Best and worst of 2011

Time again for our list of the best and worst of 2011!

 Best movie: While I laughed out loud watching "Ang babae sa septic tank," I was enchanted by "Nino," an indie movie about a proud family whose fortunes have faded. The movie is held together by the tour de force performance of Fides Cuyugan Ascencio. My mom who also loves opera would love this.

Honorable mention:Ang babae sa septic tank,  Ang Sayaw ng dalawang kaliwang paa, Zombadings: patayin sa shokot si remington all prove that Filipino cinema is alive and well!

Worst movie: Red riding hood. What the hell was that, I kept thinking after watching/ wasting 2hours of my life. Confused and confusing, it makes me mad just thinking about it.

Dishonorable mention: The smurfs. Not even Jayma Mays and Neil Patrick Harris could save this.

Best TV show: Community, about misfits in a community college is the best out there. Yes, better than Modern Family but hardly anyone sees it. And now it is on hiatus. Life is unfair.

Honorable mention: Amaya, a Pinoy-made telenovela that finally mines our rich heritage. The story kind of sagged when they extended it and it may have some issues with proper Filipino grammar but the bigger picture is how it has made pre-hispanic Pinoy culture so cool!

Game of Thrones--at first I was disappointed that it wasn't Lord of the Rings. Then i was glad it wasn't LOTR! It's so raunchy and violent and intriguing that I had to read all the other novels as soon as I could download them!

Worst TV show: Iglot-Uncute mascot plus a reprehensible story where they make a child weep every episode that I'm surprised she's not dehydrated plus rumors of Claudine's bad work ethic that led to the shows early cancellation equals worst on my list

Best song: Adele's Rolling in the deep is very trendy but I teared up when I first heard Rascall Flatts' Bless the Broken Road. Yes, it was made in 2008 but I only really listened to it now.


Worst song: It has to be Rebecca Black's Friday

Best book: My pick is Tina Fey's Bossypants. Very self-deprecating authobiography of my favorite female comedian who's also whipsmart and wimpy! The audiobook where she reads her own words is also a treat!

Honorable mention: A song of ice and fire series. I had sleepless nights ploughing through all the chapters and it's just infuriating how we're still nowhere near the end! GRR Martin, please don't die before you finish this series!
-Trese Volume 4:Last seen after midnight. Yes! Alexandra goes back to the episodic format with 4 new cases involving a monster hunter (who reminds me of Jason Ivler) to a world-famous boxer. I actually liked this more than the previous volume.

Lampara books have also come out with real world storybooks for kids about being illegitimate children, alcoholic fathers and losing your home to gambling addictions!

Worst book: I didn't read many books but I hated Bram Stoker's The Lady of the Shroud only because it was misleading! I thought it was a horror  story like Dracula but  I got a weird war novel instead.

Best gadget: iPad2! Not only because I got it for free, but also because I can do so many things with it now like doodle, read comics, play Angry birds and make vidrhythm videos! I even got to read HPLovecraft on ibooks free! It's not perfect but it's definitely fun!

Honorable mention: Popcorn hour A200--this is an NMT or Networked Media Tank which can play any type of media file so you can watch it on your big screen TV without a computer. I think digital media  is the future of entertainment since very few people have adopted bluray and yes, it's such a hassle to collect and store so many discs only to see them become outdated. Even pircay has been affected by downloads. Its only weakness: It isn't region-free for dvds.

Worst gadget: My Pioneer in-ear headphones were awfully expensive (for me, anyway) and the right earphone stopped working a few months later. I had it fixed at the service center but it conked again just a month later. Luckily, it's still under waranty but it is so disappointing that a name brand product goes bad within a year!

Christmas 2011

Baby Alex, the newest member of the family spent his first Christmas in Lucena. They rode with ma and pa in the car while Jon and I rode the bus on Christmas eve. (Bus ride from Alabang to Lucena is P168 aircon) Luckily, most people had gone to the province days earlier so our trip was hassle-free. The only wrinkle was that it would rain now and then like when we arrived at employees or when we left. Alex brought a renewed sense of wonder about Christmas to the household.

Truly, Christmas is for kids. Too bad kids and grandparents also got tired early so by 10pm, we had already opened gifts and were in bed. Sorry we weren't able to chat with all of you. Christmas morning we saw the hordes of people who said "namamasko po!" even at the cemetery when we visted Wowo in the rain! After lunch we headed home. Thanks to tito dante for helping us get a bus. We also made a video of deck the halls.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150546744312813&set=vb.684487812&type=2&theater



Tito nicky also made one

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150451326522113

Last wednesday, the Nuguids were here after their trip to tagaytay. Alex is now 6 months and eager to taste everything. We went to ayala triangle for an advanced celebration of jon's birthday and we were surprised to see so many people there for the christmas light show! We waited for a table for an hour but it was worth it. We had hainanese chicken at we nam kee and alex got to taste spinach soup and lime juice. Pics coming soon!

Happy new year everyone!

It's that time of the year again

Our office decor

 Christmas seems to have crept out of nowhere this year, I feel totally unprepared!  But that didn't stop me from putting up xmas decor a few weeks into November.

I was so elated to find this very retro cut-out "3D" belen at a small religious store near Don Bosco Makati for P25! This is the belen I remember from my childhood in Pasay at my titas' place. I love the simplicity of it all. I had actually been looking for a Filipino belen, with Mary and Joseph in traditonal baro't saya and barong but none of the stores had it, not even Balikabayn Handicarfts or Papemelroti.  Every belen I've seen are very white, almost blond and mass-produced from China and horribly made. I'm almost tempted to buy some Pinoy dolls from SM Kultura and make my own belen.

Too bad I inquired too late at Papemelroti's facebook page, but they  said they'd try to make one next year.

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Edited to add: I finally found a Filipino belen on a newspaper article. A store called Liturgica at the megamall sells a belen with a Mary in a baro't saya and Joseph looks like a farmer. And it seems unconcerned about being politically correct. One of the wise men is a muslim and the other one is an aeta whose skin is black, not even dark brown, but black. There is also a lechon being roasted while another pig looks at the baby Jesus (probably praying that he's not next on the xmas menu)

 The bad news is that when I called to ask how much it was, the salesgirl said P13,950!!! I think I'll just wait for papemelroti's version!

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Lucky for me, most of my shopping is done. I've bought Pinoy story books for my godchildren . I just needed to pair it the puppets from my earlier post .

Check out their new innovation: You can now go online and have someone read the story to your child when you're not around.

For my nephews, I had to find cool toys to go with their books. Last year, I was proud that I found a great Lego-like toy vehicles which would encourage their imagination. This year, I had to give in to nostalgia and buy some GI Joes, which have come back into the public's consciousness because of the mediocre movie. I noticed that they have eschewed realism in favor of neon colors so I'm a bit disturbed to see soldiers carrying red or yellow guns  and backpacks.

 I'm glad they kept the Commando profiles of the soldiers. My cousins and I used to talk about who would get what so we wouldn't have the duplicate characters. My cousin Dexter was assigned to keep all the profiles we clipped from the box. Wonder where they are now?

And finally, it's also the season for indulging in food! Bibingka and puto bumbong and salabat! There's nothing like a Pinoy Christmas!

christmas gift ideas

It's that time of the year again and if you're wracking your brain trying to figure out what to give your kids, I have a suggestion! It's Philippine-made and educational,too.

These are cute stuffed toys of rare indigenous Pinoy animals like the tarsier, whale shark and the Philippine eagle. I've seen these in their store and they are really excellent. The attention to detail is laudable. Unfortunately, they are not for sale. You can only get one if you spend P10,000 (single receipt) at their store.

Since I am not a Zobel, I went over to SM's Kultura store and found some cute animal puppets by Filipups. They're not as well-made as the ones in Rustans but because they're puppets, they're more interactive. Kids can put them on their hands and make up their own stories. I remember  the fun I had with my raggedy lion from fischer -price, i think. And Nico wanted the evil cat I made in college but I was afraid it was so dirty it would give him asthma. So I hope he'll settle for this instead.

