Teaching Giselle

Novel Illustrations

2008-05-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Since I have only two readers, I can address every email unlike Gorrell and Bryan Boy who get thousands of comments. Why--I don't even have control over this blog because it's a practice blog since I am so un-techy I have to practice on some other blog before going 'official.."

MAY-BE..one day.

Cyclone trading has suggested that I put cartoons in my next book. I have thought of that and do plan to do drawings hopefully by chapter--have to look at cost.

Meanwhile, before I leave for 3 weeks which probably means no posts....Three weeks is an eternity...

My HK hoppers have told me that WP, the former WPH and some Pinoy friends were at Kee Club on Friday night. As usual, outfitted in a fashion catastrophe which we don't need to know about.

Why are members of the GGang visiting HK this week? DJ was at the Landmark Mandarin with 'another male friend' (sino ang ni-loko niya?) --he paid cash for his bill.

Well, ah is leavin' today so I guess I won't be reporting Christina Vergel sightings.

Just in from the waves

2008-04-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

A little hopper SMSed me today saying that The Yoyo's sister...(the Yaya???--- who married into the Flipping joint family) threatened Magic 89.9 TWICE with a libel lawsuit.

I always wonder about why people have to do things TWICE---Mo and Mojo were threatened with death TWICE. Now Magic is threatened with libel TWICE. Why do people have to do things in twos when they can just make ONE call (cheaper) or better yet, as Nike said, "Just Do It!"

Do they think people are so stupid that they didn't get the message the first time?

Gorrell and I came on TV Patrol ONCE okay, and we got our message across.

Why do these people have to do things twice?
When we find out why SMSs from the Philippines are always sent twice, we will find out why people threaten death and libel twice...

But THEN---I wonder, if they had all these threats TWICE--how come nuttin' has happened?

An alternative to haute couture

2008-04-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Before we get into the discussion of beautiful kimonos, Lance L. posted a comment asking me how my religious encounters with Ate Vi and viral encounters with Gloria Arroya happened and if they were TRUE! Tsk tsk tsk..How little faith you have in me, Lance L. (speaking of Lancel, I was at their press preview yesterday and they are planning to revitalize the line but that's another story...) --hahahaha!!

I got the job of carrying Ate Vi's clothes and shoes and collecting her sampaguita and Santo Ninos from fans as an internship in my last year at university. It was a great job and I also worked for Dolphy. But the best was with Tito, Vic and Joey and Redford White the albino who never could remember his lines even if he was reading them!!

When I interviewed Gloria Arroyo at Malacanang, she served us (me, another female reporter from the Toronto Star and some sipsip Pinoy-American radio announcer) Tang and tuna snadwiches which REALLY gave me the runs!!

I don't know if that happened because the tuna was bad or I was nervous because I had gone to see Erap the day before at Veterans and I was feeling REALLY guilty! (FYI: FPJ and Kuya Germs were ahead of me in the queue).

I can talk about it now because obviously, I wasn't arrested and Erap is now out of jail. It was the first interview Erap gave in jail and he gave it to moi (in Diane von Furstenberg, of course) for the Financial Times Weekend.

I have to say, Erap had 1000x better food than Malacanang. We had something like a paella sent by a fan in Nueva Ecija and loads of other food from Chinese takeout to cup of noodles. He asked me if I wanted a Coke so I said yes and Erap goes, "Hindi diet ha kasi ang payat payat mo na!"

And now more on the beauty of Japan. There happened to be a kimono fair at the Okura (http://www.okura.com/) where I was staying. It is an old hotel, probably the first luxury hotel in Tokyo and, although not hip and happening, is highly recommended by fashion types like Yohji. I hate hip hotels because the staff always look better than you and they never have good service.

ANYWAY--Being curious about everything except Vegas, darts and camping, I had to walk into this fair even if I wasn't a customer. WOW!! May GAWD--first, none of the salepeople there were under 100 yrs old and there was probably nothing there under 5000USD--for an obi.

Luckily, I saw the sole customer, a 20 yr old girl, in a fair inside a ballroom. So you can imagine how quiet it was because already, if the Japanese subways are as quiet as some libraries, this was like a tomb with no one to talk to, not even the dead.

This kid was trying on a 20,000 USD kimono. That's just for the kimono without obi, underwear, socks, shoes and tiny handbag. The starting cost of an haute couture dress is about 30,000 euros so a kimono is a VERY close second. 20,000 was an 'average' price because I saw some that were 100s of 1000s. So you see, this is another case of many zeroes not even in yen!

The kid told me she was buying it for her 'coming out party' but she 'will also be able to use it for graduation, other people's weddings and maybe her own and Japanese formal affairs 'outside the country." So you see, she is actuially getting a lot of use out of this kimono!!

