Open the Box

Every once in a while, something nice really comes up. While I have not been buying anything that much in the last couple of months because I’m trying to be a responsible adult, I just can’t say no if it is really a good deal. But for this, it was ridiculously a good deal.

Case in point: this Pandora.

Named after a Greek mythological figure, the Pandora was straightforward a reference to its box shape. No ills nor menace to be released in the world, fortunately.

When I saw the bag up for sale, I asked the seller what were the issues. He said he could not guarantee the bag and it was sold as is. I did my best to keep a straight face, but I was already jumping inside. As soon as the sale was concluded, I was so ecstatic to get such as great deal on such an amazing item!

I thought this was orange, but, welp, it was tan

The grain of the leather is reminiscent of this Alexander Wang Diego. The size is supposed to be a medium, but as a guy, it just seemed smaller to me. The photo above does not show much of its usage, but under natural light, I could see some slight discoloration on ‘high traffic’ areas.

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La Vie Bohème

We  saw Mockingjay Part 1 last Sunday and on our way home, I finally got up close the display window of Rustan’s Makati.

Christmas 2014 display window of Rustan's Makati

Christmas 2014 display window of Rustan’s Makati

They undoubtedly have the best windows and they periodically change them after a couple of months. However, they always reserve the best decoration for December. This year, it looked like an enchanted winter forest that is very Tim Walker (a.k.a. Mr. Fairy Tale Fantasy) meets Narnia. Of course, Tim Walker is well-known for photographing very whimsical spreads and campaigns. However, what I do not like about these was the fact that you can no longer see the clothes. The branches by the glass were too busy or had they reduced the sides for about a foot each, it would have been much better. I still get envious of all the Ayala Avenue people because they have better Christmas decorations, compared to the bleak and sparsely decorated area of McKinley Hill. Do they know it’s Christmas? LOL Yes, I’m really claiming the Holiday Season this year, and I’m as giddy as my niece Brianna seeing glittering decors and blinking Christmas lights.

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I can taste the leather

Yes, that is a “White Chicks” reference. After the fiasco from the store I visited yesterday, I finally got around dropping by the other leather supplies shop I have been keeping tab for a long time. I had a doctor’s appointment again and after it was confirmed that I still have a mild dextroscoliosis, I walked all the way to the store. I thought that I was already ready to work from scratch.

Yesterday, I had a little saddle stitch practice with a thrifted leather belt, and I eventually got the technique. Although I’ve read Al Stohlman’s instructions several times, I still accidentally pierce my thread while pulling the second needle. It usually happens when I haven’t waxed the thread enough, or I was just not paying close attention to how I pull the first thread. By-the-book instruction mentions I should redo the stitch when it happens, but being the stubborn person that I was, I just cut the fiber and I end up with jagged thread on some parts. Here is how it looked from the pre-pierced belt:

Saddle stitch practice on a leather belt

Saddle stitch practice on a leather belt

The back of the belt. It does not look that bad, non?

The back of the belt. It does not look that bad, non?

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Ready to learn saddle stitch

Marikina Clock Tower

Marikina Clock Tower

Not so long ago, I wrote about a project I wanted to embark upon. But who am I kidding? It happened more than two years ago as I even wrote about it after I finished with my comprehensive examinations. I worked from home today because I had a follow-up medical check-up with my doctor in Marikina. I thought that I might as well drop by the leather supplies stores again since I was already in the area.

(Sorry for the bad quality photos, as I have mistakenly left my digital camera in the apartment. I had also forgotten my HMO card and it was almost a disaster. Good thing I have my account number listed on my phone.)

Giant shoe automobile, shoe car Marikina City

That’s one big patent footwear — a shoe automobile!

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Just a bit of color

I was perusing over things in my room at home, specifically looking for a children’s book I got from my grade school library. However, it took me more than four hours to find it and in the process, I was able these. I had amassed a substantial amount of French and Italian books, as well as some of previous Vogue magazines I did not bring to the apartment with me. I also saw these two neckties and a catalog, and this damaged silk scarf also resurfaced. I completely forgot about the catalog and I can’t even remember why I had one. It was either given as a free gift by one of the sellers from Ebay when I was still buying more than selling, or I got it dirt cheap so I bought it anyway.

 

Language books and Vogue magazines

Language books and Vogue magazines

Look what I found - Hermes silk neckties, Hermes silk scarf and a Louis Vuitton catalog

Look what I found

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A trip to Makati Cinema Square

We have been living in Makati for more than a year now, but I have never visited Makati Cinema Square. From what I’ve heard from people and read online, it is a treasure trove for secondhand goods – from clothes to home decoration. While our original plan was to visit the streets of Bangkal for used home stuff, the weather was too hot to to deal with and it was best to just stay in one place. I had to first ship a couple of items via JRS Express, and I was surprised that the branch was asking me for 4% additional payment for the declared value of the items. I would have foregone using their services, but one buyer specifically asked to have her items be picked-up in a JRS Express branch. Anyway, I was already itching to look around the ukays to see if maybe I’d get lucky with a couple of things.

