TOPAZ HORIZON

When I saw Kris Aquino at the Ariel Wash Your Fears Summit at the Shooting Gallery in Makati, she looked every inch the formidable superstar that she is. Dressed in a figure-hugging green dress, sparkly black platform pumps, jewels dripping from her ears, wrists and fingers, and her hair in a tumble of waves all over her creamy white shoulders, Kris had a particular air about her—a "Don't mess with me" air and we all found out why soon enough.

Kris Aquino with host Bianca Gonzales.

Kris's first order of business—aside from discussing the state of Filipinas and how to overcome fears—was to address the rumors about the jewelry she wore at a dinner during the APEC Summit. Some nasty person started a nasty rumor that Kris stole the necklace from the sequestered jewelry of nasty former First Lady Imelda Marcos. Kris brought the necklaces onstage and showed them off to everyone, saying the necklaces are not diamonds but cubic zirconia. She also advised us that hindi lahat ng tsismis ay dapat patulan because mauubos talaga oras mo, but she just had to stop this particular rumor because it left an ugly stain on the memory of her mother and on their family name.

Everyone loved that! I loved that! I went through being gossiped about, too. I think lahat naman tayong babae pinag-usapan at one point or another. I'll talk more about this on my Facebook page this week but for now and for here, all I want to say is sometimes you have to bravely confront falsehoods and clear your name. It may be a lot of trouble to do it but some things you can't take sitting down.

Speaking of bravery, the whole event by Ariel was to celebrate the courage of the Filipina. The theme was confessing our fears and washing them away. It was a vulnerable moment for all of us who attended.
Second, we were asked to name our biggest fear and write it down on the shirt. This is my biggest fear, moms: illness on any member of our family. I don't even want to write down the particular diseases I'm afraid of but basta sakit, ayoko niyan. As long as we're all strong and healthy, everything else is just a silly worry. Death and illness is never silly.

Third, we had to drop our shirts of fear in a bin for Kris and the other brave women Ariel was honoring in their Wash Your Fears Summit to wash later.


Kris was joined by author Miriam Quiambao, advocate for peace and development Amina Rasul, advocate for health and environment Anna Kapunan, advocate for children's education Alou Chua, journalist Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, entrepreneur Mandy dela Rama, lifestyle columnist Mons Romulo, pilot Aimee Carandang Gloria, founder of The Cravings Group Badgie Guerrero-Trinidad, executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women Emmeline Verzosa, and chief of the women's center of TESDA Maria Clara Ignacio. All of these women shared stories about how they succeeded in their work, how they help other women make a better life for themselves and their children, and how they faced their fears. Yes, these brave women are also afraid every day!

The panel of women confessed their fears one by one (and yes, they also wrote their fears on white shirts!) and their fears were profound. Miriam said she was afraid she won't use her life for God's purpose. Samira and Amina were afraid of prejudice on them as Muslims and women. Anna was afraid that the world will use up all its resources and we will all die. Valid talaga lahat ng fears nila, but when Kris said her one fear in life was for any harm to befall on her family, all the women in the room nodded in agreement.

Most of us in that room are moms. To be very honest, wala na akong fear for myself. I'm one of the most fearless people I know. Yes! Wala talaga akong takot, lalo na nung bata pa ako. But it's not very wise to always be so fearless kasi kung wala kang takot, madalas wala ka ring hiya. I was never afraid to say what I think, to do what I want, to go where I please. While I'm happy I live life fearlessly, I'm aware that some people have been hurt in the process, my parents especially.

Now that I'm a mother, I confess I'm assailed by fears every day, that's why I tread more carefully now. But these fears are not for me. All my fears always concern my kids. Dear God in heaven, I am afraid every day for my kids' health and safety! But helpful fact, mommies: The Bible says, "Do not be afraid" 365 times. That means God is telling us every day to trust in Him!

So does this mean that because we moms are afraid every day, we can no longer call ourselves brave? Of course we can. In fact, that only means we have the best kind of courage because we get up every morning and face our fears and stare them down and live a meaningful life for our kids even though we're exhausted and spent and worried all the time! I've learned to manage my fears this way:

1. Raise them to God. When our funds are running low, I start having sleepless nights computing away. Now I try not to do that and instead pray! "Dear God, I'm worried about the tuition. I know You said You will provide so I'm sorry for my worries. I trust in Your promise of provision."

2. Ask Him to please handle the source of the fear. My fear stems from the fact that the checks aren't coming in as expected. Yes, life as a freelancer! Minsan kasi hindi ko naman pwede sabihin kay God na He doesn't provide when ang dami kong projects. Hindi talaga Siya ang nagkulang. So I ask God to take care of whatever it is that's holding up His blessings. "Lord, please make the processing of the checks faster. You know our needs and I will wait for Your provision in Your perfect time."

