BP CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

At this year’s Christmas celebration, we had a special guest in the person of Inang’s sister, Lola Bebe. She had been sick for quite some time already and had been visiting her sister quite often lately and expressed happiness at the thought of spending Christmas here with us and so on the day of Christmas eve, she came to our place early and busied herself just looking at the preparations and the kids dancing. We had our usual simple fare of spaghetti, grilled hotdogs, fried chicken, fruit salad, biko, potato salad, ham n cheese cordon bleu, choco fountain and a newbie – grilled tuna panga. Well, once again despite the small space everyone that mattered was present. Everyone had fun and enjoyed a noisy but still blessed Christmas!

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS - Movie review

The movie starts with Justin Timberlake (Dylan) presiding over a creative meeting with his staff then he runs off to meet with his ‘supposed girlfriend’ who initially I thought was Mila Kunis (Jamie) since she was the one talking on the phone but apparently the two are with different partners – Justin with Emma Stone and Mila with a guy I don’t really recognize. Both of them got dumped by their partners on that same night and so they both decided against having any future complicated relationships.

Jamie meets Dylan, for the first time when she picks him up at the airport. She apparently works for a recruitment agency and is hoping to convince Dylan to work for GQ magazine. Dylan is hesitant at first since he does not want to uproot his entire life in L.A. for a new job. So Jamie takes Dylan on a fun night tour of the city to convince him to move to New York which includes having drink in a bar, going street dancing (with a flash mob) and gazing at the stars and New York’s beautiful skyline from the top of a building.

Dylan finally agrees to take the job and at his first day at the GQ office, he meets Woody Harrelson (Tommy), the sports editor who thought he was gay. Jamie arrives at his office and presents him with the contract which he must honor for a year otherwise she will not get a bonus. Since she is his only friend in New York, he has lunch with her and while eating discover that they have both been emotionally damaged and vowed to shun having complicated relationships altogether. Jamie invites Dylan to a party at her place so she can introduce her around to different people. They hang out a few more times together until one night while watching a romantic comedy they started talking about sex and relationships. They end up deciding that they can have sex without any strings/emotions attached.

The next day, Jamie visits Dylan at the office and both of them decide that last night was a mistake and they should both stay as friends but that same afternoon they ended up having sex again and many more times after that. After awhile, Jamie realizes that she wants to start dating and they decide to stop having casual sex. They take a walk at a park and they take turns getting to know other people and she ends up meeting Parker and they start dating while the woman Dylan approached ended up going off to meet with her husband.

Jamie continues to date Parker and on the fifth date, they go to bed. Dylan meanwhile accepts Tommy’s invitation to go to a bar and hooks up with some lady who was too forward/aggressive for his taste. Jamie, meanwhile, separated with new guy Parker who tried to sneak out on her after the fifth date, saying he was not meant to be her Prince Charming. Dylan helped her get over the pain of being dumped by Parker and gifted her with a street art painting that she totally loved. Then, when she got home she found that her mom bailed out on their supposed weekend trip so Dylan invited her to go to LA with him to visit with his family for the 4th of July holidays.

They fly to California where she meets Dylan’s older sister, Annie, nephew Sammy and his dad who now has Alzheimer’s. Dylan’s family had a pretty house on the beach and that night while the two hang out together talking about Dylan’s childhood they get emotionally close and spend the night together. Jamie sees how difficult it was for Dylan to see his dad getting worse with Alzheimer’s. Then, when he takes her up to the mountain to have a close look at the famous Hollywood sign, she asks him why he never talked about this mom leaving. Dylan says he doesn’t want people to pity him and Jamie tells him that what he needs to do is to act towards his dad like nothing has changed. But Dylan refused to talk about it and so they leave it at that.

