Kalinga Adventure

It started out while my friends and I were enjoying coffee and dessert early this year. We talked about possibly going to Sagada in late 2014 but I told them that a trip to Mountain Province isn't ideal during the rainy season because of the possibility of landslides and blocked roads. What is ideal during the rainy season is white water rafting. It had been 10 years since I went rafting in the Chico River and I had such an amazing time that I suggested it to my friends. Everyone else seemed to think that was a great idea so last August, we all made our way to Kalinga.

Funny thing about this trip, though. When I went rafting in the Chico River a decade ago, we stayed in Tuguegarao in Cagayan. As such, I figured this is where we would be staying as well. However, since my friend who was going with us used to work in a travel agency, he made almost all the travel arrangements including the hotel booking and the itinerary. It was only when we landed in Tuguegarao and boarded our airport pick-up that I realized we were going to Kalinga instead. The Chico River, which is where the rafting would take place, is actually a river system in Kalinga that empties into the Cagayan River. It was a pleasant surprise because I got to visit a Philippine province that I hadn't been to before. Cool!

We stayed in Davidson Hotel and they organized a package tour for us. We stayed there for four days and three nights and apart from the rafting, our itinerary also included rappelling down a bridge...

...and a trip to the shooting range.

We got to do a few more things when we were there. I'll be writing in more detail about this amazing Kalinga trip over the next few blog posts. Stay tuned!

Pacquiao beats Algieri

Another impressive win by Manny Pacquiao, this time against Chris Algieri. It was a dominant performance by the "Pambansang Kamao" as he knocked down Algieri six times in their fight that lasted the full 12 rounds. Just how one-sided was this fight? The three judges had it 120-102, 119-103 and 119-103.Manny also landed 229 punches out of 669 throws (34%) while Chris only landed 108 of 469. Pacquiao not only had a better percentage than his opponent (34% vs 23%) but he also landed more than twice as many punches (229 vs 108). Wow.

This win allowed Manny to retain his welterweight world title and it cements his position as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in history. Congratulations, Manny!

Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen

The ramen craze hit the Philippines a couple of years ago and it's still going strong. I can't say I'm a ramen connoisseur as I've tried only a handful of places so far. Of the ones I've tried, my favorite by a mile is Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen. This place specializes in tonkotsu, or pork bone broth, ramen (note: this is not to be confused with tonkatsu which is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet). I love the food here so much that I've actually visited this place several times already, allowing me to try a handful of their menu items.

My favorite is the Ajitama Tonkotsu (P380). It's essentially their normal Ikkoryu Original Tonkotsu (tonkotsu ramen garnished with chashu, green onion, bamboo shoots, wood ear and dried seaweed) but with an Ajitama soft-boiled egg. I don't know how this egg is cooked but it is packed with flavor and goes perfectly well with the delicious ramen.

Ajitama Tonkotsu

The Chashu Tonkotsu (P380) is also pretty much their basic original Tonkotsu ramen but with an extra chashu slice.

Chashu Tonkotsu

The YUZU-TAMA Tonkotsu (P380) is one of their spicier options and the heat in this dish is provided by the yuzukoshō, a paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt. It's not extremely spicy so if you aren't a big fan of spicy food and want to try something different, this is a good option.

YUZU-TAMA Tonkotsu

I also got to try their Black Garlic Tonkotsu (P380) which has a special roast garlic oil mixed in with it. It's got great flavor while you are eating it but the slight downside for me was that I could still taste the garlic oil a couple of hours later.

Black Garlic Tonkotsu

The food here is quite expensive (all ramen options are in the P300-400 range) but it is worth it. You can check out their menu here. As of this writing, they currently have six locations, with a seventh one expected to open soon. Writing this blog post just made me want to have some of their tonkotsu ramen again LOL so maybe I should plan another visit some time soon.

Big Hero 6

I have a new favorite movie of the year: Big Hero 6!

photo courtesy of Disney.wikia.com

The fact that this is a superhero movie with an adorable robot that kicks ass is, for me, already worth the price of admission. :) But of course, it's more than just that. Visually, the animation is amazing. (Side note: I love how a fictional city named San Fransokyo served as the setting.) Story-wise, it's a perfect blend of action, fun and laughs, and touching and even heartbreaking moments. As expected, the character development is done brilliantly. I don't know how Disney (and Pixar) do this miles better than other animation studios but when you watch their films, you get emotionally invested in the lead characters and you care what happens to them.

It was wonderful and heartwarming to see how the bond between Hiro Hamada and his brother Tadashi strengthens through their common interest and skill in advanced robotics. Then of course there's Baymax. He is animated in a way that makes audiences fall in love with him and his viewer appeal is further heightened by his amazing loyalty to his friends as well as his original design purpose. On top of all this, it was really cool to see how the scientific experiments and developments of the science students would later on become the advanced weaponry of Big Hero 6. Seeing their dynamic as a superhero squad evolve throughout the course of the movie is really fun to watch.

It's really interesting how two of my favorite superhero movies - Big Hero 6 and The Incredibles - are both animated and from Disney (or well, The Incredibles was produced by Disney-Pixar). Big Hero 6 is a five-star, two thumbs up film that is certainly worth watching. I am definitely getting the DVD of this when it's out. And who knows, maybe I'll watch it again in the movie theater. We'll see. :)

Setting records in the Shakey's V-League

The Shakey's V-League Season 11 Reinforced Conference concluded recently, with the Cagayan Rising Suns getting help from their imports to beat Philippine Army. Cagayan had two top Thai players in their roster but it was local player Aiza Maizo-Pontillas who was hailed tournament MVP and finals MVP. Cool! I've been a big fan of Aiza ever since her UAAP playing days and it's great to see her playing and still doing very well. Apparently, she is the most decorated player in the Shakey's V-League so far, with 2 Conference MVP and 3 Finals MVP awards. She has also won each of the following awards once: Best Scorer (most total points), Best Attacker (highest attack success rate), Best Server, and Best Blocker. Talk about an all-around player!

