Ryan and Celene: September 18. 2012

Since my parents had me when they were young - like undergraduate young, I belong to the older batch of cousins on both sides of the family. Being so, there are only a few people ahead of me age-wise, so when people ahead of me starts getting married, I know that the next question would be if I would be next. Poof. Pressure. Imagine bringing your boyfriend to every family event and people ask when your wedding would be. Awkwaaaardd. Now imagine bringing your boyfriend to a wedding - double the pressure. hahaha

Ate Celene is the only girl cousin who is older than me, I was surprised that she asked me to be one of her secondary sponsors and I was more than happy to accept. I like it when people ask me to be part of their happily ever afters, I feel special. I wanted to be presentable for that wedding because I represent my family in the entourage list. What I look like and how I act is a reflection of Celene's side of the family.

For my makeup I requested for a Latina look, I wanted to embrace my skincolor so I asked her to use browns, nudes and bronze on my face and I had Pols, my HMUA to exaggerate the curls that I already have. She was so easy to work with, she consults everything before putting anything on my face. I trusted her judgement to shape my eyebrow and it really worked for the look I was going for. She is pretty young for her profession ha, she is just 20 years old. I figured this girl would make a name for herself pretty soon. So if you want your hair and makeup done by Paola Estipona you can contact her at 09264891219. It won't cost you an arm and a leg to be pretty.

I vowed never to show anyone any photos of the wedding but it turned out better than I expected. I hope you enjoy the pictures, it's not everyday that a girl gets to dress up. Forgive my vanity :)

Candid shot by the boyfriend showing my fading hair color. LOL

makeup by Paola Estipona @ 09264891219

mom and tita belle

Cousins - Cyrus, Kuya Cedrick, Jayvee and Chino with miggy

mom and me

The bride

the bride's family

e sino pa ba date ko? 

Celene and Ryan 

Miguel's Birthday 2012

Warning: This is a picture heavy post.

I fell inlove with Raf's camera - so much that I waited for his pictures because my pictures look like crap next to his. hehe

I wish there were pictures of the other guests but by the time the rest of his friends came I was too busy in the kitchen playing host/first lady. hehe

I love the super candid shot of me and Miguel by the pool- two people with a connection. :)

The party made me realize that I love every person who loves and cares for Miguel. Enjoy the pics!

We enjoyed the party so much that we are already planning to hold a Matela-Blanco party real soon for our siblings.

Two baby cakes from Sugrahouse

Early Birds, from L-R: Raf, Ken, Joan, birthday boy and Doc

Ref filled with Booze - I think we had over 40 cans there

Pancit Malabon, Lechon Manok and Liempo, California Maki, BBQ, Spaghetti, pichipichi, and the cakes





From L-R: Doc, Mhos, Ken, Joan, Raf, Jeff

His Teammates plus the awesome Gae :)

Ken and Raf enjoying the pool the morning after

A candid photo of me and the birthday boy

Half-drunk Miguel hehe

Hiding my bagong gising eyes behind sunglasses

I was on  the other side of the pool when I took this shot

With Joan(Miguel's sister) and her boyfriend Ken

Therapy Bags

After my SUY BAGS experience, I was able prove that quality bags does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. The trick is to find a brand that is sturdy and stylish. For a while now, the only item on my sturdy-and-stylish list is SUY Bags -- that is until I stumbled upon Therapy Bags

I have been stalking their facebook page for a while now but being on self imposed shopping ban, I mustered all my self control to not buy from any of their collection. 

Let me tell you one thing about me, though - I have weakness for a certain four letter word that is spelled S-A-L-E, a week back I logged on the my fb account and saw that they were having a Crazy Sale, all bags from their new collection are sold for only P699. I lost all my self control and sent a text message with my order details. I got my bags a day after they shipped it to me.