Then, Jamie overhears Annie and Dylan talking about ‘their relationship’ and Dylan quickly denies that anything is going on between them, that they are just ‘friends’ though she did see him creeping out of her room the other night. Annie tried to convince him that they are perfect for each other but to no avail. So that same night, Jamie decided to leave telling some lame excuse about work. She ignores his texts and calls, still hurting from his comments to her sister. He finally found her at the top of the building, at her ‘thinking spot’ and asks her why she had been avoiding him. She ended up telling him that she overheard their ‘talk’ and he admits he only said it to get his sister off his back. Jaime countered that she thought they were friends and that friends weren’t supposed to say those things against each other. So she doesn’t want to be his friend.

They go on with their lives until Jamie discovers that Dylan may be leaving GQ for another company which would affect her commission so she confronts him and this leads to another argument. Jamie and his mom have a talk about love and she advised her not to repeat the same mistake she did – not to run after a fairy tale Prince Charming, find someone to take on the world with. Dylan, on the other hand, meets his dad at the airport and over lunch his father thought he saw a girl he once knew. He tells her about a girl named Diddy, the love of his life that he met while at the Navy. It seems he never really got over her and maybe it was partly why his wife left him. He was too proud to tell her how he really felt, he just let her go and now he lives with that regret for the rest of his life. His dad told him that life is short and he should not waste any minute of it. Dylan finally admitted to his dad that he feels he messed up with Jaime and so his dad told him to fix it.

Dylan asks Jaime’s mother’s help to make her go to the Grand Central Station and he arranges a flash mob scene. He admits to Jaime that he missed her, he is all he thinks about, and wants them to be best friends again. He says he wants his best friend back because he is in love with her. They kiss and Dylan then suggests that they go on their first date, at a cafe across the street. The film ends with them stopping pretensions on their ‘date’ and passionately kissing inside the cafe. The movie is in fact pretty good! I like the palpable chemistry between Mila and Justin and their characters are just so relatable particularly by this generation of commitment-phobic millennials. They try their damnedest to act cool about sex when in fact they are still both romantics at heart. The movie is very funny and the acting so natural. Furthermore, even though the plot was quite predictable, it was still pretty much quite enjoyable to watch. But definitely this is not a movie I can watch with my daughter since some of the scenes were quite explicit. Maybe when she is a bit older and more mature, I would recommend that she watch this movie someday.

[photo grabbed from IMDB]

WAIVED GLOBE BILL...FINALLY!

Finally! After so many attempts/calls made, I was finally able to get my first globe bill waived. Imagine my surprise since I was expecting a bill of PhP500 for my first monthly payment and getting a humongous bill amounting to almost 2K! Because of data that I did not know I was unknowingly using! WTF!@#$%??!! But it seems I was not the only one, since I soon heard/read about some people complaining to Globe about the exact same thing – data charges suddenly shooting up their monthly bills for no reason! When I was able to talk to a Globe customer service officer, she willingly agreed to waive the data charges and advised me how to turn off the data function of my phone so that I would not anymore incur additional charges. I would just need to turn them back on whenever I need to go online...whew! Thank God for small favors like these. Next time though, Globe told me I would have to pay the bill accordingly since they have already told me how to use the phone properly and so it would be my and my fault alone if ever my data charges still remain high.

VMS SPORTSFEST

It’s my daughter's school sportsfest today and though I do not usually watch their sports competitions, I opted to watch today since it will be her first performance as a member of the drum and lyre band. Here are some of her pictures when they practiced before the actual sportsfest since I wasn’t able to get close when they actually performed.

ANOTHER NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY Y PHONE!

After eight days of letting him stew without a phone, I finally decided to go ahead and get a new plan from Globe for only 500 which had a free Samsung Galaxy Y handset. I didn't have the cash to buy him a new phone so I got him one that is offered for free, although I would have to shell out a monthly 500 at least I can use said amount for texting and calling Globe and TM subscribers in my phonebook. It was amazing that Globe was able to grant this application of mine quickly. On Monday (21 November), after the weekend that Kuya lost his phone, I browsed Globe plans and saw one that advertised an online application. The next day I filled up an application form online and the day after I submitted the requirements thru fax. Then today, Monday I got the phone already! Hurrah! However, I decided not to give it to him just yet and instead I would take the gadget for a road test and use it myself for a few days...

