The Belo Sun Expert Sunscreen Surprised Me

The Belo Sun Expert Sunscreen Surprised Me

Monday, June 27, 2022

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I am always excited to try out new sunscreen because I still cannot find any that beats or even matches up to my holy grail Biore Aqua Rich. When we went to Bantayan months ago, I we picked this up at a local Watsons on a buy 1 get 1 offer for only Php 424 but we weren't able to use it so it has been sitting in my cabinet for months now. I was still trying to finish up my Garnier one because I didn't want to open multiple bottles at once. Belo just came out with their dewy sunscreen so there's a high chance that this is on sale again.

Anyway, let's get started.

Overview

One bottle contains 50mL of product. It claims to be reef-friendly which I don't really know how to make sense of as of the writing of this post because I have not read much research about that. It also claims to be free of oxybenzone, octinoxate, parabens, triclosan, PABA, octocrylene and 4-methylbenzylidene. These ingredients are said to be causing irritation and contact dermatitis so it's good to know that those with sensitive skin can safely use this as well.

This has SPF 60 PA++++ and provides both UVA and UVB protection. Although there is no claim on the packaging regarding fragrance, I checked the ingredients list and it does not contain any added fragrance.

Application

The consistency looks pretty thick right out the bottle. I use that much on a daily basis which is at least one teaspoon (the correct minimum amount according to dermatologists).  Even if it looks thick, it actually is very easy to spread around the face and it does melt fast as you work with it. It's like a cream to watery consistency.

The initial problem I had with this is that my skin seemed to have had a difficult time absorbing it. I thought because it was watering down as I moved it around, it would be easily absorbed. However, it did take a little bit of work to be able to get to that almost invisible finish. Even until then, it kind of left a white layer but it did settled down and was visually undetectable after a few minutes.

This leaves the skin a little tacky but I don't think it is adding up to the hydration. I don't really mind if a sunscreen is not hydrating especially if it does not claim to do so. I just use moisturiser before sunscreen application if I feel like my skin needed the extra hydration for the day. As for the tackiness, I also don't have a problem with it because it's nothing powder cannot solve.

In conclusion...

I honestly really love this sunscreen. It is so much easier to work with than the Garnier one and my dry, sensitive skin had no problems with it at all. I tried flash photography with it and it does not seem to have a white cast even if I did use a full teaspoon on my face.

As for using it under face makeup, I did not find any problems with it balling up or flaking off as long as it is completely dry before adding another layer of primer or makeup.

This is a very cheap but high quality sunscreen that can easily be purchased locally. It is absolutely worth it.

If you're interested, you can try and check a Watsons store near you and hopefully you can get this on sale as well!

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Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe by Madeline Miller

Friday, June 24, 2022

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Greek Mythology is one of history's greatest gifts to literature. Though the myths are more often not very logical, it's that exact element of it that makes it a leap into an unknown world where gods are a lot more flawed than humans only they have infinite power.

I have always loved the classic ways of how the Greek mythological stories are told so I was extremely surprised to finally find a phenomenal version written in the modern day.

Circe by Madeline Miller looks into the life of the lesser goddess Circe, daughter of the son god Helios. Among his children, she is the least favourite for she's known to be the least powerful. She fell in love with a human and this led her to use her powers in ill and she was exciled to an island. Her story only gets more interesting than that.

In case you don't know yet or you have forgotten, Circe is the goddess whose island Odysseus stopped by for a few months as part of his journey. If you love Greek myth, you will surely be fascinated by the story of Circe. In so many ways, a lot of those who were not favourites will relate to her and this books just gives so much life to the goddess not known to many.

The story is written consistently with the tone of how classic Greek mythologies are written - the language, the description of the setting, the nuances all magically transported me to a different world. It is just so beautiful.

It is worth noting though that the book does reference to other Greek myths like Prometheus, the fall of Troy, Odysseus, etc. The book does give a background on these stories but you'll appreciate it more if you have a bit of background on Greek mythology - but it also does not ruin the experience in case you don't. I am familiar with Greek but I still found myself looking up the other characters from time to time.

Circe is a goddess who (according to this book) Odysseus has described to be the only god he met who enjoyed her divinity the least.

She is more like a mortal - acts like one, loves like one. Circe described the man she loved...

