Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle

We finally got to visit Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle as it opened its doors to the media last August 23. It is a private zoo and theme park devoted to endangered species and friendly animals, tucked away inside the famous Manila Zoo. It's an especially worthy destination when you have a few little kids in tow.

Located at the left side after entering the the main entrance of Manila Zoo, it has a separate entrance fee and different attractions. With a whole day pass, you get to roam around the compounds and interact with tamed animals.

The press con highlighted two of its famous residents, the 50 year old "Mr. T" (Sulcata Tortoise) and the Hyacinth Macaw.

Mr. T. is a land dwelling turtle. The Sulcata tortoise will live over 100 years old and its shell will grow to over 1 meter in length and weigh over 40 kilos. Unlike turtles, these tortoises are not shy and actually likes being with humans. You can feed a sulcata in Kinder Zoo and you can watch how he easily breaks a carrot in two. Just be careful of his sharp beak but don't worry, because he won't bite on purpose.

Now here's the tiny yet adorable baby of Mr. T. that is around 4 months old, hatched within Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle grounds.

Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle's advocacy is to breed these endangered animals, which explains this.. tortoises caught in the act of copulating and the caretaker said it usually lasts for at least 6 hours.

They're also proud to conserve 7 Hyacinth Macaw which are the largest Macaw or largest flying parrot in the world. These are considered endangered species and are known as the clowns of the parrot family due to its yellow skin that looks like they are constantly smiling and for being

inquisitive and playful.

You can also experience feeding these wonderful creatures. Again, just be careful of the beak. They're so powerful with a crushing strength of 3000 lbs. per inch. Your finger will be like a matchstick to them.It's always a treat to see get a glimpse of famous animals such as Gibi the Gibbon, Boogie the Potbellied Pig, and Janet the Blue and Gold Macau at the Zoo                                            

Other highlights are the Burmese python and Burmese crocodile or feed their gorgeous birds, roaming freely on the grounds.

For those with more excited appetites with regards to wildlife, Kinder Zoo also lets you pet reptiles like the Cayman Crocodile and Burmese Python.

True to its name, the zoo offers a variety of different animals that every kids and kids at heart will surely love. It is a place where kids and adults can touch, learn and understand our friendly animals up close and personal. You can also get all your photos printed in a flash at the Photo Souvenir area.

Zoo-goers who fancy a closer look at friendly fauna can experience the varying hues of Kinder Zoo’s diverse Bird life, the playful pelt of the baby Gibbon and the adorable Pot Belly Pigs.

After facing their fears with the crocs and snakes, children may relax their muscles by sitting on a Horse. Zoo-attendees may also Wall Climb as much as they want; getting the Spider Man tendencies out of their system.

Or take a dip in the Kinder Zoo swimming pool near the zoo's exit, where kids can blow off the last of their steam. After swimming, they can dry their hair with an adrenaline-inducing Zip Line Ride.

If you haven't gotten your fill of animals and the outdoors at the Kinder zoo, head about a few steps and check out Manila Zoo. Will definitely impress your nephew who lives to see crocs, elephants, and tigers.

I would like to invite everyone to Kinder Zoo! Most of the exotic animals on site can be fed or held. Visitors  can go home with the satisfaction of a much greater appreciation for animals! Like me, one of my cherished memories as a kid was visiting the Manila Zoo.

August 23, 2014 is a day that I can say is truly memorable. I am surely returning here with loved ones for a most unforgettable experience! Thank you Kinder Zoo!

Check out:
Kinder Zoo on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinder-Zoo-Adventure-Jungle/171815836178925
Kinder Zoo on Twitter https://twitter.com/kinder_zoo
Kinder Zoo on Instagram http://instagram.com/kinderzooadventurejungle
Call (02)5226179 or (02) 4755775.

