Chatty Cathy

As I type this , the hyped 08-08-08 (or the catchier sounding LingBa LingBa LingBa in ping yin) Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies had just finished (via delayed live telecast). China's (I'm guessing) oldest living gold medalist, after being hoisted up by a harness a-la Peter Pan, just fake-ran the whole length of the upper perimeter of the "Bird's Nest," moving like The Flash running on water. He was being followed-- and finally overtaken by a video projection of a carpet that featured video montages. (Some ideas just seem to better during rehearsal, I guess.) While it ended spectacularly w/ the Olympic torch lit like a giant firecracker (complete w/ fake fuse), it's funny how with all the complaining Western (read: US) Media did about the poor quality of Beijing's air, no-one thought to ask if having big-@$$ fireworks and explosions going off all over the city during the entire program was a good idea. Oh, well. They can try asking after the smoke clears.

(Holy crap, BMX racing is the new Olympic event? I don't even give Formula 1 Racing that much credibility, much less bicycles going around in muddy circles. Ugh. Tony Hawk's bike stunts would've been much cooler to watch.)

I also came back from SM MoA after meeting up w/ old DLSU/EngLiCom buddy Cathy Sy (who's now technically Family, as her brother married my sister's sister-in-law). Dinner was at Gumbo, where I suffered through the spiciness --we ordered stuffed crab and ribs w/ a side dish of cajun rice and mashed potato -- w/ a sweaty head. After dinner she treated me to almost-fat-free frozen yogurt at White Hat , while I provided the "1 Free Topping" coupon. With that first mini-spoonful (and the free chocolate chip sprinkles) I remembered why I disliked yogurt in the first place. It's ice cream's answer to "sweet-n-sour" food.

We got to talking about the trials and tribulations of the Tsinoy Family Business Model, as it's success sometimes means accepting unsavory practices as the norm. She tells me to be thankful that I've inherited one, even as, unfortunately, unsavory practices and politics are part and parcel of the whole thing. A glass half-full outlook, so to speak. While my formally educated brain tells me that a more organized (or legal) way of doing things is called for, Cathy suggests to only implement new rules after I've gotten a handle on how to things their way. Bad enough I'm no good at wrapping my head around numbers, but it's unlikely the 'Rents would retire full-time and leave things to me. Then again I wouldn't want that to happen right away, either.

On the drive back home I passed by G's street in Del Rosario (between Buendia and F.B. Harrison) to avoid the traffic in Taft Avenue. The first thing I noticed were the new and numerous street lamps installed. It used to be that this street was enveloped in pitch black darkness that was only pierced by automobile headlights. Now it's so well-lit people can better avoid using jaywalkers as fender benders, as well as see at how decrepit the place still is like it was daytime. Would-be muggers can't hide, but neither can the garbage littered on the streets.

Whose Meal Is It, Anyway?

As I write this I'd just finished dinner and my head --and head alone-- is perspiring like someone squeezed a whole orange too hard. This is because I placed too much pepper in my latest original (to myself, at least) pasta recipe.

When cooking for myself (as I often do when I find the already prepared meals wanting of a healthier flair and flavor) I usually just improvise. Take tonight's dinner, for example:

• Half a bowl of uncooked corkscrew pasta equals 2 servings of cooked ones, or one-and-a-half when I'm really hungry.
• So as not to risk letting the remainder of a newly opened can of spaghetti sauce spoil (since I only need a single serving's worth), I go for sauteing (w/ olive oil, 'natch) 3 whole tomatoes and a good portion of onion, all sliced thinly. Caramelizing them took a while to perfect (and I suspect I still haven't), and I occasionally add water so they won't burn.
• To taste I add a little bit of butter and instead of salt I sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese (and unfortunately too much pepper) over the sauteing veggies. I used to add some sugar too but I now realize this was redundant (caramelizing, duh).
• Note to self: don't bother adding salt to the boiling water if you just wash it off the pasta after (to stop the cooking process).
• The meat of choice was shredded chicken meat seasoned w/ pepper, stir fried with garlic and enhanced (last minute) w/ rice wine, w/c did wonders for the taste. Move the now cooked tomatoes and onion out of the pan first, then cook the chicken in it, then add those veggies again, folding them in thoroughly. Finally add the cooked corkscrew pasta, folding it in, as well.
• Add some Italian seasoning to fool yourself into thinking the whole thing smells marvelous, then move the pasta to an appropriate bowl (presentation counts!) to serve.
  
