OUR AWESOME PLANET

Six Figure Blogging by Darren Rowse

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In 2005, I attended the course that changed my blogging life and catapulted me to the maven status in my blogging niche. I owe them this testimonial. Read more: Six Figure Blogging In Depth Review

The Day Gary Vaynerchuk Rocked My Internet Marketing World

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Meet Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library
a 32 year old self-trained wine expert who is revolutionizing the wine industry. His webcast, "The Thunder Show" on www.winelibrarytv.com, attracts over 60,000 viewers each day and his email queue typically holds 1,000 messages from obsessed fans, self-named "Vayniacs." His roots in wine tasting come honestly -- his Russian immigrant parents owned a liquor store when he was growing up. Bored at the cash register, Gary began reading "The Wine Spectator and books about wine and baseball cards collection. With a wealth of knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents' store, rebranding the family business as Wine Library and establishing himself as a respected expert. Inspired by sites such as youtube.com and facebook.com, Gary leveraged technology to reach an untapped audience. His daily 20 minutes webcasts caught the attention of a demographic new to wine and eager to learn. Within a short time, beer sales were outpaced by wine and Gary was spotting wine at Giants Stadium tailgate gatherings and Super Bowl parties. While his youthful following broke down barriers in the wine industry, the business world (and Web 2.0) admired Gary for creating a new generation of branding, focusing on the internet.

There is no doubt that Gary Vaynerchuck rocked the Strategic Profits Internet Marketing Conference (see New Beginnings! Strategic Profits Live 2008 Blog) . I would like to share with you my learnings that rocked my world:
1. He encourages all Internet Marketers to give ALL their content for FREE instead of ethically tricking people to share a FREE report expecting sales on the backend with higher priced products. Give value to readers, give information for FREE but market the hell out of it!

2. Content is King, Marketing and PR is the Queen and we all know who runs the household. This concept alone paid for my entire trip to the Strategic Profits event. For the next 3 years, the internet game will be a combination of your web 2.0 social media knowledge and skills in Internet Marketing. I have spent all of my time learning from the best and only from the best. I do hope I can share with all Filipinos out there.

3. Be a BIG part of the conversation. This is tough and requires hard work that not all internet marketers would embrace. You need to leave comments on all the blogs of people, answer every email, and empower readers to interact with your brand. Gary responds to each and every email that he receives ( about 1,000 messages/ day) !

4. Legacy > Currency. Live and strive to work on your legacy NOW. Don't wait to grow old and waste your time with things that are not important in life. I love Gary for this quote and this is also how I want to live my life. I want to dedicate my life in leaving a legacy in the Philippines.

5. Follow your heart. Love Everyone. This is my motto from now on and I encourage all of you to follow what your heart's desire. God planted seeds of holy discontent in your heart and I know you can hear it. It is up to you if you want to follow your heart. Make that decision today!


It was cool to see him record a live show of Wine Library TV!! Cool :) This was the end of the New Beginnings conference and thanks to Rich for inviting Gary to close the conference.


After the conference, most of the internet marketers still wanted to ask a lot of questions to Gary. I learned so much from the conversations and this shaped the way how I would run Our Awesome Planet campaign.

Frank Kern - Mass Control

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Frank Kern is now my Internet Marketing Idol! He is so cool and he gave a "weird" presentation on CORE IDENTITY on how to effortlessly market and influence people. ( Sorry, I know this might be a weird incoherent post. )

Money Goals are not important and should not be your top most priority. What is important is to paint a picture of what your perfect day would look like. This day reflects the certain lifestyle that is centered on our passions, a happy family life and our legacy. This is your CORE Identity and the more you align yourself on the CORE identity, the happier you will be. Once you identified and attained your CORE Identity, help other people who has a similar CORE identity and guide them to reach the lifestyle they want to live.


