I have been blessed to have my mom constantly there for me since day one. She swam through a flood to fetch me from school. She cooked a week’s worth of ulam every weekend so that I could have a home-cooked meal even though I was holed up in the dorm. She called me every night to ask how I was doing and how college life was treating me. All these, she did while taking on a fulltime, hectic job as a government employee.

She dreamt big for me when I was still too little to realize what a world of opportunities there is out there-doing ballet, going to a challenging school, trying for that seemingly unattainable job.  For each dream I ran after, she supported me- from the time I had to commute to and from school to the time I had to commute to and from the Philippines for a job abroad, she was there. And when I cry out and complain about the disappointments that come with being an adult in an imperfect world, she props me up and reassures me that God has bigger plans.

Yes, my mom is in the big moments of my life. But she is also there in the lighter, smaller moments-shopping partner, chick-flick date, travel companion, tsismax accomplice, ka-FB and Angry Birds competitor.

And she is all these things not just for me…but for my sister as well!

Happy mother’s day mom.

Thank you for the gift of life and love.

I groaned. This isn’t exactly the best of places, I was in one of the side roads of Manila-at least there was still some daylight and it wasn’t raining. And, after more than ten years of driving around on my own, and with lots of lessons from my dad along the way, I was more than ready for this catastrophe. And so, I parked in the safest place I could find in the vicinity (level ground, no passing traffic on the side of the tire I needed to change, fairly conspicuous to other pedestrians so that evil elements who may take advantage of the situation would think twice)  popped open my trunk, made sure that I had pocketed my car keys and locked all valuables inside the car.

Here are some things that an empowered (by circumstance or by choice), petite, skirt-wearing woman needs to have in the trunk of her car:

1.       An electronic air pump that can be plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter slot (I have often used this to inflate a flat tire so that I could drive the car to the nearest gas station and have a gas attendant assist me in changing the tire. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to reload the pump after the car’s last maintenance check-up.)

2.       A well-inflated spare tire

3.       A hydraulic jack (this will take the grunt work out of jacking up your car)

4.       A tire wrench or lug wrench

5.       Gloves, failing that,  hand sanitizer and lots of tissue paper

First, I brought all of the above mentioned materials out of the trunk. As soon as I started loosening the lug nuts of the tire, the men folk who happened to be in the vicinity offered to help. This can be a tricky call…I tend to gauge the one offering help before allowing them to do so. Even when I do accept help from “friendly” strangers, I tend to oversee the whole process not out of distrust but mostly because most of those who happen to be standing around when I get a flat tire don’t really have all that much experience changing car tires. I stand there, making sure that the jack is put in the right position (and yes, there is a right and wrong place to position a jack…if you position it in the wrong place, you run the risk of getting a large dent on your car’s exterior), the lug nuts are tightened correctly (from one nut, to the nut opposite it and again until all the nuts are tightened).

Most important, know how to properly change a tire before you actually need to. Here are some handy instructions:

http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Tire

Any handy tips on what to do when you get a flat tire?

In HHN’s case, natural means at least two things: 1) made of natural ingredients (at least 95% of the product), they only allow “non-natural” ingredients if there is no readily available natural alternative and   the ingredients meet strict criteria on human and environmental safety 2) kind to nature -products are biodegradable, come from a renewable source (no petroleum-derived ingredients), and processed in a way that is kind to the environment.

HHN’s website lists potentially harmful ingredients found in most cosmetic products that are not found in their products . I have also been at the receiving end of advice from at least two HHN enthusiasts claiming that since HHN is natural, it is 100% safe and therefore the risk of getting allergies when using these products are nil.

Generally, I would say better to avoid the potentially harmful ingredients listed in the HHN website, and in some of the medical literature, if you can.  However, I will disagree with the claim that since a product comes from a natural ingredient there is no longer any chance that the user could become allergic to it. Shrimps, strawberries and peanuts are all natural food products and yet many patients can and do develop allergies to them. But, since HHN has taken pains to avoid using  ingredients that are likely to cause allergies in their products, the risk of developing allergies when using HHN products may be lower than when using products that include allergenic ingredients (but that is entirely different from saying that there is no risk at all of developing allergies to natural products).

Not only is HHN natural and PRO ENVIRONMENT, it is also PRO-PHILIPPINES and PRO-POOR. Great product philosophy and great advocacy all rolled into one. But wait. All these great ideologies could only get a company so far, bottom line, the product needs to sell itself-the ideology is just the icing on the cake. And so, on to the product reviews….

