There was a time when I was so addicted to this app, thanks to Crissey, master of all things cute. It was pure madness. I couldn’t sleep because of it. BUY ALL THE CUTE FURNITURE.

Early on, I knew I wanted to shy away from all the pink stuff, because I wanted a more realistic-looking house (This app is serious business - it’s not even funny). I even created a space that looks just like the studio outside my room, that little space where I take my indoor outfit photos. 

A few weeks (or has it already been months?) have passed since I started this and I admit I don’t really have much to do anymore, since I’m already pretty contented with how I designed it. And well, I don’t have a lot of gems to spare at this point, lol. T_T 

Anyhow, add me up! You can search for Tricia Gosingtian on LINE Play. Sometimes I give hearts back in gratitude! <3

1) First dibs! Got these ob for shu uemura products at the intimate event they held to launch these adorable limited edition goodies.

2) Camwhoring with my Haurex watch from Time Depot and MAC Pure Zen lipstick from Lannel Boutique

3) Macarons at Bar Dolci.

4) Wrong Ramen at Burgos Circle, The Fort.

5) 8 scoops of this Chocolate Earthquake from Swensen’s. Shared this with my ice-cream loving friends, and finished this bowl in 5 minutes. 

6) Fuss-free all-black outfit on a busy errands day! Black oversized top and leggings from Topshop.

7) One of my ESPRIT looks! 

8) Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen at the new Shangri-la East Wing. 

9) Finally cut my hair short! My hair was too damaged that I couldn’t go out without curling it (and further damaging it in the process) or hiding the damaged parts in a bun. Ugh. At one point, I couldn’t comb through the ends anymore so I had no choice but to cut it all off. Coincidentally, I was obsessing over long bobs for so long (thus the fluffy wig in my outfit photos last month) that the 7 or so inch cut didn’t hurt too bad. 

I’m currently a new and loyal customer at Park Jun’s in Glorietta! A nice Korean girl named Lena cuts and colors my hair now. This is where I also buy my new MUCOTA (Japanese brand) shampoo, conditioner and hair treatment. So far it’s been wonderful in reviving my close-to-dying hair.

How did I achieve this hair length? I had saved photos of my girl crush Olivia Palermo’s long bob (or “lob”) on my phone! Showed it to Lena and she got it instantly. I was so happy. It was all so cathartic too.

As of this writing, it’s about 1 1/2 inches shorter, thanks to Rumiringo and Rui Kotobuki inspiration <3

10) With my brother’s girlfriend Farrah who is just the cutest girl ever! <3

11) At the Lacoste L!ve event with David and Lissa. DAVID’S JACKET, I COVET.

12) Reunited and it feels so good. Not an entirely new combination of bloggers, if you’ve been following my blog for a while now. Comment if this group looks familiar :)

13) Wearing my book print top and jelly bag from Lacoste L!ve.

14) Chanel Fatal Rouge polish thanks to I Do Nails and Chapi Green lenses from Japanese Candy. I’m always wearing pink blush and pink lipstick now. I can’t remember the last time I opted for coral or red…

15) With Kana Odawara-Evangelista (our translator), Yoshio Koiwai, Youhei Harada, Shudai Shiota, Daisuke Hashimoto, Katsuya Inagaki and Yuuga Suzuki! HAKUHODO (with TNC, Inc.) conducted an interview about lifestyle and trends among young people, and in my case, they focused more on fashion, cosmetics, travels, and the other things that I write here on my blog! 

We also talked about my previous trips to Japan, and how I found out about Japanese culture and fashion. One of them ended up singing the first line to L’arc’s The Fourth Avenue Cafe when I mentioned how my older brothers have been fans for as long as I can remember. 

16) Thanks to @crownedvelvet and @quirky_minds (on IG) for these iPhone cases!

17) US Ribeye and oyster teppanyaki at Akira in the new Shangri-la East Wing! Shang has always been my favorite mall ever since I was a kid, and my family often goes there for dinner or shopping. Most of the time I would bump into Crissey as well because it’s also her family’s favorite hangout!

