Emerald 17-5641 Pantone Color of the Year, 2013

Oh yes, since the last quarter of the year I have been looking forward to what will be Pantone color for 2013.  I am just so happy to know it's Emerald Green! I love the color because it's just so vibrant.  It is also my birthstone - emerald. :)

I am so inspired for 2013, it brings me so much positive vibes, positive emotions.   The coming of a new year (the end of the calendar year and the beginning of a new one as well as my birthday) are always significant for me.  They always excite me and I am always enthusiastic welcoming them.  But 2013 is something different, the excitement is more pronounced and I just can't wait to start the new year.

This is not yet my year-end post, haha, so let me just focus on Emerald Green, my favorite shade of green. I really love this color together with orange, yellow, and red.

Oh so many things I want to do with Emerald Green. 

What a perfect timing, I was thinking of what color to repaint our cabinets. Green is it! Look...

This is just right for us.  We have similar kitchen cabinets.  I got this image from Carolyn Gavin's pinterest.

For the new year, I wanted white pants and something reddish as top as it is our tradition to wear something read on NYE.  But this looks great.

White button down shirt tucked in an emerald green pants. It just looks so neat and put together. I love the belt and the ring too.  Image from visualizeus. 

Wouldn't it be nice if I have this too, or something similar to this.

It could go well with something red or white in my outfit. I love this Balenciaga bag. Image from inofashion.com.

I may be wearing this kind of dress in my next corporate affair or any other evening formal affair. Why not?

Though this was categorized as a bridesmaid dress, I'd still wear something like this in a formal affair. I love it! Image from Magic Dress UK.

I love high heels and I surely will buy myself one in emerald green like this one.

I can't wait to have this! Image from Natasha Carter's pinterest.

Can the look be complete without the glam nails?

Yes, I'll welcome the new year with emerald green nails...after all the cooking is done, haha. Image from The Swatchaholic.

There will be a part 2 of my emerald green wants. I want to have emerald green bedding sets, plates and cups, accessories, ipad case, etcetera.

In the mean time, let me collect my thoughts for the coming wonderful, prosperous, healthier, and everything great 2013! Thank You, God, for all your provisions.

Hello Kitty, Kitty, Kitty...

I dropped off my daughter yesterday at SM The Block for a film showing required by their school.  A few weeks before there was a letter from the school administration encouraging parents to see the film with the children.  I was having some small talk with a co-parent during our kids' Intramurals Week.  I was able to ask if she will go.  She said no more, she'll just let her daughter go with her classmates.  Come to think of it, yes, I should just let my daughter watch with the whole class. I asked her if the parents of her classmates would come.  Nobody will come.

It's a good movie to watch as it is about bullying, Larong Bata.  But looking at it, there were no parents when I brought my daughter at the cinema.  It's a film showing for the school's students.  It would have been awkward if I was the only parent there.

Anyway, I waited for my daughter at the mall. I treasured this "me time".  I first stayed at Jollibee for breakfast.  I stayed there for an hour.  My gym will not open until 10 in the morning.

I had my pancakes with sausage and coffee.  It was a good pair.  I just wanted my pancakes to be a little more brown.  This reminds me of Pancake's pancake/sausage medley. This is a lot cheaper though at P65.

Jollibee was getting crowded so I transferred to Starbucks.  I was looking forward to this for my sticker (for the planner in case you don't know)! Haha, shallow bliss. I am not even sure if I will complete them all. Since I'll be at Starbucks, let me get my sticker.  I already had coffee so I ordered for a hot caffe mocha which I really love and a banana bread.

Pleasant surprise is the stub for the newly opened Starbucks at The Block.  It's like buy one, get one until the end of December. I will definitely use it.

Finally it's 30 minutes after 10.  My daughter and her friends went to Chatime for their milk tea while I stayed at Starbucks.  My daughter texted me that they would take their lunch.  I told her to just take their lunch at KFC.  I proceeded to Fitness First and kill time there until my daughter finish her lunch.  They went around the mall some more. I let her.  I know she wants to be with her friends and go malling.  I just text her once in a while.

Until finally they were done.  We went around the Hello Kitty exhibit at The Block.  The Hello Kitty houses are really cute. :)

Now I'm thinking if I will be ordering for a Hello Kitty cake for the holidays.  It's so dainty.

This ipad case is so dainty for me but I find it pretty.

