On A.C. and My First Restaurant Review!

Last week was my brother’s graduation. Congrats to him and all that. I scouted for a few restaurants where we can celebrate his achievement. Despite the fact that I virtually know the economical hotspots of Angeles City AND even though I did do a market analysis of Angeles City for its potential for business growth, I honestly was surprised at the sheer number of great restaurants popping all over the Metro. Angeles City is set to become Luzon’s center for commerce. This is all because of the new super highway being built where Angeles is right smack-dab in the middle and the opening and further development of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. Isn’t it obvious with all the new malls populating the vast landscapes of Clark, San Fernando and Nclex? Why, even the Ayalas have begun building an Ayala Mall in Angeles. Land Developments - both commercial and housing projects - are everywhere. Xevera, The Enclave, The Lakeshore, Angeles City and Pampanga in general has become a real estate developer’s dream nowadays. As this shift becomes more apparent A.C. will only continue to prosper and hold true to its title being "the heart of the north."

Anyway, before I get a whole lot further off topic, I picked a restaurant which has become famous for its amazing ambiance, menu and location. This restaurant, scenically situated at The Holiday Inn’s rooftop offered a Brazilian inspired motif with international fares. An award winning restaurant, Rodizio is a true dining experience. To get to the restaurant, you take an elevator straight to the top of the hotel. The moment you step in, you are welcomed by a stunning winery and bar (it’s the bottom picture). You take a short right turn and you’ll see the restaurant itself. The interiors are very beautiful. And the ambiance at night is wonderful. However, if you want to appreciate the view outside the deck, lunch time would be much better.

(click for a larger image)

Some say you can instantly tell the quality and taste of a restaurant’s dishes based on their house bread. And I think that is true. Rodizio’s house bread had a slightly crunchy exterior and the inside was warm and fragrant. It was lightly salted and had herbs ixed into it. It is definitely one of the best house breads I have ever tasted. The whole party partook of the restaurants meat and seafood buffet offering. Everyone started off with some chicken and mushroom soup which was delicious. You can taste the strong flavor of the mushroom, but it did not over power the chicken at all. Their salad bar was also very pleasing. All the vegetables were fresh and the dressing was amazing. The seafood portion of the buffet consisted of crabs, shrimps, mussels, and some Japanese dishes like sushi, maki, sashimi and more. I loved the seafood. One thing that was different was, everything was cold. My family was not used to eating shrimp or crab like that. It was still delicious though and the temperature only added a different dimension to the taste.

For the main course, each had the option of rice, mashed or baked potatoes for a side dish. I asked for mashed potatoes. It was okay, it needed a bit more salt and it was not as flavorful as I had hoped, but I didn’t want to be filling up on side dishes anyway, I was here for another purpose. LOL! After they served the side dishes, four waiters arrived carrying various grilled meats. One had two metal stakes with sausages (one chicken, one pork) impaled on them. Another had chicken teriyaki, another had pork ribs and another had flank steak. Each waiter passed by each plate and placed a portion of what they were carrying. In no time at all, my plate was already overflowing with all the different kinds of meat. Let’s analyze them one by one, shall we? LOL! The sausage, was too salty. I did not care for that at all. The chicken teriyaki was divine, tender and succulent, and the flavor was perfect. The ribs was good, nothing exceptional. The steak was very tasty, but a little tough.

As everyone fell silent while enjoying their meals, waiters would constantly come back to check on our side dishes and meats, just in case we wanted more. You see, in Rodizio, they had this small wooden block (you can see it in one of the pictures) that’s color green on one end, and red on the other. I was told that as long as the green part was on top, the waiters will just keep on serving you meat. If you’ve had enough, just turn it over so that the red part is on top.

On to the final course, dessert. The buffet was complete with its own dessert station. It had a chocolate fondue fountain, crème brulee, fruit slices and a myriad of cakes. I didn’t know where to start, but thanks to my sweet-toothed sister, I tried the fondue first. From marshmallows, to strawberries, to small butter scotch brownies, we bathed them chocolate fountain. Very good…need I say more… From the cakes, we took slices of the chocolate cake, the blueberry cheesecake and the mango chiffon cake. I didn’t like the chocolate cake and the mango chiffon was unimpressive, but the cheesecake…The cheesecake was so dense that it almost had the texture of a pound cake. It was not too sweet and the blueberry on top was the best compliment. It was the best cheesecake I have ever tasted... Ever! And finally, we managed to find some room for a bit of the crème brulee. It was a bit too rich for me and the caramelized sugar on top was nonexistent.

