Third Time's the Charm

...and so were the first and second!

Congrats to my beloved Ateneo Blue Eagles! Three-peat, baby!!!

For Buenafans and Buenafriends! Photo by ze vonderful Aaron Vicencio.

I feel kind of bad that I didn't get to watch the finals game live, but I probably would have had a heart attack if I had. That was one exciting game! I felt sick as the team struggled in the first quarter. I exalted when Buenafe made that killer three in the fourth. (I am a Buenafan! Haha.) My arms shot up in the air as the final buzzer sounded. My team--the champion once again!

For the uninitiated, I am a pretty big basketball fan, and among all the leagues that I follow, I am most invested in the UAAP (the local collegiate league). I joined the cheering squad back in college because a) I loved dancing, b) I figured if I was going to cheer, I had to do it before I hit my late 20s, and c) I wanted to score free tickets to every game of the season! It was tough trying (mostly pretending) to face the crowd and getting them hyped up, my back turned to the court. But I'd sneak in peeks, or stand on the stairs sideways so that I could still see the action!

Today, I missed yelling "Get that ball!" and "One big fight!" and cheering all the chants I know by heart. I missed the deafening eruption of cheers as Ateneo officially became champions, beating the no.1-seeded team. I missed being on my feet, on edge for 40 minutes. But I definitely won't miss the bonfire! Wheee!

What Price Beauty?

How much do you spend on beauty treatments/maintenance per year?

Image from here

I always thought of myself as someone with very basic beauty needs--the occasional haircut, monthly manis and pedis. But in the past couple of years my list has grown to accommodate moisturizers and other facial creams (although I sometimes get these things for free), regular waxing treatments, hair color maintenance, and now, eyelash extensions. This last one, I could probably do without--it's not something I have to get regularly. I still don't have facials on my list (I've never had one), and thankfully I get loads of free makeup from work so I very rarely go makeup shopping. But I gotta say, I'm slightly alarmed.

The thing is, I've come to see all these things as my New Basics for looking polished (or, at the very least, presentable!). When I hit 30, I told myself that I would make an effort to always (or almost always) look put together. This meant no more flipflops at the office (even if they're allowed) or cutesie T-shirts (except when I'm running to the grocery store, going to the beach, or hanging out with my family). The biggest exception, perhaps, is when I'm on the field and all vanity goes out the window.

More than once, I've been told that I look like a boy on the field. So much for polish.

When I was lamenting all the kachings needed for ka-kikayan, Hamil tried to make me feel better by saying, "But you look good." Thank you, dear husband, for saying so. And for not rolling your eyes at all these seemingly frivolous expenses!

Anyhoo, this got me really curious about other girls' beauty budgets. What products and treatments do you splurge on to stay pretty? What do you consider your own beauty basics, stuff that you really spend your hard-earned money on?

And the Winner Is...

About a month ago, I asked friends both online and offline to help me choose a swimsuit for Hamil's and my first anniversary trip. The winning suit:

I got this cute li'l number online from Cocomo. I like that the material doesn't look cheap, plus there's an extra layer underneath so it's not flimsy. I got a medium, and it fit the bust area and hip area, but the torso was a tad loose. (But hey, better too loose than too tight!) The spots where the straps attach to the bust were a little uncomfy, but I couldn't remove the straps for fear that I would pull a Heidi Montag--I kept having to pull up the bust area. Oh well. I think I would still order from Cocomo in the future--cuteness outweighs all the little cons!

Thanks to those who voted!

Mini Santorini

We couldn't possibly fly to Greece over our anniversary weekend, so we settled for the next best thing...

These, my friends, were taken at Thunderbird Resort, La Union, about a five-hour drive up north from Manila. The structures (white with bits of blue, as in the dome over the lobby) stand on a cliff overlooking the sea--reminiscent of Santorini, one of the places on our must-visit list.

The room we were given had two queen-size beds, so it was big enough for a family of four.

But since we still didn't have little Hamils and Tishas with us, one of the beds remained unoccupied, except by this little fella...

