Philippines- Manila

I'm finally back from my hectic getaway, and I really had no time to blog in Manila. At all.

Yes all 6 days and 5 nights of it were just crazy. Honestly, I didn't expect to have so much fun there, given the fact that it was gonna be super hot there and the living condition there is really bad.

 Furthermore, nobody ever said anything much about shopping or doing anything there, though it is apparently one of the famous fashion cities in the world. Most of the time people talk about places like Bangkok or Hong Kong when they wanna go on a shopping spree. 

So undeniably, I was already feeling tragic when my parents told my sisters and I that we were going there for 6 days. 

I mean 6 FRIGGIN DAYS is alot to comprehend when you have a life back here. 

My life:

Wake up

 Walk dogs

 Feed dogs

Eat

FB,Twitter,Instagram

Gym

Eat

Walk dogs

Feed dogs 

Sleep

(x50)

You can say I have quite a tight schedule to keep.

Enough of my crap and I shall let my pictures do the talking!

 My sissie so gorge, I'm gonna fade into dust soon.

From KLIA, we flew to Singapore's Changi Airport to get ourselves transferred to another flight there.

It was our first time in Changi and I tell you solemnly the entire airport is friggin cool!

 These are all recycling bins! So cute right?

Maybe that's how they encourage people to recycle more with such interesting bins.

I was so excited I almost wanted to finish up my full bottle of water to throw it in the bottle bin.

Almost.

All the foodies in the airport will get you hungry.

 This is a booth where you can snap photos and email it to your beloved friends/family/neighbours/dogs on the spot.

Because of this booth, we wasted like half an hour there, trying to get our best shot.

The part where I had to tip-toe the whole time since the camera cannot be angled lower, wasn't helping.

FML for being a shawtie. WOOOT.

Ugly pimple -.-

 I found this shampoo brand really interesting because of Blades Of Glory. 

For those of you who watched that movie, ya know why ;D

You know how there's online shopping and all? 

Well here we have traffic jam shopping.

Whenever the cars stop where there's heavy traffic, people from no where will start walking around the road to sell their stuff.

It's quite sad to see though :/ 

Cuz it's really dangerous to walk on the road like this and they don't get to sell much too

We even saw kids walking around at night on the roads selling flowers.

 This is called a Jeepney.

I thought it was such a cute name I had to share it!

People can just get on or off it during traffic lights or any stops.

After that we went for the buffet here, where they had an array of Filipino, Western, and Japanese cusine to choose from.

Sucks to be you if you have an empty tummy while seeing this hehe.

 My personal photobomber.

 On the third day, we went all around the churches in Manila.

And the churches were all so beautiful!

The architecture and all.. it was all so breathtaking.

Doesn't this look like a church you'd only see in movies??

 I found myself a model to snap pictures of.

After so many years, they finally got to walk down the aisle again <3

 LOL my sisters wanted a couple shot too.

This is the perfect interior for a grand wedding.

Where the girl can wear a wedding dress with a long train trailing behind, as she walks gracefully to the front of the altar.

I'm gonna get a train like this when I get married too. 

If I'm rich enough.

I'm so retarded.

 Yes the singing cooks here literally sing.

 The wonderful entertainers :)

 Nothing much. Just me ridin' on ma chick.

Luckily the chicken did not collapse because after me, my entire family came along and decided to ride on the chickens too.

 The most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen.

This is actually where all the American soldiers,who died during World War II, were buried.

This cemetery was basically to pay tribute to the heroes and defenders of this country.

 We couldn't help it.

 The grass was too perfect to not take pictures with.

WHEEEE

 Houses for the dead.

 It stirred up many criticisms when it was all firstly built.

There were so many of it.. that could've actually been used for a better cause.. like housing the homeless on the streets.

But yet, humans being humans, rather shelter the dead than their own kind.

 Behold. The roman empire for the dead.

Our friend who brought us around said that the houses here, and especially this one held parties whenever it was a special occasion regarding the dead.

Oh yeahhh. Partying with dead people cuz we cool like that. 

--"

 Jolibee.

Philippine's very own brand for fried chicken.

And it is super popular.

There wasn't a night I saw any of the Jolibee restaurants empty.

It was all overflowing with people so we decided to try it.

Let's just say it's abit too tasty for our liking.

 A definite must-go tourist shopping spot.

 Manila is basically fanatic over 1D. 

Wherever I went to shop, the people were like 'Do you like 1D?'

And then they'll show us their complete collection of 1D T-shirts for sale.

So for those of you Directioners, Manila can be considered as your mecca.

 The dolls are creepy, just saying lol.

Meet my new smokin hot and buff boyfie.

Dinner. Cuz there really ain't much choice of food in their food courts.

And plus their usual diet consisted of meat and rice only (unless it's fast food). 

They don't eat veggies.

I was mortified when I heard that, cuz how one earth can they not get constipation at this rate?

