LONDON...can't get ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE LONDON!
London is yesterday, today and tomorrow bubbled together. Zizzling. Joie de vivre.Cool.Hot.Lots of attitude..loads of it!! and I can’t get enough..
This city is a paradox. A sometimes vibrant, sometimes grimy, on which wildly contradictory images are juxtaposed. Where urban kitsch

LONDON BRIDGE

exists cheek by with old grandeur, blazing neon clashes with soft green, where the stiff upper lip keeps its counsel while the avant-garde raves on.

HARRODS- my favorite SHOPPING playground

London is constantly reinventing itself while remaining a sentinel to the past. Music, fashion, the arts – if it’s cutting edge….. it happens here first.

Being tired of London is being tired of life…. it is said. The rain and drear be damned, the city’s chic quotient never diminishes.

guards at BUCKINGHAM

I love the botanical gardens; the exquisite 19th-century homes, and soak in the buzz at Bloomsbury, a peculiar mix of architecture, literary history and traffic!

LONDON'S DOUBLE DECKERS

London is shopping heaven.Piccadilly, Harrods my favorite…., Burberry and Harvey Nichols on the basement where I bought my new designer’s cutting edge shirts and belts, it is the place for style junkies, with Chalayan to Versace, McQueen to McCartney.Sublime.Portobello Road, Brick Lane, Greenwich Market.

LONDON's lovely cafe'

For street creed, it’s Soho, of course, the unbearably trendy The Dispensary and Shop for funky, retro clothes. Poste Mistress is shoe heaven, an improbably kitsch boutique, with shoes by Marc Jacobs, Michael Perry and Lulu Guiness – Kirsten Dunst and Emma Bunton love it. And the Natural Shoe Store has environment-friendly, cruelty-free and ‘Vegan’ shoes. Wow
Art lovers had reason to rejoice:
The Classics: The Royal Festival Hall, Royal Opera House – the home of the Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells, Barbican, The Royal Albert Hall. West End. Eccentricities: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Fan Museum , Saatchi Gallery, Museum of Garden History, Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum, Dickens House Museum, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Florence Nightingale Museum.
Nightlife?…lots of it…!!!!can’t wait to be back again!!!!!

the CAPITAL HAUTENESS....

Manila is a city where surprises are wrapped in an unpretentious boxes – amid streets that have unexpected scenes tucked away, people that reflects a cohesive life and living, and smells and voices that have a tale to tell.

I have been pushing off writing this article for the longest time, finally, somehow, even after all that had been said and done about it, a blank page is probably the starting point because once the first words get written, you’ve embarked on a bit of an adventure…one that may end in disaster, or glory, or both.

 

The city frees me in a way that no other city does. It makes the blank page an invitation. It makes the words appear from nowhere. It makes me clever and creative, witty and funny, and if I’m in Seattle's Best on a lazy summer day at Greenbelt Makati, with a cappuccino, it also makes me very stylish. No, really.

Why does Manila inspire me so? Why do the crowds give me place to think? Why does the noise facilitate the poetry? I don’t know. I just know that some of the places I am going to talk about in the next few paragraphs make writer’s block a piece of fiction. These are the places I go to for inspiration....

While Manila gave me the emotional quotient, Makati is my style therapy especially my favorite eco-fashion retail mall- Greenbelt. I love this place, this is where Covent Garden, Champs Elysees, Avenue Montaigne rolled into one.



My scripts always start and end with characters. Drama, comedy, pathos, all are born from and expressed through characters. And Seattle's Best Cafe is one place ever where I meet characters, starting with a virtual FB friend Bang Pineda, one beautiful person whom I am at ease with. Dressed in gray track fabric cargoes,and armed with Louis Vuitton classic bag as he paints his nonchalant smile, along with his incredible cosmopolitan urban manners, I was mermerized. This guy really displayed the grain, the texture of CHIC pinoy.

 

To toast some more, and then a little....I roam around between Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Ferragmos and the Zara...and feeling so at home.My style barometer roused up notches...
The tall trees and fabulous gardens of tropical orchids and bushes..made me feel more on an eco themed habitat of what is modern living......all about.

with my friendliness...monsieur Noli Onate

STRESS AND THE CITY

Like any other cities in the world, Dubai offers lots of luxurious spas to de-stress and rejuvenate city weary and tired bones..so here I am trying to refresh on weekend by spending a detoxifying indulgence...emerging so cleansed..both body and soul.

January 2, 2;30 pm

Destination: Detox
I have a date with my therapist. Nothing cataclysmic. Just that new-age pandemic called urban stress. Deadlines, pollution, junk food, road rage, insane commutes. The usual suspects. Super-stressed-me is off to break this vicious cycle of abuse with a detox weekend at my favorite detox haven. Detox devotees Gwyneth, Oprah and Beyonce would approve. They all swear by cleansing, which claims to flush the body of accumulated toxins through diet, exercise and massages. I’m curious. Is there really a truth to the benefits of detox? I decide to throw skepticism to the wind and surrender. The stunning view of the Arabian Sea from my 20th floor room is to die for. I’m ready. Paltrow, make way.

