Concrete Jungle

File under: "The things you find when you're not looking."

Was walking along the concrete pavements of 13th Avenue, and chanced upon this beauty:

It's so refreshing to see so many flowers and so much vibrant colours in least expected places. It's a nice breather from all the hustle and bustle of city life.

Wish they had more trees like this in our area.

Cool Cousin

Unprompted, this feature suddenly popped up on my FB reel.

What makes this reel special is that it features my cousin and their family restaurant in BCN.

Cristy is part of the 3rd generation of Bofarruls who are running Los Caracoles. And it's great to see how much they've embraced on-line marketing and advertising, but in a very authentic and organic way.

Proud cousin here.

Shopping for drama

It looks like great deals aren't the only things I'll be watching out for on the Shopee App.

They now have Shopee Drama!

Yup, they're vertical, micro-dramas that run for about 20-ish minutes, but broken down into 1-minute mini-sodes.

I've watched 1 or 2 of these dramas, and they're so cheesy and campy.

So cheesy and campy that they're actually entertaining.

Must. Resist. Watching.

Chinoiserie chic

Looks like Chinoiserie is having another moment in fast fashion.

From Zara to H&M to Stradivarius, Chinese themed blouses, particularly those with frog closures, are popping up. Some are made of Chinese-looking silk, while some are made with more modern fabrics like linen and denim.

Gosh, this reminds me of that whole stash of Chinoiserie that was in my closet during my stay in HKG and SHG. Should've kept those for a time like today.

The future is creative

This is the reason why teaching is something I'm passionate about. It's always great to see how young creative minds work, and how they approach creative challenges.

Today was my Copywriting class' final presentation, and they did campaigns for the school's hotel.

Seeing how creative their work is - both in strategic thinking and creative execution - it's easy to see that the future of creativity is in capable hands.

FMM: Double Life

Call this a double play or double feature, but today's Friday Magic Madness song is inspired by yesterday's movie trailer.

The trailer had a catchy music bed, and the song is a remake of this 1978 hit by Billy Joel:

"My Life" is one of his iconic songs, and it's been a while since I've last heard it play. But thanks to this trailer, it's now back in my playlist and I'm listening to it on repeat.

Safe to say, this song has been given a second life.

Oak-kay

Just when you thought you've seen every type of Dinosaur film, something like this comes along.

A sudden Dinosaur invasion in an American suburb? Anne Hathaway as a suburban housewife defeding her family from dinosaurs? Interesting.

While there's not much hype on "The End of Oak Street," looks like I'm going to wait for and watch this one.

Wearable Art

A few weeks ago, my parents and I went to this Bicol products fair at Shangrila Mall. 

They had the usual roster of products, like abaca and rattan products, pili nuts and its different derivatives, Paracale gold, Laing, and other Bicolano dishes.

But one booth stood out to me. It sold clothing, but with a very artistic twist.

The owner was an artist who does her own paintings, then prints them on fabric. From there, she makes various creations, including dresses, blouses, and other Filipiniana outfits.

The one that caught my eye was also the piece that eventually made it home. 

This is a bib blouse with a barong tagalog print. The blue artwork is the owners original art, and she added the barong pattern to give it the total barong Tagalog feels. It was so chic, creative and local.

And just like how barongs are usually paired with dark pants, I've paired it with a straight cut, dark denim jeans.

Now, this is modern Filipinana.

Now, this is art.

Hands off

So, it's true. They're shutting down the Tokyu Hands store in Shibuya.

Mark and I have been here once or twice. As a fan of crafting and writing, this place was a joy to visit. They had floors upon floors of papers, pens, cards, art materials, and everything else in between.

Hopefully, their other stores will still be open. That way, I'd still get my crafting fix whenever we go to Japan.

Bahnsen Burner

Was wondering, will Uniqlo be coming up with a new fashion collaborator? 

They have the regular lines with Clare Waight Keller and the U Studio. But there was a time when they had people like Phillip Lim, Costello Tagliapietra, Marni, Jil Sander and Alexander Wang doing capsule collections. And it would be cool to have something like that again.

Lo and behold, a capsule collection with Cecile Bahnsen.

She's a Danish designer known for blending femininity with her Scandinavian roots. So, think minimalism, but with a romantic twist. Something that you can see in her Uniqlo collaboration. It has a lot of ruffles and shirring, details that really elevates her pieces.

I've got my eye on the ruffled dresses, and something tells me that will land in Ate's closet soon.