Mart my words

Unimart has a special place in my heart.

When we were kids, we'd go there every Sunday and Lolo Iking would give us P20.00 each. Then, he'll let us roam around Greenhills and let us spend the money any way we want.

More often than not, I spent my P20.00 in Unimart, buying chocolates, cookies, chips, or even comic books.

Then, we'd all meet up at the Unimart food court for Coney Island or Orange Julius, then it was back to Morato.

Because of these childhood memories, I find myself going back to Unimart every so often. The nice thing about it was some of the cashiers were there since I was a kid! And they're still there! How's that for a throwback?

When I heard that they moved Unimart to its new location, a visit was non-negotiable!

Their new digs are impressive. Wider aisles, bigger space, more varied selection - basically, they found new ways to entice Unimart loyalists like myself.

What's even better? The old cashiers are still around!

Looks like I'll be back in Unimart a bit more often now.

Isle like it!

After much anticipation (and google searching), the look book and items for the J.W. Anderson x Uniqlo collaboration has finally dropped.

The collection is very apt for the F/W season when it'll drop. They're mostly heavy pieces - parka jackets, pea coats, trench coats and a lot of sweaters. There are also bags and scarves.

While we can't wear most of the items here in MNL, I must admit that I'm liking their fair isle sweaters. (Or, in Tim Gunn speak, "I'm responding to this very well.")

There's something very vintage and very grandpa-ish to it. And me likey!

Now I wonder if this will be available in Uniqlo stores here.

Holy street food, Batman!

One nice thing about hearing mass in OLPH in 13th avenue is the street food cart outside the church.

This one cart has pretty much everything: fish ball, squid ball, kikiam, chicken ball, hotdog, sago't gulaman and mangga't bagoong. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

Street food carts outside churches remind me of my childhood.

Every Sunday, the family would hear mass at Sacred Heart Church in Kamuning. After mass, I'd see all these carts parked outside the church - fishball, scramble, popcorn, corn and nuts. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to eat any of that. So, all we could do is look.

So, I guess stopping by this cart every after mass is my way of making up for my lost street-food childhood. Harhar.

One shirt, two ways: Happy tiers

As it always happens in June, everyone's on sale! There's Zara, Uniqlo, H&M - you name it, they're on sale.

H&M - of course - doesn't disappoint. There are so many covetable pieces on the cheap. Among them is this on-trend item, a classic white shirt with a very fashionable tiered sleeve.

It's both fashionable and versatile, and something you can easily wear in two ways.

For a night out, pair it with patterned, silky pants. 

The loose and streamlined silhouette gives it a feeling of relaxed nonchalance.

On a weekend, tuck it in a pair of khaki, paper bag shorts. 

It's a carefree ensemble, but the top elevates it into something more fashionable.

Best part was, each piece was on sale! So you get more bang for your buck, and more options for your outfit. Now how can you beat that?

Erdem it!

The print geek in me is doing backflips and somersaults!

The next H&M collaboration is with one of the legendary names in prints!

Unlike the Balmain and Kenzo that came before it, I'm genuinely excited with this collaboration. Not just that. I'm SOOOO on board! Erdem Moralioglu is such a master when it comes to prints. Just like Etro, Suno and Mary Katrantzou, he has a distinct eye for making vibrant prints - particularly florals!

Florals, for fall. Groundbreaking!

Let the waiting game for the lookbook begin!

Aysee clearly

So, this is where yesterday's Friday Magic Madness post came from:

Aysee's is an institution when it comes to sisig. The first time we tried this was way, way, way, waaaaayyyy back in High School. Which shows you how old this establishment is. While they've succeeded in staying true to their sisig roots, they've also grown with the times. From their original (and in the 80s and 90s, only) pork sisig, now they've expanded to include chicken and fish sisig.

And just as their sisig was legendary then, it's still legendary now. Here's proof:

The reason why were in Aysee's was to celebrate Lanz's birthday. Also, we have 3 new team members who haven't tried this restaurant before. As expected, it was a huge hit.