We both found the boots and the traveling bag really adorable. Ironically, my daughter isn't too fond of the Hello Kitty Vans.

We ended the day by going to the grocery but of course.

Another Saturday well spent with my daughter by just hanging.  We won't be going anywhere this long weekend because she has to prepare for their mastery examinations this coming week.

Pasta and Beef Recipes

Let me share four simple dishes I did just recently and a few months back- Sweet-style Spaghetti which I did 3 quarters ago, Crab and Shrimp Linguine with White Sauce over a month ago, Shrimp and Bacon Pasta just last weekend and Beef Asado in one of our dinners this week.

It's a holiday today so let me do this wholesale. :)))

I am making every Sunday our pasta day - Sunday Pasta or Pasta Sunday? Anyway, I started last Sunday with this Shrimp and Bacon Pasta.  I bought Yummy Everyday Pasta a few months back.  So far I have done two, the first two pastas I listed above.

The recipe for this Shrimp and Bacon Pasta, however, is not from Yummy.  I was browsing a magazine while I was at the salon having my nails polished when I chanced upon this very easy pasta recipe. I copied it, together with the instructions, using in my cell phone's Notes. :)

Sorry, I forgot the magazine but the recipe is sponsored by Nestle.

1/2 cup chopped bacon
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced onion
1/4 kilo shrimp
1 sachet, 8g, Maggi Magic Sarap Mix
1 cup of water
1 cup tomato sauce
1 pack Nestle all-purpose cream, 250 ml
400g spaghetti

Procedures:
1.  Fry bacon and set aside.  Leave bacon fat in pan to use for sauteing.
2.  Saute garlic and onion then add shrimp.
3.  Season with Maggi Magic Sarap and pepper.
4.  Pour water and bring to boil.
5. Add tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add Nestle cream for another minute.
7.  Toss the cooked spaghetti noodles.
8.  Garnish with bacon.

I used wheat pasta and made it 500g so I added a few more grams to the rest of the ingredients.  Yummy it is! :)

Here's the recipe for Sweet-style Spaghetti.

1/2 tbsp corn or vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 tbsp minced garlic
250 g ground pork
250 g ground pork
2 bay leaves
7 pcs Vienna sausage, diced
2 cups sweet-style tomato sauce
1/2 cup water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
1/2 tsp liquid seasoning or to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
350 grams spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup grated quick melting cheese

Procedures:
1.  Heal oil and melt butter.  Add onions, carrots and celery, cook until veggies are tender.  Add garlic, saute until fragrant.
2.  Add ground pork, ground pork, and bay leaves. Brown the meat for about 10 minutes.  Add the Vienna sausage halfway through cooking.
3. Pour in tomato sauce and water or stock; mix. Let it simmer over low heat for 8 - 10 minutes.  Season with liquid seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Continue to cook for 1 - 2 minutes.
4. Toss pasta with meat sauce until well combined.  Top with grated cheese.

Take a look at Crab and Shrimp Linguine with White Sauce.

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk, warmed in a pan or in microwave
3/4 cup cooked and chopped shrimp meat
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
juice from 1 lemon
salt, cayenne pepper, and liquid seasoning to taste
160 grams linguine
grated Parmesan cheese

I made 400 - 500 grams of linguine so I had to add portioning of all ingredients.

Procedures:
1.  Melt butter, saute onion until translucent.  Add red bell pepper and cook for 30 seconds.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
2.  Sprinkle flour, mix well; cook for 1 minute.  Whisk in warm milk, stir continuously until smooth and slightly thick, about 5 - 6 minutes.  Add cooked crab, shrimp, green peas.  Mix well.
3.  Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt, cayenne pepper, and liquid seasoning.  Mix well and cook for another minute.
4.  Mix in cooked linguine.  Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with grated cheese.

My beef asado! I learned how to cook this through my husband who is a better cook than I am. Finally, I got it right. :)

1.  3/4 kilo of sirloin
2.  4 medium sized tomatoes
3.  1 medium sized red onion
4.  4 tbsp soy sauce
5.  salt and pepper to taste
6.  water just enough to cover the beef

Procedures:
1.  In a casserole, put in beef and pour in water enough to cover the beef.  Let it boil.  Remove scum then add onion, tomatoes, and soy sauce.
2.  Let it stand in medium heat until the beef is tender.  (It took about 40 minutes when I did this.)
3.  Salt and pepper to taste.
4.  The end.

