while temperatures in the east continue to drop, the weather in southern california gets, well, uhmmm not so chilly.
the past weeks have been cold, and those past weeks were the last portions of fall. winter officially arrived today, and boy oh boy, the weather's just fine, fine, fine.
this one's from my neighbors at franklin avenue. i've been reading mike and maria's blog for the longest time and they have inspired me many times to change my blog's name to hyperion avenue. so much about creativity.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
winter wonderland
Sunday, December 18, 2005
first look
the mascots for the 2008 summer olympics in beijing made their first u.s. appearance last week at the conference on tourism that i attended.
snapping away... here's your first look.
fun times
just got home from a night of fun with some of my closest friends. first up was the christmas dinner we had at j's sister's house in torrance. his sister is in manila, and he was left house-sitting. what does a guy do? throw a dinner party. hehehe. we didn't trash the house, we were good, no make that great guests. some gifts were exchanged. i can't wait to open my loot.
it wasn't as wild as last year's when we invited our friends, and our friends' friends and our friends' friends' friends and later realized that it was the perfect recipe for disaster. looking back, i think what happened during those previous huge parties was inevitable. put together a group of ten people and chances are, some arguments would arise. how much moe if you put sixty or seventy people with various opinions and beliefs. some saw the world as black, others saw it as white. it was crazy.
tonight's dinner was stripped to the most basic. seven friends plus a couple of new ones - friends' friends - having dinner and drinks not-so-enjoying a b-movie from dear old manila. goodbyes (for now) were exchanged by midnight as we all trooped somewhere to get more booze. there, we saw some of the same old people, including the roomie, roomie's bff and one of my friend's ex-es. sometimes it's hard to have many friends. hehehe.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
las vegas pics
posters for the manny pacquiao vs. erik morales rematch were all over wynn resort-casino, including this one, with the casino in the background. moments after i snapped this picture, a surly guy in uniform approached me and told me nicely that i cannot take photos within the "casino floor". okay. fyn.
the right side of the bathroom, with the huge and deep tub. the left side has the toilet (with a separate door) and the small flat screen tv and another sink (his/hers?). 
my really comfortable bed. damn, i could actually live here for a year and you won't hear me complain. at all. 
dusk outside thehotel but i couldn't care less. in fact, i almost never left my room, except during the conference proper and when i watched avenue q.
like the bellagio, wynn has an indoor garden area, with nice, bright lights. Thursday, December 15, 2005
holy mary mother of god!
thank you almighty!
all the reasons why i love, love alias have been restored in tonight's episode. i happened to get home early after arriving from las vegas and after a nice dinner at zakuro in little tokyo with r and c. so when i got home, i still had time to spare to watch the penultimate episode of martha's the apprentice.
anyway. jj, my-good-friend, abrams delivered with a superb episode tonight that sorta tied up season 1's SD-6 stuff with prophet five stuff with the horizon. yeah, it's confusing. it's good to see vaughn back. and the montage-type of scenes he and syd shared before. the great thing about it was they seemed to re-shoot all those scenes from the previous seasons that are crucial to whatever intel they wanted to get from syd tonight.
i was already hyper-ventilating before the last gap so imagine my shock when the mysterious, blurry person earlier was revealed as irina derevko herself. and jack and elodie discovering an eerie nursery in hungary meant for syd and the baby. and syd out-smarting doctor zhivago by telling them the wrong name even if she were all under medication and hypnosis and what-have-you. and syd sticking a ginormous needle into peyton's black, black heart. and syd finding out, at the same time that all of us did, that she's in a middle of a moving ship in the middle of nof*ckingwhere. gee.
the worst thing about all these? new episodes will air starting february, something that alias producers decided to call 'the beginning of the end.' sigh.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
quickie in vegas
not that, you dirty little mongrel!
i am in las vegas to attend the 2005 governor's conference on tourism. there's like a thousand delegates and i am looking forward to meeting each and every single one of them. not. am doing a quickie post from one of the lounges.
i am kinda feeling anti-social these days. it's one of those days i have, when i don't feel like talking to anyone at all. sigh. i wonder what triggered this.
watched 'avenue q' last night. it cost me a hundred bucks but i am not complaining. i had a really great time. for the longest time, i wanted to find out how could this musical about puppets beat the tandem of glynda and elphaba in wicked. now i know why.
avenue q is a riot. the humor is irreverent. it's raunchy and raucous. it's so unlike every single musical that i have seen, broadway or off-broadway. it is edgy. it has a bite. it's different. and i like it. so much. so much that i forked out another 20 bucks for the soundtrack. something that i do not usually do. the musical has me hooked. given the chance, i would go ahead and watch it. over and over again.
