pink noise

Foodie Friday: 15-minute Pasta

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000+08:00

Very few ingredients, very little effort. Perfect for when I'm feeling lazy, which is everyday.

All you need is a bottle of Spanish sardines (which managed to make it unscathed inside my check-in luggage), olive oil, garlic, and pasta. I used vermicelli because I feel that the diameter of the noodles is perfect for this dish. Joke. It was on sale. End of story. Spaghetti or capellini (angel hair) would work just as fine.

Cook the pasta as per package directions, and in a skillet, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil (optional: add some butter). Add the spanish sardines (including the liquid it comes in), breaking it into smaller pieces. Season with salt and pepper (and cayenne pepper if you're me), toss in the pasta, and enjoy.

Meet Grimlock

2012-01-24T23:13:00.001+08:00

Because I am a spoiled, spoiled girlfriend :p

So my CNY weekend was great; how was yours? ^^

Finally

2012-01-24T23:07:00.000+08:00

A new schlepping bag ;)

I have this very distinct memory of my high school self reading BOP (or was it Tiger Beat?), coming across this feature on Japanese girls who saved every bit of their allowance plus their graduation gifts from their parents to get themselves a Louis Vuitton bag, and my though bubble was: that is one fugly bag, what the hell is wrong with these people?

A decade later I am practically skipping all the way home clutching a big brown paper bag with a big brown box inside. Whoops.

It is in not, in any way, a practical purchase, but out of all the bags I have been lusting over (a green Reed Krakoff gym bag, a Mulberry Bayswater in Oak or Sparkle Tweed, and a black Proenza Schouler PS1, among others) it is the one that made the most sense. See I realized, after quite a number of bag purchases, that I do not have enough girl in me to carry a bag in the crook of my arm, nor do I have the patience to deal with flaps and zippers and buckles and all those other obstructions. And I have time and again proven myself unable to edit the stuff I bring with me everyday so as to prevent a messenger strap from burrowing into my shoulders. So schlepping bag it is.

In Damier Ebene, because caring for vachetta leather is not a part of my skill set. I want a bag I can actually use without having to worry if the sweat from my hands is causing an uneven patina. It is a schlepping bag, after all. Plus the red lining is all sorts of pretty.

From what I've read from all over the net, it does hold up pretty well to torture, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. ^^

Foodie Friday: Mayo-free Tuna Sandwich

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000+08:00

My New Year's resolution (read: the only one I have managed to keep thus far) is to eat breakfast everyday. This is quite a bit of a challenge because I am not a morning person in any way, shape, or form. And I am not quite fond of the quick breakfast stuff like oats and cereals. I used to buy breakfast from the office cafeteria, but I got tired (and quite frankly, scared) of the seven hundred different types of fried noodles that all tasted about the same.

So sandwiches it is. My main issue with store-bought sandwiches is that they are made with mayo 90% of the time. And I hate mayo. Not because of the fat content or anything; I just don't like how it tastes, in the same way I don't like nori, or tuna belly (and any kind of fish belly, actually), or carrots. So I decided to make my own, after a couple of hours scouring the net for recipes and ideas. I have been eating this everyday for two weeks now and I have not yet sworn it off (but maybe next week I shall; let's wait and see), so I guess I could say it's decent.

Ingredients:

1 can chili tuna (or chunks in water, or flakes in brine; whatever floats your boat)

chopped red onion

2 dollops of sour cream

about a tablespoon of yellow mustard

lots of dill and cayenne pepper (but of course)

Spread it across a slice of toasted multi-grain bread (Gardenia country loaf is <3) and toast for a few more minutes and have a great morning. ^^

P.S. Oven toaster is courtesy of Doti :D

Chibi

2012-01-18T22:00:00.003+08:00

My apologies for the utter lack of posts; I have been experiencing my very own, personal Mercury Retrograde.

I guess after more than four years of using a Mac, I am no longer used to things not working smoothly. That is, until Apple released Mac OS X Lion and things started to go downhill. Long, harrowing story short, I ended up buying Chibi.

Admittedly, a Macbook Air is not the most practical laptop out there, and it certainly is not a lot of bang for your buck, specs-wise, but for my personal use it serves quite excellently. I mean let's be honest here - I may understand the difference between a 1.4Ghz and a 1.6Ghz processor but will I notice it? I'm still working out the kinks (and still cursing Lion every single day for not being as stable and useful sa Leopard) but I'm hoping this would all be over one day. If not, Windows 8 I am looking at you.

Dear 2011

2012-01-08T12:48:00.001+08:00

Thank you...

... for the strength to make a change

... and to venture into uncharted territories

... for friends, old and new

... for random bursts of inspiration

... and for the wonderful surprises.

Here's to more of the same in 2012! ^^

How I Met My iPhone

2011-11-20T14:35:00.001+08:00

It took an entire morning camped out in front of my MacBook to book an appointment for the launch, half an hour waiting for customer service to pick-up my call, a couple of minutes half-screaming at the Filipino CS rep who had the nerve to tell me I was lucky I was even able to connect to the website (this while I was complaining about the fact that my appointment was not booked due to some error on their side), several dozen moments jumping up and down after getting my confirmation e-mail seconds after the aforementioned screaming match with the rep who incidentally told me I had none, fifteen minutes trying my luck at the online pre-order, and an entire day staring at the door waiting for the delivery man because the pre-order was successful.

I always knew I was getting an iPhone when I moved here, it was only a question of when. It's never prudent to get an Apple product nearing the end of its life cycle, so I waited for the launch of the new iPhone. Disappointing as the 4S was, it was still a better option than having to shell out an extra 9 dollars per month to get internet connectivity if I get a Blackberry or having to do extra work to get my Macbook to befriend an Android phone. While the latter shouldn't be so hard, I already spend the entire day trying to get electronic stuff to work, so outside of my job I prefer my electronics to work for me instead.

I've had an iPhone 3G for more than two years and an iPod Touch after that so I am no stranger to iOS and the goodies that the App Store brings, but it's my first time to use it with a virtually unlimited data plan (technically my usage is capped at 12Gb but that is nearly impossible to use up with normal usage), so I've been trying out a number of apps that I ignored previously because they didn't make sense if I didn't have connectivity on-the-go. And SingTel's 3G connection is pretty darned good.

Anyway, a couple of noteworthy apps I've been liking lately:

1. Pulse

It's an app that allows you to organize mobile content from various sources so you can see them at a glance. While it doesn't appear to be something you need once I started using it I found it hard to go back to viewing my favorite sites one by one using a conventional browser.

I just wish I could have more than 5 pages, and it would be amazing if I could add my favorite blogs to the mix (or maybe that's possible but I just haven't figured out how - drop me a line if you know how to).

Edit: While you can't have more than 5 pages, you can add any site with an RSS feed via the search feature so yay.

2. Soundhound

I don't know why I haven't heard of this before but it's the coolest app ever. Seriously. It listens to a song snippet via the iPhone's mic and identifies the song. Which doesn't seem like much on paper but it's really impressive once you try it out. It's the end of the era of hearing a song you like in some random place and having to remind yourself to google it later (and coming up with no hits because you don't remember enough lyrics to come up with a decent keyword search).

I played around with it using stuff from my iTunes library and it usually takes about 5 to 10 seconds for it to make an ID; sometimes it doesn't even wait for actual lyrics. And hey, if it can ID Donna Cruz and Imago and The Moffatts, it's good enough for me.

You can even try to sing or hum the song, and as off-key as I am the app was able to identify this just by a couple of he-ey's:

And the best part is, it's free! If you have an iPhone (or a droid) you must try it out. Like, now.

3. Siri

Ah, Siri.

That about sums up our relationship.

Random picture to end the post because I have just recently discovered the transformative power of false eyelashes (and also because I am vain):

One more month until I go home! Have a great week everyone ^^

The Horror that is Passport Renewal

2011-11-15T09:00:00.000+08:00

I never really visit any Philippine government agency expecting speed, efficiency, and outstanding overall service - in fact, I almost always expect the worst - but somehow I still get extremely stressed and severely disappointed.

Take, for example, the process of passport renewal. Mine is expiring on March next year, so I had to renew it here otherwise I won't be able to go anywhere as my passport no longer meets the 6-months-before-expiry travel cutoff.

It started off well, actually. Here in Singapore, appointments for passport renewal can be made online. All I had to do was e-mail the requirements together with the application form and preferred date and time of appointment (appointment slot availability is listed in the embassy's website). I strongly recommend doing this as opposed to visiting the embassy and queueing up for hours just to get an appointment. On the actual appointment date it probably took me less than twenty minutes for the whole process. Easy peasy, and I couldn't have been more shocked.

I got a claim slip indicating the date I had to come back to claim my new passport, which I assumed would be easy enough. All they had to do, after all, was give me my new passport and punch holes on the old one. How difficult could that be?

This is how.

First of all, claiming of new passports can only be done from Mondays to Thursdays, 10am - 4pm, right smack in the middle of office hours. And they have a lunch break from 12:30-1:30. Because, you know, they haven't heard of the concept of shifting. But as I no longer work for a company with a giant stick up its ass, my boss was actually nice enough to allow me to leave the office for a while to get my passport (and even suggested I take the bus to save money even if that would mean I'd be out of the office longer).

As much as I would like to save money, the Philippine embassy in Singapore happens to be located in the middle of nowhere - this in a country with no shortage of nearby bus stops. And it's also incredibly easy to miss, seeing as it looks like this:

It's a friggin' house, and a real tiny one at that. Which would've been fine if there were only, say, ten Filipinos in Singapore for them to serve. And what makes it even more painful is the fact that it's right across the Japanese embassy, which could probably fit seven Philippine embassies inside the compound. Haysh.

When I entered the embassy I was greeted by the security guard who is actually quite nice (and may quite possibly be the only nice staff there) and who also happens to be Indian. I have absolutely nothing against Indians, but excuse me for assuming that I would be welcomed by a Filipino guard in the Philippine embassy of a country with no shortage of Filipino workers.

This is the embassy up close. Get over the initial shock because it gets worse.

In a country that rivals the Philippines in heat and humidity, all transactions are made outdoors, with no air-conditioning or electric fans, even. And with only one window for each service, long queues are to be expected given the sheer number of people they have to serve. I believe it's at this point when my blood begins to boil, no matter how much I try to prepare myself for it beforehand.

And while everyone else is complaining about the state of our airport's bathrooms:

The embassy has portalets. Excuse me while I shoot myself in the head.

And claiming my passport which I assumed would take only ten minutes, tops? It took me two days. On my first visit the power was out (which could not be more strange as I have not experienced a single power outage here ever), so the electronic queue counter system wasn't working and there was even more chaos than usual. Plus there were a bunch of people complaining at the passport release counter which made it impossible for them to process anything, so I gave up and left before my head exploded with pent-up anger. It just wasn't something I could deal with on a work day. Or any given day, for that matter.

I returned the next day, got there a bit earlier hoping I would make it back to the office before lunch, but around 12 they announced the last queue number that would get served before they take a break. Because, you know, the staff had to make sure they eat lunch on time. By the time I got my passport, which would be around 2 in the afternoon, I was already numb with anger and frustration and stress. And just thankful that it's all over and done with and I won't have to return for a while.

There are so many things that went wrong, but I'm still thankful that at least the first half of the process was stress-free. And hopeful that things would be so much more improved in 2016, when I would have to do everything all over again. But who am I kidding, really.

P.S. For reference, the passport renewal procedure can be found here.

The Birthday Weekend

2011-11-09T23:42:00.001+08:00

...was all sorts of wonderful, thank you very much. ^^

Friday Favorites: Kettle Corn

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000+08:00

Because we have no microwave (yes, you can make popcorn at home without microwave - I thought everyone knew that but apparently not, judging by the incredulous look I got from my housemate).

You need popcorn kernels, sugar (I used raw sugar but white or brown is fine), cooking oil, and salt. And a semi-huge pot with a sturdy lid. The lighter the better. And mittens or pot holders or anything to protect your hands.

I used this brand because it's the only one I could find. Bonus points for the resealable bag.

So first you heat enough oil to coat the pot. First drop three kernels, put the lid on, and wait for them to pop. Doing this makes sure you get the right temperature. Otherwise you may end up with chewy popcorn. Not good.

After the three kernels have popped, put in enough kernels to cover the entire surface area of the pan with one layer, and add in a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Mix it all in, put the lid on, and start shaking. When the popping has slowed down to maybe once every two seconds (or if the pot is already full), turn off the heat. Wait for the popping to stop entirely, dust the popcorn with salt, and hello kettle corn.

Of course if you owned a microwave, all you need is two minutes on HIGH, but where's the fun in that?

P.S. I also tried to add cayenne pepper one time, and it's strangely yummy in a really weird way. But then again, I like cayenne pepper on everything.

iWant: Lytro

2011-10-21T00:08:00.002+08:00

Because I'm always rooting for the game changers, in a world where every other company is trying to outdo each other in creating a bigger better version of the exact same thing.

Hello, digicams trying to out-megapixel, out-zoom and out-LCD resolution each other.
Meet the Lytro.

Shoot now, focus later. Too cool.

It's the end of the era of blurry subjects against a perfectly-focused background.

Intrigued? Their website shall explain it so much better than I ever could.

Images from www.lytro.com

Amazon Kindle 3 FAQ

2011-10-18T09:00:00.000+08:00

Because I get tons of questions about my Kindle, more so now because the new Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire is out. And also because one time, this stranger who sat beside me at the train asked me about it. Not that she'd read my blog, but anyway...

Q: Why not an iPad?
A: Because they are two entirely different things. It's not just the price point, it's the intended usage. The iPad is a multitasker, the Kindle is an eBook reader, plain and simple.

Q: Do you have to buy all your eBooks from Amazon?
A: Nope. You can get your eBooks from other sources (wink wink) and transfer them to your Kindle via USB or wirelessly through e-mail - once registered, an e-mail address will be assigned to your device, and you can send eBooks to this address as attachments and your device will download them wirelessly through WiFi or 3G.

Q: Can the Kindle understand PDF or MS Word documents?
A: Yes. However, I find it better to convert these documents to the Amazon eBook format (AZW) for better readability. Amazon actually offers a free conversion service - just e-mail the document to your Kindle and put "Convert" in the subject and it will be converted before reaching your device.