Beef asado is so easy to cook but I have to check it like every 5 minutes and mix. The end product was good. :)

More food at Food Friday and Food Trip Friday.

Figaro with Friends

This is actually a belated birthday treat by Cess.  Finally we managed to pull off a date last Monday when all of us are available.  The five of us met very early at Figaro for our breakfast date.  As always, I am happy to see the girls.  We usually send each other messages in our Facebook group but of course, face to face conversation is different. It's more animated, it's more active, everybody gets to participate at the moment. No late replies. Haha.

It was a happy morning. Figaro is very conducive to meet-ups like this, at least in this branch at Congressional Avenue.  It's a bit cold because it was only the five of us inside the restaurant but that's fine.  I just like the ambiance of this particular Figaro.  It's so quiet. It's so clean.

With the girls, Chats, Julie, Cess, that's me in blue, and Cookie.  Dont' we all look really fresh very early in the morning? :)

My breakfast for the day, honey-glazed bacon with sunny side up on toasted bread. Just bacon and eggs but the presentation is really nice. The girls said they should have ordered this. It's around P200 with refillable coffee. All our breakfast come with refillable coffee.

Funny because the three girls ordered for this, fresh mushroom omelette. Again it's around P200. Expensive, right? Good thing we are all coffee lovers. The refill compensates for the pricey breakfast.

Julie had her very Pinoy breakfast of bangus belly with garlic rice and egg. It's around P185 I think.

Our dessert consisted of butterscotch and chocolate muffin.  It's funny because it was really early and yet these are just the desserts available.  The staff said their delivery will still be on Wednesday.  Oh, sayang ang sales n'yo.

I have always been a fan of Figaro. I like the ambiance, especially this branch, I love the food. My daughter loves their milk shake, I love their arrabiata.

We spend the whole morning together which is very rare as we are always busy. We savor the time together and we have already planned for our Xmas dinner sometime middle of December. :)

Our Saturday in Pictures

We slept later than usual since it was a Saturday.  We are looking forward to this day because it was our date for a movie, yes, The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn 2.  My daughter and I trooped to a mall near our place and secured tickets for a mid-afternoon showing.  There were still long lines but manageable.

Still got a few minutes to kill so we did what we usually do.  Jeje time for mother and daughter. Strike a pose beside the movie's standee and in front of the huge mirror in one of the walls of the mall's tenant. :)

Taters popcorn and chips are our usual companion inside the theater.  I opt for barbecue flavor while my daughter goes for cheese flavored chips. We prefer iced tea and bottled water for our drinks. All set to see our movie once we have these little perks.

Above, my daughter lining up at Taters and posing at the mall's Xmas picture corner.

After watching the movie, we availed of the cinema's tie-up with Gelatissimo.  This tie-up has been on-going like forever. Haha. But I am not complaining.  I love Gelatissimo especially the belgian chocolate flavor. It's actually "buy one scoop and get one scoop". But come to think of it, that is not quite right. Coz I bought three scoops for my daughter, two scoops of chocolate mint and a scoop of belgian chocolate but the free is only one scoop of my choice of flavor.  But well, that's a hundred bucks I got for free if I am not mistaken. I will definitely clear this up when we get back. 

We dropped by Fully Booked to check if the last book from the Pretty Little Liars series is available.  Lucky daughter, the bookstore has stock.  She is on her 9th book now, Twisted, but one of the books seemed to be misplaced in another shelf, Flawless.

My daughter wanted a smaller bag which she can use on some days when there are only a few things she needs to bring to school. It was a pleasant surprise to know that the department store's bags section is on 50% off! We bought her a new cute bag. Next time I'll buy us both satchel bags. :)

Last stop was Classic Savory.  Since my daughter and I were still full from the day's lunch, popcorn/chips, gelato, I just decided to order pancit bihon guisado to go at Savory.  I wanted pasta but since it will be a Sunday  Pasta for me, I skipped that. I had a sudden craving for pancit bihon. My husband is not fond of pancit from Savory but I am. One order costs P195.00 and it's good for two to three persons already.  :)

Till next bonding time. :)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 2

After nine days my daughter and I finally watched Breaking Dawn 2.  We are both not die-hard fans of The Twilight Saga but we like them.  My daughter likes Taylor Lautner.  I like the story of Edward and Bella and the rest of the Cullens and the human Charlie and the kids in the first movie, Twilight.

