Korean choir sings Bayan Ko

I am always pleased when a choir from another country learns a Filipino song and they perform it well. Bayan Ko has always been a very powerful and moving song as it triggers strong feelings of patriotism whenever I hear it. So it is wonderful to see and hear this Korean choir perform it. (I unfortunately do not know the name of this Korean choir so if you know their name, please leave a comment.)


video from Pinoy Online Video Channel

October hodgepodge

This month, I got to try out a lot of restaurants and food items for the first time. Among these is Pablo, the famous Japan cheese tart place that opened a branch in the Philippines a few months ago. People who have tried it in Japan rave about it but I have gotten feedback that the branch in the Philippines, which is located in Robinsons Place Manila, is overrated. I'm a big fan of cheese tarts and cheese cakes so I felt that I wanted to try it myself. Currently, Pablo has a promo that if you buy any two cheese tarts (not including the premium cheese tart), you get P200 off. Since there was a long weekend and everyone would be home for a few days, I decided to get three tarts: the classic (P599), the baked chocolate (P699), and the premium (P799). (I got P200 off of my purchase of the classic and baked chocolate together.) After trying the classic, I guess I can understand why many people find it overrated. I wasn't absolutely blown away by it although the tart filling was very creamy and the tart shell was soft and tasty. However, I really enjoyed the premium cheese tart, which was actually more like a baked cheesecake with a crème brûlée-style top layer. As delicious as that one was, it wasn't my favorite. Top honors go to the Baked Chocolate tart. I mean, this was just so lusciously good.



Apart from these tarts, I decided to try one of the Sabrel Cheese cookies that they had. The server told me that their best seller was the Sabrel Cheese Black (Truffle Salt). I got a bot of nine (P499) not knowing what to expect and when I tried one, I absolutely loved it! The first bite was good but the flavors seemed to build as you kept on eating. Pablo is quite expensive but despite all the complaints of it being overrated, I am a fan. I won't be buying it all the time as it is expensive, and while the classic is probably not something I will be craving for regularly, I am certain I will be buying their other items. Maybe I will also try their Baked Matcha tart next time.



While we are on the topic of desserts, while shopping one day in S&R, I saw pumpkin pies in their pastry and baked goods section. I don't think I've ever had pumpkin pie before and I was quite interested to try it so I bought one. I actually really liked it! It was sweet with a hint of sweet holiday spice. I don't know if it this is a seasonal item and was available only because it is Halloween month but if I see one again, I will get it again.

I also got my first-ever Tuan Tuan experience. I saw before that they have snow buns on the menu and I wondered whether these would be like the pork buns in Tim Ho Wan. The Tuan Tuan menu had a few different varieties, a couple of which were dessert buns. I decided to order the savory buns: the Crispy Barbecued Pork (P128/3 pcs) and the Crispy Minced Duck (P188/3 pcs). I thought the duck buns were okay but the barbecued pork buns were like the Tim Ho Wan version. At least now there are two places where I can get my snow bun fix. :)

I also got to try three different restaurants with my friends. When my friend Che was in town earlier in the month, Joh, Raffa, and I met up with her for dinner at Manam in BGC. Pia also visited Manila later in the month and this time, the same Manila-based group met up with her for dinner at Pink's in BGC, which is a branch of the famous hot dog place in the US. The hotdogs here are good but I do think that at around P280 or more, they are a bit on the expensive side (and it is a bit on the light side too, meaning that just having the hotdog may not be filling enough for dinner). I was tempted to order another one but we decided to have dessert in Brotzeit (yes, they have good coffee and good desserts too). Finally, I met up with my friends from my CSR group in Applebee's. Doms said she would  be leaving the country later in the year so we wanted to meet up while we still could. The food here was pretty good. The funny thing was that when I arrived, everyone was already eating and I wanted to order something else so they told me I should get a protein (I wanted pasta). When I finally ordered my burger, everyone was already full so I had to eat it all by myself LOL. I wish I had just stuck with my pasta choice. :)

I also took my family to dinner at Omakase in Tomas Morato. I wanted to take my family there for my mom's birthday earlier in the year but when we got there, it was full. This time around, we arrived there at around 9pm so there was an available table for us. We ended up over-ordering because I wanted my family to try many different dishes here. Everyone loved the food, as expected.

The situation that led us to eat here was not good, though. The teacher of both my nephews (he taught my older nephew last year then he was my younger nephew's teacher this year) passed away. It was quite sudden and unexpected. We decided to pay our respects by going to the wake that Sunday night and it was heartbreaking hearing the story of his last few days (he caught an unexpected illness that started out quite mildly but then got terribly worse very quickly). Considering I had never met him before in my life, I felt deeply affected by his loss. Maybe because of how good a teacher he was to my nephews and how involved he was in their studies. My mom told me he would even text her with the school requirements of my nephews to make sure they were ready. As sad as it was that he passed away, he really did make his relatively short life matter, as he was beloved by his students, his co-teachers and his family. Rest in peace, Teacher Dan.

Tagaytay weekend trip

A few months ago, my friends and I were planning an out-of-town trip and the initial idea was to spend a weekend in Fontana. However, someone in the group wanted to try a place in Tagaytay that he saw on airbnb through this article. We had never gone to Tagaytay as a group before and the fact that place we wanted to try, a chalet overlooking Tagaytay, was very photogenic made it pretty easy for us to decide to go to Tagaytay instead and book this place.

Overlooking Tagaytay Chalet: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4927362

Thankfully, when we got there, the place looked just as good in person, if not better. The main room has four beds that comfortably fits 10 people. The living room is very cozy, with lots of comfortable seating and you can step out of the living room into the balcony for a closer view of Taal Lake.

Me at the balcony

A bit of a watch-out though, there's a long stone stairway from the entrance to the chalet so it may not be ideal for people with mobility challenges. You also end up a bit out of breath when you go up the stairs. Once we got settled in, almost everyone found a spot and took a quick nap (I couldn't sleep so I played solitaire). There's no TV here, the wifi connection is not very good, and the mobile signal is weak to none so this chalet is actually a very good place to disconnect and focus on just hanging out and enjoying the company of your friends.

