Experts Explain Advancements in Exosome Use: ExoDerm by Facial Care Centre

Mike Lee and Dr. Young Seob Lee explains ExoDerm and advancements in exosome use

It's been a while since I've gone out for a little self care and pampering. But before that, I heard that there's a lot of development about using exosomes for treatments. Initially, I saw them using it at Svenson for NexoHair, a treatment made for hair loss, alopecia and the likes, but this time, they're taking it in even better applications specifically for skin and call it, ExoDerm. This procedure is being done at Facial Care Centre and their branches. We went to the Makati GT Tower branch which is at the corner of Ayala and HV Dela Costa streets. It is highly advised to get an appointment first before going there.

We met Mike Lee, the CEO of PrimaCure and his father Dr. Young Seob Lee, world renowned South Korean Plastic Surgeon and premier expert in this field. They explained to us the applications of exosomes and the things they can do now for the skin. Mike Lee explains "Undergoing this procedure for a regular patient would immediately have all your inflammation and blemishes clear. It can take effect somewhere between 1 to 5 days, and its purpose is to revamp the activity of your cells. When you are younger, you didn't have melasma right? Of course we get that through aging, but at the cellular level we need energy for it. We had anti oxidants to counteract pollution, UV rays, your lifestyle, nutrition and hormonal things. As we age, we're not able to regulate that as well. These stressors will affect the mitochondria, which brings you less energy, less collagen produced, and you'll have laxity and melasma. This happens when machines get old, then it makes it dry, because it falls and can't retain moisture. Like your cellphones, it needs updating, same concept goes with exosomes. It sends growth factors, genetic materials to revamp the skin. It makes your current skin behave younger, like when you're 36, it could act as 28 or even younger."

Dr. Young Seob Lee adds "In our next projects with our research in Europe, we are targeting post menopausal applications of exosomes, to prevent many uncomfortable issues with the female form. Initially we held research about its efficacy, and we have determined it to be quite good. And we might not just be applying this to post menopausal but post partum as well to prevent issues there. In the Philippines, we might have this soon."

The core technology that they are using is now being done for different applications. Their process is different and not derived through stem cells. The vesicle that enables delivery of needed products for skin/hair is the great thing about this and the different things they can do is promising. It's developed enough to do pathways that would benefit different kinds of treatment and it is already proven in the products they've come out with. They've seen it happen to more than a thousand patients in the Philippines alone, and numbers on a global scale would be a lot bigger. The customization they could do would be good for a lot of people.

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Facial Care Centre who does ExoDerm procedures can get your collagen production increase to help you get a clearer, firmer, smoother and younger looking skin. Get exosomes to help your skin regeneration, to heal and lessen imperfections and signs of aging. Go send them a direct message through their social channels and see what it can do to you. In the meantime, here's my Honey Almond Facial treatment which I did after the long day of coverage(s). This was at the Facial Care Centre at GT Tower in Makati.

If you feel this procedure deem fit for what you need to do with your skin, go give the nearest Facial Care Centre a visit.

Get Ready for "Bountiful Blooms": The 1st Philippine International Flower Festival

If you are fond of flowers, flower arrangements, science and the art, you're about to get a happy pill this coming September as the 1st Philippine International Flower Festival entitled "BOUNTIFUL BLOOMS" happens at the SPACE at One Ayala in Makati City.

Convenor Jerry Sibal says "This is the first International Flower Festival. On September 19-22, our homeland will be the place to hold PHILIFF where floral designers, landscaping, trade show, exhibit for ikebana, the art of Bonsai, and Orchids. This will also be the venue for a Fashion Show together with international artists. Last year, I told them about the Flower Festival, and we now have people from the government and the private sector to help me make it happen. This Bloombee here is simple, but we are making a full bloomed one in September, so you better be back soon. In Atok Benguet, we have a huge cut flower industry and putting them into the 40 Billion dollar global export market will surely boost the industry. Aside from these, we are also trying to promote local farm tourism, and grow flowers like Tulips, those from New York locally through hydroponics. We have 350 flower farms all over the country. We also need to educate through forums, you'll be surprised how fast this would grow."

There will also be Floral Art Installations, the whole second Floor of One Ayala will be having over 80 booths, 4 huge displays in the center and the floral fashion show installation.

Table pieces will also be showcased as part of the design for entertaining and this will be historical. This is Sibal's way of giving back, to the industry and country. He will also be displaying a few well loved PH bred Waling Waling at the exhibit, dedicated to the orchid lovers and collectors.

