Christmas in Iloilo (Part I)

Christmas is here and decor and Yulatide gigs are out! I'll be posting some sights around Iloilo City which somewhat brings out the Christmas Spirit in Ilonggos. First in the line-up is that jolly old man named Santa Claus!

Contact Lenses Review: Ice Dolly Nudy Grey

 Hey! It's been a while since I came up with any blogposts and so here I am with you guys with another contact lens review! This time my contact lenses are Ice Dolly Nudy Grey.

Usually I fear wearing dark colored contact lenses as they blend so well with my dark brown eyes however, Ice Dolly Nudy Grey is the exact opposite as it is actually very light colored. Just from the bottle alone you can see that it is light colored and with that it will pop out on dark eyes.

Ice Dolly Nudy Grey Contact Lens

The one thing that I don't really like about these lenses as they are very soft just like Sparkle and Berry. When wet they don't exactly form the C form well which gave me some time of putting them on. Plus they fold easily which is a bit frustrating as one move in trying to peel them apart may result into torn lenses. 

Torn lenses = useless.

But despite the difficulty on that, they are very comfortable to wear on! Plus as stated they pop out on dark colored eyes.

However they're a bit pricey comparing to Berry, Sparkle and Tiffany as it can come in the Php 400
 to Php 500. But it's a priced a bit less than GEO and EOS.

Me using the lenses at my Misya Arsellec Lune SINOBI trial

Hopefully this was helpful to you guys :)

<3 Phira

Product Review: Etude House Body Maker Hot Patch

It's a rare occasion that I would buy something from the infamous Etude House here in our place (aside  from oogling on how cute and pink the interior is) but I promised to try something out (and curiousity beckons at me)

According to the product (and the sales girl) Etude House Body Maker Hot Patch is an alternative from their oil massage version. Think of it as a Salonpas that can "slim" you down. Of course, out of curiosity's sake (and to see if its really effective) I purchased to serve as a trial.

The packet contains two adhesives that smells like peppermint, in which I liked. It is easily removed and is good for one use and its not itchy or irritating.

However, the"heat" that it claims only lasts up to 10 minutes or so and doesn't last up to the 4-hour minimum.

I'd say I'd give this product a 1.5 out of 3 stars.

Better buy those gym adhesive belts/corsets instead and lessen sweets or drink more water if you wanna lose a few pounds.

Online Shopping Etiquette: For the Customer

Online Shopping Etiquette for Buyers

As an online shopper for four years, and an online merchant for cosplay wigs, accessories and contact lenses (and a re-seller of Hatah Hatah hats) for almost a year now, I have seen the boom of the e-commerce community – and also the boom of a lot of scammers on both sides.

So you're a new online shopper and you've got your pretty eye on an item? So how do you go about the transaction?

As an online shopper, one has to know that online shops function almost like the shops we go to at malls and such except transactions are done online and there are waiting times such as processing and delivery.

  

1. Read the Terms and Conditions. One of the biggest faults an online buyer forgets is to read the terms and conditions of the shop. Online shops are also run by people, often by students, housewives or small time professionals looking for an extra source of income and often are comprised of one person. For their benefit, they write their terms and conditions on notes provided by their sites, for example Facebook, you can find most Terms and Conditions in their Notes or Albums. 



An example of a Terms and Conditions page

2. 2. Like Pages have Order Form Apps. With shops slowly drifting to the convenience of like pages (because they do not have friend limits or photo limits) they now come with form applications to, not only make transactions easier, but also to keep a steady and passive record of those who have "finalized" their orders. This is also a reason why us shop keepers can keep track of our clients especially bogus buyers.

