Everything at STEAK in San Juan

I used to be assigned in one of the government office in San Juan and it used to be my second home for about 4 years until I was reassigned in 2010. Aside from missing my former officemates, I also miss the great food and restaurants that we used to go to and one of them is a steakhouse called Everything at STEAK - just a walking distance from my former office. 

Looking at some old photos reminded me of the good times we had at this place. We normally celebrate birthdays at Everything at STEAK since this was one of the nearest restaurant, not to mention the good steaks served at very prices that are budget friendly.

One of my faves - Rib eye steak with mashed potato! Yum!

Potato skin is a must during every visit! :)

When I happen to be in the area of San Juan, this is one place that I will definitely visit.

Musical Intruments Hunt

Heads up music lovers! I know that musical instruments can be quite expensive but if you know where to look, you need not invest that much on instrument. If you are from the South, Cebu is well-known for its guitars so if you happen to be in Cebu, either on business or pleasure, you may want to check what they to offer.

With the number of guitar stores in the area and the level of competition, I am pretty sure that you can get a good deal especially if you’re an expert when it comes to haggling. :) And when you try search online, I am sure that there are a lot of online store that offers coupons and great discounts. In fact I saw one music store that offers 15% OFF a single purchase worth $199 and up until the end of the month. Just be patient, search the web, conduct an online and physical canvass, and I am sure that you won’t spend that much on instruments.

Good luck and happy buying! :)

Palladio Rice Powder from Beauty Bar

In one of my entries last week, I talked about the bt minerals powder foundation the I got recently from Watsons. I mentioned in that post that it has a pinkish tint and without even the need to put a blush on, it makes my face reddish. Should I be happy that I will be saving on blush on? I will be if will get that pink glow on the right place, but no! It doesn’t only make the apples of my cheeks pinkish but my ENTIRE face!

I even shared in that blog post that I felt that I wasted money on the product. However, the practical side of me dictated that I try to find a product that can go well with bt minerals in a way that it will “balance” the pinkish effect of the power foundation that I got. In my search, some of my considerations were the price and quality. It should be something of quality but not overly pricey. 

Now I am glad to update that post because I have found an oil absorbing powder that can go with my latest mineral powder foundation that I have and neutralize the pinkish effect! Yay! It is the Palladio Original Rice Powder that I got from Beauty Bar for only Php325.00 – very budget friendly. 

According to the product description that I read, “it absorbs excess oil, thus maintaining proper pH level on the skin’s mantle.” Since I do have oily skin, I am hoping that the product will effectively reduce my face’s oiliness. Some reviews say that it’s not a travel-friendly companion because it is a loose powder. It can be messy to apply as can be expected from loose powder but if you keep the puff in place, it does makes it a little less messy even if its in you purse upside-down. Some also complain about the scent…Yes, it’s not fragrance-free but it really doesn’t bother me. Actually the smell reminds me of Chin Chun Su.

I am now using this together with my bt minerals powder foundation and was able to achieve the result that I want. Some people use this as a setting powder but since I am using a powder foundation that has shimmers and I wan to enjoy the dewy effect - I do just the opposite and happy with result! :)

Glimpse into Building a Website

Do you want create your own website but fear that the process might be too complicated? No need to worry because the process of building a website could be as easy as 1-2-3. I know so because I am currently running 2 blogs with its own domain name and one of them is what you call “self-hosted”. To give you an idea on how easy it is to create a website, I will share how I was able to build my websites but I will focus more on my self-hosted blog – how to get your own domain, hosting and connect your domain & web host.

Initially, both my blogs were hosted by Blogger and with address that ends with the usual .blogspot.com. Well because my blogs at the time were still babies, I thought that investing in a domain name would be premature. Fast forward to a few months later, I decided that it was time to take my blogs to another level and get my own domain. Because I do not want to trouble myself with domain registration, I decided to take the easy path and acquired customs domain through Blogger. You can easily register a domain through sites such as GoDaddy though…It was just that since both blogs were hosted by Blogger, I opted not to bother myself with configuring the DNS settings and all.

Getting a custom domain with Blogger is relatively easy, all you have to do is:

• go to your Dashboard;
• click on the “Settings’ tab;
• go to “Publishing”;
• click the “Custom Domain”;
• check the availability of your desired domain name; and finally
• proceed to check out

You will have to wait 3 days at the most though before your custom domain becomes fully functional. Within this period, your blog will be in transition.

There came a time however when I had to get my own hosting and make my 2nd blog a “self-hosted” blog. In choosing a hosting provider, my number one consideration was the kind of customer service and the live chat facility. I am not an IT person and I know that I will need a lot of assistance which makes customer support was my paramount concern. After much thought and consideration, I finally decided to get the services of BlueHost as my web hosting provider. 

