The Road to Health is Paved w/ High Fiber

Did not have any rice today. Breakfast: Oatmeal and a tuna spread sandwich (own recipe). Lunch: Diced beef and pechay stir-fried w/ olive oil (own recipe). Snack: Lily's peanut butter sandwich. Dinner: Chicken and microwaved scrambled egg sandwich. All sandwiches used hi-fiber wheatbread. Worked out before dinner, and had 10 fibre capsules (5 each for 2 of the meals).

Imagine doing that 7 times a week. If I still end up getting cancer or a heart attack I'm gonna be mighty pissed.

Catching Up (Yet Again)

I felt like kicking myself for not taking full advantage of last week when the 'rents were off vacationing in Hong Kong. Didn't go out as much as I wanted, but instead made use of the new DVD player Ma won in a raffle (1 of 2 units, as well as a cordless phone). It had Divx, Xvid playback and .srt/.sub subtitle reading capabilities, as well as a USB port where I could plug in my Creative Muvo mp3 player like a flash drive. So now I can watch my downloaded movies on a normal television screen and lay on the couch while doing so.

On Friday I watched a "Concert for the Environment" at Le Pavillon sponsored by Cemex, featuring Fat Session (bad pun), Noel Cabangon (Joey Ayala lite), Kjwan (the J is silent) and The Dawn (bastards didn't even sing Enveloped Ideas). W/ me were Aissa, Raymond, Bebot, Rona (Dale Carnegie classmate) and her officemate Rhea. I'm not exactly sure what "environmentally friendly cement" is or how being sold in plastic bags isn't contradictory to that claim, but then again I was only there for the concert and grub.

Cocktail food, pasta and drinks were more than abundant (only had 1 SanMig Light, tho'), but all that beer and red wine still couldn't release the inhibitions of some of the corporate crowd that attended. Well, I never thought rock bands and suits mixed, much less rock concerts and plastic garden chairs. Fat Session run the gamut of covers, bookending the show by practically singing the entire Chorus Girls playlist and various disco/dance numbers. Former President and First Lady Ramos were in attendance, and man, did they grab attention of the rest of the VIPs (as well as the media), much to the chagrin of the band Kjwan, who was in the middle of a song number that went out to the quickly-emptied seats of the first 3 rows. All in all a okay show. Rons and Rhea even got to take home some penne bolagnese.

Saturday I went to the Book Expo w/ Goldy. Ran into Jan (who returned my DVDs), Lola (at the NBS booth where I bought Vol. 10 of 100 Bullets and where they where selling a copy of Absolute Sandman 175 bucks cheaper than when I bought it), Blessed and Marlene, who by coinkydink knew Goldy and tried to pry about whether we were an item or whatever. Far be it for me to share information on something even I wasn't sure of, so I didn't. wink wink nudge nudge. Had Japanese for dinner, Starbucks for dessert and their free bags of coffee ground ("for your garden") for souvenirs. When I got home the 'rents had arrived. They got what I asked for: at pair of wireless headphones (Logitech)! Bluetooth tech rocks!

Geneva (Yeah, Like the Convention) or Finally Getting Around to Blogging This

The cutie between the 2 Beijinoys is Geneva McLoughlin. She's from North Carolina but we met in Beijing. She was in town coupla weeks ago but I only found out by random happenstance.

I was looking to hire a mutual friend for a wedding emcee gig. A woman answered his cellphone. Her voice (and American accent) sounded familiar but I couldn't place it at the time. Next day mutual friend calls back and says Geneva's in town and he had lent her his phone since he's acting as her host during her vacation here. I got to talk to her again and we arranged to meet up once she got back from Cebu. (Yes, mutual friend is thorough w/ the hosting thing. I woulda just brought her to Intramuros.)

Monday the week after while waiting for Geneva at the Power Plant branch of Fully Booked I read some Will Eisner comics (the hell w/ "No Browsing, Pls."). Finally I saw a petite, literally fashionably late woman wearing a vinyl faux snow leopard skin overcoat trying to call me on her cellphone. By the time it rang I was literally behind her. We had coffee at the Starbucks on the same floor.

