May 29, 2012

Let me get this out of the way. For the record, I think the name “Bonifacio Global City” is complicated, reduntant and too long. I’ve always known that area as just plain old “Bonifacio”. Then when the new development came in, we all called it The Fort. Somehow that name stuck. My friends and I still say “The Fort.”

The new developers have invested in rebranding the place as BGC. For the life of me, I find it too hard to pronounce those three letters. Can’t imagine how everyone else copes. And although it’s a highly urbanized area, it is not a city in the sense that it has no local government of its own. It is “private property” – and they have signs to remind you. And the term “global”. Really? Can’t they just call it Bonifacio? One word?

That’s just me nitpicking. Can’t shake off the urban planner in me. Now that that’s out of the way, hello BGC. The upside is, Bonifacio’s management does try to do some pretty amazing things. I have long been a fan of their public art and open spaces. They plan to keep 15% of the land development as open spaces for outdoor activities. Wish there were more trees though…

BGC recently opened theme parks, Terra 28th, Track 30th, and Turf BGC. And here’s how awesome BGC is – Terra 28th and Track 30th are open to the public FREE OF CHARGE. This makes me want to take up running.

Terra 28th is a playground for kids and families who simply want to hang out together and have fun. It has creative installations for hands-on outdoor play. Track 30th is designed with lush greens, eco-friendly functional installations, and areas for exercising and meditating. In Turf BGC, the publicly-accessible football field frequented by Azkals and UFL teams, the exciting sport found a new home and attracted new legions of fans.

BGC sent me photos of the parks. They heard that I’m passionate about the need for public parks, playgrounds for kids and kids at heart and public art. All photos from BGC Press Kit.

Interactive art. This Color Me Chameleon changes its skin color with the turning of its colorful glass beads.

Back to outdoor basics at Terra 28th’s Larong Pinoy area where traditional Filipino games of piko, habulan-taya, holen, luksong baka, and patintero can be played.

Terra 28th’s colorful Rest and Play Ribbon playground set has monkey bars, swings, and see-saws. Unfortunately I do not see any trees. I don’t think kids can play here ’til 5pm. It’s just too hot. I love the play sets though. Wish my little park project in my community can get something like these. (I am struggling with that, by the way.)

Track 30th’s Raised Running Disc helps track the distance the runner has covered. It is made of recycled shredded rubber.

Yoga practices at Track 30th. Specific Gravity yoga school in BGC guides the guests in their stretches.

Made from old telephone posts, Pole Position is a functional installation for stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, and other fitness routines.

This is Turf BGC, a publicly accessible football field in a highly urbanized area. Turf BGC uses Max-S artificial turf made of ternate yarn, produced by Limonta Italy, a FIFA-certified Preferred Turf Producer.

Terra 28th and Track 30th are open to the public free of charge daily from 6 AM to 10 PM. For Turf BGC reservation and schedule of activities, call 816-2372. Visit www.bgc.com.ph for more information.

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May 28, 2012

Last week, the kids and I did an ambitious project. My mom bought plain white Tshirts and we embellished them with dye, markers, stencils and the kids’ own art.

We had complete kit that had the dye, instructions, airbrush and all the materials needed. It was a gift from Lily’s godmother Katherine. The brand was Project Runway. We worked on the tie-dye part one afternoon then waited for them to air-dry over night.

The next night after dinner, my mom and I helped the kids decorate with final touches. Lily and Sophia worked on the stencils. We also used the battery-operated airbrush that came with the package. That part was a bit frustrating, so we ended up manually drawing the art work using stencils.

The stencils were pretty elaborate – complete with alphabets, symbols and pretty art like this tropical flower.

Sophia meant to do a statement tee with the word “Peace”. But she was too engrossed with the stencils that she misspelled “Peace” so she decided to make it “Paez” instead. Good girl!

For Stella I made stars. That is, after all, the meaning of her name. Lily insisted on using her second name, Paloma. This was completely her own design – the name, the idea of winged hearts. I airbrushed the name but she did the peace sign and hearts herself. And she drew the wings of the hearts by freehand.

Lily wore her Paloma shirt the very next day.

Stella loved hers too. And so did Soph.

We’ve had this Project Runway kit for almost a year. I never had the patience nor the time to devote to the project. Last week was our first normal non-programmed week. The kids were done with their musical theatre and ballet lessons. So we just did unplanned things. It took two days to finish this project. As you can see, the whole family was involved. Even Patrick and my Dad sat in on the decorating sessions.

We still have some dye left over from the kit. I’m afraid the kids will want to tie-dye more stuff. I’m hiding the kit from them for now. It took three days for the dye to wash off from my fingers.

