After Office Hours

Lonely boy

Third Party

Friends lang kami

Pre’. I love you.

Arroyo admits she has breast implants.

MANILA – A spokesman of President Arroyo admitted Friday that Mrs. Arroyo had breast augmentation 20 years ago but denied reports that the implants were leaking.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde earlier downplayed rumors that Mrs. Arroyo had checked in at the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa City to have her breast silicone implants removed and replaced.

“Kayong mga lalake, alam niyo naman tingnan kung ang babae nagpa-retoke. Res ipsa loquitur,” Remonde told male reporters using a legal term that means “the thing speaks for itself.”

He added: “Si Presidente ba mukha na iyong tipo ng babae na magpapaganun (Is the President the type of woman who would do that [breast augmentation])?”

The press secretary later changed his tune and admitted that Mrs. Arroyo did have breast augmentation 20 years ago but that the implants were not leaking.

Remonde said the President was declared in good health after biopsies were conducted on lumps found on her breast and groin.

“The result of the biopsy is negative. The President is in good health. You will see her moving around in the next few days. That’s the best proof of her health,” he said.

Arroyo, 62, checked in at a private hospital south of the capital Manila on Tuesday night after returning from two weeks of travel to Japan, Colombia, Brazil and Hong Kong. Palace officials said Mrs. Arroyo volunteered to quarantine herself after the trip despite relaxed Influenza A (H1N1) quarantine guidelines from the Department of Health.

Remonde said the President had undergone a medical check-up before her trip last month but “some test results needed follow-up,” including the biopsies.

In a text message to reporters, Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo noted that the issue about the President’s purported medical procedures is “disrespectful, not only of the President, but of women’s health issues. As head of state, the President is fully aware that she must be transparent about her health and she is.”

Source: ABS-CBN News

What’s with the Press Secretary’s animosity for surgical enhancements? If Belo didn’t make an entire industry out of cosmetic surgery, Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho’s path would not have crossed. We wouldn’t be witnesses to Katrina’s amazing performance of George Michael’s Careless Whisper.

Why didn’t GMA go for a bigger size?  I would have gone for a full C cup.

Above is the commemorative US stamp honoring James Dean. Coincidence that it looks like one of the official images of Edward Cullen? Hmmmm…

The signature Ray-Ban wayfarers.

The hair.

I like him more when he was Cedric Diggory.

I wish they didn’t kill his character. Sana si Ron na lang.

Last Tuesday was Erika’s “room” warming party. After being friends for eight years, she is now my flat-mate. And no, we’re not lesbian  lovers. I was getting tired of the usual menu I prepare for get-togethers(grilled cheese sandwich, Charlie Chan copy cat Asian spaghetti, creamy fruit salad etc) I had to make a new one.

- Stewed Tomato Spaghetti
- Spicy Fried Chicken with Buttered Hot Sauce
- Chocolate Turon

A quick and easy dessert was needed, one that would fit into our room warming food budget. The chocolate turon was all I could remember that I saw from Heny Sison two years ago in her old baking/cooking show in IBC 13. What ever happened to that show? My brother and I love that show. Lazy Sundays back then meant drooling in front of the TV with all the sugar induced dessert she was making. Para syang fairy, *fairy dust* — “Ito na po ang ating finished product “ and a piece of either cake, cookies, brownies would appear from under the oven.

I Googled the recipe but stumbled upon this Pinoy version of the recipe from 80′s Breakfast. Credit is hers. It was rather brilliant to think of Pinoy flavored Chocnut and Flattops. However, when I reached the supermarket Flatops was out of stock. Wow, there is a shortage of Flattops in the Philippines? The Balikbayan’s are hoarding them! I used Curlytops instead as a substitute. You can pretty much use any chocolate you want. Do a kitchen test and experiment I think this would go well with Andes Chocolate Mint or any chocolate that has nougat, caramel for additional texture.

I modified the recipe a tiny bit and just added one ingredient that made the difference – cinnamon powder. The turon was instant hit at the party, many were asking for the recipe.

Ingredients:

Saging na Saba (Ripe Plantain)
Spring Roll Wrapper
Brown Sugar
Chocolate of your choice
Pandan leaves
Cinnamon powder

Use spring roll wrapper then cut banana’s lengthwise. Just add alternately the chocolates on one side. Put the sugar on the other side side. Use only one half lengthwise banana because one whole banana is a bit harder to wrap and cook. Plus we don’t want a fat turon, do we? Use only about half teaspoon sugar as chocolate is already sweet.

Then the one ingredient you don’t want to forget – dash turon with cinnamon powder. I love cinnamon so I put at least 1/4 teaspoon in each turon. Cinnamon makes the difference! I tried it before without cinnamon but preferred the version with it.

Wrap like you would wrap your lumpia, seal sides with a bit of water. Tie it with a pandan leave. This will make if fragrant. Deep fry in low heat. Sugar and chocolate have a tendency to get burnt easily so cook it with low heat. Cook both sides until golden brown.

Tadah! You can drizzle it with a bit of melted Belgian chocolate.

So, one of our friends, let’s call him “F” was apparently banned from the PFW shows from here on and then. According to sources F was seated in the first frow.  He was in Anna Wintour outfit complete with hair and a Balenciaga bag. During the curtain call at the end of the show wherein the all models make their final walk, F stood up  and followed the models as if he was part of the show but instead making the exit to the other stage he went straight out of the exit of SMX in a diva walk. It was a riot I heard. The audience was laughing. I bet it was hilarious but the organizers were not amused. Just hearing about it makes me wish I was there.

The thing is even if F was banned he could always disguise himself easily.

