this is my first pair, make that 2, of slip-ons. i find slip-ons a tad bit generic; i have an aversion to this kind of footwear. maybe it started when i was young, our house helps use to buy advan slip-ons that it stuck to my mind, NO SLIP-ONS. even the trendy ones with cool graphic patterns doesn’t appeal to me. but this pair by happy feet caught my eye, for obvious reasons. the one at the left side is in muted orange, perfect with my bunch of black and dark jeans. the yellow one is really an eye catcher, a bright canary. goes well with everything.

muted colors are perfect for men who wants to wear colors but is not that confident enough or dunno if they can get a way with it. this color hue is soft to the eye even in shade of outrageous colors (plum, cerulean, turquoise). a splash of color does magic to your outfit yet not attention grabbing nor a cause for sore eyes. color is your friend; knowing you basics witch palettes, matching, as well as contrasting, complimenting and clashing colors with breathe a new life to your style as well as your closet. bright colors usually draws attention so it should be worn with neutral or dark palettes; let the shoes stand on its own. a common misconception is that shoes should match your belt (for men) and bag (for women). news flash! it should compliment; matching is so 80’s. today’s fashion is about contrast, to standout without falling flat to fashion. my personal style is that contrast is basic, abundance of color and style. but not too much as if rainbow brite threw up on you.

here are some personal styling must that i can share to you.

1. don’t be afraid of colors, color is your friend. know your friend and foe, what colors works for you and your closet.
2. fit is key. know your body and how to hide your flaws and accent your features. experiment with different fits from skinny to voluminous, matching between these 2.
3. keep your closet in check, have your essentials first. basic black dress pants, white crisp shirt, decent black leather shoes and belt to match is a must. grow from there.
4. accessorize. accessories is not limited to necklaces, obi belts, earrings. a good hat, several belts in different basic colors, watch, shoes, eye glasses/shades, bags will give your outfit a fresh breath of air. scarf, and i repeat-scarf, should be worn in cold weathers not in the blistering manila heat.
5. there are no rules in fashion! as long as you feel good and it compliments your style, wear it. though i should warn you that there are a lot of eyes watching you.

onwards for fashion. shop, wear, pose, accessorize. repeat after me, there is no recession.

listening to:  
Show – Matchbox 20 : If Your Gone

so for conversations sake, i have a closet similar to this.

except the shoes, i have only 5 pairs of sneaks and 40 pairs of leather shoes. sneaks are comfy but i can’t wear them with a tailored gucci can i? of course i can, but you know what i mean . but the bag is fairly accurate, all totes with an occasional boston for traveling, overnight bags and laptop bags, and i don’t have those scarf! mine’s missoni and their fabulous during winter, and should only be worn during those times (or indoors, at the office if your office is as frozen as mine).

so with a closet like this, chocful of accessories, a lived-in hairstylist with all the product and hair coloring in the world, what will i look like?

i would look like this.

see? my belt matches my shoes. and although traditionally black and brown shouldn’t be mixed, i made it work by breaking it using the neutral gray. signature skinny pants and a slung to the back carryon tote. tyra would be so proud, fierce!

what do you prefer, this one or this one?

thanks to giles for the style site.

ps. i need to have my hair dyed if i want to have that hair. i have a natural brownish tint in my hair.

he’s csongor olteán, hungarian. olympian. future husband. man of my dream. he’s hot, hot HOT!!! he didn’t get any mark at the beijing olympics (track and field, javelin throw) having all 3 shots disqualified (he crossed over the line, all 3 tries). however, mark or no mark he’s one hot piece of man veal i like to get my hands on. just look at those eyes, the day after stubbles, square jaw, gonna-mug-you-if-you-mess-with-me look. hay… honestly, i literally dropped the plates i was carrying when i saw him with his javelin, wearing this green skin tight track suit showing off his well defined legs. perfection.

another hungarian olympian i am drooling over is attila zsivóczky, decorated decathlete. unlike your usual game, decathlon is a track and field game of 10 disciplines; 100 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters run, 110 meters hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 run. simply put that this guy is an endurance guy. enough said, i’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

listening to:
Confessions – Usher : Superstar

he’s named after the boyfriend of my friend who is a dog lover and persuaded me to get one. i originally named him void pointer after the most powerful data type in the known world, void (if you’ll argue that void is not a data type, read this) but that seemed too geeky for such a cutie. i know i’ve made an earlier comment about dog’s neediness and picking up after them. however when i saw his face peering through the space between the bars of his cage, i fell smitten in love with him. though i later found out that he’s a he, i don’t mind his gender nor his sexual preference . his cute little face begging me to take him home.

