I hate getting my phone scratched and banged up, so I use jelly and hard cases, screen protectors, socks, etc. to keep my phone from looking the worse for wear. Still, I can’t completely avoid accidents, such as when my phone falls out of a jacket I’ve draped over my arm, or when the screen protector peels off during a trip and something scratches the screen before I can replace the protector.

Having a damaged phone bothers me to the point that I just have to buy a new phone. It’s why I have a new BlackBerry Curve 9360 when my old Curve 9300 has better battery life: I couldn’t stand the scratch on the screen and the banged-up trackpad.

Replacing a phone has a heavy price, so when Otterbox held its Drop Test tour last week at Power Plant, I went to see what it was all about. You can drop a phone in an Otterbox case? I thought in disbelief. When I arrived, two girls were juggling phones back and forth. Well, if they were juggling those phones they weren’t doing a good job; every three throws they dropped a phone.

Oops, I dropped it again!

That’s how confident Otterbox is in their product, which absorbs the shock and abuse thrown at it so that the phone inside is protected. In fact, Tenkie Box, the sole distributor of Otterbox in the Philippines, has been told by the Otterbox mother company to replace Otterbox cases damaged by drops, bumps, and falls, no questions asked. (Replacing the phone is a different story )

Also present at the Drop Test event was one of the local Otterbox brand ambassadors, Lorraine Lapus. I’ve known Lor since 2008 when she was a fulltime surf coach for the Philippine Surfing Academy based out of Club Manila East. These days she still surfs, but is a bit more jetset as the brand manager for Rip Curl at Stoked, Inc. Otterbox is a perfect fit for her active lifestyle in the city and out-of-town on surf trips.

Lorraine Lapus uses the Defender series

Apparently, BlackBerry was one of the first smartphone manufacturers to work with Otterbox, which is why I had so many options when it came to choosing my own Otterbox (with special thanks to Tenkie Box!). I could go with the sleek Reflex series (a hard shell that slides off and on for easy docking), or the attractive yet affordable Impact series (a durable silicone skin), or the heavy-duty Defender series (hard shell covered by a silicone case).

I'm such a sucker for pink.

I went with the Commuter Series Strength case. Aside from its attractive pink outer shell, there’s a soft silicone inner case that absorbs shock and cradles my BlackBerry like a baby. Also, 10% of the purchase price goes to support the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.

Of course, we had to show that we had full confidence in our chosen Otterboxes, so we had to do the drop test with our phones as well. I think my phone traveled the farthest when it landed and skidded across the platform. :’( But thanks to Otterbox, I won’t have to worry about my new phone getting beaten up. Much.

Media and Bloggers at the Otterbox Drop Test Tour

Believe it or not, I’ve never been on a real Valentine’s date. In fact, this year I had work on February 14. But that was OK, because I was looking forward to February 15 when I would be speed-dating a few of the Philippine Volcanoes. No, not Mayon or Pinatubo or Taal…

The Ring of Fire ain't got nothing on THESE Volcanoes.

I first became aware of the Philippine national rugby team from their Bench Body billboards last year, and from a press lunch Globe Telecom gave last year to publicize their continuing sponsorship of the team. Turns out, the Volcanoes have posted far better results in the international scene than the national football team. They’ve even been invited to take part in the Hong Kong Sevens this March, which is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens (a variant of rugby union).

Coach Matt giving a few updates about the Volcanoes

This year, the Volcanoes are poised to make a bigger impression on the Philippine sports psyche. Aside from inking a television deal with GMA7 which will ensure their games can be watched on national TV, the Philippine Rugby Football Union will also be hosting some major international rugby tournaments in Rizal Stadium. Exciting!

Our speed-dating event organized by Globe also promised to be exciting. There were seven smoking-hot Volcanoes present that night: Chris Everingham, Jon Morales, Jake Letts, Nick Perry, Darran Seeto, Kenneth Stern, and Andrew Wolff. Four batches of seven women each were given two minutes of time with each player, which meant that each of these Volcanoes had to socialize and make nice with 28 women! (Poor fellas.)

Let's call this a dating treadmill.

This event was also a sort of launch for Globe’s post-Valentine promo giving free Facebook access to Globe and Touch Mobile subscribers with internet-capable phones (excluding BlackBerry phones, which require a BlackBerry data plan, and Opera browsers, which access Facebook through a proxy). You can register to the promo by texting “FREE FB” to 8888 or dialing *143#. After your registration is confirmed, you can browse Facebook by accessing it through m.facebook.com via phone browser or by using your phone’s Facebook app.

We were all each loaned a smartphone so we could take photos of ourselves with the players within the two minutes we had with each of them. At the end of the night, the photos would be uploaded to Facebook using Globe’s mobile data service and posted to the Globe MDS Facebook account.

having trouble taking a photo of myself with Kenneth Stern

I was part of the last batch, so my friends Karen, Faith, Tiara, and Marbbie (who had all had their turns before me) tasked me with some cheeky follow-up questions. OH-KAY.

Inquiring minds want to know.

The boys were extremely nice during the speed-dates even though we kind of figured they’d be shell-shocked by the end of the evening. I have to say getting to talk with them albeit briefly has made me more curious about the sport they play. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Volcanoes this year.

Noelle De Guzman is a Globe Mobile Data Services Brand Ambassador.