Shoe and Bag Savior: Besa's

I was so disappointed with a newly bought pair of shoes from Nine West that got slightly damaged after a few weeks of using it. I asked Nine West store in Powerplant if they can repair it for me but they mentioned they don't do repairs. They referred me to Besa's instead.

Few days after, I went to Besa's corner secretly tucked in Glorietta and was so amazed that they can repair almost anything of your prized shoe/bag possession. I was even elated that repaired item can be claimed within the day if brought in the morning.

After being satisfied with my shoe repair, the following week, I brought a bag for repair as it needs some restoration after my KL trip with the girls. The bag has a sentimental value to me since it was given by my husband. Lo and behold! It looks brand new after they restored it!

PAL Website: Dummy or Real?

This is my third time to book an online flight with PAL's website but unfortunately after every payment transactions entering card number and verification, it always states: "your transaction has been cancelled...."

Oh well...i guess something's wrong with their server. I've been wanting to go back to our home province soon so I took the risk of double payment in my credit card and did the transaction again delivering frustrating results. Same scenario occurred. Something is wrong with their site I guess. Maybe it was just a dummy site.

I also tried booking online few weeks back when they had their Real Deal Promo on cheaper international flights which turned out to be not so real after all since same dilemma occurred. Please go and check out their site at www.philippineairlines.com and see if same scenario applies to you.

Let me know if it works for you so that I could try it out again.

TV Musings: Tayong Dalawa, May Bukas Pa

Some primetime TV shows are gaining lots of raves because scenarios in the teleserye bare semblance to situations faced by the majority. I watched Tayong Dalawa and was intrigued on everyday semblance in the workplace. Here are a few of my personal observations:

Most of the time, people are not what they seem to be.
Some people seem to dress well and keep a clean image on the outside but is totally opposite on the inside.
Some people would resort to all means to destroy another.
People would often times talk behind your back but there are also times that they will indirectly destroy you in front of others.

Some willingly abuse their authority oftentimes use their power for their own personal gain and to the detriment of others.
Some tend to be jealous while in fact there is nothing to be jealous of.
Some people are not satisfied with what they have that they want what others covet.
Some people are scared of the consequences

Some people are scared to be on the good side
Some people tend to do things against their will since they need to cling to someone and cannot stand by themselves

I do hope that a lot would have the attitude of Santino in May Bukas Pa.. To see the beauty despite the negativity. To continue to count blessings whether big or small.

On Child Intelligence and IQ Points

Can milk make my child intelligent? I believe it alone, cannot.

Intelligence is a combination of genes, proper nutrition and the environment (situations and encouragement from parents,school and others in the community experienced by the child).

I happen to chance upon an advertisement on + 7IQ points. It created interest in me. As a mom, I always wish for my child to be successful in life. I have always believed that high IQ Points is a nice to have. When I saw the advertisement on it, I started asking myself if it is a must have.

I inquired with a pediatrician what the +7IQ Points was all about. Doctor was accommodating enough and told me that the study mentioned on the possibility that your child may increase his IQ Points while drinking a specific formula milk fortified with DHA. What most failed to look and inquired at was the comparison of its control group (vs the group which drank the formula fortified with DHA). When I asked from what group was it compared to, what I understood from what has been explained was apparently the control group used was a milk not fortified with DHA. I think case will not be true here in the Philippines as most of the milk brands found in our country is already fortified with DHA.

DHA's best source would be breast milk and breast milk is free of charge. Even if milk products are highly competitive on each other with their product offerings and claims, I totally agree on the saying, "breast milk is still best for babies".

I cannot afford to pay a huge amount of money to buy a milk highly fortified with DHA but is substandard in terms of other nutrients important for a child's development. I hope milk companies would be more responsible in their advertising. As a mother, I fervently hope one day that one or all of them would have a genuine interest to help moms rather than to mislead them in their advertising claims.

The Search for the Next Supermarket

Shopwise Makati is undergoing some renovation these days which makes it inconvenient for shoppers like me.. They've rearranged again their shelves. It's one of their strategies to maximize space for the store - to occupy previously dead spots and encourage shoppers to go through all the aisles/spots as much as possible.

For now, I am in a search for the next supermarket place where I will religiously do my groceries. I passed by Cash and Carry this afternoon after we drove near the area to find a shop who does sofa re-upholstery. I was shocked that parking space for Cash and Carry already have a fee!  I was also shocked to see an almost full parking. I parked near the exit area already. We managed to get a good exercise walking from the parking to the entrance.