Q: Do I need a SIM card for the Kindle 3G? Will I get charged for the data access?
A: No. There is no slot for a SIM card, but presumably there is one inside the device that is already pre-configured for 3G access. Actually you can also use GPRS/EDGE if 3G is not available. And Amazon pays for the data access, unless you use 3G to download personal documents (i.e. the ones you send via e-mail).

Q: Will 3G access work in other countries apart from the US?
A: It works in most countries, but you can check the 3G coverage area here. If you have a Kindle and you want to see the wireless network providers within range, you can go to the Settings page and press Alt+EQQ.

Q: Can I use the web browser over 3G for free?
A: Oh, the heartbreak. I used to be able to surf the net over 3G for free. It's not a feature I abused, because quite frankly the experimental web browser sucks. But it was nice to have on emergencies, like when I really have to check my mail or when I am lost and in need of directions.

But now apparently Amazon has discontinued the free web browsing over 3G.

Due to local restrictions, web browsing is not available for all countries.

The only sites I can access via 3G are Amazon and Wikipedia. Which, in the context of the world wide web, is almost equivalent to nothing.

So whereas a week ago I would pay 50 dollars more for a Kindle 3G (with unlimited *emergency* data access), it doesn't make sense anymore, unless you have absolutely no WiFi access.

Dammit, Amazon, I was rooting for you.

Having said that, I still think the 99-dollar Kindle WiFi is so totally worth it.

Wishlist

2011-10-17T14:40:00.000+08:00

Because my birthday is coming up. And so is Christmas. (And I've been throwing up since yesterday due to a really nasty migraine so I'm trying to cheer myself up).

2011.wishlist by ellayap featuring leather tote bags

Chloe Eau de Toilette (in the picture it's eau de parfum but it's a strong scent so I prefer the EDT). This reminds me of Japanese department stores. And shopping in Japan *sigh*
Chanel Vitalumiere Eclat Comfort Radiance compact. Chanel foundation = <3. I've been using Vitalumiere Aqua nonstop since the first day I got it and I laveeeeet.
Michael Kors watch. A bit Chanel J12-ish, but for a fraction of the price (i.e. I would actually wear it out without having to freak out over nicks and scratches).
Mulberry Bayswater. My future schlepping bag. ^^
iPhone 4S. Dear Siri, let's be friends, yes?

Dear Dennis Ritchie

2011-10-15T16:30:00.001+08:00

Thanks for UNIX.
Not so much for C.

His pointer has been cast to void *; his process has terminated with exit code 0

The Skinny Bitch Project

2011-10-10T23:31:00.000+08:00

Step 1: Hydrate

Meet Steve, my Kor Delta water bottle.

Dear Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T01:09:00.001+08:00

Thank you for putting a ding in my universe.

And September Ends

2011-10-03T23:47:00.002+08:00

Without me getting to squeeze in another blog post. Gaaaah. I promise October's going to be different. Or maybe not. Anyway, what I've been up to:

Meet Lorenzo Junior (clicky here for the original Lorenzo).
My efforts to find a Krups drip coffeemaker in Singapore were all in vain, so I had to settle for a Braun Cafe House. As tempting as it is to get one of those fancy Nespresso machines, I am actually more of a coffee addict than a coffee connoisseur. I want brewed coffee, and I want it in huge quantities. It simply does not make sense to buy a machine that churns out a single cup of joe for 90 cents a pop, whereas a drip coffee machine would be able to produce 6 cups of coffee everyday for a month with a 12-dollar bag of beans (my favorite is Starbucks Verona). I also want my coffee to go, so I bought a thermos canister which keeps it piping hot until 3 in the afternoon when I most need it.

We also finally got around to getting an LPG tank for our stove, so now I can cook!

Recycled leftovers for Sunday brunch. Italian sausages, potatoes, and onions with a hefty dash of cayenne pepper. Shown here only because I think it looks pretty.

But the first challenge is and always will be adobo. I had to eat adobo for a week in an attempt to perfect my Singapore version (Japan version here and here). I cook adobo the only way I know how - full-fat. And I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I started with a pack of pork belly and a pack of pork "soup bones" - the former for the fat, the latter for the flavor. I placed them in a saucepan together with lots of apple cider vinegar, a handful of whole garlic cloves, peppercorns, a hefty dash of cayenne pepper, and salt. No bay leaf, because I don't like it. The soy sauce will come later. I left this on the stovetop, covered, until the pork is verrrrry tender. I'd say it took about 2-3 episodes of Modern Family.

Afterwards I fished out the pork into a bowl and coated it with soy sauce (I used light soy sauce, only because I had no idea which one to choose from the gazillion types of soy sauce available here). And then I drizzled olive oil into a skillet and fried the pork pieces until they're deliciously brown. See? Full-fat. And then I mixed whatever soy sauce is left in the bowl with whatever vinegar is left in the saucepan and poured this onto the skillet. Yum!

I made a pretty big batch for one person, so the next day I reheated the leftovers and added water spinach and voila! Instant adobong kangkong.

I made a second batch because the first one was a tad bit salty, and I did the same thing with the leftovers, but this time I used string beans - instant adobong sitaw. ^^

Needless to say, I now have to hit the gymn to try to undo the effects of adobo week (but it was goooooood).

Oh, and no month is ever complete without a couple of low-EQ purchases, yes?

Super comfy wedges at 20% off. No further explanation necessary.

Two Oakley shades for (less than?) the price of one. I blame my ex-officemate who also ended up working here in Singapore and apparently is a very very good enabler. But I did get a very good deal on these two so I'm not complaining.

And neither are Eeyore and Puck. ^^

The Toof Doctor

2011-09-17T23:02:00.000+08:00

Dentists make me squirmy. I guess it's because when you visit them it's like you're giving them permission to poke cold metal tools into your mouth. And you can't exactly make a lot of small talk to at least improve the comfort level, can you?

Fortunately for me, my neighborhood friend (who also happens to be my brother's first puppy love teehee) turned out to be a dentist. So now my only beef with my dental sessions is that I can't be part of the chismisan sessions (I usually visit with another neighborhood friend, that's just how we roll) because my mouth is wide open.

Now my wisdom teeth have been acting up for quite some time now, and I've been trying to get used to the dull, nagging pain, at least until I can visit my dentist when I go home for the holidays. But as luck would have it, one tooth valiantly decided to spring out and scrape the insides of my cheeks and the pain morphed from tolerable to excruciating.

So last Wednesday after work I decided to visit a dental clinic. First I tried the one located inside NEX, the nearby mall. But they were fully booked for the day, so I made a reservation for the next evening. And then on my walk home, I passed by another clinic, but no dice - they were also fully booked. Now I can't remember what my train of thought was, but I also made a reservation for the following evening, at the same time slot. I'm guessing it's the pain.

At any rate I ended up going to the second clinic, mainly because their receptionist is warm and accommodating. And they have a complete roster of their dental practitioners in their website, which is always a good thing. And also because I couldn't decide if the clinic name is cute or cheesy.

Yep, I went to the Toof Doctor.

The first thing they did when I got there was to do an X-ray. I haven't even had a glimpse of the ~~dentist~~ toof doctor yet and they've already signed me up for some procedure. But it turned out to be a good thing. More on that later.

According to my receipt the procedure is technically called an orthopanthomogram (OPG), but essentially it's an X-ray that shows all your teeth. And it cost me 60SGD. Gahk. It was pretty quick and uncomplicated - all I had to do was bite this sort of spatula thing while the machine went around my head.

Afterwards I was ushered into my scuba-diving (yep, checked the creds) toof doctor's office. He tells me my wisdom tooth has to be removed and would I want to have it removed then and there and I was like whuuuuut I'm only here for consultation! I wasn't expecting to go home sans one wisdom toof. So I told him I'd have to think about it, and he was nice enough to shave off the part of the offending tooth that was scraping against my cheek to alleviate the pain, but he reminded me that it's temporary.

Now the sort of good news is, the receptionist e-mailed me a digital copy of my OPG, which I forwarded to my dentist at home for a second opinion. And I can also post it in my blog, just for the heck of it (third, fourth, fifth opinions are also very much welcome) teehee.

The toof X-ray actually confirmed my worst fear - both of my lower wisdom teef (the plural of toof heehee) are impacted and would have to be surgically removed. See how they're growing towards my other teeth instead of upwards? It was actually my upper wisdom tooth that made me visit the dentist, but as it turns out I am in bigger trouble from the lower two.

The silver lining is, I was able to find out before they actually did some damage (i.e. before they hurt real real bad). And I can schedule the surgery when I go home to the Philippines where it's infinitely cheaper and where I am completely comfortable with my dentist (although she would have to refer me to an oral surgeon).

Now all I have to do is sit tight and pray that my ~~impakto~~ impacted wisdom teeth don't do anything crazy until then.

KPL Hair Removal

2011-09-15T21:20:00.001+08:00

I'm trying to remember what made me get a Groupon voucher for unlimited KPL sessions, but I guess as with all impulse buys it was low EQ coupled with boredom. Although I must say, the prospect of permanently hair-free underarms is a very attractive one, yes?

Anyway.
So I bought a Groupon voucher for unlimited underarm or upper lip KPL sessions at this place called Regina. KPL (krypton pulsed light) is a hair removal technology similar to the more popular IPL (intense pulsed light). You can read all about it here, but ideally what happens is your hair stops growing after a couple of sessions.

I've never tried any of Regina's services before, but they seem to be quite popular. In fact, the branches nearest me are fully booked until November! So I had to book my appointment with their branch at The Central, which was just one (long) train ride away.

I was a good ten minutes late for my appointment because I came from the craziness that was the IT fair, but thankfully they kept my reservation. For the first session I had to undergo a consultation, wherein they explain the entire procedure and other noteworthy stuff, like how you have to wait for 8 weeks before your next session, and how you're not allowed to wax or epilate once you've begun the treatment (and you're also not supposed to do that two weeks before your first session).

Afterwards I went to the treatment room and I was instructed to change into something similar to a spa wrap. The room was very clean, but not eerily so. Although it was quite disconcerting to lie down on a bed covered with what appears to be a thick sheet of plastic cover.

Prior to starting the treatment, they first perform a patch test to see if I had any allergic reactions. Only afterwards did they start with the KPL session. It was very quick actually - no more than 5 minutes, tops. First they shave the area with an electric shaver, and then they spread a cooling gel (which supposedly has whitening properties too), and then they give it a few blasts of the KPL machine. They do make you wear protective shades to prevent any damage to your eyes. Afterwards they place what I can only assumer are ice packs (like the ones that go inside the insulated carrier bags for Royce chocolates) on the treated area, and they leave this on for a couple more minutes. And then they slather the area with moisturizer and you're all set.

There was very little pain from the KPL pulses, and if you compare it to epilating or waxing I'd say it's virtually negligible, although there is that cloying scent of burnt hair. The hardest thing for me, if I'm being perfectly honest, is trying to keep my composure - I'm not the most ticklish person in the world but if someone spreads cooling gel on my underarms it's so hard to keep from laughing.

I would also like to point out that the service at Regina very satisfactory, and the staff was very mild-mannered and attentive, much like what you would expect from a Japanese establishment. And they are not pushy at all, nor do they sell you any add-on products which I very much appreciate. Aaaaand they have yummy yummy candies at the receptionist's desks (I feel I have to say these because I must've munched on ten of those during my short short stay).

As for the results, I can't comment right now because I've only had one session, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Warehouse Sale

2011-09-12T19:00:00.000+08:00

So this was *partially* responsible for my weekend bedrest. But to be fair, I was already had the sniffles last Friday. Admittedly it probably got worse because I got dragged (fine, it was not like I was hesitant) into visiting the Charles & Keith/Pedro warehouse sale.

One word: crazy. Think Confessions of a Shopaholic crazy. And after all the trouble (and stress) I went through to get there, including going up two floors via the carpark entrance (the entrance for *cars*, not for people), no way was I going home without a purchase.

Or a couple. ^^
Just in time, too, because the two flats I've been wearing to work (my green Pedro flats are special so I refrain from overusing them) are looking worse for the wear. In fact one's already bursting at the seams but I stubbornly wear it anyways.

Borrowing Anj's sale strategy, I just grabbed every shoe that caught my eye that came in size 36, and then proceeded to edit later. I did not go near the bags because it was just too crazy. Like the staff was literally throwing bags into a throng of women with outstretched hands.

Anyway, so this is what I ended up with. I've been super good and spent less than my ceiling budget of 100SGD (for all four pairs!). ^^

My new work flats. Well actually they have a bit of a heel, but not that major. This pair also came in pink, but in a smaller size. So tempted to get those, but if it pinches in the store, it will pinch ten times worse when worn outside. I had to repeat this to myself ten times before I put down the pink shoes.

Weekend shoes. Or casual Friday shoes. I'm always a sucker for garterized flats, and the champagne color reminded me of the Aldo flats I totaled in Japan.

My favorite pair. I've been wanting to get these for the longest time - I think I saw them in the shops in the Philippines before I left for Singapore. I just couldn't justify the price back then. But now they are simply too cheap to pass up. And, I also got the last pair. Hah.

I had to get at least one non-sensible pair of shoes, yes?
I was actually disappointed that Pedro did not have any flats on sale, so I only did one quick round before we left, and I found these going for more than 75% off. I quickly asked for my size and had my arms outsretched the moment the kuya appeared with the box.

The heels are three and a half inches and I would probably need those gel pad things to make them wearable, but I don't really care. ^^

Sniffles

2011-09-11T22:09:00.000+08:00

While I am no stranger to spending the entire weekend in bed, this time I had to. It was a triple whammy - a really nasty strain of the common cold, a wisdom tooth growing in, and dysmenorrhea. There could not have been a clearer message from the universe to stay the hell in bed.

When I woke up yesterday morning I just knew I was done for - clogged nose, pounding headache, and and extremely sore throat. As tempted as I was to self-medicate I decided to make use of my health insurance. Besides, the clinic was only two bus stops away (walking distance, really, but I am in no mood to walk). The doctor was really nice and I must say, really perky so early in the morning. Actually it was nearly 10, but that's early for a Saturday morning, yes?

So after the whole routine check-up I ended up with these:

Guess how much I paid for all of these? Zilch. They even threw in some lozenges (blackcurrant-flavored yay) and paracetamol to be taken in case I develop fever (I didn't). And they charged me nothing. So glad I went to the doctor.