If I were to assess the ukays in this building compared to the one in Anonas, the latter was easier to navigate since it was a single area dedicated to secondhand stores. We had a harder time jumping from one ukay to another because it was also like Farmers Plaza, with food stalls and pirated DVD stores in the mix. It was also unfortunate that the larger stores with airconditioning had new arrivals, hence had higher price for their items. LOL I love a good challenge on the heavily discounted ones, and it breaks my heart to pay “full price” for them.

Sounds like a Kris Aquino movie

Sounds like a Kris Aquino movie

Getting lost inside this labyrinth of vintage and secondhand home trinkets in Makati Cinema Square

Getting lost inside this labyrinth of vintage and secondhand home trinkets in Makati Cinema Square

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My blog turns two today!

I’m fond of saying “How time flies!”, yet I won’t back down using the expression again. My blog turns two today, and I only realized it this afternoon. There might be considerable lows in terms of post turnout lately, but I think I might be slowly catching up. However, there is still that task of putting tags and properly categorizing each entries — in the coming days, maybe. (See my new banner above ^_^) It is worth mentioning also that June has finally arrived. Summer has passed and I still haven’t touched any sand from the beach, let alone a swimming pool. Every around 3:00 PM, the rain clouds begin forming, officially signalling the start of the rainy season. I’ve been wanting to bring my 14-hole Doc Martens with me to the apartment because they are the most weatherproof of all the boots that I have. For some weird reasons, I cannot find its shoelaces and I think that I should buy another pair from the shoe stores in Farmers Plaza.

Rain clouds over Bonifacio Global City

Rain clouds over Bonifacio Global City

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Interior design fantasy: a framed silk scarf

As I’ve realized last week, I was never adept with interior design or anything similar to that, but it did not prevent me from having an ultimate design fantasy if ever I get to have my own place — I wanted a framed Hermès scarf. A boy can always dream, right? So when I have acquired a Philippe Ledoux in early 2009 from Ebay, and quickly accepted that it was impractical and ridiculous to use a silk scarf in my everyday life (though I actually used it once), I have safely kept it in my closet for the prospect of framing and hanging it in my future living room or bedroom. But again, it was ruined and damaged beyond repair because of the flood and I no longer have any scarf to frame.

I’ve been always enthralled by the artwork and effort put on silk scarves and I was so amazed to read a post from another blogsite, chronicling how an Hermès scarf is made. It awakened my curiosity over framed silk scarves and Google-ing brought me to Griffin Trading‘s website where I saw a framed La Promenade de Longchamps in the exact colorway I have (albeit undamaged).

This foray into another design project territory pulled me again into searching local auction sites to see if maybe, just maybe, it would be my lucky day. And fortunately, it was. I was very quick to jump the gun on a red and orange silk scarf for sale by a man from Alabang, that I pleaded if I can meet up with him in Makati just to get the item. I think he had no idea that he just sold a brand new scarf, with unflattened hems, at a significantly low price that he practically gave it away.

That orange Hermès scarf envelope

Hermès 'Astres et Soleils' scarf in red and orange colorway

I normally do not put watermark on my photos but I just don’t want these stolen by crooks and use them to sell a non-existent scarf to potential victims. Anyway, it was an ‘Astres et Soleils‘ scarf by Annie Faivre in red and orange, and according to an online scarf catalogue, this particular colorway was produced in 1994. Imagine, it still looks immaculate even after almost two decades! Well, what do I expect, it has been kept inside its envelope all these years and only the tattered paper showed wear and tear.

Details of Annie Faivre's artwork 'Astres et Soleils' scarf in red and orange colorway for HermèsIt’s interesting that I got to end up with this scarf, whose name translates to ‘Stars and Suns‘. I love astronomy, mythology and world history a lot, and I was just watching documentaries yesterday on YouTube about the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. The former, most especially, is most (in)famous for the December 21, 2012 Doomsday prediction, due to their extensive knowledge of the movements of celestial bodies. In this whimsical artwork, Annie Faivre was inspired by the Mayan civilization before its collapse, with the people engaging in burial, agricultural and other religious rites. Among its various colorways, I’m very pleased to get this red and orange one that highlights the vibrancy of the Mayan life in a tropical rainforest climate.

More than the “where to have it framed?” question, I think I should be focusing more on “how” because I’ve read that they need special UV/museum glass to preserve the color and prevent fading, as well as sewing the scarf on a fabric covered matte. I don’t even know if I can find that special glass here, and who knows how much they will cost! Maybe I can scour vintage and thrift shops to see if I can find an existing frame large enough to hold the scarf, then I will do the framing myself! =)

DIY alteration project on a rainy Saturday

Two weeks ago, Faye sent a Reddit link to me about a guy who became quite adept in altering his old and/or thrifted clothes. I’ve been wanting to try this project out, given that I have recently bought a sewing machine for my mother, but the busy graduation week last week prevented me from doing so. But as it rained so hard this Saturday afternoon and as I had no plans to go out, I had all the time I needed to experiment on some of my clothes that needed some revamping. The first two things I thought of working on was this retro-looking longsleeves and a pair of navy blue pants.

