Sunday, March 30, 2008

Banoffee, Banoffi, Banoffy --

However you spell it, I'm craving it.

The one they serve at Red Ribbon is okay and it temporarily satisfies the need. But I really want the one served at Banapple and I'm already trying to figure out how to get some the next time I'm in Manila.

I am thinking of making my own -- and I came across this.

The Completely True and Utter Story of Banoffi Pie by one of the guys who invented the Banoffee and here is his recipe.

I kinda like the graham cracker crust that is more commonly used as the base of the Banoffee.

I think banana is the fruit for 2008 (or it should be).

Earth Hour, Iloilo --

So, we turned off our lights at 8 last night.

At first, we were worried about Seth and the heat.

But, Seth didn't mind it and, in the end, neither did we.

We didn't even notice that the hour had passed. And it felt good to do it -- even though we seemed to have been the only ones who did.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Hairspray --

Mahar introduced me to the idea of a power song -- he made me listen to "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and that's how I discovered that musical.

I like the idea of having a power song -- during those times when I need that extra push (that extra bit of courage or confidence), I listen to one of them and it really does wonders!

Here's the latest addition to my list:

Big, Blonde And Beautiful
from "Hairspray"

Bring on that pecan pie
Pour some sugar on it
Sugar don't be shy
Scoop me up a mess
Of that chocolate swirl
Don't be stingy,
I'm a growing girl

I offer big love
With no apology
How can I deny the world
The most of me
I am not afraid
To throw my weight around
Pound by pound by pound

Because I'm
Big, blonde and beautiful
There is nothin' 'bout me
That's unsuitable

No one wants a meal
That only offers the least
When girl we're servin' up
The whole damn feast

Slice off a piece
Of that hogshead cheese
Then take a look inside
My book of recipes

Now, don't you sniff around
For something fluffy and light
I need a man who brings
A man-size appetite

I'll use a pinch of sugar
And a dash of spice
I'll let ya lick the spoon
Because it tastes so nice

I'll keep it in my oven
'Til it's good and hot
Keep on stirring 'til it hits the spot
Because I'm...

Big, blonde and beautiful
And Edna girl, you're lookin' so
Recruitable
Why sit in the bleachers
Timid and afraid
When Edna,
You can be your own parade!

They say that
Black is whack
And big ain't in
Well that's just bull

Cause ladies big is back
And as for black
It's beautiful

All shapes and sizes
Follow me
Who wants a twig
When you can have the whole tree

Friday, March 28, 2008

OMGOMGOMG! --

Blade of the Immortal the anime!!!!!!!!!

... I really should call it Mugen no Juunin.

I am so happy!!!!

I want to go to Japan and watch the first episode this April. >_<

More news here!

Post backlog part 1--

These are some things that I meant to write about but was never able to ... until now!

* * *

One of Johann's prized possessions --

... and another reason why we love used books stores.

This is supposed to be something Johann should post about but he is now a lapsed blogger so I will write about it for him.

Photobucket

When my husband was a "young lad" of 6 (I think he would use these words to describe himself), he read about a review about a fantasy novel written by a guy named Barry Hughart. The story instantly captivated him -- (yes, he was a geek even back then) because it was very rare for fantasy novels to be set in China and this novel claims to be the story of "an Ancient China that never was."

Sadly, he couldn't find a copy of the book back then and he made it his lifelong vow to locate a copy of this book.

The dream came true 20-something years later, when he found an almost-pristine copy in one of the used books sellers here in Iloilo.

Now, he and my sister have made another lifelong vow -- to save up and buy the rare and very expensive omnibus edition which collects the 3 novels.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

An interesting exercise --

My friend, Nikka, posted on her blog the Top 100 songs of the year she was born and noted which songs she actually knew.