3. 30 pm

Desserted!
Time for a quick minestrone and leafy salad at nearby Cafe before my massage appointment. I eye that mango chiffon mousse with puppy eyes. Alas,Biba, my detox guide, gently reminds me it’s out of bounds. She spells out the deal. Alcohol, tea, coffee are strict no nos. Drink a ton of water (like eight litres a day). Easy on food with a high Glycemic Index. Fruits and leafy veggies rule. I squirm uneasily as memories of yesterday’s sin—McDo's double yummies and deep-fried potato wedges—come surging in. I’m not telling her.

4.30 pm
Spa way to heaven

My detox journey begins. THAI massage is first.Apputra, my handsome masseur from Bangkok, whisks me into the bergamot-scented spa chamber. As my feet soak in the warm water, salvation seems like a distinct possibility.Appu begins with a Thai head massage combined with inhalation therapy using essential oils. I feel my breathing passages opening. A body exfoliation using dry herbal powders, then a brisk application of jasmine oil. A 10-minute-steam further opens my breathing passages and skin pores. Then, a purifying point face massage followed by a hot herbal poultice therapy to stimulate blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. The lemongrass purifying soak is last. I do a Mena Suvari a la American Beauty in my rose-petalled bath. Sipping honey and chamomile tea, I’m the boy... in the bubbles.

7.30 pm
Lean equals light

I’m peaceful. I’m famished. Happily, I discover fit and healthy is not equal to bland and tasteless the way the chefs make their detox meals. My salad of asparagus parfait and smoked chicken is a masterpiece of taste and texture. The massage seems to have set in motion a virtuous cycle. Just mineral water with my healthy meal, please. Wine? Diet Coke?.... What’s that?

9 pm
Room with a view

Time to sit back and dream. Detox is as much about recharging the mind by spending time introspecting and cleaning your thoughts. Looking out from the huge bay windows, I see a glittering Dubai skyline and an unending sea. Thoughts of the day flit in and out, work, my own unruly love life. I catch my reflection in the mirror as I’m about to turn in. My skin glows. Detox beats botox. Anytime.


Coming clean

Check out time. Not sure how I’ve fared on Project Detox. But I’ve succeeded in wooing my body back. All those spa soaks have left me feeling like a pampered Cleopatra. No drastic liquid diets and colonics for me. I’m no cleansing convert. I’ve enjoyed this version of Detox Light, though. Pure pleasure and relaxation. I’ll be back for that wonderful soak... Ah, the unbeatable lightness of being

the power of ELEGANCE

 

 She made her  fitting at Roberto Cavalli 's high end atelier at Rue de Faubourg. Monsieur Cavalli designed  her  bridal gown in Milan and was sent to Paris for her to fit. With her svelte figure and stunningly exotique looks, she was glamour at its best. Seamstresses were busy adjusting her gown, while curious  passers -by stopped at the vetrine and mesmerized at her oriental charm. She loved her  Cavalli dress....and  loved her wedding moments.

 

Not one to have a prejudice even in fashion, she likes to globalized her look, she can go with the list of her favourite designers, Gucci  for its  classic and ideal wear for business meetings, Prada, Lanvin, Valentino, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Halston, Pucci, Missoni, Iceberg, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce&Gabanna, Christian Dior, Fendi, Gucci, La Perla and YSL.... mostly the high brands ended up in her closets. She is enthralled by the originality and the workmanship with surprise elements in buying those top of the line covetable pieces of luxury.

 
Meet Lea Van Duin.........Businesswoman.....Filipina.

Growing up in Europe for 22 years with her family made her a global Filipina that mixed traditional simplicity of the East and the flamboyance of the West. She graduated Nursing and Economics. She got married on 2004 with her long time partner for 12 years, William van Duin, together they work for their own global empire, William on the negotiating table and Lea, who unwittingly charmed the businessmen's deal with her no nonsense Economics education and of course...the power of Hermes, Cavallis and the Pradas!!!!!! 


Comfort is what matters to her the most. So its not surprising if she turned up in a Prisian luncheon meeting for a summery Dolce& Gabanna outfit worn over washed jeans, a simple stone necklace and a silver Louis Vuitton clutch that added oomph to the total look. " I always wear clothes that make me feel good" says Lea, who also heads their global company.....and adds "g" for glamour in her corporate world. 


Spontaneity: When her husband said:" Baby, pack your stuff and we will have dinner tonight in Paris or Rome, we will go to the airport in 15 minutes!!!"....(omg, and it happened many times). She loves Paris. She loves Foie Gras, seafoods and Iberico Ham.
Her personal attire reflects understated elegance, simplified clean lines and no fuss designs, where she loves combining with her favorite Jmmy Choos or Louboutins. A firm believer of power dressing without sacrificing her femininity, she admits that in the corporate world" one has to look professional and exude authority to be taken seriously" she utter.

 

"I love the Burberry jacket that I bought on an impulse in Paris for its timeless versatility. I also wear jeans, shorts, halter tops and kaftans" she says. Opening  one of her closets, there were Chanel, Herve Leger, Marc Jacobs and Jiki Couture.......!!!!!!!!!