simple joys

Ni and I watched Eagle Eye at Trinoma last night. The cinema house was still surprisingly packed despite the lack of lines at the ticket counter. The film reminded me of Wanted, although there was less gunfire and violence. It's a typical sci-fi thriller - keeps you at the edge of your seat, good background music, and an enjoyable albeit somewhat implausible plot. I don't doubt however that military weapons have been getting extremely high-tech these days. You never know who's spying on who. Quite disconcerting @@ I hope the day never comes when a computer will develop a mind of its own. That'd just be too creepy.

Bought books at National again yesterday >< Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen, Jacquelyn Mitchard's The Breakdown Lane, and Meg Cabot's sequel to the first Queen of Babble book. I should've just bought books at Powerbooks as I get a 40% discount this month, it being my birthday month and all :D Oh well, i'll just have to buy other books XP

Che made a cheese fondue this morning. It was pretty yummy but a bit too thick so we added light beer. It made it less thick but I'm not sure if it enhanced the fondue's taste. Hehe.

I'm going to China in Nov. I'm going there to observe and learn how the scholarship fund my grandparents started is being handled. My grandmother said I'll be the one giving the speech next year @@ but this year it's still Ahia JunJun. I've always wanted to get involved in some kind of NGO-type work so this should be an eye-opening experience.

Sigh. Promod has its fall/winter collection out now. I love long scarves and warm sweaters :) Too bad I can't wear them here in Manila. Baguio, maybe? :P

Thanks to Lin for cheering me up yesterday with her funny and encouraging text messages :) *Hugs*

Still listening to Marie Digby's Unfold album~

one big fight!

Woohoo! Ateneo's the UAAP Champion! :D Praise God! I was grinning on the MRT ride home when I received text messages from friends about the bonfire. The last championship we won was in 2002, when I was still in first year =P

I'm studying for the french and japanese exams. Although I need to review for Japanese, I'm more confident that I can pass the JLPT than the DELF. The French exam seems tough :( It takes time for me to compose answers for the listening part, write an essay for the written segment, and gather debate-worthy points for the oral part >< But i need to take the exam just so I can get some kind of certification if I pass. The certification, I plan to use in MBA applications, if I ever do decide to apply to University of Geneva or Belgium (Leuven).

Back to the books~

ice cream!

I finally got to try Sebastian's Ice Cream at the 4th floor of The Block. All the flavors on the menu board looked yummy, but in the end I opted for the Banana Bonanza. I love bananas and I love ice cream! :) Although I would've wanted more walnuts in it, I found the ice cream to be light and not too sweet. Just perfect to cap a meal off.

Eizel tried the Blueberry Cheesecake variety and Mom had the Mango Sansrival. Both flavors are patterned after popular cakes. My first reaction when I had a sampling of those flavors was, "Did they just freeze the cake and serve it as ice cream?!" The flavor is captured perfectly, from the fruit bits to the cream-like texture to the crust bits. It's like eating ice cream cake :) I loved the Blueberry Cheesecake flavor. Yum! :P They were slightly heavier than the Banana Bonanza that I had though.

Ni had the Brownie Peppermint flavor. While I do love chocolate, I found the chocolate ice cream and the brownie bits to be a tad too heavy and well, chocolate-y. Since one scoop is relatively large, a big dallop of a chocolate-packed flavor can prove daunting. But like the other flavors, this too was packed with chunky ingredients - brownie bits and peppermint squares. The peppermint gave the rich chocolate a minty twist and made a bit less heavy. Reminded me of the mint chocolate ice cream flavor I used to eat at Laura Secord in Bayview Mall in Toronto.

I must say I'm pretty happy with Sebastian's Ice Cream. It's like ice cream gourment made more affordable (compared to Cold Rock, I guess). It has the chunky ingredients to contrast the creamy goodness of the ice cream. It's good to have another ice cream parlor to enjoy good ol' ice cream :D

*~*~*~*~
Michael Learns to Rock is coming to Manila! MLTR is probably the counterpart to my dad's Air Supply and my mom's ABBA and BeeGees. I want to watch the concert~

long overdue

I've neglected my blog for quite some time now that I'm not sure where to start with the recaps.
So, in random order:

Books - Sale at National Bookstore! I've been there three times already this week. Probably one of the downsides of having the MRT connected to the mall is that when I have time to walk around, I end up buying something >< Talk about getting caught up in consumerism. Bought Deb Caletti's The Fortunes of Indigo Skye and The Nature of Jade, Human Sigma, The World is Curved, and Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper among others.

