Too Cute For My Comfort

Here's the story... yesterday I heard the phone ring...picked it up...and on the other end of the line... a familiar voice started... Hey! You told me you are not busy this week... how come you are not answering my calls!!!!.... I muttered uh-huh...!@!##$$%%&.... then she said Oh my God I sound like a nagging housewife .... I muttered again uh-huh.... Then she went on...lets meet later and go to a special screening of "No Reservations" at Greenbelt 3....I have already informed Cathy.... then I said OK... end of the phone conversation. It was Joan :-)

We met around 630pm in Greenbelt.... According to Joan there will be cocktails around 7pm prior to the start of the screening..... she suggested that we just grab a bite first before we head to the bar where the cocktails will be served. We decided to go to a nearby restaurant.... Cafe Bola... For appetizers Joan ordered for toasted bread with puso ng saging dip....it tasted great.

Cathy opted for a spaghetti with carbonara sauce....it was sprinkled with lots of crispy bacon bits. The sauce was creamy and flavorful....

On the menu I saw that they have entrees indicated as health friendly food... so being a health buff that I am... really I am... I chose the pasta in olive oil and basil... and wow dude it may be a healthy concoction but it tasted so bland I ended up eating the food of the two girls :-)

Joan ordered for the very sinful spaghetti with aligue sauce... dunno why... maybe to strike a balance... they sprinkled it with some asparagus bits... and it tasted soooooo good. I finished half of the plate...the other half went to Joan :-)

Quarter to eight in the evening we finished our dinner and headed to the new Tropezze Bar (formerly Tavern) for some cocktail drinks. Upon entering the bar we realized that we should have gone there straight instead of dining at another restaurant. Caltex the host of the event was giving out prizes...there was a raffle promo... and since almost an hour have passed since the start of the cocktails our chances of winning anything is slimmer. Another thing is they were serving food... not just hors d’œuvre and drinks... but real honest to goodness mouth watering and chow down to your delight kind of food!!!! Joan's contact person was so accomodating... immediately ushered us to the VIP lounge and offered lots of food to be delivered to our table. But since we were already filled to our stomach's brim with the pasta we had earlier... we have to decline and just ask for drinks. Joan asked for a San Mig Light, Cat for mineral water, and I for an Iced Tea. Within a few seconds our lady host arrived with two waiters with our drinks and two huge platters of Crispy Kangkong and Calamares.

Our lady host keeps on insisting that we try some more drinks.... the bar is overflowing with drinks.... Cat and Joan decided to have a bottle of Raspberry Vodka each... and being an altar boy that I am I asked for another glass of Iced tea :-) Joan can't finish her vodka anymore... and they were both complaining that they can't taste the alcohol as the drink just taste like some sweet juice. So I stared at Joan's 3/4's full of raspberry vodka bottle.... it looks pretty in pink... picked it up and gulped to the last drop... yeah it was sweet and icy cold...refreshing...ahhhhhhh
After a little while it was already quarter to nine in the evening and we have to go to Greenbelt Cinema upstairs for the screening of "No Reservations". I got up from my seat and Whoaaaaa!! I felt dizzzzzzzy... but I don't want to cause any commotion with my two lady friends... they will definitely tease me to no end if I told them that I am a bit dizzy...so I walked slowly and straight as I possibly can.... whew!!!!... and with lots of effort... I made it to my seat without anything embarrassing happening to me.

OK now with the business of the movie "No Reservations".... The movie started extremely well to my opinion... heart warming .... however...my only problem with this movie is when the extremely respectable actors like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart started acting like they were in a Kim Chiu -Gerald Anderson flick.... now that's a problem....I like the story and the actors were very adequate... It's just that when Catherine and Aaron's character are geting too cute and were like teenage lovers that makes me cringe in my seat. Abigail Breslin's character is the most consistent in my opinion...her character suited her age..and the child actor is deifinitely an actor to watch out for... a very good rival to Dakota Fanning. Minus the cutesie to the max it was still a good movie as a whole.

Domestic Partnership

It's the 2nd time for the Monday Marauders to meet... the group that was conceived by Alma and which was christened by me. The idea behind the group is that we shall be meeting every Monday while Cathy is processing her travel papers and before she flies to France. It was Monday because Alma and I both have no work/classes on the said day. The usual meeting place is at Figaro in Galleria because Jtt holds office at one of the office towers in Robinson.

