Brazilian. Yes, I mean that brazilian wax you're thinking of.

Brazilian wax seems to be something scary for a number of people that I know. I thought it was pretty scary too, well, when I first heard about it. Imagine having all your hair down there being pulled in 50's or hundreds. I even heard that it get gets yanked out repeatedly. Ouchie, right? In 2009, it became somewhat of a craze, and I was supposed to give it a try with a couple of colleagues in a well-known waxing salon. I chickened out, and didn't show up on time. After that, I heard their stories and was horrified when they shared how painful it was. They even said that they won't go through with it ever again. Due to that, I thought I'd rather share regularly than go through what they did.

Come 2011, I came across Browhaus and Strip: Ministry of Waxing. Luckily, I was able to book both establishments for an interview on my weekend show for a segment called "The Naked Truth." But before the interview, I had to experience Browgraphy and Strip XXX All Off. The Browgraphy shall be shared later, but this is about my brazilian waxing experience.

I got to their Greenbelt 5 branch, and was a bit overwhelmed by the décor. There were booths that looked like submarine chamber, and it was TOTALLY cool. The receptionists were really nice and cheerful, at least that made the butterflies in my stomach less excited. Since this happened last year, I'm not so sure if I got my waxpert's name right, but I believe it was Shaina. She was very nice, and chatted me up that I almost forgot that I was going to try the brazilian wax for the very first time. She asked if I've tried it before - no, and if I've shaved previously - yes, which is why she gave a disclaimer that it was going to be quite painful. She also said that the strawberry wax can't be used on me since I've shaved before and the chocolate wax will be used instead. I felt exposed and was a bit uncomfortable, but she was business as usual, so I relaxed a bit more. The great thing was she paused when it was already painful for me, and she told me if I should breathe in, so I wouldn't feel much pain. We were already half-done, and it wasn't as painful as my previous colleagues said. Well, the nearer it got to the middle, the more painful it became. At last, it was done. Or I thought it was. She told me to flip over so she can work on removing the bum hair - which i thought was goi

ng to be more painful - but wasn't. My first brazilian wax experience - not bad at all. And just to prove if the second time wouldn't be as painful, I tried it again after 1 1/2 months. Yes, it was definitely true. I was even texting while being waxed. How about that! I've become more confident and comfortable with the entire experience, I even tried convincing my fellow Mellow dj's to try it out.

I only realized that that not all waxing establishments provide the same experience. I had my third brazilian waxing experience in a well-known waxing establishment. I, in all honestly, really thought that it was going to be the same 15-minute and barely painful experience. I went it the booth and was told to prep. I was immediately turned off by the stinky baby wipes that they had, which was one of those save-by-the-bulk type offered in supermarkets (Strip had individually-wrapped wipes). So the waxing started. I just couldn't help but compare this establishment to Strip: Ministry of Waxing. The lady waxer didn't have any gloves on, and the first 3-5 pulls were already very painful. I was really about to scream and have become teary-eyed. I couldn't blame it on how near I'm about to have my period, since the timeframe was roughly the same when I had my first 2 sessions with Strip. After having roughly (pun intended) 1/4 of the service done, I stopped her. I just couldn't bear how painful it already was, and I didn't even want to bother about getting my money back. The lady waxer was really nice and said that it'll just be a bikini instead of a brazilian. She offered to tiny my land down there just a tiny bit more, but I really had to refuse. I was teary-eyed, in pain and so in a rush to leave that place.

I'm not bad-mouthing the other establishment. I'm sure other people are very happy with their services. But in case you've experienced the same thing that I did, drop by Strip: Ministry of Waxing and you will see and feel the difference. Sorry I couldn't post any pictures of their interior, my camera was busted that day. Sheesh.

Strip: Ministry of Waxing (www.strip-manila.com) is at the ff locations:
> 2nd fl. Serendra Bonifacio High Street Bonifacio Global City Taguig (Tel. # 901-0892)
> 4th fl. Greenbelt 5 Ayala Center Makati (Tel. # 501-3997)

Brats much?

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve last blogged about anything. It’s been 6 years or so. I usually blogged whenever I was frustrated, annoyed or angry about something. This time, I am annoyed with the kids of today.

Last week, I was at the mall. I had to grab some groceries and a card for my broadband. Right in front of the load retailer (or whatever you call these stalls), is a little playground located in the middle of the mall. It was hard to not notice the fat, obviously spoiled, kid who was screaming at the top of his lungs, saying something like “I want my fries now! I want my fries NOW!” The kid pretended to cry, though I couldn’t see any tears. Hello crocodile tears. Being a mom myself, I was intrigued with how the child's guardians (the couple's probably the brat's parents) would handle their little bundle of joy, and was surprised and disappointed with what they said. “Okay baby, we’ll get you the french fries. Just stay here with yaya, okay?” I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows in surprise, shake my head and say “What?!” All the nanny did was wipe the kid’s back with a towel, and let him resume his fake crying. That was about 3 minutes of fake bawling. (And yes, I wasted about 5 minutes of my time just observing this family. Creepy, right?) He was prolly thinking "Must.stay.consistent.with.the.fake.crying." At last, the fries arrived and the fake crying finally stopped. The kid didn't even thank his folks. When his mom handed him the cup, he brought the fries to the slide and continued to play while eating. Kids are messy eaters, I should know. (I got one heck of a messy eater myself, and I repeatedly tell her to not litter.) The parents of this brat, after giving him the bleeping fries, were nowhere to be seen. Well, the nanny was there... texting the entire time! Voila! What else did they expect from a bratty kid who’d go down the slide holding a cup of fries in his hand? About half of the P140 cup of fries was fed to the inanimate floor and slide. Not only did the kid manage to give the people within a 10-meter radius a migraine (there was an echo while he did the pretend crying thing), he also managed to make the maintenance people's jobs a tad harder.

I did not write about this to tell people how to be parents. I am not a perfect mother. Far from it. I just can’t help but compare the kids of my time versus the kids of today. During my time, if a kid started to become annoying, a healthy spanking was definitely on the way (in my case, my mom would pinch me if we were in public and spank me if we were in our house). Back then, if a kid pretended to cry just to get something he or she wanted, the parents would either tell them firmly to stop or would not pay them any attention until they get tired of their fake crying. We didn't even need explanations from them. "Because I said so" worked real well then.

I am a firm believer of what Rizal has said – “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” I don’t want the adults to end up bruising, physically abusing, or excessively hurting the kids, but if the kids start thinking that they are the boss instead of the child, a good spanking should be in order.