Designed as an ‘executive brief’, the Groovy Map N Guide has everything you need to get the most of a city in a short time. With clear maps and independent reviews, we’ll lead you to the best in the city. Guaranteed.

We list and locate places on the map in five categories: Groovy Dining, Groovy Bars & Pubs, Groovy Shopping, Groovy Culture, Groovy Clubbing. Leave the guidebook at home — and go out and enjoy a “city made simple”.

Chris Mitchell summarized in his Travelhappy blog: With a map, you don’t want a lot of information – you want the best information, efficiently organised to let you look at it and understand it rapidly – and that’s precisely what the Groovy Map does.

Mr. Celdran himself offers a quick review:

I assure you that it has NONE of the useless crap, advertising and flagrant product placements that the other city maps have. Filled to the brim with useful information about dining, sightseeing, gay and straight bar hopping, and shopping, the map gives you the insider’s view of what to expect as seen through the eyes of someone who you assume is as groovy as you might be. The choices are also rather progressive, the map features underground insider secrets like Fat Michaels, Filling Station, the Evangelista flea markets, and the fantastic Cubao X art scene among many others (like yours truly). Best of all, the map is printed on super thick lamination paper so that it wouldn’t rip or get soggy on the streets steamy ol’ Manila. Be sure to pick one up before you arrive in the city. Or if you are a resident Manileno, just buy a whole bunch to give to visiting friends who wish to independently explore Manila in a fast and funky way. No surprise, that the Groovy Guide was the 2006 Winner ‘Best Tourist/Free Map’ Award from the International Map Trade Association (IMTA) and a recipient of a 5 star rating from Amazon.com.

Groovy. Get one so you can get around.

Apple what?

Last Thursday in Prince of Jaipur at The Fort, Dell Philippines launched its award-winning XPS and Inspiron laptop computer systems for the consumer segment.

And what an arrival it was! In a dazzling display of colors and artistry – featuring a stunning glow-in-the-dark pantomime performance and an enthralling capoeira number – Dell offered possible in-store buyers a vibrant peek of the beauty and power of its Consumer Brands. “Experience Inspiration,” went the tagline.

For the first time in the Philippines, Dell will be making available through retail partners the award-winning XPS M1330 and the Inspiron 1420 laptops, as well as the Inspiron 530 and slim-build 530s desktops. These were on display during the launch, and then later raffled off to lucky guests, which of course did not include me.

In a statement, Dell Philippines Country Manager Barry Bunyi said: “This is an important initiative for Dell and a great way for us to connect with the Philippine customers we may not have reached in the past. We have had strong success in the corporate segment and the time is right for us to allow the general populace to experience what Dell has to offer.”

For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS.

Photos by Nykko Santos.

Are you a fan of jazz? Are you a fan of music?

If you are, then prove it by joining the biggest musical festival in the country this year: The Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival 2008, which started last 29^th of February in Manila and runs until the 15^th of March. Featured international artists include Lee Ritenour, Kurt Elling, Omar Sosa, Sara Gazarek, Chico and the Gypsies, and Incognito. From local shores we have Johnny Alegre, Bob Aves Group, Toti Fuentes, Gerard Salonga, Manuel Baldemor, and the Brass Munkeys, among others.

The event this year is made more special because the organizer, P.I. Jazz Foundation, is now involved with UNICEF. Efforts are being made to bring jazz to the youth through development programs such as school workshops in Far Eastern University and the University of Santo Tomas, summer music training courses, a talent search contest, and mall tours featuring our top local musicians.

The real reason why I am all hyped up about it, however, is the phenomenal Raul Midón. You’ve simply got to see him! The blind New York City-based singer-songwriter and guitarist will be down at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza to give a free workshop on March 12. And on March 13, he’ll be featured in the main concert with Montreal-based jazz pianist Lorraine Demarais.

For more information, visit the official website at http://www.pijazzfest.com.

As I write this, Rodolfo Jun Lozada is delivering a speech at an ongoing interfaith rally in Makati City. Lozada is the star witness in the national broadband network scandal who claimed that Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and her political and business allies were behind the overpricing of the project that eventually went to China’s ZTE Corp.

Among those leading the rallyists are former president Joseph Estrada, Brother Eddie Villanueva, and Archbishop Oscar Cruz. Estrada’s spanking red sneakers are hot.

For updates, read the breaking news courtesy of Inq7.net.

Just as 2007 turned 2008, we’re now tearing off the first month in our calendars and looking at February: to the romantic, the month of love.

Pardon me if this sounds like an advertisement, which it isn’t, but do look into the treats and packages of The Legend Villas in Mandaluyong as you consider your options for going out with family, friends, or special someone. How ironic to be escaping from the city by going to the heart of it, you say. I say ironic and worth your while. I’ve been to that hotel only once, briefly last year, but I single it out now if only because their extraordinary service is quite unlike the kind most people have gotten used to in this age of rude attendants and careless discourtesy. It’s my way of being patriotic, I guess.

