Last Minute December Update: Nuvali, Sta. Rosa Laguna

On Christmas day, me and my family visited Nuvali at Sta. Rosa Laguna hoping to have a short peaceful excursion. But we are not suprised to expect that the place is super crowded with all types of people. All the restaurants around Solenad I are full of customers but we manage to find an available slot at Uncle Cheffy's.

Uncle Cheffy specialty pizza good for 2.

this pizza is similar with Yellow Cab's Dear Darla hehe

Uncle Cheffy cheesecake - super yummy!

After lunch, we just visited the bazaar near the area and window shopped at Solenad II where there are a couple of high end branded stores and few restaurants. So many people flooded the park due to the nice ambiance for a picnic trip and weather is great since it's near tagaytay. 

me and the kois

You guys? Where did you spend your Christmas Day? :)

Last Minute December Update: Jamba Juice!

Last December 15,2011 is the date where me and my officemates finally finished our curiosities regarding Jamba Juice. This smoothie/yoghurt store is originally located in U.S. and they are now here in the Philippines, located at Bonifacio High Street as their sole branch.And we're proud to say that we're now Jambafied! hehe.

I tried Strawberry Wild which is their bestseller and my other officemate tried Banana Berry. Their fruit juices & smoothies are 100% healthy and delicious. We also bought california flatbread and chips. I will definitely go back here next time with my family.

Strawberry Wild FTW!

California Flatbread in Smokehouse Chicken

Too bad our pictures at their photobooth is not yet posted in their facebook page and i still haven't got the ones we sent to my officemate's email.

me and gara (my officemate/friend) chilling

Me and Annie posing! hehe

After that, we also took time to hang out outside the store as there's an ampitheatre like place and fountain. Later on, i learned that this is the venue for the first shadow play that opened last December 25.

I figured these are seats for the shadow play.

Hope you also visit Jamba Juice and you'll definitely enjoy the atmosphere of the place.

Last Minute December Update: U.S. gift goodies

This is a late update as i haven't had time to blog for a long time. Lola Baby and Auntie Tita sent us (family) a balikbayan box full of our requests as christmas gifts from them. I actually waited too long for this as we gave them our requests last September and the package arrived around first week of December.

Goodies for me :)

Among the items are the ones i requested. I specifically liked the candies black shoulder bag, rimmel nail lacquers and the maybelline colorsensational lippie in pinkalicious. And never will they forget to buy stuffs from bath & body works.

I'm kinda surprised they bought more than what we've asked for, maybe they got these from a sale as they have lots of buy 3 get 2 something like that promo :). Anyway all of us (4 girls in the family) have a bath & body works request so everything here is shared among us.

Specific favorites are: Charmed Life lotion, Sea Island cotton mist, White citrus mist and Star Fruits sanitizer.

Anti- bacterial hand gel in Star Fruit, Snob Berry, All-Star Apple, Hip Hop Plum

I'm really fascinated with these 4 limited edition hand gels. My favorite is Star Fruit and i love the cute dog in the cover. My sister has Hip Hop Plum but somebody stole it from her anti-bacterial holder so she also got Snob Berry.

Thanks again to my Titas for their generosity and for giving us a very merry christmas this 2011.

Teaberi, Our Lady of Manaoag

Last friday me and my workmates went to mass at St. Andrews Church and to visit Our Lady of Manaoag. But before that, we just had late merienda first and ordered Mexicali through delivery. And the best part, we were able to try a new Milk Tea discovery located at the A.Venue Mall in Makati as well. Our office is just walking distance from the place and you won't have a hard time looking for it since it's located outside the mall.

The place looks so inviting and cozy even though the small space is just their counter and a few dining chairs.

 I also love the interior design of their dining area. Their flooring is made of grass. I'm just not sure if it's real or synthetic. =)

 I ordered Green Tea with Cheese Froth, sounds familiar right? Most of their beverages have similarities with Happy Lemon. Well almost all Milk Tea stores have the same kind of drinks but i haven't tasted the Happy Lemon version of this yet. Since this is one of their recommendations, why not experiment and give this a try?
My verdict: the cheese froth of this drink is thicker than Happy Lemon even though i ordered a regular size. But i feel that this green tea is too strong for me, it tastes so bitter as the cheese froth lessens. I will order the same version at Happy Lemon next time to see the difference.