I bought The World is Curved, which talks about the recent (ongoing) credit crunch and mortgage crisis because I was intrigued by (not in the child-in-a-candy-store way) the recent financial and stock market troubles in the US market, with the effects rippling across the international markets. It's an interesting read. I'm learning about liquidation and securitization and starting to understand how the world's financial markets and activities are so intricately linked together. I guess I was just surprised at the domino effect brought on by the bankruptcy statement of Lehman Brothers, with Merrill Lynch being sold, and the Federal Government choosing to help AIG. With all the broadsheets headlining the events, I figured I should at least try to understand what was happening.

MBA - I've narrowed my choice MBA schools to about 5 or 6. My top choice is either the IOMBA programme in Geneva or the MBA programme at Rotman (University of Toronto). Other choices include Simon Fraser, Grenoble, IUJ in Japan, and Nottingham. I think I'll choose 3 to apply to. I should start preparing for the GMAT too, maybe next year. A 3-month review course costs 20k >< I should stop book buying and start saving up.

Friends - Met up with Jerome, Malt, Mic, Lin, Cha, Raech, Rainier, and Bryan at Burgoo Greenhills. Memorable events were the GMAT problem solving among Rainier, Bryan, and Jerome; Jerome being in the hotseat, and getting a copy of the songs that were being played that night. The songs were an acoustic take on current hits of NeYo, Rihanna, etc by a band called Voice Over.

Watched West Side Story with Angel and Carolyn. It was the opening night of the musical. The lobby was just swarming with Ateneans, it made me think of college again :P Joana Ampil is awesome. Her voice is so powerful despite her petite frame. The actress who paid Anita was wonderful as well. She fit the role to a T.

Dropped by Eastwood that day to get some documents from IBS. Chatted with the payroll peeps, Josa, and Mayeen :) Then headed off to Meralco Theater. The taxi driver of the taxi I got into was quite friendly and talkative. Our entire conversation was in English. In fact, a few minutes after I got in, he asked if it was my first encounter with an English-speaking taxi driver. I had to say yes :D He talked about his girlfriend and mentioned that Filipinos were discriminatory. It was not enough to love someone, the couple also had to be in the same socialeconomic range. Because face it, he said, who wants to have a taxi driver for a boyfriend. Your parents would be appalled.

He went on to say that it's unfair that most things and decisions are dictated by your status in life. There are unwritten societal rules regarding who you should be seen with, who you should be friends with. It is a hypocritical, discriminatory world. But it's also the status quo. And no one's been comfortable with going against it, myself included. I must say I sorta squirmed in my seat as he "interrogated" me and asked my opinions and shared his stories. I've been comfortable living in my status quo-defined world, ensconced in its beliefs and expectations. It made me uncomfortable to see my life, my world from another's eyes, because that's when the flaws and imperfections come out. And somehow, I felt a bit ashamed of my lifestyle and my norms and my views, because at that moment, they just seemed to scream hypocritical >.<;;

Family - Che, Ni, and I (with the help of Sa-em and Brian) have been buying prizes for the Autumn Festival dice game we're holding tomorrow at Ama's place. It's been fun shopping for appliances and houseware. Che and I joked that it seemed as if we were buying stuff for a wedding or a new house hehe. Shopping for the kids' prizes was a lot of fun too. I loved these cute tumbler/snack containers we got them. The container and the tumbler could be twisted together into an hourglass shape. Plus, it had freeze gel :) I just found them cute. They're called milk and cookie dunker sets. Because one would ideally put cookies in the snack container and fill the tumbler part with cold milk. Could be advertised in an Oreo commercial, don't you think? Although I personally prefer dunking choco chip cookies in cold milk.

JR is in shanghai now. He'll be there for a sem or two to study chinese. We had a mini despedida the day before he left at CPK trinoma. It was novel in that we cousins don't really get together except during holidays. So, it was fun to have a considerable number of us attend the despedida.

I also went to HK in late August. Met up with Gil and Emma. It was fun :) I loved the clothes at G2000 ^^ I didn't get to try the ice cream mooncakes at Haagen Daaz but they looked cute. On this trip, I think I was able to explore more of HK. I took more modes of transportation - bus, ferry, MTR - and I was able to go to more places than last Dec. Hmm, was also able to eat at Sweet Dynasty. I wonder if they'll open a branch here :P

Work - is fine. I think the work environment and people are still challenging my long held impressions on the Japanese work style and Japanese companies but I'm surprised in a good way :) The Japanese managers can say the damnest things XP I also joined the Social Interaction (SI), which is a team building activity, that was held at Calibutbut, Pampanga. It was Olympic-themed so there were games like tug-of-war, obstacle course, rowing, etc. It was a nice event :)

*~*~*~*
I think my writing is deteriorating. I can't seem to follow a single train of thought coherently, thus I'm unable to write an essay or theme on something that ties up from beginning to end. Blogging isn't exactly the most disciplined form of writing. I guess I kind of miss essay writing and the challenge that comes with it. I just felt that my writing is slowly losing structure hehe.

