away From Us, February 1, Monday at 8PM.

Follow the Orangutan Fairy Godmother, Sue Sheward, together with a dedicated team of veterinarians, nurses, rangers and volunteers in their expedition of returning their endangered young charges to the wild. From lusty liaisons to triumphs over adversity to touching friendships and troublesome teenagers, all these and more at Meet the Orangutans, February 1, Monday to Thursday, at 9PM.

In the one off Almost Human, keep up with Jane Goodall and Bill Wallauer on their trek to find Gaia, one of their favorite chimps of Gombe. Witness as they share with viewers a compelling new view of these animals and take us to an emotional journey of understanding how chimps experience joy, maternal love, even deep emotions such as grief and perhaps even a kind of spirituality. Catch it at Almost Human with Jane Goodall, February 2, Tuesday at 8PM.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

City living doesn’t always mean expensive, and affordable doesn’t always mean low quality, as evidenced by the best affordable condos in Metro Manila.

Condominium living is quite common in highly urban places like Metro Manila, and just like the high costs of living associated with big cities, prices of condominium units also commonly tend to be significantly high.

This should not deter home seekers from choosing to live in Metro Manila, however, as there are many affordable options in the current market that do well to meet big city living needs while remaining reasonably priced. These condos are also quite accessible from major business centers, so commuting to and from work will be a breeze for future owners.

1. East Raya Gardens
Developer: DMCI Homes
Location: Pasig
Price: Php3–5 million
Distance from Ortigas Center: 19 minutes without traffic via Mercedes Ave. (based on Google Maps estimates)

Located along Mercedes Avenue in Pasig, this 2.9-hectare residential enclave is by DMCI Homes, and in keeping with the developer’s no-frills, distinctive style, also features a Balinese-inspired design. It is composed of eight medium-rise buildings complemented with 500 square meters of lush Balinese gardens and water features for a relaxing environment. Prices for units range here range from Php3 to Php5 million, with Lamudi currently having 96-sqm, three-bedroom unit currently listed for Php4,255,800.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SAP announced the SAP Digital Boardroom, a planned breakthrough digital approach that aims to contextualize and simplify performance reporting across all areas of business in real time. Built on the SAP Cloud for Analytics solution, SAP Digital Boardroom is expected to utilize line-of-business data from the SAP S/4HANA suite and SAP HANA Cloud Platform to provide a single source of truth about a company’s critical business metrics. This approach aims to help companies monitor and drive change in the digital economy.

“SAP Digital Boardroom intends to provide total transparency to board members, executives and decision-makers with a comprehensive, real-time view of business performance across an entire company,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation. “We have incorporated fully automated business intelligence capabilities that aim to dramatically improve the quality and speed of reporting as well as collaboration in real time. As businesses continue to transform and evolve around the digital economy, executives will be able to use SAP Digital Boardroom for instant, data-driven insights that address ad hoc questions and improve decision-making. It will ultimately build trust between all board participants, employees and investors.”

"The SAP Digital Boardroom will enable an interactive board discussion, allow board members to analyze large volumes of information, plan scenarios, and zero in on sale opportunities in real-time," said Scott Russell, Chief Operating Officer of SAP for Asia Pacific Japan.

When required to make highly informed business decisions, board members, executives and decision-makers are often faced with separate reporting solutions that present data in a static, isolated way. SAP Digital Boardroom aims to harmonize the view of company operations across all lines of business on multiple devices. This view enables users to understand the past instantly, predict the future and conduct business successfully in today’s digital economy.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Get ready for their return to Katipunan!

Watch The Comedy Cartel's "Friday Comedy Fix" at the Exile at Main Street Cafe Resto (between Jollibee and HSBC Katipunan) on February 5 (Friday),9:30PM!

Comedy Cartel is the pioneer of Point-of-View Stand-Up Comedy in the Philippines.

Free entrance so bring all your friends and let's all laugh our weekly bluesaway! See you there!

