Bjorn Cebuano

Krispy Kreme SM City Cebu Opens Doors Today

bjorn cebuano — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:53:57 +0000

Hours from now, Krispy Kreme Store in SM City Cebu will open its doors. It is an anticipated moment for many who have gone to love KK much.

Krispy Kreme opened its first branch in Cebu in Ayala Center on October 22 last year, and then one in IT Park on the same date but on a later hour.

Be sure to witness the opening of Krispy Kreme branch in SM City Cebu at 4:30 pm on May 17, 2012.

Updates of the opening will be posted here.

Startup Weekend Cebu, a Success on Day 1

bjorn cebuano — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:44:11 +0000

Startup Weekend Cebu had a very overwhelming turnout. I could say it was a success. Although it may seem biased since I am one of the organizers, but basing on the number of participants and the activities and then fun, I can really say that it was a blast— a successful blast.

Different mentors and personalities were there, from the media and business organizations. Some I know and others I have just met.

With 280 participants, 50 pitches and 17 teams formed, I think those figures are enough to tap the organizers’ backs for the job well done.

This is after the initial pitches and voting for the top ideas. It was an organized chaos. Many participants came in front the stage to choose their teams.

Coach Jim Saret’s FITFIL Fitness Boot Camp in Cebu

bjorn cebuano — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:10:56 +0000

If you happened to watch the reality show of ABS-CBN “The Biggest Loser” last year, you might have known about Coach Jim Saret.

The distinguished fitness coach brought hell to the participants, urging the big “pounders” to push their physical endurance to the limits and motivated them to attain almost relatively good physique as him.

Coach Jim Saret has been a very well-known personal coach on fitness. If you want to know and experience how those “biggest losers’ attained their bodies to their desired effects, you may want to join the FITFIL Fitness Boot Camp.

FITFIL is a 12-15 fitness sessions program, with a run for 3 times a week, kicking-off at the following locations:

Cebu
May 15 to June 16, 2012 (Tuesday and Thursday from 6 pm to 8 pm. On Saturdays from 6 am to 8 am) at The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City
Manila
May 21 to June 15, 2012 (Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 6 pm to 8 pm) at Fort Bonifacio High Street (grounds), Taguig City

There are many reasons why you should join this FITFIL Fitness Boot Camp, but I can only share 5.

1. Be coached by the certified trainers. I can see myself being around hot people if I join.

2. Get this program at a fraction of its real cost. Php 5,000 monthly seems a huge price to many people. With FITFIL Fitness Boot Camp, you can only get it at Php 800-900.

3. Experience the program with your buddies… or meet new ones. Tell your friends about this and get healthy.

4. This offer is limited to 100 participants. If you really want to join this, decide NOW!

5. This is one of the best ways to get healthy, on the road to a sexier body.

Bjorn Cebuano desires to join this event and I hope I can have time and the opportunity to receive fitness instructions from the Pros.

To register, please visit Coach Jim Saret’s Fitness Boot Camp page and fill out the form.

And don’t forget to like FITFIL Fitness Boot Camp on Facebook.

Bjorn Cebuano Joined Pre-Startup Weekend Workshop, Anticipated the SWC Bootcamp

bjorn cebuano — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:16:43 +0000

I joined the Pre-Startup Weekend Cebu Workshop last Saturday, April 21 at CIT University Auditorium. And the good part about joining it was that I was part of the team, StrongGame.com that won the mock pitch.

I highly anticipate the final Startup Weekend which will be on May 11-13, 2012 at UP Cebu College.

But before the final Startup Weekend Cebu, a Pre-Startup Weekend Cebu Bootcamp will take place at the final venue. This will be on May 5, 2012 from 8 AM to 5 PM. This is a joint partnership between Google and SWC.

To register, please visit the registration page of Google Technology User Groups (GTUG) -SWC Pre-Startup Weekend Bootcamp at Eventbrite.

For pictures of the recent Pre-Startup Weekend Workshop, please see the gallery below.

Avengers in SM City Cebu iMax: Best Movie this Summer

bjorn cebuano — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:05:19 +0000

Avengers is not just a kiddie movie. In fact, the action scenes and the effects are so overwhelming, technically-improved, awesome and ohh… a bit violent even that it requires adults to watch the minor kids in watching the film in a cinema.

