on films, books, food, restaurants, favorite haunts in Metro Manila (and now, Philadelphia)...
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| rants and raves on films, books, food, restaurants, favorite haunts in Metro Manila (and now, Philadelphia)... |
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004 I had a good diving weekend. First shark sighting, first night dive, first strong current dive. * * * Last week I went to this Cosmopolitan Bachelor’s Bash at the NBC Tent. Promo girls are a dime a dozen but it was interesting to see Promo Boys for a change. There was this Astring-o-sol booth where you could kiss these two boys in green satin shorts with white fur trim if you gargled their mouthwash. And there was also this Levis corral-type booth where you could lasso some shirtless (but Levis-ed) guy like a horse. Interesting really, a kissing booth and a booth that treats guys like animals – FHM would never be able to get away with something like that in their parties. The main even was this fashion-show type thing where the 69 bachelors and the 10 celebrity centerfolds would strut their stuff, take off their clothes on the runway, flex their muscles, pour body oil all over themselves. I think the show lasted for around an hour. I don’t know if it’s just me though, but I don’t think girls are as shallow as guys and a one hour strip show can actually sustain our interest for more than ten minutes. Half the audience was made of gay guys, and since they’re still half-male the show kept them happy. posted by wys | 9:27 PM 0 comments Can you believe that those little paper packs of Splenda cost a whopping Php20 each?!? I'm appalled, Equal packs cost only Php1 each. posted by wys | 7:56 AM 0 comments Sunday, September 26, 2004 It's almost October! Which means it's almost November! Which means it's almost December! Which means it's almost Christmas! posted by wys | 9:51 PM 0 comments Swatch has this new line of neato scuba dive "fun" watches that automatically switch into "dive" mode when submerged into water keeping track of your depth and the length of time you've been underwater. Of course they warn "this is not a scuba-diving watch," meaning you should still use a professional dive computer. In any case they have a bunch of cute designs in typical Swatch fashion. Anyway I hear they'll be launching this soon in Manila for around Php3k to 4k. Good stuff. posted by wys | 9:44 PM 0 comments You can now see your name in a new TVC commercial. This is pretty neat, it's an ad for Audi in the U.K. You just need to enter your name and email address (they promise not to spam you). posted by wys | 9:40 PM 0 comments Sunday, September 19, 2004 I just finished this new book that my brother lent me. Essentially the point of the book (for me anyway) is that a group of diverse, independently minded dumb people will likely come up with better decisions than I would be able to on my own. Humbling really. 
posted by wys | 9:43 PM 0 comments Had an awful dining experience in Gourdo's Cafe (Fort Bonifacio, Makati) earlier today. They served the wrong meals to the wrong people, brought the courses out of synch with one another, and got our some orders completely wrong. Shame on them, it's not so expensive that one would expect flawless service but expensive enough to expect minimal hitches and not something as major as getting orders TOTALLY WRONG. (Php400/head maybe) * In Shakey's Katipunan they have this Sundae Bar where they give you a fairly sized sundae glass and you can fill it up as high as you want to. Soft serve vanilla ice cream, candy sprinkles, chocolate and strawberry syrups, M&Ms, cornflakes ... all for Php90 per glass. It's not the Peninsula or Shangrila-Hotel, but still great for sharing with friends and a lot of laughs on just how high one can manage to build their ice cream sundae. posted by wys | 6:33 PM 0 comments Thursday, September 16, 2004 I have been semi-obsessing about my flight details for my New York trip this coming October. I’ll be gone for a measely two weeks, is that enough? Of course not. But this is as excellent a time to go as any (while my sister still has an apartment). Anyway, we’ve been trying to figure out how I could transfer my parents’ mileage over to buy tickets for me. All this online booking that was pretty complicated (and I’m supposed to be an online guru) … turns out I have to buy a ticket the good old fashioned way at the end of it all. It actually comes out slightly cheaper by US$50 or so with a paper ticket than with an e-ticket (that’s no way to run a business Northwest! Self-service online should yield cheaper rates). And now I’ve been semi-obsessing over which seat I’ll take in the plane. The exit row? But I can’t put my feet up. A window seat will allow me to lean over during the flight, but it’ll be difficult to make my way to the bathroom. An aisle seat will be easy access in and out, but then people will end up hitting me. Should I stay in the sides, or the center section? The front of the plane or the back (I say staying in the back will up my chances of survival if the plane crashes, but my dad says if the plane crashes I wouldn’t have a chance of survival seated in front or back). I also have to start planning every single minute of every day if I’m only going to be around for two weeks—the plays/musicals I’m going to watch (tops on my list is the one with Hugh Jackman), concerts to see, museums to check out, restaurants to dine in, new sports try out (sky diving?). Obsessive planning is the way to go. posted by wys | 9:25 PM 0 comments Monday, September 13, 2004 Huzzah! My car and I went on our first out of town trip this weekend. With me driving no less. I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning so I could make it all the way to Anilao by 8am. Well we made it there by 9am, even if I was driving like a reckless madwoman. Thank goodness my only casualty for this trip was a walis tingting that was carelessly strewn on top of a bunch of twigs. Diving was fun, as it continues to be. I also ended up playing a little badminton over the weekend because my family decided to have a “fami-lympics” of sorts with Badminton, Volleyball and Basketball as the main events. I told the organizers we should go more