The OPPO RENO 2 Launch

Got invited to this but I didn't RSVP lol. Anyway, OPPO seems to be in a roll as they launched the OPPO RENO 2 today in a grand event at Shooting Gallery in Makati.

We had drinks but they asked us to zoom in 20x just to see the menu, pretty good idea!

As for the phone, it looks and feels good. It's not heavy and from the looks of it, it takes good photos even when there was limited light in the venue. Thanks to the phone's Ultra Night Mode it was fun to see the band playing, the dancers too.

20x zoom for your convenience

I also find this very sleek and since it doesn't have a camera on the screen you can see everything

The back had several cameras but that's not the main event

Imagine my surprise when this thing popped up at a slant when I was trying it out for a selfie, it's different and unique, which I like about it.

The portrait mode is also quite nice, you could see and feel the bokeh happening.

Specs for the geeks!

I am currently using an OPPO F7 and it has been quite useful for taking photos and video coverages. It doesn't make me cartoonish like the new OPOO Reno 2 Series

They got us to enjoy music throughout the night by taking celebrations slightly darker than usual, they want us to use the phones and take photos with the band setup like this.

The event was hosted by KC Montero and some random Carla girl lol

Oh and the phone also is not shaky, it has some technology fit for video bloggers hence their tagline Anyone Can Make Their Story.

Raymond Xia their Marketing Director says "We realized how much acheivements we had in the year but we continue to forge partnerships, Lamborghini, Marvel Studios, FC Barcelona, Roland Garros Paris and ESports League of Legends. We have pushed for 60x Zoom Technology, VOOC Flash Charge, the Under Display Camera, Waterfall Screens (by next year) and our projects in 5G. We want to streamline our product lineup hence the new A Series 2020, the Find Series and these Reno Series."

Daniel Marsh, Gabbi Garcia and Mikael Daez are the new Oppo Reno Series 2 Brand Ambassadors

They also gave advise for those who want to be into content creation

They want you to elevate your creative talent, this phone has better stabilization than your old phone, even has audio zoom, and the Sharksfin pop up camera was a nice addition or way to have something conventional because they just thought out of the box. The 4000 mAh battery will last you hours of game time, optimized for your gaming experience. I want one honestly, but if it doesn't happen well, arms raised, this is just good. It also costs Php 29,990 and the Reno 2 F costs Php 19,990 which are both attractive price points for the hardware they sell. 

I didn't get to explore much about the phone's features, but that was our first impression with the ones we handled during the event. Hope we could get a review unit soon.

Minola and the Ketogenic Diet

Last year, we had a good discussion with Dr. Fabian Dayrit about the good and the bad things about the Ketogenic diet. He says “Harvard Medical School published articles about it and asks if it is good for you to actually do it. There is a difference between Ketogenic, low carb, IF and Atkins diet. Traditionally it was used to treat childhood epilepsy, it was an effective treatment under a physician’s care. That was 1920, so this resurgence in the last 15 years is really nothing new. Fasting gets the accumulation of Ketones going. Atkins diet which was done more during the 80’s, it is mostly no sugar, high protein commercial diet and is done in phases. “

Also, he said “Ketogenic diets have high fat low carb, 20% protein. There is also mct keto and vco ketogenic diet and done in several styles. Fasting produces acetone and before, they used corn oil for treatment of epileptic children. In the 90’s diet induced hyperketonemia was done for sugar problems and lifestyle diabetes. If you don’t have glucose, your body goes to find other sources of energy and this is where ketosis starts.”

He adds “Ketones improves mitochondrial condition. It is the main source of energy for cells (including your major organs). If you are using statins, don’t do Ketogenic diets because it will just block it from happening. Right now there are clinical trials done against certain types of cancers. Lauric Acid during glucose starvation may reprogram energy metabolism and proliferation of cancer cells. (lauric acid is in coconut oil which Minola is) They also have studies about it versus Alzheimers disease where Dr. Mary Newport subjected her husband to. Her testimonial indicated that it also made good progress using Ketone Ester which mitigated her husband’s Alzheimer’s Disease. Ketosis is done through fasting, strenuous exercise, Atkins diet, coconut oil, MCT’s, ketone ester or a combination of these. Coconut oil has a unique fatty acid composition and no other oil is like it. VCO, Minola or straight eating coconut meat would make you get lauric acid. Published studies also say that Coconut Oil also has antimicrobial activity.”

Desa Apostol also shared her story:

Virna Veloso (not the one on video) who did Ketogenic Diet wanted to lose weight. She heard from friends and seen how it was effective but she couldn’t try the meal prep deliveries. She researched and did strict keto diet, in one year, from 110+ kg she was down to 66 and is now pregnant. She also had pcos (Polycystic ovary syndrome) which had a lot of her other keto friends swear by was managed by it. She also chose food, and is going to know the gender of her kid in a few weeks. Wow! :)

Ms. Kenner of Khendrie’s Kitchen also did a cooking demo and she also shared how her journey to cooking started. She was fond of sweets and baked a lot when she was pregnant. She lost her baby because she apparently had high sugar levels and did not take it lightly. She dedicated the name of her baby to this business and now produced cakes, pastries and food that are all keto friendly. She also now use coconut oil for all her cooking needs. She also lost a lot of weight with it. (Look for Khendrie’s Kitchen on Facebook).

When I left, I felt the sincere and eager participants want to change their lifestyle especially after the throng of women who changed their lives doing keto. With the aid of right know how and keto approved products such as Minola, it will be an easy journey for anyone who would want to live healthy lives. I am just so happy Minola Coconut Cooking Oil supports initiatives like these by KIFI members and their admins. Meanwhile, make sure you get the healthy coconut/ lauric oil by Minola because that helps a lot!