A 'before' shot of the MEXX longsleeves shirt

Before the drastic chop and alteration

The longsleeves was in a stretchable fabric, and I was quite worried over what kind of stitch to use. It  would only be the second time to sit in front of my mother’s sewing machine and I only used the basic, running stitch over a minor alteration on that previous occasion. Should I use the zigzag stitch or just stick to the running one? I have also tried using the tailor’s chalk to mark where I needed to cut and stitch the new seams together, but the fabric did not seem to have the slightest orange stain on it. I resorted to using a black ballpen and good thing that the marks were placed inside because I had mistakenly drawn a lot of stray ones.

The first cut was difficult. The length of the shirt was about five inches longer than what I would normally want it to be, so I had to cut it. From the tutorial, he went straight away sewing the marks, without putting on pins. However, I wasn’t that comfortable in doing the same thing, so I had to put on a lot of pins before sewing. I started with the armpit to the sleeves, then back to the armpit all the way to the newly-unfinished hem. I had a hard time sewing the sleeves, though, because I can barely fit the hole beneath the machine’s feet. I eventually got there somehow, and after several runs with the acting-up bobbin, I was able to hem the sleeves.
Holding the fabric with pins before sewingAs for the pants, I only got to wear the pair once on a Valentine’s night since buying it, but it stayed inside the closet since then. The fit was just weird, and even if it has been already altered by my beloved tailor, I still did not like how it sits on my behind. Frankly, I had no idea what to do with it while altering, but I just ran a half-inch adjustment from the crotch up to the hem. The sewing machine is not a heavy-duty/industrial type, so I was careful not to push it too hard and break a needle. Most of the time, I just manually move the wheel just to lock the stitches.I even altered this pair of L.O.G.G. pants for a better fitEt voilà! I think I have made a fairly good job with the alteration of this longsleeves to a short sleeves,  and changing a straight cut pants to a slim fit one. It was not as tasking nor difficult than I had expected. What was first a guinea pig garment for experimentation, actually turned out to be something I will definitely wear in the coming days. As for the pants, I am very sure that they will look nice with every pair of boots that I have. I might try altering two longsleeves tomorrow, that is if Mama will not use the sewing machine, as she was so inspired by my DIY work and will most probably alter a few garments of her own.

Altered MEXX Shortsleeves polo and altered L.O.G.G. by H&M navy blue pants

I got the book I wanted!

The BookSale in UP Diliman did not have a world history textbook, which was quite a letdown because they have one of the best selections of foreign language literature books. But the BookSale in Cityland near our workplace had a hardbound world history textbook for sale. It was sold at Php 415, though, and I debated for a few minutes whether to buy it or not but a brand new book definitely costs more than Php 2,000 and photocopying an entire book from the library will cost me about the same as the secondhand one — that is if I can borrow one because I’m no longer enrolled, thus can’t borrow from the library.

A bunch of foreign language books in BookSale

So, I gave in and bought the book. I now have my own copy of Comprehensive World History – Fourth Edition. I even asked if I can have a discount but was told that it was originally tagged at Php 1000. Yikes. I also found a Complete Idiot’s Guide to American Government for only Php 45! I had no idea why I bought this book but I thought that I will have a good use for it in the future. LOL

Comprehensive World History Fourth Edition and Complete Idiot's Guide to American Government

I also had to notarize an application form and I first thought of getting it done in Marikina. But Mon mentioned that there were was a row of notary publics behind Makati Medical Center, just past McDonald’s in the Aegis Peoplesupport building. We walked to the area from our office and entered the first one, near the short bridge over the creek.

Notary Public behind Makati Medical Center

I presented my application form to the lady in the counter, and she asked me for a government-issued ID. I always have my Voter’s ID with me, but when she noticed the form, she suggested I present my passport. I did not have it with me but I recall having a spare photocopy of the first page containing my personal information in the office. I just asked Mon to wait for me in the Notary Public and I then walked back to our office and feverishly searched for that important piece of paper. When I at last found it, I ran back to the Notary Public. Done, all done! And best of all, I only paid Php 50 for the notarization fee! Bless this place!

ETA: 25 October 2017

This place above, as far as a I know, no longer exists. LOL But as this posts gets viewed a lot, let me recommend another notary public in Makati around the area. If you know Rodic’s in Salcedo Street, Makati (which, by the way, will close at the end of October 2017), the notary public was about 2-3 stalls to its right.

This is near Salcedo Street corner Rufino Street along the same side of Watsons and Slimmers World — practically walking distance from Makati Medical Center. It cost me less than Php 100.

Well, I’ll  just put a map here. Easier to follow, right?