I took this photo --


..and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I spent yesterday working on the thank you notes Johann and I are distributing to our wedding guests. Visit our other blog for the images.

Bleh --

I had a really great post -- lots of deep thoughts and personal insights -- and then blogger decided to go wonky on me.

* * *

The gist --

Non-working holiday on Monday.

Sky High on Wednesday.

MIBF (that's the Bookfair) this week.

Thanks to all who shared their recommendations in the previous post.

I'm almost done reading Nigella and I'm interested in the Spiderwick Chronicles.

* * *

That's it. Is all.

Time to get interactive! --

Recommend:

-A book to read

-A film to see

-A place to visit

-A community to join

-A friend to add

-A recipe

Please do as many as possible of these and then post in your journal for others to do the same to you :)

For me mostly --

But if anyone else is interested in attending, here's the info:

Dr. Caroline S. Hau from Kyoto University will deliver a short lecture on the Philippine Novel in English on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at the UP Faculty Center Audio-Visual Room (UP Diliman), 4-5:30 p.m.

Hau is a prize-winning fictionist, respected international scholar, editor of the anthology INTSIK: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE-FILIPINO WRITING and author of the books
NECESSARY FICTIONS: PHILIPPINE LITERATURE AND THE NATION (1946-1980) and ON THE SUBJECT OF THE NATION: FILIPINO WRITINGS FROM THE MARGINS, 1981-2004. Both books are published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press.

During the talk given to MA students yesterday on how they can prepare for their thesis --

One of our resource speakers said "Swallow the cosmos whole."

And that's all I can actually remember from the talk.

Coming Full Circle --

I remember the first time I heard "Seasons of Love" -- it was on the "Today Show" and I had only seen the last part of the performance. But the words stuck to me and I had to find out what it was about. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

I did an online search and I found out that it was from a new musical called "Rent" -- I thought that was that. I had satisfied a curiosity. It was all good.

And then I found a copy of the 2-disc CD of the musical at CD Warehouse in Shoppesville. It was selling for PhP850 and it was the only copy of the CD. In 1996, as a college Junior with an allowance of PhP2000 a month, PhP850 makes quite a dent in one's cash flow. But I went ahead and bought it and I haven't regretted that decision ever since.

That led to the purchase of the big-ass RENT book and then tickets to see the local production and then watching the local prodcution so many times -- on it's last weekend alone, I was there for ALL the shows: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Matinee and Gala, and Sunday Matinee and Gala.

It led to more musicals and a whole new group of friends (the RENTheads). It led to new-found confidence and an assurance that everything will be alright.

And now, the movie version is coming out and the cast of RENT (the movie) once again perform on the "Today Show" --

I tell you, it's all so magical.

Click here.

They also performed "What You Own" -- click here.

And the official movie music video is here.

* * *

I wish --

I wish Atlantis would stage RENT one last time and I would watch it with my siblings and Johann and Gabby and Mase and Laika and everyone and we would all just laugh together and cry together.

~sigh~

Online! --

Finally! We have our own pc and we are connected to the Internet! Hurrah!

I can finally surf and blog in earnest. ^_^

* * *

What have I been up to? --

I attended a Madonna-thon last Saturday with some friends. We were acting like tourists and taking pictures of EVERYTHING -- I think we amused the "bouncer" and the people around us.

My cousins are still in town and we took them around Ateneo and UP and had lunch with them at Chateau Verde. Apparently, Chateau Verde has a lunch buffet of steak and oysters for PhP290. Johann was so, so happy -- as they say, like a kid in the candy store. Piles of oysters and steak -- it all looked so, so good! (Damn him and his fast metabolism =p)

* * *

Oh, and we have super lovely sounds courtesy of our Harman Kardon Soundsticks II. Grabe. Wow.

Really.