All in all, Rodizio was everything I heard it was and more. The wait staff was pleasant and accommodating, the ambience was perfect and the food is delectable. It completely surpassed my expectations. So, for all you out-of-towners visiting Angeles City, be sure to visit Rodizio at the Holiday Inn.

A Horrific Downpour

It’s finally raining. It has poured non-stop over our roof since last night. It came late, but finally the rainy season has come. I was afraid we're going to experience a full blown drought. Maybe all my concerns were fueled by the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which I bet most of you, had already heard of. It’s about the adverse effects our excessive waste and over consumption of natural resources are doing to the Earth. These effects are also known as Global Warming. According to Al Gore (presenter in the film) we only have less than ten years in order to change the imminent outcome of our excessive and wasteful ways. Signs are everywhere: drought, floods, heat waves (like what we are experiencing) and the cracking of the great glaciers. If we do not change, our children, and their children will suffer for our mistakes…

It scared the crap out of me! I knew we had to conserve, to save energy and keep our environment clean and green. But I didn’t think we were this far gone. It’s really terrifying to think that we have done this to the one place we ALL call home. Preachy isn’t it? I thought so too. It seems false, exaggerated and straight out of an apocalyptic science fiction movie. Unfortunately, it was factual, undeniable, and forthcoming. We, at home try our best to help stop contributing to the problem. We’ve been using compact fluorescent light bulbs, keeping our air conditioning filters clean, using less energy and recycling. I just hope everyone changes their habits before it’s too late.

Too serious? I know it is… I just had to get it out there.

Anyway, on to my brand of scariness! Which is blood-splattering, gut disemboweling, and limb chopping gore extravaganzas!!! (that sentence was so good, it needed two more exclamation points!). Horror was the name, movie marathon was the game. With a big tumbler overflowing with soda, a huge bowl of popcorn, a bag of Ruffles, a remote control (to replay any porn-like or extreme gore scene!), and a huge pillow (to cover my eyes if I get too scared…as if!) at hand, I was ready to strain my eyes with all the fright it can handle. Ladies and gents, here’s the list of my Terror Torrent Trip: The Hills Have Eyes 2 (the first one was better), Hostel Part: 2 (Gore fest! Awesome!), Turistas (sucked!), The Descent (excellent!), Disturbia (so real, it’s scary!), Vacancy (well done!), The Reaping (what a waste!), Them (skillfully scary!) and Severance (funny and horrifying!). More than FIFTEEN hours of non-stop fright! I love it! It’s one of the best things I could have done during this very rainy day, when most of us do nothing but sleep.

If you know of any horror flick I have yet to watch but should watch, tell me or better yet, challenge me not to finish it! I have yet to watch a horror film and not be able to finish it. Mwahahaha!

On to other news, one of my favorite directors of all time is actually in the Philippines! Quentin Tarantino, director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Hostel, Kill Bill and Grindhouse, is here to receive a lifetime achievement award from the 9^th Cinemanila International Film Festival. He has been an ardent supporter of independent filmmakers and Asian cinema. There will also be a showing of all of his movies. I hope it will be open to the public, because if it is, I will definitely not miss that chance!

Anyway, I’ve put up another review in my blog, inFLICKted. It’s about the movie Sunshine, a good Sci-Fi thriller without lightsabers and aliens. Please try to visit and link me up too! I’ll transfer my reviews of Harry Potter 5 and Transformers there soon.

inFLICKted

Freedom Writers, Alpha Dog, Stomp the Yard, The Hitcher, Catch and Release, Music and Lyrics, Bridge to Terabithia, Zodiac, Premonition, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Hostel 2, Disturbia, In the land of Women, Spider Man 3, The Ex, Shrek The Third, TNMT, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End, 300, Ocean’s Thirteen, Die Hard 4.0 and Transformers. These are just a few of the movies (which received a wide international release) I’ve seen this year. Definitely, it is shaping up to be a great year for movies. I think it’s much better than last year, but 2006 had brilliant offerings (Thank You For Smoking, V for Vendetta, Little Miss Sunshine, The Descent, The Queen, The Departed, Babel, Stranger than Fiction and Pan’s Labyrinth to name a few).

I’m a self-proclaimed movie buff. I watch whatever I feel watching. Whatever reviews it got, if it interests me, with all certainty, I will watch it. In order to repay an industry that has provided me with great entertainment through out the years, I try to watch via the silver screen. As much as I want to continue my support by buying original DVD copies, the steep price (when calculating the vast number of movies I love and its current price) cannot be shouldered by my limited fiscal resources. But not having an original DVD collection of movies will not deter me from enjoying them. I love analyzing films, breaking them down to get into its deeper essence. On the other hand, just watching the flick and not thinking of its logic or symbolism is also a great experience.

