pictures and my new kicks! yay!

photos from tumblr and fashiontoast.com and Primadonna via Zalora PH

Two new pairs of shoessss! Can you guess which ones? Kind of wish the Chloe x Doc Martens ones are still around but I guess everyone else cool has snapped them up on eBay and everywhere else otherwise. I did see one for sale eBay but way out of my budget, as per usual.

The bulk of my clothing budget goes to shoes. Yes. It rarely goes to clothes and a few others. Typical of a shoes obsessed someone. I don't really mind if they're a tad bit uncomfortable either. Hmn...yep.

More pressing matters at hand: the COVID 19. It's wide spread in South Korea right now as well. I hope everyone stays safe. It's still somehow well-managed here in the Philippines and the 1 death we'd had recorded here is an elderly Chinese man. I think some of our own countrymen have tested positive for the virus but there's nothing really definite about that one yet, either. But as it is important to take the necessary precautions, still, I was not really THAT surprised that SM Downtown Premier in my area have temperature checks and large containers of alcohol at the entrance. All their entrances are, I think, equipped with those. Good one, SM! What I'm more surprised about is that Ayala Centrio, the better mall I kind of prefer, do not have these measures. I haven't been to the other one, Lim Ketkai Mall, so I can't compare the three yet. Anyway, what I mean to say is that as someone who doesn't really go out as much and just prefers to do most things online and in smaller shops in the Divisoria area of the city, this hardly affects me much. One of the necessary precautions is not to go out to crowded places because you never know what you'll get there. The COVID 19 may be quite rampant there, we don't know. So it's best to be safe than sorry. 

Let's find better ways to entertain ourselves in, yes? Yes.

off duty is when all the hardware come out

bag, gifted by an aunt; top, something borrowed via zalora (old); bandage skirt, thrifted forever21; heels, zalora; bangles, a mix of random buys, etched forever21 and souvenir shop finds; socks, burlington; leaves necklace, forever21; multi-colored, beaded choker - aeropostale, gifted by aunt; earrings - random online buy from ig; vest - thrifted/vintage

You know you're slumming it when you get a random f21 item at the thrift store like this gray bandage skirt worn here. I picked this up when, randomly wandering around a row of current favorite thrift store haunts, in search of other bottoms to add to the number of those I have on rotation. I was getting tired of those in the closet and I only ever use about five or so from mondays-fridays and some saturdays and sundays. I rarely thrift nowadays but I might have to do more one day because of, well, stuff.

The vest is an old thing from eons ago, also nabbed from thrifting around the city. I don't exactly remember when. I decided to take this out, thinking it'd go well with the outfit on here. And also because it reminds me of Kate Moss' tiny vest style from around early 2000s? I don't really have a lot of vests actually. I only have this and one in denim, an ancient Old Navy piece. I was on the lookout for a few others back in Dumaguete City but when I'd found a bunch, I thought they were too big for me hence I never got any from those. Also, other than that, I felt I just had to take this one out because yesterday, I stumbled upon a Kate Moss Style instagram account and found her vest game is so on and cool there that well...as a HUMONGOUS fan of Kate Moss' effortless style, I just really had to. Some examples of how she rocks the tiny vests on here:

(photos from vogue via google)

Bantayan Island for next week is tabled for some other time. Sadly. Because none of my closest friends can make it and if I were to go, I'd be on my own and it'd then be the second solo-trip for me after last year, October's Taipei trip for Pentagon's concert.

Slightly off tangent but I'm planning to make a separate music blog and I currently have quite a lot of backlog for it in terms of East Asian (mostly South Korean music or kpop and Japanese music, Jpop) music...what do you think? Should I? 

in Lazi Convent or San Isidore Convent, Siquijor Island

photos by JM Dumlao

wearing vintage/thrifted/second hand romper; world balance walking shoes bought from cebu city I've had in forever, it's literally falling apart. haha; a snapback from a cousin's barbershop business in the US; and random jewellery from everywhere.

This place is always so picturesque. The running and walking space here is so huge you can totally do somersaults in the open field and no one would care...except...don't. It's, well, a church after all and they hold masses here daily and on Sundays.

