I got an invite from the guys of LazerXtreme to try out there branch at Alabang Town Center and I agreed of course. I never tried laser tag in my life and it was a first for me and my friends.

Let me share you our experience at the LazerXtreme  in ATC.

LazerXtreme

LazerXtreme is popular for laser tag game but it has more to it than just that. LazerXtreme is an entertainment center where young kids and young at heart people can enjoy laser mazes, glow-in-the-dark mini golf and good food.

Laser Tag

If you watching the popular CBS comedy series “How I Met Your Mother” then I’m sure that you are very familiar with the term “laser tag”.

Laser tag is a team game where players attempt to score points by tagging targets/opponents, using their hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device or simply toy guns that shoots laser where players must also wear infrared-sensitive vest to act as a target. (see picture below)

Laser Tag is a game much like your typical “baril-barilan” but with the use of these high-tech toys. It can be played with multiple teams or with just 2 teams where you have to score as many points as possible by tagging your opponents.

The game can be played using different formats designed for a variety of challenges ranging from solo play, general team play, structured team building to advance game to challenge the most experienced players. In our case, we tried general team play where other players wear different colored vest and all we have to do is to hide and shoot them. It was crazy and fun but was also tiring because you have to be constantly on the move to avoid being tagged.

Golf Extreme

We also tried “Golf Extreme”. It was a mini golf with 9 holes that are using glow-in-the-dark equipments to add a little flavor to the experience. It was nice but it is more fitted for kids rather than adults.

Laser Maze

“Laser Maze” was the first activity we tried. We got excited to try it out because it was quite familiar to us. Remember when  you watch a detective or a spy movie and there’s always a highly secured place with lasers to protect it? This is what the Laser Maze is about. It’s a small dark room equipped with green laser sensors where players have to avoid. Players must travel to the other side of the room and back without alerting the sensor to avoid point deductions. The game can be played in 3 level of difficulties. We tried easy and medium and look, I even placed third on the record for medium difficulty. Yebah!

Planet Cafe

We had a great “merienda” at Planet Cafe after we tried all of Lazer Extreme’s amenities. We ordered spaghetti bolognese and peperroni pizza to complete our Lazer Extreme experience. The food was good and it was priced reasonably.

All-in-all we all had fun with our visit at Lazer Xtreme and if you ask me if I would go back there, I’ll say yes definitely. It you like to try what we experienced then you should visit Lazer Xtreme in Alabang Town Center or in Market-Market in Global City, Taguig.

You can check the rates of their services below or visit their website at http://www.lazerxtreme.com.ph/ for more details.

I would like to thank the guys of LaserXtreme for the experience and good food served at Planet Cafe.

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

LazerXtreme fun at Alabang Town Center

I attended the WordCamp Philippines 2010 for this picture! haha!

Thanks to Mr. WordPress himself, Matt Mullenweg and Ron for the photo.

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

With Matt Mullenweg!

Hi I’m back here again after some time. I just don’t want to miss the chance to greet all the visitors of my blog, a very Merry Christmas!

I want to thank my friends and my family for the support through the past year. I want to wish all of us a good year ahead of us!

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

Merry Christmas Everybody!

The objective of this challenge is to:

• promote the importance of fuel efficient driving amidst unstable fuel prices
• help reduce harmful emissions released into the atmosphere by burning less fuel
• validate Honda’s fuel-efficient and earth-friendly engine technology.

The Concept of this friendly competition is simple. Participants have to  Gas-up (Full tank) and Drive under normal, day-to-day driving style. It means that the air-conditioning unit must be turned on.

The competition has 2 parts, the City Driving and the Highway Driving. Winners will be determined by the average Kilometer reading divided by the gas used through the entire challenge.

The participants of this Honda Challenge Cup were composed of fleet account representatives and “us” (select members of the blog community).

When I arrived at the Assembly area in TGI Friday’s, Bonifacio High Street, I didn’t see any blogger from the people who were waiting there. When I was eating my breakfast (c/o TGIF), I saw this man (see picture below) entered the room and recognized him in that very moment.

