SM Aura Premier : Grand Launch Draws Huge Crowd

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SM Aura Premier is the first SM Supermall in Taguig, 13th in Metro Manila and 47th SM Prime mall in the Philippines. It is SM Prime's latest high-end lifestyle destination project. SM Aura Premier is located along McKinley Parkway and C5 Road cor. 26th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. The shopping center is situated near its rival mall Market! Market!, owned by Ayala Malls, a real estate subsidiary of Ayala Land, and affiliate of Ayala Corporation.

SM Aura Premier is a new upscale mall and state-of-the-art civic center with office and retail space, built by SM Prime in partnership with the City of Taguig. It was designed by Arquitectonica of Miami and mall interiors by Edge Design of Australia. It has a total floor area of 249,861 square meters for the mall and office building. It has 3 basement levels of parking with 1,771 parking slots. It aims to be one of the first civic centers in the country to be certified Gold under the US Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The SM Aura name is derived from the two elements Gold (which has the chemical symbol Au) and Radium (Ra). According to SM Prime putting them together defines “luxury and elegance that emanates from within.”

SM Aura Premier held its grand opening on May 17, 2013 at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. There were a lot of people who all made their first glimpse of the mall, photo ops at the first-time to see sights and attractions, as well as done some great shopping. A media launch was held also last May 16.

Microsoft, Department of Tourism and Tourism Promotions Board Launch Windows 8 Apps for Tourism

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With ease of technology, more Filipinos are relying on their mobile devices and apps for their important activities such as banking, tracking of courier packages and even for computing electricity consumption among others. The gadgets they have in hand have become their partners as well in planning their travels from looking for the best local destinations to visit to organizing their itineraries. Tourists need one-stop shop apps that can provide them the information and features they need when they travel around the Philippines.

In line with this, Microsoft Philippines (Microsoft), the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) formally sealed their partnership today to enable Windows 8 users with information and features they need on the country's best local destinations through a series of local apps. Microsoft, DOT and TPB are proud to announce that the set of More Fun Series apps is now available for download in the Windows Store.

The More Fun Series is a group of apps which aims to highlight the country’s 25 key tourist destinations including their interesting overview, exciting activities, famous sites and itinerary builder among other features. Furthermore, these free apps feature commercial information coming from the official website of DOT including but not limited to accredited restaurants, spas and souvenir shops to complete the travel experience of every tourist. 

7 Groups Qualify To Bid For The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project – DOTC

Wazzup Pilipinas!

All seven (7) groups vying for the first airport project to be bid out under President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program have been successfully prequalified, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) disclosed on Thursday (May 16, 2013).

The announcement, which was made four (4) days ahead of schedule, signifies that the P 17.5-Billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Passenger Terminal Building Project will be contested by the following groups:

• AAA Airport Partners, led by the Ayala and Aboitiz groups and Houston airport operator ADC&HAS;
• Filinvest-CAI Consortium of the Gotianuns and Singapore’s Changi Airport;
• First Philippine Airports of the Lopez group and New Zealand’s Infratil Asia Limited airport operator;
• GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium, which includes India’s Delhi Airport’s operator;
• MPIC-JGS Airport Consortium, composed of the Pangilinan and Gokongwei companies, as well as France’s Aeroports de Lyon;
• SM-led Premier Airport Group, which includes Switzerland’s Zurich Airport operators; and
• San Miguel-Incheon Airport Consortium, led by the SMC conglomerate and the operator of South Korea’s Incheon Airport.