mmff

The Christmas season comes hand in hand with the Metro Manila Filmfest (MMFF), where the local cinemas stop showing foreign films in order to promote local cinema. And so, every Christmas Day, around 8 locally-produced movies will show in theaters until the early new year.

In the past filmfests, there have always been a couple of good selections. Tanging Yaman probably stands out for me, as well as that other film about Mindanao that we were required to watch for a high school report. Other than that, most of the films of the succeeding MMFF stints were mostly comedy (Tanging Ina series) or drama (with blown up storylines. Mano Po?).

If I were to choose a film to watch from this year's line-up, it'd probably be Tanging Ina or Metanoia. But, our household help had another preference, so we ended up watching Super Inday, starring Marian Rivera, John Lapus, and Jake Cuenca among others. I didn't have the highest expectations about the film, so I was surprised that I enjoyed it. I probably wouldn't watch it again, but it was good entertainment. I didn't look at my watch once during the whole 2-hour screen time. Seeing Jake Cuenca onscreen helped too ;)

It was pretty funny, in that Pinoy way, with over-the-top antics and loud dialogue. The plot wasn't great but it worked. Plus, the effects are better now. So I guess local cinema production is improving :) Over all, it's an entertaining film packed with lots of funny scenes. After all, humor is one of the things Filipino movies do best.

quality time

I've been spending a lot of time with family, it being the holidays and all.
D's been spending the day with me for the past few days. We've played Titanic - a logic game he gifted me for Christmas. We cooked spaghetti and miso soup yesterday :)

Today, we had dinner with extended family at Luck Garden, then headed off to Galleria after a quick stop at Serenitea. Shopped for shoes (Payless has a pretty cool selection), sweaters, and a few other things. Shopping gives one a temporary high :| Ended the night with dinner at Delicious Kitchen (by Eat Well). I love their homemade tofu.

Back to work for me tomorrow. Am looking forward to being productive again after the holiday spending spree. I'll probably be on a monitored budget for the next month or two. But, I've hoarded enough to last me a few months :P

A few more days and it'll be time to ring in the new year. Looking forward to more challenges and more growth.

As the holidays tend to leave me sentimental, I just want to end this entry by saying I'm thankful for everything that's been given to me, esp. my family and friends, and D, who's been my steady anchor. He grounds me.

Boomerang

Horrible days are one in a million.
And sadly, today just happens to be one of those one-in-a-million days.

Today was supposed to be a good day.
We were giving out Christmas goodies. I had time to do my production report.
And then things just happened.

I don't like being blamed for something I did not do it intentionally. I did not hear you, honestly. If I had, I would have acknowledged you. But hey, choose to believe what you believe. I don't really care anymore.

A little consideration would be nice. If people are busy, don't expect them to be able to do everything at once. Employees aren't servants. They don't answer to your beck and call. Give people breathing space. Let them do their work their individual way. As long as it gets done well and on time, I don't see the problem.

One angry action begets another and it's a downward spiral from there. Here we go again with meaningless apologies, false promises, and buried emotions.

Individual opinions don't exist. If you don't agree, better to just keep quiet and ride the tide out. Worse things could happen if you tried to explain.

I am not mad. I'm just tired of this repetition, of this tense energy, of tiptoeing, of pretense. Tired though I am, I don't think I can really change a thing. I can only get better at boomeranging the anger and stress and harsh opinions until nothing really touches me anymore.

sadness

I lost my phone last night :(
Sigh.

ba noi

Dinner with D at Ba Noi after a fun tutor session :)

Started off with fresh spring rolls, which reminded me of the Vietnamese rolls I had at Alliance before, courtesy of my Vietnamese friend :) Dip in peanut sauce for that extra kick.

We had the seafood pho noodles (just okay) and the crispy catfish (yummy when wrapped in lettuce and dipped in the vinegar/fish sauce).

Ended with a banana sago dessert (similar to guinataan)...

...and Vietnamese coffee :)

The ingredients used were fresh which did a lot for the simple food preparation. Plus, the food's pretty affordable too :) Worth a try.

