I HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS: Toy Story 4, coming soon!

Yesterday, after watching Cars 2, my pamangkins told me, with all excitement, that they saw the trailer of the upcoming Toy Story 4.

Yes, you heard it right. After doing some research, there will be a fourth installment to the animated movie that we all loved (I dunno about you but I really love this film. I watched the three installments and the last one made me cry big time). According to my pamangkins’ Yuri and Tyra, they saw Barbie and Ken on the trailer and they were frozen. Weird.

It actually started when The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) listed Toy Story 4 as being in development at Pixar for release in 2015 and it is still there now. Then, there were Tom Hanks’ comments when he was asked if there will be a fourth installment. And said:

“I think there will be, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think they’re working on it now”, sitting down with the BBC to promote his new film Larry Crowne.

“I understand it’s happening and if it is, I hope they’ll hire me.” Hanks tells CNN/HLN’s Showbiz Tonight.

Are you ready for another big screen adventure with Andy’s, oh I mean Bonnie’s toys?

With this, part of me says, YES and part says, NO. I’m glad that all of the characters that we loved will come back and I can wait for their next adventure, not to mention, the new toys that might join them. But, for me, the third film ended everything so well and I feel like a fourth movie would undo ALL the emotions of the third.

ON ATTITUDE: 6-Step “Tune Up” – Attitude Improvement Plan

Three weeks ago, I’ve attended a training here in the office called Excellence in Customer Service – Professionalism Course. This made me ask myself, “Why do I have to go through with this training? Do I not exhibit the standards of professional? Ha? Tell me! (Of course, medyo OA na yung reaction ko, pero nag push through pa din yung training).

In the middle of the lecture, we came across this lesson about ATTITUDE and the lecturer introduced to us the 6-Steps-Tune-Up-Attitude-Improvement-Plan. This piqued my interest, and I think, one way or another, we can all take something away from this. Our trainer mentioned, “Attitude is like driving a car, we have a responsibility to keep it in tune”. As you will see, each letter of the word TUNE UP corresponds to an action that we need to perform to improve our attitude. Let’s go through them:

6-Step “Tune Up” – Attitude Improvement Plan

T – Test : Test yourself when you get up in the morning and look outside. Even if it’s one of the worst days of the year, if you can say, “I’m going to make the best of this day because I feel good and have goals to accomplish”, you’ve passed the attitude self test. This is really based on self-discipline and your personal choice.

U – Use : Make use of your built in skills. We have the ability to make significant improvements in our attitude. One effective way is recognizing some of your great skills.

N – Network : Ideally, to help feed our attitude, we need to be around people that are positive, enthusiastic, energetic and goal oriented.

E – Empathize : When talking to someone, we also have a responsibility to focus our total energy to the speaker and approach the conversation from the other’s point of view.

U – Undertake : Improving our attitude is a conscious decision.

Earl Nightingale said that “You become what you think about”. If you think about having a bad day, guess what? You’ll have one! If you think about strengthening your attitude, you will! We need to take ownership of our attitude if we care about making an impact.

P – Persist : Strengthening your attitude is a life long journey. Make it your personal mission; it takes self-discipline, determination, and energy. If you keep your attitude in check, you will be better equipped to deal with life.

This lesson really hit me, and to tell you the truth, this was the only thing that I remembered during the whole teach; this is why I’m very excited to share this to all of you. Sometimes, it is healthy for us to individually check ourselves; this is the best way to realize the right or the wrong in our actions. Treating others well reflects how well we treat ourselves. You’ll discover that there is more to know about yourself, and inherently find the good in others.

There is no better day to start than today.

OOMPA! Going Greek at The Cafe Mediterranean

Tonight, Isaac was sent home since he’s not yet fit to work (YES, nainggit ako!). So, before his extra time-off, we decided to have dinner, since I came to work very early; and yes, I skipped gym again (Tama yan, dinner over gym!). He decided to bring me to The Café Mediterranean for dinner. Although this was not my first time to try Greek/Mediterranean food (He brought me to Cyma a couple of months ago, it was good, but Boo Boo said Café Med is better), I was psyched to try it. I believe Boo Boo when it comes to good food.

