Isn't it great that sometimes, happiness comes in the simplest package? Taking a stroll at the Riverbanks Park in Marikina, this seemed all too clear.
The place had been devastated by Ondoy. In fact, a lot of the stores are still closed, though most have opened and resumed business already. The barges were gone, and so with the bridge that connected the park to the other bank of the Marikina River where there used to be a slew of grilled specialty restaurants (our favorite eating place). The stores that were open had sales, and not a few items were water-damaged.
Still, there were many people in the place. Last minute Christmas shoppers were taking advantage of the sales. Balikbayans were there with relatives. Kids were everywhere. Outside the mall, there was the Tiangge with the weekend shows. There were even more people there than inside the mall.
I had shared my husband's fear that people would somehow forget the semblance of Christmas after the floods. There was general lack of lights near our house -- so much less than the years that passed. Carolers did not come knocking at our door until the 12th of December and there were only so few of them -- not that we're complaining about it. Christmas shopping was not was frantic compared to the past years. Yes, the traffic was still bad and the taxi drivers were still choosing their passengers, but both were decidedly to a lesser degree this year.
At the Riverbanks, I saw a glimmer of hope. Happy shoppers were delighting at the bargains. Kids were crying in frustration after having to walk around so much... until the light show began in the park. Every hour, for about 15 minutes, Christmas music would fill the air and the lights on the trees, lanterns and displays would flicker to the beat. This was interspersed with the LED-lit toys kids were throwing in the air bought from vendors nearby. Groups were seated on the lawn sharing dinner, stories and we heard a lot of laughing.
Laughter... that I guess was the antidote to my pessimism. Yes, the events of recent months have dampened the season quite a bit, but they did not dampen the spirit. My own daughter had been showing me this with her innocent excitement at the season. My own chagrin at the thought of spending yet again may have blinded me... until I saw those people at the park.
There is hope yet. And I am thankful.
Happy holidays, everyone!
=)K
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
A Christmas Carol
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Kids & Family |
First off, the good stuff:
The animation and effects were amazing. The characters were well animated and the voice acting was superb, especially Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes and, of course, Jim Carrey. The dialogue was witty, but that's partly due to the original story anyway.
Now, for the stuff I didn't quite like:
What on earth was that chase scene all about?! It wasted a good 5-10 minutes of the movie! And for what? Nothing!!!
I sorely missed the empathy I should have felt for Tiny Tim. He's the heart-tug of the entire piece and that was not dwelled on. Instead, you had to suffer through a very lengthy yet unimportant chase scene wherein Scrooge becomes a gnome-sized.
I wanted to cry, like I did when I first read the story. I wanted to feel for the Cratchit family. I wanted to hate Scrooge. I wanted to rejoice in Scrooge's transformation. Instead, I was left wondering what happened.
The story is very good. Dickens knew his stuff. Animation was wonderful. The transitions and effects were well-presented. I just don't get why they had to add elements that were really utterly irrelevant.
My take: wait for the video, if you msut see it. Otherwise, some live-action rendition of the story are still better than this one.
=)K
Saturday, November 21, 2009
OMG!!! Ate Ginnie sa gimmick?!?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after oh so many years of being a practical hermit in the house and keeping to my small group of friends, I finally took an invitation to go to a party in a bar. I guess the timing of the event was just perfect. I didn't have classes that day (yesterday, actually) and it was a Friday so no classes also. So, I thought, hey, why not chill for once?
The event was Fizzer Bites Manila. It's actually a launch party of Fizzer.ph, which aims to create a real Social Networking site.
I thought: wait "real social networking"? I mean, don't we already do that on FB, Multiply, Twitter, etc.? Turns out that this site will actually make things happen based on the site activities -- like this launch party was to bring together people who want to get to know each other from the site. Cool concept, huh?
PLUS, the theme of the party was "Fanglicious" to celebrate the opening of New Moon in theaters the same day. I haven't watched it yet. I'm feeling rebellious about this. I don't have to spend too much time away from stuff I need to do just be "in" on things. BUT, I do appreciate the book series and I am a fan of the Vampiric genre, so it was right down my alley. Too bad all my make-up were stolen by Ondoy so i couldn't really look the part. I did wear my closed neck blouse and long black skirt and knee-high boots though.
And boy, was I in culture shock!
The bar scene has changed since I last went out to one. Clothes are way more revealing now and the young people who went to this particular party were well-chiselled from head to toe. I mean, the girls were model-like and the boys had real honest-to-goodness abs. Good lord, for a bit there I wanted to turn on the flirt and have that kind of fun. After hyperventilating a bit, I settled down with some fellow geek friends, Niki Yarte, Nina Reyes, Carlo Francisco, Beejay Bautista and Paolo Jalbuena, all from New Worlds Alliance and enjoyed a couple of shots of Jagermeister and a lot of talk about geeky stuff.
