Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Bangkok 2013

SAWASDEE KAAA! :D

Last April I was able to visit Bangkok with my parents for a couple of days and it's only now that I've actually gotten to write about it. There isn't really much I can say about Bangkok but their shopping malls are incredibly, and amazingly big! They literally have malls that have everything. By malls, I mean tiangge (168 type malls) and everything so cheap! They kid not when they say that Bangkok is really a shopping haven. They also have more high end malls too but lol, why go there, you can visit the same brands locally anyway so might as well grab the opportunity to shop cheap! <3 Fortunately, our hotel was walking distance from Platinum Mall and other shops so that was really convenient. :) If you like shopping, get a hotel somewhere in Pratunam or somewhere near MBK where it's also near the malls and night markets.

Since I already started talking about shopping, might as well get to that part first. I don't really have much photos from there since it's pretty crowded and who has time to take photos when you're shopping (haha) 

**Again I apologize for lack of more decent photos. iPhoneography will do for now. Bringing a heavy camera around isn't always the most convenient way to travel/shop :( 

1. Shopping 

These are just some of the interesting things I saw there. HOW CUTE ARE THESE HIGH WASTED SHORTS?!?!?! They're only for more or less 300baht, which is like, P350 more or less @_@ Just the thing about shopping there though, is that you cannot fit the clothes so if you aren't sure about it then it's a bit risky.
THIS YOU GUYS, IS AN ACTUAL HEADBAND!! with a bird (REAL SIZED BIRD) on top. Looks  real when you see it in real life hahaha. They sell these in different kinds; some with birds on them like pigeons, owls, lovebirds, but they also have them in small teddy bears and all other cute things! 



2. Cultural Show : SIAM NIRAMIT

During our second night in Bangkok, one part of our semi-tour was the night cultural show called Siam Niramit. Apparently it's really famous in Bangkok and it's one of the must-see shows when visiting the city. Cameras were confiscated during the main show in the theatre but there was a mini show/parade outside before the show started. 

To be honest I wasn't stoked on watching the show because I thought it'd be just like other cultural shows but it actually turned out to be pretty awesome. They had a really big stage with more or less  300-400 people on set and just amazing props. I don't understand how they were able to surface a real river in the middle of the show (where people actually dove into during the river scene) and manage to dry it out (IDK EITHER) for the other scenes. Also, the 3D flying people were amazing, pretty flawless execution of harnesses and lights. The show was a tad too long but I enjoyed nevertheless! 




OF COURSE ELEPHANT! 

Souvenir shop
Me and momma bear before the show
Pretty lanterns! 


3. Pattaya Beach

For a day we went to Pattaya Beach (apparently it's like one of the main tourist beaches in Bangkok) that was 1.5-2 hrs away from the city proper. Nothing much I can say about the beach. To be honest there wasn't anything special about it. For someone who lives in the Philippines, where we have pristine beaches like Boracay and Palawan, to name a few, this doesn't even come close. The sand there was fine and white (doesn't compare to Boracay for me tho) but the place was just too damn crowded. AND MAN, WAS IT HOT IN THERE. It's one of those beaches where there were tents and beach chairs elbow to elbow beside each other, it just wasn't for me. I'd choose a beach here back home ANY DAY. (Laid-back just the way i like it)

**Let me mention that the way to the island is a speedboat. I've never ridden one and I probably won't ever get on one again. IT WAS HELLA SCARY OKAY, I grew up riding motorboats and stuff but not speedboats. AAH, I thought I was gonna die in there. Unfortunately for me I had to ride it otw back as well x__x 

Also, did I mention THEY DO NOT HAVE FRESH WATER THERE TO BATHE? @_@ If ever you were lucky enough to find a half-decent shower (seriously gross not even exaggerating), then lucky you. Food there wasn't stellar either. This is just me though, as I have been to a lot of beautiful beaches here in our country. 

Disclaimer: I have not been to Phuket / other beaches in Thailand, just sharing my experience with Pattaya alone. I've yet to visit the beautiful beaches of Phuket! :)   




4. City Tour / City Walk 

We spent half a day during our second day going around Bangkok to do some sight seeing. Long story short, BUDDHIST TEMPLES!