Apparently most of the Filipinos I saw looked pretty healthy and fit so I guess their digestive system is strong.

The only time we got to have our daily dose of fibre was during breakfast at the hotel, and even so, they take quite awhile just to refill the veggie platter.

Limited supply I guess.

Yes la yes. I'm very vain.

But I assure you this was purely the result of boredom and taken on the first night cuz we had nothing to do when we reached there.

So you can guess what happened the whole night.

My shopping haul. There's a bit more to it but it's all in the laundry now.

 Oh! And I finally got myself some look-alike Litas! 

This was the last pair they had and I was over the moon when I could fit into it!
That Cinderella moment.

This pair cuz it makes my feet look so lady-like.

I felt like a true gu niang after wearing it haha.

Where to Shop?

The shopping spot I loved the most here at Manila was definitely 168 Mall which was located at Divisoria.

The stuff there are SO SO SO worth it!

Of course Greenhill is a pretty ok place as well, but the people there are totally used to tourists, so the starting prices of their items are quite high, and you'd have to bargain.

There's another place called Market!Market! 

And it is literally spelt that way with the exclamation mark.

I don't know why.

Inside there, on the 2nd floor you'll find an entrance called Fashion Market, or something along those lines.

The stuff here is pretty nice and their items range from cheap to expensive, quality items.

168 Mall and Market!Market! are places where it is really hard to bargain, or in other words, cannot be bargained at all because of its already low price.

Oh and did I mention I felt so flattered shopping in Manila? 

Cuz most of the people there mistaken us for Koreans.

Hohoho. 

Wait that's a good thing right? lol

Finally I can post this now!

Thanks to my reaally bad broadband service, I couldn't post this the past 2 days.

It was already in the draft but it wouldn't let me post anything or upload any of the photos :(

Anyways, I went to Penang as well for this young journalism workshop called BRATs right after my trip to Manila.

So I'll talk about my awesome experience there the next time.

Till then :D

I'm Gonna Fly Away

Everyone needs to get away from their current life, from time to time, to get a break from all the problems and negativity surrounding. Everyone needs a 'pause' in their life.

I bet everyone out there living their lives, no matter in a first world country or in a third world one, will find that they have mountain loads of problems they have to deal with. Though we may be living in probably a good home, nice house, with enough necessities to get through the day, with in fact what people would call privileges, such as a touchscreen-cellphone, access to the internet and even television,but people often neglect what's on the inside. What the person feels: stress, anxiety, depression, tiredness, dread and so on, that's where the real problem lies.

 Which leads to what I'm about to share. The biggest problems a person faces is not the condition they live in, it's not external, but it is what's happening on the inside. Let's say a person may live in poverty, barely obtaining the basic necessities of life to be able to live another day. The person may be cracking his or her head on how to lead tomorrow, and to support the welfare of his or her family but... they are not depressed. Life is everything to them.

On the other hand, another person has what other's would claim as 'everything'. From nice clothes to a nice crib to prolly even a nice car. Everything is tip top condition on the outside, but on the inside this person is depressed, stressed out, sick and tired of life, even suicidal.

So at the end of the day, sure, the other person living in poverty is conspicuously having a bigger problem than the other person who has everything you may say. But mentally, the one secretly tortured and silently suffering is, you gotta admit, the other person who has everything.

Yea now and then, some people would still comment on people like this with things like 'what an ungrateful bitch, just be happy you're alive and well'.

I don't know whether you get what I'm trying to say, but my point is, everyone has problems. Just that some people are capable of handling it better, and some people, well, just not as good. Even me.. well I do have my problems. In fact there was a certain point of my life where I had so many problems accumulating that there was not a single day where I did not end it with tears. Every night was like a flashback on the painful things that happened. It happened all the time when I was alone, when the silence becomes so painfully unbearable that memories, particularly bad ones, just randomly start to run through my mind. I walked through memory lane so often in the night, it became like a daily routine. Most nights, I wasn't even surprised anymore when I found my face drenched in hot tears.

The thing is, I always seemed like a happy-go-lucky person. I always smiled, I always laughed, no matter how stupid some people's jokes can be at times (sorry don't mean to offend anyone). But as I grew up I realised the people who looked the happiest was always the one who was closest to dying inside. When I was younger, I never expressed myself because I never saw the point of it. People tend to pretend to hear you out and in the aftermath use your problems against you.

So in my mind, I felt... why bother taking such a dumb risk? Besides, whenever you get emotional about something, someone on the side would take this delightful opportunity to bitch about you like 'eh look at her, so pathetic, like that also emo.. such an LOA (lack of attention)!'

That was when I was younger, when I thought because we were still childish and immature. But apparently, I've been sensing that even these days with people who are close to adulthood.

"Never tell your problems to anyone. 20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them."

In college when you get upset over, say, your assignment because all your groupmates couldn't give two shits on it, leaving you alone to pick up their shit and do it all by yourself, your very own groupmates would prolly start wondering 'wtf is wrong with this bitch, oversensitive much?!'.

