Under Armour’s Touchdown in Megamall

Last October 22, 2014, Under Armour officially opens its 2nd store in Metro Manila located at SM Megamall. The first one was launched a few months earlier at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The US-based performance footwear and apparel have captured the admiration of many sports enthusiasts and athletes in the Philippines even before having an official outlet available. 

Before, for most people, getting a hold of the genuine brand was always a good find. For some, it was a sheer joy just to find a knock-off that is closes to the real-deal in the nearest “ukay-ukay – thrift shop store. Now, that the true Under Armour is already here, getting the original ones would be so much easy. 

At the store launch at SM Megamall, organizers made sure that this popular sports brand will not come out to the public un-noticed that is why they invited several sports and fitness celebrities to a circuit training challenge  that will dare to test everyone’s strength, endurance and stamina. Dubbed as the Under Armour Assault, the circuit training competition involved rigorous exercises with heavy weights and high intensity calisthenics. But before the event began, a surprise guest just arrived and he is no other than the Fil-Am MMA Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera. Vera is currently just one of the many fitness and sports celebrity who is a very much of a fan of Under Armour.  

Among the popular ones who participated (at least popular to my perspective) were LJ Reyes, Luis Alandy and JC Tiuseco representing the Kapuso Network, Carlos Agasi whose career is currently in hibernation, seasoned triathlete Ernie lopez of ABS-CBN Publication, Jon Hall, Will Devaughn, Roxanne Barcelo, Maria Persson, a good friend Gerrard Pezarras, Azcals’ Armand Delrosario, Issa Litton, and others whose identities I can no longer remember. 

After several grueling circuit events, the participants were trim down to 10. After the last series of exercises which was the toughest among all exercises, Under Armour counted the scores and picked the best three of men and the best three of women’s categories. In the end after finishing the last leg of the circuit fit training challenge that made the participants pushed beyond their physical limits, Jon Hall and Maria Persson were declared as winners. 

Under Armour SM Megamall and Bonifacio Global City are just two branches but more will be opening soon .

WSI: Join the Watch Revolution

There’s a New Watch Store in Town!

For the “watch enthusiasts”, one watch or two are simply not enough, because watches are like jewelries…jewelries that tell time. For the watch collectors, these are not just simply a source of chronographic information, it tells a lot about the person who wears them.

WSI (Watch Style Insider) is the newest destination for those who believe that watches will complete not just their outfit of the day, but their personality in general. WSI carries some of the world’s famous lifestyle brands, such as, FOSSIL, SKAGEN, ARMANI EXCHANGE, DIESEL, DKNY, EMPORIO ARMANI, KARL LAGERFELD, MARC BY MARC JACOBS and MICHAEL KORS.

Last October 21, 2014, Lucern, a very familiar name in the world of watches launches the second WSI Store in SM Mega Mall. The event was graced by popular fashion icons and media personnel. I was very lucky to be invited in an exceptional event, where we had the first look of what’s inside.

WSI is said to be unique compared to other popular stores in the metro because many of the brands they carry are not available in other stores. I took the privilege of taking as much photos of the watches that were on display. As I admired looking at them, my fantasy led me to the thought of owning one someday. Ms. Towe, WSI US representative who flew all the way from Chicago expounded some of the exciting features of the watch brands WSI offers.

After the extensive talk about the WSI, the media were given list of questions about the talk. Much  of the questions were so detailed  and technical. I’m just glad I paid attention to the host and was able to remember much of them. For some of the questions I could not recall, I’m very fortunate to have WSI Sales Rep who gave me some few clues to the answer.

After that short impromptu exam, my scores were counted and I was given a paper bag with something heavy inside. We were all surprised because each of us was given watches, courtesy of WSI! Now, that treat is something you don’t experience every day and my fantasy were made to reality in short span of time.

WSI is located at the ground floor, Building A at SM Mega Mall. One can also find WSI at Ayala Center Cebu and soon to open in Trinoma, Quezon City.

TV5’S WATTPAD PRESENTS’ introduces new batch of heartwarming love stories

The "Beki Boxer" that was shown in TV5 just over a month ago was something very unique and exceptional story. And I never knew that the story was from WATTPAD. Actually, I never knew what WATTPAD was until I was invited to attend a press launch of the second batch of short stories that were being aired in TV5. 

So what the hell is WATTPAD?! Well, it is actually a website were writers or aspiring to be writers are free to post their short stories where the sites readership gets to view and search for them and if they liked it, they will read them. I was surprised also when I found out that some of my blogging friends are keeping an account in WATTPAD. So, this made me interested to know the stuff written there. 

Last October 18, 2014 was the kick off of another set of stories that were searched and screened by TV5’s pool of researchers out of hundreds of stories written in WATTPAD. The primary criterion in choosing these top four stories is on the basis of readership. The stories have gained more than 15 million viewership on line. And from this basis, it showed that such story would be really good. 

