Maker’s Market

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The week after our first bazaar, we joined another one! This is Maker’s Market at Century City Mall Makati. We were located on the fourth floor this time. And instead of 3, Hannah finally joined us! So the members of January Makers PH who joined were:  Jean (owner of seamountainco), Monique (food illustrator), Hannah (various illustrator), and I (floral illustrator). ♥

Table Set up! ♥

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Another bazaar meant new challenges. Since we were located on the fourth floor open area, we had to take extra care of our products in case it got windy. It was a good thing that we got tape.

The first day table set-up. ♥

I didn’t get to take much photos during the event. But our social media feed were updated. HAHA. Here are some of our posts:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU31D8zAo2H/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU5zwhmgM0O/

The last night.

We were in between beadsmustbecrazy, handmade by zaza, and Nifty store PH. Some of the sellers from the previous bazaar were also present here. My professor’s booth – Ubots were located at the ground floor. I also introduced my friends to madebykca‘s semi precious stone jewelry.

Thankful. ♥

Overall, this one was more tiring and challenging. We still had a lot of fun though. We also learned a lot here through experience and advice from fellow bazaar peeps. ♥ For now, the January Makers will take a break to replenish stocks & create more art for future bazaars.

As for me, I have to go back to the interior design world for a while. HUHU. I hope I could still squeeze some time to make more art.

Please follow January Makers PH on Instagram & Facebook. Thank you! ♥

Gawang Kamay PH @ UP Town Center

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The January Girls PH had our first bazaar at Gawang Kamay PH! This has kept me busy for the last few days that I didn’t get to finish the 9th anniversary posts on time. Jean (owner of seamountainco), Monique (food illustrator), and I (floral illustrator) were the only members of the January Girls present who sold our items. I think we did a good job!

Our 1st table set up. ♥

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The bazaar was located at the far end of UP Town Center, at the building with the cinema. Due to miscommunication, we started setting up on Day 2 of the event. We were located near the stage area, so I’m sorry for the blueish colors of the photos. I did try to tweak them in Photoshop though.

Day 1 table set up. ♥ These are my postcards, stickers, and original art!

These are my sticker sets: Rainy Set, Sunny Set 1, Sunny Set 2. ♥ They’re all Cut-it-yourself sticker packs.

My mini stickers. I cut them all myself! It was weirdly relaxing cutting all around the sunflower petals.

On the left side is Monique’s food stickers, postcards, and art prints. ♥ I super love her chichirya set!

On the right side is seamountainco! I bought her Purple Ochre color to add to my seamountainco set. ♥

The stage with the strong blue lights & loud club music. HAHA.

Our “rushed” logo HAHA. Floral wreath is mine. The pretty girl was created by Jean. ♥

 

Overall, it was a really good experience. We learned a lot of things for the next bazaar. We also met a lot of people. I’d like to thank my friends & family who went and supported our event. ♥ Fellow January Girls member Hannah (naks) who went during the 2nd day & helped us with our table.

We decided to change our name to January Makers PH after this bazaar. HAHA. So it would look more professional. Anyway, the next bazaar we applied to was Maker’s Market! Which will be my next post.

Please follow January Makers PH on Instagram & Facebook. Thank you! ♥

The 9th – Seda

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For the last entry of our 9th anniversary staycation , we stayed at Seda – Vertis North. Our anniversary blog posts took 3 weeks to blog about, I’ll tell why on the next blog post.  On our last day at City Garden Grand hotel, we didn’t want to go home yet. So we looked for hotel deals online. One of our friends commented that Seda was already open (since April 2017) and they currently have an introductory price for an overnight stay. So we booked the Deluxe room with 2 free breakfast buffet for 4,665 php.

The spacious reception area. ♥

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From City Garden Grand Hotel, we booked an Uber to Glorietta 5 instead of going straight to Vertis North. It costs around 300+ for an uber ride from Makati to Quezon City that time. So we tried the P2P Bus at Glorietta 5 that will drop us off at Trinoma. Its my first time riding a double decker bus, and it was exhilarating! From Trinoma, well, we walked all the way to Seda.

