The Love Month Challenge

In the past year or so, when my love affair with Instagram started to blossom, I wouldn't touch my food or cocktail drink without having to take its photo first.  I couldn't resist the urge to post my newly-purchased trinkets and then adding the hashtag + "blessed" or the hashtag + "thankful".  When I find myself in a new place (a cozy lounge, a farm, a mountaintop, a hole-in-the-wall cafe) or just staring at a weird piece of art, I automatically start thinking about how to frame it.  Or who to tag.  Or who to share it with.  Seeing rainbows, devouring intricately-designed cupcakes and randomly bumping into long lost friends have never felt this documented.  

This month, I challenge all of us to put our gadgets down when we are with our loved ones.   I challenge all of us to engage in deep conversations with our best friends over coffee;  enjoy a rock concert without watching it through our iPads (while recording); or simply marvel at how the sky turns orange then pink then purple on a good sunset.    I challenge all of us to value the stuff that truly matter, get grounded and chase our own dreams (not some fantasy that someone else  posted online).

And finally, I challenge all of us to love who we are and what we are doing as if no one else is watching.

Midnight Snacking

Our shift ends at 11-ish PM, so if we skip dinner, we'd have empty tummies ready for midnight snack! #baboyproblems

Anyway, we finally tried the classic Causeway restaurant along Libis, took advantage of the 58-peso dim sum and here's what we ordered (sorry for using my phone to take photos again):

Asado Siopao

Moist and fresh.

Kris - 1 * Paulo - 1 * Emong - 1

Sharksfin

This is a classic.

Kris - 1 * Paulo - 1 * Emong - 2

Pork Siomai

I don't know because I didn't eat it.

Kris - 0 * Paulo - 1 * Emong - 3

Xiao Long Bao

Not soupy, I tasted a lot of ginger.

Kris - 1 * Paulo - 1 * Emong - 2

Japanese Siomai

Generous seaweed.  Yum.

Kris - 1 * Paulo - 2 * Emong - 1

The winner!

I Made Tusok-Tusok Some Fishballs

I could count the number of times when I actually ate street food in my entire life -- thrice, I think.  It's not that I am you know, um, like, um, like, um like maarte or conyo or anything, you know.  

I was just raised by a germ-freak mom.  

And I get sick from food poisoning quite easily.  

I plan out my street food adventures in advance (convincing my brain that I won't get hepatitis,  e-coli or a rare disease).  So, when Paulo said we're going to eat fishballs, I obliged because I was eyeing the fishball stand in Narnia (Global One people, you know this) for way too long already.

 (Sorry, I only took photos with my phone.)

This is the Totobits stand in Angeles, Pampanga. 

I asked Paulo if the man in this photo is Mr. Totobits himself, he said no.

Paulo said he's been eating off of that cart since he was in college.

There were about 5 food stalls along that street.

2 were selling isaw (which I thought were onion rings because they were breaded), 1 was selling mami (I am quite amazed), 1 was selling corn and then there's Totobits.

It's kind of madaya because I did not make sawsaw my tusok-tusok food items in the big jar of sweet/spicy/tangy/yummy sawsawan.

(I despise online bullying, please know that this is not how I really speak -- nor am I poking fun out of people who actually speak in this manner.)

The verdict?  I spent 45 pesos eating kikiam, squid balls, chicken balls and fish balls.  

And I did not get sick afterwards.

On another note, I needed dessert so we went to Susie's Cuisine afterwards.  The place was packed with Sunday merienda goers and some tourists who were buying pasalubong.

This is toasted pastillas.  

I ate half of the bag, I think.

It is also very sweet (the kind of sweetness that would make you sugar crash).

Paulo ate the first sapin-sapin slice one on his own.  

I wasn't able to take a photo so I asked him to buy another one for me.  

Yummy.

Meanwhile, am now thinking of jogging or doing yoga.  #baboyproblems

Jenna Hamilton

I believe am a teenager trapped in an almost 30-year old soul.

This is probably the reason why I felt an instant connection with Awkward, one of the many teen-oriented TV series that MTV dabbles on.  The story evolves around Jenna Hamilton and her friends going through high school with all life events from suicide, bullying, to losing their virginity, falling in love, falling out of love and dealing with grown-ups.  

Jenna is played by actress Ashley Rickards, whose acting repertoire escapes my knowledge as of now.  I've read however, from the ever-reliable wikipedia that she's a member of Mensa.  I recently discovered how to take screen caps using shift + command + 4.  Got these from Season 3 episodes.  I really like the way she looks now.

I give Awkward much respect because it does not scream graphic teenage problems to get attention.  There aren't any cute guys, perfectly polished mean girls, or geeks with thick eyeglasses turning out to be the exact amount of gorgeous toward the end credits.  

*spoiler alert - do not read beyond this line - spoiler alert*

The heroine does not end up with the school jock, the chubby school bully is getting skinnier every freaking episode (so unfair!) and her mom gets to screw up everytime and be totally clueless about it.  

Am no expert, but if you want to relive the high school experience that you never had, I recommend that you watch this!  

Missing Baguio

I hope everything goes well again this year to give us time to spend Mom's birthday in Baguio for the third year in a row.

This idea made me nostalgic so here are some of my favorite photos from last year.

The birthday girl looking not a day over 40.

#PleaseBuyMeSomethingNice

They will not be pleased if I post the OTHER photos.

Juma-John Lloyd and Bea levels.

One of the rare occasions when she's taller than me.

The menu gave her lots of reasons to smile.

Best place to eat ever!

Sorry for the blurry photo, but they looked cute.

The mandatory jump shot.

I don't know what we were doing here.  

Hello, Dad!

Stolen.

