i spent my entire morning (and some parts of the afternoon) covering the inauguration of the new mayor of los angeles.
the latter part of the afternoon was spent on writing and re-writing my article about the festivities. lots of personality-sighting! i haven't been to a presidential inauguration in washington but i think this was quite close.
mayor villaraigosa and his wife corina led the thousands of angelenos in a procession to the city hall from the cathedral
arnold schwarzenegger and wife maria, antonio and wife corina, al gore, jesse james, natalie cole were all onstage to witness the historic oath-taking
former vp al gore was there, and he was greeted warmly by angelenos. [that's how residents of los angeles are called. angelenos.] so were former mayors james hahn and richard riordan. so were former california governors jerry brown, pete wilson and gray davis.
enough said. anti-abortion activists chanted while the procession was ongoing
there was one person that was not greeted warmly by the audience. on the contrary, they even booed and jeered when his name was mentioned. that happened twice. i pity him but people perceive him as an anti-immigrant, especially with his policies on reform. governor arnold schwarzenegger was booed. loudly.
i looked at the poor man onstage as the audience booed him. i somehow felt shy embarrassed that my fellow angelenos did that but then again, they had all the right to do so. in the philippines, it was (still is) rude to boo someone. specially someone who has the stature of the governator.
what's an inauguration (specially of a mexican mayor) be without a mariachi?
wow. day 1 as mayor and he already has a banner that says: Mayor Villaraigosa: Hard at Work in the Community
enterprising individuals were selling inauguration shirts for ten bucks. yes, ten freaking bucks! all photos by me, thank you very much. hehehe.
Friday, July 01, 2005
viva villaraigosa!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
histrionics
or probably not.
just one quick question: where does this blistering rage in susan roces come from? i mean, did you see the news? (tfc, hello!) i caught tv patrol on tape late last night and i saw her, still regal, if i may add, and she was there, raving mad.
my goodness. and the way she treated those poor reporters? wow. i don't think that was nice, ms. roces. mrs. poe. woe to the poor reporters who asked impossibly senile and stupid questions anyway. she could've just shrugged the questions off, but now, she had to make a side comment to each and every single one of them. tit for tat?
on a totally unrelated issue...tom cruise was on the view this morning and boy were the five hosts (including barbara walters!) eating on the palm of his hands. he was in his usual self, he even tried to do what he did in oprah -- including the requisite shake, which he did to star jones. damn. makes me NOT wanna go and see 'war of the worlds.'
but then again...
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
not-so-blind item
A famous actor, who we’re not going to name because he likes to sue people who accuse him of what in the next paragraph we’ll accuse him of, and his recently obtained fiancée, with whom he is very, very, very much in love, have a five-year contract regarding this relationship, and she is to be paid $8 million for fulfilling her end of the contract.
The deal was arranged and the engagement announced in a very short period of time because the wife of a certain, and rather adorable, pop singer found her husband in bed with the abovementioned unnamed actor, and said actor wanted to have this new news out as soon as possible so as to overshadow any new rumors about his sexuality.
Okay, so who are the characters in the story? Hehehe. The paragraphs above pretty much summarizes the e-mail that has been forwarded like crazy in this city called Hollywood (i live three blocks down) so it was but normal that i got hold of it too.
My take on the (non-)issue? Nothing.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
white flag?
is gma-7 waving the white flag with the postponement (some say cancellation?) of its los angeles launching scheduled for july 16? this was scheduled at the forum and was to go head-to-head against asap '05 to be held at the rose bowl stadium in pasadena.
they (gma network executives) called a news conference earlier tonight to tell the local media the official reason for the indefinite postponement of the l.a. launch. the presscon was facilitated by star media, and was held at the olive garden in glendale.
among the execs who called were joseph francia. the name rings a bell, doesn't it? yes, it's the same joseph francia i met more than ten years ago when he was still connected with abs-cbn. he used to be legazpi's station manager until he became part of the regional network group. last i heard of him wat that he got married and moved to australia.
until tonight. he's now the oic of gma international. hebigat! i also got to talk to wilma galvante, charo santos' counterpart over at gma. she had some heavy words against abs-cbn. woohoo, network war is raging.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
overslept
i slept kinda early last night, hence i woke up kinda early today. knowing it was still early, i dragged my ass back to my bed and slept. woke up after two hours and slept once more. the weather was very cooperative.
with a headache threatening to take-over, i opened my eyes and forced myself to wake up. time check: 1 am. i slept for more than 12 hours. i can't believe it. everytime i do that, i know that a headache will follow. and it did. my way to cure my headache? sleep? so i slept again while watching the sunday fare on tfc. did my head-ache disappear? yes it did. but the problem was i got all the more sleepy. what the hell's wrong with me? i know that if i sleep for yet another minute, i'd end up wide awake until 5 am the next day. then i'd sleep at 6 until 12 noon. it was not gonna happen.
yesterday was cook-fest for me. thanks to the internet (and the help of some friendships), i was able to cook a mean sinigang na hipon. my first-ever attempt at cooking sinigang. i know better now.
i used two packets of the sinigang mix and i think it was not enough. hindi siya masyadong maasim. in fact, it was kinda sweet. i think i can blame the shrimps for that.
i also cooked chicken wings adobo. i haven't cooked for a while and somehow i missed doing so. i finished around 11ish and i went straight to my room to sleep. for more than 12 hours. when i wokr up, it was time for lunch.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
i love you sabado...
aren't saturdays great?
sleep till god knows what time, eat something for lunch (roomie and i tried 'karihang pinoy' along santa monica boulevard. lutong-bahay talaga. hehehe. something different from those usual pinoy fastfoods here in hell-ey), replenished our water supply (goodness, those are really heavy. i am not whining, thank you much), did our grocery (woohoo, our ref has something inside, aside from water and some left-overs from weeks ago. ewww.), bought some soda (i miss drinking diet coke. lol.) by 4 pm, i was sleepy, so i caught some zzzzzs.
i wasted an hour and a half watching this stupid film called 'a day without mexican.' how could something be so mediocre get a chance to get nation-wide release? there was nothing in the movie save for trivial bits and pieces about mexicans and how the rest of america mistake all hispanics (including guatemalans and ecuadorians) as mexicans.
now, that's 90 minutes of my life i am not getting back.
Friday, June 24, 2005
wtf?
okay, so i checked my friendster account, after quite some time. hmmm, some new stuff, new messages from friends, new requests. then, i saw this list, popular searches in my network. okay, i have 155 friends now and except for about 15, i am positive that i have met 140 of them before.
so here's my network of friends' popular searches, and my corresponding comments (or non-comments):
1. Angel Locsin- Bold Video - wow, i did not even know that darna has a bold video circulating somewhere. And people in my network want to see it?
2. Filipino Men for Men - hah! no comment.
3. Calendar men - no comment uli.
4. tips on conversation - wow. tips? like don't eat your words? be confident? make it short?
5. cute japanese ladies - why?
6. true love quiz - awwwww. can you find it in the internet? really? call me once you find it.
7. handsome filipino men - another one. makes me want to think...
8. christine reyes scandal - who's christine reyes again? hehehe.
9. find happiness - another awwww moment. happiness in the internet?
10. naughty pinay celebs - what about them?
Summary? The people in my network search (true) love and happiness in all the wrong places. Friendships, they're not in the internet. They lust after Angel Locsin and Christine Reyes, or anyone who looks Japanese. If they don't, then they're after handsome filipino men for men who have posed for a calendar. They need tips for conversation, which they hope they could use once they meet naughty pinay celebs.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
si kyla, bow!
i had a conversation with a friend over the weekend. the topic? future concerts in cali. conversation went like this:
me: yeah, i read somewhere that jay-r (a pinoy r&b singer) will be having a concert here next month.
friend: talaga?
me: yeah, kasama raw niya si kyla.
friend: (excited, surprised, lahat na!) TALAGA? KASAMA NIYA SI KYLA MINOGUE?
me: (sound of me falling off my chair)
wala lang. i miss posting humorous (at least for me) stuff here.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
rude woman
i was on my way to work this morning when a car from behind honked. i looked, and saw this white, middle-aged woman (wmw). no good mornings, no excuse mes. she went straight to what she wanted --
wmw: do you know where rowena is?
