Lolo's First Death Anniversary

Thought of sharing this video made by my cousin .. ..

 


It's been a year now and we definitely miss you Lolo .. ..

Pinoy Power, World's Shocker

JESSICA SANCHEZ IN AMERICAN IDOL

    American Idol started airing early this year and from that time, we have followed the Idol journey of Jessica Sanchez. A 16-year old, US citizen Fil-Mexican, who finished as a runner-up in the said televised singing competition, behind of Phillip Phillips. Sanchez, after trying her luck in the audition, made it to Hollywood, entered the top 24, and ended one of the 12 finalists of the American Idol. Among the finalists, she was, I guess the first who was given a standing ovation by the judges with her song “I Love You I do”. Throughout the season, she was given a total of 6 standing ovations including her duet with fellow finalist Joshua Ledet and another duet with Jennifer Holiday during the final results night. After getting consecutive praises from the judges, Ryan Seacrest, the Idol host, announced Jessica belonged to the bottom three during the top 7 elimination night and later declared to have received the lowest number of votes. She was then saved by the judges even before she finished her save song - which was very dramatic. Since then, she gained more support coming especially from her Filipino fans and, as per report says, Mexicans do too. Boxing has divided Filipinos and Mexicans after Manny Pacquiao has beaten out numerous Mexican boxers, and this time having Jessica in the competition, made everyone united! She was able to avoid facing the bottom three and later battled with Phillip at the finale. The show ended having Phillip Phillips as the new American Idol and Jessica the runner-up. The result made, I think, every Filipino disappointed and in grief. Topics like “That should be Jessica” and “Jessica is the World Idol” even trended worldwide on twitter. The issue of racism and how WGWG (White Guy With Guitar) is being favored by AI were brought up. Rumors and speculations that it was arranged were raised, that even I, thought those were true. I thought it was possible since the Mexican superstar, Thalia, tweeted right after the performance night that her husband Tommy Motola (the man behind the success of Mariah Carey, JLo and etc.) will produce Jessica’s first recording album. As far as I am concerned, whoever wins the competition gets an exclusive recording contract under the 19 management and it wouldn’t be possible for Sanchez to sign under Motola if she bagged the season 11 American Idol title. 

Well, just my thought. What happened may only be a result of a coincidence, or whatsoever. But I kinda thought of the same thing last June 10, during the Pacquiao-Bradley fight. Hmm?? 

MANNY PACQUIAO – TIM BRADLEY

            The moment that the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. match was announced, boxing fans around the globe started to follow their preparations and get updates regarding their training. Pacquiao, being the Eight-Division World Champion title holder, was predicted to win over Bradley. Manny, on the other hand, was humble enough to say that he cannot be relaxed since Tim’s record shows he is undefeated. So, June 9, evening in Las Vegas (June 10, morning in Manila) came and the whole world watched as the two fighters battled for a title. In as much as I wanted to give a blow-by-blow, per round account of the match, I am neither a boxing analyst nor an enthusiast. What I know is Bradley was in good condition during the first two rounds then Manny threw his power punches the next several rounds. While Pacquiao hasn’t seemed to be unstoppable, he kinda slowed down during final rounds. Still, all I see was Tim Jr kept on hugging Manny and appeared to be in a resting pace. I was just like waiting for the Pound for Pound king to knock out the undefeated boxer because in the way I see it, Manny was already winning the fight. But I had to wait after the 12^th round let the judges make their decision. And to my shock, the ring announcer proclaimed Tim Bradley Jr. as the New WBO welterweight champion! WHAT!?! REALLY?!? Then I checked out twitter and facebook and realized that twitter users and netizens around the globe shared the same sentiment as I do. I think everyone was disappointed on how those judges judged the fight and came with such decision by making  #RIPBoxing  one of the trending topics. Pacquiao fans also showed their support via twitter through a hash tag, #mannypacquiaoisstilltheworldsbestboxer and made it as the top trending topic on twitter worldwide. Although everyone was left in disbelief, Pac-man on his interviews said, for him he is the real winner but will respect the judges’ decision. He may have accepted his defeat; I still cannot help but wonder if everything was right and if something was going on. According to reports, there will be a Pacquiao-Bradley Rematch on November, which I don’t know would be possible if not for this controversial decision. Tim Bradley has even posted this photo on his twitter account last May 30, tweeting, "Gonna be so nice we gonna do it twice".

            I can never tell if the bout had been arranged or what. All I know is everything just seemed so wrong.

FIRST JESSICA AND NOW MANNY

          “First Jessica” was also one of the trending topics that came out after the Pac-Bradley fight. Netizens compared Jessica’s loss to Manny’s defeat, saying it must be a question of racism since both are not pure American. Some say its business that has been arranged. But whatever, the world knows who their winner is. Jessica may have ended her idol journey only as a runner-up, but seemed to be more in demand as evidenced by her TV guestings. She performed during their Memorial Day Celebration, was invited to sing the US national anthem during the Pac-Brad match and on NBA Finals – Game 1. She even topped the preorder selling of EPs on walmart.com and is now working on her own album. Sanchez is also trending on twitter for almost every other day. For Manny, he may have faced his defeat but look like he is just gaining more fans and even richer after the fight. Nevertheless, as a Filipino, I just feel so happy seeing our “kababayans” making it big in Hollywood and in sports world. :)

photos credit to the owner

24th Birthday Celebration

                So to continue, last March 17, together with my family, I celebrated my 24^th birthday. And just like my mom’s birthday celebration, we only had a very simple dinner, this time, at Abe.

Located at 3rd floor, Trinoma mall

                Foods served at Abe were all like Spanish and Native Filipino inspired. They offer different kinds of viands of meat on their menu, including goat and lamb meat and others. And I think, they also have fried frog legs. ;) But since our family is not really used to eat these “rare” meat, we just tried foods that we are very familiar with.

                 We had Crispy pata which was cooked really well.

                Then we had Morcon that was really tasty but my mom disagrees. Heheh!

                For our sidedish, we ordered Laing with smoked tinapa, for me, must probably be one of the Best Laing I ever tried! Or, maybe the best? 

                We also had sinigang na baboy which was truly enjoyed by the kids, especially the “sabaw”.

                For us Filipinos, every good food or viand must come with perfectly cooked rice. And Abe has it – unlimited! Yeah, for 62php, you can consume rice as long as you can. Guess I also have to share that I finished two big plates full of rice. Takaw lang?? :p

                Aside from their palatable foods, they also have a very lovely ambiance. I like how truly Pinoy their concept is, as evidenced by how their chairs and tables were made. And also, they have this really cute bar. :)

 

                 I may have other ways or options on how I will celebrate my birthday, I just chose to have a less extravagant dinner. Well, I guess, nothing beats a celebration with your family … :))

My Mom's Birthday

                Since I’ve been quite busy and preoccupied from work, I find that I haven’t updated this blog as much as I should. I believe there’s a lot I just got to share and to start it off, let me narrate what we did during my mom’s birthday .. 

                Last March 4, we celebrated my mother’s, uhm, nth birthday. ;P Of course, we only had a very simple dinner at Banana Leaf where almost everything tasted so good.

                One of their bestsellers is their Chicken Curry; they had it in sizzling or baked. I had mine baked and although it has lots of potato, which I’m not really fond of, I still find the whole thing delicious.

Baked Chicken Curry

 

Sizzling Chicken Curry

                Also one of their bestsellers is their version of the spicy noodles, Phad Thai. I love how its spicy taste only enhanced my appetite!

Phad Thai

 

                They have a lot of delectable foods to offer on their menu that were all Asian inspired including, Creamy tilapia, other types of noodles, fried chicken and different sizzling variants.

That's the Creamy tilapia on the center

                By the way, they prefer using banana leaf instead of plates. And in addition, I also love their Milk tea. :)

                After having our dinner, I decided to treat my mom for a massage. And syempre, join forces ang buong pamilya! :)

My locker number :)

 

                A sumptuous dinner and relaxation at the spa, oh, what a good life! Surely, without even asking, everybody enjoyed my mom’s birthday celebration – because I did! :)

 

This Means War

 

            Since I’ve been hearing positive feedbacks about the movie This Means War, I made sure to catch it on cinema.

 

            The movie is about CIA’s two top agents who are actually the best of friends and a woman who is trying to get over her ex-boyfriend’s engagement. So what happens if these two inseparable guys battle against that one girl?

