Virtual Reality games at The Garage

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I brought my girls to City of Dreams Manila this week to try the new virtual reality (VR) games by Bandai Namco at The Garage.

Because they are already bored to death at home.

But this adventure was not cheap. For PHP 450 per person/game. What was I thinking?!

The girls were allowed to play Mario Kart since they could already reach the pedals. Much to their dismay, they couldn’t play the ski VR game as they were too short to reach the ski handles and too light to turn the skis using their body weight.

I tried all games, including that horrrible Hospital Escape Terror VR game. 😭 More of that later.

Mario Kart was fun but was too short. 😣 You can play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and another character that sounded like Japanese. The goal there is to be the first player to reach the finish line through fire, water, cliffs, and what-have-you. You have King Koopa to foil your attempts at winning first place.

With the help of VR sensors strapped on your hands and wrists, you can grab bananas, hammers, and turtles to throw or hit your competitors with to slow them down.

I got disoriented with the foot pedals because I am a stick shift driver, ergo, I use my right foot to slam on the accelerator and brakes. My brain is wired to use my left foot for the clutch and NOT the brake.

Or I’m just making excuses because I sucked at Mario Kart. (who fails Mario Kart???)

The most fun part of this game is when I jumped off cliffs and needed to use a hang glider. It really felt like I was flying (or I may just be whoozy due to lack of sleep and hunger that time😜).

As for the ski game, all I can say is I am a terrible skier. If it was in real life, I would have ended up dead within a few minutes after strapping myself onto the skis. I keep flying off cliffs, ravines, and down into abysses.

Now for the Hospital Escape Terror…

I will never ever try that game again in my entire life. Ever. 🤬

Only a minute into the game I was already having panic attacks and I could feel vomit coming up to my throat. That game is so claustrophobic and felt real that my heart was palpitating like crazy.

The goal of the game is to get out of the hospital alive within 9 minutes (and it seemed like forever), which was impossible given that hospital is filled with crazy creatures thirsty for blood while you are strapped to a wheelchair. And you only have a flashlight on your hand.

I really couldn’t go through it. Screw PHP 450, I would rather not risk having a full-blown panic attack. Judging from the screams of terror from the other players before me, my decision to quit the game was wise or else I would have died of a heart attack. For real.

Little by little

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My home is taking shape, little by little. I will be filling up this wall with paitings to make up for the sparse furnishings.

I’m still figuring out where to put this.

I also made a reading nook/hideaway for my girls in one huge closet in my room.

With a sizeable bookshelf above.

And my girls put up their own wall decorations to personalize their space.

I have all the time in the world to make this apartment my own. No rush. It has to be just right.

Dying day

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I love sunsets. They are a reminder that even a chapter closes, another one opens.

I may not know what will come my way but I am sure that He will always have my back. What I have been through the past months had been tough but I will definitely come out stronger and wiser.

I am stumbling. I am weak. But I can always pick up myself and continue fighting. I need to survive.

Changes

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It has been months since I last logged in here. So many life-changing events happened all at the same time. All I could do was to go with the flow and never look back. No turning back.

Related to that was my hunt for a liveable apartment near my girls’ school. It was a bit rundown but it had potential. When the landlady fixed it up, it looked promising.

I had requested a light blue paint for the closets. Stupid me, I forgot to give them a sample of the shade I wanted. Now I ended up with a Tiffany egg blue.

Now it is looking more like a home now, little by little.

My workstation is now literally next to my bed.

I have to have better cable management.

The living area looks empty but over time it would look much better. I am not in a hurry to fill it up. I will take my time.

My plan is to fill my home with lots of art.

My sister has promised me a number of paintings to hang on my wall. I am also having this framed to hang in my dining area.

The kitchen is messy. I always envied the minimalist kitchens i always see in Roomclip. I don’t know what to do with mine to achieve that.

I still lack wall clocks.

I bought myself a Bosch drill and some drill bits. I will build my DIY kit slowly over time.

Like I am rebuilding my life. Slowly. I have a lifetime to do that.

Beauty Review: Prior by Shiseido

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This is not a sponsored post. I spent my own money to test this product.

I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Dotonburi shopping district in Osaka last month (more of that in future blog posts), wondering what I would bring home from my 8-day trip. I was suddenly pulled out from my deep reverie when I saw rows upon rows of cosmetic/pharmacy stores dominanting the area. I don’t know why is that.

Then I saw lots of Chinese customers with huge plastic bags of cosmetics pouring out of these stores onto the street. Looked like panic-buying to me.

There you go. Mystery solved.

I went looking for the Biore tinted sunscreen SPF 50 to replenish my stock because I knew it would be cheaper in Japan than in Manila (and yes, they were half the price). The sales ladies in that cosmetic store didn’t speak English but one rep from Shiseido did. I got nervous. Shiseido is expensive and I cannot afford them and I have trouble turning down good sales people.

She asked me what do I need? Uhm something with high SPF but not heavy on the skin because the sun in the Philippines is harsh but it’s too humid to wear heavy sunscreen. Ah! I know what you need, she said.

The she demonstrated to me how to use Prior, the spray-on BB foundation with SPF 50. Prior is a brand of Shiseido that is cheaper than their premium line, she said. They have several shades of the BB spray-on foundation but she figured my shade is “natural”. She was right.

And she totally convinced me that I wouldn’t be able to live without this product. It’s that good!

It’ JPY 2,300 (excluding 8% sales tax). About PHP 1,150. Oh dear.

I road-tested it the next day when I went to Okayama Castle and wore a kimono. The make-up in this photo session was mine, no touch-ups. To think I had been walking a couple of km that day and had been exposed to the sun before this photo shoot. The BB foundation held up really well (actually, for the entire day).

So now I will demo to you the “before and after”.

I have splotchy fair skin (because of some disaster with my first wart removal). Plus I’m nearly forty years old.

A bit dull

Spray the BB foundation on the sponge (also included) so you can evenly apply on your face.

I now have a freckle-free, glowing skin.

And to show you how little make-up you need with Prior, I just applied Maybelline Color Show eyeliner in black, a little pencil for the brows, and a lip tint for the next photo below.

I’m so in love with this product that I bought two bottles. I hope they last me a very long time because I would only be able to go back to Japan next year.

It’s not available outside Japan, I think. I keep searching for it online but I always end up in Japanese sites.

It has already been a month and it seems like the bottle still has a lot of the stuff inside. Methinks this will last me 6 months since I use the product sparingly to avoid looking like a clown.

I bought also Prior SPF 50 sunscreen in case the BB foundation runs out before I come back to Japan.

… Meanwhile, PLDT says…

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PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan addressing fellow shareholders today during the annual meeting. Photo by Callmecreation.com

… There is still no global standard yet for 5G so commercial roll out may still be in 2020. PLDT [PSE:TEL] Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said they have not yet figured out if by 2019 they would still prioritize the installation of fixed lines (fiber) or concentrate on 5G to bring broadband to customers. For 2018, PLDT will still continue with its fiber rollout but after that is still going to be internally discussed within the group.

You see, PLDT has earmarked PHP 58bn (USD 1.1bn) for capital expenditures for 2018 alone. It had to sell down its stake in Rocket Internet to partly finance this capex. It can’t add more to its outstanding debts and Pangilinan said they must maintain their debt/EBITDA at 2. The company is in a quandary as to how it will keep its financials healthy in a capital-intensive industry that is constantly changing. In a briefing last year, Pangilinan said that PLDT has to study how it can harness 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) and they still have to figure out how they can finance its capex down the line to keep up with these new tech.

The company’s goals for the next 12 months are:

And I didn’t get much meat from that.