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No free Japan flights :(

Katkat — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:06:44 +0000

Last year, there was news that the Japan Tourism Board is planning to give away free 10000 flights to foreigners visiting Japan for 2012. Well…it’s not going to happen. Darn. I am hoping I would be awarded one those tickets. According to an article, the reasons for this not happening are:

Why the change of plans? Well, for one thing, the giveaway was going to be quite costly. For another, though, there were concerns that it would seem insensitive "for the Japanese Government to give people free flights to Japan when the cities, towns and villages devastated by the tsunami are still in desperate need of funding for reconstruction."

What’s more, such a giveaway could offend donors who generously opened their wallets after tragedy struck:

We also would not want people thinking that the generous donations given from around the world to aide those affected by the disaster was being spent on giving people free flights.

Oh well. I guess I have to resort to the old method: saving up money to go back there again.

My Christmas and Birthday haul

Katkat — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:52:00 +0000

Growing up I have a love-hate perspective with my birthday being too close on Christmas. I love it that the happy feeling I have during Christmas goes on all the way to my birthday. I love that my birthday is on a school break. Then I hate it that my birthday is many times overlooked sandwiched between Christmas and the New Year. A lot of times my family/relatives would give me only 1 gift combining both Christmas and birthday presents. Because my birthday happens on a school break and a busy holiday, a lot of my friends forget or were unavailable to celebrate my day.

Anyhow, for my 2011 birthday, I had separate presents for Christmas and birthday, I was able to celebrate my birthday properly with a family dinner and outing, and I got to have a party in tandem with my aunt’s birthday and the new year’s eve celebration. For those people who know me very well, I’m very choosy with my presents. I even had to send out a birthday gift registry to my aunts so that they can give me the things that I really wanted. I also had a hard time thinking what presents I want to receive because most of the time I had already bought it myself.

So here was the haul for 2011:

1. Gift cards: $25 Amazon gift card from my cousin, $25 Old Navy GC from my aunt, another gift card for a restaurant from my aunt

2. Plush pajama set from my aunt and uncle – finally I have my own set after my mom took ownership of the other set.

3. A pair of gloves with removable finger covering from my cousin – even though it’s a small thing, I truly liked this gift. I had a running history of losing my gloves so now I got a new pair again!

4. A pillow pet from my brother – I named my pillow pet Strawby the second. Strawby the first, given to me by my sister, was left in the Philippines.

5. Red money envelopes from my aunts for my birthday – they didn’t have time to buy my gifts so they gave me money instead. Cool!

6. A set of mini muffin pans and a Silpat from my aunt – love love love these gifts. Thank you my dear aunt for enriching my baking tools.

7. A fossil bracelet from a coworker.

8. A set of lotion from a coworker.

9. A coming-soon Sony cybershot camera that my mom promised me.

I know they’re not a lot and not too expensive but I’m thankful…thankful for all the thoughts and love expressed in the gifts.

My new rebond!

Katkat — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:59:00 +0000

After sporting curls for 6 months, I decided to go back to straight. I went to where else, but Tony and Jackey Buendia for my rebond. I loved their work. Unfortunately the senior stylist Ria was transferred to another branch so I got Mika instead. I also requested for Olive, the assistant who took care of me the previous times I was here. They had an ongoing promo package for rebond. Since my hair had already been rebonded before, I fell in the Loreal Keratase category which cost 5000 for hair cut, rebond, hair manicure/treatment. Because my hair was so dry and damaged from the perm, Mika advised me to spend 500 more to get a better hair treatment to revive my hair before I go through the rebond. I agreed with their reasoning so I paid 5500 in all. While I was getting my hair treated, another Korean came to my chair to offer me free hand massage. While she was massaging my hand, she was talking me into doing manicure/pedicure and eyelash extension or perm. The mani/pedicure I declined because I liked to have clean unpolished nails for a change. But I gave in to the eyelash perm, which was expensive at 600php. I had eyelash perming at Facial Care Center Greenbelt for only 200php and they did a very good job while here, my short lashes didn’t perm that much.