Little backstory: Probably the most notorious event during Geneva's stay on Beijing was when she was beaned on the head w/ a brick by a fellow student (who was apparently a few bricks short of a load himself) supposedly because he was offended at the sight of her in a miniskirt. In the end she got a mild concussion, suffered some memory loss and we never did find out the identity of the culprit (other than he's the son of some Korean diplomat muckety muck). I even considered using a false identity at the BLCU registrar to try to check his records, but sadly that plan fizzled out.

While a coupla emails from her mom made Geneva's condition sound worse than it actually was (w/c was why I never bothered to email back since I thought she wouldn't remember me anyway), thankfully that wasn't the case. Yeah, she's fine. Seems that one incident (written in the email) about her not remembering her favorite food when her mom placed it in front of her was more a case of Mom bringing out her daughter's favorite food when she was a kid, and daughter casually asking, "What's this?" I totally get that. Hell, I used to like homemade fried chicken as a kid, but I cringe at the thought of eating that mid-deep fried and dried mess now.

Got that? She's fine. After our long chat at Starbucks I invited Debbie and Aileen to join us for dinner at Jollibee, w/c Geneva's been dying (ok, just mildly curious) to try.

Oh, Yeah...

What were the events the transpired the day before that I forgot to blog about?

What do you call nightmares w/ happy endings? Seriously. Bad Dream That Ends Well? Dreammare? Anyhoo, I had one of those. Horrible. I thought my best friend was mauled/beaten to death. I headed for my room to meet the 'rents, all the while dealing w/ grief the way I do when I'm awake: stoic, anxious, and in denial 'til I actually see the body. As I open the door who comes to greet me in w/ tears and a hug but my best friend, alive. I realize it's a dream but the flood of joy, relief and all those other positive emotions I felt seemed real. I didn't wake up crying tears of joy, mind you, but there was a lingering feeling that this day was going to be a good one.

Good news came in the form of an email telling me my book order went through and was shipped the next day. My evening was spent reminiscing via Youtube, watching clips of shows I grew up watching, like Marlo & the Magic Movie Machine, Punky Brewster and Perfect Strangers. Well worth skipping over my dloaded copy of Reefer Madness: the Movie Musical. Guess you had to watch the original to appreciate the satirical nature of the remake.

Oh, and Jack Palance's version of Ripley's Believe It or Not! is far superior to Dean Cain's exteme-showcase-fear-factor-lite presentation. Argh, I really wish my Betamax machine was still working. Hell, I wish it was still intact.

10 Thoughts on The Simpsons Movie and Ratatouille

Caught this last week at Power Plant mall, a "double feature date" w/ Goldy and her sister Kim. Seriously underestimated the Saturday crowd, but at least our seats were far from the screaming kids. And I saw my model crush Georgina Wilson, who turned out to be not as freakishly tall as I imagined her. She was accompanied by BF Richard Gutierrez and fellow model girlfriends, who shrieked when one of them appeared on the big screen in a commercial. Sigh. Getcher kicks where ya can...

I'll alternate thoughts between flicks:

