Shopping at Shang circa July 2008… and more

Shopping in Shang is no longer the same as it was, say a year ago. No, not comfort wise because it remains as clean as ever, well-lit and well-ventilated. But in other ways.

For one, the elevators don’t have an elevator girl anymore, at least not all the time and not all elevators. If my memory serves me right, there’s only one elevator manned per set of two elevators. So it can be a challenge to get in — me in my wheelchair pushed in or pulled in — without the doors closing on us. More often than not, a kind soul inside the elevator or outside pushes the button that keeps the doors open, but this doesn’t happen all the time. So angels from on high are called upon to please do the favor. I offer a silent plea to them.

Next, there’s an ongoing raffle in Shang. A single receipt registering a purchase of P1500 at least merits a raffle ticket (or twice the number that one is entitled to till 31 July, though the raflle is till end August) which one claims at customer service. So this pm, we went to the customer service area near Mercury where I saw a sign that read something to the effect that we should go to the customer service near Lush. When we asked the security personnel why, the lady guard said the one who was supposed to be at the customer service station near Mercury was possibly having her break. So we went to customer service near Lush. Same story. We went to the lady manning the Shang cinema tickets and asked whether the two customer service personnel had the same schedule for their breaks — rather funny if that were true. She shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know. She was from upstairs (the cinemas). Ok, how can you argue with such a person? So we went back to the Mercury drugstore area and lo and behold, the customer service personnel was at her post. I didn’t bother to chide her. (By the way, the girl from the cinema said in the past there were relievers whenever someone took a break. Apparently, another cost-cutting measure there. Fewer elevator girls, fewere customer service personnel.)

Then on to Rustan’s. Bought a mirror. Wow, what a long time before the sales clerk handed it over to us with our change. I asked one of the sales clerks why ours didn’t line up in another cashier’s booth. She said it wasn’t operational. Oops, Rustan’s is apparently also cost-cutting. Downstairs, bought shoelaces from the Essences section and it also took what seemed an eternity for us to get the item and our change. There are also fewer personnel attending to customers.

Signs of the times, apparently. But not so in Cyma. At this restaurant, the number of customers and personnel belies the apparent reality everywhere else of an economic crunch. Lucky Cyma. And I guess the resto deserves it: very good service, very good food. Whenever we drop by to eat or for takeout, we are always made to feel very welcome. No snooty or lazy personnel there. Not one.

Do I go on but turn negative? It’s a pity I don’t get the names of people but last week, when I bought some things from Nike in Shang, I felt a bit peeved because the guy attending to us was so impatient, like he’d say “hindi niyo na ‘to kunin?” when he’d see me deliberating. I mean, wow, doesn’t he realize one has to think hard before one buys anything because everything is so expensive these days? I guess his impatience got to me because while I wasn’t sure, I got the jogging pants for my son only to go home and find out it didn’t fit him–a bit small. I was feeling pressured about having to decide fast because he was getting peeved. Anyway the following morning, I called the store and was told I had a week to exchange the thing for anything equivalent in price because they didn’t carry a bigger size. When I asked if I could extend that week to eight days, they said no way. (So unlike Store Specialists establishments that allow a month. Think Zara, marks and Spencer, anything owned by the Tantocos). This time, a girl answered me. She was polite but unyielding. Meantime, wanting to get jogging pants big enough for my son, I called Nike in Podium. There Rodel said they had the size I needed but would keep it for me only up to three days — a good four days prior to my scheduled Wheelmobile trip. Day after, I negotiated with Rodel to hold it till today and finally, he agreed.

Fast forward to today. First Nike Shang. Yipee, I didn’t see the impatient Nike man in Shang. I was so relieved because I didn’t want to see his dour expression all over again. Instead there was this smiling young lady at the cash register and a smling young man who patiently showed us stuff. That was such a nice thing to happen in a store that looked very dark to me last week, possibly because of the personnel’s dark countenance ( and I’m not alluding to his complexion). But as a day is never perfect, when we went to Podium, make that Nike Podium, Rodel wasn’t around. Nagdepo sa BPI. Everything comes abbreviated now. Text lingo even when people speak. Ok, got that, but couldn’t the girl look for the jogging pants I reserved? She went behind their revolving wall that yields to their stockroom and very shortly after said she couldn’t find it. Wow, I thought I was at home asking the maid to look for something only to get a very quick negative answer. SO I told her we’d wait, She said, “Kayong bahala.” I asked, “matagal pa ba?” She gave a very discouraging answer: “kabababa lang, minsan maraming tao sa bangko.” But remember, my three days of reserving the jogging pants was up today. So I waited. But typical of me, I sort of nagged her. And finally she asked what my name was. (Imagine, she didn’t hear it the first time but just said she coudln’t find it – it was so like home). Then she said, “eto pala. Dark blue, hindi black.” hay naku.

So there. Win some, lose some. But at least I met all my store deadlines today. Whew.

Shopping tips: If you’re in Shang and you want to buy shoelaces, two places that have them: Toby’s and Essences in Rustan’s. Reason I’m sharing this info is that we checked out so many stores before finding them in these two stores.

TV on Sundays

Caught a portion of Spoon on NetTV with Angelica de la Cruz and John Prats. I enjoyed the conversation between John and Janice. John is so warm and interesting, any talk show host will have an easy time keeping the show alive with John as guest. He’s so candid, natural and forthright, meaning FUN. No pretensions. How I wish shows on GMA will have him as guest. Paging SIS, The Sweet Life, Moms.

After Spoon, veered to QTV and caught Chef on the Go with chef host Rob Pengson. This show is so Lifestyle Channel. Mario Batali’s, and Jack Nicholson’s lookalike. His name escapes me. The show’s host cooks in front of his lucky guests who get to taste his concoctions. So far, of the shows I’ve seen, RP always has two guests. Tonight these were Issa Litton and Nina Ricci Alagao. Issa being a host herself is a good guest to have because she can easily help out a lost host (no, I’m not saying RP was lost at any point; he wasn’t). She’s apparently interested in anything and everything and even asks the host questions, admitting that this tendency is something that results from her being a host herself. Nina was talkative too and okay.

