Fashion: Forever21 First x Forever Launch

It's one of the stores I frequent to even if they have a teeny weeny section for men. I adore their wife beaters, their pants, their shirts, the shoes, the jackets, the bags and the little things in the 21MEN section. It's like everything's pre selected already and all you have to do is grab a bag and stuff it to the brim and see if you can still swipe your credit card after. They have kilometers of sections for women and you'll almost get lost while inside the store. The sweet yellow designs you and I may have seen before went kaput when I visited their gigantic store in SM Megamall by giving it a hip makeover. The Californian brand went more black and white, wood and brick with some industrial metal shelves seen shining here and there. It's more clean and chic unlike the more girly version they had previously, although still VERY edgy as much as they've done it in their 9 stores nationwide. 

So I did the next thing and stayed a few meters from the other bloggers and concentrated on the 21MEN section in this 2,600++ square meter store just to stay in tune with my site's theme. Mind you there are tons of worthy clothes, accessories that any shopper would love. They even have a Shop Forever promo where MasterCard holders can get to win a wardrobe of their choice, and possibly a 21K shopping spree every 2,500 worth of purchase. You can even double your chances of winning by using your SM Advantage Cards, SM Prestige,  BDO Rewards, PRiMO Cards too if you shop until the 31st of October 2014.

Then here I am posting my favorites

Santoni Shoes Now in Manila

I dream of perfect shoes.

I still probably have around 30 shoes on the shelf that I haven't even used. A problem? Yes. I admit I'm a shoe-a-holic. 

If I find something nice, if I find something unique and something good... I usually pick it up and pay for it on the counter no matter what the price is. When I got an invite to Santoni's launch a few days ago, I almost fainted at the sight of the shoes.

 

He is Francesco de Santis. He's one of the few artisans left in the world who still make hand made shoes with Italian brand Santoni. There are only a handful left because some Italians choose other careers other than making good shoes like these. Sad, but they are fighting that by showing the difference of these gorgeous pieces of heavenly foot covers. If you don't actually see it up close like this, you won't appreciate how much care they put in on making shoes. See how he tortured that show on his hand by folding it? It comes back to form when he released that. That's how confident he is.

 Madame Edith Dychiao says it's time that the Filipinos have this world class brand. It's time they get pampered. Shoes of this class wasn't even imaginable before because people were always associating the Philippines as a third world country. Today, men and women of different professions in this place prove to have more purchasing power than ever. Be it luxury cars, bags, other products, all can be splurged and appreciated by people like us. Santoni presents itself as upscale, but the practicality of it all depends on quality. 

 

Quality that means your shoe will fit perfectly and would last you years. Aside from that, the design and craftsmanship would be never questioned. Famous people, Hollywood stars and even world leaders wear it. If you had your shoe customized by them, your permanent shoe size will be stored on their records together with these famous people says Andrea Casavecchia, Santoni's Asia Area Manager. Isn't that amazing!?

The shoe fitting. I really hate David Celdran when he got the chance to have one of these pairs. While I watch in the sidelines. It'll take around 6 months before the actual shoe is made because of the care and love they put into it. They measure the right and the left foot separately. I didn't know before this that there was a difference, but it does make sense. 

It's nice to know something classy like this is now available in the Philippines. Santoni is open at the East Wing of Shangrila Mall. Don't be afraid to come in and check out what they have inside the store. I on the other hand am still dreaming. I didn't even get to fit the shoe during the event. I'll have to wait to get one of my own. Soon.

See what I mean by addicting? :)

For more information about their stores:

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http://www.santonishoesusa.com

Antony Morato: Italian Men's Fashion Done "Bello, Piacente" Right!

Italian fashion has been proven its worth in this industry and the Philippines has yet to have a taste of what it's like in Milan and other cities of this wonderful country. The impeccable tailoring, the known look and fit on their clothes have been a trademark for what men's fashion has been gearing for as far as aesthetics are concerned. Believe me, I've always wanted clothes from that part of the world and it was just perfect that I got invited by world renowned Antony Morato in their recent fashion show at the posh HYVE Fort Bonifacio. Get ready for these HOT HOT items available now in the Philippines, let's take a look shall we?

The event was hosted by renowned VJ, Model and Actress Joey Mead. She was teasing everyone and says if it's HOT in Manila, it's going to be HOTTER that evening. I wonder why. 

Then the fashion show started: 

First impression: Easy plaid shirts, jeans and jackets are a staple. Classy everyday wear that is modern and sophisticated. I know some men like me who would love this.

Non conforming low jeans are a must in European fashion. I should learn to do this more often. I love the denim jackets too.

His color scheme is impeccably smart. He stayed with blues, grays, blacks and all manly for this collection. I wonder what he's got under his sleeve.

One Hyundai Club: Life in Style 2012 Bachelors Cookoff!

