The 2010 Highlights

It was beautifully done. Cannot be undone. Thank you, 2010!
This wonderful year is setting back in the horizon to give way to another fabulous year and another decade to come. And now is the best time to look back on the beautiful things that have happened during the past year and decade. Of course, it's the last day of the year 2010 and the last day of the first decade of the 2nd millennium.

The year 2010 did start off with a big blast. It just got better and better, ands is now ending with still, a major blast. Let's take a look at the highlights of my year 2010. Time to count our blessings...
  • LIBRODIZED I remember when I first met the master of portraiture, Manny Librodo. Marl attended his photography workshop in Cebu for the first time in January 2010 and I had a chance to meet him after the workshop. I've been a fan of his work for years and meeting him was the highlight of our month-long holiday then - I was indeed Librodized. But what I didn't know was it indeed embarked something beautiful. I became one his models, along with the beautiful British-Thai model-cum-actress Krystal Vee, on his 2 workshops in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and a friendship evolved thereafter. He again asked me to be one of the models for his workshops in Manila and Cebu, along with his other muse Kharunisia Jazmin. We're thankful for the opportunities that he has given me and Marl and for the friendship he has unselfishly offered to us.
  • YAHOO! FOR ME I was featured on the homepage of Yahoo! Philippines, not only once, but twice in a row. Somehow, the video of me singing a Michael Jackson medley and doing the moonwalk in my long gown and high heels was recognized by Yahoo! And a week after that, they featured me again with a video of me doing my Michael Jackson impersonation back in 2008 - with a flying shoe! Yahoooooo indeed! :)
  • SABAT Following my Yahoo! features, I was interviewed by MgaEpal.com people. And it was the most hilarious interview I've ever had. Crazy, if I may add.
  • BEAUTY ENDORSEMENT Being the spokesperson and endorser for Dr. Taize Gold Sheep Placenta Plus is one of the great things that happened to me this year. Why not? It's a great health and beauty product of Malaysia to endorse. And I swear by it  - I'm taking the capsules. Lots of their local celebrities use it, too.
  • MAGAZINE FEATURES I had an opportunity to meet the people at BluInc Group, the biggest publisher of magazines in Malaysia, and from then on, they had asked to pose for them. One was a full page beauty spread and another was on the cover of their 50th year anniversary edition - both for Her World magazine, one of the famous magazines in Malaysia. Then, MYBatik magazine in KL featured me as their model draped in nothing but, uhmm, batik cloths - all 11 pages of it!
  • CERTIFIED MAKEUP ARTIST I was so happy when I finally got my certificate all the way from Toni&Guy London after waiting for 9 long months after taking up a makeup course with Toni&Guy Essensuals under the supervision of celebrity makeup artist, Cheryl Cabanos.
  • LITTLE SUPERSTAR Who wouldn't be proud of your own child if she's as good as our little princessette? She has already won singing competitions in her school but joining and ending up as one of the top 5 contenders for Filipino Superstar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sure proved everyone that she has the X-Factor! :)
  • BILLBOARD AD Marl and I graced the big billboards (and lightboxes) for shopping mall in Shah Alam, Malaysia called SpaceU8. Yes, Badeedadee Marl is also a model. FYI. :)
  • SUCCESSFUL CHARITY SHOW I was blessed to be given an opportunity to perform for the Filipino community in my first-ever solo show in KL that was co-organized by the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur for the National Cancer Society Malaysia. It also helped my former colleague Aretha in raising funds for her pancreatic tumor surgery (which was successful).
  • MY EYE & I I know you've heard me rant about my recent pink eye drama here on my site, on Facebook and on Twitter. I think there's just something with me and my eye this year. Especially when I accidentally hit it with a microphone in February! LOL.
  • FUNSHOOTS As I have mentioned above, meeting Manny Librodo has opened a lot of opportunities for me to meet other creative mind alike and work with the finest through his photography workshops and fun photoshoots that were organized by mostly his students in his workshops. My portfolio couldn't even keep up! Salamat talaga, Sir Manny!
  • PLACES AND FACES I've been to lots of places in Philippines this year aside from the usual Manila/Cebu route - all for the sake of photography. Along with that, I've worked with sooo many talented and creative people from makeup artists, stylists, designers, models, and photographers like Jim Paredes. And yes, I have gained lots of new friends - in real life. But yes, I also met lots of new friends on Twitter and Facebook this year. LOL.
  • CATWALKED I have had offers to do different events as a model since I went back to Manila in August but I only agreed to do it with Wella Professionals on 3 different occasions: Wella SP Launching, Decoré Launching (where I started the show while posing on an descending escalator), and the biggest international hair event of the year, Hair Asia 2010.
  • WEEEE FOR BADEEDADEE Marl has become quite known in his passion which is photography. His recent works show the great improvement that this year has brought him. If you haven't seen his work yet, better 'like' it now.
  • HUMBLE ABODE We have finally moved in to our condo unit in Mandaluyong City which we have been renting out to our good tenants for 5 years. It's not the posh kind that I have always dreamed of but it's a sweet happy place that I can call home.
There you go. Did I miss anything? No, I didn't forget the other things that were less satisfactory than good. I just thought that they should rather be labeled as "lessons to learn from". To those who've been part of our 2010, THANK YOU. Your presence in our life was not a coincidence. We were meant to meet you to know what our purpose-driven life has in store for us.