[me: concepcion? i don't know where she is but she sure knows where i am. hehehe. inside joke, sorry. moving on...]
me: yes, turn left on hoover, it's on your right, before you hit santa monica.
wmw: so i turn left, then right.
[she then continued driving. no thank yous, nothing.]
me: (to myself) thank you.
myself: you're welcome
i don't know, but i was not raised by my parents to be rude. i didn't mind (at first) that she just honked at me to get my attention but what irritated me was that she did not even bother to say thank you.
two words, rude lady, two words!
bebot
that's the title of one of the songs in 'monkey business,' black-eyed peas' latest album. a good friend (thanks, rod) gave me a copy and it has been playing semi-non-stop in my itunes since last week.
track 12 is bebot. it's an all-tagalog (filipino?) song by apl. it's a nice, catchy song. i hope they release it as a single someday so we pinoys can bombard mtv's trl so they can play it incessantly. we can dream big, can't we?
i admire apl for infusing his filipino-ness to his group's albums. the apl song from their last album elephunk was quite good, too. there, he paid tribute to asin, a band that he said he listened to when he was growing up in pampanga.
i wish i knew how my friend does it in his blog, so you could also listen to music files here.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
embarrassing moment
i am not one who finds himself stuck in sticky situations that may cause extreme embarrassment to everyone involved. say again?
i woke up this morning, hopped in the shower, picked my clothes for the day and put a little gel on my hair. as was usual, i plopped into my gray 'cariton network' shirt from spoofs and my tattered and faded blue jeans. to complete my nonchalant get-up, i decided not to wear shoes. slippers are now in, welcome summer!
while waiting for my bagel to be toasted, i got a call from my cell. it was nixon, one of our (company) drivers; he's indonesian. he asked me where i was, i said i was home. he said, "me too!" and i go, "what?" "i'm at the gate," he said.
naturally, i had to ask why. "picking you up," he quipped. "going to the office?" i asked. "you already in the office?" he asked back. "no, i'm at home," i replied. this was getting difficult.
i asked him to wait for a couple of minutes. i didn't want to leave any burnt bagels in my toaster. so i went out, and sure enough he was there.
i hopped in and we exchanged 'good mornings.' he said, "santa monica [boulevard] is there, right?" pointing to the right. i said yes. we went to santa monica blvd. and turned left, going west. we passed by vermont, then normandie, then western.
when we reached highland, i asked him. "where are we going?" "pacific design center," he replied.
me: why?
him: you have coverage.
me: i do?
him: yes
me: where?
him: iw group
me: really?
him: really.
anyway, so we reached west hollywood's pacific design center. i went into the green building and looked for iw group's office. fifth floor. and finally, i got there.
my nightmare was about to happen. i was about to enter into a room full off nicely-dressed ladies and gentlemen. i inhaled and entered the room. i picked the last chair by the edge of this really long conference table.
true enough, 20 plus people in corporate attires and power suits, plus me in tattered jeans. i looked around, desperately trying to look for someone who was not in a suit. god is good, there was one from across the table. i heaved a sigh of relief and smiled.
the speaker was late, she was, as she told us later, stuck in traffic. someone commented, 'welcome to los angeles!' there was no other space for her to squeeze her butt. she chose the space beside me. i had no choice but to give out a forced smile.
she introduced herself. she's from chicago and she's the VP for Communication of nielsen media. she then asked us to introduce ourselves and looked at me. 'i am momar and i apologize for being so overdressed today!' that broke the ice.
the meeting lasted until around noon. at least my embarrassing moment did not stretch for hours. lesson learned: was there any? at all?
food trippin' in the bay area
what's a philippine fiesta without food?
at the civic center, there were a lot of food choices, but when i am in san francisco, i make sure i find time to visit my favorite vietnamese restaurant in the bay area: la petite camille in millbrae.
why? because they serve the best porkchops ever. yum!
well, okay. noodle planet in westwood also serves great-tasting pork chops, but la petite camille's different. it's like they marinated the chops in secret sauces for a year. that's how good they taste. also, it doesn't hurt that they give you like 4 or 5 chops. not bad for $8.99!
to my vegetarian friend abe, don't you miss how good pork chops taste? inquiring minds want to know. hehehe.
[la petite camille | 170 el camino real, millbrae, ca]
summer solstice
summer officially starts tonight, at 11:46 pm. yay. summer's gonna last 93 days, according to the weatherman on tv.
also, it's the inferno II's season finale and i am happy that the good guys won over the bad-asses. sheesh, here's me being a juvie once more. damn. mtv shows are addicting. hehehe. and don't get me started on laguna beach (the real orange county! hah!).
it has been a long day. i was up as early as 5 a.m. my flight was 7ish and i had to be at the airport at least an hour and a half before the flight. went straight to the office. gee, that was one tiring weekend. i also had to finish a couple of stories. i so need a break. seriously.
i'm happy i had time to consume all the peet's coffee i could. i like their coffee concoctions. well, coffee bean's still better. i'm just saying that peet's is the one to beat in san francisco.
view from the hotel's restaurant at the lobby. planes take off and land at sfo, amidst the blue skies and the pacific ocean.
piolo from 300 feet away. wowowee host willie revillame couldn't make it because of his wife's delicate pregnancy. ok. so piolo and martin pinch-hit for them. marvin agustina nd janelle jamer were actually good hosts. i just wish they did not go into using toilet humor. i did not find it funny at all.
Monday, June 20, 2005
catching up, really
one nice thing about this latest trip of mine to san francisco was the chance i got to catch up with an old friend (a really old friend, pun intended. hahaha. joke!) of mine. he's turning a year older (and wiser) this wednesday. happy birthday, freddie!
the last time we saw each other was almost six months ago, at keena's wedding.
we had dinner in downtown san francisco, in an italian restaurant/café called segafredo. i dunno if this segafredo's the same with the segafredo in greenbelt 4. i had carbonara and he had fettucine. yumyum. (except for the almost one teaspoon of, i presume olive, oil i drained from my spaghetti. the garlic bread was cruncy and tasty while the bruschetta were quite delicious as well.
what to do after dinner? well, coffee but of course. i was in the mood for some peet's so we scoured a few blocks of downtown sf, reaching as far as the sony metreon. it was quite a long walk and i was beginning to convince myself that there was no peet's around. we passed by a starbucks and i did not even bother to look. (the anti-starbucks in me reared its ugly head.)
twenty blocks later (okay, i am exaggerating), i started hearing mother nature's faint calls (number one, not two). rush, rush, rush but we could not find a bar/resto/coffee shop that was open. i was left with a last recourse.
yes, thank you starbucks for saving me from a future kidney operation (and the possible embarrassment of peeing in my pants). and can you believe this? after ordering my venti white chocolate mocha, i asked the barista their store hours. 'we're open 24 hours,' she said.
wow. a haven for caffeine junkies such as me. heard there's also one in the valley. thanks.
[speaking of catching up, a friend spilled to me a few minutes ago the news that he just got married. yesterday. wow. congrats and best wishes!]
