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This is summer-the only time when swimsuits, bikinis, and flip-flops are a must. The sweltering heat gives one an excuse to wear “revealing” clothes that won’t warrant glaring looks of disapproval. Unfortunately, despite this excuse, people still see all the wrong things.

Last weekend, my friends and I went to Batangas to swim and yes, we were wearing bikinis. Apart from our own cameras, there were a group of men who were taking photos of us from far away. Indiscreetly, they were using telephoto lenses to capture us frolicking in the pool. We weren’t sure if they were being friendly or they were just being perverts.

Our loud complaints and polite conversation with them fell on deaf ears. They happily continued clicking away. Eventually, after about an hour, we climbed out of the water and went home.

May this serve as a warning for everyone-be careful. What’s fun for you may be fun others, but in an entirely different way.

Last April 18, I was able to attend an event at Mag:Net (in Katipunan), organized by Glance and co-presented with Nouveaute. It was entitled, “LiveStyle,” and it comprised of a fashion show and some local music acts.

Glance is a fashion website that celebrates youth fashion. Founded by Punky Dario (you can contact her through ladyglancealot@gmail.com), one of their aims is to promote up-and-coming fashion designers. The same goes for the co-presenter of the night, Nouveaute, founded by Lane Utitco (check out http://nouveaute.multiply.com), that provided the models (as human mannequins) for the entire show.

with the founder of Glance, Punky Dario

At the LiveStyle event, they featured budding fashion designers, Angelene Coronel, Regine Salve, and Nikki Veneracion.

ANGELENE CORONEL

Most people may know her as “Angelene Aguilar” back when she was still in show business, but Angelene decided to finish her studies first, majoring in Advertising at the University of Santo Tomas.

with Angelene Aguilar

She decided to pursue her passion around 3 years ago and she plans to take further studies in New York to hone her creativity and eye for fashion some more. LiveStyle gave her the opportunity to showcase her collection of dresses that have their own unique brand of personality, prints, and colors — perfect for any body type!

REGINE SALVE

Like Angelene, Regine is also a newbie when it comes to designing dresses (they’re also schoolmates!) but that doesn’t stop her from pursuing her passion, at the same time, giving tribute to the environment with her Nature-inspired palettes.

with Regine Salve

NIKKI VENERACION

On the other hand, Nikki majored in Accountancy but for the past 3 years, his world revolved around fashion! He admits to not having any formal training when it comes to creating his designs, but I’m actually impressed at how well-presented his collection is, aside from the fact that they’re all hand-painted. Beat that!

with Nikki Veneracion

(Nikki does made-to-order dresses and to see more of his collection, check out http://nikkiveneracion.multiply.com)

Aside from the aforementioned designers, LiveStyle also showcased music-inspired shirts from Core Tempo (check out http://coretemposhirts.multiply.com or simply visit The Turista Shop, located in Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City).

a model wearing one of Core Tempo

Last but not the least, local music acts were performed by Ang Bandang Shirley, Cunejo, Hija, and Paraluman.

Also, I want to commend the organizers for this successful event but next time, I hope that they can find a more spacious location, where they can feature more budding designers and models. Who knows? One of them could be a Candy Girl, just like YOU!

This is going to be a photo blog! J There’s a list of scenes or questions provided that I had to answer through photos stored in my computer.

Here are the top ten items from the list!

1. A picture of you truly being yourself.
   
   A kid at heart! I am actually just six years old. Hah. Hah. Hah. My friends and I begged the people in charge of the inflatable thingies at the Mall of Asia to please let us in and they did! It is one of the funniest, most exhilarating moments in my life.
2. A picture of you when you were a different person than you are now.
   
   I do not sing anymore. Hah. Hah. Hah. Why? Well, it’s just that I cannot sing anymore! As the cliché goes, I love music but music doesn’t love me!
3. A picture of how you’d like the world to see you.
   
   With a huge grin on my face. I wouldn’t want to be known as the grumpy person or the boring person. No. I’d like the world to see me as that girl with a smiley face-not the emoticon, okay? Hah. Hah. Hah.
4. A picture of how you would like to spend every day.
   
   Happy! I’d like to make the most out of each day and being happy is one thing that makes it possible.
5. A picture of one of the best nights of your life (or day).
   
   My 19th birthday celebration. Sana araw-araw birthday ko.
6. A picture of you being absolutely ridiculous.
   
   I am the ultimate turista! This shot was taken on my first trip to Baguio with my college friends. It was a blast!
7. A picture of a time in your life that’s over, but you wish it wasn’t.
   
