i judge

korean taste

2011-08-29T01:21:00.001+08:00

when i first tried kimchi, i was less than impressed. i immediately filed kimchi under the not-for-me category of food, a short list mainly composed of vegetables such as eggplant, okra, and ampalaya. that was roughly five years ago. fast forward to 2010, i moved to a neighborhood with woorijib and korean marts in it. and i just fell in love with korean food. of course, woorijib remained my only access to korean food. oh and that one other korean restaurant in adriatico, korean palace. and unfortunately, eating in korean restos don't come cheap. at woorijib for example, the cheapest meal (soup with rice) cuts you back by P250. my favorite, the kilig-inducing mukunji dakdoritang, costs at least P600 (medium). also, eating in a korean resto is not something done alone. the food are in large servings, and the side dishes are just meant to be shared. in short, i couldn't eat korean food as often as i wanted to.

until a couple of weeks ago when i decided to teach a visiting korean again. for some reason, we always talked about food. she shared with me very easy-to-cook korean recipes. actually, all of them involved putting in kimchi. kimchi tuna, kimchi pasta, kimchi soup, kimchi chicken soup, and others. as we talked about these simple recipes, i became increasingly convinced i should try them out. so on my last trip to the supermarket, i bought a small container of kimchi and some cans of tuna. and it is as good as my student said *elation*. finally, instant food with actual health benefits! antioxidants! a few days ago, i bought kimchi at the korean supermarket and discovered SM's kimchi sucks. the roommate and i are hooked, so today we bought more.

yuck

2011-08-29T00:59:00.000+08:00

as i may have mentioned before, finding new bands to like and follow is tough. i must be at that age where i already have a solid set of bands to adore for life, particularly those from the 90s, and a few from the 70s and 80s for good measure. plus, listening to new music is a hit-and-miss endeavor with more misses than hits. then i chance upon yuck's operation, a fastastic 90s-sounding tune with a hint of sonic youth (their wiki says they are likened to sy and dinosaur jr). the track stutter also betrays a strong sy influence. right now, though, i can't stop listening to shook down.

notes on my intramuros tour

2011-05-12T18:06:00.000+08:00

on one of this year's hottest days, i was roaming the streets of intramuros, gawking at its magnificent old buildings. it was a hastily planned trip, made on a very tight budget. for some reason, i only had about 200 to spare. so, i decided to dress very practically - sleeveless top, capri pants, and my new pair of nike trainers - since the afternoon would be spent commuting and walking. (incidentally, a pair of local tourists commented on my shoes, but did so in english. i wonder what nationality they thought i was.)

the cheapest way to get to intramuros
1. take a jeep to quiapo church. however, given the considerable distance between philcoa and quiapo, i decided to take an FX instead. (P30).
2. in front of quiapo church, take a "pier" jeep. i got off near the pasig river ferry's plaza mexico station.

from there, the walking begins. i took (inferior) photos here and there, in true local tourist fashion, all the while wishing for a better camera. i reached the manila cathedral, where a group of tour guides in bright green and yellow plaid polos (?) tried to convince me to hire them. one of them persevered to talk to me, and i asked him a couple of questions.

tour guide package
1. for P300, the manong would take you to the 25 hot spots around the 64-hectare walled city on his calesa. the ride takes about 30-40 minutes, plus free brochure. the brochure could not be acquired for free, he said, though i doubted that. after our talk, i headed to the Palacio del Gobernador, where a DOT office was housed, to ask for a brochure. however, the guard stopped me, saying people wearing sleeveless tops are not allowed inside.
2. carlos celdran's walking tour costs about P1,500, but could only be taken by large groups. according to manong, celdran's 2-3-hour tour is engaging and fun, "matutuwa ka talaga sa mga kwento niya." there, there, manong.

i declined his offer, of course, saying i didn't have the money to spare. i began walking around.

what i didn't expect to see inside intramuros
1. ukay-ukay shop. there's one near the statue of philip II of spain.
2. abandoned houses.
3. informal settlers. at least i think they were. they lived in clusters of small houses, similar to those along cambridge street, cubao.

what i should have expected to see inside intramuros
1. guards dressed as guardia sibil (like those guys from TV series bayani)
2. good-looking letran jocks. there was a game that day; i saw tv 5's van parked behind the school's gym.

since it was a weekday afternoon, there were no crowds. in fact, i had the garden all to myself. upon realizing that, i decided to abruptly end my stroll, suddenly paranoid. better safe than sorry. i didn't see everything listed in intramuros' wiki, of course, but i did enjoy my visit. at the end of my tour, i decided that, in the absence of a knowledgeable tour guide, the best companion would have to be google. i should really buy myself a nicer phone.

the black keys: rubber factory

2011-04-12T13:36:00.004+08:00

after hearing a lot about this band through my blip network, i decided to get a copy of their albums. this one is the highest-rated by pitchfork, so i'm listening to this first. it has been hard for me to identify truly likeable new bands (those formed after 2000); it seems investing in the black keys won't be a bad idea. i like their garage-blues music. also, since their song "when the lights go out" was soundtrack to black snake moan, i will forever associate them to samuel l. jackson, hee. my favorite songs would have to be "all hands against his own" and "the lengths," though.

definitely, maybe

2011-04-12T10:59:00.004+08:00

this could have been called how i met your mother, the movie. except, of course, ted is nowhere as handsome as ryan reynold's will hayes. but the storytelling and theme of definitely, maybe are similar to those of himym.

after the opening credits, the film begins with sex education. will hayes' daughter (abigail breslin), now spouting the words "penis" and "vagina," starts asking about how her parents fell in love, and why they are now divorcing. present will hayes recalls his past loves, to answer his daughter's questions.

the characters are charming, and will hayes is really really lovable, thanks to the smart script (smart compared to blah romcoms, like say, the bounty hunter). the women in hayes' life, emily (30 rock's avery, elizabeth banks), summer (rachel weisz), and april (isla fisher, wife of borat ngrr) are equally endearing, and hayes' daughter says this herself. i like that abigail breslin's character is mature, all supportive of her father's happiness. without giving away spoilers, will hayes marries the girl's mom, although he really was more in love with another. however, at the end of the movie, he succeeds in getting together with the one he should have married in the first place. with his daughter's blessing.

and i was like, awww. this is one of the truly likeable romcoms out there. watch it!

lucky lady keira knightley

2011-04-12T09:42:00.004+08:00

what follows is a somewhat bitter post about keira knightley. the bitterness stems from pure envy. she has starred opposite hollywood's hottest men, the same men i love:

with james mcavoy in atonement. pic from here.
with clive owen in king arthur. pic from here.

with johnny depp! *tears* pic from here.

and now, with colin farrell in london boulevard. pic from here.

if she works with edward norton, i'll literally die of envy.

of OSTs

2011-04-12T08:11:00.006+08:00

i listened to dazed and confused's ost before i watched it. it's a collection of badass 70s tunes:

1. Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer

2. Slow Ride - Foghat

3. School's Out - Alice Cooper

4. Jim Dandy - Black Oak Arkansas

5. Tush - ZZ Top

6. Love Hurts - Nazareth

7. Stranglehold - Ted Nugent

8. Cherry Bomb - The Runaways

9. Fox On The Run - Sweet

10. Low Rider - War

11. Tuesday's Gone - Lynyrd Skynyrd

12. Highway Star - Deep Purple

13. Rock And Roll All Night - Kiss

14. Paranoid - Black Sabbath

as i listened to the songs, i sort of imagined the scenes they'd be played. i was kind of right in some: love hurts was played in a scene about a high school dance; slow ride was a car scene (although a lot of the scenes in the movie happened with the characters just riding in cars), so was highway star; school's out was the music in the scene where kids were streaming out of classrooms and the school at the end of the school year. the movie was okay.

it had the simplest plot. young mila jovovich barely spoke. she only really needed to be there and lend the movie her pretty presence, hee.

photo from here.

also worth watching was a younger douchey matthew mcconaughey. and, ben affleck.

photo from here.

touted as a pretty accurate depiction of high school life in the 70s, i couldn't really relate much to the characters (this blogger did, though). the movie is interesting and engaging enough, but listening to its ost was more pleasurable. the ost sold so well, they even released a sequel: even more dazed and confused.

megamind, on the other hand, was fun. adding to the fun was its fantastic soundtrack. given its list of tracks, i kind of thought the movie was made for an older audience. or maybe it was an attempt to educate younger people about good music.

