the week that was

haller! how was your week goys? mine was crazy! i'm between meeting two deadlines simultaneously, work and more work... as i put it HAHAHA. the first being Super Labandera, and the latter being my regular 9-5. hahaha

okay so this will be quite an update on what's up, esp my birthday last week HAHA

Super Labandera

i'm 100% done on every page i needed to illustrate! YAHOOO!!! this is really iiiiit!!! best birthday gift ever!

i'm sharing with you the inside cover because i've shared the cover too much already haha, plus one of my favorite pages too! hope you like it! <3

this is such a dream come true for me! this is validation that i still haven't lost my mojo as an artist. i know there's still a lot to learn but as long as i keep taking opportunities like this i'm sure i'll be able to improve a hell lot (and lose a hell lot of sleep too, but that's a different story. read: time management).

it's only a matter of time (and funds!) before the book gets published and i'm very happy to be able serve as an instrument to help TSP in its vision of raising a nation of learners by inculcating the habit of reading to young minds in remote communities. education is a cause that's closest to my heart, it's what i think the country needs the most.

Carbtrim galore

last saturday, the day before my birthday, something came in the mail for me! guess what, 10 packs of Carbtrim from Unilab! i'm totally devouring this! bwahaha i shared the boxes with my mom and my sister cos we all want see how it works.

as per the label, it works like a carb blocker and has white kidney bean extract as its primary ingredient. based on research studies, it helps reduce the absorption of dietary carbohydrates. by how much? I DON'T KNOW and it's good that they didn't put any % claims on their label like most weight loss products do. :)

a single sachet can be added to a glass of hot or cold water, and is preferably taken before meals.

in my opinion, i can't say it works just yet cos i'm only taking it once a day, before breakfast, and most of the time during breakfast na. hahaha i take it hot cos i'm avoiding cold drinks and i'm taking it on a 16oz mug. IT'S STRONG, by the way. i mean, i can't believe a single sachet which has so little powder inside could give off so much flavor. IT TASTES SO GOOD i wouldn't care if i didn't lose weight. it's like warm lipton iced tea which is more sour. i love the lemon flavor!

it sells for around 25pesos per sachet and 150pesos per box of 6. it also comes in apple flavor! not a cheap treat i might say, if you're aiming for 3 glasses a day, but it tastes so good kasi eh try nyo na rin! hehe

Salad love

if you follow me on social media you would know i love salads a loooot. last week i ordered from Salad Mamas (will talk about them in a separate post! watch out!) just to try how it tastes and see how i could replicate some at home. i tried all their variants and loved everything, and after devouring five tubs of salad in one day, i figured i still wanted more! they're aaaall so good!

so voila, my inspired version of their best sellers... taco salad, and tinapa salad!
nope! i'm not posting the recipe just yet haha but i plan to :D just wait for it hihi

this should intrigue you! and all the ingredients are cheap!

not the healthiest of salads honestly, what with the ginormous amounts of cheese, sour cream, and chips i threw in. BUT DEFINITELY MY FAVORITE!!! <3 <3 <3

my team mates birthday surprise!

it's a tradition in our team to surprise a birthday celebrant with a cake at least, and for my birthday, they gave me this!

a sad red ribbon ensaimada with a sad candle on top. can you feel my sadness? haha chos

but i knew this can't be it. hard as they try to pull off the joke, they eventually gave in and took out the reaaal thing!

yeheeeyyy! lol as if papayag ako na walang cake diba? hahaha

we sure have been in a lot of pressure lately so it's kinda cool how we can still laugh w/ each other at the pantry. tapos pag-balik sa work area, galit galit na ulit. choooss. hahaha <3

GIVEAWAY soon?

earlier this day i received these bunch of GCs from NEW Phils. for becoming a media sponsor on their recently concluded Fashion and Beauty Fair Year 2, thank you soooo much!!!!

the GCs are from Franck Provost Paris, Status Hair Salon, I Do Nails, and The Zen Institute. All very high end, and all very far from me. hahaha

i'm planning on giving these away since i'm nowhere near the places where i can use them (most are in Makati, Taguig, and Eastwood). so what do you think? i'm actually kindof wary of asking people to share my blog because FB still hates me. i'm still being asked for a captcha everytime i post my site, so thaaaat sucks big time.

anyway. haha

that's probably it. will try to work on my backlog tomorrow! 

happy weekend and God bless you goys! <3 

[Call for Sponsors] The Storytelling Project BOOK LAUNCH!