I happened to have the chance to watch Avengers last April 25, 2012. It was an exclusive screening by Jollibee for its loyal customers. Kids and adults watched the movie with much anticipation. And boy, even I was so amazed by the effects that I wanted to watch it again. I absolutely enjoyed it.

Avengers can be deemed a compilation film of the different films of the superheroes shown prior to this film. So far, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk had individual film versions depicting their origin and their lives based on the Marvel comics. Actors of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor reprised their roles in the film. Edward Norton, who was supposedly negotiated to reprise the role, bequeathed the Hulk role to Mark Ruffalo after the former actor failed to reach an agreement with the producers.

Scarlett Johannson and Jeremy Renner who played Black Widow and Hawkeye respectively didn’t have prior films of their origins, however, Black Widow was already a cast of IronMan 2 with Johannson in the role.

The superheroes have varied characters and special abilities. Black Widow and Hawkeye don’t really have super powers compared to Thor and Iron Man, but Black Widow, the only female superhero in the cast is a tough heroine. Hulk and Captain America acquired superpowers after genetic experimentations.

Iron Man was really a comic character while Captain America was the opposite. Perhaps, Capt. A being serious has something to do with age, but surprisingly he was the youngest-looking of the male superheroes in the movie. Chris Evans took the role of Captain America in Avengers, a role he reprised after the first Captain America film last year. Iron Man was played by Robert Downey, Jr.

I am a Marvel fan so it could be biased for me to recommend this movie to all. After all, many people anticipate the live action film after following the stories in comics and animated series on TV. And when it came out on the big screen in 3D, many Marvel fans have been flocking and queuing to get the movie tickets.

I believe there would be a sequel to this after Thanos was shown before the movie eds. And hopefully, Wolverine, SpiderMan and even IceMan will be in the sequel.

Pre-Startup Weekend Cebu Workshop: a Great Precursor

bjorn cebuano — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:47:45 +0000

OVER 40 startup enthusiasts including mentors and organizers showed up and enjoyed a wonderful experience in the pre-Startup Weekend Cebu workshop last Saturday at the Case Room of the Cebu Institute of Technology – University along N. Bacalso ave., Cebu City.

The participants did mock pitches and presentations and formed mock teams as well during the pre-event workshop to prepare themselves for the Startup Weekend Cebu proper come May 11-13 at the University of the Philippines – Visayas Cebu College. In the mock pitches, Team StrongGame emerged as the winner.

“We did mock pitches, so participants could get used to the 60-second pitching format in the Startup Weekend Cebu (SWC),” lead SWC organizer Mark Abella of TechTalks.ph said. “We also formed mock teams and did mock presentations while the audience acted as judges.”

The participants also pulled apart the experience and shared what worked and what could have been done better. Each participant likewise spent a minute describing themselves and why they are excited about SWC.

“It was a great precursor for the Startup Weekend,” said pre-event attendee Jeremy Green. “It was fun and useful.”

Fellow participant John Alindogan said: “It was excellent. We should do this on a regular basis,” while Zip Cerio claimed: “We had some cool and crazy startup ideas in the pre-SWC workshop.”

Startup Weekend Cebu mentor Ruben Licera Jr., for his part, hailed the pre-event organizers for making the workshop possible, saying it was a good start for budding technopreneurs.

Startup Weekend is a 54-hour competition where developers, designers, marketers, technopreneurs, and venture capitalists come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startup businesses.

Startup Weekends are designed for entrepreneurs interested in receiving feedback for an idea, looking for co-founders, or who want to learn a new skill, especially in the field of mobile and internet applications.

The concept, which started in the US, is now a global movement, taking digital start-up businesses from ideas to investment readiness through intensive mentoring from industry experts and access to markets and investors across Asia.

Participants get acquainted with one another starting Friday night. They pitch startup concepts they are passionate about, and form teams around the most popular ideas. They refine their ideas and business plans and start building product prototypes with the help of the onsite mentors, and then present what they have accomplished in a four-minute pitch and demo by Sunday evening.

