Reputation?

The fourth season of Desperate Housewives premiered a few days ago and surely Susan's line is sure to cause an uproar.

A brief background, Susan is given a diagnosis by a new doctor which she refuses to accept.

Susan: Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas cause I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines.

I'm not one to react strongly to similar depictions of our beloved country primarily because it's their opinion and I wouldn't want to waste my time trying to convince people otherwise. I am, however, baffled by the particular line above. Do our graduates really give off that impression?

It's scary.

Unexpected Surprise

Guess who trooped over to our office? Ang TP!

Missing in the picture is Ms. Jing who's on the phone.

Minette, sayang wala ka!

Extraordinary Friend

Finally spent time with Jencarps last Saturday. We both wanted to watch Avenue Q but since there were no more tickets that we both can afford, we decided to catch Rep's Love's Labor's Lost at Onstage since we were already there. The dilemma is that we're there before lunch and the show starts at 8.

We spent the first part of the morning shopping...(Jencarps shopping and me watching her) and then we met up with Obie and his sister for lunch at the Tea Salon. After lunch, with Jencarps barely surviving and the morning marathon taking it's toll on us, we decided to make time pass at Fuzion . I was surprised when Jencarps ordered food! This is barely an hour after lunch.





Time sure did pass with our incessant gabbing! By the time the show started we were already tired and feeling sleepy. I desperately tried to keep my eyes open while Jencarps peacefully dozed off beside me! :))

Excluding our short meetings for Zsazsa, we never really had a chance to catch up on each other's lives. It was sure fun to finally spend the entire day just talking about what keeps us busy and the emotional roller coaster ride that we both had to go through.

Fooooooooood!!!!!!!!

I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed (at around 1pm) upon receiving Willie's call reminding me that he's already on his way for our swim meet. This has long been planned and I really needed the exercise so I took a shower though still very sleepy. After the invigorating exercise, we headed to Shangri-la for a late lunch at Tokyo Tokyo with Em-J and Clarice in tow.
Upon arriving at the office, I received a message from my manager reminding me that we'll be joining Em-J's team for dinner at Dad's. I was already full and decided that I'll no longer be partaking in the buffet. We then headed to Dad's Megamall but I found the smell of food too enticing to pass up. Before I knew it, I was already holding a blue plate and filling it with food.


I frankly had more than enough of my fill that it was pure agony just staying still. I am swearing off buffets...for now. Uggh!!!

Curiously, on our way back to the office, a shot taken by our friend caught us looking at the rows of food kiosks near the supermarket. :)

Insiang

Avenue Q

Last Saturday, I finally got the chance to watch Avenue Q at the RCBC (thanks to Hogi!). I frankly didn't expect much since I wasn't sure if the the Manila production would be able to pull it off. Not that I have anything to base it on but the musical is so different, to quote them "it's a new breed of musical", that it's scary to expect too much.

The show, however, blew me away! It's laugh-out-loud good! Though I am already familiar with the songs where you can already surmise the plot, the experience is totally different.

The actors, most of them veterans of the stage, still managed to surprise me with their talent. Hats off to Rachel Alejandro whose seamless transition from the sweet Kate Monster to the seductive Lucy the Slut is already worth your ticket price. Ditto to Felix Rivera whose on stage a lot as Princeton and Rod. The biggest revelation, however, is Frenchie Dy. She is perfect as Christmas Eve! We luurve her!!!!

Avenue Q is already on it's 2nd week! Hurry and get your tickets now!

BFFs, What's Up?

I finally got a chance to chat with Nar earlier this evening and it was fun to laugh out loud once more. Ang culprit sa laugh session ay ang kanyang puppy love!!! Ang exciting di ba?

Similarly, Hogi has a story to tell...hmmm...can't wait! Tama na ang Avenue Q!

Minette, i-reschedule natin ang movie date na plinano mo at ikaw pa ang hindi nakasama! :))

Dyown, naghihintay ang buffet...kailan ba to?

Zee, kamusta naman? Parang ang tagal na rin kitang di nakakakwentuhan.

Hilary, I miss you! Ikaw na nagturo samin how to english the sosyal way!

Glenn, kamusta na ang restructuring?

Tin at Micah, kayo lang ang palagi kong nakakausap...ano pa bang bago?

Best Broadway Shows

TWO OF THE BEST BROADWAY SHOWS ARE HERE!

WINNER - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
WINNER - Tony Award for Best Play
NOMINEE - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play

ART tells the story of three long-time friends, Serge, Marc and Yvan. Serge, indulging his penchant for modern art, buys a large, expensive, completely white painting. Marc is horrified, and their relationship suffers considerable strain as a result of their differing opinions about what constitutes "art." Yvan, caught in the middle of the conflict, tries to please and mollify both of them.