18) Picked this baby girl up from a trusted labrador breeder outside Manila. Welcome to the Gosingtian family, baby Bailey! We had to think of a name that started with the letter B as Bailey’s parents’ names also started with the same letter. My brother’s initial suggestion was to name her Bog. Bog the dog, lol. I was like, “No way! It’s totally not a cute girl name!” :( (edit: or even a name fit for anyone or anything that is as cute as this)

So I named our first family dog Bailey. Our driver called her Billy Joe when he first thought it was a boy. Then he changed it to Billie Jean when he found out it was a girl, hahaha

Everyone’s attention is now focused on her. <3

19) Macarons at Bizu!

20) And yet another heavy dinner at Borough. Where I order the same thing. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Darn it, Brooklyn Omelette. Why do you have to be so good? My cholesterol is not pleased.

21) Just one of those lazy, minimal make-up days…

22) ONIONS. ONIONS EVERYWHERE! Had dinner with the family at Lugang in Greenhills. My dad’s choice, of course! Chinese cuisine is my least favorite but…

23) …xiao long bao is my only exception. <3

24) I keep doing this pose now. Sad attempt to show off my current nail colors and arm/finger candy at the same time, heehee

25) Bailey after one week with us. My mom has been so patient and loving with her, which I think can buy me and my siblings some time before she starts talking about grandchildren.

Of course, most of Bailey’s stuff are pink. Even her first water bowl was a cute heart-shaped pink one that she absolutely loved playing with. And you know how all labradors love water… (we eventually got her one of those water bottle dispenser things that you attach to her crate so it’s easier and a lot less messy)

26) Ended the month of March with a giant plate of sashimi. <3

1) Trissey (Tricia + Crissey) bonding after so long! We spent almost a whole day together - it was loads of fun, especially with the kind of silliness that is always expected from our duo. <3

2) Pat from Apartment 8 treated us to cake in the middle of shooting. Of course, with something as cute as this, you’d expect us to take photos and Instagram first before digging in!

3) Valentines-themed cupcakes at Sonja’s in Serendra! Not what I ordered (since my favorite from them is their Red Velvet) but too cute not to Instagram, lol.

4) Spent a lazy afternoon in Starbucks reading this book. Little did I know that my angkong (grandfather) would pass away the next day. It’s the first time I’m explicitly talking about it but I pretty much spent most of my February afternoons and evenings at the hospital and at his wake (even on Valentines Day), thus the lessened activity on my blog during this month. He was in and out of the hospital for heart-related problems most of 2012 as well.

As of this writing, it’s been exactly 49 days since his burial. We actually just came from the cemetery to visit him again and pay our respects. He’s in a better place now. <3

5) Quick lunch at Yabu!

6) Valentines-themed shoot with James and Ericka! 

7) Heart-shaped donuts at Krispy Kreme. A ton of people commented on my IG saying that they look like heart-shaped ground meat, lol.

8) MEXX outing with blogger friends! With Lissa, Laureen and David.

9) Chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentines thanks to Pond’s!

10) Received pretty flowers from Krissy and Ericka <3

11) Flowers for my angkong, 3 days after the burial. In his mausoleum — “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.”

12) Sweet pink hair (or wig) and make.

13) Salmon Carpaccio at Italianni’s with my new friends Ley and Cindy, and blogger friends David, Lissa and Shai.

14) Little things! Mini Canon USB from @osgenshop on IG and mini Celine ear plug from @crownedvelvet on IG. Yes, that’s a page of ViVi with Sara Mary on it!

15) Wore this to the Young Market Masters Awards (YMMA). Simple black shift dress from Mango and bag from Forever 21.

16) Strawberry mousse!

17) Pink and white outfit in preparation for spring/summer.

18) Wearing the very popular Apartment 8 peekaboo shoulder top! So happy it got wonderful reviews from people after I wore it, as all their stocks were sold out twice, and people still want it to this day! <3

19) Suddenly, dark hair after a disaster at my previous salon! It has since then faded to my current hair color which is still a little messy, but at least I already cut all the damaged parts off!

Wearing Orly Frisky nail polish from @polishedinthecity on IG. 

20) Alice in Wonderland vibes at the ob for shu uemura event at SoFA! Macarons everywhere!

