PINK surf board is an all-time fave.
A true child of the ocean, actress Mara Lopez collects swimsuits and surf boards.
After all, she is named after the sea.
Mom is beauty queen Maria Isabel Lopez and dad is Japanese surfer-photographer Hiroshi Yokohama.
“My dad’s surname means ‘by the ocean’ in Nihongo,” she explained.
No wonder she’s inexplicably drawn to the sea.
“In my free time, I go to the beach: Siargao (Surigao del Norte), Baler (Quezon) and San Juan (La Union).”
Mara’s father introduced her to aqua sports at an early age and has been hooked since then.
These days, she’s also into land-bound activities like snowboarding, skateboarding and … shopping.
SANDUGO bag for surf trips
Whenever she goes out of town on surfing trips, she inevitably heads to the local ukay-ukay (bargain bin) stalls.
These days, she’s expected to build up her wardrobe, since she’s now a full-time, working actress.
Mara won best actress for Ato Bautista’s “Palitan” at the Cinema One Originals fest held last December. “I didn’t expect to win since I was up against veteran actresses,” she owned up.
She was also in the cast of another Cinema One entry, Maribel Legarda’s “Melodrama Negra.”
SHE SPENDS lot of time working on photographs on her laptop
“I got to play two different characters in the same festival.” In “Palitan,” she portrayed an enigmatic heroine. In “Melodrama Negra,” she tackled a supporting role as a nasty kidnap victim.
This July, she shares the screen with hunk du jour Paulo Avelino in Alvin B. Yapan’s indie drama “Debosyon,” an entry in the Cinemalaya fest. It’s her first time to join the festival.
She easily hit it off with Paulo. “We learn a lot from each other.”
“In previous years, I attended the fest to support my mom’s films, but it’s my time now,” she enthused.
Good buys
Mara stumbled on a “steal” in an ukay-ukay in Baler, Quezon.
She bought the pink tube dress she wore in this Living Stars shoot for P30. “The tag said Maria Bianca Nero. I later Googled the label and found out it’s by a Los Angeles-based fashion
designer.”
She also frequents Divisoria for fashion finds.
“When we go abroad, I check out thrift shops, bazaars and flea markets.”
She summed up her fashion style as “sporty glam.”
Vintage bags
She’s a proud owner of vintage totes.
WITH beagle Sparky, Mara wears an ukay-ukay dress.
She also keeps an old Louis Vuitton makeup kit, along with a Prada purse, Coach tote and Sandugo bag, in her closet.
“I don’t have to spend on designer bags because of the wonderful hand-me-downs from my beauty queen-mom.”
But for beach outings, a trusty knapsack would do.
Simple accessories
She’s not so keen on wearing bangles and beads.
“But when I attend show biz events, I have to wear earrings. I only learned to accessorize after joining (the GMA 7 reality show) ‘Survivor Philippines’ last year.”
Good thing she can always turn to mom and borrow from an extensive collection of accessories.
“But my mom and I have opposite tastes. She’s into animal prints, while I prefer plain, simple accessories.”
Mom showed off a pair of tiger-print earrings that she got in Divisoria “for only P25.”
WITH mom on the “Survivor” calendar
She trained Mara to be a frugal shopper.
Feminine watches
She has also started wearing more feminine watches.
She prefers timepieces by Gucci and Cartier.
Again, she raids mom’s watch collection. For daily wear, she puts on an antique Gucci that mom gave her last Christmas.
“But when I go on my surfing expeditions, I wear a white G-Shock Protector that provides information on moon phases and tides. It’s a surfer’s watch.”
SHE HAD to learn how to wear Syrup stilettos.
Shoe collection
Wearing stilettos takes a lot of getting used to, she confessed.
“I only started wearing heels last year,” she owned up.
Now she’s familiar with names like Charles & Keith and Syrup.
A favorite sneakers brand is DC. “I also like rubber shoes by Nike and Converse and Merrell hiking shoes. For stilettos, I prefer Aldo, Steve Madden and Christian Louboutin.”
Swimsuit styles
She described her swimsuit style as “no-frills, no-fuss.”
“I prefer designs that are fierce. In terms of colors, I’m into pastels.”
A fave label is Rip Curl, but she isn’t really brand-conscious. “For as long as it looks good on me, I’d buy it.”
She offers bikini-shopping tips to other girls. “It’s not about the swimsuit’s style, but it’s about how the swimsuit looks on your body. Pick something that will emphasize your best features.”
She owns 12 surf boards which hang in the garage.
Surfboard collection
She owns at least 12 surfboards.
“Most of our surfboards are vintage: Velzy and Phil Edwards shaped boards. Last year, my dad made some surfboards from old boxes. They’re environment-friendly.”
An all-time fave is her first surfboard. “It’s pink and I won it in my first surfing competition, the La Union Surfing Festival Women’s Long Board Open.”
She was only 11 then. “I competed with women twice my age since there was no category for children.”
Gadgets
She is also into photography, taking snapshots of the beach on lazy weekends.
Photography is a passion that she inherited from her father. “He worked as a professional photographer in Japan and won awards in the 1990s.”
Dad passed on some of his “old camera equipment” to Mara. “When we surf, my dad and I use a Sony TX10S. It’s water-proof.”
Even her iPhone is water-proof.
Perfect for a girl-on-the-go like Mara.
For serious shoots, she relies on a Fuji Film Instax 210 camera and “an old D80 SLR with a really huge 800mm lens.”
GUCCI watch is mom’s gift.
For the shoot of “Debosyon” in Albay, she had a field day snapping up pics of the place.
“I got beautiful pictures in Bicol,” she recalled.
She’s often in front of her laptop, tinkering with her photographs.
She loves taking photos of animals and flowers—“anything colorful and full of life.”
Fave books
“My room looks like a library,” she quipped.
Although she’s a huge “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” fan, she also follows the works of Chuck Palahniuk (“Fight Club”) and Ayn Rand (“The Fountainhead”).
“But I prefer magical stories,” she said.
A favorite is JRR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”
She also started downloading her fave TV series on her laptop. “Like ‘Dexter’ and ‘Breaking Bad.’ Paulo and I kept talking about the movies and TV shows we love on the set of ‘Debosyon.’”