We’re here in Guam for a “technical stop,” according to the PAL captain who has been disrupting my sleep with his on-air announcements. I don’t know how long this is going to take us.
I am seated somewhere in the 60s, beside a mom and her possibly 2-year-old daughter. And on the same row a few seats away, my office-mates mom and her (office-mate’s, not the mom’s) 3-year-old daughter). A few rows up (same section) is a toddler. Sometime during the flight, one of them cried and lo and behold, the two other kids began crying too.
Not too long ago, on a flight from Manila to Los Angeles, I got a seat somewhere in the 30s area. Just behind the First Class people. Back then, I saw a couple of young children in the section and during the flight, yes, that’s what children do, they began crying and boy did they really cry out loud.
Anyhow, back to me. I became quite irritated because this kid from hell did not want to be appeased. She just wanted to cry and cry and cry and make her mom look like a desperate bitch. Anyhow, being sensitive to her plight, I didn’t show my irritation. Then, it happened. The kid vomited. In a few seconds, the smell of vomit wafted inside our section. I don’t know if it ever reached the other sections but it was pretty toxic. Had I not controlled hard, I would have hurled vomit myself because of the nasty smell making it though my lungs. I was nauseous. I am nauseous as I type this because I can still smell the lingering smell.
I’m going to try to sleep again after this, and hope that when I wake up, I’m already in Manila.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Dateline Guam
Saturday, January 27, 2007
T Minus 16 Hours
okay, this post should be titled 'Hooked on Heroes' because, well, i.am.so.hooked.on.heroes.
i spent the past five hours watching the last 5 episodes of this amazing show. this is the thing - i was able to watch the first 2 episodes, then i went to manila last november and the episodes piled up, until i began watching one episode at a time last week whenever i had the time.
in 16 hours, i am flying back to manila and i didn't want to be that behind when it comes to this show now. so instead of packing, i decided to catch up, really catch up and finish the last 5 episodes so far. there's a new episode again monday, but i'll worry about that soon. i didn't watch it last monday because i was a bit more loyal to 24 and they are on the same time slot.
anyhow, i'm just so engrossed and it has brought me back to some intellectual, not-so-intellectual and trivial discussions i have had with friends from the past about having superpowers. we all had that when we were kids. i sure did, especially during the days when i used to watch the wonder twins do their thing (wonder twins power...activate!). oh well.
it's past 4 in the morning and i haven't packed a thing. this is gonna be exciting...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
manila, i'm coming home
i can actually hear (some) of my friends in manila say "again? that's not even news anymore..."
but yes, i am going back to manila in a couple of days, probably for a couple of weeks. it's going to be a business trip, so i'll be working out of our manila office a lot too.
upside: i'm gonna be able to see my friends whom i haven't seen in ages. like 2 months? hehehe. i have friends in the u.s. whom i haven't seen lately (as in the past six months, or worse, the past year) who are actually jealous with my r.p.-based friends because i get to see my manila-based friends more. of course, my family, and my nieces and everyone at home as well. food. mall. friends. oh i've mentioned that. food. that, too.
downside: i'm going to terribly miss the shows i've been crazy about this season - heroes, prison break, 24, grey's anatomy, ugly betty, desperate housewives and brothers and sisters. wow, that's 7 shows x 2 or 3 episodes (let's say 3), that's 21 hours of tv-watching. hahaha. almost a day! the couch has redeemed me once more. and yeah, i'm also gonna miss my friends here. hehehe. yeah.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
two cents on grey's anatomy issue
i came across my favorite john mayer's blog and read that he wrote about the issue that cast members of grey's anatomy are in, namely the isaiah washington versus t.r. knight fight. (thanks alex and steph for the link, and the pic)
now, isn't this perfect?anyhow, john says,
this is where my 2 cents come in. the issue was almost forgotten (operative word is almost) until grey's anatomy won the best drama show trophy at the golden globes and during one of the interviews (access hollywood), isaiah washington denied ever calling t.r. knight a faggot.ABC may fire Mr. Washington, and it seems as if the pressure to do so is mounting by the day. They may also choose to placate all parties involved with some well-constructed press releases and the soothing touch of time, but in my mind, neither outcome succeeds in making any strides in promoting the tenets of tolerance and understanding.
