News Bites on Milenyo

Crime rate drop for a day

SOMETHING good came out of Typhoon “Milenyo” after all.

And according to Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Calderon, Thursday’s storm brought down the crime rate in Metro Manila at least for a day.

“Definitely during a crisis like this, we expect a low crime rate because there are fewer victims and even the criminals themselves are also afraid of the storm,” said Calderon.

My comment– DUH!

No Power!

Residents of Metro Manila picked their way through the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo (international codename Xangsane) on Friday with large parts of their city still without power, debris-strewn streets and a rising death toll.

Yep, no power for at least 48 hours. That means the kids will be sweating it all out until Sunday. Hopefully, only until Sunday. Poor Max woke up all sweaty today. They’re just not used to sleeping without at least the fan on. You know what really sucks? The fact that there’s no light and I can’t read a thing at night. Which means it’s harder for me to fall asleep. Sucks.

Toppled Billboards

Calm settled in the southern part of Metro Manila just before noon Thursday when the typhoon’s eye passed over it, allowing residents to quickly repair loosened metal sheet roofing, cut down trees blocking roads, and talk with neighbors.

Less than an hour later, the fierce winds and driving rains were back.

Metro Manila’s streets were empty as most of its 12 million residents took shelter from flying debris.

“It sounded like a train passed on the roof,” said one occupant of a fourth-floor apartment. “Then the roof in one of our rooms was gone. I can now see the sky.”

Taxis were reluctant to take to the road. “It’s too dangerous,” said Armando Legaspi, a cab driver.

Between Alabang town and the Bicutan interchange on the South Luzon Expressway, some 25 billboards lay toppled. A giant billboard blocked the west side of the service road just before Bicutan.

On my way to work this morning, I saw 2 huge toppled billboards. The Bread Pan billboard (it had an ad for Oishi’s Bread Pan snack) near Tiendesitas fell down on a couple of houses along C5. The other billboard was along the C5 bridge before Kalayaan Avenue. A part of it fell down on the flyover causing that lane to close down.

It was also a sight to travel along McKinley road in Forbes Park. It used to have an awning of tree branches and now most of them were beaten down. The 4 lanes were reduced to 2 due to the debris of tree branches along the road.

Thank the good Lord that our village didn’t suffer any flooding or downed poles and trees. Except for the blackout, all is good. What a day is was!

 

Revenge on the Stings?

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — At least 10 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia’s eastern coast since “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin was killed by one of the animals last week, an official said Tuesday, prompting concerns of revenge attacks on the normally docile fish.

Full article on CNN.

This is just too sad. I hope this is just a freaky coincidence. And I am sure Steve Irwin wouldn’t have wanted for this to happen, if it were true.

 

Midnight Bliss

Indulge your dark side with MILKY WAY® MIDNIGHT® Bar—it’s dark chocolate, golden caramel and vanilla nougat.

That is what Milky Way says of their Milky Way Midnight Bar. And boy have I indulged. Really INDULGED.

I discovered this deliciously addictive dark chocolate bar a couple of weeks ago as Lean and I were doing our weekly forage into Rustan’s Fresh’s shelves. That day, Rustan’s Fresh in Greenbelt 1 Makati, had an entire shelf/corner/kiosk full of dark chocolate heaven. They had:

Nestle Crunch Dark Stixx (which Lean bought and was delish as well)…

…several Ghirardelli bars, dark chocolate of course…

…different variations of Hershey’s Extra Dark…

some dark chocolate variations from Dove as well. Oh! And they also had these amazing Mega M&Ms…

I would have loved to buy all of them but I settled for a bar of Hershey’s Extra Dark and Milky Way Midnight. The Extra Dark was yummy as expected (just like or even better than those they put in the Miniatures which I always hoarded). BUT, Midnight was really REALLY yummy with a capital Y.U.M.M.Y. Especially when it’s all soft and melty. Grr.. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it so I should STOP.

