Skechers’ Shape Ups: Leading the way

           It has been very stagnant when it comes to working out. The old fashion way was dissolved and most of us rely on those medicines instead of a natural process. Working out on Gyms together with body building with weights allows you to loose or gain weight.

            Today is a new generation and Skechers is proudly to present their very own product of a version of running shoes but can be used as a work out shoes too – Shape Ups. This shoe (Shape Ups) is made for all ages to have a combination of jogging exercise and at the same time shaping up your body like working out on a gym.

Skechers’ Shape Ups

        

             It has a unique characteristic too. Its lower part which is the sole is merely pumped so that it would be easy to walk to. The process by which the Shape Up is like a rocking chair in order for the user to have an easier and faster job to move it and wont exert much effort on trying to step forward. This one of a kind product allows you to come up with the result you want with an everyday process of jogging. This running shoes is also available around the world and because of its unique appearance, it allows you balance yourself while running or jogging.

             According to experts, these shoes can really help you a lot on your everyday exercise and can help you to have a body fit form. Although others are still under estimating the ability of the shape ups, many are still trying to have a change for a quite some time to turn onto Shape ups. But still it is on the hands of the person itself on how he or she can handle exercise seriously to maintain a healthy body with proper workout and exercise. It doesn’t matter what shoes are you wearing weather it is branded or not.

Social Networking Sites: An Innovated Way of Connecting People

The world now is getting smaller as the people get linked everywhere.

That’s the power of Social Networking Sites (SNS).

SNS’ is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.

Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Through e-mail and instant messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism are encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly suited to gift economy, as information is a nonrival good and can be gifted at practically no cost.

There are almost 100 social networking sites in the cyberspace that comes in the different nature. It serves for social interaction, education tool, business model, advertisement and even for employment.

Let’s define some of the top social networking sites of our time…

Facebook

With the 800,000,000 users that make it to the top, Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of January 2012, Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as "People From Work" or "Close Friends". The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other. Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to become registered users of the site.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The Web site's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in theBoston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over. However, based on ConsumersReports.org in May 2011, there are 7.5 million children under 13 with accounts, violating the site's terms of service.

A site which I spend my almost time surfing the internet.

Friendster

This is my first working place on the internet.

Although it was repositioned itself into a social gaming site and discontinued user social network accounts, Friendster is a social gaming site that is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company now operates mainly from three Asian countries; namely, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

It was previously known as a social networking website Before the site was redesigned, the service allowed users to contact other members, maintain those contacts, and share online content and media with those contacts. The website was also used for dating and discovering new events, bands, and hobbies. Users could share videos, photos, messages and comments with other members via their profile and their network. It was considered one of the original and even the "grandaddy" of social networks. The service became popular in Southeast Asia and is a major site in that region of the world.

Since the relaunch of Friendster as a social gaming platform in June 2011, the number of registered users has reached over 115 million.

Over 90% of Friendster's traffic came from Asia. In Asia, as of 2008, Friendster had more monthly unique visitors than any other social network. The top 10 countries accessing Friendster, according to Alexa, as of May 7, 2009 are the Philippines, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, South Korea, Bangladesh and India.

Twitter

 If you want to shout what’s on your mind from time-to-time basis, twitter suits your interest.

Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets". It was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with over 300 million users as of 2011, generating over 300 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. It has been described as "the SMS of the Internet."

Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in New York City.

With its limited 140 characters, users can now share what’s happening on their lives every second.

You may now choose your social networking tools that will really suit your interest.

A Language 101- How to say “Happy New Year” in Chinese

Kung Hei Fat Choi or KiongHeeHuatSai…

The phrase in Chinese which is said to be the appropriate translation of the “Happy New Year” from their language.

Compared among the two, Kung Hei Fat Choi is widely used said and printed on banners, advertisements and different forms of media. But this greeting is Cantonese.

Though not commonly used phrase in saying “Happy New Year”, KiongHeeHuatSai is more appropriate because majority of the Chinese residing in the Philippines are Hokkien.

Both greetings refer to the same set of 4 Chinese characters that literally means “Congratulations and wishing you prosperity!”.This is the common mistakes of Filipinos.

Dragon Dance celebrates every Chinese New Year

As the most used language in the world, Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Cantonese (Yue) (70 million) and Min (50 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility.

Tsinoys will appreciate to hear the greeting in the dialect they understand.