"I had no right to claim him, I knew it. But in solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me."

In conclusion...

I was supposed to read this simultaneously with another book but I found it very difficult to stop reading this. This book is one of the best modern day written books (one of the best books I have read in my lifetime) that I have read and I just hope with all my heart that Madeline Miller writes more books about Greek mythology. 

The ending is not what I expected and left me a bit puzzled but I still like how it ended. This book is a treasure in modern day literature and anyone who loves to read should read this book at least once.

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How I Prevent Flies and Other Insects In My Apartment

How I Prevent Flies and Other Insects In My Apartment

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

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Insects such as fruit flies and cockroaches are probably one of the most common problems in apartment living in the Philippines. It does not even matter if you live in a home apartment or in a high rise, if the environment is right for the pests to grow, they will grow.

What I realise, basically the rule of thumb is regular cleaning and really taking early preventative measures. When it comes to this problem, prevention is really easier than cure.

Here are some of what I do to prevent flies and other insects from growing in my apartment:

Regularly cleaning the drain

Drains are the gateway of some insects into one's home. I live in an apartment building which means higher number of people equals to a higher number of possibility for insect growth. Others like to use a drain cover that is very cheap to buy (I'm thinking of getting this one of these days) but what I like to do is regularly clean the drain with just pure vinegar. I leave it for at least half an hour.

I do this once or twice a month or as often as I think is needed.

Fly trap and air freshener under the sink

Where I live, under the sink can get very moist and smell unpleasant. This might be a unique case and others may not experience this as often or at all. I try to store the least used things under the sink and I always keep in there that I replace once or twice a month for maintenance. I also like to keep an air freshener under the sink to keep it smelling nice.

Using a door seal strip

One of the facts of living in an apartment building is you will never know how clean or filthy your neighbours are unless you personally know them. If they're not very clean and they have been breeding all sorts of insects in their place, those insects can and will find their way into your place. I got this door seal strip from Lazada. I particularly like this one because it is non-adhesive so it won't do any damage to the door and it really shuts the space between the door and the floor really well. It also helps keep the smell of the chemicals whenever the building does their regular pest control activities.

Always keeping a clear sink

I personally do not like leaving the sink dirty for hours. Even not just for the purpose of keeping insects away, I believe it is good practice that as much as possible, I clean up my dishes everytime I am done using them just to keep a clear sink. This is more than insect maintenance, this is just home maintenance in general. I always think that I got time to eat, I should make time to clean after myself. Keeping a clean sink highly minimises the chances of bacteria and insect growth and it's a good practice to keep those away from one's home.

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Double Bunny Daifuku in Cebu City

Double Bunny Daifuku in Cebu City

Monday, June 20, 2022

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Any day is a perfect day for good Japanese dessert. Today, let's try out Double Bunny Daifuku.

Double Bunny Daifuku is a Cebu City-based business and their daifukus are home-made. In case you did not know,  Daifuku, according to our good ol' friend Wikipedia, is a "a wagashi, consisting of a small round mochi stuffed with a sweet filling, most commonly anko." It is filled mochi. Anko is a sweetened red bean paste.

I got two of their flavours: pandan and ube which were the only two available when I ordered but they also have matcha, mango and red bean (subject to availability).

Just for full disclosure though, I am friends with one of the owners (they're a very lovely couple btw) but I will still give an honest review. 

Ube Flavour Daifuku

Pandan Flavour Daifuku

A box of six is Php 220. You can mix and match your preferred flavour or just have one flavour for the enitre box.

I had mine delivered via Grabexpress but you can also arrange for deliveries via Maxim, Lalamove, or whichever is available in the city.

This is without a doubt a absolutely delicious mochi. This might be one of the best that you can find here in the city. Everything about it speaks quality and deliciousness - from the vey soft mochi to the sweet filling. It's also just the right amount of sweetness. I finished my box in just three days. I really could have finished it in two but I didn't want to seem more savage than I already do. 😂 

It's also not the teeny tiny kind of mochi, it's actually sizable but not too huge - it's filling enough to even be a snack at any time of the day.

I honestly love this dessert way more than I thought I would and I just can't wait until their other flavours become available.

