Camwhore Saturday

Pray for Japan

Whenever I hear tsunami, I always remember my dad.

Remember the one that happened in Phuket-India last January 2004? The 14-year-old me was surfing channels when I saw the breaking news. My mom knew my dad was working on a research project in India--the exact city (Chennai, near the bay of Bengal) that got affected badly. She was in tears for a couple of minutes and ransacked her things looking for a phone number where she can contact my father's crew. The woman who answered the phone told her they got out of the place a day before the calamity struck. We were all relieved.

Now it had to be Japan's turn. I feel useless and weak just having to sit and watch what's happening. I have first-degree relatives in that country and we don't have a word from them.

But of course, I know that God is always with us. I hope and pray they're all fine.

Wearing my favorite local lipsticks!!! <3 It's 11:30PM and I'm still awake. Anyway, good night! :D

Diet Plan

I've always gave up on dieting even before I start. I didn't care how people kept telling me I got fatter (ugh, stating the obvious much?) compared to how I was about 3 years ago. Hi, let's bury the past behind, shall we? It never came to an alarming point that's why I always took dieting for granted. Of course until about a week ago--let's just say I almost fainted when I saw the weighing scale because I was exactly 20 pounds lighter in high school. Yeah, I just said we must bury the past, but it's too much to bear. Ugh. No wonder my jeans' button popped out while I was about to pee.

So I made a doable diet plan. I went to the mall and bought 3-lb dumb bells (it's the most that a woman can take if she doesn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger arms), a pack of oatmeal cookies (to munch on during work hours), and a loaf of whole wheat bread for lunch. Initially, I wanted a 1,200calorie/day diet but of course it was impossible considering that I eat that much on a single sitting. And then I thought of the perfect diet: 6-meal plan! Basically it's just 6 meals a day but in small portions so you don't feel hungry. I learned that people who tend to get hungry all the time have faster metabolic rate and it slows down the moment you starve yourself. And.. water, water, water!!! I started Monday and here's my usual menu:

Breakfast at home: Oatmeal, Sunny side up Egg, and a cup of Cappuccino (I really don't fear breakfast because you should eat a lot on that time of the day)


Breakfast at work: 3 pieces of small Oatmeal cookies from Quaker Oats. So good!

+
Lunch: 4 slices of whole wheat bread with tuna omelette


Merienda: Another 3 pieces of small Oatmeal cookies from Quaker Oats or pan de sal from Pan de Manila



Dinner: Whatever's on the dining table + 1 cup of rice then mango/banana for dessert


Dinner before bed: Frosties cereal +  milk


Pre-bedtime exercise: Dumb bell squats, 50-80 repetitions, depending on how sleepy I am.

And in 4 days, I lost a kilogram! Not bad!! I think not eating at least 3.5 cups of rice a day and the exercise helped a lot.

...but yeah, I gained it all back during the weekend. Starting all over again. Huhu

Traveling

I don't know anyone who doesn't love to travel except my father. Traveling's really not something "new" to him because it's what he does for a living here. He just wants to stay home during his vacation period (it's a month-long break every other 4 weeks). For the past 19 years, he's been to 90 cities in 36 different countries! Sometimes we get so worried since they can be assigned to really dangerous places like the Middle East but my dad assures his safety all the time  because their company is so "paranoid" they don't hire "normal" pilots for their 24/7 helicopters on-guard and ship captains, but from their HQ's country's air and naval forces. Sossss-EEE! Kayo na!

ANYWAY, stating the reason above, I've never been to a lot (really, dad. How ironic!). I was never allowed to travel with other people and my mom doesn't want to go to a different country without my dad (aww, I know right). It's ironic that my first international trip was in 2009! The following year, my dad decided to bring the entire family to Hong Kong and Macau for a vacation then a week after, we found ourselves in HK already. Halleluiah!! It was the start of something new! Then a few days after our trip, I was lucky enough to get an American visa that my father applied for me and my 2 siblings. I got to use it last September and it was definitelyyyyy the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The number of exclamation points can't even explain. My cousin is getting married to our other cousin next year (hopefully) so I'm planning to go there again, if money allows. Yun lang naman yun eh. Haha!

And since then, I'd like to make it a point to travel another country at least every year, even if it's just a "stone's throw away".

A vague list of places I'd like to visit in the next 5 years:

Seoul, Korea

Target Year: December 2011. Hahahaha! Guys, lezgo!

