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, January 31, 2004 I was watching Almost Famous in the gym today (which means I started watching from the last 15 minutes and then from the beginning when they played the video over). I’ve seen it twice before but I didn’t really like it the first two times … in any case I’ve come to the conclusion that it is a great movie. And the so my epiphany comes 4 years late. I think the first time I saw it the theater and the audience bugged me (I get thrown off when people laugh at weird times, or don’t laugh at all when I do). The second time I watched it Kate Hudson kind of bugged me too much for being too much of an IT girl. Today it was just me and the movie, and I loved it. posted by wys | 11:24 PM 0 comments FAST FOOD RAVE Spam Jam Glorietta 4, Makati City Spam Jam! Say it one more time with feelings … SPAM JAM! Spam Burgers, Cheese Sticks with Spam, Spam Caesar Salad … Ha, now I’m thinking of that Monty Python sketch (which I’m not actually sure if I’ve actually seen or only read about a million times). Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam! Spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam. Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Spam spam spam spam!Anyway SPAMJAM is this new fastfood type restaurant that took the place of Store Café (Glorietta 4, Makati). I’m unsure if it’s a chain or an original Pinoy idea. In any case, this is a must-try for all Spam (as in the canned good, not junk email) freaks out there. My burger (PHP59) had a bit too much mayonnaise, and their Caesar Salad (PHP69) dressing shared a conspicuously similar consistency to the mustard mayo on their SPAM club sandwich (PHP129) … but it’s SPAMJAM! How can you not love a place devoted to SPAM? Now if only they sold merchandise … posted by wys | 11:09 PM Wednesday, January 28, 2004 Egad I have books coming out of my ears! I ordered some books on Booksale’s website, and when I went to pick up my books from the Megamall Branch I swung by Powerbooks for a few more titles. And just yesterday I got some of my other books that I ordered on Amazon months ago but only arrived today (we send it to my sister in NY and she sends all our orders home in a box via Johnny Air or some similar service). It looks to be an interesting few weeks ahead. posted by wys | 11:18 PM 0 comments Watched Kill Bill in the Eastwood Cinemas the other night. The supposed differentiation factor of their cinemas are the “rocker” seats, which are basically your standard Greenbelt 3 movie seats that can move forward and back ever so slightly (with squeaky sounds to go with them). Tickets aren’t really worth it at PHP120-150 a pop and the Saturday-night Eastwood crowd is generally unpleasant to be around (I’ll stop short of any actual descriptions … figure it out). posted by wys | 11:17 PM 0 comments Burgoo is horrible. I am finally convinced that it is a terrible idea to go to this restaurant. Every time I go there I hate it, I’m not sure why I find myself going back. Anyway, I had these coupons for free dishes so gullible me, we ended up there the other night and had a terrible dinner of mushy Burgoo stew, tomato paste based pasta, tough pork chops, icey (as in we left it out to melt and froze it again) ice cream cake. Blech. What a rip off. Don’t eat there if you can help yourself. McDonald’s would be a much better choice really. And their food is expensive! Augh, restaurants with food this bad don’t deserve to stay open. posted by wys | 11:00 PM 0 comments Everyone is still obsessed with everything about METROSEXUALS. Before you say anything more about metrosexuals being "straight men who like to go to the parlor," please read on first. This is an interesting entry from Word Spy about the earliest sightings of the word METROSEXUAL. They mention that the earliest sighting of the word was way back in 1994 by a Mark Simpson. The Word Spy - Metrosexual Of course the original source has been incorrectly identified several times over. In Mark Simpson's journal he mentions a girl named Marian Salzman from Euro RGCS Worldwide talking about the new IT word all over the place. Check out his thoughts at: Metrosexual? That rings a bell ... The article in Salon by Mark Simpson himself way back in 2002 was also pretty interesting: Meet the metrosexual Here's another article from the Washington Post: Vanity, Thy Name Is Metrosexual Unfortunately, the New York Times article that really put the word on everyone's radar can only be found in their archive (for paying subscribers only). posted by wys | 10:54 PM 0 comments Thursday, January 22, 2004 Got some new CDs: Basement Jaxx — Kish Kash Sneaker Pimps — Bloodsport The Dzihan & Kamien Orchestra Line at Porgy and Bess Vienna Okay I’m not actually sure if I spelled everything right. I actually don’t have a working CD player in my room, but I never really stay in my room so that doesn’t matter. I’d plunk some money on an IPOD (just so I could be cool) but I read this awful article in the paper about the “Dirty Secret of IPOD” and this short film some disgruntled customers made about the one-year life and lousy service of Apple. * * * Some New Restaurants: · MYLK (Greenbelt 3, Makati) — So this isn’t that new. The