some things to smile about

MAIDA C PINEDA SHARES AN ARRAY OF AMUSING FINDS THAT MAY JUST IMPROVE AND ENHANCE YOUR LIFE

GREEN AND GO!

What? A jeepney that doesn’t pollute the air or run on fuel? Yes, you read right! Four electronic-powered jeepneys now ply Salcedo Village and Legaspi Vilage in Makati City. Kudos to the efforts of Green Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc. (GRIPP), which originated from Greenpeace and other groups, and the city of Makati. The e-jeepneys are made with 90% local material. They run from 40 to 60 kilometers per hour and require six to eight hours of charging time. Even the bright designs on them by Toym Imao – son of National Artist Abdulmari Imao – celebrate Filipino ingenuity.

CHECK THIS OUT

Laptops can now remain in bags as long as the bags meet checkpoint-friendly guidelines.

The TSA (Transport Security Administration) recommends one with a designated laptop-only section you can lay flat on the X-ray belt and one without pockets, metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, under or on top of the compartment. Make sure that it’s just your computer in the bag and you can breeze right through!

OH, CHRISTMAS TREAT!

The Goodwood Park Hotel’s Durian Profiterol Christmas Tree is filled with durian pulp on a sponge cake base with touches of holiday chocolate. At SG$68 (PHP2,214), it satisfies the sweet tooth of six to eight persons. To order, click on www.goodwoodparkhotel.com

shop alert

BBN (BeauBien Limited)

In this shoebox of a shop at the end of Gough Street in Hong Kong’s SoHo district, ladies can have the pair of shoes they’ve always dreamed of custom made at very affordable prices (prices start at HK$400 (PHP2,275). Choose the style, material and detailing from files brimming with options and treat your feet to a shoe that’s uniquely you. The catch? It usually takes 10 days to create your footwear masterpiece, so you’ll need a local friend to pick them up for you. BBN, 51 Gough Street, tel: +852 2815 4499, www.bbn.com.hk – Emma French

tried & tested

TEXT BY CHARMAINE BAYLON

beauty booty

The Body Shop Lip and Cheek Stain

Agnes Bañas, litigation paralegal

“A few dabs of this gives me a radiant glow and rosy lips. It makes me feel more confident to face people at work.”

Maybelline White Stay Mousse Foundation

Bing Salud, corporate editor

“This foundation creates the illusion that my skin is smooth. I also don’t get that oily look I usually get with other products. I can already go out even if it’s the only thing I put on my face.” 

L’Occitane Almond Supple Skin Oil

Apol Lejano-Massebieu, writer

“I love it because it’s effective at getting my skin nice and soft, but it’s not at all greasy. The real reason I adore it is that it smells so yummy! My husband definitely agrees – he’s always sniffing me!”

Youngblood Ultimate Concealer

Risa Halagueña, Halagueña, lawyer

“If I had to choose just one beauty product, it would be this. It downplays my flaws and the effects of all those late nights! It’s mild and light, and provides good coverage. I feel better after applying it.”

meet julianne

CHARMAINE BAYLON CATCHES UP WITH THE NEWEST FACE IN THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE AS SHE PROMOTES HER DEBUT ALBUM AND WRAPS UP HER JAZZ TOUR

NOT A FAN of jazz? Listen to Julianne and you just might change your mind. The singer-songwriter not only made waves with her first album, Grateful, she also headlined a jazz tour and bagged 10 nominations at the 21st Awit Awards. Now, get to know the brains behind the voice and the songs Grateful and Tulak Ng Bibig.

Tell us more about your debut album, Grateful.

People say it’s like reading my diary; it’s like I’m giving you a piece of me. Grateful is also one of the songs in the album; it’s like the summary and overall message of the album.

You wrote all of the songs. What was that process like?

The process differs for every song. Some of them I co-wrote with friends, while others started off as just a line or two lingering in my head for months. Some started as poems and then the music came after, like the song Unsaid. But with Grateful, it was the opposite. The music came first.

You and Miguel Escueta sing the local version of Disney’s pop ballad This Is Me from the TV movie, Camp Rock. How was that experience?

My label, MCA Music, tied up with Disney for this project and I was more than willing to do it. I didn’t mind that it was a different genre. I appreciated the message of the song and how it targets a different market: the tweens

How would you introduce jazz to a new audience?

I might try to include some jazz instrumentation on a folk-sounding song, or use jazz-sounding chords but make the beat kind of ethnic. The beauty of music is there are no strict rules. Anyone can appreciate jazz. All you need is an open mind.

