First of all, I’m not pregnant.

God bless you all ❤️

I came across this site, tryandreview.com and saw that they were looking for product testers and reviewers for free. Since I have a very tolerant skin, I signed up for the first product I encountered which was the new Garnier Serum Mask - HYDRA BOMB.

Cool name, huh. The BOMB. The name alone gives a notion that your face will be soaking with extreme hydration. It also reminds me of this drink we used to buy in a BGC Mall: something like Hula-Hula Bomb.

I must say, it is really nice to have these websites that give honest reviews about a product, and that's their goal here, complete honesty, to help consumers make informed buying decisions.

So, this Sunday afternoon, I opened the parcel it came in and read my welcome letter. It's sort of a welcome but the title is really "CONGRATULATIONS".

Here's me with it anyway: (I submitted the same photo to the website, a requirement)

As per the product description, it's a tissue mask that infuses skin with 1 week of serum in 1 mask.

I have a normal skin, so I really don't need that much of the hydration, but again, this was a free product for me to review.

Upon applying the mask on the skin, you need to remove the blue protective film. I find this a hassle. Most skin masks aren't this tedious. LOL.

The eye slits seem to be a bit small for me, so I have to be careful not to let some of the serum get inside my eyes.
After 15 minutes, I removed the mask as instructed and sort of expected an "intensely rehydrated, smoother, and more radiant skin" as per the packaging. It might be because I didn't have a dry skin to begin with, that I didn't notice any difference at all.

What I did notice though was that my skin looked dewy after I put on my liquid foundation. At the end of the day though, that combination of hydration and foundation made my skin feel oily.

So, my point here is: I can't use this product. :D

1. The seemingly small eye slit. Really, it bothers me. A serum CAN irritate any eye, of course.
2. The blue film. I don't get it.
3. The smell. I don't like it, it's a bit too strong for me.
4. It doesn't suit my skin type.

What's good with the product though, is that it doesn't come in too expensive! So I definitely recommend this to those with VERY dry skin. Or if you're heading to the beach or have just been to any low humidity place (oooh- this would work best in Qatar during summer days!).

Disclaimer: I certify that this review is based on my own experience and is my genuine opinion, and that I have no personal or business relationship with this website or product, and have not been offered any incentive or payment originating from the website or the product to write this review. 

You know what birds do? You know, their thing -- relocating, moving, migrating? Yup, that's what I did.

Last February, I have decided to leave Manila and work in (*drum rolls*) ILOILO City.

As soon as I got off work on the 28th of February, which was my last day with that company, I headed to Philippine Airlines ticketing office to redeem my free flight (should blog about that) and I booked for the March 2nd flight without batting an eyelash.

The next day was spent packing and looking for possible jobs and a place to stay in Iloilo. I didn't know anyone in the city aside from distant relatives and my bestfriend who lives in Guimaras— and aside from the fact that I didn't want to bother them, the pretense that I am a strong, independent woman must be consistent, so I had to find my way to my own place all by myself.

When I finally found an available room, I messaged the owner and found out that it was very near to the developing MegaWorld business district, where I plan to spend my next working months and years in. So I told her that I am coming from Manila and that I will check out the place on March 2nd and will move in immediately if I find it to my liking.

And boy, was I ever lucky to find this place. It's just by the outskirt of the business district, and going to the mall and workplace would only take 5 minutes by car, maybe less. It's situated at the end of a road though, so that means I'd have to walk 5 minutes to get on a cab or a jeepney (thank God for taxi-hailing apps!)

I have to tell you, the morning walk is so therapeutic! The sound of the trees and birds, the greetings of my distant neighbors, or even some passers by/street vendors, really gives a calming effect and a sense of peace (of course, until I get to my workplace, which is often toxic —a very usual ambiance in the BPO industry).

In the afternoon, I get to walk the same street and enjoy the many colors of the sky brought about by the sunset. AND AGAIN, it only takes a little less than 10 minutes to get home.

Isn't that just fantastic? Compared to Manila, this is really where I find my peace and calm.

Iloilo is the city of LOVE. And this bird loves it here a whole lot!

Plus, Guimaras is a boat-ride away! *heart-eyes*

Recently, I've noticed that my "Frequently Used" emoji list consists of one or two emojis that I have never, ever, ever (ever!) used. It has bothered me before, but the recent bouts of security breaches around the world had me Google-ing reasons for such occurrence. There were a couple of forums, but not one of them had definite answers.

