This year, Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Community will be celebrating the coming of Chinese New Year.   It is said that the coming year is the year of the Water Dragon.  I have always seen and heard how Chinese celebrates their New Year, since some of my early years were spent with my father in the streets of Divisoria and Binondo.  Most of the traders and establishments owners are Chinese and some were my father's friends so I get a chance to somehow see some of their celebrations.


For this Chinese New Year I was very fortunate to get invited in SM North Edsa's celebration of the Chinese New Year.  They unveiled their theme for this years Chinese New Year.  Also and of course a much more up close with the dancing dragons and lions.


Chris Tiu was the emcee for that celebration and at the same time narrator of the Chinese New Year story. Aside from Chris Tiu, Richard Yap or commonly known now as Papa Chen was also their to play the role of a Chinese Emperor.  As Chris Tiu narrates part by part of the story there were Wushu Demonstration, Presentation from Chinese Symphony Orchestra, Dragon and Lion Dance, and there were other exhibits as part of the Chinese New Year Celebration.





Though I know and maybe most of the people know about how the Chinese New Year came about and why people use firecrackers during the celebration, I would still share a short brief about the story.

Just a brief, so story goes like this....


In early times in China, a certain little village was terrorize by a monster that came once each year. One day, just by luck, the villagers discovered that the monster got weaknesses and scared of color red and evenmore afraid of loud noises! So the villagers prepared for the coming of the monster. When the monster came everyone in the village ran for the red banners and noise makers they had made. They waved their banners and rattled their noise makers. This scared the monster so much that made it ran away and was never heard from again!

That's the short story about it and that's why there's always firecrackers and clanging sounds every year.  KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!

Photo courtesy of Azrael

One of the most interesting sports in the world and of course the all time favorite sports of Filipinos, the Basketball.  Fortunately the sponsor for this event is also my all time favorite team in Philippine Basketball, the Alaska Aces.  Though most of the star players the team that I looked onto before were not there anymore, still, it's my favorite team.  I just wish sometime that they would reunite and try to have a friendly match with the other teams.

So much with reminiscing of the past but instead get into the details about this event for this year. 


The event was held inside of the Treston International School' basketball court.  It was really a shrinking feeling seeing those gigantic basketball players roaming around the basketball court.  This event was a Tip-off for the 2012 Jr. NBA presented by the Alaska Program and this year was their fifth consecutive year for the Philippines.

Kids will sure love to be part of the basketball program by Jr. NBA.


Here's what they say about this program...

The Jr. NBA presented by Alaska is back in the Philippines for the fifth consecutive year, with first-time stops in Puerto Princesa, Pampanga and Cagayan de Oro.  Alaska Powdered Milk Drink will serve as the presenting partner of the Jr. NBA program for the second consecutive year.


The Jr. NBA is the league's international youth development program that promotes basketball participation, sportsmanship and teamwork, and an active lifestyle among children.  In addition to the three new cities, the 2012 Philippines schedule will also include Metro Manila, where the Jr. NBA National Training Camp will take place.  The program is open to boys between 10 and 14 years old.


"We have a great partner in Alaska, which shares our dedication to youth sports development and has played a vital role in the growth of the Jr. NBA program," said Scott Levy, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, NBA Asia.  "With the involvement of all our partners, the Jr. NBA program continues to expand and touch the lives of more young players, coaches, educators, and parents."

"Alaska is committed to developing talent at the youth level and we are pleased to return as presenting partner," said Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, Jr., President and CEO, Alaska Milk Corporation.  "The Jr. NBA is a great fit with Alaska's mission to nurture talent and promote a healthy lifestyle through sports from a young age, and we look forward to another successful program this year."