2

2011-03-15T15:54:00.004+08:00

let me in

it's actually rare to see a fresh-rated hollywood remake, so i gave this movie a chance. the consensus intrigued me, and i liked chloe moretz as hitgirl. i watched the original almost two years ago, and the details are a bit fuzzy, but i surely don't recall that disturbing twist in the hollywood version that ruined the movie for me. while the original kept the romance wholesome, the remake had to insert a scene that, to me, suggested pedophilia. they really shouldn't have *un-see!*

aside from that one major difference, let me in follows the same plot - from the meeting of the two kids, the bullying, the discovery of the girl's true nature, until the final slaughter and the final scene. there were also deviations in the characters. again, although it was two years ago, i remember appreciating the overall pace of the original movie. let me in, on the other hand, kind of lagged at parts, and jumped at others; there were less-than-smooth transitions between subplots.

i can't complain with the acting, however. kodi smit-mcphee was effective as the bullied boy, as was moretz as abby, the vampire. still, all in all, let the right one in is a far better watch than the remake. although, if you haven't seen it, you might as well watch let me in first, before watching the original. that way, you get to enjoy two good movies. yes, let me in would have probably been a good watch if i hadn't seen let the right one in first.

stone

starring robert de niro and edward norton, i had high hopes for this thriller despite its rotten rating. i actually don't want to continue describing the boredom i experienced watching this one. *inhale* i'm not sure what i liked least, the dragging pace or the overall wearying plot. for me, the best scene in the movie was mila jovovich's my-lips-are-sealed gesture (hot!). after that, i was just waiting for the movie to end.

i seed

2011-03-15T13:33:00.004+08:00

i do! here's proof!

social responsibility.

meanwhile, no one is seeding this jdorama that i've long wanted to watch.

2010 wrap-ups

2011-03-12T15:34:00.002+08:00

better late than pregnant! haha. in 2010, i visited borawan, quezon in september, and brunei in october. on my visit home, the family took a provincial tour, joyriding through zamboanga del sur, del norte and sibugay. this year, i have visited siargao. future travel destinations include gen san and lake sebu, and santa ana, cagayan. also, i am so excited for the asian bektrek this october! the beks and i have booked our tickets to kl, vietnam, and siem reap, yay!

last november, i began watching dexter, and finsihed all five seasons in two months. other series i watched are covert affairs, no ordinary family, sherlock, and weeds. come september, i will have more shows to download :D

i also really enjoyed korean dramas! haha. i watched queen seok deok, sungkyungkwan scandal, and personal taste. i think i prefer period dramas. i could never appreciate modern korean hairstyles and fashion, sorry.

as for the movies list, it's far too long. off the top of my head, i remember enjoying three asian films with friends: a frozen flower, no regret, and first love. i caught machete on the bus and immediately acquired a copy and watched it. animated films up and mary and max moved me to tears. of all the oscar movies, i've only watched 127 hours, black swan, and love and other drugs. the ghost writer and the tourist didn't deliver. the other guys and buried did.

so there.

happier at home

2011-03-12T15:02:00.001+08:00

it's been more than four months since i last commuted to work. almost right after i quit my bpo job, i got hired as a home-based editor. the first two months were hellish. aside from adapting to the type of work, which required more thinking compared to my former job (eyeroll), i was hired during the company's peak season. with the heavy workload, and my inherent laziness, my life revolved around my pc. i was constantly thinking of buying an ergonomic chair. sometimes, my thoughts would stray to stocking my ref with easy-to-prepare meals.

anyway, fast forward to today, i am increasingly liking this set-up. aside from the obvious perk of never having to commute to work again, i could take naps, watch movies and tv series, or do my laundry in between deadlines. there's no dress code so there's virtually no need for me to shop for clothes. my time is my own to manage. and now that i have so mastered self-motivation, thanks to the strict rule imposed against late submissions, my editors don't hate me anymore. so it's probably safe to assume that there's no impending threat on my employment status.

these days, i don't have too much work during the middle of the week. so i could blog/blab here again. you have been warned.

moving on in 34 days

2010-09-16T11:30:00.000+08:00

come october 21, there will be a major change in my life: i will be out of work and so free! i'm thinking of surviving on rakets and part-time gigs until i find that one job, THE job. oh yes i learned my lesson: i will not settle. i got into my current job because i had been jobhunting for too long that i jumped at the earliest opportunity to change my status from bum to employed. i really should've just, i dunno, been wiser. at that time, i was making ends meet. i guess i was excited to make new friends and stuff, after being holed up in my alone-zone, doing parttime jobs while finishing my thesis. you know, after all my friends have graduated. haha.

anyway, my current job has gotten really boring. the routine tires me. i've been sighing more often lately. and i hate a lot of the rules at work! the new general manager has made a lot of exciting promises, actually. good changes, in fact. but, no. the gladdys is a-rolling out no matter what. of course, i will miss my friends, and i'm hoping to keep those friendships even after i leave. it will be weird though, and sad, not to see them everyday.

i'm blogging this because quitting my job is something that gets me through everytime i just want to stop caring about my work. because i admit that countdowns excite me. haha.

movies movies movies

2010-08-25T14:50:00.014+08:00

its that time to post another long movie list, hee. i'm on a on a weeklong leave, beybeh.

nick and norah's infinite playlist

this one's where rottentomatoes and i don't agree. while this movie had a really nice ost, i can't say i liked the story. it had its annoying moments. i didn't find norah all that "charming." i didn't like how she seemed like she was perpetually drunk. i hated norah's drunk friend. i didn't really get what this movie is all about. aside from teenagers partyin on a friday night. and maybe something about teenage life complications. sorry, michael cera. i still love you, though. it's just that i'm old :c

doubt

powerful acting by streep, seymour hoffman and adams.

the runaways

i'm not over this fim. in fact, i'm listening to its ost as i'm writing this. dakota fanning is all grown up and doing drugs and being a cherry bomb. and kristen stewart is so hot. this caught me by surprise really, that i would like kristen stewart, what with her twilight association and my nonchalance toward that franchise. anyway, the movie is really simple. it's the actresses, stewart and fanning, who are worth watching.

drugs on a plane

*kiss*

ch ch ch cherry bomb!

he's just not that into you

this one's ok. i liked ginnifer goodwin's hair.

forgetting sarah marshall

funny movie. although i didn't really get the parts about having to show jason segel's d*ck at the beginning and end of the film.

the a-team

"they specialize in the ridiculous," said jessica biel. and indeed they did; pulling off stunts like flying a tank and breaking out of maximum security facilities, among other things. seeing four talented guys unravel conspiracies and saving the day seems more believable than just having john mcclane doing everything. haha. i'm beginning to think action is my genre.

the watchmen

matthew goode looked gay here. i couldn't really relate to this movie since i didn't read the graphic novels.

kopps

hilarious. especially the parts where benny pretends to be a super cop. adam sandler plans to remake this.

daydreaming of catching bullets and crunching them into a grenade

pretending to be in a hostile situation

the crazies

an effective thriller. but not comparable to zombie movies like 28 days later.

the losers

i liked this better than the a-team. it's funnier and has a better ost. and i liked this guy.

pretending to shoot using his fingers, to the tune of that glee song, don't stop believin'

total tearjerker. a must see.

millennium trilogy

if you're looking for a strong kickass female lead, you got it here in this trilogy. david fincher is making a hollywood remake of this, starring a sweet-looking girl. i can't wait to see how they'll make her look this bitchin:

noomi rapace aka lisbeth salander

inception

of course i watched this. not sure whether to agree with people saying stuff like memento>inception.

temptation island

the gayest film in the history of ever.

my summer of love

i love emily blunt. here she portrays a rich teenage girl at home for summer vacation. at home she meets and becomes friends with a rather plain looking girl who doesn't mind wearing the same clothes for several days. haha. anyway, may tibuan portion dito. hee.

wolfman

wouldn't have watched this if emily blunt wasn't in it.

daybreakers

is ok.

chasing amy

ben affleck is still adorable here.

it's complicated

reminded me of something's gotta give and my film genre class.

killers

is meh.

jennifer's body

also meh.

cirque du freak

felt like the pilot episode of a potentially awesome show.

here comes the bride

very very very funny!

sunshine cleaning

emily blunt and amy adams play the role of sisters superbly. adams, the older sister, is also a struggling single mother. blunt is the cool but underachiever younger sister. they get into the surprisingly lucrative job of crime scene cleaning. this one's both moving and inspiring. and emily blunt is too cool here, hee.

and that's it!

long weekends

2010-05-24T12:35:00.003+08:00

i'm loving the new layout of the house. the roommate suddenly decided to buy a TV so we had to rearrange our furniture to accommodate it. we turned the sofa from its original position against the wall, putting it in the perfect position of being across the tv and just beside the ref. (we also bought two desks because they were on sale at blims at P998 each!)

sitting next to the refrigerator while watching tv/movies is vgood, especially in this dehydrating summer heat.

also, our happy ref has chocolates, hee.