Another view.

Lighting fixture.

The lounge at night.

An Ann Pamintuan piece near the stairs.

The lounge at the left side of the reception area.

Kenneth Cobonpue’s Bloom chairs! ♥ My favorite!

Check-in was a breeze. Our deluxe room was located on the 5th floor. Here’s how it looks like:

King-size bed. ♥

Lamp was not adjustable huhu.

Another view. ♥

Since we didn’t get to swim at City Garden Grand hotel, we took the opportunity here at Seda. The pool is located on the 3rd floor. The gym was also open but we didn’t try that. The other amenities on the 3rd floor were still under construction. I love the furniture here!

The pool was only 4 feet though. But the view makes up for it. We had clear skies that day and you could see the quezon city buildings. ♥ For dinner, we tried out the food at the ASEAN Food Festival at the parking area of Vertis North. The said mall is still under construction though.

Vito Selma’s Cara-boo. ♥

Obviously.

The next day, we had breakfast at Misto, their in-house restaurant. I love the interiors here, especially the abstract artworks! I wonder who is the artist. I also love their service staff. ♥ They were welcoming and accommodating. The breakfast buffet consists of the following: antipasti, bread station, egg station, noodle station, various local and international viands, desserts, cereals, and juice.

Middle plate: Various longganisa, croissant, and hakaw.

Inggo’s plate: antipasti, cheese, and bread.

Mine: antipasti, bread with blueberry (my favorite!), and scrambled eggs.

I knew we had more food but I forgot to take photos of that. After our breakfast, we relaxed in our room while waiting for our check-out time.

Yes let’s ride again the Cara-boo.

We had a great stay here. Interiors were beautiful, using local furniture designers for most of items in the hotel. We had a broken electric kettle inside our room and they quickly replaced it for us. One problem that we experienced was that there wasn’t any shuttle service to and from Trinoma. We had to walk all the way there to shop. But I think this is only temporary since the Vertis North will open soon. And there’s Uber for the lazy.

And that’s it for our 9th anniversary post. ♥ Thank you to Inggo for everything huhu. I love you!

The 9th – Hole in the Wall

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For dinner on our second day, we decided to try out Century City Mall’s “food hall“. This is Hole in the Wall on the fourth floor. It consists of various food establishments inside a common dining area.

One of the dining areas during our visit.

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Where we sat during dinner time.

For dinner, we decided to eat at the most popular store there which was Bad Bird. They specialize in chicken. Apparently they won numerous awards in the Philippines.

My Dirty Rice Plate (390 php). Dirty rice (fried rice, chicken liver, bacon, tamago, and bonito), kimchi coleslaw, and 2 pcs fried chicken.

Inggo’s Waffle Plate (360 php). Sweet potato waffles, miso butter, maple syrup, and 2 pcs friend chicken. The 2pcs small balls are hush puppies (+ php)

BB Corn (190 php). Corn on a stick with kewpie, bonito, cheese, and toragashi.

Verdict? We understood why this restaurant is popular with the crowd. But for us, personally, we didn’t like it. We thought it was too expensive for the food. But maybe this is the “normal” price for the Makati crowd. I dunno.

This is just one out of 9 establishments inside Hole in the Wall. I hope we could try the other restaurants when we’re near the area next time.

The 9th – Le Petit Soufflé

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On the first day of our 9th anniversary staycation, we discovered that Century City Mall is only a 5-minute walk away from our hotel. On the second day, we decided to try out the interesting restaurants there. ♥ Based on online reviews, Le Petit Soufflé is the #1 restaurant in Century City Mall.

Pretty interiors.♥

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If I were to describe the interiors, it would be french chic. I love their furniture. ♥

Our drinks: Iced Matcha Latte (130 php) & Hot Matcha tea (100 php). No strong matcha flavor, huhu.

