Go Cashless When Going to the Beach

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It’s a good habit to carry cash wherever you go, especially when on a trip. You don’t want to run out of money when traveling. Budgeting and bringing sufficient funds when you’re out of town or at the beach is a major task you should accomplish. However, wouldn’t it be easier to pay all your expenses with a credit card that comes in handy? If so, here are some beach resorts in the Philippines that accept credit card payments:

Baler

Enjoy seamless drives when going to Baler. Long trips are worth it because of Aurora’s year-round waves that surfers from around the world visit.

Costa Pacifica
Tourists flock to Costa Pacifica due to the hotel’s spacious rooms and modern interiors. Located right in front of Sabang Beach, the hotel provides beach and garden views for people to look at while couching on a daybed inside their room. For large groups of people like your family and friends, meeting and banquet facilities are also available. Costa Pacifica gives discounts to senior citizens, PWD, and diplomats.

Rate per night: PHP 4,600 to PHP 14,600

Amenities: complimentary breakfast, outdoor pool, car rental, free Wi-Fi, free parking

L’Sirene Boutique Resort

With the resort’s fully furnished and well-decorated rooms, L’Sirene Boutique Resort allows guests to chill in a veranda while sitting in a swinging chair. This is also a great place to bum while drinking a bottle of cold beer for L’Sirene has their own restaurant named “Siren’s Bar and Restaurant.” After sipping a bottle beer, sober up and fill your stomach with delicious food also served by the resto.

Rate per night: PHP 5,500 to PHP 7,500

Amenities: complimentary breakfast, outdoor pool, free Wi-Fi, bonfire, surf lessons

Batangas

Hop in a bus along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, and go to Batangas to swim in the province’s many beach destinations. Batangas is a quick getaway so bring your credit card and choose from the following beach resorts.

Coral Beach Club

With 24 rooms and a garden that can hold up to 100 guests, Coral Beach Club is one of the biggest resorts operating in Matabungkay, Batangas. Established in 1993, Coral Beach runs in-house entertainment facilities like billiards and board games. After playing, guests can choose from an international range of eating and drinking options.

Rate per night: PHP 3,400 to PHP 7,500

Amenities: outdoor pool, Jacuzzi, free Wi-Fi, game room, salon, and spa

La Chevrerie

“Ensuring utmost privacy and exclusive indulgence,” that’s what La Chevrerie promises to every guest of their five-star resort. Living up to their promise, they only have 13 rooms set up in a spacious land in Anilao, Batangas. Here, you can dive into the waters and see the ocean’s reefs. After snorkeling, relax in the comfort of a body massage from La Chevrerie’s in-house spa called La Brise.

Rate per night: PHP 11,000 to 22,000

Amenities: complimentary breakfast, outdoor pool, free Wi-Fi, game room, in-house spa

Acuaverde Beach Resort

Situated in Laiya, Batangas, Acuaverde’s pride is the resort’s white sand beach. There are three room categories namely Casa Brisa, Casa Marina, and Casa Montana, which you can select according to your needs.

Rate per night: PHP 5,800 to 12,000

Amenities: free Wi-Fi, table tennis, game room, nightly bonfire, in-house spa

Isn’t it exciting to experience these beach resorts with the help of a credit card? Be a smart credit card user and take advantage of your credit card’s promos to collect reward points. Using your handy credit card when going to the beach is one of the best ways to make the most out of it.

In Partnership with MoneyMax.ph

ePLDT Receives Global Accreditation for its 2nd VITRO Data Center in Cebu

Wazzup Pilipinas!

ePLDT, Inc., the industry-leading enabler of digital business solutions in the Philippines, recently received a global accreditation for its newly inaugurated VITRO Data Center in Cebu City. NTT Communications now recognizes the new robust facility as part of its network of Nexcenter-certified data centers, which are located in more than 140 locations in 18 countries.

All Nexcenter-accredited data centers passed rigorous in-house parameters set by NTT Communications, ensuring that all facilities meet the globally consistent data center standards in service quality, flexibility and cost efficiency.