I mentioned to the mother that the kimono was 'very expensive." Clutching her forest green Kelly, she rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, but have to buy..." Ah--of course!!!

Being Japan, one MUST close with quaint Japanese English. These are signs I saw at Tsutaya music and video store. There was a sign for 'Black Music" featuring Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson and Beyonce but I didn't take it.

Still, here you have the newest genres, "Movies with the surprising last" and 'Girls only." So what happens if you are watching with a guy or a ghey??? You ask them leave and go shopping??

Wonder where would those be categorized in Tower records or HMV?? And "Black Music"--how will that go in downtown LA?

Can't leave home without it...

2008-04-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

ONE LAST rumor to post before I leave Mt Olympus....

There are unconfirmed rumours in Iloilo that C Vergel de Dios is suing her parents for her share of inheritance. (A certain--not mine, okay?) blog has put a lot of pressure in relationships within the family....

(But hey--I feel for her because my aunt from Cebu also accused me of doing that years ago but I got nuttin' out of that deal. Take note, boys and girls. ACCUSED, ho-kay?)
Why is it all these wierd people come 'from the province/"--Cebu, Iloilo, Tarlac, etc.. Is there nothing to do there?

She--CVD not my aunt-- did have a bag sale (her old bags Prada LV etc) at the 'ancestral home' before she left for London.She said it was for her fare to Europe.

(Well I'm going to London, New York and Los Angeles next month. Maybe I should have a bag sale, too!! )

O--shiya--baboosh nalang until next time. Hopefully I'll be able to continue talking about Japan. You should see this 20,000 USD kimono. At least for that, I have photos.

Vigilante Journalism

2008-04-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.davidcnugent.com/

MASSIVE FRAUD BY DAVID S.C. NUGENT, VP & CORP. GOVERNANCE OFFICER REVEALED
http://www.davidcnugent.com/
THE TRUTH ABOUT DAVID SCOTT CASES NUGENT,Â LIED SINCE 2001 ABOUT AGE, EDUCATION, DATE OF BIRTH & LINEAGE, CONNING MVP, ETC.

I am so lovin' this vigilante journalism introduced to Philppine gossips/media/society by Brian Gorrell. The above link was sent to me by another brilliant blogger B also... (should I give your name out? because baka mag-complain na naman yung mga KJ diyan!)

Now everyone can be a reporter!!

Speaking of Js, da DJ is in HK!! He has a 10:30 am appointment at the Landmark Mandarin (LMO) Spa for a one hour massage which he paid for in cash. Perhaps someone else's cash?? I'm usually at the LMO at that time practicing yoga but today I have deadlines and shouldn't even be wasting time gossiping on the internet. But this is my break from writing about the history of beer....

Tokyo Midtown

2008-04-23T04:35:00.001-07:00

This is the much talked about Tokyo Midtown with the offices of Xerox (or was it Fuji??), a drop dead gorgeous food court to end even the food Court of St James and of course the grand loos you saw in the previous post. But get this---you can have a HUGE Starbucks, TWO Dean and de Luca's 20 steps from each other (I dont think they have that many in NYC) but ya can't have a multi-use building with a RADIO STATION!!

The last photo is their smoking room...not some glass enclosed room with a floor covered with fag butts but a real room with a view and a inspired/quasi-Isamu Noguchi lamp...Actually, I thought of taking up smoking just to be able to stand in there....

(Midtown has a shop called Restir with their own DJ which was too cool and too dark for my taste and my camera... Part of the ground floor is devoted to Roger Vivier COUTURE! Clue: In this shop, the RV ready-to-wear shoes start at about 1000 USD so you can --or can't --imagine how much a couture pair will cost you. Massaro, which makes shoes for Chanel Haute Couture starts at about 4000 euros. YOU do the math. Even if it is not quoted in yen, there will still be many zeros.)

Don't we just lurve Japan- Take 2

2008-04-23T04:30:00.001-07:00

Okay that previous post had the wrong photo. The copy to accompany that photo should have read...Only in Tokyo will you find the entrance to the bathrooms worthy of the Grand Hyatt.

I was supposed to use these. Look at the musical note--that's the flushing sound with volume control. I don't have children but don't you hate it when your kid is running around a tiny stall while you try to take a leak? The Japanese solution? Strap them to a high chair!!

Don't we just lurve Japan!!!

2008-04-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

Since I spent half of my time on this trip at the onsens (baths), this is not going to be a tourist guide to Tokyo. If you are looking for that, go buy the Tokyo Luxe guide or Lonely Planet. The onsens are another story and I caouldn't take pictures because a) it is not allowed and b) it is full of naked bodies which are NOT of Hollywood standard. For those, you go to Beverly Hot Springs in Korea town in downtown Los Angeles. Although in Japan, it is a big social thing for men and women to go to the onsen separately, for us in the world of no imagination, the onsen is a place where you would rather no one knows your name and especially your body type!

