abs-cbnNEWS.com

The TV series may not be showing on television yet, but “I ? Betty la Fea” is already the talk of the town - from the announcement of who will play Betty and the series’ other characters, to when the cameras first started rolling for the show. Now, it’s the show’s set that’s hogging the headlines.

The 11th floor of the ELJ Building within the ABS-CBN Compound recently had a blessing, as the whole floor was transformed into the main studio of “I ? Betty la Fea”, set of the advertising agency where the characters Betty (Bea Alonzo) and Daniella (Ruffa Gutierrez) work.

Last week, the studio named Eco Moda Manila was officially opened with some of the cast members who came in character - Alonzo, Gutierrez, Meryll Soriano, Wendy Valdez, Sheryn Regis, Ronnie Liang and the other secretaries of Eco Moda.

“Almost 70% of the scenes will be shot in the studio,” according to Business Unit Head Deo Endrinal. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nayong Pilipino at the former Clark Expo Zone, which had its soft-opening in May this year, will focus on the pre-colonial and colonial aspects of Philippine history, according to its executive director Charito Planas.

This refers to the period before Spanish and American colonization in the 15th century, when indigenous Philippine homes and other cultural artifacts were barely influenced by foreign elements.

Thus, she said, there will be a fully-equipped mosque, which is to be supported by the Saudi Arabian embassy, with a Zamboanga-style vinta cruising an artificially-made rivulet to boot, to represent the country’s Islamic or Arabic heritage.

To represent China’s over-reaching influence, a replica of a Chinese junk, complete with porcelains and vases, will also be seen at the Nayon-Clark.

Planas also said that real Aetas will form part of Nayon, who will demonstrate survival techniques that are a metaphor of the Filipinos’ survival instincts.

Pre-colonial Philippines will be seen in the structure of Ifugao homes, built with materials and designed in such a way that rats and other pests cannot go up the house, and in artifacts such as the rice terraces. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a kid, I really love local chocolates like Goya Egg Chocolates, Sergs and the orange flavored cholocates from Mayfair. When you get older you’ll discover new chocolate brands that will make you addicted to it. Discovering imported chocolates makes us think that locally made chocolates are sub-standard in compare with a delicous Belgian Sweets.

The Plurk Effect!

I’ve been plurking for a week now and I always see a lot of plurkers wanting if not craving for Goya Dark Mint. Whats is it? Well Goya is a local chocolate brand here in the Philippines and they have a new Dark Chocolate product with a hint of mint. Part of Goya’s effort to reintroduce the brand they produced new variety to the chocolate in order to please the local market. When I first read about this product from AJ’s Blog, I immediately went to Mini Stop and lucky enough to get the last box available. The mix of mint and dark chocolate is a really good combination and really addictive too. No wonder, a lot of bloggers are craving for it.

Goya Dark Mint is one of my favorite locally made chocolate. It is available in Mini Stop for only 34 pesos but you can get it for as low as 25.00 pesos in local supermarkets like in SM Hypermart.

Photos courtesy of Aj of http://food.baklaako.com/

Foreigners describe it as the small green citrus native to the Philippines. The fruit looks like a small lime and is relative of the mandarin orange and the pomelo, others say.

Yes, the lowly versatile tart fruit has gained culinary popularity in the other countries and is being used in many recipes ranging from cocktails to salsas.

Many Filipinos call it calamansi, others call it calamondin, others call it suter. This is citrofortunella microcarpa, a round greenish to yellow in color, 2 cm to 4.5 cm fruit which is normally found in the kitchen of Filipino homes since it does wonders of wonders as a sour flavoring to a variety of dishes from the sautéed rice noodles called bihon to pancit palabok; from the arroz caldo to beefsteak Filipino style.

Calamansi is the secret ingredient to many mouthwatering Filipino delicacies. This writer remembers that the juice of the calamansi leaves are extracted and added to the leche plan to give it an exotic taste. How would the famous Leyte kinilaw taste without the secret ingredient called calamansi? What would dieters do without the calamansi to make the grapelike seeweeds called lato? And what is more refreshing than a glass of calamansi juice or iced tea laced with calamansi on a weather unusually unbearable because of global warming? Read the rest of this entry »

A Filipino inventor has claimed to have made a breakthrough in formulating the right amount of alkaline level in water as the natural way of treating all kinds of diseases,including cancer.

