Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation is ushering the New Year with a grand culinary competition that will showcase the creativeness, innovativeness, culinary skills and mastery of over 300 aspiring Filipino chefs.

The Ajinomoto 3rd Umami Culinary Challenge (3Rd UCC) : The Battle for the Umami Bowl will be held on January 20, 2012 at the SMX Convention Center. It is an interschool, multi-category culinary competition that focuses on Umami, the 5th Basic Taste. Participants from 29 universities and colleges that offer HRM courses and from 5 prestigious culinary schools will complete in this year’s exciting culinary and non-culinary categories.

An impressive line up of judges from various fields related to food will pick out the best of the best. These renowned culinary luminaries include: Sandy Daza (Inquirer columnist and TV show host), Chef Babes Austria (Executive Chef of Taal Vista Hotel and former Executive Chef of Malacañang Palace), Chef James Antolin (Vice President of Pastry Alliance of the Philippines), Chef Day Salonga and Chef Mon Acosta (Chef Consultants for opening new restaurants), Nina Daza-Puyat (Editor in Chief, Appetite Magazine), Chef Seiji Kamura (Executive Chef and owner of Mogu Japanese Restaurant), Vicky Alejandrino, (Head of Quality Assurance and Commissary for the Pancake House Group), Chef Colin McKay (Executive Chef and owner of Sala Restaurant Group) and Tetta Arroyo (Travel and Food Writer) among others.

Seminars on new trends and techniques will also be held for the benefit of those who are interested in developing their culinary skills.

The Ajinomoto 3^rd Umami Culinary Challenge is a collaboration of organizations which strongly support the development of the Philippine culinary scene, among them are Glutamate Association of the Philippines (GAP), Elba, Whirlpool/Fujidenzo, Masflex, PR Gaz, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Anvil Publishing and media partners GMA 7, Appetite Magazine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer Libre and PR Moms Network.

School children in the Philippines face many challenges; sometimes, even the simple walk to school in the morning can be an arduous journey. Students cross rivers, traverse mountain peaks, even go through battlegrounds just to go to school. And when they arrive, they are faced with meager resources – overcrowded classrooms, the lack of books and school supplies – which all make for an uninspiring learning environment.

That is why starting on its 76^th year, Procter and Gamble (P&G) Philippines is setting out to make these students’ journey more worthwhile. Taking its commitment to education to the next level, P&G will provide technology and connectivity to Filipino students nationwide with its e.Studyante program.

Along with partner Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Synergeia Foundation, the e.Studyante program will provide kids from selected schools with an XO Laptop from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Association. The XO laptop is a rugged, low-power, connected laptop especially designed to make learning more engaging and more fun for students.

Students can use their laptops not just to learn but to share and connect with each other, with their communities and with the world – helping them all become an “e.Studyante.”

The goal is simple: Give out 1,000,000 laptops in time for P&G’s 100^th year. And you can help.

“For children all over the country, the challenge of education begins even before they step into the classroom. Some have to wake up at the crack of dawn and walk miles through unpaved roads, through woods and rivers, just to get to school. We are doing this for these students. We want to make this journey worthwhile for them by giving them the tool that will place the world’s knowledge at their fingertips – through a laptop and internet connectivity,” said Chad Sotelo, e.Studyante Country Marketing Manager.

“But it’s not something we can do alone,” Sotelo added. “To help us reach our goal of 1,000,000 students, we would like to invite moms all over the country to support the e.Studyante program by buying P&G promo packs.”

Through the “e.Studyante” program, you can help give a child a laptop by buying specially marked P&G promo packs available nationwide. You not only save up to 40%[1] on your favorite P&G products but you also help provide a child with a world of educational materials and fun activities that will inspire them to learn and achieve even more.

Participating brands include Safeguard, Tide, Pampers, Downy, Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Joy, Rejoice, Whisper, Olay, Gillette, Vicks and Ambi-Pur.

Helping those in need has never been easier. You can help make each child’s journey to school more worthwhile. Support the e.Studyante program and help gift each student with a brighter future! Isang laptop, mas malawak na kaalaman, mas magandang bukas.

I haven’t posted as much as I want to last month but still, these wonderful people visited this blog and left comments on the few posts I’ve made.

Thank you and I will definitely try to update this blog as often as I can.

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Have a wonderful month ahead everyone !