• As with most TV-to-movie cartoon transitions, with TSM you could see the difference in terms of scope (widescreen) and "level of maturity" (Bart's wang, Homer flipping people off). I liken it to an OAV or the Batman direct to DVD animated movies.
• Cute as Rata's rodents were, Goldy could not get over the grossness of the concept of rats in the kitchen cooking. Talking toys, bugs, monsters, fish and cars, fine, but rats that cook? Eugh. No better than cooked rats, I gather.
• If you've been on the air for 18 seasons, some storylines are bound be retread: Bart (and Marge) fighting w/ Homer, Bart ends up w/ Flanders, Homer goes on a reflective quest, etc. Thankfully the jokes themselves are fresh.
• In terms of casting, Patton Oswalt(as Remy) isn't the most recognizable name (outside followers of American standup comedy and The King of Queens), and Janeane Garofalo (as Collette) was almost unrecognizable w/ her faux French accent. Peter O'Toole (as Anton Ego), on the other hand, I spotted right away.
• Boy, that Harry Plopper just went up and disappeared halfway through the second act, didn't he? Same deal w/ Lisa's would-be environmentalist /boyfriend, Colin. And just when Spider-Pig became the latest incarnation of Last Song Syndrome.
• While I was fine with the rat-chef concept, the infestation in the food closet have me the heebie jeebies. I was expecting Willard to do a cameo.
• Longtime viewers of the series are rewarded with the appearance of the thousand-eyed creature (in reference to Blinky the 3-eyed fish), as well as the scene of Homer and Bart finally making it over Springfield Gorge (see Bart the Daredevil). And Die, Dr. Nick!
• I loved the more-or-less realistic reaction of the kitchen staff when they walked out on Linguini after he tells them about Remy. C'mon, when someone you think was a master chef credits a rat for his skills, either you have him put away or bring him to the nearest tabloid reporter. Hell, the Supreme Court booted a judge who said he consulted magical dwarves in his cases. Still, the quasi realism was shattered when both a chef and food critic became accepting of Remy's talents. Yeah, yeah, we need our Happy Ending w/o The Lie.
• Much as I liked TSM, I probably could've just waited for the DVD.
  
• For those who want to know what real ratatouille looks like:

Obviously catering to both peasants and vegetarians alike.

My Brother's Wedding Video

They oughtta put this under Apple Quicktime Movie Trailers:

Prison Break (As In "Taking A...")

Saw 2 vid posts this morning that are both Haha Funny and Haha Strange. It's the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (or NAMBLA-- winkwink Jon Stewart) practicing song and dance numbers of Thriller and Hail Holy Queen (from Sister Act). As I am too lazy to register to Youtube I'll just post the links for them here and here. Please watch them and be amazed, and by amazed I mean bewildered and go "WTF...?"

A few quips:

• Seeing as how the major prisons in Metro Manila are hopelessly overcrowded and writhing in filth and gangs, it's nice (and disturbing) to see how prison officials in Cebu could organize something like this. The Thriller dance number supposedly has 1500 inmates choreographed into something that reminds me of those North Korean tribute performances to Kim Jong Il. I can't even fathom getting 1500 convicts to cooperate for... anything outside of a prison break/riot, much less a dance number.
  
• I wonder if the guys playing the female parts are branded as somebody's b*tch afterwards, or were they already beforehand?
• I hope the cons who participated got more out of this other than their 15 minutes of online fame. Reduced sentence, enhanced visitation rights, an actual talent fee, etc.
• I smell a movie in this. High concept pitch: It's The Shawshank Redemption meets Chicago.
• I hope their next bit is from Riverdance.
  

A DerDerDer, A DaDaDa (UPDATED w/ Pix)

Yours truly, Diana and Tintin (Ngo) went to Cebu over the weekend to attend Eda and Derwin's wedding. We caught the 5am Cebu Pacific flight, and an hour later took a P425 airport taxi ride to the newly reopened Marco Polo hotel. Coinkydink #1 came in the form of Juvee Ting, my former tutor (and Wilson's batchmate), helping out for the groom's team.

The girls first went up to our room while I took advantage of the free breakfast buffet. The upgraded (unsolicited, but not unappreciated) room came w/ complimentary mangoes and chocolate, but w/ only a queen-sized bed, so I slept on 2 chairs then later on the floor. W/ that disadvantage I felt I was entitled to to the bath foam. (Ahh, hot water massage...)

After sleeping off most of the morning we got spruced up and rode in one of several shuttle vans that headed for Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Weather was bearable, so it was just wearing a barong again that was uncomfortable. Beautiful female faces were abound, particularly w/ the bridal entourage, comprising mostly of the bride's relatives. Makes me wonder if all that combined wealth contributed the Good Looking Gene.

The entire ceremony took an hour and a half, probably because every liturgical response was sung instead of spoken. And speaking of spoken, the know-it-all priest take it upon himself to (incorrectly) correct the pronunciation of the groom's name, so once he started with DArwin instead or DErwin no-one corrected him. He'd made the same mistake later in the reception.

