Winter of discontent

A couple of weeks ago, I went to consult a fortune teller with my friends, just for the heck of it. Of course it's just us joking about, but I have been so lost the last few months that I felt it was some way of reeling myself in.

Most people would think I've gone mad -- why not talk to friends, go to church or just pick up a new hobby? Because I already know how those things go down. I wanted a completely different perspective, and that's exactly what I got.

Funny thing is, I was most curious about what the medium would say about my lovelife, which, as it turns out, something she can't see in my immediate future. As z-e-r-o. She saw a possible lesbian, but nothing more. She told me to focus on my fucking career. 

With me getting my heart broken continiously since 2013, I'm resigning myself to doing just that. 

I hate it when I hear the cliche that says "things happen for a reason." In my case, things don't happen, so I should stop waiting for things to change and just go fucking take control of my life. I've been lazy for far too long, waiting for Prince Charming to rescue me from my dull life. 

Now, let's see if I can actually get off my ass to do anything about it.

Starbucks Frappula: Coffee Vampyre

Got curious about the Starbucks Halloween drink:

Here's what it really looks like:

Got carried away by marketing AGAIN, as it looks quite boring in reality, but it's actually a great-tasting mocha spin-off. 

Jupiter Ascending: Watch it for the boots

My friends said Jupiter Ascending was a really bad movie, but I can't help but think they're exaggerating.

So I watched it today...

...and yeah, it was pretty bad.

But I can think of a lot of movies far worse (have you guys seen Vice?).

So here's what's good and bad about Jupiter Ascending:

Good

- Mila Kunis scrubbing toilets in full make-up

- The Wachowski Brothers' special effects

- Eddie Redmayne (even though I hardly understood the words he said)

- Sean Bean and the thrill of waiting to find out if his character survives or not

- Razo's hover-cycle

- Cain Wise' awesome flying boots

Bad

- Mila Kunis scrubbing toilets in full make-up

- After 21 Jumpstreet and Magic Mike, I can't take Channing Tatum seriously anymore. He acts like he's got serious bowel issues in this movie.

- The whole plot rests on Jupiter being kidnapped in succession and being rescued each time. The damsel in distress scenario gets old around halfway through.

- The Kunis-Tatum loveteam has no chemistry and does not work. Actually, Tatum is the oddest one out in the cast. The Wachowskis could have made the movie better if they had gotten the casting for the Cain Wise role right.

Trailer!

Reset

Two and a half years. It feels strange dipping into this blog that time forgot. 

I have been semi-off of social media for the past couple of weeks, which allowed me to start thinking more coherently, instead of the bursts of thought that I usually get. I have wanted to get back into blogging for a very long time, but I couldn't get my head clear enough to write a post. 

Plus, I didn't want to use this site. 

The person who created this site and the girl woman writing this entry seem very different. They certainly feel different. I can't relate to the voice I used before. She was superficial and just wanted attention. She was just a mask.

Then the mask came off.

She had to go through an intense emotional struggle, with too many eyes looking on. It wasn't the kind of attention she wanted. It was like that horrible cliche nightmare where you find yourself standing naked on stage with all of your friends and family members watching.

That was five years ago. 

I want to say that I've moved on and in a lot of ways I have. I'm quite happy and content with my life right now, but sometimes my thoughts wander back. You never really leave the past behind -- you take them with you everywhere you go and it changes you. 

And that's how your demons are born. In my case, I had issues with people getting too close. 

So here I am. I laugh my ass off half the time, very outgoing, love to explore and have the most amazing friends and family. But somehow, my open-mindedness does not mean I have an open heart. Whatever I choose to show, they get exposed so much that they get sun burnt, but I keep everything else expertly hidden away. It makes for a disgustingly uneven tan.

Realizing that now, I've decided to try being more receptive and to give more back, especially to the people that matter to me. I wanted a whole new blog to do this, but decided I'm too attached to this one.

Are you still reading?

Thank you. You'll hear a little more from me from now on. 

Latest guilty pleasure: Made in Chelsea

It's embarrassing, but I admit that Made in Chelsea got me hooked after just one episode.

They're wealthy, fashionable, obnoxious, stupid, have no idea how to act, but they are very entertaining in so many wrong ways!

Here's the scene that sealed the deal for me --



Binky: Fish give birth through their mouths, don't they?
Cheska & Ollie: No, no, darling.
Cheska: They have bumholes.
Ollie: Their bumholes? Your bumhole is not where it comes out! You're a woman, you should know that babies don't come out of your ass.
Cheska: No, but they come out a hole.

Michael Kors & Coach bags/wallets sale!

SALE! SALE! SALE! 

Last Michael Kors and Coach items, prices reduced further! 