The V-League also held a men's tournament for the first time, with IEM winning the inaugural title over Systema. Matching Aiza Maizo-Pontillas' achievements on the men's side was Jeffrey Jimenez from IEM, who also took top honors as tournament and finals MVP to go with his championship title.

Volleyball has clearly become very popular in the Philippines, with more and more matches being televised. While the Shakey's V-League may have already concluded, the Philippine SuperLiga is still ongoing (it's being televised on Solar Sports). And of course, next week, the UAAP volleyball season will commence. I'm definitely looking forward to that. :)

Djokovic clinches year-end top ranking

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic for clinching the year-end #1 ranking in the ATP tour. He achieved this last Friday when he won his last round-robin match during the ATP World Tour Finals. That win allowed him to get to the semifinals and guaranteed that Roger Federer would not be able to catch him.

As it turned out, Roger had to withdraw in the final due to a back injury. Federer's withdrawal allowed Novak to claim his third ATP World Tour final trophy in a row and fourth overall. Only one other player, Ivan Lendl, has won the year-end title three years in a row. Djokovic is now the seventh player in the open era to be ranked #1 at the end of the year at least three times. He has definitely achieved a tremendous amount of success in his career so far, making him one of tennis' all-time greats, and it will be interesting to see how much more he will accomplish over the next few years.

Awesome day at Enchanted Kingdom

Yesterday, I went to Enchanted Kingdom as part of my company's anniversary celebration. For the entire day, access to the amusement park was exclusive to company employees and our family and friends. Because EK was blocked off, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to take my family there because it wouldn't be as crowded as it normally is.

I was hoping this trip would make up for the last time I visited Enchanted Kingdom which was a major bust because the lines to get on the rides were incredibly long and we ended up just getting on the ferris wheel and going shopping. True enough, this time around, the waiting time for the rides wasn't too bad - it was around 30-45 minutes on average only. As such, despite arriving there mid-afternoon, my family was able to try a few attractions. Cool! I myself didn't get on too many rides but my brother and my nephew did. They got to try the Ekstreme Tower, Anchor's Away, and Space Shuttle. As a family, we all went into Rialto which was a major disappointment. I remember getting on this attraction back in the day when it was pretty exciting because it was a motion simulator where you felt like you yourself were moving. This time around, it was just like watching a 3D movie with your seat moving. I definitely don't recommend it (at least not with the current Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs experience). However, we did follow that up with a trip to 7D and that was a really, really fun and amazing ride! You need to pay an additional P100 per person to get in but it is definitely worth it!

Before the park closed, my brother and my nephews tried the XPP paintball (it costs an additional P120 per person) and despite there being only 3 of them, they all still had a blast. With around 10 minutes left before the park closed, my nephews and I still managed to get on the Jungle Log Jam. As there were no more lines, once we got out, we went back in again. We were all pretty soaked after but since the park was already closed, we all just got into dry clothes and headed home.

All in all, an awesome day that definitely made up for the last time we were there. The only unfortunate thing was that Rio Grande was closed so I wasn't able to experience it. Maybe one of these days, when it isn't peak season, I'll take my family there again.

The Inspirational Paul Smith

Care to guess what medium was used to create this copy of the Mona Lisa?

photo from www.truthorfiction.com

Believe it or not, It was created using a humble typewriter! Check out the zoomed in version and see how a lot of the facial detail was created using a hashtag (#):

photo from www.truthorfiction.com

Astounding right? However, what is truly mind-blowing and absolutely inspirational about this is that it was created by typewriter artist Paul Smith, who at an early age already suffered from cerebral palsy. Despite his condition, Paul displayed such an immense will to thrive and his amazing creativity found an outlet through the humble typewriter. I don't think I have enough superlatives to describe this. Check out this video about Paul:


video uploaded in youtube by John Stofflet

Paul Smith passed away back in 2007 at the ripe old age of 85. You can read more about him in this article about him in cerebralpalsy.org. You can also see a lot more samples of his unbelievably impressive and intricate art in that article. I've tried to search online for books that feature his art but it seems nothing was ever officially published. Too bad. I guess I will just check out his amazing artwork online.

New Cross Trainers

Seems like the shopping bug still hasn't left me LOL. Last weekend, I bought a new pair of cross trainers. I didn't get them on a whim, though. I had known for the last several months that I needed to replace my old pair but despite my efforts to find new shoes, I couldn't really find what I was looking for.

That is, until I passed by the Reebok shop on the third floor of Robinson's Galleria. I went in not really expecting to find anything but then I saw this pair of Reebok Quick Edge shoes. They had my size and when I tried them on, I thought they felt comfortable enough and looked pretty good.

The kicker was the that these shoes were on sale. At 40% off, the discounted price was only P1,900. Wow! Add to that the fact that they are cross trainers (meaning that I can use them for a variety of physical activities) and my purchase decision was made extremely easy. I'm really happy that I went to Robinson's Galleria last weekend and that I decided to check out the Reebok store while I was there.

Gender Equality in the Philippines

The Philippines is one of the top ten countries in the world that display gender equality at the workplace. Amazing!

I read about this in an article published by philstar.com a couple of weeks ago where the World Economic Forum rated the Philippines #9 out of 142 countries in terms of gender equality. They recently released their annual Global Gender Gap Report which rates how well a country is doing using four sub-indexes: Economic Participation, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. If a country is viewed as having fully closed the gap in a sub-index, it is ranked #1. As such, there are several countries that can be ranked #1 in a sub-index. The Philippines is ranked #1 in both Educational Attainment (along with 24 other countries) and Health and Survival (along with 34 other countries). In fact, as of 2014, the Philippines is only one of 8 countries that have fully closed the gap in these two sub-indexes. Amazing!

