Purple Clay Pot or Yixing Tea Pot Set

           The other day the cousin of my husband went to our house to give us a few things from the aunt of my husband. I received a beautiful tea pot set and not porcelain but a clay pot set.

Let me tell you about this clay tea pot set or as my online Chinese friend told me, it is called a purple clay. I researched about it and it is also called Yixing tea pot. I love teapots since I am also fond of tea. I'd rather drink tea any day than coffee! I also own an expensive teapot from Cath Kidston that I bought wayback. 

The origin of Yixing clay is usually from Jiangsu, China. They usually harvest this kind of clay. Clay extraction from this place dates back from the Song dynasty (10th century) and the popularity of this teapots started in the Ming dynasty (15 to 16th century). 

I am not sure if this is an original Yixing clay teapot set. As we all know, there are a lot of fake tea sets around. For me, I value it for its aesthetic beauty and the rich tradition behind it. 

My Chinese friend online who is from Xiamen told me that on the tea cups are auspicious words happiness and sustenance. The cover of the box there is a statement to frequen tea drinking makes the body strong and healthy. You can see there is a carving of a woman standing on a dragon. According to my research is it the Chinese goddess Guan Yin. 

My New Smartwatch: Huawei Band 10

           I recently bought a new smartwatch, Huawei Band 10. I was eyeing the Smart gt 5 watch but it is too expensive and I cannot eait to have my own smartwatch with a panda character. 

My first smartwatch was North Edge watch NL60 women's watch and F60. They were just okay for me, not bad for a smartwatch. The next smartwatch that I bought was the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. The most expensive smartwatch that I bought was the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4. 

I love that the Huawei band is affordable and that it is the most cheap compared with all the Huawei watch that has an emotional assistance feature. Compared to the gt 5, the actions of the panda here is limited. There are 3 panda pose to remind and tell you of your mood. The watch also features, heart rate and oxygen. 

I am attacked by anxiety sometimes and the Huawei feature of emotional assistance is really helpful for me. Just seeing the cute panda makes me feel happy. 

My Favorite Chinese Series

            I am so glad that I have discovered these Chinese platform apps in android. Like what I have mentioned before, I usually watch Chinese dramas in IQiyi but now I discovered another Chinese app, WeTV IFlix. I have seen a lot of Chinese series wayback. Scarlet Heart starring Cecilia Liu is one unforgettable drama. 

I recently saw Money is Coming and I actually enjoyed this drama, the female lead or FL is not your typical lead, witty and  has a strong character. The male lead aside from being good looking, I like the vibe that he gives out, mysterious yet there's a romantic part in him.The synopsis is a female college student finds herself entering a book. I will not spoil the story, you better watch it. This drama is from Iflix.

Two of the dramas from IQiyi has a "moon", in its title. The first one is Moon Love, It is about a girl who sees ghosts or immortals as they call it. She was saved by the god of the moon. Their paths have crossed before and now they will embark in a fantastical journey. 

The other drama is Song of the Moon, the lead actor here is popular as I have seen him in other Cdramas. The synopsis is a young girleets a mysterious man with whom she exchanges her future for 3 full days of happiness. She will be involved in the battle between immortals and demons.Find out who is the mysterious man by watching this series. I also love the cinematography of this drama.

Last but not the least is Mr. Bad. The FL here is the lead of the popular drama, A Love So Beautiful. A young girl who loves to write accidentally summons the villain from the novel she wrote when she made a wish. This is a lighthearted and sweet drama. If you want a cute and feel good drama, I recommend this. 

My escape from this chaotic world is by watching Chinese dramas. When I am so stressed out by my monotonous life, these series has helped me. I really wish that someday I can see and visit China. As I am writing this wearing my Tang Hanfu dress and shoes, I long for that place that I can only see in my dreams. Wishing it would be real.

Moonlight Mystique (C-Drama Series)

          This is a Xianxia series adopted from the novel 白烁上神 (Bai.Shuo Shang Shen) , starring Bai Lu and Ao Rui Peng. This is about the youngest daughter of the governor who tries her best to become an immortal, to repay another divine being who helped her when she was young. In her journey she came across the Demon Lord of the Bright Moon Palace. 

          I have seen a few xianxia series. My favorite is Eternal Love. I even bought the English  version of that novel of that from Fully Booked, "To the Sky." by Tang Qi. This is the first time that I got hook in a Chinese action fantasy series. I am now nearing the finale episode. I usually watch Chinese series either from Netflix or IQiyi. 

Watching this rekindled my Chinese culture interest again. Its just sad that I disposed my collection of Chinese related books when we moved here in Bulacan. My husband does not want clutter and we don't have that much space.

Moving on, this Chinese series is really very good. Up to 40 episodes but I didn't get bored or I didn't even fast forwarded the episodes. There are many things you will learn in this series. You will learn about the demon Lord Zhen Yu of the Cold Spring Palace and Fan Yue of the Bright Moon Palace. There are many sects also 72 was mentioned and Lanling was the top sect. There is also the 3 extinct divine race Jing Yuan (Demon Lord),  Xing Yue (Lunar Lord) and Mo Li (Hidden Lord). Plus, the other races like the Fox clan and stone clan. 

I love this series so much that I ordered  few merchandise online and I even paid an extra aside from my subscription in IQiyi just to watch the finale in advance. I bought a nice desk calendar, Xing Yue's bracelet with photobook. The female lead and the male lead is perfect for the role. I recommend this series to all xianxia lovers. 

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 (Global Version)

            I've had a lot of smartwatch. Mostly I buy from North Edge in Lazada. Last month, I was able to buy a Redmi smartwatch. I was actually eyeing Redmi smartwatch 3 but then I told myself I should just buy the latest. This is around $78. I like its design, it uses aluminum alloy frame and a stainless steel rotating crown.

What I like about this watch is that it has a lot of cool features. Like the health tracker (sleep, blood oxygen, heart rate and even it has stress level monitoring). It has also has 200 face watches to choose from. Like other smartwatches it has steps tracker. It is also dustproof and 5atm waterproof. You can also answer phone calls from this phone and it has a gps. It boasts of 20 day battery life. This smartwatch comes in 2 colors obsidian black and silver gray. This is already a global version. You should download the Mi Fitness app for you to be able to use this smartwatch properly and utilize it at its fullest! I bought a screen protector for this watch. Over-all, I can say this is the most expensive smart watch that I have ever owned. I am truly a Xiaomi girl! Watch for more Xiaomi reviews!

Careline x SpongeBob

           Last month, I found out that Careline collaborated with Spongebob and they came up with Spongebob make-up collection. Who doesn't love this square thing with googly eyes and lives in a pineapple house located at the Bikini bottom. I am already an adult but I still love to watch the show. Spongebob runs on Netflix today. When I saw that they have a pr kit of their product which is the liquid blush, I told myself that I will buy my own soon! I admit that the pr kit is quite expensive. So I waited for their sale. Finally, I have it! 

The Careline x Spongebob pr kit comes in a really nice box that has Spongebob's image and of course it is yellow. The collections comes with 4 blushes, a highlighter and a contour. Each items is packaged beautifully. The regular price of the kit is 2,549 Philippine Pesos. Currently it is on sale on Shopee and Lazada. Careline is under the Ever Bilena family. 

I love the packaging! The blush, highlighter and contour has a character image on the packaging box. Spongebob's shade is called Girly girl, Patrick's is Pink Patricia, Gary's shade is called Shell Pink and Mr. Crab's shade is called Red Ahoy. The contour box has a character of Sandy and for the highlighter, Pearl it is! The blushes are very pigmented, as they say a little goes a long way.These products are also infused with Vitamin E which we all know is an antioxidant and also Hyaluronic acid which reduces wrinkles and lines. Hyaluronic acid also helps wound to heal faster and reduces scarring. Not only you get to enhance your beauty with these products but you also benefit from the added skincare ingredients. You're hitting two birds with one stone!

From all the reviews that I have seen online, everyone really loves this collection. Aside from the products that I mentioned, they also have Spongebob blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and eyebrow soap and setting spray.  If you are a fan of Spongebob you got to have this collection! Buy, try and unlock your imagination! 

Ever Bilena and Ever Bilena's Serum Tinted Lip Balm

           I admit it, when it comes to Philippine brand cosmetics there are a few names that I trust. I am familiar with Ever Bilena brand because it has been a household name in the 80's and during that time I think it is the only local make-up that exists. I am also familiar with Avon cosmetics which is also popular but this is not a Filipino brand. I admit that whenever I hear the brand Ever Bilena before I am not that enthusiastic since it is locally made. We are more impressed by foreign cosmetics and we tend to look down on local made ones. But nowadays local cosmetics is close and at par with foreign brands. The brand name according to "Filipinknow", "bile" the Chinese term for beautiful and "na", the world for lady. so Ever Bilena means, ever beautiful lady.

Ever Bilena was founded by Mr. Dioceldo Sy. Watching his interview on Chinoy tv made me admire the man more. He is dubbed as the "father of Philippine make-up". His grandfather started selling pomade during the Japanese occupation. Anyway, fast-forward to now, Ever Bilena has 1,203 retails stores nationwide. We have a stigma on local make-up brand that maybe it is of poor quality. But here I am, I have tested and used local brand cosmetics and I can say some of them are good! 

Ever Bilena has also a few sister brands (ranging from cosmetics, detergents, cosmetics and skin-care) namely Ara Colours, Blackwater, Blustar, Careline, Ever Organics, Hello Glow, Hyaloo and Spotlight. 

This time I have tried Ever Bilena's Serum Tinted Lip Balm with EXO's Chanyeol as their ambassador. Personally, this is the first ever tintep lip balm. I bought two out of their 4 shades. I chose Naked which is more natural looking for everyday wear and Toast of New York, a little darker shade that Naked. I like this shade out of the two. I have also tried other cosmetic products from their sister brands like Careline and Spotlight. I love their Eyeliner Duo Stamp from Careline and Spotlight Marble Blush in Premiere Shade. 

If you have not tried any of their make-up, I say you should! They produce good and affordable cosmetics without hurting your pockets. Give it a try and you won't be disappointed!