MMUah!

As posted in a previous blog post (click here), I’m afraid my kikay fetish is not dying down. Each time I connect to the net to do work-related research, I end up drying up my Smartbro load just looking up mineral makeup online! And it was during those :ahem: research times that I found out that MMU is the shorter way to call Mineral Make Up.

MMU is super light on the skin, and it’s as if you’re wearing no makeup at all (personal experience!). It’s made up of all natural ingredients (no oil, no talc, no preservatives) that feeds your skin with great benefits like cell regeneration and natural sun protection. It’s made of super fine ingredients that can hide fine lines and flaws without clogging pores. And, a lot of MMU websites claim that you can even sleep with MMU makeup on (not that you need to, but just in case!)

MMU brands have a wide range of colors and pigments and they really attracted me the way I used to get attracted to dry pastels and acrylic paints. Professional makeup brushes come in sets of 5 – (gulp) 25! I don’t even know if that’s all of them. Now that I am thinking of adding MMU to my growing list of “all –natural” merchandise, I said, why not learn more about it?

I “researched” (now, with a purpose!) using the Net for nearby makeup workshops. I wanted something useful, non-committal, and guilt-free. I came across the perfect one … Mineraux, a local MMU company based in Bonifacio Global City was offering a half-day MMU workshop for P1,200.00 including refreshments and an MMU starter kit, oh joy!

I joined the April 24 session held at the Numa Tea Shoppe on Rizal Drive. It was a small group, there were only 5 girls (max number is 7), it was awkward during the first few minutes – but everyone loosened up quickly. Our teacher (Melissa, one of the owners of Mineraux), really reminded us to be informal and to have fun! We were taught about basic skin care (cleanse, tone, moisturize!) and how to apply MMU for the “Prime” (no makeup/ day look) and for the “Smoky” look (for those sexy, deep set eyes)

I really, really enjoyed the workshop. I went there with only a few basic brushes and some mineral foundation - but we were allowed to borrow the brushes and sample the Mineraux MMU. Brushes are definitely easier to understand once you learn how to use them (The fan brush is for brushing away loose pigments, kaya sya mukhang walis!). The color of your veins through your skin also determines your skin tone, which is a must when choosing the color of your foundation. I’m an “olive” all along (and I kept on picking warm colors!) I also learned when to use those weird yellow, purple and green concealers I see makeup artists use. It was also great meeting new people! Melissa told us that Mineraux is targeting the older, more mature professionals, hence the lack of shimmer shimmer in their shades.

Time for pictures? When I got home my mom asked, “Aba, bakit ka nagpa-makeup” .. “Ahem, mommy, ako gumawa nan.” Small photos only nahihiya ako , hehe.

Melissa of Mineraux talks about brushes.

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Check out my seatmate's brushes! Hehe inggit ako.

The left photo , bare-faced. The right one with my usual daily makeup

During the workshop and halfway dolled up. Foundaton and outlined brows pa lang.


"Smoky eyes" -- sorry , I wasn't able to do a better full face-photo , hehe. And.. I'm a lousy kilay-groomer.

After the workshop, we were asked to choose 4 types of MMU to choose for our own starter kit, I chose a concealer, 2 colors of blush, and a mineral veil. Good haul ;-) It was time (and money) well spent. Learn about MMU and Mineraux at http://www.mineraux.com.ph or http://mineraux.multiply.com.

How's your Electric Bill?

My boss told me that it’s now P13.00 per kwH (or maybe higher, I forgot the exact value). As a result, people’s electric bills have doubled. I’m not super affected because my electric bill here at Fort.5 never goes past P400.00 (woohoo!) We don’t have air conditioning and we’re out most of the time. We actually don’t need A/C since its pretty cool here (no direct sunlight!) , besides – wala sa amin ang nasanay na naka A/C. I have an energy efficient ref, use LPG, and bring laundry home to Laguna (not too efficient, but hey, we go home on weekends anyway, so oks lang). Other appliances include a toaster, a microwave oven, an iron (si LTJG lang naman ang nagpaplantsa, my clothes are usually wash and wear) and an old, old TV (probably the least efficient of our stuff), laptop, printer, scanner. All our lights are Compact Flourescent Lamps (CFL) may cost more but illuminates better and lasts xxx more than your normal round bulbs (meron pa ba non???)

Anyway, I’ve been visiting the Department of Energy a lot because of my job, and I’d like to share with you some of the tips I got from some DOE flyers. They have a LOT on energy awareness, I wonder how they spread the word around? Allow me to give them a hand… and I quote, “Start today and see how much you can save!”

