1998: Clark & Mt. Pinatubo, Pampanga

My first experience of hiking was when I was 8 years old. At that particular point in time, I had NO idea what it was all about. All I knew was that it was the first time I get to travel on my own so I readily agreed! I mean, what kind of kid wouldn't be compelled to join an outing with thoughts of seeing hot air balloons for the first time? Yep, I thought hiking was hot air balloon watching back then. Oh, how naive I was! I could've checked the dictionary first or something! Well, my cousin didn't lie to me or anything. Yes, we went to see the hot air balloons first BEFORE proceeding to the grueling hike on Mt. Pinatubo the next day. 

So anyway, I went to Clark, Pampanga first with my three cousins: Ate Joyce, Ate Kim and Gelo. We traveled at dawn and I was in awe of a lot of things specifically the thought of traveling at such a young age! I felt like an authentic traveler that early Saturday. I wasn't disappointed since the first hot air balloon experience I had was really amazing! Check out the photos! 

Oh, BTW, it's my cousin, Joyce Alcoreza who took all of these photos! As a child, I didn't own any gadgets, especially a camera!

Haha! Look at my hairdo here and my "baduy" get-up! I look like Dora the Explorer!

We kids weren't allowed to ride a hot air balloon at that time since only kids who were 12 years old and above were permitted to. It was only ate Joyce who got to ride one of the hot air balloons during the festival. Us kids had to do the 'tracking' part of the event. We rode one of the 4x4 wheel drives and 'chased' the balloon that ate Joyce was riding. It was loads of fun actually since we got to see a lot of fantastic 'lahar'- filled sights while on that road trip. If I thought that was exhilarating already, then I spoke too soon because next day proved to be more challenging. 

We hiked on a Sunday. I remember that perfectly since I had classes the next day and I dreaded the thought of not being able to go to my classes. Yes, I was already neurotic as a kid! Can you believe that? =)

 As you can see in the pictures below, I really had no idea what I was about to do. I was wearing a while Hello Kitty ensemble! Hello??? After I overcame the shock though, I suddenly became really really irritating. I remember asking the guide time and time again, "Is it already 10 km? How long have we been walking? How many kilometers have we covered so far? Is it still far? What am I gonna see up there?" Stuff like that, which I asked in Tagalog of course. I'm amazed that the guide was able to tolerate my irritating questions. 

I can still vividly recall the details of this experience. We hiked three hours nonstop going up while it took a lot longer going down since we followed a trail that was not so steep. That  took us around 6 hours or so. Overall, we started climbing it at around 6:00am until 6:00 pm. It was a really hard hike, which is probably the most difficult hike I had to do in this lifetime (which, I'm probably never going to repeat ever again unless I start to become fit again!) What made it so difficult?  For one, there's a lot of running streams that you  have to cross. It IS hard since some streams have really strong currents. Also, there's a lot of rocks. You wouldn't probably even be able to see the soil anymore since you're basically walking on large slabs of rocks. 

This experience was really worth remembering. Not only did I see surreal landscapes, I also almost died in this expedition. Why and how? Well, we were almost at the top of the volcano already and it was getting steeper and steeper. By that time, I was really exhausted already that I couldn't even stand up straight anymore. I leaned on a large rock that suddenly moved and fell down. I was glad that the guide was able to hold my hand before I fell down the craggy crevices. So see, this experience was really very enriching for me. It started my 'occupation' as a traveler and it was also the first time I had a near death experience. 

I'm proud to say that I accomplished this feat. When I was younger, some people asked me what my greatest accomplishment was, and I used to answer, "being able to climb Mt. Pinatubo" and not other generic answers like getting an award or something. Yes, this is probably one of my greatest life achievements that I would never be able repeat ever again and I am glad to have been given the opportunity to do this at a very young age when I was still quite athletic! I felt like this trip made my bond with nature stronger. I was able to see things in a different light and started to appreciate nature better.

Oh yeah, I just created a flickr account! Browse through a more complete set of my family's travel photos. Check it out by clicking this *link.*

Majolica Majorca's "MAJOLOOK (Trick On)" BR751

 Hi there! I know it's been awhile since I last updated, but I blame it all on our slow internet connection (and well, I guess my laziness can also be blamed)! However, starting now, I vow to update my blog at least once a week! =D

So for this week's blog, I will be talking about my newest favorite eyeshadow. It's Majolica Majorca's "Majolook" BR751.

