>>--- Philosophical Style ---<<

Just wanted to embed a clip. :)

2009-05-16T12:21:00.002+08:00

I know I have totally abandoned this site due to my toxicity in school and in life.. sorry.. but anyhoo, i just really wanted to embed this clip and photo of me and my friends at the AAS Parsons Fashion Show with Betsey Johnson for our friends who don't have facebook. :)

merry christmas everybody!!!

2007-12-25T07:06:00.001+08:00

cream halloween ball

2007-10-29T18:28:00.000+08:00

ONE BIG FIGHT! :)

2007-09-30T11:34:00.000+08:00

Today's the big game and i'm gonna be watching at the araneta! whoot! hahahaha. :) I really hope we win. anyway, this is my second game to watch this uaap season since I watched the game versus la salle last september 9 with my brothers. Here's a phone pic taken at our seats.

Fellow atenistas, represent. hahaha. :) All in good fun though. I just really love my school. *wink*

Hanging out with Mich! :)

2007-09-25T19:34:00.000+08:00

One of the great things about meeting your bf's friends is making friends with their gf's and wives. hehe! In my case, one of them is John B's pretty wife and mommy to their cutie son Lucas (who, btw, is also bf's godchild). We hung out last sunday in Mandarin Hotel in Makati where bf's cousin Mikee's son had a grand 7th bday celebration. Afterwards, we headed on to Texas in Boni High Street for some drinks and more food. haha!

At captain jack's lounge bar cum spongebob world party room at the Mandarin Hotel. I ate so much lechon, mini-burgers, and cotton candy hehe. odd combination i know!

With charles while bf and john went out for a smoke. Gosh, these guys had to leave someone to make us bantay, hahaha! Yup, it's hassle how strict they are. But I've gotten used to it. hehe.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share pics. ;)

Dad's special little b-day gift

2007-09-23T22:12:00.001+08:00

I got a couple of emails asking what I got for my birthday, so i thought i'd address them with a post. :) well, I actually got part of it in advance (hello pink chanel care of bf, hehe) but another semi-big thing I got is a classic arm candy from mi padre muy dulce. ;)

It's a simple but elegant two-tone tag heuer aquaracer watch which i'm supposed to use everyday according to him. :) (please excuse the phone pic as I can't find my cam here in my room.) I love it coz it's just so me especially with the mother of pearl dial and two tone bracelet.(thanks again so much dad! love you. mwah!) This is just what I needed since I really can't use my other nice watch to the hospital anyway, hehe! *wink*

Other fun stuff I got from the girls are two cute tops, a body shop red lipstick, kerastase vita-cement shampoo, victoria's secret lip mosaic compact, mary kate and ashley glitter eyeshadow, l'oreal daily lotion, 3 headbands, a personalized metallic lilac pen, and a super nice gold charm bracelet with travel charms. Mi madre gave me jewelry which I will post maybe next time. :)

My Birthday Week

2007-09-22T19:17:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone!

just celebrated my birthday last week and had a blast. :) Well, there was a bit of sadness during this time also but as you know, dwelling in happiness is more of my thing to share so let's talk more about that. (only close friends who can deal with my babaw tears are required to hear drama hehehe.) See how nice i am? ;)

Anyway, celebrated my bday (Sept. 14) with a dinner in Sugi, Greenbelt and an open bar in Fiamma with some people closest to me (meaning: allowed to see me wasted, crazy and singing and dancing to "i love rock and roll" haha). Forgot to whip up my cam at the sugi dinner (which was super good by the way) but here are some pics from fiamms. Wasn't able to take pics of everybody though, especially those who were "friend of the friend of the friend of"... hahahaha! But it's all good! I had soooo much fun and everyone was cool. :)

Btw, to those who went, if our pic isn't here, it means i'm sabog in it (read: cannot be published). hahaha! most of the pics here are with the early people on the first half of the night. ;)

speedie myts, hottie juls, cutie nins, and crazy han.

with my cool babe mikki!

kulitan with the good boy of all good boys: denny boy! hahaha!

william, shampoo (?), me and riabebe.

dr. sunshine and atty. rain

view from the top! haha.

the early group!

tres marias with jp, rain, and marto in the background

with my pretty sister!!!

and our "out" pic a few moments later... hahahahaha

The next day, I had another birthday get-together (post-hangover) at Via Mare in Rockwell with some girls who couldn't make it the night before. We all had fun with all the new kwentos (stories and gossip) whilst eating feel good food.

manila fashion girl myta of nafnaf, future atenista top lawyer carmela, aussie fashion girl julia of fcuk, future nestle big boss ayee, lil old me, and fort's sexiest engineer mikki. (so proud to be their friend man! hehe)

Coincidentally, 4 of us used the same bag which is the damier speedy! hahaha! so we tripped on pics. :)

lv speedy damier club anyone? *hoot!* haha.

Well, that's about it for now. Hope everyone had a fun week. :)

Girls' night out

2007-09-10T19:22:00.000+08:00

(L-R) mikki, jaya, elaine and moi in alchemy

Getting some downtime lately! :) Love ya girls!

Dinner at Wanchai for Ria's Bday

2007-09-09T09:35:00.000+08:00

Had another birthday dinner last night for another cousin's birthday. She's fellow virgo babe, Ria. :) Wasn't able to take an official outfit pic but here's basically what I wore: Mod black and cobalt blue dress from H&M, Gold necklace with circle pendant, baker's black plat pumps, and LV multicolore shirley as clutch. :)

And here are 2 pictures of us cousins with the birthday girl in red. :) Happy birthday again riabebe!

Happy Birthday Hanny and Dianalyn! :)

2007-09-02T09:30:00.000+08:00

Went to a party last night and got a little bit too happy with mr. vodka, hehehe! It was my cousin Hanny's birthday and she had a joint celebration with her grade school (yep, grade school) bestfriend Dianalyn. I wore my new charcoal leopard print high-waisted pencil skirt from H&M HK, plain black satin tube top from topshop, black peeptoe pumps, mac deep red lipstick and I was ready to go!

Here are some pics (note: I am tomato red in most of them, hehehe):

Me with the celebrants Han and Lyn (before the vodka, hehe)

Riabebe and I (obviously after vodka, haha!)

Us cousins with our man groupies. ;)

Picture with all the girls left at 12:30 a.m.

My new shoe stash + My little pink chanel baby :)

2007-09-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Apologies for the row of teasers/ short posts. Life has been getting quite toxic both in an exhausting and giggly fun crazy way. Been meeting up with a lot of friends, going on lots of breaks, doing some deep thinking, working out in the gym, and running around hongkong the past month. I think I am in a lost soul-searcher mode at this time. *wink* But of course, the fashion aspect never gets pushed aside. Just perhaps the time to write about them hehe. ;)

Anyway, here is my latest shoes stash from the hongkong sale:

4 of them are japanese shoe brands, and the other two are from joy and peace. :) My favorite ones are the nude patent peeptoes because they are just so versatile. A bit boring but it matches so much! Plus I have a matching shiny nude lipstick in the same shade from bourjois paris. Haha. That's the new trend my dears, match your make-up to your accessories. ;) hehehe.

As for my new arm candy, yep it indeed is chanel! But not anything quite as dramatic as a lambskin flap or coco cabas. $2000++ is just way too much for my (or make that my bf's) budget right now. hehe! But I'm happy to say that it is still something very classic and quite useful for social gatherings and little tete-a-tetes.

Here it is, my little pink baby:

sorry for the blurry pic as I couldn't use the flash.

It's a pink caviar leather pochette/clutch on a chain (with silver hardware). My good friend marl got it for us/me at the end-of-season neiman marcus sale and came with a lovely black chanel box with felt cloth wrappings. Can I just say that she is the new princess of my room. hahaha! Actually this little baby made pink, gray, white and black as my staple color this fall season. ;) Hope everyone loves her as much as I do. mwah!

Just got back from a trip of surprises. :)

2007-08-31T22:54:00.000+08:00

Undeniably one of the most memorable trips I've had in a while, last week in HK will forever be imprinted in my heart. My brothers are the best for helping me in so many ways. hehe. The least of that is carrying all my shopping bags. *wink*

P.S. Will write more when I find time this Sunday. :) and post the mystery arm candy I posted about last week.

Watch this space!

2007-08-13T01:36:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone!

Again I apologize for the lack of posts but I have some adorable news for those who have been asking for more fashion/shopping posts. I recently was able to get a new baby! I wonder if anyone would be able to guess what it is before I post some pics this weekend. Clue no. 1: it's leather and I have been wanting something from this certain fashion house because of my (clue no. 2) initials. Any guesses?

The next big news is... tan-da-na-nan... drum roll please.. I'm going on a short trip to a very familiar fashionable place. heehee! I hate to leave you hanging but I kind of have to go and will just talk about the trip more on the next post. But as the title says--watch this space lovelies!

heart,
cc

E.R. duty

2007-07-19T22:41:00.001+08:00

amidst the influx of pedia patients at the e.r. last saturday, val (surgical clerk) and i had this pic taken. haha! :) note to everyone: drink your vitamins!

P.S. I promise to write a longer one with my latest shopping stash in my next entry. *wink*

Missin some downtime...

2007-06-14T20:30:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone, I'm really missing writing in this blog... how I wish I had more strength and more breaks to be able to document more of my school and shopping adventures and hear everyone comment about them. This is just a quick hi to all of you and I thought I might as well share a pic from last saturday of me and my cousins enjoying some ice cream at the mall. I hope everyone is feeling light despite the rainy season. mwah! miss you terribly guys!

love always,

My Latest Purchase :)

2007-05-11T07:27:00.000+08:00

Seven for all Mankind A-pocket jeans in dark havana!!! Nothing beats seven jeans for me especially for bootcut styles which is the kind I got. :) Was looking through my closet the other day and realized that I only have 2 decent bootcut jeans left and the rest are either straight or skinny which I still love... but gals, bootcut is a classic right? hahaha. I just had to satisfy my shopping craving and ended up in Mix at Greenbelt hence the jeans. haha. :)

Good vibes, good vibes

2007-05-01T22:05:00.000+08:00

How's everyone? Thank goodness for the holiday I was able to take a break today. Went to powerplant mall and watched spiderman 3 which I loved! :) I also did some very minor shopping. I just couldn't walk out the mall without carrying a shopping bag in my hand can I? hahaha. But more on that later. :)

The past week has been very draining for me. I just actually finished 7 days rotation at a public hospital in manila that specializes in tropical infectious diseases... It was quite a shock but also a huge learning experience. I've become better at doing IV insertion, NGT insertion, Foley catheter insertion, as well as CPR. For one of my duty nights I was assigned to handle 3 pavillions/wards alone. Can you imagine? It meant I had to do everything in those 3 wards from 4 pm until 8 am (which basically means hourly monitoring of toxic patients as well as initiating cpr with a nurse when a patient suddenly goes into arrest). Thank goodness I came out of it whole, unscathed, a bit stronger and a whole lot more sharp in certain skills. *wink* I'm quite happy to have experienced it but I honestly don't want to talk about it that much. hahaha! The kiddie patients loved me there though. I'll really miss them. :)

One odd thing I've realized about myself lately is that I've become a sentimental schmuck. Really! I've fallen in love so many times the past few days. I've honestly fallen in love with some of my patients, my mentors (residents and interns), my school, my blogreaders here, my books... even my darn stethoscope which I clean every night by the way! hahaha. I guess it's because I've learned to appreciate a lot of things in life ever since clerkship began and put a bit of a halt to my happy-go-lucky come-let's-shop days. It's been grueling since april 1st for such a shallow little girl like me so anyone or anything that puts a smile to my face makes me so emo that I think I'm becoming grossly cheesy already. hehe. Can anyone relate? I think I've become more crybaby-ish too. *sigh* I guess it's probably because there's been so many dramatic changes in my daily living. hehe. There are times that I love what I'm doing but at the same time I want to fly away. literally. to new york. or at least to hongkong which is only 2 hours and 45 minutes away. :)

But anyway, it's good vibes here right now! I went to the gym with one of my bros earlier, as well as rockwell with bf and ate at dencio's, had hair spa at basement, had my jeans altered at alterations plus, and did some shopping at pcx, topshop, and office warehouse. :) Can you guess what I got? (Haven't taken pics yet but will upload them in a bit.)

Hope everyone had a fun day! Watch spiderman 3 okay? (Did I ever mention that peter parker's my superhero crush since childhood? hahaha. I loved geeky guys when I was younger!)

P.S.
I would like to thank one of my readers for creating the new header for this site. :) You rock!

The one thing I miss the most...

2007-04-24T18:55:00.000+08:00

hanging out wit my girlfriends!!!! especially the kind that shop and drink and dance till they drop. hahaha! here's a shout out to celine, mic and ina who all had fun clubbing their hearts out in frisco some weeks ago. love you girlies! i'm so sorry i couldn't be there.

My girls in d' club ;)

P.S. of course this isn't to say that i don't miss my other girlfriends just as much, especially the eliteans. hehe, just couldn't find a pic where you girls are all in it haha.

Rants + Tony Roma's + A more shallow cosmetic rant (pics to follow)

2007-04-15T07:11:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone, how are all of you? I just wanted to make a quick entry as I'm already feeling sad for the lack of time to make entries the past two weeks. Things have been so hectic after the holidays (holy week) in the hospital and there are days that I already am at my wit's end. *sigh* It's fun but also very draining... and indeed a roller coaster ride of emotions, gossips and mini fights. hahaha. I was telling my bestfriend t the other day about it and she shriekingly exclaimed, "omg, it's like gray's anatomy!". Well, maybe so but then again I have never seen an episode of the series at all.. *loser alert?* hehe. Anyway, I am here right now at the doctor's callroom and will attempt to make an entry despite the very short break I have. :)

Last night I was pre-duty and went with bf's family to eat at tony roma's in glorietta where I got a regular slab of baby back ribs, whilst bf got a full slab! hahaha. I also ate cheesecake afterwards. it was so good, especially since I haven't been eating a lot of yummy food lately...

On a more shallow note, I felt so sad yesterday because my favorite shiseido powder which I got from causeway bay in HK cracked when I dropped the compact whilst I was fixing my stuff. :( I asked around shiseido in manila and unforch, they don't have the same kind of powder yet. It's the maquillage powder foundation with metallic pink compact and I effing need a refill! X/ Good thing though that my angel, tita d will be going to singapore next week and will check if they have it available there. My gosh, I didn't know manila could be so delayed in getting product launches until a good friend told me that it took maybelline a one year delay before launching the popular dream mousse foundation here. Weird huh? Anyone here from singapore? I'm really hoping they have it there! :)

I'm being called now to do something at the 5th floor. *siiiigh* wish I could write some more. But I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone who has been sending comments and telling me they miss me and my blog. Thanks guys!!! *big hug* You have no idea how much you brighten my day everytime I get a line. Hope you don't give up on this little blog anytime soon. Till the next entry...

Love,
cc

12 hours + 36 hours +12 hours since forever

2007-04-05T13:55:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone! Haven't blogged in just a couple of days but it actually seems like I haven't blogged since forever! Must be because so much has happened to me both in the literal and metaphorical sense. I just learned countless valuable things in the hospital the past few days and went through experiences that I, perhaps, will look back on a couple of years from now and smile whilst remembering them. (yes friends this is me, hehehe). Well, I still think that medical clerkship is exhausting and at times a little less enjoyable than shopping or travelling *nods* but being there in actuality I've been finding it interesting, fun, and more rewarding in so many ways! Thanks to the people in my team, I remembered the reason why I've been staying in medschool these past three years. hahaha!

Anyhow, let's stop that before everyone starts snoring (including me hehe). I am at home because it's a holiday and those who aren't on duty for 36 hours were not required to time in today (woohoo!). I have never been so thankful for a day's rest more than I am right now! Although I don't have much to blog about, let me share a couple of things I did before the (once) dreaded april 1. hahaha!

Day before clerkship, as if preparing for war, I bought some stuff at Rustan's (a nice department store in manila) to "arm myself". *grins*

Cutesy weapons of war(d). XD

I bought myself new oakley eyeglasses (square wire 2.0) with polarized lenses, small oakley vault case to match and 2 new lesportsac bags for my rounds. hehe.

Oh and I also ate out at In.Yo in loyola heights and friday's. :) But I haven't uploaded pics coz they are in bf's phone. Here is what I wore though:

Houndstooth mini dress from wetseal, electric blue patent flats from hongkong, and owl clutch by paul & joe for target.

I would love to stay and chat some more but I need to do some paperwork before I get carried away here. *sigh* hope everyone has a nice week though!

Congrats Drew!

2007-04-01T23:51:00.000+08:00

I haven't had much sleep but I just had to make an entry and congratulate drew today! He graduated from ateneo high school with a silver medal (second honors), a kostka award and another award for being part of the athletics council. :) He has made me immensely proud and has been an inalienable part of my life eversince he was born.

To Drew, you know that I've always wanted the best for you but instead it is you who managed to become the best little brother a sister could ever ask for. You and Rob make up my two wings!

Me with my two baby brothers who are both the best in their own special ways and (just a little trivia) btw, are only effing nine months apart in age. :D

Shit, shit, shit. I can't believe how old I'm getting! hehe.

LAST DAY OF THE RACE: Farewell hongkong! Till the next time!

