Trick Or Treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)

Natural Skin Care Routine

(Featuring Human Heart Nature Products)

Skin care has been part of my daily (and nightly) routine. I have been taking care of my facial skin since grade school (probably since 5^th grade I guess hahaha). I don’t have perfect skin. It has always been oily and I suffered from big acne during high school and now my face is studded with acne scarring. My skin is still oily. But when I started working three years ago, it has transformed into a combination skin: my T-zone gets oily oftentimes and my V-zone is almost always dry and sometimes even flaky and I don’t breakout that easily anymore. I tend to have one pimple every now and then and I am thankful that they don’t leave scars anymore. I actually have a new problem right now: skin aging.

YouTube: People I Follow

I used to not watch videos on YouTube until recently when I chanced upon a group of people which I was surprised to know that they know one another. It made me envious and want to do my own video channel as well (which I am really determined to pursue soon so watch out for it!).

Logo courtesy of Ask.com

My “addiction” with them started with Anna Saccone’s make up tutorial which I ‘downloaded’ and watched in my phone before I go to bed. Why? Because make up tutorials make me feel sleepy. Hahaha. I know the reason is shallow but that’s really my intention. Then I started looking for a skin care routine because it equally makes me sleepy and at the same time curious on how to keep my skin in good shape as well. And it led me to Elle Fowler, and the list goes on and on. The last person that I subscribed to is Joey Graceffa. I will enumerate them one by one chronologically on who I subscribed to first up to the last.

 Mikey Bustos

A Famous Filipino "YouTuber"

Photo courtesy of noelcabacungan.com

My Foamy Obsession

Earlier this year I had developed an addiction towards a certain item: SOAPS.

I blame it on to my discovery of Marseille soap, a traditional soap made from vegetable oils that has been made around Marseille, France, for about 600 years. After learning about this, I have searched every possible website where I could find local sellers of this “medieval soap.” When finally I have found one, yes just ONE, they were out of stock of it already and will have replenishments after 6 months. How pathetic.

The mishap I mentioned above sparked a new interest in me. I became curious how soaps would differ from one another. I immediately began looking for highly reviewed soaps online and tried some. At this time of my life I do not intend to whiten my skin anymore but rather I want it to look younger and more moisturized. But, nevertheless, I still tried whitening soaps. Below are my comments on each one of them.

1.) Luxe and Lace Goat’s Milk Soap with Olive Oil

  PhP 120.00 / US$2.50

Catching the YABU Virus

It was not really my first time to eat tonkatsu. I am not a fan. For me tonkatsu is just okay. Just “another food” to eat. Nothing really special. But I have been hearing a lot about this almost one year old Katsu house in the country and lots of great reviews are everywhere. So imagine my happiness when my boss asked me and my officemate to eat out with him. Where else? In Yabu: House of Katsu. Of course, he paid for everything. Teehee. ;)

When we arrived at the restaurant, damn it was so full. We had to wait for like 15 minutes (glad it wasn’t that long as we were starving already) before we were asked to get inside and have a seat. The store is so bright which makes the atmosphere alive and uplifting, just right to temporarily escape the stress that you are having while working in your office. Everyone in the restaurant was talking and blabbering and laughing. The waiters were also very pleasing as they ask for your orders. It was the first time that I felt sincere warmth from a restaurant crew as opposed to the hostile (well, quite strong a word, huh) treatment of some other restaurants and especially fast food restos that I have tried. Maybe it was still early and they were not yet tired or they are simply trained that way. Whatever it is, it added to my wonderful experience with Yabu.

Book Review: Divergent

"One choice can transform you."

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
Language: English
Series: Divergent Series (Book 1)
Genre(s): Science Fiction / Young Adult / Dystopian

 






 

Book Review: The Sea Of Monsters

"My nightmare started like this."

Title: The Sea Of Monsters

Author: Rick Riordan
Publication Date: May 3, 2006
Language: English
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 2)
Genre(s): Fantasy Fiction and Adventure

Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Title: The Lightning Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Publication Date: July 1, 2005 (hardcover) /

                                      April 1, 2006 (paperback)

Language: English

Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Book 1)

Genre(s): Fantasy Fiction/Adventure

"If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. 

But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. 

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

Teens and pre-teens are currently reading The Hunger Games trilogy with so much gusto. Oops! Do I still fall under that category? Haha chause! THG craze has been circling around like wildfire before I've got to discover it.(You know me, I’m kinda always out-to-date! Darn! Sign of aging it is!) Not until it's movie was released on the 3rd quarter of March this year.  After a week or so, so much fuzz about it has been going thru the social networking community. Some say it's almost like the Japanese movie, Battle Royale. With that I've decided to read the book first few month's ago; basically to save my ass from not being able to understand the entire movie haha chause!

