Grab x Shell Cebu Ink Partnership

Great morning to see good things happen to good people. In Cebu, Pilipinas Shell just inked a partnership with Grab partners in the Queen City of the South wherein now they can use and give assistance to the public making 11 of their stations have logistics, food delivery and essentials too.


Rolyn Tomarong the Non Fuel Retail Manager of Pilipinas Shell says "To be able to launch this in Cebu made me so happy. The weather is good and feels it welcomes this partnership as well. To continue to provide services where it counts, Shell expanded offers to make essentials available in convenient locations Cebu wide. Shell Select will offer even more things during the pandemic. Dealers have ensured customers will be served during this time. This will enable driver and delivery partners to move Cebu economy and communities. This will entail us to give better service for our Cebuano customers. You can now shop at Select and Grab your groceries and needs for your homes."

Mandaue City Councilor Jun Del Mar says "I would like to thank Shell and Grab in this momentous event. Any endeavor to revive our economy during this time is a cause for celebration. They are joining hands to boost the transport industry through logistics, food delivery and transportation services. Now they can provide needs for their loved ones so they can feed their families. It is the value of working together that we can empower each other. We are happy they are leading the way to ignite sectors of SME's, I hope we will learn more about their example, this is just the beginning of better things ahead."

Gines Barot Head of City Operations Grab Philippines "We know how hard our driver and partners work in Cebu. We at Grab continue to find ways, we both share the same goals to allow them to maximize their earnings. First is the discounted meals and gas. We want them to save and get more take home pay everytime. We know how hard times are so we will make sure of needed bookings, make sure bike lanes are secured for Grab Express, Grab Food, and transport services Grab Car and Grab Taxi so people in Cebu can move around with safety as our priority. I hope through our partnership with Shell, and the meaningful things we do for our drivers, we continue to support them and our kababayans in on deman delivery needs and support the economic recovery of Cebu."

Grace Vera Cruz Grab's Country Head says "Our drivers play an essential role in Cebu's economic recovery. With their help, we doubled safety hygeine solutions through Grab Protect. Through this, our delivery partners were able to continue supple food, essentials online. With many businesses doing digital these past few months, this will aid in Cebu's recovery and Grab will continue to have mobility which the province needs. By providing our drivers with insurance, scholarships, discounted food and fuel, this will further motivate them to serve more Cebuanos. We hope to continue to deepen our partnership to support our drivers and partners across the province. Thank you!"

Randy Del Valle Vice President of retail for Shell says "I hope I could be in Cebu but I'm stuck in Manila. This is still a big momentous event. Thank you to our media partners in Manila and Cebu. In Pilipinas Shell, we drive mobility and progress especially while we are under pandemic. This made one thing clear, we need to live with the virus, which is why we are also part of Ingat Angat early this year. The renewed commitment includes movement of people and products especially with the pandemic. Cebu is rising, and this will lead in legacies that will outlast the virus. The transport plans will have more modern bridges, expressways, in different parts of Cebu, we will be an ally. We will support livelihoods so drivers, passengers can mobilize themselves. We have opened branches in different locations so products like fuel and essentials to serve the needs of our customers and progress their careers. This partnership is a testament of our commitment, it introduces opportunities to our hard working drivers and our stakeholders. This is just a pilot, we will welcome it with enthusiasm. Drivers will have first class services available to them like safety checkpoints, open mobility stations, dedicated motorcycle lanes so we can serve more people. We want to move forward and promise to be part of nation building, and growth of Cebu."

 

To get discounted fuel, drivers can also use the Shell Go + Card and App and earn points from each transaction with Shell. You can get the Shell GO+ Grab Card Card in selected stations. Grab drivers get fuels discounts, points for purchasing fuels, lubes, and Select . They can use these points to pay at any Shell station. By being an active user, they can get travel accident insurance for the driver, scholarships for their dependents, and special rewards catalogs. They are also replicating this in even more branches nationwide. Shell and Grab are like minded, customer-centric, which I think is the reason why they can make plans happen easily.

Looks like things are looking up down south. Can't wait to go there in the near future. Congratulations Pilipinas Shell and Grab!

Martin Del Rosario Means Business: THE ARMORY in QC

The last time I talked to Martin Del Rosario was during a charity birthday party held last year. He's one of the most impressive actors in the stable of GMA and with good reason. He's never held back in BENCH Body photo shoots either and was dubbed once as an "unbelievable subject" during the last Denim and Underwear show of the same brand. He's also gone through a lot of shows, done extremely well with drama, even if it requires him to play homo roles, with or lesser clothing. 

