It was an afternoon well spent. An intimate group of women, most of whom are sporty and active, gathered at Juju Eats along Chino Roces Ave. Extension. We were treated to a feast and introduced to several health and wellness products.
But as they say in the Philippines, “Kain muna tayo!” (Let’s eat first!)
Our first experience was the food offerings of Juju Eats. This resto caters to everything healthy. They have a wide variety of classic salads with topping choices of all kinds. The couple behind Juju Eats is Kat and David Azanza. Their family is totally immersed in the world of alternative health since Kat’s parents, Eckard and Perla Rempe, are the founders of the popular wellness resort, The Farm at San Benito.
Great pains were taken to make the preparation as hygienic as possible. The food handlers all had their hair tied behind and secured with headbands. They wore hard plastic mouthguards, which reminded me of what my kids’ pediatric dentist used to use when cleaning my kids’ teeth. It was not a simple disposable face mask. It covered the nose and mouth completely. They also wore disposable gloves on both hands. Each ingredient had a separate container, with its own spoon, scoop or tongs. Somehow, their get-up made me feel so much more comfortable about how the salads and pasta were prepared.
I chose the Tuna Nicoise Pasta, made of fusilli pasta, french beans, hard-boiled egg, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and topped with honey mustard dressing. Here is what the pasta looks like.
After we had our burp-y fill of pasta and salad, downed with healthy fresh orange juice, we settled in to listen to what products were being introduced.
Kick-Start Coffee
I was pleasantly surprised to learn of another local coffee brand – Kick-Start Coffee. As a growing kid, Mike Asuncion ran around his parents’ coffee farm. His parents were already in the coffee industry since the 70s, becoming one of the largest exporters of Philippine coffee. But Mike went abroad for his studies and spent 10 years there. After a stint in investment banking with Lehman Brothers, he decided to come home and invest in his coffee dream. The result is 3 variants of coffee (each weighing 400g):
1. Philippine Barako Coffee – strong, bold, smooth
2. Your Daily Lift – balanced, full-bodied, mild
3. Brewed Awakening – 100% premium Arabica
Kick-Start coffee can be found in Makati Supermarket (Alabang), Unimart (Greenhills), EchoStore/Kape Isla (Serendra), Le Bistro Cafe (NAIA 3), Sofitel Hotel and can be ordered from Taste Central (www.tastecentral.com).
Para’Kito Mosquito Repellants
I have always been concerned about the ill effects of applying mosquito repellants with DEET. In fact, when alternative choices for mosquito repellants were almost nil, I would go looking for the variant with the lowest DEET content. The con to that though was that I had to keep reapplying the repellant every few hours since the low DEET content’s effect would wear off before the end of the day.
These days, we have more safe and natural choices and here’s one more – Para’Kito.
What makes Para’Kito different from the other natural mosquito repellants is that it is not applied. It is worn! And yay, during the event raffle, I won one (below)! Looks like this is the way to protect my schooling boys because it is always so hard to remind them to apply mosquito repellant before going off to school. Para’Kito clips on and they can forget about it while still staying protected.
Bands and clips of different colors are available, depending on one’s color preference.
Para’Kito band and clip colors
A replaceable pellet made of essential oils (Lavendula, Geranium, Citronella, Maritime Pine, Patchouli, Clove and Peppermint) is inserted into the band and provides 24-hour protection from head to toe for 15 straight days.
David Azanza holds up the Para’Kito band and replaceable pellet
The Para’Kito wristbands and belt clips retail at PhP 799 while a refill pack of 2 pellets retails at PhP 499.
Lifefactory Glass Water Bottles
What’s better than BPA-free plastic water bottles? BPA-free GLASS water bottles from Lifefactory!
Plastic bottles will ruin the environment with mountains of used plastics that are not biodegradable and pollute the earth. Glass is reusable and safer because there is no risk of chemicals leeching out of the plastic bottle.
What I immediately loved about the Lifefactory water bottle aside from its being glass was the modern hard plastic sleeve it came in, with thoughtfully designed bumps for a good grip and a fliptop cap.
See how easy it is to grip this bottle with those side bumps?
Sturdy, safe, and cool fliptop covers come in neutral and bold colors
The neck area is wide enough to easily clean the insides with a bottle brush – something I find important because some water bottles have necks that make it really difficult to clean the insides.
Lifefactory glass bottles retail prices (as of this posting) are:
4 oz glass bottle, with sleeve – PhP 649.99
9 oz glass bottle, with sleeve – PhP 749.99 (BORO-for baby bottles); PhP 644.99 (regular)
9 oz sippy cap bottle with sleeve – PhP 729.99
16 oz Classic Cap glass bottle with sleeve – PhP 849.99
16 oz Flip Top Cap glass bottle with sleeve – PhP 939.99
22 oz Classic Cap glass bottle with sleeve – PhP 949.99
22 oz Flip Top Cap glass bottle with sleeve – PhP 1,019.99
Nipples (for babies) and flip top caps can also be purchased separately.
It was also great to see my yin yoga teacher, Monica, at the same event. She’s not just a yoga teacher. She blogs too at Dharma Dreams!
Find Para’Kito and Lifefactory at sports shops like R.O.X.,Planet Sports and The Athlete’s Foot; Rustan’s; The Farm; The Travel Club; Toys R Us; Yoga Manila; Certified Calm; Islands & More; and many more.