Joining in the bandwagon! This may just be the most fashionable thing I’ve ever worn.
Tell the truth this is the most serene I’ve felt in quite a while now. Yesterday was such a burnout I slept like a baby and rolled out of bed quarter to 10 am. 10 AM (my parents have practically been terrorizing us if we dared going beyond 8 or 9 for all I can remember) and mom, dad, my sister and I had lunch at a family friend’s restaurant where I nicked black raspberry Twinnings off dear miss Janet before heading out to vote.
Surprisingly, it only took me less than a fifteen minute wait to get a ballot if you don’t count my 30 minutes of looking for my precinct because I forgot my number. hihi.
If you haven’t yet been able to exercise your right to vote, do make a mental note of having some way to remember your precinct number when you register and going at around lunch time or the early afternoon when voting. The place will be a ghost town.
A talabaw. Bow.
My cousins and I patrolled the city last night after the worst of the rain. Not more than a year ago it was me and dad, driving out early in the morning to where Sendong hit worst. It was a bit of a relief to step out of the car without that eerie stillness that clung to the air a year ago. That kind of air that doesn’t actually smell like anything yet but you just know will in a few hours because of the oddly still body parts your untimely heightened peripheral vision just makes you not miss.
It was awful talking to the people watching the rivers swallow their homes up again. Not even a year to mourn neighbors and loved ones in peace.
The photos you see are from when the water has already come down a bit.
Grace!
Borough: The Restaurant That Never Sleeps
After our pitch at McKinley Town Center last Wednesday, my team mates and I went out to see my bald dearie before leaving for home the following day. We decided to meet halfway at Ortigas for a late bite after her training and I was more than delighted finding this place open in the dead of night.
And I realized my new favorite thing about Manila - 24/7 comfort food. From the same people who brought you Ponti and Fiamma, here’s Borough!
I don’t know if it’s just the name but a lot about the aesthetics of its humble facade that told me point blank that it serves New York style food. The dark and damp alley, the dim light, the podium and the sharp looking bouncer from the adjacent establishment, the lone signage - looks ripped right from an episode of Sex and the City.
Inside, it looks just like a rustic bachelor’s pad but the floral print couches and bar stools will confuse you… with how well it seems to work with everything else.
(clickthrough for source of above photo)
I love chancing upon going on a Wednesday because it’s their busy night. The ambiance is great. The place was packed and the other tables’ appropriately modulated murmur against the DJ’s music made me feel alive and relaxed. It was almost soothing. I read there’s a smoke area upstairs with mafia-inspired seats.
Now, the fun part! Here’s a look at some of the food we ate. Lights, please.
I honestly forgot what they were called but we ordered chips, fries, grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup which I think was imported… from heaven and my glorious sandwich. I remember it had grilled chicken, generous slices of Brie cheese, sundried tomatoes, basil, lettuce, and mushrooms.
Down to business: prices are relatively high. The least you’ll prolly get a way with for a bite and a drink is around Php300 and they have service charges on top of that. But they serve big portions and the flavors are just lovely.
But if you’re passionate about fresh bread and cheeses other than cheddar and mozzarella, and tomatoes and don’t spend on much else other than food when on a splurge, it’s definitely worth one’s salt.
BOROUGH
Ground Floor, The Podium Mall
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel. No. 570-8906
Ivan Theory
Ali Hooshmand (vocals and lead guitar)
Andy Lopez (bass)
Joj Bustilla (drums)on facebook
A little something I want to share now because I learned a friend of mine and I share the same sentiments about Ali Hooshband Hooshmand. I kid. I really like how Ivan Theory’s music is getting around.
I first heard of the band from mistersalvatore’s mixtape when I called a little open mixtape trade October of last year. I had an inkling, but was still quite surprised to find out that they’re Filipino when I found a video of them performing an acoustic version of “Piece by Piece” at Cafe Alonzo that I was just in love with.
Photos by incuboring|flickr and youwillneverfindclang
As most band stories go, they’re a college band that go back from High School. They’ve started out as a power metal band in UP Diliman and later evolved into what people recognize now as Ivan Theory. They’ve previously released a five song EP “Inspire” featuring songs like “Coffee”, and “Of Smiles and Apologies”
You can say I’m wrong, I really don’t know that much about music and genres anyway but their music feels British rock to me. Dear, not One Direction — more along the lines of The Strokes, The Kooks, Rooney, Nada Surf, Arctic Monkeys and Dirty Pretty Things but watered down to a slightly loungier, jazzier feel like Paolo Nutini and Devendra Banhart. So if you like any of the aforementioned, I think you’ll want to have a go listen.