Startup Weekend Cebu (SWC) is expected to draw a maximum of 150 participants or a total of 21 teams who are all anticipating a high-energy, high-impact, and high-creativity three-day experience.

Parties interested in Startup Weekend Cebu can register viahttp://cebu.startupweekend.org until May 11 or while slots are available. To know more about Startup Weekend Cebu, visit www.cebu.startupweekend.org.

Aside from the Philippines, Startup Weekends this year will also be held in France, Singapore, Argentina, Canada, USA, Norway, UK, Denmark, Mexico, Italy, Palestine, Senegal, Taiwan, Hungary, Australia, Lithuania, Algeria, Ireland, Switzerland, Martinique, Tunisia, and Spain, China, India, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Belarus, Poland, Turkey, Uganda, Kosovo, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Germany, Peru, Moldova, Croatia, Cambodia, Egypt, Bolivia, and the Netherlands.

Startup Weekend Cebu is made possible through the concerted efforts of Abella and fellow organizers Dave Overton of Symph, Fleire Castro of Third Team Media, Mark Buenconsejo of CareSharing Inc., Ian Bert Tusil of NextSparks Studios Co., Paola Galan of SpellDial, Miguel Antonio Garcia, Bjorn Bernales of Bjorn iMedia and Tekworxph.com, Tins Amper of TechTalks, Vicki Saguin of CIT-U, Pauline Wade of the University of the Philippines, Ryan Hermocilla, and Patrick Villaruz.

Expected to assist the participants as mentors are Christian Besler of Kickstart Ventures, Eugene Fabian and Alex Goh of Microsoft Singapore, Albert Padin of SpellDial, Ppip Cimafranca, Jay Fajardo of ProudCloud, Jonathan Lansangan of Dynamic Objx, finance professional Bryan Low, Chris C. Ducker of VBS, Eric Su of Twidl Inc., Paul Villacorta of Cebu Directories, Gwendolyn Regina Tan, and Ruben Licera Jr. of RLComm International.

Named judges for Startup Weekend Cebu are Kickstart president Minette Navarrete, Alvin Gendrano of Microsoft, Winston Damarillo of Morphlabs, Jean-Patirck Bisson of ClickingLabs.com, Harm Rietjens of CareSharing, Vinnie Lauria of Golden Gate Ventures, and Jay Aldeguer of The Islands Group.

Startup Weekend Cebu is held in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology – ICT Office and is sponsored by Globe Telecom, Microsoft BizSpark, Gist, UP Cebu, CeBuinIt, Third Team Media, Startupr, Symph, CareSharing, TechTalks, Clicking Labs, Ripe Concepts, Devcon, Nextcue, Cedf-it, MyCebu.ph, Cebu Directories, CIT-U, Pinoy Born, The Ching Palace, Cebu Bloggers Society Inc., Zero Three Two, Everything Cebu and PRWorks.

HTC One Cebu Launch Party at the Penthouse

bjorn cebuano — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:31:38 +0000

HTC recently unveiled its new line of models that can absolutely rival that of Apple’s iPhone.

HTC One is an Android phone with wide Touch Screen interface, sleek design and trendy audio phone aside from being it a smartphone.

Bjorn Cebuano and other bloggers in Cebu were invited in the unveiling party of HTC One. It was at the Penthouse on April 19, 2012.

Here are the pictures to see what the party was like.

HTC One Series Launched in Cebu

bjorn cebuano — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:07:39 +0000

HTC One™ is remarkable with an Amazing Camera, 3D Wide Touch Screen Interface and Authentic Sound Experience

Designed to meet the needs of Cebuano audiophiles and photo buffs

Cebu City, Philippines – April 19, 2012 – HTC, a global designer of smartphones, unveiled its new HTC One series of smartphones. These gadgets represent HTC’s most premium mobile experience with a new level of iconic design and amazing camera and authentic sound experience. These new phones are sure to meet the standards of even the most discerning smartphone users in the Philippines.

