TAIWAN Excellence Shows LOHAS Day with Catriona Gray

When I heard of it initially I didn't know what it meant, but LOHAS basically is Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability. Taiwan Excellence brought the cause to Market!Market! this morning with no less than Miss Universe Catriona Gray, a fitting face because this is something that she feels so strong about and they talked lengthy about it in what they call LOHAS DAYS Activate, which makes a lot of sense in this day and age. 

Fitness sessions and lifestyle experiences, with the tons of brand that Taiwan has, they will be showcasing them at the Activity Center from September 12-14 to support your goals. 

Check out what we saw at the event:

Aropec for water and diving gear, Besv Folding bikes, Acer Swift Laptops, Vinxper wine accessories, Hepty Extinguishers, Atunas Yoga and Fitness equipment, ASUS laptops, FECA Slam dunk Basketball Kit, GIANT XTC SLR 29, and more.

Josephine Shun of TECO says "Taiwan is serious about health, and the idea is very simple which is why we launched a program like LOHAS. This is health and lifestyle using Taiwanese technology. We are currently third in the world exporting fitness machines. Running along the mountain, the ocean and the warm smile, that is LOHAS and we want you to enjoy what you see around you!"

Director Alex Lai of the Taiwan Trade office in Manila says "LOHAS is not just strength, but a choice, the way we live. This is not just limited to us, but the generations to come. We have 70 Taiwanese companies presenting 30 products like folding bikes, eco products, and excited about you enjoying the fitness classes which we will hold here at the activity center. There is something for everyone, this is carefully selected to match your market and most of them have awards. You will also have the mascot to make sure you'll have fun today. On 17-19 there will be a Taiwan expo on SMX Convention center where you can find even more companies to grow your business with."

Catriona Gray says "As the LOHAS ambassador in the Philippines, I'm excited to make you enjoy fitness and a healthy lifestyle. I am very proud to represent them, many of us know it is attainable. A healthy sustainable life is achievable, we get to encourage our friends too. Like this year, I got into running because I wanted to move, it made me happy, I guess it's endorphins. My schedule is crazy but I wanted to have an achievable routine, so I do pilates, stretch, get in the water, it should fit your lifestyle. You need to take care of your mind spirit and body. I'm really inspired by their LOHAS movement, they enjoy it, use their spaces, something that we can learn and adapt in the Philippines. I love getting sleep, have a night without phones, eat good food, not just convenient food. We have to schedule time with activities, we are busy but we have to have some of it for ourselves."

She adds "Making conscious decisions is what sustainability is. I am conscious about water bottles, fashion, we need to look for solutions that impact the community. The car free days, the community runs, small actions that we can do for the environment."

If you want to join the fitness and wellness sessions, see exhibits and products from Taiwan, they will be there til the 14th so make sure you head down to Market!Market! or their FB page for updates by searching TaiwanExcellence.ph on the platform.

LG Celebrates 10 Years of OLED

LG is celebrating their milestones especially the LG OLED TV. It's been a standard, and with good reason because they're the best in this technology. Back then, it wasn't common to see Organic Light Emitting Diode on TV screens but today, the same tech has changed the landscape of not just theirs, but every company that comes out with their own TV screen, all because they have pushed for its innovation.

Today, they've got LG OLED evo that has got a Brightness Booster, an a9 Gen5 AI Processor so you see those pixels with unbeatable clarity. Thing turns off on screen so those blacks are now deeper, but colors still remain rich and vibrant, something that you probably have never seen before on TV.

A history lesson ensued, they displayed generations of their OLED TV's from the beginning HD to now their OLED evo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaming on it even has it's own setting, to enhance not just experience, but latency and better framerates

Some sets even had close to no gaps at the back, so you're basically looking at something that could depict artwork to change the feel of a space. That was nice!

They used a PS5 without a speaker attached, but it sounded quite nice. It's also Dolby Atmos ready, so for acoustic freaks, this would be satisfying.

