The Curious Mom

The economy and the way we live have been changed since the pandemic. All of us are affected and that is the reality.

The impact of Covid-19 has slammed businesses and different industries instantly in just a short period of time, despite the efforts made in making the economy move forward, there are still businesses and establishments that feel its continuous effects just like in the hospitality industry. 

These affected businesses have doubled their efforts to develop and adapt to the new normal by following heightened safety measures and investing in technological advancement for the protection of all guests and employees, just like the largest and fastest-growing Filipino-owned hotel chain in the country did across all of its branches. “Here at Hotel Sogo, we are trying on things to help improve the situation in our hotels as early as March 2020 last year. From that point on, we continued to research, invest further and develop innovative ways to upgrade our safety protocols especially in cleanliness and sanitation.” Ms. Sue Geminiano, Hotel Sogo Corporate Marketing Manager said. 

Aside from the enhanced new normal protocols such as no contact fixtures and thermal scans, some remarkable changes and innovations that the Hotel Sogo management applied across its branches such as, UVC disinfection in rooms, lobbies, and air-conditioning units, increased ventilation, microbial testing (method to indicate the presence and amount of microorganisms), Covid sniffer dogs, reduced touchpoints, and application of anti-microbial coatings infrequently touched surfaces. 

Through Hotel Sogo’s 11 So Safe Innovations, the safety and wellness of guests, as well as its employees, are set first. 

“This ongoing pandemic has helped us to take further steps in giving importance to safety. The innovations that I speak of are the development and improvement of amenities that revolve around the 4 major ways to prevent the spread of the virus and protect our guests like reduction of touchpoints, improve air quality, disinfection and testing. It is important to test all these protocols to make sure that all these innovations are really effective to keep our guests safe; we want our guests to feel safe and secured whenever they stay at Hotel Sogo. We will continue to protect our guests and develop more upgraded protocols even after the pandemic,” Ms. Geminiano added. 

More than just a hotel Aside from the hotel innovations that have been implemented, Hotel Sogo is also ramping up its effort in helping fellow countrymen through its Corporate Social Responsibility program, Sogo Cares. Hotel Sogo is helping indigent communities who are in need of basic necessities, such as food, medicines, and water. 

“Recently, we donated food packs with linens and towels to the fire victims at Manila. We also donated essential needs such as bottled water, linens, pillows, surgical masks, pillowcases, and mattresses to the Philippine General Hospital with the help of AFP and we also gave assistance in different community pantries in Bulacan and Quezon City. Our team will definitely help those who are in need in these trying times. Even at this time of GCQ, Hotel Sogo is still accepting front liners, essential, repatriated OFW, seafarers, and economic workers across all Hotel Sogo branches. We are also accommodating those who prefer long-term stay for their work purposes,” stated Ms. Geminiano. 

Over the course of six (6) years, starting from 2015, Hotel Sogo through its Corporate Social Responsibility program Sogo Cares has conducted over 400 medical missions with 100,000 plus beneficiaries, led over 600 donations with more than 170,000 beneficiaries. 

For more details, visit www.hotelsogo.com or like and follow Hotel Sogo on Facebook (facebook.com/hotelsogo), Twitter (@hotelsogo), and Instagram (@hotelsogo).

Tide® has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help in the development of laundry detergent solutions and technology development in space. Under the agreement, NASA may test and study Tide cleaning solutions in space. The study could have potential on-planet implications like innovative solutions for resource and environmental challenges on Earth. Aligning with Tide’s decade-long sustainability commitment, Ambition 2030, Tide will strive to bring off-planet learnings back to everyday consumer products.

Currently, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) wear clothing several times before replacing it with a new set. Clothing is delivered to the station through resupply shipment opportunities. The limited cargo capacity makes the practice of replenishing the clothing supply challenging for deep space missions, such as Artemis Moon missions and a crewed roundtrip Mars mission. Without a laundry solution, 160 pounds of clothing per crew member per year are launched to the ISS. Human roundtrip missions to Mars could be two to three years in length.

Major challenges for off-Earth laundering include ingredient safety and compatibility with NASA life support systems, and the limited amount of water available per wash load and the requirement that the wash water is purified back to drinking-quality water. To combat these challenges, Tide has developed a fully degradable detergent, specifically designed for use in space to solve malodor, cleanliness and stain removal problems for washable items used during deep space missions, while being suitable for use in a closed-loop water system.

Onboard a 2022 cargo launch to the space station, “Mission PGTide” (P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments), teams will test the stability of cleaning ingredients under microgravity conditions and exposure to the radiation levels experienced in space in partnership with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory and SEOPS. In addition, the stain removal ingredients and performance will be tested on board the ISS through experiments with Tide To Go Wipes and Tide To Go Pens.

"The ISS National Lab is excited to work with the P&G team once again as they push the limits of their research and development onboard the orbiting laboratory,” said Dr. Michael Roberts, Acting Chief Scientist for the ISS National Lab. “Through private-sector utilization of the space station, companies like P&G can conduct investigations in ways not possible on Earth to develop new consumer products, enhance existing products, and better understand processes that further business models both on the ground and in low Earth orbit. We look forward to this first investigation of Tide in Space and hope that many more will soon follow."

In addition to testing onboard the ISS National Lab, NASA, and Tide researchers may study how an innovative combined washing and drying unit utilizing the special-formulated detergent could potentially be integrated into planetary habitats that may be used for the Artemis Moon and Mars missions under low-gravity surface conditions. There are also a unique set of challenges that present themselves for a crewed Mars mission. Future missions to and from Mars expect to span multiple years, and these long-duration flights will require laundry solutions designed for extreme space-based environments and varying gravity conditions.

“This partnership was created to rethink cleaning solutions – forcing us to rethink innovations for resource-constrained and challenging environments like the ISS, deep space, and even the future of our home planet,” said Aga Orlik, Senior Vice President, P&G North America Fabric Care. “We are eager to apply our learnings from our partnerships with NASA and the ISS National Lab to Tide on Earth, developing a low-resource-use laundry solution for everyday use while meeting consumer demand for more sustainable products.”

The news of Tide’s space exploration to innovate low-impact laundry solutions comes on the heels of Tide’s Ambition 2030 commitments, announced earlier this spring. Included among Tide’s Ambition commitments were actionable goals to find resource efficiencies in energy, water, and waste across the laundry lifecycle – from manufacturing and packaging to consumer use phase and end of life – to reduce the environmental impact of a load of laundry while increasing the impact of clean clothes.

“Humanity has reached a pivotal point where on one hand, we’re on the exciting cusp of space colonization, and on the other, facing a critical period where action must be taken now to save the planet we all call home,” said Orlik. “The collaboration with NASA and the ISS National Lab is particularly exciting because it allows us to push the bounds of resource efficiency to its absolute limit, uncovering learnings with practical applications for both the future of laundry in space and here on Earth.”

To check out more information on Tide’s overarching sustainability ambitions, please see here.

With having one of the most recognizable and formidable singing voices in the Philippines, singer-songwriter BAMBOO MAÑALAC is like a well-oiled machine, all power and with no plans of slowing down just yet! 

The Prince of Philippine Rock is ready to ROCK it again in this BAMBOO: UNA MAS CEBU EDITION 2019 at the Waterfront Hotel & Casino Cebu City, on November 23, 2019, door opens at 6 pm. 

With his famous vocals, which combines a rock style with mellow approach, he is notably has energetic style in his LIVE PERFORMANCE!