October 15, 2007 by ajay
Macau is not only East meets West. It is also a city of great contrasts. On the one hand are remnants of its old glory as an historic trading post and Portuguese enclave. On the other is the glamor and glitz of its casinos which has transformed it, in so short a time, into a territory that’s destined to be greater than Las Vegas.
Category Road Adventures | Tags: | 2 Comments
October 13, 2007 by ajay
It’s funny how I went to Hong Kong because I had so badly wanted to check out this certain store, only to find it closed on the Sunday I was there. So I ended up strolling through the malls, something which am already tired of doing in Manila.
It was an eye-opener seeing Hong Kong’s precious Filipino domestic helpers camping out in different areas of the city. They laid out their mats on the ground talking, laughing and eating from their prepared lunch boxes. I wished I had stopped to talk to them but I had a ferry to catch and a mission to see as much as I can in a few hours. These cheery ladies were game enough to pose for the camera. They are candidates for Ms. Barkadahan 2007, an OFW beauty pageant – something which Malu Fernandez will not be judging. 
My HK friend Ameia led me to my first taste of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. It was yummy!!! Munching on Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream (HKD$27 for a scoop) was the best part of my HK trip. I wonder when they’ll open in Manila?!!
Category Road Adventures | Tags: | No Comments
October 11, 2007 by ajay
I haven’t travelled for the past nine or so months (!!) and you can just imagine how excited I was to finally wrest a few days of vacation. It turned out this one was overkill. Going through three interlinked destinations meant I had to ride the plane, ferry, taxi, bus, car, subway train … not to mention go through numerous immigration counters and kill my feet from all the walking. My virgin, machine-readable new Philippine passport now has a total of 15 stamps to show for it in just a matter of days.
Category Road Adventures | Tags: | 5 Comments
October 4, 2007 by ajay
Quezon City is a bit far for a Manila girl like me, but what makes the distance sweet is that it is a cheap MRT ride away. Compare paying fifteen pesos on the train and driving to EDSA with all those cumbersome buses on the way – I will always choose the former. So that was how I found myself that rainy Wednesday afternoon in the newest Ayala Mall that is Trinoma.
My first impression is that it was huge – walking its length is like walking the treadmill already. But how super-convenient too. I like it when malls are located right next to MRT stops – this one and the Shang-ri La Plaza comes to mind.
Had lunch at the La Maison Restaurant right beside the second level fountain area. It was a special function I attended and so wasn’t able to choose what to eat. When I arrived late,there was an ample plate of their “gourmet lunch bento” in front of me. Luckily it was good – the bento idea is excellent since it makes one sample little portions of the house specials without having to order the whole thing. You get your main course, caesar’s salad, soup, appetizer and rice, mashed potato or pasta. I had the grilled seabass which had this excellent hollandaise sauce (P385), although I wonder what their baby back ribs taste like since it’s the one being promoted by the resto. And for paying just a little bit more, you get the choco lover’s cake as dessert with a cup of brewed coffee.
It turned out that the flourless cake was the best part of the meal. I just couldn’t have enough of it.
Category Shopping Etc. | Tags: | 4 Comments
October 2, 2007 by ajay
A friend of mine who works with the Abalosses says the old man was prevailed upon by his wife, son and family members to resign.
At the outset, there was no other way.
It boggles me why seemingly great men have to do the things they do.
The seemingly great Mr. Abalose didn’t have a bad public record until the ZTE deal zapped him to pieces.
Surely, the embattled Mr. Abaloss thought resignation was the easier option than facing the albatross of an humiliating impeachment.
Darn. Golfing did it.
The Shenzhen Golf Course messed you will miss you, Mr. Former Chairman.
Category Life & Living | Tags: | 1 Comment
October 2, 2007 by ajay
In my last column, I did say how nice it would be if local companies included some cool blogging in their websites. Just to remind us that there some human where those neat HTML codes are. To paraphrase again: ” Corporate blogging can give companies direct access to their customers, generate genuine feedback and give the business a human face, thus generating trust from its consumers.”
In the course of my net-surfing, guess what I found but the hip website of sugar-free resto Sugarnot with some one-of-a-kind blogging by : a doctor, a physical therapist, a nutritionist and three other foodies.
With blog entries about dieting, exercise and the like, plus recipes and an interactive menu showing the number of calories consumed…. the Sugarnot site is my corporate blog come true.
A bunch of bloggers will be having breakfast at Sugarnot this morning. Images of some mouthwatering cake and divine panini come to mind. Will tell you all about it when we get back… my blogger-friends are very much welcome to drop by. By all means, let’s have the coffee… 
UPDATE: Photos above show the goodies we had for breakfast. It was my first time to try sugarnot! and I never thought a foodie like me can go for healthy alternatives too. In fact, the only thing I need to do now is eat organic, LOL.
Sugarnot! boasts of being sugar-free, low-carb and low-fat. The bakery-coffeeshop slash deli was founded by a diabetic, and boasts of being the first of its kind in the country, if not the whole world. But even though their food is meant for those with diabetes and the health-conscious, sugarnot!’s offerings are far from bland and tasteless.
Take for example the Weight Watcher’s Delight I ordered from the menu – an ample plate filled with egg white omelet, assortment of diced fruits and grilled chicken slices. The latter was drizzled with pesto sauce infused with Glucerna SR Diabetes Nutrition. It was yummy and I cleaned up the plate while sipping their Mauro Italian coffee and sharing the house pasta arrabiata with Noemi. The pasta tasted so fresh and that was because only natural tomatoes were used for the sauce, which was made from scratch.
(to be continued)
Category Munchin' | Tags: | 1 Comment
October 1, 2007 by ajay
My Manila Bulletin column this Monday dealt with my just-concluded talk in the 14th National PR Congress. Some of the quotable quotes which you are free to agree or disagree with:
“I just happen to think that rather than shy away from each other, bloggers and PRs can exist harmoniously together: PRs can benefit from the wealth of information that competent bloggers specialize in and bloggers, in turn, can gain a thing or two from the promotional and advertising opportunities that publicists offer in behalf of their clients, something which (bloggers) are now using with services like Google AdSense anyway.”
“It is good that influential PR practitioners are opening their mind to the potentials and possibilities of new media which is what today’s traditional media will have to embrace sooner or later.”
“There is an absence of credible research on the demographic profile of bloggers in the Philipines. Yes, data is absent even if some public relations companies are already utilizing bloggers to promote their products and services.”
Category Blogosphere | Tags: | 2 Comments