hardcore next time and include arm wresting, grappling, MERCY. * * * I actually watched The Met’s production of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. For more than a little loose change. It was fun, but I could have gone without watching it. And it’s depressing when a theater with a capacity of 400 or so only has 40 people in it. The people behind the production claim to be such marvelous marketing geniuses gathering sponsorships and pre-selling tickets left and right that they broke even before the play even started running, but an empty theater is still a sad sight to behold. posted by wys | 9:25 PM 0 comments Wednesday, September 08, 2004 I had dinner in this wonderfully quaint restaurant called Café Juanita in Barrio Kapitolyo this evening. Recommended by some other friends and a little hard for me to find out about online because no one’s really written about it anywhere (if Google can’t find it online, it doesn’t exist). The cuisine is a little confused, with Filipino, Asian (Malaysian + Thai) and Japanese dishes on the menu. I would call it Filipino fusion. Good sized servings, expect a meal to cost around Php350 per person. Pleasant service, and great ambiance. All these little knick knacks and details—teacups with matching saucers hanging from the walls, crocheted table linens, baro’t saya acting as seat covers, huge narra chairs, funny music that only your dad enjoys listening to. Reminds you of your great grandmother’s house in Padre Faura (or at least my great grandmother’s house on Padre Faura) but without the dust and funny smell. And a whole host of food choices. Definitely worth a return visit. Café Juanita — 21 United Street corner West Capitol Drive, Barrio Kapitolyo; open for dinner 6 to 10pm (I’m unsure of their lunch hours); 632-0357 posted by wys | 11:05 PM 0 comments Saturday, September 04, 2004 Lots more trips planned this year: Hundred Islands, Pangasinan Puerto Galera Boracay (ho-hum but always fun) New York Boracay (again) And thus far 2004 has already seen me in: England Scotland Cebu Boracay (wow my year end total will be 3 trips to Boracay) Cagayan de Oro Tagaytay (does that count?) Anilao Was planning some weekend getaways to La Union (surfing!) and Bohol (more diving! chocolate hills!) but people are flakey so those plans are still up in the air. For 2005 I'm thinking Dubai, Vancouver, Alaska (was supposed to be Mexico but the family preferred the freezing cold to Philippine-like weather), Sagada, Palawan, Palau, Iloilo, Hong Kong, Bangkok. Of course I'll have to narrow the list down eventually, just not yet. And of course in 2008 I just have to be there for the Beijing Olympics. There's also the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (*yawn*) but that seems a lot less appealing. posted by wys | 2:00 AM 0 comments Watched the documentary "Super Size Me" in Galleria today. Interestingly, they're marketing the movie locally as the first "reality movie" to hit the big screen. Or something or other. Which is sort of is because it is the story of Morgan Spurlock's 30-day experiment of eating nothing but McDonald's. I remember reading about the documentary somewhere earlier this year, and was thinking it would never make it's way to these shores. Before the movie, decided to stop by Shakey's because I had read about their new retro type look/menu/etc. Ended up ordering a Super Platter which was kind of a rip off at Php130 because you can get a Bunch of Lunch for Php79 (or was it Php89?). Both plates have one piece of chicken, one slice of pizza, two mojos, spaghetti, but the Super Platter also had some iceberg lettuce salad, mushroom soup, an extra pizza slice and this brownie dessert (extra items not really worth the extra Php50, and I was stuffed after everything). Last night was able to stop by Big Sky Mind to check out this exhibit that some friends had told me about. Six "feeling artists" each created an original work of their own, then the five other artists would reinterpret the original in their own way using their medium of specialty (oil paints, mixed media, digital art, etc). Hence the title of the exhibit "Chop Suey." If I recall correctly. Of course the only reason we passed by Big Sky Mind was because we had dinner in Katre (off Tomas Morato). Enjoyable dinner, great ambiance and fancy food with very affordable prices (most main courses between Php200 and Php300). Good stuff, just slightly "out of the way" -- assuming one would mean Greenbelt, Power Plant, Robinson's Galleria or any other major shopping mall to indicate "in the way." posted by wys | 1:30 AM 0 comments Wednesday, September 01, 2004 Heard the funniest thing from Brother#2 last night. Apparently, Brother #4 (who is 10 years old) had been bugging Brother #2 incessantly to lend out his Bamboo CD. Upon some further prodding it was revealed that Brother #4 was going to be performing "Noypi" in front of the entire school -- or at least a good part of his entire school. Must be for Linggo ng Wika. Seems like the right time of the year to have National Language Week ... not that I really remember. Much of my senior year in high school was spent avoiding schoolwide presentations so I could enjoy our newly airconditioned classrooms with my co-delinquents. Methods of school presentation avoidance included: hiding under a blanket inside the classroom and sneaking into the broom closet of the bathroom while all the other students were made to march to the gymnasium. In any case Brother #4 was really horrible when he was trying to practice for his presentation. Bless his shameless heart. Too bad he didn't invite my parents so they couldn't capture the whole fiasco on video. He says he had 3 other classmates with him to perform. I better remember to ask him about it later tonight. EPILOGUE: I found out that Brother #4 wasn't able to sing "Noypi" because his group was pre-empted by another group that performed ahead of them. He ended up singing some Black Eyed Peas song that he doesn't recall the title of ... he simply concentrated on memorising this rap portion in Filipino. I'm not a Black Eyed Peas fan and for the life of me have no idea what he could have sang. posted by wys | 12:11 AM 0 comments |
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