My first introduction to HHN was through its Love Minerals make-up line so I will be reviewing products from this line for now. I have heard a lot about mineral make-up but did not trust myself to use loose-powder make-up formulations (too messy). When HHN came up with their pressed mineral make-up format, I decided to give it a try.

The pressed foundation and blush package was a great deal. I got the foundation in Orient Pearl and the blush in Pink Quartz.

Great deal! Foundation and blush for less than Php 500 (at least at the time I bought them:).

Orient Pearl Foundation

I am Chinita and have very oily skin. I was using VMV’s Metamorphoskin at the time that I started using this product. I would say this is equally, if not more effective in keeping me shine-free as compared to the Metamorphoskin…and it’s a lot cheaper too.

Coverage: Mild to Moderate, provides a Matte finish

Scent: Neutral

Lasting Power: Approximately 6 hours

Skin reaction: Did not break out despite using this regularly for the past 3 months

Packaging: Mirrored powder compact, applicator sponge included

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Points of improvement: Perhaps HHN could come up with a formulation that includes UVA and UVB protection so that I can skip having to apply sunblock before the foundation.

Price: Php 425.00

Pink Quartz Blush

HHN has three shades for their blush. I decided to try the lightest and what looked to be the pinkest of the three-Pink Quartz. But I intend to try Petal Bloom as well.

What I like about this blush is that it’s almost impossible to over do it-unlike my other powder blushes, I could never end up looking like a clown when using this product. It gives a nice, just-ran-in-the-sun flush.

This is exactly how it looks in person...

Coverage: Translucent, has a bit of shimmer

Scent: Smells like a cross between Play Doh and rice flour-it took me a few weeks before I got over it.

Lasting Power: Approximately 6 hours

Skin reaction: Did not cause break outs

Packaging: Pan containing pressed powder blush in a twist-to-open plastic container with a see-through top cover

Overall rating: 4/5

Points of improvement: The scent (which HHN has already improved in the later batches) and maybe a pinker shade.

Price: Php 225.00

Since I had a good experience with the foundation and the blush, I decided to give the lipsticks a try. I went with Pink Skies and Coral Kiss. Despite belonging to the same product line, the two lipsticks were significantly different not just in terms of their shade.

Pink Skies Hydrating Lipstick

Coverage: Opaque, has a pearly finish

Texture: Chalky, tended to clump, dries lips (using lip balm before lipstick application helped to minimize the dryness)

Scent: Strong scent (Passion Fruit?), reminds me of old lipsticks-got used to it eventually

Lasting Power: Approximately 6 hours, stays on even after taking drinks

Skin reaction: Did not cause break outs

Packaging: Gold lipstick tube, feels solid and has smooth twist up and twist down mechanism. HHN released the lipstick in violet packaging subsequently.

Overall rating: 3/5

Price: Php 225.00

Pink Skies on the left, Coral Kiss on the right

Coral Kiss Hydrating Lipstick

Coverage: Opaque, has a silky finish

Texture: Smooth, goes on evenly

Scent: Strong scent (Passion Fruit?), reminds me of old lipsticks-got used to it eventually

Lasting Power: Approximately 6 hours, stays on even after taking drinks

Skin reaction: Did not cause break outs

Packaging: Gold lipstick tube, feels solid and has smooth twist up and twist down mechanism. HHN released the lipstick in violet packaging subsequently.

Overall rating: 4/5

Price: Php 225.00

Swatches of Coral Kiss (left) and Pink Skies ( on the right)

Overall, I would say the products in HHN’s mineral make-up line are good bang for your buck items.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

All pictures in this post are owned by the author. Please do not copy without written permission.

Disclosure: The author is NOT a HHN dealer and is not affiliated with HHN in any way.

Addendum (07/2011): Author is now an HHN dealer…couldn’t resist the discount.:D

Perky, plump, mosquito-bite sized, deflated-I’ve seen them all. After all, doing breast exams are part of my job.

But for all the breasts that I’ve seen, I’ve never seen any as adorable as these. From The Breast Cancer Society and DDB campaign in Singapore….

Breast cancer, on the other hand, is no laughing matter. As for most cancers, early detection of breast cancer translates to better survival.

The Philippine Foundation for Breast Cancer provides an idea of when these screening tests for breast cancer should be done. Just a rundown:

1. Do your monthly breast self-exam (BSE).
It is best to do this one week after the start of your menses when your breasts are at their least swollen state.

2. Have your breast checked by a healthcare practitioner.
You can touch-up on your SBE techniques during these visits.

3. Undergo a radiologic mammogram regularly.
When it comes to early detection of breast masses for women 50 and older, a breast ultrasound is not a proven alternative to the x-ray mammogram. Women often fear the momentary discomfort associated with the procedure. But there is hope, newer machines have modifications to release breast tissue immediately after the x-ray has been “shot”. Also, you can always take a dose of OTC pain relievers an hour prior to the procedure to minimize the discomfort.