Thanks Frank Kern for sharing with us your Jenius Internet Marketing stuff. I must admit the entire conference was raving about his presentation. Please see an excerpt on the conference:


New Beginnings! Strategic Profits Live 2008 Blog

Paul Scheele's Hypnosis & Nonconscious Communication

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New Beginnings! Strategic Profits Live 2008 Blog

I'm thankful for being able to attend this world class event. I was the only Filipino in the Best Internet Marketing Conference 2008 and I want to share my personal insights that blow my mind. Paul Scheele is the master of how to use the 90% of your brain (which is your subconscious). Dr. Paul I think appeared in the Secret. Most of the time the subconscious is working without the conscious mind knowing it. Here are my insights:

1. There is no such thing as hypnosis. Hypnosis is the power of concentration, imagination and suggestion! Everyday we are under a hypnotic state and we don't even know it. We should be very careful of the power of suggestion to other people. Sometimes, we would often say to people, "bakit ang tamad tamad mo". Don't to that! You are actually giving a powerful suggestion to the person that he is lazy and if you repeat it 5 times within the day, you are like hypnotizing that person to be lazy. The mere fact that our media in the Philippines only reports the negative and controversial stuff, the TV is hypnotizing every Filipinos to be bad and negative. Please, please stop watching TV or anything that will highlight negativity or any persons who are negative. Thanks to Rache, she influenced us to cut our cable TV so that we cannot watch this anymore. Just imagine the influence of TV with the kids.

2. Remove "I Cannot" in your vocabulary. The moment you say you cannot do things, it will manifest itself and it will not happen. Instead, if there is something that you think you cannot do, tell yourself: My mind can do this, I don't know how long it would take, but I can surprise myself. Dr. Paul shared with us evidences that the moment you say "I cannot" the mind will abort the subconscious to even work on it. That is why the Why Not Forum is so powerful, it is a campaign to teach Filipinos do always say let's do it, why not?

3. Focus on the What, not the How. Most of the time, we focus on How to Earn Money. The fact it, that is the wrong question to even ask in the first place. You need to focus on the WHAT! Embody what its gonna be like when you are there. This is called Positive Outcome Patterning. You need to embody visually, kinesthetically, auditory what does if feel to become rich. You need to act and feel that you are rich and let the universe take care of the How.

Am I making sense? I'm not sure if I am communicating here because these are so powerful concepts that addresses some of the fundamental flaws in every filipino family, including ours.

Paul Scheele talks at length about the Structure Of Influence and the key to building rapport with your prospects…

Paul R. ScheeleSpeaker, Author, Human Development Consultant

Activating Your Brilliance
You are brilliant beyond your imagination! Paul R. Scheele has facilitated this realization in millions of lives. He guides people to achieve extraordinary results in relationships, work, money, and health. Paul is an expert on learning how to learn to tap the other 90% of your mind. He believes everyone has an inner genius just waiting to be awakened.

Paul is the designer of programs such as Photo Reading, Natural Brilliance, Genius Code, Abundance for Life, the Paraliminals, and many other courses to stimulate personal and professional success. These programs allow people to go beyond what the logical mind believes possible and break through stuck states. When you want high impact, Paul will entertain, educate, inspire, and move audiences to use their genius minds and achieve amazing abundance.

Rich Schefren's Important Elements of A Maven

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Richard Schefren has offline built, run and sold multimillion dollar businesses in the fashion industry, music industry and the hypnosis industry. He currently has over 70 niche specific product sites, and has orchestrated teleseminars with marketers like Jay Abraham,and John Carlton. Currently, Rich maintains an elite marketing coaching program, where many of today's top Internet Marketers and service providers are among his clientele.

Rich opened the conference with inspiring us Internet Marketers to be the Maven -- the friend and expert who leads and provides value to the market. One of the key messages of his speech was being different is greater than being better in this attention age. Rich inspired the people that you can be whoever you want to be .... with PRACTICE! He also shared the big idea and strategy behind the FREE reports that he has been releasing into the market. Below is a preview of his speech. It was very powerful and for me it was the highlight of the Day 1 of the Main Event.



