gardens mid-valley

my second time in gardens mid valley was an easy breezy affair. while the haze was wreaking havoc in KL, gardens mid valley hotel provided a comfortable refuge for me. what was better this time is they upgraded me to the suite. while it was a longer walk to the breakfast area, it actually made feel welcome and that the staff were willing to provide upgrade when they run out of regular rooms. thanks!

fried chicken

according to paula deen, “you don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. you want to make a steady diet of fried chicken.” everybody loves fried chicken. i don’t know anyone who will be able to resist a good time with fried chicken. even from just the smell of it, you would want to have 2 piece at a time.

i’ve read in one of those travel magazines that bobby chinn, a famous restaurateur and chef, has found his favorite fried chicken in the whole world in bangkok. and he wasn’t even talking about any food joints in the city of smiles. rather, he was pointing at your everyday fried chicken right at the smack of bangkok’s sois. so naturally, thai style fried chicken is always on my list when i’m in bangkok. my favorite would be at soi sukhumvit 11 and opposite siam paragon. sivatel’s chicken wings are not too bad either.

during last week’s biz trip, i was able to sample nasi penyet or smashed chicken with sambal somewhere near tanjong pagar.

bird

ray bradbury said, “stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. see the world. it's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” and talk about fantastic. it was fantastic. an out of this world happening.

a creature of habit if you may. on one hand, you want something new. on the other hand, you opt for what you’re used to. the trusted one could deliver and it did. it did deliver the bird to that bigger predator, the higher being in the pecking order.

sylvester stallone said, “if i was at school and saw a bird outside the window i wanted to follow it. i was adventurous.” so follow it was. didn’t need any coaxing. everything flowed smoothly. precise move. easy and natural, not forced or mechanical. positive vibes all throughout. superb.

  

superlatives? perhaps yes. as oliver wendell holmes puts it, “people talk fundamentals and superlatives and then make some changes of detail.” all the fundamentals were there and haven’t even went into details. so yeah, super duper it was.

aesop said that “it is not only fine feathers that make a fine bird.” agree. it is also in their wingspan, flying power and the overall aim of doing good and being good at what you’re at. wow.

lucky me, bird. and lucky you, bird. some more time in the near future.

pad thai

pad thai, baby! aroi mak!

Royal Silk

i'd normally be very upset when my flight gets delayed. it'd mean a lot of waiting time and practically doing nothing. but not this recent trip in bangkok, on my way back to manila! PAL's scheduled 6:05 flight got delayed due to the traffic in NAIA. we were moved to 7:10 departure from suvarnabhumi airport. to my lucky surprise, PAL booked us to thai airways' royal silk lounge. yehey! i got to relax, try out some pica-pica, had drinks and basically lounge around. it was great and more than made up for the ruckus brought on by amara hotel (another story) in singapore.

magic number

numericals as of now:

60
29
30
15

what kind of combination do you have?

househusband

while i didn’t have any choice when it came to the movie since the poor malaysia airlines already chose this one, i did have a choice between watching this movie or reading a book or sleeping. i opted to sit thru its 1 plus hour or so. since i’ve seen kasal, kasali, kasalo, the first judy ann santos – ryan agonocillo/joey javier reyes outing, i thought my househusband shouldn’t be bad since that movie actually had enough depth and fun to entertain me. unfortunately for me, i was wrong with this one. definitely wrong.

the premise actually had some promise. a light movie about how traditional roles could be changed by losing a high paying job and the issues this would bring. after a bank merger, rod (ryan agoncillo) was offered a not-so interesting package and because of pride, resigned from his post. he then found it harder to find a job since he’s already in his mid-30s. his wife mia (judy ann santos), who happens to be a part-time insurance agent then decided to take a full-time role in the firm to support the family. rod had to take over the domestic chores and this was where the conflict and comedy should have come from. reyes and his co-writers added nosy neighbours and super-friendly character, aida (eugene domingo).

