Oh the People You Meet

When I was in university
Once I was drunk
and went with drunk friends
to go drinking on the street
Some back alley
near the outskirts of the metro
Somewhere known to be
rough
Poor and dirty
I think I was wearing nice boots
colorful loud stockings from Hong Kong
I remember drinking and laughing
making jokes
with some gay prostitutes
who were that evening's hosts.

I remember once also
I met this girl thru a friend
She was a young journalist
or studying to be one
or just starting out on her career
don't remember the specifics
I do remember thinking to myself
What a pretty girl
put together
Speaks eloquently
and boy does she look expensive
And when she left
My friend asked me,
can you keep a secret?
You know my friend,
she's a high class prostitute.
or an expensive escort
on dull nights.

Fast forward to the now
I have met these two sisters
the elder being
my close friend's boyfriend's older brother's girlfriend
(mouthful)
when you ask them what they do,
they say
Model.
Hey I'm in fashion, and I know what models look like
I take their measurements
I dress them,
help them undress.
And you, ma'am
are no model.
You could be,
however,
be a promo girl
or a car show model
but, no. Model, definitely not.

I do know you understand the word
Sponsor
not the kind that donates kind or money
in exchange for PR
but the kind that gives you a house
that your entire clan
(from your uncles to their wives and their children and your mother and her cousins)
could squeeze in
in exchange for some fucking

I understand your
younger sister
who seems to be a bigger "star"
has a long list of big name Sponsors
from people who represent our government
to the man who represents the country's fist


I have met
drunken loud gay hookers
proper expensive escorts
but I am quite
astounded by
whoring sisters.

a memory brought forth by Dolphy dying

I had this friend. 
I miss him.
He committed suicide. 


He used to own a shirt business with his girlfriend.
Another good friend.
They made shirts
with Filipino icons doodled 
(with a single line, unbroken, without lifting the pen)
on them
They called them Lupang Hinirang Shirts


We used to do bazaars together
Me with my toys, Oddball Friends
Them with their shirts.


One time, 
Karylle Padilla Tatlonghari went over to our spot and bought
Oddballs from me
I didn't recognize her but I was extra nice
cos she was extra nice!


Then they told me who she was


And we were like,
You guys should give her a Dolphy shirt!!!
To give to Dolphy!


And my friend,
the one who committed suicide
ran after her, shirt in hand.


He came back.
Mission accomplished!


I wonder if she ever gave Dolphy that shirt.

Add caption

I still miss you Joaquin.

When we stop missing the dead, do we let them rest in peace?

the PEFTA process-procrastination-progress-pains

It started with a mood board

the theme: Redefining the Silhouette 

an idea: unraveling

then they picked out the hardest piece

UGH

so then we started to make it.

Fit-pattern-drape-sew-fit-redraft-sew-drape-fit

Looks simple enough, believe me,

it wasn't.

I tried to knit it myself!

Key word: tried

but I recognize I lost cause when I see one.

and enlisted capable hands

progress

getting

theeeeeere

.

but it was a paaainful, painful process.

Judging time!

and well, it was worth all the effort!

Cause I got in!

Finalist to TOP 5.

And now we have a show on September. 

yikeeee

Preview Ball 2012

This year I got invited to the Preview Ball at 7th High in High Street.

(cos I made it to Top 5 for Preview's Emerging Fashion Talent Award hihi)

Paying my respects to the editors
who've been mentoring us!
Nacks.
Vince Uy  & Daryl Chang

Bumped into an old friend!

Happy Andrada

And gossiped and complained about old-errr sisters chaperoning us to events! Haha (we both left our Mommas at home for tonight)

Kidding! Nothin' to complain about!
Good chaperon! 5 stars!

Oh and the theme for that night was Athletic Chic. Thus Happy's boxing inspired outfit, and my sister Aia's gym shorts, and I was wearing a bathing suit as a top. 


Ugh. I know, lame. 


I was making a jumpsuit with raglan sleeves for my outfit that night, but just as I was almost done (a sleeve, the neckline and zipper to go) I got tired of it. Haha! 
And I kinda realized it wasn't soooo athletic chic-y. Might wear it to my friends' wedding this July instead. *note to self*


Was with Vince Tolentino, a co-finalist for PEFTA, throughout the night. And Orlie, a new friend, also from SoFA. 


And hello there, Dan Duran! He's also PEFTA (last year's) & from SoFA.

Vince's peg: "black swan si bakla!"

Oh and the foreign dude approached us while in the bar, apparently an old friend of Vince. Some Italian guy who's name I forgot. Hehe. Grabe, ambilis talaga maka-magnet ni Alvin.

Hello, Ria Bolivar

 Looking forever fierce. Been lucky to have her as our model for PEFTA. Dabest! 

Kim & Emir.
Me thinks the peg is polo & equestrian?? 

 Emir Yamamoto is from FIP. She's the one in stripes and boots. PEFTA also!
Missing all the PEFTA kids who were absent that night! Tsk.


Oh and I'm wearing flats cos cos while were crossing the street to Jamba Juice I think my heel got stuck in the cobblestone kashitan and it broke! Huhuhu!
Not only was I not crayzeh about my outfit, I felt short throughout the night! Ugh!


But sokay! Six Vodka 7s that night made me happy enough to feel gooooood about myself again. Haha. Or maybe it was seven. Aaaanyway.

thank you, you're my feyvrit!

I had fun! :) wouldn't mind more nights like this.


Oh and ended the night with that Choco Yemma cupcake over at Slice. Yummmmmmmmeh.


Oh and they announced Preview's 10 Best Dressed that night
plus the finger foods were yummy.

Slowly Eating our Way Through Hong Kong

In the transcript of my life, this trip is technically an official business trip.

But in reality, we've been eating and window shopping, (and a bit of shopping) most of the time!

Every night, me and my business partner, google the commute to our errands, AND THEN
google the list of foodie hunts my friend Zee recommended!

Today, we visited another friend who goes to SCAD, an American art school in Hong Kong.
(deserves a seperate blog entry on its own!)

Otw to SCAD we had the yummiest sausage sold on the street for only HK$8!!!!
It was as huge as a Hungarian Sausage, and the skin was slightly toasted, with a sweet, smokey, barbecuey taste! YUMMEH!!!!

Then off to Tim Ho Wan!

Tim Ho Wan

It is the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong! Starred twice! What does it mean to be a Michelin star awardee mean exactly? Kinda like saying it's one of THE yummiest places to eat in the world!

If you look at it closely, there's a list of the "last called" number.
At 3pm when we got there, it was on 101

Our number 131!

People line up to eat here for hours! A girl we talked to said they were there since 12pm! Her companion had a heated argument with the man by the door at some point! It was scary-funny! She had wild hair and girl-we-talked-to had to hold her back literally! When they finally got in, girl-we-talked-to apologized to the door man, and even made a "she's-crazy" gesture! Haha!

Lucky us, my friend Zee advised us to come either before 10am or 3:30pm. We were there at 3pm, got our number before 3:30pm and got in a little before 4pm! LUCKY US!!!! The people next to us 6 Malaysians, (who we became friends with, there is camaraderie in hunger!!!) got there around 12pm and was told to come back at 3:30pm! The 2 Singaporean girls before us have been waiting 3 hours! Hihihi. Thanks for the tip, Zee!

And well, we were too hungry, enjoying the food waaaay too much to take photos but here's what they're super popular for!

PORK BUNS!!!!

And OH MY GOD! The most perfect, yummiest pork buns I have ever put inside my mouth in my entire life! No joke! Gaaaaaaaaaaah the filling was soooo flavorful and saucy, the buns, just the perfect crisp on the outside and soft and warm in the inside! Grrrrrrar!

Individual reactions:

Induces heartbreaking deliciousness 

Incredulous humility "can't believe this is soooo good" 

Ohrgahsmic sarap!

So yeah, definitely worth the wait! And the drama pre-feeding!

ex. Our number got called, but I was stopped by the door "for 2 only, you wait!" 

While my dining mates Ella & Kat were inside, taking a photo of hungry me behind the glass door, on the street, laughing all along at my misfortune! Sob!

They did find us a table for 3 a few minutes later, but it felt like the gates of heaven suddenly opened, and you got rejected at the door! Haha!

Ate some baked spareribs in oh-so-delicious oiiiil. Sticky rice dumpling, had to close my eyes to chew this! So many textures! Vermicelli noodles with beef, Shrimp Dumplings or hakaw its wrap so translucent, the shrimp succulent and flavorful! And Sticky Rice with pork, chicken, sausages and shitake mushrooms wrapped in lotus leaf, and to clear our palette, refreshing flowers in gelatin. Haha! Forgot the name it was just soooo yummeh!

Bill wasn't bad at all!

Like HK$65+ each for a Michelin-starred and we had take out, 2 orders of pork buns for breakfast tomorrow! Bwahaha!