America is in the throes of economic collapse. Bush is introducing the bailout, and McCain and Obama are advocating change in the next presidential election. Even the mobsters are feeling the recession. Jackie (Brad Pitt) wants to fly in a hitman, but he has to fly coach. The “recession price” for killing a person has gone down to 10 grand a pop. This film, written and directed by Andrew Dominik (Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) has the saddest hitmen I know. Storytelling is tight and the visuals are realistic. This is not your flashy shoot-em-up, but the dialogues – funny and cynical – will reel you in.
Django Unchained
I’ve seen this film a while ago but never got the chance to write down my thoughts. It’s a great film, and you should see it. Tarantino is definitely getting better. We can talk about racism and slavery in a cerebral way, but this film says fuck you to that. It forces you to look and dwell in the fantasy (like the fantasy of Hitler dying in Inglorious Basterds); it’s like a punch in the gut.
PS Christoph Waltz is fantastic here!
TV: Happy Endings is a light, fun watch. (Dramaaaa! I see the show on TV but only recently got the chance to watch the first two episodes in full.) Raising Hope is still sweet and sadly still underrated. Watch it, people! House of Lies with Don Cheadle is okay, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch Episode 2 onwards. The first episode of Vikings starts strangely (cliche scenes, dialogue that’s not appropriate to the time period) but gets interesting. Might follow that.
I completely forgot about my own subscription. When the delivery guy came to the office I actually said: “What’s that? Is that really for me? I didn’t order anything!”
The March box is a L’Oreal exclusive box.
What’s inside?
Fall Repair Hair Shampoo (PhP 110, 180ml) and the Fall Repair Hair Conditioner (PhP 119, 180ml)
UV Perfect BB Max (PhP 99.17 5ml sample; PhP 595 for 30ml) and the Youth Code Prodigious Rejuvenating Pre-Essence (PhP 249.17 5 ml sample; PhP 1495 for 30ml).
UV Perfect Longlasting UV Protector, PhP545
Shine Caresse (PhP 595 for 6ml) in 804 Faye
Color Riche Le Nail Art (PhP 395)
Though the box’s contents’ total cost once again exceeded the PhP 480 subscription fee, I wasn’t as happy with this as I was with the February box. I wanted to see brands I wouldn’t normally pick up from the store (Shiseido! Fucking expensive!), and I can easily grab the L’Oreal shampoo and conditioner from Shopwise. I was glad to see the BB Max, the Pre-Essence, and the UV Protector, but I would have wanted a different shade for Shine Caresse (Faye is an orange shade and makes my teeth look yellow), and the Nail Art, though playful, seemed like a random inclusion.
If the box is for summer, why not include a facial mist? A summery perfume or cologne?
The stickers looked grainy and cheap. Did BDJ use a different printer? Ran out of ink?
Oh well, at least I still got some products I could use. And BDJ still appears to be the best of all available subscription boxes out there. On to the next.
Japanese spaghetti place Yomenya Goemon in Greenbelt was still under construction when J said he wanted to eat at the place. We finally had the chance yesterday. The food there is pricey, but we decided to splurge to celebrate (he got a job offer from a good company).
We got two half-and-half sets so we’d have four spaghetti dishes. Each set comes with a drink and soup. Set A costs PhP 480 and Set B costs PhP 580.
Set A: Crab, Shrimp, and Scallop.
Set A: Spaghetti Margherita.
Set B: Sausage, Bacon, and Beef Chorizo with Chili Tomato Sauce.
Set B: I forgot to take a picture of our favorite, Mentaiko Shrimp & Japanese Herb Ao-Shiso! But it looks like this:
This is my second Deal Grocer buy. Playa Tropical, located in Currimao, Ilocos Norte, “is a charming Balinese-inspired beachside paradise voted as TripAdvisor’s #1 B&B and Inn in the area.” I thought it would be a nice way to unwind, and I would love to visit Ilocos again and bring J there.
I bought two coupons back in November for a two-night stay at 50 percent off, for PhP 6,500. Each coupon deal included:
One (1) 15-minute Complimentary Solana Signature Massage (per person per night)
5% discount on F&B (Cash Transactions)
Complimentary Wi-Fi access
Access to Game Room, Casitas, and Infinity Pool
All prevailing government taxes and service charge
I stressed out over this trip because I’m OC I’ve never been to Currimao before, but we decided to take a Partas Deluxe bus in Pasay on the way to Currimao because blog posts said we could just get off at Currimao Market and take a trike to the resort.