While there is still some way to go in terms of Political Empowerment (where we are ranked 17) and Economic Participation (where we are ranked 24), it's still great to see that the Philippines is one of the countries leading the way in terms of gender equality. Being ranked #9 out of 142 is pretty impressive. Hope things continue to get better and the gender gap continues to close, not only in the Philippines but in the rest of the world.

Trying out Tim Ho Wan in Megamall

Tim Ho Wan started out as a dimsum hole-in-the-wall in Hong Kong that gained international acclaim by being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. It became a lot more accessible for its fans in the Philippines when it opened in SM Megamall back in May. Since then, the lines outside this restaurant have always been incredibly long. As I was in Megamall last weekend and I wasn't in a rush, I decided to brave the crowds and try it out for myself.

The long line outside Tim Ho Wan at around noon on Saturday

Tim Ho Wan became popular because of its legendary Baked Buns with BBQ Pork (P145). Each order comes with three buns. It's kinda like siopao but the difference is the bread: it's crusty, flaky, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth and very delicious!

Baked Buns with BBQ Pork (P145)

This is the must-have dish here and I think everyone who eats in this resto orders this. It definitely lived up to the hype!

A look at the BBQ pork filling

I wanted to try a couple of my personal dimsum favorites so I ordered the Steamed Prawn Dumplings (P160)...

Steamed Prawn Dumplings (P160)

...and the Bean Curd Skin Rolls with Pork and Shrimp (P120).

Bean Curd Skin Rolls with Pork and Shrimp (P120)

The prawn dumplings (hakaw or har gow) are good but not really different from what you can get in other Chinese restaurants. And strangely enough, I actually prefer the beancurd roll of Causeway to the Tim Ho Wan version (although I do love the fact that the Tim Ho Wan version has shrimp in it). I guess my palate isn't very sophisticated LOL. Nevertheless, it was an overall good meal with the baked buns being the highlight.

I was very lucky because I arrived at around 11 AM and despite the queue, I was given a table within around 2 minutes of me being in line. Wow! I guess it was because I was alone and almost everyone else was in bigger groups so when a table for 2 became available, I was the only one they could seat in it. I'm pretty sure that I will eat in Tim Ho Wan again and enjoy their amazing Baked Buns with BBQ Pork but that said, I will most likely not be willing to wait in line for more than 30-45 minutes to get a table here.

Videoke birthday celebration

To celebrate my friend Iona's birthday, her husband organized a karaoke party last weekend. I was actually second to arrive, the first being our other friend Joyce. When Iona and some of her family arrived (shortly after I did), the singing and eating started.

I was looking forward to that evening but then I got sick in the days leading up to it so I still had a sore throat during the actual event. Nice timing haha. My updated karaoke repertoire includes "All of me" and "Say something" which I have sung almost every time I've been to a karaoke bar this year. Iona said she wanted me to sing some songs from my band days, so I tossed in a few U2 and Coldplay songs, as well as Jeff Buckley's "Last goodbye". Thankfully, despite the bad throat, I was still able to sing pretty decently and hit all the high notes (including the high falsettos). Otherwise, it would have been embarrassing as there were so many other people there I hadn't met up until that night haha.

About a decade ago, our high school/college set of friends had a karaoke night and we ended the night with "Used to be" by Stevie Wonder and Charlene. We all enjoyed singing this song a lot that we said we should make it our official group karaoke song. As such, I included it in our playlist that night and Iona, Joyce and I combined to sing it and as expected, had a lot of fun doing so. It was such a great night that I think we need to do something like this again soon.

Reunion over Ramen

My friends Suzanne and Nenen were in the Philippines and I met up with them and with our other friends Joh and Raffa earlier in the week. They asked for restaurant suggestions and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new place. Eventually, we all agreed to try Wrong Ramen in Burgos Circle. The menu explains why this place is named the way it is and apparently, it's because the ramen here is "Filipinized" and not authentic Japanese.

I was tempted to try one of the spicier ramen options but I had a bit of a sore throat that night so I ended up just sticking to the much safer Tonkotsu Ramen. It was good although it is a bit expensive. I really enjoyed the appetizers we got. The Chashu Rice Rolls were a bite-sized burst of flavor and the Chicken Akuma was pretty spicy and very tasty. Since I didn't get to celebrate my birthday with this set of friends due to my incredibly hectic workload, I decided this would also be my belated birthday blowout.

We had a lot of catching up to do since it had been more than a year since we last saw Suzanne (and even longer since we saw Nenen because she didn't visit Manila last year). Obviously, the couple of hours over dinner was not enough so we went to UCC Park Café to have some coffee and dessert. I decided to get Sumiyaki Coffee and partner it with the Chocolate Xanadu, still one of my favorite desserts. (Maybe I should write about that some time...)

The evening was spent sharing what's going on in our lives, talking about plans we have for the future, and looking back through the years that we've all known each other. We had to say our goodbyes at around half past eleven since it was a weeknight and people still had to work the next day. Nenen and Suzanne also gave me a bag of peanut butter M&Ms as pasalubong. I haven't tried it yet but given how big a fan I am of Reese's peanut butter cups, I am definitely looking forward to trying these M&Ms. I am also looking forward to seeing Suzanne and Nenen again when they visit Manila next year.

Eggs Benedict, Apartment 1B-style

I think watching too many cooking reality shows on TV turned me into an Eggs Benedict fan LOL. Not that I'm complaining though. When a friend told me that in his opinion, the Apartment 1B Eggs Benedict was the best in Manila, I decided to try it out for myself.

So do I agree with my friend? I think I might, although of course this is based on my limited experience since I haven't really tried that many versions of this dish. :) While I think Eggs Benedict in Bizu has the best bread (and is also pretty good; probably my second favorite), I think Apartment 1B has the most well-cooked eggs. The yolk is just so perfectly silky and it oozes a lot more slowly compared to others I've tried. The potatoes and the small salad served with the Eggs Benedict make this dish perfectly balanced.

