City of Dreams Holds Chinese New Year Festivities

Wazzup PIlipinas!

City of Dreams recently held their Chinese New Year festivities to celebrate the Year of the Fire Rooster last January 27, 2017.

The celebration begun at 4 PM on the Upper Ground level. Red lanterns adorned the activity area. It is believed that hanging red lanterns drives off bad luck based on Chinese New Year traditions. Red decorations, roosters and lucky symbols completed the festive look! 

At these booths, City of Dreams patrons got to experience Chinese arts and crafts such as Caricatures and Chinese Calligraphy. There were also Fortune Telling booths at the activity strip. 

And the Lunar New Year celebration won't be complete without generous gift-giving! 

Guests were also treated to surprise freebies as the Gods of Fortune roamed and gave out angpaos spreading luck and prosperity to all. 

And while you are there, you can have your photo taken with the Chinese Gods of Fortune to usher in wealth and prosperity this Year of the Rooster. 

The celebration extends up to the weekend so go and visit at the Upper Ground level of City of Dreams Manila to see cultural performances by dancers, opera singers and Wushu martial artists as they take place.

Contributed by Emiliana Sison


Below is the official press release for the CNY-related activites:

City Of Dreams Manila Welcomes the Year of the Fire Rooster with Luck, Happiness and Prosperity

City of Dreams Manila ushers in the Chinese New Year with exceptional dining options and thrilling entertainment experiences signifying good luck, happiness, and prosperity. Crystal Dragon, one the luxury integrated resort’s premium restaurants, serves exclusive Chinese New Year-themed a la carte and set menus from January 16 to February 11, while 24-hour casual Chinese dining at Noodl8 offers sumptuous dishes for all of January and February. Themed gift items perfect for the festive occasion are likewise available at Café Society.

At The Shops at the Boulevard on the upper ground level, a three-day Year of the Rooster festival from January 27 to 29 showcases a variety of fun-filled Chinese New Year-themed activities and performances as well as a God of Fortune spreading gifts and good cheer to guests while roaming around the integrated resort.

For evening entertainment, guests can head to City of Dreams KTV’s elegant themed-rooms and sing to their heart’s content with special Chinese New Year ala carte dishes and unlimited Tsing Tao beer included in the package.

Crystal Dragon

Set Menus (January 16 to February 11)

The Chinese New Year Happiness Menu starts with Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang with Fruit Salad followed by Braised Eight Sea Treasure and Shredded Abalone Broth; Steamed Cod with Baby Cabbage in Supreme Soy, Hong Kong Style; Wok-fried King Prawns with Reduction Supreme Soya Sauce; Wok-fried Shanghai Rice Cake Sliced with Selected Seafood; and ends with Chilled Mango Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream and Double Flavor of Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter.

The Chinese New Year Abundance Menu serves Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang with Rock Melon Salad; Double Boiled Sea Treasure with Baby Abalone in Cordycep Flower Soup; Steamed Sea Grouper with Shredded Ginger in Homemade Soy Sauce; Roasted Chicken Roll filled with Foie Gras and Wild Mushrooms; Stew Pork Belly with Sea Cucumber, Bean Curd and Green Vegetables; Wok-fried Shanghai Rice Cake Sliced with Selected Seafood; complemented by Warm Sweetened Eight Treasures Tea with Ginseng in Honey and Double Flavor of Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter. Both the “Happiness” and “Abundance” menus come with traditional Chinese Tea.

A La Carte (January 16 to February 11)

For guests who prefer to dine a la carte, dishes such as Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang; Shredded Roasted Duck with Fresh Fruit Salad in Dressing, Oven Baked Marinated Cod Fish Fillet with Fragrant Golden Garlic, Slow Cook Supreme Sea Cucumber with Abalone and Pork Knuckle in a Clay Pot, Roasted Chicken Roll filled with Foie Gras and Wild Mushrooms; Braised Dried Oyster and Black Mushrooms Roll with Sea Moss; Wok-fried King Prawns with Reduction Supreme Soya Sauce, Wok-fried Shanghai Rice Cake Sliced with Selected Seafood, and Three Flavor Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter are available. Medium portions are ideal for four to six guests while large orders are best for six to ten.

