Suki's First Day in the Philippines

Many of you may be wondering why I haven't updated this blog in two months. Well, a lot of things happened.

First, during Summer Vacation, you know how everyone always plans on accomplishing a whole lot now that you have an abundance of time? Hah! I wish... I spent my summer vacation being a couch potato. Eat, Sleep, Watch TV (or in my case, files of tv shows and movies i've had on my hard drive; we don't have cable haha!), and read dozens and dozens of fanfics (Harry/Draco is still my current muse).

I've also tried my hand at cooking real meals instead of just desserts and to be quite honest, I... i'm getting there haha! u.u #hatersgonnahate

Near the end of my summer vacation, one of my best friends from High School came by to spend three weeks with me here in the Philippines! I can't believe she flew almost 18 hours to get here (well, she spend some days in Korea and a few layovers here and there; let's just say it was an accumulated 18 hours on a plane).

Suki arrived on the morning of May 18.

We picked her up at the airport! It was really easy to spot her. It must've been really hot for her because she was wearing a cardigan and aaaa I don't even want to imagine how hot it must've been.

Suki and I took a selfie while waiting for her baggage to arrive on the carousel. My Dad was surprised because apparently Suki and I look similar? Maybe. (We tested out this theory a few days later when I snuck her into my school using my ID.)

Suki only had one checked-in bag instead of the usual two, but maybe that was because she came from Korea and not from the States; like, she spent a few days in Korea before coming here. It was also very daring for Suki to come over to this tropical country smack in the middle of summer! It is very very hot right now. (But now that she's left, the rainy season is starting, I think. I hope it might get cooler soon).

Traffic in Manila is bad but somehow on this day, there weren't much cars on the road. Suki observed that not all the roads in Manila have lines. I told her that the roads are mere suggestions for Filipino drivers.

When we got home, we had lunch with Lola Idang's Pancit Malabon and special Crispy Pata from somewhere else (I kind of forgot the name of the place because we only just started buying there).

While she was in Korea, she asked me if I wanted anything and I told her if she could buy some pretty weird snacks. I don't know how to read Korean but I'll try to describe or rate them. We tried them out the next day when my older sister was home.

Top row:

1. Hard candy in fruit cocktail flavor? It was pretty good and sweet.
2. Kicker knock-off KitKats... I actually like this more than KitKats. It had more chocolate than wafers :D
3. Squid flavor chips? It was kind of stale and boring.
4. FRIED CHICKEN CHIPS it was pretty good. It was shaped like fried chicken legs and tasted like KFC hahaha

Middle row:

1. Sun Chips: Spicy - wasn't that Spicy
2. Seafood flavor chips was kind of boring, it didn't taste much like seafood?
3. Cheetos in a flavor we weren't sure of tasted kind of stale as well :/ We think it lacked seasonings

Bottom row:

1. Larva??? Slugs??? it was pretty sweet and it was chewy candy and I loved it okay. A+ Packaging too
2. Ramen Chips?? They were chips that were shaped like those uncooked instant noodles and it tastes like those too and the seasoning was amazing and this is the best chip ever okay.
3. DIY Chocolate thing was very Asian and the chocolate and experience was pretty good too :D

Then Suki started taking pictures of our house and back and front yard and everything. The only reason I'm uploading this photo is because I've never actually posed with this as my background at all because when I take outfit shots, the sun is always directly on this side so it's kinda hard. But this is actually my favorite part of our yard because of.....

THIS TOILET POT. I think it was very creative of my parents to recycle our old toilet into a flower pot.

Lace shirt from Terranova, Striped dress from Greenhills halfassed "outfit shot" haha!

Then we figured it was too hot to stay outside so we went back to our room to bask in the glory of the air conditioner. We just watched a few Johnny's Entertainment videos from my hard drive. Mostly just KAT-TUN and NEWS, but I think on this day we watched Kanjani8's Neoki Dokkiri videos :D

When we were done watching, we asked our Dad to take us to Tea Farm (which I've posted about before).

When we got our change, we got a defaced 100 peso bill! 

I ordered my favorite Mud Slide and Suki ordered a Strawberry Milk Tea. Then we just waited for my sister to come pick us up to go home.

For dinner we had the best Beef Calderetta cooked specially by Kuya Boboy. I swear, every other Kalderetta in the world cannot compare to Kuya Boboy's Kalderetta.

On the next post... we go to Las Piñas. 

Vanished Whiz-Bangs

Shirt: Ralph Lauren | Skirt: Greenhills | Jacket: Danskin Now (Walmart) | Shoes: Converse

In case you still haven't figured it out, this outfit is almost exactly the same as the previous outfit. I thought it would be appropriate because I called the last outfit "Wildfire Whiz-bangs". These are the magical fireworks produced by Fred and George, first seen in the Order of the Phoenix. You can't really do anything about those fireworks--when you try to get rid of them with a vanishing charm, they only multiply!