Disclaimer: I'll try to be very, very careful not to spoil anything for anyone but if you haven't read the book please don't hate on me. So help me God! :p

"May the odds be ever in your favor"

  



Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publication Date: September 14, 2008
Language: English
Series: The Hunger Games Trilogy (Book 1)
Genre(s): Adventure / Dystopian / Science Fiction / Action

10 Commandments Of Working For Others

Finally got the time to blog! I was quite damned with the sudden burst of workloads! I’m still trying to redeem myself from all the gloom and doom. Chause! I was actually attending seminars and training for the past weeks for my professional and personal development. Naks! Along with that, of course payday just came by; my entire world revolves around payroll and timekeeping. On the other hand, Hal Benito is sooo busy exploring the corporate world! Oh my! He must have been lost. Charaught! Never heard from him for the quite some time. You sure do miss him :)

As mentioned, I attended a seminar last week. It is the “Free Learning Sessions” by Ariva Events. It was a 1-day learning session which discusses Company Policy and Labor Laws; facilitated by Atty. Ranulfo P. Payos. It costs around P1116 for both AM and PM sessions which cover snacks and certificates. Sponsored by the company of course! :)

My Thrown Up Memories

I love traveling. It’s a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of the Metro. I love to see sceneries and meet wonderful strangers whenever I hit the road. However, I am no wealthy individual so I do my traveling via commute which is perfectly fine for me. 

But it was not always like this.

Buses are important vehicles for the working class and for the travelers. I, myself, go to work daily riding a bus. In the Philippines, there are two types of buses: Ordinary Bus and Air-conditioned Bus.

Ordinary Bus

Photo courtesy of flickr.com

 Ordinary Bus Interior

Photo courtesy of flickr.com

Why I Love Maria Callas Among Others

Maria Callas

GUINNESS BEER: The Taste of Ireland

I have been an Ireland (and Irish) fanatic since knowing the country in 1999. I would like to give the credit to Westlife for they were the one who introduced me to the beautiful, green country. Since then, I got a bit “obsessed” to it by researching stuff about Ireland, like St. Patrick, Irish geography, tourists destinations, and Irish products. One of the most prominent and worldwide best-selling, truly Irish product, is the Guinness beer.

Photo courtesy of review.productwiki.com

At The End Of One's Rope

FOR:             Toinks

FROM:         Someone Who Hates You

DATE:           June 4, 2012

SUBJECT:    As Stated

______________________________________________________________

Goodbyes and Hellos

Picture the World with Instagram

For the longest time, my pseudo-cousin Sora Iteti has been bugging me to download and use Instagram as she said I will definitely enjoy it. I kept on refusing as I said, “Ulk. Just another social networking website. I can’t maintain too many accounts!” I already have a Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and I actually am not able to update them that regularly, most especially Pinterest.

I actually kept on uploading pictures that I find interesting. However, I limited it lately because I fear that my friends might find I am flooding their news feeds already

But then due to its recent buy out by Facebook and seeing that a lot of the celebrities that I follow use it, I finally gave in just last week. I downloaded it and tried it and “my, it was fun!”

Toddler Tonsurephobia

Did you have any fear when you were younger that is quite out of the ordinary? Do you still carry the fear up to this day? What is it? And do you find it amusing now that you have outgrown it?

We all have a lot of fears when we were younger and most of them are just normal: fear of the dark, fear of animals, fear of insects, and fear of adults. But there is one fear that I really find very odd. And it’s funny because I once had this fear too.

Photo courtesy of sunncity.com

TITANIC: The Epic Drama That Still Touches My Heart 15 Years After

I decided to write a reaction piece instead of a review as I am not aware of the technicalities of a film that is most often contained in a review. To be perfectly honest, my mind is very preoccupied with thoughts about things that I wanted to write about Titanic but I just could not organize them. So I decided I will just write the way I want to say my opinion about the film.

Photo courtesy of gossipboy.ca

Harmony Soap Review

My discovery of this soap was accidental. It was offered to my mom by her friend while she was at her store. My mom bought it for PhP 12.00 (0.24 US$) because she was fully aware that I love trying different soaps. This soap especially appealed to her because of its strong yet pleasant fruity smell. It has many variants but she chose the strawberry because it stood out among others. Then, when I arrived home that day, she showed it to me at once and, true enough, I fell in love with its look and smell.

