Throwback: Ghent

(While going through my old blog posts, I realized that some of the most interesting things I've written about are my travel experiences. There are a few places I got to visit before I launched this blog back in 2005 and I thought it would be good if I write about those trips as well.)

Ghent is a Flemish city located 55 kilometers from Brussels. It was hailed as "Europe's best kept secret" and a must-see destination by Lonely Planet and National Geographic listed it as the third most historic site in the world. I learned about Ghent from friends who highly recommended a visit here and I was able to see it twice: first when I took my friend Omar there and again when I took Duncan and Amy to see it a week later.

This city is known for its three towers: St. Nicholas' Church, the Belfort, and St. Bavo's Cathedral. One of the most popular spots in the city to have your photo taken is on the St. Michael's Bridge where you have a full view of the three towers. I didn't know about this at the time but I didn't need anyone to tell me to have my photo taken there. :)

View of the three towers from the edge of St. Michael's Bridge

St. Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk) is one of the oldest landmarks in the city, dating back to 13th century. This Gothic structure was built using blue-gray stone from the Tournai area.

Photo taken from the back of St. Nicholas' Church

The interior of the church is just as striking as the outside, with its stunning altar flanked by beautiful columns.

The Belfort stands at 91 meters, making it the tallest of Ghent's three towers and also the tallest belfry in Belgium. You can see spectacular panoramic views of the city from the top but unfortunately, I didn't go inside.

The 91-meter tall Belfort

Just a couple of meters shy of the Belfort is St. Bavo's Cathedral (Sint-Baafskathedraal). This church is known for housing the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. This 12-panel altarpiece was created by Hubert and Jan van Eyck and it is considered to be one of the greatest Belgian masterpieces and one of the most significant works of the Northern Renaissance. (I realize that I didn't take a photo of this piece - I'm guessing people aren't allowed to take photos inside? - but you can view it here).

The 89-meter tall tower of St. Bavo's Cathedral

Apart from the Ghent Altarpiece, one of the most interesting things inside the church is the impressively intricate truth pulpit.

Truth puplit in St. Bavo's Cathedral

The beautiful St. Michael's Bridge crosses over one of the city's many elegant canals. While I didn't experience it myself, boat trips along these canals are a popular and recommended way to explore Ghent.

St. Michael's Bridge

Gravensteen Castle was rebuilt in 1180 by Count Philip of Alsace. It name actually means "castle of the counts" although this structure has served other purposes over the centuries, such as a prison and even a factory.

Gravesteen Castle

Gravensteen houses a museum that contains, among many other historical artifacts, a collection of medieval weapons and armor. Apparently, you can actually run into a knight (or, well, someone in a knight costume) while in the castle but I don't know if this is a new attraction or if I just didn't run into one when I was there.

I also got to visit Het Groot Vleeshuis. This restaurant is located in the Great Butcher's Hall that has been in Ghent since the middle ages and it promotes local East Flemish food and produce. It is notable for the hams that hang from the ceiling.

Het Groot Vleeshuis

Beyond the many places of historical significance and interest, what makes Ghent worth visiting is its charm. Just walking around the cobblestone streets of the city, with its abundance of great architecture, is a satisfying experience all by itself. A plethora of quaint and elegant cafes and dining options make it very comfortable to spend time here.

I've read that Ghent is the city where most Belgians would like to travel to within their country. After having a chance to see it for myself, I can understand why.

Next up: Bruges.

Throwback: Living in Brussels Part 2

(While going through my old blog posts, I realized that some of the most interesting things I've written about are my travel experiences. There are a few places I got to visit before I launched this blog back in 2005 and I thought it would be good if I write about those trips as well.)

Instead of heading back home for Christmas during my 3-month stint in Brussels, I asked my mom if she wanted to visit me instead. That way, we could go around Europe without my mom having to take too many days off. She agreed and we got to visit Rome, Athens, Paris, and Lourdes over the Christmas holidays. We finally returned to Brussels on December 31. I do regret not heading to the Grand Place to experience the New Year countdown and celebration there but I was really tired from all the traveling so at I didn't feel like getting dressed and walking 30-45 minutes in the cold. That was the first, and so far only, time I spent Christmas and New Year's Day outside of the Philippines.

Christmas trees adorned the Grand Place during the Yuletide season.

My mom wasn't the only person who visited me. I had a few friends and colleagues who were based in the UK the time - Brian, Kuki, Omar, and Amy and Duncan - and they all visited Brussels at different times. I naturally met up with them and in most cases, I performed tour guide duties by bringing them to Bruges and Ghent.

One of the things I loved about working in Brussels was our great office. It was campus-style with really nice buildings and lots of open space. The cafeteria is also one of the best I've been to. After lunch, my colleagues would normally walk around the office grounds and I would always join them.

