COOL LOOP!!!

It took

5 Presidents 25 Years

to complete the loop,

but damn, it's cool!!!

Now we can all circumnavigate

all of MetroManila without

ever once touching the ground!

The Official Theme Song of the

LRT/MRT:

Join the HOTEL ELIZABETH (Baguio!) Contest NOW... Or Else!!!

Or Else...

YOU

won't get a chance to

WIN:

"Two nights of Baguio breeze
in a Deluxe Room good for two!!!


Includes complimentary wifi internet and breakfast for two!


This is perfect for the upcoming summer season! HOW? Look below!"

How To Join?

CLICK on this LINK. Now.

As In,

NOW!!!

Or Else...

Or Else...


"just make Muni-Muni in Manila"!!!

Must Watch, Can't Miss MOVIES on DVD!!!

This is why DVDs, and yes, DiBiDis

matter so much for fans of cinema in the Philippines;

the three movies below will probably never

ever be shown in any mainstream mall megaplex,

and I doubt if their official DVD releases will even

be available in our local video outlets.

But You Must, You Need To

Get a Chance to Love These...

Hence,

QUIAPO!

THE COVE

is a documentary about the mass murder of bottle-nosed DOLPHINS

(think Flipper...) cruelly killed at the rate of over 20,000 per year,

and the indifference (tacit approval?) of the Japanese Government.

It's a lovely, poignant, heartbreaking, thriller of a movie

that critics have called "a cross between

FREEWILLY & THE BOURNE IDENTITY"

It's the most suspenseful documentary ever.

It's all that,

and the film has a cameo by Hayden Panettiere
that will make you forgive her for everything
that happened in HEROES after Season 1....








INK

I got this DVD late last year,
and never got around to watching it...

so much so that I even forgot what it was about;
I really thought it was some sort of docu about tattoos!


And so, without consulting Amazon.com or IMDB,
I popped this low-budget "indie" it into my player and...


KABOOM!!!
One of The Best Films of 2009.

No spoilers here; suffice to say,

it's very very TRIPPY,
and the first few minutes will CHALLENGE you;
but please stick with it, and you will be RICHLY REWARDED.

The last film of this genre that left me as dazzled? THE MATRIX.

INK is an independent Sci-Fi movie that puts

massively-budgeted, superstar-driven movies

like The Box and Tranformers to deep, deep shame.

Proof positive that the
Best VAMPIRE Films are NOT from the U.S.A.



THIRST
a thoroughly perverse take on the bloodsuckers,
as original and myth-exploding as "LET THE RIGHT ONE IN".

Thirst is from KOREA, and Let The Right One In, from SWEDEN.


I'm sure the Philippines can make a vampire movie just as unique.

There's only one Pinoy Director as edgy as Park Chan-Wook...

Paging BRILLANTE MENDOZA!!!

p.s.
the big surprise in "Thirst"?

a Pinay in the cast...

MERCEDES CABRAL,

that's right,

Brillante's favorite actress!

The REPUBLICANS have found their candidate for 2012!!!

LED ZEPPELIN in MANILA!!!

Well....

almost!!!

My best friend Doc Honhon celebrated

his birthday in Casa Oroquieta,

and brought along some of his homeboys

all the way from Binakayan, Cavite:

three guitarists,

a bass player,

and

a bongo master,

all of whom could have been batchmates of

Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and Jimmy Page...

and yup, they rock just as hard.

Not just Led Zep, mind you;

these ageless greats can play anything

from the BEATLES to VST and Co.!!!

David Letterman's band leader

Paul Shaffer named his autobiography

"WE'LL BE HERE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!"

True that.

These five gentlemen

are living proof that

Rock and Roll will never die.

KRISPY KREME opens in my part of the city : SM SAN LAZARO!!!

Who would've thought??!?!

On this parcel of land that used to be

one of Manila's two horse-racing tracks,

the World's Best Doughnuts are now available.

Damn...

this is just a 5-minute walk from my house.

Damn Temptation.

Damn Good News!!!

MANO-A-MANO, Aquino vs. Villar... or knowing Manny, make that One on Three!!!

Mr. C-5 has apparently accepted Noynoy's

challenge to a One-on-One debate,

but apparently, a lot of Money V.'s pals

have a comment or two about his decision:

Alan Peter Cayetano:

"Puwede ako mag-SALING PUSA?"

Nene Pimentel:

"Hindi, Alan, bawal ang INSERTIONS!"

Gilbert Remulla:

"I'm not PRIVY to that, Sen. Pimentel."

Bro. Eddie:

"Aba, akala niyo kayo lang?

May 1-on-1 din kami ni Nick Perlas.

Hmmph!"

Gibo and Edu:

"Huh? Di kami kasali?

Bitter na kami.

Parang kape."

Jamby:

"Vegetarian ako.

Basketball ba yan One on One na yan?

Hmmm.... Corruption yan, Corruption!!!"