Thus, this outfit is the Vanished Whiz-Bang.

Alternatively, this can also be an allusion to time travelling or a different take on "repeating outfits". If you've been reading my blog for quite a while now, you would know that I started this blog as a log of what I wore so that I wouldn't repeat the exact same outfit the next week (not that I have any particular grievances towards outfit repeating; as my aunt would say "if it looks good and it works for you, then flaunt it.") 

bow: Pinkbox

See, I even took the accessorizing to the last detail by putting a bow--something that I'm setting out to be a staple piece of my daily outfits from now on (if I can take the over-girliness and the cutesy attributes it gives off).

Apart from outfit repeating, I'm also notorious for pose repeating. I do admit that I'm still uncomfortable in front of the camera (and it's probably going to be something I will forever be). I still feel goofy whenever I do this and finding flattering poses and angles is somewhat hard for me because I don't even see what the camera sees while I'm taking these pictures. These are what some people might call glorified selfies.

I even tried to put a chair on to try setting the focus with low aperture, but it still turned out blurry. Oh well. I really want a camera remote u.u

Or sometimes I would take pictures and it would be perfect and focused--BUT I WON'T BE ON THE PICTURE AT ALL. This can get frustrating sometimes and asking other people to take my pictures is even more awkward.

But sometimes, it works out, so it's all good. I'm waiting for my older sister to come home so we can finally watch Hannibal. If you are reading this and you haven't started Hannibal yet, go watch it now. You won't regret it (well, you might, if you're squeemish about the whole "omg he eats humans" thing).

Wildfire Whiz-Bang

Top: Mango | Skirt: Greenhills | Sneakers: Converse

I feel like this colorful outfit makes up for the black and white filled posts of last week.

I've always been hesitant to wear something this colorful but I've always always wanted to. I remember in high school, my school would have neon days for the night's football game. Back then I didn't really own anything neon or wore anything apart from the generic jeans + shirt + jacket + tennis shoes. This is why in college, I've opted to wear less jeans.

This post was supposed to be for yesterday but because I was too lazy to set up the camera, I asked my sister if I could borrow her phone instead. Transferring the files took too long--apparently, google and dropbox just wouldn't cooperate with our internet connection yesterday.

The files were too big, so when I finally downloaded it on my laptop, I immediately resized them. But hey, high quality photos, am i right?

Some photos were a bit overexposed though. I do admit that when I got home yesterday, the sun was too bright, but usually camera phones compensate for that right? Oh well

hair bow: Pinkbox

Also, this is the first time I've worn a bow on my hair! The other day my sister and I bought so much bows so expect to see me wear more bows in the future.

ring: H&M

I'm not sure if it's just the angle or if the phone camera does some weird things but my legs definitely look longer in these shots :D

I'm posting today's outfit tomorrow instead (and it's gonna be a big shock because.........). hahah!

GCW: Red

Polkadot top from Ross, grey cardigan from Papaya, Red skater skirt from @glambitionph on Instagram, black and silver flats from Parisian at SM Department

For some strange reason, i've been shaking a lot today. It's like, when i'm sitting down, my right leg starts shaking. Actually, it's more like when i try to stay still. I shake real bad on my leg or on my forearm and it's kinda freaky because I can't stop it and I kind of loose balance... needless to say, it was very hard to take these pictures today.

Especially on these swings because every slight movement causes the whole thing to swing.

Anyway, about this outfit, I decided to go with the theme of monochrome + the google color of the day so that it would be coherent for the whole week! I wasn't able to get a free kit-kat though because I didn't attend morning classes. The bar exam results went up today and everyone in the family was anxious for my older sister... sad to say that she didn't make it this year, but i guess that means she gets a second chance to top the bar!

Taking this shot was hard too because i couldn't stand still and tried my best to not lose my balance. I've been desperately looking for black flats and for some reason, whenever i set out to buy one, nothingis ever good enough. I settled for these flats last Friday because they were on sale and they were so shiny that I just had to have them.

This is also the first time I've tied my hair this way on this blog! I called my aunt last night and she wanted me to do more things to my hair. This hairstyle was neat for the first few hours, but then wind got in the way and bam, unruly hair once more. u.u oh well, i can't help it that my hair has a mind of its own.

By the way, today's pictures were taken by my eldest sister!!! Most of the pictures on this blog are taken through self-timer or by our maid, but today it was by my eldest sister! This is because our dad just picked us all up and said that we were going to attend a party in Cavite and it was all so last minute anyway.

Google Campus Week 1

Dress worn as a skirt from ELLE, White cropped top from H&M, Hat from Forever 21, Shoes from Primmadonna, key necklace from Greenhills, Owl ring from Charlotte Russe, Black and White bangles as a gift, Satchel from Greenhills

This is my first outfit post without a fandom related title. It's mainly because I couldn't really think of a Harry Potter related title to this except for it being like standard Hogwarts robes pre-sorting. And then this week, i'd wear different house colors per day. It's Google Campus Week at school and if you wear the assigned color, you get a free Kit-Kat. Coincidentally, the four google colors correspond to the four Hogwarts Houses as well (although a bit brighter). Look at me, relating everything to Harry Potter... u.u I can't help it, Harry Potter is my past, present, and future (lol taken out of context, Tom Marvolo Riddle sounds like an overly enthusiastic fanboy). But this week, It would be about the Google Campus Week.