I would like to offer my suggestion for a solution; produce an episode of Grey's Anatomy in which Mr. Washington's character, Dr. Burke comes out to his friends and colleagues as a gay man!!! What better way for an actor to get to the roots of his discrimination than by portraying the very the subject of his own ire for the remainder of his contract? That'll learn ya!
i saw t.r.'s interview with ellen degeneres and he said that isaiah indeed, called him a fag. okay, it's he said versus he said. but this is the thing: why was isaiah so defensive to the point that he almost destroyed the happy mood of the entire cast when he issued the denial?
anyhow. i think he has issued an apology (again). let's just hope that the issues surrounding the cast do not affect the way the writers treat the future storylines. we'll see.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
macworld - delayed telecast
yeah, welcome to 2007!
thousands gathered at the moscone to be at the macworld 2007. around the same time, the ces (consumer electronics show) is being held in las vegas. ah, heaven for the techies.
again, the freaking iPhone. 
taken after steve jobs' keynote.
john mayer. john mayer! he sang two songs, including my fave, waiting on the world to change, from his latest album continuum.Wednesday, January 17, 2007
bummed
that was my feeling when i realized monday morning that the much-awaited premiere of 24 season 6 was sunday night and i missed it.
you see, i've been a very religious viewer of 24 since it premiered 5 years ago and i haven't missed an episode. for a long time, 24 and alias were two of my favorite show. anyhow, it really bummed me (and i had that "unloyal" feeling) that i failed to watch the premiere last sunday. and to think that i wasn't busy at all since i just stayed at home sunday after the gruelling whole day planning conference saturday!
imagine, i was able to watch "you're the one that i want" or something. it's a reality show in search of the new john travolta and olivia newton-john for the broadway musical "grease" that's opening in broadway this fall. this is hardly original (looking for the lead in a musical) since when i was in london last august, i got hooked on bbc's "how do you solve a problem like maria?" which was a reality show in search of maria, the lead role in west end's "the sound of music," which i was able to watch (not the one in london) but the one in greenbelt last november when i was in manila.
that (the show searching for grease stars) was at 8 pm. then at 9, it was desperate housewives, new episode. then at 10, brothers and sisters, new episodes as well. rob lowe (saw him in sacramento during arnold schwarzenegger's inaugural) i think is going to become a series regular as the junior senator from california. jason lewis, samantha jones' last boyfriend on sex and the city is also guest starring.
back to 24. i'm babbling. thank god for technology and some good people. i taped the part 2 of the premiere, yes another 2 hours, which was set for monday night, because i chose to watch the golden globes. there was no use in me watching the part 2 when i didn't get to see the first 2 hours.
so now, it's almost 2 am on wednesday and i just finished watching the first four hours of 24, which incidentally, are being packaged in a dvd mini-set, and will be sold starting tomorrow. no need to buy for me since i've seen it. and now i'm ready for the next 20 hours.
24 really rocks my world. just give jack bauer the emmy, dammit! episode 4 was very powerful for me, especially in that scene after he (spoilers!) shot curtis, who has been his co-worker at ctu for the longest time. new characters galore. jack's son in will and grace is here, sporting long hair. not that long, but well, not short. peter macnicol's here, too. it's just too bad for him that i will always remember him as that kookie lawyer in ally mcbeal that whether he acts to death as the president's ally here, i just don't buy it. oh well. i last saw him on this show called "numbers".
Monday, January 15, 2007
dream job
NBC Universal has three employees whose full-time job is to watch YouTube every day looking for studio-owned material.
Three. Lucky. Bastards.
New York Times has the full story.
