Discovering Antartica at Manila Ocean Park, Philippines

Diamonds Cuts That You Should Know



image from: socialitelife.com

Love is on the air for the sweethearts Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian when finally Kris proposed to Kim last May 18, 2011. The ring, which reportedly features a 16.5-carat emerald-cut center stone flanked by two 2-carat trapezoids, likely weighs about 4 ounces and possibly more if the ring is set in heavy platinum, and allegedly worth $US 2 million.

What an awesome and overwhelming present which will make any girl crazy to give the magical answer… “YES I DO!”

If you are planning to give diamonds to the special person of yours, just take note on some considerations to check before spending your money on buying those precious. Just remember the 4 C’s.

The four Cs stand for carat, colour, cut and clarity.

Carat is for the weight and size of a diamond.

Colour refers to the degree to which a diamond is colourless. The colour is measured through a grading scale ranging from D to M, where D stands for colourless and M for faint yellow. The more colourless your diamond is, more expensive it will be.

Clarity denotes the presence of inclusion. Inclusions are small black dots not visible to our naked eyes. There are various grades of clarity starting from internally flawless, very slight inclusion up to inclusion. Diamonds without inclusion, which are internally flawless, are very rare and most expensive.

Cut refers to the different shapes in which diamonds come. Round, pear, marquise, emerald, princess and oval are some of the cuts, the most popular being the round brilliant cut.

And what about the cut? It will make your gems different from the others.

Pear cut: A hybrid cut, combining the best of an oval and marquise, it is shaped most like a sparkling teardrop. It also belongs to that category of diamond whose design most complements a hand with small or average-length fingers. It is particularly beautiful for pendants or earrings.

image from: weddingringcentre.net

Princess cut: This is a square or rectangular cut with numerous sparkling facets. It is a relatively new cut and often finds its way into solitaire engagement rings. Flattering to a hand with long fingers, it is often embellished with triangular stones at its sides. Because of its design, this cut requires more weight to be directed toward the diamond’s depth in order to maximize brilliance. Depth percentages of 70% to 78% are not uncommon. Last April 16, 2010,  William Frank Stillwell, son of Monica and Raymond Stillwell of Warrington proposed to Kelliann Charli Kneezel, daughter of Donna and Roger Kneezel of Doylestown William proposed to Kelli with a gorgeous princess cut diamond ring at Fountainville Inn in Warminster. A September 2011 wedding is being planned.

image from: diamondringsite.net

Marquise cut diamond: An elongated shape with pointed ends inspired by the fetching smile of the Marquise de Pompadour and commissioned by the Sun King, France’s Louis XIV. , who wanted a diamond to match it. It is gorgeous when used as a solitaire or when enhanced by smaller diamonds.

image from: diamond-all.com

Emerald cut: This is a rectangular shape with cut corners. It is known as a step cut because its concentric broad, flat planes resemble stair steps. Since inclusions and inferior color are more pronounced in this particular cut, take pains to select a stone of superior clarity and color. This was also the cut of the diamond engagement ring of Korn’s guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer who was engaged to Albanian-born actress Evis Xheneti.

image from: exclusivebidding.com

Round cut: This shape has set the standard for all other diamond shapes, and accounts for more than 75 percent of diamonds sold today. Its 58-facet cut, divided among its crown, girdle (widest part) and pavilion (base), is calibrated through a precise formula to achieve the maximum in fire and brilliance.

image from: diamondonnet.com

Sources:

http://www.livemint.com

http://www.rgj.com

http://www.nydailynews.com

http://www.defamer.com

Great Deals on Philippine Hotels



image from: travelphilippinesnow.com

 Bayview Park Hotel Manila

Check out the amazing deals and enjoy the Bayview Park Hotel Manila experience.