When my Belgium assignment was finalized, a colleague in Manila introduced me virtually to Daday, another Filipino who had been working in our Belgian office for many years already. I think he knew her because they worked together before. I first met up with Daday face-to-face for coffee in the office and we've been friends ever since; 12 years later and we still make it a point to see each other every so often.

It was through Daday that I got to meet a lot of other Filipinos based in Belgium. I got to meet many of them during a Filipino gathering in Leuven and as it turns out, there are a lot of Filipino priests living in this city. Of course, it wouldn't be a Pinoy event if there was no karaoke LOL. I still remember one of the songs I sang - "I don't have the heart" by James Ingram.

The magnificently elaborate Leuven Town Hall

On my second to the last weekend in Europe, I decided to spend a weekend in Paris. While my mom and I went to Paris during her visit, we were essentially only passing through because our intent was to go to Lourdes. As such, I decided to take another trip to get to see more of the French capital while I still had the chance.

I revisited Paris on my second to the last weekend in Belgium.

The downside to taking a few trips to other countries and bringing my friends to Bruges and Ghent during the weekends is that I ended up not finding the time to see a few places in Brussels that I would have loved to visit, such as the Atomium and Cinquantenaire. I also didn't get to go inside any of the museums at the Grand Place. The biggest shame, however, was me not getting to try a Belgian waffle. They cost only 1-2 Euros and there were a lot of Belgian waffle shops scattered near the Grand Place and all over the city. I guess I need to visit Belgium again so I can do a few of the things I missed out doing while I was there. :)

More beautiful buildings at the Grand Place

My final weekend in Brussels was spent with the Filipino community again. Daday was celebrating her birthday and she decided that her party would serve as my despedida as well. The celebration lasted the whole day and apart from the karaoke singing, what I distinctly remember was the abundance of food. We were there for lunch and a lot of us stayed until dinner and even then there was still so much food left over. Daday actually had me take some food home with me.

In my last few days in Belgium, I invited my colleagues for a round of drinks in a bar not far from the office. On my last day, I got a few small boxes of Leonidas which I gave as parting tokens for the apartment building staff. Since my cleaning lady wasn't there, I asked the receptionist (who of course also received a box) to give it on my behalf and she told me that the cleaning lady would be very happy to receive a 'thank you' gift.

I will be writing about my trips to Ghent and Bruges next.

Throwback: Living in Brussels Part 1

(While going through my old blog posts, I realized that some of the most interesting things I've written about are my travel experiences. There are a few places I got to visit before I launched this blog back in 2005 and I thought it would be good if I write about those trips as well.)

I had the great fortune to be assigned to a project in Brussels for three months back in late 2002 to early 2003. During my stay there, I lived in a pretty decent serviced apartment that was a liesurely 30-45 minute walk away from the Grand Place.

I took this photo while walking from the Grand Place to my apartment.

While I had a fully furnished kitchen, I barely used it. There was a Hector Chicken near my place where I would often buy my dinner. The alley where I lived, Rue Jourdan, also had a few good restaurants and I frequented the Chinese restaurant and the Brick-oven pizza place there.

Rue Jourdan at night

It was during this stay in Brussels that I discovered Hoegaarden wheat beer. I would sometimes buy a six-pack and drink the beer over a few days. I would also often buy a box of Leonidas chocolates to enjoy after dinner. I normally told myself that I would have only three pieces but I would somehow keep saying 'one more' to myself until I eventually consumed half the box LOL. Suffice it to say that I gained a bit of weight during my Belgian stay. :) This weight gain triggered me to start running regularly when I got back home.

The living room of my serviced apartment

There was a Catholic church very close to where I lived and I would normally hear mass there at around 6pm on Sundays, even if it was celebrated in French. There are churches in Brussels where masses are celebrated in English but those were not very near where I lived and the masses were held earlier in the day. As such, I stuck with the French version, even if I didn't understand what was being said. It was here that I learned that in other countries, the way that people offer peace to other mass-goers is to shake their hand (in the Philippines, we just nod to each other.

I still remember the day that I arrived. As it was winter, the skies were dark and gray. My relocation agent took me to my apartment and she also drove me from there to the office and back. I didn't need to work that day but I requested her to drive me so that I could figure out the driving directions to work (this, of course, was back when GPS wasn't readily available as it is now). My car (rented from Hertz) was ready upon my arrival. This was the first time I experienced driving in another country.

My car

Despite my relocation agent showing me the way to the office, I got massively lost driving to work the next day. It was still dark when I headed out and the roads and landmarks looked very different so I ended up taking the wrong exit. I drove aimlessly around the city trying to figure out how to get back but by sheer luck, I accidentally found my way to the office. But not after being lost for about 1 1/2 hours! Thankfully, there were no more untoward incidents driving to and from work after that.

