Beauty products and freebies

March 23rd, 2012
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I’ve had acne since I was a teenager. My mother took me to a dermatologist and it just made my facial condition worse. I’ve tried almost anything and avoided food that might worsen the condition but the acne just won’t go away. Even when I’m way past my teens, acne still bothered me and it drastically lowered my self-esteem. I avoided people because some are just too forward to ask me what happened to my face! If I had known I would have found the solution, right?

Thankfully, I came across Bella Skin Care products. I like their Blemish Control Gel because it helps control my acne breakouts. Their moisturizer is great, too. I have really oily skin and this moisturizer doesn’t make my skin really sticky at the end of the day. Their products are just too pricey though so I have to try making one bottle/tube last for at least a month.

Good thing I’ve found this online shop: GBI Online Shop. They have discounts on some products, they offer free delivery if you spend at least 80 dollars, and they have freebies! If you buy any Svenson product, you’ll get a free session at the Svenson Hair Care Center. I had three but I was too busy to go there.


By the way, this is not a paid post. I’m just trying to help others who are fighting against acne and bruised self-esteem. But then, how I wish I could get something from this! ^_^
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Lifestyle , ,

Stuff on my desk

March 21st, 2012
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Having been employed by mostly Japanese companies, I am used to cleaning up my desk before I leave. One company has influenced me a lot on treating documents with utmost privacy/security. Also, I personally don’t want my desk to be cluttered. I’d rather dump all the printed materials inside my drawer.

Now that I am employed in a company that has no single rule on what not to put on the desks, many colleagues, particularly ladies, put some “character” into their work areas. I could see vases of plastic flowers, photo frames, colorful candy jars, cute magnets, inspirational quotes/posters, etc. I like cute stuff, too so I was tempted to display some. Although most of these were given to me as souvenirs:


the pink lion is the only one I bought

Aside from these permanent desk occupants, I have these:

Then I have 3 coasters: 1 for the coffee mug, 1 for the water container, 1 for the canned drinks. I also have the hand lotion and hand sanitizer….ZZzzzz…

Before I bore you to sleep, may I ask what do you usually put on your desk? Do you like to work with an immaculately clean desk, or do you want some clutter?

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At work

Attending a birthday party

March 20th, 2012
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In the rural areas of the Philippines, it is customary that the one holding the party, the celebrant, should be responsible of all the preparations and of course that means taking care 100% of the food budget. Invitees just bring personal gifts for the celebrant. In Japan, people attending a party bring food (cakes or any dessert in particular) or drinks. In two weeks, I will be joining a birthday party of my former boss’ wife. I searched GiftBaskets.com for gourmet gift baskets because I do want my gift to be as presentable as in the photos there! But it seems really tricky to prepare. So maybe in the end, I’ll buy bring a layer of cheese cake!

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Birthday

Batam sceneries and food

March 19th, 2012
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Finally, the last part of the series of posts about my visit to Batam, Indonesia in June 2011!

Our itinerary included a visit to Vihara Buddhi Bakti Temple. We didn’t go inside the temple because taking photos is prohibited so we just took photos outside:


Another stop was at a factory outlet of branded RTWs. The place wasn’t really big as I expected but the prices are maybe the same as in Greenhills (in Manila) :D . I didn’t buy anything because I still find the items expensive. I told myself to just wait for sales in Singapore. Across the factory outlet was a Batik shop. It wasn’t that big but it was a good place to buy cute souvenirs.
The building in the photo below is right across the Batik shop:

We moved from one place to another by bus provided by the travel agency so I didn’t have the chance to travel in “Batam” way. I noticed many vans and motorbikes though. I wonder if people use vans as public transportation, just like in the Philippines?

The last stop was at the Batam City Square (BCS). We were given about 2 hours to shop but my friends and I opted to splurge on food. The prices on the menu looked intimidating with many zeroes on it. I had to remind myself again and again that 1SGD is about 7,000 Rupiah!

I was still so full from lunch so I just ordered pasta and iced cappucino. When we got our bill, we were surprised and delighted because we only had to pay about 7SGD each! Here in Singapore, a meal at a restaurant would cost you at least 15SGD, without drinks!

I actually felt at home in Batam. In many ways, it reminded me of Tagbilaran City in Bohol.

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Food, Indonesia, Travels ,

Curry Crazy

March 16th, 2012
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I loved the Japanese curry at the Manpuku in Tampines 1. Each time I treat myself with that curry, it felt like I’m in Japan.

A friend and I craved for curry a while ago but much to our dismay, the restaurant is closed. There was a renovation going on. I just hope they won’t replace the area with another shop!

Thankfully, Ms. CQ recommended the curry at Kim Gary’s (in the same mall). It wasn’t the Japanese style, it had coconut milk and it was pork! It was spicy and hot but definitely one of the yummiest curry I’ve ever had!




The price was almost twice as the Japanese curry that I used to eat so I won’t be eating this curry as often as I ate the Japanese one. The Japanese curry was 7.50 dollars, while this one was approximately 13 dollars (GST included).
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Food ,

Performers in Batam, Indonesia

March 15th, 2012
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This is one of series of posts about my visit to Batam, Indonesia in June 2011.