One good "find" in this saga is Anna Kendrick.  I like her as Jessica in Twilight, Bella's frenemy.  I love her as Natalie Keener in George Clooney's Up in the Air.  She's so good.


Save for the fight of the Cullens and their vampire allies against the Volturis, this last installment of Breaking Dawn I consider light compared to previous movies, Eclipse and New Moon specifically.

I don't gush about the books/movies but there's nothing in The Twilight Saga that I don't like.  I take each book as it is, a fictional tale of a mortal and a vampire who fell in love with each other along with the complications that go with it.  Nothing profound. It just wants to entertain. And yes, I was entertained.

I felt sad the saga has ended.  I could just imagine the super fans of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.

What I like about Breaking Dawn 2:
1.  It's humor.
2.  The new characters.
3.  The cinematography.
4.  I find the child, Renesmee,  mysterious and beautiful but a little creepy at some point.
5.  The great fight between the Cullens/Vampire Allies and the Volturis.

I downloaded all Twilight books from the site of a famous radio and television personality a few years ago. I enjoyed reading them all.  Eclipse is my favorite up to now.  But I did not finish Breaking Dawn, the book. I was disgusted on the first few chapters taking up the intimacy between Bella and Edward. No, it has nothing to do with "morality" issues as they were already married here. Just that the book took too much space for this. I just wanted to move on, haha.  I stopped reading.

Watching Breaking Dawn the movie, part 1, was a lot better. At least the movie gave each scene more creativity and yes, the cinematography was still breathtaking.  As in all books turned movies, it just choose highlights and let go of too many unimportant details that's why I appreciated the movie this time more than the book, at least for Breaking Dawn.

Comes now Breaking Dawn part 2.  I enjoyed watching it with my daughter.

I also like the OST (official soundtrack) of the movie.  I think this is the first time that I took notice of what's playing on the background.  Even Bella's Lullaby in Twilight did not make me swoon, haha.

I like Christina Perri's A Thousand Years. It just suits the scenes very well. :)


I told my daughter it's sad that the saga has ended.  A few minutes later she said, "I started being a tween during the Twilight years...Twilight was part of my tween years." It was like she was recalling how it was when she started liking Taylor Lautner during her late tween years.  She was already a big Nickelodeon fan - Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zac and Cody, Raven, etc - and of course, Justin Bieber, even before Taylor Lautner came into the picture.

My daughter is fourteen, officially a teenager since a year ago.  Nostalgic. So Twilight is like the end of an era for some.  Oh but that's forcing it, haha. Let me settle with the end of their being tweens. :)

What Customer Service - PLDT and Destiny Cable

I don't know why on earth are the customer service hotlines get so busy.  "Hotline" - misnomer.

Try calling PLDT's 171 and it will take you forever.

Now, I am calling Destiny Cable, 418-0000,  but it's just busy.  Their call center starts at 7AM.  You mean to tell me there is a surge of calls at exactly 7AM? Or they lack the manpower to accommodate the calls they are getting. Or they are blocking calls because they are having technical problems.  I checked the television at around 5:30 AM for my usual tv fares at this time but all channels were not working.

So much time is wasted just calling them.  The sad state of customer service in the Philippines.  Let me edit that out.  It's wrong to generalize.  For one,  Bayantel's customer service is good, not perfect because I've once encountered a rude customer service agent and before,  it also takes forever to answer a call, but they have improved a lot.  Prompt answering of calls and customer service agents are efficient.

It's not just customer service that is an issue but also PLDT's technical service (well, this is also customer service).  We have been in our place since 1994.  Since then our PLDT landline goes dead during brownouts.  Long hours of brownout especially in the night and during storm - these are times when communication is very important but PLDT landline in our area is inaccessible. Yes, there are cell phones but see, the batteries get drained after a few hours if they will be the only means of communication.

I have emailed PLDT several times but they cannot fix the problem.  Of course I also called their 171 about this concern.  They did check but well, still no resolution. Their technical said the battery somewhere in the cable is being stolen.  Huh?  Is that crazy or what? Then find a way for it not to be stolen.  I just gave up sending them this complain.  1994 - 2012, 18 years. Will soon switch to Bayantel.

During the first two weeks of October, our PLDT landline was down for no apparent reason.  PLDT said it was a system error but they cannot provide specifics.  The customer service agents promised me thrice they will give me a call as soon as they get to know from their technical what was wrong. But no return call happened. There was nothing to do but wait.

