The Myth of Siquijor

He takes me to places even without bringing me there.

The Kitchen God's Wife

I've been away from anything related to blogging for seventeen days. It's like the normal thing for me to do now. Pulling off  the disappearing act - which can also mean that your blog is a reflection of who you are. I have the skill of a magician. I can disappear then resurface just like that.  I didn't blog like I used to cause the amount of time I spend online is now spent with someone. I feel slightly disconnected with the blog-o-sphere since I haven't been catching up with my daily reads but things are going to change. Promise. There will be no outfit shots until the last week of June. I'm all booked for the last stretch of the month. For now, I'll share some photos from the cooking event held in the Academy for International Culinary Arts. 

Big thanks to Johnn Mendoza for the invite and Roland Icban for the photos. And of course to Chef Vance Borja for being patient with us all through out. This event was held on the first week of June and it took me that long to blog about it. I tend to skip the middle by posting something at the end of the month with something that was done at the first of the month. What was a fashion blogger like me doing in a cooking event like this? Well, you know what they say. The best way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Kidding aside, it was really a fun event. We got to cook our own meal and the best part was learning how to skin an onion without shedding a tear . I'm really no expert in cooking but this is certainly one career shift I'd gladly take over. 

Taking Back Sunday

Last Sunday, I 

• was in two places at once. I had to run some errands for someone who live up north.
• got stuck in crazy Cebu traffic. These are the times that I'd rather go hiking with my flat shoes.
• had white chocolate mocha & custard cake in Cafe Maru hence the previous photo heavy blog post.
• had a ME time in the cafe. it's fun to date yourself. (insert sarcasm here) 
• dropped by the mall with mother since she wanted to reward herself some bag and shoes for the new semester. (my mom's a grade school teacher, not that it matters)
• had dinner in Crimson Resort with the MOD team. It feels so Upper East Side since we only went there for the buffet dinner and each plate cost nearly 2k.
• one of the best things in life are free since the company paid for the pricey dinner. 
• didn't bring any camera of my own and had to depend on others that did. if with a large group, it's not really advisable to bring one cause you tend to have less photos of yourself. you'll end up taking photos of everybody instead.
• as always, will blog separately about the food. it feels like i'm getting more inclined into food rather than fashion blogging. oh well, this blog is all about my life lately.

This feels like a run down of my rants in twitter. Well, I couldn't think of anything clever to say. My minds always busy over some other things. Or maybe, I think too much. I can't wait to drift and have some real rest and relaxation. Finally! I get to be somewhere other than my daily routine. I get to be in this island that I've been wanting to visit since last year and the last erstwhile. Some plans need to be realized even if the person you planned it with is no longer in your speed dial. Oh well, something's gotta give. Do I have to say it? I hate to admit but boy am I glad someone gets my drift. Relax, this is no suicide mission.

 

(shoes and bag by Parisian, shorts by Madeeni Finds, shirt by Bench, vintage glasses bought online)

Cafe Maru

This is another photo heavy post. I don't have an online website that hosts all the photos I took other than my flickr account. I'm really not convinced to go pro. They would charge almost $50 yearly and I'm no serious photographer who makes a living out of it but I'm a blogger who usually rants about life lately. I also prefer to be photographed than to be behind the lens. I posted some photos I took in my facebook account but it's kind of private and friends only. It's funny how other bloggers like me keep our facebook account private when all of ourselves are scattered online. Maybe we still want a part of ourselves hidden from the reader or shall I say 'public' eye. It's the same with wearing undergarments. We post photos about outfit of the day but we seldom post photos of ourselves in our knickers and most vulnerable form. Although, I believe that the human body is most beautiful in its most vulnerable form but that my friend is a different story.

