Activity

Sophie’s 2nd Pre-birthday photoshoot – Take Your Pic ATC

How time flies, Sophie is turning 2 in a month, just like that. I love seeing her photos done in a studio, so since she was a baby she has always photoshoots.

Sharing with you some of Sophie’s pre-birthday shots. This was done in Take Your Pic ATC. It has a very small studio because its more of a photobooth than an ordinary studio. They have affordable packages and I got the 2,000 package which includes 8×10 photo with frame, 4 5R prints and 15 digital files in CD.

Take Your Pic Alabang Town Center – 02.218.7689 IG: takeyourpicstudio

September 30, 2015

Shu Uemura is ❤️

I love makeup and skincare products. I have discovered my love for makeup in 2010, and skincare since I started having facials in Luz back in the day (late 90s). Over the years I have tried different brands (from drugstore brands to high ends), so somehow I had the idea of the better and reasonable ones to purchase.

Anyways, the only brand that I haven’t tried is Shu Uemura. I constantly overlook this brand in malls and Duty Frees. Maybe because I’m more interested in Shiseido and SKII, given they’re all Japanese brands. SKII has an amazing (and very expensive) skincare products, and I love Shiseido and Maquillage’s powder foundations.

I was just browsing thru IG when I chanced upon the scheduled Beauty Class of Shu Uemura for those who will purchase 6k of their products. I became interested to join because even though I am a makeup junkie, I never had any teachings from a professional. So I went to ATC and bought some stuff so I could qualify. I bought a complete line of Tsuya skincare, and man, this line is impressive! I know my goal is to just qualify for the Beauty Class but I stumbled into something more. I have discovered the amazing products of Shu Uemura. (and no, I didn’t get paid to say this)

Even though Shu’s products are expensive, I am sincere to say they’re worth it. I highly recommend the Ultim8 cleansing oil. Shu is famous for its cleansing oils but the Ultim8 is the creme ala creme. And the Tsuya line (lotion, essence, emulsion, night cream) is pure heaven! I’m just using them for a week and I love them on my face! Really, what a surprise find. ❤️

The Beauty Class is just a bonus. I know my basic makeup but I learned more techniques from Shu Master Cats Del Rosario. Thanks to her and the rest of the Shu Beauty Team ATC for beautifying me and the other participant, Ms. Jackie.

Here are some of the highlights of my well spent afternoon.

September 28, 2015

I can’t seem to contain my excitement. In just a week’s time, I will be saying hello to Big Ben! Tabs and I wanted to treat ourselves for our anniversary this year. We were thrilled when we got approved for visa. Who knows, US next year, maybe? 😉

We were just thinking of trying to apply for a UK Visa a few months back. The process seemed fairly easy, with no interviews. The only part that took me a tad long was the online application. I had to accomplish 3 applications (mine, tabs and sophie’s). We had to compute all the financials, our expenses here at home and what we have to spend in UK. Plus, it needed our previous passports informations. Good thing we were able to keep them.

Since its still fresh in my memory, below is the list of the requirements and the process we went through. (Standard Tourist Visa for Filipinos living in the PH)

1. Before starting on the online application, gather the information needed. This includes present and previous passports, previous travels, hotel/flight/trains/tour details and costs (no need to book yet), living costs here and in UK.

2. Apply online. Be ready with credit card details and cost. I was charged $136/person for the visa application (approx 6,316 at the time). The infant has same rate with adults, yes. After accomplishing the application, schedule an appointment date and time. For family application like us, I booked the same date and time. Print the online application and appointment letter.

3. Make sure that all supporting documents are ready before making an appointment. These are the documents that I submitted for the 3 of us.

Ren (businesswoman)

• Mayor’s Permit • DTI • BIR COR • Business ITR • Bank Statement and Certificate • Marriage Certificate • Present and previous passports • Printed online application with appropriate ID Photo (check here for exact measurement)

RJ (employee)

• COE • ITR • Bank Statement and Certificate • Present and previous passports • Printed online application with appropriate ID Photo

Sophie (infant)

• Birth Certificate • Printed online application with appropriate ID Photo

All documents must be submitted in original and photocopies. There are instances that originals are not returned when no photocopy is provided. No need to submit the same docs if you’re travelling as a family (eg. Marriage cert).

Tip I got somewhere:

The money in your bank must be greater than your overall UK trip.

4. Come to the appointment at *VFS Global at least 20 minutes earlier. Parking space is limited and valet is available if full. No charge for valet parking, just tip the driver.