I’ve always favored dark chocolate over milk chocolate, it just has this extra kick to it plus it doesn’t feel as fattening. Actually, according to WebMD (yea, yea, yea, excuses! excuses!):

Eating a small, 1.6-ounce bar of dark chocolate every day is good for you

Who can beat that? Apple or dark chocolate? No contest.

 

Sadly, Rustan’s Fresh in Greenbelt 1 (and in Shang) ran out of stocks already. I guess I should have stocked up but here I thought buying 2 bars every couple or more days was enough. IT WASN’T! So sad.

 

Which now reminds me, I gotta go to the grocery. Wouldn’t hurt to check if they’ve gotten new stock already. *wink*wink*

 

 

Review: Undomestic Goddess

I loved, absolutely adored Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. From Confessions of a Shopaholic to Shopaholic and Sister. I bought Confessions in Singapore and ironically enough, my sisters and I just had a day of shopping when we found it on display in Borders. My sisters and I were hogging over that book that we decided to take turns reading out load while the rest of us listened and laughed our stomachs out.

Anyhoo, Kinsella’s Undomestic Goddess has been out for some time now but it wasn’t until last weekend when I finally decided to take the plunge and buy it. (I was hesitant to read a non-Bloomwood story so much was my attachment to Becky)

Kinsella’s Undomestic Goddess is a fun read although not as funny and hilarious as her Shopaholic series, it still is a very endearing book. You can’t help but root for Sam and her domestic adventures, or I should say, misadventures. You can’t help but laugh at her “ditziness” and be sad for her, especially when she has the most depressing birthday.

The Geigers are the surprisingly funny characters in this book. Kinsella’s description of this suburban couple is so good that you can just imagine them in your head which makes their actions even funnier.

As for Nathaniel, there was a lot left to be desired for his characterization. I guess he really wasn’t a main character in this story since you can’t really imagine what his feelings were (for me at least). But still, he was nice enough and mysterious enough for Sam.

Overall, it’s a nice read for a lazy weekend. But I’d still cheer for Becky Bloomwood’s shopping adventures (never a misadventure!)

For those interested, here’s the plot:

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer—and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope—and finds love—is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

 

Review: The Song Reader

I have this habit of going through Amazon to search for books. It’s more often that not a depressing habit, why bother going through all those titles in that amazing online warehouse, creating a wishlist, when there’s little chance of me actually getting to buy one? (I don’t have the spare cash to order it online). Thankyee Lord for my sister now located in Singapore, home of Kinokuniya and Borders. Now, my wishlist can be more than a wish!

 

Anyway, I am getting way off my topic. I saw this book in Powerbooks Greenbelt last week and thanks to my bookaholic dad, he bought it for me (he never says no when it comes to buying me books, clothes and bags however, I’m still working on). That was on a Tuesday.

 

Since I was finishing something else I didn’t get to this book until Wednesday morning. I jammed it into my bag and started reading it during my commute to the office (takes an hour at least). I got dropped off at the corner and walked to my building. Some people text while walking. I however, walked a couple of blocks reading the book all the while. It’s always a good sign when I cannot put down a book. (It’s also a good sign that I did not get run over by a car while read-walking). As soon as I arrive in the office, I had no choice but to put down the book (it’s either that or lose a job that feeds my bookaholic tendencies). After 9 hours, I grab my book again. Read it while I eat my dinner, reading it while I wait for my dad, reading it in bed. When I finish the book, I look up and realize it’s 4 am and I have 2 hours left to sleep before I have to wake up and get to work. Do I feel bad? No, I finished the book and I loved it.

 

This is not a typical review. I always judge a book based on how fast I finish it and how many times I read it. For the first criteria, it passes in flying colors. Also counts that in the second half of the book, I was having trouble breathing. My nose was clogged from crying my eyes out because of the story (yes, a book can make me into an emotional mess).

 

Here’s the synopsis:

Leeann’s older sister Mary Beth has a gift. When the two sisters are left alone after the death of their mother and the disappearance of their father, Mary Beth becomes the hero of both her younger sister and their entire town. She is a “song reader.”