[segafredo zanetti | 235 powell st (between geary and o'farrell) | san francisco]
Sunday, June 19, 2005
fiesta filipina
it has been crazy since yesterday.
i left my office with a friend a little past 4 pm to san diego to catch the 9th leg of the 'return of the champions' concert. yes, the one i missed last june 11 because i covered the independence day ball at the sheraton.
traffic on the 5 was kinda bad. we reached the san diego civic theatre a little past 7. strangely, the concert started right on the dot, at 8 pm. and it ended exactly three hours later. it was a good concert over-all. (details soon.)
the seven champions belted their way to the audience's hearts.
traffic was a breeze on the way home, except for the five miles near artesia, close to the 605, where they closed 2 out of the 3 lanes. bottomline, i got home around 2:00 in the morning.
that left me with three hours: to watch my soaps, to pack my stuff for my sf trip and to catch an hour of sleep. i tried. the super shuttle guy in charge of the reservations said that my shuttle will pick me up between 5:40 to 5:55 (that's what he said). so i set my alarm - 5:20, 20 minutes to take a shower and prepare.
but that was not gonna happen. i woke up 5:15 and lingered for a bit. at 5:20, i heard someone buzzing from the gate. i went down to see the shuttle guy there, waiting. i told him to give me five minutes. 5 minutes to get prepared. i don't know how i did it but apparently i did. with a massive headache as a bonus.
san francisco international airport, a really nice, nice airport.
plane touched down around 9ish and i called my michael, my co-worker. he was buying stuff and he was on his way to the civic center. minutes later, they arrived at athe airport and picked me up.
this was taken on saturday, the sunday crowd was more than three times bigger, thanks to wowowee
okay, so this one was taken on sunday. it was, well, very crowded.
went to our booth and stayed there the whole day. sometimes, i went around to see other folks' booths. i found some interesting ones, including this:
and this one, which sells 'bamboo plant.' bamboo? plant?
when i got hungry, i went around and looked for food. there was a lot of restos with food booths, but almost all of them were selling the same thing: pancit (either malabon or bihon) and barbeque (chicken or pork) for $6 or $7, depending on the resto. i've heard so much about kadok's, so i went there.
sige, paramihan ng mali. hehehe.
then, i strolled around and found this:
cassava padding, anyone?
Friday, June 17, 2005
say it ain't so
"Yes, I proposed to her. ... It was early this morning at the Eiffel Tower, so I haven't slept at all," said Cruise. "Today is a magnificent day for me, I'm engaged to a magnificent woman," he added. Asked why he chose the famed Paris landmark, Cruise answered: "I've never been to the Eiffel Tower. It's Paris, it's a beautiful city, it's very romantic."
Okay, so TomKat is official. I think this is how they define whirlwind romance. It's been what, two months? Hollywood people today woke up with this news being played on the radio and tv shows endlessly.
Breaking news, it is.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
tagged!
my friend of almost two decades may8 IMd me the other day and told me that i was tagged. [can you believe it? close to two decades -- that's 20 freakin years. my goodness.] so i went to to her blog to find out why she tagged me, and what she tagged me for.
What are the things you enjoy, even when no one around you wants to go out and play? What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it in your journal, and then tag 5 friends and ask them to post it in theirs.
Okay, let me think first. Here goes:
- when no one around me wants to go out and play...
read my books (or re-read them)
sound trip (and rip all my remaining CDs so that i can put 'em all in my iPod)
watch DVDs (i have unopened DVDs and some that i have not watched yet)
organize my closet (i admit, i tend to be scatter-brained at times; i need to have some sense of organization in my life)
cook some of my comfort food (i.e. dishes my mom used to cook for me; dishes that i terribly miss; and dishes that remind me of people, events or memories)
clean my room (i hang on to stuff more than i should and my apartment has become a virtual museum of what i have collected ever since the world began)
walk
- what lowers my stress/blood pressure/anxiety level
music, food, travel, sleep
and i need to tag five people: abe, ed, albert, resty, paul. go!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
when lost is found
those, ladies and gentlemen, are my house keys. yes, the same house keys i declared missing (lost?) more than a month ago. i was right after all. it was in the innermost recesses of my messenger bag.
here's the thing. i finally decided to retire my old and trusted banana republic messenger bag (the one with plenty of pockets) in favor of a newer one -- a gift from my dear cousin from hongkong when i visited him there last march. it's a giorgio armani original, so who am i to say no? i've got to say sorry to the old br bag. thanks for the memories, but yes, i am so moving on!
so i was in the process of transferring all of its contents to the new one. last night, i decided to finish this task. i put my hand inside one of its bigger pockets. lo and behold, i fished out my missing house keys from the old bag. it was there all along. damn. (and there was a bonus: a pack of new listerine breath pads. hah!)
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
what's fate got to do with it?
a lot i guess.
when fate plays a joke, on me, specifically, i don't usually find it funny.
just when i thought i'm in a situation i think i want, i get a call from someone from a phase i was desperately trying to forget. the timing is impeccable, i can't help but wonder why. had it been three weeks ago, i would have gone all high school ga-ga over it. but not now. not now.
no calls on my last birthday. nothing last christmas nor new year. no calls on the 23rd.
but today more than compensated that. 3, 4...5 times. yet, the most pointed question's not answered. why?
i'm in a happy place. don't rock the boat. please.
Monday, June 13, 2005
back from nyc
okay, so i am back. it's monday and the weather is fine. i've got too much to blog about, so hang on.
first up: i wonder how i can remain awake the whole day. i felt i was all sleep-deprived yesterday that i spent almost the entire day sleeping. anyway, my friends picked me up for dinner and coffee -- the only time i got out of the house. got back home around 10:30 and watched some more tv. 11:30 passed, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30. no shuteye. 3:30. lord, please make me sleep. 3:58. those were the last figures i saw on my alarm clock.
surprisingly, i woke up around 8:30. wow. something's going on. i can't seem to pinpoint it.
okay, so i am rewinding now.
5.6
i was rudely awakened by a mild earthquake today at around 8:30ish. apparently, the epicenter was a town called anza, which news reports say, is about 20 miles south of palm springs. i've grown quite accustomed to earthquakes, having lived in california for almost seven years now.
sometimes, it makes you just go and wonder as to whether this is already 'the big one.' like yesterday, i was jolted by the quake, but i was sort of waiting for a bigger jolt for me to do something. i was just there, lying on my bed, waiting. thank god, there wasn't anything stronger.
overheard
i'm not one who's into gossip- and rumor-mongering but i couldn't help but share two of unrelated overheard conversations.
okay, first one:
lady a: huy, narinig mo na ba? nakita ni (name of friend) sa island (island pacific, a filipino supermarket/grocery on melrose and vermont, near my apartment) si pampi (lacson; jodi santamaria's husband; sen. ping lacson's son). nagkakaha. (manning the cash register)
lady b: o weno ngayon? sa kanila naman yun. (so what, they own the grocery anyway)
lady a: talaga?
me, moving on to the second one.
boy a: part-owner pala si antoinette taus ng davao tuna grill? (a tuna resto in glendale)
boy b: talaga? hindi ko alam.
boy a: oo, kasi nakita siya ng friend ko dun. nag we-waitress. tapos tinanong siya ng friend ko. sabi niya sa friend ko, part-owner siya.
me, moving on to better things in life. like blogging about overheard conversations.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
pinoy power
wow. there were three major filipino events in los angeles last night and every single one was packed. i decided to go to two of those major events and never have i seen such a huge group of pinoys under one roof.
first off: the philippine independence day ball at the sheraton universal. the guest speakers were senator manny villar and his wife, rep. cynthia villar. the consulate people told us earlier that according to protocol, the couple must not be called. sen. and mrs. manny villar, since the wife also holds an elected position in the government. hence: sen. manny villar and rep. cynthia villar.
how do you spell 'philippines'? ask the sheraton people. they sure know how.
the entire international ballroom was transformed into a small pinoy-town with lots of filipiniana-attired women and barong tagalog clad-men. i wore my green barong tagalog. yes, green. hehehe. a colleague complimented it. 'ang unique naman ang barong mo. nag-iisa.' just exactly what i wanted. not the compliment. but the uniqueness of it.
next: the sharon cuneta concert at the shrine auditorium. various hollywood events such as the oscar's and the emmy's used to be staged here. and i was surprised (and so was sharon herself, apparently) that sharon was able to fill the shrine up to the rafters. seriously, tons of pinoys flocked to the mega concert, the last stop of her us concert tour. and this made sharon cry like a baby. caught only the last half of the show. it was good, her sharonians made the show fun to watch. they're fiercely loyal.
heads, heads, heads...thousands of people at the shrine
which brings me to the third major event in hell-ey: the return of the champions at the grand olympic auditorium, the usual place where pinoy concerts are held. i could not possibly try to tri-locate so i asked my friend who attended to tel me what went on. apparently, the auditorium was also filled to the rafters with young, screaming fans.
this is a surprise. and it is good. at least, no producer got burned even if they put two strong concerts (plus a philippine consulate-sponsored ball) on a head-to-head-to-head collision.
no losers this time, all winners.
