Thy Womb

"Thy Womb", directed by Brillante Mendoza and starring the legendary Nora Aunor, already gained international acclaim before being showcased during the Metro Manila Filmfest. I had planned on watching it earlier but apparently, lack of moviegoers drove cinemas to pull it out of the theaters. Thankfully, a few cinemas in Metro Manila were still showing it so before its theatrical release officially ended, I headed over to Megamall to catch the last full show. To be honest, while I was fully expecting to see a well-made movie and appreciate its value, I wasn't really expecting to like it. I was wrong. I was truly blown away.

photo courtesy of wikipedia

Spoiler alert: please stop reading if you don't want to know how this movie turns out, especially since there's a pretty big moment towards the end that you may not want to know about.

Set in the beautiful islands of Tawi-Tawi, the film tells the story of a woman, Shaleha (played by Nora) who is unable to conceive a child. That she is a midwife who regularly helps other women give birth, and knowing that her husband, Bangas-an (played by Bembol Roco), has been wanting to have a child in the house, makes this situation even more difficult and painful for her. Because of her intense desire to make Bangas-an happy, Shaleha suggests that he find a second wife. It is in this journey to find a second partner that we get to see life through the eyes of Shaleha and understand and feel her struggle and how strong the bond is between her and her husband. They eventually find Mersila (played by Lovi Poe) who agrees to marry Bangas-an. However, on top of the very expensive dowry that Shaleha and Bangas-an had to raise, Mersila has one more condition for the marriage to happen: that Bangas-an leave Shaleha once Mersila bears him a child.

This "revelation", which happens in the last 10 minutes of the film, was so jarring that I was shaken up in the remainder of the movie. Especially because most of the film puts on display the difficulties and challenges that Shaleha and Bangas-an go through on a daily basis as well as in the journey they took to find a second wife. You could clearly see, understand and feel Shaleha's devotion and sacrifice to make her husband happy. So when you realize that all her efforts will result in her losing the one person in the world to whom she has given her whole life, it shocks, moves and even disturbs you.

That scene when Bangas-an tears up while assisting Shaleha in weaving a banig, and that other scene with Shaleha looking up at the moon at night with eyes that conveyed an understanding that she was soon to be alone, gave me goosebumps. Bembol Roco gives a stirring performance as Bangas-an (I feel cheated that he lost to Dingdong Dantes as best actor in the MMFF!) but there is no doubt this movie belongs to Nora.

The original superstar of Philippine cinema is an acting genius who has won dozens of acting awards both locally and internationally. Her uncanny ability to convey emotion and thoughts through her eyes are unparalleled. Those eyes were front and center in the last few scenes of the movie as they had very little dialogue, allowing audiences to see Nora at her glorious best. While the story and scenes are powerful already, Nora's brilliant performance takes the film to another level. It is haunting and it stays with you even after you leave the cinema.

I can understand though why this movie did not draw any crowds during its theatrical release here. It's not a feel-good film or one that features currently popular celebrities. It is also open-ended, resulting in audiences having lots of questions or making them wish that things happened differently. Also, it was shown during the Christmas season, a time when most people are more interested in watching things that cheer them up and make them happy. With movie tickets being quite expensive now (I can't believe it costs P210 to watch a movie in Megamall now!), people are more reluctant to spend, especially after watching 2-3 other entries in the Metro Manila Filmfest.

I can also understand how some - most? - can find the film dragging or too long. However, it was this detailed and "immersive" depiction of the lives of Shaleha and Bangas-an that allow audiences to connect deeply and emotionally with the lead characters, making that final "revelation" significantly more impactful and effective. The cinematography was spectacular and I now want to go to Tawi-Tawi and visit this village on stilts. The camera work, with a kind of shaky, rocking motion, made you feel like you were actually on the water or in a boat with the characters, making the viewing experience even more authentic. While I thought the film could have done without the specter of daily NPA threat (it's hard to tell whether this is accurate and realistic or if it is an exaggeration), it was in its documentary-like presentation that one gets a beautiful glimpse of Philippine Muslim culture in Tawi-Tawi and thus gains a better understanding and appreciation of a part of our country's heritage that we don't normally get to see and experience.

I hope this movie gets released on DVD soon so I can watch it again. It is now one of my favorite Filipino films of all time.

New washer-dryer

In theory, I could have just had my old washer-dryer repaired. It would've cost me a lot less for sure. However, my old one already broke down a couple of years ago. I also had this feeling that my clothes weren't being washed all that well anymore. So I decided to set aside some money to get a new one.

There were only a few washer-dryers in the Metro Manila market that dry clothes 100%. These were produced by Samsung, LG, and Electrolux. I ended up getting the Samsung WD0804 with it's Eco Bubble technology. Psychologically, seeing my clothes immersed in foamier water makes me more confident that they are being cleaned better. :) Here's a video on how Eco Bubble works:


video uploaded in youtube by samsungifa2010

Second, the price, along with the discounts and the freebie, made it the most economical choice for me. Anson's was selling it with a P15,000 discount and they were throwing a free 16 megapixel Samsung camera (which retails for about P6,000). Since I already have a camera, I ended up giving this one as a Christmas gift to my brother.

Thankfully, they were able to deliver my new washer-dryer the day after I bought it, and the installation was done the day after delivery. One additional benefit that I didn't realize with this new machine is that it is a whole lot more quiet than my old washer-dryer. It also has a Super Eco Wash option that allows me to wash clothes using less energy. Pretty cool! Hopefully this one lasts me as long, if not longer, than my previous one.

"When the war is over" by Cosima

I heard this song on a plane years ago and discovered that the singer, Cosima De Vito, was a contestant in the first-ever Australian Idol. Cosima was forced to withdraw during the top three week (so close to the finale!) because she developed a throat condition that prevented her from continuing. If she remained healthy, who knows if she, and not Guy Sebastian, would have been the first-ever Australian Idol and gained a lot more international fame. In any case, I am pleased to have stumbled upon this brilliant singer. Check out her amazing performance of "When the war is over":


video uploaded in youtube by stageaddiction 

With this song, Cosima became the first independent artist to debut in Australia at #1.

The Brunch Club

I don't know if it's an age thing when instead of meeting up with friends over dinner or drinks, you have brunch together. But over the holidays, I ended up meeting with the same set of friends twice for brunch in Serendra. Since I'm not a morning person, I actually ended up late on both occasions. But at least my friends knew in advance that I would just be catching up so no issue. I think. :)

The first time was in mid-December, right before some people would leave for the province. I met up with Che, Me-Ann, Joh, Raffa, and Chris for breakfast in Chelsea. I honestly can't recall what I ordered haha but it had to have been at least decent because if I wasn't happy with it, I would remember. :) I guess I was more focused on chatting with my friends. Peegee passed by before we left to drop off his gifts for us.

