LIFESTYLE EXCLUSIVES
What’s hot and what to watch out for
By Anton San Diego
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:47:00 04/29/2008
MANILA, Philippines—It’s been a while since I have written under the TNT column. I must admit I miss writing a weekly column and it’s good to be back in this issue!
The TNT column started in 2002 and took a hiatus. For this installment, we give you a hodgepodge of the latest, newest trends from design, gadgets, movies, music, TV and others.
Openings. The opening of Greenbelt 5 is probably the most-awaited event for the latter part of the year. There are two phases of development. Phase 1 houses international luxury brands and a Filipino zone (the best of Filipino fashion, lifestyle and design). Phase 2 will have an international department store, a young and family zone, specialty shops for fathers, and a spa and fitness gym that will take all of the fourth floor.
Of course, there will be restaurants and lots to choose from. Even now the buzz is, Eman Pineda of Tyler boutique is opening a one-of-a-kind store that’s world-class and even has former Wallpaper founder/editor Tyler Brule as a consultant.
Restaurants. The current hottest restaurants in town are Sala and Mamou. Sala, which moved from Malate (I hope Mayor Lim can revive this last bastion of Bohemian Filipino life) is chef-proprietor Colin McKay’s masterpiece and crowning glory. The restaurant has been consistently good, has impeccable service and its new interiors take you from predictability to simple yet world-class feel. Over at Serendra, Malou Fores’ first foray into the restaurant business is an instant blockbuster. Her home cooking has introduced Filipinos to a new world of tastes and flavors. These two restaurants are more than worth checking out.
TV. Autumn season has started in the US and most of your favorite series have just aired their first episodes. If you are looking to add to your list of shows or if some wise network executives read this, here’s what’s worth watching and airing.
“Big Shots” (Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan) is “Sex and the City” with balls (literally). The series is summed up with one of the characters saying it, “Men have become the new women.”
“Cashmere Mafia” (Lucy Liu). We all miss “Sex and the City,” and good news for its fans as it will soon come out with a movie version. But for those who can’t wait to get their fix, there’s the new series created by Darren Star. The difference with this series, according to its press release, is that all the women are powerful executives not hung up on sex and relationships but achieving their ambitions; they have lunch instead of brunch. It has four women living in Manhattan and addicted to Blahniks. Hey… wait a minute!
“Dirty, Sexy Money” (Donald Sutherland, Peter Krause) combines the deviousness, greed and ambition of “Dallas” and “Dynasty”—long live the ’80s! It is set in Manhattan. Peter Krause’s character Nick is a lawyer who has to work extra hard to keep the family name untarnished.
Movies. Not to be missed is another take on Elizabeth played again by the incomparable Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” Here’s a dialogue from the movie:
Queen Elizabeth I: Tell your king I fear neither him nor his armies.
Spanish Minister: There is a wind coming that will sweep away your pride.
Queen Elizabeth I: I, too, can command the wind, sir! And I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!
Books. Here are our top choices: International fashion designer Josie Natori launches a coffee-table book, “The Art of Natori.” Nina Garcia of Elle magazine and “Project Runway” writes her first book, “The Little Black Book of Style,” with beautiful and whimsical illustrations by Ruben Toledo. “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World” (John Wood) is an inspiring account of how a man left a high-paying job to help educate children. And the one place you can go and buy all these books is the five-level Fully Booked on Bonifacio High Street, The Fort. Owner Jaime Daez deserves a lot of accolades for this one.
Music. They say that the music you listen to will always signify your age. In the ’80s I listened to 99.5 RT, then as I got older, moved to 94.7 (“The Mellow Touch”), but sometimes their songs were too sappy so I moved to 92.3 (Joey). Well, the last has changed owners and now it plays lounge and chill-out music, which is fine at certain times of the day. But I miss the old Joey with Francis Lumen at the helm. I hope someone can bring that back.
There is only one album I am looking forward to and that’s Annie Lennox’s “Songs Of Mass Destruction.” On the concert scene, I am sure everyone is still reeling from the Josh Groban concert. Now head on to Ticketnet as the beautiful and soulful Beyoncé is set to take Manila by storm on Nov. 7.
Mobile phone. If you are looking for a new phone, try the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, a music phone with crystal-clear hi-fi audio capabilities, with a free 1GB microSD memory card and can expand to 4GB of storage, or the Nokia 6500 Classic, which has a slim, high-gloss contemporary look. Perfect for you, posers, out there. Both phones should be in stores by end-October.
Hotspots. Martini Bar at the Mandarin, Warehouse 135, Alchemy and Fiamma are some of the hottest bars in the city. But nothing beats Embassy and Nuvo—they are the ultimate in nightspots and have not lost their stronghold.
Embassy is expanding and has taken over the former MTV office. It is extending its empire over the Fort. The team of Tim Yap and Eric Cua has opened a boutique hotel in Boracay as well.
Over at Nuvo, my bar of choice, it has renovated the second floor and made it into a smoking lounge that will sit about 60. Ivy and Cynthia Almario did the interiors, and the bar is set to open last week of October or first week of November.
And finally... As we approach the Christmas season, people often wonder how they would decorate their homes, especially if they’ve had the same decoration since they were children. I asked Ron Gonzalez, writer for the Manila Fame International show, what the trends are and here’s the response:
“Based on our April show there were a lot of baroque style décor with gold, copper, fuchsia and, surprisingly, black as main colors. It seems there were less of the traditional hues of reds and greens. There were a lot of pastels such as pistachio, robin’s egg blue, pink, yellow, orange and bright green, as well as silver and white mixed with black.”
For comments, please email antonsd@philtatler.com
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