Trust me, there were lots of other great things that happened to me this year. It was so unbelievable that it's as if lady luck was on my side. And I can feel the energy and the positive vibes of the coming year 2011. But for now, let's count all these blessings. Let's continue sharing our blessings, love, peace, and harmony to everyone we know. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! CHEERS TO THE COMING YEAR 2011!

One helluva gadget that served me for years



This iPod Shuffle was a gift from a female friend in Shanghai in 2005. Back then, it was THE coolest portable gadget. Of course one reason is because it's an Apple product. This 512MB player has been my companion during my workouts and quiet meditations for 5 years. Why haven't I upgraded or replaced this gadget? First, it has a sentimental value as with the other stuff that I got from friends, relatives, and believe it not, from strangers, too. Second, I have this mantra that if it ain't broken, don't replace it. I wonder how many more years this 1st generation (?) iPod Shuffle will continue to serve me.

A very merry BEARY Christmas in Beijing! :)

Celebrating Christmas in the Philippines is really something that is memorable. In fact, I haven't experienced Christmas as good as how we celebrated it back home. Inexplicably different. Although it doesn't snow in the Philippines, you can feel the spirit of Christmas and you can smell the Christmas air. Really inexplicable. And that's what we missed this year, unfortunately.


However, our Christmas wasn't bad at all. Why? Because Shangri-La Hotel Beijing has a different Christmas theme this year --- BEARY CHRISTMAS! And boy,  it really lived up to its theme... white teddy bears all over the hotel, from the lobby to its outlets! And all of those bears have the symbol and name of Shangri-La Hotel Beijing on their left sole. So cute!
From L-R: URB on Christmas Eve; Marthy & me on the giant bear; celebration with friends
And when I say bears of all sizes, I mean from palm-sized to... uhmmmm... HOTEL LOBBY SIZE! Hahaha! Yes, seriously. It was the first cuddly and huggable GIANT white teddy bear that I have ever seen in my entire life! I felt like a kid when we saw it on Christmas eve. My eyes almost popped out of my head and I screamed, "OH MY GAWWWD!", and ran to it to have some photos taken with Marthy.
Me and the giant Shangri-La teddy bear!
Beary Christmas!
On Christmas eve, we started performing at 6PM at the hotel restaurant. We played for 3 sets there and moved back to the bar for another 2 sets. We finished before midnight and the three of us decided to visit our sister band at the Kempinski Hotel's Paulaner Brauhaus. Although their band was already on their last 3 songs when we got there, they still managed to force me to perform a song. Hahaha!

