Category: family

stories galore

It’s true: gorgeous stories can save us from the atrocious heat. (I went home to Bulacan this weekend, and several rice fields had turned brown. Depressing. I’ve never seen anything like it in the twenty or so years I’ve lived in the province. At home I had one glass of halu-halo after another. Bless my parents.)

Up in the Air

Saw the film weeks ago. (Late review is late.) Watched it knowing absolutely nothing about the story. And what pay-off.

Julie & Julia

Great food, but Meryl Streep’s performance is exceptionally delicious. Amy Adams does loss and despair quite well. Oh those sad eyes.

According to the film, Julia Child (Streep’s character) didn’t even know how to boil an egg when she got married. So I can study this stuff? So I have hope? :D

Princess and the Frog

I watched this one with my siblings. How lovely (and clever) to set the story in New Orleans! Great music, and hello 2D glad to have you back. Lookin’ good. :)

Avenue Q

Exactly what I needed to start the week! Princeton (Felix Rivera) wonders what he can do “with a B.A. in English” and ends up renting a place on Avenue Q as he tries to figure out what to do with his life. Sesame Street on meth, y’all. (Seriously: puppet sex = day is made.) Frenchie Dy (Christmas Eve) at times finds it hard to maintain the Japanese accent, but I still enjoyed the performances. “Special” is one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack (I heard the songs first before seeing the musical – seeing it is waaaay better), and thank you Rachel Alejandro (Kate Monster/ Lucy T. Slut) for nailing it. Bravo! :D

Also starring Aiza Seguerra, Joel Trinidad, Calvin Millado, and Thea Tadiar. Showing at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium inside the RCBC Plaza.

Here’s a few photos with Felix Rivera and Lucy T. Slut’s boobies. :)

Later, dinner at Thai restaurant Oody’s and Cold Rock ice cream at Greenbelt. I loved Oody’s food. Flavorful, and inexpensive. I’d eat there again.

so. nostalgia.

I was able to spend time with the family this week. So that meant marathons of Project Runway and America’s Best Dance Crew episodes, old action flicks (Face/Off for example – masaya pala ‘yun ano?), and a sampling of my mother’s newest invention dish, ampalaya with oyster sauce.

I also found this cute gasul alkansya. (Alcohol bottle’s for height comparison.)

And my brother (a non-smoker) got this picture taken as a joke for my father (who should quit. Like, now. LOL.)

I also flipped through our photo albums and took a gajillion photos!

Miss Friendship (kindergarten parade) looking not too friendly:

Littol me in a teacup…

…that was apparently part of a ride that’s currently not functioning (see CLOSED sign right there) but kebs! Kelangan ang photo-op. :D

I’m wearing tights here. And an orange skirt. And I’m in pigtails. I don’t know why I look so dissatisfied.

Eeee my brother looks adorable! And I envy the Batibot cake. ♥

Brother is not pleased with this other baby:

Early family photos. Littlest brother forthcoming heh.

All four of us. My brothers are holding hands here. :)

With my sister.

Smiling like there’s no tomorrow:

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On Saturday, Jaykie’s nephew’s 5th birthday. Happy birthday, George!

We gave this kiddie a book featuring a dragon, and an Archie comic. Because READING IS FUN Y’ALL.

(Segue: Thanks to Jaykie for buying me a copy of that Tatler issue with my picture. Yehey yehey.)

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I was able to write six pages of fiction on Thursday-Friday. First story for 2010, here I come. ;)

christmas 2009

Home. Food. Crazy siblings. Mass at 10 pm. Fireworks display just before midnight. DVDs. Sleep. Books. Learned poker. Played poker with crazy siblings. Met Tiptoe the Rat and my sister’s coin collection. (Apparently she has a coin collection.) (And a toy rat.) Painted my nails purple. One finished story. Avatar with Jaykie. Sour cream popcorn for the first time. More DVDs. More food. “Tuna with cheese!” More sleep. Have I mentioned sleep? LOL.

Merry Christmas, y’all. Hope you had a good one. :)

Photos.

what my dad says

So I just discovered this cute Twitter account, right:

Eliza: i should probably do this experiment. write down everything my tatay says.
Eliza: panalo siguro.
Kate: alam mo pwede
Eliza: like one time may inabot na malaking walis sa tatay ko. as in mas malaki pa sa kanya. Tatay: Liit naman niyan, wala bang mas malaki?
Eliza: also he sometimes refers to himself as Fernando Poe. To wit: Gutom na si Fernando Poe, anak. I wanted to say, Tatay patay na siya. Never na siya magugutom.
Kate: LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Kate: FPJ = DAD
Eliza: truly.
Eliza: hahaha
Kate: pwede
Eliza: =))
Kate: alalahanin mo lahat at itwit mo
Kate: twitter.com/sabingtatayko
Kate: ganyan
Eliza: HAHAHAHAHAHA

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More photos here

Home. Finally. Cake from the sister, Vicky Christina Barcelona in the DVD player, goofing off with the brothers. Parents are both well. Jaykie as (virtual) company. “I Am the City” accepted by Expanded Horizons for their November issue. (I’m a “repeat author” y’all!) November 1st came and the sun was up and about, oh yes, the day looking ridiculously beautiful. Good times, good times.