With these simple tests, you help your bosom buddies stay healthy and ensure that you catch any problems early when the chances of cure are at their highest.

Here’s some good news for other Crocs fans all over the metro. Donate five books for the benefit of Children’s Joy Foundation and get a P500 discount on your regular-priced pair of Crocs.

Visit the Crocs Philippines facebook account for more details.

How’s that for doing a good deed and getting your sweet reward?

On a recent visit to Singapore, I had inadvertently misplaced my embarkation card…I realized this just as I was leaving for the airport to catch my flight back home.

What on earth is an embarkation card, you may wonder. Well, different countries would have different methods to track the movement of tourists in and out of their area of jurisdiction. Disembarkation and embarkation cards that are linked to a single serial number would be one way to do this. The disembarkation card, also known as an arrival card, is the form that a foreigner accomplishes when he arrives the host country-this card would contain information such as the name, nationality, passport number, country of origin, date of arrival and local address of the foreigner. The embarkation or departure card, on the other hand, is the card that the foreigner surrenders on leaving the host country-this would contain similar information as the disembarkation card except that details regarding the date of departure and destination country would be reported instead of the date of arrival and the local address.

There I was, hours away from my flight back home, missing a legal document: my embarkation card.  I panicked but decided to still make my way to the airport without the card (I really didn’t want to miss my flight.  I figured, the earlier I get to the airport, the sooner I can talk to the immigration officer). I had the phone number of the establishment where I last took out my passport, and may have dropped the card, so I tried to call them-no dice. I tried calling my airline but, as expected, they couldn’t offer much help.

My husband and I debated what would happen to those who lose their embarkation cards. We spoke of body searches and interrogations, half-jokingly. Surely, I wasn’t the first idiot to lose such a small card that is just inserted (not stapled) into a passport. Besides, we were about to leave the country, what danger could we pose?

My sister, thankfully, called the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority who then advised her that all I needed to do was approach the ICA desk at the airport. Whew. That was close.

When I arrived at gorgeous Changi airport (she deserves another post altogether), I had an uneventful check in. To one side of the immigration counters is the ICA desk. I just told the nice officer that I had misplaced my embarkation card. He then made me fill-up a blank form (containing the same data as my original embarkation card but without the serial number and barcode at the bottom) which I handed back to him. He made a quick search in his nifty computer, scribbled a code on the card and cleared me through immigrations. No body searches what-so-ever. I just love Singapore. If I could pick the country where this could happen to me, I would definitely pick this one.

So lessons learned:

1.       Do not keep your embarkation card inserted haphazardly in your passport. Either staple it on or keep it in a separate envelope where it is less likely to fall out unnoticed.

2.       Check that all your documents are in order at least a day before you leave your host country (I usually do this before I leave my home country).  This means checking that you have both your passport and your embarkation card and airline tickets.

3.       If you’re really paranoid, have the number to the tourist help line of the country you are visiting in your phone.

4.       It’s good to have a sister in the country that you are visiting.

From this....

Now retired, my father spends considerably more time listening to the news and surfing the internet. One of the tidbits he picked up from his various sources of information was that an electronic passport (e-passport) was now required for Filipinos to travel to Europe. Diligent travelers that we are, we immediately went through the motions of getting an e-passport, even though our old green passports were still valid, without bothering to confirm if this piece of information was true…big mistake as I later found out (but that’s another post entirely).

I went online to check out the procedure for applying for an electronic passport (also known as a machine-readable passport or a biometric passport). The DFA website provided straight forward information as to the requirements for electronic passport application   http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/consular-services/passport . The website also required that we fill up and submit information regarding each of the applicants online to secure an appointment. We were shocked at how long the waiting time was…we applied for an appointment in the first week of June and were given an appointment for the early September. Luckily, my parents, both of whom are senior citizens, and myself found a way to get an earlier appointment through the courtesy lane.

The courtesy lane is open for senior citizens and government employees and their dependents. If you are a government employee, make sure to bring a valid ID or a certification issued by your office as proof of your esteemed government employee status. They will surely ask for these documents before processing your passport requests through the courtesy lane. No appointments are necessary for those who are entitled to use the courtesy lane but  make sure you’re at the DFA office, near Mall of Asia,early as the queue for the courtesy lane gets to be really long as the day goes on.

