Hello, everyone! So last week, my parents and I had a very short trip (by very short, I mean overnight) to Subic. My mom and I went to Zoobic Safari, where we saw a lot of (surprise, surprise) animals. Though the scorching summer heat pretty much made me look like a sweaty, hot-headed zombie, I enjoyed touring around. Looking back, going on a zoo tour in the middle of a summer day is a very, very bad idea. Nevertheless, here are some of the photos I took. Enjoy! :)

1. "I Heard Your Voice in a Dream" - Jeremy Jordan

2. "Stay" - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

3. "Let the Groove Get In" - Justin Timberlake

4. "Sex Yeah" - Marina and the Diamonds

5. "Give Me Love" - Ed Sheeran

6. "Broadway, Here I Come!" - Jeremy Jordan

7. "If This Was A Movie" - Taylor Swift

8. "The Outsider" - Marina and the Diamonds

9. "Rewrite This Story" - Katharine McPhee and Jeremy Jordan

10. "The State of Dreaming" - Marina and the Diamonds

  I ate a lot during my recent trip to Baguio that these are the only pictures I was able to take. Anyway, here they are.

Strawberries. Of course you can't leave Baguio without eating strawberries. Strawberries are actually everywhere in Baguio. Fresh ones, in jam form, in juice from, in milkshake form, in ice cream form; but of course nothing beats the fresh ones. We bought these on our way to SM Baguio.

Strawberry taho. One of my goals in Baguio was to try strawberry taho. Basically, strawberry jam that is thinned than usual serves as the syrup/sweetener, instead of arnibal . You still get the strawberry halves too which was fun to chew with the pearl sago. 

Selecta ice cream. We went to one of the the places I've known since childhood: Dainty, which is now called Streamline. I remember the time when we would go there to have breakfast with Dad's friends who walk around Burnham Park every morning. It's good to know that they still sell big Selecta ice cream scoops in big ice cream cones. I got their new ice cream flavor, Mrs. Fields cookies.

Banana and caramel waffle. Or waffles because there are actually two. It was not overly sweet and it was filling. Had this at Beans Talk, a new breakfast place inside City Center Hotel. I recommend having breakfast there. Their food is yummy and filling, plus their breakfast options include a cup of coffee and 1 free refill. They also serve milk teas, pastries, breads, and other drinks that you might fancy.

Another place I've known since I was young is 50's Diner. It's this American-themed diner where you can have steaks, burgers, and my favorite, milkshakes. We decided to eat dinner there and we had to wait for 15-20 minutes to get seated. But it was worth the wait.

(L-R, top) Vanilla Milkshake. You cannot eat here and not order an ice cream milkshake!! S/S. My order consisted of steak, shrimps, fries, and veggies.

(L-R, bottom) Mix Grill. Dad's order. Minute steak, pork chop, hotdog, and chicken, all grilled. Came with veggies too. Guys on the Hood. Mom's meal. Pork chop, a slice of pizza, fried chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread, fries, and veggies.

So that's basically a fourth of what I ate there. :)) Sorry I was only able to snap a few photos, I was too busy eating!

Heya! Sorry if I've been MIA these past few days. My parents and I went to Baguio last Wednesday and came back two days ago. I loved how I was net-less for almost 5 days so I was able to relax and bond with my parents and relatives and not just with my iPad. Baguio was good, the opposite of hot Cainta. There were a lot of people of course, since it was vacation and Holy Week. But I still enjoyed our stay.

Here are the four non-edible items I bought in Baguio. Apparently most of the things I spent my money on was food. :))) 

One of the most worn accessories of everyone there (tourists and locals) are hats, especially animal hats. I first saw people wearing these in Burnham Park and I thought they were adorable so I got my own hats. The first hat I bought was North. I still can't decide whether it's a wolf or a Siberian husky, but in the meantime I call it a direwolf. Named it North because of Game of Thrones (you know, House Stark?). The second hat was a must buy for me because I have a soft spot for pandas. I named it Pan so it matches my other panda stuff toy, Coco. So if you combine them, it's Pan + Coco....and I think you know where this is going. ;)

When we went to SM City Baguio, they were having a weekend sale. I was able to buy two pairs of Solemates flats for only 399php, which was a steal because if you buy only one you have to pay 299php. There were a lot of styles available but I settled on black flats because they go with everything I wear. First pair I grabbed was the mustache flats because it goes well with my mustache ring that I wear everyday since I got it. The next pair was black flats with white leopard prints. Aren't these adorable?

So yeah, there's my little loot. Everything else was food. I think I might make a food post soon. :D

Cleaning my blenders/sponges is the first thing I do every time a makeup gig is over. I make sure to remove the foundation and correctors and other stuff that's in there. Blenders are not like disposable sponge wedges that you can, well, dispose after a single usage. These are sturdy sponges that you can reuse over and over again until it flakes. But they're also expensive; hence, you need to take care of them to prolong their life. In this post, I'll show you how I clean my beauty blenders, which is also applicable to disposable cosmetic sponges and puffs.

  The procedure below is how I wash my blenders. I learned two different ways on how to wash them and I decided to combine those steps because I feel like the sponges are cleaner when I do both steps.

For the products, I use two: SafeGuard soap and Daiso's Sponge Detergent. (I bought mine in Singapore. I can't believe how good this is considering it's only S$2!)

1. Wet the sponge first to make it damp.

2. Apply several drops of the sponge detergent and start cleaning your sponge. Squeeze the excess detergent and water and continue rubbing the dirty areas of the sponge until it's spotless. 