Beginning last October 20, the first of the four stories is “Dyepni”. This chick-flick teenage love story will be starred by two talented real life celeb couple, Jennica Garcia, the daughter of award winning actress Ms. Jean Garcia and Alwyn Uytingco, who is already a WATTPAD Presents veteran and played the role of a gay Boxer in the BEKI BOXER. The story revolves around two typical high school teenagers “Jeffrey” (Alwyn Uytingco) and Nialla (Jennica Garcia).

Day two of WATTPAD Presents is a story entitled “Savage Cassanova” written by an author called JustBreaththeSofie. This particular story have gained more than 1.7 million readers and continued to gain more followers. This sort story features promising young actors Edward Mendez and Ritz Azul. Savage Cassanova is about a rich young bachelor, Ivo (Edward Mendez), who is the sole heir to his family’s fortune and business.  In order to get rid of the girls who have been chasing him, he decided ot marry a terminally ill Moira (Ritz Azul). Hoping to get everything as planned, things unexpectedly happen that change the lives of this two individuals. 

To be featured in November 3, WATTPAD will show a TV adaptation of the story “Fake Finace”, written by Kierd. This story have been read by more than 2 million readers.  You might find this story quite fascinating because it’s about two young “couple” who decided to stage a fake marriage in order to stop the pending wedding of their parents. The TV adaptation are starred by another celeb couple in real life, Sophie Albert and Vin Abrenica. 

The last story to be shown of the second batch of WATTPAD Presents is “Diary ng Hindi Malandi…(Slight lang), written by OWWSIC and have gain fans from all over with a whopping 3.5 million readers. This story features Isabella de Leon and Edgar Alan Guzman. I remember vividly Isabella when she was with the show "Da, DeDi, Dodu" in GMA before. She was very young then and I was so amazed how she has grown all these years. The story is about a girl who is coming of age and venturing the outside world with the hope of finding her one true love. 

In the Presscon, each stars was given a few minutes of their experience making the film and expounded on the dynamics working with other stars and crew. An additional bonus of revelation was shared to every media present was announcement of Jennica and Alwyn about their relationship as a couple. They announced that they discretely tied the knot last February. And it was only there they publicly shared to every media present.  

TV5 is relentlessly pursuing out-of-the-box concepts that will give viewers wide options on what to watch and what will entertain them. The WATTPAD Presents will be shown Starting October 20, 2014, Monday to Friday with the new time slot 9:30 pm right after The Amazing Race Season 2.  

Rico Rice: Make Healthy Yummy

Here is another better and healthier alternative to rice – Corn Rice!

Decades ago, the Philippines was the leader in exportation of many crop and agriculture products to other countries and one of them is rice. Our country led the innovations of many rice seedlings, where a farmer can grow and harvest rice up to three times a year. These innovations were done in the research laboratories of International Rice Research Institute or IRRI, in Los Banos, Laguna. But the sad thing about this is that these technological innovations were likewise exported to other parts of Asia like Vietnam and Thailand and their rice is now being imported back here in our country. The Philippine rice has finally come in full-circle but to our economy’s expense.  Presently, we still hold to be the leader…not anymore in exportation of rice but importation. And we are losing hard-earned dollars just to buy back those rice that we developed here in the first place.

The good news is, as far as corn production, Philippines is on the top list in the corn exportation and many families in the southern regions are consuming corn as substitute for rice. Even Manny Paquiao prefers to eat his favorite “Tinola” with Corn-rice. So how come corn rice, having an abundant supply of it, is not as popular as rice? Simply because Pinoys in general are not accustomed on the way it looks and how it taste like.

Fortunately, the Philippine Leading Infinite Logistics Inc. or PLILI, came up with a technology that reshapes the image of corn that is exactly look like rice and even taste like rice too. PLILI is a company subsidiary of La Filipina Uy Gongco, makers of premium flour and baking raw materials for industrial scale. Last October 13, 2014, PLILI officially launched RiCo Corn-rice to the media at Chef Jessie Restaurant in RockWell, Power Plant mall in Makati City. The event was a fine dining experience that was attended by some media friends, and all of us had a fantastic time enjoying of some of Chef Jessie’s master pieces which features Rico Corn Rice in the Menu.

The plated lunch started with a short presentation of the technicalities of RiCo and why is it better than rice. The secret of containing the nutrients of corn is not wash it, because washing the corn will wash the all the health benefits away. PLILI President Mr. Jebe Gayanelo further expounded that Rico Corn Rice underwent a state-of-the-art process that dries the corn which carefully controls the moisture that prevents Aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is actually a form of fungus that grows on the corn. The technology is so sophisticated that the corn is not touched by human hands. And that explains why RiCo-Corn Rice does not need to be washed, thus giving you all the healthy benefits of corn. Further more, corn has a low Glycimic Index (GI) which allows the body use the glucose content of corn to be burn before it is absorbed in the blood stream. This qualities are very much ideal to athletes, because it gives a much longer supply of energy needed to endure a long sporting activity like triathlon or a marathon.  