Pablo Planas who invented earlier the “Chaos Turbo Gas Saver” device that is now being exported to 17 countries, said his latest discovery is the formula of extracting alkaline from a special type of mineral from the earth’s surface, which he said has been proven to the antidote against cancer cells.

“Alkaline is very important to our body to fight toxic, the root cause of all diseases,” Planas said.

He said after years of research here and abroad, he discovered that “alkaline is the best natural way of curing diseases.”

Planas said that practically all water, including seawater contains alkaline, but the alkaline content is below the level of what is called “hydrogen potential” (pH) that measures the degree of acidity or alkalinity in water or any solution.

He said that the higher the pH reading, the more alkaline and oxygen rich the fluid is, and the lower the pH reading, the more acidic and oxygen deprived the fluid is, he said. Read the rest of this entry »

Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao made history by becoming the first Asian to win four weight divisions when he knocked out World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz in the 9th round in their scheduled 12-round fight in Mandalay Bay, last Vegas on Sunday.

Pacquiao came out smoking right after the bell rang in the first round, pounding Diaz with flurries of solid punches.

The Filipino champ did not give his Mexico foe any quarter to counter punch as Pacquiao beat Diaz to a pulp from the first canto until he knocked him out in the 9th round.

According to fightnews.com report, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35KOs) was much quicker as he out-punched and out-boxed the bigger Diaz (34-2-1, 17KOs).

As early as the 5th round, Pacman busted Diaz’s face with sharp left-rights combinations.

But the never-say-die Diaz kept coming until Pacquiao floored him in the ninth to end the fight at 2:24 in the round of their scheduled 12-round encounter. Read the rest of this entry »

Clark Expansion Announced at Meeting with President Arroyo; New Center of Excellence Will Create 700 New Jobs

At a meeting in New York City with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, iQor President and CEO Vikas Kapoor announced the opening of iQor’s third call center in the Philippines that will create 700 new jobs. iQor plans to hire 300 new employees at its new Center of Excellence at the Clark Special Economic Zone before the end of the year and will add the remaining new hires by the end of the first quarter in 2009. This growth will bring total jobs created by iQor in the Philippines to 2,500 since opening its first call center in Manila in 2005.

iQor is one of the premier call center services companies in the world and the Philippines plays a major role in its strategic expansion. This is iQor’s second call center within the Clark Special Economic Zone. The first Clark Center opened in August of 2006 with 50 employees. After only two years, iQor reached full capacity at the facility and has now opened a new state-of-the-art 32,000 square foot Center to meet growing client demands. Read the rest of this entry »

By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA for abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Philippines’ bet for Miss Universe, Jennifer Barrientos was given an official Miss Universe sash that misspelled her country’s name. “Philippines” was spelled with two Ls instead of one.

In a photo published in seattlepi.com’s Miss Universe Gallery, picture number 22 shows that Barrientos wore the misspelled sash, while sitting with Madina Taher, Miss Germany; Charlotte Labee, Miss Netherlands; and Vera Krasova, Miss Russia, during a party on June 20th.

Reports said it took almost three days for the Miss Universe Organization to correct the error. Other reports say the error remains in the official program book.

In an exclusive statement sent to abs-cbnNEWS.com by Lark-Marie Antón, the spokeswoman of the Miss Universe Organization, she admitted that a mistake was committed but said they instantly rectified it. Read the rest of this entry »

Australia announced Thursday it has donated an initial 500,000 Australian dollars (478,000 U.S. dollars) to the Philippines National Red Cross to help the typhoon victims.

Typhoon Fengshen struck the Philippines last week, leaving more than 280 people dead.

An AusAid officer has been dispatched to the disaster area to determine how much further assistance will be required, reported Australian Associated Press.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has sent a letter of condolence to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.