Feiyue in Manila

Photo by My Mom Friday's 6 year old daughter M, galing! 

The sneakers above are my Feiyues (pronounced Feî-yué) and I love them! Not only are they stylish, they are super comfortable too! I remember seeing a guy in the Singapore MRT back in 2010, that's 3 years ago, wearing this exact same pair and I wanted one at first sight. I thought they looked cool in a classic, old school kind of way.

Feiyue sneakers have an interesting history. As the name suggests, it has Chinese roots. Feiyue literally means "Flying Forward" and it has done just that, transforming itself from a lowly cloth shoe in the 1920s worn by martial artists and athletes to a global brand today, backed up by a group of French sneaker enthusiasts.

Ruby Gan's son Ralph tells me Feiyues are known as shaolin shoes

To understand how progressive the brand has become, imagine this. From shaolin shoes, they moved on to a Feiyue x CELINE collaboration in 2008. And the sneakers looked pretty cool, pre-Phoebe Philo at that. (Philo only came on board as Creative Director of Celine in 2008 and presented her Pre-Spring 2010 debut collection in 2009 - MFO's note).

 

The Feiyue x CELINE collaboration from 2008

From this first collaboration, Feiyue went on to work on artistic and graphic projects with Shin Tanaka (Japan), Stereo Japan (France), Steph Cop (France), NSDQ (Hong Kong), CASIO and agnès b.

Feiyue x agnès b.

Feiyue landed in Manila in 2011. The same year the brand launched in Australia and New York. But it was only recently that Feiyue Manila opened their showroom in Greenhills, at Sekai Center.

  Xavi & me at the Feiyue showroom with L to R: Janice, Jaycee, Kris, Michelle and Jenny

My friend Janice's cousin Jaycee Dee invited the SoMoms over and we got to look at the styles they brought in...

Plus a sneak peek of the new Fall 2013 collection which should arrive in a few months. Can I just say I love the kids line? Totally adorable! The high tops? O.M.G.

I want to get this for Berry

I want to get this for Xavi

Can we get a collective squeal? Eeeeeeeeeep! Too too too cute!

Of course, I am getting myself a pair of this mid-cut origins too, as seen on Janice and Jaycee:

The mid-cut origins are also part of the Fall Collection and I am getting antsy waiting for all these new styles! Hurry up Feiyue and Fly Forward to the kiddos and meeee!

Feiyue is available at Rustan's Alabang Town Center, Makatu and Shangri-la, Zalora.com.ph and at their Greenhills showroom: Unit 104 Sekai Center, 368 Ortigas Avenue cor Madison Street, Greenhills, San Juan.

For more information and updates, like Feiyue on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Feiyue.Philippines

Cupcakes by Sonja is Spreading the Cupcake Love

What happens when...

and...

...spend an afternoon bonding over cupcakes? Well, they have a fabulous good time! That's exactly what happened when Berry & I joined the SoMoms and the SoKids at the new Cupcakes by Sonja shop at the Bridgeway in Glorietta 2 when it opened a few weeks ago:

Going to Sonjas is a huge, great, big deal for Berry because in our home, she is the biggest Cupcakes by Sonja fan ever! So much so that she has at least one box a week from Auntie Miriam.

Not only is she a consumer of cupcakes, Berry loves to bake too. When we want to keep her occupied, we give Berry a box of cake mix, cupcake liners, a bowl and a spoon and she's pretty much a happy camper in the kitchen all afternoon. So when Berry had the chance to ice and decorate her very own cupcakes, she was so excited! She took to the icing and frosting spatula like a fish to water:

She enjoyed sprinkling her cupcake with sugar and candy sprinkles,

And had a blast decorating the cupcakes all by herself, with very minimal to no help from me:

Yes, she decorated quite a lot, but she enjoyed doing everything, she even managed to frost a cookie!

For Berry, meeting Tita Sonja is like meeting a rockstar. Or maybe meeting a Disney Princess. When I told her to have a photo taken with Tita Sonja who makes her favorite cupcakes, she suddenly became shy and wanted Atchi N to join their photo. But "momtuition" tells me she was thrilled to bits inside. Just look at that smile!

Berry with Atchi N and Tita Sonja

By the way Dear Readers, you and your kids can go to Cupcakes by Sonja at Glorietta 2 and arrange for a cupcake decorating party for you and your friends too. Or you can have them bring cupcake customizing kits to your party venue. It's a unique and fun activity that I am pretty sure kids from 3 to 73 will love. Is there an unhappy child in this photo? No? Told ya!

Incidentally, we also got to bring home and try the new cupcake flavors at the Glorietta 2 store and I cannot wait to go back! I used to be just a Peppermint Patty kind of girl, but my oh my, I now have a growing list of flavors to try: Outrageous Mississippi Mud Pie, Valrhona Milk Choco-Hazelnut, Melt-in-your-Mouth Flourless Chocolate Cupcake and more. Uhm yes, I love chocolate!

Six years later and Cupcakes by Sonja is continuing to revolutionize the cupcake industry! (Haha, industry talaga) Apart from coming up with new gourmet cupcake flavors, it also has a growing customized cake business, offering cake pops and dessert buffets for private parties and corporate events. Sonja has definitely come a long way from the time she was frosting cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street in the West Village years ago. And just like Magnolia Bakery, the store that started the cupcake craze in Manhattan, Sonja's cupcake stores are popping up around the metro!

I got to chat with Sonja's business partner, Anne Gonzalez of Terry S.A., and she shares more stores are set to open within the year at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Eastwood City, Greenhills Promenade, and TriNoma. Isn't that the sweetest news? Woohoo!

