Prenup: Eliza + Boyd

Surprisingly, there's a lot that goes on in a prenup shoot. Before you can actually start shooting, like you have to think about what concept you want, the costumes and props to use and if that isn't already a lot on the plate to think about, there are also the factors you can't control, like the weather, temperature and props going 'pop' (more on that later). 

We were thrilled when we were asked to shoot Eliza and Boyd's prenup, even if it was a bit of a rush, I would say that we pulled it off nicely :) 

I would say that Paul and I are fortunate enough to live in a nice subdivision that has some beautiful spots for shooting, like literally just a few steps away from the house. We were so nervous because we weren't sure if it was going to rain, the dark clouds that were so slowly gathering were not a good indication. Just in case it did start pouring down we had a back up plan. Fortunately it did not rain and we were able to have the shoot ! One lesson we all learned was to use balloon props immediately, as they have the tendency to..you know pop. 

So, aside from balloons popping it was a pretty good shoot ~ because of the feel of the location, Taylor Swift's "Are we out of the woods yet?" started playing in my head and I realized that like everything else, relationships can be tricky and challenging but when you  get to the point where you are already planning the wedding and doing the prenup photos and all those fun yet tiring details, you know you made it and as someone who's been there and done that ~ it will all be worth it. 

Congratulations to Eliza and Boyd! 

Click here for more photos! 

O'Hara X Torre: An Art Exhibit

Sharla O'Hara with her Oil and Canvass 

Sharla O'Hara and I go way back. We were friends back in Gradeschool and during this time we were all into Anime and drew in the Japanese Anime style. I say "drew" because I no longer draw now and that's probably something that new acquaintances don't know about me. I guess you can say that the writer took over the budding artist, but I guess my mom shot that horse in the face a long time ago.

Although she did let me take art classes back when we could afford it, I guess I'm writing that now so you guys know that my love and appreciation for the arts has deep roots, it's in my family and in my blood and even if I didn't get to pursue it professionally or as a hobby, I took up another form of the arts (so to speak) which is writing- so now I get to write about Art :)

Sharla's Illusion Series. She worked with a 'Disco Ball' Board. 

By the way, Paul also has some art skills tucked away, like me it was the photographer who took over the artist. I guess it's all good coz as they say: "If you chase two rabbits you'll wind up with nothing for dinner". 

It was only recently that Paul and I started to go to galleries and attend exhibits (as you've probably seen in the posts) and we want to make it more of a habit and hope to get to see more art - I guess we're lucky that we have friends and acquaintances who are talented young artists- which brings us back to Sharla - who I've not seen in years! I think the last time we saw each other was in the sixth grade and that seems like ages ago- now she...well she's a lot of things aside from her art she's also a model (wet weeeeew) :p

On the serious side get to know Sharla and her work here are some excerpts from the event page. 

Sharla O'Hara majored in Painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in Diliman. She is a muralist by profession since 2008. 

She has been experimenting with materials used for faux and artistic finishes used in interior design projects or her paintings (among other things). She incorporates some notes of optical illusion or trom loie'l in her art.

Sharla describes her art as: "Glam, grotesque, organic and synthetic, illusion, compulsive and maybe a little dark sometimes..." 

Sharla has been tapped by Beauty Bar to paint on the walls of their new store which is opening in Centrall Mall in BGC - I'm really excited for this-so hopefully our schedule will allow us to drop by :) 

Kat Torre and her oil on Canvas

Sharla shares the on going art exhibit at Handuraw Pizza Sikatuna with Kat Torre who is in herself a jack of all trades when it comes to art. Kat is a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Mailing, Los Banos Laguna. She designs her own line of jewelry and watches which is manifested in Ensuenos. Like Sharla, Kat also majored in Painting at the College of Fone Arts in the University of The Philippines in Diliman.

Kat's impressive resume also includes designing and creating props, sets and costumes for stage productions like: "Magnificat", "Padre Pio", "Cory the Musical", "Manila, Vanilla" and "Halo Halloween". 

Kat's Color on White Canvas

She is also included in the Top 3 Finalists of the 2013 Globe Art Competitiom: ImaginART. 

Kat is looking forward to getting back to painting and sculpting. Her works will be mainly paintings of women. 

Aside from the promising art from these young artists the vent was made extra special by (drum roll please) PIZZA and I have mentioned that I am a Pizza kinda girl so - SCORE! 