Kinder Zoo is open Mondays to Sundays from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

''STORIES' - JOHNNY ALEGRE AFFINITY

"Stories" (on MCA Music) consists of the most exciting and memorable performances from AFFINITY's first two recordings, 2005's Jazzhowd and 2007's Eastern Skies.While Jazzhomd features the quintet, Eastem Skies has AFFINITY (with Joey Quirino as the group's new pianist) joined by the Global Studio Orchestra conducted by Gerard Salonga. "Eastern Skies was recorded in a facility built for a classical music orchestra Recording the orchestra together with a hard-rocking jazz group made it a challenge for the jazz musicians who had to scatter into other rooms. Our way of communicating visually with each other was through closed circuit cameras. I give a lot of credit to Gerard Salonga for holding everything together."

The two opening songs on Stories are each taken from the Jazzhound and Eastern Skies albums, respectively. The melody of "East Indies" from Jazzhound introduces Johnny Alegre's attractive and personal tone on the guitar. "East Indies" was the name that European explorers originally gave to the region of the Philippines, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. After the relatively mellow theme, Tolentino's high-powered alto is passionate, Johnny delivers a melodic statement that builds on the saxophonist's ideas Saison has a short spot and, following the catchy theme, Bermejo's drums are quite active over the closing vamp. This is followed by the celebratory "Light And Joy" from Eastern Skies, written by Johnny back in the 1970s as a fusion piece, which has been part of his repertoire ever since. The infectious melody serves as a perfect orchestral introduction for this definitive reissue.

The next songs are quintet pieces. Part of the upbeat melody of "Guardian Angel" was thought of by Johnny years ago."It was almost a mystical experience for me, because the recollection would surface in fleeting moments. I would forget the phrase, remember it again, and then forget it again. This happened continually until I finally decided to write it down." The concise alto, piano, guitar and bass solos make each note count with Tolentino hinting a bit at Eric Dolphy. The joyfully funky title track, "Jazzhovnd" (named after a friend who had a huge record collection) was partly inspired by Ron Carter's "Blues Farm''. Cotby dela Calzada enthusiastically plays the groove and Johnny creates a particularly inventive solo.

The following three selections are from Eastern Skies and have AFFINITY joined by the orchestra. 'oNatural Jazz," arranged by Ria Villena-Osorio, is a little reminiscent in spots of Oliver Nelson's "stolen Moments." It is a straight ahead romp for the musicians.

''Mother's Day" and "The Stranger", also arranged by Villena.Osorio, are showcases for Johnny with the orchestra. His sound on these pieces falls between Wes Montgomery and Pat Metheny but his musical personality is very much his ov.vn. "The Stranger", in particular, has a mysterious atmosphere caused by using both major and minor themes. Tolentino's exciting soprano solo is a highpoint.

Returning to the Jazzhound sessions, "Perfect Imperfect" includes Spanish-inspired accents, a haunting chromatic melody, superior solo statements by Saison, Johnny and Tolentino, and heated interplay in the background by dela Calzada and Bermejo."Vertigo" is Johnny's tribute to both Alfred Hitchcock and Wayne Shorter (who loves Hitchcock's films).It has some of the most adventurous solos of the set, with Saison,Johnny and Tolentino all stretching themselves.

 Finishing with the orchestra, the picturesque "Beacon Call" was written by Johnny to express the feeling of openness and joy that he gets when seeing meadows and fields in the country. Quirino's solo inspired Johnny to come up with a memorable statement of his own.

The music and playing of AFFINITY still sounds very fresh today. In more recent times,Johnny recorded the "Johnny Alegre 3"album with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart, made a world music CD ("Humanfolk") with percussionist Susie Ibarra and today leads a trio version of AFFINITY. But while Johnny Alegre looks towards future projects, the music on Stories shows that he can certainly be proud of what he has accomplished so far.

"Stories" is now out in CDs at Astroplus and Odyssey and digital downloads via spinnr.ph and iTunes.
  It is distributed by MCA Music, Inc.

Dell Launched Dell PowerEdge R920 which has 6 TB Memory

Dell, one of the largest PC manufacturers in the worldwide kicks of its Solutions tour in SM Aura last March 18, 2014 with some guest audience from Mongolia have joined the event.