107
happy 107th philippine independence day!
so much in store today, like the independence day mass at the cathedral (our lady of the angels) where cardinal roger mahoney and the first filipino bishop in the us of a, bishop oscar solis.
then there's a filipino festival (sort of) at the fletcher-bowron square near city hall.
now, if only i can drag myself to go out and celebrate.
Friday, June 10, 2005
seeing stars on broadway
what's a new york trip without catching up on my broadway shows, right?
three nights, but i only got to watch two this time. and no, i did not get to see monty python's spamalot (starring david hyde pierce and tim curry) nor christina applegate's 'sweet charity'.
i was able to catch 'hairspray' starring marissa winokur (who is back to reprise her role, only for four weeks) and bruce villanch. on friday night, we watched 'la cage aux folles,' the musical where robin williams' 'the birdcage' was based on.
while on my way home after watching hairspray at the neil simon theatre on 52nd street, i started to walk back to times square. five blocks down on 47th street, i saw group of people waiting outside the barrymore theatre. curious, i looked on and lingered. first up, i saw sarah paulson, the girl on the wb's now-defunct jack and jill. then they came out.
[i was chatting on the fone with a friend when i saw them come out. i ditched my fone pal and took crappy photos. damn, there wasn't enough light.]
jessica lange, two-time academy award winner
christian slater, he of untamed heart, mobsters and bed of roses.
stars on broadway are dime a dozen this season. denzel washington is doing julius caesar. ethan hawke and company are in hurly-burly. billy crystal in 700 sundays. liev schreiber and alan alda in glengarry glen ross. delta burke and rebecca gayheart, among others in the steel magnolias. natasha richardson and john c. reilly in a streetcar named desire. kathleen turner in who's afraid of virginia woolf? billy crudup and james goldblum in the pillowman.
and guess who'll be back? nathan lane and matthew broderick in neil simon's 'the odd couple' (coming this fall, i think).
new york, new york
the ritz-carlton battery park in lower manhattan: my home for three nights. plush, posh, luxurious. at more than 700 dollars a night, it better be.
st. paul's chapel on broadway and fulton, still in lower manhattan: manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use. George Washington attended a thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Chapel after his inauguration as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789.
musicians at the 42nd street - grand central station stop
times square: nypd police cars everywhere
hairspray: marissa jaret winokur's homecoming. marissa is pam anderson's co-star in the fox sitcom 'stacked' and was hairspray's lead actress before. she won the tony two years ago for her role as tracy turnblad.
the view from the top, not really. taken from the broadway lounge, a bar located at the 8th floor of the marriott marquis.
[all photos taken by me, using my sony ericsson s700i camera phone. hehehe]
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
off to new york city
in less than a couple of hours, i'd be on my way to the long beach airport to catch an early morning flight to the big apple. i am flying jet blue. yeah, baby. hurrah for the blue chips. yes, edible blue chips + individual leather seats + direcTV on every seat + quality service. this is the third time i'm flying jet blue and boy, do i love them.
i think i'm gonna be asleep during the entire duration of the flight. i haven't slept, it's past 2:00 am and i do not feel sleepy. blame the large cup o' white chocolate latté i had a few hours ago.
the coldplay concert on mtv just ended. they did 'clocks.' i'm happy.
x and y
for the past few days, i've been drowning myself in coldplay's music, specifically their just-released third album called 'x and y.'
right now (1:15 am, wednesday), i am watching their mtv concert (taped in new york) promoting this new album. from the album, i've already picked my favorites: low, speed of sound, square one, swallowed in the sea...heck, why not the entire album!
prior to this concert, they showed 'ask coldplay,' where other artists asked coldplay questions. anyway, i caught a part where chris martin said something like 'this album is an exercise in plagiarism.' listen to some of the songs and you'll see what he means.
Monday, June 06, 2005
untitled
first, a photo together with jasmine in my friendster account. now this. hah. what's going on?
jasmine @ six flags magic mountain
jasmine signing autographs for her fans after
her magic mountain performance
yes, she was just as excited
wide-eyed jasmine: i'm not chinese
monty python
it's the biggest winner this theater season, this monty python's spamalot. it won the coveted 'best musical' at the recently-concluded (it ended less than an hour ago, here in the west coast) tony awards.
hugh jackman returned this year to host the show (his third consecutive). he looks fine. he sang (and danced!) again. i suddenly remembered my hugh jackman moment that happened 2 years ago in new york. i'll try to search my files and look for the pictures i took of him after we watched boy from oz (where he was the lead star). for 2 consecutive nights, i was outside the theatre. (i had bad photos during the first night, so i returned the next night to get his autograph, and better pictures.
i am off to new york city this week (yes, work-related) and i hope i could catch a couple of broadway shows. i'd be happy if i'm able to see at least one of these must-see shows: monty python's spamalot, the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee (hah! spelling bee again) or sweet charity (christina applegate's in it).
when the guy from spelling bee won the featured actor in a musical award, i swear i saw someone who was in barong tagalog in a crowd shot cheering him on. and on the musical's number, i noticed jose llana was in the cast. i interviewed jose in new york three (or 4) years ago when he was still doing 'flower drum song' with lea salonga on broadway.
humor me
worth posting.
at last night's fil-am funfest show at the magic mountain, there was this filipina singer from the philippines named tootsie guevarra. she sang a couple of songs, the first one's an ogie alcasid composition (i forgot the title) and the second one was her own. well, not necessarily.
tootsie guevarra: i would like to dedicate my next song to the original singer of this hit song. the LATE tenten muñoz.
my friend nudged me, shocked and all: patay na si tenten muñoz?
me (pretending that i did not hear him): ahmmm.
my friend, unsatisfied with my response: huy, patay na si tenten?
(tenten muñoz died years ago. i dunno when. maybe ten years ago.)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
nadal who?
the 2005 french open came and went by without too much fanfare. i wanted to catch the finals between kitchie rafael nadal of spain and mariano puerta of argentina.
nadal is the new king of clay. he beat top-seed roger federer two days after he turned 19.
now, he is the youngest men's grand slam champion since michael chang won the french open at 17 in 1989.
on the women's side. justin henin-hardenne beat mary pierce. no us players emerged at the semis and quarters and finals of the french open this year.
the wimbledon will be in two weeks.
return to magic mountain
i had a slightly busy day today. a few hours after arriving from san francisco, my friends and i trooped to magic mountain for the fil-am funfest event that featured jasmine trias in a "concert" (quotes mine).
we got in around 4ish in the afternoon and we just strolled around and tried some rides. the line for deja vu and extreme were just scandalous. two hours. no way i'd waste my two hours for a two-minute something ride.
so we got in the greek theatre-like auditorium where a couple of upcoming fil-am singers were doing their groove thang.
after what seemed like eternity, jasmine came onstage. she sang around 6 songs and jammed with the audience. she even did the ocho ocho. twice. she loved the audience so much she (almost) did everything they asked her to do. she acknowledged her "street team" and her loyal fans (and she had a lot of 'em). she signed autographs after the show. since we had nothing else to do, we sorta lined up to have out autographed pics. hehehe.
i credit her for treating her fans well. i hope she's not doing this just so the fans would go out on july 12 to buy her cd at best buy. oh well. she sang songs from this album and based on what i heard, i think it's gonna be a good album. i hope. her 'sexy boy' is kinda r and b, and sounded a bit like ashanti. her pipes were okay, no more of those raspy and tired vocals i used to hear from her during the competition. she also danced! she shook her booty!
her performance during this show was -- dare i say it? -- very good. in fact, even better (way better!) than her "performance" during her first solo concert here in los angeles last year. i hope she keeps it up. go girl!
Saturday, June 04, 2005
ako ay pilipino
my co-workers and i (with another co-worker who was based in northern cali) checked in at the marriott courtyard in san bruno last thursday. there were two people at the front desk and one of us was talking with one of them.
then, i asked our co-worker who was based up there something in tagalog. the lady, her name tag says wilhelmina, looked up and said, "pilipino?"
we smiled, and said, "opo."
no offense done, no offense taken.
then she digs further. "akala ko kasi samoan..."
okay fine. samoan it is.
we smiled. and she goes, "uy, bawal ang mag pa party sa room ha? baka mapaalis kayo."
and we were like. wtf!