That is why, I have been thinking lately of setting up A SEPARATE BLOG just for my movie reviews. This is to prevent myself from flooding this blog with rants and raves. Movies have taken over my current disposition. I am compelled, engrossed, and obsessed. I am INFLICKTED. And now, I am inviting all other bloggers who are as inflickted as I am, to be a reviewer in my future blog. Do not hold back, everyone’s opinions matter. That’s the reason why I’m inviting other bloggers; my own opinion cannot accurately reflect those of others.

A movie review seems to me, a fitting ending...hehe...

It is the fifth installment of the very popular children’s book which can’t seen to keep itself from further diving into an even darker, scarier storyline. It is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

This year, Harry is looking manlier, Hermione is lovelier than ever and Ron doesn’t look like the Weasley he once was. Unfortunately, that’s about all that I can say for Mr. Potter’s closest friends because they were nothing but cheerleaders in this movie despite the fact that in the book they have a major conflict with the hero.

Luna Lovegood casting the Patronas Charm

This was also the shortest among all of the HP movies (only 138 minutes), however, the 5^th book, where the movie is based from is considered the longest (870 pages) of J.K Rowling’s novels which just doesn’t make sense. Which brings me to its new director David Yates, and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg. The screenplay of the 5^th book is faithful to the main story, even to the text found in the book. But to be sure, MUCH is lost. It was fast paced, and not the good kind. It felt like being fed handfuls of information without getting the chance to properly digest it, even more so if you haven’t seen or read previous installments. Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell definitely did a better job with the previous two movies.

Inquisitor Umbridge fires Professor Trelawney and Professor McGonagall comforts her.

The continuous visions and dream sequences can be a bit tedious. This is the only movie among the five that can’t stand on its own because of the several references to previous movies. This movie also crammed so many characters that a lot of the good ones were reduced to nothing but cameos. I have the greatest fondness for British actors. Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Jason Isaac, David Thewlis and the astonishing Emma Thompson are great British actors which barely had the time of day in this movie. In contrast, Alan Rickman and Imelda Stauton made lasting impressions. One criticism to Stauton’s character, Dolores Umbridge, way too much footage was given to her character. She quickly wears out her welcome because she literally takes the magic away from the magic school and her villainy takes away the dread of the impeding attack of Voldemort. Plus, when she finally gets what she deserves, it seemed as if it wasn’t enough. But, that’s just me.

Don't think I forgot about that wet kiss!

HP 5 isn’t all bad, the newcomers were excellent. Dolores Umbridge, the fascist fully clad in pink is the type of villain you can’t help but love and hate at the same time. Luna Lovegood the empathic classmate of Harry was a refreshing personality to the ensemble. Bellatrix Lestrange, a promising new villain with an underlying sadism (Helena Bonham Carter was perfect for the Role!). Action scenes were plenty, but the only outstanding scenes was the battle between the good and the bad side and of course Dumbledore and Voldemort's bout. But I wanted to hear some of the spells from the book rather than just a bunch of sparks shooting out of their wands. Even the scenes I liked still needed work.

All in all, the movie felt like 70% talk and talk and talk and only 30% action. I actually couldn’t wait till He-Who-Must-Be-Named appeared for the battle. That last part was the only portion of the movie that actually had me spellbound. The latest installment had lots of special effects. Sadly, the magic from the previous movies cannot be felt in this one.

Top 10 most jologs Songs that we used to like back in High School

…But we hate admitting we used to like them these days, haha! I must say, this countdown was painful to us – to our eyes and ears most especially. Reminiscing the videos of these on Youtube hurt because we can’t accept that we were that jologs to fall for these jologs musical acts, haha! What the hell were we thinking?! The only positive realization we have after this activity is we are assured that our taste have matured and improved.

This collaboration will be talked about throughout the blogging nation! This is Jigs and Rex and here is our combined hitlist of the most cringe-worthy songs ever! At least for us two. Hehe! In increasing order of jologsness…

10. AQUA - Doctor Jones

Jigs: I chose this because nowadays, no one makes songs as cheery as this

Rex: I object! There's Kim Chiu with her Kering-Keri.. hehe! With matching long and shiny hair pa!

Jigs: Gawd, please don’t compare the song to some second rate jingle!

Rex: Oh, so you mean Dr Jones is a first rate single?

Jigs: Yeah, it is a single! And it WAS popular then.

Rex: Sabagay. But watching the video is like watching Knorr’s Sinabawang Gulay, haha! But at least the male members sing / rap. They're not just decorations. It's one of those videos that I would watch when I am channel surfing, just to see how amusingly silly the ending is, haha!