   

   An example of the navigation buttons with the Order Form apps of a shop's Like Page

   

   How an Order Form looks like

3. Be courteous and patient. Some of us online shop keepers have our own jobs outside for the computer, for me I am also working as a journalist and a writer, so it may take us sometime to answer to your queries. Also be courteous as we also have feelings too and often conversations online can be mistaken especially when one is writing in CAPS.
4. Follow their instructions. Meet up points and dates are always set up by seller for the convenience of their buyers and themselves and are often set in public areas like SM. A good seller doesn't set up meet up points at night (where on is susceptible to trouble such as hold-ups and kidnapping) or at unfamiliar places for them. Take note that sellers are not super heroes and doesn't memorize every location in your area so please do not insist them to visit your area especially if you live far away.
5. Be sure with your transactions. What we hate the most are joy reservers and bogus buyers. This also takes a toll on the shop as it chases away potential buyers or delays a batch.
6. If in doubt always ask around. As a buyer, one cannot fathom the doubt lingering over a shop's legitimacy. It's best to ask around if you are in doubt of the proof albums.

If I missed out anything, please list down your suggestions and comments at the comment box! :) 

MSG-free food at Hong Kong Kitchen

Photo credits to Sir Ram.

This is a seriously delayed post as I have been so busy with work and all but I just need to share an awesome gourmet experience here in our city.

  
 Hong Kong Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant here in Iloilo invited me and a couple of my friends out to try their food at their reopening. And I have to say the food there is A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Sure, I have eaten so much Chinese in my life (given that my family is also a art Chinese) but this restaurant's gotten my taste buds intrigued.

Hong Kong Kitchen has been serving MSG-free meals for a couple of years now and if you were in my shoes you would appreciate MSG-free food. Why? Because the food doesn't taste the same! At each dish you would savor you would feel that the flavor explodes in your mouth in a natural way. 

Duck with Mashed Potato

As I would quote from an anime I would watch when I was young, "There's a spring in my mouth!"

Mark WTH are you doing with your food?!

Science Trivia: (Source MedicineNet.com)

MSG is monosodium glutamate which is an flavor enhancer and a key ingredient for cuisines in China and Japan. MSG is associated with the "Chinese restaurant syndrome" in which symptoms include ehadaches, dizziness, facial pressure, tightness of the jaw, tingling sensations, chest and back pain. High amounts of MSG may result into widening of the arteries. However, some do not believe this and often associate it as an allergic reaction.

Filler Post of the Day

Found this randomly while FaceBook-ing:

You can find the picture from this link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=263265263775066&set=a.172274696207457.26274.168594109908849&type=1

Anijou's Mascots!

Anijou mascots. Can you name them all?
Art by Sam Suansing

So, I heard you've attended this Anijou event, ne? You look around and see this peculiar artwork bearing not only the schedule but also the guild's logo. Is this some kind of mascot?

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the Anigumi Joukai mascots.

Apparently, before Anijou didn't have mascots during their events. They would usually come and go and make posters and such to promote the event. However, things took a different turn for the 2011 October event.

October has always been a special month for Anijou as not only it marked the month of Anijou's first main event, it was also one of the reasons why the guild was formed. But enough about history, let's talk about the first mascot: the Gamehouse Clash mascot/Gamehouse-chan; better known as Asobi-chan.

Asobi-chan, October 2011 Gamehouse Clash Mascot. Can you see the different consoles on her?
Conceptualized and drawn by Audrey San Juan 

I actually can't remember the exact date on when or how did the organizing team thought of creating a mascot for the event (although my gut feeling tells me it was Audrey's ingenious idea from the start). All I remember is that sketches began popping up in the organizing team's chat page and it stuck all the way to the end.

Old sketch of Asobi-chan by Audrey

If you are keen enough, you could see that her outfit sports hints of different gaming platforms such as XBox and Playstation. Her name, Asobi, is means play in Japanese and was coined by yours truly (what a shameless plug in there ^_^;;)

Unfortunately, I cannot find her chibi form. Yes she had a deformed form but somehow I cannot find it in the older posts of the group.

