Enjoying Wonderful World

January 19, 2017

Singapore events and attractions to kick start 2017 with a bang!

Singapore welcomes the Year of the Fire Rooster with a bang with an exhilarating line-up of exciting experiences at its world-class attractions, mouthwatering dining choices, adrenaline-pumping events, and retail treats perfect for both first time and repeat holiday seekers.

“Singapore always offers its visitors something new and unique to discover. From world-class attractions and entertainment events to delightful dining and retail offerings, a visit to Singapore brings fresh experiences that will surely make travelers ask for more,” said Lael Loh, Singapore Tourism Board Area Director for Philippines.

Eye candy attractions

A national garden and premier horticultural attraction, Gardens by the Bay celebrates the Year of the Rooster with a brand-new floral display called “Dahlia Dreams”. From 20 January to 19 February 2017, Dahlia Dreams features auspicious Dahlias in various hues and colors in a Chinese garden inspired landscape with a three-tier pagoda, a pavilion, moon gates and even intricate sculptures of adorable chickens to welcome the Year of the Rooster. In February, love is in the air at the Gardens as it celebrates the love month with an assortment of activities such as evening picnics and movie under the stars, perfect to share with family and loved-ones.

Resorts World™ Sentosa will dazzle Lunar New Year celebrants as it features a fantastic line-up of festive programmes with its ‘Gong Sea Fa Cai”, from 21 January to 11 February. Visitors can go on interactive trails and get up close to threatened sea creatures such as the manta ray and this year’s star animal – the Rooster Hogfish, and witness one of a kind Underwater Dragon Dance show with special lighting effects and a Chinese drummer to heighten the excitement. Also at Sentosa Island, visitors can rub elbows and take selfies with famous celebrities and personalities at Madame Tussauds™ Singapore, currently headlined by an exhibition of world-famous KPOP icons such as Lee Min Ho, Choi Si-Won and Nichkhun.

Eat to your heart’s content

As a melting pot of culture and influence, Singapore has made its mark in combining simple, distinct flavors to create unique dishes that provide a gastronomic experience for foodies, whether at Singapore’s well-loved hawker centers or at celebrity chef dining spots. The Singapore Michelin Guide, launched in July 2016, was the first in the world to recognize hawker food, and is a testament to the city’s varied dining offerings. Singapore is now home to the world’s cheapest Michelin-starred eateries, with the Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle (S$4 or PHP140) and Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodles (S$2 or PHP70), each being awarded 1 Michelin star.

Other must-try hawker favorites include Wah Kee’s best-selling big prawn noodle at the Esplanade, and the country’s beloved chicken rice at ROOST, located at the Centrepoint on Orchard Road.

For trendy foodies, Singapore’s Open Farm Community has produced food innovations sourced from local farms in and around the country—a sure hit for travelers seeking to consume fresh and organic farm-to-table ingredients. Janice Wong Singapore at Stamford Road, the only sweets boutique in Singapore that creates interactive and edible art, will be a delightful dining experience for all imaginative souls.

The night is always young

Making loud noises this 2017 is Singapore’s line-up of world-class performances. Headlined by Grammy® Award winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Metallica with their Metallica Worldwired Tour 2017, happening on January 22 at the Singapore Sports Hub, and the legendary Guns N’ Roses with their Not in This Lifetime Tour, which will see the founder Axl Rose and former members sharing the stage for the first time in over 20 years on February 25 at the Changi Exhibition Centre, the Lion City is set to roar with excitement! British rock sensation Coldplay is also slated to return for a two-day performance on March 31 and April 1 at the Singapore Sports Hub for it’s a Head Full of Dreams Tour, while Grammy® Award winning English singer-songwriter Sting makes a return for his 57th and 9th Tour at the Singapore Sports Hub. Other artists to watch out for in Singapore are British rock band Bring Me the Horizon (February 2, D’Marquee), American rock bands Journey (February 10, The Star Theatre) and Yellowcard (February 12, The Coliseum).

The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, which will be celebrating a decade of night racing, is also something to look forward to this year. With engines revving and the crowd on their feet, the city streets will play host to another night of high-octane celebration on and off the tracks.