You read it right, I actually drank an alcoholic beverage on a night out. People who have been out with me at night to social events like this before would know that I have this very strict rule of not imbibing alcohol for one very good reason -- I drive. What changed? The car is still in the car hospital getting treatment after Ondoy took it for a dive. That bloke, Ondoy, wasn't very good. After stealing my make-up, he took my stuff for a dive, and some croaked while the others needed a lot of medical attention. I hope he never returns! hehehe...
Back to my Gimmick night. While ogling at the beauty of God's creation and appreciating brewed malt for the first time in years, I found I could actually like this again. I mean I can barely dance but I appreciate good rhythm. The people I was with liked my kind of fun. And I could let my hair down a bit -- we did as much with the photo booth.
The photo booth was the highlight of the evening for me. If I had won the 16GB iPod, that would have been the highlight of my evening but I didn't, so the photo booth takes the cake. It was a Poof Photo Booth. They had all sorts of gimmicks for you to play with -- wigs, plastic shades, masks and other props. Each session is worth 4 poses and each shot is taken one after the other with only a 3-2-1 countdown interval. The guys who manage it encourage people to have fun with it, and so we did, especially after the drinks. We got a print of the 4 poses after each session with the first printed larger than the other three. I took home a bunch; same with my friends, especially Niki. Pictures to follow when Poof has uploaded the pics on their website for us to grab.
We ended up going home at past two in the morning -- the wee-est hour I've ever tried commuting home! I've gone home later but I was always driving. When I couldn't bring the car, I would find a friend to bring me home or sleep-over at a friend's house. No dice this time. The hubby had been calling me starting midnight but I couldn't hear the cellphone from the bag, and I was having so much fun I actually lost track of time. So much for wearing a watch!
Carlo was the only one with a car that was going home the same time most of us were so he was the school bus driver of the morning. Yeah, he didn't drink alcohol. Beejay and I got dropped off at Galleria because the direction-impaired Carlo can't be risked to go through the twists and turns of my area. Beejay and i took a cab from there. My hubby waited for me along Ortigas Ave., and he escorted me home with very stern words about him worrying that i hadn't replied to his messages nor answering the phone in the five times he called. I felt like a teen-ager!
So there, I finally let loose... a little bit. You'll see in the pics. Thanks Fizzer!
=)K
The event was Fizzer Bites Manila. It's actually a launch party of Fizzer.ph, which aims to create a real Social Networking site.
I thought: wait "real social networking"? I mean, don't we already do that on FB, Multiply, Twitter, etc.? Turns out that this site will actually make things happen based on the site activities -- like this launch party was to bring together people who want to get to know each other from the site. Cool concept, huh?
PLUS, the theme of the party was "Fanglicious" to celebrate the opening of New Moon in theaters the same day. I haven't watched it yet. I'm feeling rebellious about this. I don't have to spend too much time away from stuff I need to do just be "in" on things. BUT, I do appreciate the book series and I am a fan of the Vampiric genre, so it was right down my alley. Too bad all my make-up were stolen by Ondoy so i couldn't really look the part. I did wear my closed neck blouse and long black skirt and knee-high boots though.
And boy, was I in culture shock!
The bar scene has changed since I last went out to one. Clothes are way more revealing now and the young people who went to this particular party were well-chiselled from head to toe. I mean, the girls were model-like and the boys had real honest-to-goodness abs. Good lord, for a bit there I wanted to turn on the flirt and have that kind of fun. After hyperventilating a bit, I settled down with some fellow geek friends, Niki Yarte, Nina Reyes, Carlo Francisco, Beejay Bautista and Paolo Jalbuena, all from New Worlds Alliance and enjoyed a couple of shots of Jagermeister and a lot of talk about geeky stuff.
You read it right, I actually drank an alcoholic beverage on a night out. People who have been out with me at night to social events like this before would know that I have this very strict rule of not imbibing alcohol for one very good reason -- I drive. What changed? The car is still in the car hospital getting treatment after Ondoy took it for a dive. That bloke, Ondoy, wasn't very good. After stealing my make-up, he took my stuff for a dive, and some croaked while the others needed a lot of medical attention. I hope he never returns! hehehe...
Back to my Gimmick night. While ogling at the beauty of God's creation and appreciating brewed malt for the first time in years, I found I could actually like this again. I mean I can barely dance but I appreciate good rhythm. The people I was with liked my kind of fun. And I could let my hair down a bit -- we did as much with the photo booth.
