A Manifesto in Support of Choice | Filipino Freethinkers

A Manifesto in Support of Choice | Filipino Freethinkers

Because we SHOULD HAVE A CHOICE.

New Face

First of all, I'd like to apologize for not being able to take pics on my experience. Maybe next time, I'll ask Mike to go in and take pictures for posterity.

So I've always been a fan of skin care, and NOT cosmetics, for I have uber-sensitive skinnage. Though, I don't really care much about cleansers and toners (plus the fact that my face reacts so badly with cleansers - massive breakouts; and toners I feel are a bit redundant, only used it back in college to refresh my face at school after much walking in the pollution-filled Padre Faura to remove all the oil and dirt), as much as I do for moisturizers. I've been using moisturizers since 2nd year highschool, loyal with Pond's until college - maybe because it was the only brand I knew then, I like the just powdered face effect (and I don't use powder because I noticed that I tend to develop rashes when I do; even the swear-to-gah sensitive line of Mary Kay mineral foundations gives me little break outs every now and then), it's available in sachets - affordable enough for a students living on a cutthroat allowance, and it's available even in most of your suking tindahans. Come office days, I looked for other brands because there's so much being advertised on the market, Pond's seemed not to have it's magic anymore and I have a bigger budget to work on. Tried Garnier - which caused massive breakouts. And finally tried Olay Total Effects - which really served it's purpose; so far, the best moisturizer for me. Not switching.

But moisturuzers don't remove the grime of ickyness that builds up around the T-zone. I always do nose-strips, but it is only first-aid. I scrub my face with Apricot scrub or sugar with coconut oil, but again, it's only first-aid. Then because I have even larger moolah I decided I should get facials every now and then in Let's Face It, then Clarity in Healthway. But I saw that the effects are short lived. So my sister-in-law - Ate Myra (Kuya Totoy's wife) suggested I try Diamond Peel in Skin 101, she said that I'd like the effect. She said I should go in the San Joaquin branch because it is not as in-demand as the mall branches, as such they actually spend time on your face making sure the procedure was thorough. She first cleaned the face, applied some sort of very cool cleanser, rinsed it, applied some sort of cream and steamed my face, and about this time I felt sleepy and woke up when she was pricking me already. The girl who did my face was very, very efficient, I wasn't hurt with the pricking, unlike the people in LFI who are like construction laborers. She was even able to remove the annoying milia I had in my nose, plus points for that! After the session, Mike picked me up and when he saw me, he called me "Pink Girl" because he said my face is noticeable rosier and I look so mapute, then he asked what are the 2 wounds in my nose were, I said the girl even removed the 2 milia that bothered me for about a month now - which he claimed he never noticed (aww, he still thinks I'm perfect!) nor remember. I'm not worried about the two wounds, they will heal easily, I have this cream which my dermatologist in Healthway gave me to make sure facial scarring doesn't happen after pricking or other derma procedures. The attendant said I cannot put any products on your face 24 hours after the procedure but I may wash it with water and mild soap only - which is convenient since that's what I really wash my face with anyway.

One DP session is 1k. They even have a 5+1 package - cheapness!!! The branch I went to is open everyday from 11am to 8pm. The session lasts for almost an hour, and it was amazing! It was massive cleaning! I never felt so clean after facials. And my skin felt so soft and smooth and soooo refreshed! It removes the traces of stress on your face.  I'll be going back 2 weeks from now. Maybe I'll be able to take pictures then. And I swear this will be a regular thing! I'll ask my vintage BFFs to come with me next time - my kikaymates since grade school!

Scent-i

Scent. It brings out the best and worst in me. I remember events and people through scents. There are times that I get happy  and find myself smiling by myself in public transport because I smelled something that reminded me of my childhood, like when I smell someone wearing the cologne I used to wear when I was in my "tween years".

Early today, on my way home, I was riding the trike and beside me was this guy. I do not know him, nor did I really look at him, since it was around 5-ish in the morning (and the fact that he is a stranger, I think it would be rude to stare). It was really windy and I was able to get a whiff of his cologne. All I know is he smells like someone I knew. I remembered the person. And I don't really enjoy remembering the said person because it brings back a lot of hate and revenge memories, and memories I've already forgotten or chose to forget; but they just came back because of that one stimulus.

KaBlam!

- KaBlam!