Afterwards, we went to their friend's house, a Filipina married to a Dutch guy, to celebrate the Christmas eve. There were food and booze but we couldn't do much as we needed to go back to the hotel at 4AM because we'd have a lunch performance on Christmas day itself. But at least, we were able to spend it with people who know how to celebrate Christmas right. Thanks, Darren, Anita, Marfy & Toni! :)

NO HOLIDAY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
OK, back to reality, let's talk about work. I must admit that we haven't really celebrated Christmas the traditional way, the same way as we did in our younger days. Why? Because I've been traveling and performing outside the Philippines for 15 years now. You know how it is when it's Christmas. It's more stressful in our part, as musicians, as we try to make people happy during this season while fighting back the home-sickness that we feel from being away from families. Yes, that's true - put on a good show and time to wear that big happy mask. This year is no different from the past years. In fact, we won't be having an offday for 2 weeks. The only downside of it is we have lunch sets at the hotel restaurant on the weekends. Not that I'm complaining, but we all know very well that a musician's body clock is switched off at this time. You know what I mean? But it's great to actually see the daylight while singing. Hahaha! Well, we just hope two weeks would go by very fast. 

PS: THANK YOU SANTA!
I'm sure mini-me totally freaked out when she saw the ha... on TwitpicThis is kinda off-topic but I just wanna thank Santa Claus for making my daughter Selena happy this Christmas. She got what she asked for: a pet hamster in a super cute girly cage. She's been asking me to buy her a hamster after her first hamster died earlier this year. I guess, she'll take care of her hamster this time. Of course, it's from Santa! Thank you, Santa!!! :)

Merry Christmas from us to you!

Wishes for the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year from our family to yours!

Dippin' low

The pic says it all - date, time, and temperature here in Beijing at this moment. It's the coldest point we've had here. But we can't feel it inside the hotel. Lucky for us. It was forecasted last week that it would snow this week. So I guess there's no White Christmas for us this year. Not that I'm wishing. I'm just sayin'.

Hard disk horror


I have been a computer geek since I started designing websites in 1997. And just like most geeks, with that amount of time of 13 years - I have accumulated tons and tons of different kinds of files.

As I'd always say, "if you want to look back at my past, browse on my files". And I have collected 6 external hard disks through out these years. My recent purchase was a couple of 500GB hard disks last year. And one of them is having a hiccup or a failure recently. I know it hasn't "died" on me yet because I don't hear clicking sounds of death at all and it still powers up and spins when I plug it into my Mac OS X. But it just couldn't be detected on Mac - not even in the Disk Utility. What a bummer!

However, I have tried connecting it to my virtual PC via VMWare and although it doesn't show in My Computer, it does show up under the Device Manager.

AHHH... A ray of hope!!! That means, I still have hope to retrieve and backup all the files inside it, particularly those one year worth of good memories. Because this non-working hard disk contains all photos and videos that I took during the past year. And thousands of other files. Boo.

Aside from the percussive technique or "technical tapping" it (which I already did) and putting it inside a freezer (which I am yet to do), I would really appreciate any inputs or suggestions on how to revive my files from the disk. Please?!

Posted by ShoZu

A tweet from the North Pole




Who says Christmas socks are still in and Santa hasn't caught up with the technology?! Here's Santa C with a twittername @cybersanta, replying my wishful tweet to have an iPad2 in spring. I swear I would have died of heart attack and would have run the streets of Beijing screaming with tears of joy had I gotten a note from Santa C. like this when I was kid. Why was it so difficult to get to him back then? Oh, blame it on Mr. Postman. 

On the other hand, I think that tweet from Santa C. was a little creepy. Maybe he meant he's watching me right now and he's liking what he sees and because of that I'd get an iPad2? Maybe it's time to check on some holes, cracks, or hidden cameras here in our hotel room. LOL. Oh, Santa, you're way too hi-tech than me. Unbelievable.

How 'sweet' it is!


Our first break is automatically and always, and I mean alwaysss, THE coffee break. But after our first set tonight, this was what we found in the bar where we would usually sit during our breaks. Three coffees already prepared, three bottled water, and what is that?!!! A very nice plate of sweet li'l whatchamacallitz!!! How sweet indeed - referring to the staff of Cloud Nine Bar and their little "gift" to us. Xie xie ni! :)

Posted by ShoZu

Kudos to Emerson College for a fun Lady Gaga vid!


