Hey December!

Last month's challenge was a success. I didn't have a single late for the month of November and it was so rewardiiiiiing having to see no deductions on my payslip. I have decided to build healthier habits this 2019 so to somehow give myself a head start, I challenge myself with something everyday, just to see how far my resolve goes hahaha.

If November was all about not coming late to work, this month's challenge is much harder and requires (at least for me) much more uhm discipline. Unlike No Late November, this challenge requires me to be mindful of the entire day. So guys, with a heavy yet hopeful heart, I'm doing...

NO RICE DECEMBER.... 10 onwards hahaha

I've done this a lot of times but I never kept tabs, so I keep on failing. No Rice December is as simple as it sounds. I'm not totally eliminating carbs, just rice. I've done this before and while the habit never stuck with me, it did come with noticeable results so why not try it again? Yes! I'm doing the challenge at the worst timing possible but it's actually a win-win because you know, I have the Christmas season to blame if I fail! Makes it easier for me to restart next month bwahaha.

This isn't to say I'm free to be late this month, nope. I'm continuing No Late November but I'll stop taking tabs on it, I figured I've logged enough to continue to stick by it even without having to report about it haha.

Also, I'm quitting logging my expenses because there's never really a ceiling to it. Naks anurawww? As long as I don't use up all my allowance I'm good hehe. As for my sleep goals, I've stopped actively monitoring it because I feel hopeless looking at the numbers. I never get enough sleep, as iiiin. If it's not cooking or cleaning the house that's eating my time, it's watching KDrama and finishing my writing backlogs (which I have 2 of right now lol). So yeah, it's always a busy day for me huhu.

So to recap my last week... wow wala pa tayo sa recap hahaha

December 10 to 14

I'm proud to say I survived an entire week without rice. I also added a side-goal of doing at least 100 skips (on a rope, like skip rope? what's the proper term for this haha) everyday in an effort to add a bit of physical activity in my lethally sedentary lifestyle. Since I started, I've moved up to 200 skips a day. Isn't that rewarding?! Hahaha Unfortunately I don't see myself moving to the next level. 200 is probably my max. I can't even do it without resting, I do 20 skips times 10 reps with about a minute of rest in between hahaha wow. such strength.

A major downer for the previous week was arriving late once because it was coding day. AAARGH. I was internally crying at the bus when the clock hit 3:59 and I'm still stuck at Ayala Ave. Hay.

Friday last week a took a leave from work because I miss my parents so much. I went to Fairview to spend time with them and eat dinner, and I also spent the night because Jeckie won't be home 'til morning anyway. I don't think I'll ever get used to not seeing mommy, daddy, and my sister terai. It still makes me feel sad knowing we live in different cities now! If only they could move closer?! Hahaha *wishful thinking*

Soooooo, that's a wrap. Nothing really interesting about my last week haha. Off to writing about childhood trauma and weighted blankets!

Decorating with Prints Without Having an Art Attack

Photo from PXHere.com

Art is a fantastic leveller. Even the dullest and boring spaces come to life when there is a painting which acts as a focal point. Anyone can use it to their advantage as long as they aren’t amateurs and therein lays the problem.

The majority of homeowners like what they like, yet they are by no means connoisseurs of art. So, it can be tricky to figure out what makes a room and what breaks it into tiny little pieces.

Thankfully, there’s no need to have an art attack. With a few basic tips, your home can reap the benefits of beautiful prints and paintings without stress. Here’s how to throw shade properly.

Outsource It

Let’s be realistic and admit the chances of choosing the right pieces are slim to zero. Once everybody accepts this fact, it’s easier to get the perfect mix. Why? It’s due to the fact you can outsource the job to a third-party who does have expertise in the area. An art rental service will do everything from consulting on your needs and wants to install it in your pad. There’s nothing you have to worry about other than paying them a flat yet affordable fee. For beginners, the money is worth outsourcing the responsibility.

Hang Loose

And low. It’s 2018, which means there is no need to hang it on the wall whatsoever if that’s what you prefer. Plenty of contemporary homes lean frames against a divider to give off a casual, informal vibe. If that isn’t your thing, get a nail and hammer it in so that there is a place for the art to hang. However, make sure it’s no more than eight inches above the sofa and the rest of the furniture. Art should be at eye level so that it grabs people’s attention. Unless you’re a giant, that means no more than a foot off the ground.

Photo from PXHere.com

Design The Room Around The Piece

Now, this sounds like a tough thing to do when you’re not a specialist, yet it’s pretty straightforward. The first thing on your list is to procure a piece which you love. There is nothing else to it; just buy something which makes you go “wow.” Next, figure out which area in the room is best for a focal point. Where are your eyes drawn to every time? The print should go there so that it has an incredible impact. Finally, use elements of the painting in the room itself. For example, if there are flowers or flowery colours, you can put a vase on a coffee table or window sill.

Photo from PXHere.com

Choose A Colour Per Mood

Different shades have different effects. Do you know orange makes people angry? You do now, which means it has no business being in the bedroom. Instead, opt for a neutral colour as they are calming. Grey is usually the best option as it’s not as light and won’t affect your sleeping patterns. If you do go neutral, make sure the wall it hangs on is bright so that it stands out.

Do you think your room will be the spitting image of what you want after reading this advice?

The week that was

Last week in numbers: Spent ₱1,964.80 and slept an average of 6 hours and 15 minutes arggh
And the highlight? I overcame the NO LATE NOVEMBER Challenge! Yeyyy

Monday (Nov 26)

☽  Slept 7hrs 7mins
★ In at 3:42PM
✧ Spent ₱1,164.80

Our landlord is coming to visit tomorrow so I cleaned the house today. I swept the floor, vacuumed and mopped it clean. Then I cooked our baon and watched What's wrong with Secretary Kim after. It's so fulfilling having the house clean, at least the floor!

While resting, I looked online for oil diffusers and aromatherapy things. I'm considering getting a small one, preferably rechargeable so I don't need to hook it to an outlet all the time. I'm pretty excited to explore nice scents. I want something that smells like the spaaaaa, or a hotel,  maybe lavender, peppermint or lemongrass I'm not sure lol.

While browsing I came across the famous Young Living Essential Oils that I've been hearing a lot from my groups and damn it's freaking ₱8,500 for a starter kit! I think it's a networking thing? I'm curious about how potent their oils are!

