Great hair day

Last Sunday, me and my friends had our keratin hair treatment at Benefits Style Salon at Eastwood City. The keratin hair treatment’s original price of Php 1,250 was slashed down to Php 249. Thanks to megadealsph’s awesome deal a few weeks ago. For Php 249, we experienced high-end salon service.

We arrived earlier than our 6pm appointment but we just waited for around five minutes before we were called. The stylist who took care of me is Vince. He shampooed my hair first before applying the keratin cream to my hair. He then wrapped my hair with cellophane and let it stand for about 30 minutes. While waiting for the 30 minutes to be over, customers are treated to a relaxing shoulders and back massage. I was looking at the other customers and it looked like they were enjoying their massage. However, it was a bit of a funny experience for me as I was too stiff while he was massaging my shoulders and back because I am ticklish. After the massage, I had my eyebrows threaded. It was kinda painful but it was worth it. Eyebrow threading is worth Php 150. After that, Vince washed my hair with warm water and blow dried it. I was happy with the result because my hair was soft, tangle-free and no frizz.

What I also like about the salon is that their magazines are up-to-date. No back issues from way back when. They also offer complementary drinks – iced tea, coffee or water. And the staff were so friendly. I would definitely go back to Benefits Style Salon.

Razon's of Guagua

Razon's of Guagua is famous for its delicious halo-halo and pansit luglog. Whenever I crave for halo-halo, I always go to their Eastwood City Walk branch to satisfy my cravings. Their halo-halo is composed only of macapuno, sweetened banana, leche flan and a lot of milk. What makes the halo-halo different from the others is the ice. The smooth and fine texture of the ice they use makes their halo-halo stand out. This is the only halo-halo I can finish all by myself.

A few weeks ago, my friend has been telling me to join Razon's contest on Facebook. You only have to post a picture on their fan page and the top 3 entries with the most number of likes will win a Nokia C6 each. I am not fond of joining contests since I am not lucky enough to win any. But when I checked their fan page and saw that there were only a few entries, I immediately searched for Andrei's picture taken last year at Razon's of Guagua.

This is the first time that I joined a contest like this and I really want to win. Please help me win by following the two easy steps below:

1) Please like the fan page of Razon's of Guagua in this link.

2) Please like Andrei's picture (entry by Jeng Nepomuceno-Silo) at the fan page's photos. Andrei is wearing a black jacket in the picture, holding a spoon and trying to reach for his halo-halo as posted below. Or to make it easier for you, you can click Andrei's picture below or click this link once you have liked their fan page.

I would really appreciate your help. And if you would like to join the contest too, please click here for the contest mechanics. The top 3 entries will win a Nokia C6 each and the 4th placer up to the 10th placer will win gift certificates.

Many many thanks to you in advance!

His Dad's "mini me"

When Andrei was born, his dad was aboard the ship. I can’t deny the fact the Andrei got most of his features from his dad. Even their toes and toenails are the same! His eyes were the only body part he got from me. When I told him over the phone that little Andrei looks like him, he was so happy. He couldn’t wait to go home and see his little boy. It wasn’t until Andrei was 10 months old when they both set eyes on each other. When Andrei finally saw his dad for the first time in his life, he didn’t cry like he usually do when he sees people he doesn’t know. He was looking at his dad from head to toe. Andrei must have thought he was looking at an older version of him in the mirror. After only a few hours, he hugged his dad and played with him without any hesitations.

Andrei is really the “mini me” of his dad. There are a lot of times when I can’t stop myself from laughing when I see them sleeping with the same position. Andrei looks up to his dad as his idol. He mimics his dad’s actions. When his dad is singing, he will sing along. When his dad is playing the PSP, he would lie down beside him and watch. When he sees his dad hugging me, he would join us and hug both of us!

Since his dad is currently onboard, I made a simple photo collage for him as a gift from Andrei and me. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf free coffee

Weee! I received a free CBTL coffee coupon in my Yahoo inbox yesterday! The subject line "Someone left a drink for you at The Coffee Bean" got me excited so I read the mail right away and much to my delight, found this:

It's one of those referral promos offered by food establishments to promote their stores. You only have to click their link then register and enter the e-mail addresses of your friends and the free coffee coupon will be sent to your e-mail right away. The free coffee is redeemable at the following CBTL branches: Alabang Town Center, Bellagio Square - Tomas Morato, Bonifacio High Street, Eastwood Mall, Forbestown - Burgos Circle, Four Seasons Salcedo, Greenbelt 3 and The Promenade - Greenhills. Redemption begins on June 20 and the coupon is valid two months after date of receipt.

I haven't received freebies like this for quite a long time now so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the e-mail. Get your free CBTL coffee here. Enjoy!

Tag post: Crowning moments

This is a tag post from my fellow mommy Spanish Pinay.

1.  Do you think you're hot?

Of course! Who says I'm not? :)

2.  Upload the picture of the wallpaper you're using at the moment:

Our latest family picture taken at a birthday party last January just before hubby boarded the ship.

3. When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

Last Friday for lunch.

