September 2014 photo diary

First month in New York [via iPhone]

Hi, I'm alive! Here's a mishmash of iPhone photos since I don't have my computer yet and I just recently got my camera's charger in the mail.

Enjoy the lack of structure in this post- just wanted to share a bit of the nicer things during my crazy first month in the city... 

My broker suggested Stone Street and it was actually my first time here. Enjoyed some of the cute & quaint restaurants lined up! 

I also went on a Literary Pub Crawl around Greenwich Village with my cousins Beatrice & Mikey. Learned about most of the writers and artists who used to live in the village as well as the history behind these brownstone houses. This was a fun tour so I'd recommend it to all of you bookworms! Check out their tours here.

Wicked [via iPhone]

These are the unfiltered shots of the photo I posted on Instagram yesterday- I am totally in love with this Lime Crime Velvetines lippie in Wicked! Thanks so much to Flaunt Your Curves on Instagram for sending me a cute congratulatory gift, this is honestly my new fave shade! 

Other gunk on my face:

brows- MAC eyeshadow in Brun + clear brow set

skin- Chanel Purete Mat pressed powder + Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse (for the eye bags + corners of my nose) + MAC blush in Melba

eyes- Revlon Colorstay Overtime mascara + my dark circles as eye shadow 

❤

UBER: Everyone's Private Driver [via iPhone]

So glad Uber is finally here in Manila! 

I've heard of Uber some time ago and only wished our taxi apps were more reliable & safe. It's been available in major cities worldwide and last week I got excited after my friend Christine sent me an e-mail about it coming to Manila. It's only been 2 weeks since they've started it and they initially have 6 cars. 

It was very timely that last Tuesday I was scheduled to have dinner with my friends at Rockwell. I would normally send my driver home after 8 PM so I took it as an opportunity to finally use the app. The app is free and signing up is easy. It looks like this : 

Getting a ride is really easy:

1. Open the app and register with your name, email, mobile number and credit/debit card details- all transactions/receipts/trip details will be emailed to you. It tells you how much will be charged so you don't have to worry about putting in your card details. 

2. Wait for a few minutes (4 minutes in my case since I was just at Rockwell) to get the automated confirmation via text and track your car on the app itself with an estimated time of arrival, your driver's name, his photo and plate number

 3. The app will notify you when your car arrives. Just tell the driver your destination and that's it! 

Things I love about Uber:

•You don't have to hand in cash/pay the driver

• You can track the car on the app and cancel trips easily

• You can get the estimated cost of your trip 

• You pay with your credit card- you have no idea know how I've always wanted our cabs here to take credit/debit cards. I don't carry around a lot of cash since I know it isn't safe to be walking around with large sums of money here in the city! I also hate having a lot of money in my wallet since I'm always tempted to spend.

• It eliminates the problem of cab drivers asking for the extra Php 100-200 during long trips/busy days 

• It's safe- no crazy and creepy cab drivers who'll leave you hoping your seatbelt will save your life 

• You can SPLIT YOUR FARE as long as you all have the app! 

Right now, the service is available from 7am to 3am. It's so convenient if your personal driver/car isn't available or if you're not too sure about riding a cab late at night. 

Download the app and enter the promo code UberRaleene to get Php 1,000 worth of Uber credits! 

You can also click on this link to sign up and avail of the promo. It's valid for a whole month! 

And to my girl friends, you now have no excuse to skip our weekly dinner dates cos of "scary cabs". Get on Uber!!! 

It's only been 2 weeks since they've started here in Manila so spread the word! 

Follow them on Twitter and Instagram (@Uber_Manila)

❤

Climbing Mt. Batulao [via iPhone]

Parrot's Peak, Mt. Pico de Loro [via iPhone]

new boots [via iPhone]

Couldn't wait to post better photos of my new mid-length boots from ALDO, so pardon the quality of these as I didn't have the patience to do my usual set-up when I got home from our [super fun!!!] gig. 

 I've been dying to purchase these babies for weeks but I had to make sure that I wouldn't sacrifice my month's budget for shoes, especially on another pair of boots. My attempt at frugality proved to be really successful this time so I knew that I deserved them. Gone are the days when I couldn't last a week without hours of retail therapy, and I have to thank my independence for that. I always thought living alone would lessen my expenses for the home but with nobody else to shoulder the cost for all the things you need for cleaning, cooking, etc., you're left with no choice but to buy them yourself. I'd hate to rant and I know that some of you guys live alone as well, but to me and a lot of my friends, fending for oneself and detaching from your folks at my age is almost a foreign concept. I've decided that I want to expound on that on another post, but I already feel that I have more positive experiences to share about my first few months than discouraging ones. :) 

Thanksgiving traditions will commence tomorrow and I'm excited to see my cousins again! Thanksgiving in the Philippines?! No hatin... My fam's the only one that's not composed of Americans in the bunch. Heh. Although I wish we had tofurkey readily available here. 

If you have nothing else to do tomorrow, spot me at our gig for the BGC Passionfest [High Street] at around 5:30 PM. Will be rockin these boots, of course.

Ending this post with a great number from Riri. Y'all probably know I love her but her live performances never used to impress me... Listen to her voice now! Great modulation & you can barely hear her flats. This is my favorite song from her new album, too. Enjoy.

❤

Tuesday-Wednesday

Hipstamatic addiction - rediscovered

Watts Lens + Big Up film

John S Lens, Kodot XGrizzled film

Videos from my iPhone 3Gs

The iPhone 3Gs can take videos on portrait mode!

Now I'm questioning whether there's really a need for me to buy a new camera.

It's hard to take self-shots since you can accidentally hit the video mode button.

The lighting was good and I wanted a vain picture. But whooops. I took a video of myself instead--lookin so dumb.

While rewriting the song "Uncertainties". Thanks for taking the cam from me, Rico! LOL.

(Uhh we sound so lazy. Been singing for hours tryin to improve the arrangement and lyrics. It was rainin cats and dogs outside, too.)

My cousin Alecsandra. My mini-me! :)
*edit: hosted the videos through Flickr this time. Much better.