La Española at Madrid Fusion Manila

We're in Madrid Fusion Manila today for another round of Taste Setters, SYSU International's Series of Workshops this time discussing about Olive Oil Trends. Trends? I don't know about that but isn't Olive Oil just supposed to be the regular one and the EVOO? Well I was wrong. La Española has been doing this since 1840, and aside from the classics, there are a lot of other varieties apparently. Chef Xavier Btesh told us "People think Olive Oil is fancy, but it's really not hard to cook with it. You can even use it for your skin, and find it all around the mediterranean sea. We lost a lot of trees in the past but only Olive trees went back to life. It's forever going to be there and in fact, we've got a healthy sald we'll prepare with Extra Virgin Olive Oil". He then proceeds chopping the ingredients, mixed it and voila!

Tabouleh has couscous, tomatoes, raisins, mint and parsley. It was really good. Olive oil should at least have a little bitter but have a peppery note.

He also taught us how to make our own Mayo with Dijon Mustard, Red Wine Vinegar, egg yolks, salt and pepper. Of course you have to  He also introduced to us QUORN which is a meat free option, a mycoprotein. It's best for those who want a healthier meal and is available in leading supermarkets in the Philippines. You can keep it until the day after though (the mayo). It's so different from the one you buy in jars, and it was pretty good, the Quorn tastes like a chicken nugget! They also used the Extra Virgin Olive Oil on Vanilla Ice Cream then sprinkled with tomato, parsley and basil. You just have to melt the ice cream a little before you combine it with the olive oil and the more you use it, the more bitter the note will be. It's been a new thing in Europe, crazy, but crazy good.

Chef Xavier Btesh will also be launching his first this May in National Bookstore and leading bookstores nationwide. 

Ms. Marjorie Cleofas also adds "Apart from the world's first olive oil from spain, we have flavored olive oils in Basil, Garlic and Lemon. It's available in all leading supermarkets and online at www.sysuinc.com.ph."

Madrid Fusion Manila was just super fun! I'll feature one of the vendors next!

KUMAGCOW

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The New EON E-Money App

It looks like Unionbank's EON card is changing shape, taking the challenge of the ever changing nature of internet banking and wanting to answer the needs of their clientele. 

"Unionbank is challenging the status quo, we listen and we will do EON banking differently. It's a selfie bank, you can now bank for your self, with yourself, reinvent it and cocreate with us your bank and your future. You are part of this." - Dr. Justo Ortiz

"In 1999 people were starting to buy online, to pay stocks, and people were not using credit cards because of the fear and introduced EON Cyber Accounts. It was used for online transactions, used for EBAY, and word of mouth used and endorsing our product without us knowing who they are. There were early adapters and EON was their preferred product. People were finding use for it, it was taking a life of it's own. That's when we realize the spirit of Co-creation. They made use of EON more than what we intended, and that's why we brought in technology so they can be involved. We made sure they have the hands on experience and tell us what they need."

"We found out that our users are using EON for a lot of other things that what we expect them to be. We tried to find out what they need and made the platform, passwords were then very troublesome to change and that's when we thought of Selfie Banking. We got the best in class technology and put it in an app. This is the same technology as with Homeland Security in the US. This the new EON E-Money Account. It's the first of it's kind that you can buy in a convenience store. Most of our users are also buy online locally, as shipping is also a problem, now we have MyShoppingBox through the EON E-Money account. They want to use and transfer money too, so we researched this and got people to a security standard that people would be comfortable to use it. So far we are enhancing that technology, to make it more reliable. At the core of it is the experience, we had to make sure our customer experience is attuned to that, in real time transactions. We are getting to see a digital bank, a digital experience that does everything real time 24/7. Analytics and geo location too. It's just gonna get better everyday." - Paolo Baltao EON's Head Advocate

You can now download the app on the Apple Store and and Google Play today! 