i am staying at the fabulous wynn hotel resort and spa. is it a hotel? check. resort? check. spa? check. hence the hotel slash resort slash spa thingy. my room is fantabulous. i'll post pics as soon as i get back to la-la-land. it has a commanding view of the las vegas strip. it has a flat screen tv, a 30-inch one in the bedroom and a smaller one in the bathroom. and the bathroom. my goodness. sometimes i judge a hotel's quality based on its bathrooms. it has a huge tub. probably five more inches wider and it could very well be a whirlpool already. and this is separate from the shower, which by the way is also huge. it has a his/hers vanity. the toilet is located across the hall. with a separate door and lock. and a phone. damn. i could freaking live here.
steve wynn is a genius. he's been called the 'wlat disney of las vegas.' for a reason. he's the man behind mirage before it was sold to mgm. he's the brains behind the highly-successful bellagio. and now this. the 2.7 billion dollar worth wynn hotel resort spa. gee, i am gushing. and i don't usually gush. and i am sounding like a paid hack. which i am so not.
my words are not enough. for the pictures will tell a million more words! up next.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
s as in sam
my oc-ness got the better of me this time.
since my sked has been quite a mess, i have been quite remiss in the payment schedule of my bills, so when i finally organized my list a little over an hour ago, i noticed that my citibank bill is due on december 12. a monday. technically, it's already the 11th. so even if i used my bank's bill pay (which i usually use), my payment would be late. and i would be charged a late payment fee of $39. and my credit will be tattered. okay, exaggerating. but you get my point.
so i checked my bill and read all of the fine print. i have other options, hallelujah! i can go to their website and pay my bill from there. or i can pay through the phone and they can charge me $15 for that. i went to their website.
here's the irritating part. the freaking site cannot process my application to register (i need to register before i can pay) because it was asking for my "security password." now, i don't remember ever setting a security password for this account. but the freaking site says i did. obviously, i reached the maximum number of attempts to register. they had to shoo me away. but i can try after 24 hours. sigh.
so i got my cell phone and dialled their 1-800 number. an indian-sounding representative picked up my call (after me keying in my credit card number).
rep: zhenk yu for calling zitibank eh. zekyooritee password pliz?
me: i have a password?
rep: yes sir.
me: i don't remember ever setting a password.
rep: you have a security password.
me: really?
rep: yes. it starts with an s.
me: s?
rep: s. as in sam.
the s words as they paraded in my mind. shoot. shocks (ala sassy). shiyet. shit. shit. shit.
me: uhmm. i give up. i don't remember my password. is there any other way of verifying my identity?
rep: (pause. long pause) what's your address and home phone number?
me: i recite my address and home phone number
rep: okay sir, i will call you using your home phone number.
me: okay
line went dead. i waited for 15 minutes. blog fodder. i'll blog about this tomorrow. maybe i'll blog about this now. while i wait for the indian guy to call me.
i am freaking done blogging about it and indian guy hasn't called yet. i checked my watch. it's 4 am.
Friday, December 09, 2005
X3
i am done with my fixation with rent. on to the next one: X3. coming in 2006. but before that, i have my hands full with king kong, suriyana, narnia, munich, bee season, memoirs of a geisha, the producers, good night and good luck and munich. thanks, jared.Thursday, December 08, 2005
alias marathon
it turns out i missed only 2 episodes of alias. so catching up was a breeze.
i have no idea why they moved the show to wednesday. to get the 'lost' audience like last year? too late, i think. you have been cancelled. back to the drawing boards and show us what you have left!
what? sark? sark. he's back. and he hooks up with the almost-sydney. oh well. and sloane? bad-good-bad-good. i'm tired. make up your mind, old man. and next week. vaughn's back. me to self: how could he be back? he's dead! self to me: yeah, he's dead. but this is alias. me to self: oh yeah, i almost forgot.
so next week, vaughn (i don't know how, i don't know why) is back. whether this episode is one long f*cking dream sequence or not, we'll all find out next week. can't wait.
Monday, December 05, 2005
jet-lagged
with my jet lag in full effect, i decided to catch up on my viewing.
first up. a desperate housewives marathon. okay, one show down, four to go. alec mapa in one of the episodes? wow. way to go alec! bree van de camp's son andrew is eeeeeeeeeeevil. almost like george.
next? alias. grey's anatomy, reunion and the oc.
sounds like a plan.
christmas party
i was feeling kinda light-headed when i was awakened by my ringing cell phone.
okay, so it's christmas party/lunch! we were kinda early and i forgot to bring the box of chocolates that we were supposed to bring to manila but it was already an excess baggage so we left it. and i was supposed to bring it today since the prizes for some of the games would we those chocolates. oh well.
by the time we got back, there were plenty of people already. i heard they were expecting a little over a hundred people to attend. that would be us, the staff, some of the boss' relatives, and guests, guests, guests.
