How to get there:
Most Baler patrons (at least those that I know of) suggest that the bus is the best way to go to Baler. Not only does it make the travel hassle-free, it is also a lot safer.


Hassle-free because all you'll need to do is drop yourselves off to the bus station and if you're lucky, get a trip via *Joybus, also the tiring 5-7hr drive will take a toll on the designated driver, making it hard to enjoy the getaway. Also, apparently. it is better to those who will be bringing their own surfboards.

Safer because the road is not for road trippers, especially less experienced drivers. There are zigzag paths, wherein even in a bus, it could be scary. What more if the driver is not used to the path.

*Joybus is Genesis Transport Service Inc.'s special bus that has routes to popular tourist destinations like Baler, Baguio, La Union, etc. The bus station is located at Cubao, beside Baliwag.


What makes the Joybus special is that for an additional Php280, you'll get a bus with wifi, snacks, pillow and blanket, a comfort room, lazy boy seats and a friggin' stewardess! Even local economy flights don't have these! If you have a choice, this is the ONLY way to travel to Baler.

Joybus ticket to Baler, Aurora. Purchased before the price hike.

And because we weren't so lucky on the way back to Metro Manila, we weren't able to catch a Joybus. Apparently, you can only book departure tickets in advance, which is possibly the only con we've encountered transpo-wise. The tickets from Baler-Manila, you have to purchase from the Baler Genesis office, which is like this nipa house at the back of the bus parking lot. It's purely on a first-come first-serve basis, so if it's a peak season, better secure those return tickets as soon as you get to Baler.

In our case, since our plan was for a 2D1N stay only, we got beaten in the Joybus ticket slots by those who planned for a 3D2N stay, who arrived on a Friday, and purchased their return tickets on the same day. Heck, we couldn't even get return tickets for a regular bus on our preferred time (which brings us on why the the title is as it is; to be written later).

As for the price hike, it conveniently occurred during the day we departed. Here are the bus ticket prices for your reference.

	Previous Price	Current Price
Regular Bus	Php400	Php429
Joybus	Php650	Php695

10 NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors

Aren't you hungry yet? Those crabs make me crave for more.

Plenty of photos after the jump.

This should be titled...
How To Make Jenn Feel Stupid in 3 Ways
After weeks of lurking, I finally decided to buy a camera lens. At first, I wanted to order from resellers here in Manila but 1) Kimstore was out of stock, and 2) DBGadgets promised me a 3-5 days waiting time, did not came through and then promised me again 7-10 days waiting time, only to disappoint me. Whenever I'd follow up, I get excuses and not a hint of being apologetic. Still, the promises kept flowing.

@DBGadgets, follow through your promises. If you can't, at least be upfront about it.

And that's when furious me decided that Amazon would be my best bet. They offer the same price as Kimstore and DBGadgets, but the real deal-breaker for me before was the shipping fee. But even if the shipping fee was more than I would normally go for, I went all out and bought it.

The first credit card (CC) I entered was not mine (yes first, because there is a second). I thought it would be as easy as Order-Checkout-Enter CC details-Shipment-Yey!, But no, I had to learn so many things the hard way.

Hell broke loose after I received this email from address-verification@amazon.com asking me to confirm my billing statement and my account got temporarily on hold.

Click to enlarge

It hasn't arrived yet but I'm already giddy about it. God forbid if this delivery gets here late.


Update: It arrived 3 hours ago. 2 days earlier than expected, with no additional charges, contrary to those I've been reading about in blogs and forums regarding DHL deliveries.

I originally planned on taking daily photos to document the progress of the Spanish Peel on me. I was really excited, (obviously a first-timer haha!) but as the days passed, it dawned on me how ugly I look, or my skin looked, rather. I could not bear having the daily process being seen by people.

Just to give you an idea, around Day 3, my face started looking like it was being lifted from the other layer beneath. I looked old and wrinkly.

Day 2. "Wrinkles" started appearing

For reference, here is a picture of me on Day 2. Skin starting to wrinkle (Is there any other term? It's getting a little overused. Haha. )

And since I don't have any more photos to share, I'll just give tips for those interested in getting it done.

TIPS

1. Your skin will get dry ang flaky. More so when the wrinkled skin starts to peel off. Use moisturizer if you don't want your face to be an oil mine.
2. As tempting as it is, do not peel off the dry skin. It might have not fully dried up, leaving you a scar.
3. Put a lot of sunscreen. Whether you're going out or at home. 
4. Just so you know, your face will have dark patches.

And because the next one will not be in 1-2 sentences, I separated it from the rest.

Makeup: For sure, it's better to leave your skin breathing while in the peeling process but if you really REALLY need to be somewhere and look a little more presentable, try what I did.

1. After washing my face, I hurriedly applied sunscreen, while my skin was still moist. You see, when that wash's moist dries up, your skin will also be instantly dry and flaky, that is why you have to act fast.
2. Then, I mixed 2 parts moisturizer and 1 part liquid foundation  (make sure it's non-comedogenic). That way, I will still have the coverage I want and the moisture that I need.
3. Set with any loose powder. 

It was good enough for me, even with my skin still peeling off. I did not made an effort to conceal the dark patches though. Last time I tried, I had no luck.