breaking out from the monotony of black and white and denim

 dress, mixed berry in dumaguete city. denim vest, old navy. boots, vintage.

These were taken minutes before it rained and while there was no power/electricity in the area. I was in the middle of watching some episodes I missed of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid when the power died...yep. Anyway, back to this outfit, I think a lighter wash of the denim vest fits this dress more but I don't have any and it works fine with the dark wash variety so...well...whatever works, works. And yep, I wore these white gathering kamote tops (green leafy vegetable) for the green smoothie I was concocting today that I'd be drinking tomorrow...lunch time or dinner. I'm pretty much back to the green smoothie drinking spree these days which is a good thing. I've been meaning to get back into it since before.

Did I really forget to update on the World Team Trophy in Japan this year? The outcome? Team Japan got the gold!!! Yay! My favorite male figure skater, Uno Shoma, of course retains his number status as a splendid figure skater in Japan and worldwide. Now I'm looking forward to the new grand prix season. Kind of sad that Murakami Kanako has announced her retirement at the World Team Trophy gala as well. A lot of the older, really good skaters seem to be retiring one by one. Last time, it was Takahashi Daisuke then recently, and before Kanako, Asada Mao and now, Kanako. Team Japan still seems as strong as ever, nevertheless so I'm at peace with everything going on in Japan's and the world's figure skating scene, I think. 

yesterday, part two

 photos by Candice Calonia

vest, old navy. dress, vintage. heels, zalora. headband, i don't really remember anymore...

The bff and I braved the strengthening rain out for this shoot. Basically, this is part of yesterday's post. Oh, and the umbrella is a purchase from Daiso that I rarely do bring out due to how delicate it feels to me. I used to have one with the similar make and feel in the blue handle color from Multipy (may that site RIP) eons ago. That one disintegrated after a handful of uses, too. I'm sure this one will follow suit soon. This is handy on rainy days but I doubt it would hold up on stronger ones as in those that accompany storms that regularly visit this part of the country...rather, the world. Anyway...uhmn...I like how boho-y and somewhat dreamy but still tough this looks? Yeah...I don't really know much either.

I just realized I talked about the umbrella 3/4ths of this post in where the text is concerned, hah...

striped t-dress

  dress from TJMaxx (if I remember it right, that is...), gifted bag (from aunt), Old Navy denim vest, LC Lauren Conrad bracelet, Forever21 and aizilim necklaces and rings, Zalora (Cotton On's Rubi) boots

....debuting this dress I can't seem to stop wearing whatever way I can on the blog. I've had this since late 2015---a couple years' ago---and I still bring this out occasionally when I need to be out in a flash. Yep, this is that t-dress I've been going on and on about...yapping about how they're the easiest things to grab and wear on a trip, errand, whatever out somewhere in a flash. 

Last night, an earthquake with the magnitude of 6.7 hit this southern Philippine island. It's left its epicenter, Surigao City, in a state of chaotic devastation. For one, there's still no electricity in the more affected parts of the city and it follows, there is no water in those areas, too. Two and three respectively, the 'quake left the city with 6 dead and their airport's runways a mess so flights in and out of the city had to be cancelled until further notice (or at least until everything there gets fixed). I only felt an echo of the 'quake here at home last night but ours was more of a trickle down thing with a smaller magnitude that's somewhere between 3-4. It didn't stop from having some things at home shaking and moving however...which, for the whole duration of the 'quake, scared me a bit. I was the only one in the second floor of the house so I guess, well, you get the idea. It'll be a while before Surigao City and others close to it gets back to its regular daily living but it shouldn't be a couple weeks' long at least. The country's president had the good sense to call for people to work together so that's well and good. That aside, we rarely get earthquakes here that are that strong. We're by the pacific ring of fire but we don't really get the same amount of earthquake in a year's time as Japan does. It might be because we have other South East Asian nations surrounding us to share the agony of numerous 'quakes in a year's time with us. Still...this 'quake was pretty scary at 6.7 magnitude.

summer in december

 Daiso tank (it's men's originally), gap buttoned cutoffs, zalora heels, from aunt's (last year) ribboned bag, aizilim wooden cuff, necklaces and rings, forever21 cat ears ring (not very visible in photo), vintage belt

with an old navy denim vest

Pretty busy---which should explain the week-long blogosphere absence---and yet still mellow week last week between running personal errands and working on the items for the ebay shop. Still...I can't put everything up yet because my tape measure, recently acquired last week, was borrowed and has not yet been returned. Until then, stay tuned...? 