Conference Update: 2 Important Elements Of A Maven

Stragic Profits Live Event: New Beginnings

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New Beginnings Strategic Profit Live Event

Greetings from the house of the mouse in Orlando, Florida! Allow me to be off topic for a bit because I'm attending this awesome conference in Orlando called: New Beginnings Strategic Profit Live Event 2008! All the best internet marketers of the world are attending this no-pitch event conference to teach people like me on how to take our internet marketing to the next level. This is an awesome event and I would like to share with you some of the insights that I got from this conference.


I started the day by attending mass at the National Shrine of Mary Queen of the Universe in Orlando. This was built for the christian travelers going on vacation in Orlando so 80%+ are visitors. Anyway, after the homily, the priest wanted to bless all those people who have been married for more than 50 years. It was awesome to see a lot of married people who stood up and got blessed. At the same time, I have a realization that I don't want to enjoy travel when Rache and I are already 80 years old. I want to go to Orlando Florida with Aidan and syoti Josh when the boys are old enough to appreciate Disney.


Tom McCarthy, the inspirational speaker and hosts, opened the conference with the same spiel he used to open last year's strategic profits conference. The buzz around the conference halls is that he is doing a Tim Robbins thing. He was sweating like he is not a professional speaker. It was a good start but it could have been better and more energizing.

I'll share with you some of my insights for each presentations.

Diddy Riese Cookies

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LA is crazy about the Diddy Riese cookies and you can see the long lines above to prove it.

I love Diddy Riese cookies because they are fresh, crunchy in the outside but soft / chewy in the inside. The bestsellers is the Cookie Sandwiches where you can select any two flavor of cookies and a choice of Dryer's ice cream. Diddy Riese is 2x better than Mrs. Fields (yes, that is how good these cookies are). I do hope somebody franchises it in the Philippines.

Our recommendation is the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Walnut.


All the cookies are served fresh and people order it by the dozen. The cookie turnover is very high and usually you get your cookies hot.


a sneak peak into a dozen of Diddy Riese cookies... super yummy!

Thanks to ate Carmina for bringing us to Diddy Riese cookies...

We ended the night with an arcade game of Deal or No Deal ($2/play) . I think that a Kris Aquino Deal or No Deal arcade version would be a big hit in Manila.

Red Mango-licious

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Thanks to OAP friends for introducing us to Red Mango! I was curious about the so-called Fro-Yo wars. So, we drove all the way to Westwood in LA to find out what the fuss is all about.

The tagline of Red Mango is authentic Frozen Yogurt. Indeed, you can taste the yogurt's tartiness and this is exactly the taste of Cold Spoon's frozen yogurt we tasted in Pampanga, Philippines. What makes Red Mango unique is their focus on making their froyo healthy. It is packed with live and active cultures and they have healthy options in terms of toppings -- Mandarin Orange packed with Vitamin C and they don't serve Oreo cookies. Our favorite toppings are the mochi and small bits of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate -- both of which are not available in Pink Berry.

Red Mango cost the same as Pink Berry's yogurt. $2.50 for the small original yogurt and $3.50 for the green tea. One topping costs $1 and 3 toppings cost $1.50.

Thanks to Brobo Lorenz and wife, Carmina for the Westwood Food Trip!

The Verdict: I love Red Mango because of its yogurt taste and benefits vs the creamy deliciousness of Pink Berry. My brother and Mina still love Pink Berry.
Official Website: Red Mango USA

Piccolo Mondo's Pizzas

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Piccolo My Mondo

Aidan or Josh?

Piccolo Mondo is now located in Tagaytay for some time now coming from its humble beginnings in Aguirre St and Casa Susana in Alabang. It is owned by celebrity Chef Mervyn Whitfield's whose claim to fame is being the chef of the Beatles at one point of his career.

Piccolo serves the BEST pizza in Tagaytay. Their pizza is known for its thin crust but with a fluffy bite because it is baked on volcanic slabs. A lot more people in Tagaytay are raving about Piccolo's Pizza. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for their pasta which suffered from overcooking or commercialization of its operation.

This is one of the places close to Hotel Kimberly along the main Highway Aguinaldo road.

