How are you all coping these challenging days? Are you feeling like it’s a “déjà vu” moment, just like me, with everything happening around us? I seem to have settled back into my old bad habits of cluttering up our room, midnight snacking on junk food, procrastinating with work, and sleeping late! And that’s the short list!

My pandemic resolution of tidying up our house has gone nowhere. What’s worse, I started online shopping through my soul sister Vina Francisco. We are actually shopping for our joint birthday party next month in beautiful Balesin Island Club that will include an ocean cleanup drive, gift-giving affair for the barangay kids, and a couple of wellness sessions at Aegle Wellness Center.

In my efforts to tidy up my space in time for Ghost Month, which starts on Aug. 19, I found so many accessories and outfits to sell for charity. Together with our youngest daughter Athena, we started our own Instagram store, @seaprincesstreasuretrove, selling my preloved items and artworks for the benefit of different charities supported by the Red Charity Gala (RCG). To continue the legacy of RCG, we decided to get into online selling and help give back in our own little way.

One of the charities includes Sisters of Mary Girlstown in Cavite. It is wonderful to know that all their international sponsors and donors have continued to send their donations to support more than 6,000 students throughout high school. Despite the pandemic, the work of the Sisters continue, and they need all the support they can get.

The students painted some beautiful ostrich eggs for me as anniversary giveaways last year. I will bundle these with watercolors that I did over the quarantine and other accessories I have, and sell all of it on my online store.

Looking at the impressive artwork on the ostrich eggs made me reminisce about our super fun and fantastic, African-themed 25th wedding anniversary last year. How lucky we are that the celebration happened a year ago and not this quarantine year!

Celebrity ‘shoutout’ platform

I share my love for themed weddings with Christine Quinn, the hottest star of “Selling Sunset,” the popular Netflix series. Season 3 spotlights her Gothic winter wonderland-themed wedding with Christian Richard. The latest season had its official Philippine media launch last week, hosted by Frank Briones and Max Loong of Ace Video, the biggest celebrity shoutout platform in Southeast Asia.

The Facebook Live show of the launch gave selected media peeps a chance to interview Christine. I asked her about the wedding details and her dramatic black wedding gown. Christine told us about the December 2019 wedding that was attended by 75 guests, including Christine’s Oppenheim Group family.

The Hollywood stars of “Selling Sunset” have all signed up with Ace. This venture was conceptualized, planned, incorporated and launched at the height of the pandemic. Ace was launched in the Philippines in July, and has become the biggest platform of its kind. Some of the biggest local celebrities onboard include Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, show biz royalties KC Concepcion, Alice Dixson and Ruffa Gutierrez, top matinee idols Marco Gumabao and Tony Labrusca, and some of the country’s superstar-athletes like Thirdy Ravena, Marck Espejo, Neil Etheridge and Phil Younghusband.

Frank Briones is one of four cofounders of Ace. He is also the lead for regional marketing strategy and PR+ head of PH talent acquisition. His background is digital advertising and public relations, having owned his company, THINLINE since 2007, fresh from his Strategic Digital Marketing degree from New York University.

His other cofounders include Ace CEO Dene Schonknecht, who formerly worked in IT companies like Microsoft and Adobe; Riaz Mehta, one of the biggest TV/media moguls, having produced popular reality TV shows such as “The Contender,” “The Apartment” and “The Biggest Loser”; and Max Loong, also host of “The Voice Switzerland.”

Fans can simply log in online via www.ace.video, request for birthday greetings, words of inspiration and tips from their favorite stars, include the parameters of the message they want either for themselves or for a friend, and receive the said shoutout via email within five days. Fans can then post it on their own social media pages.

Ace is also present in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and now in the United States. Some of the regional stars in its roster include Singaporean Allan Wu from Amazing Race Asia and Thai model Cindy Bishop from Asia’s Next Top Model. Register online now and check out hundreds of other local and regional celebrities and influencers in their network. Follow them on Instagram: @acevideosofficial.

Hyun Bin fan

During this extended quarantine, I finally got hooked on the K-drama phenomenon. “Crash Landing on You” aka CLOY is my current favorite Netflix series, thanks to Hyun Bin, a.k.a. Captain Ri.

Bagging The Captain as their latest endorser, Bench launched The Captain’s shirt and other apparel recently. When the world is safer and Bench big boss Ben Chan brings Hyun Bin to Philippine waters, I will surely join whatever promo Bench comes up with. The K-drama mega hit star is looking forward to visiting and meeting his Filipino fans soon.

I know I am super late to the CLOY show, but the fantasy romance between Captain Ri and Seoul heiress Se-ri does have a good plot. Amid the bleakness of this pandemic, it is wonderful to have something positive to watch.

This pandemic puts into question all our values, and if we can all momentarily forget our fears and worries by watching a series, then we all deserve to enjoy the break! Now that we are all less busy, let us focus on our relationships and what’s truly essential like love and affection. Just like in the K-dramas, we all just want to feel loved!