Local Resident Rate

Rates start at Php4,375 net

Inclusions:

• Overnight Accommodation for 2 persons
• Complimentary Coffee & Tea making facilities
• Complimentary two (2) bottles of Mineral Water
• Complimentary Daily Newspaper
• Complimentary use of Swimming Pool & Fitness Gym
• Selected Food & Beverages

Relax and Play Package

at Php4,500.00net

Inclusions:

• Overnight Accommodation in Superior Room for Single or Twin Occupancy
• Buffet Breakfast at the Coffee Shop
• Complimentary use of Swimming Pool & Gym
• Resort World Dine & Play Gift Certificate (P250 Food Voucher & P300 Gaming Credits)

Rates subject to change without prior notice

Rates valid until December 31, 2011

Address:

1118 Roxas Boulevard cor.
United Nation Avenue, Manila, Philippines
Trunk Line Number: [+63 (country code)-2 (area code)

                                   -2479000 (local number)]
Fax Number: +63-2-5223040
Toll Free Number: 1800-1888-5555
Website: http://www.bayviewparkhotel.com/

Summer Sunsets at the Trades Club and Suites

Chill-out and relax this summer against the vibrant views of the Manila Bay Sunset and enjoy a host of exclusive privileges at the Trader’s Club and Suites.

From Php6,788 per night

This offer includes:

·     Exclusive access to T Lounge where you can enjoy the following:

·     Complimentary buffet breakfast

·     Afternoon Tea

·     Sunset Cocktails

·     All day non-alcoholic refreshments

·     Free use of laptop and wi-fi access

·     Unlimited internet access in your room

·     Free round trip airport transfers

·     Laundry Credit of Php 250 daily

This offer is available from 15 Apr 2011 through 30 June 2011

Terms & Conditions:

1.          Rates are subject to 10% service charge and prevailing tax.

2.          This deal cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers or promotions.

3.          Room reservation is subject to availability.

4.          Hotel reserves the right to amend the promotion without any prior notice.

Address:

3001 Roxas Boulevard Pasay City 1305 Philippines

Telephone No: (632) 523-7011

Fax No: (632) 522-3985

Website: http://www.shangrila.com/en/property/manila/traders/reservations

Century Park Hotel

Fly Airphil Express to Manila from any domestic point and get special privileges when you stay at Century Park Hotel.

Single Php 4,000.00 net/room/night

Twin Php 4,500.00 net/room/night

Triple Php 5,200.00 net/room/night

buffet breakfast at the Café in the Park

20% discount on food and beverage

20% discount on laudry shop

Valid until March 31, 2012

Address: 599 P. Ocampo St. 1004 Malate, Manila Philippines
Telephone No: (632) 528-8888 (Trunk line)
Room Reservation: (632) 528-5814 to 16

Fax No: (632) 525-3209 / (632) 528-1811 to 12
Website: http://www.centurypark.com

Cheap Perfume in United Kingdom

Kate Middleton’s Wedding Perfume

Kate Middleton

Read more:
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b240059_kate_middletons_midas_touch_wedding.html#ixzz1N8bqAAqo

Have you ever wondered what perfume did Kate Middleton use during her wedding? Kate Middleton was wearing a scent called White Gardenia Petals by Illuminum. This is a little-known brand on United Kingdom.

The brand was launched in 2007 by former celebrity hairdresser Michael Boadi. The perfume includes whiffs of coconut leaves, ylang ylang, jasmine and a “seaside location”, which describes the scent as delicate and nuanced.

After knowing the scent used by Middleton, the 50-milliliter bottles vanished from store shelves and the actual price goes double from $115. According to Michael Donovan, spokesman for Illuminum there’s been a phenomenal response to the perfume across the world.

If the Princess of Cambridge prefer to use a not so fabulous perfume but still stands out from the others it is no longer a question why suppliers of cheap but quality wise perfume is abundant in United Kingdom.


Here are three top suppliers of Cheap Perfumes in United Kingdom.

image from: fragrancedirect.org.uk

Fragrance Direct is one of the UK's top suppliers of cheap perfume, discount aftershaves, cheap cosmetic products, salon quality hair products and a whole lot more. All of the products are available to view and order from the Fragrance Direct website.
They have a massive range of cheap perfumes and cheap designer aftershaves available to purchase on their online perfume shop. They sell thousands of different designer fragrances for both men and women, with some fragrances available at a discount of up to 70% on high street prices.

