Astig Tips: Halloween Costume for Kids

Are you having a hard time looking for a costume this Halloween?

Well, it's doubly harder for parents who wants something new and unique for their kids. That's why I came out of  some practical tips for parents who are having nightmares and a hell of an experience (OA words intended use for horror effect) searching for the perfect costume for their children. 

1. Give your kids a hand on choosing their costumes. You can ask them what they want but you should also consider if what they like is doable or appropriate.


 
2. Use your head and buy their costume now. Prices of these stuff will sure to jack up as October 31 comes near so better shop a few weeks earlier before the occasion.



3. Buy a costume that your child can also wear for a few more years and in other events. A Santa costume can be worn again on Christmas (every year) or a reindeer during a school play.



4. Never buy a costume that will take a looooong time to wear and undress. This is to avoid any hassle when your kid feels uncomfortable anytime while in character.


 
5. Use your mind and save money with handcrafted costume.

6. Don't make it a hard sell. If you will dress up your child, no need to place a name tag of the character. Wouldn't it be great if people will recognize them through the pieces he/ she is wearing.

7. Don't put so many stuff in and on the costume. Your kids will make rounds from one house to another for treat and trick and it's hard to move when you have a loaded bucket and heavy outfit at the same time.

8. Get some ideas by looking outside the window (or in front of the mirror). Different people passing by can give you some great suggestions



9. Zombie costume will be a common sight on Halloween so tell your kids to be someone or something else instead.

10. Always remember that whatever your kid will wear, it will always look good because anything about them is awesome!

NOTE: I don't own any of the images in this post. I just found them online via Google.

Hoodie You Want

What do you get when you cross Christmas breeze and monsoon rain? People wearing hoodies.

Well, that’s not actually a joke since hoodies are definitely one of the hottest things today. Well, they look cool, too.

A hoodie, also called a hooded sweatshirt or hoody, is a sweatshirt with a hood (apologies for the redundancies because I just want to make it really clear that my readers are thinking of the same hoddie that I have in mind).

But do you know the story behind the hoodie aside from the fact that it is a clothing with a muff sewn onto the lower front, a hood, and usually a drawstring to adjust the hood opening, and may have a vertical zipper down the center similar to a windbreaker style jacket?

Here are 7 Hoodie Trivia that you might find interesting:

1. The garment's style and form can be traced back to Medieval Europe when the normal clothing for monks included a long, decorative hood called a cowl attached to a tunic or robes, and a chaperon or hooded cape was very commonly worn by any outdoors worker.

2. The hooded sweatshirt was first produced in the United States starting in the 1930s by Champion in and marketed to laborers working who endured freezing temperatures while working in upstate areas.

3. The hoodie took off in the 1970s, with several factors contributing to its success. Hip hop culture developed in New York City around this time, and the hoodie's element of instant anonymity provided by the accessible hood.

4. Most critical to the hoodie's popularity during the 70's was its iconic appearance in the blockbuster boxing film Rocky.

5. By the 1990s, the hoodie had evolved into a symbol of isolation, a statement of academic spirit, and several fashion collections.  Young men, often skateboarders or surfers, sported the hoodie and spread the trend across the western United States. The rise of hoodies with university logos began around this time.

6. Hoodie Day was launched in May 2008 in New Zealand as part of an annual national Youth Week, a pro-youth initiative to challenge youth stereotypes.

7. In April 2013, the highly durable "10-Year Hoodie" was invented. The hooded sweatshirt is 100% cotton and the American manufacturers sourced yarns that are spun to become softer over time to ensure durability. 

Now if you still don’t have a hoodie to wear during the cold weather, you have a chance to get one courtesy of 7-Eleven’s Health and Beauty promo HOODIE TIME, a rewards/ loyalty promotion using your 7-Eleven  Every Day! rewards card.  You can get a FREE limited edition hoodie (two designs to choose from) when you accumulate P1,000 worth of Personal Care product purchases.

The personal care products included in the promo are the following: Shampoo, conditioner, hair treatment, hair styling, mouthwash, toothbrush, toothpaste, bath soap, body wash, face wash, face cream, face scrub, face mask, toner and cleanser, lotion, moisturizer, antiperspirant deodorant, alcohol, cotton, facial tissue, baby products, feminine wash, feminine pads, cologne, powder, cosmetics, shavers and sanitizer. For complete list of participating brands, just click HERE.

Visit any of the 1,100 7-Eleven stores now and add their exclusive line to your closet collection!

Do you have husay and malasakit to serve others?

Another Manic Monday to face today. As I was doing a laundry list of my things to do this week, an email from a colleague came in. He is one of our volunteers for an initiative that the NGO I am connected with is promoting.

This volunteer is actually an accomplished lawyer who shares his knowledge on labor law and other related topics for the monthly publication of our organization. He sounded apologetic in the email he sent, saying that he won’t be able to send a contribution this month because he needs to supervise the repairs on his retirement home in Visayas after it was damaged by a recent typhoon.

Every time I talk to this man, two words always come to mind: excellence and compassion (husay at malasakit). In many occasions, he has proven how brilliant his mind is and at the same time he has a heart to help people in need.

Incidentally, I saw this new TV commercial from Unilab showing their husay at malasakit thrust and hopes to influence as much as they can to the nation. This is a nice tribute to the people who have use their talent and skills in nation-building without waiting for anything in return.