Dining room and living room

One of the many memorable experiences we had actually happened even before we got to Tagaytay. I am not sure if I was just so excited to go out of town or I was just so engaged in conversation with the folks in the car that I somehow missed the Sta. Rosa exit. I didn't even realize that I missed it until I saw the exit to Canlubang and I started wondering, doesn't the Canlubang exit come after the Sta. Rosa exit? No one in the car seemed to notice that we missed our exit either and I just called it out when we got to the end of SLEX hahaha. This is the first time that this happened to me. As such, we took the long and pretty scary and relatively dangerous route from Talisay to Tagaytay.

We arrived in Tagaytay at around 1pm and we headed straight to Breakfast at Antonio's for lunch. I naturally ordered my favorite dish there, the Bacon Roesti. :) (Oh how I missed this dish!) Actually, all the restaurants where we ate are places that I have been to before. One of the people in our group wanted to try Chateau Hestia so we had dinner there. Then for lunch on Sunday, I suggested that we eat in Morielli's. I kinda felt like a food trip tour guide for my friends since I knew exactly where all these restaurants were. :)

Kitchen

Our evening was filled with fun and crazy card and party games, including Monopoly Deal, pusoy dos, Say Anything, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Taboo (but following the Tie One On scoring system), and 1-2-3 pass. Of all those games, Say Anything was the only game I played for the first time and it was interesting although you really need to know the rest of the people in the group. It actually reminded me of Dixit. I also realized that I have gotten better at One Night Ultimate Werewolf because I won in all but one round, whether as a werewolf or as a villager (I have also gotten better at figuring out what I end up being after all the card changes, because both times that my card was changed, I knew what card I got and was still able to win). By the time we called it a night after a very loud and animated 1-2-3 pass, my fingers hurt and I had all but lost my voice from all the shouting hahaha. Thankfully we the chalet is quite secluded so our noise didn't really bother any neighbors.
A trip to Tagaytay wouldn't be complete without pasalubong shopping. I pretty much knew what I wanted to get. We stopped by Rowena's were I got a box of apple tarts, a box of mango tarts, a bot of cashew polvoron, and a box of assorted cheese tarts. I made a very quick stop at Colette's to get buko pie (I still want to try Loumar's; maybe on my next trip). I bought a bottle of coconut vinegar from one of the many sidewalk vendors. And finally, I bought ube jam from Good Shepherd. I was hoping they would also have strawberry jam but unfortunately, it was out of stock yet again. I think the last time I was able to buy strawberry jam from Good Shepherd was back in 2011.

Tagaytay is really one of my favorite places to chill out. The fact that I got to enjoy the weekend with my friends, eat in good restaurants, and stay in a pretty awesome and unique place made it a very memorable trip. If you have the opportunity to try this chalet out, I suggest you do.

FIVB Women's Club World Championships in the Philippines

For the first time, the Philippines hosted the FIVB Women's Club World Championships (CWC) from October 18 to 23. The tournament includes the current champions of the AVC Club Volleyball Championship in Asia, the African Clubs Championship, the South American Volleyball Club Championship and the CEV Women's Champions League in Europe. Being the host country, the Philippines got to field in a team which featured the magnificent 7 - Rachel Daquis, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Kim Fajardo, Jen Reyes, Jaja Santiago, Frances Molina, and Mika Reyes - as well as 7 imports. Since this was a club championship, the Philippine team competed as PSL-F2 Logistics Manila.

Thank you Team Pilipinas for going all-out in the #FIVBWomensCWC! You have honored our country w/ your outstanding performance! #ULTERAxFIVB pic.twitter.com/pNOobHGzVM

— PLDT HOME (@PLDTHome) October 22, 2016

The local team ended up in the bracket that included South American champions Rexona-Sesc Rio, European champions Pomì Casalmaggiore, and wild card Eczacıbaşı VitrA who are actually also the defending champions of this event, having won it in 2015. While the chances of winning against seasoned clubs that had been playing and training together for years were slim to none, it would be a very good experience for our local players to play against the best of the best in the world. And it was! While the PSL-F2 Logistics Manila team had 7 strong imports, the team's Serbian head coach Moro Branislav made sure that every Filipino player got to go on court in almost every game. In fact, the starting six (or seven, including the libero) often included Jaja Santiago and Kim Fajardo. In fact, both Jaja and Kim made their presence felt, with both garnering lots of praise from their competitors.
 One of the coolest things that happened in the tournament is that coach Moro Branislav actually fielded an all-Filipino lineup that played for an entire set. And he did this twice! The first time was in the second set against Eczacıbaşı VitrA. While we lost the set against the second stringers of the defending champions, we essentially played against the Turkish Olympic team and a score of 17 is quite respectable for a team that has only played together for about a month. The second time was in the third and final set against Asian champions Bangkok Glass, and the locals took 20 points in that set. The clamor now is to keep this Magnificent 7 team intact and just add other players to the mix since they are now gelling quite well and their experience at the world stage, competing with global heavyweights, can only help our national team get better.

'Yung makita lang namin kayo sa world stage, parang nanalo na rin kaming mga fans. At least for now, that's enough. Salamat! #FIVBWomensCWC pic.twitter.com/zXcZ6o0yQ4

— Benggadora (@Benggadora08) October 23, 2016

I am especially happy that my local favorite, Mika Reyes, also had some pretty solid contributions. Despite being pretty short for a middle blocker (at 5'11" she's quite tall in the Philippines but globally, other middle blockers are about the same height as Jaja at 6'5"), she showed a lot of fight and no fear.

The photo says it all. Once in a lifetime opportunity 🙏🏻 @fivbvolleyball @philippinesuperliga #FIVBWomensCWC

A photo posted by Mika Reyes (@reyesmikaaa) on Oct 19, 2016 at 12:12am PDT

Not only did she slow down a lot of spikes with her blocking, she also scored with spikes, an ace, and a block. And not just any block. A one-handed block! Wow! Check it out here.