I did have a few more memorable driving moments in Brussels. I experienced driving from one country to another for the first time in my life. My Filipino friend Brian visited Belgium and while he was there, we decided to drive to Luxembourg, which was about 2 hours away by car. We had no issues getting there but we got terribly lost in Brussels on our way home. We had to ask for directions many times before eventually finding our way. The same thing happened to me when my mom visited. On her last day, I drove her to the airport and I got massively lost heading back. I later discovered that the reason I kept getting lost was that I was following taking the wrong exit from the expressway. Apparently, when driving back from the airport or the expressway to the Brussels City Center (which is where I lived), the easiest route is to follow the signs to Leuven and not to Brussels.

Me in Luxembourg

I also discovered that during rush hour, traffic can be pretty brutal in Brussels as well, especially in the inner ring. On one particularly strange day, the traffic was backed up and I actually saw about five minor collisions. Wow! Many of my Belgian colleagues told me that they try to avoid driving in Brussels as they themselves have experienced getting a bit lost or being stuck in traffic.

I also experienced driving in snow for the first time. As I headed out the garage to go to work one morning, I saw that it was snowing a lot! Despite driving really carefully, I was still very anxious. The most heart-pounding moment was when light changed at an intersection. I stepped lightly on my brakes so that I would slowly draw to a halt but my car felt like it was slipping. I was so worried that my car would go all the way to the middle of the intersection but thankfully my car stopped in time. That still rates as one of the scariest driving experiences I've had in my life.

A snow-covered car (not mine)

Because of the weather, I did get to experience my first "Winter Wonderland" as the ground was covered under a blanket of snow.

I also experienced my coldest temperature at -13 Celsius, and that hasn't taken into account the windchill factor. To make things worse, during that period of tremendous cold, I had to attend a 3-day training in our production plant. Unfortunately, the training room was in the opposite end of the plant and you had to walk outdoors to get there; you couldn't walk inside the plant. It was about a five minute walk outdoors in below zero temperatures. As if that wasn't enough, the cafeteria was right next to the plant entrance. So everyday, through the frigid weather, we had to walk 5 minutes to the training room at the start of the day, 5 minutes to the cafeteria for lunch break, 5 minutes to the training room again after lunch, then 5 (or more) minutes back to the parking lot to head home. Even my European colleagues were having major difficulties with the cold!

More memorable moments during my stint in Belgium in my next post.

Throwback: Belgium

(While going through my old blog posts, I realized that some of the most interesting things I've written about are my travel experiences. There are a few places I got to visit before I launched this blog back in 2005 and I thought it would be good if I write about those trips as well.)

Belgium was the second country I visited outside the Philippines. When I started work at my second company, I was told that I needed to fly to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Talk about a pleasant surprise! A few weeks later and I was in Europe for the first time in my life.

The Museum of the City of Brussels at the Grand Place

I had always wanted to visit Europe and walking through the cobblestone streets while braving the winter cold (it was mid-March so spring hadn't arrived yet) was a truly amazing experience.

At the Grand Place

This trip could very well have started out as a major embarrassment for me. I remember looking at my itinerary and thinking my flight was at 10:40pm. I arrived at the airport at around 8:20pm and there was no line at the check-in counter. Strange! I tell the person at the counter that I am checking into the 10:40pm flight and I was told there was no such flight. There was, however, an 8:40pm flight. I panic a bit and look at my ticket. Damn! It said 2040H, meaning 8:40pm! How on earth could I have read that incorrectly as 10:40pm? Given the situation, I was checked in very quickly and someone from the airline helped me through immigration and customs (I was prioritized). Thankfully, our flight was also delayed so I made it. Major embarrassment averted!

The best place to visit in Brussels, in my opinion, is Grote Markt, or the Grand Place. It is a large square in the center of the city that is surrounded by magnificent European architecture. It's actually a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Horse-drawn carriage passing through the Grand Place

Fortunately for me, my hotel was only a short walking distance from the Grand Place so I visited this square almost every night as well as on the Saturday before I left (there are a lot of chocolate stores, souvenir shops, and restaurants around this area). I have gotten to see quite a few European city squares over the years and I do think the Grand Place is definitely one of the best city squares I've seen.

The Brussels Town Hall. I took this photo a few years later, during my

3-month assignment in Belgium, using my first digital camera.

Just a few blocks away from the Grand Place is another famous tourist spot in the city: the Manneken Pis. This landmark is a two-foot-tall bronze statue of a little boy pissing water into the fountain below. There are several legends about this statue but the one I am most familiar with is that the Manneken Pis was built after a young boy who saved the city by peeing onto the burning fuse of explosives, thus preventing Brussels from being blown up.

The Manneken Pis dressed in costume

The Manneken Pis is often dressed in costume, as it was the first time I saw it. But as I had the opportunity to visit Brussels a few more times and even live there for a few months, I also saw the statue in its original bare state too.