Dell Solutions Tour announced about their new marketing strategy, also their innovation in redefining storage economics. Some of the speakers were from different countries, also Chris Papa, the marketing manager of Dell Philippines, discussed some of the new products of Dell specially here in Asia-Pacific region.

In 2013, Dell broke ground with its impressive line of Windows 8-powered products, including the Latitude 10 tablet, Optiplex 9010 All-in-One with optional touch screen, Latitude 6430u ultrabook, and the XPS 12 hybrid convertible tablet-notebook PC. These became the toast of the client PC market as they received acclaim from PC experts and tech editors from leading publications and blogs.

Dell unveils its brand new series of full-featured enterprise storage. The new Dell SC4000 Series arrays demonstrate Dell's continued innovation to bring full-featured, enterprise class, low cost but high performing, smaller scale solution. The new storage array series, with an all-flash solution that can cost 76% less than competing pure flash arrays.

FYI, Dell has been constantly number 1 in store devices sales.

Launched during the event is their newest server:
Dell PowerEdge R920 which has 6 TB Memory
• A world record 4-socket Linux benchmark result of 24,150 benchmark users on the SAP SD 2-Tier benchmark.
• A 71% improved performance over the previous best E7-4800 4-socket SAP SD benchmark.
• Nearly the same performance in an SAP environment compared with the previous generation 8-socket servers, providing up to a 50% cost savings in software licensing to the customer.

www.dell.com

www.dellsolutionstour.com

McDonald Kiddie Crew WorkShop

 Alexa is now only participate in a workshop, and McDo kiddie crew workshop, said it turned her happy. Draw her name and picture in chef hat, he made humburger done, and who they tour kitchen and more...

DISCOVER FUN, LEARNING  & FRIENDSHIP

Kiddie Crew Workshop is back for 6-12 year old kids to enjoy summer activities, the McDonald’s way.

Participants will get the limited-edition Kiddie Crew Workshop shirt, bag, ID lace together with artwork materials, their very own set of badges every after activity and meals for all workshop days for just Php595. More than the exciting Kiddie Crew goodies, kids will also get a chance to make new friends over the summer vacation.

Last year, close to 40,000 kids all over Philippines enjoyed the 5-day workshop with its several activities such as burger-making, design-your- apron activity, singing and dancing sessions plus the fun restaurant on-floor training like Drive-Thru and front counter activities that help develop their skills and also instill  important values such as hard work, discipline and teamwork.  This year, new activities such as jazz-up-your-own-hat, talent workshop and the new value formation topic on sharing will surely help develop your kids’ skills and values.

A series of grand graduation will be held in key cities to congratulate all Kidde Crew members in the country and lots of activities are in-store not just for the Kiddie Crew members but for the whole family, too!  The fun definitely doesn’t stop there because all Kiddie Crew graduates will receive McCelebrations Gift Certificate worth Php500 that they can use anytime this year and they have freebies to enjoy too with their Kiddie Crew Club Card.

So what are you waiting for? Let your kids have the most memorable summer experience, the McDonald’s way! Registration is now open in participating McDonald’s stores nationwide and the workshop will run until April 30. Sign them up for the McDonald’s Kiddie Crew Workshop today!

For more information and the complete list of participating stores, visit

www.mcdonalds.com.ph.                               

(EVENT) NUVALI Night Sky Cinema

I had a great weekend getaway last Saturday at the green open football field of Nuvali as they organized The first ever NUVALI Night Sky Cinema. People from all walks of life sat on bean bags and picnic mats watching all time favorite romantic Hollywood flicks on a gigantic outdoor screen – the event’s main attraction.

The night February 22 was made more special as people flocked the Nuvali open grounds to watch movies for free. Under the starry skies, the people were treated to three foreign movies namely You've Got Mail, Pray.Eat.Love and About Time. These are three movies all related to romance with their own remarkable twist that were loved by many.  The newest among the three movies was About Time starring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Glesson, which deals with time travel.It's a story about a man who desperately tries to change his past to make his future a lot better.

