In memoriam

This is in memory of what would have been a successful party last night - something we, together with our Ayala Land friends, had been meticulously planning for months! We cancelled it shortly after lunch. To my understanding the attendance would have been stellar... a wonderful mix of fashionistas, society pillars, our press friends, the diplomatic corp, and the corporate world... all GONE because of some nutcase who stormed the Peninsula hotel yesterday and nag agaw eksena. Oh well. such is the exciting world we live in. Next, please.

My bagger boy

He explicitly said DO NOT TAKE PICTURES. DO NOT TALK TO ME. and DON'T EVEN SMILE AT ME.

Of course I did all three and more. It was a major shoot - with me taking pictures from every angle .. I was smiling and waving at him like a madwoman; I bought a loaf of bread and queued up at his counter, I made friends with the cashier and asked her how my son was performing, and proudly beamed at everyone, wanting to shout Hey this is MY son!!

Yes, my son the SM bagger at counter no. 34.

Every year, Xavier School exposes its graduating students to an actual work environment for four whole days. The 30 to 40 students per section per month take over as real, honest to goodness baggers assigned to specific counters (after getting a thorough training of course) for the entire eight-hour shift for four days. And so you have 30 to 40 families or excited mothers trooping to SM supermarket every month, acting like fans or paparazzi -- this, despite the very clear instructions in the school circular that state: You are welcome to visit your son. However, please do not talk, help or give food/drinks to your son or to his classmates during working hours. We request you to stay away from the counter ... we discourage your from taking pictures of your son while he is on duty.

Ha ha, sez who. Whoever wrote that circular has obviously never been a mother.

Village lore...

The mundane existence of the ten townhouse units here in our quiet neighborhood was given a jolt last Tuesday by the presence of a SNAKE that was slithering its way across my garage and towards my front door! It had come out of the drainage, and probably lived in the empty, grassy lot beside us. Immediately, no less than fifteen carpenters swooped down from the units under construction and started chasing the snake, pumelling its head and tail with large blocks of wood, steel bars, and whatever makeshift weapons they could find (see photo with squashed tail)...Indeed it was a scene straight from Beauty and the Beast - you know that part when the village suddenly comes alive as the angry menfolk head toward the beast's castle holding their pick axes and shovels, led by Gaston the guy in love with Beauty. There, of course, the analogy ends. The only guy who remotely resembled Gaston that afternoon was our maintenance man Mang Rene - not in looks but in role...he was the one who gave the orders to fling the dead squashed snake out into Santolan Road under the mercy of the careening jeepneys and G-liner buses travelling the Quiapo-Taytay route.

Anyway...the three of us - Niks, Luis and I - are now safely ensconced back in our castle awaiting our next fairy tale.. Such exciting times we live in!

Elixir

Eureka!! Thanks to friend Ginny B I've discovered the elixir to a sexy bod this Christmas. One tbsp. apple cider vinegar, one tbsp. honey and one tbsp. extra virgin coconut oil... simply mix together and take twice a day - morning and evening either before or after meals. Watch and see what happens. Strip and look at the mirror two months from now... oooh hey there sexy bod!! You know, the taste isn't so bad, for a miracle drug. It's like salad without the greens. In other words it tastes like vinaigrette dressing. The oil is supposed to line your stomach and make you feel very full apart from giving you the nutrients VCO is known to give, while the honey gives you energy plus a lot of other health benefits. Click on these three links and you'll KNOW this powerhouse trio is THE miracle drug to beat!

http://www.applecidervinegarweightloss.com/
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/
http://www.thevirgincoconutoil.com/articleitem.php?articleid=160

Sunday A. and I have made a solemn pact to religiously take this combo every day till Christmas. Together our waist lines measure a TOTAL of 58 inches (I am NOT disclosing the "% share"). And we hope to achieve a combined waist loss of...hmmm...6 inches in 40 days - puwede na... Should be easy with this new discovery... And the diet starts NOW.