It was Abe “Yuga” Olandres of yugatech.com. Me and Abe were paired for the challenge! Yeah!

Let’s Rock and Roll!

Participants were divided in 6 categories: (Basically all Honda line-up were put into the test)

1. City 1.3 AT
2. City 1.5 AT
3. Jazz 1.3 AT
4. Civic 1.8 AT
5. CR-V 2.0 MT
6. Accord 3.5 AT

We were assigned to drive the CR-V 2.0 Manual with a road book at hand. Abe took the driver’s seat while I became the navigator for the entire run. YES! For the entire run! I still don’t have my license, Sorry Abe!

Yuga: The Driver

City Driving Leg: In this part of the challenge, We started at Petron C5, Deigo Silang and ended at Petron NLEX, Marilao.

Highway Driving Leg: We started at Petron NLEX, Marilao and ended at Petron NLEX, Balagtas.

There was a lot of gas-ing up and waiting in between but after the Highway driving leg we returned to Global City for the Awarding and announcement of winners. At this point we had a good idea about who the winners would be since we were checking the filling-up of fuels of the other challengers.

Awarding

This is my favorite part of the event. Why? Because there were food and prizes!

We won in our category beating the other CR-V by a liter. We managed to get an average of 13.03 Kilometers/Liter (Not bad for an SUV with 2.0 engine, Just ask Abe about his driving strategy on how we achieved that performance). Surprisingly, we also came in 3rd overall, beating the compact sedan in City and Honda Jazz. The big winner was the Honda Civic with 18.51 Ki/L fuel consumption. Whoa!

We received 5K worth of Petron Fuel cards and 5K worth of Gift Certificates. I gave my fuel cards to Abe since I don’t have a car and he gave me his GCs. But wait there’s more! There was a raffle for all the participants! Abe got a cool Honda jacket and I got an iPod shuffle.

Here are the results: (click the image for larger view)

Conclusion:

Being fuel efficient is a combination of certain factors:

1. The Driver – Fuel Efficient drivers are skilled drivers. You cannot just step on the gas and expect to be fuel efficient. You can learn it over time.

2. The Car – Pick a car that is fuel efficient. The compact sedans are good for city driving because of smaller engines while the SUV’s or cars with bigger engines in my opinion are better for highway driving. (You can refer to the result above for comparison)

3. Road Habits – Frequent over taking can burn gas more rather than staying on one lane.

4. … You can add your techniques and ideas on how to Drive Every Drop! Let me know in the comments.

On a side note: I really like the “POGI” look of the new Honda City. I’d really like to own one! I want to give thanks to Sheryl of Honda Cars Philippines for inviting me to be a part of this great event!

Honda Challenge Cup was a fun experience! Thanks!  You can check Abe’s post regarding the event here.

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

Honda Challenge Cup: “Drive Every Drop”

Me and Ina arrived early, Ron greeted us and took this picture:

Randy is in the building!

Registered!

I’m officially a WordCamp camper:

Blogie greeted and welcomed the campers!

Beau Lebens of Automattic talked about WordPress and other “*”Press stuff!

Lunch!

I won a WordCamp PH sticker!

Utilizing the free WiFi

Thanks to all the speakers!

Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers!

Thanks to all bloggers I’ve met at the event and thanks to Ron for sharing the pictures.

More of WordCamp 2009 here.

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

My Birthday Experience at WordCamp Philippines 2009!

I’ll be coming to WordCamp Philippines on September 19!

Here’s the details from the WordCamp Ph site:

* Date: 19 September 2009 (Saturday)
* Venue: Asian Institute of Management, Makati City
* Early Registration Fee: ₱500 per person (inclusive of lunch & freebies)

Sadly the online registration is already closed but for those who already registered online, I would like to see you on Saturday!

Bring your blogger cards so we could swap them. I’m not always visible in blogging events because I have a regular day job and it’s only the 2nd event that I will be attending since iBlog 5.

I would like to take this opportunity to know other bloggers in the Philippine blogoshpere and of course I would also like to see Matt Mullenweg.

I am looking forward to gain more blogger friends and to know the people behind those blogs that I’m reading. Gaining friends is the best perk a blogger can receive, more than making money online or main stream media exposure.