The other two movies were shown several years ago but set the mood for nostalgia among the crowd and reminiscent of the good-old-sweet moments of yesteryears. You've Got Mail which stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks featured the old style e-mail when SMS and social media were not yet invented. Pray. Eat. Love was a Julia Roberts film based on the memoir of American author Elizabeth Gilbert. The movie was about one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia.

  

The tandem of Tomas  Hanks and Meg Ryan continues to sizzle in the big screen.

The event was hosted by Tom Alvarez, Dr. Love from Monster Radio RX 93.1

Aside from the movie screening, other “date night” attractions were also available including a giant slide, jousting area, basketball hoops section to name a few. And what would date night be without food? Food carts and trailers were also present to churn out tasty eats and movie treats.

Date night from the Crowd

The weather was just right and very ideal to be in the arms of your loved ones.

Everyone is actually wishing that the event should be regularly held (We’ll I agree). Through events like this, people are given an opportunity to appreciate the outdoors and life’s simple pleasures with family and friends: definitely another NUVALI signature event in the making.

Nuvali continues to create events like these to make nature and man as one by introducing fun and engaging activities so city and local dwellers can freely experience the beauty of nature together with their loved ones.

For updates, you may check the official web site: http://www.nuvali.ph
and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Nuvaliofficia

“You only live once” AXA Health Campaign: Fail Proof Your Future Now!

How should we handle emergency cases, like sickness and the likes, These are inevitable things we cannot avoid in life. so we must be prepare for it. After attending AXA's event yesterday, i realized how important it is that the earlier we plan our sickness insurance, the better.

Listening to Ms. Prats story makes me think how hard it is not to have an insurance. more than the agony of facing a love ones suffering from an illness, where to get the financial is one big burden to handle It's good that to know, that  there is  a company, like AXA, who could cover us in our times of despair and emergencies.

Usec Dr. Ted Herbosa of DOH, mentioned common diseases afflicting filipinos now due to bad lifestyle. thus we should be aware of these and be mindful of things we do and eat,

 Lifestyle diseases afflicting more Filipinos. AXA urges financial preparedness for critical illnesses,other medical emergencies. According to statistics from the Department of Health (DOH), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or lifestyle diseases such as heart attack or heart failure, stroke, and cancer are the top 3 leading causes of death among Filipinos.
  Digging deeper into the numbers, it is reported that more than 276 Filipinos die of heart disease on a daily basis. Moreover, 9 people are diagnosed with cancer every hour, and 142 Filipinos die from cancer every day. At least one Filipino suffers from stroke every 9 minutes; for those who survive, they have a 75% chance of becoming permanently disabled.

While there may be increasing public awareness to preventing these diseases through diet and exercise, little is done to raise awareness for Filipinos to prepare financially for the impact of having any of these lifestyle diseases.


The cost for heart by-pass surgery, chemotherapy, or brain surgery ranges from P500,000 to as much as P1,000,000, an amount that most regular health plans cannot cover. Moreover, it is estimated that medical costs are expected to double in the next 10 years --- a rate much higher than economic inflation.

That is why AXA Philippines, one of the country’s largest and fastest growing life insurance companies, is helping Filipinos prepare for the threat of future major medical emergencies by launching three (3) new products that provide adequate coverage to Filipinos when they face a critical illness.

“We want to give customers what they need,” says Rien Hermans, President & CEO of AXA Philippines. “With the health trends in the Philippines and in most countries today, the risk of developing a critical illness is now higher than ever. Therefore, people should be protecting themselves from the financial impact of being diagnosed with a critical illness.”

“Each of our three products are individually designed to address the needs, said Amor Balagtas, Chief Marketing Officer of AXA Philippines.