The second time was two weeks later. Mike, Alvin and Doray were in town but they all missed our major Christmas celebration so this was our chance to at least see each other before everyone started flying back to the US or Singapore. Somehow, a whole lot of people were available to meet up mid-morning at Sentro. Also there were Joh, Raffa, Suzanne, Gi, Pau, Tim, Steph and Chris. I do remember ordering the corned beef breakfast here and I thought that it was so-so haha.

I told the folks that next time, we should meet at 9:30 PM instead. :) That's most likely not going to happen but I'm glad I was able to wake up early enough to make it (albeit late) to both get-togethers.

Desserts!

Big dessert fan that I am, I made sure that I got to try a lot of new desserts during the last Christmas season.

One place I visit regularly is Dulcelin. I've tried their Mango Torte multiple times before and I love it. Their Caramel Pecan Walnut Pie is also pretty good. So I decided to try a couple of their other desserts. First was the Strawberry Cake. This was one incredibly good dessert. The chiffon was light and the cream was the right amount of sweet which matched perfectly with the strawberries. There were crunchy bits in the cream in the middle of the cake; I'm not sure what they were but they added an additional textural element to this wonderful dessert. I got the large size (10 inch, P1,100) but they also have a smaller size (6 inch, P600). I will definitely be buying this cake again.

Dulcelin Strawberry Cake

I also tried the Dulcelin Callebaut Chocolate Ganache Cake (P1,300 for the 9-inch cake, P650 for the 6-inch one). This cake, made with Belgian chocolate icing on a chocolate mousse center and sprinkled with chopped almonds, is extremely rich. It tastes really good but you can only eat a few forkfuls at a time. I think the 6-inch one would actually be sufficient, although I think my family got through the 9-inch cake in a couple of days. :) (There are quite a few of us so it shouldn't be all that shocking.)

Dulcelin Callebaut Chocolate Ganache Cake

Dulcelin

Address: 36 Times Street, West Triangle, Q.C.
Tel: 374-2165 or 67
Mobile: 0917-535-2592

http://www.dulcelin.com/

I had major cupcake cravings for a large part of December, so while I was in the Midnight Bazaar in Rockwell, I got to try Kim's Cupcakes. While a lot of other cupcakes are priced in the P70-80 price range, these ones cost P50 (some variants were priced at P40). And they tasted pretty good. My favorite one is the Cookie Dough cupcake with its good-sized dollop of cookie dough inside. I decided to get a few boxes and give them as gifts to my relatives. Naturally some for myself too. :)

Kim's Cupcakes from left to right, top to bottom without repeating: Red Velvet, Chocolate Ganache, Tiramisu, Cookies and Cream, Cookie Dough, and Strawberry Cupcake.

Kim's Cupcakes

Mobile: 0917-835-8886

E-mail: kimijao@yahoo.com

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAboutCupcakes

My friend Bett, who recommended Dulcelin to me a while back, also told me about Delize at that same time. These two are known for their amazing desserts but the main difference is that Dulcelin has a lot of desserts that you can just buy on the spot whereas Delize requires you to order 2-3 days in advance. For this reason, it took me a while to finally place an order there. Now I realize I should have put a bit more effort into ordering dessert from Delize before as I have been missing out big-time! The Concorde (P920) is one of their most popular desserts so I tried that and it was absolutely superb! I'm not a baker or chef so I'm not sure exactly what it's made of, but the cake seems to be made of alternating layers of meringue and dark chocolate mousse. Decorated with chocolate meringue sticks thrown generously all over the cake and dusted with icing sugar, I can understand how the Concorde is one of their two bestsellers (the other being the Pistachio Sans Rival that I now have to try in the soonest possible time.)

The Concorde from Delize by Jill Sandique

Delize by Jill Sandique

Address: 33 Sunrise Drive, Cubao, Quezon City

Tel: 721-7022

Mobile: 0922-826-2673

One place I also need to try is Parvati in Trinoma. My friend Joyce told me about this restaurant which is supposed to carry a wide variety of some of the best desserts from different home-based bakers. I do think I need to start losing some of my Christmas weight first before I go there. :)

Starbucks planner

I just got my Starbucks planner. I decided to go green. I'm not sure how many Starbucks planners I have gotten already - I think I have gotten one every year since 2004. In the past though I would get a planner really quickly and in fact I'd get at least 2 since I was a daily Starbucks drinker. I've cut down on my Starbucks intake (mainly because a lot of other coffee places - including McDonald's! - have become just as accessible) so it takes me longer to get the required number of stickers now. I don't know how much of this new planner I will use. There are a couple of new free coupons though so I'll try to make sure I use as many of these coupons as possible. :)

Pangasinan Trip: Hundred Islands

I've been to the Hundred Islands only once before and that was when I was still a kid. So I was definitely looking forward to this return trip with Anne, Georg, and a few of Anne's other friends.

A few of the islands have been developed for tourists but Anne (and well practically everyone in our group) wanted to be away from the bustling crowds. As such we requested the boatmen to take us to a less popular and more secluded beach. I don't know the name of the island we went to but we initially were the only visitors there. (A few more visitors joined us shortly after but they didn't stay too long. Some time after they left, another group of people found their way on the same beach we were on and left again before we did. So there were moments during the day when we had the beach all to ourselves.)

Anne, being an environmental technologist, brought proper glasses and real dinnerware with us so that we wouldn't have any plastic or even paper trash with us. She also brought a grill as we would be cooking the food at the beach. Or well we wouldn't actually be cooking. :) Anne brought with her a couple of people who would prepare the food for us.

As our food was being grilled, we hit the beach. The sun was out and the water was really nice and warm and inviting. So much so that I got into the water immediately without putting any sunblock on my back. (I am now sporting a sunburn on my back. Ouch.) I sort of lost track of time, or rather didn't pay much attention to it, as it was truly the first time in weeks that I was able to be fairly relaxed. At some point I noticed everyone else converging around the grill, so I headed out of the water as I figured people were hungry and we were about to eat. We had some (lots of?) green mango and alamang while chatting, then lunch was served. And boy what a lunch it was!

Liempo, grilled bangus and kinilaw na bangus, shrimp, itlog na maalat with tomatoes and onions, more green mangoes and alamang, and a lot of rice. All laid out on banana leaves that served both as picnic blanket and serving tray. Needless to say that we all had our fill of the great food.

The downside of the swim was that there was at least one jellyfish in the water and I got stung three times. It wasn't too bad - it was more like an itch really - but I don't really recall the last time I was stung by a jellyfish so in some sick, masochistic way I actually welcomed this experience LOL. Towards the mid-afternoon, I decided to take a few more pictures. So I went over the island - granted, it was a pretty small one - and the views that greeted me on the other side were pretty awesome.

At around 4pm, we decided to call it day. We boarded the boats and headed back to the pier. There are toilets at the pier where you can take a shower for P10 although in my case I just got into clean clothes. We chatted a bit more before saying our goodbyes. After all, I still had a 5 hour drive ahead of me that night (Alaminos where you can find Hundred Islands National Park is 5 hours away from Manila; it takes another hour to get from Alaminos to Bolinao/Puerto Del Sol). It was definitely a long drive from Manila but the company, the food, and the Hundred Islands experience were all worth it. Anne and Georg said they would be in Manila for one night before they fly back to Austria so I may just get to meet up with them one more time before they go.