Piccolo Mondo means small world.

Our Chef | Soups and Salads | Le Pizze | Appetizers | Breakfast | Catering Packages | Beverages | Coffee and Drinks | Rissoti & Desserts

We ate at Piccolo the day after Valentines so you can still see some decent attempt to have a romantic atmosphere using cut out hearts. I liked the homey feel of the resto and it would have been nice if Chef Mervyn was around. One of the draw of the restaurant is meeting the British celebrity chef himself.

Pizza al Quattro Formaggi and Pizza Margherita (price of the higher value pizza, P385).

You can order half pizza's because the pizza dough, tomato base and cheese are the same.

Zuppra di Asparagi (Cream of Asparagus) - P75

Seafood Pasta. We were disappointed with the noodles which was overcooked and swimming in its sauce. The taste was good so we finished it.

Piccolo Mondo Restaurant
5940 Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City
Telephone Number: +63 46 413 1942

World Pyro Olympics Revised Schedule

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Related Posts: Tips for an awesome World Pyro Experience

Here is the revised schedule for the World Pyro Olympics! It was postponed to after Holy Week. Tickets will be available on the first week of March.

MARCH

Best Time to go watch and shoot the awesome Manila sunset!
Start of the Donsol Season in Bicol!

17-23 MORIONES FESTIVAL | Marinduque
Re-enact the story of Longinus, a Roman centurion who speared the crucified body of Jesus Christ.

17-23 HOLY WEEK! | Philippines
Philippines' most sacred week!

20 HOLY THURSDAY!
Commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.

21 GOOD FRIDAY!
Commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus at Calvary.

23 EASTER SUNDAY
Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

30 FEAST OF THE DIVINE MERCY | Philippines | Plenary Indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday
The soul that will go to confession and receive holy communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment!

APRIL

The Peak Time in Boracay.

5 WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS! | Mall of Asia, Pasay City | 3rd World Pyro Olympics
China (2nd World Pyro Olympics Awardee) vs. Germany

12 WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS! | Mall of Asia, Pasay City | 3rd World Pyro Olympics
Japan vs. Canada

7 BATAAN DAY (ARAW NG KAGITINGAN) | Monday
In lieu of April 9, Bataan Day

19 WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS! | Mall of Asia, Pasay City | 3rd World Pyro Olympics
Italy vs. Venezuela

26 WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS! | Mall of Asia, Pasay City | 3rd World Pyro Olympics
France vs. Korea

MAY

3 WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS! | Mall of Asia, Pasay City | 3rd World Pyro Olympics
Australia (1st World Pyro Olympics Champion) vs. Philippines! The Grand Finale

Hotel Kimberly and Little Souls - A Peaceful Escape in Tagaytay

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Away for a Quiet Weekend



I would recommend Hotel Kimberly if you are looking for a quiet escape in Tagaytay away from the hustle and bustle of the Tagaytay Ridge. This 4 star hotel is located 3 km away from the main Tagaytay ridge road. Once you see the Korean Resto Neul Boom Garden along the main road, turn to Amadeo road and drive for 5 mins to the hotel.

Its location is surrounded by subdivision which gives it a provincial feel. It targets couples who want a secluded escape and families with kids who want a peaceful existence. The place is conducive for relaxing and we slept most of the time with Syoti and Aidan.

Aidan loved the playground and wanted to try the swimming pool but it was too cold. Overall, the food is just OK so you would see people only eating in the restaurant because of the free breakfast included with the stay. I like the zen and modern feel of the rooms and specially the lobby! The best part of your stay in Hotel Kimberly is the super warm service of the 100% Filipino staff!

Thanks to Hotel Kimberly for a relaxing stay!


We got a twin deluxe room that can comfortable accommodate 4 people. The bed, TV, shower are all new. They are still waiting for wifi to be available in the rooms. There is no complimentary water so make sure to bring some.


We love the high celing lobby with the accent lights! It is so cool to hang out in this lobby with Aidan.