In the meantime I'll go get a cheap one from Shopee.

Tuesday (Nov 27)

☽  Slept 4hrs 55mins
★ In at 3:38PM
✧ Spent ₱260

Okay, a lot of things are going on in the office right now. I'm working on a new RPA task, we had an RPA demo earlier, we're setting up for an engagement activity tomorrow (ie. need to design some paraphernalia), and we're scheduled for another RPA demo with our Director so we got to plan for our presentation.

Aaaaand I have 5 freaking pending articles to write, 2 of which require a thousand words each (Lord have mercy). My team lead (I don't really know what to call her but she's the one who gives me writing tasks) sent a group message saying they're hiring more writers because the demand is growing and a lot of their current writers are submitting late and/or low quality articles. She added that if this continues some of us might get removed from the team or get less tasks. Judging from the frequency at which I receive tasks, I'd like to think I'm still on the safe side. ALTHOUGH, I do admit to submitting very late sometimes. Argh.

How do I deal with this? I like everything I'm doing but I want to have enough time to focus on them.

Wednesday (Nov 28)

☽  Slept 6hrs 23mins
★ In at 3:48PM
✧ Spent ₱270

Still on the run for No Late November! I just finished writing a one thousand word article about epilators and waxing. I'm so freaking tired. I forgot to put down the frozen meat last night so I wasn't able to cook meat when I got home! Aaaargh. Okay time to sleep!

Thursday (Nov 29)

☽  Slept 6hrs 37mins
★ In at 3:50PM
✧ Spent ₱260

We were supposed to have an important meeting today but it got cancelled. Not sure if I should be happy about it, 'cos I sure wanted to get over and done with it as soon as possible.

Friday (Nov 30)

It's a holiday so I'm not taking tabs today! This also means that I completed the NO LATE NOVEMBER CHALLENGE! Huwowww. Pushing for the next month!

Interior Design Trends 2019

Photo from Pixabay

A lot of people are excited for the new year. There is just something about new beginnings that can excite people. Of course, it can also be daunting because the future is not always known. There are different things that you can focus on such as the design of your home. It is time for you now to look for an interior designer los angeles who will be in charge of helping you with your home’s design. You would like to have a home that is modern and is able to showcase your personality at the same time. The right interior designer will be able to provide that.

These are some of the design trends to watch out for this coming year:

• Florals are in - There was a time when you are not recommended to use anything floral aside from actual flowers to decorate your home. Right now, florals are popular. It is the pattern to use and there are so many selections.
• Jewel Tones - Are you wondering what colors you need to place at home right now? You can use various jewel tones in order to make your home pop. Emerald green will be nice especially against a white backdrop. Indigo can also be great to use. In order to enhance the jewel tones further, you can can use dramatic accessories. It will make your home look different for sure.
• Patterned Backsplashes - When was the last time that you have paid attention to your backsplashes? You used to have a simple kitchen but now, you have the power to make your kitchen look bolder with patterned backsplashes. If you are not too fond of patterns, you can also choose backsplashes that come in attention-grabbing colors.
• Sustainable Pieces - Do you have piececs at home that seem handmade? If you answer yes, then you are following this design trend. There are still a lot of people who are concerned about the environment. They promote the use of sustainable materials. You can seek the help of interior designers in los angeles in order to find the pieces that will best fit your home.

If you have no time to search for the other design trends, look for top interior designers. You are sure to find designers to provide the help you are looking for.

Tricks to Never Make Your Party Boring

Photo from Pixabay

Being at a boring party will make you feel like you are wasting your time. You may think about so many other things that you can do with the time that you have. If you are going to throw the party yourself, you do not want your guests to feel that way about your party. You want them to have fun. You want the guests to rave about the party days after the actual event.

You would like to check Los Angeles event rentals who will be able to provide the items that you need to make the event a success. How will you throw a successful event when you do not have the right items that will make people comfortable.

These are some of the tips that you have to remember so that you can have a more successful party:

• You can always ask other people to help you set up your party. You can have a partner who will help you organize the party properly. There are even some guests who are willing to contribute food and so much more.
• Get to organize the food that you are going to serve your guests ahead of time. Do you plan on serving some finger food or would you rather serve food that will make your guests feel full? Decide on this ahead of time and it will surely help you.
• Make sure that you are going to play good music. The definition of good will differ from one person to another. Choose music that most people can appreciate. This will depend on the guests that you will be inviting to your party.
• It is best if you would have different games that will entertain your guests. There are a lot of introverts who hate parties because they are required to mingle with other people. This time, you can just have games that will allow your guests to focus their attention on other things. There are some unique game ideas that you can find online.
• You have to make sure that you will decorate the place the best way possible. If you need table rentals, then you should fix this issue ahead of time.

Do you think you will be able to make things fun? Follow the tips mentioned above.

Christmas Gift Ideas for all at the 2018 Taiwan Excellence Experience Zone

Every year, you promise yourself you won't wait till the last minute to do your holiday shopping. But once again, Christmas is getting closer and you haven’t even started. Before you enter a crazy shopping frenzy, check out the 2018 Taiwan Excellence Experience Zone. You'll find everything you need with time to spare, and your gifts will be met with beaming faces.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) celebrates Christmas by bringing top-of-the-line products to our Filipino friends. The Taiwan Excellence Experiencing Zone will showcase awesome brands and gadgets in time for your Christmas shopping, offering you effortless, first-class shopping for your loved ones. The event is being held at Glorietta 2-Palm Drive Activity Center in Makati, November 30 - December 2, 2018. It will feature four exciting zones including: ICT and Gaming, Smart Mobility, Smart Home, and Health and Leisure. A total of 38 Taiwanese tech companies will present over 90 premium products. With such variety, you won’t run out of gift ideas!

The ICT and Gaming booth will showcase everything from rigs, consoles, mainframes, and accessories, serving to boost businesses and provide entertainment. TAITRA will also display cutting-edge devices from tech giant ASUSTeK Computer Inc., offering the ROG Zephyrus M laptop powered by 8th Generation Intel®, the industry's most advanced processor for computers ensuring fast and seamless laptop performance. In addition, ADATA Technology Co. Ltd. will showcase its HD710 Pro, which takes external hard drive durability to the next level. It’s equipped with a triple-layered protective material to ensure it withstands destructive shocks resulting from falling on the floor.