            The British Tuck, played by Tom Hardy, is in search of finding a new love and signed up in an online dating network. There, he met and soon dated Lauren Scott. 

             Chris Pine as FDR, helped his best friend Tuck and served as a backup on his date. But eventually bumped into Lauren, got his attention and asked for a date.

            Later on, Lauren Scott played by Reese Witherspoon, found herself dating these two guys not knowing they are friends and became really confused of who to choose.

            Although there were flaws and it was obvious who Lauren would pick, I still enjoyed the whole experience. I like how action, comedy and romance were all rolled into one film. I also find it cute because it wasn’t the typical CIA-related serious action movie. Probably not at their best, but the actors especially Witherspoon, made it all worthwhile.

            The story just showed me the real test of friendship and the difference that love can make to a person. I also learned that in love and relationship, we must choose the one who can make us a better person. 

            Lastly, I just love how this feel-good movie kept me smiling up to the very end. :)

 

 

            This Means War

            Action Romantic Comedy 

            Directed by: McG

            Casts: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy

UNOFFICIALLY YOURS

            Since I was single and working during the Valentine’s Day, my family and I celebrated this occasion only last Saturday, February 18. So what did we do? Being an Angel Locsin fan and pretty excited about her latest movie, where else would I invite my family? In cinema and watch UnOfficially Yours definitely!

            The movie is about a guy, Mackie, who came from failed relationships but considers falling in love again and a modern-day woman, Ces, who doesn’t believe in commitments. Then they met in a very strange event. What happens if the other wants to take it into the next, serious level and the other still finds it for fun?

            I think, John Lloyd who played the role of Mackie Galvez, has mastered the art of making pa-“kilig” in his movies. He may not have the sexiest body, but he has captured every girl’s heart. There was this particular scene where he said to Angel (Ces), “Naghihintay lang ng inspirasyon… Uy, nandyan ka na pala…”, then started to type really fast on his keyboard/PC. It was funny but really felt that “kilig”. I’ve seen JL’s movies since One More Chance and this must be his most daring film – well, in terms of baring too much skin.:p

            As an Angel Locsin fan and having been able to watch almost all her movies, I can say she truly has grown as an artist. Playing the role of Ces, she was able to sustain that level of maturity of an actress she has already showed in In The Name of Love. For me, Angel was very effective with her character that I nearly forgot it was her and dama ko siya talaga! Feminism in the film is quite evident in Angel’s character as she portrays a very strong and independent woman. Since The Promise, I think Angel just keeps on becoming bolder in her movies. And here in her latest, without a doubt, she really is Philippines’ Sexiest Woman/Celebrity – deserve na deserve!

            At lot of people have perceived this movie as a rip-off of Hollywood’s Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached, but director Cathy Garcia-Molina did it great by making a not-so-old-not-so-new concept appear fresh. These movies may have similarly tackled casual sex relationship, but UnOfficially Yours differed by having a story with a very pinoy approach; like how families affect with the two main characters and how involved friends are in this situation. It is also nice that an old Filipino custom like Harana has still become a part of this very modern love story done in a modern way.

            As I’ve said, I was with my conservative family including my mom and lola, when I watched this. Although it was very sexy, they never find it bastos or anything like that. The director perfectly made those love making hidden in a very hilarious scene. I was laughing so hard specifically in that wild, “kalabugan” scene where Mackie’s friends were just waiting for them outside his room.

Overall, I completely enjoyed the movie. I find it amazing how a light romantic-comedy film took me into their world and captured my attention all throughout. I also love how they all seem to be so fab with their outfits especially Angel. It shows that no matter how toxic the workplace is, anyone should still look fashionable. 

UnOfficially Yours is not your typical love story where boy meets girl then someone comes along that gives conflict to the story. Here, it teaches us that there are relationships that start in an unconventional way; that it is the couple themselves that complicates everything; that sometimes, relationship doesn’t really need an official status but understanding; and, that we should never easily give up and surrender in love. At the end, it made me think why I still stay single. Am I like Ces who is just afraid of commitments and getting hurt? Or, am I just waiting for someone like Mackie who would do such effort and make me believe in love again? Choss!

           UnOfficially Yours is definitely a Must-See movie for people who are in love, got hurt and wants to try and fall in love again!