FMM: A magic moment

It's the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter!

This is testament to how fast time flies. It feels just like yesterday when we started watching the adventures of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

And how to best honor this moment on a Friday? Well, with America, of course.



Here's to a magical 20th anniversary!

Color story: Mint to be

(Back when I was a junior copywriter, I loved using puns. My mentor, Sir Conrad, would advise against it and ask me to find other creative avenues. I've learned a lot from him, but I still love using puns. So, sorry Sir Con. Harhar.)

When you say "mint green," it's a color that you won't necessarily think of as an everyday color. In fact, I equate mint green with weddings and baptisms. In fact, I think I've organized several weddings with mint green as their motif.

But as technology progresses, so do coloring techniques in fabric. Now, the mint green clothes I've seen are more powdery, muted and fit for everyday wear.

Perfect case in point, this mint green lace dress that I got at H&M in SG.

Made from guipure lace, it has a mint green tone in a matte hue that makes it more wearable.

And by some twist of fate, while I was in Tokyo this weekend, I found these suede slides, also from H&M. And they were in the exact mint green color as the dress.

What are the chances of these 2 mint green items coming together in Ate's closet in Manila?

Yup, it's a mint that's meant to be.

Color story: Egg-citement!

This must be a by-product of working on an egg account the past few weeks.

Recently, I found myself gravitating towards egg-related colors. Even when I was traveling. Yup, even when I was in SG two weeks ago, and in JPN last weekend.

This was the yield of that gravitational pull.

An egg colored ensemble!

The top is from Iora in SG, and it has that nice, egg white hue.

The skirt is from H&M in Shinjuku Sanchome. It's made of guipure lace in a lovely pattern.

It's safe to say that this ensemble is definitely sunny side up!

Wi not?

Look! We now have wifi along EDSA!

At least we have something to do when we're stuck in traffic. Which is pretty often.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

Let it BnB

Several of my friends have stayed in AirBnBs. So far, the reviews are mixed. Some say it's better than conventional hotels, and others say that you're better off with the tried and tested mode of accommodations.

For this Tokyo trip, I decided to try an AirBnB.

The property description sounded ideal. Just a 2 minute walk from Shinjuku-gyoenmae station. Near supermarkets and food places. And the apartment was all to ourselves. (Unlike some AirBnB options where you share an apartment with strangers.)

True to its advertisement, my chosen apartment was centrally located, and it was in a quiet part of Shinjuku. Despite that, Shinjuku-sanchome (hello shopping!) was just a station away. And that makes everything worthwhile.

The only downside was the fact that the lift broke down that weekend. So Mark and I had to go up 9 flights of stairs each time. Can you say "wheeze?"

Despite that, it was a good first time experience with AirBnB. And the next time I'm in Tokyo, I wouldn't mind staying here again. (Not the building in the photo, but the building across it. This was my view from the balcony.)

(And if you look hard enough, you'll see me in this photo.)

Konnichiwa my old Tomodachis part 2!

After the onigiri, can Van Houten Cocoa be far behind?

Of course not!

Two days into my trip, and I've drank 3 cartons of this sublime chocolate drink.

And there's 1 more day to drink more.

Konnichiwa my old Tomodachis!

Well hello there, onigiri!

Yes, it's 7:00am in Tokyo and the first thing I bought was onigiri. Heck, I bought the onigiri even before I bought my ticket to the city.

Let the weekend Tokyo adventure begin!

(And I'm writing this from inside the bus. How cool is that?)

FMM: Bond-ing

Since I'll be spending the long weekend in Tokyo, I thought of bringing out another Pizzicato Five ditty as today's Friday Magic Madness song.

Although they're more known for "Sweet Soul Revue," this group's other songs are equally catchy and fun to listen to. Perfect example is this oddly titled but supremely catchy number from 1994:



"Twiggy Twiggy vs. James Bond."

Need I say more?

Throwback Shirt Day

Way back when I was in grade school, I remember my sisters owning a shirt from a very popular and very exclusive brand in the 80s.

