OOTD: Ethnic Blue

Today, I'm off to a whole day affair.  I will be having a brunch hotel buffet date and a casual family dinner with leisurely shopping in between.

What I'm wearing today represents who I am.  I chose the theme ethnic blue because it represents identity and authenticity. 

There's an artistic side of me that loves patterns.  I also appreciate each color individually such as the color blue.

Female Outfit (OOTD) Roundup

Dress: H&M

Bag: Mango

Watch: Casio 

Lotus Garden Hotel: Heritage Tour

A few weeks ago, I was invited to have a breakfast and a quick tour around Lotus Garden Hotel.

I've been passing by it for many years, this is the first time I actually stepped in.

The staffs are very polite and hospital.  I'm told that Manny Pacquaio used to stay there before he got famous.

There are lots of amenities.  There's a jacuzzi and a spa.

There's a meeting room and a function room that can house 100 persons for balls and proms.

Cilantro Resto Bar

 I love how clean the place is and still intact with its rich heritage.

There are many types of rooms.

Some are more traditional.

While others are more contemporary.

Their biggest room even has its own kitchenette which is perfect for families and those who have kids.

Lotus Garden Hotel
1227 A. Mabini cor. Padre Faura St.
Ermita Manila, Metro Manila
(02) 522-1515

Raffles Design Institute Manila: Open House Photography Demo

Last week, I decided to join in on Raffles Design Institute Open House.  Honestly, I'm not acquainted with the school.

It occupied an entire building along Metropolitan Avenue in the CBD of Makati City.  It's original campus used to be at the prestigious Accralaw Tower in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. 

I found out that the Raffles Design Institute is an international college offering professional education.  Raffles Design Institute Manila is just one of its 30 colleges operating in 28 cities across 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.  It specializes in the field of Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing and Management, Visual Communication, Interior Design and Business Specialization.

We had an overview of the Visual Communication with our professor for the day Sven Pfrommer, a visual artist and photographer who operates his own gallery shows in Berlin.

He taught us to have fun with a slow shutter speed of 4 seconds.

During this session, we all learned that for low lights, the auto focus of our DSLR and Mirrorless in my case does not work.

Everyone took turns in trying it out.

The class had a lot of fun.


We were able to appreciate the simple lesson because we were able to see how it was applied.

I can see how Raffles Design promotes the creativity of their students. 

LG G4: Philippine Launch and First Impression Hands-On Review

Last May 28, 2015, I was invited to attend the LG G4 Philippine Launch.  Everyone has high expectations for the presentations as I along with the distributors, bloggers and media were already at the venue at around 4 pm. We were seated at the Theatre at Solaire at around 7 pm.  All of us were more eager than ever.  However, the program didn't start until 8:30 pm. 

What awaits us were no actual demo nor was there any live streaming so please bare with my screenshots.  I'm also adding my hands-on experience with the actual product.

LG boasts of the one of a kind design: hand-crafted leather and ceramic with 3D patterns of the LG G4. The screen is an LG G Flex 2 which is slightly curved making it less likely to crack.

And, almost half of the presentation focused on the DSLR-like camera that offers exceptional visual experience.

It is a 16 megapixel camera...

with F1.8 aperture len. It also has a OIS 2.0, which doubles the performance of the OIS+ by expanding the range of image stabilization from one degree to two degrees on the X- and Y-axis and adding a third axis for the first time.

For the first time on smartphone, it has a Color Spectrum Sensor (CSS).

Like a DSLR, you can tweak the focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation and white balance. 

 What's amazing is that you can save images in RAW.  And, since it can support up to 2 TB microsd, you can utilize this well.

 The selfie camera is 8 MP.  This is a big leap from the 2.1 MP of the LG G3.
 

Shoot modes include: Auto, Panorama and Dual.

This is my selfie using the dual mode.  It works well I just don't know how to apply it.

You can shoot Simple, Auto and Manual.  Look at how sharp the images are!

It is the first LG smartphone to adapt the 5.5-inch IPS Quantum Display, which offers 20 percent greater color reproduction, 25 percent improvement in brightness and 50 percent greater contrast.

To end the program, the brand ammbassadors had a live demonstration of group selfie.

 A great highlight of the LG G4 is its high-capacity 3,000mAh removable battery.

It has a smart notice to alert you.  It also has a smart bulletin which dedicates a whole screen for your apps and widgets.  Event Pocket in the calendar app syncs with your Facebook events.  Photos and memories at the same event and location can be organized together through the "Memories".  GlanceView let's you swipe downward from the top edge to view notices even when it is asleep.

By default, it has 4 Home Touch Buttons which you can customize up to five.  I would personally remove the active LTE switch.  Yes, it supports dual LTE.

You can drag down the a navigation bar from the notification.

Qslide allows you to place up to 8 shortcut apps.

It also supports dual window.  I really wanted to test it more but it was almost midnight and the prolonged excitement drained my energy.

So this sums up my first impression hands-on review.  What do you think of the LG G4?

LG G4 Key Specifications:

·       Chipset: 1.8 GHz Hexa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Processor

·       Display: 5.5-inch Quad HD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440, 538ppi)

·       Memory: 32GB eMMC ROM, 3GB LPDDR3 RAM / microSD slot

·       Camera: Rear 16MP with F1.8 Aperture / OIS 2.0 / Front 8MP with F2.0 Aperture

·       Battery: 3,000mAh (removable)

·       Operating System: Android 5.1 Lollipop

·       Size: 148.9 x 76.1 x 6.3 - 9.8 mm

·       Weight: 155g

·       Network: 4G / LTE / HSPA+ 21 Mbps (3G)

·       Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.1LE / NFC / USB 2.0

·       Colors: Metallic Gray / Shiny Gold / Ceramic White

(Genuine Leather) Black / Brown / Red

·       Other: Manual Mode / Gesture Interval Shot / Quick Shot

Ceramic and Metallic Variants: Ceramic White and Metallic Gray and Shiny Gold retails at 31,990 php.  While, genuine hand-crafter leather variant  (black, brown and red) is at 32,990 php.

Diana Stalder (DS) Cafe: My Ultimate Power Peel Experience (SM Megamall)

Diana Stalder has been around for 18 years.  The name itself has been known in the industry. 

I had the chance to visit the DS Cafe at SM Megamall for the first time. 

Aside from services, they have beauty products for sale.

They have a list of treatments which you can choose from.  But, Diana Stalder doesn't just offer treatments like most skin clinics.  A skin specialist will assess your skin for FREE and then recommend a treatment that you need.

Before or after your treatment, you can chill out by the DS Cafe.

Diana Stalder commits to promoting a healthy lifestyle and beautification is just a part of it.

There's healthy dishes available.  

And, food products which you can take home.

So I had my skin assessment and the skin specialist recommended that I have an Ultimate Power Peel (1,200 php).   It took approximately 1 hour and the skin specialist explained to me the procedure as it was being done to me.

I really felt refreshed and that my skin was so smooth after.

 This is me before....

Check out how smooth my skin is after. =)  I was able to pose shylessly with my idols. 

DIANA STALDER MEGAMALL
5th Floor Bldg. A, SM Megamall
EDSA cor. J.Vargas ave., Mandaluyong City
Metro Manila
Telephone No.:(02) 984-8188
Mobile No.:+63 925-3006395