I was the one to arrive last...hey I came from the far North..and the pesky contsruction of the small Tullahan River bridge is still not finished.... hence a trip going to the metropolis spells a thousand and one detours. I found the threesome sipping coffee at Figaro but I am already famished hence suggested that we munch some real food before watching a movie.

We had dinner at Chef d'Angelo, we tried the Tuna Pesto Pasta which was surprisingly good and the spaghetti with rich meat sauce. We also had pizza but I forgot what kind we had.....hmmmmmm..... come to think of it I don't remember if it tasted good or not. Well one thing for sure it was not worth remembering and must be not good.

We all agreed we need some good laugh that's why we decided to watch the Adam Sandler and Kevin James starrer "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". The movie as expected made us laughing out loud inside the cinema. The movie was extremely hilarious and made me forgot that it is wrong to stereotype people. Watching an Adam Sandler flick is always a guilty pleasure for me. And dude Jessica Biel......whoa!!!!!! she was HOT..... lucky bloke Adam Sandler get to touch her all over all in the name of art.... some guys have all the luck.

Well in a more serious note... I am all for domestic partnership.... In my opinion the state/government should recognize that any two person who have committed to live together should be accorded the same status and benefits of people in a conventional partnership. Taking religious convictions aside I am all for the equal treatment of citizens as far as the government is concern. The government should not have any prejudice. I understand the prejudice of religious institutions because that is what their doctrines dictates as far as that issue is concern but the government should not have any prejudice of what kind.

Elliott Yamin Live

I am a huge fan of the TV show American Idol. I enjoy watching the show from the very crazy audition process up to the grand finals night. I never fail to watch a single episode. Last season 5 my favorite contestant was Elliott Yamin... I was floored when I heard his rendition of Moody's Mood for Love at AI and immediately became a big fan. I also liked his very humble demeanor... and later I learned more facts about him such as he is nearly deaf in his right ear, he has type 1 diabetes, he had no formal voice training, he is very close to his mom.... that made me more interested in him as a person and a performer. I was extremely disappointed when he was eliminated at AI and did not make it to the finals... his voice in my opinion is far superior than the other two finalist. I just have to console myself and hoped that he will have a recording deal. I even promised myself that I will definitely buy his CD.

When I learned that Ayala malls is going to bring him here in the Philippines I really hoped that I will be able to see him perform in person. I later learned from my friend Alma that tickets are limited and we need a ton of luck to have one. I was already feeling bad about the fact that we missed to secure tickets for the Avenue Q musical a few days ago and now it seems that I'll be missing Elliott's gig as well. My original plan was to watch his show in Trinoma but I missed it. Around past 12 noon and am just lounging at home after having lunch I received a txt message from Alma "You still wanna see Elliott? Meet me at exactly 550pm at mcdo Glorietta. I have an extra ticket . We have to be there by 6pm . Seats will be given to others if we are late." I jumped out of our couch and immediately headed to the bathroom to take a shower. I came around 545pm but Alma was nowhere in sight.....there were already alot of people lining up to be seated. I was so worried that we'll lose our seat....around 630pm Alma finally came.

We were seated at the 5th row right of the middle and it gave us a good view of the stage. The Glorietta crowd was a really great audience... they cheered, screamed, stomped their feet, and even sang along with Elliott. Elliott sounds much much better live in person. I've got goosebumps all over with how awesome he sings his songs. He was also profusely sweating despite the pretty cool AC at Gloriettea... must be the heat from the spotlight. However this did not matter a single bit with the way he performed on stage.... he sings like Yamin it :-) sorry.... I can't help myself. Elliott performed for more than 45 minutes.....

Elliot sang around seven songs and one of my favorite was his rendition of "I'm the Man'. I recorded and even posted it in my youtube account....

Baggy Banned!

I have just read this news on Yahoo about outlawing wearing saggy pants! I've always referred to it as baggy pants I never knew that it was a.k.a. saggy pants... which I think is a more funny alter name... bwahahahaha. However, I find it unbelievable that a person could be sent to jail because of his fashion sense or lack of it...bwahahahahaha. Seriously, I really find it disturbing that because your undies peeped you are considered an offender of the law of the land..... even if lets say we go to the extreme and your butt cleavage showed.....so what... I always believed that the person who see things maliciously will always see things maliciously no matter what. To some people if your ankle shows you are already offensive.... Well to each his own.. but for me... I really don't care.

