i Write: Life is Bittersweet

Aside from essays, I have also written several poems in the past, and here's one of them.  

LIFE IS BITTERSWEET

Rising up to meet a brand new day;

Is something that will not forever stay.

We may be waking up today, yet still unsure to see tomorrow;

So it is best to laugh aloud now, before we die in sorrow.

We aspire for all the good things in life;

But life is imperfect and we cannot avoid strife.

When sufferings assail us, we call on God;

For He is our hope, our only life blood.

Let us remain contented of what we have;

Learn to understand and begin to love.

Let us have faith in ourselves and in our neighbor;

For a tranquil harvest of the fruits of our labor.

Let us try not to seek of what is not there;

Instead, embrace what we get and acknowledge that life is not at all times fair.

And no matter of the umpteen storms we will meet;

Stay calm, have courage and accept that life is bittersweet.

---OOO---

Original - Unedited: February 27, 2004 – in times of qualm

Live life to the fullest and Live in style, everyday!

Desigual

DESIGUAL is a casual clothing brand based in Barcelona, Spain.

Desigual has been unknown to me until my forever travel buddy gifted me a purse, which at the same time can be a sling bag, from his travel to Germany.  He bought this artsy bag from the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.  He knew that I love anything looking complicated but creative.  From then on, I have rummage around Cebu (and the Philippines) in hopes of finding Desigual fashion pieces.  Unfortunately in Cebu, Desigual is nowhere to be found in department stores and boutiques.  I found this brand though at NAIA 3 airport in Manila, but there I realized that the brand is quite pricey but indeed everything sold there had satisfied my cravings for art-meets-fashion.   What I love about Desigual is the endless showcasing of beautiful, ingenious prints that can be summed up in two words: clever and cool.  But still, I did not stop my hunt.  And then one day, in one of my thrift-store hopping junkets, I found a treasure, a long lost one...the Desigual sweater.  My heart skipped a bit as my Desigual bag had finally found its match.  See below photos, to see how I styled my Desigual pieces.   I am actually still in hunt mode for anything Desigual.

sweater & sling bag - Desigual / shoes- Belongse' / sunglasses - G. Country Mall

Live in style, everyday!

1 Scarf, 2 Ways

Keep eagle eye on the photos and you can soak up how to style a neck scarf in two ways.

 Less words, more visualization.  Let these pictures play with your fashion-forward imaginations. 

--  1 SCARF, 2 WAYS TO WEAR --

(1) as a bandana / headpiece

(2) femme necktie 

Add caption

Hope to have shared another useful fashion advice.  Now share your fashion experiments to me via sighstyles@gmail.com

What other ways can you think of in styling this ultimate  accessory?

Live in style, everyday!

Bangkok Diary 10-2014: Day 1

Tonight is a very exciting and elating time for me since I am beginning to share my travel stories from my favorite place - Bangkok - last October 2014.  My apologies that it took me this long to share about this trip.  I have been occupied with a lot of stuff that needed more prioritization.  Anyway, this post is Day 1 of our trip.  Hang on and stay in touch as I keep you posted with my last year's R&R in Bangkok, Thailand.

DAY 1 

It was October 9, 2014 and me and my forever travel buddy arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 10:00 am.  I felt a shiver travelled up my spine upon stepping foot on the airport, because I knew, that few more foot steps, I will get to see my most favored place and can breathe Bangkok air again. I honestly was (and still) excited about this trip; and even at this very moment, while I am encoding every letter for this post, I am slowly reviving the euphoria and reminiscing the nitty-gritty of my vacation.

After exiting the airport, we headed to the city center via the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS).  We were to check-in again (2nd time) at Wendy Guest House, located at Pathum Wan District, but before doing so, we headed to MBK and searched for a good restaurant for our lunch.

Prior to this vacation, my forever travel buddy and I have been itching for anything Japanese, most especially Salmon Sashimi.  And as we were dragging our trolleys around MBK, we were fortunate enough that there was a Japanese restaurant at the ground floor of the mall.  Regrettably, I forgot the name of the restaurant, my memory faded swiftly as hunger has badly stricken that time. 