Anyway, back to my rebond, I went through the same process as before. I liked Mika’s style better than Ria’s. She did something to my bangs which made it to look sideswept and not spiky straight. She trimmed 2 inches of my hair because the tips were so damaged. At first she asked me if I wanted to just have one layer of straight hair. I told her I wanted layers because I only had one layer the last time. When I saw that the front layers was so short, I began to panic. I didn’t want short hair. But when I saw the final look, I was satisfied. I loved the layers, it gave some style to an ordinary straight hair. My hair was a bit shorter which bummed me, but it would grow longer anyway. And for the reveal, here is Katrina version 2.4, made in Korea.

Short or long?

Katkat — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Going back to Manila, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity of having my hair fixed again at Tony and Jackey. I have had successful results with them in the past. I haven’t done any hair styling in the US ever since I had it done in Tony and Jackey. And that’s saying, it’s a very long time. My current hair is curly or soft waves and it has grown long reaching past my shoulder blades. I kind of like it sometimes especially when the waves are behaving. I look styled. But I just don’t have the confidence to wear it unbound. I feel that it seems unruly. I always end up tying it in a ponytail. I’ve been wanting to try a straight long hair style. I get jealous at women who have long flowing straight hair that ends near their waist. I have never had hair that long. I always end up cutting it. Now that my hair is longer, I have a dilemma: I feel like a straight hair will be boring whereas a wavy hair is more stylish. Furthermore, I don’t know if a long straight hair will fit my face. Will it make me more mature-looking losing my baby-face-forever-sixteen look or will it be appealing?

Here’s the evolution of my straight hair (this is in a span of a year and a half):

From short…

to semi-long…?

and the longest I had…

Should I fulfill my long-flowing-straight-hair fantasy or keep it short? Hmmm…

Debuting my new look!

Katkat — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 01:48:00 +0000

Last month I blogged about my future plan for my next hairstyle. Up to the time I sat down inside the salon, I was debating if I should go curls or straight. Of course I went to Tony and Jackey now called Bangs, Tony and Jackey at Buendia Makati. I got the same hairstylist, Ria, who did my previous hair rebond. I just loved that they’re authentic Korean because I want a Korean look, like the actresses in those cute korean soap operas. I had a great hair rebond result from them (my rebond lasted almost a year!) so I decided to stick with them for my future hairdos.

There was no toss up or draw of lots or jack-en-poy; when I saw the hairstyle of one of the salon staff, I told them that I want that kind of look. The staff, named Olive (I super love her), showed me pictures and gave me suggestions and I finally decided to get curls! I couldn’t know what they did with my hair. They put chemicals and they washed it a lot of times and then voila, I had curls.

When I came out of the salon, I was loving my look. However the next few days, I couldn’t find my curls. The curls turned into waves and looks like what my hair looks when I wake up in the morning. I was disappointed. I went back three times to the salon complaining that my curls were gone. They said that I just didn’t know how to maintain it. Nevertheless the third time I went back, they redid the procedure from scratch and got me medium curls. The first time it was a mix of large and medium curls. I guessed back then the large curls won that’s why I thought my hair just turned wavy. The second redo, they made sure the curls stayed in place. I didn’t have to pay for anything for my subsequent visits. I paid 4000php plus tip the first time so I guess I should have a customer-satisfaction warranty, right?

Now my hair is truly curly. I’m loving it. I’m looking Korean! And it’s low maintenance – I don’t have to brush my hair however I should put hair wax to make my curls look healthy and less frizzy. I miss having to brush my hair though. I want to thank Tony and Jackey for a job well done and for good customer service. I’ll be definitely go back for my next hairstyle.

And to debut my look: this is Katrina version 2.3, made in Korea

I love our Prius

Katkat — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:01:00 +0000

There are 2 things that I want in a car: sturdy and fuel-saving. I don’t know much about cars but when I hitch a ride on my aunt’s BMW, I couldn’t help feel that it’s sturdy enough to support a crash. It also has good horsepower so it can drive well in uphill roads. And besides, I thought the BMW especially the sports car looks cool. A couple of weeks ago my dad traded our Toyota 2009 Camry for 2010 Prius. Among the reasons for the trade were for the trip to Oregon, I have also dented our Camry a lot of times, it also needed a lot of engine work, one of the tire was punctured – so my dad decided to just trade it for a new car.

