Les Miserables

It was a challenge not to sing (and be moved to tears) - especially nearing the closing billboard.

courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

I already anticipated Les Miserables as a tearjerker. After all, the old movie turned on the waterworks in me. However, Les Mis 2012 is distinct from its 1998 counterpart. The 1998 version didn't leave me room to compose myself. I had to pause the movie in order to do so, but this one has plenty of breather scenes. In a way, it wasn't as heavy as I expected it to be - which is both a good and a bad thing. 

A good thing because it gave me a different experience

A bad thing because I brought my bag of expectations 

On the Musical

At first, I was troubled by the fact that the whole movie is sung. I was thinking that this does not feel realistic at all. To my mistake, deeper into the movie, I became unaware of the singing, and then everything felt normal - as if we do sing in our day to day conversations. 

On the Transitions

Comparing with the 1998 film (because that version broke my heart), the pacing of the 2012 version felt fast. There were parts where I was waiting for certain scenes to present itself, but did not.

My emotions during the (2012) movie were like this: 

1. Oh boy I'm gonna watch Les Mis, HUHUHU T.T

2. Hmmm mleh :|

3. hahaha :))

4. huhuhu :(

5. k / huhu / weee :| :)

as compared to my emotions during the 1998 film

1. HUHUHUHU T.T

2. HUHUHUHU T.T

3. I hate Cossette!

4. "People may do good and not reap benefits; people may do bad and not have tragedies"

5. HUHUHUHU why? T.T

I am rather incomprehensible right now. 

On the Ending
I did not like the ending. I do not like the idea of waiting for your reward or deserved happiness in heaven.

HAHAHA they named my hair Elizabeth. "Lumalaki si Elizabeth a"

"Life's great happiness is to be convinced that we are loved."

I prefer the 1st story

I prefer the first story, but I believe the second story. 

When I was a kid, I went to church every Sunday. I was the only church goer in the family. My father was a Protestant, my brother a Born-again, my mother a Roman Catholic. When I turned 6 or something, I was baptized as a Roman Catholic. Because I was the only church goer in the family, I got bored going to church alone. Hence, I decided to go to church with my friends and their families. They were Christians - I think. Their Sunday masses were very different - in a good way. The room was small compared with the big church that I would go to as a kid. They had tambourines and drums and, they were singing joyfully. Occasionally, someone would cry and fall on his or her knees... I didn't care much. 

Then during the sharing period for adults, kids (I) would go out and play and attend the bible study instead. It was fun, until my friends moved.

Good thing, there was a new parish being built near our place. I attended masses there. It was smaller; I liked it. As a kid, I didn't like big churches; it felt scary. As I grew older, I made mistakes that the priests would openly denounce. I am already harsh to myself so I felt like I didn't need a harsher entity. That's when I read the bible seriously. As a teenager, I found it to be very self-contradicting and confusing - especially when you have no one to ask about it. But still, I was devoted. 

Things happened.

I became agnostic, but it was difficult. By being agnostic, I felt like a hypocrite. I had gotten so used to the idea of god and praying when I had problems, etc. That's when I decided to believe in a god, a being that can hear me and is able to help, but had no obligation to (Thus, no blaming on my part). A Catholic professor then told me that I am not believing in god. He said that I was only believing in my own notion of god. Thus, I was only believing in myself. 

Amen. 

That was the easy way for me. To not believe the "harsh" teaching of the church and to believe that something out there is greater than me, something mostly good if not purely good... that's what I want to believe. I do not know if it's the truth. I will not even argue for its sake. All I know is that this setup makes my life easier. 

I digress big time. HAHAHAHA

What I'm pointing at is that, I would choose to live the life that would give me peace of mind. And maybe Pi is the same, maybe he chose to believe his first story, because that's the story that gives him peace of mind. Belief being the indicative word. 

P.S.

In my phone, I've typed the phrase "forever is too long to". I usually type reminders while watching a film so I could revisit my immediate thoughts and ponder at a later time so as to avoid missing out on the film. Nonetheless, this time, I don't remember the trigger for typing that, nor do I remember the next word. It is bothering me...

P.P.S.

Why was Pi apologizing so much? Was he apologetic of something, or did he just feel sorry (for himself/ others/ the situation) in general? 

Edited February 5, 2013

I finally remember it! Forever is too long to fool yourself... But forever is also too long to be morose / bitter about something.