Kris Allen Live in Manila : FALLING SLOWLY / WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

Hmmmm.

I knew there was a reason
I really wanted him to win American Idol,

despite the overwhelming charisma/drama of
eventual runner-up Adam Lambert;

a couple of weeks back,
KRIS ALLEN

toured Manila and Cebu,

and the song(s) that completely enraptured
his audience was a mash-up of two modern Irish ballads:

FALLING SLOWLY,
the Oscar-winning song from the film ONCE,

seamlessly merged with

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU,
by those other buskers from Dublin, U2!!!

One Weekend Only: D'Original BORACAY CHORIBURGER!!!

Feb. 13-14

at the

Rockwell Tent!!!!

These will probably sell for close to a hundred bucks each,

but what the hey, it's still cheaper than a flight to Boracay!

p.s.
it's BORACAY,

not BORA ",)

What's the BUZZ???

to discover the buzz,

click on these links:

GOOGLE is aBUZZ...

with Gmail's version of TWITTER & FACEBOOK!!!

You can't escape from it;

if you're a Gmail loyalist,

it's already there on your homepage,

on the left margin, right under your -inbox-,

and most of your Gmail contacts

are now automatically following you,

and vice versa for their buzzes!!!

It takes all of 5 minutes to get used to,

and after that, you're off and running

to a new social networking addiction.

As if you didn't waste too much time already on

Facebook, Twitter, Plurk,

Tumblr, Formspring, Multiply,

and okay fine,

for the old school,

Friendster (!).

So what do you BUZZ about???

B is for Buzz, and B is for...

BABIES:

> like my most wholesome friends, Anton and Rache,
(and baby Raphael!) you can buzz about your kids;

I don't have any of my own yet, or at least,
none that I know of or have been revealed to me,

so I'll be posting pics of my nephew above, BONO!!!

BAYS:

> buzz stuff like this awesome photo of MANILA Bay,
taken from way up high in space by a Japanese Astronaut.

By the way, that's the Pasig River seemingly flushing all
the pollutants and detritus of all of MetroManila into the bay.

BASURA:

> speaking of pollutants, you can also buzz about politics,
including all the GARBAGE that we see on TV and hear on radio.

BAKLAVA:

> in this picture, Baklava filled with chocolate and BACON.

omg. omg. omg. omg.

BOLA:

> express your inner cheesy emo/senti/romantic side,
with immortal QUEZO de Bola lines like:

"Dalawang beses lang naman kita nais makasama eh...
Now and Forever."

BOY:

> when you run out of things to buzz about,
go all META, and buzz about The Buzz!!!

GOOD for the SOUL...

Rogue Magazine

hits it out of the park again

in the February 2010 issue:

features about STEAK

and the end of LOST,

and

CRISTINA GARCIA

for Valentine's Day!

♥ ♥ ♥

GOOD for the HEART...

Krispy Kreme

offers the new Heart Shaped doughnut

with HERSHEY'S KISSES chocolates

for Valentine's Day!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

Never Get Lost in BINONDO Again!!!

Introducing

The Perfect Guide

for this

Chinese New Year's / Valentine's Day

weekend!!!

"Five months,
five thousand steps and
fifty-thousand calories in a making!


The Brand New
BIG Binondo Food WOK Map,
the souvenir/companion guide to Ivan Man Dy's
signature WOK-ing(and eating!) tour of Chinatown!!!



It's a handsome and handy D-I-Y map
which will bring you to the best of
Binondo's cultural/culinary experiences.


It contains restaurant and shop listings,
a heritage trail, discount coupons, freebies, and more!

Now,
you can explore and eat your way
through Chinatown – on your own two feet... or calesa!"

The map is given for free to everyone who joins
the BIG Binondo Food WOK tour starting 2010,

OR

you can order by local courier
(plus shipping fees)

OR

at the following selected retail outlets for only P100.00!!!


Manila:

Bahay Tsinoy Museum

La Monja Loca Store

Silahis Arts and Crafts

Makati:

Libros Filipinos Bookshop
(Filipinas Heritage Library)

Quezon City:

Popular Bookstore

OR

e-mail: fun@oldmanilawalks.com

call/text: 0917-329-16-22

Congratulations to my Oroquieta Village neighbor

and partner in www.UltimatePhilippines.com, Ivan!

for more information, visit:

Ivan's Streetwalker Blog

Ivan's Wok-king Tour Calendar

Roll out the "Gourmet Bakkwa", a.k.a. PORTABLE BACON!!!

Just when you thought

it was safe to go back into the malls

after all your post-holiday January diets...

BEE CHENG HIANG

SINGAPORE's

famed purveyor of preserved meats since 1933,

has opened shop in Manila,

and the best Chinese-style Dried Tapa

is now available in our city...

GOURMET BAKKWA!!!

it is what it looks like:

BACON TAPA!!!

it's ready to eat Bacon preserved exactly

like those Chinese Tapas you loved as a kid!

