The Whitney Houston Show 2016: Live in Manila at the PICC, Plenary Hall on August 27

Don’t miss this critically acclaimed once in a lifetime live show of a tribute to a woman who has long been an icon of pop music and vocal ability, The Greatest Love Of All – The Whitney Houston Show Tour 2016 on Friday, August 26th, 8PM at the IEC Pavillon, Cebu City and on Saturday, August 27th at the PICC Plenary Hall, Pasay City, Manila.

The astounding tribute show taking the world by storm! A fun and heart-felt concert dedicated to the incomparable Whitney Houston. The Greatest Love Of All: The Whitney Houston Show celebrates the magnificent catalogue of hits that Houston made famous during her 30 year career. The 2 ½ hour concert and stage show includes hits such as 'How Will I Know', 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', 'Where Do Broken Hearts Go', 'Didn't We Almost Have It All', 'I'm Every Woman', 'One Moment In Time', 'I Have Nothing' and of course, 'I Will Always Love You' and many more.

Starring the breathtaking voice of Belinda Davids live in concert featuring the full production show from the US. Direct from sell out shows across Europe, plus a full band, dancers and theatrical effects, this show is not just a brilliant tribute but a spectacular concert experience in its own right and should not be missed!

In the wake of Whitney Houston's tragic passing in 2012, her timeless music and awe-inspiring voice have received renewed appreciation from her legion of long-time fans and garnered a new generation of admirers who appreciate Whitney's unique voice, undeniable talent and pervasive charm as a welcome contrast to the artists prevalent in today's contemporary music.

In preparation for such an anticipated show, and in respect for Houston's legacy, Showtime Management dedicated over 12 months to perfecting this production and finding the right star. After conducting over 15,000 auditions in 12 countries, accomplished South African vocalist BELINDA DAVIDS was selected to pay reverence to Houston with her carefully crafted renditions.

Presented by DMC Philippines, in cooperation with Gotesco Group Of Companies, and Gruppo Group Of Companies. This event is also brought to you by Hotel Jen, the official residence and Novu hair. Special thanks to our media partners: NET 25, Eagle Broadcasting, RMN, 558 DZXL, 774 DWWW, Radyo Agila,  90.7 Love Radio, 95.5 Pinas FM, 96.3 Easy Rock, 97.9 Home Radio, 101.1 YES FM, 107.5 Wish FM, Business Mirror, Peoples Tonight, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila Concert Scene, Philippine Concerts, and  When In Manila. Tickets are now available at SM Tickets (www.smtickets.com) and Ticket World (www.ticketworld.com.ph) outlets.

How to Easily Make Your Fashion or Lifestyle Blog Popular

I saw this free webinar. Might be useful for us bloggers/vloggers. Dates July 30 or 31. :D http://marinadegiovanni.com/2016-web-class

It has a free workbook.

Description: Get access to all of her tips, tactics, and secrets to make your fashion or lifestyle blog popular withOUT spending years struggling trying to do it!

Host: Marina De Giovanni

 Your Fashion Blogging Fairy God Mother

 Blog: http://www.notamodel.tv/

Profile:

Marina De Giovanni is a fashion blogger from Sydney Australia who has lived and breathed fashion for as long as she can remember.

Formerly an event manager, Marina decided to quit her high pressure career in 2013 and spend 6 months traveling through Europe. It was somewhere between the magical Greek islands and wandering through the streets of Paris where Not a Model began to come to life.

Marina started this blog to share her love for fashion and beauty with the world. She is not a model and you don't need to be to look like you've stepped off the runway - you just need a killer wardrobe and some lipstick!

 About 62,000 followers in Facebook https://www.facebook.com/notamodelbymarinadegiovanni/

 

Eyebrow fix at SM

Orahex Oral Rinse

Last week I had a wound on my tongue. I had a hard time to swallow and felt like my tonsils and right ear are feeling hurt because of it.

I do not use Bactidol as gargle solution because the sting doesn't get off easily and my mouth keeps salivating for hours. Also my throat gets more sore when I use it. The brand I am used to and my dentist recommended last few years was Orofar L but in Mercury drug it was out of stock. I remember my Chemist friend saying that Orahex worked well for her.

