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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Saturday, September 27, 2003 I find myself home on a Saturday evening. Why-oh-why. A number of reasons actually:
Bought some new DVDs a few weekends ago: View From The Top (12%). Terrible movie. I never heard anything about it. For good reason. It’s like a B-movie with really famous people in it. Far From Heaven (91%). Should be a great watch, I have to snap out of my “nothing but mainstream” mood though. West Side Story (100%). One of the American Film Institute’s most romantic movies of all time, should be a great view. Love all the songs, in the back of my head I’ll be thinking about what a hack Natalie Wood is for not singing the songs herself though. Two Weeks Notice (45%). Nice, light, not entirely mindless romantic comedic fare. Down With Love (60%). Great look, ho-hum story line. The Pianist (96%). Should be a great but depressing film. Nicholas Nickleby (78%). Based on a Charles Dickens book, I actually bought the novel, partly because it was cheap and partly because I thought I was feeling pa-intellectual and thought I would actually read it. * Ratings stolen from Rotten Tomatoes. posted by wys | 6:49 PM 0 comments Thursday, September 25, 2003 Eat out for a cause, or so they would have you believe. From today's edition of Business World (useless to link the article because you can only read the current day's edition): "From Oct. 6 to 19, food lovers will have the chance to eat well and do something good for nature at the same time. WWF-Philippines, Ayala Center, San Miguel Corp. and 12 restaurants at Greenbelt 2 will be participating in the two-week food promotion. The 12 restaurants are: Bizu Patisserie, Cena, Kai, Masas, Pepato, Restaurant 12, Segafredo Espresso Bar, Soleil CaféÇ Moderne, Sugi Japanese Restaurant, Temple Bar & Restaurant, Una Mas, and Uva." I suppose if one is going to eat out in Greenbelt anyway, it wouldn't hurt to order a dish you know PHP10 of which will go to make this world a better place to live in. Of course you could just save yourself the 1500 calories and PHP500 and donate the money to charity anyway. But of course the world doesn't worth that way. If it did we wouldn't have the option to pay PHP5000 to try out all 12 dishes from the 12 participating restaurants. posted by wys | 8:24 PM 0 comments Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Yay, I think I'll actually be able to go to Bacolod this coming October with friends. Who ever heard of anyone actually wanting to go to Bacolod of their own free will for a vacation with friends? Well there's the Masskara Festival coming up. Lots of colorful masks, I hope I find some not-so-touristy-trap-ish places to buy souvenir masks. PALakbayan has some pretty good packages, airfare and hotel for less than PHP6000. posted by wys | 10:36 PM Sunday, September 21, 2003 When I was in the States I became a little obsessed with watching Law and Order. I think in any one week, you could catch up to 30 hours of Law and Order if you wanted to. Syndication is key to making money for creators of TV Shows, and it was pretty interesting to read how creator Dick Wolf knew where he wanted his show to go from the very beginning. So he made a TV show that was self contained in each episode, with interchangeable actors, no personal lives whatsoever for our lead characters, a classic voiceover at the beginning of every episode, the cheesey but comforting “ker-ching” accompanying the white text that reveals the date and location of every new scene. The TV show equivalent of generic best selling romance and mystery novels—entertaining enough fare that doesn’t really make us any smarter, but is good enough to pass the time. I can imagine critically acclaimed shows like Alias, 24, Six Feet Under with their season long story arcs doing terribly in syndication … and probably being forgotten ten years from now when Law and Order can still be seen on every other channel. posted by wys | 3:07 PM 0 comments Funny and interesting article on a new movie, stolen from the New York Times Online Edition. * * * What Else Was Lost In Translation By MOTOKO RICH It doesn't take much to figure out that "Lost in Translation," the title of Sofia Coppola's elegiac new film about two lonely American souls in Tokyo, means more than one thing. There is the cultural dislocation felt by Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a washed-up movie actor, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young wife trying to find herself. They are also lost in their marriages, lost in their lives. Then, of course, there is the simple matter of language. Bob, who is in town to make a whiskey commercial, doesn't speak Japanese. His director (Yutaka Tadokoro), a histrionic Japanese hipster, doesn't speak English. In one scene, Bob goes on the set and tries to understand