The Eggs Benedict in Apartment 1B are served until 3pm everyday. They have two branches:

Apartment 1B SalcedoG/F One Layafette Square
132 L.P. Leviste corner Sedeno Streets
Salcedo Village, Makati
(02) 843 4075

Apartment 1B Rockwell
G/F One Rockwell East
Rockwell, Makati
(02) 869-3530

Another shopping spree

During my shopping spree a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I needed new work pants. However, since the mall was incredibly crowded and the lines in the fitting rooms were very long, I felt it would be too stressful for me to try different pants on so I decided to do more shopping another time. As it turned out, it didn't take too long for me to find my way back to Megamall LOL.

I ended up getting two pairs of pants from G2000. Pretty cool too that they were still on sale when I got them even if the SM 3-day sale was over. Of course, since I was already there, I decided to make the most of it. I ended up getting shorts and another long-sleeved shirt from Old Navy and a collared shirt and shorts from Uniqlo.

The one thing I couldn't find, however, was a long-sleeved shirt that fits perfectly and can be buttoned comfortably around my neck. I have never successfully been able to find such a shirt and I need at least a couple of these to use whenever I attend a formal event and have to wear a tie. Normally, in these situations, I just push my tie all the way up so that my shirt looks liks it is buttoned around my neck even if it isn't. I figure that the only way I can get the perfect shirt is to have one tailor-made. So that's the new plan. Hopefully I can get that sorted out within the next couple of months.

Movie Watching Part 4

I managed to see a few more movies in the cinema these last few weeks.Cool!

Gone Girl

photo courtesy of the Gone Girl wikipedia page

The most recent film I saw. My friend wanted to watch it and since I had been hearing a lot of positive feedback about this movie, I decided to accompany her and see it for myself. It's a really interesting film and while the first half of it seems like something we've already seen before, a lot of eerie twists and turns come up in the latter half that make this movie pretty unique. It is pretty disturbing though, and without going into too much detail as I do not want to spoil this film, people who watch it tend to want to discuss it afterwards. As people were trickling out of the cinema, you could hear everything talking to their companions about it and even my friend had her questions and concerns about it. It's definitely worth watching.

The Maze Runner

photo from The Maze Runner wikipedia page

I accompanied my nephew to see this. Story-wise, this movie starts off with a bit of a "Lord of the Flies" vibe to it as you have a group of young men mysteriously locked in the center of a massive maze. This giant labyrinth is filled with a lot of dangers and no one had ever survived a night in it. Apparently, the movie follows the footsteps of The Hunger Games and Divergent in that it is an adaptation of a novel that has a post-apocalyptic setting and which features young adults and teenagers as its protagonists. I didn't know this when I watched it so the fact that is ends with a lot of unanswered questions left me wanting to see the next installment LOL.

The Book of Life

photo courtesy of The Book of Life wikipedia page

Once again, I took my nephew to see this. It was only when I was watching this that I realized it was a Halloween / Day of the Dead / All Saint's and Souls Day themed movie (talk about being slow LOL). This film involves a complicated love triangle that somehow becomes the center of a very important wager between the rulers of two different levels of the afterlife: the glorious Land of the Remembered and the bleak Land of the Forgotten. Among other things, I think this film tries to encourage and remind children to remember and cherish their loved ones who have passed on. The animation is absolutely impressive and the fact that the images are so vibrant and colorful makes this film very pleasant to watch. Story-wise though, it does feel a bit more suited for young kids.

Incredible pancake artist

I saw a friend of mine post this recently. It's hard enough to draw the face of different apes and monkeys - I can't even do that with a pen and paper - so seeing someone cook pancakes that look like apes and monkeys is just astonishing. Check it out:


video uploaded in youtube by Nathan Shields

New Zodiac

This piece of news went by me and I only found out about it when my colleague shared this info with me recently. Apparently, there has been a new zodiac sign since 2011. The new sign? Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer.

Obviously, fitting in a new sign within the same year means that practically every other zodiac sign will be impacted. With the new 13-sign astrology means, most people will now have a new star sign. Check out the new dates for each zodiac sign, although I don't know why there are overlaps (e.g. May 13, June 21):

Sign			Traditional (tropical) dates	Dates based on the IAU constellations (as of 2011)
	Aries	The Ram	21 March to 20 April	18 April to 13 May
	Taurus	The Bull	21 April to 20 May	13 May to 21 June
	Gemini	The Twins	21 May to 21 June	21 June to 20 July
	Cancer	The Crab	22 June to 22 July	20 July to 10 August
	Leo	The Lion	23 July to 22 August	10 August to 16 September
	Virgo	The Virgin	23 August to 22 September	16 September to 30 October
	Libra	The Scales	23 September to 22 October	30 October to 23 November
	Scorpio	The Scorpion	23 October to 22 November	23 to 29 November
	Ophiuchus	The Serpent Bearer		29 November to 18 December
	Sagittarius	The Archer / Centaur	23 November to 21 December	18 December to 20 January
	Capricorn	The Sea-goat	22 December to 20 January	20 January to 16 February
	Aquarius	The Water Bearer	21 January to 18 February	16 February to 11 March
	Pisces	The Fish	19 February to 20 March	11 March to 18 April

Nadal ends his 2014 season

Nadal yet again ends his season prematurely due to health concerns. This time, though, the issue is not one of the usual suspects. It's actually appendicitis. What I did find a bit strange was that Rafa trudged on and played in a couple of tournaments instead of getting surgery. He ended up losing to people he shouldn't be losing to: Feliciano Lopez in the 2nd round of the Shanghai Masters and Borna Coric in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors. Hopefully he gets to bounce back in 2015 and maybe win another French Open.

In other tennis news, two 33-year olds took home titles. Serena Williams and Roger Federer both won their respective tournaments relatively easily. Serena ends the year ranked #1 and Roger has, for the first time in a couple of years, put himself in a position to take the top ranking on the men's tour.