So it was that bright and early on a fine Monday morning, my parents and I found ourselves at the DFA office. Mondays are probably not our lucky day as nothing came of us on that first visit to DFA: my parents had a trip scheduled for 2 weeks after, which is when their new passport would be released if they were to push through with their application; I was sidetracked twice: first when I was told that I am a quasi-government employee and therefore NOT entitled to use the courtesy lane ( another long story I shall not expound on here for fear of driving my blood pressure through the roof) and then, after I had gotten myself into the line for regular processing and the nice lady at the window received my requirements, I was flagged as someone who needed to go to the investigation unit (that sounded ominous from the get go…I spent the next three hours waiting for my name to be called while imagining body searches and being interrogated under duress) only to find out that they needed me to present a document that’s called a “temporary lift of travel ban” in light of my scholarship. Arrrgh.

Some time later (sufficient for me to forget how excruciating the first visit was), I returned to the DFA with an additional document that would hopefully get me a new passport. Still with my parents in tow, we proceeded to go through the process of exchanging our old green passports for a new e-passport. So here goes:

1. Submit requirements (filled up form, photocopy of page 1 and 2 of passport-the part that contains your personal particulars, current passport). This is located at the 2nd floor for those who enter through the courtesy lane or at the 1st floor for the mere mortals who use the regular line (like me).

The rest of the process happens in the 2nd floor.

2. Pay the cashier P950 for regular processing (20 working days) and P1200 for express processing (10 working days).

3. Get a queue number at Enrollment section.

There’s a cubicle farm that occupies nearly half of the hall in the second floor (same area where the cashier is). Each cubicle has a DFA employee with a computer and a digital camera. After receiving your papers, the employee will then proceed to take your picture (BTW, ladies, don’t bother wearing your best earrings for the pic, you will surely be asked to remove them.)

There’s a separate line for courtesy lane clients (it’s located all the way towards the back of the hall-near where the exit stairs are). My parents were in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. Their driver, the poor mortal who had to go through all the usual red tape (me), had to wait for two hours for my number to be called. Needless to say, the poor parents, although they had gone through the DFA process fast, had to cool their heels and wait for their driver to finish.

Here are some tips for when you have your passport picture taken: http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/guidelines-on-photo-capturing .

4. After your picture is taken, the DFA employee will inform you of the date and time of pick-up and hand you a claim stub.

5. If you would like to have your passport delivered to your home, there’s a separate counter near the side of the cashier that can take care of your transaction for you.

To this!

Two weeks later, I had my e-passport in my hands.

It is a truly high-tech invention. It comes with a warning “not to bend, perforate or expose the passport to extreme temperature or excess moisture” as it may destroy the sensitive electronics in the passport. The DFA has also gotten hold of some extremely advanced digital photography equipment never seen elsewhere…it can consistently make the passport holder look the way he or she would after a 12 hour transatlantic flight-my folks and I all looked like we had major jet lag in our passport pictures.

All told, the experience of getting an e-passport was a difficult one for me, mostly because I had to wait three hours for DFA to find out and tell me why I was flagged as someone who is not to be issued a passport in their system (Honestly, if you have the technology to flag individuals, couldn’t you also encode the reason for flagging and what needs to be presented so that the person could get a passport? I’m sure it would take no more than an additional five minutes for an encoder to input that. Now compare that time to the three hours your employee spent tracking down that information before finally relaying it to me). Save for that major glitch, the process of applying for an e-passport itself was a lot better than I expected.

Nevertheless, my folks and I now have our e-passport. And I found out, just a few days ago, that Europe does not require an e-passport before issuing a visa…any valid passport will do just fine. Grrrrrr.

I would not call myself a movie fan. For the most part, I pick out what movie to watch soon after the decision to watch a movie is made. Few are the movies that I picked out more than a few hours before making my way to the movie theater. But today was different.

Today’s movie was one that I have spent months waiting for. I logged a considerable number of hours stalking trailers and pics for this movie just to tide me over until opening day comes. I was so excited that yesterday, the day before opening day, I went and bought myself and my mom tickets, just to be sure that nothing would ruin my much anticipated fun day (I’ve had the misfortune of having to line up nearly an hour to get tickets for Clash of Titans and I swore to myself that I would never go through that again).

And today was finally the day! Sex and the City 2 had finally come to Philippine shores! Weeeehhh! See SATC Trailer

And how was SATC 2? Of course the girls did not disappoint fashion wise. But comparing the first SATC to this second one, I would say there was a lot more happening the first time SATC hit the big screen.  There were more life changing events, more fashion, and more magical moments in the first SATC. The second SATC had a lot of fashion, fewer life changing moments (For the ladies anyway…someone else had a life changing moment highlighted by Lisa Minnelli at the very start of the movie) and a large dose of reality thrown in. Proof of the pudding is that dear old mom dozed off sometime after Lisa Minnelli’s number ended and before the girls flew off to Abu Dhabi.