Kinoko Frites (235 php). These are fried enoki and another mushroom. I loved these! But so expensive.

Hambagu with truffled cream & mushrooms. (595 php). This is Inggo’s dish. He craved for Jolibee’s burger steak after eating this.

My dish: Squid Ink Riz (395 php). This took a while. Its a small, but filling dish. I love the fluffy egg & squid ink rice.

Matcha souffle with vanilla syrup (350 php). Expensive! But worth a try. We loved the crispy edges instead of the fluffy insides.

Facade design. So cute huhu.

Verdict? Its worth a try. Not sure if we’ll come back though.

Le Petit Soufflé is located on the Third floor of Century City Mall.

The 9th – Little Tokyo

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For our first dinner during our 9th anniversary staycation at Makati, we wanted to try the Wagyu cube buffet at Little Tokyo. This place features a group of restaurants which specializes in Japanese cuisine. We’ve been here a lot of times before (check out our old food blog!). But we didn’t get to try the wagyu buffet at Urameshi-ya before since they only offer this during Monday to Wednesday. But this time, we did!

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We walked from our hotel to Little Tokyo instead of taking an uber. The surge was insanely high for the distance. Well, at least walking was healthier (but tiring).

The “buffet” at Urameshi-ya is worth 500php + 10% service charge. We got wagyu cubes, wagyu spam, marinated pork belly, and some scallops. You have 45 mins to cook everything you ordered. But you can still stay after the 45min. mark to eat your food. The buffet comes with miso soup, salad, and rice.

The server gave us a plate of wagyu cubes. ♥

HUGE scallops! ♥

Sadly, there wasn’t any crabs/oyster/shrimp during our stay compared to the other review blogs. But since we went here for the wagyu cubes, we didn’t mind. The wagyu cubes were delicious! Service was great as well. Our server helped us cook the scallops. (Tip: you don’t have to remove the shell!)

Satisfied with Urameshi-ya, we went to their neighbor restaurant Hana for dessert: We always order the Matcha Kakigori + additional icecream here!

After our Little Tokyo adventure, we got an uber and went back to our hotel. ♥

The 9th – City Garden Grand Hotel

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We celebrated our 9th year anniversary this May! ♥ Instead of going far away this year, we opted for a staycation instead in Metro Manila. I’ve decided to divide the posts into smaller parts. For the first entry is our hotel! We checked in at City Garden Grand hotel for 3 days and nights. I would like to note that this is the City Garden Grand Hotel. They have a sister hotel which is just nearby.

Reception area.

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Check-in was a breeze. You need to present your ID and pay a security deposit at the reception. Then you’ll receive your room card. We got the Superior King Bed room on the 29th floor.

Lobby.

Ceiling details. Love the 3 huge capiz chandelier!

I love our room!  ♥ The bed and pillows were so comfy. Both side tables have equal numbers of power outlets, switches, and telephones compared to others. Wifi was also free (up to 3 devices I think). It has a sophisticated feel to the interiors through the use of dark & neutral tones, accentuated by the use of lights.

Our king size bed with the comfiest pillows. ♥

Bathroom.

Bath tub : the #1 reason that we chose this hotel.

Left: View from our room ♥ | Right: Trump tower! (I did some of the interior plans in my previous job)

For our last day, we had breakfast at Spice Cafe on the 7th floor. You could go ala carte or do the breakfast buffet worth ~800php.

Sadly, the only photos that I took were below. I was too shy to take photos of the others because there were a lot of foreigners that morning HAHA. The breakfast buffet consists of the following: Bread station, fruit station, cheese, chocolate fountain, cereals and yogurt, salad bar, noodle station, egg station, maki station, viands from the Philippines and different countries.

I was satisfied of the buffet because of the bread station with blueberry jam. ♥ He was satisfied because of the unlimited olives & bacon. Service was very nice.