lani misalucha was there and sang 'o holy night' with the society of seven. it was awesome. biritan sa tanghalian! goodness.
after the whole she-bang -- games, gift-grabbing, the usual stuff -- it was time to say adieu. jojo and the gang from the san francisco office wanted to have coffee with us, since they knew we were off to the grove to watch rent. we bought our tickets first for the 835 pm screening and went to coffee bean to meet up. we were later joined by mase and christien. it was fun. sharing and swapping stories while sipping hot white chocolate dream latte. the weather was cold and breezy. perfect.
jojo and the gang decided to split around 7ish. went around the mall to kill time. right before we entered the cinema area, someone said, "momar?" i looked around to see who it was.
small world ana. it was marivi. with her bf. we exchanged pleasantries. she told me she'll drop by my office next week to pick up the cd you sent. she says hi!
okay, rent moment.
i found some scenes funny (without meaning to). i give them 10 for loyalty to the material but i was hoping to see more. it was alright, the cast was good, specially idina menzel (maureen) and rosario dawson (mimi). i was crying in some of the scenes. in fact, the same scenes that made me cry while watching the musical.
star-struck moments. saw rachel ray (food network) by crate and barrel. hehehe. food network fans. and the bonus. on our way up to the parking structures. saw the hulk. lol. eric bana. fine!
Sunday, December 04, 2005
still a saturday
what really weirds me out everytime i fly from manila to los angeles is the fact that i may already have a really long day in manila, and i may have slept the entire 12-hour flight, but by the time we land, it's like, well, it's like travelling back in time. anyhow.
so there i was, with my last-minute shopping and stuff. all set and ready to go.
off to the airport we went. same o, same o. my boss was in seat number 2 something. and moi? some 79 rows down. 81A to be exact. the lady in the counter seemed to have liked and me and gave me a seat in the exit row. which means more leg room. which means ic an stretch, stretch, stretch. note to self: request for an exit row seat next time i fly.
and i thought everything was fine. mr. 81B, yes my seatmate, was having a problem. he got his foot sprained in some basketball game. like i cared. in the course of the flight, he stretched his right foot up and placed it on top of the plane's emergency exit door, which was right in front of me. i gave him the dirtiest look i could muster. how dare he invade my personal space! and he did this quite a number of time.
as if this was not enough. mr. 82A kept on nudging and nudging and nudging my back. he would use his foot, his knees, his hands to push the seat in front of him. that was of course my seat and it was not funny.
the only thing that kept me sane was 82C. Hah.
and i'm gonna stop right there.
so J picked me up. i so wanted to watch rent but our some of our friends were in a birthday party and J told them we were gonna drop by. drop by we did, and spent a couple of hours. there goes rent. i still have tomorrow.
after what seemed like eternity, J brought me home. this was shortly after midnight. i unpacked some stuff. cleared my bed. tried to sleep. good god, i can't sleep. one sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep....four hundred six sheep. next thing i knew it was six in the morning.
and i was still awake.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros
i managed to crack a smile when i first read the title of this movie months ago. back then, all i knew was that the film has been scheduled to make the rounds at international filmfests. and it was directed by aureaus solito, a theater stalwart from the state university.
i missed probably the first five to ten minutes of the movie. bummer. no thanks to the slow-moving staff at tokyo tokyo.
the movie was simple and beautiful. no big-name stars. no dazzling special effects or computer animation. just a simple telling of a story about a young boy falling in love for the very first time. which happens to almost every single boy out there, right? except this boy was falling in love with a policeman. hence the title, nagdadalaga na si maximo. (they're calling the film 'the blossoming of maximo oliveros' in the filmfest circuit.)
the love story is universal. since almost every human being in this world goes through that phase called first love. and in this movie, the audience gets to see maximo falling in love for the very first time. the only problem? the policeman gets in between maximo and his loving family of small-time crooks.
nathan lopez was very good as the 12-year-old effeminate gay boy while jr valentin proved that he can also act, essaying the role of the principled policeman. and by the way, maximo has a blog! who knew.
the best scene for me? maximo doing the cartwheel after he stole a kiss from the surprised policeman. you could just feel him gliding, ecstatic and in love na in love.
ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros will be the first filipino movie to compete at next year's sundance film festival in park city, utah.
the best part about watching the film? knowing that some of the people i worked with before had a hand at making this great indie film, including lily esquillon, who was the film's production designer. bravo, lily!
craving for camiguin's pastel
i had to make some last-minute shopping. and since i was particularly craving for the pastel from camiguin (which i left at, well, forget it). there was no way i was going back to the tiendesitas just to buy some. the good news was, i saw some at the market market. yes, the ones that sell stuff on carts.
so off i went to market market. bought two boxes again. hehehe. i wandered around the huge mall and i was led to the cinema level. and then i saw it. the film i have been reading about was showing here. at 12:05 pm, first screening. time check: 11:30 am. i had 35 minutes to eat my lunch. two floors down.
one of my favorite iced teas in town is tokyo tokyo's red iced tea. yum. so i ordered a big plate of beef gyudon. plus a large red iced tea. P79 for the gyudon plus P25 for the red iced tea. anyway, their service was kinda fast so after a follow-up, i got my meal at 12 noon. obviously, i had five minutes to finish off my meal. plus a dash two floors up.
the film was already starting when i entered market market's cinema 2.
on the second day of christmas
my true love gave to me: a party at mega saisaki!
yes, the second day of december saw us having a christmas party already at the sm megamall. and i thought our december 4 christmas party in la-la-land was way too early. anyhow, dinner was great.
rushed to greenbelt after the party to meet a friend at coffee bean. talk, talk, talk. on our way out, i bumped into c, a friend i was scheduled to have dinner with before i left but she was so busy. hehehe. and i was too busy. had dinner with her last month at the m cafe. after that, i bumped into her about three times at the coffee bean. tonight marked the fourth time.
anyhow, as soon as i got home, i started packing. i managed to sleep around 3ish.
Friday, December 02, 2005
family time @ tiendesitas
Spent only half a day at work today. The other half? I spent with my family who drove to the metro to bring my luggage and to see me before my flight this saturday. Friday was not possible since there was color-coding and the office christmas party was scheduled on that day.
Anyhow, met them at my cousin's store in QC, then we moved to Tomas Morato to have lunch. I've been craving for Ponciana's since my first trip to Manila last March. Ponciana's is a restaurant along Timog and they serve really good, yummy, home-cooked meals. My co-workers at ABS and I would drive to Ponciana's if we decide that we do not want to eat canteen food or delivery or aristo-carts or the pricier ones in the vicinity. It was like our comfort food station. And today, I introduced Ponciana to my family.
We had quite a feast. I ordered the boneless tinapang bangus (whole) which I later found out cost us P230.00. I also ordered lengua estofada, squash with okra with pork and shrimps, grilled pork belly with fried eggplant, puso ng saging with baby squid, and a couple more. The damage totaled P1,200 plus. Not bad. We were all full to the brim by the time we were done.
We were supposed to go to Divisoria to check out 168, which my former ABS colleagues have been telling me about. Woe to us, nobody knew how to go to Divi. I did not know how to go there since I have never been to Divisoria. Rather than risk getting lost en route to 168, I decided to just bring them to Tiendesitas.
Went around the various villages. When we were done, had some snacks such as puto bumbong, (the wait for the bibingka was quite long), fresh fruit shakes, vigan empanada, okoy and some fruits. awesome.
Bought two boxes of the pastel from Camiguin (which I forgot in the car when they left). Poor me.
Next stop was Market, Market where we did some grocery and shopping for the coming Christmas season. Got tired and hungry so off we went to Greenbelt for dinner. Parking was such a problem it took us more than half an hour circling the parking area. Had a quite pricey but delicious dinner for six. Yum.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
one-on-one
taken at the press room of the recently concluded 19th philippine advertising congress held at the waterfront hotel in cebu city. wala lang. mig ayesa is one cool dude.Monday, November 28, 2005
let the countdown begin
six days and counting.
i'll be back in hell-ey by saturday night. in time for our christmas party on sunday. yes, christmas party. on the 4th of december. 21 days before christmas day. three weeks. wow.
grabe, it's called ratsada.
anyhow, had a great lunch and coffee with a some of my "oldest" friends. 15 years and counting. hah. met up with some of my freshman college friends. had lunch at masas in greenbelt 3. then coffee at cbtl, where else. the longest lunch/coffee in the world. hehehe. guys, see you wherever soon.
lagare
some of the best days in this trip of mine were spent at home, with my family and my nieces. sigh. too bad i didn't get to spend more time with them. oh well.
left manila early on sunday morning to have lunch and dinner with my family and come back to makati around 9ish in the evening.
need to write some stuff. blog updates to resume soon.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
st. louis loves dem filipinos
that's the title of the pinoy musical i watched at the afp theater today. it's a reincarnation of the straight play i watched in up more than a decade ago when it premiered.
the musical was very good and the actors who performed were good as well. i missed franco laurel though, since it was joaquin valdes, the other guy who performed the role of fred tinawid, the show's "story-teller." isay alvarez was very effective in her role as the wife of the protagonist bulan, performed by arnold reyes.
too bad, not a lot of people were at the afp theater when i watched. (it was the penultimate show)
taken with my camera phone. the producer asked us to move to the middle row since the place was not packed.
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