Tagged by Camy ^_^ --

Seven things that scare you:
1. Needles, injections
2. The sight of blood
3. Losing loved ones
4. Salmonella and other food-borne bacteria
5. things/people that play with my head
6. Contracting life-threatening diseases
7. Mediocrity

Seven things you like the most:
1. Peanut Butter, Nutella, Chocolate Syrup and Maple Syrup
2. Watching movies in cinemas with really good popcorn
3. My Print Gocco, my Lomo Cameras (poor neglected things), all the little knickknacks I have surrounded myself with
4. Good, good friends
5. Nigella Lawson
6. My hunny
7. Being married to my hunny

Seven important things in your room:
1. Bed and Pillows
2. Bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol
3. The television and dvd player
4. My copy of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat
5. Our little tatami-esque rug
6. Anti-perspirant
7. Checkbook

Seven random facts about you:
1. I don't like talking over the phone -- there's only a handful of people that I can talk to for some period of time, but after a while, I get restless and my attention wanders.
2. I love to travel.
3. I love to waffles more than pancakes.
4. I get very obsessive-compulsive about my hair.
5. I'm a control freak.
6. According to my hunny, I have an insane obsession with office supplies. This is true -- when we were in Singapore, I was happiest wandering around the paper and stationery supplies section of Kinokuniya.
7. I love Mustard.

Seven things you plan to do before you die:
1. Have children and see them grow up and have families of their own
2. Take a GRAND tour of Europe with Johann
3. Visit Japan and Australia (because I've never been there)
4. Submit something to the Palanca
5. Buy a Cacnio sculpture
6. Teach a course on Shakespeare
7. Watch all the episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus (which means get them on DVD first)

Seven things you can do:
1. I can cook. (Simple dishes)
2. I can organize and see a schedule through.
3. I have a fairly sizable store of useless information.
4. I'd like to believe that I can teach well.
5. I can commute! (To certain places)
6. I can do semi-crafty things.
7. I have a knack for finding "gems" in stores

Seven things you can't do:
1. I can't draw and I wish I can.
2. I can't swim.
3. I can't sing.
4. I can't drive.
5. I can't crack jokes effectively.
6. I can't lie. (I don't have a poker face -- people who know me well know when I'm lying.)
7. I can't wear yellow.

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:
1. Intelligence
2. If I'm able to eat in their presence
3. How they carry their clothes
4. Confidence
5. His friends and his relationship with them
6. If I have good conversations with them
7. Must love books

Seven things you say the most:
1. Hay naku!
2. Pusang Hilaw
3. Damn.
4. 'allo!
5. Ohmygod!
6. Cool!
7. Interesting.

Seven celeb crushes (whether local or foreign)
1. Tony Leung-Chiu Wai

... just him. Some minor crushes, but it didn't feel right listing them as #2, #3, etc.

Seven people you want to see to take this quiz:
1. Johann
2. My bro
3. Eric
4. Cuppkeyk
5. Gabs
6. Mahar
7. Mase

* * *

Nigella Lawson! --

My hunny gave me a copy of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat as a wedding present. I'm reading it right now and it is wonderful!

I love Nigella, I love how unapologetic she is about enjoying food. She's all about enjoying your meal and experiencing it to the full.

My favorite line from her (so far) "I have nothing to declare but my greed."

I want to collect all 5 of her books, so that's 1 down and 4 to go. ^_^

Back to honeymoon kwento! --

The ice cream -- I miss the Baskins I had in Bangkok. I miss how cheap it was! >_<

Here are our ice cream photos --


My hunny at the Ben and Jerry's in Hong Kong. He was so, so tempted to get the pint of Pistachio -- but we decided to try a flavor that isn't available locally -- I think this one was called the Dublin Mudslide.


Gelato in Hong Kong! This one was Pistachio. We also tried Caramel and Cookies and Cream mixed together -- but the absolute, hands-down winner was the Ferrero Roche gelato mix. YUM!

The Comics and Gamers Fair was madness! I'm glad we decided to go -- it was interesting seeing the HK fans get so excited over Naruto and Gundam and other series -- the most curious thing we saw was the Infernal Affairs MMORPG.

Doraemon is also very big in HK. O_o



Johann and I also enjoyed the airports. At the Bangkok Airport, we treated ourselves to foot and head & shoulder massages. So, so worth it. It was the perfect preparation to HK.