Nine Track Mind: Most Anticipated Debut Album from Charlie Puth is Here!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Charlie Puth is Spotify’s #SpotifySpotlight2016 featured artist for Asia. Stream It: http://spoti.fi/1OS25ai. He has performed in the Philippines last October 2015. Check out the event highlights here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCbzUZmyppg

Charlie has also performed during the Ms. Universe 2015 pageant where our very own, Philippines representative, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was crowned Ms. Universe 2015. You can watch Charlie’s performance here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMW5x9ScaLA

Enjoy the album on Topsify Philippines’s New Music Fridays

https://open.spotify.com/user/playlistmeph/playlist/4tBo1KXRg8Ee9U6EYKcVqP

As Charlie Puth gears up to release his debut album Nine Track Mind, it’s worth looking back at the extraordinary ride this multi-talented vocalist, musician, producer, and versatile songwriter has been on ever since he arrived in Los Angeles as an aspiring artist in July 2014. In short order, Puth signed with Atlantic Records and co-wrote, co-produced, and featured on Wiz Khalifa’s Furious 7 ballad “See You Again” — a 4x-platinum smash that topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks, tying the record for the longest run at No. 1 for a rap song, and became No. 1 in over 100 countries, while its video racked up more than a billion YouTube views.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Philippines posted a 5.8% growth in the year 2015 according to the Philippine government. This growth is one of the fastest among neighboring countries.

These growth mean more opportunities are available for entrepreneurs and local businesses for 2016 and beyond.

In addition, The Pulse Asia survey results released on January 11, 2016 revealed that 34% of the Filipinos are concerned in Job Creation.

The Rotary Mega Job and Business Fair, February 5-6, 2016 at Glorietta Activity Center aims to be one of the platforms for companies looking for talents to add in their organizations. By doing this, it will be able to address the job creation need of the Filipinos.

At the same time, the event is also a business fair where entrepreneurs can further promote their products and services, and generate new business partners.

The Rotary Mega Job and Business Fair will add to the growth and needs of the local entrepreneurs and businesses in the areas of finding talents, new business partners and marketing promotion of local products and services.

Glorietta Activity Center is located in the country’s business hub and registers a huge number of foot traffic daily comprising of the professionals and businessmen.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is kicking off a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary in the Philippines with a series of exciting announcements for 2016.

Among the highlights that they announced during the media launch at Long Bar of Raffles Hotel in Makati on January 28, 2016 was the new flight services to Canberra, Wellington and Dusseldorf, the expanded connectivity to Europe and Southwest Pacific through joint ventures, the new A350 aircraft fitted with the newest generation of cabin products, the new Premium Economy Class product launched on more routes, and the largest travel sale with great all-in fares, exclusive perks and the first ever Premium Economy Class product showcase in the Philippines on February 28.

“Turning 50 in the Philippines is a huge milestone for us at Singapore Airlines, and what better way to kick-off the festivities than with new products and services as well as the largest travel sale for our Filipino customers,” said Carol Ong, General Manager, Singapore Airlines.

“Over the years, we continuously innovate our products and services, and also seek strategic tie-ups to deliver the best premium air travel experience to our passengers. This year, we want to say a big thank you to all our customers with great deals, even better products and a much expanded network,” Ong added.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Globe Telecom posted one of the highest capex-to-revenue ratio in the last two years showing how aggressive the telecommunications provider has been in upgrading and enhancing its network infrastructure.

Globe has a capex-to-revenue ratio of 28% in 2015 and 27% in 2014 while the local telecommunications industry averaged 23% in both 2015 and 2014. By comparison, only China’s capex-to-revenue ratio of 36% in 2015 and 33% in 2014 exceeded those of Globe Telecom based on the published financial statements online of publicly-listed telcos in the region which were compiled and computed per country.

Other Asian economies registered lower ratios in 2015 and 2014 with Singapore at 26% and 22%, respectively; Indonesia with 24% and 26%, respectively; Thailand with 23% and 21%, respectively; India with 17% and 16%, respectively; Taiwan with 14% and 16%, respectively; Hong Kong with 13% and 14%, respectively and Malaysia with 13% and 12% respectively.

