Loving the Smart LTE connection on my iPhone 5
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 3, 2013
I have been enjoying LTE speeds for over a month now. Thanks to Smart’s iPhone 5 LTE promo, postpaid subscribers of iPhone Plans 999 & 2499 and Unli Data Plans 1500, 2000 & 3000 can automatically use Smart LTE for free until April 30, 2013.
Yes, I’m one of those lucky ones! I’m enjoying every minute of it! How can you not enjoy speeds like 30MBps? It wasn’t even possible before but it’s already a reality right now! Thanks to technology and thanks to Smart for making it possible!
I always smile whenever I see 3G connection move automatically to LTE! The first thing I always do is a speed test. In fact, one of my favorite applications now on my iPhone is Speedtest! I made some tests over the past few weeks and I will share that at the end of this post.
For now, let me talk a bit about Smart’s iPhone 5 LTE promo. I’ve been getting several questions from friends and I think you might have those questions in mind too. So let me share some information based on what I got from social media and from what I experienced so far.
What is LTE?
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the latest standard in the mobile network technology tree that produced the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies.
source: smart.com.ph
How to activate LTE on your iPhone 5?
- Update your iOS version to 6.1 by going to your iPhone settings application, go to General –> Software Update –> Download and Install.
- Activate LTE by opening up iPhone settings application, go to General –> Cellular –> Enable LTE
How does LTE compare to 3G connection?
Subscribers of Smart iPhone 5 postpaid plans with unlimited data can get download speeds up to twenty times faster than the usual 3G connection on their device.
Where can we access Smart LTE and how extensive is the coverage?
Enjoy blazing internet speed in over 500 locations nationwide and over 700 partner establishments. Smart is continuously expanding so expect more to come. List of Smart LTE coverage and locations can be found here.
Who gets to avail the Smart iPhone 5 LTE promo?
Smart iPhone 5 users on iPhone Plans 999 & 2499 and Unlidata Plans 1500, 2000, & 3000 can automatically use Smart LTE for free until April 30, 2013.
What happens after April 30?
Smart will be observing data usage behavior of its subscribers during the promo period to determine future plans and pricing. No details yet as of the moment.
How about iPhone 5 units that has been bought from other countries or sources?
You will need to bring it to Smart to check if the handset can be included in provisioning. It’s important to note that the band frequency should be compatible with Smart’s band.
As promised, a series of Speed Tests over the past few weeks using a Smart-powered SIM on an iPhone 5. I’m a very satisfied user! 😀
- Sugarleaf – G/F Medicard Lifestyle Center, 51 Paseo de Roxas corner Sen. Gil Puyat Ave Urdaneta, Makati Philippines
- Army Navy – 74 Jupiter Street, Bgy. Bel-Air, Makati City, Philippines
- Johnny Rockets – G/F Eastwood Mall Veranda, E Rodriguez Jr Ave., Bagumbayan, Quezon City, Philippines
- Smart Jump Center SM Megamall
- Wrong Ramen – Burgos Circle, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Philippines
Start Your Day with KFC Fully Loaded Breakfast Meals
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 3, 2013
Morning is a very integral part of the day.
If you are a morning person, a good and fulfilling breakfast is something you will not miss. In fact, it has become everyone’s belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, you need the energy in order to finish all your tasks. Plus, if your stomach is happy, you are happy. What a nice way to start the day with a smile, right? 🙂
I sleep around 2-3AM everyday due to the nature of my work. Truth be told, I used to be a morning person. I continue to strive to be one so when I crave for a fully loaded breakfast from my favorite fastfood chain in the world, then I will just call KFC Delivery at 887-8888.
One morning, I got just that… KFC’s Fully Loaded Breakfast Meals!
KFC has two Fully Loaded Meals to offer. Each has distinct characteristics so choosing between them is really depending on your mood or craving for the day. If you want something Filipino, order the Filipino Breakfast. If you want to eat KFC’s famous chicken, then choose the KFC Breakfast Steak. No matter which one you end up eating, both will definitely satisfy your hungry stomach.
KFC Breakfast Steak Fully Loaded Meal (Php 105)
KFC’s signature Original Recipe Chicken fillet drenched in creamy breakfast steak sauce, garlic rice, scrambled egg and soft chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup and whipped butter.