• I always try to do this while Pa's occupied/not around, so as not to catch hell in the process. Catching hell is fine afterwards, since I'm already eating.

Daze Gon Bye

For months I've been contemplating what to do about G. My thoughts turned to having A Big Talk w/ her in person to discuss Where We're Going. In the end I chose inaction. Ceased all modes of contact, and I honestly (but sadly) believe she won't notice.

It occurred to me that in all the time I've known her she's never called me once, and often let work or her own personal free time supersede anything that might have given us more opportunities to spend time together. During all this I didn't think of her as "my girl," as it sounded crass and possessive, so I referred to her as Milady (shut up), as in "milady-in-waiting," while I was "boyfriend-in-training."

Ladies, some points-of-fact about Men: We suck at subtext, reading between the lines and non-verbal communication. Tell it to us straight, even when sometimes we don't or won't, because we're dense that way.

Also: While we may not say "I like you" straight out, if we constantly call, text, write emails everyday when you're out of the country, send flowers and/or try to plan our weekends around wanting to see you, it should at least give you the impression that we're interested in pursuing a long-term more-than-just-friends relationship.

While talking to a mutual friend (from her side of the Pal Pool) we theorized possible reasons for her behavior, w/c ranged from conservatism to cluelessness. Neither impression was appealing. I settled for her simply not being ready for a relationship. Too bad it took me years to realize this, after much time and emotion was invested. After awhile it felt like a long-distance relationship --except both parties lived in the same region-- or a listless marriage w/ one spouse complaining how the other one was always at work. She was not as into me as I was into her. Hell, I might've been a Friend Zone resident all this time.

Anyway, I'm moving on, setting aside the mixed feelings of anger, sadness and disppointment. I am grateful to friends for their support and for helping me cope. Lots of other things to occupy my time and mind (thanks, Internet!). This might be for the best. Who knows? I'm out of cliches to spout.

Putting the Nut in 'Health Nut'

Sometimes my well-intentioned, know-it-all dietary experiments go awry. The last time it didn't go well was when, instead of rice, I ate lots of mashed potatoes and salad slathered w/ mayo. Long story short it didn't work miracles on my cholesterol levels. Switched to tomatoes and carrots since then.

Tried that one-glass-of-red/white-wine-a-day thing. Not being much of a drinker the buzz hit almost immediately. At least I fell asleep quicker but overall it wasn't pleasant and tasted even less so.

Last night after my workout I tried to make a fruit and vegetable smoothie for dinner. Blended 1 carrot, 1 Fuji apple, 1 tomato, 1 banana, 1 mango and 2 oranges (tip: place soft fruits before hard ones in the blender next time) mixed w/ ice and some honey. It made for 2.5 glasses. The mini-convulsions buzz I felt was unexpected but not altogether good, either. It was like my body knew this was the first time I've done this and and wanted it to be the last. Natural sugar rush or vitamin overdose? In the end I relented and had a tuna sandwich as well. Dumped the second glassful in the sink.

Where Have I Been?

Honestly, my lack of updates have been either from outright laziness or waiting to more stuff to happen and just blog it all in one big chunk. That said, the former is giving less chances for the latter to happen, so...

Two Sundays ago I dropped by unannounced to milady's house, hoping to surprise her w/ a couple of frappucinos. The surprise was on me when no-one answered the door (made more difficult w/ the lack of a doorbell), phone or cellphone. My chagrin over her abscence (and the overrated and romanticized notion of surprise visits) was thankfully subsided when friend Des said she was free to hang. Drove out to Star City but ended up shooting the breeze by the bay near MOA, instead (there is so much crap in those waters). Bought myself a Subway Club for dinner.

