There are no strangers
here; only friends you haven't yet met. -William Butler Yeats
It’s the time of
the year that people feels a certain urge to celebrate camaraderie and nurture
friendships. Perhaps, it’s the holiday season and the spirit of Christmas fills
the air to everywhere we go. This is what the recent and the first United
Bloggers of the Philippines Thanksgiving and Christmas Party was all about-
celebrating solid friendships among bloggers and partner brands.
Blogging as they
say is a passion fueled by the desire to write and inform. That is why I am
grateful to be a member of UBP wherein I am able to interact with like-minded
bloggers, able to share ideas, learn something from one another but most of
all- able to forged lasting friendships not only with my fellow bloggers but with
reputable PR companies who are representing amazing brands.
Last November 30 at
a hotel somewhere in Makati, a small gathering among our group and invited
brand and PR partners shared a wonderful evening filled with joys and laughter.
This is our very first United Bloggers PH thanksgiving cum Christmas party ever
and it was a huge success.
What could be more
fun than partying with your closest friends in the blogging scene and with
partner brands and PR? In my experience this is by far the most intimate and
most fun blogger party I’ve been too. Although I’ve been blogging “mainstream”
since 2014, I could say I finally found a blogger’s group when I felt I truly
belong- just like family.
It’s Party Time the UBP Way!!!
Our admin and group
founder Adae Ang thought of having Hawaiian as our theme. Honestly, I felt a
bit apprehensive- somewhat saddened, for one I don’t have any floral stuff in
my closet, not even a flower ornament for my hair. But, what the heck, for sure
I’ll have a blast at the UBP Thanksgiving Party anyway. Sure I did.
As I went to the
venue, I could sense the Hawaiian beach vibe, complete with grass skirts, large
floral leis, colorful balloons and the wonderful line-up of loot bags from
generous sponsors. Although the attendees are not that many, we were less
than 20 bloggers who attended this intimate get together but I was quite
surprised that sponsor brand companies and PRs went to join and share this
moment with UBP.
What about the
food? Of course no party is complete without a feast. Luckily for our group,
our Admin was able to appropriate the meager budget for our feast. We had
spaghetti, half/half pancit, lechon manok, grilled liempo, siomai and for
desert the delicious Yema Cake by fellow pretty blogger Leilani.
Everyone was
full, when I say everyone, I mean including our special guests (PR friends and
brands). To quench our thirst- there’s Aqua Best bottled
water- loads of it. And for our party drink- there’s Tanduay Select which at
first I thought would be too bold and warm to the throat but I was wrong. This
newest Tanduay
Select label- is just right, smooth
and a bit bold but has no after taste.
UBP 2016 Party Highlights
This could be one
of the smallest blogger group party but the fun and the laughter is big time! I
for one just let my hair down and even left my inhibitions downstairs where it
could not bother me and say “hey, stop making a fool of yourself!”. In short,
all of us had fun and sharing this wonderful experience with one another only
made our friendships stronger along with building lasting relationships with
our partner brands. Probably this is the best highlight of this small event.
We had gift giving
game wherein all of us have to bring a gift (a hundred peso worth at least)
that we would swap with one another. At first we tried passing on the gifts in
a circle and once the music stops the gift that you have in hand is yours.
Nah..we were like bunch of kids that some of us hoard several pieces of gifts
in hand while others were left empty handed.
It was fun to pass around the gifts but not effective. So we decided to
just draw out in a bowl and just hand out our gift to the name of the person we
pick, there you go…we are back to being civilized adults. Finally. Lol.
BTW, I
totally appreciate the gift that I got from my fellow blogger dear friend Leira, happy that she was the one
who picked my name and got myself some cool stuff but most especially an
inspiring book called The Daily Promise which will keep me
motivated and positive- just loved it!
 |
| a page on The Daily Promise book- can't help but share this nice thought |
Of course our get
together party would not be complete without any contest of some sort. As
seasoned social media infleuncers (really?) it is just right that the contest
would involve the social media (what a clever idea from our admin Adae). This
is where creativity comes to play. We were asked to post photos on our
Instagram accounts with the appropriate hashtags-
#UnitedBloggersPh
#UBPthanksgivingandChristmasParty #EggShell #HerbalifePH #TanduaySelect
#iloveAquabest #LaChicaManila #TanduayRhum #IntiendeSalon #PhilCare- these
hashtags are created to recognize the unwavering support of our partner brands
and PR friends. Without them we would not be able to carry on with our UBP
thanksgiving party. Super thank you to you all!
 |
| yeah..I know how goofy I am- explanation up ahead just read on... |
Going back to the
fun contests for social media postings, knowing how game I am- my mind wanders
around to think of the best creative shot for my post. Alas! Saw those big
balloons and ‘ting’ an idea pops into my head. Not thinking about how stupid I
would appear to my fellow bloggers especially to the ones that I don’t get to
be with often, my goofiness prevailed.
