Bon Chon Switches On The Fun For Switch!

.:Because Improvisers Need To Eat, Too!:.
So there we were, at my house, last weekend, hankering for some good food in the middle of both a Switch Improv meeting/rehearsal for the group, and a few minutes into the session, it occurred to us to have something delivered. Now, this is no secret to anyone who knows me, but I went straightaway to asking for Bon Chon delivery (They were part of one of the 8Lists I ghostwrote last week, after all.) from 633-18-18.


And like a boss, guess who showed up at our doorstep momentarily after?

An eyepatch was the only thing that could make him look even more bad-ass.

It didn't really take much for us to get going with the food. Thighs and drumsticks, both mixed and matched, of course, my favorite Calamares, Iced Tea, and even a generous heaping of both Beef and Chicken Bulgogi. Overall, you couldn't have asked for much more for a delivery meant for just four people, really.

Looks inviting, doesn't it?

It was just me, Jona, and my brother at this point, so we were waiting for a couple other Switch members to show up, but only Xandre did. Xandre, being the way he really is, actually ended up eating the food before anyone else did. This is considering we kinda waited for him for a couple of hours, but that's Xandre for you.

"That chicken was only sixteen! She was only sixteen! Not many people know that."  - Michael Caine

Needless to say, a good time was had by all, and it's hard to disagree with the satisfied faces all of us had while we were eating our food, right?

Except me, since I was holding the camera.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad that Bon Chon delivers. It was perfect for the Switch meeting, and a great way to fuel the insane improv goodness that you've come to expect from us. But yes, even improvisers have to eat, too, so here we are, showing you exactly what we like to have during our downtime. No joke: we do have Bon Chon a lot to before our shows in The Fort, in case you've been wondering.

I'm sure anyone out there who wants good food delivered at their doorstep could do worse than availing of Bon Chon. They deliver all over the Metro, and they're pretty prompt about it. We at Switch wholeheartedly are fans of Bon Chon. :D

So. February 14 Again.

.:Single Awareness Day!:.

My opinion of the day hasn't changed much, if at all. A promise of someone "making up" apparently was a promise ill-made, and I ended up spending most of the day in the loving arms of a good steak from Tender Bob's.

Served to me by a guy ALSO named Bob...

So I guess there's that, at least? Never been a fan of the occasion, and let's face it: the world would be a far, far better place without it, so nah, don't bother asking me how mine is turning out. Could be better, but could have also been worse, so I guess let me just relish the steak, maybe?

And here I thought I'd have you in my ear the whole day...

No, You Idiots. This Isn't Racist. At All.

.:Are You Serious?!?:.

So apparently, this following segment is "racist":

Seriously?!?

Now, first, a backgrounder: KFC in the Philippines had this brilliant idea of moving the cheese from the middle of the sandwich to the top, and decided to call it a day afterwards. It was stupid, and no matter how great it would have tasted, you can be sure that whether the cheese was, it would have tasted exactly the same way.

I mean, it's not even practical. The whole point of having two buns is so your hands would stay clean while you get to the meat and cheese of your standard burger. Putting the cheese on top of the sandwich kinda misses the point, and actually makes it functionally worse than the run-of-the-mill cheeseburger.

So Jimmy Kimmel beat Bubble Gang to the punch, and poked fun at the Cheese Top Burger with a spoof commercial, pointing out what all of us already knew: it was a patently ridiculous idea. The way they made the commercial even seemed to get a certain style for commercials that's distinctly Filipino, especially since the real KFC Commercial is nothing like the spoof.

Pretty clever, pretty comedic, right? He made a pretty funny joke at the expense of the burger, and even managed to give an inadvertent shout-out to the Philippines, since apparently,the Cheese Top Burger is available only in the Philippines. I seriously though that like the Double Down, it was something that came from America, too. Apparently not.

And then this happened...

Innovation? Really?

What is it about more than a few Filipinos that just makes them so butthurt about the silliest of things? I can go through a shopping list of issues that we've cried racism about, and more often than not, they're actually not examples of racism. Desperate Housewives. Alec Baldwin on David Letterman. Conan O'Brien. Chip Tsao. And yes, even BaYo.

Sure, people are free to feel offended if that's their inclination. We can't really stop them. But just like the people railing against the word "niggardly" without realizing that it's not even a racial slur, it gets exasperating sometimes.

So exasperating, you guys!

Incidentally, Kimmel's old partner from "The Man Show," Adam Carolla, actually had a serious racially charged issue a couple of years ago. The difference was that he clearly took a shot at Filipinos and right or wrong as he may be, it was definitely racially charged. In contrast, Kimmel was poking fun at a burger, not even hardly representative of what it means to be a Filipino.

Sometimes, I wonder what's wrong with these people, really. How is a joke about a burger, that just so happened to be Filipino, being racist? At no point was the defining trait of the Cheese Top Burger the fact that it was made by Filipinos: it was just a matter of fact. At no point did Kimmel even call Filipinos "stupid" or "weird" or anything along those lines, while poking fun at the burger. All the way, the jokes were directed at whoever made the Cheese Top Burger. Hades, we didn't even get a "WTF, Philippines?!?" the way I'm sure we would've told Japan if they came up with this.