   Japan. Oh, how I miss Japan so much. I went there for an exchange program when I was 15 years old and it’s something I’ll never forget. Ever.
8. A picture that makes your heart hurt.
   
   It’s just a photo of raindrops on my window. Every time I see it, I am reminded of something I do not enjoy thinking of. But don’t get me wrong, I love the rain!
9. A picture of you at your funniest.
   
   My friends call this “The Exorcism of Mari Colinares.” Enough said. Hah. Hah. Hah.
10. A picture you might have edited to make yourself more attractive.
    
    Heehee. Everyone looks good in black and white!!!:)

I had so much fun doing this blog because I got to go through dozens and dozens of photo folders in My Documents. It brought back so much memories! It’s as if I got to watch my life-ever since I got a camera-all over again.

So, Candy Girls, go! Create your own photo blog too! It’s fun!:)

I was in Bacolod last weekend for a family reunion, and aside from touring my grandmother’s hometown, lounging in the resort, and eating yummy inasal, I was able to bond with my cousins. Even if I get to see most of my beloved babies almost every weekend, I can never get enough of them!

Meet Leon, my 4-year old cousin.

There he is trying on my shades

And here’s Ana, doesn’t she look like Dora to you? She’s the cutest!

Here’s baby Angelo, who’s just a little over a year old!

And he already loves music as much as I do Here he is, listening to my mother’s salsa songs. Hahaha.

That’s my sister, Leon, and I swimming. Spot his floaters—he hasn’t learned how to swim without them yet!

That’s Leon with an ice cream cone after a sumptuous meal at Aboy’s in Bacolod. He loves chocolate as much as I do

That’s Angelo, trying to squeeze his head in between the chairs at the airport. He’s my most huggable cousin ever! Doesn’t he look like a koala bear? Awww.

Children are really my weakness, and these babies are undeniably my happy place. Whatever sour mood I’m in, once I see them and start playing with them, all the bad vibes fly out the window! I’m look forward to more trips with my loves! Thank God for babies like these.

<3Gaby

OMGGG!

DYAAAAAAN!

This is what welcomed me at our grad rehearsal a few days ago. I haven’t seen my friends for the longest time and I really, really missed everybody! It was so good to see (and hear) that the bakla and bibo world of Mass Comm has not changed.

Ate Micah, a fellow Summit employee, and I were 45 minutes late because we came from work. We were worried about our grand entrance. We were lucky, though, that we came at the time that everyone was assembling so our entrance wasn’t the door-loudly-creaking one.

Friends! Photo by JM Tuazon

Jcers Photo by JM Tuazon

We were a mess; everybody was talking like we were miles apart and nobody wanted to form a line according to surname. Cansino became Zansino, Tuazon became Zuazon, Sulit became Zulit, etcetera, etcetera. Haha! We went to our respective places after a while naman.

What line? Photo by Jeff Dayrit

Oh, this line. Photo by Jeff Dayrit

When it was time to march inside, my lukaret batchmates gave me a standing ovation (well, they were all standing anyway, waiting for moi) as I was the last to march. Ruth, our grad committee head said, “Sa graduation, wag kasing papalakpakan si Dyan” or something like that. Hahaha! Is it my fault that I have fans? LOL.

It was crazy, we were all talking and laughing and applauding at the wrong parts. Then there were all those cries to reveal the awards: best thesis, GMA awardee, Inquirer awardee, etc. I have this huge feeling that our actual graduation will be a riot, instead of a solemn affair. I think that’s just fitting because this is MASS COMM, the noisiest college in UP. And we should be allowed to cheer! We deserve it.

When it was time to sing our anthem, UP Naming Mahal, I had goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes. I’ve always been moved by our anthem but not as much as now, in my final days as a UP student. I used to be so homesick when I moved to my boarding house in UP but now, I’m homesick for UP. Those four years really went by fast. It’s not fair. :((

An empty Film Center. This is where it’ll all happen on Sunday. Photo by Jeff Dayrit

I didn’t see the sunflowers again! Every summer, UP plants sunflowers along one of the entrances to UP, the University Avenue. We graduating students have been dreading them all year because sunflowers mean goodbye. Now, though, I want to see them and… pluck them! Plucking them is actually punishable in UP, you see. Haha! Ay, the student disciplinary tribunal might come after me, joke lang! I’m just trying to deflect, separation anxiety and all that.

Nonetheless, happy graduation everyone!