**
i've been meaning to write about the movies i watched over the past long weekends. unfortunately, i've always lost in me vs. laziness bouts. and then the movie list gets too long, making me even more lazier.

i managed to keep a list of the movies i watched, though:
1. chapter 27
watched until the middle of the movie. though the almost unrecognizable jared leto gave an admirable performance, and lindsay lohan looked actually refreshing, the movie's lagging pace and leto's annoying narrator voice made watching a chore.
2. imaginarium of doctor parnassus
this movie rocked. and maybe because of the circumstances that happened during its production. i'm referring to heath ledger's death, of course. if he hadn't died, johnny depp and colin farrell wouldn't have played ledger's other faces in the movie. oh and that jude law guy as well :P man was i shocked to suddenly see johnny depp! for a moment there i forgot that he was part of the movie. and colin farrell! i thought that was a perfect role for him. of course, heath ledger himself did a wonderful performance. also, dugyot-ish gypsy costumes - check. most of all, i love this movie's magical delve into people's creativity.
3,4 time traveler's wife, curious case of benjamin button
both movies toyed with the concept of time, and i had to watch them one after the other. somehow, i manage not to mix them up. both likeable movies; not high on the rewatchability scale, especially benjamin button with its lengthy running time.
5. new world
watched a half of this, as well. dragging and just full of, ionno, pocahontas and smith's sign language romance. this is the first colin farrell movie i gave up on, tsk tsk.
6. 9
would've been a more impressive watch maybe 5 years ago. or just before i watched triplets of belleville and persepolis. still, i enjoyed it.
7. filipino film on tv: a love stor y
this movie actually has a good plot, good cast and superb acting. and the storytelling is also commendable. i really didn't expect maricel soriano's character to be the other woman.
8. filipino film on tv: magdusa ka
my roommate and i had a lot of questions about this film:
bakit ang susungit ng mga pilipino noon? dahil ba sa batas militar?
ganyan ba talaga ka-bayolente ang mga mayayaman noong batas militar?
akala ko ba strict ang gun ban noong batas militar?
and more questions with "batas militar" inserted, haha.
9. kickass
loved this! though really, hitgirl owned this movie. kickass, sans the violence, reminded me of my childhood, when the siblings and i would don blanket-capes and hop from a low cabinet to the bed and brandish all sorts of weapons wheee. i think we even brought that game outside, to our bodega, where we jumped from one tower of sacks of copra to the next. wow, i had a fun childhood.

**
i've been putting off watching himym. now i can't find any reason not to marathon given this:

holy bektrek

2010-04-21T00:13:00.002+08:00

coron was a whole lotta improvement on my holy week last year, which i spent at home, eating instant food. i have to say, the boatmen-prepared lunches we had at coron made my vacation very, very happy. i love food. and eating with friends on a boat, anchored by the beach? that's like three of my greatest loves right there: friends, food, beach.

it was the perfectly paced vacation, our holy bektrek coron getaway, i think. friday, we got there, walked around, ate lunch and napped. after the sun stopped being painful to the skin, at around 3pm, we trooped out to look for souvenirs. the souvenirs there are rather pricey, at least at this big shop we were pointed to see. then we proceeded to climb to the top of mt. tapyas. not an easy climb, i tell you. or maybe it's just me and my unfit lungs. we, or rather our be-camera-ed friends, took pictures. unfortunately for me, i'm a half-tourist: i don't have a camera :c on the way, we met two kids, refreshments vendors/tour guides really, who accompanied us to the top, telling us stories about the mountains and the sites to see. they were also really nice about taking our pictures.

those kids had me thinking what it would be like for me if i lived there, a beautiful place teeming with both local and international tourists. maybe i wouldn't feel like fleeing to university asap. maybe i'd be fitter, what with all the beach swimming i'd probably grown up doing, haha.

anyway. after the knee-shaking climb, we headed to maquinit hot spring, which was just perfect for our tired muscles. the next morning, april 3, 2010, day 1 of our tour, holds the record for being the most physical day of my life. swimming, snorkeling, some trekking, and some more swimming from when our tours with DIY Coron began at 8am until sunset. we visited siete pecados, kayangan lake (my favorite!), 91 beach, cyc island, twin lagoon and barracuda lake.

i always thought vacations are not complete without drunken nights. i was wrong. by the time we got back to our quarters, we were too exhausted to even think past dinner. we went to bed after a rather awkward late dinner with a tour-mate. anyway.

day 2 was more relaxed. since our destinations were farther, sunday was mostly spent on the boat. snorkeling and beach bumming on coron's best spots - we wished we could've stayed longer in malcapuya.

coron, i'm so going to see you again. when i'm rich and with a good camera. :)

my favorite chick flicks

2010-03-28T01:50:00.003+08:00

chick flicks, for me, have to be feel good. a feel good movie is one that scores high in re-watchability. this saturday night, roomie and i decided to watch the proposal, again. she's seen it for the nth time; me, only twice. but it is officially one of my favorite chick flicks. off the top of my head, the short list goes:

the proposal - i love everything about this film. i love sitka. haha.
how to lose a guy in ten days - saw this too many times on hbo. love the part with matthew m. teaching kate to ride his chopper.
when harry met sally - watched this with my mom. we both loved it.
before sunrise - i love the idea of meeting ethan hawke-handsome strangers while commuting.
titanic - my ultimate favorite. historical factor- check; costume- check; leonardo dicaprio- check.
meet joe black - brad pitt's look just before they did it - WOW.
50 first dates - adam sandler's daily routine of reminding drew barrymore how in love they are = very very romantic
turn left, turn right - frustrating but not annoying. and man, takeshi kaneshiro at his second most handsomest. (most handsomest is his cop role in chungking express).
my sassy girl - jeon ji hyun- check. haha.

stuck part 1

2010-02-01T12:51:00.011+08:00

there's two things that are NOT making my life perfect: my job and my current house. the first one is understandable, maybe, since this is my first job. but the second one i really should have mastered by now - choosing a house, that is. it is something i've done on an annual basis, actually. come to think of it, that goes down as a poor track record.

despite acquiring a checklist of the do's and don't's when choosing a new house, some unprecedented problem always crops up a few months into moving in. somehow, i just can't get the hang of this moving business.

this is what the checklist looked like before moving into this house:

1. dsl connection
2. no animal sounds that wake me in the morning
3. no annoying children in the same house
4. no occasional ugly child who wants to be kissed
5. no inconsiderate roommates
6. no dark, narrow alleys which you cannot pass when using an umbrella and where you may step on puddles and crap
7. no cockroach and other vermin
8. no pesky/evil landlady
9. no unfair sharing of electricity bill
10. no toilet problem
11. flood proof

add item 12: acoustics.
this works two ways: you will have neighbors with babies or flute-playing children and will constantly fight the urge to shush them. or, you will have girlfriends over - loud, after getting drunk somewhere - and your neighbors will not hesitate to shush you.

yeah, so now i can't really entertain at home. at least until i find a way to noise-proof this wafer-walled unit.

