Club MWAH!

Picture the scene if you will:

The theme is 'Brazil'.
There is an open bar.
Girls love a theme.
We are at a "trans-gender" bar and cabaret show in the heart of Metro Manila.


CARNAGE.


Enjoy.....

Straight or curly?

For those of you who know me well, you have only EVER known me with curly hair. Like my husband and my mother tell me constantly, I am me with curly hair, it matches my personality (effervescent and absolutely charming, by the way) and it is my Fijian heritage.

Of course, I know all this. I do. I grew to sort of embrace my curliness and I loved that it was a symbol of my heritage (despite being the fairest of my siblings). But.....and I do say but.....there comes a time in every curly haired life when you dream of having straight hair. I have had this dream, many times.

So, I took the plunge. L'Oreal Extenso rebonding to be exact. The best of the best, guaranteed to give you a natural straight hair look with out the frizzies and the dryness and the lack of movement.

Friends, you be the judge. I don't like to put my photo out there but here is me with my new look.



Note to readers: Regardless of what you think, I am LOVING having straight hair. It is so much fun!

Fashion Diversion (in lieu of fabulous holiday)!!

I know, I know, I am meant to write about fashion! And shoes! But I beg you to forgive me as Fungus and I have just come back from the most fabulous holiday......and I really, really need to share our experience.

I promise I will slip some fashion in here somewhere. Really. I promise.

As we are due to leave the sunny shores of the Philippines for the exotic shores of Taiwan, we figured we needed to do something on our "To Do" list of places to go. Destination? Ilocos Norte province, 45 minutes flight to Laoag from Manila.

We spent the first two nights of the trip at Fort Ilocundia - a resort frequented by many Taiwanese. So we figured we had better check it out. Plus, I hadn't bought a birthday present for Fungus so this was my compensation for being unemployed - yes, it went on the Visa card.






Interesting fact - this resort was originally built during the 'reign' of Marcos for all the guests who attended his daughter's wedding! So despite being a resort, we actually stayed in a little part of history. It was beautiful and not 'tired' as I read on some travel sites. The room was lovely, with a cute balcony, and the blooming bougainvillea everywhere was gorgeous. Great Chinese food by the way - with it being only 45 minutes flight from Taipei, I think we will come back. Fungus was more enamoured with the facilities like the off road four wheel motorbikes and shooting range. Ask him about the bronze statue of a monkey on a skateboard......ahh, yes, you can not escape kitsch in the Philippines!

We left Fort Ilocundia mid-week to stay at this amazing little resort I kept reading about. It is called Sitio Remedios and truly is a 'small village' in every sense. With only six houses (each restored to resemble Filipino homes during the Spanish occupation) it is a little slice of heavenly paradise.

Every night you dine in a different area with the whole place lit up with candles. Soft music plays from the church (absolutely gorgeous) and you feel as if you have stepped back in time. There is certainly nothing like this anywhere else in the Philippines - we felt truly blessed to be able to have this experience. My photos will never capture the essence of this amazing village but maybe you can get the feel for it. I left completely blissed out!









So, yes, I admit. I am addicted to shoes. I am a slave to fashion. But ye of little faith - I am also a major history buff and geek to go along with it. Many of the sites in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur were built during the Renaissance period of Europe and are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Here a few of the incredible things to see in Paoay (Ilocos Norte) and Vigan (Ilocos Sur):









So yeah.....um.....fashion. OK, here goes. Following is a photo of Fungus at the Sinking Bell Tower in Laoag. History geeks - this is for you: originally, when built, this gateway could accomodate a horseman on his horse. He could actually gallop through on horseback. No longer though, it has sunk this much over the last 500 odd years.



But fashion - well, Fungus demonstrates good fashion sense in these tropical temperatures. Armani t-shirt, Quiksilver shorts and the ever present and supremely fashionable Havaiana jandals.

See! I told you I could slip fashion in there somewhere......