The YS hotlist

(2nd of 2 parts)

MANILA, Philippines - We continue last week’s recent degrees of cultural heat (1-15) and finish at a feverish 37. Despite the recent storms, the following things have made for one hot (and also, undeniably cool) summer.

16 Because we’re gifted with the power of flight

Mika Santos, 25-year-old serial adventuress and development manager for whl.travel, tells us why E-enablement and budget airlines have made our generation and this summer so fly: “I guess it all boils down to the wonders of the Internet: ticketless online booking and competition among airlines that gets fares lower and lower. The ultimate budget airfare trip I found was my trip to Europe. With a magical combination of Air Asia and Cebu Pacific promos, my complete roundtrip ticket cost me roughly P27,000. I normally book my flights months in advance, which always gives me something to look forward to as I go to work every day.

“So we’re lucky because this day and age has set a new standard for independent traveling. We don’t need travel agents, nor do we need to ask our folks for travel money anymore. Also, our ‘archipelagic’ geography was always a disadvantage when it came to local traveling, but I’m so glad it’s made easier with all these budget flights. More and more Pinoys can see the rest of their country now.”

17 We all went to Coachella this year

Now everyone’s festival: Just don’t call your bazaar Coachella

One weekend, one YouTube live webcast, one generous sponsor and one annual music festival was all it took — and suddenly, Indio isn’t so indie anymore. Coachella can now enjoy greater global ubiquity thanks to technology, for the rest of us in the world who aren’t under the Palm Springs sun were granted an all-access pass to The Strokes, Arcade Fire, Kanye West and many more.

This year’s festival guarantees its aspirational status, especially for the kids, earning a spot in life checklists and initiating itself as a trophy of cool. Coachella is as much of a brand as it is about its music these days, but using it as a bazaar name might be what you call pushing it. Let’s call a spade a spade here; but don’t worry, the kids will be all right.

18 Manila Minds: The new, no-nonsense creative movement

Sometimes it’s hard to admit that we can’t stop complaining about life in PH. For most of us, it has become the city of inconvenience. The rants are endless from having the worst airports to miserable public transport to rocky asphalt roads and stagnant salary schemes. And we expect government to get its act straight in an instant. But, as the cliché goes, we have to do our part and it’s about time we think... and collaborate. You have probably come across ManilaMinds if you lurk around the Twitter accounts of @sarah_meier, @iamsuperbianca, @teammanila, @quarklovesyou and @vickyherrera_, among others.

Manila Minds is the by-product of Project Heal Manila, a global organization that supports “sustainable community-based projects designed to empower the youth of the Philippines.” It all started one day when Project Heal Manila co-founder Marisa Pizarro was observing Twitter and, together with her team, she realized that it would be a great idea to bring together the movers and shakers in Manila.

“Manila Minds wants to teach people how to use their natural given talents in giving back to the community — to share what people do well. Everybody’s influential in their own leagues,” says model-host Sarah Meier-Albano, one of the proponents of Manila Minds movement. The goal was to bring together at least 40 creative minds aiming to change the country. Sarah spoke about connecting dots and making a vision into reality during the first Manila Minds session at creative co-working space co[LAB] Manila which serves as the headquarters and energy central for the movement.“The participants naturally engaged in matchmaking where people broke away and started their own projects. But what resounded the most among the entire group was the issue of tourism and how Filipinos have to work with what we have,” she adds.

As of now, the movement continues with its goal to build a project that will boost Philippine tourism.

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For more updates on Manila Minds, log on to www.tumblr.com/tagged/manila+minds.

Meet our Tumblr royals next week Photo by hannah Reyes

19 The Tumblrverse explosion

Recent converts like Tim Yap and other celebrities have joined the leagues of the 18-million-plus-strong platform, proving that everyone’s discovering their online identity to the fullest these days.

Watch out for Young Star next week, as we unveil our local monarchs in Tumblr—the new dictators of taste and cool.