The Kitchen Mom by dhess

As they say, "anyone can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad". As the month of June enters, we now anticipate the special day to honor our Daddy, Papa, Dad, Pops, Tatay, a day to honor the man who gives a tough but warm love. This month, SM Supermalls invites everyone to have fun Dad-ventures on Dad's Day with a host of awesome fun-filled activities, deals and treats in 70 SM malls nationwide. Kids and moms can give dad the coolest gift by the experience of spending Dad's Day at SM. Adventures include Dad-licious Dining deals, such as upsized meals, dining promos, and meal combos on June  13 to 14 at participating restaurants! Dad's passion for speed and motorbikes is indulged at Extreme Wheels, an exhibit of pimped-up cars and bikes from June 13 to 18 or June 19 to 24. Meanwhile, tech for Dads teaches interested fathers how to pilot drone or remote-controlled gadgets at the drone demo or RC exhibition on June 15 to 17 or June 22 to 24...

Celebrating our independence is a way of honoring the lives and efforts of our ancestors for giving their lives to fight for our country but more than that, this also serves also as a reminder to us that whatever privilege that we are enjoying today are due to the hardships of our Filipino Heroes. One of the best ways of celebrating our independence is through showcasing the talents that we enhanced as Filipinos. Last Tuesday, June 12, SM City North Edsa celebrated Independence Day in partnership with one of the hottest street fashion designer Jeffrey Rogador, whose designs are a celebration of immense and diverse Filipino culture. His collection features a style with a concoction of contemporary and deep-rooted aesthetics that both serves to form and functionality. It is about dressing up and celebrating the liberty, diversity, and inclusivity, regardless of age. Jeffrey Rogadors designs and works represent comfort, style and a ready to wear for the people who l...

The smartphone brand that is making breakthrough is again unleashing a new game changer. Young global smartphone brand Vivo is taking the game a notch higher, launching its first X-series model in the Philippines in June. Vivo X21, the latest flagship smartphone, breaks world records as it introduces Vivo’s In-Display Fingerprint Scanning technology. It replaces the traditional rear fingerprint sensor commonly found on many smartphones. “Vivo is launching it’s first X series here in the Philippines” The In-Display Fingerprint Scanning technology was preceded by the Under-Display Fingerprint Scanning Solution unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai in 2017—the first of its kind in the world. This was no surprise since Vivo has introduced many firsts in the past. It is the first to launch smartphone with a 24-megapixel selfie camera in V7 and V7+. It is also a pioneer in launching a 20MP dual front camera smartphone in V5Plus. In February 2018, Vivo lau...

As much as the 7,641 islands that we have in our country, we are truly blessed to have a very diverse culinary history from our ancestors and this has been nurtured and perfected in the different regions that we have, giving us varieties of food specialties that we enjoy with a unique taste of each place of origin. This is one of the reasons why it is very important for us to have a common place to showcase our culture not only for us to know how rich our country is when it comes to our history but also with the different flavors. Islas Pinas, the newest indoor Filipino Food, and Heritage Village officially opened its door to the public. The new specific destination for both local and foreign guests. It was designed to showcase the richness and high spirit of Filipino culture. Islas Pinas lets you explore, discover, experience and know more about Philippine's heritage sites, hospitality, natural resources and most importantly the Filipino cuisine. Islas Pina...

As the saying goes, "whatever garbage you threw into the ocean will get back to you". One of the greatest contributors of trash in our oceans would be PET bottles, which can definitely be recycled but most of us lacked the discipline that instead of throwing it on a  proper garbage disposal, we still throw it on our ocean. Polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles are one of the most valuable forms of plastic in the Philippines and the most retrieved due to its high residual value – or its predicted value after consumption. PET bottles are commonly used in food and beverage packaging. A study conducted by global advocacy firm McKinsey Center for Business and Environment showed that the Philippines has one of the highest PET bottle recovery rates at 90 percent. “Higher residual value plastics are more likely to be collected from disposal sites and then resold. This means that products or packaging with low residual value are less likely to be collected; the...

Havas Ortega, one of the fastest growing media group in the Philippines, introduce s its new Chief Digital Officer of Havas Ortega. Ma. Criselda “Shayne” Garcia Madamba will drive the company’s digital products to meet the needs of their clients as they take the next quantum leap in the digital space. With her rich experience from media planning to business development and performance marketing, her role at Havas Ortega is to propel all digital operations. She will lead the following pure player brands of the Agency: Socialyse, a digital integrated social media solution which combines owned, earned, paid and shared social media activities for audiences to be engaged; Affiperf, the programmatic pure player that combines the best of technology with data savvy human expertise to provide solutions; and Ecselis, a business specialized on online performance marketing that aims to increase the possibilities for prospect conversions through tracking and analytics. Shayne has bee...

