Half way into 2015, my office mates stumbled upon PAL's pisofare for Puerto Princesa. Being the budget freaks we are, we decided, why not? So after arranging flights and booking rooms, we found ourselves in the land of Palawan.


Warning: Wall of text coming your way. Sorry if this was super detailed, I wanted it to be that way so people can know the details of the Tour Package from Jhanna's Inn.

Day 1: En route to El Nido
This was mostly travelling from Manila to El Nido.
We boarded the plane at around 1:10PM.
It was my first time riding an airplane so I was pretty excited.
Before the plane took off we met Elder Parker, a Mormon from Utah. We asked him about how Mormon life is and the differences between Catholics and them. He was very welcoming and BF really enjoyed his company too.
Our flight took off at about 2:30PM and that's when my stomach lurched. I was dizzy the whole flight. It's a good thing I had the will to fight my urge to puke. Relief washed over me once we landed at 3:30PM.
BF and I had to wait for the others 'cause our flight was different from them. At about 5:45PM, they arrived and so did the van we rented for our trip to El Nido. The travelling time was about 5 hours and the van driver guided us through Puerto Princesa whilst being on the road. He said that Puerto Princesa has been branded as the city within a forest. He also told us about his family background! Haha. He was very welcoming and it was refreshing as the 5 hour drive went by.
We had 2 stopovers during our road trip. One for eating dinner and one for CR break. At about 11PM, we finally arrived at Jhanna's Inn. We unpacked and rested after that.
Highlight of the day: 1st time flying! I'm such a noob. Hahaha.


Day 2: Tour A and the Calm Waters
Breakfast was served at 8AM and we were off for Tour A at 9AM.
I discovered that I had motion sickness once we were in the boat. Luckily, I didn't puke too! At this point I didn't check the time but we arrived in Small Lagoon.
Richard, our tour guide, said that the boat can't enter the Lagoon itself so we either had to swim to it or go kayaking. Of course, BF and I chose kayaking since we both aren't good swimmers. Haha!
It was really refreshing too see the clear water. I wanted to swim so badly but once I saw that there were jellyfishes floating around, my coward self turned back and kept kayaking. Haha!
After a few minutes, we went back to our boat but didn't get on board yet 'cause I knew that I'd just get dizzy. So I stayed in the water and floated for a while.
Once everyone was finally on the boat and the anchor was fetched, I got on board too. I figured it was the best way to avoid me being sick.
Our next stop was the Big Lagoon. As the name states, it was pretty big so the boat could just pass by it as we took pictures and videos of it. After that, we went to Shimizu Island where our tour guides prepared the free lunch! I gotta say that I miss eating those kinds of food.
After getting some rest from the non-stop eating we did, we went to our last stop, the Seven Commandos beach. First thing we did was to build sand castles, then BF volunteered to be buried in sand. We had a lot of fun sculpting his "beach body" Hahaha!
Of course we had to eat halo halo after being under the scorching heat all day. That pretty much sums up the tour.
For dinner, we ate at Artcafe. All I can say about it is that the food is very pricey and it's not even good.
Highlight of the day: Very calm water and the tour overall was very nice!


Day 3: "Did we say Tour C? Oops! We meant Tour D!" and the Killer Sea
This day is when a lot of unfortunate things started to happen. The tour guide informed us that we needed to share the boat with other people since there were very big waves. Background story: This part was a bit disappointing since the tour package we purchased consisted of having a private tour, meaning we should've one big boat to ourselves. But since it's too dangerous for that, we needed extra weight from other people. Ha.
Our first stop was Helicopter Island. Richard told us that we can try to snorkel. Nats, one of my coworkers, was pummeled onto the rocks by the waves so they decided that maybe it wasn't the best decision. Once we were off to our next destination, Cadlao Island, I puked! Haha! Actually it's not a haha moment, this tour was probaby the only one that made me want the day to end already. All the destinations were so far away from one another and the violent waters made my stomach tumble and lurch so violently.
We stayed afloat in the water for awhile as the tour guides prepared our lunch. While the others snorkel, I was doing my best not to puke again. Eating lunch was really hard for me since we had to do it on board the boat. After lunch, we were off again for Matinloc Island and Nat nat beach, which we actually just passed by. Richard said it was too dangerous to try and land there.
Our final stop was the Pasandigan Beach! You can imagine my joy once we landed and there were no dizzying waves anymore. Hahaha. After the tour was over, we indulged in the food of El Nido Corner. I must say that this is the most memorable restaurant/grill bar we stumbled upon in El Nido. The food was really great and it should be because I didn't quite enjoy much of the tour for the day.
Highlight of the day: Once the tour ended and I didn't have to deal with the waves anymore! Hahaha.


