For quality sleep, don't lose your Tempur!
You have to hand it to Stephen Sy and Focus Global on how they’ve consistently been among those at the forefront of bringing the highest quality brands of home furnishing, appliances and home needs to these shores; how they’ve been instrumental in making those brands we would read or hear about become available here; and be responsibly distributed and represented. Just recently, they took the theme of “from the kitchen to the bedroom” to a new meaning. First, there was their SubZero-Wolf event, held at their new Greenbelt Residences showroom, and then there was the fun-filled Tempur launch/lunch at their Greenbelt 5 location. Thanks to the antics of the event’s hosts, sleepwear-garbed Malu Gamboa and Leica Carpo-Argosino, and game “ambassadors” Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Ernie Lopez, the event was filled with fun and laughter.
The director of Sleep Disorders at St. Luke’s Dr. Keith Aguilera was a special guest, and he parried with the audience as they interacted with him, practically eliciting a public consultation. Developed by NASA, the Tempur beds, pillows and sleep accessories are the closest we can get to a guaranteed night of recuperation, REM sleep and restoration. Thanks to its still revolutionary Memory Foam Technology. To demonstrate what this can mean, a wine glass was placed on top of a Tempur mattress and a model jumped up and down on the bed, without disturbing or spilling any wine from the glass. For those who sleep with a partner, this clearly showed how even if said partner sleeps with constant movement, or goes to bed later than yourself, you’re snugly “cocooned” on your side of the bed.
Presently, there are three variants of Tempur mattresses. There’s the Original, that molds to the shape and position of your body, providing full support for your neck, back and shoulders. Then there’s the Cloud, which, as its name suggests, means a softer, more pliable surface. And then, there’s Sensation, which gives one a sturdier feel, a little less “give” than Cloud, and translates to less tossing and turning.
Just as SubZero-Wolf enjoys an enviable reputation when it comes to refrigeration and freezer systems, Tempur is a premier brand when it comes to mattresses and pillows. Banking on this equity, seeking the very top of the line in whatever it chooses to bring in and represent here in the Philippines, this has been the DNA of Focus Global. And as the discerning consumers will readily attest, they are grateful!
Three novels for the conspiracy-theorists out there! For those who seek to read while at the edge of their seats. Conspiracy land
For the conspiracy-theorists out there, for the ones who want their novels suspense-filled and action-packed, here is a trio of novels that fits the bill and proves the printed word can still be as exhilarating as your latest action thriller film. Sleepless nights are the promise, as it’ll be hard to put these books down, as we’ll be wanting to know what happens next.
Cell 8 Roslund and Hellstrom (available at National Book Store). This conspiracy has to do with spiriting away an Ohio prison death row convict (without his knowledge), via faking a fatal heart condition. Six years later, living under an assumed identity, John Frey attacks a drunk on a Swedish ferry, and when detective superintendent Ewart Grens discovers the false documents, all hell breaks loose. This book is fast-paced while making strong statements about death penalty, concepts of public justice vis-à-vis private retribution (the father of the girl “murdered” by Frey) and how extradition treaties can still be subject to political manipulation and doing what is expedient in the face of each country’s public opinion. When you throw in the distinct possibility that Frey may actually be innocent of the crime he was sent to the death row for, the shadows of atonement and justice also rear their heads. The book is gripping and also very human, definitely one good read.
Bloodland Alan Glynn (available at National Book Store). Glynn wrote Limitless, which was adapted into the film that starred Bradley Cooper, so we know how imaginative, yet grounded in reality, he can be when writing of the nefarious doings of entities such as drug companies, or in this case, giant corporations that operate on a global scale.
The story may start with a copter crash that killed six people in Ireland, including a small-time actress; but as the plot develops, we discover that the crash may have been staged as a distraction for something darker, and more sinister. And when out-of-work journalist Jimmy Gilroy feels he’s being coerced to stop from writing a book about the actress, the notion of a dire cover-up is planted in his mind. Mining rights in the Congo, a UN business ethics report, and flitting from Manhattan to Dublin, Paris, London and Verona, this is a great book about power, big business and politics, and the moral vacuum we may live in.
The Technologists Matthew Pearl (available at National Book Store). To those familiar with Pearl’s work, yes, we are back in 19th-century Boston; but if his previous novels took on Dante, Poe and Dickens, this latest novel is a different “kettle”-brewed. It may be historical fiction, but it’s also an entertaining read that tackles the subject of the rise of MIT, and how it had to play “poor brother” to Harvard at the start. When all these unnatural occurrences happen in Boston, with tragic results, the question is posed, “Is there some mad genius on the loose, wreaking havoc by manipulating scientific laws?” Marcus, an MIT charity scholar, teams up with Boston blue-bloods Bob and Edwin, along with Ellen, the only female who was originally admitted into MIT, to first explain what happened and discover who is behind it. This they have to conspire to achieve while officially, doing nothing, it is a Harvard don who the Boston Police Department has asked assistance from.
