Sleep deprived.

Saturday with the family. My sisters have been urging the parents to go to this Ozine Fest. It's a festival for all anime and cosplay lovers around the metro. This year it was held in SM Megamall at the Megatrade Hall.

My sisters entered the individual drawing competition. Unfortunately since my sisters are aged 14 and 10, they had to compete in the same age category. I got an entrance pass too, but I wasn't really what you call an "otaku" so I only just went sight-seeing at the bizarre yet very creative costumes that cosplayers wore. The entrance fee per day is ₱100.

We were having trouble deciding where to eat (Megamall is HUGE!) and we kept on walking until our feet led us to Holy Cow Steakhouse at the Atrium.

This Tabasco sauce wanted to take a picture with me.

How can I not smile at this? Wild, Wild West wall mementos and look at that fine cascading wooden boards!

I was also amazed at this wall painting. It's so beautiful. And the wooden rafters above it is a nice feat too!

The moment we stepped in I was taken aback by the nice ambience it has, and also I have to give props to the waiter's costumes! Yep, they're in cowboy jeans, leather boots and hats! I was totally amused at the horseshoe decor on the wall & the carriage wheel-inspired light fixture. It's not something you see everyday. Themed food establishments in Philippines are hard to come by.

We ordered BBQ Calamari for starters. They're huge calamari slices and the lemony tartar dip was a perfect complement to it. My 14-year-old sister Ia Mae had chicken fillet, Java rice and steamed veggies. Irylle (the youngest, aged 10) had the typical fried chicken with rice while I sampled the Juicy Melty Burger with their large-cut fries and spicy honey mustard dip.

This Juicy Melty Burger has a lot to offer. First off, the fries on the side are well-seasoned. It's not overpowering but not too bland. The spicy honey mustard dip completes the feat. I don't know about you but I always eat my burgers and fries together, not one first over the other. The cheese melts as you take a bite, and you can actually taste when it blends with the sumptuous juice of the burger patty fresh from the grill. The lettuce is fresh and crunchy, the buns hot and steamy but well-toasted on top along with the sesame seeds. I'm glad I picked this over rice. Therefore, I can truly say this one's for the books.

For dessert we had a choco oatmeal cookie with vanilla ice cream drizzled in rich chocolate syrup. The cookie seemed to be 3 pieces baked together as a one whole unit, it kinda looked like clover-shaped, but only with 3 sections. It was a good way to end the meal. The only the thing we were having difficulty with was cutting the cookie. It was hard! But I found a trick to it: use the dining knife and stab it (I'm serious!) and gently wedge it back and forth until the cookie divides.

My review for this restaurant: 

A+ food, decent music (they played John Mayer's In Repair which is a smart choice) and lovely atmosphere. The only downfall is that they have quite a slow service. The parents did not eat together with us because they were meeting some old acquaintances, so when that meet-up got cancelled they had to order lunch when we finished eating. Papa asked for the menu and the waitress took more than 5 minutes. She didn't even get back to us. We had to ask another waiter for it (his name was Lito and this waiter talking to customers with a lot of PR skills is kinda amusing, he was trying to know the customers through small talks). 

When we asked for the bill I volunteered to pay for the lunch to treat my sisters. But it was such a big disappointment that they didn't accept nor even try my UnionBank EON Visa debit card. It's weird because they said only Mastercard & Visa credit cards are acknowledged. Oh well. Maybe I have to go run to the ATM next time.

If you'd still ask me if I'd eat at Holy Cow I'd still say yes. 

This is my sister Irylle's entry to the drawing contest. Isn't she amazing?

Ia Mae left early to meet her friends at the venue so it was only Papa, Mama, Irylle and I waiting at our booth. And then I suddenly had the funny realization: I told Irylle we resembled the How I Met Your Mother gang and that Holy Cow was our MacLaren's! We had our own booth; Mama and Papa were Lily and Marshall because Ma's into shopping and Pa's into supernatural stuff. I was Ted the overthinker and the OC-guy, Ia Mae was Robin because she's boyish and a tsundere as she says, Irylle was Barney because she keeps on obsessing over his Legendary-ness. "And how bout Ian (our brother) who's back home because he was suffering from body ache?" I asked. Irylle replies, "Well he can be Kevin or Ranjit. But Papa can also be Ranjit cause he drives."