The photo booth was the highlight of the evening for me. If I had won the 16GB iPod, that would have been the highlight of my evening but I didn't, so the photo booth takes the cake. It was a Poof Photo Booth. They had all sorts of gimmicks for you to play with -- wigs, plastic shades, masks and other props. Each session is worth 4 poses and each shot is taken one after the other with only a 3-2-1 countdown interval. The guys who manage it encourage people to have fun with it, and so we did, especially after the drinks. We got a print of the 4 poses after each session with the first printed larger than the other three. I took home a bunch; same with my friends, especially Niki. Pictures to follow when Poof has uploaded the pics on their website for us to grab.
We ended up going home at past two in the morning -- the wee-est hour I've ever tried commuting home! I've gone home later but I was always driving. When I couldn't bring the car, I would find a friend to bring me home or sleep-over at a friend's house. No dice this time. The hubby had been calling me starting midnight but I couldn't hear the cellphone from the bag, and I was having so much fun I actually lost track of time. So much for wearing a watch!
Carlo was the only one with a car that was going home the same time most of us were so he was the school bus driver of the morning. Yeah, he didn't drink alcohol. Beejay and I got dropped off at Galleria because the direction-impaired Carlo can't be risked to go through the twists and turns of my area. Beejay and i took a cab from there. My hubby waited for me along Ortigas Ave., and he escorted me home with very stern words about him worrying that i hadn't replied to his messages nor answering the phone in the five times he called. I felt like a teen-ager!
So there, I finally let loose... a little bit. You'll see in the pics. Thanks Fizzer!
=)K
OMG!!! Ate Ginnie sa gimmick?!?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after oh so many years of being a practical hermit in the house and keeping to my small group of friends, I finally took an invitation to go to a party in a bar. I guess the timing of the event was just perfect. I didn't have classes that day (yesterday, actually) and it was a Friday so no classes also. So, I thought, hey, why not chill for once?
The event was Fizzer Bites Manila. It's actually a launch party of Fizzer.ph, which aims to create a real Social Networking site.
I thought: wait "real social networking"? I mean, don't we already do that on FB, Multiply, Twitter, etc.? Turns out that this site will actually make things happen based on the site activities -- like this launch party was to bring together people who want to get to know each other from the site. Cool concept, huh?
PLUS, the theme of the party was "Fanglicious" to celebrate the opening of New Moon in theaters the same day. I haven't watched it yet. I'm feeling rebellious about this. I don't have to spend too much time away from stuff I need to do just be "in" on things. BUT, I do appreciate the book series and I am a fan of the Vampiric genre, so it was right down my alley. Too bad all my make-up were stolen by Ondoy so i couldn't really look the part. I did wear my closed neck blouse and long black skirt and knee-high boots though.
And boy, was I in culture shock!
The bar scene has changed since I last went out to one. Clothes are way more revealing now and the young people who went to this particular party were well-chiselled from head to toe. I mean, the girls were model-like and the boys had real honest-to-goodness abs. Good lord, for a bit there I wanted to turn on the flirt and have that kind of fun. After hyperventilating a bit, I settled down with some fellow geek friends, Niki Yarte, Nina Reyes, Carlo Francisco, Beejay Bautista and Paolo Jalbuena, all from New Worlds Alliance and enjoyed a couple of shots of Jagermeister and a lot of talk about geeky stuff.
You read it right, I actually drank an alcoholic beverage on a night out. People who have been out with me at night to social events like this before would know that I have this very strict rule of not imbibing alcohol for one very good reason -- I drive. What changed? The car is still in the car hospital getting treatment after Ondoy took it for a dive. That bloke, Ondoy, wasn't very good. After stealing my make-up, he took my stuff for a dive, and some croaked while the others needed a lot of medical attention. I hope he never returns! hehehe...
Back to my Gimmick night. While ogling at the beauty of God's creation and appreciating brewed malt for the first time in years, I found I could actually like this again. I mean I can barely dance but I appreciate good rhythm. The people I was with liked my kind of fun. And I could let my hair down a bit -- we did as much with the photo booth.
The photo booth was the highlight of the evening for me. If I had won the 16GB iPod, that would have been the highlight of my evening but I didn't, so the photo booth takes the cake. It was a Poof Photo Booth. They had all sorts of gimmicks for you to play with -- wigs, plastic shades, masks and other props. Each session is worth 4 poses and each shot is taken one after the other with only a 3-2-1 countdown interval. The guys who manage it encourage people to have fun with it, and so we did, especially after the drinks. We got a print of the 4 poses after each session with the first printed larger than the other three. I took home a bunch; same with my friends, especially Niki. Pictures to follow when Poof has uploaded the pics on their website for us to grab.