The one-night only performance is produced by Little Boy Productions and Actor's Actors Inc, and features a cast of three well-respected names in the Philippine entertainment industry - Jett Pangan, Michael de Mesa and Ricky Davao.

WHEN: September 22, 2007 at 8PM
WHERE: Music Museum
TICKET PRICES: P700, P500 and P300

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW AND AVAIL OF A 10% DISCOUNT. YOU CAN REACH ME AT 0916-3853642

WINNER - Tony Award for Best Musical
WINNER - Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical
WINNER - Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical
NOMINEE - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Musical

AVENUE Q, the phenomenally inventive musical that combines people and puppets, is about real life. It's about finding a job, losing a job, learning about racism, getting an apartment, getting kicked out of your apartment, being different, falling in love, promiscuity, avoiding commitment, hangovers, Internet porn and discovering the world.

The Philippine production produced by Atlantis and directed by Bobby Aquino stars Rachel Alejandro, Frenchie Dy, Aiza Seguerra and Joel Trinidad.

WHEN: September 14, 2007 at 8PM
WHERE: RCBC Theater
TICKET PRICES: P1250, P1000 and P500

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW AND AVAIL OF A 10% DISCOUNT. YOU CAN REACH ME AT 0916-3853642

8 Insanely Random Facts About Me

I have been tagged by Roy eons ago for this meme but I haven't been able to blog as much so I'm posting this just now. Also used the same info for a similar meme I answered several months back. :)

1. I like things to be really organized that I need an organizer to organize my organizers. Really. For instance, I have several notebooks at work to keep track of what I'm doing. I have one for internal trainings, one for my to-do lists, one for process observation notes, one as a scratch whenever I feel like doodling, and on top of that I still have a journal.

I also come up with all sorts of trackers, quick links, and folders in the shared drive.
With the intent of keeping things organized, it usually becomes more disorganized.

2. I'm not a music fan so don't ask me about the latest releases. However, if I hear something that I like, I can listen to that song repeatedly for days on end.

3. I have my own weird way of eating one of my favorite chocolates. Twix, for instance, I start with eating all the chocolate and caramel and save the biscuits for last.

4. I love cakes...but when I dine out, I really have difficulty choosing which cake to try that I end up not buying one. In fact, I haven't bought a slice of cake in ages. Nevermind if I salivate daily over the displays at Goodies & Sweets and Coffee Beanery on my way to work.

5. Lastly, I love expired chocolates. All chocolates have the same distinct taste when it expires that I just can't say no to. In fact, the chocolate drink of a famous coffee shop became one of my favorites because it tastes just like that!

6. I don't know how to cook. Yes, I took up hotel, restaurant, and institution management in college but it doesn't follow that I'm also a good cook.

7. I don't like to shop for clothes. I'd have difficulty shelling out a few bucks for clothes but wouldn't mind spending more for a book I like.

8. I've never been drunk!

Mababaw na Kaligayahan

As most of you already know, I have finally moved to Mandaluyong. I'm now a city lad! Hahaha!

The place though quite bare is a huge convenience since it takes me roughly about 10 minutes to get to work. I do, however, get bored since I don't have a tv and an internet connection yet. Last night, to pass off time, I rummaged through some of the junk that I brought there and was surprised to find tickets to musicals that my sister and I watched a few years back. Ang saya mag-reminisce.
******
A couple of announcements from Sykes made us all very happy. First, since there is a heavy downpour, McDonald's will be setting up their booth at one of our floors. Nothing can be more convenient! The second announcement, on top of our regular daily transpo allowance, all our taxi fares for the day will be reimbursed! Yey!!!

The Pillowman

The Pillowman is a play by Martin McDonagh. A drama, it tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occurring in his town.

The play had its world premiere on November 13, 2003 at the Royal National Theatre, starring David Tennant as Katurian, the play's primary focus, Jim Broadbent as Tupolski his lead interrogator, Nigel Lindsay as Ariel, and Adam Godley as Michal. It received the 2004 Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Award nomination for Best New Play. It was directed by John Crowley.

Katurian is being interviewed; Some of the short stories he wrote are similar to some bizarre child murders that are happening in the town. Katurian of course denies these allegations, stating that although his stories are gruesome it is the job of a storyteller to tell a story. After being tortured Katurian is thrown into a room with his mentally handicapped brother Michal. Michal says that he was the one who killed the children, and was only doing what was in the stories because “that is what his brother wanted him to do”. Katurian doesn’t want his brother to be executed for something that he wasn’t fully cognizant about so Katurian smothers his brother with a pillow. Katurian then later confesses to the murders of the three children, making a deal with Tupolski and Ariel that if he did they would not destroy his stories. When the police find the crime scenes they find that his description of them do not match the crime scenes at all. They know that Katurian wasn’t the murderer, but he is executed anyway for the murder of his parents and Michal.

Article from wikipedia

Sweeney Todd

Another movie to look forward to this coming December...

