This photo doesn't give it much justice but it's actually in Green

It's no secret that only very few people are patronising Sony Xperia phones these days. So for the few Sony fanatics like myself, you can only imagine THE misery of going store-to-store asking "Do you have any cases for Xperia Z5?". You'd think the Sony-made covers are lying around in Sony stores but they don't either--and don't even get me started with other retailers.

I had this phone with me since it hit the PH shores in November last year and I have been ordering accessories from overseas since then.

SEE:  Amazon Shopping with POBox.ph - Kindle, Xperia Z5 Charging Dock and Spigen Case

You'll find a wide range of Z5 accessories on Amazon, but this Style Cover Window from Sony is particularly hard to find! I was very sure I am not getting any other case that isn't either clear or matches the phone color exactly! (Bec. I knew head on, that I was getting this phone for the color alone. LOL) To be honest, there's a few you can find on eBay, but, extremely overpriced, so that's off the table.

I've looked in every Sony Store I know in Singapore and Manila (and trust me when I say Every. Sony. Store) and lost all hope until yesterday, finally, after 2 months of actively searching, I ever so fortunately found one in Singtel Shop @ComCentre!
Yey! Even cheaper by a few bucks vs. Sony store prices.

Here's how it really looks. LOVELY. It's the same color as the phone. Ugh. The beauty.

As of yesterday, (14 May 2016), there's one piece left in green, one in black, then plenty in white.
If you don't know where Singtel Shop ComCentre is, it's very close to Somerset MRT. Take the exit along Somerset Rd. then walk towards Tripleone Somerset, then walk across the Skate Park. You couldn't miss it.


Here's a very simple guide in setting it up, in case you need it. :P
http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/stylecoverwindowscr42/userguide/One-touch-setup/

My passion for phone cases has not failed me. It's a fantastic day! Hahaha.
--

Sony SCR42 Style Cover Window for Xperia Z5
$46 (SGD)
SingtelShop, 31 Exeter Rd

I love DIY-ing boxes, paper bags and all that craft. So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to find out about Punch Boards.

Online shoppers' S.O.P: Google for local sellers. (For Manila shoppers you may also check OLX, Lazada, Instagram shops)

If not available locally (or ridiculously expensive locally), head on over to Amazon.com and pull up your trusty My Shopping Box account.

Here's what I got:
1 Gift Box Punch Board, 1 Gift Bag Punch Board, 1 Pillow Box Punch Board



Now I know it didn't sound like it was the right season to get crafting stuff but then again, no craft police is gonna gome get me. (LOL)

These sell for around 11-15 USD each and if I remember correctly there was a get this plus this and this promo in Amazon for this combination. So: price each + Amazon shipping (if applies) + MyShoppingBox fees costs me roughly about P3,000 for the entire set. This is relatively cheaper if you buy this in most local online stores I found which sells for about 1,300 and up.

Is it worth it? I don't know yet! Haha. But these will surely come in handy in Christmas. (Score!)
In the meantime, I try to make nifty items out of it like pen holders, and holders of practically anything, really.

Have you tried any of these punch boards? Let me know what you think!

Spent 2 hours in Fully Booked during a book sale, dropped all my books and brought this home instead.

Kawaii!!! Isn't that what most people say when they're talking about something as cute as this?

I should stop buying cute things I don't need. I'm ashamed I haven't put any label on anything other than... well... my label maker. I know I'll find a use for this one day!

Motex Label MakerFully Booked, BGC, TaguigMade In Korea

A few days before the Black Friday sale, I started to scout for nifty stuff on Amazon.
I scored a $49 kindle and had it shipped right away. I'm a MyShoppingBox user, but I always wanted to try out POBox.ph and now that I discovered they now offer Air Freight, it seemed like the perfect time! They used to ship only By Sea.

Unlike other freight forwarders,  POBox.ph consolidates your items for free. Taking advantage of that, also got me an Xperia Z5 charging dock, and a Spigen case. All these items where shipped to their warehouse everyday from 11/23 to 11/25.

25 November 2015
All my orders have arrived at POBox.ph facility.



07 December 2015
I've checked on my items why they haven't been billed yet. This means they haven't tagged my item to my name yet.

10 December 2015
I have been billed and I was hoping to use my Citibank discount. I've been told that the discount only works for Sea Freight but at the end of the conversation, I was given a discount, anyway. Talk about customer service!

02 January 2016
I GOT THE PACKAGE! I was counting 15 working days after I've made my payment, and with the holidays coming up, I've figured it'd arrive at around the 8th of January. I was so happy to have found my package arrived on the 30th of December!

I know we've got a handful of Holidays last month and it's probably worst-case scenario for deliveries, so it's an awesome surprise.

I finally had the chance to drop by Cath Kidston after the

Christmas is early (again) this year. I might have babbled about this one too much, so THE boyfriend decided we pick this up now and just get it over with. (Awww! Ha ha.)



I liked that Sony has rolled out this variant with "Extra Bass"  in their affordable range, so I was very into getting it even when I didn't need it. I was able to test this out in the store, I am no audiophile, but

Just in time for Christmas: Cath Kidston in Manila opens on December 5 December 6!

UPDATE: Apparently, according to my sources in BGC right now, the December 5 opening is a private launch event, the store will be open to the public on the 6th (Saturday).
You can also see this post by Bench/: see the post here

While the world is busy thinking about Santa coming to town, here I am, with my full attention on the Home of Modern Vintage coming to Manila.

Words cannot express the feeling I had when I first went into the Cath Kidston store in Cambridge. I was in awe. If it wasn't for trying to look normal and not a psycho tourist, I probably would have cried. (I'm not even kidding).

 

I know. Gadgets may not be the obvious gift choice for ladies, but I am probably not the first to say that women love technology, too!

You might think you are better off giving her perfume or fancy dresses or signature bags, but screw that, she's going to buy that for herself! Might as well give her something she wants but she won't. (within reason, of course). Imagine not having to go inside Etude House to pick up a box of Wonder Pore After Sun Special Set. You're probably even wondering what in the world Etude House is, but that's exactly my point!

 

Here's a little tip, the secret is, it has to be at least 2 of the following things: CUTE. INTERESTING. IN HER FAVORITE COLOR.

 WARNING:  This might be a list for the SPENDY.

#1 Power banks

O!tool D26 Power Bank by Ozaki - PowerMac Center, SM Aura, P1,995

Talk about cute and interesting. Everyone who has a smartphone could use a power bank. This is just too cute to resist.

[gallery link="none" columns="2" ids="571,570,569"]
photo credits

I have shopped internationally countless times, but for some reason, I have not yet tried cargo forwarding. The idea is, basically, the forwarders give you your "own" US address (which I would guess an address of their facility) then ship them to you. Johnny Air was making a lot of noise in this industry but for this shopscapade we're doing, I'll be using My Shopping Box (MSB).

I recently found out that BDO customers can sign up for My Shopping Box and get the first year subscription for FREE (regularly priced at $25/year), so I thought, heck, let's give this a go.

Note that this shopping experience is not yet complete as of writing. I thought it's a nice idea that we run through it altogether so you can kind-of feel the experience firsthand-ish, too. Am I making sense?

Anyhoo, this is the item we are going to get:

[caption id="attachment_509" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] It's a leather case for my Sony HX60v (Review soon!) (The items says it's for HX50, but that's okay. They're of the same size.[/caption]

So we are shopping from Amazon.com (US).

So the first installment of this year's Trendsetter's Bazaar started last Friday and ends today (October 17-19).

I went to the other bazaar last Friday (Beauty Fair 2014 in Eton Centris) because it was a far more familiar place. But I just could not stop thinking about the Trendsetter's Bazaar knowing how huge World Trade Center is compared to Centris Tent. Okay, so I got over my cheapskateness not-wanting-to-pay-for-entrance, at around 1pm I finally decided to get my @$$ over there even if I had to be alone. Good thing I have my ever-trusty Uber App, making my quick trip to an unfamiliar place alone could feel a lot safer. My black Toyota Altis ride came shortly, and we got to the venue in just about 30 minutes ( I guess). I looked for the Gadget District right away. It was a very bad timing, actually, I wasn't looking for gadgets at the moment except for Z3 that I'm not looking at buying NOW. And I am still in this make-up era. Anyhoo. Here's how the Gadget District looked like:

[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Gadget District. Hi James. Liit mo pala sa personal. LOL.[/caption]

Trendsetter Bazaar World Trade Center Oct 17-19, 2014

The Trendsetter bazaar this year has a Gadget District--which is cool! Because I love all things tech! I can talk all day about it (if you wanted me to).

I haven't paid much attention to this until today when I was looking for a bazaar to go to. I was looking for complimentary tickets and it's too bad that all giveaways have closed (well, because the event starts today).

