Cutina Review

I just popped my last tablet of Cutina, that anti-pimple medicine I'm taking since last month and which I also blogged about. Now it's time to give it a review.

It is indeed effective and i wasn't surprised when I saw in the pharmacy that it was already number 1 in the market. If I just knew about this during my wedding preparation, I could have faced the altar pimple free and with less foundation.. =P

There were no major side effects, just a more yellowish colored urine, but I did feel depressed and irritable one time, but fortunately, it turned out to be just my monthly PMS. This medicine did its best to help prevent breakouts, even my menstrual pimples are smaller and gone after 2 days without leaving bad marks. I only got 1-2 small pimples for those days I was too lazy to wash my face before going to sleep. Ordinarily, I get at least 4 as penalty and they swell like a balloon and leave ugly marks. But now, "buyag-buyag", I don't have new scars anymore, yipee!

About its whitening effect, I couldn't really say much about it since i'm on my pants and sweater 95% of the time and my skin has never seen the sun since fall started. If I did get whiter, I couldn't credit it to Cutina.

It's the best, a heaven-sent for problematic skin like I have, thanks to Japanese vanity and ingenuity. On the way home, Hubby and I passed by the pharmacy to buy another bottle but this time we got the 120 tablets because he is convinced with the effect and he also want to take it. Now Cutina has caught the male market. =)

Bad, Bad

Got a mail from my mom bearing bad news, but everything's fine for now and we're still praying that it will be better. This is the hardest part of being away from home, you tend too fret with the slightest problem coz you really don't know what is going on. But i'm so thankful that I have a husband at times like these making it easier to handle and less frightening in facing the worst case scenario. He doesn't have to say anything, just a hug made me feel i will never be alone, i guess it's the best feeling in the world.

Because of that, my first Hot German Potato Salad was a failure. I became restless and kept messing up in the kitchen. The potato was super over-boiled, I pud too much vinegar and too much spring onions... bad bad bad. As a result, we just had a fried chicken for supper.

Aurora Borealis

Last saturday, I met a Japanese woman who is taking up masters in Plasma Physics in Kyushu University. Actually, I just knew that day that there are many branches in Physics, like Maila's boyfriend mastered in Solid Physics. So when you know someone who says he masters in Physics, the next question should be "what kind of physics?" (basta something like that).

She must be very smart since Juliet and Maila (both engineering graduates) both agree that electromagnetics is the most difficult subject, and this woman is mastering in this area. Anyway, to clearly describe her field(since the only thing we knew of Plasma, is the Plasma TV), she talked about the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights as an example of an effect of Plasma activity(basta something like that hehehe). I didn't know about this once-a-year phenomenon until that day (dah, sige lang man gud basa ug showbiz), so I read more about it in the internet. It seems fascinating, and I pledge to myself to watch live it before I die.

Now I have one reason why I want to go to Canada, coz they said it's one of the places where you can see it.

Roads I Travelled

I seldom bring a camera because I always forget to charge it, so it stays in the cabinet uselessly. Before we head to the Mikan Picking, I had to charge it for 10 minutes because I just couldn't go to my first Mikan Gari undocumented. On our way home since the battery life had 9 minutes left, I decided to take pictures of the roads that I bike on, pass by every single day to and from the office. I just realized now that the trees have beautifully turned to red and yellow, sometimes we really need to take a time off to appreciate the good things around.

I snapped away til my camera went dead.

autumn na jud diay..

All STOP

All GO

Maila, Juliet and Hubby's office

Aming Kapitbahay

This is our view from the house, an old style Japanese house with a nice Japanese garden with a pond (not seen in picture). We're lucky that we have a totally different view apart from the towering mansions around the neighborhood. The house is one of the very few traditional houses hidden in the city. I rarely see anyone there, so I wonder if the trees are trimmed or they just naturally grow in perfect shape.

One day, I'd like to put a Japanese garden just like this one, with swing, jacuzzi, pond and Cherry Blossoms that sprawl in the backyard of my Victorian Style house, around a white picket fence but with a high-tech-security gate.

Presenting, my confused dream house. =)

* I got this picture from a friend who took this with his new Pentax DSLR camera. The pic doesn't look like it was taken at night.

Monopolized

Hubby and I found this Monopoly game set at the second hand store for only 1,050 yen, my "smol na baby" said it's one of his few frustrations to own one because it's his favorite game but they couldn't afford one before so I gave him a go to buy it, even though I find it expensive for a board game.