Joining them in the winner's circle this weekend is Andy Murray who won the Valencia title after having to save five championship points against Tommy Robredo. The unbelievable thing about this is that just a month ago, Andy also had to save five matchpoints in the Shenzhen final, also against Tommy Robredo. This means that in two tournaments, Tommy had 10 championship points total, all against Andy, but he was unable to convert any of them. That has to hurt big-time. In any case, this win now gives Andy Murray a solid chance to make it to the year-end championships.

While we are talking about tennis, Federer has now replaced Nadal and will be joining Murray and Serena in the International Premier Tennis League that will be held in Manila on the November 28-30 weekend. I was in two minds as to whether I wanted to watch this but when I saw that the ticket prices increased (apparently the prices I saw a few months ago were early bird prices) and that Nadal won't be playing anymore, it was like my decision was made for me LOL. Or well, who knows, it's still about a month from now so maybe I will still change my mind. We'll see.

Philippines - Paradise on Earth

I'm lucky to have been able to go around the Philippines a lot but even with my many local travels, there are a lot more places I haven't been to. Seeing this video just makes me more excited to visit more wonderful Philippine destinations.


video uploaded in liveleak by SevenZero

Alqueria Restaurante + Chocolateria and the SM 3-day Sale

This weekend, I went to SM Megamall because my mom was there but her SM Advantage Card was with me (I borrowed it a couple of weeks ago and forgot to return it). My plan was to just pass by to give her the card, maybe have coffee or dinner, then head home. I met up with my mom as she was in the queue to go into H&M. They were clearly trying to manage the number of people inside but my mom said that she didn't really have to be in line very long before she got in and it was worth it because she bought some really good items. She asked me if I wanted to go in with her but at that time, I didn't really feel like falling in line. However, as I had just driven through pretty heavy traffic and I was already there, I decided to look around other shops. What happened next? I ended up buying a long-sleeved shirt in Old Navy, a couple of collared shirts in Izod, and a jacket in Memo. And here I thought I was just passing through Megamall. :)

While shopping, I texted my mom and suggested that we have dinner once she was done. There were a few restaurants on the 3rd floor which is where my mom exited H&M and we decided to have dinner in Alqueria Restaurante + Chocolateria.

Alqueria Restaurante + Chocolateria on the 3rd floor of Megamall, near H&M

We were pretty hungry when we got there so before selecting our main dishes, I decided to order the Huevos Con Chorizo (P218). This appetizer is a pile of crunchy fried potatoes cooked with Spanish chorizo and topped with a fried egg. It was really, really good! The chorizo was so incredibly flavorful and it worked perfectly well with the potatoes and the egg.

Huevos Con Chorizo (P218)

For our main course, we ordered Lengua Estofado (P398) and Paella Valenciana (also P398) and both were really good too. To cap off our meal, my mom and I both had their hot chocolate (P98). It was a bit on the sweet side (I normally like my hot chocolate more bitter) but it was rich and thick and still very good overall.

The restaurant is cozy and has a casual luxury vibe. As Spanish restaurants in Manila go, I think Alqueria is quite affordable (often, Paella Valenciana in other restos would be in the P500 range; here it was under P400). I think it is also new because I tried searching for it online and couldn't find it on munchpunch or zomato and it doesn't have its own facebook page yet. My google search did direct me to this article so apparently, Alqueria is owned by Marvin Agustin and the Sumo Sam Group.

Interior of Alqueria Restaurante + Chocolateria

This was the first time in a really long time that I braved the crowds to go shopping in an SM 3-day sale. Despite the loads of people in the mall at that time, it was still a pretty good and productive evening. I'm thinking of going to Megamall again one of these days to do my own queuing and shopping in H&M. :)

Disco frenzy!

Last year, I got signed up for a dance competition at work. Seems like I did a decent job there because I was called yet again to join the team and we just competed early this afternoon. This year's theme: 70's and 80's disco! Groovy! :)

While I complained last year that we had very little time to prepare, it seems that our 2 weeks of practice then was already a luxury because this time around, we only had one week to prepare. Yikes! To add to the complexity, I initially intended our choreographer to figure out what music to use although I shared a list of suggested songs. However, in the end, I actually made the final selections and also provided which parts of each song we would use. We ended up having a the disco medley that had Donna Summer's MacArthur Park, The Bee Gees' You should be dancing, and Boogie Wonderland by the Earth, Wind and Fire.

Even the costume idea came from me. My initial plan for our costumes got replaced by another design on the first rehearsal day (which I missed due to other work requirements) but when our tailor showed us a sample of that other design, the women in our group realized they weren't so comfortable with it. As such, they ended up going back to my first suggestion. The coolest thing about this was that we actually got awarded "Best Costume" haha. I was shocked given the last minute changes we had to make but when I ended up seeing the video, I realized our costumes did look really good on stage. :)

Apart from that minor award, we also won 2nd place. Woohoo! We were third last year and second this time around so hopefully this trend continues next year. :) However, I think I will have to excuse myself already because being involved in this dance competition is so time-consuming and physically exhausting. (My legs and my back are really sore as I write this blog post.) Now, whether I will be allowed to not participate is another question. :) In any case, I will finally be able to have a good rest tonight.

UAAP domination?

National University won the UAAP season 77 basketball championship, beating FEU quite easily in their final game with a score of 75-59. It's a really impressive come-from-behind win for them tournament-wise, considering that they were on the verge of elimination six times. They had to beat UE to make it to the final four (they did) then beat Ateneo three times in a row to make it to the finals (they did). Once they got to the final, they lost the first game which meant they had to win the next one to stay alive (they did) then win the do-or-die final game when they were tied with FEU at 1-1. That is just amazing.

NU also won the women's basketball title, the men's beach volleyball crown, and the cheerdance competition. This has to put them way ahead of everyone else in terms of overall UAAP championship contention. Will NU continue to dominate the rest of the season? It remains to be seen.