At first glance I can say that their bags are not made from cheap material, the bags are made from thick faux leather and the metal closure is pretty secure. The designs are in trend and is sooo now. I love how they incorporate small details that really umphify the bag -- for the murray2 in taupe the braided handle and the studs and for the camille2 it's the animal print lining on the inside. 

I chose murray2 because a girl should have at least one roomy bag in her lifetime. I mean, with the kikay kit, the umbrella, the perfume bottle and the planner, a girl needs space - lotsa space in her bag. This is also my new generic bag, the color literally goes with anything in my wardrobe. Camille2 is another story, see the bright denim blue color? It is the less conservative of the bags. It is also the smaller bag of the two but it's still large enough to accommodate my daily essentials. If you're feeling down a blue bag is the perfect pick me upper. The animal print inside the bag is like a dirty little secret - it's like I'm hiding something beautiful in my bag. I swear when I open the bag - I smile from ear to ear. Like SUY Bags, I know that their designs are well thought of. 

Murray Shoulder bag in Taupe

Don't you just love the texture?

Camille2 in Denim Blue

Animal print lining is love

You can choose your own Therapy Bag from their facebook page or their multiply page. I swear that their online transaction is pretty efficient. Oh and did I tell you that they sell those vintage Casio watches too? Shop na :)

Behind the Surprise Party

I have been busy the past months trying to think of ways to make Miguel's birthday special and the idea of throwing him a Surprise Party keeps popping in my mind but the thing is, I was not sure if he would be here for his birthday - a party won't make any sense if the birthday boy is halfway around the world, right? Stubborn girl that I am I still pushed through with my plans. 

I started writing down the guest list - I started with his family, his office friends, his basketball friends, his friends at home then his college friends. I have to admit though that I did throw in the names of my friends, I figured since we travelled together already they count as his friends too. hihi The total? 50+ people. That's an ambitious number for the budget that I set aside for his party, so with a sad heart I had to cut some people off my list. I narrowed it down to 25 people then I started to stalk his friends and identify a point person for each group and contacted each one of them. 

With the list of people who are invited settled, I tried scouting places that would fit the two of us plus 25 guests. For that number of people I know Linden Suites is a good candidate, I also considered Antel Spa, Serenity Towers and Legend Villas. I put off reserving the place the very last minute because I was waiting for the final news if he would be here for his birthday or not. I inquired the last week of July and the 1st week of August to all the places and September 1 was free. Too bad though that the rooms I like were already unavailable once I got confirmation around the second week of August that he would be here for his birthday. When I called Antel Spa for the nth time asking if there was a miracle cancellation they offered me a 2-bedroom suite on their sister hotel, A.venue Suites. They assured me that the place is similar to Antel Spa Suites - with that in mind, I decided to book the room via Agoda. 

What's left is the food and the cake. Yeah food and cake falls into 2 different categories for me. Since A.venue Suites' kitchen does not have a burner - just a microwave, I decided to just order the food. Amber's Pancit Malabon(good for 20), Spaghetti(good for 20), 30pcs bbq and 40pcs of pichipichi. I also added 4 orders of Andok's Lechon Manok and 4 orders of their Liempo. To add variety to the food I added a tray and a half of California Maki. All that, together with lotsa booze and chips made up the menu. 

The cake. I know a baker who bakes a real good red velvet cake with fondant frosting and that was what I wanted for Miguel's birthday - nothing but the best. I contacted this baker early August to let her know the design I want and when and where the cake would be delivered, but a week before the party, the baker contacted me and told me that she won't be able to make the cake because her daughter booked her a flight to Singapore to visit her grandkids that weekend. I had a tough time finding a baker who is willing to bake the cake in such short notice, so I decided to buy ready made cakes I checked out Conti's, Classic Confections and Sugarhouse. I know I had choices but the memory of Sugarhouse's Concorde cake overwhelmed me and right then and there I called their Glorietta branch and reserved a cake for the day of the party. 

And with that, everything is all set up and ready to go.