Cantonese is one of the 9 other groups of dialects in China and is most commonly spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macau.

Hokkien is the dialect spoken in Fujian province where most of the Chinese-Filipinos come from.

It is suspected that a Hong Kong or Cantonese restaurant started to popularize the Cantonese greeting here, which is weird because there is a very scant population of Tsinoys from Guangdong or Hong Kong.

So, let's start expelling "Kung Hei Fat Choi" from our vocabulary and start to pratice saying the greeting in Hokkien, "KiongHeeHuat Tsai," which is widely understood by Tsinoys here.

Spread the word, “KiongHeeHuat Tsai!”          

If you want to greet your friend “Happy New Year” in Mandarin, say it as “XinNienKwai Le” (formally written as “XinNianKuai Le”). In Hokkien, say it as “Sin Ni khòailok.”

Those are just some cultural nuances to take note for Filipinos and Filipino-Chinese alike, "KiongHeeHuat Tsai!"

It should be pronounced this way.

Let’s celebrate this year’s Chinese New year with the new lesson that can be shared to all.

Health Commands

Remember, foods are not good or bad. The key to healthy eating is the time-tested advice of balance, variety and self-control. In short, that means eating a wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too much of any one nutrient. 

Healthy and nutritious foods






These 6 tips can help you follow that advice while still enjoying the foods you eat.

1. Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods

            Your daily food choice should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods. Use the Food Guide Pyramid and the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels as handy references.

2. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables 

          Do you eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, and cereal and pasta group, 3 of which should be whole grains? Do you eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables? If you don't enjoy some of these at first, give them another chance. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare unfamiliar foods.

3. Maintain a healthy weight 

         Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses. Regular exercise is also important to maintaining a healthy weight.

4. Eat moderate portions 

           If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy. Refer to the Food Guide Pyramid for information on recommended serving sizes.

5. Eat regular meals

          Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. When you're very hungry, it's also tempting to forget about good nutrition. 

6. Remember, foods are not good or bad 

          Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is "good" or "bad."

Eat them in moderation, and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health. 

The Food Guide Pyramid

The Food Guide Pyramid is a practical tool to help you make food choices that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Using the Pyramid enables you to eat a variety of foods daily so that you can get the nutrients you need.

To make the most of the Pyramid, you need to know what counts as a serving.

• Food Group--Serving Size
• Bread--1 slice bread, 1\2 bagel or English muffin, 1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal, 1\2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta, or 5-6 small crackers
• Vegetable--1 cup raw, leafy vegetables, 1\2 cup cooked or chopped raw vegetables or 3\4 cup vegetable juice
• Fruit--1 medium piece of fruit, 1\2 cup mixed fruit or 3\4 cup fruit juice
• Milk--1 cup milk or yogurt, 11\2 ounces natural cheese or 2 ounces process cheese
• Meat--2 - 3 ounces cooked lean meat, poultry or fish (about the size of a deck of cards)
• Other foods which count as 1 ounce meat: 1\2 cup cooked dry beans, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons peanut butter or 1\3 cup nuts

Cleaning Clinic

         Cleaning is the most time consuming job in housekeeping. Worse of all, some marks are hard to clean out. Even if you are spending all your efforts or energy, you may not clean them probably. So how to fight with all those difficulties and save your time on these cleaning tasks?

         If you're physically a very orderly person, it can be hard to stay on top of all the little cleaning tasks around your home. A little disarray, and mess takes over -- and getting things back to their original, clean state can quickly become an awesome job. But with a few minutes every day, you can keep dirt and dust away, making your home a more pleasant place to live.

         Did you ever look around your house and wonder where all the trash came from? Home organization can be surprisingly difficult to achieve. Here are the top three methods to simplify your house cleaning:

1. Look at each room and identify specific tasks. 

2. Make a list of cleaning priorities.

3. Share the fun with family members.

 In the Kitchen

                Wash and wax wood floors and mop vinyl floors. Clean out refrigerator and pantry. Change shelf-liners. Straighten junk drawer Wipe down cabinet.

 In the Bathroom

                Use lint-free cloths or a squeegee to wash windows inside and out. Dust the sill. Vacuum the window well.

F     For the Window Treatments

               Vacuum draperies. Wash blinds. Replace heavy drapes with lightweight or sheer curtains.

  For the Furniture

                   Polish furniture, wash upholstery, vacuum between cushions. Clean behind and under sofas and cabinets.

