DESPITE the holiday rush, Ideal Macaroni, the maker of Ideal gourmet pasta and now the sole distributor of the Easycook brand of beans, peas and lentils in Philippine market, took some time to invite media and online bloggers to a cooking demo intriguingly titled “Peas Be Unto You, and Lentils too!” Having read the benefits of these “superfoods,” I went out of my way, squeezed in to my tight schedule between work and family, merry-making and PMPC caroling, to attend the demo at Genting Star Tourism Academy in the Resorts World Manila Complex. First part of the program was a short tour of the posh tourism academy which is fast becoming the tourism training center of choice of many students and practitioners in this industry. The school is complete with facilities for actual training including its own mini casino! This is to make tourism graduates at par with their foreign counterparts, according to Dyan Fernandez, Senior Manager, Business Development, who accompanied the media...

Together with members of the media – TV, print and online bloggers – and their respective families, Jollibee shared the Season of Joy with fun games and prizes at BCG’s Mind Museum. The year-end occasion also formally launched the holiday season’s treat which is the Jollibee Chickenjoy Bucket Treats! Members of families – from tots to teen-aged girls and boys and even grandmas – joined family games and won exciting prizes like Dancing Jollibee doll, GCs and Mind Museum entrance tickets! The party went livelier with the presence of ever smiling Jollibee mascot! Kids got so excited and instantly gravitated around Jollibee and got the thrill of their lives dancing with the most famous mascot in the Philippines! Showbiz’s dancing diva Regine Tolentino and her family also graced the party. They performed a zumba dance number to remind party-goers that they need to exercise even in the days of bingeing and merry-making. There’s no question how good Regine is in the dance floo...

Text2Teach was featured as one of the exemplary ICT innovations for education in the recent Asia-Pacific Ministerial Forum on ICT in Education (AMFIE) 2013 organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “Less than 10 projects, representing the best practices in the region, were selected to participate in the AMFIE Gallery Walk, withText2Teach included among the selected projects. We are proud of Text2Teach and also of Globe for being the only telecommunications organization present in the forum and recognized for its involvement in the Text2Teach project,” said Fernando Esguerra, OIC, Globe Corporate Social Responsibility. AMFIE is an annual platform for policy-level knowledge exchange and dialogue. The Forum showcases a number of promising ICT innovations and experiences in developing, adapting and/or monitoring ICT in Education policies and practices in countries at different development levels. During the AMFIE 2013 held in Wuzhou...

Globe Telecom announced on Monday (December 9) that it will offer iPad Air with Wi-Fi + Cellular and iPad mini with Retina display with Wi-Fi + Cellular in the Philippines starting December 19, 2013. The new iPad Air is unbelievably thin and light. And yet it’s so much more powerful and capable. With the A7 chip, advanced wireless, and great apps for productivity and creativity — all beautifully integrated with iOS 7. iPad mini with Retina display is amazing to hold -- and behold. With 7.9-inch Retina display, very photo will surely be incredibly detailed and vibrant, and every line of text is remarkably crisp and clear. Globe Telecom will offer these new iPads with a range of attractive data plans that will allow customers to connect to its fast Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with speeds up to 42mbps. For more information on iPad, please visit www.apple.com/ipad.

AXE Apollo Team Philippines members began their actual Space Camp training by taking on LYNX Space Academy® tests at the world-famous Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida, USA. At the Jet Ranger Centre in Kissimmee, Ramil Santos and his pilot/trainer climbed on board a SIAI Marchetti SF260 for the Air Combat Training where they flew the plane through various tactical flight maneuvers including parabolic and spiral moves, engaging in multiple “G-Pulling” and high and low Yo-Yo’s for the Filipino astronaut-aspirant to experience the physiological effects of four times the force of gravity (4Gs). The Air Combat Training pilot/trainer was impressed with how Ramil handled himself during the flight and how he was enthusiastic and even asked a lot of questions. For the next two days, Ramil will take on the LYNX Space Academy® Zero Gravity Training via parabolic flights onboard a modified Boeing 727 that will simulate the feeling of complete weightlessness and G Force Training wher...

I’ve never been a fan of boxing or any contact sports for that matter. But watching Manny Pacquaio fights with ease -- sometimes almost blemish-free as if he just had a jab practice or gym workout—made me appreciate the sports. And like many fans who thought Pacquio to be “god or demi-god” inside the ring, I pity him seeing him lying face down on the canvas in his last fight with his fiercest rival, the Mexican fighter Juan Manuel Marquez. “Ma, is he still alive? my then nine-year old daughter asked in between sobs. She too was bothered by the hero’s fall. Voted 'fighter of the decade' for the 2000s and formerly world champion at 8 different weight divisions,Pacquiao is considered by many as the best fighter/boxer ever. Only Pacquiao has done this feat ever ---world champion at 8 different weight divisions! And I feel so lucky to have watched the latest Pacquiao fights that showed his greatness: against Marquez (fight 2 and 3), against boxing’s Golden Boy Oscar dela Ho...

A night of glitter and glam is expected to prevail as the 27th Star Awards for Television unfolds, starting at 6PM, on Sunday, November 24, 2013, at the AFP Theater, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. To emcee the proceedings are sisters Alex and Toni Gonzaga, together with the Gutierrez twins, Raymond and Richard Gutierrez. Sisters Toni and Alex will also do an opening musical number, side by side with brothers Rodjun and Rayver Cruz showing off their greatly admired terpsichorean skills, with the talented Kim Chiu! To render some inspirational songs of hope, as tribute to the newsmen being the unsung heroes of the recent Yolanda (Haiyan) super typhoon coverages, are balladeer Erik Santos, Radha and 'Voice of the Philippines' champion, Mitoy Yonting. The evening show's finale is slated for the gorgeous Dawn Zulueta, who will do a very special musical number with the Kammerchor Manila Choir and Ms. Tricia Howard. Special awardees for this year are: producer K...