main reason we ate there was because we would get a free Filipino Putanesca for every P500 purchase. I’m gullible that way. Nice homey ambiance with white and green walls, some picket fence type wall décor, an overall country-ish feel. Food strangely feels like it could be cheap, but you’ll end up spending bet · Sakae Sushi (Greenhills Shopping Center) — Check out the new Car Park building of Greenhills. Aside from triple the number of parking slots, they added a host of interesting looking restaurants. A lot of them are still in their soft openings (read: so-so service and incomplete menus). Sakae Sushi has that whole revolving sushi bar thing going, very interesting. Reasonable prices, check it out if you’re in the area. · Goodies and Sweets (Greenhills Shopping Center) — Brand new, this branch looks great and I love their color scheme. They have Chocnut ice cream too — is it possible for food to become too trendy? Think Shawarma, Pearl Shakes, GoNuts Donuts (in another year or two). · Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Eastwood City, Libis) — I rather like the revamped, expanded Eastwood City. Not as downscale as it used to be. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf right across from Starbucks. Love their Caesar’s Salad, their house drink is this icky icey shake thing. Blech. * * * Read a story on Starbucks’ CEO and founder in the latest edition of Fortune. Apparently they don’t actually franchise their branches. Does that mean that they actually own all the branches in the Philippines? My family subscribes to a LOT of magazines. I’ve decided that the following are actually garbage posing as intellectual fare: Time and Newsweek. The following is semi-useful but only in an FYI sort of way and not in any real tangible way: Fortune. The only really intellectual heavyweight among all the magazines we get is The Economist and that’s so hardcore it takes me a month to read (half of) one issue (and we get four issues a month). Of course there’s the Garbage Magazine that admits it’s Garbage: Reader’s Digest (thank goodness we stopped getting that YEARS ago). posted by wys | 11:22 PM Thursday, January 15, 2004 Yay I passed my Level I CFA exam. 37% of all test takers around the world passed, unsure whether I should think that's a low pass rate or not. To my knowledge it's one of the lowest pass rates ever so HUZZAH for me. In any case, I only have Level II and Level III to worry about. It would be a total impossibility for me to think I can study in April and May of this year for the June 7 exam, as I'll be out of the country this coming February and March. And I got to see a bit of Malaysia while I was at it. Ah, looks like a not so stressful year ahead then. Unless I decide to take my GMAT this year. More stress there because they actually have scores. Hmmm, perfect 800 anyone? It can be done though, I'll just have to start reading brainy zany books to improve my grammar, spelling, sentence comprehension, and all other English related items. Math should be breeze, no need to worry about that (I hope). posted by wys | 9:23 PM 0 comments Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Bunch of concerts coming up locally. Read more here. BOYZ II MEN & BRIAN MCKNIGHT. ULTRA OPEN FIELD, Meralco Ave., Pasig City. February 13,2004 at 8:00PM. Php361 – 5150. MICHAEL BUBLE Live In Manila. PICC PLENARY HALL, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City. January 30,2004 at 8:30PM, Php309 – 5150. JASON MRAZ. ALIW THEATER, Star City, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd.,Pasay City. February 21,2004 at 8:00PM. Php824 – 2060. TOTO LIVE AT ALIW. ALIW THEATER, Star City, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd.,Pasay City. February 13 & 14, 2004 at 8:00PM. posted by wys | 9:33 PM 0 comments Tuesday, January 13, 2004 One Minute Reviews Talk to Her (2002, D: Pedro Almodovar). Interesting, weird, creepy, yet strangely moving tale of two women in a coma and the men that love them. About Schmidt (2002, D: Alexander Payne). Great great movie about an old retired man, the seeming meaninglessness of life, our role as citizens of this planet. Lots of plain (read: unattractive) looking people from part of the US of A I cannot even begin to locate on a map. Nicholas Nickleby (2002, C: Anne Hathaway, Nathan Lane, Christopher Plummer). Classic Dickens—ha, based on movies I’ve seen and not books I’ve actually read—kind hearted but dirt-poor boy seeks help from his dastardly uncle. In the end he gets the girl, the money, and the bad guy (not Captain Von Trapp!) gets his just desserts. I think this movie got too little attention because it’s great heart-warming stuff. Annie (TV, 2003, D: Rob Marshall, C: Kathy Bates, Alan Cumming, Victor Garber). Caught this on the Disney Channel one day. Sidney Bristow’s dad can sing and dance! Great cast, great visuals, directed and choreographed by the now-very-famous Rob Marshall of Chicago fame. Crying Ladies (2003, D: Mark Meily). Interesting enough, very original, but ultimately unsatisfying. Pho Hoa Vietnamese Noodle House. (Eastwood City Walk, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis, Quezon City, 421-2046). Love this restaurant. Somehow I always feel like I’m