"hindi naman sa sinasabi ko na mag pa party kayo, pero bawal kasi ang mag party sa mga rooms eh. papaalisin talaga kayo."
we were a group of late-20s to late-30s and we did not look like your typical party-goers and we were surprised why she had to say that.
Friday, June 03, 2005
appoggiatura
that is the final word in this year's speeling bee competition covered live by the dork network espn (really now!). i am a big fan of spelling bee competitions and i was surprised to find out a couple of years ago that espn indeed covers the national spelling bee contest.
this is the reason why i bought the spellbound dvd, a nicely-done documentary that followed the lives of former contestants who were competing in the 1999 spelling bee championship. the film was nominated for best documentary in the 2003 oscar's.
anyway, an indian-american kid eight-grader won this year's contest. he won $30,000 in cash, scholarship and books. not bad.
there's a reason why i am into spelling bee stuff. ahem. when i was a kid, i used to join similar competitions and i always represented my school in the district, then in the zonals, then in the division, then in the regionals. i never made it to the nationals though. sayang.
i am a bitter loser and in one of those hotly-contested competitions, i felt so bad losing because i missed a very, very simple word. "the word," the pronunciation-defective host said, "is (and this is how she pronounced the word) va-yas. va-yas."
one f-in word and i missed being sent to the regionals that year.
i wrote. v-i-a-s. va-yas.
i dunno why some of my fellow competitors got it. she clearly mispronounced the word. but then, how could i protest when some participants got it right?
oh well. the word? it was bias. b-i-a-s. bias.
*Leaning note; grace note; note of embellishment usually one step above (sometimes, though seldom, it is one step below) the main note. Before an even or unaltered note, the appoggiatura generally receives its face value, that is one-half the value of the note that follows; before a dotted note it receives more than its face value, that is to say that it should be given two-thirds of the value of the following note. If the note is of the same pitch as the principal note of the appoggiatura, the grace note receives the entire value of its principal note, but is carried to the next note with strong portamento.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
off to san francisco
i'm flying to san francisco this afternoon for a much needed vacation something work-related.
it's been more than a year since i visited the city by the bay and i am kinda excited. babaw!
better
nothing feels better than having two fighting close friends reconcile.
for months now, two of my friends have become sworn enemies that no amount of intervention could save their relationship. finally, this week, they decided to bury the hatchet (not on each other's backs).
at least, all's well so far. thank you guys, for looking beyond the pain you've caused each other while you were enemies not friends.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
flavors of the philippines, part deux
LOS ANGELES — Consul General Marciano Paynor, Jr. and Deputy Consul Hellen Barber officially opened “Flavors of the Philippines, Part 2,” a gastronomic feast of Filipino cuisine at the New Otani Hotel in downtown Los Angeles with a simple ribbon-cutting ceremonies Wednesday.
“Flavors of the Philippines’ is yet another tribute to the sumptuous flavors that are distinctively Filipino,” ConGen Paynor said, adding, “We are doing this as a follow up to the highly successful ‘Flavors of the Philippines’ last year.”
The hotel’s Azalea Restaurant was adorned once more with posters of top Philippine tourist destinations to entice hotel guests and visitors to try the best that top Filipino chefs have to offer.
This year, the consulate tied up with Mama Sita’s (and Lola Sita’s) brand, the famous company that makes distinctively Filipino sauces and mixes. The partnership with Mama Sita’s was made possible with a big help from Chef Cecilia de Castro, a well-known chef respected in the professional food community and considered as California's foremost exponent of Philippine cuisine.
The partnership developed a special menu to highlight the finest tropical culinary traditions of the Philippines.
Because of the very good turn-out last year, this year’s ‘Flavors of the Philippines’ will be ongoing for the whole month of June. This means that food-lovers will have an eclectic mix of Filipino favorites — from soup and salad to dessert — on the restaurant’s buffet table for a month-long celebration of Filipino cuisine.
‘Soup of the Day’ varies depending on the day of your visit to The Azalea. On Monday, it’s ‘Sinigang na Salmon at Sugpo’ (Salmon and Prawns in Mama Sita’s Tamarind Sour Soup); Tuesday has ‘Sinigang na Bayabas (Prawns in Mama Sita’s Guava Soup) while Wednesday offers ‘Tinolang Manok’ (Chicken in Ginger Soup). They have ‘Ginisang Munggo’ (Sauteed Mung Bean Soup) on Thursday and New England Clam Chowder every Friday.
Mix the soup with the home-made cold salads; from Ensaladang Suha (a refreshing combination of sweet grapefruit and radish with mustard and Mama Sita’s Coconut Nectar Vinegar), to Mango and Cucumber Salad to to Ensaladang Talong (roasted eggplant with Mama Sita’s Coconut Nectar Vinegar and olive oil).
There’s also Ensaladang Gulay (garden salad served with a choice of dressing), Ensaladang Bagnet (crunchy pork crackling with tomato and anchovy sauce) and Fresh Tomato, Salted Duck Eggs & Onions.
For the hot entrées, the restaurant’s chefs led by David Botelho, New Otani’s Executive Chef, prepared delectable viands.
There’s a huge selection of grilled Lola Sita’s Meats (chicken, pork (tocino), beef tapa and longganisa); Maya-Maya Manilena (pan-fried red snapper with lemon butter and topped with fried bananas and Manok sa Gata (braised local chicken with lemon grass, garlic and coconut cream).
There’s also ‘Adobong Spareribs’ (crispy spareribs with soy and vinegar), and ‘Kalderetang Baka’ (beef stewed in red wine and tomato) and people with varied interests will surely find a dish that they would surely love.
What’s a Filipino meal without the delectable dessert? Here, you can make your own Halo Halo, a mélange of sweetened fruits. For cakes, there are a couple to choose from: mango cake and coconut cake.
Come hungry to The Azalea and enjoy the ‘Flavors of the Philippines.’
(‘Flavors of the Philippines’ will be at the center stage of Azalea Restaurant at the New Otani Hotel during lunch hours from June 1 to 30, 2004. Lunch buffet is $12.95 per person (children from 4 to 10 years old pay $7.50). The New Otani Hotel and Garden is located at 120 S. Los Angeles St. in downtown Los Angeles.)
Monday, May 30, 2005
thank you girl
A year later China hosted Miss World, its first international beauty contest.
"Though they started slowly, they implemented this because they wanted more people to learn about China," said the current Miss China, 21 year old Siyuan Tao.
A host of promotionally-driven pageants have subsequently been held, including Miss Ugly, Miss Plastic Surgery -- even beauty pageants for the elderly.
This was from an article I found on Yahoo!News today while i was doing my browsing. Nothing much happened today, except the fact that I have finished my laundry. All of them. I'm happy now.
Miss Ugly? Miss Plastic Surgery? What has this world turned into?
Anyway, the pageant (I meant Miss Universe) is set to air in the west coast at 9:00 pm (that would be in an hour) but I already know the results, thanks to some of my friends from the east coast who always, always do this to me. Whether it is AI or Miss U (not that I care), they always get to know the results first.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
there goes my new ipod
there's a big huge reason why i should never, ever go to a casino.
in my more than six years of visiting different casinos all over [from vegas to reno to nawlins] the u.s., never have i left a single casino with a smile plastered on my face. this weekend was no exception.
a good friend of mine floated the idea of a quick drive to vegas, since it was the long weekend anyway. okay, it's not that hard to convince me.
we picked up something from his work in walnut. somewhere, we decided to just go to pechanga. then, i suggested casino morongo, since i read somewhere that they just finished their multi-million dollar renovation. and it's less than 20 miles away from palm springs. so that's where we went.
we arrived around six. i psyched myself that at most, i was willing to part with one benjamin franklin (a hundred bucks), no more, no less. shortly after seven piyem, the benjamin that has been lingering in my wallet for four weeks now, was gone. sigh.
so i went to the atm machine. this casino has (i think) more than a hundred atm machines strategically located all over the casino floor. how convenient. and despite the prohibitive cost that each machine charges for every transaction ($4 per transaction, aside from the charges that your own bank will deduct from your account, for not being loyal using other atm machines), there was a long line of people withdrawing money from these machines. i was one of them.
i withdrew a hundred bucks. the receipt reflected that i got 104. whew. the price of a tall white chocolate latte at coffee bean. mahal. but what can i do? i wanted to win. (who didn't).
by 8 piyem, i was down to zero one more time. oh no. i was losing one hundred bucks per hour. god forbid if we stayed for six hours. i was, of course, not gonna let that happen.
for the second, and last time, i braved the line to the atm machines. i withdrew another hundred bucks. win or lose, this is it. i know my limit. hehehe. i think.
i did not play the slots. i did not play pai gow. i stuck with the good old black jack. obviously, not a good idea. we went back to hell-ey hundreds of dollars poorer. i've been wanting to upgrade my ipod and get the newer ones, but i guess that would have to wait now. as the budget that i was supposed to use for this project has been donated to casino morongo.