A LOST PHONE...AFTER JUST TWO WEEKS!

Two weeks ago, around November 5, my son was the proud owner of a brand new Samsung Galaxy Y phone. But then yesterday after eating lunch and as the rest of us were busy doing our regular tasks – Ditse with her laundry, the hubby with his smaller TV rack, K and I fixing toys and books to determine which ones to clear out and give away – bad news came. We learned that my son’s phone was missing. He was at the internet shop at around 12 noon and there were just a few of them there at the time. He stood up for a bit to borrow a card reader from the pc shop helper and when he remembered his phone, it was not there beside him.

In truth, I do not know what to feel. The hubby was obviously angry and took it out on the aluminium screen door, kicking it thus creating a dent. He talked to the two guys who were with my son at the PC shop and he deduced that my son’s friend was not lying when he said he did not see it but the helper obviously was. But then, there was nothing we could do much about it. I guess it was ultimately my son’s fault that his phone got lost. Though I wanted to comfort him and let him know it was OK, I knew he had to learn his lesson. He had to continue paying for his half of the phone with his allowance money, even if the phone is no longer present. Oh well, even if I had wanted to buy him a new one, I don’t have the extra money to pay for it. He would just need to be more responsible with his possessions and so I would let him stew without a phone for now.

ANOTHER TV RACK!

Early this month, we received a second-hand JVC TV from my brother. He had it shipped about a month ago and it only arrived on the first week of thIS month and just in time for us to get it during Mama’s birthday and my sister’s despedida. It was his old TV in Abu Dhabi, 29 –inches with a flat screen but its back is still so big which made it quite heavy. He tried to sell it at first but since flat screen TVs are so cheap there he had difficulty finding any buyer and so he decided to just give it away, thankfully he gave it to me! So the hubby and I just decided to put it in our room upstairs but since we didn’t have a TV rack there and we wanted also to have something quite sturdy to hold it, he decided to do another smaller TV rack for our room.

This time, he’s definitely faster because the first pic was taken on the 20th. He constructed the rack in just one day. The second pic was taken just 4 days later and the third pic, a mere 6 days, on the 26th, the rack was already upstairs in our room with the TV on top and the computer below it. It’s just so nice to have my very own handy man around the house eh!?!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 40: CHICKEN TERIYAKI

For the kids baon today, I decided to cook chicken teriyaki. But my daughter is not very fond of viands with different sauces and so after I fried the chicken fillets, I reserved some for her baon and just continued cooking the rest of the chicken for my son’s baon and mine too. The dish is quite easy, I simply marinated the chicken fillets in some salt, pepper, and calamansi the night before. Then, the next morning, I fried the chicken fillet after rolling them in a bit of flour/cornstarch mixture. Once fried, I set aside the chicken and proceeded to sauté garlic, onions and ginger in a little oil. Then I returned the chicken and the marinade, added more soy sauce, a bit of water and let it simmer while covered. You may add sugar, salt and pepper if needed. Finally, you may add cornstarch dissolved in a little water to thicken the sauce. Just top it over steaming hot rice and it’s ready for the kids’ lunchboxes!

BONE SCANNING

Today, we took advantage of free bone-scanning sponsored by a popular milk brand. It was held at the office clinic and there was a bit of a line but not really so long and it was moving quickly. First, they washed my right foot with alcohol and placed it in a contraption that seemed like a foot spa although it wasn’t wet at all. After a while, I felt it tightening a bit and within a few seconds it gave out a reading and the results showed I was at high risk for osteoporosis???Really now… I don’t think it was truly accurate since even if I don’t take calcium tablets, I take my milk sometimes and even yoghurt. I guess it comes with age and the fact that the sponsor of the event needed to sell their product. So I decided to buy the milk they had on display outside the clinic (with free taste!), both in vanilla and chocolate flavors just to ensure that I would get all the calcium that I need!