So, as silly as my reason was, I contacted Apple through their chat support. It is quite bothersome to have some stuff on your phone especially if you're sure you did not put it there, right? As soon as she asked "how can I help you today?",  I got straight to my question and gave information she might need. I have worked as a CSR before, so I quite know the drill and I know she might have some more customers to assist who have more important issues than mine-- so I added for clarification that no one else uses my phone and my iCloud account isn't linked to other devices aside from my centenarian MacBook.

Her answer: "All emojis are updated" --something like that-- point being, my question really has not been addressed. She then gave me a link to self-help articles, which I thanked her for, sparing her the admonishing lines that I wouldn't be wasting both our times if I'd found the answer there in the first place. I politely said "that's all for now I guess. bye." to which she replied, "it was a pleasure helping you today. enjoy your afternoon!"

So I turned to Twitter -- and found out there are dozens of people asking the same question.
"Why is this on my frequently used?🤖️"
"How did this 🀄️ go here?!"
"I have never used this!🏯" 
"Is butt-texted a thing?🏺" Some replies said maybe they just accidentally clicked on it. Some suggested resetting their list would clear this list. Some pointed out that this could be an iOS 9 glitch.

As my phone is running on iOS 10.3.3, I'm quite sure that this isn't a glitch. I have been monitoring my list now and so far, there were two that I've accidentally clicked but only once each, yet still, my phone deemed it as "Frequently Used".

I am now also checking if the emoji "suggestions" have anything to do with it, but so far, it has no apparent effect on my list. I'm guessing, and hoping, that this is really just a result of accidental clicks. If anyone has answers, I'd be happy to read on them, please do let me know!

^_^



I returned to my browser to find that she messaged me "Hello? Are you still there?" and then she disconnected, ending our "chat". Um.. didn't we already say our goodbyes, girl? 😂

4 months!!! (--and I said I was gonna blog more this year!) 

What has happened... 
- I went home to the Philippines 
- I got back to Qatar (too much for a list, LOL)

Between those moments, I had a lot to blog about, and yet not one single post. Partly because the internet connection in the Philippines is too bad. (nah-just kidding, it's better now, actually, I am just really lazy!)

So February this year, my little sister turned 18 (just in numbers heehee). I felt sorry that I did not get to be there for her, as I had been for my three cousins when they each celebrated theirs. I am really into organizing parties and events, and I had many plans for my sister's debut. Anyway, I was there "in the spirit" ^_^

I decided to come home a month after. Through Etihad which had one stop-over in Abu Dhabi. At first, of course, I was excited, coz I was gonna see one new place. I posted  TripAdvisor review, please disregard the grammar errors I think I did that half-awake, just the same, here's some more info:

At Hamad International Airport, there was a long line at the check-in counters which made me regret why I forgot to do an online check-in the night before (I made a mental note to ALWAYS check-in online at least 4 hours before the flight as I look at the empty bag-drop counter).

I once forfeited a flight because the plane left... and I was busy reading a book at the airport's upper level --well that's a different story. Anyway, I always made sure I find the boarding gates immediately after check-in, and wait there, no matter how long the delay would be. Luckily, this time, I was not left behind :)

The flight from Doha to Abu Dhabi took only an hour. Just enough for a light snack, and I always loved eating in-flight. I love traveling by air planes. Anyway, I'm getting distracted by the thought of dried fruits and nuts. As soon as the plane started its descend, I looked outside the window to see how Abu Dhabi looks like. At first it was all sea and sand. It was a pretty sight, but I hoped to see buildings. I finally saw one, and it had the Ferrari logo on top, and that was it. That's the largest building I saw from the top, and the rest were like houses and small buildings. I was a bit disappointed, especially when the plane landed. I looked around (tried to look around when the plane was heading to the main airport building), and the tallest building I saw was the airport control tower. (Later on, I found out from a friend that the airport was a bit far away from the city.)

At Abu Dhabi airport, I was surprised to find out that we had to take a shuttle to the main building. This is like one of the domestic flights I had back in Manila, so this is not new to me but it came as a surprise because this was an International flight. Most passengers uttered their disbelief-- they were expecting to pass through a tube. We also got through security gates again, which was again, surprising--we just got off a plane, we went no where between the plane and the airport? So after going around, exploring Abu Dhabi Duty Free, I decided to eat. I got tired and so hungry (I couldn't wait for another set of plane food haha!) I chose this cool-looking cafe (Bricco Café) only to get disappointed with the serving. I paid 32 Dirhams for two small cutlets of chicken and a heap of undercooked rice. It was unjust. It was unfair for my hungry tummy.  