On the ride back instead of heading straight to the hotel we took a slight detour to the Gaisano residence, courtesy of fellow passenger Edmund "Eddie" Gaisano, Eda's dad. His... odd behavior on the minibus made for some bewildered looks and nervous giggles among the others. Boy, he's really giving that eccentric millionaire persona a run for its money,I thought.

The house was huge, with enough floors to warrant its own elevator and a dense, forested back lot you could probably hold paintball war-games in (or dump a body, wink wink). With all us "youths" there having a rich old man (then later his son) showing us around I felt like we were being set up for a reality show. Some of us availed of the bottled iced tea in the fridge, and even helped Mr. Eddie choose a Hawaiian shirt to wear. (Why? Who cares? Eccentric Millionaire.) In the kitchen lay a stack of magazines w/ his face on the cover, though his picture didn't sport the goatee he currently has on. That's one way to self-promote, I guess.

It was here that I met a cute girl named Mona who, like the other pretty girls I get smitten over, started speaking to me like she knew me beforehand from somewhere (and as usual I couldn't recall neither when nor where). Coinkydink #2: she was Annette's (my former batchmate) in Beijing, and knows Weng and Manol (from her stay in Shanghai). Yey, another reason I'm glad I took this trip!

The reception at the White Gold House (w/c was neither white nor gold) was expecting 1000 guests. Eda didn't like the Oriental look of the third floor dining area so she had the walls and ceiling draped in large white sheets, and over the presidential table hung hundreds of orchid flowers. Paolo Santos provided the professional entertainment for the evening (supposedly Side A and/or Gary V. couldn't make it). They gave away special prizes in the form of IPods, PSPs cellphones, digicams, and various name-brand scents. The initial prize was given raffle-style by choosing a message at random from the guest book, much to the regret to those who didn't bother to sign it. The rest were given away by lottery and quiz-show format. For everyone else the wedding souvenir came in the form of a chocolate bar w/Dada and Derder's name on it.

Later in the evening I pissed Di off while we hitched a ride w/ our friend Stephen back to the hotel. I joked to Tata that she needed a ride to the airport tomorrow, then he later texted her to offer her/us that ride. Why this joke-turned-friendly gesture made her mad was beyond me. Even after Mendel and his girlfriend Shirly took out for pudding and iced tea later on the evening was soured between us (and TinTin since she usually takes her side).

The only highlights of the morning after was me running into Mona (and her sisters) at the breakfast buffet (though she ordered ala cart) and riding the hotel's "scenic elevator" (Enjoy 45 Seconds of Cebu Scenery!) with them afterwards. Otherwise the sourness returned: that feeling of cold shouldering between roomies that's momentarily broken by the presence of other friends showing up, either to say good-bye or give us a ride to the airport (Mendel and Shirly).

To summarize: big wedding. Bigger reception. Met a pretty girl. Ticked off my travel companions (at least one of them for sure). Whatta weekend.

POSTSCRIPT: Guess whose picture we found on Cebu Pacific's in-flight magazine?

It's Aileen! Miss you, dear.

Blog Catchup

TODAY: Had a nightmare. Big school program (always at SJCS auditorium, for some reason). My siblings and I were the organizers. Boit at sound system, Sis at music, Wilson gives a lecture and me as host. Program's about to start when my throat closes up. I tried to speak louder but could only gasp the words. This has never happened before, I thought. Basically I f@#ked it up before introducing Wilson.

Then I woke up. Six thirty AM? Screw that. I actually tried the intro out loud again before falling asleep.

Sudden invite later in the day by Rons has me watching Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix at Trinoma w/ her. Not a fan of the series but it's her treat, anyway, while mine was for dinner afterwards. Again my absentmindedness almost has me losing the parking stub, w/c I thought was pointless to begin w/ since they charge a flat fee of 30 bucks.

YESTERDAY: Got a haircut in preparation for the wedding this Saturday. Got my free Timex watch courtesy of HSBC. Bought a copy of Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 at 1400 bucks off the original selling price. Ma and I were about to leave Glorietta when someone from EPCIB called to tell me I left my credit card at the bookshop where I bought Sandman. They said they'd "locked" the card for security reasons and if I don't call them back w/in the next 48 hours they'd cancel it altogether. Of course I went back, got the card and called them back. Call-center idiots took forever to undo everything.

