Yesterday afternoon, I got in my car to head towards an event in Boni High with, I have to be honest, no clue of what to expect. When I received the email asking me to sign up for this event the other day, I had completed the form mechanically and simply reasoned that it came from one of the bloggers I respect. So, without really thinking of any possible agenda for Style Manila, I came simply as a blogger. A curious one at that. I believe most of the ones present shared the same curiosity anyway.

I can’t believe that I breezed through traffic, which I had relied on to cause me to NOT be on-time (LOL). I should have won a prize should they had one for early birds. I was THE early bird. I actually arrived with no registration table in sight. What a dork, eh? Hahaha! Anyway, I reckon everyone else were caught in the massively heavy traffic, southbound on both EDSA and C5, granted they’re coming from the North (duh). It’s payday weekend folks! You know what that means. Heh. Anyway, various bloggers have converged for the BB Gandanghari Blogger Meet and Greet at Mag:Net in Bonifacio High Street.

The event simply allowed Q&As between the bloggers and BB plus lots of photo opportunities and autograph-signing for some folks. BB did her best to connect with the group, which is something I appreciate.

With that said, I had allowed others to ask their questions and kept my niche-centric Qs to myself. I reckon it’d be nice to go to an event that’s somewhat unrelated to fashion or beauty. It was refreshing esp since it somehow felt that I just came off from watching an Oprah show. Know what I mean?

BUT I did pick something up from what BB Gandanghari had shared, which might interest you folks. Apart from telling you that she got the outfit she wore to the event at SoHo, she also shared bits from her personal Beauty Regimen.

Though not exactly a formal beauty regimen, BB believes that incorporating these things frequently, if not daily, into your daily routines may help keep you healthy and fresh looking thus ending up with less problems to work on:

• Fruits/Veggies for breakfast, i.e. Apple, Banana, Cucumber, Tomato, etc.
• Sleep early.
• Take time to pamper yourself, i.e. massages.

There’s this one other thing that BB Gandanghari suggests: Pray. She believes that this time spent talking to God is an avenue to unload the burdens you may have ended up carrying for God knows how long, causing stress. Relieve the stress and you will end up healthier in and out, skin and the rest of the body included.

Simple enough, yes? All are quite practical and highly useful, I believe.

Anyway, let me share more photos I took of BB Gandanghari during the meet and greet:

As much as I’d like to talk more about what BB Gandanghari is all about, I’ll save that for another day (in a separate post on a different blog perhaps, heh). Bloggers present were able to witness the person behind the force that’s pushing a certain kind of change which I think the Philippine society is big enough to accommodate considering the other things they’ve learned to accept which I consider much, MUCH worse. So, let us all lower the eyebrows (and noses LMAO) and drop the stones we’re all so willing to throw. I suggest that avoid passing judgments without looking at who the person really is, regardless of gender associations or names.

I’d like to thank Noemi Dado, who was the one I have to thank for emailing me the invite. With her is Dine Racoma, who was also responsible, along with The Philippine Online Chronicles, for making this meet and greet with BB Gandanghari at Mag:net possible. Both hosted the event.

Thanks to Sassy Mom for lending a hand in one of the photos featured above (2nd from top).

I’m glad to have met Christine and Richard of ThePOC.net and fellow bloggers Cookie, Chats, Julie, Salen and Mark (sorry, I’ve forgotten your blog URL if you manage to come across this post, please ping me so I can update! I also asked Kel via plurk.). And it’s always fantastic to see familiar faces like Ajay, Karla, Sonnie, Kel and the hosts. I’m glad I was able to go.

Leaving you with BB Gandanghari’s core message: “Be all that you can Be.”

Photo © 2009 Sasha Manuel