GMA 7 Studio Tour

I admit that I don't watch much TV but when I do watch, it's most probably about these two things -- Science and News.

I switch from channel to channel when watching news and honestly speaking, GMA is one of my favorite channels to watch prime time news on. Actually, whenever I have the chance during lunch time, I watch Balitanghali on QTV, now called News Channel.

GMA Studio Tour Pin

Which Divoom Speaker is for You (Part 2)

In the first part, we featured 3 Divoom speakers equally awesome in their own rights -- The Divoom Divo, Divoom iTour-20 and the Divoom iTour-70. Below, you can read about the Divoom iTour Ozzo and the Divoom Iris-02. Also, I posted a photo wherein all the Divoom speakers are side-by-side each other. It's for you to see and compare the sizes as it might help you decide which one to get.


Divoom iTour Ozzo

Divoom iTour Ozzo

Which Divoom Speaker is for You (Part 1)

Divoom has been focusing on making great audio products and at the same time, remaining very stylish. Divoom is now being sold worldwide in more than 40 countries. They believe that speakers shouldn't always be the boxy looking thing or neither should small speakers be an excuse to sound bad. All Divoom products are engineered in Singapore.

Divoom has a wide variety of speaker choices ranging from Multimedia speakers to lifestyle speakers to portable speakers. In this review, I will feature 5 of the speakers -- Divoom Divo, Divoom iTour70, Divoom Ozzo, Divoom iTour20 and the Divoom Iris-02 , all of which are available for purchase in the Philippine market.

If you can't decide which Divoom to get among the 5, I can help you decide by providing personal comments and of course, criticisms. Let me start by introducing to you the smallest (but loud), Divoom iTour-20.

Contest: Win an Apple iPad 2 from Nakamuraka.com

Nakamuraka.com is a group buying site offering deals. I think they are pretty much similar to other group buying sites. The real difference can be seen in the deals they offer, the discount they give and the savings they can provide to their customers.

Here's a short excerpt from their website,

Nakamuraka.com is all about bargains. Not the cheap kind, mind you. But the best we can find at the least possible cost to you. Like getting a luxurious massage for half its price, or a sumptuous meal for a third of its cost, or even getting into a new fitness regimen for almost nothing.

What caught my attention is the graphics they used and the words they used to describe their deals. Actually, they only have 1 deal as of the moment  and it's their first ever deal -- It's an iPad 2 giveaway deal. This is a great offer as you can purchase a raffle ticket to get a chance to win it for... 0 pesos! Yes, for free!

http://www.nakamuraka.com (Register now and get a chance to win an Apple iPad 2, which will be released on April 29, 2011 here in the Philippines! If you win, it's like buying it for 0 pesos! That's what you call, savings!) *Crossing fingers* Hope I win the Apple iPad 2

Otterbox Defender for iPad Review (and where to buy in Manila)

iPad protected by an Otterbox Defender

I love iPad bags and cases! Ever since I got my hands on the iPad, I already bought numerous cases and bags for it. For them not to go to waste, I write a review about them so you'll know what's the right bag or case for you. Before, I've been using the original iPad case the longest. But ever since I got my hands on the Otterbox Defender for iPad, my iPad never came out of it anymore.

Melbourne, Australia - What to do, to see and Where to go.

If I were to describe Melbourne in 1 photo, this would be it.

Trams, Gothic style architecture and modern buildings. This is Melbourne, Australia.

On the left is the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Modern Building), Fed Square (Not seen in the photo) and Flinders Street Station (Victorian Style Building). On the right side of the Flinders Street Station is the St Paul's Cathedral.

Below are some of the famous places to visit when in Melbourne (Not in any particular order)

The Grotto - Great Ocean Road Australia Attractions

The Grotto - Great Ocean Road, Australia

The Grotto is sinkhole geological formation located along the Great Ocean Road. To further explain what a sinkhole is, let me quote this excerpt from the US Geological Survey site,

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by ground water circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur.

London Bridge / London Arch - Great Ocean Road Australia Attractions

Great Ocean Road in Victoria Australia is home to some of the most amazing natural landscapes. It's a place where you can experience God's creation. London Arch or London Bridge as some call it, is one of the many tourist attractions along the Great Ocean Road. This is also part of the Port Campbell National Park.

I'm sure you're familiar with the song/ nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Well, the London Bridge didn't actually fall but this London Bridge in Port Campbell (Great Ocean Road), Victoria Australia did fall! The whole coast is eroding about 2cm/year.

The arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake.

Raffle: 3 days 2 nights stay for 4 at Bellaroca for FREE

Deal Grocer, one of the group buying sites which offers exclusive deals at huge savings is now holding a contest. Sign-up and invite 25 friends to be eligible for their raffle -- 3 days 2 nights stay at Bellaroca for 4 for FREE!

Want to join the raffle? Register below.

To join the raffle, simply register by clicking here > REGISTER NOW*
(This link will lead you to the registration page)*
*By clicking on the link above, you will be automatically be my friend which gets you one step closer to winning the 3 days 2 nights Bellaroca dream vacation for 4! They are raffling it off to Deal Grocer members with at least 25 friends. LIMITED time only so register now. Don't procrastinate!

www.dealgrocer.com

How does a group buying site like Deal Grocer work? 

