AirAsia Philippine's First Branded A320

Exciting travel times are ahead for us travelers as Low-cost Carrier giant expands its wings establishing its 13th hub in the Philippines. AirAsia has been in operation in DMIA (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport), Clark for many years now. I even remember having my first international flight via AirAsia to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from Clark. The difference now, is that AirAsia Philippines is co-owned and operated by Filipinos this time.

I was there earlier 11am this morning when the first Philippines-branded A320 aircraft landed in Clark straight from Toulouse, France. It was welcomed by a Water Cannon Salute and ceremonial Wine Pouring.

Now a fully operated Airline Crew to serve in the plane

As soon as the official approval to fly commercially is given (they are targeting October), the first plane would fly to Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong. A second airline is slated to arrive after and would then fly to Bangkok, Incheon, Kalibo and Puerto Princessa.

The entrance of AirAsia Philippines would surely stir up the low-cost airline industry in the country. It would be really interesting how us consumers would benefit from this.

Olympus PEN E-PL2

The much awaited Olympus PEN E-PL2 has officially reached the shores of the Philippines and is now available at major camera stores. The E-PL2 has garnered a lot of praise from photo reviews and critics. I’ve been using this silver variant for more than a week now and is liking the new design which is like a cross between the E-Px and E-PL1 line. Will be posting my field test impressions and sample photos in a few weeks. In the meantime the single lens kit with the version 2 of the 14-42mm kit lens has an SRP of  P33995 while the two lens kit with the 14-42mm and the new M.Zuiko version of the 40-150mm kit has an SRP of P39995. It comes in colors of black, white silver and red.

Seair Inflight InTheNews Dec-Jan 2011

Seair Inflight Magazine has a new look for2011. Check out their new layout on their facebook profile page and do tell what you think. I got a small photo contribution here for their InTheNews section from my recent post on Ayala Triangle Gardens Symphony of Lights. If flying Seiar anytime, checkout the magazine onboard.

Ironwulf En Route OVI App

I know from personal experience that mobile phones are getting much powerful these days that I sometimes find myself browsing through my favorite sites whenever I’m on the move anywhere. Just spreading the content of my sites in different platforms, I’m launching the new Ironwulf En Route OVI App for Nokia based phones. It delivers the latest updates from Ironwulf En Route, The Digital Dispatches and My Flickr Stream.

The App is Free which you could find here at the OVI Store. If you have a Nokia device with OVI Store, just search for Ironwulf and you’ll find the App there. It’s compatible on most Nokia Devices but is optimized for the latest handsets like the Nokia N8 where you can add a widget on the homepage to see real time updates.

App can also be added as a Widget at the homepage

The Ironwulf En Route App was made using OVI AppWizard. It was an easy (at least) 5-minute run to create. However there’s an approval period (usually 24 hours) before it becomes available at the OVI Store. This is really handy for non-programmers to create an application for OVI.

Get updated mobile site content

Hope you do check it out and install on your devices.

Ironwulf En Route Content Outline

Latest Content from Flickr and Digital Dispatch

FHM March 2010 10th Anniversary Issue and Blogs with Balls mini feature

Aside from the alluring covers from Iwa Moto and Bangs Garcia, the March 2010 issue of FHM Philippines is also the 10th anniversary of the local publication. And I got a few hints that I should also check out the issue since Ironwulf.net was mentioned on this issue. I’m an easy person to please and I was amused to see the site under a page feature of “Blogs with Balls”. Thank you very much to FHM Philippines for the mention. Here’s the write up on the feature:

En Route
Year it went live: 2003
Category: Travel/Photography

“It’s bad enough you have to slave away all week to go to that place your girl wants to visit. It’s worse if you see someone infect the wired world with mementos of his travels — and does it with great panache”

Mabuhay March 2010 Last Frame

And if you happen to fly Philippine Airlines this month, you may got to see this month’s Last Frame photo of “Praying Monk on a High” Here’s the write up:

It was atop Emeishan, one of the four sacred mountains of China that stands 3,099 meters above sea level, that FERDZ DECENA (www.ironwulf.net) captured this shot. Using his Olympus E-500 with Zuiko 12-60mm, he was at the summit when he saw this monk praying on the “Cliff of Self-Sacrifice”. He snapped this perfect shot before the monk noticed him and moved on. His photo won First Place and Reader’s Choice Award in TNT Magazine’s Annual International Travel and Photography Awards 2008 in London.

