Discovering Taiwan's Best Brands: Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Event in Trinoma

It's the third leg of Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Mall Event this weekend in Trinoma.  The event first happened in SM Megamall last June 3-5.  Mallgoers will once again be able to witness a wide selection of high quality products from Taiwan's best brands through Taiwan Excellence.  This event is happening at Trinoma mall in Quezon City on August 19-21, 2016.

Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone, led by the Bureau of Foreign Trade and in partnership with the Taiwanese government, is an interactive product showcase featuring brands that bear the Taiwan Excellence seal which assures customers of superior quality products.

There will be 140 products from 54 Taiwan Excellence-accredited brands that will be seen on this event.  This wide range of products covers needs for Information and Technology, Home and Living, Sports and Leisure.  Included in this products showcase are STRIDA's durable bicycles which is designed for ease and reliable urban transport, SH-RD's protein cream that prevents hair damage and makes hair softer and shinier, and FECA's storage products which helps in maximizing home space.

Guests and visitors will not only enjoy the Taiwan Excellence product showcase, they will also be entertained by performances, fashion shows, games, and raffle draws.  They can watch out for surprise number from local bands such as Silent Sanctuary on Aug. 19, Callalily on August 20 and Up Dharma Down on Aug. 21.

The Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone will also have brand presentations to make consumers aware on the featured products and how it can complement their lifestyle.  There are also booths from brands such as Tatung, MSI, Feca and Asus.  Consumers can also avail huge discount from featured brands such as Kymco, MSI, Pacific, Tatung, Tern and Thermaltake.

This Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone is happening this weekend only.  So hurry! Be in the know on the latest gadgets, home appliances, fitness gears and many other treats.  Head now to Trinoma this weekend!

Taiwan Excellence: Showcasing Superior Products through Experiencing Zone Mall Event

Last June 3 to 5, Taiwan Excellence, a campaign that promotes high quality products, showcased their amazing wide array of Taiwan’s product design and innovation through the Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Mall Event held at SM Megamall Event Center.  The event drew attention to mall goers with its attractive experiencing zone which allows them to see how Taiwan Excellence products can complement and enhance their lifestyle.

The Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Mall event is one of Taiwan Excellence’ activities to showcase their high quality innovative and game changing products.  Organized by Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of Taiwan and undertaken by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TIATRA), Taiwan Excellence has helped Filipinos appreciate the products that have been engineered and manufactured to the highest standard of Taiwan.

Joining this event were some of Taiwan’s brand partners where they exhibit their products’ superiority such as Acer, Asus, D-Link, Tatung, Heartway, KYMCO, MSI, Johnson Tern and Chanson.  All of these brands proudly bear the Taiwan Excellence Seal which ensures consumers of highly superior, quality and innovative products.

Keeping the event fun and pleasant, a Formosa bear mascot greeted guests happily and gamely posed for photos with them.  The event not only exhibit Taiwan Excellence products, it also features a lively dance number from Conven PH and a soothing song number from singers Christian Bautista, Julie Ann San Jose and Yeng Constantino.  Adding entertainment and excitement to the event was a fashion show of products and fun games lead by blogger and vocalist, Saab Magalona and Cosplayer sisters, Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao.  Several lucky draws were also provided to keep guests entertained.  Each brand partners also shared the best features of their products to make it more interesting to the guests. 

Formosa Bear

Coven PH

Yeng Constantino

Saab Magalona

Cosplayer sisters Ashley and Alodia Gosiengfiao

 

Fashion Show of TIATRA’s highlighted Products

TIATRA Deputy Executive Director, Scott Yang, said: “Every year, we strive to bring best Taiwanese products to the Philippines and its experiential activity allows people to see these things up close.  We’ve made everything in this experiential exhibit fun, captivating and different.  We hope to do more projects that would help Filipinos discover how we can help enrich their lives with Taiwan’s superior products.”   

(From left) Taiwan External Trade Development Council Deputy Executive Director of Strategic Marketing Department Scott Yang, Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office Minister Samuel Chang, Taiwan Trade Center Manila Director Harrison Koming Lan

Not only the guests have benefited from this event, even the brand partners appreciates TIATRA’s effort in helping them spread awareness and strengthen visibility of their products in the Philippine market.  Such brand partners as Asus products where their Product Marketing Commercial Solutions, Ruemer Allan Santillan, takes pride in embodying the Taiwan innovation by having high quality and technology that keeps up with the needs and lifestyle of its consumers.  Likewise, Heartway’s Supervisor and Far East Medical’s Jailyn Macamay shared that linking their products with TAITRA gives their product a reliable impact to the public.

Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone Event does not end here.  Other upcoming events are scheduled as follows: July 8-10 in SM Mall of Asia, August 19-21 in Trinoma and October 21-23 in Market! Market!  For more details, just visit their website at www.taiwanexcellence.ph.        

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Taiwan Excellence: Made to Enjoy Singing Contest

Are you fond of singing?  Do you upload your singing videos in You Tube?  Or do you just want to show off your talent so you can be the next online superstar?  Then this contest from Taiwan Excellence is for you!

Taiwan Excellence' Made to Enjoy Singing brings you their latest online contest to all aspiring singers out there.  If you got that singing talent and you've got what it takes to be the next You Tube sensation, then this contest is for you!  You do not only get to show off your singing talent, you also get a chance to win exciting prizes from Taiwan Excellence.

The Taiwan Excellence Made to Enjoy Singing Contest aims to showcase the one of a kind singing talent of Filipinos.  To make it more exciting, the public will be voting off the best musical videos submitted by aspiring contestants and will be judged by panel of experts.  The winners will take home cash prizes and fantastic Taiwan Excellence products which includes innovative products from their various 78 brands.

The contest will run from August to November with qualifying round every month starting August and the grand finals will be held in November.  Monthly winners will already bring home cash prizes and Taiwan Excellence products.

For the month of August, winners will get to take come a Transcend Drive Pro 200, a Tatung Rice Cooker 100 and Php 10,000 in cash.  They will also get the chance to sing with Sam Concepcion on September 5, 2015 at the 2nd Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone in SM City North Edsa, The Block Atrium.

For September winners, you can take home an Acer Liquid Jade Z or a Kingcom Sigma Evo smartphone.  Winners for October, on the other hand, will get to win Asus Zenfone 2 or an Acer Iconia Tab.  In addition, each finalist will also get to bring home Php 10,000 in cash.

For the grand finals in November, the winner will get a KYMCO Agility 125" motorcycle and a cash prize of Php 50,000.  Plus, the prizes will be given by Taiwan Excellence endorser, Maja Salvador.

"We have always been amazed at the musicality of Filipinos and we hope to give them a fun platform to showcase their talents while at the same time giving the best ones an opportunity to win Taiwan Excellence products." says Yu-Wei Hsiao, Deputy Executive Director of TAITRA.  "The quality of our products is reflected in the high quality of Filipino singers."

So whether you're just a beginner in singing or you've been singing in front of your friends or a few audiences for a long time, Taiwan Excellence-Made to Enjoy Singing Contest is a perfect opportunity for you.  You will get to show off your excellence in the musical industry just like the brands under Taiwan Excellence which are noted all over the world for their great innovative designs and workmanship.  This is your chance to become an online superstar or even be discovered as the new singing talent and be known worldwide!  You not only get to share your singing talent to everyone but you also get to have fun and enjoy this memorable experience with opportunity to win great prizes.

To join, just register at Taiwan Excellence - Made to Enjoy Singing official website at http://www.madetoenjoysinging.ph

The qualifying legs will be held on August, September and October while the finals leg will be held on November 2015.  For more information on the contest, visit http://www.madetoenjoysinging.ph/index.php/page/view/taiwan-excellence-made-to-enjoy-singing/contest/747

So what are you waiting for? Join now!

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Taiwan Excellence: A Mother's Role

They say that one of the most difficult jobs in the world is being a mother.  Some may not truly understand it because most mothers just stay at home.  But one may not know that mothers have the most difficult jobs because they are juggling various tasks and roles in the house.  She is the wife, the mother, the helper, the driver, the all-around and know-it-all of the house; especially in the Philippines where mothers are named as the light of the house, without it everything will be dark.

With these tasks performed by mothers, it is very important for her to be always available to her family and provide comfort, love and support.  She must ensure that she gives all the best to her family and loved ones and making sure that they live an excellent lifestyle.

To help mothers achieve their goal in providing excellent lifestyle to her family, Taiwan Excellence, a campaign organized by Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and implemented by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), offers high quality and innovative products that she can choose from.  The wide range products of Taiwan Excellence like cookware, appliances, sanitary ware, sports items, IT products and many more will give mothers choices in achieving her goal and provide different needs of her family.  

With Taiwan Excellence’ seal of quality, mothers will not have a hard time choosing products for her family as she can be assured that these products are not only innovative but also passed the strict and high quality assurance process.  Aside from the high quality, mothers can also be assured that through the products with Taiwan Excellence seal, she can provide health, comfort and safety for her family. 

