Purple Peaches

NYX Lippies!

2012-02-22T02:14:00.000+08:00

10 NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors

I don't usually do hauls, but this was what I gave away to girlfriends as a new year's present. Felt bad that I was not able to buy more for other friends I don't see often, so I left it to circumstance by only giving one to friends I saw. Hah!

I also got a couple for myself and have been using them daily. Though I would like for it to stay on my lips even after eating, really, I could not ask for more for its price.

Got these on free shipping (Multiply's free delivery promo lasts until end of Feb so hurry!) from Digital Traincase. Buy yours now!

Everybody Loves Buffets: Manila Pavilion's Seasons

2012-02-22T02:03:00.000+08:00

Aren't you hungry yet? Those crabs make me crave for more.

They say the best things in life are free but if it's not free, the second best would always be that they are unlimited and/or free-flowing. Wouldn't you agree? And on top of that, it being on 50% discount.

Manila Pavilion Hotel has several restaurants, one of their more popular ones is Seasons providing lunch and dinner buffets. Among those restaurants, I have observed that this was the one that drove in people traffic the most. People from their casino, hotel guests and even people in pambahay came to feast to their international food selection.

How we got there

I went here with the boyfriend and since we both don't have our own cars, we had to commute. Seeing on Google Maps that it is only along Taft Avenue, we decided to just ride the LRT. Boy, that map was so wrong. Coming from the EDSA-Taft, we had to cross the street and walk until we reached Manila Pavilion. It was pretty far but still in walking distance so taking a cab would from LRT would've been wasting money. It was not on the same side of the road as stated on the map. We passed Manila Doctor's Hospital (I think) and couple buildings later, we saw the hotel with different colored lights on the facade.

Inside the hotel

We asked the guard to point us to Seasosns. Yep, this is when I learned that there were many restaurants. Upon seeing the maitre d', she seated us to the reserved section for Ensogo members who got the deal at 50% off. It was on the farthest side from the food stations but who cares, a few steps didn't hurt.

This was the first buffet dinner that I paid by myself. Shelling out hard-earned cash for a dinner worth more than a thousand bucks does not come very often so of course, I had to make it worthwhile.

Plenty of photos after the jump.

Buffets can be overwhelming sometimes, but if you're like us, we went to the buffet line with favorite dishes in mind. I loaded a plate with crabs because I've been craving for it, also because it's not every day I could eat them. As for the roast lamb, it was not a hit with us. I'm really not up to meat that's still bloody red in color.

Verdict: The food was okay, nothing exceptional but was worth our money.

Will I go back? I think not, just because it was too far from our location.

Amazon Noob

2012-02-17T13:23:00.002+08:00

This should be titled...
How To Make Jenn Feel Stupid in 3 Ways

After weeks of lurking, I finally decided to buy a camera lens. At first, I wanted to order from resellers here in Manila but 1) Kimstore was out of stock, and 2) DBGadgets promised me a 3-5 days waiting time, did not came through and then promised me again 7-10 days waiting time, only to disappoint me. Whenever I'd follow up, I get excuses and not a hint of being apologetic. Still, the promises kept flowing.

@DBGadgets, follow through your promises. If you can't, at least be upfront about it.

And that's when furious me decided that Amazon would be my best bet. They offer the same price as Kimstore and DBGadgets, but the real deal-breaker for me before was the shipping fee. But even if the shipping fee was more than I would normally go for, I went all out and bought it.

The first credit card (CC) I entered was not mine (yes first, because there is a second). I thought it would be as easy as Order-Checkout-Enter CC details-Shipment-Yey!, But no, I had to learn so many things the hard way.

Hell broke loose after I received this email from address-verification@amazon.com asking me to confirm my billing statement and my account got temporarily on hold.

Click to enlarge

So I spent the whole evening before my work started (I'm on night shift this month) trying to fax the billing statement. And when the office 5-in-1 printer/fax machine won't let me fax, I resorted to looking for online faxing websites. (shout out to FaxZero.com!)

Why the shout out? I tried so many sites that faxes documents for free, but this FaxZero is the one that actually sent my documents. I almost smiled when I saw the email notification for the fax, but then my Google search for "amazon account pending billing statement" came up and what I saw horrified me. Even without seeing the actual pages, I saw the words scam and fraud.

I googled some more, putting the email address on the search bar this time, more search results saying it was a fraud. My heart sank. It wasn't my credit card. I had to act fast.

So off I went to a silent place, called HSBC and had the CC looked up. Since it wasn't my account, they wouldn't tell me the details. I said it might be possible that we have been scammed. I was told that the account would be locked and that the owner would be the only one that could unlock or forever block the card.

THEN THE STUPIDEST MOMENT HAPPENED. I talked to an Amazon customer representative to tell her what happened. I was pouring my heart out. Then she told me "that email you receive, we have in your account database. We keep a record of all emails sent to you". I was flabbergasted. All that worrying for nothing. What made me feel worse was that HSBC cancelled the card without getting verification from the owner.

Lesson #1: Never fax account details without verifying first its legitimacy (Better ask than feel being the stupidest person on earth)

And so I had the owner enter another credit card. This time, I changed the billing address to be the same as that on the credit card. (I know! I never thought I could be any stupid-er)

Then I waited for that email to come again. That time, I was prepared, billing statement and all. I had to contact Amazon again to follow up where the email for account verification is at that time. It never came. I was told that the account was approved during the manual screening process.

Lesson #2: When using another person's credit card, do yourself a favor and avoid the long manual process of verification by entering the same billing address to your Amazon account. Sometimes, it's the basics that we fail on doing right. Or is it just me?

I already knew that the shipping cost would be huge. I didn't know that the Import Fee would be ginormous. Ladies and gents, here's my total bill.

A whoopin' 51.95 USD in Import Fees AKA Customs Tax. That's 15% of my item's price right there. It was huge but I was already there so I did it. I already took the trouble and I ~~want~~ need a new lens for our Baler getaway next weekend anyway so I committed.

Then the card owner told me, "Why didn't we ship this via Johnny Air again? My corporate account has less expensive rates in Johnny Air". Basically, the estimate on the charge would only be around PhP700-900.

Lesson #3: This I already let pass because I am in a hurry to get the item. BUT if you're not in a hurry, it would cost a lot less to have them sent to the Philippines via Johnny Air. It will just be a plus if your items have free shipping within US, because that would mean, you'll only have to pay JA. Based from the figures above, I could have saved PhP3000.

Since I haven't yet mentioned it yet, (if you've read every thing, you might have noticed that I wasn't talking about the Tokina camera lens above) I now present you with the lens that I bought.

It hasn't arrived yet but I'm already giddy about it. God forbid if this delivery gets here late.

Update: It arrived 3 hours ago. 2 days earlier than expected, with no additional charges, contrary to those I've been reading about in blogs and forums regarding DHL deliveries.

Spanish Peel Chronicling Fail

2012-02-11T02:42:00.000+08:00

I originally planned on taking daily photos to document the progress of the Spanish Peel on me. I was really excited, (obviously a first-timer haha!) but as the days passed, it dawned on me how ugly I look, or my skin looked, rather. I could not bear having the daily process being seen by people.

Just to give you an idea, around Day 3, my face started looking like it was being lifted from the other layer beneath. I looked old and wrinkly.

Day 2. "Wrinkles" started appearing

For reference, here is a picture of me on Day 2. Skin starting to wrinkle (Is there any other term? It's getting a little overused. Haha. )

And since I don't have any more photos to share, I'll just give tips for those interested in getting it done.

TIPS

Your skin will get dry ang flaky. More so when the wrinkled skin starts to peel off. Use moisturizer if you don't want your face to be an oil mine.
As tempting as it is, do not peel off the dry skin. It might have not fully dried up, leaving you a scar.
Put a lot of sunscreen. Whether you're going out or at home.
Just so you know, your face will have dark patches.

And because the next one will not be in 1-2 sentences, I separated it from the rest.

