My Manila: White Moon Bar at Manila Ocean Park

After our Manila Zoo adventure, we just wanted to sit and relax. When we're in Manila, we usually have ensaimada at the New Diamond Hotel. But since we were on adventure mode, we decided to try something new.

I remembered seeing a feature on White Moon bar so we headed to Manila Ocean Park. White Moon Bar is an open-air bar with a gorgeous view of Manila's famous sunset. It has huge, comfortable white sofas, low tables and capiz-decorated speakers. Last Sunday, they were playing 80s music, which was probably perfect for most of the customers. It served really cold beer (a bit pricey at P80/bottle) and other cocktails. Our waiter nicely suggested that we also order food and swore by their beef nachos, but we had to decline as we already had dinner plans. Most of the other customers also just ordered drinks, which the waiters efficiently served.

The atmosphere was very relaxed. Some of the customers were a couple, 2 small groups of tourists (4 or 5 persons in each group), and a group of men. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with drinks but the place was never noisy. I couldn't even hear the laughter from the group of men who were 3 sofas away from us. The gentle winds probably carried out the sound.

With the comfy chairs, the magnificent sunset, the 80s music and the perfectly cold beer, we forgot all our cares and snuggled deeper into the sofa. For that moment, there were no bills to pay, no global warming to worry about, and the world was in peace.

Tips:

• If you're bringing a car, park inside the gate of Manila Ocean Park. There are plenty of parking spaces inside even on a Sunday.
• Go early. The sofas get filled at around 5:30 PM.
• If you get there before 5PM and you can't stand the heat, you can explore the complex first.
• You can catch the Musical Fountain Show after sunset. If you pay online or get an SMS coupon, the ticket is only P99. Check out http://www.manilaoceanpark.com/promos.php?id=96&l=indexnews for details. Promo is valid until 31 March 2011.

*White Moon Bar is at the second floor of the Manila Ocean Park complex. You can take the main entrance, take the escalator near the food stalls at the left side of the mall, then walk right, heading towards Hotel H20. You can always ask the guard for instructions, they're very helpful.

My Manila: Manila Zoo

7 Feb 2011 - B and I have decided to see Manila as if we were tourists. First stop: Manila Zoo, the field-trip destination when we were in elementary school.

Manila zoo has improved over the years. Only the chimps' cages retained the broken tile and cement flooring. There are now huge cages for our eagles and other fowls. There are lots of picture-taking opportunities - you get to carry a snake or a bird on our shoulders, you can ride a horse or ride a boat. There are also several play areas for kids. It's still not as nice as the public zoos I've visited in other countries, neither does it match Avilon Zoo on the other side of Metro Manila. But it's not a bad place to spend your P40.

Batanes

I've always wanted to photograph Batanes. So, after having so much fun in Backpack Photography - Banaue, it was only a matter of time before we signed up for Backpack Photography - Batanes.

Batanes did not disappoint - it had power outages, our inn had problems with water supply, bottled water was a precious commodity and the sun was blazing so hot it activated my dormant sweat glands, but the views were so magnificent that I was always torn between just standing and breathing in the beauty of the landscape or attempting to capture them in photos. And the food, specially the daily serving of lobster and coconut crabs, was a treat to my  sleep-deprived body.

Here's the album I ordered from Artscow.com (you may also visit this site to see the album):



More pictures may be viewed here.

Sexy knows no waistlines

B has always been a fan of Jane Monheit. He would always check out her new albums and his mp3 player would always have at least 2 of her songs.

So when I learned that Jane would have a concert in Manila as part of the Philippine Jazz Festival, I immediately got us tickets. I thought it would be a perfect Valentine gift for B.

It was a perfect Valentine gift for me as well. It was the best organized concert I've ever attended. There were no long queues, and we were given seat numbers upon registration. The ladies at the registration table also informed us that there would be front acts and that Jane was expected to start singing at 9 PM. This gave us time to have dinner.

When we went back at the Rockwell tent, we had enough time to get a bottle of cava (Barcino's had a booth a few meters outside the entrance) before the front acts started to perform. And they didn't disappoint! It was nice to hear the raspy voice and easy rhythm of Art Manuntag again. The energetic moves of Brass Munkeys' bass player was also a delight to watch.