I purchased it in Mercury drug for P145. Which is almost same price with Orofar L.

It comes with a measuring cup.

The most useful ingredient is the Chlorhexidine Gluconate.

It is a blue liquid and tastes like gum. The directions stated gargle 10mL for 30 seconds. There is a very slight sting but it didn't last long. I just gargled once a day for two days and the wound on my tongue is gone. For me this is one of the best mouthwash solutions.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.

Althea Turns 1!

Happy birthday to Althea Philippines!

Althea is an online shopping site where you can find your favorite Korean cosmetics or body care products.


 New members will get P300 off upon check out. Mine is this one.

To get free shipping your check out should be P1500.

How to earn points
Points will be added to your reward balance after you take certain activities. For example, every time you make a purchase you will earn points based on the price of products purchased.

• Althea Birthday Rebate
• New Member Rebate PH

How to spend points
You can use points in your reward balance as discount for your future purchases at our store. Please note that redeeming to cash is not allowed.  

• Shopping Cart PH:

How your points can be managed

• A transaction will expire after 30 days since its creating date.
  View transaction history to follow when the transaction expires. 

Althea also has a referral program

Your invited friends will receive an additional ₱50 discount + ₱300 worth of new member discounts when purchasing at our store. 

You will receive 100 Points points after a completed qualified purchase made by each of your invited friends. 

For more information on detailed terms and conditions, please visit http://ph.althea.kr/referral-program-terms-conditions.

Althea has an on going contest. 

"Wish Althea A Happy Birthday on Instagram from 20/7/16 - 15/8/16 using Althea's Birthday Party Kit to be in the running to win amazing prizes worth 10,000,000krw in total to be given away <3
How To Join?
1. Get your Althea Birthday DIY Party Kit when you shop from 20/7 onwards on https://althea.kr/ While stocks last.
2. Snap a selfie with your party hat & wish us a Happy Birthday on Instagram with hashtag ‪#‎AltheaTurns1‬ ‪#‎AltheaKorea‬ to stand a chance to win amazing prizes from Althea Korea."


 ... but I read in the comments that the birthday kit seems sold out.

Are you excited about the 1st Digital Career Bootcamp?

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Philippines and OnlineJobsUniversity.com (OJU) will conduct the 1^st Digital Career Bootcamp on July 30,  8 am- 5 pm at Unionbank, 48^th floor, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

The Digital Career Bootcamp is a one-day event. It aims to equip participants with the awareness and up-to-date information on how to get started finding sustainable work online through inspirational talks and lectures with actionable steps. Aspiring and experienced work from home professionals are invited to join and be part of this learning event.

Deputy Executive Director for eInnovation of the Department of Information and Communications (DICT) of the Philippines Mon Ibrahim  will give the keynote talk. He will give the participants an overview of the state of digital careers in the Philippines and government initiatives.

 This bootcamp showcases experienced online professionals such as Digital Career coach and founder of Online Jobs University (OJU) Genesis Reonico, OJU Training and Development lead and founder of REA Solutions Rea Yadao, OJU Media and Creatives lead and CEO of SophiesCreatives.com Charlie Aquino.

 Listen and learn from various experts in the field: 199jobs.com Co-Founder, Registered Financial Planner (RFP) and Blogger Fitz Villafuerte, Founder and CEO Gilmar Padua of Infinity Hub, E-Commerce Specialist and Virtual Assistant Sherlane Fortunado, Social Media Manager Valerie Joy Deveza of Bidsketch, Freelance Customer Support Service Provider CJ Maturino of 'Online Filipino Freelancer' Community, Article/Content Writing Service provider and founder of “Do It Write Solutions” Nizza Gueco will also be featured in the event.

Virtual Workforce Professionals' CEO Leif Brian Margallo and Front Line Virtual Services' COO Maritess Pasag will share their respective success stories in creating their own Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) agencies. There will be an open forum in the afternoon where attendees will have a chance to ask questions directly to them.

