// google work experience

Transition Year's the year to be experiencing more, trying out new things, growing up. If you've been reading our blog for awhile you'd know that I did work experience from observing how a dentist works to working at veterinary hospital to working at one of the busiest hospitals in Ireland, but this week I was given an opportunity to work at one of the biggest tech company in the world, Google. I was so lucky that I was given a chance to do work experience at the Google Headquarters in Dublin for a week. 

When I went for the first time, I was honestly shitting myself, like literally shitting myself. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to make friends but it turns out everyone's just so open and friendly. I was so happy that I actually made 40 new friends! 40! Ha! Everything about google was honestly amazing! The architecture, the food. Oh don't even get me started on the food! I think I probably gained the "google stone" (everyone who just recently got hired to google gains a stone because of the free food!) The food was all for free and they're all so good! 

We got a tour of the Google Campus which was absolutely outstanding! There's 3 buildings in the Google Campus and each floor had different themes so you won't really get tired of seeing the same environment everyday. You can tell that Google invests on making everything look pretty and aesthetically pleasing.

Did I also say that they have outdoor swings! I honestly just fell in love with google when I saw the swings. In Google, everybody's just so chill and casual. I just love it so much!

Here's a few pictures I took throughout the week with my fellow "nooglers" (new Googlers). I didn't want to flood you guys with my pictures so here's a few that I really liked.  So if any of you guys get the opportunity to do work experience at Google, don't give it up like I was planning to do before. I swear to god you won't regret a single bit of it! 

You're probably wondering where Isha and I have been. How come we're not posting that often. I am apologizing for not posting, I'm not going to reason with you guys because I just don't have a good reason. Isha's been busy with studying as her Leaving Cert is just around the corner. I on the other hand have no good reason. I've been feeling like I am not creative enough and I was feeling uninspired to write a blog post. But I am going to be trying to post every. (No promises! Haha). 

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week, let me know in the comments below what you've been up to. Thanks for reading. :) <3

// my monthly music playlist: january

I was brainstorming the other day, and I got this cool idea to share my monthly playlist with you guys! I like knowing what other people have been listening to so I was like why not. Here are the songs that I've been playing on repeat for the month of January!  

1. PILLOWTALK by Zayn

 I didn't know what to feel when I first heard it, but I decided to give it another chance and I haven't stopped listening to it ever since. I even got Isha to listen to it and now she's in love with it. 

2. Weak When Ur Around (Acoustic) by Blackbear

Discovering Blackbear is one of life's treasures for Isha and I. We're both immensely in love with all of his music (as you see, he appears particularly a lot in our playlist for this month). Who doesn't love a guy who knows his way with songs tbh? 

3. Disappointed by Julius

OMG, THIS SONG. I was on the dart, on my way home when I first heard this song. Instead of actually being disappointed, I felt good haha. 

4. Slide Thru by Blackbear

5. Valley Girls by Blackbear 

6. Never Be Like You by Flume 

7. American Boys (EZRA Remix) by Estelle 

I'm sure everyone has heard the original version of this song some point in their life. I remember singing this when I was younger but I have to say I prefer this version of the song. 

8. Baby Blue by Drumaq

9. IDFC (Acoustic) by BLackbear

This is a song that Isha said she can really relate too. She's probably going on through some midlife crisis lol. Both the studio version and the acoustic version are fab, do give it a listen!

10. Oh Lord by Blackbear

11. September by Earth, Wind & Fire

I was at a house party and one of my friends started playing it. It's an old song but a nice song to "bop" to. I was asking my mom if she used to dance to this song. Haha.

12. Lock It Up by Marc E. Bassy

13. Ride by Twentyone Pilots

I love Twentyone Pilots so much!! So when I heard it, I immediately added it to my playlist. Y'all should listen to this if you liked Tear in My Heart, I promise you won't be disappointed. 

What about you? What songs have you been listening to for the month of January? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for reading! :) <3

// updates with hanna: christmas holidays

First and for most, I just want to great every single one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (Ha! I know I'm a bit late) Secondly, I apologise for not blogging for almost a month. Life just got to me and I have no other excuse other than that. 

