When I got the invitation to the Tatt Awards event a few weeks ago, I actually thought I’d missed the whole nominations thing and that it was the awarding ceremony. To my relief, when I got there I realized this was just the beginning of the whole process.

We all had to bring glasses along.

Bloggers and social media users were the stars of the night, since the Tatt Awards is meant to celebrate the best use of social media and blogging in the Philippines. The crowd at the Tatt Awards party was pretty diverse, ranging from simple bloggers like myself to celebrities who are avid Twitter users. And then there were the special people who are a mix of the two worlds, like Jenni Epperson, a celebrity in her own right who received a regional award for best lifestyle blog (at the Nuffnang Awards).

With Jenni and fashion blogger JP

There are 10 categories up for nominations at the Tatt Awards:

• Tech Junkie: the blogger who’s the most up-to-date with the newest technology, gadgets, and games
• The Advocate: the one who’s doing his part in making the world a better place.
• The Indie Rocker: knows the ins and outs of music like the back of his gig-stamped hand!
• Video Slinger: the most creative and exciting vlogger whose videos we found worthy of streaming into our homes!
• #Thought-Mover: the hashtag that trended the most online.
• The Visualizer: best photo blogger who’s able to immortalize moments, objects, and just about anything online.
• Game Changer: best sports blogger (and the category I’d like to be nominated for)
• The Explorer: Pumped-up travelers, adventure-seekers, and frequent fliers who blog about travel
• Stylisimo: the chic-est virtual fashion blogger
• The One: The best blogger. Period.

I know my blog KikayRunner.com is small fry in the larger world of blogging (and In My Pocket is even smaller fry that small fry feed on), but I know as a running blogger I make a difference. I’m asking you to check out the Tatt Awards website and nominate KikayRunner.com under the Game Changer category. But only if you think I really deserve it. Thanks!

with Dong Ronquillo, head of Globe Tattoo

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.

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 :D)

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.

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 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.

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…

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).

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.)

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.

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.

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.

There’s a storm signal over the metro so it’s been raining off and on the whole day. After the past week’s late wave, this cool weather is very much welcome, especially since it gives me opportunity to indulge in thick blankets and steaming hot drinks.

Lately I’ve been indulging in hot tea. It’s the simplest of beverages to prepare — I mean, how hard is it to boil some water and put a tea infuser in? I usually enjoy it with some milk and Splenda at my favorite coffee and tea shop. I haven’t had any tea at home since my family and I have just moved into a new place and haven’t stocked our pantry well.

I attended the Lipton Thoughts and Teas blogger event at Paul Calvin’s Deli, BGC a few weeks ago (on a rainy day like this!) and tried to expand my tea preparation repertoire. Celebrity chef Rosebud demonstrated how to create home-brewed chai tea and orange tea with a few spices and extracts. It all seemed so very simple.

And then we were all challenged to create our own signature tea recipes for a prize! I immediately thought of apple-cinnamon, which would have been perfect for the rainy weather we were having…

…if only I knew how to execute it properly. I had no idea how difficult it would be to balance all those ingredients and flavors in one cup of tea!

I threw my first attempt out (it tasted like tea with vomit, ewww!) and tried again. It was better, of course, but didn’t taste as rich as I wanted it to.

In the end, it was a matter of who executed a good idea better: someone else was able to create an apple-cinnamon tea that appealed to Rosebud’s palate. As for me, I think I’ll stick to my black tea with milk. That one’s tried and tested. Ü

I’ve been attending Philippine Fashion Week for about two years now. While most people go for the clothes, for me it’s always been more about the spectacle. I love seeing what people wear just to attend the shows; it’s their chance to be a bit more avante garde in their fashion choices. Whether or not they look like a freak show is a different story. Hrhrhr.

I also love seeing how every show’s director can present the clothes and models in a different way. While the most usual change-up is the shape of the runway and the lighting/music arrangement, at the Resort Collection with Ipanema show on PFW Spring/Summer 2011’s Day 3 the director did more than that. Instead of the standard gait and pout, all the models who strutted their stuff looked and acted happy, skipping down the catwalk in their Ipanema flipflops and swimwear, sundresses, and leisure wear.

they’ve got happy feet

Although some of the designs from various designers were predictable and/or inappropriate to be worn with flipflops and open-toed footwear, I loved the flipflop and sandal designs because they were colorful and looked like so much fun to wear (I blame the models!).

I’m not sure if they’re the current styles offered at Ipanema retailers (such as Shoe Salon), but I will be checking them out, particularly the women’s sandals. I need casual footwear that doesn’t look like tsinelas; I don’t often wear heels and I need to wear open footwear to allow my feet to breathe, especially after workouts and runs. Yet I still want to feel a bit more dressed up rather than looking like I just stepped out of my bathroom. “If the shoe fits, wear it,” people say, and I think Ipanema footwear definitely fit with my lifestyle and fashion choices.