And I like how the meds are individually packed and labeled. It appeals to the OC in me. ^^

Since the clinic was conveniently located inside a mall, I decided to buy some comfort food (and I had no non-spicy food at home and the doctor advised against it).

Lots of soup since I have zero appetite and sense of taste. And when I'm sick I usually crave for something hearty.

Orange juice and grapes. When I was young my mom would always buy us grapes when we're sick. I prefer the green ones but the red seedless grapes were on sale so... :p

Random crackers to go with the soup. The bottle of honey lemon was a lifesaver. I swear. A couple of squeezes into a mug of hot water makes for a super soothing drink. I'm nearly halfway through the bottle and I'm thinking of bringing it to work tomorrow.

So that's my weekend care package. I guess it's pretty effective (coupled with lots and lots of Skype ^^) because I'm ready to report to work tomorrow. Not that I wouldn't appreciate an extra day in bed ;p

Long long weekend

2011-09-06T23:31:00.000+08:00

Any weekend that starts with pretty pink roses is bound to be a great one, yes?

It was drizzling almost every day, so there was very little to do, really, apart from eat and sleep and take random crazy pictures, and whatever (mis)adventures we could squeeze in.

And what's a weekend in SG without shopping? :p

The prettiest green flats ever from Pedro. I always knew I was going to buy them ever since I first spied them a couple of weeks back. I guess I was wrong because the boyfriend got them for me. ^^

Aaaand now Eeyore has playmates so he doesn't have to be so emo all the time :p

Annoying how good things have to end, but I guess it's time to start counting down again.

See you soon. The brats miss you ;p

Flavor of the Month: TBS Pomegranate and Raspberry

2011-08-23T23:37:00.000+08:00

Since I no longer live with smokers, my stuff no longer reek of nicotine and I am now allowed to obsess over how my room smells. So one terribly boring weekend, I caved and bought reed diffusers from The Body Shop.

The scent is Pomegranate and Raspberry, but I swear it smells like cassis. But while it does smell lovely, it's not enough to perfume my entire room. And because I'm an obsessive compulsive nutcase, I also got the linen and room spray a week later.

Now everytime I enter my room, I smile. So. Totally. Worth It.

2011-07-26T00:00:00.002+08:00

And we're two birds of a feather

Then the rest is just whenever ^^

Friday Fail

2011-07-24T23:21:00.000+08:00

While I truly enjoy getting the look for less, sometimes you just get what you pay for. Take for example this pair of flats I got from a random store in Wistma Atria, for less than 20 SGD (they were on sale):

Now I've gone through a hundred pairs of flats - they've been my staple footwear for the past year or so - and I was so convinced that these were a steal.

And boy was I wrong. Horribly so.

I wore them, for the first time ever, with my first casual Friday attire in my new job. This is what they looked like at 9 am:

Can. You. Imagine. The. Horror.
So I was setting up my laptop, and as I crossed my legs I cast a glance at my new shoes and suddenly my head was buzzing with a dozen expletives. Thankfully I had training so I had a good excuse to remain glued to my seat the entire day. Which brings us to the most pressing question of the week: how the hell do I manage to get home?

After weighing the risk of a major shoe meltdown versus the cost of taking a cab multiplied by the probability of getting one during rush hour, I decided to be brave and walk to the bus stop. Obviously my risk calculation skills have gone down the drain due to extreme stress because this is where things go from bad to worse.

Halfway from the office to the bus stop, my left shoe, which started out smiling, is now doing the shoe equivalent of a dog wagging its tongue - that is, more than half of the sole is hanging out. And the right shoe is also showing signs of breaking down.

How I managed to make it to the bus stop I can't tell you because my brain must've blocked out the memory to help me recover from the trauma. But not enough for me not to remember the sole falling apart completely twenty steps away from the bus stop.

Yep.
My thought bubble:

*Expletive*
Is there a shoe store nearby?
Nope.
*Expletive*
There's a 7-11 a couple of steps away. What are the chances I'll find footwear there?
Probably none.
*Expletive*
Will they let me board the bus on foot?
*Expletive*
Is there any chance that none of these people who are passing by are my officemates?
*Expletive*

The silver lining (well it's more lead than silver but let's just be thankful there's a lining) - the godforsaken shoe managed to stay intact even with the sole about to fall off. So I just ripped the sole off, stuffed it inside my purse, and walked to the bus stop as if nothing happened,as if I'm completely unaware of the fact that one of my shoes is missing a sole, and the other looks like a Sesame Street puppet. Although I probably looked as if I'm about to cry, or laugh hysterically and then shoot myself in the head.

And to add ~~insult to injury~~ injury to insult, I got blisters.

No more cheap shoes. Ever. Ever. Ever.

Vacation's Over

2011-07-16T22:49:00.000+08:00

The bum's life officially ends on Monday. And what's a new job without a new planner?

Call me old school, but no application can ever replace a handwritten reminder in red ink. What I don't write down, I don't remember. Thankfully Moleskine has 18-month planners that start from July.

I am equally thankful for the stickers. ^^

Wish me luck.

Friday Favorites

2011-07-15T00:00:00.007+08:00

Ikea one-dollar hotdogs

Enough to curb the craving for a classic Jolly hotdog, even for just a couple of days.

Bedroom on a budget

Again, courtesy of Ikea. Initially I only got the desk and the pretty pink swivel chair, but I went ahead and bought (and, ehem, assembled) the matching shelf, because there is no denying that I have a crap ton of stuff. And considering it costs less than 30SGD, I'd say it's definitely worth it.

Hawker food

Dirt-cheap, and I get to load up on veggies. ^^

Chuck
After blazing through an entire season of Outsourced (which was nice but not overly so), I have now devoted my remaining truckloads of free time to watching Chuck (as per the recommendation of my favorite person in the world).

I started with Season 1 last week, and I'm pretty sure I'll be done with Season 4 by this weekend.

Just one teeny-tiny issue: There exists the technology to upload vast amounts of information (and skills, even) into the human brain, and yet time bombs have to make do with obnoxiously large and extremely primitive 7-segment displays that beep away noisily. It's just too painful to see.

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

My last beauty splurge before a self-imposed shopping ban due to extreme lack of funds. Pricey, yes, but worth every penny. Coverage is medium at best, but the finish is very natural and it holds up quite nicely to the icky Singapore weather. I would've preferred it to be fragrance-free, but we can't have everything, can we?

Moving Day

2011-07-11T23:17:00.001+08:00

First let me take you to the apartment that could have been.

It had me at mood lighting and pretty living room furniture. But it's a wee bit over our budget, the lifts do not stop at our floor (so we have to go up three flights of stairs), and our neighbor keeps a turtle in plastic basin outside his house which freaked my housemate out.

So we ended up somewhere near here:

Quite a bit of a hike from the MRT station, to be honest. But there's a nearby bus stop, and that would have to do.

We moved in yesterday. This is all the stuff I hauled from Anj's wonderful wonderful condo which I inhabited for almost two months.

Quite a handful, considering when I landed in SG I only had the green Samsonite luggage with me.

I have yet to finish furnishing my room, and it's probably going to take a while considering my very limited funds. But I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

And *ehem* I assembled these by myself.

As expected there was bloodshed, thanks to the pretty pink chair, and I did make a crucial mistake while assembling the table which I only discovered when I was about to attach the last piece (but I did manage to fix it without redoing the entire thing), which just confirms the (already well-proven) theory that I am not meant for manual labor.

Next up: new job next week. Wish me luck ^^

Shop. Eat. Sleep.

2011-06-29T10:21:00.001+08:00

As much as I love Anj, we are so not good for each other. When we're together, all we do is shop. And eat. And sleep. It's our own version of Eat Pray Love. At the rate we are going we are most definitely going to end up fat and broke (at least I am; it will take a great great deal of shopping before Anj goes broke) by the end of the month.

Exhibit A:

Anj's (half-cooked) soy sauce-free adobo. We were so hungry we couldn't wait for the fully-cooked version, never mind that it probably would've been ten times yummier if we did, which is a testament to our lack of emotional quotient. And did I mention that this happened during a time when we were not supposed to be eating carbs?

Exhibit B:

Oh, Reebonz. Why did you have to exist?

In my (poor) defense, this was the result of several factors:
1. I need a bag for work (Anj does not approve of my schlepping bag - "It's a weekend bag")
2. We RSVP'd to the Reebonz Chijmes sale and it'd be a shame to waste the invite
3. We needed to make our selection from the billions of bags inside the store within 30 minutes to get an additional 5% off our purchase (which, I have to say, is a pretty damn good idea on the part of Reebonz)
4. The bag was damaged enough to merit a hefty discount, but it was a damage I can live with (i.e. I would probably damage it like that myself after a couple of uses)
5. Did I mention the discounts?

Speaking of discounts, I finally have a bottle of SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, and I got it for nearly half the retail price yay. ^^

Aaaaand, this is supposed to be Anj's gift for my Kindle:

But I'm thinking he can make do with the dust bag that came with it so I can use the actual bag for myself :p

Deux

2011-06-26T00:00:00.002+08:00

It's the ultimate cliche, but...

... it really happens when you least expect it. <3

Best Emoticon Ever

2011-06-25T21:39:00.000+08:00

Finding Cassis

2011-06-21T13:34:00.023+08:00

I first discovered Cassis during a project dinner in Japan - it was recommended by my wonderful Japanese counterparts upon finding out I don't drink beer (this was obviously way before I met my lunchmates slash beer buddies).

I've been hooked ever since. It's the ultimate "traydor" drink - you don't taste the alcohol at all, but a few glasses are enough to make everyone, ermm, happy. While the most popular cocktail is cassis orange, it goes with a lot of things - Sprite (my favorite), soda water, grapefruit juice, champagne (Kir Royal), milk tea - you get the picture. It's also exteremely popular in Japan - I have yet to see an izakaya that does not carry at least one cassis cocktail. There is even an ice cream version.

So it's baffling to me why it's not popular elsewhere. I haven't seen a single restaurant/bar in the Philippines that serves cassis, so I've had to resort to asking people to buy it for me in Japan. But the universe smiles upon me because I found a restaurant that serves cassis in Singapore.

And have I mentioned that I also loved Gyu-kaku in Japan?
I've yet to try it here, though, but it's comforting to know that if I ever get that craving for cassis I'd have somewhere to go. ^^

Blackie, Jr.

2011-06-20T11:50:00.003+08:00

So my Kindle's back.

I, ermm, totalled the first one. As it turns out, the screen, sturdy as it looks, is quite fragile. Thankfully it was within warranty and Amazon sent me a new one (or maybe it's refurbished, but I couldn't care less). Shipping charges are a bitch, though, so unless you're in the US, take care of your Kindle. Seriously.

A couple of things I'd like to clear up regarding the Amazon Kindle. First: it is not a touch-screen device. 90% of the people who encounter my Kindle for the first time almost instinctively start poking at the screen expecting some kind of response (the other 10% either own one or have previously poked at someone else's Kindle). So it becomes kind of a letdown that control of the cursor is achieved using a five-way navigation pad.

It's quite primitive, but then again seeing as its primary use is for reading ebooks (and it does have dedicated buttons for turning pages back and forth) I don't think it's an issue.

Second: The 3G connection is free. You don't need a SIM card, you don't need to pay any fees, connection is free in any country. Or in most countries, anyway. And it also works with GPRS and EDGE.

Now I know how exciting the concept of free internet everywhere is, but hold your horses. The screen is black and white (64 shades of gray, actually), the browser is godawfully slow and hangs up like half the time, and you cannot have more than one open browser window (or tab) at a time. As an extra feature, it's great. But as a main feature, it sucks. What I'm trying to say is, if you're thinking of getting the Kindle for the free internet, don't.

Last but not least: You don't have to get all your ebooks from Amazon. You can transfer ebooks from your computer to your Kindle via USB, or you can send them to your Kindle's e-mail address. Amazon also offers a conversion service for which supports several file formats (.pdf, .doc, .mobi). Just put "Convert" on the subject line, and it will be converted to .azw format before it reaches your Kindle. Cool, huh?

Anyway, I am now in search for books to keep me occupied (I have so much free time these days, if the number of blog posts is any indication). Any recommendations?

Ikea

2011-06-20T09:00:00.003+08:00

For all of this, I blame Anj, whose bedroom is straight out of an Ikea catalogue. Actually, so is the rest of her house - even the pot holders are Ikea.

It's impossible not to love Ikea - it's chock full of pretty wonderful things. So never mind that I don't have a room of my own to shop for yet, that doesn't stop me from going (virtual) shopping.

My one requirement for beds: no space underneath. Because that's where the monsters lurk at night, and where dustballs and missing objects congregate during the day. And it's also a pain to clean. So you can imagine how much I like the concept of a bed with storage, instead of empty space, underneath.

And this is pretty good too in case I don't have enough space (or cash) for a double bed:

I looooove this storage system for kids. So much niftier than the adult stuff. The baskets come in different colors, and you can also replace them with shelves.

And of course the room should have a couple of mirrors, because I'm vain like that:

One caveat, though. Anj recently re-modeled her entire bedroom and encountered a ton of problems with the furniture assembly people. So maybe if you could afford to skip the whole assembly service thing (read: do it yourself), then it's probably best to do so.

All images from the Ikea website.

P.S. I also love Ikea food ^^

Blog Makeover

2011-06-19T19:14:00.009+08:00

It all started with this baby:

It's a Samsung S2 640GB external hard drive, purchased because I left my Time Capsule (Apple Wireless Router + 500GB storage) back at home, and my Macbook is running low on space.

There are a lot of things to consider when buying external hard drives, but we all know that at the end of the day I will come home with the hot pink one (with tiny heart prints, natch).

It works perfectly fine, but then again I don't really ask for much when it comes to hard drives, so long as they get along with my Mac.

Anyway.

So I was able to purge my hard drive, and in the spirit of de-cluttering, I figured I should clean up my blog template too.

I also created my own favicon (it's that tiny thing that appears in the browser's address bar) because the blogger template editor now supports custom favicons. I decided on colorbars in memory of my previous project.

I created it through this site, which makes it super easy, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

P.S. This is also my 400th blog post yay! I didn't think I was capable of churning out that much crap, but apparently I am. ^^

Back to Basics

2011-06-18T22:07:00.001+08:00

Or, how I managed to hoist my skin back to normal under the crazy humid Singapore weather.

