LG Takes Van Gogh Alive To Next Level at BGC Art Center

I've had the pleasure of studying about his life, and his illustrious works of art back in college, and yes, Van Gogh has certainly gone through generations. At the BGC Art Center, they're doing a display called Van Gogh Alive which has been raved by art lovers these past few days, and as a partner, technology and home brand LG is taking it to another level.   

Since it's a limited run, LG will make that multi sensory experience come to life with the various displays they have like the LG OLED 83 inch (OLED83C3PSA model) and the LG QNED 75 inch (75QNED80SRA) for those drawings, accompanied by immersive sound and acoustics, you'll feel like you're in a dream or inside the actual painting. If you're in the lobby, there's various LG 50 inch UHD TV's  (50UR8050PSB model) so you could see the merch being displayed after the whole experience.

Van Gogh Alive has been in over 100 cities around the world and the inclusion of the Philippines is certainly enrich art appreciation among Filipinos, just like the those who ave already seen it elsewhere. LG promises to bring more of these technologies and innovation for a better life. You may check their official website lg.com/ph if you want to know more about their OLED products and devices, it's all there!

If you want to see it, you can get tickets via bgcartscenter.org/vga

Golden Haven Launches Own Pet Crematorium

They've always been known for having posh themed memorial parks across the country, and this time, they're giving your special furry member of the family a proper goodbye with their Golden Haven Pet Crematorium. It's located at their premier project in Las Pinas City. This is quite monumental in terms of services provided for the families this can benefit, especially for those who look at their pets differently at this day and age.

For those who would want to take a look at it, it stands at the front of Golden Haven Memorial Park. This was launched last October 21st, and was introduced via a full on motorcade in various streets off Las Pinas City. Using their fleet of vehicles, onlookers were all excited as the stretch of cars drove by. It was colorful and exciting, a perfect opportunity for them to also know about the new service created for their two or four legged friends.

The event was also witnessed by the Golden Haven President Ms. Emy Lustado, and Las Pinas Divisiion Head Ms. Iris Guazon. This is part of their plans to make sure there's a place to say goodbye to their cuddly loved ones, where the lay men and women would have a place to solemnly officiate their blessings when the time comes. Their social channels also feature the facility and has gotten fur parents excited seeing such a place dedicated for the furry ones as part of their after life services. This is compassion in action, so head on to their social channels by searching Golden Haven on FB, Twitter, TikTok etc. or their website  goldenhaven.com.ph because everything is there.

Go pay them a visit if you feel like your pets deserve the best goodbye.

Still Making Milestones: The FIGARO Coffee Group

The pandemic must have been hard for businesses and it did stay true with the Figaro Cofee Group. A few months ago, we were in the midst of their executives to see where their group is heading especially this 2024. The event was graced by Mr. Justin Liu the group's Chairman, Ms. Divine Cabuloy their CEO/President, Mr. Mike Barret their COO/EVP and Mr. Petronio Español III the Figaro Group's CFO.

Still Bullishly Expanding

During the pandemic, they have had really hard times as restaurants were either forced to close or not allowed to have dine in customers sans protocols implemented by the government. Though they have coffee shops, Chinese and other brands, their Angel's Pizza was a hit. It was so much of a hit that they had to absorb employees from different corporations who went in the verge of closing down and get them to work in their new branches. The pizza delivery industry sector went huge, and their flavor and food innovations proved positively good during those years. Today, the FIGARO Coffee Group owns 60 Figaro Coffee stores, 116 Angel's Pizza outlets, over 10 Tien Ma restaurants, and 6 Cafe Portofino branches nationwide. That's over 192 all in all, and they are strategically expanding outside the metro in places like Laguna, Pampanga, Rizal, Cebu, Pangasinan, Leyte, Bohol and Davao. They are thinking of more regions next year, and this expansion comes with careful planning and coordination so no quality would be sacrificed in any of their stores.

Financially Strong, Making Milestones

Their Chairman Justin Liu personally explained their recent milestones in terms of finances in the Figaro Group. Their 75% increase in revenues alone had our jaw dropped and they attribute it to the aggressive expansion projects they made outside Metro Manila. Aside from that, a 6% increase in existing stores has helped achieve great sales figures as compared to 2022, that's over Php 2.44 Billion albeit a decline in gross margins back in June which they attribute to inflation and expensive raw materials. Net income came at a whopping Php 462.6 Million because of their wise mitigation in costs and increase in volume (since they did expand stores), undoubtedly a really good reason to celebrate.


They also added the new Creamy Spinach Sushi Bake to the menu a few months ago. With it, is the highly successful Creamy Spinach Dip Pizza. They also launched the "Sama Sama Sa Angel's Pizza" jingle which I'm sure will add to the really good marketing ploys they launched. They also had a few more viands in their other brands plus Oat based drinks which will make the nutty success in their coffee brands.

This is just the start, and I felt there will be more stores for Angel's Pizza in the Visayas and Mindanao region in the coming months. Figaro really weathered through a storm, survived it, and is flourishing! 

Congratulations FIGARO Group!

Xiaomi Holds Xiaomi Pop Run 2023 at Bridgetowne in QC

It was certainly a great morning to have a few of my blog friends and different health enthusiasts join the XIAOMI POP RUN 2023 which was held last October 28th at the Bridgetown grounds in Quezon City. I'm quite familiar to the place because when I had a blue collar job my previous corp opened an office nearby. There were a lot of people from nearby corps who joined in plus some of Xiomi's very own employees, friends and family who participated in this event.

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Around 5am, warm ups were done first by instructors to make sure we had blood rushing through our veins before the actual 3K and 10K runs. This is the first Xiaomi Pop Run event being held in the country and it has been a tradition in other parts of the world, it was a glad addition to the already big runs happening elsewhere (they were being done simultaneously in several cities around the world and Manila just got it). This all started in China via the Orange Run in 2018 which was well attended by Xiaomi fans.

When the race started, the 10K Run was done first. I thought it was going to be relatively easy, but no, the run had some several pros in them. There were also a lot of participants that had their Xiaomi Bands with them, which was also a good thing as they were launching the latest one the Xiaomi Band 8.

I wore one too, the White version while there were other runners that had the Black. The night before, I wore it to monitor my sleep (and saw I only had an hour in it lol #badboy). The Xiaomi Band 8 had other features to monitor the distance they ran, the time, heart rate, even blood oxygen levels (which I did during the pandemic often). There's also a way to monitor the route because it had GPS capabilities, so when the race started, they switched it to that as well. What I liked most about the Xiaomi Band 8 is the really clear 1.62 inch AMOLED display and the long lasting batteries it had (which promised 16 days, and I have yet to charge it since I've worn it that day). I also had the opportunity to take photos with several Sparkle teens and Sparkle artists as well who joined the 3K Xiaomi Pop Run, particularly Will Ashley,  Keisha Serna, James Graham, Abdul Raman, Ella Cristofani, Jade Tecson, Aidan Veneracion, Tanya Ramos, Lianne Valentin, and Raheel Bhyria. They were a fun bunch!

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Winners were given a brand new Xiaomi 13T smartphone a Xiaomi Smart Band 8 depending on the distance and time. The other sponsors like Redbull, Viu, Salonpas and Fitbar made sure lucky participants were given prizes through the on the spot raffles before the event ended. They also thanked their partners at Bridgetowne Destination Estate and Robinsons for doing the same. They also promised more things to come in the next Xiaomi Pop Run, yes there will be one next year! If you want to know more, make sure to follow Xiaomi Philippines social channels and their official website. See you then!