From a new cocktail menu to exciting store openings and shopping experiences, here’s the latest in lifestyle from June to August 2024.
The past few months have certainly been eventful ones. Brands opened new stores, launched new products, and even introduced delicious new adventures for foodies. With so much happening, there is a lot to explore for those who are always in search of what’s new.
From home living to dining, here is the latest in all things lifestyle that you should definitely check out.
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MUJI Opens Its Seventh Store at Uptown Mall
Japanese brand MUJI has long been a staple in the lives of people who value high functionality and stylish minimalism. Whether you are searching for stationery supplies, organizational storage solutions, travel essentials, or bedroom basics, the brand has continued to expand its offerings over the years, becoming a one-stop shop for everyday needs.
Recently, MUJI opened its seventh store in Uptown Mall, Taguig, which also happens to be one of its largest. With wide tracks, high ceilings, and the simple yet appealing interiors that have earned the brand its renown, the store boasts a beautiful design with local materials such as bricks and Philippine Reclaimed Wood.
The MUJI Experience
Also inside the new store is MUJI’s beloved Coffee Counter. Bigger and better than ever, it serves delectable rice meals and drinks. Its newest soft serve ice cream uses Holstein milk from Hokkaido, Japan. Recently, the brand also brought in a variety of food items like seven kinds of curry, miso soup for rice, and mini kimchi ramen noodles.
Customers can also find the popular Embroidery Service inside the new store. Here, they can customize their MUJI products just the way they like it. There is plenty to choose from, with over 200 designs, including cute animals, letterings, and nature iconography.
Sustainable Living
A tour of the new store reveals well-curated, highly organized sections under different categories, from furniture to clothes to luggage. Yet beyond quality living, MUJI also centers its shopping experience on sustainable practices. Customers can purchase crockery and cutlery per piece, rather than as a whole set. This gives them the option to get only exactly what they need. There is an entire section dedicated to vibrant indoor plants from local planters. The foliage not only spruces up the home, but also provides better air quality.
Around the world, MUJI’s initiatives support its ambitions to create positive change across three key areas. Namely, environment, products & packaging, and community. They discourage single-use plastic and in the spirit of reducing waste and conserving resources. The brand also encourages all customers to bring their own bags, rewarding them with a two percent discount when they do.
Living Innovations Opens Its Premier Experience Hub
Living Innovations, a trusted purveyor of high-end European furnishings, appliances, and kitchen solutions, recently opened its new Living Innovations Experience Hub at the heart of Mandaluyong.
The spacious hub brings together the company’s distinguished portfolio of luxury home brands under one roof. This includes an exclusive trove of products, many of which Living Innovations has not displayed before due to limited space and infrastructure. Now, the company has endeavored to give them their time in the spotlight.
These world-renowned home solutions, each a loyal partner of Living Innovations over the years, showcase the pinnacle of luxury and design that the company has long represented.
Your Home, The Way you Want It
More than just a meeting point, the Living Innovations Experience Hub is a place for clients to explore realistic mock-ups of various design options. This will help them visualize and refine their choices with confidence. It also lets them select their ideal pieces from brands like Casamilano, Gallotti & Radice, Tacchini, Knoll, Lema, Gandiablasco, and Dedon.
A highlight of the Hub is the double-height central space with a six-meter ceiling. It simulates a magnificent living room for customers to envision and fully appreciate the grandeur of their future homes at scale. Additionally, a dedicated wing with 3.5-meter ceilings provides a cozy setting for showcasing bedroom ensembles, delivering a truly comprehensive experience.
Innovative Processes
With a diverse selection of premium brands under its roof, the expansive showroom is equipped to facilitate the creative process. Recognizing the need for dynamic and interactive spaces, its modern meeting areas feature mobile screens, digital whiteboards, and projectors. This enables seamless collaboration and real-time design adjustments.
Such tools eliminate the guesswork that often happens during traditional consultations, empowering clients to be active participants in the process. With the tap of a finger, a homemaker who is planning their dream kitchen, for instance, may explore different finishes and instantly see how the space transforms.
As Ferdinand Ong, general manager of Living Innovations, puts it: “We are a multi-brand destination for all your home lifestyle needs; we provide both the products and the service to our customers. Our ultimate goal is to provide customers with everything that they could possibly need to create a beautiful home.”
