Goodbye, Manong Pepe

The vaunted carinderia of Jollibee is now closed. And abruptly at that: 

What went wrong? Servings are miniscule for the price. There's also needless paper bowls, tarpaulins, sintras, and other expensive packaging and marketing that ups the price, without bringing greater quality to the food. 

Probably wrongly plotted niche to target, or not fully laid-out business model. And Jollibee needs someone who really understand the target class before this chain is reopened. 

May kwentang sale

This was not advertised much, but the big summer books sale of National is practically the mid-annual cut price booksale. There was no need this round to wait for mall sale to get the standard 20% discounts on imported books.

My loot:

1. Games of Thrones. Three things that attracted me:
--the reviews of the HBO miniseries
--the profile of GRRM at the New Yorker
--the cover with Boromir sitting in a throne made of swords

2. 50th anniversary edition of catch-22--i was caught by the offer of various essays about the book, included in the thick volume  ive always wanted to read this since seeing several reviews putting it side by side with slaughterhouse five, which i love. so it goes.

3. brave new world, the cover was great. stiriking simplicity. also have been aiming to read since college.

4. 1984--always compared with brave new world, so i have to read them both, one after the other.

5. room--supposed to be innovative for a novel, and a page turner. decided to try, since seeing it in mass market paperback.currently reading; great opening

6-8. hunger games trilogy paper back. i'd like to read this thing before the movie with jennifer lawrence in it is released

9. immortal life of henrietta lacks--amazon's book of the year. was surprised to see this in mass paperback (usual price of 252 with discount). read it in 2 weeks. easy, informative read. Recommended.


Now, how will i find time to read all these?

Big time cubicle food

Kapag may bonus, inaupgrade nang kaunti ang pagkain sa loob nang cubicle. Nagiging mga 1500 calories and isang lantakan, katulad nang mga ito. Nandito na rin lang, makakomento na rin, ala super-ikling rebyu: 

In phak, siguro di lang 1500 calories ang kombinasyong ito. Di bale na ang kalusugan, basta paminsan-minsan lang. Hwek hwek. 

Ang Goodles naman sa Robinson's Galleria ay nag-aalok  nang mamamahaling pasta na inilalagay sa sosyaling paper cups. (Malamang limapiso ang packaging pa pa lamang nang pagkaing ito).

Bagamat masarap, hindi tinipid sa sauce, mukhang dekalidad ang mga sangkap, at mukhang di magagawa sa bahay ang ganireng mga luto nang pasta kung di talaga pag-aaralan, sobra lang makapagpresyo ang isang ito. Dawalandaan samantalang wala pang isang tabo ang laman

Balik naman dito sa Baconator, bagamat malaki ang isang ito, parang mas malinamnam pa rin ang mga sa Burger King at McDonald's, lalo na sa Brother's. Maraming extender kaya ang sa Wendy's? 

Gayunpaman, nagdudulot pa rin sila nang kaunting kaligayahan bago mag-ala-una at suungin na naman ang nakakahayblad na trabaho. 

Pinakawalangkwentang sale

What so great about it?  

At hindi pa man din sa krismastaym ginawa ire. 

Yvonne Elliman, Stephen Bishop, Dan Hill at The Araneta 2011

And so we paid a scalper 2x1200 PhP tickers, instead of the original gate price--2x2650. Although we've felt remorse later, after thinking on hindsight that we could have pursued the other scalper (standing nearby) and could have launched a mini-pricewar. We could have paid for 1000 or less instead...

Anyway, Stephen Bishop and Dan Hill made it all worth it. The highlight of the night was in hearing this song:

The lyrics are bordering on sappiness, yes, but think about how the song applies to seeing your first born, especially since most pregnancies are truly unplanned today :-) I remember also the original music video for Something New in My Life (which I cant find today), which show Dudley Moore, as a new father, peeking into nursery of a hospital and seeing his twins. These lyrics accompany that scene:

a new face, a new smile, new song
and now i know i wanted you in my life all along


whatever else that i may do in my life
you'll always be something new in my life
from noww oonnn. 
i know there always will be you in my life
from now on...

Stephen Bishop's voice blend and holds together this short song. (unlike the other song that he sang, "saving on a rainy day," which is lame end-to-end. Even the tempo of that song doesnt suit his vocals).

Other quick comments on the concert for posterity:

• Yvonne Elliman should stop doing concerts. She sounds like my alcoholic grandmother. She can't reach the notes required in I dont know how to love him, and just shames herself. In the middle of the song, she had to stop the band, and ask that they lower the pitch. 

• She shared an interesting story though on how she just needs to substitute in a band one night, and then got cast as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar the following day. 

• All three singers are lowering the pitch of their songs to be able to reach it.

• Some uncalled for attack on Stephen Bishop's physical appearance: he apparently ballooned to overweight fat over the recent years, but his legs and arms are thin out of proportion. He walks slowly minding the literal huge weight he had to carry. Also, Bishop sounds like Jonah Hill when speaking. And I think the reason he is keeping a full beard is because his upper lip is too thin.

• But Bish's voice is still there! Still can melt hearts. I wonder how he sounds on a smaller venue. They had another show at Casino Filipino the following week, cant find one review at this time. 

• I didnt know Dan Hill was grandfather old, but the voice and distinct style are still there. All of Dan Hills song have fantastic first lines, like horses bursting out of the gates. 
• To begin the night, J Michaels Whatshisname sang two songs. I think he was the lead organizer or something. Anyway, her voice is just normal. Then he asked the backup singers to sing Chain of Fools--total waste of time. Could have gone to Padi's point if we want to hear this quality. 
• WT Greer Samting-Samting then followed with a decent performance. We liked his version of All I Ask of You. 
• The concert is called Love Rocks. And the set has two whiteboards with felt paper cut up to the letter of love rocks, a la one project of a Grade 3 student  in Caloocan Elementary School. I also dont know why the concert is called Love Rocks, when the front-acts are famous for ballads. 
• The last scene that we remember is the back-up singer, who caused loud guffaws, almost a min-commotion from the audience. She had the audacity to turn her back, and show her bare back and misplaced t-back with cellulite and bilbil on the side. 

I believe in Japan

I believe in the resilience of Japan.

I believe in Made in Japan.

Japan can get back on their feet in no time.

Ramon Bautista is brilliant

my new Facebook friend, Fernabeth.

Aahh, should i get another credit card then?

Something is wrong with this sentence: "The Free Movie Passes all-year round program will end on March 15, 2011." Well terminating the promo is wrong altogether! What with BPI having their free Jollibee and HSBC with Starbucks gratis!

Malabon Zoo

Speaking of Malabon Zoo, we visited its piss-stained and piss smelling confines during the Holidays so Mariana can see some animals that she otherwise only see on TV.

The small alleyways inside the zoo remain cramped and wanting of better ventilation. These walkways smell of strong ammonia and tigers' shit. Stay on any these cramped sections for more than 10 minutes, and you'll feel on the brink of getting lung cancer soon.

On the positive side, the main attraction of the place is in showing to the visitors the animals being fed:

The zookeepers seem to genuinely enjoy entertaining the crowd.

and anyone can actually request animals to be taken out for pictures (except the fishes of course).

Although there are no elephants and giraffes, it's a legitimate zoo in size, compared to the smaller or backyard-themed Residence Inn or even that smaller one at Tiendesitas.

Malabon Zoo can be improved though, mostly in terms of ventilation.:-)

"His wife wore a diamond ring roughly the size of Manhattan."

Seems Jhinkee is now constantly looked at by reporters, so they will be able to write that zinger of a oneliner, which will spice up their articles.