Yearly Archives: 2016

Join Grab to ‘Deliver Happyness’ to 7,000 Underprivileged Kids

  • Grab launches regional donation campaign in six Southeast Asian countries
  • Allows anyone to donate pre-loved books, stationery and toys to underprivileged kids – at zero cost and effort
  • Simply book a Grab driver who will pick up your pre-loved stuff  
  • Grab aims to collect 20,000 items across the region

Manila, 07 December 2016 – Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform, wants to make December a little merrier for everyone through its latest regional donation campaign. With Delivering Happyness, Grab is calling for Filipinos, and the rest of Southeast Asia, to get into the spirit of year-end giving. All they have to do is to round up and pack gently-used (or new!) books, school supplies and toys – and then simply book a Grab to collect them starting December 12 to 24. Grab aims to collect 20,000 items across Southeast Asia, which will be delivered to 7,000 underprivileged kids in Southeast Asia.

“While people may wish to help the less fortunate, they often don’t know how, or where to start. As part of Grab’s commitment to improving lives in Southeast Asia, we’re using the Grab app to make giving as easy as possible – and in the process, deliver happiness to the children in our communities who need it most,” said Cheryl Goh, VP of Marketing, Grab.

Cheryl Goh added, “I grew up reading the adventures of Nancy Drew. She was a real problem-solver! I always try to find solutions and attribute my never-say-die spirit to my hours of reading. Today we read of young wizards bravely fighting the dark lord, instilling in kids a sense of justice and morals. Grab wants to call out to those who have the means to donate books, school supplies and toys. Let’s bring the joy of reading stories to thousands of kids in Southeast Asia – and give them a great foundation for learning life skills.”

Grab has partnered with non-profit organizations – in all six countries that Grab operates in: Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam – that focus on helping children in need. Each tackle issues unique to each country, such as helping to re-equip schools in the Philippines that were affected by recent storms, or giving books, school supplies and toys to kids in rural villages in Vietnam.

Grab Philippines has partnered with rural public schools across the country to help them rebuild what they lost after getting hit by recent storms. These public schools in Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Baguio and other neighboring cities will be the beneficiaries of Delivering Happyness.

“With the help of our provincial offices, we have pinpointed public schools that need a helping hand after being displaced by recent storms. Delivering Happyness is the perfect venue for Filipinos to share the spirit of Christmas with underserved kids and we’re glad to be able to make it happen,” said Grab Philippines’ Country Marketing Head, Khriz Lim.

Delivering Happyness from December 12 to 24

It’s easy for time-strapped people to donate their books, stationery and toys.

  1. Start packing your pre-loved books (or new!), school supplies and toys today.
  2. From December 12 to 24, donors just need to select the ‘Delivering Happyness’ special icon in the Grab app.
  3. Input their pick-up location and input the nearest Grab Office as their drop-off location.
  4. Confirm the booking and wait for the Grab vehicle to pickup the donations for free

Delivering Happyness is part of Grab’s commitment to improve lives in Southeast Asia. It is an extension of a similar campaign that was rolled out in 2013 in Malaysia to deliver 2,000 pre-loved books and toys to rural libraries. The campaign was a simple and honest effort to match donors to drivers.

For more information on the Delivering Happyness campaign, check out Grab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/GrabPH or their website, www.grab.com.

LRT1 Station SoundTrack

To exhibit Filipinos’ talent and inject new life to one of the metro’s major transport lines, international media and marketing agency PHAR Partnerships, in partnership with the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), introduces SoundTrack—a new, exciting experience featuring up and coming artists to entertain the riding public in LRT-1. This busking program launched just in time for the season of merriment. It features performances that promise to give commuters a reason to have fun and relax as they go through their daily commutes – reinventing the public space of the of the city’s major transport.

Noting the breadth of Filipino talent, PHAR handpicked homegrown performers with the help of indie-music and creative partners to enthrall Metro Manila’s entertainment-loving commuters.

“Metro Manila’s commuters spend a lot of time on the road, and they deserve great experience while on their journey. With so much talent in the Philippines, we decided to do a search – a fun and engaging way of tapping great potentials out there. We were amazed at the sheer diversity of submissions, and for the launch, we are proud to have chosen those who we think will make the audience stop, relax and smile,” said PHAR Managing Director for Asia, Prem Bhatia.