Clearly, a hit.

FMM: Clearly

Because of today's lunch for our birthday girl, this 90s song is now my LSS for the day.



Good thing it's a Friday. At least old songs are in theme today.

And because it's a Friday, it's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day!

Not a cinch

You'd think that people would immediately know the spelling of "cinch."

Apparently not.

Proofreader, please!

Smores of the unusual

In the continuing saga of "I-like-to-make-smores-while-thinking-of-new-campaign-concepts."

While rummaging through the fridge at home, I found 2 packs of Valrhona filled chocolataes and brought it to work.

Then, I found a pack of graham crackers and chocolate marshmallows from my last smore-making day.

And in a few seconds, voila!

It definitely tasted as good as it looked.

Sketchy Stories: Black and bold

Every year, the organization for wedding planners and suppliers hold a grand ball. It's probably the biggest event for the wedding industry, and occasionally, both Ate Bullet and Raymond join the event.

The party usually has a theme, and the attendees make an effort to dress up splendidly for it. The previous themes I recall include "Hunger Games" and "Filipiniana."

Last year, they had the ball again and their annual theme was "French." Ate and Raymond were thinking of attending, and the default question on Ate's mind was: "What will I wear?" She told me about the theme and asked me that same question. As a reply, I brought out the trusty pencil and started chicken scratching.

There are 2 sides to French fashion. One side is classic, timeless and clean - think Coco Chanel. The other side is bold and statement-making - think haute couture. But as our adage goes, if you can't choose between the two, why not have both? And this resulted in this sketch:

The classic elements were the color, material and cut. There were yards of black, dotted tulle in the stash, and it was exactly what the dress needed. Design-wise, it's the classic long dress with a streamlined silhouette.

The bold elements were the neckline that went all the way to the waist, and the slit that went all the way up to the thigh. A few more inches, and these 2 would have already met!

We eventually had the dress made, and as luck would have it, they weren't able to attend the wedding ball.

Luckily, they attended an event last week and the theme was "black and metallic." Ate immediately thought of wearing the gown, and we all concurred. She paired with with metal bangles and a metallic bag, and she was automatically in theme.

She was thrilled to finally wear this gown after a few months of hanging in her closet. After all, she has quite a lot of gowns that have yet to see the light of day. Remember this?

One gown down, a few dozen more to go.

Julia and child

Julia Roberts and an adorable kid in a family drama?

Count me in!



Definitely, I won't "Wonder" when this film becomes a heartwarming hit.

P.S. Was someone chopping onions while this was being shown?

Old kids from the Block (I-1)

They were among my first friends as a college freshman in UP Diliman. Prichy, the headstrong leader of Block I-1, and Kitel, our resident partner-in-crime when malling and watching movies.

And decades after, we're still at it!

Here's to friends of long-standing!

Specific Target Market

In advertising, we're taught to be very specific when we identify our target audience.

That came to mind when I saw this magazine in SG a few weeks ago.

You can't get any more specific than that, eh. (Harhar)

FMM: A Field day!

Friday! And as expected, the creative guys are playing old songs in the department.

One particular song caught my ear. Now, I'm humming it non-stop.



Gosh, this is super stuck in my head! I might just end up humming it forever.

This Romoff isn't a one-off

Last year, September 2016 in particular, I wrote about the mini-collaboration that Plains & Prints had with Vania Romoff. It was part of a 5-designer capsule collection, and her pieces were the best made both in design and execution.

Secretly, I was wishing that her collaboration with the brand would have a part 2. Knowing Vania Romoff's work and aesthetic, it's a natural fit with Plains & Prints.

Well, this is one of those cases where wishes come true. Last week, they announced the Plains & Prints x Vania Romoff collaboration. And today, it was their preview sale!

As expected, her pieces were feminine, classic with touches of well-though-of design. I like her play of colors and prints - in this particular case, florals that were inspired by local blooms.

