Femme Power

I just drank a bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy. They say it’s got ‘no preservatives added’. Aw, c’mon…It’s bottled juice. Is that even possible? So I thought maybe… I should try it and taste the difference. The label can assure you that it has no preservatives added but the best way to believe it is through its taste. Since I’m a sucker for orange juice, I could tell which is fresh or not. And I have to say it doesn’t taste like a bottled juice at all!

I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it’s got no preservatives added.  So I read the ingredients (even the fine print) and everything checked out! It really has NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED!  That means it doesn’t have ingredients that may turn out to be allergens, or worse…carcinogens!  Whew! Now that’s healthy goodness that tastes so good, I… feel like I’m drinking orange juice right from the fruit itself. Pulpy and fresh!

So okay, it’s got no preservatives added. That’s really good, right?  Not just because it doesn’t have those icky, harmful ingredients, but it also means… you’re not accumulating trash in your body when you drink it unlike other sodas available in the market today. It’s healthy and refreshing, definitely good for the body!

So far anyone who still has a hard time believing that Minute Maid has got no preservatives added - meaning it’s THAT natural, it’s almost like it’s plucked straight from the tree, it’s just as Mother Nature wanted your orange juice to be, it’s got nothing but the good stuff yes, none of those potentially toxic stuff that can harm your brain, kidneys, heart; cause tumors aargh- the list of preservatives’ bad effects just go on!!! Anyway, just to prove a point on just how good Minute Maid Pulpy is ’cause it’s got NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED, I’m gonna include it in my daughter’s baon to school everyday and it will be my staple drink during lunch at work especially that me and my daughter need an extra boost of vitamin C. I’ll definitely let my parents and siblings try it too and I’m pretty sure they’ll love it. That should cap our family’s goal for a healthy diet this year and in the years to come!

Feels good to know about the real pulpy deal, right? C’mon show me a smile on the comment box, and you might win yourself a Really Pulpy Deal! (That’s a chance to win a Minute Maid gift pack simply by commenting. Sweet! C’mon you just might be picked as the lucky ‘commentor’!)

Love,

Rochelle, your friendly neighborhood mom!

* Many thanks to Ms. Janette Toral for spreading the word about this contest! How about you guys, have you pulped up your blog yet?

Have you ever felt a burning sensation in your eyes when you wear your contact lenses? It could be due to your saline solution.

I’ve been wearing soft contact lenses for more than a decade now but I still get frustrated about some saline solutions that sting my eyes.  It happens when I experiment on other brands when my brands of choice are out of stock.  I’m not an eye expert so I won’t even try to provide a medical explanation as to what’s causing the sting and redness but as an end-user of these products for over 10 years, believe me when I say some brands sting and some don’t. Hence, there could be something in some saline solutions that’s causing the irritation. If you experience the same discomfort, you might want to seek medical advice with your eye doctor immediately.

There are sterile saline solutions that promise a sting-free experience while working as hard on rinsing and disinfecting your contact lenses.  A preservative free saline solution could be a good alternative as it doesn’t have some substances like thimerosal and chlorhexidine present in ordinary solutions that could cause that burning sensation.

Word of advice: Once you’ve found the right sterile saline for contacts that suits you, stick with it. Just my two cents.

I was recently vacationing at a seaside hotel in the province of Leyte, in the Eastern Philippines, to attend the baptism of my elder brother’s two-month-old daughter.  I haven’t had a lengthy vacation for a while together with my parents and my all-male siblings back in Davao in the Southern Philippines, and we just met halfway from where I came from in Manila up north.

All the stress I’ve been hurdling for weeks was sort of taking a toll on me and I wanted to relax just a bit to recharge my psychomotor batteries.  I needed a break, and I needed to be comfortable and relaxed courtesy of amenities from a resort hotel.  I got what I wanted … and much more.

Since I am the type who’s nitty-gritty over bathrooms, it was the first thing I checked when I got to the hotel. The restroom had a neat shower cover, shaped like a sliding plasticware keeper to keep bread fresh.  The white tiles were squeaky clean, the floor had leaf-shaped, green-colored footsole grips, and the aluminum shower itself was sleek and stylish.

The effort displayed by the hotel management for clean restroom amenities was a crystal-clear showcase to put a premium on comfort and relaxation for hotel guests.  It wasn’t even a five-star hotel, but the presentation was at par with its higher-end counterparts.

Shower enclosures are doors used in bathrooms that help keep water inside a shower or bathtub.  They are great alternatives to shower curtains, and are available in many different styles such as framed or frameless, sliding, or swing.  And they are usually constructed of aluminum, clear glass, plexiglass, or tempered glass.

At UK’s Better Bathrooms (www.betterbathrooms.com), quality and design are evidently prime as hotels and homes using their products elevate comfort and relaxation to a tiled pedestal.  Products from Better Bathrooms include bathroom suites, toilets and toilet seats, tiles and taps, furniture and mirrors, towel rails and other accessories, and — of course — shower enclosures, shower trays, and showers.  Whirlpool baths and the Jacuzzi collection close — and enclose — the comfortability package.

The best part for the budget conscious is that Better Bathrooms is now slashing down their prices on tiles by 50%. They also have a wide array of bathroom furniture that are smartly designed even for small spaces. They also take pride of their 100% secure payment website and their after-sales service. Check out the link above and contact them online or over phone.

Better Bathrooms equal better comfort.

For my late grandma Felisa, who loved us all dearly.  She was our guide, our strength, our shelter.  I love you, Lola!

