A home, to which one can call their own, is one of the most fundamental human needs for survival. In building one’s family, buying housing or investing in property is often a crucial discussion that takes into consideration price, location, amenities and even the environment as these all impact the way people and families live and grow and how communities thrive in the long-run.

Recently, the many changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused Filipinos to reassess the way they live, work and reside. The topic on home ownership and residential space has only become much more prominent as its impact towards one’s physical, social and emotional wellbeing was emphasized when companies shifted to work-from-home setups and schools introduced blended learning. It has become likely that up and coming homeowners are looking for new and affordable housing that responds to the new realities of school and work, as well as a healthier and more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Welcoming a child into your home can be exciting! Most people do it to start the next step of their life, while others face it as more of a surprise step forward. Either way, when the child is finally there, we all want to be as prepared as possible. But, unfortunately, it can be hard to bridge the gap from living with no children to suddenly having a screaming child in your home!

Here are the top things to do to prepare your household for this new child and why it's not as hard as it seems!

Set Up A Sanitary Diaper Station

Nothing is as important as being ready for the number of diapers you're going to have to change. Whistler homes for sale could be filled to the brim with the number of diapers a child needs in a year, so it's a good idea to be as prepared as possible going into this. Make a station that has a large flat surface that you can pad, and get either a trash can with a lid or a diaper genie that will allow for you to take the trash out as soon as you need to but still store a day's worth of diapers without stinking up your entire home. Ensure that this is near a bathroom so you can wash your hands after.

Discuss Schedules for Who Helps the Child and When

Babies need help around the clock. This means constant feedings, ensuring that they're clean and cared for, and paying attention to what their needs are at every moment. Unfortunately, as human beings, we need sleep! It's okay to get overwhelmed, but if you have a partner, you can use each other for breaks and ensure the child is cared for. Talk to your family about setting a schedule that will keep the child happy and safe.

Install A Baby Monitor of Some Type

Baby monitors are useful because they allow us to keep a keen eye and ear out when our children need our help. Instead of having to get up and check on them every couple of minutes, you can use the baby monitor to ensure they're sleeping well and doing alright. These monitors can also be useful for when you move your baby out to their nursery, so you can keep an eye on them without having them sleep in your room every night.

Place the Crib In Your Room for the First Couple of Weeks

Although we set up nurseries to be our go-to place for our babies, we often surprise ourselves by needing them as close to us as possible when we first bring them home. There's nothing wrong with this! Instead of putting your child in a separate room for the first couple of weeks, it's a good idea to keep the crib in your room. This will make it easier to get used to when the baby will wake you up, as well as help your body set into the schedule of getting up every couple of hours.

We're still in ECQ, meaning we still have limited movements and space to go to. So, we are still confined to our own houses. Even though that there are many ways on how people are coping with the feelings of anxiety, depression, boredom, and other ill-effects of an extended enhanced community quarantine, we still do our best to overcome any situation.  But of course, there, still, some ways that are not good for us like, stress-eating.

While understandable, such a lifestyle may not be sustainable in the long run--especially if one has not been exercising. Unfortunately, most gyms and sports facilities won’t be opening anytime soon, so there is really no better way to shed-off excess fat than by adopting exercise habits at home.

Don’t know where to start? Here are simple and easy ways to get your body moving and getting it back into tip-top shape.


Start with simple activities

It would be unwise to instantly go through rigorous exercises and programs without priming your body to go through them. Activate and engage your body through simple activities such as cleaning the house while listening to upbeat music. You can also try meditating just to make sure that your mind is in harmony with your body.

Download Workout apps

The vivo app store has workout apps that contain plenty of programs and exercises. Try apps that include High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) programs where you do a series of repetitions continuously with minimal rest time. While these apps promote quick workouts that last less than 10 minutes, do not be fooled--you will feel like you just ran a marathon.

Head to Facebook for live workout videos

If motivation is what gets you going when it comes to workouts, try doing it together with other online users. Facebook pages of different gyms around the metro now offer both free and paid live online workout classes like yoga and shadow boxing that are sure to shed off a few “quarantine pounds”. If you’re not to keen on working out with strangers, you can always gather your friends for a video call workout session. Just make sure you actually work out and not end up having an “e-numan”--you can always do that at a different time.

Try Tik-Tok dance challenges

If conventional workout routines and exercises aren’t your thing, you can always try creating TikTok videos. Try engaging in a “dance workout” by trying out all the dance challenges created by users in the platform. You will actually sweat buckets trying to perfect the challenges over and over again.

These home-based exercise methods may not be the same as “maxing out” in the gym, but these are great ways to maintain an active lifestyle and fight off the urge to stress-eat during these unprecedented times.

All it takes are a few clicks. You can download the Facebook app and plenty of workout apps using the vivo app store, pre-installed in all vivo mobile devices.

How was the quarantine period in your area? Well, we're striving hard at this time of crisis. There are many ways for us to check our sanity, our health, and our ability to adapt. With this, I'll be sharing 5 Creative, Safe, and Easy Destination you can go to keep you in good shape during this lockdown.

I hope this will give you a sense of calmness during this quarantine period. We all need to get rid of stress and boredom. So read on.

