Delightful Illusions

            Can you believe that Summer is almost over in a few weeks? I remember having a summer family outing last March, and we are now on May? Wow! Time flies by really fast. Anyways, I have done a lot of shopping and damage on my wallet in span of a month. There have been sales everywhere and I couldn't resist because it's been a long time since I shopped for clothes that are not from the thrift store. Haha! The Gaisano Malls around Iloilo and Antique have a huge discounts on most of their products recently; I have been into 3 Gaisano Malls lately. I have also done shopping from DAISO and a pop shop. My parents and relatives have also given me some stuff fitted for my Summer-themed haul. I have to remind that this post will be a long one, so grab your snacks and read. :)

          Then, I saw this cute shirt from the same mall branch. I just love how the color of the fabric is so bright and vibrant; so summery and loud! This is surprisingly thick and soft to feel at the same time. It doesn't have tag on it so I don't know what brand is this. I definitely sure that it's one of those clothing items that are sold on RTW stores of pop shops. I got this for Php 99 only. 😊

          As I have said earlier, I was planning to got back for the midnight sale. Together with my mama and aunt, we went back to the mall. It was so hot; the management has turned off the aircon to save resources. I thought that was kind of annoying considering that they had a sale going on. Anyways, I was searching around if I could find some nice discounts. All they had was 10-20% discount for women's clothes. It was really disappointing. 😐 I've searced a lot of racks and I couldn't find anything nice that I would pay for. Then, I found this cute royal blue top with cutouts on the sleeves. It has a v-cut low neck and back line, and seems to be baggy because it's the size XL. This was their last piece, and so I have to get it. Haha! This was originally sold for Php 219, down to Php 179. Thanks to the 20% discount! 😀 This is the only thing I got because my family was hurrying to go home because it was almost 12 midnight. Haha!

           I was in search for a nice container to put my clean and unused makeup sponges. I checked Daiso if they have something cute and convetient containers, bottles or boxes. The sale section was seemed a nice place to check on because I found this glass container. It was on sale for only Php 44, from Php 88. As indicated in the label, it's not airtight which doesn't bother me at all. As long as it keeps my sponges clean, we don't have a problem.

          The last thing I picked from Daiso is this baby pink Tin Can that was on their gardening section. Haha! I fell in love with this the first time I saw it. I love that crown-like detailing on the top part; it looks so unsual for a gardenig item. I thought that this would be perfect for displaying my makeup brushes so I bought it right away. My cousin bought one too, just in white. 

          About three weeks ago, my officemate and I have done some shopoing at Plazuela. I was amazed that they have actually pop shops at the back; well, I never go there and that's why I was not aware. Haha! My officemate was actually looking for a high-waist pants and I accompanied her around. We have stumbled upon this store selling overruns and old stocks. They have this rack where evething was on sale for Php 100. My friend convinced me to buy because she said that this will suit my skin tone. I was actually afraid that this won't fit me well because of my structure. Obviously, I'm really conscious with my frame and the clothes i wear. Haha! Anyways, I still bought this because I need summer clothes. I like this a lot! There's a picture me wearing this on Instagram. Check my sidebar. 😄

          Just last Thursday, my officemate and I went to Plazuela again. I wanted to back to the store to buy there again. I was disappointed that they were closed when we got there. 20 minutes later, I saw that they have opened tha store. I guess this was a lucky day. I browsed the store and hoped to find something nice. Then, I saw this Forever 21 bodycon sleeveless stripe dress. It has still the $15.50 price tag on it. I though this was such a nice deal, considering that i only have to pay Php 180 for the dress. Yes! Another bargain! 

          My uncle also went home recently from Ohio. He lives there together with his family. He went to us, had a little chit-chat, and handed a paper bag of Victoria's Secret to us. It contained VS lotions and bath products and Wet N' Wild Lipsticks. My mama gave me the lispticks because she doesn't wear the shades, which I have swatched above, because she only wear red shades. I also picked up the body scrub because I didn't want the lotions. I'm not a lotion person, and I have bougth lotions from the Nivea Sale. I don't want to have a lot of lotions. Haha!

           Those are the products I have recently haul during this Summer season. I hope you enjoyed this post as I have enjoyed taking pictures of them. What products did you get for Summer? Please let us know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any requests, suggestions and violent reactions, don't hesitate to tell me. Haha! 

