Giga Now in Cebu

Oh Yes! am still alive and kicking. Been really busy these past few months. Have a lot of things happening at the same time.  Not complaining though.  I will be sharing with you what I’ve up to on a separate post.  For now, am sharing one of our new ventures.  Am also re-posting my Sis-in-Law, Leah’s recent post about it. 🙂

GIGA opens in Cebu!

A good news to all GIGA fans in Cebu: no more waiting for your next trip to Manila to buy GIGA products, or for your friends to get them for you.  GIGA officially opened their first kiosk store at SM City Cebu last September!

I first learned about GIGA through my sister-in-law, Juvvy of Mommy Juvs, who uses GIGA products on her and my nephew, Liam.  My family’s personal favorite is GIGA’s Baby Insect Repellant Spray which kept not just Liam, but all of us, free from mosquito bites and smelling good at the same time too!  Yes, the smell of citronella in this spray is not overpowering at all, parang cologne lang but you are actually wearing an insect repellant.

Because there’s no GIGA store in Cebu at that time yet, my mom would ask me to buy 3-4 bottles of their insect repellant spray and my dad would bring them to Cebu.

Juvvy fell in love with the rest of GIGA products, and I guess it rubbed off on me even though hindi k’me lagi nagkikita hehe!  I have already tried their Dry Mist Oil (Green Tea variant) which works very much like as The Body Shop’s Olive Dry Oil Mist.  I also received as gift last year GIGA’s Aromatherapy Soap (Peppermint variant) which I brought to one of my work-related trips last year but left in the hotel (sob!).

Seeing that she cannot have her regular supplies of GIGA in Cebu because they’re not readily available in the malls, Juvvy did the next best thing: she brought GIGA to Cebu!

I’m so proud of her!  She really has what it takes to be an entrepreneur!

But what I’m more proud of is her decision to support this homegrown brand which now has loyal followers from all over the country.

Equally inspiring is the story of GIGA’s humble beginnings (read it HERE).

By the way, GIGA means “God Is Good Always”.

I recently ordered (all the way from Cebu!) sets of GIGA’s best-selling aromatherapy soaps for my use and as gifts for Christmas.  They are available in 5 variants: Peppermint, Lime, Citrus, Lavender and Chamomile.

The colorful paper wrapper is from one of the wrapping paper books I have here.  I used my leftover Christmas-themed grosgrain ribbon to tie the gift, giving it a ‘holiday’ look.

Now, the shameless plug:  Give the gift of aromatherapy to your love ones and friends this holiday season. These GIGA aromatherapy soaps give off a relaxing after-bath feel while moisturizing the skin!

Looking for a quick way to wrap your GIGA gifts?  Ask about their holiday gift sets the next time you visit their kiosks!

To my readers and friends in the Queen City of the South: Do check out the first-ever GIGA kiosk store at SM City Cebu and discover the all-natural, all-effective and all-affordable personal care products from GIGA!

https://www.facebook.com/giganaturallycebu

 

Thanks again to The Bright Spot for sharing this! 🙂

 

Advance Valentine Gift

One of my 2014 resolution is “magtipid”. Well, am not really magastos, but I have a few weaknesses too.

1. Groceries and eating out
I never think twice when it comes to my cravings, cooking and baking. Every time I want to try a new dish and it calls for a new spice or ingredient, kaching! Walang isip isip!

When am out naman, I always make it a point to buy Dino’s and Liam’s fave food, kahit sang damakmak pa ang pagkain sa bahay. I just can’t help it, I want to make them happy lang naman.

I also have a bad habit of treating our staffs, especially if am the one who initiated where to eat and if i knew that it’s out of their budget na. Kaching!

2. FitFlop
Ever since Dino gave me my first pair, I never stopped loving and owning another pair. In total, I already have 10prs – 5 of which are still with me.  Yeah, I give my old ones to my nieces and once to my MIL. 🙂

Now, I’m eyeing 3 more designs – Flora, Chada and Flare Slide.  I already told myself that I don’t need it. Dino agreed to buy me 1 na nga pero am really controlling myself. Ok pa ung 5prs ko. Ahem ahem very good ako (thanks!)

3. Maldita
I never came out of this store empty handed. Ewan ko ba, there’s always something I like in this shop. Kaya last that I went out, I really did not drop by this store! Ahem again.. applause naman dyan.