This would have been fun to shoot, huh? The class of 2013 of Emerson College in Boston thought of something really cool and it definitely shows how cool they are. Nine minutes of non-cut running video and not a single second shouts of boredom. Everything in it is just interesting. I'm inspired to do videos like this. Maybe when I'm already sitting on a director's chair someday. No, to make this kind of running video, I'd need to run on foot with a 5 kilo video camera in the middle of my shoulder, head, and arm. Congrats again!

My coldest winter... so far!


The screencap of my iPhone screen says it all. This is by far the coldest temperature I have ever experienced in my entire life. And I heard, Beijing is expecting this winter to be the coldest one in 50 years?!?! DAMN. And it's just December. Freezing point in Beijing is always around January to February. And no, it hasn't snowed yet. Huwahhhh!

On the other side of the spectrum, we're so lucky because we are staying inside the Shangri-La hotel, unlike when we spent 2 winters in Qingdao where we stayed in an apartment that was 10 minutes away by cab from the hotel where we worked in. So now, we can truly appreciate how convenient it is to stay in the hotel especially at this time.

And yes, I'm blogging this under the thick comforter of our bed. Keep yourselves warm, too, guys!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Posted by ShoZu

A letter of an unborn baby to his mom

I found this on the internet at one of my Twitter friends' Tumblr site. This 
definitely makes sense and I just wanna share this special letter of an unborn
child to his mother who had an abortion.


PS: Before any confusion is done, this is NOT a first-hand experience and I am not
related to any of the characters in the story in whatever way.


============================================================================ 


Hi, Mommy. I’m your baby. You don’t know me yet, I’m only a few
weeks old. You’re going to find out about me soon, though, I promise.
Let me tell you some things about me. My name is John, and I’ve got
beautiful brown eyes and black hair. Well, I don’t have it yet, but I
will when I’m born. I’m going to be your only child, and you’ll call me
your one and only. I’m going to grow up without a daddy mostly, but we
have each other. We’ll help each other, and love each other. I want to
be a doctor when I grow up.

You found out about me today, Mommy! You were so excited, you couldn’t
wait to tell everyone. All you could do all day was smile, and life was
perfect. You have a beautiful smile, Mommy. It will be the first face I
will see in my life, and it will be the best thing I see in my life. I
know it already.

Today was the day you told Daddy. You were so excited to tell him about
me! …He wasn’t happy, Mommy. He kind of got angry. I don’t think that
you noticed, but he did. He started to talk about something called
wedlock, and money, and bills, and stuff I don’t think I understand
yet. You were still happy, though, so it was okay. Then he did
something scary, Mommy. He hit you. I could feel you fall backward, and
your hands flying up to protect me. I was okay… but I was very sad
for you. You were crying then, Mommy. That’s a sound I don’t like. It
doesn’t make me feel good. It made me cry, too. He said sorry after,
and he hugged you again. You forgave him, Mommy, but I’m not sure if I
do. It wasn’t right. You say he loves you… why would he hurt you? I
don’t like it, Mommy.

Finally, you can see me! Your stomach is a little bit bigger, and
you’re so proud of me! You went out with your mommy to buy new

clothes, and you were so so so happy. You sing to me, too. You have 
the most beautiful voice in the whole wide world. When you sing is
when I’m happiest. And you talk to me, and I feel safe. So safe. You
just wait and see, Mommy. When I am born I will be perfect just for
you. I will make you proud, and I will love you with all of my heart.

I can move my hands and feet now, Mommy. I do it because you put your
hands on your belly to feel me, and I giggle. You giggle, too. I love
you, Mommy.

Daddy came to see you today, Mommy. I got really scared. He was acting
funny and he wasn’t talking right. He said he didn’t want you. I don’t
know why, but that’s what he said. And he hit you again. I got angry,
Mommy. When I grow up I promise I won’t let you get hurt! I promise to
protect you. Daddy is bad. I don’t care if you think that he is a good
person, I think he’s bad. But he hit you, and he said he didn’t want
us. He doesn’t like me. Why doesn’t he like me, Mommy?

