how we spent the long weekend

people and bloggers have been talking about this place that sells cheap japanese goodies in robinsons galleria called saizen. we're rarely in that necka the woods at mabuti na lang kasi we finally got to go and we went nuts! we went down each and every aisle—took us an hour and a half. everything at 85 pesos each! how do they make money?? we bumped into designer JC buendia there and he said the trick is to buy stuff that you think costs more than 85 bucks para sulit. but how will you know how much they cost elsewhere? like we bought an eyelash curler for 85 bucks—eh magkano ba yan sa landmark? and who knew we needed this stuff??

some rubber thumb-and-finger thimble thingy to help you pick up paper from a stack (or to count money) instead of licking your fingers:
set of patchwork coasters (too bad it didn't come in other colors and prints):
socks for your chair's feet (baka malamigan haha):
printed oil blotters (we got the leopard-print, of course—don't know if it works, though!):
little monster dolls:
japanese-patterned cloth for handicraft decorations:
japanese fancy paper used for origami (love the print!)
owl-shaped containers for soy sauce, salt, pepper, and togarashi:
bronze-colored bobby pins:
piggy sponge (will make washing dishes fun):
bear's shaped [sic] curtain holder:
and what are we going to do with all this stuff?? ewan! basta cute kasi eh! well, at least for every four items we bought, we were allowed to choose a free item from a rack of goodies (we bought 15 items—do the math!).

regine reigns

last night was the launch of regine velasquez's two new fragrances for herbench called songbird and reigne. we trekked all the way to mall of asia on a rainy friday payday night (the worst combination!) and made it to the atrium to a packed house. to the rafters! check out the crowd even on the balcony. we sat on the second row, but ben chan was so galante, he gave up his seat on the front row so we could get a better view. and we ended up sitting next to regine's dad, si mang gerry. ngek, baka akala nila nanay kami ni regine. and next to him was regine's boyfriend ogie alcasid. and when regine came out, she was dressed in this fabulous purple-feathered gown by michael cinco. wow, a gown like this is meant to be worn in a venue like araneta coliseum for a major concert so that the guy in the nosebleed section can still see her. but it was a hint of things to come... because being there last night was like being treated to a free concert! everything was concert level—from the set-up to the sound to the band to the performance to the number of songs she sang! over 15! in between, she talked about her new fragrances—songbird, which is a sophisticated floral; and reigne, which has a sweet powdery finish. check out the fancy packaging: as a special treat, here is a video of regine singing a classic pinoy-pop song written by ryan cayabyab and originally sung by basil valdes in the early 90s (is that right?), "tuwing umuulan at kapiling ka." it still sounds good today! gave us goosebumps! (with raul mitra on piano. wait till the end when she turns around. you gotta see the back of the gown!)

lamp or shoes?

like many working women, we consider ourselves a weekend housewife. the whole week we're zipping about town attending events and going to meetings; that or sitting on our fat ass in front of the computer writing, editing, and, er, facebooking. by the weekend, we attend not events but to our, er, wifely duties. and part of that is beautifying the home. we've been looking for a nice pendant lamp to go over our dinner table and we spotted the perfect lamp in a segunda-mano shop: this is an original kartell fl/y lamp, which costs about P14,000 brand new. for this second-hand, slightly used, but still in good condition lamp, all they were asking was P2,500! sold! unfortunately, it already was—to someone else, waaah!! we went back twice to check if the reservee had changed his mind but no dice. if we wanted, we could get a brand new, never-used one in rustan's for, yes, P14,000. and in other colors too! haay so mahal... kailan kaya ang sale? yesterday, we checked dexterton in greenbelt 5, baka sakali may sale. nada. instead we spotted kartell shoes. kartell shoes?? check out these cute little jelly flats (called "glue cinderella"), which the new york times has declared are back! they only cost P6,800 and were being offered at 10% off as an introductory price. not bad. but can we hang them over the dinner table...?

noel crisostomo

when noel crisostomo first e-mailed us, we have to confess we had never heard of him. he told us he was a filipino-canadian designer who had just set up shop in manila. he sent us his press kit from where we learned a little bit more about him: born in manila. learned how to sew from his mother, who made clothes for her eight children. made his first pair of pants at age 10. got his first job as illustrator for a boutique in ali mall. took architecture at UST. immigrated to canada in 1985. studied fashion at ryerson university. in 1990, represented canada in paris at the concours internationale de jeunes createur du mode. worked for zapata, become head designer for a menswear brand, launched his own label crisostomo in 1996. became a design teacher, joined club monaco, worked with sunny choi, then later ports 1961. as you can see the guy has a lot of experience under his, er, belt. in late 2007, he came back to manila and eventually set up shop here. after a little e-mail correspondence, we finally met him last month at the fashion show of filipino-australian designer leonardo salinas. here he is with ruby gan of schu wearing one of his creations: if you like what you see, check out his stuff at noelcrisostomo.com. and if you like what you see there, then go see them in person! noel will have a booth at tomorrow's urban bazaar at rockwell! till sunday!

