Caress Nail Polish - Wintermelon

A very quick post for today, featuring Caress Nail Polish in Wintermelon.

As you can see, I have dark skin. I tend to shy away from nail polish shades that would make my skin look darker than it already is, but this nail polish was something my sister placed in the basket during one of my nail polish shopping days. It sort of resembles the 2% Milk shade by... was it Wet and Wild or Maybelline? and even if my skin tone and the nail polish don't tend to go hand in hand, I did like it.

First coat wasn't that beautiful, but adding a second coat leveled the shade perfectly. It tend to thicken as I applied it, so it was best to go with less strokes as possible. Drying time was just fine... but one thing I didn't like about Caress Nail Polish is that even if I applied the nail polish in the morning - giving me the entire day to dry it completely, I still wake up the next morning with hair marks on my nails. Saving grace is an application of a top coat, but I learned my lesson to photograph my Caress nail polished nails a few hours after I applied it, so it still looked fresh, that even if my nails had hair marks, I am already assured that I have a picture to share here on the blog.

Chic Nail Color - Neon Purple

My love affair with nail polish seemed to be overtaken with my love affair with books. I still haven't bought a new bottle of nail polish for months now... but I still have a few bottles in my tray to swatch and blog about, so no need to panic for me just yet.

My share for this weekend is something I bought nearly a year ago. This brand has been in the market for generations, but to be honest, it is just now that I have tried it. I guess part of the reason for not buying this brand is it's price, because this is sold for about 36 pesos (slightly below 1usd), a little more expensive than the brands I usually buy. Well, the bottles are big compared to the typical 8ml ones, so I decided to try it.


This one is cold "Neon Purple," but it truly didn't look neon for me. Slightly on the jelly side, this one is super sheer that the first coat was hardly noticeable, but four thin coats allowed me to achieve the bottle color. The manufacturer of this brand also manufactures my trusted local nail polish brands, and upon trying this, I questioned myself why did I wait so long before I tried it out.

Application was very easy, it glided like butter on my nails, and the brush was just right to coat my nails with even nail polish. Although, when I used this, I had to go with four thin coats because going for thicker coats might result in bubbles.

I only have two Chic Nail Color bottles in my stash, but as soon as I go out and go for a nail polish haul, I will consider buying more of this brand.

Attempting to Eat Okra

I was never a fan of okra. Born into an Ilocano (people from the Ilocos Region) family, I grew up eating all sorts of vegetables, but one unpleasant experience with eating an okra when I was still a child made me hate that particular vegetable.

I had a few vegetables I didn't eat when I was younger that I have learned to appreciate now that I am an adult. I have found ways to train myself into eating a certain kind of vegetable, but I admit I haven't tried it with okra yet. Two nights ago, my mom cooked our dinner - boiled taro root and eggplant in water seasoned with fermented fish paste, and eating the taro root reminded me of okra because it has the same slimy feature. It made me realize that if I could eat the very slimy taro root, I guess I can try and teach myself to eat okra as well.


I remembered a news feature about ways how to cook okra, and among those recipes to try was the tempura style with cheese inside. Not a healthy way to eat something healthy (because it is fried), but it was the best compromise I could think of since this one didn't have the seeds. The final outcome was a little burnt, maybe I was hoping and expecting it to be crunchy. Hahaha.

Did I like it? I think so... but I only was able to eat 4 and a half pieces. Eating the fifth one, I no longer liked it, and realized that apart from the slimy texture, I also don't like the taste that much. Still, I am not giving up on this vegetable... it's not something I could see myself eating frequently, but I guess I can eat a few slices or pieces.

Baby steps.

What's Up With Me?

I was quite surprised when I realized that it was nearly a month ago when I last updated this blog. Well, currently I am in the process of adjustment - adjusting to brother leaving, adjusting to mom being here at home, adjusting to my sister's ever changing work shift. Almost all house chores became my responsibility now that brother is no longer here to share the load, and balancing everything was a little too difficult for me to handle and it resulted in a very mild depression. At the moment I could say that I have found the light at the end of the tunnel - I have learned to manage my time well, so I guess it is safe to say that I can now start blogging again.

The past month brought me so much joy despite the big adjustment.


I won a new phablet - the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 through a food photography contest hosted by Nom Nom Club. There were a lot of bloggers who hosted this giveaway (nearly 10, in my knowledge) and I joined in three. Nom Nom Club was the first one to announce a winner, and I was over the top happy to win. It was a very sweet victory because the very first task to do was to share the giveaway on Facebook tagging four friends, and tagging two of my blogger friends got them to learn about the giveaway and in the end, they were runner ups on the contest. These two friends of mine are really good in taking food pictures, so I was really happy that I got to win.




Last weekend of August, us three girls traveled to Boracay to use the accommodation GCs my sister and I won when we attended the Enjoy Philippines Mid-Year Party. It was my sister's first time to ride the plane, and I was sad for her because it wasn't really that much of  a pleasant experience because our flight was delayed. From 2:30pm, we left Manila at 7:30pm, and it was already past 11pm when we reached Boracay (we took a flight going to Kalibo, which is still two hours away from Boracay by bus). Supposedly, mom was to sleep with me at Alta Vista de Boracay, but knowing that I still had to take the van going to the resort, she decided to stay with sister at The Tides Boracay.

It wasn't really a good time to visit Boracay because of endless rains the country was experiencing at that time. The beautiful beach wasn't as beautiful that time, and it was difficult to enjoy when the rain was always pouring. Still, I was glad that my mom and sister loved the experience and were very much open to travel back there for we weren't able to do the things we wanted to do because of the rains.



Two weekends ago, I was happy to be back inside The Maya Kitchen, attending another food class... this time with my sister. I also got to share some snacks with her before I went to SM Mall of Asia to attend the Grand Inaanak Day at the SMX Convention Center hosted by Max's Chicken.

At the event, I got to spend time with my dear blogger friend Vance, who just lost 20lbs (give or take) using a diet + body toning program. I am happy for her to have found something that would work for her, and she just inspired me to work harder on my own fitness program. Well, hers was a very effective program, but I don't have the money to enroll myself in it, so I will just stick to my own programs.

Despite the many lapses in my weight loss journey, I am happy to say that I was able to maintain my weight. No changes... I still am at 214lbs., but I am looking forward to losing weight and target 190lbs. by the end of the year.



Hello, Monday!