There are actually TWO things that prompted me to post an update.

1) A conversation I had with my friend Ramon a few nights ago. He said that he and Neva have been wondering why I haven’t posted anything new in a while. Often wondering about that myself, I arrived at the conclusion that, well, unless I do a major overhaul and talk solely about how I make money online¹, no one will pay attention to this entry, or even this blog. In this age of Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, “About Me” blogs have become passe, I figured . They are so 2001 and so is this site. *mopes*

but then…

2) Surprise! A comment came this way (why thank you Rand Al Thor) and this fact offered me some assurance that this site is still getting visitors! Triple exclamation points!!!

… (silence)

… (cricket sounds)

Aaaanyhoo ..  for the benefit of the lovely readers who still drop by every now and then (yes, all three of you LOL), I will try my best to fill you in with what I have been up to since the last time I checked in.

Eraserheads The Final Set

* Eraserheads: The Final Set. You all know that this band holds a special place in my heart so naturally, we were there for their last. ever. reunion. concert. Arn has videos of some of the performances on his Youtube.

KL Design Week 2009

* KL Design Week 2009. Arn & I flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with our good friends Carlo & Nina to stalk Stefan Sagmeister… I mean, to see, meet, and listen to some of the world’s top graphic designers talk about their thought processes and showcase their latest work. Aside from Stefan Sagmeister, other highlights for me were the presentations by Kuntzel&Deygas (the French duo behind Caperino & Peperone and the memorable Catch Me If You Can opening title sequence) and Lava Architects (the Australian firm that designed the glorious Water Cube that was launched at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, among others).

Nins and I did actually manage to corner Stefan Sagmeister and ask for a photo with him each — twice — so that’s now off the bucket list.

* Volunteering for Rock Ed Philippines and designing / maintaining Rock Ed Radio‘s website. I first met the brilliant Gang Badoy in the early 90s but she flew off and lived in the US for a decade.  Armed with several masters degrees, she put up Rock Ed Philippines upon coming home in 2005. Rock Ed is a volunteer group dedicated to promote alternative education through holding classes on different areas of knowledge such as music, the arts, sports, science, and cultural studies. It has been (and still is) always a pleasure knowing that our contributions, however small, are helping make this country a better place.

* Saying goodbye to Wedding Essentials Magazine as Design Director. It was a difficult decision to make² since Editor-in-Chief and good friend Marbee and I make up the “we” in Wedding Essentials. We saw the magazine from its inception, to its birth in 2004, and through its growth into the big player that it is now (seeing how successful it is now kinda makes me feel like a proud mom). I thought it was time for me to move on since I knew the magazine would be in very able hands with Marb and Kitten at its helm anyway, although I am still with them in spirit. The issue above is the last one I worked on.

…but wait, Marbee and I have a wedding blog, We Heart Weddings. Because we really love weddings (and we really do like working with each other!)

* My Arn made a short film, his first ever. Arn has always wanted to make films, ever since he was a kid, so now that he can, he did. This is the trailer for the suspense/thriller short he made called Chapter:-0ne. We held screenings for it during the second half of last year at Fully Booked (twice) and Nomnomnom. He hopes to make another one soon, so watch out for updates on here.

* Uno Magazine named me one of their “Women on Top”. Me? Really? Aaaawwshucks *blush*. Being in a 12-page spread along with smart, innovative, trail-blazing women makes me feel that I probably am doing something right in my life.

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That’s it for now. Next time, I will give you a sneak peak of the super secret project I’m working on. (Clue: it starts with an E , ends with heads and it will come in a box)

1. just see how many hits this site will get with that keyphrase plugged in!
2. many tears were shed, yes

You can see a bigger photo of the cover here, and view the launch party pics here.
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* You can find a couple of artworks by Arn in the September and October issues of Rogue mag² one’s an illustration for our dear Quark Henares‘ really funny article about meeting Sarah Silverman and the other’s for Quark’s Quentin Tarantino fanboy chronicles.

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* A sister publication³, Imagine Magazine‘s maiden issue is now out. It’s the new, innovative fashion and design glossy by the team behind the i section of the Manila Bulletin. A high-end, 280-page glossy, Imagine takes fashion coverage to the next level, following the trends in international fashion publishing, where fashion is treated as an exhilaration of an art form, and a magazine serves both as a portfolio and an idea platform. .