Cafe Med has a unique charm, and they have a casual, unpretentious look. I love the mediterranean ambiance, the paintings on the wall, and the sturdy wooden dining table (which makes me feel comfy, just like dining at our own table at home). The place was cozy, very laid back even. He asked me to open the menu and order the dish that looks and sounds good to me, and to my surprise, it was reasonably priced (P200-300/meal), not to mention the servers were fast and friendly. According to Isaac, “The thing about Greek food is that they are light, simple, no-fuzz, healthy food. It’s all about the burst of flavors. You’re supposed to eat it messy to truly enjoy the food”; and he was right.

Presenting, “My Greek Dining Experience”:

Greek Salad, Php 255.00
Fresh greens with olives & feta cheese. They call salads “Salata” in Greece. Its fresh, crunchy, and the vinegrette was tangy and sweet. I think it was lemon and vinegar. Very delicious – a nice way to start the meal.

Hummus, Baba Ghanoush and Kofta Platter, Php 220.00
This is so cute. It is a platter of three side dishes served with fresh pita bread. We chose Hummus: a classic garbanzo and sesame dip from the Middle East, Baba Ghanoush: also known as “moutabal” an eggplant and tahini dip and Kofta: three savory meatballs. My favorite was the Hummus.

Beef Gyro with Moroccan Rice Pilaf, Php 215.00
The rice has a certain kind of nut which added that extra crunch. The beef was tender and the plate has two side dishes and a dip; one was Baba Ghanoush, the other one, the one I liked, was green and herby, complete with Greek yogurt. When you eat this together, it’ll be an explosion of flavors. It was amazing!

Overall, it was a good Greek dining experience and I wanna thank Isaac for bringing me here. Just like what Isaac said “You dont have to be sosyal or rich to experience culture and good food, neither does it have to be expensive.” I enjoyed everything, definitely satisfying for a quick lunch or dinner. I will surely come back, bring some friends (or Boo Boo again) and maybe order a fish dish.

We finished it all off with two scoops of gelato from Gelatissimo. He ordered Forest Berries + Chocolate Truffles while I tried Lemon Cheesecake + Sugar-Free Chocolate. For a cup with two scoops, its only Php 160.00.

The Cafe Mediterranean
Stall 113, Ground Floor
Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center
Makati City

ON SHUTTING UP: Silence [sometimes] Is The Only Answer

There was a time when I was talking to a friend regarding a difficult situation that I were in and I remember her telling me these words: “Alam mo, di mo kailangan mag react. Minsan, silence is the best response”.

Last night, I got to thinking about my responses to different things and different situations. I was never the silent type. I always say what’s on my mind, and I sometimes don’t think about the words that come out of my mouth, especially when I’m angry. In my head, everything will be resolved by words – even hurtful words, if makipagsabayan ka.

It seems that with time, I have learned how to deal with my emotions, my actions, and my reactions. Many times, I chose to shut up and reflect about the situation, rather than launch to a word-rage. But when the situation calls for it, when I really need to say something, I let it out.

Ask yourself: Is it worth it? If you say no, then you know it’s smarter to keep the lid on. Speech is such powerful weapon sabi nga nila. But sometimes, being silent is more powerful, sometimes the best answer.

Simple + Good Food: CANTEEN at the Trilogy in Rada Street

I love to eat. Who doesn’t? I have always wanted to try new food and explore new restaurants; however, my night shift schedule limits my choices, since my lunch break would fall during the wee hours of the night. I always end up eating at fast food chains that stay open well past the burnt midnight oil.

Last Monday after an intense workout at the gym (I was dead hungry, SERIOUSLY), Isaac, my boyfriend (I call him Boo Boo) brought me to this unusual restaurant in Rada Street, like 10 minutes away from our office. Its called “Canteen”.