It's so great to have good conversations over good food. We waited until 6pm at Holy Cow before submitting Irylle's drawing upstairs. 

View from the 5th floor.

My new kicks. Navy blue pumps it is.

We had to stay at SM Megamall until 9 or 10pm for the awarding of winners. I'm not good at waiting but seeing Irylle win the contest for the individual drawing category of 14 below was worth it! She's the sole winner among all the kids who have joined in the Ozine Fest. She even beat Ia Mae! :P

 I'm a proud ate :)

Did you attend the Ozine Fest this year? If so, how was your experience?

x Iris

I've been looking for an effective blackheads remover but not until today have I found it. I was grocery shopping at the local mall when I spotted this on the shelf:

I tried it right away when I got home. It came in a pack of 3's in a set all taped up together. When I opened it and spread it on my face it reminded me of the consistency of Elmer's Glue! The instruction at the back said to wait 15 minutes until it hardens to be ready for removal. 15 minutes had passed, I peeled off the white mask that surrounded my face (it was tight!) but surprisingly felt good!

The mask was easy to peel and it smelled really nice. It's my first time to use a blackhead remover mask and this brand has already has made its way as my favorite!

I've tested it for a day and I can say it's truly effective! For a very affordable price of ₱51 for a set of 3's, you're getting your money's worth. My skin was smoother than ever and 95% of oil & blackheads were gone!

So in summary, the downside is the glue-like sticky feel when applying at first and the little redness of your face when you take it off but I totally I love it! It's amazing when I find great products like these! How about you? Do know any effective blackhead remover? What's your favorite? :)

** Note: This is not a sponsored post

Follow my shop on Tumblr! http://tavolozza.tumblr.com

Cute embossed dress stickers from my youngest sister.

A journal I randomly bought for only PHP 35. I like the postcard cover very much.

...continued from part 02.

Since I got my salary from my freelance project with my uncle, I used the money to buy some good stuff. To people who know me so well they're aware that thrift shopping is my thing so when somebody tipped me over at this thrift shop somewhere within the vicinity, I asked Mama if I could use the car and if she wanted to go with me to find some cheap goodies.

Candies in the car!

The moment we parked in front of the thrift shop I knew I was in for a thrill ride! There were pretty dresses everywhere most of which were sold for 120-180!

There were only a handful of people when we arrived, although as Mama and I have noticed, the number grew just after minutes when we were scouring the racks of clothes.

They have 2 floors of thrift goodness!

The thrift shop was really a heaven! The ground floor was for the new arrivals (most of which are SO PRETTY!) and the 2nd floor features everything that's 50% off! I was literally pulling anything that I see from the racks. 

Everything I got amounted to almost PHP 4,000+, which were like 28 beautiful pieces of clothes. Boy, shopping sure takes a toll on my wallet but hey, I got good stuffs!

Mama looking at some polo from the rack.

PHP 25.00 sign.

Shopping was a good mother-daughter bonding too! Mama and I are definitely gonna be back at that place. I even scored a faux leather jacket for only PHP 280! Can you believe that? And anybody who saw that jacket told me it was gorgeous and didn't even think it was thrifted!

SM Molino in a very festive mood.

When we got home, Mama told me she'd be going to SM and pay at BDO. So when she was at the bank, I went to National Bookstore to look at some books. Most of them, were for my revitalized hobby...

I think I spent a good 30 minutes in that section alone, scouring through everything that breezes through my hands. I wanted to buy so much photography books but then again, I won't be able to use it that much unless I actually own a DSLR. I'm still sticking to my good ole Agfa Digicam anyway. Plus, I'd rather spend on books later when I'm upgraded. For now, I can just read tutorials on the internet for free :D

However, I came to National Bookstore for a very good reason. I was going to buy a very nice gift for Tyler.

A handy phrase book and an English-Tagalog dictionary for my love.

UPDATE [12/29/11]: He loved the books I gave him! I told him it'd be very useful on his travel. And also, it would be a good read on his plane back home or when he misses me. As a gift to me, he gave me a necklace that he made himself. It was a coin necklace with genuine Yens and a 5-centavo coin. I love handmade stuff! He was so frantic cause he didn't know if I would like his gift that he even cut his finger while making it.

Tyler is very sweet and I am so lucky to spend this year's Christmas with him. :')

x Iris