Two years ago, Bhutan’s king abdicated the throne “to reform and modernise the staunchly traditional and insular nation of just over 600,000 people by ending absolute royal rule.” In March this year, Bhutan held its first democratic elections for a new parliament and prime minister. Two days ago, they crowned 28-year-old, Oxford-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck as their new king, who will guide the transition. He now sits as the youngest monarch in the world.
This quote struck me:
“The best time to change a political system is when the country enjoys stability and peace. Why wait for a revolution?” Bhutan’s former king said when he began the democratic reform process in 2005.
WELL SAID. :) We should learn a thing or two from this.
I got my much needed pick-me-up on Friday (this week had just been exhausting for me, I don’t know why), when I went out to have dinner with my high school girlfriends (and one of the girls’ boyfriends). We went to Avenetto at its MOA branch. (We almost switched to Sbarro when we couldn’t be seated right away, but we got tired of walking.)
I’ve never tried that restaurant before, didn’t know they had such big servings. (Good, too, that I was warned by Sasa and Grace Anne. I mean, what if I ordered a pasta dish all by myself?)
Then Haagen-Dazs for dessert. Sasa ordered Seventh-Heaven-something-or-other; the dry ice in the middle was supposed to represent Heaven. I thought it was a nice touch. (I still don’t understand why the ice cream has to be so expensive, though. I mean – it’s ice cream!)
I was able to get extra whipped cream and a cinema pass, thanks to Sasa’s powerauthoritybeautyemployee discount bullying skills.
More photos at my Multiply site. All photos credited to Sasa and RJ. Thanks, guys!
(By the way, these girls and I are planning a trip to Bohol early next year. We’re going to stay in Cebu for a short while – do you know of a nicecheap nice place where we can stay? :) E-mail me or leave a comment.)
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The next day, Saturday, I met up with ex-office mate Eden at Trinoma. (In July last year I had a month-long stint as web copywriter. I took the job because two months of post-college joblessness just felt too long and I was getting anxious and paranoid and impatient and angry with myself for not getting a job sooner. I left because there was too much work and the pay wasn’t really good.) Eden talked like she just downed five cups of coffee. While we were inside Powerbooks she gushed over Atonement, and ripped Stephenie Meyer, Paulo Coelho, and Nicholas Sparks – in that order. I participated in the exercise (Meyer’s okay, not blow-me-away good; Coelho I believe may just be a victim of bad translation, to which Eden replied, “E bakit si Gabriel Garcia-Marquez? Ano yun, magaling lang translator niya?” Well, good point. As for Sparks – hm, no), then got a little frightened halfway through. Meyer fans can be really brutal.
We left the bookstore without buying anything. (I wanted to buy a copy of 20th Century Ghosts, but it was sold out.)
The last time Eden and I met, I practically forced her to watch Jesse James. So this time she practically forced me to watch Quantum of Solace. I wasn’t even able to watch Casino Royale. Come to think of it, Quantum might have been the first Bond film I was able to watch in entirety. It was all right; I had fun.
I just adored the song (Jack White! Jack White!) in the opening credits:
Mary Grace (another restaurant I’ve never tried before): Food for the Gods, Mango Bene. Terrific.
Before we went home, she bought me a book (A.M. Homes’ The Safety of Objects) as a late birthday gift.
Or maybe because I just kept dogging her to do so.
