Putting on a Different Hat

Spent a full weekend meeting up with old friends, watching a movie, having brunch, photoshooting at an abandoned warehouse with my old boss, and trying out a hat.

(The hat I got back in February, as part of my Carnival "cowgirl" costume. It wasn't really a costume-costume. For Carnival, it's my principle not to shell out for a run-of-the-mill costume. I simply tend to combine all the "extremes" in my existing wardrobe. So for this Carnival, I pulled out my plaid shirt, thick studded belt, wrapped a bandanna around my neck and wore camel boots. I allowed myself to purchase a hat. Unfortunately, purchasing a pony was out of the question.)

Tonight as I post this, I am trying out different combinations in Photoshop, but I still can't get the secret to crisp yet dreamy, correctly-exposed vintage images. Gaahhh...

One combo I managed to figure out though is my outfit :) I love how the black knit kimono overcoat worked well with the carrot pants. An old friend whom I met up this weekend commented how I have already adapted to "Duesseldorf fashion", but I rather think it's part-Manila, part-Berlin, part-sis and part-blog influenced. How's that for a combo :)

top - Mango; carrot pants - Zara; kimono knit - H&M;

hat - H&M; sandals - Zara; camera necklace - F21

Swallowed in the Sea

Third beach trip this summer! An impromptu one too. My sister and cousins just planned it the day before. We weren’t even sure which dive resort to pick when we got to Anilao. After a detour we ended up in Solana. It’s a pretty relaxing place. The day beds under the tree was my favorite! You just lie there, look out the sea, snooze for a few minutes. We spent more time lounging around than being in the water. And I skipped snorkelling all together which was the main point of the trip. I blame the lethargy-inducing day bed.

P.S. The sea totally copied my color scheme.

tankini – Jellybean ; shorts – Surplus Shop

merhaba!*

Sis H is right...my internship has been super hectic, I was away for a week in Istanbul, I am behind with my photo-editing of a portrait shoot, and I am starting to look for permanent jobs...

...but I'm baaack. At least, long enough to post an outfit :)

I now tend to see my days as tiny manageable task-oriented time blocks these days. Otherwise, I get so overwhelmed!

Sooo different from our Istanbul trip, where time was divided into big chunky spectrums of daylight and night, without care of definite hours :) Istanbul was a fun, awe-inspiring and glutinous experience!

Glutinous because of all those baklava and Turkish delights called lokum. Not to mention my new favorite desset... tavuk gogsu, a sticky milky pudding made out of chicken breast! Chicken breast, can you imagine?! Also, I gained 1 kg from that week alone...can you imagine?! Thus the over-enthusiastic twirl of the babydoll top. My belly's twirling by so fast, I'm hoping you don't even see it :)

But most importantly, Istanbul was amazing because of its history and people. It is the land of the Ottomans, the Byzantines, of Constantinople. They're things I had only previously read in history books. I cannot believe that I was standing in landmarks that represented the center of culture and / or religion thousands of years ago! The Aya Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Catholic Church of Chora...they simply blew me away.

During our trip, Istanbul was a tad bit cold though, thus the layers you see in my photo. I never thought to layer a strapless babydoll top with a long cardigan with a grandpa cardigan, but there you go...necessity (to escape the cold) is the mother of all inventions :)

* "hello" in Turkish

babydoll top and grandpa cardigan - Zara; dark blue cardigan and black jeans - H&M

owl necklace - Pimkie; sunnies - MNG

Gray all the way

J is MIA. I think she's swallowed up by work. Or is it from a vacation in Turkey? Sistah where are you? hehe.

My family went to a wedding and having nothing to wear, I borrowed this gray ruched dress from my mom's closet. I'm a size bigger but I can get away with stretchy numbers like this one. And I paired it with my first ever booties! I've been wanting a pair of lace up, peep toe booties for the longest time but these are nice enough. They're wedges (the only type of high shoes I know how to wear) and they're only a couple of inches high. I can't wait to wear it out!

dress - Tango ; booties - Charles & Keith ; necklace - F21

Ye Olde Street

We joined a tour to Pagudpod last week. It took us 12 long hours to get there. It sometims felt endless but I shouldn’t complain. Our cushy bus had reclining seats, lots of leg room, and a huge TV that entertained us with Sound of Music and Gone With the Wind. We travelled in style.

One of our numerous pit stops was Vigan. The famous Calle Crisologo was really pretty. Spanish-era houses with wooden frames and worn down stucco lined the cobble-stoned street. It’s a festive market place too, albeit sometimes pushing the boundaries of the old-world setting. At one point, I could hear Fergie’s 'Big Girls Don’t Cry' blaring from the speakers of a corner store. We quickly walked along before some rap song plays. Or worse, an 80s power ballad.

On H: striped top – F21 ; crop cardigan – Zara ; shorts – Promod ; hat – from Pagudpod ; bag - Egg ; scarf- Babo
On C: striped top – Topshop ; chambray shirt –
Rockwell tiangge ; bag - Eastwood tiangge ; shorts - ?

Sunny shiny windy day

We went to the Bagui windmills – a very impressive sight. Sleek and modern as they are, they don’t look out of place at all against the natural backdrop. It was a perfect marriage of nature and technology on both form and function. Sadly we only had 15 minutes there. The sun was stinging and the sand was like hot coals under our feet. Our tour group quickly went back to the air conditioned coasters after the group photo-op. Alas, we had longer bathroom breaks than this. We didn’t even have time to get decent photos. Ah well, at least it prevented us from being complete burnt toasts.


On H: purple tank – borrowed from ma ; sheer floral top – Bayo ; denim shorts – Greenhills tiangge
On C: floral top – Milk & Co ; striped cover up – F21 ; shorts - ?