one major issue is that rod and mia rarely spoke with each other, contrary to what the movie was trying to show. instead of making deeper realization of this modern phenomenon called househusband, the movie opted to concentrate on trivial matters like doing household chores. after some quick ticktacks on him being househusband, the movie pans away to eugene domingo’s aida, your typical loud mouth neighbour who’s actually a kept woman. sitcom type was done, obviously wanting to make each scene as crisp as possible. it didn’t do its magic as it only became like a hodgepodge of several un-memorable scenes. one would definitely labor their way thru the movie, throwing very few intelligent lines, mainly courtesy of aida.

after all these serious issues, it was just a matter of time before the movie ended on a happy note. after all, this is light family drama – there should not be any negative vibe on it. rod finally landed a new job, mia will keep her career as well and aida is now on her way to become a successful trader. if only real life issues can easily be resolved, we won’t have much troubles!

making ryan agoncillo the typical macho pinoy husband supposedly not doing wifey chores was a stretch. he just doesn’t come off that way. it could have been successful had another actor played the part. while eugene domingo did quite well, it was a bit hard to believe that she really is a kept woman. reyes probably didn’t want to have the stereotypical pinay kept woman (slim, faux blonde, with southern accent), that’s why they’ve put eugene domingo in the role. judy ann santos is her usual dependable self, having that right click with her lines and was effective in the role of a strong but family oriented wife.

i’d have to skip any future joey javier reyes fare.

commotion

sabi ni freedictionary, ang commotion ay, "an agitated disturbance". komosyon ay may kinalaman sa di kailangang ingay at nakabubulahaw na mga pagkilos o anumang dagliang aktibidades. mukhang napapadalas ang mga komosyon sa kabilang ibayo at ito ay hindi indikasyon ng malusog na pakikitrabaho sa pagitan ng mga taong bumubuo ng kanilang pangkat. maaaring dulot ng simpleng di pagkakasundo sa walang kapararakang bagay o di kaya dahil sa malalimang salungatan ng mga personalidad at iba pang mga isyu. sa magkaparehong bagay, dapat itong tingnan nang maigi habang maaga upang magawaan ng paraan bago pa man mauwi sa pagkabalam ng mga trabaho o tuluyang pagkabigo ng eksperimentong ito. mabigat sa pakiramdam ang maging saksi sa mga komosyong tulad ng naganap kaninang umaga. ang mas nakalulungkot, maaari namang hindi ito naganap kung may harmoniya sa pagitan ng mga nag-uumpugang paksyon.

sa isang tanggapan o anumang organisasyon, di maiiwasan ang anumang pagtatalo o mainitang deliberasyon. ngunit dapat pa ring mamayani ang pagka-propesyunal. hindi dapat itapon palabas ng bintana ang anumang buti ng pag-aasal na itinuro noong unang pumasok sa paaralan. kaakibat nito ang paggalang sa bawat miyembro ng iyong pangkat, pagpapakumbaba, pagkakaroon ng mahabang pang-unawa at higit sa lahat, hindi pabalang na pananalita at matalinong pagpili ng mga salita. alam ng lahat na anumang buti ng balakin ninuman, kapag ito ay sinabi sa balahurang paraan, naglalaho ang anumang sustansya nito at nauuwi lamang sa walang wawang baliktaktakan. 

sana ay masumpungan nila ang harmoniya, masaya at maiging pagsasamahan sa lalong madaling panahon.

chef tony's

the best popcorn out there! gotta have some more. happy sunday!

busy

ah excuse me, aren't you busy?

dedma

dedma sa mga walang kapararakang ingay ng pang-araw-araw na buhay. dedma sa mga taong walang inatupag kundi ang mainggit, manira ng kapwa at mabuhay sa ngitngit. dedma sa mga patutsada sa imeyl at mga sabi-sabi. dedma sa lahat ng negatibo, kasama ang mga may pag-iisip na pang-iskwater. dedma.

macopa

food, food and food. thank heavens for these and the chance to sample old faves like kesong puti, new faves like candy cupcake, new fares like crispy peanut crepe from KLIA and fruits that remind you of your childhood like macopa. :)