I'M STILL ALIVE...

...and I moved to tardydresser.tumblr.com. :)

(Pic from Cartoon Stock)

Impending showbiz government

Amid the current hoopla in my life, I have to react to this news.

After Boy Abunda, Noynoy Aquino eyes Dingdong Dantes, Ogie Alcasid for gov't posts

I admit I was not able to vote this last election because I failed to register (my bad and my most deepest regret). But if I had been able to vote, I would not have picked Noynoy. My pick is Gibo Teodoro. It doesn't really matter because Noynoy trumped all the other presidentiables easily. My obvious guess is that peole had faith in him because first, he is an Aquino, and second, his mother's recent death is still fresh in the minds of the Filipinos thus bolstering what I may call "sympathy votes".

Anyway, I accept that he's the soon to be inaugurated president. He's a lot better than ERAP by far that's so for sure. I believe it's the lesser of two evils, to have him rather than a former almost-impeached-president. I said to myself, he's an Aquino. Maybe he can pull it off.

I started having serious doubts when news like the one linked above started sprouting. Really? A few days ago, it was Boy Abunda. Now, it's Ogie Alcasid and Dingdong Dantes.

I have no serious problems with showbiz politicians because there are some who are capable like Vilma Santos. And I also do not mean to degrade their abilities just because they are television stars. But really. Isn't Noynoy so obvious in his showbiz picks? He's obviously paying back 'debts' to people who campaigned for him.

Yes, I am aware that Dingdong and Ogie are educated people who have college degrees. But is that the only qualification? He wanted Dingdong Dantes to be in charge of the youth. I can give another name at the top of my head who is definitely much better—Efren Penaflorida. This one is a no brainer. Did Noynoy not even think of him? His mindset is so narrowed down to his sister's peers. It is completely nervewracking.

Ara Mina ran as councilor for Quezon City just this last election and thank goodness she did not win. The people said no to her. But what's the use of keeping showbiz people like her from the government if Noynoy could just take them all in?

His first decisions were already preposterous it made me cringe. I hope he did not seriously mean what he said in that interview.

When things go bleak, hope and have faith

A few days ago, I was planning on writing about my fascinating and exhilirating experience at fashion week and my last summer hurrah at Caramoan. But recent circumstances prevented me from writing any joyful. I just could not stand to write happy and gleeful words when my heart felt the opposite.

I can keep up a happy facade, but I cannot fake writing about being happy when I really am not.

My problem right now involves my father's wellbeing. I will not state what in the hope that it would become less real. What I can say is I cannot lose my father. He has been one of the biggest blemishes in my life. But he is also one of the people that I love the most. I cannot live without him or any of my family members. They are more than my family. They are my bestfriends.

This is not a post about remorse and misery. Writing those kind of feelings will not make the problem go away. So for this post, I am writing about hope, about a silver lining present among the dark looming clouds. For every problem that came my way through my whole life, there is always a solution. If none, then there is always healing.

When we were traveling home a while ago, my father said something striking. He quoted something from the bible that I can only roughly restate now. He said to pray to God for anything and everything, but do not forget to thank him for every answered prayer.

This struck me because I do pray to Him for everything. He has always given the solution to my problems. He has also helped me to heal. So with my family's problem now, I know that He is our silver lining. He is our hope. He has always been. So instead of drowning myself in the misery of our current woe, I again shall turn to Him and pray and hope that He answers my prayer once again.

And so there were shoes

Today is the start of fashion week and for the past days I have been rummaging my uber messy closet for something to wear. I have lots of clothes. In fact, it's already to the point that my closet's doors got broken already. But of course, as any other female (or girls like me), despite how many clothes you have it's hard to find something you'd like when there's an important event you're going to. Fortunately enough, I was able to find bits and pieces here and there, plus some top I found from my mama's closet (yes, I rummaged in her closet too!). Unfortunately, I was missing one important thing for one of my outfits—the perfect shoes. Even though I had that dilemma, I just brushed it aside and went for something that could pass although second rate. I still had some sort of queasiness in me though on not having the perfect shoes to match my outfit.

When I went to Market Market yesterday to buy some essentials (sunblock and Olay toner), I happened to pass by on So Fab. They were on sale, P399 per pair, so I decided to check it out. I missed the sale rack though because my eyes zeroed in on the heels at the right side. Needless to say they were all pretty! When my eyes reached the end of the display, my eyes rejoiced. I found the perfect shoes and here they are.

I've always wanted something in cream but I never got to buying one so this shoe serves two purposes than one.

I love how this pair looks elegant but funky at the same time. Its style may look like some of the ones prevalent in the market but for me, this one's different mainly because of the color and the fact that it's suede!

It came with a cute paperbag too!

Aah, fashion week is a few hours away. I'll be posting my outfits after fashion week is over because there are more pressing matters to attend to like covering the event of course! Check out thePOC for on the dot updates. We have a professional photographer who's going to take the pictures so rest assured the images we'll bring to you are fine and clear.

I'm a happy bunny! :)

What to Expect

I've been planning to start this blog for the longest time. But since my law school life is taking 99.9% of my time, I never came around to it until now. My summer internship at ACCRA Law ended just last Friday so that night that I was completely free, I sat down and made this blog.

Since I've planned to make a lifestyle blog, I've collected products that I was planning to post a review on since last year. I've even took product shots of them as soon as I took them out of their packets. Good thing I can finally make the reviews.