With everything that's happening, all Miguel knows is that we are checking in to a hotel and celebrating his birthday with our common friends - i.e our travel buddies slash my officemates. You can award me with a Grammy or an Emmy with the performance I made up to the last second when the doorbell rang and his surprise guests started coming. 

A shoutout to Gae, who put up with my OC-ness all throughout the planning. We did good, yes? :)

I don't know how I pulled it off. I really don't know how everything fell into place. I almost cried when Miguel blew his candle and I know that I did something good. I loved to hear his laughter all throughout the night. Sulit lahat, napasaya ko sya. Things might not be going his way but I wanted him to feel that despite everything that's happening he has friends and family and me to support him every step of the way. 

Mission accomplished. 

Lip girl/Eye girl

Kikay kit - every girl has one. The contents of a kikay is a reflection of who the girl is and what part of the face she wants to bring out more. If your kikay kit contains mostly eye shadows, a good pair of tweezers, mascara and the like then you are an eye-girl. On the other hand, if you have lip gloss, lipsticks, lip liners, lib balms and lip scrubs then you are a lip-girl. I am not saying a lip-girl cannot be an eye-girl or vice versa. Now, if you are curious to know what category you belong then try to remember the times when you woke up late for office or school and you have no time to do both - which part would you choose to groom? That will answer your question. 

I am a lip girl. No, I don't have gazillions of lip products but during crunch time I color my lips and then I feel good about myself. I'll share my go-to products with you.

what's in my kikay kit

Ever since Sherly introduced me to the Mary Kay Creme lipstick I never used any other lipstick brand again. The color stays on for the longest time and this does not dry your lips. It's like you're wearing a sexier version of a tinted lip balm! Since I started using this product my lips no longer crack at the end of the day. I have nothing but praises for Mary Kay.

Mary Kay's Dusty Rose on the left and Toffee Caramel on the right.

I have a thing for lip liners, I consider them as must-haves. I remember owning my first piece a year back when Leslie showed me that lip liners can be used as lipsticks! The thing with lip liners is that you don't need to be an expert to apply it as compared to lipsticks - you can control the intensity of the color and you won't go beyond your lips when coloring. Remember though that when using lip liners as lipsticks you have to put lip balm so as not to scratch your lips and cause cracks. I used to be a fan of Body Shop's Born Lippy in Rasberry but lately I switched to LipIce as my Lip balm - same effect, only cheaper. I miss the yummy Rasberry smell though.  

Lip liners. From L-R: NYX Hot Red, NYX Bloom, NYX Hot Pink and Etude Nude

NYX Lip liners are my favorite right now. To diversify, I usually choose the darker colors since I go for light colored lipsticks already but when I saw Etude's Nude lip liner I went against my personal rule and bought it -- and now together with my LipIce lip balm, I am enjoying the I-have-no-lipstick-but-I do look. 

My latest purchase is Revlon's Just bitten lipstain + balm, I am not going ga-ga about this product because  it has the same effect as LipIce. True that it stays longer but it's really not for me. The product comes in a tip to tip package -- lip stain on one end and the balm on the other. I wish Revlon can improve the packaging, it's really hard to put the cap back on the balm end without damaging the balm, maybe make it retractable next time? For Php575, I wont buy this product again -- but then again, I heard REVLON released a new version of Just Bitten.. hmm. something to think about. 

So that's it - my lip essentials. what's yours? :)

Drake's Sunday

Last Sunday was Baby Drake's Christening. Drake is Dawn and Jake's firstborn and Dawn and Jake are the boyfriend's friends - get the connection now? 

It was nice seeing Miguel with his friends, he gets along with my friends but you know it's different when he is with his. I was a bit nervous to be with them at first but hey, I think it ended up well. Those people are awesome, there were no awkward moments, they treated me well. The butterflies in my tummy fluttered happily after the event. 

Enough talking, here are some pictures grabbed from Vel's facebook account. 