5. Sort the documents beforehand. All originals and copies of docs for one person are checklisted at the counter. It saves time if docs are properly sorted.

6. All applicants must come to the appointment in person, even children and infants. This is for the picture taking and biometrics purposes (picture taking only for infants).

7. If you want to be notified of your application thru text message, pay an additional Php150 per person. I made a mistake of applying for sms notification for Tabs and I (Php300), since we didn’t really need them. We are always online and email notifications are provided for free. If you’re not always online, then sms notification is helpful.

8. You may opt to have your documents returned by courier, though I’m not exactly sure with the charge, around 300/person. We opted to return personally to claim the docs, as that time we kept our UK planning a secret and wouldn’t want anyone in the house snooping on docs mailed by UK embassy.

Just like any embassy in the world, all docs submitted must be true and authentic. They keep a record of all the docs and it could cause a problem (if not now maybe in the future) if fake docs are submitted.

In exactly 10 days, we received a text notifying us of the decision made and that our docs were for retrieval already. We were given multiple entry in 6 months. I think this is the standard visa they give to tourists.

I think we got approved because of our numerous travels in Asia, and with Japan visa valid for 5 years. The docs we passed all had originals and photocopies. But they were all returned to us, with them not keeping even the photocopies.

After our visa approval thats the time we finalized our flight and hotel bookings and tours tickets. UK be ready, we’re coming for ya! 😉

You may checkout the visa process here:

Apply UK Visa

*VFS Manila Visa Application Centre, Mezzanine Floor, Unit M01 Ecoplaza Building, 2305 Chino Roces Ave. Extension, Makati City 1231, PH

Sophie in Playschool : Gymboree

We know its too early, but at Sophie’s young age of 20 months, we want her to experience going to a playschool. In our house, she’s the only baby, and her playmates are mostly us and her yayas. Its still different to mingle with kids her age too, and to gain confidence with her activities while learning and having fun at the same time.

When she was just 10 months, I tried her in a trial class in Kinder Musik BGC. It was ok but there were so many kids. I think they were more than a dozen in a class and the space was so small. Plus we were so busy that time with all the wedding preparations. Now I think is the best time for her to join a playschool. She can understand almost everything now, though she doesn’t talk much yet.

I plan on enrolling her to the different classes of Gymboree in Greenbelt 5. They have a nice spacious area for playing. For now I enrolled her in Play and Learn Level 4 (16-24 months). The first time she was a bit hesitant to try the slides and other activities, but she got more relaxed the second time and even tried to mingle with some of her classmates. Whats nice about Gymboree is the kids gymplay for the day is free when enrolled in a class. So the kids can stay before or after class if they still want to play.

Sophie’s becoming confident on her succeeding classes

she doesn’t like going through a tunnel like this though

Teacher Jem hands out a shape for Sophie to toss

She loves to dance whenever she hears an upbeat song, so probably next would be her Music class.

Here is Sophie dancing to the Gymbo song.

For more information, visit or call:

Gymboree Greenbelt 5, Greenbelt 5, Basement Level, Ayala Center, Makati

Phone: (63)2.728.4769 (GROW)

http://www.gymboree-ph.com

July 17, 2015

First Run

Today marked a first in the history of my existence. I joined a 5k run! 👏🏼 Never thought it was possible, since I despise running or any sporty activity of sorts. It was difficult not having any practice or exercise for the past 3 years or so. It was more of a walking than running, since my goal is to just finish, whatever means it maybe. 😁 But its difficult just the same. I finished in an hour and I was satisfied with myself, I was tired and sweaty but I did not regret it. 💪🏼

I hope I can join more runs in the future. Thumbs up to my sister’s friend Cy for staying behind to accompany me throughout the run.

June 28, 2015

Now Coloring: Color Me Doodle

I came across these coloring sheets called Color Me Doodle in Instagram and decided to try it out. I was never fond of coloring or any artsy stuff in my childhood years, but somehow now I’m beginning to (talk about late bloomer). Anyways, these 10 sheets are designed for adults and will really bring out the creativity of colors in you. A lot would say that coloring relieves stress, but personally, I just enjoy doing it. Also, it was fun picking out color pens in a bookstore and after a couple of sets (Maped and Stabilo), I settled for Faber Castell with its variety of colors (60 colors) for just 699 (I think).

Some of the sheets that I finished coloring (my favorite is the cat). I guess I have a flair for coloring, after all. 😁

Color Me Doodle (for shipping only); contact Mark Dean Lim – colormedoodle@gmail.com / @colormedoodle