Nature-inspired leisure city

The Filinvest Group’s top officials, valued partners and guests traveled to Pampanga for the official launch of Filinvest Mimosa+Leisure City (formerly Mimosa Leisure Estate) held at the Quest Hotel & Conference Center-Clark.

A 201-hectare master-planned and eco-centric community, Filinvest Mimosa+Leisure City is seen to transform the business, tourism and real estate industry in Clark Mimosa. It was conceptualized as an innovative township highlighted by four major components: leisure, business, residential and nature.

Filinvest Alabang Inc. executive vice president Catherine Ilagan said, “We envision a leisure metropolis that is very much nature-inspired. We want it to be the top-of-mind destination for tourism and commerce in Clark and in the north.”

This Filinvest Mimosa+Leisure City’s standout features include the Quest Hotel & Conference Center-Clark, which has fully equipped meeting and function rooms and promises guests a brand-new atmosphere with its ongoing renovations; a 150-hectare no-membership-required Mimosa Golf Course; two office buildings that are set to open next year and are part of the Filinvest Mimosa+Office Campus where investors and entrepreneurs can grow and expand their business; a lifestyle mall with an al fresco retail strip for shopping and dining; the sprawling Event Grounds for some of the biggest events in the north; and the beautifully landscaped Acacia Park, which will serve as a nature sanctuary.

(For more information, visit www.mimosaplus.com.ph.)

Of wines & holidays

There is a growing trend of Filipinos who are now traveling in and around the country. Social media feeds that have top posts are usually the ones that have a photo of a beach or some exotic place with hashtags #travel #beach and/or #wanderlust in those captions.

As much as Filipinos love to travel though, a recent survey shows that almost 60 percent of travelers believe that they could have maximized their vacations had they planned their annual leaves better.

Recently, Beringer Vineyards held a dinner with travel writers and bloggers at Jordy Navarra’s popular Toyo Eatery in Makati City to share some insights from a recent TripAdvisor survey. Treasury Wine Estates portfolio senior brand manager for Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa Marcus Ingleby and assistant brand manager Elise Greene welcomed guests to the event.

Ingleby said, “We were shocked to find out that there’s a growing trend of Filipinos who are shortchanging themselves when it comes to getting the most from their annual leave, given that they work so hard to earn it.” He added, “In response to the findings, Beringer has launched a campaign on the world’s largest travel site TripAdvisor, to inspire a holiday planning revolution. We want people to see that making vacation planning a social occasion is the way forward. A little bit of planning can have a huge impact on the kind of holiday you experience and it’s well within everyone’s reach. We believe that vacation planning is always better when shared with others over a glass of wine.”

Managing director for Happy Living Philippines Corp. Katherine Yao-Santos chose four different wines from Beringer to pair with the dishes served that night.

The joy of giving back

Concentrix, a leading global business services company, recently partnered with United Airlines for the “Adventure Bear Program 2017” at the National Children’s Hospital in New Manila, Quezon City.

Adventure Bear Program, now on its third year, is an initiative of United Airlines to serve the less fortunate and support local hospitals and charities. This initiative is aligned with Concentrix Philippines’ corporate social responsibility efforts to give back to the community. In fact, Concentrix has always been at the forefront of working for the welfare of children, earlier organizing the Marawi Donation Drive, conducting school refurbishing and coastal cleanup drives and donating computers to schools.

 Country leader Elek Toth said, “Giving back to the community has always been part of our culture here at Concentrix, and we are delighted and thankful to be part of United Airlines’ Adventure Bear Program. It is indeed a privilege to see how this effort brought smiles and joy to less fortunate children. It’s been a truly humbling experience.”

This year, the program supported the National Children’s Hospital, where participants spent quality time with a number of indigent children. The hospital is a government facility run by the Department of Health and is dedicated to pediatric care. Young patients were presented with Ben Flyin’ Adventure Bears and happiness bags, and participated in a balloon twisting activity and other fun games.

The smiles on the children’s faces made everyone’s day. *

Happy New Year, everyone!

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)