The Chinese New Year Happiness Menu is priced at P3,680++ per person, while the Chinese New Year Treasures Menu is at P 6,680++, both for a minimum of four to six persons. A la carte offerings range from P460++ to P1,680++. Crystal Dragon is open daily for lunch from 12 to 3 pm and dinner from 6 to 11 pm.

Symbolism

The Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang and the Shredded Roasted Duck with Fresh Fruit Salad in Dressing are traditional offerings to fittingly welcome the Chinese New Year. For the Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang, the raw fish symbolizes abundance and good fortune, mixed in with shredded fruits and vegetables which signify wealth, luck, eternal youth, a flourishing business and health. Plum sauce for good fortune, peanuts for long life and stability, olive oil and wonton crisps for a house full of gold bind the ingredients together are tossed as high as possible, believed to bless all who partake of them. The duck represents fertility while the combination of fresh fruits are said to bring wisdom, peace, gold, wealth, fertility, family harmony, health and luck.

Noodl8

Lunar Celebrations (January and February)

Diners can celebrate the New Year with authentic Chinese and Korean fare any time of the day at Noodl8 throughout January and February. Chinese dishes served exclusively during this period are Fried Aromatic Pork Ribs with Seven Spices Salt, Pork & Cabbage Dumpling with Black Vinegar & Chili Oil, Poached Hand Pull Noodle topped with Baby Abalone and Minced Pork, and Double Boiled Warm Sweetened Sesame Ginger Tea with Sesame Dumpling. For Korean offerings, these include Steamed Kimchi Dumpling and Kimchi Dumpling Soup.

Prices for the Chinese and Korean a la carte dishes range between P310++ to P688++. Noodl8 is open 24 hours a day and is located on the main gaming area at the ground floor.

Café Society (January 16 to February 11)

Guests can likewise bring home Café Society’s Chinese New Year-themed treats or gift them to loved ones to spread good luck and prosperity. Available items from January 16 to February 11 are Mandarin Cake with Rooster Chocolate, White Chocolate with Red Bean Cake, Nian Gao (Tikoy) Box, X.O Sauce, Green Tea Pound Cake, Pineapple Cake with 2017 Fondant, as well as macarons and pralines in half dozen to dozen quantities.

Prices range between P680++ to 1,810++. Café Society is open from 10 am to 10 pm on Monday through Thursday and 10 am to 12 am on Friday through Sunday.

City of Dreams KTV

Chinese New Year KTV Package (January 28 to February 11)

For intimate gatherings with family and friends during this momentous celebration, guests can head to City of Dreams KTV and avail of the Chinese New Year KTV Package for P10,000++ which includes festive dishes such as Prosperity Salmon Fish Yu Shang, Wok-fried Shanghai Rice Cake Sliced with Selected Seafood, Three Flavor Chinese New Year Nian Gao Platter, and unlimited Tsing Tao beer. The package lets guests choose songs from an extensive selection of Chinese and Korean songs as well as international classics and contemporary pop tunes in one of the venue’s 10 themed KTV rooms, accommodating up to 15 people. City of Dreams KTV is open from 7 pm to 2 am daily and is on the upper level of Chaos Manila nightclub.

Chinese New Year Activities (January 27 to 29)

At The Shops at the Boulevard on the upper ground level, a three-day festival features a variety of fun-filled activities such as Chinese calligraphy, fortunetelling and caricature art as well as performances by Chinese opera singers, cultural dancers and Wushu martial artists from January 27 to 29 at 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A God of Fortune will be roaming the main gaming area on the ground floor and the upper ground level to hand out ang baos containing gift certificates, discount coupons and chocolates to lucky guests.

For restaurant reservations, call 8008080 or email guestservices@cod-manila.com.

Soleus Running Goes Sabor Latino 100% with William Flores

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Hola Manila! Soleus Running is celebrating the passion for dance with Soleus Running Dance Festival 2017 with famous Peruvian International Zumba fitness instructor William Flores will lead the post-race dance party. Experience the first and biggest celebration in the country combining running and dancing with William who is also an experienced dancer of modern jazz, reggaeton, salsa, cumbia, folk dance, merengue, hip hop and ballet.