Why unusual? Its because Canteen is located inside Trilogy, a clothing and lifestyle boutique. The place was cute – not at all crowded – quiet and was a good venue to reflect on your life, charot!

Their theme was “Simple + Good Food” and they serve freshly made soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, rice meals, desserts & coffee.

I haven’t sampled the entire menu yet, but this is what we devoured:

Cream Of Pumpkin Soup, P 100
The moment I saw this on the menu, I ordered a bowl. It was a little bland for me but there’s salt and pepper to taste naman. Hearty and creamy, not bad.

Freshly Squeezed Lemonade, P 90
Sarap neto! Ice cold and on a tall glass. Sana lang bottomless.

Seafood Spaghettini, P 255
Shrimps, squid, fish on a very delicious, sour and tangy tomato sauce over spaghetti. Been craving for a sour pasta so I ordered.

Home-style Spaghetti + Meatballs, P 205
Boo Boo ordered this. I think he’s craving for tomato pasta too. It has like three big meatballs.

Intense Chocolate Cake, P 150 (not sure, I lost the receipt)
For dessert, we shared this not-too-sweet yummy chocolate cake.

Canteen at Trilogy is located at 110 Rada St., Legazpi Village, Makati City. They serve lunch, merienda, dinner and weekend brunch. We will definitely go back. To my Shell peeps, try to visit this place. They’re open weekdays: 11am-8pm and weekends: 10am-5pm.

THEY’LL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS: The Corrs Live In Manila This October!

I grew up listening to 90′s music. They really had a big impact on who am I today for there were the songs I laughed with, cried with and loved with. This year, its seems like all of them were doing a come back with series of concerts all around the world, The Corrs for example.

Yesterday, my friend Lester told me that The Corrs will be coming to Manila again this October to have a concert. Oh yes, you heard it right and according to sources, they will aslo perform in Cebu.

The news started when Astroplus’ Facebook Page posted these as statuses:

“SOMEONE IS COMING TO MANILA THIS OCTOBER WHO WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS….GO ON…GO ON…”

“MANILA AND CEBU WILL BE SHARING ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD!!!”

If you are a fan, you’d know exactly that the Irish band will come since both “Breathless” and “All The Love In The World” were their hit songs. My favorite songs of the band were “What Can I do”, “Runaway”, and “Don’t Say You Love Me”.

However, when I did some research over the Internet, it seems like only Andrea Corr, the band’s lead vocalist, will come. Some of the news’ titles says “Andrea Corr of The Corrs Live in Manila” so there might be a possibilty that she’ll come here alone. But I’m still keeping my fingers crossed, hopefully Sharon (violin, vocals); Caroline (drums, piano, bodhrán, vocals); and Jim (guitar, piano, vocals) will tag along. If that’s the case, I might save up for this concert starting this month. Its good to see a band that you grew up with complete in a concert right?

Well, if I get some information about the tickets and the venue, I’ll go ahead and keep you posted.

ON LETTING GO: Instructions for FREEDOM

Isa sa mga phase ng isang break up is letting go. I must admit, it is not easy. I’ve been in that situation so many times and I found out that it will never happen overnight. It takes time.

There was a time when I’m in the process of letting go of someone and I was reading the book Eat, Pray, Love. This book helped me go through with everything. In the book, Liz received this poem, written by a plumber from New Zealand, and was given to him by his friend Richard from Texas, before her final ritual of letting go of her marriage. After finally letting go of her marriage, she did a handstand on the rooftop of the Ashram. The poem goes like this:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FREEDOM

1. Life’s metaphors are God’s instructions

2. You have just climbed up and above the roof. There is nothing between you and the Infinite. Now, let go.

3. The day is ending. It’s time for something that was beautiful to turn into something else that is beautiful. Now, let go.

4. Your wish for resolution was a prayer. Your being here is God’s response. Let go, and watch the stars come out – on the outside and on the inside.