Overall, our staycation was great! No complaints on the room except for the aircon (which took a while to cool, but apparently they replied at our review on Agoda & said aircon was repaired). The hotel was nearby Century City Mall and other food establishments which was a plus for us. If we had a bigger budget, I’d like to try the Presidential Suite next time.  ♥

City Garden Grand hotel website.

Aside from sunflowers

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I’ve been trying to diversify my knowledge of floral watercolor aside from sunflowers. Though its not my favorite flower, I always paint this due to the reason that I think its the easiest HAHA. I noticed that some of the more popular flowers are peonies, roses, and other flowers with complicated petals. I did attempt to paint those like these examples:

Found in a previous post.

But impatience got the better of me. Sigh! And I think asides from that, I need to really take time to sketch instead of making squiggly lines. One of my former office mates just suggested that I’d let my IG friends guess the flower, and so I did with this artwork:

This is a peony. ♥

Recently, I’ve asked people from Instagram for suggestions on what I should paint. Here are some of those that I finished:

The CBTL Table. ♥

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Poppies as requested by Frances.

Bar area. ♥

Stargazer Lily as requested by Claircolors.

Asphodelus as requested by Sydney (my cousin).

Couldn’t help painting bouquets!

Carnation is my favorite flower ♥.

Last week’s #MondaysMadeBetter (finally went on a Monday HAHA) art tambay was composed of my cousin & I, plus a random Hannah appeared. During our art session, there was this little girl who was looking at us painting. So I invited her to paint with us! I taught her how to paint my favorite sunflowers. After that, I asked her “What flower do you want to draw next?”. She replied with “Roses”. Eeep.

 That’s one of the reasons why I want to learn more flowers. So I could teach people the simplest way to draw realistic flowers (instead of combined rose macaronis).  They were challenging, but they taught me a valuable lesson: being patient!

Here’s to more floral diversity. HAHA. ♥

Tuesdays made better

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Sydney and I went to the newly opened CBTL branch at Banawe last week. I was supposed to blog about this on Monday to mimic the current hashtag of CBTL Philippines. But we went there last Tuesday so might as well make a parody of it lol. I love the place! It gave ample sunlight that brightened the interior, which in turn made our watercolor session easy.

My Hydrangea postcard that I gave to the baristas. ♥

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I painted sunflowers that day. ♥

Sunflower cone & sunflower stems. ♥

I’ve been thinking of organizing an Art Tambay session for the North peeps. Any suggestions on coffee shops / cafes? 🙂

Birthday Month

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April is my birthday month. ♥ I did a lot of things recently. Let me photoblog them below:

Art Tambays with my cousin. ♥ This is 90% seamountainco colors! The green is from Winsor & Newton Cotman.

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Art in the Park weekend with Hannah, Ruth, Jean & Monique. ♥ This is my artwork during our stay at CBTL. The color I used for the hair is #Jeandigo.

2nd painting from Art in the Park. I was explaining to Ruth that I suck at other flowers (as shown here LOL). I must improve!

Inggo had some leftover photo paper. I printed these as postcard samples but the paper was too slim. They look nice, don’t you think ? ♥

Days after my birthday. I met up with Hannah at Serenitea. ♥

I’ll never tease Hannah about her androgynous drawings ever again! I tried painting a guy this time. It was so hard!

More floral practice. ♥ Left: Hydrangea that I tried to be detailed but got lazy LOL. | Right: I just let my IG friends guess what flower this is. The reference is a peony though!

Left: A gerbera painting that is “too light”. | Right: This is a “rose”. I liked the way the leaves look though!

Some paintings I did at a cafe nearby Inggo’s place. ♥ This is at Fecha de Cafe, Kamias.

This isn’t even 50% of what I did for April. (But these were the art related stuff). I availed every birthday promo that I knew of during my birthday. We tasted different cuisines at Madrid Fusion Manila & had a fantastic dinner at Izakaya Kikufuji, Little Tokyo. Did a lot of sketches during Holy week.

The January Girls are currently preparing something exciting. ♥ I can’t wait to blog more about it!