Coming Up Roses

 FASHION

Haven't done a proper outfit post in a while so I guess it's a sign that we're really back to the daily grind already. One of our first nights out was in Borough for Rosanna's birthday bash.

 P: vintage shirt from Amsterdam, Topman pants and belt, Pedro shoes

 Love the hole-y fabric of this shirt in all its old-school glory. It's a bit scratchy and quite prone to getting loose threads but I couldn't pass it up. I'm pretty sure my dad wore something like this playing tennis decades ago. A great find for only EUR10!

 Found this pair on our last shopping night in Singapore. We were already 23 KILOS OVERWEIGHT but D convinced me to let her buy this for me. Pedro is hit and miss with their pointy and square-toed numbers but they got it right with this one.

 Found the classic school boy look and subtle details (partially brogue and small nail heads at the toe) quite charming. I also liked how the color kind of straddles black and gray.

 D: old rose Primark top, Miss Couture dress, New Look shoes, F21 earrings, Topshop Freedom ring

 Layered this sheer, boxy top on top of an old dress from SM Department Store. Loved the color and shape of it. You can find similar pieces at the Looking for Lola boutique! Shameless plug, I know!

 Also ended up buying this pair from New Look in ION Singapore. Checking in our luggage was hell but I forced the issue and made things even worse with a final pair of clunky shoes. The SingAir man made me take out all the shoes I bought and hand carry them all the way home. I guess that was our punishment for not knowing when to quit! Still, these were too pretty to pass up!

 Rosanna's cockroach ring with my evil eagle ring! We both love our crazy animal rings!

 The ring was part of the accessory loot I scored at half-off from the Topshop Oxford Circus store! They have the absolute best selection of fun jewelry ever!

And here's a parting shot of my crazy friend and partner-in-crime in London! We had a blast with stupid accents, cute boys, and tons of shopping. A very belated birthday shout-out to LittleMissR from P&D! :)

Surf and Turf with Fish & Co.

 When we got back home from our trip, we were a tad bit sad that we were back to eating at the same old places here in Manila. Luckily, the people behind Fish&Co. were kind enough to invite us to preview the launch of their new line of surf and turf dishes.

 It was a pirate-themed affair at Shangri-La Plaza. However, if you want your fill after reading this post, head over to their branches in Trinoma, Greenbelt 3, SM MOA, and Alabang Town Center.

 After a quick and fun treasure hunt game, the table was set for a long and lovely feast.

 Barbados (Marinated pork tenderloin with grilled prawns, served with fresh vegetable wraps and salted fish fried rice)

The prawns were excellent with the soy-based sauce! The salted fish rice was also a hit among the bloggers that evening. The meat was also very well-cooked and not too charred.

 Saint Lucia (tender pork belly ribs, served with crispy egg roll wrapped in screw pine leaf and garlic fried rice)

The egg rolls were especially delicious and we really liked the sweet chilli sauce that came with it.

 Dominica (grilled chicken fillet wrapped in smoked bacon, marinated in olive oil and fresh herbs, served with shrimp pancake and seafood rice)

Perfect for when you're trying to skip the beef and pork but still cheat a bit with some bacon. The star of this dish was the shrimp pancake and surprisingly so. It had a really unique flavor, super fresh and not processed-tasting at all. One of our favorites of the evening!

 Bahamas (luau-style pork tenderloin with grilled pineapple, served with grilled squid salad and island fried rice)

The salad was just okay, it was really the meat that made the dish. The sweetness of the pineapple was perfect. It also actually went well with the barbecue sauce from the Barbados set so see if you can request for that instead.

Montserrat (Stir-fried beef tenderloin with fresh vegetables, served with shrimp tornado and garlic fried rice; choice of sweet chilli or tartar sauce)

The shrimp tornadoes were another one of our favorites for the evening. We recommend the tartar sauce over the chilli sauce with it as well.

It was a lovely dinner at Fish & Co.! They have successfully managed to expand their offerings, without sacrificing their original seafood concept. They're only running the Plates of the Caribbean menu for a limited time so head on over to the branch nearest you to sample their new fare! The servings are perfect for sharing or you can opt to order a solo size if you prefer smaller portions.

DISCLAIMER: Lest you think we're gluttons, dinner was served family-style so we didn't get full servings of each dish. Separate dishes were made for photo purposes only. :)

Lola's New Home

Love vintage?

Looking for Lola just found its new home! Here are some bits and pieces of our little shop!

Accessories and candelabras are up for grabs!

Vintage bags thrown into the mix

More vintage neckties turned into knot headbands!

Batch 1 of our London loot is in store NOW! Only one or two pieces available per design.

Vintage dresses priced at P200 and up. More vintage clothing coming in at the end of the month too!

The second half of our London finds will hit the racks this September so stay tuned for more details! Tons of accessories and clothing from your favorite Brit brands are headed your way.

We’re located at THE THIRD FLOOR.

3/F Rodil Building. #326 Capt. Henry Javier St. Pasig City

(Beside Robinsons Circle. Along the same road as Valle Verde Country and Ultra. It is the peach colored building right across Ministop)

STORE HOURS: 10am to 7pm. Monday to Saturday!

 Bring your friends and sign in our guest book for updates on stock arrivals and other promotions!

See you there!