I finished reading Harry Potter while waiting to board the plane. ^_^

* * *

Tin loves Noodles --

We had a goal in HK and it was to splurge on dimsum and noodles. The HK Tourism Board released a booklet that detailed the winners of the annual culinary awards and they had a list of the places with the best dimsum and noodles.

Most of these places were in the HK side and the rain made it difficult for us to travel. We decided to go to the one in Kowloon -- a restaurant called "Dong" -- the food was very, very expensive and I wasn't really convinced of its merits.







I had congee and it was bleh. =P

Feeling a bit disillusioned and frustrated, we had already accepted the sad, sad realization that we won't be able to have good dimsum before going home.

Our flight was at 430 in the afternoon and we were scheduled for pickup at 130. I was a bit worried that 130 would be too late and that we wouldn't have enough time to go around the HK International Airport, we requested to be fetched earlier. When we got to the airport, we discovered that they had Maxim's there (voted as one of the best restos for dimsum and noodles) --

It was wonderful! I had the wonton noodle soup and Johann had the fried e-fu noodles.







Johann saw the noodle dish being served to the table behind us and was so intrigued by it. We kept trying to ask the waiters what it was but there was a massive communication barrier. I mustered up all my knowledge of Mandarin and managed to get the message across. The e-fu noodles was amazing.

(There is actually a slideshow of me eating the noodles -- but I won't show it here. ^_^;;;)



<-- the view from our seat.

We had a lovely time in Bangkok and Hong Kong -- I've always been worried about stepping out of my comfort zone (Singapore) to explore other places and I'm glad Johann was with me to experience Bangkok. It was a revelation and we would love to go back in the future. ^_^

Wedding Pics! --

Visit our blog for the pics. So, so lovely! (And so many to choose from >_<)

Here's one of my favorites:


Click here!

Btw, for people who were there and also took pictures, can you share them with me please? Thankies. ^_^

Visit us! (Book Fair News) --

Central Comic Headquarters (CCHQ) will be participating in the upcoming Manila International Book Fair:

Date: From Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2005
Time: 10am to 8pm
Bookfair location:
World Trade Center, Metro Manila (Financial Center Area)
Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. (Buendia Ave.) corner Roxas Blvd.
Pasay City, Metro Manila

We are booth #106. 4th row from the entrance I think. A short distance from the dining area. It's a small booth but we'll do our best to fill it with as much stuff as possible. =) We'll be displaying and selling English graphic novels and manga, trade paperbacks, mainstream and indie, and also Japanese manga and artbooks at very affordable prices. =)

Photos --

When Johann and I were trying to decide how to describe our recent trip, the word that came to mind was ice cream. We had ice cream everyday. We were getting to know each place by their food and we ate so much. (I think I gained weight >_<)

July 25, Day 1, Bangkok --
Dinner at Oishi Ramen and dessert at Baskins. A scoop of ice cream was 55 Baht. Johann had the Pistachio and Almonds and I had a really fudgy, chocolate-y one.

July 26, Day 2, Bangkok --
Breakfast Buffet at our hotel, Pathumwan Princess, which has the best BEST location ever! It's directly connected to MBK, which is a really big tiangge and across from it is Discovery Mall and a few blocks down are other really nice malls.

Lunch was at The Pizza Company inside MBK. We were curious about this pizza place and we couldn't go to the local branch in Market! Market! so we decided to try out the pizza at the original branch in Bangkok. We had the double-crust Scallops. Yum. We ate the whole thing. The WHOLE thing.

We didn't have dinner because our tour guide fetched us and brought us to the Suan-Loom Night Bazaar. We had so much fun there! Really funky custom-designed t-shirts and really lovely furniture.

July 27, Day 3, Bangkok --
Lunch was at Noodi's, which kinda reminded me of Oody's -- the same color, the same concept. I had a Crab Omelette on Noodles and it was HEAVEN.



Johann had ramen with vegetables and seafood, which was also yummy.



We decided to go back to the Night Bazaar to look around some more and had dinner at the Joe Louis Puppet Theater located inside the Bazaar complex. Had really yummy curry.

