Bistro Ah-lyoh

The Thursday food group is back with a vengeance!

After exhausting the restaurants on our list of places to try, we found another place to try. Hidden in Juna Subdivision, Bistro Ah-lyoh is a charming restaurant that's perfect for an intimate get-together with friends or dates (date agad?!) wherein you just want to talk in a quiet place.

Bonding with my Babs: Pepperplate and Cafe Blooming Days

It starts out great: you promise to remain close and keep in touch. When you're miles apart, you promise to see each other every chance you get. Then one day, while sitting on the toilet, you realize that you haven't seen them in so long when before, thinking about being away from them months apart at a time was unimaginable. What happened? Growing up happened. Something one of my friends like to call "adult" (as in, the use of adult as a verb instead of a noun) happened. 

Coffee Grounds by Golden Lion

It's been a while since I posted something about food even though my friends and I have constantly been trying new places. I'm posting about this place, Coffee Grounds by Golden Lion, cause it's worth a second, third, fourth and multiple visits! I kept hearing about this place from my friends who keep posting about it on social media so I got curious. Finally last week, with one of my food buddies March, we got to check the place out. We loved it so much that we invited the rest of our food trip group to check the place out again. :)

The 7-list: My Favorite Coffee Shops to Study at in Davao

When I was studying in UP (mostly in my first year anyway), my friends and I would troop to coffee shops along Katipunan during finals week to go on dates with our books, camp out and do our papers. A big part of the reason why we did it was cause our dorm did not have internet then, so it was a necessity. There were also fringe benefits like seeing cute guys around while studying. =)) (#medyomalandi but hello, wag na tayong magplastikan, we need inspiration while studying)
I don't frequent coffee shops in Davao as I did in Manila. We have internet at home, I'm trying to cut back on spending and calories (haha!) and I find it counterproductive to stay up all night to study (I need my sleep if I'm to function well in the morning). Sometimes though, having to study in a coffee shop can't be avoided, especially when I can't concentrate at home or when I have group work. I'm not a med or a law student but I think I've been to enough coffee shops to know which ones are most conducive to studying (at least for me), which one has the cute guys (*wink*) and which one is open 24/7. In honor of Finals Week, I present to you my list of 7 of the best coffee shops to study at in Davao. I picked 7 cause that's my favorite number although I admit it was hard to narrow the list down to 7! :)

A Simple T-shirt DIY (+ What to Wear to the BIGGEST Paint Party of the Year!)

The BIGGEST Paint Party is hitting Davao in less than a week!
This Saturday, March 14, Raveolution Neon Utopia hits Davao for its first leg of tours around the country. I don't normally go out during Araw ng Davao events cause there's people everywhere BUT after a hellish couple of months filled with consecutive submissions, I need a release ;) I've already got my tickets and my shirt (can anyone say excited?) but problem is, I don't like the shirt's neckline. So, I thought of doing a little DIY project.

Caffe Antoccino

Happy new month!
Since it's February (and love/date month), I thought I'd share a place you can take your special someone to. BTW, this is so cliche but your special someone doesn't have to be your lover; it can be your sibling, best friend or even your parents! Anyway, I saw this place while walking to the gym from school and immediately put it on my "To-try" list. After trying, it's now on my "Must" list! Must eat there again, must go back, must (most) recommended! :)

Saging Repablik Bloggers' Night

I took my last 4 exams today so hello sem break and hello blogging! Before I start posting about Japan, I have to get rid of a few backlogs first. So the night before I left for Manila a month ago, Saging Repablik invited a few bloggers over to try their latest menu offerings. Well, I've already tried and liked (and even written about Saging Repablik here!) so I  didn't mind paying another visit just to try some other items on the menu.

Echostore Davao

I feel that my blog's slowly turning from a fashion blog to a more general lifestyle blog cause I've been blogging about fitness and A LOT more about food places recently. Blame it (or not) on Davao's burgeoning food scene. I'm really glad that there's so much more variety to Davao eats now and that there are food places away from the mall! Like I said, I prefer these out-of-the-way places because sometimes malls can get too crowded and I like the coziness of these small, out-of-the-way places.

Crazy Wraps

As of the moment, I really love out-of-the-way eating places, compared to those found in the mall. They tend to be more special and charming. The area around Tionko and Mabini has been a favorite of mine lately as there are tons of food places opening--it's like the (UP) Maginhawa Street of Davao. One of those places is Crazy Wraps. From SM Lanang, they've now moved to their own store at Tionko St, a few feet away from Saging Repablik.

Tourist In My Own Town

Around the same time my sister and I discovered new thrifting places, we also learned to appreciate the city's everyday-ness. Every now and then, I find that I need to get out of the bubble I'm in and explore a world foreign to the one I'm used to. Di lang pwede parating mall, school o bahay! My sister and I went around City Hall, which is at the center of the city, to take random photos. I ended up sooo inspired that day! It's true, there's culture and a story at every corner. I guess this is what I get from subscribing to the Humans of New York page (HONY). Haha! Hope you like the photos! :)

The Stairwell

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I met up to check out our friend Emmae's family's hotel (more on that soon!). Since the hotel was near MTS, I also invited them to try The Stairwell with me. I was actually at MTS when The Stairwell opened. I immediately noticed the restaurant's exterior (and interior, cause it has glass windows!) because like I said, industrially designed spaces are rare and few in Davao. I actually thought it was an upscale drinking place!

