Emilion Roadhouse

Iloilo - Dinner with friends at Emilion. One of those random days when we got tired of our 'restaurant' of the month.

Yummy taro chips. Love the colors.

This Seafood Chowder was so hearty.

We also had this dish called Ginapos, basically vegetables stuffed in between squid rings and mixed with other seafoods on a coconut cream sauce. Super sarap, the group's fave.

Bicol Express. Oh my, chillis galore!

Sizzling Bangus Belly. I'm salivating as I'm writing this.

And for dessert they gave free Bibingka.

Tita Jaki and moi.

Tito Butz and Marlon.

Dulgie's

One of the desserts I've been addicted to when I was in Iloilo was this confection called Tres Leches. Say goodbye to your diet when you indulge in layers of yema cream, icing, custard on top of a bed of sponge cake.

I love the relaxing ambiance of the place.

I usually go there with Bo who's got a sweet tooth.

One time, with Jor-el, we had this Red Velvet Cake. I honestly don't know what's in it. It's creamy and pistachio tasting.

Bo liked this Seafood Fettucine. I thought it was just ok.

If you're in Iloilo, do drop by at Dulgie's, right across SM Delgado. Have coffee, cakes and pastries there. You will love, promise ;)

More yummy food in Roxas

More yummy but fattening stuff. I know! ;) Promise, I'm on diet now.

Red Ribbon's White Forest Cake

Grilled Bangus, I swear I've been eating bangus almost everyday when I was in Iloilo and Roxas. I don't get umay.

The blackest Squid Adobo

Litob. I don't know this shell in English. You know?

Spinach Enchalada. Yummy, healthy and low-fat.

Chowking's Crispy Fried Noodles with Vegetables

Here's my family in one of our dinner.

Red Ribbon's Ube Roll. Namit!

How to Thrift Shop

This post was prompted by Kiel because he wanted me to give him tips on how to thrift shop. So instead of directly answering him I might as well share it with all you guys since a lot of you are quite interested in thrifting, too. Just this afternoon I got a call from a friend asking me for directions about a recent thrift store I visited. It made me chuckle because she read about it on my Facebook.

Now, here's my own way when it comes to thrifting (and some loots I got in Iloilo):

1. BE VERY PATIENT. If you don't have patience and you hate shopping or the act of shopping, rummaging through piles of clothes and fitting it, then thrifting is not for you. I honestly love shopping and it's one of my hobby. I can spend the whole day thrifting if I'm in the mood. In Iloilo there's a lot of thrift store and one store can contain thousands of clothes. I can spend hours in one store looking at each piece. I do avoid new arrival opening days because I hate the crowd of ravenous thrift shoppers. You know, those pips who will gather a pile and end up buying two or three pieces only. And I hate it when I'm in a rack and then someone will push the hangers to my side making it hard to move the hangers I'm checking. Anyway, I'm not looking for Nike, Lacoste and mainstream brands like most of these shoppers so my likes are pretty safe even if I go the next day of new arrivals.

Comme des Garcons Shirt button down

2. GO THRIFTING OFTEN. It's not all the time that you can find designer brands or the things you like when you go thrifting. Don't be discouraged because it's not your lucky day. The trick there is to check the thrift store often. When I was still based in Iloilo I often go to my fave thrift stores almost everyday. There are things that you might have missed the first time you came there. They might have added new stuff which they do everyday. Eventually you will find something you like.

Mercibeaucoup shirt

3. WEAR COMFY CLOTHING. If you're not comfortable then it will not be fun. So you better wear something that will make you cool even though you sweat and you get dirty. Also, something that will be easy for you to fit the clothes. Not some buckled, buttoned number which takes hours to peel. Or laced shoes that takes forever to remove and put on. A loose tee, some leggings which you don't need to remove if you fit and slip-on shoes makes perfect thrifting outfit. Do bring a large tote so you don't have to ask for plastic bags.