MAC Cleanse-off Oil
For removing even the most stubborn waterproof mascara. This works so much better for me than the Shu Uemura one, and it's cheaper too. This is my second bottle; the first one lasted me for over a year. And it smells really really good.

Shiseido Aqualabel White Clear Foam
Bought in lieu of Shiseido Perfect Whip, which is my favorite favorite facial wash but is unfortunately available only in Japan. I tried to be cheap and initially got Clean and Clear facial wash and promptly broke out. My hunt for a Shiseido foaming facial wash led me to this. It's a tad bit more expensive and I'm not a big fan of the scent (it's supposed to be rosewater but it's rather artificial), but it works and my breakouts have ceased. I'm actually curious to try the other products in the Aqualabel series but I'm not big on experimenting with skincare so we'll see.

Proactiv Revitalizing Toner
I used the entire Proactiv line for a little more than a month, during which my breakouts got progressively worse. Which did not come as a surprise, because the active ingredient is benzoyl peroxide, and that never really worked for me. I did retain the toner, because it's a good AHA exfoliant and is devoid of benzoyl peroxide. It has glycolic acid, which I have a quite good track record with. I guess sometimes it pays to know what's in the stuff we slap on our faces.

MAC Lightful Deep Ultramoisture Cream
My staple for warm, icky weather.

The Body Shop Organic Cotton Rounds
I don't really recommend using these because once you do, it's hard to go back to generic cotton rounds, much more cotton balls or ordinary fluff-it-yourself cotton. It just works so damn well it enables you to convince yourself it's okay to shell out a couple more bucks than you normally would for mere cotton rounds.

Now, to find a sunscreen that will not clog my pores or break me out.

The Lunchmates Invade SG

2011-06-18T19:03:00.003+08:00

Funshine and I welcomed them at the airport.

"Ms. Bolit" is an inside joke that I shall not attempt to explain.
As for my shoes and bags,

Delivered, as promised. ^^

So after days of self-imposed house arrest I finally was out and about in Singapore. But of course there had to be a torrential downpour.

But we made it to Universal Studios.

And the Night Safari.

And Ippudo at the Mandarin Gallery.

And took pictures at random places.
(No Merlion pictures because by the time we got there I was so incredibly haggard.)

I wish they could've stayed longer, but at least I'm left with a (very emo) nap buddy.

But I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing them soon enough. ^^

Librarian for a day

2011-06-15T17:33:00.006+08:00

Anj is moving stuff around the house, and I ~~was forced~~ volunteered to help put her gazillion books back onto the shelf. And by help, I mean I will arrange them as I see fit, and she is not allowed to complain nor will she ever inquire where a particular book is located.

Book organization, the ella way: ang pangit, sa likod (ugly books at the back). And yes, I judge by cover, not content. So the brown and tattered classics stand beside the trashy novels and Archie comics, all obscured from view. Paulo Coelho on the bottom shelf because I don't like him. Food-related books at eye level to entice Anj to read them and subsequently cook for me hehe.

Sandwich Haruki Murakami between Francine Pascal (who should be hanged for destroying my childhood through Sweet Valley High Confidential) and Lauren Weisberger and see if they get along.

And Bartney Stintson's The Bro Code beside inspirational and self-help books. Self-explanatory, yes?

Hitting Pan

2011-06-10T09:28:00.004+08:00

Hitting pan is the phenomenon where a girl actually finishes a make-up item. When you're down to the last couple of sweeps of your powder foundation, your brush hits the metal pan, hence the term.

The first item I've hit pan on is my Maybelline foundation, which I loved but is now discontinued. That was maybe four years ago, and it hasn't happened since. I just kept on buying so much stuff that I never actually finished anything.

But today I'm proud to say I've hit pan on a couple of things. I'd say it's partly due to the fact that I moved to Singapore and had to leave most of my stuff behind.

This was all I could manage to squeeze into my suitcase. And yep, four backups of Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus. At the time of purchase, it wasn't available in the Philippines yet, and I haven't made the decision to move to Singapore, hence the hoarding.

Anyway, back to the stuff I hit pan on.

MAC blush in Shy Beauty. Technically I haven't finished it all up yet, but you can see the pan :p. And it's not part of the permanent collection so until it makes a comeback, I'm going to refrain from using it. Which is a shame, because it's a great everyday blush. It's what I thought NARS Orgasm would be like.

MAC Bare Slimshine. Again, limited edition. I no longer use it because I save the centimeter-long stub to compare with possible dupes.

Last but not least, NARS Sheer Glow in Punjab. The bottle looks full but I swear I'm down to the last drop. In fact I'll probably be swabbing it with a Q-tip over the next few days. Great coverage, great finish, poor staying power. But I love it just the same. Maybe not enough to repurchase, but we'll see.

The Inevitable

2011-06-10T08:44:00.003+08:00

Being in Singapore without shopping is like going to Universal Studios without trying Battlestar Galactica. Well, the latter actually happened, but considering how much stress I got from The Mummy I am pretty sure Battlestar Galactica would kill me.

Anyway. The great thing about shopping with Anj (which is also a problem, depending on how you look at it) is that she finds things I normally wouldn't even look at but I end up actually liking.

Exhibit A:

I was looking for sandals the entire afternoon and found zilch. And then Anj arrives and suddenly I can't decide between a dozen or so pairs at Charles and Keith.

I finally settled with this one, which I would never have picked out in a million years, but I really likey:

This one has a distinct "Chelo vibe" but since she refuses to join us here I bought it anyway hehehe :p

And we both fell in love with this bag so we got one each:

And that ends the Charles & Keith marathon spree. I will attempt to justify by mentioning that Anj has a discount card and I needed the sandals. And the bag is really really pretty.

The other night we were at Anj's friend Chi's house for dinner. Chi happens to sell clothes, with her own label and all:

Guess what happens next.

Two dresses and four tops. Bow.

Sunday Brunch

2011-05-29T19:09:00.000+08:00

Apparently here in Singapore, Sunday brunch begins at noon.

Thank God for good food.
I'm a bit under the weather, hence the lack of blog posts. Will be back when all is well. :)

In-flight shopping: Travalo

2011-05-16T20:29:00.001+08:00

Yep. Started shopping even before I landed in SG. Goodness.

In my defense I wasn't planning on it, but while browsing through the in-flight magazines (out of nothing else to do - no movies or music or anything!) I found this:

I blame YouTube. Ever since I saw it in one of the channels I subscribe to I knew I had to have it, and the only question was how (up to this point I thought they were only available in the US).

It's a Travalo, and essentially it's just a tiny container for your perfume. The beauty is in how it is refilled. See, my signature perfume is Lanvin Eclat d'Arpege, which looks like this:

It's a pretty bottle, alright, but too clunky and huge for my bag. And who wants to bring a 100-mL bottle of perfume anyway? And the smaller bottle is the same spherical shape which makes it equally clunky. Now the thing is, lovely as the scent is, it disappears in seconds, so I do have to have a bottle with me. I could decant to a smaller container, but the atomizer is permanently attached to the bottle instead of a screw-on attachment, which kinda makes it impossible.

Enter the Travalo (I hate the name, btw). See, the bottom looks like this:

And you attach it to the perfume atomizer like this:

And then you pump a couple of times to refill. How nifty is that? And mess-free, too. So that justifies the purchase somehow, right? :p

SG!!!

2011-05-16T12:59:00.004+08:00

So I made it to SG, and Anj's apartment, in one piece.

I took JetStar, for no reason other than the fact that I was able to actually book the flight (which I can't seem to accomplish with CebuPac after a million tries).

I arrived at the airport a good four hours before departure, and was completely unaware that JetStar check-in counters opened so late. I had to stand in line for almost two hours, and by the time I cleared immigration (after another insanely long queue) I barely had time for coffee. Tsk.

However, they did let me get away with 24 kg of check-in baggage so much much love to JetStar. ^^

The flight was uneventful but I was so tired this was the only photo I managed to take before I dozed off.

I really wanted to explore Changi airport but I was so tired and hungry so I just went ahead and took a cab to Anj's apartment. So I give her address to kuya cab driver, and he tells me:

I don't understand what you're saying. You speak with slang.

Whaaaaat!?! Anyway, I just handed him my iPod touch so he can just look at the address. Anj says it might be because I spoke too fast. Tsk. But at least he did manage to find the place.

My first meal in Singapore is dinner, because on the way to find a place to eat Anj and I had iced soy milk and so I lost my appetite for lunch (and it was already 4 in the afternoon). Only two pictures because we were so so hungry.

So now I'm all alone in Anj's apartment because she left for a business trip to Sydney. And I have no intention of going out because I am going to go broke in this country. Besides, I have Funshine to keep me company. :p

More misadventures when I figure out a way to battle all this heat. :p

Dear Lunchmates

2011-05-12T00:00:00.000+08:00

Thank you...

... for teaching me how to drink beer
... for teaching me how to play bridge, and for losing miserably to me :p

... for the Fishy buckets three times a week
... for the Friday all-nighters

... for forcing me out of my fake smile
~~... for forcing me to watch the grudge~~
... for being bullied to do one barre3 session with me
~~... for bullying me into one 5k run~~
... for taking part in my 40-day no-Coke challenge, and losing :)

... for Zombie Cafe
... for testing the limits of my Macbook in video processing
... for taking me to the beach, and elsewhere

... for discovering how awesome patron + sprite + yakult is
... for helping me discover there is a life outside of the project
... for not being weird about me being two years older than everyone
... for the tons and tons of laughter, and tears, and then some
... for all the drama, both mine and everyone else's
... for all the sound advice and fresh perspective
... for being the most awesome set of friends ever

... and most importantly, for volunteering to schlepp my stuff to SG.
See you real soon ;p

An Entire Weekend

2011-05-09T17:37:00.005+08:00

And this was the only photo I managed to take :p
Twas great though <3

Dear Paeng

2011-05-04T11:18:00.001+08:00

Good luck out there. Stop being scared. Remember, you got most of your training from me and that could only make you the best hardware engineer ever.

You will be missed, but I meant what I said - develop some sort of obnoxious balikbayan twang and I will unfriend you in FaceBook. And YM. And elsewhere in cyberspace. Immediately.

Today

2011-05-02T17:21:00.000+08:00

I am officially a bum.
But not for long, I hope.

I'm Back!

2011-04-27T14:26:00.001+08:00

Hey, I'm still alive :p
I haven't blogged for over a month, but that's just because I've been, well, living. I guess the minute I decided to make things happen, they just did. ^^

For one, I have finally resigned. It took a lot of guts, and stress, and yes, tears, but I did it. There are a billion reasons for leaving, and also a billion reasons to stay, but it really is time for me to find out what else is out there for me. It's a big big world out there, and I'll be damned if I don't get to explore it.

I've also been out and about with the most wonderful group of people. It's still kind of a puzzle how I started hanging out with them, but I did, and all of a sudden I'm doing beer buckets three nights a week, and for someone who doesn't do beer, that's something, yes?

So now Friday nights are spent pulling all-nighters - movie, Rockband, Red Box, what have you. And weekends are spent at the beach. Or on a road trip to wherever.

I guess I'm starting to discover what life is like when you don't spend all your energy on work and start saving some for yourself.

Image credits: Holstee

Life is getting exciting; buckle up. ^^

Limbo

2011-03-23T12:12:00.001+08:00

My lola died last Saturday.

The last time I was home she was recovering from a sudden bout with "high blood" because the jueteng collector attempted to swindle her out of her winnings. I told her to take it easy. The last time we talked over the phone she told me she was getting weak; I told her to try to move around instead of lying in bed all day. The last time I saw her she could not open her eyes and I wasn't sure if she heard me at all. I told her she should rest. An hour later she was gone.

Everything that followed was a blur, I haven't even had time to grieve.
We all have our own ways of dealing with loss, and I have yet to figure out mine.

Oh, Friday

2011-03-12T13:27:00.001+08:00

Definitely one for the books. Nakakaloka is an understatement.

It started off like any other Friday - issues, stress, more issues. And then my boss suddenly rushed towards me with his company phone in his outstretched arm.

Ella! Moral support!

And I thought, great, another issue. And so I give my most nonchalant "Hello". And on the other line is my officemate, and she happens to be crouched under one of the office desks in the 10th floor of the mothership office. It's 1446h JST, and a magnitude 8.9 earthquake just struck Japan.

We were on the phone for more than thirty minutes, but it seemed like eternity because the tremor just won't quit.

Now, what can you possibly tell someone experiencing what is probably the strongest earthquake she will experience her entire life? Because after "don't panic" and "it's going to be okay" I quickly ran out of ideas.

Well if you're going to experience an earthquake anyway, it's best to do it in Tokyo because there is no city more prepared for one.

Just follow what the Japanese do, they know what they're doing.

It's safer to stay inside the building. It's like Hogwarts; it's a fortress. And if it can't withstand the shakes anymore it will transform and lift off.

Craziest phone conversation of my life.

To everyone in Japan, stay strong, and be safe.

Hello Wednesday

2011-03-10T02:44:00.001+08:00

Guess what welcomed me when I got home?

Meet Wednesday.

She's a 13-inch Cambridge satchel in the exact shade of green I wanted (i.e. green kung green). It also comes in red (which I also want), purple (which I also want), and yellow (which I also kinda like), among others.

I got it from this site. I reserved it Monday, paid for it Tuesday, got it on Wednesday in pristine condition. ^^

I blame all the people who enabled me to buy this. It's so pretty though and aylaveeet.

P.S. Belated happy birthday to someone (Rocky's orders :p)

More new things!

2011-03-06T23:51:00.002+08:00

Let's start with the most awesome wallet there ever is:

I've blogged about it before, but it's too much of a hassle (and expensive) to buy it online, so imagine my joy when I found it in that shop that sells really cool stuff at Edsa Shang (the name escapes me, sorry).

It looks like paper but it's made of a material called Tyvek, which is waterproof and supposedly virtually indestructible. And it looks like a dot matrix printout, and the random numbers are actually the first couple of thousand digits of pi. ^^

Function-wise it's a typical bi-fold wallet with two card compartments.

And it's tall enough to hold 10k JPY bills, which are wider than most (hence the term "lapad").