 

She doesn’t read palms or tarot cards; she reads people’s secrets and desires from the songs they can’t get out of their minds. And her customers idolize her. As Leeann tells us, “They took her advice–to marry, to break it off. . .They swore she could see right into their hearts.”

But as Leeann soon learns, every gift has its price. The sisters’ bond will be tested when Mary Beth’s advice leads to a tragedy that divides their small Missouri town. As Mary Beth retreats into her own world, Leeann must face the truth about their parents and their past, and the flawed humanity of the sister she adores. The Song Reader is an exploration of what makes a family, what breaks it apart, and how the bonds of love and blood can be both a burden and a blessing.

The Song Reader was written by Lisa Tucker (no, not the American Idol contestant). I’m always a little bit worried when it comes to reading “new” writers. When I like a writer, I get all their books. It’s always sad when I complete their works because it takes me such a hard time to find a new author to support. And when I do choose one and don’t like it, my disappointment knows no bounds. I get really attached to writers. But Lisa Tucker was not a disappointment. It was a great surprise actually. I expected the book to be another chick-lit so common these days.

 

The Song Reader is about families, sister relationships, mother/father-daughter relationships and small town life. It’s about survival. It’s about coping with what life can bring you. It has a surprisingly heavy storyline but it was light and easy to understand. It was a very emotional read for me, I can just imagine Leeann and Mary Beth in the kitchen discussing the songs. I can imagine their dad’s apartment with walls full of lists. I can imagine Ben staring at Mary Beth.

 

The Song Reader is a great book to read. Don’t start it when you’re about to go to bed though or you’d end up staying awake until dawn finishing it (like me!).

 

 

 

 

Blindness

Okay, I have got to stop reading in bed, in moving cars and in dim lighting. Chances of that happening though? Zero to none, nil, nada, zip.

I just got back from getting my eyes checked. I am currently wearing -5.00 contacts and my spare eyeglasses, I learned from the Doc, are -4.00.

The results? My right eye is now -6.00 with .50 astigmatism and my left eye is now -5.50. Translated to contact grades that means -5.75 and -5.25, respectively. SUCKS.

But will I stop reading in bed, in moving cars and in dim lighting? NAH!

 

MBC: The Seafood Club @ Greenbelt 3

We’ve been craving crabs for months now. We’ve always planned to have some come payday but somehow we always ended up in some other restaurant or worse, in the pantry with our canned goods and baon.

Finally, this payday we satisfied our cravings. Lean, Idj and I headed to The Seafood Club at Greenbelt 3. We had planned on ordering the Crab Solo (crab, pasta and something or another, can’t recall now) but Lean and I got sidetracked with their buffet, specifically their appetizers.

For my first round, from the appertizer area, I sampled some of their meatballs, baby potatoes and garlic mushroom. And from their main course, Lengua and fish fillet in some cream sauce,

The meatballs was yummy, it reminded me of Ikea’s Swedish Meatballs with not as much gravy. Their baby potatoes were boiled, semi-peeled, sauteed in garlic and basil (?) and topped with a white cream sauce. It was yummy but then again I’m partial to anything potato-ey. Their garlic mushrooms were not so good. They were cold and not as garlic-y as I wanted them, not enough flavor.

And for the second round, I got a plateful of crabs. The buffet featured two types but on sight, you can’t tell the difference. After eating them you’d realize one had spicier taste to it. It was YUMMY. I love crab. I don’t mind eating with my hands, it’s thrilling to remove the shell of the crab and aim to get a perfect peice of crabmeat.

I enjoyed the buffet but for 450 net it’s a splurge.

 

Things I Miss in Cebu | Part 2

(6) 100-Peso Nights Out

Back in Cebu, enjoying a night out in town with no money to your name was not a problem. You can enjoy the night with nothing more than 100 pesos in your wallet. Kahayag Cafe is always a good choice. You can have great food and enjoy the local music for less than 100 pesos. 100 bucks can also get you one drink and still enjoy the night among friends. Even if you don’t have a car, 100 pesos is more than enough to get you back home, you can always eat off your friends’ plates.

