I woke up at 5:40AM and looked outside to see lots of clouds running across the morning sky so I gave up for the nth time my chase to shoot Mayon today. Usually by experience, if Mayon shows up, it's up until 9AM and clouds will hide it after. Legend have it that the the jealous Ulap will hide Magayon from everybody, hence, it's like that since I knew about Mayon. Lucky is your day if this showing up extends in another 30 minutes after 9AM.
I went out still at around 7:45AM to buy some bread and donuts. And I was amazed! Mayon is in full view. No clouds rolling, only hugging it from the side.
I packed my camera and commuted to Forest Lake. It's a new graveyard on the mountain top that has the spectacular view of Mayon. It's 8:15AM. The jeep's been taking too long to wait for more passengers. The trip is bound for Buenavista, Legazpi's farthest barangay. I'm becoming impatient and planned to shift to Cagsawa Ruins, but I wanted to have that mountain top shot...
It took another 25 minutes before the jeep started to trek the mountain and I was there after 5 minutes. And it's playtime.
Thanks for my friend Mark for rekindling my interest in photography. I was already drifting away when suddenly he was like "Uh-oh"...
Nice food.
For the soul.
It's got chocolate inside.
Crunchy too.
Bursts as you bite.
Happy New Year!
New York has no shortage of ways to ring in 2010, and one of the best is with a live soundtrack. The pop and jazz critics of The New York Times have chosen some of this year's most promising New Year's Eve events in the New York metropolitan region.
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Source: New York Times | Vijay | Mariahdaily
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MFC: I hate to read this when I know I can't make it to the garden. Sobs.. (haha)
I only saw this because I'm curious what's it about. It turned out to be an almost 3 hour-long movie, I did not check the screening hours before entering the cinema.. haha
I love the seamless special effects. It's almost real! These animators are soooo good! But I was not comfortable seeing the tails... it's devilish...
I heard that it's a must-see on 3D! Hhhmmm.. will I cut short my loooong vacation just for this?
Starring: Gabby Conception, Angelica Panganiban, Derek Ramsey, Kim Chiu
Laurice Guillen always makes Angelica seductively attractive in her innocence, in her naïveté. She first reinvented Angelica Panganiban in the hauntingly bizarre "Santa, Santita" way back then. This triggered a reinvention on Angel's showbiz image. And there was no turning back for her. Which is good.
With their second movie together, Laurice once again captured Angelica in her revealing performance, in nubile or just showcasing her acting chops. Angelica glides in every scene like an angel descending down from somewhere. Her face brightens the gloomy sequence. Most noticeably especially during when she was walking and you can remember the Angelica of "Banana Split." Her comic mixing the drama. Perfecto! I can hear myself almost laughing.
The movie started with flirting - Adrian (Gabby) and Liezel (Angelica). Then the whole storyline creeps into the amazing web of the intricacies of love. Unrequited love. Failed relationships. Fighting for the love dramas. Redemption.
Those usual love story themes. But, I would also say that the plot was handsomely written, screenplay got some substance on the dialogues with the everyday real-life or movie-bound conversations. It has got another great direction from Laurice, superb acting from the uber beautiful Angelica. Derek can act too, Gabby's wig-like kinky hair sometimes distracts, Liza Lorena's big eyes is everywhere (just like the old times...) and it's scarey.
Interestingly though, I was disappointed with how editing was handled. It was not tight. Scene sequences do not flow together in the first half. It was distracting me a bit. Well, only a bit.
And oopss (do not read further, here's some spoilers), Star Cinema is fond of car accidents lately. Here, Derek's car accident is not as thrilling a shot like Luis Manzano in "In My Life." We'd like surprise scenes where shock is inevitable.
P.S. - The newly renovated Bichara Cinema is really good. It tastes like old Hollywood. Movie tickets are cheap at Php95 a piece.
3/5 stars!
favorite laing, now made with Mayon cultivated, native "gabi" (natong/
bunor) leaves. I made a new variation to this regular meal I used to
cook with pork meats. Instead, I put in tuna chunks (in brine) and
Sorsogon caught squid.
To top it is another personal staple -- the exciting crispy calamari.