New trends and all-terrain adaptability will take center stage at the smart mobility station. Tern Junni Industries will exhibit military-grade, trailblazing products that are specially designed to conquer rugged conditions, such as the Tern Verge D9. This small-wheeled bike is equipped with a polished quill stem, leather grips, and classic silver crankset that makes it a stylish mobility device. Meanwhile, mall-goers will be able to check out Kymco Philippines Inc.’s Super z 150i’s modern dashboard, hooks, and front and rear box compartments.

TAITRA is also redefining the Filipino household through its lineup of Smart Home devices including Tatung Co.’s detachable cook pots, which have ferro-carbon technology that avoids damage from dust, weight, and heat.

Lastly, the Taiwan Excellence Experience Zone will offer its visitors firsthand experience of Taiwan’s health and leisure products. Johnson Health Tech. Phil. Inc.'s stylish yet functional treadmills - Citta, Elite, and Elliptical - are thoughtfully designed to provide 19 workout programs that include a half-marathon feature. Additionally, Tokuyo Biotech International Co. Ltd.'s sleek and powerful Fancy 2 massage chairs and Departure International Co. Ltd.'s high-impact resistant and lightweight multipurpose luggage will also be on display.

In parallel to the Experience Zone, the three-day activity will also feature fashion shows, dance performances, and stage games. Upon entry, guests will be given an opportunity to join a raffle as well as receive a shopping pass with discounts from tech brands such as Tern, Johnson, Kingmax, Saeko, and Tatung.

Also, watch out for young artists including Darren Espanto, Julie Ann San Jose, and Inigo Pascual who will join us to entertain our crowds, while performances from chorale groups will welcome the spirit of Christmas.

The Taiwan Excellence Experience Zone will celebrate Christmas and provide consumers with a vast array of devices to give their loved ones. Admission is free. For more information, please visit taiwanexcellence.org, or like our Taiwan Excellence Facebook page.

The week that was: waiting for sweldaaaay

Helloooooo! So for the last week, I spent a total of ₱1,036, slept an average of 7hrs and 31 mins , and STILL --- NO LATES!!! Noice.

Monday (Nov 19)

I called in sick today 'cos I haven't fully recovered from flu. Yes, I spent my birthday weekend sick and fighting it but I still had a blast. It was my first long drive and I thank God for keeping us safe always! Today all I did was sleep!

☽  Slept 12hrs 52mins
✧ Spent ₱75

Tuesday (Nov 20)

☽  Slept 6hrs 6mins
★ In at 3:44PM
✧ Spent ₱315

I almost got late because it took a lot of time for me to get a parking slot. Today at work we were so busy shooting clips for our Movie Trailer project. It's a contest for our Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday and it's so fun to do. I initially thought it would be a drag to produce something like this but boy my manager is a photography and film enthusiast so you could tell we had a taste of prod life under his direction. I didn't think shooting scenes and assisting on the lights and effects could be so fuuun bwahaha!

Wednesday (Nov 21)

☽  Slept 5hrs 35mins
★ In at 3:36PM
✧ Spent ₱210

I'm sleeping less and less omg this can't beeee! Can I blame Netflix? Kim's Convenience is just so hard to drop. And What's wrong with Secretary Kim just started airing too! I've been waiting for Netflix to get the series, so finally!

The company held a Thanksgiving Salu-Salo today so yey for free food aaaand Turkey!

I'm at this point in my life where I'm considering dropping all my sidelines just to get more rest and me time (read books, learn new piano pieces, EXERCISE). I've had two graphic design inquiries and my articles just keep on piling, and as much as I want to keep on working, it feels like it's not worth it anymore ever since my salary got updated. In short, I may not need the extra income anymore because I'm already earning extra.

BUT OF COURSE, sidelines like these keep my uhm creative juices flowing and I thought maybe I could just keep whatever I earn and save it for car things. You know, maintenance, insurance, accessories, blah. Having a car is like raising a child, so expensive (like I would know?!).

Thursday (Nov 21)

☽  Slept 6hrs 8mins
★ In at 3:21PM
✧ Spent ₱110

Today is our department's Thanksgiving Celebration and aside from my excitement for the food, I'm also excited about how our movie trailer will come out! Looking forward to it hahaha!

Okay it's over! SO MUCH FUUUUN! We won best trailer and bagged all the awards WOW! Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Movie Trailer yehey thank you Lord! I'm so proud of my groupmates, most especially my boss who's a film enthusiast so alam mo yun sisiw sa editing! HAHA

Here's my 3 second part in the trailer bwahaha. Trimmed and converted to gif to save uhm resources? Also our trailer is unlisted on Youtube so I can't really share? Dunno.

Yesss mahangin sa basement.

It's truly a day of thanksgiving. Our 13th month pay just came in too! Huhuhu thank you Lord!

Friday (Nov 22)

☽  Slept 6hrs 56mins
★ In at 3:28PM
✧ Spent ₱326

Our 13th month pay was credited yesterday and I'm so frkn happy! First of all, I got a full month with my updated basic pay. And also, it was credited along with our salaries so yes I feel so rich. But it's fleeting of course. Jeckie and I have no plans of splurging. We're saving our bonuses to add to our dollar investment so that we can totally take over paying the car with its proceeds. :)

Nothing much is going on at work, I guess everyone's busy for the holidays? :D

Airbnb stay: Tagaytay condo overlooking Taal

I spent my birthday weekend with my family at this unit in Citiland Tagaytay Prime Residences. It's our second time staying at the same condo building and we're always delighted with our bookings! I was supposed to book a place at Serin West but none of the bnb's I like are available on my birthday.

Of course, I was taken by the photos on the Airbnb page, I'm a sucker for great interiors and high floors with nice views, and while this unit isn't the best in terms of furnishings, it's incredibly bright and looks immaculately clean. And so we're in.

And indeed!

The view is amazing. The unit has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. In total there are 3 balconies. The master's is facing Taal lake and the rest is facing the city. It's a corner unit too so there are a lot of windows. I love it!

The unit is big, spacious, and very well lit. The living and dining could be updated but because the place is so spacious, it doesn't look too bad.

