Lusting for Chocolates

I am having one of those days again when my chocolate cravings get the better of me.   And you know how it is with cravings, you can eat everything in sight but you will never get satiated until you get the "Real McCoy".  This started when I read that travel column on Marie Claire that featured Sydney Australia. So what has Sydney got to do with my craving for chocolates?  

Two words.

LINDT CAFE

Apparently, there is a full service cafe operated by Lindt down under. Actually, there are 4 branches there and you cannot find another Lindt Cafe anywhere else in the world. Another good reason why Australia should be one of your top travel destinations wish list.  Can you just imagine what sort of orgasmic pleasures you'll derive just for being there and for being able to have your fill of velvety fine chocolate and its by-products?  Here are pictures taken from the Lindt Australia website.  Sheer "Gastroporn!"

 

While we are on the subject of Chocolates, I got an email alert from Chocolate Clothing (the boutique) about their upcoming factory sale starting Jan. 29.   I went to their factory sale last year and I got a good bargain on one of their lines, GRAB.  My sister in law also went gaga over the swimsuit line of Bonds.  But I will not go there this time.  I wish I could but I simply haven't got spare money to blow on shopping.  But do check it out yourselves. 

Kris Aquino on Preview's Cover

Mom brought home last night our monthly stash of glossies from Summit Publishing. This is one of the few fringe benefits my mom gets for being an employee of JG Summit. Hey, at least that's better than nothing, right?  To give JG Summit credit, they actually give the issues during the month of publication, albeit towards the end already.

My sister was browsing through the covers and then she called me out to say (Preview Magazine in her hand), "Si Kris ba 'to? Ang  bata ng itsura ni Kris!".  Our help, while neatly arranging the magazines, also gushed "Ang ganda ni Kris, ha".  I can't help but agree. 

I am no Kris Aquino fan and I absolutely don't like how she is always full of herself and how anything and everything that happens always has something to do with her.   But I must say, her shot for the Preview cover flatters her in all the right places. Love the hair, the makeup, the outfit, the pose.  White is an obvious, good choice. The white dress gave her an aura of freshness, an almost raw novelty, very unlike the over exposed and overhyped Kris that we have all come to know.   It did look like she was "Benjamin Buttoned". She looked very young, as if she aged in reverse. Makes you wonder, was she under the airbrush for this?  Do we thank Photoshop for this?

Sadly, I can't get past the cover.  I have set Preview aside and chose to read Entrepreneur, Yummy and Marie Claire first.  

Of Mustard, Lemon Slush and Brain Freeze

I went to Eastwood City this afternoon with my sister to return a merchandise at Speedo. Since it was mid afternoon and we were not in any rush, we decided to take a snack.   It looked like it was going to rain so we just opted to eat in Fazoli's so we wouldn't risk being wet in the event that it did pour.  Plus, we also wanted to eat in a cheap place since money is ALWAYS an object.

I know that Fazoli's pasta offering is not really good, so we just settled for pizza. My choice was cheeseburger deluxe pizza which I must say is good because of the mustard.  It only occurred to me now that pizza can be good with mustard.  I can't believe I just discovered this now. Where on earth have I been?  Man, I am telling you, it's a great combo.  The slightly bitter, tangy mustard blends perfectly well with the grease in the pizza.  Yes, grease!  Pizza is no good without the fat. Starting now, my condiment of choice for pizza is not hot sauce but mustard. Yum!

To drink, we ordered the Italian Lemonade Slush with Strawberry Toppings. I LOVED IT! My sister thought it was a little too sour for her taste, but I loved it just like that.  And it's really cheap at just P45.  Of course don't expect that you'll get the fresh lemonade taste. It does taste a little like lemonade concentrate. But the strawberry did add another dimension to the flavor.  The only problem is that the color of the strawberry syrup overpowered the pale yellow color of the base lemonade.  So my slush looked red.  I would rather it was a pale yellow with swirls of red. Also, it came in a regular disposable plastic cup. I wish they served it in a glass instead.  But again, for 45 bucks, I was getting a bargain. 

I was thoroughly enjoying my slush when the expected happened... BRAIN FREEZE. That's what I got for devouring my slush all too quickly .   Scientifically, the reason you get a brain freeze is your nerves constrict because of the sudden drop in temperature.  This then sends signal to the brain to rapidly dilate the blood vessels to regulate the temperature, causing a sudden gush of fluids in the brain tissue.  That sudden gush is what causes brain freeze.  But fortunately, for most people, brain freeze lasts only for 30-60 seconds.  I have never heard of people who have never recovered from brain freeze?  Or have I?

