and it has come to pass.
the annual los angeles times festival of books took place at the sprawling ucla campus last weekend. as usual, i was there, being the voracious reader that i am. it's my third year of going to the festival and it is very much different every single year.
[taken from the janss steps]
my personal highlight of this year? sasha cohen. hah!
[right before her autograph-signing session]
sasha appeared at the festival on target's children's stage to read from her, uhm 'book'. yes, people. sasha cohen is a book. and i have an autographed copy. which i hope to put on ebay anytime soon.
[yes, the girl can read. and apparently, she can write, too. she has a book!]
anyway, i got to chat for about two minutes with the figure skating sensation. i actually like her, if only for her spunk and her confidence and her bravery to do her stuff (never mind if she falls, at least she tried). she was the top figure skating champ in the u.s. last year, eclipsing michelle kwan.
i also saw jeff bridges with his mom, signing autographs. next.
i stopped by one of the booths to cuddle this carpet, rather dog. huge dog. i talked to its owner and she told me that the dog is 130 lbs. beat that.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
festival of books
Saturday, April 23, 2005
only in hong kong
while i was in hong kong last month, my friend and my cousins and my cousins' friends brought me to this cd store somewhere near tsim tsam tsuy [it sounded like that, i swear, but i am a hundred percent sure that theyd on't spell it that way]. it's not your regular cd store liek virgin or tower or hmv. it's your regular pirated cd store.
anyway, we had a blast when we saw a cd cover that was so funny we really cracke up laughing. i did not buy it [$20 hk] but my friend told me he returned to the store and bought it and filed this report in his blog.
Friday, April 22, 2005
2.89 inches
I was just browsing my daily dose of news when I came across this feature and it made me laugh out loud. Really, loud.
I wonder what Filipino guys have to say about this.
our lady of the angels
I covered the Greenlining Institute's Economic Development Summit at the Our Lady of the Angels Center yesterday. From where we were, I looked out the window and realized that my position was the best place to take a photo of the majestic Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. It's just breath-taking.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
simple-minded dilettante
still raving about last wednesday's alias. it was awesome! the whole rambaldi issue is back and the appearance of 'another mister sloane' -- the title of the episode -- made it even more fun to watch.
i love this show. i love that it's back focusing on rambaldi artifacts once more.
also, this story destroyed my day. bennifer part deux. blech.
maybe i am just too attached, that's why i'd prefer michael vartan over affleck. for jennifer garner of course. hah. not!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
lunch with steve case
Yesterday, during the lunch session at the Milken Institute global conference that I was attending, I sat beside this white guy. He looked kinda familiar, like I have seen him somewhere. I looked at his name tag. It said 'Steve Case.' Okay, rings a bell. Then below his name, 'The Case Foundation.'
That's what threw me off. The Case Foundation. So we talked, nonsense stuff actually. When I returned to my office, I googled Steve Case and I realized that I was just talking with the founder and former Chairman and CEO of America Online. Damn, damn, damn.
Anyway, I was convincing myself that it was alright that I did not know, because if I had known, I would have stuttered my way to shame-dom. The guy was probably thinking, 'This jerk does not who I am!'.
That was a great conversation over a great lunch, Mr. Case!
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
locked out
i don't remember the exact words of murphy's law which says that [i think] 'if anything will go wrong, it will.'
this morning, i woke up early because i was attending a 3-day conference [milken institute's global conference] held at the hilton in beverly hills. the event has about 2400 registered participants and more than 300 panelists. it's really huge.
so i woke up, got everything and left for beverly hills. i always bring with me my black messenger bag where i place all of my knick-knacks. i placed my house keys in this bag, for the first time. i don't know why.
upon registration at the site, i was given a bag. another messenger bag. i did not like carrying two passenger bags. it just wasn't right. i went back to my office after a couple of sessions.
in the evening, i had another event: the 39th anniversary of east west players, this time at the universal city hilton. since i was going back to the milken conference tomorrow, i thought i'd leave my black messenger bag in the office and just bring my new bag with me. i transferred all of my stuff that i deemed important. yes, everything, except my keys.
after the event, a friend of mine picked me up. one of our friends was in the mood to cook and he invited us. we obliged. after 24 [my other favorite show], we left for home. so my friend dropped me off in front of my gate and sped away.
the moment i stepped out of the car, i knew i was in trouble.
the freaking key was in my black messenger bag, sitting on my desk at the office. time check: 11:00 pm. i called my roomie...once, twice, thrice, ten times. max. he was not answering. i'm doomed. it's quite impossible that he'd be asleep around this time. i called our common friends. maybe they knew their whereabouts. i was hoping that he would be out. that's a better option than him already sleeping, with his cell on silent mode.
it turns out that our friends did not know where my roomie was. exasperated, i called one of our friends who live like 12 blocks from us if i could crash in their place. i was getting hopeless. my contacts were on the verge of popping out, i was getting really cold and irritated.
i started walking. i was on the corner of melrose and vermont when my phone rang. my roomie. it turns out he just got home from watching sin city with a friend. that solved my problem.
lesson learned: always keep a spare set of keys somewhere.
Friday, April 15, 2005
desperate about alias
if it was not too obvious, the title of today's blog refers to my current tv addictions: alias (my fourth year of supporting jj abrams; after four years of felicity) and desperate housewives (my favorite this tv season).
by some twist of fate, abc decided to move alias to the wednesday timeslot last fall. and guess what show they put in its place? desperate housewives. i have not missed a single episode and i must say that its creator/writer march cherry is one hell of a genius. desperate housewives' storylines are imaginative and very colorful, its dialogue crisp and saucy, its characters complex and multi-layered.
of course, you might have heard about the infamous catfight among the characters during a recent vanity fair pictorial. i don't mind it. honestly, i don't even care. as long as they give me a good show week after week, i am happy.
one of my friends, also a fanatic of this show, asked me: 'if you were one of the desperate housewives, who would you be?' without batting an eyeslash, i quipped, 'a cross between bree van de camp (marcia cross' character) and susan mayer (teri hatcher's comeback vehicle).'
don't ask me why. hah.
p.s. i just finished taking the 'which housewife are you' test at the abc site (it was made as a 'unisex' test so even guys can take it) and my result was that i am likely to date or marry lynette (felicity huffman). i dunno what that tells me.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
the mystery of the finger
a few weeks ago, i blogged about a finger finding its way to a bowl of wendy's chili soup in northern cali. it turns out that the complainant has a history of filing lawsuits left and right. this lady claims that she was paid $30,000 by el pollo loco after her daughter got sick at one of the chain's las vegas restaurants.
however, the damage has been done, according to this ap article which says that sales have dropped in all wendy's outlets in northern california, forcing layoffs and reduced hours.
the mystery deepens.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
the case of the missing ipod
the good. my sleepless nights (an exaggeration) are finally over as i have found my lost ipod. it wasn't lost after all, just misplaced.
i spent my entire weekend fixing my itunes and all the freaking songs that were somehow deleted before. i dunno what happened but now i have fully reconstructed all my playlists. the bad? as i mentioned before, i have the second generation ipod, with a capacity of only 10 gigs. sigh. all my songs have gone way beyond 10 gigs and i need an ipod now that has a bigger capacity. 40 gig ipod? i'm dreaming.
anyway, i'm just glad that i found it. [side story: i was supposed to bring it to manila when i went home last feb. i placed it on the couch and i forgot about it. i was cleaning/fixing said couch last weekend when i saw this all-too familiar gray pouch stuck there somewhere. eureka!]
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
magic mountain rocks!
i am a sucker for thrill rides. that's one reason why i love going to six flags magic mountain.
some of my friends asked me if i wanted to go to magic mountain two weekends ago. how could i say no. i love magic mountain.
we arrived a little past eleven and the sun was beginning to scorch us. surprisingly, there wasn't too many people that day and we had a field day running to each and every ride. all in all, we were able to go to 8 rides, inluding this ride called xtreme:
normally, the long line would take us at least two hours before we could ride but this time, it tool us a sweet thirty minutes. it was our first ride and it totally rocked. last time i was here (a year ago), xtreme was my last ride, and this was around 9 in the evening. xtreme during daytime is entirely different, and way scarier.
the two hour line this time, was for deja vu which we wanted to ride. however, time was not on our side and my friends did not want to wait that long.
deja vu remains to be one of my favorite rides because it is just way exciting and exhilarating. maybe next time.
we passed by this thing:
and quickly decided that it is not for us. not good enough.
so we went here instead --
yes, the riddler's revenge. not one of my favorite rides, but then again.
oh well, i really had so much fun. i can't wait to go back.
Monday, April 11, 2005
file under 'guilty pleasures'
last weekend was a 'dine-out' weekend for me and some of my friends. went to two restos i haven't been to in the past year or so. first up, the newly-opened cheesecake factory at the grove, my favorite mall. the waiting time, just like their old-town pasadena branch, was a bit over the top. it was already way past nine in the evening and the wait was still more than an hour. i overheard some people whow aited for about two and a half hours. are you kidding? two and a half hours? no freaking way. by the way, i had the pecan-crusted catfish. yum yum.
the next day, a friend of mine and i went to roscoe's chicken and waffle (corner of sunset and gower). we both had, well, chicken and waffles. the chicken was perfect, tender inside, crispy outside. the waffle was delicious as well.
we also went to my playground, amoeba and stayed there for more than two hours. i left the place at least forty bucks poorer. but happier.