Learn more, access big discounts and buy your tickets for the Digital Career Bootcamp at http://digitalcareerbootcamp.com. Learning investment starts at P1,777 (discounted  rate until July 16 only), inclusive of event pass, lunch and snacks, access to exclusive online mastermind group and event recording, and discount to the upcoming 'Digital Career Online Training Bootcamp'.

The Digital Career Bootcamp is done in collaboration with Unionbank (venue partner), Unionbank EON, Infinity Hub, RIS Philippines, SophieCreatives.com, REA Solutions, Bbulletin, OsipCampus and WhenInManila.com (media partner).

For inquiries contact events@onlinejobsuniversity.com or the “Digital Career Philippines” Facebook page.

Lactacyd White Intimate Review

To be beautiful you also need to be clean and hygienic. Lactacyd which is a trusted brand by women now has a feminine wash that has a natural whitening ingredient added. Latacyd White Intimate has marine-based Algowhite and plant-based Actipone-B which will lighten the skin within four weeks. It is dermatologically tested so it is safe to use. It also has special formulation of natural milk lactoserum and lactic acid that maintains pH balance.

I read the ingredients part and found out it has turnip and seaweed extract. Pachyrrhizus erosus (turnip) root extract softens and whitens the skin while Ascophyllum nodosum (seaweed) which soothes irritation and boosts circulation to aid cell renewal and the elimination of impurities.

It is a 2-in-1 product because you don't need to spend money to buy cream or gel to whiten your skin. It is more fragrant than the Lactacyd with pink packaging.

Thank you so much Sanofi for this amazing product. Check more info about this at http://www.lactacyd.ph/our-products/whitening.

Fight the heat with Coolato Gelato

Coolato Gelato opened its doors to the public for only a few months but it is slowly becoming a favorite of the people of the South. Strategically located beside the cinema of SM BF Paranaque, one cannot help but notice Coolato and its colorful interiors with the welcoming couches. 

Coolato Gelato offers 13 flavors and 14 toppings which can yield 182 different combinations. Regular flavors like sea salt caramel ripple, cookie crunch crumble, and chocolate dream is for the kids at heart who love their more traditional flavors. Coolato Gelato also offeres Strawberry Made in Heaven, Mango Madness, Oreos and Cream, Coffee Explosion, Cookie Monster, Macchiato Madness, Black Forest Forever, Banoffee Pie, Almond Divinity, and Matcha Green Tea. You can make these flavors stand out more with marshmallow, caramel popcorn, crushed biscoff, choco pretzels, choco flakes, choco covered raisins, choco chips, oreos, fresh mango, fresh banana, banana chips, cashews, almonds, and pistachios. Whew. 

Coolato is a handcrafted artisanal gelato. They literally make the ice cream in front of you and you can even take a video to show off. Don’t forget to tag them on Instagram @coolatoartisanalgelato and use #coolatogelato. Like them on Facebook to get more updates. (https://www.facebook.com/Coolato-178996762482943/) 

A cup of coolato gelato ranges from Php120 – 150 and the toppings costs Php25 each. It may look small but this cup is filled to the brim and unless you’re a gelato lover, you might find yourself sharing a cup because it’s really a lot. 

Remember, any time is ice cream time.

WebGeek DevCup Hackathon 2016 Registration Starts July 18th

For the fifth consecutive year, WebGeek will host its annual hackathon, DevCup, on August 20-21, 2016 at the Meralco Multi-purpose Hall in Ortigas.

DevCup aims to bring together amazing developers, designers, and technology professionals to create innovative apps and showcase the Philippine developer talent. Participants are provided with a theme in which they must develop their app and they are given two days to complete their app to be presented to the judges.

Last 2015, 70 teams battled it out for the DevCup championship title. Out of the 70 registered teams, 60 apps were presented at the end of the event for the judges to select. The winning team of Jose Marco Padillo, Giovanni Angelo Balaguer and Micah Andrew Bule of Cynder,  presented their app First Response which provides crowdsourced notifications for information dissemination during a disaster or calamity . On second place are Jezer Crespo, Marc Levinson B. Suarez, Reynaldo Del Rosario Jr  of Xudoer with Xonar and CodeBuddy was third place with Connectify, with members Patrick Ofilada and Rommel David.