Best. Wallet. Ever.

Moving on, in the interest of shaking things up even more:

I know, right? I shall be honest and admit I haven't taken them out of the box yet, but that's because it's been raining lately and they're so white and pristine and pretty!

But, I do owe a couple of people 5k (that's 5 kilometers, not five grand) because I dared them to attend a barre3 session with the trading price of one kilometer per session. Didn't expect them to take the bait but they did, all five of them, and now I have to fun run x.x

Although they did struggle in barre3 so that kinda made it legit :p
Because I was thinking I was struggling and panting and wanting to die only because I am not physically fit but these are men who jog and play basketball and things and halfway through I think they kinda wanted to kill me already :D

Oh! And I also got pretty pink post-workout slippers teehee.

Aaaaand I also had my lashes permed. Here's the scary before pic:

And the scary after pic:

Kinda not worth it, IMHO. I get way better results using my Shu eyelash curler with my MJ mascara. But if you don't have time in the morning or you like the idea of waking up with gorgeous lashes, I think it's worth a try. I had mine done at Let's Face it for a little less than 300 bucks. The process takes an hour and a half, during which you have to keep your eyes closed, so just come with a fully-loaded iPod.

And that's that. March is turning out to be a promising, promising month :D

Hey February

2011-03-06T23:19:00.001+08:00

You've been pretty awesome and I shall miss you. Thank you for showing me how fun changing things up can be.

New hobby

New drinking buddies

New smile :)

Here's to more new things in the coming months ;p

February Staples

2011-03-06T22:00:00.000+08:00

1. Mac Cleansing Oil
2. Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant
3. Proactiv Revitalizing Toner
4. SK-II Facial Treatment Essence
5. MAC Strobe Cream (used as moisturizer)
6. NARS Sheer Glow (Punjab)
7. MAC Studio Fix Powder (NC35)
8. Carmex
9. MAC Blush in Shy Beauty (part of a trip set)
10. Shu Uemura lash curler
11. Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus
12. MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
13. TBS Organic Cotton Rounds
14. Shiseido Moisture Whip facial wash (not shown)
15. MAC 109 and MAC 266 brush (not shown)

Life Begins after 10 Sessions

2011-02-08T00:12:00.001+08:00

In the spirit of making things happen, I took the plunge and signed up for ten Barre3 sessions.

From the website:

barre3 is a revolutionary class that combines the grace of the ballet barre, the wisdom of yoga and the strength of Pilates. Set to music, this transformative 60-minute ballet barre workout improves balance, increases flexibility and enhances strength.

I had my trial session last Saturday with Chelo at the The Spa Eastwood.

Now we've been planning to do this for more than a year so this is a huge huge accomplishment. And a sign of more exciting things to come, yes? Oh! And when we were about to pay we were informed that the first session is free. Free! So we decided to splurge on giant crab for dinner ;p

I promised myself that if I can function by Monday I will sign up for ten sessions. Sunday morning I was for all intents and purposes an invalid, but today I'm perfectly fine (it still hurts when I laugh, though). And I could use the weight loss. And now I finally have something to do apart from work, because I'll be damned if I spend the next three months on work alone.

Next stop: CV. Within this week. I promise.

Stuff

2011-02-04T00:17:00.001+08:00

First of all, meet Leithold.

He finally arrived on the last day of work last year, and we have been bonding ever since. Special thanks to Paeng; I know I gave you hell and I'm sorry.

Leithold is an Amazon Kindle 3. Please do not ask me why I didn't get an iPad instead. A Kindle is not an iPad is not a Kindle. A Kindle is an eBook reader, plain and simple. But it serves its purpose quite excellently. For one, the screen looks like paper. It's actually quite eerie the first time you look at it.

No glare, so you can read under direct sunlight. The downside is, you can't read if it's dark, just like how it is with a real book. It does not consume power so long as the screen stays the same, so battery life is quite impressive (supposedly it could go for a month when full charged but I am not convinced).

As a bonus, there are experimental features such as an MP3 player (which came in handy one day when my iPod conked out on me), and get this - free 3G connectivity anywhere as long as there is signal. By anywhere I mean any country. And by free I mean, well, free - I can surf the net anywhere for free, how crazy is that? Before you get any ideas, I have to say that the browser is abysmally slow, and is prone to crashing, but then again, slow internet is better than no internet. So take this as a bonus and not a feature.

So now I've taken to reading again. ^^
My most recent conquest was Stieg Larsson's The Girl who Played with Fire, which I thoroughly enjoyed, partly because of all the math.

I have also inherited a couple of actual physical books from Anj, which I intend to read once I get an actual weekend (I work on Saturdays, boo).

And on a totally unrelated note, I am posting a picture of my shoes du jour.

As much as I would like actual Tory Burch flats, I can never justify spending ten thousand pesos for a pair of flats. For Uggs x Jimmy Choos, maybe. But not for flats. But we'll see ;p
Anyway, these are so extremely comfy I don't even care if they're knockoffs.

Last but not least,

Stop the presses; I am about to do sports. Roight.

I'm Done

2011-02-03T23:31:00.002+08:00

For the longest time it was always the project. Everything else is secondary. Despite the fact that I have made the decision to pursue career options elsewhere, the project remains to be my primary concern. But everyone has his limits, and I unfortunately have reached mine. Starting today, my priority is me.

MMX

2010-12-30T11:46:00.003+08:00

2010 has been a terrible, terrible year and I couldn't be happier it's about to end.
It did have its moments:

1. Whale-shark watching in Donsol, which is probably the highlight of my year.

2. Potipot Island with the schlepping bag

3. Ian Somerhalder

4. Getting to touch a beluga whale, even if it took eternity.

5. And last but not the least, reconnecting with people:

Pau and I are overquota this year but we're saving up for the next three years when she does her residency and we won't be able to have dinners anymore.

Reunited with college dorm mates after five years

Rushed lunch dates with Chelo, and a Bangkok trip that miraculously pushed through

Pisay batch reunion of sorts

And I finally made it to the annual M04 dinner, after years of non-attendance

(Notice how in all of them I'm wearing either black or white or both what is up with that?)

This year has been a real struggle career-wise and life-in-general-wise, but I think I managed pretty well given the circumstances. Having said that, I am determined to make things happen in 2011 - it is going to be epic. I'll see you in the new year. ^^

Milestone

2010-12-18T15:58:00.000+08:00

Instagram

2010-12-12T16:50:00.000+08:00

Michael Antonio

2010-12-12T10:36:00.001+08:00

Today is laundry and major room overhaul day, i.e. the perfect day for procrastination. Hence the many blog posts.

Anyway, I just want to profess my love for my Michael Antonio heels.

It was love at first sight. OK, maybe lust at first sight. But now I love them - they're super incredibly comfy (for three and a half inch heels, that is). I wore them for two nights straight and my feet are surprisingly fine.

Plus, I looked so tall ^^

See, I'm even taller than Joanna. But that's because she wore flats haha. :p

My Amnesia Girl - Ella and Chelo edition

2010-12-12T09:31:00.000+08:00

OMG buhay pa pala si Carlos Agassi!

Sarcastic ba sila o seryoso? Di ko ma-figure out.

Bakit ang interactive nila? Para lang akong nasa Bulacan.

Bakit andaming pera ni John Lloyd?

At pano niya nakuha mag-leave ng basta-basta? Sunud-sunod pa!

Lintek ampangit talaga ni John Lloyd.
Ang taba pa niya.
...
...
...
Mabubugbog tayo dito.

In fairness, bumenta samin. :p

Random Japan Things

2010-12-11T12:02:00.001+08:00

1. Coke is ridiculously overpriced in Tokyo, but that doesn't stop me from buying it. Especially since they have the cutest bottle ever.

2. Cold Stone! I don't have much of a sweet tooth but Cold Stone makes me happy. Maybe it's the singing staff with their chipmunk voices. I always make it a point to try the seasonal flavors. Last summer it was peach, this time it's earl grey tea. Love.

3. Went back to Hakkejima Sea Paradise. The last time I was there was during my first trip to Japan in 2007. This time I wasn't going to leave without getting to touch the Beluga, and I did, after ten years of waiting. Pfffft.

4. Hirama Bridge. I barely ever use this route going to and from the mothership office. Never mind the savings on train fare - it's a two kilometer walk! But the weather was great and I was wearing flats and the view is awesome, so eh, some things you've got to do from time to time.

5. G-tech pens. Here they're called Hi-Tech C. And you can have DIY multi-colored pens! You can also add a pencil cartridge and even a Nintendo DS stylus, because they are awesome like that.

6. Yakiniku!!!

7. Anj's Muse Bag ;p

8. Lanvin x H&M. No dice. I was there a couple of days after the launch and there was still a lot of stuff. For a country that is capable of clearing up the counters of limited edition stock in half a day, this was shocking.

9. What's a trip without a bottle of Cassis?

10. Ippudo Ramen. Chock full of things that will clog your arteries, but so totally worth it :p

I love my friends because they tell it like it is

2010-11-29T22:58:00.002+08:00

Me: Anj, bakit ba naging ganito ako kagastos?!?
Anj: Kasi tumira ka sa Japan at wala kang boyfriend.
Me: So kung may boyfriend ako, di ako gagastos?
...
...
Anj: Hindi din.

Japan posts to follow. No time, no energy, no words :D

Kapikon Lang

2010-11-14T21:40:00.000+08:00

I placed an order for an Amazon Kindle last Nov. 4.
My officemate ordered hers Nov. 8.
We were shipping to the same address in Japan (because the Japan postal system is infinitely easier to deal with than the one we have here, and that's with the language barrier).

Hers arrived last Friday.
Mine, on the other hand, has been re-scheduled THRICE, and is now scheduled to arrive anytime from Nov. 17 to 22.

In what fucking world does this make sense?

Waking up on the right side of the bed

2010-11-14T00:32:00.000+08:00

Finally, Sleep Cycle supports iPod Touch and I couldn't be happier.

You know how sometimes you feel like you've been literally jolted awake (think Inception "kick") by your alarm clock and you are sluggish and cranky and bitchy all day because of it? Sleep Cycle supposedly eliminates this by tracking your sleep pattern using your iPhone's (and now iPod Touch's :p) accelerometer and waking you up when you're in your light sleep phase. The idea is, waking up during your lightest sleep phase feels most natural, like you're waking up without an alarm, as opposed to being woken up during REM sleep (deep sleep), which turns on the zombie mode. Now the lightest sleep phase doesn't always coincide with the set alarm time (which is actually the whole point of this app), so there is a 30-minute window (which I think you can change the length now). Let's say you set the alarm at 7:00, and by 6:45 you hit your light sleep phase, then the app will wake you up at 6:45. If within the 30-minute window you are in deep sleep, the app will have no choice but to wake you up anyway.

Does it really work? From my experience, it really does! The only times the alarm failed me was whenever I am completely zonked out, and well, I can't really blame the app, can I? I wish I could show you my sleep charts (the app provides graphs of your sleep patterns) - you could tell which days are full of stress because I literally flatlined - but they got erased along with the other contents of the iPhone lest I accidentally provide my mother with data I don't intend for her to see.

This was previously an iPhone-only application - I think they had issues with the iPod Touch because they can't turn off the screen while the app is active - and if there's one thing that made me regret trading in my iPhone 3G for a Blackberry bold and a 4th generation iPod touch it's this.

Obviously I can't recommend this enough. It's not free, but for a fraction of the price of a Starbucks Latte you eliminate grumpy mornings. Or most of them at least.

(You can get more info here).

Who's afraid of over baggage fees?

2010-11-13T23:10:00.000+08:00

I sure as hell am, ever since my last trip to Japan when I found out just how much that extra kilogram of useless crap would cost me. The answer? Either a helluva lot of money, or the embarrassment of opening my luggage at the check-in gates to take stuff out.

Now I have an upcoming business trip, which I am cram-packing for, and in an effort to avoid any further mortification at the airport (and for my peace of mind) I got myself this:

It's a Balanzza mini digital luggage scale. The brand name is borderline cheesy, but it's quite possibly the niftiest device on the planet. It has a backlit screen, it can measure in both pounds and kilograms, and it fits into all but the smallest of purses.

Gone are the days of having to figure out a way to hoist the luggage onto a bathroom weighing scale without blocking the display. This comes with a strap which you secure around the bag handle. The you lift the bag using the device with one or both hands, and wait for the beep. The weight is saved after the beep so you have time to set the bag down before looking at the screen.

Now the problem with nifty things is that they are often quite pricey, and this is no exception - I got mine at Travel Club for 1650PHP - but considering the embarrassment it saves you from I do think it's worth it.

Doctor's Orders

2010-11-09T22:58:00.000+08:00

It happens even to the best.

Or so the opthalmologist says, I assume in an attempt to comfort me after seeing the horrified look on my face. "It" refers to bacterial keratitis, which she described to me as a very little teeny tiny growth on my right cornea, with a potential to get bigger. Now I don't know about you, but the only thing that registered is "growth".

While I'm not exactly OCD about it, but I do think I'm a careful contact lens wearer. I use disposable lenses that are 60% water (Biomedics), I always, always take them off before going to bed, and I replace my contact lens solution bottles every two months.

But, eh, shit happens. I can only be thankful that I decided to err on the side of caution and took a half day off to visit the doctor. My right eye has been acting up since Saturday; opening it was like staring at the sun. So I skipped contacts for two days, and it was fine again. I went back to contacts yesterday, and a couple of hours after I removed them the right eye was back to vampire mode again. Which brings us to the doctor's office, and the bacterial keratitis.

If I had googled this before my check-up I probably wouldn't have waited a couple of days before visiting the doctor, because apparently it can be blinding. Almost half of the reported cases are contact lens wearers, and symptoms include light sensitivity.

Anyhoo, the doctor prescribed some antibacterial drops, and I am on a contact lens hiatus until I can visit her again for a follow-up, which would be a month from now. The drops cost almost a hundred bucks per mL, and wearing glasses is extremely extremely inconvenient, but hey, my vision is priceless.

The Return of the Manila Sleeve

2010-11-08T22:29:00.003+08:00

Remember when I wanted a Macbook Air because I fell in love with the Manila sleeve?

As much as I like the new MacBook Air I just couldn't find any use for it. Maybe if I had an iMac and would like something more portable for travel, but I have a MacBook and it's quite perfect for me (but if someone were to give me a MacBook Air that'd be a different story altogether).