Friday, April 08, 2005
michael and macaulay
I was at the Hollywood and Highland complex yesterday with a couple of friends when I came across Michael Jackson's star along the famed 'Hollywood Walk of Fame.' This morning, I checked my daily supply of news and found out that he was once more in there.
How could you, Michael!
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
arkansas in my mind
i'm still here in rogers, arkansas. the wal-mart media conference just finished a couple of hours ago. i'm staying at the embassy suites in this small town, the birthplace of wal-mart. it's literally in the middle of nowhere and i can't wait to go back to los angeles.
the view from my suite. hey i stayed at the embassy suites. hah!
i arrived here last monday with three others. another one of our colleagues flew in from san francisco. craig rented a van, a huge van for all of us. from the airport, [northwest arkansas, but my expedia says it's fayetteville: airport code is xna] it took us almost half an hour to get to our hotel. the road from the airport was a two-way asphalt road, and the funny thing is that we saw a cow cross the road. why did the cow cross the road? i have no idea. funny, especially for me because when i went home to the philippines last month, i never saw a freaking cow. not even when i went home to the province or when i went to baguio. no cows.
and here i am in fayetteville, arkansas and there's a cow.
apparently, lots and lots of cows. taken on my way back to the airport.
today, i saw more cows, because we went to tour a wal-mart distribution center. yes, i saw a herd (a pack?) of cows. hey, i am not complaining. i love cows. i love farms. it's just that i kinda miss l.a. and besides, there's a thunderstorm here right now and on every local television station, there's a 'thunderstorm warning' or a 'tornado warning' in effect.
sigh. i'm just ranting. i haven't been online since sunday night. no, saturday night! i actually meant friday. saturday was the pops-regine concert, and that deserves a different entry. sunday was magic mountain day with some friends. and on monday, i flew to arkansas.
ar-kan-sas. one more state visited, crossed off my list.
Friday, April 01, 2005
shabu shabu
nora aunor is in the headlines again. this time, however, is not about how she conquered cairo for her dramatic performance as flor contemplacion years ago. nor is she on the papers again for an upcoming concert somewhere in carson city.
she's in the news because of shabu. allegedly.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
what's wrong with this picture?
photo taken at the presentation of candidates of the miss asia usa pageant and their fashion show at the atrium hotel in rvine, california.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
'do you want a finger with that?'
my friends and i were having dinner last week when one of them blurted this story about a woman finding a [warning: stop reading if you are squeamish] finger in her chili soup. i thought it was one of those urban legends so i dismissed it.
yesterday, i did a yahoo search and found this. i wonder how wendy's restaurant will be able to get out of this mess.
early to bed, early to rise
i think i have found the reason why i uhmmm, have been ahhmmm, you know... kinda inactive in this department the past month or so. tmi, i know.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
queens...on fire!
the queens are here, in los angeles. how fitting.
i'm talking about pops fernandez and regine velasquez (and their guest erik santos) who are having a concert at the grand olympic this saturday. they had a presscon last night at the garden pavilion of the church of scientology along franklin avenue.
i got this one pic, among others:
All Set for Queens…on Fire
Concert Queen Pops Fernandez and Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez topbill the latest concert offering of Star Media, led by Ana Puno. Slated to happen this Saturday, April 2, at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, ‘Queens…on Fire!’ has all the makings of a sure-fire blockbuster.
Star Media held a press conference and sponsors’ night held Monday at the Celebrity International in Hollywood. As expected, the media, sponsors and supporters all trekked to the event.
The audience was treated to a couple of numbers by acclaimed pianist Joselito Pascual who performed before Pops, Regine, and their special guest Erik Santos were introduced.
‘Queens…on Fire!’ is already 90% sold-out, according to Puno who is bringing the concert as a spring offering to the thousands of Filipino-American fans who continue supporting Filipino concert performers.
“We will have special numbers that will surely touch your hearts,” promised Pops, as she responded to a question on what the audience should expect this time.
Pops and Regine first performed together in a concert held in Pasadena way back in 1997.
“Ang tagal na pala nu’n. A lot of things have changed since then. Mas maganda kami ngayon,” Regine exclaimed.
The free-wheeling press conference also touched on negative write-ups, which, Regine says she has tried to avoid reading. “Nakakasama ng loob, nakaka disappoint if we read negative criticisms kaya mas mabuti na na hindi ko na lang basahin. I also help in the conceptualization and direction of my own shows kaya it hurts kapag negative ang lumalabas. Okay na yung alam ko na mas maraming tao ang nag-enjoy sa ginawa ko,” she said.
A product of a talent show way back in the 1980’s, Regine is very supportive of the talent shows that have been sprouting like mushroom back in the Philippines.
“I consider it as an opportunity for all this new artists. Nakikita kaagad ang mga galling at abilidad nila kasi napapanood sila lingo-linggo. I consider them very, very lucky since they have the support of their entire network. I see in these kids their drive to succeed. This is a good thing,” Regine added.
Erik Santos, 2003’s grand winner of ABS-CBN’s ‘Star in a Million’ could not agree more. “Ang laki ng naitulong sa akin ng ‘Star in a Million’ at ng ABS-CBN. I never thought that I’d be performing with Ms. Pops and Ms. Regine, two of the best talents in the Philippine music industry. I feel proud and lucky to be experiencing all these. We all know that it is very hard to penetrate showbusiness and it takes a lot of guts. Salamat sa mga talent shows at nabibigyan kaming mga baguhan ng opportunity. They certainly make the way easier,” he said.
“There are a lot of new singers in the Philippines now. Ang labanan ngayon, matira ang matibay, kasi ang dami na nila. A lot of these new singers have the potential to make it really big in the business,” quipped Pops.
Individually, these talented performers shine every time they do their thing onstage. They have their own captive audience, and loyal fans as a matter of fact. Bringing them together seemed like a daunting task. For Los Angeles fans, the long wait is over.
This Saturday, at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, catch ‘Queens…on Fire!’ and witness a rare event where the Concert Queen goes head-to-head against Asia’s Songbird. As their teaser ad said, ‘Will one outshine the other?’
There’s only one way to find out.
and david's blogging, too
yes, i call him david.
we're close. first-name basis close. of course, i am talking about david duchovny aka fox mulder. i accidentally discovered his blog a couple of days ago. his blog is a nice read. he's finishing a movie in seattle now, not as an actor but as a director. can't wait to see this film.
i started liking david (and gillian) the moment i saw the first-ever x-files episode circa 1994, or maybe 1995. i used to watch it with my then-roomie lumen and we used to scare each other while watching it.
needless to say, i got hooked. hooked bad.
Monday, March 28, 2005
random thoughts
tons of stuff. belated happy easter to everyone.
how was easter? 'twas alright. uneventful, as it is. except for the 'silent moments with self' parts. watched miss congeniality 2 last weekend. ho-hum. i sorta did not like it the same way i liked the first one. apparently, even most of the viewers thought so, too. it got beat bad by 'guess who' starring ashton and bernie mac. wow.
yesterday, i spent time with my girl-friends at the beach. spent some quality time with them while strolling along santa monica beach and the promenade. it was fun. had lunch at the noodle planet in westwood and got my favorites: grilled pork chop, thai spaghetti and garlic spareribs. yum.
i haven't unpacked yet. i dunno what that reveals about me. i dunno. i can't seem to gather enough courage to unpack all my stuff. btw, i have this friend who asked me to send some pearls to her sister in illinois. i think i lost the pearls, or i misplaced it somewhere. i just do not know where.
anyway, saturday was kinda cold so i used one of my fave jackets (the one i brought back to pinas. i thought it was still cold there. duh.) and when i dug into one of its pockets, i realized that it was where i kept the pearls. yahoo. now, if only i can drag my ass to the nearest post office.
there's one thing that bumming me for weeks now. my ipod's missing. or misplaced. hopefully, not lost. seriously, i do not know where it is and this has been causing me anguish. i miss my ipod. even if it's kinda old and rusty, i still love it. sigh. i wish i could find it someday.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
fortune (teller) cookie
my friend p asked me yesterday to accompany him to this fortune-teller whose ad he saw in some paper. :D i had nothing else to do (i forgot my american idol/amazing race combo was on) so i obliged. we had dinner first and killed time at the coffee bean on sunset and fairfax (my friend jojo and i once saw lenny krayzelburg here).
anyway, so we went to the fortune teller's house around 9 pm [one has to call in advance and get an appointment]. her place is in a good area near west hollywood. it's a stone's throw away from the fred segal store on melrose.
we both alighted the car but when we reached the front door, the fortune teller told us that she was only accepting one-on-one 'readings' and unless i wanted my fortune told, i had no business being there. so i stayed in the car.
after around 45 minutes, my friend emerged from the house. i thought he was done but he told me he needed to withdraw some money. okay, so off we went to the nearest b of a. so we parked near the atm [melrose and la brea] and after 30 seconds, a silver audi parked beside us. my friend was already by the atm and i was doing some stretches. the guy in the silver audi threw me a glance and smiled. hmmm, friendly. and he looked familiar. in a millisecond, i realized it was rob from manhunt. oh well.
so we went back to the fortune teller's house. after a few minutes, my friend returned. on our way home, my friend told me about how this lady knew stuff about him as if she knew him from wayback. he told me that she is good. color me impressed.
i have my own manghuhula stories.