Being a single guy has it's perks! But most bachelors come to a point that they have to fend for themselves; without enough knowledge in the kitchen it'll be doubly harder to live a life tantamount to the success a person drives for. A holistic approach may suffice but without thinking about your lifestyle in particular it'll be just plain HARD. Owning a car/SUV these days call for a lot of things, but as surprised as most owners that I went with this afternoon they didn't know what they signed up for!

This is ONE HYUNDAI CLUB!

It was so nice to experience what it would be like to own one of their cars; let alone enjoy the perks that come with it!

You see, being a One Hyundai Club member would entail that you get to have this particular Life In Style 2012 Journal, something that they at HYUNDAI think every owner truly deserve. They want to celebrate the good life. Now they've got the country's greatest premium brands too covering areas such as living, shopping, dining, beauty and wellness, travel and leisure. It's about time we live in style!

This journal contains perks and privileges every month. Huge discounts on major products and services are available too.

It's definitely going to change how you live life; it's designed to change your activities. The life you deserve doesn't necessarily need to be expensive and HYUNDAI takes care of it.

Bachelor Cooking at First Gourmet Academy

It was my first time to attend an event where I had to cook. I'm no stranger in the kitchen but I never cooked gourmet food. Mine was more of a "survival thing" otherwise I wouldn't eat while living alone. I can whip up something from things that I find in the fridge. Though this time it's way different.

Diploma Courses/Full Courses available for those who aspire to become great Chefs!

Chef Mats Loo from Sweden came out and instructed us to put our toques and aprons on; some of us were first timers in the kitchen and I've seen quite a number of accidents happen in these events but good thing nobody got cut or burned their food. Otherwise they would have ended up hungry for dinner LOL.

First things first, he told us the value of cleaning our hands. It's a must for anybody serving food to clean up otherwise someone would get sick and literally poison a few hundred people (in commercial setting). After that he told us to prepare the ingredients (mise en place - MEEZ ahn plahs). That's the fancy French term for having all ingredients prepped and ready to go before we started to cook.

Just look at the POSH + COMPLETE kitchen and you just know how complicated this is gonna be. Heheh well hopefully not so much for me.

I saw some of them were a little bit nervous, particularly the ones who just started to work in the kitchen today. Probably like me they prefer playing basketball outside than cooking at home with Mom LOL! Tough luck because we're doing Chocolate Mousse, Coq au Vin, Polenta and Minestrone Soup. The name alone made them more nervous eh?! =)

So after washing our hands to the tune of One Happy Birthday song...

Chef Mats Loo instructed us to go to our stations and start cutting vegetables. Some were cubed, diced, julienned, and minced. We cleaned up the ingredients as we did this mise en place requirement before we started cooking. I think I fared well though I'm no slicing expert. :)

For those who were EXTRA nervous, there were experienced students from the Academy to help them if needed. Happy crowd!

Chef Mats Loo whipped up boiled cream + Sugar, added Chocolate, Johnny Walker and voila! That's going to be dessert! This needs to be prepared ahead of time since it would need to chill in the fridge.

Mise en Place complete! I think I did good on this one eh?! =)

The equally good looking guy you see in this bit is Jerth. He's a proud Hyundai Accent owner and this is consequently his third car. He didn't know though that on this particular brand and purchase that it'll have perks like these. It felt really special. One email invite he got from HYUNDAI and that started the ball rolling. Now that he's a One Hyundai Club member he's excited to try out the other perks that are available in the journal. He had a glimpse of the journal for 2012 and he finds it quite nice. He's impressed at what they and HYUNDAI's partner establishments had to offer as most of them are either free or with a HUGE discount. Just like him and the rest of they guys in this cooking class, we had a pretty nice and productive time. We really are learning a lot!

Plus the view on top of Capitol hills was spectacular! I think this is the highest point in the metro. The golf course and the huge houses too was a treat to see! If you are cooking in this ambiance, wouldn't you be inspired?! :)

This is the end product! After a few hours of cooking this is Minestrone Soup! It was sweet and fresh just like the veggies on it! This one cooked the fastest! =)

Coq Au Vin with Creamy Polenta - this is a little labor intensive since you need to have a reduction of the red wine first, then after adding beef stock you need to reduce it again. But I'm telling you guys it's totally worth it! I specifically added a lot of pepper on my Chicken and seared it on the pan. It tasted like steak that even I was impressed with my own cooking! Now that barely happens! =) I'm so happy how it turned out! The polenta was so creamy and nice too! It was my first time cooking polenta and I loved it!

The Chocolate Mousse was simply divine! I didn't know it was so easy to make. I already bought the ingredients from the grocer and plan to make it this weekend. Oh my, there's already a change in lifestyle there... I'm beginning to cook gourmet now! Haha =) Isn't that neat?!

Now who says getting a HYUNDAI wouldn't change your life?!

Capisce?!


PS Thank you to the wonderful people at One Hyundai Club and First Gourmet Academy! I really enjoyed the time spent with you guys! =)

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