鈥淕reat minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.鈥� If you agree with this quote of disputed origin, then the intimate event held this September in Leon Gallery in Makati was a gathering of minds capacious enough to accommodate two hours of idle talk about the Philippines鈥� wealthiest.

Resembling an afternoon gossip session, 鈥淐razy Rich Flips鈥� was inspired by the book-turned-film Crazy Rich Asians. The thrust of the talk was to affirm that鈥攍ong before Astrid Leung became the epitome of regal beauty, wealth, strength, and power, or Nick Young was the handsome bachelor with brains, brawn, and big bucks鈥攖here were real-life Filipino Astrids and Nicks who owned the same immense wealth, if not more, who threw lavish parties here and there, and whose whims, though out of this world, could be bought鈥攂ecause money can buy anything. The tone of the room was self-congratulatory: 鈥淭he Philippines has always been rich, too!鈥� Never mind the 22 million Filipinos living below poverty line according to the latest World Bank report.

Holding court was social historian Augusto 鈥淭oto鈥� Gonzalez III, a member of a wealthy haciendero clan in Pampanga who also runs the blog 鈥淩emembrance of Things Awry.鈥� A personal project that began in 2006 as a way of chronicling his family history (鈥渉owever trivial and nonsensical鈥�), the blog has mushroomed into a breezy, gossipy repository of the 鈥渨ell-documented and quite inarguable鈥� pedigree of rich Filipinos, stretching back to the 1800s. Over several posts, Mr. Gonzalez shared his taxonomy of prominent last names, dividing the rich and powerful into 鈥淔amilies of Political Tradition鈥� (e.g. the Cojuangcos, the Ejercitos, the Crisologos, the Levistes); 鈥淔amilies of Entrepreneurial Tradition鈥� (e.g. the Aboitizes, the Aranetas, the Elizaldes, the Lopezes); and 鈥淔amilies of Intellectual Tradition鈥� (e.g. the Paternos, the Teodoros, the Yuchengcos).

鈥淥f course, we don鈥檛 discount the fact that鈥攜es鈥攖here鈥檚 staggering difficulty around. But on the other side, there鈥檚 never been more money in Manila than today. I don鈥檛 know where it鈥檚 coming from,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淧eople are casually coughing up money.鈥� Case in point: Mr. Gonzalez鈥檚 talk preceded Leon Gallery鈥檚 September sale, where paintings by heavyweight artists were auctioned off for tons of cash. On the block were works such as Carlos 鈥淏otong鈥� V. Francisco鈥檚 The Nose Flute (hammered at Php63 million); Fernando Zobel鈥檚 Saeta 52 or Pared Madrile帽a (hammered at Php35 million); Alfonso Ossorio鈥檚 Ascension (hammered at Php23.4 million); and Jose Joya鈥檚 Carnival (hammered at Php25.7 million).

Surrounded by the million-peso opulence of the local art market, Mr. Gonzalez regaled his audience with tales of the rich, both vieux and nouveau. 鈥淓verybody was new-rich at some point in their lives. But what鈥檚 to be celebrated is they broke ranks,鈥� he said, adding that Php10 million is nothing to spend on a birthday party.

鈥淐razy Rich Flips鈥� unfolded in reverse chronology and opened with the notorious Janet Lim-Napoles, the 鈥減ork barrel queen鈥� accused of cooking up a scam that gypped the Philippine people of an estimated Php10 billion. Nevertheless, Ms. Napoles 鈥渨as a great hostess,鈥� said Mr. Gonzalez, one who gave her guests splendid giveaways from Herm猫s听 and Chanel. She gifted people with bling and raffled off cars. 鈥淭hey were all top-rated things,鈥� said Mr. Gonzalez.

From the accused scammer and money launderer, the talk moved on to ousted President Joseph 鈥淓rap鈥� Estrada, who postured as a poor man although he was anything but. 鈥淗e has great taste in everything. He鈥檚 classy,鈥� said Mr. Gonzalez of the former president who was widely known to be fond of Chateau Petrus, a wine that costs US$1,500 a bottle. The Center for Public Integrity鈥攁 nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news organization鈥攔eported in 2000 that Mr. Estrada, during his presidency鈥攈ad his mother鈥檚 Greenhills home refurbished. It was, according to the piece written by Sheila Coronel, 鈥渁 major renovation that converted the family matriarch鈥檚 large, comfortable quarters into something close to palatial: high ceilings, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and a cavernous living room with a grand piano and exorbitantly-priced beige curtains.鈥�

Still, Mr. Estrada鈥檚 indiscretions pale in comparison to the decadence of another president鈥檚 regime. According to Mr. Gonzalez, it was during the Marcos years, from 1965鈥�1986, that extreme spending 鈥渉it the top.鈥� Of the many stories to choose from, Mr. Gonzalez related the time Mrs. Marcos tried her darndest to top the pomp and circumstance of a royal wedding when her daughter Irene married Gregorio Benitez Araneta, a scion of the Araneta clan (counted among the 鈥淔amilies of Entrepreneurial Tradition鈥� in the social historian鈥檚 taxonomy). The ceremony was held in 1983 in Ilocos Norte. While Irene wanted a small gathering, her mother, insisted on ostentation. 鈥淚t was a major production and many people were drafted to carry it out,鈥� said Mr. Gonzalez, adding that local teachers were drafted to make paper flowers in order to turn Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, into colonial town in bloom. A blog entry titled 鈥淪arrat, Ilocos Norte, 1983鈥� contains more details for the curious, including fresh flowers flown in from Hawaii, and diamonds and jewels aplenty. The Los Angeles Times estimated that Mrs. Marcos spent US$1.3 million on her daughter鈥檚 wedding. People magazine placed it at a more impressive US$10.3 million. Either number is a paltry sum, one supposes, compared to the Marcos family鈥檚 ill-gotten wealth, which the Philippine Commission on Good Government estimates to be in the billions of dollars.

Mrs. Marcos made headlines this November when she was found guilty of seven counts graft and was sentenced to six to 11 years in prison for each count. The court convicted Mrs. Marcos for putting roughly US$200 million into Swiss foundations when she was the governor of Metro Manila in the 1970s. She used aliases to hide the stolen funds, which she used to purchase an absurd number of shoes, ternos, and accessories.

With time running out, Mr. Gonzalez hastily ended his talk with a roll call of the rich clans of the Philippines: the Legarda-Prieto-Valdeses, the Paternos, the Elizaldes, the Roxases, the Ongpins, the Madrigals, and the Zobel de Ayalas.

Those who missed Mr. Gonzalez鈥檚 鈥淐razy Rich Flips鈥� talk at Leon Gallery can always visit 鈥淎 Remembrance of Things Awry,鈥� which is a juicy online read. An entry titled 鈥淭he Best Blog Posts鈥� is a good starting point. Here, one learns Php26 million does not even a bathroom make and US$2.5 million is peanuts. Meanwhile, in an early post filed under 鈥淢istaken Impressions,鈥� Mr. Gonzalez writes that he, Toto Gonzalez, isn鈥檛 interested in Manila society at all since he isn鈥檛 sure it even exists. 鈥淔or how can one truly be 鈥榮ociety鈥� if one has less than US$10 billion these highly inflationary days??? To me, the only 鈥榮ociety鈥� that matters is the fantastically rich international one that shuttles between New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong, and now, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, New Delhi, and Singapore.鈥� It looks like he鈥檚 changed his mind. 鈥� NPDG

If our world worships stuff, a counterculture has arisen about the opposite: the rejection of stuff.

Books on the subject, serving as bibles for this movement have been written: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson, and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

The two women serve up a philosophy of stuff that is almost like a religion. Ms. Kondo, for example, tours the world to teach this art of decluttering to disciples. The process isn鈥檛 so simple: the physical work is relatively minimal (pile all your stuff on the floor, choose the ones you love, and throw out the rest). However, the process of selecting the things you love will be difficult. To know if it is still important to you, touch something and 鈥渋f it sparks joy,鈥� keep it. If not, throw it out. It is also advised to start with clearing away less-sentimental objects (to avoid getting stuck the whole day with reminiscing instead of decluttering).

Ms. Kondo鈥檚 book also had tips about minimizing the use of space: there are techniques to fold clothes in a certain way so they can be stacked up or rolled away neatly. It鈥檚 not just about clearing space for your things, but also for clearing your mind. We guess it鈥檚 in line with a talk we heard in October from Japanese brand Muji. Muji鈥檚 art director, Kenya Hara, talked about 鈥渆mptiness鈥� in the Japanese consciousness: 鈥淏ecause it is empty, 鈥� there鈥檚 a possibility to be filled,鈥� he said, referring to Japanese shrines and temples that were designed to be bare so that deities may reside in them.

A counterpart in the Western world can be found in Swedish Death Cleaning, which thinks about the world beyond, and the world we leave. Every death leaves in it wake remnants of lives lived, and it鈥檚 not always a pleasant trip to sort through the bits and bobs that have been left behind. The book advises a gradual cleaning, thinking the whole time about what would happen when you die and about the people who, if you do not do the decluttering yourself, will have to deal with your stuff once you鈥檙e gone.

Just like Ms. Kondo鈥檚 book, it advises one to declutter the things with most sentimental value last, so you can get on with your task and not be left in a swirl of memories. Documentation is important, and it advises the cleaner to leave behind notes or instructions to return, dispose of, or bequeath certain things鈥攖hink of it like writing a will, but more personal and proactive. Things that may upset your loved ones should also be thrown away: and doing it now, while you鈥檙e still alive, also releases you from the object鈥檚 pain. Also, it advises people to do away with things they don鈥檛 need or use in this present life, but will be helpful to another. So, why not give your sister who loves entertaining that crystal punchbowl that鈥檚 been gathering dust in your cupboard? Why wait till you鈥檙e dead? 鈥� JLG

She has since stopped buying for herself. 鈥淚鈥檓 done,鈥� she said about collecting bags. But clarified that she still purchases Birkin bags, this time as canvases for her art: Ms. Escudero paints over beat-up and worn-out Birkins she finds, and sells them for more than double the price. 鈥淚 used to have an emotional attachment to bags. But if you look at it as like money or good investments, then you think about it as a business.鈥� 鈥� JLG

WORDS MICHELLE ANN P. SOLIMAN

While preparing for a show in February 2016, dancer Anna Periquet noticed that her right foot was swollen. One painful fall later, she decided to go to the hospital to have it checked. 鈥淭hey did an X-ray, there were multiple fractures. I didn鈥檛 know they were building,鈥� she told High Life. 鈥淚 had bones like that of an 80-year-old woman.鈥�

Ms. Periquet, whose day job is serving as vice-president for corporate affairs of Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc., hit rock bottom when she was diagnosed with full-blown osteoporosis: her T-Score (one of three values used in evaluating the disease) came back -3; normal values range from -1 and up. 鈥淭o say that I was shocked at the news is an understatement. It was a situation that I could not even begin to fathom, could not believe can happen to me. I thought only the elderly and inactive people get osteoporosis. It was only a word to me before I discovered that I鈥攁t 50 then鈥攁ctually had it,鈥� she said. 鈥淔our days after my diagnosis, I found myself in a hopeless, helpless, desperate condition鈥擨 could not move a single part of my body; even a slight touch sent me screaming, writhing in excruciating pain.鈥�

Her long-lasting love affair with dance and its many forms, which made her keenly aware of her corporeal self, compounded her agony. She knew what her flesh and bones were capable of, having been active in DanceSport or competitive ballroom dancing for seven years before retiring in 2013, with several championships under her belt. In the early days of her disease, the most mundane of tasks became a battle. 鈥淔rom making that first step out of bed in the morning, I was assaulted with pain in my back, legs, knees, and feet鈥攅ven my toes and fingers,鈥� she said.

Ms. Periquet fit the profile of an osteoporotic: slim, small-framed, of Eurasian descent, and menopausal. She went on medical leave and chose to keep her condition to herself.听 A regular physical therapy program, proper nutrition, and medication helped her get back to a point where she could get out of bed without wanting to burst into tears. 鈥淭he amount of work that I needed to do to regain my strength鈥攄espite the pain鈥攚as not even a fraction of the kind of exercise that my body was used to, and yet I was grateful that slowly, steadily, I was able to do them.鈥�

For the recovering dancer, coping with her illness meant coming to terms with it and keeping a positive outlook. 鈥淭he moment I accepted my illness and embraced the pain, everything started to change. I focused on healing myself physically, emotionally, mentally鈥攁nd I felt the difference,鈥� she said.

In 2017, Ms. Periquet became the first non-doctor member of the Osteoporosis Society of the Philippines Foundation, Inc., an organization that aims to disseminate information to the public, and conduct research on prevention and treatment. 鈥淎ccurate diagnosis and early action can truly save women and men from suffering the physical and emotional pain of this disease,鈥� she said, adding that osteoporosis is not a disease for elderly women; contrary to belief, it is 鈥渁 disease that can strike us all whether we are men or women, young or old.鈥�

Three years since receiving the life-changing news that she was osteoporotic, Ms. Periquet is back on her feet. She鈥檚 off therapy, she does acupuncture and yoga, and she鈥檚 back to dancing.

鈥淔or the first time since I got my diagnosis, I woke up with a big smile on my face. I felt revived, refreshed rebooted, with the pain in my body reduced significantly. I realized life must go on in spite of osteoporosis. Life鈥檚 too good to be missing out on it,鈥� she said of that all-important turning point, when she accepted that she would have to live with chronic pain. 鈥淚 sincerely believe that life is and will always be beautiful, even with this disease.鈥澨�

WORDS MICHELLE ANN P. SOLIMAN听| ILLUSTRATION TONE听顿础脩础厂

George T. Yang celebrated his 80^th birthday in McDonald鈥檚, naturally. Left on his own to order for the crowd of crew members and friends who gathered in the Greenbelt 1 branch to fete him, the founder of Golden Arches Development Corporation would have probably chosen a mix of his favorites: Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, Quarter Pounder hamburgers, and Chicken McDo meals with rice and fries. This would have triggered a flurry of activity that we take for granted after 37 years of quick service.

It was Mr. Yang who popularized fast food cuisine in the Philippines when he opened the first McDonald鈥檚 restaurant in Morayta, Manila, in 1981. It鈥檚 still there in its original location, if you fancy a visit. Growing the business from that single franchise to 600 branches nationwide and close to 60,000 employees was a long slog.

Ubiquitous as the Golden Arches are now, Mr. Yang remembers a time when it was a novelty rather than the norm. 鈥淎t that time, the model of serving good food fast was new to the Philippine market and I knew it would be a hit,鈥� he said, referring to the 1970s to the early 1980s.

In 1974, Mr. Yang wrote to McDonald鈥檚 headquarters in the US, expressing interest in opening a local franchise. It took seven years of back and forth with American executives, who initially declined Mr. Yang鈥檚 request. Despite that first refusal, he persisted and managed to finagle a meeting with McDonald鈥檚 decision-makers, who flew to the Philippines to meet with the thirty-something entrepreneur hell-bent on bringing the Golden Arches to Manila.

While top brass was deliberating, Mr. Yang trained as a McDonald鈥檚 staff member in Hong Kong. He prepared and served food, bussed tables and cleaned the restroom, and graduated to managing the restaurant. Every McDonald鈥檚 branch operates on a model ultimately based on the Speedee Service System developed in the 1940s by Richard and Maurice McDonald, the brothers who revolutionized the way we eat by applying an assembly line-like discipline to food preparation and standardization. In The Founder (2016), the biographical movie that tells the origin story of McDonald鈥檚, the system is described as a 鈥渃razy burger ballet鈥� and a 鈥渟ymphony of efficiency鈥� where there is 鈥渘ot a wasted motion.鈥�

鈥淭he time I spent in Hong Kong working at the restaurant as part of the crew was very valuable,鈥� said Mr. Yang. 鈥淚 learned the ropes firsthand and it prepared me for the work that needed to be done when I opened the first store. I believe that in doing business, you need to know it inside out.鈥�

September 10, 1981, is a day etched in Mr. Yang鈥檚 memory. After the long wait, the Morayta branch of McDonald鈥檚, right in front of Far Eastern University, finally opened and served its first hamburgers to a line of customers that snaked outside the little store, spilled onto the streets, and around the block. 鈥淭hat day is unforgettable. 鈥� A lot of people came,鈥� said Mr. Yang. And these people, curious of palate and patient of demeanor, waited to be let in since Mr. Yang had to close the store when it reached capacity. Diners came in batches.

It was a real test for the crew who, prior to opening day, trained with simulated ingredients: cardboard cutouts for beef patties and straws for french fries. 鈥淲hen we opened, nobody had real experience. It was very chaotic but fun,鈥� he said, remembering further mishaps. At one point, power went out and when it came back on, the exhaust was blowing the wrong way. 鈥淢y heart almost stopped,鈥� said Mr. Yang, who had to call maintenance to fix the problem.

That glorious first day, power outage aside, predicted McDonald鈥檚 success. Mr. Yang opened his second branch, also in 1981, in Cubao at the New Frontier Theater. It was here in 鈥淪tore #002鈥� 鈥� which reopened in 2015 as McDonald鈥檚 Kia Theatre 鈥� that Mr. Yang鈥檚 eldest child, Kenneth, worked as part of the crew (he鈥檚 the current president and CEO of Golden Arches). It expanded nationwide in 1992 with branches in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro. In 2005, the company concluded its deal with US management and became 100% Filipino-owned. It led to the acceleration of opening new stores, with an average of 50 stores opening yearly.

The Philippine menu, too, has changed since 1981. McDonald鈥檚 has always been sensitive to the gustatory peculiarities of its worldwide following 鈥� the Philippines, after all,听 is only one in around 120 countries and territories with McDonald鈥檚 restaurants. Germany has the McN眉rnburger, three pieces of bratwurst on a bun; Colombia has the Pineapple Oreo McFlurry; the Philippines has the Chicken McDo with Spaghetti value meal. It鈥檚 still one of the top-sellers here but it flopped when it was offered in the US and consequently pulled.