If you are looking for cheap perfumes from some of the biggest fragrance brands on the market, then look no further than Fragrance Direct. Their cheap perfume selection includes big name brands such as Calvin Klein, Diesel, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Versace and many more.

Website: http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/

image from: cheap-perfume.co.uk

Cheap Perfume can be found along Concord Road Acton, London. They offer low prices on 1000s of genuine designer fragrances and skincare products from all your favorite brands, as well as cheap, fast and secure shipping worldwide.

All our products are 100% genuine and come fully sealed in the original packaging. CheapPerfume.com offers a 100% money back guarantee on all purchases. They are also available on the phone or via email and happy to answer any queries you may have.


Website: http://www.cheap-perfume.co.uk/

image from: halfpriceperfumes.co.uk


Half Price Perfumes is another site where you can find incredible savings on premium brand perfumes, aftershaves, cosmetics and skincare. It was established in Manchester in 1996. At Half Price Perfumes, most of the orders are shipped within 24 hours from their small and friendly team. They also deal with a variety of promotional rewards and you will often find the option to add a free gift to your basket or use a coupon code as our way of saying thank you for choosing them. Not only can they can serve you online, but also they have a shop in West Didsbury, South Manchester.

Website: http://www.halfpriceperfumes.co.uk/content/4-about-us

Cool Cosplay Female Characters

Cosplay short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants do costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and Science Fiction. Favorite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai, and fantasy movies.


A lot of cosplayers chooses characters which have an attractive costumes and with high popularity. This means more audience and promotion. For every cosplay competition criteria for judging always includes costume difficulty, stage presence, and audience impact. Female costumes gains more interest from the audience because of its uniqueness and dense details. Here are five cool female characters to chose from if you are to join a cosplay event.

Rikku was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who also designed other characters from Final Fantasy X and X-2. Rikku's outfit changed from a casual outfit to a skimpier outfit from Final Fantasy X to X-2.The decision to pick Rikku as one of the three female leads came early on in the design process of X-2, due to the developers challenging themselves to create an all-female character party.

Rikku
(image from: finalfantasy.wikia.com)

Haruhi Suzumiy is the general name for a series of light novels written by Nagari Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito which were subsequently adapted into other media. The story follows the title character Haruhi Suzumiya, a high school girl who can unconsciously change reality, and her strange antics with her school club the SOS Brigade. The first novel was published in Japan on June 6, 2003 by Kadokawa Shoten with nine individual novels published and a planned tenth as of April 1, 2007 (2007 -04-01).

Haruhi Suzumiy
(image from: wikiality.wikia.com)

Yui Hirasawa is the main character of K-On!. She is one of the members of the light music club and plays a Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar that she nicknames "Gīta" Yui is the band's main vocalist and lead guitarist and has absolute pitch—she can tune her guitar perfectly without a tuner,Yui works extremely hard to get better at playing guitar, which is shown in later chapters. During performances, Yui plays with amazing energy and joy, which usually results in great response from the audience.

Yui Hirasawa
(image from: talk.philmusic.com)

Chi is a fictional character in the manga series Chobits, and its anime adaptation. She is a Chobit, a type of persocom that is far more technologically advanced than regular persocoms, and who are said to possess true machine intelligence rather than relying on the execution of pre-loaded software programs like other persocoms. The name "Chobits" comes from the fact that her creator, Ichiro Mihara, used the word "Chobi" to describe anything he thought was "small and hopelessly adorable". Two Chobi (Chi and her sister Freya) become "Chobits.

Chi
(image from: cosplayisland.co.uk)

Rei Ayanami is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. She is the First Child (First Children in the Japanese version) and pilot of the Evangelion Unit 00. At the beginning of the series, Rei is an enigmatic figure whose unusual behavior confounds her peers. As the series progresses, her personality evolves and she becomes more involved with the people around her, particularly her classmate and fellow Eva pilot Shinji Ikari. She is revealed to be a key factor in the events that conclude the storyline. Her role in this conclusion is not made clear in the TV series, but is one of the principal plot points of The End of Evangelion.