(Picture is that of my nephew modelling the typical reaction to a brain freeze)

This makes me wonder... Maybe a brain freeze can be permanently damaging to some people. Because how else can you explain lapses in their logic and reasoning?  Take for example an encounter a friend and I had at Genre Bar in Cubao Expo last Saturday.  We ordered 2 bottles of beer.  My friend, being the girly girl that she is, did not want to chug her beer straight from the bottle.  So she called the waitress and asked for a glass and some ice.  The waitress then asked, "Yung po bang ice nasa glass? Hmmm... So really, how else does she imagine serving us the ice?  Using a silver platter?  To be fair to her, I would like to think that she must have suffered from a permanent case of brain freeze.  After all, she comes into contact with ice cold beverages in her everyday work.  

Consider this, the random acts of stupidity you see in people (say, politicians, showbiz celebrities, etc) may actually just be a manifestation of the brain freeze they had sometime ago.   Brain freeze may have a lasting effect after all. When you think about it, saying they were a victim of brain freeze is so much better than branding them as plain stupid, right?

  

Residual Feelings

I was racking my brains thinking of an interesting topic to write about when my cousin suggested that I write about heartbreaks.  This, of course, is a topic close to our hearts.  Hey, don't be surprised. Like I said, life has been handing me lemons.   Not to worry though, my last brush with a heartbreak was long ago, so there are no fresh wounds here.   In fact, I am zeroing in on moving on after a heartbreak.  (Some unsolicited advice here, so I beg your indulgence.)

Last night, I was chatting with a friend and she mentioned that she thinks she still may have residual feelings for a guy.   Hmm...residual feelings... then it struck me.  Maybe we are all bound to never forget how we loved somebody in our past, no matter how long ago or how recent that was.  Maybe the heart has the memory of an elephant.  Maybe it can never completely forget.  What if loving someone is like riding a bike?  Once you've learned to love someone, maybe you can never completely unlearn it.  Ergo, yes, I agree.  There will always be residual feelings. 

I remember a line from Felicity (the series) that echoes this sentiment of mine.  If my memory serves me right, Felicity (Keri Russell) said this about getting over Ben (Scott Speedman). It goes,  "Maybe getting over someone you're in love with isn't impossible. Unless, maybe you don't actually get over it. Maybe you just learn to live with it." - Felicity. How true.  I suppose you just have learn to live with a heartbreak and hope that sooner rather than later, you'll wake up to discover that the nagging pain that soaked far too many pillows in your sleep is now reduced to a familiar but numbing memory for you. 

Felicity photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The question then becomes, if there will always be residual feelings, then does that mean that we can never be whole to love somebody again? Really, how do we expect our cup to be filled if it isn't empty? I am no expert, but I think that the heart has many hidden pockets.   Trite as it may sound, but the words, "you will always hold a special place in my heart" certainly rings true here. I believe that love marks remain imprinted in our hearts using indelible ink.  It may fade, but it will definitely not go away.  But in no way does this make us un-whole.  Residual feelings become an integral part of the whole new you.

If you're one of those lucky people to have found love anew, then don't be ashamed of your love marks.  Those are bullet wounds and scars that give you your rite of passage towards a new and hopefully, final and lasting love phase in your life.   Show this to your partner at least once. Tell him/her where you came from.  If he/she is mature enough, he/she will not be jealous or insecure. But don't make the mistake of showing your residual feelings too often.  That is different.   If you do, it could be that you are not completely over your past yet.  Remember that residual means only a small remainder of the feelings is left.

But if you are like the many of us who are bereft of a new love, don't be tempted to dwell on your residual feelings anymore.  Don't make the mistake of reviving the dead.  Grieve for your loss then move on. Be out there.  Meet new people.  Make friends.  And never settle because you're lonely. Hold out and be positive that soon, cupid may be shooting in your favor again.

My dear cousin, this post is for you. Hope you like it! :-)

The Artist Formerly Known as Rustom Padilla

Allow me to write on this topic.  Local showbiz, inasmuch as I hate to admit it, is one my guilty pleasures.  I am, after all, jologs to the bones. (Photo courtesy of Proudly Filipina)

Hearing that Rustom Padilla is now Bebe Gandanghari is just too good a topic to pass.  My first reaction was holy c**p, he looks alarmingly like Carmina Villaroel.  And the second was, wait... why that cheesy name?