Hhhmmm... now I'm thinking what's next in the menu.
I have created an (ehem) excitingly new recipe as inspired by Mr. Choi's "Hot Prawn Salad." In the absence of prawns in the locality and rushing to get this salad done (deadline is at 5pm as told), I thought of alternatives and hopefully it will be loved by relatives at tonight's partey! Instead of the usual cold dressing, I'll make it this version with a warm dressing due to lack of cooling time...
The salad is topped with marinated chicken breast fillet fried to crispy golden brown (with party time in the next hour, I'm musing if the crispiness is still there). Fruit cocktail straight from the can plus diced apples, carrots, cucumber with whole corn kernels and boiled marble potatoes make up the whole package. Warmed dressing of cream, condensed milk and some mayo wrap it up.
Now... it's Bon Appetite!!
Updated: 12/27/2009
Due to (ehem! hehe) public demand, here's how I was able to pull it through:
Salad
* 1 big can of your usual favorite Fruit Cocktail, drained
* a cupful (or depending on whether you want more) of whole corn kernels, diced cucumber, diced carrots, nata de coco
* loads of marble potatoes (grocery stores usually sell this miniature bite-sized patata)
Dressing
* 2 big cans of Alaska condensada (Alaska brand for nostalgia)
* 3 Nestlé cream tetrapacks (If you opt for low-cholesterol, go for Del Monte All purpose cream)
* some spoonful of Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise
* Loads of L.O.V.E.
Drain the fruit cocktail from can. Boil the potatoes until done. Mix the ingredients slowly. Be careful not to cut, slice or smash the fruits (LoL). Simmer the dressing until about slightly hot.
Serve warm.
As requested by Weng, we put aside some of it and chilled it overnight. I was checking the cold taste and I am amazed how the cucumber changes the whole structure of this salad. It was quite refreshing to the bite.
I would say it's got the flavor of the puto bumbong with a tinge of ube and some cheesy flavor!
Great find! Grab one before it runs out!
Manny ran away with his 7th title after knocking out Cotto!
His titles include:
Manny Pacquiao Philippines | WBC Flyweight | December 4, 1998 |  Chatchai Sasakul |
| IBF Super bantamweight | June 23, 2001 |  Lehlohonolo Ledwaba | |
| The Ring Featherweight | November 15, 2003 |  Marco Antonio Barrera | |
| WBC Super featherweight | March 15, 2008 | Juan Manuel Marquez | |
| WBC Lightweight | June 28, 2008 |  David Díaz | |
| The Ring Junior welterweight | May 2, 2009 |  Ricky Hatton | |
| IBO Light welterweight | |||
| WBO Welterweight | November 14, 2009 |  Miguel Angel Cotto |
Mariah Carey - She's No Angel, But Pretty Close
"All my life, my saving grace, the thing that kept me steady, was listening to music; on the radio, on records or my mother's singing."
That's the famously voluptuous singing superstar Mariah Carey, with whom I had a brief conversation the other day.
I was the last of Mariah's duties that long afternoon; she'd given about 19 interviews to promote her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel."
The star sounded game, but understandably beat. Her voice was a little ragged. I said, "Mariah, I feel bad making you talk anymore!" She laughed, "Liz, I'm fine. I'm actually lying down as we speak. Listen, this is a lot better than other things I could be doing to push this album."
Even though our super-fast chat was supposed to be confined to her music – and I'd been sent a little list of specific questions ("elements" as they call them) – I had to immediately compliment Mariah on her small, unglamorous-but-pivotal-social-worker role in the movie "Precious." And I told her I'd also liked her in the two-guys-one-gal-on-the-road movie "Tennessee." (Both these films emerged under the aegis of producer/director Lee Daniels, who is a great Mariah admirer. "Precious" is being talked up as Oscar bait!)
Even though she was cruelly excoriated for 2001's "Glitter," Mariah says she's encouraged by her recent efforts and would love to continue a movie career. And she should. Lord knows she's ready to go the limit. There are not too many sex symbols who would agree to appear as Mariah does in "Precious." (It's not a fake nose or strange teeth or padding, Mariah just took off her makeup and allowed a pitiless camera and harsh lighting to underscore her performance.)