If you're interested, you can send a message to their Facebook page to order: https://www.facebook.com/DoubleBunnyDaifuku . They only do pre-orders so make sure you order at least two days in advance.

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Laguna Garden Cafe in Ayala Center Cebu

Laguna Garden Cafe in Ayala Center Cebu

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

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When I think of great Filipino restaurants in Cebu City, Laguna Garden Cafe springs to mind almost everytime. 

The restaurant is home to many delicious and known Filipino dishes making a great place for friends and family who wants a fancier but not necessarily expensive experience.

Ambiance

Among many Filipino restaurants in the city, Laguna Garden Cafe or its little sister Cafe Laguna might have one of the best interiors and dining experience. 

The ambiance of the restaurant really does a lot to elevate how a stranger to the Filipino cuisine will perceive it as a whole.

Although the place has undeniably fancier looking interior, the prices are still very reasonable and very much worth it.

Food

We got two main dishes and two desserts. The photo above is their Beef Kaldereta. The serving is not very large but I think this could feed a party of three or four. Beef Kaldereta is a Filipino dish of beef stewed in tomato sauce and liver spread.

This does not taste like the kalderetas we have at fiestas (those are top notch) but Laguna Garden Cafe's take on this dish is still very authentic and tastes really great.

Don't judge the book by its cover because this dish might not look the prettiest but it's actually very tasty. This is their Sizzling Sisig na Bangus.

I would personally describe the taste of this as somewhat like a blend of lechon and seafood. That may not be very accurate so take that opinion with a grain of salt. Basically, this dish is really flavourful and will surely make you want to reach for more rice.

I also had their Sago't Gulaman. It is a Filipino beverage usually made of brown sugar, gelatin, tapioca pearls and water. I like the drink a lot but I found that the sago and gulaman are way too bland. Perhaps it's to balance out the sweetness of the liquid? I am not sure but I still think if they're going to be there, they at least have to taste like a little something.

For dessert, one of the two that we had was their Buko Pandan. It is a popular dessert made using coconut, sweet cream, pandan leaves and jelly cubes (usually also pandan flavoured). 

I think this is a great take on Buko Pandan but this might be a little too sweet for you if you're not very much into desserts. The jelly cubes don't really taste like anything but I don't really mind that.

The next dessert was the Halo Halo. It's a dessert made out of crushed ice, evaporated milk, ice cream and a mix of fruit cocktail. 

Although this too wasn't too bad, there was also nothing very special about it. I think there's a lot more places in Cebu City to get great Halo Halo.

I have included their menu below in case you want to check it out:

Service

A couple people waited on our table that night and it was a mix of good and meh service in general. Maybe some just had a long day, but it is worth nothing that it was not even rush hour when we dined in and there were times when we didn't feel so welcome. This is not the first time that I felt this way in this restaurant. It's really a game of luck when it comes to their service.

In conclusion...

There might have been a couple dips in the dining experience, but overall I think this restaurant is still worth visiting whether you're a local or a first timer in the city looking for a taste of Filipino food.

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Books I Would Recommend To Children of School Age (6-12 Years)

Books I Would Recommend To Children of School Age (6-12 Years)

Monday, June 13, 2022

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Reading has taught me to so many things about life and travel way before I got the chance to experience it myself. It has made me love to write about almost everything that I love. It helped me understand different types of people I have not even met. I honestly think it's a great habit for children to develop even at a young age.

As for those who are ready to move past the storybooks and on to school age-friendly reads, these would be some of my first recommendations:

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief is a part of the many, many books in this series by Rick Riordan. This book specifically is about Percy, the son of Poseidon, who just discovered his identity as a demi-god (part human part divine) as an offspring of a god and a human. He goes into an adventure with his new friends in search of a stolen lightning rod and himself. 

While Greek mythology is one of the greatest gifts of culture in literature, is also an acquired taste and really something not a child would appreciate. Though this is a little different from the classic mythological stories, I think this would be a good start to develop an interest in that specific literature. It is also a lot mild which makes it great for kids.

Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling)

Harry Potter is a series of seven books written by J.K. Rowling chronicling the childhood to young adulthood of Harry Potter and his friends who are students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is an orphan who discovered he is a wizard and a magical world that runs parallel to the real world.