*****

I am also really pleased with the camera I got last year. The 16x zoom is working extremely well! I was able to get a lot of really good photos even from afar.

Pangasinan Trip: Puerto Del Sol

My friend Anne and her husband Georg are in the Philippines for the holidays but she decided to stay mostly in Pangasinan which is her hometown and where her family are living. Anne and Georg got married back in 2011 but work got in the way of me being able to join them for their special day. So when Anne asked me and some of her other friends if we could join her and Georg for a picnic in the Hundred Islands, I had to go to make up for missing their wedding.

The plan was for us to meet up at the pier at 1030 A.M. Since Pangasinan is about 5 hours away from Manila, I figured it would be better for me to just stay overnight somewhere near Alaminos the night before. That way, I wouldn't have to wake up too early. Anne suggested that I stay in Puerto Del Sol in Bolinao, which she said was the only decent resort in the general area. I had been there before and I thought it would be more convenient for me to stay in a place that I had stayed in before so I booked a room for one night.

My plan was to leave Manila early that day so I could check in around mid-afternoon. Also, I didn't have good directions to Puerto Del Sol because their website was down. The best instructions I could find online were not very specific, but I banked on the fact that I had driven there before (albeit a few years ago) and I could always stop and ask for directions. Thankfully, the instructions I got were good enough. However, as I left my house at 2pm and stopped a couple of times for a nature break and to get coffee, it was 8pm when I finally arrived (yes, a gruelling 6 hours of driving). I immediately went to the restaurant to have dinner. I was famished!

The downside of staying at Puerto Del Sol is that the TV has only three channels: ABS-CBN 2, TV5, AND GMA 7. There wasn't anything interesting to watch so I just read a book and listened to my ipod until I finally dozed off. But not before I took a photo of the pretty cool light fixture in my room. :)

By the time I woke, I only had time to have breakfast and take a few photos of the resort before driving back to Alaminos. I didn't have a chance to enjoy the beach...

...or the pool (although in my last trip to Puerto Del Sol, I did spend quite a bit of time in the water).

There are quite a few things to do in the area like go to the nearby lighthouse or visit the Enchanted cave. I also wanted to see and take photos of the Bolinao church but I didn't have time. I'm thinking of maybe visiting this place again, maybe with family or friends, and spending more time here not only to enjoy the resort but also have a more enriching experience in Bolinao.

Jack Johnson covers "Imagine"

I heard this a while back on Jam 88.3 and I think it's an absolutely beautiful cover of a great song. Check out Jack Johnson's rendition of the John Lennon classic "Imagine".


video uploaded in youtube by Musicobsessed999

Looking back at 2012

So I've been doing this every start of the year now for the last couple of years and it's a good tradition to keep. As such, here are some of my 2012 highlights:

TRAVEL

• I visited Batanes for the first time and I had an absolute blast. Check out my posts about Batanes (including Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and final thoughts and travel tips).
• I also took my family to Cebu and Bohol, although I failed to write about that! I'll do so within the next few weeks.
• I went to Singapore twice. Both of which involved some firsts. Trip #1 was the first time I flew out of the country mainly for shopping purposes. Trip # 2 was to attend my first-ever Malay Muslim wedding (and this was the first wedding I attended where neither the bride nor groom were Filipino).

SHOWS

Several high profile musical artists came to the Philippines, including Lady Gaga, J Lo, Maroon 5, Keane, The Fray, James Morrison, Sting, and Tears for Fears, but I didn't see any of their concerts. Instead, I saw Phantom of the Opera, four operas (La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, and Carmen), and the Cirque Du Soleil show Saltimbanco. Great shows all!

ONLINE DEALS
I have now purchased 248 deals from sites like Deal Grocer, Cashcashpinoy, Groupon Beeconomic, Metrodeal, and Ensogo. These purchases allowed me to discover and experience a few new things, such as:

• Photobooking - I have always wanted to created photobooks of my travels and because of online deals, I finally achieved this. I have now created 17 photobooks - 11 for myself, 3 I gave to my mom, and 3 I gave as gifts.
• New hotels - My family and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Ortigas a couple of times, once for my birthday and another for my nephew's birthday. My family and I also stayed at Widus Hotel in Clark, Pampanga. I also spent a night at the F1 Best Western hotel earlier in the year.
• Food - I got to try Shi Lin, Relish at Ponte, and Harvest Gastropub for the first time because of vouchers I bought for all these places. And while I have been to Old Swiss Inn many times before, my discount vouchers for fondue here allowed me and my family to try out and enjoy their Fondue Bourguignonne and Walliser Fondue for the first time.

WEDDINGS
I've mentioned the wedding of Ben and Laila, but I attended several more: Val and Louie, Allan and Cami, Audrey and Primo, Alvin and Doray, Chachie and JM, and Jim and Mira. My cousin Charmaine got married in Boracay so I missed the ceremony but I did attend their reception in Manila.

OTHERS
Aside from all these great experiences, I also won an HTC phone in a raffle. And just a few weeks ago, I also won a 1 Tb external hard drive! Talk about luck. Of course, not everything was positive. I also ended up being knocked out of commission for long periods of time due to a sprained ankle and then conjunctivitis. And while Liverpool are doing very poorly now, some of my favorites had pretty good success. Meryl Streep won her 3rd Oscar, Rafa Nadal won his 7th French Open title (before being out due to injury the rest of the year), and Adele won 6 Grammys.

Of course, a lot of what made this year great was being able to spend time with my family and friends. I also continued to work on and build our Corporate Social Responsibility organization at work. I've got a few things planned out already for the coming year that I am really looking forward to (I won't mention them yet as I don't want to jinx things). With my 2012 being a great year, I'm hoping 2013 can be just as good if not even better. :)

2013!

Happy new year, everyone! :)

2012 was a blast and I'm definitely looking forward to more amazing experiences in the coming year. As we wait for the year to unfold, check out the amazing fireworks display in Dubai.

 
video uploaded in youtube by SuwalefVideos

Way to go, Nonito!

Congratulations to Nonito Donaire for being proclaimed boxer/fighter of the year both by Sports Illustrated and ESPN. He won all four of his fights this year which clearly locks him in as the year's best boxer, but it's his attitude that puts him head and shoulders above everyone else. He is the only fighter in the world who has enrolled in VADA for random drug testing. This means that the organization is allowed to test him any time 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, whether he is in training for a fight or not (read more about this here).

photo courtesy of espn.go.com

That Donaire almost took his own life as a ten year old is a testament to how much he has had to overcome in his life to reach the pinnacle of success. Congratulations Nonito!