Thanks to all those who greeted me.

Let’s talk about the weight gain later.

notes on the storm

‘Ondoy’ dumps heaviest rainfall on Manila in more than four decades

– When I heard on the news that the storm would hit land Saturday, I didn’t think too much of it. I mean, we get a gazillion storms every year.

– That day I even woke up early, thinking I could go for a jog if the rain had stopped. I couldn’t hear anything because the windows were closed. I pushed back the curtain and boy oh boy.

– A flatmate had work that morning; she came back minutes later and said she couldn’t cross the street, the water in front of the condo had already reached her knees.

– An office mate informed me through text that the front steps of our office was submerged in flood water. Dahil ganito kami sa Makati, y’all.

– It ain’t just Makati, it turned out. At around 2 p.m. my sister sent a text message saying there’s water now entering the first floor of her boarding house (she lived in Manila), and that she couldn’t contact our brother, who left at 10 a.m. for Bulacan.

– I managed to go online briefly, and a friend sent a message through chat: This is the first time a storm has ever scared me.

– I stayed glued to the TV. At one point, actress Jennica Garcia, Jean Garcia’s daughter, called Startalk to say that the Marikina Riverbank had overflowed, and that there was now water reaching the second floor of their house. She was crying and begging for rubber boats.

– It was so surreal.

– Later we heard that Ara Mina’s sister, Christine Reyes, was on the roof of their house with her pamangkin, also asking for help.

– My brother was still missing.

– The news said that several towns in Bulacan were now flooded.

– At around 7 p.m., my brother finally sent a text. He was stranded in Isetann.

– My office mate, who lived just behind the office, couldn’t get home. She texted me at around 11 p.m.

– My mother texted: There is now water inside the house.

– At 7 this morning (Sunday) my brother was still not home.

– I watched TV and was infuriated by Kris Aquino’s cheeriness. “They just pledged 2,000 bottles of VitWater. VitWater’s the one with Pacman, right? Okay yan o, may nutrients pa.” Te, te, bagyo kasi ‘to, hindi piyesta. Imbiyerna!

– Brother finally reached Bulacan at 10 a.m., 24 hours after he left Manila.

– Now I’m looking outside the window, and it is sunny. If you’re cranky and tired like me, you’ll probably consider the sunshine as an insult.

– I hope you guys are okay.

transformers 2: revenge of the whatchamacallit

The first film was fun, just the right amount of comedy and action and I think just a couple of shots of robots being torn apart (literally, the one with that Decepticon on top of the building; metaphorically, the one involving Bumblebee). This sequel, however, felt like Michael Bay charged at me at full speed and hit me across the face with a folding chair. And I didn’t even watch this at IMAX.

The quiet parts were either cheesy (Megan and Shia kissing at sunset, the sunlight bursting through their lips), or corny (Shia’s mom eating happy brownies and tackling a college boy). Gah.

If you’re planning to watch it, here’s a sneak preview –

transformers-2-image5

– and by “sneak preview” I mean “the entire film.” Just turn the sand to pavement, add some robots, some explosions, and put Megan Fox on a motorcycle for no other reason than to see her on a motorcycle.

Rainn Wilson’s in it but his character just came across as obnoxious and idiotic, or am I just being a girl? No. John Turturro’s character entered the film (and showed his butt) too late.

Photo from screenrant.com.

Roger Ebert gives the film one out of four stars. Quote: “The plot is incomprehensible. The dialog of the Autobots®, Decepticons® and Otherbots® is meaningless word flap. Their accents are Brooklyese, British and hip-hop, as befits a race from the distant stars.”

Here‘s a fun review by Jessica Zafra. Quote: “Basically this movie was directed by a dick.”

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In other news, I found out that walking aimlessly inside a BookSale branch is a fun activity. I didn’t even plan on buying a book but I saw this and I just grabbed it:

eden

Mark Vonnegut is Kurt Vonnegut’s son.

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Favorite things: food, books, good movies, 30 Rock and The Office.

* * *

When my sister and I were handed our bus tickets this morning, we noticed that the punched prices seemed lower. My sister thought there was a rollback, while I thought my sister probably told the conductor the wrong stop. Then the conductor came over and said, Isn’t that your father, the one who dropped you off?

Apparently my father is one friendly discount coupon.