Archive for September 2014

Stoked For Blogapalooza!

Thursday, September 25, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

Blogapalooza is the hottest, most awaited blogging event happening at SM Aura's SMX Convention Center this coming 11th of October, 2014. I haven't been to any blogging event, so of course, I wouldn't let an opportunity like this pass by. 


What exactly is Blogapalooza?

Basically, it's a community linking businesses (big or small) and the online community of people who love to share just about anything (whether it be on a blog, or over the different social media accounts, i.e., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc). 


How does Blogapalooza works?

Online influencers (bloggers, social media influencers) get to experience the presenters' products / brands/ thingamajigs for free! Businesses will have booths set up in the convention where they can show off their newest stuffs and meet bloggers. Bloggers can also expect to receive lots of freebies (giveaways and promotional items) from the presenters (yeeeeeeeey! freebies!). Bloggers will then promote these freebies to their individual readers, followers and community. 


Bloggers can register here. Learn more about this amazing event at Blogapalooza's website.

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Kolours Balinese Brown

Sunday, September 21, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

So out of the blue,  I recently got my hair dyed .... ♫ for the first time in forever ♫. Not sure if dyeing hairs the DIY way is a good idea, especially for a first-timer like me, but I did it anyway. It was pretty hard choosing a color, I was torn between Kolours' Toasted Anise and Balinese Brown shades but I opted for Balinese Brown na lang. Wala lang. Haha. Bought this kit for Php 250 from Mercury Drugstore. 

Feeling professional with my hair-dyeing kit.

Each kit contains: 70 mL Color Developer, 2 After Treatment Conditioners, a pair of gloves, 50g Creme Colorant and the Instruction Leaflet. According to the info printed on the kit's box, this application is good for medium-length hair. I have a very, very thick hair, so I'm not quite sure kung pasok ba sa medium-length hair yung buhok ko. It's so thick that I never had a trip to the parlor without someone telling me "ang kapal naman ng buhok mo beh". 


Anyare? May nagbago ba? Hahaha.

So, uhm, this is my before and after picture, taken at the same place (about 2.5 hours ang agwat ng picture when they were taken). The Before and After pictures naturally doesn't have any filter or effects. And yes, I noticed too that not much has changed (if there's any change at all). Huhu :( I need to stand under the sunlight para makita talaga yung kulay. Either I should have bought two kits of the same color, or chose a shade lighter.

Photo Journal Week 2

Friday, September 19, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

Got a bit late posting the second week of my photo journal :(

September 8, Monday
UP Staple Food: I love instant noodles (I know that's a bad thing pero masarap kasi talaga huhu) and any tusok-tusok. So for a quick snack, I always go for pancit canton+kikiam or pancit canton+chicken ball. I only visit three kiosks in UP though, because I'm a bit picky of the sauce - parang gravy ng KFC, isinasabaw ko sa kikiam/fishball/chickenball. If you want to try out my all time favorite food kiosks in UP, you can find them at: (1) the first stall in front of Vidal A. Tan Hall, (2) stall nearest the tambayans in Vinzon's Hall and (3) stall beside the UPIS K-2 building, in front of CHE Craft and Interior Design Laboratory.

September 9, Tuesday
At least naka-bote pa rin. My friend and I went for a trip to Gulpers, and before doing so, I made sure that I bring my own drink, Vitamilk. You see, I don't drink anything alcoholic or yung pang 18 yrs old and above drinks. I've tried drinking one, but I honestly don't like the taste. One sip - and that's it, ayoko na talaga haha. My friends would say that it's not the taste you're after for when drinking such, uhm, drinks. But I'm the kind of eater/drinker who really goes after the taste. It's pretty much like how some people wouldn't eat certain kinds of food because they simply don't like the taste.


September 10, Wednesday
BA-AHA-A-GA-HA-A-RA-I. Our PE prof required us to attend the cheering practice for the upcoming UAAP CDC (held September 14). It was fun and the cheer was just really awesome, although ang sakit sa lalamunan, since we really had to shout. 

September 11, Thursday
Tea, anyone? This week have not passed by without a day raining, so for this day, we went to Luk Foo for some good ol' noodle soup to warm our souls, charot. Before our orders were served, the staff always gives us some tea. I don't like teas served hot, I prefer the powdered and uber sweet versions. 


September 12, Friday
Can't think of a title for this one. We were waiting for our prof, and since our class is Stretching, we hold our classes in the gymnastics area. I know that people walk on these uhm, foams, with their shoes on, but I lie down anyway for a quick rest.


