[Review] Tefal Pure Pop Garment Steamer

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

Alright that's it thanks! 😆

hectic

Last week was pretty hectic. And this vlog is an understatement to how tired we were haha

My husband underwent TDC (Thyroglossal Duct Cyst) removal on his neck, the technical term for it is sistrunk excision. Was admitted at VRP for two nights. I had to watch him so we left Koomi in the care of my in-laws for those days. I also took a leave because there's no way I'd be able to work in the hospital. Though I did answer some emails because I couldn't help it. There was a technical interview we had to cancel last minute because of my absence, but the hiring manager assured me it's fine. It was scheduled for the next day, but the applicant didn't show up. Too bad.

Before we admitted him to the hospital we did a quick BGC date. In case he dies at least he had wagyu in his stomach as his last supper lol. Dined at Steak & Frice. Got their American Wagyu Ribeye which was around 8k worth. I'd say it's very unlike Japanese wagyu which had undeniable marbling. The steak was good but it's not worth 8k. If you're getting wagyu, better get the highest grade Japanese kind. If you're getting ribeye at Steak & Fries just get their regular ribeye for 4k. It's much more worth your money than their American Wagyu. Loved the blooming onion of course, and the steak rice and fries. We were so full afterwards but I still managed to get dessert from a mano. I got hot Americano and tiramisu. And it was heavenly. It's the most accurate Tiramisu I've tried with its real mascarpone lightness. Next in line would be my neighbor's but she doesn't sell anymore.

There's really no reason to be scared of his surgery. It's a minor one and he can be out in a day. But in that moment of course you can't make me believe that. I was very scared for his life but I was also too physically tired to worry. My husband wasn't worried. I remember with my past two knee surgeries I wasn't too worried either. I just wanted to get over it.

And we did. I was awaken by the intercom three and half hours after he was wheeled to the OR. I was called down to talk to the doctor. In my head I was panicking but I was still too tired to panic fully. I wasn't able to sleep well because the bed was too cold and the loud and broken AC only had two settings: a fan mode which turns off the thermostat, and a low cool setting which had the thermostat fixed to the coldest setting haha. And it was leaking too. But between sweating and shivering, the latter is more manageable.

Thankfully there's only good news and the doctor went ahead to tell me the gory details. Said they had to extend because the cyst was too big it almost reached the bottom of his tongue, confirmed it's TDC, and showed me a bowl containing a part of his cyst for biospy. I was relieved and went back to the  room to hopefully get more sleep.

He was discharged on Friday around 10am, but we didn't get out until 2 hours later after I've completed processing his papers. The good thing about VRP is that's pretty easy to get around because it's small. The Intellicare office was just at the ground floor, along with the admission, billing and cashier department. Parking building was just behind the hospital, and although it's a challenge to weave through the narrow ramps, it wasn't too bad. Oh we also just live nearby so it's very accessible to us.

Around 12nn on Friday we're back home and I have to work in a few hours. I thought Friday was going to be as uneventful as my usual Fridays but I had tickets to work on, two interviews and two meetings to attend that require all my braincells. Needless to say I was desperate for some rest.

I'm very thankful that my in-laws brought Koomi in that night because I'm just so tired the whole day.

Overall I'm thankful that it's all over and done with. My husband is recovering well and I've got all my energy back.

Thank you Lord! 🙏

2024 screen recap: 10 movies, 12 series, and a book

Finally got the time to do this! Calling it a screen recap seems apt cos I also read on a screen, much to my book count's dismay.

Movies

Watched 3 movies on big screen: Deadpool and Wolverine, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and The Kingdom.

Deadpool was fun. Marvel finally learning from their mistakes hehe.

I also loved A Beautiful Mind. It's a classic that deserves a lot of praise.

The Kingdom, a local entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival, also impressed us. First with its premise, an uncolonized Philippines, then with the story and acting. I would say it's a quality film, by Philippine standards yes. 

Most of the MMFF entries this year look promising. Lots of good cinematic trailers, good acting, interesting storylines. None of those corny comedies that are 90% product placement and 10% story. I want to believe we're entering a new era of filmmaking, where good films are getting much deserved attention and a fair critic.

I guess we have the poor economy to thank for this. Movie ticket prices have soared making it difficult for poor families to afford watching a movie with their 10 children. This shift in demographic probably prompted the film industry to pander to a new wave of movie goers. Those who wouldn't pay shit to watch shit. 