School should always be fun and cool, specially if you have your Jollibee School Pals.  Allow your kids to have a fun filled adventures while in school with Jollibee and friends Available with every Jolly Kiddie Meal, the Jollibee School Pals is a set of back-to-school toys, each with different functions, that enable kids to be more creative at home and inside the classroom. Young students can use the Jollibee Sharpener to keep their pencils from getting dull as they watch Jollibee spin around. With the Hetty Tape Dispenser, they can make Hetty turn as they pull strips of adhesive tape for their school projects. With the Popo Stamper, kids can watch Popo dribble the ball while they creatively decorate their projects. They can also use the Twirlie Notepad to write messages to their classmates by simply opening the base to get the notepad. After, they can pull the lever at the back to see Twirlie’s hands move with excitement. Drawing lines and shapes is more fun with ...

According to James Beard, Food is our common ground, a universal experience. With this being factored, we learn to socialize and learn more about different cultures because of food. With the same reason that us Filipinos have learned to embrace both local and foreign cuisines. Just last week, I was honored to be invited to the gathering of the top local and lifestyle bloggers for a night of extremely appetizing modern dishes, in one of the newest restaurant here in the south. Akrotiri is located at the G/F of Commerce Center Filinvest City in Alabang. Akrotiri introduced the unique Eurasian culinary concept. It reflects the Mediterranean classics with a combination of Asian taste which creates a new flavor and mouthwatering dishes. The menu was co-conceptualized by  Luca Maffei, an Italian chef with intricate taste to flavors and fusion. Did You Know? Akrotiri is a Greek term for a Peninsula. It is also an ancient village on the volcanic Greek islan...

According to Warren Buffet, an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist "investing is laying out money now to get more money back in the future". You'll never know what the future holds but being prepared is like saving your self into the worst outcome. With the month of June being the Financial Independence Month and the rise of do-it-yourself financial planning, more Filipinos can now take charge of their hard-earned money. But despite the growing information and advice on personal finance, many still lack an investing mindset. This means looking beyond traditional savings instruments to achieve future goals. In fact, Sun Life’s SOLAR (Study of Lifestyle and Relationships) reveals that only 38% of Filipinos are willing to take investment risks in order to earn more and that only 8% actually invest.  Furthermore, only 16% claim to have life insurance despite 88% of Filipinos worrying about their financial situation in case something happens to ...

The young global smartphone brand Vivo on Tuesday night teased tech enthusiasts nationwide when it posted a cryptic photo on its social media pages. The photo showed a colorful thumbprint with a hashtag #UnlockingSoon . “Unlock the future with a single touch,” the posts said, without giving any more details.  Vivo’s current flagship smartphone in the Philippines is the V9 , which was released in March. It boasts of a 24-megapixel AI selfie camera, a 16MP+5MP dual rear camera, and a 6.3-inch FullView™ Display with a 90% screen-to-body ratio. Ever since its launch in the Philippines in 2016, Vivo has been breaking barriers by introducing the state-of-the-art smartphone to the selfie-loving Filipino consumers. It was Vivo that introduced a 20-megapixel dual front camera in V5 Plus and a 24MP front camera in V7 and V7+. Aside from developing the selfie camera, Vivo has also paid attention to the users’ need for a bigger screen. Earlier this year, Vivo relea...

Filipinos are known for hospitality, strong work ethics, generosity, strong ties with family, and having a positive outlook in life, despite all the circumstances and challenges in life, Philippines ranked third (3rd ) among the happiest countries in the world in the 41st Annual Global End of Year Survey of Gallup International. Photo shows P.J. Lhuillier, Inc. (standing, from left) First vice president and IMC group head Michael Sena, president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier, senior executive vice president Philippe Andre Lhuillier, and First vice president for Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions, Foundation, and Business Solutions Jonathan Batangan. Joining them are 2015 Happiest Pinoy Richardson Navor and 2012 Happiest Pinoy Rommel Arellano. Cebuana Lhuillier, the largest microfinancial services in the country, has formally launched  the Search for the Happiest Pinoy 2018. The competition celebrates the Filipinos’ indomitable spirit of resilience and positivity and ...

The Philippine retail industry is set to move forward, despite the global market competition. The continued growth of the Philippine economy opens a lot of opportunities to the retail industry.  The Retail Associates held its first Philippine Retail Summit with a theme "Retail Globalization.” Happened at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier, this national convention aims to shape the local retail industry through a gathering of public and private sector leaders, who shared their insights on the amendments and opportunities for local retail businesses. The event focused on the discussions about how Filipino retailers can remain unfazed and successful in the local retail industry amidst the broad global market competition. It highlighted the opportunities for our local retail businesses to expand internationally and the amendments in policies concerning entry of foreign retailers. Over 200 retailers across the country joined this significant event f...

Rice is considered as the global staple food. In most of Asian countries , rice is the staple food in every table. Filipinos can eat more than one cup of rice with almost everything. It's the food source that completes the meals on the table. This is why a Filipino meal is not complete without rice. Rice has also been an important part of the Philippine culture, that one basis of growing up and maturity is whether or not you can cook/steam rice properly. Rice is versatile and it’s what makes the dish unique. Besides the fact that a meal is more scrumptious with rice, it is also nutritive. It helps control blood pressure, improves metabolism, and promotes cardiovascular health. Rice is also rich in carbohydrates that provide energy, and has small amounts of protein but has no fat. The versatility of  rice is just one of the many reasons why rice continues to be the most dominant cereal crop. Rice can be served and enjoyed in many different ways:  sushi...