Hey Guys! I have been nominated for the Blogger Choice Awards 2009 in 4 categories!   Thank you. I need your help and spend a few minutes voting for me.

To all Filipinos out there support your “kababayan” (countrymen) and log in to http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com

A little bit tricky you have to create your account first – you do have to fill in everything and just ignore the “choose a picture”.

After that a confirmation message will be sent to your valid email address to complete your account. Go to your email and click the link to log in to http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com

On the right hand side of the bloggers choice awards website is a “search box”. Type in word “Mico Santos”. Click on the drop menu called “Choose a Category to view this Blog” and you will see all the Categories that I have been nominated.

Please also vote for my video blog called “The Sidestrip” for Best Video Blogger, Best Podcast and Best Travel Blog

On the right hand side you will see yellow “vote” button. Just click to vote for me.

Thank you very much!!! Love you all!!

Nice to have a real friends here in Wellington.

A friend you can trust and always on your side when you need them

Thank you to Pua family for a wonderful barbeque party last Christmas Day

The Kids enjoyed the party

As the holidays season continues and the temperatures as high as 22 degree last Sunday . We went to Wakefield Park to play softball with my kids.

It was a day of fun,tumbling, running and catching the ball.

We play for one hours my 3.7 years old daughter enjoyed while my 8 years old son already exhausted and tired of running and getting the ball.

After that me and my wife decided to treat them a good Mcdo Meals.

I think this holidays season is the best time to have quality time to your family.

Dog lovers and their families can do their bit for charity this summer all by heading to an adorable new movie, that’s well…about dogs!

Pedigree and Hoyts have joined forces to offer preview screenings of new film Hotel For Dogs and all you need for entry is a can or packet of Pedigree dog food!

The food will be donated to SPCA’s throughout New Zealand to feed the numerous dogs who ultimately end up in its care during the busy holiday season.

Pedigree’s Marketing Manager Oliver Downs says Hotel for Dogs is a wonderful celebration of our canine friends and the magic they bring to our lives.

“We are thrilled to offer families the chance to see such a positive and uplifting movie. We believe every dog deserves love, good food and a good home. Sadly we know that this is not the case for many New Zealand dogs and we’re glad we’re able to help the SPCA with the valuable work they do,” he says.

Downs says the company hopes to donate 500 cans and packets of dog food to the well deserving charity.

Hotel For Dogs is a comedy adventure movie that shows how far love and a great imagination can take you!

The movie stars 16-year-old Emma Roberts as Andi who along with her younger brother Bruce (Jake T.Austin) are forced to find their dog ‘Friday’ a new home when their foster parents say “no pets”.

The pair stumble across an abandoned hotel and transform it into the perfect home for Friday, themselves and every stray dog in town!

Hotel for Dogs (rated PG, Contains coarse language) opens in New Zealand on January 15^th and preview screenings are available on January 14^th. Tickets will be available for exchange on the day at the participating Hoyts Cinemas listed below and will be issued on a first in first served basis.  Please note tickets are limited.

Auckland: Hoyts Wairau Park, Cinema 7, 92 seats, 11am

Wellington: Regent on Manners, Cinema 2, 179 seats, 11am

Christchurch: Northlands, Cinema 5, 109 seats, 11am

Dunedin: Octagon, Cinema 1, 121 seats, 2pm

Fringe 09 moves with the times with its new web-based programme package. It has embraced new technology to get the programme out to the people, in the form of a comprehensive web and mobile-based service.

By partnering with MySpace and building on our existing relationships with mobile specialists Afid Mobile, web experts Springload and designers Creature, Fringe 09 will offer multimedia programme information that features film, audio and up-to-the-minute information.

The amount of information available to the community about each show will increase dramatically over what can be offered by a printed booklet.

The Fringe Arts Trust chairperson, Miranda Clayton, said the decision reflected the need to work smarter with limited resources, be sustainable, innovative and effective.

"By embracing new and sustainable ways of communicating we can provide a far richer source of information, from video clips, instant reviews from the public, last minute changes and extended biographies and backgrounders,” Miss Clayton said.

