HONG KONG: Suspends Visa-Free Travel for Filipino Diplomats and Officials

HONG KONG: Suspends Visa-Free Travel for Filipino Diplomats and Officials

The current visa-free arrangement for visiting Philippine diplomats and officials will be suspended starting on February 5, 2014 onwards according to Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a press conference the other day.

Currently they are able to stay 14 days without a visa.

My neighbor Arch. Joyce asked me about it last night so I decided to blog about it to shed some light on the issue. I wish to clarify that the suspension of the 14-day visa free arrangement by the Hong Kong SAR Government effective 5 February 2014 will only be applicable to diplomatic (blue passport) or official (red passport) Philippine passport holders. Regular passport holders (green and maroon) are not affected. Mga kababayan, HINDI po kayo apektado sa policy na ito kung ang passport ninyo ay green o maroon.

Hong Kong is imposing sanctions on the Philippines because of its "unacceptable" failure to apologize for a deadly hostage crisis more than three years ago.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippines has already expressed its deepest regret and condolences over the incident and made a "generous offer" of payments to the victims and their families to resolve the issue.

MANILA HOTEL: Joseph Chau's Feng Shui Predictions for 2014

MANILA HOTEL: Joseph Chau's Feng Shui Predictions for 2014

We had lunch with renowned geomancer Joseph Chau yesterday at the Mabuhay Lounge of Manila Hotel. Master Chau shared his predictions for the Year of the Wooden Horse that officially started yesterday, January 31, 2014.

Watch our video below for your fortune in the year of the wooden horse.

#ManilaHotel #MabuhayLounge #FengShui #CNY2014 #ChineseNewYear #2014 #Horse #Manila #Hotel

BINONDO: Manila's Biggest Tikoy

BINONDO: Manila's Biggest Tikoy

On the eve of the Chinese New Year 2014, my blogger friends and I trooped to the oldest Chinatown in the World-Binondo. 

Our goal is to take a photo of the giant tikoy specially made by Eng Bee Tin for the Chinese New Year.

I could not simply pass the chance to have a selfie in front of the "biggest tikoy"

Jeric Chua, son of Mr. Gerry Chua, owner of Eng Bee Tin explained to us that Eng Bee Tin has been in business since 1912.

Biggest Tikoy

•  264 lbs 
•  36 inches in diameter

Tikoy is a traditional Chinese delicacies ever present during Chinese celebration. I bought my favorite hopia, tikoy and glutinous balls.

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

#BiggestTikoy

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

Kiong hee huat tsai! (pronounced as ki-yong hi hu-wat chay in Hokkien). Happy Chinese New Year 2014 everyone.

A lot of my pure breed Pinoy friends keeps on asking me the difference between the commercial greetings we all hear and see on print, radio, online media and television,

Here are the greetings and their meanings:

• Kung Hei Fat Choi or Gong Hey Fat Choy  (Cantonese for ''Congratulations and wishing you prosperity'' / a New Year greeting meaning, "May you become prosperous) - Probably the most famous phrase worldwide.
• Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) 

Hookien- Sun nien fai lok ( meaning, "Happy new year")

Mandarin-  Xin nian yu kuai

Tsinoys will appreciate to hear the greeting in the dialect they understand. So, greet them based on what language they use.

Cantonese is one of the 9 other groups of dialects in China and is most commonly spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macau.

Hokkien is the dialect spoken in Fujian province where most of the Chinese-Filipinos came from.

Good luck and have a happy life! Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

VIDEO: CCTV Footage in Vhong Navarro's Case

VHONG NAVARRO: CCTV Footage

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday released the footage taken from closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) of Forbeswood Heights Condominium in Taguig City where Vhong Navarro was beaten up by a group of men led by businessman Cedric Lee.

The NBI presented the footage taken from the CCTV cameras at the condominium's main gate, lobby and elevator.

NBI assistant regional director Vicente de Guzman, head of the investigating team in the case, said the CCTV videos support the testimony of Navarro, who denied that he attempted to rape Deniece Cornejo inside her unit at the second floor of the building on January 22.