Of course I'm kidding. Imagine the strain of watching video on your computer screens 8 hours a day! With millions of videos being uploaded by the day, these three people have their work cut out for them. They could probably die first before watching everything that YouTube has accommodated so far.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
arctic blast
it's damn cold the past few days and meteorologists aka our weather anchors are calling it 'arctic blast.'
in one city here in southern california - lancaster - the tempreature dipped to a (very low) 3 F. that's three degrees fahrenheit. a record low for the city. this is the reason why people are always bundled up everytime they go out. i spent a week or so in san francisco and i was complaining about how cold it got at times so i was actually looking forward to flying back to my sunny socal but unfortunately, sunny socal was well, cold yet sunny socal.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
macworld san francisco
yay!
for the first time ever, i saw and heard steve jobs deliver his famous keynote. i'm such a geek.
i switched to mac back in 1999, by choice and by circumstance. by 2001, i bought my own imac, so whether i was at work, or at home, i was steve jobs' minion. hehehe.
this morning, jobs unveiled the iPhone (I.WANT.ONE!), which is basically an iPod smart phone and MORE. it's like the video iPod (that's not gonna happen anymore, considering this) only better. touch-screen! and it has internet capabilities! i'm droooooling.
4 gig = $499 while the 8 gig will cost $599. will start shipping by june. for erope, last quarter of 2007. for asia, 2008.
it's almost 5 pm and i can't believe i haven't eaten anything yet. like a giddy school kid, i was up early to avoid the traffic jam that macworld's going to give to san francisco. by 8ish, I was already with the several hundreds of media from all over the world, all waiting for the doors to open. it was an event in itself, i wonder how many people are left in vegas to cover the CES. hehehe. haaay.
i'm gonna go grab something to eat. i'm starving.
oh, by the way, john mayer performed 2 songs after jobs' speech. coolness. it's my second time to see him live, after the vh1 2002 awards. wala lang.
Monday, January 08, 2007
best wishes to my future ex-wife no more
jenie and jerry - best wishes and may you have many jenies and jerrys running around your palace someday soon. sorry that we were not able to make it. we'll make up for our absence someday somehow.
regarding the title of this post...let's just say that more than a decade or so ago, jen and i made a pact that if we find ourselves single when we reach 40, we'd be marrying each other. too bad (for me) she found jerry before she reached the magic age, which is just a few year away. hahaha, luv you jenie.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
sacramento dining
we only had a day in the state capitol so we had a limited time frame to try the city's offerings. we had coffee and muffins at seattle's best inside the sheraton grand hotel. we had to rush our story so we could meet LA's deadline. i love seattle's best dearly (not comparable to my affection to cbtl though) and i am sad that they do not have stores in LA, like the ones they have all over manila. anyhow.
internet charges at seattle's best was at $4.95 for half an hour. ouch. no way. on our way to the memorial auditorium, we saw an ad at the sacramento convention center right across the street that promises free 15 minutes of internet access for every purchase at starbucks or wolfgang puck express. after writing and editing the story, we moved across the street to starbucks. j bought madeleines and a cup of hot choco. and my fifteen minutes of wi-fi access.
after performing all our duties, we went out and picked up f, an old friend of mine. yeah, he's old. hehehe. old, as in mid-90s friend old. since j and i haven't had breakfast and lunch (coffee and madeleines and muffins do not count), f suggested tower cafe on broadway.
tower cafe is located within the compound of tower theater, where they show artsy and indie films, according to f. across the street was a tower liquor and on the other side was a dilapidated building that used to be tower records. yeah. all towers. a little history lesson: the first tower records in the u.s. was located in this same area.
anyhow, we had a great dinner. i had seafood bouillabaise, f and j had pasta. i always thought that bouillabaise is a cream-based soup so i was quite surprised to see that what i ordered was clear seafood soup, with the clams, prawns, scallops, fish fillet and others. yum.
we wanted to have dessert but previously while at the convention center, i saw a brochure that j picked up. it's a place called 'melting pot' and it's a fondue place. i was transfixed at the chocolate fondue offerings. so off we went to that place. we were quite intrigued with their latest chocolate offering, the hazelnut choco. since i was a big fan of white choco, we decided to get two orders of small, one with teh hazelnut and the other with white chocolate amaretto.