a few years ago, my friends from abs and i travelled all the way to this town in laguna (or was it rizal?) to have our fortunes told to us by this "really good" manghuhula, according to people who know her. anyway, so we slept-over at my friend's house in angono, in order for us to be there early. anyway, to make the long story short, we were at the manghuhula's place before 8 am. it was quite early and we were among the first in line. the thing with this lady is that she has this stone submerged in water while she is doing her thing. if something goes wrong, the water becomes black. she asked us to write our birthdates (numbers only) on this piece of paper she provided.
i think i was the fifth or sixth person in line then. (and there was already a long line that was forming behind us) when it was my turn, she read my paper and started concentrating. apparently, she was having difficulties. she looked at my paper, then asked me, 'kailan ang birthay mo?' i replied 'august 2 po.' and then she fumed, 'eh bakit ganyan ang pagkakasulat mo? nagkamali tuloy ako!' she got her container, shook it, and exclaimed, 'ayan! itim na ang tubig. hindi na ako makakapanghula!' and walked away. i could feel the eyes of the rest the people behind me. if looks could kill, i would have died a thousand deaths then.
just how did i write my date? the way i still do, up to now. today's march 23, so i would be writing it 03/23. i wrote by b-day as 08/02 and apparently, those extra zeroes caused her not to be an effective manghuhula. oh well.
and yeah, there's this other manghuhula who gave me the creepiest hula ever. to think i did not even want to have my fortune told to me then. she was on a break from her manghuhula chores with my co-workers and when we got the chance to talk, out of nowhere, she just told me, 'alam ko kung paano ka mamamatay'. before i could muster enough courage to ask, 'wtf?' she said, 'dalawa lang yan. sa tulog o sa pamamagitan ng baril.'
without even wanting it, i found out how i was gonna die.
according to her, either in my sleep or a gunshot. or probably both? how morbid. that same afternoon, i applied for a membership to the 'gunless society'. i tried not to sleep, but i couldn't. hah.
bottomline: that hula about my death freaked me out. my point is, i did not want to know. of all the stuff i did not want to know, this is the top one. and how dare she play god, and tell me how i was gonna die.
my personal relationship with manghuhulas, and the way i look at them now totally changed after that experience.
but then, that's just me.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
spring forward
last sunday was the first day of spring.
so what, you may ask. wala lang. talo si pacquiao last weekend. so what uli? wala lang din. i guess i have nothing to rant about then. think again.
my extended busy weekend became a bit busier yesterday, monday. had a lunch meeting at the westin pasadena. the director of the u.s. small business administration was the speaker in this event. okay. in the evening, my boss brought me to this presentation at the sheraton in cerritos. they are selling presidio at the britanny bay in paranaque. studios for sale at $25,000! to be delivered by 2008. it was a long night, got home around past one. sigh.
no wonder i am sleepy.
so yeah, nothing to rant about today.
Monday, March 21, 2005
busy weekend
the weekend just passed and i didn't even seem to notice it.
yeah, i had to work last weekend. you see, i was on vacation for three weeks and i am trying to catch up with work.
well, on friday, some of my friends and i watched 'the ring two' starring naomi watts. it was okay, kinda scary. duh. i couldn't quite decide yet if this one is better than the first. it was jumpy. it was a screamfest and there was a lot of people watching the movie. a friend from sf is in town and he's staying at my place.
saturday: whole day seminar at the los angeles times. some of the speakers were great while others were ho-hum. there was a bunch of other journalists in the room, including ones from canada, brazil and other states outside cali. learned quite a lot.
saturday evening: richard/dex/ramir's birthday party. well, dinner. it was a casual dinner with more than twenty people in attendance. in my apartment. i am quite surprised miss tapia and her daughter did not come a-knocking. or door number 5. the party/dinner got finished before midnight and not a sight of the bitches. wow. some things might have changed. went out for some coffee in los feliz.
sunday: me and beauty pageants are like pan de sal and catsup. they must not be used in one sentence together. not today. i had to cover the fashion show and presentation of the 2005 miss asia usa delegates in irvine, roughly 50 miles from hell-ey. i got bored to tears. sorry but this certainly is not my cup of tea.
it had its moments. it has 6 miss philippineses; 2 miss indias; 2 miss iraqs...you get the drift. add a couple (no, make that three) of skanky performances from skanky wanna-bees. sigh.
i have two more coverages tomorrow.
and oh yeah, my friends and i saw simon cowell and his girlfriend dining the grove's la piazza restaurant, just across from the fountain. he looked the same, kinda smug, kinda unaffected.
but you can see right through that he wanted to be seen. he could have asked for a more 'private' place in the resto. but no, he chose the table where every single one of the passersby could see him.
gotta go catch some zzzzs.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Tami's Big Fat Indonesian Wedding
my co-worker tami got married last night. she's now mrs. stephen carney. they got married at the guadalupe wedding chapel in downtown los angeles, and the priest (officiating priest? he didn't look like a priest to me because he looked kinda young) butchered stephen's last name by saying "karne" instead of "kar-ni". of course, we had so much fun calling them mr. & mrs. karne. the humor's lost on them, though and it was only us, pinoys who had quite a laughing fit.
tami, tami, tami. we call her that at the office. that's her last name; well, actually her last name is utami but we call her tami instead. nobody has ever called her by her first name in the office. nobody dared. titik. yes, titik. that's tami's first name.
fast forward to the reception. dinner was served quite late so our stomachs were kinda grumbling from hunger. my co-workers and i decided to focus our attention on other stuff. and by other stuff, i meant the wedding singers.
let's just say that ivy, this cool gal who's now ms. valencia, brings out the evil in me. it was fun, doing that. in the spirit of fun, not in the spirit of being mean. it's not gonna see the blog-light though, because humor's gonna be lost in print. remind me to tell you the story when we see each other in person. it's way more hilarious. believe me.
sample?
indonesian wedding singer's spiel before breaking into a song:
"i am now going to sing an indonesian song. i hope you understand."
hope we understand? honey, even if we tried...
she was addressing a room-ful of people composed mostly of filipinos, then indonesians, then others. others, meaning black, white and hispanic, or a combination of the three.
there was a lot more moments, and some that involved mangled lyrics and mispronounced words that really made our day.
tami and stephen, our best wishes!
[the blushing bride invited us to visit them in alburqueque. say what? oh.]
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
sleep-deprived
for the past week, i've been feeling a bit sleep-deprived. i've been spending most of my days (and subsequently, nights) awake. wild awake. let's take the past three nights. on friday, i was able to sleep at 5 am; saturday night at 4 am; sunday night at 3 am and last night at 3 am. this is the reason why i have been waking up late, too. i haven't been drinking coffee (not that caffeine has effect on me) so i have been craving for a good cup lately.
anyway, what's up with me? i just booked my flight/hotel for this media conference in arkansas next month. which reminds me, i need to unpack.
i've been listening to the cds i bought and i've been enjoying mymp and nina's live album. nina's quite good, i actually like her rendition of piano in the dark. i like both versions of julia fordham's love moves (in mysterious ways). mush. i love mush.
my sleep-less nights have caused me to catch up with all my fave shows: The OC, nip/tuck, alias and 24. My friend shaui was kind enough to record alias and 24 (she loves both shows as well) and my vcr taped the oc and nip/tuck. My roomie taped all the American Idol episodes but I don't like this batch as much as i liked the previous ones. well, i don't like them that much. of the three people i wanted, one has quit (hello, mario vasquez). the other 2? the fedorov guy and the girl who looks like kelly clarkson. and yes, i remembered...make that 3, constantine.
Friday, March 11, 2005
things i'd (most likely) miss, part deux
6. crispy tilapia - my former co-workers at abs and i had a hard time looking for this restaurant called 'recipes' at eastwood city in libis. it's on the second floor, right by where coffee bean is. the interior looked so plain and simple, no paintings whatsoever adorned its walls. the place was recommended by a high school friend of mine and i am glad she mentioned this place because the food was just awesome. we ordered quite a lot but the crispy tilapia nearly stole the show. the gising gising was something, too. it's like bicol express expect that only baguio beans were used. makes me hungry just thinking about it.
7. sinigang na corned beef - there's this place at greenbelt 3 called 'sentro' and it is run by the same people behind chateau 1771 and the 'sinigang na corned beef' is considered as their house specialty. for P330 a pot, it seemed expensive, but then again, the taste of the dish would make you crave for more., and it will make you realize that the steep price is worth it.
8. crispy crablets from ilonggo grill and marina (market, market)
9. choc nut dirty ice cream from uva
10. via mare's bibingka
11. bottomless iced tea from mongkok shangri-la / pandan iced tea from t.i.b at the podium / dalandan lemonade from italianni's
12. watermelon shake at the shade (along katipunan avenue)
13. papaitan / daing na bangus / mango shake at n.e. resto located at the n.e. pacific mall in my hometown of cabanatuan city. more local delicacies at vicentico's,a lso in the same city.
14. zagu's creme brulee flavored sago drink
15. my favorite mango-lychee shake from this fruit shake stand in greenbelt. i've been frequenting this place since i discovered it in 1994.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
things i'd (most likely) miss
a friend of mine asked me this question a couple of days ago: what things will you miss? (i figured he was referring to my previous trip to manila) and it made me think. blog fodder, sure.