5. With all your heart, ask for grace, and let go.

6. With all your heart. forgive him, forgive yourself and let him go.

7. Let your intention be freedom from useless suffering. Then, let go.

8. Watch the heat of the day pass into the cool night. Let go.

9. When the karma of a relationship is done, only love remains. It’s safe. Let go.

10. When the past has passed from you at last, let go. Then climb down and begin the rest of your life. With great joy.

Letting go, for me, is the perfect time to re-asses yourself and what happened. At this stage, it’s easy to focus on the great parts of your relationship, but there was a reason you broke up. Don’t ignore the “bad” parts keep reminding yourself that you’re letting go of the past because holding on to it isn’t good for you.

Also, part of letting go of someone you love is accepting that you may never have all the answers. There are just things that we have no power of. We should accept that we have no control of everything. Believe me, it will be easier.

Most importantly, rebuild yourself. This situation will make you a different person — a better, more unique, more compassionate being. Instead of mourning what was or what could have been, start something new in your life. Take a solo vacation, join a class, discover your talents. Rebuild your life and set new life goals.

I’m not saying its gonna be easy. Life is too short to do silly things other that moving forward. Just let go.

ANTM All Stars: Cycle 17 Judges, Prizes & Promo Photo Shoot

Last June 21, I blogged about America’s Next Top Model Cycle 17 being an “All Star Cycle” which will include 14 girls from the show’s 16 seasons. Yesterday, they released the final photos for the show’s promo.

I always watch out for the contestant’s “themed” promo photo shoot. Every cycle showcases a different theme, for example, Cycle 16 was the “dark-smoky eyes-racoon like” theme. It features each contestant and from there, you can see their name, age, location and occupation, a little background of who they are. From the looks of it, this cycle’s theme is simply what the contestants were known for. Here are the photos.

Shannon Stewart, 27 (Cycle 1)

Camille McDonald, 33 (Cycle 2)

Brittany Brower, 29 (Cycle 4)

Lisa D’Amato, 30 (Cycle 5)

Bre Scullark, 26 (Cycle 5)

Bianca Golden, 22 (Cycle 9)

Dominique Reighard, 27 (Cycle 10)

Isis King, 25 (Cycle 11)

Sheena Sakai, 24 (Cycle 11)

Allison Harvard, 23 (Cycle 12)

Laura Kirkpatrick, 22 (Cycle 13)

Angelea Preston, 25 (Cycle 14)

Kayla Ferrel, 20 (Cycle 15)

Alexandria Everett, 22 (Cycle 16)

ANTM All-Stars will feature some big-names in the world of fashion and celebrities evaluating the models alongside judges Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker and Andre Leon Talley. Some of them are Nicki Minaj; comedienne Kathy Griffin; pop star and author LaToya Jackson; actress and singer Ashlee Simpson; model and actor Tyson Beckford; reality star Kristin Cavallari; model Coco Rocha; Anthony Zuiker, the creator and executive producer of CSI; and fashion photographer Nikos Papadopoulos.

The winner of this Cycle will get some familiar prizes, including a spread in Vogue Italia and a $100,00 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics. In addition, the winner will also get a fashion campaign with Express and a guest correspondent role on the entertainment show Extra.

America’s Next Top Model All-Stars premieres on Wednesday, September 14.

By the way, I’m still rooting for Allison, Shannon and Kayla.

RECIPES: When I Craved For Thai Green Mango Salad

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Bangkok. Me and my friends were walking the busy alleys of Jatujak Weekend Market. We haven’t had lunch and we were so hungry when I saw a stall full of shereded green mangoes, carrots, nuts, onions and anchioves.

I approached the stall and started to salivate when I smelled the sour scent of the mangoes infront of me. I immediately grabbed my bag to get 40.00 Baht and I ordered the salad. The ingredients looked delicious. I was amazed while watching the lady make my salad. It was divine! I can still remember the first bite, the flavours and the textures, the crunch of the anchovies while having the sweetness, sourness, and spiciness of the other ingredients. I simply loved it! Here’s how it looked like:

When I landed here in Manila, that’s the first food I craved for. That’s why last Sunday, I’ve decided to make my own version. Isaac helped me to make this (actually, he did most of the work, hehehe) and I must say for first timers, it was pretty close to the one I tasted in Thailand and we did a good job. This was also my first recipe entry so I’m excited to share it with you.

For our version of Thai Green Mango Salad. You’ll need:

Salad:
2 pcs. Green Mangoes, shredded
1 pc. Carrot, shredded
1 pc. Red onion, sliced
2 Tbsp. Toasted dried anchovies (I got this from Bangkok)
2 Tbsp. Lighty salted roasted peanuts (you can also use cashew nuts)
2 Tbsp. Dried, crunchy beans (I got this from Bangkok too. Optional)

Dressing:
5 Tbsp. Pantai Thai Fish Sauce (ok, I found this in SM Supermarket, in the International section. It’s kinda sweet so you can’t use the normal pinoy Patis)
3 Tbsp. Brown sugar
5 Tbsp. Lime juice
2pcs. Red chili (labuyo, now it depends on you if you on how spicy you want it)

Procedure:
1. Put the mangoes, carrots and onions in a bowl.
2. Mix the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and the chili in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Taste the dressing and add more chili if you want it spicy.
3. Mix the dressing with the salad mixture.
4. Put the salad in a dish and garnish with anchovies, nuts and crunchy beans.
5. Enjoy!

Nate’s Dedication + “Septic Tank” + Ian’s Dinner + Faith’s Videoke = Happy Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion

Saturday was friends day as I attended four events straight from my shift. Yeah, I was a zombie that but I didnt care. They are my college friends and I need to be there.

First up, I went to Isaac’s place to sleep and freshen up then we went to Nate’s Dedication (its like binyag) in Greenhills. We did not go to the church ceremony since I really need to sleep some and also buy a gift for that cute little boy… oh wait, for a 10-month old baby, Nate is not little! Hahaha! I have to buy a 4-year old, toddler size shirt for a baby who’s not even a year old. That’s how big he is. Look, he’s so cute!

So we went there and there were my good old friends: Faith, with her husband Rick and daughter An-z, Melissa, Zarah and husband Teddy and the “Late Entrance, Early Exit” queen, Ian, who in the end, had all the food that’s left. It was like us reuniting once again and as I’ve said, nothing has changed, we’re all still gorgeous.

Posing for the photo booth.

After that, we went to SM Megamall to watch “Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank”. It was a short and funny film. Even if the cinema was not that good (a lot of people were noisy and pasaway), it was worth watching. No wonder why Eugene Domingo won the Best Actress Award for this film. The movie ran for 1.5 hours, short but it didn’t miss a spot. It goes to show that a good script and talented actors are enough to make a movie work. FAVORITE LINE: “Itong full frontal nudity, check, Itong death defying scene check, Itong sex scene na may actual penetration, check na check! Gagawin ko ang lahat… wag nyo naman akong palusungin sa tae.” HAHAHA!!!! A dinner at Dencio’s Megastrip follwed for Ian’s Birthday Treat. Sisig, Gambas, Sinigang and other dishes were served. By the way, his Habibi was there too.

After dinner, we went startight to Music Match in Ortigas for Faith’s Birthday Bash. My friend James arrived there too to join the party. We had fun singing our hearts out while drinking beer. There was this girl there named Irish who sings so good and we were all entertained. But siyempre hindi kami nagpahuli ni Ian with our “Si Susan Africa” (Waka-Waka), “Singapore Binitay Si Flor” (On the Floor) and Spice Girls medley performances. Epic yun grabe!

So, calculating it, after a full shift, I was awake for another 18 hours! It was a bit tiring but I had so much fun especially with these guys. It was all worth it, and I cannot wait to meet up with them again.