By the way, I was photographed at the Ipanema event; my look was featured on Stylebible.ph’s PFW S/S 2011 Day 3 gallery. I guess I wasn’t one of those who looked like freak shows, yay!

photo by Stylebible Digital

I’ve been attending Philippine Fashion Week for about two years now. While most people go for the clothes, for me it’s always been more about the spectacle. I love seeing what people wear just to attend the shows; it’s their chance to be a bit more avante garde in their fashion choices. Whether or not they look like a freak show is a different story. Hrhrhr.

I also love seeing how every show’s director can present the clothes and models in a different way. While the most usual change-up is the shape of the runway and the lighting/music arrangement, at the Resort Collection with Ipanema show on PFW Spring/Summer 2011’s Day 3 the director did more than that. Instead of the standard gait and pout, all the models who strutted their stuff looked and acted happy, skipping down the catwalk in their Ipanema flipflops and swimwear, sundresses, and leisure wear.

they’ve got happy feet

Although some of the designs from various designers were predictable and/or inappropriate to be worn with flipflops and open-toed footwear, I loved the flipflop and sandal designs because they were colorful and looked like so much fun to wear (I blame the models!).

I’m not sure if they’re the current styles offered at Ipanema retailers (such as Shoe Salon), but I will be checking them out, particularly the women’s sandals. I need casual footwear that doesn’t look like tsinelas; I don’t often wear heels and I need to wear open footwear to allow my feet to breathe, especially after workouts and runs. Yet I still want to feel a bit more dressed up rather than looking like I just stepped out of my bathroom. “If the shoe fits, wear it,” people say, and I think Ipanema footwear definitely fit with my lifestyle and fashion choices.

By the way, I was photographed at the Ipanema event; my look was featured on Stylebible.ph’s PFW S/S 2011 Day 3 gallery. I guess I wasn’t one of those who looked like freak shows, yay!

photo by Stylebible Digital

I just flew back from a very relaxing All Saints Weekend in Boracay (yes, it’s my third time this year… I’m planning a mega-post next week about all my trips). I’ve always thought I could be a savvy traveler and even passed an application for the Amazing Race Asia Season 3. But meeting TARA4 Philippine teams last Thursday at the viewing party sponsored by Misibis Bay and the City of Legazpi confirmed that there’s something special about these teams. More on that later.

Bloggers and TARA Racers Unite!

Ever since I switched away from SkyCable, I haven’t been able to catch an episode of TARA, so watching back-to-back Episodes 5 and 6 from the current season was a real pleasure. Episode 5 was the Philippines episode featuring activities around Legazpi City and Misibis Bay, which was the pit stop for that leg of the race. It was a great way to stimulate my interest in traveling to Bicol (with a little less stress and more time for sightseeing, of course). Episode 6 had the teams flying out to New Zealand from Misibis Bay.

What really struck me about “the Riches” Richard Hardin and Richard Herrera and “Party Girls” Lani Pillinger and Jess James (who couldn’t be at the viewing party) was their way of finding ways out of predicaments without freaking out. Basically, they were able to take the challenges on and have fun doing them. One incident that really stood out for me was when the Riches needed to get on an earlier flight in New Zealand, so they asked some people nicely if they could switch tickets. That shaved a precious three hours off their time and contributed to their first place finish for the New Zealand leg of the race.

Lani and Jess also worked really well together, being supportive instead of criticizing each other as some other teams would do. One of the bloggers present at the event commented that there was a lot of positive energy surrounding these teams. Rich & Rich and Lani were really nice as well, socializing with the bloggers by going around each table asking if we were okay, and saying the food would be coming out soon. (Hahaha!) Richard “Rampage” Herrera was even offering beer to bloggers. When I said I didn’t drink beer, he offered rum. I thought it wasn’t on the menu, so I said sure. To my surprise, he came back 5 minutes later with a rum coke.

photo by Azrael Coladilla

Overall our Philippine teams have great personalities and star power; it’s hard not to watch when they’re the ones on-screen. And, needless to say, they are all so pretty to look at!

The reason I shouldn’t be on the show is that during my flight back from Boracay, our plane was supposed to be diverted to Kalibo. I threw a fit, which may be good TV drama but isn’t really something I would like to see from someone representing the Philippines. Eventually we were able to check into an earlier flight which would leave from Caticlan — and on that same flight was Rich Hardin! I was so ashamed. I guess I need to keep watching more TARA4 to see great examples (like our teams) for how to deal properly with travel pressure.

Now if only Destiny Cable carried AXN so I could keep watching TARA4.