During the weekend, Dazed and I checked out the Gateway (pronounced Geet-wey hehehe) Mall in booming Cubao. The mall is very high-end and the structure resembles that of the Embarcadero Mall in California. Lots of high-end shops like those populating The Podium and Shang. Pizza Hut Bistro, which offers so much more in its menu than the regular Pizza Hut, made a steal when they snagged the indoor garden right smack at the heart of the mall and made it their "dining extension". Here, dining customers feel they are dining in style and the place feels very atmospheric. The movie houses are also kick ass, reminiscient of Greenbelt. The best moviehouses in the Metro? Shang Cineplex, Gateway Mall, Greenhills, The Podium, Libis and Greenbelt....in that order.
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I got a funny text from my sister that reads:
"Ate koy, nakita ko si Mark Cagouia sa poster. Ba't parang gumuwapo sya? Pwamis! Nag-iba yung fez nya!!"
And to think that during my Grace Under Fire days in the PBA Forums, Mark was the perennial subject of my own brand of sarcasm and pang-aapi. I swear to God I've never made so many enemies in my life! Within the second week of bashing Mark in the forums (I kinda posted he looked like a construction worker sniffing rugby with his blond hair out on the streets of the metro, ya know?), I literally had swarms of screaming, murderous Mark Cagouia fans after my ass......and one of them even traced my IP address......
The murderous fans told me "Di bale na magaling naman!" In the first place, sweethearts, I didn't bash Mark's ability to play basketball, he's a god, no doubt about it! I commented on how his "image" manager allowed him to don the abominable blond hair na sobrang hindi bagay....
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I didn't know that the scissor incident that I posted here sometime ago (but still unforgettable) was a phenomenon already. My friend Skye told me everyone in my account knows what happened and is actually injecting it to their everyday jokes. Cool. Let's see how Ms. Melanie Marquez reacts to that.
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Speaking of her greatness Ms. Melanie Marquez (NOTE: there should be a Miss before her name!), I received a text file of "Melanisms", a collection of actual quotes from the undisputed queen of quotable quotes (thanks Lei!). That just got me crying, man. Idol ko talaga.
Here it is. Enjoy!
- I won't stoop down to my level.
- Hello? Bulag ka ba? Bingi ka ba? Are you dep?
- 'Yung STD, baka sa maruming toilet lang niya nakuha yan.
- Eh, ikaw ba naman, durugin ang ari mo... Pag di ka naman manutok ng baril.- We are lovers, not fighters.
- My brother is not a girl; he's a gentleman.
- That's why I'm a success, it's because I don't middle in other people's lives.
- Don't judge my brother; he's not a book.
- Kapatid ko pa rin siya. We are one and the same.
- I don't eat meat. I'm not a carnival.
- Eto na po ang pinakamaligayang pasko at manigong taon sa inyong lahat. (During her acceptance speech at a Metro Filmfest awards night where her bioflick, directed by her late father Temyong Marquez, won an award.
- Sumasakit ang migraine ko.
- Ang tatay ko ang only living legend na buhay!
- Period na talaga; wala nang exclamation point. (When asked on S-Files if her present husband, Adam Lawyer, is her Mr. Right.).
- At a talk show after her break-up with Derek Dee, Melanie was asked if she had some words for Derek's mother (whom she partly blamed for the separation). "Oo nga," said Melanie, "pero i-English-in ko para maintindihan niya." She looked into the camera and, with the peremptoriness of royalty, said, "And to you, Mrs. Dee, I have two words for you. Ang labo mo!"
- When asked for a message to her daughter who was allegedly abused by their houseboy: "Don't worry little angel, big angel is here."
- On what they should do to the houseboy who molested her kid: "He should be put behind bar."
- "You can fool me once, you can even fool me twice, you can even fool me thrice. But you can never fool me four"
- While waiting backstage during a noontime show, after watching Nikki Valdez do her dance number. "Nikki, you're so galing. You should go to the States. You will sell hotcakes"
- I am not an addict!!! I am the victims!!!
- I'm proud of my LONG LEGEDNESS!!!
- You know what, Ate Luds, when you're alone, you really have to set your foot..ahhh..forward!!
- Vilma, we should all be realism!
- A okay lang yan boy kasi matagal na rin akong semi-retarded.
Of Dentists
The reason why I hate going to the dentist, particularly MY dentist, is the looooong wait time. I think I've written numerous blogs before regarding the notoriety of my dentist when it comes to making you bleed waiting before you get your turn on the dentist's chair. Yesterday, I really psyched myself to go. It's been days since I lost that teeny weeny rubber band in my right upper molar bracket and the wire really pokes my inner cheek.....it's also been days I procrastinated going. About damn time I go (did I say I absolutely hated going?).