3. Rinse and squeeze the sponge to remove excess water.

4. Rub SafeGuard all over your sponge. Technically, this will be the second time you'll clean your sponge.

5. Rinse, squeeze, and dry.

So that's how I clean my sponges. I also use warm water occasionally. You can use the soap and detergent on their own so no need to worry about getting both. I just like using soap afterwards because it makes my sponges smell good. If you're going to use soap only, make sure to use an anti-bacterial one.

Hope you learned something from this post! :) Also, how do YOU clean your sponges and puffs? Feel free to share!

Anaklusmos 2010 was a memorable gathering I attended in 2010. It was that time when everybody was addicted to Tumblr, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Logan Lerman, and Greek mythology. I remember almost not attending because the venue was far from where I live but I was persuaded to go by my first Tumblr friend, Nica. I was super excited and nervous to meet 49 complete strangers, 49 teens who share my obsession with Percy Jackson and Logan Lerman. It was a little awkward and strange but we all had a good time.

It was funny because I listed my name in Cabin Demeter because I didn't see Cabin Hades. It sucked big time because I've always considered myself as Hades' daughter. The other one who joined me was Nica. She's Poseidon's daughter originally but she listed her name in Cabin Demeter anyway because she saw my name listed there and she wanted to be in the same cabin as me. So yeah, two misplaced girls in the wrong cabin. :))

This was the first and last event I attended before I quit using Tumblr. I can't believe this happened almost three years ago because I feel like it just happened yesterday! I don't have any contact with them anymore but it'll be awesome to have a reunion for Sea of Monsters, yeah? :)

  My nail polish of the week is Twinkle's Christmas Polka. I'd describe it as glitter and polka dot confetti in a clear base. I like wearing glitter nail polishes even if they're such a bitch to remove. They have interesting 3D-like textures and it's okay even if you commit polish booboo. Plus, they're pretty to wear them on their own or on top of any base coats. Christmas Polka's glitter is a combination of silver glitter and red and blue polka dot glitter/confetti. The only issue I have here is the clear base. Instead of a clean transparent color, it's clear with a yellow base. It's not really an issue for me but it does bug me sometimes. I'd probably layer this on a dark nail polish next time just so the yellow base won't be too obvious. But for now, I like wearing it on its own.

1. "Heart Shaped Wreckage" - Katharine McPhee and Jeremy Jordan

2. "Be Your Everything" - Boys Like Girls

3. "How To Be a Heartbreaker" - Dean Geyer and Lea Michele

4. "Oh No!" - Marina and the Diamonds

5. "Homewrecker" - Marina and the Diamonds

6. "Cupid's Got a Shotgun" - Carrie Underwood

7. "22" - Taylor Swift

8. "A Little More" - The Ready Set

9. "Blown Away" - Carrie Underwood

10. "A Little More You" - Before You Exit

  I've been seeing a lot of "25 Facts About Me" blog posts and Youtube videos so here I am, joining the bandwagon. I actually had a semi-hard time creating a list because there are things I wanted to add, facts I replaced with another fact, etc. I had no idea it required a lot of editing! :))) Anyway, without further ado, here's my list. 

1. I am the youngest in the family. My only sister is 12 years older than me.

2. My favorite British shows are Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey. Like, OMG. These shows are the bomb! They're total opposites but they're very addicting.

3. My girl crushes are Gemma Arterton and Michelle Dockery.

4. I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2009. It was a life-changer.

5. My lady jam is "How to be a Heartbreaker" by Marina and the Diamonds. Rule number three: wear your heart on your cheek but never on your sleeve unless you wanna taste defeat~

6. My personal style is a mix of comfy and punk with a hint of femininity. The color black is essential.

7. Makeup artists I look up to: Lisa Eldridge, Rae Morris, and Charlotte Tilbury.

8. I've always been fascinated with Greek mythology. Hades is my favorite god while Hecate is my favorte goddess.

9. I hate it when I catch a cold. It makes me moody and grumpy and gross.

10. My favorite non-series/stand-alone books are The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.

11. It's better to reach me through my email and social networking sites than to reach me through my phone. I am not a phone person so I just tend to ignore most of the time. :P

12. I am definitely NOT a morning person. I loathe waking up before 8 am.

13. I hate waking up at 5 in the morning. What an ungodly hour.

14. My celeb crushes are Logan Lerman and Nicholas Hoult. Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

15. I cannot leave the house without a hair elastic. If I leave the house without one, it makes me really worried and uncomfy so I always have to buy one asap.

16. My favorite fairy tale is Vasilisa's Doll by Alexander Afanasyev. I like it the most because it's different, haunting, intriguing, and compelling.

17. Countries I'd like to visit: England, Greece, Japan, and Italy.

18. I am a very sarcastic person. You've been warned.

19. I heart Mexican cuisine, but I have a soft spot for dimsum, especially har gow.

20. My Youtube crush is Jack Harries. <3

21. I hate having long nails. 

22. I developed a slight fear of heights when I rode the Battlestar Galactica rollercoasters in Universal Studios Singapore back in 2011.

23. My favorite computer game is Delicious. I am proud to say that I have played the entire game series and I still love it.

24. I absolutely can't cook on my own, hence I can't cook anything right. Honestly, you don't want me to prepare your meals! :)))

25. I was home-schooled for two years: my Junior year and Senior year of high school. 

1. "Bones" - MS MR

2. "More Than I Should" - Hunter Hayes

3. "Heart Attack" - Demi Lovato

4. "Red Cup Hands Up Long Brown Hair" - Boys Like Girls

5. "Radioactive" - Marina and the Diamonds

6. "Caught in the Storm" - Katharine McPhee

7. "I Like That" - Before You Exit

8. "Teen Idle" - Marina and the Diamonds

9. "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)" - One Direction

10. "Your Biggest Mistake" - Ellie Goulding