Archives for January 2017

Weekend at Batangas

January 26, 2017 by Tina Lee Leave a Comment

It appears that 2017 is shaping up to be the year of wanderlust, we were all over Luzon the past few weeks and we’re up for more travels later this year.

So my best friends got married in Ilocos two weeks ago and after the festivities, we decided to drop by Batangas for a sojourn. The trip was a frackin’ pain in the butt, we sat through 8 grueling hours of traffic from Tarlac to Batangas (stuck in traffic, got lost, etc.) but it was hella fun. I actually enjoy going on long drives with the hubs:D

I packed on the pounds, obvs. I swore I’d start dieting as soon as the weekends are ovah (kept my promise, no rice na :D)

Noms Batangas lomi is so delish. It’s an egg noodle soup with slivers of pork liver, pork crackling, and bits of meat. I wouldn’t choose it over Tarlac’s version (ours are much soupier, with lots of greens) but it has its own personality. And it’s quite filling too!

My best friends are leaving tomorrow for Italy, I wish they could stay longer but I’m happy we got to spend more time with them despite our busy schedule. Cheers!

What Came in the Mail: Gold Birkenstock + My Zalora Experience

January 18, 2017 by Tina Lee Leave a Comment

I do my shopping at any mall nearby but on days when I’m practically bedridden from laziness, I do bits of shopping online. I’ve had great experiences buying stuff online until recently so I am more careful now and I only shop at trusted websites like Sephora.

I wanted to get myself a couple of Birkenstock sandals and I know that Zalora PH has these pretty gold ones that I really liked. However, since I didn’t know how accurate the sizing is, I decided to get a pair of brown Arizonas first via Birks’ standalone boutique at Megamall before ordering the gold ones just to make sure I got the size right. Confident that I have the right size, I went ahead and ordered the gold one online.

Shopping around and ordering at Zalora is easy enough, I downloaded the app and completed my order within seconds. I ordered the sandals on December 26th and I received the package on January 6, so waiting time was long and it was frustrating because I was meaning to wear them on New Year’s eve because I’m Chinese and the color gold is lucky. But unluckily enough, I didn’t receive the sandals in time, le ugh.

Anyhoo, I totally ripped the personalized packaging (that was a nice touch) out of excitement. My best friends’ wedding was coming up and since it’s a beach wedding, the gold Birks would be perfect. Imagine my surprise when the sandals I got were half an inch too big!

Now, I got the right size and I was sure that it was my size because it’s the same size as my old Birks but somehow, the ones I got are still big. I was so freakin’ disappointed! And I had no choice but to return them but I feel so bad about it because the sandals are to die for!

The good news was, returning the package was easy and you don’t have to pay for additional shipping. Just send the package to the nearest LBC or JRS and they’ll take care of the rest.

Now, I gave Zalora another chance after getting my refund because I wanted a pair of gold Birks so badly. I ordered the same design but I went a size up, hoping against hope that I made the right decision.

Incidentally, the Gold Arizonas that I wanted were on sale! I got them for PhP 3,700+ (original price was 4,700+), so it was quite a bargain. This time around, the package didn’t take two weeks to ship but it was still longer than most of my online transactions. I ordered the sandals on the 11th and got a shipping alert on the 14th. I received the package on the 17th.

Thankfully, I got the right size this time.

Weekend in Ilocos

January 16, 2017 by Tina Lee Leave a Comment

I was in Ilocos Sur with the hubs to attend my bestfriends’ wedding. Since I was the matron of honor, I wasted no time getting shit done 😀 I did the bridal makeup, sorted the flowers, and made everyone’s corsage, lol.

It was lovely ceremony, the experience was amazing and seeing my best guy friend and best girlfriend tie the knot was UNREAL! (FYI: I fixed them up)

Ahh… my simple masterpieces, hahaha! Almost all aspects of the wedding were DIY on the spot so we were pretty much scrambling to get everything done before the 4:30 ceremony.

She wore a simple lace dress with a translucent skirt while he wore a navy suit.

