Wedding Wednesday: The Search for the Perfect Wedding Gown

Ever since I got engaged, I focused planning on the church, reception and everything in between. But I never really have a vision on what I will wear on my special day. Of course I want to look beautiful...who wouldn't want that? But I was just not keen on the thought of spending BIG on something that I know I will only wear once in my life. I also want the guests to tell me "Oh! you look so beautiful!" instead of saying "Oh! Your gown looks so beautiful!"...makes a lot of difference right? ;)

So for the past few days, I've been googling the net for pegs that would suit me...and I came up with only one requisite:

When most brides want to look like a princess...I want to look like a model. (teehee)

UPDATE: Okay! I have found the peg that I've been looking for, though it's not incuded in the pictures above...I decided not to reveal it here until the BIG day because I want it to be a surprise. ;) Anyway...the next step is very very crucial:

WHO WILL MAKE IT?

HELP ME!

(CLOSED) Travel Tuesdays: 1st Blog Giveaway!

Why have I created this blog? I created this blog as a way of sharing my insights, travel tips, food reviews or anything I have in mind to my friends and family. I never really thought of anyone other than Coco to read this site. But nonetheless, as part of me giving back to your support, I'm excited to tell you that I will be giving out my first ever BLOG GIVEAWAY!!! Happy happy joy joy!

 ***

As my blog tells you, I love to travel. If only my money is limitless, I would be travelling around the world every month. But as part of travelling...there is always the hassle of packing my luggage. One of the important things I never forget is my toiletries kit. I personally find it hard to fit in my kit the big containers of shampoo, conditioner, soap and lotion that I use at home. Good thing I always bring my  essentials in travel sizes from Skin Avenue! Not only are they convenient...they smell so nice!!! :)

Today, as part of Travel Tuesdays...I will be giving away 2 travel kits to 2 lucky readers! Just follow the easy steps below so you could join! 

1. Follow me on Instagram (carmelaugay)

2. Share this blog post in your FB account with the caption "#carmelaugaygiveaway"

3. Email me your Name, Cellphone Number. and Address to carmela_ugay@yahoo.com with the subject "carmelaugaygiveaway"

Contest ends on March 2 and winners will be notified via email. Happy Tuesday everyone! ^_^

Travel Tuesdays: Breakfast Buffet at Disneyland Hotel's Enchanted Garden

As promised, I'm here to continue my full review of our Hongkong 2013 experience: Breakfast Buffet at Disneyland Hotel's Enchanted Garden



Photo courtesy of Hongkong Disneyland website

I absolutey love buffets! Then add Mickey Mouse, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto roaming around and greeting you while you are eating...what more could you ask for? :) Yes, you read it right...eating breakfast at the famous Enchanted Garden gives you the priviledge to have exclusive photo op with your favorite Disney characters. This saves you from the trouble of lining up for a picture with them at Disneyland Park which can take an hour or so, depending on the number of visitors on the day of your visit.

Before booking, I ws lucky enough to see the promo offered at Hongkong Disneyland's website. There is an ongoing special discount for booking breakfast in advance. Instead of paying HKD 327.00 per person, we got to avail it at HKD 294.00 (inclusive of 10% service charge). Happy happy joy joy! :)

PROs:
-Buffet breakfast
-Exclusive photo op with Mickey, Daisy, Pluto and Goofy
-Food includes fun Mickey shaped pancakes and waffles
-Wide variety of Western, Indian and Chinese cuisine
-Variety of freshly squeezed fruit juices

CONs:
-Expensive (Original Price per Person: HKD 327.00 = around PHP 1,700.00)
-Duration of buffet is 1.5 hours only (you can choose between 7:30-9AM or 9:30-10AM)
-If you are staying at Disney's Hollywood Hotel,
you have to ride the Disney shuttle to take you to Disneyland Hotel.

If you don't want to shell out that much money but still want to eat buffet breakfast at Disneyland, there are 2 more Disney Restaurants to choose from. They are both cheaper compared to Enchanted Garden and have longer buffet duration (7/7:30AM-10AM) which means more time to eat! The downside however is that no Disney Characters are here to greet you good morning.

