Sun.Star Weekend | Saturday , September 24, 20112CCHERRY ANN LIM Managing Editor, Special Pages and Features

JIGS ARQUIZA Editor

RALPH RHODDEN C. CAVERO Graphic Designer

cover story

“Hala, na wala gyud imong kilay, Mommy, (Your eyebrows have disappeared)” a surprised Rogelie Catacutan, 2011 Aliwan Festival Queen, beams. It sounds like she is not very familiar with the miracle of stage make-up, observing Jessie Glova (in sward speak, “Mommy Jessie”) concealing his natural eyebrows with liquid foundation to draw another set – Tina Turner-ish: sharp, thin, emphatic.

“Ah, so you can make a better set of eyebrows,” Rogelie figures out by herself. It is her first of the three-day make-up training session with Jessie, and she is very much awed with how he can transform himself into a theatrical figure instantly – or to be very exact, a drag queen.

Hours before I arrived, he was in his working clothes: dropped and draped crotch harem pants, a cotton t-shirt, Roman sandals, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. Constricting clothes in the afternoon would only make him uncomfortable, especially now that he has newly launched the Jessie Glova Style Salon that solves your need for change: haircut, nail paint, hair color, hair extensions, all secrets of a celebrity makeover.

Still on the second floor of Pacific Square Condominium in Panagdait, Mabolo where the Jessie Glova Make-Up Studio is also located, the salon is distinctive in all-white vintage Victorian interior.

It is a dream come true, a benchmark among the many lines he has invested in. Under a self-titled label, his own cosmetic brand is distributed in select stores nationwide. Then he built a career in personal coaching in cosmetology and skin care and introduced Hollywood’s air-brush make-up (say, the

Best

Showin

PHOTOS: JAMES CANETE

C3

3CSun.Star Weekend | Saturday , September 24, 2011

FROM C2

feature

Chefs are highly underrated in the Philippines. It’s ironic considering that our country has many scrumptious specialties to boast of, but very little appreciation is given to the people behind it.

“Ang trabaho sa kitchen dili lalim (Kitchen work is not easy),” admitted Chef Vance Borja. Don’t misinterpret such statements as a plea for admiration though, because he is someone who will certainly continue working in the kitchen regardless of one offering him praises or not.

Chefs work with passion. Their love for food preparation is not something that can be traded for anything else. Even from a one-hour conversation with Chef Vance, one can already feel his enthusiasm for his craft. “We’re the only artists who use all five senses,” he boasted. “We are the craftsman in the kitchen. In our art, we give pleasure to the individual who’s dining on our food.”

Vance is a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management, with a major in Food and Beverage. He first worked in the Food and Beverage department of Plantation Bay. Then for a while he also helped in his family’s old restaurant Chicken Bacolod and in their canteen businesses. Then with his high school classmates from Sacred Heart School for Boys,

they opened a restobar in Juana Osmeña Ext. and that was the first Veranda. Today, he is now the man behind the delectable dishes served in Penthouse, The Veranda, and the newly-opened Uncle Noodles. He is also an instructor at the Academy for International Culinary Arts (AICA).

It was Vance’s experience working as a chef in Singapore that really molded and developed his culinary skills. He was in Singapore from 2008-2010, first as a chef in Harbour Front at Vivo City, then at Serenity Spanish Restaurant, then finally at Happy Daze Café and Bistro.

“I was head chef in Happy Daze,” Vance shared. “I was running two outlets, running two kitchens. It was a great challenge for me to handle different kinds of nationalities, nay mga sira ulo, nay mga buutan. I had colleagues were from all walks of life, from China, from Hong Kong, Malaysia…” Vance claims that that experience was “life-changing.” In multi-racial Singapore, Vance was exposed to the cuisine of different countries.

“Everyday as I ate out with different cultures, na adapt nako ang flavors,” he said. “In turn, I would also share the food of my country. When given a chance to cook food for my colleagues, I would cook humba or adobo.”