Friday, May 27, 2005
holiday mode
it's friday and people are already in holiday mode. monday's memorial day, so people are already preparing for the long weekend ahead. see what an extra day makes. it's like a weekend plus one but people don't seem to see it as such.
i think i'm just gonna stay home for the long weekend. two years ago, my friends and i drove to san francisco and reno, nevada. last year, we went to arizona -- visited grand canyon, phoenix, sedona, scottsdale, and all other cities in between, including palm springs.
i need to have a project. like fix my room. or something. i can catch up on my readings. or my dvd viewing. or i can finally watch lost.
happy memorial day weekend everyone!
Thursday, May 26, 2005
one-two punch
that's what i felt last night, after watching the mind-numbing season finale of alias.
i screamed at my tv set as soon as the 'bad robot' thingie appeared. which just means that i'll have tow ait until the fall to find out what happened.
the one-two punch? syd and vaughn were on their way to santa barbara and they were talking about the possibility of just eloping. yada yada yada. nice music in the background. lots of 'i love yous' being exhanged.
in the spirit of truthfulness, vaughn says, "for starters, my name is not michael vaughn." wtf. then syd's reaction shot. then boom. a car/truck hits them. bad robot. omg.
my head literally ached and i kept on thinking everything michael vaugh said and did in the past four seasons and i'm at a loss. if he is not michael vaughn, then who is he? arrrgh. only true-blooded couch potatoes would have the same problem. can't wait till the fall.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
what happened tom?
because i was too sleepy last monday night, i was not able to watch tom cruise's guesting on oprah. so i taped it.
last night, because i was wide awake at 2:00 a.m., i popped the tape and watched what most of the people on the blogosphere have been talking about. i am a big tom cruise fan (and that is an understatement) but his appearance on oprah was scary. borderline crazy.
i dunno what he was on (jimmy kimmel suggested last night it was steroids) during the guesting but holy mother of god, stay away from it, mr. cruise. you're gonna lose all your fans if you keep on doing this. not good.
and also, what's with the hollywood media not believing about tom's love for katie holmes? the boston globe came out with a story, 'Sure, They're in Love...With Publicity.' ouch. even calcutta's the telegraph has something to say about this new romance.
mahal ka o mahal mo?
from out of nowhere, my friend blurted this question to me. we just finished our coffee (i didn't like the way it was prepared today. it was way too strong for me. hence, i am still wide awake at 2:00 am) and we were just walking when the question was verbalized.
not wanting to overanalyze, i told my friend that it has been awhile since that question was asked. or it has been awhile since someone asked my take on a similar question.
'mahal ko,' i quipped.
it was not the response that he expected. this is the part where it gets tricky. do you answer based on what your friend wants to hear or based on what you really feel deep down inside? sometimes, rules must be bent in order to make a friend feel better. this time, i did not feel the need so i went for what i felt deep down inside.
upon closer analysis, why is it not possible that 'mahal mo' can be equal to 'mahal ka?' well, it is possible but it does not happen everyday.
'lahat kasi ng mahal ko, hindi ako mahal. eh di dun na lang ako sa mahal ako,' replied my friend quickly. i had no idea if my friend was trying to convince me or if he was trying to convince himself.
for a moment, i was quite stumped. how many people in this world feel that? there was a point in the not-so-distant past that i felt the exact same way.
is it selfish to just go for that someone who loves you, and hope (against hope, maybe?) that you will learn to love that someone back?
is it stupid to go for that someone you love, and hope (against hope as well?) that that someone will learn to love you back?
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
nine years
just like that. may 23, 2005 passed by like any other day. any other ordinary day. just like that.
i used to dread the date especially since the break-up a couple of years ago. i always wished that the day would move faster, so everyone could move on to may 24. not yesterday.
thought about the former significant other and where we could have gone if things did not happen as they did. for what? i absolutely have no idea but this day of the year somehow brings that out from me.
may 23, 1996 seems very distant now, from where i see things. everything just seems to be memories from a distant past. memories that always seem to resurface every freaking year. on this freaking date.
Monday, May 23, 2005
hot, hot. hot
the weather has been unbearably hot the past few days. no wonder people (including myself) have been getting sick. my coughs and colds have not left me (i thought i was already okay last friday). damn.
and yes, i am still in my 'hide and seek' fever. i dunno for how long. officially, the song is now on top of my itunes' 25 most played, dislodging the killers' 'mr. brightside' which has occupied the position for about 8 weeks now. third on the list is green day's 'boulevard of broken dreams'. number 4 is ben jelen's 'come on' and fifth is south border's 'wherever you are.' hide and seek's rise to the top of my list is phenomenal. love, love, love imogen heap.
desperate housewives' season finale last night was 'just alright' in my book. not 'that good' or 'that awesome'. 'just alright'. i wish they somehow shared a few more snippets about mrs. betty applewhite, the new desperate housewife. rex van de kamp is dead. wrong move. they could have killed of gabby's husband first, then tom, or susan's ex-hubby. i officially hate the pharmacist now. i hope he's gonna get his comeuppance as early as next season's premiere.
since i was just home most of the time, i watched some of my dvds that have been sitting there. i loved 'maria full of grace' so much. it was a very good movie. the lead actress, catalina sandino moreno is rumored to be dating jake gyllenhaal now. oh well.
Friday, May 20, 2005
ice queen
michelle kwan acknowledges the guests who attended the opening of the east west ice palace in artesia
michelle, with east west bank president and ceo dominic ng and artesia mayor larry nelson
michelle receives flowers from two children
i swear that's michelle!
the ice queen tries hockey
hide and seek
that's the title of the song that the genius people behind the oc's production team used in key scenes during the show's season finale which was aired a few hours ago. i taped it since i had an event to cover. [i've been playing it non-stop on my itunes. sigh.]
as soon as i got back, i watched it. watching it brought me back to last year's season finale, where seth just took off, and left newport beach. it was a sad episode. very sad one. color me impressed. the dialogues between the characters were awesome, and the acting was great as well. the ending was very good, and the way imogen heap's song 'hide and seek' was used just rocked.
the church where caleb's funeral mass was held was the same church [wayfarer's chapel in rancho palos verdes] where my friend keena got married. it's a small, beautiful and picturesque (all glass) chapel overlooking the pacific ocean. one more trivia: the guy from garden grove, yes, the druggie is a pinoy. he's one of the basco brothers. he was the one with a gun.
emotional. heart-tugging. sad. see you in the fall, the oc.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
share-a-load
for years now, i have been given this task by my friends (different sets) as their sounding board. they tell me their problems, their secrets, their heartaches.
i'm okay with the set-up, but sometimes, the sounding board needs a sounding board too. you know where this is going huh? right. without naming names, i am sharing some of my friends' issues in life. i don't necessarily give out advice, sometimes they just want me to listen. [and take notes. hah!]
i had a long talk with a friend last night on the phone. he said he had good news and bad news to share. i asked for the bad news first. his mom's on a coma, after about a year of being diagnosed with cancer. sigh. i could feel the sadness and submission in his voice. 'tanggap ko na,' he told me. [translation: i've accepted it.] the good news? he was gonna meet one of his icons, greg louganis, at an event today.