Finding Le Couer de France

EIFFEL TOWER

Our tour of Paris wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the famed monument along the Rive Gauche. Actually, we ended up going there twice, one for the day time view and another for the light show at night. It's a little cliche and incredibly crowded, but how could we pass up the chance to see what all the key chains, necklace pendants, t-shirt prints, etc. were all about!

A stunning view of the Eiffel Tower against a clear summer sky

We were actually considering queuing for some tickets to go up the tower but when we saw this insane mass of people waiting for a turn, we decided we were perfectly content with the ground level view. 

A ticket to use the lift to the very top costs around EUR12 and a ticket to use the lift to the second floor was around EUR7. If you're particularly fit, you can opt to buy a ticket to take the stairs (704 steps) up to the second floor for only EUR4. Needless to say, the line to that option wasn't very long. One way to beat the crowds is to reserve a table for dinner at Le Jules Verne, a restaurant at the 2nd floor by famous chef Alain Ducasse. However, be prepared to shell out EUR75 or PHP4,600 per person, per meal.

Every seven years, the tower gets a fresh coat of paint that is actually called "Eiffel Tower brown," which is a shade of bronze but actually looks chocolate brown up close.

Here's a view of the tower at night from Jardins du Trocadero, which is directly across it from the Seine. It's even more breathtaking in the evening, set against the rest of Paris' sparkling lights.

We managed to catch the light show which runs at the top of every hour for five minutes. The shot above shows the 20,000 twinkling light bulbs distributed all over the tower. It took 25 mountain climbers 5 months to install all the bulbs!

It was a great (FREE!) way to cap off our month-long date in Europe.

We were joined for the evening by this fellow who seems to be living the life! :)

SACRE COUER

Since we didn't manage to get a sweeping view of the city from the Eiffel Tower, we thought we'd go to the top of Montmartre to visit the Basilique du Sacre-Couer and the famous view of the city.

Luckily, we didn't have to climb all the way up because our metro pass allowed us to use the funicular for free.

That's one long, steep climb we didn't want to take. View after the jump!

Paris Plus

SHOPPING

Of course, Paris can't all be sights and tourist activities, shopping was also on the agenda. Our first major stop  was the vaunted Galeries Lafayette in the Opera district. And wouldn't you know it, we were just in time for their big summer sale! Galeries Lafayette is probably one of the most beautiful malls we've ever seen. Check out the stunning interiors!

None of our strip malls hold a candle to the charm of this shopping mecca!

Heaven for make-up junkies!

Shoes, shoes, and more shoes. Pick your poison!
D: I nearly fainted when I saw the brand listing on this mirrored wall!

Loved the enormous space teeming with shoes of every shape, size, and color!

Huge discounts on everything! I love it when stores don't scrimp on their markdowns! Everything from Marc Jacobs to Fendi and more were heavily discounted and you could claim tax rebates at the airport as well! I wanted to take more photos but I was already getting warning looks from the SAs so this is the extent of my shoe shots. :(

Love the styling on these mannequins! The purple Tara Jarmon jacket is adorable.

Stolen shot at one of the two Pierre Herme stores in the building, right before the lady snapped at us whoops. They really have the most interesting flavors (i.e. olive oil and vanilla, asparagus, etc).

Quick outfit details: Topshop tiger tank, SM white paperbag shorts, Topshop tights

P: D's haul. Of course, she insisted on carrying her precious cargo around.
D: Let's not forget that I also lugged those two paper bags of macaroons for our families across the globe and through three airports so I think I deserve some snaps! What's in the red paper bag?

 My tortoise-shell Dsquareds that I promise to love forever! After a bit of retail therapy, P decided it was time for us to get some culture and so off to the Louvre we went!

LOUVRE

The immensely crowded Louvre Museum. We thought the crowds would have cleared a bit because we came at the eleventh hour but obviously that wasn't the case. The museum looked like it was under siege!

The little painting everyone came to see, shot over plenty of heads and after some shoving. Everyone seemed to be in awe of the famous lady with the famous smile.

Venus di Milo

P: Found that the sculptures piqued my interest most, plus there were less tourists to contend with.

P: BKK shirt, FH denim shorts, Zara chukkas

Dressed for a sunny day in Paris.

 They say that even if you spent a whole week here you wouldn't be able to see all the exhibits so we were satisfied with the key exhibits that we got to visit.

We ended our quick tour of the Louvre with a view of the lovely courtyard outside.

After the Louvre, we did as many people suggested and visited the famous Angelina for an afternoon snack.

The incredibly rich hot chocolate "l'Africain". There's no going back from here if you're a hot chocolate lover. Spot the dollop of fresh whipped cream on the side too.

It was a little too hot for a cup of hot chocolate but you'll soon forget once you start sipping from your cup!

The Mont Blanc, a house specialty and delectably sweet. It's a soft meringue pastry topped with cream and chestnut puree. This was unlike any other pastry we've ever tried! The chestnut puree was such a great flavor!

We capped off the evening with a light dinner at Bistrot Papillon, down the street from our hotel. The magazines by the front tell us that this is one of Paris' top restaurants and we wouldn't disagree.

Started off with the prawn skewers and rice. This dish was super fresh and delicious. The rice was very flavorful on its own and had a very nice texture!

Magret de canard with roasted peach and mashed potatoes. I'm certain this is the best duck breast I've tasted. It's better than most steaks I've tried and I like my meat. The roasted peach it's paired with gave the lightly salted duck a perfect touch of sweetness.
 Day 2 showcased everything Paris had to offer! Definitely one for the books!