Then he advised, “You have to understand the culture before

you can understand the food. If you dive into their food right away, mabaw ra kau siya ba. The memory of taste wouldn’t last. But if you understand how their food was developed because of their culture, you will have deeper understanding of how their food came about and their flavor.”

“The flavor I got that from that country, na excited jud ko to bring it back to our hometown,” he said. Vance’s flavor is a fusion of all the tastes he has acquired over the years, from his Filipino-Spanish background with his family, to the flavors he has learned abroad. “Food is actually a big spectrum of flavors.”

Vance even said that he is already “overloading with flavors” and his way of expressing them is through his teaching at (AICA).

Apart from his life in the kitchen, Vance claims that he is a family guy. His guiding principles in life are as follows: “God, family, and everything will come into place. Just give your heart to what you’re doing and never cross other people’s path to get your thing.”

As for his hobbies, unsurprisingly, he replied, “I always tinker in the kitchen. I’m at peace when I’m there. It’s like my lab. I experiment with chilies that I planted, different gingers, etc… Ma lingaw jud ko. Then when I’m impressed with a particular flavor, I think of ways on how I can share that taste with others.”

A Cebuano Tasteby Fiona Patricia S. Escandor

Photoshop of beauty methods).The Top Brand recognition he received at

the Technowave Celebrity Forum in Manila last Sept. 15 has fortified his staying power in the industry. The Wedding Digest, a sister publication of Reader’s Digest, awards the country’s premiere brands based on trusted surveys, research, and nomination.

“I don’t know really. It’s just so overwhelming. Well, I felt very honored that my contribution and hard work has been recognized by a prestigious award-giving group,” he recalls the time he knew about the news on-line. “And I’ll take this as a challenge in providing first class quality services and another challenge for me as a make-up artist on how to keep up, and I am seeing it as another level of great responsibility in setting high standard in make-up artistry and salon management.”

“Since time immemorial,” he laughs when asked about how long he has been mastering make-up. Self-taught in the beginning, but he managed to complete a proficiency course in Advance Make-up at Sophys-tique and Make-up For Ever in Singapore.

But before nudging elbows with celebrities (Tessa Valdes, Rajo Laurel, Pops Fernandez no less), he was known as “Jessie the Performer.” He held this title from 1995 to 1998 when he was a mainstay performer in a group called The Gems at Rounds Bar and Bird Cage, now defunct entertainment pubs. His Whitney Houston impersonation in a live rendition of Will Always Love You was a hit, seconded by his version Jennifer Holiday’s And I’m Telling You.

In those years, he was a regular during Ms. Gay pageants in Mandaue. “I joined pageants even if I oftentimes lose but would end up with Best in Talent. Then, I was offered: join, lose again, and take home P300 or just perform and get paid at P500. So there, I decided to take the 500 peso performance,” he laughs even louder.

“You know, it was the age when I didn’t want to listen to my parents,” Jessie, who is now in his 30s, recalls with a sudden change of his tone. “So I made use of my talent to support my education.”

While completing his studies in Business Administration at the University of San Jose-Recoletos, he joined the Dramatics, the institution’s organization that granted scholarships to stage enthusiasts, before moving to another school group, Adelante.

“I was an Adelante member when Val San Diego was searching for male dancers. I auditioned and thankfully, he accepted me. His wife Luz taught me ballet,” Jessie goes on. “Aside from choreography, I helped in the hair and make-up preparation.”

Unlike before, he has assistants to help him prim his clothes, weave his wigs, and more often, make him laugh. But posted with a probability that he’d go back to square one, he’s quite optimistic – exactly how he rose to fame. “Believe that dreams do come true.”

Does it not sound like a Disney princess’ pragmatism?

Sun.Star Weekend | Saturday , September 24, 20114C

movies

IMAGES FROM THE INTERNET

LIKE Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name, Ryan Gosling is simply known as the Driver in “Drive.” Actually, he’s barely even known as that, because

the few people he comes into contact with don’t really call him anything.