It's not difficult to produce a quality film that everybody would love. For the longest time, Philippine cinema has been littered with movies that are produced not by creatives but by manufacturing companies. It's hard to be creative when your paycheck depends on how much screentime you give a fucking liquid detergent. 

It's about time they stop looking down on movie goers.

Series

I loved The Boys. Actually I enjoyed most of the series I watched this year except for LOL, Crash Course, and Agatha All Along.

LOL because eventually it became too gross to laugh at.

Crash Course because it became boring.

Agatha All Along because the characters are hilaw and the gayness was forced (referring to Agatha and Rio). I didn't mind that Billy was gay, he was okay. But they were trying too hard to build chemistry between the two girls that it just wasn't landing. Also I expected Rio to be more powerful and threatening.

Books

As foor my book count, definitely not proud of it. A Little Life was a little overhyped for me. Sure I cried a lot, then I got tired of it and got mad that I even cried in the first place. Anyway, I already made a review about it here → Just read: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I hated it. 

Backlog challenge

Just putting this out here for accountability haha. 

Image: hardwarezone

I want to buy a 14" Macbook Pro M4 in space black with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. It's actually already in my cart and it costs ₱121,990.00 in Powermac. It's gonna be a very big purchase for me so I kinda want to justify it by working to deserve it haha.

Since one of the primary reasons I wanted to get a macbook is to edit videos, explore the apple ecosystem further, maybe develop apps, and be more ✨productive✨, I wanted to BE PRODUCTIVE first to prove myself worthy of this great purchase.

And thus, I challenge myself to finish all my Youtube backlogs FIRST before even considering swiping for this. I've been looking at credit card deals, even applied for a new card just for apple deals, so hopefully I can maximize my savings. In 3 months I'll most probably have the money to pay for it straight, but if I can stretch it to 36 months at 0% interest I can put that money in a digital bank instead so it's earning while I'm paying incremently for the item.

Anyway, back to the challenge, here's my current backlog:

⏹️ Tefal Purepop Garment Steamer
⏹️ Keychron K5 Pro
⏹️ Hurom H310A Slow Juicer
⏹️ Machenike K600
⏹️ Moyu Mini Washing Machine
⏹️ TCL S45H Soundbar
⏹️ Royal Kludge 104plus

They're in no particular order. Some items may even be obsolete already hehe. 

The footage is taking up too much space in my phone and ipad and eventually I'm gonna run out of storage for my weekly vlogs so I'm not just doing this to earn a macbook lol I also need to do it for memory's sake (pun intended).

So yeah! Let's see if this pushes through! At best there's gonna be a new item on that backlog haha ✨manifesting✨.

Friday's 10 Happy Things + a Wishlist 😄

I really wanted to be productive at work today but I can't stop looking at Shopee lol so maybe I'll just list down a Christmas wishlist or something...

1. New backpack. I realized that my fake Doughnut has a low quality zipper and while it isn't broken yet I don't like how it feels unzipping it. It's not smooth, like it's gonna get caught at random. Also it feels weird owning a fake one when I've had two original Doughnuts. It's just that the original one is a bit bigger and has bulkier straps which doesn't look good on me. Hay. Oh well. Off to search for a new one!

2. TV speakers. Not really a soundbar but a decent external speaker that can be connected via aux cable just like our current one, the Edifier MP260. Thing is, it broke on us in less than a year so we're hesistant to have the same model again. Jeckie got it as a gift last year. I love it though, it's perfect and doesn't need to be turned on separately like most soundbars. But I think that's why it broke so soon. It's always on! I know there's gotta be a solution to this. Need to look into soundbar technology. I'm sure there's like a feature that turns the soundbar on and off along with the TV.

3. Dymo label maker. Just the manual one cos it's cute and doesn't need charging! 😄

🎊 On to the happy things

1. It's day 5 of going to the gym daily! I'm not seeing anything significant in terms of my size haha but it feels good to be sweating every day. I hope I don't jinx it specially that it's the weekend and we're normally out and about but what's 1 hour of my time before we head out for stuff right? 

2. I'm making progress in this new project that was assigned to me recently. Much as I'd like to postpone this for next year, a new project like this kinda puts me in the zone hehe

3. My sister has FINALLY resigned from her job that's been stressing her out big time ever since it started. Happy for her! Also, she's broken up with her boyfriend of 2 months haha. Good riddance I'd say, they don't align in values AT ALL, which is basic for any relationship to thrive, even friendships. ETA: Okay I just learned that they've gotten back together. Hope they could work on their relationship better. 