Day 1, March 14 (Thursday) to March 15 (Friday)
The 28-seater Deluxe bus to Laoag leaves every 4 pm and 9 pm. There are no reservations allowed in Partas, so be there an hour before the scheduled trip and get ready to fall in line. (I was second in line, because I headed straight to the window at 8 pm and didn’t sit down. Parang UP enlistment lang.) Bus tickets cost more than PhP 900.
Waiting for the bus.
Bus seats are pretty roomy, with a footrest.
I think there were four stopovers? We enjoyed the bus ride, thanks to the comfortable seats, but do bring a wrap, a neck pillow, and a pair of socks. My knees hurt because of the cold.
Currimao is a town after Vigan and before Laoag. Just tell the conductor you want to get off at the Currimao palengke, and hail a trike there (PhP 50).
We arrived really early, but thankfully the room was available. Early check-in, hooray!
Lovely suite. We had a Jacuzzi but we didn’t get to use it. Too lazy to fill it up haha. (We also weren’t able to experience the Solana massage; too lazy to wait for availability of the massage room.)
Cute Casas. They can house five people, and each Casa has its private pool.
Infinity pool, and the beach beyond.
Meals at Cafe Amarra cost around PhP 200 to 400, but can be shared.
You can eat inside the huts.
We didn’t swim in the beach because we weren’t sure we could. So we just took photos.
We had breakfast, slept till noon, and waited for the sun to go away so we could swim. Ang inet! There was a wedding reception when we dipped in the pool late in the afternoon (best time is 5 pm onwards). Kebs kung tumingin sila!
Squid stuffed with longganisa for dinner, and gate-crashing a lantern-lighting post-reception party.
Day 2, March 16 (Saturday)
Playa Tropical had tour packages, but they’re tailored for groups, so we just asked the receptionist the night before to get us a tricycle to tour us.
Julius (0928 327 7194) took us to Paoay Church, Marcos Museum, and Malacañang of the North, and back, for PhP 700 (PhP 350 if one-way.)
Both Malacañang of the North and Marcos Museum looked different. There seemed to be fewer photos and displays, compared to last year, when my friends and I visited.
Tricky Dick.
Fidel Castro.
Mao.
Marcos Museum.
Marcos’s letter saying he was running for president.
The tour took three hours. That afternoon we took a dip and witnessed the sunset. No photos, just memories.
Day 3, March 17 (Sunday)
Lunch before heading home.
We took a trike again (PhP 350 – way cheaper than Playa’s offering of PhP 1,500 airport transfer, again better for groups) to get to the Laoag Airport, where we bumped into Jobert! Before that we dropped by Paoay again, where we got delicious empanada in a small corner store, handmade-to-order.
In the meantime, if you’ve been thinking of buying my poetry chapbook Apocalypsesbut would like to see the first few pages first, you may visit this page and download a short sample. Email me if it piques your curiosity.
Shipping of orders will resume next week. Till then!
First of all: thank you to the people who have ordered copies of the book’s Philippine Edition, and please check your emails. :)
Next:
I took pre-orders of the book until Feb. 27 (so I could hop over to Ortigas and pick them up on my VL – come on guys, I had to go on leave for this haha!), and marketed the book online so much that I felt like throwing up, but apparently there were those who missed my posts and would very much love to have a copy. This is good news! Bad news is I don’t have any copies left to sign. All of the copies I have have been reserved.
Here are the solutions:
Email me – victoriaeliza [at] gmail [dot] com – if you want to order, and I will ask Books on Demand Philippines to print you a copy and ship it directly to you. Pro: You’ll get a copy of the book hot off the presses! Con: I won’t be able to sign it beforehand.
Books on Demand Philippines will print you a copy and ship it to me. I’ll sign it, package it, and I’ll ship it to you. Pro: I will be able to sign it beforehand. Con: You will need to shoulder the double shipping fees, which can amount to more than PhP 100. Note: Each copy costs PhP 200.
Either way, if you’re interested, just email me and let’s see what we can do. Thanks for looking!
Flipreads, the ebook store of Flipside Publishing, which published my books Lower Myths and The Viewless Dark, will be participating in Read an eBook Week (March 3-9). Several books are on sale. The Viewless Dark is available for only PhP 79 (down from PhP 121). Do grab a copy now! Full list below:
Eliza Victoria 