Rei Ayanami
(image from: en.wikipedia.org)

So, are you thinking of your personal choice of cosplay characters? Why don't you introduce them to us...

Filipino Games

Gone where the days when we used to play on the street together with our childhood friends. We enjoyed the fun of running, skipping, and teasing each other until the sun set....

Do you still remember those games that became part not only of our childhood memories but also our culture.

Trumpo
A top or trumpo is an egg-shaped toy made of hard wood, with one end tapering smaller. an iron nail is driven into the tapering point, leaving just about an inch of the nail jutting out. A string is wound around the base of the wooden top, beginning from the nail up toward the bigger end of the wooden top. To win, a player must be able to break or damage the opponent's tops by the skillful throwing of his own spinning top at them. A top with sharp, hard nail is of great help.




Sipa
A sipa is made of a flattened tansan (bottle cap) covered with straw or strips of paper with frilled edges. Every player must be equipped with this. This game is a contest in kicking the sipa with one foot continuously, without letting it drop. First, decide the mano or fist player by whatever method everyone agrees on. Next, agree on the number of succesful kicks to make one a winner.

Bunong Braso (Arm Wrestling)
The two players interlock their forearms and lean their elbows on a table or flat surface. With all their strength, they try to pin down the opponent's forearm on the table. Whoever does so first is the winner.

Sagam/Sintak (Jackstone)
Choose the mano or first player: One of the players hides both his closed hands behind him, with one hand secretly holding a stone. The opponet guesses which of the player's hands has the stone. If he guesses right, he plays first; if not the other player gets the first turn.When a player misses or fails in a move, such as dropping a stone or failing to catch the pamato, he stops and the opponent takes his turn. If the latter fails or commits a foul, the first player resumes from where he stopped. This manner of taking turns continues until one of the players finishes the game first.The player who finishes the game first is the winner.



Remembering these games brings back the fun of being a kid and uplifts the Filipino spirits of camaraderie with one another.

Italy's Fashion



Fashion will always be part of everybody's life. It refers to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person. We always consider things to wear on and we prefer to be the best on the way we look. To achieve this desired look we accessories ourselves with bags. shoes, make-up, and others. For this, Italy's branded items is well-known to complete the person's look. The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921. Gucci generated circa 4.2 billion in revenue worldwide in 2008 according to Business Week magazine and climbed to 41st position in the magazine's annual 2009 "Top Global 100 Brands" chart created by Interbrand Gucci is also the biggest-selling Italian brand.Gucci operates about 278 directly operated stores worldwide (as of September 2009) and it wholesales its products through franchisees and upscale department stores.

Gucci's Bags

Santoni is an Italian luxury shoe trade mark and leather goods producer (i.e. accessories: belts, bags and other products). The company was founded by Andrea and Rosa Santoni in 1975. Santoni is a family business. It is managed by the second generation of Italian family Santoni. Giuseppe Santoni is now responsible for the family business being the head of the maison. Santoni has gained its position in the high level luxury segment, thanks to the Limited Edition line, to the exclusive Classic models, to the Casual products (among them it is worth mentioning an important partnership between Santoni and Mercedes Amg, started in 2005), to the lady line and the brand extension with Junior and accessories. For women, Santoni has created the Rose Collection.

Santoni's Shoes

Berluti is a company that manufactures and retails a very exclusive luxury brand of shoes and boots solely for men. It is known for its unique leather finishing. It also makes and sells a line of leather goods such as belts, bags, and wallets with similar finish. It is based in Paris on the rue Marbeuf. It was founded in 1895 by Italian Alessandro Berluti and is now helmed by his descendant, Olga Berluti. The LVMH group acquired Berluti in 1993. The brand has very limited distribution—in the US it can only be found at their New York store and five select Barneys New York locations, while in Europe it is limited to eight Berluti boutiques.

Past clients include Elizabeth Arden, Robert De Niro, Andy Warhol, and Gérard Depardieu.Yves Saint Laurent, Arnold Schwarzeneger.

