Guess who's back!

Wazzzzzzup!

It has been three months since I last updated my blog. It actually feels weird to be seated in front of my laptop and compose this blog post. I am finally reunited with a love long lost! I've been the busiest during the past three months. Even if I went on a blog hiatus, my love for beauty products did not cease. I am too glad to be back as I terribly missed blogging. Can't wait to share with you my beauty finds, discoveries and more! 

Travel: Year-Ender Trip at Tagaytay

The holidays and my first week at work made it impossible for me to catch up with blogging. I'm happy to be finally writing again! Please bear with me as I try to adjust with my new responsibilities. I only have the weekend to blog now, must use my time well! 

Just before the year 2012 ended, our family stayed over at Tagaytay to bond, relax and enjoy the holiday season. And this is what I will be sharing with you! We started the trip with an ocular at CCT Tagaytay, a great venue for conference, retreat or team-building activities. The dormitories reminded me a lot of the ones at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

We spent the afternoon enjoying the majestic view of Taal Lake and the breeze of the cool wind!

With little sister, and mom

The tripod I bought from CD-R King for only 250php came in handy for family pictures. Yes, 250php only!

Outfit of the day includes a corset from Chicadora, thrifted blazer and jejejeggings!

More pictures

Dinner time! We all agreed to have dinner at Mile Hi.

Burger, Pasta, Steak. What else do you expect from a diner? Yum yum!

                                 

We were all satisfied with our orders. Food is fairly priced at 150-300php. I definitely enjoyed my Mozarella-stuffed burger!

I am not a big fan of Starbucks but the one in Tagaytay is easily one of the nicest Starbucks I've visited. The second floor is an open area that is strategically situated for people to get a nice view of Taal. The best time to visit is night time because you'll make the most out of the cool temperature. Nothing beats a hot cup of coffee in a cold place. Relaxing!

Family picture before leaving Mt. Tabor, where we stayed over for the night.

                               

Before finally reaching Manila, we stopped over for a late lunch at Solenad 2, Nuvali. There were several food stalls there, the setup was Mercato-like.

Great food for very affordable prices! I had isaw and Ilocos empanada. Yum yum!

Tagaytay will always be one of my favorite places. It's the nearest and easiest escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Spending time with family is also a great way to end and start a new year.

My Flawless Beauty Transformation

*All photos from Google Images

I've always dreamed of having perfectly toned abs but I can settle for a flat tummy. It's like an ultimate dream to me. The pursuit of such dream is difficult, tiring and sometimes, frustrating. Throughout my journey to achieving toned abs, I came upon several methods claiming to be the key to such dream. However, none seemed to work for me! 

I have annoyingly big tummy that would bulge whenever I wear body-hugging clothes. Such an eye sore!

Eeeek! I spent time thinking of whether to post or not this picture. Gross, right? I seriously need to cut off those layers of fat!

I'd like to take you to my achieving toned abs journey. You're allowed to laugh!

Oh, I remember the creaking sound of this equipment! I was so happy when my parents finally bought the Ab Rocket. Premature upper abs or more like mini boobs resulted from several months spent with this equipment. I discontinued using this because for no apparent reason, the  screws that adjust the level of difficulty won't work anymore. Boo!

No rice diet, banana diet, GM diet - I've tried several sorts of diet to date. But, but, but I can't seem to have the discipline that has to come along with a diet plan.

I'm sure you're all familiar with Shaun T! I still follow his videos when I find time. However, I sometimes get bored doing repetitive routines. Kaya nga routine, Iya diba?

Okay, it's a bit shameful to admit but yes, I've tried slimming pills! I'm not overweight but I thought I could get rid of my belly area if I lose some pounds. Anorexic lang ang peg? 

Every time I see photos of women with perfectly toned abs or flat tummy, I turn green with envy! And I figured just recently, no program/routine can take me to my dream if I don't have motivation and discipline. Puro ka kain, ambisosyang froglet! Now I'm taking my dream to the next level by developing a balanced diet and proper workout. I also save photos of women with toned abs/flat tummy on my phone for motivation. I know it will take a lot of time before I finally achieve my dream but with Flawless Shape & Sculpt (Abs) Program, I believe I can get the abs that I wanted just in time for the summer months! I badly need this!

Forever Flawless Shape and Sculpt uses a comprehensive 3-in-1 advanced technology in a synergistic system via Cavitation Ultrasound, Bi-Polar Radio Frequency and Interfere Frequency to effectively remove fats and enhance muscle tone, resulting in a slim and sexy body. Source

In celebration of its 11th birthday, Flawless is inviting to take advantage of its 1 + 1 beauty blowout this National Flawless Month. If this isn't the best time to boost or jumpstart your top to toe beauty transformation, then I don't know what is. Go to www.flawless.com.ph or visit a clinic near you for more information.

http://www.flawless.com.ph/

For the mean time, I'll just put to practice my makeup skills. Contour here, there and everywhere!

Trolololol! Achieve na ba? Kaso kailangan ko ng waterproof na pang contour para sa summer. Meron kaya nun?

For beauty blogging purposes, I mustered enough courage to do this. Hahaha. I told myself that I'd be able to look back at this post and laugh because I don't need to contour my fat belly anymore. 

