KATE WAS HERE

On April 19, 1987, it started as a series of animated shorts by Life 80s-90s Nostalgia Drinks & Grub. · April 26, 2021 · 3 min read. PRESSED PENNIES FROM MY TRAVELS If you’ve been to Disneyland or Universal Studios, you’ve probably seen a penny smasher, a machine that presses your penny into an elongated coin embossed with a design. The machine is called by many other names—penny presser, coin smasher, penny squisher, coin press, and penny pincher—but the resulting coins are just as sweet. I find that collecting pressed pennies is more fun than DUSTING OFF MY SUNGKA, A TRADITIONAL FILIPINO BOARD GAME Dusting Off My Sungka, A Traditional Filipino Board Game. I was decluttering when I found this toy I purchased from Dagupan in 2008—a sungka (pronounced as soong-kah) set. Still wrapped in plastic with its ₱130 price tag, my oblong-shaped traditional Filipino board game was gathering dust. Sunkga is a traditional Filipino mancala game. WHY I DECIDED TO FREEZE MY EGGS The first time I considered having my eggs frozen was back in 2014. Most women my age were posting about their weddings and children on Facebook, while I was hardly interested in settling down. I read about egg freezing in the US and felt it was an option for me. In 2015, I came across another article, this time by a TV host who had her eggs frozen in a fertility center in Manila. “Wow, they 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY In 2011, I launched KateWasHere.com as an ambitious travel and lifestyle blog. I took a crash course in CSS and created what I hoped to be groundbreaking blog posts. Of course I realized through the years that this path wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I started earning from my blog. In 2019, I redesigned my look. After uploading my new cool WordPress theme, the drudging task UNEARTHING MY '80S-'90S TOYS While stuck in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Philippines, I finally did the major thing I said I’d do when I have the time—declutter my stuff. My board games, electronics, and toys from the ’80s and ’90s have been gathering dust on the second level of my closet and my mother’s bodega. Most are in decent condition, some with the original price tags attached. Kids of the WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YADU BAGS? The first time I laid my eyes on a Yadu bag was back in 2010. They had just opened a quaint shop at The Collective, a former warehouse turned art district and events place for the hipsters of Makati. The Collective, which was located at Malugay Street, San Antonio Village, was the secret hangout of Makati’s rebellious kids, those that preferred to have a beer in their ratty old sneakers SUNBLOCKS ARE KILLING OUR CORALS! WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A My heart fell when I found out that sunscreen kills corals. Yes, the product we regularly slather to protect our skin from UV rays is damaging coral reefs worldwide. According to an environmental study conducted in Hawaii, just a small amount of sunscreen containing the ingredient oxybenzone is enough to disrupt coral’s reproduction and growth cycles. This leads to coral bleaching, 35 FILIPINO BEAUTY BRANDS TO LOVE (2017) 2. Belo Essentials Website: http://beloessentials.ph Category: skincare, makeup, and baby care The gist: Belo Essentials is the official skincare line of celebrity ABOUT THOSE FAMOUS RATTAN BAGS About Those Famous Rattan Bags. I started seeing these round, woven rattan bags in the clutches of designers and fashion bloggers in 2016 to early 2017. After asking around, I found the Instagram accounts selling these 24-cm diameter bags for