I have always been the most curious about this place when I was last in Siquijor Island. The last time I visited was way back 2013 with a close friend and dorm mate in Dumaguete City. And now that I've been to this place, the San Isidro Labrador Parish and Convent or the Lazi Convent for short, all I can say is...WOW. This place is such a good place for shoots and more. Plus, if they opened this one to people who like to picnic, all you need to do is lay a blanket of sorts on top of the grassy soil and you're good to go. If you're not allowed to picnic and sunbathe this way, then there are other things to do here.

Lazi Convent has a museum at the second floor and the grounds you can see from there is just as beautiful. Museum entrance fee is only 20 Php per person. REAAALLLYYY CHEAP and just incredibly affordable. There are also some places to sit in inside, of course. 

More photos of the place especially what's inside it to name a few places we went to during this Siquijor trip can be viewed in the next post.

By the way, this romper will be on sale in the instagram shop one day soon! Well, it'll be in a few weeks, of course. Once all the photos for the items when worn have been taken. Also, the romper is a really well-made one that's an Italian brand! A really cool find from one of the thrift stores I frequent here in my city of Cagayan de Oro. Some parts of it have faded but it's still so beautiful as a whole! It's a perfect summer piece to wear in this hot weather! I just love how this looks and feels comfortable although it's a bit small on me.

post-storm...literally.

tank, bench ph. shorts, secondhand lowry's. bag, vintage. boots, rubi by cotton on. bangles and cat ears ring, forever21.

It's been one week after another of intermittent all day rain and just all around gloomy, cloudy days thanks to typhoon Lan that hovered close to the Philippines' area of responsibility. It's course was different and soon moved away to Japan so there wasn't much damage (flooding, etc) much to all of our (here in the Ph islands) collective sighs of relief. Still, it's the wet season in this area so I'm expecting more typhoons coming our way. Hopefully, they just don't become as scarily devastating and damaging as category 5 ones similar to typhoon Haiyan way back in 2013.

 

Anyway, yes, sun! I miss this kind of cheery sunny day that makes me want to go to the beach and just be a bum or something else there... 

 

I've currently taken to starting my day with streaming Highlight's Can Be Better MV from their official youtube channel. The 1theK upload is getting more attention but the official Highlight youtube channel one, I feel, needs more of the attention from us fans. Hmn...I don't even stream Da-iCE stuff much and this one has a Vevo account on youtube... Either way, both are fandoms I discretely belong to so that explains this portion of this post. Haha. Can Be Better by Highlight just is such a relaxing and fun song that it's great to start the day with it and with their Pls. Don't Be Sad, as well. Both just are now my happy pills and they tend to set the tone of the day for me nowadays. I'm falling deeper into the Highlight fandom, I suppose. Mostly, it's because of their music which is a 360 from their regular dark, all-about-heartbreak-and-everything-grim ones back when they were under Cube Entertainment as Beast. I like this 360 degree turn they took in the direction of their music and all. Like, I really, really like it to the point I'm in love with it. This is the same feeling I had when Da-iCE came out with their debut album as then-indie artists way back in 2011. Beast debuted earlier than Da-iCE, though...around 2009.

 

 

 

black and everything random on a tuesday

t dress, shopwagw (what a girl wants). tights, random store/s. heels, forever21. clutch, gifted by an aunt.

The vacillating rain and non-rain this really, really gloomy day had me springing for something comfortably warm, thus the all black with bits of gold, silver and a beige-ish shade outfit. This day has succeeded in making me even more depressed than I already am. It's only thanks to Highlight's new release, their music video for Can Be Better that I've survived today and continue to do so tonight. Seasonal depression can be such a bitch bleep to deal with. Depression and anxiety in tandem being all the more harder to deal with. If there's anything I learned in this lifetime, it is to never fx@# with it and seek help when needed. Never disregard mental health's wellness as it goes hand in hand with physical fitness/wellness, both being integral in the making of a healthy human being. (Wasn't it World Mental Health Day a couple of days ago? Yes? This post is quite timely, then. *insert smiley face/emoticon here*)

