Today's walk was lovely. I sometimes look forward to RTO days alone because I don't have to rush walking around BGC to match Urielle's pace cos she walks so fast haha!
Had ramen, froyo, and enough time to spare looking around Muji where I bought stationery.
Iced coffee and fries on the way back cos I got hungry again!
BGC cats are adorable!
It was so chill, I wasn't rushing, at times I would even stop just to ponder.
I love slow walks.
I had trouble getting into my parking slot but thank God I was able to get in properly without scratching the car beside me!
✱ Enjoying my macbook! Love the audio. Still getting used to the interface but so far so good. Also, the battery life is superb!
✱ Had Bible study earlier with sis RJ. It was just the two of us but I'm very thankful for her.
✱ I'm 72kgs now, from 76 last November. I stopped working out cos I got lazy, but I'm doing intermittent fasting with my husband and it's been quite effective.
✱ Been shopping the past few weeks. Our bonuses came in this month so I feel rich right now. Key word: right now haha. Got new sheets, pillow covers, dish rack, organizers, mats, decor, etc. from Nitori and Ikea.
✱ Restarting my skincare routine with Laneige. It's been effective for me before, but I couldn't sustain it cos it was so expensive for me that time. That was 6 years ago. Now I think I can afford it. But it still comes down to discipline though. My thing about skincare routines is that I can only do it at night, but I'm hesitant to cos I want to cuddle with my husband before going to bed and I'm afraid all the product will just be wiped off haha.
✱ Reinstated our Vitality policies after learning from a friend that it boosts our ACP100's coverage by 250k. And my dad said it was okay to not pay it because we're not using it anyway! Hay! Haha
✱ Happy that once a year I get to buy off almost all of the things I want without worry because #bonus haha. Most of the stuff in my cart are 1k upwards and it's difficult to splurge on them every swelday kasi mahal! haha
✱ More on my macbook. I bought a 1TB version and I'm just happy that I have finally transferred product review footage from my phone and ipad, freeing up a loooot of storage on my mobile and tablet. I was finally able to update their software lol. I moved like 50GB worth of videos. I'm so behind my product reviews!
✱ I drew a bit today! I was listening to some Ghibli lofi BGM which had really cute visuals so I decided to copy from it, not realizing they were AI generated lol. I haven't drawn in a while so this is as good as its gets haha
Finally! Got a MacBook Pro M4 this weekend! I've been looking around for good installment deals but their retail price and cash price at the mall is usually higher than the listed price at apple.com.
Beyond the Box is the only one that offers cash price near the official price and sakto they had a promo this weekend for BPI. I got it for 36 months 0% interest on cash price + buy now pay 3 months later. It's like the best apple deal ever! Instead of paying straight, I'd rather let the money earn in HYSA like Maya or CIMB while slowly paying it off.
I wasn't in a rush to get a macbook but I am actively looking around. I remember they had the same promo a few months ago but there was no stock so I decided to wait.
I'm excited about a lot of things, mostly airdrop lol and the possibility of learning to edit videos better.
I'm frustrated about a lot of things as well. I consider myself a Windows power user and I'm very very dependent on keyboard shortcuts and would prefer typing to using the mouse. In that regard, this macbook is slowing me down.
Hopefully it's just a learning curve. I've been struggling to remember new shortcuts like print screen, lock screen, new tab, quit tab, address bar, etc. Instead of being able to type on the address bar I keep making bookmarks haha. And it feels weird that the command button which acts like the control button in Windows is beside the spacebar. It's messing up with my muscle memory lol
Nonetheless, I'm more excited than frustrated so I pray it's just a matter of time.
Did you know that when we came back from Baguio, we had no water at home? Apparently we got disconnected while we were away because somehow our owner still hasn't paid all outstanding dues yet.
It's been very frustrating for us. Since last year we've been dealing with disconnection notices almost every month because our landlord wouldn't pay the association dues on time. So we thought we'd just pay it together with our utilities and deduct the amount from the rent. That's what our new contract says. And so we thought we're good. We're paying the dues and utilities on time so we're finally safe. But no! Apparently, even the parking dues, tax, insurance, and other fees are grounds for disconnection if you don't pay them on time. And of course our owner doesn't pay them on time.
I keep reminding them through their agent but there's only so much I can do. We do not have direct contact.
I want to quit paying in PDC and just do direct deposit every month so we'll be safe without penalties but I don't know how the owner will react to that. I mean if they think about it they only stand to benefit from it. They don't need to worry about paying anything and just have to wait for the money to be deposited to them every month. Of course they have to trust us to be honest and diligent as well but hey they're the ones who weren't diligent in the first place.