one of my good friends had his brand new sports car vandalized. eggs were thrown at the car and deep scratches (and a huge dent) were found on the driver's side. this car is less than three weeks old.
one of my friends is planning to break-up with his significant other. i know at least three friends who have been - or tried to be, or still are - in an affair with someone married/deeply committed. one just plunged into a relationship with someone almost twice his age.
these stuff make each day pretty unique for me. sorry, no names. ever.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
carrie vs bo in next week's finale?
as an ai dork, that is my bold prediction. hehehe. it has been, even way before simon and his gang praised them left and right. i think vonzell is leaving tonight because (sue me, sue me!) i think there's no way that the ai title will be bagged by a black person for the third consecutive year. i am a fan of vonzell's too, but i think it would be better for all of us if bo or carrie won.
no country singer has won the competition. no rocker has won the competition. no white guy has won the competition. 2 ot of 3 says it's bo. how scientific.
i missed watching amazing race last night. it's like i had a tar (short for the amazing race) withdrawal syndrome. i loved watching ai and tar back to back every tuesdays. anyway, alias is on tonight. for two freaking hours. woohoo. 24 will have it's season finale next monday (another 2-hour thing). oc's finale will be this thursday, the same with the apprentice. sigh.
it's gonna be a long summer (of re-runs and crappy filler shows!).
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
thank you, blockbuster
while at blockbuster last weekend, i decided to sign-up for their unlimited monthly rental promo. it cost me $14.99 plus tax. for that amount, i could bring home two videos at a time. i can return them anytime i want and get another two to bring home. the first time i rented, i checked my receipt: each video cost $4.49 to rent. way too expensive. just three rentals and i'm good.
so every day since saturday, i've been renting two videos at a time and i have been able to somehow catch up with my viewing. if i like a movie, i finish it, and i even watch the bonus sections. if i don't, then i don't. heh. i can't force myself to watch something that i feel i dont like from the start. i have a-d-d. sometimes. and o-c-d too. just like chad michael murray. hah.
among the nice ones i've watched since the weekend: ocean's twelve (i liked it, except for the 'julia roberts' sub-plot.) and iron ladies (a thai movie that's really funny. i heard it's true-to-life. go thailand!). the rest? i'll try to remember.
up close and personal with michelle kwan
michelle kwan, five-time world champion and the most decorated female figure skater in u.s. history opened her own ice skating rink in the city of artesia, about a 45-minute drive from los angeles. it is called the 'east west ice arena,' after east west bank, whose spokesperson is, yes, michelle kwan.
i am not really an avid fan of figure skating (sure!) but i was quite awed to see michelle in person. as a treat to everyone who attended the event, michelle performed a routine [i think this is the same routine she performed in russia for this year's world championships where she placed 4th!] using josh groban's 'you raise me up.'
the performance was goosebump-inducing, as it was my first time ever to watch a figure skater perform live. i saw sasha cohen a couple of weeks ago but this was not match. well, sasha did not actually skate so i am quite biased.
after her performance, luc robitaille joined her in the rink and performed warm-up hockey. luc's a professional hockey player and quite a celeb in the los angeles sports scene. i first saw him in person four christmas seasons ago when he and keanu reeves lit the christmas tree at the 7th and fig [an establishment in downtown la].
on a more personal level... i have not been feeling well since this morning. my nose is stuffy and i have difficulty breathing. i am blaming the freaking weather for this . the weekend was suoer warm and when i woke up this morning, it was freezing cold. i hate getting sick.
[i'll post the pics soon.]
Saturday, May 14, 2005
food trip
mimi's cafe
2925 los feliz blvd., los angeles
&&
a couple of my friends picked me up earlier for lunch. quite tired with filipino food (in los angeles! who knew?), we wanted to try something different. we went to mimi's mimis cafe in los feliz, about a mile and a half away from where i live.
i wanted to get the chicken teriyaki bowl but i changed my mind when i saw that they were serving beef liver. grilled beef liver with grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms and crisp bacon [$9.79]. the order came with steamed rice (not in the mood for potatoes) and some vegetables (the works). i chose their soup of the day (cajun chicken gumbo) over their salads. their bread basket was delicious.
my friends ordered pasta: fettuccine with asiago cream and penne with chicken feta and pine nuts. nice names. apparently both did not taste good. of the fettuccine, my friend said it was lacking something, but he can't somehow place it. the penne? my friend who had it said that it was like eating 'sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes with a hint of penne'. indeed, there were tomatoes all over his plate.
my beef liver was okay. it was a bit dry though. it had two big slices of grilled liver. i finished only one.
coming back? probably not in a few months.
food trip
max's of manila restaurant
313 w. broadway, glendale, ca
&&&&
after work, my friends and i met up at max's in glendale. yes, the house that friend chicken built. we were looking forward to a sumptuous dinner.
okay, so we had the house specialty (whole fried chicken), beef steak, lechon kawali and chicken sisig. i tasted everything except for the fried chicken. my ex-roomie, malou [happy birthday malunggay!] celebrated her nth birthday today so she brought home-friend chicken wings and thighs. crispy and yummy. i felt that i already had my day's quota for chicken,
anyway, the chicken sisig was good. it was the first time i had it. it's not your usual sisig, and it's definitely not your usual chicken dish. nice. the beefsteak, or bistek, was a bit creamy. or at least its sauce was kinda creamy. what's the english word for malapot? that would be it. i preferred my bistek's sauce with just toyo and a hint of lemon, dayap or calamansi. the lechon kawali was good. everything was crunchy.
for dessert, we had buko pandan and i am telling you, this restaurant serves the best buko pandan anywhere. my trip to max's is not complete without me partaking of this delicious concoction. yum.
coming back? yes, probably in a couple of weeks. there was a time when we were here almost weekly. it's soul food, baby.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
missing
aside from the title being one of my favorite ebtg songs, it is also quite appropriate for me to use it today.
actually, this part deux of the 'locked out, part deux' entry. it would be weird if i wrote 'locked out, part deux, part deux,' right?
okay. so i had breakfast this morning at mickey d's. [i never eat breakfast. except the time when my home and my dear mom would prepare the best breakfasts in the world.] anyways, my roomie called around 7ish this morning, yes, while i was having breakfast. he was asking why i was calling him so late last night. so i told him that i got locked out.
i finally got home. i so wanted to sleep a couple of hours more but i needed to find out who got booted from ai last night. so i popped in the tape i asked roomie to tape. i had to go through a lot of gray stuff on the video (yeah, the same cable problems are back. i hate adelphia!). it always loses connection every tuesday and wednesday, right when we are watching amazing race and/or ai. of course i got bummed that fedorov was booted out and that carrie/vonzell were safe. it seemed jasmine's advice to vonzell [cry ophelia vonzelia!] so she can make it to the 'final three' worked. hah. my friends are mean.
then it hit me! when i realized that i did not have my house keys with me last night, i knew for sure that i left it on top of the coffee table. before i dragged my ass to my bedroom, i checked out the coffee table, removed everything on it, put it upside/down. my freaking keys are missing. how could i lose my house keys? how stupid can i get to lose them?
i called in sick. i was feeling bad.
locked out, part deux
the title says it all. [insert sad face]
it's the second time that happened to me within a four-week period (i think). the funny and strange thing (i dunno what else to call it. curse? maybe) is that the first time it happened to me, i attended east west players' annual gala-dinner at the universal city hilton. guess where i came from before i got home? coincidentally, from yet another east west players event: the world premiere of 'imelda: a new musical', which by the way rocked.
and you know what else is funny? the last time i got locked out, my roomie was watching the last full show of 'sin city' and his cell was on mute. naturally. this time. he was home early but he slept early and he put his cell on silent. sigh. how can you argue with a cell phone on silent? after about an hour of trying to call/texting/trying to call the landline [and a slew of other combinations], i finally gave up.
i swore to high heavens that i am never gonna forget my house keys. ever. again.
i should write a note for myself to remember this.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
yay!
last night was a great night for tv. amazing race season 7 wrapped up, and i am so glad that fame-whores rob and amber did not win. i developed this aversion to this couple way back in their survivor days, escalated during the all-star survivor and maxed out during the start of this season's amazing race. bottomline, i'm glad that uchenna and joyce won.
and on ai4, who would have thought that anthony would be able to outsing carrie. damn, that was good. i mentioned in earlier posts that i am happy about this season's final four, and that i am already prepared to accept the fact that a-fed could be leaving the show tonight. well, guess what? after their performances last night, i think it's either vonzell or carrie who's gonna get the boot. i wish.
i won't be able to watch the elimination show tonight because i will be watching the premiere of 'imelda: the musical' at the east west players in little tokyo. liza del mundo, the pinay nurse in last season's ER leads the cast as the former first lady. also, i'm gonna miss jennifer garner's [heard she's preggers] directorial debut on alias tonight. sigh. things that i miss because of my job. hah! not that i am complaining.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
'i want my old figure back'
sharon cuneta promoted her series of concerts in the us of a with a well-attended presscon at the radisson westside yesterday. she was accompanied by her hubby, sen. kiko pangilinan who looked younger in person. the presscon was free-wheeling and sharon got to talk about her weight issues.