Early bird registration opens on July 18 until the 20. You can sign up as an individual, or up to a maximum of three as a team. Last year, tickets were sold out in just 2 days. Better to register early, as the event only have limited slots.

This year’s DevCup is expected to be as exciting as the previous years’ hackathons with the participation and support of Philippine developers as well as its esteemed sponsors. With your support we can make it a collaborative and fun experience for everyone. 

For those who are interested to sponsor, shoot them an email at events@webgeek.ph.

For registration details and updates, you may follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and visit http://devcup.net.

Free Admission alert: Chicdriven Expo on July 16-17

Attend various seminars on July 16-17 at the Glorietta Activity Center at the Chicdriven Women Empowerment Expo. Gifts and raffle prizes await lucky attendees. Admission is FREE See you all there!

Join the Make up On the Go Workshop by Loreal Paris at the Chicdriven Women Empowerment Expo on July 16, 2016 at the Glorietta Activity Center. 

4 lucky participant will get a chance to be taught by one of the best make up artist in the country and win a Loreal make up starter kit.

Starbucks Buy One Get One on July 18-20

Share A Mocha Moment and enjoy a One For You, One To Share (Buy One, Get One) on Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha from July 18 to 20, 2016. Promo is valid for hot and iced variants in all Starbucks stores in the Philippines.

Per DTI-FTEB SPD Permit # 6990, Series of 2016.

Vid: My Everyday Look

First Make Up vid. My everyday make up that can be done in less than 5 minutes. Sorry still saving for an HD vid cam. Learned lighting, background and close up are important.

For review of the Fashion 21 BB cream SPF 30 with concealer click here.
For the review of LA girl lipstick click here

Review: HP CP1025 Laser printer

Laser printers are faster in terms off printing time compared to Inkjet printers. One of the advantages of Inkjet printers it can be converted to CIS or Continuous Ink System. It is cost efficient because the inkjet refill is cheaper (about 75 to 110 pesos per bottle per color) than a laser toner refill (1,500 pesos per color) of a laser printer. However, Inkjet printed will smudge when water drops on the output while laser printed will not.

The printer is assembled in China. The printer is around 12,000 pesos.

You may HP CP1025 to a 220-240V outlet.

Some parts of the printer

Cartridges

It has 4 cartridges: 1) Black. Code: CE 310A, 2) Cyan/Blue. Code: CE311A, 3) Yellow. Code: 312A, 4) Magenta/Red. Code: 313A. A new cartridge is about (1800 to 2700 pesos per color). 

In the printer settings you should specify what type of paper and what size of paper otherwise it would not print.

To check what level is the toner per cartridge you have to go to the Services tab of the printer properties

Disadvantage is you still need to print the page rather than just viewing it. The pages indicated are not the actual pages you cant print when you print in full color. And if one cartridge is already very low it will not print anymore. You have to refill or replace the cartridge. 

There are tutorials in Youtube how to refill the toner but it is safer to ask a refilling station to do it for you since you might get cut by the blade plus there is a chip that should be replace. The chip serves as the memory storage of the printer or indicator how many pages left you cant print. Below is a tutorial I found in Youtube. 

How the paper gets printed:

How to remove the roller:

1. Pull upwards the white body tray.

2. Push down the 2 blue levers.

3. Pull downwards the roller case.

4. Check if the roller is clea.

Output:

If you want the color to be really captured then set the paper type to Bond or more lightweight ones but if your paper is glossy and there is no laser printer friendly indicated on the package the you need to set it to Glossy paper. The more heavyweight the paper type in the settings the darker is the color of the printout. When you have a heavyweight paper but you set the paper type to Bond or lighter ones then the ink will blot or smudge.

It is recommended to use papers that are indicated laser printer compatible. Paper brands I saw so far in the Philippines are Imari and Digital colour. If the paper is laser printer compatible no matter the weight is you can set it to Bond and it would still print with minimum to no blots.

I was printing on a Matte sticker paper about 90gsm. f I set the paper to Plain then there are a lot of blots or smudges but if I set it to bond paper or HPLaser 90gsm then it would print cleaner. Now I am not sure if the problem is the roller head alignment.