I never played Monopoly ever in my entire life and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it, but I still gave it a try for the love of my Hubby. We started at 9:30 pm but at around 1:30 am, we're still on our first game. Hubby was so shrewd that's why game got exciting and we lost track of time, and I wouldn't even take bathroom breaks, we just stopped when we got so hungry. Because we were too hungry to cook for our very late dinner, we went out to eat Ramen at the famous Yatai(street stalls) by the Canal City river. There's this stall there that people line up for and is always full that's why I never got the chance to eat there but since it was already late that time, the line was bearable. Finally I was able to taste their famous ramen and quench my curiousity. Indeed, it was the best ramen in i've tasted, even better than Ichiran Ramen. The line and the Y700 a bowl were truly worth it.

After that we walked around Nakasu(Fukuoka's red light district) and had fun watching the drunk salary men, and their overly made-up Nakasu girls. And some gals and boys flirting with each other.

There were much too see when japanese play hard on their Saturday night but we had to go back home coz we were itching to finish our Monopoly match. Then the game went on for another 1 hour and a half before I beat Hubby to his favorite game, a beginner's luck I would say. And called it a night.

Baby Souvenir

I found this trinket on Juliet's cellphone and I think it's so cute. It's a souvenir from her japanese friend's child's christening and I decided to post this here for those who are looking for giveaway ideas. Actually, it doesn't look like a souvenir but an ordinary cellphone trinket with a picture of a cute angel.

If you think you're this angelic, you can also make one like this for your birthday party giveaway. =P

Japanese Rice

"Foreign rice is for foreigners, Japanese people like only Japanese rice." - A Japanese rice shop worker.

While Hubby and I was on our train ride to Yanagawa, we passed by some rice fields and he told me stories he heard from his Japanese friends. According to them, Japanese are pretty protective of their rice industry, they make sure that Japan's rice could supply themselves so they do not allow imports. The very few imports they get(for diplomatic effect) goes to making rice wine or foreign aid. So basically, every pack of rice available in the market is made here.

What impressed me is how the government take care of their rice farmers. The seedlings, which I believe are products of an extensive research in our Japanese funded IRI in UPLB, are provided by the government and their harvest are also bought by the government. Per planting season, as they were given seedlings, their estimated yield quantity and cost are recorded so when disaster arise that could destroy their field, the government pays for everything and even for the rehabilitation cost and replanting.

My family's source of income back home is our farm so I could totally relate to the story and couldn't help to compare how our government is treating the farmers. There are no regulations on agricultural imports so the poor farmers could barely compete with the prices.

I remember one time, I had coffee with my tita and our country's agricultural attache to Japan. He said the Japanese sent 100 (or was that 1000?) mini-tractors for donation to Filipino farmers. He promised my tita to reserve one for our farm, but lo and behold, as soon as the tractors arrived, it was sold by the son of our then pareng president and of course, heaven knows where the money went.

Japan is an industrial country with barely a space for their people while Philippines boasts of its endless agricultural resources but the reason why we couldn't come close to the quality of their rice is such a bitter irony to swallow.

Emergency Exit for Real

Okay, I may have lived in this country for a year if you sum it all up but there are still things here that amazes me.

This morning my workmate went outside the office to look for our building's main trashbin, he tried the main pantry and then the fire/emergency exit. A few minutes after, a security personnel came up whom he thought was just having his routine check, but then the man asked him if he opened the fire/emergency exit door. The personnel was speaking in nihongo that my workmate barely understood, so our japanese boss came out and talked for him. I was also called outside for a short orientation on how to use the fire/emergency exit.

Apparently, that door shouldn't be opened unless there's a real emergency because opening it could trigger the alarm at the security office. So that was what the poster on the door means.

Hubby said it is a standard here, but my previous company building was not that advanced since the emergency exit was used for smoking or our shortcut to the parking lot.

Well, I think the infamous "fire exit" fantasy will remain a fantasy in this country...

Looking forward this christmas!

Aside from being our first christmas together as husband and wife, what makes it more exciting is the package that I will receive from my global mommy of our VPAL Global Kriss Kringle!

I'm not sure anymore when was our last Christmas together or at least the last December that we're almost complete. Was that time when Georgia's mom and sister, my mom and brothers came to Manila? hmmm...

Anyhow, it couldn't be denied how much we miss each other when we were all bursting with excitement when we plan for our kriss kringle (hmm teka, hindi kaya excited lang makatanggap ng gift galing ibang bansa?).

It started when my google talk became unusually quiet during office hours, and it was not that easy to reach my NEC Pals anymore because of the different timezones. Then I realized since each one of us are now scattered in different parts of the globe(may Asia, North America and Europe pa! and maybe one day, madadagdagan ng Africa or Middle East courtesy of Mau), it would be challenging yet fun to do a kriss kringle for this coming holiday. So last Saturday even if I was so tired from our trip in Yanagawa, I finished the automated kriss kringle program, that shuffles our names and automatically sends our manita through email. I didn't want to kill the excitement by dilly dallying so by 3 am on Sunday, the baby names were all sent. Also that night, I posted our old pictures in Facebook.

This kriss kringle will be a far cry from the one we had by the Ayala pond during our last chrismas in Cebu, where we only had P50 limit for the gifts and we were swarmed by mosquitoes. Now we didn't set a limit because of the differences in currencies and inflation rates, and the wishlist are simply amazing, from man to gadgets and even Italian shoes and boots. I'm crossing my fingers that we can all follow our rule that we won't open our presents until Christmas eve, especially Lizette, I doubt if she can resist to untie the red bow in McSteamy from Europe the moment it reaches her doorstep. ;P

This chrismas will not only show the tight bond we have even if we're miles apart but it will also remind us how far we have gone from our comfort zone. =)

By the way, if you also want to have a computerized Kriss Kringle, I can share the source code with you.

T.G.I.F.

A frustrating week at work was capped by a sweet date-night with Hubby who came home early from a client meeting with a growling stomach. We initially planned to eat at an Eat-All-You-Can restaurant underneath Hakata Eki but the price increased from Y1500 to Y2600. And I didn't want to spend over go-sen-en for an Italian dinner no matter how charming the restaurant is with mini river and tables with umbrellas and a fountain. Sayang I didn't bring my camera-phone, I could have at least taken a snapshot of that lovely place.

So we did the next best thing, which was to eat at Ichiran Ramen! yummy, yummy! After that we shared a Coffee Jelly at Veloce for dessert. I just love the coffee here! too bad caffeine is bad for my boobsies. =(
I'm so happy to realize that my hubby could also be my chitchat buddy, whom I can share a cup of coffee and conversation with.

When we went back home, he immediately cleaned the room(with the vacuum of course) and changed the sheets because it has gotten too dusty already and I'm sooo allergic to dust.

In just a night, all those servers and protocols that gave me headaches were forgotten.

***************************

Today I also discovered a cheaper way of using the subway. They have this Tonari Kippu (next station ticket) which only costs Y100 for the next station. Like, Hakata to Higashi Hie normally costs Y200 but when you purchase a Tonari Kippu, it could only cost Y100, since Hakata and Higashi are "magkatabi na stations". I took the subway to work this morning because it was drizzling. After work, since the office is still 2 stations away from the house, I walked to Hakata and bought a Tonari Kippu to reach home at Higashi. So I saved Y100 and used that money to buy my favorite Croissant. =)

Blissfully Sick

Yesterday, I woke up with painful body and chilling from the cold autumn morning. It's one of those days when you're not sure if you're having fever or just a lazy bout. But my body was so painful that I cannot get up and I was freezing. So I decided to call sick from work. Hubby was so worried and left late for work. Para saan pa daw yung pwede syang pumasok anytime if he cannot take care of me.. aww. That morning he juggled calling his team members, updating their status and cooking my breakfast and lunch.

Before my hubby left for work, he wrapped me with jackets and blankets and I slept comfortably the whole day (as in literally). I woke up at already 6 pm when he called to pick me up and eat at Yodobashii Genki Sushi. He brought his work at home so he could check on me, we slept together at 8:30 pm (tulog na pud) and he just woke up at 2 am to continue with his work. I couldn't sleep so chatted with Claire until I was sleepy again.

This morning he woke me up with a kiss and asked if I was already feeling okay, I saw him busy catching up on his work, taking a bath, dressing up for a client meeting today, doing the laundry, cooking breakfast and preparing my baon. He was like superman, and deep inside it was entertaining to watch him with the house chores.. bwehehe.. ;P

It was domestic bliss, maybe I became sick to make me appreciate him even more. Haay, if only I am fluent in Nihonggo, if only I love to learn this language, and if only this damn SIP Server works... I could say that my life here is Perfect!