Mothers can now produce sumptuous and healthy meals through the various cookware available in Taiwan Excellence products, assist her in making household chores easy with their various household products and also help her manage her schedules through IT products like laptop and tablets.  This is also beneficial to working moms where she can balance her work schedule with her responsibilities at home.

Taiwan Excellence now carries 56 different brands under various categories like sports, transportation, home and living, personal care, cookware, appliances, sanitary ware, IT products, electronics, health and fitness products and many others.  Everything a family or a household needs can be provided by Taiwan Excellence products.  This will become a one stop shop for mothers and help her make a sound decision when shopping for her family needs. 

To know more about Taiwan Excellence, you may visit their website and Facebook page.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.*

How to Avoid Traffic

Traffic is inevitable especially nowadays in the streets of Metro Manila.  As we are nearing the holidays, there seems to be traffic everywhere!  You might think that there is no longer a solution to Metro Manila traffic but you are wrong.  Yes! There is a solution to the traffic.  How?  Use a bicycle!  Hey, do not underestimate the use of a bicycle.  Do you know the benefits of riding a bicycle?  If not, read on and you will find it interesting.

Health Benefit

In our busy schedules, I’m sure most of us have no longer time to exercise.  With the stress of using public transportation or driving your own car in Metro Manila traffic, you will definitely have no time to exercise anymore.  You might prefer just to go home and sleep.  With using a bicycle, you not only avoid traffic but you also get to tone your muscles, strengthen your body and give you more energy.  Did you know that cycling is a good form of cardiovascular exercise?  It can burn calories without hurting much your muscles and joints.  That’s already enough to keep you fit and healthy everyday.

Environmental Benefit

With today’s age, climate change has become one of the problems faced by everyone in the world, not only in the Philippines.  Riding a bicycle is somehow one of the easiest way where you can help Mother Earth.  It will help reduce your carbon footprints, less pollution or even no emission of carbon gases.  At least in your own little way, you are able to help worsen climate change.

Financial Benefit

If you drive your own car, I am pretty sure that one way or another you have experienced price escalation on gasoline a number of times per month!  That’s quite hard on the pocket especially if you are just earning enough for your day to day expenses.  But if you own and ride a bicycle, you no longer need to worry on shelling out money for your gasoline and even on the maintenance of your car.  Likewise, you will no longer need to worry about expenses in using public transport.  Riding a bicycle is really economical!

There could be a lot of different bicycles available in the market.  But good thing there is Taiwan Excellence that provides Taiwanese Bicycles that are not only economical but innovative as well.  Taiwan Excellence, a campaign organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bureau of Foreign Trade in Taiwan and implemented by Taiwan External Trade Development Council, is helping Filipinos get the best product and brands for their everyday needs.  All these brands pass through a strict quality assurance to ensure products are of high quality and can provide excellent lifestyle to Filipinos.  Aside from that, our very own Iya Villania is the celebrity endorser of Taiwan Excellence.  You can know more about them through their website and Facebook page.

Taiwan Excellence produces innovative bicycle brands like Strida, Tern and Pacific-Cycle.  These brands provide a very unique foldable bike which makes it more convenient to carry around.  Their bikes are also lightweight but sturdy which will definitely give you ease in traveling while providing good benefits of riding a bicycle.  You can now conveniently travel from one location to another on time without the hassle and stress of Metro Manila traffic as well carrying a big bike.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post*

Taiwan Excellence: Made to Enjoy Christmas Contest

Christmas is generally the celebrated and anticipated season for most Filipino.  This is the season where people exert extra effort in giving special gifts, sharing their blessings, setting up reunions and holding Christmas parties.  With Christmas just almost a month away, people have surely prepared something for someone or even for everyone around them.  Other than birthdays, people treat Christmas as one of the most important event where they would give something extraordinary and memorable gifts to those people close or special to them.

It is good to know that Taiwan Excellence, producing quality Taiwanese products, recognizes the importance of Christmas to Filipinos that is why they are offering a one of a kind gift giving where you can get any of their products of your choice for free!  How?  Through the Taiwan Excellence – Made to Enjoy Christmas Contest.

Taiwan Excellence – Made to Enjoy Christmas offers wide range of products for different people which could provide them with an excellent lifestyle.  There’s Acer, Asus, BenQ, and MSI for IT related products; Pacifica, Strida and Tern for bicycles; HCG, Teco, Tatung and Sakura for home and living products; Miacare and Microlife for health and medical products and many others.  These products have Taiwan Excellence Seal which is known to provide quality, reliable and innovative products.

