Apartment Living: Clean Up Before the Move

Before (right) and After (left)

My husband, my brother and I are moving to a new apartment and we are at the clean up stage before the actual move. We got a rather big townhouse for a reasonable price. However, the house is badly maintained in terms of cleanliness which is a shame. If I had a house, I would maintain it even if I am renting it out. 

San San Polishes

San San Cloudy Gray and Sea Green

My nails are on nail polish break for 3 weeks already and I'm excited to put on some polish soon. The nail polish break got rid of the yellowish stains but my nails are so short now! I am a nail biter and no nail polish means feasting on my nails. :( I alway have a nail file in my bag so when I can't help myself and take a bite on my nail, I file my nail right away to get rid of the ragged edges. Ragged edges of nails are more yummy, you see. 

But the nail polish hiatus is about to end. I want to grow my nails again to their normal length, and what better way to do that by growing them out with nail polish on them. Tee hee.

Caffe Ti Amo Dark Chocolate Gelato

Dark Chocolate Gelato

Gelato is probably only next to frozen yogurt or froyo as the big thing in Manila food scene right now. Filipinos are big fans of sweet things and we are a tropical country so it is not a big surprise that Gelato is a big hit here in the country.

Gelato (or gelati) is the Italian version of ice cream. It contains the traditional ingredients of ice cream such as milk and sugar. However, unlike ice cream,it has lower butterfat as it does not contain cream. Butterfat content is only at 8 percent or below which makes it a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream.

Authentic Mexican Tacos in Manila

I recently had the suprise of my life when I learned that what I thought was authentic Mexican tacos I was consuming at Ristras and Mexicali were actually Americanized versions of. I came across this blog called Guns and Tacos  which pretty much schooled me about an authentic taco is. I'm 26 and the first Mexican fare I tasted in Manila was Mexicali in 1993 or 1994. That was my standard for Mexican food then.

I was such a fool that a San Francisco-style tacqueria would offer me authentic Mexican food. (In fairness to Mexicali, they admit on their website that they do not know authentic Mexican food, and what they are replicating is the California burritos. But still...)

Paradoxal Interpretation

Natural Light

My nails for this week is my very own franken. I call it Paradoxal Interpretation. Yes, it is inspired by Chanel's polish, Paradoxal. I did not intend to franken a dupe but I wanted to capture the feel of the Chanel polish. Paradoxal is something of a violet-gray with purple shimmer. I wanted to interpret Paradoxal. This is what I came up with.
(Pardon the photos. It's super cloudy today. Bad day to take photos)

Caress Attraction

My nail polish this week is from a local company from the Philippines called Caress. As all local polishes, these are not 3-free and are super cheap. A 10ml bottle costs 22.75 pesos or $0.5.

Caress has been around for as long as I can remember. (If you were born in the 80s you know their jingle! Caress, Caress, color every magic moment...) They are pretty accessible as they are available at Watson's and every other department store. Yes, Caress is your local drugstore nail polish.

Caress has a solid foundation of traditional,office- appropriate cremes. The color I got is office appropriate but has that edgy look.

Elianto Alice Blue

Photo taken indoors; Natural light

This is a light blue color from one of my favorite brands, Elianto. Elianto is cosmetics brand from Malaysia.

Elianto is not Big3 free. in fact, the toluene smell can be pretty strong at times, but I put up with it because of the great colors they have.

This color is Alice Blue, a light blue pastel from their regular line. They have an Alice Blue in their Sparkling Diva line.

BNC Bright Pink

This is a BNC Nail Polish which I bought from Nail Up Trinoma for 80 Pesos. The first photo was taken outdoors on a gloomy afternoon. The second photo was taken indoors under a florescent light. The first photo is more similar to real life.

Sonja's Cupcakes

Had cupcakes with my brother on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I had Vanilla Sunshine with Chocolate Buttercream. As you can see, I took a bite of the cupcake even before we took the picture. I just could not resist!


We spotted GMA News Anchor Vicky Morales with her husband and their young son at Sonja's. Their toddler ate all the icing and Miss Vicky asked for a take-out box for the left over cake.

Whenever I'm in the Bonifacio High Street - Serendra - Market,Market area, I always make sure I get a cupcake.