Flavors of Thailand at Marriott Hotel Manila

Thai Kingdom Come at Marriott Manila!

Yes, this whole month of July, go on a foodie adventure and satisfy your gastronomic craving for authentic Thai dishes at Marriott Hotel Manila. The event is co-sponsored by Thai Airways and The Royal Thai Embassy.

Marriott Café, the hotel’s modern restaurant with open-theater kitchens, brings back a second round of exhilarating food festival. The first one was a Thai dinner party, which was  Marriott International Hotels’ bid to break the Guiness World Record as the The World’s Largest Thai Dinner Party.

Your month-long dining experience will an explosion of flavors: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and sometimes bitter. Thai dishes will be whipped up by no less than JW Marriott Thanatorn Krobsuay, a certified Thai cuisine expert who will head the kitchen team. Sou Chef Thanatorn will be with Sutthipong Sirikanchittawon, one of the certified Thai food ambassadors of JW Marriott Bangkok’s Marriott Café.

The Thai dishes:

Go grab a bite now!

Unveiling of Jose Rizal Monument in Calamba City

The Jose Rizal monument will be formally unveiled and inaugurated today Sunday June 19, the 150th birthday of Rizal by no less than Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

The monument, reportedly the biggest Rizal statue, bigger than that in Luneta, stands in front of Calamba City hall.

Tips on Marketing Your Event Hire and Event Services to Hotels

If you are managing an event hire or party hire company, getting the most business out of hotels can do a lot for your business. Some hotels will even use some event management companies exclusively if they are extremely impressed with their skills and techniques. Hotels are a very good source of business because they hold many events themselves, and they are often the location for many other guest’s events. Getting recommended when someone else is booking space in a hotel, or being presented as the exclusive events management and hire for a particular hotel, could be a huge source of income. Here we look at some strategies to build your event hire and event management company business through hotels.

• Presentation. Being in the events business, you should already know the importance of presenting yourself to clients. Each hotel may have its own personality, and adjusting your presentation each time is probably advised.
• Online Marketing. Getting your message out with online marketing can be very effective. Most top hotels are using social media to market themselves, and you should join in the conversation. Remember not to be selling yourself, but to use your skills and knowledge to add valuable content for their online viewers. By doing this, you will raise the profile of your business and also benefit their business and online users and guests – a great way to get attention.
• Networking. Physical face-to-face networking is always the best way to get to know, the people you need to know, in business. Industry and hotels events and activities should be the focus of your marketing drive. Again, you don’t want to be selling yourself hard when you meet the right people. You should know the people you are looking to meet, and when you do, present yourself in a friendly and professional way.
• Portfolio. Building a portfolio is always important. You should be producing the best audio and visual materials for your social networking and self-promotion. It is often the quality of a presentation that defines the perceived quality of any company. If you don’t have the skills to produce your own in-house materials, outsource where necessary.
• Define Your Services. It is important to define what services you offer. Simply stating you are an event management company is just not enough. Event planners and clients may need a range of services, from managed equipment hire and operation, audio and visual production, marketing, online marketing and PR. They may also need help with speech writing, for example. Breaking up and clearly defining your skills and tools is very important to show you have a composite solution for any potential guest.

Event marketing is all about people. How you manage your own personal relationships will be the key to getting more business. The industry is competitive, and it is the managers who have the best and highest number of relationships with decision makers, who prove to be the best.

Ayala Museum Design Talks Features Jason Magbanua

Source: StatusMagOnline.com

Artists, photographers, videographers, check this out! More info here.

Nuffnang & Hapee – Making a Difference in the World

Nuffnang is the first and now the leading blog advertising community. Right now, the company is operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia, and on their list are brands such as Citibank, Nokia, Sony, Proctor & Gambl, Nokia, Nike, Nestle.

Hapee, on the other hand, is the first Filipino owned company and a pioneer in producing multi-flavored toothpaste for children. And I heard that they employ persons with disabilities.

Both companies are competing with leading brands by giving world-class products and services. Ain’t that cool?

Now, Nuffnang and Hapee have partnered to give you an awesome movie screening today, June 3rd at 7:30pm at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 2!

