Bene Balm Review

Bene Balm $18 (Php 806.41)

I fell in love with Bene Tint from first use, though the dryness it caused my lips is another story. I topped it with other balms and lip gloss brands to solve the problem. When Benefit Cosmetics announced that they'll be launching a lip balm line, I was excited to get my hands on their newest addition. A week after, I had the product with me.

Holy Week in the Philippines: Travel Tips

Holy Week is one of the longest holidays in the Philippines - next to Christmas / New Year.
It's that time of the year when every Filipino tunes out of the hustles and bustles of city life and try to reflect and be with their families. Most embark on a pilgrimage from 5pm of Holy Wednesday until 6pm on Easter Sunday. This year, Holy Wednesday will be on April 1, 2015 and Easter Sunday will follow on April 5, 2015. Expressways (NLEX / North Luzon Expressway and SLEX / South Luzon Expressway) on both sides of Manila are expected to clog up on those dates with fleets of vehicles bound to leave and return to the Metro. Travelling on these dates is not for the impatient ones - staying in Metro Manila is highly recommended if you hate crowds.

For those needing tips on how to pull of a trip in the Philippines during the Holy Week (or on other long weekends), here's my advise:

1. Plan the trip ahead of time.

• Give yourself 2 months to plan during your free time.
• Refer to blogs online for help on how to go about your vacation, especially if it's your first time to visit a place.
• Read a lot of reviews about the places you will visit, these will help you decide on your final itinerary.
• Include plans on where to dine.
• To stick to your schedule, you need to have your itinerary mapped out. Warning: 2 hours on google map's estimate might take you 4 hours in reality. Travel time computation of google does not consider the heavy traffic involved.

Filipino Applying for a Tourist Visa for the First Time

Whoever said that travelling is possible for people with no money is lying.

First off, you need to ensure the embassy of the country you're supposed to visit that you have the means to support your travel. (Thanks to the many undocumented alien Filipinos who sought the chance to work abroad and earn in foreign currency fast - just illegally :(. They made sure that normal Filipino employees with a little to spare for travel pass through the eye of the needle for visa applications). Unless you have a sponsor to lend you a bank certificate with an ADB/Average Daily Balance of not less than Php 100,000 for the past 6 months prior to your visa application, you may have to prepare at least 7 months ahead before your planned trip - that is, if you have no savings account. Probably the best advise I can give to someone who wants to start travelling outside the country a lot ( that is most often neglected by other bloggers out there ) is to: KEEP A SAVINGS ACCOUNT IN THE BANK WORTH PHP 200,000 MORE OR LESS AND NEVER EVER SPEND IT - just keep it there lying around forever for visa purposes.

Chowking Drive Thru

I passed by Starbucks Clark in Berthaphil to grab my morning fix of caffeine. Constructions were everywhere! Then I saw it: the very first Chowking drive-thru store to my knowledge. I was curious, so I beelined into the entrance of the driveway and ordered Siopao at the window. According to the guy who took my order, theirs was the 2nd Chowking branch with drive thru in the Philippines. The very first store of that type is in Pangasinan. Wow. The tag line "linuluto" circa 90's completely evolved - that which depicts Chowking food being freshly prepared only upon receipt of every order. I wonder how will this fair in the Philippine market. It's a good idea though. Less unhealthy (?) or not. We can see the trend - everything drive thru by 2035 I guess?

Acer Liquid E700 (E39) Review

If you will ask around mobile stores if there are any tri-sim Android phones available in the market, they will dismiss the "Android" and offer you a very basic phone. If you will insist on a triple sim, touch screen phone with a nice camera and an updated Android software, they will look at you as if they've seen an alien speaking in foreign tongue. That reaction is mostly followed by a you're-out-of-your-mind ridiculous laugh or i'm-puzzled-so-here's-an-incredulous-look response. (People, imagination please!)

Leaning towards hopelessness, I again relied on my very good friend, Google, to shed light on my seemingly out of this world exploration - then voila! I found one!! The search engine keeps on pulling up a certain Acer Liquid E700. Curious, I stumbled upon its specifications. I read through, with something like "this is too good to be true" idea in my head. There I was, not really expecting for some company to have already manufactured the phone with features I only formulated in my mind - yet it did exist! Apparently, some genius from Acer thought of the demand this phone will create even before I thought about it. I love my iPhone, I just wanted something to hold my other 3 sims without having to buy multiple phones.

After much reading, I decided to go to the nearest concept store. At first I was skeptical to buy it. They did not have a demo unit. I was convinced with the other phone models though. Just don't expect much from their highly revered 8MP or 13MP cameras. No matter how much MP there are in a phone camera, it's the final image captured that matters the most. Acer's pictures and videos did not meet my standards. Maybe it's not in the number of pixels. It's in the sensor and post-processing of images. In the end, I still bought one because overall, I thought it was offering more than its tag price. Here are my early observations about the phone (in no particular order):

1. Triple Sim Stand By / Value for Money / Convenience - the seller initially told me it was not on stand by for calls for the 3 sim cards at the same time. He said it was only on triple sim stand by just for text messaging. (I was not able to test it because they had no demo unit and inserting 3 sims to the same phone would be a tedious task. The store did not have 3 different sims with them.) I bought it anyway. It turned out he was wrong - I can be contacted through any of the contact numbers at any time! Just choose "always ask" for calls and text messages on the settings. Messaging worked the same way too. It's very convenient, especially for those who want to get the best of all worlds - from three different networks. It's like having 3 phones in just one phone. It's convenience magnified! :) To top it all off, the phone just costs Php 10,990 (USD 244.28). For those who doesn't want to feel shelling out that much in one go, I recommend charging it on installment for 0% interest - that is if you are a good payer. Otherwise, don't think about charging :) This will help you test out the unit without having to pay for it in full. I do this most of the time, without breaking the rule of saving up first and spending only the extra money you have. I'll be writing a post soon about finances, will share with you some tips that turned my life around..

