Like many who were suddenly forced to stay safe at home, life for Binibining Pilipinas Grand International 2016 Nicole Cordoves also slowed down.
As a busy working woman and go-getter, she admits that she was not used to being at home all the time. However, similar to how everyone found something new about themselves as they adjusted to the lockdown, Cordoves also discovered new passions, new learnings, and likewise realized that there is so much still to be grateful for.
New life in lockdown
She shares that despite being cooped up at home, the pandemic actually also forced her to upskill herself. In fact, she shares that there were a lot of things that she never thought she could do well, including cooking and gardening, and thanks to the Internet, she was able to do them.
“All that I’ve been doing since March is to learn as much as I can from a lot of rich sources online, particularly on YouTube. I never thought I would learn so much in such a short amount of time,” she shares.
The beauty queen relates, “I used to just stay on my phone or binge on Netflix when I’m not doing anything, but one good thing that came out of this pandemic is I learned to utilize the power of the Internet more and increase my knowledge on things that interest me. I am just so glad that I was able to upgrade my home Internet plan easily with the PLDT Home Super Speed Deal.”
To keep herself busy indoors, Cordoves has been putting her cooking skills to the test and trying new recipes. She also shares that she’s thankful to have a reliable Internet connection so she can watch more of her favorite YouTube content and remain productive at home—from learning how to better clean and organize her home to editing her own videos for her channel.
Since the pandemic, she also became a certified halamom. She shares that she now has a corner in her room that’s filled with indoor plants that also serves as her go-to background for her Zoom calls and meetings.
“It all started with indoor plants that progressed to actually growing my own food on my balcony. Today, I harvest my own sili, sitaw, and kamatis.”
The return to Binibining Pilipinas as mentor
Cordoves also kept herself busy and productive at home by mentoring the Binibining Pilipinas 2020 hopefuls with Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray. But due to the pandemic, adjustments to their training also had to be done where workshops were held online via Zoom calls instead.
“It was challenging since online workshops can leave out a lot of things that are essential to public speaking like non-verbal communication, gesture, body language. So, we dedicated our modules to focus on content instead, and the girls blew us away,” she recounts.
Cordoves admits that she sees a queen in Rabiya Mateo, this year’s Miss Universe. “When I saw her preliminary interview, she immediately became my bet! She spoke so naturally while courageously sharing her own opinion. She’s already an amazing queen who can really connect with people on a real level.”
And knowing that the journey to get the crown is heavy and burdensome, she offers Mateo a piece of advice, from one queen to another: “When it gets dark, I hope she remembers that she is the light. Your destiny is in your hands, make it a beautiful and memorable one.”
Realizations
“Though the pandemic is something that really brought so much suffering and heartache to millions around the world, it did however make all of us become closer together at home,” she shares. “And with everyone being forced to stay at home for their own protection, having the right Internet connection speed is a necessary tool.”
“I need to be online all the time, so I upgraded my PLDT Home Fibr Internet with their Super Speed Promo,” she says. PLDT Home’s Super Speed Deal promo gives subscribers a convenient and same-day upgrade of up to 2x their Internet speeds for as low as P99 additional on their monthly plan.