10 Exciting Things to Look Forward to at 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee’s Biggest Brands Sale of the Year October 07, 2021 at 12:52AM

Out of Town Blog
10 Exciting Things to Look Forward to at 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee’s Biggest Brands Sale of the Year

Get ready for performances from K-Pop group ITZY, the biggest deals and giveaways from your favorite brands, and more

Team Out of Town Blog Hub (www.outoftownblog.com) – Whether we realize it or not, most of us tend to be brand loyalists whenever we go shopping on or offline. Once we find certain brands we like, we stick to them.

10.10 Brands Festival 2021

Brand sukis, don’t miss out on the biggest deals from your favorite brands at the 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee’s biggest brands sale of the year. Aside from big discounts, you can also enjoy branded giveaways, exclusive deals, and the best entertainment on Shopee. Check out this handy guide for all the things you can look forward to at Shopee’s 10.10 Brands Festival:

Deals and discounts from trusted brands

At the 10.10 Brands Festival, expect the biggest discounts from all your favorite brands across categories such as electronics, personal care, home and living, groceries, beauty, and more. Look for your go-to brands in the photo below:

Free shipping with no minimum spend

Shopping feels more fun when you don’t have to worry about additional charges. This October 10, enjoy shopping from all your favorite brands minus the shipping fees.

Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival 2021 Top Picks

P1,000 brand vouchers

Going on a shopping spree? Don’t forget to claim vouchers for more discounts. Check your favorite brands’ Shopee pages until October 10 for a chance to grab daily discount vouchers worth up to P1,000 off.

Big brand giveaways

Who doesn’t love freebies? Over 80 lucky winners can win P430,000 worth of giveaways, such as personal care items, electronics, and appliances, from over 30 participating brands. All you have to do is follow the featured brands of the day until October 10. Check out the giveaway schedule here: https://shopee.ph/m/big-brand-giveaways.

Shopee Brands Festival participating brands

Easy shopping guides: Add to Cart Top 100 Deals and Kim Chiu’s picks

Excited by all the awesome deals at the 10.10 Brands Festival, but can’t quite decide which ones to snap up? Check out Shopee’s Add to Cart Top 100 Deals for a quick roundup of all the best items you shouldn’t miss out on: https://shopee.ph/m/top100.

Shopee’s newest brand ambassador, Kim Chiu, also shares a few product recommendations from the 10.10 Brands Festival. After all, she’s not just one of the most popular entertainers of her generation—with her passion for shopping, she’s also something of a tastemaker. Here are Kim’s top picks:

An exclusive performance from popular K-Pop act ITZY

MIDZY, tune in to Shopee Live this October 10, 10:00-11:00 PM, to catch exciting performances from K-Pop girl group ITZY! You can also enjoy a pre-show featuring K-variety-inspired content, official ITZY merchandise, and a signed giveaway.

A chance to win 1,000 coins with the #10BrandFaves contest

This October 9-10, download the #10BrandFaves template from the Shopee Feed, fill it in with 10 of your favorite Shopee Mall brands, and post it on your Feed with the hashtag #10BrandFaves for a chance to win 1,000 Shopee coins.

An opportunity to win P10,000 worth of ShopeePay credits with 10.10 Brand Budols contest

Want to splurge on your favorite brands? Join the 10.10 Brand Budols contest for a chance to win P10,000 worth of ShopeePay credits. To participate, take screenshots of branded product listings on your wishlist and post them on your Shopee Feed with the hashtag #1010BrandBudols and 10.10 Feed stickers.

And an extra chance to win free money

You can also win P100 worth of free money in the form of ShopeePay credits. If you’ve never made a purchase from Shopee before, just activate your ShopeePay wallet, sign up at this link, and verify your account until October 12 to become eligible for the promo. If you’re an existing user, just follow the same steps and make a purchase worth at least P100 using ShopeePay within the promo period.

 More exclusive perks with ShopeePay

For more exclusive perks at the 10.10 Brands Festival, go cashless when you buy load, pay bills, and scan to pay with ShopeePay at thousands of merchants nationwide. Get up to 50% discount on mobile load. Pay bills and get up to 50% cashback from Meralco, Maynilad, Globe, Smart, and over 60 partner billers. Lastly, enjoy ShopeePay P1 Deals from Puregold, Potato Corner, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Moonleaf, Seaoil, and more partner merchants.

Make sure to activate and top up your ShopeePay wallet through online banking, debit card, and over-the-counter partners to enjoy a safe and rewarding payment experience at the 10.10 Brands Festival.

For more deals from your favorite brands, visit https://shopee.ph/m/10-10.

Download the Shopee app for free via the App Store or Google Play.

Follow #TeamOutofTown, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Pinterest for more travel and tech updates.