Listening to Marie Digby (Say It Again is quite catchy), Corrinne May (On The Side of Me) and The Script (love The Man Who Can't Be Moved!). Camp Rock's This is Me is pretty cute too, very Disney. David Archuleta's Crush is also on my playlist (I like the video :) ) Other songs on my current playlist are Ito Yuna's Alone Again, Alanis Morisette's Not as We, Chris Brown's Superhuman, and Gavin DeGraw's In Love with a Girl.

lazy days

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want." -Calvin and Hobbes

I never do anything productive during weekends or non-working holidays. I used to take French classes but I kind of stopped because I couldn't determine when I'd be leaving for Japan. So now, I spend the whole Saturday at home, if not go to the market with my mom or accompany eizel to Uno for PE or some school-related activity.

So, weekends and holidays have become a hazy mesh of idle internet time, late breakfasts, extended television time, and basically being an all-out couch potato. Exercise just never figured into the whole equation :( There's the occasional trip to the mall (where I always end up buying something. Talk about impulsive buying). But most of the time, workfree days are the few days wherein I feel content being unproductive and useless.

But if all weekends are spent as such, the "fun" element gradually disappears. I need something else to keep me occupied. Preferably something that doesn't require a computer so the internet is out of the question. I'll need to make a list of things I can do - maybe clean my room, organize my books, practice my long-neglected piano playing "skills." Ironically, the easiest cure for restlessness is doing nothing.

Yesterday, spent the morning in front of the computer XP Organized my music files. I find iTunes difficult to use. It's hard to organize music and get them loaded onto my iPod. I just found my previous mp3 player much more user-friendly. Spent the early part of the afternoon cleaning my room. Then, I went to Ongpin with my parents. My dad chose the cloth for this suit. He's a ninong for a wedding in Sept.

Bought dried mangoes, haw flakes (sigh, brings back childhood memories), and peanuts from Bee Tin. Tried some of the taro puffs and lotus yolk puffs from a small goodies shop. They were good, not too sweet :) Had an early dinner at President, where Dad ran into an old friend's wife.

What I love about quiet family moments during laidback days are the conversations. They're usually about the olden days, when my parents were still children, or when the family business was just starting up. My dad would talk about helping out in the old bodega, about the challenges encountered. He'd compare how different things are now, how it was easier to earn a profit before. My mom would talk about going to the steel office as a child, about playing pretend kitchen with A-ie, about Canada, about her frustrations and wishes and hopes.

I love late afternoons on such idyllic days. The air is balmy and cool and people seem to wind down as it's almost day's end. I love sitting by the porch and listening to the birds chirp. In moments like these, all seems to be okay with the world. It's days like these that I go back to when I'm feeling just a bit down.

A Robot Love Story

August 15, 2008
- 1st 飲み会 (Nomikai) with the Japanese managers and other Japanese-speaking officemates. Some people backed out at the last minute and so there were only nine of us in attendance (including the two managers). It was a fun way to get to know my new officemates and to practice Japanese.

As the name implies, beer was the main beverage of the night. I just had water, thank you :) I haven't really be comfortable with the idea of having alcoholic beverages at restaurants. I've only had beer when my parents are around, and I haven't been to a lot of nomikais with friends either.

Conversation circled around impressions and experiences in the Philippines and Japan. There were speculations raised and questions asked about office gossip. We analyzed the relationship between blood type and personality. We generally just shared our experiences of Japan and how we thought of it as a country, how we found its people to be :) I wouldn't say I was completely comfortable being in that setting but it was definitely less stressful than i originally made it out to be.

It gave me a chance to know the Japanese speakers better as I belong to a different department. Hopefully, it'll help me warm up to the company more and maybe make things more comfortable.

Speaking of work, I won't be going to Japan next month. My posting to Japan has been delayed indefinitely, although company says I'll probably leave within the year. I'm disappointed but not devastated. The plans change because the clients requested for a schedule change and I wouldn't be able to meet the sched considering the time needed to process the POEA papers and visa application. And so, I'll be doing some other work in the meantime, probably more translation and HR trainings.