let this be a guide to all you house-hunting fellas :p

another birthday post

2009-12-27T21:54:00.004+08:00

i can't believe my last post was just after my birthday. damn pldt is taking its sweet time installing our new line huhuhuhu. they were really impressively prompt last year, too. shame. anyway. i'm surviving. and happy, otherwise. i spent my christmas vacation fulfilling a childhood dream.

my sister likes to spend birthdays at the beach, apparently. we spent hers at the hundred islands in pangasinan. growing up down south in zamboanga del sur, i’ve always dreamed of someday visiting the hundred islands - thanks to hekasi (geography, history and civics) projects in elementary school. aaand, wow, dreams do come true ;p i should prolly collect more postcards to inspire future dream vacations.

personal vow: save up for a decent camera.

an eventful birthday

2009-09-21T15:52:00.010+08:00

after work last saturday morning, i hurriedly packed my stuff for a weekend getaway at the beach with my siblings and beki r.

itinerary:
day 1: overnight at anawangin
day 2: capones-camara side trip

anawangin has a magical beach for nightswimming. when you move around in the water, you can see bubbles that glow in the dark. it's weird that nobody ever told me about this fantastic phenomenon. (no pictures, though. too bad.) my beach buddies and i were entranced by this, and came up with different explanations. older sis said it must be the geological location - something to do with volcanic minerals. younger bro and i said it's gotta be marine biodiversity. whatever it was, we couldn't get enough of it, and we kept swishing around in the water until it rained, heavily. with thunder and lightning.

the downpour was just one of the things that could've ruined - but ultimately, didn't - my wonderful beach birthday getaway. the other one was unpreparedness for camping. it's actually embarrassing, considering that i've taken camping class in UP. this was also my second time in anawangin.

unpreparedness here means we didn't have kerosene for easier cooking and we didn't waterproof our stuff. so what happened was we learned how to build fire using paper and patience. thank god for law school readings. surprisingly, dinner turned out delicious. as for the consequences of not waterproofing our stuff.. that one remains to be the only epic fail of the trip.

we started day 2 with yet again a surprisingly yummy meal: perfect sinaing courtesy of me (take note, uling lang ang pinaglutuan *beam with pride*), fried fish, grilled pork, noodles with egg, coffee. or maybe, anything tastes good in anawangin. hehe.

then we were off explorin and camwhorin. heee. maybe beki r is really our long lost non-cebuano speaking sibling.

then our boatman arrived and took us to capones. there, more explorin and camwhorin of the island's tourist attraction, the lighthouse and the ruins of an old, elegant building. it should be mentioned that capones must be the island of lost slippers.

our next stop was camara. we did a bit of snorkeling, although there wasn't much to see. the sand bar was beautiful, though. the water was warm and the waves were relaxing. i mainly just floated around in a life vest and thought happy thoughts. until it rained, again, heavily. with thunder and lightning.

our boatman decided we shouldn't wait for the rain to stop. which was a good decision, since the rain didn't stop soon. it was my first time to be at sea in such weather. it must have been my little heart, beating fast, and adrenaline that made me a bit high. i actually enjoyed that stormy bangka ride.

apparently, that part of zambales experiences that kind of weather during this time of the year. sunny in the morning, heavy downpour from afternoon til late in the evening.

we got to our host's at a little past 3 pm. the sight of our wet clothes and the thought of wearing them in a really cold bus disheartened us. after a meal of chicken, dinuguan and barbeque, though, we were back to our cheery selves.

we caught a bus that showed the italian job. and then we had comforting coffee at the stop in lubao. when we got to monumento after two hours, we were tired but still happy.

:D

all photos courtesy of beki r. we had to settle for her camera phone.

cheri

2009-09-14T16:07:00.002+08:00

lea. (photo from here.)

and for my last movie for this weekend, i watched stephen frear's cheri. it's a light costume drama set in belle epoque paris based on colette's novel of the same title. i mainly watched this because it stars michelle pfeiffer as the aging retired courtesan lea. i love watching michelle pfeiffer in costume movies, hee. playing lea's young lover, cheri, is rupert friend (that annoying lt. kurt in the boy in the striped pajamas).

i love this dress.

aside from the wonderful costumes, what i really liked about this movie is michelle pfeiffer's sultry voice. if i was blind, i'd still probably enjoy this film.

here's a good read from time.

movies from denmark

2009-09-14T03:44:00.006+08:00

i'm on a roll this weekend =D

first, the unpleasant one: anti-christ

1. cinematography and directing: good job, lars von trier
2. acting: willem dafoe and charlotte gainsbourg, good and good
3. script: good
4. story: i hate

cinematically impressive, intensely thought-provoking, morbidly graphic and explicit to the point of being offensive. originally, i thought this film would tackle coping with the loss of a loved one. i suppose you can say that it did, just not along lines that are close to convention. this movie took me so far away from my comfort zone.

i wasn't exactly hoping for a happy ending, and as the film progressed i saw slim chances of that happening. but the film had a totally extreme climax, suddenly involving mutilation and self-destruction.

i'm not a fan of pain, especially those self-inflicted ones. accidents, i can tolerate. but intentional? and one that involves that part of your body? using rusty scissors? *ulk*

just another love story
directed by ole bornedal

this one, i enjoyed. it's a mix of all the things i like in a movie: a bit of non-mushy romance, a good car accident scene, good cinematography, non-linear storytelling, effective use of music to create/heighten suspense, a glimpse of foreign lands for my to-visit list (haha), a bit of morbidity, little details like the weather and the color of the ocean and the fact that jonah spelled backwards could pass as hanoi in a foreign language, a bit of shocking violence, crazy characters, revenge, random death and a kick-ass should've-seen-that-coming ending. (i didn't know i wanted all those things in a movie until i saw this one.)

i enjoyed it so much i'm having a hard time writing about it, haha. this here's a good review. trust me when i say that this is a must-see.

broken embraces

2009-09-13T20:48:00.005+08:00

1. very good storytelling. just as expected from almodovar.
2. penelope cruz is soo hot. she so owns this movie.
3. i mostly agree with this review.
4. (note to self) must watch volver.

memories of matsuko

2009-09-13T16:48:00.008+08:00

i watched memories of matsuko under the best circumstances:
1. For free, at the Eiga Sai in UP. of course, watching any film in UP is always a fun experience. UPFI audience is the best movie buddy in the world, haha.

2. the advantage of having seen all those japanese dramas. it's fun when you know every other actor in a movie. it's particularly refreshing when you see them protraying a totally different role in the movie.

the main protagonist, matsuko, is played by miki nakatani, of ring 2 and rasen fame. shou, matsuko's nephew in the film, is played by eita. i've seen this guy in at least four jdoramas and he's usually just one of the guys, though his roles were important. in last friends, though his was the least developed character, his (implied gay) character was the one i liked best. in nodame cantabile, he was one of the orchestra's important members, since his father in the series owned the bar they frequented. in orange days, he was the third friend. in kimi wa petto, he was the second best dancer. i guess that's what he does best, provide effective support to the main characters.

the film also casts teruyuki kagawa (lead detective in the kimutaku drama mr brain), akira emoto (of the wacky drama karei naru spy), kou shibasaki (battle royale, orange days) and even kudo kankuro (director and writer of my all-time favorite japanese dramas kisarazu cat's eye and tiger and dragon).

i loved her amelie-ish hair, hihi. photo from here.

anyway, on to the film. first off, very very colorful, storywise and literally. i've only seen one other film by director tetsuya nakashima - kamikaze girls - but if the playful use of color is going to be his signature, i'll be following his career.

the film follows the story of matsuko's life, beginning with her death. through the various people matsuko encountered in her life, we see pieces of her life - the glory days and her eventual falls from grace. despite her dark days, she remains strong and positive.

endearing character.

though the movie is essentially a sad story, since matsuko did have more sad chapters and only momentary precious happy moments, the ultimate message of the film is that matsuko loved and was loved. and that despite what most people think - matsuko's family especially - she led a meaningful life.

happy wednesday. photo from here.

without saying too much, i found the ending - how she died - the saddest. so so frigging unfaiiiirrrrr *sob* *whine* *sob*

good mood/happy mode/bum

2009-09-13T13:42:00.006+08:00

if i were more artistic, i'd probably find a way to create a masterpiece from all the good things in the world:

1. shin ramyun - the best instant food. spicy and easy to prepare. it's just the right size, too, so unlike local pansit cantons, one pack is enough. (photos from wikipedia)

2. xb_102 - suddenly i'm into new wave. rock on, dead kennedys!