Makeup: For sure, it's better to leave your skin breathing while in the peeling process but if you really REALLY need to be somewhere and look a little more presentable, try what I did.

After washing my face, I hurriedly applied sunscreen, while my skin was still moist. You see, when that wash's moist dries up, your skin will also be instantly dry and flaky, that is why you have to act fast.
Then, I mixed 2 parts moisturizer and 1 part liquid foundation (make sure it's non-comedogenic). That way, I will still have the coverage I want and the moisture that I need.
Set with any loose powder.

It was good enough for me, even with my skin still peeling off. I did not made an effort to conceal the dark patches though. Last time I tried, I had no luck.

Today, I died for 20 seconds

2012-02-02T21:05:00.002+08:00

I had a Spanish facial peel today!

My derma had been advising me to have this done since my acne problems started to just be acne scars. Because of the 5-7 days downtime, I was hesitant. Also, I could easily cover my acne scars with makeup anyway, and since my first visit to my derma 2 years ago, I have always been a Diamond Peel person. (No downtime yay!)

But since there's nothing major event within a week, I finally went for it. I decided to do it now, before my summer season starts. Also, I'm working from home every Thursday, so that means I won't be seen by people I know.

I would love to do a before and after shot but the thing is, I had my (supposedly) routine facial cleaning right before my Spanish peel procedure so I can't post a before photo as my face has not yet recovered from the pricking.

So now I bring to you to the title explanation... why having a Spanish peel seemed like dying for 20 seconds.

Seriously, it has been the most painful thing I have undergone! I thought it was just going to feel tingly, but no. It felt like there were micro-needles piercing through my face. I held onto my phone, whimpering in pain. I would even go as far as saying that it hurts more than the pain induced by Brazilian waxing. IT WAS VERY PAINFUL.

I'm sure there are far too plenty of things that really could hurt. As for this peeling procedure, good thing, it was 20 seconds. After the procedure, my derma even said, "Nakakapanghina? Para kang namatay ng 20 seconds, ano?"

YES, IT WAS. And yes, I did.

Here's to hoping that the pain would be worth it. Although, I'm not sure if I want to do this to myself regularly.

Multiply: Not just your regular social networking site

2011-12-28T21:02:00.000+08:00

Seen similar ad campaigns? They're everywhere!

Multiply has been around for some time. I remember Friendster users leaving for the Multiply bandwagon. Why shouldn't they? It has more functionality and you will still be able to customize it the way you want to.

Then came the online shops; It was what made Multiply a stronger social networking tool. I remember fondly the first dress I bought online buy. (It's not with me anymore because my boyfriend was not able to pack it up when we left the hotel in Pampanga during the Hot Air Balloon Festival. T_T) I was buying too much stuff online that I had to stop myself from browsing anymore. Even I gave in and sourced clothes and bags from Thailand, c/o my mother, and sold them to my own online shop. (Woah woah woah, the page is still up. The cursor ~*sparkles*~)

When Multiply got word that users use Multiply to sell, they took down shops one by one. It was a violation of their Terms and Agreement. And as the shops were closed, so were the number of people visiting Multiply. Add to this the users' new found fascination with Facebook's functionality and simplicity, and people jumped shipped just like that.

While Facebook is also undergoing the phase where users now use it for their online shops, Multiply came back with a bang. They used the thing that actually got them people on their site before. They added a Marketplace feature.

The Multiply Marketplace is as how it sounds like. You go there to either buy and sell. What's great about this is that it is like eBay which has the Buyer Protection. I actually haven't used this feature yet but it's nice to know that if you were scammed or even unjustly dealt with, you can get you're money back.

It also incorporates locally available options for payment and shipment.

For payment, it is dependent to what the sellers configured in their shops. Usually for the options, you'd see Bank, Paypal and GCASH. I like GCASH the most. It's very easy to use and payment is in real time. Also, I can just transfer my funds from my bank (BPI) to GCASH by the use of my thumb, anytime and anywhere there's a signal.
For shipment, their default courier is Xend, which I have been using during my online shop days, but you can get another courier if you like. Right now, Xend is offering Free Shipping for orders above PHP400 until February so it's really hard to turn down a good purchase. It's also insured.

Finally Sleek I-Divine

2011-12-27T04:32:00.000+08:00

Sleek PPQ and Original Eye Shadow Palletes

And finally, they have arrived.

Sleek makeup is a UK drugstore makeup brand so ordering straight from UK would be a pain, in terms of shipment fee. I ordered these from Digital Traincase, a well known local reseller.

I bought them online on December 20. According to the Multiply Invoice, it was scheduled to be delivered on December 21. Knowing this season, I gave a leeway of 3 days before I actually called Xend for a follow up, December 23. They did not yet know where the package was.

Skipping forward to December 26, I went back to my apartment after celebrating Christmas at Xy's, only to check if my Xend package has already arrived. It has not. I called Xend urgently and that is when they told me they had my package shipped via LBC, a little weird if you ask me. (Xend is only 51 pesos while LBC costs almost triple)

My problem with this LBC-Xend partnership was that they already gave my package to my landlady on December 23, who lives one street away and did not even notify me that it was already delivered. Heck, that could have been another person they gave it to.

The Original Palette

Also, one of these was supposed to be a Christmas gift but I didn't receive it on time, hence me giving the gift in New Year instead.

On a lighter side, every color was pretty. I want (need) to buy every palette they have. I want this because I don't want to be carrying aroung huge 88+ palettes whenever there are events (because hey, I only wear eye makeup when I have to go somewhere special)

PPQ (Me, Myself and I) Palette

Why the sudden interest for eye shadow, you ask? I have always been fascinated by the way Malen does her eyes. It's amazing, always like a work of art. So there.

Will I buy this again? Yes. The Au Naturel and Storm palette is on my To-Buy list on my next payday.

Bang for the buck? As early as now, I'd say yes. Trios and Quads by available local drugstore makeup here costs roughly the same. These are not just two, not three, but 12 shades per palette. My existing (and lame) eye shadow palette is not nearly as pigmented as this.

Price: PHP650 per palette at Digital Traincase (Many are complaining about the 100-peso price hike but as explained on the online shop page, it is due to the high custom taxes for this season)

2011-12-26T18:21:00.002+08:00

There's another way to help Sendong victims thru shopping! @UkayAlalay

To my understanding, this is being managed by Saab Magalona but there are many celebrities and friends who are donating clothes for the cause. Selling pre-loved clothes/bags/shoes owned by celebrities (mostly) DOES prove to be a great way of generating funds. And boy, do they sell out fast!

What a great way to give (and also receive) noh?

I get teary-eyed when seeing the aftermath video clips of Sendong. I've always wondered how they'll fare this holiday season. I have already donated cash but it seemed too small for the damage. I'm not rich and this is not loose change for me. but at least thru buying, I could somewhat justify giving more.

Shopaholics' Excuses

2011-12-13T04:15:00.002+08:00

Most likely, I'd be too lazy to replace this crappy photo

Naglustay ako ng pera sa HP Christmas Bazaar kahapon.

If there's one I learned in shopping, it's that once you've seen an item you couldn't take your eyes off, you should buy it then and there, or else regret it for the rest of your life.

Haha. OA, but it happens.

Mapapadaan ka sa mall, tapos may makikita kang magandang sapatos, one of a kind, and literally, too, dahil wala ng stock at ibang sizes. May pera naman, pero dahil ayaw gumastos, sinasabi na lang na "Saka na lang, di naman mawawala dyan yan." Pagkatapos ng isang araw, handa ka ng bilhin, BOOM! Wala na. Nabili na.

Nagbabakasyon ka sa ibang bansa, may nakita kang napakagandang dress sa tiangge malapit sa MRT. Dahil lagi namang dun dumadaan sa train station na yun, laging "Saka na lang, marami pa namang oras." Sa isang iglap, nasa eroplano ka na, pabalik sa Pilipinas. Ang dress? Andun pa rin, naka-display sa tiangge.

Regrets, regrets, regrets.