You didn’t talk to me tonight, Mommy. Is everything okay?

It’s been three days since you saw Daddy. You haven’t talked to me or
touched me or anything since that. Don’t you still love me, Mommy? I
still love you. I think you feel sad. The only time I feel you is when
you sleep. You sleep funny, kind of curled up on your side. And you hug
me with your arms, and I feel safe and warm again. Why don’t you do
that when you’re awake, any more?

I’m 21 weeks old today, Mommy. Aren’t you proud of me? We’re going
somewhere today, and it’s somewhere new. I’m excited. It looks like a
hospital, too. I want to be a doctor when I grow up, Mommy. Did I tell
you that? I hope you’re as excited as I am. I can’t wait.

…Mommy, I’m getting scared. Your heart is still beating, but I don’t
know what you are thinking. The doctor is talking to you. I think
something’s going to happen soon. I’m really, really, really scared,
Mommy. Please tell me you love me. Then I will feel safe again. I love
you!

Mommy, what are they doing to me!? It hurts! Please make them stop! It
feels bad! Please, Mommy, please please help me! Make them stop!

Don’t worry Mommy, I’m safe. I’m in heaven with the angels now. They
told me what you did, and they said it’s called an abortion.

Why, Mommy? Why did you do it? Don’t you love me any more? Why did you
get rid of me? I’m really, really, really sorry if I did something
wrong, Mommy. I love you, Mommy! I love you with all of my heart. Why
don’t you love me? What did I do to deserve what they did to me? I want
to live, Mommy! Please! It really, really hurts to see you not care
about me, and not talk to me. Didn’t I love you enough? Please say
you’ll keep me, Mommy! I want to live smile and watch the clouds and
see your face and grow up and be a doctor. I don’t want to be here, I
want you to love me again! I’m really really really sorry if I did
something wrong. I love you!

I love you, Mommy.


================================================


Every abortion is just…



One more heart that was stopped.

Two more eyes that will never see.
Two more hands that will never touch.
Two more legs that will never run.
One more mouth that will never speak.


If you’re against abortion, reblog.

Bye bye, pink eyes!

Happy Sars
My Twitter friends might have been shushing me out of their timeline today as I went gaga over Maxitrol the moment I woke up this afternoon and been raving about it since then. Why? Because it's just sooooo amazing! It's like a magic was done over me overnight and I couldn't believe my eyes. Pun intended.

When I got the Maxitrol from a friend last night, I only was able to use it before going to bed after the show. It stung a bit, maybe because it's THE medicine that this stubborn pink eye needed. Then when I woke up in the afternoon, I was soooo excited to look at the mirror at what could have possibly happened in my sleep. I didn't feel hardened mucus gluing my eyes, my eyes just opened as it normally would - without the burning or stinging sensation. And when I looked in the mirror, it was indeed MAGIC!

To my Facebook and Twitter friends who have advised me to get Maxitrol or Tobradex, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You saved my self-esteem from dropping low this weekend. I'm gonna see my friends who I haven't seen for a year (some of them more than that) in a pre-Christmas gathering tomorrow that we have organized with our agent/manager. And yes, I wouldn't have to hide behind those dark glasses anymore. I can't wait to do it tonight so I can have clear eyes tomorrow!

PS: Please tell the makers of Maxitrol that if they need testimonial model, they'd know where to contact me. Hahaha!

Maxitrol, oh Maxitrol!

Finally it's here!!! Given the fact that it's really difficult to find a drugstore/pharmacy here in Beijing that sells western drugs and medicines, I never thought I'd be able to get hold of this known cure for sore eyes or pink eyes. But a twitter friend, who I haven't met, was flying from Manila to Beijing for a holiday with his family. I didn't think twice & sent him a message for this big favor - to buy me Maxitrol for my recent agony.

So he and his family came to the Cloud Nine bar tonight to meet up for the first time or call it a mini #tweetup and to watch our show. His lovely wife, who worked in Edsa Plaza Shangri-La in Manila with our hotel's general manager here, passed this cure to to me and boy, I felt like a kid who just got her first Christmas pressie! Thanks Boyet for the help! I owe you one! :) Oh, here's our photo together taken at work tonight! :)

Now, let's pray that my pink eyes will be gone sooner than later... will you please make it happen, Maxitrol? Pretty please?!?!