My halloween mask

Do NOT ask me what I was doing at a cocktail function of the "Spouses of Heads of Mission". I am not a spouse, I am not a head, I was not on a mission for anything. I simply had to represent our president a few nights ago and hob nob with a wonderfully different crowd..the genteel, diplomatic crowd that wasn't downing cosmos, martini and tequilas and wolfing down canapes. AND who had never heard of facebook. Apparently my boss had been generously supporting their various fund raising activities through the years and they decided to hold an intimate cocktail reception at the residence of the head of the European Union in appreciation for the donations. And so since she could not make it due to a prior engagement, I received my copy of the letter informing them that she would send MRS. Francisco, her - ehem - Vice President for Public Relations. So not only was I transformed into a respectable married woman that would blend in with the 'spouses' crowd, I was given a temporary promotion to boot! Of course I carried my new dignified spouse role with such elan that night, I almost believed it to be true... yeah..that was my version of halloween, a belated one, where I had the chance to wear a mask and adapt a totally different persona... I must say it was fun, and so refreshing to do everything in moderation - from talking to drinking to canape-munching... but I guess everything has its limits. I got home that night, immediately shed off this new persona and wolfed down a whole platter of adobo.

And now...

It's not that I want to make gaya the many bloggers out there who provide us with regular fashion news updates ... This is actually just an excuse for me to post a very pretty picture of a Marc Jacobs bag which we took in the office last Friday during one of our 'fantasy' moments. (The legs are -- ahem -- writer's own.)

The store opens next week.

The Man

Last night the Ratwak Gang got together at Carmi's place with a special guest, someone we have decided to induct into Ratwak membership as he seems to have all the required attributes - good looks, wit, intelligence, charisma.. and a goofy, shallow, dirty, irreverent, and weird sense of humor like the rest of us ...bwahahahaha!

He thoroughly enjoyed our company and we his, but he is a man whose name must not be mentioned.

We are all under oath. Sorry folks, end of story.

The Angels wear Prada

Fantasy \Fan"ta*sy\, n.; pl. Fantasies. [See Fancy.]
1. Fancy; imagination; especially, a whimsical or fanciful conception; a
vagary of the imagination; whim; caprice;humor.
2. Imagination unrestricted by reality; "a schoolgirl fantasy" [syn: phantasy]
3. Something many people believe that is false; "they have the illusion
that I am very wealthy" [syn: illusion, phantasy, fancy]


In our office of simple joys (and simple minds) "fantasy" means donning press samples head to toe before they go off to the magazines for shoots. Ahh...fashion bliss.. So here we are, my assistant Liza and I,  two women dreaming of another world, possibly another lifetime ..escaping from the trenches of day-to-day routine...dreaming of traipsing along the catwalks of Milan, or posing  for the likes of Barker or Demarchelier - an over-aged forty something, and a very ambitious five feet something... (or maybe we can be Miranda Priestley and her loyal assistant Emily?)

Prada 2007 Fall/Winter Press Collection

Ratwak rocks!