The Soelus Running event held on February 4, 2017 at SM Mall of Asia with 5K, 10K and 21K distances to choose from also had a pre-event media launch held a couple of days (February 2) before the run at Marriott Hotel in Pasay city. This is where William Flores led the powerful 90 minutes of almost non-stop Zumba dancing.

The media event was participated by selected fitness instructors, enthusiasts and members of the media, plus celebrities like husband and wife team Eric and Rona Tai who were third place from the recent The Amazing Race Asia reality TV competition held a few months ago. We also saw Janeena Chan with her friends electrifying the dance floor with their sultriness wearing body hugging outfits.

Guests witnessed an invigorating Zumba Dance Fest preview after a short program hosted by Anthony Suntay who we see frequently hosting sports-related events like One Championship Mixed Martial Arts media launches.

Many fitness enthusiasts consider dancing as one of the many ways to keep fit and slim because you really indeed break out a lot of sweat after every routine or work-out. Just an hour of Zumba is already exhilarating enough to make you feel refreshed amidst equally fascinated individuals all raving for healthy living.

KonsultaMD Now Accessible from All Philippine Telecom Networks

Wazzup Pilipinas!

KonsultaMD, a 24/7 health hotline service by Global Telehealth, Inc., provides access to licensed and professional doctors who give immediate medical attention to its members, is now accessible from all telecom operators in the Philippines.

“KonsultaMD has always been about helping address the healthcare pain points of the Philippines. All of us, regardless of the network we choose, experience these pain points. Hence, it makes sense to make KonsultaMD services available to all,” said Maridol Ylanan, CEO of Global Telehealth, Inc., an affiliate of leading telecommunications company Globe Telecom, Inc.

Globe’s mission is to create wonderful experiences for people, to have choices, overcome challenges, and discover ways to enjoy life. Given this direction, Globe has invested in Global Telehealth to provide medical services to the consumers.

Global Telehealth also took aggressive steps to be able to move beyond what their customers need by offering KonsultaMD services to other telco networks nationwide.

KonsultaMD works by simply calling 79880 (mobile) or (02) 798 8000 (landline). Members of KonsultaMD can speak to a licensed Filipino doctor, immediately and directly with no waiting time, regarding their health concerns. Inquiries about health-related issues include, but are not limited to maternity, pediatrics and primary conditions like fever, rashes, and allergies, to name a few. Callers may also inquire about matters pertaining to health coaching, nutrition counselling, permissible medication and even laboratory results.

Globe Postpaid customers only need to pay a fee of Php150 a month to avail of KonsultaMD services which can be used by up to four additional members while Globe Prepaid and TM customers have the option to subscribe for an individual membership by paying Php15 a week or Php60 monthly.

Customers of other networks can now subscribe to KonsultaMD by simply logging on to www.konsulta.md, clicking on subscribe and going to ‘Other Networks’ where they can fill out an online application form. Subscription payments can be made via Visa, MasterCard, GCash, BancNet or SMART Money. Upon receipt of SMS and email confirmation, customers can start using the service by calling the KonsultaMD hotline at 79880 (mobile) or (02) 798 8000.

Calls from Globe landlines nationwide and calls within Metro Manila via landline are free. Calls from Globe or TM mobile numbers are charged a special call rate of Php1 per minute while non-Globe customers pay the standard mobile and NDD rates.

New Digital Banking Solution from SAP Simplifies IT and Fosters Co-Innovation for the Bank of Tomorrow

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SAP SE recently announced the latest release of SAP® Omnichannel Banking, a digital banking solution that went live on December 23, 2016. The offering simplifies the process of managing mobile and online applications for retail, small business and commercial banking customers on a single platform built on open standards. With more than 500 available microservices, the new digital banking solution helps banks build responsive mobile, tablet and desktop apps with a unique, digital customer experience.

SAP Omnichannel Banking complements the solutions for customer engagement and commerce in the SAP Hybris® portfolio to form a comprehensive offering for banks to manage all aspects of customer interaction. Planned application programming interface (API) integration between these components will provide customers a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints. Together, SAP Omnichannel Banking and the SAP Hybris solution portfolio will enable banks to deploy intelligent digital sales and service processes, creating personalized customer interaction across all channels and helping banks get a 360-degree view of their customers.