One hand block by Mika Reyes! 🙌🏼 https://t.co/3imZBGcYMR

— ㅤ (@archersxspikers) October 23, 2016

Despite the Women's CWC being held in the Philippines for the first time, the organization of the event was praised by the FIVB president. A lot of the international volleyball stars who played here had great things to say about the crowds and the atmosphere. I think it helps that the local fans know the international players so everyone kept cheering players on and having selfies taken with the athletes.

Winless PSL stars are biggest winners https://t.co/wC9UD8gcPl

— Philippine SuperLiga (@SuperLigaPH) October 24, 2016

In the end, Turkish team Eczacıbaşı VitrA made history by being the first team to win back-to-back FIVB Women's Club World Championship titles. While PSL-F2 Logistics Manila ended up in last place, I'm sure that the entire team, including the Magnificent 7, the imports, and the coaching staff who were all given the rare opportunity to compete against the world's best, still felt like winners. As did the event organizers. And the entire country.

Board gaming 2x

Earlier in the month, my friend Denise invited a few folks to her house to play board games. This was planned a couple of months ago right after we played at Ludo and we decided that it was a bit too loud (I lost my voice trying to shout the rules of each game to my friends).

When I arrived, there were still only four of us and I was the only one with games so we played Ticket to Ride, which I still find to be one of the easiest games to play and to teach. Once we finished that game, a couple more people arrived so we ended up playing Codenames. Most of us were playing this party game for the first time. While Codenames is a good game for us to play because it's a team game which means it works well with big groups, the difficulty is that you have to be sort of on the same wavelength as your teammates so they can figure out what you are trying to get them to guess based the one-word clue you have to give them. Clearly I think differently from everyone else as my team did not win any of the three rounds we played. This is clearly not my game LOL.

We followed that up with Sushi Go Party! which is like 7 Wonders but a bit simpler, at least from a scoring standpoint. Up to 8 players can also play it. I actually really enjoyed this game since it is quick to play and the artwork on the cards adds to the enjoyment. I am now planning to get this game, maybe from gaming library.

Sushi Go Party!

(photo from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2852826/sushi-go-party)

To end the night, we played Pandemic. This game is unique because it's cooperative - all players play against the board - and I actually thought we were going to win the game but as we were getting ready to achieve our winning conditions, we ran out of cards. Darn, we lost by one measly round! People were tired by then so we called it a night.

I organized our next game night which was held at Linden Suites and I invited two sets of my board gaming friends. As expected, it took a while for people to arrive so when there were four of us, I once again pulled out my Ticket to Ride game. My friends seem to have figured out how to do well at this game as the scores this time were higher and the game was a lot tighter than when we played it a couple of weeks ago (I won by a large margin the first time; the second time around, I still won but this time only by a hair with a 2-point lead). Once more people arrived, I pulled out my 7 Wonders so that many people could play.

We then played The Voyages of Marco Polo, a new game that Mike bought. This was very complex but since there were a lot of us, we decided to break up into teams. I felt that this game was almost balanced except for one player that had such a strong advantage. That player won, but I am happy that my team ended up in 2nd place and we put up a very good and strategic fight. The Voyages of Marco Polo reminds me of Concordia but I personally prefer Concordia even if it is ranked lower in Boardgamegeek.

The Voyages of Marco Polo

(photo from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2464388/voyages-marco-polo)

I ended the night playing another new game, Lords of Waterdeep. This worker placement game has pretty simple rules, you earn points by completing quests, and its simplicity and the relatively short playing time make it a good introductory game. I really enjoyed Lords of Waterdeep - maybe winning the game has something to do with it - but I decided to buy this game for myself so I can play it with my other sets of friends.

Lords of Waterdeep

(photo from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1202331/lords-waterdeep)

My winning percentages has gone down a bit as expected but I still get to win a few times and I'm happy that I started October with a game win and I ended the month with another game win. I can't wait to play more games in November. :)

Movie-watching 2016 part 4

It's been a few months since I got to watch a film in a movie theater, mainly because I haven't had the time and also because the movies that were showing whenever I would have time weren't all that interesting to me. I decided to take a couple of days off of work recently, just to catch up on rest. This gave me a perfect opportunity to go to the cinema twice.

Kubo and the Two Strings

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubo_and_the_Two_Strings

This stop motion animated film comes from Laika, the same studio that gave us Boxtrolls and ParaNorman. I enjoyed both of those movies, even if they were on the darker side (or maybe precisely because they aren't your normal animated film) so I thought Kubo and the Two Strings might be a good movie too. Upon checking Rotten Tomatoes, I saw that it had a 97% critics rating and an 87% audience score, making me want to see it even more. I took both of my nephews to watch this film and I felt that it lived up to the hype. The animation was done tremendously well, the characters were well-written and captivating, and the fight scenes and action sequences were riveting and exciting. More than that, its themes of love, loss and loyalty and the imperfections and the beauty of humanity make it a poignant and powerful film. It talks about the importance of remembering the past, making it a very appropriate movie heading into All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. I definitely recommend this movie. If not for the storytelling, then at least for the stunning visuals. It's interesting how my two favorite films from this year are both animated - this and Zootopia.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Peregrine%27s_Home_for_Peculiar_Children_(film)

I didn't really know about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children until I saw a trailer. In fact, it wasn't even the trailer that piqued my interest, it was the title. I mean, what exactly was so peculiar about these children? That alone made me want to watch. So I did. I found it to be decently entertaining although I thought that the start was a bit too slow, maybe because I wanted to be see the children sooner. When they were finally introduced, and their peculiarities started to be revealed slowly, the pacing just got much better and the movie became a lot more interesting and entertaining. This film is apparently based on the book of the same name, but as I checked its plot, I see that the movie has veered quite far away from the novel. If you are a fan of the book, be ready to see something a bit (or even a lot) from what you've read.