4. I don't remember jotting this down but I just started attending church again. I learned that there's CCF BGC which is an easy 15 min drive from home so I commited to attending the 10:30 AM service even though it's deathly early for me haha. So far so good. Let's see where this takes me on my quest to rediscovering Christianty.

5. Behrouz dinner! It's been a while since we ordered from them and I love how they're still very responsive despite not being on Grab! 💖

6. Lots of Japanese snacks from kuya Julian!

7. I just made significant progress on my new project. Yeah, the gap between item #2 and this one is like 6 hours hahaha I find it hard to blog in just a single session now, my mind is aaaaaalways drifting somewhere.

8. Koomi is a good boy tonight who finished all of his food!

9. Booked a sofa cleaning service for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Finally getting our sofa shampooed after one year! It's disgusting! 

10. I'M OFFICIALLY ON VACATION! But will have to manually run a job on January 1 lol. If I get some free time I'll work on publishing it and putting it on a schedule. But for now, HAPPY HOLIDAAAYS!! 🎊

11. Additional happy points I'm just so delighted to be able to use emojis in my post now especially that it's very easy to pull up the emoji menu from the keyboard (win + dot)! 

Friday's 10 Happy Things

I was contemplating on whether or not to make a gratitude post this week because I've been feeling largely sad for the most part. But then I realized it's the perfect time to count my blessings haha

1. Our new rice cooker has arrived! Upgraded our 7 year old mechanical rice cooker to a digital one from Tefal that has exciting options like brown rice and congee! Best part is the non-stick pot!

2. Always thankful for my coffee time. Whether it be during dessert or while working. 💖

3. That we may not need to raise 2 million for my mom's operation after all. Maybe 1 million na lang lol still a large sum but 2m is just too big. I think she's semi-convinced to get an open heart surgery instead because her doctor says there are more experts in that field compared to TAVI.

4. Frankie's dinner and cheesecake!

5. Happy to have found 2 workouts I can follow tomorrow (fingers crossed).

6. Finally completed my self evaluation for the year. And provided feedback to those who requested for mine.

7. Happy to have successfully supported 2 automation issues this week without having to raise to our architect. The first one was a quick fix that only need a job refresh. And the other one was due to a user error that I fixed by updating the ticket and re-running the job.

8. Also happy to have FINALLY provided an update to this one task I was too lazy to work on since last week. Had an issue trying to setup the automated report using Jay's tool because I forgot what arguments to use for adhoc running. But now I'm slowly getting the hang of it and even made a confluence page for it so I don't get lost once he's gone! He's resigning by the way! 😔

9. Happy that I'm finally feeling better. Though now it's Jeckie that's sick. At least we're not both sick at the same time hehe.

10. Last but not the least, swelday! Off to paying more credit card debt 🤣 💖

Today

🏢 It's RTO day today! I don't really go to work on Thursdays but I wasn't able to come in on Monday cos I was sick. Free parking slots were full, which is getting more common these days as teams gather for Christmas. Thankfully, there's guest parking available which is great. Then eventually I took over Urielle's slot, but only for an hour because I decided to leave early after more people came in. I can't with a lot of people now 🫠.

💒 One of my friends got married today and I wasn't invited so I kinda feel bad. I thought we were close enough. Guess I'm wrong. Anyway. I shouldn't really dwell on it because it's their-wedding-their-rules, but I get a really bad case of FOMO seeing my old friends together. Now it's like I lost a whole friend group. I just need to let that out. And start getting used to it. Hay🫠

💔 I miss my White & Case friends a lot. I guess it's just the reality of leaving a company. You lose access to some people just by mere absence. And I've long proven that it's hard to cultivate friendships online. Specially with my personality. It's also because I haven't really made a lot of friends here. IT'S DEATHLY BORING HERE. Maybe it's something I have to accept, because of my preferred work style (hybrid, mostly remote). If the team was probably meeting more often at work then it would be easier to make friends haha. Right now it's just Urielle and I 🤣 #notcomplaining

I guess I just really miss W&C. Not just my friends, but the company itself. The people, the events, the food, everything is so fun. It's really one of a kind. But I also know I won't be able to further my career (consequently, my salary) if I stayed there. 😄

🎊 Hey it's already Friday yey!