The Whisky Library Serves A New Artistic Cocktail Menu
The Whisky Library at Newport World Resorts, a haven of luxury within the heart of the bustling metropolis, celebrates its first anniversary with the launch of a brand-new collection. The new cocktail menu features a curated list of concoctions, each inspired by a famous work of art.
“True to the spirit of The Whisky Library, pun intended, we want the new menu to read like an actual book. It is hefty, we really had fun coming up with the drinks we think everyone can enjoy,” shares Newport World Resorts chief marketing officer David Jorden.
Drinks For Everyone
The new menu replaces The Whisky Library’s Volume 1 menu, which featured beverages inspired by famous movies and movie stars.
Volume 2 takes customers to the vivid world of art. Its menu features gorgeous artist renditions of famous paintings, as well as illustrations of their respective cocktails. Staying true to its name, The Whisky Library presents a selection that is as extensive as its impressive collection of fine whisky, whiskeys, and liquors of global origins. It lists a total of 25 signature cocktails and four mocktails across seven chapters. These are Tropical & Lively, Soft Sour & Spice, Bright & Refreshing, Decadent & Indulgent, Bold & Adventurous, Shared & Experienced Together, and Flavorful & Non-Alcoholic.
“For this edition, we separated the menu into different chapters, each representing a different flavor profile of cocktails. That way, everyone is encouraged to explore and discover new favorites, new flavors, new experiences with every visit,” Jorden adds.
Masterpiece Cocktails
Members of the media got a chance to try the new cocktails on their launch, alongside a special menu of The Whisky Library’s delightful food items. These include its Lobster Hot and Cold [nachos, tortilla, guacamole, tomato jalapeño salsa, and thermidor]; USDA Beef Cheek and Truffle Macchiato [with mashed potato, scamorza fondue, and pancetta powder]; and 48 Months Iberico Ham.
There is truly a drink for everyone in the new menu, whether one enjoys their cocktails sweet, floral, or fruity. For those who enjoy dessert cocktails, try the Whisky Romance (inspired by Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”), which serves coffee-chocolate goodness through salted caramel vodka, toffee nut espresso, vanilla gelato, Davao dark chocolate, and with your choice of whisky. Colonial Farmer (inspired by Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”), on the other hand, offers a refreshing reprieve with peach, honey, lemon, mint, and your choice of bourbon whisky.
Rustan’s Launches Month-Long Spanish Festival “Casa Española”
Guests were transported to the heart of Spain as Rustan’s unveiled its month-long culinary celebration, Casa Española. This year, it celebrated the fire and flavors of Spain with a lineup of food and beverage tastings, homeware displays, and interactive demos showcasing premium Spanish food and home brands. The celebration promises to inspire home aesthetics and tantalize the taste buds with a Spanish flair from July 30 to August 31, 2024 at the Rustan’s Makati Home Expansion Area’s fourth floor.
A Gastronomic Adventure
Casa Española’s stations invite guests to partake in gourmet tapas and wines. There are also live Jamon Carving demonstrations, all set to the sights and sounds of a cozy Spanish home.
Visitors can explore several tapas stations featuring samples from a mouthwatering lineup of gourmet Spanish food brands. Try the cream cheese dumplings from Quescrem, creamy patè from Hígado de Bacalao, delectable biscuits from Dona Jimena, salty anchovies from Arroyabe, premium olives from La Española, various jams from Cortijo, sweet fig chocolates from Valochero, and different Argentinian and Italian wines from Boca Juan, to name just a few.
Other featured brands are Ibericamete Jamon, providers of authentic Iberican jamon and suckling pigs; Que Rica Croquetas, makers of handmade croquettes; Cortijode Sartanejas, makers of high-quality Spanish sauces; Naturel, providers of sustainable olive oil; and Ubago, makers of luxury Spanish canned seafood, among others.
Completing this adventure is a cheese and deli station, as well as a limited-edition Spanish menu by Chef Him Uy De Baron from East Cafe, available until August 31, 2024. Here, guests can sink their teeth into treats like Crispy Croquetas Ricas; garlicky Gambas with Angulas [baby eels or elvers]; sweet-salty pintxos [a type of small snack] of goat cheese, fig jam, and bacon; and Basque Cheesecake.
