Saturday, October 14, 2017

Seven Sundays

Veteran director Cathy Garcia-Molina is back for her latest masterpiece from Star Cinema; a family-valued drama movie that centers on a group of siblings trying to patch things up because of the inevitable occurred on their everyday lives.

Seven Sundays

Starring Ronaldo Valdez, Aga Muhlach, Dingdong Dantes, Cristine Reyes, Enrique Gil, and many other well-known celebrities in the industry, Seven Sundays is about the Bonifacio children who are reunited when they heard the news that their father is diagnosed with cancer. While being aware with their father's fatal condition, the children must learn to put their bitter differences aside and reconcile with each other before its too late.

At long last, after months of too much raunchy hot girls, absurd horror, redundant rom-coms, and other stuff we saw throughout 2017, they finally given us a very sensual family-oriented movie with sensual family values that is very ethical for the modern Filipino families. Because of the values this film has, Seven Sundays really warms the hearts of many moviegoers with some common sense and life lessons we can all learn from this movie. Just by watching this movie, you will realize that all the family values you will learn from this film are all part of your slice of life for the rest of your life and this film really sums it up to show the real value of family values for everyone to witness.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

Bubble Gang - October 13, 2017 #BGUmuwingLasing

On the October 13, 2017 episode of Bubble Gang...

- Umuwing lasing gags

- LeBrown James returns for another press conference.

- The judgmental waiter

- Bea Bangenge's talking about her fancy massage therapist


- Today's Balitang Ina topic is "Cookie ni Ina!"

- A soldier's reverse psychology turns ugly

- Ngetflix presents Pangets of the Caribbean.

- The mayor's feast keeps the guests guessing...

- Basa-basa pik!

Let's Do The News! (October 14, 2017)



- In Game 1 of the 2017 PBA Governor's Cup, Ginebra San Miguel scored their first win of the match after beating Meralco Bolts at the score of 102-87.

- In his latest tirade against the media over "fake news", US President Donald Trump threatened NBC to revoke their broadcasting franchise renewals. Few hours ago, on an unrelated note, the American firebrand leader threatened to end critical payments to health insurers that help millions of lower-income Americans afford coverage after his tried-and-failed efforts against the Affordable Care Act.

- With their carriage agreement set to expire on Sunday, Viacom and Charter Communications are still at odds heading into the weekend. If the deal isn't set, Spectrum will lose most of the Viacom channels including Nick, MTV, and Comedy Central.

- Aston Martin unveiled the new DB11 Volante, an open-top version of the British sportscar company's latest grand tourer. Unlike its hardtop equivalent, it's powered only by a 4.0L V8 BiTurbo engine from Mercedes-AMG.

2019 Aston Martin DB11 Volante

- Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will serve as the official instructor for the upcoming Gran Turismo Sport PS4 game via their newest collaboration.





TTFN!!!

Friday, October 13, 2017

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: South Korea and China agree to extend currency swap agreement



At the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Washington D.C., Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon informed reporters that Seoul and Beijing signed an agreement to extend currency swap deal for another three years. The agreement accounts for some 46% of Korea's total value of currency swap deals that it has with foreign countries.

The deal had already been expanded to the current 56 billion dollars and extended twice since 2009.

Meanwhile, in a statement from the UAE's foreign ministry on Thursday local time, North Korea's ambassador has been told to leave the country and Dubai will also recall its own envoy from North Korea. On the same day, Malaysia said it is considering a shutdown of its embassy in Pyongyang.

Relations between the two nations have soured following the Kim Jong-nam murder case earlier this year at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (October 13, 2017)



- A task force on cybersecurity will meet on Monday to investigate the hacking of emails of opposition senators' staff, according to a Department of Information and Communications Technology official. This comes after the senators, on Thursday, said that  several emails accounts of their staff were hacked, including “official email addresses for releasing media statements of Sen. Pangilinan and the Liberal Party.”

- After being designated the sole agency in charge of the ongoing war on drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency vowed that the anti-narcotics campaign would be less bloody. Meanwhile, Amnesty International said that President Duterte's decision to shift the responsibility to PDEA for his ongoing drug war was just a "PR" move and Human Rights Watch said that Duterte's "finally feeling the heat".

- Senate President Koko Pimentel defended President Duterte's profanity-laced attack on EU ambassadors, saying it was a defense of "Filipino values" and sovereignty. However, despite Duterte's ultimatum on the ambassador, a Malacanang Palace official says there is no directive to kick out diplomats of the European Union from the Philippines.

- Democrats cried foul over EPA's decision to reverse clean water safeguards, allowing a mining company to set up a mine in the salmon-rich Bristol Bay in Alaska. Washington State Senator Maria Cantwell said in her statement that the EPA's plan to reverse clean water safeguards is "egregious and inconsistent with science and frankly, inconsistent with basic logic." The public has until October 17 to comment on the EPA's proposed withdrawal of a move under the Obama administration to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from potential mining activities.

- Tobu Zoo's Humboldt penguin, Grape-kun, has passed away Thursday at the elder age of 21, a late age for Humboldt penguins that typically live approximately 25 years. This elder penguin won the hearts of Kemono Friends fans many and placed a cardboard cutout of the show's character Hululu in his environment.

