Quiz Night with #Bisdak friends

Last Tuesday night, the Bisdak peeps joined Quiz Night at 121 Allegro. It was a send-off/good luck thing for Mhealler who is taking the bar exams this month (starting this Sunday).

As usual, we placed somewhere at the bottom! But at least we didn’t end up last. It still amazes me how other people know about random things that don’t really give value to life in general. Haha. Don’t get me wrong though, I admire these people who are forever hungry for knowledge, no matter how small or random. I need to read more, watch more shows/movies, and perhaps study stuff that are of interest to me. I wish for the day when the Bisdaks will at least place within the top 3!

Here’s how the night turned out. We’ll do better next time!

You can join Quiz Nights at 121 Allegro every Tuesdays. It starts at around 9:30 PM, and ends at around 12 MN. There’s no entrance fee – but Quiz Nights are better with a few bottles of beer! Categories are random, but they’re mostly on the “sosyal” side – e.g., western music, movies, entertainment, tv…no wonder we lack knowledge in this department. Haha. But I’ve tried a Jologs (embarrassingly Pinoy) round once, but that was a long time ago! Still, this is good exercise for the brain, in a fun way! You can call them in advance to reserve a table at (02) 8560529. Hope to maybe see you there next time! 🙂

#NowWatching: Anime Series – Sept 2013

Because I promised myself to watch anime more regularly, I will be posting the ones I am watching on a monthly basis – also so that I can keep track of the ones I’ve finished, just for the hell of it. For this month, I only started on 3 – all of which are ongoing so I cannot tag them as complete just yet.

These are not anime reviews, so don’t expect me to talk about each anime in detail. 🙂

Gundam Unicorn

I was a big fan of Gundam Wings back in grade school. I remember rushing home every afternoon to catch the anime. I fell in love with the Gundams! I wanted to revive that feeling so I looked for the most recent Gundam installment and found this. At first, I thought the series was already complete only to realize that Episode 6 is not the final episode. Apparently, a new episode comes out every six months or so, so I will need to wait until next year for the next one! Dang, this one was such a cliffhanger.

Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a. Attack on Titan

A friend asked me if I’ve read the manga (which I haven’t obviously), and then I saw a fan-made poster of a “Live Action” version of this series so I was intrigued. I’m still on Episode 3 and as much as I want to continue watching, I need to sleep because I have work tomorrow! I just started this 2 hours ago and I couldn’t stop watching. I like the visuals, I like the gore, I like the how the story is developing so far – and I can’t wait for the action! Last time I felt this way about an anime was Claymore. I guess, they’re quite similar considering that they have human-eating monsters (in this case, Giants) as enemies. I’m looking forward to the next episodes!

Hunter X Hunter 2011

Hunter X Hunter is an old favorite back in grade school as well, but has been revived last 2011. I was excited about the revision, but I only started watching it last August. My pace is so slow, that I’m still at Episode 35 to date. Haha! Although the story is familiar, because it has been a long time ago, I’ve forgotten the details so I feel like I’m watching something new. I also can’t wait to get into the action because right now, I’m still at the Heaven’s Arena arc, which is a little boring. I miss the songs from the old version though – the songs from this new one sound old.

Those are it for now. I promise to watch even more anime in October. Hopefully catch up to the latest episodes of the above, and start new ones (or ones that I haven’t seen). It’s 5 AM now so I’m off to bed.

Oyasumi! ^^

Photo Credits: Attack on Titan / Gundam Unicorn / Hunter X Hunter

Of Moon Cakes and Dice Games

Last Wednesday, our team celebrated Moon Cake Festival during our monthly team meeting! Truth be told, this was my first time to celebrate and play the dice game! I wasn’t lucky enough to win the grand prize, but I was able to win some of the lower prizes.

We had to fill our tummies first, before we played the dice game. Amber’s pancit and pichi-pichi is a staple for office celebrations. Haha.

Look at all of those moon cakes! 🙂

There was a short presentation on the history of the moon cake festival but I wasn’t really paying attention because I was busy eating. I will have to look it up in Wikipedia later.

We started the dice game and everyone flocked around the table in a circle (literally a rectangle).

A lot of dice were cast, and prizes were won. Rules of the moon cake dice game can be found here. We had a simplified one though. Basically, you need to follow a certain pattern to win a prize. You have six dice that you need to throw inside a bowl (not one should jump out, lest you lose your turn). If you get one FOUR, you win the last prize (there are a lot of these). Two FOURs you win the next prize, three FOURS, four FOURS, 2 Three of a Kind, 4 of a kind, Straight 1 to 6 – you can actually make up your own rules if you want.

I didn’t get the top prize but I won these cute cups (I rolled two ONE FOURs and one TWO FOURS). Haha. It was a fun experience and I can’t wait for the next moon cake festival.

