DIY: Pendant Lamp

 

DIY: Pendant Lamp

Our office had a "Themed Wedding" activity last week and everybody participated. They decorated the entire 12th floor and the people getting married dressed themselves in garments with flamboyant colors. One of the spine was decorated with a tribal-like design using tissue paper rolls and  red paper as tiki torch light. I, however, saw a different use for those tissue paper rolls.

I got some tissue paper roll from the office (they had lots to spare). I glued them together and cut four rectangles opposite each other and three circles at the bottom. Then I lined the inside with parchment paper. I ran to a bump on the road when I got to the wiring part and I had to call my dad for help and thankfully I was able complete it in just one day.

Pendant Lamp

Find a project that you like and have a DIY weekend.

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Insagram: alicbalmes

Twitter: @alicthegreat

More DIYs coming soon and stay tuned for my bedroom renovation. :)

HK Day 2: OCEAN PARK AND Mong Kok Street Market

Day 2: My Feet still Hurts

After all the walking from day 1 we woke up with very sore feet and bodies. Here is what I figured out, when traveling to places where walking will be done 80% of the time remember to bring with you the magical concoction called EFFICASCENT OIL or any product of the like. It will do wonders to a throbbing foot making it easier to walk for the entire day. 

Today's Itinerary was OCEAN PARK and MONG KOK Street Market. A couple of years back our parent took us to the Manila Ocean Park and we had a blast but the OCEAN PARK in HK was way different. A lot cooler if you ask me. Everything was organized so that you can actually enjoy the park, plus we rode the very long cable car that took us to the other side of the island where the rides were crazy scary.

Here are the pictures of the entire day.. 

Our destination for today! OCEAN PARK

Someone handed me a news paper.. It was in Chinese at first but then she asked if i could read it.. lol

Selfies while riding the bus to Ocean Park.

Finally arrived after 45 minutes on the bus

Jewel and I trying out a game at the park.

Our first time riding the Cable Car from one side of the park to the other side where the rides are crazy scary

A cute panda who never did anything but eat while we were there

This was awesome to watch. I was excited because the kept jumping and jumping.. teehee

To end the Day...

We went for a walk on the streets of Mong Kok trying out the wide variety of delicious street food and doing a little bit of shopping for our friends and family back home.

Quick Tip: You might not want to wear short at night, outside, walking.. I made the mistake of wearing shorts that night and not only did everyone stare (not because of my sexy legs) but i was also shivering till we got back to the hotel.. The temperature there really drops at night. Next time I go there i'll be on my boots..

Stay tuned for the following post:

Hong Kong Day 3: KidsRus - Hong Kong Disneyland
Madame Tussauds: The Wax Museum (The not so scary version)
Jade's Cookbook - Simple but Laysho (Orgasmic Hahaha)
Hong Kong Itinerary - Sister Made Stuff

Jade's Cook Book -Ravioli a la Pobre

Jade's Cook Book

Jade's Cook book is dedicated to our dog who inspired us for many years and made us happy when times were boring or sad. Jade was named after the four of us.

J - Jewel, A - Alic, D - Dirk, E - Eugene

Ravioli a la Pobre

Ingredients:

Dough - 

•    2 Eggs
•    1 Cup of Flour
•    pinch of Salt

Filling - 

• Sauteed ground beef/pork/chicken
• Grated Cheese

Sauce - 

• Del Monte Filipino Style Spaghetti Sauce

How To:

Mix the Eggs and Flour until it forms a dough. Roll the dough into a ball and set aside for an hour or two.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until its thin enough to cook but not too thin that it will break when you put the stuffing in.

Cut the dough in circles ( i used the bottom of a plastic water cup so the shape is wide enough. Mixed the meat and cheese together and place a teaspoon full of stuffing on one of the circles then place another one on top. To close the ravioli you can use a fork and it should look something like this

Make sure that when you close the ravioli you do not leave any air pockets. Leaving air pockets will cause the ravioli to bloat and pop while boiling. Taking a pot with water and boil the water with a pinch of salt and a table spoon of oil.

Heat the sauce and add any ingredients you prefer. add the cooked ravioli and voila! Enjoy.

Cooking Time : 3-4 minutes

Prep time: 20 mins

Dough: 1 hour and 30mins


Stay tuned for the following post:

Hong Kong Day 3: KidsRus - Hong Kong Disneyland
Madame Tussauds: The Wax Museum (The not so scary version)
Hong Kong Itinerary - Sister Made Stuff

Sock Hamper in 30 minutes or less

Sock Hamper

Talking Points

Have you ever washed your clothes before and before washing them it smells like feet? Well smell no more! with the easy DIY Sock Hamper. 

With the revolutionary Sock Hamper you get the chance to separate those smelly sock you take off everyday and not place it in the same hamper you put your used clothes in. As an added bonus the Sock Hamper helps you avoid losing the other piece of the pair. Here's how you make one.

Things you will need:

• a pair of old pants
• needle
• thread
• scissors
• a ring of sort 
• little to no sewing skills
• 30 mins from your day

DIY: 

Take a pair of jeans that you no longer use or does not fit you anymore and cut one of the legs

This is how it should look like after cutting one of the legs

invert the piece and sew the end part as well as the flapped opening

after sewing the ends and opening this is how it should look like when you flip it over

add the ring on the pointy end and voila - Sock Hamper

Enjoy your new Sock Hamper and stay tuned for more DIY project. 

HK Day 1: By Foot, Bus and Train

First Photo of the day. At the Mactan International Airport.

By Foot, Bus and Train

Around the last week of February my sister and I went on our very first trip outside of the P.I. We planned on traveling since we were kids and now we got the chance to do it.