I was able to transfer the hosting of my domain from Blogger to Bluehost simply by clicking on the "Transfer Domain" icon under the Domain category of my Bluehost CPanel, enter the domain to transfer and hit "continue" button. To complete the transfer and make everything work, you must either update the IP address for the domain to that of the hosting account, or change the nameservers to those of your hosting provider. In my case, I chose the latter because I find changing the nameservers much easier and less complicated.

To sum it all up, building a website is really easy and a good customer support from your hosting provider and domain registrar will make everything less complicated.

My Overdue Valentine Post

At long last I was finally able to make an entry about our simple Valentine's Day celebration! I was glad that I was able to make post this before the week ends. 

Now, let me start by saying that I am really not overly excited with Valentine's day. As a matter of fact, I find eveything so overly commercialized. Oh no, it's not that I don't have that romantic bone...On the contrary, I the type who loves to kiss, hug & cuddle my loved ones almost every minute. My husband even compares me to a cat! ;)) Despite being a hopelessly romantic, I am not really that ecstatic with Valentine's Dat. This is just my personal view because I believe that love should be celebrated everyday - from the moment we were born up the time we say goodbye to this life on eart - because love is everywhere and we are surrounded by it for our entire life!

Anyways regardless of my views, I do not want to disappoint my husband so we still went out after office and looked forward to having dinner at some decent restaurant. Unforunately and as expected, everyone was out to celebrated the V Day with their loved ones. Even the medical people who were still in their medical uniforms were out and about that day! And every restaurant that we went to were jam packed. The only place that we saw that was not too crowded was Tokyo Tokyo so we decided to just have dinner there and try their burgers.

We had the Kani Salad - a combination of magoes, crab stick, cucumber and mixed greens with creamy Japanese mayo.

Hubby & I both ordered for a Shogun Burger which has some onion rings inside. This may be the size of a regular burger but for some reason, it was so filling.

We also ordered for an extra serving of onion rings. I am a big fan of onion rings but I am a little disappointed with this one. Well, it was not as good as the ones from Pizza Hut.

After dinner, we had a quick trip at Conti's with the hope of grabbing a Mango Bravo from my parents and that's their all time fave!

By the time we arrived at Conti's, can you believe that my queue number was 423! My fingers were crossed while waiting for my number to be called and hoping that they would not run out of Mango Bravo. Unfortunately, since that's the best seller at Conti's, the last piece of Mango Bravo was put in a box 5 minutes before my number was called so I had no choice but to settle for a Sansrival which was the only cake that appealed to me. 

There you go! That was our simple and humble V Day celebration! 

Is BT Minerals OK?

I was supposed to make a post about our simple Valentine's Day celebration but because I am already a little sleepy and I still haven't uploaded the photos to my laptop I decided to just make a "go" with the entry which I was supposed to publish yesterday but wasn't able to because I was too lazy to blog.

Anyways, I ran out of Mary Kay mineral foundation so I made a stop over at Watsons the other day on my home to grab something that I hope will do until I get hold of a mineral powder foundation from Mary Kay. While I was going through the brands, I saw this one which is quite new to me called BT Minerals. I figured that since I prefer to use mineral make ups, I decided to give it try since the brand said that it's a mineral foundation.

Because the brand it new to me (I want to make it clear that it is quite new to me but I have no idea no long it has been in the market), I scrutinized the label as soon as I got home. The label said that it is distributed by Beauty Treats Int'l Co. Inc. and has an address in Los Angeles, CA so I thought it was probably a good brand. I became a little curious though with the "LIFT HERE" printed at the bottom of the address.

As soon as I removed the top label, the first that I noticed was the country from which BT Minerals are made. Hmmmm...So BT Minerals were made from Taiwan and obviously not from the US. I was happy to know, however, that it was indeed made from minerals based from the ingredients that was shown.

I applied some on my hand just to show you and I don't know if you can clearly see it but it has some shimmer which aims to give that dewy look and it also has a pinkish tint. Upon actual application on my face, I can say that it is just so-so...I really do not like the pinkish tint because it makes my entire face reddish...

Honestly, I don't know how I'll be able to make this product useful and I feel that I wasted my money on this. I should have gotten myself a Loreal instead of trying something that is totally alien to me.

I got it for only Php386.30 so guess I just got what my money's worth. I cannot say if the quality of other BT Minerals products are the same as this one but I am not willing to give those other products a try. One disappointment for one brand is enough for me.