3. Welcome fear as a prompting of the Holy Spirit for prayer. Sometimes out of the blue, fear grips my heart. Has that ever happened to you? You're working or you're in traffic or you're out with friends when suddenly the thought of your kids in an accident enters your head. It's so strange, diba? I've learned to deal with it by immediately praying for that fear. I really believe in the prompting of the Holy Spirit, that He talks to you and that you just need to know how to listen. Maybe that unreasonable fear that suddenly comes to me is God's way of warning me of danger. That's why I immediately pray for whatever it is that the Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart.

4. Release it and don't think about it anymore! In the immortal words of Queen Elsa, "Let it go!" Holding on to the fear means that even though you prayed na, you don't really believe that God will take care of things. So believe!!!

Yesterday, I told you all about our wonderful stay at Ascott Makati. Today, we'll talk about the food. Oh oh oh, the food! This is going to be glorious!

We stayed at Ascott Makati a few weeks ago to go shopping at Glorietta. There was no plan to eat at the hotel since we wanted to try the many restaurants at the mall. We hardly ever go to this part of the city since the mega traffic jams have made Makati inconvenient for us to visit, so we really wanted to explore the area. Visit Ayala Museum, go to Salcedo Sunday Market, run around Ayala Triangle Park, and eat eat eat. Well, we liked the food at Ascott's Café on the 6th soooo much that we ate every meal at the hotel!

Here's what we indulged in:
Homemade pancakes, P380. We got the buttermilk pancakes served with fruits and this syrup that I swear must be made of muscovado. It was sinfully sweet! I dipped all the fruits in it and gobbled them all up!

Carnivore pizza, P520. This is an extremely thin herb pizza crust heavy with chopped Hungarian sausage, Italian garlic sausage, smoked ham and bacon. All that meat is held together by mozzarella cheese and a rich pomodoro sauce. The kids LOVED it!

Lasagna, P580. This isn't your regular lasagna. This is a lovingly baked dish of U.S. Angus ground beef, fresh tomatoes, and creamy bechamel sauce layered between lasagna pasta and oozing with mozzarella cheese. Yummy!

Ceasar's salad, P330. Crisp lettuce. Crunchy croutons. Freshly grated Parmesan. Generous sprinkling of bacon bits. Briny flavor balanced out by a squeeze of lemon. Perfect start to a meal!

Spaghetti with bolognese sauce, P380. This is the best spaghetti I've ever had. I usually prefer bolognese that has less meat—this one was chunky with it—but it was really a very tasty and meaty sauce on al dente noodles. Best spaghetti I've ever had!

Rib-eye steak, P1,450. This is a thick 12.5 oz. slice of juicy goodness served with red wine peppercorn sauce, and perfectly cooked vegetables. It's wonderful. It's huge, too. I don't know why that slab looks small in the photo!

Chicken and pork adobo, P440. This is served with garlic rice but since my kids prefer steamed rice, I asked the restaurant to tweak the dish. I like it, my kids like it, but my adobo is better.

Spicy shrimp fusili, P480. My favorite! Vince loved this, too. Definitely worth coming back for this! The pesto olive oil sauce was full of flavor—the spiciness didn't drown out the freshness of the basil or its nuttiness. This is seriously an amazing dish! I can eat this all day!

We also ordered the Chef's Burger combo but we don't have a photo of it. I don't remember why! Maybe it was that good that we gobbled it all up? It's a 6. oz patty of Angus beef with blue cheese, sautéed balsamic onions all resting on a bed of fresh lettuce.

Uh oh. I gained weight eating all that food from Café on the 6th*! Burp!

To burn all that food (I tried, okay?), we went shopping and then we played at the Cubbie Kids Club.

The Cubbie Kids Club is a cozy, newly refurbished room just off the lobby and past the restaurant. It's small but it has all the things kids will love—a play house, books, musical toys, an activity mat, a TV, a ball pit, and tons of toys! There's also a big comfy couch for parents and caregivers. I don't know how they fit that all in that amazing room! As you can see, my kids loved it!

And that's our wonderful staycation at Ascott Makati! I hope you enjoyed looking through our photos. We had so much fun. We can't wait to go back!

To book a stay at Ascott Makati, click here. For promos and contests, like their Facebook page.


*Café on the 6th will be replaced by Myron's this October. Watch for its opening!

Hello from Ascott Makati! Well, these photos are from our staycation there recently, and what a fun time my family had! Super fun and happy we were. My kids are still talking about our Ascott stay, and they keep asking me when we'll move there. Yes, they want to live there! I'll tell you why in a bit, but first, here we are checking in:
The reception lobby of Ascott Makati is at the 6th floor. The entrance to the hotel itself is a discreet door just right of Glorietta 4's main entry. Elevators in the tiny hall zip you up to the 6th floor, where you step out into the reception boasting high ceilings and massive windows. Pretty cool. Check in was super quick and then off we went to our two-bedroom deluxe suite!