Overall this show belies the reality of an economic crisis. Ingredients are top of the line: saffron, truffle, prosciutto, porcini, fennel, salmon, phyllo pastry. I am not about to criticize it for that reason nor for any other because I actually enjoy it. In fact, last week, as my husband, son and I watched it, I asked my son if he’d care to be a guest in it, guest in the sense that he’d be able to partake of the food prepared by RP. I was surprised to hear him say yes, considering that the chef uses a lot of vegetables. I guess the presentation makes the dishes look so good he thought he wouldn’t mind giving them a try. That’s not a hint, we’re not wangling for any invitations here. A rhetorical question and an equivalently rhetorical answer, our exchange was. So there.

Anyway, while watching CTG, snippets of the next show were shown: Hired! I don’t remember exactly if it was last week or earlier that we saw Hired! which was then looking for an image model for VIKTOR’s new line of pants. But I do remember that weeks or even months back, QTV was looking for ballet dancers to audition for HIRED! Even then I vowed to watch out for ballet dancers on hired.

The show’s hosts are Mariz Umali and Paolo Abrera, both very competent. So deciding to watch the show wasn’t difficult to do. Plus tonight, the search was for a ballerina for Lisa Macuja’s Ballet Manila. Great timing.

(Watching the show evoked memories of me in my tights and leotards doing barre exercises under Melly Hojilla and Pancho Uytiepo. Sometimes Mrs. Elsie Torrejon would pitch in if neither one or both could make it. Learning ballet is an experience not to be missed. I think every young girl should be given a chance to learn to dance ballet. Not necessarily to have a career in it but for developing grace perhaps, or even for exercise. Just before I was paralyzed, I was thinking of enrolling in ballet class after seeing a session in Glorietta (back in 1982) which had people my age dancing. I was 26 then. But of course, that’s water under the bridge so now I simply enjoy watching ballet when there’s a chance to do so on TV. Sometimes, when I’d hear nice classical music, I even imagine, okay, choreograph something in my mind to go with the music. Silly, no? But anything can happen in one’s dreams, right?)

Back to the show. Lisa handled the barre exercises after which each girl was assigned to a Ballet Manila dancer who then taught her a specific dance. I think the plan here was flawed. It should have been ceteris paribus– all things equal. The level of difficulty of the dances taught the girls may not have been equivalent, the complexity of the choreography may not have been the same for all. Would it not have been easier to judge a group of six girls dancing the same steps? Wouldn’t that have been fairer? I cannot fathom why they had to have six different dancers dancing six different dances. Somehow that did not create a level playing field.

One contestant forgot her steps and put her hands on top of her head. Her gesture and mental block reminded me of a student I had back in the 1980s. She was an amazing dancer but couldn’t do algebra at all. She looked so lost in class. And lest you think it was because I taught Algebra, spare me. All the other teachers of the different subejcts thought the same. Except that one teacher had a terrific insight: God is just. What did she mean? While this young girl couldn’t memorize enough things for class, she didn’t miss a step when she danced ballet.

So there’s hope yet for that young lady in Hired! who forgot some steps. I even think that of all the 6, she stood out in terms of gait, posture, ballet sense. Except that she forgot the steps. I think, too, her long legs and arms would make her look great as a ballet dancer. Remember Anna Villadolid?

Attention Quickfire Fans

Today I learned that Quickfire will start airing Season 2, ergo new episodes, this August. Photos taken from the taping sessions thus far show that forthcoming guests include the Calayans, Keempee de Leon, Regine Tolentino and Issa Litton.  In the photos I saw a tofu dish, quesadilla, a noodle soup, a tahong dish and other yummy treats. Can hardly wait.

Yahoo!

Thanks Rosebud and to the staff and crew of Quickfire! Hope you never tire of coming up with a show that’s a real help to all of us!!!

Check out this link for Quickfire recipes, pictures, etc.

Advice to Chris Tiu’s fans – today only, 19 July 2008

Get a copy of Philippine Star. Check out pages F1 and F2. Chris on wings, but why? And they’re angel wings, not eagle wings. I thought it was an ad for a clothing brand, but no, it was a write-up by Tim Yap. So again, why the wings? Someone, enlighten me!

It’s been two months since I posted the above. A few days ago, I saw the newspaper and took pictures of the pictures. They’re not very clear but just so you’ll have an idea, here they are:

Philippine Postal Corporation in NIA Road, Quezon City

This afternoon, I rode the Wheelmobile to get a registered parcel from the post office in NIA Road, Quezon City. Yesterday, I called the post office because I had a dilemma. The notice had my nickname on it, by which name I have no ID. So I asked the lady in charge of Window 37 (indicated in the registry notice) if I could just present the ID with my real name on it. She asked what my real name and then what my nickname were. At first she said “Medyo malayo a.” I mentioned that I’d authorize my husband to get the parcel in my stead. She said to just send my ID. She asked when my husband would come and I said I didn’t know because he was a teacher and might not be free for weeks.

At any rate, while still on the phone she said to wait while she got my parcel. She asked if I were expecting a package from somewhere. I said no. I asked if it were from Australia or the US because it is only in these two places where I have friends. She said “California.” Darn I was hoping initially the registered mail was from some entity telling me I had won a house and lot, a car, something. But actually I knew it wasn’t because I write my real name in raffle coupons.

Anyway, back to Gemma, the lady who took my call. When she said California, I said my friend’s nickname. She mentioned my friend’s real name. Oh boy, same dilemma again no? Nickname versus real name. But when I mentioned the family name and a part of my friend’s address, I guess, she knew I was the real McCoy. So she said to just send my husband over.

As my husband could not commit to going there anytime soon, I decided to hire the Wheelmobile. Finding the post office, no make that finding NIA Road can be quite a challenge. While my husband said to take V Luna,  Kalayaan, East Avenue route and then take a quick right turn, then the post office is on the right side, Arnel, the wheelmobile’s driver said it would be quicker through UP. Who was I to argue?

When we reached East Avenue from Quezon Circle, I told Arnel to watch out for a quick right turn. Oops, there was no street to make a quick right turn to. In fact we almost made a quick right turn to a gate. He drove farther down to the first street on the right. The street sign read “BIR Road.” Oops, were we on the right track? He mentioned an Agham Road and I asked if we could get to that road from BIR Road? He was uncertain.

Luckily, though, Arnel is not like most men. He immediately stopped the van in front of a trike driver and asked where the post office was. I could see the driver gesturing to the left. So we drove down until we reached a cul de sac, turned left, drove a bit and voila. I saw a huge lot with a wide building and the sign “PHilippine Postal Corporation” or something, but it was on the left side. It would have been on the right if we had followed my husband’s instructions.

The post office: Ang laki. Sprawling. Earlier my husband said if there were steps, per his recollection, these were wide so traversing them wouldn’t be a problem. But his memory served him wrong. There were tiny steps, then a huge landing, then tiny steps again. Luckily though, there was a gently sloping ramp on the left side and we took that.

Would have wanted to take a picture of the place but was scared I would be chastised. The building is old, some portions of the ceiling had gaping holes where a sheet (Slab?) of plywood painted white must have been when the building was new. I didn’t see any electric fans but it wasn’t hot inside because the place is set up like a series of counters, no closed doors. There weren’t too many people, maybe there were more PO personnel than there were people transacting. Behind the counters was a dark room where packages and letters were possibly stored. The glass windows in front of each “teller” had signs like “Barya lang po kapag umaga” or Bible passages, mostly from Colossians translated in Tagalog. One I read was about “tiyaga”.

The one who initially attended to me in Window 37, who was not Gemma, reminded me of my mother-in-law. She had greying hair and so did the lady in the next window. I think most if not all the “tellers” were female. Hmmm, is there a reason there, somewhere? I’ll keep my thoughts to myself, haha. Anyway, this kind, old lady said she’s usually stationed at the back but was subbing for Gemma for a spell. Gemma did come before long, she’s much younger than my mom-in-law’s lookalike.

To sum it up, the post office in NIA while not spruced up is not intimidating but quite a pleasant experience. Security guards manned the gate, there was a garden in front. The “tellers” are kindly people, mostly a bit old. All these factors make one feel welcome, actually.

Now I feel guilty that I know not who the Postmaster General is so I can commend him. Wonder if PG is male or female.

Oh I forgot. I paid P35 prior to claiming the parcel and also presented my barangay ID. Per my experience, this branch of the post office and UP are reliable. So far, all the packages I’ve sent through the UP Post Office have been received by my friends. Back in the eighties, two of my parcels to two friends sent through Greenhills Post Office never reached them. But that was in 1980s I’d like to stress. Maybe the service is better now?

BPI Express Credit Card – great service!

I’m impressed. BPI is very alert in monitoring credit card usage. This afternoon, I went to Shangrila and used my card eight times and that included purchases less than P300 so the total amount was not huge. But I guess the spending pattern was akin to someone who filched someone else’s card and went on a shopping spree  in one mall. Hence the call from BPI.

I salute BPI for its vigilance. I think the person who called me was also amused that she had to make the call because I could sense a certain degree of mirth in her voice. The amount was ridiculously low, but the number of transactions may have been alarming. Reason I was scrimping on my cash was that I took the Wheelmobile and wanted to make sure I had enough cash to pay for it. To begin with, I didn’t have that much cash with me.

Thanks BPI. Really appreciate the service.

Thursday’s Papers, or rather GOODAH!

I admit I get both the Inquirer and Philippine Daily Star on Thursdays because they feature food. Today’s Star has 10 best this, 10 best that, all relating to food. Goodah was mentioned and the establishment had a quarter-page ad that led me to reminisce. Back in the 1980s, we’d drive to Greenhills to have some goto. Then they set up shop in Katipunan and I’d occasionally order from it. Then they disappeared from Katipunan and so ended by occasional goto treats. Occasionally, I’d see it along the streets and look wistfully; sometimes I’d see its motorcycle and wonder how I could order. Then, today’s ad.

I tried out a couple of numbers (Marikina and Tandang Sora) thinking they might be the sites dedicated to Loyola Heights. I was mistaken. The one who took my call in Marikina made Katipunan sound like it were in alien territory like Y’ami Islands. Tandang Sora’s receptionist sounded more cordial but didn’t know Katipunan order so I heard her ask someone and the man’s voice said, “Ang layo niyan.” At first I thought of giving up. Then I saw Libis. Okay, I thought, one last chance. Voila Club 650 Libis (4374860) was it! Problem though, was that they required an order of at least P250 and goto costs only P40. What a long way to go. Then I thought of ordering for the maids but sometimes they criticize so I thought not. Then I recall that the Philippine Star article said the tapa was good. That’s P75.50. Still a long way to go. I looked at the pictures in the ad (oops, it’s a half-page ad pala) and there was nothing more in it I craved for. The one who took my call suggested some other viands, among them tokwa to go with the goto (P25) and inihaw na liempo (P135.50). I said yes to those. More than P250 na. Then she said, “Lumpia?” Would you believe I said yes? I rationalized that it would take time before I ordered from Goodah again and I could always refrigerate the food for another day or maybe dinner tonight. So there, I got all those for P323.40, of which amount P29.40 was for delivery. Not bad.

I tried a tiny piece of the tapa and it was tender and flavorful. Excuse me while I devour Goodah’s treats. Well not exactly devour. Taste, maybe?

Inexplicable occurrences, at least to me

In the past week or so, I’ve had two uncanny experiences with gmail and multiply.

One: I received in gmail notice of a comment posted in my multiply account. I read it and then went to my multiply account. It wasn’t there, it still isn’t. So where did it go?

Two: I was expecting a reply to my email to someone who usually doesn’t ignore email. I didn’t get any and was concerned. Did I write something amiss? I went to my sent folder in gmail to check. I was surprised to see that said mail was in bold and had (2) written on the entry. When I checked, the response to my email was there– in the sent folder. Why?

I know a number of people are befuddled while some of their personal mail lands in the SPAM folder but I guess it’s an error in classification or something. But to receive mail in the Sent folder? Now, that’s odd. And for a comment received via gmail not to be posted in multiply? Now, that’s odd too.

Has anyone out there had similarly bizarre experiences c/o gmail?

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

My husband saw this book in National Bookstore and the plot appealed to him. The blurb at the back cover reads:

This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins.
His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.

So I decided to buy it for him but ended up reading it first. I was through reading it last night, or after two day. He was impressed.

My verdict: It is a highly engaging book, light and easy reading. Think Mills and Boon, Daniele Steele, Sydney Sheldon. I enjoyed it very much because it didn’t require too much deep thought. It is a story, first and foremost, more than it is a literary piece that would be discussed in literature class. Like I told my husband, he might not like it in the sense that he goes for more literary stuff like Borges, Nabokov, etc.

Book’s author is Kim Edwards. I look forward to reading her other works, to be entertained, primarily.

Some “Recipe” suggestions

When I opened my cabinet of canned goods, I saw a can of asparagus spears and a can of Campbell’s potato soup. As it was the maid’s market day yesterday, I asked her to buy me some clams. Half of these I had her boil,slice and cook in the potato soup to resemble clam chowder. But of course, it wasn’t as great tasting as it would have had it been made from scratch. Potatoes in canned soup do not taste like freshly cooked potatoes. So much for short-cuts. And to think Rachel Ray uses a lot of canned products. Oh well, to each her/his own.

Re the asparagus. Last night, for dinner, I had the maid fry some chicken burgers which I bought from the Magnolia chicken station. Before that, I had been thinking of having her boil chicken so I could have chicken sandwich with asparagus. Then I realized chicken burger has chicken (duhh) and might as well try making a chicken sandwich with mayo and asparagus using the chicken burger.

Nothing like chicken breast for a chicken sandwich but the chicken burger with asparagus and mayo concoction wasn’t a bad idea. If you’re in a rush and you have some chicken burgers at home, do try out my suggestion. But as the chicken patties are a bit emaciated, maybe, you should layer two patties so your sandwich will be richer a la McDo’s. You can also add lettuce and sliced tomatoes for a more healthy sandwich.

Sicilian Express for the Nth time

We’ve become SE “addicts”, our family has. Hence, this nth blog about it.

Before my son left for school this morning, I asked him what he wanted for dinner as he has a long test from 6 to 9 pm. By then dinner will have turned cold and so, when he said Sicilian, I agreed. Fearing I might forget to call tonight, I called this morning at around 11 and placed an order for 2 kinds of pizza and their Sicilian salad which I enjoyed last time. Except that I also decided to ask how much minimum order for delivery was. After being told it was P200 (last time I was told P300), I thought of having the salad for lunch. Me, finally eating salad. My vegetarian friends will be so pleased. Thing is the salad costs only P150, so I asked for a suggestion on what to add so I would meet the P200 requirement. The girl helpfully suggested the Sicilian chicken sandwich. She said unlike the chicken salad sandwich, the chicken in the Sicilian chicken sandwich was hot. In the belief that she knew better, I agreed and had the salad and sandwich delivered in time for lunch.

The verdict: the salad was as usual, very good: tomatoes, lettuce, mango cubes, grapes and chicken with mayo, or as she said with Caesar salad dressing. Then I realized when I saw the chicken that it was a wrong choice to pair with the salad because it was more of the same except that it was of course in bread (foccacia?) and the chicken was not boiled but grilled(? not sure). Price wise, the chicken sandwich is value for money because there was a generous amount of chicken, some lettuce and tomato slices. On the minus side, at least as far as I’m concerned, it had rosemary (which I don’t like) and the bread was spread with margarine. I suspect, DC. I always feel cheated when I taste margarine in resto food. If you have to use margarine, dear restos, do use Golden Crown because the taste is subtle. DC screams margarine. I think a Spanish resto that makes bocaditos, argellanas, etc. uses this in a number of its concoctions. True, margarine is a lot cheaper but it diminishes the otherwise good taste of certain foods.

So, will I order the chicken sandwich of SE again? I would provided that they agree not to put rosemary and provided that they agree not to put Dari Creme. The sandwich costs only P85. The salad solo cost P150

Spoon, Eat Bulaga, Dyesebel, Kim Sam Soon, Sine Totoo, Moms

A talk show is only as good as its guests, a variety show is only as good as its hosts.

Caught spoon from the very start yesterday but the guest, while very pretty, was not too energized and proved uninteresting. I didn’t finish the show. But I liked the tahong recipe Janice taught the guest. That was around 8 pm Sunday. So now I know, more or less, what time Spoon airs. Today, a little past 12 noon, I caught the tailend of Spoon. And I was peeved. Because it had Mariz and Ronnie Ricketts as guests and I suppose it is the show that drew raves from Nestor Torre and must have been a replay of the show’s maiden episode. What a pity. But the little I caught of it I liked. I have this bias for Mariz Ricketts. She’s such a lady and has an apparently nice personality. She loves her children and showed this by bringing two of their handiworks because these touched her: potholders made from scrap cloth.

I hope they replay said episode again and that I catch it from the start. Wonder if anyone who reads this has inside info on Spoon’s schedule of new episodes and replays.

Eat Bulaga. I used to watch it from start to finish, way back when it had guests singing or dancing, rather than contestants galore. Now I can only watch a little of it, just until I finish having lunch, 30 minutes max. And the little I watched of it today dismayed me. For the past several shows, I have been noticing how Jose Manalo so sounds like Willie Revillame, speaking fast, mumbling/eating his words. Once I was surfing while EB was on but I had to check whether my tv was on EB, not Wowwowweee (sorry if the spelling is wrong. I’ve been very open about my being Kapuso). I thought it was Willie speaking, but it was Jose. Another thing. Jose seems to be imbibing Willie’s brand of humor. Like this pm, he said of a contestant in Sa Pula, Sa Puti “eto model ng pabango. Amoy araw”. Methinks that was not funny, Jose. Whether true or not, you don’t say that to a guest. Say that to a co-host who may just laugh it off, but not to a guest. That’s rude, very rude. In this regard, I appreciate how Pia and Francis M are very gracious to the guests. Sure they’re contestants primarily, but you invited them to the show, so technically, they are your guests regardless of their stature in life. Jose’s actuations now make me wonder, does he watch Willie’s show while he is off-cam? If he does, then he should stop. Because by being a  clone of Willie, he’s driving away viewers who watch EB because in the first place, they cannot stand WR. I’m just so peeved with Jose.

Dyesebel. Occasionally I watch a little of it, primarily because of Mariz whose felt portrayals as the mother of Hero and Aljur stand out. I like Hero’s acting too, quite a departure from the time he was the loveteam of Sandara Parks. Kris Bernal is cute, sometimes, but can go overboard. Her portrayal strikes me as kikay, and if I had a daughter like her character in the show, I’d be dismayed. Marian is cute although sometimes her shrill voice bugs me. Her child companion is disarming but up to now, I am not sure if the child is male or female because the hair is fixed Taras Bulba and the voice is high-pitched. Someone, enlighten me.

Kim Sam Soon. Regine has been criticized for her caricature-ish portrayal of Kim but I think it’s all right. In fact I prefer her here than when she belts or when she’s so flagrant about how she feels so in love with Ogie. I know, that’s like comparing three unrelated things, totally disparate ones at that, but you get the drift. Mark Fernandez still has the forehead that’s forever furrowed but less so than in Kamandag. I think he’s better here and may even give Korean telenovela leading men competition. He’s quite effective as the seemingly domineering male lead who tries to conceal his true feelings or is he still ambivalent about Kim? Sorry I don’t know for sure, I am not able to watch KSS regularly.

Sine Totoo. The trailer of the said show last week showed jay Taruc in a wheelchair, his right leg in a plaster cast. I think he wanted to experience what it’s like to be disabled as he went about busy streets in a wheelchair. He had some others in wheelchairs with him on occasion. Pity I only caught the trailer because the show airs so late in the evening or past midnight. How I wish you know who were in a wheelchair with Jay so he’d see, feel, appreciate how difficult he has made life for the physically disabled very difficult.

Moms. Just finished watching Moms where Armida Siguion Reyna and Bibeth Orteza were guests. Good show. With Armida and Bibeth around, a talk show is always stimulating provided that politics is not the issue. Then it gets tiresome. Armida and Bibeth are in-laws but more than that, they are friends. How nice. They don’t mince words when talking about each other, and about anything for that matter. But they’re both sentimental which was why Bibeth refused to give a message to Armida. She told Carlitos she wouldn’t cry and I guess expected that to be the inevitable consequence if she had to give a message to her mother-in-law cum good friend. Thank God she didn’t do as asked by the hosts, and thank God they didn’t push it. I guess they knew better. No one can force Bibeth and Armida to do or say anthing against their will. And Manilyn, yehey. You didn’t ask your guests what kind of message to tell each other. You stopped at “what’s your message for …” See, you can do it and in the process give your guests leeway. Great!

House of Wagyu, Podium

The resto is undoubtedly fine dining, a date place. Situated on the fifth floor of Podium, it’s like an oasis of sorts for someone in search of a “fine dining place” in a mall. Terry’s is less formal, setting wise, but food wise? I’ll take Terry’s anytime, value for money being the foremost reason.

HOW is not cheap. So why did we eat there in the first place? Curiosity, mostly. Wagyu we know, is special, and we wanted a special dinner. Later, mulling over the bill (I’m not telling how much), I rationalized that it’s an advanced celebration for my mom’s birthday tomorrow. She’s no longer with us (she’s up there with God) but I always celebrate her birthday with mass and a special meal with my husband and son. Happy Birthday, Mama. Now, back to HOW.

I’ll post pictures to attest to how well appointed the place is. Against frosted glass panels, water streams down like it would in a mini-waterfall. The lights are dim, the seats are made of leather. But, guess what? I’m ambivalent about writing regarding this matter because it will put someone in a bad light but maybe, just maybe, it will help the resto? You see, at CIbo, when you ask if they have something with which you can wash your hands, they give you a bottle of Alcogel. At Kimpura, they’ll give you a hot face towel. At Shabu-shabu, they’ll give you a wet scented tissue vacuum packed in plastic.

At HOW, how? Feeling rather like I wanted to wash my hands, I asked the food attendant if they had Alcogel. She was very charming and nice, but what she brought to the table so I could wash my hands was so like I do it at home. Remember, I’m in a wheelchair so I have to be waited on by force of circumstance. When I need to wash my hands at home, (Oh no, HOW management, please don’t chastise the lady), the maid brings me a plastic basin, a pitcher of water and liquid soap. When we go out of town, it’s the first two and a bar of soap because we don’t bring the liquid soap. Okay (again, my apologies to the server), at HOW she brought to our table (again, oh no, but I have to write it), a big basin of water and a bar of soap on a soap dish. Promise, she did that. I said almost to myself and softly to her, “How do I do this?” Because there was no pitcher of water. So as not to embarrass her, I dipped my hands into the basin of water, soaped them and then dipped them back into the basin. Crude. They felt clean naman. And she had a white cloth for me to wipe my hands with. Whew. It’s such a relief to have that account over with.

Then she showed us the menu. I guess we looked and sounded so utterly clueless that she brought us a tray showing the different sizes and cuts of beef: T-bone, porterhouse, tenderloin, rib-eye, etc.  And then we ordered a cut, medium rare. Thoughtful of the resto, because as she told us, each one of us on the table had a plate on which would be placed either mashed potato or baked potato or rice (our decision), and zucchini topped with salsa. Plus each order of steak merited every one in the table a bowl of yummy soup for the day, in our case, potato pumpkin soup. I’m not a pumpkin fan but it was prepared so well, I’ll take pumpkin any time. We also ordered baked mussels (it would have been gambas but they weren’t available) and seabass with a creamy sauce.

The verdict: the steak at Myron’s is much, much better and cheaper. For the price we paid at HOW, true it was huge but expensive because it didn’t taste as superb as it should have. They should have put in some foie gras to improve the taste, for one. And maybe, it’s my fault I asked for medium rare. Maybe, medium well would have tasted better. But I always order medium rare and it usually doesn’t look as rare as it did in HOW. Anyway, I liked the gravy very much. Very tasteful. Better than in other steak houses.

The mussels had a bearnaise and parmesan cheese topping (or was it Hollandaise). Very good. Plump mussels, direct from Australia. And before the appetizer came, we were given a basket with 3 slices of baguette. Each of us was also given a small ramekin with a small portion of butter. The basket and the ramekin were bottomless. They’ll even heat it again if the attendant feels it and it’s no longer warm. At least, our attendant did.

The fish: how served? Think tinier than small pork medallions. Also served with zucchini and rice. I think, in this case, HOW should have served it with other kinds of vegetables like broccoli/cauliflower, carrots, whatever. But I guess they want economy in preparations – so one type of vegetable per day, regardless of what you order, regardless of how many kinds of entrees a table orders. All plates will have zucchini. Also, there was a fishy taste to the concoction, but very mild. Actually, when I saw how big the steak we ordered was, it occurred to me that we shouldn’t have ordered the fish. A salad perhaps would have been a better choice. That way, we wouldn’t have had 4 zucchinis for the 3 of us.

So again, the verdict on HOW? The medium rare at HOW isn’t as well cooked as it is at Myron’s – I said that na pala. So for me, it’s Myron’s for reasonably priced steak that tastes great, House of Minis for cheap steak but is very good, Manila Pen’s Old Manila for expensive but very good steak. Though the steak at OM was cheaper, it was also smaller. But it tasted a lot better.

Re HOW, do we go back? Unless invited by a friend, methinks we won’t pay it another visit. Creates a hole in the pocket and not that outstanding steak. Someone had said the same in a blog I read before. I should have listened and saved myself precious pesos. Photos to be posted tomorrow, hopefully.

It’s tomorrow and here are the pictures. I didn’t post this last night because I wanted to reread it. Please note the service wise, HOW is tops. It’s the food served that needs improvement. Oh and by the way, while we were there, two families with young children came in. Both Chinese. So, can afford. They seemed to have been regulars, they didn’t balk at the prices and seemed to have a grand time waiting for their orders.

oops, picutres to follow. WordPress is acting up again, refusing uploads.

we failed to take a picture of the baked mussels and the bread. See the huge steak? Beside it is the plate with mashed po and zucchini. Next plate shows baked potato with zucchini. Last plate is the fish withe rice and the zucchini.

Podium on a Saturday afternoon, big sale at Astro Plus

Last Thursday, my husband and I were at the Podium so I could have a gown made by Malou Veloso. As usual she was her nice, charming, accommodating, patient, pretty self and it was such a joy talking to her, telling her what I wanted, listening to her suggestions, etc. I can’t wait to see what she makes on 19th July. I like most of her creations.

We also went to the Podium to pick up my son’s tie and pants which we had dry-cleaned by Au Beau Blanc. When possible, I like to have them dry clean for us. The premises always look so clean and orderly and the few times we’ve patronized the establishment, we’ve been most satisfied.

On the second floor, we chanced upon IZOD which had some pants and shirts on sale, discounts ranging between 30 and 50 percent. British India also had stuff on sale, same range of discounts. I think they even had up to 70 percent for some items. New arrivals weren’t discounted though.

We also paid Nike on the second floor a visit and were astounded when we saw a collared shirt going for only P300 plus. As a rule, Nike shirts don’t come cheap.

Given all these stores which had good products on sale, we decided to go back this afternoon.

We started on the 4th floor and right then and there, we made a few purchases at Astro Vision Plus (?). DVDs went for P199, per or P375 for two in some cases (the teen CD Juno fell under this category). Some VCDs were under the buy one, take one promo too for P275 for every two VCDs. A Steely Dan CD went for P100, I think. The DVD of Atonement sold for only P275, a steal somehow as the movie was shown only last year. The sale ends tomorrow so if you’re into bargain videos, better go!

On the third floor, there was no store that blared SALE, so our only purchase thereat was a Giordano shirt for my husband. Then to the second floor. My husband got the shirt he saw in Nike last Thursday, my son got some Tshirts for himself as well, each one at half price. How lucky. At IZOD, my son bought a pair of pants at 30% off. IZOD sold blue denim pants at 50% off but my son wanted a brown pair which was what he got at 30% off.

We also went to National Bookstore where my husband realized he still had to pick up his discount card the renewal of which he applied for April 2007. His card celebrated its first birthday in National Podium. In case you’re aghast that he didn’t realize it because possibly we hadn’t bought a book in a year, perish the thought. We’ve been buying books in Fully Booked, Ink and Stone, A Different Bookstore and Power Books. And the few times we bought in National, showing the receipt for the discount card got us a discount. Bad news for book lovers, though. Ink and Stone in Podium will cease to operate on 26 July. SO they have a sale now, 30% off for some books, 50% for others. They’ll transfer their stuff to A Different Bookstore in Serendra. Some personnel too. Remember the man I wrote of some posts ago? The one who attended to us and seemed to know a lot about books? The ladies at the bookstore this pm said he’s now based in Serendra. I hope I see him there.

