Garage Magazine Young Talents 2012

Had the chance to get invites c/o Man on the Street Thons Edano to attend Garage Magazine's Young Talents 2012 presentation at the roof deck of the W Building (where the Lamborghini showroom is at BGC) - SKYE bar last February 28, 2012.

Here are some of the pictures: (Thanks to Thons Edano for some of the pictures)

Me and ex PBB Unlimited housemate Wendy

Garage Magazine Editor Ray Ilagan and MYX VJ Joyce Pring

Andi Eigenman (looking good) and Lauren Young

Solenn Heusaff

(l-r) Inja Fajatin-Fossil Marketing Manager, me, Jemelle Mendoza-Wenger, Victorinox and Bench Time Marketing Person and VJ Joyce Pring

MEGA Young Designers Competition 2012 Grand Finals

I miss going out to attend events especially now that I have a baby but luckily last February 16, friends from MEGA invited me to attend the 20th Anniversary of MEGA as well as the Young Designers Grand Finals at the NBC Tent.

One thing really hit me while watching the designs of the finalists --- the way modern pop culture, online games, anime as well as the overall influence of Japanese manga and Japanese fashion have on the Pinoy youth was very evident in the designs presented by the finalists.

Not that there was anything bad about it at all but I'm a bit worried that some of the clothes presented by the finalists were what you would see one lazy Sunday afternoon in Megamall during a COSPLAY event.

But in fairness to the winner Renan, he did present a modern, edgy, and most importantly "wearable" collection.

If I had a size 34 waistline and if I were even just 50 pounds lighter and 15 years younger I would want to wear clothes that he would design since I did love the jacket that he wore (last picture below).

But what do I know, I'm not a high fashion sort of person...so I'll just stick to my everyday fashion stuff.

Oh by the way I did get away with wearing my pink button down long sleeve, black jacket and dark jeans but vowed to myself that I would be going to the tailor soon and getting myself a decent suit and pants for such events.

Attending Another MEGA Publishing Event

Last year I attended the MEGA 10 Most Beautiful party at OPUS in Resorts World. Here's a photo of me with one of the attendees Miss Aubrey Miles.

Tonight, I will have the chance to attend another MEGA Publishing Event --- The MEGA Young Designers Competition 2012 at the NBC Tent.

Please check back in the next few days for some exclusive photos from the event.

I'll be coming from work and the invite said the guys must be wearing suits... Hopefully I can get away with wearing dark jeans, an untucked button down pink long sleeve shirt, my ever reliable Julius Marlowe leather shoes, my TWSTEEL Icon watch and of course my one and only black blazer.

Wish me luck!

Miss Earth 2011

Just want to share with you guys...a few months ago, I had the chance to treat the Miss Earth Philippines 2011 finalists to a shopping day in Skechers Trinoma (part of my job people when I used to work with Skechers).

Athena (the girl on the far right) eventually won the pageant and I think moved on to become one of the Miss Earth 2011 winners in the international pageant. But Miss Cebu was my bet.

This photo reminds me that next time when I have my photo taken, it should not be at an angle as my double chin come out and my cheeks seem to cover up the rest of my visible neck. Hmmm this could be a good topic for a post in the future ---- how to pose when you're fat or how to minimize your fat profile when having your picture next time... :)

Breathing New Life to My Old Watch

A few Christmases ago a friend of mine who I haven't seen for the longest time literally gave me a Rudy Project watch off his wrist since he noticed that I wasn't wearing any. This friend has been with me for the longest time - for more than eleven years.

I'm a very sentimental guy so this gift is more than just a gift but is something much more. The watch has been through tough times with me, but sadly the leather strap it came with leaves much to be desired. It's all worn out, scratched, and in some parts stripped of its color (my sweat is quite acidic) and yet I still wear the watch for sentimental reasons.

Quite recently I came across ASPREY in one of the malls and saw what they called a NATO STRAP and found out that they had a blue colored one that was very close to the hue of the watch face of my favorite wrist watch. So I bought it and upon reaching home removed the worn out straps and replaced them with my brand new ASPREY Nato Strap!

Tip: If you have an old plain vintage looking silver watch (in my opinion looks best with any colored strap), drop by Asprey and pick out any color NATO strap to breath new life to your watch.

Butt Crack Trouble

I'm fat and can't avoid having fat friends, fat bosses, fat relatives and we all fall prey to buying the wrong type of pants - either too loose, too tight and never just right.

Most of the time I notice that we fat guys really wear loose pants that inadvertently slide down and we often find ourselves hiking up our pants as we walk, run and move. And there's the danger of what I call "Butt Crack Trouble" --- that's when your pants slide down while you're actually moving around in your seat, then you stand up, then bend down and pick something up while giving everyone a good view of your (our) pimpled backside.

How to avoid this:

1. Wear the right size of pants - Kinda hard to find the correct fit and size so once you buy the pants, take the time to visit your neighborhood "mananahi" (usually just Php50) and alter-to-fit your pants.
2. Wear a belt - They do have big sizes available from McJim belts in department stores.

Give everyone a break and stop "mooning" your officemates, friends, relatives and loved ones. Just a friendly reminder.

Fieldwork Wear

Comfort is key.

My job sometimes entails my having to go to various places. I've grown to love the IZOD long sleeve shirt that my Aunt brought home from the US as it keeps me warm enough in the plane yet comfortable enough when I walk the streets even at high noon.

I also like to wear my cheap cargo pants I bought years back in 168 mall as they have proven to be durable and comfortable with a "no-need to iron" personality. I hear the fashion police sirens now --- I know, I know that it's a fashion no-no to wear bulky pants especially when you're big, because they tend to make you look bigger--- but hey I have skinny legs! (Plus 2012, they said, the loose, more comfortable bottoms are in.)

Weather is unpredictable nowadays so I always rely on my Merrell Waterpro Ottawa to keep me comfortable, and stress-free even when walking long distances. And the color I picked is low-maintenance too so no need to worry about mud and dust, and you can just grab a wet cloth and the pair is as good as new.

Lastly, I'm always on the run when I go on field work so I need to make sure that I'm on schedule so I always use my NIKE Heritage watch which I just found out when I changed the battery, has a double case construction that makes it really splash proof and water resistant.

Comfort Food Series - TOP 10

I have had a score of food that never fails to comfort me especially when facing a very tough day in the office. When I transferred to my new job late last year, I discovered ARMY NAVY.

Since last September I would order the same thing and pay the same Php210.00 for my lunch. My comfort food ranked 10 would be the basic burger and an order of onion rings and loads and loads of the GARLIC SAUCE! (The ARMY NAVY Garlic Sauce deserves its own blogpost - that's how great it is!).

What I like best about the burger are the following:

1. Tastes like real meat not the longganiza-tasting Jollibee burger and the cardboard-tasting McDonalds burger (which I still like by the way).
2. Juicy
3. Vegetables are fresh
4. When they say the burger patty is grilled, you can actually see it sizzle on the grill

What I like least:

1. It seems like the burger has been shrinking the past so many months
2. The juices of the burger drench the bread sometimes making the bread too soggy to hold --- probably the price one has to pay for real, grilled, fresh beef.

As for the onion rings, well at least you can still taste the onions and not like the Burger King onion rings that taste like batter.

Oh, did I mention the great Garlic Sauce! One thing though, the Shaw Boulevard branch near my office has gotten very stingy with it. They just used to give me the dispenser and use the sauce to my heart's content but last Friday, they told me point blank na "bawal na raw" when I asked for my usual (reserved for those who order burritos I suppose). BOOOOO!

Oh by the way, go buy yourself a 500ml Coke in the PET bottle...the more than Php40.00 can of Coke seems like a rip-off when you think that the 40 bucks could have well bought you a Coke LITRO.

Full on Friday!

I have full day today so I chose this look as the combo gave me a sense of work but also gave a strong hint of the coming weekend.

I'm totally Pinoy as in brown-skinned and a lot of people told me never to wear pastels since the light colors will make me look darker. But I've always wanted to wear pink and wanted to prove to myself that I could pull it off; and then I happened to chance upon a long sleeved polo that was on sale at MAXWEAR so what have I got to lose?

The dark Freego jeans (used to be black) but after countless bouts with the washing machine and the labandera's "palo-palo", it's still dark but no longer black. I also chose grey-colored PONY sneakers recommended by my friend from PONY marketing, Donna Santos (who told me that grey was the new black). To top off the look, I chose to wear my PUMA Motorsports watch in with a white dial and a red and black strap from LTIMESTUDIO.

I lost a pair of my "el-cheapo" shades from SM again so I had to scrounge around my closet and found my old MOSSIMO shades given to me by my friend.

So with that, Happy WEEKEND everyone!

RJ Jacinto Still Rocks

Quite recently I was asked together with Fossil Marketing Manager, Miss Inja Fajatin to guest in a radio program in DZRJ to talk about wrist watches. There we got to meet RJ Jacinto himself who up to now exudes the enviable "I'm a rockstar" vibe.

I'm wearing my super comfortable Lacoste short sleeved polo and my Big Men indigo jeans with of course my favorite TWSTEEL Icon watch and Florsheim loafers .

Mossimo Bikini Summit 2007

Almost five years ago I had the chance to produce the 2007 Mossimo Bikini Summit. The overriding concept of the contest to me is one of the more brand-loyal concepts in the history of this competition as we tried to bring back Mossimo to its roots as a street wear brand. My partner and I gave it a little more twist by injecting the look and feel of the movie "Fast and the Furious" to ensure that the bikinis as well as the street clothes would gel into one cohesive concept.

I am particularly proud to say that the contestants and winners of the 2007 MOSSIMO BIKINI SUMMIT made a name for themselves immediately after the contest. The interesting cast of characters to name a few were Jacqui Christian, Arra Castro, Gail Nicolas, Cherry Kubota, Zara Aldana, and a host of other interesting characters like Andy Smith (boyfriend of Jacq Yu of the famed Elasto Seal commercial seen often during Pacquiao fights), and now Bikram Yoga instuctor to the stars Al Galang.

One of the more sought after winners up to now is half-Pinay and half-Japanese Cherry Kubota, or Chek who has graced the pages of FHM, and was hailed as the Century Tuna Super Bods.

Shown in the picture above right is Chek modeling for Level Up with yours truly wearing the racing shirt specially designed for the online casual game Crazy Kart and CK2RBO.