Food Porn: Pepper Lunch

Pepper Lunch may be one of the most aromatic restaurants in the metro. This is the reason why for Pepper Lunch, I'd very much prefer dine in than take outs and deliveries. I've always like the store's fragrance - it is soo inviting, especially back in college - when I still used to pass by Pepper Lunch Rob Manila.

It's no wonder I like Pepper Lunch since I put pepper in everything I put in my mouth. Wait, that sounds wrong. Basta, gets, I like the taste and smell of pepper (and sesame! I like the sesame flavored ice cream too!). I remember how my friends would not want to share my noodles and egg because of the amount of pepper I put in those. Ah, good times. 

Pepper rice

I think that there is now a wider variety of sauce for the pepper rice - which is good :)

Aglio Olio

The aglio olio was okay. It tastes like your regular aglio olio so... yeah. I am not helping anyone with this kinds of review, no? I know. I am sorry. HAHAHA

My brother likes Pepper Lunch too, but papa doesn't. He thinks that the serving is too small, especially for the steaks. Whatever, I still like pepper!

Pepper Lunch delivers via City Delivery. Just call 87878

Food Porn: Nolita

Nolita is short for North of Little Italy- in case you are wondering :)) Nolita BGC is a good place to take a break. Well it should be, since the food are pricier here. 

Well anyway, one of my best friends is going to Korea to study. Thus, a despedida! We've actually had several despedidas for her already - from sleepovers to karaoke nights to bar hopping to dinner, etc. We always use her going away as an excuse to meet with each other, HAHAHA

This was the day when I was absolutely short of cash (because of different establishments on sale) so I asked them to pick a place with affordable food. I do not know what criteria they used to pick this place as affordable, but I was not amused. CHOS baka mabasa nila, HAHAHA

Compulsory korean pose :)) no, he's kidding, please forgive him.

Random condescending conversation:

Korean 1: Today we learned the word sorry (so let's make a song out of it)

Super Junior: Sorry Sorry chung chung tsing chong la

This is one of the reasons some of my friends and I should not speak with each other again - we can naturally have nasty/sarcastic/condescending remarks about anything whenever we meet.

Oh, would you look at that, I've spoken nothing about Nolita. HAHAHA. Let me squeeze it in. The food was definitely tasty, but the serving was small for its price. The flavor of the cheese were also very rich and robust. It might go well with wine and beer - but I am not sure.

Nolita gourmet burger (?)

Bake macaroni (?)

Sorry for the question marks, I do not remember the names of the food. Friends say that their pizzas are good so maybe I'll go back one of these days to try it :)

Food Porn: Masuki

My family wanted to eat mami so we opted to have one in Masuki Megamall. Hmmm, we ordered hakao, mami, and siopao. I liked the hakao and siopao, but the mami tasted weird. HAHAHA I guess, we are just so used to the "tabi-tabi" beef mami / pares recipe. The mami tasted bland without the sauce (for siopao), but it tasted sweet/weird with the sauce. Lalala, I guess what I'm trying to say is that my family will never order the same meal again. 

Just to make sure, I think we need to visit the Masuki branch in Binondo.

P.S.

Is it me or has their serving gotten smaller than before? 

Food Porn: Mr. Choi Kitchen

I love Mr. Choi! 

The dishes are tasty and big enough for sharing. Also, my mom likes authentic Chinese cuisine. Hence, she is willing to foot the bill / or at least part of it. Perplexing moment arises when we have it delivered. Some restaurants (like Mr. Choi) refuse to mix the ingredients of the meal if it is for delivery. And I understand that. I just wished that they'll pack the corresponding set of ingredients and dishes together so as not to confuse bad cooks like me. HAHAHA or better yet, at least have an easy to understand preparation direction.  

Spicy beef brisket

Spring rolls

Crispy fried noodles

The crispy seafood fried noodles is my favorite. The recipe was bursting with flavors that complement each other (from the shrimp down to the mushroom). Mom and I like it.

Mr. Choi Kitchen delivers via City Delivery. Just call 87878

Food Porn: Cafe Mediterranean

Truth be told, my friends and I never complete this restaurant's name in writing; we just write Cafe Med because we (I) always get confused whether it's double T or double R. I am sorry :( HAHAHA

Double R! I wonder how I can permanently remember this, any mnemonics?

Anyway, I like the interior of Cafe Med Greenbelt, very rustic, albeit being in a mall. The food servers were also courteous and good looking - I must say.

