2011 01/19-01/25

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Miss Universe 2010 4th Runner-up, Venus Raj of the Philippines and her mentor, Jonas Gaffud, right, rode the ThreeSixty Pharmacy float at the Annual Sinulog parade in Cebu last Sunday.

GMA 7's Survivor Philippines Celebrity Showdown Winner, Akihiro Sato waves to his supporters during last Sunday's Sinulogparade in Cebu.

These young Manilenos y Manilenas flew to Cebu to join the Sinulog 2011 festivities last weekend.

Senator Bong Revilla braved navigating around the throngs of admirers amidst the Cebu Sinulog festivities last Sunday.

The intricacy of Sinulog costumes depict the level of seriousness the Southerners pay homage to the early advent of sacrilege in the country's capital of Christian faith - Cebu.

Congratulations to Summer, daughter of Lilwyn Lucas, has been selected to represent the first grade in the Association of Christian Schools International Spelling Bee. Good luck from mom and Kuya!

James Yap and Christine Reyes added superstarpower to the float of ThreeSixty Pharmacy during the Sinulog parade last Sunday in Cebu.

The Sinulog Street Dance Parade held every 3rd Sunday of January is highlighted by the participation of schoolchildren celebrating the feast of Sto Nino in Cebu.

The rain only added to the colorful Sinulog celebration of the already kaleidoscope of costume and street decoration as more than 2 million people, mostly tourists, local and foreign, trooped to downtown Cebu City during last Sunday's Sinulog.

No, it's not Jollibee but one of the Sinulog 'Queens' garbed as Queen Bee from the province of Buyogan (Cebuano word for a 'bee'). Dancers like her practiced for 6 months before the main event and wake up as early as 2am during the actual competition day.

Cebu Sinulog Rocks!

(More than 3.5 Million took to the streets & celebrated the feast of Sto. Nino)

SEEN IN THE CITY

(Cebu, Philippines) One beat, One Dance, One Vision. This is the theme of this year’s glorious celebration in Cebu with President Noynoy Aquino attending his first ever Sinulog event this year. Dating back even before the Magellan era, Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Nino. The dance moves to the rhythmic sound of the drums and this resembles the current (in Cebuano dialect, it’s called ‘Sinulog’) of what was known before as Cebu’s Pahina River.

Before Portuguese traveller Ferdinand Magellandiscovered Cebu on April 7, 1521 and planted the Christian symbol, The Cross (it’s still enshrined there, up to this day and time) on its shore and claim the country for the King of Spain, historical reports have it that Sinulog was already danced by the Cebu natives in honor of their wooden idols and anitos. Unfortunately, however, shortly after the conversion, Magellan went into a reckless adventure by fighting the reigning ruler of Mactan, Rajah Lapulapu. Magellan died in that encounter on April 27, 1521.

Forward to year 2011, where from 800 to now’s 3.5 Million revelers who showed up even during the heavy rains, the quality of the parade, floats, street dancing, costumes and level participation has gotten better year after year. More than their world class natural resources-rich beaches and resorts, warm smile, they also have Sinulog which gives Cebuanos another feather in the cultural cap.

Viva Senyor! Pit Senyor!

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

P-Noy and the Azkals

President Noynoy Aquino (or simply P-noy to the Philippine Press) received a personal invitation from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) chief Mariano Araneta to the Azkals kick-off on February 9 when they face Mongolia on their latest quest for the AFC Challenge Cup to be held at the Panaad Stadium inBacolod City. The Azkals rose to fame for recently beating last year’s champion Vietnam. No less than the Sports Illustrated (SI) named Azkals victory overVietnam as one of the world football’s top 10 stories of the year 2010. The SI columnist said that “the victory ranked as one of the biggest upsets of the year as the underdog Philippines, known as Azkals, beat Vietnam 2-0 in the Asean Football Federation’s Suzuki Cup.” Reportedly, the Vietnamese defeat so stunned their Coach Henrique Calisto that he refused to shake the hand of PH coach Simon McMenemy after the game, furthered the report of SI.

PICPA Goes Global

The PICPA International - 4th PICPA Global Convention (Vancouver, BC, Canada on May 23-29, 2011) wishes to announce the "Last & Final" call to register at $300 EBS which ended on Jan 15th, Saturday. Starting Jan 16, Monday, the increased registration fee will be $350, will further go up to $400 to $475, if you waited until May 1 to May 29. So, hurry, beat the deadline 2 days from now (http://www.picpainternational.net). According to their President & Chairman - PICPA INTERNATIONAL (USA, Canada, Australia, Europe & the Middle East) Roland L. Ditan, Overall Chair, 4th PICPA Global Convention, “All you need to do is pay $100 on-line at our registration website: www.picpainternational.netusing Paypal or your credit card, and then the balance of $200 will be billed to your Paypal of credit card within the next few days, for as long as you register and pay $100 ‘online’, by Jan 15th. This will be their last extension notice for the $300 Early Bird Special.” You can also book and make your hotel reservation in the same website with Marriott Hotel Vancouver and avail of the convention rate of $177 per night, you will not be billed yet when you make the hotel reservation on or before Feb 2, 2011. On Feb 2, 2011, the hotel rate will increase to $199 per night. For more information, please call (415) 205-0502 or email:rditanpicpainternational@yahoo.com.

PERSONAL NOTES

Briefs & shorts

A White Fashion Show

Noted Bay Area Fashion Designer, Joseph Domingo will present his latest creations in "A White Fashion Event - Year 2" on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at the Atrium on One Market Street in downtown San Francisco. Doors will open at 6pm where Interactive Photo Shoots followed by a Silent Auction and Short Film showing will be presented.

The Fashion Show proper starts promptly at 7:30pm. This show is being presented by Pigment Cosmetics and sponsored by Istanbul Rug.

It’s MacWorld time again

Bay-area owned event, the Macworld 2011, an annual gathering of Apple lovers, especially geared towards the iPhone-loving generation is happening this yearJanuary 27-29, 2011 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco. For the technophobes, the Expo Conferences are scheduled on January 26-29.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.” – by Apple CEO,Steve Jobs, 55, announcing his 2^nd medical leave after receiving a liver transplant in 2009. Long been the subject of rumors, his health has been up and down (so goes his company’s stock prices) and has been investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commissioneven for possible irregularities. He is being talked about in circles as being acutely ill. Whatever his health status is, one thing for sure, his iPhone will live longer than him, and longer than all of his successors.

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