Manneken Pis, unadorned

In my first trip to Brussels, my flight back to Manila was on Saturday evening so I decided to take a train ride from Brussels to Antwerp. I didn't really get to see much of the city that is known as the diamond capital of the world. I only got to see Antwerp's Grote Markt or Market Square, where I had my photo taken with a couple of the amazing buildings there, including the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, or Cathedral of our Lady,

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, or Cathedral of our Lady, at the Antwerp Grote Markt

and the Antwerp City Hall.

Antwerp City Hall

In November of that same year, I had my second business trip to Belgium. Interestingly enough, it was scheduled in winter once again, and this time I saw snow for the first time. The purpose of this trip was to attend the first (and as it turned out, only) meeting of all employees working in that same global team I was. People from many different countries were there, including the US, Venezuela, Thailand, and even other parts of Europe.

My colleagues from Belgium, US, Thailand, and Venezuela

While having dinner with my global teammates one night, I had a realization as everyone was laughing at a joke that someone cracked: as different as we all were culturally, we were all also still the same. Everyone was interested in listening to each other's stories and experiences, we all enjoyed the same food, and we got excited about the same things (my Venezuelan counterpart was just as excited about his first snow experience as I was). It was also over this particular dinner that I discovered that I have a taste for green olives as I actually consumed a bowlful of them all by myself.

Other food-and-drink experiences: I discovered Leonidas chocolates. When they were eventually released in the Philippines, they naturally cost a lot more here (about 3-4 times more). I was always the most popular guy whenever I returned from Brussels with boxes of these Belgian chocolates for my friends and colleagues to enjoy. :) I also got to try many different beers such as Leffe and Chimay. I was told by my colleague that different beers have different glasses because apparently, the shape of the beer glass directly impacts the taste and aroma of the beer that is poured into it. I also learned that French fries may have actually originated from Belgium. I also got to try Moules et frites, or mussels and fries, the national dish of Belgium.

I did mention that I had an opportunity to live in Belgium for three months so I will write about that next.

Family day

My brother turned a year older recently so of course my family headed out to celebrate. The day started with my other brother and my mom taking my nephews to their school family day. Their event ended shortly after 12 noon so we, including my grandmother, all had lunch at Pinac Heirloom Kapampangan Cuisine in UP Town Center. I had eaten there before but this was my family's first visit. We ordered a lot of dishes, including the Baby Back Braised Beef Humba, Beef Caldereta Eggplant Pargmigiano, Tortang Balasenas, and Ensaladang Pako with Fried Itik Floss, and everything was tremendously good! The dishes here are also very affordable as most of the menu items are in the P150-300 range. I will certainly be visiting this place again.

Since my grandmother had already gone to the cemetery earlier in the day (i.e. I didn't need to take her anymore), I asked her if she wanted to watch a movie instead. She said she wanted to see Crazy Beautiful You starring Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. I was going to take her to see it but my brother volunteered to watch the film with her instead. So while they were at the cinema, I went shopping LOL. I now have a new sports shirt (been meaning to get one for a while now) and a Big Hero 6 DVD which I have already watched. :)

To make it an official birthday celebration, I brought home an 8-inch Red Velvet Cake from Karen's Kitchen for my family and the smaller, 3-inch solo version for my grandmother. I only discovered this dessert place recently and I love their red velvet cake! When my family tried it, they really enjoyed it too. I got home quite late in the evening and I was really tired after driving around the city all day but it was all worth it as I had an absolutely fantastic and blissful time with my family.

Japanese Precision Walking

I saw this video a while back and I was really impressed. The most incredible part however happens quite early, at around 1:47 to 2:15. That segment just blows my mind!


video uploaded in youtube by YoshikawaTakeshi

Apparently, this precision walking is called Shuudan Koudou (which means 'Collection Action'). Read more about Shuudan Koudou here.

Rafa wins in Argentina

Congratulations to Rafa Nadal for winning the Argentina Open! This tournament was a minor one but it is an important win nonetheless. Not only is this Nadal's first title of the year but it is also his first in nearly nine months. His last win before this? The French Open in June last year.

photo courtesy of AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano (source: http://espn.go.com/tennis)

This is Rafa's 65th title, allowing him to move past Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg to take solo fifth spot in the all-time men's list of most Open Era titles won. Hopefully, this gives Nadal the confidence he needs to regain his top form and maybe even win another trophy at Roland Garros.

A handful of reunions

I had a pretty good week last week as I got to meet up with a few sets of friends over the course of a few days.