Despite failing to introduce a menu item to the international menu, McDonald鈥檚 Philippines is a booming billion-peso business. According to data compiled by 大象传媒 Research, Golden Arches Development Corporation finished 2017 with Php24.757 billion in gross sales, garnering the 98^th spot in 大象传媒鈥檚 Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines. In comparison, Jollibee Foods Corporation, McDonald鈥檚 direct competitor,听 is ranked 27^th with Php62.425 in gross revenues.

NO BED OF ROSES
Mr. Yang embarked on his McDonald鈥檚 journey after realizing that he could not compete with his peers from De La Salle University in an organizational setting. 鈥淚鈥檓 shy. I don鈥檛 like to talk to people,鈥� said Mr. Yang. This confession might ring false to anyone who knows of Mr. Yang鈥檚 avocations: he鈥檚 an avid fan of classical music who has performed on stage many times, treating audiences to his interpretations of 鈥�O Sole Mio,鈥� 鈥�Torna A Surriento,鈥� and 鈥�Nessun Dorma.鈥�

Still, he insists on his shyness. When he ran for vice-president and failed to be elected despite being on top of his class, he vowed to go it alone. 鈥淭hat told me something: I need to do things myself. At that time, I felt I could not shine in an organization, so I thought I had to do my own business,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was young then, when I started McDonald鈥檚. I have seen it grow.鈥�

He added that McDonald鈥檚 has served as a stepping stone for a great number of people who eventually moved on to other things. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really meant to be that way. Many of them have succeeded. I鈥檓 proud to say that many of them consider their experience in McDonald鈥檚 as very helpful in their careers,鈥� he said. It is an achievement close to his heart: McDonald鈥檚 pioneered providing regular and part-time jobs for students in the industry. 鈥淲e have never practiced contractualization in our restaurants. The employment opportunities we have given to working students have enabled them to finish their studies and jumpstart their careers,鈥� he said, taking a gentle jab at Jollibee, which landed in the news this year for topping the Department of Labor and Employment鈥檚 list of labor-only contracting companies 鈥� a practice prohibited by the current administration. 鈥淚 always meet people who would introduce themselves as former McDonald鈥檚 crew members and are now big shots. They credit working at McDonald鈥檚 not only for helping them finance their studies but for the training and discipline they learned. It makes me very happy to hear stories like these,鈥� said Mr. Yang in a subsequent e-mail to High Life.

Even if he is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the company, Mr. Yang puts in his two cents when it comes to setting the company鈥檚 vision. 鈥淵ou know I felt like I did not do enough. All of a sudden, you wake up and think, 鈥業鈥檓 already seventy-plus! Where did all the years go?鈥� You will feel that. Do I want to accomplish more? I want to, but realistically speaking, I should not because I don鈥檛 have that kind of energy anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut once you are a businessman, you cannot help it鈥攜our mind is still working. My mind is working. So, I try to give my ideas to my children. It鈥檚 up to them to do it if they want to.鈥�

In a moment of introspection, Mr. Yang laid out the personal cost of building the McDonald鈥檚 empire and spreading the glow of the Golden Arches throughout the Philippines: 鈥淪ometimes, I felt I spent too much time at McDonald鈥檚. It required so much of my attention, that I couldn鈥檛 do other things. I didn鈥檛 want to fail. It鈥檚 a matter of pride. I would say that the beginnings of McDonald鈥檚 here in the Philippines was a struggle, mentally and physically. It was not a bed of roses. But McDonald鈥檚 is McDonald鈥檚: it鈥檚 good and fun.鈥澨�

If he could talk to his younger self鈥攖hat shy, people-averse George he remembers fondly鈥攈e鈥檇 tell him two things: 鈥淚t is okay to make mistakes, only if you learn from them鈥� and 鈥渋f you persevere enough, you succeed. If you work hard enough, you succeed鈥攑erseverance and determination. If you persevere hard enough, the day will come for you,鈥� he said.听

WORDS NICKKY FAUSTINE P. DE GUZMAN听|听PHOTOGRAPHY听AYAKO YAMAMOTO

The single-mindedness of classical musicians is legendary. Harriette Brower, in the early 1900s, documented the habits of artists at the pinnacle of their careers in books such as Piano Mastery. Ignace Jan Paderewski, the Polish pianist and composer, could lose hours when he was sitting at the keys. A student interviewed by Brower recalls: 鈥淧aderewski instructs, as he does everything else, with magnificent generosity. He takes no account of time. I would come to him for the stipulated half-hour, but the lesson would continue indefinitely, until we were both forced to stop from sheer exhaustion.鈥�

Japanese-American violinist Ryu Goto, who has been playing professionally since he was seven, probably wouldn鈥檛 have thrived under the tutelage of someone like Paderewski. 鈥淚t鈥檚 absolute bullshit when people say 鈥業 love practicing.鈥� I think that鈥檚 the stupidest thing I鈥檝e ever heard,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou hate it. You know it, and you hate it.鈥� Proclaiming to love everything about the violin, he continued, is 鈥渟heer insanity,鈥� 鈥渙bsession,鈥� and plain old 鈥渃razy.鈥�

The outspoken 30-year-old was in the country for a concert with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra held this November at the Manila Cathedral. While he concedes that music is a huge part of who he is, it鈥檚 not all he is: Mr. Goto has a physics degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; a black belt in karate; and a business to help run as a partner of an investment firm based in Ghana. 鈥淚鈥檝e never really thought of myself as being defined only by music,鈥� he said.

To balance his interests, Mr. Goto鈥攗nlike Paderewski鈥攇uards his time, always tracing the shortest route between where he is and what he wants to accomplish. He asks himself: 鈥淗ow can I cut off all the excess stuff and then get there in the most efficient way?鈥� The hours squirreled away are then used for leisure鈥斺�渢o hang out and do stuff,鈥� as the violinist put it. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the key to success and the key to having an enjoyable life. You have so much more time to yourself.鈥�

Being a true child of the Internet, he sees YouTube鈥攁nd similar online resources鈥攁s a gold mine that 鈥渁llow us to get better at things so quickly.鈥� There is no need to wait for your teachers to appear. They are already there, one search string away from you. Knowledge awaits those who know how to Google and, more important, how to separate wheat from chaff when it comes to sources. Brower鈥檚 books are online. As are Frederick H. Martens, who, inspired by Brower鈥檚 work, compiled Violin Mastery. In Martens鈥� book, we meet Jascha Heifetz (1901鈥�1987), hailed as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Heifetz and Mr. Goto are of similar mind when it comes to practice: 鈥淚n the first place I have never believed in practicing too much鈥攊t is just as bad as practicing too little! And then there are so many other things I like to do. 鈥� I have never believed in grinding,鈥� says Heifetz in Violin Mastery. Unwilling to read? There鈥檚 medici.tv, which has the largest catalog of classical music videos in high definition. Unwilling to pay the subscription fee? Warner Classics uploaded Maxim Vengerov鈥檚 violin masterclass on YouTube.

Do not mistake Mr. Goto鈥檚 cavalier attitude for laxness. When he鈥檚 on, he鈥檚 on. As the great violin teacher Leopold Auer (1845鈥�1930) said: 鈥淚t is better to play with concentration for two hours than to practice eight without.鈥�

According to Mr. Goto, anyone with the desire to succeed in the wonderful world of classical music as he has must first ask: 鈥淲hat do I have that鈥檚 different from anybody else?鈥� The question is meant to be answered seriously. 鈥淚t means thinking rationally and figuring out how to get to where you want to get,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 in sports, or music, or anything, your heart has to burn. You have to have a fire in your heart. But your head has to be super cool. It has to be, like, ice cold.鈥�

WORDS MICHELLE ANN P. SOLIMAN

In 1900, the premier hotel in Manila served a mix of Spanish and American dishes for New Year鈥檚 Eve. Four decades later, American soldiers who survived the Second World War feasted on comfort food on Christmas. In Malolos, in 1940, an unidentified event coincidentally held on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception seemed to poke fun at those in power. In the menu cards collected by food historian and author Felice Prudente Sta. Maria lie fascinating stories about historical holiday meals and how the times affected the way people ate.

Ms. Sta. Maria鈥檚 interest in food history began in the 1970s when she occasionally wrote food-related stories for a women鈥檚 magazine. 鈥淚 used to read books about foreign cooking in the 1960s and 1970s. There were no similar articles or books for Philippine food. We had recipe books but that was all,鈥� she told High Life. 鈥淭here is material about food history, but nobody had compiled it and figured out the chronology. So that鈥檚 what got me interested. Why don鈥檛 we have it? We should have what everybody else has and it must be a credible history.鈥�

She began collecting menus, books, and old documents about Filipino food for research. The documents, many of them acquired from local antique dealers, are now archived at the Lopez Museum and Library. 鈥淚 collect anything and everything that provides primary material for understanding who we are by what we eat.鈥�

ESCRITEAU TO MENU
The concept of menu cards originated in the early 1800s in France, specifically in famous restaurants in the Palais-Royal, which was then the gastronomic heart of Paris. We have the French Revolution to thank for this flowering of the fine-dining scene: aristocrats living in luxury were either chased out of their estates or executed, leaving behind kitchen staff without their masters.

鈥淎ll the royals and noblemen had their own cooks. But then, their heads got chopped off,鈥� said Ms. Sta. Maria, giving an abbreviated history lesson that led to the rise of restaurants. 鈥淐hefs were fleeing for their lives. They started finding other businesses鈥攖hey would open up restaurants.鈥�

According to the food historian, it was in these establishments that the escriteau (an old French word for 鈥渂ill of听 fare鈥�)鈥攍engthy menus that were used by the kitchen staff of a royal or noble household as a guide to the sequence of dishes to be served鈥攅volved into poster-menus (placed on the front door of a restaurant) and, eventually, smaller menus placed on the table.听 This origin story, she added, is consistent and remains uncontested to this day.

Menu cards are snapshots of history. The New York Public Library, for instance, is transcribing approximately 45,000 menus dating from the 1840s to the present into a searchable digital archive. Once complete, the database will contain 鈥渟pecific information about dishes, prices, the organization of meals, and all the stories these things tell us about the history of food and culture.鈥�

On a smaller scale, Ms. Sta. Maria鈥檚 collection of documents does the same thing. Perusing the menus, for example, shows how food changed in conjunction with historical milestones such as the cessation of the monopolistic Galleon Trade between the Philippines and Mexico in 1815; the end of the closed-door policy of Spain in 1834; and the completion of the Suez Canal, a more direct route between Europe and Asia, in 1869.

These developments opened up the Philippines to the world. 鈥淲hen foreigners came, we needed hotels,鈥� Ms. Sta. Maria said. And these hotels needed to provide not just room, but board. The need to import food became especially pronounced during the holidays, a time for feasting.

Built in 1889 in Plaza Calderon dela Barca in Binondo, Manila, Hotel de Oriente was a popular first-class hotel that featured three stories, an attic, red clay tiles as flooring and roofing. On New Year鈥檚 Eve of 1900, the hotel menu offered a mix of Spanish and American dishes that included fresh oyster cocktail, fillet of mullet with parsley sauce, loin of pork and apple sauce, Australian turkey with cranberry sauce, and prime ribs of beef au jus.

Menu cards can also tease us with bits of information that hint at a larger narrative. In the 1940s, said Ms. Sta. Maria, it was fashionable to give food funny names. A menu card from an unidentified event dated Dec. 8, 1940, in Malolos, Bulacan, is pointed and political in its humor. The 12-course meal included dishes that were christened Sinigang a lo 鈥淐ourt of Appeals鈥� (a sign of sour feelings, perhaps?); Pavo Presidencial 1943 (wait, was someone just called a presidential turkey?); Pansit disidente (noodles of the dissident); Enpanadas Imperiales (imperial patties); and Ensalada 鈥淎suntos Terminados鈥� (salad 鈥渕atters finished鈥�). Who prepared this menu, one wonders? What did it mean? The fact that the event took place in Malolos, the birthplace of the first constitutional republic in Asia, adds yet another layer of intrigue.听

Shifting gears, a Christmas 1945 menu for American soldiers stationed at Sangley Point in Cavite鈥攁n area that was severely bombed during the Second World War鈥攊ncluded cream of tomato soup, roast turkey, baked spiced ham, buttered green peas, baked kernel corn, sweet pickles, mixed candies, and mixed nuts. In other words, comfort food.

A SENSE OF WELL-BEING
Ms. Sta. Maria noted that people get a sense of well-being and happiness from food. In Filipino culture, there are two words that capture these emotions: ginhawa or comfort; and the Visayan naya-naya spirit, which means 鈥渢o serve food鈥� and 鈥渢o be a happy person.鈥�

鈥淭here is a happiness in serving food鈥攖hat鈥檚 probably the basis of our hospitality,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat food is saying is that we are a social people and food is part of that social relationship.鈥� The joy of eating, she added, is derived from satisfying a hunger that is not just physical but emotional as well.

Ginhawa and naya-naya reflect who we are, she continued. 鈥淲hen you put them together, it says really good things about who we are,鈥� Ms. Sta. Maria said. 鈥淲e see food from many angles because we are feeding the body, the mind, and the emotion. That is our food and we enjoy it when we are with people.鈥澨�

The best and simplest way is to have your item appraised by experts. One of the Philippines鈥� auction houses, Casa de Memoria, for instance, has a research specialist who will meticulously do research on an object, and assess its provenance and value.

鈥淲e can have it appraised to what the current market value of the piece of that age is鈥攈ow much it would cost today, what the collectability is, and see how much a collector would want of it,鈥� said Camille Lhuillier, one of the founders of Casa de Memoria who also serves as the house鈥檚 marketing manager.

The factors to consider when determining the value of an item is its age, its time period, the artist (if there is one), what the piece represents, and its current condition. Casa de Memoria specializes in antiques and heirloom pieces. For consignments for fine art pieces like paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures, and fashion items like watches and jewelry, meanwhile, you can go to other auction house in the country like Finale Auctions, Leon Gallery, and Salcedo Auctions.

Finale Auctions鈥� owner Evita Sarena affirmed that the best way to know the value of an item is for 鈥渃ollectors or their heirs to go to experts of those things to have their pieces assessed and appraised.鈥� Once an item is proven of value, you can have your heirloom ring or painting consigned at auction houses. 鈥� NPDG

WORDS JOSEPH L. GARCIA

They called her a magpie. It was once believed that magpies were attracted to shine and sheen and picked up anything that reflected a bit of light to place in their nests. Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom, as consort of King George V, was known for her vast collections. It wasn鈥檛 enough that as queen, she had control over the contents of various palaces across the nation. She was known to write notes to people who had objects that were once part of the Royal Collection, asking for their return.

While she inherited a large part of the jewels bequeathed by her grandmother-in-law, Queen Victoria, she was also given use of jewels from her mother-in-law, Alexandra of Denmark. As part of her privileges as queen, she had many bejewelled gifts: pieces from her collection are worn today by her various descendants, including her granddaughter, Elizabeth II. And still, this was not enough. During the Russian Revolution, members of the Russian Imperial Family fled abroad to escape the fate of their many executed relations. Jewelry provided a link to the world they left behind, as well as became a bridge to the new lives they would be forced to live. Queen Mary gleefully bought jewels from these Russian cousins, partly from a desire to help, and partly from a desire to add to her collection. One of the most magnificent pieces from these transactions was the Vladimir Tiara, once owned by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, and worn today by Elizabeth II.听

It is understandable that Queen Mary should drape herself in jewels and finery as queen and image-builder for the then-British Empire. But as for people without these tasks, what would cause a person to collect? Collecting as we see here would be the repeated acquisition of objects of the same kind, whether they be fur, jewelry, art, or cars. Some collectors go beyond merely having and seek the rarest, the finest, the best.

COVETABLE AND COLLECTIBLE
The gavel wielded by Salcedo Auctions director Richie Lerma usually decides where rare pieces find a home. Mr. Lerma鈥檚 auction house may be famous for selling art, but Salcedo has also sold baubles that can only mean something to a collector: say a S猫vres vase, or else an hourglass made of diamonds. Through Mr. Lerma鈥檚 hands pass some of the country鈥檚 most covetable鈥攁nd collectible鈥攐bjects.听

鈥淧eople collect because they derive joy from it: both the act of acquiring and possessing,鈥� said Mr. Lerma in an interview. 鈥淭he joy of hunting for a piece comes with the pleasure of learning, of being able to apply one鈥檚 knowledge and gaining new knowledge along the way, whether it鈥檚 through reading the auction catalogue, or speaking with a specialist, not to mention doing one鈥檚 independent research to verify or even enhance whatever information is gleaned.鈥�

鈥淧ossession brings with it the joy of constancy and immediacy鈥攌nowing that the object of one鈥檚 desires is readily at hand to be savored, to derive aesthetic and intellectual pleasure from,鈥� he said.

There are, of course, different kinds of collectors. There are those who are in it for the game, who flip their acquisitions for profit. And there are also those who attach emotional value to the objects they possess.

鈥淣ot all people collect because of monetary value鈥攖hat is its perceived current worth or its potential for growth,鈥� said Mr. Lerma. 鈥淓motion and yes, sentimentality, are also involved in collecting鈥攁ll of these of course connected to passions and the importance of memory, of being able to hold on to something both physically and in one鈥檚 mind that brings joy.鈥�

Mr. Lerma believes that collecting is an investment in the self鈥攎ore so than buying up things and using them as actual financial investments. 鈥淏y collecting similar objects over time, one shows a serious interest in a subject. Acquiring iterations of an object can display a deepening connoisseurship, learning about and acquiring the full breadth of knowledge.鈥�

CHASING THE HIGH
Dr. Ernest Francis Nora, a practitioner of general psychiatry who specializes in addiction and its related disorders, said: 鈥淧eople collect for different reasons. Some do it for money, they collect and sell it later once the price of the collected item goes up. Some do it for science, to look back and study the past. While some will do it for psychological reasons meaning they don鈥檛 really know why they do it. Those who collect for emotional or psychological gain cannot totally explain the need or the high they get when collecting things.鈥�

He continued that some experts in the field still cite Freud and trace these compulsions back to a person鈥檚 nurturing and toilet training days; collecting is seen as a means of taking back control that they didn鈥檛 have when they were young. 鈥淭he 鈥榟igh鈥� of a conquest or acquisition though will be stimulating the reward system in our brain the same way drugs stimulate them,鈥� Dr. Nora said.