So if you've seen THE one, hold onto it, never let it go. And yes, I may or may not be talking about shopping anymore.

Note: After all this much talk, yung pants nga pala ang binili ko sa bazaar, along with many other things that I was fond of. I'm already picturing in my head the outfits I could come up with.

Deal Review: Straight Naturelle's Keratin Treatment + Foot Spa

2011-12-05T03:37:00.001+08:00

Will I avail of this service at full price? No. And even if another deal comes up, NO.
Bang for the buck? No. (See below)

Bought the deal for P550 that is valued at P1770. You'd think that buying this is such a steal but I would strongly suggest against it. Here's why:

I asked the girl attending to me what brand of Keratin will they be using. She responded with "Sariling mix lang ng salon". True enough, it seemed like it. It was color green, that shade that could only be achieved with the use of artificial coloring. Apparently, they use the branded Keratin for "full paying" customers. Too bad, I was not able to take a photo.
Upselling. My attendant kept on selling me products that would "maintain" the results of the Keratin treatment.

One of the brands they tried to sell to me

I was told that the result will last up to 1 month. But it did not. After 2 washes, my hair's back into its dry and lifeless form.
After the foot spa, my feet did not feel pampered at all, like how I usually feel when leaving Let's Face It. (I go there for foot spa treatments and mani/pedi) And look, my attendant is taking her precious time time to text.

The interiors are beat down.

Inconvenient location.

Disclaimer: This is based on personal experience. This may or may not be the same with what other people went through.

Straight Naturelle

2nd level Cash & Carry Mall

Filmore St. Makati City

+632.403.1471

10:00am - 9:00pm

Will you pay P1450 for a loose powder?

2011-12-04T13:49:00.001+08:00

I did.

Will I buy this again? Yes. But I think I'd reserve this for special occasions and stick to Clinique for everyday makeup. They're too pricey for my budget. I'm thinking of buying setting powder in Beauty Bar just so I won't have to use the MUFE setting powder often. Though I am contemplating on buying a Mat Velvet compact too.

MUFE Super Matte Loose Powder: P1450
MUFE Mat Velvet +: P2250

Like any normal human being (well okay, human being that's my age), I am intimidated to go inside Make Up For Ever Bonifacio High Street. It's just because I would leave the store without buying anything anyway, so why bother.

And then this fateful day came when both my powder and liquid Clinique foundations ran out. Because of the heavy traffic from Taguig to Rustan's Makati, going to Glorietta was not an option. I had to find anything right away I can use for our department's year-ender party in Republiq.

I went to VMV Hypoallergenics first. I had a VMV foundation once. It's very good in covering acne scars. I even used it in my college graduation. It's the VMV Metamorposkin foundation variant, I think. It only costs around P1200. Compared to Clinique foundies, it's much cheaper. Unfortunately, VMV BHS does not carry it anymore. What they only had was the VMV Savvy foundation kind. I tried it, it did not do anything good for my acne scars.

So off I went to The Face Shop. I tried on some of their foundations, but their darkest shade is too light for my morena skin. Then the saleslady hard-selled me into buying their BB creams that are for full coverage daw. Sorry, I don't really think that BB creams could withstand oil, sweat and longevity. Because hey, they are supposed to be BB creams. I'd doubt if there would be such a thing.

So anyway, the shade of BB cream that the saleslady was forcing unto my face is dark. BUT IT IS OF A DIFFERENT UNDERTONE. She was forcing me to buy a BB cream with a pink undertone when my skin has been shouting "Yellow undertone!" all this time. To make her see that she was wrong, I applied some on my jawline. And lo and behold, it looked like a patch of gray on my face. Then I firmly said no and walked out.

The last makeup store would be MUFE, so I had to get in. It's only 500 bucks more than Clinique anyway, so why not try it now. And then I did. The saleslady did not bug me until that time when I had to ask questions regarding the foundation: its staying power, results when subdued to a camera flash, if it's waterproof and sweatproof.

I can read alright. It says everything on the label. I just had to hear it from someone so I could be more convinced to buy something pricey. She immediately sat me down in front of the mirror and tried two shades. The first one was a bit lighter so I asked for the other one. It was perfect shade, even for my skin undertone. Then she proceeded in applying to my whole face, dusted my face with the loose powder to set the liquid foundie and then even went on to applying blush. (Read: When shopping for makeup, I go fresh-faced so I could road test the makeup)

So yeah, basically I went out of the store looking dolled up, makeup purchases in tow.

And so it begins...

2011-12-02T16:51:00.001+08:00

And for a change, showbiz muna tayo.

People have been waiting for Mo's big exit and I must say, the revelation of this documentary must be it. It doesn't even matter if Mo or someone else uploaded it, what we do know is that it will get the bosses of GMA hustling big time.

Showbiz here means pleasing the masses and showing that their talents are perfect. Scandals like this that show that they are also people is so critical that the big bosses are probably having a big meeting now. Either for damage control or to squeeze out publicity as much as they could because, hey, Rhian's movie just premiered.

How they would cover this up afterwards, that I'm waiting for. Damage control these days has been nothing close to believable (Read: KC and Piolo breakup via Maricar Reyes) Frankly, I'm just waiting to be amused by the cover story. As to who they think they are kidding, that I don't know.

To Mo, have a good despedida tonight. I do hope for a positive start in your new life. Stay safe.

Edit:

Moments after the video has been posted on Fashion Pulis, wherein we all know that is where weekend talk shows now get blind item scoops, Mo stopped tweeting. He cancelled his long planned despedida without telling his guests the reason why. After several hours of silence, he posted an explanation, one that seemed like a retraction. He even cancelled his flight tomorrow to clear everything on air. Fishy, eh?

My Eye Cream Makes Me Sleep a Full 8 Hours

2011-11-30T00:23:00.000+08:00

I don't know if me putting an eye cream before bed tricks my brain into sleeping uninterrupted, but that's how it has been lately.

Putting eye cream is not on my regular night regimen but when I do remember to put it, somehow, my eyes feel more rested than ever in the morning. And then I noticed that my usual 5-6 hours sleep becomes a full 8 hours.

I don't think that is how it's supposed to work, but it sure does work for me.

Sauna for the face at 2AM

2011-11-28T02:12:00.001+08:00

Yep, posting this as it happens.

Xy and I wasted the whole afternoon by falling asleep after lunch and only waking up when it was already dark, which now made us alive and kicking on a Monday morning.

What better thing to do but watch Fringe while our faces bask in Garnier's Self-heating Sauna Mask.

This product is great, I tell you! I've been only using it for two weeks though. So far, it has delivered everything it has promised. And for only 49 pesos for the two doses, it's definitely a steal.

Printed at the back:
• The formula generates a self-heating action on contact with the skin. Specially developed with clay and zinc, it works to remove impurities and excess sebum to unclog pores and refine skin texture. Your skin feels deeply cleansed and looks shine-free. It feels purified up to 7 days.

I must say though that the clean face it achieves cannot top my derma's cleansing-diamond peel combo (naturally and obviously), which is up to this date, the cleanest I've felt my face was.

Kuse's Back Ribs Adobado will be the death of me

2011-11-27T02:53:00.001+08:00

Or not.

But one thing I do know, even though my tummy is still butete-like full, I would dine at Kuse in a heartbeat just for their beef back ribs.

No, this is not a tiny serving. The serving fork was just ginormous.

Whenever I ask sets of friends who haven't tried Kuse, they always get to taste this dish (because I always MAKE them order it, no matter what!), and consequently, we leave the resto with them vowing to eat there again. It's either I'm such a great endorser, or their food is just that good. Maybe both?

Lumpiang Hubad

Grilled Liempo

Adobo Rice

Aside from these, we also ordered Batangas Bulalo and lots of extra rice. They don't bill for service charge so we were a little surprised when the total amount did not exceed PHP2K. We were five, by the way.

