Startup Weekend Manila Experience

When I learned about the 2nd season of Startup Weekend Manila, I was so excited to attend and pitch an idea. But since there’s Startup Weekend Cebu leg, I decided to pitch my idea in Cebu this coming weekend but still flew to Manila and attended the event as a volunteer with my colleagues at GTUG/GDG Philippines.

Held last April 27-29, 2012 at MINT College in Taguig City, around 200+ attended the event. Developers, graphic designers and business people enthusiastically checked-in  for the event that weekend. Everyone was so excited to what they can do within the 54hours allotted time, basically to build a viable product to become the next tech Startup. Read more…

Nokia App Development Workshop

I recently attended the Nokia App Development Workshop using J2ME last April 25 – 26, 2012 which was held at the Case Room, 5th floor of iAcademy Bldg. in Makati City. It’s a free workshop by Nokia which they frequently offer to the local developer community. I decided to attend the workshop to do a recap on my J2ME skills which I learned during college but wasn’t able to practice much.

During the 2-day workshop, Low and High Level API were discussed along with Gesture, Touch, Game, and Location-based APIs and Monetizing and Publishing Apps in the Nokia Store. Our resource speaker was Mr. Ralph Vincent Regalado wherein he discussed the  technology, theory and demos.

Overall, the workshop was worth attending. Looking forward to their next workshops. If you want to join their free workshops, you can check the Nokia App Development Workshops schedules.

Kameyaki Okonomiyaki Restaurant

When I was in Japan last February, I wasn’t able to try their famous pancake called Okonomiyaki. It’s not similar to the regular pancake we have for breakfast; much “healthier.” With the cabbage and meat mixed in batter plus additional toppings of your choice, you’ll surely can’t get enough it.

Back here in Cebu, there’s a new place where you can get this kind of food. The place is called Kameyaki Okonomiyaki Restaurant which is located at Piazza Elesia, Talamban, Cebu City. They serve a number of Japanese dishes aside from this special okonomiyaki (photo above) which I ordered when I visited the place last time. It was yummy! Read more…

Google Map Maker Summits – Mindanao

It was a busy month for the Google Map Maker community in the Philippines last April 2012 wherein it hosted three (3) Google Map Maker Philippine Summits across the Philippines  -  Bacolod, Baguio and General Santos City.

I was able to join the Mindanao leg (many thanks to Google) which was held at STI College, General Santos City last April 21, 2012. I was there to help out (a volunteer) as part of the community outreach of the Google Developers Group (GDG) Philippines, formerly known as Google Technology User Groups (GTUG) Philippines. Around 140+ attended the event and it was the biggest and diverse crowd so far from the three summits. Attendance includes from the academe, both teachers and students, government personnel, and professionals from different industries. Read more…

Cebu ON3 Startup Pitching Competition 2012 Winners

It was intense pitching competition last Thursday, April 12, 2012, at the ON3 Startup Pitching Competition 2012 here in Cebu City for the Visayas leg.  Held at the Audio Visual Room (AVR) at the University of the Philippines – Cebu College, around a hundred of enthusiasts and entrepreneurs attended the event. Nine (9) teams made it during the initial screening of projects.

Mr. Jojo Flores of  Plug and Play Tech Center, who’s heading the ON3 Program, along with Ms. Christina Laskowski of STAC Silicon Valley, and Mr. Denny Roja of  ValuQuest International were the judges during the said competition.

After each of the participants delivered their 3-minute  elevator pitch, the judges gave their comments and asked questions about their products or services presented. From the nine (9) participants, only six (6) emerged as winners for the Cebu leg. Read more…