I came across THIS POST showing the five-minute makeup routine of Emily Weiss, editor of IntoTheGloss.



Except for the eye makeup, she doesn't look very done up and I like it. Her skin shows through and it looks kinda dewy. It definitely helps that she has great skin to begin with and wow, wala syang dark eyebags, hahaha. You can read her extensive skin care routines HERE and HERE. :)

***
#10. Learn the art of “no makeup” makeup

This is a story of plans falling in and out of place.

Maan and Nids invited me and Mike last April to join them para sakto yung group sa isang boat. Hehehe. After a few months, and while waiting for a seat sale, nag propose si Vince kay Rela and perfect timing kasi wedding nila ng Saturday and the Donsol trip was Sunday to Tuesday. :) We also invited my other college friends: Reg, Aimee, Dangs and Lito. Same flights lahat kami.

Somehow, when March rolled in, biglang hindi na pwede ang original group namin with Maan and Nids. Hindi naman sya devastating because we had my college friends with us, and what do you know, 6 kami and therefore perfect sa isang bangka. Hahahaha. Perfect!

Thanks to Mike and his wonderful relatives, in-arrange nila ang accommodations and airport transfer namin, complete with a side trip to Cagsawa ruins :)

Read Aimee's entries (here) and (here) for more useful information, hahaha!

There are two main activities for tourists in Donsol. The first is firefly watching and the other is to swim with butandings. I already posted (here) the video I took of fireflies, with Reg singing in the background, so now I'll talk about swimming with whale sharks.

When we got to Donsol, we headed straight to Donsol Tourism Office to rent snorkeling gear and fins, pay the registration fee, book a 7AM boat for the next day, and watch the orientation video on how to interact with the whale sharks. Exciting! Scary! Ang laki nila! Baka malunod ako! Baka wala akong makita! Baka tamaan ako ng buntot! Baka ma-seasick ako! Ang daming concerns! Hahaha!

The next day we went to our boat and met our Butanding crew. (Sorry nakalimutan ko na ang pangalan nila, basta yung Butanding Officer namin mejo masungit, hehe.) After some time, kuya told us to get ready, sit on the side of the boat and wait for him to tell us to jump. OMG THIS IS IT.


The first time we jumped into the water, CHAOS. Murky yung tubig because of the plankton, and with the bubbles from other people's snorkel and fins, it was disorienting. Hinila ako ni kuya to where the whale shark will pass sa ilalim ko and that's why ako lang ata ang nakakita that first jump.

I went there expecting to get a rush the way I imagine I'd be high after a bungee jump. But swimming with whale sharks doesn't give you that kind of rush. I was pretty deflated after namin umahon the first time kasi ang bilis bilis ng nangyari and halos hindi ko nakita yung butanding. Expecting the rest of the morning to be the same, I prepared myself to be disappointed. Pft, overhyped experience.

But on our second try, when I finally saw the butanding clearly and I got to swim beside it, my feelings changed. I still did not get a rush but instead I was overcome with gratitude and amazement. These are truly majestic creatures, and for them to allow us to swim with them is such a privilege. It was surreal. It will fill your heart with quiet joy.

Since November, I've been watching Youtube clips of Colm Wilkinson (who is 67, is the original Jean Valjean of Les Miserables, and still sings beautifully!) and Ramin Karimloo (who played the Phantom in the filmed 25th anniversary show that we watched). I've compiled here my favorite clips :)

First, from the encore of the "Phantom of the Opera" that we watched. In order of singing, Colm Wilkinson, Anthony Warlow, Peter, Joback, John Owen Jones (OMG HIS VOICE), and Ramin Karimloo (still wearing the mask). Ang ganda ng boses nila! Putting the song and their voices in context to the musical, well, sinabi ko na kay Mike na if ever I'd cheat on him, it will be with these Phantoms' voices (voices lang ha. Pano kaya yun?). Pumayag naman sya, hahahahaha. 



The next three videos are versions of "One Day More" from Les Miserables performed by different casts. This version is from the "10th Anniversary Concert" aka the Dream Cast. Valjean is Colm Wilkinson, Eponine is Lea Salonga, and Marius (yung may ka-duet) is Michael Ball.



This version is from the "25th Anniversary Concert." Nick Jonas is Marius, and kawawa sya, ang hina ng boses nya and there's not much power. Andito na si Ramin my love as Enjolras, hehe!