Have you tried this brand? What have you got say? It may not work for me but it may have worked for some people, so let's hear some feedback! ;)

 

Human Heart Nature: Only the Good

I am now officially part of the social enterprise called Human Heart Nature and I just got distributor’s pack contained in a box last Thursday! Yes, I have joined and now a dealer of products that are made from natural and organic ingredients, environment-friendly, promotes social awareness and from a company that is committed to its advocacies.

This is not the first time that I have heard of Human Heart Nature. In fact I have read about the brand, the products and its advocacies since early last year but the other day (that was Wednesday), for some reason that I cannot explain, it just occurred to me to Google Human Heart Nature. I went to their website, browse at the products, and read more about the company and their advocacies, by the end of the day, I was already so eager to visit their head office along Commonwealth Ave and apply as a dealer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get off the office until past 6:00 in the evening so I had no other choice but to postpone the visit until the following day.

Anyways, for only P799 I got my distributor best seller sample pack in includes:

• 50ml baby wash
• 50ml Sweet Indulgence lotion
• 50ml feminine wash
• 50ml women's deodorant
• 50ml Sunflower seed beauty oil
• 50ml balancing facial wash
• 50ml new night moisturizer with plant collagen
• 1 Peppermint lip balm
• 50ml spray sanitizer in Juicy Burst
• 50ml kids shampoo (Tangerine Tarsier)
• 50ml bug shield lotion 
• 50ml moisturizing shampoo with CREAMFoam
• 10 Magalogues
• 10 fliers

Aside from my distributor’s kit, I also bought a 200ml moisturizing conditioner, 100ml Citronella Spray and a 50ml Sugarcane Hand Sanitizer in Watermelon scent. I guess it is also worth saying that ALL these items are for our personal use because I want to try everything!

Of course, as a dealer, I will be offering Human Heart Nature products to family and friends (and even to strangers if I get the chance) and encourage them to make a shift from chemical-based to all natural personal care products. Patronizing the products from Human Heart Nature is simply a win-win situation. And I am so excited about that! Why? Because by using these products we not only stir away from the harmful chemicals that are normally found in other brands, but we also support Human Nature’s advocacies and in our own little way, help make Gawad Kalinga’s dream of ending poverty in the Philippines by the year 2024 a reality.

With the tag line “pro-Philippines, pro-poor, pro-environment”, it is really worth supporting Human Heart Nature and all its advocacies. 

Thoughts on Insurance

In the past years quite a number of insurance companies have declared bankruptcy. Could this be another effect of economic crisis? Perhaps. Come to think of it, if you only have enough money in your pockets to buy food for your family, would you still spend it on insurance premiums? I highly doubt you would and personally, I will be more practical and make sure that there’s food on the table before I spend my hard-earned money in preparation for contingencies. I preparing for contingencies because benefiting from insurance policies would normally depending on the occurrence of future events such as accident, disability and comprehensive insurance for our vehicles. However, there are insurance policies that are definitely worth getting.

But because death is something that is very much certain, it is in my opinion that we get a good life insurance policy to help keep our family secure. We all want to ensure that our families to have a good life even if we’re already gone, right? That’s why we made it a point that we have a life insurance. The proceeds may not be much but the amount would at least help the family get by.

Health is another thing that we should be mindful of. They say that health is wealth and thus, we should make sure that we get the best health care. Health cards are not uncommon nowadays. In fact health insurance is now part of the benefits that companies provide to its employees. I heard that East Coast Health Insurance is a good one and you might want to check that out.

Oh well, these are just my thoughts when it comes to insurance.

Apple Squares by Estrel's

We were in the area of Scout Tobias in Quezon City the other day and I remember that I saw some boxes of apple squares that were still available at Estrel’s when we picked up my parents’ anniversary cake last month. For fear that might have “sweets overload” at the time, I decided that I’ll just try their apple squares next time…and the other day was the right time!

So off we went to Estrel’s, hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that there were still some available considering that I didn’t place any order. I guess luck was on my side because by the time we arrived, there was only one box of apple squares available so I immediately grabbed the box before someone else does and made my purchase in a breeze.

BTW, my Mom (who happens to be a diabetic) fell in love with the caramel cake because it was not that sweet and perfect for those who want to control their sugar intake. With that said, I was hoping that the apple squares would be just the same so that my parents can enjoy them without having to worry about their blood sugar.

Now, let’s go to the facts: (1) there are only 4 of us in the house; (2) there were 12 apple squares in one box; (3) in less than an hour the box was empty; and (4) my Mom was only able to eat one piece of the apple squares because when she returned to the dining table the box was already empty. My conclusion: Estrel’s Apple Squares was a sure hit and it was worth the price. You can check out Estrel’s and everything that they have to offer here. 