So would my first time to get hyped up about a movie be my last time after my SATC 2 experience? Probably not. There is a unique enjoyment that goes with planning and anticipating an event, even if the actual event itself falls short of the original expectation. Besides, even if SATC 2 seemed to be just a protracted version of the TV series, waiting for it doesn’t seem all that bad.  I used to watch out for SATC on HBO every week, what’s watching out for an SATC movie every few years?

Nostalgia....

Magical moments, no matter how fleeting.

Fashion galore

...and a whole lot of Abu Dhabi!

More picture of the girls here….

I wouldn’t really characterize myself as vain. Sure, I try to make the most out of what the good Lord has given me but I could honestly say that I never thought that I would go for cosmetic enhancements. No nips and tucks in the name of beauty for me. Or so I thought….

I guess I was just at the wrong place at the right time. Just as I was about to clock out of the clinic one fine weekend, one of the executive staff asked me if I had varicose veins. Blame it on heredity and on the long hours of standing up during my medical training but varicose veins…I most definitely have. The staff looked bewildered and clarified if I had real plump, juicy varicose veins (none of those wimpy spider veins she says) to which I vigorously nodded my head.

Two hours later, after grabbing a pair of serviceable leggings and compression bandages from the mall, I found myself face down on an examining table while my dear friend, Dr. D busied himself with injecting the veins at the back of my knees. He was happy as a kid in a candy store as my veins were truly as plump and as juicy as I had promised. He chirped with joy each time he injected sclerosing agent into one of my veins. Apparently, you could actually see the veins disappear as the substance that forces the vein to close is injected. Within minutes, Dr. D had injected 5 or 6 of my biggest varicose veins and soon had my leg bundled up in compression bandages. I made it through the session somewhat unscathed and so I am able to tell the story as a sclerotherapy demo patient.

The procedure itself doesn’t hurt much. The degree of discomfort is comparable to having your blood taken from your arm (This is probably the most accurate way of describing it as puncturing a vein is done in both sclerotherapy and bloodletting from the arm). I wasn’t too happy about the “no bathing” in the first 24 hours after the procedure. What I found most uncomfortable was the bruised feeling in the injected areas over the next few days.  The other uncomfortable part of the process was the having to get into and out of compressive stockings (stockings to help keep the veins closed-recommend pressures range from 18 to 28 mm Hg) for at least the next two weeks after the procedure. Just to give you an idea of how difficult it is to get into the stockings: it takes me 10 minutes of odd, contorted positions to get into the stockings.

One week out of the procedure, the bruised feeling is gone and I have gotten a bit more used to wearing the stockings. I still have a bit of discoloration in the areas that were injected (my research tells me that it may take a few months before these entirely go away) but there has been a noticeable improvement in my varicose veins.

Knowing what I know now about the procedure, would I have undergone the procedure if I had to pay for it (a good P3500 per milliliter of sclerosing agent)? Probably not, especially since my varicose veins weren’t really bothering me that much (Sure, I may have skipped wearing short skirts but I’m pretty sure my innate prudishness had as much, if not more, to do it with it as feeling self conscious over my varicose veins did). But ask me again in a few months. I just may change my mind if and when I start wearing those skimpy skirts.

Judging from the difficulty I had finding a shirt in my size and in a decent color combination that compliments the guwapo shirt we found for my husband, I would guess that all the petite ladies in Manila got a My Pilipinas shirt for Christmas. I was at a C2 branch practically every other day for three straight weeks (it just so happens that my place of work and the malls near our home all have C2 branches) to no avail. I was faced with the choice of getting a shirt in a really far out color combination (can you imagine fuchsia pink and a really bright shade of green) or getting a shirt in the wrong size. The sales personnel tried to help but they really couldn’t say if and when they would get a shirt that could fit my specifications (C2 really has to have a way to allow customers to order/track down in other branches sizes for the color combinations they have on the racks). The only suggestion they offered was that I drive through holiday-season traffic to get myself to their Rockwell branch and have a shirt custom made…I was not that desperate just yet.

It was around the time that I decided to just wait things out and forget about getting a shirt until after the Christmas-induced shortage was over that I remembered how I used to buy Collezione shirts from the department store when I was still in high school. The C2 in the Collezione boutiques pay homage to the fact that the classic Collezione of years ago does exist. This piece of trivia ultimately landed me this shirt which I found in Landmark Trinoma.

Me thinks it’s not too shabby…and I finally have a My Pilipinas shirt.:D