***
Spent the day at Shangri-La Mall yesterday. Replenished my stock of Body Shop Almond Hand Cream. They don't have it in those friendly squeeze bottles anymore, just in containers for face cream. But the product hasn't changed. I love the sweet soothing smell the almond lotion has, with hints of vanilla :)

Watched Wall-E. Cinemas reminded me of those in Eastwood. The movie was interesting. There was almost no dialogue. One could actually count the scenes where there was actual conversation (not including the Eve-Wall-E conversations where the two robots literally just say each other's names repeatedly). It was like an animated silent movie. And since it was virtually without dialogue, the animators had to make extra effort with how the film was executed. I have to say they did a good job. Wall-E kept me entertained throughout the one and a half hours. I laughed at his human-like antics and expressions, although I didn't really warm up to the robot love story. My favorite scenes would have to be the outer space scenes when Wall-E first speeds off after Eve, and when he and Eve dance around with the stars.

More than a robot movie, Wall-E is about the environment. It shows how the environment will turn up if we continue our current rate of consumption, improper waste disposal and lack of regard for the environment. In the future, the earth has become a wasteland with no signs of life. Everything is dark and bleary and dirty. May God help us the day we turn out like the humans in the movie. Even the robots are more human than the people in that spaceShip.

***
Had snacks at Secret Recipe. Had the white chocolate macademia cake. It was delish! Loved the contrast of the crunchy macademia nuts with the soft vanilla custard. Reminded me of the Haagen Daaz macademia nut ice cream flavor. Ni had the choco banana cake. It was good too although the cake we ordered before had a more dense chocolate taste. For me, the thicker the chocolate the better :P

***
I'm working on accepting the fact that things will happen when they're meant to happen.
I find that I'm bad at interpreting signals. Hopefully, I'll be better at interpreting words :P
My current emotional state is a bit sad and disoriented but optimistic nonetheless.

rainy day food, movies, etc

Rain has been the common forecast these days. August 13 was no different. Of course, the rain falls down in tiny insistent pellets at around 5pm or so, making it bleary and tiring for those going home after a day of work.

Upon arriving at North Edsa station, sloshed through puddles of water and debris to go to the Block where I had a movie date with Nini J The feat left my pants damp and dirty :( Nothing like good warm food to ease the frazzled nerves. So, as I got there early (no long lines at the MRT), I had time to buy those delicious coffee buns they sell at Kopi Mum, located just beside the cinema ticket booth. The smell that wafts from the shop is just heavenly – the mixed aroma of freshly baked rolls, light swirls of sweet coffee, and warm melted butter. When you take a bite, the warm bun is the perfect foil for the light and gooey butter inside. The bun is not too soft and has a perfect chewiness. The bun and butter complement the soothing coffee flavor. This delicious bun is another addition to my rainy day comfort foods (of course, it is perfect for non-rainy days as well :P)

On the 4th floor, across the escalators is a Sebastian’s Ice Cream booth. The flavors on the menu board intrigued me, but I found the prices a bit on the high end. Plus I hadn’t had dinner yet. Maybe I’ll try one next time J I’d love to try the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and White Chocolate Macadamia, although the Mango Sansrival does sound appetizing too.

As we're speaking of food already, one of my other cravings is Beard Papa's cream puffs :) I love the vanilla custard cream that's enveloped by this doughy crusty bread. Perfect after a long day at work. I think I started craving for cream puffs after I watched the J-drama Zettai Kareshi. It's a love story (among two persons and a robot) set in the patisserie business. And the lead character has a penchant for cream puffs. Just made me think of Japan :)

Anyways, Ni and I watched Grace is Gone last Weds. The movie is about Stanley Philips (John Cusack) who learns that his wife Grace, a sergeant serving in the Iraq war, has passed away. Shocked and barely able to deal with his grief, he struggles with how to tell his two daughters – Heidi (12) and Dawn (8) – the sad news. His attempts to break the news to his children – or rather his inability to do so – result in them taking an impromptu trip to the Enchanted Gardens amusement park in Florida. During the trip, Stanley struggles to talk to and understand his daughters, while at the same time dealing with his own grief and guilt.

In the first part of the movie, there’s a dining room scene where Stanley and the girls are having dinner. The scene portrays Stanley as a loving yet no-nonsense type of father. He asks his daughters how their day went, gives judgment and advice (which is not always well-received). Although we can see that he loves his daughters and watches out for them, it's almost painful to see the lack of affection and doting. The mood is too serious, somber even. The dining room’s silence is only punctuated by the clacking of the forks on the plates, made even more audible as the three members eat their dinner in silence.