TV RACK UPDATE

Just a quickie - an update of the TV rack he started doing last week. After we bought some black paint at Ace, he was finally able to paint the TV rack in the color we wanted. All that’s lacking now are the glass doors but he still doesn’t know where to buy them and how to place them. He has definitely improved since this one was completed in just one week! Here’s how the new TV rack looks now…




We decided to start using the TV rack, even sans the glass panel so we could give the old one to Ditse when we go home to the province - very pretty indeed!

A REGISTERED VOTER AT LAST!

At long last, after forty (40) years of existence and twenty two (22) years as a legal-aged citizen, I am finally a registered voter! And why did it take me so long??? Well, to tell you frankly there are just a myriad of reasons – at first when I just turned 18 and thereabouts, our family was always changing residences – I remember turning 18 at Matapat at Sikatuna Village but our place there was quite small and so the next year, we moved to Project 7. Then, I guess the fact that we changed residences so often made me unable to establish residency anywhere that would allow me to register in that particular place to vote!

After Paranaque, I moved in with the hubby and it heralded another round of moving in and out of just too many places until we finally settled down in 2000 at San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. By then, you would probably ask, why did I still remain unregistered when in fact, one of my sons registered to be able to vote for the SK. But I decided not to because I figured if I would go out and vote, I would much rather have it at the same place as the hubby so we could go vote together. It would be quite difficult for me to stay here at SJDM while he goes home to vote in his hometown. And so I waited until the right time came when I could register as a voter in Pampanga. But many elections came and went but almost always their registration period is only for Mondays to Fridays and I couldn’t very well absent myself from work just to register and so my waiting continued. I thought I would end up not being able to exercise my right to suffrage but at long last the long wait is over! Today, my brother-in-law texted that they’re having a special registration for new voters and so I would finally get my chance!

It was mid-afternoon already when we finally got to the barangay hall to register. I went with the hubby and a niece who would turn eighteen next month. When my turn came, the guy looked at me weirdly and asked? New voter? And I said yes, I just turned 18!!! So I explained a bit of my history and after some time he seemed to believe me. Anyway, I told him he could go and check the records at Comelec and he would see I have never been registered in my life. And so in just a little like thirty minutes – I AM NOW A REGISTERED VOTER! Now all I have to wait for now is for the next elections to come around and I would soon be able to see what a voting precinct looks like!

[photo from clipart]

NEW SAMSUNG CORBY PHONE FROM SUN!

Today, I got my new Samsung Corby phone from Sun. Well, actually they got it from SM last night since they availed the extension promo that comes with a new phone if we renew our Group Plan 999 with Sun. And since the hubby and I were on leave, they still went ahead and got it. I actually, would’ve wanted them to wait a bit until I could go with them and help in choosing a good phone but it seems they were in a bit of a hurry because one of my boss' kids insisted on a new phone ASAP! And so we had no choice but to go along since the plan is in her name after all. Anyway, I went up to the SUN shop yesterday after Ditse and I bought a cake for the hubby at Goldilocks and I saw that only the Samsung Corby II phone looked better in the SUN’s line-up of free phones in the Plan 350. It’s not yet Android but it’s the next best thing available. I only told them that I wanted white – not yellow or hot pink, just plain white! And thank God they have it in the color I wanted.

P.S. The only problem was that I got a text from SUN on Saturday, November 12, just 3 days after they got the Corby phone from SUN informing me that they are now offering the Samsung Galaxy Y at Plan 350 - oh no! I just knew we should have waited! My original plan kasi was to get a new phone when we pay on the 15th but they were in such a hurry! Now I won’t have the phone of my dreams just because they couldn’t wait. Now I guess the old adage is true - good things come to those who wait. Just too bad for me huhuhu!