The modular architecture of SAP Omnichannel Banking enables banks to roll out new products and services in an incremental fashion, without disrupting existing functionality. The solution can be deployed on premise or in the cloud and also addresses the need for faster time to market as well as an increasing frequency of updates. By providing an extensive library of customization accelerators and a single call-out for over 200 configuration services, the solution can substantially reduce the effort involved in developing bank-specific extensions. In addition, SAP Omnichannel Banking provides state-of-the-art tooling in the form of Eclipse plug-ins, a widely used integrated development environment (IDE) for developing microservices. This vastly increases development productivity and allows a growing ecosystem of established partners and FinTechs to further enrich SAP’s offering.

“For banks, maintaining multiple platforms requires multiple work streams, separate maintenance schedules and a slow, complex approach to updates,” said Falk Rieker, global head of the banking business unit at SAP. “With SAP Omnichannel Banking and SAP Hybris solutions, we are providing a holistic offering to manage all types of digital customer engagement – mobile and online, and across multiple lines of business. This is nothing short of a game changer, one that empowers banks to differentiate from each other and allows them to provide a tailored, digital customer experience.”  

The latest release of SAP Omnichannel Banking provides:

• Comprehensive business logic and robust self-service features that power out-of-the-box applications for retail and commercial banking 
• Components to centralize critical, operational tasks by providing frameworks for security, entitlements, approvals, alerting, channel management, scheduling, distributed caching, notifications, validations, customer insight aggregation, digital process framework, user administration, and channel and device management
• Open architecture that supports third-party business services and partner integration with the goal of creating collaborative scenarios and accelerating innovation
• Fully responsive SAPUI5, removing all restrictions on the technology used for UI development
• Optional integration with SAP’s core banking solution 

A recent IDC study commissioned by SAP found that banks want to collaborate with FinTech startups; however, the complexity of the IT architectures within banks makes that collaboration cumbersome. The API framework built into SAP Omnichannel Banking streamlines this process. Banks now are flexible enough to take an active role in the ecosystem, partner with FinTech companies and engage with established partners and industry leaders.

For more information, visit the SAP News Center or follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews. To learn more about SAP Omnichannel Banking, visit www.sap.com/solution/industry/banking.html.

Confidently Beautiful with a Blog

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Regardless of the unsaid but obvious "discrimination" and "disrespect" towards bloggers, we are very much proud that we are helping out others with our content that were originally just intended to serve as our outlet to express our thoughts, opinions, etc, and serve as our medium to share our story and experiences.

Even though some are taking us for granted by offering demeaning and less satisfying deals or arrangement, our priorities overcome the need to demand what we rightfully deserve if treated fairly based on our significant worth.

We have also evolved to be more appreciated but still the intimacy and personal touch remains since we are not tied up with a particular entity that will hold responsible for our demeanor or misdemeanor.

The future is all about online, and many of the traditional media outfits have embraced already their fate thus the effort towards digital content has grown enormous and rapid in the past years. You will surely be left out of the game if you are without an online presence.

Do you believe that we should stop differentiating or separately mentioning "bloggers" from "media" (i.e. traditional media - print, TV and radio)?

Since bloggers are online media per se, and equally "influential" and could even have a wider reach, everyone should be collectively called as "media" instead to stop the "discrimination"

Though there are also the "online" media like Rappler, Choose Philippines, etc.(that are backed up or funded by "bigger" people), or the online counterparts of the traditional media outfits (that are equally highly financed), blogs are the more personal and intimate, and most of the time unedited, unfiltered and unrestricted. (Does it really matter if there's so many grammatical, or even spelling, errors...or the photos were poorly taken using a smartphone camera?) or mind the the numerous plagiarizing or "copy-paste" of articles and photos, otherwise known as "Sotto-fied" - named after the infamous comedian turned Senator of the country due to his popularity with the "madlang people." Filipinos are just fond of voting for anybody who makes them laugh.

If in politics, it doesn't matter if you had political backgrounds, or an actor's award, what matters is the people's grown trust in a specific "brand" by how they were promoted using any medium. May it be through the television, radio, magazine, newspaper,...or online via the Internet (free Wi-Fi at malls or coffee shops), all that's important for the "fans" is visibility or familiarity.