We ended up going home at past two in the morning -- the wee-est hour I've ever tried commuting home! I've gone home later but I was always driving. When I couldn't bring the car, I would find a friend to bring me home or sleep-over at a friend's house. No dice this time. The hubby had been calling me starting midnight but I couldn't hear the cellphone from the bag, and I was having so much fun I actually lost track of time. So much for wearing a watch!
Carlo was the only one with a car that was going home the same time most of us were so he was the school bus driver of the morning. Yeah, he didn't drink alcohol. Beejay and I got dropped off at Galleria because the direction-impaired Carlo can't be risked to go through the twists and turns of my area. Beejay and i took a cab from there. My hubby waited for me along Ortigas Ave., and he escorted me home with very stern words about him worrying that i hadn't replied to his messages nor answering the phone in the five times he called. I felt like a teen-ager!
So there, I finally let loose... a little bit. You'll see in the pics. Thanks Fizzer!
=)K
The event was Fizzer Bites Manila. It's actually a launch party of Fizzer.ph, which aims to create a real Social Networking site.
I thought: wait "real social networking"? I mean, don't we already do that on FB, Multiply, Twitter, etc.? Turns out that this site will actually make things happen based on the site activities -- like this launch party was to bring together people who want to get to know each other from the site. Cool concept, huh?
PLUS, the theme of the party was "Fanglicious" to celebrate the opening of New Moon in theaters the same day. I haven't watched it yet. I'm feeling rebellious about this. I don't have to spend too much time away from stuff I need to do just be "in" on things. BUT, I do appreciate the book series and I am a fan of the Vampiric genre, so it was right down my alley. Too bad all my make-up were stolen by Ondoy so i couldn't really look the part. I did wear my closed neck blouse and long black skirt and knee-high boots though.
And boy, was I in culture shock!
The bar scene has changed since I last went out to one. Clothes are way more revealing now and the young people who went to this particular party were well-chiselled from head to toe. I mean, the girls were model-like and the boys had real honest-to-goodness abs. Good lord, for a bit there I wanted to turn on the flirt and have that kind of fun. After hyperventilating a bit, I settled down with some fellow geek friends, Niki Yarte, Nina Reyes, Carlo Francisco, Beejay Bautista and Paolo Jalbuena, all from New Worlds Alliance and enjoyed a couple of shots of Jagermeister and a lot of talk about geeky stuff.
You read it right, I actually drank an alcoholic beverage on a night out. People who have been out with me at night to social events like this before would know that I have this very strict rule of not imbibing alcohol for one very good reason -- I drive. What changed? The car is still in the car hospital getting treatment after Ondoy took it for a dive. That bloke, Ondoy, wasn't very good. After stealing my make-up, he took my stuff for a dive, and some croaked while the others needed a lot of medical attention. I hope he never returns! hehehe...
Back to my Gimmick night. While ogling at the beauty of God's creation and appreciating brewed malt for the first time in years, I found I could actually like this again. I mean I can barely dance but I appreciate good rhythm. The people I was with liked my kind of fun. And I could let my hair down a bit -- we did as much with the photo booth.
The photo booth was the highlight of the evening for me. If I had won the 16GB iPod, that would have been the highlight of my evening but I didn't, so the photo booth takes the cake. It was a Poof Photo Booth. They had all sorts of gimmicks for you to play with -- wigs, plastic shades, masks and other props. Each session is worth 4 poses and each shot is taken one after the other with only a 3-2-1 countdown interval. The guys who manage it encourage people to have fun with it, and so we did, especially after the drinks. We got a print of the 4 poses after each session with the first printed larger than the other three. I took home a bunch; same with my friends, especially Niki. Pictures to follow when Poof has uploaded the pics on their website for us to grab.
We ended up going home at past two in the morning -- the wee-est hour I've ever tried commuting home! I've gone home later but I was always driving. When I couldn't bring the car, I would find a friend to bring me home or sleep-over at a friend's house. No dice this time. The hubby had been calling me starting midnight but I couldn't hear the cellphone from the bag, and I was having so much fun I actually lost track of time. So much for wearing a watch!
Carlo was the only one with a car that was going home the same time most of us were so he was the school bus driver of the morning. Yeah, he didn't drink alcohol. Beejay and I got dropped off at Galleria because the direction-impaired Carlo can't be risked to go through the twists and turns of my area. Beejay and i took a cab from there. My hubby waited for me along Ortigas Ave., and he escorted me home with very stern words about him worrying that i hadn't replied to his messages nor answering the phone in the five times he called. I felt like a teen-ager!
So there, I finally let loose... a little bit. You'll see in the pics. Thanks Fizzer!
=)K
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