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Ananda Kanani Accessories is in Philippine Star’s YStyle Section for Tracy Dizon’s Tiara Collection today, March 05. The feature gives styling tips for the prom using tiaras to liven up the prom dress. Article is in YStyle page L-2.

Here’s a scanned image of the feature (to see large version, click here)

Ananda Kanani in Philippine Star

The online write up is here (though Ananda Kanani is not credited in the online write up).

Connect with Ananda Kanani Accessories:

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Twitter – account made only today :D

View items for sale at the Ananda Kanani Online Shop.

As an annual family vacation every May, we went up North to Baguio City last weekend.

We haven’t been going to the usual tourist spots like Mines View Park, Botanical Garden, Wright Park and Philippine Military Academy (PMA) since we’ve visited these places a couple of times years before.

This time, we went to Tam-Awan Village for a different experience. I’ll post a separate article about that, meanwhile, let me tell you what I do when 0n vacation in Baguio.

One of the fun things that I always do when is going to Ukay Ukay stores to look for very affordable fashion finds.

Aside from the cool weather, Baguio City has also become famous for its Ukay-Ukay (probably derived from the Filipino word Hukay, or to dig) or Wagwagan (to shake) shops. Originally, clothes, bags, shoes are thrown in on a mat, table, or big boxes where you can dig to find your match, these were on small shops and  side walks.

Now there are several Ukay Ukay joints in Baguio, most famous are the Skyworld along Session Road, and Bayanihan, near Burnham Park. They have rows of clothes racks, and shoes are displayed in an organized manner.

I still do not know where the items come from, some say these are surpluses from abroad, maybe why some items are brand new and still have tags.

Most of the items are pre-owned goods and if you’re lucky, you’ll find new, branded stuff at very cheap prices.

Manolo Blahnik, Bally, DKNY and Naturalizer

Another place to visit is an area called Hilltop, behind the Baguio Market where they sell all sorts of clothes, accessories and even home furnishings like curtains and bed sheets. You can find streets and blocks of Ukay Ukay shops in Hilltop. A few years ago, I was also able to buy a couple of good finds in Harrison Building in Harrison Street, beside Burnham Park. At night, Ukay Ukay sellers would spread out their selling goods around Harrison Building, passing through Mabini Street going up to Calderon Street. Calderon Street is intersection Session Road. At the corner is Skyworld. So that’s a whole block of Ukay Ukay stuff!

a customer fitting a pair of Guess shoes

Related Post:

Oh My Gulay! Baguio City

Here’s a first timer tourist’s guide to Singapore from another first timer tourist. This contains the walking, shopping, sight seeing and eating that I’ve done the first time I was in Singapore last December. I went back soon on March for the Indigo Girls concert.

Essential:

First thing that you need to do is be familiar with the MRT stations. The MRT can take you to most of the places you need to go to.

Here’s a hi-res map:

The trains are always on time and the stations are easy to navigate because of the numerous signage that point you to your destination. MRT rides cost .80 to 1.90 SGD, quite affordable for its efficiency.

Here’s our itinerary (click on linked items to see related article/s):

The First Day

1. Vivo City
- Food Republic – Toast Box and Java Kitchen

2. Sentosa
- Islander Card
- Sentosa Express
- Skyride and Luge Car
- Underwater World
- Dolphin Show
- 4D Magix Show
- Songs of the Sea

3. Clarke Quay

The Second Day:

1. Ikea

2. Suntec City Mall
- Fountain of Wealth

3. The Merlion

4. Hawker Center / Hawkers, Esplanade

5. Orchard Road

view from The Merlion's bridge

The Third Day:

1. Singapore Cable Car

2. Museums
- National Museum of Singapore
- Singapore Art Museum
- 8Q SAM

3. Bugis

4. Night Safari

5. Mustafa – 24 hour mall

The Fourth Day

1. Funan / Funan DigitaLife Mall

2. Chinatown

3. Marina Square

4. Ikea

—
Other useful tips:

If you’re a smoker, prepare to be watchful, most places are smoke-free and there are only small smoking areas which you have to spot while strolling. Don’t worry too much, if you’re mindful about it, you’ll find these smoking areas.