Sunday splurge

It all started with me booking a room in Linden Suites over the weekend for game night. I had two different sets of friends who really enjoyed playing board games so I thought it would be a good idea to bring everyone together (it was). Since I was already in the Ortigas area that weekend, I decided to go to Shangri-La Mall on Sunday after I check out of the hotel to do some things at the mall that were a bit long overdue. First, I got my grandmother the Clinique All About Eyes Concealer. She asked me a few months ago if I could get her one since the one she had was almost fully consumed. I figured Rustan's Department Store would have it and they did. When I handed it to my grandmother later that day, she was very pleased.

My mom also texted me on Saturday afternoon to see if I could find a magazine that seemed to be out of stock in most places. I headed over to National Bookstore and luckily, there was still one copy of that magazine left. Cool!

I also decided to get new batteries for my watches. Yes, watches. Apparently, a few of my watches had run out of batteries over the last several months. I visited the watch repair shop at the basement of Rustan's where I had batteries replaced before. Given that I was replacing many batteries (some of my watches required three!), I ended up paying quite a sum of money for it. Ah well, at least I get to use all of my watches again, and I do miss using them.

Since I was already at the mall, I also decided to pass by Havaianas in the department store since I saw that the dark blue flip flops that I had before were available again. I broke the pair I had a long time ago and I hadn't seen that particular style until recently. At first, I was hesitant to get them because I didn't really need new flip flops. Then, I realized that ones that I use whenever I go to the beach or on an out-of-town trip were a bit too small (maybe it was because I bought the wrong size or the pair I had shrunk slightly) so in the end, I got myself a new pair of Havaianas.

Later that night, I took my nephews to Robinson's Galleria to watch Kubo and the Two Strings (I will also write more about this movie later). I figured they would want to watch it because one of them is a big fan of Japan culture and the other likes going to the movie theater. Kubo and the Two Strings was only showing in four Robinson's mall cinemas and Galleria had the most convenient screening time for us. We arrived at the mall about 1 1/2 hours before our movie would start so we decided to go around. After a quick trip to Mercury Drugstore so they could both buy some personal hygiene products, I took them to Daiso because I wanted to see if they had those coffee drippers used for pour over coffee for individual cups. They did, and I got one. (Check out this video to see how it works.) Since we were there, my nephews checked out a few things as as well and they decided to get some snacks. One of them got nori while the other one got nori chips. As if that wasn't enough Japanese culture for one night, we also had dinner at Rai Rai Ken. By the time we were done eating, it was almost time for our movie. Kubo and the Two Strings was very good, I highly recommend it.

Apart from Sunday being a bit of a splurge, it was also quite long and it involved a whole lot of driving. I was lucky though because the typhoon (that didn't really impact Metro Manila that much) must have kept most people at home so the roads were relatively clear and there was barely any traffic.

Professor Sugihara and his amazing optical illusions!

This is just mind-blowing. I've never seen an optical illusion like it! I mean, even when he turns the first "cylinder" around, my brain still can't quite grasp what is happening. :)


video uploaded in youtube by TheIllusioncontest

These ambiguous cylinder illusions were created by Professor Kokichi Sugihara from Meiji University, who  is known for his 3D optical illusions. The premise: because the human brain is capable of viewing a two-dimensional object in three dimensions, it can be fooled. Check out this other video for more of his amazing "sorcery":


video uploaded in youtube by NTDTV

September hodgepodge

I recently purchased a box of Tocino Del Cielo from Delize to take home to my family because I wanted to bring home a different type of dessert from the usual cakes, pastries, or donuts I buy. Tocino Del Cielo is like Leche Flan except that it doesn't have milk. A box of 24 costs P520 and we all enjoyed it. You can contact Delize through their mobile # 0922 826 2673).

Tocino Del Cielo from Delize

I'm not sure if it's all these sweets I've been eating but I also just recently chipped my tooth. I'm not sure how. As I was looking at myself in the bathroom mirror one night, I noticed that there seemed to be something stuck in between my teeth so I tried to scrape it off but as I did, a tiny bit of corner edge of my tooth came off. Ugh. It's not that obvious if you don't look closely. I'm in two minds now whether to have a dentist fix it (not sure how though, it's too small of a chip to warrant a jacket or crown I think) or to just leave it as it is.

Considering some recent big expenses though, maybe I will skip the tooth fixing for now. I also recently had pretty bad car trouble that required me to shell out lots of cash. It was similar to the problems I had a couple of years ago. Thankfully, Randy had now become our family car mechanic. I contacted him and he was able to have someone get my car. After three days, my car was up and running again.

I also made my first purchase on Lazada. It wasn't for me though, it was for my nephew who is really into music now and he wanted to get something for his guitar. When I made the purchase, I was informed that the delivery would be made between September 15 to 20 but as it turned out, I actually got the item on the 13th. Cool! I have been told that power banks are quite cheap on Lazada so maybe I will get power banks from there (and maybe give them as Christmas or exchange gifts).

Finally, no month would be complete without more board gaming. My friend Mike recently went to the US and decided to purchase board games there. He asked me if I wanted to add Race for the Galaxy to his order (I told him a while back that I had been planning to get that game) and I said yes. When he finally got back, that was the first game we played and we all enjoyed it. It helps too that it takes only about 30 minutes to play the game so it is easy to play. Mike in fact asked me if I wanted to just give him the game (meaning I didn't have to pay for it anymore) and for a second I thought about it but I decided that I wanted to have my own small contribution - I don't have any board games that I bring when we play! - so I decided to keep it.

photo from https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-galaxy

Apart from that, I actually got play only one other game: Suburbia. That was really tough but very good, although I didn't do too well due to some tactical mistakes I made midway through the game. The reason I didn't get to play as many games as I normally do is that the gang decided to play an RPG one night instead of the traditional board games. I hadn't played an RPG since Dungeons and Dragons back when I was still a young kid. We played a game called Schauermarchen. The premise of this game is that you are all kids and when you wake up, you find yourself in what's looks to be a run-down and deserted town, where you are under threat from a man in a suit who seems to be killing all the children there. It was an interesting experience, especially since our game master Tobie was extremely good at running the game and keeping things moving and maintaining everyone's interest. I still prefer board gaming though, and there are already a couple of big board gaming weekends planned in October that I am definitely looking forward to.