Last Saturday (July 5) I met up w/ Diana and TinTin after dinner for a nightcap, first at the Half-Moon "bibingcrepe" restaurant (where Di ordered --while Tin and I partook of-- her chocolate-peanut crispy crepe, w/c resembled a flatted pie base w/ the thinnest layer of crunchy chocolate), then later at Starbucks' E. Rod branch. Di recently recently resigned from her freight and shipping job in Hong Kong (she worked logistics and mentioned having her iPod swiped from its speaker dock in the office), while Tin is contemplating doing the same w/ ther job at Citibank. Speaking of comtemplating, the discussion also went towards Tin's pending engagement/marriage (I forget which one) to her Thai boyfriend Pei, and my self-imagined troubles w/ milady.

Last Sunday I sorta spontaneously kidnapped Des (her term, not mine) again (and met some of her male siblings) and we grabbed some chow at one of the many Italian restos at the Fort (note t0 self: never order vegetarian lasagna ever again). And fruitless search for a gelato stand had us almost reaching the South Luzon expressway (stupid lack of road signs) before a crucial left U and left turn finally brought us back to Makati.

Now, no offense to my lady frendz, but all of those activities I would've/should've preferred to have done w/ milady. But at times when I tell people, "I'm seeing someone," part of me is lying, since the "seeing" part is becoming less frequent. Sure, there's the occasional phone call (when I'm able to catch her not on conference w/ US clients or just plain asleep), but saying, "I'm talking to someone by phone" doesn't seem to have the same impact.

Weekend That Was (or Apologies to HelloKittyPeanut for the Delay)

FRIDAY: Work was slow today, so I was able to get permission to sneak out and meet up w/ Des --back from her brief USA vacay-- at Greenhills. We watched Get Smart. I howled w/ laughter at Steve Carell's comic genious, w/c made up for my buying really salty cheese-flavored popcorn. Dinnner was at WonTon (missed seeing owner Darwin Roxas --that free meal will have to wait-- and for the first time I ordered a beer (SanMig Lite) to go w/ my meal. The nightcap at the Coffee Bean (okay, she had FIC ice cream) was also brief coz I still had a 90-minute yoga routine to do at home, and we couldn't find a third person for karaoke. This would never have happened in PartyWord.

SATURDAY: Wella and I got to Shangri La Mall w/ plenty of time to spare to get free tickets for the 5:30 pm screening of the French Filmfest. Unfortunately they switched a couple of flicks on us, so instead of a comedy starring Marion Cotillard or that contempary musical we got what Wella's friend called "Star Cinema" quality flick. And they were right. I felt sleepy after the first twelve minutes and wanted to sneak out and get tickets for the next show at 8PM, but the ticket ladies wouldn't give out more than 1 per person and Wella didn't want to miss anything.

Dinner was at Wham Burger.

Weekend Update

SATURDAY: Met up w/ future marrieds Arsenio and Ronstadt at SM Megamall to check out the 7th Annual ToyCon. While it can't compare to the American ComiCons (particularly in terms of scale), the nerd-geek-otaku quotient was just about right. :)

Toy displays up the wazoo. It was as if Fully Booked took out all their figurine and sculpture displays from their stores and brought it to Megatrade halls 2 and 3. Oddly enough a mass service was being held in Hall 1, probably for the comic heathens to go for "penitence" after attending the ToyCon.

There were themed displays of action figures. One table had several dozen variations of the Hulk, while another all had Joker figures of several shapes and sizes. I liked seeing the life-size cartoon Princess Leia and Iron Man movie bust at the Sideshow Collectibles booth. With other exhibitors I think ToyCon is the only time they get to show off their extensive toy collections to complete strangers w/ some smug sense of satisfaction. The ultimate expression of "Look what I got but don't touch it." And since the toys are no longer "mint" (being taken out of their boxes or blister packs), resale value takes a big hit.