During the launch, Chef Jessie Sincioco demonstrated the versatility of the ingredient through a sit-down meal of Mesclun greens salad with Prawn RiCo pops, Minestrone with RiCo, a main course of Pan-fried Codfish Fillet in Pommery mustard sauce and Grilled chicken breast in creamy pepper sauce served with RiCo pilaf and sautéed French beans, and RiCo crocant roll. At home, you can use RiCo in your dailyfavorites such as sinangag, java rice, yang chow rice, and paella.

After that delectable lunch, each of us were given sample packs of RiCo to experience it at home. The other day my wife cooked RiCo for dinner  for the very first time and the kids were so amazed that it was corn and not rice, so that one passed the aesthetic screening of RiCo. As to the health benefits, this one really fits to what I need whenever I do long distance run.

WALKING DEAD Season 5: "Hunt or be hunted"

PRESS RELEASE:

Manila, Philippines, October 2014—Recording the highest ratings ever for the channel, FOX broke its own records again with its broadcasts of the premiere episode of The Walking Dead Season 5. Philippine viewers tuned into FOX in great numbers to give the channel its highest ratings for the 8:55 PM telecast of the first episode of The Walking Dead Season 5, garnering a 1.89 for adults aged 16 to 49.

The Walking Dead enjoys multiple broadcasts every Monday, including a showing at 11:35 AM parallel to the episode’s US premiere and a primetime telecast at 8:55 PM. Season 5 of the hit drama series premiered on October 13, 2014, gaining ratings of 0.108, 1.869 and 0.79 for adults aged 16 to 49 in the Parallel Play, Prime Time and Quick Replay (9:50 PM), respectively.

The combined ratings for the first episode of Season 5 of The Walking Dead amounted to 2.775 for adults aged 16-49, registering a 64.1 percent increase over the launch of Season 4 at 1.691. For the past four years, FOX has been celebrating each new season of The Walking Dead with a four-day marathon of old episodes leading up to the premiere.The days of October 11, 12 and 13 recorded some of the highest daily averages ever recorded for the channel.

Meanwhile, the daily average for October 13 registered at 0.2925 is a whopping 329.65 percent higher than the channel’s Year-to-Date Average for adults aged 16 to 49 at 0.068.The figures reveal how FOX has sufficiently owned the franchise for The Walking Dead and made itself the go-to source for all fans of the zombie-abundant drama series.In particular, the strongest group of fans in the Philippines who caught The Walking Dead Season 5’s premiere on FOX included males aged 25 to 34 with ratings of 2.862.

Catch more of the explosive fifth season of The Walking Dead  every Monday at 11:35 AM fresh from its US premiere as well as at 8:55 PM for its primetime telecast, only on FOX!

CITY KART RACING FIRES UP “RACE TO BORACAY”

CITY KART RACING is finally now at the Circuit Makati. It is the newest sports complex being built by the Ayala group located at the former Santa Ana Race Track near J.P. Rizal. A few years back, the CityKart Racing was at the old Park Square in Glorietta area and it is where I was able to experience my first Kart Racing. After that short adrenalin drifting gig, I was so eager to go back, but sadly, the race track needed to be moved to give way to the scheduled renovation of the Park Square.

However, just recently, the Citykart Racing is back in Makati with a much bigger and bolder race track strategically located at the Circuit Makati. I was so fortunate to be invited to be one of the first groups of media to get a taste of their newest track with newly refurbished Racing karts. Together with other media personnel, we had the opportunity to put on a real racing suite, with crash helmets and cruise the 700 meter-loop of the race track.

All of us made several laps around the track just to get the feel of the karts and the tracks. Since I had already experienced it before, it wasn't very hard for me to get used to the sharp turns and the curves. Definitely, the new race track is far better than the old one in Park Square, because this one is lot longer and it features challenging turns and tricky loops.

After the practice drive, the experience got more exciting because Jean-Marc Freihuber, the Chairman of the CKR briefed us for a real racing event. The media guests were divided into several teams where we were partnered with experienced CKR Race Drivers.  Our team captain is Manuel Lorenzo who is only 12 years old but holds several racing titles on his shoulder not just here in the Philippines but in other countries as well.

