Oakwood Offers Spacious Retreats Away From Home

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With a domestic Stay Four Pay Three package including flexible check out time

With travel restrictions sweeping through the world, various public health measures are being undertaken by local authorities safeguard their communities. These measures created different needs where alternatives are required, be it a workspace away from distractions, stylish retreat for self-isolation or comfortable residential environment for travellers waiting to return home.

Committed to making the Oakwood experience as safe and enjoyable as possible, 19 participating properties* across Asia Pacific have curated special treats for guests to create their own residential experiences.

Oakwood’s Stay Four Pay Three offer is available for guests who book a minimum of three nights from now to 30 June 2020. In addition to Oakwood’s internationally acclaimed hospitality excellence, guests will enjoy a complimentary fourth night stay with a plethora of privileges such as:

·       Daily Breakfast

·       Welcome Fruit Basket

·       Curated Care Pack per person per booking

·       Dining credits or discounts per booking

·       Discounts on laundry services

·       Check-out anytime on departure day

·       24-hour cancellation policy (prior to arrival day by 1500 hours local time to avoid the one-night cancellation charge, inclusive of taxes)

To complement the benefits listed above, a couple of properties have included creative perks to differentiate their offers. Guests staying at Oakwood Residence Shanghai are entitled to special F&B and retail discounts at the connecting Imago Shopping Mall while Oakwood Hotel & Residence Sri Racha in Thailand will provide a complimentary upgrade to a One Bedroom Deluxe Apartment.

A total of 19 Oakwood properties across Asia Pacific are available for selection:

Australia	-	Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Brisbane
China	-	Oakwood Premier Guangzhou Oakwood Residence Hangzhou Oakwood Residence Shanghai Oakwood Hotel & Residence Suzhou Oakwood Apartments Sanya
Indonesia	-	Oakwood Premier Cozmo Jakarta Oakwood Apartments PIK Jakarta Oakwood Suites La Maison Jakarta Oakwood Hotel & Residence Surabaya Oakwood Residence Cikarang
Japan	-	Oakwood Premier Tokyo
Malaysia	-	Oakwood Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur
Singapore	-	Oakwood Premier AMTD Singapore
Thailand	-	Oakwood Residence Sukhumvit Thonglor, Bangkok Oakwood Hotel & Residence Sri Racha Oakwood Suites Bangkok
Vietnam	-	Oakwood Residence Saigon Oakwood Residence Hanoi

Package details for Stay Four Pay Three offer vary from property to property, please visit Oakwood.com/stay4pay3 for more information.

UP Fighting Maroons cheer up frontliners with Zoomustahan

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With people around the world cheering, applauding and saying thank you to their frontliners from balconies and plazas, the University of the Philippines Men’s Basketball Team (UPMBT) expressed gratitude and appreciation for local frontliners in their own unique way.

UP Fighting Maroons Noah Webb, Kobe Paras, Ricci Rivero, James Spencer, David Murrell, Joe Gomez de Liaño, Jboy Gob, CJ Catapusan, Brix Ramos, Matt Santiago, Ethan Kirkness, Sam Dowd, Malik Diouf and head coach Bo Perasol hopped on a Zoom call with medical and healthcare workers from UP’s Philippine General Hospital (UP PGH) and the UP National Institutes of Health (UP NIH) on Friday, May 8 for a virtual chat called Zoomustahan.

UP coaches Ricky Dandan, Rodney Santos, Moriah Gingrich, Chappy Callanta, Mark Dandan, and Kenneth Raval joined the call as well.

The cheer-up call was received by PGH Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, Dr. Edgar Eufemio, Dr. Anthony Geronimo Cordero, Dr. Louricha Opina-Tan, former Fighting Maroon Dr. Czarlo Dela Victoria, and interns and nurses on the PGH side. NIH health workers and laboratory personnel led by UP Manila Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology science research specialist Stessi Geganzo also chatted with the team.