Close to the Golden Prawn seafood restaurant is a covered area where unusual performances are done. There was dragon dance, a guy eating glass and another guy eating burning coal! Good thing I didn’t sit at the front because I would have chickened out if the performer asked me to put a glass into his mouth. They always ask someone from the audience to do this.

You might find the sound irritating while watching this video but listening to it while watching the show live made my heart beat faster.




At the end of the performance, a guy collected some sort of donation from the audience. I knew it took years and maybe dozens of injuries for them to master this so giving something was not hard to do. And seeing that performance made my visit to Batam a unique experience.

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Indonesia, Travels ,

Dinner and Dance 2011

March 13th, 2012
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I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since our company’s Dinner and Dance and I haven’t even blogged about it! We had our company’s dinner and dance on June 3 last year (I even forgot the name of the hotel!). In 2009, the theme was “A blast from the past”, 2010 was “Shanghai Night”, and last year was…


Yes, it’s Masquerade!

Last year’s prizes were more attractive. If I remember correctly, there were 8 iPad 2s given away, a number of major prizes, and dozens of consolation prizes. For 3 straight years I have been joining this activity yet I got nothing. Hopefully next time, I’ll get something huge.

I wanted to rent a costume to go with my mask (which was provided at the venue), but rental fee is high. I heard it was 50 dollars ~. So I decided to buy a dress which luckily had the same color as my mask. It had been quite some time since I had a rebond so I sported some curls. I practiced curling and makeup three times before the event and I’m glad I got it right. :D

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At work, Singapore

Miniature houses in Batam

March 10th, 2012
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This is post is still part of my visit to Batam, Indonesia in June 2011.

Maybe all one-day tour packages for Batam, Indonesia include the (Batam Folk Culture Villages Miniature) Taman Mini Indonesia. In there, you can find dozens of miniatures of local houses in Indonesia. I’m pretty sure Shaynna would love it if I take her there. She will definitely see them as doll houses!

Even if our schedule didn’t allow us to visit the Golden Beach, these miniatures made up for it. How I wish I can explore Indonesia more and see the real ones.

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Indonesia, Travels ,

Tap water, please

March 10th, 2012
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Clark Quay is one of the main nightlife destination in Singapore. But at daytime, it is a good place for a stroll. It’s also better to dine and drink there at daytime because it’s cheaper.


You have to be careful though, when asking for iced water/cold water. One time, my friends and I entered a restaurant there. We asked for water before placing our order. We were surprised when the waitress gave each one of us a bottle of water. We wanted to return them but the bottles were already opened even before serving!


We had no choice but to pay 7 dollars (plus 7% GST and 10% service charge) for each bottle! We didn’t place any order and after we consumed every drop, we left and looked for another restaurant. *_*

Lesson learnt: One must clearly mention that he wants a glass of iced tap water

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Ooopppssss, Singapore

IT show wishes

March 9th, 2012
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The first IT Show for this year! Yesterday, as the bus I was on passed by Suntec, I saw a lot of people dragging along boxes of LED TVs. The LED TVs are now more than 50% cheaper than a year ago, yet I have not even bought an LCD TV! Almost every IT show, I buy something for myself – either a 10-dollar thumb drive or a 5-dollar mouse. These great buys are reasons enough for me to wade through the crowd. But this time, I have a bigger reason to go there. We need to cancel our current cable TV + phone line + internet subscription and get a better deal. We only have 12Mbps internet connection, but with the new plan but the same price, we can get 50Mbps! Wooohooo! Hopefully, I can a free modem and router.

I wish I had something extra. I was really drooling over one of those Portégé Z830 Toshiba Laptops. I want it more than a tablet or a smart phone. *_*

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Singapore ,

Snow globes

March 9th, 2012
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Do forgive me for taking too long to share these photos. I just don’t want to wait for another 9 months to post these.

Orchard Road in Singapore is known for the beautiful Christmas decors. Last Christmas, they had these giant snow globes close to the MRT station. Too bad I was not able to take night photos. It would have been much more beautiful:



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Christmas, Singapore , ,

Bathroom singer

March 8th, 2012
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I basically stopped watching American Idol when Simon Cowell left. I find it really interesting when one of the judges is just hard to please. I actually agreed with most of Simon’s comments. But when my friends started posting in Facebook about Jessica Sanchez, I was intrigued and watched her videos. She really is so talented. I love her voice so much. Just like many people, I envy those who are gifted with great voices: Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Charice Pempengco, etc.

I have dreamed of becoming a singer. I even almost joined a singing contest in my hometown when I was 7 years old! But my father told me I was really out of tune! After that, I stopped singing in front of other people. Now that I am all grown up, I’m still not comfortable but when doing karaoke with friends, I can sing a few lines. Even with the help of good ol’ shure microphones, my voice is a hundred fold far from Jessica’s, but I really enjoy singing especially (when I’m all alone). And yes, I was a bathroom singer. I stopped being one when coming to Singapore. I am uncomfortable about my housemates hearing me sing, and not that they really care. :P

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TV Shows ,
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