Thursday, April 23, 2009

Spa day with Jennie


Jennie, author of Kikay Corner, is one of those who responded to my call for beauty reviewers. Why did I choose her? First, because she's a beauty blogger so I know she's interested in beauty stuff and, more importantly, she can write. Second, well, because she's my dear friend so I know I'd feel very comfortable with her when we went to The Spa at The Fort to review a treatment for OK! magazine's June issue.
The lobby is filled with the sound of cascading waterfalls. That entire wall is shimmering with falling water, which then gathers around a pool (the black part at the bottom right). Quite lovely actually. The picture doesn't do it any justice. Oh, can you see me?
Up the stairs to the foyer, which has these amazing steel sculptures you can sit on. They're quite comfy, too.

Jennie checks in! The staff of The Spa are quite courteous. And I love how their voices are so melodious that just listening to them is enough to relax you.
This is the lounge. Jen and I part ways at this point. She went off to try the Infrared Sauna and then an hour-long massage. The treatment is supposed to detoxify your system. I hope she took pictures because I hear the private villa she was ushered into is fantastic!

I had a delightful 60-minute foot spa in this super relaxing room. It's actually very dark in this room but I opened the aperture of my Sony Cybershot camera to capture more light or else you won't see anything. Anyway, those chairs are unbelievable. Sooo deep and heavenly. Now, when I do a review, I always have to stay awake so that I can observe every detail of the treatment. But the foot spa was so fantastic, I fell asleep! And when I fall asleep during a treatment, then believe me when I say that that's the best thing I can say about it!

The best thing about my day, however, was spending it with a dear friend... in a world-class spa no less!

The Spa at The Fort
Bldg 8, 908 Bonifacio High Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Tel no. 856-5858 / 6868 / 1818

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A very happy second wedding anniversary

This weekend, Vince and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary and the 10th anniversary of our first kiss!

We had a very simple day, which started with me cooking a big brunch. Then... I won't go into specifics! Later on, we went to Power Plant for a haircut (yes, a haircut!) because Vince's last haircut was in December and his long hair was really annoying him. Pardon the pics--we took them with the iPhone because I didn't want to lug around my huge camera.
We're both sporting short hair again! Now, if I can only get Vince
to color his hair platinum blonde... but he says if he colors
his hair, it will only be in Oscar the Grouch green. Yikes!


Then we had dinner at Myron's. Oh, but that was a lovely dinner that left us dizzy. I had a crisp salad and a glass of Chardonnay; Vince had a juicy steak and a Shiraz. We also had two orders of these huge baked oysters that were each as big as my hand. I had 7, Vince had 5! We were so full and round, Vince joked that we could just roll ourselves home!
We were supposed to watch Fast & Furious (we are fans of The Fast & The Furious because hot cars and hot stars are a deadly combination) and watch Ferrari parts fly but I think the movie was all Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda and no one gave good reviews so we decided to drop by the bookstore instead. I know I never mention books in this blog because I try to keep this blog light and silly but Vince and I adore books and we do believe we've spent a small fortune on Fully Booked.
Outfit details: a BCBG Max Azria LBD with sequined details
that I bought from eBay, a silk clutch I got as a press gift
and black Nine West slingback heels (not shown).

Then home we went for rich Batangas coffee and Selecta strawberry ice cream. We parked ourselves in front of the TV for a marathon of Pushing Daisies and Chuck and a truly bad movie The Day The Earth Stood Still, which we delighted in demolishing. And that was our anniversary!

Anyway, this whole weekend, I've been singing "A Whole New World" from Disney's Aladdin. It was the song I was singing when Vince and I started going out in 1999, and what I hummed as I prepared for our wedding in 2007. You know, even after 10 years, I still feel like I'm in a whole new world. With the one I love by my side, it is indeed still a thrilling chase, a wondrous place for Vince and me.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

This is the thief who owes me P80,000++

Last November 21, this woman stole my wallet and charged more than PHP 80,000 (USD 1,709) worth of gadgets on my gold HSBC card.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

This is not the first time she's been featured on the local news. But no one can seem to identify her! The security team of our office building--they had caught her before and released her!--say her name is Noralyn Beltran. Her modus operandi is to go to offices and steal. She does this every end of the week, at around 4 PM, which is about the time people are having their merienda (coffee break) and so are apt to leave their belongings on their desk. This thief must be caught. Please forward this post and video to everyone you know. Thank you.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

My dream vacation! (Oh, please do come true!)


Happy Easter, y'all! Happy day because today is when we remember that Christ has risen! He has conquered death so that we may live!

Please also remember that rabbits have nothing to do with Easter and that they make the most horrible pets for children since rabbits bite, kick and scratch. So do not buy rabbits today!

Wow, that was one very loooong holiday. To all my readers from other parts of the world, here in the Philippines, Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday is the deadest time in the city. There's no school or work, no malls or movies, no traffic (hooray!) until Easter when everything literally does come alive again.

This year, as with the past years, Vince and I stayed home and just vegged out. While everyone in Manila spent the week in beaches or back at their ancestral homes, my husband and I find traveling at this time more stressful so we just cocoon ourselves. Vince spent the days playing his Fallout 3 game, the one I got him for his birthday last February. Yep, he's been so busy he only had last week to finally play it. Me? I've been blogging and writing and surfing (see happy photo!) and watching TV.

I can see the Hidden Mickeys!

I did watch this show called World's Best... Cruises and one of their top picks is the Disney Cruise. Now, y'all know how I love Disneyland. Remember how I just totally freaked when I went to Hong Kong Disneyland? Embarrassing really. But I still am determined to see all the Disneylands in the world. And now this--a Disney Cruise! It departs from Florida and then goes to its very own island... yes, its very own island!!! In Rachel Zoe's words, "I die!"

The Disney Crusie docks at its very own island called Castaway Cay.

My sea-and-land magical adventure plan!

It's super exciting! My idea is to go see Disney World in Orlando--my best friend Aida says it's so huge I'd need a week to see everything--and then go to Port Canaveral where Vince and I can board the Disney ship! Of course, my partner-in-crime is very skeptical because he doesn't see how we can honeymoon on a ship brimming over with screaming children and mascots, but I'm still hoping to convince him. I guess what he's really thinking of is how much it'll cost.

I've been Googling how to do this cheap (haha) and I think Westgate has the best packages for this magical sea and land adventure! Now... I really have to make more money because money sadly doesn't appear magically and some adventures are made enchanting only because of the cold hard fact that they cost an arm and a leg.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

My new love!


So y'all know about my quest for a netbook. But when my husband Vince went and bought himself a MacBook, I figured I didn't need one anymore. But love, it's difficult to understand. When it hits you, it hits you and when I saw the HP Mini 1109TU, it was love. I've been playing with it since I bought it on April 1. Yes, love makes fools out of us all.
 
Happiness in a box!
 
It's just the manual!
Unlike a lot of people, I actually read the manual. And only then do I touch the gadget!

This is my very first laptop! So here I am checking out each piece. Vince thinks I'm funny.

Now how do we open this?


Ahh, the faint blue glow of techie paradise! Best part is it's just PHP 18,990 (USD 397) and payable over 6 months! Indeed, love need not be expensive. Anyway, I know I said I was considering the HP Mini Vivienne Tam but when I saw it, it was a bit too red. It didn't go well with my red hair and my propensity to wear loud hues like orange. But my little black baby is all subtle elegance and goes well with any outfit! And the really really best part about it? I've begun writing again. A little story that's now 4 pages along. I've not written a story in 10 years! So me tap-tapping away on my little black beauty is more meaningful to me than anyone can ever know.