He’s a stoic loner who does exactly what the title suggests. By day, he’s a stunt driver, flipping cop cars for Hollywood productions. By night, he evades the police as a getaway driver for armed robberies, as he does in the film’s tense, nearly wordless opening sequence.

No identity, no backstory. The Driver simply exists, moving from one job to the next without making any pesky emotional attachments.

That he is such a cipher might seem frustrating, but Gosling’s masculine, minimalist approach makes him mysteriously compelling. Yes, there’s the fact that he’s gorgeous. But he also does so much with just a subtle glance, by just holding a moment a beat or two longer than you might expect. He’s defined not so much by who he is, but rather by what he does – how he responds in an increasingly dangerous series of confrontations.

His demeanor is the perfect fit for the overall approach from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn

(“Bronson”); cool and detached, “Drive” feels like an homage to early Michael Mann. It oozes sleek `80s style, from its hot-pink titles to its electronic soundtrack to the silk racing jacket with a scorpion on the back that the Driver wears everywhere. Its neo-noir vision of contemporary Los Angeles is an anonymous sprawl of mini malls and Chinese food restaurants, run-down garages and cheap apartments, where most people are bad and the ones who are good are screwed. Film critics like to use the word “dystopian” at times like this. It’s appropriate.

But then Refn punctuates his dreamlike, almost hypnotic pacing with sudden, bloody blasts of violence. You’re lulled in by the quiet seaminess of it all, and then bam -- someone gets a fork in the eye. It’s the kind of brutality that’s so quick, creative and extreme, it’ll provoke bursts of nervous laughter. You couldn’t possibly have seen that, right? Everything’s going to be OK, right?

Even the Driver doesn’t really want any trouble. He wants to get in, get out and be on his way. Once trouble finds him, though, he follows his own rigid code of honor, as so many reticent bad-asses are wont to do.

He gets involved with his neighbor down the hall, Irene (Carey Mulligan), a sweet, beautiful young

woman with a sweet, beautiful young son. Then the kid’s father (Oscar Isaac) gets out of prison, and the Driver gets dragged into a scheme to help steal $1 million from a pawn shop to pay back his old debts. But Mulligan, with her effortlessly sweet presence, seems miscast here; she simply isn’t damaged enough. Similarly, Christina Hendricks goes to waste in just a couple of scenes as a mob moll who has the misfortune of going along for the ride on the big heist.

But then “Drive” offers some serious character actors in big, showy supporting performances, which offers the same sort of appealing, startling contrast as the film’s violent streak. Bryan Cranston plays a garage owner and father figure to the Driver; Ron Perlman is a volatile gangster who operates out of a drab pizza parlor; and best of all is Albert Brooks, functioning smoothly against type as a former movie producer who’s now a player in this shadowy underworld of cars and cash.

Thinking back, there isn’t really all that much driving in “Drive” – a couple of chase scenes here and there, staged efficiently, thrillingly. It’s more about the questionable choices that drive people – and, ultimately, the ones that drive them away. (AP)


short reviews

IMAGES FROM THE INTERNET

audiosyncracy

It’s hard to find something that sounds new these days. It feels like everything’s been done before, your new favorite band sounding like a throwback to your old favorite band.

Into this tape loop steps The War on Drugs, sporting a sound that may not exactly be new in its execution but sure feels that way in spirit. Daniel Granduciel, the primary player in The War on Drugs, spent much of the last three years laboring over “Slave Ambient.” It’s the band’s second album and first without former collaborator and fellow Philadelphian Kurt Vile, who mines very similar sounds in his solo career and with the critically acclaimed release “Smoke Ring For My Halo.”

Granduciel made much of the record by taking samples he made in

the studio and blending them together to form a modern sort of wall of sound where several different threads blend together seamlessly into what feels like an impenetrable tapestry.

The fun is in the close, repeated listen, trying to pull out all the different flavors from the overall piece.

