Airbnb stay: Our Forbeswood Parklane BGC staycation

Before this gets buried too deep in my drafts, here's an account of our latest AirBnb stay! We spent 2 nights at this cozy one-bedroom unit in BGC Forbeswood Parklane in celebration of our second wedding anniversary, and I'm here about to spam ya'll with pictures. But first, here's the link to the property: CozyPad in ❤️ of BGC near St.Luke High Speed WiFi

Looking for a well-decorated BGC unit is easy, but when you factor in parking provision, you're not left with much. Luckily we spotted this unit that ticked off all our Airbnb checklist: Nice interiors, free parking, self check-in, and Superhost!

It's newly renovated, which probably explains the smell. It can be a bit stuffy, but nothing opening the windows can fix. My favorite space would be the living room because it's so spacious and I just love how natural light pours into the wide windows. I liked the open living and dining layout, and also the semi-enclosed kitchen.

The bedroom is just right, there's not much space to walk around but since there's a king sized bed in it, can't complain! Bathroom is small though!

I really admire how the place was decorated. The colors are warm and earthy, there's a lot of light, the decor is lovely, and they didn't scrimp on storage space.

So love the palette in this unit!

Thoughtful touches that we appreciated: Big bottles of water, umbrellas we can borrow if it's raining, and slippers!

The unit is centrally located and is walking distance to High Street, Mind Museum, and Forbes Town. There's also a 7-Eleven at the ground floor of the building. Not much in terms of view, unless you enjoy being surrounded by tall buildings, but it's definitely not gloomy, you still get a lot of sunshine coming in, and you can even watch the sunset being reflected by the tall glass building in front haha.

That's it! We definitely enjoyed our stay!

That's my husband looking dapper in the living ❤️

Today

I'm so freaking tired I would've loved to call in sick today but I can't afford to lose anymore sick leaves and I have something important to do at work that I really want to get over with as soon as possible.

Today I attended Activity Builder 1, a three-hour morning session I'm required to fulfill in order to complete my training requirements for Philam Life. Bit of a background, if you may. My parents are both financial advisers, with my dad holding a Unit Manager position. And right now they badly need additional recruits or else they'd be demoted, or something to that effect. Anyway, it's bad. So they convinced me to reinstate my underwriting license so that I could become part of their headcount. The only catch is that I have to attend two full days of training. So okay, two full days alright. They told me I could take the weekend sessions, so fine. I agreed. As a favor.

But now, as it turns, I'm not only required to fulfill two days of mandatory training, but frkn four!!!! PLUS, three more halfday trainings. And the worst part?! There are no weekend sessions (I was only lucky to score one Saturday session). The fck right?!

I wouldn't have cared so much if all I had to do was sit during classes and pretend to listen. But this frkn Activity Builder thingy forced us to really engage, and even make actual calls to prospective clients. Wth. Of course, while my classmates were busy scrolling through their contacts, I was calling all the people I know who are still asleep. So I'd get the excuse that they didn't pick up. Heh.

But you know, the trainings are actually good. They're valuable, and they make it a point to really equip you into making that sale. But it's me eh, my heart's not in it. I'm only in for the attendance. I just want to get over it. I'm not interested in making a sale at all. I'm just doing all this as a favor to my parents.

And earlier this morning I felt really ashamed of myself. Here I am surrounded with people who are passionate about turning underwriting into a sustainable source of income for their families, and I'm taking it all for granted.

But well, I may be half-assed about this whole thing but heck I did pick up some bits of wisdom and rhetoric, in random:

• I learned the importance of goal setting: If you don't know what you want, does it matter what you get?
• It often takes something painful to awaken us
• If you don't have to work for money, what would you really like to do?
• A person without a goal is like a bulb, its light scattered. On the other hand, a person with a goal is like a laser beam, its light focused.

Rrright. 

Life Lately and September highlights

Heya. Haven't been blogging recently I know. So many things have happened last month and as much as I want to blog about them already, I'm still super swamped at work and I can't spare a moment to blog. Hay.

There are a couple of things sitting in my drafts right now that I can't bring myself to start because I'm just so frkn busy with other things. LOL I've never been this busy in my whole two years here hahaha. Bakit ganito Lord huhu ayoko ng masyadong busy hahahahuhuhu

So, what's in my drafts? Haha this could be a new blog series you know. Just to remind myself of the so many pending things I have to write about because their photos are clogging up my phone already. Hehe

• My iWantSeats booking experience (Manila to Baguio)
• [Review] Dibea D18 Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner - the perfect Dyson alternative
• How we spent our 2nd year anniversary: a gastronomic diary
• Airbnb stay: Our Forbeswood Parklane BGC staycation

So what's up lately?

Taytay Tiangge

My sister and I went to Taytay tiangge last weekend to buy... hulaan nyo hahaha.

I wasn't really game about the whole idea because I don't need anymore clothes really, but I didn't want my sister go alone so I tugged along. Sobrang traffic driving there on a Saturday afternoon, grabeee it took us one and a half hours to reach the frkn place coming from Mandaluyong. We left at 2pm ah mygulayyyy

Anyway. At first I was kindof mehhh about the whole thing. There were tons of tiangge and most of them actually sell the same thing. We came around 5-ish in the afternoon and a lot of stalls were packing up already. No biggie though cos we were still able to find very good items. I had a pretty small haul. Two shorts, a pajama, and 3 tops. That's it! And I only spent less than 500 pesos for all of those. Bonggaaa. I was careful not to splurge 'cos I was too scared it won't fit nice when I get home hahaha.

But well, when we're back home Terai and I tried on all our purchases and man I regretted not buying more tops, and not buying any pants at all! They all fit well haha sayang.

May next time pa naman so okay lang hehe.

Angkas virgin no more

I had an early Makati appointment last week (9am) so I had no choice but to grab an Angkas ride (pun intended lol) because there weren't any Ayala buses passing by where I could sit lol. Nakaka-adik pala mag-angkas pag ma-traffic. Sobrang na-appreciate ko sya pag rush hour. I booked an Angkas twice that day and I really enjoyed it haha. But of course I'll only go for this option if it's an impossible rush-hour.

Got into a minor car incident

Our first time with a private vehicle lol. This happened two weeks ago, October 5. We were on the way to my parent's house at Farview when we got bumped by a Toyota Fortuner while turning on an intersection. Our bumper sustained some scratches, and the other car I think lost a clip in their fender liner? Damn, good thing our car is already due for a bumper repair (and so many others haha) so it's not the first scar.

Anyway. It wasn't too stressful, sure we caused some traffic hehe, we were beside a church where so many cars were double parked so we did kinda block half the remaining street... but we moved away quickly naman since we decided to just settle it uhm, peacefully? We both have comprehensive insurance anyway. And as much as I want to blame the other driver for the damage, it's not worth the stress confronting them, right when they even called backup. I just thank God that we're all so nice to each other as in wala namang galit lol.

PS, I wasn't driving ah. Hahaha.

Obsessing over luggage type backpacks

I learned of this type of bag from one of my officemates. It's basically a backpack that opens luggage style, like this Pacsafe Vibe 28L Commuter Backpack.

Pacsafe Vibe 28L Commuter Backpack

I wanted one for myself because it's the perfect carry-on bag and it looks cool. It can be carried two ways, can slip through your luggage handle, and it fits a laptop too. Perfect for frequent travelers (that I'm not haha).

But of course I'm just being envious and materialistic. I don't think I'd buy myself one because it's super expensive and I still have my trusty old big backpack haha. So I just went to satisfy my envy by trying them out at the malls. If I can't have one at least I can try one! Hehe

Here's the Pacsafe Vibe on me! I love it already! It's around ₱7-8k though so lol nevermind.

I also found something similar from Hedgren, but it's heavier. Here I asked the sales lady from Landmark to wear it for me so I could take a picture hehe. This one naman is ₱10k lol.

This model is called STEP 3-Way Duffle Backpack

Thule also has something similar but it's super duper big lol. Check out their Subterra Duffle Mineral 40L. I'm good with the Pacsafe Vibe 28L already, but yeah that's just me dreaming haha!

Done obsessing over the Moka pot

Been curious about percolators/moka pots for a while now, but after reading several Amazon reviews I'm finally letting the thought of it go. I just wanted to try it to taste the difference but if it means being at the mercy of a poorly assembled pot made of thin sheets of fake stainless steel that's an explosion hazard, nevermind then. My 800-peso single cup electric coffee brewer will do. It's safer too.

