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Shilin Night Market in Taipei. Vast array of food, clothes, accessories. Wear comfortable shoes, you have hours of walking to do.

We zeroed in on the eyeglass frames. Yes we have lots of eyeglasses, but we wear them all the time, never contact lenses, so we have an excuse. These glasses were selling for 250 New Taiwan dollars apiece (Php375); we asked for a discount and got 3 for 200 TWD each (Total: Php900; we didn’t haggle hard).

Voila, our new glasses. We’re taking these frames to our optometrist (Nella Sarabia, UP Shopping Center) to have prescription lenses put in. (Chus, want to have lunch?)

Anyone can buy these glasses, but we’re actually going to wear them. We’re going to wear them, and people will ask if they’re custom-made because “They’re so you.” Hah!

If we ever get a super-villain identity we already have the accessories.

What are those on the floor of the truck? 2-year-old Philippine crocodiles, wrapped in soft netting. They were being transported by truck, raft and on foot to the lake in Dunoy where they were released back into the wild. Photo by Malu Francisco.

On May 19, Lacoste S.A. Chairman Michel Lacoste boarded a 6 x 6 truck in San Mariano, Isabela with a dozen 2-year-old crocodiles. The juvenile crocodiles belong to the severely endangered species Crocodylus mindorensis or Philippine crocodile (local name: bukarot). This small freshwater species found only in this country will become extinct in ten years if no conservation action is taken.

Read Crocs On A Truck in Emotional Weather Report, our column today in the Philippine Star.

Our previous post on tote bags made of vintage inabel fabric got a bit more attention than we’d expected. Thanks to your interest, Rene has been designing more tote bags out of the Iloko textiles he’s been hoarding collecting for many years. Here are some of the new bags out of old fabrics.

Vintage abel tote bag with lime green stripes, Php800. Sturdy, can carry computers and books.

Vintage abel tote bag—larger than the one we showed you a couple of weeks ago, Php700. Bonus attraction: For some reason the fabric appeals to cats, who like to rub their faces in it. Must be the texture. And the fact that it was a blanket.

Banderado tote bag with denim handles, Php1200. Could be a work bag, school bag, grocery bag. Also, unless you run into us, you’re not likely to see it being carried by other people.

Rene designed this nursing mom bag for the artist Pam Yan Santos who gave birth recently. It’s made of hardy inabel of course, with a pretty lining and many pockets for feeding bottles, cloths and whatnot. It’s called the Georgia O’Keefe (Php2,000).

Why is it called the Georgia O’Keefe? Because the interior (with the pockets open) looks like this.

To order these bags, contact Rene at rene.guatlo@gmail.com. There are only a few pieces per item, but if you’re not in a rush he can have more of them made.

We looked down at our feet and noticed we were wearing Dothraki-style shoes. (Or Winterfellian? Dornish? Qarthian?) These are espadrille-type shoes we bought on sale last year.

How Not To Be In An Airport Altercation, our column in InterAksyon.com.

Here is a tote bag made of vintage inabel fabric. It’s very sturdy: we lug our computer and books in it. Rene is selling these for Php600 each; you can order them at rene.guatlo@gmail.com. There are only three pieces left. (Update: There are none left, but he’ll take advance orders if you can wait a few weeks.)

Raymond was having merienda at a lomi restaurant in Badoc, Ilocos Norte when he spotted a roadside stall selling beaded bags. He tried to haggle but the seller was adamant: Php550. Well they are labor-intensive.

We are judged by the way we look, which is grossly unfair, but so are most aspects of our existence. Stupid social climbers will search your outfit for designer labels and, finding none, will judge you unworthy of their attention. Good riddance to them; you don’t need their acceptance and fake friendship. However, until everyone perfects their telepathic abilities, attentive strangers will form impressions of you based on what you’re wearing. They have little else to go on. So give fashion a little thought.

Think about The Avengers. Note how superheroes begin their world-saving careers with big fashion statements. Captain America’s unitard and shield declares that he stands for the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of the U.S.A (which his strapping constitution emulates). Iron Man’s armor proclaims him as a representative of the jillion-dollar American military-industrial complex, while Tony Stark’s Black Sabbath T-shirt expresses his disdain for authority. (Iron Man is a conflicted man-child, as Robert Downey Jr reminds us.)

Thor’s costume announces that he is a mythological deity, which he must be because ordinary mortals cannot get away with an outfit like that. Black Widow’s outfit, though, is generic hot girl, and Hawkeye’s costume seems to have been obtained from a Village People tribute band.

He still looks like Mark Ruffalo!

The Hulk’s fashion statement is the most dramatic. But he’s naked, you point out. Precisely: whenever The Hulk emerges he rips out of Dr. Banner’s clothes—a huge green mass of rage that no outward calm can conceal. Dr. Banner’s regular shirts and pants ARE the costume in which he hides his true self.

Read our column today in the Philippine Star.