JoyRide Signature Bowls This Weekend

October is ending and today is the last day (for this month) for Nutriasia’s Joyride Bowls at the Mercato Centrale in BGC. What’s great about it is that it’s healthy meals prepared by Chef Jonvic Mangibin from the MV Group. He also makes food preps for professional athletes in the country. This would be a nice way for you to see it is possible to fix healthy meals with the use of Datu Puti, Golden Fiesta Oil, Jufran, Mang Tomas and Big Crunch products... all from the same company.


Don’t make plans later for dinner as they start 6pm to the wee hours of the morning. It’s affordable, very healthy and I suggest you get the skirt steak and garlic adlai because it’s so darn good. Go do yourself a favor and get them before they run out of it! It will be there every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until December, so make sure you bring your friends and family!

Money And Other Things With Home Credit

Financial literacy is the most uninteresting topic as some of you may find but we got schooled by Home Credit and their advocacy.

Franchet Cardona of Home Credit says “We operate to 10 markets globally, we are the leader in in-store loans in the Philippines and served 5 Million Filipinos. Our advocacy is financial literacy and since we launched Juan Two Three, we tried to help people about understanding how to save and invest. A lot of people don’t know that and this is why more Filipinos don’t have access to banking, 77% and with us, 65% are all first time borrowers. In our program we go to communities and barangays to have interaction with people, do interactive games to teach our customers how to understand the value of money. Today we have reached thousands of households, how to save and take care of their hard earned money. We have also been recognized by Stevie Awards, and it is important we work with different agencies. At Home Credit, we teach the basics and do hands on stuff in communities. It includes farmers, soldiers, ordinary pinoys and go beyond videos and presentations. It is super important to reach our stakeholders, even in our own offices. We need to have inclusivity and help Filipinos prepare for their future. I hope you get a lot from this session.”

Fitz Villafuerte of Ready To Be Rich says “Thanks for inviting me. One of my advocacies is financial literacy and I am a registered financial planner. It’s a new profession but we are different from financial advisors. I am also an author, entrepreneur and blogger. We are talking about principles of investment matching. What is the best investment? I have always encountered that question on all my channels. Remember, personal finance is personal, which means it is your decision. For me you have to know the situation of the person before you can plan about it. We can’t argue about what you want. A lot of people base their decision with what other people expect of them. If you choose investments, it’s not just the profit or potential returns that you go for, you have to know who’s handling it. The usual pyramid scams from never heard companies always get people in with attractive returns. Knowing and comparing hundreds of investments is difficult, but it all boils down to what you need and want. Find the investment that you can do to achieve them. Do you need something for emergencies? Do you need it for retirement? Do a specific investment to do a specific goal. The best investments are not those that earn the most, but those that help achieve your financial goals. It’s where you have to classify different kinds of investments. For Liquidity, Growth and Income, you have to choose if you want Easy access to money, money reserved for the future, or increase your present cashflow. For terms, do you need it for short term, medium term (bonds), Long Term (Equity), you also have to know the risks (Low, Medium, High). Some people don’t realize risks and the need to wait several years for your money to grow. If you open investment accounts in banks, this is why you are asked so they could asses your goals. You set your objective, a target date and specify the value. This includes how many years away you would need to achieve it. Stock market and Equity funds are for long term. You don’t invest just because you want a large sum of money, you have to choose and have smart financial goals. You have your own, so make sure you plan wisely. Your cash flow should be bigger as the years go by. Look at your goals and set your priority. Invest according to it. There is no right or wrong decision, but every time you decide you are foregoing a lot of things versus your own goals. When you are more aware, you can handle it easily. If you want to know more, you can go to fitzvillafuerte.com.”

Atty Aileen Bautista of the CIC talked about Credit Information and says “What is your credit score? The CIC is a government owned and controlled corporation made by the law since 2008. The good news about this is that CIC has credit reports available since 2015 and is available. The CIC does structured data, the credit report and credit score is different. Credit registry and credit bureau is also different. The government owns 60% while private sector owns 40% of the stake. In the PH we are fond of informal lenders like 5’6, where a lot of problems occur for developing countries. Now as lenders, it is required by law to have them furnish credit information. The goal is to have lowest interest rates and less to no collateral. Understanding financial literacy is a bit negative, this infrastructure makes is all responsible borrowers. The law describes them as a submitting entity. It includes GOCC’s , banks, credit card companies, investment companies, insurance companies, cooperatives and trust entities. They track the previous payment behavior, those who submit data are listed in our website creditinfo.gov.ph. It is comprehensive, trustworthy, and have special entities who does credit scores. The rights of borrowers include access to credit information, sometimes for a fee, there are also rights to dispute incomplete or misleading credit information. KYC’s are done in office still. You can request and we can send it to your email. Lenders can make disputes if needed. We made disputes available online. We are hoping in the next few years there would be competition among lenders and adjust interests to low ones because there are a lot of good borrowers. Financial experts say that in order for an economy to grow you need credit data and information. Who can access data? Only for those submitting data, special accessing entities and data subjects (borrowers). Retention period for negative information on database is 3 years. This does not apply to the Philippine Data Privacy Act. Factors are history of payment, is it on time, or have you defaulted? The credit report also is part of it. We highly encourage you to check our website mentioned earlier.”

It was a lot to swallow but we all got to understand the few things which makes lending money and investments a huge matter which we all should be educated about. We all have obligations, pretty soon all these credit scores will matter (it actually does). So make sure if you are borrowing money, pay on time!