3. 1870's new york - my hair and i would fit right in.

the age of innocence. pic from here.

loved this movie, btw. daniel day-lewis + michelle pfeiffer + sexual tension = WOW. every scene with them in it is just charged with very palpable restrained desire, aylavet. and the set and costumes! *drool*

..the best i could come up with looks like this:

=D

jeepney music

2009-08-06T22:48:00.002+08:00

i've always had the good fortune of living near the schools i attended. but now that i'm employed, i have to cope with the stresses of commuting, one of which is enduring the jeepney driver's (assistant's) taste in music.

here's a list of the worst i've heard so far:

3. poorly remixed videoke-playlist songs. air supply, bee gees, bon jovi, eagles, etc.

2. poorly remixed eraserheads songs. when i heard them, stuck in traffic and all, i cringed and almost cried. you do not do that to eheads! eheads songs do not need "improvement."

1. horrible tagalog rap music

i do not even want to know who created such.. trash.

boy rapper singing something like "girl, i'm not sure if you really love me. you are the only one in my life."

girl sings back something like "i love you, really. please believe me."

repeat and repeat.

such music would dampen your mood at the best of times. i had to hear it on a rainy monday morning.

i the employed

2009-07-29T17:28:00.003+08:00

pretty soon, i will be sucked into the little, little world that is my workplace. soon, i will be as obsessed as everyone else about quotas and numbers and other people's business. soon, i will even look like everyone else in eastwood.

scary. i wish my newbie's immunity won't expire.

as yet, i'm like a visitor, detached and unaffected and able to appreciate the good things about work. there are good things about work.

the job
it's easy, really. the routine can get boring but for an easily-amused person like myself, i can always find something funny about the ads we're producing.

the environment
each employee has a fabulous workstation with two monitors. although facebooking is technically not allowed during work hours, facebook is not blocked. (yet?)

the people are in my age bracket, and their ipods usually contain music i appreciate. the office has a speaker and anyone may hook their player to it.

my team is a fun bunch and our team leader is very amiable.

and, for a place that's at least 40 minutes away from home, eastwood isn't so bad.

the breaktime
the best time of the day. breaktime is actually an obstacle race against time, elevator availability, cigarette burn rate and lung capacity. i usually manage to cram two sticks without exceeding the fifteen-minute time limit, if i go alone.

the shifts
i'd really hoped to land a day job so i could still keep my night job. desperation pushed me to sign on for this shifting schedule outsourced job tho. *sigh*

the weekends
the only time i get to watch. and i'm supposed to get used to this. ah well. the past weekend i dedicated to watching mr. brain. this weekend, i might finally watch cowboy bebop.

7

2009-07-07T01:03:00.018+08:00

it's been a while since my last post. stuff have been cutting into my movie-viewing and blogging time. stuff like facebook poker and job applications, haha. so in the past 12 days, i've only managed to watch 7 films.

bagets + doremi

watched these with two sleepover buddies and my housemate. which is probably the best way to enjoy them. or maybe the only way to enjoy them.

pic from here.

sb1, w and i have been meaning to watch bagets. we're currently into re-watching old flicks we only saw snippets of on pbo and cinema one. besides, bagets is an 80s classic starring aga mulach, herbert bautista, eula valdez and yayo aguila in their teens. it can't fail to entertain.

sweet yayo. her character dies, though. pic from here.

eula! pic from here.

so when sb found a vcd copy on sale, she bought it, along with doremi. as i expected, bagets is mediocre in terms of story, cinematography and production. and the copy is awful. however, we did have a good time watching those now-prominent actors in their youth. aga was such a cutie hihi.

despite the mullet. pic from here.

i was actually more excited to see doremi. i guess i missed donna cruz and mikee cojuanco, heee. doremi is a cute chick flick. it follows the story of three ladies who want to make it big as singers. they meet in the restroom of a restaurant. they audition for japan. they get duped. they end up managing some remote carinderia. they find their true calling. it's a feel good movie, plus there's nostalgia for me.

red cliff 1+2

pic from here.

i'm a takeshi kaneshiro fangirl. he's not only a good actor, he's also so so handsome. i first saw him in chungking express where he was totally tyler-durden handsome: able to pull off wearing bad wardrobe.

anyway, in red cliff, he plays a strategist and all-around smart guy in the midst of war in ancient china, much to my dismay. i actually expected him to play a more action-star-ish role, like say a swordsman-archer on a horse. oh well. it's mostly his (bigotilyo-ed) character that adds a distinctly zen feel to this asian epic. which is fortunate because the first film had a lot of borrowed scenes from 300 and troy, and possibly alexander, too, except i haven't seen that one. the second film, though, is so john woo, complete with explosives. oh yes, explosives in ancient china.

i think there are a lot of cgi scenery, especially of the river. still, it's a beautifully shot film. and despite its length (four hours total), the story manages to be engaging until the end.

clerks 2

flabbier ;p pic from here.

if anything, watch clerks 2 for its soundtrack. unlike the original clerks movie, this one has a continuity problem. which is weird because clerks is mainly a collection of connected vignettes. also, jeff anderson's randal graves, my all-time favorite jerk, feels over-the-top in clerks 2. or is it just me? in any case, it makes me sad that i didn't like clerks 2 as much as i loved the first movie.

oh and by the way, i watched this the night before michael jackson died. and just so you know, jackson 5's ABC is one of the film's OST. there's even a production number of it in the film :)

maging sino ka man + eto na naman ako

ah, carding. he's another tyler durden-handsome character. in maging sino ka man, he is so gwapo despite the leather-vest-only top and jeans getup.

the scene where carding goes "mahal na yata kita, maging sino ka man!"

i expected maging sino ka man to be a classic tagalog action-with-romance film: shootouts in abandoned warehouses, telephone negotiations and delayed police response. it doesn't have any of those. shootouts and chases were outdoors and in other crowded areas like a hospital. the ultimate shootout involved the police. and the story didn't need telephone negotiations.

one other thing i liked about this film, which i appreciated more after watching eto na naman ako, is its pacing. though maging sino ka man has everyone's-relaxing-in-the-province scenes, it manages to keep the storytelling taut. also, sharon cuneta and robin padilla make every scene entertaining. i love their chemistry. their characters are also very well-developed.

eto na naman ako, on the other hand, dragged. possibly the best thing about it is that one scene where robin padilla is drinking coffee while eyeing vina morales. *kilig*

*hihihi*

the film suffers from a mediocre premise: her bf's uber-rich parents don't like her for their son so they try to have her killed. i mean, come on. nobody does that, right?

the action scenes are also so-so, and because of the shoddy plot, unnecessary. the script is also problematic, as well as the casting.

this isn't the robin-vina movie that i should've watched. haha.

reservoir dogs

2009-06-24T21:46:00.003+08:00

more than the non-linear storytelling, pop culture references, badass characters and violence typical of quentin tarantino films, the kickass soundtrack is what i love best. tarantino has got the best taste in music, hee. i love those catchy 70's tunes he always puts into his films, reservoir dogs not excluded. i liked the ost of pulp fiction and death proof, even kill bill. i suppose this means inglorious basterds will have a wicked ost as well.

stealers wheel - stuck in the middle with you

anyway, the movie is very engaging. maybe because it made me realize my older brother looks a bit like steve buscemi. haha. reservoir dogs is tarantino's first movie but it already has that distinct tarantino touch in terms of cinematography, characters, plot, etc. it is a must-see for tarantino fans. (or maybe i'm the only self-proclaimed tarantino fan who just recently saw this. *mental headslap*)

die hard

2009-06-24T13:09:00.007+08:00

to hell with laws of physics and everything else you saw on mythbusters. john mcclane can kill a helicopter with a car, jump from high heights without breaking a bone and magically repel bullets from bad guys. he can't die. otherwise, they wouldn't call the franchise die hard.

how to blow up a helicopter, lesson 2. pic from here.

i'm not really into explosive action movies. i prefer watching hand-to-hand combat (jason bourne and other super spy flicks), gun fights (shoot em up, wanted) or martial arts with improv weapon (jackie chan, old boy). so i had reservations about watching this overly-macho terrorism-themed action movie franchise, and rt's ratings for the sequels certainly weren't encouraging, but i ended up enjoying all of them. perhaps even equally.

okay, maybe the first one is the best, having the benefit of originality and all, and the best villain, too, but the sequels each have their own charm, you know? i liked the second one because.. well, i liked the nifty stunt mcclane pulled at the very end. the second movie is actually a poor
sequel to the first one, which has a better plot. it is supposedly bigger than the first movie - bigger and better equipped villains, more hostages, more casualty. it's sad, really, how producers always try to outdo a sequel's original movie by just making everything bigger. but bruce willis' john mcclane is so likeable, despite being epal and all, that it's impossible not to like the second movie.

the third one, of course, has samuel l. jackson. everybody knows samuel l. jackson can make the most ordinary sidekick role cool. heck, he can make any movie cool.