For more information, visit Cupcakes by Sonja online:

FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/CupcakesBySonjaOfficial
TWITTER http://twitter.com/CUPCAKESBYSONJA
INSTAGRAM http://instagram.com/CUPCAKESBYSONJA
PINTEREST http://pinterest.com/cupcakesbysonja
BLOG http://blog.cupcakesbysonja.com/
TUMBLR http://cupcakesbysonja.tumblr.com/

Mommy Issues & Virtues

Two Mother's Days ago, I wrote a post on the lessons that my mom taught me. Re-reading it made me appreciate my mom even more, because now that I am a mom to two kids, I realize how difficult it was for her to raise 5 kids, while her husband, our dad, was away most of the time on field assignment.

Let me tell you about my Mom. She sounds frivolous and out of touch with reality at times, but she taught me so many valuable life lessons, that I will share some with you today aka Pamana ni Nanay:

Marrying for love.  One huge thing that I thank my parents for is that they let us grow secure in the fact that they love each other. They have been together for close to 50 years now and they are proof to me that people who love each other will always make it work.

My parents, in their 30s. Taken at their friends' home in Vidalia, Georgia

For one, in this day and age when a long-distance relationship sounds like the scariest thing on earth, my parents carried on a 7 year long-distance relationship (pre-Skype/Face Time/Viber/Whatsapp, etc yan ha) before they tied the knot. I don't know how they managed, but they did. While studying in Manila, she would write long love-letters to my Dad who was then a PMA cadet in Baguio. My dad would reply, writing "newspapers" = letters written in Manila paper with Pentel pen. Telegrams (kids, ever heard of that?) were exchanged. It was romantic stuff. When I was ten, I would pore at their love letters, feeling a mixture of kilig and cringe factor levels. My Mom went on to work in the US for a few years after graduation, before getting married. At the time my Dad was already in Mindanao, living in the jungles, heading a small platoon of soldiers. He would regale us with stories of being in battle, bullets whizzing past his head, he and his soldiers bravely dodging enemy fire, saying it was like a scene from a movie...

Unflinching faith and prayers. If I were in my Mom's shoes, the thought that my fiance was risking life and limb each day would have scared me shitless. But my Mom said she put my Dad in God's hands and prayed and prayed and prayed for his safety every single day. This went on from the time my Dad was a scruffy, ill-fed lieutenant up until my Dad reached the peak of his career as CSAFP. She supported my Dad's dream to be a four-star general, and took the backseat, gamely giving up her career to be an army wife, raising five kids while my Dad was busy serving the country.

Taking on responsibility wholeheartedly. She's the 2nd of four live siblings. Her eldest sister passed away when my Mom was 26, and she suddenly found herself thrust in the role of eldest child. Something that she probably wasn't prepared for, but she stepped up to the plate and took on the responsibility, valiantly. When my grandparents grew old and got sick, she was the one doing the hospital rounds, while managing a household. Even at that, she still found time to drive us to and from school, bringing us piping hot sinigang for lunch, to the envy of my classmates who by then had cold, wrinkly hotdogs in their lunchbox.

Quality over quantity. When I was 7, my Mom, my sister Trina, and I visited my Lola Imas in San Francisco. I remember my Mom only ever shopped twice for herself. One, to buy a strand of Mikimoto pearls and two, to buy a Nikon SLR camera. Quality > Quantity personified. Which reminds me of this lady who was struggling to stuff her bag on the overhead compartment on our flight back to Manila. My Mom tried to help her but she wasn't nice to my Mom because she was being careful daw about the oranges and apples in her carry-on luggage. Baka she had corned beef packed in her maleta too, along with clothes from K- Mart. Uy joke lang ha. Just taking a dig at that nasty woman. Yes, 30 years later and I still can't forget how that lady's mom forgot to teach her good manners and right conduct. Sya na nga tinutulungan, sya pa yung galit. Plus, nobody talks to my Mom like that, ok? Sorry Mom I wasn't able to defend you and give that lady a piece of my mind. I was only 7 then. But I already knew that was no way to treat a stranger, especially one who was only offering to help.

Which leads me to this - we all are a reflection of the people who raised us. And I think, the best compliment a child can ever give a parent is when a child shows his/her appreciation not just in the grandest of gestures but in the sincerest, most heartfelt words ever. Because a grateful child is a constant recipient of God's graces, and will always be a blessing not only to his/her parents but to others as well.

With that, I leave you with this touching video from Ceelin of five children who went beyond their way to show their moms how grateful they are for all the sacrifices and lessons that made them who they are today. Here's what they did to thank them on Mother's Day.

I can only wish my kids will be as proud as me, and will see me not just as a Mom, but a friend whom they can trust and confide in. I hope they will enjoy my company even when they grow into their teens and adult years, and I pray that with our help, they become the person they dream of being, savoring the life they dream of living. 

SM Kids' Fashion Mother's Day Tees + Contest

To commemorate Mother's Day, SM Kids’ Fashion is launching a line of statement tees for your little ones to wear. With colors ranging from soft pastels to punchy brights, these tees are combined with heartwarming messages that will certainly make each day special for moms and their kids.

SM Kids’ Fashion is also hosting an exclusive Mother’s Day contest wherein kids can share their favorite way of saying “I Love You” to Mom.  The SM Kids' Fashion favorite, most creative, and most loving answers win Php 1,500.00 in gift certificates!

To join, simply:

1. Take a creative picture of yourself saying "I love you!" to your mom
2. Like the SM Kids Fashion Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SMkidsfashion
3. Share the photo with SM Kids Fashion by sending a private message on Facebook with the attached photo.

Contest ends on Mothers' Day, May 12, 2013.

White Feels Right

The heat has been just too oppressive, it feels like the only right color to wear is white. Popped on over to Zara and saw so many nice tops that I'd want to be wearing now!

Ok, this is not white, but it looks so presko!

What's your go-to summer outfit in this heat?