palm sunday and the palaspas

It's palm Sunday, the start of the holy week and again we go to church carrying the palaspas or palm leaf to reenact the welcome of Jesus into Jerusalem. We wave them vigorously in the air to catch the drops of holy water the priest uses to bless them.

Curiously, the palaspas has turned into a sort of talisman in our country that's supposed to ward off aswang and ghosts. Maybe that's why some of the churchgoers had 4 or 5 of them, one for every house ,car and window!

There's even one movie (Shake, rattle and roll) that shows it's the only thing that can hurt a manananggal if you don't have the traditional tail of a stingray!

More on the palaspas here

birthdays , earth hour

For my birthday, we were supposed to have lunch at Mesa, a much blogged-about resto on ritzy Greenbelt5 but since we were under time pressure, we just tried out Dulcinea, a spanish resto in crowded Glorietta 4. It was a disappointment. The food was just too expensive for the cramped setting and the serving too small for the price. Though I do recommend the tropical fruit drink which comes in a pitcher good for 4 (P140) Meanwhile, check out how Ayala is again renovating their landscape and in the process,destroying all the places I had fond memories of.

Edsa 2 was not a mistake...

Edsa 2 was not a failure ...Gloria Macapagal Arroyo failed Edsa 2.

Just posting an old photo of an artwork I made out of disgust after the impeachment court threw out the Jose Velarde envelope and people started gathering at the Edsa shrine to call for Erap's resignation. I made another one that had Erap hiding under the covers with the words "kung tunay kang lalake, humarap ka sa korte!" We didn't have cellphones with cameras then but luckily, a photographer of the Manila Standard took a picture and even more fortunately, my friend who worked there spotted this and sent it to me! I never got that poster back after I let them bring it to the impromptu stage.

Twinx's birthday at Amici

For twinx's birthday, we went back to Amici in Makati. It has left its cafeteria roots to become more like a streamlined resto. But ordering is still self-service: Fall in line and order at the counter, get your own utensils and water, drinks are still ordered at the ice cream counter, now called Caramia.

Prices have gone up a little but the servings seem smaller. Either that or we were very hungry. :D The food is still good but some favorites like the Osso Buco risotto is gone, replaced by pork or seafood risotto, both good alternatives for rice-loving Pinoys. A most welcome addition is their expanded lineup of desserts. They now have ice cream, cake and ice cream cake!

The anitpasti: Amici Polpette (meatballs in tomato sauce and chees) P170--nothing spectacular

Caesar's salad P140--serving good for one only. Dressing was really tasty!

Ragu risotto(pork) P250--Tender and succulent!

Vongole (Seafod in white sauce) P230--Always a winner, though a little spicy

Lasagna P195--it's funny, I like this version more than last time's but Jon liked the old version

4 seasons pizza P290--so good we almost forgot to take a picture. But Bistro Coron's is still better

New! Nocciola cake (hazelnut) P75--yummy cake version of my fave ice cream flavorNew! Merry berry ice cream cake P95--delicious but too sweet.

So many flavors of ice cream/gelato! What to choose?
The cake selection...good news! slices always available!

The ice cream cakes!

I love that they didn't cut down the trees of Salesiana publishing :)

Feeling close

The closest I can get to meeting Tita Cory.

When I was in the 5th grade, President Aquino was the guest speaker at our school's anniversary. I've since joined lots of rallies with her butI never got to meet her. Luckily, I got to meet the family! Officemate now call me the adopted son of the Aquinos. heehee! The only person I need a picture with now is Krissy.

Coron music video

Here's a short clip of our Coron adventure in 2009

I won! I won! but...

Recently, I got an email saying I won 3rd place in the Mentos contest and another email saying I voted for the 3rd place winner in the same contest. Yes I voted for myself because one of the criteria for judging was how many votes you get. Almost immediatly after, I got another email recalling the first 2 emails. I could only win once and since no one else voted for me, I don't know what'll happen to the other Ipod shuffle.

Lesson learned: next time, enter someone else's name. :)

Anyway, I got a green Ipod shuffle 4Gig from the good people at mentos. Since this wasn't the first time I had won in a contest,(exhibit A, B, C) I had my 2 valid IDs photocopied before I went to claim my prize. When I handed this over to the person in charge, she realized that I was no ordinary winner... I was...a professional contest joiner!

I gave the Ipod to my sister since it was her camera and photo. Plus, I already have a Creative mp3 player. Here's to more wins in the future!

Sasha and Catty

this is sasha ignoring Catty the cat

Best and worst of 2009

The committee: Me, myself and I ...plus Sasha the dog

As we welcome the year of the Tiger, we look back at the year that was and present a very personal, very biased Best and Worst list of 2009

Best movie of the year: Kimmy Dora

Hands down the funniest movie of the year because of Eugene Domingo's talent and Joyce Bernal's crazy ideas.

Honorable mention: Up

From the opening montage to that furry talking dog, I was hooked.

Worst movie of the year: Transformers 2

"I rise...you fall" seriously?!?

Dishonored: Shake, rattle & roll 11

I didn't see it but my sister strongly recommended it. Ruffa Gutierrez acting is scary enough.

Best TV show: Glee

The one show I just had to watch as soon as possible. I love the evil coach Sue Sylvester and her adidas jackets.

Honorable mention: Adik sa'yo

Not many people saw this but I just preferred laughing over crying on primetime

Worst TV show of the year: Rosalinda

It could've been the next Marimar but whoever casted the leads should be fired. Carla Abellana and Geoff Eigenmann were painful to watch and Sheryl Cruz is a pathetic villain.

Also sucked: Lovers in Paris

My mom said it was awful.

Best song of the year: Bayan ko (as sung by Lea Salonga)

Tita Cory's death and the events that followed brought back memories for a tired nation. Lea's mvoing tribute lit a fire our collective spirits and gave us hope again.

Notable: Nobody by the Wonder girls, Poker face by Lady Gaga

Catchy tunes that made us want to dance but hearing them over and over again almost made them unbearable.

Worst song of the year: Ikaw na nga by Willie Revillame

Ugh, Rico J. Puno wondered if it was a finished song or just a demo.

Best trend of the year: Going green, SM's mall-wide "Bring your own bag day"

SM finally recognized that their plastic bags were the leading polluters of our time and made a very impressive first step by making Wednesdays a no plastic bag day to force people to go green.

Honorable mention: RP flag, 3 stars and sun design on shirts

From OFWs to Noynoy Aquino, there's a new sense of pride that has swelled up and while some of it may just be fake nationalism, I cannot discount the power of these symbols .

Worst trend of the year: Emo

I just don't like it.

Also yucky: the excess h's in text and internet language like "hello poh"

Best gadget of the year: USB portable drive. Greater capacity and function has made storing content a breeze and now, it can be used for wireless internet, too!

Worst gadget: Gadgets that conked out

Don't you just hate stuff that just stop working? Jon's phone, Papa's phone, our office phone...I jsut wish everything works in 2010!

Speaking of the year of the tiger, look what my parents dug up from our tambak: a cat puppet I made in college for our play. I don't remember its name but I will call her Catty 'coz she's fierce in a bad way.

New Year 2010

Oct 31:We welcomed the new year with a simple meal of ham, sparkling grape juice and pasta with meatballs by yours truly. We didn't set off fireworks but we heard and smelled them just the same.

Twinx set the camera to take pictures automatically and panicked when it started clicking and we had yet to light our sparklers. Jon had already changed when we said we were taking more pix.

Jan 1: Next day at the Pandayan reunion.

After lunch, we screend the movie Kimmy Dora and I was so glad they enjoyed it. Even the kids who probably didn't understand it laughed at Eugene Domingo's antics. Twinx later informed me that our 20-something nephew even got teary-eyed near the end. It's ok, we got choked when we sawit on the big screen, too!

Some people were trying to pass themselves off as kids to get some aguinaldo

A highlight of this year was the Pinoy Henyo game. The rules weren't made clear so they had to do 3 rounds to determine the winner. In the end they just decided to split the prize money 4 ways. They were so exhausted they passed on a round of videoke.

Jan 2: Jon's birthday! We ate lunch at Conti's then went to Pasay to show old videos of Jon's first birthday and a video of New Year circa 2001.

We shopped for Jon's gifts and had dinner at Max's Fried Chicken before plopping into bed.