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August, 2009

  1. Be the next YouTube star in Crocs online video challenge

    August 28, 2009 by ajay

    Moymoy Palaboy

    Be the next internet sensation like the funny duo Moymoy Palaboy. Crocs, the popular American footwear brand, has just launched an online contest which makes it possible for talented individuals to be the next YouTube stars just by uploading their videos on the site. Participants to the contest must watch out for the weekly challenges to be issued by the DJs from Magic 89.9′s Good Times radio show and on the official contest website crazy4crocs.com. Then, they must act out the challenges, capture this on video, upload to Youtube, and post it to crazy4crocs.com as an official entry.

    Looks like a very entertaining, exciting contest – and financially rewarding as well. Contestants to the weeklies will win prizes such as Canon digital cameras while monthly winners get to grab as much as P100,000. To win, entries must be voted as the most popular by registered visitors to the website.
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    Category Shopping Etc. | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 3 Comments

  2. Litratong Pinoy 72: hapunan (dinner)

    August 27, 2009 by ajay

    Kapag ako ay nagpupunta sa Bacolod, ang kanilang chicken inasal ang gusto kong pagpiyestahan. I can eat this food consecutively for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Totoo naman kasi that the best place to eat chicken inasal is in Bacolod, at ang mura pa ng chicken barbecue nila dito – only P55 per stick, if am not mistaken, at our favorite restaurant Aida’s, in Manokan Country. Kaya naman pagbalik ko ng Manila, Bacolod chicken inasal pa rin ang gusto kong kainin. There’s something about eating it – all juicy from the wood fire, then pairing with garlic rice and heaping achuete chicken oil on top. Ang picture na ito ay kinunan during a recent dinner sa JT’s Manukan Grill in Malugay St. Makati. JT stands for the award-winning actor Joel Torre who owns the place and is a native of Bacolod.

    JT's Manukan Grill
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    Category Litratong Pinoy | Tags: ,,,,,, | 19 Comments

  3. Pamela Bianca Manalo a favorite in Miss Universe 2009

    August 24, 2009 by ajay

    Photo via missuniverse.com

    Bianca Manalo

    Hopefully she will not be another Thank You Girl :D Miss Philippines (and Bb. Pilipinas-Universe) Pamela Bianca Manalo is a strong contender for the Miss Universe 2009 which will be telecast to a global audience in a few hours from the Bahamas. We watched the preliminary swimsuit competition and I must say the 5’10 stunner, who’s a flight attendant of the Philippine Airlines, did well.

    It has been decades since we’ve had a Filipina for a Miss Universe (sigh). For Chrissakes, our last winning titleholder, Margie Moran is a grandma already. Personally, kinda find it an anomaly that most of the time Miss Venezuela wins. Maybe there’s such a thing as a Miss U mafia or Miss U cartel. LOL.

    Anyhoo, most of my gay friends are just crazy about this pageant and follows each and every development. My buddy Ogie opens only three websites in the internet and that’s missuniverse.com, youtube, and Friendster, hehehe. Here are his expert picks on will land in the semifinals later (more like a fearless forecast). Take a look:
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    Category People | Tags: ,,,, | 6 Comments

  4. Four new dishes from Max’s Restaurant … and Piolo Pascual

    August 22, 2009 by ajay

    Max’s Restaurant is a classic. I just think their fried chicken is the most amazing thing in the world. Fried chicken with the falling-off-to-the-bone goodness of roast chicken, if you know what I mean. We locals take it for granted, but it is something that should be tasted when you’re in the Philippines for the first time. (note: like Jollibee, they do have overseas branches. In California and Hawaii). It was absolutely a hit when my American mother-in-law visited this resto during her maiden visit to RP. Simple joys! :D

    And because Max’s is one of my family’s favorite restos of all time, let me fill this space with the announcement of four new dishes that they’ve cooked up in their kitchen:

    Max's Adobo

    Pork adobo with ensaladang kangkong. Adobo is my comfort food with a capital CF. :D Max’s version is twice-cooked, since the meat is fried to a crisp first and mixed with savory adobo sauce. The addition of ensaladang kangkong makes this a healthy pairing.

    Max's CripyTilapia

    Crispy Tilapia with choice of Tomato or Labanos (white radish) salsa. Another comfort food of mine resurrected with a few variations. I like my tilapia with skin on, and then fried to a crispy crackle, while tasting its yummy belly fat. Max’s version has been filleted, fried to a moderate crispness and coated with breading. For the choice of salsas, tomato ranges between sweet and spicy while the labanos is mixed in a mild vinaigrette and bordering on sweet and sour.
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    Category Munchin' | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 9 Comments

  5. Make-up class with Artistry’s Victor Ortega

    August 20, 2009 by ajay

    Last weekend, I was up early for one class I didn’t want to miss – make-up lessons with Victor Ortega of Artistry, the high-end make-up brand of Amway. Prior to this event, I’ve been canvassing make-up schools in Manila, more out of interest than anything else. Am not about to open a beauty salon soon, but it is one thing I really want to learn.

    Even though I hardly use make-up myself, except for the reliable lipstick, I do believe that it goes a long way in enhancing one’s looks and aura. We should approach it like art, and used wrongly, it can make us look like zombies, hehe.

    Artistry make-up class with Victor Ortega

    Thankfully, Mr. Ortega is a proponent of the “natural look,” and this has made him popular in these parts (plugging:he has his own eponymous salons in Boracay).