Kuse, The Venice Piazza

G/F The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio Global City

Taguig City, Metro Manila

Philippines

(02) 836-4966

Pancit Lucban at Buddy's

2011-11-27T01:29:00.001+08:00

We eat Pancit Lucban with rice. Hello, carbs!

I have not been a fan of pancit, probably because it has always been on the party tables in my home since I could remember. Pancit Palabok, I have been fond of but it's not easy to make at home and there's not many restaurants that serve a decent version of it. Come corporate years, I have been exposed to Pancit Malabon, which tastes like palabok but has a different noodle. Still, they are those that can only serve one purpose, as a snack.

Then there's Pancit Lucban from Buddy's.

I first tasted it on my teammate's birthday. Her religion does not practice celebrating birthdays but when I was so excited for her that day, she made an impromptu decision to treat me to dinner. It was a weird experience for me, putting vinegar on pancit. But surely, the vinegar makes this dish complete.

Even up to now, when Xy and I stroll down Market! Market! and we could not think of any place to eat, Buddy's would always be a default choice, and so is the Pancit Lucban. Also, we eat this with rice.

This heaping plate of Pancit Lucban only costs PHP155. Good for 2-3 people.

Buddy's Pancit Lucban at Longganisang Lucban,Market! Market!

G/F Market! Market!, Bonifacio Global City

Taguig City, Metro Manila

Philippines

(02) 886-7711

It Made My Life Easier: Delicates Mesh Hanger

2011-11-10T12:51:00.002+08:00

I hate doing chores. Probably as much as I hate waiting.

And now to start a different topic... Normally, after I wash my makeup brushes, I will let it dry flat on a piece of cloth so the cloth could absorb the water. The only problem here is that the side of the brushes that's underneath gets dampen by the cloth thus taking more time for that side to dry. So I'll either turn them side to side and adjust the brushes so the drier side won't lie on the still damp spot. I do this until they dry completely.

But then here's Saizen, offering pretty much everything you'll need in life. (Or not haha) They made my troubles above simpler. Originally for delicate pieces of clothing, i.e., those that would deform if placed on a hanger, I bought this hanger for the sheer purpose of drying my makeup brushes. I already tried it, and it worked as I expected--brushes dried in less waiting time. Also, I did not have to turn them once in a while.

I only washed 3 of the bigger brushes that I use the most since the eye makeup brushes dries quick even with my old process. I did not include my 2 kabuki brushes though. I wanted to make sure that this will work before I leave my dense kabuki brushes while I go to the office. Ah yes, I left for work after I washed them! Great no? No supervision needed.

Price: PHP85

Puerto Galera: Angel's Travel Tours Review

2011-07-13T12:51:00.003+08:00

I have always loved the beach. It's just that growing up in Palawan, I've been really partial about beaches because I know I've seen the best. And if I were to go spend vacation in one aside from Palawan beaches, it has to be on a good deal.

This is where researching became a good weapon before venturing into Puerto Galera for the first time. I looked for other alternatives but after calculating, Angel's Travel Tours was by far the best price. And because of the good feedback I read online, I booked everyone's travel itinerary with them. It was summer so a deal like this cannot be ignored.

Tickets for MB Golden Hawk

You get to wear a sticker so the ferry crew and the staff from the resort would recognize you as their guest.

We waited for 40 minutes to board in Gate 2B because we missed the earlier ferry trip.

Their promo package included the back and forth ferry ride, environmental fees, terminal fee, shuttle service, and room accommodation. All we had to do was be at the Batangas Pier to meet and pay the travel agent, in our case, Mhae.

Balcony area outside our room

The rung behind us is where we hang our wet clothes

We stayed at Delgado's Resort. The building seems newly built. The room we got was good for the 5 of us. Sorry for not having photos without people in it. I always take pictures of the amenities of the resorts I go to. I guess I just forgot to do so this time. You can click here to see the amenities as posted on their Facebook Fan Page.

As for what you're probably here for (to check the prices), here's the quotation we got for the package I mentioned above.

For 3D2N 2pax: PHP1780 per head

For 2D1N 3pax: PHP1030 per head

Good deal, wasn't it? Considering that the ferry ride is already PHP450 per head. Kindly bear in mind that this is a promo summer package as of April 2011 so prices may have changed as this was during peak season.

As for the activities, we only got to try island hopping and snorkeling because we we on full-on rest mode. Schedules are the last thing we wanted. They are to be paid separately. I forgot how much we paid but we opted to get the activity package from the resort itself than from the peddlers outside. We got to bring free green mangoes!

I can't swim so imagine how scared I was even with the life jacket!

Going through a cave to reach what's on the next photo

Cave pool. Really cool, except this is where my beloved slippers broke their straps.

Outside the cave, we took vanity photos. The photos turned out nice except I was the one taking them so in my photos, I almost ran out of light.

Verdict:

And to close this long post, I'd say I will come back again to Puerto Galera and try those other activities we missed the first time and it will be Angel's Travel Tours that I will be first checking for promos and packages.

Angel's Travel Tour

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001004560316

09323316408

09199634905

Note: This is not a paid post. I'm just a happy customer who thinks they deserve your attention next time you visit Puerto Galera. A separate blog post will be created for a detailed Puerto Galera getaway.

Of Burglars: This is how FRIENDS, Twitter and Facebook saved my life

2011-07-09T14:17:00.002+08:00

And I say this to everyone who ask why I watch TV series even if it meant that I'll sleep past my bedtime. And yes, I meant FRIENDS as in the TV series FRIENDS.

To those who were not online around 3am today, someone tried to break into my apartment and I was able to live tweet and post on FB all that happened. Okay, even I thought that it was absurd trying to go on Social Networking Sites while it was happening, but what do I do when everyone living near me cannot be reached thru phone?

See my live tweets here.

Because I was asleep right after my shift, I watched FRIENDS straight right after when I woke up. I decided to watch until my eyes droop. It was around 3am when I decided not to play the next episode. I wanted to sleep.

And then my senses went wild. I thought I heard something scratching outside. It's either I was being paranoid or I was just too careful. Without turning the lights on, I double checked my locks, peeked outside my window.

Everything outside was calm.

I still decided to get the knife above the fridge anyway. I hid it in front of my bed.

Then it happened again. This time, it was accompanied by some sort of a light knock, the kind of thing that the FBI does when they try to sense where the lock is (White Collar, Burn Notice, and other crime shows) on the door.

Then I looked to the crack underneath my door, there was a shadow. Again, I asked myself if I was just being paranoid and that is just the wind playing with the tarp banners outside or is there really someone outside.

I noticed a noise again. This time I was pretty certain it was near the door. And because it's dark inside my house, I could pretty much see anything near my window, except they would be in silhouette form.

I saw my curtain move and lo and behold, there was a hand trying to open my door's lock from the inside. He was somehow able to cut through my screen and break the jalousie pane right across my door lock.

I stealthily rushed to my door, iphone and knife in my trembling hands. I tried calling everyone, neighbors and loved ones. Everyone was either asleep or cannot be reached.

I had to think fast. First, I turned on the light and faked speaking to someone on the phone. Then I tweeted and posted on FB. Hey, I wanted to spare my family and friends the time to speculate how I was robbed, raped and then murdered. Yes, I was on a worst case scenario basis.

Then the other half of my brain told me that if there were people awake, they'd be on Twitter and on Facebook. And oh boy, replies came in fast.

Can I just say how I love all these people? Some had urgent jobs and they stopped just so they can get me the police. I loved how they updated each other even though they really didn't know each other.

I did try calling the "hotlines" until I found out that they weren't so hot. I always got a "not yet in service" message, even on 117. Hello Philippines, so much for an inefficient hotline you have there!

And so, after 1 hour of chat, texts and calls from worried friends, the Makati police finally arrived. Yes, I was disappointed that it took them an hour to get to me. Nevertheless not complaining. I loved how safe I felt when they arrived.

They told me about the many calls they received from different people about the same incident, my incident. They scouted the area, even ran to the nearest alley to look for a suspect. They did not find any. (It was 1 hr after they came! Of course you wouldn't find the burglar standing right there waiting to be caught!) They just waited with me until my boyfriend arrived from Caloocan.

