Cheska’s Pride

I was thinking of putting up a post about the most valuable relics in history. However, I’ve decided to just include the most famous ones (for this article, Christianity’s) since people perceive the value differently (religion is indeed a sensitive topic).

Relics are important object or items that bear religious significance. There are relics in almost every religion - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and especially Christianity - and they are usually preserved and treated as memorials. For this particular post, I will be talking about the relics in Christianity’s history.

Holy Grail - I bet everybody knows about the Holy Grail, either from the bible itself or from popular media. It has been the subject of many films and shows on TV. As you most probably know already, the holy grail or chalice is the cup used by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper. It is said to possess mysterious powers, the most popular being its supposed ability to give eternal life to anyone who drinks from it. It has also been mentioned in various legends, one of them being in stories of King Arthur.

Gifts of the Magi - Currently in the St. Paul Monastery in Mount Athos. The three magi, also known as the Three Kings or Three Wise Men, were known to be the people who visited and gave gifts to Jesus Christ after he was born. Among the four gospels, The Book of Matthew was the only one that mentioned the incident. According to Matthew, the three magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and mhyrr. The gifts have been criticized as useless for a carpenter’s family, however it Mary and Joseph may have sold the gifts to pay for the costs of traveling to Egypt (during their escape from Herod’s order).

Crown of Thorns - Also a well-known relic, the crown of thorns were composed of woven thorny branches that was put on Jesus Christ’s head before he was crucified. There have been at least 700 thorns that various people claim to be authentic but not all of them are.

Spear of Longinus - Also called the Holy Lance or the Spear of Destiny. It was the spear that was used to pierce the sides of Jesus Christ while he was on the cross - the purpose was to ensure that he was already dead. The incident was only mentioned in the book of John and not in any other gospel. Initially, the soldier who pierced Jesus was not named, however, various records have indicated the name of the soldier being Longinus - making the Latin name Lancea Longini correct. Various relics have been found and was claimed to the Spear of Destiny or even just parts of it. There are various spears held in different locations but knowing which one is the “real” one is still up to debate. The spear has also been featured in various media and is most often depicted as an object with mysterious power.

True Cross - Probably the most well-known among all Christians, the cross was the object used to crucify Jesus Christ. The name “True Cross” was given to the physical remnants of the said cross with the most popular part of it being the INRI inscription on top. The cross itself is no longer in its whole form and have been broken into parts and reformed into small crosses with one of the largest held at Santo Toribio de Liébana in Spain. Based on the stories leading to the discovery of the relic, I’m not sure whether to believe that the parts are really from the cross itself.

The Internet has revolutionized the way we do things. Books have been the only allowable source for research back then but now most professors allow us to use webpages for that. Blogging is a popular hobby now, and some even use it for business. We used to collect mail through the post or at work but now email seems to be the standard for most companies. Online games, Internet banking, and even shopping! Of course, there are risks coming from spywares, hackers, and viruses but there are ways to at least minimize the risk for that. However, online shopping can be quite convenient if you don’t have time to go to places on your busy schedule. Here a few tips to get you started if you plan to shop online.

Make sure the computer is secure - This is the first thing to remember and also one of the most important. Get an anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and make sure to scan your PC every now and then. Also websites would have a secure webpage for online transactions. You will notice this if you check the address. It should be “https://” instead of just “http://”. There are secure certificates associated with those webpages and that’s also something to look out for. They can be intercepted (although very, very rarely) so make sure that the secure certificate is from the website itself. Done? Now we focus more on the items.

Check the product description - Make sure to know what you are going to purchase. Check the brand, product details, method of delivery, price (of course), and everything else. Check the pictures so you can make sure it is the one you want. If possible, inquire about the product itself from the company or person selling it just to guarantee it.

Check any information about the seller - If it’s a company or website, check some reviews about them by searching through google or any other search site. More often than not, if the company is well-known, you’ll get the information you want. If it’s from a person, check any feedback from previous buyers. I wouldn’t advise buying from somebody relatively new on the site. However, if you are willing to risk it (and if the item is relatively cheap), by all means do so. If nobody buys from him, he won’t be able to get any feedback after all. Make sure to get the person or company’s phone number as well or any method of contacting them directly. I don’t suggest email as it can easily be abandoned. That way, you can make any inquiries or complaints later on.