The Olympus E-P1 now available in the Philippines

The year 2009 has been looking good for Olympus since they launched the Olympus E-P1 last June 2009. I’ve been keeping close watch on the development of the Micro Four Thirds format and as of late it has been very promising in pushing the boundaries of design that other companies are already studying on how they could develop their own mirror-less interchangeable lens system just what like Olympus and Panasonic did.

The Olympus E-P1 vs Nokia N82 for size comparison

Even if the Olympus E-P1 was launched worldwide last July, it has only reached the Philippine shores recently. It was launched early this month of September and is now available at Camerahaus and next month on other camera stores as well. I’ve spoken to local Olympus Distributor here and they said that there are already high demand for the camera here that stocks is quickly depleting and it can be hard to source even in the global market but they’ll try to bring in more units soon.

In the meantime, I’m excited to actually test out this camera in the field as I will do in the next couple of weeks. Let’s see if this is the perfect travel camera I’m looking for. Right now all I can say is that it’s a good looking camera. The stainless steel metal finish is an eye-turner and definitely looks classy. I can’t really agree that it’s pocketable as I thought, maybe for large pockets. It’s a little heavier than I expected as well.

Olympus E-P1 with 17mm Pancake vs Olympus E-520 with 25mm Pancake

Let me first take note that this is not a DSLR since it doesn’t have a mirror box and it is also not a compact point-and-shoot since it has interchangeable lenses. Marketing would say that it’s simply a “Pen” but in reality, it’s a new breed of camera packing in the features of a DSLR in a compact design which is the aim of Micro Four Thirds. Now here are the key features:

• 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS Sensor
• Two new kit lenses (M. Zuiko 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 and 17mm F2.8 Pancake)
• TruePic V image processor
• 3.0″ LCD screen (fixed, 230k dot resolution)
• HD movies (720p) with stereo sound
• Linear PCM sound recording
• 3.0 fps sequential shooting
• Built-in IS with max. 4 EV steps efficiency
• Optional Adapters for all ZUIKO DIGITAL & OM lenses
• Newly developed GUI for easier operation via Live Control
• Automatic recognition of common scenes possible with i-Auto
• Dual control dials
• Face Detection & Shadow Adjustment
• Art Filters, multi-aspect ratios, multi exposure
• In-camera raw conversion (including application of Art Filters)
• Small & stylish design

Olympus E-P1 and E-520 Back panel and LCD

Olympus E-P1 Legacy since 1959

Now we come to the price. Honestly, I find the local price a bit on the expensive side here in the Philippines as I got to see the prices in other Asian Countries which are considerably cheaper. But understand that they have to import this here with all the taxes and all. But the advantage of buying the camera here is that you get a local warranty and support.

Prices:
Body only – P47,995
Body with 17mm Kit – P56,995
Body with Two Lens Kit (17mm Pancake and  14-42mm) – P64,995
*Each package comes with a 4gig SD Card free
**You can get the camera on 0% on 12 months installment

Olympus E-P1 top back side view

That’s it for now. I’ll do a series of post as I test the camera’s capabilities in real world use. The body firmware has been updated to Firmware 1.1 and I’m about to update the firmware for the lenses 17mm and 14-42mm lenses which according to some forums have reasonably improved Autofocus Speed by 30-40%. In the meantime, enjoy these photos as I do some size comparisons on how small this camera is and some detailed shots of the Olympus E-P1.

Olympus E-P1 Front Top Side View

The Philippine Blog Awards 2009

It’s that time of the year once again as we give recognition to the blogs that have moved and shaped the Philippine Blogosphere in their respective niches. It’s the 3rd year the Philippine Blog Awards (PBA) and each year it is getting better. The theme this year is “One Blogging Nation” and the celebration for the awarding of the best of the best will be held in three separate venues – Manila (Luzon), Cebu (Visayas) and Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao).

And today PBA 2009 has rolled out the finalist under the 24 categories. You can check out the finalist here.

Watch out for the Awards night in Manila on October 9, 2009 6:00pm. Venue is still to be announced.

If you can’t make it, it will broadcasted live online on Flippish.com

In the meantime as we wait for the grand night, check out the PBA Teaser Videos:

PBA V1: The Blogger

PBA V2: The Jingle