the place was a bit busy when we arrived. they asked if we had reservations. in sacramento? are you freaking kidding me? anyhow, the place was packed around 8ish. i enjoyed this sumptuous dessert so much we had to cancel our second order because we were stuffed. i wish they had a branch in LA. (wishes to the genie of restaurants).
sacramento in one day
j and i drove from san francisco to sacramento to cover the second inaugural ceremony of governor arnold schwarzenegger. ah. work.
we left daly city shortly around 8, and arrived in the capitol less than two hours later. some streets were closed because of this big event so we had to park a few blocks away. we walked towards the sacramento memorial auditorium where the ceremony was going to be held.
there were a few musical numbers that didn't actually matter. some of them even overstayed their welcome mat (hello, mariachi divas!). the program started around 11:30, probably in time for the 12 noon swearing in of the governor. why 12 noon? i have no idea. hehehe.
maria shriver looked splendid in her valentino gown. we were told that the governor was wearing a prada suit and that the bible which was going to be used in the actual swearing in has been with the schwarzenegger family since 1878.
the former mayor of san francisco, willie brown, started the ball rolling by calling all the special guests who would be joing the first family onstage, including the mayors of los angeles, san francisco, sacramento, san jose and other key cities. he also called on eunice kennedy-shriver, maria shriver's mother; then the schwarzenegger kids, then maria shriver. 
then ahnuld appeared onstage. on crutches! poor guy. he broke his thighbone (they say it's upper femur) in a freak skiing accident somewhere in idaho. he took his oath, read his speech (interrupted by applause 13 times!) and that's it.
oh, jennifer holiday also performed "and i am telling you..." and she was fuckin' awesome. oops, sorry. got carried away. j-ho has this tendency to contort her face in order to hit the really high notes but i don't think she minds. she's good. and as willie brown said in his introduction, 'there's no other singer in this world who could give justice to this song aside froim her.' sorry j-hud.
Friday, January 05, 2007
off to san francisco
...and i have to take a southwest flight.
i was actually dreading this one, after my really scary southwest flight to las vegas last september. the fact that the pilot told us that the weather's not too fine in the bay area made me fear the turbulence more.
ironically, despite the really dark clouds that hovered in the horizon, it was a pretty uneventful flight and by the time we landed, the sun was shining brightly. but it is cold.
i'm here in northern california to attend two major events. the first is the inaugural of governor arnold schwarzenegger and the other is the macworld. yes, macworld! hehehe. is it too obvious that i am more excited to go to the macworld than ahnuld's inauguration? it's because i am. well, i'm quite excited to see and hear steve jobs talk. he's the man! i hope to pick up a lot of stuff from this expo.
j brought me earlier to this new japanese place (market) in daly city called daiso and the place is so, how do you describe it, cutesy? it had thousands of materials that you don't actually need but you are going to buy anyway because they're dirt cheap. got me some stuff, like a calling card holder. oh well. had pinoy dinner at the lucky chances (cafe colma). combo (pork chop & tapa) silog. $8.99. not bad.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
food trippin' in las vegas, part 2
okay, the second buffet in as many days, and thankfully, the last for this trip.
j won a hundred bucks playing the slots for about five minutes. this was his treat. thank goodness, i wasn't about to fork 30 bucks for another meal. but then again...
welcome to paris hotel's le grand buffet.
i love their french pastries. it's just too bad that they stopped making the thin, flat wafers perfect for ice cream and coffee. sayang. what else did i like here? the grilled beef and lamb, the sumptuous crepes,the new zealand mussels, the portuguese sausage... ahhh, life. hahaha.
their seafood offering paled when compared with wynn's. the alaskan crab legs were kinda short, and it wasn't cut in half so effort must be exerted. i'm lazy, what can i say.
paris, not in france.
i love me some apples. not. i hate apples.
food trippin' in las vegas
hah! another dining adventure!
welcome to wynn hotel's grand buffet.
this better be good. $32.95 ($38.95 with champagne) for brunch. at 3 pm. we were starving to death and traffic along the strip didn't help. wynn's buffet is good. or maybe we were just very hungry.
