Saizen Mud Pack

Have you heard of that Japanese store, Saizen, where you can buy stuffs for 85 pesos each? A store where you'll find quirky stuffs which will make you wonder what the hell are they thinking inventing these things: 

e.g. Banana keeper - a container specifically designed to keep a banana from bruising. IKR.

There you'll find crazy stuffs with even crazier english-translated instructions. You'll definitely kill a lot of time being amazed by the Japanese's creativity and innovations (even on the darndest little things). You'll also find yourself wanting to buy random stuffs, swearing you definitely needed them even though you've survived most of your life having no clue they existed at all:  

e.g. Portable ashtrays - you'll never have to flick ash on the floor anymore. Seriously?

Since my cousin works there as a manager, she gave me a tour while explaining the usages of their items. She said they barely had sales that day so she forced me to buy some things. Fine. I carefully picked out things I could actually use (or eat). One of the items I chose is a mud pack, I found out afterwards that there have been raves about this product which made me felt good about the purchase. 

It's just a mask! Don't freak out.

The package did not come with english instructions so I basically just followed my mud pack instinct. I let my pores open up first by patting my face with a warm towelette. Then I covered my face with the mask, waited until it's dry enough and peeled it off. It was surprisingly black and glossy at first but it dried out matte. The whole process took half an hour. I was so excited to peel it and watch those darn black heads say goodbye to my epidermis! True enough, it was effective! My face even felt a lot smoother afterwards. 

But one thing worth mentioning, co-incidence or not, I woke up with some red rashes on my face. I got so dang nervous about them but just before I freaked out, they're gone. Yes, they voluntarily disappeared after some few hours. Did the mask cause it? I don't know, but there's only one way to find out. 

photos from here and here. 

A Night to Recover

Socks, Pajamas, Blanket and a Cat - my version of Biogesic

Yesterday, I summoned all my guts to go to a doctor. I never feared doctors before because I knew I was only getting checked for minor illnesses (fever, tonsilitis, uti). But yesterday was a different story. It took me two weeks of self-medication and procrastination before I finally went to one. What held me back was the thought of "what the hell is wrong with me", because it wasn't an obvious sickness. I got something on my throat which are too disgusting to discuss. My usual paranoid self deduced it right away to cancer, mouth gonorrhea (WTF, right? Really, wtf am I thinking?) or anything horrible and life threatening.

As the ENT specialist checked my throat with a scope (showed it on a monitor which made the whole deal a hundred times more eeew), he told me it was just another case of tonsilitis which infected my adenoids. Normally, adenoids shrink after childhood. And guess what, in my case, they didn't. Just my luck!

I'm happy it was barely life-threatening, to prove, I was just prescribed to take a total of three pills. Still, I felt a little feverish that night so I resorted to my favorite things to feel better. Socks, pajamas, blanket, Plicka my cat and a warm peppermint tea! And for the record, I slept at 12am - my earliest sleep this year!

Pre Cana

One of the requirements before getting married is an attendance to an interview plus seminar done by the Church. We were scheduled to have it last July 9.


The interview was conducted by the priest. It lasted for a good 5 minutes - half of that revolved around my boyfriend's job. Too bad, we actually prepared for some gruesome questions concerning sex, drugs, abortion and the likes. And all we had was one lousy question regarding both parties' sanity. Yeah, he asked if by any chance, we had mentally-unstable relatives. I was kinda surprised but it was explained to me that mental condition may be a ground for annulment. Are neighbors included?


Okay... moving on to the Pre Cana Seminar. It was led by a third party group who usually does this stuff. We joined other couples for half a day, listening and sharing. Though they did most of the sharing. I don't know, I was never comfortable talking about my love life , well at least in person (coz here I am, blogging about it, lol). And I cringed on their stories. Yeah, they're sweet and all, but hey, we're still strangers! I don't wanna hear about your nagkadevelopan stories. TMI people, TMI.


Yes, I seemed very inattentive all through out, as a matter of fact, the speaker called for my attention at one point because I was "whispering" (i never thought it was that loud) as she was speaking. But hey, I picked up the whole point. I was even touched by the explanation why it was named "pre-cana". If you've absorbed some lessons on Religion subject way back in elementary days, you'll remember that Jesus performed His very first miracle in a wedding in Cana (water turned into wine). So yeah, it was nothing but suitable to relate it to that. Which made me somehow wish He would do the same on our wedding, but then I realized I am not a wine-drinker myself. And besides, I am thankful enough for the wedding, finding the perfect guy who can put up with me is already a miracle. Lol.


Another thing we were thought that time is was the power of prayer. Of course, we do pray. But it becomes more remarkable if we pray not only for ourselves but for others too. You see, it's not consumable. Praying is without limit, so never for a moment think that you're wasting your chance of praying if you prayed for other people too.


Lastly, they thought us something, which in my opinion is the best advice they can ever give to couples. That is to keep every quarrels to themselves. It was even pointed out specifically, "never include your parents to your fights". Hahah. I knew a lot of people living a life of hell because their parents-in-law perceive them as someone flawed - someone unworthy. Why? Because their partners made them seem that way each time they narrate every nasty imperfections the other one have. So I totally agree to that. Actually, we both agreed to that. We have practiced that from day 1, so until now, his parents still think I'm an angel and my parents still adores him so much too (even if we broke up several times already, hah!).