this month has been one of my busiest ever, the project we're working on at the office is under debug fixing so our hours have been very much in demand lately, including the weekends (which i sooo hate haha). then last month i got a wake up call from kuya rey and ate grace about my pending commitment to Super Labandera, they're targeting to launch the book this december so i was alarmed that i got less than a month left to finish the project. looking back, i wasn't so diligent with my tasks. the last time we talked about the project was March pa and i kindof forgot about it over the months even though i promised myself to work on it every weekend. sad.

anyway, guess what! i just finished the book! well not reallyyyyy since i still have a couple of pages to fill, but the entire story pages are now complete, CAN I CRY?! i'm just soooo happy that it turned out cute! and i'm also so thrilled that kuya rey and ate grace liked how it came out!

now i know how frkn hard it is to become an illustrator. emegeeeesh i can finally call myself an illustrator!!! best title evaaarrr! <3

now what? we have the soft copy but that's ours to keep, sorry. WHAT WE WANT YOU TO HAVE is the hard copy of course, tangible spreads of colors and stories bursting with values and culture and loooove. don't we all love that?

TSP is looking to launch two books by December, Uligmaya (retold by Aprille Joy of Mt. Province) and Super Labandera (by Jim Mark of Dagupan). They are products of our Litle Helpers from the story writing workshops with Ate Grace!

So, when there's a book launch, there has to be books, right??? That's where we need you guys!

TSP is looking for sponsors who can help make this event a reality! See poster for more details!

Help my friend win a Colgate Optic White Dream Wedding!

My friend is getting married soon and would love it if you could help her win her dream wedding! Please help me gather votes for her by doing the following:

1. Go to https://apps.facebook.com/dream-wedding/

2. Click on 'Top 10 Videos'

3. Look for Inez Celestino and click 'View'

4. Then click 'Vote'

That's it! You don't have to watch the video, or even share that you voted, but of course it would be very much appreciated it you do!

Do this daily until November 26 and help her realize her dream wedding! A prenup photoshoot by Pat Dy and a SDE from Jason Magbanua lang naman ang prize! bongga!

We still need some major ass kicking to do with the votes, they're currently on second but we're very very near that #1 spot.

So, help us please? :D

Trivia: they're getting wed on March 14, 2015 and are both Math teachers! that's kind of a Pi wedding you knoooow! hahaha cool no? osya let's vote in and make this epic wedding epicer (ano raw)!

Thank youuuu!

We are #TeamChocolateMousse!

the Christian life is a daily struggle, which is why i always turn to these beautiful ladies to affirm my resolve whenever i feel like the week has taken its toll on my good side. i thank God that i was given a wonderful victory group who has been very supportive of everything i do, who always keeps me in their prayers, and looks out after my spiritual life. :) 

among the many things i learned from them is the value of giving time to God every waking day.

every solitary minute you spend with God is priceless, and He values our time because it's a strong expression of our love. you'll never know what he wants to reveal to you through his word, and just the thought of realizing something from the Bible and channeling it out to the world already makes my day!

every saturday afternoon, we sit to gather in fellowship, catch up, and exchange thoughts about love, life, and everything. nothing really escapes us when it comes to being updated with everything! that's my kind of sweet ending to cap off the week that has been!

and speaking of sweet endings, here's another thing that will definitely add life to your day!

Cadbury Milk Chocolate is launching two exciting new flavors for us that will definitely give a sweeter cap off our busy days!

French Vanilla

Enjoy the light exquisite taste of Vanilla cream-filled chocolate with the new Cadbury. Dairy Milk French Vanilla. You can just imagine sitting in view of the Eiffel Tower while savoring this delicious treat! Try siting in a quaint café while enjoying the sites and this new flavor.

Chocolate Mousse

Then there’s Cadbury Dairy Milk’s Chocolate Mousse. Did you know that the word mousse in French means “foam?” Hear the strains of “La Vie en Rose” as you bite into the light and airy taste of chocolate-flavored cream covered in delicious milk chocolate. Watch the beautiful Manila sunset while on a Balcony and the experience of eating this chocolate will be just as romantic.


Guess which team we're in? haha if it's not too obvious from the picture yet, we're all rooting for Team Chocolate Mousse!

Traditionally, chocolate mousse is made by whisking egg whites and chocolate together to create that light and airy mixture that sits atop a chewy brownie.

And that's how we are together, light, fun, and a perfect cap off to a very busy weekend!

Cadbury Dairy Milk French Vanilla and Chocolate Mousse are available beginning November 2014 in the big and satisfying 180g pack for an SRP of only P180.00.

Hurry because they're only out for a LIMITED TIME ONLY! 

Which team are you in?

thank God

// because i was able to hold off publishing my previous draft because i swear, i'd be doomed for the amount of hatred i channeled on that post.