Check the warranty or return policy - Of course, there will be times that there may be some flaws on the product you just bought. Unlike buying from a store, there’s no way you can check the item before receiving it. Make sure to check if the seller has any return policies so you can get your money’s worth. If you think that the allowable time for it to returned or exchanged is too short, I suggest you avoid the purchase altogether.

Keep records of the purchase - Just like when buying at a store, it’s important to keep a receipt or any record of the transaction. Check your credit card statement if it’s the payment method you used. Make sure that the price and charges match those that were included in the price and description and that there are no unauthorized charges.

Hopefully, these online shopping tips would prevent you from any inconveniences of shopping online. I’ve made a lot of orders online as well, and by following these I’ve had no trouble so far.

I managed to get some free time to surf the web even with my busy schedule. During that time, I noticed that another contest has started in a website that I frequently visit so I entered and, hopefully, I win this time around. I was also trying to look for something to write about and thankfully, I found some weird Japanese fashion trends I’d like to share with you.

I don’t really want to call them weird since I believe that different groups of people have their own sense of fashion. However, personally I found their style really strange for some reason. Well, its simply based on my own preference so I won’t force you to agree with me. Also, the theme they have going with their fashion isn’t really one of my personal preferences so that could be another reason. Anyway, here they are.

Lolita - There are various subcultures associated with the “Lolita” look but one thing’s pretty common among them - the baby girl look. The subcultures range from the darker themed style Gothic Lolita (or GothLoli as they usually call it), Punk Lolita (PunkLoli) that seems to follow the singer/songwriter Nana Kitade’s style, to the baby-doll looking, Sweet Lolita (SweetLoli).

Elegant Gothic Aristrocat or Elegant Gothic Lolita - The term Elegant Gothic Aristocrat was originally coined by a fashion designer and former band leader of Malice Mizer, Mana. You can easily spot them by the mostly black outfits and makeup. Unlike the Classic Gothic Lolita look, they wear long skirts, tailored jackets and tight fitting shirts with long sleeves. Corsets, gloves, stockings and books are also used to mimic the old Victorian look that this style seems to follow are also common. They also have an androgynous theme going making the male and female outfits similar in style. Although I think it’s a weird fashion trend for today’s modern style, I still like the look (although I admit it doesn’t fit my personality). I do have a friend who’s crazy about it though I won’t post her pics or she’ll kill me.

Ganguro - The ganguro subculture in Japan gained a lot of popularity around the year 2000. The fashion trend of the subculture involves bleached hair, tanned skin, fake eyelashes, platform shoes, blacelets and other accessories, mini-skirts, and bright makeup. They’re very easy to spot, really, just going with the description above. They also have a penchant for showing off their cellphones and taking pictures from picture booths (or purikura).

Anyway, being someone from the west, I mostly can’t relate to why they chose to go with the trends mentioned above. I mostly think of them as strange or weird for the modern day setting, and although some do look tasteful (like the gothloli ones), I don’t think it would fit in today’s society.

It has been said through generations that accidents can happen anywhere and at any time. That’s why they are called accidents in the first place - they happen unexpectedly. Even if a person has been trained to be very careful, it’s still impossible to avoid them from happening. Models have been trained to be perfect in what they do, but sometimes, a bad stroke of luck could get them off the runway in seconds. Here are some fashion show or contest accidents and a video of how they happened.

Miss USA slips on the runway - Wearing a black gown, Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith, for the Miss Universe competition suddenly slips on the runway. She immediately pulls herself up and continues as if nothing happened. A good performance! Like they say, “the show must go on.”

Vivienne Westwood Spring, Summer ‘07 - Model Kamilia Wawrzynia falls on the runway at Vivienne Westwood Spring while carrying a watering can full of water. She stumbles at first and continues like nothing happened, then she falls over twice while on her way back. I believe it has something to do with her heels being unstable.

