Yes, everyone's starting to get Carried away

The past few days, people have been asking me the same thing: "Have you seen the trailer for "Sex and the City 2"? Thanks to youtube, now I have.



It looks like HBO has another winner here. I can almost see the gaggle of girls lining up to hear what Samantha has to say and to see what Carrie has to wear. And yes, only Carrie Bradshaw can walk around wearing turbans and look chic.

Christmas with a bulilit

After the outreach party, we dropped by Starbucks at Araneta Center. There were a LOT of kids since Disney on Ice just finished. And one of the kids we saw was this adorable, adorable, ADORABLE little girl. Of course, she's known as the "bulilit" in that really nice Camella homes TVC.



And no, the lady beside her isn't her Mom. (Although the two girls look alike.) That's our friend who looks a lot like the Bulilit girl. That's actually the reason why we had this photo taken.

Oh Christmas scenes, Oh Christmas scenes...

Dad spending Christmas in Manila again after 3 years. He obviously missed the Pinoy food and the Pinoy style gathering. Christmas really is different back home.



Oh how the kids have grown. It seems just like yesterday when I could carry these two.


Ate Bullet the margarita queen. Here she is with a glass of her signature blue margarita concoction.


Kurt trying his Mom's creation. (Kids, don't try this at home.)


Jul is SO amboy now.


Carl sends his greetings from good 'ole GA.


After a few years of having the mini-Christmas tree in our living room, we're back to a 6 foot tree. And here are the boys demonstrating how tall the tree is.


Jul joins our Christmas celebration via skype. He's sitting in the garden, thus the fabulous lighting. But he says it's freezing!


Jul's girlfriend joins in the fray and she finally meets the family. Via skype, that is.


These are just some of the reasons why I just LOVE Christmas.

A wonderful Holidays

Dad being in Manila for Christmas. Lovingly cooked and prepared noche buena by everyone in the family. A heart-warming video sent by my nephews Jul and Carl that left everyone a bit teary-eyed. A virtual reunion with Biboy, Liz, Kai, Noah, Jul and Carl via skype. All these made Christmas truly the most wonderful time - and day - of the year.



Merry Christmas!

Life, Interrupted

Apart from Angelina Jolie's Oscar winning performance and Winona Ryder's sensitive portrayal in Girl, Interrupted, another actress made this movie so stunning and memorable. That actress was Brittanny Murphy.



Among the film's many scenes, the ones I remember most were the ones that had her character, Daisy. From that scene where she shoved her leftover chicken under her bed, and Susana finding that huge stockpile of smelly food, to the scene where Lisa tells her that everybody knew that she enjoyed the abuse her Father subjected her to.

Finally, the scene I still remember vividly up to now. Her room is empty, and the song "End of the World" plays over and over again. Susana looks for Daisy, but she's not in her room. She continues to look for her, and when she opens the bathroom door, she screams. Daisy takes her own life.

Until now, I remember that scene vividly. But more then the scene, I remember how effective and heart-wrenching Brittany's portrayal was. The girl who had it all together on the outside, but was tattered and broken inside. Such a brilliant portrayal. After that, I continued to watch her movies - from 8 mile to the newlyweds, to Happy Feet, and my personal favorite, Uptown Girls.

Now, that brilliant actress is gone. Rest in peace, Brittany Murphy.

Mr. Jones and Me

Last Friday, Mark and I tried out one of the newest restaurants along the Greenbelt 5 strip. Actually, we were trying to decide whether to go to an old favorite (Flapjacks), or try a new place. We chose the latter.



Mr. Jones is a diner style restaurant that has a lot of comfort food on the menu. But because this is Greenbelt 5, the old favorites have a high-brow twist. Like the food we ordered that night. We had Baked Macaroni with truffles - a perfectly cheesy concoction that has added texture because of the mushrooms. Our sandwich was a grilled pesto sandwich with spicy fries on the side. It was a winner!



After we got our bill, they gave us a container of lollipops as dessert. True to the restaurant's concept, the lollipops were so "back to our childhood." These lollies are the same lollies that I used to eat as a youngster.



Overall, the dining experience feels new and yet familiar - traits that make a restaurant worth coming back to. And yes, I think we'll see Mr. Jones again one of these days.

Making good (Christmas) time

Compared to the past years, I seem to be less harangued in the "buying gifts" department this year. I've been making good time, crossing out 5 to 10 names at a time on my Christmas list.

Today, I was able to wrap, label and set aside my Christmas gifts for our department in school. I've also completed segregating gifts for family friends, godchildren, and kids of friends. All I need to really concern myself with now is the gifts for my immediate family. Getting gifts for nephews and nieces is trickier now that they're in their teens and tweens.

Hopefully, I'll find gifts for them in a day or two. I don't want to spend the 24th of December running around and buying last minute presents. (That's what I've been doing the past 4 years or so.)

I smell the 80s

Sometime in the 80s, there was a song that was overplayed on the radio and oversang in variety shows. It was strange considering it wasn't an English song. From the sound of it, the song sounds Brazilian or Portuguese.

The song is Lanca Perfume. And it has been my last song syndrome since yesterday.



Apart from the funky sound and unusual lyrics of the song, I remember this song vividly because one of our maids used to sing along to it a lot. And she'd go:

"Lasang... Lasang Kankunis..."

Lady, it's a song about a perfume. Not tea. Harhar.

Ripe for the picking

The group of rabid and rushing girls that ran past by me in Greenbelt 5 was the surest sign.

