ITOEN vs. KAGOSHIMA JAPANESE GREEN TEA Co. Matcha comparison Match!

 こんにちは 皆さん 私はジェンです！

Matcha is made from grounded green tea leaves.

Both iced green tea latte and plain latte are delicious.
Let's compare these 2 matcha powders!

Here's the matcha from Kagoshimatea.com. My client sent this matcha together with Genmaicha tea leaves as a token of appreciation. 

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Olay BodyScience Creme Body Wash Review: Home Buddies Giveaway

Note:  Although this Olay package was given to me, I'll post my honest review about it.

Thank you Home Buddies and Olay Philippines for giving your Olay Body Creme bundle to 3000 Budol patrols out of 20,000 of us.

Home Buddies Facebook group is already popular and here's the shortcut to their group.

How I got these Olay Bodyscience items

I received text messages from Blitz Delivery telling me that a package from Olay will be delivered soon to me, but I did not know back then where it came from because I don't know where did I join any contest. I searched about Olay Philippines giveaway, then I read posts that the body wash bundle came from Home Buddies Budol Patrol where I signed up through the Google form link they posted.

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Another Japan Visa Appeal Success Story by Ms. Jessica

Ms. Jessica is one of the readers of my blog post who tried her luck in submitting an appeal and got approved by the Japan embassy this year 2019.

I am thankful to her because she is willing to share her story with our fellow citizens who want to travel to Japan. Here's her story:

Overflowing sadness and disappointment. That’s what I felt when I received the result on my first attempt to apply in a visa country – Japan.

All the relative documents were submitted to Reli Tours Dusit Thani branch (birth certificate, ITR, COE, photo, visa application, bank certificate, flight and hotel bookings, and schedule of stay). We were planning to have our 8 days honeymoon in Tokyo, Japan

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Schengen Visa Denied and Rejected Several Times in a Row. A Cover or Appeal Letter Success Story

I am the VISA DENIAL QUEEN.

My Story on how I got my Schengen Visa after FOUR applications in LESS THAN TWO MONTHS. 

Knowing the process in applying for a Schengen visa, you would have bought all your plane and train tickets. This is the risk that my family took. We decided to avail the promo fare to Paris even if we were not guaranteed of Schengen visa.

Observing my personal Schengen visa journey, rejection reasons I received and my cover letters will let you understand and assess what went wrong with my previous applications and how we improved it. These might help you with your visa application in other countries. 

We applied for a multiple entry visa because our itinerary was France, Italy, Vatican, Monaco, and Spain. Since France has no personal interview, we made it as the points of entry and exit and planned to stay mainly there. Our main reason for travel was PURELY TOURISM.

NB: Please do your research as I have no connection to the France Embassy to answer everything about Schengen Visa. I can only answer what I experienced regarding my application. Apply at your own risk.

Hi, everyone!

If you are following my blog, you are pretty well aware that I’ve been denied Japan visa but later approved through an appeal (please check out my blog on how I reapplied for Japan visa in less than a month and got approved), and now, this happened during our application in France Embassy. Because of this, my family is now calling me: VISA Denial Queen. Well, I was actually the one who thought of it so I will be using it in case of (hopefully NOT) another visa application misadventures. :D 

This blog can also serve as a guide for online freelancers in applying for Schengen visa.

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Mary Pauline Salon Keratin Blowdry Review Timog (near Luxent Hotel and Dampa) - Metrodeal voucher experience

Just raising an awareness to Mary Pauline Salon Metrodeal voucher buyers.

There is supposedly a back massage on their package but voucher buyers will surely be disappointed.

I bought their voucher from Metrodeal. The services included on their P1299 voucher are:

Keratin blowdry

Haircut

Back massage

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How to register as a taxpayer easy in BIR Novaliches Quezon City

I registered as a taxpayer in Oct 2018. I just walked -in and completed the requirements within the day, and since it was Friday, I got my Certificate of Registration (COR) in the coming Tuesday.

This month, I will renew my Certificate of Registration in BIR as a self-employed online freelancer. I created a comprehensive guide on how to register as a self-employed taxpayer.

Also, included are my reviews for BIR Quezon City and BIR Novaliches.

I hope Wannafreelancer's BIR guide will encourage freelancers to pay their taxes.

Here it is!

How I registered as a Self employed Freelancer within a day!

Enjoy reading and subscribe to receive a free guide on how to become a freelancer!

My experience buying a budget-friendly Microsoft Office 365 license: Productkey.ph review

Microsoft Office is still the best word processing and spreadsheet program that I ever used. Finding a Microsoft Office free download is like having a sense of accomplishment because getting a no expiration software is so wonderful. But risky as well. The office 365 download might have viruses, malware and keylogging software that hackers will use to steal data like passwords, credit card details and screenshots. 