To see this movie screening, you need to win special tickets, though.

Preparing Spanish Cuisine at Tapella

Last May 16th, I got the chance to see Chef Xandra of Tapella prepare their bestsellers: Paella Manchego, which is her own original recipe, an appetizer Cojonudos, and Sangria.

The Paella Manchego (Php550.)

1. A good paella is determined by how tasty the rice is. From the term paella, it’s about cooking rice in a pan, where the Catalan word paella is derived. For Chef Xandra, the rice need not be the sticky kind. Jasmin rice or the regular rice is just perfect.
2. Consistency is important. Chef Xandra said that if you are cooking chicken paella, then you use chicken stock and just garnish it with chicken meat and vegetables. If you prefer seafood paella, then you use seafood broth. She is not sold to the idea of mixing all sorts of seafood into the rice to make a paella because the flavor will not be as distinct.
3. For this Paella Manchego, two special ingredients are added: manchego cheese and saffron. Both are sourced from Spain. The manchego cheese is made of milk from Manchega sheep.
4. The Ingredients:

Ingredients:

50gms. olive oil

75gms. chicken breast

50gms. onions

50gms. garlic

80gms. calrose rice

30gms. broccoli

70gms. prawns

30gms. asparagus

20gms. Manchego cheese

.5gms. paella seasoning and chicken broth

Procedure:

Heat the oil in a paella pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a dish. Add the onion and garlic to the paella pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Add shrimp,cooked chicken and paella rice,paella seasoning, salt and pepper and chicken broth put the heat to medium, cover, and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Mix in the asparagus. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken and rice are tender and the broth has been absorbed.Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with the Manchego cheese, and serve.

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7 Advantages of Taking A Day Tour When On Domestic Holiday

When we travel to exotic locations like Egypt, we would not think twice about booking tours for this and that, but when it comes to going on holiday in our own country we often neglect to think that there are many day tours that suit both domestic and international visitors. Why is it we assume that we can go visit somewhere and do it our self so often in our own country?

There are many advantages of going on a day tour, particularly in Australia, and the distances involved, for example, a blue mountains tour would just make more sense when visiting Sydney. Lets take a look at some of them.

• Driving. You may think that you are free and carefree because you are driving yourself, but there will be many things that you have to think of. It is not much fun when you are visiting wineries and you cannot partake in all those beautiful wines because you have to worry about drink driving.
• Cost. Remember that on a tour you are moving as a group, and that means that the tour operator can arrange entries and meals based on group buying discounts. You have better chance of getting what you want at a more affordable price.
• Company. If you are one of those people who thinks that moving around in a group thinks it is not fun, then you should think again. Going on a day tour is a great way to make new friends and acquaintances. Everyone is in the mood for a good time and in all of my experience travelling and on tours, they have been some of the best experiences.
• Safety. If something goes wrong and you are on your own, you will know it. On a tour you are being taken care of. You are insured against something going wrong, and if something does you have people who are trained at taking care and solving the situation.
• Information. One of the biggest plus points of any day tour, you are being escorted by those who know all the ins and outs of where you are visiting. Tour guides and drivers know their business and have often spent a lot of time researching all those little bits of information and history that can make visiting somewhere all that more interesting. How much are you missing out on when you go it alone?
• Timing. Day tours have a schedule. And they can stay on their schedule because they are skilled and very practised at what they do. You know you will be getting back at 4pm when the tour says so. Who wants to miss out on that night at the opera because they were caught in traffic or had a flat tire?
• Sit back. Ultimately you day is hassle free and someone else has made all the arrangements and will manage your day for you. All you need to do is spend your time enjoying yourself, eating, drinking, chatting and taking photos. The only way to behave on any holiday!

Business Best Practice: Be fussy about who does your business computer services

There are computer services and computer services. Some provide excellent, fast service and some provide “service with a sneer”, sticking clients on a line to wait for results. The fact is that no business can afford downtime, and the best computer services provide fast, efficient service when you need it.

The really good news for businesses is that service standards for IT are improving, daily. The days of waiting for service when someone feels like providing it are long gone, too. Business computer services these days are fully professional and not only make appointments, they keep them. This is an extremely competitive industry, and quality is the key to success for the computer service firms.