As to my love for FRIENDS, if I were not hooked on this show, I would have never stayed late. I would have not been awake to sense everything happening. Everyone who knows me personally know that I'm hard to wake. I've been known to sleep through all 7 alarm clocks.

As for my real-life friends, you know who you are. Thank you. It really is nice having this many people who care about you.

On the downside, I still had to go to my 9am work. What is sleep?

“Para siyang iced tea, bottomless ang ganda!”

2011-05-30T20:16:00.001+08:00

Let’s make the Puerto Princesa Underground River one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature!

Boto tayo Pilipinas! WUNDER GROUND UNITED.

-RA Rivera

Seaside Dampa: Julie's Ihaw-Ihaw

2011-05-24T22:18:00.006+08:00

I've been craving for crabs for almost two months. Friends left and right have promised to accompany me in restaurants that serve them but all these have been postponed. So when my boyfriend asked me to watch Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides in the IMAX theater in Mall of Asia, I had that glimmer of hope that I'll finally be able to eat steamed crabs.

We were there by 6pm and got tickets to see the last full show. Since the movie wasn't due to start in 6 hours, we had plenty of time to watch the sunset and then go to Seaside Dampa for dinner. We went scouting for the best prices, asking for crab prices resto by resto. There was one who offered a 20% discount to be slashed off from the paluto price but even with the discount, the total of the paluto and the crabs' market price were still steep. After a round of asking prices, we decided to eat at Julie's.

Our selection was pretty simple, I wanted crabs and he wanted Sinigang na Hipon so we ordered half-kilo of both.

These? All mine


Included Xy to show how big the bowl is

Ensaladang Mangga


Rice good for 5 people

We shared the sinigang and we still got to take home half of what we ate. He let me eat the crabs all by myself but because I'm a good girlfriend, I gave him two claws. Tee hee!

Things you might wanna know:
-The smoking area could be too noisy as there are bands that play at night. For a dinner for two, it's best to eat indoors where you can actually hear one another.
-Being friendly will take you places, er give you discounts rather. We got 10% off the paluto charge.
-Price:
1/2k of crabs + paluto (P380)
1/2k of sinigang na hipon + paluto (P360)
Ensaladang mangga (P100)
Big bowl of rice (P100)
Coke in can (P40)
Iced tea (P40)
Total: P1020

Note: Sorry for the crappy photo quality. I forgot to bring my camera.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -- NOT a review

2011-05-24T15:45:00.000+08:00

But, rather, is an overall movie experience review. Yes sir, there is a difference. The following was originally posted on my Tumblr page.

Pirates of the Carribean should have ended the moment the trilogy was over. Words cannot express how disappointed we all were coming out of the cinema. And I can speak for those people who I didn’t know. Yeah, people were openly voicing out rants left and right. I will not say anything more about the plot since I don’t want to be a spoiler.

I can honestly tell that watching it in imax is not worth it. If you want to watch it on the big screen, save yourself that money and watch it in 2D instead. Else, if you value your money that much, wait for the dvd and br rips.

And to SM Mall of Asia, kindly start on time. The last full show that was supposed to start at 11:45pm, started at 12:10am. That was the latest Last Full Show I’ve been on. Serves me right for promising to never watch in an SM cinema again, and then breaking that promise. I thought that maybe because it’s IMAX, SM would do a better job. The screen was constantly getting blank on us. As in there were moments were the display would just go off.

Also, (this is important) the popcorn sucks. Worst I’ve eaten I’d say. Nothing still beats Eastwood Mall’s cinema popcorn.

How was your POTC experience?

P.S. I disliked this movie but I loved the mermaids and sure, Johnny Depp still.

[REVIEW] The wonder that is called the concealer

2011-05-24T14:48:00.002+08:00

I have never been a concealer person. I used to think that my undereye area is fine as it is but alas, the sleepless nights has taken its toll on me. I now have what they call dark circles. So to counter that, on a whim I bought the inexpensive but raved Fanny Serrano stick concealer. But because of my self-proclaimed busy-ness, I always neglect to use it.

Actual photos to follow. Shade: Cashew (for undereye area)

Yesterday, I was getting late for work and I accidentally got the concealer from my makeup kit. This is the first time I have opened it by the way. Since it's already open, I just gently patted it on my undereye area (Read: pat not smudge) and set it with my compact powder. The result was wonderful. I even hurriedly texted my boyfriend and the short convo went like this.

Jen: I feel pretty today
Him: Everyday bhe

Of course, he's just being sweet.

Things you might wanna know:
-Price: 350 pesos (Market! Market!); I heard it's cheaper to buy from Natasha dealers (less than 300) but I don't know a dealer who is accessible.
-Lasting power: I have a very oily face but I must say that it didn't wear off until I had to remove it using my makeup remover.
-It's only my 2nd day using it. If there will be harsh skin reactions, as I do have sensitive skin, I shall report as soon as possible.

8065 Bagnet

2011-02-05T16:17:00.002+08:00

Saan ba masarap kumain pero hindi masakit sa bulsa?

Kung may magtatanong sakin nito, 8065 Bagnet ang isasagot ko.

Bagnet (bàg-net; Ilocano dish) [n.] deep-fried pork chunks, preferably the liempo (pork belly). The whole big chunk or large cut of pork (with the skin intact) is boiled, drained, air-dried, then deep-fried until crisp brown and the skin has tiny bubble-like blisters on it

Basically, kung nakakita ka na ng Lechong Kawali, parang nakakita ka na rin ng Bagnet.
Eto nga pala yung ilan sa mga kinain namin.

Bagnet Kare-Kare

Bagnet Sisig

Frozen Buko Pandan

Click here to see the menu. Photos above were just the first wave of orders. Hindi ko na napicturan yung mga sumunod dahil mas masarap kumain.

Ah, ayon sa majority, yung Bagnet Kare-Kare at Bagnet Sisig nga pala yung pinakapanalo. At para mawala ang pagkaumay sa cholesterol, hindi pwedeng hindi niyo itry ang Frozen Buko Pandan nila. Kung pu-pwede lang, kakain ako ng Frozen Buko Pandan nila araw-araw. Ganon siya kasarap.

Bukod sa pagkain, marami ding mga paintings sa walls nila. Yung iba daw dito e gawa mismo ni Kitchie Nadal, dahil kapatid niya pala ang may-ari.

Meron din silang doodle wall.

Siyempre, hindi kami pwedeng umalis ng walang nailalagay sa wall.

At eto nga pala kami bago umuwi. Medyo di sila nakangiti, napagod ata sa sobrang kabusugan.

So yeah, kung nakarating ka sa part na ito. Salamat sa pagbabasa! Hindi naman pala sobrang haba ng post, marami lang pictures. At bago ko makalimutan, may free wifi din sila.

iPhone 4: The Long Wait is Finally Over

2011-02-03T11:12:00.001+08:00

Bonding moment: My iPhone 4 box meets my almost-3-yr-old iPhone Classic box

At last, I now have my new baby! As expected, my rant here was easily overpowered by this new shiny thing that I have. Others may say that it is an expensive move for me but really, for almost three years, I only used one phone (that is still functional now, if I may add) while my friends averaged one new phone per year. So yeah, I really consider this move a good investment. I need a secondary phone for a Smart sim card anyway as both my parents are Smart subscribers.

It's still on the barely-wanted-other-people-to-touch stage so even I am really careful with handling it. I do not even bring it to work because I have not yet bought a screen protector and a case. Feature-wise, I'm loving the upgrade. Truly, this iPhone IS the upgrade from the iPhone Classic (1st gen).

I plan on blogging separately on the new features but I could not not say this: I loooove FaceTime! It's almost like video-chatting in real time.

Dream Holiday Destination

2011-01-21T12:47:00.001+08:00

Amanpulo... (sighs) In a perfect world, my honeymoon would be booked there. Who would not want to experience luxury at its finest?