My friends, after seeing this photo, debated over what animal this was supposed to be. Elephant, pig, dog were all mentioned. This remains to be one of life's great mysteries.

The room we booked had a jacuzzi but, alas, it wasn't working! Even if we had transferred to another room, the jacuzzi still wouldn't have worked; we were told that there was something wrong with the motor. At the whole resort! Boo. So much for jet streams of water pummeling my sore lower back. Luckily, we had a flat-screen TV, WiFi, our books, a pool, and each other to keep us occupied!

We had dinner at the in-house restaurant, Olives. The prices are typical of resorts (about P400, more or less, per dish), but the servings were hefty, and the food was yummers.

Fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms, and artichoke cream

Hamil's half (!) chicken was oh-so-flavorful and, he felt, so worth the price.

We visited the nearby casino after dinner, but the place kind of had a depressing vibe, so we just went back to our rooms to rest our expanded tummies. There really isn't a lot to do here, unless you play golf. (Hamil biked around for a bit; my protective husband refused to teach me how--I never learned how to ride a bike!--because I didn't have any kneepads!) There's a hint of a beach which I didn't get to check out, a basketball half court, a boardwalk. But I guess that's kind of the beauty of it: no crazy partying, no full day overloaded with activities. It was just pure relaxation.

Would I go back? Sure, but probably only if we had someone else to drive us. It's so unfair to Hamil that I get to sit back while he does all the driving. The ability to stay awake for over five hours straight in a comfortable car is just not in my skill set!

Our Wedding Is Featured in Bridal Book!

As you may have gleaned from the title, our wedding is featured in Bridal Book! It's a local website which features real weddings and which gives loads of ideas for brides-to-be. Click here if you'd like to read about our pang-chick flick love story and see purty photos of the wedding details. And Like us, if you feel so inclined!:)

My Happy Place

I did the whole blog roulette thing, clicking on the "Next Blog" button in the hopes of being surprised by something interesting. This particular entry made me pause and think, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had something like this here?"

Photo from Fiberbliss

And then I realized that we do!

Early this year, Hamil and I went on our first camping trip together on Valentine weekend. We went to gorgeous Nagsasa Cove, a neighbor to the more famous Anawangin in Zambales. There, we pitched a tent, lounged on a hammock by the beach, explored a mini-forest bordering a stream, walked through six-foot-tall grass to get to a trickling waterfall, and jumped into the little swimming hole.

The beach is made up of sand and lahar from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

The hours stretched on, moving in slow motion, in stark contrast to the frenetic pace of the lives we left behind in Manila. There was no signal (between the two of us, we cover all three major networks, and still nothing!), no WiFi. We read, we napped, we talked, we ate roasted marshmallows, we shivered in our tent as a howling wind blew relentlessly that night. We hugged and rubbed our feet together to help us keep warm. (Now that I think of it, it's a lot like that chapter in Eclipse. Except Hamil was both Edward and Jacob--my fire and ice! My best of both worlds.)

My man, a roasted marshmallow, the cool wind in our, er, my hair--aside from a working bathroom, what more could I possibly ask for?

I think I was drawn to that random blog post because right now, I am longing for the feeling I had in the two days we were at Nagsasa. Right after the trip, I wrote that I would always look back at it with fondness. Today, I look back at it with yearning. There's just a tad too much Crazy in my life now, and I just want to get away. To go back to the place where I was completely, utterly at peace.

Lash-ing out: My First Lash Extensions!

The first time I ever wore false eyelashes was one summer before my freshman or sophomore year of high school. I was in a Repertory play, and it was my first experience wearing heavy stage makeup. Back then, false lashes didn't come in the more natural-looking versions we have now, so I thought that I looked an awful lot like a drag queen (and not in a good way). They also felt mighty heavy, itchy, and downright uncomfortable. This was when I ranked the act of peeling off false eyelashes as one of the best feelings in the world (right up there with taking off one's bra after a long day. Har).