Handuraw Pizza Sikatuna (where the art is currently displayed) is a nice and cozy place which does not only offer yummy pizza at P300.00-P400.00 per order but it is also a great place for friends to get together to chill and relax (there's a roof deck which is a great place to hang out and have pizza and beer). You can also contemplate on the art on display, there's a hallway once you enter the door where the art is hung and there is more space upstairs for more art! The main floor has space for musicians to entertain as well so patrons can enjoy the music! 

Although sharing the exhibit, Sharla and Kat have distinct styles in their art, as you open the door you will see colorful images on white canvas from Kat Torre the series is followed by Sharla's "illusion art", words and photos really don't do the art any justice so I guess you guys will have to see it for yourselves ;) The exhibit will be up in the next two weeks! 

Robinsons Place Opens In Antipolo

I studied in Assumption Antipolo for twelve years and that means going through the same route twice a day, five times a week for twelve years (except for the Summer months of course) and in that daily route was a patch of land filled with trees and plants. When you live in Antipolo and study in Assumption Antipolo for that matter you get used to being surrounded by nature and you treasure it.

So when it was announced that a Robinson's mall was opening and was going to be built on that patch of land I used to pass by every day I was honestly torn, for one I was happy that there was a new mall opening like 15 minutes from our home but on the other hand a mall was taking over a patch of land which has always equated as "nature" to me. 

Having a new mall open means jobs and opportunities for my fellow Antipoleneos so that's another good thing which would probably help me come to terms with the new mall better.

There was much excitement when the Mall finally opened, friends and family who have been there before us and all said the same things: Great Architecture but not much stores. 

Paul and I checked out the mall as soon as we could and we had the same thoughts, the architecture was beautiful, a bit similar to the Robinson's in Tagaytay. I'm glad that they maintained the lush green of the place by having plants outside, it's not just a building they put up, all concrete and no jungle because, well we love that jungle aspect of Antipolo. 

Following the trendy layout of new malls, Robinson's Place Antipolo has outside gardens patrons can enjoy. We haven't been out there so we haven't checked it out yet, will definitely do the next time we pass by the mall. 

Other things we're excited about is the Robinson's Movie World- Yehey! For Movie Buffs like us! Although we weren't so happy about some of the movie posters we say in the cinemas, for geeks like us, looking at pixelated Movie posters is an eye sore. Hopefully whoever is in charge of that gets their act together and quality checks the Movie posters. Sorry but for the Movie buff and the geek in us that's a definite no-no. Still looking forward to our first movie date at the new Robinson's Movie World - will definitely post on that too! 

Casimir's

In our continued effort to feature local restos, Paul and I (along with our family) decided to check out Casimir's-a newly opened BBQ - Grill buffet right outside our village.

Walking distance (if you feel like it) from our house! Although not advisable since you'd be so full, you might get an upset stomach if you walk that much after stuffing yourself full. 

So here's the deal- it's an All You Can Eat; Unlimited BBQ for p188.00 per person. Not bad right? 

Paul and his family often go to buffets, so they pretty much know how to pace themselves to make the most out of the meal. Unlike  "kain ibon" me who should ideally eat small frequent meals because of my hyperacidity. 

The menu featured a variety of Filipino dishes (there was even fried fish and tahong (clams) the speciality being grilled pork and chicken. The flavoring was good enough for you to definitely come back for seconds and thirds even. 

It would probably be a good idea to visit during lunch time when everything is newly grilled. Although the food is refilled when it runs out. 

Alcoholic beverages are served (which is good news for Paul) and the prices are pretty reasonable. P43.00 per bottle of San Miguel Light (considering how some places in Makati serve a bottle of beer for P90.00 a bottle- some even at a P100.00). 

There are bottomless drinks available for P60.00 but 1L bottles of soft drinks are also available for sharing. :) 

If you are bringing a kid along it would be best to check with the staff if they can be free of charge, since kids (up to a certain height) are free. This was almost a source of contention from us since the staff first informed us that Paul's nephew would be for free but then later said he wasn't but in the end agreed to him being for free. If they insisted on charging our nephew then that would have been a big deal breaker for us. 

Casimir's has a nice enough vibe with wooden polished tables, you have the choice to eat inside or enjoy the cool breeze outdoors (it's nice and cool in Antipolo) :) There's also a nice bar set up where you can enjoy your drinks, not sure if you can bring food in though. 

