Sweet dreams

My friends Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Kaye Tinga hosted the launch of  Sleep Haven by Uratex Premium Mattresses and Rustan’s at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall East Wing in Mandaluyong City recently. These high-quality premium mattresses, pillows and toppers are perfect for a good night’s sleep.

As Uratex’s “sleep ambassadors,” Tessa and Kaye stressed the importance of sleep for health and well-being, especially in today’s  fast-paced world. 

CEO and co-founder of Uratex and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines for 2017  Natividad “Naty” Cheng was present at the event. Also at the event were Uratex finance director Pinky Rosagas and marketing director Cherry Tan.

Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Kaye Tinga.

Health and wellness coaches Dr. Willie Lagdameo and May Manahan-Lagdameo talked about how sleep could help a person discover his or her best version.

Sleep Haven featured four luxurious collections from Uratex Premium: Perfect Serenity, Orthocore, Senso Memory (my mattress) and Premium Touch. Uratex Premium pillows that provide support for the head, neck and spine were also on display.

Exclusively available at Rustan’s, the collection includes wedge type, lumbar, nap and footrest pillows developed through the same sleep technology as the mattress for superior sleep.

(For more information, visit www.uratex.com.ph.)

Meet the ‘Botanist’

The Botanist mixologist Alyona Vinogradova (center) with Nathan and Sunny Ku.

I instantly fell in love with the crisp and fresh taste of The Botanist, a luxurious gin of layered complexity, when I first tasted it a few years ago. Inspired by and handcrafted using wild botanicals, The Botanist is the first and only dry gin from Islay in Scotland.

People got to know more about this exquisite bottle of gin at Poppy’s Bar at The Island in Taguig City recently. Mint and Blood Orange, Bramble and Rosemary, Lemon and Thyme, Grapefruit and Basil and more were mixed during the event. You may also simply have this dry gin with tonic water.

(From left) Myke Soon, Alyona Vinogradova, Grace Alejandro and Diane Reyes.

The Botanist is made of 22 hand-foraged local botanicals, which are found in the Scottish island: apple mint, sweet chamomile, creeping thistle, downy birch, elder, gorse (whin), hawthorn, heather, juniper, lady’s bedstraw, lemon balm, meadowsweet, mugwort, red clover, spear mint, sweet cicely, bog myrtle, tansy, water mint, white clover, wild thyme and wood sage.

(For more information, explore the hashtag #BeTheBotanist.)

Think pink

SM Cares Women and Breastfeeding program director Berna Velasco.

Breast cancer advocates, doctors and various women groups gathered at the Skydome in SM City North EDSA to mark SM Cares’ Pink Ribbon Day, which is part of the annual observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Organized by SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, in partnership with the Philippine Breast Cancer Society (PBCS), the annual event promotes awareness, early detection  and early intervention to fight breast cancer, the leading type of cancer in the Philippines.

PBCS president Dr. Victor Gozali and SM Cares Program on Women and Breastfeeding program director Berna Velasco were present during the event.

Philippine Breast Cancer Society president Dr. Victor Gozali.

It was a day filled with activities where SM Cares conducted free clinical breast examinations. At the event, Regine Tolentino led a 45-minute Zumba session, and breast cancer survivors and advocates Maritoni Fernandez, Toni Abad and Alya Honasan shared inspirational stories.

Now on its second year, SM Cares is an annual event that serves and supports women from different communities by promoting regular breast examinations for early detection. Other SM Cares initiatives for women include breastfeeding stations in all SM Supermalls nationwide, as part of its program to give mothers convenience and freedom in nursing their babies.

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)