If you would notice that Asobi has a bit of a different look in her old sketch. Instead of wearing a one piece suit, the old sketch is a two piece outfit. The only ones that were carried over to the final design were the gaming console icons.






Next, are two very familiar faces if you guys have attended the cosplay cafes on February 2012 at Brew Burgers and May 2012 at Book Latte.

Love and Struck.
Conceptualiazed and drawn by Sam Suansing
Layout by Audrey San Juan
February 2012 Cosplay Cafe @ Brew Burgers

The first time these two lovebirds appeared was during the February 2012 Cosplay Cafe held at Brew Burgers. The name was thought up randomly by me (again). Why Love and Struck? Basically the cafe was on a February and that month is basically the month of love so Lovestruck. These two served as the meal tickets/bookmark souvenirs for the cafe customers. Apparently they were quite popular, most especially Struck (?) in which there wasn't enough bookmarks to go around. Added bonus, for the first time, Brew Burgers was completely full and sold out, as said by the owners Sir Richard and Sir Babak.

Love & Struck for the Book Latte Cosplay Cafe
Art and Layout by Sam Suansing

\The next time these two appeared was during the Book Latte Cosplay Cafe event. Now, if you guys can still remember it well, that cafe was solely focused on cosplays that involved characters from books and fairytails. Examples would be Death from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and Snow White. However, there were some who chose to cosplay characters from their favorite anime series and manga. An example would be Inu x Boku.

Love Ticket/Bookmark souvenir 

Struck Ticket/ Bookmark souvenir

Once again, Love and Struck adorned not only the posters but also the ticket/bookmark souvenirs. As I, myself, wasn't completely present in the event, I'm not too sure on successful it was nor was the event sold out.

Ai-Expo's (Anijou Iloilo) Mascot: May-chan
Art by Audrey San Juan

Early sketch of May-chan by Audrey San Juan

The last in the line up is the very familiar May-chan. Not only does she adorn every single form laid out on the Anigumi Joukai table, she is also found on the promotional posters, Facebook page and the tarpaulins. She was conceived, designed and drawn by Audrey San Juan, the resident artist/advertising designer of Anijou. Audrey was the one who coined her name, probably because that Ai-Expo was held in the month of May.

May-chan looks like a kitsu-mimi (or rather a girl with fox ears and tail). I'm not too sure if this is the indirect effect of the Fate game for the PSP on her as it just dawned on me that she might be inspired indirectly from Caster (Tamamo-noMae). Nonetheless, May-chan's quite cute.

chibi!May-chan with the Ai-Expo logo
All by Audrey San Juan

And there you have it! Now you know who are the Anijou mascots. Hopefully, this was a bit helpful to you. Until next blog post! >_<

Not just your average costumes

In the recent years, Iloilo City found itself swarming with odd kids (and kids-at-heart) on the streets and malls in eccentric costumes. Most of them even looking like they had just taken a head dive into their flatscreens and emerged in the characters' outfits. Apparently, Iloilo is finally catching up to the "phenomenon" called cosplay.

But wait, a minute! What is this cosplay that I am talking about?

Naruto! Stop bugging me when I'm about to talk to Sasuke-kun!

Cosplay or costume play is a Japanese subculture in which one dresses up in various types of outfits because in cosplay you are no longer yourself but rather, you are the character you are dressing up as. Usually people who cosplay are often seen as characters from various anime and manga hailing from Japan but generally, cosplay doesn’t limit itself to that. One can also cosplay various, games, movies, comic books, graphic novels, even to some extent, TV personalities like Manny Pacquiao.

What makes cosplay different from the costumes in Halloween events or themed parties for children?

"The white angel is actually a demon" - Sheryl Nome, Universal Bunny

That one’s simple.