getting a good not-so-fattening meal from here. Starbucks (Tagaytay Branch). They’re putting up a host of restaurants overlooking Taal Volcano (maybe 10-15 minutes from the rotunda). Think of all the trees they killed! In any case, they have Starbucks, Hen Lin, Pancake House, Dencios … nothing worth driving to Tagaytay for. And the ambiance sucks eggs, too many people, too many families, too many weekend tourists. Breakfast at Antonio’s (Tagaytay, Tel. 046-4130945). Visit it now (while it’s still hip, hot and happening)! No need to make a reservation, they have great breakfast fare all day long. Prices for waffles, omelettes, pancakes, frittatas run anywhere between PHP250-400. If you’re feeling a little rich you can get steak and eggs for PHP700+. posted by wys | 9:42 PM 0 comments Friday, January 09, 2004 With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I decided to post the 100 Years, 100 Passions list of the American Film Institute and see what I've actually already seen. (Inspired by Crazy Fruit Pie Lady). CASABLANCA (1942) GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) WEST SIDE STORY (1961) ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957) THE WAY WE WERE (1973) DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) LOVE STORY (1970) CITY LIGHTS (1931 ANNIE HALL (1977) MY FAIR LADY (1964) OUT OF AFRICA (1985) THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951) WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) MOONSTRUCK (1987) VERTIGO (1958) GHOST (1990) FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) PRETTY WOMAN (1990) ON GOLDEN POND (1981) NOW, VOYAGER (1942) KING KONG (1933) WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... (1989) THE LADY EVE (1941) THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982) SWING TIME (1936) THE KING AND I (1956) DARK VICTORY (1939) CAMILLE (1937) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) GIGI (1958) RANDOM HARVEST (1942) TITANIC (1997) IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) NINOTCHKA (1939) FUNNY GIRL (1968) ANNA KARENINA (1935) A STAR IS BORN (1954) THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993) TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961) LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972) THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946) SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998) BRINGING UP BABY (1938) THE GRADUATE (1967) A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951) SABRINA (1954) REDS (1981) THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996) TWO FOR THE ROAD (1967) GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) PICNIC (1955) TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961) THE APARTMENT (1960) SUNRISE (1927) MARTY (1955) BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) MANHATTAN (1979) A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) WHAT'S UP, DOC? (1972) HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995) WAY DOWN EAST (1920) ROXANNE (1987) THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947) WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995) THE QUIET MAN (1952) THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) COMING HOME (1978) JEZEBEL (1939) THE SHEIK (1921) THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977) WITNESS (1985) MOROCCO (1930) DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING (1955) NOTORIOUS (1946) THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING (1988) THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995) WORKING GIRL (1988) PORGY AND BESS (1959) DIRTY DANCING (1987) BODY HEAT (1981) LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955) BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967) GREASE (1978) THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939) PILLOW TALK (1959) JERRY MAGUIRE (1996) posted by wys | 11:30 PM 0 comments Chinese New Year is fast approaching (22 January, I believe). Tis the Year of the Monkey, I was born in the Year of the Monkey. Even though at that time, the Year of the Monkey was mostly in 1980, there was this period it straddled over to the beginning of 1981, and that's where I landed. Time for lots of tikoy and lots of moon cake. Or does moon cake come at a different time of the year? McDonald’s has been giving out these really cute ang pao things—those red envelopes where they put money … fine I’m clueless. In any case their envelopes have gold printing on them. Inside you won’t find real money of course, but really cute Monopoly style colorful money that are actually coupons for “cheaper” value meals. Supposedly McDonald’s has been doing this for years, but this is the first time I’ve seen them. And only from someone else, not because I actually ate there. I should take solace in the fact that this means I probably don’t eat enough fast food. Read Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser to learn more about the evils of fast food. posted by wys | 11:10 PM 0 comments Sunday, January 04, 2004 I have been totally vegging out on movies this long weekend. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) Mindless, but would you expect anything less from Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore and a movie that expects you to just accept that Dr. Peter Venkman (aka Bill Murray) can be easily replaced by his “brother” Bernie Mac? Hype-machines would have you believe that Demi Moore as fallen angel Madison Lee is all that, but she actually has too little screen time to give her role any significance. The same goofiness, girl power hurrah, and cunning detective skills of the first film can be found here, but the action scenes were too manufactured to be interesting. Gripe: Why’d they wait 75% of the film to reveal Demi as the bad guy if they were going to put it in all their press releases anyway? Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Johnny Depp as filthy is-he-good-is-he-bad (Captain) Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as the dashingly brave and talented blacksmith that inevitibly ends up with the Governor’s daughter, Geoffrey Rush as the evil yellow-eyed Captain Barbossa, half dead pirates, countless memorable scenes from one of my favorite Disneyland rides of all time … what’s not to love about this movie? Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002) Indie queens Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and freaky Fairuza Balk star in this three episode film by director-screenwriter-novelist Rebecca Miller (daughter of Arthur, wife of Daniel Day Lewis). Three distinct women, three distinct stories, each with their own problems to deal with. Delia has decided to take her three children and leave her abusive husband and is unsure of how to proceed with her life. Greta finds new success in her editing career and is deciding what to do with her “beautiful” but dreafully dull husband. Paula flees home after a near-death experience and picks up a young hitchhiker along the way. Shot on DV for that true indie feel. Runaway Jury (2003) Ridiculously implausible storyline from the master of courtroom suspense drama John Grisham, but very enjoyably so. Set in New Orleans (a place I definitely want to visit), yet another “Trial of the Century” is about to begin with Dustin Hoffman representing the widow of a gunned down day trader. They are suing the Gun Industry, represented by that greasy guy that played the senator-turned-jellyfish in X-Men. Because trials are “too important to be decided upon by juries,” each side hires a Jury Expert to help in the selection of Jurors that could easily be swayed their way. The Bad Guys have even badder Gene Hackman and his team of two dozen experts, while Dustin Hoffman has his one man army in neophyte Jeremy Piven. Both sides are scrambling to select the perfect jury, and it turns out that seemingly reluctant juror John Cusack actually has his own agenda going with his plans to manipulate the jury his own way. Exciting stuff. S.W.A.T. (2003) Colin Farrell as a sweaty good natured cop? I’m there. Storyline was pretty lame with that cheesey guy Olivier Martinez from Unfaithful as the ultimate badguy offering USD100M to anyone that could spring him from jail. The film could have been better, then again I suppose it may have been destined to end up the in the company of big-explosion-boom-boom-boom Hollywood forgettables. posted by wys | 6:32 PM 0 comments Friday, January 02, 2004 Found this great site with links to a lot of "Best of 2003" lists. * * * Bangkok was fun this time of the year, mostly because I was with my whole family and all my cousins. Thailand gets an enviable 10 million tourists every year, while the Philippines gets a paltry 2 million. It’s all about marketing and public perception I suppose. Heck, before I went to Malaysia I was convinced that they had a lot of terrorists and that it was unsafe to walk the streets in the daytime. I really wanted to watch a movie in this fancy shmancy movie theater in Bangkok with Lazy Boy couches as seats, (hopefully clean) socks and blankets, waiter service, complimentary food and drinks. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out during the one day we had extra time to catch a movie. All for the unreasonable price of 500 Bhat (around PHP700). * * * Cooking cooking cooking. I spent so much time in the kitchen cooking the huge 26 pound turkey that my sister bought and preparing a vat of gravy to go with it that by the time the guests arrived I didn't have time to change into anything more New Year-ish (polka dots maybe). I did get to buy a new cell phone that day. Too bad my old phone was dying on me, I thought it would last longer than two years. * * * Egad, my dad’s friend’s lovely home burned down (40%) over New Year’s Eve because of some stupid wayward firework thing. And no one was home except a lonesome household helper because the family was abroad. I abhor fireworks. I don’t think they particularly make people happier, especially not the useless noisemaking ones. Fires, amputated limbs, asthma attacks, noise pollution … what a wonderful way to greet the new year. Hurrah for Davao, where fireworks are banned. I don’t see why we can’t do something similar in Metro Manila. At the very least we could designate certain open spaces as the only allowable areas for fireworks and what not. posted by wys | 5:44 PM 0 comments |
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