Las Vegas, Nevada and more states like Illinois, DC, Florida and Oregon (WHY Oregon? Di ko rin alam eh. Haha!)

Target Year: Mid-Late 2012.

Tokyo, Japan

Target Year: 2013? LOL

Amsterdam, Netherlands and other parts of Europe

Target Year: 20WhenICanAlreadySpend$20kOnATrip

That's about it. It's all I can think of right now. The last one, I hope I can save up for in 10 years or else.. lola na ko when I go there! Sayang lang.

Cheap find: MATTE LIPSTICKS!

I used to think that local products like Ever Bilena were cheap because they're probably made of harsh chemicals and ingredients but after some thorough research online, I never came across people who complained about experiencing any. In fact, the most raved product by video beauty gurus and bloggers (one of them's the famous Bambi dela Cruz--click here to read her article) was their matte lipstick line which were just Php125 a pop. I gave it a try and bought 2 shades right away (and another stick from Careline in Cotton Candy but I decided to throw it away. It sucks and I hate the smell).

Mauvey and Off Beat Pink. Mauvey is a nude pink shade while Off Beat Pink reminds me of MAC's Pink Nouveau.. a lot. Sorry for my chipping nail polish, btw.

Swatch-ed! As compared to my existing lipsticks. (L-R) MAC Girl About Town, EB Mauvey, EB Off Beat Pink, MAC Viva Glam Gaga, MAC Cherish

I am so hooked I bought a new color of the EB Matte lipstick today after my mom's birthday lunch! This one's in Pink Flame, my current favorite. It's a bit darker than Off Beat Pink but I like this one better. I also got LA Color's liquid make up for the first time since this product has gained online popularity as well.

Pink Flame on the left and Off Beat Pink on the right. They look the same on this photo, but the difference is huge once applied.

What I do like:
-Cheap
-It surprisingly lasts long (probably 3-5 hours)
-Matte!!! I'm a matte fan <3
-Basically everything!


What I don't like:
-They're gonna get discontinued at the end of the month in exchange for a more expensive line. Le sigh.
-Color cap detaches really easy so I had to superglue it to the lipstick.
-They say it's drying but all I ever needed was a lipbalm prior to applying and it's perfect!

I'm planning to hoard tomorrow since it's the last day of the Php99 sale. Goodbye, cheap matte lipstick!

Products I love (inspired my Ms. Carola's post)

I'm not a beauty expert (and probably will never be) so unlike most girls, I really don't have a lot of products on my dresser. It was even empty until I turned 20-ish-- I only got most of these late last year and can you believe I still have them?

For my skin. I hated lotions as much as I hated lipsticks then and my mom kept convincing me that lotions are a must-have. I never listened because they gave me that sticky-thicky-gunky feeling that's probably normal in a tropical country. Until my legs started flaking and got really dry to the point that they were rough as sandpaper! Ew, right? I realized it was time to use that triple moisture body cream sitting on my desk for so long that I even forgot who gave it (it was probably my mom or my cousin, so thank you)! It smells sooooo good (duh, it's cucumber melon!) and my skin never felt that soft the next day! Bath and Body Works wasn't kidding at all about that triple moisturizing effect. I am hooked!

For my body. Victoria's Secret Love Spell was a favorite in high school and it still is. Mytita gave me Pure Seduction which smells exactly like Love Spell so no doubt I love this one! Live Pink is also from one of Victoria's Secret's cologne lines and it smells like candy (I even have the little perfume version, but it's not on the photo obviously). I alternate these two on a daily basis. Can you guess which one I like more?

For my face. That black product from Pond's is divine. Seriously. It's also a good make up remover and doesn't leave a trace of concealer/foundation after. I use that toner as well after. Wonder why I chose the ones that have a whitening agent? I got darker when I started working because I take long walks going to the office (personal preference, I need to exercise) under the strong sunlight so I figured that I needed it for "maintenance". I stopped using moisturizer already since my huge pores do all the "moisturizing" for me! They produce oil 10 minutes after washing when outdoors and probably an hour after washing when indoors with an airconditioning unit. I hate doubling my beauty efforts as well. Time is gold.

For my curls. Monea Curl Defining Milk is the best product EVER!!!! It's cheap and holds my ends really, really good! What more can I ask for? I put La Bella super shine serum to hide the frizz after. Perfect combination!