Monday, October 25, 2010

surprise, surprise.


It all started with a surprise announcement at Cookbook Kitchen about a month ago.

Tetah and Daks--ENGAGED! :)

My Forever Girls also known as BMG (Barkadahang Magastos)
Super ecstatic with the big news!

Of course, we ought to follow tradition so Jego planned a surprise bridal shower for the bride-to-be. Our venue: Lancaster Suites!

The Mastermind

The happy minions
Irene, Tin, and Jatts

The excited ones
Jego, Binder, Biggie, and me

Biggie's very high school lettering

The food courtesy of Deb, Chip, Caloi, Vina, and Jatts

And now, time to watch the big reveal!



Iiyak na yan! Iiyak na yan!
HAHAHA!

We are so happy for you, Mrs. de Leon-to-be! Weee!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Raket Science: Airbrush Makeup for Claire


I've had my airbrush system for the longest time. I used it for a couple of gigs already but this is actually the first time that I was able to play with it for a photo shoot.

Claire's Before and After

Photos by Chie Zamora
Makeup by Kabbie Rodriguez

So my darling brides, let me know if you want to upgrade, ok? Teehee. :)

Fun(ny) Find: Fastfood Masahista


Ano ang meron sa Burger King na wala sa McDo at Jollibee?

Onion rings.

Ano pa?

Eto oh:

The Fastfood Masahista.

Now, who wants a massage while eating burger and fries? Anyone?

At first I thought that the man brought the therapist with him on purpose. But why would he do that? I mean, c'mon, is it normal to get a massage while eating at a fast food joint? It's so...bizarre. Then I checked the lady's nameplate and it says: "Have it your way". So okay, it's really Burger King's value added service! HAHAHA!

*Spotted this at Robinsons Galleria.

shady halloween.


And the Regine's Gift Shop post continues. This time around, it's all about eye wear. If you're still on the lookout for anything weird to wear for Halloween, well, maybe this could help.

So why don't you...

...go as a masquerade beauty?

OR

...as wizard boy Harry Potter?

OR

...a confuzzled scientist?

OR

...just a plain dork?
(sayang I can't open the packaging eh)

FUN! :)

*These costume shades are available at Regine's Gift Shop, 2nd level of Shoppesville, Greenhills Shopping Center. Price starts at P50.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Fun Find: Crying Chickens.

It's been a while since my sister and I visited Greenhills so we really had a blast window shopping today. One of our favorite places to go to is Regine's Gift Shop just because they have so many interesting items that you can play around with.

Look at what Daria saw:

Freaked-out chickens.
Ano ang ibig sabihin ng "ONE TRY ONLY PLS"?

Find out here:



HILARIOUS!
Who would buy that? Hahaha!


*These "crying" chickens are sold at Regine's Gift Shop, 2nd Level of Shoppesville, Greenhills Shopping Center.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Fun Find: Cool Vendo

Speaking of refs, meet its cool kapamilya.

Oooooh.

We chanced upon this vendo machine while I was getting cash from the ATM. Looks hi-tech to us! Hahaha! My sister, Daria, immediately tried it (she bought a bottle of Coke) while I was busy banking. My oh my, she got so giddy when she saw how the machine works that she wanted me to experience it too. This was how our conversation went:

Daria: Karen, bilis bili ka!
Me: Di ako nauuhaw eh. Teka pano ba mahuhulog yung bote? Saan lulusot?
Daria: Bili ka na kasi para makita mo! Sige na eto 5 pesos dagdagan mo nalang.
Me: Ano ba pinakamura dyan? Ah yun, tubig 15 pesos.
Mitor: Ano ba yan gagastos ka ng 15 pesos para lang sa tubig? Piliin mo na yung may lasa, yung Minute Maid oh.
Me: Mas gusto ko Tropicana eh (unfortunately walang Tropicana)
Daria: Bilis na kahit ano nalang! (excited, much?)

Now watch how it works here!



