by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 4, 2019 | Entertainment
Ballet Manila recently closed its 23rd performance season with double header Deux — a fun mix of modern classical ballet set to the tunes of The Beatles and Chopin, held at the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex.
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides from Deux by Ballet Manila
The first chapter of the show opened with classical vignettes featuring “Les Sylphides” also known as “Chopiniana” in Russia, a romantic white ballet that depicts a lone danseur (The Poet) surrounded by his muses — white-clad sylphs or air spirits dancing in the moonlight. While there is no plot, its lingering music by Frederic Chopin and lyrical choreography by Michael Fokine evoke the illusion of ethereal weightlessness which characterized the romantic era of ballet where technique is the focal point, especially the intricate pointe work of ballerinas. Other classical vignettes included Pas De Action and Diane et Acteon.
The Winding Road
The Winding Road from Deux by Ballet Manila
From this trance-like ambience, the second chapter of the show highlights the thrilling contemporary number of The Winding Road set to the tune of The Beatles.
Martin Lawrance
Choreographed by Martin Lawrance, both young and old surely enjoyed The Beatles hits such as as I Saw Her Standing There, Here, There and Everywhere, Something, The Long and Winding Road, She Loves You, and many more!
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde
“Our 23rd performance season has been a series of highs, kicking off with Tour de Force and ending with our newest double header Deux,” said Ballet Manila CEO and artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.
“We are very thankful for everyone’s continuous support for Ballet Manila and we are very thrilled to see everyone again on our 24th performance season.”
Ballet Manila is The Philippines’ Premiere Classical Dance Company. Under the leadership of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Ballet Manila has brought the magic of classical ballet to the farthest-flung regions of the country, as well as the important ballet capitals of the world. Ballet Manila also continuously innovates to provide its audience, clients, and business partners with a myriad of shows and performance options.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 3, 2019 | Advocacy
Over twenty thousand autism advocates joined this year’s Angels Walk for Autism, the annual event that advocates for acceptance, accommodation, and appreciation of Filipinos with autism towards an Autism-OK Philippines, organized by the Autism Society Philippines (ASP), together with SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings.
This year’s celebration highlighted the country’s legacy of strong leaders that have brought the autism advocacy forward — for the last 30 years, across 97 chapters, with 13,000 members — and have become the foundation on which the next generation of leaders will build the future.
Hans T. Sy, SM Prime Holdings chairman of the executive committee, was honored as the inaugural recipient of the ASP’s Leadership Award for Autism Inclusion and Welfare. It is the society’s highest recognition, celebrating exemplary leadership that has a significant and positive impact on advancing ASP’s vision of acceptance, accommodation, and appreciation of persons with autism in an Autism-OK Philippines. Beyond awareness, Mr. Sy’s leadership has inspired tangible, measurable action through the accomplishments of SM Cares.
Engr. Bien Mateo, SVP of SM Supermalls
“Although many are aware of autism, very few people actually understand what it means to live life on the autism spectrum. SM Cares and ASP come together as a community to remind everyone that autism awareness and acceptance should be part of their everyday lives. Awareness is a good thing, but acceptance is far more meaningful,” said Engr. Bien Mateo, SVP of SM Supermalls and Program Director of SM Cares Program on PWD’s.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos, who issued EO 711 of 1996, instituting the commemoration of the National Autism Consciousness Week, will be honored by ASP as the Father of the Philippine Autism Advocacy.
Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP National President
“FVR’s leadership opened the doors for the government agencies and private institutions to begin the path towards genuine inclusion of persons on the autism spectrum,” shared Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP national president, “His administration’s disability inclusive policies have put the Philippines ahead of our ASEAN neighbors in advocating for persons with autism and other invisible disabilities.”
The pre-walk program was led by Ms. Dang Koe, ASP Chair Emeritus and the inaugural ASEAN Prize Laureate 2018. The ASEAN Prize aims to recognize inspiring achievements and contributions that foster the ASEAN identity, promote the ASEAN spirit, and champion the ASEAN way. ASP is among the active movers behind the ASEAN Autism Network and the ASEAN Mapping Project.
ASP also awarded the Autism Works Partners of the Year honors to Dohtonbori Philippines, a Japanese casual dining pioneer and to Willis Towers Watson, a global leader in risk management and consultancy, for their unwavering commitment to the creation of productive opportunities for job seekers with autism.
