Singer and songwriter Barbie Almalbis-Honasan said that technology has helped her become a hands-on mom to her two kids Stina, 7 and Liam, 4.
“I feel blessed talaga that my work allows me to be home all day," Barbie told PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in an interview last Tuesday, March 4, at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
She related that she can do recordings in the comfort of her home, allowing her time with her kids instead of leaving them to their yayas.
She said, “When we do gigs it’s at night and occasional lang yung na nasa labas kami.
"And now, because of technology, I get to make an album and record it at home.”
HOME-MADE ALBUM. Barbie explained how she does it in less time than when she used to record in a studio.
“We record drums in the sala, we record the vocals in our bedroom.
"When I get it mixed, kasi yung professional na sound engineer yung nagmi-mix, ini-email ko lang.
"Tapos ipapadala lang nila sa akin for comments.
“I don’t even have to leave the house unlike before when it would take me like months to record an album.
"And I would like live in the studio but now I do it at home."
DISCIPLINING KIDS. Although her home is filled with techno gadgets, Barbie sets a limit to exposing her kids to computer games.
She prefers that her kids spends their playtime in outdoor games.
She said, “Martin [her husband] and I don’t have a sport talaga but I used to play basketball in high school.
"So we have a basketball ring outside and a little ping pong [table], ganun lang."
She concurred that disciplining the kids is "a day-by-day learning and experience.”
IPAD MANIA. She recalled the time when her kids got addicted to the iPad, "it usually starts belonging to the parents and then eventually it belongs to the kids."
In the case of her kids, Barbie said, “Eventually nakita namin na naging part na siya ng routine nila.
“What happened was the iPad broke so nasira, parang ang saya namin nung nawala yung iPad.
"Parang we had so much time together like we would go out, we would walk around the village, we would do a lot of things.
“So nung naayos na siya I limited it na.
"They can use it again pero just for 30 minutes.
"I realized nga they had more time to play with each other.
“So they have it now but they’re not addicted to it.
"And we don’t use it as the pacifier pag nasa labas na, ‘Ito o, iPad ka na lang.’”
KEEPING FIT. Despite her busy schedule as a hands-on mom to two adorable kids and full-time singer and songwriter, Barbie is able to maintain her looks and keep herself fit. How does she do it?
“I try to exercise. Minsan napupuyat din ako which is not good,” said Barbie.
She shared that she tries to eat healthy by keeping junk foods off her grocery list, “I try to eat I have a healthful diet, I really don’t like to diet to lose weight.
“I am a sweet tooth though I know I have to avoid sugar 'coz it makes you crave for more.
“Kasi ganun yung sugar if you stop it then you stop craving, but if you start it you get addicted to it.
"I don’t buy soda, I drink it but I don’t buy junk food.
“I mean I eat junk food like when we’re on the road or whatever but we don’t stock junk food.
"We’re not against it but we just don’t buy it.”
LIBERATED. Currently Barbie is working on her newest album that she’ll be releasing next month.
How is her new album different from her previous ones?
She replied, “With the technology and having been doing this for a long time, parang now I feel more free to express artistically what I want.
“Parang wala ka na masyado iniisip pero syempre you want to make sure that people will enjoy it.
"But at the same time you’re not doing it out of fear na, ‘Naku baka kailangan gagawa ako ng hit song, kailangan gagawa ako ng song na maghi-hit sa radio.’
"Now I'm more free as an artist.
“This is what I really like and this is what I wanna come up with and magagawa mo na siya sa house.”
The singer recalled how difficult and expensive it used to be to record a song.
She averred, “It’s expensive to rent a studio so when you do a song, when you record a song.
"It’s one thing kasi to write a song then you’re happy with it.
“But when you record it the performance sometimes destroys or makes or breaks the song, e.
“Parang the way you arrange it, the way you record it dati kasi touch move na yun, e.
"Nagbayad ka ng ilang thousand, parang wala ka nang magagawa.
"Sad ka na lang na parang, ‘Aww sayang hindi nag work out.’"