The original plan is to go swimming but it was too cold in Tagaytay. I wonder how can other people enjoy this swimming pool ever since they opened.


This is the view of the hotel from the Gazebo area. I can imagine that this would be nice for a wedding reception.


Aidan owned the playground that day. This is a very good idea for kids.


The service size of the breakfast was disappointing and nothing to rave about.


I love going out with Aidan on a road trip like this. How I wish syoti Josh can walk already so that we can play together with Aidan.


Here is a tip when you stay in Hotel Kimberly. Make sure to visit the Peach Sister in the Little Souls Chapel. Read the story of this church from Maan's Pilgrim site below. Always remember to attend the 10am Sunday Mass in this church. The Little Souls Convent and Chapel is located after the MAHOGANY MARKET. Actually turn right after the Mater Dei Academy on Mahogany Avenue. (See here for the location map)

Little Souls Convent and the Sacred Crucifix from Belgium

Little Souls Sisters
Order of Little Souls of the Merciful Heart of Jesus
( Healing Holy Oil from the Sacred Crucifix is available at the convent)
Telephone Number: +63 46 860 1619, +63 2 809 2409
Mon to Friday 6pm
Sunday 10am
Saturday 10am and 6pmwww.littlesoulssisters.com

Hotel Kimberly
Brgy Kaybagal, Amadeo Road, Tagaytay City
(632) 521-1888; (632) 526-4957
www.hotelkimberly-tagaytay.com

Tootsie's Tagaytay

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Tootsie’s Patootsie

I'm sure you must have seen Tootsie's banners along the Tagaytay ridge inviting you to try them during their dry run. You won't miss it and I bet you were also curious on what Tootsie offers. Named after its owner, Tootsie, takes pride in serving Filipino Home Style cooking and sharing their family recipes. I was happy to see an alternative Filipino restaurant other than Viewsite, Josephine's, Leslie's or the grill restaurants along the ridge. Unfortunately, the kitchen is still unstable after 2+ months of operation. The dishes are innovative and unique but taste like commercialized home cooked meals.

Have you tried Tootsie's?

Entrees, Starters, Salad, Pasta | Filipino Homestyle Cooking | Desserts and Beverages

We ate brunch @ Tootsie's on a Friday morning when we went up to Tagaytay to check out Hotel Kimberly. It was empty and sometimes we prefer it that way because Aidan can freely roam around.

Pancit Molo Valentino (P334). A soup cooked the traditional way with the freshest ingredient - live shrimp, native chicken... Lola Marina's recipe, improved by Carol, our cook and a special favorite of our dad, Valentin. Always copied but never duplicated!

This was the best seller of the house and rightfully so. The soup was thick with the native chicken broth, the essence of the shrimp and some ingredients that made the soup kinda yellow. I liked the generous serving of Molo soup. This is perfect during the cold windy season in Tagaytay. I would recommend going to Tootsie's if just for this Pancit Molo Valentino.

Tinoyong Bangus (P235) Fried Batangas boneless bangus marinated in soy sauce and calamansi juice, another family favorite.

It was big and very salty. But I guess what should you expect with Tinoyong Bangus? I can't understand why this was a family favorite if it causes kidney stones.

Pancit Buko (P173). Stir fried Chinese noodles sauteed with fresh vegetables and buko slivers.

This was an interesting combination. It was weird to combine the pancit noodles with sweet buko juice and slivers. Try this if you are adventureous and always seeking out a different kind of Filipino food experience.

As Rache said in her blog post, Tootsie's Patootsie , we'll give it a try after a few more months. Hopefully we meet the owner, Tootsie herself.

Tootsie’s Tagaytay
Ms. Hanna Liwag (Operations Head)
(63.922)888.3435

Sorry Ice Cream, I'm On My Way to Pinkberry!

