That's right, I have an official project name for fitness. As you know, I'm getting married in December and I need to look good! I have been super, super bad in 2011 and I hate to admit it but I've let myself go. Instead of the usual hi and hello, I always get "ang taba mo ngayon" as a greeting. I've had enough of that. So I'm launching my fitness project for this year. My fitness goal is to lose at least 30lbs by December.

( Road to Fitness 2012 action plan )

I think we've all heard about the new Avon Shine Attact lipstick endorsed by Anne Curtis. It made such a big splash during it's debut that almost all of the beauty blogs posted a review about it so I naturally became curious. I got mine at Festival Mall (there's a small kiosk at the ground floor, in front of Artwork) since I don't have an Avon Lady. May nakasabay pa ako ng binili na yata halos lahat ng kulay.

I grew up using Avon products. My first perfume was Sweet Honesty given by my mama. After using that, I started buying their other products. I use their perfumed talcs, the clear mascara which was super popular when I was in highschool and the lipsticks. I have the three other Avon lipsticks and I was pretty satisfied with them so I made sure to pick up their newest offering.



Three Avon products I picked up over the weekend. ( Read more )

http://berry-mix.livejournal.com/246694.html - Who would have thought that two years later, I'll be singing a different tune? hehe

It looks like 2012 is going to be a better year for blogging for me. So far, I've already posted a total of 24 or make that 25 entries (this post is the 25th). Unlike in 2011, when I've only posted a total of 29 entries for the whole year. It's a shame too because a lot of things happened to me in 2011 but maybe that's the thing. I was too busy living life that I didn't have the time to document it. This year, I'm going to strike a balance between the two because I really love reading my past entries. This lj account is more of a diary for me really and it's just a bonus that I get to interact with my friends here too.

Pero sana hindi mausog. That happens to me a lot. Sasabihin kong I'm back pero nawawala din ako after some time. But I hope this time is different. I'll be blogging more, I promise.

I really wasn't planning on going shopping today but the heat was just so unbearable that I had to go out of the house. Honestly, I didn't know where I was going until I got out of the house. I ended up in Shang which turned out to be a bad idea because I ended up spending more than I intended to. Hahahaha. But again, I'm happy with my purchases and I feel like I was a responsible shopper today. Hehe. Anyway, on to my loot:





What I bought today:
Lush Snow Fairy body wash: which is really yummy cotton candy like shower gel.
Body Shop shower puff : this is really the best shower puff IMO. It's more expensive than the ones in Watsons but it's softer and more durable
Garnier Eye BB cream
MAC lipstick in Pink Nouveau
Badger stress soother
Charm Crease brush
( Details inside )

It has been a tradition in Bin's family to go somewhere for an overnight trip every summer. This year, we went to Thunderbird Rizal over the Holy Week break. We were originally planning to go to the resort in Poro (in La Union, near the Carbonell's hometown) but the place was fully booked so we had to opt for the resort in Rizal instead.

Bin picked me up from the apartment the night before we left so that they didn't have to go out of the way to Kapitolyo. We left their house after breakfast on Friday , April 6, armed with a map to the place since none of us knew the way. It was pretty easy to find though. We just took EDSA since we knew there wouldn't be any traffic, turned right to Ortigas, then went straight to Ortigas Extension, turned right to Rizal then from there basically followed the signs to Thunderbird which were every where. The resort is right at the very top of the mountain so the drive is kinda similar to Tagaytay Highlands. It probably took us a little less than two hours to get to the place.

The resort is not that big which I think worked to its advantage. If I have to guess, I would say they only have less than 50 rooms? But they have a lot of resort crews. The service was fantastic. Ang babait lahat and they always greet you with a smile. Bad service can ruin a great vacation so I'm glad that didn't happen. We got to the place a little earlier than the check in time so we had time to walk around, lounge in the pool and take pictures!

Bin and I shared the room with his older brother and his wife. After checking in, we hanged out inside the room for a Walking Dead marathon. We left the room late in the afternoon for a quick dip in the pool. After that, we had a buffet dinner at the poolside bar which was kinda not sulit because all the dishes served were seafood kase nga Biyernes Santo. We didn't realise it until we were there and we were looking for meat to eat. Hahaha

After dinner, Bin and I took a walk around the place again. It looks just as peaceful at night. I made a post about it here. The following day, we didn't do a lot. We just had breakfast, got massages, checked out then went to the Fiesta Casino which was closed the previous day. Bin's mom gave us P300 each to spend on the casino and I really made sure we wouldn't spend more than that, manalo matalo! Hahaha Puro lang slot machines ang nilaro namin. We ended up losing all our casino money but we really had fun.

All in all it was another fun outing with the bf's family. Ngayon gusto na namin lahat pumunta sa Poro next time!



( Pictures from Thunderbird Rizal )

Lunch with ADS peeps is becoming a habit now and I'm not complaining. I like having friends who work nearby for times when I just need to forget about work completely during lunchtime. One Friday, Yen, Aya and I tried Texas Roadhouse Grill in El Pueblo which is quite literally right behind our office building. I haven't tried it before so I was happy with our lunch choice. The portions were huge! We should have just shared one dish because we weren't able to finish any of our orders. Di bale next time, we know what to do na.




Lunch at Texas Roadhouse Grill. ( More pictures of Lunch/Dinner with Friends )

No story here. Just a photo diary of the glorious food I've eaten the past week. Don't judge! haha

Note: All photos were taken using my crappy BB phone camera. For some reason, I'm extremely tamad again to use my camera.



I forgot what this is called. Maybe Rainbow roll from Sumo Sam? It's topped with Salmon, with kani and egg inside the roll.


Salmon Nikkihanna from Sumo Sam. Both eaten when I had dinner with Wena at Shangri-La Mall.


Pecan pie from Almon Marina, Megamall


Dinner with Bin at Pho Hoa. Our favorite Beef Stew noodles and fresh spring rolls


Sesame crusted seared tuna from Teriyaki Boy

During our Thunderbird Rizal trip (full post to follow soon), Bin and I had a lot fun roaming around the whole resort at night. It was such a peaceful place probably because it was Good Friday so there were no night activities, even the casino was closed. There wasn't a lot of people out and about as well. So it was like we were all alone, free to do whatever we want.

The garden was deserted as well so we stayed there for a while and played with the shadows!




Bin made an eagle...



a dog....



a bunny....and



two hearts that beat as one! Hahahaha cheesy!

The first and last quarter of the year are usually awards season for the BPO Industry. Our office here in Manila is the shared service offshoring arm of our company, Maersk Line. Our team set-up is kind of hard to explain. We sit here in Manila but we report functionally and is part of the Maersk Line Communication team in Copenhagen. It's like we're a branch sitting here in Manila. But the rest of the departments and teams here in the office are doing offshored tasks, some are rules-based while some are knowledge-based.

As part of the Maersk Line Communication team, I had to help support the Manila office in preparing the nomination form and supporting materials for the different awards that it joins in. For this year, the team decided to join the 2012 ICT Awards. We also joined last year and was a finalist in two categories. Unfortunately, we didn't win so this year the managers really believed that we have a shot since we came so close to winning. Of course, that was added pressure for us who makes the actual nomination form. It took a lot of OT hours to pull the data and make a comprehensive report. But we were able to do it!

We we're announced as a finalist in three categories this year (we joined 6 categories ok) and won one category: The Most Innovative BPO Company of the Year. Personally, I wanted to win the Non-Voice Excellence category but the category we won is cool too. Super, super glad and proud that we didn't go home empty handed this time.




The sponsors of the event. ( More photos inside )