“Over the past several years, we have invested in our network to enable our customers to enjoy their digital lifestyle and empower businesses with digital capabilities, enhance their productivity and make globally competitive,” Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu said. “We are moving to enhance the internet experience of the Filipino people and position ICT as a major development contributor in the Philippines,” Cu added.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This May 20, 2016, Slimmers World International will again be holding the biggest bikini pageant in the country, Miss Bikini Philippines 2016, at Resorts World Manila. Wazzup Pilipinas, the most awarded blog in the Philippines, is proud to be one of their media partners.

Your Pambansang Blog ng Pilipinas will again be getting a VIP media access to everything about the Miss Bikini Philippines 2016 beauty pageant. We are excited to also guests the candidates and organizers at our radio show at Radyo Inquirer DZIQ 990 AM just as how we guested the candidates of the Great Bodies 2015 pageant from last year where we were also invited as media partner.

We enjoyed our partnership with the Slimmers World International Great Bodies 2015 last year so much that we are doubly excited to partner again for another pageant organized by Slimmers World, the leader in Slimming, Health, Fitness and Beauty is now on its 39th year of promoting GREAT bodies and GREAT skin. With over thirty (30) centers strategically located all over Asia and the Pacific, Slimmers World International continuously finds better, innovative way s to answer its clients’ needs for greater health and fitness.

Last year's winners of the Miss Bikini Philippines 2015 were the following:

Miss Bikini Philippines 2015: #7 - Fatima Alsowyed
First Runner Up 2015: #22 - Angelou Mae Gonzales
Second Runner Up 2015: #11 - Nicole Shaye Dichoso

The reigning Miss Bikini Philippines 2014, Hazel Ortiz, transferred her crown to Fatima Alsowyed of Cebu on May 21, 2015 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Guilty pleasure smash hit The Millionaire Matchmaker is on its 8th season. The show follows Patty Stanger, the owner of “Millionaire’s Club,’ an upscale dating service that operates out of Beverly Hills.

This is a no-holds barred, intriguing glimpse at how the rich and (or) famous find love with the help of experts. It seems that even if one is too busy to find love, you can at least pay someone to do it for you.

Patti counts in her circle of clients and experts celebrities like Rozonda “Chili” Thomas (of the 90’s smash girl R&B group TLC) and designer Kristin Cavallari. She gets some new blood in Candace Smith, a new member of her team who serves as Director of Recruiting and an old friend reappears in David Cruz, who returns as Director of Matchmaking.

Produced by Intuitive Entertainment and Bayonne Entertainment, Inc. and executive produced by Mechelle Collins, Kevin Dill, Robert Lee, Patti Stanger, Spike Van Briesen and Robin Samuels, “The Millionaire Matchmaker” season 8 even hints at an on-screen proposal – which Patti and her love squad hopes leads to happily ever after.

Make it an almost-daily habit, catch it on Sony Channel every weeknight at 7:55pm starting February 1.

Sony Channel is seen on SKYCable Channel 35, Cignal Digital TV Channel 60, Destiny Cable Channel 62, Cable Link Channel 39.

Netizens React When American Poll Speaker Compares Duterte to Trump

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"The drive of the media should be to tell the story, not to shape the story. One of the problems when covering polls excessively is that you’re declaring winners and losers well before the voters have had the chance to chime in."

Professor Alan Schroeder of the School of Journalism at the Northeastern University in Boston has noted similarities between the Philippines and the United States polls in terms of candidates and coverage for the May 9 elections. He compares Rodrigo Duterte to Donald Trump, and Grace Poe to Ted Cruz.

I could see why: they're two popular, influential political figures backed up by a big horde of [insert adjective]. Trump is much like Duterte in campaign style and ability to dish out provocative one liners.

Schroeder is in the country to talk about covering the elections and its role in educating the public for a more informed vote. But as Qui-Gonn Jinn of Star Wars has said, "the ability to speak, does not make you intelligent."

What an idiotic thing to say and compare! Shame on him to compare Duterte to trump, Trump is nothing but an egotistical self centered son of a beach! All he cares about is money! They're both very vocal but you cant compare them at all. Duterte has a good track record as a government official but Trump has no record at all. Duterte apparently has no money and loves his country so much so that he is willing to die for it because the Philippines is still worth dying for! Unlike Trump, Duterte isn't a homophobic and Islamophobic. Clearly, this "journalist" doesn't understand what he is saying.