I bought my laptop this month and it has a trial version of Microsoft Office installed (MS Office 2016 or 365, I cannot remember). I said to myself that I will just let the license expire. I browsed through Facebook groups and I saw a post about asking where to purchase a cheap and legit product key for MS Office. I read the comments and some suggested to buy from Productkey.ph.

NOT OEM, NOT CRACKED, NOT PIRATED, NOT ILLEGAL

I checked the website to see if they are really 100% legit. It is too good to be true that they offer affordable product key prices so ordinary folks using computers can afford to have a legit, genuine and not OEM software. They have Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Office 365 Professional, Windows 10, McAfee, etc. I read the FAQ. If in doubt, the buyer can apply for Install now, Pay Later program. After I saw that they have the program, I decided to purchase their Microsoft Office 365 Professional Plus LIFETIME license.

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Japan Tourist Visa Denied? Here's how to reapply in less than a month!

PLEASE READ: 

Update as of Sept 2019: So far, Ms. Jessica was recently approved through appeal. You can see her story in this link.

Kindly see this website long ago shared by one of my readers who was denied a Japan visa in Riyadh but approved in Manila.

You may sort the comments by Newest to see if anyone was approved recently.

Update as of 2018: I only heard one who was approved in 2018  through appeal. Unlike in December 2017 and previous years where many can be approved through appeal, this year 2018, Japanese Embassy is very strict and there's a chance that you will be denied again or banned if you were still denied on your appeal unless, maybe, if you are really sure that you were wrongly denied, there's a special reason to be accepted, you were denied because of ridiculous reasons, or you are very confident that you will be approved. This is what terminated means: https://www.reddit.com/r/phtravel/comments/16di7lq/question_re_denied_japan_visa/

Appeal at your own risk. Please do your research based on your case and I have no connection to the Japanese Embassy to answer everything about Japan visa. I can only answer what I experienced regarding submitting requirements.

The blog post below was posted last year. I still want to share my application experiences in those two travel agencies. This serves as my review about Reli Tours and Friendship Tours. 

Choose your travel agency wisely.

_____________________________________

Japan visa denied? 

Need to leave for Japan in less than six months? 

Your agency did not help you with your application?

You have come to the right place!

When you are denied a Japan tourist visa, you would usually wait for 6 months to reapply for a new tourist visa. However in my case, when I was rejected with my application, I was able to reapply in less than 1 month. All thanks to the effort of my new travel agency.

Before I tell my Japan visa approval and my success story behind it, I will tell what went wrong to my rejection first.

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My visit to Dr. Smile

Oral Prophylaxis, popularly known as Teeth cleaning, is essential to prevent gum diseases and to make our teeth cleaner. This procedure can be done every once, twice or thrice a year depending on your teeth.

Every time I have my teeth cleaning, I make an appointment to a dental clinic in Novaliches. Luckily, I have a Maxicare card and the clinic accepts it. But currently, I have a hard time going to the dental clinic's area due to my other commitments that is why I sent a private message to the Maxicare page. Thanks to their Maxibear profile picture that I was encouraged to greet Maxibear in a private message. (゜▽゜;)

The page admin promptly replied to the message. Since I gave my Maxicare ID number and the company affiliated with it, the admin sent me information through email.

Upon the list, I chose DR. SMILE DENTAL CARE & LASER CENTER - SM North Annex.

I called Dr Smile and made an appointment. Dr Smile is usually fully booked on weekends so I booked mine on Friday then, which is Jan 31, the Chinese New Year. I am glad that day is holiday so I do not need to report for work.

After two weeks, staff in Dr Smile texted me and reminded me for the appointment schedule. The day after, I went to Dr Smile.

The polite receptionist and other staff greeted me. I showed my Maxicare card and they gave me a form so I can fill it up for their records. I was fascinated that they have about 5 private dental rooms in this clinic.

The rooms are tidy and have cute designs. I entered on a room and I asked permission from the staff if I can take pictures because I cannot resist to not share the room's design. Because of this, I decided to do a Dr Smile review here in SM North.

I did not expect that two people (dentist and the staff) will work on my Oral Prophylaxis. They are polite and kind as well. I felt that they have really a hard time cleaning my teeth because the last time I have Oral Prophylaxis was about more than seven months ago.

Overall, Dr smile did a great job. The clinic is not only great on the outside but also have great service. I will be visiting this clinic again sometime for teeth filling.

