Getting another travel itch? look no further as Metrobank Travel Fair will happen on February 20 to 22 at the Glorietta Activity Center. Your Metrobank card will be extra powerful as offers from the country's top travel agencies so they can book you hotels, lovely cruises and just about every destination you can imagine.
There will be Southeast Asian, international and local destinations so if you're a backpacker, light traveler or have that wanderlust, it's all in one place just for 3 days. Metrobank card holders get exclusive early morning access from 10am to 12pm specifically for the Travel Signature Visa and World Mastercard holders.Everyone else can get access til 8pm.
Airline participants include PAL, AirAsia, TravelOnline PH, All Nippon Airways, Cebu Pacific, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, Jeju Air, Korean Air, Saudia, Starlux, Sunlight Air, Thai Airways, Qantas and United. Hotel bookings for properties include Accor, Ayala Land, Crimson, Boracay,.Discovery Group, El Nido Resorts, Edsa Shang, Makati Shang, Quest, Shang Mactan, Ascotf, and more!
There will also be travel bags and accessories on sale plus tourism boards from regional partners, it's going to be so much fun! Participants will also have the chance to win a trip to Korea for every 10k spend, and cashback of Php 100k for 5 folks who use Metrobank Mastercard. Metrobank Visa cashback would get 2.5k for every 25k spend, or 10k for 100k spend. For those at home, you can do it from Agoda or Booking.com to get 5k off on 30k spend. There's so much more to be offered on site so make sure you're there! You can get a card via apply.metrobank.com.ph or apply at the venue. Visit metrobank.com.ph/promos/2026-the-metrobank-travel-fair to know more about it!
While the world is going back to normal, we've seen the fashion industry take a bullish stand despite the challenges of mounting runway shows in the country. The Runway Atelier recently mounted a fashion show at the well missed Shangri-la Makati. The agency supports not just models, but stylists and fashion designers as well. The theme this year is called "Magical Adventure", sort of a recital for the models they trained and a showcase for stylists and designers they tapped so they too would have experience in huge shows like these. This also means they'll be donning various designs based on mythical creatures, entities, much of which are fairies and gods/goddesses too.
At the venue, we were greeted with tons of kids, teens, experienced ones, almost 300 of them who are raring to go on the catwalk, as part of The Runway Atelier's vision of nurturing every model's unique potential. We've seen several cute kids that would definitely fit commercials, some who would be best on runway shows too or for commercial campaigns.
Check out some of the designers who are featured in the show in this video. While most of them have done this before, a few of them are just starting and were all so thankful about the opportunity to showcase their work through the Magical Adventure fashion show.
5 models from The Runway Atelier also showcased one of our favorite brands "Bela by Bela", they used the Bela Color Changing Lip Balm, the Bela Dot Perfection Cheek Tint Cream, the Bela Bloom Soap Collection and Dani by Bela Scents quite extensively and need not much make up because the colors and lip care they have is already enough. Models Thalya, Sapphire, Archelle, Bea and Lizzie talked how much Bela products have given them the confidence they need to walk on the runway and make them feel extra pretty. They mentioned how much it has emphasized natural beauty, and how fun it was because it changes color as they use it. The Runway Atelier also teaches the models how to become empowered individuals, they use Bela to enhance their looks, even on regular days when they're just going around town with friends and family.
I could see how excited the parents of the kids were, surely, all of them were supporting their kids dreams and passion... and the show. They're not just their number 1 fan, they also made sure the kids would present themselves well on the runway, carried them where they need to go, but let go when they had to muster up courage to walk on the runway. It was sweet seeing that happen!
The Runway Atelier partnered up with various brands, designers and agencies to stage these runway shows twice a year to also create opportunities for their models, new and up and coming designers, and want to make sure they have a platform to showcase their skills. This is also a place where they could build confidence and do even bigger shows, and also be a venue to be discovered by brands, agencies, industry greats, and network so they too have opportunities and make their dreams come true. Some of them have pronounced wanting to do modeling in the international stage, which we hope would come into fruition because we've seen them work hard in the workshops and shows they participate in.
Congratulations to the hard working men, women, teens and kids who made this event possible! Can't wait to see you in future shows. It's been a while since I've covered Philippine Fashion Week and they're making a comeback in 2025, maybe you can have some of your talents be there too.
PS. Thank you to Ms. Lizze Aguinaldo also for taking care of us, sending us treats after the show.
A renowned Japanese brand from Tokyo is coming to the tropical Philippine stores as Butter Butler is here courtesy of the iFoods chain of restaurants.
They are offering a unique dessert line that includes their mouth watering Butter Financier and their crunchy outside, buttery inside, Butter Galette. The Japanese has these products as gifts, on very special occasions and has grown exponentially over the years. Today, it's a 150 Million empire and is still opening stores in Asia. Manila has a special place in their heart because of the same culture of gifting/pasalubongs which they feel will also make this a hit.
Bryan Tiu of iFoods says "Thank you for joining us, we have a new brand and we've been planning this since last year. They believe in quality and for 2023 they are bringing the brand to other Asian countries, and Manila is an exclusive one."
If you don't know, they are also the same people behind Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory which is a hit in the country especially because of their ice cream and cheesecakes. They say "We hope the Filipino customers would enjoy our Butter Butler products as much as our other brand Tokyo Milk Cheese. We are introducing a Manila exclusive the Butter Cruffle which is a Butter Croissant toasted into waffle form."
The branch is at the R2 level of Powerplant Mall in Rockwell Makati. It's beside the escalator so you wouldn't miss it. Go get your friends, family some good EU butter and French salt based desserts to take along. It's sinful, yes, but it's worth it!
