Archive for September 2009
Wells Fargo Eliminates Remittance Transfer Fees To Philippines
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) —with its remittance network member Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) – is temporarily eliminating all remittance transfer fees (normally $5 or $7) for customers sending money using the ExpressSend® service to friends and family in the Philippines impacted by Typhoon Ketsana (also known as Typhoon Ondoy). The fee waiver is effective September 29 through October 12, 2009.
ExpressSend customers can send up to $3,000 a day for $5 if originated from an eligible Wells Fargo account (or $7 if originated from cash). The fee will be waived September 29 through October 12, 2009. Recipients can claim their funds at more than 800 branches and 1,500 plus ATMs throughout the Philippines.
Read more at [Wells Fargo article].
La Salle Schools Offer Relief Distribution Help for Ondoy Victims
Ads-link: Moving Company Los Angeles
Lea Salonga 2009 Philippine Concert Now On Sale
Lea Salong, after a two month North American concert tour this September through November, will be back on Philippine stage at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) for a two-night special show singing the songs that, as Lea writes in her website LeaYourSongs.com, “your songs.” It’s not be too late to send her your requests that you’d like to hear her sing – the deadline is September 30.
Tickets are now available online: Dec. 11 or Dec. 12 shows, respectively.
Reference: LeaYourSongs.
New Comedy Book By Filipino Out About Getting Married
There is no end to writers that attempt to write comedy. Many comics are funny, but few are hilarious. Ledesma is well, hilarious… What makes him even more hilarious that most writers of comedy is that he finds even things familiar to us funny..from the conventional rituals of getting married to going on a foreign trip to realizing that one is balding. That is the secret of his humor: he makes his fellowmen laugh at themselves.. His ribbing is never not in jest, but where there is comic smoke, there is bound to be tragic truth.
“I Do or I Die”
RJ Ledesma’s Imaginary Guide to Getting Married
by RJ Ledesma
[Click Here] to go to Anvil Publishing, Inc.
How To Check Your Plate Number By Text Messaging
If by chance you are told by a police (in a checkpoint) that your car plates have been tampered with or are stolen – and you know they’re not – here’s a way to check it by way of “text messaging” and show them proof (or something like that.)
Write a text message as:
LTO <space> VEHICLE <space> XXX999
…where XXX999 is your plate number, i.e. LTO VEHICLE PAM224
Send this text-message to 2600 and wait for reply message. The reply should be inform you of the following:
Car Plate:
Model:
Year:
Color:
Date of Last Registered:
LTO Apprehension, if any:
LTO Alarm, if any:
This SMS service is also userful for car buyers. The usual fee of 2.50 Pesos is charged to the sender for every text message sent.
Source: E-mail blast from Tribu Verde Group
How To Invest For YOUR Financial Future
…and that also means your family’s financial future, too.
If you think 1,300 Pesos is too much money to spend for a half-day seminar on “personal finance planning,” you’re dead wrong. There are tons of training sessions and seminars out there being offered and conducted for thousands more; and people think that just because it’s being hosted by some “name brand” training and seminar company guarantees you to win. I’ve been to so many similar sessions in the past that all I got are some awakening moments but no substance. What substance, you say? A lot of these sessions miss out on the practicalities of doing things in Philippine soil. Many of these sessions have theoretical content gushing out the United States which, if you must know, is reeling from a severe recession that resonates in many of the First World and developed countries, worldwide. So, for a practical session on your personal finance using real Philippine experience, let an a Registered Personal Finance Planner and expert like Randell teach you how to do it right – and this time, succeed!
1,300 Pesos is about 60 Pesos daily for a month’s amount of working days. Want to go deeper? Think of working half-a-day only. That’s an investment of about 14 Pesos per hour. Or, you could NOT spend 300 Pesos every weekend of a month passing by the gasoline station convenience store and buying your favorite chips, chocolate and soda, and just invest it in this event.