Because of this whole hulabaloo I've been thinking of just moving out again. Somewhere we don't have to deal with irresponsible home owners. Argh.
✨ Had my 2024 performance results discussion with my manager and overall I got a satisfactory rating, met my target bonus 100% (which is 10% of my annual), and got a 5.10% salary increase! Yeheyy!
✨ Urielle and I ate somewhere new, Purple Rice, where there's good pad thai. Was supposed to have dinner at Manam but they're closed. Then we had dessert at A Mano. Love their burrata affogato! ♥️
1. I received a heartwarming feedback from one of my ex-colleagues hehe. It's not always that you hear back from people you've worked with before with such a kind comment! I don't even remember the project we worked on, there were a lot! But awww, thanks Dupe! This really made my day!
2. I survived another round of presenting to my teammates! Had a kick-off meeting earlier where I had to present 2024 automation highlights to the team. I have half a slide worth of content which I finished last week. Then 30 mins before the call I made a script to read out hehe. Public speaking always makes me anxious but it's also something I love conquering every time I'm forced to do it haha. One of my teammates commended me on my delivery too but he was probably joking haha but of course I'll take it! HAHA
3. My mom is starting to get better, so praise God! Not sure if I have shared this yet but she was rushed to the hospital three weeks ago and had to placed in the ICU for three days. She spent 9 days in the hospital and was advised
4. I'm conducting technical interviews now! One of my colleagues resigned and I was asked to help conduct technical interviews for his replacement. I'm in a panel with his manager and another colleague and it's pretty interesting how these things go. I consider it somewhat of a career milestone that I'm finally qualified to conduct technical interviews now. It's a great learning experience for me!
I've had this steamer for seven months now and I'm pretty pleased with it overall! 😃
If you haven't watched my video review here's a YouTube link:
Here's the Tefal Pure Pop Garment Steamer after unboxing. It's got the unit of course, the reversible pad attached to it, and a bunch of paperworks that is the manual, warranty, and information pamphlet. It also comes with a drawstring travel pouch for storage.
Notable features:
✅ Reversible pad system
This is probably its major selling point. It's got a reversible pad with a velvet side and a lint-removing side, the former used for dewrinkling without damage, and the latter for removing hair and lint.
Unlike other steam irons which uses aluminum or stainless steel as the hot plate, this one uses a unique reversible pad instead. BUT IS IT BETTER? Honestly I don't know, this is my first steam iron haha sorry.
I would say though, it's only easy to switch between the pads when it's cool, because you know it's dangerous to flip it when it's hot. So it's like you need to pick a side and stick to it at least for a session so you don't accidentally burn yourself hehe. And for the most part I find myself using the lint remover side more often. For no reason actually, I think they both perform the same way. I mean, we have a dog who sheds a lot so that might play into it but to me both sides work the same. Or maybe I feel like the lint-remover side clings to the fabric better because of its texture, that's why I use it more. But either way is fine.
✅ 70ml water tank - pretty small compared to other brands but quite useful for 1-2 items of clothing. Also doesn't leak.
✅ Heats fast - 15 seconds heat-up seems fast I think. And with an output of 20g/min it's pretty decent. LOL honestly I don't know what that number means, but you can iron a shirt continuously without pausing to wait for it to heat up. And even if it prompts you to wait (indicator light turns on) midway, I find that you can still continue pressing on hehe (pun intented).
✅ Cute colors - it comes in coral red, teal green, sunshine yellow, and alpine blue. Of course I picked the red one!
✅ Handy and portable - 2 meter cord is just right and it's a good sized item to bring with you in your travels. I've seen smaller though which can even fold but yeah.
Anyway that's really all I have about this product. It's a pretty simple appliance that needs no further explanation. I have been meaning to get one of these for a while now because we don't have an iron at home. I try not to buy clothes that need ironing in the first place, but I've forgotten about that recently and I've just noticed a lot of my shirts are too wrinkly now. Oh wait I think it's because we've been air drying our clothes now that we have a washing machine at home. Back when we used to do our laundry outside the hot dryer would dewrinkle our clothes nicely, but yeah that's not the case anymore hehe.
I may have been influenced into getting this particular brand because I saw David Guison use it in one of his vlogs. Then I noticed it's being used by other vloggers in his circle as well so yeah I knew they were sponsored and I'm giving in to the marketing trap. Good job guys!
💵This costs around 3k to 4k at Shopee or Lazada. Make sure to get from the Tefal official stores. I've also seen in SM Store and True Value.
⁉️Do you need like a before and after test? Okay sure but know that the product works 100% as expected and if you're not pleased with the after that's proooobably a skill issue on my part okay? haha
