Star Wars VII The Force Awakens

When I found out that Star Wars VII The Force Awakens was showing in Manila on December 17, I made sure to catch immediately. (After all, I am a massive Star Wars fan.) Luckily, I managed to snag a good seat for the midnight screening on opening day. And I have to say, this movie exceeded my expectations and is my favorite movie of 2015.

photo from http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens

Spoiler alert!
Stop reading now if you don't want to know more details about the movie that could slightly give away how the story unfolds.

I won't go into the detail of the plot but the great thing about this movie is how it manages to be very nostalgic for Star Wars geeks and fans of the original trilogy while introducing new characters - Rey, Finn, BB8, Poe Dameron, Maz Kanata, and heck even Kylo Ren - and getting audiences to connect to and appreciate them.

The thing I loved most about the film was seeing everyone from the original cast. Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca (although you of course can't see his face; I'm also happy he was able to join the cast despite having double knee replacement surgery two years ago), Anthony Daniels as C3PO, Carrie Fisher as Princess (General) Leia, and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. (Kenny Baker  is still credited as R2D2 although I have heard he is just credited but he actually didn't perform inside the robot.) The reintroduction of the Millennium Falcon made me cheer wildly on the inside. :) I also love the fact that they got John Williams to once again compose the music. While every reintroduction was awesome, my favorite was Princess (now General) Leia's, because it not only showed her on screen again but is also reignited her history with Han Solo. Any true-blue fan of the original knew about the relationship and seeing them back together was quite satisfying.

TONIGHT! Set your coordinates for StarWars.com at 5:30 PT to see the Star Wars: The Force Awakens world premiere red carpet event. Watch it LIVE, presented by Verizon.

A photo posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on Dec 14, 2015 at 1:00pm PST

Of course, the biggest spoiler of them all is truly gut-wrenching. Practically the entire audience audibly gasped when it was finally revealed. And yes, even with my spoiler alert, I still don't want to write exactly what happened. The impact will probably not resonate as much if you are not deeply familiar with the original series but it still does make for interesting storytelling.

The Force Awakens is a fantastic film and is a great treat to both Star Wars geeks like myself and movie fans in general. If you haven't seen it yet, you should go out and see it.

[Bacolod] The Ruins

The Ruins is one of most popular tourist spots in the Bacolod area. I managed to visit and as great as it looks in pictures, it looks a whole lot better in person.

The plan was for us to visit The Ruins at sunset which is when it is supposed to be at its most resplendent but as we were there for work and not for sightseeing, we were unable to leave work enough. We got there just after the sun had set. Nevertheless, the trip was still worth it as the Ruins are still pretty beautiful at night.

The Ruins used to be a mansion that was built back in the early 1900s and it was the largest residential structure built at the time. Unfortunately, it was burned to the ground in World War II by the USAFFE (United States Armed Forces in the Far East) and Philippine guerrilla fighters to prevent Japanese forces from using the house as their headquarters.

There are some sections of the Ruins that provide a bit of history of the mansion but I was so tired that I didn't feel I had the energy to absorb more information. :) If you time your trip right, you can join a tour of the grounds. In any case, I spent my time going in and out of the house taking photos.

Entrance for adults is P95 (students get a big discount). If you do plan to go here, it is recommended to ask your taxi to wait for you or have one pick you up at a prescribed time.

The Ruins
http://theruins.com.ph/
Hda. Sta. Maria, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Telephone #: (+6334) 476-4334
Mobile # : (+63 917) 832-6003
Mobile # : (+63 939) 298-5657

[Bacolod] Byron's

I had heard about the awesome ribs at Byron's from my friends from Bacolod so I wanted to try this place during my visit. I was told that they sometimes run out of ribs quite early in the day but there wasn't any chance for us to go to the main restaurant located at Block 8 Stork Street, Homesite, Montevista. However, we learned that there was a "satellite" Lord Byron's stall right across the street from 21 Restaurant. On our last night in Bacolod, I decided to try this place out to see if they still had ribs available. I didn't have high hopes since it was already 9pm at the time. However, when we got there, we were told that they still had enough for everyone in our group. Cool!

I decided to get the Back Ribs (P150) which is their best seller. It's a pretty good portion size considering the price and it really did live up to my already high expectations. These back ribs are indeed very good!

Back Ribs (P150)

The satellite branch we visited is located in the Cafe Bob's Open Grounds at 21st Lacson Street. You can also find a lot of other restaurants in these grounds, including a satellite Aida's Chicken.

[Bacolod] Felicia's

Felicia's is another very well-known cake and pastry shop in Bacolod. In the interest of trying as many new places as I could, I made sure to visit this place as well.

I decided to try a slice of their Pavlova (P85). Pavlova is supposed to be this fluffy meringue dessert that is topped with fresh fruit. I would say that the name of this dessert is misleading because it isn't really a pavlova but it is very good and not too sweet. I was happy with my choice and I would love to have this again.