With le parents in front of (one of the many) four-faced buddhas 
Honestly not the posey type so I end up doing weird poses like this or opt for a wacky shot



The Thai Ronald Mcdonald. Can't pass up on this obligatory tourist photo op! heheh








OK so apparently most of the temple shots are still in my phone
View from our hotel room
on the way back to the PH <3 

Last thoughts:

Bangkok pretty much looks like one big Divisoria to be honest. Not much sight seeing you can do in Bangkok (city proper) for me but there is seriously ENDLESS CHEAP SHOPPING TO DO <3

Also, food in Bangkok is incredibly cheap and good. Too bad we weren't able to visit places like the floating market, the ancient cities, night markets, and stuff like that but there is always a next time! Lastly, the people there are like Filipinos also (aside from physical resemblance), Thai people are relatively warm Asians (if u know what i mean lol) Like all places, there will always be pros and cons but Thailand is definitely worth visiting. :D

XX, Khimella

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

The Icecreamist

For a while now I've been hearing about ice cream in liquid nitrogen. Liquid Nitrogen is basically Nitrogen in liquid state at a really low temperature. Since my recent visit to Bangkok, and also hearing about it (ice cream in liquid nitro) from friends, I figured I should give it a try. I'm not quite sure if they have other branches but I visited the newly renovated Icecreamist in Quezon City with my mom. Here's a short review:  

So here's the place.. sorry for low quality photos lel 






The place isn't so big, in fact it's super crowded. There were around 5 small square tables only. Also, it's always so crowded there so I wouldn't suggest going there with your whole barkada. I mentioned that the place was newly renovated, which was quite a disappointment because I didn't think the place looked impressive AT ALL. OK maybe I'm a bit overreacting but I just don't see myself hanging out there. I guess the place looks cool at first, with the blue lights and all but you get over it once you realize the service is INCREDIBLY SLOW. 


I LITERALLY WAITED 45-50 mins to get my order taken (a line of 4 people when i entered), only to find out they already ran out of ice cream and I could only order their Dragon's Breath s'mores (bestseller)  

SO OK FINE, I was already there might as well try it out. So I waited another 15 minutes for our order. 



Here's our order, FINALLY -____-

You're supposed to dip the s'mores into the liquid nitro then it sizzles like that 
(gotta admit that part's pretty cool UNTIL IT GETS IN YOUR MOUTH!!!!) well it wasnt all that bad but I think I took my first bite a little too quickly (thank you, occasional idiocy) so yeah i bit into it and it was hella hard and fell out of my mouth (OOPS) haha 

All I can say about the taste is MEHHHHHH. Nothing special, aside from the smoke and stuff. Legit campfire s'mores taste 100000x better. I mean they are s'mores, they were meant to be eaten hot. 


SO I guess you could say by now that I didn't quite like the overall experience. BUT i will still write my other cons and pros 

PROS:
- The idea, i guess is pretty cool (very gimicky) 
- decent presentation (wasn't excited about eating out of a seemingly ashtray-looking plate) but I saw the ice cream that they served were presented nicely  
- cool smoke coming out of your nose and mouth (you can instagram dat sh8) lel 

CONS: 
-place is too small! 
-it is forever crowded in there
-service is super slow @_@ probably because of the liquid nitro process (but srsly, if your customers would have to wait that long , better make it worth every minute of their life wasted lining up) 
-dragon's breath wasn't really that good 
-they only have 3 parking spaces, go figure 

So maybe i DID go a little overboard on the cons but I seriously won't encourage any of my friends to go there. 

DISCLAIMER: I have not tried their ice cream yet (WHICH LOOKED REALLY GOOD BTW) and they have flavors like Nutella, Red Velvet, Cookie Dough, etc all that good stuff. But yeah, most of the experience wasn't worth it. It's also probably good to consider that I'm very criticizing with resto/food place service because I love food and with that said I'd like to enjoy it. Won't be coming back here any time soon. :( 

If you do still wanna try it out for yourself, you can check them out here ---> Icecreamist 
I've read comments there and some enjoyed the experience :) 




Sunday, 26 May 2013

For Sale: Nissin Mark II Di866 Flash

I have this Nissin flash unit given to me by my parents last year which they thought I needed but sadly don't... so I decided to sell it instead of it just lying around my room. It IS second hand but BARELY USED. I used this thing thrice since I got it. It is pretty much almost brand new. Here's a photo of the actual unit:


The price I'm selling it at is very much negotiable. Check the link for details HERE. :) 

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Velvet Nails

For the longest time on the internet I've been seeing these velvet nail posts from Ciate and some other brands and I think they're sooo glam. I think velvet in itself is pretty glamorous, imagine them on your nails!! 