Reunion #1
I met up with some of my college friends during the week while Nem and his family were in town. Actually, I almost didn't make it since I had several issues at work. However, since I was unable to join the 1st birthday celebration of Nem's daughter a few days before, I felt I needed to meet up with them that night while Nem was still here. Dinner was supposed to be at 7PM in SM North Edsa so I decided to schedule my meetings that day in our QC office so that it would be relatively easy for me to join them. As it turned out, I only made it to SM North by 9pm so I just got to join my friends for ice cream and coffee at the Magnolia Flavor House at the SM North Sky Garden. The last time I recall visiting SM North was maybe around 10 years ago so it was my first time back in ages. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay too long because I had another important meeting at 10:30pm so I said goodbye to everyone. Not the best t

Reunion #2
I had dinner in Balboa in Shangri-La Mall with a few of my Yaminoy friends last Saturday: Eliza, Marie, Beck and Meg. It's amazing how we all initially became friends because we were crazy fans of AI 5 contestant Elliott Yamin but our friendship has grown over the years. We had dinner at Balboa and we talked about a whole lot of stuff; after all, we hadn't seen each other in a while. In fact, I think the last time I saw Beck was during the concert of The Killers back in September 2013. We left Balboa at around 9:30 pm because I wanted to pass by Happy Cream Puff before the mall closed. I tried this place once and I really like their cream puffs so I bought one for myself and almost everyone else got at least one either for themselves or their families. (Eliza ate hers almost immediately and said that it was indeed really good.) At that point, there were a lot more stories to share so we moved to Poetry & Prose Patisserie (it was my first time there) where we had coffee and dessert until the shop closed at midnight.

Reunion #3
As if my Saturday night wasn't long enough, I headed to the surprise birthday party of Jam, who was part of the first team that I led. When I arrived at around half past midnight, the gang, including Jeoff, Case, Migs, and of course Jam and her husband, were just about to start playing Avalon so I joined in. This game is actually just a variant of Resistance which I had played before. The key difference is the addition of two roles: Merlin and the Assassin. Cool! We played four rounds and I actually won three times, once as a spy and twice as the resistance. Afterwards, we played One Night Ultimate Werewolf. I feel that this game involves some strategy and a lot of luck; I was a bit annoyed when I was supposed to be a villager and I successfully killed the werewolf but as I flipped my card, apparently, the troublemaker swapped my card with someone and I ended up being one of the werewolves as well so I lost haha. However, the variety of roles, the interesting night actions, the cool tribal-war music of the app (the link I provided above uses the cricket sounds; the tribal war music is much better), and the fact that one round is completed in under 10 minutes does make it a fun game to play with friends. I ended up hanging out until past 4am before deciding to call it a night. Learn more about Avalon and One Night Ultimate Werewolf.

A Night at Lola Cafe + Bar

I had been to Lōla Cafe + Bar once before and I had been wanting to try this place again since. My friend Raych is in town and so we scheduled dinner with her while she was here. Since the request was to meet in QC, I suggested Lola Cafe. Thankfully, most of us - Jette, Ric, Bett and Lany - were able to make it.

Lōla Cafe + Bar

We decided to dine family-style so that we could try many different dishes. We got three appetizers. The Pesto Fries (P220) are crispy fries served with pesto, tomato sauce and topped with a sunny side egg. There's a bit of tableside presentation as our waiter actually cut up the egg and mixed it into the dish after she brought it to our table.

Pesto Fries (P220)

We also ordered the Two Sausages (P200). One sausage is chicken and the other is a spicy Hungarian Sausage. This appetizer was a big hit and I really enjoyed it.

Two Sausages (P200)

Lola's Garlic Rolls (P280) proved to be quite a revelation as well. These ciabatta rolls are served with olive oil, oregano, parmesan, and chopped garlic and they were so good! We actually enjoyed them as a side dish as they perfectly complemented a lot of the main dishes we ordered.

Lōla's Garlic Rolls (P280)

I recommended the Adobo Balsamic Chicken (P330) because I had tried it before and loved it. As its name implies, it is cooked with balsamic vinegar instead of the normal vinegar used in regular adobo. It's a delicious twist to a Filipino classic.

Adobo Balsamic Chicken (P330)

We also ordered the Kare-Kare (P350). While I do wish there were more vegetables in this dish, it was very tasty.

Kare-Kare (P350)

Jette had also eaten here before and she recommended the Spicy Tinapa Pasta (P215). It packs a lot of heat and a lot of good flavor too.

Spicy Tinapa Pasta (P215)

The Tenderloin Skewers (P300) were grilled beef tenderloin medallions served with tomatoes and pita bread.

Tenderloin Skewers (P300)

All the dishes we ordered were really good and while we were eating, Raych actually said that our dinner venue was a good choice. Bett also said that she really loved the tomatoes that came with most of our dishes and we all agreed. We rounded out our evening with a few desserts. The one I enjoyed the most was the Banoffee Pie (P150).

Banoffee Pie (P150)

I loved the presentation of the Pistachio Pavlova (P99) as we had three meringues presented on a thin stone slab. However, while the flavor was good, the meringue was impossible to slice with a knife; they kept crumbling. Might be a better idea to just pick them up and bite them.

Pistachio Pavlova (P99)

The Tiramisu (P160) is different from the usual preparation of this classic Italian dessert. Instead of the traditional mascarpone cheese filling, this one seems to have been filled with ice cream.

