Perfect afternoon for a stroll at Union Square greenmarket

Shoppers at Union Square Greenmarket

There's is just something invigorating about stumbling across a farmer's market in the middle of a metropolitan area. The contrast of small town farmers and high heeled ladies in their Manolo's. The banker in a pinstripe smelling the harvest tomatoes and cantaloupe. The sea of plastic tents in an ocean of steel, concrete and glass. Whether you are in Milan, Buenos Aires, Makati City or

A Sexy Hotel in Midtown Manhattan

The sexy bedroom setting

Sometimes, boutique hotels just don't cut it on a business trip. There was a time in Chicago when the extremely dark hallways at the W hotel Lakeshore was more of a nuisance after a long day of meetings and all I want was to get back to my room and chill. It is also quite common to find the hotel staff more interested in their acting careers than being hospitable to their guests. Such was surprisingly not the case at the Hotel Gansevoort Park Avenue in midtown New

Momofuku: Pork Bun Heaven?

I have been on a mission the past year to indulge in David Chang's world famous pork buns ever since I saw the photo  in his first cookbook, Momofuku. After salivating on these pork belly pieces of heaven, I finally had the opportunity to visit Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village to sample the goodies myself. Chef Chang didn't invent the pork buns, but he sure made it cool for the foodie nation. 

My brother Brian and childhood classmate, Vigie, joined me for my much anticipated degustation. While the all wood counter resembled the photos from the book, the romance of the space was completely whitewashed by the bright sunlight penetrating through the floor to ceiling windows. I envisioned a ryokan-like space that would transport me back

A Chinese-Latino Fusion in the Upper West Side

My Hotel Life is delighted to feature a foodie blog post from Vigie Bucu of Manhattan. Vigie is a childhood classmate of mine from the Philippines. On a recent reunion in New York, I discovered that my friend is a walking encyclopedia of New York City. No wonder that his choice of restaurant is a hole-in-the-wall fusion of Chinese and Latino. Here's Vigie's insider recommendation:

My entry is one of my fave comfort food places in Manhattan, an ethnic comida latina Y china resto: La Dinastia! Right in the middle of the upper west side nabe, just blcoks from Lincoln center and CPW. Also nearby is the ABC studios for Good Morning America and Regis and Kelly. It has hosted and seen its compliment of local ABC News

The Coolest Food Truck in New York

There's a lot of buzz around Manhattan's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. From the New York Times, Time Out, Gourmet, Vendy Awards and even Men's Health. If you need a delicious afternoon treat in the city, guess what, you won't be the only one in line for CocoCone or the Belgian Slipwich. During my encounter with BGICT in Union Square, Food

Abraco Espresso NYC. Coffee worth the wait?

Long lines can easily form at Abraco at any time of the day. This is at 2PM.

I can't stand to wait in line. Just like LA traffic, I would rather take the side roads, even if the drive took me longer, than to sit bumper to bumper on the 405 freeway. Now for a good cup of coffee, that's a different story. After a satisfying lunch at Momofuku, my brother Brian took me and my friend Vigie, around the corner to Abraco espresso cafe. My brother likes a good cup of coffee and wherever we are

Ti Amo Eataly NYC

Walking into Eataly in the Madison Square Park neighborhood of Manhattan brought me back to my first experience at Dean & DeLuca and the time my sister Haj and I decided to shop for our New Year's Eve frozen gourmet dinner at Picard; foregoing a formal dinner in the Marais. It was food heaven! My grade school classmate from Ateneo, Vigie Bucu, was the accomplice on this foodie excursion to Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's incredible new food haven. 

Oscar Farinetti opened the first Eataly in Turin. Now this the American version so imagine filling an entire football

The Top 3 Speakeasy Bars in New York

The non-descript entrance to Death & Co 

The passage of the Brooks High License Act in Pennsylvania in 1888 requiring saloon owners to increase their taxes from $50 to $500 immediately resulted in the closing of "legal" drinking establishments thus opening the doors for speakeasy's to operate under the radar to sustain their businesses. One McKeesport, Pennsylvania "illegal" saloon owner, Kate Hesler,  is credited for coining the term "speakeasy" when she instructed her saloon guests to

14 Things I learned during ArtPrize

There is no question that ArtPrize 2.0 topped 1.0 in many levels. The crowds were huge every day. Hotels and restaurants were considerably busier throughout the whole 19 day duration and not just the weekends. And the debate about "what is art" is bound to continue just like the debate about the BCS and college football playoffs. ArtPrize is about the joy of witnessing young children peering behind a "pretty scary monk" sculpture. ArtPrize is seeing busloads

ArtPrize: One Last Look

I can guarantee you that I wasn't the only fan who made a last ditch effort to see as many entries on this last weekend of ArtPrize. The picture-perfect, 75 degrees and sunny weekend brought every living soul out on the streets of Grand Rapids. The hotels were full. The restaurants were packed. Lines outside the Art Museum were reminiscent of the first

JW's annual Dead-U-Tante Ball to benefit United Way

What: Dead-U-Tante Ball

When: Saturday, October 30, 2010

Time: 8:30 PM to 1 AM

Where: International Ballroom of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids

Cost: $10 per person at the door, of which, $5 to be donated to

The Creative Class: Filipino Designer Rhett Eala

WYD: Rhett Eala from WYD on Vimeo.

When we were kids, my cousin Rhett was always the one sketching couture models with long necks and  flowing dresses while the rest of the cousins played basketball or tumbang preso. During our annual family Christmas play, where all the kids performed some Disney play in front of the entire family, Rhett commissioned himself to the role of director or costume designer while he talked me into kissing my

Natasha Bedingfield highlights ArtPrize 2010 free concert

A sea of spectators flooded Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids last night for the ArtPrize 2010 concert featuring Natasha Bedingfield, David Archuleta, Hot Chelle Rae and Ryan Star. The free concert capped off the second weekend of ArtPrize. With 192 venues, 1713 artists representing 44 states and 21 countries, ArtPrize 2010 has delivered a dynamic boost to the area's culture and nigthlife, for yet, another amazing weekend in Grand Rapids. 

Style Battle adds an exclamation point to fashion in GR

 The models from MUSE boutique

To say that Grand Rapids has grown up is surely an understatement given the influx of creative events and venues in the city in the past couple of years. The creative class has taken over and last thursday's Style Battle hosted by Spotlight616 at Activesite is a good barometer of this phenomenal transformation. The independent boutique retailers of the city are not content with just opening their doors to customers. In fact, these local retailers are at the forefront of fashion and events in the city. From Fashion's Night Out, to Fashion