Short-lived yet exhilarating.
Had the sweetest summer getaway last April 19 – 22 at Boracay with my loves, Jona & Joanna. We were joined by Lou during our first night & Kath on our second night.
Best. Summer. Ever!
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Plane ride
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First Night
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Second Day
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Second Night
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Third Day
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Third Night
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Photos from Travis, my new baby (Panasonic Lumix GF2), except for the helmet diving pictures. 
Dear blog,
I am sincerely sorry about the lack of activity here in your portal. Believe me; I wanted to come up with two movie reviews right now, but things are just getting a tad out of hand. Time is so precious, it slips away from me easily. I would not want to contaminate you with my life’s drama; hence, the dormancy. If this was a personal no-holds-barred emotional blog, then I would have filled this with stressful posts for the whole month. But no; I promised that you will be different among my past blogs where I was so transparent, people were already mocking me. Please believe me when I say that I am so bothered by my delinquency in coming up with readable posts for you; but I just can’t. I’m always knocked out whenever I get home. Thus, my piled up TTD.
To sort of make it up to you, I will be posting something I got from Vada’s tumblr. It’s supposed to be a 10-day challenge, but I shall compress it in one post, just so I can prolong our quality time with each other. LOL. Here it goes…
10 Day You Challenge | Tumblr
Ten Secrets
Nine Loves
Eight Fears
Seven Wants
Six Places
Five Food
Four Books
Three Films
Two Songs
One Picture
Nash at Bag of Beans, Tagaytay | Photo by Kath Uson
Last July 9, Dad started working at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. I don’t know who swished some fairy dust to my Dad, but after twenty-four hours of his first duty, he sent me a message (yes, we don’t actually see each other on a daily basis) inviting us (me and my siblings, Jaz and Naiah) to have lunch with him at the hotel and to have a good ol’ splash in the pool. I immediately responded to his SMS (which, by the way, he sent at midnight and while I was at a party–but that’s another story) like there was an RSVP, because this opportunity only comes once in a blue moon, considering my Dad’s very very hectic schedule. Luckily, he was in a good mood during our 24-hour stay in the suite, he even treated us at Spiral… twice!
Prepare for loads of unedited blackmail-worthy photos.
Arrival:
Naiah and Bigs
Naiah and Nash
Dad, Naiah, and Bigs
Check-in:
Bigs, Dad, and Naiah (the feeling Executive)
Buffet lunch at Spiral:
Dad and Bigs
My plate | Cinnamon bread, Pizza, and Prawn Tempura
My plate and I | Warming up for a big lunch (my side plate was not included in the photo, so it was practically a heavy lunch)
Bigs's plate
Bigs and his plate | All set to munch everything
Naiah's plate
Naiah and her plate | Cannot wait to fill in her empty stomach
Naiah's dessert
My dessert plate
Naiah, Nash, Dad, and Bigs
Nash-and-Naiah photo session at the poolside:
Because I wanna be paparazzi-ed
Now that's candid! Cropped shot, even?!
Another candid shot by my sister | Post-processing by yours truly
Naiah getting woozy coz of all the food she ate! Lol!
Naiah and I
Naiah spins then gets dizzy | Photo and post-processing by yours truly
Naiah's first jump shot | Photo and post-processing by yours truly
Naiah's second jump shot | Photo and discoloration-processing by yours truly
Naiah goofin' around | Photo and post-processing by yours truly
Not really a good photo of me
Naiah and her favourite hammock
Naiah, Dad, and Bigs having a second-round dessert
In our room:
Bigs and Naiah
Bigs and Naiah
Splash afternoon:
Me and Naiah
Bigs at the poolside
Bigs and Naiah
Bigs (imitating Riley from Eclipse) and Naiah (smiling for the cam)
The yaya
In our room, again:
Naiah in her "office." Lol.
After taking a shower, Naiah, Dad, and I went to Spiral, again, to have our dinner. Sadly, Bigs couldn’t come because he had a high fever just by nightfall. I also dint get to take photos coz I forgot to bring my cam. I had an eat-all-you-can Prawn Tempura, though. It was heaven.