Jigs: Pero that's the point nga! They were intentionally silly. It's completely a fun and mindless song which requires no further analysis.

Rex: Ok, fine whatever. It's still jologs.

9. B*WITCHED - C'est La Vie

Rex: Ah, the song that launched B*Witched pop career. The thing is, it's too, hmm, bubblegummy! The video is full of flowers, butterflies, clouds. Not to mention the stupid lyrics that have no connection at all to the meaningful French phrase.

Jigs: Haha! I agree! Did you notice that as they were dancing and stomping around the flower bed, hindi nasisira yung mga flowers?

Rex: Oo nga! Pobreng mga bulaklak! May pa-slow-motion high jump pa silang nalalaman!

Jigs: Tapos it was akward hearing their one liners (that doesn't really belong in the song), between the chorus and the stanzas. Their choreography sucks too and that damn dog had no business being there.

Rex: Actually, I think the choreo showed their potential as dancers. Their stomping had to do with their Irish lineage. You know, tap-dancing is big there. Tapos, they're fighting over this guy who isn't worth the bother!

Jigs: Whatever, jologs is jologs to me. Next song!

8. S CLUB 7 - Bring It All Back

Jigs: I never liked this group. Ang dami nila, and if each of them were to sing on one song, at most, each of them would get two lines. All of them are glorified back-up dancers.

Rex: Oo nga, no? As if 5 isn't too big for a boyband, they had to get 7, haha! But actually, the girls get the lead vocals most of the time. It's the boys who are the glorified backup dancers.

Jigs: Natatawa ako sa efforts nila to let the guys sing by letting them scream a line at the background.

Rex: Pero in fairness, the dance routine on this one is danceable for me, nag-mamatch naman sa hopeful message of the song. Yun nga lang, masyadong err, jolly?

Jigs: I think, kaya 7 sila, is to compensate for the lack of voice talent and focus on dance talent.

Rex: Pero bilib din ako kasi sa British culture, hindi baduy ang pinang-gagagawa nila. I mean, it's okay for boys to dance like this. Dito sa atin, aynako! Sigurado, tatawagin kang bakla, haha! Hanggang pagiling-giling lang ala macho dancer ang pwedeng gawin ng mga pseudo singer-hunks, tulad ng Cover Boys ng ASAP..

Jigs: I have one more criticism, The video seemed like a video compilation of a vacation and barely passes as a music video. For me at least.

Rex: Actually, snippets yun of a TV show they had in the UK .

Jigs: Ahh, so they're supposed to ba actors now huh?! Maybe they should just stick to that and leave the singing to the professionals, they just look so jologs.

7. 911 - Love Sensation

Rex: (sings) "Don't go changing, rearranging".. Haha! Pweh!

Jigs: Haha! Oo nga, they had to add science (chemistry) into the lyrics! I also hate the video for this song! It's just like a carnival vacation video compilation! And what's with the breakdancing?!

Rex: This is featured in Casper the movie, right? Walang connection between the movie and the carnivals in the video. And I don't think this is one of 911's more bearable pop releases..

Jigs: Haha! I was just thinking that! I also got from a credible source that the lead singer was on Prozac while doing this video, which explains his unusual merry self. Haha! Kidding!

Rex: And considering that 911 is a boyband that's supposed to make kilig the teenage girls, only the lead vocalist looks like a boy. The other two look like backup dancers, haha! Mukhang uncle ng lead vocalist! Mga uncles na jologs!

6. STEPS - 5,6,7,8

Jigs: Okay, before we begin, my taste in music cannot be held under scrutiny because of this song, I was young then and didn’t know better.

Rex: Haha! Only if you won't judge me for tolerating boy bands. Anyway, paulit-ulit lang naman lyrics ng kanta eh! Well, mayroon rin palang pseudo-rapping on the side yung isang male member, habang patango-tango naman yung isa.

Jigs: I won’t even call it rapping! Not even pseudo! He wasn't rapping as much as he was reciting words which rhymed but made no sense at all! Once again, another group where most of the members were useless.

Rex: You betcha. I thought they were like Aqua, but it turned out Steps can sing ballads, or rather, the girls of Steps, haha!

Jigs: It's a song I would consider a novelty song, with “Steps” (pun intended) you have to do and a chorus that is catchy till you really listen to the whole song and finally realize, "hey, this song is actually jologs..."

Rex: It's supposed to be techno dance song. But Steps' dance routing in this video is so corny and jologs! It borders more on cheerdancing than club dancing!

Want to know the rest of the top ten? Click HERE

10 Kinds Of Awesome

I told myself I wasn’t going to do this but I just can’t help it. Damn me, along with all the bloggers who will be giving their two cents regarding the awesomest movie for 2007! So far anyway. I know Harry Potter won't surpass it, but I’m still waiting to watch Across The Universe, maybe around September. So, what is this movie which deserves several forms of amazement? Don’t you already know?! Duh! It’s TRANSFORMERS! Why is it so awesome you ask? Then let me enumerate…

1) It’s the first awesome live action movie for the franchise and Asia gets to see it first! Cartoons, toys and comics are all well and good, but isn’t seeing Optimus Prime transform from a truck into his full realistic robotic glory worth the price of admission alone?!

2) It was nostalgically awesome! Growing up watching the animated series, playing with the toys and even getting my hands on a couple of the comics, it felt amazing reliving the past and remember what Cybertron was or who are the Autobots and the Decepticons. This movie is like a rallying cry to your inner child. I found myself rooting for the Autobots every time (I never root for the hero. Haha!)! Transformers is a childhood classic come to life. Thank God movies can still make me feel this excited. For the kids and teenagers today, to whom the Transformers are now entirely new, this will be without a doubt the greatest movie they have ever seen.

3) Michael Bay is awesome! At first, I really didn’t expect to like it. I didn’t know how Michael Bay was going to treat the movie, because he admitted that he wasn’t a fan. But I was wrong to doubt. It's Michael Bay's best movie since The Rock. Bay used every arsenal he had in order to fully capture the action from the wreckage Optimus Prime and Megatron left in their wake. Transformers bears the Michael Bay seal of approval, which means it oozes with wild, over-the-top, in-your-face action!

4) Speaking of action, it was, of course, AWESOME! Michael Bay couldn’t wait to give us a taste of what’s to come! All I could say after the first action scene was…DAMN! Humans got no chance against that sound wave like weapon (EMP? But why does it destroy everything in its path?)! Cars fly through the air, explosions boom at high decibels, roads crumble, Helicopters crash and gargantuan transformers gyrate their gymnastics as they miraculously change their form. The film is one giant spectacle with considerable entertainment value.

5) CG and Cinematography takes the cake at awesomeness. Without CG, this movie would be nothing! Seeing those transformations never gets old! Plus, they added the transformation sound! The sheer realistic look of the robots and great attention to detail are the factors that took the movie from dorkiness to a cinematic adventure. But I do think that the flames on Prime, unnecessary. Haha! Cinematography completed the overall feel and makes you believe in everything about the Transformers World!

Okay, don't tell me nobody else can see them?! (Click to enlarge)

6) The Human Factor was awesome! In the cartoons and comics, human interaction is greatly minimized or none at all. The robots’ interaction with humans give them more personality and depth. Shia LaBeouf is a natural at comedy, Megan Fox was a little more than eye candy and John Turturro was entertaining and irritating at the same time. Personally, my favorite was that bling-wearing, drug addict Chihuahua, Mojo!

7) It was a genre-mashed awesomeness. Comedy, Drama, Suspense, Sci-Fi and Action, Transformers can be argued as a complete emotional rollercoaster.

8) Awesome Script. It’s just what you come to expect out of writers who are big fans of the franchise itself. With Steven Spielberg at the helm as a producer, you get a script that’s so nerdy that you can’t help but love.

9) Sequels are awesome! There are already two sequels lined up to follow the obvious success of Transformers. I hope Michael Bay is still the future director. The producers plan to introduce The Dinobots and The Constructicons! Coolness!

10) Fun is synonymous to...AWESOME! This movie is the best fun I’ve had at the movies for the entire year! This is one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably a whole lot of fun! I’d definitely watch it again and again! Even if it is 140 minutes long! Every second is worth it!

As you can’t see, I didn’t enjoy the movie THAT much. Haha! It was really, as I’ve used the word multiple times, AWESOME. This is a movie which requires little thinking. Just sit back and enjoy every bit of the movie. If you watch it objectively and point out is flaws and criticize the script, then you won’t enjoy this movie that much (this is what happened to my brother, Haha!). I too had minor criticisms but nothing that would prevent me from enjoying this nostalgic adventure! Just soak in the awesomeness of this movie and enjoy it for all its worth. It’s more than meets the eye. You know I just had to add that last line!

In one line, my overall review for this movie is POPCORN-STOPPING. It is one of the few movies that would actually make me stop eating my bag of popcorn due to pure amazement.

Starting with this post, I will try and answer your comments (if they need answering). I never really checked my Haloscan. I didn’t know I could respond to your comments using it! Hahaha!