Harnessing Youth’s Community-changing Ideas

After a series of rigorous nationwide screenings in search for the best social marketing ideas around the country, Unilab Ideas Positive has chosen 12 student teams to implement their community-changing projects with a seed money of P100, 000 each. To help them prepare for their project implementation, Unilab Ideas Positive gathered these teams in a 3-day social marketing boot camp led by the country’s topmost and well-known social marketing practitioners at the Unilab Bayanihan Center in Mandaluyong City.

Among the 12 finalists, Team Five for Life (Metro Manila), Tamang TEAMpla (Metro Manila), Team Kabataang Katipuneros (Iloilo City) and Team Green Label (Davao City) focused their efforts on solving their community’s main issue of malnutrition through fun and innovative ideas such as nutrition plate guides and cooking contests. Meanwhile, Team Ba (Baguio City) and Team FNEC (Bicol) focused on improving the hygiene practices of Benguet school children and Muslim Maranao settlers respectively.

Taking on the challenge of environmental care and preservation, Team Protogenia (Batangas) proposed to train the Badjaos of Batangas on how to best utilize their surroundings for methods of self-sustenance while Team W.A.Y.A. (Iloilo City) suggested a mussel-conservation campaign. On the other hand, water-oriented projects were recommended by Team Matalaw (Batangas) and Team JEYTUDITUSI (Cavite) as they sought to establish clean-up efforts for their rivers while Team Bang (Cebu) and Team Transits (Cebu) developed water-filtering systems.

“Unilab Ideas Positive was developed to create meaningful change towards the nation. We seriously take our role as a health and wellness company in building the nation, which is the reason behind the nationwide expansion of the program this year,” shared Unilab Ideas Positive program lead Barry Barrientos. “Knowing that change starts with small steps, we built Unilab Ideas Positive to partner with and give a platform for the youth to ‘positivize’ the Philippines in true Bayanihan spirit, one community at a time.”

The 12 teams took time to pose for a shot during the boot camp

As part of their learning adventure, the students spent time with the country’s best industry practitioners: social marketing guru Dr. Ned Roberto, social entrepreneurs Mark Ruiz, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, Jayson Lo, Krie Reyes-Lopez and Chit Juan, and creative and communication strategist Peachy Pacquing. Dr. Ivanhoe Escartin of the DOH National Center for Health Promotion gave the students an overview of the country’s health and wellness landscape. Meanwhile, social marketing consultants and academicians Harvey Keh, Ma. Christine Reyes and Dr. Sylvia Claudio, among others, dug into the implementation details of the students’ projects to ensure smooth rollout. Social advocate Jay Jaboneta and award-winning director Jim Libiran also inspired the participants with their stories of their own advocacies.

The teams were also brought to the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Enchanted Farm in Bulacan to witness social marketing and innovation in action, led by a talk by GK Founder and President Tony Meloto.

The Unilab Ideas Positive 2011 winners—Grand Winner Team High 5, Runners-up Team AweEights and Team KaBaLiKAT—also shared their boot camp and project implementation experience.

 “Assuming our newfound roles as agents of positive change in their chosen communities, we have learned the basics of social marketing and even immersed ourselves in actual social marketing practices in preparation for our very own project implementation,” shared Jhanette Co of 2011 Unilab Ideas Positive Grand Prize winner, Team High 5.

In the next six months, all 12 student teams will be implementing their projects in their respective communities, mentored by social marketing practitioners from around the country. From the 12, the five most successful youth teams in project implementation will advance to the finals for a chance to become the Unilab Ideas Positive 2012 grand winner.

For more information on the event and each team’s progress, visit www.Facebook.com/Unilab.IdeasPositive and www.unilabideaspositive.com. Follow us on Twitter via @ideaspositive.

Dine with Dad at Tokyo Café

To the man whose strong arms carried you, taught you how to ride a bike, helped you carry your heavy bags, fixed broken things that you needed, protected you, and drove miles for you to see interesting places. For all those great moments when he was at your side―guiding, helping, and teaching you―Dad will indeed always be the first and greatest man in your life.

Tokyo Café celebrates Father’s Day by giving you a chance to treat him to dishes that resemble his prime significance in your life. Because Tokyo Café understands how special he is to you, the Japanese-style family restaurant offers a selection of menus fit for a king―the Wagyu.

This delectable beef, grown from the Wagyu cattle in Kobe, Japan, is considered the premium cut of beef because of its extensive marbling. For years, it is known throughout the world as a notable part of the menu with a globally royal price. Simply put, Wagyu is the Rolls Royce of steaks. And like dads who deserve a power-packed meal to keep them strong, Tokyo Café offers its customers two of its great selections: the Tokyo Wagyu Burger Steak and the Tokyo Wagyu Burger.