Justin Alva of The Voice Kids Philippines

I missed the most recent season of The Voice Kids Philippines - season 3 - but I watched an episode of GGV a couple of weeks ago that featured the top 3 contestants. It was through that show that I became a fan of Justin Alva, the third placer. Early in the show, while he was singing, I noticed that his right hand, which he was using to hold the microphone, looked like it was missing some fingers. Later in the episode, as Vice Ganda was talking to him, he used the fact that he was born with only two fingers on his hand to make a joke. This prompted Vice to ask about it and his responses just showed a maturity well beyond his years. Check out that sequence in this video:


video uploaded by ABS-CBN Entertainment 

I assume it was this ability to manage his emotions that allowed him to sing successfully even while being distracted. An entertaining impromptu segment came about because of the story of Antonette (the 2nd placer) about how she once lost a singing contest because she stopped in the middle of her song because someone was making funny faces at her. Vice then challenged each of the kids to sing while Kiray tried to make them laugh. Even Vice ended up trying to make it through that challenge. All of them failed except for Justin. He not only made eye contact with Kiray but he also touched Kiray's face. Awesome focus for a 13-year-old kid!


video uploaded by ABS-CBN Entertainment 

I had already warmed up to him at that point before Vice asked him to dance. He promptly did a few of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean moves - including the moonwalk - and he did it really well. As if that wasn't enough, he later on performed two songs while playing the guitar - Love Yourself by Justin Bieber and Photograph by Ed Sheeran. Amazing.

(Click here for a link to Justin Alva's cover of Bieber's Love Yourself.)

After the episode, I started checking out his performances during the show. What impressed me about Justin is his expressiveness. He showed a ferocity and an angst while singing 7 years by Lukas Graham. He was amped up in his finale performance of a medley of Monster and Lose Yourself. My favorite performance though is probably his rendition of Sam Smith's version of the Whitney Houston song "How will I know". It was so heartfelt and moving. Check it out here.


video uploaded by The Voice Kids Philippines

Hopefully, Justin can have a singing career. He has talent and artistry and I find his story and his outlook in life to be truly inspiring.

Friend day Saturday

Two different sets of friends wanted to meet up last Saturday but thankfully, one group wanted to meet during lunch while the other group wanted to meet during dinner. The venue: Burgos Cirlce/Forbes Town Center.

My work friends decided to have lunch in Locavore. Me-ann and Hannah were both in town and when I suggested this place which serves very good Filipino food, Hannah actually said that she was going to suggest the same place. So it was set! While a few others were unable to make it, Mike and Alvin were also able to join us. I had eaten in the original Kapitolyo restaurant before but I had completely forgotten about it until I got there and I recognized the decor and the street food platter (fish balls, squid balls, kikiam, and kwek-kwek). Both Hannah and Alvin seemed very familiar with the menu and they proceeded to order for everyone. I gotta say, I'm not normally a fan of oysters but the Lechon and Oyster Sisig was very good.

photos and Instamag layout courtesy of my friend Me-ann

After our meal, we all decided to have coffee and gelato in Casa Italia. Mike wanted three different flavors so he ordered three scoops, and as it turned out, he got a whole lot more gelato than he expected. He decided to share it with us. I would have ordered gelato for myself but I realized that I was too full and with Mike sharing his order and Hannah sharing her sans rival, I felt that coffee would be sufficient. We parted ways at around 2:30PM.

I stayed around in BGC and headed back towards Burgos Circle at 6PM for dinner with my Yaminoy friends. It's amazing how I ended up becoming friends with other fans of Elliott Yamin almost 10 years ago and we are still pretty good friends now and a few of us still manage to meet up at least once a year. I had always wanted to try B&B Burgers and Brewskies because I saw their menu a while back and discovered that they served a burger that came with mac and cheese and bacon. It is appropriately named "Call the Nurse". :) Only Marie and Meg were able to make it that night - Meg herself had a bit of a cough - but we decided to push through anyway because our heavily conflicting schedules have led to many cancelled plans to meet up this year. Thankfully, we all got to enjoy dinner together because there was a whole lot of catching up to do.

US Open 2016 and Graf's continuing legacy

What an amazing fortnight for Angelique Kerber. She took home the US Open trophy, her 2nd Grand Slam title of the year, by beating Karolina Pliskova in a very tough three-setter. With this win, Kerber takes over the #1 ranking from Serena Williams. She is the first German to be ranked #1 since Steffi Graf. Furthermore, she snaps Williams' streak of 186 consecutive weeks at #1. This is the exact same women's record that Steffi has, a record I thought she would lose this year. As such, Steffi and Serena now share the women's record for most consecutive weeks at #1 (the men's record and the overall record are both held by Roger Federer at an astonishing 237 weeks). Congratulations, Angelique!

For her part, losing finalist Karolina Pliskova made headlines herself when she announced her arrival at the top echelon of tennis when she defeated Serena Williams in the semifinals. Pliskova had been slowly making a name for herself over the last two years, and even moreso in the last couple of months. She led the women's tour in number of aces last year and she is the current ace leader this year as well. More recently, she beat both French Open winner Garbine Muguruza and Kerber en route to a Cincinnati title. She was actually ahead in the final as she was up 3-1 in the third set and seemed on the way to another upset win but in the end, you could see she was just a bit more tired than her more seasoned opponent. If Pliskova continues to work on her fitness and movement, she could very be a future Grand Slam titlist and even a future #1. Her rise to #6 after this tournament is a solid step in the right direction for her.