Haylavet. She’s starting to look like Jackie O

• Teresa Herrera did a good job hosting the show.
• Cute si Eli. (sorry girls, I don’t think he is rooting for our team.)
• Editing and shots were not bad. They’re pretty good to be honest.
• No contest for models unlike in the original PR version
• The designers were given only portable machines. Ang 3rd world naman. I know Brother is the sponsor but Brother produces industrial sewing machines too, right? There is a big difference between using industrial and portable sewing machines. There are fabrics that is very difficult to sew in portable machines. Speed is also compromised and portable machines have to be oiled everyday. Industrial sewing machines are more professional.
• We’d like to hear more from Joji Lloren. His advice is more technical than those of Tim Gunn. I think Joji is great.
• More design oriented shots/comments and less drama please.
• Teresa Herrera’s version of “auf wiedersehen” was “Ingat”? Lol. She din’t say “paalam” but I heard her say “ingat”.

Now for the controversies, a reality TV show is no good without the controversies.

• Aries & Veejay - both have showed in Philippine Fashion Week, have done various spreads for various magazines, either won/finalist in design competition and both are recent members of the Young Designers Guild of the Philippines. Eli mentioned that the slot should have been given to other undiscovered designers. In the US version of PR, contestants have already worked for several fashion houses like Viviene Westwood, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen etc. But the industry there is different from the industry here. I think I would agree with Eli on this one, don’t get me wrong I love Veejay (lol, si Veejay lang) but they have already the access to some of the prizes – fashion spread in a magazine and showing your work at Phil. Fashion Week. Although I think the main reason they joined is the prize, the money could perhaps help to expand the business.

Everyone also seems to hate Aries. He is really like that in person. Hehe. He was my teacher in FIP and know him pretty well. I don’t hate him tho’. He is like fungus, just grows on you. Undeniably he is also very talented specially in construction techniques which also he undeniably learned from Sir Shanon. But I will keep my mouth shut now. Haha. I bumped into him Aries last Saturday and told him he was the cattiest person in the show and he denies that he is the bad guy. Well, to borrow a quote from a friend “good for the network ratings, too bad for him.”

It was so insensitive of Aries to make that comment –”that T’iboli girl may ibubuga pala” although the comment was good in a way there was malicious intent in the way he said it. For the record too, the T’iboli ethnic group has a very rich cultural heritage. Hindi pa dumadating ang mga Kastila, “pashion” na sila. He might also be alienating prospective clients with his bitchy attitude in the show. Sometimes he is also bordering on rude specially the way he treated Loida. If Loida was my mom, I’d probably smite Aries. Hahahah. But Aries is Aries. I’ve pretty much accepted that part.

I’m rooting for Veejay and Ivan. I like that Ivan incorporates our cultural background in his works.

And HI to contestants, I know you’ve been leaving comments here. I think you guys are brave to join a show that will be grilled by the public. It really is never as easy as it looks on TV.

First, it’s my work, mydesign, my concept. If I gave him/her permission it will haunt me back, who knows, tables could turn and I could be accused of using someone else’s portfolio a few years down the line. I felt a little disgusted when I was asked that question. A straightforward NO was all I could spare.

The local web/design design industry is a small, small, small word. One should never take credit for a design that isn’t her/his own. It’s just wrong in so many ways. Here are two classic examples:

Bel of Greencapsule.org recently posted in her Multiply account about someone taking credit for her designs.

It’s not a case of web designs, this time.. it’s PDF portfolio ripping off. I honestly do take pride in how my PDF portfolio looks like, coz I have spent a lot of time doing it’s design, typography, colors, and layout just to impress employers or clients. Just this afternoon, a friend of mine who works in Lawton Yeo informed me that they just interviewed one Filipino guy (named Jay Patrik K. Elemento of http://xeoxile.cjb.net) through phone yesterday and was surprised to see that he used my PDF Portfolio as a template and have just replaced the texts and images on it. Everything looks the same.

The guy eventually apologized.

There was also a popular thread in Philweavers.net about a certain Voltaire Estrada. This incident is one for the books. The person involved used several flash portfolios that he claimed he worked on. He applied in one design studio. Presented his portfolio to a panel of interviewers, also web designers/developers — and in a funny twist of fate, one of the interviewees was the actual person who coded, developed “his” portfolio. CLASSIC! … And it gets better. I thought the name was familiar. It rang a bell. I remembered the person applied in my previous company. Guess what? He failed the basic HTML slicing and flash animation test.

Should they start teaching professional ethics 101 in design schools? Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re either a fresh grad or an expert in this design industry take into consideration the following:

• Never, ever take credit for someone else’s work.
• The industry is small world. The advent of the internet makes it’s easier for word to get around. You don’t want a prospective employer to Google your name and negative comments about you would pop in the results.
• If you worked on a project with a team, state that in your portfolio. This has been a common incident I’ve experience in the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted. I’d see one portfolio by an applicant and wonder why it looked so familiar. Only upon further prying that I will discover it was done by team effort.
• Employers will blacklist you. In the case of Voltaire, it was just too bad for him that the complaint was posted in Philweavers. A site every headhunter/hr manager in the local industry visits to source for prospective talents.
• The old adage “face the music” rings true. You may eventually get the job by cheating but when push comes to shove and you need deliver a complicated project, how are you going to do it?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but not in this case. Great execution means the real designers/developers have poured hard work, sleepless nights and unlimited cups of coffee to come with such results. If you want to kill your career as a designer then claiming credit for someone else’s work is the best way to do it.

You need a lot of attitude to wear this and a whopping 600 US$. But you know what I love more? Martin Margiela’s website. Brilliant concept.