2007-03-30T01:48:00.000+08:00

The last day of our trip was mainly alloted to go to the peak and get everything we still wanted to get before heading out to the airport at 7:30 pm. :) Both of us woke up extra early (around 8 a.m.) and then already started packing the loot we have bought from the first 2 days along with our other things! I then instructed drew to be strategic about packing his stuff so that his things prior to this last day's haul will be mostly on one side of his luggage and then the new stuff he buys for the day can be easily packed in later on. I then called the frontdesk and asked for a late check-out and they gladly obliged, giving us until 2 pm. :) We then left at 9:00 am to go to Central and then went out the J2 exit and walked along Garden's Road towards the Peak Tram.

It indeed is nice to walk in central in the morning --

but by this time drew and I just wanted to reach the peak tram because we've had enough of walking, thank you. haha.

You could tell that drew was still sleepy! hehe.

We then took the peak tram which was fun--

and reached the actual peak at around 10am.

We took a lot of pics of the cityview but the clear glass terrace walls are something else. There were moments that I got scared but pretended not to be! Drew kept teasing me though, plus I think he made me pose for a lot of pics whilst leaning on the clear glass on purpose. hahahaha!

A lovely austrian guy took this shot for us. Thank you again mister! heehee.

We then ate lunch at Bubba Gump at the peak, the resto had a very nice view and the food and service was the best we've had in hk! (Price was the best too btw, haha! But so worth it. *wink*)

We ordered steak and shrimp for andrew and cajun shrimps and caesar salad for me. Drink was the Run forrest run shake for both of us. Yummy!

By the time we finished eating I checked my watch and realized that it was already 12:00nn (remember that we had to check out by 2 pm?) and so I decided that we can only go to one more stop before heading back to tsim sha tsui. We then went down via the tram again--

Tram ride going down was so fun because we were seated backwards! haha.

and can you guess where we decided to have that one last stop?

Why H&M of course! hahaha. We were in central already anyway and it was only like 7 minutes away so we made a run (or more of a brisk walk) for it and gave ourselves a 60-minute-grab-all-you-like last minute shopping at H&M. hahaha! Well, we got a really nice haul because of the adrenalin I think. heehee. :) By the time we left h&m, it was already 1:15 pm so we were literally running towards the mtr station (with drew carrying 2 h&m paperbags!)

Can you believe that I took this shot whilst we were running to the mtr? haha!

Another "running" shot! The mtr station exit (or should I say entrance?) is right beside LV. XD

We then reached the hotel at around 1:40 and did a very quick final fixing of our luggages (as well as a quick change from my biker jacket into a cream cardigan) and then were able to check out at exactly 2 pm. phew! I told you it was really like an amazing race! hehehe. We were laughing like kids the whole time because we really cut it too close this time. XD

By 2:05 pm, drew and I then left our luggage at the bell services area and told them that we'll come back for the bags at around 7 pm as our flight is at 10 pm. Well, we still had 5 hours in our hands before 7 pm so guess where we went next?

We went to causeway bay --

Photo courtesy of lambcutlet.org as I wasn't able to take a site pic (though I did take a vid). The only difference is that during our visit, the red chinese new year decors had been taken down and changed to big colorful easter egg decors.

where andrew felt like eating haagen daz ice cream:

He got strawberry and I got tiramisu. So good!

and I got stuff from shiseido and something from lee garden's two. :) Can you guess what it is?

By 6 pm we then headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui but went down the landmark in central first to get a last minute thing. *wink wink*

Here are some random pics during our final-final stop in Central of hongkong island.

Drew checking out stuff at the small accessories case or perhaps just catching his breath with grace? haha!

We then went right back in the mtr station to TST and got there quickly. We actually reached kimberley road a little earlier than expected and so I told andrew that we have time to spare before going to the airport. :) We decided to eat at a super cute japanese dessert place called azabusabo in kimberley road.

I got waffles with mixed fruits and caramel ice cream,

and andrew had a chocolate and milk soft sundae.

After that nothing much happened. We got our luggages at 7 pm, waited for the free shuttle, got on the airport express, reached the airport, and checked in right on time. *wink*

Pic of our luggage whilst waiting in line for check in.

We simply waited at the terminal for 15 minutes before we finally got on the plane to manila... Goodbye HK was all I can say to myself sadly... :)

To end this post is the only loot pic I am able to take. This pic is missing some stuff but at least you'll get a feel of my shopping haul! I'm so sorry, i know it's fun to see pics of each of them but I cannot take anymore individual pics as it's too time-consuming! *sighs* I fixed them already in my closet and I kind of really need to take it easy before hell begins this sunday... hope I haven't disappointed everyone so much. *weak smile* Hey, pretty much everything is here. Just play spot the item! heehee.

You know, ending this entry makes me somewhat sentimental. I enjoyed every single moment of this trip and am glad to have shared this with all of you! ;) Can't wait to go back to hk! Drew probably can't wait either. hehe!

Day 2 of Amazing Race with bro: Hongkong shopping and fun 2007

2007-03-28T21:38:00.000+08:00

Day 2 had a little more in store for us as I had incorporated 2 major sightseeing events in our shopping itinerary. First one was to experience Ngong Ping 360 and the other one is to walk around the avenue of stars and catch the Symphony of lights at 8 pm. Fathom trying to fit those two things in one day and then make time to do some more shopping and eating as well! haha. :)

We both woke up at around 9:30 am and left the hotel at around 10:30 am. We then went to the MTR station to head for tung chung but not before passing by simply bread to get a quick bite. I got an egg tart and juice and drew got a croissant and a milk drink. Yep, our breakfast was grab and go coz we were racing with time remember?

Here I am looking f-a-t and sleepy whilst clutching a hongkong guide at the central interchange station, hehe!

Anyhow, we then reached Tung Chung at around 11:00 am and then lined up for the NP 360 cable car.

Drew took this pic whilst we were walking towards the ticket center. I had no idea my hair needs a haircut so badly! haha.

Actual lining up only took 5 minutes! Lucky! *wink*

The Ngong Ping 360 ride --

isn't really my cup of tea. I was quite at the edge of my seat for 25 minutes! (that's how long a single ride was!). But when I started catching a glimpse of the Big Buddha, I started to get more excited and less apprehensive. I've always wanted to visit that place!

Can you see the buddha in the background?

We then landed at the Ngong Ping Village which is the main attraction. It resembled a quaint chinese village with little stores and restos. :) We looked around the place for around an hour and a half--

OT: I was wearing my proenza schouler trapeze coat!

I did this pose too and made elderly people giggle around us, haha!

And then settled down to have lunch at Euro Go Go for lunch.

This is me inside the resto, all bushed from walking around the village and beyond it near the foot of the big buddha!

Drew had bolognese baked spaghetti with honey milk tea whilst I got seafood with herb cream sauce and chocolate milk tea!

We then rode the cable car back again (which was another 25 minutes) --

View from the gondola whilst in the return ride.

and headed on to Citygate which is the outlet mall in tungchung! Lots of nice deals in this place dahlings. Drew hoarded 4 pairs of jeans (tough and twisted mind) and a backpack from bauhaus! I, on the other hand, only got a pair for myself (plus another one for bf). hehe

Here's mr. jeans hoarder in bauhaus. The cute salesgirls adored him! hehehe.

Other stores we bought at were quiksilver, nike, giordano, vivienne tam, esprit etc. We stayed there for roughly 2 hours (until around 3 pm) and then headed back to tsim sha tsui to put our stash in the hotel,freshen up and change clothes, and go out again. :) We ended up going back to granville stores and the miramar shopping center until it was already 7 pm and then we started walking along the stretch of nathan road leading up to salisbury road. We then went to the underground walkway and reached the Avenue of Stars at around 7:20 pm. We walked around and took pics of the skyline.

The wind was so cold! :) We both got hot chocolate at Pacific Coffee which was right in front of the bruce lee golden statue. I already posted my fave pic whilst drinking my hot choco along the avenue of stars so here's my shot of andrew.

Can you spot bruce lee in the pic?

As 8 pm approached, we then started walking to the front where the HK cultural center was to get the best view. :) The show was breath-takingly amazing as always! drew and I love it!

Here's my fave pic of drew taken during the symphony of lights. It was so difficult to take because it was so dark and the lights kept dancing all over the place. :)

And my most pa-cute pic during the entire trip, hahaha:

After the show at around 8:30 pm, we then went to SOGO right beside where we watched the show from and I bought a bottle of shu uemura UV underbase. :) We then started heading back to kimberley road but decided to eat at Tai Ping Koon in granville at 9:30 pm. :) Tai Ping Koon was recommended by mrs. t and is a quaint chinese resto with very good food and a nice low-lit ambiance.

Drew got roasted leg of pork (a specialty of the house) with rice:

Whereas I got TPK-style roasted pigeon (also a specialty and takes 20 minutes to prepare)--

We then finished eating at around 10:30 pm and after some last minute shopping on the way to our hotel, both retired for the night. Day 2 was gone in a flash! Hahaha.

Day 1 of Amazing Race with bro: Hongkong shopping and fun 2007

2007-03-28T20:53:00.000+08:00

I have been anticipating writing about my short shopping and sightseeing trip with drew in hk since the moment I landed manila soil. But now that I am actually supposed to blog about it, I can't even think of how to start! Ironic, isn't it? How indeed do I start yapping about such an exhilirating trip! hehe. Well, let me just put it this way... It was indeed an amazing race--"fashion and fun" version with my fellow expert-shopper brother as partner (who's also in track and field btw so can you just imagine his pace and endurance? hehe). Anyway, we really made a great team and our self-concocted itinerary was better than any travel agent can possibly lay out for us! *grins* So ladies and gents, the next time you're going to hk for a shopping trip, you can definitely ask me to make an itinerary for you at a very minimal fee. hahaha, i kid, i kid! Well anyhow, I decided to try to talk about the trip on a day by day itinerary basis. I will probably miss out a lot of the small details but if you have a map of hk or have been there more than once, you can most probably re-trace our steps by following the entry. Oh and please forgive me for the lack of pics on the first day (some here are stock pics from google). Drew and I were too focused on shopping and exploring at the time!

Basically we allotted the first day for shopping and simply feeling the hongkong pulse within our veins (meaning no formal sightseeing yet). Upon arriving at the CLK airport at 10 am, we proceeded to take the airport express which is the quickest way to get to your area of destination from the airport. To those of you who are planning to go to hk anytime soon, I definitely recommend getting the HK$300 airport express return octopus card (it's actually $285 if you buy online). It is very convenient and comes with complimentary unlimited mtr rides for 3 days and free shuttle use to and from certain hotels. It only took us around 20 minutes to get to the Kowloon station and then we took the k5 free shuttle to our hotel which was roughly a 10 minute ride (it stops right in front of it.)

Off guard pics of me and Andrew taken by each other. I was on the walkway to the airport express entrance whilst drew is shown riding in style inside the train.

We were able to check in right away at our hotel at around 11am. It was all very smooth and hassle free, indeed a sign of good things to come! We really were pretty much set up to go around hk within 50 minutes of landing! Oh yeah, we stayed at a 4-star hotel called The Kimberley Hotel--

We stayed in the 16th floor! One of those square things on the top was our room’s window, haha.

which is located in kimberley road in tsim sha tsui (which btw, seems like the wedding gown central of hongkong haha) right across the luxe manor hotel. Location is perfect if you love hip and trendy clothes which is the main thing in granville road right beside it (more on that later). And also if you're looking to get vivienne westwood or uniqlo stuff as well because the miramar shopping center is a mere 2 minute walk from the hotel. We then unpacked our stuff and fixed up a little before heading outside and had authentic hk roasted duck and beef brisket noodles for lunch.

Here's drew wolfing down his yummy beef brisket noodles (I forgot the name of the small resto, we were hungry!). XD

After lunch, drew and I explored stores along granville road. According to the In-style HK guide (the one with daniel wu on the cover and was free with a preview issue), in the 80's and 90's granville road was once famous for its export surplus goods outlet where you could pick up "samples" of brand name goods at a fraction of retail prices. However, these outlets have been gradually replaced by edgy local casual wear brands such as b+ab and izzue.com under the i.t umbrella, as well as 2%, Modern Girl, and stores specialising in goods like japanese casual wear Evisu, US skateboarding brand Stussy, and Supreme. Other stores I personally loved were pe:tite, zuccoz, toonia, E.G.O. (for cute chucks and sneakers) and the shops at the Rise Shopping Arcade. It indeed was an area for fashionable youth! Warning: money flies fast here. I bought a lot of nice stuff!

Some random pics taken in granville:

I got cute tops here!

Andrew loved the egg balls being sold on the streets of granville for HK$10. It reminded him of waffles!

We then walked along nathan road where andrew got a super cute jacket from chevignon and I got bf a dressy long sleeved shirt at crocodile (this are among other things for the both of us hehehehe). Afterwards, we shopped along carnavon road and humphrey's ave which houses one of my favorite shoe stores called autinori. This store is owned by a stylish local guy named mickey zo who designs the shoes he sells himself. They are all leather made and intricately detailed and prices are around $300-400. His designs are also exported to japan and so his shoeboxes mostly has jap characters in them. I love his creations and only discovered them last year! He even remembers me now. haha!

Here’s drew texting in front of Area 0264, a quirky store in carnavon road that sells commes des garcons, paul smith, anna sui, and other stuff. I got a cute stranger brand bifold wallet there!

Here’s Autinori’s ads from viaclub.com.hk, I’m sorry for forgetting to take pics! Mickey would have obliged. :)

At around 7:00 pm, drew and I dumped all our shopping stash back at the hotel and then went back out to ride the mtr to Central. Guess where we went? Yup! H&M!!! (But of course not before we looked inside LV at the landmark. haha). There was a very fast queue when we arrived but upon entering there the real ruckus began. I was like, carrying 10 articles of clothing in my hands along with 2 pairs of shoes and there was nowhere to lay them down at. The line for the fitting room and the pay counters were also insane. Thank God though that this is HK and not manila. No matter how long the line was, it was still a bit organized and was moving quite efficiently. The store is desperately in need of shopping baskets though!

Entrance of H&M, the same Madonna poster/billboard is still up.

An understated pic of how insane it is inside. The store was brimming with cute merchandise!

After 1 huge paperbag of h&m stuff, around 8:30 pm, drew and I ate at Cafe de Coral which is 1 minute away from h&m. He got the white chicken and roasted duck combo with soup and green veggies in brown sauce whilst I got the spareribs meals also with white soup and boiled cabbage. It was filling and fast!

Drew didn't look tired at all! Here he is whilst waiting for our order at cafe de coral.

Some stock pics of cafe de coral signs so that you can try it also when you go there!

After dinner, around 9 pm, drew and I then headed on to Mongkok to look at the Night Market and Ladies Market (which also actually has guy stuff). Yes, we were on a roll! hahaha. He was able to get a chinese collar silk costume top (which he absolutely had no use for but just wanted for fun) for HK$100 which the seller was initially selling at $180. (Crazy price drop from haggling, huh!) On the otherhand, I got 2 pairs of shoes for HK$99 each, as well as some things from very company and some other stores. haha, I really can't say everything we got simply because it's too hard to enumerate and remember! Oh and we also ate mango sago pudding at Hui Lau Shan. It was yummy and refreshing!

Stock pics of ladies market and hui lau shan. :)

After a little more (guess what) shopping (hehe) we then headed on home at around 11 pm and that concludes our first day in hong kong. Whew! I swear I heard my toes cursing me as I reached the hotel room. Hahaha! And that’s only day 1. XD

My fave stuff from hongkong

2007-03-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

If there's one thing I adore shopping for in hk, that'd be shoes. I love the quirky designs and good quality shoes that local fashion designer shops and small boutiques have for sale there. The only downside though is that since most hk people are so fashion forward, it is often that certain shoes I absolutely would slave to have are out of my size. Luckily though, the shoe fairy smiled upon me and allowed me to get several lovely pairs. She did her magic and let me have them in my size. hahaha!

Here's my shoe haul:

Price range varies from a mere HK$69 to HK$400. Can you guess which ones are my absolute favorites? :)

Back from HK!

2007-03-25T02:37:00.000+08:00

Hi guys! Been back from hongkong since friday but have only found the time to update the blog now. It was super duper fun! I had a blast with my little bro drew and ended up having too much fun that by the end of the third day, I had an effing blister on my right foot. Gross huh? *winces* hehe! No, I'm not kidding. (I really did get them and had party feet blister gel pads from scholl's save me from further agony!) Drew, on the otherhand, didn't get sore feet at all and ended up with just as much, if not more, shopping haul as me! Yeah, like sister like brother of course. hahaha! Anyway, I will be making a better hk entry later on as I'm exhausted for the day and will collapse in this chair in a couple of minutes. I hope everyone hasn't given up on this site yet, haha! Your dearest blogger is battling a whole lot of stress (good and bad) lately and with clerkship starting soon, the anticipation for more harassment isn't dwindling at all. Thank God for fashion, family, friends, food, spas and readers like you, I am able to go on with me cheerful ways day by day and have not turned into a gollum of some sort. heehee.

To end this post is one personal/postcard-like/candid picture taken by andrew. We were hanging out at pacific coffee at the avenue of stars while waiting for the symphony of lights and he took this pic whilst I was savoring my hot choco. It's one of my fave pics from the trip!

As asked by reader jihanemo, I decided to place the components of the outfit above. :)Dark charcoal motorcycle jacket from topshop (with turned up collar), inside is my light gray audrey hepburn shirt from junkfood, MNE wash jeans from seven for all mankind, comfy white leather flats from lacoste, and damier pochette melville messenger bag from louis vuitton.