    For our class, he taught about how to do daytime make-up and transforming it with a few touches for the night. I caught a few precious lessons along the way.
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    Category Beauty, Shopping Etc. | Tags: ,,,,, | 9 Comments

  6. C-Lium High-Fiber Cook-Off at Aubergine Restaurant

    August 19, 2009 by ajay

    Colon cancer has been in the news lately because of the late President Cory Aquino. The health buffs among us are suddenly reading up on the subject, especially how to prevent it. One of the crucial areas is proper nutrition. As much as possible, avoid red meat, especially those grilled, and focus on a plant-based diet.

    Timely enough, we got an invitation for a C-Lium High-Fiber cook-off event last week. I know some friends who take C-Lium Fibre and find it helpful in improving their digestion. I’ve tried it a few times before and gave up because I was put off by drinking too gooey a liquid :D I might try again soon, because of all these issues in the news. This brand is recommended because it’s made of 100% pure psyllium fibre plant material. It claims to promote regular bowel movement, remove toxins and lower cholesterol, among others. Most of all, it is a 100% Filipino idea and concoction, LOL.

    The cook-off pitted top chefs Tristan Encarnacion, Stefan Langenhan and Samuel Linder in coming up with high fiber dishes. One interesting thing we learned: you can add or sprinkle C-Lium to your everyday dishes. The four seasons juice mixed with C-Lium we tasted was also good.

    It was nice to see one of my favorite dining places in the metro, Aubergine Restaurant Patisserie doing the high-fiber theme. I’ll put this as one of the best meals I’ve had lately.

    We started off with amuse bouche (bite-sized appetizers) and tasty vichysoisse, placed in a small shooter glass. (Okay, please don’t ask me how to pronounce that :P )

    Then, it was off to breakfast, lunch and dinner. :D

    Breakfast: baked tomato tomato stuffed with scrambled egg, toasted whole grain bread and smoked salmon (not in photo is the poached quail egg on truffled parsley mousse – tasted divine!)

    Poached quail egg, parma ham
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    Category Munchin' | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  7. A great vacation in Pearl Farm Beach Resort, Davao

    August 17, 2009 by ajay

    I really enjoyed our business trip to Davao City last July and what clinched it was our overnight stopover at the scenic Pearl Farm Resort in Samal Island. It’s a must see when you’re in Davao because it’s out there as one of the top resorts in the Philippines. Our time in Pearl Farm, no matter how short, surely gave us time to unwind and shoo the work blues away. Most of all, the ultra-refreshing views made us forget the sullen landscape of the city.

    Pearl Farm

    How can you probably sulk when you open the bedroom window to something like this?

    Pearl Farm
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    Category Philippine resorts, Travel | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 5 Comments

  8. Maricar Reyes, all dressed up in the August issue of Metro magazine

    August 16, 2009 by ajay

    Maricar Reyes, Metro

    Couldn’t help but take a second look at the August issue of Metro magazine which has aspiring actress Maricar Reyes on the cover. As it turned out, looking at the cover wasn’t enough, so the next thing I did was buy it. :P

    Stunning photography by Sara Black, although the article written by Francine Medina Marquez refuses to say anything about the video scandal that has every tongue wagging for weeks on end. Perfectly understandable, since the questions were reviewed by Maricar’s handler.

    I still find it hard to understand how fast this girl recovered from the controversy she figured in with the cad named Hayden Kho. But it looks like Dr. Maricar, a general practitioner, used reverse psychology on the public. Instead of hiding, she’s now raring to hog the limelight as an actress in the movie May Bukas Pa, the teleserye Gaano Kita Kamahal and the Filipino version of Lovers In Paris.
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    Category People | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 9 Comments

  9. Hooray for the launch of the Philippine biometric passport or ePassport

    August 12, 2009 by ajay

    Amid a deluge of political news – good and bad, I was happy to read about the launch of the much-awaited Philippine biometric passport in today’s papers. It is the high-tech way to travel since it is now in use in more advanced countries. The e-passport uses an integrated circuit or microchip already embedded within the document which contains not only the personal data of the holder but also his/her biometrics (face recognition, fingerprints, iris scan), a unique chip identification number, and a digital signature.

    Apparently, this kind of passport is now the international standard and is being required by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Travellers not affiliated with human traffickers or Osama Bin Laden should be able to welcome this as it will speed up their clearance at immigration points. Moreover, the new system now makes it impossible to tamper and reproduce vital travel documents.
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    Category Travel | Tags: ,,,,,, | 6 Comments

  10. A golden moment with the honor guards of the Cory Aquino funeral cortege

    August 10, 2009 by ajay

    Cortege
    –noun
    1. a procession, esp. a ceremonial one: a funeral cortege.

    The honor guards

    A friend graciously gave me this dramatic (albeit low res) photo of the Cory Aquino funeral honor guards being showered with yellow confetti, amidst the grand backdrop of the Manila Cathedral where the former President lay in state for a few days.

    Now, we all know about how these honor guards have come home to a heroes’ welcome from their grateful countrymen. They have been interviewed by the media and even gracing TV shows to talk about that once-in-a-lifetime experience, even though they never fail to stress that it was all “part of (their) work.”

    Today, six of those honor guards who stood still all throughout a long procession that carried Tita Cory’s remains received their military merit medals and plaques of appreciation from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We were certainly glad to be there for this precious photo opportunity and getting to know their thoughts during that historic moment.

    Honor Guards
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    Category Cory Aquino | Tags: ,, | 7 Comments

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