The Owl Has Landed at MEMO

Hello, guys!!! Grabeee. So many crazy things happened the past week, I think I've gone mental. Spent the weekend in El Nido, Palawan with the Clingies and it was definitely one trip I'd remember for the rest of my life. We braved the storms (3 sila db? lupet haha) just to push through with our trip and spent most of our time indoors. It was still worth it! On our 1st day in Palawan, my joy quickly turned to horror when all my accounts (emails and social media pages) got hacked. First time in El Nido, first time to get hacked. Even if I was secretly crying inside and I wanted to bang my head on the wall out of panic, I still tried to remain calm so as not to destroy our trip. I spent almost 2 days working on it and you could imagine my stress and distress bilang I'm not a techie person. I will blog about our EL Nido trip soonest and also this hacking nightmare. Abangan! Anyway, here are outfit photos I took during a campaign shoot I styled last week wearing Memo's newest collection, #TheOwlHasLanded #OwlPolo ;)

Fictions & Fairytales

(Disclaimer: This post was written last night at 3am. Hehe) Hello from my apartment! Hehe. Currently watching "Into The Woods" even though I'm not really a fan of musicals. It's not worth watching in theaters, though. Good thing Meryl Streep & Emily Blunt's in it. Love them. Anyway, hope sleep comes sooner. Took a 5-hour nap earlier. Wroooong moooove. Haha. Have lots of things to do tomorrow. :( Have a wedding fair to prepare for! More on that later. Here are new outfit shots taken this week!:)

Pink Manila romper, Romwe cardigan

Coach (borrowed from the mudra) purse, Landmark necklace, Kultura charm bracelet, H&M stack bangles, Casio watch

SM Parisian patent oxfords

Wore this last Monday when I did pullout returns. The romper's too short on me (huhu) so I wore a long cardigan with it to hide my bum (in tagalog: kuyukot lels). Fell inlove with the print the first time I saw it. Planned to wear this during our Boracay outing last November, but it rained most days so we weren't able to wear most outfits we brought. The oxfords naman, it's a keeper!!! Been wearing this for days now. Haha. I think I might even bring this to our SG family trip on the 23rd coz it goes with everything-- shorts, skirts, dresses. I am packing light this time so I'm bring this and a pair of white Keds sneakers! 

I've also been spending my spare time reading books... ebooks to be precise. Nothing excites me more than seeing my Ebook Reader brimming with new selections. Haha. Sharing with you those I've downloaded and read so far! I often check the app Goodreads or go to National Bookstore & Fully Booked for new reads. 

 The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom is all about faith in this changing & techie world. Touching.

 The Racketeer by John Grisham is another legal thriller from my fave author! Such a clever plot. They should make this a movie. 

 Lullabies by Lang Leav is a poetry focused book. It centers on life & love. So much feels!

 Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is such a fun read. It lets you in the fictional world of the extremely rich, royal and famous families of Singapore. I heard they're making this a movie na! Excited!

 Currently reading this! The Cuckoo's Calling is a crime fiction novel by none other than, JK Rowling! If it's by JK, it must be good right? 

 Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is such an enjoyable read! Takes me back to college days haha. A nerdy love story that definitely deserves a spot on your virtual shelf!

 The sequel to Anna Dressed In Blood. For some reason and to my surprise, I really enjoyed reading this bilang mahilig ako sa horror and teen love. It's not that scary though. Bagets. Haha! Ghostbusters meets Twilight. Haha.

The Savages  by Matt Whyman made me cringe a couple of times because of the main plot (cannibalism). It's that good. Haha. Matt's story & descriptions are so detailed that it makes you feel like you're part of the whole process or a witness to the beautiful horror. It's surprisingly a light and fun read. Mala Addams Family ganun. Haha. 

Can't believe I finished these! Lakas maka Twilight din but I won't read all 4 books if it's not interesting db? The last book was not that exciting though compared to the other 3. 

Here are some books I am reading next!

Sequel of The Savages-- now this unique family is out to conquer (or feast on) US naman! Exciting. Haha.

 Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. It's the sequel to my favorite book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. American Horror Story ain't got nothing on the characters in this book! Super interesting read.

Anywaaay, I'm so excited to announce that I'll at the Weddings & Beyond bridal & debut expo tomorrow! My first exhibit! I'll have a small table lang in the Weddings by Desino Dulce booth. :) 

Thank you Yana for making my logo, tarp & calling card designs!

Hope to see you there! :)

Tagaytay Photo Diary: 8 Suites Hotel, Ilog Maria, QiWellness Spa

So last month, Nico and I escaped to Tagaytay for his post birthday celebration. We finally made it after cancelling all our bookings when I got sick for almost 2 weeks. It was also the perfect time to reboot and recuperate from my sickness and all the stress that came with my job and my life. I'm not complaining ha. But sometimes, you just need to fly somewhere and hibernate for awhile to regain your vigor back. Anywaaaay, here's my story through photos starting with some outfit shots!:)

 Forever 21 top, shorts & shoes

Romwe hat, Nava shades

Slang bag, Timex watch, Silverworks bracelet

I wasn't able to take outfit photos on our first day because it was dark na when we arrived. Soyong. Will repeat the outfit soon and take photos na. So I'm posting my 2nd day outfit. It was not that cold in Tagaytay so I just wore my new favorite shorts, top and shoes from Forever 21! Super naabuse ko na the shoes. It's so comfy and stylish! I will never be THAT normcore and this is the closest normcore statement piece that I have right now. Haha. I wish I could buy this in all colors. Haha. Also loving my new vintage 80s watch from Timex & Silverworks. Sooo me. 