Here's the list for the Top 100 songs of 1978.
1. Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb
2. Night Fever, Bee Gees
3. You Light Up My Life, Debby Boone
4. Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees

5. Kiss You All Over, Exile
6. How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees
7. Baby Come Back, Player
8. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water, Andy Gibb
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste Of Honey
10. Three Times A Lady, Commodores
11. Grease, Frankie Valli <-- if this is the one from the musical then, yes
12. I Go Crazy, Paul Davis
13. You're The One That I Want, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
14. Emotion, Samantha Sang
15. Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
16. Miss You, Rolling Stones
17. Just The Way You Are, Billy Joel
18. With A Little Luck, Wings
19. If I Can't Have You, Yvonne Elliman
20. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah), Chic
21. Feels So Good, Chuck Mangione
22. Hot Child In The City, Nick Gilder
23. Love Is Like Oxygen, Sweet
24. It's A Heartache, Bonnie Tyler
25. We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You, Queen
26. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
27. Can't Smile Without You, Barry Manilow
28. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
29. Dance With Me, Peter Brown
30. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad, Meat Loaf
31. Jack And Jill, Raydio
32. Take A Chance On Me, Abba
33. Sometimes When We Touch, Dan Hill
34. Last Dance, Donna Summer
35. Hopelessly Devoted To You, Olivia Newton-John
36. Hot Blooded, Foreigner
37. You're In My Heart, Rod Stewart
38. The Closer I Get To You, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
39. Dust In The Wind, Kansas
40. Magnet And Steel, Walter Egan
41. Short People, Randy Newman
42. Use Ta Be My Girl, O'Jays
43. Our Love, Natalie Cole
44. Love Will Find A Way, Pablo Cruise
45. An Everlasting Love, Andy Gibb
46. Love Is In The Air, John Paul Young
47. Goodbye Girl, David Gates
48. Slip Slidin' Away, Paul Simon
49. The Groove Line, Heatwave
50. Thunder Island, Jay Ferguson
51. Imaginary Lover, Atlanta Rhythm Section
52. Still The Same, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
53. My Angel Baby, Toby Beau
54. Disco Inferno, Trammps
55. On Broadway, George Benson
56. Come Sail Away, Styx
57. Back In Love Again, L.T.D.
58. This Time I'm In It For Love, Player
59. You Belong To Me, Carly Simon
60. Here You Come Again, Dolly Parton
61. Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt
62. Peg, Steely Dan
63. You Needed Me, Anne Murray
64. Shame, Evelyn "Champagne" King
65. Reminiscing, Little River Band
66. Count On Me, Jefferson Starship
67. Baby Hold On, Eddie Money
68. Hey Deanie, Shaun Cassidy
69. Summer Nights, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-john
70. What's Your Name, Lynyrd Skynyrd
71. Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gayle
72. Because The Night, Patti Smith
73. Every Kinda People, Robert Palmer
74. Copacabana, Barry Manilow
75. Always And Forever, Heatwave
76. You And I, Rick James
77. Serpentine Fire, Earth, Wind and Fire
78. Sentimental Lady, Bob Welch
79. Falling, LeBlanc and Carr
80. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Santa Esmeralda
81. Bluer Than Blue, Michael Johnson
82. Running On Empty, Jackson Browne
83. Whenever I Call You "Friend", Kenny Loggins
84. Fool (If You Think It's Over), Chris Rea
85. Get Off, Foxy
86. Sweet Talking Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
87. Life's Been Good, Joe Walsh
88. I Love The Night Life, Alicia Bridges
89. You Can't Turn Me Off (In The Middle Of Turning Me On), High Inergy
90. It's So Easy, Linda Ronstadt
91. Native New Yorker, Odyssey
92. Flashlight, Parliament
93. Don't Look Back, Boston
94. Turn To Stone, Electric Light Orchestra
95. I Can't Stand The Rain, Eruption
96. Ebony Eyes, Bob Welch
97. The Name Of The Game, Abba
98. We're All Alone, Rita Coolidge
99. Hollywood Nights, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
100. Deacon Blues, Steely Dan

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A day late --

Johann and I celebrate two anniversaries -- the day we became a couple and the day we got married.

Yesterday, we celebrated the first one. Four years ago, while walking from Robinson's Galleria to The Podium, Johann asked me if I loved him enough to be his girlfriend and I said yes. In Podium, we bumped into his former boss and he introduced me thus: "This is Tin, she's new."

Happy 4, my crazy dear. ^_^

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Internet is for ... --

We were so excited to read about Citi Hardware stocking bamboo floor panels that we all got into the car and drove there.

They were really lovely but very expensive -- we were surprised to find out how much a "Green" house would potentially cost.

My sister started reading up on bamboo flooring and was a bit horrified to read about how ... fragile it is.

