EXCITED! - edit

I am so proud to introduce to you all my new little venture.

Introducing Holic Body Treats!

Holic carries organic soaps and gourmet sanitizers. The bath-a-Holic Organics (the soaps) come in five variants- Oatmeal bar, papaya frost, minty lavender, shower fresh and green tea & cucumber. Fresh-a-Holic sanitizers have three variants namely green tea, luscious lavender and viva vanilla.

My favorites are Papaya frost and Shower fresh for the soaps, and viva vanilla for the sanitizer.

The sanitizers come in super cute pink and blue bottles.

I started this because I really believe in organic soaps. I learned from researching that the skin absorbs whatever substances it comes in contact with. That includes the chemicals in commercial soaps. These chemicals build up in our systems so in the long run, it won't be good for our skin. The chemicals also strip moisture off our skin which speeds up skin aging. I've been trying out so much organic soaps that I decided to sell my own since I'll be using them anyway.

More than the profit, it's the learnings that I'm very excited to get from this venture. I have set aside the fear of failure and just do what I really believe in. Please support me! Free plug perharps? hahaha

The brand Holic was actually a product of a contest Sir Acedera did for his five marketing batches. I submitted Holic and won Php 3,000 (which became my fund for the Eraserheads concert ticket) haha.

Holic originates from 'chocoholic', 'shopaholic', 'workaholic'. It's a positive kind of addiction! Just like organic soaps- they're so addictive! Holic soaps do not contain any chemicals. Ingredients include butters, virgin coconut oil, canola oil, fresh milk, fruit juices and plant extracts. Super fresh!

Each bar costs Php 85 and each bottle of sanitizer is at Php 35.

Please help me spread the word. Kindly share this fresh news to your friends. And oh, buy na rin. hehe

VISIT OUR SITE: http://holicbodytreats.multiply.com/

My new love!

Just got the new addition to my gadgets. Not that I'm techy. But still... Well, here it goes!

I've only been using it for a few hours so yeah I'm still pretty clueless about it. But I looove it! I've always wanted a white laptop. YAY! Hope I get the hang of it pretty soon.

I'd like to thank my Dad for getting me this laptop. YOU ARE THE BEST BOSS EVER!

Bad Dream

I tweeted about what happened to me last night. I had a really bad dream which involved a death of a family member. I cried in the dream. I cried so hard. It was something like we could have prevented the death but that family member opted to die. So I cried and cried soooo haaard. I was half conscious but the dream kept playing in my head. I knew I had to wake up but I also wanted to shut my eyes a little longer to find out what will happen. But I just kept crying.

I forced my eyes to open, then I prayed. This time I really cried sooo hard. I begged God to not let that dream happen. I wanted him to convince me it was only a dream. That we shouldn't take dreams literally. I stopped crying but I couldn't sleep. I was afraid that the dream would continue. So I prayed again. I asked God to put me to sleep.

He did. This time my dream was something I am too shy to divulge here. But it did involve two men. NO, IT WASN'T A THREESOME. hahaha It wasn't a steamy dream okay? Bastaaa.

When i got up around 9:30 am, I immediately opened my laptop to research on the meaning of my dream. Apparently, a death in your dream means an end of a cycle- meaning something is finally over.

And my second dream...the translation is "Joyous participation in life. Movement as transcendence. Success in love. Big prosperity. Change for the better." AND "Exposed. Vulnerable. Loss of ambitions."

I'm not so sure but I am looking forward to whatever that second dream is telling me, except the last part.

Happy!

Remember I wrote about chocolates? Well, I was shopping for groceries earlier- healthy everything- veggies, fish fillet, tuna, Mueslix, the works. But I made a big mistake of passing by the chocolates aisle and found ALMOND ROCA! My ultimate, first chocolate love! I couldn't say no. As in 9 or 10 years old pa yata the last time I ate it. I totally thought it was phased out because I couldn't find it anywhere. So yeah, I knew I had to buy one. But I got the smallest pack. hehe

Now there are only two things I want to find. Windmill wafers and Storck caramel. I SWEAR THEY EXIST! Ayun haha I hope to find them too.

* * *

By the way, I've been nursing a bad tummy since a few hours ago. I think it's from the buko juice I had at the Landmark Grocery. You see, they have this fresh fruits and native food station where you can buy suman, fresh juices, fruit slush, corn in a cob, etc. I bought their buko juice. It has a little 'off' taste but I didn't really mind because I'm not exactly an expert in juices. Anyway, there, I had a bad tummy this evening. gaaah. Mom told me to drink tea so I can cleanse my tummy. Hope I'm okay tomorrow.

All my bags are packed...

Well, not really. But I'm sitting beside my suitcase now and I've started packing already. Tomorrow Mom and I will do the usual errands like getting pasalubongs for relatives.

I'm senti again. It never fails. Even if I've been 'away' from them for years, and only see them during the summer and Christmas breaks, I still get sad whenever we had to part. I remember last week dad asked me "Bakit ba babalik ka na ng Manila? May appointments ka ba dun?" I couldn't give a straight answer. I do have appointments- movies and dates with my friends to be exact.

This was not the first time he asked me about it. A week or two after arriving here for the holidays, he proposed to me the idea of being based here in Iloilo. I did like the idea for a secret reason (not love, unfortunately hahaha)- but it's not that easy. My friends are in Manila. Of course my most of my high school kabarkadas are here and we still get together every time I'm here but life's different now. We've grown and met a lot of people. We don't share as much visions like we used to back in high school. We still agree on the same things, we still dislike the same people, but my college life has been so amazing and eye-opening that I cannot live without that connection.

Manila is chaotic and expensive (believe me when I say it's cheaper in the provinces), it's stressful, it's difficult. But it's what pushes me (or us perhaps) to go farther, be more creative, more street smart, and more discerning of what we want in our lives. My stays in the province are just to buy me time to breathe, to relax, to think things over, but I have too much energy and only Manila can keep up with it.

I also value the pseudo-independence that I have there. I watch movies whenever I want, I go to the mall as I please, I cook my own food (therefore I get to learn a thing or two it the kitchen), I wash and iron my own clothes, etc. I know you'd say 'okay nga yun eh'. When you're a student, okay yun. You can devote your time to your studies. But when you're not going to school, what will keep you preoccupied? Aside from the work that I do, the aforementioned activities are my only forms of 'me time' and well, exercise (laundry). If I managed to do it while I was in college, I can definitely manage to do it now that I'm done with school.

Anyway back to my story, when Dad offered that I be based here, I said 'Iisipin ko. Pero babalik muna ako ng Manila at dun ko iisipin.' (Read as: If my secret reason works, yes, I will move to Iloilo and stay a little longer.)

What's on your mind?

If you're bored, or itching to ask me something, or gusto mo lang mangulit... Hit me up with a question or two. Wala lang bastusan ok? Game!

http://www.formspring.me/adeliza

What's brewing? plus my social experiment

Haven't posted lately because I've been busy with a lot of things like sleeping. hahaha Kidding aside, I really am busy. It's Dad's 50th birthday this Sunday, I'm leaving in 4 days (gotta pack!), it's my brother's prom (apparently it is my task to pick a suit for him), and I'm working on a new idea. It's been making my late night internet hours productive, and it's been putting my skills to a test. Will reveal more when I'm less busy.

Another reason which occupied my week was, ever since last weekend, my brother has been experiencing on-and-off fever. Last night we were having Japanese dinner at RaiRaiKen at the mall, when I noticed rashes on my brother's arms. He wasn't feeling weak or anything. But his temperature was pretty hot. Shempre, Mom and Dad got nervous coz it might be dengue so after dinner we decided to go to the emergency room of St.Paul's Hospital just to be sure.

A junior med intern interviewed him if he had allergies, asthma, whatever illness history, and then at the end of the many questions, she asked (in dialect) "So ano ba talaga yung reason bat ka nagpadoctor ngayon?" MYGOSH I flipped talaga! ATEH ANUBEEEH?! Good thing I was there when she asked. Ako na yung sumagot (in Tagalog/Filipino) "Kasi tatlong araw na siyang nilalagnat" in a very factual bordering 'are you stupid' tone. I couldn't help but do a little glare. MYGOSH SA DAMI NG TINANONG MO, AKO PA TALAGA MAGDA-DIAGNOSE SA SAKIT NG KAPATID KO? Super major kaloka talaga yung tanong niya. I whispered to mom to talk to her in Tagalog.

Side story about speaking in Tagalog. In the first few weeks of my stay here in Iloilo, I did a social experiment. Basically all I have to do is talk to people in Tagalog- when ordering food, when inquiring about a service or product, when shopping. The result? Apparently, they get taranta when you speak to them in Tagalog. Consequently, they pay a closer attention to you with the aim to impress you with their hospitality. Yung tipong 'ayaw mapahiya' kasi taga ibang lugar ka. It is both good and bad for me. Good because I get good customer service. Bad because it seems like they don't treat fellow Ilonggos (by that I mean those who speak to them in our dialect) the same way they treat Tagalog-speaking customers.

It's a very typical Pinoy character to put our best foot forward in front of foreigners. Palagi tayo nagpapa-impress sa mga dayuhan. Bakit sa kanila lang? Don't we deserve the same hospitality that these foreigners receive? Tayo na nga ang magkaka lahi, tayo pa ang nagmamaramot. What's a genuine smile or a little more attention to Filipino customers? We're paying the same price! we want the same service.

Of course living in Manila did raise my standards. In Manila, attendants are really nice (in general) and well, attentive. haha You raise your hand for your bill and in a seconds (okay, maybe a minute) , your bill is on your table. Here in the province, you raise your hand and they only notice you after a few waves to call their attention. While Manila waiters are busy making sure your orders are complete and your glass is filled with water or bottomless iced tea, waiters here in the province are busy looking at the foreigner's table, or making usyoso at the table of the pretty lady or the gays' table, or talking to each other until you do drastic hand waves and finger flicks, and they FAHAAAYNALLEHH take notice. Manila waiters are trained to spot a raised hand in their peripheral vision. But of course, this is not to say all restaurants in Iloilo are like that. There also a lot which have good service.

I guess my point is, we have to be Filipinos not just by blood, or in language, but at heart. We are never truly Filipino when we do not treat our fellow Filipinos the way we treat foreigners. We will never be Filipinos when we keep seeing ourselves as second class citizens. We are treated as second class citizens in other countries, we can't afford to still be second class in our own country. We are first class here in the Philippines. We all deserve first class service, first class smiles and first class attention.

Oh, and that junior intern? Mom said "kung ako instructor nun, hindi ko yun ipapasa!" hahaha You can say we had a good laugh. But that's after the incident na. Joop's tourniquet test was positive but the blood tests were negative. It's just trangkaso.