Coming Soon

Whoa! I am very excited and extremely looking forward to the silver screen adaptation of two of my favorite books Prince Caspian and Love in the Time of Cholera. Prince Caspian is the book four of the Chronicles of Narnia series of the great C.S. Lewis. The first film adaptation from the series was The Lion , the Witch, and the Wardrobe which is actually the book two because the book one is The Magician's Nephew. However, I am a bit wary with this latest Chronicles of Narnia series adaptation because the first one The Lion , the Witch, and the Wardrobe was not exactly a great movie. Especially with the great Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR series the Book Two of Chronicles' film adaptation seems lacking in imagination and magic. I doesn't help to contain my fears the fact that the director of Book Two which is Andrew Adamson is also the director of Prince Caspian. I just hoped that he would improve immensely. Well despite all these misgivings I am still excited to see on the silver screen Prince Caspian... basically because I remember pretty well how much fun I had reading The Chronicles of Narnia..... and I hope that all the kids in the world get to read this series of books as well. Anyways, according to the latest news this movie will hit the theaters sometime May of next year.


The next movie to watch out for is the film adaptation of one my favorite authors' Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. The film adaptation was directed by Mike Newell, he is also the person who directed Four Weddings and a Funeral and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The screenplay was written by Ronald Harwood, the same person who wrote the screenplay of The Pianist. This movie is slated to be shown in November of this year in the US... an Oscar bait perhaps... I just hope this flick will be also shown on the same date in the Philippines. See ya at the movies :-)

I Know Who Killed Me

Alma, Cat, and I met at Greenbelt 1 primarily to buy tickets for Avenue Q. I was the last to arrive and saw the two munching fried squid and fried dumplings at Tokyo Tokyo. Since the two girls were already comfy seated we decided to just have lunch there, anyway it's been quite sometime since the last time I dined at Tokyo Tokyo. After I finished my Chicken Tonkatsu lunch I realized why I never bothered for a very long time to eat at Tokyo Tokyo.... For starters I ordered for a big plate.... well the plate I had was not big at all... and the chicken tasted like cardboard... I dunno if it is just because my taste bud improved or the food at Tokyo Tokyo deteriorated....

I am a very in touch with my jologs upbringing and not really difficult to please... I love eating kwek kwek and could be very satisfied with a bag of Lapid's Chicharon, vinegar dip with lots and lots of garlic and chili, and cold rice. I just want value for my Tita Leonie's hard earned money! I used to love eating at Tokyo Tokyo especially in the late 80's when the sole branch was in Makati Shopping Center now Gloryeeeetaah. I still remember my very first Tokyo Tokyo meal... Beef Misono... back then I was not as deft as I am now using chopsticks.... my very first Beef Misono was really good ....meat was ever so tender almost melts in my mouth... and the serving was enormous and it fills my hefty teenage appetite. Times like this you really wished there is no such thing as franchising.... it ruins everything.

After my not so nice lunch and loads of talks with Cat with her honeymoon details at Bora and if she's pregnant already or what.... bugging her to no end... We decided to go to Ticketworld for the golden Avenue Q tickets.... yesterday Alma made an inquiry and she learned that the only available left were the 1,200++ bucks tickets. Although the tickets were a bit pricey at least for a poor bloke like me I still blindly decided to buy them precious tickets. The reviews were very good and also the last musical that I saw was eons and eons of years ago..... RENT. Unfortunately when we approached the Ticketworld booth the clerk told us that there were no more tickets available for next weekend's run.... our only last hope now is that they would extend their run. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed:-)

Part of our plan was to watch a movie, hence we proceeded to Greenbelt 3. Alma suggested that we watch the Lindsay Lohan flick I Know Who Killed Me and I suggested that we should watch the Jodie Foster starrer The Brave One instead. Alma won and we bought tickets for IKWKM, somehow I feel like it is not going to be money well spent. The movie's opening scene saw Lohan pole dancing, which turns out to be an imaginary character of a budding teenage writer Aubrey Fleming (also Lohan).... There's a serial killer on the loose and after a few scenes Aubrey was missing and presumed abducted by the serial killer... the story goes on.. and very predictable. It was so predictable that halfway through Alma guessed who is the serial killer and Cat knew the supposed twist that the movie is yet to reveal....

At the very first few minutes I was kinda expecting the movie to self destruct and burst to oblivion .... but the pain of watching this movie lasts for 105 minutes. The screenplay was unbelievably full of loopholes and cliches. And wow... man... the director Chris Sivertson is like trying to do a David Lynch but not creepy enough to be one... And Lindsay Lohan... why is there so much buzz about this girl... her acting sucks...