But of course, the star of the show was still Jane. When she entered, we were surprised at how large she was. But when she started to walk, she got us convinced that she was the sexiest woman on earth. As she started singing, it became obvious that she was in love with music. She had excellent control of her voice but this was nothing compared to the way she sang each song - she sang with her whole self. She seduced us to her world - we fell in love and felt her passion. We were convinced that we will find the rainbow connection and cross the moon river someday. She shared with us her love for her family and reminded us how love can make us fly. We were mesmerized.


We never wanted the evening to end. And it didn't, even if the concert did. Because we will always remember the music of Jane Monheit every time we close our eyes.

Removing Pencil Marks from Clothes

I am just so happy when things work.

I was wearing a new light blue dress last Friday and after happily prancing around in it, I accidentally wrote a 5-inch line on it with a pencil.

As soon as I got home, I googled about removing pencil stains from fabrics. I came across sites that mentioned using ammonia, pre-laundry treatment products and stain spray, which I do not have. I was just happy to come across this page in a quilting website. It suggests mixing:

1 cup water;
2 tbs alcohol; and
1 drop clear dishwashing liquid

and applying these mixture with a toothbrush.

I only had green apple-scented dishwashing liquid but tried it anyway. And it worked! I'm excited to wear my dress again =)

My Fan Girl Moment: I Miss You Like Crazy!

It's been years since I watched a movie on its first day of showing. But due to scheduling conflicts and our excitement to watch I Miss You Like Crazy, I found myself not only reserving for tickets for the first showing date, I also fell in line an hour before show time! It was actually fun, as we got to sit on the carpet and munch on our snacks while waiting for the guards to let us in the theater. It was just like having a picnic except that we were in the middle of a packed mall with all those tempting food stalls.

Anyway, sulit ang fan girl moment! I Miss You Like Crazy was a good movie - the script was well-written, the actors pulled off their roles and most of the time, the scenes looked beautiful (it made me want to visit Kuala Lumpur!)

The movie was about love and the perfect time for it. It involves a love square (as opposed to a love triangle) among John Lloyd Cruz (Alan), Bea Alonzo (Mia), Maricar Reyes (Daphne) and Malaysian actor Gerald Hans Isaac (Mir).

I loved the script - it wasn't perfect but there were no unnecessary scenes and there were very few lines that made me cringe. I loved that it made an effort to let the audience understand how the main characters reached their decisions. The story tackled infidelity and showed sides of it that made it still unforgivable but understandable. There were no villains but the circumstances of the characters provided enough conflict. There were just scenes where I found the conversations about love and relationships a tad too long. I guess I'm just used to Korean and Japanese dramas were philosophical conversations on love and life are reduced to just a line or two.

The director also did an excellent job in casting the roles - everyone, including the supporting actors acted really well. John Lloyd's character was a bit boring (no special quirks except for being conservative in his choice of wardrobe and his house), but he seemed so real. You can easily feel and understand his emotions. Bea, on the other hand, had a very quirky character, which she was able to pull off most of the time. There was one scene where she was trying to act like everything was okay, giving a fake smile while delivering lines that would end in a curse - she was able to pull it off and still look beautiful! The supporting cast only had a few lines (Bembol Rocco did not even utter a single word) but they stayed true to their characters, had perfect timing and made the movie so nice to watch (isn't it awful when they get support casts who don't know how to act?). I specially loved Bembol Rocco, Ina Feleo, Ketchup Eusebio, Maricar and Gerald. Even the horse knew exactly when to pee!

The movie looked so pretty most of the time - the shots of the scenery are so nice that I now want to: (a) ride a boat to cross the Pasig river; and (b) walk around the parks of Kuala Lumpur. I loved the contrast of the clean lines of Daphne's modern condo against the texture of Alan's old house. I also love the choice of angles for the shots - there was a scene where Alan was supposed to be stuck in traffic - they used a low angle that made everything seem so tight that even I felt claustrophobic. Ang galing!

