Archive for the ‘Shop & Pop’ Category
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Oui to Salon Beauvoir
Luxurious treatments aside, posh salons will only get on my good side if they pass the ultimate test: Can they handle wild, curly hair?
I’ve been in the magazine industry for 9 years now, and I cannot stand how, despite …
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Kitsch of the Week: Bambowtie
“Bam-what?” you ask. It’s simple. A bambowtie is a bamboo bowtie.
My Brooklyn-based cousin Nicole Mercado and Yoram Savion of YAK Films were in Manila a few weeks ago. We were hanging out at The Collective where they introduced me …
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Oli Pettigrew Outtalks Me
“Wow, I can’t believe it, but I finally met someone who talks more than you,” my boyfriend Anton said when I introduced him to Oli Pettigrew last year. I won the Sony Lifestyle Co-host Search and the crew flew in …
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Toilet Yoga, Anyone?
During a trip to L.A. back in 2007, my friends and I found ourselves discussing effective methods to improve one’s bowel movement. To be more blunt, we were talking about how to “let the poop out” when feeling constipated. In …
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Peanut Trail
It all started when I purchased a limited edition Peanuts 2012 planner from Moleskine over the holidays. The cover design of Charlie Brown by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz made my weekly planning and note taking a little more fun. For …
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Kitsch of the Week: Nutella Book
Now that World Nutella Day is over, it’s time to scrape the leftovers of hazelnut spread found at the bottom of your jar. While you’re at it, also check out The Unofficial Guide to Nutella by writers Sara Rosso and …
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Kitsch of the Week: Edible Mickeys
Call it the power of marketing. Just place a popular logo, brand or character on any ordinary consumer item and its selling power increases tenfold. When my family and I spent New Year’s Eve in Disneyland Hong Kong, my …
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Hello Kitty For Grownups
Sanrio was a huge part of my childhood. At least once a week after school, I would visit Gift Gate, a chain of stores in the Philippines that carries Sanrio products. I would spend hours there, just browsing through hordes …
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Kitsch of the Week: Nike Mag
No other futuristic film has captured our hearts as much as 1985’s Back To The Future. The 1989 sequel showed Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, in the year 2015 riding a wheel-free anti-gravity skateboard, the hoverboard, while …
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Sneakerheads, Unite!
Finally, a sneaker convention for the Philippine market! Fellow sneakerhead and businessman Antonio Aguirre, who I went to high school with, joined forces with the Sole Haven Sneaker Community to come up with Sole Slam Manila, a quarterly event where …
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Kitsch of the Week: Mio’s Art
These gift wrappers were designed by a very special boy. He is a 7-year-old named Mio who has been battling cancer for two years.
I met his mother Jasmine Mendiola back when we were both full-time fashion and beauty editors …
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And They Lived Happily Never After
They say artists—painters, photographers, writers, thespians and the like—have to be a little bit crazy to come up with the best works. I won’t argue with that. As a writer-slash-other-job-descriptions, I find solace with fellow offbeat friends who don’t really …
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Kitsch of the Week: Plush Dogs
My biggest advocacy is animal welfare. Through the years as a journalist, I have supported a number of projects of PAWS (Philippine Animal Welfare Society) and PETA Asia-Pacific (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
To usher in the holiday …
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Et Tu, Fluffy?
Did you ever fall for the healing sports band craze? Two birthdays ago, my mother gave me a Phiten Rakuwa sports necklace, which is made of micro titan balls that supposedly help reduce fatigue and stress. A number of local …
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Kitsch of the Week: Sungka
I was cleaning up my pad when I found this souvenir I purchased from a Dagupan trip in 2008—a sungka (pronounced as soong-kah) set. Still wrapped in plastic with its P130 price tag, my oblong-shaped Filipino board game was gathering …
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The Road to Blisstification
There comes a point in your life when the workaday world takes its toll on your mind, body and spirit, and you start turning to random de-stressing methods—from sports to religion and even new age practices.
I badly wanted to …
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Penniless Tour: Ann Siang Hill
There’s a place in Singapore where you can get away from the busy cosmopolitan streets. For shutterbugs such as myself, Ann Siang Hill stands out with its bohemian, chill vibe—a great escape from all things mainstream and loud.
Back in …
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Kitsch of the Week: Kikki Stickers
This Swedish home and office stationary store was founded by entrepreneur Kristina “Kikki” Karlsson almost a decade ago, but I first laid my eyes on a Kikki.K store in Singapore just last month. Where have you been all my life?…