**We kept trying the spring rolls of every restaurant and I didn't like any of them. The local ones are much nicer (in my humble, yet blasphemous opinion)

Where's the ice cream? They served Magnums on the flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Yummmmmmmm!

The next day, our flight out of Bangkok was at 950am and we were going to get picked up from the hotel at 730am. The Breakfast Buffet was at 6am and Johann and I really went out of our way to wake up early and to finish packing so that we could enjoy the buffet.

Rest of the pics from our Bangkok adventure:






During our visit to the temple of the Reclining Buddha, we chanced upon a table that was asking for donations to help them rebuild/repair the roof of the temple. Johann and I thought it would be nice to have one of the shingles named after us ^_^





I love this little guy -- while everyone was busy taking pictures of the Golden Buddha, I found him praying by the door of the temple.



July 28, Day 1, Hong Kong --
We arrived in Hong Kong after lunch and we immediately went "sightseeing" -- I brought Johann to my favorite stores in HK, Blue Star and Muji and we stopped by many other stores along the way.

Dinner was supposed to be at City Super, an HK food court but the place was packed! We decided to cross the street to the other City Super but they were full as well. We found a Maxim's Fastfood and ate there. Johann had Beef Brisket in Curry and I had the Baked Pork in Rice.

July 29, Day 2, Hong Kong --
HK hotels don't offer Breakfast Buffets, so we had to scrounge around for our own food. Our first breakfast was at Delifrance, located in the building beside our hotel.

We joined a tour group and did tourist-y things the rest of the morning and had ourselves dropped off near the Hong Kong Convention Center for the 7th HK Comics and Games Fair.

Tourist-y pics from Hong Kong:








The HK Comics and Games Fair was Madness! There were so many people there! We were reading the news of the opening earlier that day and there were kids there with HK$6000 to HK$8000 in their pockets -- they were getting ready to purchase action figures and toys and whatnot.


<-- My geek hubby, so close to the Mother Ship. hahahaha!



One of the mascots of the convention. We also saw a lot of Cosplayers -- grabe! The costumes were so intricate (but I've also seen really funky ones in our local conventions)

~Whew! So many photos, so many kwento... So many papers to check!!! ><~

To be continued.

I'm back! --

Arrived last night from Hong Kong, which was wet and rainy so Johann and I really weren't able to go out and see the sights.

We spent 3 days in Bangkok and 3 days in Hong Kong and we came home to an empty house and cupboards that needed stocking. (We love Fresh! ^_^)

To sum up the trip? It was an ice-cream fest -- seriously, that's all we did. We ate ice cream and gelato and tried out as many new flavors as we our bodies could handle -- my favorite was Ferrero Rocher gelato from one of the stalls at City Super.

Pictures to follow and more kwento as well. ^_^

For now, some highlights:
- bought my copy of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince for 650 Baht (PhP877) and read it. Didn't want to leave the hotel room after I got my copy. I love it! >_<
- found a copy of Millions by Frank Boyce, which Danny Boyle adapted into a movie with the same title. WONDERFUL book! I'm savoring it right now.
- got a copy of the director's cut of Hero
- read really funny bits in the foreign newspapers. Like a thief drinking a "work of art," which was worth over US$50k -- it was a bottle of melted ice from the North Pole, which the "artist" said signified Global Warming and whatnot. Also enjoyed the personals section and was amused about how some people right about themselves.
- had really yummy noodles in Bangkok and fell in love with Loft at the Discovery Mall.
- I was with my hubby hunny -- we were mucking through the rain in the streets of HK and were getting lost in the language of Bangkok and I was having the time of my life because he was there.

* * *

Married! --

I am, btw. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling to be someone's wife and to call someone "husband" -- there's just a really good sound to it. ^_^

(To everyone who attended last July 23, thank you so much. It was wonderful seeing all of you there. ^_^)

* * *

CSI!!! --

I missed the Tarantino episode! >_<

But I did get to watch all three installments of the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Women."

* * *

Things to look forward to --

Seven Swords by Tsui Hark
Sky High from Walt Disney
The final installment of the Harry Potter series ^_^
A fully-functioning house (hopefully by next week)