Also, the poster for Saw 4 has already been released, wala bang katapusan ang Saw? Enough with the gore! Baka pati Hostel gumaya!

Fully Booked!

I figured that posting an entry about our most recent escapade is quite pointless since I am with all my BFFs, my only ardent readers here in multiply...but what the heck.

I really needed to go to Bayantel since I still have to settle my disconnection request but I woke up late so I decided to wait for Micah's class to end instead. Zee sent me a message informing me that she'll be at Glorietta so instead of heading over to CCP, we decided to meet them there. However, on our way, they decided to leave the mall and head to CCP.

We went to the cinemas to secure our tickets but the line was horrendously long. It was worse than falling in line for Juday's movie during last year's filmfest. We didn't want our efforts to go to waste so I decided to take advantage of sureseats instead. There was only one person who's using the sureseats terminal but she nearly took forever. When it was already my turn to use the station, Micah (who I asked to fall in line in case sureseats is not working) was already near the counter. We still opted to use sureseats in case someone backs out.

We then went to CCP where Hogi was waiting for us at Batute. With nothing to do, we decided to have dinner at Tapa King to get to know our new companion, Hilary Hilarious. It was never boring with her. According to Tin, who was unusually quiet that time, she was being upstaged. After dinner, we went back to CCP where Lao and Minette were. Back to Glorietta we go and we went straight to Food Choices for another bonding session. After that, back to the sureseats terminal to pay for our tickets.

The movie was disappointing but thanks to Hilary and Lao's comments, I was kept entertained. I wished to have sat with Nar to complete the loud trio but that would be way too distracting already. Hilary was a fun companion when it comes to watching movies, sobra!

After the movies, Hilary bade us goodbye and the rest of us decided to head to Malate for Lao and Nar's videoke performance. At nearly 4, Tin called it a night. The rest went back to our place for more kwentuhan sessions.

I can't stress enough how fun the weekend has been. Hoping to spend more time with you all.

Siopao

A siopao made of cat meat is already considered an urban legend. Recently, luncheon meats were put in the spotlight when fake Ma-Lings (a popular brand) proliferated the market that is allegedly made up of cat and rat meat. (No follow-up report was released so the claim was neither proven or disproven) Disgusting right?

This was shown following exposes on how unsanitary and vile the manufacturing and repacking of sugar, rice, and fish crackers are.

Yesterday, deception reaches a new low when it was reported that steam buns (siopao) are partly made up of cardboard. How sad is this?

BEIJING — Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and made tasty with pork flavoring, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

China Central Television's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.

The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground.

"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.

"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda — a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap — then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on-screen. The reporter takes a bite.

"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"

"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."

Report from www.newsvine.com
Read the complete article here.

Weekday at TP

I arrived at CCP at a little past 1pm. I went straight to the TP office and was really embarrassed when I saw one of my blog entries posted in their bulletin board. Paolo texted me that he'll be printing it out and posting it but I got the message right when I was already by the door. Ms. Yvette was still busy so Paolo and I went outside so I can finally convince him to join us this coming Saturday. Hogi arrived soon after.Ms. Yvette, Hogi and I then headed to Starbucks to discuss some things and then back to the TP office for a little more chitchat with Paolo. As it was when we were with Zshali, Paolo shared his wealth of knowledge regarding musicals complete with musical numbers. I also managed to take a video, he was too busy singing his heart out to object. Hehe. Sharing some photos here:

Hogi then headed home while I headed to the office to officially start my day at work. How sad. It was a pretty busy day so I hardly noticed the time but I also wasn't able to check multiply much.

Delayed Thank Yous!

Zshali, true to her word, gave me a copy of Bob Ong's Macarthur last week. I already finished the book and have already said my views on it. With "bogaloid" as a new term introduced by the book, can't help but remember other weird terms that we previously use such as Spongklong and Burunggoy. Don't exactly remember what they both mean but I know Ralph, Nicole and I use spongklong often. Burrongoy naman is a term that my high school chem teacher used to call us. Kayo meron kayo?

Speaking of books, Tuxqs also gave me a copy of Chris Martinez's Laugh Trip a few months back. Sayang lang cause I already bought a copy for myself. Nevertheless, the gesture is much appreciated. Thanks!

Craving for doughnuts, Em-J treated all of us to a couple of rounds of Krispy Kremes! Can't get enough of them. Sabi ko nga kay Zee, doughnut fan ako. Kahit na yung sa kanto, gusto ko!

Thanks thanks!

Hindi independence day Zee at Tin pero tagalog na lang ang entry dahil nahihirapan na kong mag-Ingles.

Salamat ng marami sa lahat ng nanood dun sa playdates namin.

Salamat sa TP, Yvette, Paolo, Minette, Chynna, Lanie at Jing sa pag-accommodate sa mga requests namin. Kakaiba!

