Sunday, December 30, 2007

Manigong Bagong Taon: The filipino way of celebrating New Year!






















WEAR POLKA DOTS...






PUT some LUCKY CHARMS..






BUY 12 Circular Fruits..






HAVE something sticky for dinner sweets such as tikoy and biko...






JUMP exactly at 12:00 am Jan. 1 to become taller... (i doubt it)






Fireworks and Firecrackers...






Have some coins and bills on your pocket...


HAPPY 2008 Philippines!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

111th Rizal Martyrdom: a tribute to a Great Man, A Filipino the greatest man of the malay race..









He who knows the surface of the earth and the topography of a country only through the examination of maps..is like a man who learns the opera of Meyerbeer or Rossini by reading only reviews in the newspapers. The brush of landscape artists Lorrain, Ruysdael, or Calame can reproduce on canvas the sun's ray, the coolness of the heavens, the green of the fields, the majesty of the mountains...but what can never be stolen from Nature is that vivid impression that she alone can and knows how to impart--the music of the birds, the movement of the trees, the aroma peculiar to the place--the inexplicable something the traveller feels that cannot be defined and which seems to awaken in him distant memories of happy days, sorrows and joys gone by, never to return.--Rizal, "Los Viajes"



Friday, December 7, 2007

Manila Ocean Park


At Last.... The Manila Ocean Park

BUSINESSWORLD: Vol. XXI, No. 63Tuesday, October 23, 2007 MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Today’s HeadlinesManila Ocean Park nears completion, targets July ’08 opening
TOURISTS AND KIDS AT HEART who want an underwater experience — without literally having to get wet — can flock to the country’s first marine-themed complex by July next year.
Located behind Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park, Manila Ocean Park will house an oceanarium, a mall, a boutique hotel, a restaurant strip and open marine habitats all rolled into one, designed to give everyone a “deeper experience.”
The P1-billion project of China Oceanis Philippines, Inc. — a joint undertaking of Singaporean and Malaysian investors — is currently 80% complete, with the Oceanarium set to open in time for this year’s Christmas holiday.
The Park will include a mall, restaurants, a hotel and multifunction facilities. — BW File PhotoOceanarium, the first phase of the park, will be the first and largest aquarium facility in the country wherein over 20,000 exotic and colorful fishes would come from the waters off Cavite and Palawan.
Tina Mistica-Santos, marketing manager of Manila Ocean Park, said the oceanarium is way bigger than the famous Sentosa Underwater world in Singapore. “Manila Ocean Park is about 8,000 square meters wide, while Sentosa is 6,000,” she told reporters, adding that the main attraction of the Oceanarium is a 25-meter long, 220-degree curved acrylic walkway tunnel, compared to the standard oceanarium with a 180-degree view.
“It replicates the water flow from a fresh water source that eventually leads to the open ocean, creating a model of the interconnectedness between land and sea. It then takes one through the different depths of the sea-showing each area’s beautiful and natural inhabitants,” she said.
One side of the tunnel’s wall, Ms. Santos said, will feature corals and small fish, while the other wall will have sharks and rays.
She added that Oceanarium is divided into sections that carry Filipino terms. Some of them are Agos, a rainforest-themed part with freshwater species in eight tanks; Bahura (Reef), a section composed of 48 tanks showcasing artificial corals; Laot, a long tank featuring big fishes and Eagle-spotted rays; and Kalaliman, wherein barracudas would swim around in one large tank.
“The Oceanarium also has a multipurpose hall that could be used for educational exhibits and various functions all year long,” Ms. Santos said.
Both the Oceanarium and the Open Water Marine Habitat — where visitors can swim and scuba-dive with sharks and other fishes — will contain 12,000 cubic meters of seawater coming from Manila Bay.
Scheduled to open April next year, a boutique mall and a 100-room high-end hotel will form part the second phase of the project. “It will feature new and unique shops that are not commonly found in other malls. It will likewise showcase a unique restaurant row located at the rear of the facility, alongside a promenade that offers an obstructed view of the Manila Bay,” Ms. Santos said.
Ms. Santos said the Oceanarium is expected to accommodate 1.5 million visitors, while the boutique mall will have a foot traffic of 28,000 individuals per day. — L. N. P. Lee