By the way, percolators are stove top coffee makers that uses boiling water to brew coffee in a continuous cycle. It's a cool concept but the pots are quite high maintenance lol, I mean compared to your regular coffee maker haha. So yeah, bye Bialleti! It was nice obsessing about you but I can't be bothered with more dishes on the sink!

Team building 2019

Oh yeah, before I forget, September was one memorable month. We celebrated our wedding anniversary, one of our friends got married, and you guessed it duh, we had our annual team building hahaha.

We rented a resort at Tali Beach, Nasugbu, Batangas and just enjoyed the day. We brought groceries, ate lunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan, waded at Tali beach, watched the sunset together, cooked dinner and enjoyed ourselves. Definitely happy to be part of this team. Okay so pic spam na lang tayo goys haha

Kainan sa Dalampasigan is such a beautiful restaurant!

After lunch we finally drove to the house we're staying at. The resort we booked was super nice, wide and maaliwalas. Definitely something I want for myself one day. This layout is perfect. It's a bungalow too, just my dream!

The wooden pieces of furniture in his house is soooo lovely!

During the afternoon we went to the beach and watched the sunset. Ang ganda gandaaaaaaaa! ♡

This was at Sunset Beach

We cooked dinner and prepared a frkn lot of food! Aylabettt!

Look at our beautiful breakfast! 

Jeh-ar and Jen's wedding!

So yeah, I'm pouring out all my September highlights in this post, except for our anniv because it deserves a separate entry hahahahaha. Here are snaps from our friend's wedding!

Lovely Jen walking down the aisle! ♡

Pinoy nga naman lol

Soooo thaaaat's iiiit!

Ang haba haba nitong post but I'm glad it's finally out of the way. Off to declutter photos on my phone!

5 Ways To Lose Weight Fast Before Levelling Out At A Healthy Weight

Photo from Pixabay

The harsh reality of life is that there is no magic cheat to gain the perfect body forever. If you truly wish to maintain your look and health, it’ll be necessary to adopt a sustainable strategy. Nonetheless, failure to see positive results in the first few weeks of a health kick can seriously damage your hopes of staying on track. Starting your transformation in style to gain quick weight loss before settling into a more sustainable long-term plan is key. Here are five simple solutions.

Opt For HIIT 

High-Intensity Interval Training is a great way to lose weight quickly. In truth, you’ll probably keep it in your workout schedule for the long haul too. For the immediate challenge, though, focusing solely on HIIT cardio is a great way to lose weight. Wearing a fitness band to track calorie burns and gain the right frame of mind is useful too. The competitive nature will inspire results.

The fun factor is a key ingredient in the recipe for success, and enjoying a range of activities is vital for the long-term situation. For now, shedding the pounds is where your fun starts.

Choose An Extreme Diet

Nutrition is a hugely influential part of any healthy living strategy. If you’re eager to lose weight fast, there are several options at your disposal. Meal replacements can work but may leave you feeling hungry. The carnivore diet, or an alternative low-carb plan, can work wonders. You’ll drop the pounds rapidly and can significantly aid your metabolism for the long haul.

Opting for this type of diet rather than meal replacements can allow you to maintain it for longer. Just be sure to replace any lost vitamins and nutrients.

Change Your Life Habits

Physical activity shouldn’t be limited to the gym. Increasing your exercise throughout the day can have a seriously positive influence. Cycling to work or walking to the gym can burn a few extra calories and keep your metabolism on its toes. Turning housework and other chores into a workout can also aid the cause. It may also increase your enjoyment.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be ready to keep this up for the long haul due to time constraints and the need for balance. Nonetheless, it can give you a serious short-term boost.

Target Water Weight

Water retention will increase your weight and size. While it’s not a huge problem, losing this can be a great way to promote quick transformations. Avoiding your food intolerances is a crucial step to consider while a morning coffee can support water loss too. Dandelion extract is another ingredient that’ll help you lose water weight at a rapid rate.

You could easily lose a few pounds and an inch or two from the stomach in this way. It’s arguably the easiest solution at your disposal.

Get Surgery

Finally, you could choose surgery or medical procedures. CoolSculpting, liposuction, and gastric bands are three of many options. If this is the route you wish to take, additional research is required.

Aja?

I have a fear of letting people down. Don't we all? I hate breaking bad news, and I also hate trying and failing then admitting it can't be done. What I hate the most, is myself for letting it come to a point where I had to withdraw after spending so much time trying to make it work. Huhu

But today I have to face it all! Help me Lord!