my beauty loot from Style Manila...

finally received my beauty loot from Style Manila (Sasha Manuel) last week! Thanks again Sas and more contest by 2009!

a week ago...

about a week ago, i had the chance to go out again with my college buddy, co-worker, and kumare Minerva...this time it's just the two of us who bonded the whole day (minus Ana and Cata). we have been planning for this fairly long but we you see we are equally busy during the past two quarter. finally, we had the chance to go on sched VL both last Dec 3 and had the chance to do some girl thing...


i took this photo after finishing my tall dark cherry mocha (hot), i was some kind of 30mins waited for Minerva at Starbucks, Shangri-la...but tell you my waiting is so so worth :)


...because she brought me this hair straigthening iron, curler in one! this is her early Christmas gift for me and i love it! thank you my dear friend, you're the best...hehehe

she was really an angel that day! my christmas santa all in one! she treated me on a lunch buffet at Hotel Intercon's Jeefney Cafe...the imported cheese selection was such a treat alone! dunno if it has something to do with the year of the rat but i'm becoming a big fan of cheese lately :)

at Jeepney Cafe --see how my steak was cooked? gross!! actually i ate it with bloody clot all over...


after a bursting lunch, we both shopped a pair of stiletto for our company wide christmas party set last dec 5. all the way from makati, we ended our day at Megamall...and have a pretty relaxing moment at Mocha Blends.

Frap from Mocha Blends, nothing so special with this blend...it's just that Starbucks was under renovation so we have no choice...

well, it was indeed a great day!

ICS Christmas Party at Crowne Plaza

it all happened last Friday (Dec 5) at Crowne Plaza...dinner, raffle and surprises from the newbies (did remember our newbie presentation 8 years ago...hehehe)

this year's theme was Masquerade (di naman obvious...di bah?) and everyone came so so stylish and i love my scarlet ruffled dress more than ever :)

uploaded some pics here --

right after the party, my group went to Tiendesitas and we had coffee and chitchats at Starbucks and Oliver joined us too...

we look good together in his favorite color...he just loves RED all year round!

i won a beauty loot!

Style Manila by Ms. Sasha Manuel recently launched this contest wherein you just have to comment oh her beauty blog entries and the 5 most number of comments will win beauty loots...well, lucky me i was one of the hailed winner :)


JANUARY - 161 comments
Beauty Loot 3 (2nd runner up)
Victoria’s Secret Refreshing Body Mist in Pure Seduction (250ml)
ARTISTRY™ Light Reflective Lotion SPF 15, Blushing Radiance
Shu Uemura Skin Purifier High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil (sample size)


thanks to Style Manila for this early christmas gift!

OUTLET shopping and our Sunday road trip...

i stopped liking those mall sale that says 3-day Sale, Midnight Madness Sale or those Clearance Sale basically because of the stress out and the quality of items you get from it. after a decade i realized how stupid i am to be fooled by mall operators who simply changed labels and tags and put a sale value (accordingly??)...hay! probably this entire bloggin' activity had changed my preferences and my taste for SALE :)

it's everything last Sunday... from our outlet shopping to our unplanned road tripping, good heavens that oil prices have stabilized!


at Greenfield City's commercial zone -Paseo de Santa Rosa, it's a shopper's haven! as the retail and commercial component of the thriving business zone, Paseo de Santa Rosa is envisioned to become a complete town center designed to complement and upport the growing needs of the area with diverse services. restaurants, sporting goods shops, banks, service centers, fast food outlets, trade fairs, mini-concerts and the Santa Rosa Country Market are just some of the well-received attractions of Paseo de Santa Rosa. Patrons can look forward to a similar entertaining, dining, and shopping experience at Paseo 3, where excellent food, soothing music, and great finds converge in this flourishing business and residential environment. (text from Greenfield City’s official website)

Outlet Shops at Paseo - Levi's and Dockers (50% off the tag), All Flip-flops (20% all year round), Gas/UCB/Sisley, Nike Outlet...i wish we had plenty of time last Sunday but will probably be back before Christmas :)

our next stop was at Pavilion Mall Binan, Laguna developed by Ayala Land Inc and house to GUESS Outlet, Levi's, Bayo, Plain and Prints to name a few...again, we barely have time to further look around...


we stopped at nearby SM Sto. Rosa for an hour to do our grocery shopping (actually it's Nanay's list so we cannot let pass or else...you know!)