Winila City - Group Buying Site in Manila

Update:

Winila City has gone bankrupt. This is the information released to us through Jason Biadog, from a company representative with email dated May 13, 2011.

This was the message:

The company is bankrupt we are going to a painful phase. I understand your concerns.Theresa will get in touch with you depending on our priority list of debtors. -M. Barthels

Regardless of that, I will be giving away a prize to the winner even though they didn't release any 1k Pancake House GC.

The winner will get from me, without any sponsors, (4) 500 pesos worth of GC from "Skin", a company owned by 'The Spa'.

Using the Randomizer web app from Random.org,

Since there is only 1 winner to be chosen as indicated, congratulations to HidBurn! I will email you instructions on how to claim.

Update June 15, 2011:

Weird. I just noticed. Winila.com is redirecting to Awesome.ph. Did awesome.ph acquire Winila.com?
On the other hand, Winila City just goes to a dead webmaster site.

Before reading the entry below, take note that Winila City is DEAD.Bankrupt.Kaput.Gone.

Winila City is a sister company of Winila. It's a group buying site offering deals at restaurants, spas, stores and more. On each deal, you'll see a timer at the side. Also, on each deal, the number of people who needs to purchase the deal differs. For example, a certain deal will need 30 buyers before the deal is considered successful. If only 29 people bought it, the deal won't push through. If that's the case, you will get a refund. (See sample deal below)

Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road Australia Attractions

Natural limestone cliffs thousands of years in the making

12 Apostles is part of the Port Campbell National Park and is the highlight of the Great Ocean Road for me. It is indeed one of the most amazing natural landscapes in the world. They are around 70 meters high each. Actually, people use the photos of the 12 apostles to represent the Great Ocean Road.

Save up to 95% When Shopping on Winila

There are a lot of group buying sites sprouting like mushrooms from left to right nowadays. Those group buying sites offer 10%-90% of savings depending on the deal. Winila is not one but Winila offers savings of up to 95%, most of the time. (Winila's group buying site is Winila City)

How does Winila work?
Basically, it's a shopping site made more exciting. How? Well, you can either buy products at retail price or participate in an auction/ bidding process which can help you save up to 95%. Not believing me? Take a look at some of the purchases made recently. (Screen shot below)

Loch Ard Gorge - Great Ocean Road, Australia Attractions

The Loch Ard Gorge is a visible example of the process of erosion in action.

It's named after the shipwreck of a clipper ship named Loch Ard which ran aground on Nearby Muttonbird Island on June 1, 1878 from a 3-month journey starting from England to Melbourne. Two people, Pearce & Carmichael survived out of the 51 onboard. Pearce was washed ashore and rescued Carmichael before proceeding to climb out of the gorge to alert patrolists to do a rescue attempt.

Gibson Steps - Great Ocean Road, Australia Victoria

Gibson Steps - One of the must see places in Great Ocean Road, Australia

Great Ocean Road is a great place to connect with nature as this is home to some of the most amazing landscapes on the planet. One of the recommended places to visit when traversing the Great Ocean Road in Australia is the Gibson Steps. This is the first place to check out when heading westward along the Great Ocean Road. 

EPrint technology from HP

Host for the event - Chico & Delamar

HP's New Printers on Display

Maxims Tower Signature Suites and Royal Villa | 6-Star Hotel in Manila

Maxims Tower in the morning

It looks like there's nothing interesting inside from the outside. Don't let the facade fool you as it can REALLY be deceiving. Who would have thought that inside this building is a line of 6-star hotel suites. All suites and room starts from $300 US Dollars. You think It's expensive? Why not check out what they can offer first?

Maxims Tower at Night

Maxims Tower's fleet of Mercs - Mercedes Benz S-Class

Maxims Tower Deluxe Suite and Suite | 6-Star Hotel in Manila

Maxims Tower at Night (Source)

Maxim's Tower  is Manila's first and only 6-star luxury hotel. It is an all-suite luxury hotel in the heart of Metro Manila. They offer 172 spacious and lavishly-furnished suites with personalized service and a butler to serve you 24/7, as you wish.

Maxims Tower Hallway

Triumph Inspiration Award 2011 - 125 Years of Celebrating Women

 

The Triumph Inspiration Awards curates the most innovative and inspirational lingerie designs and provides a prestigious platform to showcase their own lingerie interpretations of “125 Years of Celebrating Women”. Triumph International Philippines, in partnership with the School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFa), has geared up for the Triumph Inspiration Award 2011, with ten students vying to represent the Philippines in the international finals.

Triumph, the innovator in all things lingerie and shapewear, challenges young fashion students from around the globe to let their creativity soar with the fourth-consecutive Triumph Inspiration Award. This year – with 37 participating countries – the competition is bigger, more diverse and hotter than ever.

National Competition held at Members Only

Head of Sales & Marketing of Triumph International Philippines, Ms. Lorelei de Leon

Ms. Amina Aranaz-Alunan

Win PS3 & Netbooks w/ Snickers: Hungerling Attack Game!