NTT Communications employs consistent operational procedures across all its data centers worldwide, backed with the benchmarks set by international certifications and operational guidelines such as ISO and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

To date, ePLDT carries a total of five Nexcenter-accredited data centers that are in Makati, Pasig, Paranaque, Clark and Cebu.

“This accreditation comes at a very opportune time for the company as we recently launched our premiere data center in Cebu,” said Eric Alberto, ePLDT Group President and CEO and PLDT-SMART Chief Revenue Officer. “As part of the international network of the state-of-the-art data center facilities around the world, VITRO Cebu 2 is now more capable of offering technology solutions to businesses that are looking to expand their operations in the region. Similar to other Nexcenter-certified data centers across the globe, VITRO Cebu 2 is positioned to empower both local and multinational businesses with global scalability that conforms with NTT Communications’ consistent data center standards and service quality.”

VITRO Cebu 2 is ePLDT’s 10^th data center facility in the country to date. It houses up to 800 racks, completing ePLDT VITRO Network’s 9,150 total rack capacity. These data centers are interconnected by Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology, which enables consistency of services across the VITRO Network. For instance, SDN minimizes the cost and complexity of backing up and replicating data from one VITRO site to another, therefore not only optimizing IT infrastructure resiliency but also providing geo-redundancy. 

According to Nerisse Ramos, ePLDT Group Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, VITRO Cebu 2—with its global accreditation—will help drive economic growth by attracting more investors to build their business in the region and optimize its operations by colocating in a premiere data center.

“Knowing that there is a state-of-the-art data center in Cebu will help secure the growth of Cebu-based businesses and will help attract more investments in one of the country’s fastest-growing economies,” Ramos said. “Our new VITRO Cebu 2 Data Center will help drive positive economic impact in Cebu, ensuring that businesses meet their demands for managing and safeguarding mission-critical data from natural and operational catastrophes.”

Built from the ground up, VITRO Cebu 2 has 12 layers of physical security, which is one layer more than what other VITRO Data Centers usually have.  Furthermore, the server farm is also built with fire-rated walls that can hold fire for up to six hours. VITRO Cebu 2 also uses high-grade security technologies, including finger-vein scanning features, CCTV cameras, and 24/7 monitoring and surveillance.

Jovy Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head of PLDT and SMART Enterprise Business Groups, said: “Our network of VITRO Data Centers answers the need for more robust infrastructure in supporting the operations of growing enterprises across the country. With globally recognized accreditation and industry-leading best practices, we can readily provide the best solutions for colocation, security, connectivity and disaster recovery, among others. These inspire fearlessness and peace of mind in customers and allow them to focus on expanding their business.”

For more information about ePLDT, please visit the website at www.epldt.com.

MARINA Rolls Out Ship Modernization Program

Wazzup Pilipinas! 

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has started rolling out its domestic ship modernization program through an information campaign in Batangas City on 03-05 September 2018. 

The MARINA, along with the Development Bank of the Philippines Leasing Corporation (DLC) and Department of Finance (DOF), oriented 80 motorbanca owners and operators from region 4 on the importance of upgrading wooden-hulled motorbancas into either steel, aluminum, or fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) boats. 

"Safety of life at sea is primordial to MARINA and ship modernization is a step towards attaining this objective," MARINA Domestic Shipping Service Director Sonia Malaluan said citing the motorbanca modernization as the first phase of MARINA’s domestic ship modernization program. 

As it is committed to provide full support to its stakeholders, the MARINA has partnered with DOF’s Municipal Development Fund Office (MDFO) to open the Municipal Development Fund (MDF) to motorbanca owners who will modernize their boats. 

To further aid the motorbanca owners, the MARINA will also provide incentives, capability, and capacity building, as well as guidance in establishing cooperatives that can offer additional financial support during the implementation of the program. 

MARINA’s information campaign will continue in different provinces across the Philippines aimed at clarifying issues of coverage, exemptions and transitions under the program. 

With the shift from wood to a technologically-advanced hull materials, the MARINA expects domestic vessels to be faster, efficient, and resilient for the enhancement of maritime safety in the country. 

Aside from ship modernization info campaign, you may also see info on how to track your goods order.