Yeah, Zeus. As in father of Apollo? Mt. Olympus? Don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up your ass? Zeus! You got a problem with that? - Zeus, not Jesus (Samuel L. Jackson). pic from here.

after seeing the third installment in the tetralogy, i found myself hooked on the john mcclane paradox. he manages to come off as vulnerable and formidable at the same time. you know he's invincible (remember the title?) he's practically a god but he bleeds, limps and gets physically tired. he's even got a sense of humor. of course, as i was bound to find out, the limping and getting tired part decreases by the fourth film.

the fourth movie is extremely unbelievable it's funny. i mean, i know john mcclane can't die, right? but old, chainsmoking john mcclane pulling all those stunts and surviving all those explosions? suspension of disbelief stretched to the limit there. anyway, that is the point of the fourth movie. mcclane may be old but he'll never stop being the kickass cop who can single-handedly defeat terrorist groups of 30 or less.

friends

2009-06-20T23:06:00.002+08:00

fun friday nights do not just happen. like art, fun friday nights are the product of societal turmoil, injustice, political instability and, if i may be so bold, hegemony. these factors make beer, like artistic inspiration, flow. ahem. (READ: last friday night was a blast. everybody ranted about work and life, even me. my job? interviewee. hehe.)

j works under the finest, but apparently weirdest, journalist in the country. m1 works for a boss who pretends to espouse grassroots journalism but who doesn't know shiz about it, really. m2 is seriously underpaid and overworked. i mean, seriously. w hates the system at work. me, well, i "work" without pay.

dinner, beer and sleepover. usual, really, but with people like my friends*, all things usual become memorable. *a tear fell*

*just to give you an idea. file photo taken in 2007

4

2009-06-15T04:07:00.008+08:00

in bruges (pronounced brooj, btw)
i love this movie because:
* colin farell surprised me. i didn't expect him to be so good an actor. he has the most expressive eyebrows. i think there should be an oscar award for that - most expressive eyebrows. haha.

"bruges is a shithole." pic from here.

* english humor is just heart. and of course, irish accent.
* simple plot but very well-developed. i like that bit about bruges being a fairy tale-like place and the snow white allusion. and also about bruges being hell, thus ray's need for "redemption." wonderful movie.

cassandra's dream

not gratifying, despite the colin farell and ewan mcgregor factors. i watched this despite the rotten rating. i don't always agree with rt's ratings, anyway. unfortunately, wishing a movie to turn out good just doesn't do.

full metal jacket

i now remember why i always felt like i've seent his movie but know that i haven't, at least not completely, otherwise i'd remember the mickey mouse chorus at the end: i've seen disc 1 of this movie, back when pirated vcds were in. disc 2 didn't play. which, i think, is the reason of the demise of that particular industry. vcds are easily scratched.

i just had to see this. and then i'ma watch jarhead. i've always had a thing for people in uniforms. besides, i love watching offensive films. mahaha.

miller's crossing

*trying to remember genre film lessons*

if i'm not mistaken, this falls squarely under the gangster film genre - as opposed to being a revisionist - because of the following:
* the main protagonist always gets beaten up
* the police aren't the enemy
* the bad/traitor gangster dies
* the bad gangster boss dies
* the main protagonist doesn't get the girl

i miss those good old film 104 (genre film) days.

new wave a la bossa nova

2009-06-11T02:21:00.004+08:00

nouvelle vague's third album is out and i already have a copy XD these are my two favorite tracks:

ah, i love road to nowhere. i can listen to it over and over and over again.

nouvelle vague is the same band that did a cover of the dead kennedys' too drunk to fuck, which is included in planet terror's ost. i still find their version of the song.. cute. you can listen to it here.

pinoy romantic flicks

2009-06-11T01:37:00.010+08:00

so far this week, i've only seen filipino movies. and when i say filipino movies, i mean romantic flicks. we do make romantic films that make one say "yowwwwnamannn." needless to say, i love filipino romantic flicks. probably in the same way i love tagalog pocketbooks*. aheh.

sana maulit muli (1995)

this one's a classic, according to a friend, because of (1) aga, (2) lea and (3) US setting. and the following yowwwnamannn scene:

jerry: nobody has the right to hurt me this way!
agnes: hurt? hindi mo alam kung ano ang sinasabi mo, jerry, dahil hindi mo alam kung gaano mo ako nasaktan. huwag mong ipamukha sakin ang mga sakripisyo mo dahil hindi mo alam kung gaano ako naghirap bago ako nakarating sa kinaroroonan ko ngayon. dahil pinabayaan mo ko.

(transcription=effort=affected?! ;p)

sana maulit muli is a full-blown romantic drama. it doesn't have comic relief characters. just tears and a happy ending. though filipino romantic flicks tend to be too sentimental and over-the-top, i like them anyway. no other genre can affect me the way tagalog romance/drama can. i don't really know why.

you changed my life (2009)

this one is a feel-very-very-very-good movie. yes, i am a fan of john lloyd cruz. mahaha.

the sarah geronimo-john lloyd cruz loveteam is such a big hit, they're making a third laida-miggy movie. according to wikipedia, you changed my life holds the record of being the highest grossing local film. its prequel, a very special love, ranks 4th, next to ang tanging ina nyong lahat and sukob.

impressive. i don't know why i was surprised when i read about the planned third movie. i might even watch that one at the mall.

*by rose tan.

kimutaku lovin

2009-06-07T04:57:00.010+08:00

oh, yes, i love him. i am currently on jdorama mode, since most of the programs i watch are currently over. no, scrap that. i am currently on jdorama mode because of kimutaku.

kimutaku is kimura takuya. he's like the axxo of japanese tv - his shows have the highest ratings in the same way axxo torrents have the most number of seeds. a very dorky comparison, i know.

but possibly much more charming.

kimutaku as kuryu kohei in hero. pic from here.

i've seen (only) three of his jdoramas but i found that, despite the hair, kimutaku is irresistible. love, inevitable. haha. his sudden smiles won me over.

kuryu kohei is my favorite kimutaku character of all. pic from here.

i saw him first in one million stars falling from the sky, a dark drama about crime, love, secrets and death. then i saw him in hero, a detective drama although kuryu kohei, kimutaku's character, is actually a prosecutor.

unlike one million stars falling from the sky, hero has a stellar cast playing such endearing characters. perfect chemistry and superb comedic timing. if it wasn't for the crime solving theme, this would've passed for a japanese the office. i love those eavesdropping scenes.

as asakura-sensei. improvement on the hair is a relief. pic from here.

in change, which i just finished watching, kimutaku plays an idealistic (and ideal) prime minister. the series shows his rise in politics - from an ordinary grade school teacher, to amateur/ignorant parliamentarian, to respectable prime minister. it's supposedly a political drama, but it's far from
boring. it couldn't be, with abe hiroshi there. change is somewhat like boston legal, with the inspirational speeches and humor. i wonder if they'll make an SP of this drama? i hope they don't make a movie of it, though. jdorama movies are soo hard to ~~download~~ acquire.