Tiramisu (P160)

Of course, our evening wasn't all about the food. As most of us hadn't seen each other in a really long time - it was probably 4-5 years since we last saw Raych - there was a whole lot of catching up to do. Many stories were shared and we got to look back at our many years of friendship. We also talked about possibly meeting up one more time while Raych is still in town since other friend Chari will be to returning to Manila soon. It was a truly enjoyable evening.

Lola Cafe + Bar is a perfect place to enjoy a good meal with family and friends. The food is great and affordable (the most expensive dish we ordered was P350), the ambience is cozy, there's ample parking space, the restaurant is quite easy to find, and the service is good. I will definitely be visiting this place again.

Lola Cafe + Bar
99 Scout Lozano, Quezon City
(02) 501-2620
Lola Cafe + Bar is at the corner of Scout Lozano and Scout Tuason in QC. Scout Tuason is parallel to Tomas Morato and just one street away.

Big Hero 6 wins an Oscar!

Congratulations to Big Hero 6 for winning the Best Animated Film award at the Oscars!

photo courtesy of http://entertainment.inquirer.net

This was a big pleasant surprise for me because The Lego Movie was winning most of the awards leading up to the Oscars and any award it didn't win went to How to Train Your Dragon 2. However, the Lego Movie was shockingly not nominated at the Oscars. While this major snub made How to Train your Dragon 2 a frontrunner in the animated film race, it did open the door for Big Hero 6 to possibly snag the award. And it did!

The Lego Movie is edgy and witty and different from most other animated films, making it stand out. The buzz about, or attraction to, How to Train Your Dragon 2 may also be coming from the fact that its brilliant first installment was massively overshadowed by Toy Story 3 (strangely enough, I actually prefer the first How to Train your dragon over Toy Story 3 even if the Pixar film was a hands-down favorite among many and it won Best Animated film that year). That said, I really enjoyed Big Hero 6 a lot more than The Lego Movie and How to Train Your Dragon 2. I have written in the past that it is my favorite 2014 movie, live or animated, so I am really happy that it took home the Oscar.

The Golden Girls on Hits TV

Thanks to Skycable channel 137 Hits TV, I've been able to enjoy once again one of my favorite comedies from the 80's to early 90's, The Golden Girls. It is currently being aired on Hits TV from Mondays to Fridays but there is also a mini-marathon of five episodes on Sundays, from 7 to 9:30 PM. Apart from this being a great show, it also has one of my all-time favorite TV show themes, Thank you for being a friend. Check it out here:


video uploaded in youtube by Travis Huffman

Despite The Golden Girls being a few decades old (it was on from 1985 to 1992), I still find it very entertaining and funny. Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty have such amazing chemistry on screen, and the characters they portray are all very interesting in their own unique ways. You'd think that a show about four retired women would cater only to senior citizens and yet somehow, while the show was on, it regularly topped its time slot, was ranked in the top 10 highest-rated programs in six of its seven seasons, and always achieved more than 10 million viewers on average. I guess you can attribute that to a supremely talented cast and great writing. I'm just grateful that Hits TV has brought this show back for its Filipino fans to enjoy.

Volleyball night

Our volleyball club at work organizes games quite regularly nowadays. Since I was available earlier tonight, I decided to play. It was the first time I hit the court in four months and I wasn't sure what my form would be given that I couldn't effectively jump and attack the ball the last time I played. Not sure if my recent 5-pound weight loss had anything to do but I actually did much better earlier tonight, at least in terms of my attacks and serves. (My reception was a bit on-off LOL.) It was the first time I could spike consistently in a long time. Cool!

I got to play a few (several?) sets and it's too bad that we had to end that final set prematurely because the court had to be closed. It was a very tight and fiercely contested set. We were down 21-24 before making a comeback and even taking the lead. We asked the court manager for a bit of an extension which he gave us but we were playing some long rallies and we had to call it quits at 26-all. Wow!

The flipside to all that enjoyment is that now my body hurts all over LOL. However, I also did say recently that I have to start exercising more regularly. Hopefully I get to play a bit more frequently in the future.

Dinner at Todd English

I met up with a couple of friends for afternoon coffee in SM Aura yesterday. We all went our separate ways at around 7pm. My plan was to buy a few items then head home but I figured that since I was already there, I might as well have dinner somewhere I had never eaten before. As such, I decided to go to Todd English Food Hall.

When I got there, there was a really long queue of people outside waiting to get a seat. I didn't really want to wait in line so I left but I then realized that there was a bar inside. I headed back and I asked if they had space at the bar for one person. Luckily, they did and I managed to get a seat immediately.

I ordered the T.E. Pork Chop (P440). My first thought as it was served: the portion size is huge!!