I would loooove for these to sell out by Christmas, so I'm auctioning them on eBay too. So if you buy from here, you can get them at the listed price (a.k.a. "Buy it now). 

Visit my Frustrated Sosyalera Facebook fan page and have a look around. Happy shopping! :)

Frustrated Sosyalera

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Never skip on your SPF!

My friends and I took a long drive up to Bolinao, Pangasinan over the weekend for a nice dip into Patar Beach. Unfortunately, the heavens decided to be uncooperative and chucked down a lot of rain on us.  The result is this --

I love the contrast of this shot!  

(Hey, nobody said you can't fall in love with your own talent. :P )

As the sun was tucked away in the clouds, we all skipped on the sunblock and frolicked about thinking it won't do any damage.  The thing is, our skin colour still turned darker than normal.

What happens when you skip on sunscreen, anyway?

Well, this --

This man was a truck driver for 30 years.  We're all familiar with driver's arm, which is when our left arms get sunburnt when we go for long journeys on the driver's seat, but this man was doing his profession long enough to have the left side of his face also affected by sun damage.  Not a pretty sight, especially if you're only 69.

I hate being out under the sun, not only because I don't want to get any darker, but to also avoid making my wrinkles worse a lot quicker.  Everyone gets old, but I prefer to push aging back as much as possible.  It might sound too anal to use sunblock when I work at home, but all my moisturisers contain some kind of SPF, anyway, just to be safe.  So should yours.



Source: What Sun Damage Looks Like

Do the "Claudine"

Starting now, that's how I'll say "throwing a tantrum."  I think it's funny that saying "Don't make me angry, or else I'll do a claudine on you!" or "Damnit, I got claudined."  rolls off the tongue pretty well. Hahaha.

It's the scandal of the week and everybody and their grandmothers are talking about it.  I want to put my 2 cents in too, but I'm not going to talk about the brawl itself, because we've had enough of that.

I want to talk about those damn bags -- it's what started this whole mess!

So apparently Cebu Pacific did not load a lot of the Santiago-Barretto group's bags into the Caticlan flight they boarded, because the plane is overweight (I'm guessing it's the group's fault because it's been reported they paid over Php 4,000 in excess), but that the bags were loaded into the next flight out of Kalibo.

Understandably, anyone will get upset upon learning that their bags didn't arrive at the airport with them.  However, that's the risk you take when flying on a plane -- the list of safety precautions airlines and airports have to adhere to is as long as the Great Wall of China.  You don't want your plane to just suddenly drop from the sky, now, do yah? 

But yes, it's very upsetting.  Take it from someone who arrives at NAIA only to find out my suitcases didn't make it home -- TWICE.  The first time my suitcases spent the night in Hong Kong.  Just last month, another airline left my suitcases overnight at Narita airport.  My sister told me "How come this thing always happens to you?!"

It really sucks when the family picks me up and I don't have the gifts I plan to give them, but stuff like this happen all the time.  You can't blame ground staff, blow up on them and threaten to have them fired -- it wasn't their call to make in the first place.  It was the job of airline staff from your departing airport to make sure your flight was safe and leaving on schedule.  If your bags are late, they can't load them.  If your bags make the plane overweight, they'll have to board another plane. It's pretty simple, really.

I guess being rich and famous gives you the excuse to act like a spoiled brat.  It's  just interesting that these celebrities take offense to somebody documenting their ill-behaviour, because as far as the public is concerned, their lives are fair game. 

If celebrities behave properly in public, there would be no fuss.

A lady does NOT get involved in anything like this. Seriously.

Let the men do the dirty work!

Handbags & Gladrags

Frustrated Sosyalera has decided to open a shop!  For years, I've wanted to open my own boutique, but sadly, it's taking longer than planned.  However, I've got brand-new designer purses lying around at home, looking for fabulous new owners.  So instead of Handbags and Gladrags, which is what I intend to sell in the long run, it'll be just handbags for now.  The gladrags will have to come later.

I've also set up the Frustrated Sosyalera Facebook fan page! Yay!!!

Frustrated Sosyalera

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And now for the good stuff!  Click on the photos below to be taken to my online catalogue.  Happy shopping! ;)

Eyes got it!

See what I did with the title? Wordplay, oh yeah! Hohoho!

Anywayyy, the reason for that is a couple of my last purchases before I left California were these babies --

So I wandered off into Walmart's makeup aisles, big deal! :P

I love liquid eyeliner, it's one of those makeup products that I would never manage without.  I have a very small makeup case. My daily makeup routine just involves concealer, face powder, blush & lipstick.  If I want to go a level higher, I bring out the liquid eyeliner and mascara.