Here, 100 bucks is not even enough to get me home.

(7) Yaya’s Steamed Lapu-lapu

We have this household help who has been with us since the start of my parents marriage. She was there through all of our births (all four of us) and we were there through all of her seven children (she married our then driver). Her name is Shirley but we (including my parents) call her Yaya.

Anyway, my maternal grandfather who I heard was a great cook (never met him, he died before I was born) taught her a lot of chinese dishes, including steamed lapu-lapu in the authentic chinese style. She knows it’s one of my uber favorite dishes and whenever I head back home for a visit, she never fails to cook that for me (an entire fish all for me!).

(8) Ding Qua Qua, Harbour City Dimsum and Dimsum Break

You know what I never get? Why is that only Cebu (that I know of) offers THE best “steamed rice”? I remember a high school friend of mine visiting here from Cebu and we went to North Park for dinner. She orders steamed rice expecting THE “steamed rice” like in Cebu (she got plain white rice).

For those of you who do not know, the dimsum “steamed rice” in Cebu is actually a rice topping with your choice of chicken, beef or pork. The best selling topping is pork. What’s great about this is the sauce they use. I usually always order an extra serving of this sauce coz I want my rice and pork swimming in that delightful goo. Dee-lish-cious!

And oh! These restaurants have the best ginger sauce also. I can’t wait to go back and get myself another helping of Cebu’s dimsum.

(9) Christmas shopping all-year round

With three girls in the family, it’s not a surprise to always find our family in a mall on Sundays. While my dad has his coffee and my mom off to her favorite furniture store (she seems to be collecting sofa sets), my sisters and I have fun going around the mall. And it’s not like here in Manila where malls are huge and a day is not enough to go around in one. In Cebu, one day is enough for the two biggest (worthy-to-be-called) malls.

We have our shopping down to a science. We have a particular route for each mall and we know which stores to avoid and which stores to target. It’s always bad for my bank account to shop with my sisters, they cannot stop and seem to not run out of energy. And they seem to always shop for Christmas gifts. They each have several godchildren and they’re always looking out for the best gifts to give them. They’d be shopping for their Christmas gifts as early as January.

(10) Jun-Jun and Malou’s Chicken Barbeque

It’s practically a landmark in Cebu. I don’t know when they started but it seems they’ve been serving chicken barbeque (among others) my entire life. They serve one of the best chicken barbeque in the entire city (for me, at least).

Whenever we travel to Manila, my Cebuana Auntie (based in Manila) used to bribe and beg us to bring her some chicken. And whenever we came back from Manila, we always stop by Jun-Jun and Malou’s to buy us some chicken barbeque before heading home and unpacking.

Now, along Jun-Jun and Malou’s strip of the road, are a lot of barbeque places like AA’s and Mattias. They’re all pretty good but Jun-Jun and Malou’s is always a favorite and sentimental choice.

 

MBC: David’s Tea House @ Greenbelt 1

It was still several days before payday (and a Friday to boot!) and we were tired of eating canned goods for lunch (not too mention it’s bad for you). So half of the Brunch Clubbers decided to eat out for lunch.

After much deliberation (we’re running out of budget-friendly places!), we decided on David’s Tea House in Greenbelt 1 Makati. Usually this place is overflowing with people but today was not one of those days which was good for us. David’s Tea House is a typical Chinese restaurant, it’s bright, crowded and noisy. Thumbs up for the fast service and cleanliness of the place.

This is my second time at David’s Tea House. The last time was pre-Brunch Club days. We ordered family style and it was yummy albeit a bit expensive for everyday eating.

This time, to save what little money I had left, I ordered their Wanton Hofan Soup and an order of Shrimp Siomai. Their Wanton Hofan was okay, not good but not bad either. It wasn’t as tasty that I expected. I had to rely on their chili sauce to add some flavor.

The Shrimp Siomai from David’s Tea House was actually pretty good. Very tasty and not all covered in siomai wrapper like some other dimsum places.

