StyleBible.ph

Raison d’Etre: To live, love and learn. And inspire!

Job: Shopper activation specialist

Live:  Hong Kong

Happiness: FINALLY FOUND IT!!!

Brunch:  Croissant with gruyere, cherry tomatoes and saucisson filling prepared by my fiancé, Frédéric, at his patio in Lausanne, Switzerland. Top that with a cup of hot melted dark Belgian chocolate. Bliss!

Eat: Anywhere in the world as long as there’s wood-fired oven-baked thin-crust pizza with anchovies.

Drink: I was with Johnnie (Walker) for than 10 years. Then had a fling with Macallan (25 yrs old) for a few months. Now I’m giving my liver a break and just happy sipping rosé while watching the sunset with Frédéric in any of my escapes.

Escape: Boracay (Philippines), Lausanne (Switzerland), South of France

Read: I don’t have favorite authors, most books I buy are the bestsellers. I love hoarding books even if I don’t get to read most of them. To keep me abreast with current events, I subscribe to TIME Magazine. If I need some push, Who Moved My Cheese, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, The Little Prince and The Secret would always be a feel-good read. Always amazing to return to would be Garcia-Marquez, Kundera & Murakami.

Listen: Jazz (Chet Baker, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Bill Evans, Incognito), Classical (Mario Frangoulis, Mendelsson, Yo-yo Ma, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov), Chill (Hotel Costes, St. Germain, Morcheeba, Buddha Bar), Bossa Nova (Gilbertos), U2, Sade, Tuck & Patti, Eva Cassidy, Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, Regina Spektor (love her videos!) and Frédéric’s compilation of jazz and chill out music.

View or watch: Italian, French and Spanish artfilms. The Usual Suspects, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Before Sunrise/Sunset. I’m also a sucker for sad/tragic endings; House of Sand and Fog, Once, City of God, Cinema Paradiso. And my all time favorite? Princess Bride ‘as you wish’ Cary Elwes was my first crush .“)

Indulge: Hot bath with champagne and dark Belgian chocolates. 3 hr home service massage from my Thai masseuse. If she has time, she cooks tom yum goong after the massage. She owns a Thai restaurant here in Kowloon City and has a full time job. Being a masseuse is something that she just loves to do.

Shop: Fa Yung Gay! I swear, you can’t go wrong with their HKD79 LBDs! Being a serious bargain-hunter, I check out H&M and Zara here in HK. And whenever I get a chance to fly back home to Manila, I visit Anthology and The Ramp. I always find something fab at a really awesome price. Manila designers absolutely rock!

Splurge: 4-inch stilettos! European sojourns!!!

Aspire: To be an inspiration to my younger cousins and make them realize that with resilience, passion, faith, a little bit of luck, and lots of prayers, anything IS possible. Speaking of which, I’ve always wanted to be a fashion model (hence the love of stilettos ha ha) and way back in Manila (ages ago!), I could only drool at the thought of owning a Rafe. So I used to tell myself, someday when I grow up… And here I am, a proud Rafe owner AND a Rafe ‘muse’ – the closest I can get to being a model ;-} Did I say positive visualization works?

Charity: World Children’s Fund (I actually have a funny story behind this. The first time I sent them a cheque, I received a letter from the office of the president nominating me for their Distinguished Humanitarian Award, an immensely humbling experience. Except that the nomination letter was addressed to a MR. Jemen Ariola. Oops.)

Dream: The dreams you dare to dream DO really come true!

Accessory:  I love my Rafe bag because it’s functional AND fabulous! THE clutch has traveled with me everywhere. And I swear, I always get a compliment whenever I wear it. A travel must-have! And one of my most precious possessions ;-}