CHI, The Spa at Shangri-la.

If you read the previous blog entry to this one, you will see that Jul B. Dizon Jewellery has tied up with CHI, The Spa at Shangri-la to celebrate Chinese New Year with you, our valued clients.

You might be wondering, if you have never been to CHI, why we decided to join with this particular spa. Well, not only is it conveniently located in the same hotel but I have to tell you, even insist that based on experience, it is truly a magnificent, breathtaking and oh so relaxing spa I have ever been to. The service, ambiance, the scent, music and all of the things involved in making one relax, CHI took it to a higher level.

Of course it is not cheap. It is indeed quite expensive but we are talking our bodies here. The "Temple of God", which is why I am so often called a Goddess. (BWA HA HA HA!)

Okay, seriously, let the photos speak for itself. ENTER.....















My favorite room, of course, would have to be the Couple's room. They have an outdoor jacuzzi filled to the brim with rose petals and a view of the stars above. Sigh...I am such a romantic.


So after seeing this, wouldn't you want to experience CHI yourself? To be able to have a massage that will make you forget your own name? Of course you do.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, Jul B. Dizon Jewellery offers you to a complimentary CHI spa treatment for purchases of P50,000 and up. It's our way to share with you the start of the New Year with a more relaxed body and focused mind while draped in Jul B. Dizon Jewellery.

It's good to be a woman.

Jewellery and Spa, Every Woman's BFF!

See you at Cicou!

Celebrating Month-saries are often perceived to be corny, but to me, I feel that it is the best way to keep a relationship alive and romantic. Even if a couple have passed the one year mark, I would find it incredibly sweet if Cheffie would continue to treat each month as something worth celebrating. (hint hint) To all you ladies out there who think that it is a useless date to celebrate, prepare to be envious. And to the men who happen to be reading this, if you love your honey, no matter how corny she thinks it may be, a simple dinner to acknowledge your monthsary will be appreciated in the long run if not immediately.

Last night was our 7th. We decided to try out the newly opened Cicou (pronouced as SEE-SUE). It has been two months since they opened their doors and already the buzz about the good food is inching its way to the food lovers grape vine.

Cicou is a French restaurant. It is located where I grew up. No not Quezon City, but where Faces and Mars used to be. Yeah, those were the days when my friends and I would hit the disco every weekend, get on the ledge and dance to the music of Break Out by Swing Out Sister and Harvest for the World by The Isley Brothers. Cicou is inside a boutique hotel called Hotel Celeste along Jupiter in Makati Avenue. (More on the hotel later)

Anyway getting back to the dinner...

The place is cozy. I liked the lighting and the furniture. The staff were super friendly and was able to give us answers to our inquiries about their menu. The front manager asked if we were celebrating anything as he brought us to our table. I proudly informed him of this special date and he walked away with a smile.



I ordered the roasted lamb fillet coated with herbs and ravioli.



Cheffie had the chicken breast stuffed with walnut butter and bourdin sausages.



Appetizer was Wagyu terrine. It's not really a favorite of mine since I don't particularly like cold steak but Cheffie liked it so it must be good.



Our orders arrived and boy was I happy about the lamb! It was so flavorful, juicy and so tender that it seemed to melt in my mouth. Cheffie's chicken was also divine but I still preferred my lamb. The side dishes on its own was wonderful and our plates were clean enough that it need not to be washed.

Best part is of course, the dessert. While waiting for our Apple Tatin and Chocolate Ganache and Caramel Chocolate, the chef sent over complimentary bite size dessert samplers. No photo of that because it was gone in seconds.



When the sweet goodies arrived, we were surprised to have 3 plates on our table instead of 2. How kind of Chef Cyrille Soenen to have sent us a complimentary dessert to mark our monthsary.


All in all, it was a dinner worth blogging not because of our 7th month together but because we celebrated it in a lovely restaurant with great food and romantic ambiance.

Our compliments to Chef Cyrille Soenen for a magnificent dining experience.


Restaurant Cicou
Hotel Celeste, 2 San Lorenzo Drive
Makati, Metro Manila
Reservations - (632) 8896728
email- restaurant_cicou@yahoo.com

Golden Globe Stackers.

As I was going through some photos of celebrities and their jewelry during the Golden Globe, I realized that a lot of them stacked their bracelets on top of one another. This usually creates an illusion of a wide cuff but in a playful way since the bracelets are moving more freely than a cuff. I usually like this idea but only when it is daywear. White t-shirt, jeans, nice shoes and stacked up bracelets. But personally, I would rather wear one bangle that is wide, solid and oh so studded with diamonds.

Here's what I mean about the stackables.







And here's what I mean about one magnificent bangle.



If YOU were invited to the Golden Globe Awards and will be seated next to the likes of Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, what dress would you wear and what jewellery?

I shudder to think of the pressure that would have on me. Bwa ha ha ha!

Jewellery at Golden Globe Awards 2009

This is the only reason I watch this show. Every year, the Hollywood Hotties try to outdo each other by the dresses, bags, shoes and jewellery that they wear. This year, I saw great looking pieces but I am disappointed when some stars dress down in the bling bling department.

My favorite is this turquoise necklace that Eva Mendez wore. OOOOHH, I love it to pieces!




The next one on my fave list is this super brilliant, 3 row diamond necklace on Elizabeth Banks. Sigh..... But, I am not really liking her hair. But she's sweet, I guess. I think her necklace is too VAVAVAVOOM for her total sweet 16 look.




I am really bothered by the wrinkles on the side of Christina Applegate's eyes but with a necklace like this.....also, check out the fancy colored yellow diamond earrings. Super!




I think these earrings are stunning but too heavy. Kate Beckinsale must have had a headache after an hour of wearing it. I also think that it would have been much better if they were rubies instead of garnet. But she carried it well. Love her dress.



Even if it brought your eyes automatically on Beyonce's neck, this Lorraine Schwartz piece was more "WOW. look at all those diamonds" rather than, "HOLY MOLY, check out the intricacy of that work!" But nevertheless, it still breathtaking.

Floral Coral Power!

Precious coral or red coral is the common name given to Corallium rubrum and several related species of marine coral. The distinguishing characteristic of precious corals is their durable and intensely colored red or pink skeleton, which is used for making jewelry.

The hard skeleton of red coral branches is naturally matte, but can be polished to a glassy shine. It exhibits a range of warm reddish pink colors from pale pink to deep red; the word coral is also used to name such colors. Owing to its intense and permanent coloration and glossiness, precious coral skeletons have been harvested since antiquity for decorative use. Coral jewelry has been found in ancient Egyptian and prehistoric European burials, and continues to be made to the present day.

Red corals grow on rocky seabottom with low sedimentation, typically in dark environments--either in the depths or in dark caverns or crevices. The original species, rubrum, is found mainly in the Mediterranean Sea. It grows at depths from 10 to 300 m, although the shallower of these habitats have been largely depleted by harvesting. In the underwater caves of Alghero, Sardinia (the "Coral Riviera") it grows at the depth of 4 m. The same species is also found at Atlantic sites near the Strait of Gibraltar and at the Cape Verde Islands. Other Corallium species are native to the western Pacific, notably around Japan and Taiwan; these occur at depths of 350 to 1500 m in areas with strong currents.

Coral, if you are a Jul B. Dizon Jewellery fan, is a favorite material that we work with. Here are some of the pieces that my sisters and I have recently designed and brothers created. A lot of the items here are sold or are orders but please feel free to drop by our branches in Peninsula and EDSA Shangri-la to have your own oceanic wonder.





















Thanks to Wikipedia for the information about Coral.