DR. SMILE DENTAL CARE & LASER CENTER
Lower Ground Floor, The Annex Bldg., SM North Edsa, Quezon City
Sun. - Thu. - 10am - 9 pm/Fri.-Sat. 10am - 10 pm
921-6883/921-6913

Homemade paper money box

How I came to have a paper money box? (alternative to piggy bank or coin bank for paper money or bank notes)

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Tado is dead. I cannot believe it!

This is sad news for us that Arvin Jimenez a.k.a Tado is already dead. He was killed in a bus accident in Mt. Province. I will rejoice if those greedy people especially scumbag businessmen, politcians and Janet Napoles are dead instead of this good fellow.

It is really hard for me to admit it. I missed watching Strangebrew and his funny antics in television. He is a very funny and at the same time a smart guy and an entrepreneur.

I enjoyed watching his misadventures with Erning (Angel Rivero), Jun Sabayton and Ramon Bautista. I listened to Brewrats and liked their facebook page.

Even though I do not know them personally, their silliness and humanitarian advocacies made me feel that their intentions are really pure and can touch many hearts especially the youth's.

We miss your smile and the whole you. Goodbye Tado. :(

6 most affordable ways to review and pass JLPT N5 Exam

I made a blog entry long ago about Alliance Francaise De Manille. Sadly, I and my colleagues did not take the DELF A1 exam anymore since the company was acquired by another. The reason is the new management did not want to sponsor the trainings and tests anymore. How sad T _ T

Since that incident, I decided to learn Japanese. I can practice my Japanese through immersion such as using Lang-8, reading my favorite manga and watching anime. I started studying since March 2013. I assume that you came to this entry because you are already familiar about JLPT (Japan Language Proficiency Test), its levels and you want to know how to pass the exam. I'll share you what I did to passed the JLPT N5 exam.

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Pinay Food Junkie: My new blog about food

Since almost of my posts nowadays are related to food. I made a new Filipino food blog. Check this out!

Pinay Food Junkie

This is my blog about my honest food reviews and restaurant experiences :)

Since my new site keyword search is still unsearchable in Top 3 search engines, I will share my first 4 food blog posts:

Ramen Santouka vs Kichitora of Tokyo Shoyu Ramen

Tous Les Jours: Apple Inspiration Cake review

Parvati Home Made Dessert Shop: The Pasta review

Taisho Ramen review: Hakata Tonkotsu ramen

I hope you can visit these. Thanks!

Groupon and EastWest Bank overcharge Mystery

I purchased a Shi Lin voucher on Groupon Philippines using my EastWest Dolce Vita Mastercard credit card.

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Kichitora of Tokyo - SM Megamall

I really love ramen. I wanna go someday to Japan to taste authentic ramen. = D

Since many ramen restaurants sprouted everywhere, I searched the internet for the most delicious ramens in Metro Manila 

I already tried ramen on Oki Oki, Japanese Tempura Grill (service still sucks!) Rai Rai Ken (Ali Mall) , Taisho Ramen (SM North Edsa) and Wrong Ramen (Burgos Circle, Taguig). Today's ramen post will give you a more detailed review.

from Kichitora's main site

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Review: Azure Salon Brazilian Blowout

After 4 consecutive years of having a hair rebond treatment, I decided to try something new. I want to control my frizzy hair without totally eliminating the natural waviness. Here's a brief description of Brazilian Blowout:

Smoothing treatments remove up to 95% of the frizz, add reflective shine, seal in color, fight humidity, and decrease blow dry time (if you even choose to blow dry after having this treatment). Additionally, hair can be curled or set on rollers for those days you want curls and more bounce.
                                    - Perfect Hair Duo MODERNMOM website

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Battle of the Xiao Long Baos part 2: Lugang Cafe

This is the continuation of my last week's post:

Battle of the Xiao Long Baos: Shi Lin and Peace & Happiness

After 4 hours of studying Japanese, I often craved for Xiao Long bao so upon returning home, from Trinoma, I'll have to cross the mall bridge and pass through a lot of people on my way to satisfy my cravings at SM North the Block.

At last! I have reached this restaurant. Yey! Even though I am a frequent customer here.

The restaurant's name is somewhat disgusting for some but it is really clean. I wonder why they chose Lugang Cafe instead of Lukang Cafe. Lukang 鹿港 is one of the places in northwestern Taiwan.

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Battle of the Xiao Long Baos: Shi Lin and Peace & Happiness

This is a comparison between Shi Lin and PEACE & HAPPINESS Dumpling House

For part 2, Lugang Cafe review will be coming soon. :) :) :) :)

I first came addicted to Xiao Long Bao when I, together with my friends dined in Shi Lin (士林) located at Bonifacio Global City. There is also a branch in The Podium located at Ortigas.