T.E. Pork Chop (P440)

I initially thought I couldn't eat all of it due to its size but it turned out I was quite hungry and I managed to eat all of it haha. This pork chop was really thick but despite its size, it was moist and succulent and well-cooked all the way through. I will definitely be visiting Todd English again in the future. If the rest of their food in terms of quality and portion size are anything like this pork chop, I will be a happy man. :)

Adarna closes its doors

Sad news for fans of this wonderful restaurant. Adarna Food and Culture served its last order a few weeks ago. I found out about this today when I was putting together restaurant suggestions since my friends and I are planning to meet up for dinner. I was looking for the Adarna website so I could recommend it to my friends when I saw on their facebook page that they closed last January 23. Here's a link to a touching post about their final service.

Such a shame I wasn't able to have one last meal there before it closed. My friends and I planned to have dinner there in December last year but conflicting schedules didn't permit us to meet up then. At least I did get to enjoy their food many times in the past. Here's a link to my blog post about Adarna Food and Culture. While it is sad that I won't be able to enjoy a meal here anymore, I am happy that I got to experience Adarna and enjoy the food there with my family and friends on many occasions.

Into the Woods

I finally got to see Into the Woods at the cinema. This is officially the first film I've seen in a movie theater this year. I knew it was based on the Broadway musical created by Stephen Sondheim but I didn't really know what happens in it. All I knew was that it combined several different fairy tales together, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. As I didn't want to be spoiled, I avoided reading the plot of the original musical and of the film itself.

As this is based on a Broadway show, you can clearly see that it is split in two acts, each with a very different vibe and tone. The first half is almost fun, playful, and hopeful, and fascinating, keeping viewers interested and wondering how things will unfold. The second half is a lot darker, not only in terms of the storyline but also visually, with the earlier kaleidoscopic panoramas replaces by gray, mist-filled scenes. Amidst all the singing, the plot provides a provocative glimpse into the human condition. It shows how easily we as people can become selfish, deceitful and even conniving when we are desperate, how we often pointedly blame others in times of crisis and misery, how we sometimes end up becoming what we despise, how fleeting our life is, and how we have an instinctive need to connect with others when faced with the prospect of desolation and isolation.

The acting was great and the singing was superb. It was cool seeing Meryl Streep (the Witch) share the screen again with her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt who did an excellent job as the baker's wife. Anna Kendrick (Cinderella) showcased her vocal ability and range more than she did in Pitch Perfect, Chris Pine (Prince Charming) positively surprised everyone, and the kids Daniel Huttlestone (Jack) and Lilla Crawford (Little Red Riding Hood) both sounded as if they've had decades of vocal training and experience.

As expected, Meryl Streep was fantastic. I mentioned this before but while I had already been impressed by her singing in the past, she took things to the another level and outperformed herself vocally in this film. Stephen Sondheim's songs are incredibly difficult to sing and she performs them brilliantly. I wrote about her rendition of "Stay with me" (not to be confused with the Sam Smith hit) a month ago. This time, check out "The Last Midnight":


video uploaded in youtube by DisneyMusicVEVO

I wouldn't say that Into the Woods is for everyone as it is filled with a whole lot of singing and the score doesn't really feature catchy songs. As I have not seen the musical, I have no basis for comparison. Taking it as it is, I thought it was great and definitely worth watching.

Five pounds off

About a month ago, I suffered from pretty bad stomach problems. As a result, I lost about five pounds. Surprisingly enough, four weeks later, I fortunately haven't gained those five pounds back. I guess this is because I have somehow managed to keep eating relatively smaller portions compared what I was eating before I got sick. I remember having some pasta recently and after eating about two-thirds of the dish, I already started to feel pretty full.

I am now almost certain that because I wrote about it, I will start gaining all that lost weight back pretty quickly LOL. I really need to channel my previous ability and discipline to exercise semi-regularly. I am not getting any younger and I certainly need to have a healthier lifestyle.

A reunion over board games

Last weekend, I met up with some of the alumni of the lead organizers of our CSR organization at work. I say alumni because some of us have stepped down from our previous leadership roles and some of us have left. While not everyone was available, a lot of us were so we proceeded with the reunion since it's often impossible to get many of us together at the same time and place.

We had discussed having a game day/night in the past because a lot of us in the group were board game fans so this was a perfect time for us to enjoy the games I purchased a while back. Denise arrived before everyone else - I actually hadn't seen her in maybe more than a year since she missed our karaoke night late last year - so since everyone else wasn't there yet, we got to catch up quite a lot. Kristel soon joined us about an hour and a half after Denise arrived so I ordered some pizza and mojos from Shakey's and I then took out my first game, Ticket to Ride. I thought it would be a good game for us to start with given there were only three of us at that time. Of the three games I have, this is probably the easiest one to understand. :) Also, I've now had this game for 2 1/2 years but I hadn't been able to play it yet. By the time the three of us finished our game, the rest of the folks started arriving in quick succession - Melody, Katco, Lou, Zaza, Diane, and Jef. At that point, the food arrived as well so we had a dinner break before resuming play.

