Buying a Mattress for your Bed

I am a fan of sleeping. If there was one thing I wouldn't skimp on, it's a good mattress and good bedding. After all, what they say is true, you spend about 25 years sleeping. My husband and I took a long time finding our first mattress together. I was clueless about mattresses then, so the mattress we chose eventually was the exact mattress we tried in a hotel while we were on vacation. That was about 8 years ago and the bed was one size smaller than the king we have now. That mattress served us well. We had to buy a new one when we moved. Armed with a little bit of mattress knowledge, we picked our king-sized mattress and so far, we have no qualms about it. See how thick it is? It has a pillow-top!

Sure, mattresses in the Philippines can be very inexpensive and sizes can be customized too. But, please go for the experts like Dunlopillo. Your body will thank you in the long run.

If you're currently shopping for a mattess, there's actually a Dunlopillo mattress sale that's starting tomorrow at BGC. Why not stop by and check it out? You're welcome.

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Ital Design Offers Dunlopillo Mattresses at Special Prices in Celebration of Its New Showroom 

In line with the launch of the newly renovated showroom at MC Home Depot in Bonifacio Global City, Ital Design will be providing special prices for its premium Dunlopillo mattresses from July 16-19, 2015.

This generous gesture celebrates their one of a kind luxurious showroom, innovated to enable customers to imagine the possibilities that the mattresses and furniture hold. Ten uniquely decorated vignettes in styles appealing to every type of customer feature the Dunlopillo mattresses, which are highlighted in every display. Whether you’re a bachelor, a student, or a mother of five, Ital Design and Dunlopillo have furniture pieces and sleeping solutions for your personal haven in store.

What can customers expect from visiting the new showroom? An introductory discount for Dunlopillo’s new model mattress Elena, which will be sold at the special price of 50% off. All-time favorite mattresses Romero Premium and Firmest Luxe will also be included at reduced prices. With premium goods at reasonable prices, those who are looking to decorate and furnish their homes certainly have every reason to visit the new Ital Design showroom.

Dunlopillo is also available at the Libis Showroom, the Edsa-Cubao Showroom, MC Home Depot in Bonifacio Global City, MC Home Depot in Pasig, Ayala Center Cebu, and Abreeza Mall Davao. Follow Ital Design on Facebook and on Instagram through @italdesignph.

Current Outlets:

Libis Showroom 
T: 912.4494/ 911.1672 /F: 912.3339 
Add: Acropolis Commercial Area, 
#16 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave.,
Libis, Quezon City Philippines 1110

Edsa - Cubao Showroom 
Telefax: 913.1975/913.1072 
Add: No. 156 EDSA, 
Brgy. Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City 

MC Home Depot – Fort BGC 
Telefax: 815 .6217/ 815.6218 
Add: 32nd St. cor. Bonifacio Blvd., 
Global City, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City 

 MC Home Depot—Pasig 
Telefax: 633.4023/634.6556 
Add: 168 Ortigas corner Meralco Avenue, 
Ortigas Center, Pasig City 

Ayala Center Cebu 
T: <032>345.1378 
Add: L315 Level 3, Ayala Center 
Cebu Business Park, Cebu City 

Abreeza Mall Davao 
T:<082> 295.9876 
Add: Unit 3115 - 3116 Level 3 Abreeza Mall, 
JP Laurel Ave. Davao City

Spending My Saturday at an Art Gallery

How often can you say that in just one morning, you got to view the gist of Philippine history inside one gallery? I was fortunate enough to do just that. Inside the Gateway Tower in Araneta Center, there is this huge art gallery housing about 30 large-scale paintings, made by UP alumni artists. The exhibit features the sequential artwork of how the Philippines came to be as it is now. 

The project was 5 years in the making, and the exhibit is the outcome of extraordinary hard work and successful collaboration, and of course, immeasurable talent. 

Galleon Trade by Jonahmar Salvosa was one of my favorite pieces. His interpretation of the Galleon Trade is so colorful and dreamy. In Philippine history, galleons are these big ships that bring goods to and from Manila. The Galleon Trade was a means of income for the Spaniards in the Philippines. They trade silk and other Chinese goods in Mexico.

Another one of my favorites is Celebration by Romy Carlos. It depicts the fiestas, or celebrations of thanksgiving, happening all over the country. They usually are held in honor of a town's patron saint, hence the different religious characters. What I love about this painting is its composition and flow. There is an abundance of information about fiestas without being too cluttered.

Sining Saysay

The Gateway Gallery

5/F Gateway Tower Mall, Araneta Center, 

Cubao, Quezon City

(Hours: 11am - 7pm)

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Philippine history lessons in 30 grand visions

            In this age of Instagram and Twitter, quick short bites of communiqué are the norm. It can be a statement of fact or the start of a meaningful discussion.  SININGSAYSAY:  Philippine History in Art achieves both.  The art exhibit of 30 large-scale paintings covering pre-historic Philippines to modern times should serve as a must for every student and observer of the country’s life and times.

            A joint project of the University of the Philippines (UP), the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) and the Araneta Center, the exhibit is open free to the public every day at the Gateway Gallery. Students from elementary and secondary schools are set to tour the exhibit with expert guidance from teachers and historians. For the young and old experiencing history through these murals, it promises to be a pleasurable walk.

From the petroglyphs discovered in Angono, Rizal to a depiction of our Austronesian roots and Philippine tribes, and on to Spanish influence and rule, visitors will move on to important fragments of history. The Cry of Pugad Lawin, the declaration of independence in Kawit, Cavite; the great women of history such as Gabriela Silang, young nationalist Macario Sakay, the establishment of the Commonwealth Government, the rise of the labor unions and all the way to the Filipino’s triumph over natural disasters and continuing fight for justice and democracy.

The project team called on the talents of 28 UP alumni artists to bring their visions of history to life on 6 ft. by 12 ft. canvasses. Artists consulted renowned historians Dr. Serafin Quiazon and Prof. Ma. Luisa Camagay, and also researched historic materials on the Net, in old newspapers, and even old movies and vintage airplane models to help recreate details. The project took four years to complete, first envisioned by the UPAA under Atty. Gari M. Tiongco before it was finally mounted.

“The concept was to be a come-on for students to learn the history of the Philippines in just half a day by going around.  And not just going around a museum, but here it is given to you in the form of art, from alumni artists of UP.  Not every country has this, but here, a tourist can come to the Philippines and learn our history by going over these artworks,” he said.

The participating artists also formed a veritable who’s who of the Philippine art world, specifically:  Adonai Artificio, Armand Bacaltos, Adi Baen-Santos, Grandier Bella, Benjie Cabangis, Ben Cabrera, Angel Cacnio, Romeo Carlos, Cris Cruz, Denes Dasco, Gig De Pio, Simkin De Pio, Vincent De Pio, Neil Doloricon, Norman Dreo, Amado Hidalgo, Abdul Asia Mari Imao, Ben Infante, Gigi Javier-Alfonso, Aileen Lanuza, Romeo Mananquil, Norlie Meimban, Julius Samson, Jonahmar Salvosa, Randy Solon, Michael Velasco, Jun Yee, and Janice Young.

“Sining Saysay is an innovative way of teaching history, promoting art appreciation, understanding Filipino identity, and imbibing cultural pride; all constituting valuable aspects of teaching and public service, which the University of the Philippines is mandated to do,” said Alfredo E. Pascual, UP President.

The Gateway Gallery is located on the 5/L of the Gateway Tower Mall. As the country’s largest private gallery, it presents a fitting venue to such an illustrious art project.  

“With SiningSaysay, Araneta Center is affirmed as the arts and culture hub of Quezon City. We are housing a collection of great artistic and historic value. This is not just an educational opportunity, but a source of national pride,” said Jorge L. Araneta, Chairman and CEO of the Araneta Group.

                The exhibit is open every day from 11AM to 7PM at the Gateway Gallery.                                                             

Planning a Clean & Green Township

Living in an urban jungle called Metro Manila makes me think of little ways on how to make the city better for everybody. My background in architecture and design obviously helps but just by experiencing the day-to-day life here compared to how life is abroad opened my eyes to the harsh reality (and a hopeful future) that Metro Manila is far from ideal and could definitely be better. 