To get any of these products for free, just register at http://www.MadeToEnjoyTheLife.ph and select a Taiwan Excellence item you wish to give as a gift to your special someone.  Upload your photo and share why you want to give the chosen Taiwan Excellence gift to your selected recipient.  Ten (10) winners will be selected to receive the chosen Taiwan Excellence gift and one (1) of them will have the opportunity to have their gift delivered by Taiwan Excellence Celebrity Endorser in the Philippines, Iya Villania – Arellano.

The best part in joining this contest is that no initial purchases required in entering or winning the contest.  You can even share the Taiwan Excellence – Made to Enjoy Christmas to your family and friends.

The contest runs from September 28, 2014 until November 23, 2014.  So hurry! Register now to get that special gift to your love ones for free!

Taiwan Excellence’s theme, Excellent Lifestyle is a campaign launch in the Philippines by one of the organizers, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), a non-profit, semi-governmental trade promotion organization in Taiwan.

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Discover Products of Taiwan through Taiwan Excellence

With the emergence of e-commerce and online shopping, people around the world have now plenty of choices in buying products that they like and access to numerous products and services across the globe.  However, one cannot guarantee the quality of the products posted online.  A thorough research on the background of the product or manufacturer maybe needed or even a product review to determine that you are getting your money’s worth in buying their products. 

Good thing there are several countries that exert extra effort in making sure their products are of good quality and passed through rigorous quality assurance process to ensure the high satisfactory rate of their consumers.  Such country is Taiwan where one can discover products of Taiwan through their Taiwan Excellence entity.

Taiwan Excellence is a campaign established in 1992 by the Taiwan government to promote Taiwanese brands that guarantee high quality and value products.  These products go through a screening process to determine whether they will pass a high standard quality for them to bear the Taiwan Excellence Seal.  But how would they qualify a certain product to be of high quality?  You may wonder.

Any Taiwanese brands who wish to have a Taiwan Excellence Seal are entitled to join this campaign.  Their products can fall any of the categories such as fashion, information technology, arts, culture, transportation, sports, home and living and many others.  An international panel of judges will evaluate the products based the following criteria: Research and Development, Design, Quality and Marketing Strategy.  A score per category will be given on each product.  After thorough evaluation and computation of scores, selected products can now carry the Taiwan Excellence Seal which they can use locally and internationally.  People will now be able to discover products of Taiwan through Taiwan Excellence.

Further distinctions are given to selected products who can be awarded a Silver and Gold Recognition Award.  Thirty products will be selected among the winners.  Only ten will be given the Gold Award, which is the highest recognition in the Taiwan Excellence campaign while the rest are given Silver Award.

In the Philippines, where various brands competition are emerging in the market particularly in terms of price, many consumers wonder which of these brands will give more value to their money.  Since Taiwan Excellence campaign was first launched in the Philippines early this year, now Filipinos can be assured of quality products of Taiwan brands such as Asus, Acer, HTC, BenQ, KingCom, MSI, Transcend and many others.  Filipinos will now have the confidence in buying these products because they pass through a rigorous screening process in obtaining a highest form of quality seal. 

The campaign, with a theme of Excellent Lifestyle, will not only benefit Filipinos of good quality products but will also let them recognize how these products will enable them to have an “excellent lifestyle”.  With about 56 Taiwanese brands with Taiwan Excellence Seal launched in the Philippines, these products provide consumers with innovative and state of the art products which will aid them in their day to day activities whether at home or at work.  One will surely discover products of Taiwan through Taiwan Excellence to be having good quality product that does not only give value for money but provide meaningful use of the products in their lives as well. 

*Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post.

 

Taipei Trip Day 3

(Feb. 15, 2011) Today is our last day in Taiwan.  I can still remember the first time I got here.  I was too nervous while waiting for my turn in immigration at Taiwan airport.  It is my first international trip.  They may ask too many questions that I cannot answer, haha!  When it's my turn, the guy said: "Ni Hao?"  I replied: "I'm ok, thanks."  I know its not polite to answer that way as I responded in a different language.  I got scared in answering him in Mandarin as he may further ask questions in Mandarin.  Well I'm half Chinese but I can only understand very little Mandarin or Fookien.  Luckily, he didn't ask further questions.  Unlike with my friend,  they kinda converse a little.

Anyway, our first itinerary for the day is the Sun Yat Sen Garden.  There was a Lantern Festival event when we were there.  This will run for about a week until the Lantern Festival itself which I think is on the 17th of February.  There were exhibits of various lanterns made by different schools along the walkway.  There are even children having their field trip.  I guess it will be better if you go here at night to see the beauty of the lanterns when lit up.