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as I did. :)

To my Love

You are the best person I know in the world - I am proud of everything you have accomplished and what you will accomplish in the future. I just need you to remember that life is not perfect and every once in a while you won't get what you wanted not because you do not deserve it but because you maybe better where you're at right now. Every bump in the road will make you a better version of who you are at the moment, I know it is not easy to accept that your plans would be sidetracked for a bit, but you know, this is an opportunity to make new plans. Planning is good, yes?

Things are unclear now, I know that. I might not see things from your point of view but I can feel your frustration and it's killing me that I can't do anything but just be here for you. I wish I could do more baby.. I wish I can make things better. 

On the bright side, you will be staying here for another 6 months. We will be together for your birthday, our anniversary, Cholo's birthday, Christmas, New Year, and Lance's birthday! We have time to grow as a couple. Call me selfish but LDRs(Long Distance Relationship) scares me. This might be a good thing for us. Trust that Papa Jesus has plans for you, my love. 

From where I am standing you are a winner. Yeah you are sad but I never heard you blame other people for what happened or what's happening. You owned the failure and that my love, is a sign of a true winner - now you know what you can improve on. You are a true champ.

You might be a runner-up today but I know that you'd get gold the next time. I can feel that the next round is yours. I'd be here with one hand on my hip and another one with a pompom - cheering you on.

Forever your #1 fan, 

A Sneak Peak

For the past two years I have been thinking if I have made the right decision to purchase a house. I wasn't sure if I could squeeze it in my budget but being the stubborn person that I am, I pushed through with the plan. From housing expos to trippings with various agents until finally I found the place I wanted, it was a long process and it was really a nerve wracking experience, after all it is a tough decision for a then 26 year old me. 

The monthly payment for the first 15 months to pay for just the downpayment really hurt my pocket it was a challenging time and  a lot of adjustments were made. I had to give up some of my guilty pleasures, from shoes to clothes and even out of town trips. I had to adjust my family's budget, too. Tough times. After the 15-month period the developer helped me apply to various banks to get the best housing loan terms, the monthly installment was not as big as the first 15months but it still has an impact to my monthly budget. I got to a point that I wanted to sell the place and I wanted to quit, but thinking of the effort I already exerted to get that place made me stick to my plan. Believe me, buying a house at 26 is a headache, it was not a walk in the park. It's true that the best time to buy a house is when you already paid for your wedding. I should have listened but nooooo I had to do it my way, tsk. 

All of the frustrations and regrets went down the drain when one Friday morning the boyfriend and I went all the way to the South to check on the house. I made the right choice. It might not be the conventional choice but I'd buy that house again in a heartbeat. It's worth all the sacrifices :)

corner lot

The neighborhood

We got excited on planning to improve the house, we want to add a dirty kitchen, a den and a garage. It was the first time we saw the house all made up with it's window fixtures, the paint, the fully made up bathrooms. It was an emotional experience. We are already planning on hosting dinners for friends.haha

I guess I am on the right track after all. It's still a long way ahead of us before we settle down on this place but looking at what I was able to accomplish the past two years makes me feel blessed. Thank you Papa Jesus!

Bringing out my inner Carnivore: The Sambokojin experience

I often see a big sign that says 'Sambokojin' in between the Ortigas and Santolan stations of the MRT, it says smokeless grill so I figured it's just Yakimix with a different name. I was never curious enough to try the place since it was really out of the way and I thought that I already had my fair share of smokeless grills. Good thing the boyfriend knows better and he asked me out on a date to this particular Japanese buffet. What's better is we found out that a branch opened up near my place! So one Saturday morning, the boyfriend had me claim the date he promised and he reserved us a lunch at Sambokojin West Ave branch.

The moment we stepped into the place I was glad that we had reservations - there were a lot of people waiting to be seated. I know waiting can be a pain in the tushy but I noticed that most people waiting are comfortable, there was a huge air-conditioned waiting area just outside the main restaurant. Note that they are really organized and had a system on getting their guests seated.