Anywho, of course everybody's heard about the caviar nails, (also popularized by Ciate), and I've yet to try those too. So yesterday I went to Quiapo with my mom to get stuff framed and I happened to come across this nail art store that sells probably absolutely everything you can put on your nails. They have the fake Ciate ones (that I honestly dont mind lol) but they were out of colors but then I saw that they also had those powdered velvet for the nails so I got myself some!

I bought them in 3 colors: maroon, forest green, black (because I think velvet looks best in those rich colours) it would probably look a bit tacky in lighter colors. They had them in small containers like these! Also I bought the caviar ones which I'd be posting once I get to use them. :) 



This is the one that I have (below) 



I figured Ill make a short tutorial on this, in case you wanted to try it out for yourself. It's pretty much a no-brainer, but it's a bit tedious.

You will need:

*Velvet powder
*Similar color of normal (glossy) polish
*A small brush


1. Apply the normal polish on your nails 

2. IMMEDIATELY after, carefully pour on the powdered velvet on top of the wet polish.  
DO NOT pat on it, it will smudge the wet polish on your nails and make the velvet look flat. Leave it alone, crazy woman!


lol thats basically it. your nails will look all fuzzy like this hihi


Clean around your nails with a soft brush (small make up brush will do) 



OKAY i suck at photographing this but i promise it looks better in real life!!!


XX Khimella

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Cebu 2013

It's been a while since I posted anything in here. To be honest I forgot I had this blog but anyway I'm back and I probably just update you on what I did last April. (Not that it concerns any of you lol) But yeah, last April I went to Cebu with my friends (my beloved homiez) and it was a ton of fun! We were there for 4 days/ 3 nights and it was pretty awesome.


Much of our trip wasn't planned, aside from accommodations, we graced Cebu with caprice and just did whatever we felt like doing. That said, I could say that we DID eat A LOT. Here's a picture from day 1, where we went to Tops, it's like the Tagaytay of Cebu and we tried this al fresco (of course duh) restaurant/grill which had really good BUT CHEAP FOOD. What's not to looove omg. It rained a bit that day so this picture looks a bit gloomy. The place is called Lantaw, btw. I don't know why some  photos are coming out blurry :|


Can't not have Jeje shots 


After day 1 I couldn't really remember things chronologically but basically the next three days were spent going around the city, sight-seeing, resto/bar hopping, and playing cards and loud music in the hotel room

We had an underwater/waterproof camera with us so that was pretty cool. This bunch of my barkada, we 're pretty much water babies and we always, ALWAYS go to the beach! Last time we went surfing in Zambales (i should also post that) basically most of our bonding happens in the beach! Because life's a beach. (just had to put that out there) Here're some from the day we went island hopping. 


Austin, polluting the ocean hahaha 








FOOD!!! Seafood overload 


Spot the photobomber

Look at that view!  Also, this is supposedly a beach, but unfortunately it was high tide when we were there but still pretty awesome. Look at the super white sand they were standing on 

This was taken in the pool of our 3rd day hotel. We literally
spent hours in the pool just talking about life (u know because
that's what adults do) lel 


In front of Mactan Shrine where Lapu-lapu and Magellan fought, apparently


PS. Here are some from the Skywalk Extreme at our hotel some 400+ feet above the ground. Pretty scary!! 



   

LOOK BELOW WHERE WE'RE SITTING 

Here are some photos from my iphone 






with the bff Win! <3 


During one of our stops island hopping. I forgot what the island was called. but it sure was Para-para-PARADISE! 


Basilica de Sto. Nino, I believe (?) not sure 

Pretty much it! I would post more, but I wouldn't. Ha ha.

                                                                                  XX Khimella