Since our Ticket to Ride board was already set up, we decided to play one more game. Katco also brought games with her and she also had Ticket to Ride (albeit the Europe version) so we decided to have two boards set up so all of us could play (this game can only allow up to 5 players). Once we were done, we moved to the more complicated 7 Wonders. The entire first game was spent explaining it to people LOL but after dealing with the difficulty of understanding how you can score points, people started to get the hang of it. We played one more round after - a much easier round for everyone this time - before calling it a night. We all seem to agree to stage another game day/night but we also thought that people should start arriving earlier to maximize the number of games we can play. I figure that, with all the enjoyment we had, I should organize these game day/nights more regularly.

UP win UAAP Street Dance Competition

A belated congratulations to UP for winning the 2015 UAAP Street Dance competition! It was held last Sunday and I got to watch it for the first time. In fact, I didn't even know until I saw it on TV last week that there was such a competition in the UAAP. :)

The UP Streetdance Club defended the crown that they won in 2013 (the competition wasn't held last year) by garnering a score of 178.0. The theme of their highly energetic routine was "larong Pinoy" as they included stylized interpretations of native games into their dance number, such as piko, sipa, and luksong tinik. Check out their title-winning performance:


video uploaded in youtube by ABS-CBN Sports And Action

The Ateneo Company of Dancers won second place with a score of 167.3. They barely beat out the La Salle Dance Company-Street who placed third with a score of 167, only 0.3 points behind Ateneo.

Congratulations, UP Streetdance Club!

Ghost by the Indigo Girls

If I were forced to choose what my favorite song is, I would probably say it is "Ghost" by the Indigo Girls. I discovered this song in the late 90s when my friend lent me his Rites of Passage CD. I ended up playing this song over and over again throughout the entire day, paying little to no attention to every other song on the CD (not because the other tracks weren't any good - they absolutely were! - but because I had become blindly obsessed with this one song). I have loved Ghost ever since and it is the most played song in my iPod.


video uploaded in youtube by zeki1208

Why exactly do I love this song? For me, Ghost is perfect on so many levels. The melody is irresistible and captivating in its melancholy. The Indigo Girls sing it so beautifully and expressively and their voices and harmonies are haunting and exquisite. The writing is artistically brilliant, like poetry set to music. The lyrical imagery is vivid and their metaphors about pain and heartbreak are ones that leave you saying "that's exactly how I feel!" There's a repeating theme of water throughout the song - the Mississipi river, the allusions to the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the thousand ships launched by the face of Helen of Troy, being baptized by someone's touch, and drowning and being unable to swim free - and this makes the overall storytelling even more compelling.

Even the way the music builds takes you on an emotional journey. It starts out subdued and reflective then it slowly escalates to more anguish in the "chorus" (I use that term loosely as this song actually has a chorus only in the melodic sense; it doesn't have a true chorus given that the only line in the entire song that is repeated is "I'm in love with your ghost.") By the time we get to the bridge, the despair is almost frantic, as is reflected in the way part of it is sung, almost like a wail. Interestingly enough, the lyrics speak about how even the most overwhelming pain starts out small and meek but grows massive, like the Mississippi River which "starts in Minnesota at a place where you could walk across with five steps down."

What makes Ghost special is the fact that the lyrics, the melody, the instrumentation, the voices and the harmonies, and the way the music builds all convey the same message and express the same thing. As such, listening to it is like a spiritual experience for me. Despite the years, though, I still can't be quite sure exactly what this song is about. Does it speak of the desperation of hanging on to something you've lost and the inability to let go? Does it articulate the difficulty of getting out of a dysfunctional or (unintentionally?) abusive relationship, or maybe even one's refusal to do so despite knowing that they should? Maybe it's about all of that. Whatever the case may be, Ghost is a truly beautiful song and I'm so glad I discovered it.

Aussie Open 2015

The Australian Open concluded earlier today with Novak Djokovic winning his 5th trophy in Melbourne, edging out Andy Murray. It was a very tight and closely contested match in the first two sets, both of which ended in tiebreaks. Andy seemed to have the momentum as he was up an early break 2-0 in the third and he may have thought he had a strong chance to win after Novak seemed to start cramping or having some physical problems. However, Novak broke back to put him on even footing with Andy at 2-2 in the third set. It was then that Andy's wheels fell off. He won only one more game after that as Djokovic won nine games in a row to close out the match and along with it, the Australian Open title.

Djokovic now has 8 Grand Slam titles, putting him in even footing with other tennis legends, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewell, and Fred Perry. Only 7 men have more Grand Slam singles titles than him now.

As amazing as that stat is, it somehow gets overshadowed by his counterpart on the women's tournament. The astonishing Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in the final to win her 19th Grand Slam singles title. This moves her past Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert in a tie for 3rd all-time with Helen Wills Moody. Only Margaret Court with 24 and Steffi Graf with 22 have more. And considering how good Serena is still playing now, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends her career having more Grand Slam singles titles than anyone else.