Anyway, yes, Highlight:

It's my feel good song today and for the rest of the night. The music video is such a happy pill, too, with all the randomness in it and of course, the 5 members lovely members (I am pretty biased on main vocal Yang Yoseob but I love all of them equally, to be honest...kind of like how I love all members of my favorite jpop boygroup, Da-iCE). Everything: the song and the music video is sunshine and happiness that it's worth playing over and over. RIP the play button on their official youtube channel's upload of this...

for the unpredictable days

top, something borrowed via zalora (similar). suede skirt, vintage. boots, rubi by cotton on via zalora. clutch, ninewest.

Daily weather has become unpredictable. One can never know when it'll rain and when it'll keep being sunny when here nowadays. Regardless of how cloudy it is almost everyday this latter half of the year, it's still pretty humid. It's still quite acceptable to dress up in mini skirts and sleeveless tops. And if the cold is too much to bear---in which case, it frequently isn't here in the tropical islands---then out come the sweaters and tights. I wore this skirt with light, see through black tights on my way to pick up a new-old cat a new-ish girl friend left me as she is in Spain right now. Those 24 Php tights sure are handy these days. I'll try to stock up on those more again. I might be almost out of those and I can never tell when I really need them anyway.

 

dusty pink, maroon and the emmy's

vest top, what a girl wants ph. slip dress, vintage. heels, zalora. bangles, vintage and souvenir shop.

This is what I wore to dinner out to a pretty affordable vegetarian cafe and/or restaurant with the best girl friend last Saturday. In the previous posts, the top is a sort of asymmetrical vest but I was able to make it work as a tied-top this way last Saturday and today so it's all good. It's really good to have versatile pieces in the wardrobe so outfits are kept fresh even without having to shop constantly for all things new.

The cafe we went to is the one in Centerpoint Arcade and that which is owned by a lady who has been vegan for 15 years. It's name? Pili-an Cafe. Vegetarian/vegan restaurants are frequently expensive btu this one is not. It's most likely because a lot of the ingredients of the things they serve there are locally sourced. The friend and I shared the PIKA plate which consisted of vegetarian meat barbecue, a tofu burger/sandwich sliced times four, sweet potato (camote/kamote in our local language) fries and vegetarian chicharon (cracklings) priced at 280 Php. If you're a duo or trio of small eaters, this should be enough to fill you when in said cafe. It was enough for us and there were just a couple of us there for the dinner date. 280 Php is basically 5-6 USD when converted so yes, the things on the menu are indeed accessible price-wise. A lot of the things on their menu are interesting to me as a struggling vegetarian/vegan (I'm mostly pescetarian...) so I'm definitely going back there pretty soon. Other than food prepared in their kitchen and served in the cafe, they also have other things for sale like cookies at 65 Php a bag. The cookies are really good, they're pretty addicting. Other vegetarian/vegan cookies usually cost 300+ Php. They also have locally made basket woven bags, baskets and others. There's also virgin coconut oil at 180 Php a bottle I've been thinking of getting soon since the ones on drugstores here cost 20 Php more. The latter also doesn't come off pure or authentic, seems they add other things to the coconut oil they stock at Watsons and/or Mercury Drug. When it comes to these things, it's always best to buy the most local and the most limited in stocks. At least you're sure the oil is made from young coconuts and is purely virgin coconut oil this way. The only drawback we experienced in the cafe is that the ordered food took some time to be done and served. But this is not such a pressing matter as it assures you that the food is prepared fresh and clean in the cafe's kitchen since they make them the moment you give the server your orders. ....and next time I'm going back there, I am trying their all day breakfast just out of sheer curiosity of the corned vegetarian meat meal... Yep.