They have a TV but it's not equipped with cable and the unit doesn't have wifi (it does have TV Plus but it's crappy). For that reason I brought my laptop, HDMI cable, hard disk with movies, and my Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi unit (in case Globe signal is strong -- it wasn't).

The kitchen is small but it's stocked alright with everything we need - mugs, plates, utensils, electric kettle, microwave. The ref is big too! My parents had to bring a rice cooker though because hahaha we're a family who likes to bring baon and prep food during outings lol.

Now we go to the bedrooms!

The master's is big enough and the view is really stunning. I guess I'll never get tired of a lush scenery. The wind is fresh and the nights are very cold!

The other bedroom is smaller with 2 single beds, but man it has windows all around.

We're a family of 5 and I could say the unit is only good for 4 people. My sister had to sleep on the couch but it's very comfy naman so I guess it's okay for 5 na rin haha.

Citiland Tagaytay Prime Residences is also very centrally located. There's a McDonald's right across the building, a 7-Eleven on the ground floor, and it's only a few meters away from Tagaytay Rotunda where you'll never get hungry. There's Fora Filinvest and Ayala Serin Mall close by. Urgh, best place to be, unless you're craving for a more nature-filled retreat hehe. I'm always afraid of exploring places outside the highway. I feel like I'm gonna plunge too deep into the town and that the car wouldn't be able to bear the uphill trek back to the city center. Yun talaga issue ko hahahaha.

There you go! I left a nice feedback for this unit so if you're looking for a 2 bedroom in Tagaytay with a great view, you may want to consider this place. The hosts are so nice they even allowed us to check-in early. They also provide 1 reserved parking slot and if there's a need for another you could use the condo's guest parking. The unit is worth ₱3,000/night but the rates depend on the season. :)

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Still not on Airbnb? Man, you're missing out on tons of beautiful and affordable accommodation! If you want to sign up, please do so using my referal link so we'll both get free travel credits! Yeyy!

[Review] Xiaomi Yi Compact Dashcam

Finally got a dashcam! Tbh I don't know if Yi is made by Xiaomi, but whatever. Let's continue with the article. This review will cover the following and also some tips here and there:

• Specifications
• Where to get one
• What's in the box
• Requirements
• Installation (non-hardwired)
• Sample footage (day and night)

Specifications

I believe I got the Yi Compact Dash Camera 'cos that's what the Shopee store says haha, I know there's like a Yi Smart Dash Camera too with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and 60fps recording, but I didn't get the Smart one so don't get confused! Here are the specs:

• 130° ultra wide-angle lens
• 1080p 30fps high speed recording
• Emergency Recording
• 2.7" LCD screen
• Built-in wifi
• Built-in microphone
• Dimensions: L-74mm, W-19.4mm/32mm, H-52.4mm

That's it! It's a basic dashcam that's perfect for my basic needs lol.

Where to get one?

I got mine from this store at Shopee. Wait for a SALE. It usually costs ₱2,500 to ₱2,999 but during the time I bought it, it was down to ₱1,799 so I took it right away. It comes with free shipping and some more discounts pa so I got 100 off on my final bill. SULIT!

I was actually looking for sellers who could install na rin cos girl I'm too dumb to install this on my own. I want it hardwired but seeing that my car's electronic warranty is still active, I can't afford to touch the fusebox. Given that, I decided to just get a bare unit and get a stab and installing this on my own. #StrongIndependentLadyDriver

What's in the box?

There's the unit, a long ass USB cord, adhesive 3m mount, a USB car charger, and the manual. Basic. Would've bought a suction cup mount instead but according to the reviews, if you're not gonna move the thing frequently you could just settle for the permanent adhesive mount.

Requirements

Nothing much, just a Class 10 microSD card with FAT32 format that's at least 16GB. In the official Yi website, recommended storage is 8GB to 64GB. But in my experience, 1 minute of footage is already around 100MB so 8GB is only good for some 80mins of driving. Not a lot, unless you constantly backup. 

Installation (non-hardwire)

I watched countless Youtube videos to get this thing right and thankfully, I got it faaam! The wires are hidden, but I'm still not completely satisfied. For now I got the wire routed into the headliner, passing by the edge of the pillar, into the weatherstrip, underneath the floor matting, and finally up on the USB charging port.

In pictures I'll try to show you a step by step of how I did it.

Step one: Position your dashcam  

To help you find the right spot, connect it to your phone so you get a live view of the peripheral of the dashcam. I stuck mine next to the base of the rearview mirror. I'm aware it's sticking right on the tint so I'm never changing that lol. I also don't know what the ideal view is for a dashcam but for some reason I don't like footages that show the hood of the car, for uhm, aesthetic purposes. You know, I'm kinda in it for the view so I don't want any obstructive thing in my dashcam's peripheral. I feel silly but hahaha please let me be.

Step two: Tuck the wire in

And to help you with pushing the wires in place, use a plastic card.

The headliner is where the windshield meets the roof of your car. If you push it with your fingers you'll feel there's a space inside where you can tuck the wires in.

Follow the white line

After passing by the headliner, you gotta push the wire into the edge of the pillar. In other methods, they remove the pillar and hide the wire inside, but I got no tools for that and I'm afraid I might break something so I just hid it on the top edge, and tuck the rest of the wire into the weatherstrip.

The weatherstrip is this long strip of black rubber attached on the edges of the vehicle's frame. Using a plastic card, help yourself tuck the wires in. Gosh we're so near the charging port!

The floor area is where it got a bit challenging for me. I wanted to get the wire inside the compartment but I don't know where to pass it so for now I settled with hiding the wire underneath the floor matting.

Then it's just a matter of reaching the charging port and powering it on.

Aaaand success! Since the dashcam is plugged in the power outlet, the gadget will start when the key is in the ACC or ON position.

Sample footage

Here's a sample footage during the day.

Screenshot along the way

And here's a sample footage during the night

Here's a screenshot at night at a very dark place with just my headlights on (low beam). If you look closely, you'll see an ominous figure somewhere. CHAROT.

Aaaaand that's it!

Finally

This is a really good buy for me. It's affordable, reliable, and somehow I can't get enough of watching our footage! I'm bored like that. I highly recommend this product!