The shirt was emblazoned with "ESP" in the front, and "RIT" in the back. That's when we were introduced to the brand name "ESPRIT."

In the 80s, every preppy and cool kid just HAD TO HAVE anything Esprit. Whether it was a shirt, jeans or bag, it was the brand to have.

On my way home, I saw this poster at the side of SM Megamall:

The shirt is back!

Further proof that what's old is new again.

Patch Madams

Sometimes, it takes months, or even a year, for a trend to really kick off.

A year ago, I spotted a shirt with patches in Tokyo and SG, both of which I bought and gave to Ate Bullet.

By the end of 2016, these patches started appearing in fast fashion places and in my Divisoria haunts.

Now, they're everywhere! Just check out some of the patched shirts that are available at The Landmark.

This is a nice patch, but on a bad shirt:

This is okay. Gingham is another recurring trend, as well as blue and white.

This is too "Tita Baby" for its own good.

There are some good ideas here, but unfortunately, the executions are quite spotty.

That's a sure sign that a trend is about to end.

Foos and play

While attending today's off-line session, we saw this box lying on one of the tables.

A mini-foosball!

And it's from Flying Tiger!

I'm going to look for this when I go to JPN this weekend.

Putting my finger on it

Apart from visiting my usual food haunts, I try to check out new restaurants when I'm in SG.

A few friends have talked about and given rave reviews about this new chicken place called "4 Fingers," so it was one of the places on my list.

The raves are worth it! I tried their chicken burger, and it was awesome!

Chicken patty was extra crispy and the glaze was perfectly sweet and savory. The black bun had the right amount of softness. And the fries, the fries! On its own, it was already worth the visit.

Now, I can put my finger why everyone's raving about this chicken place.

Carl is calling

Of course, no visit to SG is complete without a trip to Carl's Jr!

The alarming thing is that the number of Carl's Jr. branches are dwindling with each visit. Before, they had more than 10, and now, it's down to three!

Don't give up on me, Carl. You have to be there in SG!

This Panda is a Matcha

And the first find on this trip to SG?

Hello Panda! But not just any Hello Panda, it's Matcha!

I've been so used to my favorite Strawberry and Double Chocolate that this is going to be something delightfully new to the palette.

This trip is off to a good start - food wise!

FMM: Eternal Flames

Occasionally, an old song would pop in my head and I'll spend the next few minutes trying to figure out the title of the song. After snippets of the song play in my head, I immediately go to google and type in the lyrics. More often than not, I end up with the correct title of the song.

That happened to me today as I was thinking of a song that would go best with a commercial that I was doing. Suddenly, the words "do you, do you, do you feel the power of a woman" played in my head. And it played over and over and over and over and over again.

Thanks to google and youtube, the song and the artist was revealed:



It's "Power of a Woman" from a girl group called "Eternal." Honestly, I can't remember the group, but upon hearing the song, I knew that was it.

Better add this to my usual playlist. It's as nice and catchy as I remember it to be.

Throwback Thursday: First job high!

Thanks to our Ex-Adformatix reunion last week, hundreds of old photographs emerged. And among them, this photo of me in my first job as a copywriter, at Adformatix, of course!

This was Optima, my first creative team.

Some of the people in this photo became my closest friends.

Two of them already passed on. (You're missed, Kuya Nips and Manong.)

All of them made my first advertising agency experience worthwhile and worth thousands of good memories.

So yes, it's true, that you'll never forget your first.

The land of the free-standing!

This weekend, I discovered that there was a free standing Uniqlo store in Quezon Avenue, just beside Fisher Mall!

It was so intriguing that I had to check it out. Boy, it felt like I was in Japan when I was there. Heck, there were 3 Japanese staff there, too.

I'm sure I'll be visiting this branch again soon.

Second course: Scallops!

The day after the Marigold dress, Ate decided to wear the scallop dress from the Victoria Beckham x Target collection.

She paired it with ballet flats that are also scalloped, which is clever.

This collection really suits her style.

Mod Marigold Mondays

And the first Victoria Beckham x Target dress out of the gate is...

The Marigold shift dress!

Ate Bullet paired it with white slides which gives it a very 60s, Mod-ish feel.

Now that's a bright way to start the week.

Here's the Tea

This drink was a discovery a few months ago, and it's been a regular ever since.

It's called Essoil's Calamansi Iced Tea. Off hand, the name is a bit weird since it sounds like something you'd put in an oil burner. But weird name notwithstanding, this drink is really, really good. It has the right blend of sweetness, the flavor of calamansi and lemongrass, and the kick of tea. If I could drink this everyday, I would.

The thing is, it's only available in 7-11, and not all branches have it. That's why whenever I come across one, I drop everything and buy it.

This goes up there with Vita Lemon Tea as my favorite bottled tea drink.

From animation to live action!

Remember the three animated kids who appeared in our Gardenia Pocket Sandwich commercial?

They're alive!!!

Things like these make my work so much more fun.

FMM: She did it!

While trying to find out whether Britney is going to have a concert elsewhere in Asia, I came across an interesting piece of trivia.

"Oops I did it again" is already 17 years old!



Gosh! That compounds my feeling old. It feels just like yesterday when I first heard it, and now it's officially an "old" song.

At least it now fits into the Friday Magic Madness mold.

What sorcery is this?

I'm an MRT veteran, so I know how bad things are during rush hour. When I used to work in Makati, I'd try to make it to the train before 5:30pm, because after that, it's just mind-bogglingly mind boggling.

There was a time when the line would literally snake from the MRT gate, to the entrance of SM Makati, then back to the MRT gate, then all the way to the stairs that lead to EDSA North bound. Needless to say, it's a long, long, long, long, loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg line.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw this scene at 6:30pm. On a weekday. At Ayala Station.

Magical!

Can it be like this everyday? Please?

Axcellent!

After many years of hoping, the reunion of the Ex-Ax folks finally happened tonight!

It was so awesome to see people who I haven't seen in decades.

Even though Ax is no more, and even though we've gone our separate ways, tonight proved that the tagline of my first advertising agency still rings true:

"Together we're awesome!"

Victoria at last!

Humongous thanks to Biboy who bought it, and Espie who brought it, the Victoria Beckham x Target pieces have finally arrived in Manila!

Due to the demand, I never thought I'd get any of the pieces from this collaboration. But thankfully, my brother was able to snag some on-line before they went out of stock.

The great thing was, Biboy got about 90% of the stuff I had my eye on! And here they are:

1. The Marigold Tulip dress - Very mod and chic! It's like an updated 60s frock.

2. The Scallop dress - The reviews are true. This dress looks much better in person.

3. The Calla Lily Ruffle dress - Of course, this dress is having a resurgence, thanks to Ivanka.

4. The English Pressed Flowers dress - The print is everything!

Victoria Beckham x Target, baby!'

I'm sure the Ates will feel pretty victorious once I give them these!

Error to the Max's

Mark and I had dinner at Max's tonight, and this automatically caught our eye.

Were you able to spot the difference?

But hey, Max's still has awesome chicken! Too bad they don't have awesome proofreading skills.

I sea me!

Thanks to Jun, we have awesome snaps from our outing this weekend.

Here's one of my favorites so far.

You just gotta love summer!

Sea-ing is believing

What's a trip to Laiya without a boat ride?

So that's what we did when we got to the resort. Take a boat tour!

Needless to say, we were happy sea creatures today.

FMM: Let's Go-Go's!

Finally, our summer outing is happening tomorrow!

You know what that means, right?

Count on the Go-go's to get our vacation spirits up.

Let's go!

Wonder where it all began?

Finally, today is the first day of the Wonder Woman film!

But before we even watch that, I think it's worth looking back to where it began.

Presenting, the opening credits of the original Wonder Woman series in the 70s!



Can we just discuss the lyrics of this song?

"In her satin tights, fighting for her rights."

It's no wonder she's such an icon!