1. anything made with dalandan - my college friends and i dined in this place called bravo (adriatico cor nakpil in malate). it is an italian restaurant that serves mostly pizza and pasta. everything in their menu, from salads to the desserts was italian-inspired. i had a hearty laugh when i read on the 'drinks' part. dalandan slush. of course, i had to get that. even italianni's has it (dalandan lemonade). dalandan juice, dalandan shake, dalandan whatever, i tried them all. damn, i am having a dalandan craving right now, as i write this.
2. seattle's best coffee's white chocolate concoctions - for one hundred plus pesos a pop, these coffee drinks are quite a steal. and yes, nothing still beats a cup or mug or glass of good coffee mixed with a great group of friends discussing almost evrything under the sun. for this recent trip, i was able to go to sbc's (yes, they call seattle's best coffee 'sbc') greenbelt 3, tektite, eastwood city and baguio branches. the couches are very comfortable for those long talks with pals.
3. figaro's barako blend - i've been drinking coffee as far as i can remember and i have always liked my blends mild. well, this one's not mild at all, but i didn't mind it. it's bold without being too strong, and it does not leave any after-taste in the buds. branches i visited? shangri-la and baguio.
4. cafe by the ruins pan de sal - my friends and i had breakfast at cafe by the ruins, a baguio city icon in its own right, and we had fun sharing the piping hot pan de sal, with just plain butter (or strawberry jam). it was simply delicious. what i had -- longganisang hubad -- was just as good.
5. pandan chicken and bagoong fried rice - had a chance to eat the thai in a box branch located at the podium. last time i had this yummy combination was around six years ago. i wonder why not one of the thai restaurants in hollywood serve 'bagoong fried rice' and/or pandan chicken. is it distinctively filipino-thai? if i had a restaurant, these two would surely be in the menu.
that's my first five list. there's more.
jet lag
i woke up yesterday morning and i felt really sleepy. i thought i was already able to shake this jet lag off when i slept monday night and had my complete 8-hour fill. apparently not.
all in all, i must have been able to log in more than 12 hours of sleep yesterday. the remaining 12 hours were spent eating, daydreaming and watching the episodes of 24 and alias that i missed during my vacation. i'm still amazed and hooked, to say the least.
time really flies fast. it's already thursday. and i have not completely unpacked yet. maybe this weekend i'd find time to do it. maybe not. i'm still sleepy.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
back in circulation
yes, i am back. finally.
after a three-week break (god, that was awesome!), i am back in los angeles. i have so much to write about and i seriously do not know where to start. let's start from the end? why not.
my friend picked me up at the airport around 5:oo pm yesterday at the los angeles international airport. the person at the customs, after checking my passport and my papers said, "welcome home" and it struck me. am i home? i was just home. this is my home? then i thought, why can't i just have two homes. so there.
it was a long trip from manila. the wait at the incheon international airport in seoul, korea, seemed longer. their airport is very nice, very cool and impressive. i could only wish. i bought a couple of pasalubongs at the duty free -- white chocolate-covered strawberry, some white choco stuff (yes, i am a white chocolate sucker) and some 3-in-1 korean coffee mix. back at the duty free shop in manila, i got my roomie and my cigarette-smoking friends a carton of west ice yosi. i heard it's good.
i did not pay the P1,650 airport tax (i think) and i only paid P200 fee because apparently, i was exempted. so i had more than P1,000 to spare for more pasalubongs for my friends.
eng bee tin hopia (buko pandan) - P40.00
eng bee tin hopia (ube) 40.00
oven-baked polvoron (mango) 90.00
oven-baked polvoron (melon) 90.00
baked bbq peanuts 90.00
baked garlic peanuts 90.00
choc-nut (2 packs) 130.00
bottled water 45.00
chocolait 35.00
west ice yosi @ 13 dollars 702.00
oh well. i had two 70-pounder luggage filled with local stuff, canned goods, more local stuff and a good portion for my cousin's padala. damn, i am so sleepy.
i'll be back.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
friends, romans and countrymen --
where did that come from? i have no idea.
i'm on my second day of my vacation here in the philippines. i'll be updating this blog as soon as i can. right now, the most i can do is this: a simple greeting from the islands. hah!
i have something like a blow-by-blow account of what transpired from the moment i left my apartment to the point when the plane touched down at the ninoy aquino international airport.
everything that has happened from the apoint at the airport up to now has been a blur though. i think i have officially tried not sleeping for 36 hours straight. for a nurse, that was an achievement. i have a slight jetlag. i was so sleepy a few hours ago (i was flipping my channels between ASAP Mania and SOP Rules) especially around 2:00 pm. i counted the hours and realized that that is usually the time when i sleep (1:00 am). are my computations right? i am lost.
okay, this is all for now. to all my friends who are in manila, i hope to see all of you. [i also hope you got the email i sent about my fone not being friendly enough to me that i cannot use it here. i saved all contact numbers there because i knew that i would be able to use it. apparently not.]
ciao!
Thursday, February 10, 2005
pilipinas, game ka na ba?
siyam na oras na lamang at papaimbulog na sa himpapawid ang eroplanong sasakyan ko pauwi ng pilipinas. labinlimang minuto bago mag alas tres ng maaling araw at ang diwa ko ay gising na gising pa. hindi naman siguro ito dahil sa isang mataas na tasa ng kapeng ininom ko kaninang hapon. ang gulo gulo na ng utak ko. pakiramdam ko'y may makakalimutan ako. huwag naman sanang mahalaga yun.
pilipinas, handa ka na ba?
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
welcome to hollywood...not!
i should have blogged about this before but i did not find time, and the timing was just not right. anyway, here's my beef.
why the hell to these clowns from american idol say 'welcome to hollywood' to the blessed few when they know for a fact that they are not bringing them to hollywood? am i just being technical? am i just nit-picking? maybe.
the previous seasons, they held the 'hollywood' auditions in pasadena. yes, pasadena, not hollywood. this year, they decided to hold it at the orpheum theater in downtown los angeles (yes, the one near the former-skid-row-and-n0w-home-to-yuppies-who-live-in-lofts).
why don't they just say, 'welcome to los angeles!' what is wrong with that? maybe they are part of the movers behind the plan for 'hollywood' to secede from los angeles? technically, there is no city/town called hollywood, california. there's a west hollywood, but that's an entirely different story. and yes, there's north hollywood too, how could i forget. a block from where i live, there's this street sign that says 'East Hollywood Neighworhood Watch' which means that...well, i do not know what it means. maybe i had too much coffee this morning.
a split-second of airtime showed sharon galvez (or someone who looked kinda like her) making it to the next round of auditions. next tuesday, we will find out who makes it to the final 24 (12 guys and 12 girls). here's hoping she makes it.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
mardi gras
today is fat tuesday. tomorrow is ash wednesday.
and thursday is the day i fly back to dear, dear philippines. i am beyond excited now, knowing that it is only two days away. i try to control myself, however, because i do not want to end up being so over-eager. it's like watching a film with really high expectations and you end up a tad disappointed. why? because you expected too much from it.
anyway, i haven't had a decent sleep for the past week or so. on sunday night, i got to sleep past four a.m., and i had to wake up early for our monthly meeting. last night, i was able to sleep around half past two. tonight, i do not know. tomorrow, hmm.
what have i been busy lately? well, last-minute shopping, for my friends who e-mailed some requests re: pasalubong. the list that i have (including that of my nieces') include a whole gamut of stuff it already resembles santa's list.
last week, i also placed orders on amazon.com for some more stuff. yesterday, i went to urban outfitters to buy some flip flops. i think they're called havaianas. i don't understand the fuss about it. damn thing looks like spartan to me. hahaha. joke.
i am having problems about one most requested item though: krispy kreme donuts. how can i bring it as a hand-carry? what about my real hand-carry? and won't the frosting melt by the time our plane crosses the pacific? oh well. let's cross the bridge when we get there.
yesterday, i burned on cd around 500 photos of my mom and dad that i got when they visited me here a couple of years ago. aside from those in disposable cams, they have not seen these pics yet. so i went to rite-aid this morning before i went to work and had copies of these pictures printed. i had so much fun selecting pics and i ended up ordering 200 prints. it was only later when i realized that it would set me back by almost sixty bucks (inluding taxes) since one photo costs $0.29 to print. well, i figured, the memories that my parents had of this trip costs way more than the $60 i am going to pay later.
i have been remiss with my friends' bloopers lately but this one, i suddenly remembered earlier when i came across a flower shop on my way to coffee.
friend: samahan mo ko, bili tayo ng flowers.
me: okay, saan?
friend: may magandang flower shop sa may (place street name here).
me: sige
pagdating sa flower shop.
friend: excuse me, excuse me, do you have live flowers here?
me:
flower shop girl: yes, we do. <sabay pigil ng tawa>
friend: oh, ayan. meron daw.
Friday, February 04, 2005
countdown
...anim na tulog na lang!
one of the reasons why i have not been getting good, quality sleep the past few days is because of this fact, and this fact alone.
my excitement is killing me. after five years, i am going home. yes, i still consider the philippines as my home.
and now, it's within reach. six days na lang. i've been terribly excited. i've been having lots of dreams about my past life.
six days, and counting...
hodgepodge
it has been a crazy day. last night, i thought i had so much to write. but then work took over and i am left with this. anyway, here are my random thoughts for the day.
• the aviator
watched the movie last night (finally) and all i am quite impressed. i liked the film a lot. plea to the academy: please give the best actor award to leo. he frikkin deserves it. i never realized howard hughes lived such a colorful life. i have new-found respect for him, as an actor. he was really amazing. i had some favorite memorable scenes and in all of them, leo delivered.