One Fine Day in Corregidor Island

I ran out of ideas on where to go next on my Anniversary with ex-bf. I already booked us to an unexpected trip abroad before, which was a surprise to him - so that won't do. I also booked us a degustation lunch before, so doing it again would be like watching a rerun of a movie we've already watched on HBO. All I found was cliche whilst browsing and googling over the net. So I thought, why not stay in the metro for a change? I had two choices: A.) revisit  Old Manila - see the different museums, tour the national library (which I've never done, ever) and dine in Binondo - OR B.) see Corregidor Island for the first time. I found the latter more appealing so I googled away, typing "Corregidor". Third on the results was http://www.corregidorphilippines.com hosted by Sun Cruises, the sole touring agency for Corregidor Island. I clicked on it and looked for the most important part of the tour - budget requirement.

Day Tour to the island is available from Mondays to Sundays. Adult rate is Php 2,250 ($ 51.52) during weekdays and Php 2,449 ($ 56.08) during weekends. Child rate (term "child" being 3-11 years old) is only at Php 1,400 ($ 32.06). The fees cover ferry transfers to and from the island, entrance fees, tour guide and buffet lunch. Overnight option is available for an additional Php 1,500 ($ 34.35) per pax. This fee includes breakfast for the next day. There are other activities on the island as well, but I opted for just the day tour.

Sun Cruises Dock

If you will be coming from a place far from Metro Manila, I suggest you spend the night around the area because check-in time for the ferry starts early at 7:00am (unless you are an early riser, say 4:00am??). Ferry leaves at 8:00am and there's only one trip to the island per day - no other batches. Considering the traffic going to Manila, you should alot 1-2 hours of travel time from the tip of EDSA or South Luzon Expressway. Should you miss the departure, that's it for the day. Not sure about rebooking though. Better contact Sun Cruises (632) 834-6857 to 58, (632) 831-8140.

iOS 8 Review

So I downloaded iOS 8 just a few hours ago. Here's what I think about it so far:

1. JUICE UPGRADE - gave my iPhone 5s an extended battery life. I've been using it the whole day, like for 10.5 hours already with LTE and the works, and it still has 31% life on it. Amazing, I'm so loving it ü

2. PREDICTIVE TEXT - I assume Apple's been keeping track of the way I text for the past years so it's far more intelligent than my android toy, it has this eerie way of knowing what I want to type - eerie in a great way ü

Should I Buy the iPhone 6 Plus?

Photo Courtesy of www.apple.com

I love Apple to bits. I’ve been a believer since I first used the iPhone 4, and then upgraded to iPhone 5s, passing up on the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 upgrades. Now, with the launch of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, I'm torn. But I guess the better choice would be to sit it out and wait for the better iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 perhaps - whichever gives me the most reasonable (considering value for money) upgrade from the already awesome iPhone 5s :) Don’t get me wrong, I guess people are missing out big time loving android without having tried THE iPhone. If you haven’t tried the product, now’s the time to buy one before launching into all sorts of nitpicking for the brand, comparing it to the capabilities of other smartphones, without earning your credibility by using one. And, guess what! Apple’s giving away free downloads of U2’s newest album until October 13, 2014 - yes, FULL ALBUM DOWNLOAD! - only if you have an iTunes account. So go ahead, sign up and enjoy this awesome freebie ^_^.

Longchamp: How to Spot a Fake Bag

I ordered a Longchamp bag from an online merchant through cashcashpinoy.com. At first I was skeptical of the deal because of the overboard price off.. but hey, there are good deals out there right? I've been a fan of the Le Pliage style since I first used one. I can fill up the bag with all my stuff without fear of tearing the material. I've used bags with steep prices that fail to deliver on the "sturdiness" department. Yes, they looked pretty with fine details but when put under "heavy use" (literally) they break and tear apart - that's not the case with my beloved Le Pliage. These bags endured the heavy use test, without sacrificing elegance and style. Ü

I received the item 2 days ago. Surprisingly, the parcel went with an unsolicited Longchamp folded paperbag. The moment I saw it, I dubiously held the string and my skepticism was confirmed. I bought a fake item!!! (Grrr) Good thing I was backed up by the promise of 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Here goes some spot the difference pictures..

Longchamp bag's button from Cashcashpinoy merchant has poor workmanship and the letters are not precisely etched. Leather is obviously synthetic and harder than original. The bag is poorly stitched too. :-/

The inside flap's button lock has more of continuous ridges vs. those on the original bags which have precise "dots" all over.  Fake bag's dots are noticeably closer to the edge than that of the original.

Paperbag that came with the CCP merchant's parcel is sooo fake you can detect it on the string used for the paperbag's handle and its lighter color vs. original paperbags. Longchamp's paperbags have consistent color no matter where on earth you buy. They use the same thickness of string too.

Bonchon Honey Citrus Chicken and Crispy Crepes

I've been a fan on first bite of their Soy Garlic version. My favorite order is their 3-pc thigh box (Small) that costed Php 185 ($ 4.24) before and increased to Php 195 ($ 4.47) now. The spicy version is not too spicy, which suits my taste at times.

Bonchon's newest flavor: Honey Citrus - will delight those who prefer oriental chicken salads with asian vinaigrette dressing. It tastes as sweet as Chowking's orange chicken but as crispy as the classic soy garlic. For me it beats the aforementioned.. Ü