We did speak of her album, which is already a big Billboard hit. "Memoirs" is a "concept" piece, with a beginning, middle and end. The theme is relationships and all its variations from infatuation to bitter ending to hope for tomorrow. The disc builds to a powerhouse climax with Mariah's cover of the old Foreigner hit, "I Want to Know What Love Is." (This is the album's only track not written by Mariah herself.) She says of this, "I wanted to respect the original version. I didn't want to make it something unrecognizable. But I did incorporate my own vision." (This vision includes a soaring gospel choir and the full use of Mariah's multi-octave pipes. You sure do know what love is when Mariah gets done with it!)
I asked Mariah if the album's title, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," was in any way autobiographical.
"Ha! I'm no angel, Liz. Really, it's a statement to young girls – but actually to everybody – about how we are all normal and imperfect. We are not what is on the cover of magazines or what we appear to be in flattering press releases. It's OK to be who you are, no matter who you are – and to love accordingly. Also, the album was a way of working out some stuff, glancing back and saying, 'What the hell was I thinking?'"
Well, what was she thinking? "Oh, I'm not going down the list, which is really rather small. At the beginning of my career, I had to be very straightforward in my work and my image. But I have a lot of humor and zest for living and imagination. Once I broke free, I allowed myself to be who I was, who I wanted to be, as a woman and as an artist. This kind of album, with the great collaborations I have with Tricky Stewart and The Dream never could have been possible as my old self." (Mariah didn't need to put a fine point on it. She was clearly referring to her infamous marriage to Tommy Mottola, the music mogul who discovered, elevated and eventually smothered her.) Also impossible back in the day was Mariah's wicked tongue-in-cheek celebration of her sexiness – high heels in a snow drift! The old Rodgers and Hammerstein song, "I Enjoy Being a Girl," suits Mariah to a T. A wet tee.
Will Mariah tour to promote this CD? "Hmm... I really want to think about what I want to do next, how best to use my time, my life." Her life now includes an apparently blissful marriage to Nick Cannon. Tours rip months and years out of a performer's life. I believe Mariah has a different plan. At the very least, she needs time to also promote her new fragrance, "Forever."
Before I let Mariah go – well, before her handler wrenched us apart: "Your 15 minutes are up!" – I told her how much I love her delightful 1994 Christmas album. This disc includes her own composition, "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
"Oh, thank you! When I realize how that song has become a part of Christmas tradition, it's crazy to me, thrilling, humbling. You know, I didn't want to do a Christmas album. It was Tommy's idea. And I was all, 'Please I'm a young girl. People don't do Christmas albums until they are, like, 50. Some sort of last resort.' But he insisted. 'No, no. Do it. It'll be a big hit. So I did and it was, and I'll always be grateful for that."
Mariah paused and said, "I shouldn't tell you this, but I'm going to record another Christmas song, with my mother. I'm going to sing in my style, and she is going to sing operatic, which is her style." (Patricia Carey, Mariah's mom, is a former opera singer and vocal coach.)
"Mariah, when you say you shouldn't tell me, do you mean you've told me something I can't print?"
"Well, Liz. Would it be good for you if you printed it?"
"Of course it would be. But..."
"OK, then go ahead."
OK, then, go ahead. Words to cherish from a star, and words you don't hear much but from the unique likes of Miss Mariah Carey.
- Thanks to Liz Smith - WowOWow/MariahDaily
At long last, my review of Memoirs
(Also published on PMCF Site)
(Written after waking up remembering it's already a Monday - Oct 5th - and I haven't got my pen busy for it)
Mariah Carey has left pop music for good.
That comes as to no surprise to me, however, as she has gone totally R&B/Soul ever since she recorded "Vanishing," "You're so cold," and "Slipping away" earlier in her career.
In her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," Carey has masterfully crafted a genuine musical work that sounds nothing like her previous catalog (and she has a long list). You'd wonder if there'll ever be a rest day for Carey to be irrelevant. If there is, she doesn't show it.