Come in! Come in!
Here's our cozy living room. I love that accent chair with the bold print. I love that the neutrals are broken up by teal and patterns. I'm allergic to hotels that are all beige and brown. So blah. Ascott's newly revamped apartments don't suffer that boring decor. In fact, our suite reminded us of our own home. Even the layout! It's almost exactly our house!

Here's a view of the dining area and the small but impressively efficient kitchen. That kitchen was amazing. Vince and I wanted to renovate our large kitchen because of Ascott's small kitchen! It was that well designed!

My boys watching TV and feeling right at home. Each suite is now equipped with a home entertainment system. In our own suite, multiply that by three!

My boys being all cute and making my heart go all fuzzy wuzzy.

Here's the boys' bedroom! They love that queen-size bed soooo much. My goodness, they STILL keep talking about that bed. They won't leave me alone. They want to move in to Ascott because of that bed!

They also marveled at their walk-in closet. They thought it was another room hahahaha. My darling boys! But yeah... we all wanted a walk-in closet after our stay at Ascott. Their walk-in closets aren't even that big. But they were built well so that there's an efficient use of space.

That's Vito's homework on their sidetable. Yep, we brought homework. And he had lots of fun doing homework in our home away from home!

The boys' bedroom has its own bathroom. It's a cozy room with a shower and a small sink. But it was more than big enough for three little wriggly boys who loved all the little L'Occitane accoutrements.

Now here's our bedroom! The master's bedroom is huge. That is a king-size bed. I want a king-size bed. All five of us can fit in it!

We have our own small TV, too, and a padded bench with a little desk at the foot of the bed. There's also a generously sized work desk to the left of the TV.

I love this installation on the desk...

... and beside the master's bed. Very nifty and very useful! Business people, writers, those who work remotely, and bloggers will love these helpful tools and the fact that there's WiFi in the whole hotel.

The master's bathroom is a small room but the space is well designed. Those large mirrors hide cabinets, there's a roomy cabinet hidden under the sink, and...

... there's a tub! My kids enjoyed their bubble bath here. We have dozens of cute photos of them in bubbly joy! Vince and I enjoyed that tub later in the night, too!

Another thing we grownups liked is that our room in Ascott is a small home in itself. There's that efficient kitchen with its own stove, oven and microwave oven so you can cook. The sink even has dish soap and sponge so if you cook or order room service, you can wash your dishes.

The kitchen cupboards have everything you'll need for a proper meal—plates, bowls, serving dishes, drinking glasses, wine glasses, cups and saucers, cutlery, pots and pans, and cooking utensils. Even table mats!

In the entry hall, two large closets hide the laundry appliances. This one is really clever. It really truly is just a closet but behind it is a washing machine, shelves and large cabinets. There's even laundry detergent! Across this closet is another roomy closet where you can hang and iron clothes, and store other things like boots, coats, umbrellas and the like. I really love how clever the design of the apartment is!

I just want to point out, should this be a concern, that the windows look out onto the construction (or destruction, rather) site of the former Intercontinental Hotel. If you're worried that there will be all this noise, well, don't worry. We didn't hear a thing! We felt cocooned in our luxury apartment!

Our apartment also has a view of the pool. The pool is newly renovated, too, but there's still construction going on around it because the hotel is opening a new restaurant there. Myron's!!! Steak!!! Myron's should be opening this month so let's all go!

Where we did go when we were at Ascott was to Glorietta. Ascott is literally sitting on top of the huge mall. So we went shopping! So fun to shop knowing we didn't have to fight for parking space, we didn't have to beat rush hour traffic, and we can rest in our comfy and luxurious suite just a few steps away from the stores. Happiness!

After a day of shopping, eating and eating and eating, playing, wrestling, and a loooooong warm bubble bath in the tub, the little boys all jumped into bed and watched TV in their room.

And soon fell fast asleep in their home away from home.

We had so much fun at our lovely staycation at Ascott Makati. The hotel caters to business executives and their families for long stays, hence the fully equipped everything. But you don't need to have a business excuse to book a stay. For example, my family stayed there because we wanted to shop at Glorietta and to just have a different scenery for one weekend. We've been so busy this year that we haven't had time to go anywhere. We still don't! So a staycation at a wonderful hotel nearby was the perfect getaway.

I highly recommend it for families who are looking for somewhere to go this upcoming sem break. Or for OFWs who want to be ensconced in luxury (not relatives haha) while they vacation here. Ascott Makati has a lot to offer. I'll do another post on its amenities and food. Oh, the food! Yum de tum tum!

To book a stay at Ascott Makati, click here. For promos and contests, like their Facebook page.