We are so shallow and I love it!

HAHAHA!

*This vendo machine is located at the 2nd level of Shoppesville, Greenhills Shopping Center.

* Daria is not my sister's real name. I just call her that because they somehow act and think alike plus she's a huge fan of the show. Hehehe.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Fun Find: Mother Lily's Brand New Ref


There's actually a lot of good finds at the Mega Sale if you have the patience for it. Look at what we saw on our way to Ace Hardware:

Toshiba refrigerators now 50% off!

Sold to Mother Lily for only P14,599!
Wagi!


*Toshiba marked-down refs are available at the entrance of SM Appliances, lower ground floor, Mega B. :)

Friday, October 15, 2010

mom and mall-wide sales.

I was trained to shop wisely since I was young. That, I think, is the reason why pulling out and hunting for good finds seems so natural to me. Every time there's a mall-wide sale, Mom would take me and my sister with her and we'd spend the whole day shopping for bargains. Divisoria, Baclaran, 168, Tutuban...you name it, we've shopped there. Not to mention, Mom used to have a stall in Greenhills back in the 80's which explains why we know that tiangge kingdom from corner to corner and never got lost in the middle of the chaos.

Now that I'm always busy with work, and Mom's arthritis/rheumatism limits her from walking a lot like she used to, we hardly ever go to mall-wide sales anymore. I missed that a lot. More than anything, I missed spending time with her.

So about 3 days ago, I blocked off my whole Friday and told my Mom that I'd take her to the Mega Sale on her birthday. She got really excited or make that, SUPER excited that she woke me up by 7am so we can go there early! But I am not that desperate to shop so I slept until 10am and we were at SM Megamall an hour later.

Our first stop: SM Department Store.

Mom and her portable walker

First on the agenda was to check if the Van Huesen clothes are on 70% off and get a few pieces for Dad. Unfortunately, 50% off lang so Mom decided not to buy. That's how kuripot she is. HAHAHA.

Next was to buy her makeup. The lines were too long at the cashier so we changed our minds, dropped our items and moved on.

Third on our mental list was to buy my desk lamp. We headed to Ace Hardware and got this baby for P825.

And then there was light!

Then we decided to check out Forever 21. And look what welcomed us:

Reminded me of Wowowee in Ultra.
Buti nalang walang stampede. Afraidddd.

CRAZY!!! I had no intention of going inside but the guard saw my mom with her walker and gave us a free pass. Senior citizen perks, eh? As soon as we entered the store, I wanted to leave. The lines to the cashier were soooo long that there's actually not enough space to look around for stuff anymore. What the heck, I'm not that crazy so after 5 minutes we left. Told ya I was trained to shop wisely! If the line's too long, surrender! Hahaha!

I kinda felt bad for the other local retailers, though. Wala masyado tao! Everyone was going gaga over Forever 21! And that worked to my advantage because I was able to score a couple of tops in my "secret list of overlooked stores" without having to fall a single line. Sweet!

After that, we headed home and continued Mom's celebration with good food.

Make a wish!

Happy grandparents with Liam, the first grandson. Oh you lucky kid.

What a feast!
Crispy pata, honey-roasted chicken, lumpiang shanghai, and pancit!
Delicioso!

Hope you enjoyed our date, Mom! Let's do this more often, sale or no sale. Haha! I love you!

P.S.
Aren't you glad that I didn't use your credit card? See, I can handle my money now. You should be proud. LOL

Mr. Pure Energy.

Gary Valenciano's energy is not just pure, folks. It's LEGENDARY. Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to witness this incredible artist perform right in front of my eyes at the Music Museum (super thanks, Louie A!). You see, I've always been a fan of this guy but I don't know what took me so long before I managed to watch him live. And what made me feel even more luckier? Louie scored really good seats for us, as in next to the VIPs! :)

The who?
Clues: J. ASAP. Dynamite.