Coffee spill disaster

A very tiring week ended in a bit of disaster. It was past 9 in the evening and I had just finished all the days chores but I hadn't had dinner yet. So I drive by to a nearby cafe to get some pasta and coffee for take out. Naturally, the coffee came first so I decided to bring it to my car while waiting for the pasta. I mixed in the sugar and cream while still inside the cafe, put the lid back on, and headed to my car. I must've thought the lid was perfectly locked in so in a monumentally stupid move, I held on to the lid as I lifted the cup onto the cup holder. As I did, the cup slipped out just short of the cup holder and practically all coffee spilled into the passenger seat. Argh!!!

To say I was frustrated and stressed out was an understatement. Most of the coffee went straight into the passenger seat and a so the few documents as well as my CD case also got a bit soaked. It could have been worse though; I could've spilled the coffee onto the driver's seat. I spent several minutes trying to clean up my car as best I could with tissue and the waiters actually had to bring my take out to me at the car. I knew I had to get my car cleaned ASAP and I know Banawe is the best place for anything car-related but it was a bit too far. So I looked for other options online and I stumbled upon Big Bert's.

Big Bert's Professional Detailers is located in Ortigas Home Depot and is open on Sundays so I decided to drive there as soon as I woke up. I thought the process would be more lengthy and tedious - and maybe there is an option that is more thorough - but they ended up just shampooing the seat. There's still a coffee smell in the car - at least it's coffee so the smell is a bit tolerable - but at least the seat is in better condition now. And it took only 20-30 minutes (I thought it would take up a whole day).

Waiting for my car to be cleaned made me think about getting a full auto detail. The guy there told me that it would take about 4 days and would cost about P7,500 (big car; it'll cost less for normal sedan-type cars of course). I'm thinking of having this done in late January or February.

Dinner buffet at Paseo Uno

My mom had a voucher for a buffet at Paseo Uno that was expiring by the end of this year. She had only one voucher and since I am always in Makati and I eat more than she does, she decided to give it to me. Once again I put off my plans to lose weight by gorging myself. But hey, it's not everyday that you get to enjoy a grand dinner at Paseo Uno! My favorite was the grilled rib eye. Sooo good...

As if that wasn't enough, I feasted on a few items from the dessert station right after.

It was close to 9:30 pm when I was done with this wonderful buffet dinner. Not surprisingly, even hours later I was still pretty full. As such, any plans I had to run or exercise a bit at home were thrown out the window. I have now become one of those people who always have an excuse not to work out. (Whatever happened to my 21-day-challenge-championship mentality?) I need to start talking to and hanging out with people who regularly go to the gym. That way, their exuberance and desire for fitness may hopefully rub off on me.

Ber-month weddings

After Ben and Laila's wedding last November, I attended 3 more weddings to round out the year. First to tie the knot were Alvin and Doray. I was a bit late for the ceremony in Mary the Queen Parish right next to Xavier School. The reception was held at The Marriott in Resorts World. Food was served at the table and it took a while for everyone to be served all courses, but Alvin and Doray had the right idea: during dinner service, we played a game where people would have to identify the movie from which each of ten songs being performed by the band was taken. This meant that people were all paying attention to the band and talking amongst themselves and writing songs down on pieces of paper. This obviously kept everyone entertained. By the time the band was done with all ten songs, we were midway through dinner already.

The next wedding I attended was that of Chachie and JM. The ceremony was at the Archbishop's Palace (I've been there once before to watch a performance of the Philippine Madrigals) and we moved to the Light of Love Events Place for the reception. I also sang two songs. The first song I performed was Kahit maputi na ang buhok ko by Rey Valera. It's a beautiful song which was specifically requested by the couple and it's the first time I ever sang that song in front of an audience. It's also the first time I did a bit of an ad lib talk during the instrumental part to keep people entertained and eliminate dead air, much to the amusement of my friends there hehe. I then sang Cruisin' with JM's sister. We didn't practice at all but Chachie wanted us to sing together so we just went with it and it seemed to turn out okay (I guess we both knew the song pretty well anyway, so it was more a matter of matching each other and harmonizing).

Finally, my "uncle" Jim wed Mira a couple of Fridays ago. I use the term "uncle" loosely here because he's my mom's cousin so he's a generation ahead but I'm several years older than him. :) They got married at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati. I've been there once about a decade ago for Amy and Duncan's wedding, but somehow I still remembered how to get there. We ended up being very early for the wedding because my mom was a 'ninang' so we had to make sure we got there before the start of the cerermony. As it turned out, the time indicated on the invitation was 30 minutes early so we had time to get settled. I was also asked to be part of the offertory. The reception was held at the the clubhouse of McKinley Hill. Thankfully, I was very familiar with the area because I managed to avoid the rough and tough Friday traffic during Christmas and we arrived at the clubhouse about an hour before most other people. At the end of the wedding, we took home some of the flowers that we ended up using for Tatay's death anniversary a few days later.

Most of the weddings I've attended before these last three have been suit-and-tie events so I'm quite pleased that in two of these, I got to wear a barong. I miss wearing a barong during weddings actually. It's so much easier and comfortable to wear than a suit. I did notice though that the sleeves of my barong are just a smidge short now. I don't know if it's because they shrunk a bit from washing or because I have gotten wider. Whatever the reason, I need to start losing weight ASAP and maybe I should also get a new barong for the next wedding I attend.

"Little things" live by One Direction

I can't believe I'm actually posting about a boyband here on my blog LOL. I recently saw an episode of David Letterman and One Direction were performing. I was seriously surprised that I quite enjoyed, and was even impressed with, the group's performance of their song "Little Things". Check it out here:

 
video uploaded in youtube by soundcreepsTV

I wasn't expecting to hear a singer-songwriter vibe, nor was I expecting them to connect to the song. It makes me realize that while pop celebrities earn their big bucks through a lot of hype and catchy songs, a lot of them do break into the scene because they have a lot of talent. Of course, it also helps that this beautiful song was written by the amazing Ed Sheeran and Fiona Bevan.

A different and not-so-different Christmas

Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Day was naturally spent with my family. It was also a bit of a unique Christmas celebration. My mom, brother, and I visited my grandmother Nanay where we had Christmas lunch. After lunch, mom and I took Nanay to visit one of her best friends who was in the ICU. We then went to the cemetery to visit Tatay and our other relatives there. After which we headed over to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary church near Times Street for the wake of one of our distant relatives. We got there shortly before 6pm so we heard Christmas mass there. We decided to have dinner in Wee Nam Kee in Ayala Triangle so we could also catch the light show. It was 10:30 PM when we finally got home after a very long but eventful day.