This year's program will tip off with a coaching clinic in Manila on Jan. 14, and will then travel to Puerto Princesa in Palawan for a coaching clinic on Jan 15 and a school clinic on Jan. 16.  From Palawan, the Jr. NBA will return to Central LUzon on Jan. 18 for a school clinic and NBA Cares event in flood hit Pampanga.  The Jr. NBA will also hold an NBA Cares activity on Jan. 19 in Cagayan de Oro, which was recently devastated by Typhoon Sendong, followed by a schol clinic on Jan 20.

School clinics will continue during the months of February and March in Metro Manila in the lead up to the Regional Selection Camps which will be held in Puerto Princesa (Apr 10 - 11), Cagayan de Oro (Apr 14 - 15), Pampanga (Apr 17 - 18) and Manila (Apr 21 - 22).  Upon completion of the Regional Selection Camps, the top 50 players from all over the country will be slected to participate in the three-day Jr. NBA National Training Camp to be held in early May in Manila.  As part of Alaska Milk's support of the Jr. NBA, 10 of the 50 National Camp participants will be selected from this year's Alaska Basketball Power Camp.  The program will culminate with the selection of the Jr. NBA All-Star Team providing the 10 best campers a unique NBA experience and the opportunity to play against a Jr. NBA team from another country.

Similar to last year, the 2012 Jr. NBA Coach of the Year presented by Alaska will be announced at the Jr. NBA National Training Camp, where the top 10 finalists for the award will be invited to participate as assistant instructors.  The award winner will be announced on the last day of the national training camp.  Coaches interested in joining the search for Coach of the Year can log onto the Jr. NBA website for more details.

This year, Jr. NBA coach and former NBA player Martin "Marty" Conlon, who played for several NBA teams including the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, will oversee the program along with local coaches selected by the NBA, as well as members of the Alaska Aces coaching staff. The coaches will assist in teaching the NBA skill stations as well as communicating the importance of the Jr. NBA core values of sportsmanship, teamwork, a positive attitude, and respect (S.T.A.R.).  An NBA legend will participate in the national training camp and community outreach programs through NBA Cares.

The Jr. NBA program, together with its partners, will reinforce key values such as the importance of sports participation for parents and children, and will educate children, parents and coaches on children's health and nutritional requirements.  In addition to Alaska Powdered Milk Drink, Gatorade returns as a partner this year and Spalding will once again act as the official supplier.  Jr. NBA official broadcast partners are Basketball TV, NBA Premium TV and Studio 23, with the Manila Bulletin serving as the official media print partner.  Jr. NBA is also supported by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP).  Provincial Host Cities include Puerto Princesa, Pampanga and Cagayan de Oro.

The Jr. NBA first visited the Philippines in early 2007 at 16 Metro Manila private and public schools.  The program expanded to 200 schools and 20,000 participants in 2008-09 and to 300 schools and 30,000 students in 2009-10.  In 2011, the program reached more than 400 schools and 40,000 students, parents, and coaches across the country.  Each year a new city benefits from the grassroots basketball program that involves not just young players but also their parents and coaches.  The program remains free in all its stages for local coaches and young Filipino boys who want to join the program.  Registration is now ongoing through the Jr. NBA event website www.jrnba.com.ph.  Fans can also follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jrnbaphilippines and our official Twitter Feed at http://twitter.com/NBA_Philippines

Just want to share that right now the The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards is now commencing and for sure fans of different actors and actresses are already glued on their TV Screens or any media.  Of course they don't want to miss their favourite stars getting the award.

We will just have to watch and see who will grab the different awards.

Finally the INTENSITY 7 of Big Brother for the PBB Unlimited housemates has finally ended. Making Deniesse as the 14th PBB housemates that will complete the TOP 14. Since Paco is the one who easily win in the task given by Big Brother, he then get Deniesse as the 6th member of Wayuk.

Here's the original list of PBB Housemates who gets into the TOP 14 as per group.