Although I've lived in Palawan for the most part of my life, I have never been to Amanpulo, even for an island day tour, because of their soaring rates. See? They are not even quoted in Philippines Pesos.

rates

	1 Nov, 2010 to 31 May, 2011	1 June, 2010 to 31 Oct, 2010
Treetop Casita	US$ 900	US$ 750	View images >
Hillside Casita	US$ 1,100	US$ 800	View images >
Beach Casita	US$ 1,150	US$ 825	View images >
Deluxe Hillside Casita (39/40)	US$ 1,250	US$ 925	View images >
1-Bedroom Villa	US$ 2,100	US$ 1,400	View images >
2-Bedroom Villa	US$ 3,150	US$ 2,450	View images >
4-Bedroom Villa	US$ 4,300	US$ 3,500	View images >

I will forever love anyone who will make this dream come true.

'Walt' Disney. Just because I am missing Lost a lot

2011-01-21T12:12:00.000+08:00

Disney's Lost

Starring:

Goofy - Michael
Minnie Mouse - Kate
Max - Walt
Pluto - Vincent
Mickey Mouse - Jack
Scrooge McDuck - Ben
Donald Duck - Sawyer
Daisy Duck - Juliet
Horace Horsecollar - Sayid
Gus Goose - Hurley
Arizona Goof (Goofy's cousin) - Locke
Phantom Blot - MIB

Who Wants Snow?

2011-01-19T13:46:00.000+08:00

When you were kids, did you ever pray for snow? I did.

On January 5, Baguio just hit a record of 9.6 degrees celscius, its coldest one yet. It's a long stretch, even impossible but I still find myself fantasizing on snow miraculously falling on the Philippines.Yip, I'd like for that 9.6 degrees to drop down 9.6 degrees further. Let there be snow, please?

Open Letter to Globe Telecoms

2011-01-18T13:37:00.000+08:00

I have been so psyched to find out that I will be having an iPhone 4, someone really generous will be the one to pay the cash-out for my Globe iPhone 4 Plan. It was supposed to be an early Christmas gift.

We rushed to the Globe Telecoms Tower to order two phones last December 7, 2010. We were told that we would have to wait for TWO WEEKS before we get our phone. We filled out forms, passed the requirements and signed under the signatories.

The second month of waiting is now looming and with no updates from Globe, I went to a Globe Service Center last week to ask if they have available stocks. They told me that the last one they released was for a customer who applied last October. If that's the case then, that would mean an additional two months for our phones to arrive.

If that's the case, Globe should not be telling customers the promised two-week span, it creates false expectations. If there is so much demand for an iPhone 4, shouldn't they order more from Apple? If there are more upcoming customers and they cannot deliver the promised goods, shouldn't they stop advertising and put down their iPhone 4 billboards instead?

And another thing, in a perfect world, there would be a publicly visible waiting list for customers to be given the gist of the patience they have to extend. I've seen people blogging about their new iPhone 4 when they only ordered at the same time as we did. I know we live in a less than perfect world, it's just frustrating that some people are being given a different treatment when we all are capable of paying.

To Buy or Not To Buy: Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules

2011-01-18T12:04:00.000+08:00

I have been wanting to buy the Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules book in Fullybooked for the longest time since I read the review on Shen Addictions' blog. I even asked a friend who works there if he could give me his employee discount, he said yes and already reserved one for me.

But then I found this review...

I am now having second thoughts.

Usapang makeup: Basics

2011-01-18T10:09:00.000+08:00

I don't really put on makeup everyday, especially now that my derma is prohibiting me, with the exception on everything Clinique and mineral makeup, which he allows.

Mineral Makeup
To those who have not used mineral makeup, it does wonders on sensitive skin. On the other side, it is a hassle to bring everywhere since normally, the foundation, blushes, and eye pigments are contained in small pots. As an additional weight to your vanity kit, you'll also have to bring separate brushes for each of them. These reasons added to my laziness in the morning would just not do so I...

Clinique
...put on my Clinique pressed powder after putting on sunblock and moisturizer. This pressed powder is the only Clinique product I allow myself to buy for obvious reasons-- the price. One of these days, I will eventually give in and maybe invest on other things but I will do it piece by piece because hey, I still need to eat too!

Eyeliner
This is starting to become a necessity. I own a brown Revlon Colorstay eyeliner and it's starting to deplete so I will buy another one, this time I will also grab the black one. It is retractable so there's no need to sharpen, also it is very soft and creamy. Apart from these, I also have my E.L.F eyeliners which are good but not for a long wear. I'm thinking of getting a gel liner for my upper lids (Maybelline, maybe), though, as I am finding it hard to apply pencil liners thinly on my upper lids.

My Stand on the Impending MRT/LRT Price Hike

2011-01-05T09:59:00.003+08:00

Ilang 48 Pesos Ang Kaya Mong Ipamigay?

"Kung ang MRT fare ay babagsak lamang sa P20 - P22 (If the MRT fare reaches P20 to 22) it could mean a fare hike of about P8.
Source.

Akala ko ba magtataas na sa 40+ pesos ang MRT at LRT fares? Hanggang ngayon, kahit maraming kontra sa pananaw ko, pabor pa rin ako sa MRT/LRT price hike. Bakit?

Velasco said that in the case of the MRT-3, the government subsidizes up to P48 for each passenger, because the real cost of a P15 trip is P63.
Source.

48 PESOS! Ganyan kalaki ang sagot ng gobyerno sa bawat 15-peso worth ng pamasahe sa MRT. Ngayon bibigyan ko kayo ng scenario.

Meet Jen. Kumikita ng hindi lalampas sa 17,000 pesos kada buwan. Nagbabayad ng tax na nagrarange sa 2k-5k. (5k pag may mga bonus na kasama ang sweldo.)

Meet Minimum-Wage Employee. Kumikita ng 8,000 pesos kada buwan. Exempted sa tax.

Saan ba napupunta yung tax na binabayad ni Jen? Porsyento niyan ang pinapang-subsidize sa public transportation. Oo, tayo rin ang nagbabayad ng 48 pesos ng mga taong hindi nagbabayad ng tax.

Oo, kung sa figures ka titingin, malamang, mas malaki ang 17,000 sa 8,000 kada buwan. Pero kung titignan ang porsyento ng take home pay ng bawat isa, olats yung kay Jen.

Jen's take home pay = More or less 76% of gross salary
Minimum-Wage Employee's take home pay = 100%

I'm sorry kung may maooffend. Pero hindi naman kasi 'to charity. Reklamo tayo ng reklamo sa mga corrupt officials, pero hindi natin nakikita na may iba pang nananakaw na pera sa atin.

Hindi dahil mura, okay na. Maraming cons ang murang pamasahe. Isa dyan ang tila na-rape ka dahil sa itsura mo pagkatapos makipagbakbakan sa tren. Marami ding nakakasakay na mandurukot. Luma ang mga facilities. Hindi ko na kelangan banggitin pa lahat. For sure, alam mo na rin naman yan kung sumasakay ka sa tren.

I say, kung di mo kayang magbayad para sa mas mabilis at comfortable na public transportation (yun e pag umabot na sa 40+ ang fare), then take the bus. Flourishing countries in Asia do it. Why can't we?
Traffic? Edi gumising ng mas maaga para hindi malate.

Bataan Team Building Day 1

2010-12-27T12:31:00.002+08:00

Or was it our Christmas Party. I don't know. If you asked my teammates, they would all have different responses as to what we were celebrating really. So let us just use the word outing.

The call time was 6am-7am at 7Eleven in Woodridge, McKinley Hill. Why one earth would they give a 1-hour call time? It's for people like me who make it a sport to go to events late. (It's not a trait I'm proud of but but but. Okay, I'll make no excuses.) True enough , I arrived at 7am, ON THE DOT.

NLEX Stopover. I had to buy something sweet because my stomach begged for it. I get motion-sick every time I travel by land. Sometimes, even on short distances, I throw up. Eating Stork, or anything minty, and rubbing that travel oinment, which name I forgot, will only make things worse. So DQ it is!