Closets

              Give old clothes and furniture to charity. Vacuum floors. Dust shelves. Hang cedar blocks to freshen the areas.

Cleaning Materials

So what are you waiting for? Start cleaning now for a dirt free, fresh and enjoyable place to live. 

Sinulog Festival: A beat of the sentimental beginnings

“Pit Senyor kang Mama kini, Pit Senyor kang Papa kini””. 

A deafening chant by the street dancers can be heard on the streets with their bright coloured costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs that opens the official beginning of the Sinulog Festival in Cebu.

Every third Sunday of January is a joyous day for the people of Cebu City. It is the month when one of the grandest festivals of the Philippines is celebrated. The Sinulog Festival is the most colorful one, too. The Sinulog Festival is celebrated in honor of the Santo Niño, which is the patron saint of Cebu. It is a dance ritual that reminisces the time when Filipinos embraced Christianity.

This celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing (that is, the acceptance of Roman Catholicism) of Cebu is performed. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the event.

Group of people raising the Sto.Niño during Sinulog Festival

The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which roughly means "like water current movement;" it describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language.

Tracing back the history when it started, On April 7, 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory for Spain. He presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Niño, as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, mother of Carlos I. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Christian faith. At the moment of receiving the image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing the image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog.

Colorful costumes in Sinulog Festival

This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits.

Through the years since 1521, the dance was a small ritual by a few in front of wooden idols or before the Santo Niño. In fact, at the Santo Niño church where the image is consecrated, only the candle vendors could be seen dancing the Sinulog and making offerings.

During the Santo Niño fiesta, which falls on the third Sunday of January, children dressed in moro-moro costumes also dance the Sinulog. This was really no big event for Cebu City.

In 1980, however, David S. Odilao, Jr., then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), organized the first ever Sinulog parade. He gathered a group of students, dressed them up, and taught them how to dance the Sinulog to the beating of the drums. It was a small parade really which went just around the Basilica, but it caught the imagination of the City of Cebu, which then thought of making the Sinulog a festival that would rival all other festivals being held yearly in the country.

Thus, under the direction of then Cebu City Mayor Florentino S. Solon, the Sinulog organization came into being. The first task of the organizing committee was how to conceptualize the festival and make it a big event.

In 1980, the local government had a grand and lucrative idea. The Sinulog fiesta at the time was an affair of local color. Held at the Basilica del Santo Niño, the feast-featured Sinulog dancing performed by various groups to fulfill religious obligations.

Now, this event began to attract an increasing number of tourists that boost the Cebu’s sector of tourism. Something must be proud of for the Filipinos.

Amusing Nation

            In the history of Entertainment Industry here in the Philippines, Filipinos are known to be creative when it comes to arts and performing arts. We have excelled in different categories even if it is on cam or behind cam. But what really matters is the overall performance played.

            Nowadays the center of attraction which led us on a conclusion that we Filipinos have a deep love on entertainment for the fact that television is the number one medium of happiness and satisfaction followed by radio and newspaper. In all kinds of sources that entertainment may gather, we deliver it so well to the people at large on a right timing wherein it really makes a difference.

            Here in the Philippines there are 2 main TV channels that battle it out to be the best – ABS-CBN channel 2 and GMA 7. Both of them have a set of program that satisfies their audiences’ needs from morning till night time. And from this comedy is the ingredient that makes them standout.

Jose and Wally

Boy Pick Up (Ogie Alcasid) vs Vice Ganda

            There are a lot of names that can be mentioned in the field of comedy and entertainment. Of course this one will not miss the top list,  the Comedy King Dolphy Quizon tops them all for being the all time favorite and making in the hall of fame list, together with his psychic Panchito and Chiquito. But from generation to generation, each of them have made their names to be known as comedian like Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon’s tandem and much more accompanied by their different psychics like Rene Requestas, Palito, Richie the Horsie, Pipoy and Ungga.

Dolphy Quizon - "The Comedy King"

 Those names are very “classic” when it comes to comedy and entertainment but today we have come to the generations of new taste. As for now one of the Best in laughter comes from Eat Bulaga’s Finest Juan for All – All for Juan duo Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola. These two can fill up your appetite in your lunch break while watching them and enjoying your food. They really make comedy and laughter easy as it looks especially for Jose which for all knows that he started to be just a cameraman in the noontime show. And today, Eat Bulaga’s rating is on its way for reigning to be the noontime show because of those two who teamed up for the Nation is waiting and watching their segment on Eat Bulaga from Monday to Saturday. If you have an everyday dose of these two on your lunch time, I’m pretty sure that it is a complete week of laughter and happiness.