On the men's side, Stanislas Wawrinka just made a case for a Big Five instead of a Big Four as he won his third Grand Slam trophy, beating Novak Djokovic in four sets. He now has won in three of the four Grand Slam events - the only one missing in his collection is Wimbledon - and at 31, he becomes the oldest male player to hoist the trophy since Ken Rosewall who won in 1970 at the age of 35. Things could have gone very wrong for him though as he faced a match point in the third against Daniel Evans. He saved that and four rounds later, he becomes a champion.

Interestingly enough, Angelique Kerber herself could have had a not-so-good year if not for saving a match point in the first round of the Australian Open against Misaki Doi. If she lost that, she may not have gained the confidence she now has that allowed her to reach the final of Wimbledon, win a silver medal in Rio, take the US Open title, and become world #1. Imagine that. Oh, and Karolina Pliskova had to save a match point herself against Venus in the fourth round.

I understand that this is also the first time that Serena Williams was seeded #1 at the US Open and didn't win. She actually had a solid shot at taking home Grand Slam title #23 that would have allowed her to take over Steffi Graf's current Open Era record (Margarent Court has the all-time record with 24). Instead, her loss keeps her at even footing with Steffi in the Grand Slam title count as well as in the consecutive weeks at #1 record. Amazing how Serena's incredible success has somehow reminded people of Steffi's otherworldly career.

With the last Grand Slam event of the 2016 tennis season having been played out, it would be interesting to see what happens in the WTA Tour Championships and who will end up being #1 at the end of the year.

Philippine Madrigals win the 64th International Choral Competition!

Congratulations to the Philippine Madrigal Singers for winning the Grand Prize at the 64th International Choral Competition held in Arezzo, Italy last August 27. Along with the Grand Prize, the Madz as they are popularly called also took home several awards:

• 1st prize: Compulsory Program
• 1st prize: Monographic Music
• 1st prize: Musica Sacra
• 2nd prize: Secular Music
• Best Performance of a Renaissance Piece
• Listening Committee's Choice: Folk Song
• Listening Committee's Choice: Pop/Colours
• Public's Choice: Pop/Colours

Check out this unbelievably amazing performance of Ama Niamo (which is Bicolano for Our Father). I get goosebumps each time I listen to this (and I have been listening to this quite a lot). The low humming throughout a large part of the song is just done so effortlessly, ethereally and impeccably and that build-up that starts at around the 5:30 mark is stunning and magnificent and never fails to take my breath away. Being awestruck while listening to a recording on youtube makes me wonder how amazing they would have sounded live. After hearing this, it is easy to understand why they won.


video uploaded in youtube by UP Madrigal Singers

This win qualifies them for the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing to be held in Tolosa, Spain next year. Only the winners of the six European choral competitions get to participate in this very prestigious event and the Madz are only one of four choirs that have won the Grand Prix twice.  Imagine that! A win next year would make them the most successful choir in this event. I will pray for their continued success but whatever happens next year, this win in Italy proves that the Madz are truly one of the best choral groups in the world.

Congratulations, Philippine Madrigals!

Celebrations and Catching Up

This last month has definitely been a full and rich one, with many celebrations and get-togethers. For my mom's birthday, we had dinner in Relish in Tomas Morato. My family and I have always enjoyed the food but we hadn't been to Relish in a while so I thought it would be a good place to have my mom's celebration dinner. I also brought home a Strawberry Pavlova from The Bandana Baker because I wanted to try something different and not easy to purchase to make the celebration just a bit more special. It was my first time to try this dessert and it was very good. My mom really loved it. I may just get order this again for another occasion.

Strawberry Pavlova from The Bandana Baker

The Bandana Baker
https://www.facebook.com/The-Bandana-Baker-60508551947/
For orders, call or text 0916-780-6521
Email: thebandanabaker@yahoo.com.ph
Located in Makati
Check out how to place orders here: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150203405320346

It took a while for me to figure out what I could get my mom as a birthday present. The idea came when I saw an advertisement online indicating a weekend sale of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Oblo machines in Robinson's Magnolia. I didn't have time to go there but when I went to S&R shortly after that, I saw that the Oblo machines were still on sale. As I learned more about it, I found out that this machine requires the user to decide how much water to add which I felt to be too much of a hassle. I decided to get the Mini Me which is a lot more expensive but which allows you to set the recommended amount of water for maximum coffee enjoyment. (I figured that if people had to figure out how much water was necessary, they might not like the coffee as much and they might not use it.) So far, this gift has proven to be a fantastic idea because within 24 hours of me setting it up at home, my mom and my nephews had all enjoyed a cup and a whole box of capsules was consumed within a week. Cool!

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Mini-Me

(photo from https://www.dolce-gusto.com.ph/machines/mini-me/mini-me-unbranded-white-black)

For my nephew's birthday, we went to SM MOA to get him new sneakers. It was the first time we went there on a Sunday and wow, it was overflowing with people! We took a snack and coffee break in UCC Vienna Cafe before my nephew finally decided on the pair he wanted. Given how crowded SM MOA was, I suggested to my family that we just have dinner in BGC. We dined in Frank and Dean and we all enjoyed the food we ordered. I especially loved their Sour Cream pancakes (they were like a light and fluffy mix between pancakes and bibingka and I wouldn't mind having them again).

We weren't able to properly celebrate my brother's birthday last year because his work schedule makes it challenging for all of us to find a common time. Thankfully, this year, we were able to have dinner at Conti's. I also ended up getting Nike Flex shoes for myself that night. I had checked them out on a previous trip to Planet Sports but I decided to think about it carefully first before getting them. Luckily, the pair that I actually wanted were on sale on that return trip. The guy at the shop told me that those shoes were on sale for only 5 days. It was already the 4th day of the sale when I got them - at 20% off! - so I was really pleased with my luck and my timing.

I also joined many of my friends over the last few weeks for a variety of occasions. My friend G went to the US for further studies so he treated us all to dinner and drinks at The Stockpile in Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas. Joh celebrated her birthday at The Grind in BGC. Jim celebrated his birthday at Reserve in Burgos Circle. I was unable to join Mark's birthday celebration dinner but I caught up with him and the rest of the gang at Coffee Bean in Rockwell Business Center in Ortigas. I also got to catch up over coffee with my friend and long-time colleague Auds who had just resigned from work. Now that I am writing about this, I realize that this last month has really been a full one, and I'm just thankful that I got to spend a lot of quality time with the people in my life.