Lesson: It's quicker to report your credit card stolen/missing than it is to report it found/recovered.

DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY: Met up w/ hottie former math teacher Jen at UP, her former place of employment (afterwards it was at a PR firm and now a number cruncher at Citibank). It was a meeting I nervously looked forward to, as previous invites to coffee (or similar beverages since I don't drink coffee per se) were always rejected out of distrust of/for yours truly (w/c bewildered yours truly). She only agreed this time because she was "in between boyfriends."

The non-date was... interesting. I noticed a air of snappishnes and pseudo-hostility towards me. Was this her way of discouraging me from asking her out again or just a natural reaction to my presence? Neither prospect appealed to me.

So if ya can't beat 'em, wisecrack 'em. In between trading verbal barbs and zingers (she was beating me due to my "restraint") she shopped for gift baskets for her lawyers, then we had dinner at Anyi while waiting out the rainstorm. Driving from UP to Greenhills and back was a first for me, so good thing she was around. Earlier I suggested just going to Trinoma but she suggested I "get out of my comfort zone."

And to close this evening a simple goodbye besos ended instead with colliding cheekbones (I kid you not). Ouchie. Perfect.

2 DAYS BEFORE YESTERDAY: Supposed to get a haircut while mom had a facial, but my "personal" barber had the day off. Okay, 2+ hours to kill. Watched Die Hard 4.0.

*To anyone thinking that I must be unemployed to have this much free time to do all this: yer dead wrong. I have work. I just don't blog about it.

10 (Trinoma) Thoughts on Transformers

Checked out the Trinoma mall yesterday w/ Wella, first to check out the grand openings the new of Comic Odyssey and Western Appliance stores. Wella got a new shirt, cellphone and spray-paint for her nightstand, while I bought lunch, taho and freakin' expensive double-sided tape (at SM North EDSA across the street).

Later in the evening I caught a last full screening of Transformers in Greenhills w/ Boit and Dionne. Spoilers ahead:

• General consensus on Megan Fox's hotness (though her voice make her sound ditzy), Anthony Anderson, John Tuturro and Frenzy's annoying presence (the JarJar Binks school of acting) and Shia Lebeouf's excellent comic timing.
• The entire movie would've felt right at home in the late 80s or early 90s w/ it's vibe. Back then I would've rolled my eyes much less at the cringe-worthy dialog and MacGyver-like story implausibility.
  
• Why did they make Ironhide sound British?!? Though I like how Hugo Weaving made Megatron sound more like Galvatron, and of course a geekgasm for Peter Cullen as an older, raspier Optimus Prime.
  
• I know the scene w/the Autobots trying to hide in the 'burbs was played for comic effect, but I think it just looked like Sam's parents were very hard of hearing (couldn't hear a 20-foot robot destroy your garden fountain) and had no peripheral vision.
• My brother was right in saying I could've waited for the DVD, since most of the robot action was going by so fast and in a herky-jerky fashion I couldn't appreciate the detailed work they put in designing the Transformers.
• Real classy, Bumblebee, peeing on the human. I'm surprised you didn't light the guy on fire afterwards.
  
• Hey, what's a Borg cube doing underneath Hoover Dam? Oh, wait...
  
• I was under the impression the AllSpark was akin to the original Creation Matrix in the comics, at least in terms of function (i.e. gives life to Transformers). Yet in the movie it just makes inanimate machines into malevolent robots. If that's the case, why were the Autobots so intent on protecting it? (The argument could be made that only Earth objects turn evil, while real Transformers that were given life could go either way.)
• Oh, no! Bumblebee's legs were blown off! Jazz's been pulled apart by Megatron!! Humans are dying!!! Ratchet, what is it that you do again, aside from leaving a girl to do your work w/ a stolen towtruck?
  
• Hey, Prime, instead of endangering Sam by holding him in your hands while fighting someone , why didn't you shove that cube into Megatron's chest, instead?