 *****

Volleyball season will be starting in about a month's time. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Bowling

Yesterday's company bowling tournament didn't go so well for me. Despite my solid scores during practice a few days before, I came up terribly short during the actual game as I scored a horrific 90! Ugh, that's the absolute lowest score I have gotten since I first started bowling. I don't know how it happened. I mean, I kept hitting the pocket, bringing down 8 or 9 pins with my first ball, which would normally be a good thing. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up with splits about half the time and either the 7 or 10 pin left standing the other half, making it difficult for me to spare. Since I was hitting the pocket, I wasn't sure what adjustment to make. Thankfully, there were ten of us in the team and only five players were required to play in each round. I told the team not to field me in the rest of the games anymore.

A bowling first for me: I saw someone score 241. It was my teammate who did that in the same round I scored 90 so he more than made up for my bad game. :) I think I've seen someone hit a 220+ score before but never a score over 240. He closed all frames, hitting a turkey as well as a five-bagger and his score was the highest of the day.

Unfortunately for my team, while we had one person on fire (he finished the day with an average that exceeded 170), a lot of other teams had really strong players too and we ended up fourth. Still not bad as we were only one of two teams that had both men and women in the final. Our women's team ended up second, and they did that by coming from behind to beat the third placer by one pin! Talk about cutting it close. :)

Coolest lost and found service ever

This is such a brilliantly innovative idea that strengthens the KLM brand. It greatly reduces the time to return lost items to their owners and it is an amazing display of customer service because items are returned even before their owners realize they lost something. Of course, the fact you have an adorable beagle returning your stuff just makes the whole lost-and-found experience absolutely cool and memorable. :) Check it out:


video uploaded in youtube by KLM

Catch-up lunch

Really good thing that it was a holiday today because I was able to meet up with my long-time high school and college friends for my birthday lunch. The last few weeks (months?) have been unbelievably hectic which made it really difficult for me to find time for our get-together. So when the announcement was made that October 6 would be a public holiday, I figured it would be the best time to have my belated celebration.

We ended up having lunch in Duck & Buvette in Shangri-La Mall because someone requested that we meet up in Ortigas and I had been interested to try this place since I learned about it (I think it's the old Cafe Provençal that rebranded and changed its menu a bit). The food here is really good! Most people didn't have plans until later in the afternoon so I got to hang out with them for a few hours, probably the longest time I spent with everyone in a really long time.

I had intended to go home afterwards but then I realized our company bowling tournament is already next weekend and the last time I played was last year. On a bit of a whim, I decided to practice by myself. I felt I had to because I wanted to increase the weight of the ball I play with. I used to play with the 12-lb ball before switching to the 11-lb ball. However, I somehow realized that since I made that switch, my scores were never as high as they were before. I am guessing my analysis had some merit because today, I played four games and my average went up by 15 pinfalls compared to last year! I also exceeded 150 for the first time in around 9-10 years. Wow! My arm is really sore now (that's what happens when you play four games in a row by yourself with very little breaks) but at least I have several days to rest it before game day. Hopefully our team does really well.

Baking projects that didn't turn out like the photos

I ran across this link a while back. It shows some baking design ideas and (failed) attempts at recreating them. The images made me laugh out loud then and they makes me laugh now:

Backing projects that didn't turn out like the photos

Here's a sample of what you'll see in this link. :)

photo from of lifebuz.com

Of course, the bakers who created these edible works of art spent a lot of time honing their skills so recreating them is a tall order. I just look at them and know they are not easy to do. So when someone doesn't quite get it done, it's not all that surprising. Pretty good for a laugh though. :)

Camera replacement?

I think I know what I'll be getting my mom as a gift this Christmas: a new camera.

During my cousin's debut last weekend, my mom was trying to take a photo of me and some other relatives during the 18 roses presentation when she accidentally dropped her camera. It must have been a bad drop because afterwards, the lens wouldn't retract and the camera wouldn't turn on properly anymore. Thankfully there was no damage to the SD card so all the photos she had on there were safe. While I do intend to have the broken camera looked at first, I believe that the cost of repairing the lens will be close to the price of a brand new camera since the lens system is usually the most expensive part (naturally).

If it does turn out that getting a replacement is the most sensible thing to do, I will need to find someone who has a trip to the US or Singapore since electronics are much cheaper there. I may end up getting the exact same model - the Canon PowerShot SX260 - since it still rates very highly even compared to newer models. Or maybe I can get a waterproof camera instead; that way, my family will have something to use at the beach or pool or any environment where we expect to get wet. Hmm, the more I think about it, the better this option sounds. Ah well, we'll see.

Dancing Traffic Light

Check out this dancing traffic light. I'm not exactly sure where in the world this is it but it's pretty cool.


video uploaded in youtube by smart

Filipinos have had dancing traffic enforcers for maybe a couple of decades already so the concept of providing some form of entertainment on the roads has been known to work. Apparently, this dancing traffic light has resulted in 81% more people stopping at the red light, significantly increasing pedestrian safety. I wonder if we'll ever see these in the country, would be awesome if we did. :)

A Decade and Eight

That's what was written on the invitation to my second cousin Joleena's debut which I attended last night. It's been a really long time since I last attended a debut which is not all that surprising given that I am nowhere near being 18 years old. :) The last one of these events I went to was for the daughter of my friend and I had special participation because my friend asked me to sing "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder as an intermission. This time around, I had a special role again. A couple of them actually.