Can't wait to share more pics with you. mwah!

All my bags are packed....

2007-03-20T01:36:00.000+08:00

Will be leaving for hk tomorrow morning and this shall be my last post in a couple of days. :) I apologize (yet again hehe) as I haven't had time to do a lot of entries recently due to last minute things (salon, grocery, visit to my aunt) and bf wanting to do so much before I left (yeah, dates galore! haha). Anyhoo, ate at old swiss inn again today and ordered their signature corned beef (complete with horseradish and mustard sauce)! It was definitely a sweet date with bf to remember whilst looking around in hk with my little brother (who's actually way taller than me). Awww, I miss bf already. *cheesy alert* hahaha. Well, that's all for now. Hope all of you had a perky monday! Be back soon!

Outfit: Movie date with bf

2007-03-17T10:02:00.000+08:00

Bf and I watched 300 at powerplant mall last night. It wasn't the best but it was okay. Bearable because of the ab fest maybe? hahaha. But seriously, none of the (300) boys were actually my type... Too brawny and sweaty for me, hehe. But I still had fun though! We had oliver sadwiches (I had a hi-protein toasted sub and bf got an oliver's club) as well as 2 baked potatoes (herb cream cheese and roast beef melt) as our moviehouse food and 2 java chip fraps from starbucks as drinks. Everything was so yummy! I especially liked the herb cream cheese baked potato. :)

Oliver's in powerplant movie area

Now for the outfit... Okay, I wore a very boring outfit because I didn't have time to think about what to wear. I went to the spa and had a shiatsu/reflexology combi massage as well as mani and pedi yesterday afternoon and slept when I got home. At around 7 pm, bf just forced me to get up and watch a movie hence the very hasty boring outfit decision. hehe! Here is what I wore:

White puff-sleeved tissue tee from mossimo, dark skinny jeans by so fab, sandals from aerosoles, f21 silver bangles, topshop skull earrings, and blue/green vachetta studded satchel from coach. The white gold necklace with multi-colored crystal pendant is from K jewelry and was a gift from bf 3 years ago. :)

Update: As per request of reader hunnieb, here is a close up of my necklace. It has a customized 18k white gold semi-rubix pendant with faceted multi-colored stones. This was my bf's first ever christmas gift (along with a pair of earrings) so it is very precious to me. :)

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

New package from DM: Travel knick knacks

2007-03-16T18:35:00.000+08:00

My lovely mother, being the thoughtful soul she is, sent me a package which had various travel knick knacks for my hk trip with drew. It's full of cute goodies that are meant to make our little vacation a little bit more fun! I suspect that they are all from Target too. haha! (well, maybe except for the mags.) ;)

Included are a bunch of magazines for the short plane ride, some over-the-counter meds in case of a sudden cold, 2 packs of trident gum, a pack of twix, 2 cotton tees and 3 tanks all from mossimo for some serious layering, a small denim bag for toiletries which was a freebie from teen vogue, a brand new apple green padlock for drew's luggage (I still have my purple ones), and my favorite: 4 animal head luggage tags. See those 4 kiddie animals at the bottom of the pic? Those are for my luggage! I just think the red ladybug and the pink piggy are adorable. :) Andrew can have the bugly bear. hahahaha!

Woohoo! Update + H&M hongkong opening pics

2007-03-16T07:55:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates recently as my exams just finished and I took a small bum break after the nerve-wracking experience. *nods head* It was so stressful I tell you, on the last day I even thought I was going to break down. :( *sniff sniff* Okay, enough self-pity! hahaha. Anyhoo, thank you so much to all of you who emailed and left comments whilst I was gone. :) You guys really lifted me up whenever I thought I woulda sunk already! heehee. And to those who so sweetly prodded me to update the site, I love you guys for missing this crappy ol' blog of mine. It really is so nice to know that I have some people who can relate with my thoughts on here. Thanks again everyone for being so thoughtful! mwah, mwah, mwah!

Yesterday I went to the spa for some waxing and now I'm thinking of coming back for an hour shiatsu + reflexology combi massage, hehe. Oh and I also ate chinese food at hap chan makati for lunch but will just put up the pics later as they are in bf's phone. Other than those, I really haven't done much anything lately except study, sleep, eat, and study and sleep. hahaha! Oh and I've also been daydreaming of hongkong. My trip is nearing and I am very very excited. I even had a last minute jolt yesterday morning as my dad and I realized that I would need a DSWD travel clearance for my 17-year-old brother as he is not travelling with a parent internationally (yes, eventhough I am so beyond legal age already and is his sister at that!). I then started researching about the procedure and online it said that the process must be done 7 days before any trip. I was like, hello? We only have like, 5 days left! Anyway, no need to worry now, everything is fixed and we were able to get the travel clearance the same day. Thank you to my calling and clerical abilities, *bows*. hahaha! Oh and I also decided to try booking in Kowloon this time, near granville road and miramar shopping center (where uniqlo is located). Why? The hotels in causeway bay are all fully booked! Can you imagine? Oh wells, I don't care, any 4 star hotel will do as long as I'm in HK. *wink*

I am a bit late blogging about this but H&M hongkong in central opened already last March 10 and it was a ruckus! They gave away an autographed madonna trench coat to the first 20 and h&m umbrellas (or sunglasses?) to the first 500 people who entered which added more unnecessary incentive to the hype and so the lines were out-of-this-world crazy! Some people even reportedly slept on the pavement outside the store the night before the opening day just to fall in line the next morning. I was like, woah! They also started selling the M collection by Madonna 2 weeks earlier than the rest of the world which lured in more spenders. Still I think everything was good shopping fun as long as nobody got hurt. Crazy but I bet it was like a party to them people. :)

Here are some pics (all from nitrolicious.com) of the newest retail giant to set foot on hk territory:

HK stars Kathy Chow & Mikki Yao at the Launch Party both in M by Madonna for H&M

Crazy shoppers on the first day:

And here's a video taken by an (assumingly) tall french dude of the exaggerated line and tight security on the opening day. C-R-A-Z-Y!

Hmmm, I think I may need some fitness training before my hk trip. These hk shoppers are tough! hahaha.

Them Crocs are dangerous! Comfy... but?

2007-03-08T16:45:00.000+08:00

I have never been a fan of crocs. I actually think they're hideous but only because I am such a artsy fartsy sexy shoe lover. I guess it's because I ain't blessed with genetically perfect toes and so I compensate by buying shoes that make them look a wee bit prettier at least. hahaha! Anyway, although I'm not a crocs lover, I have a lot of friends who like to use them in the hospital, (hello, it's like the med student's standard OR pair) and in fact, bf has a pair of white ones which he will use for clerkship this april. I also know of a bunch of people who love them and think they're cute. XD

Well guys, this is just a warning to be careful whilst wearing those uber comfy sandals on local trips to the mall. This is what happened to Daphne OP's little girl's crocs as it got caught in an escalator in Rustan's...

Poor little sophie. Read the entire story here.

Oh, and you can also read the Manolo's hilarious entry about the international crocs attack here and watch a pseudo-crocs video commercial here. Don't miss them!

So, do we have any croc lovers out there? What do you think of this turn of events?

It's time... X(

2007-03-05T10:04:00.000+08:00

My comprehensive exams start this wednesday and it's time to do some serious reading. I may sound calm and nonchalant writing that sentence but believe me, I'm going crazy over here! *bawls* Seriously... and to top it all of, I'm not feeling too well... my colds and sore throat just got worse. Oh man, I don't know how I'm going to pull through. hehehe! Sorry for the rant. Anyway, I might not be able to properly update this site in the coming days but comments and inquiries are welcome as always. You can also email me by using the baby envelope icon thing below. I love hearing from everyone! :)

Have a nice week people! Hopefully not as cursed as mine. XD

New stuff @ H&M

2007-03-03T11:22:00.000+08:00

Nitrolicious posted a couple of H&M items that are coming out this month and some of them are really cute! Here are 3 items that caught my attention.

This heather grey graphic dress is so cute and perfect for the punky litte lolita in all of us. hahaha. I'd love to wear it with a pair of baby pink ballerina shoesies and plain white tank underneath.

These belts are so quirky and retro. I just love the darling clam buckles! They totally remind me of something my mom wore back in the day. Although I think my mom had a gold and black one. :)

And last is this citrus-y orange dress. Its simply refreshing to look at! I think I seriously want one now. ;)

I wonder what the price points for these things are... any idea?

Outfits: Thursday and Friday

2007-03-03T10:58:00.000+08:00

Last thursday, bf and I were dismissed early from class and decided to go to shangri-la mall to get something I had altered at Mico. We were literally in and out of the mall except for a few minutes at the mac counter where I tried on a couple of lipglass colors. Didn't end up getting any though. *cough-cheapskate-cough* haha! I wore a very casual audrey h. graphic tee and tweed couture shorts. I also took my damier speedy 30 for a spin.

Charcoal audrey graphic tee from junkfood, tweed brown and black shorts from topshop, black peeptoe leather skimmers from steve madden, and damier speedy 30 from louis vuitton. Not in picture: audrey pop-art bangle.

Then yesterday, bf and I ate at a mongolian buffet and looked around glorietta mall. I almost got a tokidoki something then I remembered that I should really not spend anymore since my hk trip is nearing. I wasn't able to take a pic of my outfit but here are some funny pics that bf took with his celfone. Btw, the white havaianas in my hand are for a friend. She asked me to get a pair for her since she didn't have time to go buy them. ;)

Striped bow headband from f21, black brocade dollman coat from f21, dark gray couture shorts from h&m, and red bouvier hobo with signature blue/red/blue web from gucci.

Oscar picks: Dresses dreams are made of

2007-02-26T18:37:00.000+08:00

Oscar fashion this year was all about glamorous understated colors with luxe and delicate detailing. Almost everyone was aiming for a classy, 'I'm a hollywood star' look, some bordering on overly ostentatious (jlo literally wore a 'dripping in diamonds' dress). I still think everyone was gorgeous though!

Here are my 3 favorites:

1) Gwyneth Paltrow in Zac Posen

I love this salmon color on her and the details on the bodice is amazing. Wearing her soft straight hair down complemented the color and the material. She was undoubtly drop dead gorgeous!

2) Portia de Rossi also in Zac Posen

Simply beautiful. The rich navy color sets off her complexion perfectly and the cut is unique with the panel details. I want this dress.

3) Penelope Cruz in Versace

Penelope's gown is my dream wedding dress if it were white. Definitely a sweet-looking showstopper number. The nude color keeps it from being over-the-top and I actually adore those wispy detailing in the skirt. Def not for everyone's taste but this is number one for me. :)

Lesportsac Travelmates: Handcarry stuff

2007-02-26T17:56:00.000+08:00

Almost missed out on completing this entry! hehe. Last friday, bf and I passed by rustan's in gateway mall to buy a little something for me and my younger bro drew. It's part of my little surprise for him pre-hongkong. *beams* (If you remember my past post about this, I'll be going with my hs bro to hk next month. *wink*)

Here is what I got:

Lesportsac 3-zip clutch in Underwater and Java, P995 ($20)
It's a very flat 5 x 7.5 inch rectangular pouch with 3 compartments and is perfect for putting our passports, tickets, and spare cash in. The size is really perfect for storing all those small travel papers and other stuff! I hate it when my fino leather passport cover gets thick and bulky with all the snippets of paper I end up placing in between the flaps. Plus I wanted us to match too! This is what baby bro gets for travelling with his ate (filipino for big sis). haha!

Also, I forgot posting about this a couple weeks ago but my Lesportsac Large Weekender in Tackle print has arrived. Along with it was a surprise matching classic hobo in the same print from mom (Thanks again ma!) Needless to say, I will use both as handcarry. :)

Here's a crappy picture that I took just now. They look so much nicer IRL!

The one on the right all folded up inside the accompanying pouch is the large weekender. I was too lazy to take it out for the pic as it is humongous! Someone told me it can hold 7 kilos of clothes!

Now here's a better picture of both from a japanese site.

I love that I can also use this set on it's own when I go to beach or yacht trips!

Sooooo excited for hk! ;) Quite obvious aren't I? hahaha.

Outfit: delicious japanese dinner date

2007-02-25T09:08:00.000+08:00

We were supposed to have dinner at the Mandarin hotel with some friends last night but something came up at the last minute. Bf and I though were already deadset to get some yummy eats and decided to go on a late solo date by ourselves instead. hehe! We were torn between going back to the Old Swiss Inn (for fondue and swiss corned beef) or Saisaki (cheap jap buffet! hahaha) but then somehow found ourselves in Izakaya Kikufuji in Pasong Tamo, Makati. We simply keep coming back to this place because of the cute low tables at the more secluded part of the resto, and the food is excellent authentic japanese too. Last night, more than 75% of the people eating there were japanese! The waitresses even thought bf was jap too. hahaha!

Anyway, I wore my kimono-like carioca top which I got last december in a bazaar. Bf thought it was funny because the patrons of the resto might think I wore that top on purpose as we were going to eat in a jap place. hehe! Well, someone complimented me on it so it mustn't have been that bad right?

Here is what I wore:

Satin white, pink & yellow kimono-sleeved top from carioca, white tank from hanes, dark denims from so fab @ macy's, saffron patent leather peeptoes from autinori hk and white patent leather clutch from aldo

And just to add some more color to this entry, here are some pics I had taken from our recent jap eat-outs. Some of them are from days that I wasn't able to post!

A plate of kanpachi (fattest part yellowtail) and shake (salmon) sashimi from kikufuji taken last night, and Ebi tempura bento set, sakura-style salmon sashimi & spicy tuna sashimi at Sakura in Glorietta mall last week

And here's a funny set of pics of bf while waiting for our order in Kuretake Rockwell

Spring '07 accessories: Cartoon colors!

2007-02-24T12:38:00.000+08:00

Whilst a lot of fashion editorials say that yellow is the 'it' color for spring, I think that bright animated colors in general is the trend for this season, especially for accessories. I've always love neutrals but I also get attracted to color so often! In fact I love having things with a punch of color every now and then. They emanate this cheerful vibe that makes me feel so much lighter and happier and so this is one trend that has always been year-round for me. :)

A dream-worthy collection bursting with color is prada's 2007 resort accessories. I swear if I had the means, I'd probably get one of each!

Here's a pic of some of their shoes. Aren't they lovely?

Image from Manolo ShoeBlogs

And of course, that beautiful nylon gauffre ad with sasha p.

For those who love coach, their new hamptons collection is quite charming and the price point isn't bad too. Plus, coach has amazing quality! My mom adores this brand.

I just love those fun bagtags!

Another brand that thrives in so much color is Lesportsac. I like their latest collab with french artist Fafi. It's atrsy and quirky, very girly too. ;)

For those of you who live in your black handbags and shoes, why not give this trend a try? It's sure to give you a boost which is quite addicting actually. hehe.

Outfit last night: The emerald green dress

2007-02-23T17:37:00.000+08:00

Went to a dinner party last night with bf's family as it was his grandparents' anniversary. I wore one of my fave dresses which I got from topshop sometime ago:

Printed emerald satin dress from topshop, dark brown suede peeptoe pumps from bakers, and horsebit bag from gucci. Also not in picture: 7-days bangles with multi-colored stones from la elegancia and filigree studs.

Oh and Kate Bosworth has one too!

My fave grammy dresses

2007-02-23T01:06:00.000+08:00

It's quite late to talk about grammy fashion, i knoooow. But I really wanted to add these dress images in my site as a quick reference for future purposes, hehe! :) You know, like my hard drive could get 'sick' *knocks on wood* and then I'd have to reformat everything. (Yup, I'm really super scared of those kind of scenarios! *shrugs*) Well, enough senseless rationalizing. It's a blog anyway, not a formal online fashion mag of some sort, so I could write anything that tickles me fancy schmancy no matter how old news it is, right? haha.

Anyway, I said this to my friend and I'll say it again. I don't know who won this or that grammy award and I don't know who went with who during that night. But what I do know is what all the lovely gals wore, so you can ask me anything about that! heehee. That's the only thing I care about at events like this anyway. hehe!