Cosplay requires the player to think out of the box in terms of creativity because the main point of cosplay is bringing one’s character to life both in terms of costume, props and projection. This somewhat a very similar contrast on how an actor should portray his character on stage. It exercises the creativity and ability of a person to be resourceful in crafting their costumes and props. Many cosplayers often sew and build their costumes and props such as armor and swords from scratch. Also in cosplay one can exercise reaching out to others and gaining friends and earning trust and respect as equal hobbyists as well as knowing other techniques on crafting costumes from fellow cosplayers.

Cosplay, like theater arts, also involves the player to get to know his or her character to be able to act the character out. Just like in the theater, the cosplayer goes to an extent to act out the character for fellow otakus in gathers or events which is one of the key points in cosplaying.

Hmm... a showdown between Roy Mustang and Itachi

A sad drawback about cosplay is the time as well as money in crafting the costumes. Most cosplayers save up for their costumes since majority of them are still students while some find means, like setting up shops or part-time jobs, to find extra cash for their creations. Also time constraint and management is a huge chunk in this hobby.

Nonetheless, it helps the person manage as well as prioritize what is to be prioritized first in terms of hobbies. Cosplay is also more than just a hobby it is a way of expression and a way to gain respect and friends.

Jherben is so sexy

Cosplay: No Limit to Creativity

It's not that I'm offended or anything but everytime I stop and think about it, I'm a bit bothered.  If I'm going to offend anybody please take to mind that these are my own thoughts and I'm just trying to express myself. I do not mean to be rude to anyone in this post.

A random picture of me failing as England from Hetalia Axis Powers (Steampunk variation) Picture by Gee Jay Loreno and taken from Ai Expo 2012

1. Cosplay Reservations 

I really don't see the point in this. 

Don't we all believe that cosplay is for everyone no matter what the body size, just as long as you can really give justice to the character itself? And as the highly competitive creatures we are, a little bit of competition doesn't hurt since I really think it lets us go wild with our imagination on how to  tackle the costumes ourselves. Competition also somewhat helps us discover what are the "cheats" or easier ways on how to pull things off to how to be resourceful without spending a lot.

In all honesty, this "character reservation" kinda places wall to creativity. And besides, it's not really fun when you're the only one standing there and everybody mistakes you for a different character or a fashion. Also, this is one way of finding out who are in the fandom. A primary example is Hetalia Axis Powers, although in the US, Australia and Japan, it's an overused cosplay, here in the Philippines you hardly chance on any cosplayers. Sometimes, it even takes luck on finding one!

My Happy Fruit Fwendz: Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cherry and Mango

2. Lolita as Cosplay

Define Lolita. Define Cosplay.

Lolita: Fashion.

Cosplay: Costume Play.

Is it even possible to cosplay a fashion statement? That boggles me just a bit. 

Are we lolita enough for you? :P

3. Cosplayer = Art Student (or anything close to that)

Ok, I get these A LOT when people start asking me what's my course. They say, "Shouldn't you be in -insert artistic course here- ?" 

First, I know a few medical course related cosplayers and they are really excellent cosplayers. I do not see the connection between your course and an artist hobby/outlet. 


Second, cosplay does not choose its course or year or age. As I said cosplay is for everyone.

Unfortunately, this Acolyte's Heals aren't enough for the might of this ghoul (Jherben Lagon, 4th President of Anigumi Joukai as Ragnarok Acolyte)

4. Cosplayer = Model

Woah. PAUSE.

This I really, REALLY don't like. I have friends who are plus sized and do not have a Tyra Banks-like build and height but they are excellent cosplayers. Cosplay doesn't have a body preference and what's important to us cosplayers is that we truly give justice to the character we are portraying.

Plus, photogs this is a hobby and we are not your models so please don't get mad if we do poses that express our character's personality but not to your liking. But we do want to hear from you if the pose doesn't look good from behind the lens.

Even Lelouch needs to fix himself to keep his good looks (Marc Louise of Anigumi Joukai as Lelouch Vi Brittania) 

--

Ok this is all I could think of right now XD If I offended anyone then I apologize