Lee has claimed in several interviews that he saw Navarro on top of Cornejo in her room, prompting him to beat up the TV host-actor and conduct a citizen's arrest.

However, the CCTV footage shows that after Navarro entered the condo, Cornejo quickly left leaving Navarro behind in the unit. Lee and several others then enter the condominium.

"Ang mga ebidensya po natin apart from the testimony of Vhong Navarro, is the video itself. Dito po nagtutugma yung testimony ni Mr. Vhong Navarro with that of what we saw in the CCTV,"de Guzman said.

De Guzman noted that only about a minute after Navarro went inside the condominium building at 10:38 p.m., Cornejo was seen going out, supposedly leaving behind the "It's Showtime" host inside her unit.

It was only after several minutes that Cornejo was seen going back inside the condominium and riding the elevator up to the second floor, where her unit was located.

During that time when Cornejo was outside, Lee and at least five other men were seen entering the building then riding the elevator also up to the second floor.

At 11:12 p.m., Navarro, who was already beaten up and whose hands were tied behind his back, was seen riding the elevator from the second floor of the building along with Lee and the other men as well as Cornejo and Lee's sister, Bernice Lee.

Timeline

Citing the CCTV footage, the NBI presented a timeline of the circumstances around the time the TV host-actor was mauled inside Cornejo's condominium unit.

Before presenting the CCTV footage taken at the condo's elevator, the NBI noted that the time stamp at the elevator's CCTV was not synchronized with the time at the lobby's CCTV.

The time at the elevator's CCTV was 40 minutes late compared to the real time at the lobby's CCTV.

Footage taken from the CCTV camera at the building's lobby showed Navarro entering the condominium alone at 22:38 p.m. or 10:38 p.m. of January 22.

He entered the elevator and went up to the second floor of the building at 10:39 p.m. (9:59 in elevator's CCTV time).

At 10:40 p.m., Cornejo was seen riding the elevator towards the first floor and leaving the condominium.

At 10:41 p.m., a man identified as Lee entered the building. Lee then rode the elevator and went out also at the second floor at 10:43 p.m. (10:03 in elevator CCTV's time).

At that time, the NBI stressed that Cornejo had already left Navarro inside her unit, which means Lee could not have witnessed Navarro on top of her in her room as the businessman has alleged in several interviews.

"I think it's not possible yung sinasabi nilang attempt to rape Ms. Cornejo... Kasi po very glaring dito sa ating footage na there was no incident na si Deniece was inside that room," de Guzman said.

At 10:43 p.m., just two minutes after Lee arrived, two men, one of them wearing a white shirt and glasses identified as Ferdinand Guerrero, also entered the condo and went up the second floor.

Just seconds after that, Cornejo was seen going back to the building. While she was talking to a security guard, Bernice Lee and another man yet to be identified were seen at the door.

Accompanied by the security guard, Cornejo, Bernice and another man then left the building again.

At 10:48 p.m., a man who Navarro identified only as alias "Mike" entered the condo. He also rode the elevator towards the second floor.

The next person to go inside the building was Bernice at 10:56 p.m. However, she was not seen riding the elevator. The NBI said she might have used the stairs instead when she went up the second floor.

At 10:59 p.m., Lee and his sister Bernice entered the elevator, went down the first floor and left the condo.

Lee and Bernice went back to the condo building at 11:01 p.m., already with Cornejo.

At 11:02 p.m. (10:22 in elevator CCTV's time), the three again went up to the second floor.

At 11:13 p.m. (10:33 in elevator CCTV's time), a tied-up Navarro was seen entering the elevator accosted by two men, who were both not seen in the elevator's CCTV footage earlier.

The NBI suspects these two men, one of them identified as bodybuilder Zimmer Rance, were already inside Cornejo's unit when Navarro arrived.

Navarro, Rance and the other still unidentified man were followed inside the elevator by Lee, Mike and another still unidentified man, then Cornejo, Bernice and Guerrero.

All in all, there were 8 suspects in the case, including Cornejo and Lee, the NBI said.

At 11:13 p.m., Navarro and the eight others were seen walking at the lobby towards the door.