A question posed in The Rise and Fall of Imelda Marcos by its author, Carmen Navarro Pedrosa, touches on the shoe obsession of the former First Lady: 鈥淲hy this fetish? What pinched, what hurt, what would not fit in her life of luxury and compelled her to ransack the shoe boutiques of Fifth Avenue, Rue Faubourg St. Honore, and Via Condotti?鈥�

Mrs. Marcos, recently convicted by the Sandiganbayan for seven counts of graft, is known throughout the world for the thousands upon thousands of shoes found in the presidential palace after her exile, bought with money allegedly from the government鈥檚 coffers. So outlandish was her reputation that her name entered the lexicon via the adjective 鈥淚meldific,鈥� which is defined as 鈥渙stentatiously extravagant, sometimes to the point of vulgarity.鈥� The same biography written by Ms. Pedrosa, points out that Mrs. Marcos, before marrying Ferdinand Marcos and hitching her wagon to his star, lived a hard, scrabbling life as a poorer relation of the political Romualdez family.

According to Dr. Nora, the 鈥渉ighs鈥� of collecting can be addictive and hard to get rid of. Once the habit spirals out of control, it can be pathological or harmful. 鈥淭he reason for collecting is usually set: a boy who felt deprived because he grew up without having a family car while all of his friends did, can end up collecting vintage cars,鈥� said Dr. Nora. 鈥淏ut once the high kicks in, they cannot stop collecting things even if they are no longer needed. 鈥� Once it causes dysfunction in your personal, social, or financial life it is already considered harmful.鈥�

Salcedo Auctions鈥� Mr. Lerma, too,听 is aware of the dark side of collecting: 鈥淐ollecting can be unhealthy both physically and emotionally.鈥� He cites hoarding, the collection of things at volumes far from normal, usually of objects with little to no value; and the point at which compulsive, obsessive behavior leads to anti-social, unethical behavior: 鈥淐ollecting is sinister when it becomes greed.鈥�

WORDS ZSARLENE B. CHUA

Playwright David Henry Hwang is smoking a cigarette he bummed from a crew member of this year鈥檚 Philippine restaging of M. Butterfly鈥攖he play that made him a Tony Award winner in 1988鈥攁nd reminiscing about a career that has spanned almost 40 years. He wants to be remembered as someone who acknowledges 鈥渢he importance of the many different types of people and culture and stories,鈥� he said in an interview with High Life in September.

The themes that interest the California-born Mr. Hwang鈥攁nd made him the 鈥渕ost important and the most successful Chinese-American playwright this country [America] has produced鈥� (per the New Yorker)鈥攚ere apparent from the get-go. His early writing credits include a trio of plays (what he likes to call 鈥淭he Trilogy of Chinese America鈥�), all of them staged in the early 1980s, that revolve around identity and the Asian-American immigrant experience: Fresh Off the Boat, The Dance and The Railroad, and Family Devotions.

Toward the end of the same decade, Mr. Hwang鈥檚 M. Butterfly premiered on Broadway and became a bona fide hit that was nominated for a slew of awards, including seven Tonys (it took home Best Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, and Best Direction). A gender-bending love story based on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Peking opera singer Shi Pei Pu, M. Butterfly, during its original run, surprised audiences with its plot twist (spoiler alert: Song Liling is a man!). After a movie adaptation starring Jeremy Irons (1993) and a Julie Taymor-directed Broadway revival with Clive Owen (2017), the big reveal of M. Butterfly isn鈥檛 so much a reveal as it is a certainty. And yet, the resulting conversation about gender and race remains as potent as ever.

鈥淲e still have a long way to go,鈥� Mr. Hwang lamented, especially with the political climate in America. Immigration is a hot-button issue, as is gender (see the #MeToo movement and, more recently, #WeWontBeErased) and race (see #BlackLivesMatter). 鈥淓ven in the Hamilton year, 70% of the actors on Broadway are white,鈥� Mr. Hwang said, referring to the Pulitzer Prize-winning rap-musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda that debuted in 2015. The critically acclaimed production based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was hailed as groundbreaking for featuring mostly Black and Latino actors.

Mr. Hwang is now in a position to change things in the Great White Way. He chairs the American Theatre Wing, the New York City organization that created the Tony Awards and provides grants and scholarships to aspiring theater artists. He鈥檚 made it his mission to 鈥渕ove the needle in diversity鈥� by creating more programs and opportunities for actors and playwrights of color on Broadway.

He has his eye on Qui Nguyen, the Vietnamese-American playwright who staged Vietgone in 2016 in New York. Loosely based on the story of how Mr. Nguyen鈥檚 parents met, the comedy is about Vietnamese refugees who came to the US after fleeing the Vietnam War. 鈥淚 think [Vietgone] should be in Broadway,鈥� Mr. Hwang said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 actually a great deal of diversity out there in terms Asian-American theater right now and a lot of young Asian-American writers鈥the challenge] is how we can get more of these [plays] on Broadway and how to get more plays to Broadway, in general.鈥�

Mr. Hwang believes that 2018 is an 鈥渁n important moment for inclusion.鈥� He pointed to the release of films like Ryan Coogler鈥檚 Black Panther, which featured predominantly black actors, and Jon M. Chu鈥檚 Crazy Rich Asians, which had an almost all-Asian cast. The playwright, who saw Crazy Rich Asians during its opening weekend, said that representation in film, theater, or any form of art is vital: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 even see how much you needed it until you see it.鈥�

Filmed on a production budget of US$30 million, Crazy Rich Asians 鈥� which was based on a book by American-Singaporean novelist Kevin Kwan 鈥� has made US$236 million worldwide, according to the latest data from The Numbers, a movie industry website. Its financial success proves that there is an appetite for stories from and about minority voices. 鈥淚鈥檓 generally a very optimistic person,鈥� said Mr. Hwang, after being asked if he sees these developments as flukes or signs of real progress.

BEGINNINGS AND BUTTERFLIES
In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, Mr. Hwang summed up his career as a playwright as a crusade against damaging cliches: 鈥淚 find that much of my work has involved a search for authenticity; if I could discover more truthful images to replace the stereotypical ones of my youth, perhaps I could also understand my own identity.鈥�

Mr. Hwang, now 61, spent his formative years at Stanford University. As an English major, he saw productions of Thornton Wilder鈥檚 The Matchmaker, a slapstick farce about a busybody matchmaker, which, in turn, inspired Hello, Dolly!; and Shakespeare鈥檚 The Winter鈥檚 Tale, which has all the good stuff: jealousy, madness, and redemption. 鈥淭he earlier shows made me begin to understand what theater could do and made me think, 鈥極h, I want to do something like that,鈥欌�� he told High Life.

But it wasn鈥檛 until he started studying under American playwright Sam Shepard, whose 1979 play Buried Child won Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Cuban-American avant-garde playwright Mar铆a Irene Forn茅s, whose notable works include Fefu and Her Friends (1977) and Sarita (1984), that Mr. Hwang realized that theater was what he was meant to do. Add to that list Arthur Lee Kopit鈥檚 Indians (1968), a highly political play that destroyed stereotypes surrounding cowboys and Native Americans, and you have a snapshot of Mr. Hwang鈥檚 beginnings.

Asked to explain the metamorphosis of M. Butterfly, and how, for the 2017 revival helmed by Ms. Taymor, he tinkered with the story that put him on the map 30 years ago, Mr. Hwang took a drag from his cigarette and replied: 鈥淭here are always things that, as a writer, make you kind of go, 鈥極h, I wish I鈥檇 done that better.鈥欌��

The updated version of M. Butterfly keeps the themes, the characters, the structure, and 鈥渢he bones of the show鈥濃�擱enee Gallimard still unknowingly embarks on a two-decade affair with a male Peking opera singer and spy, Song Liling鈥攁nd delves deeper into Song Liling鈥檚 experience in the relationship. The refreshed script also touches on the concept of intersectionality, a term coined in 1989 (a year after M. Butterfly premiered) to describe, as Merriam-Webster puts it, 鈥渢he complex and cumulative way that the effects of different forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, and yes, intersect鈥攅specially in the experiences of marginalized people or groups.鈥�

While Mr. Hwang regrets that the new Butterfly didn鈥檛 live as long as the original鈥攊t closed six weeks ahead of schedule鈥攈e finds satisfaction in the retooling process. In a 2017 conversation organized by Asia Society, which also featured Ms. Taymor, the playwright shared that it was interesting to revisit the material given 鈥減articular things that are different.鈥� He ticked off two major shifts: how we are more conscious of the range of gender expression and non-conforming gender expression; and how the power balance between East and West has changed.

It鈥檚 not the first time Mr. Hwang has edited and the honed the ideas of his younger self: In 2012, he rewrote several scenes in Golden Child, which ran off-Broadway in 1996 and on Broadway in 1998. Partly set in Cebu, where Mr. Hwang鈥檚 mother grew up, it is the story of an early 20^th century Chinese family facing Westernization.

Incidentally, the version of M. Butterfly that made its way to Manila this September was a restaging of the 1988 production. And it is also this version that will tour in January and February 2019 in Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Dumaguete, and Baguio. Mr. Hwang has no qualms about his decision to revisit and transform the play. He has given the world two versions to choose from. It is, after all, the nature of butterflies to metamorphose. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e always concerned about was how we managed to have a great impact and engagement with the culture 30 years ago 鈥� and how you do that again, particularly when the culture has changed a lot.鈥�

WORDS听MICHELLE ANNE P. SOLIMAN

Supporting local industries that hire local artisans as designers, using cruelty-free cosmetics, shopping with reusable bags, drinking with a metal straw, or carrying a tumbler to reduce plastic waste鈥攃onsumers now think about the ethical supply chain.

According to Dr. Reynaldo A. Bautista, Jr., associate professor at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University, ethical consumerism considers the moral aspects of a commodity鈥檚 production and delivery.

鈥淭he concept of green consumption, i.e. using recyclable materials, is already established in the field of consumer behavior. The ethical consumption concept broadens this view by including the ethical and moral aspects present in production and delivery of goods,鈥� he wrote in an e-mail to High Life, citing considerations on the practice of child labor, suppression or prevention of labor unions, and animal testing.

Continued Dr. Bautista: 鈥淓thical consumer practices aim at the fulfilment of the objectives of socially responsible trade. Thus, in the global context ethical consumerism deals with the ethical and moral aspects of product value chain from production, i.e. sourcing of materials, down to retailing of the products. The ethical consumer ideal implies that individual consumers can have a significant role, through their daily purchasing decisions, in promoting ethical corporate practices.

鈥淐orrespondingly, ethical trade refers to international trade that aims at preventing the injustices of global trade, such as child and low-paid labor, pollution of the environment, infringement of human rights and the inequalities in development caused by globalization.

鈥淧roducts that make sure that all the stakeholders in the value chain are treated fairly constitute whether a product is considered ethical.鈥�

Here, High Life takes a look at two brands and their efforts at making ethical products.

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE
In 2015, bag manufacturer Tali Handmade opened job opportunities to former female inmates from Davao after an eye-opening experience with a women鈥檚 penitentiary by co-founders Liza Crespo and Marielle de Leon-Lazaro. Tali, which means 鈥渢o tie鈥� or 鈥渂ind鈥� in Filipino, is 鈥渇irmly committed to its vision of empowering women鈥檚 lives and connecting communities.鈥�

鈥淭ali Handmade trains and employs skilled women who live in marginalized rural communities in the Philippines, some of whom live with disabilities and have limited opportunities to work. Through the Tali Handmade enterprise, they have been given a new lease on life,鈥� Tali Handmade co-founder Liza Crespo told High Life in an e-mail.

鈥淥nce the female inmates have served their sentence and are free women, they have the option to continue working for us. We have a halfway house to help them transition to their new lives and also to have a means of livelihood by helping us train the new inmates. This will help ensure that they won鈥檛 go back to their old ways. We also try to employ stay-at-home moms, who can continue to work from the confines of their own homes while caring for their young children,鈥� Ms. Crespo wrote.

The one-of-a-kind handbags are made with unconventional raw materials, such as twine straw and leather from local suppliers in Marikina, using traditional crochet techniques.

鈥淥ur creative process is quite organic. We never really know how the finished product will look until it鈥檚 done. It is a collaborative process between the designers and the women artisans who make the bags. We explore different crochet patterns, experiment with different mediums based on what could be sourced locally,鈥� Ms. Crespo wrote of their creative process.

At present, Tali Handmade has more than 75 women who work with them and are able to support their own families. 鈥淸The] income has allowed them to send their kids to school, breaking a vicious cycle of having to engage in criminal activities to make a living. What we鈥檝e learned is that it only takes a spark to fuel change. No good gesture is too big or too small. Every bit helps,鈥� Ms. Crespo wrote.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Dr. Bautista, in his e-mail, explained that ethical consumerism is by no means a new concept: 鈥淲hile ethical consumerism has been in existence for centuries, it gained greater traction in the last few decades because of environmental issues such as global warming, flooding, landslides etc. Along with it, we see communities struggling to survive and become easy targets of some companies to make their products more affordable. Ethical consumerism is a system aimed to address these issues,鈥� he wrote.

Computer company Dell, for example, sought to recycle ocean plastics for the tray packaging of the XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop in 2017.

鈥淚n 2015, Dell became aware of the challenges facing our oceans, i.e. plastics in the oceans poses not only a threat to vital ocean ecosystems, including critical fish nurseries and coral reefs, but also adversely affects the health and longevity of marine species and humans. Dell believes we can make a meaningful contribution to tackle the issue having spent a decade experimenting with a variety of sustainable materials both in our products and packaging, e.g. we have used PCS [polymer-clad silica] plastics in our products since 2008, closed-loop plastics from e-waste since 2014 and reclaimed carbon fiber since 2015,鈥� Dell EMC Philippines country general manager Ronnie Latinazo told High Life in an e-mail.

According to Mr. Latinazo, Dell developed a strategy鈥攂ased on ongoing consultation with the likes of Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia professor recognized for her research on plastic waste in the ocean, and 5 Gyres, a non-profit organization that addresses the global health crisis of plastic pollution鈥攖o intercept ocean-bound plastics in areas with the highest concentration of the material.

In April 2017, after 18 months of feasibility testing, Dell launched the industry鈥檚 first ocean plastics packaging in the XPS 13 2-in-1, its consumer laptop. To make these trays, plastics are collected from beaches, waterways, and other coastal areas, and molded into the final design which bears an illustration of a whale. These packaging trays contain 25% ocean-bound plastics and 75% other recycled plastics.

Mr. Latinazo shared that in the Philippines, Dell did a coastal clean-up drive as part of the company鈥檚 global Shore Up campaign. It was in 2017 when the Dell EMC Philippines team volunteered their time to clear garbage on Freedom Island, a two-kilometer stretch of the Las Pi帽as-Para帽aque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area along Manila Bay. The area is considered among the last remaining wetland ecosystems in Metro Manila and considered an important marine sanctuary that must be protected against the effects of rapid urbanization.

鈥淒ell is fully aware that social and environmental issues are increasingly important to consumers and our enterprise customers鈥� operations, employees, brands, and bottom lines,鈥� Mr. Latinazo wrote. To date, Dell has used 16,000 pounds of ocean-bound plastics and wants to increase usage by 10 times by 2025.

A KEY ASPECT OF BUSINESS
Ethical consumerism isn鈥檛 just a voguish label and businesses are recognizing that consumers care about how the products they buy are manufactured. Citing the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Dr. Bautista said that 鈥渋n the past decade consumers鈥� attitudes towards ethical issues have become of increasing relevance to businesses, so much so that they are now considered a key aspect of business strategy.

鈥淐onsumers and businesses alike are beginning to realize the importance of customer values and how meeting demands is critical if they wish to gain competitive advantage.

鈥淭he developing focus on ethical issues in consumption has seen a response from brands in portraying themselves as 鈥榗lean, green, and socially responsible,鈥欌�� Dr. Bautista wrote, pointing to the research of sociologist and organizational theorist Stewart Clegg.

鈥淐onsequently, there are more brands that claim to be ethical,鈥� he added, offering examples listed by Joanna Doonar in 鈥淓thical Marketing: A question of ethics鈥�: there are brands that use ethical practices in their supply chain (American Apparel); brands that offer ethical or environmentally friendly products in their portfolio (Toyota); and brands that invest in social causes (Pret a Manger).

Taking a look at demographics, Dr. Bautista said that the Philippines tracks with the rest of the world in terms of recognizing the value of ethical consumption, and pointed out an important detail: 鈥淚n the Philippines, while the younger generation are aware, they have limited buying power to purchase these products since socially responsible products are generally more expensive. The older generation has the buying power but has the lesser propensity to buy ethical products. 鈥�听 A sound strategy is to cultivate awareness among the younger generation which they will bring with them when they become the main consumers in the future.鈥�

One nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting ethical consumerism is Fairtrade International, which, on its website, defines 鈥渇air trade鈥� as 鈥渁n alternative approach to conventional trade based on a partnership between producers and traders, businesses, and consumers.鈥� Furthermore, when a product carries the Fairtrade Mark, 鈥渋t means it was produced according to international Fairtrade standards. These standards ensure Fairtrade products are socially and economically fair and environmentally responsible. Key standards include the payment of a minimum price and a premium.鈥� In the Philippines, one can find Fairtrade in Cebu City.

