miss independent

First off, happy new year to everyone! It's now 2010 - we have another year to rock out and just be our fantabulous selves! As usual, since today marks the start of a new year, everyone's into making their resolutions so I'm joining the bandwagon! Haha! I had no plans to go out during the Christmas break so most of my time was spent online - checking my Facebook account, going through my favorite forums and researching about not-so-important stuff. While looking for stuff to do in Facebook, I chanced upon an application from Coke Zero where you would post your resolutions for the coming year and if yours was chosen to be the one of the best, you might even win an exclusive iPod Nano especially designed for Coke plus a Nike + iPod Kit.  I didn’t join for the prize since as mentioned in my earlier post , I already have these babies. I just thought that this is a good exercise for me to really ponder on the things I need to do for my personal improvement. The fir

After going to the dentist for my root canal (which is not yet done, btw; I still have to go back on Monday) and Baclaran to get some Chinese meds, I headed to Gateway for a meet-up with the person who bought my PDA. On my way back to the train station, I happened to pass by a DQ stall in Farmer's Plaza. A small poster of their new product caught my eye but I didn't give much attention until I realized that there's a phrase "mint chocolate" in it. Since I'm such a sucker for mint chocolates (Kendi Mint was my cheap comfort food.), I took a few steps back and bought myself one.   For just Php35 a pop, who can resist this lovely treat? As soon as I took my first bite, I instantly felt bliss. I walked around the mall while munching on my sweet find. Happiness indeed.

I had long been a user of Creative because it offers a lot of features as compared to its more popular rival, the iPod, which only functions as an mp3/mp4 player (then). My first Creative was the Zen Stone Plus which was very handy and stylish since I used to wear it around my neck making it look like a pendant. For a size that small, I was really amazed that it already has a voice recorder, an FM radio, and stopwatch among its other features. However, it just stopped working one fateful day. I  didn't anticipate its death to be so soon because I only had it for 2 years and it was still playing perfectly a day before that. Since I really can't bear not listening to music while commuting, I finally decided to get a replacement. I did a lot of research prior to my purchase and found my perfect match in Creative Zen X-Fi: This baby is packed with lots of features: a video player, photo viewer, voice recorder, FM radio, calendar, SD card slot, speaker and of course, the X

Christmas is in the air once again! Of course, the block can't miss having a Christmas party. Initially, my blockmates were considering Banapple in Il Terrazzo, however, when I called them up, I was informed that they don't offer reservations. So as I was chatting with my friend Karen via Facebook to finalize the plans, I was also searching for other restaurants in Timog or Tomas Morato area since Karen's place is along Mother Ignacia. Thanks to Google, I chanced upon this restaurant called "Wicked Kitchen" and their spunky name has definitely called my attention. I did further research and my curiosity for the place grew even further as I read lots of positive reviews. Since none from the block offered other suggestions, I asked my two colleagues if they already agree with Wicked Kitchen, fortunately, they conceded so we updated everyone about the change in our dinner venue. The place was kinda small but good thing all 14 of us fit comfortably in the dining a

After visiting the dentist to finish the procedure on my tooth, I decided to go with my sister who was supposed to buy me a vitamin C serum for my recently lasered facial skin. When we got to the mall, we immediately headed to Healthy Options for Avalon C Vitality serum . Since I've also read from Girltalk that Zinc helps in healing the skin and preventing breakouts, I also bought a bottle of Zinc Picolinate. As we were heading to a resto for our merienda, I saw this poster displayed in a Watch Republic store: The cute watch design plus the affordable price caught my eye so I asked my sister if she was also interested to get one. Since I could sense that she also liked it but was only hesitant since she didn't have the budget for it, I offered to pay for it first through my credit card. We went inside the store to ask if these babies were still available but unfortunately, we were told that it was already sold out. Since I knew that Watch Republic also holds a concession

Great news! My fellow girltalker, herroyalbleakness is currently having a contest! I'm really hoping to be one of the lucky winners of the Laser Hair Removal treatment so I can finally raise my arms high confidently! Just click this link to join this contest: The Beauty Bin contest Good luck to all of us!

I almost forgot that it's my mom's birthday today since I promised to watch New Moon (or 2012) with my blockmates the other day. Tsk tsk. To appease myself for this personal guilt, I decided to treat my mom for dinner in MOA since I know that she has never been there. I was initially considering "Bed Scene" because I really wanted to have a non-traditional dining experience (with dim lights, underwater ambiance, and sitting on beds with pillows) for a change. However, I realized that my mom and sister might not be too comfortable with this kind of set-up since the place is really intended for friends to hangout while drinking beer and other cocktails. After reading positive reviews in some blogs and in Girltalk, I decided to make a reservation in Tokyo Cafe instead. Every time I go to MOA, I've always been tempted to try this out because of the cute artificial food displays in front of their restaurant, finally I got to eat here at last! Here are the stuff w

Since I’ve been receiving newsletters from the Alumni Association through “The Blue Post,” I got to know about the upcoming fun run in Ateneo for the benefit of funding the scholarships of 500 students. Owing my free education to Ateneo, I realized that I should join this fun run as a way of giving back. At first, I was hesitant to join since the first press release was that the fee was P350 for a 2.8k run without a singlet. Thinking that the fee was a bit expensive given such deals, I already didn’t consider joining anymore. Since running is still a fad in the office, some invited me to join the Animo run and Timex run. I almost signed up for Animo run but I was not quite comfortable of wearing a La Salle jersey. Not that I have anything against La Salle nor I am one of the staunch believers of school rivalry, even if it was any other school, I would still feel uncomfortable wearing something that does not represent my alma mater. The Timex run, on the other hand, was quite expensi