Cash and Carry transformed from your neighborhood supermarket to your nearby mall. Inside was bright and I found it manageable to stroll around the mall. I managed to buy an office blouse and found a great bed to our liking since I was also canvassing for a good bed frame for my toddler.

We did our groceries and I realized that there are a lot of choices in Cash and Carry compared to Shopwise. Imported goods where everywhere to be found. Prices were relatively cheaper for most of the products compared to Shopwise although I found the quality of meat in Cash and Carry almost similar to Shopwise's but relatively expensive compared to the latter.

I still want to try how it is to do groceries in nearby supermarkets such as Puregold, Waltermart, Landmark and SM. Until I find the next supermarket where I can comfortably do my groceries. 

Davao's Best Dining Places

During the holidays we were able to go around Davao and discovered a few great dining places mostly with families..Some are quaint while most of them are ideal for families.. Here are a few of my favorite dining places in random order:

• Paparazzi - A great pizza place near Mabini St. I loved Papa's Pizza! I was disappointed when they closed down their Ilustre branch but was ultimately pleased when I found out that makers of Paparazzi pizzas are one and the same of Papa's Pizza. I loved their Prego Pizza so much!
• Sugarmunch - A great dessert place tucked in Marfori Subdivision. You won't miss the gold and white stripes beside Gigz party shop. Most coffee shops in the city serve Sugarmunch delicacies. I would recommend to try their Dark Moist Chocolate Cake. Its super delicious and easy on the pocket!
• Papa Ching's - If you loved Molave's Chicken recipe, then you would definitely love Papa Ching's greaseless chicken. I couldn't believe I finished an order of half-sized chicken by myself!
• Aseya - A door away Humberto's place, one would love their own version of fusion dining of Thai, Indian and Malay cuisine. Check out their Aseya salad and their version of spring rolls and Pad Thai. Their chocolate cake is a must try in which my lovely guess would come from Sugarmunch.
• Hola Espana - Finally, an authentic Spanish cuisine in Davao City! One should try their Paella dishes and steak! Be prepared to shell out some money though.
• Tadakuma - It used to be situated at the back of Chowking Bajada. I loved how fresh their makis and sashimis are! I frequent their place near Central Bank. I recently learned that they opened a site in Damosa.
  
• Harana - a nostalgic place for me! We used to spend our childhood playing in their big playground. Now, its our children's turn to play. We never got tired of playing that we dined out here twice during the holidays.
  
• Sarung Banggi - we normally have dinner at this place to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. This time around we had lunch here during my birthday. I loved all their steaks - Pepper Steak, A la Pobre, Porterhouse are a few of my favorites.
• Banoks - We are Colasa's lovers but when I observed that Banoks almost became ubiquitous in the city, I got curious and tried out their Chicken Barbecue. We dined in their Torres branch. Loved the chicken (but not as much as Colasa's) and downed it with fresh buko juice. I got extra curious with Allegro' s ice cream freezer standing nearby and tried out the Durian Ice Cream. Yummy for a non-durian lover like me.

There are still a lot of great places to dine out in Davao. The list will continue hopefully in my next visit!

Iloilo Breakthrough

We went to Iloilo for  a business trip. It was my second time to visit the place. The first time was about 6 years ago enroute to Boracay from Davao City. I never had a chance to visit the place since then. 

I used to remember that Iloilo's airport was near the sea. I was quite surprised that we were about to land in an airport amidst green fields. The airport was relatively new - clean and sleek. It reminded me of a junior version of the Davao City International Airport. 

The city was a few minutes away from the airport. We were billeted at the Westown Hotel in Smallville area(I hope I got the names correct). My colleagues and I decided to be adventurous then as it was mostly our second time to go to Iloilo but we never had a chance to tour the place during our first visit. Included in our list of things to do list in Iloilo was to try their Batchoy, eat in a great local restaurant and try out Chicken Inasal as well as fulfill our business duties of going on trade checks, cascade to the Iloilo team our plans for next year and attend the provincial Christmas party. 

After checking in, we decided to go out for lunch. Unfortunately, most of the establishments near the hotel are only open from 5pm onwards as the area was known to be a gimmick place. We asked the taxi driver on where it would be great to eat for lunch and we were led to Breakthrough - a seafood lover's delight. The place was quite far from the city proper but the long trip was all worth it after savoring their version of Aligue rice, fried and grilled version of hito, Halaan soup, sisig na lechon among others. We even had a refreshing Buko Juice! We loved everything that we ordered. Moreso, we were shocked to see that our bill was only half of what we've expected it to cost. We had a hard time looking for a taxi back to the city but we cared less as we were fully satisfied during lunch time.