鈥淔airtrade has been in the Philippines for several decades, unfortunately, it is not as popular as in other parts of the world. [The] major contributing factor is the high cost of becoming a full-fledged Fairtrade organization since the organization has to undergo certification. This is also the reason why there are limited marketing efforts to create awareness about fair trade in the country,鈥� Dr. Bautista wrote.

To conclude his email, Dr. Bautista emphasized that ethical consumerism is crucial: 鈥淚t will not just impact the environment which provides for our needs such as food, shelter鈥攂ut also, it is crucial in restoring human decency for all the people in the world.鈥�

WORDS听ZSARLENE B. CHUA听|听ILLUSTRATION听TONE V. 顿础脩础厂

As early as 2015, The New York Times sounded the death knell for malls and the rise of online retail in the US saying that while 鈥減remature obituaries for the shopping mall have been appearing since the late 1990s, but the reality today is more nuanced, reflecting broader trends remaking the American economy.鈥�

The January article quoted the Co Star Group, a Washington-based provider of data for the real estate industry, saying that 80% of the 1,200 malls in the US are considered 鈥渉ealthy鈥� (those with vacancy rates of 10% or less) but comparing it to the numbers nine years before when 94% of malls were considered healthy.

Nearly 15% of the stores in US are 10%鈥�40% vacant, up from 5% in 2006, said the article. Now, malls in Europe and the US are taking an even bigger hit and chains like Macy鈥檚, a department store in the US, announced in 2016 that it will close 100 of its 728 shops while The Economist reported in 2017 that nearly 10,000 stores in the US are to close that same year according to Fung Global Retail & Technology, a consultancy firm with offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong. 鈥淎nd there will be more to come,鈥� the article said ominously.

And many would blame online shopping as one of the main culprits of the decline of physical malls with Amazon, considered one of the largest e-commerce sites in the world, posting US$178 billion dollars in 2017 in net revenue according to statistics portal, Statista. This number is set to grow to US$201 billion in 2018 and US$356 billion by 2022 homing in the point that more and more people are gravitating towards the convenience of shopping using their mobile devices and waiting for it to be delivered to their homes or offices.

While malls and physical retail stores might be faltering in other parts of the world, the same is not the case in the Philippines according to two of its largest mall operators鈥擲M Supermalls with more than 70 malls nationwide, and Robinsons Malls with 50.

Of note: SM Mall of Asia enjoys 97% occupancy. 鈥淏usiness remains bustling,鈥� said Steven T. Tan, chief operating officer of SM Supermalls, in an e-mail interview with High Life in September.

Both mall operators noted that the definition of malls is changing from merely shopping spaces to social spaces, said Arlene G. Magtibay, senior vice-president and general manager of the commercial centers division of Robinsons Land Corp.

鈥淭oday, a mall is not just a place to shop but a place to watch people, relax, connect, rejuvenate. It is a place where you can get your errands done, attend religious services, a place for multi-generational families. Shopping centers now strive to be more entertaining and engaging. We [now] view them more as social spaces rather than just places to purchase goods,鈥� Ms. Magtibay said in another e-mail interview with High Life in September.

鈥楩OOD IS THE NEW FASHION鈥�
And one of the more prominent changes malls have seen in recent years is the proliferation of dining options with Ms. Magtibay noting 鈥渇ood is the new fashion.鈥�

鈥淚n the 1990s, food establishments accounted for roughly 10% of the total number of shops in a mall. Today, depending on the mall鈥檚 positioning, the number has increased to around 20% with some malls having as high as 30% of their spaces allocated to food,鈥� she said.

鈥淔ilipinos, in general, are a very social people. We like to gather as families, or as a group of friends, officemates or org-mates, etc. and food is usually at the center of such gatherings. Given the convenience that restaurants offer and the increasingly hectic pace of modern life, it is not surprising that more people now prefer to dine out rather than host dinners at home,鈥� she added.

Restaurants also function as an 鈥渁ccessible luxury,鈥� said Mr. Tan.

鈥淔ood is no longer just for sustenance or celebration, but an experience for the taste buds that reflects your personality and can be shared digitally. By sampling different cuisines, you can travel vicariously. There is so much renewed interest in food. It鈥檚 accessible luxury. People now go to the malls principally to eat out. It is their impetus to go malling,鈥� he said.

According to both Ms. Magtibay and Mr. Tan, malls have become lifestyle destinations that should provide more than just shopping experiences.

Robinsons Land opened its third mall in Iloilo (and 49^th mall in all) in Pavia. Its signature feature: its own waterpark. Meanwhile, SM Mall of Asia is set to introduce a roof deck with a FIFA-grade football field, an open-air amphitheater, and a botanical garden 鈥渢o complement the Manila Bay sunset,鈥� said Mr. Tan. (SM is no stranger to introducing these amenities. Remember when SM Megamall opened the country鈥檚 first skating rink?)

Mr. Tan also noted that there is now a new trend of introducing hybrid retail where 鈥渟trict formats are giving way to hybrids for a seamless lifestyle experience.鈥�

鈥淧eople now are expecting products and experience. So you have stores that have caf茅 components, barber shops serving cocktails, themed restaurants like DC Caf茅 that serves DC Comics-branded limited-edition collectibles, and vinyl record stores that serve coffee,鈥� he explained.

鈥極MNI-CHANNEL RETAIL鈥�
The evolving definition of what constitutes a mall also prompted both mall operators to introduce new experiences in their respective spaces. SM Mall of Asia鈥攁 sprawling 406,000-square-meter space in Pasay City鈥攊s, according to Mr. Tan, undergoing a 鈥渞edevelopment more than just a renovation鈥� until 2022. This includes the construction of a third level to accommodate even more brands that wish to open boutiques in the said mall.

On the other hand, Robinsons鈥� flagship mall, Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, is undergoing a multi-year renovation as a response to the market鈥檚 changing tastes and preferences. The expansion includes more dining establishments, a VIP theater, and PlayLab (described by Ms. Magtibay as 鈥渢he country鈥檚 first digital playground鈥�).

She also observed that more and more retailers will offer experiences that leverage technology (virtual reality content and immersive experiences) while restaurateurs will create 鈥渆xperimental dining [options] such as farm-to-table courtyards, gourmet food halls and cook-your-own-food facilities.鈥�

鈥淭here will be a lot more interface between online and offline shopping as retailers move towards omni-channel retailing. People will be able to research online and buy offline, or browse offline and buy online, or buy online and pick up at the store,鈥� Ms. Magtibay added.

Meanwhile, in a 2017 interview with 大象传媒, Lazada鈥檚 then-CEO Inanc Balci, said that the goal of the Southeast Asian e-commerce site was never to replace malls in the Philippines because they recognize that malls for Filipinos are more than just places for people to shop. He said that the company is only looking to get a percentage of the Php60-65 billion retail industry into e-commerce.

WORDS听JOSEPH L. GARCIA | ILLUSTRATION听JOY D. DAGUN

Are you sure you have everything in the world when you鈥檙e missing someone in your life? We鈥檙e not talking about a lover; we鈥檙e talking about a butler.

鈥淗e鈥檚 devoted his life to supporting someone, which is what you do as a butler,鈥� said Steven Ferry, founder of The International Association of Traditional Butlers, the first organization of its kind. Mr. Ferry was speaking about Stevens, the main character in Kazuo Ishiguro鈥檚 Nobel Prize-winning novel, The Remains of the Day, eventually made into a film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins.

To Mr. Ferry, Stevens is the most accurate depiction of a butler in fiction: not Alfred from Batman, nor Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the old-fashioned butler, but he embodies everything that is good about the butler, but he also has the bad things about the butler,鈥� said Mr. Ferry, describing Stevens. 鈥淗is attitude, his devotion to duty鈥攖hat is really the epitome of what a butler should be.鈥� Stevens is a butler who serve Lord Darlington, who unfortunately sympathized with the Nazi cause in the years leading up to and during the Second World War. Mr. Ferry points out, that in the end, Stevens devotes his life to 鈥渟omebody who isn鈥檛 worth devoting your life to.鈥�

In any case, Mr. Ferry鈥檚 career began in the 鈥�80s, after attending the Ivor Spencer International School for Butlers and the Professional School for Toastmasters, taught by Sir Ivor Spencer himself (Spencer, who passed away in 2009, received his MBE for his service to the Royal family). Mr. Ferry then went on, armed with this education, to serve as a butler in domestic settings and then moved on to consultancy work. Mr. Ferry has authored various books on the subject, such as The British Butler鈥檚 Bible: The Key to Private Service in the British Tradition, the two-volume Serving the Wealthy, Hotel Butlers, and The Great Service Differentiators.

High Life spoke with Mr. Ferry when he visited Manila this August to teach a basic butler service course at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

Most butlers usually come from a long line of butlers, so if judged on this metric, Mr. Ferry wouldn鈥檛 have been a butler. His father was a lawyer, and his brothers were doctors. He said that his mother was 鈥渏olly sure鈥� he鈥檇 become a doctor too, but Mr. Ferry was not interested in the profession. Instead, he went into education, then counseling, and along the way, jumped from job to job. He spent a period in Hollywood doing鈥攐f all things鈥攊ntelligence work. 鈥淚f I told you before, I鈥檇 have to kill you,鈥� he said while laughing. His wife was involved in the launch of a yacht, and, in her efforts for the event to run seamlessly, came upon Sir Ivor Spencer鈥檚 butler academy. 鈥淚 learned to be a butler from him; the basics of it.鈥�

鈥淭o become a butler,鈥� he continued, 鈥測ou really have to either go up the ranks, which doesn鈥檛 really happen anymore.鈥�

RUNNING THE HOUSEHOLD
In the old days, at least starting from the Victorian Era, a young boy entered domestic service to a great household by applying as a lower-ranked employee, say, a footman or a valet, and was supervised by a butler already in place. In time, if he worked well, he would come to replace the butler himself. Mr. Ferry compares the former life of the butler to an apprentice program, and said that knowledge of buttling was usually passed through word of mouth.

The butler鈥檚 role has expanded in the thousand years since the profession鈥檚 inception. Originally, the butler was in charge of wines and bottled beverages in a household (the word shares its etymology with 鈥渂ottle鈥�), but the role of the butler as we see today really came about in the Victorian Era. The butler was in charge of the household staff and the way it ran, and, in a manner, also influenced the life of the house鈥檚 master from the time he woke to the time he slept.

The way of the butler suffered a decline after the First World War, the flaming sunset that closed most of the doors of Europe鈥檚 great houses and the age of the aristocracy. Taxation and political reform in England lessened the power and prestige of the great houses which needed armies of staff to run it. 鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 afford it so much,鈥� said Mr. Ferry. Furthermore, while the social reforms and the carnage of the war changed the lifestyles of the lords and ladies who employed them, the War also brought a change in the mindset of the household staff. 鈥淭hey saw a wider world out there. They were paid more, they had more respect, perhaps, and those who survived the war didn鈥檛 want to go back to the drudgery of household work.鈥�

For a period, only the wealthiest of the wealthiest could afford a butler, but financial booms in the 鈥�80s brought the butler back in fashion. Continuing financial booms in Asian countries such as China fuel the demand for British-trained butlers. Speaking about the modern butler鈥檚 role in the modern world, he said, 鈥淵ou really are CEO of Home, Inc., meaning that you run the household,鈥� he said, citing duties such as the effective management of staff, and, in some cases, even managing funds.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got, maybe, ten companies, and you鈥檝e got people running each of the companies for you. You don鈥檛 run them yourself necessarily; you鈥檙e maybe Chair of the Board,鈥� he said, profiling what sort of person would require the services of a butler. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got everything in the world, you must be wasting an awful lot of time managing it all.鈥�

HE SMALLEST THINGS MAKE THE GREATEST IMPACT
As in any profession, one must have the proper traits and character to handle the position for as long a time as possible. He says that as a butler, being invisible is one. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l want to be invisible because you鈥檒l get up the boss鈥檚 nose if you鈥檙e in his face the whole time.鈥� Another important trait: discretion. 鈥淚f you have someone in your house, you don鈥檛 want all your secrets or private matters appearing in The Times of London.鈥� One such person who arguably broke this rule was the butler of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2003, he-who-shall-not-be-named released a memoir titled A Royal Duty, where he wrote about his career in royal service in great detail. He also served as a witness during the government鈥檚 inquest in the death of the Princess of Wales, saying things that could have painted him as an unreliable witness. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 mention his name around here,鈥� said Mr. Ferry, laughing.

As in any type of service or work, while one is expected to do one鈥檚 duty, it鈥檚 always the smallest things that make the greatest impact. 鈥淗elping with their mother,鈥� he said, when prompted to recall an occasion where his employer thanked him for something. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a stupid little thing,鈥� he says modestly. 鈥淭he mother wasn鈥檛 in good shape, so I helped her.鈥�

On another occasion, he was working under a Russian magnate who had a fabulous estate hidden near the Urals. 鈥淗e could鈥檝e bought anything he wanted, but he was eating slop.鈥� He said that he wasn鈥檛 there to handle the cook, but he was there to train the Russian magnate鈥檚 butler. Going to the kitchens to investigate, he found out that the cook had given up on life after her husband killed himself in the garage. Relying on his counseling skills from his previous life and vocation, he helped the cook find her footing again. 鈥淪he came back the next day with lipstick on,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淪he cracked open a cookbook, and started cooking fantastic food.鈥�

Our lives never run truly smoothly. What would compel a person to devote their life to making sure that another one鈥檚 life goes on smoothly, when a whole world runs inside you already? He said, 鈥淵ou take joy in helping others. You could do that as a nurse. You could do that as a minister. As many things鈥攁s a mother, even. But you have the additional benefit of working with very high-end possessions and properties, and so forth, in a beautiful environment where money is no object.鈥�

In the end, however, what matters most is a quality that Mr. Ferry describes as 鈥渟olicitousness.鈥� 鈥淵ou鈥檙e really caring about another person. You really care about the boss, all the guests, all of the family,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou really make sure that there鈥檚 a smile on their face as much as possible. Their life just really rolls along smoothly. And that鈥檚 really what you鈥檙e there for.鈥�

A pioneering full-metal line called Blaze introduces a flat lens-over-frame construction, dark mirror shades in contemporary colors, and textural contrasts. The overall effect redefines some of the brand鈥檚 classic styles, including the Round, the Clubmaster, the Shooter, as well as a new feminine cat-eye shape. The Blaze collection is available on for PHP10,990 to PHP12,990.听 听

鈥業t鈥檚 all about the glow, not the glitter.鈥�

WORDS听ZSARLENE B. CHUA

A听flawless base and a pop of color, these are the two beauty trends carrying 2018 according to Laura Mercier and NARS, two of the world鈥檚 most recognizable cosmetic brands. While these brands embody different signature looks鈥擫aura Mercier is always about a flawless face while NARS is all about having no rules and being bold鈥攂oth brands insist that a good look always starts with a good base, and taking care of one鈥檚 skin is non-negotiable.

鈥淎side from makeup, we really teach our clients to take care of their skin. Prepping their skin properly makes the makeup adhere better and look seamless,鈥� Mayel S. Bautista, brand manager for Laura Mercier Philippines, told High Life in an interview in July. Even if products might offer skin care benefits, she added, they are not substitutes for a good skin care routine.

In recent years, the Philippines has been taking cues from its Asian neighbors鈥攏amely Japan and South Korea鈥攚hen it comes to cosmetics and especially skin care. 鈥淏ecause of the Eastern influence, we learned about the importance of skin care,鈥� she explains. Both South Korea and Japan are known for their multi-step skin care routines, which include toners, serums, and moisturizers, among other products.

DEWY, GLOSSY, HIGH-SHINE
Living in a tropical country and having to deal with issues such as dryness and excessive oiliness have led Filipinos to becoming more adventurous when it comes to makeup.

鈥淚n the Philippines, we鈥檙e into trying new looks now and we鈥檙e not afraid of experimenting,鈥� Marla Velez, brand manager of NARS, told High Life in the same July interview.

Previously, Filipinos shied away from anything that was not matte. When the dewy look and highlighters caught fire in other countries, the Philippines鈥攚ith its newfound love for skin care鈥� managed to get on the said train and make it work.

The dewy look has been around since 2017 and both NARS and Laura Mercier see it continuing through 2018, with the added detail of glossy lips.

NARS is a brand founded by and named after Francois Nars, the no-rules, boundary-pushing French makeup artist who created what is arguably the world鈥檚 most titillating blush: Orgasm, a peachy, golden pink shade that鈥檚 universally flattering.

鈥淚 love color, but I have moments when I hate colors and like to draw makeup in black and white, like black eyeliner or black smoky eye. I always try to find interesting colors because I think a makeup line should have both these sides鈥攖ons of colors and neutrals. I am against lines of makeup that only use neutrals or makeup colors. I think that鈥檚 a total bore. It鈥檚 like going to a jewelry store and there鈥檚 only one color of stone,鈥� said Mr. Nars in a 2016 interview with The Cut.

The brand sees 2018 as a bold year bathed in gloss and full brows. 鈥淔or the lips, it鈥檚 more about dimension and it鈥檚 all about glossy lips while the brows are all about being textured, brushed up full brows,鈥� said Ms. Velez. 鈥淔ilipinos tend to go more natural but are not afraid to be bold.鈥�

Celebrity makeup artists are also seeing the comeback of the glosses. Mario Dedivanovic, the Laura Mercier brand ambassador who made his name creating Kim Kardashian-West鈥檚 signature look, told Into the Gloss in 2017 that the beauty community is 鈥渕oving away from the matte lip.鈥� 鈥淚鈥檝e always loved a true creamy lipstick or a gloss and I think that look is definitely about to make a comeback,鈥� he said.