Finally, the original cast joined by the new cast performing the encore for the "25th Anniversary Concert." Here, Ramin and Colm sing together, and you can compare Michael Ball's version with Nick's. Ouch. 



This is the version I love the most. They all look so happy. There's even a guy crying in the background at 2:11. It must be overwhelming to be part of it again after 25 years. The memories. To be surrounded by such incredible, talented company once more. To be part of something so beautiful. I cannot imagine it. Siguro ako hahagulgol na lang.
That's it, enjoy! :)

I just want to take note of today. Today, for the first time in a long while, I feel I'm in a good place. It could be that some hormones have been released after getting delayed a few weeks (TMI, haha!); or that I'd see Mike tonight; or because it's quiet now and Mike just graduated and we are free from his manuscripts and can truly rest a bit; or it could be that maybe, finally, I'm starting to learn the lessons on patience, humility, and gratefulness that I suspect this whole experience means to teach me.

Patience and humility.

In the 'Novena to Find Employment,' it says, "In today's society, work has become the measure of a person's worth. We casually judge people by the kind of work they do, and often the first question we ask when making a new acquaintance is, 'So, what do you do?' Because of this, being 'out of work' can lead to discouragement, loss of self-confidence, and tremendous anxiety."

Ay, so true, all of it. Being unemployed is hard. The stress you put on yourself to find work, the stress you feel when asked by well meaning friends and family, the stress when meeting new people you want to impress -- no wonder the impatience to have a job and the frustration when hopes are dashed.

I always remember a conversation I had with Alda whenever I'm in a turmoil I can't seem to get out of. She said she was very impatient, and she believed that until she learned to be patient, God will continue to put her in trying situations that will challenge her patience. It stuck with me since then. Even if you don't believe in God, it still makes sense. Each painful experience is an opportunity to be better or to just learn to cope better.

So lately I've been wondering what lessons I'm supposed to learn from this and I think a bulk of it has to do with patience and humility. Faith and patience that the perfect job for me will come, and humility and acceptance that God knows what's best for me so I need not fret about things I cannot control.

A grateful heart.

I think this has been the greatest challenge. The truth is, even during my birthday and when I got engaged, my heart was not 100% grateful. And I feel I have not been as grateful since last year as I was in the previous years. I think it's because of the abundance I have now. Before, I had little money so each experience and new acquisition was anticipated, celebrated and savored. Now, eating out and traveling have been more accessible and frequent; they no longer hold the same excitement. (Also, back when I just graduated, much of the joy in experiences was trying things for the first time. It's not quite the same visiting the same places again.)

I realized part of my ungratefulness was my focus on what I did not have (work), instead of what I did have. I couldn't be completely happy when I got engaged because I didn't know whether I'd be based in Singapore or Manila. I couldn't be completely happy on my birthday because I still didn't have a job. Such a shame, when I could have been grateful that I spent my birthday in Manila, grateful I did not have a job when Mike needed help with his manuscript, had the time and means to be on a real vacation, and had the chance to finish 7 books in a month. Hahaha!

Oh, Vicky! Now we know better :)

At the bus,
Mike: Oh no, nakalimutan ko mag-shave! Kamukha ko na si Hugh Jackman!

O.O

A different day. While walking home,
Me: Do you love me?
Mike glances at me: Minsan.
Me: WOW! HAHAHAHA! Salamat ha! Swerte ko naman love mo 'ko kahit minsan! Hahaha!

After a while,
Me: Feeling mo ba gwapo ka?
Mike, after a slight pause: Minsan din.
Me: Ah! Kapag hindi ka nag-shave?
Mike: Oo. Kapag hindi ako nag-shave kamukha ko si Hugh Jackman. Kapag nag-shave ako kamukha ko si Mark Wahlberg.
Me, thinking it was an odd choice: Si Mark Wahlberg?
Mike: Oo! Yung sa Bourne!
Me: Si Matt Damon yun!

EL-OH-EL. I love this guy!

 
Mike looking like Bumblebee

Before I moved to Singapore, I thought it would be cool (and easy) to learn Mandarin. I imagined it'd be like in Hong Kong where the locals spoke Chinese more than English. Unfortunately, when I got here, I discovered that Singaporeans speak perfect Singlish and therefore they don't talk to me in Mandarin. I had to scrap the idea that I can learn Chinese without spending for it, haha!