There’s the demented harmonica in “Baby Missiles,” the subtle guitar hiding in the shadows on “I Was There,” and the spacey horns of “The Animator” that slop over and blend perfectly into “Come to the City.”

“Slave Ambient” deserves the same kind of critical attention “Smoke Ring” got earlier this year. Taken together these albums hopefully represent the first unified volley in a new Philly sound – shambolic, shamanistic and completely cool. (AP)

The War on Drugs, “Slave Ambient” (Secretly Canadian)

books

TEXT AND IMAGES FROM WWW.FULLYBOOKEDONLINE.COM AND THE WEB

Published in celebration of Pearl Jam’s twentieth anniversary and in conjunction with Cameron Crowe’s definitive documentary film and soundtrack of the same name, PEARL JAM TWENTY is an aesthetically stunning and definitive chronicle of their two decades as a band – by the band itself.

In 1991, Pearl Jam’s debut album, Ten catapulted the little-known Seattle-based band into superstardom. Then, at the height of their popularity, the band shunned the spotlight, refusing to shoot videos or do interviews. Even as Pearl Jam’s studio albums continued to be critically acclaimed and commercially successful, selling over 60 million albums worldwide, the inner workings of the band – their day-to-day routines, influences, and motivations – remained unknown even to their diehard fans.

Twenty years later, this is their story. PEARL JAM TWENTY is a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, rare archival memorabilia, and the band’s personal photos, tour notes, and drawings. Told with wit and insight in the band members’ own words, and assembled by veteran music writer Jonathan Cohen with Mark Wilkerson – and including a foreword by Cameron Crowe along with original interviews with legends and contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Dave Grohl – this intimate work provides an in-depth look at a group of musicians who through defying convention established themselves as “the greatest American rock band ever” (USA Today Readers’ Poll 2005).

Pearl Jam Twentyby Pearl Jam

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: “Baby Missiles,” a holdover from an EP Granduciel issued to keep fans at bay while waiting on new material, marches along on an infectious beat with inscrutable lyrics and an addictive melody. Go ahead and play it just once. We dare you.

Machine Gun PreacherGerard Butler gives it his all as the

title character in “Machine Gun Preacher,” a drama based on the true story of biker-turned-humanitarian Sam Childers. It’s a performance that’s gruff and defiant, volatile and raging and even tender at times – the kind of role Mel Gibson might have played 20 years ago. Childers lived a life of drugs and crime until he found Jesus, then traveled to Sudan to build an orphanage for the youngest victims of the ravaged African nation’s civil war. But even though director Marc Forster’s film is rooted in actual events, it’s hard to shake the uncomfortable sensation of watching yet another story that glorifies the white savior. Aside from Souleymane Sy Savane as a rebel soldier named Deng who serves as Sam’s friend, guide and much-needed calming influence, the black characters who prompt Sam to sacrifice everything and put himself in danger feel more like ideas than fleshed-out humans.(AP)

Killer EliteHead butts would seem to hurt, right?

That’s clearly the point of them, but it would seem to be just as painful to be the butter as the buttee. In “Killer Elite,” this is probably the most primal method of attack on display, but even the noisy intensity and frequency of the skull bashings – and pistol whippings and gut punches – don’t register as anything beyond generic action-picture violence. The fact that director and co-writer Gary McKendry has shot all these brawls with the usual shaky cam and cut them in quick, choppy fashion only adds to how forgettable the film is. And you’d think that any movie starring Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham would be one you’d want to remember. “Killer Elite” allows them to show off some of the presence and personality that made these men major movie stars, but ultimately they’re just cogs in a clichéd revenge tale. (AP)

FormoFRIDAY NIGHT RAPTURE with Formo’s triumvirate DJs, Marlon Orellano, Jude Flores and Andrei Blanco. Electro, vocal house and progressive tech at its finest.

DISCO DELUXE SATURDAYS with Gap Mobile’s Gilbert Go and Ronald Tan.

