May of 2008 was the time I had a road trip with my aunt and some of her former school mates, and when we reached the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, I bought myself a bag made from woven threads. It was a sling bag, my "kumot" bag as I call it, and since then it has been my favorite bag. I took it with me everywhere, for even if it was made of threads, I feel my things secured in it because I got to carry it like pregnant mothers would carry their bump. February this year, my sister started using my kumot bag, and for my trip to Baguio City that month, I had to use the body bag owned by my sister's boyfriend. Until now we still haven't switched bags. :)

No matter what bag I use, there would be only three things present in it: my camera, my wallet, and my cell phone. I could leave all else at home, but these three would be there... except when the family goes to the mall and I would just have to pocket my money. Aside from these things, I would have the traveler's tissue, the vanity kit, the umbrella (which was in my sister's possession the time I took this picture), the coin purse - which actually holds my spare camera batteries, some candies (I have motion sickness, believe it or not), a pen, and a notebook. The notebook is where I write some things I absorb from a photo walk, or details about the last restaurant I ate at... it also holds schedules of memes I join in, as well as details about my travels. I cannot take my big and heavy planner with me, so during my trips, I write in that notebook and re-write the things in my planner when I get back home.

When it comes to bags, I am not really the girly type of person. I like using bags that would serve me well because I rarely go out of the house, and when I do it's always for photowalks or trips elsewhere... but on rare occasions that I am "not" allowed to use either the body bag or the kumot bag, I will just go to my mom's bag collection and borrow one.

*** Jenn ***

I still don't have a PC to use... and yesterday I was in an internet cafe hoping to update the blogs and join the third week of Girls Talk, only to realize I took pictures of my bag instead of my wallet. I don't know if I am still eligible for the contest, but I am hoping I still am up for the running. :)






My favorite color is purple (all shades of it), but when it comes to bags and wallets, I am partial to red. When I celebrated my 22nd birthday, my mom gave me a thousand pesos because gifts aren't a big thing in our family, mom just wanted me to choose what I want instead. That time, I was using an imitation wallet - those you get from tiangge for 200+ pesos - which was cracking and was on the verge of dying even if I only had it for a month or so. I ought to get myself a pair of sandals, but when my sister and I passed by Marithe+Francois Girbaud, we saw that they were on sale, and thought of checking out their goods.

I got a hold of their wallets and asked the staff if it would crack after a few months. The staff said that he'd guarantee his job that it will not brittle and would last for a really long time, so for 700 pesos, I got this wallet. It was rather big for my liking, but it was the only red wallet they had.

Inside my wallet were just the essentials - a family picture (the only family picture of us in a studio), my IDs, and my Unionbank EON Card. Right now my wallet only has 300 pesos, and I need to survive with just that until next week. :) Other knick knacks inside my wallet were a lab result from 2008 blood work for my cholesterol - of which I also wrote my full name and full address because when I got home from Vigan that time, I felt something in my chest that got me paranoid I might die. Well, it was actually just jitters - it was my first time to travel alone at night time. There was also my ticket for the 2008 WordCamp, the Wordpress sticker, and some bus tickets I tend to keep. Whenever I go to the market or somewhere near, I would only take a few money so the wallet will be kept at home, but on most times, I always carry my wallet.

This wallet was one of my treasures. It has been one of my travel companions, and even after 8 years of usage, it still look as the time I bought it, although the wallet had some dusts in some corners. :)

*** Jenn ***

This week on Girls Talk, it's all about the kikay kit, and here's a peek from my own kit:




When it comes to the vanity kit, I really don't have much. I am a person who fixes herself before going out of the house, but pretty much don't check on herself while she was out. Sometimes my kit just sits on my bag untouched, until I felt I needed to refresh.

The very essential in my kit though are the blush on and the lipstick, plus the loose powder (which is not in the picture because I just emptied the bottle). I can certainly go by the day with these three in my bag, although trips and impromptu get together with friends have prompted me to put a toothbrush/paste in my bag. The feminine wipes are also something I have learned to use because we do know some public restrooms don't have tissue and/or water to help us clean ourselves. Other things then include facial oil blotters, lip gloss, alcohol, and eye liner - which is actually my sister's, I just borrowed it the other day and forgot to bring back. :D

Our PC died two days ago - am currently using the public computer... I just wanted to update the blog and join the GT as well.