21) Blue top and necklace from Forever 21, bag from Moussy (Japan), and inset skirt leggings from Yesstyle. My hair was pretty much fried at this point…

22) Met up with my best friends at The Old Spaghetti House and got this cheesy penne pasta. NOM.

23) Second time to see Crissey! <3 We were invited to a web show called Live, Love, Lolz by Tita K! But first we had dinner together, and spent the rest of our time camwhoring in a small bathroom, lol.

1) Coffee and work date with my good friend Tracy at the Caffe Bene in Eastwood. We both cannot work at our own homes because we end up being super unproductive, so we schedule dates at our favorite coffee places to motivate each other to not slack off!

2) As I uploaded these pictures for this post, I realized that I took a lot of these mirror shots last month! Some of the outfits might seem familiar from Lookbook.

3) You’ll see this stripey H&M top twice in this post. 

4) What I wore to my cousin’s garden wedding at Tagaytay. Found this long dress on sale at Mango. Borrowed the clutch from my mom who I went shopping with at Miss Selfridge last Christmas.

5) One of the most effective ways to keep yourself in check is to wirte in a gratitude journal. Got this particular one at kikki.K in Singapore last year. Even if I forget to write here sometimes, I make sure that I dedicate a few minutes every day to reflect on the things I should be grateful for on my own.

6) Sukiyaki night with le boyfriend! We love to eat out, and we both love to take photos of our food. Follow him on IG: @rgabunada

7) Wearing jeans! *gasp*

8) Sashimi platter! NOM

9) One of my MOFW Fukuoka posts. Black and white is such a huge trend right now, it seems. I feel like I’m having an extended Christmas because most of my closet has always been filled with these two colors and you can see them everywhere in the mall.

10) Obligatory Bayo dressing room post. Ended up getting the pink/cream version of this top for my Bayo outfit post last January. Now that I think about it, I should’ve gotten the mint one too!

11) Outfit for a meeting. EMODA top, Just G jacket.

12) Outfit for dinner with my family at High Street Central. Zara top, dazzlin skirt.

13) RG and I have been officially together for 2 years last January 23rd! He sent me flowers first thing in the morning. How sweet. <3 

14) Had our anniversary lunch at Premio The Fort, where I had this amazing olive oil poached salmon. I finished the whole thing. NOM

15) Finally got an Instax Mini too, thanks to him. He couldn’t find plain border film so he ended up buying whatever was available - this interesting rainbow gradient film that apparently so many people on IG like! I’d still prefer plain ones though. :D

16) Hiroshima Oyster set at Yabu! Not as big as the real oysters in Hiroshima (which I was fortunate enough to try last December), but still super good! They stuffed a lot of small oysters inside. NOM

17) Dyed my hair lighter last month.

Though as of this writing, my hair is about 3 inches shorter. Had to let go of all the damaged parts after so long. I had to curl my hair every time I wanted to make it look decent. So tedious! To think my hair color is high maintenance enough. 

Currently looking for a new Japanese or Korean salon to do my next hair color! I’ve been going to the same one for the past 5 years that I think its time to give other salons a chance.

18) Lastly, this outfit! Can’t wear red for a few weeks/months now because of some Chinese traditions I have to follow, so we’ll finally see less of this color for now…

Sorry for the Instawillgoplaces delay! Anyhow, feast your eyes on plentiful food porn, travel photos and a couple of annoying photos of myself, teehee.

1) Really really really good Mac and Cheese and Truffle Pizza at one of my new favorite places to eat/hang out, Locale Gastrobar in Pasig. NOM.

2) Camwhoring in the dressing room at the Apartment 8 launch with Lissa, Camille, Patricia, Vern and Verniece. 

3) Pigged out at Wildflour Café + Bakery with my boyfriend RG after a long day at The Mind Museum. Totally craving for all these right now. Can’t wait to go back!

4) MAC Ruby Woo lipstick and matching red nails! Sweater from Forever 21.

