Adieu.

The moment my mother brought home an ohh-soo-goood tub, I know that it was a special one. It has this creamy texture combined with the right flavour; creating a prime after taste. Over the years, I take delight in buying it whenever I can, and when it opened its cafe here in the country, I really made a point to eat in there.

Sadly, in this case, not all good things will last until we can no longer eat. I first saw the news through a tweet. I immediately searched for it, and bang – there it was.

Photo cropped from my desktop screen.

I contacted their marketing department (feeling close lang haha!) to verify the details. Their marketing team explained to me, that I can still buy Haagen Dazs products at S&R market.

Phew! At least there is still a way to get a hold of these babies. Well, I soon learned the truth. I immediately made plans to specifically dine at their Shangri-la branch, but because stuff at work and at home caught up with me – needless to say, I forgot my plan.

One day, before heading to the MRT station, I saw that the cafe is still standing and selling! I immediately told my BF that we need to eat there after doing some errands. When we finally got there, we saw that only two remaining flavours were sold and that the crew were taking ‘farewell pictures’ of all sorts.

I also asked the crew on whether I can still buy Haagen Dazs at the grocery. But they told me that the ice cream won’t really be available anywhere. True enough, the proof was seen when I checked out their horizontal freezer – all remaining products were reserved.

In the end, I am happy that I was able to eat one last time at Haagen Dazs. If you happen to pass by now, you will see an empty space where the cafe used to be. I know, someday I can eat again one scoop of that memorable ice cream.

Note: When I passed by a Hobbes and Landes store, I saw freezer containing Haagen Dazs products. Do check it out when you spot one, my eyes might be playing tricks on me.

'til next food post!

Ciao,

Maddie <3

Shiny & Shimmering sh-Nails!

The last time I went to Eastwood Mall, I was attacked by a very aggressive salesperson. And to emphasize- a very aggressive one – she would not stop even though we walked past her already and politely declined to listen to her. I was thinking, “Can she not understand English or Filipino?” (Good thing I was not alone and was able to counter the attack by letting my BF face her instead (Talk about being a user haha). So what was this woman selling out of the blue in such an insistent manner? Encyclopedia? Shoes? Samples (Are they even for sale? LOL)?

She was actually blabbering about nails grooming in an instant.

The brand Oro Gold might not be familiar to those not really into nails grooming or into unfamiliar beauty brands (Heck, I do not even know it exists in Shangri-la though I usually drop by the mall). Back to her blabbering, I managed to deduce that she managed to utter five (5) 60-seconds commercial in a minute. Talk about hard-pitch selling. She took my BF’s hand and while we were slowly walking (Yes! We were still TRYING to leave past her and continue with our relaxing walk), she kept on explaining - this and that, which I could not already remember.

Given that she held on my BF’s hand firmly, we decided to let the whole act finish. We were impressed with the result, though. Shiny and shimmering sh-nail! (It was only the thumb that was used during the demo hahaha) “Bagay sa iyo teh!” I exclaimed to my boyfriend. He paraded like one proud mam - - I mean man LOL! The woman then directed us to their stall. It was that moment where I sternly (But still polite) said we have other matters to attend urgently (Hello, I was looking forward in continuing our stroll haha!); thus the end of our encounter with Oro Gold.

Flash forward to the following weeks, my BF proudly showed me something. All that gruesome man’s labor, cleaning his place, typing all day at work and the daily abuse of your nails: they are as they were the last time after our Oro Gold experience – shiny and smooth looking nail. I then began thinking when could we return to Eastwood to ask if we can only buy the nail grooming kit and for how much.

The universe then conspired itself. I found Ms. Frances Sales blog about Oro Gold. See her Beauty for a Living's post. I can relate to how she reacted toward their sales person. I suggest to Oro Gold, that they should not continue with this strategy as it will only create a bad publicity for them in the long run. Oh but well, a bad publicity is still a publicity as they say. Anyhow, I found out that you need to pay 2,000PhP for a set of the nail grooming kit (Which by the way is only a two-piece kit. Getting more for what you pay for?). I stopped planning on going to Eastwood for the sole purpose of Oro Gold. Frugalista kasi eh haha. Months have passed by, while at your local beauty store, I suddenly remembered that there is a similar product out there that does not spell S-P-L-U-R-G-E.

Ladies and gents, I present to you ‘the cube’ (Moniker I invented) from Cutex: 

NOTE: I do apologize for not properly groomed-looking nails :)

Vs. 2,000 PhP? Bought at a Watsons branch.

Nails were already files on the sides.

Step 1 finished product. Dust particles to show the effect.

Step 2 is used to remove the dust and remove remaining bumps.

Step 3 is rubbing the nails to prepare it for polishing.

See those shiny, healthy looking nails?

Tips for using Cutex Multi-purpose Nail Buffer:

• While using each side of the buffer, you may try to hum the Alphabet song per side. This will allow you to time each step properly.
• Faster movements will let you see much shinier nails.
• If using the buffer alone, you may direct the movement in a portrait way to make sure that the sides of the nails are covered.

Enjoy having your nails look so shiny without having paying big bucks!

How about you? Have you used Cutex?

Do share, love :)

'Til next post!

Ciao,

Maddie