Famished just before 6 pm, I asked where we should eat. My son saw a poster of House of Wagyu, so we went to the tony place. I’ll blog about that experience separately.

This is funny

Click this link to see how similar we are to Italians. Change the flag design, its colors and the music and voila, Filipinos!!

The Sicilian Express

Months ago, Petron in Katipunan began operations and along with it a slew of other establishments in the vicinity. Being then Shell loyalists, we didn’t do more than pass the place but some things have transpired that prompted us to go Petron. And in the process, we discovered The Sicilian Express.

Last week a friend’s son passed away. The first night we attended the wake, my son asked where we should stop by in keeping with the superstition that one should not go straight home from a wake. That night we went to Kopi Roti for some coffee bread (Katipunan Avenue, Blue Ridge). The next night, as we needed to gas up, we opted to go to Petron in Katipunan and while gassing up, I asked my son if he wanted some pizza. It was past 11 pm then. He said he wanted to try Sicilian, and so it was.

He took quite a while and when he finally emerged, I asked if there were several customers. He said there weren’t. But the pizza’s aroma inside the car and how well it tasted more than made up for the long wait. My son had asked the food attendants what the best seller was and they said it was the Pepperoni and Italian Sausage combo. Rather pricey at P315 for a regular sized pizza but the toppings were generous. So the next night, after the wake, I texted my son who wasn’t able to join us if another pizza from Sicilian would be okay and he concurred. Still tasted very good though my son said the tomato sauce seemed sweeter. We got the Pepperoni and Italian Sausage combo again.

Tonight, eight nights since, I ordered from the establishment, a different variant this time: Sicilian and Italian Sausage. So how was it? No idea. You see, my son came home with two friends and I decided they should have it. Luckily I had also ordered Italian Risotto with Pork Spare Ribs and the Sicilian Salad so my husband and I had those for dinner. The Risotto was very good. The pork spare ribs weren’t extraordinary. The dish came with potato wedges. The salad was a smash. I’m not a salad eater but the dressing and the vegetables and fruits that came with it were a wow. The dressing was a bit tart (it had bite) and that made it special. There were grape halves, tomato cubes and Romaine lettuce. Mango cubes as well. 

Oops, I just remembered that between the first time and tonight, we had ordered their white pizza – that’s pizza with white sauce (duh why did I even bother to write that?). Quite good though I think it’s something that can be done at home. Mozzarella cheese on top of pizza crust. I’m not sure if there was bechamel sauce underneath, maybe just a little if at all. Because no white sauce oozed out.

There are quite a number of other things we just might try next time. The one who took my call suggested lasagna. My standard for lasagna has always been Italian village and so far, no lasagna has approximated it. Oh yes, the mom of my son’s friend once baked lasagna for their org and it was very good, very creamy. Wouldn’t mind having that again, but Italian Village lasagna I really miss. Will it resurrect somewhere, someday, somehow? Another entree they have is chicken sandwich and chicken salad sandwich. I’m still looking for holy grail in manila where chicken sandwich is concerned, something that approximates the version of Roli’s in Bacolod.

Anyway, the phone numbers of Sicilian are as follows:

Katipunan: 928 0000

Ortigas Center Pasig 638 0000

Tomas Morato 371 0000

Makati 729 5555

Dapitan 712 0000

For Chris Tiu’s fans…

and I know there are so many of you out there, click on this for more of his and the rest of the team’s pictures…

Happy Birthday Wilma Doesnt

Though I doubt very much that Wilma will read this I’d like to greet her just the same and wish her the best birthday ever and a year of blessings for her and everyone she loves: her 2 daughters and mom, especially. Most early evenings, I try my best to catch The Sweet Life not only to learn a thing or two, but to enjoy Wilma’s candidness and wit. Her repartee with Lucy always makes me laugh and brightens my sometimes dull days. The trailer for her birthday surprise looks promising but the show is a good 38 minutes away from now. I’ll review it later then. (the show was a let-down)

In the meantime, a few odds and ends.

An hour or so ago, I did the groceries in Rustan’s Katipunan. As usual, I was enticed to buy Bravo stuff because the lady manning the brand had bits of melba toast and some spreads for tasting. She made me taste the artichoke spread and a combination of tomato garlic and garlic cheese spread on toast. Only then did I realize how hungry I was. Truly hungry. They all tasted so good.

So upon going home, I opened the box of basil something slices and spread artichoke spread on it. Yummy. I couldn’t stop eating. It was just so good. Then I asked the maid to check the ref and I had so many other opened but unfinished Bravo bottles inside: tomato garlic, garlic spread, spinach pesto, etc. That’s the problem with me — I buy, it gets refrigerated, and I forget. Old age? I know I should keep an inventory of stuff in the ref but even if I try sometimes, I don’t consult the list I make. At least I had them brought out this afternoon and I know they’re there. So when I get hungry, I’ll just ask for a bottle of Bravo spread, and enjoy myself.

At Rustan’s too, I saw plastic containers of Gummy Tamarind and Plum. Yippee. Weeks back, my sister shared a bottle which her friend gave her. As soon as I finished it over several days, I looked for the stuff but didn’t find it until today on the shelves of Rustan’s. It comes with a tiny fork so you don’t have to hold it and contaminate the entire bottle. Really delicious especially when one isn’t feeling well. I don’t know what country it comes from, possibly somewhere in the Middle East because the characters on the label are alien to me. Brand is Moniegold and one container costs P38.50.

Lately I’ve been able to get the bonus pack of Dove deodorant (roll on) that costs P71.25 and comes with a free bar of Dove soap. Luckily, Rustan’s still has it on stock, so I bought two. Rustan’s Katipunan has this shelf near the back where bargains can be had: Mr. Muscle with the Glade solid one can put in the toilet bowl, Head and Shoulders shampoo with free toothpaste, etc. They’re selling 4 cans of Coke at P2 discount, 6 cans at P4 less.