I always order hot & crispy KFC chicken so having eaten the signature original KFC chicken was a refreshing treat! The breakfast version is quite different considering the creamy sauce that came with it. I dislike putting any sauce with KFC chicken but I did try a bit with this, just to know how it tasted. After one tiny bite, I ended up pouring the content of the whole sauce container to the chicken! I’m not even sure what the sauce was made of but it blended perfectly with the chicken fillet. So if I were you, go drench the chicken with the creamy sauce.
KFC Filipino Breakfast Fully Loaded Meal (Php 105)
A variety of classic Filipino dishes made from the freshest and best tasting chicken – real chicken longganisa, tender chicken tocino slices, garlic rice, scrambled egg and soft chocolate chip pancakes with maple soup and whipped butter.
This is KFC’s version of Filipino breakfast. We are used to the traditional pork tocino and pork longganisa. However, KFC’s specialty is chicken! So it makes sense for KFC to transform our usual Filipino breakfast favorites into their own. KFC’s chicken tocino and chicken longganisa were okay though I prefer the tocino more. I liked how they combined our favourite Filipino dishes into one meal. It’s truly fully-loaded!
The KFC Fully Loaded Breakfast Meals include the soft-chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup and whipped butter. I must say that this particular pancake tasted good! In every bite, you can taste the chocolates and who doesn’t love it?
Actually, the pancakes are already a meal in itself! I thought I can finish one fully-loaded breakfast meal but I ended up dividing it into two. The main dish I ate in the morning and the pancake I ate during lunch time. But of course, to each his own. You may actually finish the whole fully loaded breakfast meal in one sitting 😛
Both Fully Loaded Meals are good additions to KFC’s A.M. Breakfast range, you now have more choices apart from the Longganisa burger and A.M. Snacker!
Have a happy breakfast and a productive & energized day everyone!
Proposal for a Netizens Coalition of the Philippines
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 25, 2013
A group of netizens met up at Smart Jump Experience Center, SM Megamall yesterday to discuss the proposal to have a Netizens Coalition of the Philippines (NCP). A lot of netizens were invited and urged to join the discussion physically at the venue or online through Google Hangout.
Considering that I know the people behind the idea, I know that NCP will be for our own good. The purpose of the group is to help netizens across the whole country. If there is something I can contribute, then I would do so. The first step is to join the meeting in order to understand what the proposal really is. Is it feasible? Is it something that netizens would be interested in? Is the goal enough to gather support from the netizens in the Philippines?
What is the proposal anyway? Moreover, what is Netizens Coalition of the Philippines (NCP)? I listed down my takeaways from the #netizensmeetup. You can watch the recorded Google Hangout session as well.
Netizens Coalition of the Philippines (NCP)
A Coalition of the ‘Willing’.
a support, advice and education coalition of netizens for all with the end in mind of freedom and fairness to all.
when netizens join the coalition, they will undergo a process wherein they will be required to attend a seminar on two regarding internet safety & good online practices. At the end of that, an oath (sets of good practices) of sorts will be followed. Lastly, once all of that is done, the netizen’s name will be included in the official list of NCP.
- The idea came about two months ago when a blogger was sued for libel. Cynthia and Noemi discussed it thinking that maybe bloggers should help each other through education.
- Juned came up with the idea of a coalition stating that times are changing. More people are going online, there are more encounters online, more developments in our country like the cybercrime law, more people are being sued for online activities, and people being bullied online.
- The main proposal is to have a network of netizens who will actually support each other via education, and via advocacy in order to overcome strengths and challenges that come their way.
- It was initially limited to bloggers but later concluded that it should be open to everyone online. Some people might not have blogs but they are online via Twitter, Facebook and/or email. So basically, all of us are netizens.
- They wanted to propose NCP in order for netizens to group up and find a common good belief. We all have different reasons why we go online (earn money, share views, marketing, etc) and this leads to disagreement. However, we all have common values. For most of us, we believe in transparency.
- There are a lot of talks about online credibility. A collection of best practices can help provide guidance especially for newbies.
- before NCP will be created, a set of best practices (experiences & knowledge) should be compiled.
- Members of NCP can get support from the coalition as simple as asking a question or as complex as seeking help about an issue or a legal case.
- Main driver – Education & support. A common pool of people who wants to learn from each other.
- The group does NOT want our freedom to be curtailed. There is a need to form an organization to help netizens. Right now, it all depends if you have the connection. Not everyone has that.
I believe some people might not be interested in it. However, there could come a time that they would need guidance in online matters, at least there’s NCP who they can approach. As for me, in spite of being online for a couple of years, I still believe that there are a lot of things I need to learn. I hope Netizens Coalition of the Philippines will push through. It’ll be a non-profit, a charity-like organization for online people and a helping hand. Who wouldn’t want that?