Salamat sa inyo Zee, Hogi, Dyown at Tin dahil kahit ilang beses nyo ng napanood ang show eh bumili pa rin kayo.

Kay Ate Yang, salamat din sa kaka-promote sa dates namin. Ganon din sa ibang mga bloggers na di namin kilala for posting our show dates and numbers.

Siyempre salamat rin sa lahat lahat ng bumili ng tickets from us.

Sa nagalit sakin at sinabihan akong ayus-ayusin ko ang trabaho ko, kung sino ka man, salamat na rin kahit na ang ticket na pinapa-reserve mo eh hindi naman sa amin. Pasensya na tao lang.

Sa nagalit sakin dahil balcony ang binili nya at bakit daw nasa balcony siya, wala akong masabi sayo! Sa naiinis kahapon dahil akala daw nya eh Cinderella at Snow White ang palabas, isa ka pa!

Salamat sa mga nagbigay tulong pinansiyal at sa pagpromote ng mga dates namin. Salamat sa Sunsilk (Ms. Janice), Sykes (Gerard at Aileen), 103.5 (Ms. Claudine), Wazzup Wazzup para sa crawl, PEP (Jocelyn), Clickthecity (Dara) at sa iba pang nagdikit ng mga posters namin. Thanks thanks, sa uulitin! =)

Can't say thank you enough!

Labfest and Zaturnnah

I wasn't able to catch Children's Plays last Saturday. It was way too early and I couldn't will myself to get out of bed. I sent a text to Hogi who was also supposed to watch the 10am show to apologize but was also pleasantly surprised to find out that she was also still in bed. Anyway, I headed to CCP at around 12:30pm and got there a little after 1. I met up with Hogi at Starbucks and then I proceeded to the HB lobby to help out Paolo. (Hahahaha, didn't get to do much, managed to sell a program though). I went out just before the open house since I was still getting a lot of Zsazsa ticket inquiries and there was no signal there.

Just before getting the tickets, Paolo told me that he'll be giving us compli tickets. Weee! Thanks much! Got to see XX and X. Pretty interesting and profoundly confusing. Told Zee that I want to stay at the 2nd level of Batute but she insisted on sitting upfront. Good thing we didn't sit in the first row since the people in front of us were showered by thir unsavory um...prop. (Tama ba ang term?)

We didn't stay for the 8PM show and didn't get to take pictures during the meet and greet since we had to rush to RCBC for Zsazsa. When we got there, She was already there and no one from TP yet except for Ms. Yvette. Decided to help them out. I'm really glad at the turn out of She's show. The theatre was nearly packed. I was surprised with Zee since she was still laughing out loud, sometimes even louder than the rest. Sat with Zee and Carlo Vergara during the second half of the show and except for one unsavory incident during the intermission, we were fine.

I had a lot of pics taken with the cast for the first time, unfortunately, something wrong happened with Zee's new cam phone and we can't find any of it. Sayang, ang dami talaga non. Will post the pics soon.

Virgin Labfest 3

I'll try to watch all the included plays in this year's labfest. Kind of difficult to accommodate all plays but I've managed to create a temp schedule. Hope this works out for me. Kung pwede kayo, nood na din kayo!

June 30 Saturday

10AM - Children's Plays
3PM - XX and X: Hindi Pang-isip Bata

July 4 Wednesday

3PM - Best of Virgin Labfest 2

July 7 - Saturday

3PM - Ang Pagdadalaga at Iba Pang Rebelasyon
8PM - Identity and Politics

July 8 - Sunday

3PM - International Night
8PM - Madadramang Pamilya

Zaturnnah Day!

Had an early start yesterday. Ruby asked me to be present during the matinee of Zsazsa Zaturnnah since people from Unilever will be there to check their first raffle in lieu of the removal of their tarp at the venue. Per usual, Paolo was busy as a bee since there were a lot of late attendees. Ruby arrived a little after the show started. We both went in to watch the remainder of the show after a little catching up on the events at the office that I couldn't stay for early this morning. Tuxqs and Janvier were performing and we were surprised at their chemistry. Nakakakilig! Ate Lanie can't stop gushing. Nar, of course, is better than ever. He even got standing ovations. (for both performances ha!)

We then had a late lunch at Tokyo Tokyo with Paolo who then had to run to the venue since people are already starting to look for him. It was Dennis' show and we were glad at the turn out. Hopefully, ours today will be the same. After the show, we stayed at Starbucks to tally our tickets reserved then off to Malate to pick up the tickets that we left at Pride Exchange. Traffic was horrible! There were a lot of make-shift stages with rock bands performing. Chaotic to say the least. Don't know what the event was and we really didn't stay long to find out. The noise is aggravating my headache. Hehehe. We also dropped by The Library to look for Mamu who wasn't there. Finally decided to head home.