“The best moments in life are captured with a photo or remembered by a song, so it was key for the HTC One series to improve these emotional experiences with an amazing camera and authentic sound experience,” said Lennard Hoornik, president of HTC South Asia Pacific. “We are very focused on creating a camera and audio experience Filipinos will love and use often and we believe the HTC One series delivers this in a way never seen on a phone before.

With HTC’s most premium experience, the HTC One series integrates Android 4.0 (ICS) with HTCSense™ 4, the new version of HTC’s branded user experience that is introducing HTC ImageSense™, a new suite of camera and imaging features that set HTC One apart from other phones. HTC Sense 4 also includes broad enhancements to audio quality and simplifies how people listen to music on their phone.

Amazing Camera

With ImageSense, HTC One rivals traditional digital cameras with improvements to every part of the camera, including the lens, the sensor, the software, and even integrating a new custom HTC ImageChip. These enhancements combine to deliver our fastest image capture, best image quality under adverse conditions, and easiest interface that enables quick access to capturing stills and videos with side-by-side photo and video capture buttons.

Superfast Capture - HTC One dramatically reduces the time it takes to capture those key moments. In just 0.7 seconds you’re able to take a shot, and with a new superfast 0.2-seconds autofocus, continue to take nearly unlimited continuous shots simply by holding the shutter button.
Good photos in adverse conditions – HTC One delivers dramatic enhancements in image capture quality even in adverse conditions such as low light, no light or with bright backlighting. The f/2.0 lens on the HTC One X offers best-in-class performance, capturing 40 percent more light than the f/2.4 lenses available on other high-end phones. HTC One also includes HDR, a market-leading technology, for taking great photos even when there are varying levels of brightness.
Video Pic (Concurrent Video/Still Capture) – With Video Pic you capture a photo and shoot video at the same time. Now, while you’re shooting HD video, all you have to do is tap the shutter button and it snaps a high-resolution still photo while the video continues to shoot. You are also able to capture a photo frame from a previously recorded video.
Dropbox integrated with HTC Sense - HTC One gives you an easy way to save and share your photos and videos. HTC has integrated Dropbox into HTC Sense 4, enabling HTC One customers to get 25 gigabytes of free Dropbox space for two years. That’s enough to keep more than 10,000 high-quality photos. Dropbox is also integrated throughout HTC Sense 4, so it’s easy to edit, save, and share your documents and other kinds of files.
Sharing your photos and more – HTC One gives you a new way to share your photos and videos. When you plug in HTC’s wireless Media Link HD* accessory into your TV’s HDMI port, you can easily share your photos, videos, or anything else on your phone with your friends, family, or colleagues regardless of the television’s brand as long as it has HDMI.

Authentic Sound

With HTC One, Beats By Dr. Dre Audio™ integration is enabled for the first time across the entire experience for richer, more authentic sound, whether you’re listening to your favorite music, watching a YouTube™ video or playing a game. HTC One also makes it easy to get and listen to your music on your phone with the built-in HTC Sync Manager software that automatically installs to your computer when connected. Once connected, it is easy to transfer songs, artists, and playlists from your music library.

Of course, people today no longer just listen to the songs stored on their phones; they use streaming services and tune into Internet radio. So HTC One lets you customize the new Music Hub with your favorite services and music applications, like the latest Soundhound technology, giving you one place to go for all of your music.

HTC One lets you take all of your music anywhere, including the car. With HTC One, you get an easy way to bring your mobile music to your car’s sound system with the HTC Car Stereo Clip*. It also lets you connect to your music through more than 50 thousand online radio stations worldwide or play music from any service or app on your phone through your car speakers. All this makes HTC One the one place to enjoy all your music, wherever you are, with the power of Beats By Dr. Dre Audio and HTC Car.

MCWD: Cebu’s Water Inconvenience Provider

bjorn cebuano — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:13:28 +0000

MCWD sucks!

It’s uncommon for me to rant here on this blog. However, this day I couldn’t help but relay my dismay to MCWD.

To those who are not familiar with MCWD, it’s Metropolitan Cebu Water District to you and it covers the urban areas of Cebu City, Mandaue City and Talisay City.

Perhaps, it is my failure to check any newspaper about the Water Advisory from MCWD. Here in Mandaue City, near the Butuanon River, repair has been done at a water pipeline of MCWD.