Retail heaven

A haven for shopaholics, Singapore is home the latest and unique finds whether at the malls along the world famous shopping strip at Orchard Road, the glitzy Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, the cozy vintage shops in the Bras Basah and Bugis area, or the relaxing lifestyle enclave at Dempsey Hill. Shoppers can uncover local treasures from local indie retailers in Haji Lane, or go old school in Scotts Square’s vintage design shops and boutiques. Bargain hunters should definitely not miss out the buzzing enclave of Bugis Village for affordable clothing, souvenirs and street food. From March 17 to April 16, the Orchard Road Style Festival will celebrate different passions and lifestyles, as it plays host to the works of local and international designers, stage art workshops, and live performances for everyone to enjoy. The all-new Dover Street Market outlet, the trendy fashion retail and concept store created by Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo, is also set to open in Dempsey in the spring of 2017.

With Singapore’s 2017 exciting line-up of experiences, what better way to kick start the year by booking your next holiday vacation in Singapore with your family and friends? For more details on upcoming events and activities, please visit http://www.yoursingapore.com.

About the Singapore Tourism Board

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a leading economic development agency in tourism, one of Singapore’s key service sectors. Working in close partnership with industry and community, STB aims to shape a dynamic tourism landscape and differentiate Singapore as a vibrant and inspiring destination through the “YourSingapore” brand.

For more information, please visit http://www.stb.gov.sg or http://www.yoursingapore.com or follow us on Twitter @STB_sg (https://twitter.com/stb_sg).

Meditate Your Way to Health, Success and Happiness

What do Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Michael Jordan and Lebron James have in common? They’re all incredibly successful, hard-working and geniuses in their field, but many people don’t know that they all practice meditation. Oprah said that meditation has made her“1,000 times better”. Michael Jordan and Lebron James, both famous athletes, practiced meditation to sharpen focus and improve concentration. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a well-known meditation practitioner.

As stated by his biographer Walter Isaacson, “Your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.”

Meditation is the process of reflecting on your mind. When you start looking inside yourself, you will be able to change and improve yourself and thus, tap into so much unrealized potential. At Ortigas/Makati Meditation, you can look back on your mind and improve your life and career. Through the “subtraction” method you can discover the original nature of the mind.

The human mind is like a stack of pictures that you have stored in your mind and body. These “pictures” are the accumulation of your past experiences which have formed your pattern of thinking and habits. The pictures stored in your mind contain emotions, thoughts, and attachments to people, places, and material things. They have created their own world in your mind. Because the world in the human mind is not “real”, you can throw them away. This method is systematic and scientific. It is not about suppressing your mind and experiencing temporary comfort. It helps you to eliminate the roots of your human mind, completely. When you empty your mind through the subtraction method, your mind and body will become lighter and more free. You will find the true happiness within you.

At the Ortigas/Makati Meditation Center, professional instructors guide practitioners with the subtraction method and always check their meditation progress in order to help them throw away their thoughts. Most of the practitioners feel the changes in their minds in 2~3 weeks after they practice the subtraction meditation.

Once the noisy and complicated state of mind is subtracted, then you can feel calm, light and comfortable. You will be able to control the negative emotions that engulf you. You can discover yourself sincerely smiling at the colleagues you used to feel uncomfortable around.

You will even feel happy in the morning when you wake up. Your work performance improves along with your concentration as the useless thoughts disappear from your head. You will find yourself free from stress. You can recover your confidence and get to know yourself much better. You will be able to understand people much better, therefore, the relationships with people naturally improve and conflicts will be solved.

With the awareness of how to empty your mind, your inner power grows, which allows you to control your mind in any situation you can possibly face. You will always be positive and the quality of your life will dramatically improve.

The effects of this meditation have been scientifically verified. An extract from the academic paper “The Effects of the Meditation Program on the Brain Function of University Students” published in the Journal of the Completion Education Society stated this: “After the mind subtraction meditation, the university students’ brainwaves became stable and their brain quotient enhanced. Therefore, their concentration and thinking ability have improved. Their resistance to stress from internal and external environmental factors has enhanced.” Likewise, meditation has positive effects on the brainwaves. Therefore, it gives people who practice the method mental stability.

This meditation was established in South Korea, in November 1996. Currently, there are more than 340 meditation centers all over the world and more than 500,000 people have practiced the method of subtraction to cleanse the mind and body to become the truth.

In the Philippines, there are centers in Ortigas and Makati. The centers open from 9:30 am to 11:30 pm, 7 days a week.

If you would like to get more information about meditation, you can register for the free seminar conducted at any of the centers.