I will be dividing this post into many parts describing what happened per day and a separate post for the Itinerary my sister made which I would like to commend her for for its 99.99% percent accuracy, I'll tell you what the 1% is in this post and It's actually really funny, I still laugh and smile every time I ride a Jeep, Van or Bus.

HONG KONG DAY 1:

Let me start by informing you that this blog or post will not tell you how Hong Kong was separated or any of the history of the country. This will be all about our experience when we got there.

Before we even arrived to Hong Kong we were already excited. During the flight my sister, Jewel and I kept talking about what to expect, laughing our ass off of what's happening around us, looking at the magnificent view of the clouds and the sea below. I of course ordered a meal during the flight since we were not able to eat breakfast that morning. So lets start day 1, arriving in Hong Kong.

A view from the top. The clouds were like marsh mellows that I either wanted to eat or sleep on.

February 26, 2014

We arrived in this gigantic airport not knowing where to go and what to do.. Fun Right? Well, here's are a few tips we learned that might help you out.

• Hong Kong is a traveler friendly country. The signs are easy to read, the people and very nice and although they don't speak English as their second language they will try and understand you and give you their answers but believe me, you won't need all of that because you can just follow the trail of bread crumbs left by the country for you.
• Since you are coming from your own country (for us it's the Philippines) its almost a guarantee that there are other tourist traveling with you, so during your flight or even while waiting, try and observe the people around you and check them out. If your'e the type of person that talks to strangers then try and befriend them so you'll have other people to share the experience with.
• Know how to read maps and direction, it's a skill worth having. And become confident inside and out. Never be afraid to go out from your comfort zone and never be afraid to ask a stranger for help.
• LASTLY, this tip applies to everyone in any occasion.. If it's dark, don't go there - I learned that from one of the best travel vlogger in the world, Sonia of Sonia's Travel. You can find a link to her YouTube page below.

So when we got there, we saw a few tourists so we decided to follow them to start the process. The signs were helping us too. We went to immigration and it turns out Hong Kong doesn't stamp passports anymore, instead they electronically tag the passports. We then moved along and looked for the bus to Mong Kok. For more direction and details please see the links to my other post detailing my sister's AWESOME itinerary. Here are the pics for day one.

a little blurry but this is our first time riding the bus in HK, A21 from the airport to Mong Kok. Here is where that 1% fits in. We didn't know nor bothered to research how to get off the bus. The A21 bus is 2 story tall and it is totally different than buses in Cebu.

*Tip for Riding Buses: The buses stops on the terminals and bus stops. Do not expect that they will stop just because you want them to and you want to ride. You do not have to use your voice to have the buses stop, there are stop buttons near your seats and you should press it if you are stopping on the next bus stop even if your not there yet. We learned it the hard way. We prayed and hoped that someone would also get off on the same bus stop as we would. Long story short, prayer answered.

 Langham Hotel and Mall

this mall was ginormous.. we rode on an escalator that took us from the ground floor to the 12th.. so imagine if you stumble or drop something while riding.. scary as shit.

Avenue of the Stars

Avenue of the Stars was a site to see.. our parents were here years back and my sister and I had blast walking around and having our pictures taken along the avenue. Also they sell Shredded Squids here, give it a try. YUMMY.. its less expensive here for on;y $35 an order.

we bought our Disneyland tickets at the Avenue of the Stars Disney Kiosk. Our Disney land adventures will be on a separate post. DAY 3. 

Madame Tussauds

I could not believe how realistic the wax figures were. I had my picture taken with my favorite ones. I'll post a separate article about the fun times we had at Madame Tussauds. Stay tuned. Here we have the lovely Edward Cullen. 

Victoria Peak via Peak Tram

The view of Hong Kong taken from the Peak Tram

posing while waiting to ride the Peak Tram.. didn't notice the lady at the back before.

Victoria Peak Tower. Its where Madame Tussuads is at too.. great view and awesome sites. P.S BRING A JACKET!

Enjoying the night scene at Victoria's Peak

Here's a funny story. Back when we were young and visited Cebu only for Summer Vaca, we used to go a lot to SM Cebu and they had one of these that told fortune. We were amazed that we even saw one in HK. So I decided to get my fortune and inserted a $10 coin in, inserted my hand (wrong hand BTW) and waited for the paper to print. Can you guess what happened? If your answer is "it told you your fortune" than you are correct. It did tell me my fortune like in SM before, only difference is it was in Chinese which i believe says that I am going to have a blast. #bloopers101

Waiting patiently for the bus to arrive which will take us to TST and then will ride an MTR gonig to Mongkok

Our first day was a blast. And i agree with what my sister said. The FUN moments were never the sites we went to, the food we ate nor the fact that we went all around HK. It was the moments were we got lost, accidentally riding roller coasters twice, trying the very hi-tech MTR system and all the little stuff that made us laugh out loud, those things made this trip unforgettable.


Many thanks to the following for making this trip more than awesome.

Sonia of Sonia's Travels. Please check YouTube page through the link below
Sonia's Travels

• She gives out helpful travel tips and boosts your confidence while traveling. I love her and she is awesome. Check her videos out. 

Ivan, who handled my class while i was away
AllenZan


and my ever loving and supportive Parents.. love you lots.

Stay tuned for the following post:

Hong Kong Day 2: Ocean Park and Night Markets
Hong Kong Day 3: KidsRus - Hong Kong Disneyland
Madame Tussauds: The Wax Museum (The not so scary version)
Jade's Cookbook - Simple but Laysho
Hong Kong Itinerary - Sister Made Stuff