Quick fixes I do is to remove the cartridges from the printer then shake them and also remove the roller to see if it is clean.

  

Below is a video I made on how it prints, how to remove the roller and cartridges.

Other printing tip- If you cancel a command make sure you turn off the printer then on because it still print the canceled command.

Real talk: Hoping for a better progress

Now that a new President has sworn into office I am hoping that more opportunities will be open for Filipinos especially those that live in the province. I am pro about his suggestion of raising the minimum wage for provincial areas, abolishing the taxation for those with low income, processes be done within 72 hours. Although nothing is final yet and parameter are not yet set like what is the cut off for your salary not to be taxed, etc I see a light on these things.

I am not a big fan of the new President or any of those who were candidates because I doubt if in the past they never committed corruption, stealing, etc.

VAT or TAX issue

I also want the 12% VAT on all goods be removed. Recto who proposed that already said a long time ago that the Philippines were able to gain the goal and it was time to remove the 12% VAT but of course due to corruption many would not want to remove it.

Yung kinain o binili mo may VAT tapos yung pinangbayad mo dun nabawasan na nga ng tax. Grabe siya diba?

I am aware that Filipinos have sari sari stores, online shops or services as sidelines with no BIR permits because they are trying hard to make ends meet. Parang hindi ka naman talaga mabubuhay sa sweldo mo lang. Sometimes they put their good on sale just to make "bawi" the capital or expenses they used rather than their goods be expired or get worn out. Kahit hindi na kumita, mabawi lang ang ginastos.

On the consumers side there are many who do "tawaran system". I know they too have hard time doing budgeting but honestly small time businesses only profit "papiso piso lang". So sometimes I assess first if the store looks like they can afford cutting the price before I ask tawad.

Wage issue

The salary doesn't fit especially if you are the bread winner or just a few of you earns income in a family. Even people who are still single find it hard to sustain themselves with the kind of salary they have knowing that the cost of living is very high.

Whenever I visit Manila I sometimes ask myself "How many of these people I see have lots of savings or stocks?", "How many ask additional money from their parents even if they are working because their salary is not enough?", "How many of them is working just for experience?".

I attended a suppliers forum in a university located in a province last few days. I was shocked that there is a law that all government units and the Philippines should be on 100% public bidding. The category for public bidding is per contract is above P1M. I was thinking those who proposed that law are for sure high end businessmen. Are they aware that they will kill those small businesses? Of course those who can join the bidding are those big companies.

There was a comment that most are still shopping bidding. I told myself of course because the suppliers cannot shell out big "bond fee" and then had a hard time running after end users for payment. Also end users might have no bug budget. There were even complaints that the suppliers were not paid hundreds of thousands of pesos and it has been years already. So I realized to be a businessman you should also be ready to invest a lot of money and be open minded that you could lose huge amount of money.

Job Opportunities

When you look at job fairs most are production workers and qualifications are highschool graduate. Is it because most did not finish college? I don't know. I haven't checked the Philippines' stats on education.

I do not fully trust the K12 because on the other hand it promotes parents not to spend or invest in the college education of their children. After grade 12 they will likely encourage their children to work for a living. Why study more when you can gain money now?

There was an article read by my friend that the government considers you have a work when you are applying for a job and the government will add you to the stats that are employed. Isn't applying different from employed?

When I visit  Manila there are people living from provinces that travel everyday 1-2 hours just to get to work. They balance relationships, motherhood/fatherhood, being a worker, etc everyday. I just can imagine how tired and sleep deprived they are especially aging parents. Maybe some of them are always running after time because they need to be home before dinner, cook dinner for their children, help them with the assignments, iron uniforms, etc then wake up at 3 or 4am prepare breakfast then catch the bus at 5am.

Manila As Center of Opportunities?

I am also wondering why almost all companies and government offices are in Manila? It is already so crowded and the competition is very high plus public transportation system is poor (traffic, high fare, etc). For me those who live in the province have little opportunities because of this.


These are just some of my random thoughts.

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Well at the end of the day reality is you are the only one who can make your life better.
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I still have to listen to the speech of the new President. Gotta watch it on Youtube in a little while. Will talk to you guys soon.