Despite the urge to sleep more so I can unload all the stress I got during the week, I fought off the lazy bug and still left the house early for the ocular inspection and planning for the teambuilding activity of my org. I opted to take the Skyway jeep (despite the threat of pollution and soot going into my face) instead of the shuttle since I might need to wait long if I rode in the latter.  While walking on my way to the building, I’ve been texting Ms Sally so I’d know if she could make it on time. We waited for others to arrive and then rode in one of the company vans. To keep ourselves entertained during the long travel, we talked about a variety of topics – Philamlife’s employee privileges during the old times, photography, getting a husband, etc. After an hour on the road, we finally reached La Mesa Eco Park.  It was my first time to go there and part of the reason for joining the Teambuilding committee was the opportunity to visit La Mesa Eco Park. Since this was still a p

It's Friday the 13th but "the day of bad luck" didn't stop me to shop! As mentioned in my earlier post, I’ve been looking forward to the Privado sale in One Esplanade since I needed to buy a watch. Good thing my officemate dropped by our area and I learned that he was also headed to MOA that night, so I went with him riding a cab.  When I arrived at the venue, I was surprised that it was a glitzy event. I was expecting that since it was a sale event, it would be similar to the set-up in an ABCI sale or a bazaar at the World Trade Center. Apparently, the program lineup included a fashion show and a charity auction. There were gorgeous models (Brazilian, I assume), businessmen, diplomats, and socialites who graced the venue. I was quite relieved that I somehow dressed up so I won’t look like I didn’t have the capacity to pay for the items I’ll get. [Back in college, I already had a bad experience in Landmark where the saleslady implied such when I asked her about th

Finally, after the failed mission last night, I already got to pay for the pixel sessions at Skin Care Solutions. When I called their clinic to inquire a few days ago, it seemed that the doctor was quite hesitant in accepting credit card payment even though her secretary already confirmed this through text. I explained to the doctor that I had a very tight budget then and my cash was already allotted for other purposes. She considered my reason and allowed me to pay for the 2 sessions using my trusty Citi plastic. While I was waiting for my payment to be processed, I mentioned to her that I had already undergone pixel laser procedure last August in Makati Med. However, despite the “glow” it gave my face, the depressed scars are still very prominent and I still get very conscious especially under overhead lighting [e.g. elevator lighting!]. She made me go near her to check if the scars were indeed bad. She assured me that they were barely noticeable and I didn’t need to undergo the pr

I took a leave for the whole day since I thought that we might not have enough time if I’d still go to work. Besides, I didn’t want to come to the office looking haggard after commuting to the dentist’s office in Kabihasnan. My mom told me that there were shuttles going to Lawton which we can ride going to Kabihasnan, however, when we got to the terminal, the FX vehicles which passed by didn’t seem to take passengers. I was already getting disappointed so I urged my mom to just ride the jeepney despite the thought of being exposed in car exhaust since I really couldn’t bear the heat of the sun. Luckily, while we were waiting for the jeepney to be full, we saw the shuttle stop by the terminal and took the passengers waiting under the shade of a big umbrella. Apparently, we were waiting at the wrong terminal! We arrived at the clinic at around lunch time and I was the first one served by the dentist. My right molar was saved from further cavities by putting pasta, while one of my fro

ugh, i've been wanting to compose a lot of entries today but this skyooopid laptop doesn't seem to cooperate! this is really stressing me out! every time i view a page, it always starts at the very bottom and when i try scrolling it up, it still won't budge because the scroll bar just go downwards and i just see my screen blinking because of the opposing directions. to cope with it, i had to hold "control+home" just to read the topmost part of the webpage. i also use page up and page down to get to the middle sections. what's worse, i'm really finding a hard time inserting text because the cursor always goes to the end of the line. super hassle! i hate it! i'll just post my other entries when this skyooopid laptop has already been repaired.  i've been longing to replace this skyooopid laptop just 2 months after purchasing it because i bought this on an impulse - not putting much thought if this would really give value for my money. talk about

t hanks to shopcrazy , i got to know about this much-awaited sale event! i've been on a lookout for eyewear and watches for the longest time and thank heavens for sale events like this because i find mall prices to be a wee bit expensive. :) being a cheapskate, i just opt to window shop in ebay and find myself drooling over the watches that i like. yes, i just window shop and drool because even if i already found the watch that i like, when i check on my bank account, it's then that i realize how poor i am. it's really sad, being a graduate of economics, i should know how to budget my hard-earned meager salary. oh well, that really sucks. good thing this sale accepts credit cards and installment ! wee! but just to make it clear, i'm not a slave of that infamous plastic, ok? i pay my bills in full and on time so i don't incur interest. if there's anything that i really hate paying for, that would be interest charges! darn, it's really a waste of money b

LOMA was officially over. At last, I finished all the exams for the FLMI designation and now all I have to do is wait for the results on December 5. I only took the Actuarial exam for an hour (time allocated was 3 hours) and didn’t even bother to check my answers. For as long as there are no numbers left blank, that’s already good enough for me. Since I was not very confident about how I reviewed, I even took a half-day leave from work just to have time to answer the sample exams that I photocopied. It took me almost 2 hours to get to the office since the shuttle had to be full before leaving, and alas, the arrival of people was very slow. Actually, I could’ve gotten in the previous shuttle that was about to leave when I arrived at the terminal, if not for some kiddo who appeared from nowhere. Of course, the bitch in me was so furious that I inadvertently mouthed curse words and frowned the whole time. Me and my short-temper. I should really take lessons in Anger Management. Too ba