One of the brand鈥檚 newest releases, the Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer, exemplifies this glossy, high-shine lip trend. Described as a having a 鈥減atent shine and high-octane color,鈥� this line of lip products has a smooth, creamy formula that 鈥渄renches lips with intense color and mirror-like shine,鈥� and is available in 10 shades.

MAKEUP AS SECOND SKIN
Laura Mercier, established by another French makeup artist, is all about a flawless base for women of all ages and skin types鈥攕omething Ms. Mercier has built her career on having worked with the likes of Madonna, Celine Dion, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Julia Roberts.

Laura Mercier is pushing a 鈥済lassy鈥� look鈥攖he term was first used last year to describe skin that鈥檚 clear, luminous and almost transparent. It was first brought to global attention after Korean beauty companies promoted a multi-step routine, sometimes going as far as 11 steps, promising this kind of complexion.

鈥淲hen we talk about flawless face, what we鈥檙e trying to do is trying to make makeup look like second skin: it鈥檚 all about the glow, not the glitter. A more dewy look,鈥� said Ms Bautista.

The glitter of yesteryear has been replaced by highlighters that give a 鈥渨et鈥� shine, emulating runway-flushed cheeks. 鈥淏efore, the focus was more on the brows but now we have learned to appreciate the cheeks and blushes. It鈥檚 all about looking natural, less focus on contour and more on highlight,鈥� Ms. Bautista said, adding that she uses blush to highlight her face and a bronzer for light contouring. 鈥淭he focal point is the skin: to make it look glowy and healthy.鈥�

Tips from women on the go.

WORDS HIGH LIFE STAFF | ILLUSTRATION听TONE 顿础脩础厂

Jane Cruz-Walker, VP of SEA, Country Operations, HOOQ

Enjoying a mojito after a tennis match鈥攐r several laps in the pool鈥攚ill make you right as rain, according to Jane Cruz-Walker, who manages Southeast Asia for HOOQ, a streaming service. 鈥淭his is something I do every week with a few friends,鈥� she said. The 50-year-old added that sweating every single day and moisturizing are nonnegotiable.

Move your body
鈥淗ave a regular sport or anything that can make you sweat鈥攍ike dancing, I love dancing. You need to sweat every single day. Your body needs it. Sweating releases toxins from your body. Our skin glows after. Of course, it鈥檚 important that you choose something you really enjoy. Endorphins released in our blood stream have a euphoric effect on our disposition so frequent doses is very good for us.鈥�

Cleanse and moisturize
鈥淚n the morning, after gentle cleansing I let a cube of ice glide through my face. It feels really good and closes my pores. It鈥檚 a good pre-makeup routine. At night, it鈥檚 good to have boosts of collagen鈥攆rankincense, lavender鈥攂efore I go to bed.鈥�

Always have beauty oil handy
鈥淎rgan or Moroccan oil. I use it for my hair, skin, nails, and lips. This oil is high in antioxidants and has healing properties. You will always find a small bottle in my bag. I prefer using dry oil since I apply any time of the day and it doesn鈥檛 feel greasy and has the same moisturizing effect.鈥�

In her handbag, you will find鈥�
M Moroccan Oil, cleansing wipes, Shiseido UV protector SPF 50, Mac Liptensity Smoked Almond, YL Frankincense and Lavender oil mixture, and Urban Decay liquid eyeliner. 鈥� NFPG

Elizabeth Durado Clenci, Miss Grand International 2017 2^nd runner-up

Prior to joining a beauty pageant, Elizabeth Durado Clenci suffered from eczema, a skin condition that causes redness and itching. After shifting to products with natural ingredients, her skin cleared up, allowing her to finish in the top five of Miss Grand International 2017.听

Ms. Clenci credits her mom as her beauty role model for teaching her the benefits of organic products. 鈥淓ver since I had an issue with my skin and my health changed, I turned my lifestyle around. It鈥檚 always been my mom since day one who instilled that 鈥榥atural鈥� way of life,鈥� she said.

Moisture first
鈥淚 like to keep things quite natural. It really depends on what鈥檚 going on in my life. When I was busy with the pageantry and putting makeup on every day, I always had to prepare my face for makeup. I wash my face, moisturize with coconut oil, and then put makeup on.鈥�

Use natural oils as makeup remover
鈥淚n the evening, I make my own makeup remover鈥攊t鈥檚 made from a combination of oils that I get from health food stores. I remove my makeup before bed. I try to never leave it on.鈥�

Catch up on sleep
鈥淓very time I鈥檓 stuck in traffic or at a shoot and there鈥檚 down time, I鈥檒l take a nap and squeeze in as much sleep as I can. If my eyes are puffy in the morning, I freeze some tea bags. That鈥檚 how I reduce the puffiness.鈥� 鈥� MAPS

Daphne Ose帽a-Paez, TV host and UNICEF Special Advocate for Children

Multi-hyphenate personality Daphne Ose帽a-Paez is a fan of staying fuss-free when it comes to makeup looks. 鈥淚f you find something that works for you, keep it. If it鈥檚 not broken, don鈥檛 fix it. Just keep it simple. Less is more,鈥� she said. Her routine includes one-on-one Pilates sessions twice a week, regular visits to the dermatologist, and basking in the early morning sun for a dose of vitamin D.

Center your body and mind
鈥淚 am obsessed with Pilates. It has centered my body and mind鈥攍iterally and figuratively. Spine health is important for us, especially in our 40s. If you let go and abuse your spine, it may get back at you in your older years. A lot of us abuse our bodies just with the wrong posture, wrong breathing. Pilates has helped me get rid of my upper neck pain. And I鈥檝e never had the lower back pains that I thought came with being a mother. Since Pilates, I can stand, sit, and walk long distances by using my core.鈥�

Keep makeup natural or go barefaced
鈥淢y TV makeup is done professionally. Even if I have to put my game face on, I ask my makeup artist to keep it simple and natural, with emphasis on the eyes. I do not wear make up on non-TV or non-work days. I go about my day completely barefaced. I work out with zero makeup, not even concealer. I try to keep my skin well cared for, so I don鈥檛 need to cover it up. After Pilates, if I have to meet people for work or social reasons, I put on a little concealer, powder, blush, fix my eyebrows, a little lipstick, and I鈥檓 good to go.鈥�

Visit a dermatologist
鈥淚 get regular facials and Power Peel at Belo Medical Group, I am able to do without creams and skincare products. I am also able to go out completely free of makeup or powder. Power Peel is amazing. It keeps your face poreless, smooth, and exfoliated. It鈥檚 important that I keep my face clean.鈥�

Get good sun for vitamin D
鈥淔or daytime, I start by washing my face with soap鈥攁 soap with a detergent like Acne Aid. It was once recommended by a derma about 15 years ago when I had oily skin. And I just kept it as a habit. And that鈥檚 it. I don鈥檛 wear sunscreen or any creams. I go out of the house with bare skin. I do keep away from the sun by wearing big dark sunglasses or hats. And if I must walk for field work, I either wear baseball cap or use an umbrella. The past couple of years though, I deliberately try to get sun, as long as it鈥檚 good sun. I sit in my veranda for about 20 minutes before 8 a.m. That鈥檚 for vitamin D.鈥�

Pamper your eyes
鈥淎t night, I just remove traces of makeup with BioDerma Hydrabio H2O Micellar Water. You can opt to not rinse it off. However, I still rinse it off using my face soap. I sleep with no creams or moisturizers. However, if I find that the areas under my eye needs a boost, I use eye cream. I alternate with Neal鈥檚 Yard Frankincense Intense Eye Cream, Est茅e Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery Cream, or Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Firm. I also make my own serum using essential oils like frankincense, lavender, and rose. I use them only for the under-eye area.鈥�

Wear SPF when traveling
鈥淲hen I travel and need sun protection and moisture, I use either Belo sunscreen for beach trips or just use a BB cream base with SPF 30 or 50. Here are my tried and tested ones: MAC Lightful C Tinted Cream with SPF 30 PA+++ with Radiance Booster; Shiseido鈥檚 Maquillage Perfect Multi Base BB SPF 30 PA++; and Esprique Pore Cover Perfect Base CC by Kose.鈥� 鈥� MAPS

Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, theater actress

Stage makeup is notoriously heavy and thick, projecting鈥攁s it were鈥攖o the back of the theater.听 To help her skin recover from performance-level makeup, Ms. Martinez has regular facials and prefers a basic, less dramatic daily look (in accordance with her beauty motto: 鈥淧ositivity is my youth elixir, and less is always better.鈥�)

Know when to keep it light or heavy
鈥淢y everyday makeup is just BB cream with SPF, light blush because I鈥檓 so pale, and lipstick. My stage and show make up is heavier. I use eye makeup, concealer, and contour. But I go light on foundation, or none at all.鈥�

Skincare over makeup
鈥淚鈥檓 obsessed with skincare. I do the same ritual: makeup remover at night, facial wash, toner, moisturizer, eye cream, and sunblock. Then, I make regular visits to Facial Care Center for my skin maintenance.鈥�

Keep mom鈥檚 advice
鈥淣ever sleep with makeup and always use sunblock.鈥� 鈥� MAPS

Alice Dixson, actress听

At age 44, film star Alice Dixson became an FHM Cover Girl, to the confusion, then admiration, of several men and women. The beauty titlist was once a commercial model, and a star of movies and television. When High Life asked her about her beauty routine, she answered in jest, 鈥淲hat beauty routine?鈥�

Routine facials
Actually, that answer wasn鈥檛 too far from the truth. Ms. Dixson sticks to a simple routine of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing, with some routine facials at the Belo clinic for good measure. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 about it,鈥� she said.

Confidence is better than any cream
As for her products, Ms. Dixson uses a cleanser from Zein Obagi, which costs about US$150 on Amazon. Her toner is a custom blend from her dermatologist, and she moisturizes with a variety of brands, but most recently gave one from Origins a shot. When asked about the most expensive item in her beauty arsenal, she admits to buying a toner that cost Php35,000 when she was younger. She has since stopped using it, saying in the vernacular, 鈥淭hat was just a luxury. I didn鈥檛 really need it.鈥�

She added, 鈥淚鈥檓 more frugal now that I鈥檓 older鈥� I think that creams are all the same. If they contain the right moisturizing ingredient, even if it鈥檚 made of gold, or priced like gold, it鈥檚 still going to do the same.鈥� When asked what her rather simple beauty routine says about her, she said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 look to expensive things to define who I am. I鈥檓 not insecure about myself.鈥� 鈥� JLG

When the lady sitting next to you has the exact same bag, the exact same shoe, can you call something truly your own?

WORDS JOSEPH L. GARCIA

Your closets could be full of the world鈥檚 most expensive shoes, bags, and jackets. But when the lady sitting next to you has the exact same bag, the exact same shoe, can you call something truly your own? Instead of looking at brands under global luxury conglomerates, why not consider these local purveyors of high style.

SHOPPING AS PRIVATE PLEASURE
The story of Id茅e Clothing Store starts with the last cigarette Rica Lorenzo, CEO and Chairman of Lapanday Foods Corp., smoked. She picked up the habit at 14 and decided that decades of nicotine and tar was enough. Quit, she did. 鈥淚 never knew I could do it and I didn鈥檛 expect to, but I felt it was time. Otherwise, I鈥檇 die of lung cancer,鈥� said Ms. Lorenzo, who is in her 50s.

Initially, Id茅e, located in a space in her family鈥檚 Lapanday Center in Makati, was a hobby, something to keep her mind off cigarettes. 鈥淚 guess it was a way to cope with the sudden change,鈥� she said.

The boutique, which carries items from local designers, has outgrown the ephemera of smoke and burning embers that gave birth to it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 way beyond that now. It has a life of its own. It鈥檚 more than just simply a crutch for me. It鈥檚 a full-fledged store with its own reason for being.鈥�

Today, her daughter handles most of the store鈥檚 operations since Ms. Lorenzo鈥檚 day job, as she calls it鈥攈eading Lapanday Foods (one of the country鈥檚 largest exporters of fruit, specifically bananas and pineapples)鈥攌eeps her busy.听 鈥淚 can live without Id茅e, for sure. But it can live without me, too.鈥�

Still, her presence is very much felt in Id茅e since Ms. Lorenzo鈥檚 impeccable taste is the measure by which all things are judged. Items designed by talents like Mai-Mai Cojuangco, Bea Valdes, Sofia Borromeo, and Carmina de Dios stock its shelves and racks. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only requirement: that I like them,鈥� she said, explaining how things pass muster.

Each style that Id茅e pops out will only have about three items in stock, made in three different sizes: small, medium, and large; and after they鈥檝e been snapped up, you鈥檒l be the only one wearing it.

With just three of anything around the whole world (and sometimes as in the case of Misses Cojuangco and Valdes, only one of each item), you鈥檒l be sure never to be caught wearing the same thing as anyone else. And because the store is still relatively a secret, shopping becomes an individual activity. 鈥淭his is precisely why people would go to my store: because no one knows about it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he experience of shopping becomes a private pleasure.鈥�

When asked what sort of person shops at Id茅e, she answered: 鈥淪omebody who knows what she wants. That鈥檚 why she goes out of her way to go to the store. You don鈥檛 just chance upon Id茅e. You go there on purpose.鈥�

CHAMPION OF THE INDIGENOUS
While it shares a name with a Spanish fast-fashion brand, Zarah Juan is a Filipino brand whose products are handmade; not hurried. It also champions local fabrics like T鈥檔alak, Binakul, Inabel, and Pinilian in its shoes and bags.

In 2017, Zarah Juan, the woman behind the eponymous brand, participated in the first-ever ArteFino Fair, an artisanal market for Filipino artist-entrepreneurs, and sold every pair of her Bagobo-Tagabawa-made beaded mules.

Zarah Juan鈥檚 brand is exclusive and her business philosophy, inclusive. She works with indigenous artists like the Bagobo-Tagabawa in Davao. A survey of her Instagram page (@zarahjuan) also shows handcrafted products by the T鈥檅oli community, the burdaderas of Bulacan, and the sapateros of Marikina, among others.

Before finding retail success, Ms. Juan was a flight attendant whose travels in Japan piqued her interest in making and designing eco tote bags. In 2006, after securing a business partnership with a retail giant, she left her job and started a manufacturing company called GreenLeaf Eco Bags, which creates recyclable bags. Her eco bag designing and making required her to visit Marikina. There, she met the shoemakers who sparked her interest in shoes, prompting her to create her own designer label.

Zarah Juan has since then become synonymous with colorful and catchy designs. It has a small showroom at Champaca Building Columns, Legaspi Village in Makati. The brand, which regularly participates in fashion fairs, also has an online presence via Zalora, where one can find select mules, flats, and espadrilles.

UNIFORM DRESSING
When repeating clothes is a fashion no-no, Harlan + Holden, on the other hand, says yes to being brave enough to wear the same pants and tops again and again. Harlan + Holden鈥檚 slogan is 鈥渦niform dressing鈥�: repeated use of items while allowing mixing and matching with what鈥檚 already in your wardrobe.

The brand鈥檚 style philosophy is classic and wearable. This outlook isn鈥檛 simply a style of dressing, but rather, an approach to the way we dress.

Deceptively simple, the garments鈥攎ostly structured pants, relaxed dresses, and loose tops鈥攁re designed and constructed to be a blank canvas: you can wear them as they are, or dress them up or down and accessorize.

The brand caters to men and women who are well-traveled and perpetually on-the-go. The fabrics are thoughtfully selected: there are no special laundry instructions (toss them in the washing machine and voila, you鈥檙e done, minimal ironing required). The clothes are foldable, durable, and easily packed.

Harlan + Holden has branches in Shangri-La Plaza, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Malls The 30^th, and Power Plant Mall. 鈥� with Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

Talking with fashion designer Rosa Clara, the 鈥淰era Wang of Spain.鈥�

WORDS听JOSEPH L. GARCIA

A听large emerald gleamed on the finger of Rosa Clara. The ancients believed that the emerald was the stone of love. Unlike the red of rubies that ignited carnal passion, emeralds were believed to soothe the soul and provide harmony for a love that would go beyond the wedding and would go on to the grave. It seems appropriate that Ms. Clara should adopt the stone as one of her talismans, as she makes a living from love. Ms. Clara is one of Spain鈥檚 eminent fashion designers, best known for her dreamy bridal gowns. Her label has won several awards in her native Spain and in the US. Her stores are located in many corners of the world: North America and Latin America, continental Europe, even here, in the Philippines.

鈥淚 started at home. I was very much inspired by my mother: she dressed very nicely; she was very fashionable. So at the very start鈥擨 think I was seven, or eight years old鈥擨 was doing drawings,鈥� she told High Life through an interpreter.

Ms. Clara found her footing in Barcelona in 1995. Since then, she鈥檚 been called the 鈥淰era Wang of Spain,鈥� as if her dresses were de rigueur for a bride, much like the North American designer鈥檚. Barcelona is a city of romance鈥攊ts passionate, expressive, and unique buildings providing the perfect backdrop for meeting the love of your life, or else a love affair to keep as a lifelong secret. Perhaps this setting provides the romance for Ms. Clara鈥檚 designs, but Ms. Clara said with some laughter, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if the Spaniards are more romantic or not. I just do know that weddings are very important social events that gather the family.鈥�

鈥淭here are many, many weddings held in Spain. I must say, I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 the most important day in the life of a woman, but definitely, it鈥檚 one of the most important days of her life,鈥� she added.

FINDING THE DRESS OF YOUR DREAMS
Rosa Clara dresses are displayed in a shop, and a bride seeks out her favorite. Brides-to-be can come in to the store as walk-ins, or they may set an appointment. After the bride has selected a dress, her measurements are taken and then the dress is ordered from the main office in Spain.

The whole process takes four to six months. Brides may also choose one of the dresses off the rack and an in-house tailoring team, trained by their counterparts in Spain, can tailor-fit the off-the-rack dress on the brides, and even add extra details like beading and embroidery, or make minor changes to lengths and necklines.