When things aren't going too rosy, a good remedy is brightly colored nails! Nothing but bright pink nails to boost a cheer :) Forgive the less than perfect manicure :|

Busog

Tried the shabu shabu/dimsum eat-all-you-can at Golden Fortune in Quintin Paredes today. The midnight promo is from 9:00 to 12:00am, inclusive of rice, noodles, congee, and dessert apart from the dimsum and shabu shabu. Nothing like rich hot soup to warm the tummy.

They have the cheese balls ala King One. One bite yields a warm cheesy liquid. Yum! The gindara tofu was also interesting.

It was a fun way to end the day :) I'm still bursting at the seams :P

Today was my last day at LSGH. I let my students listen and sing along to Japanese Christmas carols. We also did some origami folding - the crane and the eight-point star. I found teaching to be challenging. I was a bit unorganized with my lesson plans but I think I'll be more ready next time :)

simple joys

Monday was a wonderful, relaxing day :)

Had breakfast with D at Heat to use my free breakfast coupon. I love hotel breakfasts :) Heat had a pretty good selection of breads, fruits, cereals, savory and sweet dishes. Tried the cucumber juice, which I had light and refreshing but also a tad too sweet. My favorite breakfast would probably consist of veggie sausage links, garlic rice, and a sunny side up egg :) Had a funny incident with the blackberry and apricot jams :) Let's just say we ended up taking three tiny jars home to try, plus a few packets of other things :P

Dropped by Forever 21 afterwards to work off those calories, although my wallet lost a lot more than my BMI :| Got some good finds though, with two tops that could pass off as affordable :)

Watched My Amnesia Girl with my sisters in the afternoon. I enjoyed the movie :) It was funny, heartwarming, and sweet. We couldn't help recalling cheesy line after cheesy line after the movie :) My favorites were:

A: Tumatangkad ka ba?

I: Hindi, bakit?

A: Kasi dati hanggang balikat lang kita, ngayon nasa isip na kita.

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A: Lumiliit ka ba?

I: Hindi, bakit?

A: Kahapon kasi nasa isip lang kita, ngayon nasa puso na kita.

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Ulan ka ba? Kasi lupa ako. Sa ayaw at sa gusto mo, sa akin ang bagsak mo.

Cheesiness! :) Haha!

Had dinner with my parents at TGIF afterwards :) Ended the night with nanoblock assembling. Nanoblocks are miniature lego blocks. Found them at Toys R Us. They're manufactured by a Japanese company I think. They have small sets of animals and bigger sets for world monuments. D and I had fun assembling the tiny blocks :)

And thus Monday ended, ushering in another work week. But this work week is the start of December! :) Christmas is just around the corner~

Johnny Rockets

Last Saturday, I had dinner with friends at Johnny Rockets. It's a diner that serves milkshakes, floats, and burgers. It's complete with black and white linoleum tiles and red booth seats and jukebox music :) Very Archie feel hehe. The servers even have dance numbers every few minutes to liven things up.

They have a pretty interesting menu of milkshake varieties. Char had the vanilla shake; Jerome, the Orange Dreamsicle; D, the Big Apple. For the Big Apple, they really do blend a slice of apple pie into the milkshake. The rich drink smelled of cinnamon and apples and pie crust. Although it was a yummy drink, I found it too rich. So, instead of a milkshake, I opted for a good ol' rootbeer float :) It was a perfect balance of rich and fizzy, with the vanilla ice cream and fizzy sarsi/rootbeer. You get to refill the float with sarsi too!

The float went well with my veggie burger too :) I love that they had a veggie burger. I liked the contrast of the caramelized onions, burger, and mustard. Yum! My friends had the Rocket Single, Philly Cheese Steak (seen below), and Route 66. The burger did have a margarine aftertaste. Maybe from the frying? Burgers come with your choice of fries or salad. Fries are refillable at the diner :)

It's a bit on the pricey end but I'd probably go back if I were craving for a decent veggie burger. There aren't too many places that offer a good grilled veggie burger with decent mustard :)