A couple of cons:
- Mic isn't that clear
- Dashcam gets in the way of the front sunshade
- Uhh that's it

The mic isn't super duper clear. But it's okay, we can hear our conversations properly naman hehe. It looks elegant too. I never looked at other dashcams because this one's too pretty. The lines are sleek and minimal. Love it.

Waiting for the weekend

Last week was cool. I was able to accomplish two weekly goals (no lates and an average of 7hrs of sleep) so I'm pretty hopeful for this week. I filed for a birthday leave tomorrow and I'm so excited about it. We're staying 2 nights at Tagaytay where I booked a bnb. It's the first time I'm coordinating an out of town trip with the family so I'm pretty thrilled.

Monday (Nov 12)

○ Bus going to the office - ₱15
○ Costa Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Rice - ₱20
○ Driver's license medical and renewal fee - ₱1,003
○ V&M Exfobomb and CPC+G Oil - ₱730
○ Shopee - ₱1,575

☽  Slept 7hrs 58mins
★ In at 3:06PM
✧ Spent ₱1,923

Okaaaay, I should've done my shopping during the weekend no? I'm way over budget today but I don't care 'cos I was just waiting for the right time to purchase all those (referring to V&M and Shopee) hehe. Today was rather exhausting, I thought I lost my driver's license so I had to commute to work and try to find it. That also meant I had been driving without a license for the past few days. Thankfully, I remember handing it to BPI last week when I was applying for a 3rd party account, and true enough when I came there, they kept my license. Hooray for not needing to spend 200+ for a notarized Affidavit of Loss! So yeah, after getting my card at BPI I rushed to LTO and applied for renewal. They don't accept change status requests so for the next 5 years my Driver's License will still bear my maiden name. Kebs lang kaso I was looking forward to a more handy ID with my married eh. I only have my passport lol.

Tuesday (Nov 13)

○ Parking - ₱110
○ Costa Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Rice - ₱20

☽  Slept 5hrs 47mins
★ In at 3:32PM
✧ Spent ₱270

I love today's baon. I cooked pritong tangigue with atchara on the side (from my mom). Ang saraaaapp! Still swamped with RPA tasks lol but I'm feeling positive about it haha.

Wednesday (Nov 14)

○ Bus to work - ₱15
○ Costa Primo Iced Mocha - ₱0 ***
○ Rice - ₱20
○ Betadine gargle - ₱140
○ Bus going home - ₱15

☽  Slept 6hrs 39mins
★ In at 3:52PM
✧ Spent ₱190

I just had to highlight Costa under expenses because they gave me free coffee! Turns out that the iced mocha they served me yesterday was too bland. I noticed it too, there's less choco syrup. The manager asked me about it awhile ago and I told her that indeed it has less chocolate, so she offered to replace it! Aww suki privilege! Thank you Costa Coffee, I'm loving you more each day! :D

Also today, we had our annual APE. I lost weight in fairness but I can't feel it lol.

Another thing today, my ahjumma Mhy sent me a box of tea from Dubai! Bonggaaa, may pa-kutsarita pa HAHA!

To be honest I'm feeling kinda lucky today, during our meeting with the director my manager informed us that he's signing me up for an RPA Conference next year. Huwow. I feel honored!

Can I just say that I'm really enjoying creating RPA workflows right now. The current processes we're working on is unearthing the developer in me. UIPath isn't really a code heavy interface, in fact it's frkn drag and drop. But the data being processed always needs to be normalized, cleaned up, formatted, or whatever. And this is where string manipulation techniques and basic programming come into play. Hopeful to get this technology rolled out in the firm, maybe we can even create an RPA team or something LOL.

...

Okay I thought I was having an unusually lucky day but no. Shocking news: Pastor Aris, or Paris as we call him, died today. Unexpectedly. He just collapsed and they were unable to revive him at the hospital. Hay Lord. I will miss him a lot. His sermons, his tight handshake, his counseling. I will miss catching him go down the Podium after service... because for some reason he always vanishes from the stage after the closing prayer and suddenly he's down the hall entrance greeting us. :( Too soon, Lord.

Thursday (Nov 15)

○ Parking - ₱110
○ Crappy UCC Iced Cafe Mocha - ₱200
○ Medicines - ₱442.25
○ Shades - ₱649
○ Grocery - ₱68.05

☽  Slept 7hrs 22mins
★ In at 2:33PM
✧ Spent ₱1,469.30

This afternoon I went to Greenbelt for a while to get new shades and buy some cheese spread. On the way back I decided to try UCC's cafe mocha to see if it's any good. IT'S TERRIBLE. SO FRKN TERRIBLE. It's too sweet I had to dump it down the drain, literally. Such a waste of money. Remind me not to get adventurous when it comes to coffee. Nitro 7 and Costa will remain my favorite mocha makers. PERIOD.

I'm sick today (of all days) so I had to take extreme measures to get well. Also because I didn't want to spend my birthday weekend wheezing my life out. I'm drinking a lot of water, regularly taking BioFlu, taking 2 doses of vitamin C, and just now I invested in a throat spray. It's more handy than a gargle and I feel like it targets my throat much better without me gagging. It's kinda pricey though so there's that.

-----

I'm capping off my work week today because I'm on leave tomorrow (guess what!). And so, in summary:

• I'm still in for NO LATE NOVEMBER! I didn't think it was possible! Yahoo!
• I spent a whopping ₱3,852.30 this week. But that's okay because I renewed my license and bought medicines. As for my shopping spree, if you could call it that, I just bought the essentials. I'm out of Exfobomb and CPC+G oil, the car's matting is getting old, and I broke my 3-year-old signature shades and replaced it. So yeah.
• I slept an average of... 6hrs and 56mins. Awwww, not good. :( 

Have a happy weekend!

Weekly Diary: No Late November!

This week looks good! Spent ₱1220 this week, got no lates, ate a lot of rice, drank a lot of coffee, and felt quite accomplished at work. Also, I slept an average of 7 hours this week! Here's to hoping it pushes through for the rest of the month at least!

Monday (Nov 5)

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110
○ Costa Primo Iced Coffee - ₱140
○ Rice - ₱20

☽  Slept 9hrs 58mins
★ In at 3:05PM
✧ Spent ₱270

Today I indulged in coffee and ate rice huhu! I can't help it! Munggo ba naman baon ko, pano na.