This just about says it all -
... Above photo was taken in the wee hours of the morning, after an evening with the most delightful company, a most congenial host, a truly sumptuous dinner, an endless stream of red wine, tequila, beer and scotch AND... the zaniest, most inane, irreverent, side splitting, howl emitting jokes only people of twisted, regressing, but absolutely brilliant minds (at 2am) are capable of spewing .... The occasion? to celebrate the Ratwak principal's return to Manila!!! Men are requested to come in dinner jackets,no need of tie, the text message read. We had also been asked if we preferred grilled lapu lapu or osso buco. It was off to a formal start with a special four course menu prepared by Billy King's The French Corner ... The seven of us gathered for yet another tryst at that memorable spot in Dama de Noche Street, Ayala Alabang -- Mr. Q's dinner table. The ladies in their cocktail wear, the men looking debonair in their dinner jackets .. sipping martinis, red wine, engaging in light banter first hour of the evening ... and then slowly, slowly letting our barbarian selves surface with each passing hour. The ratwaks, for everybody's information has an official membership roster of SEVEN (7), with Mr. Q as our Pinuno. The head. Don Vito. The Principal. Our tribal history dates back to the early 80's when some of us were but mere tribesmen at the Hyatt Regency, reporting to Mr. Q who was already then the chieftain (a.k.a. hotel GM). We acquired new members along the way.. Never mind the origin of the name Ratwak - too complicated (actually, too mababaw it's nakakahiya). Suffice it to say that we have 'formal' meetings such as this every few months and regardless of the state of the nation, we all have a blast and are able to regress and bring back the 80's and be our childlike selves all over again. By the time the clock struck midnight and we started playing Truth or Consequence (which was weird because we already knew so many scandalous Truths about one another), all hell had broken loose and our stomachs ached with laughter. When the arroz caldo breakfast was served close to 3am, we knew it was time to wrap up, cool down, and prepare to face the real world again. Eight hours (!!!) of non-stop jokes, kabastusan, irrationality, and just plain bigay-na-bigay laughter was such an unimaginable treat...and everything does have an end... sigh...

So we ended the evening by making plans for the next session -- Nilo's birthday? Send off party for Mr. Q's maid Arlene who leaves for Dubai? A Golf game? (only Ginny and Nilo play golf but we all agreed it was a cool idea) A barbecue at Nilo's place without Nilo? (this guy is ALWAYS late)... Whatever it is, this blog will certainly hear about the Ratwaks for years to come. Ok, roll call - the membership roster of seven consists of... the lovely ladies Ginny, Jeannie, Carmi and moi, and our debonair men Ricky, Nilo and of course, Mr. Q.

WIN-TUH??!

WINTER is here na daw? Yes, in this tropical country of ours, with the sun blessed, palm fringed Roxas Boulevard, the dusty smog-filled EDSA, the hot and humid tiangges and malls exploding (!?) with sweaty shoppers -- a little office by Buendia churns out dreams of a nippy, chilly, winter wonderland, preparing yet another 'press release' for the fashionistas of manila to read and imbibe.. for after all it's.. ehem.. WINTER TIME!!!

"...A smile crosses her face as she remembers her recent travels through Eastern Europe; a rich tapestry of architecture museum masterpieces, people’s faces as well as the colors of the landscapes, have inspired her to think of her look for this season. She is always traveling, so her wardrobe and accessories are incredibly important to her, they have become the furniture of her life...Winter allows her to layer her pieces and create a striking silhouette that makes her feel wonderful. She favors pieces rich in detail. Her felted wool coat has inserts of satin and velvet embroidered with metal stitching that almost appears beaded. Her tuxedo trousers, tulip skirts and delicate jackets all have velvet and satin inserts where even the stitching becomes art of the detail. A foundation of soft knits, almost as light as chiffon, becomes the canvas on top of which she adds pieces such as a satin bustier that acts almost as a belt. Her dresses have appliquéd embroidery in black on top of sumptuous jewel toned satins that create a modern silhouette with a slightly retro feel...She appreciates quality, needs beautifully fitted clothes, and adores sumptuous materials. Luckily this season all her desires are met...."

Of course even the men aren't spared...

"....His clothes have an almost vintage feel reminiscent of a time when fashion moved away from the uptight three-piece suit to mix and match separates. In trousers of houndstooth, or the finest alpaca tweed he feels sexy, chic and casual. He opts for a warm winter palette of creams, slate grey, olive and Bordeaux mixed with crisp denim, or classic black. His look is completed with a shearling jacket or p-coat in vintage cavalry twill with velvet trim detailing for a luxurious touch....."

- Bally Men's / Women's 2007 Autumn Winter Collection

Soooo....excuse me while I slip into my felted wool coat with velvet and satin inserts and metal stitching. Am off to meet a man dressed in the finest alpaca tweed and vintage cavalry twill p-coat..