There are mothers who are artists, moms who are also doctors, nanay entrepreneurs, mommies who are corporate heads, and inay who are simply mothers! To all of you out there—Happy Mother’s Day!

I am surrounded by empowered women who continue to inspire me with their mothering skills, infinite knowledge and insightful wisdom.

Once a month, I get together with my YPO spouses forum where we share our life stories and wonderful experiences. Thanks to my forum mate Patty Chilip of Standard Insurance, I now travel with the best travel insurance policy with a wide coverage.

My Standard Insurance Travel Protect policy has many benefits including medical treatment, loss of money, personal accident, care of minor children, trip cancelation, lost or damaged baggage, and more. Coverage is worldwide for individuals, families or groups, in either annual or single-trip plans.

www.standard-insurance.com, tel. 8451111

Ocean health

I was fully insured when I traveled to Fiji recently to attend the 52nd Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting. Thanks to ADB, I’m inspired to start a program to promote the health of 25 reefs in the Philippines, as an advocacy for my hubby Dennis and our 25th wedding anniversary next month. It will be our own little effort, and hopefully it will inspire others to join or do something similar.

At ADB’s informative sessions, I learned much about ocean health, climate change and the rest of the global issues that the bank supports. Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat gave an insightful talk about our growing number of tourists and cleaning up major island destinations. A big thanks to my soul sister, ADB principal human resources specialist Vina Francisco, who invited me to the ADB event.

We chatted about the meeting in her ADB office recently, after my judging duties for the Philippine Retailers Association’s (PRA) Outstanding Filipino Award, which I attended with PRA president Rose Ong of Wilcon Depot. I am thrilled that Wilcon Depot’s stock price is doing extremely well, mostly due to the efforts of Rose. Wilcon Depot is supporting our Assumption HS ’81 Foundation’s project to help a school in Samar.

Art exhibit

This week, I was one of the guests of honor at the opening of the art exhibit “Lineage, A Master’s Legacy.” Dave Art Gallery, in partnership with Got Heart Foundation and Zonta Makati, launched the exhibit featuring the works of Ronna Manansala, Totong Francisco and Ivan Co.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, the exhibit features the works of the three budding artists, all continuing the legacies of their grandfathers, National Artists for Visual Arts Vicente Manansala and Botong Francisco, and highly noted jewelry designer Co Pek. The exhibit runs until May 31 at Got Heart Gallery in White Plains, Quezon City.

I also want to take note of an interesting symposium on May 30, the Skin Allergy Symposium. With the increase of allergies worldwide, there should be better awareness of it, as well as proper management of various conditions.

The Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology is holding the symposium at Diamond Hotel. It will feature an education program designed for doctors and allied medical personnel, with local and foreign allergists presenting various approaches and new strategies on skin allergies.

E-mail [email protected]; tel. 5353220 or 09155871475

How about a new TV?

But back to Mother’s Day. It’s our day, and so, to all the dads, kids and family members out there looking for gift ideas, check out the new Samsung QLED 8K TV. The 2019 model TV reinvents one’s home viewing experience with its new, real 8K resolution visuals and exceptional “AI Upscaling” technology to let everyone enjoy their favorite content, from GoT to “Ang Probinsyano,” or GSW to Dota, all in larger-than-life screens.

At the launch of the Samsung QLED 8K TV at The Fifth at Rockwell in Makati City, James Jung, president of Samsung Philippines, spoke about Samsung’s giant leap into picture quality with its adaptive intelligence technology. The TV screen boasts of over 33 million pixels and is four times the resolution of 4K UHD TVs.

This might be the TV to see exactly what Starbucks drink Emilia Clarke left on the table in the latest “Game of Thrones” episode.

The new Samsung QLED 8K TV (Q900R) comes in 75-, 82- and 98-inch sizes. New QLED 4K TVs (Q90R, Q70R and Q60R), also with upscaling capabilities, and Soundbar products developed with audio masters Harmon Kardon, were likewise showcased at the launch event attended by Samsung executives and the media.

www.samsung.com/ph

Golden South Sea pearl

But the Mother’s Day gift that hubbies (take note, Dennis) should focus on getting for their wives is Jewelmer’s Mother and Child pendant. This Jewelmer piece is a luminous memento that evokes the comfort of a mother’s arms and her unconditional love, expressed in the gentle, sweeping union of golden South Sea pearls and brilliant diamonds.

As Jessica Kienle-Maxwell, modern businesswoman and mother of one, said: “The best thing about being a mom is the love you feel for this little human being. It’s waking up every day and seeing that little face smiling back at you.”

To all the men out there, please note that the most inspiring woman in your life deserves this radiant symbol of purity and love.

More photos on Instagram @seaprincess888