5) After getting a bangs trim and a blowdry at my usual salon. I should do this hairstyle more often…

6) Attended the Ateneo Bonfire as usual, to celebrate the 5th straight championship for the UAAP Basketball team! Boyfriend and I are both proud Ateneans :D

7) The first time I dyed my hair darker after a long time. It’s (Schwarzkopf) Igora Royal 5-65 on light brown, previously bleached hair. 7-65 for the non-bleached parts like roots. Baby steps to making the color even. It was frustrating when the color on my roots and the rest of my hair would fade differently, so my hairstylist decided to use two different colors (from the same family) then. Complex stuff.

8) BIG BANG concert! Definitely one of the highlights of 2012. <3 I made sure to schedule my flight to Hong Kong the next day and not on the day of the concert!

Went with my Juju, Calel and his girlfriend Farrah who is a huuuge K-pop fan. We both screamed our lungs out during the concert like crazy people, lol. Sadly can’t go to the DFKC but I’m still crossing my fingers for a solo SNSD concert or a possible SM Town Manila. :(

9) As soon as my friend Jee and I arrived in Hong Kong, we splurged on giant strawberries at the supermarket. Yum!

10) Hong Kong Disneyland with Jee! She bought the cutest Marie cat ears because she super loves cats, and I got myself a nice limited edition Halloween Minnie headband.

11) Benico x Hello Kitty Petit Macaron blushes in PM03 and PM04 in Sasa for about HKD99 each. Still using these blushes now, especially the purple/pink one.

12) Stocked up on some of my favorite lashes! Sasa, just come to Manila already! T_T

13) Had dinner with the family at UCC as soon as I came back to Manila! Absolutely in love with their seafood salad. Pricey but so good.

14) And yet another dinner with the family. This time at Italianni’s in Eastwood Mall. We all clearly missed each other too much. That, or we all have bottomless pits as stomachs.

15) Before I knew it, I was out of the country again! Here’s a pretty view of Jakarta. 

16) Borobudur Temple!

17) Prambanan Temple!

18) The most adorable Alice in Wonderland stickers I found at a random stall in a mall in Jakarta. Alice and I have the same hair! :D

19) Japanese burger with truffle cream sauce at UMAMI in The Grove. My siblings and I also love going to this place for coffee and dessert! Try their sea salt caramel coffee. <3

20) The yummiest comfort food at Borough in The Podium with my family. Brooklyn Omelette, I love you forever.

21) Homemade paella made by my talented brother Calel! 

22) Bangs! With Camille at the Apartment 8 Holiday Collection shoot.

23) My super sweet boyfriend surprised me with flowers the night before my birthday! He also baked a layered chocolate cookie dough and oreo cake which we both ate at midnight. He worked on it for 5 straight hours! Intense.

The perks of having a boyfriend who loves to cook and bake. I fail at everything related to the kitchen, lol.

24) I didn’t post this on Instagram but I just found this too cute not to share! I was taking my usual outfit photos in front of the mirror when he decided to photobomb me. :D

Pink and princess-y look while I still can. Dress is something I got in Korea a long time ago. Maybe I should schedule a trip to Seoul again this year… 

25) He treated me to Wafu in Greenhills for my birthday lunch. So. Freaking. Good. I can eat Japanese food everyday.

26) Then we spent most of the night with the rest of my family at Mom and Tina’s. First time to treat all of them for my birthday instead of the usual. For the past 24 years it has always been my parents paying for everything but I wanted to give back by treating them out for dinner for once. Made me feel like an adult! :D

Top left: My brother Chase and his girlfriend Cat, top right: My brother Juju and his girlfriend Cel, bottom left: My parents, bottom right: My brother Calel and his girlfriend Farrah 

27) My dad surprised me with cake (which I ended up paying for also, lol) with a color scheme and design that matched the color of my top and the curls on my hair! 8D

28) Light make-up and shiny gold accents. 

‘Til next time! I’ll probably do a separate entry for my December Instagram photos. Follow me @tgosingtian for live updates!

1. Got gel nail polish in time for my Melbourne trip. I had these done at Indigo Salon, the same salon where I have my hair done. This here is Orly GelFX in First Kiss.