Also, I'm starting another challenge for myself, aside from documenting my expenses (I never really put a cap, I'm just happy if I don't hit 1k per week hehe), I'm also documenting my daily time-ins for NO LATE NOVEMBER. In an effort to make my birth month more positive and to also make up for the horrible state of my timesheet last month, my aim everyday is to arrive at work before 3:59PM. :)

Tuesday (Nov 6)

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110
○ Rice - ₱20

☽ Slept 6hrs 19mins
★ In at 3:20PM
✧ Spent ₱130

I can't help it! My baon is daing na bangus and ampalaya salad with itlog na maalat. How can you not eat rice with that?

This afternoon, Red (my senior) and I got treated to coffee by our "clients" from the finance team. They took the RPA workflow we created for them really well and I thank God for it! They were so happy they just had to treat us to Starbucks. I will cherish this message forever because don't we all seek validation?! Also, this helps my appraisal lol.

Ever since I signed the counter-offer, I've been struggling to internally justify that I deserve to be here, that they made to the right decision to keep me. I didn't really think I was doing a lot, and yet they decided to up my pay by 50% just to make me stay. I'm still reeling at the thought you know. Also, I feel pressured to perform better.

Wednesday (Nov 7)

○ Taxi going to the office - ₱140
○ Costa Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Taxi going home- ₱120

☽ Slept 6hrs 36mins
★ In at 3:47PM
✧ Spent ₱400

I'm not late but wary at the rate at which my time-ins are moving closer and closer to the late line. Yikes. I also just added another metric, sleep hours, in another conscious effort to reach at least 7hrs of sleep each day, or 7hrs average in a week. Looking at my Fitbit history, I haven't been successful in this attempt ever. What usually happens is I deprive myself during the weekdays and oversleep on the weekends, thus pulling up the average. But I don't want that to be the case. Urgh. I want to sleep longer!

Today I woke up really exhausted because my sleep was interrupted by the repair man who arrived at our condo at 11:30am to fix our shower heater. I thank God our security guard called to wake me up otherwise I would've slept away and missed the text messages. Also grateful to have finally gotten the chance to fix our heater. It's been acting up for months but we never paid attention, until the ber months crept in and we knew we had to do something lest we freeze in the shower in the coming months.

Next thing I need to prioritize is to have our freezer door replaced, and to schedule another deep cleaning session.

Thursday (Nov 8)

○ Parking - ₱110
○ Costa Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Rice - ₱20

☽ Slept 6hrs 21mins
★ In at 3:17PM
✧ Spent ₱270

It's a very special swelday today because the counter offer has reflected! Hooray for a higher basic pay and more allowances! Perfect birthday gift! And so I just had to sneak out for a celebratory manipedi.

There's a lot of work coming our way and I just hope I get to manage my tasks properly. As much as I want to continue developing RPA workflows for now, I had to remind myself that hey I'm a QA first and testing projects are a priority lol. RPA is so fun.

Friday (Nov 9)

○ Parking - ₱110
○ Manang's kwek kwek and banana-q - ₱40

☽ Slept 5hrs 50mins
★ In at 3:21PM
✧ Spent ₱150

There's a Jolijeep at Palanca that sells blockbuster streetfood. Sobrang havey. They have kwek kwek, kikiam, squid balls, turon, banana-q, etc. There was a line when we got there but it didn't take long to get served. Their banana-q is so gooood! <3

The week that was

I'm kind of enjoying documenting my week in terms of expenses. For one, I get to remember what I did the whole day haha and I can always babble about the things I spend money on because don't we all???

Monday (Oct 29) - ₱110

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110

Still not completely recovered from flu. My colds has escalated to an annoying cough, a splitting headache, and now... a freaking toothache?! I'm not really surprised. Whenever I get a flu I tend to always always wheeze everything out like crazy 'cos I can't stand the feeling of a clogged nose. Apparently I'm killing my sinuses and for some reason the nerves are connected to my teeth, so yeah.

Work wise thank God there's progress in this RPA workflow I'm creating. I was having a hard time dealing with this Silverlight application our finance team uses but thankfully I found a way through it. Wooh. There's still more to this task so help me Lord!

Tuesday (Oct 30) - ₱110

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110

I'm done with the 2nd sequence of this frnk RPA workflow. I'm so stoked to get through this and focus on other automation test cases next. I'm looking into spending some time going through UIPath Academy to soak up on tutorials. Maybe I can try getting certified too, they offer free certification until December 31 soooooo... we'll see!

Wednesday (Oct 31) - ₱108

○ Bus going to the office - ₱14
○ Starbucks coffee - ₱80
○ Bus going home - ₱14

My officemate gave me Starbucks GCs yesterday so I had the chance to use it today. Shared it with a colleague and we both got this customized drink that's too strong and too sweet. If I remember correctly it's white mocha breve something no water double shot something?! Hahaha! Too sweet!

For our baon I cooked honey garlic chicken wings with butter parmesan baby potatoes on the sides. It sucks. Remind me to stick to bbq marinade, the honey garlic we got is too... bland haha. Also, I think I undercooked the chicken it's still frkn bloody huhu.

Thursday (Nov 1) - ₱0

Totally no expenses today 'cos it's the start of the long Undas weekend. Jeckie and I had plans to drive to Fairview to see my family but we backed out because we wanted to rest and just spend a whole day with each other.

We ate dinner at Kabab and Curry where we got to spend our coinbank money. We didn't max out on our 3k budget so hooray for another date covered!

Speaking of that coinbank money, I'm not sure if I've already shared but at the beginning of the year we made a conscious effort to save all the 5 and 10 peso coins we have till we fill their designated cans to the brim. We were able to fill the 5 peso can last month and it totaled to ₱3,320 -- that's 10.4lbs! And instead of going to the bank to exchange them, we went to McDonald's instead where there's always a need for coins especially during weekends. We got the paper bills good and the store manager even gave us free BFF fries. Yay!

Friday (Nov 2) - ₱319

○ Lunch at Galleria - ₱179

○ Costa Primo Iced Coffee - ₱140

Met with the in-laws for lunch at Galleria and stayed 'til night. Our tita was checked in at Holiday Inn so we hung out for the rest of the afternoon eating and playing Undercover. It was fun, albeit super stressful. My palms were sweating the entire time that my phone can't recognize my fingerprints! Hassle haha. 