I also emailed their so-called customer care about it but I only got an automated response that they will get back to me blah blah blah.  But of course, no one got back to me.

I remember when I complained this dead-landline-during-brownouts a year or so ago.  Someone from their customer service called the house and asked me what exactly was my complain. Huh? I just have to repeat what my concern was about.   He asked me to call them back because he will be coordinating with their technical about my concern.   If my memory serves me right, it was because I will be out of the house so if I want to know their update, I should call them.  Huh, again. Anyway, the mere act of asking your irate customer to call you back is just not proper.  This concern is more than a decade old and I have been asked to call back if I want to know the update.  Hello, customer service 101?  I know when an employee is new and he is definitely new and arrogant the way he asked me to call back, like I owe them a lot.  But being new is not an excuse.  There are trainings before one goes on board especially if the job requires customer interaction.  Anyway, he could very well do the effort of calling me through my cell phone. And yes, no one called me back.  Customer service disaster.

Just two days ago our PLDT landline was not functioning.  Nakakadala talaga. My parents call us through our landline almost every night.  They are not techie to use Skype or Viber.  They still choose to use the landline.

How can a big company like PLDT serve their customers like this?

And now, it's Destiny Cable. I know they are already being managed by Sky Cable.  I wish for a better customer service.  If their cable is down and they don't want to be inundated by calls, they can just leave a recorded message apologizing for any inconvenience because their system is down and they are working on it.  Gad! That is better than getting a busy tone - at the start of their office at 7 AM and after endless tries.

Customer service of what I have just posted here - a misnomer.

Happy Birthday, Hubs!

It was the husband's birthday a few days back.  We decided to spend it by going to church first and attend our worship service.  Give thanks to the Almighty for the year that was in my husband's life and another year (bound to be fruitful) He has given to him.  :)

We dropped by the salon before heading out to have our dinner.  It was supposed to be me and daughter that will have our hair regimen but the hubs decided to have a haircut too eventually lured by the salon staff to have his hair dyed. Haha. My husband's hair has always been light brown especially when he was younger.  White hair are all over in different parts of his hair now.  This was his first time to have a hair color.  The result was actually good.  He looks his age, as a matter of fact, even younger.

My daughter and I were finished ahead of the husband's hair dye so while waiting, we did our usual photo opp. 

Since it's halloween, the salon's staff were dressed up and made up to be monsters from the dark. Haha. The fun part was the customers' participation of picking the top 3 scariest.

The salon staff gamely posed as we picked the top three scariest. 

The renovated salon has a frap bar, what do you know.  The husband and the daughter bought theirs but I know we will be eating out so I declined.  I had a sip from my daughter's cookies and cream frappuccino and yes, it tastes good just like how it is in other coffee bars.

We stopped by Tous les Jours to buy the husband his birthday cake.  I've been wanting to buy here and now is the perfect occasion. A few days back my daughter and I have already checked what we will buy. Wow, it's delicious! I like it because it's not too sweet but the icing is so creamy and the belgian chocolate, just divine.

Dark Glaze Chocolate from Tous les Jours, the husband's happy birthday cake. :) 

Eating time finally.  I was starving! We had our dinner buffet at Yakimix.  Good thing there was not much people. There were some vacant tables when we arrived.

We enjoyed the buffet at Yakimix especially the Korean bbq we cooked. :) 

I was not able to get a picture of the buffet table and our food because we were all busy eating. We were full if I must say that after just a plate or two of the different kinds of food we availed.

Just  a few notes about Yakimix, SM North EDSA:
1.  Food:  Good. The buffet for dinner is at P620 without drinks. Additional P75 per head for iced tea.
2.  Customer Service:  Fine. Nothing note worthy but staff were efficient.
3.  Cleanliness:  This is where the restaurant should improve. The wash room's cleanliness can do a lot of improvement considering the restaurant was not full at the time we were there.  There was also no tissue available.  The back area going to the kitchen, where their buss window is located needs a lot of sprucing up.  Makes me wonder how is it inside the kitchen.

*I was searching for the official web page of Yakimix but there seems none so I settled for the link I had above.

Will I go back with my family and friends? Well, this is my second time and there will be a next time and a next and a next....  I just hope they do better in cleanliness.

