Enjoy up to 60% Savings on Travel Deals from Discovery Hotels & Resorts 

Explore a world of discovery as The Discovery Leisure Company Inc. (TDLCI), one of the country’s leading hospitality groups, offers unique travel experiences at the 26th PTAA Travel Tour Expo on February 8 to 10, 2019, at the SMX Convention Center, MOA Complex, Pasay City. From weekend city stays to island escapes, Discovery’s award-winning hotels and resorts offer up to 60% off on curated value packages.

Discovery Shores Boracay

Return to Boracay’s powdery-white sand shores and stunning sunsets. Stay in a Junior Suite or One Bedroom Suite for a minimum of two nights with daily buffet breakfast for two at Sands Restaurant, roundtrip Caticlan airport transfers and dining credit of Php5,000 per stay. Rates start from Php 16,000 net per night.

For indulgent exclusivities, experience the new Signature One Bedroom Suite, complemented by buffet breakfast and a one-time set dinner at the Italian restaurant Forno Osteria, a round of cocktail drinks for two at 360 Lounge and roundtrip Caticlan airport transfers. With rates starting at Php 29,000 net per night, guests can expect unique and signature pampering from the Guest Experience Makers (GEMs) when staying at Signature Suites. 

Club Paradise Palawan

Wake up in an island paradise surrounded by vibrant marine life. For as low as Php 14,999 net per night, deals come with buffet breakfast for two at Firefish Restaurant, roundtrip airport transfers and Php 5,000 dining credit per stay.

Experience the beauty of Coron from a different perspective with a 5D4N stay Dive Package inclusive of full board meals for two per night and six dives while on-board Discovery Fleet - the ultimate in sea glamping. Rates start from Php 24,600 net per night.

Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay

Discover tranquility along Tagaytay’s mountain ridge and relish the Bed and Breakfast experience in spacious and cozy suites. With rates starting at Php 6,800 net per night, an overnight stay in either a Deluxe Suite or Premier Suite includes Country Breakfast for two at Verbena, Wine and Cheese at sundown, warm Milk and Cookies at bedtime.

Discovery Suites Ortigas

Big Suites and homey. Perfect for family weekend stays, celebrations, group getaways or even for a holiday shopping frenzy.  Value deals for Junior, One Bedroom, Two Bedroom and Three Bedroom Suites start at Php 4,600 net per night and come with buffet breakfast at Restaurant 5, complimentary Wi-Fi for multiple devices, access to the indoor pool, Balance gym and the children’s play room.

Discovery Elite members get additional privileges.

About The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc

The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc. is a Filipino hospitality group that manages a collection of hotels and resorts in exquisite locations around the Philippines. Its distinctive destinations inspire authentic experiences for every traveler, from Discovery Suites Ortigas, Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay, Discovery Shores Boracay, Club Paradise in Coron, Palawan and Discovery Primea Makati.

The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc.’s portfolio of award-winning properties is known worldwide for its signature Filipino hospitality, marked by genuine and personalized “Service That’s All Heart”.

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The Discovery Leisure Company Inc.

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The Discovery Leisure Company Inc.

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Tokyo, Japan | One of Tokyo's most crowded subway lines is hoping the way to reach their customers' hearts is through their stomachs, and offering free food to ease rush hour congestion.

Around 7.2 million people use Tokyo's mammoth metro system every day, with some lines suffering notorious crowding during commuting hours.

Among the worst affected is the Tozai line, which is now trying to entice users to take trains before the worst of the morning rush hour starts.

If it can convince at least 2,000 commuters to take earlier trains over the next two weeks, Tokyo Metro -- the company operating the line -- will offer each of the early birds free tempura.

And if 2,500 people complete the challenge to ride into work earlier every day over the period, they will each get a free bowl of soba.

If over 3,000 commuters get on board, they'll get a combo -- soba and tempura -- for their trouble.

The offer of free noodles comes as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched its own initiative over the next two weeks to encourage commuting outside of peak hours.

Nearly 1,000 businesses are taking part in the campaign, allowing their staff to start and end work earlier than usual, or work from home.

Metro officials have long attempted various campaigns to ease rush hour conditions especially on the Tozai Line, which links eastern suburbs of Tokyo and Chiba directly to the business districts of the world's largest metropolis.