Sunset kiss! I loved the table setting, it was simple and elegant. The food was amazing! It was an all-Ilokano menu and the selection was unique.

My bestfriends are married, I couldn’t be happier! Congratulations and best wishes, my loves. Joel and I are always here for you guys 🙂

In case you’re wondering, I wore a simple pantsuit in dove gray. I bought this at Uniqlo, of all places. The material is so nice and it fits me perfectly. I paired the pantsuit with jelly slippers for a nice pop of color. I finished the look off with a pearl necklace and pearl earrings 🙂 It was so freaking windy that day so everyone’s ‘do got ruined!

Of course, I didn’t travel all the way to Ilocos and sat through 5 hours of gruelling drive without getting me massive jugs o’good Ilocano vinegar. Ilocano vinegar is the best in the Philippines and if you’re a vinegar aficionado, this stuff will keep you coming back for more. Krisna (the bride) said very dark Ilocano vinegar is the best so we got the darkest, meanest looking mix out there. This particular brew is fermented in a traditional clay pot called tapayan and it is so, so fucking good.

I also hoarded Ilocos longganisa or sausages (also one of the best local sausages in the country) for the fam 😀 yummers!

Review: K-Palette 24 Hr Real Lasting Eyeliner

January 5, 2017 by Tina Lee Leave a Comment

K-Palette is a Japanese beauty brand that specializes in eye products, at least here in the PH. The brand’s eyeliner and eyebrow tattoo are pretty popular among the Japanese and these are the reason why there’s such a clamor for K-Palette everything here in the tropics too.

I’m a huge fan of the eyebrow tattoo, I’m on my fourth pen and as always, I owe you a review. Today I’ll be reviewing the liquid eyeliner first, the 24 Hour Real Lasting eyeliner because I got the reformulated version and I have a few thoughts about it.

The 24 Hour Real Lasting eyeliner is a buildable liquid eyeliner that comes in a pen with dual flat point tip made from hair-like fibers. The fiber tip is pliant enough that you can draw either a thick or a thin line and it dispenses enough product for easy, breezy eyelining.

I had high hopes for K-Palette’s eyeliner because 1) it’s a Japanese brand and 2) the staying power is supposed to be great too but alas, I am very disappointed with this product!

For starters, the product itself is not as pigmented as expected. You don’t get an opaque line in a single pass. You have to keep lining over and over again to get the blackest line, which is a bummer if you’re in a hurry.

When it dries, the finish has a weird shine or gloss that I really don’t like. I prefer matte eyeliner just because they look more opaque. The longevity is a total lie, I’m afraid. I’m not sure why bloggers rave on and on about the staying power of the Real Lasting liner because gurl:

(Sorry about my upturned nose, please try ignore it, had to get the angle right, lol)

What the fuck, right? Not only was longevity disappointing, the product faded unevenly! The proof is in the pudding. And if you think I didn’t layer the stuff, I did because I have monolid eyes and the liner has to be thick to show up at eye level.

It looked so terrible and I had my face inspected by Flawless peeps pa naman so I guess a lot of people saw my stupid faded liner, so embarrassing. Needless to say, not a fan of this eyeliner.

2016: The Year in Review

January 1, 2017 by Tina Lee Leave a Comment

* It’s that time of the year when I round up all the wonderful, wonderful events of the year past and cram ‘em into a single post.

I can’t believe 2016 came in and went so fast!

The first couple of months has been quiet for me and I basically recouped from the holiday debauchery (I seriously need to stop using that word). By the time March rolled by, the hubs and I were back at Marco Polo to celebrate our birthday (our birthdays are only a week apart)!

The hotel gifted us with twin cakes which were so awesome 😀

At this point, I gifted myself a Louis Vuitton Kensington, cuz no excuses, girlfriend can’t get enough of that monogram flashiness!

I’d like to reiterate that it took me months of saving up to get this bag so… 😉

In April, the hubs and I joined his former employees for a soiree in Cebu. The rumors are true, Cebu does have the best lechon in the Philippines.