*** Jenn ***

... for me at least. :)

After the photo shoot with Riveria, she hailed a taxi going to EDSA Shangri-La mall where she will meet some members of the forum where we are all part of. Halie and I had other plans, so even if we wanted to come and join them for the get together, we decided to push through with our own plans - to hunt images for Kristi's June photo hunt, that is. She and I joined the game and since it was a good day (it didn't rain), we wanted to maximize the time.

Even before this meet up, there were already talks of us going to Eastwood City in Libis because it has been ages since I last went there, and I just wanted to visit the place again. Imagine, the last time I was there was in 2004, and it was early morning! The place is actually "asleep" during daytime - the happenings happen during night.


I have already heard of the Philippines' version of the walk of fame, but it was just now that I saw it. I remember people giving negative impression about it, but I actually found it a good thing.


Walking around, Halie and I heard some drums beating, and we were happy that there was "something musical," happening as it was part of images to hunt. It was an anniversary concert of a Christian Church, and we were only able to watch this band perform and it was good. Again, I struggled with the lighting situation, but for a moment it was all about the moment, not the quality of picture that was important.


After the band perform one song, we decided to find a place to eat because we were both hungry already. Halie suggested we eat at Fazoli's Restaurant, and I had their fettuccine Alfredo with pizza as my meal. It was really, really, delicious! I chugged down two glasses of Mountain Dew (my favorite soda next to Pepsi), and I was satisfied.


Walking towards to the fountain (the main reason why we were there), we saw some cars on display and it was just something nice to see and take pictures of. From the cars, we might've had "something blue," and "something yellow" crossed out on our list. :)


As soon as the song was played, Halie and I went to find our spot to take pictures of the fountain. The water actually "dance" to the song, and my only regret was that I didn't find a different location as soon as the second song was played. It would have been better to have pictures on different angles, but I had to brush regrets off for once. I had some good pictures anyway.

The fountain puts on a show every 30 minutes, so realizing that the fountain was already quiet, Halie and I decided it's time to go home. We still took time to take some random pictures, before we took a taxi back to Cubao where we separated ways.

Seeing Eastwood City looking like this was really awesome. I might take my friend K there when he comes to the Philippines in November.

*** Jenn ***

06 June 2010

In a forum I belong to, I have been good friends with Halie for more than a year now and we have gone to several photo walks together as we were both into photography. Whenever our schedules would match, we would meet up to take pictures. In the same forum, we have been friends with Riveria, too, and although all of us treat each other as real friends, Halie and I still haven't met Riveria in person yet.

When Riveria expressed her willingness to be our model, we set up a time to do the shoot, but because Riveria is based in Clark, Pampanga and it's very seldom that she comes to Metro Manila, it took quite a long time before we finalized the schedule. We actually were supposed to do the shoot in April, but she had measles. So many plans, so many dates proposed, but meeting up was postponed far too many times already because of conflicts of schedule from either one of us.

Finally, the time has come for us three to meet. We set up Starbucks in Araneta Center as our meeting place, and because I arrived first, I just took the time to scribble notes in my book. One of the staffs gave me a little cup of drink - Hazelnut Latte - a new drink they had. It was good, but I was having a mint candy that time so I only took a sip and just let the drink sat there.

When they arrived, there were chit-chats, then lunch at Gateway Mall food court. As soon as we settled, we went straight to Eurotel to do the shoot.


Sensual was the theme of our shoot, and Riveria was such a joy to take pictures of because she had no inhibitions whatsover. My little camera struggled with the light situations, but I had fun because the three of us just don't stop talking and laughing even while doing the shoot. If I wasn't tired trying to find my angle in the very little space (we used the window as our source of light and the bed was way too near the window that we didn't know how to position ourselves), I certainly got tired laughing.

It was really nice to find real friends on the Internet!