CLICK THIS IMAGE TO SEE THE VIDEO

We have proven many times how resilient Filipinos are especially during various calamities that, if anything, have only strengthened our solidarity as a nation. Some event risked their lives to save others.

Unilab, being the biggest pharmaceutical company in the Philippines, believes in the power of husay at malasakit and has geared their company’s belief in this With all the many innovations they have created, the health and safety of the Filipino people are always at the core. 

If anything, Unilab believes in the spirit of genuine concern to make the lives of other people better. The company has been a trusted name from one generation to another across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. I can attest to this since I grew up using Unilab products from cough syrup to paracetamol to personal hygiene products and food supplements.

If only husay and malasakit are like vitamins that one can intake every day, our world could have been a better place to live in.

We are not as healthy as we think we are

A few days ago, I was seating on my favorite chair at home, shirtless and eating donut while watching TV when my 5 year-old son Charles approached me, rubbed my tummy and said, “Daddy, be good to your tummy, ha?”

Yesterday, I felt a little dizzy waking up for work after I slept a little over midnight to finish a movie I downloaded online. I’ve been staying up late for movie marathons since college and this was probably the first time, as far as I can remember, that I felt like that.

And just this afternoon, PhilCare sent me a Wellness Box that includes (let me test my memory if I can still remember all the items without opening the package again) a jumping rope, a bar of calamansi soap, a bar of oatmeal soap, a pack of health tea, a bottle of seaweed mask, a bottle of organic essential oil and a health card. Hmm, I hope I did not miss any item.

With the series of signs pointing me to be a little cautious with my health, I am now thinking of ways on how to be fit again. I hate to admit it but I think I am not as healthy as I think I am. Have you asked yourself the same question lately?

By the way, the “box” that I got was from top HMO provider in the Philippines, PhilCare, which I want to commend for doing an awesome job with my health insurance for three years now.  Just recently, I heard that PhilCare, aside from providing medical and hospitalization benefits to its member, went an extra mile in coming up with a study to determine the state of health of the Filipinos in a more holistic manner. Benchmarked with similar studies conducted in developed countries, the PhilCare Wellness Index, which is the first wellness index in the Philippines, serves as an eye-opener on how Filipinos perceive leading healthy lives.

Designed, managed and analized by Dr. Fernando Paragas, a Filipino professor at the Nanyang University in Singapore commissioned by Philcare, the study involved a face-to-face interview with 1,200 respondents from Metro Manila and key cities in the country where they were asked about matters pertaining to their lifestyles as well as the nutritional, physical, psychological, and medical aspects of their lives.

The PhilCare Wellness Index, considered as a ground-breaking study to measure and uncover Pinoy’s sense of well being, shows some interesting results that I would like to share. In general, many Filipinos feel good about their health. The bad news is that they may not really be as healthy as they would like to think. We have a tendency to be in denial about our health which reflects our habit of starting to be mindful about our well-being only when we start to get sick.  

1. Most Filipinos think they are fit yet they’re not. The survey said that 54 percent of the respondents believe their weight is ideal for their height and that 54 percent think they are in overall good health. After analyzing their actual height and weight, it appears that only 45 percent of them fit the normal category applying the Asian Body Mass Index range. About 46 percent are either overweight or obese, while another 8.6 percent fall below the average BMI.

2. We know what a healthy diet is but are not eating the right food.  The PhilCare Wellness Index showed that 44 percent of respondents believe that they know what comprises a balance diet. In fact, 70 percent said they eat breakfast regularly, while about 60 percent eat fruits and vegetables daily. However, about 27 percent of them regularly eat fried or fatty food, 21 percent love eating sugary foods and drinks, and 15 percent eat processed and junk food daily.  

3. Sex matters. Lovemaking carries a big impact in a person’s morale and over all psychological well-being. The study tells that that married couples should work more to build the intimacy in the marriage because a healthy intimate moment equates to psychological health.

4. People with status “It’s Complicated” are more active in bed. Widowed and separated Filipinos are having more sex than the usual married individuals. It said that a married person do it 2.95 times per week, while a widowed person’s average is 4.33 a week. A separated person is slightly higher at 4.38.

5.  There is a lack of prevention against diseases. The PhilCare Wellness Index  also reports majority of Filipinos regularly drink alcohol. About 58 percent said they drink alcoholic beverages. They consume about six bottles or glasses of alcohol per week. About 49 percent also smoke cigarettes and, on average, they consume 10 sticks daily.

6. Work-life balance is a must but many misinterpret it.   85% of Filipinos enjoy a good work-life balance. However, 41.1percent of them admit experiencing stress slightly. The reason for this is that many still tend to relate the “happy hour” mentality as a means to achieve a balanced life. Regarding stress, many resort to binge drinking after office. This is their way to handle stress.

7.  Filipinos tend to behave when it comes to getting medical care. On the upside, 59 percent of respondent said they can easily go to a doctor whenever they get sick. Despite this, majority – or 74 percent – still admit that they self-medicate, which is a very dangerous habit of Filipinos.

So you see dear friends and countrymen, admit it or not, we are not as healthy as we think we are. When do we need to start to change our ways for a healthier life? The answer is now. Again, I’m echoing what my son said to me recently, “Be good to your tummy.” That’s one good first step we can all take in our journey towards wellness.