Here were my top picks. :)

I love Christina R's very detailed vintage dress which she reportedly just plucked out of her fully-stocked closet (I hear she's a self-confessed shopping addict!). It's just so different and unique like her... a bit dark but also refreshing, mature yet youthful too. And those gorgeous panels are tdf! Carrie's platinum badgley mischka dress, on the other hand, looks so elegant and ethereal. Perfect for such a sweet girl like her! And last but certainly not the least is my favorite which is Hilary's dolce and gabbana mini dress. It's fun and sexy with a bit of glamrock vibe which I'm loving at the moment. I think she's sort of coming into her own sense of style. :)

My V-day was all about Bustiers, Blue Roses, and Bourgulgnonne

2007-02-21T23:05:00.000+08:00

Apologies for the one week hiatus as I have been busy with so many things. I attempted to make time to blog within the last 5 days but just ended up dozing off right before I make an entry. *sigh* I blame it on medschool for taking up too much of my precious life. But oh well, let's not go there, hehe! Hmmm.. let's see... I was going to write about my fave grammy dress which was hilary's (an unlikely choice i know), about my bro's actual prom, about my other bro's cocktail dinner for making it in the director's list of ateneo (which I attended), about my new boots and my new haircut... But somehow the zeal about those things have momentarily faded. Let's just make things simple and pick up from where I left of which was valentine's day! heehee. XD

So what did everyone get last feb. 14? I'm dying to know! Hehe, Doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be from *ehem* a special someone, because sometimes the best v-day gifts can come from yourself (hello?! I'm an advocate for self-giving!) or perhaps from your dear mom or dad (for us lucky hijos and hijas, teehee.) Which btw, brings me to my mom's v-day gift which is... tan-dananan... my proenza stuff! I received a package full of proenza articles on v-day itself from my lovely mother. Talk about perfect timing! (Yes, I know I'm kind of spoiled by DM... But hey I work for it, really! hahahaha.) Of course I will share pics but I haven't taken shots of all of them yet so the other stuff will just have to wait their turn. :) What I'll share first would be my fave pieces from the loot which are the bustiers. DM was able to get me two bustier pieces-- a top and a dress! More specifically, the silk boy blue bustier top and the showgirl purple bustier dress. *happy, happy, clap, clap!*

Bustier no. 1: Proenza Schouler Silk Boy Blue Bustier Top--

I don't know if you can see it in the picture but the details of this top are genius! Very well executed, very sexy and worth it at $50.00. The silk material is comparable to their couture line too. And If you check ebay *gasp* they sell upto $150.00 and above. But I couldn't care less... I will never sell this piece. It's too pretty! heehee! There's also a chance that I'm the only one who has one in manila. They were so hard to get! So I've decided that it will remain part of my collection no matter what. :) Oh yeah, sorry for the low res pic as my camera is with one of my bros right now.

Anyhow, wearing it with a tank and shorts is my ode to scarlett j. Here she is wearing a black proenza bustier top at an mtv movie awards:

Bustier no. 2: Proenza Schouler Voile Bustier Dress in Showgirl Purple--

This dress is also nice but the material isn't as fab as the boy blue silk one. It's more of a linen-type cotton, but the bright color more than makes up for the less glam cloth. They essentially have the same details except that this is less shiny and is of course longer as it is a dress! They also sold out within a few hours from what I heard. And at $40.00 retail, it is just too precious! Needless to say, I was so in love with these two pieces the moment I saw them!

Moving on... Next is a picture of bf's v-day gift for me. It's a small prada party bag in black with blue rose print which I love so much! :) I was the one who chose this actually, heehee *blushing*, it was on sale and was just so irresistable. :)Hey, I told bf it's better than actual blue roses because those things wilt within a week! This on the other hand will last years and years! *nods head*

The first pic is my actual bag (sorry for the crappy pic) and the second one is a stock pic from a japanese designer store site. I love that I could wear it with my boy blue proenza outfit from the first pics. :)

This bag is actually from the fall/winter 2005 collection. Here's an ad of the lovely sasha pivovarova sporting a coat with the red version of this print (although I personally like the blue better). :)

F/W 2005 Prada Magazine Ad.

For our romantic date, bf and I ate in Old Swiss Inn in Makati and ordered Fondue Bourgulgnonne which is a tenderloin steak fondue where you are given plates of fresh steak pieces that you dip in boiling oil and dunk in a carousel of various sauces. Here's a pic of the ambience of Old Swiss Inn and a close-up pic of the fondue bourgulgnonne contraption. hehe!

It was so good! The steak literally melts in your mouth as you eat it. We even ordered extra plates of steak to prolong the experience, hehe! and it was not bad at around P1,000 ($20), plus each extra plate of sliced steak pieces is P300 ($6). I highly recommend it. :)

Here's another phone pic to end this entry. Don't you just adore fancy dinners? :)

So, what did everyone do for hearts day? Spill! :) Hope you all had fun sweeties!

Happy Valentines! :)

2007-02-14T01:50:00.000+08:00

My apologies for not having blogged in a couple of days. Exams just finished and am still recuperating from the lack of sleep. However, I am not one to forget to greet everyone as today is one of my fave days of the year. :)

Cheers to love, laughter and life! Use this occasion as a chance to kiss your parents, hug your siblings, spoil your bf (or gf!) and remember everyone you've shared a special moment with. You can never do wrong by being extra kind and helpful too. *wink*

Good vibes, dahlings. good vibes.

Which IT bag are you?

2007-02-10T12:05:00.000+08:00

To prep myself for my test on monday, I decided to take this quiz which is probably the most unrelated pre-test I am ever going to take. haha! I just found it funny how the only bag I can relate to among the choices (which included an hermes birkin, chloe paddington and fendi spy bag) ended up as the IT bag that I am. (Okay that sounded even funnier!) Anyhow, this gives me another reason for a murakami bag in the future, right? *wink*

To know which IT bag you are, take the glam.com quiz here.

Drool-worthy HK shoe haul

2007-02-10T11:01:00.000+08:00

Before you get the idea that I secretly went on a weekend hongkong trip in the middle of exams week, without any money, and without an announcement, the answer is no. In fact I am stuck at home this weekend because I need to catch up on 3 sleepless nights and start studying for my pediatrics exam on monday. *sigh* BUT that doesn't mean I can't post new goodies for you! You know why? because I have friends who go shopping and we can drool over their stuff together. hehehe!

Tita d, one of my mom's bestfriends (and one of my favorite among them, and who I have also stolen as MY friend. heehee!) just came back from a hongkong trip the other day and shared her shoe haul. I just can't stop looking at them and dreaming of finding unique pieces like these when it's my turn!

Here are her shoes, all from causeway bay (my favorite place in hk!):

The first two are from cute and quirky little stores found in Causeway Plaza (300 HKD each) whilst the last one is a pair of couture shoes from Times Square my dahlings! They're Pedro Garcia flats from Lane Crawford which she was able to get at 50% off at 300 USD. Okay, all together now... *drooooool* hahahaha!

--------------------------

Note for the lovely shoes owner: All three are super great finds Tita d! Makes me more excited for my upcoming shopping trip too. Thanks again for being so sweet and thoughtful! mwah mwah!

More Proenza just because...

2007-02-08T16:46:00.000+08:00

Okay, I know three entries about proenza schouler for target is too much. But please bear with me as I really can't get enough of this collection! :) I love that the duo really incorporated their signature style into this line and I can't stop myself from wanting too many of the stuff. It's like they made something refreshing and unique for spring but it still emanates proenza. *gushes* I am looking to get more stuff later on if the budget permits... but I would have to cross my fingers just yet. hehe.

Anyhow, I was just re-reading an article about them in Vogue Dec 2006 and found it funny when they sketched the key GO international customer. Here's how they put it. "She appreciates fashion, loves newness, always wants to be trend right and appreciates designers. She's looking at youtube, blogs. She's on DailyCandy.com, on Style.com." Hey I think they just described you and me dahlings! hahaha. But I think they forgot to say that "she" is also "on a limited budget" and hence "cannot buy haute couture on a daily basis". Perhaps vogue edited that out, noh? haha.

And just because I felt like talking about more PS, here's a collage of proenza designs from online archives (2003-2007) and target (of course). I was a wee bit lazy but I tried to incorporate where the GO designs were "inspired" from. I'll try to add some more tomorrow but what I have placed here as key pieces are the bustiers, trench coat, some tops, skirts and the palm print. Enjoy! ;)

Don't you wish you could get them all? *sigh*

Ode to Mod

2007-02-07T15:05:00.000+08:00

"Mod" has been an abused word in the fashion industry these past few seasons. As a matter of fact I am guilty of using this word a bit too much eversince I think 2-3 years ago(?), giving comments to bf like "oooh, how mod!" to certain items seen in stores or "hmmm... I'm gonna wear something mod today" to myself whilst picking out what to wear. However, I just randomly wondered about what the exact definition of 'mod' really is. Well, I do know what mod looks are comprised of: stark lines, shiny bright materials, pop artsy, 60's vibe... but I just wanted to dig further. To be honest I mostly attribute the word to ensembles with solely black and white elements or to shocking color-blocked shift dresses such as these ones:

Lisa Perry's designs from Styleit.com

which by the way are a bit too 'mod' for my taste. hehe!

Anyhow, I searched online and found the following definitions which might be of interest to you also.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
mod: definition from dict.die.net

adj: short for modern; relating to a recently developed fashion or
style; "tables in modernistic designs"; [syn: modern, modernistic]

n: (British) a British teenager or young adult in the 1960s;
noted for their clothes consciousness and opposition to
the rockers

mod (mŏd): from answers.com

adj. In or characteristic of this unconventionally modern style. Fashionably up- to-date, especially in style, design, or dress.

n. An unconventionally modern style of fashionable dress originating
in England in the 1960s.

note: [After the Mods, name of several gangs of English youths in the 1960s, short for MODERN.]
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. I think it's really interesting how we use a word which refers to something modernistic, unconventional, and up-to-date to refer to something very retro and reminiscent of four decades ago. How ironic! I guess it's my favorite word for this week. haha!

Role Model

2007-02-05T18:33:00.000+08:00

Whilst I would love to say that I am the kind of girl who associates with the fashion news world on a daily basis, I would have to admit I'm not. In fact, I have a very limited vocabulary for matching model names and faces. Hence my apologies for not knowing the name of this long-limbed beauty whom I am about to salute...

Seen prancing about Bryant Parks for New York Fashion Week is this model with the perfect message written across her top.

She sure simplified the message behind the underweight models hullabaloo. I mean, I don't think there is anything wrong with being skinny but to starve yourself to the point of illness is beyond me.

Funny thing is, everytime I see a piece of angus steak, it seems to whisper something similar to me too. haha!

Hmm.. I think it's time to get me some dinner. *giggles*

One of my muses in vogue italia

2007-02-04T20:47:00.000+08:00

Whilst most of the world are focused on blondes and redheads (hello sienna, lindsay, nicole richie, kate moss) as their fashion faves, I have an obvious predilection for brunettes. Actually, make that petite, brown-eyed brunettes. hehe. Perhaps it's because I can relate to their fashion concerns more or something... but I'm not particularly sure about that. Anyway, I just wanted to share these awesome pics of one of my favorite girls in vogue italia:

Photo credits: StyleIt

It's none other than Christina Ricci. She's an icon in the making I tell you. :)

Proenza arrives on target

2007-02-04T19:33:00.000+08:00

P.S. did arrive at target.com today but I heard that some target stores will not be putting the stuff out until this tuesday. I wonder what's up with that? Also, I noticed that some of the stuff weren't even placed on sale online as of yet. I did not see the bustiers in other colors except for the purple one, as well as the oversized tropical print bag or any of the tropical print dresses for that matter. *shrugs* Geez, some people were really looking forward to get these things asap you know. hehehe! Hmm... I suppose the duo's family and friends got first dibs? hahaha, just a theory! It's just that they kept on saying that on their interviews right, that they're happy to do this thing especially for their friends. It's really not a problem for me though. My multi-talented mom went to the 4-day presale at the Opening Ceremony store in New York City yesterday and already got me the 2 items I absolutely must have from this collection. Can you guess what they were?

Hint: my 2 items are in this compilation of various looks from the collection. *giggles*

Photo courtesy of the LAist.

Oh and to those of you in NY, the sale is until Feb. 5! Do tell me if you end up with some good stuff. *wink*

Outfit: Dinner with bf's fam

2007-02-04T03:05:00.000+08:00

Had a full-course japanese dinner with bf's family last night. It was his dad's birthday so the food was extra good. There was tender kobe beef, crispy tempura, steaming hot kamameshi rice, as well as fresh salmon and tuna sashimi in unlimited servings! Dessert was my favorite strawberry shortcake too. Thank goodness I opted to wear a loose-fitting dress! I just added a thick yellow belt to put a little bit of shape.

Blue dress with black floral print from topshop, Thick patent-trimmed yellow belt for forever, black leather pumps from bakers. Also not in picture: Black leather framed clutch from coach.

And to think I almost wore a waist-cinched dress... I swear I would have died! hahahaha.

Prada is having further markdowns!

2007-02-03T18:35:00.000+08:00

Before I forget to post this, prada greenbelt is having further markdowns on what's left of their sale items. To give you more of a head's up, most bags left are 35% off from 25% off. As for the shoes, there are some at 65% off already. :)

And just because I think sasha pivovarova is pretty:

If you're in manila, you can give the greenbelt boutique a call at 7576298. :)

This little boy went to the prom...

2007-02-03T18:02:00.000+08:00

Oh my gosh. This day really made me feel so old! I just walked my youngest brother out the door to *gasp* attend a junior's prom. It's not actually his though. Some girl invited him to her school's prom. Lucky girl is going to get a lovely bouquet and a corsage.

Here's the dashing debonair.

I think he is wearing Van Heusen (shirt, tie and suit). Shoes are kenneth cole.

Okay, she had better not harass my baby brother. hahaha.

Happy candy-colored feet

2007-02-01T18:24:00.000+08:00

Next week is exams week which makes this week such a drag. Everyday has been lecture after lecture after lecture... Then there are also useless papers to pass. *sigh* Days like these are ones that need happy thoughts. So whilst I was in the classroom staring blankly at my prof, I decided to make a "must-look-out-for" list that I perhaps will search high and low for in hongkong. heehee.

First one I wrote was Candy-colored shoes. I mean, don't these pics just make you dream?

Pic from urban outfitters email.

Pic from Life&Style Mag January 2007.

I'm looking to get some pretty shoes in either cobalt blue, fuchsia, kelly green, canary yellow, or hmmm maybe shocking purple, aqua blue, orange... Well, whichever one/s I encounter anyway. heehee! Actually one perfect bright pair would suffice, but if the price is right (with, ahem ahem, haggling powers?), I may just get all of them! hahaha.

Wearing candy shoes is a cinch. It can be the focal point of an otherwise monochromatic outfit whether with prints or not. Just look at these gals at facehunter. :)

Extra brownie points to the one in the oversized mickey mouse sweatshirt! ;)

And cammie seems to love this trick too!

The perfect handcarry

2007-01-30T19:11:00.000+08:00

Being overly excited for my upcoming jaunt with little bro to hongkong, I was recently on a search for the perfect handcarry for the trip. You see, I can't use my usual pink and black benetton trolley for this one as that has wheels and travelling in hongkong (atleast in my case) entails a handcarry sans wheels since we'll ride the airport express/mtr to and from the airport and walk by foot to and from our hotel in causeway bay. (It actually isn't far but still! XD) Well I already have my humongous aqua blue benetton hard case traveller to pull whilst walking, so this requires my handcarry to be a sort of weekender bag with a strap that I can cross over my body as my right hand will be tugging the big ol' traveller. Sounds complicated I know. Bf thinks I'm the only one who'd give this much effort to explain such a shallow bag dilemma. heehee!

Anyway, I found the perfect one from lesportsac! *clap clap* It's their bag called the "Large Weekender" which is very roomy and can be carried like a classic travel bag by hand or slung across the body with its adjustable long strap. Other plus points include it's lightweight waterproof material and super easy storage. My friend has one and she said you can just fold it up and go! :)

Stock pic from lesportsac.com. Dimensions are 13.75 x 20.75 x 10.5 inches. Really spacious! :)

Mom found a cute white, blue, green and brown print for me called tackle. I love love love her choice! The best part is, she got it from an outlet store at 50% off! Here's a pic with the print she picked for me. (Pic is from a korean shopping site.)

I love that it's not too girly or kitschy and can also be lugged aroung by little bro without looking like a girl. haha!

Plus, here are some cute cartoony graphics with my handcarry also from the same site. So cute!

They were selling it for more than retail! I didn't know lesportsac was expensive in korea.

To end this post is a recent pic of hilary duff carrying one too. Photo courtesy of the bag snob. :)

His Topman Loot and Her Topshop Haul

2007-01-30T18:28:00.000+08:00

In true topshop addict form, I went to more than three topshop stores for the whole duration of their end-of-season sale. *giggle* In case some of you are curious as to the stuff I got (besides the ones I've already posted), I decided to take a pic of my haul. Here it is:

Black cardi with ribbon trimmed pockets at 75% off with the bogo promo, Indigo buttoned cardi also at 75% off, Mustard cardi with puff sleeves 50% off, Brown striped tweed couture shorts and Plain black sailor couture shorts also ended up at 75% off! There were two other girls eyeing these shorts in my hands soooo badly! hehe.

Oops I forgot to add the semi-biker jacket in the above pic! Here's a pic with it on the bottom left. :)

Charcoal semi-biker jacket at 50% off.

I basically set my target on nice cardigans and jackets for the sale because these are the ones I get stingy to spend on at full price as they are too expensive. The shorts were actually just a lovely addition. I couldn't resist $40+ couture shorts being sold at $10! Oh and btw, all the items I got were the last pieces in my size. Lucky!!!

I also asked bf to take a pic of his loot. (Lazy bf though only used his celphone.) >:P hehe!

All his stuff were 75% off. I also saw some evil man eyes scouring the stuff in his hands whilst we were lining up at the cashier! hahaha. Too funny!

When topshop and topman goes on sale, it really pays to be fast! *wink*

Topshop girls, run to the store!

2007-01-28T06:29:00.000+08:00

Sorry this is a wee bit late. I completely forgot to put this up the moment I got it! I got this in the mail thursday morning. :)

If you haven't gone there yet, you better move it. Lots of good stuff left! *wink*

Outfit: Going to bf's house

2007-01-27T09:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday bf and I were supposed to go on a sushi date after class. But then come 3 pm, bf's cute 4-year-old sister called my celphone asking me to go to their house so that we can watch her new happy feet dvd together. I was like, awwww.... how can I say no? hehe. So what do you wear to a dvd date with a little girl? Well, something fun and happy of course!