Unbelievable as it seems ..... lunch was a big dud..... the tickets were a big disappointment...and the movie was a huge disaster.... I still had a great time. Lessons learned.... franchising spells disaster.... never procastinate.... never ever watch a Lindsay Lohan flick... and it is always the people you are with that matters regardless of the place and situation that makes life enjoyable.

Opulent Dining Experience

I received a txt message from my friend Cat asking me, Alma, and Jtt to join her and hubby Thierry to a dinner date. Cat just got married 9 days ago and had just been back from her honeymoon in Boracay. Thierry will go back to France on Saturday hence Cat would like to have a get together before weekend. We are supposed to meet around 530pm at Galleria. Unfortunately because of the heavy traffic towards NLEX I was only able to arrive at Galleria around 730pm. They were all waiting for me at Figaro, Cat told me that we should just have dinner at any resto within Galleria since it is already a bit late and they still have another commitment to attend to. I said NO I did not travel all the way from far North and endured more than two hours of traffic just to eat at some restaurant I can find in every mall in the metropolis. And yeah I am fully aware that she is going to foot the tab. Cat and I were arguing as usual and I forgot that her French hubby was with us.... I wonder what he must be thinking? har har har.....




Anyways, I won the battle..... all five of us crammed inside Jtt's Toyota sedan and off we went to a place I have no idea where.... The resto we are supposed to go to is just nearby according to Jtt, only Cat and Jtt had the pleasure of dining there...for what I can remember Jtt's been raving about the place years and years ago..... but we have not gone there as a group until now. When we get off the car I immediately noticed that the restaurant's facade was not very impressive... however... once you stepped inside you'll be in for a big surprise. The place is teeming with curios, trinkets, antique furnitures, potteries, chinas, and much much more. It is like inside a huge kaleidoscope and the burst of colors is simply overwhelming.... in a very nice way.



We came there primarily because according to my companions the food in this restaurant is really good. Cat and Jtt were the ones who took the reponsibility of placing the orders to the waiter. The first food to be served was the Catfish with Mango salad and boy oh boy the catfish is like a swirling flake of a snake.....it looks soooo good and taste equally good as well. The catfish is crunchy and the dressing and mango compliments the taste of the cruchy fish very well.




The shrimp dumplings is also very good...... it tasted great and I had mine without dipping it in chilli sauce. The wrap almost melts in your mouth and the shrimp is very succulent.




The shrimp gambas is also good...... the spiciness is not overwhelming... just enough to enjoy the heat without scampering for a glass of water.


When we were still on our way to this restaurant Jtt mentioned to me about this particular sinigang that they serve at this restaurant. At first I find the main ingredient to be a bit weird and I am a bit unconvinced about the whole thing. However, the moment I tasted the Corned Beef Sinigang I realized that using corned beef makes sense if not a genius of an idea. The meat as expected was very tender and the soup was sour enough to make one cringe in delight.



The spring rolls' wrap was crunchy and the filling was nice and chewy, also the dip compliments the taste of the spring rolls.




Cat was looking forward to tasting again the Lechong Kawali with Bagoong and I can't blame her. The pork was crunchy yet it was not dry and the bagoong had an equal balance of sweetness and saltiness that enhances the flavor of the deep fried pork.

The Fettuccini and Maya-Maya with Pesto Sauce was likewise excellent.... the fettuccini was al dente and the fish was neither rare nor overcooked. The pesto sauce was creamy and flavorful.

The only entree that did not impressed me favorably was the Osso Buco. I've heard so much about this Italian dish and I was looking forward to tasting my first Osso Buco. The meat was very tender but the taste was so bland. From what I've heard it should be a braised veal in olive oil, white wine, stock, onions, tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, carrots, celery and lemon peel. Well I guess I'll have to try my next Osso Buco in some other Italian restaurant.


The last entree was the Bistek Tagalog and it tasted great.... the beef was very tender and the flavor of soy sauce is very mild that allows you to taste the beef.

We were all quite full and not sold to the idea having any dessert.... however there was one small voice in our group of five that insisted that we should try even just one dessert that we are going to share to complete the whole dining experience. I don't remember who it was but it was definitely not me. Anyway, we decided to have Creme Brulee in honor of our French host. As we all know creme brulee is a custard with caramelized sugar crust. Thierry took the first crack and tasted the creme brulee.... and he said it was excellent... just like what he usually have in France.
To quench our thirst we either had Dalandan Shake, Dalandan Juice, Watermelon Shake, or Beer.