So, my dear, innocent sister decided to google these words "Narra" and "Hard" --

Guess what she found. O_O

Sunday, March 16, 2008

My favorite day(s) in Manila --

I wrote about Seth's favorite day so I should write about mine --

I made three wonderful discoveries when I was in Manila -- Kopi Tiam, Banapple and the used bookstores in UP Palma Hall.

I have to thank my cousin, Dex and his mom for taking me and Seth to lunch at Kopi Tiam. Tita and Dex were great hosts -- they actually over-ordered just so we could get to taste as many of the dishes served at Kopi Tiam. When I think of their lechon macau and their kopi, my mouth waters. I miss it! >_<

My cousins also treated me to dinner -- we ended up at Il Pirata in Eastwood, which is an interesting restaurant concept: Pirate/Italian food. The pizza was delicious and I was very happy with the risotto but it was the after dinner treat that was even more amazing. We went to Banapple because my cousin is a big fan of cheesecake (like me) and she wanted me to try as many of the cheesecake varieties there. We ordered three slices of cake and took it home to their house (because Banapple was full) and tried each one. I was very surprised by how good the Banoffee tasted. I couldn't imagine bananas in a pie but this one actually worked! (I tried the one in Red Ribbon here in Iloilo ... I want Banapple! >_<)

I was back at Banapple a few days later to have dinner with two dear friends. This time, we were able to get a table and had dinner there. I hadn't seen these two in a long, long time and I've had very sporadic conversations with them over the years. Dinner was fun -- it felt like no time had passed and things were as they've always been. Banapple now holds one of my happiest memories.

For the last one, I have to thank E! for taking the time to bring me to UP Palma Hall. We browsed through books and I amused the shopkeeper because I was on the phone with Johann and I was listing down all the authors and titles that he might be interested in. What's interesting is that my visit to the UP Palma bookstalls was even more gratifying than my visits to the regular bookstores.

I really love used books. ^_^

Thursday, March 13, 2008

If anyone is interested --

Better World Books has a promo in honor of International Women's Day -- get $5 off every $25 purchase.

Let me know if anyone's interested. I'll PM you the promo code. ^_^

It's only until the 15th, though --

* * *

Night/Day/Twilight Watch --

By some miracle, I was able to convince Johann to cull through his overwhelming collection of books. (I managed to get him to give up 10 books. It is a victory, people.)

We discovered an unread copy of Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, which is the basis of the movie of the same title (a really big deal -- the first MASSIVELY successful Russian film).

I will digress here -- the director of the movie is the director of Wanted (based on a really cool comic book series by Mark Millar), which is James MacAvoy goodness.

Anyhoo, Johann and my sister just finished reading Night Watch and are now itching to get a copy of the two other books in the series. Luckily, Better World had them. And we got them at $5 less because of the promo.

Monday, March 10, 2008

It's not Elvis but --

I noticed that one of Seth's corn flakes was shaped like a heart so we took a picture of it.

Photobucket

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Been a while --

The problem with traveling is that you have to put your life on hold while you go traipsing about wherever you are headed -- when you come back, you are greeted by a massive backlog of things to do.

Add to that all the photos from the trip and the laundry that you didn't do. ^_^

That's what I've been doing for the past week or two, I've been re-organizing my life and trying to get things running again. It's been hard finding the balance and I still haven't gotten into the groove of things again.

I make it sound like it's such a big deal when, in truth, I didn't really go very far -- I was just in Manila. (And it wasn't for a long time either. ^_^)

* * *

What I've been busy with --

I've been trawling through the magazine sections of Booksale looking for Bookmark, Geek, Dwell, Romantic Times Book Review, etc.

I've been in magazine mode lately. It thrills me to find a gem in the stash of magazines at Booksale. It's my way of being updated in what is happening in Pop culture land. ^_^

I've been watching *ahem* Gossip Girl, which reminds me Cruel Intentions and the first season of The OC (their best season, IMHO). ^_^

Johann found a copy of Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights and it is classic Wong Kar Wai. It actually reminds me a bit of Chungking Express.

I want to gush about this movie! It is so lovely and breathtaking!

I've been eating cookies. Pepperidge Farm Soft-Baked cookies are addicting. I love the Dark Chocolate Chunk! Yesterday, we got their White Chocolate Macadamia (soft baked) and their Dark Chocolate Pecan (crisp).

I think I like soft-baked cookies more than crisp cookies.