Health Exentials is a simple, all-in-one health and protection plan that gives the greatest value at an affordable price. For as low as P59/day, customers can get P5.5 million worth of comprehensive benefits, which include a critical conditions benefit, total & permanent disability benefit, daily hospitalization income benefit, a one-time surgical benefit, and a maturity cash benefit. Health Exentials premiums can be as low as only P1,140 a month or P39/day.

Health Max provides maximum lifetime coverage as it gives medical benefits until age 100. It also has the widest coverage of illnesses in the market today, covering 56 major medical conditions and 18 minor illnesses. Early stage cancer diagnosis and angioplasty, not normally covered by other health plans, are included in Health Max. It also has higher medical benefits of up to P10 million, as well as a special Advanced Health Fund that starts at age 70, which can be used for various medicines and treatments most common at that age.

SME ProteXion caters to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with at least 10 employees. It offers health and protection packages-in-one with various benefit options to choose from such as critical care coverage, daily hospitalization income, life insurance coverage and death and disablement coverage. This simple and straightforward product has flexible payment options to suit your business budget.

“What we are emphasizing is the importance of adequate financial preparedness,” says Hermans. “Critical illnesses have significant physical and financial impacts, and we want Filipinos to understand that there are products available that will enable them to financially secure their health-related needs, and they can do so while they are still at their prime.”

To learn more about AXA Philippines’ products and services, visit www.axa.com.ph or www.facebook.com/AXA.Philippines. You may also call their customer hotline (02) 5815-AXA (292) or (02) 3231-AXA (292).
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About AXA Philippines
Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines) is one of the leading and fastest-growing life insurance companies in the Philippines. It is borne out of the formidable synergy between Metrobank, one of the foremost financial institutions in the Philippines, and the AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management serving 102 million customers in 57 countries.
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Life Goes On
A Health Exentials Story

“You only live once.”
This was the principle that Michelle de Jesus lived by. She just turned 30, and was doing quite well as medical representative in a leading pharmaceutical company. She was starting to earn comfortably and was able to save some money enough for a European tour she was planning.

She loved travelling, hanging out with friends, looking for new adventures. She was fit and relatively healthy --- she did yoga twice a week and was thinking of starting with pole dancing in a month.

Then Michelle suffered a stroke.

She had to have aneurysm surgery which cost P400,000. She was confined for 15 days in the ICU and another 30 days after in a regular room. Her total hospital bill easily reached P700,000.

After being discharged, she tried a few weeks of physical therapy and had to continue being under medication, which, all in all, cost her some more money as well.

Unfortunately, nine months after her stroke, despite all her attempts with physical therapy, her doctor diagnosed her as totally and permanently disabled, as a result of the stroke she suffered.

Suffering a stroke was physically, emotionally, and mentally draining already for Michelle. But did she also have to suffer the financial stress of paying for all her medical bills? Michelle had some savings, but it was not enough.

How AXA’s Health Exentials Plan can help Michelle

Because Health Exentials gives great value-for-money health coverage, Michelle can get benefits that are many times more than what she pays for.

For a very affordable P2,170 per month for a Health Exentials Deluxe Plan, Michelle will be able to receive cash benefits worth P2.28 million, broken down as follows:
• P1 million > upon diagnosis of critical condition (stroke)
• P1 million > within one year upon diagnosis of total & permanent disability
• P135,000 > Daily Hospitalization benefit (P3,000/day x 45 days)
• P45,000 > ICU Hospitalization benefit (P3,000/day x 15 days)
• P100,000 > non-smoker bonus

Epilogue: Moving On
“It’s been a rough ride, but I have so much to look forward to,” shares Michelle with a slur, smiling despite the slight disfiguration on the left side of her face. “I’m just glad I don’t have to think about paying for my hospital bills because of Health Exentials.”

“I’ve had to resign from my job in sales,” muses Michelle. “But with all the cash benefits I received from AXA, I was able to start several franchised food cart businesses which my brother helps me manage. It’s doing pretty well.”

“Despite what I’ve been through, I feel blessed. I have the opportunity to pick up the pieces, reinvent myself, and hold my head up high” she concludes with a smile. “After all, life goes on.”