Category: Awesome Festivals

It is exciting to be in Manila. We are now in the center of the next generation of Mobile 2.0 services from the biggest telcos. This week, Smart launches Sandbox, while Globe launches Pixlink. It is interesting to see the difference in mobile strategies in the attempt to elevate the user mobile experience from SMS-Centric to Social Multimedia-Centric. We will have to wait and see who will win the Mobile 2.0 Wars. 🙂 Read More: Mobile 2.0 Wars: Sandbox vs. Pixlink

Congratulations to Claude Tayag, Ivan Man Dy and Market Manila for showcasing the Filipino cuisine to the World. Anthony Bourdain credited the slow-roasted lechon in Cebu as “The Best Pig Ever” (kudos to MarketManila!). This puts the Philippines’ pork dish in the #1 slot in Bourdain’s Hierarchy of Pork.

Here are Top 9 Ideas on How to Celebrate Valentine’s Weekend 2009

The New 7 Wonders of Nature shifts gear to Phase 2 and YOU NEED TO VOTE AGAIN for Puerto Princesa Subterranean River! … You can upload your photos of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River to share to the world what you like about it, what makes it special, why this is your Wonder! … Federico Mayor, former Director-General of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees (based on popular votes) and choose the 21 finalists, to be announced on 21 July 2009.

I’m trying to collect information on the New Year’s celebrations in Manila so that people will be more informed on which places to go to or which ones to avoid 🙂 Fort Bonifacio New Year’s Celebrations 6.00pm and 8.00pm New Year’s Eve Mass @ Sanctuario de San Antonio 9.00pm – Taguig Street Party with Grand Fireworks. Midnight until Sunrise — Sunrise Party at Boni High Street Ayala New Year’s Celebration (anybody know the official schedule?) Mall of Asia New Year’s Celebration (anybody know the official schedule?)

Personally, the Atalyer’s Bento Box is the winner of the Battle of the 2009 planners. I like its nationalistic concept, its message of encouragement, hope, change and its Pinoy design. The only turn-off is that the Atalyer logo is prominently printed all over the stationery set like it was an Atalyer giveaway.

The First Annual Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets Award promise to be “the Oscars” of Manila’s restaurant industry, and there are approximately 100 judges in total deciding the MBKRS Awards, made up mostly of restaurant owners, top-chefs, educators in the hospitality industry, hotel GMs, columnists and food critics, magazine editors, and other celebrities and reputable foodies.

Our Ultimate Philippines’ Brother and Street Walker, Ivan Man Dy of Old Manila Walks fame was one of Anthony Bourdain’s hosts around Manila. He is our main cultural tour guide for the Ultimate Pampanga and Tagaytay tours. He blogged about his Anthony Bourdain encounter in his blog post: On One Steamy Saturday Morning… In this OAP Exclusive, I tried to get some juicy anecdotes and kwentos by sending him 10 Questions about the Anthony Bourdain encounter. Check out Ivan Man Dy’s answers below: