Pampering Day at Freyja Day

"A girl is gentle only if she just had her nails done." 

RIGHT.

Monica and I pampered once again at our favorite place, Freyja Day and Nail Spa. It's only a few minutes away from our Broadway office so on a regular weekday, we spoiled ourselves a bit--we deserved a little R&R. Plus, it was a pay day.

We also looked forward to be seeing Ms. Shirley Roganda, managing director of Freyja, again after their participation in one of our TV5 events. We built a good kind of friendship with her since we met her and we promised to support Freyja forever. I don't think this vow will never be broken... we love Freyja's services, its staff and the entire place!  

Who wouldn't love this scene?

I personally love the blue-brown motif of Freyja. It is so relaxing to look at.

I look fat. Sigh.

Monica and I were pleasantly accommodated by the staff. They immediately prepared the flower-shaped basin--Monica's favorite, where we had our feet soaked in a warm, bubbly water! 

Two ladies started working their magics on us. :)

#MonicaAbrenicaDay

We got the Celestial Manicure and Pedicure, Php 360. The price is very reasonable because of its complimentary hand and leg-foot massage and they only use...

ORLY :)

It was so hard to pick colors from this lacquer tray because all the shades are pretty. I told Monica that ten fingers aren't enough for us. :D 

Eeny meenie miney moe..

I go-ed for the gold while Monica opted for the HRH-ish inspiration.

My Mom told me to always use the same shade for my hands and feet when I get them polished but I think gold would only look nice on my hands so I chose a lighter, and almost colorless, shade for my feet--a pinkish one, French manicure!

French manicure + square nails. <3

De-stressed! :)

Thank you, Freyja!

Monica and I enjoyed our short pampering time together. :) Looking forward to our next session there, we really want to try the body massage and the body scrub!

Freyja Day and Nail Spa is located on the second floor of Sekai Center. It's along Ortigas Avenue corner Madison Street, that's right across Starbucks Ash Creek. Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter, @FreyjaDaySpa.

 ♥,

Marianne

A Day In Japan

I was finally able to tick off a few boxes from my bucket list this year. I have less than three months to  complete them, however, but it's good to know that I mark my own word. :)

No. 4 in my 2012 list is to go to Little Tokyo. It may sound shallow to others but I swear, I've never been to this little Nippon paradise before. My Monthly Period friends and I were planning to go here for a couple of years now but we always end up staying somewhere here in the north. I was also bugging Paolo to go with me since I made my bucket list, and if I only knew from the beginning what would make him say yes, I would have been there the same day I posted it.

But here I am months after!!!

The Little Tokyo gate along Chino Roces/Pasong Tamo.

Paolo hates strolling around Makati because he's not as good as me when it comes to directions and I am just kidding! Haha! Little Tokyo isn't hard to find at all. It's right across Herald Suites along Chino Roces, formerly Pasong Tamo. It's near Makati Cinema Square! Other gate is located in Amorsolo Street.

Little Tokyo is a small compound of Japanese restaurants, and I must say, legit Japanese restaurants! I did a little research before going to this place and I found out that each restaurant here has its own Japanese chef. 

The hallway is so Japanese, I so love it!

Half of the people who dine here are Japanese nationals, too!

Hana, according to my research, serves the best takoyaki in the metro, so Pao was also excited like me. He can eat takoyaki all his life! So without arguments and paper-stone-scissor thing, we both agreed to try Hana first and decided to try the rest of the restaurants on our next time there. 

I got the right research: a Japanese cook prepared our food!

Small chairs, small tables and glass windows in wooden blinds--so Japanice!

With my date while waiting for our food. 

I know that Japanese restaurants serve big so we ordered only a few. I wanted to try other restaurants after Hana but we found out that for lunch, they only serve until 2:30 PM and resumes for dinner by 6:00 PM.

I'm a food blogger wannabe but apologies for the photos! :D

Hana Maki - salmon roll, mayonnaise and fish row.

Miso Ramen -- the most delish miso ramen ever!

Takoyaki - with real octopus bits!

Definitely a must! Uji Kintoki -- green tea with red bean kakigori. 

I. Want. Right. Now.

Cravings satisfied! Two thumbs up! :)

We roamed around a little right after our lunch and took photos so I can post them here in my blog. I have to thank Paolo's trusty cellphone camera! It's really better than my iPhone!

Leighton Meester inspired attire! Click here to know what I'm talking about :)

Bonsai trees are amazing. I love them next to pine trees!

Covering my fun, filled tummy! 

I'm absolutely going back here to try all of them. I love the fact that Little Tokyo is somehow a hidden gem. The place is not crowded, food is delicious, surroundings are beautiful. I am bringing my friends and family here! 

 ♥,

Marianne

Team? Yup!

The second half of our long weekend is almost over but I have loads of work to do, to finish and to master. Gone are the days when I can stay wide awake at night only to finish reports and presentations at school. I AM REALLY GETTING OLD.

And even if we're all burdened by these two long weekends, I have to thank my teammates who make work easier. Our team really rocks! <3

Imagine how blossomed our friendship is now. We've known each other for less than four months but it feels like I know them since I-don't-know-when. Work is fun, assignments are light and mornings are exciting because of them. And yeah, not to mention the boys and the girls in our group have the same tummy capacity. We eat (and they drink, hahaha) a lot!

A day at work while waiting for our Serenitea to arrive.

Two different lunch dates at da.u.de Tea Lounge. 

Thursday nights :)

Our new girl Monica <3

Iya Monica Marianney + Minna

There are four girls in our team but Minna hates the camera so much, let's just say she's the one who always takes our photos together. 

I love my teammates! 

 ♥,

Marianne

Surprised Susie

A night before my dearest Susie turned 24, she invited us for a dinner. Kim and I planned a special connivance by saying yes to Susie's invitation and eventually ditching the dinner until she gets pissed off. Hehe. Susie came close to cursing us for our shallow reasons of not making it to her called celebration but look how she looked like upon seeing our simple yet sincere surprise:

Surprise! :)

Susie met Kim first before they went to North Park in Trinoma (after endless debates on where to eat). Kim took care of her while we prepared the reservation, the party hats, the balloons and the cake. 

A Barbie-themed party for her. <3

North Park Trinoma staff were so kind enough to let us set up the balloons and helped us with all other preparations. They also lent us tapes, scissors and take note: they did not charge corkage fees! Our table was set up right in the middle of everyone else, making all the other customers the uninvited guests. Thank you, North Park! You made the birthday girl happier!

Happy birthday, Susie girl. I love you super to the nth power!

We had non-stop picture taking and talked about stuff. Just when she thought the surprise was over, her Ken arrived and the mushiness filled the place! Haha akala mo ha!!! 

Party hats and candy-colored balloons.

Welcome back, Kimmie! :)

I just had to post this pic with Doms to show you guys that my LBD wasn't that boring as expected. :P

Kebs sa signage behind us. Superloved kita e.

<3 <3 <3

There goes Barbie's Ken! :)

Photo finale.

We had birthday salubong right after the dinner at Coffee Bean. Our birthday girl was still shocked, she couldn't believe we successfully pulled off a birthday surprise for her and that she almost believed our lies! 

I love you, Susie. You know how much I do. :)

 ♥,

Marianne

Dear Tito

Dear Tito,

It's been a day since you left us and you left us with tears overflowing on our faces. 

I spent almost half of my childhood in your home and you treated me as your daughter--as a sister to your only daughter. She is my cousin, my sister, my best friend. She's the only one who knows things about me more than my sisters know.

During Sundays you will bring me in your parents' house and I equally received the gifts your parents gave their grandchildren. I did not feel different because I was welcomed, I could freely roam around the house and play carelessly in the garden. 

As I grew up, you told me things about school, about the industry you're in and the industry where I thought I'd be in. You helped me find the internship most suitable to the degree I took. I was well taken care of them. I was respected not only because I am your niece but because you're a respected person at work... and I saw that.

Now that you're back in the Father's arms, we are glad that you're no longer suffering from pain. We don't know how we're going to ease the hurt inside but we are comforted by the fact that your light will now shine above us, and that you're happily in peace now. We promise to continue loving each other and we will always take care of the people you left behind. We will always look after your wife and your children. It might take a while for everyone to feel better, but when we do, know that it doesn't mean we forget you.

Until we meet again, Tito. Thank you for everything. We love you.

Always,

Your Arianne

Heart Beat

One night will never be enough to have fun and discover new things with these girls. The day after Rachel and Susie's birthday, we went out again to sing our hearts out at Karaoke Republic, the place to go if you want to give your lungs a break--on a budget. 

New songs in the playlist!

For only P40/head/hour during happy hour, you'd get to enjoy singing songs and good food (their nachos, P345, is to die for!) without hurting your pockets, only hurting your friends' ears. Hehe.

Anyway.

Susie Mai Pia Cham Jovy Marianne

We were the same girls who got drunk the night before and only went home (except me) three hours before this happened. Curacha! But Kim E. and Rachel weren't here because they're curing their hangovers but they were still drinking!

Awat, este awit.

Jovy, Cham, Susie and I went there first since Pia and Mai, who only became friends during the party, suffered from severe headache and heartache. Jk. So guess what we sang first?

Call Me Maybe :)

After four hours, we finally decided to stop singing and appreciated the dry night. Haha! My friends have a terrible voice especially Mai. Only I can sing well in this group. Tignan nyo naman, ako lang may hawak palagi ng mic. Chost.

But the night did not end here. We had our milk tea fix at My SerendipiTea. I like the simplicity of the place and their milk teas are good too! I had dark chocolate milk tea which only costs P95! Plus, I have to commend its super friendly staff who laughed with us as we watched our HEART BEAT video. :) My SerendipiTea is located on the ground floor of Cocoon Hotel in Scout Tobias.  

Wish Kimmie, Kim E., Rachel and Phoebe were with us. <3

Lovely photos c/o Cham's lovely camera. <3

My friends and I are starting to look like each other, aren't we? Almost same hair colors and lengths! But I have to cut down my food intake and I seriously need to go back dieting because others start calling me siopao again.

 CHING CHING SIOPAO

Whatevs. I had a superb weekend! My sister's birthday celebration last Sunday was a blast too! Thank you, Papa Jesus, for the blessing of good friends and a happy family. 

♥,

Marianne