he’s a 2 month old chow-chow, pure bred. right after rocky got into my apartment, he pooped at the door. of course i picked it up and i didn’t really mind. he’s now in his cage resting, he likes it there. i keep the cage open so if he wants to wander around the apartment. i’ve blocked my calendar coinciding with his vet and grooming schedules. i have all my shoes and bags at the second floor away from chewing machine rocky. hopefully he’ll stop chewing on the cable; i’m afraid he’ll get electrocuted with the power cords. i’m now looking for a good vet and dog spas near my place. anything for rocky…

by the way, if you know a good dog whisperer, do send me a shout out.

i love my new nike cross country shoes!

i don’t want to play favorites with my shoes because they do have feelings and tend to be jealous of my usual shoes, but, between you and me, i love and gaga over my croc skin shoes. i love how it looks like, never mind that it stings like hell after an hour of wearing it. going over my shoe racks, i noticed a a black pair i bought in the u.s., 2 years ago. and i haven’t worn it, not once, except when i tried it on. it’s a stacy adams that i fell in love with while in new york. i actually bought 2 pairs of stacys but this one happened to be not worn. i think i decided to wear it on special occasions, but i never did had that special occasion. so, she was silently tucked away in my shoe rack. cleaning her up real good, buff and shine to its window display moment.

a tip,  when traveling, bring with you 2 leather shoes, a brown and a black pair. make sure that it’s not a brown-brown, in the first place why would you wear/own brown shoes in the shade of earth? you don’t want to do that, trust me. earth shade brown is a nightmare when it comes to matching it with your wardrobe. don’t stuff your shoes on your overstuffed luggage, love your shoes so it would love you back. shoes should be either in your carry-on or in your check-luggage provided you’ve secured it and it won’t get squished. on the plane, wear your most comfortable kicks, but please no flip-flops on international flights. a nice sneakers or trainers would do. if you need to exercise your foot specially in long haul fight, remove your shoes and try flexing your foot and stand on the balls of your foot. this would not only improve blood circulation and give you instant relief, it would also improve your foot arch to get the high-arch shape that you’ve wanted so dearly.

it’s september 3 here, labor day holiday. might as well get some sun and explore my new home for 3 months, zip code 45202.

so to keepmake myself happy (who said happiness can’t be bought?), i bought myself a gucci bag. with mom, we went to gucci on the weekend and bought it. she has the rustan’s discount card.

it so look good on my shoulders. this happiness would last me a month i think. what’s next…

it’s a good thing that i’ve invited behbi along, you see he knows a guy with the film festival staff that we were able to get in for free. this film festival is not cheap. french and german film festival charges only PhP30.00 and it’s showing at the greenbelt 3 theater. but this one, they charge PhP101.00, no way cheap-o. i really wanted to catch pandanggo, while behbi was set on watching metlogs. we both watched it, both free hehehehe. sneaky bastards…

pandanggo is collage of 3 stories, all intertwined by dance. i won’t get into the details of the stories other than they really don’t continue one another. i don’t know if it was the intention of the filmmakers (there were 3 directors), some effort to be artsy, but i do like some of the scenes, specially that of the 3rd story. the dance interpretation was, should i say mind boggling. it’s not your usual variety show, well choreographed kicks and turns. the passion was intense and raw that you’ll get into the actor’s emotional state. i thought the movie was a documentary of philippine dances, i was disappointed to find otherwise. but however the 3rd plot pulled it for me. i love the lines and shadows. the woman at sea dancing in the bamboo raft, the woman possessed and being treated by the common arbularyo. behbi was awed, like open mouthed awe. it’s a wtf (what-the-f*ck) movie for him. we left the cinema for an early dinner…

metlogs, like in the excerpts at cinema one, made no attempt to be indie; it will not make you think. but it does strike a chord in one’s being. it’s gay oriented but not your typical bold movies, warm bodies gyrating to the sound of ‘total eclipse of the heart’. it’s a story of 3 teens who were trying it out in the big, bad world of manila and their ‘mother’ who took them under his grace. metrosexual jologs is documentary attempt of how teens are today. their lifestyle, aspirations, relationships and attempt at love. i was impressed that at the attempt of keeping the story light, it became funny and realistic. there were no attempt to be preachy or trying hard to be artsy. it’s an in-your-face account of the lives of the 3 main characters. one is trying to fit-in with a snob, socialite-wannabe group, another is a dance instructor who fell in love with his matronic patron and the other one, a tired kid who tries to meet his dreams. the film shows how they struggle with their inner demons and that of the city. but like what the movie said, daanin mo sa porma. the movie tries to be shallow, but really, it’s not. it will make you think and feel and aspire. it did for me. though editting was a total crap…

saturday following that, it's a glorious spring day; cool breeze and green-green grass. with nothing to do, i went back to shop. i just exchanged my US$ for some spending power-lirasi. went back to the tourist-y istiklal, for some light shopping and lunch. before lunch, i was able to buy a pair of khaki colored textured cargo pants with n pockets at little big jeans. too many pockets for me, but the heck, it fits right and vibes the right attitude. it's a local brand that was able to penetrate the global market, even new york. it caught my attention not because of the deep set eyed model that will melt you in a glance. no not that, but because they have a style with their jeans line named pedro. i am hungry for some filipino language, culture, people that even jeans attract me. more walking and looking around. 2.00pm passed and my stomach growled. since i'm in taksim area, why not indulge. saw an italian restaurant and had fettuccine in pesto and cream. sat at the window-less 2nd level overlooking the busy street. across is jimmy key, a local brand with really nice-nice clothes. but it's not the clothes, but the oh so yummy attendant that dragged me inside. but yummy guy dunno english, good thing 2nd cute guy (not my type, too boy-next-door-ish) knows english. both of them were at the 3rd level, bayan's (men) section. i saw this oh so gorgeous (not as gorgeous as him though) draw string pants, perfect for the coming summer. but their smallest size is small and to my calculation, it's somewhere between 30-31 inches by the waist. 'too big' i said. then a lovely white shirt with leaf detail in eggshell white. fits right so i got it. yummy attendant suggested a purple tank top. how cute, and kind. i said yes immediately. paid and bailed out.

all this shopping got the better of me. tired by 5.00pm, went to gloria jeans for coffee and cake. was spotting for a local cafe al fresco style but the local cafes are kinda scarry. remember the episode of friends when monica was trying to find a wedding dress? imagine me as the wedding dress. i love international food chain!

while eating, i was going over the spring catalogue of jimmy key that i saw this cool sleeveless hoody. i decided to go back and buy 1. yummy guy was still there but 2nd cute guy is nowhere insight. good thing the cute counter person knows english and tended my every want and desire . got the hoody in black and 2 boxer shorts. yummy guy keeps smiling at a distance while i was paying and him attending to another customer. hay… i wanna get his number. well there's next shopping day.

on sunday, i’ll have 3 root canals. hopefully my doctor will give me a painkiller and tranqs the size of manila to numb me.

now i’m bed ridden. good thing that i had our house wireless, i’m blogging on my bed with mom’s laptop. mine’s at the office. too heavy (or uncool) to bring to the party.

i have a new favorite person to hate. he’s arrogant and feels as if it’s ok to make a mockery of people.

i came accross memo because of van heusen. for those who is rather familiar with festival mall, memo is just beside vh. after a fruitful shopping at vh and ample time to kill, i decided to check out memo. i’m in the shopping mood that day-right before i pack for my us assignment. stepping in the shop, i felt at ease. they have alounge chair where i can put my shopping bags! how cool can this be? i was reminded my LV in new york, all i need is glass of crystal. and their display racks is simple. not crowded with clothes, just some on display. very tasteful. browsing the clothes, i saw this blue and white odd stripes, my style, my fit. good. i checked out the sleeves. fashion tip, do not take the sleeves for granted. it can make or break your outfit. cuff links! this is the only philippine brand that i know of that has cuff links! their shirts are nice as well, a philippine brand that we can be proud off. price range starting from PhP1,200.00 to PhP2,000.00 a shirt.

helping them understand and use the computer. browse the internet. use the mouse and then afterwards the touch pad or track point-according to their preference (i like the touch pad more). keeping them abreast with the ever changing technology, the news and simultcast of americal idol over the internet…

i wanna volunteer…. http://www.vsobahaginan.org.ph/

first and foremost, the fashion! people everywhere in their high fashion gear. stilletos and 3-piece suits. and not to mention really amazing dos. i haven’t seen any city like this, not since my japan days. but japanese are overkill when it comes to fashion. this city really really lives and breathes fashion. i saw this girl yesterday when i was doing my grocery. it was a bit chilly, say around 7 centigrade outside. she was wearing a sheer chiffon back dress! imagine, sheer! chiffon! in this cold. she and i share something, fashion above all. now if donita and her mumu dress was here, that would be another fashion statement all together. :p

the city by night, specially by the weekends, is transformed to a drunkards paradise. dunno if this is a good thing. but they live their life, not haplessly like one would conclude. they have a nice sense of humor, unlike the brit’s dry humor. they love to socialize and have a good time. they are a friendly bunch.

like manila and other highly urbanize city, it is a melting pot of race. you’ll see men of different colors and languages. they have embrace multi-cultural diversity and is not affraid of change. well there are occasional discrimanation, but i blame that to their insecurity :p.

and the best of all, Melbourne is a city of culture. there is so much to see, to visit. like the national gallery of victoria, melbourne museum, melbourne zoo, the immigration museum,
the federation square, so much more!

but one thing i’ve come to realize, nothing beats Manila. it’s always the city that i will call home.