Shark puppet--but a puppet butanding would be cooler!

Philippine eagle with baby eagle sold separately.

A sea turtle that inflates in water!

Palawan peacock with a long tail included

Mynah bird that looks like a penguin. They also have a warthog and a tamaraw but they were out of stock in SM Makati

They come with a tag about the real animal but if you can find a small book about Philippine animals, that would be a home run.

i lost, i lost! twice!

I had not yet won an ipad2 when I joined the magnolia name the twin mascots  promo.You had to take a picture with a kid aged 8-12 years old drinking magnolia choclait and think of a name for the twins and then ask your friends to vote for your entry.  The prize was an ipad2.

So I sent in this entry and said I wanted to name then Mico and Maya. Here is my kilometric ms. universe reason why: 

Mico is a great name for an active Pinoy boy who likes video games but also likes to play soccer and basketball and patintero. He’s obedient and respectful but playful, too. His name comes from a combination of MIlk and ChoCO=MICO.

Maya is a very Pinoy name for a girl with a wild imagination. Sometimes she’s a bird, or a wizard or a reporter, but most of the time she’s a sweet girl who loves to read and act out stories. Her name comes from the first and last syllables of Magnolia.

Truth be told , I thought I had it in the bag.
After a much delayed announcement, I found out I didn't win but I was in the top 20 which meant I'd get a gift pack. And I did win best caption so I also won 2 months worth of chocolait! Hurray!

Claiming it was easy enough though it was kind of embarassing to admit to the ad agency people that I had joined a lot of contests, around 20 for this year alone. But hey, I have a free ipad 2 to show for it, so who cares? Bringing the prizes was the hard part. I had to carry my backpak with 1 liter of magnolia inside plus two boxes of chocolait containg 24 tetrapacks at 250ml each! That's 12 liters extra I had to lug around to the office where I split the prize  with my model, Joshua.

It's been a good year and it's not even over! I'm about to buy some groceries now, some of which also have contests! I know I have a problem, I'm living it! I just can't stop joining! Help!

mama's birthday at mann hann and wee nam kee

 My mom's birthday was going to be on a Sunday but mama wanted to spend it on a Saturday so we would have a longer time bonding since it would be my day off. But that meant we'd have to go to megamall in Pasig since Twinx and her hubby had to go to nearby Robinson's for a seminar after lunch. We'd also get to play with baby Alex while his parents were out. So I asked around and finally settled on Mann Hann, a chinese restaurant which also owned a Filipino restaurant beside it called Mannang. Megamall, though is not our usual hangout so we got a bit lost finding the parking area and finding the restaurant itself.

Papa's recipe for mechado

Ingredients:
1 kilo beef ( kalitiran or kemchi or boneless meat)
1 big onion(red)
1 head garlic crushed
3/4 kilo tomato
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon paminton
1/2 teaspoon pepper crushed

1. Slice onion and tomato. Remove seeds and mix in blender till they become liquid.
2. Slice beef into cubes 1/2 inch thick
3. Place beef and tomato mixture in pot
4. Pour enough water to cover meat and tomatoes
5. Pour soy sauce and paminton. Mix
6. Bring to a boil.
7. In a pan, saute garlic in oil till golden brown
8. While beef is boiling, stir in garlic and cook in low heat till beef is tender stirring occasionally.

mojacko at the movies: Cinemalaya 2011 part 1: Ang Babae sa Septic Tank

I'm lucky my job lets me see indie movies that I might have missed because it's too much of a hassle to go to UP or CCP.

finally, i won! i won!

After years of trying to win one, I finally won an ipad 2 with wifi and 3G!  Remember how I said that the ipad is the best and worst gadget of the year? Well, the ipad2 is the best especially when it's free! I love all the free apps and free downloads!

mojacko recommends: cake planet!

  Dessert comed first blogger Lori wrote about a new discovery here  so I just had to rush out of work and try it out myself. Not only was it so near where I live, its weird shop hours (1 pm to 1am) were just perfect for my schedule!