So to cut it short, I boarded the plane to Manila, arrived in the early morning, got a Grab (local transport provider) and got welcomed by our dog, Mimi (yep, no one else but her --on their defense, only my mom knew I was going home and it was really waaay too early!)
I'll write again about the Philippines stay.... when I want to. HAHA. Off to lunch!

For god-knows-how-many years now, I had been trying to complete this 30-day challenge from Chantelle Ellem --it's called FMS Photo-A-Day (details on how to play can be found on her blog). I had once been fortunate enough to complete a whole month, and that was last July 2014 (I remember it 'coz i blogged about it hehe!).

It seems I'm getting the drive to blog when a year is either already ending or just beginning. Maybe because it's a time to reflect on what has transpired over the past year, that I check on my social media accounts to see the new places I've been to, people I've met, and other things or experiences. Then I go check my blog and see it's empty. It makes me sad, but I never seem to find time to just log-in and type away.

The reason why I have time NOW is because I'm all by myself and got nothing important to do. I am in my sister's place in Doha, and they've gone to Dubai for the New Year Celebration and to take the kids to the many theme parks that Dubai holds. So with my phone on my left side, TV remote control on the right, and B&O A1 speaker (my sister's) in front of me playing Katy Perry's "I'm Still Breathing" (aptly so), I decided to give blogging a go.

As it is the first day of the year, what best to blog about than NEW YEAR's resolution? When I was in grade school (--and high school, too, I guess) we had always been asked to write it all on a piece of paper on the very first day of school right after the Christmas break. Who knows what our teachers do to them, maybe memorize it all and laugh behind our backs if we break them.

So before the year ended, I have decided to make a NY resolution:

I read somewhere that we don't need a new year or a new month to set new things to do or achieve. However, most people, such as myself, really tend to have this competitive attitude to be better, do better on a new year, or a new month. Like, sure, I can start learning a new language anytime, but this is more challenging this way. ^_^ Right?

So, bring it on, 2017! 2016 was okay but I know you can do better.

...that is the amount of time between my last blog post and this one.

The description on the right (about the blogger) is just fitting. Lazy. No one is really ever too busy?! (or so I tell myself!)

So, just like before, I will try to squeeze in some life moments into a single post.

...
...

...actually, I don't think I can. I tried to look into my iPhoto and can't really decide which ones to post. There were so many places, a lot of new people, different kinds of experiences, fun times, and misadventures.

Just the same, that same year -- in November, I got a job in a start-up BPO company, stayed there for almost 2 years (with 3 months off LOL!) and I have to say it was the best days of my "working" life. I might do an entire post on that after this not-so-lengthy make-up post.

I have re-discovered my artistic self (which I will have to do a whole separate blog post about, too!), and traveled to many new places. I'm actually out of the country right now. All of these boring details on the next posts to come. This is just some preppin-up, 'coz I swear by my 7-year-old laptop that I will be a devoted blogger from now on.

"I will never let go, Mac... I'll never let go."

You know you're old when the baby you named years ago, is now asking you to name her very own baby!

And I had this thought, just a couple of days ago, about names and the naming game, when I read a very pretty name. I instantly visualized a fine lady... only to find out a little later that this name belongs to a girl who tries to reject her womanhood!

So, someday, when she embraces the bob-cut or boy-cut and every manly thing she can acquire for herself, she would be stuck with her name, Princess Cinderella. (I made up the name, of course...)

So, I thought of names that could be suitable, even when the little Junior decides to be Miss Talipapa in the future...

For example: Alex, Charlie, Drew... and lots more. There are, of course, many websites that offer a list nowadays, unlike in the olden days when they just give whatever name that pops out of their head when asked.

You can also try to flip open a dictionary and get from the words there like Justice and stuff. Just be careful not to use names that are being used for our domesticated furry friends =( please?

After all, you were given at least 9 months to give a proper name, don't just rely on what storm is raging or whatever political event that's currently on the news to base your child's name after.