Anyway I love driving the Prius. Maybe because it’s new that’s why it’s so fun and smooth to drive it. The things that I love about this particular car are:

1. It’s very digital based – the commands, dashboard, controls.

2. The seats are more ergonomic than the Camry.

3. It’s definitely fuel-saving. We hit 40-50mpg in our trip to Oregon before our fuel ran out.

4. It uses electrical energy as substitute to fuel during slow-driving so less fuel consumption.

5. Air-conditioning temperature can be adjusted.

6. It’s also roomier than Camry.

7. And most importantly: I don’t have to dig into my bag for the keys because it automatically opens when I have the keyless key with me or in my bag. No more keying the key into the keyhole!

Although I’m all praise on the Prius, I find some minor things that I don’t like:

1. The window in the rear/trunk. It has a horizontal partition so it’s hard to look in the rearview mirror. Sometimes I need to bob my head up and down to discern the surroundings in the back of the car.

2. The noisy beep when reversing. It’s not a sensor beep to indicate the car is nearing an object. It’s just an annoying beeping sound every time I reverse the car.

3. It has a very hard time driving uphill.

4. The trunk connects to the inside of the car so when there’s food in the back, the whole car will smell.

5. The “anti-glare” shield board is short so when I put it down to shield me from the sun, it’s not doing its job because the sun is still hitting my eyes.

I’m still learning about this car but so far it’s been a great car. So if you’re looking for a car, I suggest you buy a Prius.

Go Giants

Katkat — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:55:00 +0000

I’m officially getting into the SF Giants bandwagon. I’m never a big fan of a sport or sport team except David Beckham but this year, things are turning up for our hometown baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. They’ve been having a good season: they won the play-offs and now they’re in the world series against the Texas Rangers. Talk about too much hype here in San Francisco.

Although baseball for me is like soccer or golf where there’s not much excitement within the duration of the play, I couldn’t help but feel excited when I see them play on TV. I don’t know any names of the team but some guys are cute. The SF Giants has never won the world championship series. I hope they win it this time!!! Go Giants!

I hate dental injections!

Katkat — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:35:52 +0000

I’m normally not a queasy person but I don’t know what happened to me as I got older, I have been more finicky about health issues – particularly my oral health. Being in the dental profession, I should be more confident since I know the physiology of it all. I take great care of my teeth that I haven’t had any filling procedures since I was 10. My aunt, who was my dentist when I was kid, did a great job on me. She pulled my baby teeth and did some fillings with me being oblivious to it. So when I entered dental school and worked on patients, I never really empathize to what they were feeling. I thought it was all dandy.

Then came my next major dental procedure which was when I was 26 and had my wisdom teeth extracted. That one was traumatic in terms of injections and post-op pain. I wasn’t scared of the procedure, I would love to have a mirror and watch what the dentist was doing. Actually once I had a dermatofibroma removed from my arm and I was looking at the procedure the whole time. It’s surreal that while the doctor was slicing my skin and taking out the mass, I was not feeling anything. I was enjoying learning what went on. So the procedures for me were ok but what I really hated were the injection and post-op pain. I still have one wisdom tooth left but I’m crossing my fingers that it doesn’t need pulling out.

Two days ago I had my tooth filling replaced and of course SOP before the procedure was dental injection. Now I can say with emphasis that I HATE DENTAL INJECTIONS! The topical anesthetic was so gross and the back of my throat was numb and the feeling was uncomfortable. When the dentist inserted the needle, I didn’t feel the puncture (because the dentist had a “painless” needle) but a twinge later when I felt the anesthetic solution moving inside. Then the back of my throat, half of my lower lip, and my half of my tongue got so numb that it was hard for me to talk, swallow, and taste anything. Being that numb was a good thing because I didn’t feel anything when my tooth is getting drilled on. But the anesthesia stayed on for 5 more hours after the procedure. I felt my lips were fat, I couldn’t swallow well, I felt that I’ve been battered and bruised. When the numbness wore off, it was hard for me to open my mouth wide and there was this extreme soreness at the injection site. Uggh! Great!

I’m really a good patient – I’m not twitchy or anxious or whining. But I could say like any other patients, I’m a normal one – I hate dental procedures and I hate dental injections! Now I can really comprehend why a lot of people are scared of the dentist. So for my family members whom I’ve worked on, I apologize for having traumatize or hurt you. I feel you.

Time for a road rage management?