My dining experience in Cafe Juanita was a great adventure..... it was a visual and gastronomical delight. I will definitely go back there over and over and over again.

Chinese Food

We went to church early today and attended the 11:15 am service. I noticed that there were more people compared with the 5pm service. Anyways the theme for this month is "Heroes" and the bible hero was the lady who helped Joshua and friend in their scheme to capture Jericho? I'll get back at this post and verify if I got it right and hoping that no UP-VCF people is reading this....har har har


The service ended around 1pm and my dear brother decided that we just have lunch at the farflung MoA. He is also probably sick to the idea of going to Trinoma this time as what to we have been doing for the past decades (figure of speech folks). Anyways since it is Sunday there is not much traffic in the metropolis and we were able to reach MoA in less than an hour. And dont worry my family is big on late breakfast close to brunch actually hence late lunch is not as "gut wrenching" as it seems.


Anyways we decided to have lunch at Mann Hann...... we have not been to a chinese resto for a couple of months already. We almost gave up on the idea when we saw the long line of people waiting to be ushered to their table. However our laziness to find another resto paid off because after a couple of minutes we were already seated. And to add another bonus I bumped into some of my former colleagues from Quorum.... they were celebrating because one of them passed the recent nursing board exam.

Anyways we already placed our orders while we were waiting to be seated hence food were almost immediately served when we were seated. The first plate to be served is the Spicy Squid. I am not a big fan of squids mainly because most restaurants are not able to cook it without turning it into like rubber. However this one is not that tough but not spicy either. This is the only plate served with lots of left over.




The next plate that was served was the steamed fish with garlic... this particular dish was my suggestion. I forgot to ask the waiter though what kind of fish it was? In my little experience in dining out steamed fish with garlic always taste good and they all somehow taste the same..... I have yet to taste something with a different punch.

Another all time favorite is the broccoli with garlic in oyster sauce,

my only complaint with this one is that some of the stem is quite tough... it should have been steamed or cooked longer to make it more tender.

The fourth food to arrive at the table is the soup... which in my opiniom should have been served earlier. The soup we ordered is Ho To Tai ... I dunno if I messed up the spelling yet again, but that is how it is pronounced :-) It was piping hot and tasted great.... and I loved the various ingredients of veggies, egg, tofu, mushrooms and taste and aroma that it gives.

The next items that were served was Lechong Kawali and Fried Chicken.... I have no big expectations with these two entrees and true enough it tasted without much difference from the other resto that I have gone to. It tasted good but nothing great either.

The last to be served and rather extremely belatedly was the Shrimp Tempura, this too is my suggestion in exchange to my original order of Fried Scallops, they run out of scallops or something. The shrimp is quite big... I dunno if it should be called prawns because it was quite big and still succulent even though it was fried.

We also ordered for two big platters of chinese fried rice..... the fried rice is flavorful... however I find it extremely greasy.... makes me pray for my dear old arteries for every spoonful of rice I shove in my mouth.

Overall I was a bit disappointed with my Mann Hann lunch.... I used to remember how worth the wait to be seated was once you started eating in this resto.... that was in Megamall though. I dont know if it is because the crowd was so big that they somehow sometimes slip on the quality... We were in Mall of Asia afterall... the biggest mall in the land. I'll try to eat there again but not when the crowd is big.

Loot of the week!

Wupey! I got myself a copy of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner for a measly amount of forty bucks..... ahuh!!! that's like more than 10 times cheaper than the usual price found at the bookstores in the metropolis. As usual I found my copy at my all time favorite store.... Booksale!

I don't mind if the book's cover is torn and have lots of creases, stain, and what not.... I think of it as something like the book have acquired some character :-) Well almost half of my books came from Booksale so they all have some value added character in them.... Sometimes I even have books with notations at the pages and it tells something about the previous owner. I also look at it sometimes in a quirky romantic angle..... like..... you know..... because most of the time these books have changed owners, been from other countries, have either gathered dust for so many years or have been read by so many people and in the end the book and I found each other's company....harharhar....

Anyways..... I am excited and can't wait to start reading this book... I hope I wont cry a river....like how Butch described the effect of this book to him... well... will see....