Iris Dominique Dy save the date shoot.

Outfits from Forever21

HMUA - Kimberly Dy and Alexandra Dy

Photography - Mikko Mahinay

Special thanks to Chingkee Te and her adorable Mom and of course, Gillian Liboon for the extra, well-needed hand :)

If I had one chance to 
In my life again 
I wouldn’t make no changes 

And nothing’s ever perfect 
There’s no guarantee 
And if I knew the answers 
It would put my mind at ease

The way I’ve gone so far 
And maybe I’ll end up 
Tryin’ to catch a fallin star

We live in the real world, I’m just a real girl 
I know exactly where I stand 

More Behind the scenes photos from what’s coming soon.

(Screenshots from videos taken from my mobile)

CGY is going to highlight every issue a featured designer and featured photographer and we had to choose the nicest designer in Cagayan de Oro city, Sir Benjie Manuel and the most down to earth yet in-demand photographer, Dustein Sibug, to be on our first issue! Isn’t that amazing? Thank you for having some spare time to do a shoot for us and sit down for a few minutes to do the interview. Just evidence on how both really support every new idea and young talent. 

Another BTS

This time from my camera. Wednesday was a very gloomy day in Cagayan de Oro city. A typhoon locally named as “Butsoy” was about to hit the Philippines so the weather was perfect for getting cozy with your blankets. But I couldn’t afford to waste any time since I had to shoot our first issue’s “great food find” and “upcoming talent/business” features respectively. Woke up at 8 am despite the drowsy weather, pick the ever amazing hair & make-up artist Ryan up from his place and hit the brakes to Xavier Estates where we had to shoot Aileen Lee and her blossoming pastry business and rising interior designer to many clients, Ayen Chiong. I didn’t let Ryan bring his make-up kit to the shoot since I knew Shekinah (Aileen’s younger sister) has her own army of make-up that would rival his. LoL. 

Ryan tried on one of Ayen’s infamous high heels. You can tell from the next photo why I told Ayen her shoe closet is “every tranny’s dream come true.”

Zoe was unable to come along because of the heavy rain earlier that day. The path from his house to the main road got damaged. Which is okay since we had Victor around to keep us laughing. 

Cutie Karleen! Awww. She was such a doll in person! Last time I shot Karleen was when she was still inside Aileen’s tummy. 

That’s it for now. I have one more editorial assigned to finish, but there are several mode editorials than just all this. I feel tired, crazy and about to lose my nuts but it’s really the kind of stress that I love. If you’d like us to feature you or someone you know, please do give us an e-mail at CGYemag@gmail.com!:-)

‘Til next time, cheers! Xx

06.05.2012. 

I reckon most of you have all read the idea that burst into my brain a few weeks ago. That idea called CGY, or Collective Group for the Youth. The idea of an online magazine to promote Cagayan de Oro city as more than just white river rafting, pastel and other probinsya stereotyping that usually people in metropolitan areas think of when they hear Cagayan de Oro. To also redefine who, where and what is already known and to discover and polish those have the most potential but never had the chance to speak up or be seen. Breaking barriers and putting a more in depth view of how Cagayan de Oro city is seen by other areas even by it’s own citizens.

And today, we had our first ever meeting! It took me several nights, a dozen cigarettes and a throbbing headache to appoint people to certain positions and I picked the people who just didn’t excel in their own field but more importantly I knew these people would get along with everybody. After all, it’s not just pure talent but it’s 25% hardwork and 25% attitude too.

We’re still having ongoing applications for contributors, which you may e-mail us at CGYemag@gmail.com for more inquiries, but as of now I assembled the people I know who can really help in making things materialize.

Many thanks to Starbucks CDO for the free tiny brownie drinks!

So who’s who? 

Zoe Botwin, Victor Alvarez and Stephanie Sol! Inyaki Yusson and Ryan Sy are included as one of the founding members (chos!) but the two were unable to attend the meeting. 

I originally typed in something really long but I just deleted it all trying to be all less cheesy and to avoid any spoilers. LOL. But one things for sure, thank God at the very last minute we finally decided on what’s inside the 1st issue, the cover, location and even managed to pull out clothes all the 11th hour. Whew!

Moving forward, many thanks to Sir Mark and Mags boutique for the sponsorship for the clothes! They let us pick everything we needed, even some jewelry that was quite pricey!

Mags is one of the local boutiques in Cagayan de Oro city that started off small and now is making waves. I recall the days when Mags was just a small boutique starting off at the (then) newly opened wing at the Lim Ket Kai mall a few years ago. It became a hit with their clothes perfect for fancy events or parties and most importantly their eclectic selection of bags! I recall being one of those who went insane at their lovely bags!

Fast forward to today and Mags is one of Cagayan de Oro city’s leading hometown boutiques. They originally wowed Kagay-anons that they got Rica Peralejo as endorser at first but they definitely blew people’s socks away that they got THE Cristine Reyes as the latest endorser. Not only that, they have several other branches at SM Cebu„ SM Iloilo, the Maze Boutique inside Ayala Center Cebu, SM North EDSA, SM Fairview, SM San Fernando (Pampanga) and SM Davao. Truly something to be proud of!

Now that’s Sir Mark who allowed us to pull out all the clothes. Many thanks!

So up until next time, cheers! Xx