Berluti's Leather Luggage

Berluti's Shoes

Kawaii in Japan Popular Culture

Kawaii is an adjective meaning cute, lovable, or adorable. Since 1970, kawaii in Japan has become a prominent aspect of Japanese pop culture that can be seen on their entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.

Hello Kitty

Sanrio is a Japanese company that designs, licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii (cute) segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts, and accessories that are sold worldwide and at specialty brand retail stores in Japan. Sanrio's best known character is Hello Kitty, a white cat with red bow and no visible mouth, one of the most successful marketing brands in the world. Besides selling character goods, Sanrio takes part in movie production and publishing. They own the rights to the Peanuts characters in Japan. Their animatronics branch, called Kokoro Company, Ltd. ("Kokoro" being Japanese for "heart"), is best known for the Actroid android. They participate in the fast food industry, running a franchise of KFC in Saitama.

Miffy

Miffy is a small female rabbit in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Miffy's original Dutch name is Nijntje which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit". The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and almost 30 others have followed. In total they have sold over 85 million copies, and inspired a television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character. Miffy has been appearing on TV since 2003, in a show named after her that airs on children's television channels such as Treehouse in Canada and Nick Jr. in the U.S. from April 7, 2003 through April 1, 2007. Miffy and Friends moved to public television. The show adds several new characters such as Melanie's African family, as well as the family of Boris' and Barbara's common cousin, Umik.

Pikachu

Pikachu is one of the species of Pokemon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise — a collection of video games, anime, manga books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series. Pikachu is among the most recognizable Pokemon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the Pokemon anime series. Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, is regarded as the official mascot of the Pokemon franchise, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years. Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu are often found in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants), on most continents throughout the fictional world. As an electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu can store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks.

First Anniversary at the Bay

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary at the newest hotel in town, Hotel H2O. It is situated inside the Manila Ocean Park at the back of Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park Manila.

Days before I completed the reservation through the kindness of my officemate. Since Hotel H2O was newly opened, it offers promo to its clients for the whole year. For the amount of Php 2443.40 you can reserved on their Park View Room. (Be sure to bring extra money for incidental deposit amounting of Php 2000.00 which is refundable upon check out).

The lobby is located at the 3^rd floor. It looked bigger in the picture but actually it was not. 

We preferred to transfer on the Club Bay Room since the only available room on the Park View has a two single bed which is awkward for a couple like us. (Of course we pay for additional fee for the new room).

The room is awesome! It has a queen size bed that will give you relaxing stay and peaceful sleep.

The room is complete of all the amenities you will need. It has a personal refrigerator, complete with snacks and drinks that are complimentary upon check in.

This is the working table where you can connect your laptop to access the internet. 

This is the sliding cabinet. It has a bathrobe, hangers, security vault, blower, and plastic/paper bag in case you need it.

What I love most in the room is the perfect view of sunset on the bay.

This room is perfectly suited for a couple since it has a glass bathroom. You can enjoy and relax yourself in the Jacuzzi while watching a movie. Mirrors and glass walls are strategically placed so you can still have a good watch on the television.

We preferred to dine on North Park Restaurant which is also located inside the Manila Ocean Park.

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Superior Soup Wanton

Shark's Fin Siomai

Boneless Fried Chicken Chops

We almost forgot to take photos of the food because of the excitement to taste their dishes. It’s a two-thumbs up for North Park Restaurant for delicious and superb foods they have! Good value for taste and money.

On the following day, we chose to have brunch (breakfast & lunch) on Gerry's Grill which is also in the vicinity of Manila Ocean Park.

Plain Rice and Chopsuey 

Sizzling Sisig Bangus

I really loved Gerry’s Chopsuey!

What lead us to disappointment was on their service. It’s too poor!

You should have a long patience if you decide to eat on Gerry’s here in Manila Ocean Park. They serve the food late and you need to follow up for three to five times. 

All in all I can say that we had a good stay in Hotel H2O. We had memorable anniversary experienced away from crowded beaches and resorts. I highly recommend it for everyone. Come, visit, and have it a try!