"i've lost 14 pounds so far. 500 more to go."
"i want my old figure back."
she was very spontaneous and eloquent. she seemed sincere as well. i hope that her concert at the shrine auditorium this june 11 will be successful. (its head to head against the return of the champions, another filipino concert, this time at the grand olympic auditorium. then there's the philippine consulate-sponsored 'independence day ball'. i wish i could trilocate. hah!)
Thursday, May 05, 2005
corey, corey, corey
there goes one hour of my life that i'm not gonna be able to get back.
but first, the good news. thank god scott savol is out of the competition. he should have been out weeks ago, yes, before constantine, nadia and anwar. i wonder why he stayed this long in the competition. maybe, votefortheworst.com really affected the results.
the smoking gun exposé on scott did not even seem to have an effect on him. (strange, i was trying to link the vote for the 'worst' website and i could not go through. hmmm.)
the final four looks okay to me. i don't really mind who wins it because i like all four remaining contestants. but if i were to rank them, it would be bo, vonzell, anthony and carrie. but i think anthony will be gone next week. final two? bo and carrie. and the rocker's gonna bring home the bacon.
now to the investigative report that abc news presented last night on primetime live.
i think there's a grain of truth in what corey clarke is claiming (i.e., that paula abdul coached her, bought him clothes, gave him a cell phone...down to the allegation that they had sex) but the way it was presented felt as if it was a one-hour plug on corey's upcoming cd and book deal. aaack.
(abc brought in former contestants of AI 2 including jordan segundo, who, for crying out loud, did not even say a word. what a waste of time.)
i pity paula. i pity corey clarke. i pity his parents. i pity his friends. i pity myself for watching this piece of crap.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
food trip
The Original Thai BBQ Restaurant
18818 Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana
&&&&
had a sumptuous lunch at thai bbq [one of the many] in tarzana [along ventura blvd]. the deep-fried catfish was very delicious, crispy in the outside and a bit tender in the inside. i would have asked for fish sauce and lemon [patis at kalamansi] but the accompanying sweet and tangy orange-y sauce was perfect. yum yum. i used to order the deep-fried pompano before but after i've tasted their catfish, it will take me a while before i order pompano again.
on the side, i ordered a classic dish that i usually order when i am in a thai restaurant. sometimes i call it my comfort food. what's missing? a sunny side up and you have 'tapsilog' thai-style. thai bbq offers one of the tastiest garlic and pepper beef dishes in town. [sanamluang in hollywood is one of the other restos that have really yummy garlic/pepper dishes].
[deep-fried whole catfish at thai bbq in tarzana]
[garlic and pepper beef, also at thai bbq in tarzana]
Monday, May 02, 2005
asian pacific american heritage month
this morning, i covered the launching of the 'asian pacific american heritage month' at the chinese-american museum in downtown. mayor hahn was there, with some of this year's honorees.
among the awardees are two fil-am ladies -- maria quiban and liz masakayan.
because i am one lazy bastard, here's my actual report. [too lazy to blog]
Saturday, April 30, 2005
katedral
[this is a part of the series of photos i took at the cathedral of our lady of the angels. taken at the cathedral's conference center.]
[part of the altar, near the area where the choir is placed]
[view from the altar. this is probably how cardinal roger mahony sees the crowds everytime he celebrates mass here. we can only surmise.]
[Installed at the end of the south ambulatory of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the 17th Century, gilded, black walnut, Spanish Baroque retablo, the Spanish word for "retabl." A retablo is a shelf raised above the back of an altar to support ornaments, pictures, and statues from sacred history.]
[san lorenzo ruiz, second from left. third drape from the back. right side.]
Friday, April 29, 2005
wag na wag mong sasabihin
i was blog-hopping, as usual, when i came across this blog that totally killed one of my favorite songs, as the title implies.
it's by this girl named kitchie nadal. i like her music, and her simplicity.
you know you're famous when michael v already starts writing (and doing) spoofs about your songs. and in here, michael v did one funny job with 'wag na wag'.
hilarious!
rotfl*
it's been a long while since i came out of a movie theater with a huge smile on my lips. it's also been a long while since i laughed so hard while watching a movie to a point where i almost cried. i've heard a lot of good things about this movie but i did not think of those good things while i was watching it. i did not want my experience to be clouded by what i have heard so far.
bottomline: stephen chow is a master. kung fu hustle is the bomb!
[*geek-speak for rolling on the floor laughing]
[photo courtesy of sony]
Thursday, April 28, 2005
queen of asia
i am excited to see 'queen of asia' tomorrow at the vc filmfest [the los angeles asian pacific film festival]. this film is directed by a friend of mine [lito torres, a veteran of the vc filmfest] and it stars yet another friend, someone we fondly call 'ate vi' because her favorite actress is nora aunor. hah. she'll probably kill me for this.
[lito with 'queen of asia' star, vi]
lito told me that he as almost ten years worth of footage. this is the story: ate vi has been joining beauty pageants from all over the state for the past ten years. unfortunately, she's always the bridesmaid, never the bride. as in she always lands the 'first runner-up' award. this film will try to decipher and find the reasons why this keeps on happening.
there are other pinoy-written and -directed films in the mix and i am going to check 'em out this weekend.
trivial stuff
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
what's your deepest, darket secret?
i was doing my usual blog-hopping today when i came across this very interesting blog called PostSecret. the premise is very simple, readers are invited to send in and contirubute their secret.
Each secret can be a regret, hope, experience, unseen kindness, belief, fear, betrayal, desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.
i spent fifteen minutes going through all the postcards that have been sent, this one's one of my favorites.
in this day and age, there are still people who want the easy way. i am not passing judgment against the person who sent this one. it's just an observation that i think, maybe people think that because they're white, they get a free pass on anything they want to do.or maybe they could get away with something because of their skin color. or they get a 'special privilege' because of it.
as a friend of mine once said, filipinos outside the philippines will always be second-class citizens in their chosen countries. indeed, we can only feel like first-class citizens in our home countries. but why do thousands of people dream of leaving the philippines every single day? is it their dream to be second-class citizens somewhere else?
maybe. maybe not.
Monday, April 25, 2005
what's wrong with this picture?
[taken near the corner of vermont and sunset]
i came across this restaurant last weekend and i just had to stop.
who doesn't want a 'fresh cook'? i know, i do. i am a fan of anything 'fresh.'
googlism : momar
momar is equally smitten
momar is a manufacturer of products and services for industries which use chemical dust control
momar is the company
momar is a physics and math double
momar is a nonconducting
momar is the one that brought all of us the racing videos from each tour stop throughout the tour
momar is one of my friends and he is sooo smart
momar is often seen around on the french competitions
momar is rated at 175 kdu's
momar is our wealthy algerian benefactor
momar is to determine the space and time distribution of volcanic and tectonic
momar is similarly focused on the importance of quality
momar is teh winnar
momar is for example
momar is 47 jaar oud
momar is an apprentice; his opponent is a journeyman
momar is working away from home
momar is to determine
momar is in abydos and underneath the mound of sand and rocks
momar is a holiday must
momar is useful as
momar is wary of the film
if you want to try googlism, click here.