It gets cold enough in the late afternoons to evening and the really early mornings but it's nothing a lightweight cardigan or a pullover can handle. This is the most layering I can do this time of the year here. I still count myself blessed to be living in this side of the world as it keeps me from committing fashion disaster/crisis one after another due to the lack of layering skills that could possibly be developed by practice. This year's 15 to 20 degrees celsius in the Philippines, the southern part of it specifically, is definitely more tolerable than the 4-5 degrees early to late morning coldness in Philadelphia same time last year I had the opportunity to experience.  

....and I'm finally feeling Christmas-y so here's my current always on repeat Jpop Christmas track:

 

I actually love the fact that it still has the hints of electro-dance music...definitely my kind of Christmas song this season. Happy holidays, then. :)

possibly 10 or more-year old stripe dress

striped bodycon from Hongkong, Old Navy denim vest, forever21 cat ears ring and leaf necklace, aizilim rings and cross necklace, beaded necklace as a bracelet, vintage laced-up ankle boots

Intense downpour outside at 10 or so minutes past 4 in the afternoon limited my options to shooting this one indoors. Insane how it started raining despite the sun still being high up. But I'm hardly really surprised anymore because it is the rainy half of the year here.

The dress is an old find in Hongkong, at a clothing warehouse (it was actually more of a factory with a store within it) mum and I visited  with a few others in my teens. Crazy how this still fits a decade or so later. I still do wear a few other things I own and have acquired years and years ago, from time to time no matter how old it is. Rediscovering old treasures and styling them to meet today's times is pretty fun.

Hmn...I wonder when I'll be able to go back to Hongkong on a random trip... (It's definitely a city to go back to plus it's just an hour or so from Manila by plane though I'm not that much fond of chaotic NAIA (terminal 3?) to be honest) Kind of miss that chaotic but fun city to be in...

hi 2015

1. and 2. What I wish I wore out yesterday vs

3. What I ended up wearing minus the flats which were re-translated into vintage laced-up boots I've probably been holding onto since forever...

And in which case, there's a notable disconnect between the post content and the title but hi, 2015! I am well aware I did not do any year-end post for the recently concluded year but holidays at home have been so busy I couldn't spend much time online. Other than that, the storm that just passed us by may have broken the wifi or internet connection at home so I've been sparse online recently, including on social media (Twitter). No matter. At least it leaves me to focus on a lot of things, especially school and that shop on tumblr that'll be updated on Friday this week. Regarding the internet connection thing, I do have the smartbro plug-it which I love to abuse when I'm in Dumaguete City or when I'm traveling around the country however it's bothersome to use when at home when there are other alternatives such as being in my favorite cafe (CBTL/Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves). ....however commercial - as commercial as Starbucks - the cafe may be. I normally prefer those that serve local coffee, tea among others but there's not much cafes to choose from when in Cagayan de Oro City apparently so here I am, in CBTL, Lim Ket Kai. 

The denim vest...I unearthed this one from my box I sent home from Dumaguete City when I was last home around between October and November last year. I thought I'd lost it but turns out it was just lying around in a box from the dorm. And demin vests...they never really die. This one is a pretty old one from Old Navy. Denim stays classic, straight from the 90s which is probably one of my favorite fashion eras.  

Because yesterday, the rain continued on until the late afternoon, I ended up going out in the thrifted knit zip-up jacket and beanie from Daiso, now my favorite store to get everything random which is...I don't really know much about either. I just wander there once in a while. The place has some interesting stuff in there at affordable prices which is cool. (And on the recent trip, a pair of Hello Kitty earphones were purchased because I needed earphones. I figure I was reliving the obsession of one of my early grade school friends when I decided, spur of the moment, to get those. They have yet to be used because I'm currently abusing headphones more for the sake of listening to a lot of electronic dance music. EDM just doesn't sound so good when one listens to it through the earphones...)

As for resolutions, because I figure everyone or almost everyone has them, I don't have any resolutions for 2015 not only because I see them overrated but more because there's really no use to me having them. I wouldn't follow them through either way. So here's to more of 2015, I hope. 

1. & 2. (favorite) vintage dress, forever21 ankle boots and cuff, old navy denim vest; 3. Daiso beanie, gifted shirt (from Hongkong), vintage denim cut-offs and navy knit jacket, BDG flats, forever21 necklace