August hodgepodge

The Rio Olympics ended a few weeks ago and it was significant for many reasons. For Filipinos, Hidilyn Diaz took home a silver medal in weightlifting. Usain Bolt also added to his legendary status by once again taking home another three golds. This is the third Olympics in a row where Usain won all three events he participated in. Nine golds for a sprinter is unheard of. In fact, before Bolt, it was rare for anyone to win both the 100m and the 200m in the same Olympics and yet Usain did this feat three times. That is just staggering. Then, as if one all-time great wasn't enough, Michael Phelps came out of retirement to win five more gold medals and a silver. He now has 23 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes for a total of 28 medals. Both Phelps and Bolt are considered by many to be the greatest Olympians of all time and it's great to have witnessed their success.

However, it wasn't just the medalists that imprssed me. A non-medalist from Ukraine shocked me to my core (in a good way). 41-year-old Oksana Chusovitina made it to the finals of the Vault in Gymnastics. I actually had the TV on when she was competing and it took a while for me to realize that the 41-year-old that the commentators were talking about was her. They said she learned a new vault at the age of 40 and then I suddenly recognized her and remembered who she was. This was the 7th consecutive Olympics she competed in, her first being in 1992 (24 years ago). Wow. To be the 7th best female vaulter in the world at that age is just jaw-dropping. Oh and she is only the fourth woman to return to Olympic gymnastics after becoming a mother. She is just truly inspirational.

*****

Wicked, the world-renowned Broadway musical, is making a return to the Philippines on February 2, 2017. This time, it will be staged at the Theatre at Solaire. I watched it the last time it was here but only with my mom and my brothers since my nephews weren't interested to see it back then. But now, one of my nephews said he wanted to see it so I got tickets and I will be watching it again. Thankfully, Visa credit cards holders could purchase tickets a bit earlier and at a discount. The Visa-only sale is over though so everyone can buy tickets now.

*****

I upgraded to Windows 10 on the last day of the free upgrade. I did some research and everyone seemed to have positive things to say about Windows 10 so I decided to make the leap. However, I am now regretting it. My laptop now takes a whole lot longer to boot. I don't really like the new explorer layout and how the shortcut to select the views is no longer readily available. I don't like how I lost the recent documents option. I don't like the pinned stuff (I had to manually remove them all). Oh and my Plants vs. Zombies, which I still play every now and then, no longer works. Ugh. Maybe I should do some research on whether its possible to downgrade my Windows.

*****

Of course, no month would be complete for me these days without more board and tabletop gaming. :) In this last month, apart from games that I am familiar with, I also got to play a few new ones: Celestia, Grimoire, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Machi Koro, and Carcassonne. Shockingly, my winning average is still pretty solid as I won 4 of the last 8 games I played, including Grimoire and Carcassonne which I won on my first try. I played Above and Below again and while the first time was very confusing for me, the instructions were a lot clearer this time around and I did a whole lot better. I actually lost by only one point and I attribute that loss to bad die roll as I was close to the end of the game. :) The game that I seem to do really well in is Bruges. I have played this game four times now, and I have won three times and been a close second in the only time I didn't place first. I hope that streak continues. :)

UPeepz win Gold in Hip Hop International 2106

This post is a couple of weeks late but it is still definitely worth writing about. UPeepz continue their international success. After winning the World Supremacy Battlegrounds Street Dance last year, they take home the Gold in the Hip Hop International 2016 MegaCrew Division. Congratulations, UPeepz!


video uploaded in youtube by OfficialHHI

This wasn't the only Filipino success in this event. The Alliance also took home Bronze in the Varsity Division. As it turns out, one of the dancers here is the son of one of my friends. Cool! Way to go, UPeepz and The Alliance!

Firebird and other ballets at the CCP

Earlier today, I went to CCP with my mom to watch the Firebird and other ballets which kicks off the 47th season of Ballet Philippines. The program was broken down into two acts. The first act consisted of three parts. The first, Weighted Whispers, had the dancers wearing corset/harness costumes. The choreography smartly involved lifts using these harnesses and provided movements that would otherwise not be possible, making it incredible and breathtaking to watch. The second part, Moving Two, was a light and fun pas de deux performed to Pachelbel's Canon. The third part, Ne Neh Ledej, is performed to the captivating and enthralling music of the same name by Iva Bittova. It was a lively and powerful number.

The second act consisted of The Firebird, which is a ballet by Igor Stravinsky. The original ballet is 50 minutes long but it does have three shorter suites (I'm not sure which suite was used during out show.) This second act was mesmerizing to watch, not only for the amazing technique, skills, and stage performance of the company but also for the vibrant and dazzling costumes and set. Needless to say, the company and the crew got a massive ovation at the end of the show.

The cast featured some amazing artists, such as Rita Angela Winder, Garry Corpuz, Denise Parungao, Katrene San Miguel, Lester John Reguindin, and Cyril Aran Fallar, whose performance that night as Korschel the Immortal would be his last with Ballet Philippines (at least for now). He had his own curtain call moment and you could see how much Ballet Philippines means to him as he bade a fond farewell to everyone. (I wonder where he is going or what his plans are.)

Here's a video from Ballet Philippines with some pretty amazing snippets of the rehearsals:


video uploaded in youtube by balletph

Interesting moment: it turns out that Cherie Gil and Margie Moran were in the audience that night and my mom was able to have a photo taken with both of them separately. My mom even had a short conversation with Cherie during the intermission. I myself wanted to tell Cherie that I was utterly impressed with her performance in Master Class many years ago but there were so many people in line to have their photo taken with her that I wasn't able to say what I wanted to say.

