Alvin Alcantara

Jan 17, 2025 | thediarist.ph | Alvin Alcantara

Rockwell, I saw you being born. Sappy? This thought crossed my mind in the din and dazzle of last New Year’s Eve, as I gazed up at the bursts of fireworks mushrooming behind the rooftop of 8Rockwell. Crowds had massed on Hidalgo Drive to watch the display at the stroke of midnight.

Dec 11, 2024 | thediarist.ph | Marge C. Enriquez |Alvin Alcantara

Broadcaster Karen Davila, an early bird at Renz Reyes’ three-day solo pop-up at Comme Ci, snapped up the black denim Core Vest, a structured waistcoat with extended sleeves, dangling straps, contrasting V-stripes, and linear stitching. The next day, she confidently wore it at Vogue Threads Manila. Reyes considers the Core Vest one of his most popular styles under his namesake label.

Dec 1, 2024 | thediarist.ph | Marge C. Enriquez |Alvin Alcantara

In the late ’80s, Ponce Veridiano, in his 20s, took his first foreign trip, to Hong Kong, to do the  landscape of the home of film mogul Run Run Shaw. Veridiano was tapped by prominent architect and National Artist to-be Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa, who was building Shaw’s residence in Kowloon. One evening, Shaw invited his Filipino team to dinner at Table 88, the restaurant that had been repurposed from a police station. “It was decorated with old wood and boulders.

Nov 29, 2024 | thediarist.ph | Marge C. Enriquez |Alvin Alcantara

A week before the Kingly Treasures auction, friends of gallerist Jaime Ponce de Leon gathered to preview the prized lots. The Nov. 30, 2024 auction is headlined by National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s Tinikling 2, from the collection of the first Filipina Cabinet member, Estafania Aldaba Lim. “It’s a once-in-a-decade opportunity for an auction house to handle a work of this magnitude by Botong Francisco,” said Ponce de Leon.

Nov 29, 2024 | thediarist.ph | Alvin Alcantara

Believe it or not, Filipinos are the most “sleepless people”—meaning they get the least number of hours of sleep— in Asia, and fourth in the world. Seeing that data as a wake-up call,  IKEA launched Wake up! It’s time to sleep, a campaign calling on Filipinos to give more attention to getting better sleep. It also encourages Filipino customers to experience IKEA sleep solutions themselves before their purchase at the IKEA Pasay City showroom.