On Airconditioning

~ Choose an A/C unit with high “Energy Efficiency Ratio” (EER). This consumes less electricity. Newer models nowadays are always labeled.

~ If you’re leaving the room for a long time (say, more than 2 hours), turn off the A/C, it uses less current to bring the temperature down again when you return and turn it on again.

~ Switch to fluorescent lighting. Incandescent bulbs are much better heaters than light sources (that’s why they’re used for poultry!) – these IBs will compete with you’re A/Cs, making it work harder.

On Refs and Freezers

~ Defrost regularly. More than ¼ inch of ice build up puts on an extra load on the motor

~ Check ref if it is not losing cool because of a leaking gasket (edge of door). Test this by closing the door on a peso (or dollar or dong or whatever, hehe). If the bill slips out when you pull on it, it’s either the gasket needs replacement or the door needs adjusting

~ Don’t set the thermostat colder to get it started on the theory that it will cool/ freeze faster.

~ Make sure you have just the right size fridge for your needs!

On Kitchen Appliances

~ Thaw frozen food thoroughly before cooking

~ Do not boil water in an open pan/ pot. Covered pots will boil sooner over less heat

~ Never use small pans on big burners or heating elements (for electric). Flame or heat exceeding the diameter of the pan is lost in the air.


On Laundry

~ Avoid washing partial loads. In other words, ipunin ang labada bago labhan. Use the full machine capacity

~ Avoid using the electric drier. Practice using the old-fashioned sampayan !

~ Dampen clothes moderately when ironing. Excessive moistened clothes take longer to iron

~ Turn off flat iron shortly before ironing the last piece.. it will stay hot long enough to finish the job


That’s all for now! Remember, conserving energy or using energy efficiently not only lowers your electric bills but also lets you contribute less to the energy shortage AND pollution ;-)

Love it

Boys over Flowers in Real: Vic, Ave, Hanna, Jerome, Pete

Salamat kay Jops :-) Hehe. Sorry boys, iba ang love ni JanDi (?) in this version.

Where in the world is LTJG ?

It has been 3 days without contact, so I decided to surf the web for any relevant news articles and came up with this one:

Reuters Pictures
2 weeks ago
Members of the Philippine Navy salute during a send-off ceremony at Sangley Point Naval Base in Cavite City, south of Manila March 31, 2010. Around 250 sailors are sent to Malaysia to participate in a bilateral maritime training activity between Philippine Navy and Royal Malaysian Navy which aims to enhance interoperability between the two neighboring allies.

Hehe. He's there, somewhere. If you look really hard. My then showbiz-averse husband will be thrilled when he finds out that the news was picked up by international wires!

We miss you LTJG!

Plug: Canvas Earth Bags as Great Giveaways!

We (well, my mom and I) can produce made to order canvas (katsa) bags for your corporate or personal events! These bags are way useful (none of those trinkets that only gather dust on your shelves) and can even make earth-friendly or bold or "wala lang" statements! Encourage your guests to reduce waste by bringing their own bag when they shop ;-)

We use the thick katsa and double / zigzag (machine) sewing to prevent the katsa from shredding (err, ano ang english ng "nisnis" basta yung nauubos ang cloth). Designs are printed using regular silkscreen paints.

Prices vary according to bag style and print design. Sorry, we won't do zippers or buckles. Plain, velcro or snaps would be fine. Please PM me your specs so we can price :-)

For Doy and Maui's wedding , it was about 14" x 15" with black and gray print. PM me for pricing details.

For my wedding 3 years ago (hehe), we had a variety of sizes with a 4-color print. Prices increase according to number of colors . We can do special orders of very few pieces but of course that will cost more :-) I guess orders of 50 pcs and up would be more economical.



So... just send me a message through blogger, multiply or through my email or through facebook or whatever if you're interested! Minimum one month's notice for orders!

A Wedding in Real, Quezon

4/12/2010

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. I am yet to find office friends that are as great as my AFI office friends. I don't know, conversations with them are always deeper, more meaningful, and less pretentious. With them I can truly be honest and frank and even pikon. Haha. I miss them terribly. And there is no use going back to AFI because we've all moved on! And I guess that's what makes it more special.

Our friends Maui and Doy got married over the weekend and we had a fun reunion! It was in a far off chapel in Real Quezon, sabi nga ni Doy, "sa nilayo-layo man ng byahe, sa simbahan din ang tuloy" and that made it more fun and meaningful. Everything was brief but sweet , making it definitely a wedding to remember! One can hear the ocean waves during the church (chapel) wedding, and I loved how the breeze kept blowing about.

I loved the priest's sermon and I would like to share it with you. He had 3 bits of advice for married couples:

(1) Be promise keepers. Promises are NOT made to be broken.

(2) Be discoverers. Do not be afraid to try new things and to surprise each other

(3) Be forgivers. A lot of marriages would still be saved if people were forgivers

Maui and Doy's wedding showed that a wedding doesn't need all the frills and headache-pounding, wallet crunching stuff in order to happen! All you need is love, good friends, and a thirst for adventure. CONGRATULATIONS MAUSTER AND DOY!!!

I didn't bring a camera so I just grabbed this one from Vic's site. Looking forward to more photos from Jofel's camera!

Travel stuff:

- Famy to Real, Quezon is a zigzaggy, but otherwise breathtaking ride. Ganda ng mountains! It's a 2.5 drive from Manila , around 3 hours from Laguna.

- La Union has better resorts, but if you're willing to rough it, Real is good for beginner surfers. Maui said the best resort they saw was the Manila East resort. We had a conversation with one resort caretaker, his boss didn't want to invest much on aesthetics because the coast is very vulnerable to typhoons and tsunami!

A Few of my Favorite Things

… I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad….

Haha. From one of my favorite sing-along movies. The song played in my head while I was cooking my beef tapa for lunch. Yep, it’s my 28th birthday today and I had a whole day solo celebration. I planned it on a whim yesterday, and I’m quite glad it went well.

I decided to celebrate with my favorite things. Number one would be staying at home. I like staying home alone. Less expensive, you don’t have to look good and you can make a mess. The weather cooperated too! It was sunny out, but the breeze blowing into our room was really comforting that I didn’t need to turn on lights or even the electric fan.

Favorite Breakfast – I love French toast, so for today I made French toast with banana and cream cheese. Mmmm. This was actually copied from a dish I used to order from the Tower 1 Executive’s Lounge in Ayala (I don’t get to eat there anymore…) My version just lacked the cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar. Ah, but I was still happy.

My dad also bought me my all-time favorite McDonald’s breakfast: Sausage McMuffin with Egg and Hashbrowns. I ate the hashbrowns but saved the muffin for later.(ate half for merienda, and as of now, 8pm, di pa ubos ang other half)

Favorite Pasttime – While waiting for lunch, I surfed the net and looked at old pictures (or what’s left, my hard drive crashed last week) and wrote. Okay, I did a little bit of work – but if it’s writing, it’s no big deal. I still got entertained.

Favorite Lunch – I’m very much a breakfast person so I did Tapsilog for lunch. Hehe. I always buy the pre-marinated tapa from Monterey and it's really, really good.

Favorite Luxury – A pedicure and a massage! At home! I originally wanted to go to the Spa at Bonifacio High Street or to the Neo Spa (also in Global City, heard it was better and cheaper than the Spa) but then that meant getting dressed and walking and getting a cab and going home again (too much work!). I discovered Villa Masaje a while back and they give pretty relaxing massages and fun foot treatments. I booked home foot scrub and pedicure (P280.00) and a preggy-care massage (P300.00). That’s not even one fancy massage at a fancy spa. But I don’t think I’ll get a preggy massage again since it’s pretty useless – they can’t massage your foot, they can’t massage your lower back. But those are the places that hurt!!! Besides, Sam gives better massages ;-)

Favorite Dinner – Lucky that I have some pasta sauce in my pantry and that I have a fresh green pot of romaine lettuce I got from Tagaytay last weekend! So it was a salad and pasta dinner for me. I’m not a good cook so I just sautéed tuna from a can to mix with my 3 cheese sauce.

And... after reading a friend's blog - I decided to make an instant invitation for dinner for two. Which turned out to be Kiel's lunch/merienda/dinner in one. Hehe. Kiel, thanks for celebrating my birthday and eating my spaghetti. (Kiel is the 2nd person outside my small family na nakakain ng luto ko.. okay naman sha so far)

Thanks so much to the people who wrote on my Facebook Wall, to those who emailed, to those who called (Allan , Lukas, Tin ! ) , to those who texted from overseas (Manuel, Nyls), to those who texted texted texted (I spent most of my morning responding to text messages…) , to those who remembered even if it has been a long long time since we talked.... to those who did everything and even to those who forgot (okay lang, I’m bad at birtdays, too!)!!! Remember that there were two of us that you made happy today…

Community Impact in Vietnam

Late upload (4-3-2010)

Our first “official day” in Hoi An was blocked off for community service. The whole delegation took up 3 buses and one mini-van (the van carried the “Mobile Library Team” where I was a part of!) that drove us to rural schools. Three big groups were to work on renovations and gardening (painting, minor repairs, gardening) and our small group of 12 people were to facilitate the library workshops.