Look! They even put a nice looking candle on everyone's table :) quite romantic 

So onto the food:

Mediterranean pizza (Sun dried tomatoes black olives, grilled eggplant and zucchini, anchovies on penne)

This pizza was not my cup of tea; I find the sour taste of tomatoes overpowering all the other ingredients - so much that I failed to notice the taste of the anchovies. Perhaps, I am not the kind of person that the chef had in mind for this food. If it means anything, I liked the eggplant though :)

Pesto

I dislike pesto, that's why I gave up on this dish after a bite. HAHAHA my friends liked this a lot though. In fact this was the first that they finished.

Gyro

I had chicken gyro (is it pronounced as /jay ro/ or /gay ro/?) I liked this one the most -especially the middle part. HAHAHA the edge parts were a bit bland, like how most edge of sandwiches would taste like. Cafe Med, the flavours of the sun, I'll try a different set of dish next time, maybe I just ordered the wrong part of the sun this time.

I hope I get to taste the sun rise and sun set next time :)

Cafe Mediterranean delivers via City Delivery. Just call 87878

Food Porn: Andok's

Andok's <3

Yes, I just used the heart symbol :)

Andok's was just a so-so brand for me, but for some unknown reason, it became one of my favorite brands after an office mate treated us Andok's during her birthday. Must be because it's free? HAHAHA I don't know. Basta currently, I find its taste really good. And the heart in its logo makes me smile whenever I see it.  OPS! HAHAHA

Must be the gravy...

Litson manok / roasted chicken 

Or maybe, it was just my officemates... Maybe their love for food is that contagious. 

Come to think of it, I was not a fan of liempo (pork, in general) before, but now I am willing to take the last piece for myself. I find this change very comforting as I've been trying to gain weight ever since - and maybe my new found fondness for food (in general) will help me achieve this. 

Andok's delivers via City Delivery. Just call 87878.

Back and Forward

Last year became my "one to sawa" ticket to an emotional roller coaster - because of the never ending circumstances that confronted my self esteem and sanity. But I am grateful for what happened. After all, these experiences shows me what the world is like.

Me, myself, and I

1. On things that matter
Lots of things happen everyday, and it distracts us from focusing on things that matter. I wanted so many things. In fact, x in definingx is symbolic of that. However, it is an empty dream to want so many things at once. Hence, this year, I shall be focusing on 2 things - my aspirations and the virtues I stand for.

I must resolve to pay the price for what I want. And I must pay it in advance.

2. On relationships that matter

A. Intrapersonal
Two of my biggest challenges this year were (1) almost not graduating, and (2) not knowing, and thus, not getting my "dream job". I got stressed for quite a while. It saddened me that when I picked up my phone to call help from someone, none comes to mind. I guess I was too arrogant to let my friends know of my troubles, or maybe I was scared of being judged, or maybe... I just didn't want to be a burden.  Lots of nights, I've randomly cried over these now seemingly mundane things, hahaha.

I was morose. I had incredibly low self-esteem, and my perceived self-worth dropped tremendously. And staying at home and logging in my Facebook account didn't help either. I needed a breath of fresh air. I needed to retreat. I needed to shout. I needed to go out with friends and talk about other stuff. I needed people to smile at me. I needed others. I need others.

B. Interpersonal
I met countless people this year - established deeper and more meaningful relationships with some, grew apart with some, and rekindled old ties with some. It is uplifting to reconnect with old friends (and is heartbreaking to drift apart with current ones.) Bob Marley said that everyone's going to hurt you, you just have to find the ones worth suffering for. I dislike getting hurt. This is why I refuse to be subjected to such feelings. I won't put up with people who makes me feel bad about myself.

Also, this year, I made a new friend! She's funny; she's a good daughter, sister, orgmate. In fact, she may be one of the few people whom I can tell my worries. I love her a lot! - even if she sometimes becomes too weird for company. But in all seriousness, I'm really thankful for your friendship. You are one of the reasons why I'm still sane right now. Cheers! Maine :)

It's almost 1am. Good night and happy new year, we all have work tomorrow, or later.

Cheers to a great year!

This New Year, we didn't have any fireworks nor lots of food, but I must say, this is my happiest new year celebration to date! We stayed home only. We brought out the TV and stereo, and just grilled corn cobs and barbecue outside. HAHAHA in fact my mom is still outside, singing. Don't worry, she isn't being a nuisance neighbor :))

Isn't it lovely how this time of the year seems to act as a reset button in our life? Isn't it amazing how this time of the year brings us sudden hope that we can improve our lives and the lives of others?

Happy New Year everyone! Cheers to a good man!

At least our good traits, that is :)