Glorietta weekend food market--Gourmet Park Lane has been standing in Glorietta for seems to be weeks now. If you are keen on weekend markets, you might want to drop by and look around. It's a very short 2-part food lane (1 between BPI and Lush, and 1 along the wing going to SM).

I've found some interesting food I usually wanted to buy online but couldn't wait long enough for pre-order. (LOL) The delivery date scares me away! It feels like they're telling me, "Okay, you're gonna have to crave for 3 days".  No, no.  I just can't do that to myself.

What I brought home yesterday:
Red Velvet Crinkles with Cream Cheese Frosting (P150 - box of 6's) from Miss Matamis (I kept coming back for this one!)
Candy Apple (P50) from Olivia (P80) from Olivia (The cupcake is so soft and tasty!)
Ready-to-eat ham (P1,000 per kilo) from Joy's Ham (I can't find their website/FB page)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="435"] Redvelvet Crinkles With Cream Cheese Frosting
Miss Matamis[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="348"] Candy Apple
Olivia[/caption]

Some of them are regulars in Powerplant, Rockwell, so if you have missed them on the weekends (Friday-Sunday), you can go look for them their.

Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City

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:

A lot of people have been asking me about how I shop online, what I do, what I go through. Many think that it's all complicated and that there me a lot of unwelcomed surprises (*ehem* fees *ehem*). Let me share with you everything I've learned that might help you.

The Ultimate Online Shopping Guide
for Filipino Shoppers

I divided my shopping into two broad categories, namely:

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)

This is ridiculously overpriced.
Tip: If you’re visiting another country, even say for only a few days, get a local sim from them. Most sim cards already come with unlimited data out of the box for a lot less price than P500 a day. Or even if you have to top-up, still going to be cheaper.

Did this both in the UK and in Hong Kong.
In UK, I got a sim pack from ThreeUK which offered unlimited data for 30 days, 2000 minutes of all, and 2000 texts
All for £ 20 (approx. P 1,500)
Imagine, this is for 30 days! For the same amount, you only get 3 days with smart roaming. And definitely no thousands of free calls and texts.
In Hong Kong, I got a PCCW-HK Tourist sim, which was good for 5 days. Does not offer unlimited data, though. I think I had about 3GB of data (Uhm, not really sure?? But point is, still cheaper than 500/day to update and check-in to places), which is just about enough for a few days stay.
If you don't already know, Facebook browsing, and tweeting is not going to reach up to a gigabyte in 5 days. I was using data mostly for the maps, and even the maps will not max out to more than your limit for a few days. You can top-up for unli data if you really want to. You can check out their site but I'm betting my bottom dollar it's still going to cost less that Smart's roaming rate. (Goodness, who knows how fast and reliable this data roaming is?)

For your reference:
Three UK Pay As You Go SIM (Unlimited data for 30 days)
Heathrow Terminal, London (Vending machine in exit doors going to parking lot) - £20

Hong Kong Tourist Sim Card
7-eleven , Ground Floor, Hong Kong Int'l Airport - HKD 59

Let me know if you have questions and I'd be very happy to help!