I was Googling the name Mischa which brought me to Mischa Barton, her Filmography and saw Kablam where Mischa Barton played Betty Anne Bongo. No biggie.

I used to sing the Betty Anne Bongo song a lot when I was that addicted to Nickelodeon way back gradeschool-college and I loved that song so much, I'll probably teach it to my babies. Mischa Barton was Marissa Cooper in the OC - which was one TV series I totally love (ran 2003-2007 - my college years); and the endorser of Keds back then - which is still my fave shoe brand.

* * *

Betty Anne Bongo - Betty Anne is the realistically thinking "leader" of the clique. She usually can be found playing her bongo set. She also often sang her own little theme song, the lyrics consisting of: "My name is Betty Anne Bongo, I sing this little song-O, I sing it all day long-O!" Voiced by Mischa Barton.

Even with Eyes Closed

One month or so til our first Anniversary.

My Baby Boy!

Love his eyes. <3 A month + til our Anniversary!!

Pinkish-White (with dark spots) Christmas II

Click on image to enlarge.

Pinkish-White (with dark spots) Christmas I

Auf Wiedersehen, Tante Elena.

In the picture above is Mike and me with tita Elena. The first and last time tita Elena met my husband. Tita Elena is my favorite aunt, no doubt. What's my criteria? Well, prettiness is a factor, amount of papasko (when I was a kid), the aura she evokes and lessons learned from her.

About 2 weeks ago, tita Elena was hospitalized, she fell off tripped beside the stairs. She had to undergo operation, about a week ago, relatives said that she's critical 50/50, then the next day, she seemed to have recovered. But news that she died yesterday around 2 pm came. Apparently, she wasn't able to fully recuperate from the operation. She was just resting in the hospital until she gets better and may be released. We planned to visit her in the hospital 2 weekends ago, but since they're only bringing a car, only kuya Red, addy, mama, tito Junior, tito Ben and mommy (tita) Viring II were able to go. We said we'll visit last weekend, but no one would drive - Mike doesn't know the place and my kuya's were too busy. Around late afternoon yesterday, my dad and the rest of his siblings went to tita Elena and my cousin kuya Rodney drove. I became sad. Really.

Tita Elena is my dad's eldest sister. She is roughly 85 86 already. My lola, Crisencia, first married a German (name undisclosed), and this was the height of Germany's Nazi Reich. Lola Crising had two daughters with the German, Elena and Virginia. But according to my mom's stories of lola Crising's life, the German was cruel and she decided to leave him and split the kids - tita Elena was left with lola and tita Viring I went with the German. She then married a Filipino man, she had 5 children with Gregorio. Lolo Yoyong and lola Crising had Gregorio Jr., Benjamin, twins Alberto (my dad) and Antonio and Virginia. Lola Crising named her youngest daughter Virginia again because she lost her first Virginia.

I was 4 when lola Crising died, and tita Elena was the closest thing to a lola that I had, from my father's side. Tita Elena is funny but soft-spoken, she is very beautiful - up there along the ranks of Gloria Romero; she's very classy and really nice, even to me, who was a hard-headed child. She kisses me and sniffs me when she sees me. I love going to their place in Tanay when I have the chance (not much during college) because her cooking is the best. Her sopas is my favorite - when my mom cooks sopas, I ignore; but hers, I devour - maybe because tita Elena's sopas became my standard to what sopas is good. Last time I saw her was during the fiesta. We went to Tanay to visit her. She told me that when she's watching TV and sees the artista on TV (we don't know who), she thinks of me and boasts to people "na yung pamangkin ko (pertaining to me), ganyan ang itsura", which made us laugh. Then she served a very big lunch for us around 6 dishes and 3 types of dessert; sopas was not missing, she knows how much I love it. I brought the laptop and showed her pictures of our civil wedding - she wasn't there, since we decided to make it a very nuclear affair; I promised her that she'll be invited at my church wedding next year, she was ecstatic about it.

Tita Elena, we love you and we'll miss you. At least you don't feel the pain anymore.

Dodgeball!

In Splash Island with colleagues. The first Asian Dodgeball Summit friendship games. This was wayyy back August 29, 2010. But it was just featured in SU last Saturday.


Note: Please ignore the fact that I am dancing. I was ecstatic then. Ignore my laughs and commentaries while filming as well. I was sleepy.