 Upon scanning over their menu, the foods were not purely Japanese, it was a fusion restaurant - Japanese + Thai,  so it was more a-okey as I got the chance to order for my favorite Thai Tom Yum Kung (or Goong).  Their version though was of a noodle-type, but it still tasted perfect.  

F.Y.I. I have been loving Tom Yum Kung soup for the past 5 years and the most ambrosial, mouthwatering, phenomenal recipe for this soup was from my favorite restaurant in Bung Kum, Bangkok.

My forever travel buddy ordered this sort of Ramen slash "pancit".  The taste was unexpectedly good too.  Generally my rating for the restaurant was 8 (food + price + ambiance + service).

After we checked-in at Wendy Guest House, I began spreading my itinerary notebook and reviewed what was on my to-do's in BKK.  First in the list was TERMINAL 21.  

F.Y.I. Wendy Guest House is very accessible to the BTS (nearest station is National Stadium - Silom Line), which is why we have always opted for this guest house as our home every time we travel to Bangkok.

The BTS Skytrain is always a good, rather the best, option to explore around Bangkok. Aside from convenience and affordability, it offers easy access to all the big shopping districts of the city.

Hello Terminal 21 Mall.  

 How to Get There?  via BTS Skytrain at Asok station, use Exit 1

I will have a separate post dedicated to my exploration at Terminal 21. 
Soon... (finally, see here.)

After 2 hours of strolling the grandiose Terminal 21 mall, we headed back to Siam area as the next stop in our itinerary was dinner at SHABU SHI by Oishi - a Japanese buffet restaurant.

Shabu Shi has many branches all around Bangkok, we particularly had our dinner at their branch at the fourth floor of Siam Center.  

Everything was Japanese (except for drinks and desserts)  and were served unlimited.  Quite sad though  since there was no sashimi.

Our choice of soup was Tom Yum Kung. I have always enjoyed the rotating conveyor of ingredients.  It's like I was playing "chef" which came with a responsibility of not wasting the ingredients as I may not be able to consume all what I have cooked and may be penalized (?).  It was such a fun dining experience.

I loved their Ebi Tempura.  But honestly, suring that time, the taste was not as delectable as our first time dining there back in January 2014.

Above is a photo of the foods I ate.  Yummy.  As I said, the desserts, which included fresh sliced fruits and ice cream!, were all unlimited too.

Despite the foods were unlimited, the eating time was not. See the receipt below: customers are given an hour and fifteen minutes to finsih their food, for an extension of every ten minutes, there is a penalty of 20 Baht per person.  Tsk, tsk. This surprised us since during our first, we could not remember that there was a time limit.  Anyway, this was there restaurant rule, and as customer, all we did was to abide.  We ate somewhat in a bit of haste.  But I tried to savor every bite of my favorite dishes and had them registered in my gastronomic memory (if there is such thing as that).

This closes DAY 1 of my Bangkok Diary last October 2014.

Be updated with my Bangkok Diary.

Have a good night to all!

Travel and Live in style, everyday!

Directly Local - Avon and Natasha

Gone are the days when clothing are only sold and bought only from department stores and boutiques.  Here comes the birth and uprising of direct selling companies that either originated from the first world countries or locally established and with exclusive distributorship in the country.  The direct selling business is a booming business here in the Philippines and this provides the consumers more options when it comes to the products and more alternatives to their purchasing habits.

The most famous among these heap of direct selling companies offering apparel, bags, shoes and accessories is Avon. Followed by Natasha, MSE, Boardwalk and maybe many others which I may not be familiar with yet.

This post is basically dedicated to two of the direct selling companies here in the Philippines which I am featuring some of their products.  Let's talk about Avon and Natasha, because I wear local, I promote local.     