Jil Sander sweater

4. KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE. If you like designer labels then research about that brand so you know what you are looking for. I like branded stuff so I tend to look for thrift shops that sell stuff from Hong Kong and Japan. You will instantly notice it if the stocks are from those countries because they tend to have smaller sizes and have quirkier designs. Stocks from America tend to be bland generic stuff, mostly oversized and super used. The ones from Hong Kong always have serious designer labels and I usually get exclusive pieces from Joyce, one of HK's designer emporium.

Dries Van Noten pants

5. RELAX AND ENJOY. Take your time when you go thrifting. Don't do it when you are hungry. Don't do it if you're not in the mood. I often shop alone because I find it annoying when I get distracted or talked to. I only do group shopping with like-minded friends. When we enter the thriftstore we separate and do our own thing. We only break the silence if we find something great for one another. But most of the time I do it alone because I don't have to worry about spending too long shopping.

Y's Yohji Yamamoto top

6. HAVE FRIENDS THAT SHARE YOUR INTEREST. Well, if you have a friend who drags you to thrift stores all the time then you'll eventually find something great sooner or later, non? Then you will have someone to share your delight over some finds you got. It gets fun and exciting that way. I found some great friends through my blogposts about ukay.

Comme des Garcons Homme Plus tee

So there you go, some little thoughts about thrifting. There's a site in Multiply that you can join, I'm a member there. where you can share your ukay loots and discuss thrifting. It's called Sisterhood of Ukay and you can check it here.

Y-3 Yohji Yamamoto tee

You can also check out the blog of my friend Toxic, here, because he knows a lot of ukay places in Manila especially the Cubao area.

Zucca top

Also, do check out this site called Ukay-ukay Resource Center, here, for many store locations.

Roxas Yum

Went to Roxas City to visit my family and it's always fiesta when I'm there. My mom made sure to buy diwal (Angelwings shell) because she knows I love it. Roxas has gotten famous for this shell.

Maarte ang shell na to because it can only grow in shallow, clean saltwater. It's very sensitive to pollution and dirt. There was a time when people thought it was becoming extinct so the prices got so high. The shell has a clean, sweet taste. It's preferred boiled with ginger or grilled.

I also had bangus (again!) but this time sorta stewed with vegetables. Sarap!

Another fave of mine is this seaweed salad that's like bijon. I forgot what we call it locally.

My mom introduced me to this yummy Biscotti which reminds me of Wewin's biscocho. It's crispy and chewy at the same time.

My visit home is not complete without eating at Chowking. I got the crispy fish fillet lauriat set which is not bad for P100.

Raf Simons

The first time I heard of the designer Raf Simons was from an article in Harper's Bazaar featuring a crop of 'new-wave' Belgian designers like Olivier Theyskens, Veronique Branquinho, etc. It was fascinating for me at that time to have a designer focusing on menswear and getting that kind of press. This was pre-Dior Homme days and I think Hedi Slimane (who was rumored to have copied his penchance for waif thin male models) was still designing for Yves Saint Laurent Monsiuer. Yes, Walter Van Beirendonck did menswear but it was more like crazy, eccentric menswear. Raf was more refined, with works based on traditional menswear codes but subverted into something exciting by inventive tailoring. My first Raf Simons came from the ukay and it was a pants with repositioned dartings and seaming that meets on the knee, circa s/s 2003. I don't remember whatever happened to those pants. My designer friend Ignacio Loyola lent me his copy of Belgian Fashion Design book and it fueled the more my interest on him plus Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, etc. I was never a lover of flamboyant fashion. I love McQueen but only for his theatricality in presenting his concepts and realizing his vision. But I don't get inspired by his designs. Same with John Galliano; I have his book by Colin McDowell given by Dora for my birthday and I got attracted to his process of creation more than his actual clothes. But Raf's clothes inspire me. And later on my research I was shocked to learn he was inspired by Helmut Lang, too. I love that connection there and part of me still wishes he should have revived Helmut Lang and not Jil Sander, lol! Check out this link which exhaustively documents Raf Simon's design timeline, here.