TEAM WAYUK

Jessica			Paco			Kevin			Pamu
Seichang

TEAM HIGH VOLTAGE

Biggel

Divine

Tin

Slater

Carlo

Wendy

Eting

Joya

Deniesse

It seems that Big Brother still got lots of surprises. With the Deniesse put into Team Wayuk and there's going to be another member of the High Voltage that will be transferred to team Wayuk just to make both teams even. So who will it be?

TEAM WAYUK

Jessica			Paco			Kevin			Pamu
Seichang			Deniesse			?

TEAM HIGH VOLTAGE

Biggel

Divine

Tin

Slater

Wendy

Eting

Joya

Carlo

Next week there will be another Impeachment Trial.  Most of the people, whether they are government officials, senators, congressmen, staff, contractual, casual or government employees, are all preparing for this trial.  For now it is one of the top news being reported on every TV News Station and the entire nation will for sure get their eyes tied on this.

Now, what are my thoughts about this impeachment trial?

For a low middle class contractual employee who always get his paycheck less tax, this is my thoughts about not only the impeachment trials but as well as all cases of government officials who did not do well on serving the nation.

For every impeachment trials that our government went through there are things that are neglected and taken for granted.  This is to give emphasis on the tax portion.  Well at first, workers who work on government, companies and other establishments, income tax are already omitted on the income of the employee and straight to the revenue of the government.  I'm not really much of an economic topic person but as far as I know revenues collected by the bureau are put into a fund that will be used by the government in providing infrastructures, education, and other services for the people.  Aside from this, the salaries and wages of all government workers (whether it is high ranking officials or rank and files) are also taken from that fund.   So meaning all who works on the impeachment trials are paid accordingly and not only that but also the supplies that are used or will be used are considered expenses already.  If you're with this do the math and compute how many millions are being used in every impeachment trial.  Also, think more of how much it will cost if the trial went on for more than three months perhaps.

 Imagine how many millions more are supposed to be used for much more important developments for the country and for the people. 

For the official in question or anyone who's in question we should adapt how Japanese value their honor.  It's more of the term "delicadeza" for us Filipinos.


This is my idea and observation.  Employees like us pay the taxes for the impeachment trial.  If every term of service there will be an impeachment trial I don't know what will be the accomplishment of the government after every term of service.  Perhaps this country will be called THE IMPEACHMENT COUNTRY!

I don't know much about the in and out of politics and economics.  This is just an observation of a low middle class citizen.

How about you what do you think of this present situation of the country?

Something for those who loves new product lines. There's a new company here in the Philippines and accordingly the company is well known in terms of direct-selling and of course great and tested products. To get more details about them here's some of the informations that you can read.


Stanhome World is an internationally established brand based in Europe. Under the helm of top beauty brand Groupe Yves Rocher, Stanhome World is Europe's #1 direct-selling Home Care brand. It carries two (2) successful and fast-growing brands: STANHOME, an extensive line of high-quality and innovative products for home and family strengthened by over 80 years of experience, and KIOTIS, a luxury beauty line boasting of essential oil-based products that serve to boost both beauty and well-being. After years of expanding in other international markets, Stanhome world brings their topnotch work to Asia, with the Philippines as its first home. Stanhome World Philippines boasts of the same quality care brought by its global counterparts, utilizing high European standards to help benefit Filipino families all over the nation.

What's the best way to enjoy the romantic month of February?  Well, a rare concert with full of love and laughter, that's what it is in store for lovers this coming leap month.   Read more of the romance...

Asiansations Christian Bautista and Karylle exhibited undeniable chemistry in the musical West Side Story, the international series The Kitchen Musical, but the two singers never had the chance to work on a concert together. This February 29, this team-up debuts on the concert stage with Love & Laughter, a Post-Valentine cum Leap Year show, at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at the Resorts World in Manila. The concert is produced by Resorts World, in cooperation with Ultimate Entertainment and Stages Talents.

“Karylle and I work together in so many gigs, even before,” says Christian. “But doing this Post-Valentine concert with her is something new and very exciting to us.” Karylle played leading lady Maria to Christian Bautista’s Tony in STAGES’ staging of The West Side Story, where the two received glowing reviews both as individuals and as partners.