Day 4: Killer Sea Part Deux
Again, we needed to share the boat with other people as we needed the extra weight.
First stop was Snake Island, where we trekked to a hilltop to see the snake-like figure of the beach.
Then we passed by Pinasil Island and Cathedral Cave. Keep in mind that every time we pass by a destination, it's because the boat isn't safe to land and someone might get pummeled onto the rocks.
We went to Cadugnon point and cave next, where we explored the mini-cave as the tour guides prepared our lunch.
There was a swing on one of the trees and like a child I hurriedly went to it and played.
Pinagbuyutan Island was the last stop for this tour. We mostly played with the sand there and just took pictures.
Once we were on the main island again, BF and I decided that we wanted to try the homemade crepe we saw the day before. It was really good and affordable!
We ate dinner at sea slugs and like El Nido Corner, they had really good food!
Highlight of the day: The trek to the hilltop of Snake Island. Something about trekking makes me really happy.


Day 5: The never ending journey of my action camera to the deepest depths of the sea
Our last tour was of Nacpan Beach. Richard said that usually, they'd take a boat to get there and it would only take 30-45 mins. But again, the high tide and weather didn't really allow it. So we had a 2-hr drive to the destination. Once we were there, we immediately took on the challenge and pummeled ourselves to the waves. Richard said it was safe as long as we don't go too far. After a while, they called us to say that lunch was ready.
BF and I decided that we should walk the calories away! Haha. Then they called us again and told us that we were gonna trek the hill ahead. We had a hard time climbing up the hill since it was really steep. Fortunately the three guides kept assisting us as were afraid to climb alone sometimes! Haha.
After we got down from the hill, we decided that we would play with the waves again to let time pass. Then, the unthinkable happened, (Just recalling it still makes me so angry/sad and just so many emotions!) my action camera got lost. Once it got lost, we all started looking for it. We had hopes of finding it since we weren't that far away from the shore. But alas, the waves didn't want me to find it. For about an hour and 30 minutes, we kept looking. But I told them that it's okay and it was gone with the waves. The drive back home was a silent one as I was still too shocked with what happened.
We ate at one of the grill bars we always passed by in our night strolls. I forgot the name of it. The food was average. It was too pricey, in my opinion.
Highlight of the day: Losing my camera?! HAHAHA. I guess it's a highlight since it's the most unforgettable thing that happened that day.


Day 6: Goodbye El Nido!
Since it was gonna be a long drive, we were already up at two in the morning. We are very much seguristas when it comes to flight schedules! Haha.
We arrived in Puerto Princesa at 8am. We went to the Underground River Tour and finished it at 11am. We drove to a market where we bought our pasalubongs and then we were off for the airport. Again our flight times were different from our friends so we had to wait for it. But once we were on the plane, I easily drowsed off and didn't even feel our landing! Hahaha. We had an Uber for our ride home and I just rested after that because I knew I was back to reality.

So as promised, here are the photos from our photo shoot in Thunderbird Resort!