GPOYW. Man I really don’t feel like getting up for school this morning.
Mga kababayan, handa, awit!
My gradeschool never had kids lead flag ceremonies and I never had the chance to in High School. Seems only right. I look like I’m having too much of a good time.
Tzaddi Esguerra 2012
Flowers from some of the cities I’ve been this summer. I hadn’t taken my camera with me in most trips so I pressed little keepsakes between pages of books I’ve been reading.
i. Cebu, Cebu - because they remind me much of childhood in Cebu
ii. Dapitan, Zamboanga - picked somewhere along the baywalk from the restaurant to the resort.
iii. San Pablo, Laguna from the 3.7 km stroll around Sampaloc lake plus trekking
iv. Makati, Manila - after talking the entire night with a complete stranger at Heima’s staff house and walking for coffee in the morning
v. Dipolog, Zamboanga - lunch at the port while waiting for the ferry
vi. Quezon, Manila - a little something I picked up from the streets I used to walk everyday to class.
vii. Intramuros, Manila - there were lovers everywhere while I waited for friends to arrive so I pressed the nearest flower inside my book, trying to look poetic and all.
viii. Dumaguete, Negros - while asking for directions from a vendor
ix. XXXXX
x. XXXXX
xi. XXXXX
xii. Tagaytay, Cavite - outside Bag of Beans, after the loveliest coffee I’ve ever had. Not for the roast but the view that came with it.
All that’s left of the sun-soaked months of this year.
Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte
Ah, the city Jose Rizal improved so much.
We missed the last barge to Dumaguete by an hour. Not stopping for that five minutes I asked back in Ozamiz couldn’t possibly have helped, I trust.
This is the bend that leads right to the port. Funny, how behind where I shot this photo and beyond the other end of the road are only just about two dozen meter stretch of houses, each end. They’re all cramped near the port and beyond that’s just trees and beaches.
We stopped for ice cream and watched the sunset, wondering where to stay for the night. Dad took this badly timed photo of us in front of their pretty neat municipal hall by the beach. For a little city, it’s pretty grand. It makes me wonder where all the money in our city goes.
We ended up staying in a cottage at Bajamundo. Highly recommend if you’re to stay in the city.
Bajamundo is along a boulevard of other beach resorts and restaurants so we walked along the boulevard in search of somewhere to eat. And somewhere to eat we found - we ate at this restaurant called Kan-anan. That’s “kainan” in Tagalog, “a place to eat” in English.
Fish were super fresh, given, they’re pretty near the sea.
Walking back to Bajamundo, on sparkly sidewalks (what are those sparkly things in pavements?) and in an awful lot of chilly sea breeze, there’s this little suicide booth. You can’t quite tell from the photo but there are two exposed live wires at chest level there. You can really hear the faint wire buzz.
To top off the extremely long day, we had coffee for a nightcap and caught Lady and the Tramp on Disney.
The highlight of the day’s trip: how the family could not get over how we didn’t notice that the Tramp actually calls Lady, the cocker spaniel, “Bitch” all throughout the movie when we were younger. Watch it again yourself.
Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental
Hey, I have a current classmate from this city. Hi, Yookie, if you’re reading!
The version I prefer of where Oroquieta got its name is that it was derived from the word “oro” and “quita/kita”, loosely translated as found gold from when early inhabitants found gold along the river.
Here’s a little find from the city’s public park. Friends, Le Tour de Effeil.
So. Does your city have air-conditioned trikes? Kidding.
Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental
After crossing the Panguil Bay from Mucas is Ozamiz City. The city is named after Senator Jose Ozamiz who led resistance activities against the Japanese back in the 1940’s. I don’t know much about Ozamiz, I googled the previous sentence. Fine, okay, sentences.
It’s a 2-hour drive to Dapitan City so putting records on would be nice.
Some music needs air ~ We rolled our windows down but it was too hot and not a pleasant kind of breezy, we put them back up right away.
Here’s a picture of people in a car, with relatively high blood pressures because I ran back to the middle of the bridge to take the photo below.