Six buskers have been selected to perform at the Doroteo Jose station, one of the busiest stations in the heart of Manila. Performance started last November 25, and will continue in the next two Fridays of December – 2 and 9.

Chosen after a rigorous talent search, the winning street performers now get to show off their talents and engage the commuting crowd. Selected talents will belt out pop favorites, Christmas tunes and some original compositions. Together, their talent and energy are expected to cheer up the stage and riders amidst the hustle and the bustle of the station.

“Filipinos love Christmas and they love to have fun, and this is exactly the mix we want to offer them, perhaps to relieve them of the stresses of traffic and provide them the kind of entertainment they would appreciate. SoundTrack will completely redefine commuters’ experience on the road. We are sure people will enjoy our treat,” Bhatia concluded.

PHAR is the newest international media and marketing agency in the Philippines. It has worked with AirAsia, London City Airport, Transport for London, Manchester City Council, Premier League, and other international organizations and institutions in the past. With its extensive experience abroad, PHAR is capable of developing campaigns, initiatives, and platforms to effectively reach the target audience. The SoundTrack Busking Program is just one of its many endeavors to reinvent the transport experience and effectively connect with the Filipino people, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Making A Christmas Carol a Filipino Christmas Tradition

Ushering in the holiday season, Globe Live is staging of Menken & Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol The Musical, its second theatrical offering for 2016. The musical is a co-production partnership between Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical, fresh from American Idiot’s run, which received 10 citations from this year’s Gawad Buhay Awards.

A Christmas Carol is a musical written by Tony Award nominee Mike Ockrent and Tony Award winner Lynn Ahrens, with lyrics by Ahrens and music by Alan Menken. It is based on the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, and tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man who brushes off the holiday season with the now-iconic phrase “Bah, humbug!”

He is visited by the ghosts of his former business partner and of Christmas past, present, and future. From them, he learns the true meaning of Christmas: giving.

“We were encouraged by the incredible success of American Idiot,” shares Executive Producer and Globe Retail Transformation and Stores Management Head Joe Caliro. “We chose to do A Christmas Carol for our second run because Christmas in the Philippines is colorful, and we want to add our musical as a new Filipino holiday tradition.”

Globe and 9 Works Theatrical is pulling out all the stops in producing Menken & Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol The Musical. Only the country’s number one mobile brand can produce a musical of this magnitude, complete with a cast of 31 actors, a 22-piece orchestra, three top Filipino choirs, and even snow for the complete Christmas spirit!

“The lessons that Scrooge learns in the musical is something that is already innate for Filipinos,” says Caliro. “They are warm, they are giving, they have a strong sense of family, and their holiday cheer is infectious. Some scenes are reminiscent of the noche buena tradition! This is the kind of musical that will resonate among the people here.”

Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical’s adaptation of Menken & Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol The Musical is directed by Robbie Guevara, with Onyl Torres as assistant director and Daniel Bartolome as musical director.

It will be staged at the Globe ICONIC Store, an open-space destination with a dynamic setup that can be arranged to suit any need. As an open-air auditorium, it makes theatergoing a more casual and inviting affair for everyone in Bonifacio High Street.

“Globe Live has proven itself to be a purveyor of world-class entertainment, and with 9WT we are going to once again raise the bar for local theater in order to introduce this new holiday tradition to everyone,” ends Caliro. “We invite friends and families to watch to make their holidays a little warmer and a little merrier.”

Globe is offering exciting ways to bring the musical to Filipinos. For a minimum single receipt purchase of P4,000 using your MasterCard in any of the participating Bonifacio High Street, or One and Two Parkade establishments, you can avail of two free tickets.

The first 350 customers who apply for a Globe myLifestyle Plan at Plan 999 and higher with a Huawei device at participating Globe stores from November 10-30 can also avail two free tickets.

MasterCard cardholders can redeem their tickets at the BGC Concierge located at C1 and C3 at the Bonifacio High Street daily from 11:00 AM to 5:00PM only. Cardholder must present the following to qualify for redemption: MasterCard credit, debit or prepaid card; original charge slip from the transaction; and proof of identification.

A Christmas Carol will be shown on December 3 to 4, 9 to 11, 16 to 18, 21 and 22, 2016 at 8:00pm, and December 25, 2016 at 7:00pm, at Globe Iconic Store, Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Tickets are available for P2,100 on www.ticketworld.com.ph.

Villa Del Conte’s Merry Christmas Box

Sweeter holidays with Villa Del Conte. This Christmas season, make your holiday greetings even sweeter with Villa Del Conte’s Merry Christmas Box.

Villa Del Conte Christmas Box comes with decadent praline balls with luscious cream fillings like hazelnut, macadamia, and salted caramel. These premium artisanal Italian chocolates which come in 200 gram boxes and are priced at P880 will surely make this Christmas the best one for your family, friends, and colleagues.

Villa Del Conte also offers other celebration gift boxes such as the Happy Birthday and Congratulations boxes and the Villa Del Conte special red box.

Grab a box today at Villa del Conte stores at Greenbelt 5, Century City Mall, Shangri-la Mall, Resorts World, Alabang Town Center, SM Megamall and Robinsons Magnolia to get one. For bulk orders, please contact 893-2575 or 621-6101.

Go to http://www.villadelcontecioccolato.com/ to know more about Villa del Conte, or follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VillaDelContePh, Instagram: http://instagram.com/villadelconte and Twitter: https://twitter.com/VilladelConte.

Fresh Options Ready-to-Cook Meat Products

Times are indeed changing. Unlike in the last decade where mothers lavishly prepare the family dinner, today’s trend has changed cooking habits to simple and easy. The fast changing times have curved our dietary habits to the convenient and instant. The pre-prep food industry has gained traction over the years and is playing a crucial rule in the day to day dietary habits of Filipino families.
Canned food, fast foods, frozen and packed meat, have evolved to replace the freshly cooked meals that families enjoy at dinner time for the simple reason that it is easy and convenient. However, we must also remember that food quality must never be sacrified for convenience.

RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods, Inc. (RDFFLFI) assures consumers of fresh and safe meat products that includes fresh, marinated, ready to cook and processed meat products with their Fresh Options Meat Shop.

Aptly called Value Added Meats, Fresh Options carry products that are easy to prepare and ready to cook. The Merry-Nades line features marinated pork and chicken in a variety of flavors that includes garlic, sweet style and classic barbecue. Fancy a ‘crispy pata’ or Ilocos bagnet? Just head on over to Fresh Options for your Crispinoy ready-to-fry fix. For tocino, longganisa, tapa and embotido, try Fresh Options Rapsarap products. For your kid’s baon like hotdog and chicken nuggets, try Fresh Options Kiddie Goodie products. Try out the Ulam Mismo Line (Ulam Ora Mismo) for ready-to-heat Filipino meals like Dinuguan, Beef Kaldereta, Bopis, Pork and Chicken Sisig, Beef Mechado, Chicken Curry and many more! Craving for Chinese cuisine? Try Fresh Options Dimsum Basket for your Pork and Chicken siomai, Chicken Feet, Quekiam fix! Want to impress your guests with some chef’s signature recipes? Don’t miss Fresh Options Chef Series line of ready to heat meals like Chicken Galantina, Beef Rendang, Crispy Pata Paksiw and many more!

Fresh Options’ processed meat products and ready-to-cook items are guaranteed fresh. RDFFLFI allocates a portion of slaughtered meats as main ingredients of Value Added Meat products that go directly to the processing plants and cooking areas. The ready-to-heat meals have a shorter shelf life to ensure that the products are “Siguradong Fresh! Siguradong Special!”

RDFFLFI takes pride in providing consumers with safe meat products. Founded by veterinarian-entrepreneur Dr. Robert Lo in 1985, the company is a medium-scale agri-food system enterprise that has an end-to-end integrated food supply chain that includes livestock breeding, feed manufacturing, meat processing, and distribution to food service delivery. A pool of veterinarians on-site monitor and secure proper husbandry practices at the poultry and hog farms to ensure that they are healthy and free of diseases. High-quality feeds developed in-house through years of research are also fed to the company’s poultry and hogs to ensure they will contain less fat and leaner meat.

“Our company is committed to providing better access to high-quality food from farm to table to our Filipino consumers. This is made possible by investing in innovation and ensuring that safety is paramount in all our process of handling the meat products, starting from the source up to the table,” shares Dr. Lo.