To be honest, it took me a long time to pick the pictures that were decent enough 'cause I'm so awkward with my hands! Also, there were so many shots where my eyes were half way closed. Hahahahaha. I'm such a noob at this. (All the pictures are raw since I have no good Photoshop skills in me)

Work is very important in our lives. But it's also very important to have a break once in a while, ergo the company I'm working for has decided to go all in this year for our company outing. Destination: Thunderbird Resorts in Poro Point, La Union!!! *dances the hula*

The day before the outing itself, I've decided to stay overnight in our office because our call time was 4:30am, and if you know me, I'm not a morning person. Fortunately, Technistock's higher ups were very kind and decided that all of those who wanted to stay in the office were to be given a room in goHotels. I shared a room with two of my co-workers. I must say that I enjoyed my stay there even if it was just a budget hotel room.


We woke up at 3am and started preparing our things. We all met up in the office at around 4am and we're able to leave at exactly 4:30am. A round of applause to me and all of my office mates for being on time!



We were on the road for about 6 hours. Of course, most of that time I spent sleeping. Ha-ha. Once we arrived, we were greeted with this blue beverage that tasted like lemonade. They also gave us cold towels because it was pretty humid. When we were all done with the check in and what not, they served us lunch. The food was really delicious and I loved that they had so many things to choose from.



After eating lunch, we went and unpacked in our rooms. Being the easily-amazed person that I am, I was in awe of our room's view and the room itself. It had two huge beds (that are very comfortable!) and the bathroom really made me just want to stay in there and never go out! However, I knew that savoring the whole place was a better way to go so I dressed up and got ready for the photo shoot.
Background story: Maru, one of my coworkers, always goes the extra mile to dress up for memorable experiences and I decided to do the same, ergo we had a photo shoot of some sorts.

When the sun was finally tolerable enough for our skin, we finally decided that we had to wrap up the photo shoot and start experiencing the beautiful pool of the resort. To be honest, we didn't really stay that long. But Maru and I really bonded and talked about some deep stuff. Hahaha.

Although it was originally planned that the company would have a bonfire at the beach, they decided to postpone it due to the stinky smell the water was giving off. So after the dinner, we just had karaoke, which is an activity you can bet I will never be missing out on.
About 5 songs and an hour and a half later, my group and I decided that we'll go back to our room and play some board/card games!
I will never forget the part where we accused Mark of farting and being the werewolf (we were playing the card game Werewolf at this time) in the group. Our reason being that he's guilty that's why he's producing gas. Haha!

After about 5 games, some of the people decided that they'll go back to their respective rooms and call it a night. But I told them that we should play 1,2,3 pass! Funny thing is, right before we were about to play, the front desk called our room and told us that our neighbor was complaining about the noise we were making. So instead of the normal 1,2,3 pass game, it became 1,2,3 pass: The Silent version. I felt like I was growing abs from all the silent laughing we did!

The day after that wasn't really as eventful as the first one. All I did was sleep since I really wanted to make the most out of that luxury hotel room. Ha-ha.

At 12PM we took off for Manila and arrived at our office at about 6PM. I was worn out but I still had a smile on my face from all the memories I made.

Summary of our company outing would probably be: photo shoot, a lot of selfies, silent laughter, and a lot of memories!

My brother has been going on and on about the fiesta in Majayjay, Laguna for about a month now. A bit of background story, most of my relatives from my mother's side lives there. When we were younger, summer vacations or Holy Weeks were usually spent there. And it's been such a long time since we've bonded with our cousins so we decided, why not? Also a break from the usual scenery of tall buildings and smog everywhere was just what we needed.

Our first stop was Liliw, Laguna because my brother wanted to buy new slippers. I just wish I brought enough money because the shoes were gorgeous! They were also very affordable so my heart was literally breaking while we go from store to store.

While waiting for my brother to pay for his shoes, my little sister and I opt to buy some street ice cream. I gotta say it was delicious and it really brought back childhood memories.
After that we just strolled the street and brought some pasalubongs like Espasol, Uraro and Yema Tart.

When we were done going around Liliw, we rode a tricycle to go to my Aunt's house to finally eat some food and savor the fiesta!

I had so much fun going back to a place where so many memories were made and I know that many moments like these await for me in the future.

Here's a visual representation of some of the things that happened.
Next week would be our company outing so watch out for that post 'cause it's gonna be lots of fun!

This post is a bit late 'cause I wasted gave all my time to watching DIYs in Youtube.

Actually, this was all due to me being obsessed with skincare nowadays. I figured that if I wanted a more flawless look with makeup, then I might as well make the canvas (my beautiful face ha-ha) perfect itself. Also doing skincare makes me feel like I'm in a spa so that really soothes me.
The first thing that caught my eye were these hand creams in THEFACESHOP. They were on sale, you can get three for P400 and the original price was P195 each. I know that I could get cheaper hand creams but the scent really blew me away and the feel of it on my skin made me want to hold my hands forever teehee

For some reason, my skin has been breaking out after putting on makeup and my sister told me that perhaps I'm not washing my face enough. So I did some researching and found that exfoliating with a facial cleansing brush is the way to go. It took me a lot of searching in stores here in Manila, specifically Megamall, to find a cheap version of it.

Then come Sunday, I went to SM Sta. Rosa with my mother and siblings and I decided to browse through Watson's.
Eureka! They had the Marionnaud Facial Massager. I got it for P69 only! For me, the bristles aren't too harsh nor soft enough. But it will do since I can't afford an electronic one (choosy pa ba? haha)

Those are the skincare products I hauled for this week. I feel like I'll acquire more as time goes by (oh no, says my wallet).

Part one here.

Without further ado, let's add more color to our makeup shall we?

If you know me well, then you'd usually hear me say that I don't celebrate VDay (I just really don't believe in it ha-ha) But, because I got a lot of love to give and my boyfriend is a major fan of all things cheesy and lovey dovey, I decided to celebrate it this year.

I thought that since this is the first and might be the last time I celebrate it. I wanted it to be memorable as possible. So what better way to celebrate it than be Cupid's apprentice for the day? Shooting arrows at people's faces! loljk. Actually, I just wanted to be at a place that wasn't too crowded and Gandiva Archery Range and Cafe was the answer to it!

I called them and made reservations and they offered me the couples promo which was called "Caught by Cupid". The promo consisted of 1-hr trial shooting for two, complete with equipment and instructors, a five course meal, and it also came with a souvenir photo at the low price of P2500.

lol at my name's spelling

The place where it's located is pretty easy to spot, or maybe I'm just really familiar with the place since I work within the vicinity teehee

Bullseye!

250 pts.

(290 pts) HA! I won!

After an hour, we were lead to the cafe which is directly beside the shooting range and they served us with their five course vegetarian meal.

Souvenir photo taken right before we ate.

I forgot what they call this dish meep

Pumpkin soup

Eggplant Lasagna

lol i also forgot what they call this dish

I was surprised by how well the food tasted. It didn't even seem like it was all vegetarian. There was also Caesar salad but I wasn't able to take a picture of it.

Feeling fashion blogger ha-ha

My DIY gift to BF.

Ever since mid-2015 I've had the worst writer's block ever. I've been trying all these writing exercises just to fight it. But I still feel that something's missing or my writing is lacking. I no longer feel that I can express myself that much and take comfort in words.
Perhaps it's the absence of books in my life. There's no excuse really as to why I've not been reading that much but simply I have not been making time for it. Since I'm very used to being able to express my emotions in the form of pen and paper, I found myself longing for that solace and familiarity.

While I was browsing through National Bookstore's isles of school supplies I stumbled upon the sketchpad and watercolor pencils and decided, why not? So, please excuse my trying hard works of art as they are just me finding a place to put my unexpressed and bottled up frustrations for so long.

Back when I was ignorant about a lot of things, I thought makeup was just a thing that attention-hungry people wore.
"Oh makeup is just for girly girls who want attention from boys, which I don't need 'cause I'm a tomboy, and also f*ck boys!"
Ignorant and stereotypical, right?
Anyway, I didn't want to miss out on the luxury and beauty of life. So come 2013, I blossomed into this beautiful, non-biased-about-makeup kind of person and look how happy I am! Ha-ha!
So before I preach more about gender stereotypes, let's get on with my beauty kit, shall we?