Anyway, it was a whole afternoon till night time that we spent out.  We were tired but happy, of course. :)

Happy birthday again to the hubs! :)))

At the Gym

It was my daughter's first time in a fitness gym.  I brought her along with me yesterday, a Saturday.  Being a teenager, she gets conscious now of her physique.  It's natural to have baby fats at her age.  What I am inculcating in her mind is that it's better to lead a healthy lifestyle while at a young age.  Eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, get adequate sleep, drink lots of water.  :)  I really need to guide her on this. Good thing she is not into sweets.

She has a tutorial class in the morning so after bringing her to school, I went to the gym by my lonesome.  I finished my set target for my core exercises in the morning so that I can concentrate in assisting my daughter in the afternoon.  That's just what I did.

She did the treadmill gradually increasing her speed from 2 km/hr to 5 km/hr for a total of 30 minutes (divided it by 2 consecutive 15 minutes so she can rest a while as this was her first time to try a treadmill).  She did a walk/run in the treadmill. Nice.  She did it herself.  I did not tell her to do it.

She tried on the triceps pulley but of course at a very light load.  She also did some weights at 2 k per arm.  We tried on the stationery bike.  She set bike's effort at 6 but reduced it at 4 after about 15 minutes.  6 is quite heavy for a first timer.

She also tried the leg push equipment (honestly, I don't know how the equipment is called).

I was careful in what she's doing as I am not a PT.  We just tried basic exercises to let her warm up at the gym.  Next Saturday, we will be joining Body Vive as this is easy for her but requires a lot of movement.

We spent the whole Saturday bonding.  After the gym, we headed to the salon and had our nails pampered.

We had fun! I love it that physical fitness is added to our bonding moments. :)

Taking A Break, I Need This

I love movies, yes. I am just not sure if I can be called a movie buff.  I know and have seen a lot of movies than the average movie-going person but I fare low compared to some people I know who loves movies to the core.  I just love entertainment!  I particularly love some actors.  Sure I like the likes of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon but there are certain actors I give my precious time watching their movies, reading articles about them and going over YouTube for some more stories about them.  I also check how their movies are rated in Rotten Tomaotes.  In short, I am a fan girl of these wonderful breed of actors.

ETHAN HAWKE

He is my number one!  :)))

I have always liked him since I have watched Dead Poet's Society as the painfully shy Todd Anderson.  I have not seen him in any movie after that until the youth oriented film, Mystery Date. In the 90s, he was perfect as the slacker Troy Dyer in Reality Bites.  Falling in love with Ethan Hawke as Jesse in Before Sunrise is just essential.  Before Sunset made me want to be Celine (go, watch the movie, if you don't know who Celine is and if you haven't seen this movie - dear Lord, you are definitely missing a lot!).

The thing with Ethan Hawke is there is something beautiful about him.  It's not just his great looks, his eyes, his height or built.  Call it an X factor but Ethan Hawke is beautiful. Angsty? I don't think so.  I don't know.  Ethan is my favorite actor of all time maybe because we grew up in the same generation, the Gen X.  Reality Bites and Before Sunrise are two movies I will always cherish.

It gave me a different kind of excitement knowing that he was the main actor in Sinister. Yes, of course, I watched it.  There is a scarcity of Ethan Hawke films for years and I will not  miss a movie of him.  I cannot wait for Getaway and Before Midnight.

And look at Ethan here - seems to be shooing away paps and seems to have just gotten up from bed.  Still adorable specially because of the cute daughter on his lap and the dog beside.  He is aging gracefully.  Fatherly.   :)

Photo from Just Jared.

KEANU REEVES

I'm trying to recall when I first liked Keanu.  It's not in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure nor in My Own Private Idaho.  It was in Brotherhood of Justice where I liked him first.  Then there's Speed, The Devil's Advocate and of course The Matrix series.  I hope to see Keanu spruced up and raring to go again in the big screen.

Speaking of My Own Private Idaho, if RIVER PHOENIX is alive today, he'll be in my list.

River and Ethan were together in a movie as kids, Explorers. 

RYAN GOSLING

There's this movie called Stay which stars Ryan Gosling, Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.  I have watched Fracture where he starred with Anthony Hopkins.  I liked both movies but have never really took note of Ryan Gosling, not until I have watched Ides of March.  Man, was he good there! Then I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love -  he was the epitome of coolness.  Drive was a good movie in my humble opinion.  Ryan was also good there.  I backtracked his movies and appreciate them more. :)

Ryan Gosling is your nice, romantic guy, generally.