2) Couldn’t help but take a picture of my Baby G Sunny (red) and Jessica (white + silver) watches beside my old Yoona (white + gold) watch from Time Depot. Speaking of SNSD, I still haven’t gotten tickets to the concert on January yet! A bit torn on what tickets to get because it’s not a solo concert! I still wish I could get an all-access photographer pass though. 

I watched BIG BANG two weeks ago and I regret not getting the best tickets! NEXT TIME

3) Wise words from… well, the back of one of the cubicles in the female restroom at the NAIA2 airport.

4) One of my Melbourne outfits - JEANASIS coat, Romwe top, Forever 21 skirt, H&M flats. Opted for flats because I had a lot of walking to do!

5) Wonderful latte art at Famish’d, a little salad bar along Little Collins. Coffee in Melbourne is serious business.

6) THE BEST CHEESE STICKS IN THE WORLD! Pie Face, I miss you already.

7) Annoyingly shiny shoes with my Motel Rocks printed pants and H&M maroon sweater.

8) Drew, Tracy, Kiks, Kim, Tep and Adi. I’ve got the silliest best friends! One day, at Fully Booked, they grabbed a copy of the magazine I was on, and asked all the salespeople if they recognized me from the cover trolololol

Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported us last September! I wouldn’t have been on the cover if it weren’t for the people behind the magazine and the people who continually read my blog even after all these years!

9) Aztec print leggings from Sportsgirl. Grabbed a cup of iced coffee on the way to a shoot with Camille and Patricia.

10) Matchy matchy nails with the blue on my pants. This one is from Tony Moly.

11) Glittery sweater from H&M, floral print pants from Romwe, necklace from EMODA, overused bag from Mango (it’s my default travel bag).

12) Eat all the Japanese food! Lunch date with my boyfriend at Omakase. I swear I can eat Japanese food everyday, if it weren’t too expensive.

13) Beauty Bar Dashing Diva nails in Diamond District. If you’ve noticed, I change my nail polish very often. It’s one of my very quiet obsessions - 4 days is my limit when it comes to giving my nails a rest from all the nail polish. I need to have color on my nails! Nails would probably be the last thing people would notice in my pictures, but it’s something like earrings which I feel naked without.

Instagram is totally ruining my blog and my photography, but I still love it anyway. I am so torn! I’ve already told the story on how my picture-taking skills have drastically changed ever since I switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone 4S last December, but I still want to mention that nothing has changed since then… except probably my even greater addiction to Instagram. I never imagined the day would come when these words would escape my mouth - “I won’t bring my camera today. I have my iPhone anyway.” OMG, RIGHT? Why must Apple always create perfect products!?

Anyhow, since it’s such a huge part of my Internet life recently, I figured I should share some of my iPhone pictures here, for those who don’t have iPhones or Androids. Plus, this is really where it’s all happening. I guess there’s this sense of realness on my Instagram that I only wish my actual blog could also have.

So I’m calling this my first ever “Instagram Photo Dump”. Actually, I was thinking of naming it something funnier, like “Instawillgoplaces”, but then again my dream of being taken seriously may never be fulfilled anymore!

By the way, most of the pictures here were taken with Hipstamatic, ClassicINSTA and Camera360.

Dory and Mushroom pasta from Pasta de Waraku in Novena Square 2, from my Singapore trip last July. I stayed alone at Hotel Ibis in Novena, which was about 10 minutes away from the nearest mall.

(In case I haven’t shared it yet, my no fail comfort food is anything with any or all of the following: mushroom, cheese and egg.)

Also in Singapore! One of the best salads I’ve ever tried in my life. Seared tofu and smoked mushroom salad from TCC. 

Oh wait, I just may be biased because it has mushroom in it.

Beef and foie gras at Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe at Wheelock Place. NOM.

I had a quick dinner with Jingna (also known as zemotion from dA) who was the sweetest, nicest and not to mention, most talented person ever. We immediately clicked because of so many geeky things that we both coincidentally love. These included travel, photography, art, anime and video games. 

APPLE, JUST TAKE ALL MY MONEY! Crappy front camera has its advantages too - no blemishes, for one. Plus the app filters to make your skin look nicer also work.