GRAND TOTAL - ₱647

SUB 1k weeeeek! HOOORAY FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! :D

A week in expenses (also, down with flu)

So, my last money challenge was a bit of a fail. After 3 days of consistently taking the bus to work, I gave in during the last 2 days and took a cab/drove the car lol. Today is a new challenge, I'm cutting down on coffee expenses... kasi grabe that's ₱140/day din pala I'm spending on coffee I could've just prepared at home if I only wake up earlier diba hahaha. So yeah, conscious effort tayo! And because I found that parking at Greenbelt 5 is more affordable, I'll try to make sure I wake up early enough to arrive there with at least 20 mins allowance before my shift starts, because looking for a slot is a bummer and I still have to walk some 10 mins to the office.

Monday (Oct 22) - ₱260

○ Parking at the office building - ₱260

Today I failed to avoid parking at the office lol, but I did make sure not to spend anything more than the parking fee because I want to put a ceiling on my daily expenses. ₱260/9hrs is too hefty for parking alone.

Tuesday (Oct 23) - ₱110

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110

Our office had an event so I was able to score dinner yay!

En route to work I spotted this new Toyota Innova side by side (almost) with a Fortuner. And can I just say, Innova na talaga dream car ko ngayon hahaha. It's so beautiful hahaha and the rear side almost has that Fortuner appeal. I love it.

Wednesday (Oct 24) - ₱262

○ Cab going to the office - ₱122
○ Cab going to home - ₱140

My manager updated my schedule to 4PM-1AM after seeing how many lates I've incurred this month. I personally wanted to stop him and just ignore my lates, I'll just face the deductions, but I think it was in his goodwill to offer so I agreed and apologized. So now, my brain is wired to think 4:59pm is the new late and it sucks haha. Huhu.

Thursday (Oct 25) - ₱95

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱70
○ Eggpie form the pantry - ₱25

My head feels so heavy right now, I almost didn't want to come to work. Aaaaand, I gave in. I took a half day sick leave today because I really couldn't bring myself to focus on my work anymore. I was so sick from... flu I guess? I don't know what it is exactly but I have colds, my throat hurts, and I'm feeling feverish. I knew I got it from my husband 'cos he was sick last week, and for some reason a lot of my officemates were sniffing like crazy too.

I tried to rest at our office's sleeping quarters but failed to get even a minute of quality sleep because the room was full and two girls were snoring loudly lol. I was hoping to let the heavy traffic pass but I have no place to rest in the office so I just left early.

Friday (Oct 26) - ₱245

○ Jollibee - ₱150
○ McDo - ₱95

Today I spent the day trying to recover. I filed another sick leave. My eyes are so frkn heavy. Remind me not to take nasal decongestants anymore, I think I'm good with just paracetamol. And because I have no strength to cook, I decided to eat out. Grabe this day, I'm super weak but I drove myself out to eat fastfood hahaha. I have no appetite but I knew I had to eat something, pero hindi ako nabubusog, alam nyo yon?! Kaya super lamon ako today argh. Thank God my husband stayed at home din... to work, but also to take care of me lol.

I missed the Halloween Night at the office because of this frkn flu. Sayang free food haha.

GRAND TOTAL = ₱972

Hooray for spending less than 1k this week!

Money Diaries: A week in October

Random photo of the week lol (SkinStation Shangri-la Plaza)

Last week, I made an effort to spend less after noticing how easily my wallet thinned after just a week of failing to prepare baon. Root cause would be my waking up late every day. It eats up time I could've spend preparing food. I also always end up rushing to work and choosing to take a cab or bring the car which can be expensive. So yeah, here's how my week went with this personal challenge!

Monday (Oct 15) - ₱218

○ Bus going to the office - ₱14
○ Coffee! - ₱140 (I have a new favorite, Costa's Iced Mocha! Ang tapaaang even with milk, I love it!)
○ Kalamay - ₱50
○ Bus going home - ₱14

I love watching the baristas at Costa Coffee prepare my favorite iced mocha. The beans are fresh, they grind some upon order (or baka madalas ko lang sila naabutan na walang grounds haha), press it and pass it through their espresso machine. Then they mix the espresso with chocolate syrup then shake it with ice crystals. Then they fill my primo cup halfway with milk, then pour the coffee mixture in. My cup would be brimming with coffee and yet walang natatapon?! Even when they cover it with the dome lid hindi talaga tumatapon yung maguumapaw kong kape. Amaaaazing hahaha

I love it!

Tuesday (Oct 16) - ₱168

○ Bus going to the office - ₱14
○ Costa's Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Bus going home - ₱14

Argh. I arrived late (for the nth time this month) to work again. Pinilit ko talaga mag-bus eh kahit ang tagal mag abang! Huhu. I had two meetings today at work, both of which are about gathering potential test cases for RPA. I realized how much I sucked at presenting and getting all the important information in a meeting. I should learn more. Thank God for my senior!

Wednesday (Oct 17) - ₱168

○ Bus going to the office - ₱14
○ Costa's Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Bus going home - ₱14

I arrived late. Again. Grabe ang lala ko na argh. Anyway. The kiosk manager at Costa Coffee recognizes me and my usual order now haha. Primo Iced Mocha forever!

Thursday (Oct 18) - ₱309

○ Cab going to the office - ₱155
○ Costa's Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140
○ Bus going home - ₱14

Took the cab today because I can't afford to arrive late to the office again! Aaaargh.

Friday (Oct 19) - ₱250

○ Parking at Greenbelt 5 - ₱110
○ Costa's Primo Iced Mocha - ₱140

Late parin ako ano ba namang buhay to. I brought the car to beat the time but when I passed by Dela Rosa I got thrilled at the sight that GB5 parking is still not full. So I went in and parked there instead. I totally forgot I was supposed to be not late today. Jusko huhu.

Also today, I passed an application for parking slot in our building. Hopefully it gets approved fast.

GRAND TOTAL - ₱1,113.00

That means on the average, I spend ~₱220 per day. Coffee is to blame eh no? I could've slashed 700 off my weekly expenses if Costa wasn't so tempting lol.

Maybe I'll try that next week. No coffee at work ganon. After all, I used to drink coffee before heading to work, but because of my effed up sleep schedule I've been missing on out my coffee "mornings". Let's see next week!