Pavlova (P85 per slice)

I was told that their Ensaymada (P95) is arguably the best in the country so I decided to try it. While you would think it's not cheap since you don't normally see ensaymada priced at close to a hundred pesos, this one is really big and it is delicious and very light and fluffy. It isn't too sweet and the butter and sugar don't overwhelm this baked goodie. This is definitely one of the best ensaymadas I've had. If I get to visit Bacolod again, I may just buy a big box of this to take back to Manila as pasalubong. :)

Ensaymada (P95)

Coffee here is only P60. Aside from cakes, Felicia's also has several pastry options, such as the interesting-looking Chocolate Caramel Praline (we were told that this is extremely good but quite dangerous because it feels like each bite carries with it hundreds of calories LOL). Felicia's also has a lot of other packaged sweets and savory dishes.

There are many different Felicia's shops in Bacolod. The ones I know of are at the Doll Bldg 6th St, on 15th Lacson Street (across L'Fisher), and at the North Wing, SM Bacolod.

[Bacolod] Calea

Bacolod is the capital city of Negros Occidental, which is known as the Sugarbowl of the Philippines because more than half the sugar in the country is produced here. As such, it shouldn't be a surprise that there are a lot of cake and pastry shops in the city. Possibly the most popular one is Calea.

I was told that what makes Calea a bit different is that it features not-so-traditional cakes along with some of the usual ones. Being a massive fan of sweets, I ended up visiting Calea a couple of times. They have a pretty big display that showcases a wide array of cakes. I do wish that there is a description of each cake to help patrons decide what they want to get. Since there were no descriptions, I had to wait for one of the waiters to be available so I could ask her what each cake was before finally making my selection.

On my first trip, I tried their Imported Chocolate Cake (P95). They had a few different chocolate cakes on display and the waiter told me this was their best seller so I decided to try it. Gotta say, if you are a chocolate fan, this will be a very good choice for you. I thought it was really good and it's pretty cheap too! I certainly wouldn't mind having this cake again.

Imported Chocolate Cake (P95 per slice)

My colleagues raved about the Choco Mud Pie (P100) so I decided to try it on my last night in Bacolod. I thought this was just like other mud pies I've had before but of course it is a lot cheaper.

Choco Mud Pie (P100 per slice)

Brewed coffee here is P75 and it's pretty decent. When I visit Bacolod again, I will make sure to try more of their other cakes. :)

Calea
G/F Balay Quince Commercial Building
15th Lacson St., Bacolod City

[Bacolod] Ading's Pala-Pala

For dinner on our first night, we headed to Ading's Pala-Pala. I was told by my friend from Bacolod that pala-pala roughly translates to a seafood market.

Conceptually, it is similar to Dampa in Manila where you choose the seafoods you want to have and they cook it for you the way you want it.

Needless to say, the dining experience here was very enjoyable. The food was very fresh and flavorful. Some of the dishes we ordered were Baked Scallops with garlic and butter (P80 per 100 grams),

Garlic Shrimp (P90 per 100 grams),

Chili Crab (P70 per 100 grams),

and Stuffed Squid (P55 per 100 grams).

These prices already include the cooking fee making the food pretty inexpensive. (The garlic rice costs P25 and the plain rice costs P20! Needless to say I had more than my fair share of rice that night. :)) If your nose is a bit sensitive to fishy smells, you can choose to have meal in the section of the restaurant enclosed by glass walls. I certainly enjoyed my dinner at Ading's Pala-Pala and I highly recommend it.

Ading's Pala-Pala
http://adingspalapalabacolod.com/
San Juan St. (In front of original Pala-Pala Market), Brgy 2, Bacolod City
Phone: (034) 458-1594
Mobile: (+63)0918-902-8800 | (+63)0919-993-2829
E-mail: adingspalapalabacolod@gmail.com

[Bacolod] 21 Restaurant

Upon arrival in Bacolod, we decided to have lunch in 21 Restaurant. This place is a short walk from our hotel so after we checked in and got settled, we made our way to the restaurant for lunch.

Apparently, this place is popular for its batchoy so I definitely had to try it. I can't recall exactly which batchoy I got as there are a lot of options. I think I got the large one with everything in it except the bone marrow (I would have tried the one with bone marrow but they ran out). It is pretty good and the serving size is pretty hefty.

I was actually very hungry and I felt that a bowl of batchoy would not be enough. As such, I also ordered the Herb Chicken, which is deep fried chicken with herb stuffing and served with gravy, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. I also loved that there is really crispy pork crackling served on top of the mashed potatoes. :) This is pretty good comfort food.

The restaurant itself is quite spacious. It has a casual and relaxed vibe and the slightly different levels make it a bit more interesting.