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I'm now a Frozen Yogurt addict after I tasted the holy grail of Frozen Yogurt -- Pink Berry in LA! Pink Berry opened in LA last 2005 by two Korean entrepreneurs, Shelly Hwang and Young Lee. (see: The taste that launched 1,000 parking tickets) It has been a craze in LA ever since and in fact, Pink Berry was bought by Starbucks . (see: Starbucks founder bites into Pink Berry)

The official theme song in Pink Berry's website says it all and I can't get it out of my head.
" Sorry Ice Cream, I'm dreaming of a different dessert.
Pink Berry Shave Ice and Frozen Yogurt.
It doesn't feel like I'm cheating when I'm eating it.
Coz its healthy...I feel better already..."
...
"Sorry Ice Cream, I'm on my way to P-I-N-K-B-E-R-R-Y Pink Berry!"


A Shout Out to Starbucks, Manila -- when can you bring Pink Berry to the Philippines?! I'm craving for Pink Berry Frozen Yogurt!

Pink Berry Frozen Yogurt has three yogurt flavors: Original Yogurt, Green Tea and Coffee. I tasted all three and I love the Green Tea yogurt specially with a kiwi topping. The original yogurt has a gelato smoothness feel and has the right sour and sweet taste. The coffee flavor is new because of Starbucks influence. It has a weird acquired taste -- just think about a sour coffee with a sweet yogurt taste. Given the pricing below, expect that this will be a P100+ frozen yogurt when it arrives in Manila.
Original Frozen Yogurt
Small $2.50 + each topping $0.95
Medium $3.50, with 3 toppings $4.95
Large $5.50, with 3 toppings $6.95
Green Tea and Coffee Frozen Yogurt
Small $3.50 + each topping $0.95
Medium $4.50, with 3 toppings $5.95
Large $6.50, with 3 toppings $7.95

Thanks to my brother Enzo and wife Mina for treating me to a Pink Berry Frozen Yogurt experience!


They now sell these cute and playful kitchen accessories.


Check out Pink Berry's official website: www.pinkberry.com
(Warning: Please don't go to their official website if you don't want to get the Pink Berry Last Song Syndrome)

Cold Spoon Frozen Yogurt - The Next Dessert Craze in the Philippines!

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If you love Mcdonalds' McFlurry or Jollibee's Sundae, you will definitely love Cold Spoon Frozen Yogurt. It is a much healthier dessert alternative because it is Yogurt instead of Ice Cream. It is non-fat, low calories, with vitamin c, with calcium and live lactobacilli! I can't wait for the first franchise to open in Manila.

Thanks to Spanx for this Korean dessert discovery in Angeles, Pampanga.
Cold Spoon serves the best frozen yogurt! by Ivan Henares
The Best Little FROZEN YOGURT Shop in the Philippines by Spanx

We LOVE Frozen Yogurt! The Frozen Yogurt is as smooth and sweet as ice cream but has that yogurt-asim taste and healthy benefits.

A medium-sized cup with premium toppings is P90
(Spanx suggests Comstock blueberry or cherry, or Butterfinger bits)

Other toppings are available at P85:
Oreo, M&Ms, gummy bears, almond clusters,banana nut clusters, raisins, chocolate or strawberry syrup,Mueslix cereal, or Maltesers candy.

Joan, the Korean owner, was personally serving us during the Ultimate Kapampangan Tour 2.0 during the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta!


Cold Spoon is located along the Fil-Am highway,a diversion road that's a shortcut from angeles city to clark.

If you're coming from inside Clark, exit the Friendship gate, just go straight along the main road, don't turn left or right. That main road exiting Friendship gate leads directly to the Fil-Am road that goes all the way to the Nepo Mart area of Angeles City. Just follow the road, you'll cross a long bridge along the way,and traverse the highway until you see the Grand Palazzo Royale complex on your right;that would be Barangay CutCut, Angeles City.

Cold Spoon will be 2 minutes away on the left side. If you get lost, text Joan at          0918-5680134       , she owns the store ",)

What the Survey Says About the Ultimate Kapampangan Show-Off 2.0

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Ultimate Kapampangan Show-Off 2.0 Thanks to all of our tour friends who joined us for the Ultimate Kapampangan Tour 2.0: Up Up and Away! Hupping, Puffing, and Pumping in Pampanga! Also, thank you for the gift of feedback because we learned a lot from this tour.


