Philippine All Stars wins 2008 World Hip Hop championship

The multi-awarded Philippine All Stars gave Filipinos another reason to be proud of when the group bagged the title in the 2008 World Hip-Hop Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, August 3.

More than 1,000 dancers from 33 countries gathered in Las Vegas in quest for the gold. The All Stars, however, ruled the dance floor with their two-minute performance packed with flips and steps in harmony. The dancers went off stage with high hopes of winning after finishing a near perfect dance.

When they received the award, group members said they were glad for the success as they united Filipinos in that moment of glory.

“This is just a moment where everyone could just unite. In our own part, to be an inspiration not just for the people here in the championship, but to all the Filipinos out there,” said group member Sheena Vera Cruz.

She added that the group wants to give other Filipinos hope that they could also become winners given the same opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Nayong Pilipino in Clark to showcase Philippines pre-colonial, colonial past

The Nayong Pilipino at the former Clark Expo Zone, which had its soft-opening in May this year, will focus on the pre-colonial and colonial aspects of Philippine history, according to its executive director Charito Planas.

This refers to the period before Spanish and American colonization in the 15th century, when indigenous Philippine homes and other cultural artifacts were barely influenced by foreign elements.

Thus, she said, there will be a fully-equipped mosque, which is to be supported by the Saudi Arabian embassy, with a Zamboanga-style vinta cruising an artificially-made rivulet to boot, to represent the country’s Islamic or Arabic heritage.

To represent China’s over-reaching influence, a replica of a Chinese junk, complete with porcelains and vases, will also be seen at the Nayon-Clark.

Planas also said that real Aetas will form part of Nayon, who will demonstrate survival techniques that are a metaphor of the Filipinos’ survival instincts.

Pre-colonial Philippines will be seen in the structure of Ifugao homes, built with materials and designed in such a way that rats and other pests cannot go up the house, and in artifacts such as the rice terraces. Read the rest of this entry »

Goya Dark Mint Chocolate : Pinoy Chocolate at its best!

When I was a kid, I really love local chocolates like Goya Egg Chocolates, Sergs and the orange flavored cholocates from Mayfair. When you get older you’ll discover new chocolate brands that will make you addicted to it. Discovering imported chocolates makes us think that locally made chocolates are sub-standard in compare with a delicous Belgian Sweets.

The Plurk Effect!

I’ve been plurking for a week now and I always see a lot of plurkers wanting if not craving for Goya Dark Mint. Whats is it? Well Goya is a local chocolate brand here in the Philippines and they have a new Dark Chocolate product with a hint of mint. Part of Goya’s effort to reintroduce the brand they produced new variety to the chocolate in order to please the local market. When I first read about this product from AJ’s Blog, I immediately went to Mini Stop and lucky enough to get the last box available. The mix of mint and dark chocolate is a really good combination and really addictive too. No wonder, a lot of bloggers are craving for it.

Goya Dark Mint is one of my favorite locally made chocolate. It is available in Mini Stop for only 34 pesos but you can get it for as low as 25.00 pesos in local supermarkets like in SM Hypermart.

Photos courtesy of Aj of http://food.baklaako.com/

Putting the Filipino calamansi into the limelight

Foreigners describe it as the small green citrus native to the Philippines. The fruit looks like a small lime and is relative of the mandarin orange and the pomelo, others say.

Yes, the lowly versatile tart fruit has gained culinary popularity in the other countries and is being used in many recipes ranging from cocktails to salsas.

Many Filipinos call it calamansi, others call it calamondin, others call it suter. This is citrofortunella microcarpa, a round greenish to yellow in color, 2 cm to 4.5 cm fruit which is normally found in the kitchen of Filipino homes since it does wonders of wonders as a sour flavoring to a variety of dishes from the sautéed rice noodles called bihon to pancit palabok; from the arroz caldo to beefsteak Filipino style.

Calamansi is the secret ingredient to many mouthwatering Filipino delicacies. This writer remembers that the juice of the calamansi leaves are extracted and added to the leche plan to give it an exotic taste. How would the famous Leyte kinilaw taste without the secret ingredient called calamansi? What would dieters do without the calamansi to make the grapelike seeweeds called lato? And what is more refreshing than a glass of calamansi juice or iced tea laced with calamansi on a weather unusually unbearable because of global warming? Read the rest of this entry »

Filipino inventor claims finding right alkaline formula vs cancer,other diseases

A Filipino inventor has claimed to have made a breakthrough in formulating the right amount of alkaline level in water as the natural way of treating all kinds of diseases,including cancer.

Pablo Planas who invented earlier the “Chaos Turbo Gas Saver” device that is now being exported to 17 countries, said his latest discovery is the formula of extracting alkaline from a special type of mineral from the earth’s surface, which he said has been proven to the antidote against cancer cells.

“Alkaline is very important to our body to fight toxic, the root cause of all diseases,” Planas said.

He said after years of research here and abroad, he discovered that “alkaline is the best natural way of curing diseases.”

Planas said that practically all water, including seawater contains alkaline, but the alkaline content is below the level of what is called “hydrogen potential” (pH) that measures the degree of acidity or alkalinity in water or any solution.