The Emmy's was last Sunday night, US time and Monday morning here. There were no channels, however, that aired it from what I've gathered channel surfing the contents of our basic cable package. I was able to watch the red carpet when it re-aired on E!News Asia yesterday (Tuesday), though. I kept tabs of the main awarding event on Twitter since I was too lazy to attempt getting hold of a live stream. I'm a huge television buff---well, I mean, I lessened my television watching lately but I'm still one regardless---and I watch a few things from American television like Brooklyn Nine Nine (season 5 is coming out! Yes! And Diva channel is airing it here, and I think, so is Jack TV!), HBO's Big Little Lies and Westworld so I was euphoric to find Big Little Lies nominated 16 times and winning most of their nominations at the Emmy's. Westworld did not get wins where they're nominated but as long as Big Little Lies made it there and gained recognition as good television content, I'm good. I don't watch the other big titles so I'm not so affected by the other results the same way others were. The Emmy's and the Grammy's seem to be the only American awards shows I'm into lately. There're so many things wrong with the Oscars and even the Golden Globes for me to keep tabs on both constantly. At least from the Emmy's I'd found new (to me) television series to check out like American Crime, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale (it won best drama), and British series, Black Mirror. I'm curious about those. The Crown and FX's The Americans seem to have a lot of fans on Oh No They Didn't too. Anyway, moving on, I didn't mind Stranger Things not winning any of the nominations they had, I'm not a fan of the show nor have I seen an episode of it. I'm also glad HBO let Game of Thrones sit this one out. Actually, the thing is that the magic of Game of Thrones has gone, for me, after season 2 so I've abandoned that already since. My honest opinion is that Big Little Lies deserved all that they got out of the Emmy's. What I'm disappointed about, however, is Brooklyn Nine Nine not getting any nominations. This was more disappointing to me than Westworld not winning anything that awards night. 

In other rather everyday news, rain has been a constant as of late in the afternoons. There seems to be a low pressure area hovering around the islands. It's not really as major a concern as the hurricanes devastating the Caribbean Islands as of this moment so we're pretty much alright, still. It's the rainy season, however, so here's to everyone taking care not to get too flooded, wet and such.  

two days worth of outfits

photos 1-3: button up shirt, vintage. cutoffs, gap. bag, ninewest. boots, rubi by cotton on via zalora ph. photos 4-5: tank, bench ph. shorts, mags. wedges, CLN. clutch bag, gift from aunt. blazer, vintage. 

Yesterday and today's outfits. 2 days worth of outfits for several days' worth of going missing from the blogosphere from some time last week. There's really not much to share about this week and last week either. At least not a lot of good news to share. A lot of things going on this side of the world is bad news, instead. Let's not dwell on that however. It's just...all bad and depressing. National and inside the island issues, yes. You'd think Mindanao Island in the Philippines is sunny and warm and paradise-like but at this time, it's really not...that...much a paradise.

It's around 30 degrees and up, 33-36 to be more specific, Celsius here so it's definitely hot. Very hot. It's close to the regular body temperature, even. Yet, the weathermen on the news say the rainy season is upon us. I definitely hope it cools down a little more. Otherwise, I'm happy being mostly in shorts and mini skirts until then.

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. 

no drama

 button-up shirt, vintage. diy partly bleached denim cutoffs,  gap. boots, zalora. headband/wrap and long leaf necklace, f21 (unsure where it's from however, faulty long-term memory to blame, haha). 

Really dramatic real life, no drama clothes. If only they can be one and the same then the world would probably be a better place somehow...

Regarding this pair of bleached cutoffs...I just had to, like, DIY my own pair way, way back when half-bleached denim shorts were a thing. I think Zara had something similar a few seasons back. Definitely, you can be trendy or in fashion without having to spend much...and that's what I like about being into it.

Lighting is too bright in this area apparently. The photo here and in the previous outfit post are evidence enough I probably need to find another place to take outfit blog photos from. Ironically, I shot this near-sundown, basically golden hour. And I'm going back to the favorite by the gate photos next week.

something simple for today

 t, secondhand. shorts, levis. belt, vintage. pumps, zalora. bag, gifted (by aunt). cross necklace (long), f21.