Rating Scale: (1) Horrible (2) It is OK. (3) We had a good time. (4) I love it! (5) Awesome! I would recommend it!

Overall Tour Experience Rating: 4.0 (I love it!).
Our target is to get a 5.0 (Awesome! I would recommend it) on all our tours and we learned a lot from the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta tour.

What do the tour participants have to say about Ultimate Kapampangan Show-Off 2.0?

" The hot air balloon, the massage, the farm, the food, and the pizza are all wonderful experiences. However, you need to focus more on avoiding long lulls. We stayed too long in the farm it became boring. And to top it, we left two hours too late (based on my understanding was the plan), we missed the migratory bird experience. Because of bad roads, the migratory bird experience is a one-off arrangement. No more going back. Sayang. But the effort and perseverance is noted. The perseverance alone should make future tours with you worthwhile. Just plan better. "

" The trip was a good start for me....I don't mind the early call time and we left quite on time. I think it would have made a big impact if the ride was more comfortable than it was...i guess its also because i'm quite tall and i also encounter the same discomfort when riding planes on economy class......I really enjoyed the balloonfest since my objective was to take pictures...the press passes made all that difference from just going on a trip on my own. As for the food, I think i expected more in terms of variety and "yum" factor......the massage was a lot better than expected.....the ambiance in that small little cabana was a pleasant surprise......"

" I totally enjoyed. Would like to go to another tour in the future."

" I'm supposed to click on the "Awesome! I would recommend it!" kaya lang baka mawalan ako ng slot next time. "

" It was a PERFECT day tour for me and Kristine since it was our first time in a group tour locally and especially the Hot Air balloon festival. We are already looking forward to the next ULTIMATE destination tour of the group:-) Food is fantastic. Recommendations reached a lot of people already with what we have experienced. Thanks a lot guys and More Power!!! "

" The tour was well planned. "

" The tour was great. Everyone’s warm and friendly especially Anton, the Ivans, Spanky and Rommel who are equally nice, informative and affable. And I love the fact that Aidan was also there.. I think he’s even cuter in person. *wink*"

" really had a blast... i especially liked how some places were surprises. good times!! =)"

" What a great food trip!"

" Our heartfelt thanks to all of you for putting this together. We know it takes A LOT of imagination and dedication to get something like this off the ground, we're behind you 100% of the way. Count us in your future trips, we keep meeting the most interesting people! Hope this feedback helps with the succeeding tours. "

PART 1. OVERALL NIGHT TOUR EXPERIENCE: 3.3 (We had a good time.)
The night tour failed our expectations and we vow to learn and improve next time around.


BUS/ LOGISTICS: 2.54 (It is OK)
Although the bus driver and services are reliable, we won't be using that coaster anymore in our future tours.


OASIS HOTEL: 3.67 (We had a good time.)
The garden hotel was cute but not enough to impress our guests. We will go to ABC Hotel next time!


HOT AIR BALLOON NIGHT GLOW: 2.0 (It is OK.)
On Saturday, the winds were so strong, it prevented the balloons to inflate. The saturday crowd in the hot air balloon festival was very disappointed. A lot of Hot Air but no Balloons.


C ITALIAN DINING: 5.0 (Awesome! I would recommend it!)
C Italian Dining exceeded all our expectations. I'll dedicate a separate post on this.


WALKING TOUR OF ANGELES NIGHT LIFE: 4.0 (I Love it!)
This walking tour has a potential. The Angeles Beach Club Hotel was out of this world.

Q. What do you think made this tour a memorable experience?

" The hot air balloon, of course."

" the balloonfest was great......the full body massage was also refreshing.....the resthouse of LJC was a good photoshoot experience too....."

" Meeting new people!"