for some reason, my drama source, d-addicts, has a no-movie rule. getting a copy of hero has been the hardest leeching experience of my life. i created an lj account just to gain access to this community which apparently has a copy of the movie. but they didn't approve my request soon enough, and i found this copy on rapidshare. so i made the effort of downloading all 15 100mb files - not simultaneously. rapidshare has this download limit thing where you have to wait about 15 minutes before you can download another file. it is a pain in the neck.

but the movie was totally worth it. it tied up all the loose ends in the series and SP, particularly the kuryu-amamiya relationship *kilig*. the last scene was absolutely rewarding *kilig*. then again, that means i won't be seeing any more of kuryu kohei.

next up, mr. brain (because it will also star himono-onna girl, ayase haruka!!). i want to watch love generation but i'm afraid of the 90s hairstyle.

so afraid. pic from wiki.d-addicts.com.

i have yet to convince myself that they're part of my childhood, that happy time in my life when ice cream solved everything and i still had straight hair.

burn notice season 3

2009-06-05T22:19:00.009+08:00

the gang's back!

fi, michael, sam and the dodge charger. pic from usanetwork.com

there's something lacking in the premiere. maybe time. they tried to squeeze in too much story into the first episode that it ended up being hurried. or maybe it's just me; i always felt burn notice season premieres were a bit.. off. hm. anyway, i am so happy they're back.

too bad carla didn't make it. she's my favorite bitch, ever.

carla and michael were frienemies. pic from wnypapers.com

burn notice makes my fridays perfect.

filipino films

2009-06-05T01:24:00.008+08:00

w, my roommate, wants me "to promote" filipino films by uploading and seeding them. while i have nothing against sharing and piracy, i can't be an uploader and seeder myself. sadly, my pc has a very limited memory. besides, there's already wingtip.

wingtip gave us dahil mahal na mahal kita, the movie that gave us the line, "para kang chewing gum na masarap nguyain." the same movie that made it clear to me that i have kontrabida/bad girl hair.

curly-haired mela: flirt, naughty, smoker. favorite line: "hi, boyyys!"

good-girl mela: straight hair. photos from pollgenius.com.

i wish wingtip would upload labs kita..okey ka lang?

best played loud

2009-06-01T12:04:00.003+08:00

to date, push push (lady lightning) remains my favorite easy song on frets on fire (pc/cheaper version of guitar hero), and overall favorite bang camaro song.

bang camaro - push push (lady lightning)

i recently acquired a copy of bang camaro's second album, bang camaro II, and these two are my favorite tracks.

bang camaro - night lies

bang camaro - revolution

lengthy guitar solos is love ;p

terminator

2009-05-31T08:55:00.005+08:00

it was z, one of my korean students, who urged me to watch the terminator movies. he assured me that terminator 2: judgment day is a must-see. his assurance pretty much checked out with wikipedia's, so i decided to go ahead and ~~download~~ acquire a copy of the trilogy.

this is how i choose which movies to watch: by asking people or by reading lists and comparing them to mine. i also like following the careers of actors/actresses, directors and screenwriters after seeing proof of their awesomeness. no, i rarely watch new movies. as much as i love watching movies, i become a tight piece of stingy ass when i get invited to the movies.

z hasn't quite failed me in the movie taste department. he's made me watch the usual suspects and taken. i enjoyed both movies. with terminator 2, however, i am undecided. i can't say it sucked. it was certainly an improvement on the first movie, which bored and annoyed me. fifteen minutes into the terminator and i was just waiting for the torture to end. suspension of disbelief was difficult to sustain with that one.

terminator 2 had an impressive array of fight scenes - car chase, guns, crazy hot mom vs mental hospital guards, cyborg vs indestructible cyborg - strategically paced throughout the duration of the movie. still, i found the movie at least a half hour too long. it tried too hard to give arnold the terminator character, but i thought that part unnecessary, or at least, not cute. ("why do you[people] cry?" oh, please.) arnold schwarzenegger, anyway. edward furlong was cute. ;p

before the drugs *i hope*. pic from iconocast.com.

i can see now why the terminator became a successful movie franchise. important questions are left unanswered: why did john connor send back a cyborg that looked exactly like the one that killed his father? if the T-1000 was made of liquid metal, how did it get to time-travel? what did dr. silberman, and everyone else who thought sarah connor crazy, make of that attack on the lapd in the first movie? surely, only terminators could pull off such an assault in such a short time. and didn't anyone notice that the killer didn't even bother to dodge bullets?

should i watch the other teminator movies or should i just move on?

star wars

2009-05-30T05:46:00.010+08:00

pop culture references about star wars will never be lost on me again. yeah, i just saw them. yeah, it's about time. what self-respecting movie buff hasn't seen THE star wars saga, right?

30 rock's liz lemon wears her princess leia costume to avoid jury duty. photo from the official starwars blog.

since i have all the time in the world right now, i thought i might as well upgrade my pop culture database*. so now i know how cool the jedi are, and what that slave leia costume is all about.

the mother of all bikinis. photo from leia's metal bikini.

and what a piece of work C-3PO is. i love 3PO.

"do take care of yourself, r2." pic from wookieepedia.

i watched all six movies this week, prequel-original order. i think i was advised to watch the sci-fi franchise beginning with chapter iv, so that i wouldn't under-appreciate the original series which featured cruder technologies. however, i think it better to watch them chronologically (i,ii,iii,iv,v,vi) and not bother with anachronisms. the prequel just had a more familiar cast and better cgi, but the original series is far more entertaining. of course, if you're just into jedi fight scenes and what i call "star wars scenes" - good starships cgi versus bad starships cgi - you'd like the prequel series better. after watching the prequel trilogy, the original seems.. realistic.

*warning: fangirling follows. because my roommate is sick and tired of my raving.*

my favorite movie of all would have to be episode vi:
- slave leia costume
- luke skywalker with cool jedi powers
- ewoks
- deity 3PO
- redemption of anakin skywalker

favorite jedi: anakin skywalker
first of all, his last name is just bitchin. he's better than obi-wan kenobi, he married queen amidala and turned her into a house wife, and he became darth frigging vader. true, i hated his emo moments, but his emo-ness made him more human, unlike the staid kenobi. also, if his mother is to be believed, anakin was conceived through parthenogenesis. how cool is that?

runner-up: obi-wan kenobi
gifted with dry humor, obi-wan kenobi is also exceptional with the light saber (although his fight scene with count dooku in chapter ii was lame). he's good through and through and i would've made him my favorite jedi if there was more to know about him like a dark past or a cheesy love affair.

/fangirling

*next projects: terminator, die hard, indiana jones, other suggestions?

favorite kickass movie character: domino

2009-05-25T18:22:00.008+08:00

the list is as yet incomplete, but bounty hunter extraordinaire domino harvey is up there in the top 10, probably next to tyler durden and mr. smith.

knife AND nunchucks, dammit. photo from keiraweb.com

he's right, watching keira kick ass is fun, even though the movie itself sucked a bit.

the lap dance was wooooot!

in any case, a perfect second movie to gosford park.

2

2009-05-18T19:48:00.000+08:00

1. chaser

i wish somebody had told me to stay away from this film. although technically well-executed, this one is too difficult to appreciate.

the plot is simple, really. it's about a serial killer who targeted prostitutes. this isn't a mystery movie, because he got nabbed early in the film. this isn't a psychological thriller, either, since there are no mind games involved in this. in fact, the movie doesn't say what the serial killer's motive for killing was. this film is basically about struggle. the pimp's struggle to get back at the guy who killed his girls. the prostitutes struggle to escape. the police's struggle to find evidence against the killer. and then there's my struggle.

i have a deep respect for korean cinema, i do. so when i saw this on his list, i immediately felt the need to see it. although i know a bit about korean culture, specifically about their obsession with hierarchy and saving face, i still hated seeing those in play in their police. mostly because i hate seeing underlings kowtowing to stubborn leaders who have a tendency to scream at everyone.

also something i know about korean cinema but can't appreciate: long, pointless fist fights and chasing scenes. yeah, there's one too many of those here.

oh no, i'm getting all worked up. i really shouldn't have watched this film.

i know a second viewing would probably be helpful for me to understand this movie. maybe there're some underlying subtleties that i missed? but that would be torture. can somebody please watch this movie and tell me about it?