KATE WAS HERE

On April 19, 1987, it started as a series of animated shorts by Life 80s-90s Nostalgia Drinks & Grub. · April 26, 2021 · 3 min read. PRESSED PENNIES FROM MY TRAVELS If you’ve been to Disneyland or Universal Studios, you’ve probably seen a penny smasher, a machine that presses your penny into an elongated coin embossed with a design. The machine is called by many other names—penny presser, coin smasher, penny squisher, coin press, and penny pincher—but the resulting coins are just as sweet. I find that collecting pressed pennies is more fun than DUSTING OFF MY SUNGKA, A TRADITIONAL FILIPINO BOARD GAME Dusting Off My Sungka, A Traditional Filipino Board Game. I was decluttering when I found this toy I purchased from Dagupan in 2008—a sungka (pronounced as soong-kah) set. Still wrapped in plastic with its ₱130 price tag, my oblong-shaped traditional Filipino board game was gathering dust. Sunkga is a traditional Filipino mancala game. WHY I DECIDED TO FREEZE MY EGGS The first time I considered having my eggs frozen was back in 2014. Most women my age were posting about their weddings and children on Facebook, while I was hardly interested in settling down. I read about egg freezing in the US and felt it was an option for me. In 2015, I came across another article, this time by a TV host who had her eggs frozen in a fertility center in Manila. “Wow, they 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY In 2011, I launched KateWasHere.com as an ambitious travel and lifestyle blog. I took a crash course in CSS and created what I hoped to be groundbreaking blog posts. Of course I realized through the years that this path wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I started earning from my blog. In 2019, I redesigned my look. After uploading my new cool WordPress theme, the drudging task UNEARTHING MY '80S-'90S TOYS While stuck in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Philippines, I finally did the major thing I said I’d do when I have the time—declutter my stuff. My board games, electronics, and toys from the ’80s and ’90s have been gathering dust on the second level of my closet and my mother’s bodega. Most are in decent condition, some with the original price tags attached. Kids of the WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YADU BAGS? The first time I laid my eyes on a Yadu bag was back in 2010. They had just opened a quaint shop at The Collective, a former warehouse turned art district and events place for the hipsters of Makati. The Collective, which was located at Malugay Street, San Antonio Village, was the secret hangout of Makati’s rebellious kids, those that preferred to have a beer in their ratty old sneakers SUNBLOCKS ARE KILLING OUR CORALS! WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A My heart fell when I found out that sunscreen kills corals. Yes, the product we regularly slather to protect our skin from UV rays is damaging coral reefs worldwide. According to an environmental study conducted in Hawaii, just a small amount of sunscreen containing the ingredient oxybenzone is enough to disrupt coral’s reproduction and growth cycles. This leads to coral bleaching, 35 FILIPINO BEAUTY BRANDS TO LOVE (2017) 2. Belo Essentials Website: http://beloessentials.ph Category: skincare, makeup, and baby care The gist: Belo Essentials is the official skincare line of celebrity ABOUT THOSE FAMOUS RATTAN BAGS About Those Famous Rattan Bags. I started seeing these round, woven rattan bags in the clutches of designers and fashion bloggers in 2016 to early 2017. After asking around, I found the Instagram accounts selling these 24-cm diameter bags for ABOUT – KATE WAS HERE About. My name is Kate, a milleXial (that strange generation that’s not exactly millennial, not exactly Gen X) and a solo female flashpacker from the Philippines. I work as a writer and commercial model. In my free time, I volunteer as an advocate of mental health awareness (I’m a survivor of major depressive disorder) and animal

welfare.

10TH ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY In 2011, I launched KateWasHere.com as an ambitious travel and lifestyle blog. I took a crash course in CSS and created what I hoped to be groundbreaking blog posts. Of course I realized through the years that this path wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I started earning from my blog. In 2019, I redesigned my look. After uploading my new cool WordPress theme, the drudging task HOW TO LESSEN YOUR PANDEMIC WASTE Happy Earth Day, dear readers! While I am green with envy that the likes of Taiwan, Israel, and Australia are almost back to their normal lives, thanks to their government’s effective COVID-19 response, the Philippines is still stuck in the longest quarantine in the world. As we continue to battle the pandemic, we’re also seeing a surge of plastic, medical, and hazardous waste. According COOLING PRODUCTS TO BEAT THE SUMMER HEAT To describe the current Philippine weather as hellish would be an understatement. The heat index (actual temperature felt by the body based on air temperature and humidity) reached a dangerous 52°C in Pangasinan this month. In Manila and other cities, the daytime temp is feverish and it looks like this extreme heat won’t be leaving soon. Survive the heat dome with these cooling beauty WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YADU BAGS? The first time I laid my eyes on a Yadu bag was back in 2010. They had just opened a quaint shop at The Collective, a former warehouse turned art district and events place for the hipsters of Makati. The Collective, which was located at Malugay Street, San Antonio Village, was the secret hangout of Makati’s rebellious kids, those that preferred to have a beer in their ratty old sneakers WHERE TO BUY SMUDGE STICKS IN THE PHILIPPINES Whether you prefer calling it saging or smudging, the ritual of cleansing negative spaces has gained more attention in social media in the last year. It must be the uncertainties of the pandemic or the overall negativity brought about by humanity. A smudge stick is a bundle of dried herbs bound together by twine and is burned to ward off negative energy or cleanse a space. While smudging is RAINBOW VILLAGE: NOT JUST FOR THE 'GRAM Quickie History. Located in Taichung’s Nantun District, Rainbow Village used to be a veteran’s village made of simple, low-quality materials. The most loyal resident is former soldier, Huang Yung-Fu, who is now in his ’90s. Several years ago, the village residents started fleeting and the place was bound for demolition, as with most

of

WHERE TO DUMP YOUR JUNK AFTER KONMARI I wrote this article (originally titled, “Spring Cleaning”) back in 2013. When Netflix released Tidying Up With Marie Kondo in time for New Year 2019, I decided to rehash this post. Japanese organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo first released The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing back in 2012. Through the years, her KonMari method A GUIDE TO LAS CASAS’ DAY TOUR Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is the most expensive resort in Bataan, Philippines—but with good reason. It’s an open-air museum, heritage park, hotel, and beach resort all in one. Each heritage home was painstakingly moved, brick by brick, from its original location and rebuilt in this 400-hectare land. The traditional furniture and interiors are also preserved, while the cobblestone roads WHAT’S WITH THE BALIKBAYAN BOX? Then when it’s time to come home after many years of working abroad, an extra box of more gifts is part of the checked baggage. It became known as balikbayan box in reference to the balikbayan, an OFW returning back to the motherland. The use of balikbayan boxes caught on, and even short-time travelers began using them.

*

* __

*

*

*

*

* __Subscribe

*

*

* Home

* Categories

* Artsy Fartsy

* Bed & Bunk

* Celebrity Spotlight

* Drinks & Grub

* Gabbin’ Fever

* Sights

* My Space

* Popular Posts

* Quirks

* Shop & Pop

* Sounds

* Sponsored Posts

* Vanity

* Vlog

* Archives

* About

* Contact

* CurlPower

* MentalHealthPH

* Résumé

BIGGEST TOY VENDING MACHINE IN TAIPEI THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS BEFORE MY BIG TRIP SAFETY TIPS FOR SOLO FEMALE TRAVELERS FEELING HELPLESS ABOUT THE ANIMALS OF TAAL? HERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN DO RAINBOW VILLAGE: IT’S LIKE INSTAGRAM OLYMPICS MIYAHARA IS MORE THAN JUST A HOGWARTS LOOKALIKE BOAN 84: WHERE COFFEE IS MEDICINE MAIL YOURSELF A WOODEN POSTCARD FROM TAIWAN IG-ALL-YOU-WANT IN 1914 CREATIVE PARK DIARY OF MY EGG FREEZING EXPERIENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES SAY HELLO TO BDJ’S 2020 PLANNERS I KLOOKED MY WAY AROUND TAIPEI

1 2 3

… 36

__

MY SPACE

MIYAHARA IS MORE THAN JUST A HOGWARTS LOOKALIKE ANDA VENICE HOSTEL IS A WONDERLAND AMSTERDAM’S SHIPYARD-TURNED-CREATIVE SPACE

KATE’S QUIRKS

BIGGEST TOY VENDING MACHINE IN TAIPEI MAIL YOURSELF A WOODEN POSTCARD FROM TAIWAN GUIDE TO SANRIO PUROLAND

WATCH MY VLOGS

BIGGEST TOY VENDING MACHINE IN TAIPEI RAINBOW VILLAGE: IT’S LIKE INSTAGRAM OLYMPICS DIARY OF MY EGG FREEZING EXPERIENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES

* __Subscribe

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Instagram

* YouTube

* Search

__

* Home

* Categories__

* Artsy Fartsy

* Bed & Bunk

* Celebrity Spotlight

* Drinks & Grub

* Gabbin’ Fever

* Sights

* My Space

* Popular Posts

* Quirks

* Shop & Pop

* Sounds

* Sponsored Posts

* Vanity

* Vlog

* Archives

* About

* Contact

* CurlPower

* MentalHealthPH

* Résumé

*

*

*

*

*

NAVIGATE MY BLOG:

* Home

* Categories

* Artsy Fartsy

* Bed & Bunk

* Celebrity Spotlight

* Drinks & Grub

* Gabbin’ Fever

* Sights

* My Space

* Popular Posts

* Quirks

* Shop & Pop

* Sounds

* Sponsored Posts

* Vanity

* Vlog

* Archives

* About

* Contact

* CurlPower

* MentalHealthPH

* Résumé

*

*

*

*

Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close

Philippines Manila

beauty

cafe

Art

See all results__

SUBSCRIBE

Enter your email address to get dibs on my latest posts!

Email Address

Subscribe

__ __

__