What I do have is a Kindle. Well technically I don't have it yet - it is en route to Japan and we have yet to meet. But the point is:

The thing is, this retails for 22 dollars at Boxwave.com. Not sure if it's worth it, considering you can get the real deal for less than 20 *pesos*.

Cushioned mailers, from your friendly neighborhood bookstore. The inside is lined with bubble wrap, which means they are every bit as functional when it comes to protecting your Kindle from the abusive environment that is your bag. And so much cooler, too.

The Weekend, and then some

2010-11-08T00:33:00.000+08:00

First, say hello to my two new babies.

While the techie in me is happy to have two new gadgets to play with, I am kinda feeling sentimental about replacing my iPhone 3G. If my mom hasn't been hinting on me getting a new phone and giving her the iPhone we probably would still spend a good year together. I'd happily use it until it conks out on me, because it's been a wonderful wonderful device.

To be honest, I still think iPhone4 trumps iPod Touch (4G) + Blackberry Bold 9700, except in one key area - battery life. Now I can play all the games I want without worrying about draining my phone battery. But it hasn't been smooth sailing with the BB, especially after this:

What sort of language is Japaneese? I know I'm nitpicking but I can't help it.

Anyhoo, on to the weekend. Friday night was a self-declared no-OT night and we trooped to Megamall to visit the newly-opened Cerealicious, in the spot where the ice skating rink used to stand.

I've never really tried Cerealicious because I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but in this branch they serve meals too. I had the cereal-crusted shrimp and it was yummy but my BB camera phone failed me tsk.

This is my officemate's, but I had to take a picture because it was way prettier than mine haha. It took me years to decide on what to get. I think it's because there were too many options so it's hard to pick one out. I ended up doing the create-your-own thing.

Cornflakes + Peaches + Blueberry jam + a scoop of Vanilla ice cream in a huge tub of ice and snow milk. Goodbye diet, hello sugar rush.

Saturday I was supposed to shop for office shoes and then meet up with Pau and the GU people to see The Social Network. I scoured all the shoe stores at Edsa Shang, no dice. I did manage to get an Aquazorb towel, because Chelo says I should have one for when I travel. I had it initialed, just because.

After the shopping failure that was Shang I headed to Rockwell to meet Pau, and to drop by the bazaar and see our college friend and dorm mate Jackie, who is one of the brains behind Suelas, a line of foldable, rollable flats. Now I'm in the middle of this huge flats addiction, so yep, I got myself a pair.

I like that they come all bundled up in this neat little bag. It's perfect for when you're wearing heels and you want to bring an emergency back-up pair for when your feet go comatose. I'll definitely bring these with me on my next business trip to Tokyo and then maybe my feet don't have to die a little each day with all the walking I do.

I was lucky enough to nab the last pair of grey/white brogues in my size (apparently they sold like hotcakes because by the time we got there they were out of several colors and models and sizes). We tried asking Jackie for a discount but in the end we just made her richer tsk. ;p

I also found the prettiest prettiest pair of silver studs from Tawid silver.

*sigh*
I am thinking of getting a back-up already.

10 Things I Learned in Bangkok

2010-11-03T00:08:00.001+08:00

1. When everyone starts to get off the train, consider getting off too.

2. There are a dozen ways to make your already spicy food even more spicy.

3. You can even make guava spicy.

4. Pad Thai tastes different in each restaurant you visit.

5. Frothy milk tea = happiness

6. I am no cultural tourist - I can visit one temple and be done with it.

7. To get the most out of the discounts you have to bring 5 friends with you. Or bring one friend and get 3 pieces each.

8. Anj wins the best in hotel reservation award and because of that, we will never travel without her ever again.

9. A trip can never be a failure as long as I'm with my girls.

10. And yes, we are mean and are unapologetically so, but hey, at least we own it.

OOTD: Uniqlo Oxford Shirt, MNG Jeans, Forever21 Necklace, Longchamp Shopper in Citrine

I am the worst traveler ever

2010-10-23T01:26:00.000+08:00

I've been spoiled rotten by the many business trips to Japan, which are the only times I've wandered out of the country prior to this. All I ever really have to is literally show up at the airport.

So today was a bit, umm, frenetic to say the least. When I woke up I had no money in US dollars (actually, I had no cash, period), no idea how to get to our hotel (no idea what it's called even), and to top it all off, I have not started packing. Long story short, at 4 in the afternoon I was doing a mad dash in Gateway to buy 1) US Dollars 2) contact lens solution and 3) a travel toothbrush. I boarded a cab 30 minutes later and the driver was telling me it's impossible to make it to the airport in time for my 7:30 flight. But we obviously did, with time to spare, but not without beating a couple of red lights and other such traffic violations.

And then, I completely forgot about that other tax you have to pay for, and I don't really have a habit of carrying a lot of pesos in my wallet, even when travelling, so long story short after all the taxes and fees and things I am left with zilch pesos. As in I didn't even have enough money to get myself a can of overpriced coke.

In the plane I found myself sandwiched between an OFW who was leaving the country for the first time and promptly started crying the moment the plane took off and a kuya with long hair, nose and ear piercings, and inked arms who drank three full glasses of red wine in flight and clapped his hands when the plane landed. And behind me was this kid who kept crying and kicking my seat. So yeah.

Oh, and I apologize for calling the JAL food meh. Because the food that PAL serves is, for lack of a better term, disgusting. Even the food I cook tastes better than that, and it is not swimming in oil. And I find the flight attendants a bit... abrasive, but I do think it's because I have gotten so used to the very mild-mannered JAL flight attendants. See? Spoiled rotten.

But the landing was pretty good, though. My mom says PAL has good pilots, so maybe she's right. So yeah, I've landed. In Bangkok. The whole airport thing was a breeze, and the taxi driver did not ask for additional tip. Yay me. ^^

Longchamp Love

2010-10-09T13:59:00.004+08:00

I've developed quite an attachment to Longchamp bags ever since I got the schlepping bag. It held up surprisingly well to all the torture I inflicted upon it, including being checked-in during a flight from Tokyo to Manila with quite unfortunate weather. I wouldn't say it's as good as new but it still looks pretty damn good.

Anyway...

Yep. You've already met the schlepping bag and the Charles Anastase narcolepsy bag. The schlepping bag is from the Planetes line; the Charles Anastase is a limited edition Le Pliage from 2009. The other two are Les Pliages in the Spring/Summer 2010 colors. I got so giddy when I found them in Narita airport (all other Longchamp stores were carrying the Fall/Winter 2010 colors which are rather dull and dreary) that I had to force myself to leave the store to breathe and think really long and hard about which ones to purchase. I ended up getting two in Rosalie and Citrine.

The large one I had to use immediately to put my stuff in because I exceeded the check-in limit (I promise this will never happen again ever ever ever), and I chose to transfer my things because the overbaggage fee is more expensive than the bag! I knew overbaggage fees are expensive but I wasn't expecting them to be shockingly so! I ended up with 5 pieces of carry-on luggage but they did let me check-in two more bags at the boarding gates for free. Yep, the new bag got checked-in with the schlepping bag as well (she survived unscathed save for a couple of dirty marks that came off easily with wet wipes).

I'm pretty sure I should be banned from buying any more Longchamp bags, or any bag for that matter, for the rest of the year. But, eh, four is not a good number. :p

thinkgeek.com

2010-10-05T23:27:00.005+08:00

There is way too much good stuff in here for one blog post so I had to pick out the best of the best of the best.

Like Super Mario wall decals, which I am going to get once I have moved out of the ghetto.

Or the dot matrix wallet.

And the iPhone app ref magnets

And the binary clock

And the circuit board clipboard

And last but not least, ang mug ng tunay na lalaki.

Dahil ang tunay na lalaki, vi ang gamit na pang-code.

Pahabol: Caffeine molecule necklace!!! Super like!!!

iWant

2010-09-29T00:42:00.000+08:00

Move over, Magic Mouse.

Mmmhmm delighting you always :p
Read all about it here.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

2010-09-21T23:45:00.010+08:00

Whoever said that must've died of stress but sometimes we have to go a little crazy, right?

Let's start with this.

Weird crazy torture device? Almost, but not quite. It's an epilator. Don't ask me how I found out about epilating; I just stumbled upon it one day and suddenly I'm stalking it online. This particular one is a Braun Silk Epil Xpressive Pro SE7481. It's waterproof and comes with a couple of accessories.

As with all things electronic, it's cheaper in Japan so I asked the very wonderful people here to order it for me. Amazon.co.jp is wonderful because you can have your package delivered to your nearest convenience store how cool is that?

Anyway, back to the epilator. It's essentially just tweezers times ten. Or fifty. You use it the way you would an electric shaver, but instead of chopping the hair off it pulls them out, fifty at a time. I know. Hurts like hell. Sorta. It's fine when I use it on my legs, probably because I'm used to waxing. But on the underarms? Tears, blood, and a string of expletives. Hopefully I'll get used to it after a few sessions, because it's quite effective - think waxing without having to wait for regrowth, or shaving without the stubble. I've actually grown quite fond of my epilator now, even if I'm still using the attachment for beginners on the lowest setting. I wouldn't recommend it if you have a low threshold for pain, though.

Moving on...

Umm, yeah. So I colored my hair. By myself. With Kao Prettia Bubble hair color in Dark Chocolate. The first box I bought was in Antique Rose which is a purply reddish color, and I couldn't bring myself to use it. But I've actually always wanted dark brown hair. My original hair color is actually a combination of black and brown strands and I just want to even it out to a rich brown color, because super black hair seems kinda harsh. So I figured what the heck, it's not like I'm going to bleach my hair a ghastly blonde.

Now this particular brand is quite popular for being easy to use and not super harsh on the hair (I think it's called Liese in other countries). It's also quite fun to apply - it foams up and you just sort of shampoo it on, wait for a couple of minutes, and voila!

It doesn't look as brown in person, but I'm quite pleased with the color. It's not super super obvious; actually it may not be recognizable at all, but I can tell that my hair is dark brown as opposed to black brown, and that's good enough for me. And texture-wise my hair seems to be the same, if not softer (I did use a repairing mask afterwards). And I'm pleased to report that the color is even, but then again I don't have a lot of hair so that's not hard to accomplish I guess.

So far, so good. So here's to more risk-taking. ^^

Weekend

2010-09-20T15:10:00.004+08:00

By now you should know how this weekend would turn out.

Saturday was reserved for the Tokyo Game Show in Makuhari Messe, Chiba prefecture. We're the worst spectators ever, because we just took a peek and left. It's interesting in theory, but there were so many people and it's summer so the smell is not exactly pleasant, and I'm not exactly a hardcore gamer. And there's also a Mitsui outlet park nearby. Scantily clad girls and the latest gadgets and games or endless shopping opportunities with huge huge discounts?

The next day was Tokyo shopping - Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya. Enough said.
We spent a couple of hours in Forever21 Harajuku. If you spend 4000 JPY or more you get to spin this wheel and you get a prize.

I got the FNO tote bag, yay. ^^

Anyhoo, so here's the damage.

1. I finally got rain boots!!! I actually gave up on them after the third attempt to order Plueys. Which is a good thing, I guess, because these are prettier and much more age-appropriate.

2. Studded white flats from some random store in Shibuya (I believe it was called Chille Anap, whatever that means).

3. Onitsuka Tiger flats.

4. Heels from H&M. I have been lusting after these last year, but I didn't get them because I have way too many shoes already. Not that the situation has changed now, but I do need work shoes because I only brought one pair and they have now been destroyed. I didn't expect to find these heels still available, but I think this is the very last pair and it's my size, so thank you universe.

We all know I can't exactly leave F21 without a couple of rings. My favorite is the middle one, though, which I got from H&M, because it has joints and hinges and everything.

Clothes shopping is an epic fail; I only ended up with a cardigan and this romper:

My main issue with rompers is how the hell do you pee when wearing them without having to take everything off but this one's pretty and comfy so I figured what the hell I'll just wear them in places with pretty bathrooms.

It must've been some sort of shopping high, but we found these on sale somewhere along the streets of Shibuya, and somehow the idea of having reddish purple hair appealed to me so I got one box. I have been staring at it all morning, but, ummm, no.

I could sleep 24 hours a day

2010-09-12T22:33:00.000+08:00

Charles Anastase for Longchamp 2009.

*sigh*
As if finding it during FNO Tokyo wasn't crazy enough, it was actually on sale.
Maybe I should've bought two.

Omotesando and FNO Tokyo 2010

2010-09-12T11:55:00.002+08:00

So I discovered last Friday night that there was such a thing as Fashion's Night Out Tokyo and it was going to be held September 10, which was the very next day. I've only ever heard of Fashion's Night Out New York, which started last year during the recession.

Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) is an unprecedented global initiative created to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, boost the industry’s economy, and put the fun back in shopping. For one night last September, in New York City and twelve other cities around the world, designers, celebrities, models, and fashion editors staged exciting, one-of-a-kind events in stores open after-hours to the public.

It was a no-brainer. I just had to go. I was planning on going to Omotesando anyway to visit the MAC store. And can I just say, I'm incredibly thankful I did not discover it while I was here last year. Otherwise I would have had to subsist on a diet of rice and salt. It's a network of shop-lined streets that never end. And it's swarming with tourists, so the sales assistants are quite fluent in English, which means they can sucker me in with sales talk. In Shinjuku, they just let me buy what I want (to prevent further conversations riddled with hand gestures), but here, they are able to suggest things I might want which I would almost always end up getting. It's the death of EQ.

I did find MAC Pro easily enough because it was on the main street. It was impossible to take a picture of the entire facade because there would always be people passing by at any given time. This is Tokyo, after all.

Louis Vuitton was right across. I can't say if I love or hate the facade but I did get my picture taken in front of it.

It's out of focus because it was hurriedly taken during the split second when no one was passing by.

FNO was scheduled to start at 6PM, and I got there around 2, so I had lots of time to explore, and I got invariably lost, since we all know I have no sense of direction whatsoever. In fact I got so lost I actually stumbled upon Christopher Nemeth, which was like in the middle of nowhere, and The Bathing Ape, which I've always been curious about. No pictures because at this point I was feeling panicky already. I'm fairly confident I could find them again, though, because that's how I learn to navigate places - by getting utterly lost.

