Month: November 2011

FDCP’s Weaving The Future

It’s the finals night for the Fashion & Design Council of the Philippines’ social design competition “Weaving The Future” this coming Tuesday, November 22.  After months of sifting through many talented fashion design hopefuls from all over the country, the final 20 designers (10 for apparel and 10 for accessories) were chosen and presented to the press a few months ago. The past two months saw the designers executing their designs using local, indigenous materials and meeting with their respective mentors for feedback regarding their pieces/collections.  Everything had to be meticulously executed while considering the production costs, sustainability of the product and its impact on the environment, and of course viability of developing the piece or collection for the retail market. Last Wednesday was the first time that the collections were all presented for initial judging, and I have to say that several of the collections as well as accessory pieces really blew me away!  The young designers really pulled out all the stops in coming out with modern, innovative, and most importantly wearable ways of weaving the indigenous materials into contemporary cuts and designs. Of course I won’t say who my favorites are for now 😉 we’ll have to wait and see how the final pieces and collections look when they are completed, properly styled and finally come down the runway.  We’re so excited to find out who...

Read More

Season of Transition

While summer at the beach is, hands-down, my favorite time of year, fall is my second favorite season and we were lucky to catch the beginning of it during our trip to Japan.  Weather-wise it was extremely pleasant–on our third day temperatures dropped to 15 degrees Celsius during the day and 10 degrees Celsius at night–making it perfect for dressing up, taking long scenic walks and enjoying the outdoors (along with having nightly rounds of snacks and sake al fresco at our hotel’s terrace with friends before turning in :-)) Meditation pond reflecting the sky, trees and temple in...

Read More

Memoirs of a Geisha (Wannabe)

When in Gion, do as the geishas do…well, not exactly.  It’s not like I can learn to perform the tea ceremony, or do a ceremonial dance, or even properly put on a kimono in one afternoon, but I can certainly shop skincare where the geishas shop!  Geishas, or geikos, are known locally in Kyoto as women of the arts and while “Memoirs of a Geisha” probably didn’t do them justice, it definitely increased people’s fascination with them (I know it did for me).  So while I may not exactly fit the bill as a maiko, I can at least take home some beauty products and pretend to be one 🙂 Historic and picturesque streets and alleyways of Gion Pretty little shops and tea houses line the streets Yojiya is a classic beauty & skin cosmetics brand created in Kyoto and founded in 1904 Such beautiful kimonos worn during the day! I skipped their famous “Aburatorigami” (oil blotting facial paper) & got the “Tsuyanotama” exfoliating facial cleansing sponge, “Tsuyabi” natural face wash powder, and Yojiya loose face powder instead   Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this...

Read More

A Walk in the Park

When the weather is cool and nippy, it’s always a pleasure to stroll around a city and do a little exploring.  Just a block away from our hotel was a river lined with cafés, parks and the Museum of Oriental Ceramics.  I practiced taking a few ‘pinhole’ shots of the pretty flowers & changing foliage lining the streets, as well as a picture of some of the artists that had set up for the day… Lush flowers lined the riverside sidewalk Autumn is beginning to make itself felt A group of adorable little kids out & about for their morning playtime Groups of artists set up all around the park Lovely watercolor painting all done & propped up For cool weather & endless walking:  Aubergine wool wrap coat, chocolate mock-croc skirt & tights, patent leather flat boots, leather saddle bag Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this...

Read More

A Different Kind of Weekend Market

This was not your typical brunch, leisurely taken after a stroll through a Saturday market…this was a wake-up-before-the-crack-of-dawn, head-off-to-the-docks-to-find-a-sushi-stall-in-a-fish-market kind of Saturday breakfast.  We were looking for Endo Sushi in Osaka’s Central Fish Market (similar in some ways to Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, where Ito and I had tried our first, super-fresh, early morning sushi breakfast a year ago). All seven of us (Ito, John, JR, Anne, Arvin, Erika and myself) had agreed to wake up at 5am–give or take 30 minutes for those of us who didn’t wake up on time, LOL!–to catch the first subway train out, before walking the rest of the way to find the little stall in the midst of the huge market. A hundred year-old establishment, Endo Sushi in Osaka serves the freshest catch of the day and is open from 5am-2pm.  We were there at dawn, but the place was already full…luckily the wait wasn’t too long. We were served melt-in-your-mouth sweet eel, sea urchin, seabream, fatty tuna (the only item that’s repeated) and yellowtail… …followed by japanese squid, sweet shrimp, sea scallops, fatty tuna and pink salmon.  The sushi is lightly brushed with soy sauce (not dipped) and no wasabi is served just palate-cleansing ginger shavings. The servings are generous so when a third plate with a different selection was offered, I was way too full and reluctantly declined (even if...

Read More

Gallery of Past Work

Archives

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No posts found.

Make sure this account has posts available on instagram.com.

Subscribe Via E-mail

Have my updates delivered straight to your inbox!

Follow on Bloglovin wordpress stats