September 13, Saturday
Trapped. After class, I planned on having my lunch in  KATAG, located at the basement of FC. But I don't like the dishes they have for that day so umalis ako agad. I went up the second floor of the building and I passed by the old admin offices of CAL which was now deserted (they moved to the 2nd floor). I noticed that most of the doors have spider webs na, and on one door, I saw this moth hanging upside down. Ang lungkot tignan ano? 

September 14, Sunday
First legit NLEX road trip. Yey! Feeling adults na hahaha :)

The First Time I Left a Buffet On a Not-So-Full Stomach

Wednesday, September 17, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

Just this week, for a writing class, each of us were assigned to visit a buffet restaurant and write about it. I was assigned to a buffet that offers Filipino dishes, and since Kamay Kainan (Trinoma Branch) was nearest, I immediately went there after class.


The restaurant was quite big, in terms of seating capacity (could probably seat around 200-250 customers). For Php 289 + VAT, you could enjoy its wide array of Filipino delicacies. You just need to add Php 50 for bottomless iced tea.There was no service charge, or any other charges aside from VAT.

When my companion and I got there, there were few people around, even if it was around peak time for buffets. We arrived at around 5:30 in the afternoon. The first thing that we noticed when we got inside was that it was sooobrang init, as in. There were no AC units, but they do have ginormous fans (though they weren't enough to hide the init). I immediately thought of leaving the place but decided not to, since this would be the first time rin that I would dine in Kamay Kainan. 

Once seated, we were immediately given a plate of lechon. Now, I'm not a big fan of lechon, but I do eat and enjoy lechon. When I tried the skin, it was not crispy, and was very makunat that I was not able to finish that one cut. I tried the meat, it was bland and cold, and dipping it in their sauce didn't help much.



When we went to the buffet area, I noticed that most of the dishes were cold :( I don't like eating cold food because it pretty much affects the taste, and I am no picky eater since I am a self-confessed big food lover. So medyo turn-off when I saw that they do not have uhm, not sure what they're called, but yung parang mga candles or mini-stove that keep the food hot. Although the dishes were in a kawali that was on top of what looked like mini-stoves, the dished weren't hot. Except for the soup.

For the main dishes, they had kare-kare, sugpo, lumpia, tokwa't baboy, fried porkchop, pinakbet, binagoongang baboy, sinigang, nilaga, diniguan, soup, sinangag na kanin, chopsuey, tinola, bopis, plain rice, pansit, fried lechon manok, adobo and pipinong may suka (hahaha not sure what to call this dish).




The dessert section looked quite forlorn, and er, deserted (if you know what I mean). I am a HUGE fan of desserts, I instantly get kilig when eating desserts so imagine my dismay when I saw the dessert section. Ito pa man din yung una kong hinahanap when going to any buffet resto. They had what looked like puddings, Japanese cake, pineapple cuts (and a whole pineapple na pang-display lang ata), cucumber+carrot slices, saging con yelo (na walang yelo), some dark bread (don't know what it is) and pandan salad that is not cold. They also have avocado-flavored home-made sorbetes (ice cream). I tried a few scoops of sorbetes and a piece of the Japanese cake. The avocado flavored sorbetes tasted okay, but I only had one cup, eh normally I could go for as many as 10 cups of ice cream, that's how big of a dessert lover I am. The Japanese cake.... tasted uhm, "meh". Mas masarap pa yung tig-limang piso na binebenta malapit sa elementary public school near where I live. And may cheese pa yun. Haha. 


For the main dishes, I always go for my all time favorites first: adobo and kare-kare. I got a cup of kare-kare and two chunks of adobo. The adobo tasted okay, but nothing special to it. The kare-kare, however, tasted really bad. The sauce was not thick, it didn't have a hint of peanut in it and it was so bland (I know that kare-kare really is supposed to be bland pero iba yung pagka-bland eh huhu). The alamang didn't help much to improve the flavor. I was very disappointed because these two dishes are my favorites, I could live for a whole month eating nothing else but these two + some rice of course (100% Pinay yata 'to teh, haha).

My plate. Ang lungkot tignan, huhuhu.
I also tried their fried porkchop, and uhm, by this time, I pretty much know na what to expect - and I was right. The porkchop's breading tasted like it was doused with a lot of flour and egg, and that's it. Parang walang asin or paminta man lang huhu. My friend said na the bopis was too oily, he tried pressing it with a fork - pwede na magprito sa dami ng mantikang lumabas huhuhu.