// also, i thank God that i was able to sleep some 12 hours last thursday cos i needed an immense amount of energy and creativity to continue sketching, here's a teaser of what i've been up to with regards to Super Labandera:

it's the same prototype and i don't even know which page will use this HAHA anyway, that's the style i'm going to push for the entire book and it actually pretty excites me! i'm done with the paper sketches and i'm halfway on transferring the lines on photoshop, tonight i plan to finish the linearts, then sunday to tuesday i have to get serious with the pen tool and swatch colors like a madman cos hues be like crazy and i'm quite inconsistent with the hexes.

this pro-bono work is so much rewarding than what i'm doing right now (read: coding), i just hope i make it in time for the, uhm, soft deadline? i'm so bad with deadlines and you should know that. prayers please?

// another thing i'm thankful for, i kinda lost a kilo! or our scale is just malfunctioning haha. hmm to be fair, i downed 5 large tubs of salads last thursday, it's a lot but that's pretty much just lettuce! i love love love salads. it's healthy, i could eat a ton of it without feeling guilty, and still lose weight. haha >XD

// Global Test Market finally sent me another check (thank God), but it's still crappy. last time, they sent me a peso check but the bank account that issued the check has already closed. now, they issued me a freaking dollar check from a US bank that has no local presence.
first concern, i have to create a dollar account for that (and that already costs some $500).
second, i'm unsure if local banks can withdraw from a foreign bank that has no presence in this country.
third, it's going to be a dead cause if i get charged for that kind of transaction more than what the check can release.

it's like GTM doesn't want me, AT ALL, to withdraw my earnings! i thought i could give them the benefit of the doubt for trusting them the second time but then look.

haaay. will consult further on the matter on monday! haha

how about youuu? what do you want to thank God for this day? >XD

Something wicked is brewing over at FYI!

happy weekend goys! I hope you're doing well and is enjoying the day! :) remember last month when I plugged in a couple of new shows that are going to premiere at FYI soon? Well, they will be rolling out REALLY SOON so i'm giving you a heads up on what to look forward to in the coming days!

here are FYI's November 2014 highlights for you!

For Your Space: Red Hot Design

Shasta Smith and her talented team of bearded metal workers

 Unleash the creative potential of your home with a fiery new series. Red Hot Design, hosted by fiery redhead Shasta Smith, the queen of up-scaling, an extremely talented artist and a celebrated interior designer, watch as Shasta and her team take on 2 awe-inspiring design projects each week. Premieres 28 Nov, Fridays at 9pm (SIN/HK).

For Your Taste: Epic Meal Empire

The "Sauce Boss" and another set of bearded geniuses!

Seriously, what's with FYI's shows and bearded men? hahaha

From whiskey-laced, burger-stuffed lasagnas to donut casseroles to Jack & Coke cupcakes, the Epic Meal Empire team delivers recipes that are visually mind-blowing spins on food preparation and presentation. This new FYI series will follow the ingenious group as they invent spectacular new dishes, on a whole new "epic" level – premieres 20 Nov, Thursdays at 9pm (SIN/HK).

Other highlights include:

For Your Journey: Bondi Vet

Bondi Vet S5 - Premieres 5 Nov, Wednesdays, 9pm (SIN/HK)

--

That's it! Make sure to tune in to FYI channel this November to catch that super awesome program line-up! For the record, FYI is one such lifestyle network that upgrades your viewing experience into a more dynamic and passion based experience. They have shows FOR EVERYTHING you love and this is exactly what makes FYI a stunning new channel to tune into.

Want something FOR YOUR STYLE? They have BORN to Style!

FOR YOUR SPACE? There's Tiny House Nation and Rowhouse Showdown

FOR YOUR TASTE? World Food Championships and Destination Flavor have got you covered!

FOR YOUR JOURNEY? Watch Travels with the Bondi Vet and The Coolest Places on Earth!


From fashion, to interior design, to food, and travel, there's nothing FYI missed!

[FIXED] MX Player Pro incompatible with latest Android 4.4.4

i love MX Player Pro, it's my favorite android media player because it effectively plays videos with subtitles in .srt! I've been using it for years but just recently when I upgraded to Android 4.4.4 (KitKat), the app stopped working and i get this:

i inquired using the email link found at their google play page and they responded with this:

that's it pretty much, we just have to wait until they release a version later than their August 22, 2014 build.

Meanwhile, any MX Player Pro alternatives you know? 

I switched to HD Video Player for the meantime but it sucks that it can't play subtitles so i'm stuck watching english series for now! huhu can't catch up with Angel Eyes tuloy! >X(

download the latest version finally! 

UPDATE:

MX Player Pro released a build last December 28, 2014 that fixed this problem for us! Yeyy! Go download yourselves the latest version, that's MX Player Pro 1.7.35 :D works perfectly!