          A Happy, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I hope you'll have a great time celebrating your special day. 👸

          Thank you so much for reading and stopping by. I'll talk to you soon. Have a nice day. Stay safe. ❤❤

          Hey, guys! I have a skincare and hygiene products haul for you today. Nivea is a cult favorite in the Philippines. When people heard about the 50% discount going on, they have rushed to stores and hauled a lot of stuff. I have friends and office mates who have shared a picture their loot on Facebook and Instagram. Some of them have gone crazy and bought a 1-year supply of lotions, face products, deodorants and many more. Haha! Anyways, Nivea's sale started April 14 and will end on the 18th. I suggest have your haul now while supplies lasts. :)

          Last Friday, I went to two Robinsons Supermarket to get some personal stuff. The first grocery that I went to was near my office. I was busy browsing some stuff when I saw my office mates picking up some Nivea products. I remembered that a sale is going on, so I checked the products and see if find something interesting.  I picked up three Nivea things from that supermarket. 

          Hi, guys! I am going to share to you today about my disappointing experience on an online purchase; it's way of packaging and the time I waited for to be delivered to me. This post will be composed a lot of rants and some cursing to express my emotions. If you don't like this type of posts, you can click the close button for this window right now. :) I do not intend to this to get attention, be famous, bash the website, or anything. I just want to share my experience as this is the first time that this was happened to me. 

           Last December, I decided to order a pair a shoes from Zalora PH to match some of my outfits for the upcoming holidays. I ordered the shoes on December 13, 2015, 7 days before we leave for a vacation in Manila. I was confident that I will be receiving my order on the 18th at most; Cash On Delivery (COD) transactions for provinces usually arrives 3-5 working days after they have shipped the orders. So, I waited patiently for my order as I was expecting that I will be putting it on my luggage when I start packing. Friday came and my order didn't arrive. I said to myself that maybe my package will arrive the next day. I wasn't worried so much yet. 

          As you can see on the picture above, Zalora verified my order the same day I ordered the shoes. It's good that they post tracking of orders on their customer's account. 

          We can see on the picture above that they have shipped my order the following day, December 14, 2015. I have one question though; when they say shipped does that mean my order is already on its way to my house or it has been given to the courier to be shipped out? Usually, couriers ship packages on the same day if the transaction has been made before 12 noon. Am I right, guys?

            Going back to my story, I actually did not receive any package. I went on vacation without the shoes I ordered on my luggage. I was already disappointed because Zalora haven't delivered my package super late. They have been true to what they say that orders to be delivered on provincial areas will arrive 3-5 working days after they have been shipped. 6 working days have passed and I still haven't received my order. On the 20th of December, we left for vacation. What I did was that I left my payment to my grandmother. I told her if LBC comes, she should just get my package and give my payment to them. 

         My grandmother called us to say hi on the 21st; I asked her if my order has arrived already because it's already Monday. She said that LBC hasn't come yet and delivered anything. I just said: "Ah, Okay". I thought that maybe there's a lot of orders and a traffic on the shipment of packages considering that it was holiday season. I shrugged it of because I was thinking that the package will arrive that week.

         When we got home on January 3rd of 2016, my grandmother handed me over the package. I was excited to open my package because I wanna see what the shoes look like in person. My grandmother said that my order arrived yesterday, January 2. I was like: "Whaaaat??". That was too long already! Anyways, before I go to my ranting, I want to share with you the pictures I took as I opened my package. 

          As I said, I was excited to open my package. When I opened it, this is what I saw. Look at the picture above, that's what I exactly saw. My reaction was: "What the fuck is this!? Did someone open this?". Who could do this? I'm not sure if the courier did this thing because the package is sealed and has the Zalora tag on it. If LBC opened my package, the plastic should be ripped off. The plastic wrapper was not ripped off in any form and I couldn't see any opening. The thing that pissed me so much was the box. What the fuck is that? A reused box that looks like it has beaten. Who the hell is Jay Ann Hernandez? What does the numbers mean on the box? I am so sorry for cursing but this is so disappointing. Don't they have the decency to give their customer a decent box? 

          Orders from Zalora comes with an envelope containing the receipt and return form. I was even more shocked that when I opened the envelop, I was that the papers inside were already folded in a messy way; like somebody opened this first, read the contents, folded it and put it back on the envelope. Who the fuck opened this envelope? If you have to sneak into someone's order, make sure you leave no evidence. What the hell!