I don’t know what I’ll do if they finally create an iPhone with a good front camera!

We shared this green tea tiramisu before parting ways. </3 Miss you already, dear!

Also in Singapore, I managed to get myself the new Canon pancake lens at the airport. Finally, the solution to my serious back problems (caused by my 24-70L).

Someone bring Hada Labo (and the whole of Sasa) to Manila! I swear by their products, and it saddens me that I have to wait for my next Asia trip every time I run out! #firstworldproblems

MAC Morange and Ruby Woo, two lipsticks that you would never imagine me buying. Oddly, it’s always out of stock here in Manila…

When I got back, I just continued stuffing myself with food. This is Spaghetti Tavolara at Pagliacci. 

Yup, it’s crab fat.

I had a quick meal with my brother at Starbucks a few weeks ago, just before I got about 20 tape-in extensions on my hair, for volume’s sake.

Wild mushroom with emmenthal cheese croissant = winner. And you know exactly why.

If you’re wondering what my default Starbucks drink is, I’ll tell you but I hope you guys can try it out yourself and tell me what you think by commenting in this post. It’s iced white chocolate americano with a shot of half and half (breve), on the rocks. It sounds complicated but it’s reaaaaaaaaaally good.

My favorite soft shell crab roll at Kogi Bulgogi. Posting so you can see WHY it’s so convenient to just take pictures with your iPhone. If it can capture the slightest bit of detail without having to artificially light it…

Macarons make me happy! These colorful ones are from Chez Karine in Serendra. I’ve been posting macarons on my Instagram for the longest time now, and for some reason they get the highest likes. I now have a “macaron theory” where pictures of macarons automatically appear on Instagram’s popular page.

Silly, but it happens every single time I do it.

I also regularly post pictures of my nails on Instagram. The Chanel logo ended up looking like a distorted DC logo, unfortunately. This one didn’t last more than a week because black is super tricky and it becomes so obvious when it gets chipped.

My favorite blue, and a single silver nail. Someone’s excited for Christmas!

Then I recently had Shellac Romantique gel nails (from Dashing Diva) because I wanted to try long nails out for a change, and I couldn’t risk my nails breaking because of my carelessness. Someone commented on my Facebook that the ingredients of Shellac are pretty harmful… so I guess I won’t try it out again any time soon. D:

Comfy airport outfit for my SG-MNL flight. EMODA blazer, Mango top, Romwe shorts, Kate Spade bag.

A sophisticated outfit I wore for a magazine shoot! Zara top, Dorothy Perkins belt, Romwe skirt.

Simple MODE style when I went shopping at MOA with my family. HEIR top, Topshop pants, FashionCookie ShoeAvenue heels.

Another outfit for a shoot with Edric! Dress from Korean Rose, heels from Comfit.

My outfit for Stratmark at the SM Arena where I spoke in front of 6,000 students! H&M top, Far East Plaza skirt, Sugarfree shoes, Kate Spade bag, Yhansy necklace.

An outfit I wore on a day of pull-out/styling errands. Topshop top, Mango cardigan, Romwe shorts, Primadonna flatforms, Kate Spade bag.

Phew! Wasn’t that a lot? I currently have a total of 600 photos on my Instagram (and 73,000 followers - YAY), so just imagine how much longer this would be if I posted everything. If you want to see the rest, just follow “tgosingtian” or just wait for my occasional photo dumps here. INSTAGRAM IS THE NEW BLOGGING.

(Forever 21 vest/top and bag, Topshop top, Just G skirt, Esperanza boots, Cases for your Gadgets iCam iPhone case) Hype this look on Lookbook here.

Mixed floral and denim for a cute, spring look. Somehow I was in a semi-Coachella mood last weekend. Saw a lot of Instagram photos of girls wearing denim shorts, crop tops and floral accents so I decided to combine everything and inject my own style to it. 

And again, my infamous boots that I wear pretty much everywhere with pretty much everything. Someone fly me back to Japan, please!

Suddenly, a photo of a pastel pink bag after just posting some kickass black booties. I have too much fun with pairing contrasting things together.

