The Now Expensive Mestiza Papaya Soap

I went to Mercury Drugstore yesterday to purchase our family's favorite papaya soap, not because we're using it because just like others out there wanna have fair skin but rather for health reason.  As a psoriatic person, I have a very sensitive skin and I always have to be careful on what I apply or use on my skin for it can aggravate my psoriasis. BTW I have been a psoriasis patient for 10 years now....I use this papaya soap because among other papaya soap, it does not make my skin dry.

Mestiza Papaya soap had been introduced to me by my uncle because his friend works on the said papaya soap company....At first I was quite hesitant to use it because as I can remember I was not really familiar with the product and I was not really into papaya soap at that time. The only papaya soap that I knew then was Likas Papaya soap but I was not a fan either because from my experience papaya soaps dry out the skin and that's bad for me... Anyway a couple of years ago, the soap was just a newbie in the market. You can only buy it at Mercury Drugstore..FYI...

I was surprised yesterday about its price increase...a 10-peso price increase....When I first used it, it wasn't that expensive..I think it was only 40 pesos at that time..I usually buy 5 for 200 pesos...and at that time you can't easily find the soap on the top shelf.  You have to kneel down because you can find that on the lowest part of the shelf and even if you're already kneeling down,  you have to stretch your body a bit more because it's on the innermost portion of the shelf hahaha... funny right? That's because it was not that popular or a top seller then.

Then after a year I guess,  it had been featured on various TV shows, etc..then its price went up from 40 pesos to 42 pesos....then after just a month after my last purchase in January..it's now 50 pesos...why is that? Is it because it's "sikat" already? maybe....

Well really I can't do anything about it. I was just surprised really by the super dooper price increase....Well blame it on marketing and advertisement....they do that also on medicines here.....

Anyway, hope my papaya soap will stay 50 pesos forever..for higher than that...I think that's too much...

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Ogie

On March 24, we went to Majayjay to pray for lolo's soul because it was his 40th day after death and at the same time,  it's my cousin Ogie's birthday so I baked cupcakes for him. He celebrated his birthday also in Majayjay because the 2 occasions fell on the same day.

I made red velvet cupcakes for him.This was my first try and thank God they liked it especially my cousin (I guess) hehe!

Just wanna thank also Beth, (my brother's wife) for the choco sprinkles that she gave me just before she went back to Norway.

More birthdays to come my dear cousin. I love you..No more dengue please...

Korean Lunch with Kuya

Today's the last day of kuya and his family here in manila. They're flying back to Norway and we'll be seeing him soon, maybe by December of this year again. So we had a mini despedida before he headed back to Norway.

We went to a Korean restaurant in Alabang Filinvest. The initial plan was to go to Tagaytay at Raja but we've decided to just go to a Korean resto just around Alabang since Raja in Tagaytay serves almost the same menu as in Alabang.

We went to Sogamiga Restaurant, a Korean restaurant. The restaurant looks old if you can notice how it was constructed, but I think it was intentionally done to look like that,  just like the ones in Korea.

and here's the korean grill table...nice...it's my first time..I'm just  seeing this one in Koreanovelas.

 I wasn't able to take a picture during actual cooking of the wagyu beef and the stew 'coz we have kids with us..It had been cooked on another table so as to avoid accident to happen.

This was our first set of appetizer...lettuce with this Korean dip (tastes like bagoong with chili) and it tasted good..didn't know that you could actually eat a lettuce with a dip or dressing like bagoong..

and the main dish...the grilled korean wagyu beef...tastes good without added condiments or flavorings....you can actually taste the natural sweetness and smell of the grilled beef...yum!

and here are the rest of the side dishes we ate...almost all were veggies as you can see...but surprisingly you'll like it...what I've noticed was that Koreans are really really good in making sauces, dips and dressings to make boring veggies for others to really taste good and look appetizing...am beginning to love Korean food already...

there's kimchi, steamed Chinese kangkong, sweet potato, macaroni salad and spring onions with chili love it!

here's the 2nd main dish that we ordered...the short ribs.. you can say it's "simple pero rock!" hehe!..love the sweetness of the beef and the smell of the soup...it has vermicelli, onion and leeks I guess in it...

This is a rice wine...my sisters and I tried it 'coz we got intrigued and curious how it tastes...'coz we only see it on Koreanovelas...so we decided to might as well try it ourselves....and it's "lakas tama man!" seriously...I only had half a cup of this one..I think about 3 oz. and I really felt hot and sleepy after...but it tasted almost like Cali Shandy but has stronger alcohol content I guess..

So after lunch, we headed to the nearest Starbucks coffee shop because "gala" won't be complete without having coffee after a heavy meal...

Surely, I will miss my brother and my really really cute niece...they'll probably be back before Christmas..hopefully...and it feels good really to have gimik with your family...it'spriceless!

B-Gone Mosquitoes

I've discovered a new mosquito repellent for Elijah accidentally as we were sitting, waiting for our turn at the hospital waiting room for his checkup. As we were waiting, I noticed a DOH anti-dengue campaign poster posted on the doctor's secretary's desk and saw this product. I got interested 'coz I'm really planning to switch to a new insect repellent for I used to purchase an Indigo repellent but then I've noticed that it was not effective for Elijah anymore for every morning when I wake up, I can still see mosquito bites on his skin and I'm a bit worried and paranoid about dengue really. So after the consultation, I purchased one and might as well give it a try. So far, I'm satisfied on its effectivity and it says also on the label that it not only act as a repellent, it also gives relief to skin problems such as itch, small lesions, etc. and I've noticed that it has a more lasting effect than the Indigo repellent. Thanks to this new discovery.

Grilla from Dadad with Love

I received this as a gift from my husband a couple of weeks ago because he knows that I love grilling.

Since I am a working mom, I usually cook for myself and for my kid only, because my husband doesn't usually eat at home 'coz he works in a restaurant and employees' meal are provided there already. I wished for an indoor grill only to know that there's really one available in malls haha!

Thanks to Imarflex smokeless grill..now I can grill inside my home....woot woot!
Thanks again dadad!

Eye brush and eyeshadow powder

Yesterday, I went to Watson's to look for a shampoo but instead, found these 2 items..

 

Actually, I've been looking for a nice but not so expensive blending brush so I went to Watson's and found this cute brush. It's an E.L.F. brush (Eye, lips, and face). I used it this morning and was actually satisfied on it.

So as I was about to leave the store, I passed by a stall called IN2IT and realized that I last purchased my eyebrow pencil a year ago and it's already blunt so I purchased not a pencil but instead tried something else, an eyebrow powder now...I applied it this morning and I found it nice and natural looking..but still next payday I'll buy a pencil too lol!

So far I have quite a few brushes in my collection...

Love it!