A Filipino friend mentioned the Confucius Chinese program at NTU. It's a great program for expats and non-Chinese who want to learn the language. It's also SGD 525 and on the opposite side of the world, i.e., my work and the school are at the ends of the MRT green line. So, uh... can I scrap this item off of my list? 

The nice thing about having Singaporean friends is they can point you to alternatives :) Zul told me about the Conversational Mandarin classes offered in community centers. The class offered to the center nearest our place was only SGD 80 for 12 classes. Kaching! 

Now, the real challenge begins.

I thought speaking Chinese would be similar to Japanese which I took 3 units of in college -- after all, Kanji is derived from Chinese characters. Japanese is similar to Filipino in that there is very little change in tone/diphthong to differentiate between syllables/words ("bababa ba?" versus "how now brown cow?"). In short, speaking Japanese was pretty easy so I thought it would be the same with Chinese.
 
I could not have been more wrong. First class pa lang, hilo na ko. Hahaha! I learned Mandarin has four tones and each syllable has/can have its own tone and meaning. Aside from that, you need to develop an ear for subtleties in the consonants. Yung naririnig ko na "ta pao" (for takeout) is actually "da bao." Basta, mahirap sya! And I was so busy at work that I couldn't spend time studying on my own. 

In hindsight, I should have been better prepared and had more patience so as not to feel overwhelmed. I also need to practice with my Pinyin Trainer app to differentiate between ch / zh / sh, among others, at nang hindi na ko mahuli ng instructor ko na nandadaya with the pronunciations, hahaha! For now, I will just have to learn on my own. Til next time!

Being 28 is not what I expected it to be. On the work front it's still crazy, but everything else has been splendid! :) To mark my birthday tomorrow, I've listed here 10 things I'm grateful for as a 28-year-old : 

1. Travel. I've been fortunate to get to travel to Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, Davao, Malaysia and Indonesia. Sounds like a lot! But travel is really worth spending on :)
2. Gadgets. I am very happy with my laptop, phone and Kindle. I don't see myself buying any other gadget unless one of them chokes.
3. Health. Although it seemed a trip to the hospital was required every time I went to Manila, I'm still grateful for my mostly good health. 
4. Bike. This has to be one of my best purchases EVER. I love biking! 
5. Makeup and skincare. I think compared to most girls what I do and have are still basic. I feel so grown up now that I can bust out a pressed powder, liquid foundation, eyeliner and eye shadow for parties. Of course on a daily basis I only use sunscreen and moisturizer, haha!
6. Retreat. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to do this again after four years. Charity. Loving your neighbor. Cheerfulness. Poverty. Trusting that God will provide. "To see each person you meet as a soul."
7. Before 30 project. I managed to cross out eight items off of this list!!! I just have to update items 7 & 8. :) Amazing talaga gumawa ng lists, haha!
8. Friends. What to say about friends that I haven't said before? I'm ALWAYS thankful for friends. Sometimes I worry that, because of time and distance, things would be so changed between my friends and me. It's a useless worry though, thank goodness!!! And a special mention to college and JG friends for conspiring with Mike for the proposal! 
9. Family and dogs. Haha! I'm grateful we're all healthy and aging nicely :) 
10. Mike. Even before we got together, Mike has showered me with a profound love so deep and generous it's humbling. He is a constant source of comfort that my heart overflows with love just thinking of him. I will forever be grateful for Mike :) And besides, he is the perfect companion in case of a zombie attack. I'll never let go of him!

Tomorrow I'd officially be in my late 20s, haha! Looking forward to it! 

The most amazing thing happened: I completed Project 52 without realizing it!



I took all the photos except for some where I was with Mike (because he has a longer arm, haha!) or I used a timer. 

Looking through my treasure trove of photos, I realized how many people I have in my life. Kahit nasa Singapore kami, it seemed we were meeting one or two groups of friends or family every week. That's why these photos are mostly filled with faces, haha! Some time in the future I will upload some of my favorite photos that deserve to be included if only I could have five photos per week instead of one. :)

You may click HERE to view the pictures and captions. Enjoy!

Thanks to the reason behind my current lack of work, I can cross out this item.

The goal now is to maintain my savings post-wedding and before I hit 3-0.

O.O

Hahaha!

***
#12. Be married!