Any tips for artists who are experiencing writer’s (or musician’s) block?

I think all artists go through it. It’s really hard, and you feel suffocated and unproductive. But I’ve been in that situation more than once, and it does pass after a while. A piece of advice I

Grateful is released by MCA Music and is available at music stores at PHP290.

INFLIGHT ESSENTIALS

LISTEN

Year of the Gentleman

R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo tries a different tack by delving into Euro-disco and soul music for his third CD the track Closer was inspired by the London club scene). The result is a classy mix of tunes that can’t be categorized as just R ’n’ B or pop.

READ

Undercover Tai Tai

An encounter with an intelligence agent turns introverted researcher Amanda Tay into a reluctant undercover sleuth with a mission: to find missing tai tai Jasmine Wong, the wife of Singapore real estate magnate Tony Wong. This novel – part of the new Asian Chic series from Marshall Cavendish Editions – is an entertaining romp filled with shady characters, designer clothes and a crime-fighting Chihuahua.

PLUG IN

Canon Selphy ES3

This compact photo printer looks like a cute toy. In fact, it feels like one too. With a 3.5-inch LCD screen that shows a built-in editing suite, the Canon Selphy ES3 has a 1GB internal flash memory, pretty frame and clip art templates and a built-in adaptor.

a tribute to Amorsolo

ABBY TAN REPORTS ON A SEVEN-MUSEUM RETROSPECTIVE IN MANILA RETROSPECTIVE IN MANILA HONORING MASTER ARTIST HONORING MASTER ARTIST FERNANDO AMORSOLO, FERNANDO AMORSOLO, ONE OF THE PHILIPPINES’ ONE OF THE PHILIPPINES’ GREATEST NAMES IN ART GREATEST NAMES IN ART

Palay Maiden, 1920, by
Fernando AmorsoloFERNANDO AMORSOLO was the first painter to be conferred the National Artist of the Philippines award in 1972, the highest state honor for the arts. Forty years after his death, his art still fetches the highest prices among Filipino artworks in regional auctions of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Because his work remains very popular among collectors, art patrons have mounted His Art, Our Heart, a retrospective exhibit that showcases the artist’s contributions in seven of Metro Manila’s finest museums.

“Amorsolo connects us to our essence and our values,” says Evelyn Lim-Forbes, executive director of the big event. “He captured in his art the images, emotions, scenery, and experiences that are genuinely Filipino.”

The artist’s idyllic scenes of the Philippine countryside – farmers planting rice and harvesting mangoes, rural folk dancing the tinikling (bamboo dance) after a harvest, and women doing their laundry in the streams – use his trademark backlighting technique which gives most of his subjects a radiance. Amorsolo was also famous for his paintings of nude women and was an in-demand portraitist for Manila’s rich and famous in the 1930s and 1940s. A little known fact is that the artist dabbled in label design, creating the artwork of Archangel Gabriel vanquishing Satan on the Ginebra San Miguel square bottle.

The retrospective hopes to reconnect the youth with Amorsolo and his art through a workshop at the Museo Pambata in Manila. The Philippine chapter of Asia Society, a New York-based group dedicated to promoting American-Asian understanding, is one of the event’s sponsors and eager to promote Amorsolo’s art and values in Southeast Asia. “We want to give this retrospective a regional exposure, to get regional museums interested in starting a dialogue on his art and values,” adds Lim-Forbes. For more information, log on to www.amorsoloretro.com

WHERE TO GO

■ Amorsolo’s Women October 24, 2008 to March 8, 2009, Ayala Museum, Makati Avenue, Makati, www.ayalamuseum.org

■ SALIW: Rituals to Amorsolo’s Art October 2 to December 20, Museum of Art, GSIS Building, Financial Center, Pasay, www.gsis.gov.ph

■ Tell-Tale: Amorsolo as Storyteller September 24, 2008 to April 4, 2009, Lopez Memorial Museum, Benpres Bldg, Meralco Avenue, Pasig, www.lopezmuseum.org.ph

■ His Motherland and Harvest September 26, 2008 to January 13, 2009, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Central Bank Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay, www.metmuseum.ph

■ Drawing Days, Passage Portraits September 25, 2008 to January 15, 2009, The Art Gallery of the National Museum, Old Congress Building, Metro Manila www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph

■ Amorsolo and Pictures of the War September 23 to November 16, Jorge B. Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, www.vargasmuseum.org

■ Mukhang Tsinoy October 1, 2008 to January 17, 2009, Yuchengco Museum, RCBC, Ayala Avenue corner Gil Puyat, Makati, www.yuchengcomuseum.org