Free Introductory Seminar: Every Saturday at 3:30 pm

Ortigas Meditation Center: 687.1294/0915.254.8986 AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr., Pasig

Makati Meditation Center: 856.6943/0915.345.2296 Classica Tower 2, 114 H.V. Dela Costa St.

For more information you can check out the following sites.

OrtgiasMeditation.org

MakatiMeditation.org

Facebook.com/ortigasmeditation

Facebook.com/makatimeditation

MeditationUSA.org

guidedmeditationtips.com

meditationlife.org (Korean)

January 17, 2017

Make everyday meals a feast to remember with Hunt’s spaghetti sauces

Even if the holidays are over, every day can still be a feast worth celebrating with dishes and masterpieces that not only delight families, but also help bring out and year-round cheer around the dinner table.

Give your loved ones a hearty and tummy-filling experience with Crispy Menudo Lumpia and Seafood Lasagna Roll-ups, all whipped up using Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauces.

Crispy Menudo Lumpia

Make the crunchy fried lumpia dish even more delightful with this hearty filling.

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. cooking oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 red onion, minced

1/4 kg ground pork

250 g Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce Pinoy Party Style

½ cup water

2 pcs. bay leaves

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 carrot, diced

1 potato, diced

1 can liver spread

3 pcs hotdogs, diced

½ cup frozen green peas

Salt & pepper to taste

10-15 pcs. square lumpia wrappers

2 pcs. egg whites

Procedure:

Start off by sautéing garlic and onions. Add pork and cook until lightly browned. Add Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce Pinoy Party Style, water, bay leaves and soy sauce, bringing it to a boil. Simmer, then add carrots and potatoes. Cook until liquid is mostly reduced. Mix in liver spread, hotdog and green peas, and cover for 2-3 minutes. Next, season with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside and let cool. Spoon 2 tbsps of menudo over one lumpia wrapper, roll, and secure the edges by brushing with egg whites. Finally, deep-fry until golden brown.

To see how easy it is to make this this exciting dish, check out its BiteSized.PH video at www.facebook.com/BiteSized.ph/videos/707293472756843/.

Seafood Lasagna Roll-ups

Make mealtimes truly memorable with this shrimp-layered and crab sauce-filled lasagna dish.

Ingredients:

Shrimp

- ¼ kg shrimp, peeled and deveined

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 tsp. paprika

- 1 tbsp. calamansi juice

- 2 tbsps. olive oil

White crab sauce

- 2 tbsps. butter

- 5 cloves garlic

- 1 white onion

- 2 cups cream

- 1 cup crab meat

- 2 tbsps. parsley, chopped

- 8-10 pcs lasagna noodles

Red sauce

- 2 tbsps. olive oil

- 1 red onion, chopped

- 5 cloves garlic, chopped

- 250 g Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce Parmesan Cheese

- 2 tbsps. basil, chopped

Assembly

- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

- Basil leaves for garnish

Procedure:

Start by seasoning shrimp with salt, pepper, paprika and calamansi juice. Cook shrimps in olive oil for 1-2 minutes on each side, butterfly-cut each shrimp and set aside. Meanwhile, add butter to the same pan where shrimp was cooked. Sauté onion and garlic, add the cream and simmer until thick. Mix in the crab meat, cook for about 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and mix in parsley. Set aside.

Next, sauté onion and garlic over medium heat. Add Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce Parmesan Cheese, simmer until thick and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and mix in basil. Set aside. Finally, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Set aside.

To assemble, lay lasagna noodles flat on a large surface. Spread about 3 tbsps. of the white crab sauce on each and top with pieces of shrimp, while leaving an inch at the top of each lasagna noodle empty. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top (about 1 tbsp. each). Roll each lasagna noodle while securing the filling inside. Spread half of red sauce at the bottom of baking dish. Place all the lasagna roll-ups on top of the sauce, seam-side down. Keep the lasagna roll-ups close to each other to prevent unraveling. Spoon-in the remaining red sauce. Top with more mozzarella and parmesan cheese and bake at 190C for 30 minutes. Garnish with basil leaves.

Check out the BiteSized.PH video of this recipe at www.facebook.com/BiteSized.ph/videos/715664575253066/.

Simply satisfying, definitely delicious, but oh so easy to make—these dishes are a sure-hit for every home. Surprise your family and learn how to prepare these and other mouthwatering Hunt’s recipes by visiting BiteSized.ph on Facebook.