Will definitely be back with friends and maybe my family next time, it's a nice enough buffet place and is definitely a cheaper alternative to other buffet places. There wasn't any dessert available when we dined there and we were asked for our suggestions and I told them it would be nice to have desserts next time. So maybe we'll check those out too. :) 

Kampaii Sushi Bar

So for our 9th Aniversarry, Paul and I had originally planned on attending Blogapalooza (it's the biggest Business to Blogger event with over 500 Bloggers registered) but because of Typhoon Mario the event was cancelled and suddenly Paul and I had our Saturday open with nothing to do. 

Roads were still flooded and impassable Saturday morning so we just decided to stay within the confines of our home on a mountain in order to stay safe and dry from the floods. 

Paul suggested this Japanese Restaurant near our place- like 5 minutes and I thought - hey why not? It was our anniversary and I guess it was about time we stopped eating at Pizza Hut for our anniversaries (did it for the 5th and the 8th) I'm pretty much a creature of habit, especially when it comes to food, I'm not really that adventurous when it comes to trying out new food (I stick to what I know) and for all my love of the Japanese culture, I'm not a big fan of their food. All of my aversion to trying out new food is a cause for great dismay for Paul who is the more adventurous one when it comes to food. 

Kampaii Sushi Bar is in a narrow building, upon entering the restaurant, all the tables were already filled with diners, two tables joined together to accommodate a large family, and a couple in another table. We were ushered to the second floor, which was only used when the first floor was already full. The AAC Units were turned on, the second floor had more tables and also were the Comfort Rooms were. It felt weird staying there, because it didn't really feel like a restaurant since it was just Paul and me there but then a Korean couple also took a table next to us, and the space suddenly started to feel more like a restaurant. 

We ordered their Chicken Teriyaki and Tempura meals. Paul and I both decided to come back and try their sushi and ramen which got good reviews on their social media sites and recommendations from friends. 

I was just a bit disappointed with the staff, specifically our server who can obviously use more training and here's why: I wanted to order the Tempura Bento but was instead served with a Tempura ala carte plate, so I had to order additional rice. 

Paul ordered their lunch set meal, but we weren't informed that the miso soup that came with the meal set was not available. She should have at least told us that before we ordered. 

The dessert that came with the set meal was apples with Cherry Syrup, I didn't expect to like it but it was pretty good! :) 

With my disappointment in their service said and done, I can go ahead and say that I did like their food. The batter in the tempura was good, in the first bite you can already taste the flavors of the batter. Paul's Chicken Teriyaki was pretty good too. 

We loved the presentation and the plates that they used. The ice tea was at least blended, so it's not the usual powdered type. Since it's a Sushi Bar there was a lot of different kinds of cocktails and liquor for sale (much to Paul's satisfaction) he ordered a Rum and Coke (which probably weirded out the staff since we ate at Lunch time) there are probably more patrons who order liquor in the evenings. 

Paul and I have decided to come back for the sushi and ramen and we have now decided to make a conspicuous effort to feature more local businesses. :) 

Pinto Art Gallery

So after our Kampaii SushiBar escapade Paul and I headed to Pinto Art Gallery, another jewel in our hometown of Antipolo, another 10 minute trip from our house. 

Paul has actually been urging me to go to the Gallery with him, I have actually been there years back so I wasn't really jumping on going but since Typhoon Mario foiled our original plans I just went along with Paul's suggestion (we weren't going anywhere with the flood). 

The gallery is inside one of the many villages in Antipolo, there's a small sign outside and enough signs along the way, so you wouldn't get lost. People around the place know where the gallery is so you can easily ask around if ever you do get lost. 

We were surprised when we arrived at the gallery, since there were a lot of parked cars outside, I was actually not expecting that there were going to be a lot of guests. It's either they were probably herded to go here coz of the floods or the Gallery does get a lot of visitors, which is good at least people aren't walking around malls having their money siphoned to consumerism and capitalism. 

The guests were couples like us, some with their smart phones on mono pod sticks for selfies with paintings no doubt and there were also groups of friends who were at the gallery, hanging out by the Cafe- yes, they have a Cafe! More on that later on. 

Pinto Art Gallery is not your typical Gallery, a building or a room with paintings and sculptures, it is on a large property and the artworks are housed in separate buildings, some even having their own structure made specially for them. There's a lot of walking around and climbing up and down stairs so it's best to leave your high heels and skirts at home. Make sure you come in comfortable shoes and clothes.