Obviously no one would come into realisation and realise that they are the reason the other person is upset, because it's so much easier to just blame it on the other person, rather than seeing our own faults.

When I was that happy-go-lucky kid, I just wanted to make everyone happy.. I didn't mind that I was used as the joke or scapegoat or blacksheep or whatever they call it, as long as my friends were happy. I got called terrible names for my looks. And that was when I realised that as soon as I am old enough, I'd change everything. From head to toe. Not for myself, but so that I don't have to be such an eyesore to others.
Yes it was for the sake of others.

Lately, I think everything throughout the years which agglomerated inside of me is becoming like a bubble that is about to burst anytime. I know there are people out there who might feel the same with me as well...

Tired of everything, tired of keeping it in, tired of making sure everything behind that smiling face is under control. Well just wanted to let any of you feeling this way and on the verge of crumbling down, you're not alone.

Don't give up just yet, and don't stop smiling.

Life will get better, and you have to keep telling yourself that and believe it. I mean we shouldn't give up on all the good times because of all these problems. After all, what's happiness without sadness? What's life without problems to solve?

Turn your experiences and problems into an inspirational life story to others. You'd never know who's life depended on it.

Oh and I'm leaving for Philippines tomorrow! 

I'm most excited about: FLYINGGG in the aeroplane. PEW PEW PEWWW

I'll take plenty of pictures no worries.

But I hope I don't get mugged there since they said Philippines is quite prone to pick pocketing now.

Sigh. What to do. Cheapskates like me can only afford such places to travel to.

Will be gone for like 10 days. 

Then right after that I'd be rushing to Penang.

I sound like some businesswoman on a business trip lol.

So I shall just end with my face in case somebody or nobody misses me. HEH. Kidding.

-HUGSSSS-

Goodbyes Were Never Easy

Last Friday, I was out the whole day with this friend of mine who was gonna go off to UK to further his studies. So you can say it was a farewell sorta hangout session. To be honest, I was never really closed to this friend. We don't see each other often in campus either, since he's majoring in something entirely different from me. We do talk but it's the kind of okay-clickable-conversation you have with random new people you meet.

Therefore, you can obviously imagine how surprised I was when he was so willing to hangout with me, just one last time before he leaves. We went to 1Utama cuz he suggested it. Since he was just living nearby, it was pretty convenient for him. However, it was darn troublesome for me -.- I got so frustrated because I couldn't find a single damn parking on the rooftop (which my GPS led me to), and had to go round and round the same place over and over again.

I must admit that I never had luck in looking for parking spots. I was always the bad luck charm even to my friends who never had problems in parking. That's how bad my luck is in parking till I can affect anybody who is in the car with me.

Finally my friend called, and I told him I was lost in some car park where I don't even know whether it was located in the new or old wing, without a parking. So he told me to wait for a moment and he'd be there.

Obviously any sane person wouldn't believe him because logically, how can a person's sense of direction be so good as to even know every nook and corner of a huge shopping mall's carpark. In addition to that, 1U has quite a few different parking lots.

5 minutes later I saw him appear walking towards my car and I felt a huge surge of relief!
We rounded for awhile but we still couldn't find any parking. eventually, I got so fed up I just told him to take the wheel.

Within 3 secs he was in the driver's seat, he found a parking spot. Just like that.

#BadLuckIvena

Anyhow,we ate at Sushi Zanmai since he said the food he was gonna miss the most when he left, would be the wide variety of Japanese food here. I've never been to this restaurant before too, although it's quite well known now and I've been hearing from  people that it's pretty good.

 Failed shot from above.

I always wondered how people took nice shots from the top.

But after taking this picture, I realised you have to be of certain height to be capable of it lol.

The bill was like 90 bucks plus and he paid for me!

I really felt like a princess that day.

 Then we came here..

Guess what it sells? :D

Nitrogen Ice Cream!

 All the flavours they had.

I really loved how all their ingredients were placed in these Conical flasks!

So Scientist-ish haha.

 Look at that! Nitrogen gas 

 Even the people working were dressed like professional Scientists.

 And finally it's done!

We ordered only one which was Chill Chocolate Mint.

This little cup cost us (okay him) RM10.

It's even more expensive than Baskin Robbins.

The only thing special was you got to see the entire process of it made I guess.

Jason. 

He was camera shy, so this was like the one and only best shot I had of him.

He wanted to watch Wolverine but the timing of the movie was too late and I had to go home early so we ended up walking around and talking about life like some old philosophers heh. 

It really was nice talking to him.

I hope he will settle down in UK in no time, and that he'll also be able to find a job there.

Sad to see another friend go just like that.

Sigh.. and soon it will be my turn.

But only for one year :D

My ootd.

Always wanted to get those cool looking Kimono cardigans I've been seeing alot lately on Instagram.

Finally got it!

 Bye for now :))