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Health

Povidone power for skin infections

Certain types of skin infection can be difficult to cure. Recently, I discovered a simple treatment using povidone-iodine, thanks to doctors Ramon Estrada and Ric Naval of Manila Doctors Hospital. Povidone-iodine is an antiseptic. It kills bacteria and other microbes. It can also treat various skin diseases, such as: boil (pigsa), a reddish warm nodule […]

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Student Page

A new milestone

First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 25, no. 3 (July 10-23, 2012): 12. There are moments when we wish that nothing will change but realize we have to continue going forward. I have had such moments twice in four months. I had just graduated from high school: took my final exams, received my diploma […]

Categories
Parenting

The great lampin

First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 25, no. 3 (July 10-23, 2012): 11. I recently gave away a bagful of lampin (diapers) through an egroup where members give and get things for free. I told the recipient some pieces are a decade old and have gone through four kids! She asked how my kids […]

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Health

From farm to table, whence does food grow?

First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 25, no. 3 (July 10-23, 2012): 16, 15. “U y, galing Baguio yan” or “Galing Zambales yan.” Vendors at the wet market will gladly impart such information, believing it means something to customers seeking quality. Yet, these phrases may mean nothing to many shoppers. Even as produce moves […]

Categories
Life

Bamboo an emerging industry

A trip to a neighborhood lumber store in Pasig City reveals a growing array of wood available for new structures. Amidst the display of native narra, ipil, imported maple and oak, sit the delicate, light-colored bamboo floor planks. The bamboo looks so different from those commonly seen in traditional native huts, furniture, scaffoldings, and lechon […]

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Life

Beautiful bamboo in Los Baños

Bamboo has been hailed as the new super material, with over 1,500 uses identified so far. The global bamboo industry is estimated to be worth about US10 billion a year. “With Mount Makiling standing guard with its majestic hue and Laguna’s placid waters lending splendor to the view . . .” That is from a […]

Categories
Parenting

The iPad ate my dad

Toward the end of 2011, the hubby said that he was going to buy an iPad, but I kept vetoing it. But at the close of 2011, someone gave my mom one. And it all went downhill from there. Early 2012, the husband started a comic strip line – iDad comics – just for our […]

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Health

10 safety precautions on cell phone use

Anti-cancer advocate Dr. David Servan-Schreiber leads 20 expert doctors to warn against possible dangers of prolonged cell phone use. The group says preliminary evidence from the Interphone study and others show a possible link between cell phone use and brain tumor occurrence. The Interphone study (from year 2000 to 2006) is the largest to look […]

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Life

Batas Kasambahay: boon or bane?

The new Batas Kasambahay or Domestic Workers Act (Republic Act 10361) is one of the hottest topics in households these days. What has been an informal employment arrangement has been defined and given legal structure by lawmakers. There is general agreement that protection for the nation’s estimated two million or more household helpers is necessary. […]

Categories
Life

To-do list for the boss

The implementing rules and regulations for Batas Kasambahay, or Domestic Workers Act is a 20-page laundry list of what employers should or should not do for household employees. The law, designed to give household employees a good work environment, was signed by President Benigno Aquino III Jan. 18, 2013, after it was passed in both […]