Weeks back, I was asked if I could be part of the 18 roses ceremony. Naturally, I said yes. Then about a week before, her mom Ate Aileen (I call her Ate because she's closer to my age than my mom's, even if she and my mom are cousins) texted me asking if I could lead the opening prayer. You don't say no to requests like these so I didn't, but I wasn't sure what to say. Another friend gave me some ideas and I looked up some sample prayers online LOL but it wasn't really until about three hours before the party that I finished composing my own prayer. Talk about cramming. :)

My mom also had a special role that night as she was asked to part of the 18 treasures, as was my grand aunt Manang Neneng who was also there. Her daughter Cha (who is actually a lot younger than me so I don't call her tita LOL) was also part of the 18 candles. I guess you could say that the evening was sort of a family reunion too since I got to see several relatives on my mom's side whom I hadn't seen in a while.

Speaking of reunions, just the weekend before, I attended the birthday of Tito Erwin, my uncle on my dad's side of the family. It was great seeing most of my family under good circumstances, especially after Tito Roy and my cousin Doyle both passed away recently. Tito Erwin is a bit of a musician and he plays with a band so he asked his band to join the party and play live music all afternoon. I guess I should have expected this but I got asked to sing a song. My uncle asked me to sing either Spandau Ballet's Gold or U2's With or Without You. Obviously, the choice was easy given that I had performed With or Without You on countless gigs back in the day.

Movie Watching Part 3

After a slow start to the year, I've somehow managed to find enough time in the last few months to catch the latest movies.

Guardians of the Galaxy

photo from the Guardians of the Galaxy wikipedia page

This movie was really good fun. It's rare for superhero movies to not take themselves so seriously and this is exactly what makes Guardians of the Galaxy stand out. I mean, just having a raccoon and a tree (or, well, tree-like creature) in the cast of accidental and misfit heroes is bound to make things uniquely entertaining. That said, I'm not exactly with most people who are raving that this is the best superhero movie ever and that it is one of their favorite films (it has an 92% approval rating in Rotten Tomatoes). Personally, I think Captain America: The Winter Soldier is better. That said, while Guardians of the Galaxy is not my favorite, it is still really good and an absolute fun movie to watch.

The Giver

photo from The Giver wikipedia page

I didn't know what to expect when I watched this film since I didn't know anyone else who had seen it. It is about a utopian society that looks great and perfect on the outside but as we know, there is always more to it than meets the eye. I like how the deep, dark secrets of this world are slowly revealed as the movie progresses. It's not all that critically acclaimed but it did get me thinking about the validity of concept and ideas of creating such a utopian society. It got me to thinking about where we need to draw the line in terms of what we should and shouldn't do but it also made me realize that this line will be different depending on who you ask. Overall, despite the low critic ratings, I thought it was decent. Of course, for me, it helps that Meryl Streep is in the cast. :)

Into the Storm

photo from the Into the Storm wikipedia page

One of the most unique movie-watching experiences of my life; there were only three of us watching during the last full show! I didn't realized until I saw it that it was about storm chasers who are trying to study tornadoes. Pretty much like an updated version of Twister. As such, it was almost automatic for me to compare the two movies and I will say that I liked Twister a whole lot better. The effects were incredible but I never really warmed to, or connected with, the characters. I guess it was good for me to see it since it was a check-your-brain-at-the-door kind of film and you would just watch it for the "action" and the effects and I needed to see one of the films the night I saw it. However, would I recommend it? Probably not, unless it was on cable TV and you had nothing better to watch at that time.

Wonderful night

Ah, the comfort of true, beautiful friendship. My friend Amy has been living abroad for more than a decade already and I hadn't seen her in years. That is, until last weekend. She came home to Manila for a few days and we made sure to catch up while she was here. The evening didn't start out that great though because on my drive to Eastwood along C5 late at night, I ran into horrendous traffic because there was a major accident on the bridge. This caused me to be an hour late. However, I did eventually make it and the rest of the way was great.

What's amazing about these kinds of friendships are that even if you don't see each other for years, when you finally do, you very easily pick up from where you left off. It's safe and happy and you just feel blessed. Hopefully the next time I see Amy again won't take as long.

Gearing up for Miss Saigon's 25th anniversary

How time flies. It has now been 25 years since Miss Saigon premiered in London. For Filipinos like me who grew up in the 80s, this musical was a huge deal. It paved the way for Lea Salonga to become a global artist, and her portrayal of Kim earned her a Laurence Olivier award and a Tony. Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil, and Nicholas Hytner all came to Manila to do auditions here and as a result, several other Filipinos were also cast.

The exciting thing about this 25th anniversary staging is that the three main cast members from the original London West End production will reprise their roles: Lea Salonga as Kim, Simon Bowman as Chris, and Jonathan Pryce as the engineer. You can read more about it in this link. I will definitely look out for the DVD recording of this event and get a copy when it gets released.

FIBA Most Valuable Fans Country Award: Philippines!

The Gilas Pilipinas frenzy definitely made a significant mark in the recently concluded FIBA World Cup. The Philippines was just awarded the Most Valuable Fans (MVF) Country Award!

Read more about it here.


video uploaded in youtube by FIBA

Karaoke 4x

I hadn't been to videoke places a lot in the last couple of years so I guess it was a bit of a change for me to find myself singing the night away four times in a span of two weeks with four different sets of friends.

I purchased a couple of Centerstage vouchers on Deal Grocer that were expiring in August. I had intended to use them in July but somehow, my schedule got really crazy and I couldn't use them then. As such, I had to schedule their use within the last week of August to make sure they didn't expire. The first one, I used with my friends from our music band club at work. We planned to enjoy a karaoke night after we went to Relik for their acoustic singalong night and decided we needed to sing again.

The second voucher, I used a week after that, this time with my friends from our corporate social responsibility organization at work. It was kind of a reunion for the ten of us since six of the people in that group had already left the company and the last time we were all together was in our last reunion about a year ago.

However, my voice was really hoarse that night because I was also in Centerstage the night before. It wasn't planned though. One of my teammates at work resigned and we threw an impromptu despedida for him. Normally we would just go out to the neighborhood pub and drink until the sun came up but one of the guys recommended we go out and have a karaoke night and everyone else agreed.

