The Big And Hairy Creatures

Have you ever wondered how it's like to be a kid again? Have you totally lost that kid in you and somehow you want it back so bad that people around you are starting to think you're acting childish? "Where The Wild Things Are", a movie directed by Spike Jonze is definitely a movie you should never miss.

This movie was adapted from a children's book by Maurice Sendak. It is about a bratty 9-year old boy named Max who, if analyzed, is someone who longs for attention. A boy who seems to be looking for a playmate but he is a weird kid and nobody wants to be friends with him. He usually puts on his wolf suit, grab a fork and wrestle his dog. He plays snowball fights with his teenage neighbors and he would end up under a pile of snow that used to be his makeshift igloo. Until one day, he saw his mom having a romantic casual talk with a guy, who I presume is her new boyfriend. He became uncontrollably mad, bit his mother on the shoulder when she was trying to stop him, and finally managed to run away from home.

He sailed away to an island where big and hairy creatures live. He made up stories to make them believe he used to be a king and eventually convinced them by his witty innocence. He then found new friends from these wild creature. Soon enough, Alexander, one of the wild creatures realized that the child is just a regular creature and not a powerful one, like what he used to claim he was. Carol, the closest friend that the Max had among the wild creatures became enraged and tried to kill the him. Luckily, he was saved by another big hairy creature named KW. Max thought of what his mother was going through and decided to leave the island.

Things were made clear that a child would never understand how adults are like. Adults, however, know that their behavior is beyond a child's comprehension. We know better than they do and we should take into consideration how they think and feel when things go wrong. We need to help them understand even if they don't because eventually they would. These kids also have a say and we must learn how to listen.

Therefore, there would always be that "kid" in all of us and we'd soon realize that things may be complex but if we try to simplify all those then they won't be that complicated anymore. It's like saying that when things get tough, we tend to think too hard, trying to find logic in everything we do and soon we'd find ourselves drowned in depression. We need to try to think simply. Life may not be a playground full of fun, but we have a choice to make it like one. Indeed, it's a roller coaster ride but we just have to enjoy the ride.

Living Alone? Get A Pet.

How many of you have animals at home? What kinds of pet do you guys have? Have you had or do you have exotic animals living with you?

Most single individuals prefer living with a pet to maybe lessen the loneliness they feel. It's great when you see people like them treating their pets as their own kids. Recently, I met a new student who's 38 years old, single and living alone errr living with a rabbit. Sadly, I forgot the name of her rabbit. As far as I know, she got its name from a cheese they had during a party and it's French. Since then, I've always asked her how the rabbit is doing. What makes this rabbit interesting is that it's black. How many people would get a black rabbit as pet? I'm scared that I might step on it and accidentally kill it during a blackout.

There's also this friend of mine who owns a hedgehog named Herbie. She bought it online and even brought it at work. Some thought of it as cute and some, including me, thought it's cute but hard to cuddle because of the spiky skin. I do have two naughty dogs at home and they usually chase me around and bite the hem of my jeans when I get home.

No matter what kind of pet each of us have, they all have one thing in common and that is they're the most loyal friend we could ever have. Give them all the love you have and they'd give you twice the love you gave them.

How To Defuse A Bomb

Obviously, I'm not the best person to be asked on how to defend one's self from the ever continuing threat of terrorism. I'm clueless about what warfare truly is about. What I know is that this year's Oscar Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, is a story of a brave yet reckless young soldier who is an expert in defusing bombs.

Putting yourself in such a risky situation to save the lives of many is truly heroic. The main character is married and has a son. I can't even imagine someone like him would courageously put himself on the line even if he knows that his job could eventually blow him up. That's true courage right there. He may be an expert in that field, but no one can ever tell when a bomb would explode.

Film critics have said that it is a near-perfect movie. Though I think it's not an overwhelmingly great movie, but it's worth watching. Another inspiring war movie directed by a woman named Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron's ex-wife.

"I Can Think Of Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast."

"I can think of six impossible things before breakfast...."

-Alice Kingsley
Alice in Wonderland (Motion Picture, 2010)
Tim Burton

Alice Kingsley: This is impossible.
Mad Hatter: Only if you believe it is.

-Alice in Wonderland(Motion Picture, 2010)
Tim Burton

Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

-Alice in Wonderland(Motion Picture, 2010)
Tim Burton

Yesterday was a big day for me and my friend Carla for we got to watch one of the much awaited movies for 2010, Alice in Wonderland.

I was planning to watch the movie with my other friends. However, we were unsure when we'd be able to see it. I was hopeful that we could watch Alice by next week and it brought me such joy when Carla sent me a message inviting me for movie date with her yesterday. Of course, I wouldn't have said "yes" to it if it wasn't for free.