along the road, we stopped to buy Kesong Puti for our veggie salad...Oliver and Arman bought yougart and pastillas too -lavet!


by 7pm, we finally hit the heart of Tagaytay and stopped at the newly opened Summit Ridge...Robinsons Supermarket was packed with tourist spending the weekend away from the city.


nearly 8pm and before Tatay's arrival from the church we made it home...all tired, all hungry, and all satisfied with our Sunday road trip. it's a happy meal that ended our day :)

Jack's Loft Dinner with Che...

i have no one last Friday as Oliver was supposed to meet Rolly at Talyer for a couple of drinks and earlier i decided to go home early too but plainly Che happened to be in Ortigas area and we end up having dinner at Jack's Loft Galleria branch...woot! thought i'll be spending my friday night with my two bebies again...

we had Jack's Chicken Salad Panini and Chicken Fingers and Fish Bowl Iced Tea :)

total damages for the night P470+

up North circa 2004

april 2004 - i called myself a first timer to Ilocos when by chance Gem & I was invited by our associate lawyer Atty. Malou Cortez to join her group in a convoy up north. the invitation was actually made at Prof. Calica's ancentral house in La Union...we were supposed to spend the weekend at the bayside but happily we ended with a very exciting tour and the most part was everything was paid by Atty. Malou's mother :)

let me go a bit detailed about my initial trip; i have no idea of our travel time and destination so i was very focused on the road, trying to remember all the landmarks and markings. our first stop was at Narvacan where we had lunch --you see this is the common stop over of those who are travelling with private cars, across the line up of eatery was the perfect view of the coral reefs.

right after lunch we went straight to Vigan (it's roughly 3 hours drive), our booking was at Gordion Inn Bed and Breakfast and all of us (6 people) shared the biggest room that was available. after an hour, we started touring the city via calesa (P150/hr) and the package includes:

Villa Angelina - this is also a hotel inn, old and creepy but well-maintained

Crisologo Musuem - houses the memorabilia of the Crisologos and original furnishings of a typical Vigan ancestral house

Burnai Pottery Making - manual pottery making and Atty. Cortez tried making one while singing oh, my love my darling :)

Syquia Mansion - partly closed for renovation that time

then off to Calle Crisologo and Plaza Burgos where we had late snacks, my first empanda encounter! so so love how this foodie was made by locals, we had inasal at Cafe Leona also and ended our day at Plaza Maestro where we had few bottles of alcohol and some wild singing over a videoke machine :)


slightly posing at Gordion Inn and at Calle Crisologo...

the following day, we enjoyed breakfast back at the hotel --Vigan longanisa of course! and went back to Rowilda's in Calle Crisologo to buy pasalubongs. we were scheduled to leave Vigan that same day and Gem and I asked Babu (our driver and good friend also) to drop us at La Union so we can take the bus ride to Baguio City while Atty. Cortez and group will be going straight to Fontana Resort in Pampanga...

so we did! hit Baguio City before 7pm and met our colleague Mike Perez to help us find a decent transient house. fortunately we got a room at Quezon Hill (thru Noel, also a friend from Baguio) and charge was P500.00/night. we spend the whole night at Chill (dunno if i got the name right), Mike and Noel joined us initially and later on was very surprised to receive Jojo's call about their sudden change of plan...Atty. Cortez's group moved to Baguio as well. so in no time, Babu and Jojo were already at Chill and we had alcohol the whole night :)

the last day of our tour, we had plenty of time now to wander along the city proper --went up to Lourdes Grotto, tried an hour boating at Burnham's Park, side visit Mine's View, Botanical Gardens, City Market and the newly built SM Baguio...all in 6 hours! before 5pm we were already at Victory Liner and bid our good byes to Mike (thanks for the wonderful time bro and see you in Manila!).

at Burnham Park with Mike (my first boat ride in Baguio) and Lourdes Grotto with Gem.

we made home safely except that Gem was very sick when we arrived Manila...nonetheless, i enjoyed the splendid weekend i had with friends, my best buddies to say...for sometime, i forgot about Manila, about what freshly happened, about my solo status, about my anguish --God was so good to bless me with wonderful people during those gloomy days :)

if you think this is the last, had two more trips back to Ilocos (hopefully will come up with a more detailed entry)...