the best alaskan crabs i've ever tasted. long strips of meaty crab legs dipped in lemon butter sauce. ahhh. heart attack. hahaha. thank goodness i have no allergies. :D
prawns galore. plump shrimps. yay!
happy campers pause to pose. the company i kept for four days in las vegas, just in time for the new year's eve countdown. and this was just our first official meal in sin city.
dessert was also yummy. crepe plus creme brulee plus fresh fruits (not pictured). there was no more dinner after this. my tummy was full until around 10ish. then it was all (alcoholic) drinks from then on.
a loooong day
yesterday was the first day of the year. happy new year everyone!
it was a very, very, very long day for us. we partied until around 3 after the countdown by the strip. slept around 4, and i woke up around 9. check out was 11 and i wanted to have time to hit the shops at the desert passage. by 11, we were out and waiting for the car. it took the valet almost forever since there was already an influx of people checking out.
took the 15 north exit towards salt lake city. we went against the traffic since we wanted to visit the new outlet stores by downtown. shopped a bit. hehehe. yeah, just a bit. had lunch at the food court there and i had some philly steak and fries.
left the place around 4. next stop was primm, nevada since traffic was already bumper to bumper, it was hopeless and we thought it would be better to just kill time in primm and let the others go. a stretch of only 27 miles from the las vegas strip to primm (stateline between nevada and california) took us forever: 2 hours to be exact.
wasted 5 and a half hours at the outlet store and the casino/restaurant in the area. left primm at 9:30 and 3 hours later, we were in barstow. half-way mark, baby! this was already half past 12 midnight. 2 and a half hours more and we were in LA.
my back's aching.
Friday, December 29, 2006
new year's eve + sin city
friends and i are off to las vegas to celebrate the new year. this is my fourth new year's even in the city of sin, and i'm quite excited. hehehe. at first, i wanted to celebrate nye inside my room, in solitary confinement. then the plan tod rive to vegas cropped up. who am i to say no?
i am looking forward to four days of fun and debauchery. hahaha. kidding. i am with good people, they don't go for debaucherous stuff. i think.
i'll be seeing a couple of old friends. a friend from manila i haven't seen in ages. some co-workers who are also driving to vegas. some acquaintances. yay. this should be fun.
in the meantime, i'd like to greet every single one who bothers to read this, a very, very happy new year! hope 2007 brings us more contentment, nothing more, nothing less.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
give jennifer (and leo!) the oscar!
hah! just finished watching 'dreamgirls' and jennifer hudson was indeed, a revelation. probably it was the role because it was really a challenging one, but an actress of lesser confidence would have crumbled right there. who knew that j-hud had it in her?
she swapped dialogues against, and had shouting matches with last year's oscar winner jamie foxx, and she didn't seem to wince. neophyte? not this one. beyonce was beautiful all throughout, no question about that, but this was not her movie. sorry, b.
my friend j and i went to the grove as early as lunch-time to watch this but unfortunately, tickets to the first four screenings have been sold-out that the first slot available was at 11:05 pm (a full 12 hours later!) and 12:05 am. we opted for the 11:05 and called our friends m & r if they wanted to join us.
we watched 'blood diamond' first and i was moved by leonardo's performance. he's really good in this film. he's nominated for best actor at the golden globes for this film and for 'the departed' (which i did not see). for the oscar race, apparently, you can be nominated only once, and they will get the one with the higher votes. which would be bad for leo, since he delivered two fine performances, his votes will be divided. and if ever he gets nominated, the bigger problem is: will the academy make him win? i was rooting for him last year for 'the aviator' but no, the academy just won't give it to him. did i hear scorsese?
anyhow, 'blood diamond' was quite heavy with all the blatant killings. i read in GQ that the diamond industry is going to come up with a campaign to somehow clean up their name which was somehow tainted by the movie. the actors delivered honest and real performances and i'm happy i watched this. (it was either this or apocalypto. will catch that one some other time.)