KUMAGCOW

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Philippine Reps Named for AirAsia Runway Designer Search 2017

Having been a lover of runway shows and fashion photography, I was ecstatic to actually see who will represent the Philippines at the AirAsia Runway Designer Search 2017. This is the Manila leg and they're holding several searches around Asia to get the representatives from each country to participate in the culmination night in Malaysia where the AirAsia headquarters is located.

Their collection will be seen on KL Fashion Week together with other participating ASEAN countries who will also be sending their best in the region. There were about more than 50 aspiring designers who presented during the preliminaries then were also cut down to 12 in the afternoon. The judges really had a hard time choosing two because admittedly, there were a lot of talented designers in the Philippines. Judges include Andrew Tan, the founder of KL Fashion Week RTW, Hannah Serrano of Air Asia, Veen Dee Tan of Fashion Valet, Suki Salvador of Mega and Anthony Ramirez, one of the Philippines' best designers.

They too will be mentored by Suki Salvador and prepare a Capsule Collection which will be sold in Fashion Valet (if they win the grand prize). Aside from that, they can get the chance to win 150,000 AirAsia BIG Points (which they can use to travel in any AirAsia destination) plus Php 280,000 funding for the collection.They will also be featured on a 6 page fashion spread on AirAsia's Travel3Sixty which is their inflight magazine. 

In the end, they announced Jerome Tayao and Maria Esme Palaganas as the Top 2 winners. They will be heading to Kuala Lumpur this August to compete with the region's best, and hopefully make the country proud. Here's my short interview with them after the announcement.

Congratulations and I hope to see your collection on the runway!

For more information about their search:

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One Blood, One Chance, One Choice: CORDLIFE

Leukemia is the most common type of cancer that kids actually get. The service of Cordlife is to have cord blood banking available in the country. It's not available in all countries, but is available in ours. Not all people have access to this but I'm glad to note it's in Manila. A kit is usually given to expectant mothers and brought to the facility and stored in liquid nitrogen, can be kept indefinitely and will be owned by the child. Contract will be given to the individual when he/she turns 18. One family each month will be done this year for free but they have to come up to them so they could identify these families, not only when and if the need arises to qualify for the grant. The blood will be processed and remember Red Blood Cells carry oxygen to organs and tissues, white blood cells fight infections, platelets help blood to clot and these are all inside a hematopoietic stem cell.

There are tons if benefits in stem cells and it has been doing great work with tons of people these days that more technologies are being discovered to use stem cells from the cord blood placenta after a child is born or also collected from a healthy donor. It does bone marrow recovery, some of which can benefit Leukemia patients and I'm glad that it is available in the country. As I understood, it's like using radiation on the bone marrow so it gets killed then given (most often than not) his own stem cell so he gets recovered, in a manner just like blood transfusion. It's a more concentrated form though. 

A transplant is needed in Leukemia and some blood cancers, anemia, Thallasemia, Hodgkins disease, solid tumors, and certain diseases. Not all cancers can be cured. There is also a problem or relapse and it would be good to disseminate education and information that stem cell transplant is actually curative, as doing this early is better because survival rates are higher if that is done. It costs a little high and they are working with government institutions so this could be addressed, it also depends on age, status of disease, weight, complications and regimens used.

Many countries have no CBB's (cord blood banks) and it's one thing to be worried about. The great use of stem cells and biotechnology as a whole has been proven effective and in the past we didn't have one in the Philippines. We have great medical practitioners and scientists so a private cord blood bank is now at the UP Ayala Techno Hub in Quezon City. -Dr. Faundo of Cordlife

During the talk, the Lacanlale family also shared their experience and Cordlife was introduced to them and hopefully to cure their babies. This technology wasn't available before but is now a need for these kids and the other kids in the future who would benefit from it. Artists like Isabel Oli, Jolina Magdangal, Juris Fernandez and Dimples Romana who themselves have used this technology. If you want to know more, call 4701735 / 3321888 or visit their office at Unit 104 Bldg H UP Ayala Technohub in Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. Families with blood cancers would benefit more than this so please call if you are in need of it. 

KUMAGCOW

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