Here's the whole of our trip! Let's goooo...

I wanted to kill Nico for choosing C-5 over EDSA. Haha.

i feel better with my coven hat on. Trying not to feel and act sick!

Super late lunch at Jollibee!

We left Manila at around 2pm (had to attend to some things pa kasi huhu) and arrived around 5:45pm (coz of traffic & stopover). I felt slightly frustrated (muntik nako mag tantrums) because of the 4 hours that we lost. But I thought, I wouldn't let that ruin our very short vacay. 

8 Suites Hotel is located along Tagaytay-Calamba road, the road going to Tagaytay Highlands, and it's just a few blocks after Picnic Grove!

road to oblivion. deep. haha. this is the road going to our hotel!

mejo creepy lang pag gabi hehe. it's not advisable to stay here if you don't have a car or you can ask them to call for a tricycle going out. 

Finally! So nice and serene:)

I originally wanted to book a room in Taal Vista but the P4k+ deal in Deal Grocer excluded breakfast and the room doesn't have a tub which Nico is totally obsessed about. Haha. That's when I saw 8 Suites' offer (also through Deal Grocer) na same price but has a balcony with a nice view, free breakfast and a tub! Winner. The only downside is the location. It's 10km away from the Leslie's area. But if your plan is just to chill, relax and stay in one place the whole night/day (alam na but not judging!), this is the perfect place for you. 

Here's our room!

glass windows all over!

there's a divider that you could open if you want to view the outside while in the tub

tiles need a little grouting though :/

After settling in, we then decided to leave our base camp to have dinner...

I didn't want to eat Filipino food muna (meaning Leslie's haha), so ended up eating at Pancake House...

 huli ka!!! hahaha selfie pa more

 our diet plan... zerooo. Haha.

Weh. Hahaha

We were not in the mood to drink, so we just went home and spent the night watching Palibhasa Lalake reruns (super epic!) over Hello Panda and hot tea. Hehe. Nico had a hard time sleeping because the glass door leading to the balcony has no lock. Hashtag praning. I was totally fine with it though. I stayed up 'til 3am just watching movies on HBO. Hehe.

 boom puyat!

 What a view:)I wish I could wake up to this every single day. 

 Our free set breakfast. Yum.

Love my daisy sweater from ROMWE!

 Our 360-degree view:) Absolutely breathtaking! Super sulit.

Took a short nap after eating (spell baboy) then checked out a little past 12pm...

 Balcony sa common dining area downstairs

 The view inside:)

We then descended to the garden to take some more shots!

Here are their rooms directly connected to the garden...

Our spa appointment was not until 4pm, so we decided to checkout the ILOG MARIA BEE FARM since I've never been there before. It was a 10 to 15-minute drive from Tagaytay proper and you had to drive through a narrow and masukal road to get to the place. Totally worth it though!:)

So, Ilog Maria is a bee farm where you can buy different products made from honey, bee pollens, beeswax...

 You know it! Visit www.ilogmaria.com

 I wanted to buy everything! So hard to choose which products to take home.

 Bought one! Really relieves my throat.

Should have bought one:( It's only P65

 I saw an old man bought 10 bottles of this! I guess it's that effective, so I bought a couple for myself too.

Bought a bottle of honey face scrub. I love it!!!

Killed time and waited for 4pm at that mall near the Skyranch. Ate meryenda lang so that we won't feel bloated during the massage. Sharing with you one of my favorite snacks!

Ted's batchoy & dinuguan + puto from Razons. Yum.

Proceeded to QiWellness Living afterwards. It's super easy to find. It's just along the road, Aguinaldo Highway to be exact, and it's beside Joaquin's Bed & Breakfast. Just look for this red door!

 They are usually closed Mondays & Tuesdays, but they still accomodated us. Yey!

When we stepped inside, someone immediately struck the huge gong by the door. Maybe to welcome us? Announce our arrival? Invite good vibrations? Signal the start of our session? Haha. By the way, booked our 3-hour spa session via Deal Grocer again. Yipee.

 Cool dining!

pahipster haha

The beautiful, beautiful view. It could render one speechless. Super ganda.

 Naksss, lakas maka haciendero ng pose ah! Haha

 Their resto:) I heard they serve great food!!!

That Kuya with Nico was super helpful and really explained everything to us. Thanks for the great service! We were asked to wait because the masseuses were still busy with other clients. We definitely didn't mind waiting though! 

 One of their rooms. So niiice.

We were served hot tea and we took lots of photos and just soaked in the beauty of the place while waiting. We were supposed to take a dip in the jacuzzi but for some reason, their heater was not working that day so we just skipped that part.

 Close up view of Taal lake & volcano. Wonderful. 

 Koi pond

 donya mode. i deserve this. haha

 Welcome to our assigned room!

 Niiiice

 The whole massage session took 1 1/2 hours. It was relaxing except for some parts. Ate girl the masseuse spent so much time working on my feet that it felt sore after na:( It was still amazing though!

To know more about this place, visit: http://www.qiwellnessliving.ph/

That's all folks!!! Have to sleep now, got appointments later. Waaah. Geting ready for our Boracay trip this week! Kwento soon!:)