There's also a lot of art on display towards the back of the restaurant. I don't know if these are just on display or if they are on sale.

21 Restaurant has a pretty substantial menu consisting of international dishes and local favorites. It's also quite inexpensive when compared to similar Manila restaurants. You can check out their menu online.

21 Restaurant
http://www.21restaurant.com/
Lacson Street corner 21st street, Bacolod Negros Occidental
Tel #: +63 34 433 4096
Email: info@21restaurant.com
store hours: 11AM to 11PM daily

Bacolod

(I recently got to visit two Philippine cities for the first time - Davao and Bacolod - to attend to some business. My trips were very short and I didn't get to see enough of both places but I will be writing about what I did experience in these trips. Hopefully I get to visit Davao and Bacolod again soon.)

Bacolod is a popular destination for Filipino food-trippers so it was natural that my stint in Bacolod would include trying out a lot of their well-renowned restaurants. Thankfully, I was no longer as busy during this trip so I was able to try many different places and even visit the Ruins (which I will write about later). It probably helped that we stayed at L'Fisher, which is pretty central and close to a lot of popular restaurants (Calea and Felicia's are just across the street and 21 and the Lord Byron's satellite are a few blocks away). I also have a friend who lives in Bacolod and one night, he took me to Marketplace, a relatively new hang-out area in the city.

I also managed to pass by Bongbong's (which was also just next to the hotel) on my last day in Bacolod to get pasalubong. I got there about half an hour before the store closed and in fact, my timing was pretty good because they were giving away hot piaya to customers when I was there. I also managed to get the last three boxes of napoleones.

BongBong's

My "loot" ended up consisting of: 3 boxes of napoleones (P135 each), 1 big bag of barquiron (P88), 2 medium bags of barquiron (P42 each), 1 small bag of barquiron (P24), 3 bags of piaya (P35 each), and 1 pack of piaya thins (P82).

I will write in more detail about the different eating experiences I had in Bacolod over the next few blog posts.

[Davao] S'mores from Kai Artisan

While in Davao, I got to try the S'mores from Kai Artisan. They are really good!

How did I discover this? I was looking for a sweet snack to go with my coffee while I was in SM Lanang and I stumbled across the Lanang Weekend Market. I decided to take a look to see if there was something there that I would want to try.

As it turned out, I was drawn to a display of chocolates at the Kai Artisan stall.

I decided I wanted to try their s'mores.

I have to say, I absolutely loved it! It is quite possibly the best s'more I've ever had. Granted, I haven't had that many but I really did enjoy this. So much so that the next day I decided to buy more.

I can't recall how much each one costs but these s'mores are definitely worth every centavo. I would have gotten a box to take home on my last day but they ran out. Maybe the next time I'm in Davao, I will try these again.

Davao

(I recently got to visit two Philippine cities for the first time - Davao and Bacolod - to attend to some business. My trips were very short and I didn't get to see enough of both places but I will be writing about what I did experience in these trips. Hopefully I get to visit Davao and Bacolod again soon.)

This was a first: I had a local business trip. I first traveled to Davao for a few days then I headed to Bacolod for a couple of days as well. The schedule was extremely hectic and practically all of my flights were early morning ones. In fact, I took the first flight out to Davao meaning I didn't have any sleep. I was so tired when I arrived in Davao that I didn't get to have my photo taken with the giant durian at the airport.

This trip was so last minute that I didn't have enough time to get people to back me up while I was out. As such, I had to work every night after the business for the day was done. On my first night there, some of my companions decided to have dinner at Nanay Bebeng. I did get to try a few other places, most of them at SM Lanang. Among these are Dayaw Coffee and Tea where I had some brewed coffee (P90). They also have durian-flavored coffee but I'm not a fan of durian so I stayed away from that. :)

Dayaw Coffee and Tea

I also enjoyed my dinner at Cellar de Boca. The The Boca Pork Belly was extremely good! (And at only P265, it is pretty affordable.)

Cellar de Boca

On our final night there, we headed out to the Crocodile Park to try Kaonanan Sa Tribu K’Mindanawan.

We wanted to try this place because of the interesting exotic food items on its menu like ostrich and crocodile meat. However, either they don't offer these items anymore or they weren't available the night that we were there. Nevertheless, we were the only group of people there that night so we had the place all to ourselves, making our dining experience still a lot of fun.

 Kaonanan Sa Tribu K’Mindanawan

While in Davao, we stayed at the Park Inn by Radisson. This was ideal because it was right next to SM Lanang, making it easy for to eat or get coffee.

Park Inn by Radisson

My room at Park Inn had interesting wall art. I didn't realize until quite late that there was a photo of a person in the middle of it. :) I actually liked my room and this hotel and I would definitely recommend it (although I was told it is a little far from the city proper).

I also got to watch the dancing fountain show from the one night from the Fountain Court of SM Lanang. (I didn't even know they had this; I was walking to Dayaw when the show started to I decided to watch.)