One of my favorite scenes is when Dawn and Heidi get their ears pierced at a department store. As Dawn roams around the store, she spots a mother shopping with her son, and excitedly shows her her newly pierced ears, only to get disappointed by the lukewarm reaction she gets. Hurt and disappointed, she hides in a little plastic playhouse, and this is where Stanley and Heidi find her. As Stanley talks to Dawn, she shares that she misses home and in a softly, she whispers she misses her mom too. The scene ends with a three-way hug among Stanley, Heidi, and Dawn.

Heidi turns in a brilliant performance as an eldest child who is in that transition phase between child and young adult. The movie portrays her as responsible, serious, and perceptive. Unlike Dawn who can carelessly shout out her emotions and worries, she bottles them up and filters them, showing only emotions that are deemed to be acceptable and appropriate, as she knows that her actions have an effect on her father, on other people. So she is careful, troubled, pensive - a young child trapped in a situation which requires her to be an adult.

When the girls finally know the sad news, it’s not as emotional or climactic as I thought it would be. In fact, it resembles the waves lapping on the shore. The sudden rush of waves describes the initial shock and denial, but after a while, the waves recede back from the shoreline, leaving only silence, contemplation, and perhaps even a hint of calm.

The story is pretty straightforward and linear. There are no surprise twists or flashbacks. It moves along at a slow pace, with moments of silence interspersed among the scenic shots and main scenes. It reads like a documentary in a way, you feel like you’re simply following them on their impromptu road trip. Yet the simple story tugs at your heartstrings, perhaps because it deals with such real issues, and grief is an emotion that most people, if not everyone, can relate to. The young girls turn in beautiful performances and their innocent portrayals make your heart go out to them. It’s a simple, no-frills movie but it is beautiful and full of genuine heartfelt emotion.

***
Flashbacks:

Had dinner with Malt, Char, Lin, and Sherry at John and Yoko. I found the food better than Sumo Sam's. Liked the pizza, the cheesee had an interesting twist. I don't know if it was the type of cheese used or the addition of Japanese mayo, but it was yummy :) Sushi is like the choices you get at Omakase. I have to say that my favorite is still the Crazy Maki at OkiOki Trinoma :) Dinner was interesting in that we ate only appetizers, ordering two or three at a time. But talking and the ordering intervals between the appetizers made us full hehe. Malt and I took the second to the last MRT ride to North Edsa. Good thing we made it in time.

Aug 9. Watched Cinderella at CCP with my mom and two sisters. Lea Salonga was brilliant. Her voice was crystal clear and she sang so beautifully. I loved the effects! It was like the fairy godmother really did make all those magical things happen with a quick swish of her wand. I loved the scene where she makes the pumpkins and rats turn into a golden carriage and horses. Even Cinderella changed from rags to a golden gown in mere seconds! The life of the play would have to be the fairy godmother and the two stepsisters. The Stepsisters' Lament was very entertaining and had me chuckling along. And I liked how Cinderella and the Prince met near the end of the play (with a bit of magic from fairy godmother, of course :) ) Although everyone knows Cinderella's story, it was nice seeing it on stage, with magical effects and beautiful music. Next musical, West Side Story!

Had dinner at Summer Palace after the musical for Sherisse's birthday celebration. Talk was about the olympics mostly and a-ie's funny tummy ache moments. Family dinners cheer me up as they are always filled with anecdotes and laughter.

***
Off to HK on friday! Got the tickets yesterday :)

lifehouse

Watched the Lifehouse concert at the Big Dome yesterday. It was awesome :) It wasn't as lively or as jam-packed as the Neyo concert, where almost everyone was singing along, but it was awesome in its own right. Lifehouse can really rock. I loved the guitar sequences and how they blended it into the songs. My fave performances were Hanging by a Moment, You and Me, Whatever It Takes, and Broken, which is currently on my iPod playlist. I'm just really happy I got a chance to see them perform live.

Just finished reading Twilight. Reminds me a bit of Buffy and Harry Potter, but Twilight's more in the romantic genre. It's a good read, something you can breeze through in one setting. It's absorbing but I find Bella and Edward's relationship to be a bit too intense. It just seems unreal in a way. But it's a captivating story and I'm starting on the second book in a bit, after I check out the Twilight trailer on the Apple website.

Recently read Garden Spells, which I found really sweet and magical :) - the next novel looks promising as well - and Comfort Food, which is a fun summer read.