Visit its website at http://manilaoceanpark.com/

Thursday, December 6, 2007

PAGCOR E-city,,, to convert manila as Las Vegas?

t top the land area, bottom the miniature plan without the observation tower


You’ll know that the Pagcor dream of creating a Las Vegas on Manila Bay will come closer to reality when one of the Big Boys actually signs a contract or joint-venture agreement with the state gambling monopoly. For the optimists, there’s recent news that Wynn Resorts, Ltd. (annual sales: US$1.4 billion and market cap of US10.3 billion) is interested. Given the Pagcor E-City’s ambitions, only those in the billion bracket (dollars, not pesos) can undertake this. But right now, it’s all just talk-talk, in contrast to Macau where it’s build-build-build.
Tim Shiah, a representative of Jack Binion of Wynn Resorts, said the company is “committed to look at all opportunities in the Philippines.” Jack Binion runs the international operations of the hotel casino chain, the first of which was Wynn Macau.“Wynn Macau is actually looking into the Philippines. Jack Binion is director of Wynn International that’s why he’s been down here for the last couple of years and they’re looking [around],” Shiah said at the Asia Gaming and Entertainment Expo briefing.“You know the biggest asset in the Philippines—and I can’t preach this loud enough—is the people here, the workforce,” he added.Hotel chain owner Steve Wynn and Binion had talked about duplicating Wynn Macau in the country, Shiah said, adding that the renewal of the license and eventual amendment to the charter of Pagcor would make it easier for the group to enter the local gaming scene.








Pagcor, Greece's Loutraki Casino in talks for a projectBY LIZA REYESState-owned gaming operator Pagcor said on Wednesday it was in talks with Greece's Loutraki Casino which wants to bid for the right to develop the first phase of the government’s 800-hectare gaming project in the capital. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) hopes to bid out the contract this year for the $10-billion development of the first phase covering 42 hectares, company chairman Efraim Genuino said on the sidelines of an international gaming conference in Manila. “Loutraki is the biggest gaming operator in Europe. It’s from Greece,” said Genuino, who expects development of the first phase to be completed in two to three years.“We're just finalizing the technical requirements before we start bidding them out. They're (potential investors) still waiting for the technical requirements so that they can comply." The Philippines, which has a total public sector debt of P5 trillion or 87.7 percent of GDP as of June 2006, is eager for investments and the tax revenues gambling provides. Its casino monopoly Pagcor, which currently operates 13 casinos nationwide, is its biggest source of state income after taxes.Genuino is hoping to hit the jackpot with the massive gaming and leisure project which would be built on an 800-hectare site of reclaimed land in Manila.He was also hoping to generate more investments under a looser Congressional franchise.Under the new Pagcor Charter, which is pending at bicameral conference committee, the Philippine casino operator may now enter into joint ventures with private investors.The project, called Bagong Nayon Pilipino Entertainment City, is envisioned to be a total entertainment complex, complete with casinos, resorts, restaurants and a theme park."This will be a total entertainment package. It’s not just gaming but an entertainment complex for the family," Genuino said. “To attract tourists, we the design and approach to the project must be new compared to other Asian casinos.”






Sunday, December 2, 2007

Skycity.. aPhilippine pride in the making!


photo by emporis
Skycity is a 80 story skyscraper that is under construction in Mandaluyong, Philippines. It is expected to be completed in 2012 and be 335 metres (1,099 ft) tall. Skycity is planned as a mixed used skyscraper with a hotel, office space and residential space. It will be the tallest tower in the Philippines after completion followed by Lopez Center Tower and PBCom Tower except it the government would approve the PAGCOR E-CITY observation TOWER with 665 meters tall.