Plan B Sucks: Lessons from the Guy Behind “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I was fortunate enough to attend the annual National Achievers Congress (NAC) organized by Laurus Enterprises last November 4, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City (VIP seats, baby!).

Hundreds of participants filled the venue, all excited to learn from world-renowned speakers – Andrew Matthews, illustrator and author of “Being Happy” and “How Life Works;” Kevin Green, real estate mogul from the UK; Peng Joon, young millionaire and authority in online wealth creation; and Sean Seah, master in value investing. The highlight of the conference is keynote speaker Chris Gardner – entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. Gardner published his autobiography in 2006 called “The Pursuit of Happyness,” which became popular when it hit the big screen, starring Hollywood celebrity Will Smith.

The movie showed 1 year of Gardner’s life as a homeless, broke single parent. He lost his home, his wife, his money, but gained custody of his young son. He slept on the streets, in train stations and in public toilets, while making ends meet selling bone density scanners and training to become a stock broker. In the end, his courage, persistence and positivity enabled him to rise above his circumstances, and succeeded to become the man of inspiration that he is today.

LoveYourself to Dethrone Reigning HIV with the PHL’s Biggest Testing Day Event

Wazzup Pilipinas!

On its way to dethrone HIV, LoveYourself, Inc. has sought a partnership with Mister Gay World Philippines Organization (MGWPO) to eradicate the social stigma on the disease and its relevant interventions.

Advocating for timely testing and treatment, the LoveYourself-MGWPO partnership entails the promotion of the LoveYourself Incognito 2.0, which is the country’s largest community-based HIV screening that is free, anonymous and fast, set to happen on 27 November at Victoria Court Malate in Manila.

With the aim to continuously implement HIV and AIDS early detection programs, both organizations together with the Department of Health-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (DOH-RITM) and Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. are calling individuals to have themselves tested for HIV by signing up on go.loveyourself.ph/incognito.

LoveYourself Executive Director Ronivin G. Pagtakhan said “We are trying to build as many allies as possible towards the HIV cause to make our call to action within the community more resounding and sustainable.”

Pagtakhan emphasized that “the partnership with MGWPO would greatly help the advocacy in spreading the awareness and reach the unchartered waters that only pageant organizers have an expertise on.”

Exclusive Interview with Buddy Valastro aka Cake Boss of TLC

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Social media noisily buzzed lately with the presence of the Cake Boss in the Philippines. He's in the country for the 2016 TLC Festival held on November 5, 2016 at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) High Street in Taguig City, and from what I heard, he also conducted masterclasses for some special group of people.

Though the TLC Festival is open to the public that can experience several booths offering various activities and freebies, we were lucky to have been invited to meet him for an exclusive video interview. The time allotted for the interview was just a few minutes so we were quite nervous with the rushed opportunity.

Fortunately, my new-found friend and fellow blogger Wowie was there to help me out with the questions. He is an avid admirer of the Cake Boss so he could totally relate to what Buddy was saying and he was able to ask away easily. However, he did tell me his palms went cold from the excitement of meeting the TLC star face-to-face.

It is not everyday you get to meet a famous TV personality so even though it was totally impromptu, we ignored all our nervousness and proceeded with the interview with very little hesitation.

The TLC Festival was definitely bigger this year, but unlike last year when we had a media event at the Village Tavern restaurant featuring the TLC talents, this time there was none but arranged interviews with them at the hotel where they were staying.

For Buddy, we interviewed him at the lounge of the newly constructed Shangri-La BGC Hotel.