This is the first time I had been to CCP since watching Beauty and the Beast there early last year because all the shows I watched after that were staged in the Theatre at Solaire. I'm really happy that I got to see Firebird and other ballets with my mom.

F2 Logistics: 2016 PSL All-Filipino conference champions!

Congratulations to F2 Logistics Cargo Movers for winning their first ever Philippine Superliga trophy! The La Salle-stacked team bested the previous champions Foton Tornadoes 2-1 in their best of three finals, winning their last match in four sets with a score of 18-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

Congrats to @F2CargoMovers 4winning #PSLAFC ! @SuperLigaPH @Abymarano @mikareyesss @VSGalang @KiannaDy @Dawnt_ask pic.twitter.com/pHNBuKx5ag

— winston baltasar (@foto_geek) August 17, 2016

The F2 Logistics Cargo Movers started the tournament as front-runners, winning all their preliminary matches. However, they lost in the second round to a rampaging Foton team that seemed to be peaking at the right time. However, with a team that features league and finals MVPs as well as players that had won multiple championships, F2 proved that they have the fighting spirit and winning mentality needed to claim the PSL trophy. In fact, similar to DLSU in the recently concluded UAAP Season 78, F2 were beatable but they didn't lose to the same team twice in a row. It didn't look like that though in the early goings of their do-or-die 3rd finals game, with Foton winning the first set and taking an early lead in the 2nd set. Nevertheless, F2 found their form and their confidence and with that, the next three sets were in the bag. (I'm also quite happy that Mika Reyes won the final point of the tournament with an ace. :) She and Ara Galang were also game MVPs.)

And that's it! The F2 Cargo Movers give Ramil de Jesus his first PSL crown! Congratulations! @FOXSports_PH pic.twitter.com/jycgSVREqq

— Benggadora (@Benggadora08) August 17, 2016

As if that wasn't enough, the Cargo Movers won most of the individual awards. Aby Marano was 1st best blocker, Ara Galang was 1st best outside spiker, Kim Fajardo was best setter, and Dawn Macandili was best libero. My favorite moment though was when Dawn Macandili was also awarded League MVP. Wow! This is a first time a libero was awarded league MVP in the Philippines. (It reminded me of Yuko Sano being awarded MVP at the 2014 FIVB World Grand Prix.) Way to go, Dawn! Very well deserved!

Dawn Macandili an unexpected but worthy pick for PSL MVP, says F2 Logistics coach https://t.co/zoN5q5dvSW

— Philippine SuperLiga (@SuperLigaPH) August 17, 2016

The Foton Tornadoes took second place but it's a strong finish for them because they started the tournament with a handful of losses. The fact that they jumped from 4th to 2nd and were in strong contention for first should give them confidence going into the 2016 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship where they will be representing the Philippines as champions of the 2015 PSL Grand Prix. Rounding out the podium finishers is RC Cola-Army who placed third. It's amazing to see how much volleyball talent there is in this photo that combines this season's top three teams:

And that concludes the #PSLAFC! pic.twitter.com/SZFdmYNvmc

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) August 17, 2016

This really has been a great year for La Salle's star players. Kim Fajardo is best setter in both the UAAP and the PSL, Dawn Macandili has been awarded best receiver, best digger, best libero and tournament MVP, Kim Dy has a finals MVP award in the UAAP, Ara Galang is best outside spiker in the PSL, Majoy Baron is best blocker in the UAAP, Aby Marano is best blocker in the PSL, and Mika Reyes was named PSL Ambassador and she joins Kim Fajardo as part of the Magnificent 7 that will be competing against some of the world's best in the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship that will be held in Manila in October. Fantastic job, ladies! Congratulations F2 Logistics!

Filipino weightlifer Hidilyn Diaz wins Olympic silver at Rio!

Wow, this is great news! Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in the 53-kg category of Women's Weightlifting. This is so significant for many reasons. First, Hidilyn is the first female Filipino Olympian to win a medal in a non-demonstration sport. She also wins the first weightlifting medal for the Philippines and the first non-boxing medal since 1936 (80 years!). Finally, her silver ends the country's 20-year wait for Olympic glory, with Onyok Velasco being the last Filipino medalist after his silver in boxing in 1996. Amazing!

Congratulations Hidilyn! Thank you for bringing home the Silver to end our 20 year Olympic medal drought! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/Svba5DHEkI

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) August 8, 2016

Watch her win the silver in this video from Sports5:


video uploaded in youtube by Sports5

Congratulations, Hidilyn! The Philippines is very proud of your incredible achievement!

31% discount in Baskin Robbins

I had visited Baskin Robbins several times in the last year thanks to Metrodeal, which had vouchers that provided 50% discounts on a few select flavors. In one of those trips, I was told that every 31st of the month, all fresh packs (12oz, 24oz and 48oz) are sold at 31% off (Baskin Robbins is known for its "31 flavors" slogan even if it actually has significantly more flavors than that.) The person behind the counter explained that while the Metrodeal voucher does provide a higher discount, the 31% off discount can be better because it applies to all flavors and not just a select three to four that the voucher includes. I took a mental note of this and looked up which months had a 31st day that fell on a weekend. The first one I saw was July (31st was a Sunday) so I decided then that I would head to Baskin Robbins on the 31st to get some ice cream. And I did!

I didn't want to choose any of the flavors I had already tried before (although I really do love Baseball Nut, I wanted to try something else). I decided to get Jamoca Almond Fudge - Jamoca coffee ice cream with roasted almonds and a rich chocolate fudge ribbon. When I told the sales staff my choice, she told me that since I wanted to get the 48oz, I could actually get two flavors. Cool! I wanted to get something fruity so I ordered the Cherries Jubilee - cherry-flavored ice cream with pieces of dark sweet cherries and a hint of rum flavor.

I checked the 2016 calendar and the next 31st that falls on a weekend is in December. I guess it's sort of good timing because it is right before New Year. I have to check if Baskin Robbins is open on that day and if their 31% off will still apply then. If it does, I think I will be paying them another visit at the end of the year to get another fresh pack (or two). :)