My friends introduced me to this delicacy while listening to Teresa Teng's songs being played in the restaurant.

Since I saw spot.ph's article about the Top 10 Xiao Long bao in Manila after many months from my first Xiao Long bao, I decided to write this post so you can see the delicacy based on a commoner's experience.

I don't know if Shi Lin refers to one of the districts in Taipei, Taiwan or if it means a Stone forest. Since I am currently taking Japanese classes, there are 3 japanese writing systems, those are hiragana, katakana and kanji. Kanji came from chinese characters and whether it is used by the Chinese or Japanese, the meaning are the same even when they were saying it differently to the point that you can write these characters and show it to them even if you don't know the literal translation of these words.

Let's go back to Shi Lin, 士 means earth, ground or soil while 林 means woods. 

Here's my Shi Lin experience for the nth time: (I can't remember the number of times since I'm a frequent customer)

The waiters are courteous and they respond quickly. The place is clean. They are still playing Teresa Teng's songs which I really like. My order came at the nick of time.

There's a second floor but too shy to capture it

Left side where the cooks are making dumplings

Sorry ^^, forgot to include vinegar on this photo. The vinegar looks like a soy sauce because of its color

                                               

                                

                                      Here's the actual amount of soup and it's really tasty

The ground pork with some onions and green veggies

                                               

6 pieces costs Php 148 while 10 pieces costs Php 246

Shi Lin has 5% service charge.

The only problem is the dumplings were easy to fall off unlike in Lugang Cafe's. ( part 2 soon :) )

Overall, Shi Lin is really tasty and worth to try for fine dining at a high end place and not too expensive price.

Prices ranges from Php 150 - 300, here's the menu.

 

Let's talk about, PEACE & HAPPINESS Dumpling House.
It is the cheapest that I've tried. It is located at SM Makati foodcourt.

                     

This is my third time here so I tried the slightly spicy sauce which is normally a dip in eating siomai instead of the real sauce like in Shi Lin.

I have drank the soup and  eaten 1/4 of the meat already

Not bad for Php 115 but I think the dough's too thick for my liking and it's too oily. Nevertheless, it is still delicious and worth craving for.

What is the delicious xiao long bao for you? Comments will be deeply appreciated. :)

Before this post ends, I wanted to share this video about the proper way of eating Xiao Long bao:

Update as of August 16, 2013:

Part 2 of this post is ready to be read!

Alliance Française de Manille review

Bonjour à tous!

I am now reviewing for My French DELF A1 exam which will be held on March next year.

I took French classes for A1 not because I have passion for the French culture and especially not because I am a rich kid or a social climber, although I like the Adventures of Tintin, it is because I am working in a department where we serve French clients. We do emails, documents and other clerical tasks for them.

I and my teammates who didn't take the French course must enroll on our free French classes paid by our company. Luckily, the schedule of classes is within our office hours so it's a relief that we can have a little fun except if one's busy and must reach deadlines to submit documents to clients.

We had our first set of classes for 3 hours 3 times a week for about three months as long as I remember from April to June and the second set from October to November.

Personally, I like the professors. The first one is a Filipina who lived in France for so many years. The second is a French who can speak Chinese but he taught only for a short time and the last professor is also a French who can speak Tagalog and he lived here in the Philippines for ten years.

I have a hard time learning French because of the pronunciations and the spelling. Remembering the gender of things and accents such as á, ç, é and many more makes me confuse. Even I am experiencing this difficulties, the professors are fun especially the last one.

Inside our company's training room, we discuss lessons, answer activities on textbooks and online (obviously) educational french games, listen to audios, watch french movies on the last 1 1/2 hours of our class.

Since we miss our professors, we often eat at a fine dining restaurant to have a despedida.

I searched for French lesson apps and downloaded these on my ipod touch. I like the most is the free French - English dictionary app.

I hope I can take and pass the exam. After getting the A1 DELF certification. I hope I can get A2 French classes for free.

Tony and Jackey SM Fairview

Overall, this is my fourth time to have my hair rebonded so I decided to search for a salon with good quality service and cheap prices.

I will be having a L'Oreal Extenso again at Tony and Jackey because of their 18 Days Promo. I went there at SM Fairview, November 15, the last day of their promo.

This is cheaper than their last year's promo. I had my first L'Oreal Extenso at T&J SM The Block.

I visited T&J Fairview years ago to have my haircut. Now, their location inside the mall is now on the third level where cinemas are located. (Someone said there are two T&Js in SM Fairview) They also now have digital mirrors.

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