But, why bother asking yourself if 1,300 Pesos is too much? You’re just spending unproductive resource in your brain to do some self-deliberation that usually results is more indecision. Just do it! Besides, Randell’s wife Mia is serving great food, too, just like paying for a buffet but getting a lifetime’s worth of ideas, tips and expert techniques to change your financial life around.
Set the date: Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:30 PM.
For more details, [Click Here].
Lea Salong Concert Shows in North America and Hawaii
Lea's 20 city concert is a blast!
Lea Salonga will be doing a series of concerts in the continental United States, Canada and Hawaii between September 18 through November 14 this year. Wow! That’s a total of twenty shows. The broadway diva, whose fame to glory came from her starring role in “Miss Saigon,” eventually won her an international award. Lea also started a website called “Lea Salonga – Your Songs” which she asked the general public to drop her a note and let her know what songs they’d like to hear, both for this concert series and one more in December to be held in the Philippines.
Catch her at a concert place nearest you!
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Below is Lea’s schedule sourced out from her Facebook Invitation:
9/18/09 – 8 PM
River Rock Show Theatre,
Richmond BC Canada
Click for Tickets
9/20/09 – 7 PM
Snoqualmie Casino Ballroom
Snoqualmie, WA
Click for Tickets
9/25/09 – 7:30 PM
Horseshoe Casino
Elizabeth, IN
Click for Tickets
9/25/09 – 9 PM
The Venue Horseshoe Casino
Hammond, IN
Click for Tickets
9/26/09 – 9 PM
The Venue Horseshoe Casino
Hammond, IN
Click for Tickets
9/28/09 – 8:30 PM
McPhillips Street Station Casino
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Click for Tickets
9/29/09 – 6 PM
McPhillips Street Station Casino
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
(Available only with 15,500 player points only at Casino Ticketmaster. The Club Card Member Gala of the Year, including reception, four course dinner, and concert.)
Click for Tickets
9/29/09 – 8:30 PM
McPhillips Street Station Casino
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Click for Tickets
10/2/09 – 8 PM
Pechanga Theater, Pechanga Resort & Casino
Temecula, CA
Click for Tickets
10/9/09 – 8 PM
Tarrytown Music Hall
Tarrytown, NY
Click for Tickets
10/10/09 – 8 PM
Mainstage Theatre, University At Buffalo Center for the Arts
Buffalo, NY
Click for Tickets
10/16/09 – 9 PM
Club 88, Cache Creek Indian Casino
Brooks, CA
Click for Tickets
10/17/09 – 8 PM
Club 88, Cache Creek Indian Casino
Brooks, CA
Click for Tickets
10/18/09 – 7 PM
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
Cerritos, CA (Benefit)
Click for Tickets
(VIP ticket includes private reception and dinner)
10/20/09 – 7:30 PM
Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater
Medford, OR
Click for Tickets
10/31/09 – 8 PM
Eisemann Center
Richardson, TX
Click for Tickets
11/2/09 – 7 PM
Morongo Casino Resort & Spa
Cabazon, CA
Click for Tickets
11/6/09 – 8 PM
Arena Theatre
Houston, TX
Click for Tickets
11/7/09 – 8 PM
Paramount Theatre
Austin, TX
Click for Tickets
11/10/09 – 8 PM
The Concert Hall, Neil S. Blaisdell Center
Honolulu, HI
Ticket sale coming soon.
11/14/09 – 8 PM
Harold K.L. Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center
Kahului, HI
Ticket sale coming soon.
Sony CyberShot Online Blogger Search
You can start by voting for this blog-site, right? ☺
Do you know your favorite bloggers? Send in your top 3 local bloggers under the following categories and get a ch ance to win a Sony Cyber-shot.
