Happy 10

Having fun all night. 

Nanay's 50th birthday thanksgiving.

and

Hope's surprise 22nd birthday party.

30 Kitchen + Bar

June

It has been ages since I last saw the girls and I was so glad Raphy baby invited us all to dinner for a post-birthday celebration. I am not much of a food place adventurer. I only go to restaurants that my friends suggested and only after I make a thorough research online. haha. I think this restaurant was Agnes' suggestion being a foodie herself so off we go to this foodie haven.

I was surprised that 30 Kitchen+Bar is just a small restaurant, about a stone throw away from the gates of Paradise Village. Albeit small, the place has that cozy and homey feel that I love. Their menu offers a great deal of selection from rice meals, to pastas, soups, salads, sandwiches and sumptuous desserts. You'll never regret it coz their servings are real big and tasty. 

These are just but a few pictures of what we ordered. But what really made this evening great was the chikka bonding moment, smiles, and laughter we shared. I always have a great time with these four lovely girls (plus the MIA Calai) and I can't wait to have another wonderful dinner time with them again soon. 

July

Birthday dinner treat with boyf.

October

I went back again this time with my boarding house dearies. It's amazing how our conversation topics change over the years from "Have you studied for the exam?" to "Come on! Have a date with him." to "How are you with..?" to "Who got married and who's pregnant". Gosh, we are growing up way too fast, aren't we? 

But at least I've got these friends to share the craziness and drama with. 

Cheers to friendship!

Thanks to:

All photos were taken using Lyra's camera.

Where?

30 Kitchen+Bar

Paradise Village Gate

Banilad, Cebu City

open from 3pm to 1am

14th CineEuropa

The 14th Cine Europa was held at Ayala Center Cebu from September 30 to October 2, 2011. Admission was free so I grabbed the chance to watch several foreign films that I otherwise couldn't afford on regular screenings. The first day I went there was with my boyf on a weekday then I went back again to watch with my family on a weekend.

These were the movies I watched with a little plot summary for each. Text were taken from the GMA news website.

Bulgaria’s “Letter to America" takes viewers to busy Manhattan and the isolated Bulgarian mountains as the main protagonist Ivan, denied a US visa, searches for the mythical cure to save the life of his best friend who is lying in coma in a New York hospital.

Czech Republic’s “Grapes" flaunts the fabled Moravian vineyard as the background for the story of friendship between two men. One of them inherited his grandfather’s vineyard but knows very little about wine-making, while the other is a small-time crook with strong womanizing tendencies.

Denmark’s “The Escape" tells the story of Danish journalist Rikke Lyngvig, who was taken hostage in Afghanistan by a terrorist group but was freed after one of her captors, Nazir, took pity on her. Her escape propelled the journalist to stardom.

Greek's “Little Greek Godfather" depicts the angst of an 11-year-old Greek who was raised in California but must return to Crete to act as a godfather to the child of a local politician and to prove to his father that he is a worthy heir. 

United Kingdom’s “Never Let Me Go"  shows three childhood friends who grew up in a boarding school grapple with their affection for one another as they prepare to move on to the next stage of their lives.

See you on the next filmfest!

Teach Me How to Dougie

I've always wanted to learn how to drive. Father promised me driving lessons way back in college but I got too caught up with school stuff that driving was placed on my least priority list. More than a year after finishing nursing school, I finally have the time to learn this craft. Yeehaa!

Broom broom. I enrolled myself in a driving school coz father doesn't want to teach me himself in the streets of Cebu. He must be scared coz you'll never know what will happen if I panic behind the wheel. lol. My instructor picked me up in Mandaue. He taught me the basic rules of the road, the 5 basic parts of the car I will be using bla bla. I wanted to skip this part coz I'm so damn eager to drive this cute little car. After about 30 minutes of lecture we switched places and I was like "Wait. More lectures please." haha. The little kid got scared. Oh boy. Time to summon up all my guts. We drove around a secluded street in the reclamation area near CDU. Occasionally he would instruct me to merge traffic along the main street. Crazy! My heart was thumping like Nicki Minaj's song Super Bass. Since I was trying to learn how to drive a manual car, I need to remember a lot of stuff and store it in my big forehead. Which was a total fail by the way coz every time I see a car coming near me or people crossing the street I lose focus thus leading to car engine death. haha. 

