Burger King – inis – sucks!

It all began with an enticing article on the front page yet of Philippine Star, extolling the virtues of Burger King’s offerings: Angus Beef sandwiches. It was before 9 a.m. when I read the article and promptly called PLDT 187 (Information) for BK’s delivery number. PLDT gave me a number 440 something but that yielded an operator who said “Global” something. So I called PLDT and complained and they gave me the number of the Concepcion branch. I won’t bother posting it here because no one answered (I later learned BK Concepcion had close). I called PLDT again. They gave me the E Rodriguez branch’s number. The girl who answered (this was close to 12 noon) said they could deliver to Loyola Heights but their rider was in Espana, having some money changed. She had no idea, she said, what time the rider would be back. She suggested I called the Marcos Hi-way branch, which I did. The one who answered said they don’t deliver to Loyola and I should try the E-Rod branch. I said I was referred to Marcos Hi-way. She said “Okay, but are you willing to wait an hour?” I said “yes” but she gave me the number of TImog which she said I should try calling because Timog is in QC. Timog again turned me down. So I ordered lunch from Kami Rori instead.

This evening. raring for Angus Beef burger, I thought of calling the E-Rod branch on the presumption that the rider will have been back. Wow, he was but he said Loyola Heights is too far. He asked what the landmarks were and before I could even answer, he kept complaining he didn’t know the area. He again said I should try Marcos Hi-way. My patience was running out but I wanted an Angus Beef burger! Marcos Hi-way refused. I asked for their Gateway number because my son said there’s a BK in Gateway. I called Gateway and the one who answered excused herself after I asked and came back to say they no longer deliver.

Oh well. My love affair with Burger King’s Angus beef burger ended without even having begun. So BK will not get any free plugging from me. You’ll have to call 187 for its various branches’ numbers. 

(is it this kind of service that caused BK to cut down on branches because it wasn’t generating enough sales? Jollibee, Wendy’s and McDO are doing very well, but BK…. is it Manny Pangilinan who owns this now? At least that’s what I read recently. If he wants his investment in BK to succeed he should do something about its personnel fast!)  

Celebrity Sightings over the Years

Celebrity Sightings (showbiz, politics, etc.)