• the phantom of the opera
i saw this last week but i did not have the time to blog about it. i liked this movie, too. although i think i kind of liked the musical better. maybe because phantom of the opera was the first ever musical i saw here in the u.s. (san francisco). i like the soundtrack as well (a friend of mine bought it, and at one point, the last song syndrome took over and all we could hum, from dinner to coffee was 'think of me...')
• sideways
i saw this like two months ago with a couple of my co-workers. i liked the basic simplicity of the movie. it was so linear, the story-telling was so simple...i guess that's what made it compelling. i'd prefer 'the aviator' over this one, if you ask me. but then again, i am not a film critic. i am a fan.
• cher calvin on ktla
ktla's publicist called me yesterday afternoon to advise me that cher would be introduced to the viewers at 7:40 a.m. today. so last night, after watching my requisite soaps, i TiVoed VCRd (hahaha!) the morning show, from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m, enough time for allowance. so when i woke up today at around 8:40, i rewinded (rewound?) my tape to watch it. the 7:40 mark came and went and all i saw was cher's pixellized face in one of their teasers. the tape finished and i did not see cher at all. 5 minutes to 9 and i decided to go to channel 5. commercial break. one last gap. yes! cher was there, and they had like an 'instant feedback' thing where this viewer from hesperia commented on how hot cher is. anyway.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
sex and gender
"Sex is what you have between your legs. Gender is what you have between your ears."
That quote is from this lady lawyer who joined the legal team of Philip Abramowitz to defend Donita Ganzon and her husband Jiffy Javellana. I attended their press conference this morning in Sherman Oaks.
As a backgrounder: I covered the Donita Ganzon case when it first erupted last December when she, together with her husband Jiffy Javellana, sued the United States immigration service. The couple is seeking a federal court order upholding the validity of their marriage and challenging the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service (BCIS) refusal to recognize their marriage.
Donita Ganzon, 58 and her
husband Jiffy Javellana, 27
It gets interesting. Donita Ganzon is a post-operative transsexual. She was born in Bataan as 'Celedonio Secusana Ganzon.' She arrived in the U.S. in 1974. She underwent sex-change operation 1981 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987 . Her naturalization certificate, issued by the then-INS, recognized her change of sex from male to female. She is 58 years old.
December 2000. Donita met Jiffy Javellana when she went to the Philippines for a vacation. Jiffy was a friend of one of Donita's nephews. They talked. He sang a song for her. They became inseparable. They fell in love.
Donita revealed the truth to Jiffy about her being a transsexual the first night that they became intimate withe ach other. To her amazement, he did not run away. She said he did not even flinch. "You're more beautiful than any other woman," Jiffy told her. Donita was in heaven.
Jiffy arrived in the U.S. in 2001. The couple got married in Las Vegas later that year. He then applied for permanent residency.
Bottomline: The BCIS denied his application based on its policy of prohibiting recognition of transgender marriages. Immigration officials cited the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
The lawyers called for the presscon to announce that Debra Davies-Soshoux will be helping in the case. She delivered a lecture on sex and gender issues. Asked on why she thinks this case is important, she replied, before dropping the bombshell. "Because I am like her, too," she said, pointing at Donita.
If I didn't know any better, I would have fallen off my chair. But a little tweety told me about it a day before the presscon. It was like watching Alias spoiled. [Snark fans call people who, unknowingly or not, find out key plot twists through spoilers, as, well...spoiled.]
Who could have thought such a twist? Certainly not the bright minds at Boston Legal or The Practice. Proves one thing: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
meeting cher calvin
[i typed a few paragraphs earlier but when i clicked 'publish post' is said that it cannot process my request. when i hit 'back', all teh text i typed was gone. so here it is, again...]
i had dinner with cher calvin last night. yes, the famous cher calvin. thanks to the owners of goldilocks for inviting me. cher's in town because she is moving to la-la-land. she is moving from fox 5 in las vegas to the wb [KTLA channel 5] network here in los angeles.
cher calvin with her dad, former actor
roger calvin at goldilocks cerritos
we had dinuguan* for appetizers. i found out that she has never eaten dinuguan (not even during her stint with 'F' where they used to go to different restos in the philippines). i have to credit goldilocks for jazzing up dinuguan because they included it with angel hair pasta. it was kinda weird, but it was delicious. cher kinda liked it. [she didn't finish her serving though]
for appetizers, we were also served with lumpiang shanghai and calamares. i liked both. for the main course, we had garlic fried rice and braised beef (i think) with gravy on top. dessert was cheese roll (yes, like the ones that porto's in glendale makes) and ube ice cream.
back to cher: she's so down-to-earth. i like her sincerity and the way she answered my questions. i hope she does well at ktla. people will be supporting her. basically, she's taking over the post vacated by sharon tay. [yes, the daring anchor who moved to msnbc. not too big shoes too fill, cher. you can do it.]
that's it for now. los angeles peeps, catch cher calvin as she hosts ktla's 'morning show' [5 to 7 am] starting this monday, february 7.
* chocolate meat, for the uninitiated
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Quiz Time: What 2004 Hit Song Are You?
|
100 Years by Five for Fighting |
"Every day's a new day... 15 there's still time for you Time to buy and time to choose Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this When you only got 100 years to live" 2004 was about thinking and reflecting - but isn't every year? |
Monday, January 31, 2005
monday blues
i didn't feel like going to work today but i had to, since i needed to finish some stuff.
anyway, i've been kind of sleep-deprived the past weekend, due partly to my fixation to the australian open championship (which was aired live from melbourne on sydney during the wee hourse of sunday. wee = the match ended, with safin winning, thank you very much, around 4:00 am). hewitt won the first set [6-1] but he fell on the second, third, and fourth [6-3, 6-4, 6-3].
had dinner with a couple of friends at the curry house in west l.a. at first, i thought it was an indian resto. turns out it was japanese. who would've thought. anyway, so i had beef curry (yumyum). it has another branch that is close to my office (little tokyo) so i will be bringing my co-workers toe at there soon.
nothing much happened over the weekend. not much tv, too. except for the tennis part.
humor me!
friend: [cough, cough, cough]
me: wow, that is bad. what are you taking for that?
friend: well, i have this thing that was subscribed by my doctor...
me: <>
friend: wait, that didn't sound right. prescribed. yeah, prescribed...
[at least he caught it]
on tv, over the weekend --
the guy who won abs-cbn's singer search, season 1: ahh, please don't forget to watch the primer of our show, that's tomorrow na po, search for a star in a million...
[primer, premiere, what's the difference? hah!]
the girl who people thought would win abs-cbn's star search, season 1: magandang, magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. nandito po ako ngayon sa loob ng bulacan.
[where in the world is "sa loob ng bulacan"?]
Friday, January 28, 2005
australian open finals
slept late -- really late last night, well this morning, trying to finish the hewitt vs. roddick match-up on espn2. i checked my watch, it was 3 am: third set, with roddick winning the first one [6-3] and hewitt taking the next [7-6 (3)]. it was 5-5 when i finally dozed off.
turns out hewitt won the third set [7-6 (4)] and screwed roddick to high heavens by convincingly winning the fourth set, 6-1. take that, andy! well, i was rooting for roddick. too bad.
the finals will be a match-up between safin and hewitt. my bet's on safin. he ended top-ranked federer's 26-match winning streak. [i was kinda hoping to see another federer-roddick championship.]
on the women's side, i think it's s. williams vs. davenport in the finals. whatever happened to sharapova?
btw, work brought me to this chinese restaurant called yong zhow in arcadia (210 north, exit huntington).
yang zhow restaurant in arcadia
they prepared dinner for me to write about it for their press release. okay, so what did we have? first up was french-style diced beef followed by chinese broccoli with dried fish, fried crispy whole sole fish in sweet & sour sauce and the house special shrimp.
feast fit for a king (or queen)
it was a really filling dinner. i liked the shrimp and the fish. the shrimp tasted really good, it was succulent and the same time crispy. the fish was good, they tried to make a variation from your typical chinatown fare. the beef? well, not too much. the broccoli was great too. it's like having daing flakes with it. it was good.
being the oc-type that i am, i had fun browsing through their take-out menu and found some funny typos/misspelled words.
well, among the dishes they serve are: chicken with mushtoom, dry veef chow fun, chinese water crest with garlie, fish filler with hot bean sauce, fresh squid with chinese broccolic, hose special frensh squid, fresh aspareagus with chicken.
i know, i know. i can't help it. <insert naughty smile>
Thursday, January 27, 2005
sharon galvez
a few days ago, i wondered if my interest in american idol has started to wane.
apparently not. because in last night's audition show, i saw this frail, petite, pinay-looking gal who belted her way out of whitney's 'saving all my love' and boy was she good. in fact, she got a 'yes' from all the four judges.
i really do hope that she makes it to final 32. by then, we'll see if the fil-ams get united once more because of yet another singing sensation. and believe me, she is waaay better than...what's her name again? oh yeah, jasmine trias.
[p.s.] a friend of mine texted me early this morning [yes, 8 am is still early] to ask/tell if sharon galvez used to be zhar [or czar] santos of smokey mountain [chedi vergara's batch]. that is worth looking into. because if she is, then she has an edge already. but then again, she's already 28. too old? not for me, and i am sure not for the hordes of pinoys here.