rockwell rocks

there are a lot of things happening in rockwell this week. if you've been at power plant mall this past couple weeks, you may have seen the signs all over the mall telling you to "be scene." we didn't know what it was all about till we got this in the mail. click, read, and be scene! oops, looks like we already missed the first night tonight. you still have august 27 and 28!

then overlapping with this three-day event is another three-day event: rockwell's urban bazaar on august 28, 29, and 30 at the rockwell tent. this has almost become a seasonal tradition since it first started as the vintage bazaar in 2005.
then while you're there, look for the rainboots and get the chance to win six pairs of plueys or rainskimmers! one for each day of the week! (er, on sunday you stay home barefoot...)
but if you're longing for those vintage-bazaar days, this may be more your kinda sale: the carboot sale on august 29 and 30 at rockwell club's parking area. one woman's trash may be another woman's treasure!
then on monday, august 31 you stay home and rest because it's a holiday :-)

paperbags mag

the fash pack has been feeling kinda blah lately. we've been sick, we have a dripping red runny nose, plus *cough*cough*ing all the time. so yakky so we haven't been attending a lot of events. at work, our head feels heavy and fuzzy, we just wanna put it down on the desk and sleep it off. hence the lack of posts. pag-uwi, higa na. facebook na lang via iphone.

after one of our doctor visits this past week, we decided to have lunch at dome across makati medical center. you know how they have a rack against the walls that carry all sorts of magazines? well, in the midst of the times and the newsweeks and the mega publications, we spotted this never-before-seen magazine: paperbags, etc. take note, it's the july-september 2009 issue, so bago pa. and check out the theme: "annoyingly rare" haha! what is this magazine?? and at 50 pesos, who's going to buy this?? let's take a gander, shall we? (click to enlarge and read)

how to tell if a stephen sprouse is fake:
the perfect travel bag:
vintage chanel is in vogue:
finally, how to get your own copy of paperbags, etc: the rest of the magazine is like a catalog of pre-owned and "pre-loved" designer bags, all for sale through this gal named jena. uy alam ba ni bag hag 'to??

close, open (part 2)

tonight we attended the 19th anniversary party of belo medical group, which was held at the greenbelt park. on our way out, we passed through greenbelt 5 and saw this! when you see a store papered up like this with no sign that says "we are undergoing renovation" or "we are doing inventory" or "the rafé employees are having their company outing," then it can only mean one thing: they're closing :-( could it be??

close, open

a tenant of power plant mall told us that every three years, the mall requires them to renovate their store, whether you're a retailer or a restaurant. so when you see a store covered up with tarpaulin, don't immediately think it closed down; it's probably just undergoing renovation. but when you see a new name plastered in front, then you know na-lugi na yung store :-( it makes us sad when a store doesn't do well and ends up closing shop. like the one that used to occupy this spot: this is the space formerly occupied by lush. by next month, a MAC store will be opening. (o don't get too excited, it's MAC as in makeup, not mac as in apple.) we're not sure if lush in other malls have closed, although we did hear that lush in the philippines "ay sinara na." it must've been difficult (and expensive) to keep in stock merchandise that expires (but can't be eaten)... meanwhile, in another part of the mall, it looks like three shops in a row closed down in order to give way to this huge massimo dutti: this is also on the ground floor, with cole-haan to the left. this is the space occupied by that nondescript shoe store that sold several brands, as well as clothes in the back. but it looks like massimo dutti took up more than that! SSI will soon occupy the whole floor! soon they might open their own mall!

sale! sale! sale!

we're finally done with our current skin-care set. time to start with another brand. the generous people at pond's were kind enough to send us this hatbox-shaped package filled with the complete set of pond's age miracle: daily regenerating facial foam, concentrated resurfacing serum, daily resurfacing cream SPF15++ day cream, and overnight repair dream night cream (plus a matching bimpo :-). thank you, pond's, we will start with this new skin-care regimen today (because yes we are aging, and yes we need a miracle). (and can we just add that we love packaging like this because we can use the box after to store our little doodads :-) and if you are like us—that is, aging and need a miracle—get your own pond's at their big beauty sale! up to 70% off! starts today! go to the pond's website for the complete list of products on sale, the original and discounted prices, and participating outlets nationwide.

sale! sale! sale!

check out this new brand called poivre, a new clothing line by PR maven carmina sanchez. we missed its launch at the ramp last month because we were sick huhuhu... but do check out the collection of super-chic (but super-comfy) separates. they're super-versatile too as carmina herself proved to us a couple weeks ago when we traveled together to iloilo—she wore a pair of harem pants, a tank, and a funky cardigan on the plane going home. by the time we landed in manila, with just a change of accessories—heels, jewelry, makeup—she was ready for a dinner date! and here's some good news: they're having a sale that starts today! check it out at the ramp, glorietta 3. (and where there's cava, the fash pack is there! see ya!) get to know the brand (and how to pronounce it :-) and view the collection at poivreattheramp.multiply.com

RIP: kennely anne lacia binay

it's funny how you can get a lot of your news via facebook. tuesday afternoon as we checked our FB, several friends were sending their condolences to the binay family, but didn't say why. then when we checked again in the early evening, one of our friends expressed her sadness and said why: that the makati mayor's daughter-in-law, kennely anne lacia binay, had passed away while giving birth to her premature (seven months) baby. she was only 29. we were in shock! we knew this girl! we did not know her well and we were not close, but back in the late 90s/early 00s, we worked with her several times when we used to edit meg magazine. in her teens, before she got married, she was a model for cinderella's 17 jeune compangie and an image model for colgate minti-rinse toothpaste (along with anne curtis and sandra seifert). back then, she used another name, audrey vizcarra. we can't help but feel sad for her and for the young family she left behind (her husband councilor junjun and three other children). below is the news item from inquirer.net that confirmed the news:

Binay’s daughter-in-law passes away
Premature baby survives

By Niña Catherine Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:51:00 08/11/2009

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The wife of Makati City Councilor Jun Jun Binay, son of Mayor Jejomar Binay, passed away Tuesday, due to complications of her pregnancy as she gave birth to a baby girl, seven months into term.

The baby girl of Kennely Ann Lacia Binay, 29, is now in an incubator at the neonatal section of the Makati Medical Center, according to Rico Millarez, a member of Mayor Binay’s staff, correcting an announcement earlier in the day by the city information office that the baby died.

Kennely expired at 12:06 p.m. at the Makati Medical Center, Joey Salgado, head of the Makati city information office, said.

Kennely, who had been confined in the hospital for a month because of a difficult pregnancy, was also mother to girls Jejomari Alexi, 6, and Maria Isabel, 3, and one-year-old boy Jejomar III.

The wake will be held Tuesday evening at 8776 Banuyo corner Santol in Makati, Salgado said in a separate emailed statement.

PRP preem

"project runway philippines" premieres tonight at 10pm on ETC! teresa, rajo, apples, and jojie return to judge 13 new designers. let the bitching begin!!

what's new at kate spade

kate spade, what took you so long?? we have been waiting for this: kate spade's first full fashion collection! while we like the bags of kate spade the brand, we have always loved the personal style of kate spade the person. so it would have been easy for her to translate that style into a clothing collection. now she has. here's a teaser of some pieces, which you can view in the kate spade website. weelavett!! (now will SSI bring this collection in? we shall find out...)

buy a bag, benefit a baby

over the weekend, we got a text from the bag hag about a silent auction that she organized to benefit fabella hospital:

"please participate in the silent auction of an hermès victoria bag (worth 200k!!) at accessory lab, 2/f power plant mall, rockwell from aug 10-16. starting bid only P100! this is for the benefit of fabella hospital. for more details, please call 890-9011 or go to http://thebaghag.blogspot.com. your help is appreciated!"

here's a picture of the hermès victoria bag (photo courtesy of the bag hag):
we are not familiar with fabella hospital, so if you want to know more, chuvaness shared some vital information about it in her blog today. we encourage everyone to go check it out because it is for a worthy cause. with all the unfortunate things happening to our country today, this is the least that anyone can do. bravo, bag hag, for taking the initiative! we wish we were as brave as you to part with a precious designer bag to aid helpless babies. may your tribe increase!! and may you raise a lot of money!!

iphone 3GS

here's a post that's been put on the back burner and is over a week overdue because of the whirlwind of activities happening in this crazy country of ours. the new iphone 3GS is now available in the philippines through globe (since jul 31). we've been tinkering with one and find that it's fastfastfast. plus it's got a cool new voice command: "call the husband!" "play the essential michael jackson!" "what the hell song is that??" hello, available in 15 languages! if you're an all-around user (and not just a caller and texter), we highly recommend it. personally, we love the new camera. at 3 megapixels, it's way sharper—great for blogging! they invented the touch-to-focus, which will be the next standard in digital cameras. and it's got video finally! which you can edit and upload to youtube instantly. here's a pic of our dinner tonight (a double cheeseburger, new on the menu of elbert's cheesesteak sandwiches in power plant mall): pretty sharp eh? and if you're looking for a cute case to carry your new iphone 3GS, you might like these from the amber collection of karrots: cute noh? you can actually use them as evening purses when all you need is your iphone (and some mad money :-)

for more karrot cases (plus prices and outlets), go to karrots.multiply.com