The CCTV at the condo's main gate, meanwhile, showed all of them leaving at 11:14 p.m. After that, the NBI said they rushed to a car and proceeded towards the Southern Police District (SPD) where the suspects filed a blotter against Navarro for allegedly attempting to rape Cornejo.

Navarro, for his part, on Tuesday filed charges of serious physical injuries, grave threat, grave coercion, unlawful arrest, blackmail and serious illegal detention, which is a non-bailable offense, against Lee, Cornejo and his other attackers.

#Justice 

DIY FENG SHUI FOR 2014

DIY FENG SHUI FOR 2014

Practical, do it yourself, easy to follow Feng Shui for 2014.  Here is an easy to do Feng Shui without buying anything.   

I am so thrilled with these Feng Shui tips that I'll do them tomorrow in preparation for the upcoming New Year 2014 which will be on January 31, 2014.

Love and luck! 

source:gma7

#DIY #DIYFengShui #Practical #Tips #FengShui #NewYear #GoodLuck #Happiness #GoodHealth #LoveLife #Respect #Love #Life

Great Northern Tour

Honda Philippines Sets the Great Northern Tour

Honda Philippines, Inc. (HPI), the country's No. 1 motorcycle manufacturer and distributor, sets another milestone as it holds the “Great Northern Tour” last January 25 and 26, 2014.

Over 100 Honda riders trailed the northern part of the country in an epic ride from Manila to Baguio and back, proving why Honda motorcycles top the way in fuel economy.

The tour started last January 25, 2014 with a safety ride from Petron Blue Wave in Pasay going up to Baguio City, Athletic Bowl. 

The following day, tour participants started the actual fuel economy competition beginning their descent back to SM Mall of Asia in time for the celebration of the Honda “Thanks Day.”

This grand double celebration prepared by HPI serves as a fitting commemoration of their 40^th anniversary in the Philippines and the production of its 4 millionth motorcycle unit, two significant milestones that make the company truly proud.

In partnership with Petron, PGA Sompo, Eastwest Insurance and JM Mirasol, riders in their Honda CB110s, XRMs, Wave Dash conquered the long and winding roads of Baguio to Manila as part of their serious attempts to set newfuel efficiency records. The riders enjoyed the rewardingexperience as they were given an opportunity to set their own milestone with their Honda motorcycles, all built-to-last because of their renowned toughness, sporty appeal and powerful performance.

In the automatic (AT) category, Honda also proved its motorcycle models’ superiority. Twenty Honda BeAt riders hit the road together with the purpose of showcasing the supremacy of Honda BeAt in fuel saving even during long rides.Riders were all proven correct as the Honda BeAt surpassed their expectations upon revelation of champions’ records.

Over the years, Honda has developed motorcycles that are hallmarks of offering outstanding fuel efficiency to consumers while delivering powerful performance for both on and off-road travels.

“We have more reasons to celebrate and what best to do it than with an exciting tour that will test the mettle of various Honda motorcycles when it comes to quality and fuel efficiency, as we push them to the limit to show our customers the amount of quality we put in its manufacture. We have been in the motorcycle manufacturing business for more than 40 years now and we are proud to have achieved our objective, which is also part of our vision of being ‘a company that society wants to exist,’” explains Lemuel Buenaflor, HPI Advertising Supervisor.

Honda Thanks Day, The Great Northern Tour, Zoomer X Launch.  Maraming Salamat sa 40 years na pagsuporta sa Honda Motorcycles Philippines!!!

#Honda kaapay ninyo habang buhay!

For more about Honda motorcycles, visit www.hondaph.com.

Deniece Milinette Cornejo: A Victim or A Mastermind?

Deniece Milinette Cornejo: A Victim or A Mastermind?

Everybody was asking about the identity of the lady friend of Vhong Navarro, who cries attempted rape the other day. The lady friend was identified by Vhong Navarro during his interview with Boy Abunda in The Buzz ng Bayan as Deniece Milinette Cornejo. Who is she? Is she the real victim or the master mind? She is said to be the lady friend that Vhong Navarro visited at her condominium in Forbeswood Heights Condominium, Taguig City, Philippines.