In no time, our area was surrounded by ASAP talents. They were nice to look at, to say the least. But I'm not the type who'd go out of my way to take their photographs, so there. Hehehe.

The real VIP.

Gary opened the show from the back door, singing "Hataw Na!". I remember dancing to this song when I was young. Haaay, memories.

Singing from the heart.

If I were to describe his show in one word, it would be...HEARTFELT. It's amazing how he took us back in time with his numerous hits that made an impact in our lives, in one way or another. He is just so REAL in every sense of the word.

I think every person in the audience had their own emo moments during the show and I am definitely no exception. Mine was this:

He started the segment by talking about a father's unconditional love. The way he expresses his love for his children is just so admirable. Keana, his youngest daughter, is about to turn 18 this year, and he said that no matter how old she is, for him, he will always be this playful little girl:

An old video clip of Gary teaching 4-year old Keana how to sing.

Oh my gosh, tears just started rolling nonstop! It was sooo sweet and lovely. Words are not enough, really. Then moments later, Keana and Gab appeared on stage.

They sang "The Climb" together...

...while Gab played the piano.
Apart from dancing, this guy can also play instruments. What a revelation!

The concert had a number of guests, too.

Jericho Rosales can really sing live, and in tune ha. I likey!
Plus, he composed "Pusong Ligaw" all by himself. Way to go, crush!

Duncan Ramos actually performed with Gary V when he was a kid.
And boy, he can dance pala!

The last part was the "request" segment, where Gary graciously sang whatever the audience wanted to hear. Nakakaaliw, super. And did I mention that I was just one seat apart from rubbing elbows with this guy?

Sam Milby!
This photo is for you, cousin Toni. Haha!

What an amazing show! Can't wait to watch him again in the future! GARY V. ROCKS!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Dine In: Bellini's

Last weekend, I was in the mood for some indie/oldie culture so I asked the mighty BF to take me to Cubao Ex.

I like!

I've been trying to convince my mom for the longest time to convert our sewing machine into a desk that I can use. Well, until now she won't budge. Heirloom piece issues. Le sigh.

After going around the stores (sorry, no other photos coz I was so busy window shopping and wasn't in a "tourist" mode), we got hungry so we ended up here:

Bellini's.

It was our second time in this Italian resto and we love this place for its cozy ambiance and feel-good food. The music is a plus, too. The blind man is as talented as any other singer out there. He's not John Mayer, but hey, we like singing along with him when we know the song (sometimes he sings super old ones kasi).

Painted ceiling.

This is what you call true passion.
That's Mr. Bellini, the owner, waiting tables. I admire the fact that he's still so hands-on, given that he has enough staff to do the work for him.

Here's what we ordered:

Seafood pasta.
My verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
This is soo good that we had to order another one! Remember to sprinkle some parmesan. Delicioso!

Roasted chicken something-something.
(Geez, I'm really bad at remembering food names)
My verdict: 4 out of 5 stars
Very tasty, but a tad too salty

Satisfied customer.

The happy girlfriend.
Bought the "Cyclops" shades at I Love You Store for P300.

Fun Find: Call and Surf--just insert coins!

I don't own a Blackberry, a netbook, or an Ipad. I don't use my Nokia's 3G thing too, because I'm weird like that. More of a phone bill paranoia, actually. So on rare occasions when I badly need to check my email while doing my usual mall rounds and there's no free Wi-fi available, I just end up renting from some random Internet shop. Haha, I know, the cost is pretty much the same as using my phone's 3G access but what the heck, the screen's bigger at internet shops. Ha!

Now, for people who do not have Wi-fi/3G enabled phones, or your phone's battery suddenly died just when you need to attend to urgent matters, or (insert whatever reason here) , well oh well, you might find this really interesting.

Globe's Hi-tech Pay Phone

Up close. How cool is that?!

The rates.
Just P5 for 5 minutes of surfing! Not bad at all.

*Spotted this at Trinoma Mall, North wing.