Fast track to Morong, Bataan. The resort we booked was deceptive, I tell you! As we drove into the parking lot, our hearts sank because of the high hopes that we had for the place. And to avoid more of this mistake, I shall name drop. The Waterfront Beach Resort, it is.

Even their welcome sign was not appealing AT ALL.

But being the fun-loving people that we are, we just decided to make the most of the experience. (Warning: A heavy series of photos will follow)

The sliding doors were asking for them to be used for some silhouette action.

Another one of those shots that demanded us not to show our faces.


What is more fun than simulating "fun on the beach"?

Pa-smexy photo. Sexy while smiling.

And what is a sunset without my infamous jumpshots and scorpion pose?

Other teammates decided to do their own silhouette poses as well. Posted below are some of their action shots.

And we also made our TL and his fiancee do obligatory cheesy poses.

For the final photo, I present the team silhouette shot. Hay. Ganyan ba talaga 'pag di superb ang beach view? Idaan na lang sa silhouette? Just kidding.

Resurrecting my blog

2010-12-27T11:25:00.001+08:00

I have stopped being an auto-reblogging machine on Tumblr. I now post parts of my life instead. And because a full set of pictures taken at a certain day or a full account of a day in my life would not interest everyone, I will just post them here. At least here, I can be as self-centered as I please.

Valentine's month is almost coming to an end

2010-02-22T06:30:00.003+08:00

So how was my February?

-boyfriend troubles
-reconciliation
-trip to clark
-valentines weekend
-more damage control
-making plans for March (Xy's bday, monthsary, my birthday, Zambales (i think) team building, and many more.)
-etc

@Hot Air Ballon Festival 2010

I'll post good pictures from the Hot Air Balloon Festival 2010 soon, if I don't get too lazy that is. :)

Metathesiophobia

2010-02-10T04:22:00.002+08:00

Change is inevitable, such a cliche, Yes? Okay, so even though I would not admit it in front of everyone, I know that I have some sort of dislike and fear of change, especially to HR people. ;)

Change can invoke so many human emotions; fear, discomfort, sadness, abrasiveness, and rarely, happiness. Fact: Before I slept last night, I loved where I was at. I felt secure, loved and contented. Now, how should I say this.. Hmmm. Now, I feel like someone just threw bricks at me telling me that I will never be forever happy on the dreamland I was in. Somehow, i had to wake up from the fantasies.

I had everything mapped out. It even came to the point that I have planned on how I will react when a certain situation would arise. I let my guard down and now, I fell from way up, with an extra loud thud.

There will be an explanation for everything I saw, I know there would. But what I do not know is if I still would learn how to regain that trust, and if I'm even capable of it. Sucks that I'm even doubting that I will. True enough, everyone will disappoint us, even the people we love.

So, Hot Air Balloon Festival 2010, I might not be able to see you after all. This is a sad Valentine's weekend in the making. Booo!

P.S. I could not cry. Why? I don't like this. I'm feeling numb and all.

REPOST: It's general cleaning day.

2010-02-01T04:45:00.003+08:00

Xy tricked me into coming out of the bed because I have been making excuses to stay in bed and sleep.

Then noon came, I finally started cleaning.

So did he.

We moved furniture.

We mopped the floor and dealt with the eww stuff.

We fought (with flying cellphones and all).

He went out to buy water.

I hid (this was funny).

He returned and looked for me.

He found me and started to laugh (I hid inside my closet*).
He carried me out.

We made up.

We finished cleaning.

So yay! At least we ended up well and my house ended up tidy and clean. Now, were just waiting for the food to arrived. Jollibee delivery splurge. We deserve it.

* This was the childhood peeve that I had. When I was mad at my parents, I always say "Maglalayas ako" but I could not do it. So I hide in my closet to make them worry, instead. Yes, I was a sadist even when I was little.

The Body Shop's Flawless Skin Protecting Foundation SPF 25

2010-01-31T16:57:00.005+08:00

So I tried out this foundation from The Body Shop (TBS) last month because I wanted an alternate powder foundation for my Clinique Bright-C powder. It's the TBS's Flawless Skin Protecting Foundation SPF 25 variant, my shade is #4.

It has this creamy consistency that I like because it easily blended on my face. And yes, it stayed with its title--Flawless Skin. It has a full coverage that hid my pimple scars even without concealer. It also covered large pores. It looked really good on my face until I went out of work (my December shift was 4am-1pm then). Alas, the foundation doubling as a sunscreen had its toll. It started to look icky because of my oily-type skin.

When I got home, I did my usual routine of cleaning my face when I wear makeup in the office--makeup remover, facial lotion scrub and toner. Then right the next day, I had a breakout. My pimples were flared up like hell. Days after, when it did not subside, I ran straight to my dermatologist. Come the Christmas holidays, my face became clearer again, with the exception of some nasty pimple scars.

I have only used it once and I haven't used my TBS foundie since then. And now, I'm giving it away. You can just wash the sponge or even just buy a new one. The foundie itself is still good as new, you could even still see the first dab that I made. Any takers?

(Note: I have texted a friend regarding this but she still have not responded. So until she responds here, this one is still up for grabs)

Edit: Original price: Around P1300. So whoever asks for it first, gets it.

That's me and my unmade bed right there. Can you see the first dab?

(Another note: The reason why I'm giving this away is to not have anyone breakout like I did. We all have different types of skin, mine's REALLY sensitive and my dermatologist would agree. I'm giving this away because although it worked bad for me, this product might work wonders for someone else. Had I not have this sensitive skin, I would keep this being that this is a full-coverage foundation. Surely, it saves a lot of time because it also doubles as a concealer.)

Getting Old, Getting New

2010-01-25T20:43:00.000+08:00

I'm getting old and I need a new job. It's either that or me winning a jackpot of the lottery. What are the odds that I achieve the latter than the former, eh? Oh well, anyone can wish.

My short-term goal right now right now is to land a new job before the second half of 2010 begins. It's a goal that I would want to aim sooner rather than later.

Right now I'm in this huge multinational IT company, which shall not be named, doing a job that I don't remotely like. During the interviews, I was one of the naive fresh grads who thought that once I get in a good company, I can just work my way up until I could transfer to a department that I really like to hone myself into. It seemed a good plan since at that time, almost a year ago, this company did not hire fresh grads for the positions that I like. And yes, now they do and it sucks! I already talked with a manager from the department that I do like. He told me that, "your releasing manager will be the one in charge of when you'll be eligible to apply for our department". As this question was already asked during my initial interview pre-hiring, I knew then that we only have to stay for 1 year on our current position before we can apply for different roles.

But then, my manager brought it up during our performance review. Contradicting to what she said pre-hiring, the years of stay should be 2 years before they can endorse me to another department. That I can understand if they are only accepting experienced professionals for the job. But they aren't! Remember, they are now accpeting fresh grads on the team.

I am therefore led into questioning the internal application process. We were told that the reason for the 1-year period is so that we could master the processes in our department before we could transfer to another. My reaction to this would be that a Service Desk process is completely different from that of a Network Engineer or a Database Administration process! That is why they are on a completely different department, right? So why bother wasting the time of the employee and the employer for two years when the employee would not be happy at all hence making the employer to risk the services they give by making a lot of employees unhappy?

Yes, this might be a biased point of view. But there has to be a fine line drawn between being taken for a fool and sensibility. Imagine, if an employee would resign now on a current position, after six months, employee will then be eligible to apply to the company again. Heck, that is faster than waiting for two years doing a job you don't like, right? I only I had the financial resources, I would have turned in my resignation paper ages ago. Now, I'm just the cum laude IT graduate turned into a person who does not appreciate her company. I know, I should count my blessings and I'm thankful that I have a job. But staying in this company is really frustrating. I would not wish this to happen to any of my friends.

So yes, I think I would prefer the lotto jackpot better! Tee hee. (FACT: I haven't placed an entry ever since so how will I win!)