EVERYDAY HAPPY HOUR with your fave cocktails and beer from 6PM to 10PM.

Marco Polo PlazaSOIREE BEAUJOLAIS 2011. On November 19, catch multi-awarded Queen of Jazz Verni Varga with the country’s top celebrity host Mr. Johnny Litton at the uncorking of the Le Beaujolais Nouveau. A sumptuous French buffet with free-flowing wines and cheese awaits! For reservations, call 253-1111.

MarriottPHILIPPINE RESTAURANT WEEK 2011. From October 3-9, 2011, dine at the Garden Café and avail of the special menu delicately prepared by international award-winning Marriott Executive Chef Brendan Mahoney. For reservations, please call (032) 411.5800 local 8140 or email: [email protected].

The Veranda at ParkmallSATURDAY SESSIONS. Featuring live performances of Cebu’s best alternative bands. Dine and unwind from 10PM to 1AM. For table reservations please call: +63.32.505.0007

Waterfront Hotel LahugWORRY-FREE WEEKENDS AT TREFF. Get your weekly dose of R&B tracks on Fridays and your favorite House tracks on Saturdays. For table reservations and inquiries, please call the Waterfront at 232-6888.

glee (gimik, laag and everything else)


lex in the cityAlexis Yap

When I was a child I remember watching kids’ pageants on television. When they were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up, the common answers were being a doctor, a nurse, or a fireman because they wanted to help people. My answer was never any of those. Imagine me being a fireman? That’ll be the day. Even as a child I knew I wanted to be either an actor or a supermodel and one Saturday I got the chance to feel like a supermodel for one night.

Last September 16, SM Accessories invited VVIPs (Very, Very, Important People) to Radisson Blu for an evening that showcased the vast and utterly amazing fashion accessories collection of SM Department Store and I was one of the lucky few who got invited to walk the runway. At first it was nerve-wracking. But who was I kidding? Deep inside me I was dying to strut my stuff down the catwalk and do the pouty-lip action that models do.

I arrived just in time for rehearsals that same day. The blocking was simple and during rehearsals, I did a very simple walk. But in my head, of course, I was channelling Naomi Campbell in a Dolce and Gabbana, spring/summer collection fashion show in the late 90’s. I was closing the SM Accessories Fashion Show. And in the modelling world, opening or closing a show is a big deal. I knew I had to do something outrageous, something impressionable.

I then proceeded to hair and make-up. Since I had no hair, I was in and out of the prepping room in an instant. Hanging out at the backstage gave me mixed emotions. I had been in a fashion show once before. It was for the footwear brand FUSHU and most of us in that show were non-professional models. This time was different. There were almost 30 professional models and most of the other celebrity guests had a background in modelling. The line-up included Kat Ross, Anna Maris Igpit, Steph Senires, Izzara Ugarte, Mia Arcenas, and June Alegrado just to name a few. These girls were not only stunning and gorgeous, these girls were pros! Then I started to get nervous. I wish I had the body, complete with six-pack abs, so all I had to do was lift my shirt up at the end of the ramp and the audience would go wild. Unfortunately, I had lost the address to Citigym since January and frequented my home kitchen and Alejandro’s in times I needed a stress-buster. Oh yes, yours truly has put on more than a just a few pounds over the past months and what perfect timing to be in the fashion show!

Alas, it was show time! I don’t think there was a word ever invented to describe what I was feeling as I stood in line backstage to wait for my turn. My palms were sweaty, I felt butterflies in my stomach, and my head was aimlessly looking for the nearest exit. But the closest one I found was the entrance to the runway, so there I went. I did a quick pose as I entered the stage and all I could hear was screaming

and clapping. It pumped up my adrenaline to the roof! As I walked down the flight of stairs to the main ramp, I felt every fat cell on my belly jiggling like excited little school girls. It was a good thing I was wearing sunglasses or the audience would have seen my eyes’ expression of uncertainty masked only by an ever-dependable smile. Yes, my nerves made me forget to do my pouty-lip-model action. I establish at the end of the runway and I freeze by the deafening sound of the audience’s reaction. I took off my sunglasses and I couldn’t even make out a single face in the crowd! The three-sixty turn I practiced in private backstage was no more as I turned my back