L to R: Green Tea w/cheese froth, Passion Fruit Green Tea, Green Apple Green Tea, Black Tea w/cheese froth.

 All four of us ordered recommendation drinks. Black Tea w/cheese froth has a cinnamon flavor on top of the drink. And the two green tea drinks in between are like fruit juices. But still there is a distinctive tea aftertaste and good thing we requested normal sugar. The cool thing with passion fruit and green apple is that you can add a free topping and the barista recommended putting Bubble pop to it. Bubble pop looks so similar with sago but with a sweet liquid filling inside once you chew it. It's so fun eating this topping and we had a good laugh after because of our curiosity with it. I'm definitely going to order drinks with bubble pop toppings next time.

 Then we ended our day by going to mass at St. Andrews Church in Kalayaan Avenue. It's a good thing we've been given the chance to see Our Lady of Manaoag here in this church and it's also accessible to our office. The statue originally came from Pangasinan and they're taking rounds of visit within luzon. I heard that they will transfer her next in Batangas and she will only stay here until October 9. The church is not that crowded when we arrived and we didn't have a hard time taking pictures and holding her wardrobe at the back of the statue to pray. I also got blessed rosaries after the mass as their giveaway.

Hope you all have a blessed and fun weekend ;)

Week Happenings: NOTW, Happy Lemon, NYX

Hi! Just want to share some interesting events for me this week:

My Thai, Venice Piazza

Lunch with Family last Sunday (Sept.25) at this Thai Restaurant. Love their appetizer, noodles and thai iced milk tea. Yum!

Appetizer, forgot the name =)

Thai milk tea

Love their rice!

NOTW: Funky leopard nails. Base polish is San San in Sandy Brown. Pink and lime green spots are from Caress. And i used sassy black nail polish to line the spots for a leopard design.

Friday Night Out: Me and my workmates went to Rockwell for a movie and to visit again our new favorite hang-out..Happy Lemon! Milk teas are getting popular already here but this is still my favorite among the rest. We ordered different beverages for the 4 of us. Love to drink this when you're enjoying a nice chat with your colleagues.

From L to R: Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese. Lemon Pineapple with Nata de Coco (with add on pearl sago). Deluxe Cocoa with Pudding and Pearl sago. Crispy Cocoa Milk Tea with Brown Sugar Jelly.

NYX Lippies: I love NYX! although looking for their cosmetics is a hassle since some stores inside malls sell these stuffs more expensive than when you order them on facebook and multiply. Bought the soft matte lip creams at Somera Glorietta 5 for Php390. While i bought the matte lipsticks at Digital Traincase' booth inside megatrade hall (weekend sale at Megamall) for Php300. If you want to try these make-up it's best to buy them at Digital Traincase' multiply site or through the owner's ortigas store.

These lippies are so amazing. All of them are pigmented and vibrant on my lips. Their matte lipsticks are easier to apply than my EB matte lipsticks. You just have to apply lip balm first to avoid having chapped lips after. Definitely a great find and i want to get their other shades.

Swatches L to R: NYX matte lipstick in Angel and Strawberry Daiquiri. NYX soft matte lip cream in Addis Ababa and Antwerp.

Hope you had a Happy Weekend!

NOTD: Zebra print nails

I love animal print designs, may it be in bags, clothing or in any kind of accessories. So here's my zebra printed nail art as my NOTD.

It's very quick and easy to do. You'll surely find lots of tutorials at Youtube. All you need to have is a white nail polish as base, a black nail polish for the stripes and a nail art brush. I used Sassy colors nail polish in black which has a nail art brush already to paint the stripes. Price : Php26.00 (bought mine at Watsons).

Till my next NOTD =P

NOTD: Caress Diamond Gay

I love nail polishes from Caress, so i've decided to use this gray shade on my nails in lieu also from the gloomy weather we have here. 

with flash

without flash

 I used Caress nail polish in Diamond Gay and San San nail polish in Artic Green on my ring finger.

Short review

Pros: Love the cream finish of Caress. Great pigmentation also. Easy application for the San San nail polish.

Cons: Not smooth application for the Caress nail polish.

Hope you like it!