There's what you call subconscious mind-conditioning of which you are seemingly "brainwashed" - made to believe a reality which does not really exists but are forced to accept it as a reality by overfeeding us with the thought of it being true. Confused? You should be! It's happening right now as you read this article.

In the end, it's all about "reaching a larger and appropriate target market(s)" to sell products or services effectively (stressing on "effectively).

Even the "news" or "public service" is considered a product that aims to gain a considerable amount of followers.

If one has the budget or financing to launch a massive online campaign for the benefit of a "brand," that could very well make become successful if you just patiently invest incorporated with time and creativity, and a fabulous endorser to take it up a notch.

Nowadays, it's so easy to scam anybody so be warned that the "numbers" should not always be the basis of making your decisions. Sometimes, you have to rely on that "gut" feeling to know if what you see is too good to be true, or underrated.

To finally break it at a language you could easily understand, "media" today could now be even anybody posting on social media pages like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram since the "words" or "testimonies" of the actual people are the "real" information or feedback we should all be considering when looking for our next restaurant, hotel, TV show, or anything else we want some sincere recommendations.

Even if I was not a blogger, I would always speak highly of "reviews" or commentaries that are coming from those not connected to the large media outfits whose "sponsorship, ads, or commercials" makes them biased.

Sold Out: Cebu Pacific's "Piso Fare"

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It's the start of the travel season again, especially eager to experience again the many colorful festivals or fiestas at each province like for January there's Sinulog in Cebu, Biniray in Romblon, Ati-Atihan in Aklan, Apribaba in Sorsogon, Dinagyang in Iloilo or the rest of the festivals and celebrations for the rest of the year.

As expected, Cebu Pacific's Piso Fare promos are back, and we could't decide where we wanna go first! Stressful, yet adrenaline-pumping experience.

However, we envy those who have successfully booked their fights during Cebu Pacific's Piso Fare period. We were still trying to look for flights last night but apparently we were too late to decide. The Cebu Pacific site was crashing because of the Piso Fare sale. Many received the error message "Sorry for the slowdown! There's a lot of visitors accessing the site right now."

The final announcement of "Sold Out" was the terrible news. Expected but still gravely saddened of our fate.

"Your quick work on our PISO sale offer is testament to how everyJuan loves to fly, and at a bargain! All PISO seats sold, thanks for the "heart"!"

It is always good to have travel plans ready. No panic. Relax when booking. We should know better to plan ahead. I was semi-conscious aware of the Piso fare last night but the next moment I woke, they were all gone! How many seats did they sell anyway?

"Check back again soon!" could be another message you'll receive. It's just their way of saying "Better luck next time!"

If you are not aware, you don't exactly pay only 1 peso for the flight. If you add taxes and the other miscellaneous expenses, a Php 900 roundtrip would have been a nice deal already.

However, Cebu Pacific should create a separate website for their Piso Fare promo so as not to disrupt other customers who want an urgent flight and not availing of the sale! When the site crashes, even the regular passengers are affected.

"Dear self, you have enough trips for the year and you have bills to pay. STOP. IMPULSE. BUYING. PISO. FARE. TICKETS."

DOE Wants Gasoline Stations Ready for E-Vehicles

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With the emergence of the electric vehicle industry in the Philippines, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has created an ad hoc technical working group to determine the suitability of gasoline stations as charging areas for electric or e-vehicles.

“In preparation for the booming electric vehicle industry, I instructed the DOE's Oil Industry Management Bureau and Energy Utilization Management Bureau to issue the necessary policies that will support the development of infrastructures complementing the e-vehicle industry, such as the availability of charging in gasoline stations,” said Cusi.

“We are currently drafting a policy on the reclassification of gasoline stations according to standards which includes - the parking area, comfort rooms, CCTVs and even convenience stores, among others. We are also exploring the possibility of the integration of an electric vehicle charging area to the existing facilities of gasoline stations,” added Cusi.

Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 8479 or the “Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998,” the Department of Energy (DOE) is empowered to subject all industry participants to provide suitability of facilities for their proposed operation in accordance with existing national and accepted international standards.

Based on existing policies, this provision in the Oil Deregulation Law was reflected in the DOE’s Retail Rules on Liquid Petroleum Products (Department Circular DC2003-11-010), wherein the Philippine National Standards on Petroleum Products, Retail Outlets and Health, Safety and Environment (PNS/DOE FS 1-1:2005) specifies that the building/structures (i.e., gasoline stations) shall have a sales office, toilet facilities and an electrical/mechanical room.