A NEW PROJECT – TV RACK FOR THE NEW TV!

After about a week of rest, the hubby once again embarked on a new project – this time to construct a new TV rack for the new TV, but of course! The old one just won’t do since we would have to remove the top shelf just so our new 32-inch TV would fit in the old rack. He started making the rack yesterday from leftover wood that he scavenged. And today, he finished assembling it and had even painted the cabinet with white primer before he came in to dinner tonight. I guess he’s getting quite good at it because he seems to need less time to accomplish the cabinet itself. It helped, too, that he used a mechanical saw to cut the wood into the size that he wanted. Aside from being quicker, it was less strenuous than using an ordinary saw. Well, here’s a picture of the cabinet. He planned to paint it black but we still have to buy the paint. He also wants to install glass doors for it, but we have to find where to buy it and have it made by someone else coz he sure doesn’t know yet how to make that kind of a door, will provide more updates soon…

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 39 – Turbo chicken in Rosemary and Garlic marinade

This is actually a very easy one because I kinda cheated a bit. Before Ditse and I left for the hospital at around lunch time, I marinated the chicken legs in store-bought Rosemary and Garlic marinade from McCormick. Then, when we got back home at around five and after having a bit of coffee, I simply popped the chicken legs in the turbo broiler and after about 20 minutes I flipped it over and then 20 minutes more … voila it’s finished!

A NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY Y FOR MY SON

The hubby and I decided to give our son an advanced graduation gift – his very own Samsung Galaxy Y phone! Actually, he had long been hankering me to buy him a new phone but aside from not having the budget for it, we didn’t think he was already responsible enough to take care of it well. This time, though, since he’s already in fourth year, we figured he may be old enough to take care of his things. What’s more the hubby and I decided that we would not be paying for the entire thing, we’ll just give a down payment for half of it while he pays for the other half with his allowance. That way, he may be more mindful of where he places the phone knowing that he’s paying for it with his own pocket money. Anyway, he never had a new phone yet. Ever since he has learned to text and go UNLI his phones are usually hand-me-downs from me or the hubby. In fact, his last phone is the free one I got when I availed a SUN plan last year.

And so after our short visit with Mama, off we went to SM Fairview to finally buy the phone of Keith’s dreams. Actually it took us awhile to browse for phones that he wanted – at first he said he wanted the Samsung Champ or the Corby but thankfully we waited a bit and this month, Samsung introduced a new Android phone that particularly targets the young – Samsung Galaxy Young! It’s not exactly at the price range of the regular smartphones but it has already a Gingerbread OS so it’s actually a very good buy indeed! The suggested retail price is PhP 5,850 but since we’re gonna buy this with a credit card it has a different price tag at Php 6,200. Of course, they keep saying that it has absolutely zero interest but not really if you consider the different price if you pay for it in cash or with a card. And so after a bit of browsing in the numerous shops at the Cyberzone, we finally settled on buying at BSD, the same shop the hubby bought his X2 because it offered the least interest. We then made our purchase and went home with one very happy child in tow!

P.S. Just too bad though coz after just 15 days, he lost his new phone to a heartless thief. Well, not really all his fault because the thief took advantage of his preoccupation with something (borrowing a card-reader) while at the internet shop. Turns out that my son is just too trusting and that the people whom he consider his friends may not really be his friends, after all…

A DOUBLE CELEBRATION FOR MY MOTHER’S BDAY AND A SISTER’S DESPEDIDA

We left the house at 11 am to visit Mama at Project 4. We’re having a double celebration of sorts since we’re celebrating her birthday (which is actually last November 3) and also a sister’s despedida since she would be leaving (finally!) for Abu Dhabi tomorrow. Thank God for this since I know she has long wanted to leave. She has been out of a job for a few months already and only last month I learned my brother is financing her visa to go to Abu Dhabi and search for a job there. Good thing too that she was finally able to complete all her requirements (including her school documents which had to be taken from her old school in Bohol) But at least, she can now breathe a sigh of relief that everything is finally in order and she can now leave. I just hope she gets a job soon as she only has one month to go out and search for a job otherwise her visa would expire and she may be forced to return back home…oh no!