Dancing Fountain at SM Lanang

I didn't have time to do any shopping while there and our flight back to Manila was early in the morning. As such, I ended up just buying a box of suha or pomelo at the airport. Despite it being a short trip, I enjoyed my stay in Davao and I hope to get to visit again soon.

The last week in sports

Major props and congratulations to Andy Murray for leading Great Britain to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936. He won all his Davis Cup matches this year, including the doubles matches he competed in. Andy now has a Wimbledon title, a US Open trophy, an Olympic Gold, and a Davis Cup. That's a pretty remarkable set of achievements for someone competing in the era of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. (Interesting that the Big Four have now all won the Davis Cup.)

*****

Congratulations to FEU for winning the Season 78 UAAP Basketball tournament. The final went the distance, with FEU winning the first game and UST winning the second game before FEU took it home in the do-or-die third game. I was rooting for UST since they were so close to winning two years ago but it wasn't meant to be. I have learned that

*****

The most recent Philippine SuperLiga competition just concluded and the result was a pretty stellar upset: Foton Tornadoes took home the trophy. They not only beat defending two-time SuperLiga champions Petron Blaze Spikers twice in the best of three final, they also shocked top seed Phillips Gold Lady Slammers in the semifinals in a tightly contested 5-set match. This was arguably the most closely contested Super Liga with all top four teams having the skills and weapons to beat each other (which they did). I am happy that Foton won since they were underdogs going into the semifinals. During the tournament, however, I was rooting for the MERALCO Power Spikers who ended up 5th place; I do think if they had stronger imports they could have competed harder with the top four.

*****

As if one local volleyball tournament wasn't enough, the Shakey's V League also concluded a day after the Super Liga finals, with PLDT toppling Philippine Army in the finals to take the trophy. Too bad for me because I wanted Army to win, what with volleyball legends Tina Salak and Mary Jean Balse retiring soon. My favorite thing about this tournament: UP wins third place! UP had always been at or close to the bottom of the UAAP but with this third place finish, I am hoping that they can do better in the upcoming UAAP volleyball season.

More games

Call it a tabletop game addiction. :) I now get to play board games and tabletop games a lot more regularly and as such, I have gotten to try two new ones: Splendor and Orléans.

Splendor is a chip-collecting and card development game. The objective is to be the first player to reach 15 points. You do this by getting cards with points using the chips (or gems) you collect or the cards you already obtained. Of all the games I have learned recently, this is the one that it easiest to learn and quickest to play. Although you still need to think and be very strategic about it, I find it to be a relaxing game to play because it doesn't take too long to finish. It is quite frustrating though when you realize you are so close to reaching 15 points and someone beats you to it. :)

Splendor

In Orleans, the objective is to win the most points which you can do by earning money, acquiring goods, and building houses and getting citizens while gaining more development points. There's a whole variety of ways to gain points here and the four times I've played this game, I've done relatively well. However, the last game I played was frustrating because I made so many mistakes that cost me around 10-20 extra points. Bummer. I kinda want to play that game again to see if I can make adjustments to my last strategy and win more points.

Orléans

Because of my board game and table top game playing, I now have a lot of new friends and they in turn want to introduce me to their other friends who also enjoy playing these games. I guess I know where a lot of my time next year will be spent. :)

2BIG POWER by Stevenson Rejuso

While Aisa Mijeno became a bit of a public figure recently because of her SALt lamp invention, apparently, another Filipino inventor made another water-power light source a few years earlier. Stevenson Rejuso developed his 2BIG POWER lamp as early as 2008. It can also work with any type of water.

photo from www.philstar.com

This philstar.com article shares that Stevenson was able to get financial support from millionaires from Singapore and Malaysia. Here's a video that features 2BIG POWER and shows how this idea came about.


video uploaded in youtube by tiffany rejuso

Read more about Filipino inventions on the Filipino Discoveries, Inventions, Innovations and Products facebook page.

Newman's Own Salsa for Charity

I was at Rustan's Supermarket recently and I was in the mood for some Tostitos. Naturally, I had to get some dip to go with it. My initial plan was to get the Tostitos Chunky Salsa dip but then I saw this interesting jar of Newman's Own Salsa.

At P255, it is a lot more expensive than the Tostitos dip but according to the print on the lid, all profits go to charity. That made me decide to try this salsa instead.

I later learned from its website that it was founded by Paul Newman. According to the website, "this idea was in Paul Newman's heart and, today, Newman's Own, Inc. continues his commitment to pay all profits and royalties from our food products to Newman’s Own Foundation, which supports charitable causes around the world. Over $450 million has been given to thousands of charities since 1982." That's pretty awesome. The next time I'm in the mood for Tostitos or other similar chips, maybe I will get a jar of Newman's Own Salsa again.