Maniolas

Sweater weather: Warm up by layering a classic sweater over your favorite button-down. MANILA, Philippines – Celio, the No. 1 men’s brand from France, sets the mood by immortalizing the fundamentals of casual wear in its 2014 fall/winter collection. This season, the spotlight focuses on basic must-haves with a modern twist. Button-downs, sweaters, jackets, graphic tees, and workwear chino and denim pants take center stage. Well known for its core offerings of stylish tees, polos, shirts, outerwear, bermudas, pants, denim and accessories, Celio aims to take fashion from the catwalk to the street — making it accessible and wearable for today’s young, urban men. Clean lines distinguish this season’s wave of button-downs. In addition to a cool palette of blues and neutrals, plaid color variants are resurfacing — echoing a laid-back feel reminiscent of ‘90s grunge. Chambray is going strong and embellished button-down hybrids with attention to print details are also flying off Celio’s shelves. Celio’s fall/winter collection also has tailored suits in tow, flaunting the perfect slim fit with saddler stitching and satin contrast details. With more than 1,000 stores in 60 countries, Celio aims to provide affordable, durable and stylish clothing options. Visit Celio at TriNoma, SM Mall of Asia, Market! Market! and Ayala Center Cebu. For style inspiration and the latest trends, follow Celio, the style leader on Instagram via @celioph. Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

The crocodilian Indian gharial has a bump at the tip of its snout to amplify buzzing sounds made during courtship. My two-year-old son — who rules our household with a Skyflakes- and condensada-stained fist — can identify the letters of the alphabet, is slowly weaning from his baby bottle and is partly toilet-trained. Given his level of maturity, I thought it was time that he learned about the birds and the bees. Literally. During a recent family trip to the Lion City, I wanted my Buddha boy to appreciate the fact that real animals were not animated, could not talk, and did not break out spontaneously into song and dance (also that birds were not spherical and could not be launched as projectiles), So we took him on a crash course to the Singapore Wildlife Reserves which included a visit to the Singapore Zoo (a 26-hectare wildlife park nestled in the lush Mandai rainforest setting which is home to over 2,800 animals representing over 300 species of animals), the Night Safari (a safari park for over 2,500 animals in their naturalistic nighttime habitats) and the River Safari (a wildlife park that features aquatic ecosystems from the different rivers of the world — from the Ganges to the Nile to the Mississippi — as well as 6,000 land and aquatic animals representing 200 species). This zoological expedition was enough to give Noah a run for his money. But it was well worth it as my son enjoyed all three visits (although Read More …

Ah, Baguio. Known for its cool weather, its fresh strawberries, and its haunted houses. Baguio is like the SM of ghost sightings. They’ve got it all for you: from the Philippine Military Academy to Loakan Road to Teachers Camp to Hyatt Terraces Hotel to Casa Vallejo to Diplomat Hotel.  But if want to pay for a haunted encounter in (what is reputed to be) the most haunted house in all of Baguio, then look no further than down the stretch of Leonard Wood Road. House Number 14. Also known as the Laperal house. Also known as… The White House… (…Because “The Light Yellow/Beige House,” which was its original color, just doesn’t have as much gravitas. The house was repainted white in 2001).  For those of us who visited Baguio in our (pre-Instagram, pre-cellphone, pre-pager) youth, this once-decrepit and (what we assumed was) abandoned residence along an otherwise busy street did give off a slightly creepy vibe that made your heart skip a beat and made your pubic hair uncurl (especially when you caught a glimpse of the espiritistas gathering outside of the house to light candles on the eve of All Saints Day). Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: The stories about the house made you want to floor the accelerator so you wouldn’t hear the angry voices emanating from the house or spot the woman staring at you from the window of the second floor. But what made the house even creepier was that mumus weren’t Read More …

Never rush a woman when she’s primping to go somewhere — never. You might be running a little late or even a lot late, but unless you want to meet your maker earlier than heaven has ordained, back off. I have witnessed a couple of epic fights between spouses and partners because the men at some point in their vigil made the cardinal sin of saying, “Let’s go!”  The first time I became aware of this phenomenon was when I was about seven, and my godparents were our houseguests. My parents were taking them to a party and my godmother let me watch her get ready. My godfather kept popping into the room saying, “Let’s go, we’re late,” and my godmother was getting frantic with each visit he paid her. The edgier she got, the more mistakes made, hence, more do-overs. It got to a point where, in frustration, she told me, “One more ‘Let’s go’ from your Ninong and he’ll see the devil himself come to life.” They ended up leaving extremely late, as the harder he pressed, the more my godmother took her sweet time just to get back at him. I learned from my parents the next day that they stayed away from each other at the party. Another time, in college, a good friend was getting ready with me in the room, while her boyfriend waited outside. He was taking her to dinner to meet his parents for the first time. She was a bundle of Read More …

Host with the most: Edu Manzano, Mr. Pure Energy: Gary Valenciano Thank you, Manny Pacquiao, for systematically rearranging the face of Brandon Rios and boosting this nation’s waning testosterone levels. That decisive win last Sunday caused hair to spontaneously sprout on my chest, helped me grow an additional set of abs and increased my cojones a third in diameter. And, speaking of growing cojones, did you know there are many men whose cojones I would like to have? Wait. Allow me to rephrase that lest I be arrested. There are many men whose cojones I would like to emulate. Wait, that wasn’t quite right either. Basta, there are many men with great cojones, and I wish I had cojones just like them. You see, writing this column of national inconsequence, there are other balls that I juggle as well. These balls include real estate development, food market entrepreneurship, events and TV hosting, and my biggest ball of all, manservant to my wife and two kids. I know, I know, I have more balls than I can handle. But hey, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to eventually handle bigger balls. And, for me, these are the men that I look up to when I play with my balls. Tony Tan Caktiong — Uncle Tony’s (uuuy, nakiki-uncle daw, o) rise to success is the stuff of business legend. After graduating with a chemical engineering degree from UST in 1975, he used his life savings to invest in an ice cream Read More …