10 Exciting Things to Look Forward to at 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee’s Biggest Brands Sale of the Year
Melo Villareal
Out of Town Blog

Celebrities share their Smart moves in life October 07, 2021 at 12:19AM

Out of Town Blog
Celebrities share their Smart moves in life

Team Out of Town Blog Hub (www.outoftownblog.com) – Enjoying your best life is all about making smart, pivotal moves. Whether it’s as major as moving out of the city for a simpler and more balanced life, or as simple as committing to a skincare routine to improve your looks or switching to a faster mobile network to achieve more – your every smart move you leads you closer to your goal and makes life more meaningful and fulfilling.

Celebs share their Smart moves in life

To give everyone a dose of inspiration, we asked celebrities about what they consider as their smart move in life using #MakeTheSmartMove. Here are their insightful revelations: 

1. “To focus on the good things that might happen” – Maine Mendoza

“Life is too short to live with regrets,” says TV personality Maine Mendoza, who, in the past, would burden herself worrying about things that could go wrong. Whenever a new opportunity presents itself, she would always have second thoughts and would only end up regretting her decisions. This time, she makes the smart move of focusing on the possibilities and to enjoy every moment.

2. “To be grateful” – Hidilyn Diaz

To achieve her dream of winning a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, weightlifting champ Hidilyn Diaz made the smart move of hiring Chinese coach Gao Kaiwen in her team. “It changed my life for the best,” she says. Now that Gao is homebound to China, Hidilyn remains grateful and promises to always put to heart the things she learned from Gao.

3. “To spend more time with family” – Luis Manzano

With a loaded work schedule, it’s unavoidable to miss out on the things that really matter, like making beautiful memories with the people you love most. Host, actor, content creator, and entrepreneur Luis Manzano reveals this to be one of his biggest regrets, which is why over the past few months, he made the smart move to commit to making time for his family. “It made me appreciate love, family, and relationships even more,” he says.

4. “To help yourself and do your part for society” – Matteo Guidicelli 

For actor, athlete, and podcast host Matteo Guidicelli, getting the anti-COVID-19 vaccine is one of the smartest moves he has made yet. While he respects everyone’s opinion and decision about vaccination, he encourages people to make a selfless choice. “Getting the shot is the best thing we can do to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our community,” he says.

5. “To choose wellness and happiness” – Katarina Rodriguez

Self-care is absolutely important, especially if another life is depending on you. For soon-to-be mom Katarina Rodriguez, moving to Siargao for a healthy and happy pregnancy has been a great decision. “Having the sunlight, ocean, fresh air, and nature accessible at all times has surely helped make this amazing transition into motherhood smooth and easy,” she says.

6. “To be an independent woman” – Almira Teng

Host and content creator Almira Teng is embracing the big change of owning her life and makes the smart move to step out of her comfort zone. From being hands-on in accomplishing her daily errands to handling her own career and financial decisions, the newly independent Almira says, “[The experience] opened my eyes to more possibilities and opportunities I could explore on my own.”

7. “To be brave” – DJ Suzy

Sometimes, great opportunities pass us by because of how strongly we hold on to our sentiments and nostalgia. But by slowly letting go of our fears, we could be opening our doors to greater things. Radio DJ and host Suzy is a testament to how change can affect us positively: “There was a time in my life when making a choice would quite literally terrify me. But I recently made a really big one that inspired a wave of small but significant changes that I know have contributed massively to making a better me.”

8. “To change my mindset” – Krissha Viaje

Artist Krissha Viaje has always been held back by her fear of her own imperfections. But she soon realized that it’s impossible to be perfect and the way to live a happier life is to change her own perspectives. “I choose to loosen up, focus more on my positive aspects, surround myself with people that help me boost my confidence, and enjoy simple things in life.”

9. “To give yourself a little credit” – Gino Quillamor

Making decisions, whether big or small, is indeed a daunting task that makes us doubt ourselves a lot of times. The process of decision-making alone, coupled with the fear of making the wrong choice, can take a toll on our own happiness. But host and DJ Gino Quillamor reminds us to make the smart move of going easy on ourselves. “Give yourself a little. Sometimes we also make Smart choices.”

Like these celebs, you can #MakeTheSmartMove and achieve more in life by switching to the country’s fastest network. Through the newly implemented Mobile Number Portability (MNP), you can now move to the Smart network without having to change your old mobile number.

Switch to Smart while keeping your number now by visiting x.smart/switch or heading to the nearest Smart Store.

Make the Smart move and enjoy next-level speeds powered by the country’s fastest and most reliable 5G mobile operator as reported by Ookla, the global leader in internet testing and analysis.

Follow #TeamOutofTown, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Pinterest for more travel and tech updates.

Celebrities share their Smart moves in life
Team Out of Town
Out of Town Blog

DOT welcomes Siargao, Palawan and Boracay win in international travel magazine awards October 05, 2021 at 03:00PM

Out of Town Blog
DOT welcomes Siargao, Palawan and Boracay win in international travel magazine awards

DOT welcomes Siargao, Palawan and Boracay win in int’l travel mag awards

Team Out of Town Blog Hub (www.outoftownblog.com) –  The inclusion of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations in the 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler (CNT) magazine is a testament to the hard work of the tourist industry “to strengthen our position as a top-of-mind destination” for international travelers.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) made this statement on Wednesday (October 6) as three of the country’s award-winning local destinations topped the list for the Asia category.

