And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

- 1 Peter 3:21

I just want to share that I am so happy that soon-to-be-husband and myself finally had our water baptism last February 25, 2017.


This is one of the many experiences that I had looked forward to in my journey for deeper understanding of my Christian faith.


God Bless!!!

THE SKIN SCARE PART 2

In late 2013, I've had the greatest pimple breakout of my entire life. Pimples have permanently occupied my forehead and popped up every now and then on my cheeks. It was a total skin scare for me. I had to endure looking at my hideous face until I found wonders on instagram and bought organic soaps that helped combat my pimple problems.

For about two years now, I have been using THO's Tomato Lime Soap (review here) to maintain my pimple free face. However, last December, I had a breakout which, until now, I couldn't figure out what caused it. The worst part of this pimple breakout was that my ever trusted Tomato Lime soap wasn't working wonders anymore.

Pimples invaded my forehead again and my cheeks and nose were also becoming their favorite spot too. Since December until now, pimples were popping out. It's not in an aggravated state yet but it was worrisome that every after a pimple healed, another one pops out. It's like a sequel to what I went through in 2013.



So I went online and googled for solutions for my pimple problem. I saw this blog that talked about AcneCare soap and another one that talked about Celeteque. I decided I would try either one of them.



I went to Watsons and saw Celeteque Acne Solutions Cleansing Gel with Hydroxy Acids. At first I only saw the bigger tube that costs around more than P300 and I was disheartened. I couldn't convince myself to spend that much since I was still on the experiment stage. So I asked for AcneCare soap but sadly it was out of stock. Then I had my eye on Neutrogena but their acne fighting facial wash was also in a bigger tube and costs almost same as the Celeteque one. I was about to settle for the Neutrogena Deep Clean Brightening Facial Foam because it was a big tube that costs around P175 (not sure but it was on sale).

Fortunately, I roamed around Watsons and found more Celeteque products and saw the smaller tube of the Acne Solutions Cleansing Gel. So,  I bought the 50ml bottle that cost P270. Then a day after, I bought the Celeteque Acne Solutions Oil Control Toner for P70.95 at Mercury Drugstore (forgot to take a photo).

Somehow it did improve my skin and I had lesser pimples. I still got pimples but they weren't as painful as before. Also, the pimples shrunk in size after a day and there was no more swelling. Then it totally disappeared after 3-4 days.

Day 2 after using Celeteque Gel Wash +Celeteque Oil Control Toner

Day 3 of the same skine care regimen. Sadly, I got a huge pimple on my forehead

3 days after. The huge pimple dried out and was already healing. Amazingly fast. But I had a new small pimple on each cheek. I had a scar too because I picked on my pimple.

What I liked about Celeteque was that there wasn't any stinging or itching even if I left it on for a few minutes before washing off. The toner also didn't sting and I felt my skin became supple every after use. The cleansing gel was pretty drying but it was fine because the toner helped bring back the suppleness of my skin so the two products were perfect combination.

One downside to the toner though, it didn't stay true to it's claim about the oil control (imho). I tend to oil more on my T-zone.



When I finished the Celeteque products, my skin was in a better shape. No more extreme pimple problem. I still got the small bumps but no more cystic type of acne. So I decided to try another product. I wanted to address the dark spots left by the pimples. So I bought Snow Skin Whitening Soap. I just wanted to see if this would help even out my skin without giving me a breakout.

Very luckily, I didn't break out with Snow soap. And I noticed that my pimple marks were lightening in a month's use. Also I found the soap a little drying so I decided to buy another toner. I finally convinced myself to try Human Heart Nature's Nourishing Face Toner.



The combo was perfect. I didn't have major breakouts and I had very seldom pimples popping out. I also noticed slight improvements on my complexion. So I am really loving the Snow + HHN combo.

Week 2 of my new skin care regimen. Snow Whitening Soap + Human Heart Nature Tomato Toner The dark spots cause by pimples are slowly fading.

So far so good with my latest skin care regimen. No major breakouts. I will be sticking with this regimen for now. Also the pimple scars are fading and I am really satisfied with the effects of these products.

I'm crossing my fingers for more improvements on my skin.

Thanks for reading :)

It's Payday Weekend!!! Hooray! So my sister and I went shopping, something I haven't done in a while, so I grabbed the opportunity to buy myself new pair of jeans and shoes. (Mom tagged along too).

I also intended to buy a girly outfit I can use for my upcoming prenup shoot. However, I wasn't so lucky because I never found the outfit of my taste. SO I just ended up with 2 new pairs of jeans and a pair of jelly shoes (which I was so dying to buy ever since Davao weather had been always wet).

Anyway, after the tiring jeans and shoe fitting, we were starving. We initially wanted to eat at S&R but it was full and we couldn't wait longer to get seats. So instead of heading to our default favorite pizza store (Greenwich), I decided to check out what GMall's The Peak had to offer. After looking at the restaurants there, we decided to eat lunch at Ineng's.


Mom ordered Pork BBQ with Fresh Lumpia, I ordered Chicken Inasal meal, and sister ordered Grilled Pork Chops.

Grilled Pork Chops

Chicken Inasal

Pork BBQ with Fresh Lumpia

The food tasted good. Its savory and delicious. However I found the yellow rice (I don't know what it was called) very oily. But the food still tasted good so it was fine.

I also like that the meal comes with drinks already and you have the option to upgrade to bottomless drink. Price is okay for its serving size (I forgot the exact price but each of our orders was priced around PhP 110-195). And service was good too.

Overall, we enjoyed our lunch and that was all that really mattered.

With only more or less 4 months to go before our big day, the hubby and I, together with my sister/maid-of-honor, went to the bridal shop to try on the gown I have chosen and to get an update on the sleeves that I requested (since the gown I chose was a strapless gown). I tagged my sister along so we could choose the dress for her as well.

After about 2 hours of fitting and discussion with the couturier, we were already starving. My sister went ahead because she had some errands to run so it was just me and the hubby who went out for lunch.



I already tried Noon Saram's Mango Bing Soo on Valentines Day but the hubby had a sore throat that day so he wasn't able to try it. That was why we decided to try it again and also so we could try the other dishes they offered.

Donkkaseu (Breaded Deep Fried Pork Cutlet in Donkatsu sauce)

Gimbap

Free Kimchi Side Dish

Chocolate Bing Soo

Hubby ordered Donkkaseu (Breaded Deep Fried Pork Cutlet in Donkatsu sauce), while I ordered Gimbap and for dessert we shared on Chocolate Bing Soo.



My experience:
Place - very good location because it was near the mall, near schools, and was situated on a corner street. Very easy to spot and you could immediately tell you're at the right place because they had this TV facing the street that's showing KPOP. Also the place had a good lighting and was spacious.

Food - The Donkkaseu was very flavorful. I am a Gimbap fan so as long as it wasn't bland, I am sold. The Chocolate Bing Soo was delicious. It had the perfect sweetness I liked for my dessert (not too sweet but not bland).

Another thing I love about the food we ordered was the serving -- they had a very generous serving. The Donkkaseu was good for sharing (however the serving of the rice was little). One order of Gimbap (regular) had 12 slices which was also good for sharing. The small sized Bing Soo can also be shared depending on your appetite (but one order was good for me alone :P).

Price - a little pricey but as far as the food we tasted, it was still worth it.

Noon Saram is located at Sta. Ana corner Leon M Guerrero St (fronting Holy Cross of Davao College).