The art of friendship

Had a meeting at the Philippine Stock Exchange building last week, and had to take a snap of this.

It's Ovvian's sculpture!

There's a welling feeling of pride every time I see Ovvian's work. She's gotten her talent in metal sculpting from her dad, and it's always a joy seeing her work.

I'm so fortunate to have such a creative and talented friend.

Face the wall

Another Monday, another cute cat.

This time, it's this cutie cattater who might have been mischievous.

That's the only explanation in my mind as to why he's facing the wall.

Either way, this cat is cure. And also a good visualisation of our Monday mood.

Fam-meal-ia

Nothing beats the feeling of a hearty meal shared with the family.

What makes it even more special is the fact that we're with Biboy and Liz, both who just flew in from the US.

We should really have more of this.

Blackstar

No, this isn't about the 80s cartoon featuring John Blackstar. But make no mistake, that was one of my favourite childhood programs.

This is about another favourite - black outfits!

Just like this one. 

It's a outfit that's culled from different countries. The very classic, black, boatneck sleeveless top is from Bocu, a local clothing brand. The skirt was from Luck Rack in Tokyo, and was one of the best finds during that trip. And the shoes were from SG, Pull & Bear, if I'm not mistaken.

This is the perfect example of black that isn't boring. The sheer details on the skirt and the silver stud on the shoes elevate the black into something elevated.

It's an outfit that has star quality.

FMM: Smooth!

No, this isn't a Santana post. Though that would've been appropriate for a Friday Magic Madness post.

But this is a Friday Magic Madness post.

Someone at the office suddenly played Sade, and my mind went: "Why don't I feature her as often as she should?"

Et voila!

"Smooth Operator" is probably one of her biggest hits. It came out in 1984 and was ubiquitous back then. And even until now.

This song is just so smooth!

Oh No! (Brand!)

It's closing season.

After M&S, here's another international brand that's closing in the Philippines.

Yup, No brand is no more.

Part of me really isn't surprised. They don't have stand-alone stores this big in Korea, so I'm surprised that they had it here. At first, it looked promising, but when they started populating the store with non-No Brand items, it looked like they were losing focus.

What they should do is follow the Korean model of selling the brand inside Robinsons supermarkets. (They sell it inside Emart in Korea.) At least, we won't completely miss out on these no brand goodies.

Slim pickings

Oh, I miss the days when there were rows upon rows upon rows of beautiful gift wrappers at National Bookstore.

As the distributor of Hallmark products, they had the best and most varied selections of gift wrappers. They had a wrapper for every vibe, every occasion, every aesthetic. But now, they have this:

It's kinda sad to see how much they've downscaled their gift wrapping area. Even sadder is the fact that the designs are becoming bland and repetitive. Even their gift tags are blah.

Is it time to find another source of wrapping papers?

I took a picture, I took a picture

Because we're turning Japanese!

The Creative Team was the host for this month's birthday cocktails. We had several themes in mind, but knowing that this month is the Sakura season in Japan, we thought of bringing a bit of Japan to Ortigas.

Thanks to the team, we were able to transform the CAI Cafe into our little piece of Ueno park.

Sugoi ne!

Black, white and red...

...but make it a cat edition.

That was the first thing that came to mind after seeing this:

Yup, it's another cute cat Monday post. 

We know we'll never get tired of that.

Back in the box

Or, "midterms, but make it yummy."

That pretty much sums up my midterm exam for my copywriting class.

Instead of just a piece of paper, they got this:

And to inspire them to write, they got this:

Yup, they actually get to touch and taste the products they're making advertising copy for.

Who says exams should be daunting or boring?

The Difference of a D

Yet another example of how 1 letter can make a world of difference.

Instead of being a sign that tells you the establishment is closed, it now looks like an apology to a person who doesn't want you to be close to them.

Proofreader, please!

FMM: That's crazy

It's kinda wild whenever people refer to 90s songs as "old."

Saw this reel on FB when people were asked to listen to "old songs from the 90s." In my mind, I'm like, "Really? That's already considered old?"

One good thing about watching that video, though, is that it brought back songs and memories from 2 decades back. And this song rom 1999 is what made me excited the most.

"Butterfly" by Crazy Town was such as ubiquitous song back then. It was played all over - radios, parties, discos - wherever you went, you could hear it.

But what makes this song memorable for me is the fact that one of my nephews loved to sing it. I'm not sure if it was Carl or Miguel, but whenever this song came on and they'd play the chorus, he'd sing the part that went "Sugar... baby..."

It's crazy how one song can bring so much awesome memories.

Having a ball(pen)

Back then, you could only start using a ballpen when you were able to write in cursive and you were in grade 4. 

Gosh, I looked forward to that day so much.

And when that time came, my only request was that my ballpen be Kilometrico.

It was one of the most famous pens back then, thanks to their commercials that had a jingle and the tagline: "Writes thousand and thousands of words."

My Kilometrico collection was composed of all 3 colours, and in multiples. Couldn't risk not having one of these precious pens in my pencil box or bag.

Why am I recalling all these today? It's because of this:

Yes, Kilometrico is still very much around.

Excuse me while I go to National Bookstore to buy one.

Meals with Mark: Two in a row

When Mark and I saw the poster for Chili's burger day a week ago, we said that our experience last year was enough and we don't need to repeat the experience this year.

Or so we thought.

We passed by Chili's in Galleria and saw a long line of people waiting for their turn to avail of the promo. We though, "what the heck!" So, we lined up, we got a table immediately, and enjoyed our 50% off burgers.

That's 2 years in a row. 

Maybe this will be a tradition.

Pop goes Zagu

One of the secrets to Zagu's longevity is the fact that they always introduce something new and interesting.

While their pearl shakes are more than 20 years old now, they keep themselves from being stagnant by having seasonal flavours that will pique people's interest.

Heck, my interest was piqued after seeing this:

Popcorn in a pearl shake? Interesting.

And yes, it's good!

You go, curl!

It might be the universe telling me that there hasn't been a Monday cat post for a while.

This greeted me on my way to 7-11 this morning.

It's safe to say that everyone just wants to curl up like this on a Monday.

2 good 2 pass up

The more trailers they drop, the more appealing this film is.

It looks like "The Devil Wears Prada 2" will be a line-fest aside from being a fashion fest. That line by Emily Blunt has all the makings of a classic line:

"May the bridges I burn light my way."

If this is a preview of what's to come, you know it's going to be SO good!

The cat who can't be moved

Yes, this post is inspired by that hit song from "The Script."

But instead of a man who can't be moved, this post is about this.

Yes, the cat was on top of the stairs, and no once could get him to move. So, everyone had to walk around him.

The cat must've had the chorus "I'm not moving..." playing in his head the entire time.

FMM: Madness!

Yes, today's Friday Magic Madness song is about madness. How's that for a coincidence.

"Beauty and Madness" by Fra Lippo Lippi suddenly came to mind because of this youtube reel that keeps popping up on my feed. It's about a music teacher who asks people to guess a song based on a few notes that he plays on his keyboards.

One of the song he plays most often is this Fra Lippo Lippi hit song from 1987. And surprisingly, no one gets it right! Gosh. How can they not know this iconic song.

Madness!

Half hazard

Last year, Mark and I went to Chili's One Ayala and caught their half-price burger promo. 

It was such a busy time! Getting a table was a challenge. People were lined up outside constantly. Servers were rushing back and forth with trays of burgers. But everyone was served efficiently and on-time, including us.

Can't believe that was almost a year ago. Because they're going at it again.

After seeing this sign, we asked ourselves if we'd do the whole half-price burger craziness again. And we thought, "maybe not."