If the Shoe Fits...

Seen at a couple of L.A. Gear branches...

Bloggers Unite!

It's fascinating to think that someone who is 3,854 Kilometers from Manila could bring together a group of people who she barely even know and have a party for her last July 22, 2005. :) Naomi held some sort of a contest/game on her blog for her pre-birthday blowout and she gave a prize out for her blog friends in Manila and fortunately, I was one of the winners! Now since she's not in Manila, and since most of the winners were from Manila, she decided to give a sort of birthday blowout/EB for us through her friends May and Ning. Well, what can I say, I had fun meeting all of them. Too bad the host of the party wasn't there to celebrate with us. May I just greet the lady a very happy birthday! I do hope to see you when you come home on December and all the wonderful people I've met, YanYan, kring, ning, may, mauie, yax, aion, marhgil, marco. :D

Sorry guys if I posted the pictures just now. I had a bit of a problem getting online lately. Anyway, here they are... (Click on the images to see larger photos)

Adobe - dobeedoo...

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Last weekend, Adobe Systems Inc. and Wordtext Systems Inc (WSI), the exclusive Adobe products Philippine distributor sponsored a FREE Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2) seminar at Onstage in Greenbelt I, Makati City. It was an all-day event where expert speakers demonstrated the new features of Adobe's CS2 namely Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive and InDesign. The full version of the Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium retails for P84,995. Yes, software does cost a lot of money.

Anyway, I won the water bottle in the raffle. The 100 Photoshop CS2 Hot Tips booklet is included in the kit they handed out to participants, which the distributor claims cost around US$25.00. Yey.

The Cold and Day-old Pizza Test

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The true test for great tasting pizza is when its cold and a day old. The thin crust double cheese pizza of The Pizza Company passed the test. I had the leftovers for breakfast and it still tasted great even if it was cold and a day old. :D I just found out that The Pizza Company is a leading pizza brand in Thailand. The only branch in Manila that I am aware of is at the Market! Market! mall in Fort Bonifacio Global City in Makati.

Books, Books, Books...

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Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do... I have started on Book 5 of the Harry Potter series but somebody borrowed the book from me. I borrowed a copy of Book 6 from a friend and I'm currently reading Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe which, I am told is book 2 of a trilogy. I recently saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie recently and I loved it.

Pinoy Pulp

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I was fortunate enough to get a FREE ticket to the premiere screening of Peque Gallaga’s newest film, Pinoy Blonde by Unitel Pictures. That was about a week ago. Took me that long to finally decide if I liked the film. Now do I like the film? As of this writing, I still haven’t decided yet.

I’ve seen some of Peque Gallaga’s work before and I’ve grown to love them. Oro Plata Mata (1982), an episode in Shake Rattle and Roll (Manananggal, 1984), films co-directed with Lore Reyes Kid, Huwag Kang Susuko (1987), Isang Araw Walang Diyos (1989), and Shake Rattle and Roll 2, 3 and 4 (1990, 1991, 1992 respectively). Pinoy Blonde is quite different from all these films I’ve mentioned in the sense that it didn’t follow the norm that these films conformed to. I think it’s heavily influenced by by Quentin Tarantino’s movies though, like Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (2003) and Kill Bill ver. 2.0 (2004). My fondness for these films does not carry on for the director though.

Anyway, the pseudo-intellectual banter, unusual camera work, cut-to animation sequences, the title graphics were all done very well and it seems that a lot of work has gone into the making of this film. It involved a lot of very talented and capable actors. I commend all the people involved in the making of this movie. But they could’ve done better. The people involved have already done a great job as it is. All I’m saying is they could’ve pushed it a bit further than where they’ve gone with it.

A lot of the stuff they did here has never been done before in Philippine Cinema. But Tarantino has done it before. We've know of and have seen Tarantino. So nothing's really new here except that its the first film to mimic Tarantino and Tarantino-esque film ideas. Like what they're tagline says, hindi typical Pinoy film on one hand but on another, it's a typical Tarantino-style film.

Up On The Roof

Photos I took on a lazy, rainy weekend afternoon...

UP ON THE ROOF
by James Taylor

When this old world starts a getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I’ll climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space

On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below don’t bother me, no, no

So when I come home feeling tired and beat
I’ll go up where the air is fresh and sweet
I’ll get far away from the hustling crowd
And all the rat-race noise down in the street

On the roof, that’s the only place I know
Look at the city, baby
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof

And at night the stars they put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me
That’s what I said
Keep on telling you

That right smack dab in the middle of town
I found a paradise that’s troubleproof
And if this old world starts a getting you down
There’s room enough for two
Up on the roof...

Burger Machine Ultimate Double Burger

The Burger Machine Ultimate Double Burger has two patties, the top one is covered with cheesy bacon bits and the bottom patty is topped with chili. I don't remember exactly the cost but it's around thirty five Pesos. I had one for dinner several weeks ago. The crew preparing it burned the top portion of my sandwich but it was ok. I think that's the essence of street food. Flavored with a bit of carbon monoxide, smog and dust. Mmmm... Tsalap!

Trains of Thought

I accompanied a friend from Libis, Quezon City to buy a Personal Computer for one of their offices a couple of weeks ago. These are pictures of the train ride from Katipunan to Gilmore in Cubao. It's quite convenient to take the train especially on a rainy day. I love the weather! Ang saya saya!

*****

Several days ago, I got bored at home (I was supposedly sick and resting). So I decided to go malling. Nothing much to see in Makati so I took the train to Ortigas. Had lunch in... I forgot tha name of the place. Kainis. Anyway, its a boxed-rice place run by San Miguel Purefoods Company Inc. at the Ayala MRT station. Took these picturesof my ride from Ayala station to Ortigas station.

P.S.
Found out the name of that boxed-rice place... "Inbox." :D