LA BUENA VIDA: April 2013

Savor Filipino Cuisine at The Dining Room

If you are on the hunt for a reasonably-priced dinner buffet with a reasonably-thought menu, I guess your quest is over because The Dining Room is already here, and their highlight is the Fiesta Sa Sugbo!

Fiesta Sa Sugbo is Castle Peak Hotel's buffet which features the beloved dishes of Cebu, which includes the sumptuous Boneless Lechon. The great thing about thus feast is its affordability, because it's only Php 349! It's also available during lunch.

Filipino food is the highlight of the buffet and everybody knows that the star of every Filipino feast is the lechon! Fiesta Sa Sugbo has lechon on the menu alright, but they offer it in two varities; spicy and non-spicy lechon belly.

Spicy and non-spicy lechon belly

I personally like the taste of the spicy lechon belly. It is has the kind of spiciness that is bearable to the Filipinos palate.

The infrequently offered Caldereta, or stewed goat, is actually part of the main menu. You don't have to wait for special occasions anymore to munch on Caldereta! What a great relief!

Hilaw na mangga, anyone? (Green mangoes)

Kuchinta

They also have Mung Bean Soup (or ginisang monggo) and Bam-i (another Filipino pansit version) that is as tasty as that compared to our favorite carenderia, or even better! As for dessert, they have puto, kuchinta, mangoes, ice cream, as well as the all-time-favorite halo-halo! These are all definitely well-loved food by Cebuanos or Filipinos in general.

With slightly dimmed lights, spacious area and tables, and quality Pinoy cuisine, one could never go wrong going to The Dining Room of Castle Peak Hotel and savoring the goodness of Fiesta Sa Sugbo!

*All photos courtesy of Jervie David Montejar

from www.travelfoodblog.com

Young Minds Academy by RAFI Introduces their Season 7 Youth Leaders

New batch of young bloods were initiated to the Young Minds Academy of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. - Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center (RAFI-EADSC) last April 2 at the Eduardo Aboitiz Hall. The new batch belongs to Season 7 and their theme for this year will be "Urban Development" of metropolitan Cebu.

The hall was filled with much enthusiasm and excitement. One can feel the youthfulness of the hall because the emerging leaders are from the ages 10 to 20. One can also perceive the dominant feeling they emit, a combination of excitement and apprehension. Nonetheless, it was good to see youth all packed up in one room.

Young Minds Academy is the brainchild of RAFI. The reason of its conception is to prepare and nurture the leaders of tomorrow to guide the community for implementing changes that will benefit the greater good. Learning from YMA is not limited to the four corners of the classroom because the modules that they have formulated imply a holistic approach. As much as theoretical knowledge is best learned inside a classroom, one cannot possibly comprehend how it is to live like our poor brothers and sisters on the streets unless one would experience their lifestyle first at hand. An experiential approach is indeed an eye-opener in learning through semi-structured environment. The scholars will be shown how to show their best character and leadership traits, learn from visits, exchange ideas with other youth, and initiate forums. The crème de la crème at the closing of the academy will received the Jon Ramon Aboitiz Medal for Personal Excellence and Roberto E. Aboitiz Medal for Team Excellence.

A Covenant Signing was made on April 2, 2013 at 2 PM and it signaled the beginning of a new life for the scholars of YMA. 94 vibrant youth made it to the top and all of them will experience the modules formulated by RAFI. Teamwork will the key to their success as they would have to work hand in hand with their teammates, LGUs, and their beneficiaries.

The scholars of Season 6 managed to come up with various solutions to existing problems regarding safety and security, violence of youth, transport and traffic management, flood, and reduction of risks during disaster. With the help of social media, they were able to obtain support from 2,000 people who believe in their ideas. Dream block exhibits were also made to help their beneficiaries.

With the new breed of youth leaders, RAFI is very optimistic with the change that they will show the community. The Young Minds Academy's primary aim is to mold the young lads with wonderful ideas for community change, a change for the greater good of everybody.

For more information about YMA or RAFI, you can contact Mel Yan (418-7234 local 110), visit the official website of RAFI or the official Facebook page of RAFI. More photos from the Covenant Signing can be found here.

ASUS Features Their Latest Innovations

ASUS is always "In Search Of Incredible" because according to them, customer happiness, not just satisfaction, is also essential. The Dealer and Media Conference held last March 7, 2013 at Movenpick Resort did not fail to amaze and amuse me. Even though I am not a gadget freak, I always love looking at the latest innovations of the laptop PC.

ASUS indeed lives by their maxim Inspiring Innovation and Persistent Perfection. During the media conference, they featured Customer Happiness 2.0 which focuses on the 5 essential features; beauty, sound, ubiquity, touch, and responsiveness.

I, for one, love to experience happiness whenever I buy a gadget and knowing that ASUS is always on focus in rendering Customer Happiness 2.0 to their patrons, I expect them to deliver it flawlessly.

First we have the ASUS Zenbook Prime. This notebook offers superior mobility we always look for. A metallic finish renders the Zenbook a classic beauty. The best feature for me is the 3mm front and 9mm back proportions. Carrying a notebook hasn't been this easy now! The responsiveness is incredible because it will only take 2 seconds to resume its normal operations from sleep mode. USB 3.0 is also an awesome feature while incredible audio is made possible with SonicMaster.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

The ASUS Vivobook puts the world at your fingertips with its textured metal surface, very light and slim body, SonicMaster audio technology, and wider touchpad. I love the features. It's very appliacble to my work and lifestyle. I even bought one after more than 1 week of seeing it first in the dealer and media conference. I love it! A great review of the ASUS Vivobook can be seen here.

The ASUS Vivotab combines the beauty of a Zenbook plus the mobility of a tablet. This Windows 8 powered transformer has an 11.6" Corning® Fit Glass screen, SonicMaster speakers, extra long battery life, classic metallic finish, 8-megapixel back camera and 2-megapixel front camera. This transformer indeed is a new experience for entertainment and mobility.

The Vivotab Dock adds more battery life to the tablet.

www.TechBuzz.ph tries to detach the tablet from the dock. It was just a snap!

www.TechBuzz.ph and www.AppsGadget.com attaches the tablet back to the dock. Easy as 1-2-3!

www.JayseeBlabs.blogspot.com looks on as Sir Eason De Guzman, System Technical PR of ASUS, shows us the Vivotab

www.TechBuzz.ph and www.JayseeBlabs.blogspot.com tries the Vivotab using the stylus.

One laptop with dual screens; that is the ASUS Taichi. Equipped with SonicMaster audio, high definition screens, intuitive touch reception, and outstanding overall performance; you can never go wrong with something that allows you to do 2 things with just one equipment.

The last gadget I will feature here is the ASUS Transformer AiO. Among all the gadgets featured on that day, this was our favorite. We daydreamed of all the possible things we could do with this All-In-One PC. The ideas we generated were countless and most of them amused us.

www.wiredmash.com is having fun with the ASUS Transformer AiO.

www.wiredmash.com tries the ASUS Transformer AiO.

To recap the innovations made by ASUS, view the video below. To view more photos during the event, visit La Buena Vida's Facebook Page or JayseeBlabs' Facebook Page.