FOOD, FASHION, TECH and TRAVEL
Submit your nominees to cybershottx1@gmail.com. Follow the entry format below:
Name: Anna Cruz
Address: Unit 234 Princeton Building Makati City
Contact: 09174253777
Technology
1. blogsite
2. blogsite
3. blogsite
Fashion
1. blogsite
2. blogsite
3. blogsite
Travel
1. blogsite
2. blogsite
3. blogsite
Food
1. blogsite
2. blogsite
3. blogsite
Submission of nominees is from September 15 to 30, 2009.
Sony is taking the digital imaging technology to the next level with its introduction of the new Cyber-shot TX1 and Party-shot accessory. Taking great photos under various situations has never been this exciting and fun.
Only the best will be captured on October 15, 2009. The party is about to begin.
Filipino Kids in Brunei Get Free Language and Culture Course
A Sense of Asean identity will be among the subjects touched during the nine-day cultural enrichment programme for children offered by the Philippine Embassy during the school holidays starting on Monday. Twenty-two Filipino children from six to 14 registered yesterday for the free Filipino language and culture programme to be conducted by volunteer teachers at the Philippine Embassy Chancery from Monday, Sept 14. The programme aims to teach children born and raised overseas the culture, history, customs and traditions of the Philippines and its Asean neighbours, and how these are embodied in today’s global Filipino, said Filipino cultural enrichment class programme head Rowena E Hautea.
More at: BruDirect.com, Brunei’s No. 1 News Website.
Filipino Stores in US Meet Big Chain Competition
Even Filipino stores in the United States meet competition of growing “big chain” stores specializing in Asian products. In California, there two big Asian supermarkets that are adding more branches — 99 Ranch and Seafood City. Of course, it’s a great welcome for the Asian community where these chains exist but it spells trouble for the smaller groceries such as Concord’s (California) Oriental Food Market, owned by Sherrie Gaerlan and her husband for some eight years already.
Source: Contra Costa Times.
The Positive Impact of Tourism in the Philippines
I was surfing around and found someone named “bala” from the Top10TravelSite.com who quipped this question: “What good practices from a cultural perspective being undertaken by organizations within the tourism and travel industry?”
One of the best answers I read from an “Anonymous” person read:
Gosh….I’ve written a whole thesis on this issue. But here it is in brief:
Positive impact:
- Reasonable foreign currency income for the state;
- Slight development of tourism infrastructure;
- Marginal increase in employment levels in industries related to the travel sector: hospitality, travel agencies and tour operators, transportation, etc.;
- Sustainance of domestic airlines, charters and to some extent, shipping, to some degree.
- Better awareness in the Philippines of foreign cultures and traditions, needs of tourists etc.
Negative impact:
- Sex tourism, with aged foreigners flocking to the country seeking young women as partners. Others come to indulge in pedophile activities;
- Negligence of environmental considerations in some cases by both foreign nationals and Filipinos;
- The government hurries to attract foreign tourists without the existence of a proper tourism infrastructure;
- Due to the negative image of the Philippines as a corrupt nation, visitors believe they can escape justice easily by bribing law enforcement authorities.
There are many (other positive and negative) points but these would require at least a day to list and detail.
Why Cruise Ships Do Not Pass-by the Philippines
My uncle in the U.S. recently forwarded this e-mail message to me. After I read it, I realized it answered a long forgotten question in my mind why Manila was not a destination-of-choice of the cruise ships. I recently got involved with the travel service business and wished there were cruise ships that stopped by the Philippines.
I do hope that our electoral bets for the 2010 elections could find a way to fix this erring and embarrassing situation because I’m not banking at the current administration for a “change for the good.” The writer is right to say that each ship brings thousands tourists wherever they stop. Even to stopover for two nights or so already brings in thousands of tourist Dollars that could help further boost our tourism industry. Please share this story to them.
Hmmmm… I’m not really sure (if this) is the only reason: I know there’s the security involved for the American passengers (remember the kidnapping scandals?) At least, that’s what Tess Tumaneng’s version was (from Princess Cruises). There is a large presence of Al Queda members in our country plus our famous “mandurukots,” of course. Judge for yourself and please read below. When you think of it, why are cruise ships docking at Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Korea and other (cities), and they’re no better than Manila or Cebu?