Transportation

Go to ticketing offices in the MRT stations to inquire about the Tourist Pass – an all day transportation tap card – if you think you will be heavily relying on public transportation. There are also the standard card (enter – exit MRT card with 1 SGD deposit) and a prepaid card for MRT and buses.

I’ve seen two types of taxis – Comfort Taxi and Silvercab. Comfort is blue and dominant in the streets and looks like a mini cooper. Silvercab is white, seldom and intimidating. Its cabs are Mercedes Benzes! Really. Don’t get intimidated (like I did), I heard that the fare is the same.

Food

Rice is about .50 SGD a cup at the Hawkers, Coke in can at vendo machines is 1.60 t0 1.80 SGD. A decent meal is at 4 to 7 SGD the cheapest. Airport food is ok, at 7 to 15 SGD. We tried the Hor Fun, Mui Fun and another food when we get there. Milkshakes are nice too, it’s got a faint taste of tea.

I have yet to update this once I’ve posted the write ups about the other destinations. :)

Singapore IT Show March 2009 @ Suntec City Mall

Buy a 50+” flat screen TV and get a 17″ tv free. Xbox games at 80% off. $10 off for premium external hard drives every other hour. Ipod touch bundles with $78 worth of freebies.

swarm of people lining for the escalator

Literally thousands of shoppers — the escalator from the ground floor to the second floor was manned by staffs to regulate human traffic. Advisories were flashed on big screens telling guests to come back in an hour — due to the number of people that flocked the Suntec City Mall convention center at one time.

see the green text in the big screen

Laptops and Ipod Nanos were flying off the shelves like toothpaste. Laptop bags and gadget purses at 40-60% off. And if IT products weren’t enough to sate the appetite of bargain shoppers, Jean Perry linens were also sold for slashed prices. There were also underwears, sneakers, chocolates, and clothes.

At one part of the exhibition, there’s a dispenser of delicious milk tea in mini cups!

delicious milk tea in mini cups

live manequin

gimmicks by the entrance

I said I would not buy myself anything, so I only brought money enough for food and transportation. But I ended up eye-ing a Hedgren laptop bag at $20 off. And, seeing bargains at irresistible prices, got myself a White 320G My Passport Essential portable external hard drive.

outside the Suntec Mall

People went there to shop. At really low prices. So no one went home empty handed, so to speak.

no one went home empty handed

Indigo Girls @ the Esplanade

I am in Simei St. 3, Singapore at this very moment, thinking of what to do, or where to go to. I arrived 12 hours ago and haven’t left the unit yet. I want to go visit temples and markets — what I wasn’t really able to do last time I was here in December.

Today is the 3rd day of the IT Fair aka IT Show, where affordable gadgets and freebies abound. But everyone’s telling us that there will be a lot of visitors to the IT fair so I’m not that interested in going. Anyway, I don’t really need to buy anything right now. But oh, I though I need a portable external drive, so yeah. I bought myself a 320g WD White My Passport hard drive (edited 11PM).

I will watch the Indigo Girls Concert on Monday at the Esplanade as part of the Mosaic Music Festival Singapore. I got myself a second row ticket, so I shall see the Indigo Girls very up close and personal. I’d probably get high singing along!

I am excited for Monday. Just need to decide where to go to today.

I had the chance to visit the new Eastwood Mall in Eastwood City in Libis Quezon City last year and I was able to appreciate it as it was not yet crowded then. The facade is like a mini park where you can stroll while towered by mid-rise and high-rise buildings.

specialty stores at its Atrium

shops

stroll, play

tall buildings

like a park

Shop inside the mall with numerous chic brands and dine outside at The Veranda where you can choose a place from a platter of concept-restaurants. At night, the buildings fronting the mall light up in different colors.

Walking from the Merlion, we passed by the Riverside Point Mall on our way to Clarke Quay.