*** Jenn ***

Wow, it's been a long, long time since I last participated in Girls Talk! Making a comeback... :)




This week, it's all about the shower loot, and I just took a picture of the rack in our shower - which I share with the rest of the family. Some of the items here are mine, some are owned by the other family members, and some all of us share. I am not a vain person and although I do take care of my personal hygiene, I don't really give much attention on the brands, I often times just use whatever suits my fancy. :)

Taking a closer look at the rack, we have:


I am a person who takes shower twice a day, one early morning and another a few hours before sleeping. During daytime, I either use the family soap, or I would use the shower gel. Depending on my mood, I'd either use the Victoria's Secret "strawberries and champagne," which was given to my mom by a balikbayan friend, or I would use the Celebrity Secrets "lavender," which was given to me by a Filipina blogger friend who lives in Australia. Every morning, too, I'd condition my hair, and I am currently using Rejoice anti hair fall, just to change the brand. I rotate using different brands because I heard that hair gets immune if one would stick to a particular band. For the face, I use the Belo skin whitening facial wash just because I got dark during the summer, and once in a while I'd use the Mary Kay facial wash because it has beads. This one was actually mom's, but we are free to share whatever we have. Of course, any shower time wouldn't be complete if I don't take care of the feminine area, so for that I use Lactacyd. What else? Hmmm... there's the razor for underarm hair, and my yellow nylon puff ball, which I use whenever I use the shower gels. The little tubes are shampoo and conditioner mom took home from a trip, and the other bottle is the For Me "vanilla rose" shower gel, which was given to me by my friend. I rarely use it, though.


Bottom half, there's the shampoo and the soaps - I am currently using Sunsilk anti hair fall shampoo, just because I wasn't able to see any of the Rejoice shampoos; and the Clear shampoo is for my brother. We tend to use the sachet shampoos because we realized it was more economical, because if we use the bottled ones, we tend to pour a lot in our palms, whereas if we use the sachet ones, we would feel a little guilty if we opened a new sachet and realized we left less than half of its contents. :) As for the soaps, the Glutamax is my sister's, while the Olay is mom's. I use the Royale Beauty L-Glutathione soap after a neighbor asked me to try it out. I still haven't seen results since I started using it - that's because we just had a summer outing and I got dark again. The Lux soap was a standby soap, which we open whenever we have some relatives staying here for a few days. Of course, the standby soap will be changed after it has been used (we sometimes just give them to the people who used it). The stock of the family soap (we use Safeguard white) is on the medicine cabinet. I also use the Body Shop Moringa body scrub on my feet twice a week just to take out the dead skin cells. After my vacation in Pangasinan, I noticed that my feet took a beating and I just didn't want to end up having cracked heels, so I am taking all efforts to soften up my soles. This was given by a neighbor, and it just smells so good. So good that I sometimes feel guilty for just using it on my feet. Hahaha. The mango one is my sister's, by the way.

Question - do you think I need to stick to one brand? I really need to be a vain now. :)

*** Jenn ***

... after dad died, that is.

Having five blogs and joining memes here and there, I already forgot which blog I read it, but Rose (aka Chubskulit) has invited me to join her meme, and since I found it great to go back in time once in a while, I decided to join in, using this blog, of course - as this theme will always be personal to me.

I am a person who sometimes love doing this thematically, so for the month of June, I'm going to talk about "firsts..."




March 2007 was the time my dad died. It was a very sudden death that surprised all of us, but no one really questioned his fate - as sad as we were, we accepted it and believed that the Lord has a reason for taking the head of the family that soon. He was only 60 years old.

Although he wasn't the first one in the close neighborhood friends to die, our close family friend and next door neighbors (the Raboys) certainly got sad and was a bit worried about how we could handle the future without dad. I guess them losing the head of the family a few years before has made them understood how we were feeling, and to cope up with the loss and to somehow give our minds a change of environment, they organized a neighborhood summer outing. It was also the first time all of us went to a resort just to enjoy summer... and at one point, we wondered, will we ever get to do this if the family was still complete? Guess not. Truly, losing something would always mean gaining something, too.

This summer outing has been an annual tradition for the close neighborhood friends since then. I am happy that they all were by our sides the day we lost dad, and up until now, we are still looking out for each other. It's really great when your friends have become a part of the family as well.

Thanks, Chubskulit for the invite! I love your meme!

*** Jenn ***