Also, on Saturday, I will be celebrating my 25th birthday! Woohooo! Yes, I have decided to celebrate my birthday with you guys! A simple greeting will be much appreciated. hehe!

Special thanks to Blogie for answering my request. More Power to WordCamp PH and all the organizers!

See you on Saturday!

UPDATE:
Too bad Matt will not attend WordCamp PH this year. =) You can check the program at WordCamp PH site.

[image via WordCamp PH]

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

Wordcamp Philippines 2009 [September 19]

The goal is to list 10 blogs that you think is emerging or influential. The keyword here is “Influential”, so it should be easy because if a blog is influential enough for you, then you don’t have to think or search for it.

My ten picks

1. Daily Contributor – Of course! This blog should be on top of my list! Hehe! Just visit topblogs.com.ph, Alexa, Quantcast, and Compete for more details.
2. Ron Del Rosario – Ron’s blog is a mix of personal thoughts and others things like photography. He introduced me to “blogging”. Yay!
3. Zalds – This guy is amazing! Check his blog and be inspired on how to make money online.
4. Patay Gutom – I almost joined the PG gang last year but I’m too lazy to contact Jehzlau.
5. Hay! Men! – This blog is viral! It’s all over the place. “Ito ang blog ng mga tunay na lalake!”
6. New Media Ph – Carlo Ople created fuzz and I’ve noticed it. (Not just me but also the Philippine blogosphere) Do you remember the 4 Types of Bloggers?
7. Adaphobic – Ada blogs about press events and photography. I met her at iBlog 5. “Diba ikaw si Adaphobic?”
8. Let’s Go Sago – A travel and food blog in one that’s making its own brand. I met Jonel, the man behind the blog at iBlog 5. Congrats!
9. Millionaire Acts– Money, Saving, Investing. This blog is about Tyrone’s journey to his millions and hopefully to his readers too.
10. Randy Marasigan dot com – I can’t think of any other blog so I’m nominating this blog! LOL!

This project’s sponsors are Absolute Traders, My Brute Cheats, and Business Summaries

You can also join this writing project by going to the writing page.

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

My Top 10 Influential Blogs of 2009

[Malcolm Hall, UP Diliman. I took my UPCAT exam in this building]

I was with my buddy Ron and we arrived early at the event but he left after the lunch break because of headache. Ron, you literally missed half of it.

Start!

The first speakers were  Micah and AJ Matela (Blogging 101), followed by Faith Salazar(tanggera.com -> the domain has expired, better to renew it asap) and Fritz Tentativa who discussed Photo Blogging. Next was the Video blogging presentation/talk by Azrael and Kring.

Edwin “Ka Edong” Soriano was there and talked about Mobile blogging. I really enjoyed your talk.

Benj Espina and Juned Sonido talked about the Dos and Donts of blogging.

Last talk before the lunch break  (I’m hungry at this point) was from Winston Almendras (aka BatangYagit) and Coy Caballes. These 2 guys talked about how to Promote blogs and their strategies of traffic generation. Their talk was a good starting point for newbie bloggers wishing to get some visitors.

Lunch! nom! nom!

During the lunch break, Ron and I shared the table with some veteran bloggers, ceblogger and thirdworldgeek. It was nice  chatting with you.

Lunch Break Finished!

Some of the speakers are really good speakers. My favorite talk was the one given by Atty. JJ Disini about the Legal issues of blogging (first speaker for the afternoon session). The talk was short but concise and direct to the point. He was then followed by Dir. James Jimenez, COMELEC-EID Director, Janette Toral, Mr. Manix Pabalan of AyosDito.ph, Kristine Mandigma of POC, Laszlo Lim of Yehey.com, Jayvee Fernandez, and Eric Ramirez of Nuffnang Philippines.

After the afternoon break, Mr. Fitz Villafuerte talked about the “Top 5 Tips That Probloggers Will Usually Not Tell You About Making Money Online” and Anton Diaz talked about the blogger’s evolution. (Another favorite part of the event)

Presentations Ended!

I’m very happy and pleased to meet other Pinoy bloggers specially some of the money making bloggers in the Philippine blogoshpere namely: Jehzeel Laurente, Dexter Panganiban, Marhgil Macuha, and James of PinoyMoneytalk.

[Dexter Panganiban, Jehzeel Laurente, (Jehz you didn't introduce me to him), Me]

[Mr & Mrs. Dexter Panganiban, Mr & Mrs. Marhgil Macuha]

I also met Azrael Coladilla the Pinoy Vlogger (Ron tagged him as the Robert Scoble of the Philippines. hehe!).  I really liked the presentation of Azrael and “The FabOUlous blogger/vlogger, Kring Elenzano. Funny, lively and definitely FabOulous!

[Me and Azrael]

I’ve also managed to give and exchange some of my blogger cards: (See picture below)

[Cards from left to right, top to bottom: TechAtHand.net, LetsGoSago.net, Jehzlau-Concepts, KaBlogs.com, Arvin Ello]

I also approached Ada of adaphobic.com (I recognized her because she was a featured blogger on Nuffnang before) and gave one of my card. She’s a nice young girl.

The organizers also gave free 110 iBlog 5 T-Shirts but I didn’t win because I never filled-up the raffle form (The girl from the registration desk forgot to give me that blue sheet. =( ).

Picture! Picture!

I did not attend the after party because I can’t. LOL! But seriously the free beer is not a good motivator, I’m not allowed to take alcoholic drinks because of some health concerns.

I want to give my thanks to Ms. Janette Toral and UP ISP for organizing the event. Thank you guys!

Before I end this post I just want to give some suggestions for the iBlog6:

1. I hope the T-Shirt will not be limited. (I ‘m willing to pay. hehe!)

2. I suggest break-out sessions since some of the bloggers are not noobs anymore.

Thanks to all the organizers, the speakers, and all the bloggers who attended this event! See you next year!

iBlog5 = History

Will wait for iBlog6!

[Many thanks to Dexter Panganiban for some of the pictures]

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

iBlog5: My first blogging event

Prepare Your Children for the Future, TODAY.

Your children can do and be anything they want to be. Their choices are limitless. But as the number of opportunities multiplies, so do the challenges. That’s why they need YOU.

Join Kumon Philippines’ Education and Parenting Seminar! Gain insights from parenting counselors and top-notch educators on how to build a strong foundation for your children’s future, TODAY.

This seminar is especially catered for parents who would want to maximize the potential of having a good parent-children relationship in all aspects. A parenting seminar is a good way of getting to know tips and tricks on how you should deal with the children as they grow old each day. Be equipped with the right knowledge on how to properly take care of your children!

The event will be hosted by by Ms. Suzy Entrata (Manila) and Ms. Patty Laurel (all other venues).

Admission is FREE! Limited seats only.

For more details and registration, please visit: www.kumonparenting.com

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

Kumon Philippines’ 2009 Education and Parenting Seminar Series

They are looking for the top local talent to join the competition and represent the Philippines. This would be a really great opportunity to showcase the Filipino artist on a global scale. Join now!

As the Philippines is one of the participating territories, the winners from each country chosen by Marc Ecko himself will have their bio and art announced on the Ecko Global Website. The winner will receive $1000 in Ecko products and have their artwork featured on the official Spring 2010 Ecko collection.

Here’s the flyer: Click the image for a larger view

Ecko Unltd. is driven by a simple belief: that no one needs to be corralled into a single aesthetic viewing the world with a voracious curiosity, finding inspiration at every turn.

With sales around the world in countries full of youth with artistic talent and passion – the time has come to open our apparel collection to new artistic palettes.

If you have the talent – This is your chance to take part in the first Ecko Unltd. Global Art Battle. Marc Ecko will select winners from each region and their art will be featured in the Ecko Unltd. Spring 2010 collection.

They will be also holding a sale event at Tektite (Phil Stocks Exchange Center) on May 4-8!

For more info about the contest: Visit http://www.eckounltdartbattle.com/

FYI: This is not a paid post

Post from: Randy Marasigan dot com

Ecko Unltd. Art Battle