It was in the home of Sylvia Tay van Remoortele, the wife of Belgian Ambassador to the Philippines, that I was acquainted with this wonderful project called Planning a Clean & Green Township, which Sylvia started in 2012. It is a competition for youth leaders 14-20 years old, and they are tasked to come up with a master plan for a clean and green township. They use real cities as subjects, and they have already featured Hanoi, Vietnam (2012), Iskandar Johor, Malaysia (2013), and Yangon, Myanmar (2014). For 2015, the city of Manila will be taking the spotlight. 

It is a great way to envision what Manila would look like if you were to rebuild it. Registration has already started, and while I can't join because I'm too old, I hope you guys can spread the news to your schools and friends who you think might be interested. Oh, and one more thing, Sylvia mentioned that the registration fees (and I think the SG expenses too) are waived for public schools. Very cool, right?

Read on if you're interested. 

According to Sylvia, the aims of the competition are:

• Ensuring that young people are capable of taking on the 21st century challenges of global warming and climate change, social inequities, unsustainable lifestyles and the urgent need for proper management of our natural resources like forestation and energy.
• Appreciation for global issues such as poverty, inequality, hunger and environmental degradation that often afflicts developing countries.
• Promotion of learners' growth and development with values such as respect for the environment and sustainability.
• Encourage responsible lifestyle choices, heighten awareness of global environmental issues, create awareness of cultural and societal sensitivities.

Teams will have 4-6 members and they need to write a 15-page sustainable and viable plan for the city of Manila for the preliminary round. A workshop will be held on February 7th, 2015 at the Mind Museum to help the teams write an effective proposal.

Once the teams get selected, they will be invited to Singapore for a 5-day study trip from March 31st to April 5th, which will also include the finals and awarding ceremony. 

The competition is endorsed by the city of Manila, Department of Tourism, Department of Education, Bases Conversion Development Authority, The Mind Museum, Centre for Liveable Cities (Singapore) and other research and education centers.

If you'd like to know more, visit:

http://assembly.activistar-ads.com 

Facebook: /activistarads

Paper Flowers Workshop

My paper flowers workshop in Metro Manila is just around the corner. You can choose to attend either of the two dates -- September 13 or September 20. They're both Saturdays, at 1pm to 4pm. The first workshop will be held at Gourdo's in Bonifcatio Global City, Taguig. The second one will be at World Market down in Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa. If you'd like to know more about it, send me an email at crafted_ph@yahoo.com or call Gourdo's 24-hour hotline at +632 812-3022.

I am super excited as this is my first collaboration with Gourdo's and my family knows how much I love that brand especially now that they have craft supplies in their stores.

I've been practicing and perfecting the art of getting color effects on my paper flowers, and yes, I will be teaching how to do those during the workshop and I will be giving a handful of these dyed and bleached paper sheets in the kits too. I tried using my dip-dyed and bleached paper sheets on peonies and camellias, and the result is kinda awesome. I am so in love with paper flowers that my workspace is covered in them.

I made some crepe paper peonies using three different types of technique: plain, dip dyed, bleached. I used plain luxe crepe paper for the cream-colored peony. For the pink peony on the right, I got some plain pink crepe paper that was bleached and then dip dyed. The white, dip dyed in pink, peony on the top left is probably the most "favorited"of the three in my other social media accounts.

For these tissue paper camellias (I think that's what they look like), I used plain tissue paper (purple) and bleached tissue paper.

Crafts/DIY: Paper Flowers Workshop with Gourdo's

My workshops have been scarce and far between because of work and travel. But this coming September, there will a couple coming up. Both will be about paper flowers. This time, it will be held in the south of Metro Manila -- woohoo!

There will be new materials to use. I know you've been waiting for this folks. This is the first time we'll be using premium crepe paper so come and join us okay?

Here are some of the flowers we can make using the new materials.

Inspired yet?

Here are the deets.

* September 13 (Saturday) | 1-4pm | Gourdo's Fort
* September 20 (Saturday) | 1-4pm | World Market Alabang Town Center

For sign-ups and registration, please call Gourdo's 24-hour hotline at 812-3022.