I got out at 5:30 pm from work and allowed a cushion of at least 3 hours wait time in the clinic's dreaded waiting room. I was really ready to WAIT. Surprise of all suprises, when I got there, there were only 2 people -- a couple, who both seem young, maybe 21 or 22. They're totally "comfortable" with the place and
start making these PDAs. Hmmm, maybe they don't consider me very "public" hehehe. I wanted to take a nap on the couch but the TV was too damn loud.......and the TV was locked to Mulawin. I decided to act fast before I'd go insane. I was eyeing the remote, but noticed that the two loveydoveys' alternate universe revolves around those people with feathers on TV. I resisted the urge to be a primadonna and ask the couple if they're gonna continue making out or if I can change the channel. I decided to just doze off. It's more practical.......and healthier.
Twenty minutes and an eternity later, it was finally my turn on the dentist's chair. But before I got my butt there I received a real kick-ass scolding from my dentist. I was supposed to have my braces checked every other Thursday but guess how many every other Thursdays I missed. I'm not sure if my dentist was that mad at me that he told me that he'll just get something from the drugstore and went outside and left me for dead for like forever.
I closed my eyes lounging on the dentist's chair at 6:27 pm. When I opened them again, it's 7:35. Yeah, that's why it's called CUSHION.
Random Thoughts
I picked up my sis Kristel's phone call one day and heard a guy's voice at the other end. I asked who he is. He said his name is Leonard (he pronounced it LE-YOH-NARD). I handed my sis the phone and told her to tell this boytoy of her to pronounce his name right following the global standards crap. It should be pronounced LE-NARD. Now, my sis told me that LE-NARD developed a phobia on me and would opt not to talk to me should I ever pick up my sis phone call again.....at least he gave me a warning......
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My cablay, John, asked me one early morning of New Year's day what's my New Year's resolution (for some people, resolutions are just crap, but what the heck). I said I'd have better management of my work time -- go to work early and get out of the office on time. He said he can bet I won't be able to do that. He said he believes I can go to to work early BUT I cannot leave the office on time. Gee, thanks so much honey, you really mastered the art of rubbing salt. But come to think of it, you might have a point. Hehehe.
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I was listening to Hole's Violet and was just amaze how Courtney Love sing with so much passion and angst. I wish I could sing like her. I wish I had the opportunity to be the wife of Kurt Cobain even for a short, wasted time. Har har.
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The bracket on my right molar lost it's teeny weeny rubber band and now the wire is sticking out and brushing against my inner cheek which hurt like hell. Now I feel compelled to go to my dentist to have the band replaced. I hate going there 'cause he sees so many patients and by the time he's ready to see you, you're done watching two full-length HBO films on the waiting room's cable TV.
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I am now so friggin broke and so much in debt. I have a house to pay (I have to produce something like 60K within this month - OUCH), bills to pay, I owe my sister money, I have a tution fee to produce and I have my insurance seeing red. I am pathetically bringing packed lunch in the office with no dessert whatsoever. A meal without dessert is a killer. Good thing, I have one lousy Starbucks GC left. I'm ready to put my head in the noose and kick the chair for good.
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I was on vacation leave for two weeks and I spent each day gnawing through the indie films that my cablay, John, got me for Christmas. Some are gems, some are absolute downers:
* Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert
Claim to Fame: Guy Pearce in drag and he's wonderfully believable in it!!!!
Fall to Shame: It's a friggin road movie about, well, guys dressed in women's clothing.
* The Virgin Suicides
Claim to Fame: Kirsten (READ: Kirsten NOT Kristen) Dunst playing the slutty role for a change
Fall to Shame: John Hartnett's 70's do (NOT hottie at all, i'm sorry)
* The House With Laughing Windows
Claim to Fame: Violence, macabre and more violencen and macabre
Fall to Shame: Maybe it has to have its own genre...the story is just too flat for a classic Euro horror
* The Jar
Claim to Fame: I'm always a sucker for foreign indie dramas, what can I say?
Fall to Shame: Is Iran that poverty-stricken?
* Lord of The Flies
Claim to Fame: Wonderful ensemble cast...and the kid playing Ralph is kind of cute too
Fall to Shame: The guy playing "Ms. Piggy" looks like Jik......(peace baby Jik!)
* Irreversible
Claim to Fame: The screenplay is like Christopher Nolan's Memento -- told in reverse -- including the credits
Fall to Shame: The 15-minute rape scene in the subway is just too painful to watch
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I was browsing the Saturday newspaper (backwards) when I came across this picture of a hunka-hunka-burnin-love Bench model a la Tyson Beckford named Marcus (or is it Marc?) something and the caption reads:
.................he made Francine Prieto look expensive in the ad................
Gosh, does Francine Prieto really look that desperately cheap??!!??
Even my cablay says the "bumpers" award is definitely going Diana Zubiri's way......better luck next time Francine......habang may buhay, may pag-asa.....
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I was listening to Countdown 107 on NU on New Year's Eve and I was mildly disappointed that my song "Taning" from Imago was just at a lousy number 9 on the station's year-end countdown. Damn, I really love the words on that song...and the drums, man!.......the drums!!!
