Kichitora Lunch it is.

February 27, 2014
Lunchtime

It's Atty. Jen's last 2 days in the office so she treat us all to lunch. Atty., being a Japanese food lover eats Ramen 3x a week or sometimes even 4x. Whew, how was that? LOL

So alam na. Treat nya kaya ang destination namen is a ramen house at Glorietta 5.

The very presentable menu book:

The place is very relaxing and ambiance is superb. This is what really catches my eyes as soon as I entered the restaurant:

Dunno why it was displayed this way LOL. It's like different patterns of fabric collated on the wall. Looks cozy.

The condiments. Wala lang, looks nice for me lang :)

And here's my order:

It's called Hokkaido Miso Ramen in a huge bowl for Php395.00. Grabe super yummy pero di ko talaga kayang ubusin. I love the crunchy veggies and the literally melts in your mouth pork toppings plus the yummy miso soup. The noodles is authentic chinese. As per Atty., Jen, the first time she tasted their Ramen parang walang nang ibang masarap pang ramen.

And their order. Yes, we're 6 and all 5 of them ordered this:

It's called Chintan Ramen @ Php320.00 per bowl. You can choose from Shio or Shoyu which means salt or soy base soup. I got intrigued with the taste kaya nakitikim ako sa kanila. And ooohhh heaven ang lasa.

Would I recommend the place and the food? Definitely. I give it 5 out of 5. 5 to be the highest.

Kichitora of Tokyo
2/F Glorietta 5 Office Drive
San Lorenzo, Makati
(02) 555-1288

It's More Fun in the Philippines... Keep Exploring

It's more fun in the Philippines, of course it is. I asked myself how well do I know my country and which places have I already explored. Uhmm, konting konti pa lang. It's always my dream na mapuntahan ang lahat ng provinces sa Pilipinas in time for their respective festivities. For example, Ati-atihan sa Aklan, Dinagyang sa Iloilo, Sinulog sa Cebu, Pangbenga sa Baguio to name a few kaya lang for a working lass like me medyo pahirapan sa schedule. I'm listing out all the Philippine provinces then cross out those that I've already visited. It will gauge how well I know our country. Try nyo din :)

National Capital Region

1.       Caloocan
2.       Las Piñas
3.       Makati
4.       Malabon
5.       Mandaluyong
6.       Manila
7.       Marikina
8.       Muntinlupa
9.       Navotas
10.   Parañaque
11.   Pasay
12.   Pasig
13.   Pateros
14.   Quezon City
15.   San Juan
16.   Taguig
17.   Valenzuela

Cordillera Administrative Region

1.       Abra
2.       Apayao
3.       Baguio
4.       Benguet
5.       Ifugao
6.       Kalinga
7.       Mountain Province

Ilocos Region

1.       Dagupan
2.       Ilocos Norte
3.       Ilocos Sur
4.       La Union
5.       Pangasinan

Cagayan Valley
1.       Batanes
2.       Cagayan
3.       Isabela
4.       Nueva Viscaya
5.       Quirino
6.       Santiago

Central Luzon

1.       Angeles
2.       Aurora
3.       Bataan
4.       Bulacan
5.       Nueva Ecija
6.       Olongapo
7.       Pampanga
8.       Tarlac
9.       Zambales

Calabarzon

1.       Batangas
2.       Cavite
3.       Laguna
4.       Lucena
5.       Quezon
6.       Rizal

Mimaropa

1.       Marinduque
2.       Occidental Mindoro
3.       Oriental Mindoro
4.       Palawan
5.       Puerto Princesa
6.       Romblon

Bicol Region

1.       Albay
2.       Camarines Norte
3.       Camarines Sur
4.       Catanduanes
5.       Masbate
6.       Naga
7.       Sorsogon

Western Visayas

1.       Aklan
2.       Antique
3.       Bacolod
4.       Capiz
5.       Guimaras
6.       Iloilo
7.       Iloilo City
8.       Negros Occidental

Central Visayas

1.       Bohol
2.       Cebu
3.       Cebu City
4.       Lapu-lapu
5.       Mandaue
6.       Negros Oriental
7.       Siquijor