Something simple today as this Friday late afternoon is for catching up on yesterday's missed UAAP men's football on local TV. ADMU (Ateneo de Manila University) is playing against the Far Eastern University men's football team. A little story about my love story with the men's football games: apart from being of it in the international scene (thank you, World Cup 2002 in Japan/Korea!), I always made sure to cover the university's (CdeO's own Ateneo, Xavier Uni) men's football games during the intramurals/uni sports fest for the student or school paper. This was for the intrams/sports fest issue, of course. There's just something about men's football that gives me thrills inside...although, of course, a small portion of it is just the cute guys on the field. 

As for this outfit...yeah...I don't really prescribe much to the t, shorts and pumps formula...much. Redundant, I know. But yes, I'm the type to swap the pumps with a pair of ankle boots on my way out. This might work for some lunch, coffee or casual dinner date, however. Or maybe a random beach trip which I have yet to do with friend/s or so. Or a movie date but I'd end up covering the legs with some opaque tights beforehand granted the movie theaters does get cold. Speaking of movies...I'm pretty bummed I missed A Cure for Wellness. I'm a mild Dane Dehaan err...admirer. I really, really liked Dane's acting in the last the Amazing Spider Man film I sort of forgot Andrew Garfield existed.   


Funny how similar this outfit is to this, here. This contents of this blog is fast becoming a repetition of things apparently. Which is something easy to figure out as I haven't really bought anything new in what...? About three or so months now? Nope, nothing new since around late last year in the clothing department. By the next few months into this year, I'll have blogged 99% of my closet here and probably would've bought zero things new even then. I'll update the wardrobe some other time, I guess. Clothes just lately seem to be the lowest in my priorities to get as of late. This doesn't, of course mean that I'll abstain from getting basics here and there. I still have a weakness for all things Bench Ph/TM basics.

two

 dress, bettina. jacket, secondhand Cali Girl. boots, zalora. sunglasses, dad's.

 t & leggings, random. bag, ninewest. wedges, CLN.

A couple of outfits today though, ultimately, I went out with the second one on. And yes, the t there is the one I cut its sleeves off. White, cream, gray, brown, navy and black seems to be my color palette wardrobe-wise, as of the moment. There's a hint of blue somewhere like the corduroy jacket on the first, however, it's still not too obvious there in that photo. More than my mood in picking out whatever to wear on a daily basis, I feel this is due to the fluctuating moods of the days---it goes from hot and sunny to overcast or cloudy from morning to afternoon and vice versa.

Currently obsessing about this music video. This got me wanting to have lacy bodysuits I severely lack. But on the music side of it, I'm a huge fan of the song to the point I put the mv on repeat this morning. 

pretty sure i can get away with this one day

 knee-high boots and top, f21; leggings, random

It's still a tad bit humid - typical characteristic of cold, cloudy all-day way weather down in the tropics - although cloudy (it rained this morning). But tonight will be pretty cold like the nights before this. Kind of weird...I dunno...this isn't typical early March weather and temperatures here. Usually, it gets sunnier and hotter at this time of the year granted, we only really have two seasons: the rainy and the sunny-hot (since a couple years ago or so, extremely hot but not middle east countries intolerable desert hot). 

Isn't this outfit giving you Olsen vibes? Yeah...I'm not all sure either. But I bet I can get away with going out in this one day should the day's temperatures and weather/mood permit. The boots blend in with the black (if you squint for a closer look, shiny) leggings so I'm pretty sure people will think I'm wearing regular footwear out and not the knee-high kind. This area of the world, aside from being out of the fashion radar, is...should I say...judgemental of the obvious out-of-the-norm pieces in daily outfits often not seen out in the streets here. I'll take note of how appropriate this looks like however and how people will probably not be staring at my footwear of choice should I decided to one day go out in this...err...get-up.