" Yung food!!! saka ang kukulet ng mga participants!!! i think you guys were able to achieve the "barkada experience". Mas masaya kasi pag barkada although ang setback nun eh hindi mo yun ma-a-achieve sa first try. I think nag-work this time kasi familiar na yung iba with some people. Saka buti na lang yung iba magaan kasama. Saka ang laki pala talaga ng mga Lobo. Yikes!"

" The camaraderie of meeting new people from all walks of life is an experience"

" Aside from watching the hot air balloons take off, Abe's farm really is a treat since it was the place where everyone really felt at peace and relaxed during the tour compliments of the massages and the sumptuous buffet! "

" the food (kapampangan, yum)! the heavenly massage (i'm such a sucker so i have lots to compare it with pero ang sarap parin sobra... parang the best so far for me)"

" Memorable for me since I did not have any friend/s with me in the tour (since my friend backed out the last minute due to an urgent rendezvous) so it was really a new (and exciting) experience for me."

" Albeit that, I was able to meet new friends who have similar passions, i.e. food, travel, photography & lomography"

" people, food, surprises..."

" an owner of the hot air balloon was so nice & let me get inside his square-like basket & took a souvenir shot of me while he blew up the light up up the sky as though he is going to let me fly with them,,for free maybe...hahahahha!"

PART 2. OVERALL DAY TOUR EXPERIENCE: 3.85 (We had a good time!)

We could have improved the execution of the day tour specially during the latter part after the Abe's Farm experience.

HOT AIR BALLOON TAKE-OFF: 4.58 (I Love it!)
Most of us fell in love with the balloons. We felt like kids again except for Aidan who got scared.


VFW BREAKFAST: 3.38 (We had a good time!)
I think the food was not impressive to the participants. We got to find a different breakfast place for next year's fiesta.


COLD SPOON: 4.25 (I Love it!)
The next dessert craze in the Philippines is Frozen Yogurt!


ABE'S FARM LUNCH: 4.08 (I Love it!)
The participants loved it but personally the Ivans, Spanx and me was a bit disappointed with quality and quantity of the food.


NURTURE SPA: 4.08 (I Love it!)
Most people appreciated this after waking up at 2am in the morning!


CAMALIG PIZZA: 3.33 (We had a good time!)
This is the best Filipino pizza but it is best to be eaten in the restaurant itself. The crust was not anymore crunchy when we ate it at Abe's Farm.


CANDABA WILD LIFE PRESERVE: 2.58 (It is OK!)
This was poorly executed and should have been the best way to end the tour. We were late by 10mins to see all the white egret birds fly. Also, we failed to give the story of these birds.

My IKEA Valentines -- Blog Writing Contest For a Cause!

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IKEA PH and Our Awesome Planet present:

My IKEA Valentines Blog Writing Contest For a Cause!

ABOUT IKEA PH
IKEA PH is an importer of quality IKEA products and they source most of their stuff from IKEA in China. I know of 2-3 IKEA importers but IKEA PH provides the best reasonable prices out there. If they don't have it locally, you can order from the IKEA catalog and they would make sure to bring it in their next shipment. They have a small showroom store in 120 Kamias, Quezon City but you can see most of their inventory at ikeaph.multiply.com.

SIMPLE MECHANICS
1. Write a blog post on the theme: Why I love IKEA!
2. Put the following links inside your blog post:
IKEA linked to ikeaph.multiply.com
Valentines linked to Valentines.com.ph
3. Put a comment on this post linking your official blog post entry.
4. Deadline for entries will be on February 29, 2008!

BONUS:
Throughout the duration of the Blog Writing Contest, all Friends of Our Awesome Planet are entitled to a 5% discount at IKEA Philippines.
For each purchase, an additional 5% will be donated to Kythe in your name!

BOARD OF JUDGES
Eugene Enriquez of IKEA Philippines
Rache Diaz of Mrs Awesome Planet

PRIZES
1st Prize: Uplighter (P980).

2nd Prize. Collage Photo Frame (P350). (rightmost side photo frame)

3rd Prize. Rajtan Spice Jars (P150)

BONUS DISCOUNT COUPON

Additional 5% is donated to Kythe in your name!