When we got to the movie house, we looked at the board for the schedule and we saw two cinemas showing the same movie, but one's in 3D. Need I say more which one we picked? The movie was scheduled to start at 2:10 and so we still had time to have some mango smoothie with frozen yogurt in it at Red Mango. It was my first time to try froyo. What a shame! It was such a refreshing treat in such a hot day.

And so it was time to see the movie, got something to eat and finally went in. We were greeted by the cinema staff and with him were the 3D glasses. Wow! It was overwhelming to finally hold and use 3D glasses. I felt like a kid once more when I put on those glasses as the movie started. I felt more of like Alice, being in Wonderland.

The graphics were like floating from the background and every scene was dream-like. Glad, I didn't find myself protecting myself from stuff, you'd thought would hit you during the movie caused by the 3D effect. At the end, I realized "Alice in Wonderland" was an entertaining movie but a forgettable one. It's still a must-see I should say and people of any age would definitely enjoy it.

Photo Stories for 2010

The Jukebox Queen

I was planning of making photo stories this May, but I can't seem to wait. Many things have happened and it'd be best if I share it with you, my dear reader.

First, it was Carla who invited me to drop by her office so I could show her the pictures of our past shoot for her online shop. While I was there, I tried her latest craving, Snowflakes, glazed corn cereal from Nestle. It was better than Honey Stars, another kind of cereal also from Nestle. While I was there, Carla started looking up into my music archive for new songs and in return, she copied some of her songs to my flash disk.

I didn't get to listen to the songs as soon as I got back to work. Instead, I tried listening to some of the songs two days later since I found some of them too slow and surely bored the hell out of me. I took the risk to play the rest of the songs and happily, I listened to Toby Lightman and Tristan Prettyman's music. That's how I came up with this first photo story. I wanted to show Carla how I enjoyed the two artists' music by taking some photos of myself with the headset on.

Life is short. Eat dessert first.

One thing I've learned over time is to make the most out of life. I took this literally this time and so when Arianne asked me if I wanted her to send me some dessert, I quickly said "YES". I'm no YES woman, but I try to be one.

I have such a sweet tooth and rejecting the offer would be a stupid mistake. It didn't take her much time to give me the dessert and for the first time, she saw where I work and how quiet it is in the office. Anyhow, it was a decent dessert from Starbucks after all. Not one of the best cakes I've ever tried but the thought that my friend, Arianne, dropped by just to give me dessert is the sweetest thing ever.

호두과자 (Walnut Snack)

It's unexplainable why all of a sudden I just crave for some 호두과자 (hodugwaja), a type of Korean cookie originating in Cheonan, South Korea. It is made by putting in a mixture of pounded walnuts with red bean paste in dough and baking. (wikipedia.org)

It was summer of 2008 when I first laid eyes on these babies. Daniel, from Korea brought some of these on our first team building activity in Bolinao, Pangasinan. Since then, I fell in love with its sweet taste, soft texture outside and crunchiness inside. It was heaven for me.

Now, I'm thinking how I can get some of those soon. I'm thinking of sending money to one of my friends there and asking her to buy some for me. All I need is to ask how much it is and give her some money to send those to me ASAP.

Love's Chicken ADUHHHHBO

If you ask a foreigner about what Filipino dish they're much familiar about, they'd definitely say Chicken or Pork Adobo.


One of the most famous Filipino dishes around the world, Chicken Adobo is our pride and glory.(Errr...it's just one we still have Manny Pacquiao.) As much as I want to share with you how to cook this sumptuous traditional Filipino food, I can't because I never cooked. However, thanks to Google. They've got plenty of Adobo recipes to choose from. But I opted to ask my friend for her own Chicken Adobo recipe.


She invited me and some of our highschool friends over at her place last Saturday for dinner since she prepared Adobo for us. She's very proud of her own recipe and so I couldn't wait to taste it myself. As expected, her Adobo didn't disappoint me and I have friends to back me up on this.


I'm more than proud and happy to share Love's Chicken ADUHHHBO recipe. Hope you all could try this at home. Feast on people!^^

LOVE'S CHICKEN AND PORK ADUHHHHBO

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork cut in cubes + 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces or
choice of either 1 kilo of pork or 1 kilo of chicken
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups of water
5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.
Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.
Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.

Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce(chicken and pork stock) to thicken.

Add salt and/or pepper if desired. Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Note: The chicken and pork stock mentioned above refers to the liquid when you boiled the chicken and pork in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Try not to add too much of it so it won't be like a soup dish. Pardon my terrible cooking instructions. I'm such a bad cook.^^