These little, previous details make all the difference in the world. I’m so happy I got this crop top that can also double as a vest! Everybody knows how Forever 21 stocks run out so fast! 

Speaking of Forever 21, the SM North Edsa branch is launching tomorrow! I’ll be there with the other brand ambassadors Lissa, David, Patricia, Danah and Stacy.

Too many people have mistaken my iPhone 4s for a legit camera. Thanks to a lot of generous online stores, I have enough iPhone cases for the next years to come. This particular one would be my favorite gift of the bunch, of course. For obvious reasons. <3

(Zara top, Romwe pants, FashionCookie ShoeAvenue heels, Chicwish clutch, Quirkypedia headband, Le Plume ring, The Style Machine iPhone case and earcap) Hype this look on Lookbook here.

And another pair of floral pants appears on my blog! They’re my favorites now, especially since I can pair them with the most neutral tops and almost no accessories because the busy prints are enough to make the whole outfit. 

Cropped pants look great with heels! These ones remind me of very otona/mode-style shoes I’ve been seeing on Momoko Ogihara and Ena Matsumoto.

Yesterday was somewhat torture, yes? The afternoon heat made my body feel so sick that I wanted to turn the airconditioning on the whole day so I could temporarily turn the world upside down and make everything better. So much for electric bills though. And water bills too, since there are days when I take showers every few hours (How very Filipino of me!).

I posted a photo of this outfit on Instagram yesterday. Was a bit whiny about the crazy heat we’ve been having recently. Someone from another country replied, “I’ll trade the snow here for the heat there!” Ahh, people always want what they can’t have!

Winter and summer are extremes though, and honestly, if I had to choose between the two, I’d prefer the latter over the former, after having so many bad experiences with -15C weather. I *always* end up getting sick. I mean, who wouldn’t? One minute you’re outside a building and it’s snowing like there’s no tomorrow, and the next minute you’re right in front of a really warm fireplace or an establishment with a heater set on 30C.

Spring and fall are the most ideal seasons, imho. Not too cold, not too warm. It’s the best time to travel too. I’ll be going for a brief trip to London and Paris next week, which I’m really grateful for because I can’t wait for sweater weather. Time for my light knits again! 

My iPhone 4s has been both the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me recently. I purchased mine last December, just before I went to Fukuoka, because I was getting quite bored of my BlackBerry (BBM had no use for me anymore) and because I’ve always wanted to get an iPhone since the beginning.

Prior to my 4s, I got an iPod Touch last May 2011 when I went to the Clear Expo in Shanghai thanks to Unilever. Since then I found myself using my iPod Touch more often than my BB. Not a lot of people text me anyway (lol), so might as well spend for other things like apps. Rarely do I get bored now since all I have to do is play games on my phone. It’s always Triple Town time for me whenever I have idle moments. (Unlimited Triple Town turns. I gave in! I obviously have no self-control.)

Getting an iPhone 4s meant being able to sync it properly and easily with my MacBook Pro. Transferring files to and from my phone suddenly became so convenient. It also meant being able to use all the shiny photography apps I used to have in my iPod Touch, but of course with 99999999x better quality. And this is why it has also been the worst! My iPhone 4s has also turned me into a lazy photographer, especially since my 5D Mk II (with my 24-70L lens) weighs like a freakin’ baby! 

A lot of people have been asking me on Instagram what my favorite photography and editing apps are so I figured I should just make a proper blog entry about it. You have to pay for some of these apps but most of them are really affordable anyway!

And it’s always better to purchase original applications than to have your iPhone jailbroken and stuff.

Princess Cam. Every girl should have this application, imho. You can manually put make-up, false eyelashes and circle lenses on yourself if you feel like saving yourself from looking crappy in a picture.

It also works like purikura or neoprint, so you can customize your backgrounds and write whatever you want using different kinds of glittery pens.

Fake pink cheeks, and lots and lots of Liz Lisa-ish flowers. Other stamps available include fake boater hats and giant ribbons. Perfect for those into gyaru and ulzzang aesthetics.