[p.p.s.] what's with the name sharon? how come there's a lot of pinays named sharon? in my office alone, i work with two sharons, and we differentiate them by incorporating the first syllable of their last names, thus, we have shaba and shabu. then there's this sharon who is keena's friend. she was our table-mate at the wedding. then there's sharon t., a 'dance diva' here in la-la-land who is trying to be the next jocelyn enriquez...there's sharon santos, the fil-am lady who was missing last year. police later discovered her body inside her car's trunk in chinatown. how many sharons do you know?
[p.p.p.s.] i got excited when i went to one of my fave sites, TWoP and saw this in the AI thread:
"Then a stereotypical 1970s streetwalker comes in and busts it right out, blowing everyone's mind, and she's great. Her name is Sharon Galvez (28), and the deal is that she's a Vegas cocktail waitress, so she unavoidably has Vegas all over her, and that's why she looks like that, but really she has a heart of gold. "
coffee table
my former roomie, his cousin and a friend of ours picked me up today for a quick lunch at this place in silverlake (near my place). i asked him if the food there was good, and he replied in the affirmative, adding "and their tables are pretty too."
ok, fine. pretty tables.
anyway, we got there a little after twelve. the place is called coffee table, and yes, they had really cool tables, which are all works of art. we fell in line, ordered our stuff and went to the prettiest table. well, we got the one by the porch at the back. the place is huge. it didn't look huge from the outside.
i got myself a chicken salad sandwich (choice between rye, focaccia or sour dough) plus a side (mashed potato, potato salad, pineapple slaw and chips and salsa). surprisingly, my former roomie got the exact same thing i ordered, from the bread (sour dough) down to the side (pineapple slaw). our friend got a silverlake omelet (with stuff in it like tomatoes, avocado..i dunno what else...it looked like a burrito to me) and my roomie's cousin got cheesecake and ice blended coffee drink.
my take on the food: the chicken salad was good, really good. the pineapple slaw? not too much. it's like your ordinary slaw with slivers of crushed pineapple. my friend did not like his omelet that much. he did not like it THAT much that nothing was left on his plate.
next time, i'll try one of their omelets, or the asian chicken salad. i wonder how that would taste.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
changes
i've been quite busy trying to learn the 'html stuff' involved in making this blog more entertaining, more me. hehehe. thanks to my techie friend who studies it first for me, then just shares stuff to me in layman's terms.
it's alias night tonight. and yet another american idol. i think my interest in the show is kinda waning. but we'll see in a couple of weeks.
it was kinda stormy again this morning and i had to bring my dear umbrella once more.
my heart goes out to the families and relatives of those who were killed and/or injured by the derailed metrolink trains this morning in glendale. some moron wanted to commit suicide by parking his car right by the railroad tracks (how lemony snicket, buy yourself some originality). when the train was near, this deranged person panicked and abandones his car right there. now, there are ten people dead and hundreds more are injured because of this person's sheer stupidity.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
angels & demons
finally, after three days and a lot of distractions in between, i was able to finish reading dan brown's angels & demons. yes, all 569 pages.
i intended to finish reading it a few days after i finished reading the da vinci code. well, i tried, but i just couldn't. i think i was a bit worried that if i do read both books back-to-back, i'd end up killing more than half of my brain cells from exhaustion. i did not want that to happen.
anyway, thanks to my colds, i was at home over the weekend., well, mostly. (this is where the distractions come in). in between, i was able to accompany my friend to faraway Gardena to pick up his rebate check (unfortunately, the person we were supposed to meet was not there). then we went to Jollibee in Carson (he had 3-pc chicken joy, i had the spaghetti and the buko langka pie. yum. while we were eating, something happened to his braces. off we went to the city of Montebello to see his dentist and fix whatever was wrong with his braces. after that, we went to costco in Los Feliz and i bought some stuff i'd be bringing home soon. then, we went home.
a couple of my friends arrived, and another one brought tons of food from a birthday party. we intended to eat out but he brought tons of food. we went out for coffee instead.
got home around 10 pm and i resumed my reading. my only distraction yesterday was when another friend of mine and i went to hollywood and highland to do some shopping. got myself a pair of jeans for nine ninety nine. not bad. we then went to westwood because he was craving noodle planet's thai spaghetti. i first brought him there with another friend after our office christmas party last year. he seemed to love the thai spaghetti. anyway, i ordered their grilled pork chop (my other favorite their is the garlic spare ribs).
got home before 9 pm. watched tv (must-see tv sunday): desperate housewives and nip/tuck. resumed my reading.
monday. went to work. read, read, read. got home, my friend bought dinner for me. i only had around 30 pages remaining. went bowling with joshua and pierre (yet another distraction). i couldn't probably beat them. damn hustlers.
got home. finished my reading stuff. i am happy. dan brown is agenius.
Friday, January 21, 2005
warm and cold
i went to the bank today and the lady who checks the line to see if everyone has properly filled up the right form approached me. she noticed the tissue i had on hand and my red, red nose, and she asked, in an incredulous tone, "you have a cold?" and pretended to stay away from me. it seems that she could not believe how i could get a cold virus when the weather is oh-so-warm.
that was the same question that has been bugging me. it would have been fine if i caught the cold virus during the nasty rainy days a couple of weeks ago. but no. i caught my cold during the time when the last drop of rain fell almost a week ago. well, i could blame the hot days and the cold nights.
i've been a sneezing bandit at work (excuse me!). i pity my co-workers. they'd probably have colds by tomorrow.
colds, coughs
i am under the weather. i didn't go to work today because when i woke up, i had difficulty breathing. turns out my colds got worse. i dunno why. hate it.
so what did i do today? nothing much. i slept and i fixed some of my stuff. i cleaned my room, somehow. emailed some of my friends. watched tv. what else? i saw the o.c. and the premiere of the apprentice. gee, time really flies so fast. we're on the third apprentice, sixth amazing race, fourth american idol and nth survivor. well, about survivor, i couldn't even care less. i stopped watching after...well, i don't remember. maybe 3 seasons ago. that was when i gave my loyalty back to friends. not that they were asking for it.
what is the best remedy for a stuffy nose? i wish i knew. so i can sleep well tonight.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
oklahoma blues
last night was the opening night of oklahoma at the pantages theater in hollywood. watched it witha couple of friends. what can i say? it was good, but it was not able to sustain my attention from start to finish. somewhere in the middle of the musical, my mind began to wander. and wander it did.
the second act was better. well, i think the problem was that it had too much talk and less of the musical part. there's a reason why i do not like straight plays that much (pun intended). anyway, it's gonna run for two weeks here in LA, and off to the next city.
for that, i missed the season premiere of american idol (which i taped) and amazing race (which my friend taped). got home around past eleven and caught up with my soaps, plus the 2 hours of AI. time check: 3:00 am. no wonder i was so sleepy this afternoon. oh well.
got to run. i have an event at the philippine consulate.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
10 worst snack foods
i came across this article on the msn site that caught my attention: the 10 worst snack foods, it says.
i opted to quick browse it and i noticed that out of the 10 worst snack foods this nutritionist mentioned, i regularly consume around 5 of the 10, plus the runner-up. ouch.
oh well, here's the list...in order.
1. french fries
2. donuts
3. chips (potato or corn)
4. soda
5. cupcakes and snack cakes
6. candy bars
7. pork rinds
8. fat-free cookies
9. crackers
10. pretzels
runner-up: " Those creamy, carmelly, coconutty coffee mocha-latte-frappe drinks that are taking over the universe. I love my Starbucks too, but 20 ounces of caffeine, sugar, whipped cream and milk taken once or twice a day does not a lean waistline make!"
time to rethink my options.
fickle
no, that's not the thing that you put in your salad, or deli sandwich. not funny? yeah. and so is the weather, which has been very fickle these days. what a segue.
a few days ago, it was raining cats and dogs (and kittens and puppies). yesterday, mercury shot up to mid-80s and it was hot, hot, hot. it was one of my co-worker's birthday and we went out to have buffet lunch in eagle rock (pinoy town). the food was okay, i had 4 pieces of tuyo and a couple of the really red hotdogs with my fried rice. and oh yeah, i took a small portion of the sardinas, too. what else did i have? a little of dinuguan, a little of pinakbet and a slice of daing na bangus. for dessert, i had a slice of leche flan. yum.
we then had coffee at my favorite coffee place near my place. coffee bean, of course. i haven't been there in a while (maybe a week) and i think i missed a lot. one of our favorite baristas, a reserve at the marine corps has been sent to iraq and they gave him a farewell party of sorts there last week. there was a message board there where people left messages for him. well, i just hope that he makes it back here in one piece and i hope that the war in iraq would soon be over.
for dinner, a couple of my friends picked me up and we trooped to thai town, to our favorite hole-n-the-wall resto called sanamluang. i had morning glory over crispy pork belly. i dunno why thai people call it morning glory, but we pinoys fondly call it kangkong. on pilipinas, game ka na ba last night, they said kangkong's english name was swamp cabbage. oh well.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
about last night
i have a few more additions from last night's gimmick with my friends. here goes:
we were having dinner at the wood ranch grill at the grove and we were talking about weight and carbs and stuff.
friend a: yun ang reason ko kung bakit hindi potatoes ang sides ko kundi corn.
me: paano yung bread mo? eh andaming butter non? baka naman gusto mo nang mag pa upgrade sa double xl.
friend: hindi no. kaya nga low-carbs na, para ma degrade.