4. Four songs you listened to lately.

1. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz - Andrei's lullaby song since he was a baby and the first of three songs in my mp3 playlist which I play whenever Andrei wants to go to sleep.
2. Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat - the second of three songs in my mp3 playlist. Andrei must be Jason Mraz's youngest fan!
3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Glee Cast - the last song on my 'Put Andrei to Sleep' playlist. The slow and smooth rhythm of the song never fails to make me sing, too!
4. Price Tag by Jessie J - heard this on the cab's radio on my way home today.

5. What were you thinking while you were doing this.

It's nearly 2am. I have to be at the office by 10am later. How am I gonna keep myself awake at work?

6. Do you have nicknames, what are they?

Jeng, Jenggai, Jengpot

Tag 4 blogger friends

Sunny of Sunny Toast

Ann of OneProudMomma

Michi of michi photostory

Jo of Saphire Mommy

Who's listed as #1?

Sunny, a fellow blogger who never fails to drop by whenever I post new entries.

How did you get to know #3?

I met Michi in one of the SP forums. A fellow SP mom.

How about #4?

Same as Mommy Michi, Mommy Jo is also a fellow SP mom I met in one of the SP forums.

Leave a lovey-dovey message for #2

Dear Mommy Ann, I admire you for your courage and for being the super mom that you are. I don't quite remember if I was the one who followed you first or the other way around but I'm really glad we stumbled upon each other. Thanks for sharing your journeys as a mother through your heart warming stories.

There you have it, folks!

Four years and more to come

Four years ago, in front of God, families and friends, I said "I do" to the man I love the most. The man who has been with me for more than five years before we got married. The man who made me laugh everyday. The man who used to fetch me from the office every single day even in the wee hours of the morning.

In our four years of marriage, we have only celebrated our anniversary together once - and that was last June 9, 2010. Being a seafarer, he was always on-board during our wedding anniversaries. Considering the distance and the communication constraints between us, a simple text message is more than enough. This made me appreciate more the little things in life.

Our married life is not perfect but I could not ask for anything more. To my ever loving husband, I am looking forward to growing old with you.

My DFA experience

My sister and I went to Department of Foreign Affairs today to apply for our electronic passport. I renewed my passport, which still bears my maiden name, while my sister is a first time applicant. I first applied for a Philippine passport last 2006 in the old DFA office. Yes, the one where the document verifications were held in the DFA covered court. I’m not a fan of crowded places so I was wishing hard for that day to be over as quickly as possible. I got married in 2007 but I didn’t change my passport to reflect my married name because I don’t want to go back and spend my day again at DFA. I dread the day of going back to DFA. But my friends and I booked a trip to Macau and HK for August so I have no choice but to go back. Last March 16, I made an online appointment from the DFA website. The earliest appointment available back then was already for the month of June. I chose 2pm of June 3 in the new DFA office near MOA and started completing the requirements for passport renewal.

We left home earlier today at around 11am since we live in Marikina. We need to transfer rides to get there. We rode a tricycle, a jeepney, two trains and a cab to reach our destination (plus a lot of walks in between). It was so hot outside. We arrived at the DFA office at exactly 1:30pm. From the outside of the building, you can already see the crowd gathered inside the compound. They were grouped according to their scheduled time. We arrived at the exact call time so we need not join the crowd in the waiting area. We went straight inside the document verification area which is by the way air-conditioned (weeee!). Unlike in the old DFA office, the document verification process was faster. After just 30 minutes, we’re done with Step 1 so we proceeded to the second floor to pay for the passports which is Step 2. Step 2 was done in less than a minute.

Electronic passport (ePass) fees:

Regular processing (25 working days) – Php 950

Expedite processing (15 working days) – Php 1200

If you prefer to have your passport delivered to your doorstep so you don’t have to go back to the DFA office to pick it up, you have to pay Php 120 delivery charge. Obviously, I paid to have it delivered.

Completing the first and second step was a breeze. Not until you reach Step 3 – encoding and data capturing. Thousands of people were waiting inside the Encoding Section for their numbers to be called. We each took our own queue number from the DFA personnel who told us to come back after an hour. My sister’s number was 2759 and mine was 2761. When I saw the LCD screen were the current queue numbers they are serving are being shown, I doubted what the DFA personnel told us. The screen shows numbers 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. More than 700 people are ahead of us in the line! The guard told us to wait outside because there are no more available seats inside. Guess what? All the seats outside were already taken! We settled on the stairs where some people were also sitting. Good thing the new building is air-conditioned. We waited a total of three and a half hours before our numbers were called. The last step took about ten minutes. In fairness, the DFA personnel are friendly.

It was raining when we left DFA. We rode a shuttle to take us to the MRT station. “Crowded” is an understatement to describe the MRT. I wouldn’t want to elaborate on that as I do not want to recall each grueling minute spent on our MRT ride from Taft Avenue to Cubao. If you have ever taken an MRT ride on a Friday rush hour, you know what I'm talking about. We arrived home around 8:30pm all tired, sweaty and hungry.