Carey's blood runs with pure musical artistry that is unequalled in her generation. The music and voice were on point in each track. The highest notes are all over each track.
The lead track "Betcha Gon Know" caught me off guard. It's a rather ridiculous track gravitating towards a TV scene from CSI minus the bloody part. The rawness of emotions were so real. The song got me on for a good few days. I can literally create a beautiful music video for this track (if time permits!).
"H.A.T.E.U.," on the other hand, was flantastically permutated. There was something haunting within the track that keeps you coming back. Carey's vocal layers were adequately placed.
Special mention goes to "The Impossible" which I love grooving to like I was in my latin tango dance class carefully whamming it up. The song is excruciatingly beautiful. It could have had a faster ending for the sake of tango, but Carey kept it low key to protect the album concept. Yes, Carey is humble, except for the satirical parade that is the "Up Out my Face (Reprise)."
"Angels Cry" was the first song I listened to when I got the album as it got me excited from the faint concert bootleg (from her Las Vegas concert back in September). The powerful track resents how human angels can be imperfect but still take flight ... and soar.
Carey's voice was somehow restrained to give way to full vocal gymnastics on the last track, the Foreigner remake "I want to know what love is."
From "Angel (Prelude)" down to "Angels Cry" going to "Languishing" and ending in "Love" reminds me of 1999's "Rainbow" where the songs were "linked" together to create a wholistic sound.
Overall, it was a generous revelation that Carey could still create a distinct musical sound that is sonically coherent well after almost 20 years in the businessness. She managed to put her signature sound on it, too, without having each track sound the same.
What is surprising is that her comedic bone (first heard on last year's "Touch My Body") was again all over the place ("Obsessed," "Up Out My Face"). Carey infuses comedy effortlessly like no other. And it's not shallow.
"Memoirs" completed an imperfect journey to seek for a repackaged version of this album. It's definitely a musical treat which would be burning my player up for a good few months (even years), for sure.
Get the 14 Remixes:
Track list:
01 I Want to Know What Love is Donnie Hotwhee 03:03
02 I Want to Know What Love is Low Sunday Tem 03:14
03 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Cl 03:22
04 I Want to Know What Love is Cutmores Radi 03:06
05 I Want to Know What Love is Chew Fu Radio 03:50
06 I Want to Know What Love is Chriss Ortega 03:34
07 I Want to Know What Love is Nu Addiction C 03:28
08 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Cl 06:51
09 I Want to Know What Love is Cutmores Club 06:42
10 I Want to Know What Love is Chew Fu Club M 06:01
11 I Want to Know What Love is Chriss Ortega 06:03
12 I Want to Know What Love is Nu Addiction C 06:52
13 I Want to Know What Love is Moto Blanco Du 06:21
14 I Want to Know What Love is (Nu Addiction 08:41
(Reposted)
AFTER a quarter of a century, exporter and designer Rene Alcala finally got to apply what he learned in college.
Alcala majored in Tourism, Hotel and Restaurant Management at University of Santo Tomas, but by a twist of fate, he ended up designing mirrors that are exported to the West.
As a sideline, he and his enterprising friends decided to invest in a little restaurant, Oma, a hole in the wall in Scout Fuentebella off T. Morato, Quezon City. Originally a beer joint whose focal point was a billiards table, the nook was transformed by design consultant Jim Tan into a cozy place – exotic hardwoods contrasting with reflections of Alcala’s mosaic mirrors with blacklip shells.
The bar is a montage of mirrors and mollusk surfaces, balanced by large mirror frames of the same materials on the opposite wall. But Alcala didn’t want Oma to look like his showroom. He insists the star is the food, created by the chef, Kristina Benipayo.
Oma means “grandmother” in German. Alcala claims the cuisine is Pinoy food with a twist – popular restaurant dishes with local touches.
Personal stamp
Benipayo studied at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management and has worked in a restaurant and resort. She puts her personal stamp in Oma by combining contemporary cuisine with family recipes.
For Caesar salad and pasta carbonara, Benipayo substitutes adobo flakes for bacon, for added crunch. Assorted green vegetable salads with potatoes and carrots are laced with crisp flaps of luncheon meat chunks, tender mango bits and matching mango dressing for tartness.