Then again, not everything was all that different. Christmas isn't Christmas without a bit of binging and this year was no exception. I have to admit that I have unfortunately surpassed the amount of food I ate in past Yuletide seasons. I've always wanted to order some good food for Christmas but I never got to plan this well enough in the past and by the time I wanted to place an order somewhere, it was too late. Until now. I called Dulcelin early last week and ordered their US Beef Belly Roast Beef (P1700) and Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese (P1800). I had this during Christmas eve dinner, Noche Buena, and Christmas lunch. And there are still some leftovers. :)

US Beef Belly Roast Beef (P1,700)

Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese (P1,800) 

The weekend leading up to the 25th involved a lot of eating too (of course):

• Friday night: dinner with my colleagues and ex-colleagues where we wined and dined on lechon (wow!), pancit, chicken, fish fillet, and red velvet cake which we enjoyed with Nespresso, courtesy of Raffa and Joh and their Nespresso machine.
• Saturday lunch: I attended (albeit extremely late) the 2nd birthday of Trigo where I had two full servings of spaghetti, chicken, barbecue, mixed vegetables, and a few other items from the buffet.
• Saturday dinner: I met up with my college groupmates for our annual Christmas get-together which we had in CPK in Power Plant mall., followed by dessert and coffee in Brida.
• Sunday lunch: I met up with my college gang ('the clan') for lunch where we had two different pasta dishes, pancit, barbecue, lumpiang ubod, chicken, ham and bread, vegetables, fish, and a caramel cake and ice buko. 

I reckon I must have now piled on at least 5 lbs. Now it's time to redevelop the discipline needed to hit the gym regularly.

Ersao late at night

Christmas season in the Philippines, or more specifically in Manila, is always a busy time. People are always moving from one party to another, doing their Christmas shopping or buying other stuff they need for the holidays. I was not an exception, as this last weekend brought with it a lot of driving through gnarly traffic to meet up with different sets of friends and get some errands done.

Thankfully, the roads were pretty clear on Sunday but I was still pretty active all throughout the day. I somehow missed dinner so on my way home late at night, I decided to stop by Ersao in West Avenue for a good, hot meal. I was starving by this time that I got two dishes - the pork steak with rice (P105) and a small bowl of noodles with dumplings (P75). I tossed in a regular order of passion fruit green tea (P65).

Clearly, I was really hungry since I took this next photo about 11 minutes later:

All that for P245. And I do like the food. So for me, this place is good value for money. There are a few branches (check out this link for the list) although the closing time varies per branch. Thankfully the one in West Avenue stays open until 1am so I was still able to have a hearty meal to end the long weekend.

Tatay's First Death Anniversary

Can't believe it's been a year. Today, my family and some friends joined us in the cemetery for my grandfather Tatay's 1st death anniversary. Technically, we observed this a day early, but Nanay didn't want a lot of us to take a day off. Of course, we also considered how horrible Monday traffic in December is, so we decided to gather one day ahead.

There is a chapel in the cemetery so we offered the 4:30 pm mass to Tatay. The chapel is pretty near the area where Tatay is buried where we had a tent, some chairs and a table with a lot of food set up for the day. We walked over there after the mass so we could all have some food and catch up with relatives and friends. Once everyone had their fill, we prayed we said a rosary.

A lot of us were together this afternoon, including an uncle and an aunt both of whom I haven't seen in years. It was a good day despite the rain. Hopefully, Tatay is having fun up there. We love you, Tatay!

Knock out

It's a sad day for the Philippines as Manny Pacquiao suffers his second loss in a row, this time against nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez. While their previous three fights have gone the full twelve rounds, this last one ended in half the time, when Marquez knocked Pacquiao out in the sixth round.

It hasn't been a very good year for Manny with respect to his boxing career as he also lost his belt to Timothy Bradley about six months ago. I'm not sure what impact this will have on Manny, on whether he decides to keep fighting or if he decides to hang up his gloves and retire. Either way, he has brought immense glory to the country and will still remain as a boxing legend.

'Tis the season for parties

Late this year, there was a bit of reorganization in my team late and we had several more people join us. As the size of our team practically doubled, I felt it would be good for us to have a Christmas celebration to celebrate the work everyone put in during the year and to have everyone spend a fun evening together and get even more integrated. I didn't want us to have the celebration in the office and I thought that having the event in a big hotel room would be a lot more fun so we ended up getting a room in the Ascott Makati (thank God for Agoda for allowing us to get the room at a cheaper rate.

This was the first party I attended where I was sort of in charge of the music. I put together a couple of playlists on my ipod a few months back that I had intended to use for an out-of-town trip with friends but I missed it because of my sprain. I wasn't sure if there would be an Ipod docking station in the Ascott (there wasn't, at least not in our room) so it was a good move on my part to bring portable speakers. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music, which also made the party just that bit more fun and interesting.

We celebrated with a lot of food, drinks, games, music and conversations that made everyone learn about each other just that bit more. So much so that we stayed up til about 7am (or well, I did, a few other people carried on with the chit-chat up until around 8am). Hopefully we carry with us this momentum of working more closely together into 2013.

I still have several more Christmas parties lined up this month, some with work colleagues and others with family and friends. That's a lot of celebrating to do! I'm definitely looking forward to the next few weeks. :)

Attending my first Muslim Malay wedding

My really good friend Ben tied the knot last weekend and I flew to Singapore - where he has been based for the last six to seven years - to attend his wedding. It was a weekend of firsts for me, as I attended a Muslim Malay wedding for the first time (Ben's wife, Laila, is Muslim Malay and Ben converted to Islam.) It was also the first wedding I attended where neither the bride nor the groom were Filipino. In fact, as far as I could tell, I was the only Filipino in attendance.

Their wedding spanned two days. The first day consisted of the legal and religious ceremony, which was held at a mosque. It was fairly straightforward, although since part of the ceremony was spoken in Malay, I couldn't really tell you what was being said. It lasted 30 minutes and when we left the mosque, we headed over to the void deck of a nearby apartment block - this is where the reception on day 2 was also going to be held - for some food.

The second day was more celebratory. Apparently, in Malay weddings, part 2 of the wedding is meant to treat the couple like royalty. Ben arranged transportation to the venue for both days and since I didn't know how to get there, I headed to his apartment. As soon as I got there, the guys were all doing some Gangnam Style-inspired choreography. When Ben spots me, he immediately directs me to the back of the group and tells me I have to join in. It was slightly awkward because everyone else had on traditional Malay outfits and I was in a suit. But well, Ben did ask me to join the group and it was his wedding so I couldn't say no. This piece of choreography was performed during Ben's main entrance. It turned out pretty great, I think, as the Gangnam Style dance moves are universally recognized and enjoyed by everyone all over the world. :) The thing that scared me the most about this was that we were supposed to fire party cannons once the dance was done and I was concerned I would do it wrong or that I'd fire my cannon straight into someone's face. Thankfully, we pulled it off without incident. :)

The wedding was held outdoors so everyone was sweating buckets (I ditched my suit jacket as soon as our entrance was done but it was still hot; after all, we were in Singapore). Ben and Laila actually did one outfit change in the middle of the day. The event lasted from around 1pm to very late afternoon, during which time I actually went to the buffet table a couple of times. The food was really good! There was also a karaoke machine set up during the event and a lot of people had already performed in the early afternoon. At some point, Ben asked me if I had already signed up for karaoke and I said I hadn't. He said I had to do it. Once again, I couldn't say no. The song list didn't really include any of my usual repertoire of songs so I ended up singing "Unchained Melody". It was a different version played at a much lower key, but that was a good thing since I didn't have to worry about the very high note towards the end. It was fairly well-received although I was nervous throughout and my hand was even shaking. Not sure why, I guess it was my first time in a long time performing in front of a crowd I wasn't familiar with.

