G has strong ‘connections’ at home

MANILA, Philippines - Giselle “G” Tongi left the Philippines in 2000, leaving a lucrative TV career to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. For 12 years, she allowed herself a different kind of adventure in the US, far from the celebrity she enjoyed in Manila. G went to acting school, worked as a bartender, auditioned for roles in Hollywood, started a family and earned a college degree from UCLA.

In March of 2012, a whole new G returned to Manila, this time for good, with husband Tim Walters and two beautiful children in tow. After over a year, the Walters family has settled comfortably in their new life in Manila.

Having spent the first several years of married life in the US, G and Tim became hands-on parents to Sakura, 7, and Kenobi, 5. Without the conveniences of household help or relatives to leave the kids with, the couple has cultivated a remarkable relationship with their kids.

“Raising them without any yaya has solidified our bond as their primary caretakers,” shares G. “Having a family away from the spotlight has helped me gain a deeper perspective on the truly important things in life.”

“We make it a point not just to spend time together as a family, but also to go on one-on-one dates with each of our kids,” she says.

G, who has starred in two TV series since her showbiz comeback, makes sure to put family time as the first priority in her schedule. Instead of having a driver drop her kids off to school or summer camp, she still does it herself, and fits in the rest of her activities — from meetings to working out to writing — while the kids are away.

And while coming home to Manila has brought her back to many things she left behind, G started to miss at least one thing about the US when she first got back.

“I realized that having a fast Internet connection is a luxury here in the Philippines,” says G. “When we lived in America everything was fast, and it was easy to take for granted, but here you see just how much time it costs to wait for something to load.”

The Walters family turned to myDSL for this — myDSL offers a strong, reliable connection with unlimited sharing and unlimited Internet for the whole family.

According to G, even surfing the Net can be a form of bonding for them: “Sometimes I’ll be on my computer, my husband will be on his iPad, and the kids will be playing on their phones. We stay connected on the Internet, doing different things, but also while staying in the same room with each other.”  The family-sized myDSL connection is able to support multiple devices at once — ideal for the modern Filipino household.

As parents, G and Tim believe in moderation in all things. They supervise their kids’ use of the Net, making sure they learn even while having fun.

“My kids are currently doing a Willy Wonka play. We’ve been online researching songs in the musical, watching other kids performing the songs and getting pointers from it,” says G. “We use the Internet more for research than entertainment.”

“We have an active lifestyle. The kids go to summer camp and we go swimming every day this summer,” she shares. PLDT DSL plays an important role in enabling them to engage in all these activities and more. “The DSL connection is convenient for us. It makes things so much easier,” says G.