Taning - Imago
Sa'n mapupulot ang pag-asa
kung may katwiran ba ang sana
mithi ko ang iyong galak
langit ko ang iyong kanlungan
Permiso sa isang araw na makasama ka
abiso ng pusong hirap na humahanga
Chorus:
Tama bang aminin na nating
may taningtong pag-ibig natin
dakila man walang kasaysayang tatabing
sa bulag na pag-ibig
Sa'n hihingi ng patawad
kung walang dalang dahilan
tangis ko ang iyong luha
nais ko ang iyong kalayaan
Permiso sa isang araw na makasama ka
abiso ng pusong hirap na humahanga
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Christmas Thank You
I never really got the opportunity to "really" thank all the people who made my Holidays a certified moment. So, please allow me, in my own little way, to advertise you guys here on my blog.
In random order, a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to:
* My sis Kristel for my shirt and some free luncheon at Shakeys
* My sis Mars for doing everything she can to make me feel like a princess at home and for studying so hard
* Pie for the Revlon Eye Glider (gosh, Payee, you really ARE happy)
* Nina for my funky ballerina shoes and custom-made bead bracelets (can you please make me another one Nins? hehe)
* Syoks for a Maybelline Eye Pencil (you got my color Syoks....I'm gonna give you the smoky-eyes look)
* Gino and his lovely family for a kick-ass brown suede purse that my aunt loves so much
* Semier for the warm, thermal blanket (thanks for granting my wish Semier!)
* Ren for a very fashionable belt (really really liked it bading!! Starbucks tayo!)
* My Cablay, John, for getting me all 8 of the indie films in my wishlist (I'm gonna say thanks to you in some other way *wink wink* hahaha)
* My US-based friend Trina for her promise of Starbucks check (wuhoooo!!!)
* My Japanese agents, Hatsue and Yaeko for a very ethnic luck coin purse
* My manager, Daddy Gibs, for the funky Converse messenger bag
* Macromedia trainer, Jhon Tiamzon, for the delicious cookies
* Kurt for giving in to my persuasion to buy that 8 volume war documentary and lending it to me (asan na?)
* Jik for the Micheal Jackson Snowman handpuppet (awww!!)
* To whoever gave me the extremely cute kapiz star (thank you!, you should have written your name...)
* My aunt Nerie for the yummy pastillas
* My aunt Tess for the delicious mamon toasts and the gorgeous glasswork
* My mom for her love and for doing all the Noche Buena cooking -- the pansit and biko were trully orgasmic! Five stars mommy!
* My aunt for her love and for doing all the Media Noche cooking (but I was forced to make the Ref cake)
* To my friends and loved ones who sent me grand holiday greetings through card and texts
* To my entire APAC and Macromedia family who made me feel Sup work isn't work at all.........
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
ATM Spat
Christmas is supposed to be a season of giving, yarnballs and yarnballs of patience and of course long queues in the ATM.....
Wanting desperately to get some cash to replenish my already depleted New Year budget, I queued up for the lone functioning ATM station inside the mall. Luckily (pun intended), I was the 32nd person in the line. I resisted the urge to shout "Fire!".
I did everything I can to still appear interesting for the sake of the bored children who maybe are in the unfortunate situation of being yanked by their artificial-happiness-hungry parents and tagged them a long for two hour and a half of shoving and pick-pocketing. I was praticing the different kinds of facial contortions, different ways of arranging the contents of my nearly-raped wallet and tried all ways of standing up with my weight on just one leg.......
The entertainment that I was hoping to happen was granted by a 50-ish couple who were behind me. They started arguing. The wife who obviously "loves talking" started blabbering about "getting out of the line and not paying attention" to his husband. The amusement came with everything on it. Drama, action, comedy....The wife started hitting his husband....and the husband
was trying his damnest to shield himself using his arms and hands. It was all so funny...except when I turned around, the wife was eyeing me piercingly. What did I do now??? I heard something about "nauna tuloy yung babae, ikaw kasi umalis ka pa sa pila". Oh, so now I was the reason of their argument? Cool. I was playing unaffected the next 3 minutes. Besides, it's not really my
fault. I got to the END of the line. As far as I know, I was the END. When the violence got too rough for me to ignore, I finally snapped. I turned around, gave them my fakest smile and positioned myself BEHIND them.
The wife gave me, in return, one her fake smiles. The husband nearly died of shame. At that time, I need more than a yarnball of patience......
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
As I was walking to get something to eat from the mall, I was suddenly stopped by two pairs of indiscreet eyes belonging to girls, probably a little older than me. Their eyes swept from my head to my feet then back again...and they did this twice. Last time I checked in the mirror, my eyes and ears and nose and lips are where they should be. Their stares were unbelievably laughable, something reminiscent of the kind of reaction I got when I told a bunch of friends I've never experienced dysmenhorea at all.
I can only think of three reasons why those girls made me their 13-second entertainment:
a) Maybe it amazes them that I can pull off such a complicated string of mismatches.....I was wearing a green denim skirt, a light brown shirt with red lining and print, pair of low gray Chucks, a light blue Swatch on
left wrist, a light pink bowling band on right wrist and a pair of jade earings. Try to combine all those colors in your head, and you'll get a drowsy kaleidoscope......
b) My hair looks exactly like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby and it's making them feel scared shitless all over again.....
c) I look like Pikachu in drag.
I tilted my head a little and gave those girls some eyebrow action that's distinctly my own......