2. snow angels

this is one depressing movie. not only because kate beckinsale only wore winter clothes all throughout the film. more because this one made me realize my greatest fear: unhappiness in life because of being in lousy relationships. *emo alert*

sigh. i should've just watched hayao miyazaki animated films.

leeching

2009-05-18T16:53:00.002+08:00

5

2009-05-16T07:29:00.001+08:00

i watched five films in the past two days. clearly, all i need to become a total movie junkie is my own laptop - having a laptop means getting to watch movies on the sofa. ah, sofa, i surely underestimated you.

anyway:
1. hunger*

intermittently shocking and subdued, this film is about one man's hunger strike. (the title is literal, so stop thinking about other kinds of hunger.) bobby sands, the man you'll see slowly dying during the second half of the film, is an IRA prisoner in the late 70s. he began the 1981 irish hunger strike to regain the status of political prisoners for him and his comrades. i never really had the chance to read up on that IRA issue. in any case, britain at the time considered them terrorists and margaret thatcher, whose voice can be heard on the film several times, didn't concede to the IRA's demands even after a number of hunger strikers died.

the film is graphic with minimal dialogue. it mostly showed what prison life was. for the protesters: no clothes, beatings, secret communication, dirty cells, humiliation. for prison guards: routine, and on rare occasions, guilt and remorse. one prison guard is shown with hands perpetually cut from beating the prisoners daily, a tired look on his face as he washes the blood after. a riot policeman is shown crying while naked prisoners are beaten to a pulp by his colleagues.

and then, just before he starts the hunger strike, bobby sands meets his priest friend and they have a riveting serious conversation about protesting and doing the right thing and stuff. riveting, because they are irish and you have to be riveted to understand their conversation. and that's about the longest dialogue there is in the film. what follows is a gut-wrenching documentary of a person slowly dying of hunger. his hunger strike lasted for six weeks. six frigging weeks without food and that's what happens: organs crashing, bed sores erupting along the spine, weakness and immobility. as he lay dying, he sees himself as the determined and head-strong young boy that he was, and i suppose that's a positive note.

michael fassbender. pic taken from aol entertainment

heavy stuff, this movie. you can understand why i needed to watch a clive owen action flick immediately after.

2. inside man

after my experience with once and across the universe, i realized that you can't watch anything after a moving film unless it's an action flick. (to this day, across the universe lies ignored in my harddrive, at risk of being deleted. once totally ruined me for all other musicals.)

but the inside man, despite it's stellar cast (clive owen, denzel washington, jodie foster) failed to ease that lump in my throat. its strangely-scored opening (what's with the indian music???) was ominous. it tried too hard to be twisted and smart. i hate that clive owen wasn't just a regular bad guy. i hate that they played the holocaust card.

still, it is a clive owen action flick. so.

clive owen after a long day *gaaa* photo taken from thebosh.com

3. let the right one in*

it's one of those movies touted as genre-breaking, so you're left expecting not to see the expected. and, indeed, you don't. there's not much blood (making the occasional slaughter
shocking) and not much horror, really, only the story of innocent love with a supernatural angle. the plot is actually simple: boy meets new neighbor. boy is bullied, girl encourages him. and then boy finds out that girl is a vampire and a falling out of sorts ensues. but their love is apparently pure and they end up together.

the storytelling is unhurried but engaging. i liked the trick with the snowy, sleepy setting. it helped minimize details, letting the creep slowly sink in.

4. vicky cristina barcelona*

i'm not a big fan of woody allen. i liked matchpoint but then i watched his other films, and i thought him too..old. haha. too much dialogue, slow pace, that's-it?!! endings. but i heard about a scarlett johansson-penelope cruz kissing scene.

in the darkroom! pic from mail online

so.

unlike woody allen's other films, this one isn't weighed down by too much dialogue.

and spain is such a beautiful country.

i found the art and culture theme a bit intimidating at first. i mean, love stories are supposed to lead romantic fools into thinking "this could happen to me. i could be that silly girl." of course, i'll never get to spend a summer vacation in barcelona anytime soon. probably never. and i'll never get invited by a hot artist to spend the weekend with him in a lovely place called oviedo. i'll also never get to hangout with artists and engage them in an intelligent discussion about art. there's too much culture in this movie. then again, that's exactly why i liked this movie. it is intelligent and cultured without a hint of pretentiousness. that woody allen is one freakishly cultured person. and penelope cruz so deserved that oscar.

5. a life less ordinary

i didn't like cameron diaz here. i also didn't like ewan mcgregor's hair. but holly hunter makes one spunky angel or something, and she is fun to watch.

undercover angel/matchmaker/bounty hunter/kidnapper. holly hunter. pic from tv guide.

* heads up by sani. i'm currently downloading snow angels, the chaser and the flight of the red balloon. hopefully, i can watch them before the laptop's owner returns.

me versus the frying pan

2009-05-08T17:32:00.000+08:00

the morning was sunny and cheery, made all the more beautiful by the fact that i woke up to experience it. and also because i was able to throw out the garbage.

so i decided to cook. after getting the hang of cooking rice and omelet (using the term loosely, of course), i've been finding cooking a pretty fun experience.

i thawed the "ready-to-fry" chicken i bought yesterday. i was waiting for the chicken to melt into several ready-to-fry parts when i realized that what i bought was a one-piece whole chicken. i guess some people fry whole chickens, but i didn't think that was right. so i chopped the chicken into four parts, took a leg part and put the rest back in the freezer. chopping was fun, so i didn't stress myself out over the false advertising.

still confident and feeling good, i prepped the frying pan. and this is where the battle goes downhill. my nemesis, the frying pan, is an old pan with an uneven surface and, i think,
uneven thickness. the middle part of the pan pops out when heated, so most of the oil is collected near the pan's rim. the popped-out surface sizzles so bad, splashing oil all over the place everytime i maneuver the chicken around the pan. as you may imagine, these make frying a trying experience. by the time i decided the chicken was good enough for eating, most of the oil was splattered on the floor, my arms and my face.

but i don't intend to give up on frying. because people in the movies and in jdoramas never gave up. my trial is nothing compared to surviving the greatest maritime accident of the 20th century or coping with a hearing problem after proving yourself musically gifted, so i can't give up. all i need is a more decent frying pan.

the chicken tasted good, by the way.

the post-grad post

2009-05-07T02:47:00.000+08:00

if you ask me now what i want, what with finally graduating and all, i can give you a pretty straighforward answer:

i want to earn a lot of money so i can save up enough to buy a farm.

and if i think too much about it, i can even see myself working abroad for a few years just to reach this dream i didn't even know i had.

it was all my aunt's fault. she gave me that idea. lease even just less than a hectare of a ricefield, and you can have an ideally decent return of investment twice a year. decent being thirty percent. if you're afraid things don't go ideal, she said, you can go for copra, it's cheap and safe. for risk-takers with deeper pockets, there's always fish ponds. *crabs*

so i asked my mother how leasing a farm works.

typically, one needs a lot of money, a trusted tenant farmer and in-depth know-how and experience in agricultural management. luckily for me, my mother can take care of the last two items, so my contribution would only be in the form of cash.

so if i get the money, i will become *drumroll* gladdish the landowner!! *giddy*

growing up, i never thought i'd want to be involved in agriculture. in fact, i scoffed at the scholarship i received from mindanao state university, which offered to pay for my tuition if i studied agricultural engineering.

now, i'm a journ grad and i think i may have to write seo-ized articles for a living. that, or work abroad as an ESL teacher or whatever. i know what you're thinking: grim, bleak, gray, cheerless, dreary, dismal.

*sigh*

so to end on a positive note:

*drumroll* gladdish the landowner!!

this blog

2009-05-06T21:50:00.000+08:00

this blog will be about me and the things that i like: bumming, movies, music, food, travel and money. maybe even books. i do like books, but most of the books i've been reading are rather of the guilty pleasure kind - romance novels, tagalog pocketbooks and history books.

this blog will not be about my roommate.