But liquid eyeliner is so hard to put on!!!  I could never give both my eyes the same look, no matter how much I practice (okay, maybe I continually slack on the practicing, pfttt).  So I'm always on the lookout for the easiest liquid eyeliners to use -- I'm currently using The Face Shop Greatist liquid eyeliner (it glides on, can be easily removed and doesn't smudge, but it's shiny).    

I guess I'm in an experimental mood, so I thought I'd see how I'd fare with Maybelline's Lasting Drama gel eyeliner and L'Oreal's Lineur Intense liquid eyeliner.

While I'm at it, maybe I oughta practice some of the techniques my friend has given me, like so -- 

Mannnnn, it'd be SO COOL if I learned how to do all that, but how do I find the time?!

I'm on overload

I was just reading Lourd de Veyra's graduation speech for this year's UP MassComm graduates and I must say he hit a nerve in me.  I've never been a fan of his and I don't really know much about him except that he's a witty writer/musician, but that speech is one of the most thought-provoking ones I've read in a while.

He talked about how lucky students are that information is so readily available via the internet... that there's no excuse for being an idiot nowadays when we can Google any topic in the known universe. 

Unfortunately, that's exactly our problem -- there's just too much information.  We're all overloaded with data, that sifting through everything is bogging us down.  We are information-fatigued.

~oOo~

On the internet, everyone's a smartass.  Everyone's a writer. Everyone's a blogger.  I, for one, hate calling myself a blogger.  The word makes my skin crawl.  There's something vulgar about it that I can't really explain.  I want to be called a writer... but I hardly write.  Now that I rarely post here, I can't even be called a lousy blogger.

So here I am, nearly a decade on and I'm still looking for that niche writing style that I can claim for my own.  However, being the scatterbrain that I am, I don't think that'll happen any time soon. Maybe if I look at my computer screen long enough, that elusive flash of inspiration will eventually show up?

Haters gon' hate

I guess this reaction is quite delayed, but as the YouTube video link for 20 Reasons I Dislike the Philippines has been taken down, I managed to track it down to its original site.

( EDIT: I've taken the video down because it annoys me that it plays automatically every damn time we drop into this site. So click here instead to be taken to the video and watch it on ChannelFix.)

A lot of people had so much to say about this video.  My opinion is simple -- those are all true, innit?  Why so sensitive?

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She lives!!!

When it's been so long since my last proper update, there's just too much to say and I don't know where to begin.


So let me just start with a photo --

Yes,  all those months of silence did not curb my camwhore tendencies.  There have been bajillions of photos, stories and random shit that I think I ought to just scrap all of them and start in the here and now.

And now, I'M IN CALIFORNIA.  I've been here for 3 months.

Next week, I'LL BE BACK IN MANILA.

People think I must be living the life, but  I don't.  I'm actually bankrupt and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I have a weird set of priorities.  While some people give away all their cash for the latest gadgets or the trendiest designer threads, I spend mine on exploring.  Every new place and my experiences of them, however, are priceless.

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Boo!

Whoa, do I see cobwebs? If this site was a house, it would look like some abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere – dilapidated, unlived and unloved. What a pity. I didn’t mean get busy with actually living and forgetting to write about the stuff I get up to, it’s just sometimes I wonder what the point of it all is. Like, who cares where I’ve been and what hotels I’d booked myself in? What movies had I seen? Which new restaurants had I tried? What gifts had I given out? Would I ever recommend to anybody to make your own ringtones? (Ok, that last one was joke.)

I have had an amazing year. I feel so blessed to have been able to do the things I had done and it’s a pity that my 2011 is going to end in a fizzle. But never mind, 2012 promises to be a bit more exciting – and by exciting, I meant HARD WORK. I have had enough fun for one year, I think, and now I believe it’s time to get to the nitty gritty and work on my life plan (Honestly, I’m still working on that, so that’s also part of the hard work bit).

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World's Shortest Train

I know this is a poor excuse of a post, but a post is a post is a post! :P

Still Half-Blind

I had a niggly feeling that my already poor eyesight is getting worse and that deciding to go to the optometrists over the weekend made me nervous.  But as my eyeglass frame is already battered and very unpresentable, I've decided I should have my specs updated.

When the optometrist asked me to read the letters on the wall, they might as well have looked like this --

I can't read a thing!!  Going for eye check-ups never fail to distress me. 

The doctor tells me that my nearsightedness had gone down but my astigmatism had gone up a notch.  I didn't know how to react -- should I be happy or disappointed?  It seems like things are the same. Still, I'm thankful the readings aren't as bad as I thought they would be.