We arrived at the house in time for lunch. The pasta was still cooking and my other sister still hasn’t arrived with the cake and so we waited a bit. I served the bbq and inihaw na bangus that we bought from Vanmicks. I went upstairs to help my sis sort out the clothes that she would be bringing. The others she would be giving away but they were all too small for me so I just let her do her thing. Ditse and the kids were in Mama’s room playing and hiding out from Gustav. After a while, when my sister arrived, we went down to eat. We had a fun time just eating and talking but as the usual case when we visit with Mama, there was just no space to hang out and rest after eating and so we are usually left with not much option but to leave early.

My brother called up twice and we were able to thank him early for the advanced Christmas gifts. The TV he gave us was so BIG! And heavy too but it was still a welcome gift nonetheless. He also had some old shoes and pants for my son ad the hubby and some lotion, bath soap and dishwashing liquid for me. He said the real Christmas gifts shall be sent after Christmas, a bit delayed since he needs to save up a bit for it due to the expenses he incurred but that’s OK! What matters is that he’d be sending us more gifts -yippee! Another Santa from the Middle East. Thank you Lord for the blessings!

THE TOWN (A Film review)

This one of the few good action movies that I have watched for the year since it had a good plot, the characters were developed very well and the ending was quite poetic – not so romantic like Filipino movies with a happy ending but not tragic either. It was just right! It is actually a story about four men: Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), James "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert "Gloansy" Magloan (Slaine), and Desmond "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke), from the dangerous streets of Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. The town is known for being a breeding ground of bank robbers and these 4 friends are no different since they belong to a generation of bank robbers in their town. The first scene shows them robbing a bank, and taking bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) as hostage. After Claire's release, Doug follows her and soon develops a relationship with her.

FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) investigates the crew and soon finds out that they work for "Fergie" Colm (Pete Postlethwaite), a local florist. As Doug’s relationship with Claire progresses he becomes hesitant to undertake their next assignment, and his fears are confirmed during the robbery in the North End, where gunfire erupts. The police arrive quickly, a chase ensues, and the team barely escapes.

During a visit to his father (Chris Cooper) at the local federal prison, Doug reveals he is planning to leave Charlestown. So when the florist approaches Doug with another job he turns it down. He tells Fergie he will not do the job, but Fergie reveals that Doug's mother never left the family but committed suicide after Fergie got her addicted to drugs in retaliation for Doug's father attempt to leave (like what he is trying to do now). He threatens Doug that he will kill Claire if he does not do the job so Doug finally agrees.

The gang’s next job is at a baseball stadium at Fenway Park, they get in disguised as Boston police officers, trick the guards and counting room staff, steal millions of dollars, and prepare to leave in an ambulance dressed as paramedics. But, the FBI got info from Jem’s sister and Doug’s ex-girlfirend who got hurt that Doug’s left her for Claire so they were able to surround the building. They get into a gunfight with police officers and two of their friends die while Doug and Jem put their cop uniforms back on and slip out. But Agent Frawley figures out the ruse, catches sight of Jem, and tries to arrest him. Jem is cornered by the police. Knowing there is no way out, Jem chooses to let the police kill him in suicide by cop fashion, rather than go to prison for the rest of his life.

Doug escapes in a police cruiser, heads to Town Flowers, and kills Fergie, the florist. He calls Claire and asks her to come away with him, but he is watching from a house nearby and can see the FBI are in the same room with her. Claire, though she has learned of Doug’s lies to her at first tells him to come to pick her up, but in the end her love for him wins out and she gives him a coded message to warn him that the FBI are there. Doug escapes from Boston. Later, Claire finds a bag buried in a community garden containing money, a tangerine and a note that ends with "I'll see you again, on this side or the other." Claire uses the money to finance the renovation of a local hockey rink, and dedicates it to Doug's mother.

