#fellowbayanihan

HELP A FELLOW. #FellowBayanihan

We have all seen and heard of the destruction that typhoon #Yolanda has brought to the Visayan region of the Philippines. Up until today, relief operations continue to aid people in need, and different Philippine organizations and even other countries are coming together to help rebuild what was lost last November 8.

To be able to help those who were affected, Fellow is releasing a Bayanihan bracelet that will help rebuild homes that were lost. For this, we will be donating to Adopt A Bahay, a rebuilding effort that aims to restore the homes that were damaged on Bantayan Island, an island just off Cebu that was directly hit by super typhoon #Yolanda. 

For more information on Adopt A Bahay, please check out their pages:

Website: http://adoptabahay.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adopt-A-Bahay/255928404561303
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adoptabahay

One Bayanihan bracelet is Php 250. For every bracelet purchase, you will be helping a family restore their home.

TO ORDER:http://www.facebook.com/fellowaccessories/app_190322544333196

(If the order form does not work on your browser, please send us a private message)

Bayanihan Bracelet release will start on Wednesday, November 27, but you may start sending in your orders now.

"You can help rebuild the homes and lives of those on Bantayan Island. No donation is too small! Please help rebuild the Philippines." - Adopt A Bahay

mac divine night

Last Monday I did my first ever photo coverage for an event. I've done some day time coverage for mini events, but this was my first time to do something at night, for something more formal. 

The coverage was for MAC Divine Night. I was pretty nervous for this one because i've never done photo coverage for a night event before. I've done video, but that's totally different from taking photos. 

Here are some photo samples I did for the event. 

One of the models. 

One thing I liked about this event was the fact that everyone working that night had to be made up--from the models, to the MAC team, the interns, and even the photographers!

The venue (Whitespace) was packed that night. The event was graced by bloggers, celebrities, magazine groups, gorgeous people and a lot of other known people in the make-up/beauty and fashion industry.

It was one successful event, and I congratulate the MAC team for a job well done. I had a great time, and I'm hoping to be able to do more projects like this in the future!

words of wisdom

Truthfully, almost anything is possible if you’ve got enough time and enough nerve.  What you need to remember is that you can’t always wait for the perfect time and conditions, because there may be no such thing.  Most of the time you must simply dare to jump.

And don’t say you don’t have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc… 

Remember, the strongest people are the ones who feel pain and discomfort, accept it, fight through it, and learn from it.  They turn their wounds into wisdom and growth.

Don’t worry about mistakes too much, because some of the most beautiful things we create in life come from changes we make after failures.

Read up on it here. 

Stop talking about what you have done or what you are going to do.  Just do it and let your actions speak for themselves. 

There is only one thing that makes your dreams and goals completely impossible to achieve:  Your lack of action.

It is easy to live for others, and so many people do, but I challenge you to live for yourself and your own values, ideas, and dreams.  

Read up on it here.

Not everyone is going to see your beauty.

It will always seem like something wonderful might be happening elsewhere.  And that’s OK.  Let it go, and realize you have everything right now.  The best in life isn’t somewhere else; it’s right where you are at this moment.  You have to accept that some things will never be yours, and learn to value the things that are only yours.

Waiting for someone else to make you happy is the best way to be sad.

Needless worry gives small things a big shadow.  In the end, you can either focus on what’s tearing you apart, or what’s holding you together.  You have to roll with life instead of against it.  And sorry for spoiling the ending for you… but everything is going to be OK – you just need to learn a lesson or two first.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  Comfort is state of being in which to find rest and renewal for a short time; it is a dreary and dismal place to remain permanently. 

Your failed attempt is simply evidence that you are reaching higher.

Start small, but start now.

Read up on it here.

hello

Its been a while. I got an email a day ago saying that it was my Tumblr birthday (which I usually commemorate with a short post and a cupcake with a candle), but I've been away from the website for quite sometime now because I shifted more of my dream life surfing to Pinterest. I refuse to delete it though because there are lots of memories there--blog posts and photos of my college days, as well as reblogs of the things I like (or used to like), that get me nostalgic every time I go through it. It's what I would consider my first real blog, and no my LiveJournal is not counted. I used to write essays on my LJ, blabbing endlessly about just one day, writing the most useless crap that only people present in the occasion would understand. It wasn't nice. Good thing I was smart enough to delete it a few months after.

Anyway, it's October.

Its been a year since (1) my college graduation and (2) Fellow.

- 8 months with Seabiscuit Films now and I couldn't be happier! I'm finally producing.
- I still don't know how to save. It's really bad.
- I need to accomplish more by Feb (when I started working)
- Anton's working too! And so are a lot of my friends.
- Fellow's had 4.5 collections in the past year. Not moving as fast as it actually should, but I guess it's not bad for a start. I wasn't even sure it would stick around for a year!
- Anton and his friend Miko have a little business on the side too. It's called The Bespokery. For all the dapper dudes out there!

That is all. I can't believe it's already October. It really has been an eventful year for me (good and bad), and I'm really looking forward to whatever's in store for me for the rest of the year. Just a few more months till December!

project 365: july

Tada! Here's my photo compilation for July. I tried my best to take a variety of photos and not only food, but since the highlight of most of my days were during meals (hehe), this is how it turned out.

I'm currently working on my August one and I'm happy to say that I haven't missed a day yet. I've been cheating my way through though, taking photos of my everyday breakfast just so that I don't miss a day. Haha! But I try my best not to use those since they get boring (e.g. July 29 and 31). 

To more photos this August! 

fellow

Check out Fellow's new cover photo. I thought it was time to change it because Fellow's fourth collection is finally out. Just in case you haven't already seen it, you may check it out HERE.

Just a random note: I'm pretty happy with my Fellow customers. Some of them are so sweet and encouraging, they make me want to work harder to provide them with more accessories. Some of them are also so loyal that I want to shower them with free bracelets. Really. One of the best things that's happened from starting this is being able to make friends with the people that buy. Others just choose to buy and be done with the transaction (which is totally fine and easy), but some customers are extra friendly and put an effort in building a relationship with the Fellow, which I really, really appreciate. So if you happen to be one of the extra friendly customers, thank you! Your kind words and enthusiasm go a long, long way. I hope to be able to do the same for you through my accessories.

fellow braids

A stack of Nautical, Rastafari, Barbie and Military colors available very soon! Don't forget to like the Fellow page or follow the Fellow on Instagram (@everyoneneedsafellow) for updates.

Fourth Collection will be released this Wednesday, August 7, at 8:00PM. Don't miss it! :)

fellow's 4th collection teaser

Fellow's got a FOURTH collection coming up soon! Here's a photo of one of Fellow's designs to look forward to. 

Classy, but with a twist! 

Check out the fourth collection teaser HERE.

the prize

In case you were wondering, I did end up getting my free Dynamite roll and Miso soup from Omakase! Happy happy camper.

ps. If you decide to join the contest (and win), and would like to avail of your prize, they require a print out of the coupon, not just a photo on your phone. It's something they failed to inform me in the email, but it's a good thing I decided to print it anyway.

lost at sea

After a late night for Anton's birthday celebration, we got up early for a day trip to Subic. A 3-4 hour drive to a destination is not the best for day trips. You practically waste 6-8 hours of the day on the road. But since we were up so late, we actually needed the long ride to regain our energy. And it helped! We got to Subic at about 1pm and spent the rest of the afternoon on a friend's yacht.  

Really loving the colors of this shot.

(c) Alec Yatco

 It was an afternoon/night of great company, food and drinks. What made it extra awesome was the fact that we were anchored in the middle of the ocean where we took a lot of photos, jumped off the boat, swam, and drank.. a lot. We were only able to spend about 5 hours out at sea, and of course it was a lot of fun and ultimately bitin, but I'm glad I'm able to have enjoyable moments like these. Even just for a while. So short, but sweet!

hbd anton

I'm so happy that Taylor Swift's song 22 became a hit the year that my friends and I turn 22. No matter how annoying it is to some people and how it's so nakaka-LSS, it's still such a fun song to sing and dance to, especially because it's exactly where we're at!

Last Friday was Anton's 22nd birthday and for the first time, he decided to throw something for his friends. Anton's parties before were usually surprises from me or his family, but this time he decided to throw and pay for the get-together himself. Very last minute planning, but I'm so glad that a lot made it still. And in theme!

For his party, everyone had to come in matching outfits with someone else. It was a pair party!
This is what Anton and I wore:

         

Initially we had no plans of buying the same lobster shirt. But we were in Town just a few hours before and saw that Folded and Hung had a "buy two, get 40% off" sale, so we decided to go for it. 

And that is all! I'm actually sad that Anton's birthday weekend is over. I love it when it's his birthday (sometimes even more than when it's mine, haha). Looking forward to more years with this guy!

jap happy

For the first time in my life I am actually admitting to Jap food overload.
Last week, I ate in Sambokojin with Anton. We were just craving so we decided to eat there for dinner.

Last Monday, my sister treated us to Sambokojin for her birthday.

Yesterday, my sister invited me to join her and her boyfriend for dinner in Palms and I decided to order Spicy Tuna salad and Zaru Soba.

In between all these meals, I would occasionally get Jap cravings (still), and would munch on some crab sticks with kikoman and wasabi at home.

Madness I tell you! I don't want to put blame on the monthly cravings (if you know what I mean), but it IS partially to blame + I think I really have some sort of addiction.

And to top it all off...

I got one more Jap meal waiting in Omakase! A few days ago I saw on my FB news feed that Omakase posted an Instagram photo that won the @IwantOmakase photo contest. I immediately searched the page for the mechanics of the contest and found that by simply tagging your Omakase food photo or experience with @IwantOmakase and #iwantomakase, you have a chance to win a special treat from the restaurant. I'm not really one to join online stuff (may have done it twice or thrice in the past and never won), but I just decided to tag all my old Omakase photos on my Instagram.

And I won!!

I had no idea what, but I was happy anyway. I had to send some details to an email and when I did, I got a reply with a free Dynamite Roll and Miso soup to my name! I was the happiest kid ever.

I just checked the Omakase page now and it says that the contest is still on going. So if you want a chance to win a treat, tag away!

project 365

Here I go again making a second, mid-year attempt to take at least one photo a day. I tried this project out last year but failed after 3 or 4 months. I was still in school then, so looking back at that time, I think I got bored because I was doing the same thing almost everyday, not having anything new to take a photo of. I was also too stressed with thesis at that time, so I eventually forgot that I had a little project to work on. Now that I'm working and my schedule is not as much of a routine as it was back then, I thought I'd give it a second shot even if I'm starting July.

I also decided to try again because (1) I downloaded the application on my phone to constantly remind me not to leave a day blank, and (2) I finally upgraded my iPhone 4 to a 5, and the camera is just lovely. So. Much. Better! 

tagaytay

Tagaytay weather is just the best thing right now. My friends and I spent the night there a few days ago, and it was so cool and relaxing that we were even hoping to extend for one more night. We stayed at our friend C3's place (aka Cesar's Palace), which I would think is our group's favorite Tagaytay spot. It's just so secluded and spacious and peaceful and beautiful, so it's a great escape away from Manila. And it's only an hour and a half away!

Now we're back in Manila. Back in the heat. Back to Monday. Back to work. If only our work place and Manila homes could be as quiet and cool and relaxing. I wouldn't mind working at all!

fellow

Here's a photo of my work in progress. I still have two more color combinations to make for next week's event. 

These aren't up in the market for now, but if you're my friend and you see something you fancy, let me know!

fellow x ______

EEP. I'm so psyched.

Anton and I have been working on Fellow lately because we've got a project coming up pretty soon. You can tell from the title that we'll be collaborating with another brand, but I can't reveal what brand just yet. I can tell you though that it's an awesome one and I'm so, so, SUPER excited for it to be revealed next week. I'll announce the details pretty soon!

Aside from this, Fellow's cooking up a new collection as well; something slightly different from what we've come up with before. Don't worry, it's just as awesome as our past collections (or more). With Fellow, it only gets better!

Right now I'm a little drained. So much work to do with such little time. I feel like the days are going by way too fast and I can't keep up. But being Fellow busy again makes me extremely happy and excited and anxious all at the same time. Could not be more thankful for it.

fellow in status magazine

I'm very happy to share with everyone that Fellow got its second magazine feature! It's a bit late because I was expecting it to come out on June, but check out Status magazine's May music issue with Ellie Goulding on the cover! You'll find Fellow in STATUSPHERE: Brands to Know. 

Thank you Status for featuring Fellow! For more on Status, check out their Facebook page here! :)

note

From the sweet heart thousands of miles away. He visited view park in Barcelona and left a little note.

marc and angel

Because I can't seem to stop over-thinking and worrying and panicking, I head over to Marc and Angel once again to help me relax and stay focused on the positive. Some words of wisdom that made me feel better: 


Instead of concentrating on eliminating the negative, concentrate on creating something positive.
Whatever it is you’re seeking will rarely ever come in the form you’re expecting.  Don’t miss the silver lining because you were expecting gold.

You must see and accept things as they are instead of as you hoped, wished, or expected them to be.  Just because it didn’t turn out like you had envisioned, doesn’t mean it isn’t exactly what you need to get to where you ultimately want to go.

By persistently trying to move away from what you don’t want, you are forced to think about it so much that you end up carrying it’s weight along with you.  But if you instead choose to focus your energy on moving toward something you do want, you naturally leave the negative weight behind as you progress forward.

Make a habit of noticing the goodness that’s already yours and you will see more of it every time you look for it.

Don’t be so worried about what’s ahead of you and behind you that you never enjoy where you are.
Participate in your dreams today. 


This site never fails!

a shout out to mom

To my beautiful mother, guide, protector, and friend. I am so lucky to have you as a mom. You are and will always be the best mom for us five. Thank you for everything!

I love you. Happy Mother's Day!

And Happy Mother's Day to all the hardworking, patient, loving and caring mom's! 

hk break

A few days ago my sisters and I were given the opportunity to take a break from work and the heat. After not being able to travel abroad for years, we FINALLY got the chance to go back to Hong Kong and really explore the place on our own.

The last time I went to HK with my family, I was first year high school. I wasn't so young then, but my memory of the trip is very vague. I don't exactly remember the logistics of it because my mom took care of almost everything; all we had to do was follow. Aside from that, I slept a lot during that trip (which frustrated my parents so much, haha). We went during December so it was about 7 degrees celsius outside. And I, being the sleepy person that I am, kept sleeping every chance I could. 

This time around, my older sister and her boyfriend planned the trip so everything was all up to us. Basically, it's our first international trip without the parents. And since we don't really travel often, we're not as comfortable moving around and handling everything by ourselves, so it was something quite new (and exciting) for us. 

Our hotel was on Hong Kong side this time so we really were not familiar with the place (since we stayed in Kowloon during our last visit). So on our first day, we wanted to locate the closest 711, McDonalds and WiFi spot. 

Very important thing I realised upon arriving in HK: THERE IS NO INTERNET ANYWHERE. My phone would get a lot of signals from different places, but all of them were locked; even restaurants didn't have Internet! Park Lane (where we stayed) had Internet but charged sixty dollars an hour. Crazy. When we went to Hysan Place, we were able to get Internet for a bit, but it got cut off after thirty minutes. So frustrating!

The Apple store, which was just a few streets away from our place, was our life saver. It was the only place that had free WiFi. So almost every morning, my sisters and I would stand outside the store just to be able to Instagram and check mail. But because the workers in the store seemed to have noticed our presence outside of it quite often, we tried not to stay there too long. 

The day we arrived. 

Early morning walk with my sister, finding our way through HK. 

On our first day, we explored a little around our hotel and Central. We also, for the first time EVER, stepped into H&M! Crazy right? We would always get clothes from there as pasalubongs, but as mentioned earlier, we don't really travel, so it was the first time. And we loved it!

For our second day, we decided to visit Kowloon where we walked around Nathan road, Canton road, and Mong Kok. This was ultimate shopping day for everyone! We were also able to eat in City Super again, which reminded me so much of our first HK trip.

On the third day we had another first: our first time to step into Disneyland! Definitely a baby book moment for us three. We grew up watching a VHS (or was it Betamax?) of Disneyland and could not believe we finally got to go! I felt like a five year old running around the place taking selfies and discovering the different things inside of it.

Even though the rides were not as exciting as Ocean Park (or as the other Disneylands, as mentioned by others), I still really enjoyed. Visiting the place really took me back to my childhood and it felt AWESOME! It was so nice hearing all the Disney songs play and seeing everything Disney. I also really love how every single thing in that place is so creative and well-thought of. I just wanted to take a photo of anything I saw!

Ecstatic Disneyland newbs. 

The trip ended with day four, where we spent our last few hours in HK walking around Times Square and the airport. Our flight was at night, so we were able to do some last minute shopping. 

Even though we were all so sad to be leaving already, what made the trip home okay was the fact that we were going to see the family and... business class food! It was just an hour and a half trip, but we were able to fly business class for the first time (another first!) and were so happy with the food that we were served for dinner. Got a little wine and delicious salmon salad + beef short ribs on our way back. Delicious! If i'm not mistaken the food was made by the chef of Aracama.  

Thank you for everything Mer and Jim!

And that is all! It was a really short but memorable trip for us, knowing that we haven't been able to do something like this in a while and we got several firsts on this trip. Now that I was able to get a feel of travelling again, I'm so so determined to be able to travel more this year. Hopefully to Cambodia or anywhere in Thailand! 

boracay

During my last few days of senior year in high school back in 2009, I spent a lot of time listening to my friends plan for the Bora trip that the seniors of most schools go on after graduation. Flights, accommodations, beach activities, possible drunken escapades, pre-Bora shopping and other preparations, there was really a lot of Bora talk from pre-grad to post grad to the trip itself. I couldn't blame them; even I felt excited. My whole barkada and even others out of it could not contain their excitement as the trip got closer and closer. Sadly, I wasn't going. I wasn't allowed by my parents at that time, and I couldn't afford to pay for the trip myself. While my whole barkada spent about a week in the beautiful island celebrating the grad, I was in Manila (my boyfriend didn't go either, but he was in the States at that time).

Today, I'm 21, a college graduate and working (eek, i feel old). My Atenean friends graduate from college and decide to go on a Bora trip once again to celebrate being out of school. And since I'm a Bora-with-friends virgin (I went with my family twice when I was younger), I decided to spend my first set of earnings on a trip I've been itching to go on with my friends. Ateneo de Bora with the graduates!

We spent 5 days on the island doing what vacationers do when in Bora: drinking, eating, fly fishing, happy hour-ing, skim boarding, partying, cam-whoring and enjoying. On one of the days though we decided to check out Ariel's point, which is a 30-45 minute boat ride away. For P1600, you get unlimited booze, food (yummy, grilled, babuyan food), cliff diving and a beautiful and peaceful hang out place for you and your friends (peaceful if you don't end up with rowdy groups of people on your trip). This, I would say, is probably one of the highlights of my trip because I still can't get over how I was able to step off the board of that crazy 15 meter high cliff jump. It was much higher than I expected it to be! As for my best Bora meal, I would have to give it to Hawaiian Barbecue. We were not able to eat in a lot of places, but this sure was the best one we ate in during the vacation.

Here are some shots from the trip.

A part of Ariel's Point

Above are just some photos taken by my friend Alec using his GoPro. To get a glimpse of how the trip went, you can check out the video he made here. So glad that we have Alec around to document trips like these. Great way to look back on vacations!

Of course, fun trips always end feeling like it was way too short and went by way too fast. When is ending a vacation ever looked forward to? Now I am back to work. Seeing all the Bora photos on my feed now from people spending labor day weekend there makes me extremely envious (that's why I decided to look back at photos from my trip and post something here. Haha!). I don't know if I would mind the amount of people there (Bora looks like it's crazy packed), but right now I just really want to go back!

motto

We just all have to stop trying to live according to the world. 

sensei sushi

Presenting! A load of photos from my delicious meal at Sensei Sushi. I've been hearing about this place a lot and seeing it on my Instagram feed, so my sisters, mom and I decided to try it out yesterday. 

Even though we went on a Wednesday during lunch (and expected there to be little customers), we decided to make a reservation just in case. When we got to the place, we realised that no reservations were needed. The place was empty. But little did we know that because we reserved, Chef Bruce made himself available to serve us. Now that made our trip to Sensei more interesting! More expensive, too.

We didn't know what to order because the food on the menu and on the restaurant board were familiar, but were slightly different takes on the usual Japanese dishes. We wanted to try all without having to order each dish and finishing with tons of leftover. So.. we left it up to the chef! He whipped up an unli-course meal filled with dishes of what he felt were the restaurant's best sellers and what he personally felt like making at the moment. He said that when we start feeling full, we just have to say stop. The problem was.. even if we did feel full, we all refused to say we've had enough and still kept asking for more.

What we were served:

Tuna Cubes. The first and favorite!

White Shrimp Ceviche

Tuna Tartare

Fresh Oyster

Seared Hamachi

Pig Head Katsu

Lambtaco

The palette cleanser (forgot what was in it)

More Hamachi

Spicy Tuna

Roasted Sea Bass with Aligue rice

Rib-eye steak with ponzu, butter and truffle oil

I don't remember exactly what this is called, but I remember it having some frozen cheesecake.

Chef Bruce's inconsistent Lava Cake

At first, Chef Bruce mentioned that he didn't really like making Japanese food. He said that his Jap style actually went against the traditional Japanese style of cooking, which got me less excited because I was really craving for traditional Japanese. But once we started eating, I didn't even care. Everything was all too delicious. Too good, that we really didn't want to stop! So much flavour bursting out of just one dish that we were all left mmm-ing and wow-ing after each one. And even though Chef Bruce's style is a bit different, I was still able to get my Jap fix.. and more! Definitely so much better than I expected.

If you decide to check this place out, I recommend you give them a call and ask to be served by Chef Bruce. It really is so much better when you get to see and hear about the food you're about to eat. Aside from that, you get to hear about the Chef's interesting life story and experiences while indulging in his mouth-watering creations.