"It’s an exciting initiative for us and one that is right for Fringe – we’re a festival that loves doing it different, and our 2009 line-up of 108 productions will be superb examples of the artistic innovation that Fringe embodies.

"We are also very mindful of our overarching principles of open-access. This means anyone can out on a Fringe show, but also means that anyone can get information about Fringe even if they don’t have access to the internet or a mobile.

“We’ll be ensuring the Fringe website www.fringe.co.nz is freely available from select internet terminals across the city and we’ll be providing a free personalised programme service at the Fringe HQ to be located on Wellington’s Courtenay Place,” Miss Clayton said.

The Fringe 09 programme will be launched at a special event to be held January 15 2009, featuring preview performances from selected Fringe 09 productions.

The New Zealand Fringe Festival 2009 commences on February 6 2009 and concludes March 1. Visit www.fringe.co.nz for more information and further announcements about the Fringe 09 line up.

It’s time of the year that we spends more time to our family during the holiday seasons and probably this is my last post for this year to spends some quality time for my family.

The year 2008 is a fruitfully year to me and to my family and also to the blogging community in Wellington,New Zealand. So here ,what happened to Joie De Vivre for this year :

JANUARY – As the Greenpeace Esperanza searching for the Japanese Whalers in the southern ocean to stop them from killing the whales, me and my family went to Te papa Museum to experienced Whales Tohora exhibition . And also this month I surprised my wife a dinner for his Birthday at the Brentwood Hotel

FEBRUARY – This is the first time that my daughter will be in kindy. Despite the bad weather last Sunday the Petone’s festival is a big success.

MARCH – It was a busy month for me I attended two big events: the Gay Lesbian festival and the Newtown Festival with alots of fun and entertainment.

APRIL – I never fascinated with cars but when I went to Southward Cars Museum I said to myself “WOW”. But also this month, me and my wife celebrated our 8 year wedding Anniversary at Big Thumb.

MAY – It’s nice to have some fellow countrymen also living in Wellington,New Zealand just like what happened in “Boholano get together”. A home-made dinner date I made especially for my wife in remembering the Mother’s Day Celebration.

JUNE – The main reasons why I migrated to New Zealand because of the Lord of the Rings movies and visiting the Weta Cave in Miramar is a great opportunities. As my Oriental Bay photo featured in 2008 Schmap New Zealand Edition.

JULY – I was one of the lucky person who witnessed the selling of 1^st Iphone 3G in New Zealand and experienced the Petone Winter Carnival.

AUGUST – My blogs Joie De Vivre has been nominated as Best Blog for Personal and The Sidestrip as Blogger’s Choice Awards for the 2^nd Philippine Blog Awards.

SEPTEMBER – For the second time around another photo from my blog was featured again at 2008 fifth Edition Schmap New Zealand. I also participated in Software Freedom Day and met some Wellington Bloggers.

OCTOBER – Mico Santo’s Joie De Vivre joined the rest of the World to Stand up Against Poverty and EDay.

NOVEMBER – Twenty Cartoonist from fifteen  different  countries joined hands to fight against terorrism and they called “Cartooning for Peace” and the Girl just wanna Shwop.

DECEMBER – Thousand of  queued  to see the World famous Collosal Squid at Te PaPa Museum and the Annual Wellingtonista Awards 2008 at Mighty Mighty.

See you next year. Happy Holidays

We have a busy weekend from Saturday up to Sunday. As early as 10A.M. on Saturday, we set off going to my wife friend Carmelita in Upper Hutt City for the baptismal ceremony of their youngest daughter at around 11AM.

By 1PM, We went to Westfield Queensgate in Lower Hutt to buy some gift to Michelle’s Grandmother. And around 7PM ,We attended farewell dinner at Tita’s Thess house in Kilbernie for Michelle and her grandmother, who is going back to the Philippines today.

Next Day, We went to church around 9:30AM and after the mass, A filipino Christmas party was held in Lower Hutt which my kids enjoyed every single games.