Denim vest from mongkok nite market, orange top from q&a, dottie shorts from forever 21, heart thong sandals from bakers, silver sling bag from bakers, and pop art bangle from baublesbanglesnbeads.

Pop art Pop tart + My newest wrist candy

2007-01-26T19:55:00.000+08:00

In keeping up with the latest trends, I wanted to mention another one of my favorites which is incorporating pop art-slash-stark graphic themed stuff into your look.

In line with this, let me present to you my newest yummy wrist candy which I ordered from baublesbanglesnbeads, my friend pao's handpainted bangle shop.

It's a neo audrey hepburn bangle! I love it!

A picture paints my kind of story... :)

2007-01-25T02:11:00.000+08:00

I found this pic online and simply love it. It kind of looks like a page from a fashion editorial but it's not. :)

Don't you just love how girl A has her hand in her waist whilst talking to girl B? Girl B on the other hand has her hands crossed together, nose up in the air whilst carrying her pretty pink LV trapeze bag. It's as if they're having a simple "chat" but is actually having a fashionista showdown. Girl A bragging about her new boyfriend whilst girl B listens on with sheer nonchalance as if nothing that girl A does will impress her. More importantly look at those ensembles and to-die-for shoes. Oooh... now I get it.

Where's Anna Wintour? They must be her girls. haha!

Florals are here!

2007-01-25T01:55:00.000+08:00

Yellow fever has had its moment in my blog and it's now the turn of another spring trend to be highlighted. Yep, florals it is! As it usually does every year, flower power is on its way to your closet. But not on the more common petal palette of dainty pink, white or rich red.. Think yellow, lilac, green, blue and orange. Hence, my likeness for this floral tunic at forever21.

I just love the whole shape and novelty look of this top. And at $19.80, the price can't be beat.

You know, it even reminds me of this gucci dress worn by Camilla Belle in one event.

Okay... maybe just a liiiiitle bit. hehe!

Slow saturday + my new freeloading haul

2007-01-20T17:40:00.000+08:00

Today has been mighty slow for me. Let's see... I woke up at 10 am, gossiped with my brothers, ate home-cooked steak for lunch, read magazines, surfed the net, went to the grocery and now I'm writing this entry. How exciting eh? Well, I thought about going to the mall or the gym with my brothers but sheer laziness took over. *tsk tsk, i know* Bf, on the other hand, is at the hospital delivery room as he has a 6am to 6pm trial duty today. (It's a requirement for our OB class and I went through it last week.) So yup, no 'happening' for me as of yet. Maybe tonight we'll decide to go on a date if he's not too exhausted. Though I highly doubt it. I've been there you know, haha.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was more fun because I only had one class and ended up going to my favorite spa for a 60-minute shiatsu/swedish combination massage and nail spa. I was too "relaxed" to take pics but did take this one of me wearing their robe though. A funny spin on my outfit posts!

I love how the spa robe is pink with tiny flowers on it! Background is the locker room. hehe!

After that I went to Johnny Air Cargo to pick up a package. My good friend nikki, a certified make-up junkie (the queen of her kind I tell you), sent me a haul of beauty stuff that she barely used. We were chatting the other week and she told me that she has so many stuff she wants to get rid of and if I would like any of them as she's going nuts already and may throw them out just to find inner peace. hehehe. Well, being the poor girl I am presently, I was more than happy to say "yes! I would love to have your leftovers". hahaha! To be honest, I myself used to be quite a make-up junkie too but since my bag obsession has gone too crazy lately, I am now scrooge mcduck when it comes to buying cosmetics. hehe! Thank heavens for cool friends like her I am able to thrive on and feed my face. (Thank you so much dear nik! You're a beauty-saver. hehe.)

Here is a pic of the stuff she sent me:

Goodies from shu, mac, benefit, origins, prescriptives, clinique, shiseido and biolage. Both our favorite brands!

DM also sent me lots of yummy stuff including 1 audrey hepburn tee, 2 behnaz tees, 1 red forever chiffon blouse, a pair of forever couture short shorts, magazines (Uniqlo and Teen Vogue) and gobs and gobs of chocolates and candies which my brothers have been eating non-stop since yesterday. (Thank you ma! we love you!) I fixed the clothes in my closet right away so no pic of that yet, but here's a pic of the magazines. The Uniqlo one is so funky and had my name on it too!

To end this post is some good news. My dad already booked tickets for me and my younger brother drew (he's graduating high school this year) for a shopping trip to hongkong this March! I am just soooo excited! Sponsored trips are the best. *wink*

She's a sexy secretary

2007-01-18T21:54:00.000+08:00

For some absurd reason, I've always gotten voted as secretary eversince gradeschool days. (FYI: in manila, schools teach students to formally vote class officers the moment they enter first grade.) Well, I remember secretly wanting to be treasurer all the time (coz I wanted to collect the money, hehe) but always won as secretary on most years. I actually thought highschool would end the trend but no it didn't. I got the same position when I was a sophomore. In fact, it reached my college days - I became secretary-general in a major science guild in the university I went to. Then, come first year in medschool (just when I thought officers were no longer needed in postgraduate/doctorate studies), I got voted once again as secretary of my class. This really puzzled me for the longest time because although I may seem to have a "vote me for secretary" vibe, I really am the LEAST person who deserves this position. Why you ask? Here are just SOME of the reasons. hehe! Number one, I am always late (and I mean ALWAYS); two, I am super disorganized (all my notes are in scratch papers); three, I abhor writing on the board (the chalk dust irks me); four, I have hideously crooked handwriting (I can never undestand my own notes!); and five, I am always missing my pens. and papers. and notebooks. Case in point? hahaha.

Well, I remember ranting about this to one of my college friends a few years ago and she came up with an equally hilarious reaction to my ironic tale. She said, "Maybe it's because you're sexy. You know, like, you have a little miss sexy-tary image?". Hehehehe! It's a funny memory (miss you k!) and I ended up reminiscing about it just now because one of my favorite looks from recent style trends is the sexy secretary look. :) You know, the one where pencil skirts, cardigans, and pretty blouses are involved?

A clip from Lucky mag

Anyway, mom gave me a go signal to shop the clearance sales of target and first thing I hunted down were the components of this one sexy secretary-esque look from the Behnaz for target collection.

I really did take advantage of the chance (hey they're slashed down more than 50% off!) and went online shopping today as target also has free shipping and additional 10% off right now. But alas, the black skirt is already out of stock (along with the silver skirt and bag I got 2 months ago, heehee.) so these are the pieces I ended up getting.

behnaz sarafpour velvet skirt in oxford magenta and ribbed tank with satin rose in ebony and classic ivory.

Oooh... I just can't wait to get them and emulate my sexy-tary side when I get the chance! haha.

My mom's scrub-a-dub-dub surprise

2007-01-17T17:13:00.000+08:00

My mom is such a nutcase. A cute nutcase though and an advert lover of the show called Grey's Anatomy. She had learned last week that my clerkship starts in a couple of months and decided to order scrub suits without telling me. Yep, she chose them all by herself as if she was the one going to wear them! hahahaha. I think she is just so happy that I'll start wearing these hospital jammies almost everyday just like her beloved interns in that favorite show of hers. *shakes head* Oh mom, you're just too cute. How I wish my co-workers are also as cute as the people in that series. But then I wouldn't be in a real hospital right? hehe.

But still, I appreciate DM's loving thoughts! She even asked me in advance about the colors I would be needing (in manila the whole batch sorta has to match in color). Little did I know she was about to go and buy them. I just got surprised when an online receipt flew in my inbox confirming my order of 3 scrub tops and 2 pairs of scrub pants. I kinda knew the moment I saw it that it was her! *tsk tsk* Now you know where I got my impulsive shopping genes. haha!

Well, at least one of us is excited about clerkship. I, on the otherhand, am a bit in denial still. I just can't fathom the thought of having 36-hour duties happening so soon!!! But then at least I'll have mommy's cutie scrubbies to wear. *wink*

Oh yeah, thanks ma! mwah!

Sunday shopping outfit

2007-01-16T20:30:00.000+08:00

Just a follow-up to my entry below. Three different girls (2 were Fendi SA's) complimented my pretty silver shoes. I guess it's a big hit! :D

Houndstooth capelet from zara, cream tank from topshop, black-green tweed couture shorts from topshop, silver pointed flats from bakers, and black large hobo with ocelot keyring from coach. Also not in picture: yellow satin wide headband from girl shoppe.

Btw, the middle pic is a phone pic so excuse the blurriness! But it gives the best view of the over-all look and how the cape falls into place as I'm walking. :)

Empty-handed End-of-season (or not?) hahaha.

2007-01-15T19:10:00.000+08:00

Last friday after school, bf and I headed over to Greenbelt 4 (the house of most designer labels in manila) to scour the end-of-season sales hoping to find something nice with an irresistable price (oooh, I rhymed! haha). Sadly the moment we stepped in the stores, my SAs from both gucci and prada (the main stores we were aiming to hit) said that most of the good buys have already been taken earlier in the day... and true enough, all that were left for us to check out were items only 25% off or less. Boo! not exciting at all! And as if not having seen my instant crestfallen reaction, a young prada SA even went on to mention that they had some items at 65% off earlier which were grabbed within an hour of store opening! I was literally in awe at how fast some diehard shoppers are! I mean, we went there at 6 pm on the first day of sales! *pout* Oh well, this SA was just being nice though, trying to make conversation with me because I knew the other 'older' SA. So I just told her that I wasn't able to go earlier because I couldn't miss school and that I was much luckier at the sales last june (I was able to score a pretty prada canapa bauletto bag at an unbelievable price!). It was at that moment I realized how I had gone to the sale at effing 10:30 a.m. the last time. *sigh* How I wish I could still do that now but I just can't skip fridays anymore (eversince the second semester started) since my new med jurisprudence teachers ain't too keen on students who skip lectures. bah! :P Anyway, bf and I just had a jolly good time taking pics with our phones and trying on stuff.

Here's bf in front of LV and Prada.

He was playing his new psp game the entire time we were looking around!

and here are some random pics:

Bf on his orange motorola V3x, the sale gucci cles and pink gucci wallet bf and I checked out, and me trying on the shirley at the LV boutique. See our uniforms? ugh. hahaha.

*side note* Paris Hilton's oxford-like pumps are now on sale at gucci:

Left pic are some gucci shoes at 25% off, right pic is ms. hilton with them size 11 feet. XD

Two days later (sunday to be exact), bf and I decided to go to glorietta mall to check out whether the small Prada boutique there had anything good left. Well, it was (not surprisingly) also a disappointment as there was almost nothing on sale left! All that was there to see were about 10 sale items which were only 25% off or less. Not good at all! Bf, though, convinced me that I shouldn't feel so bad about missing out on all the good stuff this time since I was able to save both our wallets from deflating. hehehe! Well, I must say that I was a wee bit convinced. (There was nothing I could do anyway!) *wink*

The prada boutique in rustan's makati. It's very cozy inside with the carpet. :)

After visiting prada, bf and I went to Sbarro and had good old cheap italian fastfood.

Bf had a whole order of baked lasagna and I had half-order of baked ziti with extra meatball. yum! :)

We were about to leave the mall empty-handed until I decided to drop by topshop to see what sale items this branch had to offer (if you recall, I already got a lemon cardi at topshop galleria last friday during lunchbreak). Lo and behold, the gorgeous gray simone semi-biker jacket I had been wanting for a month now was there at 50% off. I couldn't believe my eyes! And they only had 3 pieces of them and one was my size!!! It was perfect! Needless to say I got the yummy jacket and went home a very very happy camper. :D

Here's my lovely last minute purchase. Please forgive the raggedy shorts. hahahaha!

Note: All pics in this entry were taken by our no-flash 2-megapixel phones so quality ain't the best. Oh and I will just post my outfit (last sunday) tomorrow as I am sleepy now. :)

To the loveliest mom in the world...

2007-01-13T23:47:00.000+08:00

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Always remember that age is just a number. heehee! But on a more serious note, I'd like to take this chance to say thank you for everything. You know that you have always been a fierce driving force in my life from the moment I was born and I am grateful for that. I know it's not the same as the real thing but here's 1000+++ hugs and kisses. Remember that you're an inalienable part of my thoughts every single day. Love you, ma!

Gasp I've got the fever!

2007-01-13T10:44:00.000+08:00

I haven't shared pics of them yet but last week I went to the zara sale (in powerplant) and got myself a mustard tee for around 40% off. I also got a cute canary satin headband from a hair accessories stall (girl shoppe) on the same day. Then yesterday, I went to the topshop sale (in galleria) at lunch break and got myself a lemon-colored cardigan with cute puffish three-fourths sleeves at 50% off. It was only when I went home last night that I realized how weak I have become towards all sorts of yellow things... I'm even eyeing these cute pale yellow ballet flats from hotwind. Gosh, somehow I caught it... the yellow fever!

photo courtesy of net-a-porter

and just for fun, I noticed that the fashion section of the friday newspaper (daily inquirer) featured the topshop lemon cardi I had bought on sale. It's so funny because I only saw it this morning!

In the feature the price was still in full! haha.

Good thing my yellow fever somehow only shows its symptoms when sales are involved... so far. hehe!

Topshop head's Up!

2007-01-11T19:57:00.000+08:00

Yay! The topshop sale is finally here... Guess who's hitting the mall straight from psychiatry class? *giggle* Well, I'll be a bit late to the opening time as bf asked me to wait for him to finish his clin pharm class so he could go check out his topman stuff too. *rolls eyes* I know, I am such a brit brat. hehehehe!

note: I forgot to add this but Gucci and Prada has also texted me about the start of their end-of-season sales. Check them out if you're looking to buy something. *wink*

Bull's eye for Proenza Schouler

2007-01-03T11:03:00.000+08:00

Whilst it is no longer surprising news that Proenza Schouler is the next designer brand to join Target's GO International line up, I just felt like creating a post here about them before I leave for school. (yes, school starts today... *groooaan*) Why you ask? The very recent (dec. 28) papermag article about them pushed me to conclude that I am going to like this line as much as the behnaz one. :)

Dubbed as "fashion’s bright young things", Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler created a resort-wear line for Target that is slated to be fun, fresh, flirty and vibrant. This sounds all too familiar as typical marc jacobs vibe but I'm sure the collection will have a PS twist. Quite a contrast from the understated luxe and feminine of behnaz but a good contrast nonetheless. It's for spring after all!

From what has been written, the promising collection will consist of must-have quirky items such as heather grey skinny jeans, eye candy belts, sailor-rope-printed bikinis, flirty mini skirts, breezy sundresses and their signature piped bustier tops (the latter is actually what I am pining over). As for accessories, they came out with weekend totes and simple elegant suede clutches that were said to be dreamworthy too. Well, it really seems like there's a whole lot of yummy things!

Famed for their fabulous cut and construction, loved for their fashion savvy-style, young Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler (a combination of their mother’s maiden names, the second of which is pronounced “Skooler") are the epitome of New York cool. The talented duo met in 1998 and almost immediately took the fashion world by storm. By 2002, their expertly tailored collections were being honored at the 40th annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards as the “Future of Fashion.”

I say bring on the Proenza mania! :D

Starting 2007 with new babies (it's not what you think haha)

2007-01-03T10:05:00.000+08:00

Bf and I decided to pool our christmas 'earnings' together to pay for new babies. hehehe! ;) They've just been delivered yesterday by the 'stork' and my giddiness whilst opening the box made me forget about the price. hahaha! We had asked DM to be the one to receive the package in NY and then to just ship it out to manila. (*hugs from us both DM*)

Actually, bf was originally just going to get the batignolles vertical for me but I decided to join in and get him a damier pochette melville so we ended up sharing the costs (not equally though, I'm poorer than he! LOL). DM was so cute to support us young couple and even threw in a bag of ghirardelli chocolates and a super cute pair of patent mary jane wedges (which was very chloe-sque) as surprise! (Of course you already saw them in the first picture. hehe!) To be honest, the pochette melville is also a bag I've always wanted to have for travelling so you can say that I did have a double agenda purchasing it. *wink wink* Oh well, it's just too bad bf can't borrow the very girly batignolles vertical eh? hahaha!

New year's eve outfit and random pics

2007-01-01T23:20:00.000+08:00

The first time I yapped about behnaz sarafpour for target was in my november post about her. Well, I think I never did update everyone on which items I bought from the line but you will all find out about it now as I wore my behnaz stuff for new year's eve. :)

Here's the ensemble I chose:

Black top with crystals, silver brocade skirt and matching bag all from behnaz for target. The second pic is me with h at my grandparents' house whilst the third pic is a clearer view of how the outfit looks together on a full body shot.

I did end up getting the whole outfit from one behnaz 'look' because my mom insisted that they are super gorgeous all together IRL. She sent them to me to wear on christmas but I decided on wearing it for new year instead. I do agree that they look so much more beautiful in person especially the black top with crystals! :) The skirt and bag are both really gorgeous too as the material is luxe and has just the right amount of sheen to it. Plus the skirt actually has two pockets which gives it a parisian chic vibe. Now I know some US readers might cringe at the thought that I wore B4T from head to toe but this is manila, darling. And I am most probably the only one with this ensemble here. *wink*

Moving on... New year in this country is very festive and is traditionally celebrated on the evening of december 31 (culminating at 12 midnight) where everyone spends it at a party of some sort whilst perenially hearing random booming of fireworks no matter where they are. It's not very environmentally friendly in that a thick blanket of smoke is usually left in the skies the next day but it is a tradition that I don't think will die anytime soon. *tsk tsk* Good thing about these celebrations though, is that it does bring everyone together such that it seems as if there is another big family event right after christmas. :) A lot of (weird but) fun traditions are also followed about welcoming the new year locally and a lot of them involve round, circular things (ie. wear something with dots, eat something round, fill the house with round fruits and throw away coins for your guests). Really, I'm serious! hahaha. Don't ask me what they signify as all I'll answer is "they're for good fortune". :D

As much as I love watching big display fireworks, I could never light up any kind on my own except for an itty bitty sparkler. hehehe. Here is a candid pic I took of everyone whilst holding sparklers at 12 midnight:

It's kind of dark as I didn't use flash to take this pic.:) We were all outside in the private streets of forbes.

And here's mica holding one. She was so mesmerized by it!

She was so adorable here!

To end this post is a picture of me with bf's mom and sisters. We were outside his grandparents' house.

I do hope everyone had a fun new year's eve!!! Well, the highlight of my night was --everyone totally adored my skirt. hahaha! I guess people will be complimenting my clothes the whole year round huh? hehe!

Year end shopping. One last time for 2006! hehehe.

2007-01-01T17:11:00.000+08:00

My cheapskate self apparently went on leave last saturday and I ended doing some damage at the mall. hahaha! But before I ramble on about how that day went, here is what I wore. I was feeling a little bit like a funky ballerina when I woke up. *wink*

Black and white empire cut top from forever, black leggings from topshop, pony hair leopard flats from nine west, and large leather hobo with pony hair leopard/ocelot keyring from coach. I was also wearing my skull earrings from topshop and skull leather cuff from tiendesitas which I had just bought the day before. :D

My sexy friend mikki picked me up at around 11:30 am and we headed on over to powerplant mall in rockwell. First thing we did was to eat lunch at Cibo where Mikki's sweet bf Kevin (He's currently in Japan) footed our bill. (Thanks kev!) heehee! Cibo is one of my fave places for pasta in manila and is a definite must try for anybody.

Here are some pics whilst we were at Cibo:

Here's a candid shot of mikki and another solo shot with our strawberry and grape shakes. The best drinks!

You know what, I forgot the names of our orders! hahaha. They were in italian that's why. All I remember is that Mikki ordered the appetizer bread thingie with spinach dip and pasta with seafood and stewed tomatoes, whilst I chose the pasta with sauteed seafood, cream and parsley (the white pasta below).

Second pic is us girls enjoying the yummy meal. Mikki is one of my bestest highschool friends in the world. ;)

We then went shopping around the mall (a quarter of the time was spent rummaging through the mango 50% off sale) until around 3 pm and then Mikki decided to get a haircut. Bf then arrived after a while to pick me up but then Mikki's cute niece, Zoie, also arrived so I played with her for a bit in Zara. She lives in makati you see and decided to visit me while mikki was in the salon. :) She's such a crazy little girl!

Here's Zoie in Zara. (Hi Zoie amd Cloie!) Her mom's name is Cloie btw. Cool huh?

After that bf and I went with my dad and brothers to Gateway mall (yes, another mall. hahaha.) to check out the mallwide sale. I was so tired when I got home at 10 pm. Not complaining though! ;)

Here is what I ended up bringing home. The fruits of my last shopping ever... for 2006 that is. heehee!

Mikki bought 2 team manila pouches for us both (thanks dear!) and the super soft beige top ( which was around P650/$13 after the 50% off) is from the mango sale. These two are the stuff I got from powerplant mall.

The ones I brought home from Gateway mall are these pool odessa shoes (around P3,300/$66 after the 40% off) from Lacoste footwear and brown leather belt (around P1,100/$22 after the 50% off) also from mango. heehee. The shoes were bought for me by my dad and are so comfy and cute. (Thanks dad! mwah.)

So, did any of you do a year end shopping spree like me? :)

It's new year and I'm late!!!

2007-01-01T15:01:00.000+08:00

It's already the afternoon of january 1st here and I had forgotten to post a Happy New Year greeting to all of you. hehe! It might be a bit late but today is actually more apt for the greeting as it is the more literal start of 2007. *beams* so here goes:

I am a wee bit superstitious about this but do eat anything round today (I ate mandarins and grapes) for goodluck (hey, you have nothing to lose) and make sure you have some money in your pocket (so that you'll have money there the whole year round). heehee! I went to two lovely dinners last night and basically wore mostly new items (another 'thing' I do each year, a tradition which I have forgotten the origin of.) Anyway, will just post about it later on. In the meantime, let me reflect on the multitude of happy things that transpired in 2006. It is a very special year in my heart as I grew so much on this particular year. ;)

Amidst all the drinks and crazy fireworks (in manila that is) I hope that you could take a minute to reflect on the things you are thankful for happening in the past year and give it a proper farewell. (Goodbye 2006... *sniff*)

But then remember to quickly move on from that minute, wipe that little tear and fix your lipstick so that you can give a proper welcome to the brand spankin' new year. Hello 2007!!! *raises glass* Here's to a lot of good times, good weather, good acquaintances and GREAT sales. Cheers! ;)

Late night shopping + jack's loft + outfit

2006-12-31T03:36:00.000+08:00

Last friday night, bf and I decided to go to Eastwood City Walk and Tiendesitas to check out what cheapie finds we can get with our christmas money. hehehe! Actually we were just so bored lying around the house and it was already 9 pm when we decided to move. And (just a little fyi for everyone) in manila, virtually all malls close by 9 pm except for a few places that offer shopping at 'after mall hours'. :)

One such shopping area is Eastwood City Walk where the stores close at 12 midnight and all dining areas close at around 3-4 am. This has been a fave place of nocturnal people and has also expanded tremendously through the years!

Shot of Eastwood City Walk. Photo by al dimalanta of pbase.com

Beside this place, around 10 minutes away by car, another cinderella hour (i.e. closes at 12 mn) shopping area was built just last year. However, this one has a more fun, bazaar atmosphere as it is a roofed outdoor centre with numerous stalls and is also a place where haggling is a favorite game. Aptly called Tiendesitas (spanish i think, for 'little stores'), it houses more than 300 stalls with products ranging from broomsticks to funky accessories to lingerie to pet food to celphone cases. It is a pretty big area (30,000 sq. meters to be exact) and offers plenty of cheapie stuff. :D

Tiendesitas at daytime. Shot from tiendesitas.com.ph

First stop was Tiendesitas for this el cheap-o couple! hahaha. Actually I just had fun handling various merchandise but didn't actually buy much. (Need to hold on to them money as I have bills to pay! heehee.) Bf was laughing coz I only bought two small things after scouring more than half of the area! hahaha.

Here they are:
Please ignore the candles and various other things in the background.

I am referring to the two leather cuff bracelets. The black one with skulls was such a cool find! I got it for P300 ($6) after A LOT of haggling hehe. The brown one with woven detail and brass studs was bought by bf for me. Hehe! We were able to haggle it down to P250 ($5) after sweetly cajouling the store owner. hehehe. Not bad for a haggling pair eh? The good thing about these accessories is that I'm sure to not find them all over the place since the stores where we got them only had one of each. I love them to bits! *beams*

Now here is a family pic of my current 'thick' wrist candies together:

Pic taken just for fun! hahaha.

And here's an update of my small skull accessories collection (most of them recently acquired in the past few days, ie. gifts, which I value all the more. heehee!).

People know that I adore incorporating this into my girly outfits for a bit of contrast. *wink*

After tiendesitas, bf and I scooted over to Eastwood to get some eats. We ate at Jack's Loft where I got indian-style spicy butter chicken.

It's chicken whipped with cumin, cream, nuts and spices on a bed of white rice. It was very good! (and price wasn't bad either at P220 (approx. $5). ;)

While bf got garlic mushrooms (forgot to take a pic) and a bowl of cream of squash soup.

He wasn't so happy with the mushrooms but loved this soup! I think it was around P90(around $1.80?). Btw, he already ate dinner and was just taking a snack whereas I haven't eaten anything since 1 pm. hehehe! *defensive piggy alert*

Oh and I was meaning to eat the famous jack's loft cheesecake but was already too full! I just took a sly pic of the dessert case for you. ;)

To end this post is my outfit for that small "date" heehee! (sorry for the crappy pic, my cam wasn't adjusting properly and i was in a hurry!)

Navy pinstripe vest is vintage norma k. from my mom, white reconstructured hanes tank, purple and black checkered shorts from mphosis, black leggings from topshop, plum bow clutch from primark, and black peeptoe flats from steve madden. not in picture: plum headband from evita peroni.

Manila animal shoes

2006-12-29T04:08:00.000+08:00

After gobbling up all four december magazine issues from front to back and back to front again (see previous post), I started thinking of getting a third pair of quirky printed flats. (I only have two at the moment: a pair of blue and cream paisley pointed ones from jdc hk and the nine west pony hair leopard ones I've posted before.) This led me to search online for a pair by a local designer so that I would not have to wait too long to own them. (what an impatient hag. bow.) hahaha!

Interestingly, I noticed a strong presence of animal inspiration among the shoes I checked out.

Look at these shoes by Tenorio Manila (from his Creatures line) for example.

This one is called the Angelfish (duh!) and I think the color combi is nice. Actual angelfish pic is from a deepsea diving website. They don't advertise it with that pic beside it. hehe!

Guess what this one is called. 2nd pic is from google images. ;)

And here's another one from his Noir Females collection.

Called the Croc Uncorker, I think this pair has a more modern vibe than the two previous ones. It does sort of have a 60's attitude with a bit of present day spunk. 2nd pic is from google again. :)

I really liked the shoesies above were it not for the heels. I mean, how I wish they made those in flats. i'd definitely snatch them up right away!

The only other ones that I considered were these zebra-print pony hair ballet flats from Sapato Manila. Nothing out of the ordinary but I guess it still does the job. *clap clap*

We all know which one is the zebra print, right? XD

Ain't no pigging like the holidays (hehe)

2006-12-29T02:22:00.000+08:00

Bf decided to go here at around 8 pm so I can steam him some crabs. (I know, I was like... "i'm not your personal maid!" hahaha.) Anyway, it's still vacation time (at least for us med students) so I decided to just do it for the poor fellah. The only bad thing is, I freaking ended up eating too. *rolls eyes* I just could not say no to steamed fat gigantic-clawed crabs. hehehe! We ate it up quickly with lemon butter sauce and white rice. It was so good that I forgot to take a picture of the perfectly steamed big orange crab! Well, upon realizing this, I also found it too gross to take a pic of the crab carcass as it is so not appetizing at all! hehe.

After dinner (my second one that is), bf and I decided to create some strawberry dessert from the leftover strawberries last christmas day. Well, we were sort of lazy (and full!) so we just used fresh milk, condensed milk, and a bit of confectioner's sugar.

Here is how mine looked:

Only 5 pieces of strawberries for me. hahaha! I just put them over sweet fresh milk and drizzled a bit of thick condensed milk over them.

And here is bf's mashed up creation:

He likes the berries squeezed and mashed such that the milk ends up tasting like strawberry as well. I really don't know where he got this habit but he always eats strawberries this way. *shrugs*

I just hope I don't gain more than 5-10 lbs over the remaining days! hahaha.

Locked up with my buddies

2006-12-28T23:06:00.000+08:00

Stayed home the whole of today and caught up with my reading. :)

Clockwise from top: Mega, Teen Vogue, Preview and Vogue December issues

I haven't had time to open up my december magazines due to the never-ending holiday happenings so I've really been looking forward to a lazy day. :) If you look closely to the right of the pic, my afternoon snack is peeking. heehee! Can you guess what it is? Btw, I particularly loved this month's vogue and mega (a local magazine).

Oh and I also updated my previous post with a wacky phone pic my bf took. hahaha.

Outfit post

2006-12-28T12:35:00.000+08:00

Went to rustan's makati to check the end-of-season sale last night. (geez, when will the sales end?! hahaha.) Well, I went home empty handed though so no interesting bargain entry for today. *pout* Yes, i am trying to be a responsible girl. You know, I was actually eyeing this prada ipod nano case (for my new baby) but i had to take a grip of myself and let it go. *sigh* I'd have to settle for my coach poppy wristlet in the meantime. *ahem ahem* I am now putting myself in a 'designer goods ban' until further announcement. hehehe!

Here is what I wore:

Light yellow top w/ flower detail from ebase and slim dark denims from tough jeans (both from hk), silver leather pointed shoes from bakers, and metallic lurex mini signature top handle bag from coach.

and here's a funny picture dear bf took with my phone. You can see part of the top's flower detail here.

The shoes and bag I wore are among my favorite holiday accessories. ;)

I got away with mixing champagne gold and silver leather since the signature c's in the coach monogram had silver on them and all the metal hardware in it were silver too! Besides, I'm not one up for super strict fashion no-no's. *wink*

Bittersweet christmas morning

2006-12-25T12:59:00.000+08:00

Christmas morning each year is a bit difficult for me. It's bittersweet in that I'd have to accept that christmas eve (my favorite occasion that I look forward to each year) is over... but then I'm also super happy since my yummy gifts smile at me the minute I roll over to the side of my bed and see them. hehehe!

I haven't the strength to take a pic of my whole loot but here is a pic that I was able to take last night whilst I was 3/4ths finished opening all of them. Anyway, you'd best be interested in seeing these ones since I opened the 'big guns' first. *wink*

Among stuff not in this shot are: 2 earrings, a skull necklace, skull keyring, rina albert cosmetic cases, the healing therapy mandarin lotion, a furry rainbow bookmark, cute hello kitty pencil case, phone lanyard, and good old cash!!! heehee.

And here's quick pic I took with my other phone of all my gifts still wrapped and gathered around me for opening. hehe!

Of course you remember the 6233 phone right? It is so effing cute! Bf even put a takashi murakami artwork as wallpaper and the screensaver was a blinking LV white multicolore print. hehehe! Plus he included a crystal protective case coz (according to him) I will probably drop the thing within 24 hours. hahaha! But you know, the more surprising gift was the tokidoki inferno fanny pack!!! Bf also gave it to me for christmas since he said I might bawl big time if the last piece in the store gets sold before I get the money to buy it. heehee! He's so adorable for looking at that 'future possibility'... hahaha. Thanks love! (but he got so drunk last night so I ended up getting mad at him. hahaha. love you hottie!) My dearest mom gave me a black ipod nano (yay! so lucky coz it matches my new black phone too!) which I am itching to learn how to use already (yes, it is my first ipod. hehe!) Thanks mom!!! And among my other gifts are cutie cutie little things that are so "me". Thank you so much everyone!!! I love love love ALL my gifts. *hugs everyone* (Oh yeah, special mention: CG thank you so much for the plum bow clutch all the way from primark UK!)

On a more fashion note, I wore my holiday long sleeves shift dress last night:

Here's a pic with G and H (2 of my fave cousins in the world). Red and black shift dress from f21. ;)

And here's my baby brother robbie (who gave me a rockin' necklace with brown leather chain and brass skull pendant! thanks rob!) who took that pic. heehee! (peace bro! XD mwah!)

Have a lovely christmas morning everyone!

Merry christmas gorgeous!!!

2006-12-25T04:54:00.000+08:00

Hope everyone's having a great time right at this moment. Just opened my gifts and I am so happy!!! heehee. Will share more about them tomorrow. ;)

Little bro drew and I sang for our dad, hehe. (It's christmas tradition to do 'something' for the money! hahaha.) Well, actually he played the guitar and I sang. Robbie breakdanced and my eldest bro jeff did a solo acapella. Could you guess what drew and I sang?

Here's a hint:

Actually that's the song we did. heehee. Merry Christmas everyone!

Fourth holiday dinner + my new tech candy (yipee!)

2006-12-23T15:38:00.000+08:00

The last few days have been so fattening for me. tsk tsk. These quaint holiday dinners, whilst so much enjoyable, could also be quite deceiving once the pounds start to bulk in the midsection. hehehe! Oh well, I still ain't going to miss on any good munchies, especially when christmas desserts are involved. A few pounds don't scare this gal, no no no. (please excuse the trying hard 'slang' girl in me. hahaha!) In fact I am looking forward to two dinners tonight and have been contemplating on what to wear the moment I woke up. (I've narrowed it down to the blue dress I posted about months ago. *wink*)

Here's a sort of pic of my outfit last night. I am sitting in a couch with Bf's second younger sister, Ina. (gosh, she is so tall so I wanted a pic sitting down hehe)

Black jersey mini pinafore dress from H&M, plain white baby tee from topshop, black leather plat pumps from bakers, plaid taupe, red & green headband from forever21, and small shoulder monogram bag from gucci

One of my bf's cousins brought along his cute puppy named samantha last night and I was able to take this cute pic of mica with it. (If you remember, mica is bf's youngest sister, she just turned 4!)

Oh and I'm so excited to tell you about this!!! Early yesterday, bf gave me a new gadget as "part" of my christmas gift. It's my newest tech candy:

A brand new nokia 6233!

But I'm not allowed to open it until the midnight of the 24th. aaarrrgh.. It's all wrapped up and sitting under the tree now. I super can't wait!!!

Why I ended up fancying a freakishly kawaii fanny pack

2006-12-20T16:29:00.000+08:00

Last night, I went to glorietta with bf to look around for the perfect gift for his dad. Within 10 minutes of stepping inside the mall, his mom suddenly called to say that his dad is eyeing this one shirt in topman and that we could get that if we wanted something he’ll like for sure. So we were like, hmmm.. okay… that was easy! We didn’t have to search high and low for ‘the gift’ anymore! And besides, a topman shirt is such a cool choice. Bf’s dad is so cute!!! Of course I kept asking myself how come my dad doesn’t buy anything topman... (the closest thing he’ll consider to such a fast-forward trendy place is Celio and Van Heusen. XP ) hahaha. Oh well, not all dads can be the same, can they? (Peace dad! heehee.. *hiding in my chair now* although I doubt that you’ll get to read this anyway. Mwahaha!) Well, you know guys, actually my dad is, um, cute too... in his own little way. *futile attempt to redeem myself before my dad smacks my head with a newspaper*

Anyway, back to the mall… I ended up looking around for post-holiday potential buys instead, which wasn’t so bad at all. hehehe! I was initially looking at the cutie quirky accessories section to look for a pretty beanie when suddenly the Lesportsac area caught my eye. The winter tokidoki prints have recently been brought out and they were really eye-catching in a kawaii japanimania way. Here are swatches of how they look like:

Tokidoki Winter 2006: Paradiso and Inferno Print

There are two new prints called Paradiso and Inferno (translating to paradise and hell in Italian, quite obviously hehe.) Paradiso is a lighter print with mostly pinks and blues which emulates little babies and rainbows in heaven (hence the name) while the Inferno print was a rockin' print that had more grays, reds and yellows (amongst the characters were little devils, skulls, bullets and chili peppers). Both bf and I thought the latter looked really really rad! hahaha. And that was then that I fell in love with the funky fanny pack they had from the line.

Here's a screencap of the opening page of this collection at lesportsac.com

I'm pretty sure you can tell which one is inferno right? heehee, looks like I'm into the "naughty" line. haha!

To get an idea of how the fanny pack looks like, here are some stock photos of this style:

And *drum roll please* here's the stock pic of the inferno one! so kawaii!

Aptly called canguro (Italian for kangaroo), the fanny pack is quite functional, pop cultsy, and edgy at the same time. It’s also just the right size such that it doesn't seem to be too overwhelming even with the super colorful print. When I tried it on, it actually gave the vibe of a sort of modish belt. Very cute indeed, but perhaps not for the faint of heart when it comes to fashion. *nods head* I think you may have to sort of be into pop graphics or something like that. (Well, I’m from the rainbow brite generation so I certainly can take bright colors in tokidoki doses. hahaha!) Sadly though, my pocket could not handle the price tag of this new waist candy at the moment (around $110). *sniff sniff* so I had to slowly put down the last piece of inferno canguro back into the display shelf. (The SA said they had ran out of the inferno ones but still had 2 stocks of the paradiso ones). It was really hard! I almost felt like the little devils in the print were telling me to steal the stupid bum bag. hahaha!

When I got home though, I couldn’t get the darn thing out of my head and so I started researching about the tokidoki lines. It so happens that tokidoki (which means sometimes in Japanese btw) is a company created by Simone Legno, the designer himself, who might I add, is a pretty hot young Italian guy. LOL! Well, I was surprised as I always thought he was a Japanese guy that looked like Takashi Murakami. 8D

There he is on the right, taken from a korean mag of some sort I think. He seems to adore facial piercings. hehehe.

And here's another shot of him with two fans whilst wearing his signature fedora hat, taken from a comic or graphic convention i think. (Look, the girls are actually rocking the canguro! hehehe.)

Simone initially was simply a graphic artist until the owners of Hard Candy Co. invited him to start a company when he first stepped on American soil. And so was the birth of tokidoki and of numerous collaborations such as with fornarina and nike. Check these out:

Ads of Fornarina collabs

A super cute pair of nike's!!!

I also learned that apparently, Tokidoki stuff are very hot in the market with fans coming from all over the world. (*sigh* and now I just had to become one. hahaha.) Just look at these cool HK girls sporting those tokidoki bags!

They really look smokin' with those bags! *oggle oggle* haha.

But more importantly, I became more infatuated with the cute fanny pack the more I researched about this line. I mean just look at these pictures.

Pic from Nylon Magazine 2006. Now that's how i'd wear mine! (sans the multiple fannies of course *wink*).

Shoot, even Jessica Alba likes it! I really was in a dilemma over this bag by the time I saw this pic. hehehe!

Oh well, such is the start of my fixation with the tokidoki inferno fanny pack. I’ve always thought belt bags were going to make a big come back after being dealt with a long bum rap in the fashion world. *wink*

Missing HK. My unfulfilled holiday wish...

2006-12-19T09:14:00.000+08:00

If there's one thing I had wanted to do this holiday season, it would be to spend it in hongkong. I simply love the place and capping 2006 with three visits there would have been so cool. *sigh* Then I can actually tell my kids that the year 2006 was very very memorable to their dear mama because it was the year which solidified my obsession with bags and multiple shopping trips to hongkong. Oh well... *pout* I guess there's not much I can do since my schedule is so crazy and money isn't exactly overflowing at the moment. hehehe! Heck, I think I can still tell that to them future rugrats anyway. haha!

Whilst I am reminiscing so much, I decided to share some jolly hk pics with you. If you haven't gone there yet, do save up and put it in your list of places to see. I promise that you simply will not regret it! There are a lot of nicey nicey things there, and it ranges from dirt cheap to not-so-cheap to lord-what-an-expensive-piece-of-sh*t. hehehe. Food is superb too! Although I am not much of a fan of the stinky tofu or whatever that popular street food is... still, everything else is sooo yummy. *stomach rumbling* You know me, food and shopping are my favorite things to do in the world. And so is the reason why I love hk so much.

Here are random pics I dug up in my hard disk.

And as a treat, here's a video ( thanks so much suz!!! ) that will give you a more vivid experience of what hongkong is really like. I hope you like it because I really did. It almost felt like I was there. *beams*

video credits: susie of stylebubble. :)

Typing with a sweet tooth

2006-12-18T22:09:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered how bloggers operate whilst typing away in their computer? Well, I do. heehee! Not that I'm actually assuming you're interested but I just wanted to share what I've been snacking on today.

It's Lindt Swiss Tradition De Luxe chocolates. It was sent by my lovely mother yesterday and I just can't stop myself. hahaha.

Foodie Sunday + Outfit for the day

2006-12-18T21:16:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was all about cravings for me and bf. I was wanting some persian kebab while he was salivating to get a choriburger and porkloin burger from his fave joint back in high school called 'Bun on the Run'. Needless to say, we both grabbed some good eats to satisfy our tummies. hahaha. that sounded quite weird. It's true though, we trekked to Metrowalk like a couple of pigs oinking their way to a feast. *snort snort* Embarassing I know. We even brought along his cute little brother. haha!

Here's a pic of bf and his bro in front of the Bun on the Run um, station. (It really does remind me of a gas station for some reason! haha.)

I wasn't able to get a pic of the chorizo and porkloin burger since they ate them so fast! I swear I just blinked and they were gone. *awe*

And here's a pic of my yummy chelo kebab with long grain rice and ox brain... yes.. ox brain. hehehe. (note: puking is excused as this is an acquired taste for the adventurous. haha!) For drinks, bf had a yummy yoghurt shake called 'Lassi' and I had a ripe mango shake.

To end this post is my outfit for the day:

Cream AC/DC vintage shirt from junkfood, denim vest from mongkok night market, dark brown pleated pinstripe shorts from forever21, nude pink flats from mirabelle hk, and small abbey shoulder bag with orchid trim from gucci.

Someone needs a haircut!

2006-12-18T19:48:00.000+08:00

Bf and I attended a christmas party and totally did not know that there was a hawaiian theme! hehehe, talk about being clueless... Anyway we took these pics and I kept getting mad at him because he effing needs a haircut. I mean, I can imagine a pair of scissors itching its way across his bangs. *rolls eyes*

p.s. sorry for the lack of posts as I've been busy with holiday stuff. Will post more on the coming days! *wink*

How to rock mr. panda cles

2006-12-09T17:17:00.000+08:00

Okay, I just received a comment (which I accidentally deleted.. so sorry raquel!) asking about what I am planning to do with Mr. Superfat, my newest panda cles from LV. Honestly, I got the "push" to actually buy this cutie from tpf (aka The Purse Forum) but have long been looking for a bag charm. So there, I am planning to use it as a bag charm instead of a key holder! The panda was perfect as it can be used in most LV bags and plus according to my bf, "it's japanese"(his reason for choosing him over mr. groom cles, hehehe). Well, you all know we love japanese food. hahaha!

To give you an idea, I borrowed some pics from some uber cool tpf-ers which show how to rock the LV panda cles. (P.S. Thank you bbl10ue, kookielf, bagsnbags, everlong, and mirroir princess! You guys are my enablers. haha!)

Here they are:

bagsnbags panda with a damier speedy 30 and everlong's with mc audra

bbl10ue's with a damier azur speedy 30, and everlong's flying with a mono wapity

Panda with kookielf's trouville and with mirroirprincess's mc bucket fringe

So, are you beginning to love the panda cles? Some may find this post nutty but I'm sure some will wish they could grab the last two in greenbelt. heehee!

A little cheese break is all I need + A roller coaster ride for a panda!

2006-12-09T02:23:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing prettier than me as I am looking a bit sallow right now. *sigh* Anyway, I had 3 very looong exams yesterday (surgery, radiology and medical jurisprudence), all of which lasted from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. With only 3 hours of sleep and 2 glasses of water and a candy bar for meals, I then went home with bf to finally get some rest. But not before we dropped by Santi's Delicatessen (a local deli here in manila) to get some yummy stuff to eat! In case you haven't heard, bf and I are deli pigs. hehehe! Every month we buy all the cheese and meat that we want from the deli and eat them gloriously. Yes, just the two of us. hahaha. Sometimes we do this with some wine, but lately we've resorted to less romantic drinks such as soda and beer since we've been together for too long already. hehehe. Today we bought 150 grams cave aged gruyere, 150 grams brie de meaux, 200 grams prosciutto ham, 100 grams spanish salami, 100 grams pfeffer salami and a bag of plain crackers. This we all devoured in no less than an hour as an early dinner. *burp* (excuse me) hahaha!

Here's a pic of the foodie:

Brie, the queen of all cheese, is actually my favorite. I usually get Brie bridel but they ran out, so i settled for the more 'mushroomy' Brie de meaux today. Not so bad as I love it too (hey it's still brie!), and bf actually likes this one better than bridel which is less mushroomy and more on the creamy side. Bf's favorite spanish Manchego cheese is also out of stock (blame it on the christmas hoarders) so he settled for cave aged gruyere instead. It was very delicious too! Definitely better than ordinary gruyere which is usually used for cheese fondue. The salami choice was bf's as always, since he wants them a bit spicy, and I was the one who picked the ham. I originally wanted the jamon serrano but it was too expensive for a no-occasion dinner. So I settled for the second best, prosciutto. Those two will always be my favorite hams. You have got to try some this holiday season! *wink*

Well, we tried to rest a bit after eating but I got bored after a while and decided to convince bf into dropping by Greenbelt 4 (where LV is). hehehe. To my delight, he actually wanted to go. (The cheese had gotten to his head perhaps? heehee.) We got to the LV store around 30 minutes before closing time and I actually just wanted to admire the new stock of panda cles that I had inquired about through phone yesterday as I am looking to get one next weekend. (They had one on display last weekend and I really liked it but didn't realize that the panda was hard to come by then until I asked around in tpf). Well, I was shocked to find out that the display piece was gone *which got me worried* and when I had asked about whether they still have some panda cles hidden on stock, my SA then checked on her computer and said "yes, let me get one for you". *I then let out a sigh of relief* I was thinking, my LV panda wasn't entirely gone after all!

She then went over several drawers in the front and looked inside a number of brown boxes to no avail. Afterwards, she promptly excused herself to go to the back room. She returned to us after several minutes, still empty handed with a sort of puzzled look on her face... then finally admitted that she couldn't find them! (bf was holding my hand at this time, as he thinks i am about to cry.. hahaha. he also started whispering something like, "maybe you'll like something else to hang on your bags". he was so cute!) She then apologized for the wait and excused herself again to ask the other SA's if someone had reserved them. She mentioned having 3 pieces (including the display) of those arrive just lately which was a surprise as they are LE (pf acronym for limited edition). This kind of made me start to loathe the panda and at this point, accept that they're all probably reserved and are not available anymore *defense mechanism alert* until suddenly another SA emerged from the back with a perfect little brown box with panda in tow. Bf said my face literally lit up at that moment! hahaha.

You could guess what happened after that.. I just couldn't let it go anymore. hehehe! I bought the elusive but so adorable panda cles!

Here's my loot from last night.

Here's the panda cles, I call him Mr. Superfat! hahaha. He's a bag charm, key holder, and pochette extender all in one. It's not exactly the biggest purchase but I am loving this one as it is my very first LE item. *wink*

If you are wondering what those powerbooks paperbags in the first pics contain, they're some stocking stuffers just for me. hehe!

I got a cool Granta Diary 2007 with a vintage icons theme, as well as a set of Penny Dreadful coasters in a tin can (this one is from bf)for my room.

Here is how the coaster set looks inside. Sorry for the crappy pic as I took it without flash.

(The blue one in the middle is a circle booklet with poems by Penny Dreadful.)

Time to hit the books for next weeks exams. *groan*

The revival of the ball gown

2006-12-03T13:47:00.000+08:00

I went to mark and coy's wedding yesterday and wore a gown which I wore 8 years ago for my senior's prom. I realized how elegant it looked even after all these years.

Here I am waiting for bf to finish getting ready. He's like the girl, taking so much time to do his suit while I finished way ahead of time. To think I did my own hair and make-up too! hehe.

A beautifully made gown is truly a worthy investment. :)

Little Julius beats the typhoon + Mallratting friday + Another drinking night out

2006-12-03T10:43:00.000+08:00

The typhoon news totally drove me nuts last friday! First of all, my girl cousins and I had a major bonding session on thursday night which lasted until 6 am the following day. I, thinking that the coming typhoon will suspend all activities the next day, deemed it okay to stay with the gals until the wee hours of the morning since my 'class' (it's actually a visit to the philippine orthopedic center with my group and ortho teacher) won't push thru anyway. Then at 6 am, the tv weather guy announced that the typhoon made a detour and will not be hitting manila anymore. Everyone in the room cheered. Hurrah for manila!

I was stunned for a moment after the announcer said this as it dawned on me that I was the only one with 'work' the next day! aaargh... I hate med school! hahaha. Okay, not that I'm bitter and would have preferred manila to suffer from the storm. I just felt so cheated all of a sudden thinking of having to move within the next 2 hours! hehehe. So what happened? I went home at 6:30 am and had to get up at 8 am. :(

Yep, I went to the medical center and had to talk to all sorts of patients. I was so shitty-looking and groggy! But thanks to a 7-year-old patient named Julius who totally made my day when he started to chat with me all laughing and smiling. He had broken his leg from a driveby gunshot and was still so cheerful despite his situation. And there was bratty old me cursing med school when I have so much to smile about. When I said bye to him he even shouted "Bye! Ang ganda mo!" which translates to "Bye! You're very pretty!" in filipino. As I reached the door I turned around, smiled and told him, "Gwapo ka rin" which translates to "You're handsome also". Hehehe. That little dude really gave me strength. (Thanks julius!)

But still, I can't believe I was able to get up with only an hour of decent napping. I am totally going to reward myself when I get some moolah. hahaha!

Anyway, when I got home at around 12 noon, I ate lunch and slept from 1-4 pm before bf woke me up to go to the mall. We went to greenbelt mall in makati which is nearer to his house. It's my second fave mall after rockwell.

There we went to my favorite wing which houses gucci, lv, prada, tod's, ferragamo etc. Here are pics of the area:

Gucci, tod's, ferragamo

Very quick shot of the windows at LV

We went inside LV to inquire about the luggage tags and also since I wanted to try on a shoulder bag which is probably my next target. :)

Here are some of the bags I tried on...

The manhattan and the hudson. both very pretty but not really the style and price I'm looking for at the moment.*wink*

I also tried on the popincourt haut and the batignolles horizontal. I am considering these two but bf and I both think the next one suits me more.

Here I am with the winner: the batignolles vertical! Both bf and I thought this one looked best. Hopefully he'll help me have it for christmas. hahaha!

Afterwards, we went to one of my old fave stores called Mix which is at a different wing. This store emulates something similar to L.A.'s kitson or UK's urban outfitters (not US urban outfitters, they're very different) since they carry all sorts of the quirky designer clothes and the latest designer denims. They also carry rafe totengco bags. Here are 2 shots of the place.

There's mr. hottie checking out a lookbook. hehe.

Take 2! Sadly, my fave SA Terry has left this place to work elsewhere. I missed her cheerful face and the discounts she gives me. hehe!

Then, bf and I decided to leave greenbelt to check out the newly opened Krispy Kreme at the Fort but decided to go home since the line was too long! it was literally like an amusement park. Check out the crowds!

I tried to take a clearer pic of the line for you but it was just too chaotic. yech.

All I could do was drool by this glass window. hahaha!

To end this post, we capped the night by going back to greenbelt for another drinking session with the cousins. :)

Yes, my friday was sooo long. But I had so much fun! Hope you did too. *wink*

A clubbing grandma + A lovely box from italy

2006-11-30T20:31:00.000+08:00

I'm sorry for the lack of new posts girls! Everything is just so fast these days and plus most of the time I am extremely exhausted when I get home from school and familial duties. Today though I decided to share some personal pics (ie. not cropped, hehe) with you to make up for the absence and also because this post will not be as thought about as much as the previous ones. Please bear with me! :(

At this time, I've missed posting about the exclusive globe platinum sale I went to, about my cousin's hair make-over in basement salon (which was really nice!), about the new topshop dress I am dreaming about, my yummy sashimi merienda at kuretake in rockwell(another fave japanese date place), plus a bunch of other dinners and lunches at not-so-special places.

First, here is a picture of mine and bf's fave orders in kuretake for a quick snack:

Spicy tuna sashimi and aji sashimi. Took the pic without flash coz I was trying hard to be artsy! haha. I love the house rice tea there too.

Then last night, we brought out my cousins to prince of jaipur in the fort. I love the cosmopolitan cocktail there and had 2 glasses! heehee.

Here are some pics:

meja, hanny, me and ria

Me and my sexy cuz from L.A. gigi

Gosh, i swear I felt like such a lola inside there! (fyi: lola means grandma in filipino) hahaha! I really haven't gone clubbing in such a long time. I'm such a loser i know. hehehe! I had some reeeaally awkward moments in the dance floor. *gasp* But I was too buzzed to actually care! haha.

And for my outfit post, this one will have to do. (yes, I am the smallest amidst these long-legged ladies. hahahaha!)

Black long top with ruching and ruffles at the bottom from target, black couture shorts from topshop, red waisted belt from forever21, monogram bag from gucci. not seen on photo: nude bakers plat pumps.

Anyhow, another thing I missed posting about is this early christmas gift for little old me. The bag came all the way from italy as one of my lovely friends, carms, had a family friend coming home from rome. heehee! (thanks again carms!)

The package was wrapped with this pretty ribbon! Can you guess what it is just by looking at the box?

First peek!

I swear it was love at first sight. hahaha! Can you resist that smiling handle? hahaha. *nutcase alert*

Ta-daa! Here she is, all propped up and ready for a hug. hahaha.

In case you haven't figured out what it is. It's a damier speedy 30. This has gotten me on a high for days. *wink*

An excuse letter

2006-11-27T18:46:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not being able to post the past few days as I've been quite the busy bee. More cousins from the U.S. have come to visit since one of our gorgeous cousins, Romina, is tying the knot with a grand wedding celebration this sunday! So the past few days have been so hectic with a variety of events- from formal wear preparations, clubbing with the balikbayans, family dinners, movies and of course, shopping!

Rant: I was given an invite to the gucci exclusive cocktail party last friday but I wasn't able to go since bf took so long in picking out a suit at the Linea Italia warehouse in Marconi street. The following day, Dyna (another fave gucci S.A. of mine), kept on telling me that I should have been there! (geez, talk about rubbing it in... haha! nah, maybe she just missed me. heehee!) oh well. I was really looking forward to it too! *sigh* But it all ends well since bf promised to buy me a "small bag" as compensation. hahaha!

Anyway, I'll be ending this post abruptly as I have exams tomorrow. But i'll make it up to you as I've lots of things I want to tell you about. Plus, I have a bachelorette party this wednesday and 2 big weddings this weekend (one is a friend's). Need I say more?

Oh, and please wish me luck tomorrow! I'm gonna need it. haha. seriously. :)

Outfit for the day :)

2006-11-22T09:07:00.000+08:00

Went to a friend's house last night for a visit as she is about to give birth soon. (I'm excited na for you, p!) Afterwards, I took my cousins from L.A., jr and francine, along with my younger bros, to eat at embassy cafeteria (a local gimmick place in manila). Here is what I wore:

Muted pink tee with gray print and metallic applique from zara, gray skinnies from culte femme, sandals from bamboo, and cipria monogram crescent hobo from fendi

I actually took out a batch of teens which made me feel...so...old. hahaha! But I had fun though. I treated them to philly cheese steak, chili cheese fries and deluxe hamburgers plus a pitcher of illusion alcohol. hehe! wasn't able to take much pics though. It was a ruckus. haha!

To end this post, here's a cute pic of my cousin francine and my lil bro rob:

They're super going to kill me for posting this! hehe. Well, they kept on teasing me that I was "old" last night so I don't really care. bleh! :P

The stuff I passionately haggled for. hahaha!

2006-11-20T19:34:00.000+08:00

Well as promised, I will now post the stuff I got this weekend from the bazaars. They're not much but I really had a great time shopping for these things. hahaha!

As I have mentioned, I went to the Lifestyle Network ("In the Limelight") Bazaar last saturday. The first thing I bought there was this unique waist cinch belt from carioca:

It is made of faux leather in dark brown, black and camel which makes it very easy to mix and match with different outfits. I love love love the slight v shape in the center front as it gives this piece an eclectic vintage vibe. Plus the three-hole adjuster allows me to use this cutie low in the hip which makes it all the more versatile! But the best part is, only 5 pieces of this belt were made. Yup, exclusivity at its finest with a very affordable price! hehe. It was really such a steal at P500 ($10). :D

Next, I got this white, pink and yellow floral khaftan with braided rope waist tie also from the same store:

The pic really does not do it justice and it looks so much better when worn. It is made of a polyester type satin fabric which has a very floaty cruise vibe. Perfect for wearing at a resort or in a yacht with white couture shorts and a cute floppy strawhat. This piece is also the only one there is of its kind since the owner sells self-designed stuff. Original tag price was P750 ($15) but I was able to get it at P600 ($12). (Thanks mica! hehe).

Lastly, I got these chic leather cuff bracelets:

I got dark brown, cobalt blue and tan brown since they were the ones that caught my eye. They are locally made in mandaluyong according to the stall proprietor and are made of 100% real leather. These would look so stylin' with a lot of ensembles! The thicker one was only P100 ($2) while the thinner ones were P70 ($1.40). Not bad! :)

Moving on to the Assumption bazaar last sunday, I first got these woven rattan room organizers with black pleather trims:

I'm planning to put my headbands and scarves in one while belts will be put inside the other. The smaller box is for other trinkets such as my watches etc. They are going inside my walk-in closet obviously. hehe! Super steal at P250 ($5) each.

Next, I got 2 pretty dolls for my godchild.

They are very kawaii and I just had to get them. I can't say the price though as her pretty mom G might read it. hahaha!

Lastly, I got this cute cosmetic pouch from rina albert.

Sorry for the blurry pic! I had to take the pic without flash since the pouch is plastic covered canvas and the flash reflects all over it. This one was P165 ($3.25). So cute, noh?

So there you have it! See, told you I didn't buy much but I did get some great stuff at super great deals. You should try going to different bazaars girls, you're missing a lot if you don't go! heehee!

To end this post is my outfit last sunday. Sorry for the crappy pic as I just took this with my vintage celphone haha.

White button-down top from kamiseta, brown tweed couture shorts from forever21, brown leather pointed flats from steve madden, and moss green and brown stripe medium hobo from prada

A happy bazaar shopping weekend

2006-11-19T22:29:00.000+08:00

One of the things that I really look forward once the calendar hits november and december are the bazaars in manila! They just pop up everywhere -in hotel ballrooms, church parking lots, inside malls, humongous tents outside malls, and village centers. Each weekend, at least 3-5 big bazaars are happening at the same time and you just have got to choose which ones you want to check out. What's fun with these bazaars is that you usually haggle with the proprietors of the stalls themselves instead of SA's. This of course means better negotiations, which ultimately means better bargains! hehehe. One more thing is that you usually find unique stuff (articles you won't find in other stores) in such bazaars since people who are still in thoughts of starting a business out of a certain product (be it homemade food, handcrafted jewelry, self-designed clothes or accessories) usually join them to test the market. *nods head*

Well, bf and I decided to make this weekend a bazaar scouting weekend and I ended up with some great finds! But I'll be posting about the stuff I bought tomorrow as I haven't taken pictures of them yet. We only went to 2 bazaars though, one on saturday and one on sunday. (We got lazy, heehee) The first one we went to was the "In The Limelight" bazaar (organized by the lifestyle network) held at the rockwell tent outside powerplant mall.

The bazaar had a glitz and glamour theme and it was pretty nicely set-up. There was even a fashion show at 9pm (I'm not sure if this was every night for 3 days), an hourly raffle, plus a lot of freebies from sponsors such as oil of olay etc.

Here are some pics I randomly took at the bazaar:

A shot of the bazaar entrance. Its not evident here but a lot of people went and it was a bit crowded inside. A ticket to go inside costed P100 ($2).

On the right is Carioca, my fave booth in the bazaar. I bought 2 items there! Can you guess what I got? haha. The owner gave me great discounts too. hehe.

Here is a pic of the Ilaya Couture booth. Each booth had that pink film strip with the name of the stall.

After shopping in the bazaar, we went back inside the powerplant mall and ate at Mongkok, a popular dimsum and dumplings resto here in the Philippines.

We had salted fish rice, shark's fin siomai, mongkok siomai and brocolli in oyster sauce. Bf had a can of beer and I had fresh mango shake. *yum*

The second bazaar we went to was the assumption bazaar. We actually got free tickets to this one from bf's mom, which was great since entrance was P150 ($3) per person. The bazaar was held in a ballroom at Hotel Intercon and was much more comfy since it was not as crowded. This bazaar, though, did not have as much "gimmicks" as the lifestyle network bazaar except for the raffle. I was actually able to buy some pretty useful things here but more on that tomorrow. *wink* (don't expect too much though as I just bought cheap stuff haha!)

Here is a shot of the area near the entrance.

To end this post is my outfit last saturday at the rockwell bazaar. ;)

H&M couture vest, sleeveless top and couture shorts from topshop, yellow/saffron patent leather shoes from autinori HK, bronzey gold bouvier guccissima bag from gucci (one of my fave bags of all time haha)

Clearer pics of the bag and shoes.

Hope you had a happy weekend as well! mwah!

UNIQLO global flagship store opens: I have got to go to New York asap!

2006-11-18T10:36:00.000+08:00

Good news for us girls who have more than justifiable reasons to visit New York soon. *beams* Another international fashion giant has decided to open a humongous flagship store (36,000 sq. ft.) in the streets of SoHo! And what's more, the brand hails from fashion-upbeat Japan. Here is an article quoted from uniqlo.com:

"The fabric of modern Japan is being woven into the streets of New York! With the autumn opening of UNIQLO's highly anticipated new global flagship store, SoHo will finally get to experience the contemporary Japanese style that has long been missing from this hot, international fashion mecca. UNIQLO is Japan's most popular apparel retailer and a worldwide leader in casual wear. The brand's mission is to empower all individuals through the clothing they choose to wear. Rather than become characterized by a brand, UNIQLO encourages its customers to integrate its pieces into their own unique style.

Uniqlo's english and japanese brand logos

Uniqlo flagship as it was being constructed.

UNIQLO's SoHo global flagship will be the brand's largest retail store anywhere in the world, featuring unique products and styles that will only be found there and a dynamic, cutting-edge store environment to make the shopping experience personal and fun. To ensure its success UNIQLO has recruited many of the industry's top talents, stars and arbiters of style to design and manage the huge SoHo flagship.

A shot from one of Uniqlo's container stores that were put up in scattered areas in NY a month prior to the Nov. 9 opening of the SoHo store. They were made to announce news of the brand's arrival in US land. :)

Bringing UNIQLO to SoHo is about more than just introducing Japan's favorite clothing brand to the rest of the world it's also an opportunity to express UNIQLO's essence as a unique, distinctly modern Japanese brand. UNIQLO's SoHo global flagship will be the most significant example of Japanese retail culture outside of Japan and a model for the future of UNIQLO's global expansion."

Here are some eye candy images from their free paper/ online zine:

Plus some looks in their fall/winter lookbook:

Oh my gosh, I definitely need to fix my sched before clerkship begins and give my beautiful mom a visit. hahaha! In the meantime though, you and I can watch the store on live video streaming here. Through the four cameras placed around the store, you can actually check out what's happening at this very minute in New York's Soho any time you wish.

All I can say is sh*t, just how cool is that?

Skull prints in the mainstream + Topshop glorietta re-opens

2006-11-16T19:15:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Alexander Mcqueen, the skull design has made its way into a form of print seasonally reinterpreted into all sorts of fabrics - from cotton, to silk, to viscose, to canvas! It really is now up there with plaid, polka dots, houndstooth and stripes and is now not only reserved for the punkista or rockista (or pirate hehe). Sweet trendy girls can also wear the print by mixing them with girly details such as lace and bright colors (or teddy bear pendants ala mischa barton). *wink*

You see, I adore prints and always incorporate them into my ensemble (from my monogram bags to my printed couture shorts haha) and I find this relatively "new" (in a mainstream sense) print very hot because of its element of whimsy and odd.

Avril Lavigne, Ashley Olsen, and a Topshop model all in skull prints

Moving on, Topshop Glorietta has re-opened and I was there yesterday. (I didn't get anything though! *beams*)

I'm quite happy about the renovation as the place became more spacious and clean-looking. Now it's time to bring on the end-of-season sale! haha.

Another reason to visit japan...

2006-11-16T17:44:00.000+08:00

Among the countries I really wish I could explore soon is Japan. (The closest I've been to visiting this place are numerous stop-overs in kansai and nagoya airports, hehe) Why, you ask? Well first and foremost, bf and I are really into japanese food. And I'm talking about the whole nine yards. We eat all kinds of sushi, all kinds of sashimi, japanese okonomiyaki, yakisoba, (actually) all kinds of ramen, teppanyaki, teriyaki, tonkatsu, tempura - anything! *stomach rumble* heehee! Secondly, I adore all their cutesey stuff. From sanrio (my fave was tuxedo sam and hello kitty) to anime (they're so hilarious) to my favorite meiji candy called poifull (grapefruit flavor). hahaha. Third reason would be to see all the selections of shiseido, shu uemura, sk-II and other jap cosmetics. Then fourth would be to simply explore such a freakishly organized yet exagerratedly vain country! hehehe. I actually want to see tokyo, shibuya, osaka, kyoto, and mt. fuji, watch a sumo match, visit a traditional shrine and take a dip in a hot spring. hahaha. I know, what an itinerary that would be right?

Well, gucci just gave me another reason to want to go there.

*Sigh* These are moments when I wish I was some sort of heiress. But of course not a slutty one. hahaha!

My quirky pretty newest dress!

2006-11-14T23:29:00.000+08:00

I just received new stuff from my mom which had a lot of beautiful things. *giggle* Too bad though that some aren't actually for me but are gifts for other people so I can't make a "package post" like before when I took a pic of the loot right after opening it. hehehe! Still I was more than happy after opening the box because it had one very special item for me and that is... *drum roll please* my newest dress! (duh) hahaha!

I'm a bit exhausted from doing some paperwork so I won't be able to take pics whilst trying it on. I took a pic of it in the hanger though:

Its a turtleneck black and red printed jersey dress that fits perfectly! I know this hanged pic doesn't do it justice so here's another shot of the dress from forever21.com:

The itty bitty tie-up vest and hat are a little too much for me so I'll be wearing the dress plain thank you. haha. I'm loving that faux onyx ring though. :)

I really can't wait to wear it once the holiday parties begin! :) Thanks mom! love you! *mwah*

Gucci gives back + my fave shot from cruise '07 ad campaign

2006-11-14T20:25:00.000+08:00

I have been meaning to post this but it totally slipped my mind the past weeks. *slaps head* You all know that I've always been a gucci girl right? Yup, this designer brand is my first love (and as they say, first love never dies, haha!). Well, its just that gucci has never disappointed me and I've always identified with the brand.

Well, this holiday season is sure to be a good one for us gucci lovers as our fashion house has decided to give back to charity. The following news were out in Fashion Wire Daily since Oct. 20, 2006:

From November 21st to December 31st, Gucci will donate 20 percent of the sales from a luxurious collection of items designed by Gucci’s Creative Director, Frida Giannini. The proceeds will specifically benefit education and health services to children in Mozambique, where nearly three-quarters of a million children are directly affected by HIV/AIDS.

“The 2006 holiday campaign is part of the most extensive philanthropic program in Gucci’s history,” said Mark Lee, Gucci CEO and President, in an earlier statement. “We are committed to supporting important humanitarian efforts through UNICEF.”

Now here is a picture of some irresistable items from the said collection:

Gorgeous platinum guccissima, and its for a good cause too!

In addition, "helping to spread AIDS awareness and the Gucci and UNICEF partnership is actress Jennifer Connelly, who will act as honorary global representative of this year’s campaign. Connelly, who has spent considerable time in Mozambique and other affected regions in Africa, is just one of many famous faces that have stepped forth to help fight the global epidemic."

Wow, jennifer connelly is such a good choice for this campaign. I super adored her in labyrinth! I do understand that some of my readers may be too young to even have heard of labyrinth hehe! So I thought of posting this pic:

Jennifer in Labyrinth (google it if you still don't know or remember! haha.)

Well, I also liked her in A Beautiful Mind, so here's a more recent pic:

Back to the topic, items from Gucci’s 2006 Holiday collection for UNICEF will be available at 200 Gucci boutiques worldwide on November 21st (exactly a week from now). So rush over on that day if you've been looking for an excuse to buy pretty little things from gucci. Come on, you know you want to! hahaha.

On a lighter note, I am so loving this particular shot from the gucci cruise collecton '07 ad campaign:

Can you guess why? haha!