One FC: Warrior's Way | Brandon Vera leads pack of seven Filipino fighters.

On December 5, 2014, 7 Filipinos will show their warrior skills inside the cage in front of the Filipino audience at the SM Arena. The pack of 7 will be led by none less, Brandon Vera, international MMA superstar who is set to have his debut fight for One FC that night.

One FC: Warrior's Way is set to be the organization’s fifth stop in the country, and the star-studded card will feature seven Filipino superstars taking on foreign opponents. Jujeath Nagaowa, Ana Julaton, Rene Catalan, Honorio Banario, Kevin Belingon, Eduard Folayang and MMA superstar Brandon Vera are the seven Filipino stars set to feature on the card and the group form an impressive representation of the martial arts prowess of the Philippines. Both Jujeath Nagaowa and Ana Julaton have boxing pedigrees, with Julaton a former WBO and IBA Super Bantamweight Champion. Catalan, Banario, Belingon and Folayang all have a long list of accolades in Wushu and Brandon Vera is a kickboxing champion and one of the most highly touted fighters in recent history. A win for any of the Filipino stars could put them up for title contention in a future event.

One FC: Warrior's Way Fight Card.

Jujeath Nagaowa is taking on Tharoth Sam, a female mixed martial arts pioneer from Cambodia. Ana Julaton, who arguably had the loudest ovation at the last Manila event, will be back in action once again to take on Egyptian kickboxing champion Walaa Abbas. Julaton has been training with some of the top wrestling coaches in the states and is eager to showcase her new grappling chops in this bout. 

Former ONE FC Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario will look to make the climb back into title contention, but he faces a stern test in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Herbert Burns. Belingon will be disappointed that he is not in the main event, considering he was dominating in a #1 contender bout against Dae Hwan Kim before succumbing to a submission. Dae now gets to compete in the main event and Belingon will be determined to gain a headlining spot.

Eduard Folayang has another stern test in Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin. Folayang has staked his claim for a title opportunity by defeating Vincent Latoel and former ONE FC Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu Boku, and a win over Nastyukhin will make it hard for the matchmakers to overlook his claims.

The event will also see the debut of MMA superstar Brandon Vera in the Philipines. Fans in the country have been clamouring for an opportunity to see him live in action for more than a decade and will now get the chance at One FC: Warrior's Way. He will take on Igor Subora, a Ukrainian who has destroyed the regional scene in the Philippines. The clash of heavyweights is one of the most heavily-anticipated bouts of the year and will cap off the Filipino participation at this momentous event.

Tickets for One FC: Warriors Way on 5 December in Manila are on sale now at SM Tickets (http://www.smtickets.com). Ticket categories begin with the full Red Carpet and cageside experience for VIPs at PHP 6,360 followed by Patron PHP 3,180, Lower Box PHP 1,280, Upper Box PHP 640 and General Admission PHP 220. Prices include ticketing fee. Pre-sale packages are currently available.

After Haiyan | A Journey to Wonderful.

When Supertyphoon Haiyan (local name Typhoon Yolanda) unleashed its fury a year ago, it left a trail of unimaginable devastation to lives and properties. One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 6,300 casualties in the Philippines alone. Yet, despite the bleak scenario, hope continued to exist as public and private sectors as well as the international community joined hands to bring the country back on its feet. Globe Telecom was among the first companies to respond to the call for help.

“Globe recognizes how every little effort counts in rebuilding the nation, thus, it went out of its way to rally the employees, customers, partners, and other stakeholders to raise funds for the construction of homes and school buildings and for the creation of livelihood opportunities in areas hardly hit by the disaster. Project Wonderful was born out of this desire to aid in nation building. Ten months since it was launched, we now see the fruits of our efforts but we are not stopping until we fulfill all our commitments,” said Yoly Crisanto, Senior Vice President, Globe Corporate Communications.

Newly-constructed homes in Gawad Kalinga, New Washington, Aklan.

At present, Globe together with Gawad Kalinga, has completed a total of 162 homes in Brgy. Tambulilid, Ormoc, Leyte and Brgy. Fatima, New Washington, Aklan, as well as in Brgy. Tugas, Madridejos, Bantayan Island, Cebu via sponsorship of SingTel. An additional 28 houses are scheduled for construction in Libacao, Aklan early January for a total of 190 units. Globe is also set to give out 600 shelter kits to Libacao before yearend aside from the 940 shelter kits distributed in Madalag, Aklan earlier.

Shelter kits.

In addition, Globe also became a Development Sponsor for Aklan under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) where it spearheads initiatives in housing, education, livelihood, and health to help seven of the hardest hit municipalities: Libacao, Madalag, Banga, Batan, Altavas, Balete, and New Washington.

School construction site.

Globe not only provides houses for Aklan but is also working on building schools for its seven areas of concentration. With the help of Habitat for Humanity and Ayala Foundation, the company is building in two phases. The first phase involves the construction of “Noah’s Ark”-type classrooms that double as evacuation structures during calamities as they are equipped with three toilet and bath facilities each as well as a kitchen. The second phase is comprised of more than 30 regular but “built back better” classrooms to be funded from proceeds of the company’s enterprise-wide waste management program, as well as from parent-company Ayala Corporation.

To top it off, Globe also launched Project 1 Phone to educate Filipinos on the importance of proper disposal of electronic waster or e-waste and to contribute to the building of classrooms in Aklan. Under this project, everyone can support the efforts in Aklan by donating their old, non-working mobile phones for recycling at participating Globe Stores. Proceeds of the program will be used as additional funding for the schools. Cash donations of 5, 20, 50, 100, 500 denominations may also be sent directly to Habitat for Humanity by texting DONATE HABITAT and send to 4438.

Wordless Wednesday #108 | Happy Birthday, Yue!

The little man turns six today!
Happy Birthday, my Moon Angel!
We love you! :)

Shakey's Birthday Party | Heroes, Pizza, Fun!

Yue's friend, Chiara, turned seven a few days ago. To celebrate the occasion, she had a party at Shakey's, where Yue (and I), and the rest of the Grade 1 class (and the moms, of course) had been invited. I wanted to blog about the experience, because truth be told, it's our first time to attend a Shakey's Birthday Party. Haha!

Happy Birthday Chiara!

The function room at Shakey's San Pablo can accommodate 70-80 guests. This was how the place looked like when set-up.

Birthday set-up. :)

At present, Shakey's has only one party theme available - Justice League Unlimited. Chiara, however, wanted a Frozen-themed birthday party. The staff at Shakey's San Pablo were kind enough to grant Chiara's request. The Frozen balloons, the cake, and the party favors were provided by Chiara's family, while the Justice League stuff are included in Shakey's party package.

Yue with Chiara, in her Anna costume.

Aside from the usual party hats, the kids were given super hero capes, which I thought was pretty cool. The boys got Batman, while the girls got Wonder Woman capes.

Game prizes and party favors.

Frozen balloons and Justice League loot bags.

Shakey's balloons.

Elsa birthday cake + cake pops.

Of course, no children's party would be complete without parlor games...

Yue having the time of his life. Hahaha!

Kids having fun!

And a mascot appearance, too!

Chiara and Captain Shakey's.

Photo op with the kids.

Pandemonium, lol!

Captain Shakey's even went table-hopping. :)

Oh, and the food! Shakey's has four food packages, with prices ranging from Php 155 to Php 225.

Spaghetti, chicken, mojos, garlic bread, and pizza + a glass of cola.

A Shakey's birthday party runs for two hours. They are pretty strict when it comes to time, and they charge extra in excess of the allotted time. Prior to the party, Chiara's mom (who also happens to be my friend) gave us guests a gentle reminder to arrive on time because of the tight schedule. If you're planning to throw a Shakey's birthday party, I suggest you do the same with your guests to avoid the hassle. :)

With the birthday girl.

Happy campers! :)

Yue enjoyed the party so much that I'm considering Shakey's for his seventh birthday party next year. (Aside from the fact that the little man loves their Mojos and Chicken to bits!) Hopefully, they'll have more party theme options by then. :)

Globe Telecom + NBA | Basketball as you want it.

Back in the days, the only way to be able to watch NBA games was to subscribe to cable TV. These days, you can watch the games live even while on the road, through smartphones and tablets. Thanks to technology, and the recent tie-up of Globe Telecom and the National Basketball Association! :)

Best of both worlds!

The partnership will allow both prepaid and postpaid subscribers to purchase NBA league passes to get access to live NBA games, streamed right to their mobile devices. The subscriptions will be available to Globe users via affordable packages that can be purchased piecemeal, or bundles with postpaid plans.

A day pass to the live games can be purchased for as little as PHP 10 with the GoSURF10 bundle, or opt for up to seven single day passes bundles with their plans for as low as PHP299. Postpaid subscribers get seven day passes every month for up to 24 months, depending on their postpaid subscription. Non-Globe subscribers can get in on the action as well, and purchase league passes, though a separate connection to the Internet will be required.

“We are excited to welcome Globe into the NBA family,” said Scott Levy, NBA Asia Managing Director.  “The NBA shares Globe’s commitment of enriching the lives of Filipinos and, through this new partnership, Globe will have a presence across all areas of the NBA experience and bring the game closer to our millions of fans throughout the country.”

Globe and NBA Executives come together for the groundbreaking, multi-year partnership.

For the NBA, this new partnership is another milestone in a landmark year in the Philippines, which saw the introduction of the first Jr. WNBA program in the country, the launch of the world’s first NBA Cafe, the announcement of the first NBA Store in the Philippines and, most recently, the NBA’s multiyear partnership extension with local broadcasters ABS-CBN and Solar Entertainment.

This partnership continues a two and a half year journey in which Globe has forged globally-innovative partnerships that bring breakthrough, ‘world’s firsts’ to the Philippines.  During this time, Globe has sealed partnerships with Facebook, Google, Viber, Spotify and now the NBA.  These partnerships, together with the telco’s $790M network transformation program, have made Globe the fastest growing telecommunications provider in the Philippines.