(degrade is now the opposite of upgrade)
and after a few minutes, my friend's phone rang. he answered it. it was one of his friends asking if he could join them in watching a movie at 12:20 am at the promenade. since we carpooled, my friend asked.
friend: okay, i can join. but who will drop off... drop me off...uhmmm who will bring me home?
later that night, we went to a bar and met up with a couple of friends. talking with this guy named seth, who is from salt lake city, our conversation veered towards the mormons.
me: so, ur from salt like. are you a mormon?
seth, new-found friend: no, but i can be one, if you want me to.
friend a: hey, did you see this movie about mormons?
seth: yeah, what is it called again?
me: uhmm, it has 'latter' in the title.
friend b: (proud na proud) yeah, latter day saints.
(the movie's title was latter days)
Saturday, January 15, 2005
more humor
friend: uy, you know what? a friend of mine just gave birth.
me: really? that's cool. how is she?
friend: ayun, may down syndrome.
me: what?
friend: oo, lagi siyang down. laging depressed. iyak nga ng iyak eh.
(finding a new meaning to the term down syndrome)
yet another friend was on the fone once...
friend: yeah, well, that's what's going on right now
(a new caller calls my friend, and he was going to ask the other person on the line to hold)
friend: uhmm, there's another call...can i hold you?
(realizing that what he said was not, well, right...)
friend: i meant, can i put you on hold?
and there's this friend of mine, who just arrived in the us of a from dear philippines. friend a wanted friend b to do the booking for the hotel they were supposed to be staying when they visit another city.
friend a: just make the reservations for us. call the hotel directly at 1-800-HOLIDAY
friend b: ahm, ok.
(after a few seconds...)
friend b dials the phone. 1-8-0-0-0...pauses for a while, and in a perfectly modulated voice, says "Holiday?"
there's more to come. i have a bunch of really out of this world and unique friends and i hope they forgive me for this.
everyday humor
i was talking with a friend of mine last week and it hit me, i should start listing down my friends' (or people around me, for that matter) boo-boos and compile it to build a book. here's a sample:
friend: hey momar, alam mo bang tapos na ang initiation ni (name withheld). grabe bugbog na bugbog siya.
me: talaga? okay lang ba siya?
friend: oo, pero grabe talaga yung mga hataw sa kanya, lalo na sa hita.
me: black and blue ba siya?
friend: tange, hindi black and blue. violet!
sometimes, humor is lost when translation is involved, so i'm just gonna leave it like that for now. there's another one:
friend: uy, may bago na akong boyfriend.
me: that's good news. kumusta naman?
friend: okay siya. he's thai.
me: wow, so madalas kayo ngayong kumain sa mga thai restaurants?
friend: ha? bakit?
me: kasi nga di ba sabi mo thai siya?
friend: oo, THAI-wanese.
may pahabol pa...
friend: thai din ba ang food nila?
challenges
i dunnow hat's been happening but i have been getting tirivial challenges lately that have been testing my patience and my belief in world order. my friends tease me that i am an obsessive compulsive freak, or well, i can be. that holds true to my iTunes collection in my Ipod which i have been slowly building up for almost two years now. piece of trivia: i just got my iMac fully paid last month.
anyway, i got yet another surprising development this morning when i clicked my iTunes icon and it was asking me to register once more, the same thing it asked me when i first use this damned thing. by then, i already knew that all my playlists are gone. it's been ages since i updated my iPod, so i wouldn't know when this happened. this is the thing, i own one of those first-generation iPods and its capacity is only 10 gigs. the mp3s i have have reached way more than 10 gigs so there is absolutely no way they can fit in my iPod.
there's not one freaking song in my iPod now and that is making me mad.
Friday, January 14, 2005
victoria gardens
my countdown continues. fifth day without cable. how am i surviving so far? let's just say that the customer service people at adelphia already know me on a first name basis.
my co-worker and i went on a road trip yesterday afternoon to rancho cucamonga to attend the opening of her a restaurant (her client) and for me to write about it. the trip was kinda long, we got stuck in traffic, even if we were on the car pool lane already. the place is about 50 miles from downtown los angeles.
it was kinda late (we were about to exit already) when i noticed that the mapquest printout i had did not reflect the actual place that we were going to but the center of the city (in this case, rancho cucamonga). anyway, to make a really long drive (story) short, it took us almost two and a half hours to finally reach our destination.
it turns out that the restaurant is inside victoria gardens, a $200 million project encompassing more than 150 acres. the place is huge, but it was very, very pretty. specially for a shopaholic like me. the mere size of the outdoor shopping center mesmerized me, and i liked the wide open spaces as well. it's like the grove, only 20 times bigger. that's how huge it is.
anyway, the reason why mapquest did not recognize the street was because of the fact that the "streets" were "streets" within victoria gardens. and they were "made" only a few months ago, so online maps probably do not have their updated copies yet.
anyway, i had my fill of sushi and sashimi (thank you kabuki!) and the asparagus wrapped in beef, and the dynamite, and the eel roll, and the soft shell crab roll, and the calamari-stuffed eggplant. this was worth the long trip. but then again, we need not drive that far next time since there's one in hollywood, another one in burbank and one in pasadena too.
i dunno when i will be back to victoria garden again, but i do hope it would be anytime soon, so i can walk along its pretty streets and shop in its cool stores. oh well, that is if i have enough money to spare. good luck.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
star-struck
am still pissed at adelphia (see previous entries). it's the third day and it's very frustrating.
anyway, i got a call this morning from this lady network executive (overseas from the philippines) asking me if i was going to cover the presscon of manny pacquiao today. i said yes. she then asked a 'huge favor,' that is if i could cover the presscon for their news show. i said yes.
one of our drivers brought me to the beverly hills hotel around 12:30 (the event was to start at 12 noon). when i got to the rodeo ballroom, bob arum, one of the organizers was already in the middle of his speech. everyone was there, including manny pacquiao, his opponent erik morales and their respective coaches and teams.
i looked around to see if the cameraman was already there. to my surprise, i didn't see him.
since today is a press day, i opted to leave early and i decided not to linger anymore. on my way to the restroom, i saw maria shriver talking on her cell. i was struck, i must've stared at her for about a minute. she caught my gaze and she smiled and said, 'hi!'. and all i could muster was a faint 'hello!'.
on my way to the lobby, i bumped into kate beckinsale. she looked so simple sans make-up, wearing only sweat pants and a hooded sweater. she's pretty, that's all i can say.
hate, hate, hate
question: what is a couch potato's worst nightmare?
answer: blackout can be accepted but since that does not usually happen, i can give the next best answer. nothing on tv. by nothing, i mean absolutely N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
that, ladies and gentlemen, has been causing me stress the past two days. due to the torrential rains, my cable company (paging adelphia!) has not been able to provide me with its services which i have pre-paid for the month only last saturday. i know hate is such a strong word and i seldom use it (i swear) but i am using it now. i hate adelphia.
my cable channels are gone. my premium channel (the filipino channel(tfc) hah!) is gone. for crying out loud, even my local channels are gone.
i've missed a hell lot of my fave tv shows and i have no idea ho adelphia is gonna pay me for all these stressing out. i know, i know, it's trivial, and probably not worth it for some people but then again, i am not just some people. i am a couch potato. by the way, i offer my apologies to everyone who is undergoing through much more difficulties in life. i am so sorry.
however, this is my blog so i have every right to rant.
because of steve and keena's wedding last sunday, i was not able to watch desperate housewives and nip/tuck, my regular sunday evening fare. and the season premiere of 24. thank god for the vcr, i was able to tape all three shows. i have yet to meet tivo. i heard he's a darling.
the upside of not having anything to watch the past two days? i was able to catch up.
in fact, i just finished watching the 2-hour sunday premiere of 24. good lord, it was very good. as in the previous 3 seasons, i swear i am hooked. the downside? not being able to watch the next two hours during monday's premiere. which sucks. big time. i hate it when i miss 24 episodes. i've been a big, big fan since the show started with only a handful of people actually watching it.
i have been calling my cable company incessantly for the past 48 hours or so. i think, one time, i even came to a point where i actually pleaded to the customer service to please do something about it. they told me to call again tomorrow. and i promise, i will be calling. again, and again. until they restore their service. so i can move on with my life once more.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
yes, sunshine!
good morning sunshine!
for the first time in about a week, the sun shone brightly this morning. as i was typing this around lunch time, sun was still there. it's good to see the sun again. i am not a rain person, i think i've said that before. there's something about the rain that depresses me. rainy days make me really blue. i dunno if it's just me. that's why i was kinda happy when i woke up this morning with slivers of the the sun passing through my room's windows.
i am kinda pissed that my cable's not working. i've called adelphia more than a dozen times already and they can't seem to find the root cause of my problem. maybe it's because of the rain? i tape some shows during the afternoon (yes, soap opera!) so my roomie and i can watch it when we get home. my roomie called me up last night while iw as having dinner with a couple of friends. he goes, "hello? i have bad news" and i went, "hindi nag-tape?"
it's funny how people close to me already know that i get pissed by small stuff like this. he then says, "sorry if i disturbed your dinner. i just wanted you to be prepared". hah.
the cable guy will be doing the rounds this weekend, according to the customer service person i talked to on the phone. weekend. it's just tuesday. which means i won't be having my tv fix for a few more days.
sunday night on tv was just hectic. i had to tape from my room and from the vcr in the living room. in my room, i taped desperate housewives and nip/tuck while the sala vcr taped the season premiere of 24. i've seen desperate housewives and i am going to watch nip/tuck and 24 this weekend. i missed the second night of premiere (another 2 hours) of 24 last night because of the cable problems. it's tuesday night: amazing race. last week, gus and hera got eliminated.