There’s an article on Arn in this issue⁴ penned by no less than one of our favorite writers in the world, Luis Katigbak.
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* I was invited to judge for this year’s NU Rock Awards, yes exactly 10 years after I won one. I initially thought that I was only judging for the album packaging design category; it turns out I had to pick winners for the other sections as well. Gasp! The result: a night of cram-listening to all the finalists’ albums because I wanted to be fair to these musicians⁵ and make the right decisions after all.

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* We managed to squeeze in a week of R&R in Hong Kong. I’ve been there tons⁶ of times before for leisure with either family or friends and mostly for work⁷ but it was my first time to go with Arn so we allowed ourselves to “do the touristy”.

More here.
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1. With this, this, this, this, and this.
2. A new-ish cutting-edge literary lifestyle magazine for the modern and might I say intelligent Filipino man.
3. Meaning they also belong to Manila Bulletin’s roster of magazines.
4. Which we haven’t seen because we haven’t gotten a copy yet, oops!
5. Never mind if I only got to hear of some of them and their music for the first time last Sunday night.
6. Also because I’m old na.
7. When you’re in the advertising biz, going to Hong Kong becomes just like going to Cebu or Baguio. Most post-prod work is done there.

Most notably, our bi-annual labor of love:
The new Wedding Essentials (July-December 2007) issue is out, and has actually been out for a while now. In case you haven’t seen it yet, be on the lookout for one of these four covers.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Cover photos by Pat Dy

It’s also our thickest issue to date, this one clocks in at over 300 pages!
Here’s a taste of what’s inside:

Highlights:
- Four new dream themes that represent wedding traditions. Be amazed at what our local event stylists can do to make the wedding of your dreams come true.
- Check out our WE Discoveries section and know new talents WE found and are proud to share with you.
- Don’t know where to hold your wedding yet? “5 Star Receptions” is a wonderful article by Zoe Gabe on why a hotel might still be the IT place for you.
- WE’s little beauty wonder Tatin Yang helps solve your beauty dilemmas- fast and quick. It’s so good even WE’re hooked!
- Introducing a hip new celebration concept: Creative Cocktails.
- Delectable Menagerie. Sweet additions to your wedding feast by Candice Lopez Quimpo

PLUS:
Fabulous fashion editorials: Love in Lomo (colorful dreamy lomographs by Jake Verzosa and At Maculangan for Lomo Manila), A Day at the Carnival (shot on location at EK by Keith Dador), and The Vibrant Colors of the Sinulog Festival (a fashion spread shot on location at the Sinulog Fiesta by Wesley Villarica enhanced graphics-wise by Nico & Katwo Puertollano)².

And to our dear friends and readers: watch out for this year’s WE Beautiful Weddings, it’s due out in October.

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Pretty please join me in congratulating one of my bestest friends Sheila for winning her first Palanca! She’s actually won a load of international advertising awards already so this is simpy icing on the cake but still, awards are always nice to have — right, Shei? You can read her winning entry here³. Check her blog from time to time too to see what goes on in a multi-award-winning brain.

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There’s good news for all of us QC-dwellers: we don’t have to make the trek to Ortigas or Paranaque just to get our hands on pretty party dresses anymore! My dear friend Tippi‘s Pret-a-Party line is now available at The Ramp in Crossings at Trinoma. Now isn’t that sweet? Tips is definitely one of the most creative designers out there so please go and check out her stuff.

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Arn & I managed to sneak in a bit of R&R when we hied off to Dumaguete⁴ and Siquijor with my family to attend a cousin’s wedding.

They’re such beautiful, peaceful little towns. Do yourselves a favor and plan to visit them at least once in your lifetime.

1. in real life, lest you’ve forgotten
2. Many thanks to our pals Rex + Jois for hooking us up with them!
3. It’s such a feel-good, heartwarming story! You’ll see why it won.
4. My dad is an Outstanding Alumnus of Silliman University so we got to tour the campus too.

So since my last entry,

1. we’ve come out with a special issue of WE called Wedding Essentials Destinations.

It’s still the same, good ol’ WE but it’s a stand-alone issue that features dream wedding and honeymoon destinations in the Philippines: Baguio, Boracay, Batangas, Palawan, Tagaytay, Cebu, Tarlac, Quezon, Davao, and Cavite plus real destination weddings, fashion spreads and articles on planning out-of-town weddings. The magazine is available at all leading bookstores and mag stands for P200. Click here for a larger image of the cover.

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2. I opened my new shop, The Paper Basket². Paper Basket sells pretty patterned notecards & journals, funky wall clocks and other cool gifts that are unique to the store.

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Be sure to check back every once in a while because new items and designs are being added all the time!

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3. Arn and I went to Singapore with his family and stayed there for a week.

More photos here.

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My dear friend Neva is behind skin care line Leyende and she makes the decadent skin care products herself from organic and all-natural ingredients from all over the world. Isn’t that amazing? She’s a writer too so expect nothing but the most creative product names: No Rumple Silk Skin Butter, Smoothie Operator bath & shower creams, Kiss, Kiss, Balm, Balm Lip Balm, and many more. I personally use Smoothie Operator in “Norte” and Clean Slate Multitasker³ everyday and I’m addicted to them! They smell heavenly and they leave my skin soft and clean without the greasy feeling. I actually can’t wait to use them up so I can try the other scents and products. For details on how to order, please visit the site.

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I’ve also been staying up late the past months watching all the seasons of Felicity⁴, episodes of Veronica Mars⁵, and Heroes <– OMG did you watch the finale? Wasn’t it awesome? “Call me Noah”, woot! Leave a message to discuss if you like.

1. And yes, it’s been paid for til the end of the year.
2. using some of the earnings from Poptastic. Cafepress is so very worth it, the shops actually pay for themselves
3. Thank you dear Nev!
4. I’ve missed this show!
5. officially on it’s last season *sob*

Halloo, Arn and I are back from a brief vacation in Japan¹ with my family. This time we took a Shinkansen² to the Kansai area so we were able to cover more ground compared to past visits.³
Spring had just sprung when we arrived over a week ago and we were lucky to have witnessed the once-a-year blooming of the beautiful Sakura during our stay. You can view some photos at the following albums: Kyoto / Kobe / Ueno Park / Ohanami in Ibaraki / Tokyo

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Please pardon the sporadic blog updates, but remember you can always IM me on Twitter and iLike.

1. Obviously we love the place, that’s why we keep going back. Add to that the fact that my Papa always invites us over and generously sponsors our trip.
2. aka Bullet Train. On a regular train, the ride from Tokyo to Kyoto will take 8 hours. Via shinkansen, it only took us 2 hours, tops!
3. Kyoto is actually special to me because we stayed for a month in Kyoto when I was 7 (photo here).

1. Wall of lanterns, 2. Astroboy, 3. Tendon setto at Minggei, 4. Wishing blocks, 5. Meiji Jingu Shrine, 6. Tokyo National Gymnasium, 7. Tokyo National Gymnasium, 8. Yoyogi Park, 9. Takoyaki, 10. NHK Studio Park, 11. NHK Studio Park, 12. Shibuya crossing, 13. JR train map at Tokyo Station, 14. Self-portrait at the Shibuya crossing, 15. Shibuya Station Mural, 16. Laputa Robot Soldier at the Studio Ghibli Museum rooftop garden, 17. Welcome to the Straw Hat Cafe!, 18. A side street in Shibuya, 19. Halloween masks at Tokyu Hands, 20. Manhole cover at the Ghibli Museum courtyard, 21. The “Nekobasu” (Cat Bus) shuttle service to the Ghibli Museum, 22. “Maid in Japan” girls in Akihabara, 23. Akihabara TX station, 24. Capsule toy vendos, 25. Entrance to the Ghibli Museum, 26. Postcard-pretty view of the lake at Mt. Bandai, 27. Hello, fishies, 28. Koi fish, 29. Autumn leaves in Fukushima, 30. Sticky rice balls, 31. View from the Tsurugajo Castle, 32. Tsurugajo Castle, 33. Aizu Samurai Residence, 34. By the lake at Mt. Bandai, 35. I’ve got Tokyu Hands, 36. Arn at the Design Festa Gallery
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More photos in my Multiply galleries:
* Harajuku, Shibuya, Omotesando
* Nippori, NHK Museum, Tokyo Olympic Gymnasium
* Studio Ghibli Museum
* Shibuya and Akihabara
* Fukushima Prefecture

… and in Arnold’s Flickr set.

1. I bowed and almost uttered “arigato” to the customs officer at NAIA. This is what happens when you spend two weeks in Japan. (You just gotta love the Japanese, they’re such a polite society.)
2. Ahh the signs of aging…
3. I love Crunky chocolate but only second to Melty Kiss, particularly the Matcha (green tea) flavor. Unfortunately Melty Kiss was late coming out this year so I didn’t get to hoard boxes of them like I normally do, hehe. (It only appears on the shelves during late fall and winter.)
4. Whenever that may be, sigh. Bitin!

1. Design Festa Gallery, 2. Design Festa Gallery, 3. Design Festa Gallery, 4. Design Festa Gallery, 5. Design Festa Gallery, 6. Design Festa Gallery, 7. Design Festa Gallery, 8. Design Festa Gallery, 9. Hallway of Design Festa Gallery, 10. Mural by the Tokyo Design Academy, 11. Adult costumes, 12. Various stuffed toys, 13. Happy Harroween, 14. “Pet Paradise”, Takeshita-dori, 15. Takeshita-dori, 16. Crepe, 17. Rainy Monday, 18. Takeshita-dori welcome sign, 19. Tsukuba, 20. Tsukuba

Many many more photos in my Multiply album.

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About a week ago, our good friend Earnest invited Arn to talk to the students of CSB’s School for Deaf Education and Applied Studies and what an experience that was. About 50 Deaf students (and a handful of hearing ones) showed up and “listened” to him talk about visual storytelling via able interpreter Nicky (who teaches at SDEAS). It surprised us that the kids actually knew who Arn was and that most of them have read his novels – After Eden in particular, and it was so touching when they all stayed about an hour after the talk just to ask him to sign their books, among other things. You can read more about what Arn talked about (bloopers included!) in Nikki’s post.



Pia left a comment in one of my phlog entries: “Isn’t sign language awesome?” I wholeheartedly agree. Nest and I were saying that somehow, it’s the ones who can’t speak who are able to communicate their feelings better. When Arn walked in amidst a roomful of silent, visual applause (in sign languange, a frantic waving of raised hands), I felt that it was the most genuine form of appreciation I’ve ever witnessed.

Thanks for inviting us over Nest, it was great seeing you and Indi and meeting Nicky and the students. (:

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My magazine-mates and I trooped over to Cebu last weekend to oversee stuff for our next issue. Some pics are in the phlog. And yes I took all those tourist-y shots because believe it or not, it was my first time to go as a tourist. The last time I was there was for the ’99 Ad Congress and my pals and I didn’t really have time to go around.

Greetings from Japan, dear friends! The only updates you will see here starting today will be in the Flickr panel (above) and in the Phlog.
UPDATES 1: Calvin has really spiffy pictures from the Tokyo Motor Show. Click here to see the cars of the future. 2:My entry on Street food T-shirts has been included in this month’s Lasang Pinoy roundup, please check it out.

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Screenshots from the “Gardens of Eve” series. Beautiful!
Have you been to Grafikas lately? Graphic designer Drew Europeo is just brimming with ingenuity. I can spend all day looking at the breathtaking images — go see for yourself!

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I’m often quite happy in jeans and a bright t-shirt but if I have to wear a fancy top or a dress, it just has to be by my friend Tippi — she’s made me the most adorable pieces of clothing ever. If you’re not into made-to-order though, the good news is that some of her creations are available off-the-rack as well.


Some of my favorites from the Lounge Lizard and Pret-a-Party Holiday 2005 Collection.
You may check them out here:
* Lounge Lizard is available at SOUK, Crescent Bldg., San Miguel Ave., Ortigas & Estrella St. cor Zodiac St, Bel-Air, Makati
* Pret-a-party is available at SOLEA, Lifestyle section, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell