A.S.A.Pooh

I watched this last night with the missus. Pooh was funny as usual although the whole show left me wanting for more. Vhong Navarro's Dance Evolution number was great although it reminded me of the time he performed it at Sharon's show and I saw Sharon giggling (or was it laughing?) her heart out, trying desperately to mimick Oprah.

Ruffa Mae Quinto's guest performance was dry, especially the part where she insisted a male volunteer from the audience but no one obliged. She kept doing her signature Booba expressions but it didn't really register in my funny meter. She was about to start her 3rd (yawn) song when Pooh came in to save us from the disaster. Whew!

Candy Pangilinan's performance was, well, at the same vicinity as Ruffa Mae's.

The missus felt bitin as well since she expected Pooh to perform his Brillanes, Bro. Mike, and Vivalicious impressions but Pooh didn't. It would've been better if Pooh did them in place of the Ruffa Mae and Candy numbers.

For P1,000.00 a ticket, I felt it wasn't worth it. But Pooh was still great with his Manny Pooh-quiao and Yaya Fifi segments. I think the missus and I will go to Laffline or Punchline one of these days to get a better laugh for less the price.

What I got this Christmas

I guess I've been in Santa's "nice" list this year:

1. Dream Journal - True Faith CD

2. Two bottles of red wine

3. Arrows long-sleeved shirt

4. People Are People jeans

5. Baleno shorts

6. Ferreiro-Roche chocolates

7. Armani perfume

8. travel bag (the missus calls it kikay kit)

9. Pen holder

10. Nike pen bag

Heroes

My sis lent me her copy of Heroes Series 1 on CD a few months back, and today was only the 1st time I watched the 1st episode.

The verdict? AWESOME! I'm completely hooked I can't wait to watch the next episode.

Yup, you have to forgive me for being a late bloomer to the Heroes phenomenon.

Watch it!

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing you a Blessed Christmas!!!

Exile From Mainstream

Matchbox20 back in harness, this album features 6 new and 11 old tracks. Rob Thomas' vocals is still amazingly haunting as ever.

Great album!

Another Senseless Killing

I would like to express my outrage over the recent killing of my high school batchmate, Carlo Castellano. He was the pilot mauled a few days ago outside the Embassy Bar at The Fort by a group of men, presumably dahil nagkasamaan lang ng tingin.

He was laid to rest today (Dec.23). He is survived by his wife and two daughters (both less than 10 years old).

My prayers go out to family in this very trying time. I also pray for the peace of Carlo's soul, and that the perpetrators involved be put to justice.

MSG Overload!

I first tasted this during one of my evening meetings at the office. One of the VPs bought it from the supermarket downstairs.

Kropek na binudburan ng MSG = RAPSA!

Explain THIS Willie!

...and no crying please!

I bet I'm going to hear a mouthful from Joey De Leon as well. :)

Basketball Gold!

I'm glad to know that the 2007 SEA Games gold medal for men's basketball has been claimed back by the RP Team after a 2-year hiatus from international competition.

The RP Team destroyed the Thai team, 94-53. In the Philstar article, it was described as "a royal beating" since the match was won with the Thai princess among the crowd.

The other scores showed similar "no mercy" results to the other countries:

RP vs Malaysia: 108-60
RP vs Cambodia: 136-82
RP vs Indonesia: 75-49

Go Pinoy!!!

Credit Card Update

Well my credit card company has done well so far since the hacking incident. They were able to deliver the new credit card (with new credit card number) to me within a week. The disputed transactions I raised were removed from my monthly charges although they will have to come back to me on the final outcome of their investigation if final na tatanggalin. Of course I know thruthfully that I didn't make those transactions in Brazil, US, and Canada eh di pa naman ako nakakapunta sa mga bansang yun.

Good thing they've reissued the card immediately coz last weekend the missus and I started our Christmas shopping for our inaanaks. The missus is in panic mode since it's already December and we've hadn't bought enough gifts yet. Ahhh yes, the stresses of the Holidays.

Btw, seriously, if you're thinking of giving me something this Christmas, you can donate the money you'll spend to here or here instead.

Jollibee Song

My boy has had diarrhea these past few days so I had to stay home to help monitor him from getting dehydrated. It was a good thing that the stool exam results showed negative for parasites/bacteria so we just have to let the diarrhea go through naturally, giving him enough ORS to rehydrate.

Among the many, many ways of baby-sitting him (aside from a collection of Barney and Sesame Street CDs) is thru youtube.com. My boy and I have watched this video over 20x today, with the song embedded in my mind. For up to now, it's still my last song syndrome.

Enjoy!

Jam Time

It's been a long while since I've played my bass guitar. Months, I think.

But next week's a chance for me to get the old bass guitar out of the case. Another department in the office has invited some of us to play in their Christmas party. Here's the probable setlist:

1. Stone temple pilots - Plush
2. Stone temple pilots - Interstate love song
3. Dashboard - Stolen
4. 30 sec to mars - the kill
5. Gin blossoms - as long as it matters
6. melt with you
7. more to lose
8. Nirvana - Lithium
9. Nirvana - Man who sold the world
10. Two minds crack - upside down
11. Intro(never say goodbye) biglang lipat sa beer - itchyworms

I'll most probably play on song 1,2,5,8 & 9, giving my tribute to Kurt and his band. Then I'll probably leave the place before song 11. ;-)

Fabulous Finds: Palatofino

One Saturday evening, the missus and I have just arrived in Jupiter St, Makati coming from dropping off our boy at Paranaque for his overnight stay with my folks. We were combing Jupiter Street for a prospective place to have dinner when I remembered this Mediterranean resto situated along the said road.

"Palatofino, Mediterranean Dining" the sign read. From my vantage point I couldn't see a car parked in their driveway so I told the missus to look for another place, assuming that no customers mean that the food there might not be good.

We went inside Mickey's Delicatessen but didn't like the food that we'll be eating (cold cuts, cheese, and wine) since that just wasn't our typical dinner. So we hopped into the car again and drove back to Palatofino's. With the missus' persuasion, we ventured in and prepared for what might be (or not) a delectable dining experience.

Palatofino's ambience is quaint and quiet, which is good if you'd like to have a quiet romantic dinner. The waiters were all speaking fluently in English, and they were well aware of the menu's contents.

The missus ordered Andalucian Pork(?) ---sorry I couldn't remember the exact name but that's the only dish with "Andalucian" on it. The missus' verdict? Masarap!

I ordered the Scallops with Rice (sorry, forgot the name again). The rice was neatly put into a cross-wise cut green bell pepper. This one tasted great as well.

For dessert we ordered creme brulee. Delicious!

The cost took me to P1,600+ which should be alright considering we ordered appetizers, soup, 2 main courses, and 1 dessert, and 2 cups of coffee. Not bad.

Btw, here's their multiply site.

Punta De Uian

Our office department went to our annual business planning session last week in Punta De Uian, San Antonio, Zambales. The name sounds a little contradicting don't you think? The place is owned by a nice US-based Filipino couple who come to the place every now and then.

The place is new, having opened only April of this year. It's been widely known since it's been the venue for the Marimar teleserye shown in GMA-7.

The place is great: the rooms, the conference rooms, the villas, the beach (white sand nga lang sana), plus the surfer waves. Definitely worth the 4-hour drive.

Enjoy the pics!

Fabulous Finds: Breakfast at Antonio's

Breakfast at Antonio's...lunch and dinner too!

We were greeted by the sign along Aguinaldo H-Way in Tagaytay, signaling the last stop of my family's Tagaytay overnight trip. We wanted to try B.a.A. out. If we found the food to be OK, we might just come back for a quick early-early Saturday morning breakfast.

B.a.A. completes the resto-trio of Antonio's and Ihawan sa Antonio's, all located in cool Tagaytay. I think the owner came up with Ihawan and Breakfast to cater to the non-fine-diners but still the high quality of the food is noticeable.

The missus ordered Chorizo Pasta, quite good.



Seeing the Specials listed on a blackboard, I ordered the Bacolod Grilled Spareribs. This one tasted great, especially with the satay rice. Quite pricey though (P350.00) but still the taste didn't disappoint. My boy definitely agreed since he never said "ayaw," indicating that he'd had enough.


The pancakes as below. Still, it's no match to Pancake House, which the missus boasts of the secret ingredient X. Notice the maple syrup ---not their own.


The missus intends to go back at B.a.A. for the spareribs. I'll definitely try another meal on their menu.

My CC's been hacked!!!

It was a good thing I checked my credit card statement this morning. I found the following unauthorized transactions:

11/27 TRENDS DEPOT 613-9076945 CA PHP 20,332.87 USD 459.00

11/09 BODYBUILDING 208-377-9994 US PHP 3,847.93 USD 86.97

11/08 AMERICANAS COM OSASCO BR PHP 6,763.47 R$ 261.95

I think the hack happened while I may have been making other transactions online. The hacker made purchases in Brazil, US, and Canada online amounting to almost 31 thousand pesos!

I called up my credit card company immediately to notify them of the fraud. They've processed the above transactions for dispute (and hopefully to be refunded) and have blocked my credit card for replacement.

Whew! That was a close call!

Take care when transacting online.

Do click an ad below if you found this post to be helpful. Thanks!

Oh Ano?!

"Good!" - Dindo

Fabulous Finds: Amici Di Don Bosco

(Since the missus and I are into discovering great food in and out of the metro, I'll be posting Fabulous Finds from time to time, giving you my view on where to go to enjoy good food)

The missus and I were salivating for Italian food since last Thursday night after watching the Jamie Oliver Show. He was cooking this pasta dish which made the missus squirm with delight on wanting to have pasta there and then. I have just finished playing basketball that night and having watched the show myself, my stomach (or was it bulate?) that started jumping with excitement on the possibility that the missus and I would scurry off to Tomas Morato to look for an open Italian resto at that late hour.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

Fast forward to tonight, we dropped our boy to my parents' house in Paranaque. As usual, the missus and I were wondering where we'd have our dinner with matching "mmmm" comments. As I was turning to SLEX from EDSA, I remembered this Italian place in Don Bosco Makati that has been recommended by two people: my sis and my officemate JD: Amici Di Don Bosco.

I have to say that the food, pasta and pizza, is quite good. The place is a no-frills canteen-like setup wherein food is ordered on the counter ---which is consistently how the Salesians run their school canteens since I'm a true-blue Bosconian myself. But you'll not notice it once your mouth gets hold of the food. The price is very cheap vs other bigtime pizza/pasta restos like CPK, DonHen, PizzaHut Bistro, etc. but the food.....damn.....the food is very good.

Here's a clickthecity.com clipcast of Amici Di Don Bosco which I found on my sis' blog.

Out of Stock

After reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I decided, as part of my goal in obtaining financial freedom, to dabble into the stock market. I signed-up through an online broker (Citiseconline) and placed a very small portion of our money to see how things will work out.

Since the past 2-3 weeks, I've learned (most of the time in a painful way) the following so far:

1. Be patient. Set your goals for the long-term and not for quick profits.

2. Buy when the price is low. Sell only when it's high AND when you're only in dire need of money.

3. Invest in the company, not the stock. One should scrutinize the company that you're buying first before you decide to buy it.

4. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient.

As Kiyosaki mentioned, the stock market is a painful teacher. But I'm willing to learn.

Hopefully this all works out fine.

Mga Plastic! Mga Ipokrito!

This is an email sent by Admi, a high-school batchmate, to our yahoogroup:

===========================

Kapag may bagyo, lindol, sakit o epidemya.......saan ba humihingi ng calamity fund ang isang mayor, congressman o gobernador para sa kaniyang probinsiya???? Sa pondo ng Presidente!!!!
Kapag kailangan ng karagdagang silid paaralan o ospital ang isang probinsiya.......saan ba humihingi ng allocation ang mayor, congressman o gobernador???? Sa pondo ng Presidente!!!!
Kapag kailangan ng karagdagang tulay o kalsada ang isang probinsiya.......saan ba humihingi ng budget pantustos ang mayor, congressman o gobernador???? Sa pondo ng Presidente!!!!

Eh ganun naman pala eh..........kapag may kailangan ka......... sa Presidente ang takbo mo!!!!!! Eh bakit maraming nag papaka plastic, nag papaka ipokrito at nag mamalinis.......na kesyo.......di sila tumatanggap ng pera!!!! Samantalang.......ang katotohanan.........lahat naman ng! mga opisyal ay talagang binibigyan at tumatangap ng pera o pondo para sa proyekto ng kanilang nasasakupan..........!!!!!! Depende na yun sa opisyal kung saan nya gagamitin yung ibinigay na pondo!!!!!

Kayong mga opisyal..........dapat kayong magpasalamat........dahil binigyan kayo ng pondo pantustos sa inyong nasasakupan...........!!!!!! Nag tataka lang ako.........bakit yung ibang opisyal .......ay nang gaga laiti........!!!!!!! At........take note.......nag pa interview pa..........na kesyo di raw sila tumatanggap ng suhol........!!!!!!! Eh loko loko pala sila eh.......!!!!!! Pondo yon!!!!!! Hindi suhol!!!!! Bakit????? May hiningi bang kapalit yun????? Wala!!!!! Kung ayaw mo ng pera o pondo.......eh di.......isauli mo!!!!! GANUN KASIMPLE!!!!!!!

Ayon sa ating PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION.........THERE SHOULD BE SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH and the STATE!!!!!!!!! Kaya nakaka buwisit isipin..........u! ltimo PARI..........kumakandidato sa election........Kaya nag kakanda leche leche ang bayan natin..........Ayusin muna nila ang simbahan.........dahil sa totoo lang ang daming KAPALPAKAN sa loob mismo ng simbahan!!!!!!!

Saan ka ba naman nakakita????????? PARI NA NAG MIMISA SA LOOB NG SM MEGA MALL!!!!!!! PARI NA NAG MIMISA SA LOOB NG ISETANN DEPT STORE!!!!!!! PARI NA NAG MIMISA SA LOOB NG FESTIVAL MALL!!!!! PARI NA NAG MIMISA SA LOOB NG ROBINSON'S GALLERIA!!!!!! Putang Ina!!!!!! Sino sa atin ngayon ang ipokrito?????? Sino ang mukhang pera???? Eh mas malala pa ang ginagawa niyo!!!!!! Ginagawa niyong NEGOSYO ANG PAG MIMISA!!!!!!! Bakit???????? Wala na ba tayong simbahan na puwedeng pag dausan ng misa???????
NAWAWALA NA ANG PAGIGING SAGRADO NG MISA!!!!!! BAKIT KAILANGAN PANG MAG MISA SA LOOB NG MALL???????? SIMPLE LANG ANG SAGOT........... PERA PERA LANG YAN!!!!!!!!!! Kung talagang gusto niyong mag misa........ bakit sa loob pa ng mall??! ???? Natural...............yung mga taong pumupunta sa mall ay mas mapera!!!!!!!!!

PAREHAS MAG BEBENEFIT!!!!!!!! MALAKI ANG KOLEKSYON SA MISA!!!!! MARAMI PANG TAONG PUPUNTA SA MALL!!!!!! o DIBA......PERA PERA LANG!!!!!!!....TIBA TIBA!!!!!!!
ANG MISA AY SA SIMBAHAN!!!!!!! ANG MALL AY PARA SA PASYALAN at TAMBAYAN NG POKPOK AT CALL BOY!!!!!!! Gets nyo???????

Kaya TIGILAN NA ANG PAG PAPAKA PLASTIC!!!!!! BAGO PUNTIRYAHIN ANG IBANG TAO..............MANALAMIN MUNA...........!!!!!!! AMUYIN ANG KILIKILI..........!!!!!! Usisain kung ikaw ay isang TUPPERWARE o OROCAN!!!!!!

O ayan ha........opinyon ko lang yan........freedom of speech at freedom of expression lang..........bato bato sa langit...........ANG GUSTONG MAGSIMBA..........PUMUNTA SA SM!!!!!!!!!!!!