- The Netherlands is joining the list of EU nations to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles beginning in the next two decades.

- Production of the Volkswagen Scirocco hatchback has ended after nine years.

- Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand will unveil the next-generation QX80 full-size SUV at next month's Dubai Motor Show.



- Toyota's Lexus brand announced that the next-generation ES will be sold in Japan in the autumn of next year as the replacement for the lackluster HS250h.

- Rotom Dex says "NEW POKEMON ULTRA SUN & MOON INFO ON THE RADAR!" Today's info puts the spotlight on Legendary Pokemons' brand new Z-moves such as Searing Sunraze Smash for Solgaleo/Dusk Mane Necrozma and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom for Lunala/Dawn Wings Necrozma. Also, Rotom Dex says he's got upgraded with new features such as Roto Loto where you can get special power-ups such as added prize money, Exp. points, added capture rate, and so much more. Later, Rotom Dex can grant you the new "Rotom's Z-Power" feature which allows you to use your Pokemon's Z-move again!



TTFN!!!

Forza Motorsport 7: Driving the M2

The BMW M2 can be easily criticized by some for not being a proper M car because it has an ordinary BMW engine, basically a turbocharged 3.0L l6 engine on the front, but thanks to its back-to-basics approach, it can be easily regarded as one of the best M cars ever made, which is very exaggerating to think that the baby M car is the best car to live with. Despite being slower than any other M cars of today, the M2 is all about bringing driving back to the drivers and that really is perfection on so few levels.



It's hard to say why I am falling in love with the M2 not because of being small but because it has a unique characteristic I had fallen in love since I first set off with this thing back in Down Under years ago. Why? Because it's enjoyable at so many levels, which is unheard of for a baby M car powered by an ordinary turbocharged BMW engine.



Yes, I know that this car can get a bit twitchy and can be a real pain in the corner in the event of the understeer but with so much character on it, this is exactly why I am starting to fall in love with the M2 more than its M4 big brother, in fact, there's so much to tell about it.



So, the M2, 3.0L straight-6, turbocharged, 365HP, stronger and lighter wheel carriers, improved suspension components, and locking differential from the M3, this M car is all about getting familiar with this car, and even though it's not the fastest M car around, it's still one of the most enjoyable M cars to drive even though you are new to this. No wonder Top Gear host Chris Harris likened it to the old M3s of the last century but he mostly preferred its 1-Series M Coupe predecessor. Speaking of which, who wants to see the M2 round the Top Gear Track? Basically, the prime target was the BMW 1M's 1:25 lap time and let's see if I can do better with its successor. Ready? Cue the tape...



After a lap around the Top Gear track, which took me a fortnight, it did it in 1:24.932, which is amazingly similar to the 1M's lap time. Not bad, even though it wasn't a quick car to do the job rather nicely.

I'm already in love with this M2 because while this isn't the fastest despite its size, this is the car that you can spend a lot of time with until you had enough of it, and no matter how hard I try, it often left me with a rather nice impression at the very end.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Toyota Corolla Axio and Corolla Fielder (E160) - 2018MY Minor Change

The eleventh-generation Toyota Corolla has been around in the market for five years now and with the latest minor change for the 2018 model year, the new Corolla in two different models, the Axio sedan and the Fielder wagon, are now the safest Corolla ever made with the addition of new safety features capable of tackling through the Tokyo rush hour with ease. So, what's new on the 2018MY Corolla?

2018 Toyota Corolla Axio
2018 Toyota Corolla Fielder

When Toyota first facelifted these Corollas years ago, the bland styling has been replaced with an even more sleeker taste to make sure these two commoners' cars are back in business. However, a single facelift wasn't enough so the folks from Toyota redesigned the eleventh-generation model once more and the result is a sporty and fine design thanks to its new front bumper and grille. On the inside, there are plating decoration on the passenger side instrumental panel for added texture as well as new black sheet color.

2018 Toyota Corolla Axio interior
2018 Toyota Corolla Fielder interior

In the hybrid variants, the 1.5L 1NZ-FXE VVT-i engine with the 1LM electric motor has been slightly improved and because of the slightly improved control of engines, motors, inverters, and so on, the fuel economy by JC08 Mode standards is now up to 34.4km/L. Of course, if the hybrid variant wasn't your thing, there is a normal 1.5L petrol with idling stop available in CVT and 5-speed manual gearbox (which is nice if you're an UBER driver using this car for ride-sharing purposes). Of course, nothing special done with what's under the car, meaning they still behave pretty much the same as the others.

For safety purposes, the 2018MY Corolla lineup comes with standard Toyota Safety Sense C- which features Lane Departure Alert, Automatic High Beams, and a Pre-Collision System, all of which can help prevent or mitigate collisions in a wide range of vehicle speeds. Apart from that, these models come with the Intelligent Clearance Sonar, smart entry and start system, and a new Cruise Control setting that allows constant speed running without stepping on the gas pedal. Now that's science get it right, again.

Price? The new 2018MY Corolla range starts from 1,550,520 Yen for the Axio saloon and 1,614,000 Yen for the Fielder wagon. It maybe a fair price hike but they remain one of the most reasonably priced cars offered in the Japanese market and with the added safety features, it's as Japanese as it ever gets for the world's best-selling car in history.

Photo: Toyota Motor Corporation