WHO	WHEN	WHERE	OTHER DETAILS
Joyce Jimenez	April 2008 and a year or so earlier	Power Plant – C2 on R2 and on R1, outside Cibo	She was eating at C2; on R1 she was about to go out the door
Gelli de Belen	Years back	Unimart, EDSA Shangrila Hotel	She was dressed in a white shirt, both times; once in pants (grocery), another time in shorts (Shang. She was holding a rubber donut for swimming for her son)
Carmina Villaroel	Months back	Burgoo Power Plant, Shang Mall	At Burgoo with Zoren and twins, in Shang with Zoren, twins and mom-in-law
Janice de Belen	Months back and years back	Wrap Shop in Shang, R3 of Power Plant	She was buying something in Wrap Shop, I was right beside her but didn’t know it was she until she turned
Dolphy	Years back	Shang second floor, Power Plant twice (R3) just outside the theaters and on another day, inside the theater	In Shang, he had just left the wash room, in Power Plant he was with Zsazsa and their daughters
Gloria Diaz	Years back	Piropos Makati, Shang malll	Piropos – bet you don’t know that. It was in Angela Arcade, she was dressed in a long, brown tanktop designed t-shirt dress that reached her ankle; in Shang she was lining up in the ATM  at the basement
Charlene Gonzalez	Years back	Shang mall	She got out of the elevator on level 6
Miriam Defensor Santiago	Years back	Shang Mall; in church	In True Value, smiling, in the latter always late, her two daughters following her. Husband didn’t join them in the front pews; sat on the side of the church with bodyguard
Mel Tiangco	Years back	Shang Mall	Level 6, about to go inside True Value
Arnold Clavio	Years back	Shang Mall	Level 6
John Estrada and Priscilla M	Months back	Power Plant R3	walking
Sunshine Cruz and Cesar Montano	Years back	PowerPlant P1	Kaya Restaurant
Aniano Desierto	Years Back, months back	Shang Mall (Cibo), Power Plant, church in QC	It was a Sunday in church, he was with fewer bodyguards and his family
Vic Sotto	Many, many years back	Maryknoll	Family get-together or fair?
Joey de Leon	Years back	Shang Mall, Ateneo, Kamameshi Libis	In Ambassador Appliances, getting a video camera for his son; in Ateneo for the reading of honors, in resto with wife Aileen and friends
Coney Reyes	Many, many years back	Rustan’s Cubao	Smiling happily at her fans
Rita Avila	Same as Coney Reyes, but not on the same day	Rustan’s Cubao	Smiling nicely at everyone
Nello Nayo (remember him?)	Many, many years back	Aristocrat in Cubao	Alone at a table eating
Imelda Marcos	In the 1970s, some years back	St Scho Bacolod, Manila Pen	At St Scho she passed by as she greeted us students who were lined up to welcome her – she smelled really good. She was in a white long sleeved blouse with ruffles in front, a black and white checkered skirt and had a yellow sash around the skirt really beautiful; at Manila Pen she was with her American lawyer (the one with the big hat)
Ces Orena Drilon	Years back	Shang Mall	In Blue Skies, a computer gaming shop, looking at herself in the mirror/glass panes
Bernadette Sembrano	Years back	Power Plant – Brazil resto	She was in the next table, smiled when she saw I was looking at her
Suzi Entrata	Months back and years back	In R3, Power Plant; inside the theater	She bowed when she saw I was looking (made me feel old!), she smiled
Pia Guanio	Years back	Power Plant	She was in the escalator and smiling/talking with someone on a floor she had just left. She was in an all-white get-up. Very pretty
Dina Bonnevie	In 1981	Ateneo	She was applying for re-admission. Didn’t recognize her. When I asked her her name, she smugly said “Geraldine Bonnevie.” Oops.
Chichay	1970s	Chico Street, Project 4	Can’t recall what she was doing
Caridad Sanchez	Years back, months back	Greenhills Shopping Center, Cardinal Santos Rehab room, outside her house in White Plains	Always smiling sincerely at everyone. I love her. Very simple
Mikee Lee	Years back	Ateneo	Usher for an affair, very polite and humble even after Pinoy Big Brother and the Bench billboard
Richard Gomez	Years and months back	Unimart, Rustan’s grocery Power Plant, a resto in Power Plant	When Lucy says Richard does the grocery, she’s not lying; he does. At the resto, he was with Lucy and Robert Ortega plus one more (the occasional sidekick in his movies). Resto was in R1, Zaifu?
Borgy Manotoc and Ornussa Cadness, Borgy Manotoc and his girlfriend before Ornussa, also a pretty model (sorry can’t recall the name)	Years back	P1 Power Plant with Ornussa, R1 with former girlfriend	Ornussa was wearing very short shorts and was wearing shoes without a strap or a back, so a bit noisily