I also thought Forever21 and H&M were located like ten blocks away from where they actually were, but I did manage to find them after walking for several billion kilometers. Was not in the mood to shop for clothes, though, so I passed.

By the time FNO started I have been walking for four hours straight, although I did get a bit of rest from time to time. There were a lot of benches along the sidewalk; the only problem is tourists always ask me for directions because I guess I so obviously look like a foreigner who probably speaks English. Now I really wish I could help them, but I'm just as lost as they are.

So I proceeded to Omotesando Hills to catch a glimpse of the fashion show, but the crowd was crazy. The only time I saw the catwalk was when I went up and down the escalators.

I managed to grab the last FNO bag from Michael Kors.

I wanted to get the pink one, tsk.

And then I did the rounds of the stores again, just to see what they were offering for FNO. They were serving cocktails in some shops, like Chanel and Dior. And there were limited edition stuff that I can't afford without selling my internal organs.

Anyhoo this is where all the EQ flew out the window:

Pictures of the loot later, because I gotta go :p

I am never to set foot in Omotesando again

2010-09-12T00:09:00.000+08:00

So yeah, never again.

No. 7

2010-09-08T22:40:00.001+08:00

The new luggage goes to Tokyo for yet another business trip. ^^

I started packing two hours before I had to leave for the airport, but I think I managed pretty well.

The flight to Tokyo was horrible. We were delayed for an hour and a half due to engine problems, the food was meh, and I had to suffer through the worst airplane landing ever, and I've never ever experienced that with JAL. Tsk.

We reached Tokyo right smack in the middle of rush hour. Gaaaah. Imagine squeezing yourself - and your luggage - in a train brimming with people. And then we got lost while looking for the hotel, because we all know I can't read a map if my life (or sanity) depended on it. Thankfully the kuya at the nearest 7-11 was helpful enough to direct us.

Aaaaand can I just say the hotel more than made up for everything.

Two words: Free. Coffee. I rest my case.

Because I haven't had the chance to dance along the light of day

2010-08-31T00:03:00.002+08:00

My first ever blog post was in 2004, and it was the lyrics of Train's Drops of Jupiter. They have since moved on from love, pride, deep fried chicken to lipstick stains on the front lobe of left side brains. And me, I moved from LiveJournal to Blogger (with short-lived stints in Wordpress and Tumblr), from student to engineer, from Manila to Tokyo and back.

I'm poring over my archive of random ramblings masquerading as blog posts because I feel it's time for a major change, and I need to remind myself that I will manage just fine. And I also need to remind myself that once upon a time, I had a life outside of work, and it was pretty damn great. See, the problem with your job is, no matter how much you love it, it may not love you back. And that teeny tiny ounce of fulfillment you dream of getting after the countless hours of overtime and missed dinners with friends, you may never even get. Because, see, it happened to me. You know how everyone keeps emphasizing work-life balance? Yeah.

It's hard, realizing you worked your ass off for nothing. But I'll get over it one day. For now, it's time to rediscover myself outside the four walls of the office. And hopefully I'll come out of all of this with drops of jupiter in my hair.

Major Major

2010-08-26T00:32:00.005+08:00

Let us all be reminded that the first time the Philippines won the Ms. Universe crown was in 1969, the year man landed on the moon (if NASA is to be believed), and it was because Gloria Diaz outsmarted the competition. And by outsmart I mean she had a ready answer to a non-textbook question - nothing spectacular, but nothing major major either.

Apparently we've run out of Gloria Diazes. After the heartbreak that was Miriam Quiambao I have resigned myself to the fact that the only way to a Miss Universe title is via a translator - which is something the countless Miss Venezuelas and Rio Mori (special mention because the Macbook is named after her) have exploited and used to their advantage.

See, if Venus Raj had the liberty of using ~~gayspeak~~ Filipino, I believe her answer would be something akin to:

Never pa po ako nagkamali ng bonggang-bongga.

Less cringe-worthy, and actually a bit feisty, don't you think?
I would like to believe it's what she really wanted to say before she got all flustered. Of course the next issue would be how to translate it to something less... major major, but that wouldn't be her problem anymore, would it?

And I'm blogging about this at 1 in the morning because I've been watching Miss Universe since 1992 when Miss Namibia won, and yes, this affects me deeply (a couple of days ago my cousins and I were discussing how we should watch Miss Universe live at least once before we die).

I leave you with the most touching video ever. Seriously. Dama kung dama.

Over and over again

2010-08-24T00:16:00.000+08:00

Stuff I've purchased and will purchase over and over again. Just thought I'd share. There are things that we like, but get bored with, and there are things that we like and never let go of.

Long Weekend

2010-08-23T23:50:00.001+08:00

Yep, we get to have a long weekend even if Monday was reinstated as a working day. Holidays should be touch-move, you know?

Saturday

Mini-Eliazo (my college dorm) reunion. After five years. It's so nice to see everyone again, and find out that we haven't changed one bit. We should do this more often; hopefully with better attendance next time. And invite our Cervini batchmates, too *waves at Kerwin*.

Sunday

Thanksgiving party for Jakes, who passed the board exams. As if it's a surprise or anything.

Monday

Me-time with Hainanese Chicken rice, my Moleskine, and a good book.
There was also nausea and vomiting that I am attributing to caffeine withdrawal but let's not get into that.

The only thing missing is an M04 reunion. Tsk. :p

Yep, another haul

2010-08-16T01:15:00.000+08:00

As much as I would like to stay home and ponder the meaning of my existence, I was in dire need of moisturizer.

This is my fifth jar of MAC Lightful Deep Ultramoisture Cream. So I guess I don't have to tell you how much I love it. To be honest I would love to switch to something a bit more affordable, but my skin is just so happy with this. I actually nabbed one of the last jars in the store, and thank goodness I was able to because this morning I scraped the very last drop off the bottom of the container. I'm keeping the jars so I can Back 2 Mac them - in exchange for 6 empty MAC containers you get a free lipstick how wonderful is that? The other two jars I emptied in Japan so I had to dispose of them tsk.

I ordered a jar of Bare Minerals Matte foundation in Golden Medium from Claude of barebeautyonline.com. I've been off the mineral makeup bandwagon for a loooong time, but this has been getting so many raves from non-mineral makeup enthusiasts so I wanted to give it a try. I used it today and I quite like it (the color match is great); however it gets really really itchy when I sweat, and the whole swirl-tap-buff thing is quite a pain especially if I'm in a hurry.

Hence another foundation purchase. This one I got in Medium. I haven't tried Stila foundations before, and I don't know why I haven't because they're very much yellow-based which is perfect. And Stila products in the Philippines are not marked up like crazy. Case in point: A bottle of NARS sheer glow is 40USD, but here it's 2450PHP. A bottle of Stila one-step foundation is 44USD, but here they're selling it for 1850PHP. These are being sold in the same store, which is why it is so baffling to me.

Anyway, even with less mark-up it's still on the pricey side, but, well, I really wanted to try it because NARS has not been doing it for me lately. Now I've done the rounds of drugstore foundation - Revlon Colorstay, Revlon Photoready, Maybelline Clear Smooth Minerals - and while they are quite satisfactory, the undertones are off, and they broke me out. So no more drugstore foundations for me.

I got this a couple of weeks ago because they were on sale. Aren't they pretty? They're Guelain Meteorites Perles. People kept raving about them so naturally I also wanted to try. I'm still not sure how I feel about them but, well, they're nice to look at.

I have a lot of people to thank for this one - Ninch for getting a good bargain, Rocky for managing my (now depleted) funds, and Paeng for bringing it home.

I tried looking for other perfumes but I'm afraid I'm going to be stuck with this for a while. It just smells so darn good!

Yet another connector ring from Forever21 (I know, I know, I can't stay away from that damn store).

Oh look, here's another one. This, I'm particularly fond of. There are several others I so wanted, but I can't find them in my size (I blame my thin bony fingers).

And now it's Monday again. The End.

The Perfect Luggage

2010-08-15T02:17:00.002+08:00

A Globetrotter trunk for checking in...

... and a Louis Vuitton Pegase in Damier Graphite as my carry-on.

That's for when I crap money and own a private jet. Back here in the real world where income is limited and I'm stuck in economy class (call me naive but I used to think that business trips would warrant business class tickets) I just stick to a couple of rules, all of which I've learned the hard way.

1. Luggage shopping must never ever be crammed. You're only going to need one, so it better be good, right? Buying luggage right before your trip puts you at the mercy of whatever is currently available. This is how I ended up with fugly, sub-standard luggage. Twice.

2. Pick a color that can be spotted from a mile away. On my first trip, I had dark blue luggage, and at the airport, I asked the kuya to fetch a total of four bags from the conveyor belt before I finally found mine. Needless to say, he wasn't so happy about it.

3. Two words: spinner wheels. Unless you are 100% sure you will not do any amount of walking at all. Believe me, it makes a whole world of a difference. Like, say, doing your groceries using a shopping basket as opposed to a shopping cart.

So anyway, the whole point of this post is I found my perfect luggage and it was on sale so I bought it.

Samsonite Aeris Comfort Spinner in the most awesome lime green color.
The End.

Because I Need to Vent

2010-08-12T00:18:00.000+08:00

Me: May issues ako sa speech nung guest speaker nung anniv party
Officemate: Nakinig ka?

See that's what I get for paying attention to the guest speaker. As if the entire day Friday was not stressful enough - power outages every couple of minutes and incessant incredulous demands in between - I attend the company anniversary party in an attempt to unwind and I get even more stress.

Imagine you're a dean from a prestigious university invited to deliver a speech at a company's anniversary party. Do you:

a) Talk about how proud you are of your school's alumni who are now running the company
b) Congratulate the company for its achievements
c) Talk about the importance of college education and how your university is aiming to be at par with the best schools in Asia

I mean, seriously.

Fake Salt, Sure Seats, and the Human Bladder. Oh, and Inception.

2010-07-26T00:56:00.001+08:00

First of all, if you plan to watch a blockbuster on a weekend, you have to visit sureseats.com. For twenty pesos which in today's economy is next to nothing, you get peace of mind and no stress at all.

So my sister and I decided to watch Inception. I'm not really a huge movie buff - I bailed on Avatar - but since Eugene claims that this one trumps The Matrix it became something I couldn't possibly pass up on. I reserved our tickets Saturday night and we had to leave home a bit earlier than usual today so we can go catch the movie.

It's a three-hour bus ride to Manila (thanks to the new SCTEX route), and normally they'd play a movie or two. Typically it'd be some random action flick featuring Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal, or Con Air which I must've seen at least twenty times, but sometimes I'd get lucky. Like one time they played LOTR2 and I almost missed my stop because I didn't want to leave because, well, they haven't won the war yet.

Well, today's movie happens to be Salt. As in Angelina Jolie's new movie that is not yet out in theaters. Lucky, huh? So I put away my iPod, whip out my glasses, and proceed to watch. In the movie Angelina Jolie is some sort of FBI detective person who somehow had to work in Montreal, Canada to catch this serial killer. Funny, from the trailers I somehow assumed she'd be some sort of spy. And that the movie would be a bit more action-packed than this one. And there'd be at least one scene with her wearing a wig. After a bit of googling I finally figured out why - we were watching Taking Lives, starring Angelina Jolie. Good heavens. They edited out the movie intro (as in the part in the beginning where they show the movie title and the top-billed cast) and replaced it with Salt, the sneaky bastards. It's the darndest thing, isn't it? I guess that's what you get for buying pirated DVDs.

Anyway, so after that failure of a bus movie, we get to TriNoMa and headed straight to the counters to get our tickets. I reserved them Saturday night, but you have to claim them 45 minutes before the movie starts else you forfeit the pretty damn good seats. And can I just say, this is probably the best twenty pesos I've ever spent. First, we avoided the really long lines because there's a dedicated counter for sureseats. Second, we got there a good two hours before the movie starts, and by that time there were no more seats available. Imagine our horrified faces had we not reserved the night before. I know I sound like a sureseats.com ad, but I'm just incredibly thankful.

If you haven't had the good fortune of watching Inception yet, may I suggest that you enter the movie house with an empty bladder, no drinks, and no food. The latter because the sound of your chewing may distract you from taking everything in. The former because, as we exited the cinema, there, by the side of the stairs, was a drinking cup full of yellow liquid. We can all hope it's Mountain Dew (or pineapple juice), or we can just take that as a testament of how insanely good the movie was.

Random Haul

2010-07-19T02:01:00.001+08:00

Very little mall time this weekend. Saturday I went to Debid and Reizel's house warming in their gorgeous new condo (very very very jealous), and I spent the entire day today doing my laundry while waiting for my mom. But I still managed to get some shopping done. But of course.

Beauty Bar is on sale, so I dropped by.

I found this bag organizer which was going for 65% off.

It's actually pretty neat. While most bag organizers are like mini-bags with a lot of compartments, this is like a chain of pockets. This is what it looks like inside the schlepping bag:

Now if you're like me and your teeny stuff always get lost inside the abyss that is your bag (and yes, this happens even with the conventional bag organizer), this thing is a god send.

I skipped on the make-up because they're kinda iffy, like really really old stock.
But I did get this microfiber hair turban thing because it was only 300 Php from 1500 Php and I'm a sucker for things like that. And towels don't expire so even if this is five-year old stock I still don't mind.

And then I got random things elsewhere:

A swirly cup for mixing foundations and stuff. I got this from Gourdo's for only 20 Php.

Tea lights and strawberry aromatheraphy oil from some random stall.

An oil burner from The Body Shop. See, I live with people who smoke, and I really really abhor the smell of cigarette smoke, so I'm hoping this would help.

I got a tub of Mango Body Butter for 50% off because I have a Love Your Body card (you get 50% off on your second item with a purchase of any regular item). I do think Mango is the yummiest-smelling of all body butters but it's for very dry skin so it's too greasy for the body. However, my hands have been getting extra dry in the office so I figured I'd use it as a hand cream.

I bought a second Clippa for my mom, because I promised her I'd get her one. They're a bit expensive for bag holders, but they're extra nifty and much prettier, too.

And in the spirit of wardrobe change and shiz I bought a dress. For no reason other than I like the way it fits, and it has pockets! It's from the Ponds x Plains and Prints collaboration and it actually came with a free facial wash which is probably never going to get used just because Ponds and I, we're not really good friends.