By the way, Happy Birthday Tomorrow to Noel Genova!!

More than 15,000 people are expect to flock to Wellington ‘s Hataita Velodrome  on Feburuary 6,2009 to celebrate unity  for the biggest party in Wellington for Waitangi Day , Radio Active  89FM One Love 2009.

According to Mr Hadden Morrison,event director, that the Black Seeds, Unity Pacific, The little  Bushman  and Electric Wire Hustle will headline One Love 2009.

Aside from Roots and Cultures  DJs Topknot,Ras Twig, Misteek  and Carlito from  Radion Active 89FM, Mr. Morrison said, more announcement  are expected  in 2009.

He also added the line-up spans the core values of why  One Love  was started 11 years ago: unity,reflection,identity and a big day  of fun  in the sun.

” This is  an A-class  line -up  that is one  of the strongest  we’ve ever had for the One Love festival” , He said.” The  Black Seeds  are the epitome  of One Love ‘s sense of positivity and togetherness and the Little Bushman  is a band that has rise from the ashes  of Trinity Roots  that played  an integral  part of New Zealand’s  roots scene for many years.

Beside music, Mr. Morrison said, One Love features  a bar,art and craft,fashion,  and food stalls and amusement for kids.

Wellington six – piece  psychedelic  psychonauts Spartacus R will conquer  the  New Zealand  and they will be  releasing  their long-awaited  album "When  the Fever Takes Hold,on January 5,2009.

To recall, Spartacus R have devleoped an enigmatic profile in their hometown through their groundbreaking productions for the New Zealand Fringe Festival, Spartacus R in Otophonic(Fringe 07) and Spartacus R’s Delusions(Fringe 08).

The tour will see the group perform in Auckland,Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin as well as Palmerston North, Raglan, Takaka, Lyttelton, Stewart Island, Milford Sound, Wanaka and Queenstown.

According to the Group, the Album has spent considerable time in incubation since it was conceived in 2007, recorder at Wellington’s legendary The Surgery with the production wizardy of Dr. Lee Prebble.

It is an album that challenges the current musical fixation with Ipod-friendly singles, featuring eight tracks – some of which are long psychedelic rock jams to immerse the listener in an aural experience not delivered by any other New Zealand Band.

Spartacus R: When the Fever Takes Hold

Album launched January 5, 2009

Through Border Distribution

New Zealand tour: January 15-31, 2009

To help young women living in villages in Zimbabwe avoid being sexually abused, the HOTmilk,is  New Zealand based international maternity and nursing lingerie label, is sending a very special gift to them ..underwear.

Sometimes we can take a lot for granted.from the roofs over our heads right down to the face we own underwear,” says HOTmilk co-owner and co-designer AngeCrosbie.

“When we heard that something as simple as undergarments had the possibility of giving young women in Zimbabwe a better chance to live a life free of sexual abuse, we knew that we wanted to help.”

The Company is assisting former Zimbabwean Morag Roy, who returned to her home in Australia from a recent trip determined to help the local communities in Zimbabwe ina a very unusual way.

Roy discovered that sexual abuse of young girls there was rampant,so she asked a local priest what the girls needed most to prevent it.

“He told me that underwear gives a woman  prestige,show they have money and  men are less likely to assault them,” says Roy.

During that trio Roy also found that most of the young girls and mothers there only had one ragged pairs of knickers each,so they often wore none.

“They also desperately need knickers, but I guess a Catholic priest wouldn’t have thought about mentioning that!” she says.

“Morag had done such a great job in gathering thousands of bras for her cause and we were delighted to donate 6,500 brand new pairs of underwear to her project,” says

Crosbie. The company’s freight forwarder, Express Logistics, were also happy to come to the party by sponsoring the transport of the knickers from New Zealand to Zimbabwe.

“It was so wonderful to hear that HOTmilk and Express Logistics wanted to get involved,” says Roy. “It just proves that there are companies out there who care about others and are willing to do what they can to make a small difference.”