When asked if using an off-the-rack dress as a template somehow diminishes the fairy tale-like quality of a wedding wherein the bride is the only star, Ms. Clara disagreed: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that by wearing an off-the-rack dress, you鈥檙e living someone else鈥檚 wedding.鈥�

鈥淚 think that the women of today have less time, are very discerning, and are used to trying things and saying if they like them or not, if it suits them or not. So why not wedding dresses?鈥� The process, she continued, isn鈥檛 as simple as snatching several dresses off the rack and purchasing the first one that fits. Rather, an entire team鈥攃omposed of a bridal consultant, and a seamstress, among other people鈥攇uides the bride-to-be and helps her make an informed choice. 鈥淭hey will walk with her. They will enlighten her. They will extract what is in her,鈥� she said. The final dress, she said with confidence, 鈥渨ill actually be the one she was dreaming of all her life.鈥�

ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
A gown displayed on a form or a mannequin, will, of course, drape differently on a living, breathing woman. What should happen if the dress of your dreams turns you into a bit of a nightmare? Ms. Clara declared this an impossibility. 鈥淭he bride will be as pretty as she is with a dress that she鈥檚 compatible with, and she鈥檚 happy with. If she鈥檚 happy and she鈥檚 confident, she鈥檒l be the best possible bride.鈥� She added, 鈥淲e must remember: ultimately, it鈥檚 her wedding, it鈥檚 her dress. She chooses.鈥�

Ms. Clara became a bride herself in 2013鈥攕ometime in her 50s. A design based on her wedding dress, a mature long-sleeved confection inspired by the Art Deco movement, is a staple in Rosa Clara鈥檚 catalogue. When asked if her romantic life influences any of her work in fashion, she said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that my personal life, whether single or married, was an important factor. I think what makes me creative is working with a very young and passion-driven team.鈥�

The meaning of marriage has changed for the times. The brand, since its founding in 1995, has seen the global incidence of marriage decrease and the average age of marriage increase. In Ms. Clara鈥檚 native Spain, the average age at first marriage has increased by eight years from 1981 to 2013, going from 25.2 to 33.2 years, according to data from the Spanish Statistical Office. Spain, too, was among the first nations to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005 in a law characterized by the New York Times as 鈥渁mong the most liberal.鈥�

For anyone who wishes to get married in a wedding gown, Rosa Clara is there, ready to make the bride the dress of her dreams. 鈥淲orking as we work in the whole planet, with all types and definitions of marriage and family鈥� I think that what really matters in this case is that it鈥檚 a special day. And for the special occasion, you have to be at your best.鈥�

The Queen of Knits on staying relevant in the fashion industry.

WORDS听NICKKY FAUSTINE P.听DE GUZMAN

Lulu Tan-Gan鈥檚听 staying power in the fashion industry is as sturdy as the knits she鈥檚 created and popularized. Hailed as the Queen of Knits, she joined the College of St. Benilde-School of Design and Arts鈥� (CSB-SDA) Fashion and Merchandising program as a consultant in 2013.

鈥淭he study of fashion entails lots of research and mood boards, which express your identity, and later on, your voice as a designer. There鈥檚 a process that you go through. Of course, copying is forbidden鈥攎eaning, there should be no reference to another clothing brand. And that is really what innovation is,鈥� she said in the vernacular.

High Life sat down with Ms. Tan-Gan and talked about fashion, how to stay relevant in the business, and many other things.

Why does fashion matter?
It is an industry. It provides jobs. Our crafts people, the retailers, suppliers鈥� it is a big business. Overall, fashion has become a peg for other industries, say cars. The car industry usually only has one or two models in a year, but now they are coming up with more car models. The cycle is faster.听 Now everything has trends, because fashion means trends also. Fashion is that influential.

How easy is it to break into the fashion industry?
A lot of people think that fashion is easy to attain, but it depends on how you want to see yourself in the future. Those who think that fashion is easy are more interested in producing garments but not in becoming designers. At the end of the day, garment-producing is just creating, not innovating. A fashion designer designs something that is relevant, with function. There鈥檚 a need for formal education, which includes understanding materials and knowing fabric design and creation, which go through a process.

But what is originality, anyways?
How do you define originality if you haven鈥檛 seen it, right? *Laughs.* Many times you change a form, a new way of using materials. That鈥檚 totally innovating. I personally don鈥檛 go through the fashion pages. Once in a while I do, but only to see the global trend. We cannot get away from that, which is one of our references. But for you to be original, you need to start with your own materials. Our program at CSB-SDA has fabric design courses for three terms. Our students do surface designs, or working with materials first by dying, printing, embellishing, manipulating texture, and using of crafts, as in handwork. It is timely because we are non-competitive with fast fashion.

What do they aspire for when they leave the school?
We want them to be able to find their tracks. They can do designing, merchandising, styling鈥攊t鈥檚 a vast world. To be able to compete, you have to know beyond the surface. It鈥檚 three things: research, exposure, and experience. Research includes a lot of reading. You may end up being a skilled craftsman, but your creation has no meaning, no story behind it. Understand the creative process and you鈥檒l be able to sustain it through the years.

If you were to pick a single item of clothing that defines Filipino fashion, what would it be?
Filipino design is diverse, again we go back to references like baro鈥檛 saya that started our costumes. If you go back further, we have our tribes, our [original] references. The technique used in our tribal wear is weaving, which is very Asian. Baro鈥檛 saya, on the other hand, is European. This generation has the awareness of the diversity of our fashion history. At the end of the day, anything could be Filipino as long as you have the references for images, materials, and forms so we don鈥檛 go stale.

The fashion industry has always been criticized because it sends messages that thin is in and beautiful. Care to comment?
I don鈥檛 agree. That became an impression because, in the normal way of presenting collection, it is easier to present with one uniform size. It鈥檚 for the convenience of standardization. You don鈥檛 call it small, medium large, but very specific: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. The models have to fit in the standard. It鈥檚 hard to present a collection where your models vary in height and weight.

But with this being said, how do you teach the students that customers are not runway models?
As designers, we have to learn how to translate vital statistics to patterns. We teach them what is called grading, or knowing how to spread sizes. You have to learn grading because if you don鈥檛 you cannot understand ready-to-wear, which is where the volume of manufacturing comes. If you want to get into business, you have to be ready to do RTW.

Donatela, a resort in Bohol, rejuvenates all of the five senses and even awakens a secret sense of imagination. Meandering through the 7.5-hectare property, one finds surprises like Paprika, a fine-dining restaurant located by a cliff near the sea. The restaurant has a varied menu of Filipino classics and grand international fare: don鈥檛 leave the restaurant without ordering the fresh seafood, or the Tomahawk, a grilled prime rib clocking in at 1.7 kilograms. Other surprises include the statuary that includes a four-ton reclining Buddha, found in Bali, displayed by a pond near the villas.

Birds chirp above the generous canopy of trees and tropical flowers planted along paths located near the sea. The scent of grass, flowers, and sea spray cleans away the smoke and smog of the city.

The resort, which reopened in 2018 following a rebranding (from Tarsier Botanika), is managed by Enderun Hospitality Management. In addition to all that nature offers is the relative absence of man-made noise, for the resort鈥攅quipped with a stable, a zoo, pools and a spa鈥攚ill only have 31 guests at full capacity.

To maximize the Bohol experience, the hotel can organize activities such as whale-watching and a firefly-lit night cruise.

The resort accommodations boast of a numerical lock system, which opens with a password given to guests, ensuring complete and total privacy.

The Pool Villa鈥擠onatela鈥檚 biggest, measuring 120 square meters鈥攈as, as its name suggests, its own pool along with its own balcony. It鈥檚 decorated in a style reminiscent of colonial Kenya, with paintings of lions and elephants, steamer trunks for furniture, and a bamboo headboard inspired by a Chippendale design. 鈥淚 want you to miss your alarm,鈥� said Herve Martin, the resort鈥檚 General Manager, of the utter relaxation guests should allow themselves while in Donatela.

High Life stayed in Donatela鈥檚 Garden Villa. From the outside, the villa appears like a luxurious hut, inspired by dwellings in the Cordillera mountains. Inside, the 56-square meter space has a terrace with table and chairs, a king-size bed, a sofa, a Bluetooth music system, and WiFi. The bathroom has a rainshower-head, and is attached to a walk-in closet and dressing room. One wakes up to the tittering of birds and the sight of wooden beams illuminated by the sun peeping through a small skylight. 鈥淭his to them is like the Garden of Eden.鈥� said Mr. Martin.

Rates range from Php16,000 per night for a Garden Villa, to Php37,500 per night for a Pool Villa. 鈥� Joseph L. Garcia

Apotheke Craft Spirits, a Makati-based company that imports and distributes quality spirits from boutique distilleries, advocates for better drinking through education and better understanding of each spirit category.

According to Simon C么t茅, Apotheke managing partner, the brands carried by the company share the same philosophy of quality over quantity, and a family-driven approach to producing spirits. 鈥淐raft spirits involve the owner of the brand directly supervising the entire process of fabrication with tender love and care. Craft spirits are unique in opposition to industrial-made spirits, which are made in millions of bottles in manufacturing style of production,鈥� he said.

Apotheke鈥檚 inventory includes Michter鈥檚 20 Year Old Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Php98,000), a limited release with intense notes of black cherry, rich molasses, roasted pecans, and toasted charred oak. Meanwhile, Michter鈥檚 US*1 range (Php3,150) is a more accessible line composed of bottles of sour mash, Kentucky straight bourbon, and Kentucky straight rye.

Mr. C么t茅 can arrange a private tasting around different spirit categories based on a client鈥檚 preferences. Gin, he noticed, is “popular”. These events consist of 鈥渟ipping together鈥� the different gins and discussing their taste profiles after introducing the story of each distillery. Various botanicals are made available for clients who want to make their own concoctions based on the taste profile of each gin. Apotheke prefers private tastings to consist of groups 12-14 people for better interaction but the company has done tastings for parties of 35. Clients are charged for the bottles at their regular retail price, plus a Php15,000 fee for Mr. Cote鈥檚 services and knowledge.

For more information, look for @apothekecraftspirits on Instagram and Facebook.听

A heartwarming tale with an epic playlist from the same composer behind Dreamgirls, Side Show is a musical based on the true-to-life story of conjoined twins with big talents and simple dreams.

Presented by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group, Side Show runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 23 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.

A musical about acceptance, love, and embracing our own idiosyncrasies, Side Show revolves around听 Violet and Daisy Hilton, who became famous entertainers in 1930s. Played respectively by Gab Pangilinan and Kayla Rivera,听Daisy and Violet听started out as the starring acts of a sideshow at the Orpheum Circuit helmed by the menacing ringmaster, Sir, played by Wency Cornejo.

It seems that the twins have everything they want but the satisfaction of their hearts鈥� desires: Violet yearns for a normal life, a husband, and a home; Daisy wants popularity. And when an offer to be vaudeville stars landed on the twins鈥� laps, the two are excited to accept the offer, which comes with what they want: fame, fortune, and a possible romance with Terry (Markki Stroem), a talent scout, and Buddy (David Ezra), a budding musician.

With music written by Henry Krieger, Side Show features soulful tunes with beautiful lyrics like 鈥淐ome Look at the Freaks,鈥� 鈥淟ike Everyone Else,鈥� and 鈥淚 Will Never Leave You.鈥� Although desiring different things in life, Daisy and Violet share the same questions in their popular duet, 鈥淲ho Will Love Me as I Am?鈥� with lyrics that go: 鈥淟ike an odd exotic creature on display inside a zoo, hearing children asking questions makes me ask some questions, too. Who could see beyond this surface? Who will love me as I am?鈥�

鈥�Side Show is more than just a story about 鈥榝reaks鈥� or one that celebrates uniqueness,鈥� director Steven Conde told High Life. 鈥淚t is a story about connections that prove stronger than any physical bond. It is about the importance of family and relationships. It shows us how our most valued relationships can outweigh wealth, fame, and even romance,鈥� he said.

Side Show is Mr. Conde鈥檚 directorial debut for the Atlantis group, where he heads the workshop division. Previous directing credits include Wit, My Name is Asher Lev, Suicide Incorporated, and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.

He added: 鈥�Side Show is the perfect example of a musical that can change lives. I am more than excited to direct this gem of a musical and share it with audiences, especially those who might feel weighed down by their own peculiarities.鈥�

Joining the cast are Arman Ferrer as Jake; Christine Flores as the Bearded Lady; Chesko Rodriguez as the Three-legged Man; Alex Reyes as the Tattooed Girl; Luis Marcelo as the Geek; Juancho Escoto as the Lizard Man; Vien King as Half Man, Half Woman; Juancho Escoto as Lizard Man; Timmy Pavino as Dog Boy; Jill Pe帽a as Venus the Milo, Mica Fajardo as Albino Lady; and Ring Antonio as the Fortune Teller.

Side Show, despite its positive reviews, had short Broadway runs in 1998 and in 2014, when it was revived. It received four nominations at the Tony Awards in 1998, including one for Best Musical. 鈥淚t continues to be one of the most produced musicals globally. Add to that, the musical鈥檚 show-stopping music and powerful message of celebrating our uniqueness, it was only a matter of time before we brought Side Show to Manila,鈥� said Bobby Garcia, Atlantis Theatrical鈥檚 producing-director.

For tickets, visit .

鈥� Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

WORDS MICHAEL ANGELO MURILLO | PHOTOGRAPHY RXANDY CAPINPIN

In local football, the brothers Phil and James Younghusband marked a sea change in fan appreciation and interest in the sport. Members of the national team since 2005, the Younghusband brothers, born to English father Philip Younghusband, Sr. and Filipino mother Susan Placer, have seen Philippine football grow exponentially since they first arrived.

It is something that brings a lot of pride and honor on their part, they shared, seeing how their sacrifices and hard work as part of a group of football stakeholders have translated to great strides for the sport in the country.

From the Philippines finding its way back in the overall football scheme in the region, to the 鈥淢iracle of Hanoi鈥� in 2010 that had the football community noticing, to the recent victory of the Philippine Azkals over Tajikistan in the qualifiers that booked for the country a first-ever AFC Asian Cup spot, the Younghusbands were part and parcel of moving Philippine football forward.

鈥淢e and my brother are very proud to be part of this development of Philippine football. A lot has progressed. When we first came here, we had a 50-year plan. It鈥檚 gone faster than what we expected,鈥� said James, 31, the elder of the Younghusband brothers.

Phil, 30, pointed out that in the decade or so since they joined the national team, the Azkals have climbed in the rankings from around 191-192 to 111. 鈥淲e have come a long way鈥� to be among the best 24 teams in the biggest continent in the world, in the biggest sport, shows how far we have come,鈥� said the younger Younghusband, referring to the Asian Cup happening in 2019.

Their success is accompanied by other positive developments, among them the growth of the football community and the establishment of a professional league.

While the brothers are excited about booking a spot in the Asian Cup and helping the Azkals show off their skills on a bigger stage, they recognize that they are up against stiff competition as they are grouped with South Korea, China and Kyrgyzstan in the initial phase of the quadrennial Asian Cup happening from January to February 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough draw but it could have been worse. If we want to progress and be a better team, we need to play in this sort of tournament against the best teams. We are looking forward to the challenge. South Korea will be a tough game because they have been a staple in the World Cup. China and Kyrgyzstan鈥攚e have played them before and we have an idea how they play. We are aiming to be second in the group or one of the four third-place teams with the best record,鈥� said Phil, who is the lone Filipino football player in history who has scored 50 international goals.

For James, doing well in the Asian Cup could potentially be 鈥渕assive鈥� in relation to their larger football goals: 鈥淚 think it will be massive. With these milestones we hope more people get to pick up the sport and see the benefits of playing it. And more sponsors to come in and help the growth of the sport by building facilities and supporting teams locally,鈥� he said.

The Younghusbands would also like to see the gains that Philippine football has made to be sustained by, among other things, having more football games shown on television. Media coverage, they explained, goes a long way in promoting the sport, as does local leadership focusing on grassroots development. On a personal level, the brothers shared that while they still have a lot left in their tanks, they hope their contributions to the sport won鈥檛 be forgotten when their playing days are over.

鈥淲e just want to be remembered for ourselves. Me and Phil, we have done things together both on and off the field. We work together and we are family. We want our legacy to be one of providing opportunities and inspiration for others as well to live their dreams,鈥� said James.

Phil, on the other hand, said: 鈥淔irst off, we want to be remembered as good people. We want them to say that we were nice people, polite and well-mannered鈥攖hat鈥檚 what our mom and dad want us to be. In football, we want to be remembered as passionate about the sport and passionate about wanting the sport in the country to improve more than anything else. We laid some of the foundation and hopefully others can build on it. It鈥檚 not only me and James but the entire team.鈥�

Take luxury cruising to new heights鈥攍iterally鈥攁s Genting Hong Kong鈥檚 Crystal Air- Cruises introduces its flagship aircraft, Crystal Skye, to the Philippines and the world.
鈥淭he vision was to expand the portfolio of products of Crystal Cruises. [Crystal Skye] complements the growing luxury life- style portfolio of Crystal Cruises,鈥� Thatcher Brown, president of Crystal AirCruises and Dream Cruises told High Life during the jet鈥檚 introduction to Manila on April 30.
Crystal Skye, a large-body Boeing 777-200 long-range jet is a welcome addition to Crystal Cruises鈥� myriad of offerings for the luxury set (Crystal Cruises, the American luxury cruise line of Genting Hong Kong, has two ocean liners鈥擲ymphony and Serenity, the latter of which ported in Manila in March鈥攆ive river boats in Europe, and a yacht).
What鈥檚 inside a plane touted as the largest privately owned aircraft in the world? A lounge/dining area which seats 25 and has its own bar with food prepared by an onboard executive chef, South African Francois Van Zyl; 88 plush cream-colored seats made from English hand-sewn leather (each seat has a massage function and can turn into a full flatbed; it comes with US$500 Italian pillows, a cashmere blanket, a 24-inch entertainment system, Bose noise-cancelling headphones, and free wi-fi); and opulent lavatories (while they don鈥檛 have showers, they鈥檙e almost the size of a hotel bathroom).