Shadang Fashion Show - A Shaolin monk performs a stunt and breaks a hole on the runway at Shadang fashion show by designer Rafi Anteby. Fashion model Sarah Welch walks right into it and ends up getting wet as she falls into the hole which was above the swimming pool at Mondrian hotel during LA Fashion week. She immediately left afterwards. That must have been very embarrassing on her part.

Jessica Stam Falling on the Runway - Jessica Stam falls over and seemingly hits her forehead on the runway during a fashion show. She continues on but it’s easy to see how she was so embarrassed about it. But like any trained fashion model, she continues with her walk like nothing happened. Good performance and she’s so cute!

Naomi Campbell Falls on the Runway - According to the description on youtube itself - “The video was shown during her appearance on David Letterman, somewhere around ‘95 (as she mentioned being 25 yrs. old during the interview).” The fall must have been pretty embarrassing for her but she simply laughed it off. Of couse, it can happen to anyone as well so it’s understandable.

Lastly, here’s a compilation of video of some more accidents that have happened on the runway. Entitled dangerous runways, you’ll know why it is so. Enjoy! On, another note, I recently entered another contest. I hope I win this time!

Alright! It’s already summer and unlike winter, you won’t be covered in too much clothing that you can hide your skin and hair. Most likely you’ll be at the beach or somewhere outside so it’s important to keep your skin and hair healthy so people will notice you. Since we’ve been wearing thick clothing for the past few months, most likely our skin haven’t been taken cared of to look its best for the summer. Here are a few tips I’d like to share to get your ready.

Hair Tips

• Remoisturize your hair - Summer means exposure to the sun and with that hair can become brittle and damaged. There are hair care products which could remove chlorine and remoisturize the hair to prevent it from breaking. There are also products that protect your hair from harmful UV rays so I suggest getting those. A good tip is to use leave-in conditioner as well or styling cremes that would provide extra moisturizing. Remember to protect your hair from the sun! If you don’t like wearing a hat (that could ruin your hairstyle) bring an umbrella along.
• Get a haircut - For the summer, I suggest getting a shorter cut that would look good according to your face shape and style. Longer hair could be harder to manage as well as make you feel a lot warmer than usual.
• Try to avoid using blow-dryers - It’s time to give your hair a break from all the heat so it’s a good thing to avoid regularly using a blow-dryer. If you’re going somewhere like work or an outing, make sure to prepare early so you don’t rush and have to resort to blow-drying just to get your hair done. If you don’t have a choice, use a leave-in conditioner to at least give it some much needed moisture.

Skin Care

• Shave - Unlike in winter where you wear a sweater and pants all day, you won’t be wearing the same thing during summer so it’s important to shave some unwanted hair. Of course, a lot of us (yes, including me) become lazy during winter since we don’t really feel like we need to shave especially when people won’t see what’s hidden under our clothing. Well, time to change that. Make sure to use a good razor and shaving lotion to add some moisture on your skin as well as prevent cuts.
• Get a pedicure - Winter boots are out, sandals are in. Get a pedicure ladies. Time to clear out the dead skin that must have accumulated during the past seasons. Try to scrub your feet a few times every week and keep a foot scrub and file handy.
• Buy a new set of products - Instead of using the old one, treat yourself to some new products. If you still have those old bottles of sunscreen and other summer-only products, it’s time to throw those away. Don’t forget to use them, by the way, they’re not there only for show. Especially sunscreen, it will help protect your skin.

Jewelry have been worn throughout history by every culture in the world. It’s a broad term that is used to describe a wide range of ornaments that are worn on the body to adorn it. This includes earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, among others. They are very much fancied by women and men usually give them as gifts. They are usually quite expensive but there are some that are just over-the-top valuable. Here are five of the most expensive jewelries I found floating around the web.

Chopard Blue Diamond Ring - Gosh. This one is really expensive but I guess it deserves the price it is being valued at. Blue diamonds are among the rarest of the natural-colored gems. This oval-shaped diamond ring, with triangular-shaped diamond shoulders are set on an 18-carat white gold diamond band. Price is estimated to be around $16 Million.

Garrard Heart of the Kingdom Ruby - The stone in this piece of jewelry is accompanied by two independent Swiss laboratory reports that verify its rarity. The heart-shaped Burma ruby weighs in at around 40.63 carats and is mounted on a 155-carat diamond necklace. It can also be transformed into a tiara.

Diamond Drop Earrings by Harry Winston - The House of Winston created this set of diamond earrings which they dubbed as the Extraordinary Diamond Drop Earrings. It consists of two pear-shaped diamonds in a platinum setting and totals to around 6.1 carats. Price is said to be around $8.5 Million.

Chopard Magnificent Diamond and Emerald Necklace - The price is actually set to “price upon request” so prepared to spend millions for it. Anyway, this beautiful necklace consists of 191-carats worth of Columbia’s most beautiful emeralds and 16-carats of rose and drop-shaped diamonds. It is included in Chopard’s “Haute Joaillerie” collection.

Chanel D-Flawless Bracelet Watch - Part of Chanel’s Collection Privee, this piece of jewelry is valued at around $2 Million. It contains one hundred and twenty, 6 - 6.5 millimeter cultured pearls, 133 diamonds, and arrayed in 18-karat white gold. It weighs in at around 35.1 carats. It’s a watch so you can use it for telling time, too.

Ever had those days when your hair just won’t cooperate? Like your hair just keeps on turning into a weird hairstyle no matter what you do? Bad haird days turn into bad days. Don’t let it ruin your day! Here are some tips on what to do during such times.

Get the best haircut for your hair type that would look good on you - Prevention is better than cure. One way to avoid bad hair days is to get a good haircut, of course! Make sure the cut makes your hair easier to control and manage. That way, there would be less chances of bad hair days.

Maintain your haircut every 6 weeks or so - Another prevention step. It’s a good thing to have a haircut regularly to maintain that nice hairstyle. Otherwise, it might get too long, heavy, and unwieldy that you won’t be able to control it (which leads to a bad hair day).

Use a good shampoo and conditioner for your hair type - I had posted something about tips for different hair types earlier so you might want to check that out too. Select good products for your hair type or use specific ones that would go with it. Most shampoos and conditioners help in making your hair a lot more managable.

Limit the time that you use the blow-dryer - After washing your hair, towel dry it first before using a blow-dryer. Make sure to use low heat. Heat can make the hair dry and brittle.

Prepare for the worst case scenario - Admittedly, there’s a chance that even with all the preparation and tips you followed, your hair just won’t cooperate. In that case, you might want to try some accessories, hair extensions, or even wigs to hide that weird hairstyle,  just so you don’t really think too much about it (and how others would think of it).

Footwear, especially for women, have been an object of fascination since early times. Unknown to most, women actually spend a lot on footwear than they know. A good example would be Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw who suddenly realized that she spent roughly $40,000 on footwear yet she couldn’t afford an apartment. Men are different, though. They don’t think much about shoes and only wear what they think would best fit a certain occassion. As long as their shoes are usable, they tend not to replace it until its final moment. Men’s shoe style doesn’t change so they rarely buy a new pair every year. Here are three of the most expensive footwear for women.

Cinderella Slippers - This 4 1/2 inch pair of stilletos are adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds and was designed by Stuart Weitzman. The pair costs around $2M. Stuart Weitzman is the designer of the so-called fantasy sandals and has already assumed legendary status. He creates more than 300 styles of shoes and handbags annualy. Each pair of shoes he creates takes about six to seven weeks to produce, with 80-odd craftsmen involved in the making of the final product.

Tanzanite Heels - Designed by Stuart Weitzman, these pair of sandals are adorned with 185 carats of tanzanite and 28 carats of diamonds. It was shown at the Le Vien party in Las Vegas. It is said that the stones on the sandals seem to be mounted unswervingly onto the leather and hardly seem to be detachable.

Ruby Slippers - Another design by Stuart Weitzman and also one of the most expensive footwear. This one was designed to be like Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. The slippers are adorned with 690 rubies and costs around $1.8M. It was supposed to be worn by an actress during the Oscars but it never happened. The glass slippers above though had been worn by the singer Alison Krauss .

OK, so whose idea was it to put gold and jewels on our regular everyday stuff to make it “the most expensive”? It’s becoming quite a trend these days: cellphones, ipods, you name it. Is this done just for the title? I mean, come on! With gold and jewels on those things imagine how much they’d weigh. Gems or jewels look good on jewelry and accessories but for these things? I don’t think so. Here are five examples of the most expensive stuff in the world (because of jewels, that is).

Millennium Bra - Ok. This brassiere is covered in 3,024 jewels including 1,988 sapphires. It was produced by Victoria’s Secret (I didn’t expect anybody else) and was valued at $10 million. It was modeled by Heidi Klum during the opening of the 2005 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The following year, they produced a Fantasy Bra that was modeled by Karolina Kurvoka. It is worth $6.5 million and contains 2000 Hearts on Fire diamonds with a 10-carat diamond brooch centerpiece.

The $30 Million Bikini - This bikini contains over 150 carats of D Flawless diamonds, including a 51 carat D Flawless Pear Shape, a 30 carat D Flawless Emerald Cut, a pair of 15 carat D Flawless Rounds and a pair of 8 carat D Flawless Pear Shapes all set in platinum. It was created by Susan Rosen with Steinmetz Diamonds and uses NO FABRIC. Honestly, I don’t think it will be comfortable to wear.

GoldVish Le Million - No, no. It’s not Dracula saying “goldfish”, GoldVish is the creator of the Le Million, the world’s most expensive mobile phone. It’s a cellphone made from solid gold (imagine how heavy that is) and studded with diamonds. Its value is approximately one million euros ($1.3 million) and is a limited edition product with only 3 of them available.

iDiamond - Oh, come on! If you didn’t guess it was an iPod I don’t know what other name will. Just kidding. Thomas Heyerdahl created the aptly named iPod with the intention of combining the art of jewelry and technology to build the most expensive MP3 player available. He rebuilt the outer shell into solid gold and added 430 diamonds on the player and headset. Its value is approximately 31 thousand euros or US $42,000.

Mercedes SL600 - This diamond-studded Mercedes SL600 is valued at around $4.8 million. It is said to be Saudi Prince Waleed’s 38th car. However, there are sources who claim that those are not really jewels but crystals and the car is priced at around $1 million (which wouldn’t make it the most expensive). The truth? I’ll leave it up to you to find out.

So I posted something about weird hairstyles for women previously. So just to be fair with the guys, let me post some hairstyles for them as well. *smile* While looking for pictures, I was pleasantly amazed to see a lot of variety when it comes to men’s hairstyles. I wouldn’t call them “weird hairstyles” yet, though some can be considered as such. Here are three alternative hairstyles you guys may want to check out.

Punk - Punk hairstyles usually define the punk subculture. I mean, when you see a punk, you’ll know by their hair! Spikes are common with their style as well as the asymmetrical cut but the most noticeable would be the colors. Probably the most common punk hairstyle would be the mohawk (which I consider to be a weird hairstyle and could have variations of other weird punk hairstyles, like the bi-hawk or tri-hawk).

Emo - According to a blog about emo hairstyles (follow the link), an emo hairstyle is “is a style created by your own, a style that is completely different from the others.” Emo is still considered punk so you will notice a lot of similarities. Some tips would include just messing around with your hair until you manage to get one that you like. Do take note that like punk hairstyles, emo hairstyles require a lot of maintenance like coloring and blow drying among others. One more tip from the site was to make sure to not take it to a point where people can’t tell your gender. Which brings us to…

Metro - Just look at the picture. Can you even tell if it’s a man or a woman? Well, I guess metro hairstyles are just that, they can fit both men and women. Or should I say, they can make men look like women and vice-versa? A really weird hairstyle if you ask me.