My Super Duo Switch

Finally, after 24 long months my lock-in period with Globe Telecom has ended last January 29 and I was able to change my subscription from consumable 800 to the All-Unli plan. Since we do not have a landline at the office since October of last year and I get more charges on voice calls, I am thought switching to “My Super Duo” a good idea. With this plan, I can make calls to landlines within Metro Manila and to Globe/TM numbers without having to worry about my bill. Oh, and I also have my own landline number which is great because my friends can reach me through my mobile phone while they can make their call using their landline without extra charge – that’s because it’s a local number! Isn’t that great?!

Because I have been their loyal client for 24 months (as if I have much choice), I called Globe’s customer service hotline last Friday inquired about what are the Loyalty offers that they have for me. Well, back in 2003 I got a free phone as a reward so I was expecting something that great. But what they had to offer, without me making any cash out, was a monthly rebate on my monthly bill worth Php120.00 per month for 24 months or a Dowell Electric Grill with tempered glass + Php75.00 rebate on my monthly bill for 24 months. Uhm…I was not really sold with the electric grill and it’s a far cry from the kamado grills that I have been dreaming so I decided not grab any of those offers and hope that something good might come in the future.

And another thing, if I do accept any of those loyalty rewards, that would be mean another lock-in period of 24 months…Honestly, I am not sure if I still want to get tied with Globe for that long a time, not to mention that their offers are not that good enough to make me want to endure another 2 years. For the mean, I intend to enjoy my new subscription plan to the fullest and hope that I will not exceed the monthly fee of P599/month.

Leisure 18 - White Version

This is my 3rd entry regarding my use of the slimming coffee called Leisure 18 – you can find my previous entries here and here. I cannot really call this my 3rd weight loss update because have temporarily stopped drinking this for reasons that will discuss some other time (after I have confirmed my theories). What I want to share with you now is about the 2nd box of Leisure 18 that I bought at a kiosk in SM Rosales. Yes, my 2nd box so you already qualify this as a late post but quite informative nonetheless.

So let me start by saying that I normally get my Leisure 18 from a Chinese drugstore located at SM North Edsa (it’s Century Drugstore if I am not mistaken located among those stalls outside of The Block, facing the main building). There was this instance when we went to Tarlac to visit my in-laws and I forgot to bring with me sachets of Leisure 18. I was religiously drinking this slimming coffee every morning; hence, I cannot afford to make a pass for 3 days. To make the story short, I bought a box of Leisure 18 from a kiosk in SM Rosales just so I won’t there won’t be any gap in my consumption of this slimming coffee.

The version of the Leisure 18 that I got from the Chinese drugstore at SM North Edsa were those in gold sachet so I was surprised when I saw that the one that I got from SM Rosales were in white sachet. I was so confused then if what I purchased was authentic or not. The markings for authenticity such as the holograms all over the box, the sticker and embossed/engraved dates (expiry and manufacturing) were present but then, why the white packaging? The taste, on the other hand, of the gold and white versions was the same.

Nevertheless, I still consumed the whole box of the white version out of “panghihinayang”. Hey, the money I used to buy those was hard-earned money and I just cannot afford to let it go to waste. So I was hoping against hope that it was authentic and will work wonders just like the gold version does.

After I have fully consumed a box of the white version, I made sure that I bought my 3rd box from that Chinese drugstore in SM City. While I made my purchase, I asked the sales attendant what’s the difference between the white and the gold versions? According to her, the Leisure 18 in white sachet that I bought was also authentic but it is milder compared to the gold one. That was enough to assure me that I didn’t waste my money on a box of Leisure 18 in white sachets! :)

In a matter of 2 weeks I will be able to prove or disprove the theory that was running through my mind and after that might continue with Leisure 18 or try another product called Nature Fashion Slimming Coffee. I’ll keep you posted though.

Live Bands Makes Me Alive

I was browsing through some photos of the good times that I had with my college friends back in 2010 and I found this photo of a live band that I took during one of our nights out.

Unlike hubby who would rather spend the night with friends at a restaurant where they could talk without shouting at each other, I prefer to have a good time and bond with my friends while watching a live band. I am not into music really but I so much enjoy watching a band perfom live.

I can say that though this band only performs at local bars and resto in Bulacan were really good. If my memory serves me right, I believe that the one on keyboards is an architect by profession and does gigs to pursue his passion for music. I noticed just now that his keyboard was Korg, I am certain though if it was a korg triton extreme.

Remember that this was in 2010 and we are now in 2012. So far this was the last that I was able to watch a live and I do not know when will be my next. I might just ask hubby to take me out sometime for a gimick and I am sure that he cannot say "no" to his beloved wife! :)