like a shy and dorky, non-model to head for the stage’s exit. And so that was it - much ado for just a couple of minutes

out on the runway. A couple of days before the fashion show we all had to go for styling. Then, there were the rehearsals, hair and make-up, anxiety, nerves, and incriminating pictures that go around the internet and haunt you forever! Haha! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every bit of it and realized quite a few important things. One, being a model is not an easy job but I would do it in a heartbeat. Two, it is the audience that gives you energy. I prefer hearing the roaring crowd than hear the sound of deafening silence. And three, it’s time to say hello once again to my friends at Citigym and start eating healthy. I need to regain my once-perfect body (I wish!).

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the guys from SM Accessories for making me a part of such an amazing show. The experience I had was priceless. Thank you, Katsy Borromeo, for making my supermodel dream come true.

Here are today’s greetings:Happy Birthday to:Ramon Lucero, Edwin Ao (Today), DJ War Aballe (Sept

25), Paolo Canoy (Sept 26), Lyndon Naya, Gelo Abadia (Sept 28), Kaloy Uypangco (Oct 2), Eugene Calacat, Andrew Lim (Oct 3), Elaine Tupaz, Elena Young (Oct 6), Inah Sagun, Paul Gabatan (Oct 7).

Congratulations to the Joker’s Arms on their 2nd Anniversary. Check out the pictures from the celebration.

Conratulations to my cousin Nikka Gelbolingo for winning 1st runner-up in the High School Category of Himig Pinoy 2011 held at the USC Cultural Center last August 24, 2011.

Don’t forget:Tonight! It’s Lust for House at the Penthouse, Your Party Cathedral!The PiNK Party (The one and only LGBT party in Cebu) happening at Alejandro’s

Filipino Resto on October 1, 2011! Call 253 7921 for table reservations.Follow me on twitter for the upcoming events and exciting deals you don’t want to

miss! @iamaroundtown

Supermodel

Chiquiboy Espina and Jude Bacalso Mikey Sanchez and the models backstage Taino Tenney, Tony Jarman, Richard Sharpe, Mike Rutherford, and Gaz Berry

Justine Gloria, Valerie Sharpe, Judy Tenney, Jennifer Rimaz, Becky Thompson, Rhina Avenido, and Doogie Pagaduan

Paul Kiener, Patrick Rizarri, Joseph Texes, Steph Senires, Patrice Uytengsu, Kat Ross

The models of the SM Accewssories Fashion Show

The SM Accessories Fashion Show

DJ Eyral Yap and DJ Distraction- Rainier Dipasupil

Nikka Gelbolingo recieving her award

BackstageCandice Kahler, Ramon Lucero, and Elgee Tampus

Izarra Ugarte, Mia Arcenas, June Alegrado

Alexis Yap

Anna Maris Igpit Kat Ross Patrick Rizarri Nicolette Gaw Yu Paul Kiener Steph Senires


Got something to share with us? Sun.Star Weekend invites readers to contribute original, unpublished poems and essays or commentaries about funny or memorable moments in your life. Please email your contributions to:

[email protected]

49 Gen. Sepulveda Street, CebuTel. No (032) 255-0105 & 412-5551

Fax No. (032) 412-5552Email: [email protected]

website: www.palazzopensionne.net

BED & BREAKFAST

IMAGE FROM THE INTERNET

Mommy I need you to tuck me in tonightFor you to kiss and hug me so tightWith touch so soft, will put me to sleepAs I dream and count as many white sheep Mommy read me your favorite storiesOf Knights, pretty damsels and kind FairiesThose wondrous tales of long, long agoWill linger in my mind wherever I go. Mommy kiss me good night as you stroke my hairWhile I whisper I love you into the airYour lips on my face all I truly neededFor a peaceful night as I lay on my bed. Help me to dream only of things wonderfulFlowers, birds, and angels all beautifulThings that can make me smile through the nightTill the next morn with eyes wide, happy and birght.