One of my most favorite Chocolate brands, Snickers, came out with a new game! It's called Snickers Hungerlings Attack. It's a simple and easy to understand game.

Basically, when we are hungry, we become short tempered (*ahem ahem*), what we don't know is we turn into hungerlings = monsters. So the next time you are hungry, watch your temper.

About the game
First you need to register because you'll be winning REAL prizes here. Not virtual prizes but REAL prizes. What's great here is, there's no purchase necessary! To check out the game, visit http://snickersgame.com/

Prizes up for grabs!

10 winners every 2 weeks will be chosen based on shortest time score!!!

Best Way to Sneeze to Minimize Spread of Germs - Myth Busters

It's a relaxing Saturday for me, doing just blogging and will TRY not to go out the whole day. *TRY*

I switched the TV on and saw the show Myth Busters. Their topic was so interesting that I want to share it with you. It's about sneezing and how to minimize the spread of germs.

They tried to sneeze using 3 different ways to cover their mouth.

(L-R) Hands, Elbow and Handkerchief

Lorne and Apollo Bay Food Trip - Great Ocean Road, Australia

After a 2-hour drive from Melbourne with several stopovers made along the Great Ocean Road, we reach our first road trip lunch destination in a little cozy town called Lorne -- A quiet and charming seaside town and has been popular with Victorians as an ideal holiday destination for years.

Lorne, Great Ocean Road (VIC)

 The town of Lorne is best described as,

Bustling sidewalk cafes, superb restaurants, shops, boutiques and galleries combined with Mediterranean weather. It is no wonder Lorne was the first place to be declared an area of special significance and Natural Beauty by the Victorian Government and that was more than 100 years ago!

Craft Pub & Grill (The Fort Entertainment Complex)

A few bloggers were invited to try out the newly opened Craft Pub & Grill located in the Fort Entertainment Complex. It was actually beside Amber Ultralounge. We later found out that the owner of Amber Ultralounge and Craft Pub & Grill was one and the same.

Craft Pub & Grill has this college hang out feel. It's the place to go to if you want to reminisce your good ol' college days. It serves good comfort food, plays good music using a nice set of sound system and the ambient lighting is just perfect for you and your friends to hang out.

We tried out some of their must-try comfort food:

Things I Can Do With A Samsung Smart TV - Reason #1

The Samsung Smart TV is so smart that I can't fit the reasons in one single blog post. This will be a series of posts to let people know what the Samsung TV is capable of.

Things I Can Do With A Samsung Smart TV - Reason #1

Samsung Smart TV Launched - Internet TV with App Store

Last April 7, 2011, Samsung launched their Smart TV -- An innovative Television that will revolutionize the way you watch TV.

The Samsung D8000 is a  LCD television which includes Smart TV features such as web browsing, apps, 3D playback and video-on-demand.

This new LCD Internet TV features a 5mm bezel that looks very sleek and is covered in a brushed metal finish.

Bridge Data Roaming Unlimited from Globe Review

I've been out of the country for several weeks and I was fortunate enough to have tried Globe's Bridge Data Roam Unlimited. It's a cool service from Globe and from the networks that are members of the Bridge Alliance Network.

Bridge DataRoam is an add-on subscription plan exclusive to customers of Bridge Alliance operator members’ network* for mobile data roaming usage across the Bridge Alliance operators members’ and partners’ networks. 

*Globe Telecom is a member of the Bridge Alliance Network.

Lorne, Great Ocean Road - Australian Road Trip

A year in the making as you've read my intro post. This is one of the highlights of our Australia 2011 trip.Driving around the city, Melbourne in particular might be a challenge but driving along the Great Ocean Road is a different experience overall -- awesome experience, that is! If you have the chance to rent a top down sports car, do it!

Traversing along the famous Great Ocean Road

FYI: Drive on left in Australia

Our road trip started with a quick subway breakfast before we left our serviced apartment. We had to gas up along the highway because we were afraid that we couldn't push the van if we ran out of gas. It was also a great experience gassing up. Oh, they are called Petrol stations there by the way. Almost everything in the petrol station were self-service.

Split Point Lighthouse - Great Ocean Road, Australia

Split Point Lighthouse. On the left is the 'Eagle Rock' (Image Source)

A little trivia about the Split Point Lighthouse:
The Split Point Lighthouse at Otway National Park was built in 1891 and was originally called Eagles Nest Point and was also called the White Queen. The popular children's television series Round the Twist used the area around the Split Point Lighthouse for many external scenes. The lighthouse features prominently as the scene of a murder in Arthur Upfield's detective novel, "The New Shoe" featuring his famous detective Napoleon Bonaparte.

4th Year Anniversary - Cheftonio's Giveaway!

To give back to my readers and subscribers, I would like to present to you -- my 4th year anniversary contest and giveaway! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who sponsored this giveaway!

Get an Otterbox case to protect your investment!

Craft Pub & Grill

Super good mouth watering burgers - Try out the Gorgon-Zola!

Bubble Tea - Tokyo Milk Tea Place

For those people interested to join, here's how: