now, i am okay

I remember the first time I started selling online. I made bracelets for fun, decided that I could actually make money out of doing that, made a Facebook page, and released my first collection. I was clueless, nervous, moneyless (after having spent the little money that I had on materials) and quite scared. Scared of what people might think, scared of not having money, scared of not having customers.

I remember that night clearly, that first collection release: I brought down the little tray that contained the bracelets that I made, setup my laptop in our lanai, opened a bottle of wine and started drinking. I wanted to calm my nerves a bit so I drank. I don't know why. It seemed so simple: make bracelets, photograph them, post, and wait for orders. I thought of the steps clearly in my head before I got into it. But as I was going about the to do's for this small project, I was overwhelmed by fear and worry.

What if no one buys? Kakahiya.
How will I get the money back? I've been cut off.
What if the bracelet sizes are wrong? Wasted material..
What if the branding is ugly? But I like it..
How do online sellers work these things?

I felt so uncomfortable. I wanted to just back out and keep the bracelets for myself. I was so antsy, constantly tapping at something or walking around.

But I was excited.

I was excited to work on it. I was excited to get new materials. I was excited to experiment and come up with new designs. I was excited stay up all night to make more bracelets and send out orders the next day. I was excited for the next collection release.

I was happy. That overwhelming feeling of discomfort somehow turned into ecstasy. It kept me going, wanting to do more and after weeks and months of my little business, I became comfortable and confident.

Now, that little business called Fellow was able to give birth to another one called Common Ware. Two mini businesses I now run alongside Anton who has been the most supportive, hardworking and creative partner. We now have a small yet growing following, amazing customers, a newly released collection of polos, and a first bazaar experience to look back to.

Now, I am okay.

I am no longer that frazzled and afraid, no longer worrying and caring that much about what people think, no longer uncomfortable.

But I want to leave.

I want to leave this state of okay and do something. I want to feel that discomfort and that heart raising, mind blowing sense of excitement to start something or do something. I want to keep doing, keep walking, driving, making, fixing, organizing; I want to go crazy again doing something I like. This feeling of being okay, having a routine and waiting for something to hit me is making me question everything. It's depressing sometimes so I refuse to just sit and wait. I gym. I organize things. I go out with friends. And during those short moments of distraction, I am at peace. But after, the unhappy thoughts, the feeling of mediocrity and being complacent creeps its way back to me, eventually taking over my thoughts and emotions. It's making me antsy but not in a good way, and it's eating me up.

I need to leave.

restock & release

Check out Common Ware's latest batch of restocks and releases!

During the first release of our Men's Swim Ware, we only had Navy Blue and Maroon.
During the release of the Women's Swim Ware, we only had Navy Blue.

Now, our Men and Women's Swim Ware comes in a brand new Teal color. We've released a Maroon for the ladies too!

For orders, please visit the Common Ware Facebook page and send us a message, or email us at commonwareclothing@gmail.com

surf break

Snapshots from my friend Carla's birthday weekend in La Union.

I've been to La Union several times but it was my fist time to stay at Flotsam and Jetsam. Every time I would plan a trip, the hostel would be full so I'd have to look for another place to stay (The Circle's a good place too). This time I was finally able to get a bed at F&J thanks to my friend Carla, the sister of F&J's creator, Mia Sebastian.

In my first La Union trip (Soul Surf 2013), I was able to visit FlotJet (and was one of their first breakfast customers!). Ever since then I never failed to visit the place every time I'd pay San Juan a visit. The artist hostel is just so homey and beautifully designed, I can't get enough of its motif--from the pillow and bean bag cases, lamps, color, blackboards, Mer Sea Boku kubo, to the bed setups and room decors.

Not only is this place so aesthetically beautiful; it also gathers the most simple, friendly and down to earth group of people.

Here we are at Elunion Coffee, another go-to when visiting La Union. It's a quaint little coffee shop located by the main road in front of Sebay. The place serves delicious coffee and freshly baked (and moist) cookie skillets.



My regular Elunion order: the Dirty White.

Back in Flotsam & Jetsam, having my post surf papak: Hungarian sausage with tomato sauce and onions, and Truffle fries.



Another yummy F&J staple: their brick oven pizzas!



A FlotJet burger my friend had which came with a generous amount of salad and fries. I had the chicken which also came with salad and rice. Both (or all) being delicious meals!

Mer Sea Boku Kubo, one of FlotJet's common areas that holds some of the best memories of relaxation, good conversations and pig out and jamming sessions.



You'll also find the cutest pets and dog lovers at F&J. Everyone loves animals!

For videos from the trip, check out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImP5X-KKlqU - Jamming sessions as Mer Sea Boku Kubo
https://vimeo.com/99028162 - The surf and F&J night

As for the surf, it was awesome. I loved being in the water along with other professional surfers, learning from them and watching them gracefully ride waves. I was also able to surf more than my last trip so I got more practice. There's still much needed improvement, but nothing feels better than a little progress at something you enjoy doing!

Another short but sweet trip. The beach (or vacations in general) never fails to leave me hungover (not from the alcohol) and longing to go back. Can't wait for the next trip! 

common ware x status

A Common Ware first.

Here's a close up of our feature in Status magazine's STATUSPHERE.

You can still grab a copy of Status' June issue with CHVRCHES on the cover. Lots of interesting people to read up on, such as Robert Nethery, Margaret Zhang, Jack Laskey and many more!

#daniealeats: the genji-m and banzai experience

After many months (years, actually) of feeding Anton Japanese at every birthday, graduation, anniversary or any celebration for that matter, I finally got him Jap crazy. To be more specific, salmon sash crazy. Because of this, every Japanese sulit meal that came across our Facebook feeds or any slight craving for it brought us to the closest Japanese restaurant in the area. It just so happened that a few months back, two new Japanese buffets that offered affordable prices for unlimited Japanese feasts, opened. Once we saw this on Facebook, we scheduled a trip.

Genji-M

Genji-M, Makati Avenue

The first one we read of online was Genji-M. We saw on a blog that it had a promo of P250 off the bill of customers that printed out the Genji-M coupon and brought it when dining in. That's P250 off per head, provided that each person had their own coupon. 

When we got there we were asked to choose between three menus: (1) one with just rolls and sushi, (2) another with rolls, sushi, and sashimi, (3) there was a third but I don't really remember what extra it came with. We chose the menu without sashimi since it was more affordable, and we thought that unlimited maki and sushi would suffice since the list we were handed had quite a hand full of choices. How it goes is they serve you your first platter which contains all the available choices, and after tasting the variety, you get to pick which rolls and sushi you'd like to have again.

I don't really remember the names of all the rolls we tasted, but of course we had the basic tuna and salmon roll. I wasn't so happy with the two because their tuna and salmon rolls had ham and other extra ingredients in it which I don't really like. I usually like them simple with the rice, good sashimi, nori and a little bit of wasabi. Aside from that, the slice of tuna or salmon laid on top of the roll was extremely thin that the other ingredients of the maki sort of took over the flavour of the roll.

From the bunch, one roll that stood out was that maki with cheese on top--yes, cheese. I don't know if this is normal, but never in my life did I eat Japanese maki with cheese on top. I did not like it. We also had California maki in that first platter which I didn't like either. I don't like any California maki anyway, wherever it may be from.

For the sushi, I've had better. The rice that came with it was almost shaped like a ball and was way too compressed, so when biting into it, it didn't feel like rice. Our seared tuna sushi did not taste fresh at all, and the other sushi choices were OK, nothing great. The serving sizes were much smaller than the photos I saw online and again, the rice just wasn't done right.

In the end Anton and I were disappointed with our meal. I don't know if we just so happened to visit on a bad day because according to others, Genji-M is okay. But we weren't happy with the maki and sushi that we got, and I forgot to mention, my Miso soup tasted like water. 

Banzai

Banzai, Mall of Asia

Banzai, Mall of Asia

Banzai, Mall of Asia

Banzai, Mall of Asia

A few weeks after Genji-M, we decided to try out Banzai, the new Japanese buffet in Mall of Asia, Seaside Boulevard. This buffet is kind of like Sambokojin with a more Japanese ambiance, and a slightly wider range of choices. It included unlimited zaru and cha soba (which they don't have in Sambo), pizza, steak and others I was not able to taste. My meal as a whole was actually okay. I had my regular: sushi, sashimi, spicy tuna, zaru soba, tempura, gyoza, steak, Miso soup, and picked on a few meats from Anton's plate. I remember the steak and the Teppanyaki to be good, and the quality of the sashimi, sushi and the cha soba to be mediocre. The noodles of their soba didn't slide off each other once you try to pick them with your chopsticks; they clung to each other like sticky rice. I had a taste of their spicy tuna but didn't go back for a second round (as I usually would) mainly because the sauce tasted more like regular mayonnaise on tuna sashimi.

For the price though (if I'm not mistaken, about Php 899 per head for dinner on weekdays), I'd have to say I'm pretty happy with what I got. It's not great Japanese with regard to the raw dishes, but I'd say the cooked meals are pretty good.

Until next time #danielaeats!

organized fellow

The Edison stand (center) no longer stands alone. Watch out for more designs to come from Fellow x The Bespokery. Releasing soon!

#danielaeats: ramen kuroda | ikkoryu fukuoka

New Ramen experience: Ramen Kuroda

This was the first time I had a ramen meal with the option to refill. Yup! Once you're out of noodles but still have some leftover soup in your bowl, you may ask for additional noodles for free. I think it's a pretty good idea since the men are usually not contented with just one bowl. I don't eat THAT much, so of course Anton ate my noodle refill (his set meal on the opposite side isn't allowed to have noodle refills).

I ordered Aka Ramen (Kyusyu Tonkotsu Spicy Flavor, P290) because I always opt for the spicy ramen. Anton ordered a set menu (P380) that contained regular ramen, gyoza, some vegetables, an appetizer (which he really enjoyed, I just can't remember what it's called), and fruits. For his set he chose to have Kuro Ramen (garlic flavor). My ramen was just okay, nothing great. I wouldn't order it again because I found it pretty boring. After getting a taste of mine then sipping from Anton's Kuro ramen, I wanted to push my ramen aside, claim my extra noodles and half Anton's soup so I could have some Kuro as well. I really enjoyed it! It was my first time to taste garlic ramen which I don't usually get because I always think that the garlic taste would be too strong in the soup, but this one was just right. I'm definitely going to get it on my next visit!

Ikkoryu Fukuoka

One of my favorite spicy ramens: Ikkoryu's Spicy Tobanjan Tonkotsu P380
The only other ramen I've tasted here is their Miso, which is actually pretty good, but I prefer the flavor of this. It caught my eye on the menu because it said spicy but aside from that I decided to try it out since I usually go for the basic Miso, Shio or Shoyu. I was expecting some strong taste from the paste and thought I'd end up getting tired of it halfway, but I actually really enjoyed it. It is now one of my favorite spicy ramens! I'm also pretty happy with the serving size of their meat in the soup because even though it only comes with one or two thin slices, it's still pretty big. And it's not half fat!

I eat ramen so often but two places I have yet to try are Santouka and Ramen Nagi. Hopefully one of the two will be next!

Until next time #danielaeats!