Hong Kong Elle, February 2011

The cover featuring the lovely Chinese model Shu Pei Qin

There are 40 editions of Elle! Vogue only has 18. And look, PAL and Cebu Pacific are in the issue!

The editor-in-chief is a man!

Anne Hathaway looking so fine in Stella McCartney

The Fresh Spring

The Girl Who Steals the Show

Fruit Loops

Recipes with hearts on the food!

A supplement that includes the runway collections for S/S 2011. I have an issue of Mode et Mode from Japan featuring the same stuff

The Little Prince shirt from Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and glitter shoes from Miu Miu!

An interesting layout from Elle Collections

My mom went to Hong Kong for the Chinese New Year and she got me a copy of Hong Kong Elle's February 2011 issue. Unlike Vogue Nippon, this edition features local models, which I appreciated. After seeing so many Brazilian and Eastern European models, it's a breath of fresh air to see Asians walking down runways and appearing in fashion editorials. My only issue with the magazine is the overload on beauty advertisements. Majority of their ads are beauty products and it made it look like our edition of Cosmopolitan. No wonder we have good skin, we are bombarded with anti-ageing products every two pages of fashion magazines.

The editorials were good. Besides the fact that they used homegrown models, they featured a white background, which made the pages look clean and edgy. They balanced it with an editorial on fruit (adorable!) using a foreign model but the production team was Asian.

The supplement was thorough - it featured runway looks as well as the best shows, front row attendees, models to watch out for, and the curtain calls of designers. I also loved how the looks were presented in different and unconventional ways but I was a bit bothered how they tagged Rachel Bilson as Leighton Meester and how they misspelled Chloe over and over again.

STATUS, December-January 2011

The cover featuring La Chapelle's portrait The Beatification: I'll never let you part for you're always in my heart

An ad for Mental featuring Pepe Smith in an interesting-looking straitjacket

Wooden sunglasses from Shwood, which I could use for my trip to Boracay this summer

A wonderful layout featiring khaki. I used khaki for an entire week when I saw this

My obsession du jour: leopard prints!

Some of La Chapelle's works in his feature

I finally got around to blogging about the December-January 2011 issue of STATUS magazine. I quickly bought a copy after I found out my favorite photographer, David LaChapelle will be featured inside. I was disappointed because I expected a lot more from the writeup and the photos they'll use. The photos they used paled in comparison to some of his best shots.

Here are some of my favorites:

Erratum

Today, the official student publication of UPHSD hosted a journalism seminar called Erratum. It's our first, but we're hoping for it to become an annual thing like other seminars by student publications. We managed to pull everything off in three days and got through it despite a lot of technical difficulties. Our main problem was the venue, which was the barely-used and dilapidated looking auditorium of the high school department. Because of the short notice, only a few participants came but the event itself was a huge success. We invited John Nery, Mike Abasolo, Rick Olivares, and Charie Villa.

Our first speaker was Rick Olivares, a columnist for Business Mirror who also teaches journalism at ADMU. He talked about new media and he was so brilliant that he inspired me to take blogging seriously. He gave a lot of practical tips like to have a category to invite a certain demographic. He also advised bloggers to put substance in posts and to always bring a camera, because you never know when you might need it.

He was such a nice guy that he invited me to attend one of his journalism classes in Ateneo. I personally walked him back to his ride after the seminar and he praised our paper and said that it's a lot better than a certain school publication. To give you a clue: the name of the publication is mentioned somewhere on this post.

Our next speaker was Mike Abasolo, a sportswriter for Inboundpass, a website that covers Philippine college basketball. He talked about sports writing, which I wasn't really interested in because I'm not an athlete (I gave up soccer and swimming years ago to focus on yoga) but he was such an animated talker that I still enjoyed listening to him.

However, he lost some of his enthusiasm when I asked him about envelopmental journalism (when private individuals or groups would pay a writer to write something in his favor) in sports journalism. He was standing the whole time but he sat down to answer this. I'm not sure if I did the right thing.

Our third speaker was Charie Villa, who I was really looking forward to listen to. I listened to her talk at 2009's Inkblots, the annual journalism seminar hosted by UST's The Varsitarian. She was so amazing that I didn't have second thoughts about inviting her. She was supposed to speak about news writing but she mentioned a lot of stuff about new media, which was just as inspiring. She was late so she only spoke for an hour and everyone was disappointed because they wanted to hear her talk some more. I escorted her to the auditorium and I was starstruck the entire time - it was like meeting Madonna or the Queen. She praised our school, saying that it looked nice (Rick Olivares said the same thing).

Our last speaker for the day was John Nery, a columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was sent as a replacement for Letty Magsanoc, the editor-in-chief who had to cancel because she was going to Japan (the same thing for Maria Ressa, who also had to go out - Singapore, I think). I heard him talk at 2008's Pressplay, the joint journalism seminar hosted by DLSU's The Lasallian and ADMU's The Guidon. He spoke about opinion and feature writing. He was very interesting and shared a lot of insider stuff about the Inquirer, like how most libel charges are because of columns.

On his way out, he mentioned how most of us spoke good English. I was floored.

Erratum was a huge success. The program had its fair share of kinks but the content was fantastic. Everyone enjoyed and all the blood, sweat, and tears (literally) were worth it for this kind of event. I challenged the staff to bring a more impressive cast of speakers next year and they promised to bring Ces Drilon and Maria Ressa. They even said they would invite me if I get a job at Preview after graduation.

Note: The pictures are of poor quality because I didn't want to use the flash function on my digital camera. Sorry.
Note: We chose Erratum because it signified change - we wanted to be humble and to be open to correction. Charie Villa and John Nery liked the concept.
Note: This event is the defining moment of my student journalist life.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Musikal! (Vack with a Vengeance!)

So last night, I was out to watch Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Musikal at CCP. I went alone but I still had a lot of fun. The play was hilarious and Eula Valdes was wonderful as the eponymous role.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah is about a gay beautician named Ada who gets hit by a large rock while in the shower. Urged by his assistant to swallow the rock a la Darna (with a quip of "Parang hindi ka sanay sumubo ng malaki" or "It's not as if you're not used to putting big things in your mouth"), he becomes Zsazsa Zaturnnah, a voluptuous female superhero who has to save Ada's town from the intergalactic femme fatale Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux and her bevy of assistants - Sharon C., Nora A., Dina B., and Vilma S.

The show was really campy but I think that's what made it funny, plus the references to pop culture. I especially loved that bit about how Sharon Cuneta's Marie France ad isn't real.

Since I was alone, I was sandwiched between two gorge guys, who were both leaning in to read the booklet I bought. I wanted to share (in exchange for a number or dinner) but I was pressured because I didn't know who to offer it to. Forgive me, it has been a while since I went out on a date.

After the play, I decided to walk to Malate to check the scene out. I haven't been there in more than four years and I wanted to see what happened to what I once called The Gay Mecca. I was surprised because it was empty for a Saturday night. It looked sad and abandoned, not like what it was when I used to go there. Oh, well. They were probably in the Taylor Swift concert.

Note: going out on your own is a lot of fun but walking an entire city block in expensive leather shoes is definitely not.

I suggest you guys go out and watch Zsazsa Zaturnnah. You may purchase tickets here. The play is based on Carlo Vergara's graphic novel and is adapted for the stage by Chris Martinez.

Vogue Nippon, November 2010

The cover featuring Lily Donaldson in Miu Miu

Alessandra Ambrosio for an Anna Dello Russo-styled shoot

A map of Harajuku

Versailles

Mischief Painter's Portrait

The Midnight Tribe, styled by Yuki Matsuyama

After months of gathering dust on my shelf, I finally got around to reading Vogue Nippon's November 2010 issue (I have issues up to March 2011). I was a bit disappointed because they mostly use Western models and stylists but you can still feel the Japanese vibe throughout the pages. They have a habit of mixing photos with art which I found adorable. I especially loved the editorial Anna Dello Russo styled, the one for children, and the one that featured shoes (I love looking at women's shoes).

Ice ice baby

It's our school's University Week so I'm excused from going to my internship. I don't participate in any of the activities so it only means one thing: rest, rest, and lots of rest.

Last night, I went out with the staff of the paper to El Fav, an ice cream joint that sells odd flavors. Some of their flavors include: malunggay (Moringa olefeira), beer, tequila rose, Bailey's, Yakult, and choco chili. I had the banoffee, which tasted fabulous. The Bailey's was good, too, as well as the malunggay, cheesecake, and turones de kasoy. The choco chili tasted really terrible because it was hot. It wasn't that hot but I'm not a big fan of the flavor so I didn't enjoy it. El Fav is located at Aguirre, BF Homes, at Pergola, right next to Ruins.

We then had dinner at El Buono (the pizza joint where I celebrated my birthday) and we had the 36" this time, which was as big as a car's windshield. It was followed by drinks at Nlos then food at a local Select.

That's us wearing our press shirts. I'm the third from left.

Photos taken by Nikko Panti and Kenneth Velasquez.

Jungle Fever

After reading several Japanese fashion magazines (four issues of Vogue Nippon, Shel'tter and Mode et Mode), I developed this feral liking for leopard prints. The Japanese seem to be addicted to the stuff and feature many items in their magazines with the print. I blame Anna Dello Russo, that maximalist Italian woman who runs the fashion section of Vogue Nippon.

I've always turned to the classics when it comes to style, relying heavily on blazers and leather lace-ups to complete a simple and sophisticated look, but Dello Russo makes matching prints work, and my jungle fever gets stronger each day.

I'm desperate to own anything with a leopard print but I don't want to surprise the whole world by arriving at a party with a full-length coat. A scarf, maybe?

My 22nd birthday

I've always made birthdays special. Last year, I celebrated three times in one day and the year before that, I had a semi-private party at Ascend. As I always say, my birthday cannot be celebrated in a single day. It's a season. My birthdays have been special not in the sense that it's fabulous, but because I manage to see all my friends, be they from the family, the paper, from school, and wherever else. This year was no exception.

This is what greeted me on my birthday: a bag from Marc by Marc Jacobs from my mom, who got home from a week long stay at Hong Kong for the Chinese New Year. So far, this has been the most fashionable birthday because I got Marc Jacobs and the February 2011 issue of Hong Kong Elle from my mom (the latter being a pasalubong), the March 2011 issue of Vogue Nippon from my brother, and an issue of French Vogue from 1989 (the year of my birth) from my literary editor. I also got a ton of cool gifts from other people like books, gift cheques for the bookstore, a stuffed cat, sunglasses, and shirts.

The eve of my birthday, I had pizza with my school friends at El Buono, a joint at BF Homes that serve huge pizzas. You can order them at 22", 32", or 65", which doesn't come in a box but an attache case. We had the 22" and pasta, followed by drinks at Nlos.

On my actual birthday, I had a simple lunch with the folks before heading to Alabang with the staff of the paper. It was a last minute decision so only a few people came. It was still fun and they brought lovely gifts and cake. We had pizza and pasta (for the second time) and had our picture taken at a photobooth in Timezone. I met the folks for dinner and we had pizza and pasta (for the third time) at Amici before heading to the cinema to watch The Rite, which sucked.

The following day, I had to wake up early for Pasinaya, the annual cultural event at CCP. It was for my NSTP class and I had to go lest I be dropped from the course and the official list of graduating students. I didn't catch any shows but I met two of my staff members and got a ticket to Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah.

That night, my family friends (two of my mom's best friends and their families) came over for dinner. We reminisced over old times and my mom even brought out the photo albums. I got hammered on wine and had a great night's sleep, something I haven't experienced this year.

What a great birthday season. Ah, to be 22. Let's do this.