Homes with Spanish Flair
Casa Española will also showcase a curation of premium Spanish home and kitchenware brands to inspire visiting homemakers. These include Garcima, a leader in authentic, Spanish paella pans. The Valencia-based brand also offers its signature gas burners, which specialize in paella cooking.
When it comes to elegant ceramic cookware, pottery artisan Graupera is unmatched. Its pieces—which blend age-old techniques and modern designs—are perfect for slow-cooking.
For contemporary kitchens, enter Nerthus. This Castilian cookware brand spotlights innovative solutions that are practical and sleek. From wine accessories to intuitive kitchen gadgets, Nerthus helps simplify the culinary experience. Meanwhile, Lacor brings professional-grade kitchenware to pro chefs and home cooks. Signature products include its durable, high-performing stainless steel cookware and pressure cookers.
Eco-conscious homemakers will love Vidrios San Miguel. The handcrafted glassware brand is synonymous with sustainability and elegance. Made with recycled materials, its bottles, glasses, and jars add chicness to any home.
There is also Jata; this Spanish brand embraces dining as a social event, and offers products that let you cook at the table surrounded by your loved ones. Many know it for its compact electric grills that let users bring the joy of grilling indoors.
Lladró Introduces Its Newest Limited-Edition Porcelain Collections
Spanish porcelain brand, Lladró, has garnered international acclaim for its craftsmanship and artistic excellence. Only one factory in the world creates its pieces: located in Valencia, Spain, its team of sculptors and artisans make each piece with utmost precision, age-old techniques, and unique color palettes that have come to define the brand.
When asked to describe the Lladró customer and collector, Roberto Marco Andreu, Lladró’s Sales Director of South Asia and Iberia shared that they are people with high sensibility, adding that they have an understanding of beauty and art. Andreu expressed his belief in the importance of the emotional connection between the collector and the art porcelain figurines.
Over the years, Lladro has embraced various popular culture and contemporary designs, which many can see through their limited-edition collections. Recently, it launched its newest collections featuring “Storm Trooper” (from the Star Wars franchise), “Batman,” and the latest, “The Guest.”
Capturing The Essence Of a Stormtrooper
Stormtroopers are one of the most iconic images from the Star Wars saga, as well as pop culture as a whole. Lladró has faithfully depicted them in minute detail on glazed white porcelain, with as black the main color for the decoration with some accents in gray tones. The piece comes with a base that features an identifying plaque and its edition number. This creation is part of a limited edition of 1,138 units.
The number 1138 holds special significance in the Star Wars universe as a reference to George Lucas’ first feature film, THX 1138. As such, the number has made subtle appearances in various elements of the Star Wars films and media.
Celebrating 85 Years of Batman
Lladró unveils its first interpretation of Batman to coincide with the legendary superhero’s 85th anniversary. Thanks to a collaboration agreement between Lladró and Warner Bros-Discovery Global Consumer Products, Gotham City’s mythical caped crusader—who made his debut in Detective Comics in 1939—is now available in the market in a limited edition of 500 units.
The work of sculptor Eva Cuerva, this version of Batman, handcrafted at the Lladró workshops in Valencia, recreates the famous superhero in intricate detail. Batman in black matte porcelain stands out with its precise sculptural techniques, and a combination of glazed and matte finishes in black with touches of golden luster. The piece captures the dynamism of the character, with his cape blowing in the wind as he perches on one of the iconic gargoyles of Gotham City’s roofs, poised to jump into action in the name of justice.
The Guest: Unexpected, Captivating, Unique
Can an artwork in porcelain have many faces, come from different countries, and express itself in varied iconographic languages? Can it be the work of a single artist and at the same time the sum of many? The answer is yes, and it is known as The Guest.
The Guest is Lladró’s most captivating character. Ever since its creation ten years ago by renowned designer Jaime Hayon, The Guest has been a blank canvas where many celebrated artists have told all kinds of stories. Since Hayon, the brand has tapped on other visionaries like Paul Smith, Tim Biskup, Devilrobots, and Gary Baseman to create irreverent yet distinguished sculptures worthy of becoming 21st-century icons.
Today these collaborations continue to demonstrate that tradition is open to experimentation and can take the most unexpected and conceptual paths.
Photos courtesy of MUJI, Living Innovations, Newport World Resorts, and Rustan’s (unless otherwise specified).