December is probably one of the busiest month for me. There was just a lot of stuff that happened during this month. For example, I had work experience for a whole week at a veterinary hospital. Which I have to say was a wonderful experience and I am absolutely delighted that I got the opportunity to experience what it was like to be a veterinarian. Justin Bieber also announced his Europe leg of his Believe tour during that week. Of course, I had to get tickets for that. My friends and I have tried two times to get tickets. They even skipped school so we can get them. (Don't do what we did!) We tried the presale and the general sale but we were unlucky, Justin Bieber really is popular in Ireland (Everybody used to say he's "gay" but look who's going to his concert now).

Me as hell every time we got new cats or dogs in for surgery hehe.

I actually have a little but sort of funny story to tell you. I was so disappointed and depressed because we didn't get tickets that we all forgot to eat breakfast. Unfortunate for me because someone's dog (someone who is really famous) came in to the vet hospital because the dog had a really bad cut on his tongue. It was really really bad and gruesome.  I mean, really really bad. The main vet asked me to help with the surgery (Cool, right?), I had to hold the tongue so it was easier for the vet to stitch up. After a few minutes, I started to feel light headed and numb, I knew what was going to happen next. I almost fainted and it was really embarrassing. 

At the end of that week, I spontaneously decided to go to town to get my mom a Christmas present. Everything was going well until I lost my phone in Lush. I was holding it then the next thing I know I don't have it anymore. My friend, Jodie, found a police officer to help us find the phone. Thank God for Find my iPhone tbh. Isha was able to track my phone from her phone and they were off to try and locate it. I was crying outside Lush for a good 10 minutes and everybody that passed by kept on looking at me. 

Then Christmas came. I'm going to be honest with you, I honestly didn't feel the Christmasy vibes at all. I don't know if it's because I'm old? (Well not that old) Was it just me? Our family (or every Filipino family) always open all of our presents at exactly 12 am and we have "Noche Buena", where we eat Filipino food. Isha and I were planning to stay up and watch Christmas movies, but this didn't happen this time because I fell asleep at 9 pm and woke up at 11:30 pm hahaha lol. When I woke up, I was getting really really excited. I was basically jumping in my seat whilst waiting. 

I want to thank everyone who gave me a Christmas present! I honestly love all of you with all my heart. I wish I could give all of you a big hug! I am really grateful for everyone, even the ones that didn't give me a gift tbh. Agh,I just love every single one of you! I want to give a shoutout to my mom, who tried to get everything I wanted. I love you so much even if I don't say it often. 

Isha and I also went to Funderland two days after Christmas. In Ireland, we don't really have an outdoor theme park because of Ireland's shitty as hell weather. So around the Christmas time, somebody sets up a roller coasters and rides inside and outside RDS. It's like our tradition, my group of friends, to go there after Christmas. I loved it nonetheless even though it was raining (typical Ireland) haha. Plus, I got a big minion plush. A friend of ours was super determined to win one that he spent more than 20 euro. It took him a heck load of times to get it. At first I was so confused when he gave it to me. I was like "Wth, why would he give this to me? He just wasted his money" but then I realised that he wanted to win the minion plush for the feeling. Well, I'm not complaining. I love the minion plush so much that it has never left my side haha. 

We also watched the new Starwars: The Force Awakens with our friends. Did I tell you that I haven't watched any of the Starwars films? But I have to say it's one of the best films I've ever seen, hands down. I wish I saw the rest of the other Starwars films before I saw the new one. Oh, and am I the only one who now has a girl crush on Rey? She's so independent and strong. OMG, she is goals tbh. *heart eyes emoji* 

I was also lucky that I got to spend my NYE with the people I love the most. Of course, my mom cooked Filipino food. What about you? How did you spend your Christmas Holidays? I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas break filled with love, happiness, family and friends! :) Thank you for reading! :) <3

// why i've been mia lately + leaving cert sucks

Deciding to co-own a blog with my sister has been a one of the best decisions I've made. Working together may not be always harmonious, it usually includes me nagging at Hanna for not posting enough or to finish reading a certain book quicker. But to be quite honest, I wouldn't want to share this blog with anyone else. Blogging is something I'm very passionate about, a creative outlet for my writing and a way I can communicate to people around the world that has the same interests as me. 