“Apart from readying electric vehicle infrastructures, we also want to strengthen our gasoline stations’ consumer welfare and satisfaction through well-maintained and functional amenities within its premises,” Sec. Cusi concluded.

One Music PH to Hold "Be Discovered" Singing and Song-Writing Competition

Wazzup Pilipinas!

One Music PH is a premium music hub owned by ABS-CBN Corporation for fans across all genres to commune and rave about the latest updates, for up and coming musicians to create and share their music and for established artists to promote their music worldwide. 

Since its inception last year, it has already produced five digital concerts featuring the most sought-after artists such as Yeng Constantino, Ylona, Garcia, The Dawn and Darren Espanto. It has more than 60K followers on Facebook, 25K on Twitter and 15K on Instagram. It is the leading platform for producing digital concerts. Please visit www.onemusic.ph for more information. 

Aside from the digital concerts, One Music PH has partnered with the biggest events in the country such as Paradise, Neverland, Les Miserables, Fun Home, Jersey Boys, Little Mix, Jason Derulo and many more. It also holds a regular live session every Tuesday night dubbed as Stage One featuring both established and aspiring artists. It aims to help budding musicians to promote their music and be discovered. 

This 2017, One Music PH will be having its very first Be Discovered Singing and Song-Writing Competition among colleges and universities and we’d like to invite your school as one of our partners in doing this. As we aim to contribute to the music industry by making music and concert experiences more accessible through the power of digital media, we hope that through this partnership, we get to discover young and aspiring talents from your school. 

MoneyGram Honors Overseas Filipino Workers' Families with a Special Gathering

Wazzup Pilipinas!

MoneyGram launches a campaign to recognize millions of Filipinos working overseas and their families back home as modern day heroes.

“We understand the challenges and emotional stress experienced by families that are set apart. We want to bring them together not only thanks to our reliable and convenient money transfers but also give them a chance to reunite,” says Alex Chan Lim, country manager for the Philippines at MoneyGram.

“MoneyGram Idol Awards” are designed to honor our modern day heroes with one-of-a-kind gathering to take place in May 2017. To participate in this contest, receivers should visit http://global.moneygram.com/ph/en between December 5, 2016 and March 5, 2017 and fill in a simple form. By providing their personal as well as transaction details, participants get the chance to win cash prizes (20 x 5,00 pesos and 10 x 20,000 pesos) as well as an invitation to a special dinner hosted by MoneyGram in May, 2017. Lucky winners will be announced in the 4th week of March 2017.

“Philippines is one of the world’s largest remittance markets, according to the World Bank. In 2015 over $28 billion flowed into the country constituting for 9.6% of its’s GDP. At MoneyGram, we firmly believe that the money OFWs send back home provide not only for everyday needs of their families but also support them in achieving their dreams linked to education and investments,” added Lim.

"Best Pig Ever" Zubuchon of Cebu to Open in Manila by Early 2017

Wazzup Pilipinas!

When it comes to any special gathering, the lechon or "litson" is always the ultimate star of the dining table, don't you agree?

This is why Filipinos highly anticipate a roasted pig at the most special occasion like fiestas, weddings, anniversaries, reunions and just about every huge gathering that wants to please their guest with the very best dishes.

The lechon is placed in the middle as a centerpiece. Its rightful place should always be at the center. But in some events, they are placed at a certain corner because they still need to chop this pig into pieces to be served to the guests. Like bone-in-hams, rib-eyed steaks, roasted turkeys, etc., the lechon defines the best event from an ordinary event.

This is probably why when news about Zubuchon coming over to Manila was heard, many wanted to know when they can have a piece of this "best pig ever."

Zubuchon, coined from the words ZUBU (Cebu's name in old Spanish maps) and LECHON, aims to produce very high quality and superb tasting lechons and related food products and dishes using the finest ingredients and artisanal methods. To provide good value and superior service for customers while achieving profits for the benefit of all the stakeholders, with an emphasis on employees and the communities we operate in, makes this business establishment "real."