Riverside Point, colorful bridge

view of the Reverse Bungee

along the riverside

From  http://www.visitsingapore.com/

Riverside Point
30 Merchant Road

Nearest MRT station: Clarke Quay (NE5) or Raffles Place (EW14/NS26)

Step into this waterfront shopping mall by the Singapore River and be awed by the imposing central atrium that opens up into the sky! Watch an interactive water feature with animated jets shooting into the air as you stroll around the mix of jewelry, lighting and fashion shops. Take your pick of waterfront dining either indoors or al fresco, and be entertained by street performances.

Related Posts:

The Merlion
Clarke Quay

It’s Christmas time so I did not want to miss the lights display at the Orchard Road. It’s an annual thing that the street is lighted with various Christmas displays. There are a couple of buildings that house big brands like Nike and Canon. The Chanel and Louis Vuitton buildings are also in Orchard Road. But their facades were not decorated with any Christmas stuff. We went there at around 11 PM, so most establishments were closed. Here are the photos of the displays all around the Orchard Road:

Suntec city is a cluster of malls. Huge malls. We went there only to look for the Fountain money changer, I was told that it’s got good rates. But unfortunately, it’s closed when we got there. So we went to the Kois Garden instead.

koi garden

kois garden

It is an artificial pond with big kois. Really big kois.

koi garden

Then to the Fountain of Wealth, another tourist destination. There’s a fountain show at around 7PM.

Their claim to fame – the biggest fountain in the world.

The World's Largest Fountain

ikea, singapore

If you’re into home furnishings or Scandanavian design, go to Ikea. The place that we stayed in is close to Tampines, where one of the two Ikea Singapore stores is. The Ikea store is huge! If you love looking at nice things and checking out decors, reserve two to three hours for Ikea. Our friend/tour guide, knowing that I finished Interior Design in college, warned me that I’d go crazy when I get there. Well, I almost did. But another friend told me that there’s another Ikea branch in Singapore and she did not find it nice. So I don’t know if I was just happy at Ikea because I like furnishings, or because it’s the first time that I’ve been to an Ikea store. I used to only see it in the magazines.

So on my last day in Singapore, my friends and I went back to Ikea to shop.

ikea, singapore

We purchased all the things that we canvassed the first time we went there. I spent around a hundred dollars for these:

what's in my shopping bag

A cutlery set, six giant drinking glasses, six cute vases, eight vials, two table lamps, four cups, a hundred tealights, four picture frames, six seat cushions and two cool candle lamps. I bought them because they’re quite affordable, and because I’ve been wanting to purchase these items but never found the time to shop in Manila. The only drawback was that we had to carry them and pass them through baggage checks.

Map and directions from the Ikea’s website:

Contact information:
60 Tampines North Drive 2, Singapore 528764
tel: 6786 6868
fax: 6786 8888

Normal opening hours (some exceptions apply):
Open daily: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

If you’re coming by bus:
A. 27, 34, 58, 168
B. 27, 34, 58, 168

If you’re coming by MRT:
From Pasir Ris MRT: From Pasir Ris Bus Interchange, take bus service no. 58 and alight at Bus Stop B, after Tampines Expressway.

From Tampines MRT: Make your way to the bus stop stop along Tampines Ave 4 outside Tampines MRT Station and take bus service no. 27 or 168 and alight at Bus Stop A just before Tampines Expressway.

From Punggol MRT: From Punggol Bus Interchange, take bus service no. 34 and alight at Bus Stop B after Tampines Expressway.

From Buangkok and Sengkang MRT: Take bus service no. 27 and alight at Bus Stop B after Tampines Expressway.

If you’re coming by car
From Tampines Expressway: If you are heading towards the direction of Woodlands, turn left at Exit 5 into Tampines Ave 10.

From Tampines Expressway: If you are heading towards the direction of Changi Airport, turn right at Exit 5 into Tampines Ave 10.

Parking: Our carpark is open from 7am – 11pm. Parking is free.

Shuttle Service: For details on the free shuttle service to IKEA, please click here.

By the way, there are already two Ikea reseller stores here in the Philippines, one in Anonas and one in Katipunan, I heard both are only a small place.