It would be impossible to make this list without these books. However, since these might be heavier reads for a child, I would probably introduce this when he/she has started to develop a reading routine. It is not a good starter for a child who has not developed the patience for reading just yet. With that out of the way, I think the Harry Potter series is one of the best books out there for any age. It's definitely guaranteed to paint vivid mental pictures of a fantasy world that makes so much sense that it almost seems real.

The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)

The Chronicles of Narnia is a very popular children's book series by the great C.S. Lewis. The story is about siblings who discovered a different and magical world called Narnia and is ruled by a lion named Aslan. They're taken through different adventures in discovery of themselves, the worlds they live in forming a stronger bond with each other.

I have mentioned this book in my previous blog about easy to read books for almost everyone so I will not be talking about this in great detail today. It is just worth mentioning that this book, though it is leaning more towards fantasy, has very great significance in terms of depicting the struggles between good and evil and a faith that translates into life.

The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)

The Hobbit is one of the highly popular book written by another legendary author named J.R.R. Tolkien that tells the story of Bilbo Baggins who lives a life way deep in his comfort zone. He was visited by a wizard named Gandalf who opens his home to thirteen dwarves and one great adventure. Bilbo at first was hesitant because this adventure may mean that he will never be able to come back but he finds himself running towards it and it became probably the greatest decision of his life.

Well, I must admit that if Harry Potter can be an acquired taste especially for a beginner, then this would way a tonne but hear me out here. If I am to help develop my future child's love for books and reading, I would lead him/her towards books that actually make sense and have actual purpose to the human brain. It is never too early to help develop high standards for books, right? 

Anyway, I know that The Hobbit is an acquired taste and Tolkien is an author with a writing style that is not always easy to interpret, this book will take a lot of encouragement and guidance. It may take more than one try to be able to really get the value out of it but once you get a good grasp, it's really one of the best books anyone can read in their lifetime.

Do you have books that you would wish for your future children to read or ones that you are currently reading to them now? Share them in the comments below!

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“Stepmom” Is a Very Powerful Film To Watch

“Stepmom” Is a Very Powerful Film To Watch

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

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We all know how much it takes to keep a family whole but not everyone understands how much more it takes to heal if it breaks.

Stepmom is a story of a family divided by the parents' divorced. The dad has now moved on with a new, younger partner who struggles to win his children's approval while at the same time dealing with the ex-wife. 

The film looks at so many angles of a family who is going through this transition. It shows that difficult as it is already, what makes the situation more challenging is when the adults don't act like their age and forgetting the children who are overwhelmed and lost in the entire ordeal.

A broken family

The stepmom, Isabel, is a photographer in New York and just like a lot of women her age, she is carefree and passionate. She does not know what it takes to be a mom but she did everything she could. All her efforts always seem to go down the drain because of her boyfriend's ex-wife who constantly make her feel that she will never be enough. You know those kind of mothers who feel like they're far and above everyone else just becasuse they are mothers - I mean I do understand motherhood is the most challenging and rewarding thing, but I don't think it gives anyone the right to invalidate other people just because they are not.

It also does not help Isabel much when the children repels her. However, this I do understand where they're coming from. They're only children and they could only grasp as much as they can and that is that they wanted a perfect family but the situation ruined it for them. They could not understand that it was not necessarily Isabel's fault because their parents' marriage was already falling apart. There was even a time when the younger child hears his birth mother talks about Isabel in a bad light and all he said was,

"Mom, if you want me to hate her, I will"

Even that stunned Jackie but she did not say anything to correct it which could have been a good learning experience. At that time though, her heart was heavy and she couldn't bear to do the right thing.

A change of heart

It was kind of like a domino effect of things not going in Isabel's favour but that changed because of a diagnosis.

This diagnosis (I will not say to whom) changed every single one of their lives and how they perceived each other. This changes the dynamics of their relationship in a way that they slowly begin to understand that beneath all the brokenness and hatred, lies the most important thing which is family.

In conclusion...

Families, as varied as they are, each hold a complexity. Each family has a story and this (although fictional) is a very powerful one and is definitely worth the watch. The character development contained in just a little over two hours is so powerful and so beautifully done. It is emotionally gripping even if you are like me who are not in the same situation as they are. 

Stepmom is now available to stream on Netflix or you can also buy it in Youtube.

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