Haul: Nail Polish, Shawill & Beauty Treats

Here are the items i've bought on a payday weekend at Landmark:

Nail polish from Bobbie & Caress and make-up

I've been lemming for nail polishes lately so i've decided to buy new shades from Bobbie's glitz collection and from Caress.

Bobbie nail polish in Star Gazer, Solar Burst and Supernova

Star Gazer nail polish is my current favorite as i can apply it directly on my nails without base color. The combination of light pink polish and silver glitters/sparkles is very dainty and girly. Solar Burst meanwhile reminds me of christmas and i have to apply base color first to make the glitters pop. Supernova is the most pigmented of the three with the combination of dark blue polish and green sparkles on it. I'll definitely try this one next!

back view

Swatch of Star Gazer & Solar Burst on my nails (sorry for the blurry pic)

Caress is also coming up with interesting nail polish colors. And i love their pastel shades.

Caress nail polish in Sweet Almond, Rich Cream and Avocado

Sweet Almond is like muted mint green in my nails and is also my current favorite. While Avocado's color is bright yellow green although i have to apply almost three coats to make it more opaque.

Shawill blusher #1 & Beauty Treats Lipstick in Natural

I bought the shawill blush on because of its peachy color with a little bit of gold shimmers on it. The SA told me it's their bestseller color. Price is Php99.00 only. And i fell in love with the swatch of the beauty treats lipstick so i bought it despite its bulky container. Price is Php249.00. Lipstick looks matte to me and has a slight perfume related smell =)

Swatch without flash : On top (Shawill blusher #1), Down (Beauty Treats Lipstick in Natural)

Swatch with flash

That ends my weekend haul for July!

New Addiction : Kimmidolls

This day is a very rainy and gloomy Sunday but nothing can stop me and youngest sister to grace the malls and watch our planned movie. We went to Greenbelt 1 and watched Pirates of the Caribbean 4 but before that we visited Caffe Ti Amo first to try their Italian Gelato. And since Fully booked is nearby (located one floor below), i wasted no time to look for Kimmidolls in this bookstore. I first saw Kimmidolls through a random blog i surfed yesterday and they also have a facebook page of their Philippine distributor.

                                       My first Kimmidoll keychain named Megumi

I'm always fascinated with Japanese art and tradition. May it be origami or their traditional japanese dolls. I actually bought 2 japanese wooden figurines before at Trinoma even though it's not really authentically japan made hehe. But now that i found this here in the market, the kid in me is starting to itch collecting these stuffs starting now.

What is a Kimmidoll:

Kimmidoll is a brand based on Kokeshi dolls. These Kokeshi dolls are usually made by wood artisans in Japan and these are being given as tokens of love and friendship. It's also traditionally being given as gifts for newborn babies as a lucky charm.

 The first one i got is Megumi which stands for "Goodness". And each doll has a description of their virtue. I bought the keychain doll since i can place it in my make up kit or wherever i feel like putting it. These dolls are just plain adorable for me. They sell all types of keepsakes from stationeries, school supplies and just their famous figurines in different sizes.

Price: Php295.00

Location: Fullybooked branches, Stretchbooks in Greenbelt 1, Biblioarch Glorietta and even in Rustans.

Website: http://www.kimmidoll.com/

                                          closed up picture of Megumi (so cute!)

Well, this is not the end of it and i'm hoping i can hoard again on my pay day. My mom informed me that they found lots of these in Rustans Gateway mall before and she feels i'm going to like it. And she's right! =)

Sparkling Gradient Nails

For my holy week break, aside from Visita Inglesia and having lots of time to rest, is the best time to paint my nails again for some new nail art. I've seen lots of gradient nail tutorials online and in youtube and with limited resources that i have in my nail polish stash, this is what i have come up with...

My violet gradient nails looks like you've come from a party and the visible circle glitters looks like disco balls. And since i have lots of violet nail polish in my inventory, i used all of them in this experimented artwork.

And the keyword to learn this is : LAYERING. You must have a light, medium and dark shade of violet nail polish and layer your nails from the half part up to bottom using your spare makeup sponge. Then top it off with any glitter nail polish and top coat.

The fun part is that you can experiment using any nail polish you have as long as you got a light and dark hue and just add intensity and double your sponging technique for a gradient effect. 

Till my next nail art post! =P