This was written by a Pinoy couple who now lives in the US.
(I) would like to share with you what we found out as the reason why cruise ships of the big cruise companies skip Manila. My wife and I are regular cruisers and we always talk to the Filipino crew. When we took the 12-day Mediterranean cruise I asked the Pinoy waiters (because we are in a big group, we usually request for Pinoy waiters to be assigned to us) why all their Asian cruises skip Manila when they go to all the neighboring countries of the Philippines. “Tanong ko bakit ba wala sa itinerary ninyo ang Manila?“
Ang sagot sa akin: “Noong una ho may cruises kami na humihinto sa Manila (subali’t) masyado hong matakaw ang mga taga Customs sa atin kaya ang management ho namin nag decide na i-skip na ang Manila. When inspection time comes upon our arrival and departure, yung mga Customs inspectors ho kasama ang mga pamilya nila para kumain ng libre sa ship namin. Tapos bago magbigay ng clearance para maka-depart ang ship namin maraming hinihingi ng sigarilyo at mga alak. Sa Manila lang namin na experience ang ganoon kaya nahihiya ho kaming mga Pinoy dito sa ship. Sa ibang ports sa Asia wala hong nanghihingi.
The new cruise ships have an everage of 2,000 to 3,000 passengers. Imagine the loss of tourism revenue for the Philippines because most cruise ships do not go to the Philippines. WHY???
How can the back crawl?
Lamoiyan Corp to Export Hapee Products to China
Filipino-owned Lamoiyan Corp., the manufacturer of the Hapee toothpaste brand, will be exporting its products to China, the company’s top official said. Cecilio Kwok Pedro, the company’s president and chief executive, said they have decided to be more aggressive and enter the Chinese market. Lamoiyan has been exporting its products to Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Pa-pua New Guinea and the Middle East [...]
Japan, Korea, Philippines in Renewable Energy Deals in Philippines
The three-country consortium of three companies are in agreement to create renewable energy projects in the Philippines. These are Alternergy Philippine Holdings Corporation, Eurus Energy Japan Corporation and Korea East West Power Company. This type of investment commitment comes from the perks that’s offered by the country’s “Renewable Energy Act.”
Source: Manila Bulletin.
Customer Contact Philippines 2009 BPO Event on October 7-9, 2009
A two-day BPO event will be held in the Philippines on October 7-8, 2009 at the Peninsula Manila Hotel. Frost & Sullivan’s “Customer Contact Philippines 2009” aims to bring together Senior Executives from around the region to discuss strategic, tactical and implementation issues facing the Contact Center Industry today.
The summit will feature two speakers from the often-quoted Contact Center Innovator, Kevin Panozza and Industry Leader, Jonathan De Luzuriaga. It will also have four specialist tracks on People (Staff), Customer, Business Strategy and Technology/Process, plus industry case studies from leading Organizations in Asia Pacific. An “Ask the Experts” Panel Discussions will also be conducted where Functional Experts & Delegates can engage in various discussions on topical customer contact issues. Lastly, there will also be a “Speed Networking Wheel” where delegates can meet & engage in short but valuable one-to-one meetings with key industry players based on a rotating table format.
Some discussion topics include:
- Transforming Customer Experience
- The Next Generation Virtual Contact Centers – Break the boundaries by integrating communications into Business Processes
- Best Practices in creating additional values in your Customer Base
- Destination of Choice: The Selection Process for the IT/BPO Industry
- Staffing, Training & Supervising Remote Agents
- Structuring & Organizing the Contact Center for greater Competitiveness
- Maintaining Control in a Virtual Contact Center
- Building a customer-focused Organizational Culture
- Strategic Contact Center Outsourcing & Partnerships
- Leveraging on the Voice of the Customer
- Attracting, retaining & engaging Generation Y (Gen Y) Staff in the Customer Contact Profession
- Extending the Contact Center into the Enterprise.