Sometimes, I feel like I want to see a lot of the world, read a lot of books and watch tons of films because I'm trying to cram everything in before I go completely blind.  Right now, that is my worst fear.  I'm not afraid that I may end up being a childless spinster or destitute, but losing my sight completely is what I feel would be the most tragic thing that could ever happen to me.

I may just be paranoid, but at least this fear is driving me to make the most out of my life.

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Absinthe Salon, Sydney

Note:  The Australia trip happened a looooong time ago. Thankfully, though, this is the last post about it -- now I can start with the Euro ones soon! Yeah, I'm not a very effective real-time travel blogger. Things will always be ultra-retrospective here. 


In this last installment, I'm going to tell you about absinthe.  Before coming to Sydney, all I ever knew about it is that it's a kind of alcohol and that a club (now closed) in Makati was named after it.  All my previous knowledge of absinthe came from this scene from the Jude Law version of the movie Alfie--



 I've learned considerably more about the drink when I visited Absinthe Salon.  Watch out, I'm going on lecture mode in a bit!  




Absinthe Salon is a quirky little place tucked away on Albion St in Surry Hills and quite easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for (happens to me all the time).  It serves all kinds of absinthe and only absinthe.




Absinthe is a highly alcoholic spirit that became popular in Europe during the late 1800's.  Unfortunately, it became so popular that it was claimed that drinking too much of it will lead to hallucinations and general madness.  They say it will make you do unspeakable things, i.e. murder and other violent crimes.  That's why absinthe is also known as The Green Fairy.  It was, therefore, banned in many countries such as France and The Netherlands in the late 19th century.

Absinthe regained its popularity during the 1990's and the bans on the drink have been reviewed.  Although still restricted, the policies regarding production and sale of absinthe are now more lenient.



There is definitely a quaint and gothic feel to Absinthe Salon and is run by a nice couple named Joop Van Heusden & Gaye Valttila (yes, I've done my research).



I want to wear a corset to work someday, too.  So jealous!



Sitting in the salon is like being in a time warp.  Was this how people like Aleister Crowley, Oscar Wilde & Vincent Van Gogh drank absinthe?  I feel sophisticated and creative already!

In the clip above, Susan Sarandon's character poured absinthe into glasses and burned sugar for it.  Gaye said that's not the right way to do it and that the absinthe is probably Czech, which is not authentic absinthe.


So how do you drink absinthe?



You will need a fountain or carafe of iced water, a small glass and a slotted spoon for the sugar cubes.



A dose of absinthe is poured into the glass.  The liquid starts out clear or green depending on the kind of absinthe.



As the water drips onto the sugar and on towards the absinthe, some kind of reaction happens between the herbs and the water.  The liquid turns cloudy and this process is called louching.  When there is enough water in the glass (about 3-5 parts), the absinthe is ready to drink... slowly.  No burning sugar here.




There are now various kinds of absinthes from all over the world to choose from.  Absinthes contain between 42-74% alcohol -- that higher end of the bracket is a LOT of alcohol.  It is widely considered that you're only allowed to drink between 2-3 doses of absinthe each time.  It is not proven that drinking too much causes hallucinations, but of course, too much of anything is bad for you and absinthe is still alcohol.  So just assume you'll get the same effects as binge-drinking.

Absinthe Salon promotes the 2-3 dose advice and they actually close at 10pm (this shocked me).  I don't recommend going there for a night cap.  Rather, pay a visit when you want to get in the mood to hit the town.



I already started to get that fuzzy feeling after the first dose.  After one more, I was definitely drunk  Apparently, you should start drinking low alcohol absinthe first, then work your way up.  There's method to the madness, after all!

Interestingly, the effect absinthe gave me is that I'm drunk, but more aware of my surroundings.  It's strange, when I'm used to alcohol clouding my head and I usually can't see straight.  I haven't decided yet if lucid drunkennes is for me, but I'm definitely going to buy myself the whole fountain-glasses-spoons set one day and maybe do my own absinthe salon at home!

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How to stay sexy while wading in floodwaters

It's been raining buckets since last night and lots of people had to wade through floodwaters to get to work or (if you're lucky enough to be sent home early) to get home.

Image is everything, so be sure to stay sexy during a flood by donning these very wholesome pieces--

Let's cause a scandal.

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It's a matter of relativity

I absolutely love, love, love this strip from Calm Blue Oceans --

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Lost in all that makeup

Say you put makeup on every morning and never bothered to take it off at the end of the day for a year, what do you think you'd look like? 

Never mind what you'd look like, but how do you think would it  feel??  Talk about slapping stuff into your face. 

If you're really curious, two Dutch filmmakers have decided to show us how it may look like.



Lernert & Sander: Natural Beauty on Nowness.com.

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