YouTube Philippines Launch Party

Had an awesome time at the launch party of YouTube Philippines last night at White Space. Just wanted to share some photos:

 

Entrance decor.

 

It won't be Pinoy without a jeepney! (I wonder if the jeepney owner will repaint his jeepney).

 

YouTube-d dumplings.

 

A karaoke nook!

 

White Space was pretty filled up.

 

Youtube sensations, Moymoy Palaboy.

 

I got officially deaf after listening to the Greyhoundz, but they were awesome.

 

Rivermaya performed as well. <3

 

The Googlers.

 

More photos here.

Youtube Launch in Singapore

Congratulations to Google for launching Youtube in Singapore! The event was made of awesome :)

Lost in the City

The past few days I've been trying out different modes of transportation to and from work. The only time I have the energy to walk is when I'm in the mall (haha) and that's why I'm really motivated to find a way to and from work. Anyway, I went to far today since I thought I'd try to take the bus from work to the event venue. Did some research online and found a bus that would bring me to the event venue. Good thing Sweetie went to visit me at the office.

We originally planned to go to Chinatown to get some mee-goreng, so we took a bus to Vivo City so we can take the MRT to Chinatown from there. But we changed our plans when we got there and grabbed a quick bite. After having dinner we headed back to bus stop to go to the event. Hopped on the bus that was supposed to pass the street we were going to.

A few minutes into the ride we noticed the landscape change and that's when we realized our mistake. We took the right bus but it was going the opposite direction. I knew Sweetie was uncomfortable about the fact that we were "lost", but because I'm used to getting lost I told him we should just get off the next stop with a MRT station on it.

I knew we were going to miss the event already so I just said we should just go back "home". To lessen travel time we ended up riding the yellow, purple, green and red lines. Haha. My best friend and I used to get lost a lot in Manila, but we eventually always found our way back.

Lesson learned: for the first 3 months, always be OC when getting directions and write everything down if you don't have access to the internet. So much for lessening walking time!

The Start of a New Adventure

I never really thought that I would someday live in another country. The only time that I moved out of my parents' house was when I got married. Take note, we moved seven streets away from where I grew up. Eventually I thought it was too far from my parents so we moved back to the same street, just a hundred meters away from them. Moving back near my parents allowed me to visit my Dad everyday when he was sick. Everyone assumes that the youngest child takes care of his/her parents so I never entertained the idea of moving far away from home.

An irresistible opportunity came along and after the exciting event I attended this week I packed my bags and moved to another country! It took me awhile though to figure out how to manage my boys and household, I'm still working out a few things, but so far everything's just falling into place. And for me that means it's meant to be!

I'm really glad my family, especially Sweetie and Miguel, have been very supportive. Sweetie managed to take a one week leave to accompany me for a week. I had wanted to take my usual airline  (PAL), but their rates were quite expensive so I decided to just take JetStar. I haven't been to NAIA Terminal 1 for a few years now so I was a bit disappointed that things are the same (good thing we went to the airport 3 hours before our flight because of the long lines!).

The flight felt very long and I unfortunately forgot to bring a book to read. After going through immigration and customs we immediately looked for a place to eat and found Quiznos, a sandwich place. Their menu kinda reminded me of Chipotle in Washington DC. I got a beef sandwich and a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup. Both were surprisingly yummy! (Now I have more reason to fly Jetstar haha).

After eating late lunch we proceeded to my temporary home to check-in and rest. I just brought some clothes so unpacking was easy.

Dinner was at Tarbush Restaurant, a Syrian-Lebanese place. We both had some kebabs! Yum!

So after walking back to the apartment I thought I'd make a blog post about the start of my new adventure. Half-way through though I conked out. Haha.

I'm so excited for my first day at work tomorrow!

Youtube Launch in the Philippines

So this is kinda the reason why I have been unable to blog in the past few weeks, haha. I've been so crazy busy!

Today Google launched Youtube in the Philippines (the 34th globally!), we are the first country to do this in Southeast Asia. I was really surprised when Adam Smith (head of Youtube for Asia Pacific) shared that Filipinos watch over 1 million hours of Youtube videos everyday. (I do contribute a lot to that too!).

I was really excited about the launch today and I could not help but feel teary eyed after watching Charice share her Youtube story. Watch this -

The launch included the announcement of President Aquino's two Youtube channels, the Official Gazette and Radio, TV Malacanang (check out this channel and watch the speeches of former presidents too!). I'm looking forward to watching President Aquino's World View interview on November 4. And would have thought that the President's team would be game for a souvenir photo -

Read His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III's message.

Of course together in the launch were equally important Youtube partners, ABS-CBN, GMA, TV5, Viva Records, Vicor Records, Star Records, FILSCAP, Pinoytuner and Procter & Gamble.

One of the things that I've always wanted to do is find a way to help out the indie music community and I'm really excited that Youtube has partnered with Pinoytuner because it would definitely help more artists to be discovered and get proper recognition on Youtube. I never imagined that I would get to know and work with rockstars!

And, of course, also wanted to thank my Google family for making this happen.

Weeeee! This is truly a great end to my current role. It's been 5 long years and I'm finally moving on to a new adventure beginning next week.

Also wanted to say a special thank you to my family (Mom, Sweetie and Miguel) for keeping me sane and for being patient; and to my Mom's driver, Kuya Lito who drove me around rain or shine, typhoon or no typhoon to get things done. Dad, I know you're watching up there!

And more photos!



Posts about the event:

GMA News
Spot.ph
Official Gazette
ABS-CBN News
Interaksyon
NewsBytes.ph
Gadgets Magazine
MovePH Video Coverage
An Apple a Day
ABS-CBN News (Youtube Gives Front Row Seats to Aquino Government)
Aquino Launches Local Youtube Channels

An Evening Reception

Last week I had the privilege of attending the reception to welcome the new officers of the US Embassy's Public Affairs Office. It's always a pleasure to attend embassy events not only because it's where my husband works but because their parties are fun and you get to meet a lot of interesting people.

(L to R) Ms. Robin D. Diallo, Ms. Bettina A. Malone, 

Mr. William B. Cocks & Ms. Lisa K. Harshbarger

The reception was held to welcome the following: Ms. Robin D. Diallo, Counselor for Public Affairs; Ms. Bettina A. Malone, Information Officer; Mr. William B. Cocks, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer; and Ms. Lisa K. Harshbarger, Regional English Language Officer. Each of them shared a little about what they do (that was during the serious part of the program) and later on they were all dancing to 80s music (and hubby refused to dance even though I wanted to, bummer).

Added bonus to the evening, I got to get to know Jay's colleagues and spend time with our godmother, Jane, and blogger-friend Bernie.

Thank You Steve

I will remember to "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."