Yesterday, I bought five pink roses for P150 from Rustan’s. Two days later, they still look very lovely. Here they are:

Spending time.

Though it may appear to the contrary, I do read a lot and not just watch TV the whole day long. In fact TV only serves as  the source of peripheral noise for me, the way it does for Tweetums Gonzalez. Occasionally, it’s my iPod that serves as the source of sound as I stay alone in my room and read. Sometimes I cook or bake.

So  what kind of music do I listen to? And what books do I read? And what do I cook and bake?

My favorite classical music composers are Debussy (Suite Bergamasque, Children’s Corner Suite), Schumann (Papillons, Carnaval, Concerto in A), Beethoven (Emperor Concerto), Chopin (Revolutionary, Etude in E, his nocturnes, valses, preludes – almost everything he made). I also like Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche which I would have played during my premier recital in fourth year high school had I not backed out to the chagrin of my teacher because I was too busy as president of the student council. When I feel disturbed or in need of quiet, I listen to CDs of Hangad and Something More or Far Greater Love produced by the Jesuit Music Ministry. When I want to sing along, I listen to Musicals (Broadway hits), Julie Andrews, Burt Bacharach, the Carpenters, Helen Reddy, Earth, Wind and Fire, Sergio Mendez, Ryan Cayabyab’s Silver Collection, etc. TV? I only watch Unang Hirit, Sis, Eat Bulaga, The Sweet Life and Moms, sometimes in snitches. Occasionally, I follow Koreanovelas, the latest being Coffee Prince which I can watch repeatedly. So again contrary to the surfeit of reviews I’ve done of talk shows on TV, I do read.

Do I sound defensive? It’s not the first time someone hinted at my lack of a reading life, haha. Or in my choice of TV viewing. But do I care that I give such an impression? Not really though I guess it’s about time I did a post on the other things I do. Like listening to music, reading, cooking and baking.

The past months have seen me reading Haruki Murakami’s short stories. I also read some stories in TC Boyle’s collection which I found and bought in Booktopia. I’m currently reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I’ve read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, To Kill a Mockingbird. I read Ursula LeGuin books which are really long short stories. I’ve also been reading books on family corporations/family businesses, Geometry and English textbooks, Algebra textbooks. Yes, I do read and have been hopefully burning calories in the process of doing so.

I also read magazines: Time, The Economist, Newsweek. I read the papers: The Inquirer, Phiippine Star. For relaxation, I read Yes magazine, recipes, and occasionally, OK.

Lately, I’ve been trying out recipes shared by Rosebud Benitez in Quickfire. Ingredients aren’t too many, which is great, and the ones I’ve tried taste really good, such that my husband and son enjoy them. We usually finish what I cook from Quickfire in two meals, not three, not four, or heavens, not five. I’ve made onion soup twice in three weeks using a recipe I saw in Philippine Star (was it in Ernest Reynoso’s column?). Yesterday, I made chicken pastel which a cousin ordered. Sometimes I bake brownies, chocolate cake or banana cake.

So again, my waking hours aren’t spent watching TV and doing only that. Defensive? I would prefer not to think so. It’s just that I want to correct the impression I give a few people so that those who have chosen to judge me wil not sin by judging me wrongly. Just kidding but really…

Booktopia

Had lunch at Omakase in Libis after mass this morning and as usual, after a hearty meal, we had to burn some calories by paying Booktopia on the ground floor a visit. Joke. Or does one actually burn calories browsing over shelves upon shelves of books, magazines, etc?

Booktopia is like a friendly neighborhood bookstore. It is manned by just one lady, although occasionally she has company, another lady and that lady’s child. Another time, a couple was manning the store– I presume they were the owners.

The store reminds me of home. While attempts have been made to organize the books (alphabetically according to authors in some shelves, areas of interest in still other shelves), these aren’t as neatly arranged as those in proper bookstores like Fully Booked. One doesn’t get to inhale the wonderful smell of new books the way one does when one passes Fully Booked in Serendra when the doors are open. Plus some items are a tad dusty. I sneezed while I was there, another lady was rubbing her nose. But the store is very welcoming. It has, in fact, three seating areas. It also has a small grocery cart of toys for impatient toddlers, plus lots of children’s books.

It sells bookmarks, book covers made of leather or cloth — take your pick. In a glass cabinet are posters of Barbie below which are those of Mama Mary. On a wall hangs some made in Korea fans, tiny ones.

Below are some pictures I took while my son and husband browsed. I couldn’t touch too many things without feeling itchy, hence the decision to take pictures instead.

If you look closely, you’ll see comic books of Mars Ravelo (lastikman and Darna). The bookstore also has bibles very uniquely covered, outre at the very least.

Believe it or not, that fuchsia colored book is a bible, and even that book with a lady bug- that too is a bible. I think that such packaging is taking “in” a bit too far.

Some more pictures:

What’s happening to my MacBook? Someone, help!

yesterday, or two days ago, I got a message from Apple that updates were available. SO like a dutiful user, I did as asked. I downloaded the updates and installed them.

Thereafter, my problems began. I couldn’t open the bookmark folder. Just now, I tried to view my iPhoto folder, and the wheel kept turning and turning, and I couldn’t see any picture.

I called up Mobile 1 where I bought this and the man said to bring my unit to the store. He said he’d try to fix the problem. Worst case scenario, the unit would be brought to the microwarehouse or something in Pasig.

Meantime, what do I do? Oh my gosh. My files…

To avoid having to bring my MacBook to Mobile 1, I decided to trash my iPhoto and just use other options like finder to get to photos in my memory stick. And my son uploaded Firefox so I can have a new set of bookmarks.

Hopefully the two modifications will stop the hanging of this MacBook… Paging Steve Jobs. Just kidding. I’m but a speck in the Apple Consumer universe. How presumptuous of me to think he’ll bother to pay a heed….