Also, keep in mind that they'll become grandparents too, and won't it be too awkward to call on Grandma Sassy?

...and believe it or not, I bought those three for less than P150.00!

I've really wanted to read The Hobbit, I have it on my e-books lib, but my eyes often surrender to the bright light while reading e-books!

But then again...

Last week I had a dream, we were eating in a restaurant somewhere in Alabang raw. The crews were busy taking off used plates and everything else from our table, when the owner herself went to our table and started helping with the clean-up.

She looked up to us, and said, "Pwede bang bilisan nyo dahil maglilinis pa kami?" And I realized she looked exactly like Sister Emillie. So I flippantly told everyone on the table. "Oy, bilisan nyo raw!" and laughed. And serious as she was, she laughed with me too!

And when we all stood up, and I was still nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie, I asked her who made them as they were delicious. She said "Ako!" with a smile. So I exclaimed, "Nagbe-bake ka rin??" to which she just smiled.

The lady was about to go down the stairs (to their kitchen I think) when I told everyone how she resembles Sister Emillie. And everyone suddenly cried out, "Oo nga!" and "Kaya pala she looked familiar..."

I was really glad to have found someone who resembles her in so many ways, who looks exactly like her, (but of course in my dream it was her --even sounded like her!) And before my company and I left, she hugged me and whispered to me, "Hayaan mo, kahit kailan, hindi na kita paiiyakin..."

(Maybe because that day I missed her so much and cried like I did on the day she died.)

I wanted to stay where she was, but we had to go. So I told myself that I would always come visit her and get to know her, and love her as if she were my momster...

God, I really hope she exists!

Time check: 4:50 A.M.
Sleep time: ZILCH.

Care to know why?

Right now, my laptop's volume is turned to the highest level, and yet, the words are being drowned by the air conditioner's sound. Oh, no -- let me rephrase:

...the words are being drowned by the air conditioner's NOISE.

Imagine yourself in a propeller jet. The sound is like that, only --you are seated outside the plane.
Or you are very near or in front of a fan. A. Big. Industrial. Fan.

And here's the best deal, this is the SUITE ROOM. I actually upped myself because the price difference between the EXECUTIVE  and the SUITE ROOM is so small. A cab fare will be more expensive from any SM to any other nearest SM.

Anyway, I called the receptionist and asked if I can be transferred, even if I had to be downgraded to the single standard ones (for I really want to sleep!) but was told there was none available right now.

So, here I am, awake and wanting to write a note-to-self and a friendly advice:

• The water smells like just a bit too much of red corpuscles. 
• The TV has less than 10 channels. (cable pa, partida!)
• No TV remote.
• Sheets are stained.
• The fixtures are worn.
• The loo is not at its natural color.
• The bathroom is an oxymoron. (The dark light.)

I am very attentive to hotel (or pension houses, inns, hostels, what-have-you's) reviews before checking in, and I know I have read some reviews about this one, but forgot, thanks to my reliable slate, and a last-minute change of decision.

Here's a good deal here though, they approve of late check-out  til 3PM! (but with a P50.00/hour rate!) The last two other hotels I've stayed in only gives 'til 1 PM with no extra charge... ^_^

Whoever invented the phrase "Change is good" must really try this hotel for a rude awakening.

This has been a treat!

I have found a site to watch Meryl Streep and movies, and with the help of temporary files folder, I was able to save the video on my mac! I've always thought caches were useless ^_^

I woke up with a throbbing headache. and realized it was already 10 A.M. I don't know if my headache was caused by sleeping too much or less.

So I got up to make myself some coffee, and since the rain was pouring hard, all plans of going out to my grandmother's was mentally crossed-out. I transferred some pillows to the living room, brought my blanket with me and snuggled comfortably as I put on the Barbra Streisand 1994 concert on DVD.

The preparations were shown first, and then some people were interviewed, and their enthusiasm was just contagious, I felt the excitement in me to see Barbra grew.

And when she finally walked on stage, with the accompaniment of "The Way We Were" being played by the orchestra, I wanted to cry! She was really quite a vision...

So I just stayed there, laughing with her, smiling as she sang familiar songs. I suddenly found myself hugging the DVD cover.

I was giggling as she told her story when she first fell in love with Marlon Brando! I am that mababaw...

I wish I have more movies though, coz I've seen all I have, some more than twice. I'm starting to read a book to kill boredom! And that's really saying something...