To be very honest, meals—especially dinner—are just the worst time for me as a parent. I tried my hardest to serve healthy meals, spent a few hours over the stove cooking, and then eating time arrives and it's a disaster! Either someone will complain about the food not being their favorite, or that they're not hungry, or that the food is yucky without even tasting it, or insist they'll just eat a few bites before asking for ice cream or for me to cook something else.

Then there's the fact that as parents, we have to not just feed them, we also have to teach them good manners like don't talk when your mouth is full, chew with your mouth closed, sit properly, don't spit, use your napkin, use your spoon and fork, don't climb on the table, stop walking around, don't eat from your brother's plate, stop killing each other!!! You know, stuff like that.

I have lost my temper many times. You don't tell someone who cooked good food to cook something else. My husband has also gotten angry at the kids. If my issue is the food, his issue is the manners. Meal times became a battleground and we just weren't enjoying eating together anymore.

I don't think there's a good parent anywhere who enjoys getting mad at their kids. Vince and I hate getting mad at our kids, especially at meal times, when we should be savoring our blessings of food and family! So Vince and I had many talks on how we can improve meal times. We tried this, we did that, we had to tweak rules, throw out what didn't work, and added new ideas we picked from other parents. Now, meal times are so much better. We are enjoying our meals again. Vince and I are more relaxed, the kids are happier, too. Best of all, everyone's eating!

Here are our 10 tips for making meal times easy for the family:
1. Serve everyone's favorite food.
Not every day, of course, but what's wrong with giving everyone something they like now and then? What we did is we listed down everything everyone liked. Tinolang manok, nilagang baboy, pansit, pork chops, tocino, hotdogs, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, rellenong bangus, scrambled eggs, pizza, and fried chicken. Then we create a meal plan based on that list.


2. Let them do the grocery with you.
I don't like doing the grocery with my kids because stuff like chocolates, chips and candy find their way in the cart. But I also found that the kids get excited about food when they see them before they become ulam. When they help pick out the vegetables, for example, they're more willing to eat it because they feel like they picked it so they have an obligation to eat it hahaha.

3. Serve dessert at snack time.
I used to offer dessert after every meal. It was my prize for finishing their food or eating their veggies. The problem is what happens when one child doesn't finish his food? He gets really upset because his brothers get to eat dessert. The whole thing just dissolves into a terrible tantrum. So no dessert after meals! I found that merienda time is the best time for sweets, cakes, ice cream and chips. They get to enjoy their sweets and snacks, and there's no stressful contests at meal times.

4. Cook in big batches.
Big batches save time, money and mommy's sanity. Do it. When I cook every meal, I'm more stressed out and rushed and definitely exhausted and hungry when it's time to eat. I do not have patience for any whining at the table when I feel like that. So I cook a lot then reheat.


5. Be creative with leftovers.
The problem nga lang with big batches of food is nakakasawa siya. So you recook them in a different way. Leftover spaghetti sauce is tomorrow's pizza pan de sal sauce. Adobong wala ng sabaw becomes crispy adobo flakes-silog. Chopsuey veggies will taste great in pansit!

6. Let the kids cook.
Oh yes, the easiest way to make them eat their dinner is to let them cook it! They get excited and they prepare it just the way they want it, and then they gobble it all up!


7. Try canned and frozen food.
This is for your sanity. Once in a while, you'll need to go for convenience. Instead of making your own spaghetti sauce, try opening a can. Instead of washing, removing stems, and slicing mushrooms, use a can of sliced ones. Instead of peeling and cutting fresh fruit for dessert, try a can of chilled peaches or lychees. All are delicious, easy to prepare, saves you time, and makes you relaxed!


8. Give the kids small servings.
I got this tip from a mommy nutritionist. Kids get overwhelmed daw when they see a full plate. They go, "I can't eat all of that! I'm not hungry!" What's best is to give them a little bit of everything, tell them just have a taste of this and that, no pressure. If they want more, then you can just keep adding food. But if they don't want more, then no food is wasted.


9. Give them healthy choices.
My kids' favorite food is always fried and oily. Their pediatrician says that's okay because my kids are naturally skinny and super likot so they can afford to eat lotsa fatty food. Still, it's good to add veggies or soup as a side dish to their fried food!


10. Always make meals a fun time.
Easier said than done but we try by talking about their day, sharing jokes. We try not to talk about serious stuff at the table. And we also really try not to lose our temper when drinks get spilled, food falls on the floor, and feet find their way on the table. We try! And we've improved a lot! Hooray!

I hope our suggestions helped! If you have more ideas, please do share in the comments below. We parents need to help each other in this great adventure of raising happy, healthy kids!

For more cooking tips and delicious recipes, like Jolly's Facebook page, Jolly Eats.