While everything looked so covet-worthy, I edited myself and got 2 of the most standout pieces from the bunch. A rust colored dress with ruffles, and a wrap dress with dainty floral prints.

The line will officially launch on July 15. And who knows, I might just get a few more pieces then.

The Sweetest kid

There were packs of pastillas de leche on our dinner table when I came home. These pastillas turned out to be not any ordinary pastillas. They were the handiwork of my adorable nephew, Javier!

They handmade these candies as part of their schoolwork, and they were supposed to sell it. The proceeds will go to their piggy bank, which will be their savings for the school year.

One pack of pastillas - P15.00
Knowing that this is the product of Javier's hard work - Priceless.

(Thank you, Mastercard. Just for the tagline. I bought this using cash.)

Scent-iments

Perfumes aren't really my thing. In fact, it's very rare that I wear perfume. Clean, of course, is the exception to the rule. Although Clean smells more like soap and laundry detergent, so I don't know if that should even qualify as perfume.

If we're going to something fancy schmancy and I need to smell decent, you'll most likely see me putting on Johnson's Baby Cologne or Baby Bench cologne.

Yup, I'm fancy that way.

That said, perfume sections of department stores are a source of dread. Whenever you pass by, there are around 5 to 10 people trying to spritz and spray perfume on you. Aside from that, the scent of all those perfume brands combined can sometimes be a tad bit too much.

But this weekend, while passing through the perfume section of SM Cubao, a familiar scent made me slow down. It was the scent of Spanish cologne that reminded me of my childhood. Particularly, the Spanish colognes that my Tita Evelyn would bring home. The cologne that my Spanish cousins would wear. The scent that would greet me whenever I'd enter their room.

The nice perfume lady saw me stop, and came to me with a bottle like this:

She said it was one of their new products - a French cologne brand with scents inspired by nature, herbs and fruits.

That familiar Spanish scent came from the "The Vert" or "Green Tea" variety. She sprayed it on a paper tester, handed it over to me, and it only took a whiff to bring back all those childhood memories.

Sold!

Now, there's a fancy schmancy looking bottle beside my Johnson's Baby Cologne and Bench Baby.

King of Wrap

Ever since I can remember, National Bookstore was always THE source for gift wrappers and wrapping implements. Whenever we needed to have something snazzily wrapped, we went straight to National Bookstore in Quezon Avenue.

(Incidentally, they were the first to introduce the "gift inside a balloon" concept. I remember having that made for my friend's 18th birthday. But I digress.)

Until now, National is my go-to when it comes to buying gift wrappers. And I've noticed the past years that they're upping the ante in terms of designs. That's why I find myself buying more and more and more wrappers - even if I don't have any use for them yet.

When I dropped by the Galleria branch this lunchtime, I had to check out the wrapper section and was just astounded by the range of designs they have now

There were so, so, so many covetable birthday wrapper designs. But these are my favorites:

Well played, National. I'm super duper impressed by this selection.

And while I find myself buying other brands of gift wrappers through the years, (Prints in HKG, Papyrus in SG, Wrap Shop in PH), National Bookstore will always be king.

Directorial style

Being an avid watcher of music videos, there are times when I see an MTV and automatically think: "Haven't I seen this before?"

Usually, there's an element in that video that triggers a degree of deja vu. And oftentimes, it's because the director of those 2 videos turn out to be just one person.

I had that feeling of deja vu when I saw the latest MTV of Little Mix entitled "Power."



The first time I saw it, there was a strong sense of "I've definitely seen something like this before." And after a quick scan of my mental video bank, I remembered "Bang Bang" by Jessie J., Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.



Naturally, I was tres intrigued and immediately googled.

My hunch was correct. They're both directed by the same woman, Hannah Lux Davis.

I like her visual style. I should look for her other videos.

Oz-stentatious!

This sudden Melrose get together is courtesy of Rache and Jeepoy who are visiting from Australia!

It was too short a get together, but any amount of time with this crazy group is time well spent.

See you again before you leave, Rache! (And mucho thanks for the Tim Tam!)