CILLIAN MURPHY

Oh the accent, and the eyes! Just wow! Among the three - Ethan, Ryan and Cillian - Cillian is the best actor.  I am still looking for Peacock where he played dual role.  One was the painfully shy husband whom you wouldn't think is Cillian.  I loved his bad boy character in Red Eye which he played so well.  I watched through YouTube his movie, The Wind that Shakes the Barley where he as a different accent which he did so well.  I wish to see him more in the big screen.

And who is this man?

Cillian Murphy as John Skillpa in Peacock.

What I like most about Cillian Murphy is that he can play any role without being conscious of how he looks. In this aspect he reminds me of Johnny Depp.

JOHNNY DEPP

Why wouldn't I like him?  I liked him already in his very forgettable role in The Nightmare on Elm Street. Haha! And then there's another 80s television series, 21 Jumpstreet he topbills with spike hair full of gel.  He metamorphosed into a really great actor.  Until now I still love watching him in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (together with the very young and handsome Leonardo DiCaprio). Johnny Depp is like a chameleon.  I love him as Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I didn't know he can sing in Sweeney Todd. He was funny in Sleepy Hollow and just himself in The Secret Window, haha, or maybe in Pirates of the Caribbean. :)  I love him in Donnie Brasco, Public Enemies but I love him best as Edward Scissorhands.

Johnny Depp, the chameleon.

Two other actors which I like somewhat like the four above but not as much but going there (just let me be, hahaha) - Josh Hartnett and Ezra Miller.

JOSH HARNETT

Josh -  because he is wonderful to look at, haha.  Yes, I admit I have not found anything about Josh yet the things or qualities I have found with Ethan, Ryan and Cillian.  But I like him.  I particularly like his role in 40 Days and 40 Nights.  Funny! I have watched him in Wicker Park and 30 Days of Night.  I have bought the DVD of The Black Dahlia.  He was wonderful in Lucky Number Slevin.  Like Cillian, I hope he makes more movies.  He deserves to be in the big screen.

EZRA MILLER

Now, Ezra Miller I took to liking when I watched him as the transgender Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  So good!  In my search of him over the net, I found out he was the evil kid in We Need to Talk About Kevin.  Now, I need to have a copy of that movie.  :)))

Runners up would be CHACE CRAWFORD, the Nate Archibald of Gossip Girl. He was the reason why I got hooked with GG before.  I also like IAN SOMERHALDER mainly because of his good looks. I wouldn't mind if he will be Christian Grey in the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey. ZAC EFRON is also a good choice. I like him since High School Musical days.   He seems to be a nice guy on and off the camera.  It's a nice feeling that he appreciates the beauty of the Philippines when he visited a few weeks back.

If ALAIN DELON happen to belong in this generation, I guess we wouldn't see RPatz as Edward Cullen. In my humble opinion, it would Alain Delon or Ethan Hawke.

Alain Delon, then and now. 

Oh well, let me not be confined with actors.  Let me say this is a list of personalities I really love.  Sharing the number one spot with Ethan Hawke is ANDERSON COOPER! Need I say more?  He is intelligent, he is good looking, very dignified, a great host!

Anderson is my wallpaper. :)  I took a screenshot of it and posted in my Instagram account.

Mr. AC! I'm loving my wallpaper.  

Next break time, I will be sharing the women I adore.  :)))

*Picures I used in this post are not mine. I got them as stated and from Google search in Images. If this is yours and you stumble upon this post, just tell me and I'll acknowledge.

Saturday Bonding Time

It was a fine good Saturday for me.

I was preparing to bring my daughter to school for her Math tutorial and head to the gym after.  I read my friend's status via foursquare that she was in her yoga class with another friend of ours. I immediately told them I'll drop by if they were still in the area. I texted them too as soon as my daughter was already inside the school.  They were having breakfast at McDonald's. Yay!

They waited for me and we spent the rest of the morning till lunch at McDonald's catching up. I love my girls! We were not complete as this was an impromptu meet-up but we'll find time to get together for breakfast or lunch or dinner. :)

The gym can wait.  I want to be with my friends. :) (Photo below grabbed from Cess.)

