Noel & Via

At 7PM this evening of Jan 31, 2006, we open our doors to the world. BlogStar is now online. Today was our "soft launch".

Briefly, blogstar.com is a collection of celebrity mobile blogs. Meaning, we give celebrities or stars mobile phones and they blog (whether it be text, pictures, audio, or video) and it gets sent to the site. People can then browse these content thru the site (limited if you are not a subscriber) or downloaded directly to your phone. Right now we can only send to the US (via Sprint and Cingular).

So this is what I have been busy with for the last couple of months (4 months to be exact). Building the site along with another designer and 2 programmers. Designing our identity and collaterals that go with it. Plus helping out with anything and everything. That's what's usually the case in any startup.. a small team needs to multi-task.

Please visit www.blogstar.com and tell me about your experience. We are still improving it so I could put in your comments.

Posted by Noel at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Got this from Nikki's site. See what Noel's life story would be in a movie

Mine was originally "Bowels of Terror" directed by Steven Spielberg! Hahahaha! So I tried again- several times!

Posted by Via at 01:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Time just flies by! Noel and I celebrated our 4th year anniversary over the weekend by checking in Edsa Shangri-la Hotel (thanks again Mommy for this treat!) Our good friend Gretch met us there so we could all go see Jason Mraz together at the Rockwell Tent. Though not big fans, we were all pretty impressed with the acoustic performance. Using just his guitar, and accompanied by Toto on percussion, we were wowed not just by his musical range and quality of voice, but by his ease at making us laugh. He can sideline as an emcee maybe.

Last night we tried HEAT (Edsa Shang's remodelled Garden Cafe with endless buffet options). Our eyes popped out at the dark chocolate and lemon chocolate fountains where you could dip marshmallows and all types of fruit. My favorite table though was the wonton soup one. I am a big clear soup fan of late.

To my wonderful husband, here's to our 4th year of new adventures! We are now an official old married couple who is happy to just stay in and watch our TV rips. Hehehe! Thank you for supporting all my dreams and for being my mentor aside from being my bestfriend and husband. Here's to all the years more that God will bless us with. Things have more enjoyment with you by my side, my love. :)

Posted by Via at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

before the concert

one-hand shot by Via: "It's so hard!"

almost done...

stuffed and happy :)

Posted by Via at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This saturday, Jan 14, my good friend (and ex-officemate) Carlo Gonzalez got married to his 10 year girlfriend Bernice Bernardo. Congratulations you two!

Posted by Noel at 06:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

2005 was a year full of blessings. It was also a year of many firsts for us:

1. First time for us to experience having puppies in our home
2. First time for both of us to go to Boracay
3. First time for me to try windsurfing (and I really enjoyed it!)
4. First time for Noel to work in Makati. (but we are grateful for this new job)
5. First time for us to complete Simbang Gabi
6. First time for me to see a nutritionist and really see results! (hopefully this will continue this year. Thanks Mommy Vic for this!)
7. First time to undergo a really scary procedure that required hand-holding by my Tita Cay.
8. First time to be on national TV. (The first time was for Bacolod news for an IBM event back in 2002)
9. First time to get really seasick while snorkelling in Boracay.
10. First time to fly to Singapore for 2 business meetings that we had initiated.
11. First time to encounter a battered woman and help her escape.
12. First time to have a party for our friends in a suite.

I thank the Good Lord for all that was in 2005. Hopefully, I have learned what I had to. So 2006, bring it on! :) Here's wishing you all a FANTASTIC and FRUITFUL NEW YEAR!!!

Posted by Via at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First of all I'd like to greet everyone a Happy New Year! I wish all of you a blessed and wonderful 2006.

Recaping 2005 is hard. A lot of things happened which I doubt I can cover within these small pages. So let me just start at the top of my head:

1. I had 2 jobs this year. Both good. During the first half I was with Tantra Online during which I designed their ads and marketing collaterals including their website. In september I jumped from a media company to a more IT one. (more details soon as I cannot disclose anything at the moment)
2. Blauorange, Via's business was successful during the summer and holiday seasons. It was this year that she got her 15 minutes of fame by being featured in TV. Also she got numerous features in magazines including broadsheet newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer. Plus her collection grew from 3 to 9.
3. Travel Galore: Bangkok, Singapore, El Nido, Boracay! Truly enjoyable trips (except I got sick in singapore.)
4. Puppies!! We kept one and called him Lupo.
5. Weddings: Brian and Candice plus JJ and Tet tet.
6. With joy comes pain.. we also remember the passing of Grandma Felisa Raymond

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. It was a good year in general. We are looking forward to a great year ahead. Cheers to 2006!

Posted by Noel at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)