During the hour from 7:50 am to 8:50 am, more than 76,000 passengers use the line, double the number of people the train was originally designed to comfortably serve.

Trains on the line operate at 199 percent capacity, which is still considered safe, but means passengers are packed so tightly they would have difficulty moving their bodies or limbs, said Takeshi Yamashita, a Tokyo Metro spokesman.

"This is our most congested line. We are always trying to ease the rush hour congestion," he told AFP.

"We hope this will encourage people to continue (taking early trains) to help ease the rush hour situation," he said. 

Commuter congestion is expected to be among the logistical challenges Tokyo will face when it hosts the Olympics next year summer, with some experts urging initiatives including tele-working to avoid chaos during the Games.

Bordeaux, France |

A 71-year-old Frenchman set sail across the Atlantic in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, hoping to reach the Caribbean within three months thanks to ocean currents alone.

"The weather is great -- I've got a swell of one metre and I'm moving at two or three kilometres an hour," Jean-Jacques Savin told AFP by telephone after setting off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands.

"For the time being my capsule is behaving very, very well and I've got favourable winds forecast until Sunday."

Savin had worked on his vessel for months in the small shipyard of Ares on France's southwest coast.

Measuring three metres (10 feet) long and 2.10 metres across, it is made from resin-coated plywood, heavily reinforced to resist waves and potential attacks by orca whales.

Inside the capsule, which weighs 450 kilograms (990 pounds) when empty, is a six-square-metre living space which includes a kitchen, sleeping bunk and storage.

A porthole in the floor allows Savin to look at passing fish.

A former military parachutist who served in Africa, Savin has also worked as a pilot and a national park ranger.

He has stowed away a block of foie gras and a bottle of Sauternes white wine for New Year's Eve, along with a bottle of red Saint-Emilion for his 72nd birthday on January 14.

Savin hopes currents will carry him naturally to the Caribbean without the need for a sail or oars -- "maybe Barbados, although I'd really like it to be a French island like Martinique or Guadaloupe," he quipped.

"That would be easier for the paperwork and for bringing the barrel back." 

Along the way, Savin will be dropping markers for the JCOMMOPS international marine observatory to help its oceanographers study the currents. 

And he himself will be the subject of a study on the effects of solitude in close confinement.

Even the wine onboard will be studied: He is carrying a Bordeaux to be compared afterwards with one kept on land to determine the effects of months spent tossed on the waves.

Savin has a budget of 60,000 euros ($68,000) for his expedition, covered in part by barrelmakers and a crowdfunding campaign.

Hanoi, Vietnam | 

Crispy, fried and packed full of worms: Hanoi's "cha ruoi" ragworm fritters are a winter foodie favourite in the Vietnamese capital, but the deep-fried delights are not for the squeamish.

The piping hot patties are made with pork, egg, fresh dill, citrus rind and a hefty handful of fried worms and served up from streetfood stalls and home kitchens across northern Vietnam. 

The edible critters flood farmers' fields as temperatures in the north drop around October and November.

Purveyors of the snack, which cost around $1 each, urge customers not to be put off by the sinuous insides. 

"It looks ugly but don't be afraid," said Bui Thi Nga, whose family has served up the speciality for 30 years. 

"The insides are delicious, and they're high in protein," she told AFP from her Old Quarter stall on a chilly December afternoon. 

The worms can also be stewed in a sticky caramel sauce, stirred with herbs or mixed with chillies to make a spicy condiment. 

But ragworm fritters -- best prepared while the wriggling worms are still alive -- have long been a favourite.

The pancake-shaped patties have been made in northern Vietnam for generations, and are even credited with keeping married couples happy. 

"If a couple misses even a bite of 'cha ruoi' during the season, not only will the wife lament but the husband will surely complain," author Vu Bang wrote his his 1952 book "Hanoi Delicacies". 

Though Vietnamese cuisine is best known outside its borders for "pho" noodle soup and "banh mi" pate baguettes, winter fritters are not the only dishes to feature creepy crawlers. 

Deep fried crickets, squirming coconut worm larvae, locusts and stink bugs are all on offer on Vietnamese menus.   

Chefs from Paris to Sao Paulo have embraced the trend, dishing up grasshoppers or scorpions as a cheap and sustainable source of protein. 