And since the plane comes with its own chef, dining at 40,000 feet (or more) is an experience as chef Van Zyl offers specialized wine pairing menus and destination-focused meals with locally sourced ingredients. Every effort is also made to fulfill guests鈥� culinary requests, whether a Chinese breakfast or a feast to celebrate a birthday.

鈥淧eople ask me 鈥榳hat is luxury?鈥� Luxury is time. People who go on Crystal Skye want to go to a destination the fastest and most luxurious way possible,鈥� said Mr. Brown. The jet is capable of bringing its passengers around the world, holding enough fuel for a 19-hour flight.
While Crystal Skye offers curated tours鈥攊ts maiden flight saw passengers brought to Fiji and Tahiti, setting one back a cool US$45,000 per person鈥攎uch of its earnings come from charter flights. Clients include professional sports teams, musicians, actors, and prominent families.

Mr. Brown said that one of his favorite trips was to Nairobi, Kenya, which took place in February and cost US$22,000 per person (double occupancy). The seven-day, six-night trip included a safari through the Maasai Mara game reserve, where one en- counters cheetahs, elephants, and zebras; and witnesses the ancient jumping dance of the Maasai tribe warriors.
Another memorable trip, Mr. Brown said, was the New Year鈥檚 trip they did where passengers were able to welcome the new year twice鈥攐nce in Sydney and again in Hawaii. Visit crystalcruises.com. 鈥� ZBC

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WORDS MICHAEL ANGELO S. MURILLO听| PHOTOGRAPHY听JONATHAN BALDONADO

In a country as basketball-crazy as the Philippines, it鈥檚 unsurprising that sneaker collecting is a 鈥渢hing.鈥� As a kid in the 1990s, Antonio Aguirre, Jr. remembers Cash & Carry in Makati City as the go-to place for copping the signature shoes worn by NBA players like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Anfernee 鈥淧enny鈥� Hardaway, and Scottie Pippen. In the early aughts, Vince Carter and his Nike Shox caught fire. 鈥淣ot many would line up though. Weeks would pass and the shoes would still be there,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre, who is also known as Mr. Sole Slam, an influential sneakerhead who founded the brand Sole Slam and ran the largest sneaker convention in the country, credited with further cultivating the local sneaker scene.

People started queueing around 2009-2010, when Kobe Bryant was winning championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in a pair of Nike Zoom Kobe V. It was also around this time that LeBron James was in the news for his very public breakup with the Cleveland Cavaliers鈥攔emember 鈥淭he Decision鈥�?鈥攊n favor of the Miami Heat. The controversy added to the desirability of the LeBron 8 鈥淪outh Beach,鈥� which, with its pink-and-teal colorway, screamed Florida.听 听 听

While basketball was the takeoff-point for sneaker culture in the Philippines, Mr. Aguirre witnessed a shift around 2014, which he attributed to Europeans and their love for running shoes. 鈥淭hey aren鈥檛 really into basketball shoes like the Americans,鈥� he said, adding that the Japanese preference for big, chunky, colorful shoes has also made inroads among Filipino collectors.听 听

BONDED BY PASSION
The sneakerhead community, according to Mr. Sole Slam himself, is bonded by the thrill for searching and acquiring coveted shoes. 鈥淚 started collecting seriously when I was 28 years old,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre. 鈥淲hat got me into the sneaker scene was the Jordan IX OG. It was a white pair of shoes that Jordan did not wear due to his retirement from basketball in 1993.鈥�

Mr. Aguirre met up with an online seller who was willing to part with a pair for Php9,000. 鈥淚 saw he had other stocks of shoes,鈥� he said of the moment he was bitten by the shoe-collecting bug. 鈥淭wo days after I ended up buying 17 pairs of shoes from him in one go and it opened a can of worms.鈥�

In a futile attempt to curb his initial appetite for kicks, he told himself that he would limit his collection to Air Jordans (I to XXIII). 鈥淛ust to satisfy the itch,鈥� he said. Then a friend asked him if he wanted a Kobe, a LeBron, maybe Asics running shoes? At its peak, Mr. Aguirre鈥檚 collection was composed of 1,257 pairs of shoes. That Imeldific number has since been whittled down, with great effort, to under 400 pairs.

While Manila is the hotbed of the collecting scene, as it is the site for releases, there are also collectors in Baguio, Pampanga, Bacolod, Davao, and Cebu. 鈥淚t鈥檚 basically everyone and anyone. Some people may be in suits all day but come the weekend they love to wear their sneakers,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre. 鈥淧eople who work in offices, from entry-level to top-management people, they are into sneakers. It bridges the gap among Filipinos. I have a friend who sells fish in the market who, because of sneakers, became friends with a guy who is part owner of one of the biggest construction companies in the Philippines.鈥�

TITAN, SOLE SLAM, AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Fueling the growth of the sneaker scene was the establishment of concept stores dedicated to catering to the needs of sneakerheads, foremost of which was Titan 22. Founded by a group of basketball practitioners and aficionados led by former Philippine Basketball Association player and now coach Jeffrey Cariaso, Titan 22 opened shop in 2010.

鈥淭itan created the scene for basketball shoes through its exclusive releases,鈥� said Alf Co, 30, who started with a pair of Jordan XI 鈥淐oncord鈥� and worked his way up to more than a hundred pairs of shoes and counting.

A year after Titan 22 opened came another key development in Philippine sneaker culture: the inaugural Sole Slam convention in 2011. 鈥淪ole Slam was inspired by an event that I saw in the States called Dunkxchange. It was in downtown San Francisco and it really opened my eyes,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre. Dunkxchange or DxC is a buy, sell, and trade sneaker show that incorporates elements of hip-hop music, fashion/streetwear, and art.

Mr. Aguirre took what he learned from DxC and brought it to the Philippines. The first Sole Slam convention was a huge success. 鈥淚t garnered so many eyeballs. We were expecting 500 people but we had 2,500. The crazy line of people caught the eye of the media鈥� said Mr. Aguirre. 鈥淥ur mission was to cultivate the culture, which is why I brought big names from abroad as well for the event because I wanted knowledge on, and passion for, sneakers to spread and be shared,鈥� he added.

Sole Slam鈥檚 run lasted until 2016. After nine editions, Mr. Aguirre felt that the convention accomplished what it had set out to do. The spirit of Sole Slam lives on in social media, where collectors both old and new can congregate (you can find him on Instagram at @mrsoleslam). Said Mr. Co: 鈥淪ocial media, be it Facebook, Instagram and others, has done a lot to spread the culture in the country. From 2010 to 2012 a lot of sneaker groups came into existence and it all started to move forward. They were helping each other to grow the scene. Since then it has become easier to collect.鈥�

COLLABS
The sneaker game has evolved beyond the basketball court, embracing big names in entertainment and fashion. In 2018, people are talking about Yeezys, the shoes of Kanye West; and Virgil Abloh鈥檚 Off-White collab with Nike. Every major shoe brand seems to have a partnership with a rapper: Nike has Drake; Adidas, Kanye; Under Armour, A$AP Rocky; Puma, The Weeknd and Rihanna. 鈥淚t鈥檚 music partnering with the shoes. Collectors in the Philippines are taking note of that,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre.

These exclusive drops鈥攁lthough there are levels of exclusivity鈥攄o find their way to the Philippines, eventually. 鈥淎fter Japan, I think the Philippines is a close second in terms of sneakers. But being a developing country we don鈥檛 get special treatment when it comes to the really rare ones. They call it 鈥楾ier 0,鈥� those are like 100 pieces released in Japan, Hong Kong, sometimes Korea and Singapore. But we have resellers here and they find ways to get those shoes from Europe and the United States,鈥� Mr. Aguirre said, adding that the Philippines has a strong secondary market. 鈥淩esellers are doing big business. Resale makes the scene expensive but people still turn to it for the rarity of the sneakers. This is apart from the fact that resellers do pre-order as well which makes it more convenient.鈥�

Mr. Co, who used to be a reseller, agreed: 鈥淔or collectors, retail is the first choice but, if for one reason or another, they can鈥檛 get what they want, they turn to resellers even if the price is higher.鈥�

For both men, shoe collecting goes hand-in-hand with knowing the stories behind said shoes. 鈥淏efore, it was quantity over quality; now, it鈥檚 the other way around,鈥� said Mr. Aguirre. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about how many pairs of shoes you have but how passionate you are about sneaker knowledge. It鈥檚 like collecting comics, you should know the history.鈥�

To neophytes who want to get into the scene, he advised: 鈥淏uy what you want. Don鈥檛 buy what the other person wants. Buying what the other person wants means that you鈥檙e a headless chicken. You don鈥檛 want to be like that. You want to have your own cultivated taste that represents you. 鈥淎nd, yes, buy at your own pace,鈥� Mr. Aguirre said, adding: 鈥淥nce a sneakerhead always a sneakerhead.鈥澨�

WORDS听 ROME JORGE

Super bicycles. That鈥檚 the name for them. They鈥檙e the equivalent of super cars by manufacturers such as Lamborghini and Ferrari in the automotive world. They are vehicles finely engineered with aerodynamics and aerospace materials such as carbon-fiber composites and titanium for speed and performance. They have been tested, honed, and vindicated in the world鈥檚 most prestigious and grueling races. They are machines that have passed muster with the world鈥檚 best professionals.

But unlike with super cars, the vast majority of the very select few men and women who ride super bicycles are not laughably corpulent middle-aged men compensating for lost virility with powerful motors and sleek car bodies. Unlike horsepower, you can鈥檛 buy pedal power. Lycra doesn鈥檛 lie. And bicycles aren鈥檛 for picking up chicks; they are serious racing machines for serious racers.

The men and women who ride super bikes are focused on performance. Cyclists who ride super bikes earn it through arduous training and determination undaunted by the world鈥檚 toughest Ironman triathlons, giros, and tours. When you are the engine, you take every bit of unnecessary weight, every bit of unnecessary wind resistance, and every bit of unnecessary discomfort personally. The race is tough enough without adding to it a bicycle that weighs you down on the climbs, holds you back in the wind, and rubs you the wrong way causing sores and numbness. You want the very best your money can buy. Being one with the bike鈥攊t truly is an extension of your body.

Triathlons are the new golf鈥攖he sport of today鈥檚 executive class, with the likes of Fernando Zobel and Fred Uytengsu leading the way. Any seasoned triathlete will tell you that: a.) It鈥檚 all about the time management, and b.) it鈥檚 age-groupers 40 and above that are most competitive. Only those in leadership roles wherein they can delegate responsibilities have the time to train in three different sports.

The Tour de France and other famed road cycling events have also inspired a new breed of men who have embraced the media鈥檚 moniker for them: MAMIL or Middle-Aged Men In Lycra. And unlike those that deal with midlife crisis by purchasing super cars and super motorbikes, MAMILs have earned their rides with sinew worthy of their steeds.

鈥楳AMIL鈥� PUSHER
The men who supply the Philippines鈥� elite cyclists with the world鈥檚 very best bicycles鈥攕ome worth over a million鈥攕hared with High Life who buys their bikes, what they ride, and why. They know what they are talking about; they are avid cyclists themselves who earned their success with their passion and involvement as with their customer service and premium brands.

Glenn Colendrino, a stockbroker by profession, cofounded Primo Cycles at Forbes Town Center, Burgos Circle, Rizal Drive, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio after he had his own midlife transformation. 鈥淚 got into cycling through mountain biking way back in 2000 when my son and daughter were born. After that, I felt that I had to get in shape. I was a party guy, as I would go home at six in the morning and stuff like that, so I needed a drastic change of lifestyle. Me, I鈥檓 guilty of that. I鈥檓 a MAMIL.鈥�

In 2008, Mr. Colendrino decided that he wanted to train for triathlons and shift from mountain bikes to road bikes. 鈥淏ut when we went around there were only a few choices carrying decent products and shops that were actually covering warranties the same way western businesses would really uphold warranties and provide after-sales service and the whole customer service experience,鈥� he recalled.

He and his partners, John Clogg and David Almendral, opened Primo Cycles in 2011 to fill this gap. 鈥淲e wanted to change the whole industry by offering honest-to-goodness service and parts.鈥� When it opened, Primo Cycles carried brands such as Pinarello, Cervelo, and Felt. The shop鈥檚 clientele鈥攇uys who already own bikes and want to progress to the next level鈥攌now that they can get more choices and customization when they visit Primo.

Today, clients include celebrities, sports icons, and executives. One regular patron, on the occasion of his 40^th birthday, passed on a Porsche from his mother and asked for a bike instead. 鈥淭rue story,鈥� said Mr. Colendrino, 鈥渢he thing is, the guy could afford to buy the car on his own, but it鈥檚 the thought that counts.鈥�

Primo Cycles pays it forward by supporting Filipino athletes. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been helping so many cyclists and triathletes, from your age-groupers, to some pros, to some of our national team athletes. When the Triathlon Association of the Philippines sends their triathletes to me, I don鈥檛 charge them.鈥�

鈥榃INNINGEST鈥� BRANDS
Primo Cycles sells the Cervelo P5X Lamborghini Edition carbon-fiber composite triathlon bike, which is the top-of-the-line P5X in a gorgeous Lamborghini yellow pattern. Price tag: Php1.1 million. Mr. Colendrino revealed that out of the 25 bikes produced, two are heading to the Philippines. 鈥淚鈥檓 not at liberty to tell you who鈥檚 buying, but one bike is going to Manila and the other one is going to Mindanao.鈥�

According to Mr. Colendrino, the reason the P5X is so expensive is that each and every frame is hand-built in Minnesota. And yet, despite the cost, the P5X is popular among triathletes who are doing the full Ironman: Cervelo Bicycles dominate the bike count at the Kona Ironman鈥攖he world鈥檚 toughest triathlon, with more ironmen and ironwomen using Cervelo than any other bike brand.

Another much sought after bicycle is the Pinarello Dogma鈥攐ne of the most esteemed road bikes in the world. The frame set alone costs Php340,000. More Tour de France races have been won with Pinarello than with any other bicycle. Another bicycle from Pinarello, the Bolide, specifically designed for time trial races, costs a million.

ITALIAN COLLECTION
On the other side of the Metro is Paul Laurence Tan, owner and CEO of Mega Ideal Enterprises. He is better known as the man who is bringing to the Philippines Bianchi bicycles鈥攁 vaunted Italian heritage brand founded in 1885 made all the more iconic because of its patented shade of green known as 鈥淐eleste鈥濃�攁s well as some 30 other renowned cycling brands, many of which are Italian such as ITM components, Astute Italia saddles, Challenge handmade tires, and Suomy bike helmets.

Mr. Tan is poised to make his presence better known to high-end bicycle enthusiasts with Celeste Cycles shops. Already in operation along Congressional Road is Celeste Cycles, a Hong Kong-style shop that鈥檚 chock-full of bicycles and parts. Opening soon is the Celeste Caf茅 and Cycles, a retro-style bicycle concept store in Circulo Verde Mall, Pasig, which will open its doors in time for the launching of the Escuderia Ferrari bicycles jointly developed with Bianchi.

The affinity for cycling is in Mr. Tan鈥檚 blood. His father was a mechanic who tinkered with bikes and motorcycles in a small shop in Daraga, Albay. In 1996, the elder Tan came to Manila and, with the help of his brother鈥攚ho owned a metal factory鈥攐pened a bicycle manufacturing business called Megabikes in Valenzuela. 鈥淭hose bikes were steel frames, mostly commuter bikes, and bicycles for kids. In 2001, with the boom in the Chinese economy, we realized it was cheaper to buy bicycles from China. We shut down the factory in Valenzuela and became a trading company,鈥� he recalled.

An avid cyclist himself, Mr. Tan has joined executive tours. But it was his passion for bike collecting鈥攈e owns about 70鈥攖hat led him to distribute the very best European brands. The authentic parts he needed for his bicycle collection are the same brands that Celeste Cycles carries today. 鈥淚 really love bikes, it鈥檚 addictive鈥攍ike drugs,鈥� he said.

Among his most prized possessions is one of several Bianchi Specialissima bicycles specifically tailored for the late legendary Tour de France and the Giro d鈥橧talia champion Marco Pantani. Other bicycles of note are the vintage Bianchi L鈥橢roica and the Bianchi Oltre XR4 鈥淟eon鈥� aero road bike with a custom paint job (it鈥檚 emblazoned with the Philippine flag). The latter was gifted to Mr. Tan by none other than Bianchi CEO Bob Ippolito. 鈥淗e gave it to me as a token of friendship,鈥� he said, adding that it鈥檚 valued at around Php700,000. 鈥淏ut for me it鈥檚 priceless. It鈥檚 unique. It鈥檚 the only one in the world.鈥�

WORDS听ZSARLENE B. CHUA听| ILLUSTRATION JOY DELA CRUZ DAGUN

Aging might not be inevitable after all鈥攖hat is, if one is inclined to undergo Vietura鈥檚 Regenerative Cell Therapy procedure, which involves getting stem cells from one鈥檚 own adipose tissue before processing it and reintroducing it to the body to help it heal. Or, in the words of Vietura鈥檚 medical director, the procedure is meant to 鈥渞estart the body.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 resetting your body metabolism. It鈥檚 really amazing because I did the procedure three years before we introduced it,鈥� Dr. Mary Jane Torres, medical director of Vietura and Zen Institute, told High Life during an interview in May.