Majolica Majorca mainly has three eyeshadow types: Jeweling Eyes, Majolook Illuminator and Majolook Trick- On. This eyeshadow, Majolook BR 751 belongs to the third category, Majolook Trick-On. Its description in the brochure says, "A glossy powder? An eyeshadow with extraordinary 3-D effect and wet gloss sheen." So, read on as I unravel more things about this gorgeous product!

So, this is basically the packaging of Majolook Trick- On. The back cover is mainly composed of Japanese characters. Even with my knowledge of hiragana characters, it is impossible for me to understand that! That is the reason why I'm thankful that there's a small paper inside with English translation. So yeah, this product costs P795.00. It IS expensive, but it's cheap compared to MAC eyeshadows where one color costs this much already!

So this is the english translated version of the Majolook's back packaging cover. Basically, it talks about how the product would make your eyes have a "3-D effect." It also offers some instructions on how to apply the eyeshadow. You can click on the picture to make it bigger so that it would be easier to read!

Look at the case! It's GORGEOUS! Just what you'd expect from Majolica Majorca! Looks so animeish right? Especially the gold details and the logo! XD

So, this is a close- up view of the eyeshadow colors of Majolook BR751. Basically, it's a little bit on the neutral side. I forgot the code number for each color since I threw away the small paper with description. But, as you can see, the one on the upper right is gold. The one next to it is a little bit on the mauve side. Lower left has a brown shade and the one next to it is the Trick On powder. If you read the paper before, you'd know that the Trick On powder is the one you apply on top of the mauve shade so that it would look wet and glossy; it's the one that gives the 3-D effect!

Here are some swatches. You might be wondering why there are three rows. Well, the first row on top shows swatches with NO base, as in no eyeshadow primer. The second row, the one on the middle, shows the eyeshadows applied on top of a cheap primer (ELF eyeshadow primer). You can see that the colors look more vivid, but looks a little pasty. That's all thanks to the primer. The last row shows the eyeshadows applied on top of a more expensive primer (PALLADIO Herbal primer). The PALLADIO Herbal primer is manufactured by the same company as the one that produces the Urban Decay primer potion; or so my cousin says.

This picture shows the 'staying power' of this eyeshadow set. I swiped this hand several times with tissue and as you can see, if it doesn't have a base, it is very easy to remove. The last row has the strongest staying power and it's no wonder because it's the one with the PALLADIO primer. This little experiment just shows how important it is to have a primer since even though you have a really expensive eyeshadow, it wouldn't last long without a good primer-- especially for gals with oily lids like myself. 

So are you ready for the (horror) pictures? =) Again, sorry for the quality. My camera still doesn't take good make-up photos, but please bear with me since I don't think I'll have a new camera replacement soon. Despite this disadvantage, I DO love my camera! 

The colors on these two pictures are not so noticeable, but it is in real life. You can just see the sparkles and stuff, but I guess that's one thing I like about this set. The colors are not  "too-in-your-face," but it does the job in terms of brightening the eye area. 

I think you'll see the difference better in this picture. My left eye (the one nearest in the picture) shows the applied eyeshadows while my other eye still has no eyeshadow. You can see that my left eye is much brighter and sparkly.  My lid area also appears bigger. Below are more pictures from different angles.

So, what's my verdict for this product? I LOVE it. It's my favorite eyeshadow now. I have no regrets buying this because it's wearable anywhere and is not so obvious, which fits my character perfectly. Also, the colors are very pigmented so I don't have to build the colors too much by applying more since it is striking already as it is. It also has a very strong staying power especially when partnered with the PALLADIO herbal primer (costs P385.00 for 5 mg at the Beauty Bar.) I mean, I wear it from 7:00am until 7:30pm and it's still there! It's the one I wore during the AZKAL's training at Rizal Stadium and even though I was sweating like hell, it still didn't go away! THAT's how amazing it is!

I highly recommend this product even though it's expensive, but you get the good quality in exchange and innovative ideas! The Trick On powder idea is genius! Anyway, I hope I can say the same for the other eyeshadows of Majolica Majorca, but I'm not completely taken with the Jeweling Eyes. Wait for my review of it next time!