Filipino-inspired waiting area

Their very spacious waiting area after lunch hours

I found it sexy when the boyfriend approached the girl in-charge and said "Reservation for Miguel Blanco" hihi I saw envious stares from people who were seated in the waiting area while we were walking towards the main door leading to the restaurant, so a tip to anybody who plans to visit - Get a reservation!

We were seated at our table and the waiter assigned to us introduced himself and prepared our grill. I then walked over the 'to-grill' buffet and saw an array of meat, seafood and vegetable that we can cook. 

veggies rolled in various bacon sliced meat

marinated beef, chicken and pork  

mushrooms, skewers, quail eggs, salmon, tuna, prawns, crab sticks and more!

And then we grilled..

asparagus wrap(my love's favorite) and various meats

and grilled..

and grilled..

to our heart's content!

The diversity of their marinade is limited as compared to that of Yakimix but I can say that their meat is more flavorful than any meat Yakimix has to offer. Quality vs. Quantity. Aside from the to-be-grilled food, there are also cooked food that you can enjoy - the best one for me is the beef stew, the subtle korean flavor infused in slow cooked beef. Yum. ooh and of course given the fact that I am a tempura addict, I got to eat as many tempuras as I wanted. 

my tempura and katsudon

my baby had me try various noodles - yum!

the cooked food buffet

a must try! I had to muster extreme self control to NOT eat this with rice

Another section of their cooked food buffet

I swear that my self-control was challenged when I started tasting their food. The food took me from Japan to Korea without leaving Manila! Since I am on a low carb diet I had to eat all of these without rice - the agony! Protein overload. On the other hand, Miguel ate rice with caution - he wouldn't want to be full before we tried everything else in the buffet table. There was one particular rice that he tried, it looked to me as if it was sticky rice but I just could not remember what it was called, but judging from his ear to ear grin, I would say it was yummy!

The rice came in a cute steamer

my love's sticky rice

As with Yakimix, the dessert table was boasting with cakes, cream puffs, ice creams in different flavors, fruits and chocolate fondue. This is a Japanese Grill Buffet so don't expect much when it comes to the desserts or you'll be disappointed.

Assorted pastries

Generic Cake 1

Generic Cake 2

fresh watermelons

high-blood buster -- pineapples

chocolate covered apples and marshmallows

Your best bet for a yummy dessert is ice cream and fruits as for the rest of them I could not care any less. Eating a pineapple or an apple is a good way to reset your taste buds, it'll help you transition from one grilled meat to another. You'll appreciate the flavors of the meat by doing so.

For people who have been to Yakimix or RobotoSan, I don't know if you got the same ulam-like odor in your hair once you are done with all the grilling - I did, but with Sambokojin I noticed that you can leave the place with the same scent as you came in. Another remarkable thing about the place is the service, everybody was friendly and each table is assigned a waiter who actually helps you in the grilling in case you get tired of doing it yourself. The grill was also replaced in the middle of the meal - less carcinogens for the customers. Apart from everythaing that I have mentioned.the place also has a salad bar and a sushi bar. Kumpleto!

Each table comes with a set of oils and condiments that you can add to your meat while it's cooking. They also gave me Japanese vinegar when I requested for one -- talk about customer service! :)

All throughout our two and a half hour stay at Sambokojin, I was telling Miguel how I like the interior of the place. I haven't been to their other branches but if it's as clean and as sosyalan as the West Ave branch then they are on right track to dominating the smokeless grill scene.

my date, my love - wearing our matching glasses :)

For less than Php500.00 you get to enjoy their lunch buffet from 11am to 2pm. I ate too much meat in a span of an two hours that I felt like a carnivore! Trust me, just an hour of staying at that place would give you your money's worth.

Sambo Kojin West Avenue

For reservations call 372-8846 or 921-2873

You can also visit their Facebook page