the director through a demure interpreter (Akiko Takeshita), who is either unable or (more likely) unwilling to translate everything the director is rattling on about. Needless to say, Bob is lost. And without subtitles, so is the audience. Here, translated into English, is what the fulmination is really about. DIRECTOR (in Japanese to the interpreter): The translation is very important, O.K.? The translation. INTERPRETER: Yes, of course. I understand. DIRECTOR: Mr. Bob-san. You are sitting quietly in your study. And then there is a bottle of Suntory whiskey on top of the table. You understand, right? With wholehearted feeling, slowly, look at the camera, tenderly, and as if you are meeting old friends, say the words. As if you are Bogie in "Casablanca," saying, "Cheers to you guys," Suntory time! INTERPRETER: He wants you to turn, look in camera. O.K.? BOB: That's all he said? INTERPRETER: Yes, turn to camera. BOB: Does he want me to, to turn from the right or turn from the left? INTERPRETER (in very formal Japanese to the director): He has prepared and is ready. And he wants to know, when the camera rolls, would you prefer that he turn to the left, or would you prefer that he turn to the right? And that is the kind of thing he would like to know, if you don't mind. DIRECTOR (very brusquely, and in much more colloquial Japanese): Either way is fine. That kind of thing doesn't matter. We don't have time, Bob-san, O.K.? You need to hurry. Raise the tension. Look at the camera. Slowly, with passion. It's passion that we want. Do you understand? INTERPRETER (In English, to Bob): Right side. And, uh, with intensity. BOB: Is that everything? It seemed like he said quite a bit more than that. DIRECTOR: What you are talking about is not just whiskey, you know. Do you understand? It's like you are meeting old friends. Softly, tenderly. Gently. Let your feelings boil up. Tension is important! Don't forget. INTERPRETER (in English, to Bob): Like an old friend, and into the camera. BOB: O.K. DIRECTOR: You understand? You love whiskey. It's Suntory time! O.K.? BOB: O.K. DIRECTOR: O.K.? O.K., let's roll. Start. BOB: For relaxing times, make it Suntory time. DIRECTOR: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut! (Then in a very male form of Japanese, like a father speaking to a wayward child) Don't try to fool me. Don't pretend you don't understand. Do you even understand what we are trying to do? Suntory is very exclusive. The sound of the words is important. It's an expensive drink. This is No. 1. Now do it again, and you have to feel that this is exclusive. O.K.? This is not an everyday whiskey you know. INTERPRETER: Could you do it slower and —— DIRECTOR: With more ecstatic emotion. INTERPRETER: More intensity. DIRECTOR (in English): Suntory time! Roll. BOB: For relaxing times, make it Suntory time. DIRECTOR: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut! God, I'm begging you. In an interview, Ms. Coppola said she wrote the dialogue for the scene in English, and then it was translated into Japanese for Mr. Tadokoro. The scene, she said, came out of her own experience promoting her first feature film, "The Virgin Suicides," in Japan. Whenever she would say something, she said, the interpreter would seemingly speak for much longer. "I would think that she was adding to what I was saying and getting carried away, so I wanted to have that in the scene." In the scene, Ms. Coppola said, Mr. Murray never did learn what the director was saying. "I like the fact that the American actors don't really know what's going on, just like the characters," she said. Frankly, it's not clear that even if Bob-san had understood what the director said, it would have helped. Ms. Coppola said she purposely gave the director "lame directions," adding, "He wasn't supposed to be the best director." posted by wys | 2:58 PM 0 comments Sunday, September 14, 2003 In no particular order, my favorite Metro Manila restaurant desserts are:
Mini Weekend Reviews: FONDUE RAVE: El Cuento. (G/F Glorietta 4, Makati, 757-2986). My family wanted to eat here because it’s supposedly owned by the same guys who used to run La Tasca in the old unrenovated Greenbelt. Loved their fondue, I think more for the rice and sauces than anything else. Meat fondue is around PHP700, chocolate is PHP600. It seemed the same as the old La Tasca, but El Cuento seemed a little to empty for my personal taste. It was overall good, but I’d never go there on my own because the rest of their food doesn't seem particularly appealing. And for my regular fondue needs, there’s reliable and slightly more reasonably priced 24-hour Swiss Inn. FASTFOOD RAVE: Popeye’s. (G/F Greenbelt 1, Makati). I have been obsessing about eating here for some time now. We tried the Galleria branch when it was newly opened and that wasn’t too good an experience, chicken tasted old. But I think their billboard on EDSA with Jericho Rosales (desperately trying to be James Dean) made me a bit hungry. This would fall in the overpriced-for-fast-food-okay-to-actually-dine-in category, along with Burger King and Carl’s Junior. MASSAGE RAVE: The Spa. (G/F Greenbelt 1, Makati, 840-1326). This is the prettiest branch of The Spa, I think. Without a gym or salon to distract, it seems like a lot of thought was put into making this branch feel like some Thai spa haven away from the metro. The front doors had these women’s hands as handles that I refused to touch, lest they come alive and grab me. Ambiance is great, the sounds of the mall don’t filter in so I don’t really feel bad about going to the mall to get a relaxing massage. CAFÉ RANT: Cafea. (G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati). Everything was full in Greenbelt 3 yesterday night. And we ended up in this restaurant better known for having a table with a chess set than anything else. I don’t really like going to sit-down restaurants if I’m just ordering coffee, I think it makes me feel cheap. Coffee is a bit pricey, PHP80 or thereabouts for a mini-cup. And their Oreo Cheesecake (PHP80) was just terrible, the consistency was Nestle Creamy and I could hardly taste any cream cheese at all. It was this icing-soft gooey mess. In fairness their food looks okay, and I *might* want to go back … I’d put this in the same league as Dome (overpriced café food category), but I’d expect Dome to be overall better. RESTO RAVE: Panciteria San Jacinto. (106 E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Libis, 914-0832 and 671-5942). It’s basically Filipinised Chinese food, with American Country Style Interiors, and a bowling alley floor for added effect. Very strange really. End result: interiors feel clean, the food authentically Chinese enough to be familiar, and yet opportunity for me to overeat. CHEESEY MOVIE RAVE: Two Weeks Notice (2003). I actually wanted to watch this in the theater when it came out, rotten rating (at RottenTomatoes) and all. The first half was pretty hilarious, the onscreen chemistry of Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant is great and they are both great comedians. I thought the resolution was a little abrupt, but it was still a very enjoyable film. So pooh to the critics on this one. posted by wys | 10:42 PM Lots of interesting storylines for the upcoming fall TV season. Among my favorite TV shows that I'll be spending a lot of bandwidth downloading are (stolen from msn.com): ALIAS Over on ABC’s critically acclaimed CIA drama, the news is even sketchier. Those who had hoped that the wedding ring Vaughn was sporting in the mysterious second-season finale meant that he had, at some point, married Sydney and that she’d subsequently turned amnesiac, will be disappointed this season: But, alas, producers have cast Melissa George (Ross and Rachel’s nanny on “Friends”) to play Mrs. Vaughn, and Justin Theroux (“Six Feet Under”) has been cast to play a new potential love interest for Sydney. Beyond the show’s love stories (including the one now playing out in real life, as “Alias” stars Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan have finally admitted that they are dating) all we know of the plot for the coming season is that people (presumably on both sides of the moral divide) are trying to get access to Sydney in order to get at information stored in her mind. Let’s hope that she didn’t forget her mad kung fu skillz during her ... coma? Fugue state? Alien abduction? Whatever it was that kept her out of commission for those two missing years. Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, premieres Sept. 28 * * * C.S.I. CBS has released some details about the season premiere, a two-part episode (concluding Oct. 2) called “Assume Nothing,” revolving around a serial-killing husband-and-wife team. A subsequent episode, “Homebodies,” will deal with the rape of a teenage girl, with a subplot about the murder of a retired teacher. Will Grissom’s surgery improve his hearing? Will he and Sarah Sidle start a torrid office love affair, making out amid his pupae and DNA samples? Will Greg ever make the jump to field investigator instead of lowly lab rat? CBS isn’t saying. It has, however, signed series creator Anthony Zuiker to a multi-year deal, guaranteeing that there will be at least one more C.S.I. spinoff, in addition to last season’s freshman series “C.S.I.: Miami.” (C.S.I.: Provo? New Orleans? Albuquerque?) Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, premieres Sept. 25 * * * FRIENDS The truly-final final season of “Friends” (remember when last season was supposed to be the last season?) will be only 18 episodes long instead of the usual 24. The shortfall will be made up with “classic” episodes (read: reruns) selected by viewers. (If “The One With the Embryos” — the episode where the girls and guys compete in a trivia contest and Rachel and Monica lose their apartment to Chandler and Joey — doesn’t make the cut, there is no justice.) Writers promise that the Joey-Rachel-Ross love triangle will be resolved quickly, with Rachel and Joey definitively parted by the season’s third episode. Aisha Tyler — who plays Charlie, the comely paleontologist over whom Ross and Joey competed toward the end of last season — will only appear in four or fewer episodes this season, suggesting that she will no longer be used as an impediment to Ross and Rachel’s reunion (because if you really think the series will end without their getting back together, you must be unfamiliar with how TV works, and possibly Amish). Given their fertility problems last season, the show’s final season should feature a storyline involving Monica and Chandler’s efforts at adoption. And with Paul Rudd returning as Phoebe’s boyfriend Mike for at least 10 of the season’s 18 episodes, can it possibly be true that the writers will remember that Lisa Kudrow exists and come up with a meaty storyline for her? Finally, there’s the Joey spinoff to set up; look forward to some contrivance that will force Joey to move to Los Angeles. Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, 45-minute premiere Sept. 25. MSNBC is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC. * * * SMALLVILLE Given everything that happened in the second-season finale — what with Mrs. Kent’s miscarriage, Lex’s plane crash, Chloe’s deal with Lionel Luthor to spy on Clark, and Clark’s flight from Smallville wearing the mood-altering red Kryptonite ring — it stands to reason that the two-part season premiere picks up more or less where the finale left off. Clark is still exiled from his loved ones (though he reunites with them in the second episode); living in Metropolis and working for shady character Morgan Edge, known to readers of Superman comics as a fixture in Metropolis’s organized crime underworld. Lex survives the plane crash, though it’s not clear whether his fiancée Helen Bryce will be back. Lionel has put a scientist to work studying Clark’s blood. Clark is linked to several crimes in Metropolis that had to have been committed by someone with superhuman (get it?) strength. Damn that red Kryptonite! Also turning up in the lively little Kansas burg is Rutger Hauer, who will be featured in a two-episode arc. Wednesdays at 8 on The WB, premieres Oct. 1 posted by wys | 3:33 PM 0 comments Thursday, September 11, 2003 RESTO-RANT Pizza Express G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati City The logo of this restaurant is so ugly, that everytime I see I actually make a conscious mental note to AVOID the place. It’s this blue ambiguous swirly thing that looks more Grecian and old world than anything else. Interiors are a little too 80s for my taste as well. Every table has a little vase with (real!) flowers and these very Miami-Vice-like blue crystal stones. And with the disturbingly colorful paintings on the stark white walls I couldn’t help but feel like I’m in some 80s movie, and guys with techni-colored suits would walk in any minute. Food was definitely overpriced, but you could tell that from the outside. Four Cheese Pizza (PHP300+ for 6 small slices) with hardly any cheese at all was admittedly okay, but sorely lacking in cheese. It was like crust with tomato sauce and a smidgen of cheeses. We also ordered this lasagna (PHP300+) that was a far cry from the homemade firm type I’m used to. Hey maybe the Italians really have their lasagna in a piece-meal-all-over-the-place fashion, I can’t pretend to know. Service was excellent, but with those prices they can't not be. In any case I highly doubt I’d eat here again, maybe only if someone else is treating. For overpriced mediocre food call 7574717. posted by wys | 9:07 PM 0 comments Tuesday, September 09, 2003 Bought some decent books at this year's Bookfair. Officemates think I'm nerdy for bringing books to the beach. Pwah. I love the bookfair because of the sense of savings and thrift that comes over me when I realise that practically every single booth adds at least a 5% discount or so to the sticker price. This year's bargain: Harry Potter 5 for only PHP750 (Goodwill) and PHP850 (less 20% Powerbooks, less 10% Bibliarch). Seems local buyers overstocked on everyone's favorite boy magician. Adams, Scott. The Dilbert Principle. Been wanting to buy this, and it was relatively cheap. Batacan, F. H. Smaller and Smaller Circles. Support local literature! Bushnell, Candace. Trading Up. Chick lit, easy to read, something to read on the commute to work maybe. Dalisay, Butch. Oldtimer and Other Stories. Support local literature! De Vera, Ruey (ed). Writing Home: 19 Writers Remember Their Hometowns. Support local literature! Fernandez, Doreen. Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture. Support local literature! Fitzgugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy. A children's classic I've never had the opportunity to read. Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord. The next Harry Potter (which was the next Chronicles of Narnia/Lord of the Rings/etc.). Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. I've been thinking of buying this since it came out. It would either be: too expensive for my mood, or out of stock. Go, Miriam Grace (ed). Dream Noises: A Generation Writes. Support local literature! Steingarten, Jeffrey. The Man Who Ate Everything. What a great title. The Merriam Webster Dictionary. For work. posted by wys | 9:50 PM 0 comments Sunday, September 07, 2003 I have to make a mixed CD for someone, and I’m having a bit of trouble coming up with a playlist. I played “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root and “Murder on the Dance Floor” by Sophie Ellis Bextor, and he wants those songs on the CD, I’m just a little unsure about what to place in between. Think: chicks that disco, folk rock guys, anything upbeat and mainstream, easy to like, nothing too out there and unusual. Even if we’re on a DSL connection, I’m not that hot about downloading new songs. So I have to work with the MP3s we currently have on our computers. I’ve come up with: 10,000 Maniacs – These are the Days 10,000 Maniacs (sans Natalie Merchant) – More than This Badly Drawn Boy – Once Around the Block Ben Folds Five – One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces Beth Orton – Central Reservation (Ben Watt Mix) Coldplay – Clocks Dave Matthews Band – Ants Marching Dave Matthews Band – Stay (Wasting Time) Fastball – You’re an Ocean Frou Frou – Breathe In Lemonheads – If I Could Talk I’d Tell You Rusted Root – Send Me On My Way Sophie Ellis Bextor – Murder on the Dace Floor Stone Roses – Waterfall Telepopmuzik – Breathe Texas – Inner Smile It’s bad form to place two songs by the same artist, I know. Anyway my list is a little on the longish side and I’ll probably have to mix everything up anyway. Not my best playlist ever, but generally acceptable I think. posted by wys | 1:19 AM Tuesday, September 02, 2003 RESTO-RANT MERIENDA-RAVE Ebun G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati How many restaurants are there left to try in Greenbelt? Still a good number, but I’m in no rush. Although I do predict that by the end of the year the more unpopular ones would have closed shop already. Given the probably astronomical rent charges tenants have to deal with, I can’t imagine how a restaurant that isn’t ridiculously popular would survive. In any case on this very wet and rainy workday we found ourselves in Ebun. The Ocampos know fashion, they know trends, and judging from the consistent quality of Kitchen they may know food. I’m a little wary of their other food ventures though: overpriced Kai, blasé Mangan, stylish and decent but not spectacular Osake, and now too-homey-for-its-own-good Ebun. I eat out to eat out, not to get the same kind of stuff I would find at home. I had sisig (corny choice I know, I felt like eating fatty food), tuna and quesong puti pandesal paninis, stringed sweet potatoes (think Picnic). Generally a good meal but nothing extraordinarily eat-out special for me. For dessert I was thinking of guinumis or sago’t gulaman, but I was pretty full by the end of my meal. Too full even for cheesecake or an Ice Monster at the Food Court. Very Pinoy, I still think the ambiance is great, but not worth eating whole meals in. And I think prices are pretty reasonable—PHP500 for a meal for two. I’d definitely go back for an afternoon snack though, bibingka and puto bumbong. Come on, who can really make bibingka or puto bumbong in their own homes? Instant mixes don’t count, fools. posted by wys | 8:54 PM Monday, September 01, 2003 CAFE RAVE Figaro All Over the Place Really I've decided that Figaro is my absolute favorite coffee place in Metro Manila. More because it's home grown than anything else. They have a semblance of sit-down service, and I always end up leaving a large tip ... I'm a big tipper. I think our service industry is under-paid, under-appreciated, under-tipped. Filipinos are naturaly stingy, and they still haven't gotten it into their heads that tips are a good way of rewarding good service. I wouldn't say they were outright mandatory, but in a way they should be. Anyway back to the coffee, I like their whole look. I love their free full-color newsletters, sometimes I think maybe they spend a bit too much on printing though. They have a great sense of style, with this old-world charm to all their printed paraphernalia. Far cry from the true-type fonts (true type for crying out loud!) and Microsoft Word Art of other coffee houses. And they are big supporters of Barako coffee. Hurrah! posted by wys | 9:42 PM 0 comments |
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