Here are some which I'd be reviewing for the coming weeks:

1. Prestige Lipstick in Plum

2. Suesh 10-pc Make-up Brush Set

3. L'oreal Elseve Nutri-gloss Conditioning Spray

4. Pureology SuperSmooth Smoothing Cream

5. Leyende's Place In The Sun Face Sunblock

I'd also be covering three days of next week's PHILIPPINE FASHION WEEK for thePOC. Admittedly, prior to thePOC, the only fashion show I have ever been to are the ones we did for our subjects back in college. You can just imagine how excited I am then in going to fashion week!

I'm happy to be your trusty reporter on the happenings on fashion week. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted!

Pureology's Pure Indulgence Launching

Before I became a writer of The Philippine Online Chronicles, I used to just read fashion bloggers going to product launchings and events. I thought going to these events was exciting because first, you get to learn more about products, second, you get to see real fashion runways, and third you get to meet a lot of amazing people who share the same interests.

Luckily last February, I applied as a contributing writer of the beauty and fashion channel of ThePOC and got in. Being a writer of ThePOC gave me a chance to learn and experience new things, one of which is covering events and launchings of product companies and fashion brands.

Just recently, I covered the launching of Pureology's new market offering—the Pure Indulgence Signature Services. It was held at Terrace at 5th in Greenbelt 5 last May 18.

The event started with greetings from Pureology's senior product manager Robbie Lizares. He talked about the brand and introduced us to the Pure Indulgence in salon services. These services will make use of Pureology products and promise to pamper and indulge one's colored hair. Pureology is touted as the number one color care brand in America so I think they can live up to their claim.

The brand's hair care line boasts of their signature formula the Antifade Complex. The formula is composed of a blend of antioxidants and full spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreens that aims to protect hair color from free radicals and maximize color rentention. Their products are also 100% organic!

The services will be available in the salons of the first Pureologists in the Philippines and in Asia—Alex Carbonell of Studio Fix by Alex Carbonell and Chrissy Calderon-Uy of Hairworks Salon.

The thing that I love most about Pureology is their advocacy to the environment. The brand is one of those brands which are committed to going green. In fact, the Pure Indulgence services was inspired by the town of Teresa, a town located in Rizal that is known for their efficient and effective solid waste management program. The municipality has implemented a program that makes use of residual plastics (plastics that can no longer be recycled) to create hollow blocks and pavement bricks.

We were shown a video on how the blocks and bricks were made and the process was amazing. The program not only addressed the town's serious garbage problem, it also gave jobs to the people of Teresa. We were given a sample of the blocks and it was quite sturdy. The mayor of Teresa, who was also present at the event, mentioned in the video that the blocks are strong and can measure up with the other blocks in the market. Since they are made of recycled materials, they are sold at half a price.

From this

Pureology is all about supporting Teresa's endeavors in helping the environment. For every Pureology product purchased, P1 shall go to Teresa's program. Also, Pureology invites those who have empty bottles and tubes of the brand to bring them to any salon which sells Pureology (including Studio Fix and Hairworks Salon) products so that these would be donated to Teresa. If you have some stored in your bathroom closet or on your vanity table, please hop on to a cab or your car and bring those to Pureology partner salons!

Just to add, I met Nikki of Askmewhats and Ro-Ann of All the Vanity during the event and they were very nice and friendly. Nikki's self-made nail art was so beautiful up close I regret not being able to take a picture of it. I wish I could pull it off with my own nails, though I doubt if it would look as good as Nikki's because my nails are short (bummer)! I saw Shen of Shen's Addiction too, whom I met before at the SunLife It's Time Blogger Event. She knew my college barkada Tin and Tyrus. Small world! I was also with Liz of Project Vanity, my friend and editor in thePOC. It's really nice to be friends with these people who I just used to read about on their blogs.

Hope to see you girls again!

Wonderful Ezra

I am a sucker for discovered talents the likes of Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda. Usually, these people didn't become instantly popular just because of the media hype about them but because they are really talented. When I found out about Charice and Arnel, I spent hours watching their videos in youtube just staring in awe at their impecabble talent. I am glad they were able to showcase their gift to the world.

My affinity towards untapped-talents-turned-famous is the reason why I love watching the show Pilipinas Got Talent. I love watching the varying talents the Filipinos have in the show and most especially the people who, without the program, I would not have known about.

That said, I am really glad that I found about Ezra Band through the show. Their performance was the one that struck me the most. This acoustic band is not your run-of-the-mill type of band. For one, their pianist has a defect with his arms (he only has half an arm and the other hand that's complete only has two fingers) and their vocalist has a voice more beautiful than any male I could think of, but she's a she. Despite these peculiarities, they still make good music. When I say good music, I meant pretty pretty good music. They make their slogan "Don't Stop Believing" very convincing.

Yes, they are different. Yes, they are unique. But I don't think these are the things that made them so popular right now (they have a burgeoning fan club known as the Ezralites which are already composed of different chapters all over the country). I think what made them capture the hearts of their audience was the fact that despite their peculiarities, they remain so warmly simple that when you listen to them, you can hear the heart in every instrument playing and in the vocalist's incredibly soothing cold voice. Their music is something I could just close my eyes to and drift into pleasant dreams.

The band is composed of Nor, the pianist, Jonn, the percussionist , Jester, the guitarist and the voice behind the band, Kaye. They were formerly composed of just Kaye, John and Jester but prior to their audition in Pilipinas Got Talent, they met Nor. Good thing they got him because he completed the former trio. The band is based mainly on Davao which is too bad though because I'm dying to see them perform live.

If you're itching to hear what I'm talking about, here's a video of their audition in Pilipinas Got Talent where they sang their version of Wonderful Tonight.