He also placed four traffic cones like this:

in a square formation and instructed me to maneuver the car in figures of 8. Can I just dance the otso-otso instead? Oh man. That was hard. I had to treat him one sola bottle for each hit cone but sorry man, no sola treat for you today. bwahaha.

Thirty minutes before my time was up, he asked me where my drop off point would be. "Ayala", I said. Nice coz free fare. But to my horror, he instructed me to drive all the way to Ayala. Too many cars. Mid day traffic. Lots of people. Loud car honks just for yours truly. Whoever was following the car I was driving, "I'm sorry. Student driver here!"

Looking forward to my second session. Crossing my fingers.

=)

Am I Enough

Yesterday my brother asked me to listen to a talk in a website called TED.com and relate it to an economic theory. Being the nice ate that I am, I obliged (mainly because he would do the task of cooking for me) and found myself mesmerized by the overflow of awesome ideas that could one day change the world (or are already changing the world). 

I came across Brene Brown's talk on how it means to be vulnerable and overcoming vulnerability in order to genuinely love yourself and others. Loving yourself is having the COURAGE, the courage to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. The COMPASSION to be kind to yourself first before you can be to others in order to CONNECT with them. And this connection happens when you let go of what you think you are and just be who you really are. VULNERABILITY is seeing beauty in your own imperfections and when you do, you would be able to say "I am enough".

In one of the comments, I found this equally nice words by Tao Te Ching which may have inspired that talk:

"To be whole, let yourself break.To be straight, let yourself bend.To be full, let yourself be empty.To be new, let yourself wear out.To have everything, give everything up. 

Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;knowing yourself is wisdom.Conquering others requires strength;conquering yourself is true power.To realize that you have enough is true wealth.Pushing ahead may succeed,but staying put brings endurance.Die without perishing, and find the eternal. 

To know that you do not know is strength.Not knowing that you do not know is a sickness.The cure begins with the recognition of the sickness.
Knowing what is permanent: enlightenment.Not knowing what is permanent: disaster.Knowing what is permanent opens the mind.Open mind, open heart.Open heart, magnanimity."

What are you waiting for? Be vulnerable. Be the first to say 'I love you'. Apologize. Forgive. Love.

Eiga Sai: Japanese Film Festival

The 13th Japanese Film Festival was held at Ayala Center Cebu last August 2 - 4. The said event was presented by the Consular Office of Japan in Cebu, Japan Foundation, Manila in cooperation with the Japanese Association Cebu, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cebu Inc. and Ayala Center Cebu.

My boyfriend and I are always on the lookout for film festivals coz we both don't have the moolah. Oh wait, maybe he does but he's just saving to pay off something. Whichever the case it's okay because filmfests like this come every once in a while.

So we decided to watch The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones. We were glad we were somewhat first in line but only to find out that the line was for the next show which was around 3:30. Oh boy, so much for being early, eh? But patience do pay off coz the first 10 people in the line gets to watch the ongoing film. So in we go and we were seated on the front most row so we literally have to raise our heads up or tilt our body to a certain angle so it wouldn't hurt that much. haha

The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones tells the story of 2 teams of mountaineers out to reach the peak of Mount Tsurugidake, ‘the only summit (in Japan) beyond the reach of men’, back in the 1900s. One was from the Army Geological Survey Unit, headed by Yoshitaro Shibasaki (Asano Tadanobu), which aimed to place triangulation stones to help create accurate maps of that region. The other team came from the Japan Alpine Club, headed by Usui Kojima (Nakamura Toru), an amateur mountain climbing club using mountaineering techniques from abroad. It soon became a competition to be the first to reach ‘The Summit’. (heroic-cinema.com)

The movie was quite long - more than two hours; more than two hours too of neck breaking stunts. lol. But it was all worth it coz the panoramic scenes were picturesque. It's as if like you're looking at a moving postcard. The elements of the usual tales of human survival are there: the perseverance, brotherhood, faith and the like. But what sets this movie apart for me is how these two teams, though rivals as to who will get to reach the summit first, still helped each other on their way up. 