Katkat — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:11:26 +0000

I have been driving for more or less 4 years already (yup I’m a late bloomer) here in the US and I like how rules and traffic laws are maintained by drivers. It’s easier to drive here than in the Philippines where cars are not only bumper to bumper but door to door. The roads are narrower and basically no speed limit is enforced there. I haven’t driven in the Philippines except when I did my driving lessons there. I learned the basic skills and I didn’t have a hard time adjusting to driving alone when I came to the US to practice what I learned. As I’ve said, driving in the US is so easy and well-regulated that it wasn’t too scary for a newbie like me.

Considering myself as a veteran driver, I haven’t had an accident yet (praise God) but I did scratched or damaged our car’s bumper already. And the victim is always a post or a wall. As my aunts told me, my car dents allow me to be more cautious but more courageous when it comes to driving. Although I’m 5’ 2”, skinny, and look like a kid I’m prone to road rage, so my brother will say.

I will never have road rage if drivers around me will drive normally and within rules. Or admit they’re wrong by some gesture and I will forget their gaffe. However if they don’t realize their wrongdoing then I get irritated. Just like is it wrong to get mad when the driver in front of me turns so slow when I’m in a hurry and the light is turning red? Or when a driver will cut my turn in a 4-way stop? Or when they will change lane so near your car without even signaling? Or when they won’t let me pass through on a merging lane even when I’m front of them? Or when a driver is so timid to turn against an opposing traffic that he holds up a line behind him? Or when they will drive 10mph slower than speed limit on a one-way lane? Or when they will slow down or stop in the middle of the road for no reason?

Road rage? I believe it’s not a road rage but rather a puzzlement to the inanity of the other drivers. I don’t give the finger or scream swear words at the other offending drivers. I don’t hunt them down or engage in a car race with them. However I do honk at them (which according to the driving rules cannot be used unless in an emergency), blink my lights to signal them to speed up or I just scowl at them and mouth “What’s your problem, dude?” And after that, just like a stimulus removed, I will calm down and happily drive my way to my destination.

Road rage management? I don’t believe I need intervention yet or if you will, I don’t have one. If you have worse than my case, then it’s time to look for road rage management.

The Toyota Recall

Katkat — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:21:19 +0000

I love Toyota. Actually my first car was Toyota Coralla SLE 2007. It’s a family car and I was a late bloomer when it comes to driving. I started in my mid-20’s. I love driving that Corolla. It’s compact and economical in gas. I can zip in and out of traffic. It was a really good car.

Now my dad changed it to Toyota Camry 2008. It’s heavier and slightly larger than the Corolla. I didn’t like it because it eats up gas quicker and it’s slightly larger built makes it hard for me to maneuver the car as I wanted to.

Now there is this big hoopla of recalling certain Toyota car models, Camry included. Toyota is recalling a list of it’s car models because of a problem with the gas pedal. The list of involved models are:

Certain 2009-2010 RAV4*,
Certain 2009-2010 Corolla*,
2009-2010 Matrix,
2005-2010 Avalon,
Certain 2007-2010 Camry*,
Certain 2010 Highlander*,
2007-2010 Tundra,
2008-2010 Sequoia

According to the Toyota pressroom,

“The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper “feel” by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable.

This friction device includes a “shoe” that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.”

I partially understood what they meant. And I think it happens in our car too. When I stop, it takes a long time to halt completely even though I’m pressing on the brake pedal. Sometimes there’s a slight increase in speed even though I’m hitting the brakes. My dad says that it happens most especially when you use the Cruise Control. When you switch off the Cruise Control, instead of slowing down, the car still accelerates.

Whatever the issue is, this will of course pose a big worry for the driver since there is no guarantee or confidence that the car will always be perfectly running. Because this issue has exploded, Toyota is now totally recalling the affected vehicle models. They will completely pay the repair and actual repair will only take 30 minutes. That’s good news because I have to drive to to work. At present, Toyota is suspending its sales on the affected models.

If you’re a Toyota car owner and your vehicle is any of the models stated above then your car is affected by the recall. Take note certain Prius models are now also included. In the meantime, when you experience a sticking accelerator pedal when driving, here are recommended actions to take:

1. If you need to stop immediately, the vehicle can be controlled by stepping on the brake pedal with both feet using firm and steady pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal as it will deplete the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist.
2. Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
3. If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.
a. If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.
b. If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.

Click here for more information about the Toyota recall issue.

Drive carefully!

I love our Prius