Mommy sing me a soothing lullabyA song so meaningful to fondly remember you byA song not only sweet music to my earsA part of those memorable growing years. Looking forward to each night of loving encounterWhich will grow less as I become bigger and olderHope I could go on holding your hands so warmForever young, enchanted by your charm. So Mommy dearest hold me so tenderlyEmbrace me so close and just as snuglyLet your arms stay for as long as you wishMy heart pulsating in a delightful swish.

A Sweet Goodnightby Virgie Pondoc Reformnina, R.N.

poetry

IMAG

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Smiling in her fashionable clothing and wearing her classy scarf just to complete her day; this is the best way to describe “ukay-ukay” enthusiast Charmen “Sarms” Pabas.

Her love for secondhand goods gave her the opportunity to find her secret talent, and it’s no ordinary talent when people would anxiously cry out for her clothes and other accessories, then get crazy. Literally.

Sarms, a 22-year-old Psychology graduate started the so-called hobby since high school, which was influenced by her mother who happens to be a whiz in finding ukay-ukay items.

She is maarte (choosy) and a self-confessed fashionista (a person who loves anything about fashion) who wants to be different all the time despite a tight budget. Lucky for Sarms, her interest in ukay-ukay (which is not really that expensive!) is exactly the perfect way to spoil herself and for a very reasonable cost.

The thought of buying used garments made her hesitate at first, “basin patay pa lang na ang tag-iya ani” (maybe a dead person may have owned it) she jokes; but one thing’s for sure, in ukay-ukay it’s relatively homogenous, and by homogenous, meaning a wide variety of goods which can also be bought in high-end stores; the only difference is you get to own the item first compared to secondhand retail.

If the joy of being stylish in doing “ukay” is attainable, Sarms sees it in a different way. “Ukay releases stress, anger through pulling clothes from a pile. What’s nice with it is you learn how to focus on one thing; you make up your own world. If some boys play with DOTA then some girls also enjoy going to ukay-ukay, indeed it unleashes creativity, minimizes stress, helps organize your anger management as well, where the pulling and throwing of clothes from a pile can somehow get the better off you.”

A student and model; Ana Andrada shares her insight of the industry. “Ukay-ukay is fine and I know a lot who patronize it, it’s very unique and you won’t have a problem since it’s bought at a

low price”. The mere hobby

turned into money after a close friend who had seen Sarms’ prowess in ukay-ukay, and then suggested her to sell some of the items to others; and that is how “Sarms Collection” came to be. Sarms’ terms of selling is more personalized, before she considers selling something, she gets to know her customers first and find out what style they’re into and look for suitable items;

which somehow makes Sarms into a personal shopper of sorts. The small business then became a successful one, helping Sarms through college.

Independent is what she is, knowing that she had been juggling her service as a working student, daughter, friend and an “entrepreneur”. The sideline Sarms never expected helped her a lot, especially in providing her funds for her allowances and other fees in school. So far the most fulfilling part she has with her business is that she was able to buy herself a new phone.

People who have become regular customers not only like the affordability of the collection but also how Sarms’ choices spell their taste.

“Usa na ka cabinet puros Sarms Collection! Promise! It really fits my style, nice iyang items, murag good as new, what’s in now, she has it!”(I have one cabinet full of Sarms Collection! Promise! It really fits my style, her items are nice, and it’s like good as new, what’s in now she has it!), a regular client, Anna Marie Toledo, says.

Sarms admits having a satisfaction for ukay-ukay, which she describes as a neurotic type; to the point that her mindset is affected by feeling “I-Really-Need-To-Go-And-Ukay-Now”. She advises that one must not attempt to go ukay because one has to, but rather go because you feel like going. Forcing yourself may end in disappointment because you won’t find anything you like. It’s all a matter of time and luck.