It was awesome for me to experience my first Malay Muslim wedding. Of course, the fact that it was held in Singapore meant that it gave me another excuse to fly to the and hang out with my good friends who are based here. I got to meet up with Anna, Tim B, Sarah, Kokog, Ina, Orly, Lalai, Lawrence, Hannah, Steph, Tim T, Che, and Paul. I also got to sneak in a couple of trips to the cinema to see Argo and Pitch Perfect (I missed both of them when they were shown in the Philippines so I felt I had to see them in SG while I still could.) All in all, a packed and very good trip.

"Jump In" by Jessica Sanchez and Apl. De.Ap

I heard this on the radio today. Needless to say, I am not at all surprised that Apl.De.Ap and Jessica Sanchez collaborated on a song. :)

 
video uploaded in youtube by JessicaJumpIn

Would be awesome to have them both come to the Philippines and perform together.

Back from hiatus

I haven't blogged in the last three weeks, which is longest I have gone without posting in recent years. That's mainly because this November has been absolutely hectic. Not only did I had lots of deadlines at work but I also took a trip to Singapore in the midst of it all to attend my friend's wedding, which I will write about shortly. While I do have finally have some breathing room right now, the holidays are coming up so things will start getting crazy again. Which reminds me, I need to start working on my Christmas list.

"Bring him home" (Les Misérables 25th anniversary)

I recently got the DVD of the 25th anniversary of Les Misérables. I have always been a massive fan of its music so it was a no-brainer for me to get a copy of the DVD when it came out. Lea Salonga played Fantine and a lot of amazing artists were in the cast but it was Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, who stood out for me and blew me away. Here he is singing "Bring him home":

video uploaded in youtube by ChrSuper

Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role, did an incredible job so Alfie had very big shoes to fill. But he pulled it off in amazing fashion. His range, power, control, and expressiveness are astounding. I could listen to this over and over again. And, well, I have. :)

Global Giving

Because of all the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work I did for my company last year, I received a US$500 gift card in Global Giving. I used it last week, and it's amazing what US$500 can do. I decided to look for projects in the Philippines. Obviously, I couldn't support everything, so I ended up making the following donations:

• $50 for blood and other lab tests for one woman or child undergoing cancer treatment (Project: Cancer treatment for 20 children and 30 women)
• $40 to help 10 kids open their first savings account (Project: Teach 15,000 rural kids to save and invest)
• $40 to provide water for a month's supply of fresh vegetables to ten families (Projects: Provide to 435 Poor Filipinos)
• $50 to provide books for 10 schools and 6 children's hospitals (Project: Give Books to 3000 Children in the Philippines)
• $40 to provide meals for 1 street family for 1 week (Project: Initiative for the Street Families of Manila)
• $60 to provide disaster preparedness materials for three communities (Philippine Disaster Relief and Recovery)
• $100 to inject capital into a local business (Project: Microloans to 16 Entrepreneurs in the Philippines)
• $50 to help develop and maintain no-take zones that grow fish populations (Project: Reduce Overfishing in the Coral Triangle)
• $10 to provide organic seeds such as rice and vegetables for a Filipino farmer (Project: Ensure Food Security for 500 Poor Filipino Villages)
• $50 to provide medication for one surgery (Project: Free Cleft Surgery for 400 Filipino Children)
• $10 to provide 40 mangrove saplings to their reforestation site (Project: Talim Bay Coastal Resources Management Project)

I was so pleased that I was able to help out all these great projects. For two of these projects, I was actually the first donor. I hope it triggers more donations for them later on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get another GC this year. There are a lot more projects out there that need funding and I would love to be able to help out again.

Zendee Rose on Ellen

Another Filipino is featured on Ellen. Zendee Rose Tenerefe became famous after a stranger took a video of her singing "And I'm telling you" in a mall (check it out here). Since then, Zendee has become a bit of a celebrity. She has performed on Party Pilipinas, now has a recording contract, and to top it all off, she has now guested on Ellen! Check it out here:


 video uploaded in youtube by gilbert haw

It was great to see her genuinely overwhelmed by the amazing response from the crowd. I also loved her entrance. I think she dances Gangnam Style pretty darn well. :)

My first Shi Lin experience

I recently tried Shi Lin for the first time. I had a Deal Grocer voucher that was worth P600 so that meant I could go a bit crazy LOL. Naturally, I ordered Xiao Long Bao (P138 for 6 pieces):

I also got Shrimp and Pork Siomao (P165 for 6 pieces). Similar to Lugang Cafe, this version of siomai also has a bit of soup inside it.

Finally, I ordered Noodles with Braised Beef Soup (P248). This one was just okay.

I was initially thinking of trying their red bean dumplings for dessert but I was already stuffed by the time I polished  off everything. The menu of Shi Lin is not very extensive - they have a handful of choices each for dumplings, appetizers, main courses, and noodles, but the food  is pretty good and the price is reasonable. I'm certain to visit again soon, especially when I get a craving for Xiao Long Bao. :)

Djokovic to end the year #1

Roger Federer still stands atop the ATP rankings at the moment. However, because he skipped the Paris Masters this week, he will be dropping a lot of points on Monday. At which point Novak Djokovic takes back the top ranking. Federer won the World Championships last year so even if he wins that event again, he won't gain enough points to overtake Djokovic. This means that Novak will be ranked #1 at the end of 2012. It will be the second year in a row that he ends the year #1.

It's been a really interesting and competitive year in men's tennis. For the first time since 2003, we have different champions in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal is expected to return to tennis in 2013 and he will certainly be hungry to win. With Andy Murray having multiple solid wins over both Novak and Roger this year, it will be interesting to see what happens next year.