Avon has been around for more than 125 years.  It was founded by David H. McConnell in the year 1886. (I was amazed after having known this fact! I never thought Avon was this old.) Though Avon may not be of Philippine origin, but the company has developed and marketed products that are specific to the preferences of the Filipino market, especially the women.   Click here to know more about the history of Avon.

Natasha on the other hand is a Filipino owned direct selling company which started on 1993 and have 150,000 registered members.  It carries primarily shoes, apparel, accessories and personal care product.

The BAG i am featuring in this post is from AVON - Philippines.  I am not a registered member of Avon. My mom (still not a member) purchased this bag.  This bag actually functions as my camera bag.  I like it because it is spacious enough to contain my camera but still have room for some of my essentials.  The color combination in black and fuchsia is a bonus.

The shoes I am featuring in this post is from NATASHA.  It is called as Aura sneakers and is available in fuchsia and beige.   I bought this on sale, and of course, in my favorite tint of pink - fuchsia.  It is made of cloth which renders that comfortable and painless (on the heel) feel on my feet.

Do you appreciate and buy local brands?... because I do! I purchase, I wear and I promote.

long sleeve cardigan - Dressing by 2068 / camisole - Forever 21 / leggings - Knit & Stripes / bag - Avon Philippines / sneakers - Natasha / sunglasses - G. Country Mall Department Store / scarf - thrift shop / earrings - from Singapore

Live in style, everyday!

Sigh Style Tips: Date in Style - Art Museum

Special trips are planned and so the outfits.  When we decided to give Cebu Happyworld Museum a visit, the stylist in me became ecstatic and laid out an outfit for this special trip which I officially considered as a date. Yes, I called it a date, to an amusement museum, with my forever travel buddy slash forever photographer.

The venue for "our" date was definintely a vivid display of polychromatic awesome artworks.  My outfit has to be a bit exact opposite.  Black is the color, though I did not skip my artsy cartoon-ish print top.

A major requirement for this kind of art museum is that all footwear must be taken off before entering since the artworks were from walls to floors; which explains my being unshod.

Our mom would actually never allow us to wear an all-black ensemble, for some traditions that have been passed on through generations (which I am also taking it into my system).  Putting on a black top with obvious hints of colored prints has broken down the monotony of supposed black look and has also lent a youthful mood to my outfit.

SIGH STYLE TIP:

What To Wear on an Art Museum Date?

To make your outfit stand out from the multicolored ambiance and for your date's eyes to get stuck on you the entire time of your date, choose plain fabrics in neutral colors such as black, beige and white.  Definitely avoid prints, i.e. colorful prints, as you may end up camouflaging to the artworks.  Wear something feminine yet chic and with a touch fun. Of course, make sure the outfit is comfortable.  And remember have fun, enjoy and mesmerize the blissful moments with your date. 

top - Viviyi / fluted hem skirt - Forever 21 / kimono-style cardigan - Mote / sunglasses - gifted by my sister from Las Vegas

Hope to have shared another useful fashion tip! 

Love and be loved... and Live in style, everyday!

Knit Sweater in Summer

Who says you can't wear knit sweater during summer?

The Philippines being a tropical country has endowed us so much freedom when it comes to clothing.  We only have two major seasons here in the country, wet (rainy) and dry (summer) seasons.  And either of the two, Filipinos can wear anything under the sun and under the nimbus clothes with rain showers. 

If you have read my previous post about my travel to Bohol, this outfit was my choice during a morning stroll to the local beach in my mom's hometown.  We did not have a plan to immerse our bodies on the the sea water. To somehow protect my skin tone from the possible overproduction of melanin, I donned this knit sweater with a color combination that screams summer.  The sweater provides a good cooling system to my body as it is knitted with micro holes all over it.  

Paired the knit sweater with my ever-favorite black (ribbed) leggings and summer's perfect "sole"mate, the thongs, embellished and bejeweled is what I like.

knit sweater - Palacio de Fashion / leggings - my closet / thong sandals - APM Mall / sunglasses - SM Department Store - Kids

Do you have any summer fashion story to share?  Email me: sighstyles@gmail.com

Live in style, everyday!