• Staycation Ala House Hotel. Well, if you miss having a staycation in one of the hotels in the metro, you don't need to go far. Just set your house into a hotel-like setting. Put something in your bedroom that you usually see in the hotel. At least you'll have the feel and look of the hotel. Then you can take a selfie or an OOTD.
• Living Room Ala Theater House. Since there are plenty of available movies online, having a movie night or a movie marathon at the comfort of your living is as easy as it is. Also, if you're an avid fan of any trilogies or sequels, you can have them all watched in just a few hours. You can even make a cinema look in your living room.
• Visit your Hacienda or Ranch ala Garden. If you have a small garden in your residence, it would be great. It's good therapy, especially now that we are in quarantine. You can water your plants every morning and even have a photo with them. Plants, most especially flowers, love to be talked, sometimes they would even bloom better when you're talking to them.
• Enjoy a Starry Night View on the roof. If you like to go to the mountains for a good view of the starry night, well, you don't need to go far. Just wait for the night to fall and for the lights in the city turn black and you can now enjoy your view of the dark sky and the stars.
• Beach look in your pool area. Okay, this might only apply to those who have pools in their houses where they can enjoy a scenic view of the beach by having a beach umbrella and some other things that you can find on the beach. But if you're creative enough to make a good scene, well, we can improvise by using a kiddie pool with the beach look. Filipinos are very fond of making this happen, and all it takes a little bit of imagination.

In this time, where the situation keeps us confined in our homes because of the pandemic, we all need to be imaginative. Keep ourselves busy. But of course, we should also think of the others by praying for health and protection.

Keep safe everyone!

Smart appliances have been in the market for a couple of years now, but have they truly lived up to their name? While TVs, speakers, refrigerators, and other home appliances offer a slew of connectivity options, they have to bring something new to the table, otherwise, it’s just more of the same. LG Philippines wants to let their products do the talking.

LG’s vision of a truly smart home is powered by its proprietary ThinQ AI technology. “LG ThinQ uses knowledge drawn from data analytics and machine learning algorithms to understand the user’s patterns and preferences,” said Inkwun Heo, Managing Director for LG Philippines. “As it adapts and learns from the user’s behavior, LG ThinQ products will ultimately evolve to anticipate the user’s needs and deliver heightened performance.”


All of LG’s newest products have been engineered with the future in mind. Each one is powered by the AI ThinQ technology so that the difference home appliances can communicate with each other to actually offer an indispensable and genuinely helpful system. Artificial Intelligence, however, is but just one feature.

To showcase how the new smart devices seamlessly blend with everyday life, LG commissioned new brand ambassadors who come from different backgrounds, proving without a doubt how these appliances are made for everyone.


Steph Zubiri-Crespi, a long time LG loyalist, boasts how the Twin Wash saves her precious time by being able to do two loads simultaneously. She recounted an instance where the “pause” and “add item” function was a lifesaver. Cristalle Belo-Pitt on the other hand, absolutely adores the LG Instaview Door-in-Door refrigerator. Simply knock twice on the sleek glass panel to illuminate the contents inside without opening the door, reducing cold air loss to help keep food fresher longer. Its modern French door design is an entertainer’s delight with storage options such as the Extra Space compartment for your small or loose items, and a retractable shelf for your taller and oddly-shaped items.

Marco Gumabao raves about the LG Black Two Door Top Freezer he’s been using as it offers a blend of timeless style with the latest innovations, maximum storage space, advanced digital temperature controls, and exclusive LG technology. While Benj Alves on the other hand, is nostalgic about using the LG Black Turbo Wash 3D as he was used to do everything all by himself, laundry included back when he lived in Guam.

LG’s new smart devices are also perfect for families. Dani Barretto-Panlilio loves the Stacking Washer/Dryer Front Load since it makes sure all of her clothes are clean and safe for her newborn baby. “Everything’s really easier with LG. Another thing is thanks to the use of steam, I’m confident that dustmites, bacteria, or allergens will not get to my baby.” LJ Moreno-Alapag has been juggling 3 kids and household duties so the LG Two Door Top Freezer has been a tremendous help. Thanks to the Multi-Air Flow System, superior humidity and temperature levels are maintained, keeping your food fresher, longer. Digital sensors constantly monitor conditions within the refrigerator and strategically-placed vents in every section to help surround your food with cool air no matter where you put it. As far as reliability with Commercial Refs are concerned, funnyman Michael V is all business. To safeguard your investment, all of these refrigerators have a 10-year warranty for its Inverter Linear Compressor and the Smart Inverter Compressor, as well as a 2-year warranty for parts & service courtesy of LG.

Acting as the captain navigating the AI ship is LG’s SmartThinQ App. With the App, you can control all of your electronics and home appliances anytime, anywhere with just a touch of a button. With the widest assortment of wi-fi enabled appliances and one app to manage them all, LG makes managing your smart appliances easy. Thanks to the ThinQ AI technology, the more you use your smart appliances, the smarter they get by remembering usage habits to better anticipate your needs.


What exactly can the App do? For starters, you can do your laundry while you’re stuck in a meeting. SmartThinQ technology lets you start and stop wash cycles remotely, get notifications when your laundry is done and receive helpful reminders about scheduled maintenance. In the peak of summer? Use the LG SmartThinQ app on your smartphone to turn on your air conditioner from anywhere, ensuring you arrive to a cool home.

Lancaster New City is one of the newest developments in Cavite. The township development is more than 1,000 hectares that covers the areas of Imus, Kawit, and Gen. Trias in Cavite. It is a township development close to Metro Manila, giving the families an option to still live in a community that offers more space and more time for the family. It is a place to live, learn, work, play and worship. A place that provides what the family needs most.

Living in a place where you can call home is what Kwento Ni Toto is longing for, an owned space for the family to enjoy and grow old. At present, many Filipinos are struggling to find their dream houses and most of them are considering different factors such as location, affordability and environment which determine whether a house can be turned into a home. Fortunately for prospective homeowners scouting a great home to live with, property developer PRO-FRIENDS or Property Company of Friends Inc. strategically consider these elements in creating residential communities for Filipino families.