He just finished a series on GMA and had a short break for a couple of weeks. He made sure he got to spend these few days wisely and put it to good use. Martin together with his partners just opened a bar at Congressional Avenue Extension in Quezon City called THE ARMORY. With the congested Makati scene and pretty toxic Tomas Morato area, he wanted people in this side of Quezon City to have their own hangout and he did it with good research.

The Interiors

Martin used to always go to BGC and Makati just to go to bars that serve excellent drinks. The problem is, it is really far and it takes hours just to go to and from those clubs. Not to mention how pricey the drinks were each time they order off the bar. He's just like most of us in QC, much like his partners. We want to take it easy, have a place to chill, have fun, wanted it affordable, plus really close to where we lived. This is where THE ARMORY was born.

THE ARMORY is divided into two areas. The one upstairs is for dance music, where they play the best in the music charts. Expect the second floor to be a little more intense, VERY PACKED til the wee hours of the morning. They've got a few tables, but most of the folks are really gonna dance so it won't be a walk in the park to find seating. The bar they have upstairs and downstairs only serve drinks, so don't expect food to be served in the first few months. They're building a kitchen outside via a Volkswagen which will serve streetfood and small bar chows that would be easy to serve and fast. Downstairs is a space they call BUNKER which houses their main bar, plus a couple of tables so people could chill, talk and listen to music. By design, they wanted this to replicate a warehouse, something raw and industrial but NOT intimidating. They want younger people to frequent the place and not think that it isn't a place to hang out because it would look pricey. They've done a remarkable job in that part. They're also planning to build an extension up front with more tables, seats, with just easy listening music. That will be built perhaps within this year. That's the same period where Martin and his partners wanted to get the return of their investments, it's quite achievable judging from the people going to the place these days.

Martin will be still prioritizing his career just like his partners, but assure that they're running this business with their eyes on it. You'll even get the chance to see Martin himself man the bar when he's free, whenever he can.

Here's our interview with Martin that evening. We got the chance to talk to him before chaos ensued.

Part 1



Part 2



The Drinks

If I were to recommend a drink, this is it. It's the White Sangria. Martin and his partners hired a real deal mixologist who also did the bars in Makati so they could get these lovely drinks served in the place, without the "Makati/BGC" pricetag of course! I love this as it is fruity, but still gets you dizzy. Lovely and fancy, but totally worth the price.

This Red Sangria on the other hand is a bit stronger than the white version.  Both are good don't get me wrong but again, my favorite is the white one.

The ladies on the other hand loved this Grapefruit Mojito. It's the usual but a little on the fruity but sour side because of obvious reasons - the grapefruit! These are what I recommend you order whilst at THE ARMORY.

Congratulations Martin Del Rosario! Hope this thing becomes BIGGER than you hope for! 

Visit https://www.facebook.com/thearmoryqc for more details! You can also drive by at Congressional Avenue Extension and see it yourself!

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Smart Bro Partners with Travel Factor for Smart Bro Trips!

Have you ever tried Travel Factor? If not, then you're missing out a lot! They're an organization that makes custom trips, arranged tours that are not the usual ones agencies do. Their market? It's much like you and me, young professionals that want to get out of town and live the passion of traveling. Funny thing is, they don't usually charter vans or things like that. They mostly use public transportation to go from one place to another. If it's anything to do with travel and adventure, they're the guys who can do it.

The good thing is, they've designed special trips now that doesn't involve you worrying about getting disconnected from the rest of the world. They have partnered with Smart, the country's biggest network through Smart Bro. Now, you can still check your mail, Facebook, Instagram those shots while you're in the trip so people get updated where you are, what you're doing and stay envious of your trip. One lovely thing is, it's totally free when you get the Smart Bro Trips and you even get a handy dandy Smart Bro Travel Kit (that's also got some essentials) while you're there. 

The best thing about this partnership is that you can get 20% OFF if you're a Smart Bro Prepaid Subscriber. Plus, it's very easy to book trips in their site http://travelfactor.org because once you input all your details and pay for it, you can relax, prepare your backpack and just meet up. There are already several Smart Bro Trips coming up like Conquer Sagada on August 21-23, Surfvivor Baler on September 19-20, Surfvivor La Union on October 24-26, Photoholic Ilocos on November 20-22, Conquer Sagada again on December 27-29 and lastly Conquer Mt. Pulag on January 16-17, 2016. All these will have added perks as promised by Smart Bro and Travel Factor's partnership. Now all you have to do is get that Smart Bro Prepaid Subscription (by getting Smart Bro Prepaid 4G or LTE Pocket WiFi) and book your tour on http://travelfactor.org. You'll start the trip with strangers, and turn them into friends afterwards! 

You can visit http://smart.com.ph/bro and http://travelfactor.org for more information.

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