Cubao X in the Daylight

 The cozy interiors of Halo Café.

Continued from the previous post. This is going to be a photo blog entry, though, since there are a truckload of pictures. Cubao is famous for its artist’s spot anyway.

After finishing our stuff at Quiapo, we headed straight for Cubao. I needed to replenish my organic bath products from HumanHeartNature. My sister, on the other hand, wanted to look for a popular ukay-ukay shop. We didn’t even know its name, but we found it.

Yes, the shop name is tacky but the finds are awesome!

And it’s surrounded by men in white shirts. Wonder why.

My loot, for a grand total of P590!

Taking a break at a Chowking restaurant — Belle and Lei were already with us at this point — we pondered on what to do next. Do we go and watch the Japanese Film Festival at Edsa Shangri-La mall? Or do we head straight for Cubao Expo, famous for being the artist’s hangout? Alex was aghast to find out that Lei, Belle and I had never been to Cubao X.


“And you call yourselves Multimedia Artists??? Shame on you!”

The decision was unanimous, the two girls cannot graduate without having stepped foot on Cubao X. The only problem with going there during the day was that…well, most artists are vampires. They’re alive at night.

Anyhoo…

One of the rare vintage stores that were left
in the aftermath of Cubao X’s turn to commercialization.

Ah! Bookgasm galore!!!

Many of the art galleries are closed during the day.

Ok, I’m inserting a story here. My sister called me over so we could go check out this nice fashion shop called Stoic. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, the saleslady seemed like she’d rather be somewhere else than there. While we were taking pictures (and notes) of the stuff we’d like to return for (um, we ran out of cash again), she rudely told Lei and Belle to not take photos because a guard might scold them. (“Wag kayo magkukuha ng pictures dyan, huhulihin kayo ng guard.”) Hallo? I was just taking photos of the establishments earlier and the guard, thinking he was included, posed! The guard knows his logic: You’re in an art district, you should be open to being photographed because you could either be featured in a magazine or blogged about. And if you’re (un)lucky, a section of your face might even end up in some wannabe Dadaist’s exhibit.

Hm. Definitely not going back, unless that lady is replaced by someone livelier. I also wish for someone who doesn’t scowl too much so I could take a pleasant photo of her, along with the store. (Then again, I suppose the stoic saleslady is part of the ambiance since that exactly is the store’s name.) We decided not to let that encounter ruin our day and continued our exploration.

I’m coming back for these, actually. But only if that grouch is gone.

Yet another vintage shop! It was closed, though. 
See those old Polaroid cameras?

This was my target. They sell HumanHeartNature products, among other interesting things.
They ran out of organic shampoos, though.

This is so cuuuuute! I wish they were open.

A signage for a shop named “I Love You”.

We were supposed to go to Mogwai, as my sister recommended. Patrons usually enjoy a slew of indie films while dining there. Sadly, it was being renovated. It was a good thing that I was eyeing another restaurant: Halo Café, an organic shop, which also serves vegan and sugar-free cakes. I’ve actually used my shot of their interiors as this blog entry’s cover picture (*points up*).

They’re keen on animal rights issues, so you will find pamphlets that talk about animal cruelty. The menu, interiors and displayed artworks reflect this environment-friendly philosophy.

Of these four drinks, two stood out: The hot cup of mint-y chocolate (far left), which loves your nose but stings your eyes, and Gayuma (bottom), which tasted really weird. It’s made up of vanilla and rose extracts but tastes like banana and liquor. I was pretty sure it has liquor because I felt my muscles produce more lactic acid.

Chicken pesto sandwich without the chicken. This stuff is GOOD!

Alex, Lei and Belle

Aaaaand yours truly. Signing off.
Side notes: I was supposed to graphically edit these photos for presentation purposes (I’m talking about an art district here, doh), but I got lazy. LOL! Also, if you’re interested in looking up Cubao X’s events and activities, you can drop by their pretty website: http://www.cubao-x.com.

5 Comments

  1. papavik

    July 10, 2010 at 3:49 am

    was this the old marikina shoe expo area? the area near the old CDO building?

  2. skysenshi

    July 10, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    i have no idea. XD i'll just take you there po when you arrive.

  3. *MrsMartinez*

    October 18, 2010 at 12:30 am

    Bea
    Ang cute ng pose mo sa last picture lol
    xoxo
    MrsM

  4. skysenshi

    October 18, 2010 at 12:31 am

    Wahaha, ang kulit nila dyan eh. 😀

  5. skysenshi

    February 16, 2011 at 11:26 am

    Wahaha, ang kulit nila dyan eh. 😀

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