Pink Eye: Go forth and multiply?

So apparently, I woke up this afternoon with an additional concern regarding my now-infamous pink eye. Been on prescribed meds for 4 days now so I was hoping to see some slight improvements. I almost screamed when I looked in the mirror... it has passed on to my right eye! Now I have officially PINK EYES! Huwahhhh!

Because our passports were sent out for the processing of our working permit and other circumstances, I haven't seen a local eye doctor yet (yes, somehow hospitals and clinics require passports for foreigners' registration). But I'm so lucky to have my ex-schoolmate Jac who is now an optometrist in California who has enlightened me with some information I need. I have even showed her some photos of my eye and sent her some videos to show what's happening with my eye so she could help me in her own little way. Oh, I love technology! She's not ruling out on anything but by the looks of it and from the facts that I have laid on the table, she suspects nothing more serious than viral conjunctivitis. Which means it is indeed THE pink eyes or sore eyes. But she still advises me to see an eye specialist here in Beijing. Hope this gets better soon. Wishin' n' hopin'...

So anyway, now that I have both pink eyes, I can say that it's so much easier to handle this than having just one pink eye. Why? Because I'm no different than other people that I know of, especially when they get exposed to smoke or when they get drunk or when they get allergies or sinusitis. LOL. The pic below was as of 3AM of December 10, 2010, Friday.

Multiple choice:
HOW DO I LOOK LIKE WITH BOTH PINK EYES?
a) looks like I've been swimming without goggles
b) looks like I've cried too much
c) looks like I just had a little too much to drink
d) looks like I just had a very good joint (by lawrz LOL) 
e) all of the above
PS: Thanks to @David_UR for pointing out that it was indeed the same left eye that got hit by my microphone earlier this year.

The Pink Eye: Damn Unpretty

For vanity's sake: Pink-eyed Sars from day 1 to day 5. :)
If there are moments when I feel unsexy and unpretty, it's these past few days. I've had a sore eye or a pink eye - for the second time in my life. I couldn't remember the first time anymore - I was in grade school I think. But I can still remember how my mom took care of me then by filling my eye with ointment.

This time was different though. Because I had a history of having a chronic vernal kerato conjunctivitis (from contact lenses) in the past 5 years, I didn't think of it as a sore eye at first when it started to have the burning sensation on Thursday night. But it started to get so red but not really swollen like before. Then I remember my brothers and cousins being attacked by sore eyes in a span of two weeks just before I left Manila - one after the other. Then I ruled out that it's a sore eye or the pink eye.

Say what?!
Being in a foreign land, I couldn't just go to any pharmacy and ask for over-the-counter meds. Weekend was a pain as I didn't have any medicines, only relied on hubby's eyedrops for irritated eyes. So when the non-English speaking hotel doctor came in on Monday, he gave me erythromycin eye ointment & orofloxacin eye drops and was instructed in Chinese. Luckily my brain could pick up some words from his instructions and I could understand the last thing he told me, "If it ain't better in 2-3 days, better go to a hospital". What?!!! Hospital?!!! No way. Gotta make these meds my bestfriends for the next days and will just follow its direction on the box... wait... OHHH MY GAWD! The directions of use on the boxes were all written in Chinese, too!

Luckily, the technology has its sweet way to help me. I tweeted the pictures of the medicines (above) to my followers on Twitter and asked help for translation. And yes, couple of them did and translated what was written in Chinese. Thanks bro Lone & sis Melinda! Thanks Twitter! :)

Get well soon, alr-eye?
I've been on the meds for 3 days now. It feels better now but I still can't see an aesthetic improvement at all. I hope it gets better soon. It's difficult not to look people in the eye when I talk to them or cover my left eye purposely or hide under my shades even when I go inside a supermarket. I know I have beautiful eyes, can't wait to get the other one back. Guess this is the perfect time to say to myself: Patience is a virtue.