The much-vaunted malunggay is used in the breads and pesto sauce without the bitterness. It is combined with cream cheese as dip for the baked mussels, or made into pesto butter for the Chicken a la Kiev.
Benipayo pays homage to her Bicolano heritage with fried adobo drenched in coconut milk, a local interpretation of chicken roulade stuffed with longganisa, or native sausage slathered in rosemary cream sauce.
The grilled pork is smothered with laing sauce, prepared the traditional way with thoroughly cleaned taro leaves simmered in coconut milk. She uses the second extraction of the milk, which has been drained of excess oil. Another heirloom recipe is lechon kawali with shrimp paste, tomato and garlic, modernized by the plating.
In the nasi goreng, the Indonesian dish made of fish and shrimps topped with fried egg, Benipayo replaces the topping with scrambled egg and fried sardines.
Oma is proud of its Philippine wagyu beef, sourced from Bukidnon, which costs only P1,900, as well as the Batangas tenderloin. Instead of baked potato, the siding is baked kamote or local tuber, which is sweet and dry.
Noodles with olive oil and white wine sauce are topped with local mussels, fried eggplant adobo or mixed with the garlicky Lucban longganisa and the sweet and hefty Lucban sausage.
The simple pesto pasta is rendered with malunggay sauce and made flamboyant with grilled chicken breast. Another Pinoy comfort food, corned beef, is simmered to get its texture and tossed with the noodles. The paella pasta is a medley of chorizo, chicken, squid, clams and shrimps in white wine sauce.
Alcala, Benipayo and other investors – Leo Tiopes and Marina Martinez, who work at San Miguel Corporation’s Information Technology Service, and Tina Templo who works at a BPO – still go through regular food tests to fine-tune Oma’s signature taste: modern, clean-tasting with a touch of rustic.
Oma is at 85 Scout Fuentebella, QC; tel. 3325690.
CHECK THE NEW TRACK
"Skydiving"
Produced by Timbaland
On the iTunes Memoirs LP download, when you click "Play Album," it plays all of the songs with Mariah-themed screensavers. One of the themes is a journal where all of the track names are written fading in and out, and along with all of the tracks listed, the word "Skydiving" appears (see photo). It turns out "Skydiving" is the Timbaland-produced song which did not make the album cut. The song, however, will be included exclusively as track #2 on Tapemasters Inc.'s The Future Of R&B Vol. 29.
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Foreigner's Mick Jones can start ordering caviar and Champagne again: Mariah Carey is releasing her own gospel-tinged version of his masterwork song, "I Want to Know What Love Is."
It's the first "real" single from her new album following the summer release of the witty "Obsessed," which is also included on "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel." The album and the single hit the world on Sept. 29th.
I heard the Foreigner song yesterday along with all of "Memoirs" and let me tell you: Mariah's got a hit on her hands along the lines of "Emancipation of Mimi "The hour-long CD is ballad-centric. Written and produced with The Dream and Tricky (I know, but these are their stage names), "Memoirs" boasts a lot of singles. Starting with the Foreigner song is a canny move in these uncertain times. By the time its run is over, a new generation will think "I Want to Know What Love Is" is a Mariah Carey song.
Mick Jones, who wrote it, should start picking out some nice new cars thanks to Carey. The money should come rolling in quickly.
The other songs on the album – these are the titles, although the running order is still being finalized:
"Betcha,"
"Obsessed,"
"H.A.T.E.U.,"
"Candy Bling,"
"Ribbon,"
"Standing O's.,"
"Impossible,"
"It's a Wrap,"
"Inseparable,"
"Up Out My Face,"
"More than Just Friends,"
"Angels Cry"
"I Want to know what love is"
Several of these are radio ready. "Angels Cry" is an honest-to-god ballad a la "Vision of Love," and should be a gigantic success. "Standing O's" also has potential, as do "H.A.T.E.U." – which stands for "having a typical emotional upset" – and "Inseparable."