"Nature is eternal but life is fleeting."

16th French Film Festival

I watched one of the films featured in the 15th French  Film Festival last year with my boarding house girls. It was indeed a nice break from all the stress we were facing for the board exam. When I heard that there's another one this year, I cleared my schedule for at least one movie.

The 16th French Film Festival was held at Ayala Center Cebu from June 23 to 25. I told a few of my friends about it but they were all busy with work and all that so I told my boyfriend instead. Good thing he is always game to events like this coz it wouldn't burn a hole on his pocket. haha. Now I remember, it was him who introduced me to film festivals like this.

We watched  Le Marquis which has a few shots from the beautiful queen city of the south: CEBU. Oh yes. I recognize a few places like that bank in the Ayala Business District and a jeepney with Colon and Mandaue signs on the side (a 21B). This comedy is about a small time alarm system salesman who gets arrested for minor charges. To get the respect of his inmates, he pretends to be “The Marquis”, a famous thief whose identity has remained a mystery.The movie has a few good laughs here and there. I could say the movie was a good break from a stressful week.

Dude at One

This post has a happy picture of us, of how smiles like those couldn’t equal all the Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts in the world. Nine years ago, you taught me that there could be that one person you could be yourself to, to share your dreams with and be your shock absorber whenever you feel like the whole world is against you. You made me believe in myself, made me realize that I was and can be more than just a petite girl with a bashful smile.

I had found love in you.

And you found love in me. Nine years later.

p.s. Happy Anniversary, honey ko.

Shooting Stars

My friends decided to treat me out as an early send off gift. We went to a drive in theater, a 45 minute drive from the City of Bellflower. It’s pretty much like the ones you see in the movies: people watching a film in a tall wide screen from the comfort of their own cars. 

It’s a lot cheaper than the actual movie theater. We paid $8 for four movies of our choice (Season of the Witch, Little Fockers, Green Hornet, True Grit, Salt, The Fighter, Yogi Bear, The Dilemma). We only watched the first three.

I forgot to bring my eyeglasses so I pretty much squinted my eyes real hard just to see a lil bit clearly. We each had a director’s chair to sit on and we wrapped ourselves with thick blankets as it grew colder and deeper into the night. 

I couldn’t resist looking up the clear starry sky, hoping a shooting star would pass by so I could make a wish. But not one shooting star came so I settled to counting airplanes coming in and out of LAX instead. 

♫♫ Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars. I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now. ♫♫

I must have counted 64 airplanes. My what could have been 64 wishes. That night, a certain sense of calm washed over me. In a matter of days I’ll be on an airplane bound for home but I am no longer afraid of whatever the future brings.

Pit Senyor!

Sinulog is the most awaited annual festival in the province of Cebu. It is celebrated every third Sunday of January to honor the Child Jesus, also known as the Santo Niño, the former Patron of the province. The word Sinulog comes from the adverb sulog which is "like water current movement," which describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language. (wikipedia.com)

But who said Filipinos from other parts of the world can’t join in the festivity?

I have never seen so many Filipinos, particularly Bisdaks, all crowded in a single place. The atmosphere is festive, the Sinulog beat playing loudly in the background as everyone is busy chatting with friends and family they probably haven’t seen for quite some time.

The way they celebrate Sinulog here is quite new to me. I was expecting a lot of people lining the streets with face paints or henna tattoos on their body as they eagerly watch the Sinulog presentations. But no, everyone is sitting cozily in their seats with their best clothes on as various performers graced the stage with song and dance numbers. More of like a variety show of outstanding Filipino talents with a Sinulog performance in between.

I’m glad my SJA friends tagged me along in their performances. We went from one city to another, morning till night; meeting new people and seeing new places. 

If there’s one thing I wish Cebu has during Sinulog, it’s UNLIMITED FREE DELICIOUS FOOD for everyone. Just like in America.

Is trying out TUMBLR.