Abreeza Fashion Forum

 

Last Thursday, I was privileged to be among the few to be invited to Abreeza's First Fashion Forum. It was like a prelude to Abreeza's Style Origin show (held during the weekend, which I'll be blogging about soon!), featuring a sneak peek. Clothes that would possibly be worn at the community fashion show from selected merchants like SOUL Lifestyle, Dorothy Perkins, FOX, Just G, Gingersnaps and the Original Penguin were on display. We also had Style Origin's head stylist Luis Espiritu as a guest speaker.

Saging Repablik

Davao may be one of the largest cities in the world but it's a small town where everyone knows everyone. People in Davao usually have a go-to place to get their favorites but of course, when a new place is put up, people flock to it to try it out. Plus, with the advent of social media, word spreads faster than fire. Take Saging Repablik for instance. It's barely a week old (they opened June 27!) and yet, I've seen posts of it all over my social media feed. The place and design concept looked very different than the usual offered in Davao so it piqued my interest.

FIDA Gradshow 2014: Spliced

A couple of Saturdays ago, the Fashion Institute of Design and Arts (FIDA), Davao's first (and only) fashion school, held its graduation show at the SM Lanang Premier atrium for its second batch of graduates. From 5 graduates of the previous year, there were 13 graduates this year that showcased their creations. There were 8 graduates from the 1-year Fashion Design course who showcased a 7-piece collection each, and 4 graduates from the 2-year design course who showcased a 12-piece collection each. Let's get started then?

Obrigada 2014

Last March 12, Martish invited some friends from the media (including us bloggers) and a few of it's loyal clientele & VIPs to Obrigada 2014 at the Northcrest Ballroom. Martish Marketing Co. is the exclusive distributor of Havaianas in Southern Mindanao and holds Obrigada ('thank you' in Portuguese) annually to thank everyone for the support for the previous year. At the same time, they also use the time to launch a new collection.

I've been really privileged to have been able to attend Obrigada. From 2012's green eco-chic theme to last year's nautical theme (which I wasn't able to go to!) and this year's vintage summer theme, Obrigada just keep getting bigger and better!

Last Christmas

Happy New Year to you all!

I was recently contemplating whether or not to move to Wordpress since for the past few days, Blogger would not let me upload photos (I even already made an account on Wordpress and everything) but at the last minute, when everything was ready, I found out I had to shell out (more) money for them to map my domain. Anyway, I decided to back out. Maybe when everything is polished cause right now, I'm pretty busy as school just started today. But nevermind, firstly and importantly, I finally got my sister to come up with some new designs for my blog.

Catching Fire

#sootd sister ootd: florals and pink

*disclaimer: slightly embarrassing display of desperation, but please, feel free to laugh at my expense :))

Last Saturday, I woke up to texts from my mother telling me that Jeron Teng was in Paradise Island with his mom and dad, that there weren't much people there and that she got a photo with him. First reaction was "FUUUU" and I woke up and told all my sisters. We all agreed that we just had to go! I mean, this was our chance to meet him and get a photo with him away from the prying eye of the public (chos). You know what I mean right, yung walang kaagaw.

Styling Portfolio: Foto Modelo Ateneo Team EA

on Paolo: Team Manila shirt; jacket and beanie: Nikko Zamora; jeans and shoes: model's own on Pitang: Team Manila shirt; plaid polo and skater skirt: Jas Cando; shoes: model's own A VERY overdue post seeing as the winners have already been chosen, but I just wanted to show you the photos of the outfits I styled. (By the way, Paolo, our male model won 2nd runner up and Gian, our photographer, won best photographer) I participated in the Team Manila street style shoot, for team EA (Engineering and Architecture). I was asked to help out in the contest/shoots, as recommended by Migs. I'm glad I did cause this served as an avenue to meet, work and befriend other engineering students, especially those from the SEC (students executive council). I even miss the team a bit. #clingy
This shoot was memorable as it was my first time to style a guy! I think (well I hope) I really have a knack for it--I love menswear! The shoot's theme was street style and since the brand we were working with was Team Manila, we conceptualized outfits that had a feel of the 90's neo-grunge era, which was timely as that is a recurring trend right now! :)
I'll add more photos once Gian gives me a copy. I hope seeing this post on his timeline pressures him to do so!!
Hope you liked this set! xx
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Darcy's Place

Last Friday, I met up with mah gurlz Mithi and Julienne after not seeing them for over a month. The last time we saw each other was at our little chill Kadayawan gathering and even though it's only been a month, it felt like ages! A lot happened that we needed to share in person (cause sometimes, a story told through text messaging does not cut it!) so we planned to meet up.

Our group's problem when we do go out though is..."where to eat?" Even when we were in Manila, where there are tons of establishments to choose from, we'd always take long to pick a place to eat. It was a good thing Mithi thought of and suggested this place, which she's heard raves about from her classmates.

Make Your Own Havaianas 2013

The Make Your Own Havaianas (MYOH) is an event a lot of people (especially Havaianaticos everywhere in the Philippines) look forward to. I'm blessed cause this is the 2nd year I've been invited to experience MYOH again.