Panoramic view of Sun Yat Sen Garden

We get the chance to see the dancing fountain.  It lasted for about 5 minutes.  Just a short performance but it was nice.  Again, maybe if this still happens at night with lights, it will be spectacular view.  Mini rabbit lanterns are also to be given away at 2pm.  At that time (around 11am), there were already long queues in that area.  We can no longer wait for it as we still have other areas to visit in our itinerary.

  

From Sun Yat Sen Garden, the Taipei 101 can already be seen.  So we took pictures with Taipei 101.  But I insist to still go to Taipei 101 even outside or nearer the area to take a picture.  So after Sun Yat Sen, we walked the streets of Taipei city  and got a nice shot of Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 shot from the streets of Taipei

Taipei City is very clean.  The pavement have designated walkway for bikes and people.  People seem disciplined and I admire the cleanliness of the surroundings and "safe" feeling while on the street.  What catches my attention was the unique pedestrian walk in the middle of the street.  Pedestrians can reach the other side of the road by crossing in the middle of the street and not the usual side street.  I wasn't able to take a picture of me crossing the street as I don't want to stop in the middle of the street and I might get caught by the police.

Intersection Road

This can be eaten without rice

Last in our itinerary is the Flora Expo.  But before going there, we stopped at Sogo Hotel as my friend is going to buy some shoes.  The boots she bought in the streets of Ximending gave up after only a few walks.  It didn't even lasted for one whole day.  She bought it for only NT$250.  Well, maybe that's what you get for a very cheap shoes.  Anyway, when some of my friends are shopping around Sogo Hotel, my other friend and I had a sumptuous lunch.  I enjoyed my lunch here as it was really hefty and inexpensive.  My lunch cost me only NT$150.  I'm surprised that I wasn't able to consume it all!

Flower gallery

We arrived at Flora Expo at around 4pm already.  We don't have plans of touring the whole Flora Expo area, we just picked up a few places to visit.  As what the name implies, there are a lot of flowers displayed and floral art works/exhibit.  Upon entering the area, there is a designated sketch and stamp area of flowers.  If you collect stamps, make sure you have a lot of spare blank sheets on hand as the venue only provides one sheet.  Also, you can use your blank sheets to sketch various images of flowers.  It was lovely.  Good thing my friend loves stamps and she brought a small notebook.  So everytime there is a stamp available in all the areas we've visited since day 1, she never fails to punch one in her notebook.

Panoramic view of flower gallery

We visited a pavillion where exhibits from different countries are displayed.  Of course we visited the Philippines' exhibit.  I thought I'll be seeing flowers there but it turned out, various tourist attractions were featured in the Philippine's booth.  It was still nice though, at least more people will get to know the wonderful places of the Philippines.

Since this is our last day, I bought some souvenirs at the Flora Expo.  I bought a cute magnet for NT$35 and a plastic folder at NT$30.  Not very cheap, but it's ok.  I also bought a Hello Kitty cellphone charm here as we will no longer visit Hello Kitty Sweets.  And I'm not sure if there is still one at the airport.

The soup is so yummy!

It was still chilly when we left Flora Expo.  We're thinking of the best restaurant to eat for dinner as this is our last night.  But we decided it to be nothing fancy.  We wanted to try out the small restaurant just outside our hotel.  Its like shabu shabu but there's no cook pot in your table, instead the mini cook pot is served individually with your food cooking on top of it.  It's pre-cooked already but it is still serve to you with cook pot.  Thus, it gets really difficult to consume it immediately as it is very hot.  But the food is very yummy.  For just NT$100, you get the bowl of soup with veggies and noodles plus free drink and rice.  You also have the option to refill your soup.  Many people go here to dine in or take out.  The varieties are just little but I guess that doesn't matter as the food really tastes good.

So that how my Taipei trip goes.  My budget for the whole trip (including visa, airfare, accommodation and pocket money) is only Php 15,000 but I go a little over it.  I think I spent around Php 17,000.  Here's the breakdown of my budget (not detailed though) per person.

Airfare - Php 3,000
Accommodation - Php 3,900
Visa - Php 2,500
Pocket money - NT$5,000 (Php 7,500)

Before I forget, we arrived early at the airport wishing we can do a little more shopping there and hoping to see that Hello Kitty Cafe.  But unfortunately, the whole duty free area of the airport is under renovation.

Here's my blog for day 1 and day 2.  I guess I will still want to go back to Taipei.  I still need to see that Hello Kitty Cafe.  And I believe there are a lot more nice places to be visited.  Besides, I really love the cold weather and winter fashion!  You can't get that in the Philippines!