Carmen in Manila

Last weekend, I caught my fourth opera this year (and I'm not counting "Phantom of the Opera" hehe). I learned about "Carmen" from my friends Jane and Martin so I asked my mom if she wanted to watch and she said she did.

photo from www.carmenmanila.com

"Carmen" was presented by Lyric Opera of the Philippines and directed by Laurice Guillen. It was staged at St. Cecilia's Hall in St. Scholastica Manila (the acoustics here were incredible), making it the first opera I saw outside CCP. It's also the first opera I watched where the entire cast was composed of local talent (the three other operas I watched this year featured international artists from Korea, Japan, and Italy). The cast was really good. The standout performance in my opinion came from Randy Gilongo who took on the role of Don Jose. Of everyone in the cast, he best combined good acting and exceptional vocals. Ana Guillen Feleo, the daughter of Laurice, was believable as Carmen and Kay Balajadia Liggayu received strong applause as well for her performance of Micaela. On top of the great talent, the show also had pretty good production value, from the lights to the sets to the costumes.

curtain call

This four-act opera was created by French composer George Bizet based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. It tells the story of Carmen, a fiery gypsy who catches the fancy of many men, including Don Jose. She and Don Jose become involved but, free spirit that she is, she eventually leaves him for the toreador Escamillo. Consumed by jealousy and not wanting to lose Carmen to any other man, Don Jose kills her in the end. A few of the songs in this opera are quite popular and even non-opera fans will be familiar with them. Among these are the overture, the Toreador song, and of course Habanera: L'amour est un oiseau rebelle. Most people who watched Sesame Street in the 70s and early 80s will know this song because of that scene where an orange sings this song LOL. Here is a brilliant rendition of this song by legendary opera singer Maria Callas:


video uploaded in youtube by Th Paw 

It's amazing that in a year where so many current and very popular international artists like Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 had shows in the country, I somehow find myself watching operas instead. :) Every show I saw, including Carmen, had a pretty good sized audience so I hope it means that more operas get staged in Manila.

All Saint's Day

While most of the Philippines headed to the cemeteries today, I decided to stay at home and get some rest. I told my family that we should just 'visit' my grandfather "Tatay" tomorrow. That way, we get to avoid the traffic and the massive crowds.

My grandmother "Nanay" and I actually go to the cemetery almost every Sunday where we say a prayer for Tatay and our other relatives who have been laid to rest in the same area. There was a beautiful sunset there a couple of weekends ago:

Hopefully, it will be a good and quiet day in the cemetery tomorrow.

Celebrating with my family

To celebrate my birthday with my family, I used another discount voucher to book a two-bedroom suite at the Holiday Inn in Ortigas. We arrived at the hotel in the early evening, but for some reason, our room was still not ready. To compensate for this delay, the hotel gave us free wifi and a late check-out. Since we couldn't go into our room yet, we decided to go to Galleria. I promised my nephew Ciera I would take him to watch "Hotel Transylvania" so we quickly look at the movie schedules - there was a 9pm showing - so I got us a couple of tickets and we headed to TGI Friday's for dinner. Our room was ready by the time we were done with dinner so while my mom, my grandma 'Nanay', and my other nephew CJ (he wasn't interested in watching the movie) stayed in the room, Ciera and I went back to the mall. Hotel Transylvania was a fun movie, although I have to say it really caters more to kids than to adults.

Nanay's students back in the day had organized a reunion in Resorts World, and they invited Nanay to join them for lunch on Sunday. My mom was also attending a birthday party for the grandkid of one of her friends at 3pm that same day. The initial plan was that we would bring Nanay to Resorts World and then go back to the hotel since we were given a 4pm check-out but I felt it would be a better use of our time for us to just check out at noon. We leave the hotel at 12pm and I drop Nanay off at Resorts World. While waiting for Nanay, we go to Old Swiss Inn for a late lunch. Since CJ wasn't with us when we tried the Fondue Bourguignonne (prime beef tenderloin cubes dipped in hot oil, with a carousel of sauces and served french fries) during Ciera's birthday, we order it again using my second fondue voucher.

 

Fondue Bourguignonne

We dip these tenderloin cubes into the hot oil to cook them.

On top of that, I also order the Walliser Fondue (made with Swiss wine, Gruyere, Emmental, and Raclette cheeses, and fresh tomatoes and served with vegetables and crunchy bread). It's an acquired taste but I quite enjoyed it; it was especially good with the vegetables.

 Walliser Fondue

After our lunch (we ordered a couple of other items), we head back to Resorts World to pick Nanay up before dropping my mom off at her party. We knew she would be there for a couple of hours so I decide to go to Greenbelt and wait there. I thought this would be a good time for me to try J. Co Donuts. The line here is always tremendously long but we didn't really have anything to do. It took me almost an hour to be served but thankfully, we got a table where my family could sit and my nephews had their PSPs with them to keep them entertained the entire time. It didn't make sense to fall in line for an hour just for a couple of donuts so I got two dozen assorted donuts.

The long and winding queue at J. Co Donuts

Once I got the donuts, we head to Time Zone because I promised my nephews I'd take them there. We left Nanay at the Figaro right beside it - I ordered an iced tea for her and she got one of the donuts - and we headed straight to the arcade. We were all tremendously lucky in the ball drop game but when we discovered the pinball machine, we spent most of our time there. We wrapped up when my mom arrived and we then headed home.

As soon as we got home, everyone started trying the J. Co Donuts and well they were an instant hit. These donuts definitely lived up to the hype. They are light and not too sweet and it's so easy to eat a couple in just one go. Nanay mentioned that the donut with hazelnut cream she ate was really good so we gave her the other hazelnut donut as well as a couple other ones for her to try. By the end of the night, we had consumed a little more than a dozen donuts already!

The first box of 12 was wiped out by the end of the day!

It was a full birthday weekend with my family, so much so that even my nephew said by the end of Sunday that we did a lot that day. Hope that's a good sign for the coming year. :)

"Photobooking"

Several months back, I bought several photobook vouchers from Ensogo. They were all expiring in end-October so I figured I had more than enough time to create all my photobooks in time. Wrong! Crammer that I am, I only started in September. I should still have had more than enough time to get them done but my October was incredibly hectic. With 4 days left before the vouchers would expire, I still had 6 unused vouchers. Crap! (Yes, I bought a whole lot of vouchers. :))

I managed to complete and order three photobooks but with less than 48 hours left, I still had three to go. Of those three, I had finished the lay out of two of them but both were still missing captions. The last one, I hadn't even started yet. Thankfully, my friend Joh, who bought vouchers at the same time I did and whose vouchers were also expiring, texted me saying that she managed to get her expiry dates extended by two weeks. So I called Photobook Philippines about 13 hours before my vouchers expire and ask for an extension, which they very generously give me. Whew! If not for that, I would have had to submit my two photobooks with ugly captions and I may have been unable to use the last one.

Thankfully, we have two consecutive long weekends. I decided to rest a bit this last one but I should be done with all three remaining books by the time the Nov 1-4 weekend hits. I'm really pleased with the ones that have already been shipped to me so I definitely can't wait to see the remaining books. :)

Celebrity Chef Special in Bellissimo

I finally met up with Jette, Chari, and Anna (her Manila trip was timed perfectly) for my joint birthday celebration with Chari. We normally celebrate with Bett but she is currently out of the country until mid-November (Chari leaves the country for a few months in a few weeks so since she and Bett wouldn't be in Manila at the same time, we decided to meet up once now while Chari is still here then we'd meet up again once Bett is back). Ric was also supposed to join us but he unfortunately got stuck at work until the very late at night.