Anyway, that's that. I have got to sleep. ^^

Transit

2010-07-16T00:07:00.002+08:00

So I somehow transitioned from jeans + tee + sneakers to skinny jeans + boyfriend shirt + flats. I have no idea when, why, or how this happened, but I guess we all have to grow up at some point, and the wardrobe has to keep up (And yes, I am using this as justification for future clothing hauls).

A sign of more changes to come, perhaps?

Forever 21 and then some

2010-07-04T13:20:00.003+08:00

This is pretty stale news by now, but Forever21 has hit the Philippine shores, and I couldn't be happier. Now all we need is H&M and Uniqlo and we're all set. Oh, and Sephora. And MUJI. OK, maybe we're far from being all set but we're on our way.

To say that I'm excited about the opening is the biggest understatement ever, because if there's anything I miss about Tokyo, it's taking the train to Harajuku every Saturday, braving the crows in Takeshita Dori, exploring four floors of pretty, and going home with a bright yellow plastic bag. I very nearly filed for a vacation leave last Friday so I could be there for the opening (and my project manager was telling me it's fine because I guess she anticipated I would be a neurotic mess anyway if I didn't get to go) but there were things to be done. Tsk. So the entire day Friday I was getting updates from Chelo - how insanely long the lines were, how our floral peep toes were sold out, and just how much crap there was for us to purchase.

So yesterday, I woke up, showered, put on my comfiest clothes, and trooped to Megamall. I was there just a minute or two after the mall doors opened. When I got in there was this really really really long line, and I thought oh, shoot but what the hell. So I tried looking for the end of the line, but before lining up I found the security guard.

Me: Ito po ba yung sa Forever21?
Guard: Ay, hindi po, sa Odyssey po ito.

Gahk. Moral of the story: when in doubt, ask questions. Wag assuming.

So I raced, yes, raced to the second floor with my fingers very tightly crossed, and I have to say, I was very very surprised because there was no line at all. Only these big beefy bouncers near the door I very nearly hugged because I was so happy they actually let me in.

Now I wish I can say it was all wonderful and magical and all that jazz, but it's just, well, okay. It did feel like I was back in Harajuku for a second, but, well, I was just majorly disappointed because they did not have enough rings, and you know how crazy I am about rings. Tsk. And the accessories in general are more expensive here than in Japan, which is a shocker. But the clothes and shoes are just about the same. So I guess I'll be getting the clothes here, but the accessories I am ordering online because there are wonderful people in Japan who can bring them home for me. ^^

Anyway, here's the damage. It's nowhere near massive, but I'm pretty happy with it. I did try on a ton of things but I edited a lot of things out. I constantly had to remind myself that the store is still going to be there the next day so I don't have to purchase everything. And I always need a second opinion on dresses and my friends weren't there when I was trying stuff on so I just passed.

I had to get at least one ring, so I got this crazy tiger ring that spans two fingers. I have no idea when I would wear it but I'll figure something out.

And then I got this bow and this simple round one in a pretty pretty blue color.

And then I got this white girly top even if it's a size to big because it's pretty. And I figured it's kinda flowy anyway so it doesn't have to be snug (read: pinilit). I also got two more tops, my very first belt as I do not own any (and the one I got is supposedly for men :p), and really short shorts.

After the haulage I met up with my friend Leal, and we watched Eclipse, because we had to wait for Doti and we were tired from Forever21 and we needed to sit down. So we picked the show that would start the soonest, and it happened to be in SM's interactive cinema, which we did not find out until we were already inside the theater and this girl suddenly grabs a mic and starts chattering. It was... strange. Suffice to say I will never ever ever watch a movie in there again. I mean, the movie quality itself was fine, but beforehand there was this game and it was just strange. As for the actual movie, it can be summed up in one word: constipation. Dakota Fanning was great though, in all of the thirty seconds that she was there. Oh, and can I just say, Rosalind has way too much make-up on, and whenever I see her I just can't focus on anything else.

After the movie we met up with Doti and I dragged them to Bench because I wanted to get this:

Just for everyday when I don't want to fuss over my watch getting nicked or scratched or stained with indelible ink (which happened to my white Philippe Starck for Fossil watch and it stressed me out sooooo bad).

And then we trooped to Edsa Shang to watch Knight and Day (we no longer wanted to watch a movie in SM because we were so traumatized by the interactive thing). We caught the last full show, so by the time I left the mall it was midnight. That's 14 hours of mall time, which is epic, even for me. So today I'm staying at home, doing my laundry, tidying things up, and keep resisting the urge to get new make-up stuff.

Halftime Showtime

2010-07-01T00:00:00.003+08:00

It's the second half of the year, and it's crunch time.

When I got back from the great adventure that is Japan, I gave myself six months to reboot, re-acclimate and re-connect with people. Now it's time to figure out where I'm headed.

Work

This will have eyes rolling, but I can honestly say I love my current job. Primarily because I love my project, which I am very much attached to. And in the four years I've been with the company, I have continually been challenged to do things I never thought I could. But lately it's been getting kind of boring. I mean, sure, every day is still a struggle, but of the predictable kind. Before, I'd always look forward to going to work and discovering something new and amazing, but now the eureka moments are few and far between. I miss the satisfaction of being able to grasp a concept that minutes before seemed so complex and alien.

So I guess it's time to move on, and I'm giving myself six months to formulate a game plan.

Love

I've been single for over a year, and I'm surprisingly OK with it. I do whatever I want, hang out with people I want to hang out with, and I can be as excellent as I can possibly be without having to worry about bruised egos.

I thought I'd have to do some sort of rebounding as proof I've moved on, but now that I think about it, that would actually be proof I haven't. And I also realized I'm far too self-centered to be looking out for other people, or at least right now I am. I'll do the whole relationship thing when I'm no longer selfish and shallow, but for now I'm enjoying chasing after whatever it is that catches my fancy. Plus, I need to find someone who's actually better and more kickass than me, for a change ;p

And the answer to the million dollar question why we broke up: It's because I've seen people crazy in love, and that's not what we had. A pity it took me four years to realize that, but hey, at least I had the balls to admit it.

Life

Less shopping, more travel. But we'll see. ^^

Hits and Misses and Things

2010-06-29T00:52:00.000+08:00

Misses first, so I end on a happy note.

1. I am missing the Forever21 opening because I have work. It's just so incredibly painful.
Chelo, I am shopping vicariously through you so you better haul like there's no tomorrow.

2. Plueys Fail.
I decided, while I was still in Japan, that I was going to get Plueys when I get back. While our ghetto apartment did survive Ondoy, our street floods within five minutes of rain. Not the kind that would prevent me from getting to work, just the annoying kind that soaks up your shoes. Now going to the office dripping wet is not exactly ideal, so I figured I'd spare myself the stress and go get myself a pair of rain boots.
Now here's the thing. My sister and cousin wanted a pair too, so we spent a long time squabbling over who gets to buy which style. Finally we reach a truce, so I tried to place an order, and guess what? No stock. Would they ever re-stock? I wouldn't know because I got no reply.
Part two. Since I am quite desperate for rain boots, I tried looking for other sites that sell Plueys. Found one, but they don't have the style I prefer, so I had to pick out something else (which took years). I placed an order yesterday, and guess what? No effin' stock. Would they ever re-stock? This time I got a reply and it's a negative.
It's probably the universe telling me to accept the fact that when it rains I would have to report to the office with my sneakers squishing and my jeans drenched to the knees. But then again, third time's the charm, so we'll see.

3. Smashbox Photofinish SPF15
Or anything with SPF, for that matter. Sun-protection and I, we're not friends. Everything I've tried makes me break out. And by everything I mean VMV Armada, Shiseido Anessa, Shiseido Sun Protection Cream, Neutrogena Dry Touch, Clarins, Belo, MAC Prep+Prime SPF50, and the latest addition to my never again list, Smashbox Photofinish. After all the hard work to get happy skin, I use sunblock for a day and hello blemishes. Argh.

4. NARS Lipstick in Honolulu Honey
Pretty, but after like 10 minutes it looks flakey. It's a struggle, but one day I will make this lipstick my friend, I promise.

Hits

1. NARS Multiple Tints in Turks and Caicos

This whole NARS obsession has got to stop but look how preeeeetty.

I know it looks crazy orange but when you swatch it it's kinda pinkish. And it's pretty sheer, but it does last. These multiple tints are limited edition, I believe, so it took all my remaining EQ not to get all three. The other two colors are Cadaques (pink) and Beverly Hills (red). They're both pretty but I felt Turks and Caicos was more unique. Off topic: Why are people not familiar with Turks and Caicos (or Tunisia, or St. Vincent and the Grenadines)? Don't they watch Miss Universe? And since I am already off on a tangent here did you know that Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee of the "take it take it" scandal committed suicide? Tsk.

Anyhoo, this is the last NARS product. Or not. I'm eyeing an eyeshadow palette and a blush brush. But that's it, no more, I promise. Roight.

2. Scanned high school photo outbreak in Facebook
So one (presumably boring) night my high school batch mates suddenly started uploading grainy pictures on Facebook. It went on for a couple of days, and I'm guessing there are a few more waves of the epidemic before it dies down. I would love to upload a couple of pictures myself, but I'm lazy.

Now as much as I would like to say that high school was four years of fun, it wasn't. It's a roller coaster ride filled with cliques and drama and personality crises (and equations and experiments and dorm food), and I'm not really fond of roller coasters. But high school is also where I met some of the most wonderful people I know, so I guess it was worth it.

My random picture:

This was during our junior year retreat. The girls go in first, and we all remove one shoe and place it in this huge pile, and then the guys go in, pick a shoe, and that's your partner for the night. It was a pretty darn good idea, don't you think so?

Oh, and I still have that skirt. A bit snug, but it still fits. :p

3. And all other things nostalgic
- Boyband songs (LSS: What Good is a Heart with matching dance moves)
- Rewinding a casette tape using a ballpen so you don't use up your walkman's batteries
- Circus Charlie!

Best game ever. Did you finish the stage with the flying trapeze? Because I never did. Tsk.

enchantée

2010-06-22T00:53:00.002+08:00

The schlepping bag is here. ^^

All Things Nice and Superficial

2010-06-21T13:16:00.005+08:00

1. Eyeliner
So recently I've been having this thing with liners.

By thing I mean a compulsive need to try everything in a span of like, two weeks. Thankfully it's now over (because I have every kind of black liner there is). Currently I am loving the L'oreal super liner and the MAC blacktrack fluidline applied with a 266 brush. And I'm getting pretty good at it too, if I may say so myself. ^^

2. Neutral shadows
Because I will never be the funky eyeshadow girl. I have MAC shadows because they're the only ones I can find that are not so shimmery and non-chalky.

(L-R: Ricepaper, Soba, Cork, Carbon)

Ricepaper and Cork I got from the CCO in Japan; I just recently bought Soba because it seems like a good everyday color (and it is!), and I got Carbon to use as an, ermm, eyeliner.

3. Nude Lipstick
I got Revlon in Soft Nude. Big mistake - it makes me look dead.
Thankfully I was able to get my hands on NARS Honolulu Honey after, like, a thousand years. The make-up artist told me that they just restocked on it a day before and there were only three and I got one! Hah! I was tempted to get two, but this isn't a limited edition thing. It is, however, everything it's hyped up to be - a nude that does not make you look like you've just risen from the grave.

Pretty packaging, as always, but I am willing to bet all my blushes that this will be grimy in a week.

So here it is with Revlon Soft Nude. The NARS one is a lot less pink, which is why I think it's more wearable for me.

An attempted swatch, just for the heck of it. L-R: MAC Viva Glam V, MAC Creme Cup, MAC High Tea, Revlon Soft Nude, NARS Honolulu Honey.

4. Carmex!!!
Thank heavens for PCX. Nothing beats Carmex. Nothing.

5. MAC Blot Powder
I told the MA I wanted one in Medium Dark, but the one I brought home is in Medium. So now I have to go back and exchange it. And I have to take the train on a working day. The horror.

Here comes trouble

2010-06-08T22:58:00.001+08:00

iPhone4.
No explanation necessary.

(Picture from apple.com)

What I've been up to lately

2010-06-07T23:34:00.000+08:00

1. Seasonal de-cluttering. Major room cleanup. Offloaded my make-up stuff, and will probably offload a couple more. Organized my shoes - every pair in its own labeled box, with shoe trees if necessary. Emptied out all the bags (and discovered stuff I thought I lost along the way).

2. Work. Sleep. Work. I get tons of sleep now because it's snuggle weather. I no longer have to haul my ass of the bed before noon for fear of frying myself to death.

3. Sex and the City 2 aka Bag and Shoe Porn. Love love love Samantha. And (Paula) Abdul. Sara Jessica Parker's arms are scary. And her laugh is annoying. Woman, you are fifty, the 8-year old girl laugh does not suit you. At all.

4. Switched up my skin care routine (if you could call it that). Goodbye VMV, hello Mario Badescu. and Olay Regenerist Serum (hi Anj). I blame Paula Begoun. Ever since I bought her book I've been on a mad hunt for sunscreen, an alcohol-free toner with BHA or AHA, and an antioxidant-rich moisturizer in an airtight container with a pump. Tsk. Ignorance is was bliss.

5. Got a haircut. Looks totally the same. But the ends are healthier. And the stylist asked me if I had my hair rebonded recently. It's been six months, so I guess it's holding up pretty well.

6. The Vampire Diaries. As opposed to Robert Pattinson's lifetime of eternal constipation, Ian Somerhalder seems determined to smolder for all eternity. Who am I to resist?

Smolder

2010-06-07T02:12:00.000+08:00

Ian Somerhalder is so ridiculously hot it should be illegal.

Dear Fitness First

2010-05-25T23:06:00.000+08:00

I realize you have to play really loud music to get the fellas moving and the calories burning.
But the noise blasting from your speakers can be heard all the way to Japan. Before it was just the bass, and I guess we all can do with a little bit of "tugsh tugsh" during those long dreary meetings. But it's a bit difficult to be taken seriously, by the Japanese, no less, when I do my status reports with Love Drunk playing in the background.

And while we are on the subject of music, why on earth would you be exercising to the tune of Metallica's Enter Sandman?

Just sayin.