See their poster below to see if there are any participants you are interested in:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Photo grabbed from www.yugatech.com[/caption]

Here's the info I got from manilaonsale.com:

Trendsetter’s Holiday Series Bazaar @ World Trade Center
October 17 – 18, 2014 (11 AM – 10 PM)
October 19, 2014 (11 AM – 5 PM)
World Trade Center, Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. cor. Pres. Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City

Read more: http://www.manilaonsale.com/2014/10/trendsetters-holiday-series-bazaar-at-world-trade-center-october-2014/#ixzz3GNW8Lp9Q

 source 1

source 2

This is my first-ever official makeup haul. Okay maybe a haul is an overstatement. A pair  of drugstore products can't possibly be a haul. But It's a step forward. (LOL)

I was feeling pro using the term "drugstore" which is probably a jargon in make-up context. (I am totally one of you now am I?!)

I have always thought that all make up products are created equal. Only when I started watching make up vlogs when I found out they are sorted out as either Drugstore or High-end. As a child, I have seen makeup products from Clinique to Revlon to Maybelline. I never thought they weren't all judged the same as I thought they were.

Make up products are expensive in Manila in general, so everything feels high-end to me. Most especially because I used to think make up is a waste of money, natural beauty is enough--bla, bla. I had always been hateful.

So let's skip to the good part, that saleswoman from the department store totally sold these products to me when I was looking around:

1. Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder #030 MEDIUM. P525.00

2. Revlon Nearly Naked Liquid Makeup (Foundation) #150 NUDE, P525.00

It's a good habit to check the conversion rates before purchasing anything in foreign currency.
A quick way of doing this is to type the currency you wish to compare directly to Google.

But the results from Google are humble rates. If you are using a credit card, most likely, you are going to be charged by your bank's own rate.
To get the most accurate conversion, the easiest way is to check the rates with your bank online.

Here's how you do it in Citibank:

Good set for starters (Like me, evidently.)
The handles are even labeled with what they're for.
I also have a "starter" face palette to use with this and I'd be very happy to put up on this site once I go pro with this!
I love how things come in eco-friendly labels nowadays. It makes your shopping a little bit guilt-free if not at all.

Ecotools Five Piece Mineral Set, The Ramp Crossings, Glorietta, Makati, P580

Holly Sharpe Ltd. Collection Face Palette, Marks and Spencer, City Centre, Cambridge, £15 (P1,200)

My sister came home with a present for me from an event a few days back (some advertising thing I really don't know about so I'll stop talking)..
I took out of the box a supercool bamboo speaker from Loudbasstard.
Witty name. I like it. Except that the word bass in context here is actually read as /beɪs/ so you'd probably read it in your head as "base-tard". Kinda weird, huh.
(reference: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/british/bass_1)

 

The packaging is made from what looks like 100% recycled material, We kind-of expected this one from a bamboo-made amplifier.

Found this interestingly cheap but attractive headphones at DataBlitz. At P 650, it's really hard to say no.
Not expecting too much, I came back the next day and got a pair, and I am really surprised to see it comes with a zip semi-hard case! (Who knew right?)

Moving on to the product itself, here's a little summary you lazy bastard,
- Build quality feel - OK
- comes with a remote & mic (the mic works with smartphones and (take note of this!) PCs with shared mic/headphones jack)
- Fabric cord - FTW! Fabric cords are extra awesome since it's better than the plasticky rubbery ones that gets brittle in time and breaks. (*cough* iPhone cables *cough*)
- comfort - Meh. It gets a little uncomfortable at about an hour using it. Leaves a pain that lasts about a few seconds. (is that normal? Not sure. I'm not a headphones-type so I it's either  THAT, or my ears are weird.)
- Design - Bright and solid. I got the purple one but it also comes in pink, black and brown. (this is what's available in DataBlitz, Glorietta 2) I didn't like how "Masterpiece" was written on both sides of the headphones, Just not a fan of huge branding label. (or is it because it doesn't say Beats Dr. Dre or something else fancy?! Quit whining you little cheapskate.
- Durability - I think I am using it for about 3 months now (way to go!) And I am a rough user, I tell you. I pick this up by the cord most of the time.
- Sound quality - Average. Not too much bass. More treble that I wanted to be there. (I may or may not just saying random audio terms here).

Seriously though, if you are not very much of an audiophile, doesn't mind the big unknown logo, and has P650 to spend (this is even cheaper than average earbud headphones), this is the way to go.

Store: Datablitz. Glorietta 2.