Afterwards, we did our trade check at SM, bought a few pasalubong from BongBong's stall and proceeded with our cascade to field sales in the afternoon. At night, we attended the area's Christmas Party held at Nelly's Garden. I was relatively impressed with the set-up that I would like to commend the organizers for putting up a great show. Since we were not able to eat Batchoy and Chicken Inasal for lunch, after the Christmas party we decided to try La Paz Batchoy at Deco's and had to give up trying Chicken Inasal since we were already full.

In my next Iloilo business or personal trip, I would definitely try out Chicken Inasal and hopefully visit the famous Miag-ao Church which is a few miles away from the city. 

From PLDT to Bayan Tel

I've always been a PLDT subscriber for more than 3 years now but after checking out Bayan Tel's attractive offer in the daily newspaper, I decided to give up my PLDT subscription and shift to Bayan Tel Wireless phone. Although monthly subscription fee is relatively the same between the two networks, what's good about my new subscription is that I could take unlimited calls nationwide. I even have about a few hundred bucks worth of SMS and calls allocation made to other cellphone networks. 

Bayan Tel has improved on their coverage. I'm relatively happy with the switch as I now have a wireless phone that I could conveniently bring anywhere we go. I don't have to worry about long distance calls as I could call my family back in our hometown for as long as I want since they are also Bayan Tel subscribers for about 5 years now.

Newspaper Ad Erratum: The Enfa Equation

9+5x2-(7x2)=14 

Right???? Absolutely wrong!!! 

Whoever got the same answer as the above has long forgotten the MDAS Principle (Remember My Dear Aunt Sally or My Dear Ateneo Students? )

I was embarrassed for Enfakid's latest broadsheet campaign printed in Inquirer today. I now question their credibility regarding their product claim on nourishing the brain to pursue excellence.

Would they issue an erratum? I don't think so but I dare them to do so.

Will they cancel their other placements on this particular material? I hope so!

Whoever proposed the ad and approved of the ad need a major and immediate math remedial class. 

TV Experience: On Milk Commercials

With the current issue on the safety of milk products due to adulteration of melamine, I was relatively surprised that no milk company has assured consumers of their product's safety on television except for one milk company. My assumption is that they wanted to detach any association consumers may have on the issue that its sister company face in China. My two other assumptions would be that it is quite expensive to advertise on tv and brands confirmed safe by the local regulatory are responsible enough that they don't need to take advantage of the situation to the detriment of their competitors.

Amongst the all the milk commercials in the market, I was relatively intrigued and a little bit frustrated when I saw Lactum's recent advertisement on television. Sometimes I feel Lactum is reacting to their major competitor's efforts - primarily that of NIDO. 

NIDO launched in succession its t.v. commercial featuring celebrity endorsers starting about 3 years ago with Carmina, then Marjorie, and lastly with Ruffa. Lactum did not hesitate to follow suit with their celebrity campaign this year and got Carmina as well. Objective for this marketing move might be to insinuate to consumers that Lactum is a better brand than NIDO? I wonder if this is so or would it be otherwise. 

I guess NIDO grew tired a bit of featuring celebrity endorsers about late last year and featured non-celebrity moms one after the other. Lactum followed suit with a lot of celebrity (Jodie, Claudine and Carmina) and non-celebrity moms alike about early this year. Perhaps this enabled them to gain a quick win as I believe celebrity endorsement if used properly will do wonders for the product.

NIDO went back to celebrity moms this year featuring the megastar promoting NIDO FORTIFIED as her one milk for her kids. Lactum countered (again!) this proposition saying that there is no such thing as a one-sized milk that fits all your kids. I was relatively frustrated by this proposition and even questioned if there really is no such thing.  I remember in previous years, there were no 1+ 3+ or 6+ type of milks and parents were able to raise kids then with proper nutrition. Ask your parents, your boss or your president if they were given a milk brand with any + or number in linked to their name when they were young. I used to remember when we were still in our early elementary years, my siblings and I used to share one milk - we drank Magnolia Fresh Milk in the glass bottle and NIDO during our younger years. 

I don't mind various milk products trying to own a perception in the consumers' mind as it is a primary need to succeed in marketing. I hope though that they would stop focusing their efforts to degrade competition in order to succeed. 

I fervently wish someday that instead of countering each others efforts on various product proposition, milk companies will help each other out and start promoting milk drinking altogether in the country to help improve children's nutrition in the Philippines.