Monday, January 10, 2005
monsoon wedding
first off, keena, one of my friends, got married last sunday, which was probably the rainiest day in los angeles history.
one of our friends, freddie, flew in from the bay area to attend the festivities. we were joined by a good friend of mine, richard, who i take my hat off, for braving the nasty weather and the torrential rains that memorable afternoon.
the church was at the wayfarer's chapel in faraway rancho palos verdes. the scene was just absolutely breath-taking. imagine a small chapel, nestled on top of a hill, overlooking the pacific ocean. it was beautiful. the chapel in itself was a gem of a beauty. the walls and the roof were all made of glass and the trees outside made it look all the more artsy and pretty. i could just imagine how keena wanted the perfect scene to be, with the beautiful sunset capping the wedding ceremony.
because of the rains, the picture-perfect scenery was somehow, well, i can't find the perfect word. it wasn't destroyed or something but it was not what was originally conceived of.
on our way to the church (which was roughly 70 miles from where i live), we passed through puddles of water along the freeway and some parts of the streets in san pedro. it reminded me of the strong typhoons back home, and the floods that used to torment commuters in metro manila. it was a long drive, made even longer by the uncertainty of the fickle weather. by the time west 25th st. in san pedro became rancho palos verdes drive south, we encountered yet another stumbling block. the road was closed. with the street being all slippery, i could just surmise that there was an accident somewhere.
we were all unfamiliar with the place and it took us a lot of effort to finally find the church. let's just say that from my place to the church took us more than two hours. anyway, it was all worth it. the wedding was at 4:00 pm and by the time we got there at 4:30, i saw steve, the groom. he told us that we have not missed a thing since it has not started yet. after about an hour, the beautiful bride made her entrance.
the entire ceremony was simple and sweet. the couple looked really happy and so in love withe ach other. to keena and steve, congratulations and best wishes! your wedding was indeed unforgettable.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
the deep end
finally, i saw the deep end on dvd. it has been raining so hard the past few days and i have not been going out. my roomie was inviting me for a nightout tonight but i just couldn't drag my ass off the couch. woohoo.
saw a couple of mtv shows. caught up with the real world philadelphia...the one about landon's drinking problem. oh well. later in the evening (as in right now), the battle of the sexes 2 is on. it's down to the final six members each. i don't care who wins, as long as it's not coral or tina. i hate loudmouths. can't these people get a life? (in the same wavelength...can't i get a life?) hah!
a good friend of mine's getting married in a couple of days. best wishes keena! i hope it won't rain THAT hard this sunday. i am keeping my fingers crossed.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
'alias' is back!
as soon as the new year set in, all i could think about was my favorite show's 2-hour premiere in its new time slot. yehey, alias is back!
the first 20 minutes of the premiere totally rocked for me. jennifer garner was just fantastic. michael vartan was back to his brooding, non-smiling ways. the rest of the cast was very good as well. i am gushing. i am looking forward to having more good episodes.
this sunday (and monday), my other favorite show, 24 is going to have a two-night premiere. this concept totally baffles me. how can something have a two-night premiere? the first night IS the premiere. but the second night? how can it still be a premiere when it has in fact, premiered the night before? oh well. i hope it's gonna be good. i am keeping my fingers crossed.
of course by now, people already know that i am a couch potato. that i love my tv. it's mid-season and my two fave shows have just premiered. wait, american idol will premiere in two weeks. hmmm. looking forward to that too.
i hope that there's another pinoy (or more, possibly) who's gonna make it to the Final 32. well, on second thought, i think jasmine trias (and okay, camile velasco) are enough. Next year na lang uli.
Monday, January 03, 2005
feliz anonuevo
it's the freaking new year. i feel old. sigh.
spent the new year weekend in las vegas with a couple of my good friends. yes, i was a frikkin' third wheel. the countdown was fun. the city government spent millions of dollars for the fireworks and laser show since 2005 is the city's centennial. tons of people...drunk people. i had one huge drink (imagine a football-sized container, filled up to the rim) i bought from the coyote ugly bar in new york, new york. it set me back $18. not bad. one drink would normally cost around 10 bucks, this one was definitely more than two drinks. which was why i got tipsy. i am funny when i get tipsy. hehehe. funny because i do things i do not normally do. let's just say i was a bit way too friendly to strangers.
the $18 drink @ coyote ugly
the travel back to LA went way too long. we left around past one and we arrived in hell-ey after eight. to make matters worse, our rental card had no cd player. that sucked.
anyway, i am looking forward to the new year. i hope that it's gonna be good, if not better than 2004 for me. over all, 2004 was not a good year, especially the tsunami/earthquake twin tragedies that happened a day after christmas.
new year countdown in las vegas
a couple of my friends and i braved the rainstorm on the last day of 2004 to troop to the sin city and celebrate there the end of the year and welcome 2005 with a bang.
we were supposed to leave around 9:00 am to avoid the mad rush to vegas but we ended up leaving around lunch-time. traffic was bad, not because of the horde of cars but because the hard rains prevented motorists from driving beyond the legal speed limit. by the time we reached victorville, the sun started showing. hah. thank you mother nature.
las vegas boulevard (aka the strip) was already teeming with pedestrians by the time we got there. the last time i was here during new year's eve was during the millennium and the year after that. next to new york, i think new year in vegas is the next best thing. we checked in our hotel and had our power naps. it was going to be a long night.
aside from welcoming 2005, las vegas also welcomed the new year with a big bang since 2005 is also the city's hundredth year. knowing the fact that the city spent more than $50 million in fireworks alone, it made me think about how far this amount could go if it were donated to the tsunami/earthquake victims in southeast asia. i know it would probably never happen but i really wondered.
back inside the casinos, drinks were overflowing, people were everywhere and gamblers were having a good time. i observed an asian couple, probably tourists, who were betting $1,000 a hand on black jack. and they had two tall piles of $1,000. they did not even seem to mind if they lost five, six, seven times in a row. sigh.
i lost 20 bucks when i played the slot machine. i felt bad. that's 20 bucks down the drain. oh well.
Friday, December 31, 2004
picanha in burbank
it's pierre's birthday today. we didn't plan on celebrating it at picanha restaurant in burbank but we ended up there anyway.
picanha is a brazilian churrascaria (traditional brazilian barbeque). i first ate there a couple of years ago when i had a one-on-one interview with philippine senator ping lacson. i heard that it was his favorite restaurant so he wanted the interview to be done there.
the food was awesome. it's an all-you-can-eat meat fest so carnivores out there, this is the place for you. slabs of meat are placed on giant skewers and are slow-cooked, or slow-broiled. the waiters...i think they are called gauchos...bring the barbecue to the table and slice portions of the meat for you, piping hot from the open fire grill located near the entrance of the restaurant. it's dizzying to even remember all the types of meat that was served: from filet mignon to top sirloin, from pork loin to ribs to sausages, from lamb to chicken wrapped in bacon. it was indeed a hearty and really filling dinner.
come to picanha. come to picanha hungry. really hungry.
Monday, December 27, 2004
christmas in phuket
i was channel-surfing (as usual) the morning after christmas and i came across a breaking news thing on cnn. i looked harder and i was shocked to see the graphic video taken by tourists in phuket. the island resort was virtually erased from the map and there was destruction everywhere.
suddenly, i remembered a good friend of mine. i got a text from him the day earlier, greeting me a 'merry christmas.' i couldn't have been dreaming because he prefaced his text message with 'greetings from phuket!'
i ran up to my room to get my cell phone to check if my friend abe, was indeed in phuket with his wife rita and daughter, gari. i almost froze when i clicked my message icon and i had to read his message over and over again. i felt so helpless, all i was able to do was to muster a short prayer that they were spared from this tragedy.
i texted my friend to ask him if they were okay. i also texted our other friends to ask if they have heard from abe at all. i did not hear a word from them the entire day so i was growing pretty restless.
the next day, i was awakened by a text message from this friend of mine. i heaved a sigh of relief when he said that they just arrived in hong kong (where they are based) and that they did survive the tsunami and the earthquake. thank god that he spared my friend and his family. i feel sorry for the hundreds of thousands of families affected. at this point, all we can do is pray.
Friday, December 24, 2004
scrooge's christmas
i have always been fascinated by scrooge, and the way he sees christmas.
oh well, it's christmas once more. i've been attending parties left and right lately, joining exhange gifts and gift grabs. so far, i've gotten a great-looking rice-cooker, a black, knitted sweater, a foot spa and some other stuff. needless to say, i recycled the foot spa. i thought i wanted to have it but then u realized i can be so paranoid sometimes. paranoid. i have this vision of myself, enjoying my foot spa and that something in it goes awry, causing the wires to malfunction, thereby, uhmmm, electrocuting me. not a good sight. the fact that the foot spa needs to be connected to an outlet before it can run + the fact that water is needed by the spa as well = this feeling that electricity + water should not be used in the same sentence...gee, it gives me the creeps.
i've bought and given my gifts to people close to me. i've received my gifts as well. for those who remembered, thank you very much.
maligayang pasko!
