Yosi Samra x MFO Giveaway Winners: Batch 1

I have travel on my mind, mostly because it has been months since we had our family vacation. So it was with much glee that I went through all the comments, reading about your dream destinations. I felt like I was right there in Japan one minute, then Morocco, then Fiji next.

I want to thank everyone who joined the giveaway because reading your entries not only transported me to your dream locations. The best ones inspired me to add your destinations to my own list, and made me feel that if I closed my eyes and imagined hard enough, I am seeing the place right that very moment. 

It was difficult to choose, I wish I had 100 pairs to give away, but my list had to be whittled down to 4. Here are the first batch of winners, winners 1 and 2: 

Pia Panganiban: Florence, Italy 

This excited traveler has been dreaming of a trip to Firenze, or Florence, Italy. 

I would don my Yosi Samras and head straight to the city’s tallest structure, il Duomo or the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. I would admire its intricate façade of pink, green and white marble, including the Campanile with bas-reliefs by Pisano. I would enter its great doors and in keeping with my personal travel tradition, pray and say thanks for another great adventure. I would roam this immense structure starting from the ruins of Santa Reparata Church down in the crypt. Then I would climb the more than 400 steps to Brunelleschi’s famed dome, and from there step out to catch my breath and have it swept away again by the magnificent views of the city. 

Just outside il Duomo is the Baptistry where famous Florentines including Dante were baptized. I hope I don’t get a stiff neck from viewing the colorful mosaics of the Last Judgment adorning the ceiling! 

A visit to Florence would not be complete without immersing oneself in the plethora of masterpieces that the city is known for. I would love to see the treasures in the Uffizi, including Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, Michelangelo’s The Holy Family, and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Annunciation, to name a few. 

It is said that there are only three “shopping bridges” left in the world, where you can walk across each of them and marvel at the quaint stores that have lined these bridges for many years. I have been fortunate enough to visit two of the three: the Pulteney Bridge in Bath and the Ponte di Rialto in Venice. To complete this unique bucket list, and to round off my amazing visit to Florence, it would be absolutely amazing for my Yosi Samras and I to walk across the famed Ponte Vecchio and admire the work of local artists and jewelers, and perhaps pick up an interesting souvenir from this truly Renaissance city. 

Jenny Reyes: Poseidon Sea Resort in Fiji 

My dream destination is the Poseidon Underwater Resort. The first of the chains was supposed to open on Fiji Island in 2008, however it is still reportedly "under construction". 

I love the concept of an underwater hotel. Prior to motherhood, one of my passions was scuba diving, and my husband and I would travel the different parts of the world looking for the best diving destination sites. Fiji was on the list. 

But imagine, diving with the beauty of the ocean during the day, and still being able to SLEEP with the water and the fish around you at night! There's so much one can see and love and enjoy in the underwater world, I don't think I'd ever get tired of it! 

And now that I have kids (and I don't dive anymore), I'd love to take my kids here too. It's the perfect way to take them into this other world that we may never get to "see" together in this lifetime. Does that make me a fish-wannabe? ;) 

Congratulations Pia & Jenny! Thank you for your very compelling stories! Pia, I loved that trivia about the shopping bridge. Jenny, I did not even know such a place is being developed. I am sure it will be equal parts amazing and fascinating. I will be in touch with you via email on how you may claim your prize! 

* FYI, winners who are Metro Manila residents may claim their pair at their nearest Yosi Samra outlet. Winners who are not residents of Metro Manila will have to advise us of your size, preferred style and address so the Yosi Samra/Nuffnang representative can send your shoes. 

Please wait for my email so the Yosi Samra/Nuffnang representative can coordinate with us accordingly.