I grabbed the 2 big
balloons stuff it inside my tight black t-shirt and with lei and grass skirt
still on me- viola! I looked like miss bombastic ready to dance the hula with
an epic triple D bust line. Haha!!! Guess what who won the most creative IG
post? ME!!!! (but we are all winners) All for the fun and laughter shared among my blogger friends.
Grateful
for your friendship and support!
It is only right to
be grateful to our sponsors and partner brands. Although our first ever party is
just a small gathering but with our brand sponsors this was a huge success.
At United Bloggers
Philippines we only partner with brands or companies that we have faith in
since we can effectively promote it on social media platforms if we ourselves
are loyal patron.
Shoutout to
Intiende Salon where we frequently visit for amazing hair and beauty services.
They keep our tresses looking great all the time for our awesome social media postings.
Intiende Salon is conveniently located at 2nd floor, Tiendesitas Bldg. A along
Ortigas with contact number 0917-7965482. Give their services a try- you’ll love it.
Now for a healthy
looking skin La Chica Manila got us covered. They’ve got this beauty soap called
The Ultimate Beauty Soap for brightening and anti-aging for all skin types
which is effective. How I love to lavish my skin with this amazing soap and we
at UBP loved it.
United Bloggers
Philippines is also grateful to PhilCare. We fully trust the services and
products that they offer since we need some sort of security in cases of
emergencies. A reliable health and insurance provider is a must these days and
PhilCare gives the best coverage.
Aquabest provided
us with the best bottled water the entire UBP celebration- certainly the
healthiest and the best thirst quencher. There is no doubt that Aquabest is the
leader when it comes to quality drinking water.
Another brand we
love is the world class nutritional company Herbalife Philippines. We really
need this, since we’ve been partying here and there. Taking Herbalife shakes
daily allow us to keep tab of our weight and at least look good on our selfies.
The UBP party isn’t
complete without Tanduay Rum. We had a blast enjoying the smooth and soothing
taste of Tanduay Select in particular, it has the subtle sweetness of grapes
but no bad after taste and most of all no hangover. Now let’s drink to that.
Cheers to Tanduay!
"We had fun, we had
joys, we had seasons in the sun. But the wine (make that Tanduay) and the song
like the seasons have all gone" (sounds familiar? yeah it's the old song)…..just when we thought we are having so much fun-
we took our fun to a higher level literally- like going to the roof deck for a
good night swim.
Most of us stayed a couple more hours and maximize our fun
event by taking a dip at the penthouse pool. It was a perfect night for a swim since the weather that day
was quite hot. We pretty much enjoyed it knowing that we brought our bottle of
Tanduay Select to our pool party. Clever me, took some plastic cups filled with
ice and viola! it’s Tanduay party at the pool.
Ahh…our United
Bloggers of the Philippines Thanksgiving & Christmas Party is really
unforgettable. The fun, the laughter and the bonding shared among our brand
partners and good friends is truly priceless. I will be remembering that day
for the rest of my life- no joke since I value experiences more than material
things. I will treasure that day and keep it close to my heart.
Before I get teary
eyed and all…let me give a special a THANK YOU to EGGSHELL (the creative
company behind big brands). Through Eggshell we were able to celebrate and have
fun. The support as well as friendship with this company is amazing (thank you
Ms. Charmaine P.).
There you go- this
is how United Bloggers Philippines celebrated our first party. It is not much
as compared to other big time bloggers’ parties but what is important is that
we were able to build lasting friendships backed up with fun memories that we
could savor for the rest of our lives.
Looking forward for more happy
UBP celebrations perhaps this Valentine’s- would I have my valentino by then???
Ahh..sigh
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