Tea Party Anyone?

I'm a coffee drinker and I've always been one since time in memorial. These days there are lots of options to get you out of that habit and one thing in particular that I picked up from my brother in Ireland is tea drinking. I didn't know you could actually mix it with milk and it'll be a great alternative weather hot or cold!

A-Gan means sweet and refreshing aftertaste in Chinese; and that's exactly what I found out in A-Gan Tea when I checked out the branch at Greenbelt 2 Park, Ayala Center, Makati. The sweet -  smokey taste of hand picked tea leaves from the Ali Mountains of Taiwan.I guess that's why the industry is flourishing in that side of the world.A-GanTea Milk Tea surely is a good thing to try for novice or heavy tea drinkers. It'll probably be a lot different from the normal tea houses we see sprouting through Manila. Their concoctions are carefully planned and researched bringing you the best ones possible to consume on a hot summer or just about any time of the day.

For those who haven't tried it yet maybe one of these guys might interest you.

My personal choice would be the Hawaiian Fruit Tea, I'd like to have a more tropical - tangy mid tones since they have the real thing as base. I wouldn't resist getting tapioca or maybe the ones with Coconut Jelly or Taro Agar Bits. You choose!

For those who haven't tasted this yet it'll be their pleasure to have you over on May 12, 2012 6pm at the Greenbelt 3, Garden Activity Area. With guest stars such as teen sensations JAMICH, Eric Tai, Andrew Wolf and Chris Everingham of the Philippine Volcanoes it'll surely be one A Gan Tea experience you'll never forget!

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The BENCH MasterCard Launch!

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It was like the A list of Metro Manila. I tried to sink along the hallways of Manila Peninsula and the gorgeous Salon De Ning. It was a night of stars and famous personalities; but best of all it's the night they launched the BENCH MasterCard in celebration of their 25th Anniversary!

Hosting the event was Ginger Conijero

Current apple of the eye of thousands who watched Bb. Pilipinas and the night circuit superstar DJ David Callum provided music that time. Yes I saw some checking him out even behind the booth.

The BENCH MasterCard can now be used in over 32.7 million locations, 210 countries worldwide wherever MasterCard is accepted. It's but a dream to combine the assets and reach of a retail giant such as BENCH who has amassed a huge consumer base and a facility like BDO that provides some of the greatest banking solutions here and elsewhere in the world. Both BDO and Bench has strongly worked together to make this card with some huge preferential treatment to customers holding it. Combining perks and privileges that would get you to fabulous sales, invites to events and shows... it was a match made in heaven! 

One of the greatest announcements that evening, the face of the new BENCH MasterCard will be Dingdong Dantes and equally gorgeous Isabelle Daza.

We were all so happy to see who's representing this brand's card, both who are also endorsers of BENCH. The good looking Dingdong Dantes and the one and only Isabelle Daza. Dingdong always had that presence and Isabelle was uber gorgeous. I was too shy to take photos of them in fact because I was a little star struck!

They unveiled the new BENCH MasterCard and ooh it was gorgeous as its endorsers!

They were so nice too!

BENCH has continued to surpass it's goals in the past few years and today it has been a total LIFESTYLE brand catering to any age, any demographic for that matter. From cosmetics, hair services, to fragrances, undergarments and clothes they've got it all covered! Purchasing now in their stores with the new BENCH MasterCard will be more stylish as ever!

Gracing that evening was THE one and only Ben Chan, Congresswoman Lucy Torres and the first ever celebrity endorser of BENCH Richard Gomez who was dapper that night!

Lucy Torres was so gorgeous in person. I love her!

Janine Guttierez was there as well with her sister. She's also one of Bench's endorsers. I saw her last Philippine Fashion Week and she's looking the part on this dress. Very pretty!

 Somerad Twins Anthony and David were there too. They were quite nice and easily posed when I asked for shots. :)

Poch L. Villa-Real, MasterCard Country Manager Worldwide, Rolly Tanchanco, Executive Vice President of BDO, Isabelle Daza, Dingdong Dantes and Ben Chan founder of the Philippines' largest clothing chain BENCH

First ones to own the card! =)

 Look how happy they were being the firsts ones to have this card! I can't wait to have one of my own! =)

A milestone on its own, Bench has definitely celebrated their 25th year with a huge present to all its loyal shoppers. There will be exclusive discounts and perks together with this card. Mr. Ben Chan says that the partnership with BDO has created a winning formula that caters to exactly what their market is! Congratulations on the new BENCH MasterCard! Congratulations also to your 25th Anniversary! It's about time!

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IBM: Business Goes Social

Mr. Chris Haylock Asia Pacific Sales for IBM Messaging & Collaboration

Social? I must be dreaming when I heard that through IBM. I guess I was used to only hear server and management solutions with them that it's actually one of the last things I'd probably hear from them. Apparently I forgot that they actually do almost everything these days and true enough they've proven once again that the business model we usually are accustomed to is changing... and its changing so fast people have no choice but follow the social business management trail. IBM being a leader in the industry have solutions that cater to this and I must say; as a person who works in the same industry I was impressed to see what they can do on an enterprise level.

Chris Haylock,  of Asia Pacific Sales for IBM Messaging & Collaboration explained to us how these things were used to leverage getting ideas across platforms and the corporate structure. How important is it to actually get a wider scope of intelligence in the work place? Are ideas being well utilized in a better, wider scope? It's like crowd sourcing and the whole structure to support it in an enterprise level. I was beginning to think they have solutions for everything these days. I wouldn't be surprised why they have lead the industry all these years. Captcha for example was one of the things discussed. On how intelligence on a wider scale was utilized to digitize information. The error margin was smaller too because the sample was too large and chances are that when almost everyone interpreted it in a certain way, it must be the correct one. Social computing was not really too new for them to begin with because they internally even used it via their own intranet. It was like running a beta test of their own for years. 

Author of Documentation on Getting the Most Out of Your Communities with IBM Lotus Connections and Lotus Same time, Kevin O'Connor is the current Client Software Leader at IBM

Kevi O'Connel discussed how effective it is using the collective intelligence of people to enhance businesses. This particular model of business was like second nature to me and I too have been doing it for years via social media. Imagine a world without the need of external software, even make documents itself social, where most of the editing is done on browsers much like google docs or other free ones but is secured and well managed because of the structure of solutions they offer at IBM. It's like everything is in the cloud and everyone who's involved can have real time contribution to the piece. That in my books would be like a perfect world. Everything's going to be easier to resolve and the turnover time would be faster anytime, anywhere after that.

Lou Sassano, Business Unit Executive for Worldwide GB and Partner Sales was enthusiastically explaining how it works on a corporate structure.

Lou Sassano, Business Unit Executive for Worldwide GB and Partner Sales, Mr. Chris Haylock Asia Pacific Sales for IBM Messaging & Collaboration and Ferdinand Macatangay Channels Manager for IBM's Software Group

Simon Lee, Regional Executive for IBM's Portal and Social Solutions 

Social Media tools for organizational productivity and corporate culture change is unprecedented in most businesses but not with IBM. They know that it is important to spur growth at any facet of the corporate structure to maximize anyone's potential, more so if you are working in a global workforce model. IBM has continued to take Social Business model and Media seriously. To enable stakeholders and stay connected with clients on a whole different level is their idea of a smarter planet. I love their way of thinking and its quite amazing they are starting to share what they have internally to make things better for other corporations now.   

IBM Executives knows Social Business Solutions can make your business better. You know who to turn to now if you need to make your SME's or Enterprise level corporation world class. You simply cannot ignore the need for a social platform. It is happening!

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