For more information please visit www.frost-ccph.com, call Sheryl Fuertez at +65 6890-0963 or email sheryl.f@frost.com.
SMART Promo Giving Away 50 Million Pesos in Daily, Monthly and Grand Draw
SMART Communications (Philippines) is giving away over 50 Million Pesos.
Their new promo is called “BigTym Buddy Promo!” There are daily cash prizes of 500 thousand, monthly raffles of 1 million and the grand draw worth 5 million Pesos. This new promo starts today, Friday, September 11, 2009 and will run until December 9, 2009.
To register, send your name and address to 2332, e.g. JUAN TAMAD / 10 PASEO DE ROXAS, MAKATI. The registration also serves as an opt-in command to the promo alerts pushed to the subscriber at specific times in a day. These free announcements may include but not limited to winner information, registration reminder, profiling questions, promo tips as well as special messages. Special messages inform subscribers of instances to increase the number of raffle entries that they may receive by answering certain questions. Registration is a one-time process per SIM card and is free of charge. However, you may register the same name using several SIM cards / mobile numbers.
Next, you must text BIG to 2332 within the promo hours (12:01 AM to 11:59 PM). In return, you will receive a confirmation message. Each text message will cost you 15 Pesos. This entitles you to 15 raffle entries for the daily, monthly and grand draws and 15 free texts valid for 1 day only within the Smart/Talk N’ Text network only. You will also earn 15 points that you can later use to download content from the web. If you haven’t registered, you will be prompted to register. However, entries earned prior to registration will not be considered valid. Points earned prior to registration can however be used to redeem content.
You can only win once in the daily draw, but still remain eligible to win in the monthly and grand draws. Entries earned only by registered subscribers are eligible to win in the daily, monthly & grand draws. Purchases made prior to registration shall earn entries but will not be considered valid. Once a subscriber registers, previously earned entries since the promo started shall be considered valid.
For more information, visit smart.com.ph/bigtym or send BIGINFO to 2332 (2.50 Pesos per text).
Pearl of the Orient Dance at Sacramento, CA
St. Francis High School of Sacramento, CA is hosting a dinner dance themed “The Pearl of the Orient.” This even will be from 5:00 to 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 in the gymnasium at St. Francis, 5900 Elvas Ave., Sacramento. This is hosted by Filipino parents and showcases Filipino culture through music, folk dance and food. Tickets are $30 general, $15 students, $10 ages 3 to 10, free for ages 2 and under. Call Rose Avila at (916) 834-7294.
Source: The Sacramento Bee.
Banco Sentral to Cut Fees on Remittance
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has agreed (in principle) to reduce fees on fund transfers, as much as 5 Pesos per transaction. BSP is encouring the member-banks of the Association of Bank Remittance Officers (ABROI) to do the same by coursing its remittances through the BSP’S Philippine Payments and Settlements Systems. BSP wants ABROI and the Bankers Association of the Philippines to standardize all backend processing fees to lower the cost of remitting funds. Current bank process fees go as much as 250 Pesos per transaction for same day deliveries.
Source: Manila Bulletin.
Clark Airport Promoted in Hong Kong
Clark is promoting the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Hong Kong, at the Langham Place Hotel in Kowloon, as its first location for its international roadshow. Presentations were made by both the airport management team and airlines that ply the Clark airport. Also present were several members of the Clark Freeport area. The intention of the presentations is to raise awareness of Clark airport as viable (and alternative) international gateway to the Philippines. There are about 130,000 Filipinos living and working in Hong Kong. Air Asia of Malaysia, Asiana of Korea, Cebu Pacific, Seair and Tiger Airways of Singapore are among the current air service providers using the Clark airport.
Source: TaleWins.