Luuuurve this movie! John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and the late Patrick Swayze as drag queens? What's not to love? Photo from here.

The other false-lash experience that stands out in my memory is my wedding day. My fabulous makeup artist, Omar, wanted to pump up the volume of my long but somewhat anemic lashes by adding falsies. In this day and age, we have individual falsies that don't give ye olde drag-queen effect of yore. They looked quite lovely, giving my eye makeup a bit of drama, without going over the top. The problem was, Omar didn't have his preferred eyelash glue that day, so he settled for whatever was on hand. By communion during the church ceremony, my falsies were falling off one by one onto my veil!

Hamil kept pocketing my Amazing Falling Eyelashes. Here he is, fiddling with a fallen falsie, and there I am, finding the whole thing hilarious.

Makeup mishap aside, I did like the effect of those falsies. I thought about them often, especially when I would be frustrated with my sometimes-uncurl-able lashes. I've tried the whole heat-up-the-curler-with-a-hairdryer trick to no avail. I'm also very lazy when it comes to removing eye makeup, and think removing mascara is a huge chore. Sometimes I think I've gotten it all off, only to find goth-like black streaks around my eyes after I wash my face. Ugh.

It took me weeks to decide to finally get lash extensions. My main concern was that they would be so itchy that I wouldn't be able to stand having them on for more than a day. My other concern was Hamil's reaction. Whenever I brought it up, he would kind of get this bemused what's-my-krungkrung-wife-up-to-now look, but he didn't really discourage me from it. (He's awesome that way.) But after one frustrated lash-curling attempt too many, I finally decided to go for it.

My lash extension salon of choice: i-Lash Extensions Salon.

I went to the SM Hypermart branch, pictured above. This photo from the i-Lash website.

Having never done this before, I had no idea what to expect. I walked in to find a bunch of comfy-looking loungers and stools where customers could put their feet up.

Also from the i-Lash website

I was asked to choose the kind of lashes I wanted:

• Fine (100 pieces of extensions, any length), P550
• Natural (160 to 180 pieces, any length), P800
• Mascara Effect (all existing lashes will have extensions in two layers), P1,000 to P1,250
• Full Thick (all existing will have extensions in three to four layers), P1,500
• Colored lashes (brown, blue, violet), P2,000

Since I was worried about looking like RuPaul for about four weeks, I decided to go for the Fine extensions. The lash girl, Remy, then set to work.

I lay down on the lounger, and they were just as comfortable as they looked! So comfy, in fact, that I found myself drifting in and out of sleep throughout the hour-long procedure. Yep, one hour--they painstakingly apply each individual lash onto the lash line, and make sure that they are perfectly, evenly spaced. "Will my own lashes fall out after?" you ask, or "Does it hurt?" I could address every single question you have, but i-Lash's website has a nifty little FAQ section that can answer your queries more credibly.

The verdict? Tisha Likes this! They aren't itchy or heavy at all! I didn't think they would feel like...nothing! I only feel them when I squeeze (really squeeeeze) my eyes shut, or accidentally tug at my lids when I wash my face and all. But other than that, it's as if they're Bob Dylan. (You know, They're Not There.)

(Left) Extensions Extreme Closeup; (right) the effect: They look pretty darn real! Someone tentatively said, "Nice...mascara?" (I was hesitant to post this not-so-flattering pic--lack of sleep is partly to blame--but review purposes trump vanity!)

Big plus! They look incredibly natural--like my own lashes on a good lash day! Hamil didn't even notice them, until I pointed them out. He was relieved to find that they weren't the bushy, unnatural versions that he had seen before. Later on, looking at my eyes up close, he said that I kind of looked like a different person. It's such a subtle change--people will probably notice that something's different about you, but they won't be able to pinpoint what it is. In that instance, just bat your eyelashes at them and give them a coy little smile.


i-Lash Extensions Salon is located at SM Supercenter Pasig (beside Tiendesitas), tel. (02) 470-4119. For more information and for a list of their other branches, visit their website at http://ilashsalon.multiply.com.