kirk lazarus
Kirk and I tried out this neat place in Tomas Morato, “Kitchen of Cakes and Coffee.” You can pretty much tell what it’s all about from the name, I know, and I wish the owners had been more imaginative too, but the place was really nice.
Kirk had a quarter-pounder, which he gave four out of five stars. I had a cheesecake, and a frozen Montezuma, a chocolate drink whose name alone fascinated me because, history dork that I partly am, I recognized the name–AztecemperorduringtheSpanishinvasionhah.
Anyway. After dinner we wandered around Tomas Morato before deciding to see the last full show of “Tropic Thunder.”
We laughed like maniacs in the cinema. The movie was so perverse and deliberately offensive, haha. One of our favorite scenes is the one with the little kid stabbing Ben Stiller’s character a few moments after he said he has to stay in Vietnam to take care of the same kid, whom he called his son. I also found Tom Cruise as Les Grossman screaming at the kidnappers over the phone pretty hilarious, although it kind of scared the living daylights out of me (it didn’t really, but I’ve long been wanting to use that phrase).
But in the end, Kirk Lazarus for the win! Robert Downey Jr stole every scene he was in, ahlavet 
in pop culture news (or, the post with lots of italics and parentheses)
>> I saw a Led Zeppelin biography for P95 on BookSale tonight, “Hammer of the Gods.” But I let it go. I’m still debating within myself whether I regret the decision.
>> I’ve finished the entire Twilight series. It’s okay. I don’t like Renesmee, the half-vampire kid who grows at an alarmingly fast rate and is pre-destined to spend the rest of her life with a werewolf who acts as her nanny while she’s still a kid. How can you not dislike her? She’s a half-vampire kid who grows at an alarmingly fast rate and is pre-destined to spend the rest of her life with a werewolf who acts as her nanny while she’s still a kid. And her name is Renesmee. Ick.
>> Over the weekend I saw the following on DVD: Planet Terror (it’s so bastos and hilariously tongue-in-cheek I loooove it), Teeth (a tastefully-made nightmare for guys), and the laughable In the Name of the King (starring Jason Statham who is kinda like Bruce Willis minus the endearing smugness). I found them lying around the den.
>> Okay, this prolly doesn’t count as pop culture, but I’m writing this down for record-keeping’s sake: girls’ night out with old and new friends last Friday night, first at Nine Ball in Tomas Morato then at Esquinita near ABS-CBN. Twas nice to just chill and talk. Got home 2 a.m.
>> Gossip Girl is back! I adore Evil Serena. Go give that insensitive poet (how ironic) Dan hell. I kind of hate how it’s turning out for Blair, though. But I guess one kingdom can’t have two queens (I can so imagine Kristin Bell’s voice saying that).
>> House MD is back! And it was kind of disappointing. Why am I disappointed? Maybe I was just too let-down by what happened last season. Why did Amber have to diiiieeee? Bring back happy Wilson! And give more scenes to Chase and Cameron, for crying out loud.
>> The Office is back! Jim’s proposal beats the hell out of…everyone else’s. He asks Pam to meet him for lunch, they meet at a convenience store by a gas station, she rushes out to complain about how far she traveled, and then in the rain he goes down on one knee and asks her to marry him. Are you kidding me are you kidding me. I love how unexpected and honest that was (and New York magazine did too yey!), even though it was so obvious that the writers were trying to make it look like it it was no big deal even though they totally knew it was. And oh, Ryan’s ambitiousness used to be endearing, but now he is just a scumbag.
nonstop
Twas the birthday celebration of one of my best friends, Gladdys, last night. And celebrate we did. From 9 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday, we went to four different places in Metro Manila. Yeba!
Our pitstops: Chocolate Kiss at UP Diliman, SeventySeven bar in Kamuning, Muchos in Ortigas, and Starbucks in Ayala. We even considered going on a roadtrip to Tagaytay at 2 a.m.! Haggard, haha.
All pictures taken in SeventySeven.
(l-r) the birthday girl, me, the boy who made a cameo appearance hihi
I didn’t have beer, just ladies’ drinks (Cosmo, Tequila Sunrise) and a glass of Bailey’s.
don and me. i didn't realize i was holding the glass with my pinky sticking out. yey poise!
i love friends in/and couches.
Photos courtesy of birthday girl Gladdys’ cellphone. Fun night of endless banter, spontaneous trips, and lots of merrymaking!
u!
The annual UAAP cheering competition is that one day of the year when we are free to bash other universities because we can hide under the cloak of “school spirit.”
And bashing we did today. And cheering. A hell of a lot of cheering.
During my four-year stay in UP, I was satisfied with just watching the event on TV–mostly because I was too lazy to exert effort at finding tickets and joining the cheering crowd. But today I dragged my ass to the Araneta Coliseum to watch the competition live because one of my friends, who is pretty well-connected in college athletics, managed to get us Upper Box A tickets at the last minute.