This is not going to be about the wierd and wonderful although I have to include their charming toilets where not only heating and bidets are standard (as in malls and restaurants) but they have a flushing sound that you can turn onwhen you want to drown tinkling sound of your peeing. At least that's what I THINK! I could be wrong.

The Philippine press is not truly free

2008-03-26T01:36:00.001-07:00

Today I was going to comment on entrepreneur Luke Johnson's (former owner of the Ivy) column in the Financial Times on the UK service industry. I was also going to throw in some news on Orla Kiely's second HK boutique on Wellington Street in Central. But NNNHHOO...!!!! Those will have to wait until tomorrow if I'm still here.

Something has come up that SCREAMS for more attention. In fact, it's beggin' for it!!

And it only shows how truly hog-tied the local online media is.

No wonder self-respecting internet companies never set up shop in the Philippines!!!

Boy am I glad to live in HK, land of Edison Chen and Wendy Hotung photos.

Read this very disheartening entry on the Brian Gorrell vs DJ Montano blog:

http://www.yugatech.com/blog/blogosphere/the-brian-gorrell-story-on-media-in-focus/

The best (or worst part) follows---tahh-dahh!!!
The rules were probably rubber-stamped (low tech hindi pa barcode!) by censors and lawmakers who still type on a Corona.

Here’s what could get bloggers into trouble if they’re covering the issue.
Publicly mentioning names of people being exposed in the blog.
Posting pictures of the people being named by Brian Gorrell in his blog.
Publishing the URL of the blog or linking to the blog.
Quoting a libelous sentence on the blog or re-publishing/summarizing allegations thereof.

If I am not mistaken, there is also a rule in the Philippines (and the world) that as long as someone is a public figure, they should be open to media criticism. This may not apply to royalty who are born in captivity and have no choice but to be 'royal' or 'public." Exhibit A: Princess Caroline's case for privacy vs a magazine in France where she won.

The people mentioned in Brian Gorrell's blog are all public figures as far as I'm concerned. They have TV shows, commercials, columns, etc. There is no way they can be called private citizens. Also, they are SO beggin' for publicity!

I have worked in Philippine media and believe me, you can't report anything beyond the latest whitening skin cream. Political criticism, you will either be a) jailed, b) killed or c) paid off. Personally, I prefer choice C.

Local showbiz heckling, you'll either a) get a warning from your publisher who got a complaint from the star's manager, b) you'll be banned from showbiz affairs or c) you'll be fired. Hmmm. that's a tough one. Can't think if I can live with either b) or c).

Like one of my HK media friends said, "It's better to be back-stabbed by Ming Pao or Richard Johnson at the NY Post than by the biggest network in the Philippines. At least you've been backstabbed by REAL MEDIA PLAYERS."

Anyway, if I have to see you kids in jail, I'm bringing the Fortnum and Mason picnic hampers.

all good things come to an end

2008-03-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

www.delfindjmontano.blogspot.com

I have a bad feeling the DJblog is going to end in tears. Or apathy.
Obviously Brian Gorrell will not get his money.

I really wish Gorrell charged us at least a dollar weeks ago to view the site. By now, he would have cashed in and more--money back, vengeance via blog, publicity. I wish I got to do it!!
This should be a case study for a media course--what to do, what he did wrong and right, press management, etc..

But I don't know how he feels and where he is taking his blog.

Like many people, I am secretly hoping the blog will bring everyone down--the Gucci Gang and DJ, the Star, Celine's family...but it is highly unlikely.
(Whaddap with that Pep.com PR piece on Tim Yap.?What is the point of putting out a piece like that when the guy has already lost all credibility? Baka Summit nalang ang cliente niya. ...X-deal pa!)
But who knows!! Life is full of surprises and so much better than fiction.

Who knew this blog would come up and light up our gossip-starved lives like Soozy Hopper's did?
Soozy lasted 2 weeks and quit at its peak. I cried for a day when it closed.

I give Gorrell until the end of this month unless he knows a lot MORE than what he has posted. He's going to have to go through all their friends.

Wouldn't that be great?

I think I better start saving CDROMs

2008-03-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

Fendi chocolates served on the bus from Great The swag incl black cashmere shawl
Wall. and logo-ed handwarmers wc I

didn't save.

what are we doing??

2008-03-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

HEY BRYAN BOY!! Thank you for this practice blog. I'm so proud of myself for posting a photo on my own!

What is the hyperlink function next to the T?