Kobe Paras got the ball rolling by telling the group how much their sacrifices and bravery were appreciated. “While we are here sitting in our homes, comfortable, you are out there risking your lives for us so I want to say thank you,” said Paras.

Ricci Rivero said they were “really grateful for everything you are doing for our country and our fellow Filipinos. Sobrang saludo po kami sa inyo. We are doing this Zoomustahan with you para naman po makapagshare kami ng konting good vibes sa inyo kahit for a few minutes lang. We’re facing this really big challenge and nandito lang po kami to listen to you, extend our support and continue to pray for you. Hoping for your safety and for sure kakayanin natin ‘to, babangon tayong lahat,” Rivero said.

Coach Bo Perasol thanked UP PGH doctors for their support through the years. “This virtual visit is the least the team could do to give back to you. UP-PGH has been part of our team from the start. Whatever small part we could play now - by saying thank you, by praying for you, or whatever help we could extend to you with our presence – just let us know so we could be part of it,” Perasol said.

The frontliners thanked the Fighting Maroons for taking time and effort to do the Zoomustahan.

“This is really a treat for us - to see faces that are not sick,” quipped Dr. Legaspi. “We are getting all the support that you’re giving us and you keep us inspired to move on. It’s really amazing how the whole UP community stood up to the challenge and are helping us get through this. We’re looking forward to your first game.”

UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Carmencita David-Padilla, also extended her greetings and appreciation for the Fighting Maroons’ gesture. “Maraming-maraming salamat, UP Men’s Basketball Team. Malaking-malaking bagay ‘to and salamat sa support sa mga nasa frontlines.”

UP NIH staff and scientists waiting for their shift in the testing center also thanked the Maroons for the video conferencing. “Kami po yong mga off-duty ngayon and we’re waiting for our shift. Thank you so much for this connection. Salamat po sa good vibes.”

The Fighting Maroons hope to reach more frontliners in the days to come to show their support through the UPMBT Zoomustahan. The team looks forward to meeting more medical and healthcare workers, grocery attendants, and other groups that man the frontlines and continue to serve the country during this pandemic.

Instituto Cervantes presents a series of classic Spanish films that you won’t find in Netflix

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Do you like Spanish cinema? The Instituto Cervantes de Manila and the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain invite you to enjoy Spanish film classics with «Clásicos contigo / Classics with You», a cycle that will be shown through the Instituto Cervantes channel on the Vimeo platform, for free.

«Classics with you» brings back eleven great movies that today are considered reference works of Spanish cinema. The selected titles, presented by Spanish actors, directors or screenwriters, belong to the AECID Film Library catalog and will be screened with English subtitles. The eleven movies will be shown over eleven weekends --one film per weekend, being each title available only for 48 hours.

Movies you will not find in Netflix

The program “Classics with you” recovers great feature films that connected with the public of their time and that today are considered reference films of Spanish cinematography. It is a commitment to quality Spanish cinema designed for cinephiles around the world.

The film cycle, which started last May 9 with Death of a Cyclist (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955), will continue this weekend with Welcome, Mr. Marshall!, the comedy directed by Luis García Berlanga that bagged the International Prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. The film will be available for the Filipino audience on May 16 & 17. To access the link to the movie and password, please log on to Instituto Cervantes de Manila’s website: http://manila.cervantes.es

Two other highly relevant films will complete the May screenings: Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece Viridiana (1961), which will be presented by the director and screenwriter Arancha Echevarría; and El verdugo, the black comedy directed by Luis García Berlanga in 1963, which will contextualize the director and screenwriter David Trueba.

The “Classics with You” program will follow with La vaquilla (1985), by Luis García Berlanga; The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) and The South (1983), directed by Víctor Erice; The good star (1997), by Ricardo Franco; The Holy Innocents, signed by Mario Camus in 1984; Tasio (1984), by Montxo Armendáriz; and Carol's Journey, directed by Imanol Uribe in 2002.

The films are presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, AECID and the Embassy of Spain. The screenings will be in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is free. For further information and updates on this film series, please check out http://manila.cervantes.es or Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook page: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.