This succulent sweet-savory treat

can be enjoyed anytime and everywhere:

as a midnight snack,

while watching a movie,

in the car while stuck in traffic...

Bee Cheng Hiang

has been a popular pasalubong from Singapore for years,

and it's always the last thing I buy at the Changi Airport

to spend all of my leftover $ingapore Dollar$.

And now, there's no need to fly to get high on Bakkwa:

BCH is now at the City of Manila's most ravishing mall,

Robinson's Place along Pedro Gil and M. Adriatico.

It's a small stall right outside the supermarket,

right across the BDO ATM. You can't miss it!

Don't wimp out and get a "trial" 100grams.

Go celebrate Chinese New Year in style,

and buy a kilo of Gourmet Bakkwa!!!

Major DisappointRENT

Why this latest Philippine Production
of RENT is quite a disappointment:


1. Most of the cast seemed to have a lisp,
or were eating their words most of the time;
(was it a mic/sound system problem or bad enunciation?)

major major problem for a play
with a lyrically-dense book & music.




2. Barely any hint of actual Sexual Chemistry
among the couples who are the leads in the show;

disappointing for a musical that's all about Lust for Life.
(as my director Bernardo Bernardo would say: "Walang Libog"!)




3. A general lack of energy and verve and sheer joy
among most of the cast;

La Vie Boheme & the showstoppers
turned out to be snoozers,
many actors seemed HIV-lethargic.




4. And you dummies in the audience seated at the 1st row?

When a show starts at 8pm,
be in your effin' seats 5 minutes before,

and don't skulk in like gaddem senators and cabinet secretaries,
claro???

Saving Grace:

A suggestion for the RENT fans
who really love the show's songs?

Imagine that you're just watching a concert,
since there are a lot of good singers in the cast.


Watch it for Nicole Asensio as Mimi Márquez;

enjoy her performance,
but not in the P1,700 seats : )




The show date information's all here:

Our Awesome Planet's Complete Guide to RENT

The Week in New FOODIE Discoveries

There are

TREASURES

to be discovered every single day,

in the most unexpected places, just...

"abra los ojos":

at your favorite supermarket:

C2 Green Tea
now with L-CARNITINE...
and something called "EGCG"!!!


C2 "ENVIDIA" has all the great Green Tea taste you ♥
(in Mixed Berry, Pine-Orange and Apple flavors)
plus 300mg of that fat burning L-Carnitine,
plus 25mg of anti-oxidizing EGCG,
at only 10 calories and
with 0 g of sugar!!!


I'm already addicted to the Pine-Orange flavor...

and best of all,

a bottle's only P15.00!!!

at the Magallanes Gateway and Shangri La Plaza malls;

a wonderful new "twist" on frozen yogurt:

RATING the FROZEN YOGURTS:

1. The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt
>absolutely the BEST TOPPINGS EVER (cheesecake! granola!)
and a close second to Cold Spoon in its classic yogurt taste



2. Cold Spoon
>still the best tasting Original Tangy flavor,
but needs to work on the variety & freshness of toppings...
bring back the crushed BUTTERFINGER candy bars!!!



3. Golden Spoon
> the newest frozen yogurt really tastes like

SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!!!

>♥ the sheer variety of Yogurt Flavors (cake batter! peanut butter!)
and the Hot Toppings (caramel! butterscotch! pecans in syrup!)

> and yes, they do use Golden (plastic) Spoons!!!

become a fro yo fan:
GOLDEN SPOON on FACEBOOK

or call:
Shangri La 470-3837
Magallanes 853-0313

at your suking convenience store:

Best YEMA Ever!!!


each, a towering THREE INCHES TALL,
with the perfect balance of crispy outer shell
and smooth and creamy melt-in-your-mouth filling,


these babies retail for P7.00 each in my neighborhood's
overpriced convenience store; I hope to buy boxes at the source : )

and wtf!?!?
Chocolate, Durian, Coffee, Langka, and Stawberry flavors!!!

These are "imported" from Davao,
so if you want to find out where else in MetroManila
you can find these spectacular golden treats, contact:

Eng Seng Special Tower Yema

long distance landline:
(082) 305-2263 or 305-5587

cellphone:
0917-7179848

at one of the gigantic SM Malls:

a PEANUT BUTTER restaurant
opens in SM North EDSA, right beside IMAX...


featuring the "ELVIS" sandwich:
Peanut Butter, Bananas, & BACON!!!




Oh.


My.


God.

find out more about PB dreams coming true here:
PEANUT BUTTER COMPANY on FACEBOOK

at your friendly neighborhood bacon lover's kitchen:

HAPPY BACON brings you "BACON TRUFFLES"!!!


1. PEANUT BUTTER BACON

2. CHILI CHOCOLATE BACON


P200 for a box of 6.
The Perfect gift for your loved one,
even if your loved one is yourself :)


*Please allow 3 days lead time*

e-mail:
happy_bacon143@yahoo.com

text:
09278142678