It’s very rare that I see transparent and translucent soaps. I actually have not seen personally a transparent soap yet. Harmony soap is almost translucent and it’s shiny and smells like a strawberry candy.

The Jeepney Royalty

Riding the Public Utility Jeeps (PUJ) or jeeps has been a part of my daily life. I would ride on it every single day whenever I travel. Of course there are other vehicles that I would ride as well but jeeps have been the most frequent. It is never comfortable and I wouldn’t want to actually ride on it, given the chance. It’s hot during summer, wet during the rainy days, smoke would enter the “always open” windows, and the seating is horrible especially when the driver squeezes in the maximum number of passenger even if some of the already seated are overweight, which consumes extra space. But I don’t have a choice. Financial difficulties have declared my fate and I had to learn to love the jeeps. I still don’t.

A typical Philippine Jeepney

Photo courtesy of aboutph.com

Manila in Retrospect

I have strong interests on everything that is old. Old houses, old pictures, old things, even old music (heck I so love opera!). I like seeing things or souvenirs that have survived the tests of time and I am very eager to know their stories, why they are like that, and how they survived. I am not a fan but I like going to museums to have a closer look on the preserved artifacts that relate their own stories to us just by looking at them.

So I joined this tour that I saw in Facebook. It was headed by Rence Chan, a 20-year stamp collector and an employee of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost). It has been his advocate for years already and he has been doing this for FREE! Pre-registration was necessary because permits were needed to be asked and an exact number of participants must be determined. I initially asked my best friend to join but unfortunately she wanted to pursue other things on that day. So I asked my officemate to join who registered at once and was equally excited as I am for the tour.

Rence, our tour guide, is the one in green shirt. ;)

The Philippine Star's My Icon, My Hero 2010 Entry

Below is my essay entry to the 2010 contest of The Philippine Star's My Icon, My Hero. And it did not win. Haha. But that's okay. I would like to share it to you anyhow.

THE GIFT

I have never met my icon personally. But that did not prevent me from looking up to him. He is not someone that you would see dancing on the stage, or waving at people, or even doing talks on television and newspapers. He is someone whom I haven’t heard of; until I received his gift of knowledge.

My icon died long before I knew him. Yet, his legacy and advocacy to improve the life of every Filipino continues. He helped the youth realize their dream of a better future. He was trying to erase the notion that poverty is forever and further education is impossible for people who are undergoing financial difficulties.

The Unexpected Book Signing

I went to Greenbelt 5 on February 18, 2012 to do something else: to buy an olive variant of Savon de Marseilles. However, upon arriving on their store and asking the sales lady about the item I was looking for, I was totally devastated to know that the soap I have been contemplating on buying for months was already sold out! And the only one left is the Palm variant which is not an original variant. It is original and from the same manufacturer, but I mean Olive is the very first and original variant that they produced.

So I walked out of Greenbelt 5 pissed off because I travelled all the way from San Juan City and I would be traveling all the way again to Fairview in Quezon City to get home FOR NOTHING!

The Good Times of Tambalan in The Morning Rush

Radio has been part of my mornings since 2010. I would wake up and open my radio and listen to the wonderful music being played and to the witty conversations of the DJs. I would often laugh with the jokes and learn from the pieces of advice being thrown by the DJs. Upon leaving the house, I would put the earphones to my ears and listen to the radio while traveling until I arrive in the office. The radio helps me ward off boredom and annoyance brought about by the heavy traffic that I am dealing with everyday.

There used to be two radio stations that I listen to every morning: Good Times of Magic 89.9 and Tambalan of Love Radio 90.7.

Good Times provided me intellectual humor, latest news in the country and abroad, life lessons via pieces of advice, amusement via the contradicting opinions, and, in my opinion, the best music of today. Mo Twister is the head of the team. He would often come up with topics that will be discussed in the entire show. His co-DJs were Grace Lee, Mojo Jojo, and Angelicopter. I started listening to Magic in 2010 due to my boss’ requirements because we were advertising in that show. I, however, did not regret listening to the show and I was actually hooked. It actually opened me to listen to new songs again after I was stuck with listening only to the songs that I heard during my high school years. I would listen to the show from 6AM to 9AM without transferring to any other radio station. Until the three other DJs left and only Mo Twister remained. I know it is still a good program and Mo for me is still a good, funny, and intelligent host but the feeling and satisfaction that I was getting was different whenever I hear the four of them talking on air. It was hilarious and sometimes deafening especially when they talk simultaneously. I actually miss it.

 

Photo Courtesy of Good Times Facebook Fan Page