I’d go back to David’s Tea House in Greenbelt 1 Makati but maybe this time I’ll stick to their family-style offerings.

 

The 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time

Today, I headed off to work in the wee hour of 6am and I was trying to stay awake in the car. Listening to the 3 DJs incessantly argue about the oddest things always does the trick. This morning they were talking about this article and created their own poll, the gayest song of our decade, the 90s. By the time my brother dropped me off, the song leading the poll was Boyzone’s “No Matter What”.

Anyway, their debate got me interested in the article they based it on. So here’s the top 10 of The 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time:

10. Fix You

Coldplay (2005)
These British softies apparently didn’t get the memo that ‘Dawson’s Creek’ had been cancelled when they wrote this weeper. Luckily, the producers of ‘The O.C.’ love syrupy ballads, and frontman Chris Martin managed to outwhine the show’s mighty Cohen.

9. If

Bread (1971)
The uncontested champions of wuss, these hair-parted-in-the-middle, slacks-wearing California boys have forgotten more classic whimperings than James Blunt will ever write. Nothing showed off sensitivity to the ladies like a ‘Best of Bread’ 8-track. By comparison, the Eagles were Slayer.

8. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

Culture Club (1983)
While most ’80s icons were out scoring with models, Boy George spent his free time weeping in his studio. Torn apart by his turbulent love affair with his Club’s closeted drummer, the cross-dressing pop queen poured his heart out on this mid-tempo tearjerker. Listen closely and you can almost hear his mascara running.

7. What’s Left of Me

Nick Lachey (2006)
Newly-divorced Nick got his heart broken by mean ol’ Jessica, and it spawned this syrupy serenade. He may be “half the man,” but getting half the money can’t be all that bad, can it?

6. Longer

Dan Fogelberg (1979)
Of the lawsuits holding musicians responsible for violent lyrics, comedian Denis Leary once quipped, “Does that mean I can sue Dan Fogelberg for making me into a pussy in the mid-’70s.” After citing a couple of this song’s Hallmark-card metaphors, the prosecution could rest.

5. Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Poison (1988)
Poison’s rampant hedonism was just a cry for help from the band’s secret, inner wuss. If the lipgloss didn’t give it away, lyrics like “instead of makin’ love, we both made our separate ways” exposed the guys as a bunch of softies. Any real metalhead would know that roses are only cool when paired with guns or tattoos.

4. You’re Beautiful

James Blunt (2005)
It’s the classic, tragic love story: Stoned man sees pretty girl on subway, girl exits with boyfriend, man loses will to live . . . all set to a bitchin’ Spanish guitar riff menacing enough to evoke Wham’s ‘Careless Whisper.’

3. Ben

Michael Jackson (1972)
Long before he was accused of anything unsavory, Michael Jackson’s mind was in the gutter — singing this screechy love song to a rat. Yep, Ben, the protagonist of the movie of the same name, was a heckuva guy, but he ate garbage. We wish we could say that rodent love songs stopped here, but see also ‘Muskrat Love.’

2. Sometimes When We Touch

Dan Hill (1997)
It doesn’t get much softer than this soft-rock classic from a Torontonian who barely got it up for one more Top 40 hit a decade later. He wants to cuddle his beloved “til the fear in me subsides.” By the sound of things, that could be awhile.

1. Shiny Happy People

R.E.M. (1991)
Disowned by the band on its 2003 greatest-hits album despite being one of the critically adored “college rock” group’s biggest chart successes, ‘Shiny Happy People’ is a case in point that irony doesn’t always translate. (That’s why they created emoticons Supposedly written in response to the horrific Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989, the song finds poetic lyricist Michael Stipe borrowing from a bit of Chinese propaganda roughly interpreted as “shiny happy people holding hands.” But the finished product was no trenchant political statement from a human-rights warrior exercising the power of his celebrity. Instead, it was an anthemic lobotomy, precisely the kind of pop puffery the band meant to skewer.

For the complete list of 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time, check it out here.

Happy reading!