Eastern Visayas

1.       Biliran
2.       Eastern Samar
3.       Leyte
4.       Northern Samar
5.       Ormoc
6.       Samar
7.       Southern Leyte
8.       Tacloban

Zamboanga Peninsula

1.       Isabela City
2.       Zamboanga City
3.       Zamboanga del Norte
4.       Zamboanga del Sur
5.       Zamboanga Sibugay

Northern Mindanao

1.       Bukidnon
2.       Cagayan de Oro
3.       Camiguin
4.       Iligan
5.       Lanao del Norte
6.       Misamis Occidental
7.       Misamis Oriental

Davao Region

1.       Compostela Valley
2.       Davao City
3.       Davao del Norte
4.       Davao del Sur
5.       Davao Oriental
6.       Davao Occidental

SOCCSKSARGEN

1.       Cotabato
2.       Cotabato City
3.       General Santos
4.       Sarangani
5.       South Cotabato
6.       Sultan Kudarat

Caraga

1.       Agusan del Norte
2.       Agusan del Sur
3.       Butuan
4.       Dinagat Islands
5.       Surigao del Norte
6.       Surigao del Sur

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

1.       Basilan
2.       Lanao del Sur
3.       Maguindanao
4.       Sulu
5.       Tawi-tawi

Hope to explore the whole country soon :)

Segue to Beauty Product... Beauty Essences Acne Remover

Hi Readers,

Kapag may adventures hindi naman dapat kalimutan ang health. I had allergy after my first airsoft game. It might be caused by the full mask that I wore plus the dust and heat. Halo halo na ang sweat kaya ang result major itchy face. Grrr ang kati kati.

I tried my old school regimen... celeteque + benzac ac but to no avail. Itchiness pa rin. So ayun I bought myself the product that I'm using before. It's called beauty essences.

The package consists of the following:
1. Toner
2. Clarifying Lotion
3. Exfoliating Cream
4. Orange Beauty Bar
5. Rejuvenating Cream
6. Spot Corrector with spf35

Hays balik sa religious regimen. Pero syempre for the sake of beauty kelangan magtiis.

Just like before, I'm always excited using this product coz I know how effective it is on clearing up all the sumpa on my face.

Pictures of my first day using this product: (pasensya na madilim, night time ko kasi kinuhanan)

Day 1

Can you see the rashes?

Ang nagmumurang pores LOL...

Itchy bumps. Constant na may deposit ng sebum. Hayyz!

Zits, zits, zits!

Whew!

Day 2

Compare the appearance. Nag-flatten yung area and super happy ako sa result.

Zits became smaller and almost flat.

Compare this area to that one on my first day. Impressive isn't it?

Happy, happy, happy!

There's a little tingling sensation while using the product but it's bearable. I can see some micro-peeling around the zits but its not itchy. I also feel some tightening which means that the product is working. Will update this post daily for 2 weeks to see how it works :)

Day 3

Compare, compare... mukhang pasok talaga sa banga di ba. 3rd day pa lang yan kaya i'm super duper excited. Medyo mahapdi na sya kapag ina-apply but still tolerable at syempre tiis-ganda :) Plus i noticed na nag-shrink na ang pores.

Just this morning:

Feeling galore na but what i've noticed was... hindi sya namumula unlike other product sets na kapag nagpi-peel na eh redness galore na rin ang peg ng fez. Napansin din sya ng officemate ko na pumuti daw ang face ko kahit nagbababalat sya. 

4th Day

Slight redness and micro-peeling on my 4th day. Medyo may hapdi na kapag ginagamit ang product pero keriboomboom to the max. And my face is noticeably fairer that before plus the pores shrinked considerably. Loving it!

Day 5

Nahihinog at maliliit na ang zits. Fairer skin at less peeling na. Konting hapdi na rin lang during applications ng cream.

Day 6

Getting smoother. Love, love, love it. Nagpi-pinkish na rin ang complexion. Luckily hindi nagmukhang kamatis sa pula ang face ko. Prone pa naman ako sa pamumula. Wala din itchiness though may tightness ang skin. Sign na nagwo-work ang product.