Finally, a week later, I joined an ex-officemate and some of our other friends for a night in Chicago KTV. I got there quite late because I was double-booked so I thought that people would be leaving shortly after I got there. Somehow we ended up having lots of videoke fun for a few more hours before calling it a night.

Not sure now when the next karaoke night will but I probably have had more than my fair share this year already. Or then again, maybe not. :)

UP Pep Squad 2nd for the 2nd straight year

The UP Pep Squad fell short of taking back the UAAP Cheerdance crown, with NU putting in a superb and impressive display to defend their title.

However, the UP Pep Squad have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. While they may not have won the title, they made a massive statement. Their theme: "pantay-pantay" (equal, everyone is the same). How they showed it: women lifting men! Wow!!! Check out this tweet by FullCourtFresh (aside from the women at the 2nd level of the pyramid, check out the base of the central guy!)

Guys being carried by the girls! UP Pep Squad cheers for equality! #UAAPCDC2014 @UPMaroons pic.twitter.com/V59Bxtqebj
— Fullcourtfresh.com (@FCFph) September 14, 2014

Unfortunately for the UP Pep Squad, no extra points are given for female lifters and male flyers. As such, they had to settle for first runner up again. Nevertheless, second place in this highly competitive event is nothing to sneeze at. More than that, this UAAP cheerdancing moment will be remembered in Philippine sporting history, when UP put on an amazing display of women empowerment and gender equality.

Heads up, UP Pep Squad!

Goodbye, Mandarin Oriental Manila

The Mandarin Oriental Manila, which opened in Makati back in 1976, finally closed its doors last Tuesday, September 9 after 38 years of operation. I learned about this a couple of months ago and I mentioned it in a previous blog post so it's not a shock but it is still quite sad. I've stayed here before and I also dined in a couple of their restaurants several times, including Paseo Uno which had a pretty awesome buffet.

There's a really good article written by the last guest to check out of the hotel that's worth reading. He took a video of his final check out that you can see here:


video uploaded in youtube by amadeusiom

As is true with most goodbyes, this one was quite emotional. The article I shared does say that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group did a lot of work to try and help their staff find new jobs. There are also plans to open a new Mandarin hotel in 2020. Until then, I will say farewell to this Makati landmark and wish its ex-staff and management all the best.

What a US Open that was

Contrasting but compelling results in both the men's and women's singles events at the recently concluded US Open. Serena Williams eased through her draw as she won the US Open title. This is now her 6th trophy at Flushing Meadows and her 18th Grand Slam title overall and it puts her alongside Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert who both have that same number of majors. Only three other women have won more in history (Margaret Court with 24, Steffi Graf with 22, and Helen Wills Moody with 19).

Interestingly enough, Roger Federer was gunning for the same thing. A win her would be his 6th US Open title and his 18th overall. When Novak Djokovic was stunned in the first men's semifinal by Kei Nishikori, lots of people started thinking Federer would walk away with the title and the US Open results would be symmetrical on the men's and women's sides. However, Saturday proved to be the day of shockers. Marin Cilic played utterly sublime tennis and channeled the amazing serving ability of his coach Goran Ivanisevic as he swept past Federer en route to his first Grand Slam tournament final.

I don't think anyone in the world expected that. People were predicting a Djokovic-Federer final, a battle between the top 2 seeds of the tournament (current world #2 Rafa Nadal didn't play), and when both of them were in the semis, it seemed all but certain. Clearly, Nishikori and Cilic didn't get the memo. As such, we witnessed the first time since the Australian Open 2005 (more than 9 years ago) that not one among Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic made it to the final. It was also the first time since 1997 where both US Open men's finalists were appearing in their first ever Grand Slam event final.

In the end, Cilic maintained his superb level of play all the way to the end as he took home the title. Nishikori just didn't have the answers he had against Raonic, Wawrinka, and Djokovic. For the first time since 2003, two of the year's four majors didn't go to the tennis big three. End of an era? Maybe not, or at least not yet. But it is clear that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are no longer as absolutely dominant as they used to be. Should be interesting to see how things pan out in 2015.

Congratulations Philippine Dragon Boat team!

This is about a week late but it still deserves a blog post. Gilas Pilipinas isn't the only Philippine sports team that brought glory to the country last week. The PKCF National Team participated in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships held in Poland last August 28-31, winning several events and doing the country proud.

photo source: http://dragonboat.ph, courtesy of Balint Vekassy (ICF) from canoephotography.com

The Philippine team competed in 11 events (I think there were a total of 42) and amazingly, they won a medal in every single event they contested. They finished with a total of five golds, three silvers, and three bronzes. That's absolutely incredible! Read more about their success and check out their medal tally in this link.

Way to go, Philippine Dragon Boat team!

Laban Pilipinas! Go Gilas! #Puso

Way to go, Gilas Pilipinas! Our national basketball made it back to the FIBA World Cup for the first time in decades and put on a display that had the entire world taking notice. They were one win short of a possible spot in the quarterfinal knockout round but they made it close in practically every game. After heartbreaking losses to Croatia, Puerto Rico, and world #3 Argentina, Gilas Pilipinas finally got a win against Senegal in their last game. What a brilliant way to end their FIBA World Cup campaign! :)

The Gilas Pilipinas players must have been about a foot shorter on average than their competition and during the games, you could see our guys standing up to only about chest height of their opponents. We also lacked the experience that other teams had in playing at this level of international basketball. Nevertheless, what they lacked in experience and height, they more than made up for in heart. They were underdogs who proved to everyone that they deserved their spot here in the world stage. They even got many non-Filipinos around the world rooting for them! That's pretty awesome. :)

This return to the FIBA World Cup, where they made it really tough for their world-class opponents and took home a win for the first time in 40 years, should give Gilas Pilipinas a lot of confidence moving forward. In the meantime, the team along with an entire nation can celebrate a solid overall performance. Congratulations Gilas Pilipinas! What an effort!