True to form, while I breezed through the toy/statue exhibits and gave cursory glances to the cosplayers (felt sorry for the kid wearing that uncomfortable looking Predator costume--unless he/she was really a midget, in w/c case bahala siya), I spent most of my time sifting though Comic Odyssey's 20-peso comic bins, w/ a buy-5-get-1-free offer. By sheer luck I managed to get issues of The Spectre and Captain Marvel that were missing from my collection. Also got issues of Blue Monday and The Demon I otherwise never would have gotten at normal prices.

After Megamall we took a looong drive to the Claycakes home office (literally), w/c was past Marcos Highway and Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, two places I've never driven to (and hope never to do so again). Good thing 'Sen had a great sense of direction and we finally found the 2-storey mansion w/ 5 cars in their driveway. (Who knew the custom cake business would be so lucrative?) Inside we met the proprietor Karla Magbanua, who, after discussing a few points w/the couple, drew up their wedding cake design on-the-spot. Luckily 'Sen and Rons were easy to please and gave it a quick thumbs up. Post ToyCon and wedding cake planning activities consisted of pasta dinner and The Incredible Hulk (for review see previous blog entry) at The Podium.

SUNDAY: Today was my cousin Garry "Boying" Olivan's and Joan's wedding day. Once again I'm drafted to secondary sponsor duties, of w/c I've seem to run the gamut of: Ring Bearer, Candle, Cord, Readings, Groomsman and Best Man. This time it was Veil.

I kept repeating one word all throughout the ceremony (St. Peter the Apostle Church) and subsequent reception (Gloria Maris Greenhills): rehearsal, as in lack of. Ring-bearer Lance got cold feet and wouldn't walk down the aisle, but instead in his A.D.D. state circled it several times, much to his mom Aissa's dismay. Hope he'll get to show off that mini barong Tagalog of his some other time.

Today I also realized how little attention I pay to wedding ceremonies as when I got up next to Garry I screwed up w/ the veil. First I wasn't sure where to pin it, then I actually draped it over his head. (Why should the bride be the only one covered up?)

The clincher came after the priest told Garry "You may kiss the bride." The church audience expressed vocal disappointment (and mocking tone) when he kissed Joan on the cheek. Chagrined, he made up for it at the second try.

10 Thoughts on The Incredible Hulk

Caught this at the Podium w/good friends 'Sen and Rons (and checked out the 7th Annual Pinoy Toycon at Megatrade Hall before that):

1. Getting this outta the way: MUCH, MUCH more entertaining than Ang Lee's version. Same w/ (Ed) Norton Banner over (Eric) Bana Banner.

2. Love the comic book nods that didn't feel forced, unlike in DAREDEVIL.

3. Two scenes from the trailer weren't in the film: Bruce crossing snowy mountaintops (what, he's gonna freeze his gamma-radiated blood to death?) and the headshrinking session w/ Leonard Samson. Inconsequential, anyway.

4. Turn brain off in wondering how seemingly penniless Bruce was able to return to the US from South America w/o raising attention from Homeland Security (or in the movie's case, S.H.I.E.L.D.), or how Betty got down from a cave atop a high mountain(side) AND made her way back into town, presumably while helping a weak Bruce along (and keeping his pants on).

5. Speaking of Betty, sorry but Jennifer Connelly made the better Betty to Liv Tyler.

6. Two possible reasons why the Hulk is pissed: a) Banner can't have sex 'coz he can't "get excited" and b) As the Hulk his Banner pants don't tear right off and must be squeezing his man-junk something fierce.

7. Action, action and more action (love the part where William Hurt's General Ross is practically ticking off the shopping list of weapons they kept using on the Hulk) to the point I thought the THX speakers couldn't handle it, especially when the Hulk was screaming.

8.Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky went from super-marine to super-soldier to crazed drug addict w/ super 'roid rage as The Abomination, aka, evil Hulk w/o pants nor genitals (an obvious analogy to abuse of steroids causing major shrinkage).

9. No Captain America cameo, but we do get The Leader and Tony Stark, w/ Robert Downey, Jr. seemingly sporting a mustache that looked faker than General Ross'.

10. The minute the Hulk said "Hulk! Smash!" and "Bet-ty...," you could've ended the movie then and there for me. But nah, he had to escape the Army using his worse Jason Bourne parkour imitation ever.

Weekend Outings

Saturday: Since the 'Rents were in Baguio for the weekend, I attended the wedding of the daughter of family friend Wendy Sy in their stead. Since 2 seats for reserved --and I didn't want to risk getting bored attending a party w/o knowing anyone-- I looked for someone to go with me. As G wasn't available (still in LA), I asked old college classmate Charmaine Dee. At first she was hesitant (weekends being her only time to catch up on glorious sleep) but eventually she relented. Owe her big time. Funny thing was we did end up seeing a whole table full of familiar faces (though it was mostly their names that escaped us) from DLSU's EngLiCom days, but unfortunately we weren't seated at that table. Gloria Maris wedding reception menu being what it is (inadequate), Dee and I later went to Italianni's for a slice of frozen tiramisu. When I got home I stayed watching the last (or latest) 3 episodes of Reno 911.

Sunday: So much for sleeping off the whole morning (stupid company business truck coming by so early to get the delivery receipts). After lunch I hung out w/ DJ and Yvette in Greenhills where we watched (but missed the first 10 minutes of) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Overall it wasn't bad for an epic movie based of a series of books I've never read nor expressed any interest in. When I found out that the lead character Prince Caspian spoke w/a Spanish accent I half-expected him to say "My name is Inigo Montoya..."
After the movie we walked around the Theatre Mall and Virra Mall looking for a 8 Gb flashdrive for DJ, then had some pesto pizza for dinner.

So You Think You Can Dance (Recital)?

I accompanied friend Lola to catch Mirell's dance recital, "Movements" at the Rockwell Tent. Acts included jazz, hip-hip, martial arts, pole, strip and belly dancing (sadly, no-one did tap, even though it was listed on their banner). Rachel Lobangco's (whose dark chocolate skin tone --the result of either prolonged dancing under the Boracay sun or repeated exposure to open flame from her "spinning wildfire dance routine-- was striking) presence as token celebrity participant notwithstanding, the "recital" part of the program didn't sink in until I saw the other dance acts. This was the dance equivalent of watching your co-workers perform at the office Xmas party: it's only cool and cute when you personally know who's onstage. Good thing the tickets were complimentary, and that the performers I know personally were great.

I ran into Aryn Cristobal, who was participating in the belly dance group (basic, advanced and hip-hop). We arrived late so I missed the first act. Mirell performed in the Advanced Pole Dancing group, an activity that requires stamina and powerful steel pole gripping thighs, w/c she had in spades. Lola said --and I agreed-- that this was kind of a step down for her, professionally speaking. (What next, performing at kid's parties? Then again, if i was a dad i don't think i'd encourage my kid to take that up... unless he/she had powerful thighs.)

Overall critique? Two words: Matching Costumes, as in where-were-they? These people live in Rockwell, and they were charging a pretty peso for those tickets. Surely they could have afforded matching costumes for the participants, instead of the latter pulling something from their own closet and praying they match the theme for the dance number in mind. (e.g. \black and white for Michael Jackson number, sexy underwear for stip, circa-1990s United Colors of Benetton summer catalog selection for hip-hop, etc.). Seeing as most of the audience members knew at least one of the performers on a personal level, any temptation to burst out in condescending laughter was overcome, any booing suppressed, w/ both activities left to the imagination.

For me dance classes are something you force on your kids as a summer activity-- if you resented them. Because unless they like busting moves, clicking heels or having their tummy do a shake-n-bake onstage, they're just dancing monkeys for your amusement, w/c you paid a ridiculously high registration fee for. I'd rather force them to take something more useful, like piano or guitar lessons.

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Lola got me new DC hardcover comics collections as freebies when she attended the LA Book Expo (representing National Book Store). Close call, as I almost pre-ordered that copy of Superman: Escape from Bizarro World.