With the six months we've been blogging, I have made many blogger friends, once that I cherish and enjoy talking to. Not even timezone could stop us. They're such a supportive and encouraging bunch of people and it's sad because with me being in sixth year (senior year in Ireland) I haven't had ANY free time to do anything. All I've been doing the past couple of months is study, eat and sleep when what I really want to do is binge-read books and blog about it. Senior year is such a big year in Ireland. By June, people like me in the whole country will take state exams that will determine whether we could go to the university we want or do the course we want. Each grade we get has an equivalent set of points which would be totalled at the end. I despise the Leaving Certificate with a passion. I hate how nowadays, education systems put more importance on grades than actual learning and furthering of one's knowledge. Learning should be fun and enjoyable, prepares you better for jobs. I don't speak for everyone but for me the Leaving Cert has nothing but been a source of stress, anxiety and sleepless nights. So there you go, that's the reason why we (I, at least) haven't been blogging that much the past few months and I apologise for it. I'm sorry I'm not able to share new content for everyone who's reading our blog and for not being able to send love to my favourite blogs by commenting on your posts. I wish it would be June already and everything would be over so I can get back to what I love doing most. You'd be seeing more of me then. 

I hope all of you are doing well, that your blogs are doing fantastic and that you've been reading loads of blogs. Wish me luck that I do exceptionally well in my exams so I get in my university choice and be able to do law. Take care and I hope you guys won't forget about me for the time being. All the love. 

// my christmas wish list

Can you actually believe it? It's December already! I swear it was only the start of the year yesterday. Oh how time flies. Our family has a little tradition every Christmas where my mom would always ask my sister and I (even though we're quite old for this) to make a Christmas wish list. As it is December already, I would like to share my Christmas wish list because I think this would help people who are still struggling/have no clue on what to ask for Christmas. And here's to my friends who have no clue on what to get me! :)

1. Adidas Superstar, New Balances, Nike Air Force- €84, €87 & €88

I am badly in need for a new and nice runners. I want runners that I can either use for going out or for sports. I think the three of them would be fashionable but can be also used for sports. 

2. Kylie Jenner Lip Kit in Candy K and Dolce K- $29 each

OMG! Have you seen Kylie's new lip line! They're so freaking pretty!  I WANT! I WANT! I WANT! I NEED THOSE IN MY LIFE! I REPEAT! I NEED IT!

3. Nice black highwaisted skinny jeans 

If you know me, you'd know that I only wear black highwaisted skinny jeans and my black skinny jeans recently gave up on me. :( RIP fave black jeans. 

4. A pretty phone case- €10 onwards

I would like to get a cute phone case for my iPhone cause I've recently gotten the new iPhone 6s in Rose Gold and I have a plain phone case that doesn't really show off the colour.  

5. A nice purse

My purse that I've had for almost 2 years is slowly giving up on me.  So I am in need of a new one. Doesn't have to be a Michael Kors, any purse would do. 

6. Makeup and Makeup brushes 
Just get me a bunch of makeup and I will be super happy and will probably love you forever. 

7. New clothes

I am really in need of new clothes, because my clothes are all super outdated. :( 

That's all I'm gonna be asking for for this Christmas. I know that's a lot haha. But I do hope you get some idea on what to ask for after reading this post! Let me know in the comments below your Christmas wish list! Thanks for reading! :) <3

// warm me up for winter/christmas tag

Hey everyone! I'm sorry if I haven't been posting lately. I've been a lot busier, school work started piling up (I am still trying to catch up with some work), after school activities almost every day, I also recently injured my knee (sucks to be me). You know the usual things that I think everyone has been through. So the other day, I was scrolling through my Youtube subscription list and saw one of them do the "Warm Me Up for Winter Tag" and I was like why not do it as well and spread the christmas vibes.

1. What's your favourite hot chocolate?

Ever since I was a little kid, I would always ask my Mom to buy me Swissmiss. Am i the only one who loves Swissmiss? I am a sucker for the rainbow marshmallow it comes with tbh. Every morning I would always have a cup of coffee or a Swissmiss. 

Credits to @iamjannoscar11 on instagram

2. What's your favourite pjs, fluffy socks and slippers?

During winter, I do love my christmas onesies and some fluffy socks from Penneys but I usually end up removing my fluffy socks in the middle of the night. I don't know why I do it, but I just usually skip the fluffy socks as well haha.  I don't really have favourite slippers. 

3. Favourite thing in winter?

What do I love about winter? Hmmm, well for starters I love Christmas. I love going Christmas shopping with my mom (even though it's usually stressful). I love seeing Christmas decorations being put up, but if you know me, I hate it when the shopping centres put up the Christmas decorations straight after Halloween. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Christmas decorations cause it gets you into the festive mood but putting it up straight after Halloween. Like why?

Me when I see people putting up Christmas decorations after Halloween

4. Favourite winter lip products?

As it gets really cold here in Ireland coming up to Christmas, it's good to keep your lips moisturised. I usually use lip balms or Baby Lips, to be exact during school days, but during the weekend I'd usually use my NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Copenhagen, Transylvania and Monte Carlo. 

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Set (see more cream makeup)

5. Favourite winter candle?

Am I the only one who's kind of obsessed with lighting candles? Unfortunately, we don't have a Bath & Body Works here in Ireland and it costs a fortune to ship candles. *sigh* I know they have really good Christmas candles. But I do love Christmas Cookie by Yankee Candles. It smells so good, I can even eat it haha. 

6. Favourite cosy jumper?

I don't think I have a favourite cosy jumper? I have yet to invest in a nice cosy jumper.

7. Favourite scarf?

OMG! Once again, I don't have a favourite scarf. *sighs* I might be purchasing a scarf from Stradivarius soon. I recommend checking out their scarves cause they're affordable and good quality. 

8. Favourite winter bath bomb?

Uhm, I personally prefer bubble bars rather than bath bombs from Lush. 

9. Favourite winter scent?

I am terrible at this. I don't think I have a favourite winter scent. I'm more like a stick-to-one-scent-until-I-finish-it type of girl haha. 

10. What do you like about winter?

I love coming home, after being in the cold, to a nice and warm home  and looking like a burrito after wrapping yourself with 3 or 4 blankets haha. 

11. Favourite movie?

I like watching Home Alone, Elf, A Christmas Carol on winter nights. I wouldn't say they're my favourite but the fam bam likes to watch them hah. OMG! I just remembered Jack Frost. I also like watching The Rise of the Guardians. 

12. Do you like the snow?

It doesn't really snow here in Ireland. I mean, it snows sometimes but it doesn't really stick to the ground. But I remember at the start of this year, it snowed and my friends and I had a little snowball fight. It was my first time cause it doesn't really snow in the Philippines haha. 

You, reading this, can also answer this on the comments below. Thanks for reading! :) <3

Disclaimer: All the photos are from tumblr! Shout out to the owners for taking nice pictures.

// the one lovely blog award

Hey there! I hope things are going well with you. My friend SJ of A Tree Grows in Bookland tagged me on the One Lovely Blog Award :) This is my very first time being nominated for something so thank you so much girl :) 

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who tagged you! 

2. List the rules and display the award

3. Give seven facts 

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers and nominate them

5. Display the award logo and follow the person who nominated you

Since there are two people running this blog, Hanna and I will both be giving seven facts each. I hope this helps you get to know us better!

My awesome facts about Isha

1. I really, really, really love peanut butter. But I hate peanuts.

(c) photo credit

2. 

My favourite thing about Fall is the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks

3. The first ever series that I've read is the Twilight Saga. I was Team Edward by the way! 

4. I like One Direction! My favourite is Niall and I'm actually seeing them twice this October.

5. I'm such a Chaol trash. I even named my Macbook "Chaol". #noregrets

6. My current obsession is Lucky Blue Smith

7. A lot of people know me as Isha but my real name is actually "Patricia" oops. But please never ever call me that hahah

Hanna's seven facts:

1. None of you probably knows this except for my friends and my family, but my real name is "Johanna" but I don't really like it when people use my real name to call me. Let's just stick to Hanna lol. 

2. I have OCD. I don't like touching anything in public, for example the door handles or the thing you hold on to at escalators. I freak out cause you never know who used it before you and what they did beforehand. 

3. When I discover a new song, I repeat it over and over again. I'm currently repeating "What Do You Mean?" by Justin Bieber lol. 

4.  I am quite a sporty person. I play nearly every sport that's available in my school. I play badminton, basketball, athletics, etc. 

5. I love starbucks. I am like a coconut, brown on the outside (cause I'm asian lol) and white on the inside. HAHAHA. I mean I think everybody likes starbucks. But the way to my heart is starbucks. 

6. My favourite chocolate is Royce. (the best chocolate ever!) 

7. I am probably the most awkward person you'll ever meet lol. 

Anyway, I hope you guys get to know us better through this tag. I tag:

Brittany from Book Rambles

Alexandra from Twirling Pages

Aentee of Read At Midnight

Tikka of Fangirlconfessions

Melanie of One Less Lonely Blog

Of course, if you'd be interested to do this, I tag YOU too. 

Thanks for reading! 

// food, glorious food!

Before anything else, I apologise in advance if the pictures in this post caused mouths to water and stomachs to grumble. Okay so one of the many things I love about travelling? Being able to try out different cuisines. In all honesty, to get the most out of your trips, you really have to be adventurous with what you eat. Eat what the locals eat for the full experience. Don't be afraid to try the different delicacies the country has to offer because you'll only get the opportunity to have it here. 

Living in Ireland, we don't get half the stuff that's available in the Philippines which kind of sucks to be honest. So whenever we go here on holidays, it's in our to-do list to have the things we miss and want to try here. The Philippines also offer different cuisines other than their own, they have restaurants here that cater other cuisines from neighbouring countries and ones from the west. It's pretty americanised as well so the famous food chains in the US can be found here. Here are the food we've tried so far.

Look how gorgeous these doughnuts are! *insert heart eyes emoji here* Not only are they pretty, they're also out of this world delicious. These were from J.CO Doughnuts & Coffee. The coffee shop was founded in Indonesia in the year 2005. They've been expanding over the years and now have stores in Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and China. In the picture below are the flavours available:

Low key looking at the available flavours they have is making me crave *sighs*. My favourite are Alcapone, Glazzy, Don Mochino, Why Nut, Tiramisu and Green Tease. The reason why I love J.CO is because their doughnuts aren't too sweet so you don't get sick of eating them. (Yay for more doughnuts!) The doughnuts that doesn't have any holes in the middle are similar to "Boston Cream" or bavarian doughnuts. There's a fluffy scrumptious cream inside it. The fillings vary actually, from peanut butters to chocolate, etc. Since J.CO is only available in Asian countries, I only get to eat these beauties whenever I'm in the Philippines and basically be deprived of them for years. If only you could get these sent without getting spoiled hahah! Maybe one day.... 

We also tried Korean Cuisine for the first time! Exciting stuff. We had no idea what to order so my aunt just ordered their recommendations for us. The place we went to was called "Kim's Bob". The place had your everyday kitchen furnishings, but they also had the traditional Korean tables, you know the really low ones where you have to sit a certain way? Yeah, them ones. Unfortunately the whole place was booked because there was apparently a Korean party so we had to sit on the normal table and chairs instead. Here are the food we got:

These were our appetisers. I apologise for not knowing what their names were but if I remembered correctly, there was cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi, some seaweed and sauteed bokchoi. A few of them were spicy and me, Isha, being a fan of spicy food loved it. Hanna on the other hand, not so much. 

I found it cool how there was a grill in the middle and you cook the meat yourself. It was like Mama's Kitchen, you know that game on your Nintendo DS? Wait is that even Korean? Oh well. From top to bottom, we got Sanggyup-Sal, Bibimbap, Tofu Soup and Beef Bulgogi. Time to critique the food. The meat  from Sanggyup-Sal was very similar to bacon. You cook it on the grill, dip it on this sesame oil and some paste. You then wrap "pechay" around it and voila! eat it. The meat was a bit fatty though so I didn't enjoy as much as I did with the others. I'm just a picky eater unlike Hannah. Bibimbap was basically rice with all these veggies and the egg on top. You mix it all together before you eat it. The Tofu Soup was my favourite, I literally devoured it. It consisted of thin slices of tofu, a few shellfish and loads of veggies. The Beef Bulgogi was also delicious too! We were all stuffed after eating all those food.

We also couldn't resist Krispy Kreme, so of course we had to stop by at some point of our trip in the Philippines. I actually noticed that there are more flavours available here than the ones in US and UK?? It's cool too because they have a doughnut theatre and you can see how they make their doughnuts. My favourite is the classic glazed doughnuts though, as you can see we got like six of them out of a dozen haha. Inside our box, you could also find the NY Cheesecake, Snickerdoodle, Creme Brûlée, Kit Kat Doughnut, Cookies & Cream and the Birthday Cake batter. P.S we were sharing these doughnuts okay! 

A few days ago we were also at this cafe which offers a huge selection of sweets. We decided to get fabulous treats to share between the five of us. I believe we got the lemon meringue cake and the kiwi tart. The lemon meringue cake had ice cream in the middle which was such a surprise <33 

DID YOU BECOME EXTREMELY HUNGRY BECAUSE OF THIS POST? ARE YOU A FAN OF DOUGHNUTS? WHICH ONES FROM MY POST DO YOU WANT TO TRY? HAVE YOU EVER TRIED KOREAN FOOD? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW :)