'Ethereal' Miss World Megan Young, the first ever Filipino to win the title, opens the new year for fashion magazine Mega as she graces the cover of its January 2014 issue.

'Ethereal' Megan Young on the January 2014 cover of Mega magazine. 

The beauty queen is seen sitting, wearing a cream single-sleeve wrap dress that highlights her shoulder and smokey eyes.

Young was photographed by JC Cerilla. Her cover appearance was styled by Patrick Galang, with Albert Kurniawan and John Valle on hair and makeup, respectively.

The magazine describes Young as "ethereal" and "a beauty with a purpose," having supported several charity events and fundraisers abroad for the victims of typhoon "Yolanda."

She has also been busy promoting other charity works spearheaded by the Miss World foundation.

Young, for her "beauty and purpose" was also recently topped People Asia magazine's "People of the Year" list in its 14th anniversary issue.

As soon as the air takes on a chilly nip, the radio plays Christmas songs and the streets explode with colorful lights, you know that the holiday season is just around the corner. By this time, we say goodbye to typhoons (although a couple might try to sneak through) and expect good, cool weather until January of next year. What doesn’t leave, however, is dengue which has now become a year-round issue. Falling ill with the infection amid the merriment of the season is not only a depressing thought but a real concern, since most of us will be exposed outdoors (doing our shopping, attending parties, hearing the early morning Mass) more than the usual. Fortunately, we can arm ourselves with a handful of precautions against dengue-lamok. Here’s a list of them:

Click and know dengue status of the place you’re visiting. The Department of Science and Technology has put up a website called Dengue Vector Surveillance that helps you keep track of dengue incidence in a particular city. Visit http://oltrap.pchrd.dost.gov.ph and you will see a search panel where you can input the time frame, the region and the city you wish to visit. The site also lists the schools where cases of dengue have been reported. A red marker on the place signals an alert level, which means that you have to take extra precautions if you still intend to push through with your trip.

Keep your car spic-and-span clean. Holiday season means a lot of motoring around and it pays to have your car tuned-up and spic-and-span clean. Not too many people know that dengue-lamok can propagate in a pool of water as small as a coin so be sure your car doesn’t provide any breeding ground. Regularly empty water coolers and have your trash disposed. The cleaner the car, or any place for that matter, the less likely that mosquitoes are able to breed.

Do a last-quarter check of your house. Have you been putting off making your house dengue-proof? Now is the best time to do a house check-up. Replace your window and door screen, your first line of defense not only against mosquitoes but other insects, if it already shows visible tear. Apply insect spray on damp, dark places if you suspect them be as breeding grounds. Of course, always empty vases and containers of water that are ideal places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. If your village already has a high incidence rate of dengue, perhaps it’s time to explore the idea of fumigating your house.

Wear the right clothes. When going out, be sure to dress in long-sleeved clothes. You may choose something made of cotton, linen or nylon for comfort. Dengue-lamok usually bites below the knee, so be sure to wear long pants and socks as well.

Know your dengue-lamok and apply protection accordingly. Aedes aegypti has been identified as the main dengue-carrying culprit, biting between 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Another dengue-lamok, Aedes albopictus, has been discovered to have peak biting hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. In tandem, these mosquito strains now make dengue a round-the-clock concern. 

An insect repellent offers the quickest, most effective protection so be sure you always have a bottle in handy—in your house and in your car. Green Cross Insect Repellent Lotion Gentle Protect offers barrier against dengue-lamok for up to 8 hours and is clinically formulated to be safe for the young ones. Apply it most especially on the skin that is not covered by clothing. With a fresh, clean scent, and a light, non-greasy consistency, Green Cross Insect Repellent Gentle Protect helps you keep the holidays merry.

Aspiring playwrights will learn the differences between theater and other media, constructing a story for the script, making a story feasible for stage performance, and formatting a script for directors and actors. By the end of the workshop, attendees will have a basic method to follow in writing theater plays.

For more information, please visit http://playwriting.bluebackpack.com or contact Mia Madarang of Blue Backpack Events Management at info@bluebackpack.com or +639175861906.

Bonus: Get 10% off on this event! Simply register using this promo code on or before January 11, 2014:   AP201401-ENJ

Andre and Kobe Paras will be featured guests in Regine Velasquez morning cooking show Sarap Diva's another exciting episode this Saturday, January 4, 2014.

"Sarap Diva" airs every Saturday at 9:40 am only in GMA network!

The Dream KPOP Fantasy Concert 2 will be on February 2, 2014 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Dream KPOP Fantasy Concert 2 will feature best of the best KPOP groups namely Super Junior-M, BTOB, BAP, A-Prince, Block B and A-Jax.

Check this out on ticketnet outlets and via online at www. ticketnet.com.ph. You may also call 911-5555 for other inquiries.

Ticket Prices:

SVIP (Patron Standing) - P12,600

VIP Diamond (Patron Seated) - P12,600

VIP Platinum (Lower Box VIP) - P11,025

Platinum (Lower Box Regular) - P9,975

VIP Gold (Upper Box A VIP) - P6,300

Gold (Upper Box A Regular) - P5,250

VIP Silver (Upper Box B VIP) - P4,200

Silver (Upper Box B Regular) - P3,150

Gen Ad (Gen Admission) - P1,575

Happy New Year 2014! In its official website, the Philippine government listed 18 holidays—regular and special nonworking–for 2014 that began with New Year’s Day on January 1. The next holiday to be celebrated is another new year celebration, the Chinese New Year, on January 31. Filipinos will also have special holidays for the observance of Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha. 

As we celebrate holidays recently, December has the most number of holidays in a month with five. In addition to Christmas day on December 25 and Jose Rizal day on December 30, Malacañang has also declared December 24, 26, and 31 as special nonworking days.

Based on Malacañang's Proclamation No. 655, the following is a list of holidays for 2014:

PAG ASA SA PAG GISING a fundraising concert for the benefit of Yolanda survivors featuring three awesome bands - SIDE A, SOUTH BORDER and FREESTYLE on January 3, 2014 at the Solaire Ballroom. 

Side A, South Border and Freestyle will band together for the very first time ever, to stage a fund raising concert for the benefit of the sirvivors of typhoon Yolanda. Many have attempted to produce such a concert but it is only now that they will all be together on the same stage! The Solaire Resort and Casino has generously provided us with their ballroom for this special event.

The title of this back to back to back concert is "PAG ASA SA PAG GISING." This is also the title of the song all 3 bands collaborated on to support this cause. The message of the song is to promote HOPE and to uplift their outlook in life as they rebuild and restore their lives. 

All band members have waived their talent fees to do this concert and creating the song. Literally and figuratively the bands will be doing this purely for the love.

We are hoping and relying on the big hearts of others so that we can stage this concert without spending a single centavo. Our objective is to turn over all the money we make from ticket sales to the Philippine Red Cross. 

For more info and updates,  visit Facebook. ( https://www.facebook.com/PAGASAsaPAGG...)

For Tickets call:

TicketWorld: 891-9999

Solaire Concierge: 883-8987'