Better Days by Dianne Reeves

Still reeling from the wounds left by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year, here comes another threat to us as announced by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) - a series of strong typhoons to hit us in the coming months.

Some of our neighbors stranded on the roof of a 1-story house during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy last year. (Marikina City, Philippines)

Yesterday, classes in pre-school and kindergarten were suspended here in Metro Manila as Super-Typhoon Juan was expected to make a landfall within the day. However, the elementary school nearby decided to send the kids home when only a few teachers and students showed up.  After all, this entire neighborhood has learned so much from the Ondoy tragedy last year when murky flood water submerged houses and families were painfully separated from each other as they scampered away to safety.   There was this kid who sought refuge in our apartment while his mom waddled off to a nearby school, his dad was at work, and his sister’s whereabouts were unsure.  They were all separated by a torrent of murky water that rose so fast, it engulfed their 1-story house across the street in so little time. Looking out from our roof deck, we couldn’t anymore see the roof of the kid’s house. What else could be more frightening to a 10-year old boy than this?

Last night while I was at work, I could clearly hear the roaring thunder and the incessant pounding of the heavy rain.  It’s been raining for more than 14 hours now since last night.  But thank God, until now as I write, the streets are clear of flood water, at least not the type that I’ve seen last Sept. 26, 2009 during the onslaught of Ondoy.

News reports now say that Super-Typhoon Juan is weakening and is on its way out to the South China Sea.  Be that as it may, reports say that it damaged more than P1 billion worth of properties especially agricultural products in Northern Luzon and claimed at least four lives.  It may be a far cry from Ondoy which claimed more than 300 lives and damaged as much as P11 billion in agriculture and infrastructure. But it’s just one of the five typhoons that PAGASA warned us about until December of this year.  Four more to go. Please, not another Ondoy tragedy.

Not all nursing scrubs are created equal.  Yes, others are simply far more comfortable, pretty, and more flattering than some of their kind.  After all, gone are the days when nurse uniforms were dull and stiff.

Nurses, being busy professionals, can’t afford to jeopardize comfort to survive the daily grind and it doubles the challenge to remain lovely in uniform.  Not that they have to, but feeling good about oneself does a million wonders.  A happy nurse infects a happy patient.  Wearing a scrub that makes you feel confident about your shape begets more self-esteem and a happy feeling.  Plus the pretty colors would now hide ugly stains that are easily spotted in white uniforms, so that’s one less worry on the side.  So where to find these scrubs?

Whether you’re a nurse or simply the type who fancies nursing scrubs due to their comfortable fit and attractive colors, check out Blue Sky Scrubs online.  There you’ll find scrub clothing that will compliment your shape and color.  It’s a one-stop shop for nursing uniforms, scrub hats and accessories with dainty prints, and medical coats plus they offer free shipping on orders worth $155.  See their website (click above links) for more information.

They toil for many hours making fish hooks only to earn as little as P80-P300 a week.  Yet they don’t complain.  In fact, small projects like that put food on their table to which they’re grateful about.  After all, in a society where there are hardly any job opportunities for people like them who “walk” around in wheelchairs, it’s far better to grab any decent task that come along.  They are Persons with Disabilities (PWD), sheltered in Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta, Rizal.

Aditya Birla Minacs (the company I’m proud to work for), in its effort to reach out to these people in need, visited the charitable institution last Sept. 25 to hand over two brand

One of the two wheelchairs we donated. Received by the recipient, Ronelyn Calumpiano (center), together with ate Mely Tapiru, OIC on welfare.

new wheelchairs donated by its two accounts, Multiplan and Onstar.  Recipients of the donations were a 21-year old young woman who is new to Tahanan and a 55-year old man, the oldest resident in the center.  Spearheaded by Minacs’ HR Department, representatives from the two accounts took time to see the shelter sprawled in a well maintained 4-hectare property leased for free by the Archdiocese of Manila and Antipolo. Tahanan has several work shops for various crafts, classrooms, a wide laundry room, a display shop for their handicrafts, and clean quarters housing 5-6 residents in each room.

Holistic programs

Tahanang Walang Hagdanan not only provides shelter and employment opportunities to physically handicapped individuals but they also have programs and services for holistic development of their physical, mental, economic, social and spiritual well-being. Among these are medical assistance, rehabilitation, vocational training and employment, educational program, mobility aid assistance, small loan program and many others.

Products

Along the long corridors of the shelter, some of their products were neatly stacked up like armchairs and wood products like novelty items, educational toys, and kitchen ware. There were also silk screens for printing of T-shirt and bag designs. Inside one of their work shops were two long tables where handicapped workers assembled export-quality fish hooks which they sell for only P1.30 per pack to a contractor. Each pack contains 10 fish hooks, each meticulously crafted by expert hands.  They’re also sub-contracting in garments and packaging services.

Work opportunities

According to Mely Tapiru, the shelter’s OIC in welfare, they have 270 workers with physical disabilities and over 100 workers without disabilities. That means that the shelter knows no boundaries in providing equal work opportunities to skilled individuals, be they handicapped or not.

Tahanan’s plight

With so many mouths to feed and so many needs to attend to, the shelter is struggling to keep its head above water.  Sometimes, the shelter’s expenses are bigger than the income.  But among the things they mostly need are toiletries and food to get by on days when they get hardly any projects.

Having taken a walk down Tahanan’s corridors and witnessing the residents’ lives there was probably one of the longest walk I ever had. Long in a sense that I realized a lot of things in the few minutes that I was there.  Those few minutes were long enough for me to realize that I have so much to be thankful for and to appreciate the things that I have. Most importantly, to realize that I have so much more to give.