Tonkatsu by Terazawa for Jon's birthday

 I gave Jon a gift certificate from the Bistro group of companies for his birthday. Little did I know that he would use that to treat us for his birthday.

I was a bit scared that he would go over budget since I looked up the price range of the meals there and I saw that it would be around P400/person without drinks.

 Luckily, they had a cheaper set meal of P295/person for 80 grams of either the pork loin or pork fillet meals that come with unlimited cabbage, rice , and miso soup!

 I like how the meals are presented. They also come with pickled veggies and corn bits sprinkled with some spices to awaken your taste buds if they get tired of all the pork.

I haven't tried all the other expensive katsu places but I'm quite satisfied with what we had. The pork was tender and delicious, the serving was quite alright if you pair each bite with lots of rice and veggies. I also loved the soup, clear and perfect after all the rich food we ate for New Year's.

If you want a more tender meat, you might want to order the pork loin, which also has more fat. The pork fillet cut is a bit chewier, but it doesn't have the evil fat bits, which might be the better choice for the health-conscious folks who still want to eat deep-fried pork.

Customers have a clear view of the kitchen if you're curious as to how your meal is cooked.

On a funny note, they have a cute little restroom at the back which has all the bells and whistles as well as an abundance of toilet paper: I think I saw 3 types of dispensers. :P

Tonkatsu by Terazawa is at Greenbelt 2, Makati City.

Best and Worst of 2014

Film

 Best: Captain America: Winter Soldier

This is heresy coming from a DC comics fan but I loved how this superhero movie tackled a dark topic without losing the fun part of its source material, unlike DC's Man of Steel, which felt so serious it got dreary. Also, it remained true to the image of Cap, he would rather die than kill his buddy. The Superman I know would have found a way to stop Zod without offing him and half the city of Metropolis

Noteworthy: Guardians of the Galaxy, Edge of Tomorrow were also enjoyable romps but the hype of Guardians made me expect much more from it.

Worst: A million ways to die in the West.

 Dear Seth Macfarlane, a key component of a comedy movie is that it should be funny. Don't quit your day job...on second thought, quit that, too

TV

Best: Bob's Burgers

I know they look weird and most of the girl characters sound like they were voiced by male actors (they are) but stick around and listen to the script. The lines are a joy to hear even on reruns.

Noteworthy: Game of Thrones, Mindy Project have gone from strength to strength this season. King Joffrey's death!  The Mountain vs the Viper!!!
And Mindy and Danny plus Danny's mom make a hilarious combination.

Worst: Seth Macfarlanes' Family Guy

 has gone from irreverent to plain "offend-everyone-we-can" for no other reason I can see other than that they have run out of ideas.

Song

 Best: Ain't it fun by Paramore

I don't know why I love this song. Maybe it's because my cousins were graduating from college and this was a song that perfectly captured how I felt when I first ventured into the real world. Plus that chorus is so catchy you can't help but sing along.

Noteworthy: Fancy by Iggy Azalea (plus points for the music video's Clueless reference), Blank Space by Taylor Swift, Happy by Pharrell Williams

Worst: Maybe it's you by 3logy. 

If you watch GMA 7, you'd surely heard that the Korean soap Kim Sam Soon is back but instead of using the theme song performed by Jolina or Regine, they got a boy band called 3logy (ugh) which then proceeded to murder the sweet melody. I swear, parang nagpa-practice lang ang tunog. Fortunately, the powers that be used another version, sung by a female singer I have yet to identify, when the show started airing again.

Dishonorable mention: Anaconda by Nicky Minaj. Far from sexy, the lyrics and the music video made my stomach turn.

Book:

Best: Trese 6

Once again, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo have come out with a scary and fun book. We see more of Trese's family and the imperious Madame firmly establishes herself as the arch enemy. The Madame is obviously based on Imelda Marcos and the creators' decision to portray someone so obsessed with maintaining a facade of beauty as a villain worse than an aswang has made me very worried for the lives of Tan and Baldisimo. In light of the events at the magazine Charlie Hebdon, it's not a far-fetched fear.

Noteworthy: 14 by Manix Abrera continues to impress, and Pinoy Komiks Anthology (featuring my Crazy Jhenny strip) is a treasure trove of talent. (Alliteration alert!)

Worst: DC's World's End.

Ugh. After destroying all the alternate worlds and bringing them back again, the people at DC show their  creative juices are  drying up by coming up with a long drawn -out apocalyptic crisis that has bored me so much I don't even bother downloading them. Just end it already!

Gadgets

Best: Wacom

This was a gift from my uncle and I am loving it! Sure, i miss the feel of pen on paper as the tablet's surface is too smooth, but ease of drawing has made comic strip-making so fun and quick!

Noteworthy: Selfie stick
So useful for parties and reunions, it apparently hasn't caught up in the West yet as my relatives from the States were all agog to get one here. An officemate who used hers in Canada got stares and offers for it when she went for a visit. I told her someone should import some selfie sticks and corner that business abroad!

Worst: internet junk

Used properly it's great.  But When such an important tool is wasted on endless selfies, and chain mail, and idiotic news like Hello Kitty is not a cat, or how a Kardashian wants to break the internet, we can imagine Tim Berners -Lee (Inventor of the internet) weeping

Trend

Best: Adaptive reuse like Luneta Hotel

It wasn't a perfect stay, but we sure appreciate the effort the new owners made to bring the Luneta Hotel to its former glory. Now, if they could also work on the sound-proofing and the food...

Worst: Destroying heritage sites

We have so few sites that survived the war, it's a shame they finally succumb to crass commercialization

Disturbing:  Teleseryes where 2 women fight over a cheating man.

From Temptation of Wife to The Legal Wife to Two Wives... it's like women empowerment is unheard of in this country.