What to look for in a business computer service

There are some basic standards you can apply to make your hunt for good computer support a lot easier:

• Business-friendly costs – Rates are competitive, standardized and quoted upfront. There’s no guesswork involved, and no “surprises” in the billing.
• Full range of repairs services – This is critical. You need a computer repair service that can provide comprehensive support and deal with all the issues.
• Network and server services – These services can be invaluable in shutting down a range of issues which can cause crashes and data problems.
• Remote diagnostic services – The service people can find problems offsite, and in many cases even fix them remotely. This is an extremely efficient operational approach, saving hours of time.
• Staff training – If you know how much staff IT training costs, you will appreciate the value of a relationship between your service people and your staff, and the good communications and support relationship this generates.
• Mobile network support and service – Everybody has an “office in your pocket”, and these networks are crucial to business efficiency in the various mobile business modes.

Checking out computer service firms

Your basic criteria will create a good short list of possible computer support options. The next stage is direct contact. It’s a good idea to talk to your possible service providers and get an idea of their service quality. Most importantly, it’s a way of checking out their efficiency in dealing with customer inquiries.

You can use a checklist for your contact:

1. Was the reception service quick and efficient?
2. Is the firm’s “new business” contact a good communicator?
3. Does the service understand your needs and answer your questions clearly?
4. Does the service suggest options and otherwise suggest it can do more?
5. Was the contact able to provide good background information to advertised services?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, move on to the next contact. Don’t waste your time with people that can’t even manage to get a competent person on the phone to get new business.

If you answered “Yes” to all the questions, you’ve probably found your computer support.

Midyear 80s Flasback at Jill’s, The Fort

6 Common Problems International Students Face In Australia

If you are just arriving in Australia, larger issues about your stay are probably taken care of, but there are common problems, although small, you might have to find a way around. Here is a look at some problems that may blow out of hand and you are going to need help with – especially if you have come here to learn English.

1. Bank and phone etc. Despite being a multicultural country, simple things like opening a bank account and hooking up your phone will require a little more identification that in other countries. Australia has a point system for identification – meaning that you need to fulfill a certain amount of points to qualify. What this means is that one piece of identification is not enough and you will need to get help with this. Your passport and some other documents with your name and address will be very helpful. Banks and other institutions rarely have non-English services.
2. Public transport. Despite being a big country, Australia’s public transport is not highly developed. If you are in any rural situation you will find that there is nothing available at all. Cars are still very important in Australia and you will find that out fast.
3. Smoking. Smoking is very expensive in Australia and a packet of cigarettes can cost up to 10 times more than many other countries. Finding somewhere you can smoke can also be prohibitive. There are large fines for smoking in many places and you will find yourself in awkward situations if you continue to smoke. Quitting is a serious option with noticeable social benefits in Australia.
4. Study style. Australian study techniques are some of the most modern in the world. You will find that you are required to learn on your own, and develop your own opinion. Being able to express your opinion and justify that will be more important than learning and repeating. This can be quite challenging for many students especially for those from Asian cultures, that still rely heavily on wrote-learning techniques. Whether you are looking at modern marketing courses or more traditional studies, the approach will be the same.
5. Working. This is a common problem for many international students. Finding appropriate work for their skills can be very difficult. Even finding work that is much below your skills can be difficult in a very competitive environment. Being prepared for this and finding out where you are best suited, and looking to your school or organisation will help.
6. Internet. Unfortunately you may find internet costly and a little slow compared to your home country. Australia’s internet speeds and cost are considerably higher than many countries. Finding ways to share your cost can be very useful. Sharing accommodation and sharing the cost of internet connection is one of the best ways.
7. Some foods. Remember some of the things that you take for granted in your own country may be special and imported in Australia. You can find what you need, but you are going to have to pay for it. Adjusting to local tastes will certainly save you a lot of cash. Looking for items that are similar but not from your home may be quite different. Importing yourself may not be an option.

It may sound a little tough after reading these points, but it is important that you speak with others and your school and organisation. There will have to be some changes that you will need to make.