Winners of Vivo's VISION+ Mobile Photography Awards 2020

Looks like there's a throng of really good entries in the Vivo VISION+ Mobile Photography Awards 2020. This proves a lot that it doesn't really matter if you're using a DSLR or those old boxes they had centuries ago. This year, they partnered with National Geographic to find the photo or video that would be able to capture and personify individual emotions and humanistic culture. They did this for 2 months and over 135,000 entries from around the world were submitted, and the winner for photo of the year evidently won because of the story. Check out the winners below!

This shot called "Balinese Woman" won Arief Satria the Portrait category. He is a photographer who hails from Indonesia.

This is called "Camping Night with Beloved Friends" shot by Rifqi Moch Lutpi who is from Indonesia. He won honorable mention.

This video is called Opera Watch made by Chen Lei of China. This won the mobile video category.

For the Night category, this one is called "Steelwool with Bridge" shot by Pyae Phyo Aung who hails from Myanmar.

This one is called "Replicate" which is shot by Lin Haibo of China. He won the Memories category.

This photo called "Daily Life of Four Big Mouth Monsters" wins photo of the year for 2020. This was shot by photographer Zhang Yu from China.

Now how I wish I could watch the next one this year, perhaps I could join the portrait category and win it for the country. It pays owning a Vivo no? They're really making photography a real priority and I can't wait for more things from Vivo, they probably are making mean machines somewhere there. I wanna see, I wanna see!

Insight 360 Outs New Film Starring Kakai Bautista and Zoren Legaspi

 

I have seen the films ECHORSIS (2016 award winning gay comedy horror themed film) and Mia (2020, environmental themed) which was produced by Chris Cahilig under Insight 360 Films. These were well made and talked about very pressing issues. This time, they released the next one (through a teaser), a very promising one at that called "Miss Q & A: Para sa magaganda lang ba ang love life?".

The film is directed by Lemuel Lorca who's got several awards on his belt, while the screenplay was done by John Bedia in collaboration with Lorca and Cahilig. It stars Dental Diva Kakai Bautista and the immortal, vampire like leading man Zoren Legaspi. Yes, it looks like an odd combination but producer Chris Cahilig puts this as a way to believe in love. Check out this teaser they released a couple days ago so you get to know what I'm talking about. This also features the song "Halika" which is written and sung by Seth Dunga. This is also available in digital stores and Spotify if you want to hear more of it.

 

 This film might be a romcom, but it feels more dreamy and romantic. Though it really asked that question that nobody would often do. Though successful, Kakai's character is portrayed here as the one less fortunate in the looks department, but their interactions say otherwise as Zoren became the perfect gentleman, going through the experience of dating in a theme park and swooning the lady he's with. Zoren looks so good on screen, and the way Kakai takes in his efforts, felt so genuine Honestly, I'm pretty excited to see this on silver screen, but things are still a little dangerous out there that this might be shown soon on digital channels, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, listen to the "Halika" which will be the official soundtrack for this film on Spotify. I'm sure you would mistake it as a foreign artist just like I did earlier. Pretty good in my books!

 

 

Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo On The Last Episode of The House Arrest of Us

 

It's both a sad and a happy occasion for lovebirds Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla as they are about to have their last episode this Saturday on ktx.ph. The feeling I got during our interview a few days ago was the same because we're surely going to miss them being Q and Corics, but on hindsight, we could be actually seeing them soon in a new series over at A2Z where they are doing shows now since abscbn has been shutdown by some people who we will not mention LOL.

Anyway, during the blogcon, they said a lot of things that they will surely miss about the series. The House Arrest of Us was a chance to work with other artists for the first time.

Kathryn says "More than anything Daniel and I really know that time is really important. We don't know what will happen in the coming months. About his cooking, sometimes it's good especially his Katsudon. We learned a lot from this show, it's about family, both sides, how ready we are before marriage and how you and your partner prepare for it. It's automatic every episode, there is lesson every 20-30mins they spend on it. Sometimes the scenes are actually patterned to us, we were interviewed by them, (the writers) we also needed to eat together (like any Filipino family), so there is a personal touch prior to shooting the show. We believe in having no secrets because the relationship is going to be affected.That's what I learned from Q and Corics. For us, marriage is a lifetime partnership, once you enter that you won't leave each other, you have to be together. We just want to take care of ourselves, our family, that's why we look out for each other."


Daniel says "Grabe, we were just talking a few weeks ago and now we are here in the finale blogcon. About her cooking, I love her pasta, mashed potato, grilled cheese. It's not a joke entering marriage, you have to be fully committed, you have to be ready, it's very exciting to be in that moment but you have to be ready mentally emotionally and physically. It has to be balanced, there ought to be compromise, it's not about egos, about who's wrong or right, you have to help each other, it's not a contest. I wish the project would materialize this year, a lot of people are waiting for that. I hope we get to still give each other patience, I don't focus on myself these days, just health. If we are healthy, we can do so much more."

Check out some good questions I asked them during the blog conference. Including what makes them perfect for each other. These guys also sang my questions hahaha!

 Now if you still haven't seen the show, there's still time to do that over at ktx.ph and see the last episode tomorrow. It's not that expensive either, so go see it if you're truly a #KathNiel fan. These guys are humble, romantic, and amazing on screen! Yes, even in person!

Diabetes Management During the Pandemic

There have been a lot of things that have been worsened during this pandemic and one of them is the onslaught of diabetes, heart ailment during lockdown and COVID (which makes matters worst).


In Italy, EpiCentro reported that diabetes has accounted for 30.5 percent of comorbidities (of which hypertension and cardio-cerebrovascular disease is included) among COVID-related deaths.The Philippines on the other hand has 77% of COVID-related deaths of the same according to the World Health Organization report.

According to Dr. Jeremy Robles the current President of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism "The presence of diabetes can defintely make one’s COVID infection worse. Controlling it will be up to the patient because it is on how they would adhere to doctors adivse as this is both chronic and a lifetime disease."

His advise? He calls this "Apat Dapat", which is 4 simple ways to manage diabetes:

Proper diet
Exercise
Regular medication
Regular check-ups

All of which, actually makes total sense. Eating healthy makes your blood sugar normalize. So does working out because it makes your body have less insulin resistance. Medication is vital to make sure you don't get complications with uncontrolled blood sugar. Regular visits to your doctor can make those tests understandable so you know when you are making progress. They can also prescribe if you need changes in your medicine, so you won't be too hard for your kidneys. So make sure to take care of yourselves even during these times. 

/*This particular article has some components from the Kontrolado Ko, Diabetes Ko campaign by MSD in the country. They are pushing for patient adherence to medication and treatment especially with diabetes patients in the PH.