foodpanda just concluded their 2025 PANDA LEGENDS Ride and Conquer Grand Finals at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City. After grueling months of eliminations in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila, they only have 2 teams left to vie for the coveted trophy.
Team Pawpaw from Manila
Team MTS from Davao
Team PAWPAW and Team MTS had to survive a best of 5 series, which is not going to be easy. They had to go through several skirmishes to get here, and the finals match proved to be super difficult because they haven't had a chance to face each other prior to the finals match, they had no clue about their play styles and resorted to banning their MVP characters early on.
Much of their picks are assassins, marksmen, support and mages. Tanks are not meta?
Just to give you a picture, in Manila alone, they had 7K registrants, which they had to screen and arrange them all for eliminations. Today they held several rounds to pick the final 2 in the morning, so they're pretty much the best of the best riders for the Panda Legends tournament. Overall, they had 224 teams from 6 regions, with one goal, to win this all!
Team Pawpaw is from Manila, while Team MTS from Davao.
I also heard some of the other teams were there at the venue:
Pandamay from Cebu
South Riders from South Manila
Panda Warriors
The winner will get 240,000 pesos. That's definitely going to change lives if they win!
When the dust settled, TEAM PAWPAW from Metro Manila won the championship. They got to take home their cash prize and the trophy. Second place winner Team MTS didn't go empty handed because they also got huge home Bluetooth speakers and cash prizes too because they are basically winners of their own regions.
Congratulations to Team Pawpaw! How I wish I could join the games next year!
You know those graffiti signs in Makati lately? That probably was a sign of sweet things to come because AXE just came out with 2 new scents, Black Vanilla and Cherry Spritz.
And why not, men after all are sweet right? It's this side that's relatively been repressed, with no reason, not to keep machismo in check, it's 2025 and that way of thinking needs to change.
These new scents are under AXE Fine Fragrance Collection, something that they've been working on in the past year. Using essential oils, they've managed to do this one with the goal of getting over 72 hours of fragrance and deo work, you'll be impressed how it lasts on a normal day.
Black Vanilla is sweet, a little herby and juicy. I like sandalwood, and it seems to have it in there, so I love it. It also got notes of mandarin, banana, lavender, sage, basil, cocoa, vanilla too. Cherry Spritz is a little different. It's got a mix of cherries, red apple, notes of jasmine, amber, nutty praline, something sweet and lasts more than usual.
The murals by the way were made by artists Jappy Agoncillo and AC Bautista who does murals. I like how they connected to Filipino humor, the statements certainly felt personal. It welcomes the new side of men like it should, and does it fare well? Of course! AXE always delivers.
While folks were excited at the thought of MRLD (Meriel de Jesus) performing at SM SKYDOME last Sunday, she was a bit nervous, but that didn't really show on stage. It was a time to showcase what she's got to the public. So when it started, MRLD showcased how different she could do her music. The released tracks felt fresh and new with the different arrangement when she sang it on stage.
The show opened with Healy After Dark, with the band dishing out several romantic songs, quite severely popular on Spotify. MRLD also did several collabs with singer songwriter Ryannah Julia (they had super smooth delivery, felt young and hip to hear, loved her). Guest girl group G22 showed powerful pipes, you would wish to have them for your birthday. And as needed, MRLD also did songs with super cool artist Adie (a surprise for the crowd) who came in and sang "IKAW PA RIN". Gawd the fans went crazy with it. That combination is stuff for legends. MRLD did it relaxed while Adie's rifts was just crazy, it begged to have them immortalized on a single (please make one soon!).
Fans had so much fun, I was actually surprised how she really put things to heart and even danced on stage. I'm a new fan, this shows her range and depth as an artist and songwriter. I saw her perform with great gusto, eager to give her all for her adoring fans. It just shows her range, and I'm so glad to have witnessed it. Here's a clip of the finale, make sure you'll be there when she does another concert soon!
Congratulations MRLD and to OC RECORDS! You're amazing! You've barely scratched the surface of your potential and I can't wait to see how you'll turn out to be soon. "Sandali" is is certainly my current favorite. So happy to see you having fun out there!
Good
looking actor, councilor and pro racer Jomari Yllana welcomed us at the Okada Glass Ballroom this
morning for the Motorsport Carnivale 2025 hosted by Yllana Racing and
Okada Manila.
"I started underground racing during my teens, but
it was quick. I was picked up by Ochoa, managed my career and placed me
in Toyota in 1996. I got pro, and my advocacy for safe racing. It's
passion for competition, combination of thrill and admiration for
machinery. The more you practice, the more better you get from it. I'm
half a century old, paving the way to open races which has been banned
in the 80's, now we are organizing legal ones to guide more every step
of the way. Hopefully to promote and get future champs, and to also host
international races soon. We are setting up the platform for the next
generation. The circuits are there, the approach we are doing right now
is to bring back races in Manila."
He adds "We want to unite, you'll be
surprised because they are just waiting for a venue. May 4th will be
big, the Filipino motor culture is alive and this will be big!"
They have prepared several motorsports events this year to put Philippines in the world map and found home in the biggest integrated resort Okada Manila. The first event will be in May 4th, then one in the last week of June (TBA on Motorsport Carnivale 2025 social channels). As proud producers who are also in the industry, they want folks to enjoy races first as they are held in Manila. The last one was the Motorsport Carnivale 2023 which they also organized.
Rikki Dy-Liacco the Head of Motorsports at the Automobile Association Philippines says "We are equally excited, we had Motorsport Carnivale in 2023, and after a hiatus, we will have prepared over 2 years, to hopefully accommodate everyone, to have a long term relationship with Okada and do motorsports in this side of the metro. We believe the time is right, it's time to give back to motor sports."
He adds "As a part of AAP, my dream of putting motorsports back in its hey days, where local and foreign competitors would come and enjoy venues in Manila. This is a big opportunity to achieve that goal, Joms and I want to bring in a race event of international standards, if not this year, maybe next year. We are crossing our fingers to do it now, but if not, we can do it in 2026. This is why we are also focusing on amateurs and children."
Okada's VP for Hotels Robert Scott reiterates "We are proud to partner with Yllana Racing, with passion, local talent, we are building a great tourism event this coming Sunday. Here's to growing it, we are excited for this event!"
Here's our very candid interview with Jomari Yllana before the launch!
JOMS CUP The 1/8 Mile Challenge 2025 will also happen on May 31st, a drag racing event for Super Cars, Muscle Cars and Vintage Car Categories. They will also have one race specifically for Electric Vehicles, with celebrity drivers to do it. This will all amount to 2400 vehicles, thousands of car fans, same spirit and hopefully a comeback for a Philippine Grand Prix soon. The big awards night will be in November, and this will be a regular thing as they are already preparing for next year!
They also will be spearheading events for the Rally of Paranaque and Rally of Lubang will happen in June (and will have several city roads closed) and the plan is to have the course end in the same boardwalk so folks can see the racers in the finish line.
There are several projects in the pipeline, stay tuned for more updates from Motorsport Carnivale 2025 because they've got a great program lined up for you folks!
