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New Media

Staying Abreast: The Breastfeeding Filipina

cross_stitch.jpgIf you visit my kitchen, the first thing you will see on my granite counter top is this green-lined frame with a cross-stitch design labeled “A Mother’s Heart is a Child’s Schoolroom”. I finished quite a collection of cross-stitch projects during those nurturing breastfeeding sessions with my babies. It stands there as a reminder to my children that I gave nothing but the best, that their first food was—breast milk. That memento rightfully belongs in my kitchen.

If I were a lactating mom in today’s hi-tech age, maybe I wouldn’t be cross-stitching. Perhaps I will be blogging on my macbook or designing breastfeeding advocacy websites. Breastfeeding was such a beautiful experience for me. During those breastfeeding times. I often caressed every single strand of my babies’ hair, each toe and finger. It’s a wonderful bonding moment that often took my breath away. I ignored my pediatrician when I refused the milk formula for Lauren. [tag]Breastfeeding[/tag] advocacy was not in place twenty years ago so our doctors often prescribed an infant formula before being discharged from the hospital. I held on to my belief that I could breastfeed. After all, breastfeeding is 90 % mental, emotional work and 10% physical. I focused on giving nothing but the best—breast milk.

I don’t blame you if you say that you had no milk during the first day. Perhaps, you were not aware that supply during the first few days after childbirth arrive in small quantities. It’s true, demand for breast milk is not that high yet for a newborn child. Our babies’ stomach is just as tiny as the tip of our thumb. The problem is the mom loses confidence and turns to the bottle. Naturally, any mom wouldn’t want their babies to starve. I don’t blame you. We didn’t know any better. Lack of awareness, family pressure, social taboos and popular misconceptions all contribute to why women are apprehensive to breastfeed.

Today, I heard the various breastfeeding advocacy groups in the The Barbizon Mommy Milkshake Marathon held at the Fort, Global City upon the invitation of GeiserMaclang. I had this warm fuzzy feeling as I witnessed the number of Breastfeeding advocacy groups that were present in today’s event. What a devoted group they are!

breastfeeding

““If you’re bottle-feeding with the excuse that you’re too busy and under the pretext that milk formulas have enough nutrients to produce the next Einstein anyway, think again.”

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I Am Not Plastic

not plastic project

I am not Plastic.

How dare I make such a bold statement when I just wrote about dedmahan in my last entry!

It’s true though, I am not plastic. My two daughters taught me about biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste segregation when they were about 4 years old. Remember how M cried when her ball rolled to the sewer? Thanks to Miriam’s College’ educational thrust on proper disposal of waste. So when Cathy invited me to her new business venture, I was excited for her and the business itself.

1. I am proud that she is a risk taker , venturing on a business that revolves around her bag passion. I am a believer of income diversification within limits. I mean one can’t just go to every single profitable venture. Financial independence is a long range goal to strive for. Go Cathy!

2. I love the catchy concept of “I am not Plastic”. Together with her two partners, their goal is to get Filipino shoppers into the habit of refusing plastic bags when they shop.

3. Lastly, this bag was sewn by marginalized women from Tandang Sora, Quezon City. By purchasing this bag for only 350 pesos ($8.00), one contributes to their livelihood.

I choose to make Make Mother Earth as part of my personal style . If you’re like me, you might want to know more about these bags at Cathy’s I am Not Plastic Bag entry .

The last few days has been one big adventure . I am lazy to write (but plan to write soon) some of these events so here are photos.

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New Media Publishing

Who knows what your blog or blogging can bring you? When I started out my blog in February 24, 2006, the main goal was to promote my advocacy, grief support in the Philippines. Along the way, I met bloggers who generously shared their wisdom and other possibilities in blogging. The benefits of blogging indeed spread the word on my advocacy and brought me new friendships and adventure beyond my wildest imagination. I often say this “The rest is icing on the cake”. Blogging also started my career as an independent problogger and lately [tag]new media[/tag] publishing which works alongside being a problogger.

In a way, I can look at blogging as my part of my new life, this new normal that bereaved parents often seek. In recovery, I learned to live, to enjoy my life and handle situations as they come. What blessings! What joy to live in this new and exciting life. It’s one big adventure.

My adventure into new media publishing started with Jayvee when I introduced myself as having a special niche to be qualified for that Globe-Innove meet with Bloggers. Yes, how “thick skinned” I was. But in life, if you don’t ask, you won’t get an answer. Jayvee could have said “No, you’re not. You’re ….blah blah” but well, he invited me. The first PR practitioner to build buzz marketing through blogs is Blooey Singson when she convinced Krispy Kreme to give doughnuts to bloggers. But Amor Maclang of of GeiserMaclang raised the bar further by inviting bloggers to PR events alongside traditional media during the Wagyu Beef Fest at the Diamond Hotel. Was it Annalyn or Jayvee who told me that Amor’s PR events are always crowded because of the fantastic production ? Her PR events are more like a show. My idea of a PR event is that media watch a video presentation, clap, eat, and run. Not until I attended the Wagyu Beef Fest anyway.

bloggersI was not disappointed with a second and third invite from Amor. This time , it was for CLEAR Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Product Launch held yesterday at the Renaissance Hotel (formerly New World Hotel) and tonight’s Diamond Indulgence Privilege Card of Diamond Hotel . Both launches were fabulous. Amor (and GeiserMaclang staff) produced a launch party for CLEAR complemented with a sumptuous buffet lunch . Jayvee, Aileen, Sasha, Juned and Dine attended this glamorous affair. Another opportunity to be together again!

Can you tell the difference between these two photos? (Enlarge by clicking on the photos if you need to)

before

The production effort clearly shows the concept of the product features. “Feel the difference after being inside the bubble”

How nifty! It felt like a children’s party with all those surprises at stake.

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Breakfast at Portico 1771 and My PR Policy

portico 1771
A few days ago, Lauren asked me “mom, were you invited to the Bloggers Breakfast at Portico 1771?” I checked my email and found the invite at my abandoned Yahoo email address. I thought it must have been Jayvee‘s idea. But no, he had no idea who invited us.

New media as a path to expand their online presence , perhaps? For many months now, PR agencies have been inviting bloggers to press events, parties, treating them to lunches, and sending them gifts and tokens.

My PR policy is a combination of Anton’s school of thought “for the awesome experiences which would include eating at a restaurant I can rave about or meeting awesome people. ” and Yuga’s third option of “full disclosure to your blog readers ”

A disclosure will at least serve as a warning to your readers if later on you make a positive review of their products/services, it was influenced in some manner.

I don’t go to all the events but a food trip is an adventure I don’t want to miss out.

Besides, how could I resist an opportunity to have breakfast with my husband and friends?

At the last minute, Lauren backed out because she couldn’t afford to miss work and scheduled it for Sunday. I was told to bring my other family members and a few blogger friends. Fortunately, my husband had a hearing in nearby Pasig City so a breakfast at Portico 1771 looked pretty inviting to him.

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Taste Asia Food Fest at the SM Hypermarket

sm hypermart
Who could ever match the abundance of food, drinks, and gimmick at the Taste Asia Food Fest of SM Hypermarket , SM Mall of Asia ,? It was a huge success in terms of attendance, fun and food. I didn’t expect that all registrants would arrive. In fact, I forgot to sign up my daughter , Lauren .

Surprises galore awaited us at the party.

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Krispy Kreme Party

krispy Kreme
Surrounded by media celebrities , Lauren and M find themselves posing like celebrities themselves.

Early this evening, a few bloggers attended the Krispy Kreme Coffee and Doughnut VIP Party. How could I resist doughnuts. The girls tagged along with me to check out the new branch over at Greenhills which is scheduled to open this thursday, June 28.

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Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

Do you believe in luck and chance especially in financial success? When our only son was born in 1993, our life changed dramatically. My husband and I believed that our son was our lucky charm which brought us good fortune and lots of happiness. In fact, among all the kids, Luijoe had the grandest Baptismal celebration and even birthday parties. Our family was indeed blessed. We could not ask for more. When we dabbled in stock trading, I had no knowledge on how the financial markets worked. My husband got a hold of Initial Public Offering (IPO) of large companies in the early 90’s. The booming stock market and rising price indexes drove me to sell when it was high. It was bullish period in the stock market trading.

And how did I determine the time to sell?

I rubbed Luijoe’s hair like one would rub Aladdin’s magical lamp and I’d whisper to Luijoe ” do you think mama should sell?”

If Luijoe smiled to his right that meant “yes” and the opposite is “No”. What a silly way to sell?

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Bloggers at a Media Event, the Wagyu Beef Fest

wagyu beef fest

From Media? , the staff of Amor Maclang asked.

No, I’m a blogger as I wrote down my name on the registration sheet of the Wagyu Beef Fest at the Diamond Hotel during lunch today.

Handing me my name tag with the media label underneath my name seemed strange. Shouldn’t it be “new media”? Then I began to question my arrival at the hotel. What am I doing here in an media event where I will be amongst traditional media people?

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The Globe-Innove Sponsored Blogger’s Meet at Temple Bar

globemeet.jpg
I had so much fun tonight. Actually the most exciting part of the night was finally meeting and chilling with techies and bloggers in real physical time. I am thankful though that Globe-Innove sponsored this meet. For the first time in my life, I felt that I was not alone in my passion for internet work and online activities. I don’t know many people my age that are into the online world of blogging or even e-commerce.

Before the division into 2 groups, early birds like Jayvee, Abe (such an exuberant guy), Kiven, Bimbo and myself ate and talked about well…Google adsense. Psst, we can share Adsene tips some other time.

What can I say? The food, the company was great!

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a mom blogger who advocates constructive engagement in issues on family & society.
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