Another year, another 365 days of cool contests online. I've never considered myself really lucky. I haven't won the lotto, right? But chances are, I usually get Lady Luck's nod when it comes to contests. I enjoy contests. I'm not a very competitive person evidently as you can see that I'm not into sports.  But as far as playing cards, gambling, and writing competitions, I've been doing it for as long as I remember. Even before the dawn of the Internet.

I come from a family who plays madjong almost everyday; hosts madjong, piat2x/pusoy, and poker sessions at my house; and goes to the casino whenever there is a chance to. When I went to Las Vegas with my mom, I could literally see the sparkle in her eyes. I wasn't really there for the games... If you know what I mean. ^_^


All about online contests in here »
http://www.bastaigatsikat.com/2011/01/game-of-luck-contest-whore-that-is-me.html

Who says Halloween is the only time to dress up? The Annual Christmas Party of the Barks & Co. was yet another success. For my new readers, Barks & Co. is my barkada, the ultra solid circle of friends whom I trust with all my life. I found them and have been with them for the past decade of my life. You could say they're like my brothers and sisters. Anyways, so this year's theme was MOVIE CHARACTERS. We were supposed to dress up as our favorite protagonist/antagonist of our favorite movies.

I didn't quite expect everyone to give it their best (although I couldn't hide the excitement as I prepared for the night!) and was very happy how the night turned out to be.

From last year's Hip Hop Theme to this year's Movie Buff theme!



PICTURES worth $1000 in here »
http://www.bastaigatsikat.com/2010/12/barks-co-movie-buffs-christmas-costume.html

http://www.havaianasphilippines.com/happysoles/willtravel/p2_profile.php?pid=9
I know I'm practically tone deaf and all but... desperate times call for desperate measures! Please vote for me!!! http://www.havaianasphilippines.com/happysoles/willtravel/p2_profile.php?pid=9

There! It's confirmed... I AM OUT OF REHAV! Just recently I acquired this very, very cool pair of Havaianas. I know there are so many designs coming out this year but this one did get me out of REHAV...



My very own 2010 World Cup USA Havaianas pair! *twirls around the room* Thanks sis Mei Lyn!



And guess what!? My good luck charm is working again! A few days ago, I received a call... and take note, it wasn't for a reservation for SALA Lounge + Café. It was from...

*drumrolls please*

... HAVAIANAS PHILIPPINES!!! Then I got an email asking for additional requirements because out of thousands of entries for the Havaianas Happy Soles contest, my video has been chosen by the judges as one of the top ten finalists!!!

*cartwheels*

Now, the interesting bit. You guys have to vote for the video so I can win this contest!!!



You've got to let me win... because if I do, I will give away a lot of Havaianas to my lucky readers and voters!!! Weeeee!

Gimme a minute of your time, login to the Havaianas site (register an account for free if you haven't) and please please please... Make me happy!!! VOTE FOR ME, MARIA VELASQUEZ!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE --> http://www.havaianasphilippines.com/happysoles/willtravel/p2_profile.php?pid=9 <-- You can vote ONCE per day! :)

Oh yeah, pardon me for the annoying voice and my bad singing... Desperate times need desperate measures. LOL!

Take me and my friends to Brazil... and get lots and lots of chances to win pairs of Havaianas when I get back! Weeeee!

Love you all! Xoxo,

My official entry to the Havaianas Happy Sole contest! See: http://www.havaianasphilippines.com/happysoles/

Time to unwind. Dressed down and wet. No make-up and borloloys, no nonsense. We are just a bunch of people entertaining ourselves... with good clean fun ;) Just the right amount of booze (actually, kuwang pero nihit pod ang ice!), lots of games (truth or dare!?), entertainment, plenty of food, and lots and lots of laughter.

Endless summer nights indeed!

Location: Maia's Beach Resort

I'd like to think of this as a pre-nup album... LOL! But seriously, Bantayan seems like the perfect island to get hitched. I mean, it's pretty quaint and peaceful and there's a lot of room to party!!! And it's cheap, and yeah, I'm a cheapo :)

Nevertheless, love is in the air!!! WARNING: This album oozes with corniness and charness!!!

Spankin' goooood time with the Barks & Co. Certified cam whores from A to Z. :P

This is Day 2 of our Bantayan Escapade of 2010!

Location: Bantayan Island

Summer 2010 is definitely here. Barks & Co. takes off to Bantayan Island! We took the Ormoc-Palompon-Pulambato-Hagnaya-Sta. Fe route... for the fastest, cheapest way to go.

Destination: Maia's Beach Resort (Bantayan Island)

April 10-12, 2010

P.S. Tag yourselves, guys! I find it hard to upload 4gb worth of pix, so I think I'll have to upload them by day/night and just select some. If you want more pix, email me so I can send you the rest. ;) Enjoy!



Photo credits: Kuya Doogie, Marvz, & RameNoodles
Location: Bantayan Island

I've been really busy lately, thus I haven't had time to blog. Goodness! A lot had happened since my last blog and I don't even know where to start. I promise to blog all of them (with pictures!) but I got something important to tell you guys for now...

Today, I'm posting the mechanics for my Mini Birthday Contest!!! Yipeeee!!! Are you ready? Here we go.

Contest Mechanics:

For my Mini Birthday Contest this year, there’s going to be 3 categories and a lot of chances to win…

Twitter: If you haven't yet, you can follow me @MyMariaTV and tweet this: “Just joined MyMaria’s #bastaigatsikat Birthday Contest 2010 to win the gift of Flickr Pro! http://bit.ly/9RFcYa”

Please limit your tweets/RTs to 2 x a day. Each tweet/RT will count as 1 raffle entry. I shall be taking note of all your entries and draw them randomly. I am going to pick one lucky Twitter follower who is going to enjoy a Flickr Pro account on my birthday (04/18) and I will send you a DM if you win. Contest is open worldwide.

Multiply/Bloggers: For a chance to win a Multiply Premium Account + A Local Obagi Kit, you can re-post this entry, blog about it, and place a link back on your blog. Please leave a comment below and a link to your blog entry so I can keep track of it. I shall again draw the winner on 04/18 and send you a message or comment on your blog if you win! Two other bloggers will also get to win GlutaMAX Lightening Soaps with Glutathione 135g each. Contest is open to Philippine residents or those who have an existing mailing address in the Philippines.

+

Facebook: You can Become A Fan of my blog account at http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMaria-Basta-Igat-Sikat/249299832126 and answer the question I posted on the profile pic! Take note: You are only allowed to guess the answer ONCE A DAY. Whoever gets it right first on or before my birthday gets to win a pair of Havaianas from me! I will send the lucky winner a message asking for his/her size (and perhaps a particular model if available). Then I shall purchase the Havaianas pair at our exclusive distributor and ship it to you. Two other lucky Facebook followers (drawn randomly on 04/18) will win GlutaMAX Lightening Soaps with Glutathione 135g each. Contest is open to Philippine residents or those who have an existing mailing address in the Philippines.

But wait, there’s more…

I shall have weekly contests starting on March 21st, so watch out for more prizes! I will tweet them, blog them, and post them on Facebook for more details.

So until then… Stay tuned!




Celebrate life and love!

This year's Valentine's Day sucked... NOT!!! This was the most pricele$$ Valentines Day ever... in my history! :P

It was totally unexpected. Nothing was planned. (The fishball part didn't happen one bit!) Everything was as spontaneous as it could get. Even the whole flowers and chocolate moment, it left me stammering and at a loss for words. I didn't know what to say. I mean, I'm not the type of girl you give chocolates and flowers to because first of all, I have realized long before that VDAY is a spawn of commercialism and all the hype is nothing but a cunning capitalist scheme really. However, this year's VDAY was a total romantic opportunity (especially for my Udon Boy) and aside from the fact that EVERYDAY IS VALENTINES DAY for us, this day definitely went down to our books by absolutely showing love, seeing love, and feeling all the love.

Now let the pictures speak for themselves.

CLICK FOR PICTURES AND READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY HERE:

http://bastaigatsikat.blogspot.com/2010/02/red-hot-valentines-day.html

And so... we were there... again! This year was pretty challenging because it rained a whole lot... and I mean, A LOT!

The trip was pretty nasty, too. With all those 6-meter waves (exag!) that my mom and aunts decided not to go. But I survived nonetheless. I was going to bring my camera along during the procession but the rain was making me think twice, so I didn't risk it. Although there were people bringing their cams there, I thought maybe an umbrella was a far much better choice to carry. ;) Also, my mom insisted... so there.

The route of this year's procession was different.

We had to walk all the way to V. RAMA, B. Rodriguez, etc. when before we used to take a turn at P. del Rosario... Boy, did we burn major calories there! I practically collapsed after... and got blisters on my feet. The drugstore clerk said their Band-Aids were almost sold out by the time we went to buy some because so many people were asking for it.

By evening, we hit I.T. Park just because we were feeling our age. LOL! The taxi driver made snide remarks as we watched kids cross the street and he said, "Bantog ra uwanon ang Sinulog kay unsa man pod ning mga sinul-otan sa mga batan-on! Labi na nang tua sa Mango ron!" [No wonder it rains during the Sinulog because of what kids are wearing these days (referring to the girls)! Especially the ones in Mango tonight!] I couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, I can feel it. I am getting old because I, too, sometimes say those things. Tee hee! Especially because I don't wear such provocative clothes... do I? *bitter*

Too many parties all over Cebu last Saturday night. We had dinner at Ila Puti and then went to Patio Ecila (same place we were at last year) because it was pretty much age-appropriate for us. Plus the music can't be beat. Not too loud either. (OMG! I can't believe I'm saying these things. I'm starting to feel ancient. Haha!) No Embassy, no Loft for us. But did drop by Metro (which used to be Bravio) for some poker. ;)

Damn cold night, too. (What's up with my hands/arms?)

The rest of the weekend we slept, heard mass, shopped/window shopped, and watched movies. Didn't bother to watch the Mardi Gras because you could hardly drop a needle with all the traffic going on. Tsk. Also, I forgot to take pictures of the fireworks! *slaps forehead* Man, they were awesome! Maybe next year ;)

Anyway, thanks Sto. Niño! Although it rained the whole weekend and we got drenched, still we aren't down with any kind of sickness. VIVA! PIT SENYOR!

My blog has evolved! It used to be all talk and verbal diarrhea. Now, it's all images and more images. I just realized it and kinda like how it had turned out actually--despite the fact that it doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination anymore. :(

READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY TO CHECK OUT WHAT'S IN STORE FOR 2010 and YOU JUST MIGHT BE A BIG WINNER :)

Do I smell a contest? Prizes? Only one way to find out!

CLICK HERE:
http://bastaigatsikat.blogspot.com/2010/01/celebrate-blog-that-lasted.html