The program included the presentation of the annual ASP Autism Angel Achievement Awards to Samantha Pia Cabanero (for Advocacy), Eduardo Enrique Munarriz (for Athletics), and Carlo Gregorio Veluz (for Visual Arts). It also incorporated the induction of the new ASP Board of Trustees, composed of parent advocates; and the first set of officers of the ASP Self-Advocates Circle, composed of adults with autism.
Over 20,000 participants — families, professionals, supporters from the government and private sectors, from the Philippines and overseas — joined the annual walk from the MOA Arena to the SM MOA Music Hall. The walk is held with the support of the MOA Arena, SM Mall of Asia, National Council of Disability Affairs, ASEAN Autism Network and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability.
The Autism Society Philippines (ASP) is a national, non-profit organization working towards an environment that empowers persons with an autism spectrum disorder to become the best of their potentials — self-reliant, productive and socially-accepted members of the community.
ASP labors to establish institutional mechanisms to support persons with autism and their families. Established in 1989, the organization — composed of 13,000 members spread over 96 chapters — has been in the forefront of providing services to families and individuals affected with autism.
SM Cares is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Its advocacies include Programs on Persons with Disabilities, Children and Youth, Women and Breastfeeding Mothers, Environment Sustainability, Senior Citizens, and Overseas Filipino Workers (SM Global Pinoy).
As a responsible integrated property developer, SM ensures that its CSR programs serve as a catalyst for positive change in the communities that it supports.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 2, 2019 | Events
On April 27, 2019 inside Zoobic Safari in Subic, Zambales comes Binagbag, the biggest music and arts festival in Subic with Franco and more local and hottest bands right now.
Zoomanity Group, The organizer is expecting more than 2000 attendees to join the festivities that will start at 5AM, guests can also enjoy the whole 50 hectares theme park facility which is dubbed as the only Tiger Safari in the Philippines with more than 50 tigers and more than 200 species.
The event is for the benefit of the Aetas in Subic … for their livelihood and to help the indigent Aeta children.
Zoomanity Group is the leading theme park management in the Philippines that’s composed of:
- Zoobic Safari in Subic,
- Zoocobia in Clark Pampanga,
- Paradizoo in Mendez Cavite,
- Zoocolate Thrills in Bohol and
- Zoori inside Residence Inn Tagaytay.
For sponsorship and more details; Tag Media Group-09778978877/ 022193503
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Mar 23, 2019 | Product and Service Review
Earlier today Erika, Bubu, and I went to Trinoma to check out Unilever’s All Things Hair Refillery. Finding it was a bit of a challenge because Trinoma’s shops go around in a circle so it is important to know that the All Things Hair Refillery is a kiosk found between the Nike Store and the Melissa Pop-up Store.
I went to the All Things Hair Facebook page for the specifics and this is what I discovered:
- If you have an old/used container of any of their products (Dove, Tresemme, Sunsilk, and Cream Silk) that match the variants they are refilling, just wash it out and dry it and they can refill it.
- If you do not bring an old/used container then they can provide reusable / refillable bottles at P10 each which could be used immediately. Each bottle can contain up to 200 grams of product.
- Cost of the product is computed based on weight.
Refills
The Refillery can refill the following brands: Dove, Tresemme, Sunsilk, and Creamsilk. Each of those products has several variants but they only provided for refills of the most popular variants.
All Things Hair Refills
Those variants are as follows:
- Dove Straight and Silky Shampoo
- Dove Straight and Silky Conditioner
- Tresemme Keratin Smooth Shampoo with Argan Oil and Keratin
- Tresemme Keratin Smooth Conditioner with Argan Oil and Keratin
- Sunsilk Creations Smooth and Manageable Shampoo
- Cream Silk Standout Straight Conditioner
How to get your refills:
Step 1: Register at the booth
It is a simple form. It asks for your name, shampoo brand, cell number, and email address.
Step 2: Bottles
All Things Hair Reusable Containers on the display shelf
If you have your own bottles and the staff have approved it you should give it to them so that they could weigh them. The bottles they approve are those of their own products, also, that matches the variant of the refilled content. Those are the variants listed above.
If you do not have your own bottles then they will provide you with their refillable bottles that cost P10 each. Their refillable bottles have a fixed weight of 0.22 grams.
You will need to let them know which product you will get as they have corresponding labeled bottles for each.
When I was refilling they made the mistake of giving me a Sunsilk bottle. We didn’t notice until the bottle was half full. No harm, no foul … they just took the bottle from me and gave an empty one of the correct bottle.
Step 3: Refill
If you want them to refill the bottles for you they can do it, of course, but that is no fun! The point of the exercise (in my personal opinion) is to refill the bottles yourself.
Dove Straight and Silky Shampoo and Conditioner Refill
If you opt to use the refillable bottles they provide it is easier to fill because the bottles are clear and the maximum quantity for each is 200 grams.
Note, that there is no requirement to fill your container all the way to the top, but it would, of course, make sense to do so. When I filled the bottles I tried to fill it as close to the top as I could without spilling.
Of all the products they provided the only one that we use regularly is Dove and more conditioner than shampoo, which is why I opted to get 1 bottle of shampoo and 2 conditioners.
Step 4: Weigh and Cost
All That Hair filled bottles
Once you have filled the bottles as far as you want, just cap the bottles and give them to the staff for weighing. After they weigh each bottle the scale prints out a tagged that they attach to the back of the bottle. Each tag indicates the following:
- the product
- the variant
- the cost per kilogram
- the net weight
- the net cost
- date the product was dispensed
- the batch code
- the product code
Is it really cheaper?
As you can see from my bottles above, I spent approximately P100 for each bottle, each one almost 200 grams. The shampoo costs P0.53 per gram. The conditioner is slightly more expensive at P0.57 per gram.
Let’s do a comparison table:
|
Dove Straight and Silky Shampoo (350 ml.) |
Dove Straight and Silky Conditioner (335 ml.) |
| Price from Watsons |
P220.00 |
P210.00 |
| Price from All Things Hair Refillery |
P185.50 |
P190.95 |
| SAVINGS OF |
P34.50 |
P19.05 |
Is the amount of money saved worth the extra trip to the refillery? I will leave it up to you to decide. Personally, if I have to go to the refillery more than once a month it might not be worth it. But a bigger container means bigger savings and fewer trips so it would be worth it by then. 🙂
Commercial product containers do not come in 200 ml. containers so, perhaps, the math would seem different. 🙂
Where can All Things Hair Refillery be found?
You can find All Things Hair Refillery in three mall locations:
- Trinoma (in Quezon City)
- Glorietta (in Makati)
- Alabang Town Center (in Alabang)
This service will be available from March 23 to April 14, 2019. For more information you may visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AllThingsHairPH or their official website at https://www.allthingshair.com/en-us.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Mar 19, 2019 | Family and Pets, Product and Service Review
Anyone who follows my personal account would know that when it comes to pictures I post I usually only have 3 subjects: food, my grandchild Star, and my furbaby Princess. This post is about the latter.
Princess is one pampered pooch.
Princess, Lhasa Apso
She drinks pet milk every morning and eats dog food at night. She goes on walks almost every day either with me or my mom.
Princess is a 7-year-old Lhasa Apso. The Lhasa Apso is often confused with the Shih Tzu as they look very similar. This is not unusual, really, as the Shih Tzu was supposedly bred from the mating of a Lhasa Apso and a Pekingese.
Because Princess is of the long-haired variety of dogs taking care of her hair can be challenging. Part of our daily routine is brushing several times a day which both my mom and I do with her. Because her hair tends to get tangled she often does not have the patience to sit through the entire process.
Whut?
During the summer we often have her hair cut really short (not shaved) so that she does not suffer from the heat and we don’t have to worry about brushing her so often.
This is important because in the summer she tends to jump into the tub filled with water to cool off and, that makes her daily grooming difficult.
Once a month I take her to the groomer for a bath, haircut, nail trimming, and ear cleaning. 3 out of those 4 I cannot do for her so I leave it to the professionals. For many years I have gone to three pet grooming places (in the area) on rotation and in each one Princess would react adversely even before we went in. I thought this weird because she loves bath time but chalked it up to an instinctive reaction.
One Fab Pooch
And then one day I saw this pet grooming salon at the corner of Scout Tobias and Gandia Streets in Quezon City. I’ve passed it many times and didn’t stop because they don’t have parking and their frontage (which is on Scout Tobias) is a Mabuhay Lane so I really couldn’t park without risking getting towed.
One Fab Pooch QC Reception Area photo was taken from a Google Maps contribution
Today, though, I woke up and decided that I was going to bring Princess to One Fab Pooch. I was just curious enough to try their service finally.
As we walked into the reception area, I noticed that Princess was calm. This was a first. I don’t know what it is but seeing her reaction put me at ease. The reception area is roomy enough and everything is white. I put Princess on that little ledge and she just sat down, weird. I put her on the floor to explore, and she walked around and then just sat by my feet, doubly weird. When one of the groomers came out to pick her up and to ask for my specifications she allowed him to carry her and even raised all four paws in that funny way and was just … chill, triple weird! But I went with it and was happy.