4. Last is our stores (not ours like Dino and mine but stores we’re handling here in VisMin)
I also have this bad habit of buying stuff from our stores even if I don’t need them. Ganun kagagaling mga staffs namen, pati ako nabobola.. O ganun lang talaga ako ka-gullible. Hehe

That’s just what I really spend on. Pero bigger percentage of all my spendings is in food talaga.

Anyway, back to my topic.. With this resolution in mind, I stayed away from Maldita and did not let my staff talk me into buying any of our products. BUT! out of curiosity lang, I dropped by Yosi Samra store. They just opened a branch here in Ayala Cebu last November 2013.  Kakatawa pa, I really don’t know this brand, I asked my staff pa, ano benta nila puro cigarettes? She told me, “No, Ms. Juvs, I think they are selling ballet flats.’  Shunga lang talaga. hehehe

So before even stepping in the store, I was very firm not to buy anything.  The store supervisor was very nice and accommodating. Pero kahit na I kept on telling myself not to be fooled. Hahaha

I first tried their snake skin line and it was really nice. Insole was super soft and di masakit sa paa.  I checked the price, GULP! 2795.  A bit pricey for a ballet flats.

Samara Serpent in Beige

Pero firm ako, so I gave the pair back to Josh (the sup).  I am so firm that I even went around.  Next, I saw their slippers. The footbed was soft also and it looks nice on my feet.

Roee Metallic Leather in Rose Gold (1,995 pesos if I remember it right)

I even tried 2 prs since the first was too big for me. I almost lost my will power pero again, firm ako, so I returned both pairs to Josh and went further and checked their Croco collection (as per Josh, these are their new arrivals).

Orly Embossed Croco Loafer (with Tassle) in Moss

Oh no!!! All my will power went missing when I tried this one!  I checked the price P3,795 Oh my gulay! Too pricey for a pair of ballet flats but it did not help my will power to come back.  I just really LOVE this pair!!

Ang ganda diba?!?!

Am glad I did not give in to Dino’s FitFlop gift, I was able to ask him to give me these shoes instead! YES!!!  hehehe.  Thanks to my Bobe for the early Valentine’s Day gift and date (of course I wore my new pair to our date! 😉 )

Disclaimer:  All product shots were taken from YS’s official website.  

Am Back!!

 

After 2 weeks of no Laptop.. Am back with my new HP ENVY 4..

well, my company laptop was dead and no chance for revival.. So decided to buy a new one.. on Loan.. hehehehe..

Loving it.. 🙂

With my fingers crossed, hope that my new unit (company use) will be approved and released soon…

Mooncake Excitement

Call me Excited.. Yes, ako na ang pinaka excited na tao… hahahahaha

Been thinking of mooncake festival this past few days.  I remember that we (me and my cousins) are always looking forward to this day when we were kids.  This is one family tradition that we never miss out.  Unfortunately, my grandparents died, then some of my cousins went abroad already.  This tradition was seldom celebrated already in our family.

Last we played this as a family was when my cousins came home for Christmas. YES!! you read it right, Christmas! Since they missed it so much, they requested that we play kahit pasko pa! Walang basagan ng trip! 🙂

In the office naman, am always the punong abala in arranging this parties/games.  We will play just for the fun of it.  And now that we’re based in Cebu, since konti lang kame sa back office, I organized one for the store people. They don’t have any idea what’s it all about, did not explain the history to them na, pero syempre rules were explained naman. They had so much fun. hehehe..

Oh well, now that Liam is almost 2 yrs old, I really want him to experience this and I want this to be part of our traditions. If only am in Manila, I can organize one for him and his cousins and my siblings din. (hay, what fun this will be.. hintayin nyo akong makauwi!)  I’ve been thinking where we can play this. I want him to play with other kids din. He might not understand it yet, pero I want him to feel the excitement.

This afternoon, I talked to one of my friends here in Cebu. I asked her if there is any organization here that holds such games kahit open to all na. hehehehe.. Then she said that we can do it ourselves. She will invite her friends din daw with kids. Para our kids will have fun!!
I will be meeting her soon to talk about the details.  Can’t wait.  I’ll keep you guys updated! 🙂

*history and game rules in future post! 🙂