They utilize their own LG WebOS 23 that's got apps, quick cards, easily accessible through the clicker that comes with the OLED TV from LG.

 

It's also got HDR like quality visuals, those textures would come quite handy in some games you need to play.

In a studio setting, you can teach KPOP moves with ease. It's also got multi screens if you need to look at materials and see yourself at the same time.

Shortcuts to use if your favorite team has a game, or use it to follow them if you miss one.

The brightest because the pixels light up independently.

LG Executives, several celebrities like Enrique Gil, Michelle Dee and Dominic Roque were in attendance, no interviews but just seeing them was precious!

It was certainly a good thing that they also did this in the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines where some got to dress up in cultural garbs like Hanboks and Jeogori. Thank you for the fun event LG! Congratulations and I fervently hope you'll continue to innovate, perhaps introduce new ones in the coming years. Real progress! Cheers!

Timmy Llana and Maxine Medina: Choosing Their Wedding Rings

It's surreal to see how LOVE happens at the most opportune time. Some may call it serendipity, some may call it fate, but in the case of Dive Master Timmy Llana and Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina, it would have been a case of marrying "The One That Got Away".

They went to the same school and had the same circle of friends. He was smitten the first time he laid her eyes on her, but she was young, boyish, had that athletic mindset to think about relationships. Volleyball was the only thing she wanted to do that time. He drove her home a couple of times, and felt taken cared of. 

Nothing romantic came of it, but they remained friends, communicated and then didn't get to talk for a couple of years after that. Maxine then went to win the Miss Universe Philippines title to represent the country for Miss Universe pageant in 2016, right after Pia's reign and eventually, got to the Top 6. After that, she went on to became a celebrity, appearing different successful TV shows, movies, and hosting stints which she remains to do today.    

Got to talk to Timmy and Maxine at J's Diamond in Trinoma during the time they were choosing the designs for their wedding ring.

Timmy prefers the classic design (left), one that could be worn for years and doesn't go out of style. Maxine on the other hand plans to have her rings layered (right) when she wears it. She chose simple but elegant design which is currently is in yellow gold. All would be custom made by J's Diamond in white gold. The one on the far right is a diamond crusted band, she loves it and plans to pass it on for generations to come. These two rings will be paired with the existing marquise shaped diamond ring (her engagement ring), an heirloom piece she got from Timmy's family.

Here's how our conversation over lunch went:

 

Here's a short tour inside the store, and some moments with Timmy and Maxine that afternoon:

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A post shared by John Bueno (@kumagcow)

 

Maxine's love for the sun, sand and the sea got her reconnected with Timmy. They felt it wasn't much of formalities and courtship that happened, the friendship just blossomed into this. She attributes it to her ability to go with the flow, they just kinda knew it was LOVE and embraced it. Timmy saw how they grew closer while doing the things they love (with so much passion), particularly diving. It just so happened that he was a Dive Master, and says they were just at the right place and the right time. 

From a friendship that spanned almost 20 years, and being in a relationship for 5 years, Timmy and Maxine plan to start a family after their wedding in October. They hope to have twins as he's had family who are too . Maxine wants to pursue A LOT of things still, and continue her showbiz career plus other businesses she plans to do in the future (quips she can multitask). She's currently doing "Magandang Dilag" with Herlene Budol and other GMA stars. She says it'll be shown next month, make sure you watch out for that!

Their story could have ended a long time ago, but you see, LOVE has its ways. This too proves how friends, old flames, the things you are passionate about can spark affection and relationships. Hope their story inspires you. I mean who knows?! That person who genuinely care for you might just be THE ONE.

 

Congratulations Timmy and Maxine! Again, thank you for the opportunity to interview and get to know you on a more personal level. I'll be cheering from the bleachers like I did during your Miss U stint!

P.S. If you want to know more about J's Diamond, just search the same on Facebook. You may also visit their official site jsdiamond.com.ph and book appointments there.