During my trip to Las Vegas this past weekend, I was wasting some time in one of the countless shopping malls and peeked my head into one of the eyeglass shops since I am in dire need of a new pair. Although I am primarily in the market for a nice pair of full frame, black plastic spectacles, there was one pair that caught my eye that was designed by Gold & Wood of Paris. The company name is a literal translation of what made them popular – their frames are constructed of wood with gold inlay. The pair that grabbed my attention had .....Continue reading
Gold & Wood Eyeglasses
January 20th, 2010Alibata – the lost language of the Philippines
January 19th, 2010
The Philippines is a country with a very rich and diverse culture. With over 7,000 islands settled in the Pacific ocean in Southeast Asia, it has been a port utilized for trade and a pit stop for countries exploring the open waters. It is the country’s accessible and convenient location that has also subjected it to imperialism, being used as a strategic post for political advances. The US of A, Japan, and Spain are countries who have all had their slices of the Philippine pie, the latter ruling the 3rd world country for nearly 300 years, all of which has contributed to reshaping the culture of Filipinos. The influence of its colonizers can be seen in much of the Philippine culture today – foods have similarities to Spanish dishes, dialects carry the same phonetics as the Spanish and Malay languages, and .....Continue reading
Donate to Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts
January 14th, 2010On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced a massive earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude followed up by aftershocks that were over the 5.0 richter scale. Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world with roughly 80% of its population living in poverty, was severely devastated from the quake with the city of Port-au-Prince practically destroyed in addition to the death toll expected to be in the tens of thousands. While… .....Continue reading
The Polka Dots of Yayoi Kusama
January 12th, 2010
The first time I encountered Yayoi Kusama’s work was when I stumbled upon her publication in a bookstore last year. Her book was being promoted and it caught my eye because its cover was smothered in polka dots, a staple trademark of her work. Glancing inside its pages, I was intrigued by her obsession that she covered practically everything in polka dots. A performance and installation artist, she develops an incredible display of work where her patterns blanket practically everything in an environment and .....Continue reading
Philippines & Southeast Asia Trip Pictures
January 10th, 2010
I talked about my trip to the Philippines and Southeast Asia in a previous post about the 2009 year and realized that I didn’t provide you with many pictures to view from the trip. Below are a few that I randomly selected throughout the 3 month excursion. We visited a total of 5 countries, ate amazing food, survived one of the worst typhoons in the history of Manila, and even made it onto the Philippine’s most popular TV show. If you wish to preview .....Continue reading
Cutout Artist Mikito Ozeki
January 10th, 2010
Meet Mikito Ozeki – cut out artist extraordinaire. I got the chance to preview his work at the New People art gallery in San Francisco’s Japan town. He creates these amazing robot figures with elaborate details of their wires and components weaving in and out of each other. However, the thing that impressed me the most about his work is the process by which these are created. With a large black sheet of paper as his canvas, Ozeki takes an exacto knife and .....Continue reading
Holler at Haoming
January 6th, 2010
I stumbled upon this fresh clothing company the other day as I was taking a stroll around Japan town in San Francisco, California and glanced inside the New People store. This store that recently opened up around the spring of 2009 has an awesome selection of Japanese made/inspired goods: clothing, movies, music, books, and office supplies are a few of the items they sell. Much of it revolves around the contemporary Japanese pop art and design sense. They take it to another level with the 3rd floor solely dedicated to the Harajuku fashion culture (the experience is enhanced with carnival/carousel music playing in the background).
Anyway, the store is a great place to visit – I make trips there occasionally to gain some inspiration. But the main reason for this post is the clothing line that I discovered there a few days ago. The company’s name is .....Continue reading
Cheers to 2009 and onward to 2010
January 5th, 2010
2009 marked an amazing year that was capped off with my trip abroad for the last quarter. For 3 months, I took time away from our daily life in the United States and decided to experience a new lifestyle in the Philippines, the land of my cultural roots. It was nice to get away and relax in warmer temperatures and visit my relatives. The food was amazing, beaches were pristine, and my people are so kind, humble, and respectful. Overall it was a refreshing experience to be able to immerse myself into my culture and speak the language, eat the food, and .....Continue reading
Kumusta Kababayan
September 9th, 2009
Sup Y’all. Finally bout to kick off this Makilaban era – we are making minor adjustments and tweaks and we’ll be ready to announce it to the world. Originally known as the Cause or Pledge to the Cause, we had some major debate and discussion on what it would turn into and we finally settled on Makilaban. So Fresh and So Clean. This major overhaul and .....Continue reading