I hope the prizes next year are bigger and better! Apart from the prizes, the person who wins first place is believed to be lucky the whole year round. Now, who wouldn’t want that? 🙂

Urbandub – A New Tattoo

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo8EDe03rsQ]

I bought the new Urbandub album Esoteric because I missed listening to this great band from Cebu. The last two years of my college life had Urbandub songs playing in the background. Their songs spoke to me like no other. This song, was probably the one that hit me the most back then. And it still does now. Brings back memories and feelings I’ve long buried, but not forgotten.

I’ll bleed for you
Like a new tattoo in my heart
You’ll stay permanent.

Lyrics over here.

Feature image credits: AmberCatEyes

Siblings in Town!

Hey guys! I haven’t been posting lately because last week was a tough week at work, and this weekend, I was occupied with taking care of my visitors. My siblings were in town! I actually invited my entire family over, but for some reason, only two of my siblings (Aloha and Joshua) managed to come to Manila.

It was a stormy weekend, with non-stop rain…and add to that my car’s new issue (it overheats fast), we didn’t get to go out of town. We stayed in Makati instead and did a lot of shopping and eating!

Saturday had the worst rain. We initially wanted to go to Rockwell (since they haven’t been there), but when we got out of the house, rain poured like there’s no tomorrow. I made pancakes for them in the afternoon while my sister cleaned up my room (yay!), and my brother was playing games on the iPad (he’s as lazy as me). In the evening, we ended up having dinner at Oki Oki in A. Venue instead.

We stayed at home after, just watching TV, and doing sibling stuff like shouting at each other over little things. I missed this kind of noise.

The next day, the rain lifted a bit after lunch, so we went to Greenbelt to shop. My brother has been begging us to buy him new kicks from Nike. We searched all the Nike stores but they didn’t carry the ones he was looking for. We finally found the shoes he wanted at Urban Athlete in Greenbelt 3. My sister also bought a bag from. Adidas, and I bought a badminton racket. Kaching, kaching. I closed my eyes when they swiped my card.

Our feet were sore from all the walking, so we watched a movie, Riddick – and it was crappy. Waste of money!

For dinner, we ate at Pepper Lunch in GB5. Japanese again? At least this was not conventional Japanese. Hehe.

I look thin in this photo and I wish it were the same in reality. Sigh.

This is Aloha. She’s 3 years younger than me.

And this is Joshua, who hates having his photo taken (and 3 years younger than Aloha).

I ordered Salmon. It was good! In my mind, I heard it again – kaching, kaching!

Monday, I took a leave from work to spend time with them on their last day in Manila. We finally got the chance to go to Rockwell. We had dinner at Kulinarya Kitchen, which was quite good according to my tastebuds.

This was Joshua’s roasted beef. I loved the potatoes on the side, as well as the corn. The beef was so tender!

This was Aloha’s Blackened fish fillet over pasta…didn’t get to try it, but my sister says it was delicious!

I had Sage & Rosemary Porkchops with beer gravy (what, they got me at Beer). It was very flavorful! The pork chops weren’t as tender as the beef, but I enjoyed the taste.

We went to Happy Lemon after. Their first time to try Rock Salt and Cheese, but I don’t think it left that much of an impression on them. Haha. This was my sister’s treat by the way.

After we stuffed ourselves, Aloha wanted to watch Insidious: Chapter 2. Me and my brother HATE horror movies, but in the end, she managed to force us (by paying for our tickets…haha!), and I actually enjoyed the movie!

We went home, and at around 12 midnight, we got hungry and ordered Shakey’s Tropical Bacon pizza for delivery. My sister burned some KDrama on DVD for her to bring home to Cebu afterwards, while I watched TV. They started packing and preparing at around 2am since their flight is at 5:30. At around 3:30, I hailed a cab and bid good bye to my siblings!

Now that they are no longer in my room, I can finally enjoy the peace and quiet. But if I were to decide, I would have wanted them to stay longer. Now I’m home sick while writing this blog post. It’s too quiet! I did spend a lot this weekend, but I don’t regret it. I want to share my blessings with them. I want them to live the easy life, without worrying about anything, even if it’s just for a weekend. My sister’s working hard, while my brother is studying hard (I’d like to believe…haha) back in Cebu, so I wanted them to have a great time here, despite the storm. I hope they did, because I did enjoy their company.

We’re not the cheesy type of family, so expressing our appreciation to each other isn’t normal for us. I miss having my siblings around me. I got so used to it before I left for Manila to work, but I really wish I could come home each night to a noisy home where I can find my parents and my siblings. I miss the good old days. And I’m getting even more homesick so I am going to end this post here, and try to sleep before the sun rises.

Good mornight everyone! 🙂

Wild Ginger

Last Sunday, we wanted to eat out so we headed to Powerplant Mall in Rockwell to try a new restaurant. We spotted a neat Asian restaurant with nice interiors, so we decided to give it a try. The name of the place, Wild Ginger – The Southeast Asian Table.

