MnM - Out From Hiding

Beginning with the Weekender's wedding, the past couple of weeks have gone by in a flash. Considering my current state of employment (or the unfortunate lack thereof), it boggles my mind as to where the time goes that I cannot find the time to blog. Is it because I haven't had anything blog-worthy to share? Au contraire! There have been definite that's-going-in-my-blog moments, but the motivation factor to actually translate anything into written form has been severely lacking. And now at almost 1am in the morning, with eyes already heavy with sleep and a mind incapable of clear thought, I attempt to make contact with the blogging world (yes, all five of you loyal readers...) to assure you that yes, indeed, I am still alive.

That is, in case you were wondering.

In any case, here's the breakdown of some of the things that's happened, in no particular order or importance.


The Da Vinci Code You've seen the trailers. You've seen the commercials. Billboards everywhere are advertising the movie that is sure to be a blockbuster as well as the center of protest. You know what I'm talking about! The Da Vinci Code opens in theaters everywhere this Friday, May 19, 2006. I won't go into detail on how awesome I think this book is- I've already done that more than once. Instead, I just had to share that I received the hardcover, illustrated version of this Dan Brown novel as a Mother's Day gift! On a recent trip to B&N, my sister surprised me with it saying that it would be an early Mother's Day present and for the past week, all I've been doing with my free time is rereading it. I consider myself to be a very visual person and so I've been soaking up all of the illustrations of the beautiful pieces of artwork and architecture that I can only hope to see in person one day. Plus, it's one thing for me to mentally conjure up a visual of what the characters look like according to the descriptions in the book, but after seeing the trailers for the movie, I reread the story with Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in mind and it makes it all the more exciting! Though it took me a week to complete it, I read and relished the last page just a couple of hours ago. It was definitely a much better read the second time around and I anticipate the discussions on whether the book or the movie was better...although in my experience, the book has almost always been the better of the two. In any case, much thanks goes out to Ate for the awesome gift!


The Promise When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was so blown away at the beautiful cinematography that I immediately knew that it was a movie that I'd like to see. Although I didn't have any plans to see it, the opportunity to do so was happen stance and I got to see it with my aunt.

A few things about the film. One, it is in Mandarin with English subtitles. With so many scenic landscapes and whatnot, it was somewhat difficult to focus on reading. I found myself wanting to lose myself in the picturesque scenes, but of course, you have to follow along with what's going on. Two, the storytelling part of it is good, although in my opinion, the movie doesn't seem to flow as smoothly which leads me to think that if the movie was based on a book (is it?), the book would have definitely been better. Three, the movie poster should have included Nicholas Tse. I've always thought that it was sexy for guys to have that piece of hair hang over right over the eyes...and his does that very thing! Very anime-ish, but sexy nonetheless! Lol! Four, the story is really a love-square. Three guys in love with the same girl. Although there is only one who truly deserves her love, you can't help but feel the pain of the other two. Five, the cinematography steals the show. Six, the ending may confuse you. I don't know what it was, but as the credits were rolling, my aunt and I were semi-stumped as to what it all meant. Hey, if you watch it and the ending makes total sense to you, please enlighten me!

A quick side note: we watched "The Promise" at Stonestown Theaters, a theater that I had believed to be closed down a long time ago! That was a shock in itself, but as my auntie and I were leaving the theater, we noticed that there was an unusually huge crowd of Pilipinos exiting the doors. Considering that the theater was only showing two movies, this crowd of kababayans HAD to be watching the other one. It turns out that there is a Filipino comedy called "D'Lucky Ones!" Now I was totally trippin' because back in da day, there was a theater on Geneva Avenue called the Apollo which showed Filipino flicks...that theater closed down, became a place for Pentacostal worship, closed down again, was rebuilt and is currently a Walgreens. I just thought it was cool that a Filipino flick is actually out in the theaters here. I'm not sure how long it will show there, but if you're interested, go check it out! Who knows, maybe there'll be others and having Pinoy movies out and about won't be a thing of the past anymore.

Hollywood-esque Party

Not that I know what a Hollywood party would look and feel like...I can only assume from what I read in magazines or see on TV. But when my auntie was invited by a couple of friends to attend this "house party," imagine our surprise when the neighborhood we drove into happened to be lined up with million dollar homes with Mercedes, Jaguars, Escalades, and convertibles that I don't even know the names of in almost every driveway. Since we were on a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend invite, it was especially intimidating to see that the only other Pinoy in the house was the bartender. Eyes were definitely on us. Oh, I forgot to mention that there was a cover/donation fee at the door and it included all you can eat finger foods and free alcoholic beverages. Yup, it's like that. There was a DJ in what would seem like the living room- the major furniture had been moved and a dancefloor was put in the middle. Outside in the pool area, there was a live reggae/Carribbean band...of course, not complete without their little cannabis-smokin' friends. There were people who were casually dressed in jeans (as we were!) and those who were dressed in their very best hootchie-mama-hey-look-at-my-cleavage dresses. We dubbed the Paris Hiltons, Lindsay Lohans, and Britney Spears quite easily- it was like that! We stuck around for a while, taking advantage of the free-not-so-free food and rounds of alcohol, danced alongside the rhythmless nation of white folks (sorry- it's just not in your blood, people!), found a personal gym complete with numerous workout machines, flat screen tv with surround sound while looking for the loo, took a tour of his garage to oooh and aaah the owner's cars and motorcycles, and met some Peruvian dudes who were trying to hook up with my auntie who thought they were the sh*t. Rich, I'm sure, but the sh*t they weren't! Lol! Oh, by the way, the party was held by some rich white dude who was raising money for medical research...apparently he acquired this huge ass house the old fashioned way...from his parents!

In any case, while I'm sure there were many "prominent" business folk in attendance, CEO's and other richie rich, it was so NOT my scene. But hey, how many times will I ever get to "crash" a party like that again? It was fun!


Happy Graduation!

Last Sunday, BruthaMan graduated from Golden Gate University. Nevermind that his final paper has yet to be turned in, the ceremony and whole act of walking in your gown- a MASTER'S GOWN - is a major accomplishment that we are all proud to have seen him earn. Rewind to the few days before the actual grad and imagine him, my sis, and myself trying to figure out HOW EXACTLY to wear the robe and gown. I didn't know that there was a difference in undergrad and graduate robes! Let's just say that we even had to consult the internet for help- how sad are we?! But the day of, it was a great moment for everyone...as BruthaMan walked across that stage, my sis and the kiddies had just given him a rose lei, his brothers and myself were there cheering him on, and his mom sat with her hanky to her eyes. After three years, all the hard work has paid off- congratulations BruthaMan! I can only hope that my turn is not that far away! Rest up and rest easy now!