Back in Hanoi the worm fritters will no doubt remain a cold-weather staple. 

"I like eating cha ruoi in the winter. You've got the sweet and sour flavour from the dipping sauce, and the herbs are cooling... it is very unique," Hoang Thi Thu Hang told AFP. 

Cairo, Egypt | Egyptian authorities have launched an investigation into images said to show a naked couple who scaled the Great Pyramid that has sparked outrage in the conservative Muslim country, an official said 

In a video titled "Climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza", Danish photographer Andreas Hvid appears to scale the 4,500-year-old tomb on the outskirts of Cairo at night with an unidentified woman who is later seen taking off her top.

Hvid says the video was taken in late November but it was published on YouTube on December 8.

A photograph released by Hvid appears to show the couple completely naked on top of each other while looking in the direction of a nearby pyramid with the horizon illuminated.

"The public prosecution is investigating the incident of the Danish photographer and the authenticity of the photos and video of him climbing the pyramid," Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of Egypt's supreme antiquities council, told AFP.

If the video was actually filmed at the top of the pyramid, that would make it a "very serious crime", Waziri said.

The nearly three-minute video has taken social media by storm and has been the subject of late night talk shows. It has notched up almost three million views on YouTube alone.

"A 7,000-year-old civilisation has turned into a bed sheet," a Twitter user in Egypt lamented.

Another protested that "they want to soil the dignity and pride of Egyptians because the pyramid reflects the glory and grandeur of the Egyptian people".

The authenticity of the images has been disputed with some arguing the photograph showing the pair naked appears to be very bright whereas the video showed them scaling the pyramid at night.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told government newspaper Al-Ahram that the video has stirred "anger and outrage among Egyptians", and that officials in charge of guarding the pyramids would be punished if found to have been negligent.

Hvid, 23, explained back home to the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that he had "dreamed for many years of climbing the Great Pyramid" as well as of taking a naked photograph.

"I'm sad that so many people have got angry but I've also received a lot of positive responses from many Egyptians," he said in an interview.

The young Dane, who runs his own YouTube channel, said he had absolutely no interest in stirring up a crisis such as that triggered by cartoons in Western newspapers of the Prophet Mohammed.

As for the girl in the video, she was not his girlfriend. "It was just a pose. We did not have sexual relations," Hvid said.

The Great Pyramid, also known as the Khufu pyramid, is the largest in Giza, standing at 146 metres (480 feet) tall, and the only surviving structure of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

Climbing pyramids is forbidden in Egypt.

In 2016, a German tourist was barred from entering the country for life after he posted online footage of climbing one of the ancient structures.

bam-emp/hc/hkb/jkb

Los Angeles, United States 

Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance on the Grammys stage  to deliver a message about music and women's empowerment alongside superstars Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, host Alicia Keys and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith.

"Music shows us that all of it matters -- every story within every voice, every note within every song," said the former first lady, looking glam in a sparkling gunmetal pantsuit with a 1970s-esque wrap jacket.

"Is that right, ladies?" she said to resounding applause.

The Recording Academy behind the awards gala has faced a barrage of criticism for not embracing diversity within its ranks, after nearly muting women nominees at the show last year.

This year, five of the eight nominees for Album of the Year are women: rapper Cardi B, folk-rock singer Brandi Carlile, pop futurist Janelle Monae, R&B prodigy H.E.R. and country star Kacey Musgraves.

At the start of the segment, Lady Gaga -- a triple winner so far on the night -- said: "They told me I was weird... And music told me not to listen to them."

Lopez -- who has parlayed her successful music career into acting -- said that music "kept me moving from the block to the big stages and even bigger screens."

Pinkett-Smith added: "Every voice we hear deserves to be honored and respected."

And Obama added: "Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in."

Obama quickly started trending on Twitter.

The moment came at the start of a show showcasing the female talent in the music business, one year after women were largely snubbed in the major categories.

Neil Portnow, the head of the Recording Academy, told women last year to "step up" if they wanted to do better on Grammys night. 

The brazen comment drew outrage and Portnow said he would step down when his contract expires this summer.

On Sunday, the message was unmistakable -- one of diversity.

"Thank you so much, ladies, for your light, your message of love, your sisterhood," said Keys, the first woman to helm the show in 14 years.

"Give it up for these magnificent goddesses!" said Keys.