I was quite lucky then to find 2 pieces, a RAF and a Raf Simons piece from my thrifting in Iloilo:

Lovely prepster polo shirt from the RAF by Raf Simons line.

This white shirt in cotton and elastic blend fabric was from the s/s 2008 collection based on a humorous take on German backpackers. That was the season where we saw his 'Lego' 'De Stijl' hiking boots.

These two pieces will be a great addition to my designer archives.

I've asked a friend to buy me his Raf Simons Redux book and I can't wait to read and understand his universe when I get it in my dye stained hands. You can purchase one here.

Random Stuff

Like my quiff? Or a pseudo one at that, lol! I was bored to death with my hair so I decided to style it like that since I didn't want to have a haircut yet. I wanted my hair to grow longer to achieve this style I'm envisioning next. I must say it's quite fun to have a quiff although it takes mounds of gel to get it right and to make it curl like that.

I passed by Folded&Hung because Kawadjan wanted me to buy him some colored polo shirts. And what size you may ask? Well, I'm bound by contract not to reveal ;) Anyhoot, while waiting for the SA to find the colors I wanted, I gingerly browsed their wares not expecting to find anything I like. The not expecting part sure was proven wrong because I went out of there with 3 purchases of my own. I'm wearing 2 of the thin cotton tanks I got. The other one is black. It's so cool to wear even if I layered it because it's a little bit too sheer.

One style has a little pocket and the other one a classic tank but with a higher armhole cut than most singlet I find in the underwear section. I paired it with my DP black pants, black tabi shoes and Jeremy Scott x Longchamp bag.

I was so enamored with the chocolate cream cake at Carlo's that Tita Jaki treated the gang and bought a whole piece for us.

Jor-el was carrying this bag and it's just so lovely, non? I like the patina of the leather and how it aged.

I've also been addicted to this dish composed of shrimps and spinach in coconut cream.

Paired with bittergourd (ampalaya) and pineapple enchalada and I'm a happy camper.

And boneless bangus, of course ;)

Lovely Finds

I seriously lost count how many pieces of clothing I got from the thriftshop from this recent 'adventure' back in Iloilo. Tita Jaki, my gracious host in the city, was so shocked to find her guestroom filled with all sorts of clothing and this was only in my second week there. It's also compounded, and let me just state here that this is so far from a complain, by having two minions (alas, there's more of them but the two are near obsessive as I am) by the name of Mike and Mike who supply me with finds. Isn't it a coincidence they both share a similar nom de guerre? Let me share with you some pieces I find quite irresistible:

The Chemistry drape-y top came from Mike S. (Iloilo). I tend to wear it upside down but it's quite versatile as a sort of vestiges especially if you're a fan of a less structured look like we are.

This Marc by Marc Jacobs was a find in the closet of my friend Bo. He's got lots of ukay, too, but they tend to be more cling-y for my taste. Ah, but when I saw this noir tee with Mr. Marc on I simply can't let it go, and Bo didn't have a choice. Hahahaha!

This PLAY Comme des Garcons came from Bo, too. While we were in Cebu he stole my Dior Homme hooded singlet so I bargained that he give me this piece as an exchange. This design is still being sold in the CDG store in Bangkok.

I haven't worn this yet but I'm excited to wear this Comme des Garcons tee from Mike S.

I know it was hard for Mike M., Toxicdiscoboy, to let go of this piece because he's a big Comme des Garcons fan himself. I had to exchange it with another CDG piece for him to reluctantly agree. For that I'm loving this piece. This polkadotted number came from the CDG x H&M collab line.

This find was from my last, last visit to Cebu and I got this Yohji Yamamoto coat for only P50! Ah, the things you find in the thriftshop, non? It was hanging on the wall and when I saw it I was sure, 101% sure, that it was a Yamamoto. Imagine my delight when the salesgirl told me, in a bored tone, the price.

There's still a lot more from where this came from and I'll be sharing them to you bits and pieces along the way.

Have you thrifted lately? What were your finds? Or, you don't enjoy thrifting at all? It would be nice to read your thoughts on this. ;)