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They need Bloombee sponsors to help them support more farmers, their CSR efforts will include the Bloombee Park which will host the fashion show, international participants, so you can experience what they do outside the country. Workshops and seminars will be posted soon. Make sure you follow the Philippine International Flower Festival social channels and official website to know more about how you can participate. There's no competition, the community will benefit from it.

Head on to philiff.com for tickets and updates about the event. If you want to participate or become a sponsor, they have it at the official website. This is supported by Ayala, and from the looks of it... it's blooming!

Gogoro Philippines Launch New Experience Store in Makati

It's a nice morning to celebrate new things as Gogoro Philippines just launched their new Gogoro Experience Store at the Greenbelt 3 in Makati City. The event was held at Ayala Museum with executives coming from the Ayala Corporation, Globe, GCash, 917 Ventures, Gogoro Taiwan, Gogoro Philippines, the Taiwanese Embassy in Manila and various stakeholders were in attendance to take a first glimpse of what will be launched and supposed to be sold next month. This is quite nice that they thought of making sure you experience riding, looking at the actual Electronic Vehicle first before they release it to the market.

Bernie Llamzon the President and CEO of GOGOGRO Philippines "It's a testament to urban mobility. Why are we opening the experience center? It's all about connection, and who stands to benefit from it, YOU. It's a bridge, we are opening our doors today so you can touch, feel and understand Gogoro. We are cultivating a community and it is an invitation for you to become part of the story. Your engagement and feedback will be part of our commercial launch next month. Welcome to the future of mobility, welcome to the new Gogoro Experience Center."

This is one of Ayala's projects in order to move to electric vehicles. Cesar Consing the CEO and President of the Ayala Corporation says "We do it across our companies, and this initiative of going green is something we take seriously. Gogoro is just an extension of that, we are going to lead the charge to EV's. That's what we are doing here, and this partnership of Gogoro and Globe, brought this EV brand in the Philippines. It's green, ecosystem and partnership that we are offering. We hope you like what you'll see."

Horace Luke the founder and CEO of Gogoro says "I've dreamed of this in 2011, we are now extending to outside Taiwan. Thank you to Ernest Cu of Globe who believes in me, and we know the world is going to two wheel and three wheel vehicles now. Thank you to the Gogoro Philippines team and the Taiwan team who worked tirelessly these past few years to bring this product to the PH. The electricity is sustainable, and recyclable parts are being used to make the footprint lower. We look forward to see what we built enable this vision in this country."

Ernest Cu the CEO of Globe says "When I saw this in Taiwan years ago, it was super nice. I didn't like bikes back then, EV was also too far from the Philippines. We timed our entry to the country, like GCash, no one was solving the problem and we only scaled it 6 years ago. The smartphone penetration was not as good, and when the pandemic hit we began working on it even more to become financially inclusive. Majority of Filipinos don't have plugs, the one minute swap is like prepaid... And we are the prepaid kings in the country. Now it is all paid electronically through GCash. It's different, and seamless now as it goes through the backbone of Globe and it's partners. Let us see the new Gogoro Experience Center, we want this to be perfect and hope you become our first customer."

You may also ask for a test drive as arrangements can be made, they also will explain to you the battery swapping mechanics so you could conveniently do it via their Gogoro Network power stations. The Smartscooters we saw on display was the Gogoro SuperSport, Gogoro VIVA and the Gogoro S1. Though they will make sure that the Gogoro 2 Premium and the Gogoro Delight will also be available in the Philippines.

You may visit the new Gogoro Experience Store at the 2nd level of Greenbelt 3, turn right when you enter through the bridge from Landmark (location of former Globe store).

Ayala, Globe, 917Ventures Launch Gogoro in the PH

Transport services are not enough these days and much of it use gas/diesel power and energy, but today, our friends from Globe, 917Ventures, and Ayala Corporation is launching Gogoro in the Philippines. 

For those who don't know, Gogoro is a Taiwan based battery swapping refueling corp that is used in scooters, mopeds and motorcycles. They also have a line of smart EV's with the recent one being Gogoro 2 Plus poised to be launch this quarter for a more environmentally apt mobility solution.

Bernie Llamzon of 917Ventures say "We are pushing for the future of mobility in this country. Reasons being one is traffic, gas prices, pollution. We will invest in Gogoro to answer climate challenges in the country."

Gogoro Founder and CEO Horace Luke says "I'm so excited to be in the Philippines. We met Ernest in 2015, when we were in Taiwan, he told me to bring this to the PH because this is what Globe does. We find a lot of synergy in. Our platform is sustainable solutions. In the PH alone, there are 11 million scooters/bikes but unfortunately, are gas powered. How do we make it accessible? The infrastructure isn't that good either, so this is why we have Swap and Go, in 6 seconds you can pop out a battery unlike gas stations. We have successfully done this in Taiwan. A station like this can service a lot of vehicles, we are also planning to make this a backup for traffic signs, for a smart city. The first of this station, will be launched outside today! We need to make this irresistible, with good product design, digitization and safety. We have smart features available to consumers, even biometric locks, nearly zero theft since 2015. It can go zero to fifty kph in 3.7 seconds. In Taiwan, we only had 1 percent electric vehicles, but now we went to 18 percent. We have 90 percent market share, and we bring the latest Gogoro vehicles here to change the mobility landscape in the Philippines."

Vince Yamat of 917Ventures adds "We are launching the Globe employee pilot program in Q4 this year. In our own company, we will have 70 people to try it out. They will test it out in 2 months which will start this may, to hopefully not worry about the way we move around in the country."

This is just the start of something better, to hopefully have a more sustainable power source and environmentally friendly utilization in medium to long term 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers in the future.

Ayala Foundation, Huawei Partner Up to Build Sustainable Communities

It's been long standing, as two companies signed through a virtual session last September 13, a partnership so they could provide digital education for Filipinos. Ayala Foundation Inc. and Huawei Technologies Philippines Inc. are doing this to continue their goal to build sustainable communities and be a part of nation building.

Present during the occasion were AFI Senior Director for Social Development Joanna Maria Duarte, Huawei Philippines Vice President Daniel Guo and Huawei Philippines Director for Globe Telecom Zeh Zhang. This also coincides with AFI's 60th anniversary. They dubbed it as "Faith in the Filipino: 60 years of partnerships in nation building", a pretty apt theme for what Huawei and Ayala Foundation is doing now.

Huawei is donating USD 200,000 to support Ayala Foundation Inc's programs. This includes disaster recovery and emergency response, education, training and building sustainable livelihood for woemn and IP's. Huawei will also support globe with a USD 100,000 grant for their environmental programs. They've been doing this for several years now because they know how hard it is especially in the education sector where tons of students and their families won't be able to afford sending their kids to school. They promise to give more through Ayala Foundation's CSR programs as a way to give back to the Philippines.

It's a good thing.

Discovery Primea's TAPENADE Introduces New Items on Menu

I've been to Tapenade quite a number of times now. Usually if I wait out the traffic I get a thing or two at Discovery Primea's Gilarmi lounge and do events here. It's cozy and tucked away from the usually restaurants in Makati so there are less crowds. I like that part because the last thing anyone wants is a noisy neighbor.

For years now, Tapenade has been serving top of the notch Spanish-Euro dishes this side of town. I like their Octopus, pizzas and famous garden buffet for lunch and dinner. They just launched new items in the menu to revamp their classics, and accompany what existing hit items they already have. They did come in a good time.

The Best Salad Bar

Before we go to the new items on the menu, I saw a revamped Salad Bar from Tapenade. Before, it only carried the usual fresh leafy vegetables and whatnot, but earlier I got a glimpse of their cheese, anti pasto (cured meats), prepared salads, breads, creams and jams, sliders, Vietnamese rolls, Shrimp and Mussels for the lunch crowd. This is quite extensive when I last saw this place a couple months ago.

New Items on the Menu

Inspired by Mediterranean flavors, Tapenade prepared for us their new exciting dishes. You could see how much it is a mix of French, Greek and Italian. I personally loved the Rigatoni and Paella (which you should order when you dine). 

Mozzarella and Friends was so soft and fresh, put a little dab of Basil Pesto, Black Olive Tapenade (love the strong flavor), Romesco Dip and Fruit Mostarda (a mix), and you'll be glad to have lived in this lifetime. These are part of anti pastis and yes, they're quite amazing.

Prosciutto and Company had a roving slicing machine with it. It will be done table side and is quite fancy. Impress your guests and savor the slivers of thinly sliced pork air dried and salt cured for a reason. It's not guilt free, but worth every eye closing moment you have it.

The Shrimps en Gabardina was like a Spanish Tempura. It was crunchy and good on the outside, fresh and soft on the inside. They have a Guindilla aioli dip with this, it had a strong garlic kick and everyone raved about it!

Baked, Smashed and Deep Fried, this is Patatas Crunchy with Mojo Dip. It's a Basil based sauce you put on top of the spuds, pretty good in my books as a starter.

This Rigatoni Al Sugo was inspired by their hit pizza flavor. It's got prosciutto chopped and sweat down so you get that smoky tomatoey profile in the sauce. I loved it the moment I laid my eyes on it, haha!

Two things that are made of dreams, my favorite is the Wagyu Beef and Mushroom Paella had a mix of crunchy rice morsels, made intense with the black pepper aioli and super soft medium rare slices of the best meat in town, plus the other one called Roast Chicken and Chorizo Paella had its spices permeate with the short grain rice. Ahh the heavens must be rejoicing over these!

The Red Snapper Fillet on the other hand was packed with tomato flavors. It was like a canvas, painted with Italian and Amalfi coast inspirations, perfect for a date night and white wine.

Last but not the least, a trio of desserts arrived on our table. My personal choice was the Strawberry Creme Brulee Cake (made with white chocolate custard, strawberries, champagne sugar crystals) which was so light, airy and creamy. It reminds me of Strawberry Shortcake, which I absolutely love. The other ones like the Chocolate Tart (made of choco truffle, olivo fleur de sel, raspberry kisses) was light with the mousse and not too sweet (just the way I like it). The Almond Caramel Bar (made of dacquoise, sesame nougat, amaretti crunch) was textured and chunky, if you're a fan of those long pyramid chocolates made commercially, this is a better version of it. I quite enjoyed myself while we dined with new people, new social media acquaintances, and old friends from Primea. I'd be missing a lot if I didn't try it out!

Tapenade is open from 6-10:30am for breakfast, 11:30am-2:30pm for lunch and 6:30pm - 10:30pm for dinner. Call for reservations via +63279558888. Pretty good dishes in a perfect spot, how can you not have that?!

Denny’s Gets You 12 Slams for 12 Months!

Ayala North Exchange is continuing to open restaurants and this time, they’re giving you a treat! Your favorite diner DENNY’s is opening their newest branch and that means, this awesome day should be topped with your favorite comfort food in the morning, pancakes!


First 100 who get to pay 500 pesos on their bill starting August 5 in DENNY’s Ayala North Exchange will get the opportunity to have 12 FREE SLAMS for 12 MONTHS! That’s 2 fluffy buttermilk pancakes, eggs done your way, 2 bacon strips (your choice of doneness) and 2 sausage links, now how’s that for a treat?!


Go to dennys.ph for more info or troop to the store if you’re in the mood for flipping wonders!

“Istorya Ng Pag-asa” Film Festival 2019 Now Accepting Entries

This is a festival adopted from “Araw ng Pagbasa, Araw ng Pag-asa” in 2016, now they’ve grown bigger and have expanded to different partner cities like Cebu, CDO, QC, Naga, Baguio, Palawan and Dumaguete. This year, their mission is to feature short films with stories of ordinary Filipinos that aim to showcase perseverance amidst life’s adversities. The launch was witnessed by press, bloggers, Meg Seranilla (INP Third Prize Winner), Florence Rosini (INP Grand Winner) and our Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo. Last year was a very successful one.

Vice President Leni Robredo says “Thank you for accepting our invitation, first, we are promoting our second run. This started in 2016 in Ayala Museum, I was one of those featured and I was touched by the stories of ordinary Filipinos which was featured there. One of them was Hidelyn Diaz, it was encouraging, then a lady turon vendor Nanay Lorna struggling to make ends meet and left the venue inspired about it. We want to do something about the negativity, I am a victim of that and I talked to the organizers in Ayala to do a roving photo gallery. They have stories that succeeded amidst adversities, every Filipino had that story, we collected a lot from different parts of the country. We had tons of partner universities and colleges. We had 73 entries, had to put a few screenings, some of which have won accolades for the country. You should watch the past entries and look forward for the new ones because it is a good avenue to understand the plight of different Filipinos. One of them is about Tourettes Syndrome, a story with Marlon Fuentes. It was a good feeling the last time, so we decided to do it again this year.”

You must submit your 3-5 minute film (one with subtitles, one without subtitles) in H.264 format, application form, resume with 2 2x2 photos, copy of government ID’s and letter of consent (if a minor) to the Office of the Vice President at 100 11th Street Barangay Mariana Quezon City 1112 on or before March 25, 2019. For full contest mechanics, visit istoryangpagasa.ovp.gov.ph. Make sure it is shot at 1920x1080 resolution or higher.

They will be also introducing their ambassador Dingdong Dantes and looking for entries that could win Best Director, Best Script, Best Cinematography. The Best Film will win 80K, 50K and 30K for 1st and 2nd Runner Up entries. They will also choose an entry for People’s Choice Award and a Special Award from Ayala Foundation.

Make sure you submit your entries on time, do your best and who knows, you might be discovered!