Aum Jewels
.I ended up outside of my territory a couple of weeks ago. Paul Syjuco had been inviting me to see his shop Aum Jewels in Trinoma since last year. But because I'm not a "northerner" Trinoma is a bit too far for me. Well, turns out I'd been missing out because Aum Jewels has a great selection of jewelry pieces with lots of amazing surprises.

Quirks
.Christmas is pretty much full-on now in Manila. I know, I know... too soon. I'm trying to be like everyone else - trying to start my shopping for gifts. I went to the Karl Edwards bazaar today and ended up feasting on food and buying amazing export over-runs for my kids. The "Ralph Lauren" section is awesome. I also discovered Tambukikoy's chicken inasal. Whoa! It's sooo good. But I ended up with no gifts yet.I'm not worried though because I've actually started scouting around. And I discovered this cute little store in the 3rd floor of Rockwell Power Plant. It's called Quirks and it's right next to the new Gymboree (Can I tell you how

Interior Design: Tito Villanueva
.I've featured Tito Villanueva in UZ many times. Tito's work is so clean and "intelligent" - I can't think of a better word to describe his spaces. There are a lot of interior designers in this town who know how to put icing on the cake very well even if they don't know how to make good cake. What I'm trying to say is that Tito not only knows how to make spaces visually appealing (the icing), he also knows how to work with the given structure (the cake). His isn't just embellishment and decor. His spaces make sense. I think it has a lot to do with his knowledge of the classical style. One must know the basics of classical design before getting into differ

His space (in progress)
.Whenever I do house tours on Urban Zone and I see a his and her lavatories in the master's bathroom, I always say, "The secret to a happy marriage... separate sinks. Better yet, separate bathrooms." Of course Im over-simplifying things. But its worked for us. If you are in the process of renovating, building a new home or looking for a home, try considering that. Let me know your thoughts.As you all know we live in a really old-antiquey house and we just basically try to make it more us by doing some upgrades and minor renovations. It's been fun. And in the process of changing I've learned to love the house even more. We'

Thank you
.BOOKSOur travelling Moleskine diaries. These two books have travelled around the world and ended with me. In a couple of weeks I'll be turning them over to the one who started the journey. It has been an enriching experience. Read about Lagalag.Somebody knows I like to journal. I have one journa