Thus, the generic fashion blog title of "Google Campus Week 1".

This is the first week that i'm actively putting some sort of theme to my outfits (apart from that week when I wore yellows + florals mostly, which was a total accident). I only found out that it was Google Campus Week last night after I had already painted my nails like these, then i thought that it would be perfect! I've always wanted to sport black and white nails and even if I did it a bit messily, I'm happy with it and it would definitely go perfectly with the outfits for this week!

So, a perfect way to start Google Campus Week is to wear neutral colors!

Not gonna lie, I'll probably wear these shoes the most this week. 

See you!

House Pride

Dress from Greenhills, Black Cardigan from Ross, Grey Wedges from Lucky brand

Okay, I know this is sort of a late post, but when we got back last night, we were all so tired and stuffed and just wanted to crash on the bed and sleep for the week.

Gold bangle as a gift, cross connector ring from Forever 21, cuffs from H&M

But wait, why am I so "dressed up" (if by dressed up, you mean wearing heels)? 

Yesterday was the baptism of my nephew, José León. 

We were instructed to wear something inspired by the mafia, and i'm not really sure I understood what that means because all I thought of was black and gold et voila.... mafia.

I think I did a good enough job because I ended up having the same motiff as a Johnnie Walker bottle.

I specifically wore this dress yesterday because it matched the tablecloth on the restaurant my family and I are going to eat in later on in the day.

See how pretty this restaurant is? We ate at the Golden Bay Restaurant for dinner.

Notice how the embossed pattern on my dress totally fits with the tablecloth, right? I was so excited, too! When we got to our table, they instead laid out the red tablecloth and it made me feel so bad because I own the exact same dress in the exact shade of red as well!

This all looks so Gryffindor, huh? Which fits, too because my nephew is named after the lion. I initially named this post "Gryffindor" but then I noticed that most of the colors present were more Hufflepuff than Gryffindor, which kind of doesn't make sense because I'm a proud Slytherin, but there isn't a speck of Ravenclaw here anywhere... basically, I'm not really sure what to name this post.

This is Circus (follow her on instagram @instacircus) and she took the opportunity to claim a bishops hat napkin! We forgot to take pictures of the food because when it arrived, we were so overwhelmed that we had to dig in immediately. The food here is amazing! (I think they have their menu available online as well).

We actually booked a VIP room (which is why the tablecloth is different).

And here is the cake I made for Leon. It's chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing and it's supposed to be a lion, but whoaa, baking cakes in your toaster oven is hard. I don't even know how to ice properly and baking this cake was a disaster. After baking, I passed out and slept for 13 hours. (I baked this on Saturday night so that I won't have anything to worry about on Sunday morning).

Next time, I'll definitely try harder with baking cakes, or maybe I should just stick to cookies from now on. 

Monkshood and Wolfsbane

Floral dress from Target, grey cardigan from Greenhills, crochet sandals from People are People

Aconite, from Harry Potter Wiki

Monkshood and Wolfsbane are alternative names for Aconite, a poisonous magical plant which is the main ingredient in brewing Wolfsbane Potion. The Wolfsbane Potion is a highly advanced potion that gets detrimental effects if brewed improperly. It relieves, but does not cure, symptoms of lycanthropy. When taken each day of the week before the full moon, it allows werewolves to retain their human mind post-transformation.

Like what I said in my previous post, I've felt extremely tired and sleepy these past few days. Today was no different, however, it did get me to thinking if I somehow might transform into a werewolf on the 15th. Maybe, maybe not. It's just that Remus is usually tired whenever the full moon nears. Oh well.

This is actually one of the first dresses I've bought myself. I think I remember buying this maybe three years ago? Just about.

Today, I got to my first class (USACHINA) late just in time to take a pop quiz which I totally failed; when I submitted it to my professor, she asked me if I did the readings---I didn't. Gosh, I feel so bad about that. I hope I can make it up next time. Sometimes, I feel like I only ever talk about USACHINA, haha! I've got other classes, too!

After two other classes, I had lunch with Ivan at Adobo Connection. We both got the Crispy Adobo Flakes for P99 because it has unlimited rice and I'm not really sure what else to try there. We've eaten at Adobo Connection countless times but we only ever get the Adobo Flakes.

Half-Eaten Crispy Adobo Flakes + unli rice

Random people at Adobo Connection

For my last class, SPANTWO, we just watched half of "Chef's Special". I should probably write a review of that when we do finish it on Thursday. But so far, I like it. ♥