Social Networking Sites: What-nots.

2010-01-25T00:30:00.000+08:00

Social Networking Sites (e.g., Facebook, Myspace, or Tumblr), or what we usually call SNS, are these avenues that we log into to meet new friends and catch up with old ones. But over the years, I have learned that even the most well-written article can be dismissed if your post is not too viral. If you want a good message to be heard, you should:

1. the content must be appealing in some way that it has a target audience/reader. Having a mixed-audience target will be really tricky.

2. wait until the peak hours before posting because if you post too early, your post will just be buried under a lot of meaningless applications updates, pics spam and whatnots. If you post too late, nobody will be awake to reply on your message and again, it will be buried under the dust of early morning posters.

3. subtly asking friends to repost or reblog will do wonders. But then again, if they do it on off-peak hours hours, this attempt might be useless.

4. Writing/blogging/photoblogging should be enjoyed and must not be a one-time thing. In order to gain an audience, there should be a continuous flow of media that the audience can peruse upon.

5. (Sleepy. Can't think. Will go to bed now)

Well, as you can see, Purple Peaches is still a baby. It only has few posts and zero followers but I will still continue to write about things that I love and the things I love to hate. You see, SNS has people following me that I actually know hence limiting my posts to be as sensitive as I can be to them and to limit them from reading posts that I would not want them, in any way, to read (e.g., a rant that is totally about them). So I have decided to make this blog an outlet of my rants and raves. Don't worry, I'll try to make them as interesting as possible.

Note: Please pardon the pictures. Taken using webcam.

2010-01-24T23:34:00.000+08:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.formspring.me/jenn4u2luv"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;http://www.formspring.me/jenn4u2luv&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;I &amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;</p>
I now have a formspring account!

LXD @ So You Think You Can Dance

2010-01-11T19:36:00.001+08:00

This piece sure gave me a new appreciation to breakdancers. Who says they can't dance? I love them. And of course, Harry Shum Jr., one of those who choreographed this piece.

New Year's Resolution...

2010-01-11T19:19:00.000+08:00

Well, I don't like creating resolutions anyway. Imagine the guilt you'll have if you didn't get to stick to them?

But I do have things that I want to do more. Like...

...Listen to more music - Super out of the loop ako sa music industry lalo't hindi na ako sumasayaw ngaun. T_T

...Write on my planner - Sayang ang planner kung hindi masusulatan.

...Do more spontaneous and adventurous stuff - We only get to live once.

...Go to dance classes - It's an exercise that works for me. Now that I'm not getting any, my tummy is not nesvita-shoot worthy anymore.

...Go take swimming lessons - I seriously need to take this if I want to audition for The Amazing Race Asia 4. (Shoutout TARA 4, kelan na ba ang next production? :D)

Ohhh.. One more thing, I guess.

...Sleep more - The world is not going anywhere you know. (This is me, talking to myself)

Why I Love the Christmas Season

2010-01-11T16:11:00.002+08:00

Sure, Christmas is not the real birth date of Jesus Christ, most people already know that. Even so, people in this season are visibly more kind, more generous and more loving. So if there is a time of the year when people are at their best, would you not want to celebrate with them? It really shouldn't be called ignorance since most people know these facts. It's about choosing to be happy and forgetting differences even only for that time.

That was just a thought I wanted to include here. What I really want to blog about is the love that people exude during that time of the year, which, sadly, is roughly another 11 months from now.

I tried this thing in Facebook where I posted a status of me saying that I'm in love. As planned, I didn't post any comment. I just waited to see how people will react.

I couldn't print screen all of comments but here's a part of it.

After talllying the results, the post got:

4   likes
13 yes
3   no
1   maybe
5   just commented on the status

It's not much comments but it's also not bad considering the time of the week it was posted.

I find it amazing that people opened themselves for a bit and posted comment on how they felt during that time.

Now, are you in love?

VMV Foundie damaged

2010-01-11T12:55:00.002+08:00

.. they came back for more. this time, they're more vicious and mean.

Yes, I'm talking about the rats nibbling everything they can put their little mighty teeth into.

I thought I have won the fight when I placed Raccumin all over the house on Saturday night. I woke up on Sunday morning without the sounds of the rats running around.Then just right now, I saw my VMV Skin Alchemy foundation tube leaking onto its side. Damn you pests! Did it even taste good, huh? I'll be sure to setup a good revenge on you. You better watch out! Your days here are numbered.

My poor foundie, Peachy (Yes, it has a name!), is damaged. She does her job really well and she does not deserve this.

By the way, my Skin Alchemy shade is Pecan. It used to really suit me well but lately, I think my skin became fairer than before so I seldom use this foundie now. I'll just blog about the foundie experience on different entry.

new US tv series i've been watching

2010-01-11T12:53:00.004+08:00

They may be teenage flicks. but they have something special about them that made me hooked. Apparently, both shows are from ABC.

1. Make It or Break It. - If Glee is all about show choirs, this one is about gymnasts and their road to the Olympics.

Familiar face: Cassie Scerbo as Lauren (Left) - She's in Bring It On 4.

The gymnasts in this series has got to be gymnasts in real life. If not, that's great editing and stunt work right there. I haven't looked up yet if there will be a season 2 but I am sure hoping that there will. The season ended up on a bad note for one major cast and I would love to see what they will do to her character on the next season, if ever there will be one.

Oh, just want to add that I really do think the girl who plays Kaylie Cruz could pass as Eva Longoria's sister.

The Score:

2. 10 Things I Hate About You - TV series remake of its namesake where Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) and David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) starred in.

Familiar Face: Meaghan Jette Martin as Bianca Stratford (Left)- Tess Tyler in Camp Rock.

If you loved 10 Things I Hate About You movie, I'm pretty sure you'll love this. Well, that is if you're anything but a critical viewer.

This series has a refreshing feeling after each episode. It's set in a comedic tone that it will make you laugh at some point. The only con about this, which also doubles as a pro, is that it's only a 30-minute series including the commercial breaks. So that would make it about 22 minutes long at most. It could double as a pro because extending this to an hour-long episode would exhaust storylines and could potentially fill the series with too much drama.

It has already been out in the air that there will be a second season that will be aired early this year. Yay!

Oh, I also find it cool that the Larry Miller as Dr. Stratford in the 1999 movie also plays the same role in the series. It's like the movie was set in a much modern age.

The Score:

Plan vs What Actually Happened: Part 1

2010-01-11T12:43:00.001+08:00

Saturday

Plan: After getting home, I will be cleaning my house so I could win a bet. (Read: The bet involves me cleaning the house. If I win, I will get the pleasure of rewatching Avatar in an Imax theater for FREE, courtesy of boyfriend. If I lose, I'll be the one to treat both of us.Either way, I'll get to rewatch it. Yay me!)

WAH: I was lured into watching TV series, eating chicharon and bumming all day. I decided to start cleaning on Sunday.

(Taken around Sunday noon. This, in fact, is the second most decent part of the house.The first being my bed.)

Sunday

Plan: I will wake up around 6AM, gather my dirty laundry, pick up garbage and trash and soil (yes, soil. There's plenty just in front my door.), mop the floor, disinfect, polish and rearrange the furniture.

WAH: I woke up at 11AM, was too lazy to start cleaning so I surfed the net and wasted my time accomplishing nothing. I finished watching 5 past episodes of Survivor (Micronesia), 3 episodes of 10 Things I Hate About You and half episode of Numb3rs. I then decided to clean a little bit. But then I got distracted again with Tumblr and Facebook. After posting and backreading, I watched Wizards of Waverly Place on Deck with Hannah Montana (Disney crossover of 3 different TV shows. So cool!), Camp Rock Behind the Scenes on Youtube, Step Up 3D behind the scenes on Youtube and the work of Jon M. Chu on Youtube.

It's now 1:48 AM. I'm back in front of my laptop with my tasks half done. Good thing I don't have work today. But it's just too sad to be cleaning on a day off instead of just relaxing as originally intended.