Being out suits him. Why wouldn't it? It must have been so hard for him to put up with the pretenses in the past.  It's no wonder that now, he is glowing.  His face literally lit up.  The ever so noticeable cheekbone which made him look like a relapsing drug addict during his Pinoy Big Brother days now gives him the sharp contours of supermodel's face.   And he is one pretty lady I must say.  Oh darn, he looks way better than real girls I know (including me, LOL!)

But seriously, I instantly thought about how Carmina Villaroel may be taking all these.  I wonder how hearing that your ex-husband is now donning a dress, a wig, heavy make up, and stilettos feels for Carmina.  I wonder if she feels embarrassed that her "gaydar" failed her? I wonder if it is revolting or amusing for her? Or maybe, it does not affect her anymore. I think about this because I know quite a few people (hey, even me) who had their close encounters with the third kind/gender at one point or another in their lives.  Thank God Carmina now has Zoren Legaspi and they have really adorable twins.  

So moving back to Rustom, why on earth did he have to choose such a gay name? Literally, it is Ms. Beauty King in English.   Just how campy is that? He should have chosen a name something along the line of Beyonce's Sasha Fierce.  But I guess he is keeping his target market in mind... the jologs at heart.  Like me.  Eeek!  

Benjamin Button

I saw this movie over the weekend and since many people I know have been raving about it, I'd like to share what I thought about the movie.

To my friends who swooned over this, I'm sorry, Brad Pitt just doesn't do it for me.   The movie to me felt like a long progression towards waiting for the caterpillar to metamorphose into a butterfly.  Everyone in the movie house seemed like they were waiting for the climax where Brad Pitt would emerge in his "Sexiest Man Alive" self.  So to me, the movie is a showcase of Brad Pitt's good looks. My film major friend told me that because Brad is a celebrity (no, he is THE celebrity), viewers just get starstruck by him.  It's very hard to see the acting behind the celebrity-hood.  Maybe if they casted somebody who is not type-casted as that good-looking, the movie would have connected with me more.

But surprise, surprise for Cate Blanchett.  I never realized how beautiful she was, especially with a warmer hair color.  She is no longer the pale, impassive Galadriel in my eyes.   

The movie is just a little under 3 hours and it did feel like it, especially with a full bladder (I shouldn't have drunk that much soda prior to the screening).   There were a lot of Forrest Gump moments too and I didn't really like the story about the man being struck by lightning 7 times.  It was a vain attempt to try to make the film light and funny, so again, sorry, it just didn't connect with me. 

Fortunately, the movie has a good plot,  thanks to the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I haven't read that piece and I'm pretty sure if I did, I would have been disappointed by the movie all the more.   Nonetheless, the story certainly is a curious case, and at least, the movie lived up to its title.

One or two lines in the movie struck me though, and I hope I remember them right:

"If you do not lose people, then you wouldn't know how important they are"

 and

"Life is measured by opportunities, even those that you miss"

The movie is still worth seeing especially for the visual effects.  I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars. 

Photo courtesy of Nylon Mag.

The Soundtrack of My Life

If somebody were to ask me today, what songs would make it to the soundtrack of my life, I'd be stumped.    Not to sound morbid, but I am trying to imagine myself in my death bed with my life flashing before my eyes.   Maybe I just watched too many movies, but I imagine that those scenes from my past would be played against a background of those great songs that I was able to identify with at certain points in my life.    

So what would those songs be?  It would be extremely difficult to select a dozen or so songs to make it to that album that will be played in my funeral.   

Choices, choices.  Maybe I ought to think about that later.  I do feel that I have a lot longer time to live anyway.  In the meantime, I ought to be thinking about the soundtrack of this blog.  

And what a no brainer that is.  Of course it has to be U2 and it has to LEMON.  

But wait, is that a good choice?  We all know that the song is about Bono's dead mom. (Hey, I am not fixated with death).  It's just mere coincidence.  I chose this song because of the title (isn't it obvious?) Besides, it's one of my favorite U2 songs. 

Here's theU2 live performance of Lemon in Sydney back in 1993 for you to appreciate.  Enjoy. :)