Twice the size of a regular beef patty, Tokyo Cafe’s Wagyu Burger steak’s juicy beef

patty oozes with tender goodness and lathered with Japanese steak sauce. Comes with  

a carb-load of baked potato and a crunchy coleslaw salad.

The Tokyo Wagyu Burger Steak has twice the size of a regular beef patty. Tokyo Cafe’s juicy beef patty oozes with tender goodness and lathered with Japanese steak sauce. Freshly prepared and cooked to perfection, the Tokyo Wagu Burger Steak is paired with a carb-load of baked potato and a crunchy coleslaw salad.

Experience the exceptional big and bold flavor of Tokyo Cafe’s Wagyu Burger 

complemented with fried egg, crispy onions, and spicy mayo. Served with a

 scrumptious coleslaw salad and filling French fries.

For dads who opt to experience the exceptional big and bold flavor of burger goodness, the Tokyo Wagyu burger’s Wagyu tender patty is complemented with fried egg, crispy onions, and spicy mayo. Served with a scrumptious coleslaw salad and filling French fries, it also dominates in size and taste.

This distinct experience of indulging in the exceptional taste of premium quality meat with fine grade marbling is available until July 10, 2012. So dads can enjoy it more, Tokyo Cafe is offering a FREE Tokyo Blend or Tokyo Ice only on June 17.

The Tokyo Blend is one of the restaurant’s specialty blends known for its unique art of coffee preparation using the traditional Japanese “drip method.”  It has a naturally light and sweet aroma with a mild body taste. The Tokyo Ice on the other hand is its iced version. 

This Father’s Day, make dad feel like the King that he really is. Order the best at Tokyo Cafe, because like him, Wagyu is one of the best in the world!


Tokyo Cafe branches that offer the menu are located at SM Mall of Asia; SM The Block; Mckinley Piazza; Go Hotel; SM Megamall and SM Southmall.

For more details and information, you may visit www.tokyocafe.com.ph and like their official FB fanpage at facebook.com/tokyocafephilippines. 

UNIQLO opens its first store at the SM Mall of Asia

UNIQLO is finally opening on Friday, June 15, 2012 at the SM Mall of Asia. UNIQLO is a global apparel brand and number 1 clothing company in Japan offering wide array of simple, timeless and functional apparel for men, women, and kids. In support of the first store opening, in Manila its Chairman and CEO Tadashi Yanai is visiting FROM TOKYO TO MANILA on Wednesday, June 13. Yanai will meet with members of Philippines and Japanese media to share his economic vision for UNIQLO in the Philippines.

The opening of the first UNIQLO store in Manila, in the SM Mall of Asia, makes the Philippines the 12th country outside of Japan where it has presence, after opening stores in the US, UK, France, Russia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. UNIQLO also operates stores in Southeast Asian countries like, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

With the vision to improve people’s lives through the power of clothing, UNIQLO is seen as an innovator in the apparel industry. In its product lines are highly functional clothes like AIRism, an undergarment that provides cool comfort to the wearer, Dry Pique Polo Shirt, a polo shirt that quickly dries body sweat, and UV Cut apparel, a clothes line with SPF protecting wearer from harmful sun rays.

UNIQLO promotes its “MADE FOR ALL” Philosophy, which captures the company’s vision of providing casual clothing that is made for all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or any other ways that define an individual.

As UNIQLO opens its doors to the Filipinos on Friday, it marks the official day of the brand’s landing FROM TOKYO TO MANILA.

The UNIQLO store at the SM Mall of Asia is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

UNIQLO is opening its first store in the Philippines in SM Mall of Asia, one of the largest shopping malls in the world, occupying a waterfront site on Manila Bay spanning 407,000 square meters. This massive shopping complex hosts a wide range of retail tenants, including a number of major fashion brands, and is a major draw for both tourists and local residents. The new UNIQLO Mall of Asia Store will be one of SM Mall of Asia’s largest tenants.

Asia offers enormous growth potential for UNIQLO and is a key regional focus of the brand’s global expansion strategy. UNIQLO started opening its first stores in Thailand in September 2011, following its successful expansion into Singapore and Malaysia, increasing its lineup in Southeast Asia to 15 retail locations. Now, as the brand continues to accelerate its regional expansion efforts, the UNIQLO Mall of Asia is set to offer the joy of truly great clothing to shoppers in the Philippines.

For more information about UNIQLO and other FR group companies, please visit www.uniqlo.com or www.fastretailing.com.

Delightful Goodness that is the Pandesal

Waking up with the wafting aroma of pandesal will surely bring back many fond memories. Who can forget dipping and dunking this soft bun into a fresh cup of coffee or chocolate drink before relishing it? Some even enjoy pandesal with condensed milk, especially when the thick milk starts to ooze out from the bread and the urgent need to catch and lick it before it spills on the floor. Simple yet delicious treat.