He said that the higher the pH reading, the more alkaline and oxygen rich the fluid is, and the lower the pH reading, the more acidic and oxygen deprived the fluid is, he said. Read the rest of this entry »

Pacquiao makes history after Knock Out win over David Diaz

Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao made history by becoming the first Asian to win four weight divisions when he knocked out World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz in the 9th round in their scheduled 12-round fight in Mandalay Bay, last Vegas on Sunday.

Pacquiao came out smoking right after the bell rang in the first round, pounding Diaz with flurries of solid punches.

The Filipino champ did not give his Mexico foe any quarter to counter punch as Pacquiao beat Diaz to a pulp from the first canto until he knocked him out in the 9th round.

According to fightnews.com report, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35KOs) was much quicker as he out-punched and out-boxed the bigger Diaz (34-2-1, 17KOs).

As early as the 5th round, Pacman busted Diaz’s face with sharp left-rights combinations.

But the never-say-die Diaz kept coming until Pacquiao floored him in the ninth to end the fight at 2:24 in the round of their scheduled 12-round encounter. Read the rest of this entry »

Miss Universe organizers admit spelling error on Miss Philippines’ sash

By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA for abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Philippines’ bet for Miss Universe, Jennifer Barrientos was given an official Miss Universe sash that misspelled her country’s name. “Philippines” was spelled with two Ls instead of one.

In a photo published in seattlepi.com’s Miss Universe Gallery, picture number 22 shows that Barrientos wore the misspelled sash, while sitting with Madina Taher, Miss Germany; Charlotte Labee, Miss Netherlands; and Vera Krasova, Miss Russia, during a party on June 20th.

Reports said it took almost three days for the Miss Universe Organization to correct the error. Other reports say the error remains in the official program book.

In an exclusive statement sent to abs-cbnNEWS.com by Lark-Marie Antón, the spokeswoman of the Miss Universe Organization, she admitted that a mistake was committed but said they instantly rectified it. Read the rest of this entry »

Jennifer Barrientos represents the Philippines in Miss Universe 2008

Jennifer Tarol Barrientos was born in San Mateo Rizal. She is also the Binibining Pilipinas titleholder for 2008. She is the official representative of the Philippines to the Miss Universe pageant which will take place in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008.

Jennifer Barrientos won the crown for Binibining Pilipinas Universe, Patricia Fernandez for International and Janina San Miguel World at the pageant’s coronation at the Araneta Coliseum late Saturday that was aired by GMA Network.

Jennifer took up Tourism in the University of Sto. Tomas, from San Mateo Rizal, previously worked in Holiday Inn and Macau Star World Hotel.

Why did you join? “It was my mother’s dream and now it’s mine.” “This will also help me achieve my other dreams such as being a model for high fashion magazines and fashion shows.”

What makes you stand out from the rest? “I always do my best. I know how to stay calm in a tight situation. My looks are also different. Many think I’m Indian but I am pure Filipino.” “I come from a Christian family so I really value my relationship with God.”

Nicole Scherzinger - Proud to be PiNaY

It is difficult to decide that weather a celebrity is singer, actor, or a model but at the end we know they are popular among the entire world. Shockingly most hot celebrities have very poor background and childhood. Almost all of them have worst relations between their parents so they started showbiz at very early age.

Her Early Life.

Nicole Scherzinger was born in Honolulu. Her mother was Hawaiian/Russian and her father was Filipino/Hawaiian so she is a combination of different cultures and countries. Her mother Rosemary was just 18 at the time of Nicole’s birth and separated from her father when Nicole was a baby. Louisville, Kentucky was their next destiny and they moved there with her half sister Ke’ala and German-American stepfather Gary Scherzinger, who adopted Nicole. While attending Youth Performing Arts School she began her life as performer in Louisville. She put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backing vocals for the rock band Days of the New. Read the rest of this entry »

Call Center Lifestyle in the Philippines

Yuppie Filipinos get the chance to be employed easily once they obtained their bachelor or diploma degrees because of the emergence of contact centers everywhere in the Philippines. These workers started to fill the 24-hour skyscrapers that gives a colorful background to metro Manila’s financial districts at nighttime.

This only shows that people employed in this job for a couple of years were used to on their ticking biological sleeping habit. They slept all day long just to regain their strength and wake up again at the wee hours to prepare themselves for a nightlong work. Clad in casual attire with matching fashionable coats are the most common props if you are a customer service representative. During break time some even used to occupy the al fresco various dining areas in Manila. In Ortigas for instance, call center agents enjoy their 30-minute to 1 hour break at McDonald’s, Starbucks, among others. For those who have extra pennies, they enjoy the hot aroma of Brazilian coffee in various blend. Others may sit on the corner and lit up their cigarette in a way of releasing their stress from work. It is enjoying isn’t it?

At 8 pm. about 100 people, most 25 younger, sit in a room of enclosed cubicles outfitted with phones and computers. They’ll be working until 4 am. or depends on the schedule of their shifts. Read the rest of this entry »