Coming Home to Mandaue Foam

Mandaue Foam is one of the leading foam manufacturers in the country. It has come along way from its humble start as foam manufacturer in Cebu in 1971 to offering diversified product lines like sofas, dining tables and bed frames among others.

I recently visited its website and found many irresistable items for my wish list. I've rounded it up to top 3:


Veronica - I love its classical and elegant design. I'm sure you will feel regal sitting on it

329 Double Deck - This is ideal especially when my baby Mikeila and her future sibling grows up :)

MG152RB Rectangular Mirror - I've always wanted to have this on our wall to make the room bigger

There you go. Hope this wishlist will soon turn to reality. Mandaue Foam indeed has a lot of great products to offer. Just follow the inner "interior designer" in you and doll up your home. Take it from Mandaue Foam's tag line "Your home, your imagination".

Check out their latest TV commercial here.

My Skincare Regimen

Like most girls, I've encountered skin problems like oily skin, blackheads and pimples. It got worse when I was pregnant with my first baby until almost a year after giving birth. I admit it was frustrating and it affected my self esteem.

I searched high and lows for products that will help me lessen the oiliness and remove my pimples without shelling out a lot of cash. I know derma or facial clinics have helped a lot of people with the same condition but I can't afford it. I'd rather invest my money than spend a lot for my face.

After much research and several trials and errors, I finally found what I needed:

• Wash - Cyleina Black Pearl Soap - It is an organic soap that lightens dark spots caused by sun exposure and pimple scars
. It has Arbutin that gently exfoliates dead skin cells and inhibit melanin production for softer and glowing skin and Licorice that is anti-bacterial and helps lighten complex for clean and fairer skin.  

• Tone - Dickinson's Witch Hazel Toner - 100% natural, Witch Hazel gently removes oils and impurities leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth and hydrated without harsh or confusing ingredients contained in other toners. I love this toner. This helped me remove my pimples. It also gives you a feeling that your skin tightens after each use.

• Moisturize - Skinfood Omija Whitening Serum - Yes, I still moisturize even though I already have oily skin. It's a misconception that people with oily skin doesn't need to do so. According to research, one of the reasons why we have oily skin is because our skin lacks moisture. When our skin is dry, oil glands tend to work overtime to produce more oil in order to hydrate our skin, hence the oily face. That's why it is important to drink lots of water and use a good moisturizer after toning. Skinfood Omija Whitening Serum is not heavy on the face and it doesn't add to the oiliness of my skin.

After a few months of doing this regimen, plus a few facial, I noticed that my oiliness were kept at bay and my pimples are beginning to fade away. I'm so happy I found products suitable for my skin type. Although my skin now is still not perfect, it has dramatically improved and I'm happy about it. No need to hide from the camera or spend countless hours editing my pictures before uploading in facebook. :) Here's a pic showing how my skin looks like before and right now. Again, it still needs a lot to improve at but I'm not complaining right now. ;)

CHILI GARLIC POTATOES

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg baby potatoes
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3tbsp olive oil
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, diced
• 4pcs jalapeno chilis, cut in to rings
• 3tsps balsamic vinegar
• salt to taste

How to Cook:

1. Wash the baby potatoes very carefully. Boil potatoes in their jackets until tender then cut it in half. Be careful not to overcook so that it won't break when we stir fry it later.
2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet. It's important to have both in order to achieve a nice golden-brown crust.
3. Saute garlic and chilis until the garlic turns brown. Add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes have a golden brown color.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar and salt.

This goes well with pasta or porkchop or roasted chicken. Enjoy!

Online buys: Bag Organizer vs Kangaroo Keeper

I recently bought two bag organizers on ebay to keep all my things in place when I carry them in my bag. This is ideal especially if you have a large bag that doesn't have many compartments like Longchamp. The first one I bought is the "Kangaroo Keeper". This only costs P100 and it already comes in set of 2 (one is bigger than the other). You can place the small one inside the bigger one in order to have more storage space. The fabric is same as the one used in umbrellas. It indeed has a lot of compartments but what I didn't like is that the size of each compartment is too small, it can hardly fit my phone. Because of that, I have a hard time pulling out my things.

So I decided to purchase another one. I found this also on ebay. It didn't have a brand name, the seller simply calls it "Bag Organizer".  It costs higher than KK at P495 but the quality is so much better. The material is sturdy enough to stand on its own. It has 16 compartments and can easily fit two cellphones, tablet, wallet, IDs,  keys, small documents, pens, hand sanitizer, etc! I so love it!

Kangaroo Keeper (Left); Bag Organizer (Right)

Outbreak BGC. Run For Your Life

For running aficionados out there, here's a unique run that you will surely enjoy. Outbreak Manila gives you - "Outbreak BGC". It is unique because you will be chased by scary ZOMBIES! I've seen the news about this when it was held in Nuvali and UP (I think) and it looks like so much fun. They really put "FUN" in the word fun run! Even a non-runner like me wants to try it. :)

Outbreak BGC will be held on July 28, 2012 at Bonifacio Global City. Head on over at selected Toby Sports (Shangri-la, SM North Edsa and Mall of Asia) and Runnr branches (Alabang Town Center and Bonifacio High Street) to register. Registration fee is P800.

See you there!

Fathers' Day Celebration at Zong, The Fort

We celebrated fathers' day at Zong, The Fort. I've always heard good praises for this restaurant that's why we decided to try it out.

Zong offers Chinese cuisines but you'll be surprised that the interior doesn't have the usual red walls or red table cloths you would usually find in a Chinese resto. They are trying to exude a modern ambiance which i believed they achieved.

We ordered Yang Chow Fried Rice, wanton soup, stir fried cuttlefish, fried chicken in salted egg yolk and roast platter. Price ranges from P300-P400+ which is reasonable considering the serving size. One dish is enough for 3 persons.

We started off with wanton soup which is absolutely yummy! everyone loved it including my 1 year old baby. If the soup is this good, we cannot wait to try the main dishes.

 Wanton Soup

All the dishes we ordered did not disappoint as well. The stir fried cuttlefish which is tender and tasty came with my fave broccoli.

 Stir fried cuttlefish

The fried chicken in salted egg yolk served with prawn crackers is so crunchy and juicy it tastes like chicharon. Although i didn't notice the salted egg batter, the chicken still came out delicious.

 Fried chicken in salted egg yolk

Roast platter is a combination of roast chicken, duck, pork and century egg.

 Roast Platter

The only thing i didn't like is their iced tea because it's too sweet for my taste.

By the way, we're lucky because since it's fathers' day, all dads that dined were given a free golf umbrella! Yay!

Overall, we have added zong on the list of our favorite restaurants. Go ahead and try their delectable dishes. I can't wait to go back.

DROPBOX

For a person who loves  to take pictures from her phone, transferring it to different devices such as laptops without Bluetooth can be a drag. That's why I was ecstatic when I learned about an App called DROPBOX. It let's you access photos and videos stored  on your phone to any device with internet - be it desktop PC,  laptops or tablets! It was such  a life saver!

How about you? Have you used dropbox? Are there other  apps you'd like to recommend?