“Christian and I are so alike in so many ways,” admits Karylle. “We have always been good friends and I am excited to do this show with him and the other talented artists who will join us.”

Christian and Karylle will dish out memorable love songs of different themes in the show- from falling in love to heartbreak to reconciliation and moving on. Comedienne Nanette Inventor, known for her hilarious skits, will give this show a funny dimension.

“Leap year only happens once every four years,” says Nanette. “So the concept of this concert is also a rarity. With the immense talent of Christian and Karylle, I am sure viewers will fall in love and travel back in time with such beautiful love songs that they will perform.”

Opera Belles and Primo are also guests of the show.

Tickets may be purchased at the Resorts World Manila Box Office located at the main casino entrance or all Ticketworld outlets nationwide.

JayR hits the first quarter of the Year of the Dragon.  Do you want to know why?  Read more the details here...

The country’s King of R&B and Soul JayR has been chosen to be the featured artist of the Manila leg of the international hitmakers Edwin McCain and Taylor Dayne this February 17 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City. This concert is produced by Blue Dream Entertainment and CNCA Media Concepts, Inc.


JayR, who is one of the bestselling Filipino acts of his generation by spawning multiplatinum albums and hit songs, is set to remind everyone why he is considered one of the industry’s royalties with his dynamic vocals and awesome moves.

“I am so thankful that I have been given this chance to guest in this concert,” says the R&B and Soul King. “For all the romantics out there, this concert is something you shouldn’t miss.”

JayR is set to release his newest album in the second quarter of this year., under Universal Records.


Edwin McCain is familiar to the Filipino people because of his hit song I’ll Be. His other hits are I Couldn’t Ask For More, Walk With You, among others.


Taylor Dayne, on the other hand, is the voice behind immortal hits - Tell It To My Heart, Love Will Lead You Back, among others.

Manila show tickets are priced at P1,790 (Silver), P3,500 (Gold) and P4,800 (VIP). For SVIP, call 09399063430 or 661-5710.

For details, call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or SM Tickets, 470-2222.

A few more weeks to go, Chinese-Filipino Communities will be celebrating the Chinese New Year and as part of the celebration the Ateneo De Manila University Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies, Shangri-La Plaza and Ateneo-Celadon will be presenting its 6th Spring Film Festival featuring 6 different movies.


Films to be shown are Ocean Heaven, Confucius, Bodyguards and Assassins, Lost on Journey, Country Wedding and King of Mi-lu Deer. The screening will happen on January 20-29,2012 at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.  Take note all these six movies are to be enjoyed for free.  

Ocean Heaven
Description: Drama
Length: 100 minutes
Origin: Hongkong China, 2010 Release Date
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles
Cast: Jet Li, Wen Zhang


Confucius
Description: Biographical Drama
Length: 120 minutes
Origin: China, January 2010 Release Date
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Zhou Xun,Chen Jianbin
Directed by: Hu Mei


Bodyguards and Assassins
Description: Action Historical Film
Length: 135 minutes
Origin: Hongkong China, 2009 Release Date
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles
Cast: Wang Xueqi, Hu Jun, Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Tony Leung
Directed by: Teddy Chan


Lost on Journey
Description: Comedy, Drama
Length: 95 minutes
Origin: China, 2010 Release Date
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles
Cast: Wang Baoqiang,Xu Zheng, Li Man


Country Wedding
Description: Comedy
Length: 90 minutes
Origin: China
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles
Cast: Zhi Jun, Ding Jiali, Yang Lixin, Xie Yuan


King of Milu Deer
Description: 3D Animation, Fantasy
Length: 90 minutes
Origin: China, 2009 Release Date
Language: Mandarin, with English Subtitles

To know more about the movies just visit the Spring Film Festival 2012 page.