At least drop by to try the breakfast buffet at Lola Maria’s Coffee Shop. It was designed to be a quaint cozy place with a variety of good local dishes, and the free Wi-Fi connection (Ha! As always!) is a luxury. There’s a nice little pool with a patio beside it for families and children looking to beat the heat. There are function rooms for business men, I think, but do you really want to spend Valentine’s cramming status reports and delivering presentations?

Best of all, everything about the hotel is distinctly Filipino. The architecture. The cuisine. The management direction. The employees’ uniforms even. And, of course, the hospitality. Manila ought to have more places like these.

I don’t know how I ended up eating in two unassuming restaurants last week, but I’m very glad anyway that I did.

The Outback Café in DOT-accredited Swagman RPL Hotel Manila should be one of the best and most authentic Australian cuisine specialty restaurants in town. It’s not first-class at all. Located on A. Flores Street at Ermita, the place feels rather like a pub in a foreign country. Very cozy. Subtle lighting. Great location. When I went there, I saw a nice little poster of Steve Irwin (who must be a hero in his country), a huge crocodile replica beside the versatile bar, two big-screen TVs playing The Australian Open, and a two-member band playing the requests of a thick, expat-filled crowd. There’s also free Wi-Fi Internet access for those who have to send E-mails while knifing away at the fabulous steaks.

Not that they serve dishes exclusively from Australia; if you prefer your breakfast, lunch, or dinner the Filipino or American way, then the extremely courteous waitresses would be happy to serve you. Whatever you order, ask for the traditional HP brown sauce – I don’t know why it’s not popular here in the Philippines, but it’s fruiter than A1 – and, of course, for a bottle of your favorite wine.

The other surprise treat I got was a Friday afternoon snack at Carmelino’s Grill, one of those hidden joints near the domestic airport. Less crowded than, say, Razon’s or Dreamhaus in Taft Avenue, the café is a perfect place to say your goodbyes to friends and family leaving on a jet plane. Or to have a cup of brewed before checking in at the airport. Or to just have a one-of-a-kind breakfast. I’m not familiar enough with the menu, but they do have a delectable array of fruit shakes and a variety of Filipino merienda choices.

Which new unadvertised places have you been to lately?

Have you read any Paul Theroux? One of the American writer’s more recent novels is Kowloon Tong, a story about a forty-something Brit who has lived all his life in Hong Kong, and whose escapades include being “entertained” in dark clubs by a Filipina from Manila named Baby.

Following is a passage from the novel, chosen for its description of Manila:

Luz (Baby’s friend) was from Manila, city of bangers and jitneys. They were single-minded, and credulous, and you could never please them, and that was why a million was meaningless, just funny money.

Here’s another:

He considered this (going to Manila) in an idle way, inventing a life, hypothesizing his moves, from arriving there and meeting someone like Baby, to raising children and perhaps starting a business. He got that far and then became obscurely anxious – was it the children or was it everything he had heard about the Philippines, the danger and dog-eating and disorder?

I do not know what to think. What do you? Mr. Theroux’s image of Manila is not inaccurate, but it certainly isn’t complete. I do hope that any one of our realist fictionists would soon offer a magnified glimpse of our city, its sights and sounds: from the enchanted, to the ugly, both the beautiful and the honest. Just like how Lino Brocka depicted old Manila in his films.

By the way, Mr. Theroux kind of looks like Orhan Pamuk, don’t you think?

Have you seen this?

The Philippine Street Art Community is “everywhere in the Philippines.” I am not going to be the judge of whether this is eye-candy or vandalism, but who wouldn’t prefer prefer this kind of graffiti over whatever kind of art the MMDA has to offer?

Photos from http://pilipinastreetplan.blogspot.com/.

Have you taken the LRT recently? Well – we all should…if only to wax poetic during the ride.

The Instituto Cervantes de Manila, led by Director Jose Rodriguez, and the Light Rail Transit Authority have collaborated to install posters inside the carriages of LRT – all of which contain celebrated Spanish-language poems by such writers as national hero Jose Rizal, Jesús Balmori, Claro M. Recto, José Palma, and Fernando Maria Guerrero; Spanish poets Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega, García Lorca, Antonio Machado, Luis Cernuda, Luis Rosales, Miguel Hernández and Gil de Biedma; and Latin American writers Pablo Neruda and César Vallejo. The poems, of course, have Filipino translations (so we can stop ogling at strangers and start memorizing some fine verse).

This new promotional campaign, entitled “Verse in the Metro”, was launched recently to encourage reading among Filipino commuters, as well as to strengthen the ties between Spain and the Philippines, two countries that share a common past that spanned more than 300 years.

“With almost one million commuters riding the train every day, it provides a great opportunity for the reading campaign to reach as many people as possible,” Rodriguez (rightmost in the photo) said.

Instituto Cervantes is the cultural arm of the Spanish government that promotes and teaches the Spanish language and culture. It is the largest Spanish teaching organization worldwide, with more than 70 centers in 4 continents. With its collection of classic and contemporary Spanish Institute, movies and music, the Instituto library has become an important agent in promoting the Spanish language in the Philippines and is an indispensable source for those who are interested in Spanish and Latin American cultures.

(Photo courtesy of The Manila Times.)