Nice ending eh - although Doug doesn’t get caught for his crimes he gets to turn over a new leaf and still he doesn’t get the girl. Overall, it was good directing by Ben Affleck. He's clearly a smart and avid student of the medium and in this second outing as a director, The Town, he has created such an enjoyable and exciting movie. With this crime drama, he more than proves that he also deserves to sit behind the camera.


[photo grabbed from IMDB]

A DAY TO HONOR THE DEAD

Every year, Filipinos set aside the first few days of November to pay their respects to their departed loved ones. During this time of the year, many take the opportunity to go home to the province and be with their families for some sort of reunion at the cemeteries. Others, however, opt to go on vacation to take advantage of the long holiday break. When I was younger and lived with my parents, we usually go to the Holy Cross cemetery to visit my mom’s mother and father. But we never really go with the crowd since my dad hates the traffic and so we usually end up going there the Sunday before Nov 1 or the Sunday after. We bring our mats, some food (usually rice and adobo), snacks, drinks, some playthings to keep us occupied (like cards or Frisbees) and spend the entire afternoon there (like a picnic). I liked the solitude and peace we enjoyed then since we were almost always the only people there. I remember going once to Holy Cross at exactly Nov. 1 and we had to walk about a kilometer or so because cars weren’t allowed to enter the compound. But it was fun, too, seeing all those people there and meeting up with relatives who also come and visit.

But that seemed a long time ago … when I got married and lived with my husband I was introduced to the way they spent their time for their dead but at a public cemetery this time. There were no large trees nor soft green grass where we could spread our mats to have a picnic or take our afternoon naps – just hard concrete tombs and a sea of people that seemingly just never ends. Admittedly it was a big adjustment for me since I have been used to the peace and quiet of Holy Cross. And so instead of going there in the morning or afternoon, we opted to go at night time where there are less people and we can still savor the peace and quiet that I so crave. Besides, it is hot and humid in the afternoons even though their place is covered and had a roof. It was also quite fascinating to see a multitude of candles lit up on top of different shapes and sizes of tombs.

But whatever the method that we choose to honor the dead what matters is that we do whatever means possible to remember them - with candles, with flowers, with lots of food and love for those relatives still living and get to meet only during these times of commemoration…

CLOSER – A film review

It’s a long holiday weekend to celebrate the Feast of Saints and the Dead and what better day to stave off boredom than to have a movie marathon!!! But alas the DVD player inside the room won’t play almost all the DVDs I brought only the Julia Roberts collection played and since there wasn’t any remote I had no choice but to watch the first movie in the collection – a movie called Closer. It was topbilled by Julia Roberts but it felt more like Natalie Portman’s movie to me because she had more meaty parts in the film. But if there was one word I could use to describe the movie, it would be – weird! The storyline was a bit confusing since at first I thought I was watching a flashback but it turned out to be the ending of the film, now I’m really confused?!?

Let me start at the beginning, the movie starts with Jude Law and Natalie walking opposite each other across a busy London street. They gaze and smile until Natalie gets hit by a car. Jude Law (Dan) takes her to the hospital where they get to know each other. They ride on a bus where Dan reveals he is an obit writer and Natalie (Alice) says she is a stripper from New York who left to escape a bad relationship. They separate upon reaching Dan’s workplace.

Next scene shows them one year later – Dan and Alice are already a couple and Dan is shown having his picture taken by Julia Roberts (Anna) a photographer, for his recently published book’s dust jacket. Dan kisses her but tells her that he has a girlfriend. So Anna decides to stop whatever was ‘starting’ between them. Then, Dan’s girlfriend Alice arrives and she asks Anna to take her picture. Dan goes down to leave the two of them alone and Alice reveals that she heard what happened between them thru the intercom downstairs. Anna apologizes but Alice turns away with tears in her eyes.