Great memories were made again.

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May 26, 2012

For most of us in the Philippines, it’s that time of year when we buy school supplies and wrap books in plastic cover. Ever the procrastinator, I just got the kids school stuff yesterday. And we haven’t started wrapping books yet.

I got this Dymo LetraTag from National Book Store a couple of years ago. I don’t remember the price. It’s such a nifty gadget to have at home. I’ve been able to label kitchen containers, storage shelves and school supplies. All these years I’ve had this, I didn’t know that it had the ability to print on iron-on labels!

I was so happy to have found this roll of iron-on tape in National Book Store. I never knew it existed. I had wondered where I could order iron-on labels and now I can actually make my own! One roll is something like P495 or a bit less.

I spent the night putting name labels on each of my daughters’ uniforms. Now that Lily is going to be in Sophia’s school, we have to deal with identical uniforms for both girls. Iron-on labels will help the kids and the yayas sort out who owns what. The labels appear to be stuck securely on to the fabric. Let’s see if the labels live through the hundreds of washes in one school year. I hope it survives.

Every year I order waterproof sticker labels from iStickers. They’re more fun than the Dymo labels. The kids really like using them. I reserve the Dymo for the serious stuff like books and folders. But lunch boxes, water bottles, pens and other things get iStickers.

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May 21, 2012

I blogged about my advertiser A-Deals, Ayala Malls’ online shopping site with discounts, freebies and exclusive offers. This is part of a bigger digital retail experience designed by Ayala Malls. Their newest digital platform is Ayala Malls 360° which is available on various formats – from the website to iPhone app. It offers updated information that is relevant and immediate – from movie schedules to store hours; mall promos to weekly happenings in the mall.

The Ayala 360 includes A+ Page (favourites) where you can find all the stores you like, plus updates on sales, promos and news. Check-in Page is where you can tell your friends on FAcebook, Twitter and Foursquare that you are in Ayala Malls.

The A360 Digital Directory is revamped and easy to navigate through seamless design.

The A360 Digital Homepage

For more information, www.ayalamalls.com.ph

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May 21, 2012

At a recent dinner party my friends and I discussed food and produce. My friend only eats and cooks free-range chicken. I should really do this because I’ve read too much about how commercially grown chicken has too much hormones and anti-biotics.

Then I asked my other friend about fish. He has a fish farm. I asked why all of a sudden, there’s too much Dory fillet in the frozen section of the supermarket. I don’t even know what dory fish looks like (Pangasius) nor where they come from. And why are they relatively cheap. So then he went on and told me about the possible risks of Dory and of farmed Tilapia. He says pick red tilapia over the regular black ones. So now I’m conscious and more paranoid.

I’m not here to discredit the aquaculture and poultry industries. For the record, I eat meat, poultry and fish. I try to make healthy choices for me and my family but we are not totally organic-eaters either. I buy local vegetables – onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, pechay etc. even if imported ones are bigger an cheaper. I wish all grocery stores identified where their produce comes from. Isn’t that mandatory? We avoid processed food (no bright red hotdogs and no instant noodles) except for the occasional corned beef and SPAM (bad!) and choose slow food 94% of the time (yes, 6% of the time I buy fried chicken in fast food restaurants). No one’s vegetarian here. I’d say we’re a normal average family in terms of food choices.

While I have yet to discover a healthy choice of chicken and fish, I’m glad I found organic beef. My friends Tom and Tanya Favis sent us some steaks to try at home. And since trying it, we are now converts. The Farm Organics is available at The Landmark Supermarket Makati and Trinoma, and Rustan’s Makati, Forbes Park San Antonio, Edsa Shangri-la, Shopwise Libis and Echomarket.

Quite the unusual gift from Tom and Tanya Favis. They wanted me to try organic beef from their farm.

It was tender and perfect!

This is their Rib-eye. They also have New York and Tenderloin. Plus the regular cuts like cubes, mechado, nilaga, sukiyaki, ground beef and more.

The Farm Organics also has a gourmet line that includes ready-to-eat roast beef.

Here’s what it looks like when you take home the Ready-To-Eat Organic Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy. This is available at Landmark Makati, Landmark Trinoma and The Farm BF Homes Paranaque. For delivery, call 403-9130.

And here’s the local pasture where the cows are raised with no antibiotics and no added growth hormones. The Farm Organics beef “contains more Vitamin E and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which supports our immune system and helps fight cancer. Both the Omega-3 fats and CLA in grass-fed beef actually reduce the risk of heart disease.”

For more information like The Farm Organics on Facebook.

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