Back to our room:
Food for Bigs because he missed the buffet dinner
Bigs and Dad
Bigs and Naiah (joining Bigs for tea)
Sipping the very delicious and soothing Peppermint tea
My own little This-is-the-life moment:
While my brother and sister were sleeping, and Dad’s on duty, I had my own moment too. I can’t believe that my “ultimate Friday night dream” happened last Sunday, and on a Sunday. Lol. The clock struck midnight. I took some of the Pizza slices, the chocolate chip cookies, reheated the Peppermint Tea, and had a Chuck marathon. It was all good. The feeling was so great. I hope I can have that moment again in the near future.
Monday morning:
The view from our room
Naiah also helped me make another self-portrait video. Watch it below, but I must warn you: my vanity mode was on. My face got stretched when I rendered the video, though. Lol. I used the song “Billionaire” by Travis McCoy for the bgm.
Time for check-out! Hope you liked this! x
This week was when all our bank accounts were raided by our favourite shops. You ask why and how? I’ll give you three reasons.
First. There was Topshop’s Private Sale last Friday (June 2, 2010) :
Topshop Private Sale | Greenbelt 3
We (Kath and I) were lucky enough to be invited by our fellow Dhampir Artist, Jona. My sister, Naiah, also tagged along with us since I was able to get her a VIP invitation.
Win or lose?
WIN! With my budget, I would have normally bought one or two items only. However, with generous 70% and 50% discounts, I was able to buy four items:
Kath, Nash, and Jona | Topshop Private Sale | Greenbelt 3
Naiah | Topshop Private Sale | Greenbelt 3
We also went to Qoola to eat the most delicious froyo I’ve ever tasted:
Qoola | Greenbelt 1
Jona, Kath, Nash, and Naiah | Qoola | Greenbelt 1
What’s so cool about Qoola is that it runs though a self-service system. You get to mix various flavors of frozen yogurts and you also get to mix your own toppings. The price is weight-based, so there’s nothing to worry about how many kinds of toppings you put on your bowl. I say you guys should definitely try it!
So, enough about our little detour. Let’s get back to business.
Second. There was also Zara’s Sale which started last Wednesday (June 30, 2010) but I only got to buy clothes from there this Saturday (July 3, 2010) :
Zara Sale | Shangri-La Mall
Zara's crowd during its 4th day of sale | Shangri-La Mall
Honestly, I was not able to buy anything from this branch because I felt disheartened when I found out that the blazer that I was supposed to buy no longer has my size. After a long day, I still did not want to give up, so I went to Greenbelt 5 and checked if they have the blazer that I wanted to buy. Unfortunately, they didn’t. So, I ended up buying other kinds of clothes.
Win or lose?
WIN! Despite my issue of not buying the blazer that I wanted, I was still able to enjoy their discounts. With the budget that I have, I would normally have just bought one item. Nonetheless, with 50% and 60% discounts, I got to buy three items:
Third. And of course, our (Kath’s, Jona’s, and my) weekend will never be complete without visiting the highly anticipated apparel shop in the country, Forever 21 :
Forever 21 | SM Megamall
Forever 21 | SM Megamall
Forever 21 | SM Megamall
Forever 21's crowd | SM Megamall
Kath and Jona | Forever 21 | SM Megamall
Forever 21 is so big, I thought it swallowed my friends already because I had a hard time looking for them from time to time. I suppose they’re still displaying collections from the last season because I did not find any hints of Autumn/Winter on the racks and clotheslines. If you are wondering about F21′s price range, let’s put it into an analogy.
Zara: Tee; Topshop: Blouse; Forever 21: Dress
I’m not kidding. The dresses that I fit were in the range of Php 1,200 – 1,500. They even have skirts from Php 650-800. Their clothes are relatively cheap, it’s like you’re being Punk’d.
If you are into teeny perky couture-ish budget-friendly clothes, then Forever 21 is the shop for you.
Sadly for me, I bought nothing because they did not have Brogues–which were the ones I was expecting for. Nevertheless, I still find their stuff pretty cool and sassy. By the way, they’re giving away vouchers worth Php 100 for every Php 2,000 purchase in a single receipt. Enjoy shopping!
P.S.
Sorry for the low quality photos. I took them using my lowly digicam.