           When I opened box, I saw that the shoes were still there. Good thing, huh? I have noticed that the silica gel that usually comes in shoe box is not on this box. Did somebody took it? I was even thinking that maybe somebody tried this is on and just put it back in the box. Like these items were already used before I even received them. I was so mad that time I wanted to mail Zalora right away and curse them for their negligence. Yes, I call this negligence. My items were on sale but that doesn't mean they won't give the proper box I deserve. I may be nobody to the blogging community, but I don't think I deserve this mess. I don't know if this is Zalora's fault or the courier. One should have done, Zalora should secure all their packages. When the shipment to the courier has done, it doesn't mean that they won't track leniently anymore. I made orders from the site before but this is the first it has happened to me. And I tell you right now, I am not really happy about this. I was thinking to just move on with my life but people should know my story. People deserve this story because they must be aware of the consequences of buying online. 

         I feel bad for saying all of these, but I can't just sit here and keep this experience to myself. There are lots of dangers on shopping online. I realized that even grandiose fashion website like Zalora can never ever guarantee the safety of products we buy from them. I just don't feel like buying from them any time soon. This is so disappointing. I am so sorry for the curses I have said but I need to let this one out. I will understand if you will be turned off with this post. This is my story and I just want to share it. Anyways, thank you much for reading. I feel like people will react to this post and leave some comments. I will answer them but I won't be back at home until Thursday. I will go for a work travel tomorrow. If you have anything to share to use regarding this matter, feel free to comment. I hope you still read my blog after you read this posts. I will talk to you soon. Have a great day. Stay safe.  

Tourist Destination: Strawberry Farm

Location: La Trinidad, Benguet

How To Get There: Van or other means of land transportation, a 30-minute ride from Baguio City

Don't Miss: Strawberry Picking and Buying Strawberry Ice Cream

          Strawberry Farm is one of must-visit places when you go to the mountainous province of Benguet. It's a 30-minute drive away from Baguio City, located at the town of La Trinidad. It is a few hectares of farm filled strawberries, vegetables and flowers being managed by the local government. The whole place is open to tourists; meaning you can actually get close to the plants, pick them and buy them. Of course, you have to buy them. They are not free. Haha! :)

            My family and I had a vacation in Baguio City wayback in April. One of our itineraries was to go to the Strawberry Farm, but we didn't how to get there since it is located outside of the city. Luckily, we were able hire a van that offers tour services around Baguio City and some places near it. The offer to us costed Php 2500 which was good for 8 hours. 

          Our first destination on the trip was the Strawberry Farm. Upon seeing the farm for the first time, I was amazed of how wide it is. There were workers in there who tells the visitors that they can actually experience picking the strawberries but they have to buy the picked ones. A kilo costs Php 400, everybody in the group can pick as long as they have to reach at least a kilo. 

           The strawberries were a little smaller that I was expecting. Haha! Our guide said that it rained the night before we came that why it was muddy that day. There were lots of strawberries crushed and went all over the place due to heavy rain drops. 

          This is a picture of a strawberry up-close. Isn't this lovely? Look how vivid the redness is. It looks delicious and juicy. Speaking of delicious, you can actually eat the fruit right there and the. But, just be quiet and do some some ninja moves. Haha! I ain't kidding you guys. We actually did that. Haha! 

          My mom enjoyed the picking segment together with cousins. They got tired after a while but the lady guiding us said that we should reach the quota. Haha! Anyways, the weather might be sunny but the atmosphere is still chilly, but enough chilly to not wear a jacket or coat. 

           That's me picking some strawberries as well. I helped after I took some pictures of the place. I have encountered some struggles because I was wearing a sneaker wedge. It was hard to squat and was hard to walk because of the mud. My shoes got dirty, I have to walk on a drier place and rub the mud off my shoes. Haha! :)

          When you go picking the strawberries, you are given a basket to put your strawberries on. Workers on their said that the smaller ones tastes sweeter than the bigger ones. I have tasted the smaller ones they are pretty sweet so we chose to pick them up. I tell you, it takes time to reach a kilo because these weighs light. We were at the field for like 30-40 minutes. It was fun to do. You try this if you ever stop by at this place. 

          A man was selling fresh Strawberry Ice Cream at the main road. It retails for Php 30 a cone, which is worth for what you are getting for. It was the best ice cream I have ever eaten that no artificial flavors could beat. Its creamy, fresh and tastes natural. It was so good! :)

         I hope you enjoyed this post as much I enjoyed visiting the place. If you have any questions regarding the place, leave a comment or hit me a message. I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will post my other Benguet Adventures and some travels I made this year. Stay tuned for more posts. Thank you for visiting. Talking to you soon. Stay safe. Have a good day! :)