May You be Guided Back Home

You are the most common-looking dog we ever had. You are noisy, fidgety and stubborn. Despite of that, you are definitely funny, sweet and most of all, lovable. You make funny noises only you are capable of every time you're being scolded. Which is why it's so impossible to get mad at you.

I just hate why is it in every dog's genes to go out of the gate to chase cars, stray dogs and people aimlessly. I hate it why they have to get lost when their tracks get washed out by the rain. I hate the fact that you might had been run over by a car or captured by some stupid, dog-eating drunkards (Oh God forbid that!).

Boy, you got me heartbroken. I still hope you're still out there, having fun. Just come home when you get hungry or tired. May you be guided back home. I miss you already, my iPod. You know you're my bff.

A Break from all the Hype

I've been very busy lately with all those wedding preparations and all. This week, I took a little break from all the hype to do some other things for others and for myself. Here's my week's worth of events.


June 22
My mom was invited by her sisters-in-law to watch their most favorite band in the world. Nope, not Spongecola, not Parokya ni Edgar, not even the Hotdogs. They have been following this band for quite some time like crazy teenage groupies! Behold: the most talked about band in our clan! The Draybers!

The Draybers

I know right, who the hell are the Draybers?! All I know is that they perform every Wednesday on Pagcor Angeles and Tuesdays (not sure) on Pagcor Clark. It was a Wednesday. My mom was so excited to watch that she asked my boyfriend to drive for her. It was raining so hard but we didn't mind. Deep inside, I was also excited by the fact that I'm going inside the Casino itself. You see, I haven't entered that darn establishment ever since it was erected oh so gloriously. Its facade is quite intimidating with all its gigantic architectural ornaments. Why would a commoner like me enter that million-dollar-looking thing, and to think, I can't even afford a hundred-peso coffee, what more a hundred-peso chip for a single game. Oh well. That's what I thought. As soon as I entered, all my dream bubbles burst! There was nothing fancy about it! The interior looked fairly old, the carpet was a little dirty and honestly, its players looked nothing but common too! Hahah.. so it was all me and my imagining mind, who thought that this place was a fancy one. 



While my mom, with my aunts, watched their "idols", me and my boyfriend roamed around and fought every single cell in me that wanted to place a bet. I didn't know I had a potential gambling problem! I realized it when I sat on a slot machine, a very beautiful one, and inserted my hundred-peso bill. Cheap, I know. But heck, I enjoyed every press I made on that SPIN button. 

A wonderland for adults.

I won several times but I lost a lot more. That hundred peso was succeeded by several others and before I knew it, I was begging my boyfriend to give me some more.  I was definitely on a high. He didn't give in and tried to control me. So there, we just went back to watch those Draybers sing "knock three times... on the ceiling if you want me". They're good in all fairness. 


June 25
My brother's girlfriend went home from abroad for a week-long vacation. She's wonderful enough to invite me and my boyfriend to join their family getaway in Fontana Waterpark. I love beaches, but I do love waterparks even more! I guess the child in me is more dominant than the 2-piece clad adult in me. I spent the whole day eating, swimming, playing, eating, swimming some more, posing for photos and did I already mention eating? It was an ultimate relaxation. It's complete with a wave pool, three ginormous slides, a big horn, hot spring, olympic size pool, lazy river and some water factories for kids! It reminded me of Singapore's Jurong Sports Complex, only better. Why? Because I wasn't swimming with some smelly people. (Oops, I'm not stereotyping, I just happened to swim with actual smelly people that time).

A wonderland for children and children-at-heart alike.

June 27
Since my brother's gf's here. We planned a little surprise for her. Actually, it was not little at all, it was a mega humongous legen, wait for it, dary kind of plan. He was going to PROPOSE! The plan was to fill his car with balloons and flowers, put the ring beside them while the car stereo's blastin' "don't say no no no no no, just say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" (Marry you by Bruno Mars). My brother gave me some cash to buy and set everything up while they roamed around the mall. She didn't have a clue that me and my boyfriend were in that same mall, setting something up for her. He parked the car on the same spot where she first said "yes" to him to be his girlfriend (he's gonna kill me if he read all this details here so I'm hoping he never gets to find this blog). 

25 pcs balloons, they got to see only 23. One popped out and the other flew away.

And of course she said yes and now they're officially engaged. I'm happy and excited to have a beautiful sister like her!


June 29
Ever since I've seen Bruce Willis' movie 6th Sense, I've always taken pleasure in watching horror/suspense movies! It's like a substitute for a roller coaster ride. Same heart-pounding fun! My top list includes Sukob, Paranormal Activities 1 and 2, Fragile, The Eye (original version) among others. Since I've read some raves about this new movie, Insidious, I decided to torture beg my boyfriend for some accompaniment. 
During the movie, there were some scary and shout-educing moments. But no, it did not land to my top list. The ghosts looks very lame, the plot was somehow predictable in the middle of the movie and the gulat-style was very classic! Really! I mean they must have done that in purpose, I read a review just now by Bruce Diones on Rotten Tomatoes and it said "Wan and Whannell have, in effect, ripped pages from the "Poltergeist" playbook and stripped the formulas down to old-style gothic scares." That's exactly what I'm meaning to say, gothic scares! 
Well I can't say it's a total waste of time. It's not that bad anyway, but it didn't keep me awake all night or make me sleep with my mom either.  

Even the title screen screams classic!