Let's not digress, shall we? There are times when I don't want to share a recently discovered coffee shop or restaurant in my blog or facebook account. Simply because I just want the place all by myself and I abhor to see familiar faces in my own paradise. It's probably the same feeling when you step foot in a virgin island and you just want it the way it is. Placid and arresting. No nomadic wanderers other than yourself cause you know they tend to abuse the place and the destination becomes a cliché. Before you raise your pluck brows, I sometimes feel like people neglect being somewhere cause they're too busy taking photos of themselves and of the place. But I guess that's how it is now and I shamelessly admit that I do it sometimes if not often. 

That's what people call camera whoring and this post my friend is all about cafe porn. It's kind of porn in a way that I'm not keeping this lovely place all for myself. It's not just for my eyes to see or senses to fill. I'm showing it to everyone in all it's dream sequence kind of way. Cafe Maru just opened three weeks ago and you guessed it. It's owned by a Korean national who's pretty and friendly in all seriousness. The art decor of the place is such a take-away. This book cafe is located near Sto Niño Village and I accidentally found this nook after my Friday dinner with my fam bam in Ten Doves. It's not a cafe if they don't serve coffee and pastries that's student budget friendly. Favorite part aside from the Cafe is that there are no annoying yuppies like the ones you see in big coffee shops. They also reward their loyal customers after a certain number of visits, you get one free drink of your choice. Not bad. I swore to myself that I'd be back in this place real soon. Back with a vengeance! :)

Let them eat Macarons!

For a change, there's no photo of me in this blog entry. I've first heard of this macarons when I stumbled upon some of my favorite fashion bloggers who's been to Paris like theblondesalad and stylescrapbook. If I'm not mistaken, the best tasting macarons in the whole world are produced by Laduree. Since I'm no Parisian then I have to say Vanille in Ayala Terraces. That doesn't really leave me much of a choice, does it? After all, they're the only ones I know who sells those colorful sweets. It's also surprising to know that the pastry shop doesn't have a facebook page in this digital times. Well, in all honesty, it still  taste good to me.

Going back, it's something I learned from reading blogs and by watching Gossip Girl. The kind of Macaron I know is the one that has a coconuty taste but it's actually a MACAROON. Notice the disambiguation and my ignorance? This is such a Eureka moment for someone who lives in the tropics. I don't know about you but I just had a taste of this macarons just recently. You may be eating one as of this writing or rolling your eyeballs in disbelief. That only goes to show we don't know everything even if we would like others to believe that we do. If someone would ask me on when was the last time I did something for the first time. I would answer, experiencing one sinful bite of a macaron like what they do in the Upper East Side. Which brings me to the season three premiere: Blair + Serena in Paris and the macarons. It turns out this sinful dessert is predominantly a French confection. It pays to read blogs and watch Gossip Girl sometimes. 

On the other side of the pond, ED WESTWICK is PENSHOPPE's newest brand ambassador. Gossip Girl's resident Bad Boy is in the capital city and it sucks that I'm in Cebu. I've said this in twitter, I'll say it again here. Ed Westwick, you're the best thing I never had. :)

Never Mind The Bollocks

I've always wanted to be the Philippine version of Nancy Spungen or Courtney Love but I'm always gonna be Chyrel Gomez. My college days were partly spent on the road with the local bands. I was such a hard-core groupie and I guess it still shows up to now. I'm more of a rocker chic but I still don't understand why some of my friends listen to Justin Bieber. Guess I'm not that influential to some of the people within my circle. Nothing against Bieber and to the kind of music my friends listen to but you know what they say, to each his own. A big portion of my savings goes to my concert tickets. Knowing most international artists visit the capital city to perform live. I had to spend for my airline tickets, hotel accommodation and what have you. But regardless of what I would spend, it's really nothing compared to the experience of being in the mosh pit. It's a different kind of dopamine rush. Music never fails when things fall apart. 

“ Music is so readily available online, but you can’t download the live experience, living and breathing these songs live." - Danny O’Donoghue 

sex pistols shirt bought in isis, bag and brogues by parisian, skin-tight jeans by bench