My friend's plate.
Their fried lumpia and soup was by far the best among all the other food that I've tasted. Their lumpia was partnered with a sweet-tasting vinegar dip, and it was really good. The soup was also good - it was hot and thick, although it sort of tasted like the powdered soups by Knorr. 

For the resto's ambience, aside from it being not well ventilated, I didn't like the music they were playing - which was rap. Parang it felt like it was not appropriate, haha or I don't know. All in all, I honestly wouldn't recommend this buffet, most specially to foreigners wanting to eat in a restaurant offering Pinoy dishes. It would undoubtedly misrepresent our beautiful and delicious array of world-class cuisine. 


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Any thoughts, comments? They would be very much welcome in this blog :)

Photo Journal Week 1

Monday, September 08, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

Starting this month of September, I've decided to have my own photo journal. I'll take a photo each day until uhmmm.. hanggang magsawa ako haha. For Week 1, here are the seven photos which I think are worth taking a picture of. In some way, thru this photo documentation, I'll have something to look back to when reminiscing in the near future, ha! Drama lang :)


September 1, Monday
Mondays in UP: I'm not sure what this place is called, but it's some sort of bridge that connects AS/Palma Hall to CASAA. Since there are usually no classes in UP during Mondays, this bridge looks lonely and deserted. But this place is usually crowded and busy from Tuesdays-Fridays. This is where I do my running stints on my way to my second class na nasa kabilang bundok haha. Fortunately, di pa naman ako nale-late, pero pumipintig-pintig mga binti ko sa sakit from running huhu.

September 2, Tuesday
His Kind of Books: Favorite author niya eh :) I don't fancy Grisham's books because most of the words used are kinda hard for me to comprehend, huhu. I tried reading one, The Client, pero sumuko agad ako after reading the first 3 pages haha.


September 3, Wednesday
Zero Visibility: On my way to school, it rained so hard that vehicles traversing the highway are on hazard. And as usual, I always forget to bring my umbrella when it rains. :(

September 4, Thursday
Day I Was Born: For a writing assignment in my Creative Nonfiction class, we were tasked to go to the library and read a newspaper dated on our birthday. They had newspaper archives as late as the 1930's Didn't know our library had this kind of service.

September 5, Friday
Vandals: I'm not a fan of vandals, and I've never written one (pramis) but vandals in UP have always amused me. They're not the usual vandals kasi - some vandals are so philosophical they keep me thinking all night. 

September 6, Saturday
Okramazing: We saw this okra shrub (not sure if it's called a shrub talaga) when we parked in front of a residential house near Tri-Mo Shawarma. I was instantly amazed since this was the first time I saw how an okra looked like while still planted. 

September 7, Sunday
A Dose of Diabetes: For four consecutive nights, we had our dinner at Mcdo. It's unhealthy, yes, pero kasi masarap eh huhu. If only someone would think of building a fastfood-like restaurant that serves healthy dishes at a low price. :(

Pick it, Zip it, Keep it with Clothes Buffet Manila

Saturday, September 06, 2014 4 Comments A+ a-

Have you heard of the latest event in town that makes fashionistas all over the country go gaga? Well if not, better head on and read President Snow's speech:

Image Source  |  Clothes Buffet Manila Logo Source
Words by Blog Author 
"Price hikes, terrible price hikes. Hollow pockets, an empty closet. These were the reasons why Clothes Buffet Manila was created. And so it was decreed, that on the 17th and 18th of October, fashionistas of the Philippines would gather to grace the first ever grab-all-you-can shopping experience. This is how we remember our OOTD dilemmas. This is how we build our dream closets."

So just how does this Clothes Buffet Manila thing work? It's pretty much like the phenomenal Hunger Games, but of course, this is an event everyone would want to be part of. Tributes, or rather, the participants, are all volunteers. You could even say that all these volunteers are racing to be listed as "tributes". 

Uh-oh, I think Katniss do need to attend Clothes Buffet Manila for a major fashion make-over, yes? Image Source

These volunteers can get themselves listed as "tributes" by booking their slots here. If you would want to volunteer too, then by all means, do so! The picture below shows the Shopping Wave details :)

Image Source
Once you've booked your slots, then it's now time for training, just as how tributes in the Hunger Games undergo rigorous training before actually partaking in the event. So what kind of training should you prepare for?

  • PACKING AND FOLDING SKILLS: Buy a zip-lock bag, and practice stuffing as many clothes as you can. Seek help in finding different, ninja-style ways of folding clothes in the littlest possible way that you can. Try fitting in a variety of clothes - from dresses to tank tops to jeans.
  • RACING SKILLS: You've only got 15 minutes to get as many clothes as you can. Try setting up your own Buffet Floor and put up an obstacle course along the way. Say, for example, invite your friends and family members to act as the "obstacle course". They will be your competitors that you need to dodge while racing for that piece you'd want on your dream closet. 
  • CLAIRVOYANT SKILLS: Even without actually trying the clothes on, know instantly if a certain dress will look good on you. Remember, you've only got 15 minutes! Know what kind of dress will go best with another clothes piece. That way, you won't spend hours staring, contemplating, and debating if a certain dress will look good on you or not.

After all the weeks of training, it's now time to test your skills in the arena, this time, in the Buffet Floor. In the Hunger Games, it's very important that you remember, or at least, be wary of your environment (i.e., know where the source of water is, know where your competitors usually stay). In Clothes Buffet Manila, it's as equally important for you to know about the Buffet Floor. So, go ahead and take a look! :)
Image Source
Once you're in the arena Buffet Floor, it's now time to test your skills. If you want to come out of the Buffet Floor successfully, follow these three simple rules: PICK IT, ZIP IT, KEEP IT. 

PICK IT: Choose what you want, and what you need. There are over 30,000 pieces of clothes to choose from, so don't fight over a dress with your co-tribute/fashionista, okie? I know for sure na you don't wanna ruin a branded piece of dress, yes? :)

Image Source


ZIP IT: Whatever you got during the 15-minute wave, try your bestest effort to fit them all in your zip-lock bag without making any signs of tear or damage in your bag. Remember, a damaged bag will incur you a Php 100 penalty. 

Image Source

KEEP IT: Once you've successfully fitted your clothes in your zip-lock bag, ALL the clothes inside it are yours to keep for just Php 1,999! Now, I think that that's the greatest deal to ever come by in the name of fashion! 

Image Source

In these event, all tributes are absolute winners because all these clothes you're going home with are branded and absolutely new!! So what are you waiting for? Book your slots now! This awesome event will be happening on October 17 and 18, 2014 at Il Terrazo, 305 Tomas Morato, cor. Scout Madrinan St., Quezon City. 

Enter a tribute, and come out a revived fashionista! 
Just like Katniss :">

Katniss: Before and After the GRAB ALL YOU CAN EXPERIENCE at CLOTHES BUFFET MANILA
Image 1 Source | Image 2 Source | Collage and words by Blog Author


To know more about this great deal, visit clothesbuffetmanila.com and follow them on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

New Do, ulit?!

Friday, September 05, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

Last Thursday, when I viewed my blog site using the ultra wide desktops in the Main Library, I noticed that my blog doesn't auto fit to different computer screen sizes. But aside from that, photos are either too streeeetched, or so shrunk, in short, ang sakit sa mata tignan :( I've promised myself that I'll try to fix my blog's look without changing its template but I've come to accept that that's an impossible thing for me to do, after about more than 5 hours of doing just that.

The super kaduper mega wide screen desktops at the Main Library. It doesn't have the usual CPU's (which usually looks like a rectangular box). I've placed the red ballpen for comparison. Haha.

So, with a super duper heavy heart, I've changed, na naman, my blog's template. This time, I've used Blogger's limited array of template selections. It doesn't look that bad naman right? :) I do sincerely hope that by using Blogger's template, my pictures and texts won't make a mess, no matter the computer's screen size. 

What my old blog looked like.

Gaaaaaaaaah!

Thursday, September 04, 2014 0 Comments A+ a-

My blog went haywire na naman huhuhu. So if you're trying to view my blog, and texts and pictures look like they're trying to jump out of their respective boxes, don't blame your computer/web browser. Sadyang magulo lang talaga buhay ng blog ko ngayon. I'll try to fix this ASAP, but what with my super inferior CSS/HTML skills, ewan ko na lang kung kailan talaga ito maayos. :(

I'm so happy na with how my blog looks eh (simple it may be), so super hassle and major disappointment if I have to revert back to my jeje/emo-looking blog template. If only Blogger have a wider variety of blog templates :( Usually kasi, if I try to google for free blog templates, they're either not compatible with Blogger or not customizable (unless I pay for a certain amount of money).

Didn't know blogging could be stressful -_-


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