Chef Mickey (7-10:30 AM) - HKD 217 per person
Walt's Cafe (7:30-10:30 AM) - HKD 217 per person

For more information and updated promotions/offers, please visit http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com

Have a magical day! :)

Mod Mondays: Skin Care 101

Being an unica hija, I can definitely say that one of the benefits is being pampered like a princess. I am blessed to have generous parents who gave me nice clothes, bags and shoes. However, that is not the end of it. My mom would also schedule appointments to the dermatologist because during my teen years, acne welcomed me with open arms. Mom was determined to be like my Fairy Godmother as I was her Cinderella.

Whenever my mom tells me that I have a schudule at Belo, I dreaded that day. I never liked facials. Imagine lying in bed for one hour while the nurse pricked your pimples like there is no tomorrow...oh the pain!!! I bet this is my ultimate example of tiis ganda. But true enough...because of my mom's persistence, my teen acne eventually vanished.

Now I seldom go to derma, though I sometimes still get small breakouts due to my time of the month or that work is stressing me out. But these are all manageable so I need not worry. The most important thing I do now is maintaining a very good skin care routine. :)

Here are my five day-and-night steps to achieving healthy acne free skin:

1. Cleanser - I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub. For me, I prefer using scrubs over facial foams simply because I love the feeling of beads scrubing my face. It makes me feel the dirt and dead skin cells are removed from my skin. It's also important that it contains salicylic acid which helps prevent acne buildup. This is available at supermarkets.

2. Toner - I use Belo Clinic's Pore Minimizer and Chat 2%. I swear by these two toners that I have been using since high school. The pore minimizer helps in minimizing pores and the Chat 2% helps treat acne and even out blemishes. Both are available at any Belo Clinic.




Pore minimizer and Chat 2% are the ones in bottles at left


3. Moisturizer - I use Nivea Sparkling White Day Cream. I specifically like this because of the oil control and pore minimizing effect on my skin. This is also available at supermarkets.

4. Mask - I use Garnier Self Heating Sauna Mask and Aztec Spirulina Mask. This is a twice a month ritual for me as it gives me a tighter, firmer and glowing skin. Garnier mask is available at supermarkets while you can contact (02) 4772256 or visit www.spirulina.ph to order Aztec Spirulina Mask.

5. Healthy Lifestyle- Never sleep at night with your makeup still on. Drink lots of water and eat a balanced diet. :)

*photos courtesy of google as I don't have time today to take pictures of my products. ^_^

Happy Monday!

Sassy Saturdays: What's In My Bag?

Everyday at the office while waiting for the elevator to open, I see men arriving for work and notice a lot of them do not bring bags. It just amazes me how they can survive only bringing with them their cellphones and wallets. Then I would start to wonder my reason for carrying my bag when in fact 95% of its content I don't use when I'm in the office. Funny right? :))

So what's in my bag? Let's take a look...

1. Wallet - Cash, ATM cards, driver's license, IDs etc. 'Nuff said. :)

2. Coin Purse - Funny story: I used to have 5 Australian cents inside that looks exactly like 1 Philippine peso coin and I recently checked that I only now have 1 Australian cent left with me. Whoever I paid those cents for, I'm sorry. My bad. :)

3. Cellphone - my beloved S2 from Coco

4. Gadget Kit - Cellphone charger; earphones; car/house keys. Because I need to charge my phone daily, I need to have my charger with me all the time. I bought a portable charger a long time ago but I don't bring it because there's always no stored battery...I'm too lazy to charge.

 

5. Makeup Kit -  MAC Studio Fix NC40, Maybelline Mineral Blush in Coral, mirror, wax and solution for my contacts. I am not that fond of makeup so what I have here in my bag are the only makeup tools I have...because I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. #chos #maymasabilang

6. First Aid Kit - GirlScout. That's the term my mom fondly calls me because I bring this kit with me all the time. You see, my boyfriend/fiance (teehee) is prone to migraine, so I just want to make sure I can take care of him. Cheesy right? :) Headache? Stomachache? Colds? Cough? Cut? Wound? I've got him covered. :)

7. Jergens Lotion and Evian - Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. Because we are in a tropical country, it's always good to keep your skin smooth and moisturized.

8. Perfume - Le Par Kenzo - it's a good feeling to smell nice, isn't it?

 

9. Rosary - God = Faith.Hope.Love

 

 

Happy Weekend Guys! :)

Foodie Fridays: KEBABERS

If you're following me on Instagram or if we are friends on Facebook, you would notice that I've been posting pictures every time I eat at Kebabers.

What? Kebabers? What is that?