So there, that was what went through with the meet up. Will you join Netizens Coalition of the Philippines (NCP) if it pushes through? If yes, any ideas you wanna throw out there? what kind of topics & issues you think NCP should handle?
A Bigger and Crunchier Love Month for Manang’s Chicken
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 17, 2013
I’ve eaten a couple of times at Manang’s Chicken because it’s near our office— some of my colleagues love eating their chicken. I heard from people that it’s actually Manang’s who started the double fried chicken craze with soy garlic sauce.
To be honest, since Manang’s Chicken is proudly Pinoy-made then we should simply support them more and more!
Mission: To serve quality fried chicken and other unique Filipino-inspired comfort dishes that is value for money, coupled with exceptional personal service to ensure the ultimate satisfaction of our customers.
Vision: To be the leading fast casual restaurant in the Philippines without compromising the quality of our products and service as well as the well-being of our people.
Manang’s Chicken is brought to us by Giabella Food Corporation headed by Jill Gerodias-Borja (President & CEO) and Jenilee Gerodias-Slagle (COO-Commissary). They started as a stall in Mercato Centrale then expanded into a full-sized casual restaurant due to their success.
Lots of new things are happening in February. I ended up getting a hair makeover. Well, Manang’ Chicken has something new to offer too! I went to their Jupiter branch and tried out all their new offerings.
Let me start by sharing what was offered last month.
- New Side Dishes (Regular – Php 29, Large – Php 45)
Just in case, you aren’t aware Manang’s Chicken launched fresh side dishes such as coleslaw, buttered corn and macaroni salad. I’m a lover of corn and I would choose it over anything! So pardon me if I only have pictures of the buttered corn.
- new Spicy Ketchup Dip for Manang’s chips (Regular – Php 39, Large – Php 64)
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You love spicy food yet you dip your chips on ketchup? Then Manang’s made a perfect combination for people like you! The new Spicy Ketchup dip is perfect for the crunchy chips! In all honesty, I can eat a lot of those chips! They are just sooooo good! I would prefer this over french fries! I love that Manang’s chicken went this route! Have you tried the new dip?
- ‘Upsized’ Rice Serving (FREE!)
Men always order extra rice whenever they are in a restaurant or even when eating at home. I think some women do that too. Well, Manang’s Chicken just made their rice serving 50% more. That means whenever you order a rice meal, expect a bigger rice portion. Isn’t that nice?
For the love month, Manang’s Chicken continues to think of ways to spice up their menu. Well, I’m loving the changes considering that I tried them just recently. I cannot help but quickly share it with you guys! One of the products got a big boost and there’s a dessert that is only good for the month of February. I made a conclusion about each of the promo connecting it with love, cupid & February. I hope it made sense.
- ‘Bigger and Crunchier’ Garlic Pork Rice Meal (Php 109)
I always order Manang’s Chicken Rice meals so it was actually my first time to try out the Garlic Pork Rice Meal. Net, I cannot compare or even describe the change to the garlic pork.
But this I have to say: I super love the big serving of the garlic pork and the generous serving of the crunchy garlic. Oh my goodness, the pork when dipped into the vinegar plus sprinkled with those crunchy garlic was just heavenly! I was smiling all throughout when eating my order of garlic pork rice meal. I now have a new favorite in Manang’s Chicken!
Oh! My theory why they offered the bigger and crunchier garlic pork rice meal is that love is sweeter and lovelier if love given is bigger and more exciting! hahaha! Did you get the point? Oh well, that was just my silly conclusion 😛
- Limited-Offering Red Velvet Sundae (Php 45)
Red is the color of love. So it’s just right for Manang’s Chicken to offer Red Velvet Sundae for Valentine’s. The not-so-good-news is it will only be offered throughout the month of February.
I liked it! It was a good combination of Red Velvet Cake and ice cream sundae. A very unique mixture but it worked! Try it!
I wonder what Manang’s Chicken has in store for next month. Right now, I’m pleased with the new offerings.
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Manang’s Chicken
114A Jupiter St., Jupiter, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
+63-2-661-1111
Operating Hours: 10AM to 10PM
My New Red Hair by Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 17, 2013
I was browsing through Twitter like I usually do. Then I saw a post wherein Tinette & Co. (@TinetteCo) was holding a contest in celebration of the opening of their newest branch in San Antonio Plaza, Forbest Park. Interested tweeps just had to reply to the tweet with a picture of their own. I do not usually join contests as I do not want to flood my followers with contest entries. However, that day, I wanted to take the chance so I responded with a photo of mine. Guess what? After two weeks, I got a tweet that I won the prize! How cool is that?