Among the breads in the Philippines, pandesal is undoubtedly the king as it is an important part of our tradition and culture. Recognizing the need of Filipino consumers for high quality pandesal, Gardenia has made its own version of pandesal using world-class standards to ensure utmost quality in both taste and appearance.

Aside from bringing back happy memories, enjoying the delightful goodness of Gardenia pandesal is always a pleasurable experience.

So how does the Gardenia Pandesal experience start?

It begins the minute you pull one out of a pack—the smell of deliciousness and freshness. You’d almost instantly want to savor on its delightful flavor. The first bite is another story, experiencing the delectable taste the moment you sink your teeth onto its crusty outside yet blissfully soft inside.

One more distinctive attribute of Gardenia pandesal is it’s delicious hot or not. It’s disappointing when the bread you heated becomes hard as a stone when you take it off from the oven. But with Gardenia, consumers are assured that the pandesal will remain tasty, filling and appetizing even after heating or re-heating it, just like the moment you bought it from the supermarket.

Whether with scrambled eggs, fried spam or hotdog, ham, peanut butter, coconut jam, plain good butter or just by itself, Gardenia pandesal could be consumed during breakfast, merienda in the afternoon or late in the evening since it can stay fresh and soft longer, making Gardenia a sure-fire and practical choice for consumers. Plus, Gardenia Pandesal is packed with vitamins and minerals, a bit of news that would certainly bring a smile to Mommies’ faces since they know that every bite of Gardenia Pandesal is good for their kids’ health and nutritional needs.

Consumers are also assured that Gardenia observed strict quality control in the production of its bread products, giving Mommies peace of mind.

For Mommies who want to whip up something for their kids’ merienda or baon that they can enjoy once they go back to school, try making your own by adding tomato sauce and their favorite toppings to an open-faced pandesal and pop it in the oven for that instant, home-made pizza! For office workers, grab a bottle of your favorite soda—or again with coffee—together with Gardenia pandesal for that quick yet tasty break time treat. Longing for palaman for your pandesal, you could always use any savory left-over food from the refrigerator.

To know more about the delicious Gardenia Pandesal and its other bread products, visit www.gardenia.com.ph.

Fight against fast-ageing, starting with your brain

There is no stopping ageing. It is inevitable that in time, our once soft and supple skin would wrinkle, hair gone gray or lost, bones become brittle.

Though it can’t be stopped, ageing can be delayed in countless ways. The use of supplements to keep skin looking radiant is one. When it comes to giving bones that much-needed calcium boost, milk supplements can do the trick.

The brain is another important part of our body that is also in danger of fast ageing. Like the body, the brain will also deteriorate as we become older. And many people are not aware that brain ageing starts from mid twenties onwards, much earlier than most people imagine. Based on a survey done in 8 countries such as China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan, around 73% of respondents believe that the brain is one of the key organs that need to be protected from aging.

There are ways to fight causes of brain ageing, though. Just like preventing other signs of ageing, our brain may be saved through supplements that provide enough brain food to keep it healthy. Coupled with regular exercise, a healthy and balanced diet, including those rich in omega-3 and plenty of restful sleep, brain ageing will definitely have to wait.

BRAND'S^® Essence of Chicken is one such food supplement. Made from fine quality chicken extract but without any additives, fats and cholesterol, BRAND'S^® Essence of Chicken contains ProBeptigen™, an amazing peptide that helps boost the brain’s level of serotonin, which is known to fight stress, fatigue, and helps improve motivation to learn. It also has carnosine, a dipeptide that helps protect the brain and slows down the effects of brain aging.

It is also important to note that common reasons such as stress and depression may prove to be more potent than other causes of brain ageing and memory loss. Depression can imitate the signs of memory loss and the effects in our brain functions may be irreversible when prolonged.

And when our body is stressed, it releases cortisol, popularly known as a “stress hormone,” that gives us a burst of energy in response to stress. Though it is a very normal reaction of the body, because of a highly stressful lifestyle, prolonged stay of this hormone in the body may result to adverse effects. It also works up the neurons to its limits which lead to its fast deterioration.

Keeping a healthy brain with proper diet, rest, regular exercise, together with food supplements like BRAND'S^® Essence of Chicken, can definitely improve your brain functions and help prevent brain ageing. But living a stress-free lifestyle by managing it properly to lessen the worries, and staying actively social, meeting family and friends, can also help in improving brain health. A bottle a day of BRAND'S^® Essence of Chicken will definitely help you fight worries on ageing. As some would say, “ageing is just in the brain.”

Available in 42-gram and 70-gram bottles, with suggested retail prices of P68 and P108, respectively, BRAND’S®Essence of Chicken is sold at Mercury Drug stores in Metro Manila. For more details, visit www.brandsworld.com.