I really like the ambiance of the place. It was peaceful and cozy, even though it felt like a marketplace outside.

The food is also quite good. I was transported back to my trips in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, with just the aroma of the dishes we ordered! It felt so nostalgic, I wanted to visit those countries again!

We only ordered three dishes, since there were only three of us. Haha.

The Pad Thai is not sweet compared to other Thai restaurants I’ve tried here in Manila. I wanted mine spicy, just like the one I tried on Khao San Road in Bangkok, so I poured chili powder all over it. Then it was perfect!

The Indonesian Beef Stew is also something I recommend! It’s so flavorful, you could consume 2 cups of rice with it. The sauce is very rich in both texture and flavor, you could end up licking your bowl upto the last drop. Haha. I’m kidding – it’s a little oily so you must have rice with it. Haha.

The last one we ordered, which I didn’t really enjoy because I hate Pesto, was Grilled Tuna with Asian Pesto. It came on the must-try list so we ordered it. We should’ve tried something else!

The place is reasonably priced at around 250 – 350 per order. So, if you want to try new food other than the usual Japanese, Chinese or Filipino cuisine, head on to Wild Ginger! They can be found at the lower ground floor of Powerplant Mall.

After eating, there was a Taho stand outside, which I thought was the perfect way to end the Asian dinner! 🙂

It’s a bit more pricey than the usual Taho (you’re in Rockwell after all) at 30 pesos, but it’s worth it!

I’m bad at food reviews but hey, no harm in trying. Haha! First of many food reviews in the future! XD

Chemistry – It Takes Two

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV7gYf2RkrQ]

The song that really got me hooked to JPOP back in 2002. Yes, I’ve heard Saigo no Iiwake and Sweet Soul Revue when I was 7 years old, but that was passing. I listened to a lot of Anime music, but that was because they were part of the anime experience. The first time I downloaded a song that’s not related to any anime, this song by Chemistry popped up, and I was brought to another world! I wanted to learn Japanese right away. I printed out lyrics to almost all of their songs (as of that time). I wanted to go to Japan, join the group, and we’ll be called “Chemis-three”! Haha. I was that crazy back then.

Right now, listening to this brings me back to my JPOP roots. I know I have fallen in love more with the music KPOP is churning out lately. I guess I need to start listening to my old Japanese music playlist and relive the golden days when Jek and JPOP were synonymous. XD

Lyrics over here.

2013.09.08 – Sunday with Bisdaks

Since I have been spending most of my free time with my teammates from work, I spent what’s left of my weekend with my Bisdak friends. I woke up at 1 PM and I invited my friends to play Badminton at the Zone. I have actually invited them several times before but they were too lazy. This time, they said yes – and off we went!

After 2 hours of badminton, we were drenched in sweat! I’m glad we got to spend the weekend exercising instead of getting fat…or so I thought!

Justin treated us to dinner and we ended at Kanin Club in Ayala Triangle. We ate like hungry pigs – good bye exercise from Badminton! This was followed by Gelato at Caramia!

We went back home and I fell asleep as soon as I got in my room. Weekend well spent!

#BPATeamBuilding2013 in Punta Fuego

Last Friday to Saturday, we had our teambuilding activity as One BP&A family at Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas.

The place had an amazing view that I regret not making the most out of it!

The activity started out a little boring (especially when we had to watch the webcast with slow connection). Things picked up when the team building games started. We were grouped into multi-function teams so that we get to bond with people outside our own groups. I made new acquaintances and friends through the games and group activities.

Sadly, I don’t have photos of the games! It was raining so I left my phone in my bag. I will try to post photos when I get copies of them from other people.

In the evening, we had a gala night full of music! Each team had to perform a song, and although we didn’t win, I was proud of my team because for most, if not all of them, it was their first time to perform/sing in public.

Here are some photos of the party:

After downing around 8 cans of Pale Pilsen, a glass of margarita and another glass of screwdriver, the party ended and we headed back to our rooms for more drinks. A bottle of Jack c/o Richard!

Now you know why I didn’t get to make the most out of the venue. I skipped the banana boat activity the next day because I woke up with a “slight” hangover.

After the closing ceremonies (our team didn’t place…but that’s OK), we headed back to Makati tired but happy. 🙂

G-DRAGON – 삐딱하게 (CROOKED)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKhsHGfrFmY]

This video just released a few minutes ago and I can’t stop hitting the replay button! I like this song – it sounds more Big Bang than G-Dragon! Good acting from G-Dragon in the video too. Yes, there are those times when the world seems to be against you. This is the perfect song for those moments!

Will you not say anything for me tonight?
I didn’t know being alone would be this hard (I miss you)
Will you be my friend tonight?
On this good day, this beautiful day, this day where I miss you
Tonight, I’ll be crooked