Def Jam's L.A. Reid – who previewed the CD for the first time yesterday with a clutch of staffers – is playing with the order, to get it right. But he really can't go wrong. Carey's album, is, as they used to say, "what the kids want." Plus, it's got stuff for the slightly older crowd. I loved the doo-woppy "It's a Wrap." And the Foreigner track is so powerful, it's going to be everywhere.
Good news, too: no more songs about Eminem. One was plenty.
So, by the end of September we'll have new CDs from Whitney and from Mariah. They're each top notch and different from each other enough that their fans should want them both. Maybe we'll see a return to record stores (we have but a few in Manhattan now) and diva duels on radio if programmers are smart.
Source: Roger Friedman - Showbiz411
Perhaps realizing that the focus should be less on Mariah Carey's feud with Eminem and a bit more on the pop diva, more hints were dropped today about the singer's upcoming "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel." The ad-supported album, which was originally set for Aug. 25, is now due to be released Sept. 29.
The second single from Carey's "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" will apparently be a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" (perhaps tackling "Don't Stop Believing" would have been a too-obvious choice of pandering). The news was first reported by Roger Friedman, and his article has since been posted on Carey's official website.
This isn't the first time Carey has covered an '80s ballad -- see her take on "I Still Believe" above. The latter gave Carey yet another top 10 hit, a status that has thus far eluded her "Obsessed." But it's far from a tanker, as the song is holding steady at No. 14.
Additionally, Nielsen SoundScan reports that the single has sold 383,000 downloads to date. The tally isn't bad for a song that's only been available for about a month, but it's not showing the kind of initial numbers her "Touch My Body" displayed last spring. The latter sold 286,000 downloads in its debut week, and shot to No. 1.
If anything, tackling a well-known power ballad seems like a safe choice. It's a comfortable fall-back plan after "Obsessed" performed well, but did far from blockbuster numbers. It will undoubtedly be a hit, but it's giving me more reason to fear "Imperfect Angel." The sort-of-real/sort-of-not feud with Eminem seemed largely a ploy to keep Carey in the headlines, and covering Foreigner seems just as calculated to steer Carey back onto familiar ground. Pop & Hiss awaits to be proven wrong.
-- Todd Martens
Compare the size: left - it's what is being advertised, right - close-up look at how "big" it is when all the creams are removed - what's left is your -- lasagnete.. a child's meal!)
Click on the pictures to zoom to a bigger portion, err, viewing size.
It will be my third time to eat this in 7 years (1st try: Megamall branch near skating rink, 2nd try: Muñoz branch but the store is no longer there; 3rd try: Villar St/Valero St branch near Citibank Makati) and the taste changed a lot from mouth-itchy heavy tomato version to creamy almost-melts-in-your mouth.
But the serving did not change!
I remember this one instance in their Megamall in 2002 when with my classmates, we queued for a curious Greenwich version of lasagna. It was a long wait at 30 minutes considering that it's supposed to be fast-food near the Megamall Food Court. I was served with this miniscule, almost unbelievably small portion and was exaggeratedly David-and-Goliath in comparison. With my jaws still dropped, my fiesty femme classmate snapped back at the crew and aired out her discontent and dismay. The crew only answered she'll have the manager come over who never came. We just left the place and just eat the food... we're too hungry for any argument.
This incident recurred in their Muñoz branch a year later. But I did not insist because it was raining hard and I need to go home. I ate this lasagna with a heavy heart never to eat their lasagna again.
But I broke it when last week, I gambled for a new try. Before I made the order, I made it clear to the cashier that I want a lasagna that is faithful to what is advertised - a fully bodied, big portion lasagna, similar to the advert picture.
Okay, so another 30-40 minute wait and we're verrrry hungry.
And as expected, it was a verrrrrrrrrry small serving portion but this time, it's so sinfully loaded with cream and I waived over the cashier and told her about our agreement. As usual, she snapped back that it's just what it is... So, again, no more drama, no more further arguments!
And op cors, I have to eat. It's Php 80 a piece. LoLzFunny encounters in 7 years! One small lasagnette for a big gutom!
Whatever happened to PANA Truth in Advertising!
Customer satisfaction? Forget it. Look for another resto. Or at least, if you serve small, picture it small! That's not too complex!
Daaanng!
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