Though it’s a Sunday, and a rest day for me and others as well. Still, it would be an inconvenience to have no running water when we need it. I needed to go to church and then an informal business meeting today so I had to look preppy and clean.

I don’t know where this rant would lead to though.

But I have pieces of advice to MCWD.

1. Your repair of the water pipeline may mean you have concern to your customers. However, make sure that it won’t inconvenience them big time. I suggest that you have a backup plan first– have another pipeline to temporary install before taking out the main pipeline for repair, replacement or whatever. Implement effective engineering system that would lessen or perhaps, eliminate any inconvenience to your costumers. Be innovative to technologies, please!

2. If MCWD may have constraints financially in upgrading its water pipeline system for the Cebuano consumers, perhaps, it is the right time to make the company public.

Manila Water is a public company. However, I don’t know the situation in Manila if there is improvement. Perhaps, here in Cebu, MCWD can get funding from the investors to improve its facilities. Maybe some or many Cebuanos will invest. Probably, this way Cebuanos can also gain from the water consumption through stock dividends or selling their MCWD stocks.

And if there is another water shutdown such as today, then there is high probability for the price per share to go down, on the next trading day. That may mean lower price to acquire stocks and perhaps, more stocks to buy. This scenario could happen if MCWD is a public company with stocks traded in PHISIX.

I wonder MCWD is a publicly-traded company or is it not?

3. Use blogs and social media to inform the public of the pending water shutoff in certain areas of Metro Cebu. Use Facebook or you can contact me on this blog so I can help you in posting Water Advisory for the benefit of the Cebuano water consumers.

Yes, there is water advisory in newspapers. But please, be adaptable to changes in information channels. Posting water advisories in newspapers is not anymore enough. The raging water consumers are those who now use social media such as Facebook or even Google Plus.

I am just hoping that there will be water tomorrow as I have to use it to shower and bathe. Of course, I have to look fresh and squeaky clean before going to the office. Now, if there is still no water tomorrow, then this is TOO MUCH.

Thankfully, my family prepared lots of big purified water containers for use tomorrow or otherwise…

I just want to bring the attention of MCWD to improve their channels of information for their Water Advisory. Yes, I have seen water advisories in newspapers. But please, use social media and blogs in Cebu so other Cebuanos may also know of any water shutout occurring days before the water advisory. This could give me, the bloggers and other Cebuanos active in social media to prepare for the water shutoff.

It’s totally horrible that the whole day of April 15, 2012, water from the faucet connected to the pipelines in a specific area of Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City, runs out.

The business that has gained from this water shutout are the purified water stations. Early this morning I queued for 6 containers of purified water for household use including sanitary purpose.

Again, MCWD please contact me next time if you want to post water advisory on this blog so I and others can know of the water inconvenience today and other days.

Tibiao Fish Spa has an Awesome Treat this Summer

bjorn cebuano — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:07:02 +0000

Tibiao Fish Spa is famous for its therafish used to bring some therapeutic effects to individuals who care about wellness. I and, perhaps, thousands of other patrons have been treated to a nice half to one hour treat with the therafish in different aquariums of various sizes.

Flord Nicson, the managing owner of Tibiao Fish Spa, brings this treat all the way from Iloilo. In Cebu, Tibiao Fish Spa has a space on the 3rd Floor of SM City Cebu, right beside Bo’s Coffee across Dimsum Break.

Now, the most exciting part is the summer promo of Tibiao Fish Spa.

I highly recommend this.

I had an awesome weekend with my students and other bloggers at Tibiao Fish Spa last Friday. We were treated by the crew, therafish and the blind masseurs and masseuse.

The blind masseur who handled me had healing hands.

So, it’s not just the therafish who can deliver the therapeutic benefits( though not yet approved medicinally). Blind masseurs who can wonderfully knead your muscles on your feet and back for relaxation and rejuvenation, can be your healing companions at Tibiao Fish Spa.

It’s a nice way, by the way, to help bring in jobs for blind people.

Tibiao Fish Spa is open when the SM City Cebu mall opens, that is from 10 am to 9 pm.