5 Baby gifts you'll love from Lovingly Signed

Personalized baby items are the best as it adds sincerity and warmth to any gift. If you're looking for baby items to give to one of your friends, or if you yourself is looking to getting cute baby items for your own little one, then you have to check out Lovingly Signed. Lovingly Signed is a unique online shop that specializes in personalized baby gifts. Just wandering at their website will make you all warm and fuzzy. The clean layout, the color palette and easy navigation all work to make your stay on their online abode a welcoming one.

If you want to get ideas on the perfect items to get, read on!

Luxury Towelling Robe

Towel robes are a baby essential you'll come to value more as time goes by. Unlike clothing items that can be outgrown so fast, robes may be used for more than a year. Have it embroidered with the baby's name and let Lovingly Signed do all the work. They'll package it in a luxurious box and get it delivered for free (Singapore only). Rest assured your package will arrive safe and sound right at your doorstep.

Knit Blanket

Blankets are yet another of those baby essentials you shouldn't miss. And having it personalized with your cutie pie's name is definitely a great touch. The high quality, 100% cotton knit blankets comes in different pastel colors like baby pink, powder blue, silver grey, and plain white. Your baby will definitely sleep soundly wrapped in this soft, cottony, warm, and fully breathable blanket.

Gift boxes

If you're looking for something more exquisite, a luxury gift box containing a cute plush toy would make a wonderful gift. Lovingly Signed gift sets come in different themes. You can get a rabbit, unicorn, bear, or a piglet plush, along with either a bath set, towel set, blanket, or snuggle set. The cute packaging, and carefully curated items inside a the lovely box will surely elicit a gleeful squeal from your little one.

Personalized Toy Storage

Organizing your kid's toys can be made of nightmares to a lot of parents. If you've got more than 1 kid around, it gets even messier and harder to deal with. A personalized toy hamper from Lovingly Signed will take care of your storage issues for you with style. With the toy baskets embroidered with your kid's name, it would be easy to sort items. And because the baskets look super cute, they won't be an eyesore to your home!

Baby Books

Aside from baby clothes, books are also nice items to give babies. Lovingly Signed offers cute and educational books that your children will surely love exploring. The books are adorably pretty, with elements your baby would love to play around with like furry tails, textured pages, and beautiful illustrations.

These are just some of the things you'll love at Lovingly Signed. All of their products are made from the finest quality, and the packages are arranged beautifully. They offer free shipping for Singapore addresses and their products are also affordable. Do check them out and let me know what you think!

All photos are taken from Lovingly Signed website.

3 Halloween costume ideas you'll love

Halloween is just around the corner and you bet, everyone's all about looking for the right costume. Aside from dressing up your home to look lit and up for the season with cute decor and tapestries (click here), you also want to dress the part and be strut the best costume in town. Here are 3 halloween costume ideas you'll love!
Be a pretty witch

A witch costume is one of the most popular choices out there. It's timeless and classic and overall speaks halloween on every angle. Get this dress from DRESSLILY if you want to look pretty and elegant with powerful spells to cast!

Be a superhero

Superheroes will never be out of tune when it comes to dressing up for halloween. Everybody's got a favorite, so it's just a matter who wears it best. Be creative when choosing your costume. Get your family's participation in it, better yet, why not dress up to be a superhero family. Try The Incredibles, or Justice League!

Be a monster

Nope, not the real bad ones who cast evil vibes all over. Some people like to play it safe by looking pretty and glam this halloween, but some want to dress the part of being scary and be a monster on that special day. There are a lot of scary costumes you could consider. You can be either a zombie, a scary nun, or an alien ala predator. It takes a lot of effort to acquire realistic costume and prosthetic but it's every worth the scream you'll get once you start knocking on your neighbors doors!

3 Dresses you should have in your closet

It was too late when I realized that dresses are one of the most practical things you can have in your closet. They're easy to wear, and give out an instant complete look. For the longest time I avoided wearing dresses because I have ugly legs and I'm too ashamed to bare them. But heck, I realized that nobody really cares about my dark and unshaven legs so I gave in and tried wearing dresses more often.

If you wanted to try wearing dresses too, here are the top 3 dresses you should have in your closet. Read on to see more details:

Black dress

Having a black dress is a basic thing in your closet. It's simple and elegant and you can wear it anywhere. Check out this black dress from ROSEGAL.
Cocktail dress

This one's a bit formal, but every girl should be able to pull one when she needs 'em. A cocktail dress is good for a lot of semi-formal events. Say a romantic date night or a wedding. And if you're familiar with wrap-around dresses like those? You should definitely get one! Check out this cute wrap dress from Rosegal!

Floral dress

Here's another cute dress that you should have. Floral printed dresses, or just any printed dress is a complete outfit in itself. You don't have to worry about lacking an earring or a bracelet, because this dress is already good in itself. Just carry a simple bag and simple shoes and you're good to go on your next event!

The Sunday Currently (vol. 25)

I guess this is the first time this year I'm blogging on a Sunday. My last Sunday Currently was December 2017 can you believe it? Anyway, I still use this format in my Life Lately's so it's not like you haven't heard from me haha.

What's up?

Reading:
Nothing

Writing:
This and some pending articles about travel and buying furniture in Miami.

Listening:
To the faint sound of vehicles passing by.

Thinking:
About the things that transpired a few weeks ago til this week, work wise.

Smelling
Nothing, my nose is clogged.

Wishing
We had 3-day weekends. As in. I need 1 day for myself, 1 for my family, and 1 for church. Then I'd go window shipping to buy nice clothes. Like these stylish sweaters from ZAFUL (click here).

I need a more regular me time. Time to get my nails done, my eyebrows threaded, time for spa and time to window shop! How I wish!

Watching
Still Love in Moonlight when I'm alone, Designated Survivor and Kim's Convenience when I'm with my husband!

Loving
That I was able to score three cute tops yesterday at Fishermall and I was able to conquer my fear of parking along the gutter. Going out was hell though but thank God for daddy Larry for patiently guiding me through it. Jusko babagsak gulong ko my goodnessss!

Wanting
Some guidance on my career goals lol

Needing
To lose weight, as always!

Feeling
Thankful about the recent happenings.