Friday, December 22, 2006
winter solstice
Los Angeles Marks Winter Solstice, Welcomes the Cold Weather
GRIFFITH PARK – Los Angelenos led by councilmember Tom LaBonge gathered Thursday afternoon at the recently-reopened Griffith Observatory to mark the winter solstice on the spot of one of the most unobstructed and spectacular views of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean from the west terrace of the Observatory.
Dr. Edwin Krupp, the Obervatory’s director, joined LaBonge and about a hundred people as the sun set directly on the winter sunset line at 4:46 p.m.
“This is one of the year’s most beautiful natural occurrences and this year it is particularly significant because we are back at the Observatory to witness it,” said Councilmember LaBonge who joined other hikers from the intersection of Boy Scout Road and Vermont Canyon Road to walk the half-mile to the Observatory.
Winter solstice marks the first day of winter – when the sun is the farthest south – and is the shortest day of the year, in terms of the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset. Sunset occurred at 4:46 p.m. PST on Thursday, and was preceeded very closely by the exact time of the solstice, at 4:22 p.m. PST.
The solstice likewise marks the beginning of the sun’s return migration toward the northern hemisphere. This means that we will be experiencing a lengthening of daylight hours.
The celebration was almost cut short when the sun hid under thick clouds for a few minutes. LaBonge predicted that the sun would come out and that the people at the observatory would still be able to witness a beautiful sunset.
As if on cue, the sun indeed came out a few minutes later, much to the delight of those who trooped to the Observatory to welcome the new season. The sky was bathed in hues of orange, moments after the sun re-emerged from the clouds.
People can observe the winter solstice, an annual celestial event, on Griffith Observatory’s west terrace where the solstice, equinox, and lunar standstill lines are laid into the pavement.
Cold Weather in LA
Temperatures plunged to record levels early Tuesday in Southern California because of a very cold air mass that followed a weekend storm remained in place over the region.
Near-record lows were expected this week here in Southern California, where homeless shelters opened lounges to handle anticipated overflow after temperatures plunged to record levels the night before.
The cold weather was expected as calm winds and clear skies brought more frost or freezing conditions through early Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.
The temperature early Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport was 39 degrees, tying the 1924 mark. In the high desert north of Los Angeles, the city of Lancaster shivered at 16 degrees, 2 degrees below the record low set in 1965. Nearby Palmdale was an icy 18. The old mark was 22 set in 1992.
Along the coast, early morning lows were 28 at Santa Barbara airport, 31 in Camarillo and 36 in Long Beach. All the temperatures were described by the NWS as preliminary record lows for the date.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Tom LaBonge and Griffith Observatory's directpr Dr. Edwin Krupp welcome winter at the observatory.Thursday, December 21, 2006
food trippin' in the bay area, part 3
another day
okay, so the next day, it was breakfast. light breakfast. hehehe. red ribbon fare - ensaymada, palabok, empanada, pandesal and cake (quartered, four flavors).
lunch time at the 'boulevard cafe,' a diner-type resto serving comfort food in the westlake district of daly city. it's a notch higher than denny's. very nice interiors and very good food.
this is what i got: tutto mare, spaghetti with prawns, clams, mussels and red snapper in a white wine marinara, basil and garlic sauce. whew. heavy meal.
g ordered the house pot roast, which he claims, is very, very delicious. served over orzo pasta with mizithra cheese and seasonal vegetables. i'll try it next time.
and dinner-time at kincaid's. it's a fish, chop and steak house in burlingame, overlooking the bay.
what i got: grilled seafood brochette - fresh salmon, tiger prawns and a jumbo scallop grilled with toasted hazelnut butter. the scallop was so tender and tasty. the salmon was really fresh and kinda sweet and the tiger prawns were fine.
g ordered the special of the day and from the looks of it, i can't seem to decide what it is. looks like chicken or fish to me, with some veggies on the side. whatever.
[red ribbon is all over california | boulevard cafe is at 2 poncetta drive in daly city, california. call 650.755-3400 | kincaid's is located at 60 bayview place in burlingame. phone is 650.342-9844]