Next, Dan is shown in his computer in a sex chat room, pretending to be a girl. He meets a man on the web named Larry (Clive Owen) He’s a dermatologist and also a sex addict and they began exchanging ‘hot messages’ with each other. They agree to meet the next day at the aquarium and Dan told Larry to look for Anna. Coincidentally, Anna is there at the aquarium, and they soon realize they have been played with but still they hit it off and begin to date.

Four months later, the two couples meet again during Anna’s photo exhibit. Alice and Larry meet for the first time and flirt mildly until Alice learns that Larry and Anna are dating. Larry and Anna reveal that they call Dan their cupid because it was through him that they met at the aquarium. Dan leaves Alice in a taxicab to go to his father’s funeral but in fact, returns to the exhibit to talk to Anna.

Next scene shows Dan and Alice one year later. Dan says he has been on a business trip but later on admits he had been seeing Anna since the art exhibit and that they have been having an affair. At about the same time, Larry comes home to Anna after a business trip (they are married now) and he confesses that he slept with a prostitute during his trip. She says it’s OK and admits her affair too with Dan.

Six months later, Larry walks into a strip club and sees Alice. He gets into a VIP room with her and she plays a part saying her name is Jane Jones. He admits his frustration with the divorce proceedings from Anna and tries to sleep with Alice but she won’t let him. Next scene shows Anna rushing to meet Dan at a concert. She was late because she met earlier with Larry to get him to sign the divorce papers. Dan guessed that she slept with Larry just to get his signature and she regretfully admitted doing so because it was his condition before signing. Dan becomes upset and they get into an argument.

A few more months later, Dan is seen storming into Larry’s clinic angry because Anna has left him to go back to Larry. Larry reveals to him that Anna is a depression junkie and never really filed the divorce papers. He felt pity for the poor guy however, so he reveals where Alice is but at the same time he tells her that he also slept with her. Dan goes to the strip club, sees Alice and they get back together again. Next, Alice and Dan are shown at a hotel room near Heathrow Airport. They are quite happy and are on their way to New York. Dan started to question her, however, if she slept with Larry and at first she said no. But Dan kept on insisting that she tell the truth and when she finally did admit it, she says that she has stopped loving him already. Dan admits he has known all along and has forgiven her already but Alice refused to re-consider. She’s fed up and tells him to leave.

Dan remains in London and passes by the park where he took Alice the first time they met. He notices that one of the names on the wall is Alice Ayres, the same name that Alice told him. Meanwhile, at Heathrow airport, Alice is going through immigration, when she hands in her passport it shown that her name is Jane Jones – the name she gave Larry. Alice/Jane is then seen walking out into the busy street, reminiscent of the opening scene, where she faces an uncertain future… alone.

So there, what do you make of it??? Kinda weird, huh? Because it never really reveals the truth - is her name really Alice? Or Jane? And what’s behind her hiding under different names. The story in a nutshell is about betrayal – how they use sex to hurt the other partner which makes their values quite disturbing. It’s an unconventional story that makes you hate the characters instead of love them. Besides, it’s really about Natalie and not Julia, right? Oh well, why bother, suffice it to say that I felt disturbed by the movie and wouldn’t want to watch something like it again.



[photo grabbed from IMDB]

THE KITCHEN CABINET IS FINISHED!

Here are just some updates on the hubby’s cabinet-making project. After three weeks of sawing and sandpapering and hammering the cabinet mostly at night after eating dinner and also during weekends, he was finally able to complete the cabinet construction including the plywood at the back and the cabinet doors which he had a bit of difficulty making. Then after another week he finished painting it and so here’s a picture of the cabinet and how it looks inside the kitchen. I thank God for my husband for being a true handyman around the house. In all we spent just something like 2K for the wood and the paints, such a cheap amount to spare to create something so beautiful and useful. If I were to buy something like this at a furniture store, I am sure it would cost so much more than that!