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the wardrobe. Maricar obviously wore a wig. There was one dramatic scene where Mia had a huge wet spot on her dress, which was unfortunately at the crotch area. Even worse was a scene where they focused on Bea's hand with her nails painted a dull grey. I thought they mistakenly inserted scenes from a horror movie! Oh well, nothing really is perfect.

Still, it was a nice movie and it was a good decision to watch it on February 24, 2010. Why? Watch the movie and you'll find out.

And yes, I'm back to blogging.

Stay safe!!!

I was in Trinoma last night at around 7 pm. I was supposed to meet Rey in front of Cyma at the top floor so I took the escalators near the entrance facing the restaurant area. The escalators were inside the mall but this set of elevators was located in a very quiet location - it faced a wall and was away from the view of the shoppers and the guards.

When I got there, 3 men were just getting off the escalator. When they were near me, one of them suddenly said that they needed to go back to the 4th floor. He immediately went back to the escalator. I slowed down to allow the 2 others to go ahead of me but they stopped to chat. I went ahead. Suddenly, I felt that something was wrong, so I looked around. I noticed that aside from the 3 men, there was nobody else in that section of Trinoma. All of us were on the escalator with their "leader" 4 steps ahead of me, and the 2 guys who were then 2 steps down. I felt so uneasy that I ran past their leader without no logical reason (wala nang isip-isip, kunwari na lang may hinahabol akong guwapo). When I reached the top and looked back, I noticed that they did not complete their escalator ride (so I guess hindi sila nabulag sa aking kagandahan). For some reason (maybe I'm really just paranoid every Christmas/tuition/election season,) I felt that I just escaped an attack. I was relieved but I was still shaken that instead of turning left towards Cyma, I mistakenly turned right and took the longer route (nakita ko tuloy and Siomal by Hussein's. Doon kami kumain. Masarap pero para na rin kaming na-hold up sa mahal ng binayad namin.)

Nothing really happened to me. The 3 guys may just have been friends who were hanging out at Trinoma and had no intentions of robbing people. It may have just been coincidence that no one else was using the escalators. But I'd rather be paranoid and look silly/crazy than be robbed or hurt (mahirap kumita ng pera!!!).

So, I will take what happened as a reason to share with you what motherlily always told me: (a) when in public places, always be aware of your surroundings; and (b) don't ignore your gut feel, it may be your guardian angel (or in my case, fatherlily!) warning you of dangers.

More tips can be found at:

How to avoid an attack - http://www.ehow.com/how_2213835_avoid-an-attack.html
How to avoid purse snatching - http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Purse-Snatching and http://www.ehow.com/how_1889_avoid-purse-snatchers.html

Stay safe!

Feeling Tech-y

B has a new toy - a black MSI Wind! It's nice and cute and it serves its purpose as a portable book reader and dvd player. The 6-cell battery really powers the Wind for at least 5 hours. The only complaint we had was that it couldn't connect to our Netgear wireless router at home while it didn't have any problems connecting to the wifi in Coffeebean and Tea Leaf, Kozui and the Complink branches in SM North Edsa and SM Megamall. I knew that our router was working fine as my Dell-ing masira office laptop could connect to it without any fuss.

I've checked out the manuals, googled it, browsed through countless of forums, inquired with the tech people of Complink, and still didn't get the solution. But after getting a talking fuschia rubber-covered heart-shaped mouse, I got inspired to be creative and experimented with the router settings myself. Nope, I'm not a tech-y person (M, Deng and Janina can attest to the number of times that they got an email from me asking for help on Excel, our internal website and even Powerpoint), but I'm a brave fool. And this brave fool finally found the settings that allowed the MSI Wind to connect to our router. Woohoo! (For those who want to know, I just changed the channel to 01 and set the mode to B and G. Whatever that means.)

And speaking of my talking fuschia rubber-covered heart-shaped mouse, I also have a purple extension cord! Don't they look perfect with my laptop bag?

Hay, wala na talagang maniniwalang abogado ako. And I haven't even mentioned that my mouse says "I love you" when you click the scroll button (even I have to shiver at that.)