Photo courtesy of Kebabers website

Kebabers is a Persian Fastfood chain that serves quality food at a very affordable price. Mind you, I am not a fan of persian food but when I tasted their Chicken Kebab with cheese...I have been a convert! Everytime we go to Eastwood, Coco and I do not have to decide where to eat because our feet will take us there automatically.

kebab with cheese (chicken and beef)

This restaurant is self service. You place your order, pay at the cashier and she will hand you this gadget that will lit up and vibrate once your orders are ready for pickup (similar to the one in Chatime). Get your orders at the Claim window and let it satisfy your kebab craving!


KEBABERS MENU

Kebabers offers a wide range of affordable persian food

They have branches at:

Katipunan, QC (in front of Ateneo)
Eastwood Citywalk
PBCom Tower Makati
SM Fairview


How's your Kebabers experience? :)

10 months to go

Less than one year to go before the big day. I have to be honest...yes, I'm beginning to feel the pressure. :)

Church. check
Reception. check
Videographer. check
Photographer. check
Event Stylist. check
Coordinator. check
Band. check

Wedding Gown. TBA

Invitations. err...work in progress (teehee!)

As part of our budgeting, Coco and I decided to have DIY (Do It Yourself) invitations. Last Saturday, we went to Star Paper Corporation in Quezon City to get the custom sized quality paper that cannot be found in ordinary bookstores. It's also practical to order here because the price is less than what is offered in National.




There are so many types of paper to choose from

 


TAH-DAH! Sample Invitation: Inside

 



TAH-DAH! Sample Invitation: Front Cover

  Watcha think??? Pinaghirapan namin yan ni Coco!!! It took more than an hour for us to do one invitation. It's what you call "labor of love" (aka. kuripot, aka. ayaw-gumastos-ng-malaki-sa-invitation)

There's so many things that still need to be done and finalized. But I'm not panicking -not yet. We have roughly 10 months to cut, paste and print these. :)

For the meantime, let me share with you the wedding video of Paolo Valenciano and Sam Godinez...maybe it will inspire you like what it did to me. Enjoy! ^_^

Hongkong Disneyland 2013: Tips and Review

I know...I know, I have been MIA for the past months. Sorry my non-existent readers! Hahaha! Anyway, now that I'm back, I just want to share with you my recent trip to Hongkong.

For those who don't know, last March 2012 I scored roundtrip MNL-HKG seats for only Php2,500 all in from Cebu Pacific! Well, that's one of the perks of starting work at 4AM. :) But due to our wedding plans, we were so close to not pursue this trip anymore. Good thing, we decided to continue as it turned out to be a wonderful travel experience.

By December, I frequently visit Hongkong Disneyland's website and lucky me, I chanced upon their Early Bird promo for 2013. How great is that! We booked for a 3night stay at Disney's Hollywood Hotel.

http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/special/listing?name=EarlyBirdHotelOffer2010Page

Disney's Hollywood Hotel Garden

View of Disneyland fireworks from our Park View Room. Amazing!

After we checked in, we found this on our room. How sweet!

I love researching and I have visited endless blogs for Hongkong tips. Because of that, I learned that China Travel Service offers discounted tickets for Disneyland and Ngong Ping 360 Tickets. They have a branch in Hongkong Airport so it was really easy for backpacking tourists to buy there. I bought Disneyland 2-Day ticket for only HKD480 instead of buying at Disneyland for HKD499. You can locate it at Arrival Hall A - Counter A04. For more information on updated ticketing price, please visit their website:

http://www.ctshk.com/english/ticket/admticket_hk.htm

Hongkong Disneyland is not as big as the one in Anaheim and Florida. You can visit the park in just one day, but we decided to have 2 days so we could feel the total magical experience. There are five parts: Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Toy Story and the newly opened Grizzly Gulch. Another area will be opened in Spring of 2013 which will be called Mystic Mansion. It's the counter part of the original Haunted Mansion ride in the States.

Coco and I with the very perky Tinkerbell

But for me, the best moments in Disneyland where spent visiting souvenir shops! If only I can buy all of them, they're all so cute BUT very expensive. Whenever I'm tempted to buy, I would always take note that those Disney items can be bought in SM dept stores here in Manila for one third of their prices.

Mugs and Tumblers in all shapes and colors

Minnie Mouse Items

Keychains at HKD 68.00 each

I'll be writing in the next days our Ngong Ping Cable Car visit and Disney's Enchanted Garden Breakfast.

How about you? Share me your Disneyland moments! :)