Nice to see you, girls! Chats, Cess and me. :)))

After our meet-up I headed to another McDonald's branch to wait for my daughter and her best friend.  After we all had our lunch we proceeded to the mall to buy our movie tickets. There's still a good one hour before we can enter the theater so I took the time to squeeze in my workout.  I had cardio (treadmill) for 40 minutes. It was good! I burned the calories I just had from McDonald's. Haha! While I was at the gym, my daughter and her best friend went to the grocery to buy some of food for her (the best friend) stock.

We met at the theater lobby and yes, watched Sinister, and enjoyed it. Yep, enjoyed it.  We had a pretty good scare.  My daughter though is not really one to get scared by horror movies.  But the best friend was really freaking out. Haha! It was also a good time for me because I have watched an Ethan Hawke film after so many years. I didn't know he was in Total Recall.  

And the kids goofed around the standee of Sinister. 

Watching Sinister with the kids. 

My daughter and I ended the day by going back to the grocery for our own groceries.  

Meeting friends, squeezing in my gym, going out with my daughter and her best friend, groceries....it was a really good Saturday I don't mind repeating.  :)))

Movie, Books and Dining on a Saturday Afternoon

I have not been in this blog for more than two months! Being busy is not an excuse. Well, there is no excuse. But I meant to be back. :)

Yesterday, a Saturday, was bonding day for me and my daughter. I was really looking forward to it because I marked my calendar for the day to be our much awaited movie date. Her mastery examinations at school and the weekend should be relaxing for both of us. We watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower. We both love the book. I bought the book around 2000, maybe early 2000. I checked my book but unfortunately I was not able to jot down the date which I religiously did earlier in my early years of love affair with my books.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower circa 2000 

Anyway, last year or early this year, I handed over the book to my daughter. She learned about it I think because Logan Lerman will star in the movie. I let her read it and she loved it! Her best friend and one of her teachers borrowed it from her.

 A good book, or a good story, spans generations. From my generation, the Gen X to my daughter's generation, Gen Y or the Millenials, The Perks of Being a Wallflower appeals to us. We both love the movie too. Logan Lerman definitely fits the role of Charlie to a T! Emma Watson is beautiful. I really wanted to watch her apart from being Hermione Granger. She did not disappoint. But the best performance goes to Ezra Miller as Patrick, the transexual friend of Charlie and stepbrother to Sam (Emma's character). I now have a new favorite in the league of Cillian Murphy.

After watching the movie my daughter and I did a little shopping. Among other activities, this is one thing we love doing. On a general sense, what mother and daughter are not into shopping together? :) Starving we scouted for a restaurant. We don't have any dining place in mind.

We settled for Yoshinoya. I ordered for Gyudon. I must admit it does not look appetizing unlike how it is presented in Teriyaki Boy but I gave it a try. Hmmm, I didn't like it. It's not terrible. I just did not like it because I was hoping it will be at least somewhat like what we usually order at Teriyaki Boy. How do I describe the taste? It was like it only had a dash of soy sauce, a pinch of salt and it was served. It has nothing like the blend of Gyudon at Teriyaki Boy or Kimono Ken.

Gyudon (Regular), P115

My daughter ordered the Chicken Bento. The sticky Japanese rice was cooked well. The dessert - fruit salad - is also good, just like your normal, home made fruit salad. The mixed vegetables we did not touch. The four pieces of deep fried chicken is good too. I just don't know how it was a Japanese chicken when they tasted just like how I deep fry my chicken. :) It was good trying Yoshinoya but I don't think we will be back soon.

Chicken Bento, P159

Now, our favorite dessert the past weeks - brownies from Brownies Unlimited. We had our dessert there and I must say these brownies always satisfy us. :)

Box full o' brownies

Oh yes, finally, I have the book of Joel Osteen - I Declare. There was still no stock at Fully Booked but I saw it displayed at National Bookstore so we had to go inside and ask for a copy. I haven't started on this but of course, I will. I'm still in Paulo Coelho's Aleph.

I Declare! 

We went back to Fully Booked to check what notebook my daughter can buy. I think she got encouraged again to have a journal because of Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. :) I love this kimmidoll products. It's cute! I really want to buy more kimmidolls but they are pricey.

kimmidoll journal, Fully Booked

Busy writing on the first page of her new kimmidoll journal.

Our Saturday was really well spent. There's nothing in this world I love but being with my daughter. :)

Me and my daughter. :) 

HAPPY WEEKEND! :)