Princess’s journey from fuzzy to fab!
I waited at McDonald’s down the street and their receptionist, Monica sent me updates via Viber. Here is Princess’s fab experience.
Trimming her nails. It’s been three months since her last grooming so they’re pretty long.
Here they are trimming the fur on her feet. Good thing, too, as she sometimes slips when she steps on her fur.
Time to take a bath! Princess loves taking baths.
Blowdrying time. In the past, she HATED this part. I think it is the sound she hates. Most blowers are really loud. Theirs seems to be fairly quiet. Look at her cuddling her groomer, how sweet!
Look at her now, fully groomed … and with teal ribbons on her hair! Awwww, cuteness! She is definitely One Fab Pooch!
3-minute massage time. Look at her, so zen!
Rates
If you think the service is probably expensive, let me show you their rates. They are as follows. Note: all rates are in Philippine peso.
| SERVICE | DESCRIPTION | S | M | L | XL | ALL |
| Grooming | Simple Pamper Wash: Bathe + Dry + Tidy | 250 | 350 | 450 | 550 | |
| Ultimate Pamper Wash: Bathe + Ear Clean + Nail Cut + Shaving Around Genital Area + Face And Paw Trim + 3-Minute Relaxation Massage | 350 | 450 | 550 | 750 | |
| Express | Teeth Cleaning (With Toothbrush) | | | | | 150 |
| Ear Cleaning | | | | | 100 |
| Nail Cut | | | | | 100 |
| Nail Cut (Extra Short) | | | | | 180 |
| Relaxation Massage (45 Minutes) | | | | | 280 |
| Add-Ons | Creative Styling | | | | | 280 |
| Detangling (Regular) | | | | | 450 |
| Detangling (Severe) | | | | | 650 |
| Relaxation Massage (45 Minutes) | | | | | 220 |
| Coat Enhancement | | | | | 280 |
| Anal Sac Cleaning | | | | | 120 |
| Tick And Flea Removal | | | | | 280 |
| Daycare Services | | | | | | 220 |
Personally, I found their rates reasonable but others may find it steep, especially if they recommend additional stuff like severe detangling if your furbaby’s fur is very matted. To sweeten the deal, though, they also offer discounts via the VIPooch card.
VIPooch
The VIPooch card gives us furparents (and fur-guardians) discounts on all goods and services purchased from One Fab Pooch.
- 5% discounts are the standard
- A 15% discount is given on our furbabies’ birth month
That is reasonable enough for me. Note: VIPooch number is hidden but it is right there in the lower left-hand corner.
Before, Princess already looked beautiful. After, even more so. <3<3<3 We are trying to grow her hair out.
One satisfied customer
One satisfied customer
I am definitely one satisfied customer. If Princess is happy then I am happy, too. If I had to guess, part of the reason she liked it there is the air conditioning. The reception area, for one, was cool and comfortable. Another was the place didn’t smell of anything. Most other pet groomers I have gone to have an antiseptic smell that Princess just hates.
And as we were leaving Monica says, “bye Ma’am, bye Princess, have a fabulous day!”
Satisfaction rating? 5 stars!!!
If I had one suggestion to make … maybe they should have a coffee shop right beside them exclusively for furparents (with power outlets and wifi) so that furparents can wait in comfort nearby and work (or not!) at the same time.
Next month, same time, same place. 🙂
One Fab Pooch
One Fab Pooch can be found in Davao, Cebu, and Metro Manila. The Quezon City branch is located at the corner of Scout Tobias and Gandia Streets in Barangay Laging Handa, QC.
They do accept reservations but walk-ins are very welcome especially early in the day.
For more information about One Fab Pooch visit their Facebook and Instagram pages by clicking on the links.
For reservations and inquiries, you may also call (02) 275-9572 or on their cell at (0917)850-9572.
The Autism Society Philippines (ASP) is a national, non-profit organization working towards an environment that empowers persons with an autism spectrum disorder to become the best of their potentials — self-reliant, productive and socially-accepted members of the community.
SM Cares is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Its advocacies include Programs on Persons with Disabilities, Children and Youth, Women and Breastfeeding Mothers, Environment Sustainability, Senior Citizens, and Overseas Filipino Workers (SM Global Pinoy).
On April 27, 2019 inside Zoobic Safari in Subic, Zambales comes Binagbag, the biggest music and arts festival in Subic with Franco and more local and hottest bands right now.
Zoomanity Group is the leading theme park management in the Philippines that’s composed of:
Trimming her nails. It’s been three months since her last grooming so they’re pretty long.
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