What's your dream body? do you wish to enhance any part of your body? Share your thoughts by commenting down below! I would love to hear from you!

God bless!

Meeting Shen: One of my biggest inspirations in beauty blogging

I had a wonderful chance to meet one of my biggest inspirations in beauty blogging, Ms. Shen of Shen's Addiction last Thursday together with Svetlani of Beauthriftful and Raych of Makeup by Raych. The greatest part of winning Ms. Shen's 4th Anniversary Giveaway Contest is not the prizes itself but a chance to finally meet the person behind Shen's Addiction. 

*Photo Credits to: Svetlani Santiago

Our prizes were too heavy for shipping hence the meetup. We met up at Bonifacio Global City. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow beauty bloggers and of course, Ms. Shen. Her beauty blog truly served as a big inspiration to my beauty blogging journey. I only started last July 2012 and her blog served as a big help in terms of makeup tips and tricks, beauty products, tutorials and of course encouragement. Read My Winning Entry if you want to know more how her beauty blog encouraged me to explore beauty. Words are not enough to describe how I admire her!

As if the prizes were not enough generosity, Ms. Shen gave us a treat at Serenitea, BGC! Their Wintermelon Milk Tea is a must try!  Yumyumyum! Fangirl-ing moment with Ms. Shen! I think she's a great person to hang out with. I thought she was a serious person judging from her witty posts but not at all, she's very cheerful and kalog!

I also had a chance to meet fellow beauty bloggers, Svetlani and Raych. I had a great time chatting with them. It's always fun to talk with people with the same interests! Let's meet again, soon!

With the charming Svetlani

With my new found makeup friend, Raych

Together, we shared our excitement as we go through our prizes! We instantly rummaged through our beauty items. Imagine the excitement when opening presents during Christmas Eve? That's exactly how we felt! Kulang nalang, Christmas songs sa background! We didn't expect our prizes to be that huge. Here's a peek!

Left: Mine Right: Raych's

 I'll be sharing with you what's inside my loot next. Stay tuned!

Thank you so much Ms. Shen for our lovely prizes and for the wonderful chance to meet you! Hope to see you again!

Who are your biggest inspirations in beauty blogging?
Have a great day!
God bless!

Travel: Baguio city Weekend III (University of the Philippines Baguio)

Remember when I told you how Baguio City is close to my heart on the First Part of this post? Well here is the reason why! I spent one academic year at UP Baguio. After which, I transferred to UP Diliman. One school year is enough for me to fall in love with the city.

Living in the City of Pines felt like having a long, long vacation. The cool temperature, fresh air, strawberries, Session Road walks, cheap finds and the kind people are what I love most about the city. I stayed with my aunt at Philippine Military Academy (PMA) for several months. I forget the stress from school everytime the breathtaking landscape at PMA greet me each morning.

Just so you can visualize what I'm talking about. Here's a picture! Such lovely flowers to look at.

Spot the tourist! Hehehe. Photo taken 3 years ago.

Now, I'll give you a quick photo tour around the UPB.

Each school day is exercise day because of steep slopes and stairs. 

Say hello to the renovated canteen!

The Abortion Stairs! If you are a follower of Miss Cory Potts, you might have seen these stairs on one of her vlogs. She's from UP Baguio too. These stairs lead to my former college, College of Social Sciences. Treading up this flight of stairs is no joke!

Psych 101 days!  This is the classroom where we held our Psych 101 classes.

Newly renovated UPB library!

Sabi nila may curse daw pag nagpapicture kay Oble. Hindi raw makakagreaduate. Makakagraduate naman ako, di nga lang on time! 

Read about the first and second part of my Baguio trip:

Baguio City Weekend I (Sister Bonding)

Baguio City Weekend II (Church Anniversary & Meralco Summerhouse)

Have you been to Baguio City? What do you love most about the city? 

Thanks for reading!

Have a blessed day!

Love,

Iya

Travel: Weekend at Baguio City II (Church Anniversary & Meralco SummerHouse)

The main reason of our Baguio visit is to attend Church on a Hill Christian Community's 7th anniversary. It is a sister church of our local church. I was once a member of the church that is why I really wanted to celebrate with them. I've seen how God worked gloriously on their church.

They grew in quantity and in quality each year. The testimonies of the church members are not enough to describe God's grace and power. The story of how their church flourished is really amazing. It started from a small Bible study group. Look at them now! 

Few years back, the church rented a space at Minesview to hold Sunday Celebrations. Now, they have their own space. God is full of grace! 

Daddy preached about disciple-making. Yes, my dad is a pastor! 

Hello Ayie and Sam!

The church has the tradition to have kainan after the service which I really enjoy! I had 5-6 of this yummy brownies. Calories!

Now, I'll share some pictures of the house. We stayed at Meralco Summerhouse. Such a lovely place to stay. Thanks to Tito Bong. It was really cozy.

The interior of the house is American-inspired. Fireplace, wooden fixtures, picture frames.

Every meal is fiesta! From breakfast, lunch to dinner. Bonggang bongga ang pagkain!

I really had a great weekend! Happy 7th Anniversary Church on a Hill Christian Community!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

-Matthew 28:19-20

If you haven't read about the first part of my Baguio trip, read about it here!

Have a blessed day!