Ride the waves in the Philippines surfing capital Siargao

The surfing haven Siargao Island was recognized as this year’s top favorite in Asia, while the world-famous Palawan and Boracay Island earned the third and eighth spots, respectively. They beat other world favorites in Asia like Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Islands (second), Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands (ninth), and Phuket (10th).

“At a time when we are exhausting all means to revive tourism in the country, we are grateful for this new recognition from Condé Nast Traveler. We have worked to strengthen our position as a top-of-mind destination around the globe while ensuring that health and safety protocols across our destinations are implemented and observed,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said.

“This recognition bodes well for the recovery of the country’s tourism industry and our latest global campaign, “More Fun Awaits,” which showcases the DOT’s preparations for international leisure travel once the restrictions are lifted,” she added.

Meanwhile, The Philippines ranked 20th in the CNT’s list of Top Countries in the World with a score of 91.63.

El Nido New Normal Requirements and Safety Guidelines

The annual Condé Nast Readers’ Choice Awards gathers feedback from over 800,000 readers across the globe based on their recent travel experiences in the World’s top hotels, resorts, cities, countries, islands, spas, trains, car rentals, luggage, airlines, airports, and cruises.

The results of the 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards demonstrate the recent travel experiences of the readers and—given the travel restrictions forced by the pandemic—provide an idea of where travelers are “dreaming of going next” when the World reopens for international travel.

Siargao had also been chosen by TIME as among the World’s 100 Greatest Places 2021. Palawan ranked 19th on Travel + Leisure magazine’s Top 25 Islands in the World and fifth in the Asian category this year. Palawan was also included in CNT’s list of The 30 Best Beaches in the World in 2020.

Follow #TeamOutofTown, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Pinterest for more Philippine travel updates.

DOT welcomes Siargao, Palawan and Boracay win in international travel magazine awards
Melo Villareal
Out of Town Blog

Zi Char or Char Lang? Karylle and Yael take on a Singaporean cooking char-llenge September 29, 2021 at 04:48PM

Out of Town Blog
Zi Char or Char Lang? Karylle and Yael take on a Singaporean cooking char-llenge

Team Out of Town Blog Hub (www.outoftownblog.com) –  Many people know celebrity couple Karylle and Yael Yuzon as notable figures in music and TV, but little did everyone knows that the two wear many hats in terms of passions and creative pursuits.

Zi Char or Char Lang

Sharing their culinary flair with their fans, Karylle and Yael joined Singapore Tourism Board’s new web cooking series, Zi Char or Char Lang. The YouTube show is hosted by actor and restaurateur Marvin Agustin.

In Zi Char or Char Lang, Marvin invites his celebrity friends to star as the CHARllengers in the cooking series. He will teach the guests how to cook popular Singaporean Zi Char meals — and if the food tastes good, Marvin will say “Zi Char!”; if not, then it’s “Char lang.”

In the first episode, Marvin is joined by Karylle and Yael as they make Pork Ribs King. This dish is one of the best-loved fare in Singapore that uses Zi Char, a cooking method that means ‘to cook and fry.’ Zi Char is a favorite amongst Singaporeans for its big servings and exciting taste, fusing various Asian influences such as Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Peranakan.

Karylle and Yael take on a Singaporean cooking char-llenge

The pork ribs are marinated in a special batter to be deep-fried and then doused in a sweet and sour sauce. Deep-frying the pork on high heat makes the marinade flavors come out. That’s why for Singaporean locals, Pork Ribs is definitely KING.

“Bonding yung Zi Char experience,” says Karylle. The singer-actress remembers going on a few trips to Singapore when she shot The Kitchen Musical and Point of Entry drama series. “It’s really something that you would love to share with your loved ones,” she added.

Meanwhile, Yael also has his own thoughts on why he loves Zi Char. “I like the idea of passing down a recipe from generation to generation. It evolves but basically stays the same.” One of Yael’s must-visit places in Singapore is Chinatown. He takes time to eat at several Zi Char stalls, especially those that are already decades old, to see for himself the authentic charm of heirloom recipes.

Zi Char or Char Lang Ep 1 – Pork Ribs King

While the couple cannot travel at the moment, the Yuzons shared that food has been the best portal for them to reimagine travel experiences.

When asked how Marvin sees the parallels between Singaporean and Filipino cuisines, he said, “They’re very much like us. They enjoy the entire process — the cooking, the eating, and the bonding with friends and family.”

After all the fun they had, Marvin made the verdict on their Pork Ribs King creation. How well do you think Karylle and Yael did? Watch the first episode of Zi Char or Char Lang on SingapoReimagine’s YouTube channel.

Follow #TeamOutofTown, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Pinterest for more culinary updates.

Zi Char or Char Lang? Karylle and Yael take on a Singaporean cooking char-llenge
Melo Villareal
Out of Town Blog