Therefore “Fashion is not something that you follow, it’s something that you create”; words from the guru; an explanation of no matter where a thing comes from, it’s how that thing is being worn makes it more important. Happy ukay! (Rheyanne April Ordesta)

The Unusual Gurufeature

Charmen “Sarms” Pabas

Ana, Sarms’ friend and a regular customer.


peeps (people, events and places)

Cebu experienced a new wave in clubbing sound as Malaysian DJ Eva T. took over the turntables at the second edition of Pearl Night held last September 17 at LUXX at Vudu. The crowd went wild as the young and talented DJ spiced up the dance floor with her own blend of today’s popular hits.

In an interview before the party, she said that it was her first time to visit the Queen city. “I love the design of the club, the interior,” she shared, “I love the music and the people.” She also complimented on how courteous Cebuanos are.

Eva is known as Malaysia’s “R&B Queen” and Asia’s “Diva of the South.” She has been a DJ for nearly two years. In such a short time, she has already performed all over Malaysia, from her hometown Johor to the country’s party capital, Kuala Lumpur. She has also performed at top clubs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.

Her latest collection, Desire Vol. 3, is out for download at her website. It features her own mix of current hits like Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and David Guetta’s “Little Bad Girl.”

The Eva T. Experience

Kloodie Chiongbian, Sarrita and Jacob Pimentel, Jaja Chiongbian Rama, Kaye Mercado Bayot, Andy Klepp, Selina Romualdez

Jenina Marques, Lisa, Kari, Tonette Carcel, Cheska Farrarons, Nicole Munoz and Magda

Amanda Booth and Izarra Ugarte Justin and Selina Romualdez Amada Gosney and David Dennis Cheska Farrarons and Kari Natasha Lilja and Kimberly Lofgren

Malaysia Queen of Hiphop and RnB Eva T.

crosslineSmelling Freedom by Cherie Ann O. Gozon

Mikey Sanchez, Nicole Tseng, Bea Borja, Jem Dumacos, supermodel Sanya Smith, David Dennis, Kenn Natividad

Nicole Munoz, Jenina Marques, Cheska Farrarons, Tonette Carcel Phoebe Kaye Fernandez and Kat Ros

My graduate school professor once told our class that ‘freedom is imaginary’. Freedom, he explained, is just a state of mind because we are never truly free. We just think we are… but we’re not. Either I believe this or not is not the question. As of now, I think there’s such thing as freedom. I can smell it in the air. Cebu Press Freedom, that is.

This is not the first time I’ll participate in Cebu Press Freedom Week. I remember when I was in my sophomore year in college, our MassCom adviser told us to join some the the activities lined up for Press Freedom Week. Of course, when you’re on that year level, your excitement is undeniable. You feel that

sense of belongingness that you are part of ‘media’.After that year, for some reasons, we haven’t

participated in Cebu Press Freedom Week since. As far as I could recall (since CPFW was scheduled the same with our intramurals), we were forced to attend and cheer for our department’s participated games. I thought ‘what a waste of time… I could’ve spent my time doing something fruitful instead.’

But my fondness of the said event never ceased. I always have browsed through local dailies to see the activities lined up hoping to sneak a little visit from my schedule. I never did. When I already had a job (and no, it wasn’t a job related to media), I still did that

browsing-the-local-dailies hobby and wished I could join one of the activities. I couldn’t – work is in the way.

Four years… it felt like forever. But here I am, smelling Cebu Press Freedom Week again. Now that I’m working in media, I get to join the festivities again. This time, I truly feel that I am where I belong.

So going back to my professor’s thought of freedom? I don’t care if it is imaginary. Right now, I’m imagining myself wearing a CPFW shirt and parading under the heat of the sun. Freedom might be imaginary… but I’ll get a grasp of that sweet imagination soon.

Happy Press Freedom Week, Cebu!

Sun.Star Weekend Magazine

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