Stem cells by definition are 鈥渦ndifferentiated cells present in multicellular organisms capable of giving rise to more cells of the same type from which other kinds of cells can arise by differentiation.鈥�

Prior to the procedure, Dr. Torres suffered from persistent knee pain that made it difficult for her to work out for long stretches of time. Benefits of stem cell therapy include better organ function, better metabolism, and less muscular and joint pains.

While most people over the age of 35 can undergo stem cell therapy, there are certain precautions: prospective patients must be cleared by the doctors, who must evaluate the health of their immune systems. Stem cell therapy isn鈥檛 recommended for people with active cancer, for example, since their immune systems are compromised. The same goes for those with HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Patients on anticoagulant therapy should also think twice.

A person must also be psychologically ready to undergo treatment. The procedure needs to extract fat from the patient via liposuction, which requires local anesthesia. The payoff of stem cell therapy versus 鈥渆ntry-level鈥� procedures such as colonics, said Dr. Torres, is that the former鈥檚 effects are 鈥渓onger and deeper鈥�: 鈥淪tem cell therapy can really prevent degenerative diseases and delay the aging process because cells are given more time to divide and live. It can boost the immune system and regenerate cells.鈥�

Those who have been cleared to undergo the procedure will then be taken into a sterile room (Vietura will open its sterile room this June while Zen Institute in Quezon City already has an operational one). It is here that the patient undergoes manual liposuction under local anesthesia: 150 ml of fat is aspirated and centrifuged to separate the fat/lipid component from the stromal vascular fraction that contains stem cells.

After the separation, the stem cells are counted to ensure adequacy鈥攖here should be no less than six million cells鈥攊f the count is high enough, the cells are then injected back into the patient.

The process doesn鈥檛 stop there as results largely depend on the body鈥檚 own regenerative healing ability and it may take time鈥攗sually between four to six weeks鈥攖o see improvement. In the meantime, Dr. Torres recommended that patients get immune booster shots.

Regenerative cell therapy, which is not a treatment but a preventive procedure, was offered by Vietura in March 2017. 鈥淚 do recommend doing it every five years because, in that time, your body has aged,鈥� Dr. Torres said. The ambulatory procedure only takes a day but the beauty of being in a hotel, she explained, is that people can stay overnight to rest and enjoy鈥攖hat is included in Vietura鈥檚 Php800,000++ package.

INCIDENTAL INTELLIGENCE
Vietura Aesthetic Center is located at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. Zen Institute has a branch in 69 Scout Rallos, Diliman, Quezon City. Visit and .

WORDS听JOSEPH L. GARCIA

Breathe in, breathe out. Life is a long, often troubling ride, and we might as well make the most of it by picking up all the good that might come across our way. A lot of people think that living life to the fullest means doing everything under the sun, but did it ever occur to you that life can be enjoyed during its pauses?

Some people live their lives around yoga, the ancient Indian philosophy tied to exercise and meditation, that might be summed up as assuming poses and practicing correct breathing techniques. The world of yoga is incredibly diverse, its imprint spreading across Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. This writer apologizes in advance for the awfully simplistic definition, because based on this writer鈥檚 experience, yoga means making the mind, body, and soul work together for one to be in communion with the universe. Perhaps it鈥檚 fitting that the Sanskrit word translates to English as 鈥測oke,鈥� thereby implying that one becomes attached to a force greater than one鈥檚 own.

High Life talked to Urban Ashram Yoga instructor Carlo Ordo帽ez, who goes by Janaka, a name given to him by the monks in Sivananda, a yoga center where he trained in Val Morin, Quebec. After his stint in Canada, he moved to California, living an ascetic lifestyle centered on meditation and physical work. 鈥淎lmost as a monk,鈥� he told High Life. 鈥淚t was a joyful time there where I met truly light beings of Mahatma status changing the collective vibration through silent service.鈥�

He began his yoga practice in college in the early 2000s, where he described himself as 鈥渕entally, physically broken down.鈥� He believes that his practice began his healing process.

High Life asked Mr. Ordo帽ez about yoga routines for executives and people in positions of power, whom we termed as 鈥渆xtra-busy鈥� people. Yoga was brought to the West in the 20^th century, and was embraced by people as diverse as Madonna to former US Vice-President Al Gore. Mr. Ordo帽ez said that 鈥渆xtra-busy鈥� people like executives are drawn to it because it鈥檚 simply effective and practical. 鈥淣obody is too busy to do yoga really,鈥� said Mr. Ordo帽ez. 鈥淭hat is just an excuse because yoga can be practiced anywhere, any time by everyone regardless of fitness or background. You can squeeze in a five-minute practice in your office if you鈥檙e determined to practice.鈥�

While there are many yoga classes offered in the country, ranging from free classes to thousands of pesos per session, there鈥檚 a certain advantage to hiring your own yoga instructor. Mr. Ordo帽ez said: 鈥淵oga, meaning union, is finding your own individual connection to the Self. Firstly, you will have a personalized design to your sessions, tailor-fit to your specific needs whether physical, mental or spiritual. Secondly, you learn to build a solid foundation and relationship to your own mind and body with your guide in a more in-depth process. Thirdly, you have the advantage of creating your own discipline and expression of the practice in a more focused trajectory.鈥�

CLEAN, SIMPLE, AND FREE OF DISTRACTIONS
If you鈥檙e getting your own yoga instructor, why not build your own meditation room鈥攅verybody needs a sanctuary from this world. According to Mr. Ordo帽ez, a person鈥檚 yoga or meditation room (or corner) should be clean, simple, and free of distractions: 鈥淎s much as possible everything you鈥檙e surrounded by in the space should be related to your practice and promote a sense of wholeness and inwardness/interiorization鈥攊t is a time you devote for yourself.鈥�

The space should have basics such as a mat, a bolster or chair to sit on for meditation, and a shelf or altar containing symbols of inspiration.

Even without a meditation room, however, one can still tap into the energies and knowledge of yoga. A person really, really pressed for time can, ironically, start the day right by staying in bed for a few more moments. 鈥淭ake a minute in the morning before jumping out of bed to mindfully take a deep breath in and take a breath out while scanning the length of the body and each part, then add another minute working your way up to five minutes if you can, then sit in stillness. Add this practice at intervals throughout the day,鈥� said Mr. Ordo帽ez. 鈥淏reath is a person鈥檚 first mantra coming into the world but we forget and get distracted from it by societal conditioning and 鈥榖usyness.鈥欌��

LIVING IN THE PRESENT
Yoga can help you become more efficient at work. 鈥淧ractitioners generally find that they鈥檙e more calm, productive and efficient in any of their pursuits. If the mind is clear and focused, the body can move and breathe healthfully鈥攖hen, it鈥檚 manageable to navigate around one鈥檚 environment. One finds that tackling activities are done by being present.鈥�

If one lives in the present, then one can forget about worrying about the past and panicking about the future. The goal is inner freedom, liberation, or moksha in Sanskrit yoga terminology, a state described by Mr. Ordo帽ez as an 鈥渆ternal now-timeless, in-the-zone, flow-state.鈥� 鈥淵oga,鈥� he continued, is 鈥渁 hack, so to speak, to free oneself from limitations, challenges, and illusions on all levels.鈥�

There always are dangers on the road and it pays to always play safe. Ely Buendia thinks those who don鈥檛 go to driving school endanger not only themselves, but others. A lot of accidents happen because riders don鈥檛 know what to look out for when they ride. There are things to do to keep a rider and people/vehicles on the road safe. Mr. Buendia enumerates the following basic rules:

Follow traffic rules and regulations

Watch out for signs and warnings which tell you when there鈥檚 danger looming ahead

Control your bike; don鈥檛 let your bike control you

Mr. Buendia thus recommends the Honda Safety Driving School in Bicutan, Para帽aque, 鈥渨here they teach you how to ride bikes, scooters, and cars.鈥� He took all seven modules, from beginner to intermediate and he says it was 鈥渧ery affordable and worth it.鈥�

鈥淲e are always mindful of each other鈥檚 comfort level in riding. The group at the front will always be more aggressive, and faster; they will always wait for the back group, especially before any major turn,鈥� added Bernie Ledesma, manager of the Shangri-La at the Fort branch of Harley-Davidson. 鈥淥f course, someone who knows the route will keep everyone at bay.鈥�

鈥淢ost wives become supportive when they realize that cruising is a more docile adventure,鈥� volunteered Mr. Ledesma. 鈥淚t鈥檚 relatively safer going at cruising speeds. Most wives in fact鈥攐r some鈥攁ppreciate riding at the back; it is what you call the back ride.鈥�

Is it a comfortable ride with a backrider? 鈥淚t depends on your setup. There are comfortable seats and a back resting pack. And sometimes鈥攊n rarer cases鈥攖hey tend to fall asleep riding the back,鈥� Mr. Ledesma said.

While there are risks, Mr. Buendia said that if he had a choice, he would commute on a bike every day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just it鈥檚 fun, it鈥檚 practical. You save on gasoline and you get to places faster.鈥�

WORDS HIGH LIFE STAFF | ILLUSTRATION TONE 顿础脩础厂

Maintaining a sound body is necessary when you鈥檙e responsible for an entire company. How can you make tough decisions when you鈥檙e distracted by health problems? Four executives share how they take care of themselves (there鈥檚 something for everyone, even the gym-averse).

Gerwyn See, founder and CEO of MASE Investments, Inc.

As the chief executive officer of a holding company and business consultancy firm that specializes in business development, corporate, planning, and governance, Mr. See sees to it that he gets pumped up every day. His secret? Staying active. 鈥淢y primary motivation for working out is to stay fit and to stay in shape. But beyond these goals, my fitness regime has already evolved to be part of my lifestyle. I lead a very challenging life balancing the demands of both career and family.听 Fitness has been my regular outlet to recharge and collect myself鈥攁nd perhaps to stay sane,鈥� he said.

Work out every day.
鈥淚 normally start my day with a morning run on a treadmill while watching Bloomberg. But every now and then, I like taking my jog outside just to keep things interesting. I guess what鈥檚 important is doing my cardio in a fasted state (fasted cardio), which helps me keep fat loss at a very optimum level as I鈥檓 not getting any younger. I鈥檓 38, if you wish to know. Then, I do my weight training in the evenings after work.听 I train about an hour and a half, four times a week. I鈥檝e got a fitness coach who keeps me on track. We mix up exercises and routines depending on our goal at that specific time. It is always good to have professional advice to keep you motivated and get proper results.鈥�

But it鈥檚 okay to cheat, sometimes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not machines, of course we go through our lazy days. We all go through our own ups and downs. And I would say that a tolerable level of 鈥榰nhealthy cheat鈥� is acceptable.

鈥淪o go, don鈥檛 deprive yourself from that craving. Just don鈥檛 do it every day. I鈥檝e always believed that taking one bad meal will not make you fat, just as having one good meal will not automatically slim you down. You have to invest in it. And it takes some time to see results, months or even years.鈥�

Gym or village, it doesn鈥檛 matter.
鈥淚 always do my cardio at home and my jogging around our village, which lasts for about 30 minutes every morning. For weight training, we hold our sessions either at Treston Health Club in BGC or The Rockwell Club in Makati City. My work and family life revolves around these areas, so I train where ever it would be convenient.鈥�

Work-life balance.
鈥淚 run on a very tight schedule, but I can鈥檛 say it鈥檚 perfect all the time. As much as I can, I try to organize my week and allocate specific times and routines for both work and play. My weekdays are normally packed with meetings and trips as I juggle my week between several companies and projects, but for my weekends, they are always dedicated to family. I guess I鈥檓 a creature of habit. And I work well having that consistent schedule for my daily and weekly regime.鈥�

Ariel G. Cantos, Philam Life CEO

His day starts in silence: prayer and reflection. In the middle of the day, meanwhile, a quiet time is observed to manage stress. For Mr. Cantos, it is not necessary to go the extra mile when it comes to wellness. Rather, it is about the simple things: incorporating a routine into your daily life. 鈥淲ellness is not just about being physically fit. It is in finding balance in the different aspects of our life that we find holistic wellness,鈥� he said.

Despite his hectic schedule, he is committed to fitness. 鈥淭here are so many reasons that will keep us from achieving our fitness and wellness goal, but with discipline and commitment, it can be done,鈥� he said.

Be active in your youth.
鈥淚 used to be very active when I was much younger. I played football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, went to the gym regularly, and was even into mountain climbing as I love nature.鈥�

Walk 12,500 steps a day.
鈥淒uring the day, I make an effort to accumulate as many steps as possible to get close to my goal of 12,500 steps a day. Doing at least 10,000 steps a day, I learned, is good for the heart. I consciously incorporate the steps into my day to make it easier to achieve my goal.鈥�

Walk to reduce stress.
鈥�On normal days, I would have tallied about 4,500 steps by the time I leave the office. I complete my 12,500 steps by walking around our village at night. These evening walks along tree-lined streets while listening to relaxing music frees the mind of distractions, and also helps remove any stress built during the day鈥� Domestic and foreign travels are part of my job. I take these trips as an opportunity to relax and do my 12,500 daily steps which is equivalent to about 10 kilometers a day.鈥�

Exercise no matter what.
鈥淥nce, I completed my steps just inside my room when the hotel did not have a gym and the weather was bad. Another time, I requested a hotel to open the gym so I could use the treadmill when I checked in at 10 p.m.鈥�

Make room for a small gym at home.
鈥淚 removed my lame excuse for skipping exercise when it rains. I bought a treadmill and converted my attic into a small gym, so I can work on my steps even when it is raining.鈥�

Dan Torres, head of digital for Samsung Electronics Philippines

Cellphones and the Internet have bad reps: they make us screen-addicted couch potatoes endlessly scrolling through cat pictures. In reality, smartphones have built-in health tracking systems that can monitor your heart rate and the number of steps you鈥檝e taken. You can also keep tabs on your physical activity, diet, and sleep. Your smartphone can help you record your progress and share your gains on social media. Just ask Dan Torres, head of digital for Samsung Electronics Philippines.

A triathlete, he pursued the multisport after he almost drowned during a beach trip with friends in 2008. To conquer his fear of open water, he joined as many competitions as he could.

鈥淢y ultimate goal is to be able to qualify to race in the Ironman World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii (4 -km swim, 180-km bike and 42-km run). What I love about this sport is that you are training for three disciplines. It doesn鈥檛 get boring,鈥� said the triathlete, who is training for the Ironman 70.3 Cebu (2-km swim, 90-km bike, 21-km run) in August and Ironman Western Australia (4-km swim, 180-km bike and 42-km run) in December.

Train to conquer fears.
鈥淚鈥檝e always feared the open water. To conquer this fear, I enrolled in Coach Norman Pascual鈥檚 learn-to-swim program in 2015. The opportunity opened up when an ex-Samsung colleague invited me to join the said program. When I started swim training, I initially had no intentions of swimming in open water. In February 2017, my coach opened the idea of me joining one of his open water workshops in Subic. I gave it a shot. His instructions and tips definitely gave me a confidence boost.鈥�

It鈥檚 now or never.
鈥淢y coach, Norman, is very hands on. A lot of his students come from zero background in triathlons and after just a few months are able to change to healthier lifestyles. He helped a lot in showing me that there really is no time limit for people to get fit. People of any age and of any background can do triathlons for as long as they commit themselves to it. I definitely think that this is something more people should engage in. I myself did not believe in this kind of lifestyle when I was younger. I was totally not a sporty type. When I discovered the benefits that come with living such a lifestyle, I immediately got hooked.鈥�

Bye-bye late nights.
鈥淥ne should be fully committed to it. I had to fully change my lifestyle just to be able to cope. I gave up the late nights and oily food, and disciplined myself to sleep early and eat healthy. I feel more alert and energetic on days when I have training. On days I don鈥檛 train, I feel sluggish. This is one of the main factors why I decided to do a full triathlon training. I love how I felt coming to work after training in the morning. It was hard in the first two weeks, but when your body has adjusted to the demands of the training, it becomes a easier. Eventually, your body will even start looking for it.鈥�

Go hard, or go home.
鈥淚 train, on average, for 10 hours per week, which includes biking for at least an hour and a half鈥攁n average of 40 kilometers鈥攐n Mondays at the Mall of Asia Grounds. I also do endurance biking sessions on Saturdays for three hours to Nuvali, Laguna, or Guagua, Pampanga; then an hour of swimming鈥攁n average of two kilometers鈥攁t the Makati Aqua Sports Arena on Tuesdays and Fridays; a short high-intensity run for one-and-a-half hours鈥攁n average of seven kilometers鈥攁t the University of Makati on Thursdays, and finally, a long high-intensity run on Sundays for two hours at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig or at the UP Oval in Quezon City.鈥�

Olivia Limpe-Aw, president of Destileria Limtuaco & Co.,Inc.

For Olivia Limpe-Aw, health and wellness is not about the pursuit of a gold medal, but an exercise in moderation. Ms. Limpe-Aw is the president of Destileria Limtuaco & Co., Inc., established in 1852. Held by the family鈥檚 fifth generation, the distillery is behind spirits such as Manille Liqueur de Calamansi, White Castle Whisky, Napoleon VSOP brandy, El Hombre tequila, and Toska vodka. One would think that an heiress to a liquor fortune would be a tippler, but Ms. Limpe-Aw is far from being one. As the adage of any good trader goes: 鈥淒on鈥檛 get high on your own supply.鈥� She said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 there all the time鈥攖here鈥檚 no need for me to indulge.鈥� Finally, a page from her book to the company鈥檚 patrons: 鈥淒rink only what you can take.鈥�

Sleep is not for the weak.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 smoke. I drink for work, not for socials. I also make sure that I get enough sleep.鈥�

Moderation is key.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really deprive myself. My diet consists of vegetables and seafood, with some meat mixed in, and very small allowances for sweets. Thanks to my diet and moderate lifestyle I can work long hours; I have a lot of energy. I can concentrate well. I feel good鈥攊f听 you feel good, you can work well.鈥澨