Imee Marcos	Years back	Shang Mall	Level 2, she was looking at stuff in an open stall, smiled when she saw me looking at her
Joey Mead	Years back	Power Plant R1	She really is attractive, she was wearing a long cotton dress
Dingdong Dantes	Years back	Ateneo, ShangMall	He was my husband’s student, so he went up to my husband and said hi both times. In Shang he was in the Nike Store. Both times he was with Antonette Taus (really long ago) and introduced her to my husband
Alfred Vargas	Years back	In 2 different churches, in Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan	In church once, he was ninong to a baby being baptized; in the other church he was hearing mass with his mom; in the theater, Valentine’s Day, with LJ Reyes – around that time, they were saying they had broken off. That’s showbiz for you
Jackie Lou Blanco	Years back	In Ateneo, in Power Plant	She was applying for admission; she was in R3 window-shopping
Ricky Davao	Years back	In Greenhills, in Power Plant	Virra Mall Greenhills, Power Plant in Gourmet Café with his children
Roilo Golez	Years back	Manila Pen	With his wife, waiting for their car along the driveway; he smiled
Cory Aquino	Years and months back	Gesu, Ateneo chapel	Mass
Miguel Zubiri and Audrey (his wife)	Months back	Fully Booked in Serendra	Audrey was smiling at everyone
Mike Defensor and family	Years back	Shabu-shabu in Shang	Tableful of bodyguards
GMA	Years back	Ateneo	Wake of the mother of the University President, shook hands
Richard Merk	Years back, months back	In Clark Fontana with wife and baby, in church	Latter sighting with wife
Mar Roxas	Some time back	Bocaue Bulacan	Wake of the governor’s father, we talked – very humble and unassuming; he listens
Gina de Venecia	Some time back	SM Megamall	She was with a coterie of lady friends, she smiled
Connie Sison	Some time back	SM Megamall	She was with members of her family, not a Kapuso yet medyo suplada, but maybe now okay na?
Bearwin Meily	Some time back	Podium, Shangrila	With family and shades
Lynn Ching	Years back	Megamall	Level 2 or 3, with her boyfriend then, now her husband – smiling
Tweety de Leon	Years back	Unimart	Doing the groceries, medyo suplada
Anjanette Agbayari and david Buenavacz	Years back	Shang or Galleria(?)	Food court, eating
Cristine Bersola and Julius Babao	Years back	Shang	Identical clothes and cap (to conceal their identities? To call attention? Wearing caps inside a mall calls attention, actually)
Basil Valdez	Years back	Pines Hotel	My sister who had just arrived from Germany asked him “where’s the Boys in the Band going to be?” Basil was sitting behind a table like a receptionist; my sister didn’t know who he was. He looked embarrassed
Martin Nievera	Years back	Cliff Candelaria’s shop; Starbucks in Makati	He was sitting patiently in the former; he had this hi-tech phone (Qwerty with cover) and nodded when he saw us looking
Eric Quizon	Years back	Shangrila	escalator
John Lesaca	Years back	In church	With his wife
Gloria Romero	Years back	Unimart	She was in white pants and a red and white striped shirt, doing the groceries; she smiled – a real lady
Barbara Perez	Years back	Shang/Power Plant	Very regal and unsmiling with her daughter
Robert Arevalo	Years back	Richmonde Hotel	Bar, by himself
Leo Martinez	Years back	Church of the Gesu	Holy mass
Gary Lising	Years back	Ateneo	As a father
Susan Enriquez	Months back	Church of the Gesu	Covering mass for Jun Lozada
Pia Arcangel	Months back	Hard Rock Glorietta	With her husband, watching the gig of 3 or 4 bands – she was the student of my niece!
Drew Arellano	Months back	Shang	Level 2 waiting for the elevator with a friend; very quiet, didn’t try to call attention
Abbygale Arenas and Jun de Leon	Years back	Shang	Cibo. She’s so striking
Cherrie Pie Pecache	Years back	Italian Village	She was just starting out and was telling her barkada how cute Eric Quizon was; she was in the table across ours

I’m not trying to impress anyone, just testing my memory. So I’ll update this if my memory bank allows it. As you can see, a lot of them go to Shang and Power Plant.

Oh yes, I once saw Alex Compton in CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) in Glorietta. When he saw me looking, he said “Hello”. The other day, we chanced upon him waiting outside a house along Katipunan Avenue in White Plains. Alex is one person I admire: he has a project for street children and is the son of former Peace Corps volunteers assigned to the Philippines (or should I just have typed Peace Corps? Did my adding volunteers make it redundant? Whatever.) I’m not sure if he is a Filipino citizen but he certainly is a Filipino at heart in more ways than one.