Played around with red lipstick and my front camera.

#EgzoitedMuch

Embrace the Change

Now that I have curly AND coloured hair, I have already spent quite a few thousand pesos on haircare products.

I thought having curly hair meant less maintenance.  But coming from absolutely zero maintenance (not even conditioner, I swear!), I guess this is justifiable. 

I love, love, love the effect without products, but I was told that I need to tame my tresses so it wouldn't get ruined.

Currently having a curl contest with Justine.

I chose Pureology Hydrate conditioner.

This costs about Php 1,500 and promises to be the best product for color-treated hair.

Check out Basement Salon for stocks.  

I also adore its minty clean smell.

For my daily use, here's the ever-reliable Herbal Essences Totally Twisted.

I got this at Watsons with the remaining points in my SM Advantage Card (about Php 500 for both).

I have been using this for a week now and I LOVE IT.

Kerastase Oleo-Curl is THE ultimate product.

Priced at Php 1,100, it has all the properties that we want in our styling creme.  

It smells great, it's very light and it keeps moisture without the damp effect. 

Curl Chronicles

Am a no-comb person primarily because I dislike having to wait for my hair to dry after my morning and evening showers.  Am almost always in a hurry to get to work, and I find it pointless to fix my hair when am set to spend 10-12 hours in front of my work laptop anyway.  

That's why I only associate hair styling with weddings (and other special occasions).  

That was my Etude Red Wine-colored hair and Sariling-Sikap-Hairstyle (SSH) on Chellie's wedding day.

This was my wavy hair at Ate Dee's wedding.

So this year, I made a courageous leap into the unknown -- a life with permanent curls.   Okay, so I've been playing with the idea ages ago but this time I made sure it happened.   In fact, I did my research and found out that the best stylist could be found at the Hairshaft Salon in Podium.  Miguel (@hairshaftmiguel), my hair-y godmother came to my rescue.  

Upon arriving at the salon, he showed me his phone and allowed me to choose my pegs.  Here they are (credit to the photographers):

I actually wanted "chic taong grasa look", which in other terms would be the "messy beach wave" or "bed head".  I was told that the procedure would take 3 hours.  The procedure, which I almost forgot to mention, was a perm.  I also wanted some highlights so that's procedure number two.  For those of you who have gotten their hair treated already, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't believe the initial 3-hour estimate.  *drum roll* 

Mine actually took 7 hours.

I was reading the book but I was secretly wishing that they turn down the music a bit.  #LolaMoments

Getting my hair curled.  

I had to wear a mask because the smell was really awful.  I thought twice about backing out but then  a voice in my head kept saying "You have to experience pain (or in this case, discomfort) to be beautiful.

This was my hair when they got the curlers out.  

I was surprised at first because I thought it was too curly.

Kat said they looked like noodles.

Three people (that's Miguel on the left) were working on my hair colour.

I said I wanted brown with red highlights.

Cooking my hair.  

Sorry for looking like a bruha.  I think this was on the sixth hour already.

And voila.  

No blowdryers, no comb, no fuss.

I love it.

#Miguelized

This was a shot taken from @hairshaftmiguel 's instagram account.  

Check out @hairshaftmiguel 's instagram account for my before and after look.  

This year, I promise to love myself more.  If you want to experience amazing service (and feel super beautiful at the same time), head on over to the Hairshaft Salon in Podium.  

Follow @hairshaftsalon and @hairshaftmiguel for jaw-dropping makeovers!

P.S.  Paulo requested for me to make a public service announcement.  Here it goes:

DO NOT BRING YOUR BOYFRIEND.

He was a super good boy because he didn't make sumpong despite having to stroll around Megamall and Podium all afternoon.

A Year Older

We set out to eat our most expensive lunch to-date.

We had the place to ourselves.  

It was a bit awkward because we were fast-food people and we were definitely out of our element here.

Nevertheless, I will never get tired of trying out new things with you.

Here's to a whole lot more perfectly cooked steaks in our lifetime.

I love you.

Last Twenty-Something Birthday

Am one of the unfortunate people who had the privilege of joining humanity on the busiest month of the year.   So on my last twenty-something birthday, I dragged everyone away from their Christmas lists and headed over to the Marriott Cafe for some serious tummy-filling.

The ambiance was a hybrid between cozy and classy, not too flashy but no nonsense.  Food was great and definitely worth every penny.  They even have a cheese station!   Before moving on, this is not a foodie post (and I just got off the foodie-photo bandwagon) so do not expect any drool-worthy images.

Adorable set-up at the lobby.  

I think there was a real-life gingerbread house also.

Mi familia.

Okay, I would not rave about the main dishes.  

Don't get me wrong, food was awesome, service was flawless but something else won my heart.

Us three.  Am sure mom would argue that we look like sisters.

Whenever we go out (not sure if we're doing it on purpose), we always end up with couple photos.    We kind of abused the cool lighting at our table so all photos look the same.

Lals x Toffer

Moi x Paulo

Mom x Dad

I've tried to do my research on the awesome human being  responsible for the desserts at Marriott but I failed miserably.  Whoever you are, am sending you love all the way from every nook and cranny of my sweetest sweet tooth.  

I scream.

I didn't bother checking what I ate, but from my average knowledge of desserts:

A panna cotta (that of which, I had 2 servings of), 

A strawberry mini French pastry,

A seasonal fruit tart (fresh, fresh, fresh)

Rich chocolate bath.

Now the best part is my very own birthday cake.  

It's so simple, and it's the best cake ever.

I've always loved Marriott banyos.  

#SorryForTheSelfie

#FocusOnTheBanyo

This year, above all, am thankful for all the blessings bestowed upon my family.  

They are my everything.