I have to thank my baby who brought me to the mobile library team! Not everyone can choose teams, but because I’m pregnant, I was assigned there by default. I missed storytelling and kids – very reminiscent of my AFI and UWP days.

We worked with an NGO called the Global Village Foundation, which focuses on sustainable community development projects emphasizing education and peace building at the grassroots level in Vietnam. You may read more about the foundation here: http://www.globalvillagefoundation.org/. The foundation brings this portable, wooden, suitcase-like container of books to schools so that the kids can experience them. On regular days, the foundation will just stay for a few hours and pack up. Well, I’m happy to share that our company bought two of those “suitcases” so we can leave the portable libraries with the schools we helped that day. The cases probably contained around 60 books (it was heavy!)

Our assignment for the day: in a span of one hour, we had to interact with the kids, show them the books, and tell them that they will be put at a designated place where they can borrow them and read. Each small team was composed of 3 people – two foreigners and one Vietnamese-speaking colleague. I worked with Nhan from Vietnam and Wang Jie from China. We had 3 classes in the morning, and another 3 classes in the afternoon.

Our first class was (almost) a disaster. I was looking forward to an hour of storytelling .. but… we had no idea that the students (around 12, 13 years old) did not speak much English (or were probably too shy to speak it…) and that the books we were bringing were almost all in Vietnamese! The ones with translations were all so basic for the 6th graders. We tried alternating English with Vietnamese translations but it was just too boring.

We altered our strategy in the afternoon and made it interactive. Most of them have never encountered foreigners before, so we did introductions in our own language and made them guess. China was so easy for them, but it really took a while for them to guess Philippines (I was sometimes from Singapore, HongKong, and even Germany haha!). I did a game using basic English words (Stand up and make some noise if you are a “girl”, a “boy” , wearing “red” , have a “dog”..) , it was fun. We also taught them the song, “Row, row, row your boat” while doing some actions and drawing pictures on the board.

And, I can’t believe I was able to do it because I used to hate it when I was in UWP – I taught the kids “Stomp!” – Stomp was a routine we learned in UWP which involved clapping and stomping of the feet to a certain rhythm. To my delight, the kids loved it! Much to the horror of my colleagues who asked me, is it okay for pregnant women to stomp??? Oh well, I felt okay. Then another colleague from the US asked me if I was a cheerleader. Hah. I wasn’t, I’m just … cheerful. Then, as a reward for being so participative – we opened the box of books for them (where they oohed and aahed!) and left it to our Vietnamese colleague to explain the importance of reading to them. She then reads them one book and encourages them to browse the collection for a few minutes. After that, we say goodbye to the class. I taught them to say “Paalam!!!” which is the Filipino word for good bye.

It was a hot HOT day , and some of our colleagues who were doing the outdoor jobs gave up and chose to return to the hotel after lunch. We were also given the option, but our small team decided to continue. By our last class in the morning, a lot of kids were also peeking from outside the classrooms, so we didn’t want to disappoint them by not going to their classes!

We finished up at around 4 in the afternoon… hot, tired, dusty – but happy! And this was the best part of my Hoi An trip ;-)

Panatang Makabago

Mahal ko ang Pilipinas
Dito naka-ugat ang buo kong pagkatao
Kaluluwa at dugo
Isip at puso
Dito malaya ako
Malayang mamuhay ng marangal
Malayang ipaglaban ang mga karapatan ko
Mahalaga ang paniwala ko
Importante ang boses ko
Kaya’t ibibigay ko lang
Ang boto ko
Sa may integridad at prinsipyo
Sa may galing at talino
Ang may tunay na plano
At hindi lang puro pangako
Hindi ako magpapasilaw sa kasikatan
Hindi magpapadikta sa kahit na sino
Gagawin lang ang tama at nararapat
Para maging mas dakila pa ang Pilipinas kong mahal
At ngayong may pagkakataong magbago muli
Magsisikap akong maging mas mabuting Pilipino
Mas may malasakit sa kapwa
Ito ang pangako ko
Sa aking mga magulang at sa aking kapwa Pilipino
Sa aking mga anak
Sa aking mga mahal sa buhay
Naniniwala akong posibleng makamit ang mabilis na pagunlad
Sa ngalan ng Panginoon
Sa pagkakaisa
At pagsama-sama
Ako ay Pilipino
Mahal ko ang bayan ko.

Created and produced by a volunteer group of the G1Bo Teodoro for President Movement.

I got it from here: www.allgiboteodoro.blogspot.com