Each team was required to finish the race in 1 hour with the most number of laps. So we had a little team meeting before the race started, just to have a sort of a strategy. We decided to take several laps in turns and Manuel will finish the remaining 20 of the race, hoping to cover our "slower" time. In the first few laps, Manuel experienced engine mal-function and needed to change karts not just once but twice. So, the delay made us on the fifth place. Surprisingly, we never thought Manuel had more tricks in his pockets, because as we approach on the last remaining minutes, Manuel became “possessed” by the spirit of Michael Schumacher and slowly inched our way to the 2nd place just before the checkered flag was waved.What a dramatic finish! And I’m so glad I experienced it!

After the race, awarding ceremony was held at the CKR cafeteria. All of us in the team were so excited to experienced the Podium awarding, To me, the feeling was like winning an F1 Grand Prix Race even though were only placed 2nd. That media race kart event was just the first salvo of a much bigger kart racing event Starting October 23 to November 23, 2014.

The racing event is called -  RACE TO BORACAY.

No, drivers will not kart race all the way to Boracay, if that’s what you’re thinking.  The race course will be of course at the CityKart Racing circuit and its aim is to gather more than 500 Race kart drivers all over the metro.  There will be a series of qualifying rounds that will run from October 23 to November 14 to narrow down the competitors to 200, then down to 50. The last 50 drivers will battle to the finish on November 23 for the Grand Finals. The one who will come out with the shortest time will be hailed as the CRK RACE TO BORACAY Grand Champion.

There will be two classes, Juniors (13 to 17 years old  and Adults (18 years old and above). The Awaiting winners of each class at the finish line will receive 3-days 2-nights Hotel stay and round trip airfare for two to the Island of Boracay. Special treats are also in store for the two runners up and special prices await to all participants.

CKR is open from Monday to Thursday, 3:00pm to 11:00pm, and Friday to Sunday, 10:00am to 12:00 midnight. It is located at Circuit Makati, Barangay Carmona, Makati City. Reservation is a must for those who will register for Race To Boracay. For more information you can call 0917-455-10-60 or log on to: www.citykartracing.com

EATALY: A Different Twist to Italian Cuisine…

If you happen to pass by the San Juan area, you might want to visit a cozy Italian restaurant that offers authentic Italian cuisine in very comfortable price ranges. EATALY is the newest hub Italian food lovers can indulge in the area of Little Baguio. More than the Italian dishes, they also served some good grilled food in their menu and delectable desserts. 

Last October 2, 2014, bad weather didn’t deter me from accepting an invitation to experience the food of EATALY. Together with two other fellow food bloggers were with me and we had an intimate session tasting the good Italian dishes of the restaurant, and had the opportunity to meet the owners themselves. 

The first one that is on their menu for us to try was the Stuff-Squid in kebob style. Cooking squid is really tricky, because it can easily get tough if you over cook it. Bu this one is so tender and juicy in the inside as well with all the stuffing and spices locked inside. This dish is priced P240 per order and is perfect for appetizers while waiting for the main dish. 

Now, who can say no to shrimp? Most especially if coupled it with sliced squid on a thin-crust dough. Shrimp and Squid Pizza is just one of the sought after dishes here in Eataly. You might want also to try their various flavors of Pizza. This one is the seafood flavor, topped with creamy white sauce, mozzarella cheese and lots of it, plus Alfalfa sprouts. This dish is priced at P375.

The Braised Lamb Shank is certainly a break of the usual beef or pork ribs as main dish. This dish is pre-blanched and slow oven-cooked in red wine to get the most tender quality and natural juice of the meat. Smothered with Eataly’s special sauce, this dish is coupled with mashed potato and beans. This one is priced at P625. Recommended for two people sharing but the three of us couldn't finish it.

For the fish lovers out there, now this one is really a treat. The Baked Salmon with Pesto Lemon Sauce was even made more special accompanied with fresh lettuce and Lolo Rosa veggies and baby tomatoes. This one is juicy inside-out, with its special lemon sauce. This is a new dish of the resto that is why they haven’t decided on the price yet. 

After the meat over loads, a choice of Red Merlot, Chardonnay and Shiraz and white wine was served. The resto is serving mini-bottles of the wines so you don’t have to order the normal sized bottles if you don’t intend to finish it. The wine in mini-bottles is just right for one or two persons sharing, just enough for one to drive safely home. 

Finishing off the very fine dining experience are two of their best desserts, Decadence (P145) and Mochamisu (P145). For those who are not into chocolates like me, I personally recommend the Mochamisu.

The dining area can accommodate fifty people on the ground floor but they also have extra tables up stairs with a private function room, very ideal for a small business meetings or parties.

EATALY is located at 698 J. Abad Santos Street,  Little Baguio district, San Juan City. For Inquiries and reservations, please call Tel. 705-1201, Eamil: eatalyinc@gmail.com, For updates you can log on to: www.facebook.com/EatalyRestaurantSanJuan