Anyway, all things random that went on this week: the Oscars - I want to watch Moonlight, that's pretty much all I got from the bits and pieces of it I've seen on HBO Asia. I did watch the red carpet for a bit but I couldn't, somehow, keep my mind and eyes on it. Not sure if I just don't really care for what celebrities there are wearing, which designer they had their dresses made or I just have really short attention span for everything red carpet save for the Grammy's. Jpop fandom: it escaped me how Dream5 have been disbanded at the start of this year. This is probably around the same time Ito Chiaki left her jpop group, AAA. Sad start of the year all around for this one? Not much...really. Da-iCE did have their Budokan 17 days into this still sort of new year and lol's released a digital single. SOLIDEMO is still around. Despite those two rather disappointing things in the jpop fandom end, it's still a pretty good year for it, I think. 

cali life

 souvenir t, levis cutoffs, zalora boots, random headband (I don't really remember where I got it from so...), gifted (by an aunt) bag, dumaguete city souvenir shop and vintage bangles, aizilim rings and necklaces

One of the rare times I like graphic ts...

i'm from l.a. part two

 vintage dress, zara shirt, zalora boots, ninewest bag, forever21 necklace, aizilim rings, vintage and souvenir shop bangles

It's been raining the whole day today...since, well, about midnight last night so surely downtown is flooded at this time. I should probably be bundled with some coat to ward off the cold but this cold temp is coming off pretty tolerable.

Random anecdote from yesterday's late afternoon twitter direct messages conversation with a good friend:

me: You'd think the rich people would know how to dress themselves on television and out but they don't. It's the effing horrendous opposite -.- (pertaining to the wardrobe characters of a local drama that airs around 3 in the afternoon that I've taken a liking to thanks to the good plot and pacing and another that airs sometime around 5:30 in the afternoon here.)

good friend: Lmao that's true. They (the staff of the production responsible for wardrobe) should know how rich people dress.

This is basically the scenario often seen in Filipino/Pinoy/Philippine drama outside of anything Jadaone makes (because, and I keep saying this often, Antoinette Jadaone is pretty brilliant, I am a stan. haha!). On the Wings of Love and Til I Met You are the two Philippine dramas that, to me, have their characters' fashion on point (hallelujah!) while for the rest...they have, like, female characters likely in their late 20s to 30s dressed like...I don't know...err...they're in their 50s to 60s, I guess?  The worst wardrobes are probably from those telenovelas that give off the feel that they're a south american production or something to that effect...people there are dressed like they live way, way back in the 20s or 30s or so...Philippines tacky, really old...ancient fashioned style (no offense to the Filipiniana costume as I have nothing against it but there should be a time and place for these things...). Well, for the latter, in their defense these dramas are often very south american-spanish in feel so I suppose I can't blame them. Plus their plots are also quite well...not so current so there's that, too. But yeah...I still just can't get things like these on local tv. To me, they often set things way, way back decades and decades ago when we should probably be more focused on the now. This might be the reason why I hardly watch anything local outside of one or two whose plots and such I like. Generally-speaking, this is pretty much how fashion is so off the radar here. Or it may be that the Philippines is off the radar of fashion...either works, I think.

less than a dollar outfit

 vintage/secondhand thermal, jeans and bag; zalora heels; forever21 and aizilim necklaces and rings; smashbox choker; dad's sunglasses

Neutral everything and I do wear jeans...sometimes. Even if it's the ripped variety. Also, this might be the cheapest get-up I have to date. The top is one of two purchased at only 15 Php and the jeans is 10 Php...the total to those two would equal to even less than an American dollar when converted from the Philippine peso/currency. Only the shoes are, like, around almost a thousand Philippine pesos but that's another thing altogether.

It's been so cold and cloudy the whole day today I just had to go with anything long-sleeved but still cozy enough should there still be some humidity---and well, Philippine climate here in the southern part of it doesn't disappoint...it did get humid. And here I was thinking it'd be a bit more summery but it's still not... I miss the sun now. Like, the scorching heat type of sun I can live or survive on that most people I know here and everywhere else hate.  

the low-slung belt

 dress from multiply (old), vintage belt, zalora boots, coach purse/wristlet, dad's sunglasses, aizilim rings and necklace, gifted necklace (from aunt) as bracelet

Sometimes a low-slung belt---never mind that this trend expired way back in the early-ish 2000s after Sienna Miller had it trend back then---can manage a shapeless dress to make it look more like an organized but still hapless mess. I really hardly wear this necklace and the others that came with it, as necklaces...they end up being converted to makeshift bracelets most of the time.