The Mango sale has begun!

I should drop by and get the first pick.

Fun all a-round!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Dad's birthday at our new favorite Pinoy comfort food restaurant - Kanin Club. The nearest branch was at UP-Ayala Technopark, so that's where the family hied off to.



The park was decked out in Christmas regalia. True to its image as a high-tech hub, their decor consisted of gigantic orbs that changed color, and Christmas ornaments rendered in wire.





Given how wacky and creative my siblings, in-laws, nephews and nieces are, it didn't take long before everyone went orb-wild and played around with the spheres that were scattered around.

Here's Miggy and Kurt "trying" to move it around.



Kurt trying to lift it.



And Javier trying to take a bite out of one.



We interrupt this program for a normal photo.



Miggy gets attacked by a wire-made Christmas ball.



And Kevin gets attacked by a sphere.



The group does a "Heal the World."



And my brother-in-law, Raymond, celebrates the witching hour.



By the time we were all done clowning around and making outrageous with the decor, Javier was already impatient and ready to go home.



It was definitely a fun, family Saturday.

A bit of Glee, a bit of me

I've seen Glee a couple of times and I just don't get why everyone is going nuts over it. Yes, it's fun, and the musical numbers are cute, but it feels like watching High School Musical over and over again.

I guess another reason why it's a bit alien to me is the fact that in Manila, the glee club isn't social Siberia. If you watch the TV series, you'll get a feeling that glee clubs are where misfits, geeks, weirdos and diva wannabes go.

But if you look at "real high schools", glee clubs are as normal as your science clubs, track and field teams, or even the honors club. Actually, back in my "real hight school", people thought the glee club was cool and they wanted to be part of it.

I should know, I was part of glee club.

(Strange but true. I was a baritone by the time I hit my senior year. Hahaha.)

Still more cheap thrills

Manong Pepe's is Jollibee's version of the carinderia. It serves cheap food in a clean, no-nonsense setting. And like the carinderias I knew as a kid, (like Carling's near National Bookstore and Aling Lucy's beside our old house) the food they serve is really good.

I dropped by this morning and saw that they had champorado and tuyo! That's the 2nd most winning food combination ever! (The first being Tilapia and ginisang monggo.) The champorado was perfect - chocolatey without being too sweet. The tuyo was - well, tuyo. It's hard to go wrong with tuyo anyway.

And how much did this combo cost me? A mere P26.00! Now I can get a thrill during breakfast without spending a lot.

Ready for a Clash

As a young boy, one of my favorite films was "Clash of the Titans." It had all my favorite elements in one wonderfully crafted film.

I've always been drawn to Greek Mythology and this film brought them to life. After reading so much Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Hades and the others gods, it was such a thrill to see them "alive." As a bonus, my favorite creatures were also there, including Pegasus, Medusa, the robotic owl Bubo, and Kraken.



This movie was produced way, way before the dawn of CGI and special effects. Despite that, it looked so polished. The way Pegasus flew and landed, how Kraken emerged from the water and fought with Perseus, Thetis coming to life, and even something as simple as Perseus disappearing.

I must've watched this movie a gazillion times and never got tired of it. Heck, if I found a DVD of this film now, I'd go ahead and buy it. Then watch it a gazillion times more.

So it came as such a thrilling surprise when I saw this trailer on the net today.



It's a remake of "Clash of the Titans"!

Off-hand, I see some of the elements of the 80s film in this updated one. The scorpions are there, so is Medusa, Kraken and the Stygian Witches. Of course, this updated version is armed with a lot of CG, which I hope will add value to the story and not detract from it.

The new "Clash of the Titans" film will be showing in 2010. But as early as now, I'm super ready for it!

Stuck Stock

Went to check out SM's "premium" section this afternoon and noticed that a lot of their Max and Cleo dresses were there for a year already. Yup, I remember certain dresses because they were the ones I wrote Christmas ads for last year. Among the lot was this black dress with feather trim on the hem.



The peculiar thing is that the prices haven't changed. If we were in another country, this dress would probably be 80%-90% off because of its age. After all, it suffered from "fashion depreciation" by this time. I mean, who wants to buy a dress that's a year out of season at current season prices?

Multiplicity

There are songs that are looped on my iPod and they're the songs I usually listen to while walking. The songs are usually very eclectic - a mix of bubblegum pop, R&B, some jazz and with a bit of mush thrown in.

But four of these much-played songs are very similar. Not because of the sound or theme of the songs, but because of the music videos. They all feature the same artists in multiples.

First up, a gaggle of George Michaels and Mary Js in "As."



Then we have 4 very distinct Kylies in "Did it Again."



And some more Kylies in "Come into my world." Hmmm... Methinks Kylie likes to duplicate herself.



Another favorite video that has this as theme is J Lo's "Get Right." Just like Kylie's video, we see Jennifer in different personas. Aside from the dance number, the schizophrenia makes this video fun.

Oh, did I say that I also like the Michael Keaton and Andie Macdowell movie "Multiplicity"?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The great thing about the Christmas season is that malls and stores are open later than usual.

While passing through Gateway on my way home, I saw that Rustan's was still open so I checked it out to see whether there are any nice Christmas gifts. After an hour, I went out carrying 30 gifts! That's about 1/3 of my list crossed out in one fell swoop. Nifty!

Plus, I was able to print out my tags for this year's Christmas presents, too.



Looks like I won't be rushing too much this year.

*fingers crossed*