Last Valentine’s day, I decided to claim my prize at Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals. I was given an option to choose any hair treatment that I want. Since I’ve been itching to have red hair (which I failed to achieve last year), I choose that plus, haircut & bleaching. While I love my previous hairstyle, I’ve grown to be more adventurous! So this time around, I went crazy & experimental!
I arrived around 10:30AM and was shocked as to how full the salon was on a weekday! I thought why would they even hold a contest if they are already successful?
My hairstylist told me that the owner, Tinette Ozamiz-Puyat, is a very humble lady. While everyone around her was telling her how famous and successful she is, she still felt otherwise. I was lucky enough to meet her that day and she personally congratulated me for winning her contest. I was honored to meet her and to be able to get a hair makeover from Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals for free!
Tinette & Co Salon Professionals has been successful in the business for over a decade now. It has been several families’ go-to-place for beauty and pampering. Her first branch was in Pasong Tamo and now, she has two babies: the one in Forbeswood Heights, Taguig and the one I went to, San Antonio Plaza, Forbes Park.
I heard she owes her success to her in-depth training. She studied hair and cosmetology at different international schools. Plus, she continues to take refresher courses to keep herself updated with new trends. Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals has great stylists but if you want Tinette herself to do the haircut, you can set an appointment by calling their hotline.
Okay, so back to my hair makeover… I was initially thinking of getting a hair color+ perm but unfortunately, those two hair treatments can’t be done at the same time. So I said, okay, let’s be bold! I’ll go for short hair and I want my hair to be colored red (real red!).
Pachit, my hairstylist, followed my wishes literally! I’m extremely happy with my new hairdo! I even have more than 100+ likes in my personal Facebook Page for my new hair photo, hehehe!
First up, Pachit cut my hair (Php 700+). I think I lost about 5 inches of my hair. Well, I’ll be able to grow them again so no worries. I also feel that cutting my hair short will make look younger! I never really worry about my age but it’s just that everyone’s so young around me so I have to catch up. I can’t change my age but at least, I can change my look 😛
I wanted my hair color red. This time around, I did not want to accept any more advice that my hair could be damaged or it would be hard to manage. For me, I just wanted to have real red hair at least once in my life. So what the Tinette & Co. team did was to apply a milder bleach to my hair.
My hair reacted so quickly with the bleach that I ended up having blonde hair after a few minutes. My gosh, I was that shocked!
I can conclude that blonde hair is not for me! Hahaha! At least I was able to experience it for a few minutes, but boy, having hair that is of the same colour as your skin is a no-no. I told them to apply the red colour to my hair ASAP. I can’t stand to look at myself so ugly! 😀
Justin showed me the color they would apply to my hair. I loved it! I felt it was perfect. It was exactly what I have been envisioning since I’ve thought of having my hair color changed. Red is my favorite colour. Almost all of my things are colored red: my bags, iPad case, iPhone case and even my car! So my choice of color for my hair is a very obvious for people who know me.
After Justin & Ron applied color to my hair (Php 1,650+), they also put keratin conditioning treatment (Php 625+). They said that it would protect my hair since there were too many chemicals applied to it. I was also advised to get treatment at least every quarter so that my hair won’t be damaged.
There’s a big difference in wishing for something and having it in reality. I was surprised when I saw myself in the mirror. I then doubted myself if red hair color would really suit me. I feel like I’m an oldie trying to be a teenager. I was scared of people’s reactions.
But then, after everything’s done. I saw myself and said, “wow! I looked different!”. I welcome this change and I will stick to it! Luckily, everyone thought that my complete hair change suits me!
I’m super happy and I’m truly thankful to Pachit, Justin & Ron for patiently working on my hair for 4.5 hours! It was worth it because everyone loved it! I super love it! Apart from looking so different, I also feel like a renewed person. This hair makeover do have a large impact on me!
I definitely followed Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals’ tagline:
Don’t be a fish out of water! Get hooked on looking good and feeling great!
and I didn’t regret it! Thanks again Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals! This is definitely not going to be my last visit to your salon 🙂
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Tinette & Co. Salon Professionals
G/F San Antonio Plaza McKinley Road, Forbes Park Village, Makati City
+63-2-8067148