Day 7 

Visibly smoother, fairer skin plus smaller pores. Marami lang talaga akong poke marks. Napansin ko yung mga blackheads and whiteheads napu-push sya paangat ng skin. Must be the deep-seated dirt na nililinis ng product. I'm thinking of having facial para matulungan ma-expedite ang pagkawala ng dirt underneath the skin.

Update on the 21st day:

Ayan na po sya :)

Island of Magalawa

February 21-23, 2014
Magalawa Island, Palauig, Zambales

I've been hearing good reviews about this place so syempre pa gora tayo dapat dyan. Keep exploring the beautiful Philippines. Love your own eh :)

We left Manila at around 10:30pm. Kitakits ang tropa sa Market Market. Tuloy na tuloy ang 2 weeks na planuhan. We were supposed to visit this island last year pero sali-saliwa ang schedules kaya it didn't pushed through. Anyway eto na yon.

From Manila we took the C5 Road then labas ng Mindanao Ave para medyo iwas ng konting traffic. So far malalaking trucks na lang ang kasabay namin sa daan. From there nag-NLEX kami then exit ng San Fernando Pampanga to pick up one of our friends. Tapos back to route nag-exit naman ng Dau to buy Dunkin Donut hahaha. Nagbilin daw kasi yung cook sa Ruiz Resort na pasalubungan sila ng donut. After that we took SCTEX. Takutan galore kasi halos kami lang ang nasa daan. Finally we reached Iba, Zambales. Time check: 2:36am antigas ng driver namin :)

We passedby the most expensive cemetery daw dito sa Pilipinas. Know why? Over-looking kasi LOL. Nag-GPS na kami kasi wala na halos bahayan sa dinadaanan namin mahirap nang maligaw. We passedby the intersection na may nakalagay ng Welcome to Palauig so si driver don dumiretso buti na lang i recalled from one blog na nabasa ko not to take that route so balik ang peg ng beauty namin. Then the GPS said we need to turn left sa crossing. Ooopsss, wala namang crossing eh though merong left turn at may sakayan ng tricycle buti na lang maaga magtinda ng mangga si ate sa kanto may napagtanungan kami.

Ayan na rough road na. I wasn't able to take a picture of the road kasi andilim at takot ako bumaba so hiram na lang ako ng picture.

Photo courtesy of www.straypusiket.com

6 kilometers of rough road though hindi naman malalalim ang lubak kaya keri lang. Again, takutan galore na naman. Around 4:30am when we reached Luan Port. Muntik na kaming pumasok sa Armada Resort buti na lang nabasa namin :)

Finally... Luan Port. Hiram ulit ng picture kasi gabi nga po :)

Photo courtesy of www.sharkmaine.com

As you can see on the picture above yung destination namin is yung island adjacent to the port. In less than 5 minutes nasa Magalawa Island na kami.

It was 4:45am and everybody's tired. We were welcome by the caretakers and they as so warm. Aside from the 2 fan rooms na kinuha namin, we were given 2 free tents. Yung maliit nga lang. So tulugan muna kami while waiting for our breakfast. Btw, pwede mag-request ng gusto nyong meal if you avail of the package which is 1,500.00 per head. (Will update the pictures of the foods. Nasa lappy eh)*** The 1,500.00 per head package includes entrance fee, parking fee, 4 meals, boat fee, 2 fan rooms, 2 tents, snorkling. Kinda luma lang ang snorkling gear nila but its ok kasi super linaw naman ng water kaya di mo na need ilubog ang ulo mo just to see the bottom. Eto proof kung gaano kalinaw ang water.

See? Kitang kita ang ilalim. That's about 3 meters deep.

You will be welcomed by this signboard upon arrival:

Here are some more pics:

The last 2 pictures were taken on our way back to Manila.

Verdict:
1. Place is nice. Very basic. If you're the type na mahilig sa camping then you would love this place.
2. Pocket-friendly. Less than 2k lang ang nagastos per person.
3. If you want a serene place where you can do some soul-searching then this place is not good for you. Marami na ring tao.
4. If hindi maaalagaan ng husto ang place in 2 years marumi na to masyado. Andaming bubog sa sand plus nakakuha ako ng half ng basag na bote sa swimming area.

Overall: 6 out of 10. 10 to be the highest.