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

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. :)

New year's eve outfit and random pics

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.

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? :)

Late night shopping + jack's loft + outfit

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

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

Foodie Sunday + Outfit for the day

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.