Weekend with Tey and Monday night with NN...

Always happy to have good friends visit Singapore...

Smart bags three awards at the ACA 2012...

In a recent blog post, I wrote about how I was missing what I used to do back in the Philippines to pay my bills - Corporate Communications/Public Relations.

Thanks to a message from my former Smart colleague Monet, I found myself at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel last night covering the Asia Communication Awards 2012 for Smart.

Whooppee!

Smart was nominated in 6 categories, including CEO of the Year and Operator of the Year and my former colleagues at the Public Affairs Group needed someone to do event coverage.

How can I not say no? (Well, I would have if I was not able to find a DSLR to borrow.) Plus, it's sort of a raket as well. Yey! Hehe!

At the end of the night, the Philippines' leading telecommunications (writing that sounds very PR... LOL!) brought home three awards, including Operator of the Year!

That's a back-to-back win for Smart. I checked the ACA website and the company won the same award last year.

I'm glad that I can still remember most of the things needed for these events. Aside from taking photos, I was scribbling down notes on how the event was going.

It was also nice to hear a compliment Smart boss who attended the awards night for the company. He said something like, "Good thing you thought of asking the guy to stay behind for the photo. You really know these things."

Nice words to hear. :) Definitely "inspiring." *wink wink*

Congrats again to Smart! Double congrats for being the telecoms company who won the most number of awards! :)

Internet for All in Photos project...

This is long overdue.

My very last project with Smart was the Internet for All in Photos exhibit.

The project took almost (or was it more than?) a year to complete, because of so many uncontrollable circumstances. However, I was very, very happy and proud of the output.

It was definitely one of my biggest achievements during my four-year stay with Smart.

I loved it because I got to meet so many people from different walks of life. I was able to be an instrument to share their stories to the bigger public on how technology and the Internet has been able to help their lives.

The best part - I got to work with three of the country's top photographers - Apple Tapan, Jake Verzosa and JoAnn Bitagcol.

Here are some photos from the exhibit opening.

And for more info about the project, you can read my article which was published in the Philippine Star last year. :)

Tagaytay planning...

Big shoutout from Tagaytay.

Planning's going well. Day one was not as toxic as I thought it would be. Haha! The four teams of the group presented their accomplishment for the previous year and the targets and strategies for this 2010. This year is going to be quite challenging, especially because of the elections. But it's good because this will be quite a learning experience. Haha!

Uhm, anyway, we finished on time yesterday so that gave the group a chance to have some bonding time. We headed to the Cliffhouse and had late dessert at Cafe Breton and fray from Fling. Of course, being Public Affairs people, camwhoring was definitely part of the night's activities. Hehe! The restaurant or inn across Cafe Breton had beautiful interior - crisp, clean and white. The couch was gorgeous and it was just perfect for a photo op. Hehe!

After the sweet treat, we went back to the hotel and spent a good couple of hours hanging out and chatting with friends from abroad. Wifi connection was really good so I got to Skype with former colleague Rej (who's in Singapore), and another friend who's in Toronto. Gawd, I just love the Internet. We got to talk for a loooong time for free. Definitely good, huh!

Today, we started quite early. Schedule for this morning include recapping and alignment of programs. Later this afternoon will be the continuation of more quality time for the group. Hehe!

I'm tired and sleepy because I slept at 2AM(!!!), but I'm really glad with how things are going. And again, I'm thankful to be where I am right now. It's challenging, but it's really fun and every day is a learning experience.

Back in Manila tomorrow. Hope you all have a nice Friday.

This Good Friday is not the usual Good Friday...

We had our company Christmas party yesterday evening at the World Trade Center.

Unlike the previous two parties I attended, yesterday was much, much more conservative which I thought was quite appropriate given everything that happened this year.

The mood wasn't that festive, but there was still a hint of holiday cheer in the air.

In the past two years it was celebrities like Piolo Pascual, Toni Gonzaga, Sam Milby, among others, who graced our celebration. This year, we had a different set of celebrities - Arnel Pineda, Charice Pempengco and of course, CNN Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida.

The program was also quite fast. Several messages from the bosses, a peek at 2010 and the good news.

The real party happened afterwards. Tey, Engel, Mich and I headed to SM MOA to celebrate. Though it was already late, the place was still packed. We hung out at Gerry's which had good food but really bad drinks. Or maybe it was just that blue margarita, which we didn't get to finish. It was like drinking tempra.

From SM MOA, Engel and I headed to Malate for a visit to O Bar. As expected, the place was full of partygoers. It was too crowded for me. Still, Engel and I stayed until five in the morning, I think. Hahaha!

Good Friday night... errr... Saturday morning. Haha!