Make every day a feast to remember with Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauces.

To learn more about the brand, visit its website at www.yummyhunts.com/

Top five premium global brand Vivo to launch Stephen Curry-endorsed 20MP dual front camera V5 Plus

Basketball superstar Stephen Curry is the face of Vivo’s newest flagship model, the Vivo V5 Plus.

With the ‘selfie’ phenomenon at its peak and its popularity growing unabated, smartphone manufacturers have been producing phones with camera-focused features that can create the selfie worthy of being called ‘perfect’.

Vivo V5 Plus, called the ‘Perfect Selfie’ phone, will be launched on January 21, Saturday, at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

In fact, Vivo, one of the top five premium global brands according to data from the International Data Corporation1 is set to launch a smartphone equipped with the most advanced selfie technology to date: the Vivo V5 Plus, to be officially unveiled in a consumer and media launch on January 21, Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

The Vivo V5 Plus is endorsed by basketball superstar Stephen Curry, who earlier said that he shares the same core values with the brand: energy, professionalism, and pleasure.

Dubbed the ‘Perfect Selfie’ phone, Vivo V5 Plus features dual front-facing cameras: a 20-megapixel and 8-megapixel combination, a soft-light flash that enables the user to take selfies even in poor lighting conditions, a face beauty mode 6.0 that corrects blemishes, and the “bokeh” effect—the well-loved photography filter that instantly blurs the background of any focused object. Also, the Vivo V5 Plus is equipped with a 16-megapixel rear camera.

Full specifications of the newest Vivo model will be released during the event.

Says Hazel Bascon, Vivo Philippines vice president, “We are excited that the Vivo V5 Plus is finally launching here in the Philippines, as Filipinos are known to be selfie lovers. The phone’s advanced selfie features will surely take the Filipino selfie experience to the next level.”

KZ Tandingan, known for her hits Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako and Scared to Death, will be serenading guests during the Vivo V5 Plus big reveal.

Tony Labrusca. Guest performers for the Vivo V5 Plus launch include Tony Labrusca of Pinoy Boyband Superstar.

James Ryan Cesena. James Ryan Cesena, the Fil-French heartthrob from Pinoy Band Superstar, will also be joining the Vivo V5 Plus launch.

Significant guests from the smartphone market, top technology bloggers, fashion and lifestyle bloggers like Verniece Enciso, singer KZ Tandingan and Pinoy Boyband Superstar’s Tony Labrusca and James Ryan Cesena are expected to join in the big reveal.

For inquiries about Vivo V5 Plus, visit the

Vivo website at vivoglobal.ph,

or check out their

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VivoPhil),

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vivophil/) and

Twitter (https://twitter.com/vivophil) accounts.

The Zenfone 3 Max Unboxing and Review

(Longevity is the power of the Zenfone 3 Max)

Enjoying life to the fullest. Through our favorite social media channels, everyone uses smartphone cameras - for easier communicating with people, capturing and sharing pictures, making videos and games. We are looking for a phone that is slim, lightweight, and easy to carry around, a best partner in travel, business and photography.

Unboxing ASUS ZenFone 3 Max

ASUS ZenFone 3 Max is for everyday lifestyle and tasks that are expected to last for more than a full day. It can definitely run social apps smoothly and other similar software.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.5‐inch have beautiful and cleanest design compare to many phones. It sports an aluminum body and all buttons are where they should be.

The basics of modern smartphone connectivity are loaded to the phone. There’s 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. A smartphone with an excellent fingerprint sensor.

Zenfone 3 Max to the max!

The battery capacity is the main feature of the Zenfone 3 Max. Longer than average battery life. With its high-capacity 4100mAh cell ZenFone 3 Max just keeps on going for a full work day and beyond. The 4100mAh battery capacity is so substantial that it can even to double up as a power bank to charge your digital devices.

As it the word max, longevity is the power of the Zenfone 3 Max. Power to last for days, eliminates battery life worries.

Built for Photography and Great camera performance.

As everybody enjoy having cellphones use for picture taking always, Zenfone 3 max is great!

There’s the main 13-megapixel camera with an LED flash and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera

Testing it out in outdoor and lowlight situation produced great results. With laser focus, contrast detection, and phase detection, the camera is extremely capable.

Here are some of my photos captured by Zenfone 3 Max: