Last Saturday, I was hesitating to attend the Philippine Fashion Week but when I saw the Burdang Taal, Habing Pilipino schedule, I went to SM Mall of Asia quickly, tried to look for someone to use of complimentary ticket with me (but didn't find one) and enjoyed the beautiful collections of burdang taal, a very detailed hand-embroidery technique that actually originated in Taal, Batangas. The featured collections are from Edgar Madamba, Vic Barba, Bergamo, Dong Omaga-Diaz, Lito Perez, JC Buendia, Fanny Serrano, Gerry Katigbak, Johnny Abad, Edgar San Diego,Ole Morabe, Jontie Martinez, Roland Lirio, Richard Papa, Anthony Nocom, Randy Ortiz, Oskar Peralta. I personally like the collections and I'm hoping that there'll be more of this kind in the Philippine Fashion Week for the coming years because they showcase the Filipino talent and craftsmanship that is very unique and sophisticated. To see the photos and for full story, please read more here.
Joke. The truth is I can't stop talking about it but since I feel like thoughts are cluttered here in my personal space, I needed to organize and formalize a new space for my unconventional fashion + travel stories. Of course there'll be some little things about beauty and wellness in it!
I felt so loved and I would like to thank you for making my special "I-am-old-I-panic" day wonderful.
OKAY, FINE.
Here's the glimpse on my special day:
When the clock struck 12, I received a small cake with lots of huge candles and a special box from a person with small eyes. I miss my dad too much cause he has always been the first person to greet me right before it strikes 12 cause he couldn't stay awake anymore at 11pm of the 18th! Haha.
Oh! That reminds me of spreading the info about a wonderful family and how you can help their dad win the battle against cancer, here's the link from my friend, Benj.
Since I just turned 26 and I am aware about the changes that take place in a woman's body, I'd like to support Wacoal's campaign of spreading awareness about the changes in our bodies and how to feel good about it by Being Body Beautiful at Any Age. Did you know and did you realize that the skin's turning point is at 25 years old. How about the body? Wacoal's Human Human Science Research Center, since it's establishment in 1964, has collected a total of more than 40,000 women's body measurement and has also tracked and study the changes in their body in the span of 30 years. The results were the changes in body shape brought about by age is a fixed rule that can be drawn in a spiral. In Wacoal, it is called as "Spiral Ageing." Spiral Aging is a principle that women undergo three major physiological changes associated with aging throughout a 30-year period from 16 to 46, and that with these as turning points, women experience major changes in their physique.
Around reaching 24-26 years old, once a woman's body matures, basal metabolism starts to slow down and when women reach 38 years old more or less, a sharp increase in weight occurs as well as other shocking changes. Then there comes 40, the age when work and family demands increased and when weight gain and change in body accelerate.
We have to be careful about our lifestyle and the way we take care of our body because these contribute a lot to the changes that are happening. The age-related changes can't be stopped (so take more photos while you're 20!) but there are ways to slow down or reduce them like exercising regularly, having a healthy lifestyle and diet, and wearing the right underwear. Don't forget the fun in your lifestyle and relationship too! Note: I'll be blogging about the breast and hip aging soon. Information about the study is from Philippine Wacoal Corporation. You can also reach them in Facebook & Twitter.
I think this is one of my favorites among the unlimited interesting things I've done with Taku. For the month of October, aside from the Surprise Party, this is the biggest activity that we have --to host a wedding of good friends (who are Japanese & Iranian/Filipina) so we needed to translate the script in English & Japanese for everybody's convenience.
Above photo was taken on Saturday night while we were practicing and he was so strict while wearing his necktie! :)
The hosting was fun and since we enjoyed doing it, we heard some positive feedback like they liked how we pulled things together, we exceeded their expectations (Did they expect that we speak like high school students because we look like one? haha) and remained calm on the stressful changes in the program. My former boss and his wife even reminisced their own wedding!
But I think the biggest factors why it turned out nicely are because I know my hosting partner a lot that I even know the best time to inject some humor and he knows what are the things that don't need translations among my random unnecessary information. haha.
Photo taken by Chino Batoctoy
I believe harmony and a little bit "adventure" is needed for hosting to become successful. You should know the program flow but you should not be afraid to tweak some things when the situation occurs. And I also believe that people will like what they hear when they like what they see.
And since I think it's unacceptable for a "host" not to dress appropriately and sophisticatedly in a very special occasion like this, I think it might be a good idea for me to share to you my attending-a-wedding-look and how I prepared for it.
1. I tried to be unconventional with the shoes.
Color: Gray with Gold Heels From: Zara
I wanted to have a little twist in the traditional shoes that we wear in weddings and since I usually opt not to buy things that I won't be able to use again plus, I find it easy to walk with this heels, I didn't stop myself to have it! I was glad that its safe and elegant colors matched my dress that I got from People are People. 2. Choose lively colors to match the happy moments!
3. I like fake lashes! :) It was my first time wearing them but I was surprised that they weren't heavy at all! It feels uncomfortable after putting the glue but it feels natural afterwards. I like the drama that it creates in the eyes (with short lashes like mine). And congratulations to my beautiful cousin whom I requested to do my hair & make up, Katchie Mejias, since she was able to fix my ugly eyebrows! I promise not to use eyeliner for my brows again so the hairs will be in order. haha.
4. I don't usually wear French tip on my nails because I'm saving it for special occasions and I feel like it's more appropriate to wear it on weddings since it looks clean and lady-like.
So I think we quite pull it off though I made Taku panicked when I said something that the organizer told me to say which I wasn't able to inform him beforehand and he needed to translate in Japanese right away. With the diversity of cultures of family and friends, it is a wedding that I will never forget, indeed, love knows no boundaries.
And of course, because it's a wedding of good friends!
"Together, I believe we'll change the world" is what the groom said in his vow to his bride which was said in a funny way but sincerely inspired everyone to love.
Sibika at Kultura is the subject in elementary where young Filipinos learn history and enhance awareness of their cultural and social ability and distinction among other nationalities. In my case, that's when I first fell in love with batik.
According to researches, Batik is a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique which is an ancient art form that has said to have existed in Egypt where it was used to wrap mummies and was practiced in China, Japan, India, Nigeria and Senegal. But the Indonesian batik that we know nowadays is especially from Yogyakarta and Surakarta which has notable meanings rooted to the Javanese conceptualization of the universe.
I'd like to announce for October 2 to be the Batik Day (haha) but UNESCO already acknowledged the beauty of batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2, 2009. So today, it's an honor to support Batik Day and will not just be blogging about it but will also feel awesome wearing it!
The cape batik that I'm wearing in the photos is made by Riana Kusuma of Indonesia which is done in summer colors with beautiful flowers manually drawn in it. But I'm always thrilled to see the different batik designs that talk so much about where they actually come from.
Growing up, I associate batik with Indonesians and what I admire about them very much is how batik serves not just as a national costume/ national identity but how they actually enhance and incorporate it in their everyday lives (reason why I always wonder how we can also use Filipiniana daily cause it would be nice to wear your identity, right?).
What I also like about Batik is it normally adds sophistication to an outfit. Due to its limited availability in the Philippines, I always find Filipinos who appreciate and wear Batik very sophisticated and smart, surprisingly upon knowing them, they really are (like my elementary teacher who first showed me a batik scarf)! So probably, it's a good idea to wear it! haha.
Here's one of my favorite bags which I got from Jakarta when I sang my heart out upon realizing a dream last year and seeing batik in its country of origin for the first time was an amazing feeling.
And just like what one of the most prominent techie women and batik lover in Indonesia, Shinta Dhanuwardhoyo, have told me and I'd like to tell you, "The beauty started long time ago, then it's your turn to pass it on."
Since we haven't seen each other for a few months and the last Sake Night hosted by Taku was almost a year ago, I invited the Couchsurfers in Manila to have a Birthday Eve Surprise Party for Taku! (Though I wasn't able to invite everyone cause I couldn't post it in public). :)
The above photo was how I kept the decorations (balloons, cartolina, markers, etc) and beers for a few days. Taku almost saw it! haha.
It was very fulfilling to be able to pull everything off without Taku having any clue. I was very grateful to have the CS Manila helped me out in cooking, setting up the apartment and handling the food delivery, and even in practicing their "surprise" blocking! haha.
"I thought you were a bad liar," was Taku's reaction at my acting skills. haha. I told him I was going to fit my bridesmaid gown for my bestfriend's wedding on Sunday afternoon and asked him to join me in the supermarket in the evening while everyone's dressing up his apartment.
Then we had a surprise video from some Couchsurfers and his friends (from various places) who couldn't make it to the party. It was a very wonderful feeling seeing Taku's eyes got smaller and mouth bigger with disbelief. haha. It was an awesome night, good friends, good conversations, good food! I felt like it was my birthday! :)
My love affair with Belle de Jour Planner started in 2009 when I was looking for a planner that will suit my lifestyle as a young professional who was so in need of a beautiful space to write all my thoughts! I found some posts in my blog when I was talking about the cover of my BDJ Planner in 2010 and when I used the yearly goal planner.
And since the BDJ Fair is less than 2 weeks away, here's my photo with the beautiful bellas I met in BDJ Fair in 2010! Seems like it was just yesterday! I remember we met in a game then we all had our hairs curled! Haha.
This is your chance to learn, explore, and meet beautiful people too! See you at the SM MOA Music Hall on October 14, from 10am to 10pm!
Aside from their interesting line-up of guest speakers and fun activities, I'm super excited to check out the latest editions of the BDJ Power Planner, Navi: Your Lifestyle Navigator, and their newest babies -- the everything is possible planner and newest edition of the BDJ FMN notebooks!
The best part is: They will all be available at the fair for 20% off! :D
Belle de Jour Power Planner
The Belle de Jour (BDJ) Power Planner is especially made for the Pinay fashionista achiever.The term Belle de Jour (bel duh zhoor') is French fashion lingo for Ït"girl and we have redefined it to mean the modern day renaissance woman who dares to achieve her goals, lives herdream life, makes a difference in her community, all while doing everything in great style.
All pages reflect the uniqueness of the BDJ Girl. The BDJ Poer Planner includes time-management principles to help BDJ Girls manage their life better, articles and affirmations to inspire them to live life to the fullest and over Php20,000 worth of coupons - to remind them of work-life balance.
NAVI: Your Life Navigator
Who wouldn't want to see the world? Inspired by the traveler who embraces uncertainty, NAVI: Your Life Navigator, reminds us about the importance of going places and belonging in those places. On their fourth year, NAVI 2013 encourages us to ask the important questions and to be aptient with getting answers, while still keeping our life goals in check. With its low-key travel- themed design, inspiring travel articles, and plenty of space for notes every week, NAVI 2013 is the must-have planner for men and women who want to keep moving forward in life.
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Imagine what you would do every day if you tell yourself that everything is possible? everything is possible is about simplifying life by creating concrete goals and breaking them down into achievable steps. Pick from our inspiring quotes to use as your mantra, and maximize our much-loved time management-based layout to help you be mindful of anything, big or small, as a real possibility. With its minimalist clean design, everything is possible is the planner for anyone itching for a fresh start.
FORGET-ME-NOT
The BDJ Forget-Me-Not line is the ultimate companion to the BDJ Planner. Purchase one or all of these handy pads separately for the endless things you need to write down.
CREATE/INSPIRE
Take a moment to write things down and never let a brilliant idea go to waste, this is your perfect idea pad.
DARE/ACHIEVE Start with a clear agenda, organize your thoughts and assign tasks easily with DARE/ACHIEVE, your go-to pad for meetings.
SAVE/DO
Keep your cash in control and be on top of your tasks with SAVE/DO, your dual=purpose pad for tracking cash and to-dos.
Check out the newest releases of the Belle de Jour team at the 2012 BDJ Fair: Limitless! at the SM MOA Music Hall on October 12 with their discounted Fair Prices! Are you Bellas excited? I sure am! :)
Know more about the different BDJ Fair activities and sign up details here: http://on.fb.me/SNFueP
On top of my list when I was in my early 20s (Goodness! I'm saying this now!) was to surf, first was to climb a mountain. I usually have a timeline for my plans, Climb a mountain: 18, Travel abroad: 25, (both were realized before the deadline by the way. haha) but for surfing, it was just in my list but I never believed in actually doing it.
I learned lessons from my first ride (hoping to get a chance for a second ride) that remind me on how I should look at life when not riding the waves:
1. Impossible really becomes not possible if you never give it a shot.My list doesn't say that I should be a professional surfer but for a long time, I was thinking that even just trying it... is absurd.
The photo below shows how scared I was on my first try:
2. Patience is always a virtue. Life is not designed to be flat, it has ups and downs, right and wrong, but we have to keep the faith and keep moving. If you didn't ride the wave the first time, be more alert and try it the second time. If you fall, hug the board tight and try again. After a few try, you'll know. :)
As cliche as it is, "something that does not happen doesn't mean that it won't happen."
3. Listen & use your senses. In today's world, everyone wants to talk which oftentimes make things complicated. In surfing, you need to use your senses, don't just look, listen and feel the waves coming. Listen to the wind blowing, look at the waves beside you, quickly close your eyes to feel the waves and concentrate on your senses. You can't afford to lose a wave cause you might not experience one anymore!
4. Sometimes, you just don't have the chance to backout, so rock it! Sometimes, life gives us things that we think we don't need but is actually for us to experience and we have to be brave enough to try what's in-store for us out there. Most of the time, we need to risk then our lives will never be the same again cause it just gets better.
5. It will always be hard to keep the balance, but only the wise can do it (Read: wise- with knowledge & experience of falling and standing up over and over. haha).
6. Be prepared(you can't afford to miss one wave, remember?).
7. Enjoy the ride. There's a feeling of euphoria when riding a wave, it's addictive. The feeling before, during and after riding a wave is indescribable but you can never tell a story about only "after the ride," it needs to be a whole process to make the story complete so you have to enjoy every second of it.
FREEDOM. It was a liberating feeling to ride the waves.
Awesome Idea: What I always do is to imagine the feeling when I was riding a wave, then I imagine my worries as the wave- scary and huge...after a few breaths, rode over my worries, then they go away!
Maybe that's a good idea for you to try surfing, so you'll know what to imagine when worries come again!
So here is what I've found out in my hard drive, my "chimpanzee" first ride:
*This was a quick trip to Zambales, read the whole story here.
So, the photo above is our savings! Yohoo! But as you can see, I'm not suppose to use it for shoes or dress, it says "FOR TRAVEL ONLY" and it's not even mine alone, Taku put some 10 & 5 peso coins there for the past months!
We got a total of 3,500 pesos! I thought we have 6,000 already :( but I'm wondering where could we go with this!
Anyway, since I always keep in mind "to save" and I don't usually buy things that are not "the basic," here's something that I do when mixing and matching with what I have:
This is my headband. I put white ribbon in it and made it a necklace. Yey!
Since this necklace is in my closet for so long (given to me by a gorgeous friend, Rochelle) and I've found a nice white top, I worn it and took a photo cause I want to remember when Taku looked at it 4 times trying not to laugh. Then he sent me a message during lunch saying "How's your curse working?" I swear he's so not into fashion!
But just last week, I had fun having Avocado foot mask with Taku (Korean experience)! Haha.
Look how the guy liked it! Probably, we'll do this again cause my feet got a bit softer.
Nothing beats a quick drive or even an overnight peaceful trip to Tagaytay to recharge and slow down from the stressful city life. I put together a Tagaytay Peaceful Weekend Itinerary that you can add in yours. Have a peaceful one!
Roadtrip. Fresh fruits. Waves. --Some of the few things that keep you high in Zambales, a province in the central part of Luzon (Philippines). For some people in Manila, it's good to go to South and wander under the sea but some prefer to check out what's there going North and ride on top of the sea. But I suggest to do both and cherish the two unique experiences with genuine appreciation of the beauty of their purpose.
With my enthusiasm to explore and experience surfing, I packed and went on a quick trip to Zambales. I just had surfing in mind with no other expectations about the sea and accommodations. But I was surprised on how that simple trip turned out as one of the best trips I had, first, because I was able to cross-out something in my long bucket list- surfing. Second, because I realized that I had explored and had a wonderful break. Who would ever think that I'll do so many things in that place aside from surfing? (Here's the things I learned about surfing).
We stayed at my friend Josh's usual hiding place, the Crystal Beach Resort. With very amiable staffs and very friendly locals, I enjoyed breathing fresh air and listening to the waves while:
1. walking around the shore and attempting to play beach volleyball.
2. Playing and climbing up in their obstacle courses with a real-life chimpanzee friend (that's a joke among us cause we look like chimpanzees when falling from the surf board), Daisuke.
3. Being one with nature and having quality time to rest and recharge my spirit in the tranquility of the place in their duyan made from tires.It was really nice to close my eyes, feel the sun shines to my face, breathe in, smile and listen to the birds chirping.
4. Campfire we met again! Yey!
5. Pretending to be a pro when checking out surf boards.
6. Playing around. Wonderful conversations.
7. Getting more and more wounds.
8. And of course, San Miguel Beer in the middle of the day with my wonderful people.
9. Becoming invisible like me in the photo below:
I will always recommend a trip to Zambales, whether you'll be trying out surfing or just simply lying on the beach while playing music all day. Even if you'll visit alone, it just feels good to be surrounded by very lively people trying to ride every wave as if it was the last.
By the way, that guy below, my Kuya Josh, was still starting to surf when that photo was taken. Look how he falls! haha. But now, he's riding unlimitedly and winning! Thanks for the fun trip Kuya!
It seems like I traveled back in time when I stepped in the town of Taal in the province of Batangas. Aside from its very beautiful Church that stood strong for a long time, I am listing my few unconventional favorites in Taal!
1. I like these hair brushes, hair pins and mirrors from so-long-time-ago! I feel like there are some magical powers that will make my hair shiny and bouncy! You'll see them as you visit the ancestral houses together with beautiful vintage luggage!
2. I wonder why this eyeglasses is not in the market now, seems like a specialty to me.
3. For the growing passion in photography among us, Filipinos, you might want to visit the impressive collection in their Camera Museum!
4. Of course, the rumor is true! You can dress up and live like an Illustrado in the Spanish era at Villa Tortuga! I like the hospitality of everyone who serves the local food while wearing Filipiniana and the extensive knowledge on Philippine History of the great Camp Suki designer, Lito Perez.
5. Looks like a portrait? This is my favorite placemat in Villa Tortuga. It portrays the old Manila. Manila would be so beautiful with people walking around in "saya!" I think this placemat is also for sale!
6. Among all the things that I've discovered as we check out the museums and ancestral houses, this is my most favorite. I flew back in time as I looked down the hole and imagined how Andres Bonifacio and several other Katipunan heroes conducted their meetings there with a gas lamp as their only light. I could imagine how passionate these people were in bringing the democracy to the Filipinos.
7. But the most memorable food I had was the Tsokolate Eh which is a thick and rich chocolate drink which used to be a status symbol among affluent Spaniards and Filipinos during the Spanish Colonial era. It was matched with suman, a native rice cake wrapped in banana leaf. Taku and I always joke around that it will just be Tsokolate Ah for us, a lighter and watery chocolate drink that is good for sharing for everybody!
The Taal fun continues as you ride the cold bus on the way to Manila. We were feeling sick with too much coldness because it was a rainy day when we visited and he tried to tie the curtain over the aircon but the most successful technique was to put some old breads in it, doesn't look good but helpful. haha.
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