Pudding Camera is a Korean app which might look familiar once you get to try the different filters out. I believe some K-pop personalities like SNSD’s Jessica and Sooyoung, KARA’s Jiyoung, Hara and Seungyeon, T-ara’s Eunjung, Q-ri, Hyomin and Jiyeon and Wonder Girls’ Ye Eun and Yubin use this application for their selcas and whatnot. I like their Motion 2x2 camera best, as well as their Vintage Blue and Noir filters. The Panorama camera is nice for landscapes as well! 

Morebeaute is an editing application to easily make your skin nicer. I cheat, but at least I admit to using this app for help! :)

Before and after Morebeaute magic. Instantly smooth skin and no more eyebags!

Camera+ has got to be my must-have photography application of all time. I take almost all my pictures using Camera+ before I upload them anywhere else. It’s pretty much like a mini Lightroom/Photoshop for your iPhone. What I like most is that you can adjust the opacity of the effects to your liking.

ClassicINSTA is one of my most recent purchases. It makes your photos have these wonderful, textured polaroid-ish frames that I am so in love with. 

It also has an option to open the photo on Camera+ for editing or to upload the photo on Instagram for posting. Saves a lot of time and effort.

The ClassicInstant and Vintage CLS filters are very well-made ones that don’t make your pictures look too edited and too fake. Just the right, classy amount of film and lomo goodness.

The picture on the left is a picture of a picture because I’m lame like that. Hello love!

Just for the lulz, I really like Hubba Hubba. The other captions are quite hilarious but for these examples I just used the safest, most boring ones so as not to seem like a complete goofball in case anyone stumbles upon by blog for the first time.

I think I look better with a mustache, yes?

And this post will not be complete without INSTAGRAM! I swear I’m on this app 24/7.

My account is like a mini blog where I post pretty much everything else that I don’t get to post in here…

…like the food I eat.

And more food for the bottomless pit that is my stomach.

(P.S. My boyfriend and I ate at The Goose Station last January and it was glorious in so many ways! All the dishes looked like art.)

Instagram really makes it so much easier for me to share the most shallow things… including my nails. 

I can never go out with bare nails anymore. 

And of course my travels. After my Fukuoka trip, many people asked me if I took these pictures with my dSLR and then transferred them to my iPhone to post on Instagram. Too much effort! I cannot!

This is 100% iPhone 4s quality! Exactly why I have grown to be such a lazy photographer. I’m quite excited for the future because I’m sure at one point they’ll be able to invent some sort of iPhone-sized dSLR or something. I hope I’ll still be alive by then!

ClassicINSTA + Instagram. Here are some random mannequins I saw at the Forever 21 Megamall store a few days ago. I’m so happy they have a lot of girly lace and ribbons in their current collection since I’ve been preparing my spring wardrobe as early as now.

Speaking of Forever 21, do check out the stores asap for the loveliest trends: Color Surge (pair two-tone pieces with primary brights), Cruise Control (inspired by the French Riviera of the 1930s, this collection makes waves with iconic resort looks with a fresh twist), Gamine Charm (dainty little details, soft fabrics and pale hues) and Oriental Opulence (eastern elegance). Love!

A part of my shoe collection. Every time I get new shoes as gifts from online stores, I post them on Instagram. Here’s a different filter from the rest, for a change.

I know I abuse the Earlybird filter. Sorry guys!

Having an iPhone made me even lazier to take proper outfit photos too, so some of my outfits appear on my Instagram feed days or even weeks before I actually get to do my usual self-timer magic.

Sometimes I even dream about doing an actual iPhone photoshoot with an actual model! One of these days, I just might push through with this idea. Talk about iPhone addiction.

Hope this post helps! Different strokes for different folks, and I’m sure there are better photography and editing applications out there. However, I’m just sharing the ones that I’ve been using the most since I got my 4s 2 months ago. Most of the apps I use are paid ones so I suggest something like the BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard if you don’t have your own credit card for iTunes. It’s a reloadable prepaid MasterCard that you can use for *drum roll* online shopping, besides purchasing from your favorite shops and restaurants. You won’t get billed for your purchases like a credit card and you won’t have to link your card to an existing savings account like a debit card. Click on the ad on my sidebar for more information. :)

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone! Let me know by commenting below which apps are your favorites!