We went to Carcar market where these famed lechons are sold by the kilo and boy, the experience was amazing. Imagine juicy lechon bits flying directly on your face while you wait for the seller to hack your order! Yummers 😀

In June, the then-boyfriend and I decided to plan our wedding and I wrote a lengthy blog about it.

Around the same time, we celebrated Dimitri’s birthday. As you know, I dress my cat up every bithdays and on his 7th, he was a giant bee with a belly fulla gravy heeee!

From getting engaged, searching for the perfect wedding bands, looking for souvenirs, to finally getting my hands on our customized wedding rings, we were hella busy!

But despite my busy schedule, I managed to change my blog site’s layout and I couldn’t be happier with the results!

Sometime in July, I adopted yet another cat, a Siamese kitten that I named Jelly Bean. The kitty was given to me by our neighbor and she was literally handed to me so I pretty much had no choice but to adopt her. Here she is at four months:

She’s such a babe, no? By September, we bought our first car, a Montero Sport (or Pajero Sport overseas) and I named him Porkchop because… I’m a carnivore obvs.

From October and beyond, there were flurries of activities related to the wedding including our pre-wedding photoshoot:

November was pretty much a waiting game and then finally, I got married to my best friend and it was awesome! It’s definitely the highlight of my year 😀

For our honeymoon, we went to Zambales and Bicol to get our dose of vitamin sea:

In December, the hubs and I did our first Christmas shopping together and my little bro tagged along. It was fun, of course 🙂 We ate a lot and burned cash like there’s no tomorrow (lol jk).

Fast forward to Christmas time, the hubs and I made our first Noche Buena feast as a married couple. Cooking is hard work y’all! The holidays are always hard on my waistline and I kid you not, I totally gained 10 pounds because I’ve been eating nonstop during the honeymoon until the holidays. Ugh.

We made western style beef stew, three-cheese lasagna, baked salmon, and peach cream pie.

As for gifts, I gave the hubs an early Christmas gift a PS4 Slim NBA 2K set thing because I know he’s been pining for that shit since it came out last September and he got me a cute Instax Mini 8 camera. Ugh, look at it, it’s so cute:

It’s pink, it’s tiny, and it comes with a matching pink case how cute is this?!

Left: first instax pic and right: first Christmas together as married couple

Of course I wasted most of the film on our cats, Jelly Bean, Dimitri, and Kaiju:

Excuse the ugleh nails, I was too cheap to get the gel polish professionally removed lol

Career-wise, I made the decision to let go of all old clients during the first month of 2016, a decision that was liberating, bold, and challenging. It was a strategic career move, one that’s been a long time coming but it was still hard for me because I’ve been working for these folks for so long. But at some point, you gotta move on.

Over the course of several months, I jumped from one freelancing job to another and I did come across not-so-great clients. One of them even swindled me into writing a month’s worth of work and not only did he disappear, he also stole my work and published unpaid articles under a different author. It was such a traumatic experience that I decided not to accept projects from LinkedIn ever again.

I know I’ve been harping on and on about this issue, it’s just that at this point in my career, I couldn’t believe I fell for this trick again. There were several bumps along the way and if I’m being totally honest, the last month of 2016 was the worst I’ve experienced ever. And I noticed that most peeps are having a bad year too it’s weird! I suppose 2016 was hard on most of us eh.

Posted by SOML on Saturday, December 24, 2016

2016 was a full year! It came and went swiftly but I’m not sorry to see it go. This year, there were unexpected twists and turns, it took me to places I’ve never been, and it had an awesome ending and that’s what matters, really.

Which reminds me… my Year in Review has been an annual tradition and I’ve been doing this close to 10 years, can you believe it? (Yes, the 2010 YiR is missing but I know I wrote it and it’s probably rotting away somewhere in the deep recesses of the internet). I quite enjoy making these posts, especially after a rough year. It always reminds me that each year has been a full one, no matter how tough it’s been.

I hope you guys enjoyed the holidays as much as I did 😀 I’m wishing you, my dear readers, an excellent 2017 full of love, monies, and raket! Cheers!