Archives for July 2013

Ilocos Weekend

July 22, 2013

I cannot think of a better company during my Ilocos Weekend.

Ilocos is that place I think of when you want to see a better-looking Philippines. It has that impression that if only we went in the right direction, the country could have been a much better place. And to visit the place with two of my closes friends is truly a blessing. I failed to join the Ilocos field trip back in college, and I think it still worked out pretty well. At least I experienced Ilocos out of the field-trip setting.

Iris, Eunise and I spent three days walking around Laoag city, food tripping, and laughing to our heart’s content. It was good to be away from the computer for a good couple f days, despite coming back to Manila with a bad case of body ache due to the long bus ride home. It was also the first time that I can actually say that I was a backpacker? Heehee. Overall, it was an amazing experience. There’s so much more I want to try!

I’m not exactly sure how I want to go about blogging the entire thing. There are some activities that beg to have their individual posts. We’ll see.

After hundreds of tourist-y photos, we went home incredibly tired but with happy hearts. I have no qualms in calling myself a tourist, because I am. I do have a problem, however, with people who look down on tourists. In Ilocos, for example, it’s difficult to travel from one place to another without your own car. It was convenient for us to get a tour package that brought us from Laoag to Pagudpud to Vigan! And I won’t have it any other way, really.

We had numerous fail jump shots. We wondered and wandered in the stillness of Laoag. We were crashed by the waves in Pagudpud. We had indigestion from all the cuisines we tried for the first time. We plunged head first when sand boarding in La Paz sand dunes. We talked over coffee and booze. We danced and sung along the shore. We marveled at all the natural treasures we found. We had so much fun that we still talked about going back while still in the place.

I wish to go on more adventures and to experience more first times with these two. So here’s to dancing without music and eating till we can eat no more.

My Korean Icon Contest

July 5, 2013

It was KPOP that introduced me to Korean culture. It’s been almost a decade since that one faithful day that I first saw TVXQ’s debut music video on TV, and my knowledge of the Korean culture has expanded from simple KPOP to the sappiest and the funniest Korean dramas and movies. I have savored the experience of being a fangirl not just by watching and listening, but also by trying out their cuisine and falling in love with bulgogi and Melona. Using products from different Korean brands is an additional way of immersing myself in the culture. Korea is best know for its cutting-edge fashion and beauty industry for very obvious reasons. So now when I hear “Korea”, I also think of all those pretty clothes I see on the dramas I watch and the cosmetics, especially BB Cream (비비크림), endorsed by my favorites artists.

It was in the drama City Hunter (2011) that I first heard of BB Cream. In one episode, Kim Nana mumbles to the photo of her dead parents that she bought a BB Cream, something every girl should own. I raised an eyebrow and wondered what in the world she’s talking about. I am a girl, and I had never heard of BB cream.

After googling about the product, I learned that BB Cream is what Korean girls use for that flawless look. Well, I realized that if there’s a cream out there that can make a girl look perfect, Korea’s probably the source of that product. The country is known for many things, and for ladies everywhere, it’s their cosmetics that are very much coveted. After all, even those who do not follow their pop culture know that it’s THE country for the best cosmetics at an affordable price. I am miles and miles away from Korea, but after learning about BB Cream, I knew that I had to get my hands on it. Somebody fly me to Korea, quick!

It’s now 2013, and BB Cream is already a household name. Every cosmetic brand out there, Korean or not, offers their own version of BB Cream. In fact, BB Cream has become so popular it’s even one of the 27 icons on PSY’s Wiki Korea Dictionary! It’s a very informative website about different aspects of the Korean culture. I sure learned more about BB Cream when I dropped by the website.

SeoHyun for The Face Shop

When I first got my hands on Etude House’s Precious Mineral BB Cream, I had this grand dreams of becoming as pretty as my favorite Korean actresses or maybe as flawless as the girl idols. Hey, looking as feminine and flawless as SeoHyun of SNSD doesn’t sound so bad! But alas, the BB Cream can sure hide all my blemishes but it still can’t make me look like the next KPOP star. Nevertheless, I’m still happy that there’s a product that can make me look half-decent even without makeup! I am not a beauty expert, but I understand enough the wonders it does to my skin. As long as you get the one

I’m on my second bottle of BB Cream (a Nature Republic, this time!), and I’m still not looking anything like Suzy. But I continue to use them anyway. Koreans surely understand beauty. After all, it’s not expensive jewelries or the most stylish clothes that make a girl prettier. Koreans understand that it’s good skin that makes a girl physically beautiful. It’s best that the rest of the world follow suit.

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* Hello dear readers! This is my entry for the My Korean Icon Contest! I chose BB Cream as my icon for the reasons I stated above. You can learn about the contest (and pretty much everything else about Korea!) on Korea Tourism Organization Manila’s Facebook page. Also, drop by PSY’s Wiki Korea Dictionary to know more about the Land of BB Cream (and how there’s more to it than BB Cream and KPOP)! 🙂

What to Do in Macau for a Day

July 3, 2013

Macau had been one of my dream destinations ever since I started dreaming. Hee. It just seems to be such a quaint place full of fascinating history. And the fact that it mixes Asian and European architecture was enough to convince me that it IS a place to visit. And finally, after years and years of dreaming I finally went to Macau. I only spent a day in the place, and it really was lovely.

Macau is really small so I think a day is enough to see the best of the region. I didn’t have an exact plan on how I could go from one place to another. I was in-charge of the itinerary (and pretty much everything else /sobs) so I was worried how we’ll actually get anywhere! I couldn’t find a decent how-to online on how the bus system works. But somehow, we managed because of the free shuttle services hotels provide. Yay.

So if you’re also just planning to spend a day in Macau, you can use our itinerary for reference. We travel in a group of five adults and 3 kids so we were pretty slow. Haha. [Read more…]