                                                 Rene Requestas, Palito, Richie the Horsie and Red Ford White    

For the 2^nd place I think it would not be easy to pick for we all know that Vice Ganda of Showtime also can be a contender to be at the top spot because of Vice’ pick up lines and booming segways. I also think that Bubble Gang’s top comedians like Michael V and Ogie Alcasid as Boy Pick up also make the list for being the comedian of the year.

But then again it’s still the people that have the choice to pick who can be the funniest and the best comedian nowadays. Because each comedian has their style on how to make their audiences laugh each time they throw those funny lines on air.

Extending our Hands to ‘Sendong’ victims

Being the world’s deadliest storm before the end of 2011, Typhoon Sendong (International name, Washi) ravaged households, crop fields and some infrastructure in Cagayan De Oro, Iligan, Misamis and Zamboanga Del Norte upon its intrusion on the Philippine Area of Responsibility as a mild tropical depression.

The said storm sweeps at least 1,257 fatalities, and 1,079 people are officially listed as missing. Sendong had affected 102,899 families or 674,472 people in 766 villages in 52 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces. At least 9,433 houses were destroyed while 18,616 were damaged as it struck over the weekend stated by the country’s disaster management chief.

According to the findings studied by American Metrologies Dr. Jeff Masters, the data from insurance broker AON Benfield, said 902 people died during a storm in Brazil in January. Meanwhile, 657 people died during the massive floods in Thailand from June to November before it had been racked the Mindanao part.

In this phenomenon, about 47,000 people have also sought shelter in temporary evacuation sites where food and water are running out.

The victims are still in need of assistance and supports from the different sectors.

Prior to this occurrence, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles wishes to provide prospective donors of the list of items needed by the victims, as follows:

Basketball stars, celebrities create a charity game for the victims of Typhoon Sendong

Immediate Priority

· WASH: water, soap, hygiene kits, latrines

· Non-Food Items: cooking utensils; sleeping kits/mattresses; blankets; jerry cans; mosquito nets; flashlight batteries; underwear for children, men and women, clothing

· Temporary shelters/tents

· Food: ready-to-eat food (with appropriate nutritional content)

· Kitchen utensils and gas stoves

Other Priorities

· Medical supplies and assistance

· Clearing of debris

· Psychosocial support

· Livelihood support

Per the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), they now accept donations of used clothes provided that they are consigned to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

For those that will bring relief goods/assistance by plane, please be informed that Cagayan de Oro Airport can only accommodate aircrafts as big as BOEING 737. Larger aircrafts can use either Davao or General Santos Airports. Davao, which is in the nearest proximity, would take approximately 6 hours of land travel to Cagayan de Oro.

In addition, foreign aircrafts will have to submit their flight details to the Department of Foreign Affairs for the necessary diplomatic clearance.

For cash or check donations, there are private sectors which initiating.

Here are follows:

For SAGIP KAPAMILYA:

1. BDO Peso Account

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya

Account Number: 39301-14199

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

2. BDO Dollar Account

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya

Account Number: 39300-81622

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

3. PNB Peso Account

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya

Account Number: 419-539-5000-13

Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

4. BPI Peso Account

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya

Account Number: 3051-1127-75

Branch: West Triangle, Quezon City

Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

5. BPI Dollar Account

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya

Account Number: 3054-0270-35

Branch: West Triangle, Quezon City

Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

For GMA KAPUSO FOUNDATION:

1) METROBANK

Peso Savings

Account Name: GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.

Account Number: 3-098-51034-7

Dollar Savings

Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.

Account Number:2-098-00244-2

Code: MBTC PH MM

2) UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK (UCPB)

Peso Savings

Account Name: GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.

Account Number:115-184777-2 or 160-111277-7

Dollar Savings

Account Name: GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.

Account Number: 01-115-301177-9 or 01-160-300427-6

3) CEBUANA LHUILLIER

For Couples for Christ Calamity Fund:

Account no.: BPI Savings Account 3103-3055-85

Account  name: Couples for Christ

Let’s extend our hands in reaching the victims of ‘Sendong’ and help them to see once again the brighter future.