PS: Thanks to all of you who have wished me well, especially to my Twitter followers and friends. Thanks to my hubby Marl for making me feel good about myself. He told me while I was singing onstage, "Nevermind, you're still pretty even with your sore eye. Wanna shoot tomorrow?". LOL. I know that the last part was his sarcastically sweet quip. :)

First week adjustments in Beijing

Check out my newest wet album "Splash"
by Badeedadee (click the pic)
This blog will mostly be about the complaints that I have during my first week back in Beijing. As you all know, I was in the Philippines for more than 3 months of unfortunate-turned-fortunate holiday. I've had some great moments there. Loved the weather, even if it was way humid. Loved our new home, even it's not fully furnished yet. Loved the photoshoots during weekends, because that's when I feel at my best. Love the food, even though I don't cook.

After a week, I'm starting to fall apart...

Hot and Cold
So from 30C in Manila, we flew in to -5C in Beijing. Adjustments, adjustments. My way to deal with the cold weather was to go panic-buying at the nearby supermarket for my food stock and to NOT go out of the hotel ever since. And if I have the need to go out, I get all the long-sleeved blouses from my closet and wear them under my winter jacket. And if I'm inside the hotel, I rely on the heater. However, it doesn't help that much on my now-dry skin. It may keep us warm but it makes our room stuffy. You know how most hotel rooms are, the carpets are stuck in there for years and so are the curtains. In the end, we get all these kind of nasal allergies and rashes. Ahhh, winter, please go by swiftly!

Got You Under My Skin
The skin on my face is starting to dry as well and no amount of my Clinique moisturizer can ease the warning signs of dryness plus a minor skin breakout. I think it's the water that are causing this breakout. I remember I also had breakout here in Beijing in 2009. My solution: I just rely on petroleum jelly for my dry skin and tea tree oil for my skin breakout. Yes, you heard that right. I apply petroleum jelly all over my face, including my lips! I know it's insane. Well that's me, insanely vain.

Hair Die... errr... Dye
My hair has also suffered lately. In Manila, I didn't even need a hairdryer to have smooth and soft hair - only a good conditioner was all I needed. But here in China, it's different. I don't know what they have in their water here in China, but my hair tend to get dry and brittle every time I'm here. And the coloring that Wella and Clairol did in November for the Hair Asia didn't help either. I really need a major major hair treatment soon. Sigh.

Pink Eye
I hope it's just a pink eye thingy or what we call "sore eye". My left eye has been feeling funny since we arrived for a week. I thought it'd go away. I even opened a new pair of contact lenses thinking it's because of the 1 week-old lenses. But it just made it worse. Last night, I had to remove my contact lenses after the second set because my left eye was becoming red. Today I had difficulty in waking up because of the hardened mucus around my left eye. It's still reddish and sore. Hope it's nothing serious like the eye infection that caused me to have eye surgery in the past. Here's a video link to the gross yet informative video.

On the other side of the spectrum........

Baby Got The Groove Back
Good thing though is that I'm feeling the vibe and the groove back. Music does this to me. Releases all the tension inside me and it's an overall stress reliever. So it doesn't have to feel like working at all. All's good. Time for fun - all the time. :)

Hitting The Floor... Yet Again
I'm back to my daily dose of workouts - Pilates and Yoga - and trying very hard to stick to it, at least for the next 21 days. I've read somewhere that if you want to do something in a daily basis, you'd have to do it at least for 21 consecutive days. I don't have any explanation on that but I guess that's just the way it is. LOL. To date, I've done it for 3 consecutive days now and starting to feel toned again in the right places. I can't wait to have those fab abs again!

My inspiration until today

Taken during Olympics 2008
Taken in Qingdao, this was how my body, particularly my 8-pack abs, looked like in 2008. I always look back to it, not for memories' sake, but for some inspiration. Being in Malaysia and the Philippines felt like I had to pig out with my favorite dishes. But now that I'm back in China, I'm determined to get those washboard abs back. Goodluck to me as I go back to Pilates, yoga and 100-ab-crunches a day! :)

PS: Love hubby's limited edition jacket, too! :)
Posted by ShoZu