As stated from their Facebook page, Zubuchon source their pigs from backyard raisers all over the province of Cebu, are fed 100% organic feeds a week before they are cooked to totally cleanse the pigs’ systems. A "Zubuchon" lechon is stuffed with more than a dozen herbs and spices, and the pig’s skin is “acupunctured” or pricked all over, then sprayed with fresh coconut water. These processes result to a crispy and brown skin once roasted. No MSG nor soy sauce are used. The lechon is roasted over charcoal, using bamboo poles.

Getting confirmation from their official Facebook page, Zubuchon of Cebu hopes to open in Manila early 2017. This means anytime soon they'll be announcing a grand opening of their Manila branch.

Just as how popular restaurants from the provinces are beginning to make their presence felt in Manila, Zubuchon - which was made famous by the visit of Anthony Bourdain years ago - is now setting up a branch for their fans in Manila. Bourdain mentioned the lechon as the "best pig ever" in his defunct travela nd food sho "No Reservations."

The first branch of Zubuchon in Metro Manila will be located at Yakal corner Talisay Street at San Antonio, Makati, according to food mobile app Booky.

However, the Cebuanos are very much serious with their lechon. There are some netizens who are claiming that Zubuchon is not really the authentic Cebu lechon experience. They are saying that "Zubuchon isn’t legit Cebu lechon. It’s just… lechon made in Cebu." - Anna Oposa.

Michael Alino says "It's not a rumor when it's said to open in Manila...however, being Cebu's best lechon is indeed, not just a rumor, but a farse. I mean, as a true blue Cebuanon who grew up eating and loving lechon, it's like near to an insult when in fact your lechon fell a notch beneath the standards of the tradional Cebu lechon. And a real Cebuano like me knows my lechon. And no matter how you dress it up with good branding, along with some spruced up dining establisments, it simply couldn't compensate with how mediocre you did with the way you roast your whole pig and call it Cebu lechon."

Jeff Mendoza says "For me, an authentic lechon cebu, the skin should be smooth and crispy, well seasoned especally in the rib area with lots of (tangad, sibuyas dahonan ug uban pa) and the meat should be soft. Traditionally Cebuanos season their lechon at the center part of the pig where the flavors are equally distributed. Comparing it to Zubuchon's version, the skin was too salty while the meat was a bit bland. The skin is not smooth instead it looks like that of a chicharon where you can actually taste a mild bitterness of burnt skin. This is not the traditional lechon that makes me crave for lechon. though others might not agree and have a different preference, Lami gihapon ni."

But from what we see all over the online world, not everything you read is true or 100% reliable. These may be just designed to ruin Zubuchon's reputation. Like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, taste is also on the tongue of the taster. What's good enough for me may not be acceptable for someone else. 

Zubuchon already released an official statement regarding the issues:

"For the record, WE NEVER CLAIMED WE ARE THE BEST, NOR THE FAVORITE. NEVER.What you have been reading on social media were authored by the sites' writers and using our photos taken from this FB page.  

We NEVER PAID, NEVER SOLICITED, NEVER ASKED anyone to write about our Manila opening. What they wrote was their own opinion.

Let us all respect each other's preference and stop putting each other down. Our opening in Manila will create more jobs, help Cebu's local economy (as most of our products, even the pigs! will be coming from Cebu). We are currently employing close to 300 Cebuanos/Visayans in Cebu which in turn are supporting more than a thousand family members. We want to increase this number because our PRIMARY objective in creating this business was to provide REGULAR employment. 

Let us create more jobs, feed more people, send more children to school. 

Because in the end, making your life better and helping one another is what your life's goals should be about...

Below is our Company President's statement in his blog, Market Manila. We will put this issue to rest right here.

Thank you and we hope to see you in Manila"

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/why-doesnt-everyone-just-strive-to-be-better-not-bitter#comments

Before making a judgement, it should be best if we try Zubuchon out first. Becoming gullible to rumors is not healthy. I'm sure the owner Joel Binamira would attest to the quality of their lechon as it would not remain in operation if it was not as they say it is. I've been to Cebu many times but just never had the opportunity to visit a Zubuchon branch. I'm hoping to try it as soon as it opens its branch in Manila.

You may check out http://www.zubuchon.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/pg/zubuchonphilippines for more details.