I picked Bellissimo as our dinner venue because Jette requested that we get together in the QC area. I had eaten in this Italian restaurant a couple of times before and I enjoyed the food and ambience. However, I didn't realize until I got there that location had changed! I last ate there about two years and it was still on Scout Castor street at the time. When I arrived at their previous location, I couldn't see it anymore. I had to ask a security guard where Bellissimo was and thankfully he knew that the resto moved to Scout Rallos extension. I quickly call and text everyone else to inform them of the location change and give them directions.

When we were all finally gathered together, it was a lot of good and fun conversation. The last time I saw Jette was a year ago during my birthday celebration while Chari I last saw in December. We ordered two pastas and two pizzas, including one that was called 'Sunshine Pizza', which is most likely named after Sunshine Cruz (Bellissimo is owned by Cesar Montano). I decided to order one more pasta - Aglio Olio - and it was Sunshine Cruz herself who served it to us. As she placed our order on the table, she told us all that she cooked it herself. Cool! I can't believe I have now eaten a dish cooked by a celebrity. And it tasted really good too!

The main drawback of this place now is that their menu is quite limited. They don't have antipasti (although they have sausages and a few appetizers) and the only dessert they carry is panna cotta. However, they do have an extensive pizza and pasta selection, some of which are quite interesting and unique, and the food is really good. If you are comfortable just eating pasta and pizza, Bellissimo is definitely worth a visit.

Sunshine talked to us a bit as we were all getting ready to leave and we told her that we really enjoyed our night there. Chari even said that she would return with her husband. Anna and Jette asked if we could have our picture taken with her and she very nicely obliged us. It was a unique experience being served by a celebrity who even cooked our food. :)

Catch-up night

I hadn't seen Jane and Martin in ages so I got in touch with both of them recently to schedule a catch-up night. We were supposed to meet in Resorts World but Jane told us there was a major event going on there so we changed venues and opted instead for Nuvo in Greenbelt 2. Martin arrived first and got us a table on the second floor. I had been to Nuvo several times before but I somehow never realized it had a second floor. It was a bit of a weird set-up though, with a live band playing on the ground floor and a DJ playing party music on the second floor. Since there wasn't a lot of soundproofing, however, we could hear the live music on top of the party music. Nevertheless, we didn't really pay much attention to the music as we talked about a lot of stuff. After all, there was a whole lot to catch up on.

I ended up getting a pizza and a bottle of wine. Later in the night, we ended up talking about Patron and how there apparently is a coffee variation of this drink. Martin got us each a shot but he suggested that instead of drinking it like a regular shot, we could just sip it. Which we did. It was actually quite good!

We were the last three people to leave Nuvo - I'm surprised they didn't kick us out haha. We decided that we shouldn't wait too long 'til our next get-together.

David Archuleta sings OPM!

When David Archuleta came out with his "Forevermore" CD that featured covers of a lot of amazing OPM (Original Pilipino Music) songs, I knew I had to get it. Instead of purchasing it myself, though, I added it to my birthday wishlist, so my friends ended up getting it for me. The verdict? I absolutely love this album! While his rendition of "Nandito ako" is particularly noteworthy as he has to learn how to sing in Filipino (and despite his slight twang, he does a very good job of it), I think my current favorite is his rendition of the Neocolours classic, "Hold on". Check it out:

uploaded in youtube by ArchieBR

I say that this is my current favorite because it could very easily change to something else. He does justice to every song in this album, and his voice is perfectly suited to these Pinoy ballads. If you don't have it yet, I suggest you get a copy. I think it's great that David Archuleta released this album, because it also allows the entire world to hear some truly beautiful music from our country.

Vettel makes it two in a row

Fresh off his win in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel continues his success in Asia as he wins the Japan Grand Prix. With Fernando Alonso losing control just as the race started after making contact with Kimi Raikkonen, Vettel's twenty-five points in this race now moves him extremely close to the overall drivers' championship this year. Alonso still leads with 194 points, but Vettel's 190 points puts him in good stead as the season winds down.

Felipe Massa takes second place while Kamui Kobayashi makes his home country proud as he places third, finishing 0.56 seconds ahead of Jenson Button. After a disappointing year, Button seems to finding his form once again as he placed second in Singapore and fourth here. Hopefully he can continue to drive well in the remaining five races of the year and improve his overall standing.

A good way to end the week

A lot of people from our corporate social responsibility initiative at work had already left the company. From a situation where we talk to each other and see each other regularly to barely seeing and hearing from each other was a big change. So while talking to one of the folks recently, we decided it was high time we all got together for a reunion.

Somehow, I ended up organizing it hahaha. I suggested three places and the gang ended up choosing Kitchen's Best in BGC; I figured this would be an easy place to get to during Friday traffic, the parking would be easy, and the food was good. It was also an easy place to have conversation, which was actually an important factor as we all haven't been together as a group in ages.

As expected, it was a fun night. Thankfully, almost all of us were able to make it: Doms, Denise, Zaza, Mon, Deryk, Leianne, Enrique, Kat, Kristel, and myself. The thing about having great friends is that even if you haven't seen each other in a long time, you just easily pick up where you left off. Lots of changes in people's lives but a lot of things still remain the same, too.

It was a few hours of updates and stories and laughs over good food and dessert. Kitchen's Best closes at around 10 or 1030pm but somehow we stayed there 'til way past their closing time. We all decided we would meet up again in December. Of course, I made sure someone else was assigned to organize that. :)

UP: UAAP Cheerdance Stunt Competition champions

Since I posted the winning cheerdance routine, I thought it was only fair to post the winning stunts competition routine as well.


video uploaded in youtube by iamthemanansala 

UP Fight! :)

Conti's Strawberry Shortcake

Conti's is known for its good desserts. While most people rave about the Mango Bravo, I do think my favorite is their Mango Tart. However, second honors for me go to their Strawberry Shortcake. It's light and fluffy, making it very easy to eat even after a heavy meal.

This cake is P395 and is about 6" in diameter and 4" tall. Its size makes it perfect for small groups of people and its price makes it quite affordable. I ended up getting a whole cake for myself LOL. A friend of mine told me that I am the only one he knows who buys a full cake just for himself (of course I eat it over the course of a few days). But when you think about it, cake slices tend to cost close to P100 so getting a full cake (which translates to about 8 slices) means you save a lot more. It also means I end up eating a lot of sugar over the course of a week. But hey, I don't do it very often. :)

Pet peeve

Am I the only one who gets annoyed whenever I am asked if I want a float and twister fries with my McDonald's Value Meal? I know that they want increase their sales and asking if customers want to upgrade increases the chances that someone will actually upsize, but it really irritates me when I get into the following conversation:

Me: I'd like to order meal #2
McDonald's: would you like twister fries and a float with that?
Me: No
... pause ...
McDonald's: so what is your order sir?

I figured that if I say 'no' to an upgrade, they would realize that I just want the regular one. But then again I realized that each value meal doesn't default to the regular size anymore; the menu says there is a medium and a small version of each meal. I guess I will now change my ordering pattern and say "I'd like to order a Small Value Meal #2". (Of course, even then I am sure I will still be asked if I want an upsize. Oh well...)