I wasn’t so impressed with UST’s performance, and I’m not just saying this because I’m from UP. Oh, it was well-executed alright, but I thought it was pretty forgettable. The other pep squads were surprisingly okay, particularly Ateneo. I think it must be frustrating for some of the teams because the same universities end up in the top three.
UP deserved to win, though. Are you kidding me, the tribal concept alone screams “for the win.” Watch the entire fantastic routine below:
I love my alma mater
Afterwards we had dinner, and then free coffee at CBTL courtesy of our ‘rich’ friend hihi. Once again I got home shortly before midnight. See, the bus I was riding in sped past EDSA Crossing where I was supposed to get off, so at about 10:30 p.m. I was walking along EDSA alone. Gaaaah. Buses are slowly losing their charm.
nothing a little italian food can’t solve
The thing about me is that I’m spontaneous, so on Tuesday night I did something I prolly shouldn’t have done (not THAT big, but it hit me under these circumstances–yes I too can be a drama queen), and felt all sick and sad the next morning.
Thank God for friends who are spontaneous as well. Lawrence came to the rescue and we had dinner on Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Bistro in Gateway so he can help me rationalize my thoughts/emotions.
What can I say. We talked for a long time–he concluded that I am, indeed, in that phase, and he is amused. Even the (cute) waiter was fascinated with my animated story-telling. He left a note on the receipt, which cracked us up.
Afterwards we went to Starbucks, where Eula Valdez (!) lined up at the women’s CR. During our walk to the taxis at around 10:30 p.m. we passed by some pro basketball players; a game just ended at the Araneta Coliseum, I think. Actually, Lawrence said that. I know zilch about the PBA now.
Update: The Italian food worked, but to further bolster the cheering-up program I got all dreamy/pretentious and bought the Style Issue of The New Yorker. I couldn’t put it down. Harmless escapism at its finest.
tales of the undead commuter, part 1
Thursday night. The jeepney driver’s companion turned to me sharply when I paid P10.
“P11.50 na po,” he said.
“Kelan pa?” I asked (FYI, I recently came to terms with the idea that I’m probably innately defensive).
“Matagal na,” he said, sneering. “Hindi ka ba nanonood ng balita?”
It took me a while to respond to that because a) I had the sudden urge to flash him my media ID but realized that was so obnoxious, even by my standards–and besides, all I have for now is a temporary ID as the network hasn’t processed the real one yet (boo); b) I was trying to rack my brains out for jeepney fare hike news but all I could remember was they have to have the new fare matrix before charging extra; and c) during that moment I couldn’t remember the last time I rode a jeepney.
OA, I know, but so many things just happened this week. I’ve accepted that I can no longer have a nice week where I go straight home and rest after work; I just run in too many circles, hang out with too many people, and get assigned to too many things. Oh, but I’m not complaining. I like being out there.
Monday night AC and I had dinner at the Soul Shop, this quaint little place in QC that’s perfect for letting out frustrations because it’s so not commercial; there’s little chance that you’d bump into someone you know.
Tuesday night I went out with The Secret (we’re not supposed to tell anyone we went out lalala) for dinner and a movie that I never would’ve watched if it was just me, but it was okay because I like the company.
Wednesday night I watched the Cinemalaya entry Boses (on its Gala Night at the CCP) with two of my editors because I had to do a film review. Afterwards, one editor and I headed to this neat little place which can only describe as “what an English pub must look like” where we hung out with veteran male photojournalists ’til shortly before midnight. I got home around 12:30 a.m. and was once again like the undead at work the next day.
So, it’s Friday. I feel kind of terrible about bailing out at the last minute on a good friend whose house I’m supposed to stay in tonight. See, she wants me to meet this guy. We’re all supposed to hang out ’til Saturday with her other friends and cousins. But mom’s throwing a high school reunion of sorts at our house–we’ll be having around 30 people for lunch tomorrow–and she wants me to help out for a change since I’m out of the house pretty much every night since I started working. Oh, familial duties.
has it really been two months?
Friday dinner at Taco Bell, with M1, M2, G and W.
M1 complains about her potential future husband, an American marine (!) who, she says, insists on imposing on her his world view.
J: “Mga imperyalistang Amerikano talaga yan, lagi na lang silang nang-iimpose!”
G: “Puso mo.”
J: “Naalala ko lang yung Indians.”
G: “Ay true.”
Ah, college life. I was what you’d describe as a pretty outstanding Journalism major, although truth be told I’d rather be taking History–I actually took 6 History subjects. I did a 10-page paper on the plight of Native Americans for American History I, then another 10-page paper (or was it 13?) on the hippie subculture.
(Which reminds me–it occurred to me a while ago that I still haven’t finished Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which I began reading earlier this year. Or have I? For some reason I don’t remember the ending, although I do remember raving about how good it is. Hmmm.)
Anyway. After dinner we hung out at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and caught up on each other’s love lives. Man that was tiring, sharing all the dating stories I acquired during the past month. We all really should hang out more.