.:Just Imagine...:.

Can you even imagine what went on during the meeting where they came up with this?

Employee: Hey, boss! I have an awesome idea for a new item on the menu!

Boss: Really? What is it?

Employee: Let's make a cheeseburger, except the cheese is on top of the bun!

Boss: That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Are you drinking on the job again?

Employee: No, sir. I'm actually on weed. Also, I'm serious about this! It will be amazing!

Boss: Let's pretend I didn't hear you admit that you're toking while on the job. How is it even going to taste any different? The burger will taste exactly the same wherever you place the cheese! Do you even know anything about the food business at all?!?

Employee: Boss, I may not know a thing about the food business, but I know a few other things that might interest you.

Boss: What the hell are you talking about?!?

Employee: Well, I know where the condo of your mistress is. I also know the number of your wife. I'm sure she'd be very interested in what I have to say if you turn my idea down.

Boss: Well, I admit that I might have been a little bit hasty. This idea of yours is actually the best idea ever! We will begin production of this burger with the cheese on top. Immediately!

Employee: I'm glad you and I have come to understanding, boss.

Yeah, I think that's the only logical way the meeting for this would've turned out.

.:But Maybe Instead Of A Cheese Top Burger, We Could Have...:.

A Chiz Top Burger?

Or anything else, really?

Or better yet, maybe we could just have a good ol' burger and pretend this stupid idea never happened? This is one time I seriously hope nobody buys the damned thing out of curiosity: it is literally not going to be any different from a regular cheeseburger, and if this is their attempt at making me forget that the Double Down is now a thing of the past, I am truly disappoint.

This Is How I Bon Chon!

.:This Is How I Bon Chon!:.

Ever since Denise introduced me to the wonders of Bon Chon chicken, I’ve been hooked, always making it a point to grab a two-thigh meal with large iced tea whenever a branch without a snaking line was within reach. With branches in Katipunan (Where I live.), Makati (Where I work.), and even The Fort (Where I *used* to work.), there didn’t really seem to be a problem for me in that department. Ask anybody: I was a fan, and it showed.

So imagine my excitement when I was cordially invited by Bon Chon to their blogger’s day, which wasn’t just an excuse to stuff us with enough chicken until Sunday, but to even let us know that they now have Ko-Yo, that is, Korean Frozen yogurt, on top of their already delectable menu. I don't think I could have contained my excitement at all if I tried. 

Food so good, even the ketchup brings on the smiles!

So yeah, it was a great time, as I met some old blogger friends who also appreciate Bon Chon chicken. It was quite the reunion, to say the least, and the sumptuous feast we had to stare down that entire afternoon. We even had a nice lesson on how to best enjoy chicken wings, for that matter! From now on, I will no longer fear chicken wings because I found a simple and painless way of going at them.

After all the amazing chicken and the delectable calamari (My new favourite item!!!), we finally got to try out their Ko-Yo, and let me just say it was wonderful! At 70 bucks a pop, it really satisfied my craving for yogurt, since for quite a while, I almost had Fro-Yo from different places on a daily basis, all of them decidedly more expensive than Ko-Yo.

Pictured: a happy Bon Chonner! Can we call people that?

Well, after everything has been said and done, I couldn’t eat another bite. Bon Chon just gave us bloggers an amazing experience not just because they had great food (I’ve been eating there long before, after all.), but even the slice of life stories we had with the owners as they introduced us to the origins of Bon Chon. It was just such a casual moment that the whole thing took me back to 2007, back in the day when we were doing events for our blogs, not doing blogs to get to events. It was just a great time all around.

So yeah, Bon Chon has a lot of branches all over the metro, and even a branch in Visayas and another in Mindanao soon to open.

Project 52 (12/52): Why The Magnum Launch Worked (Despite All The Backlash)

.:Project 52 (12/52): Why The Magnum Launch Worked (Despite All The Backlash):.

Not that Magnum. That wouldn’t be a launch. That’d be an explosion.

Sometime last week, Selecta’s premium ice cream brand, Magnum, officially launched in the Philippines, albeit there were already stocks of the product available in most convenience stores and supermarket. At 55 pesos per helping, it’s not that expensive, but it certainly isn’t cheap when you compare it to other offerings in the freezer.

It feels like all the hipsters crawled out of the woodwork when they started selling Magnum here. It’s like everyone just wanted to say that they knew about it even before it got to the Philippines. That’s nice, really. Maybe they think it makes them special or something to eat some kind of ice cream before everyone else did.

They feel like royalty, I guess?

The best way to kill a bad product is to advertise the Hades out of it. That’s also the best way to boost a good product. Given how successful Magnum is, regardless of our opinions on the brand or how pretentious the diehard advocates of the brand come off to us, there’s no question that on this criteria alone, Magnum is definitely a good product. Personally, I actually like it. I’m a sucker for Belgian chocolate, and have fond memories of Mr. Donut ensnaring me with their offering back in the day.

The launch was crazy, to say the least. It was a star-studded affair, featuring the endorsers of Magnum, such as Solenn, Raymond Gutierrez, Rajo Laurel, Erwan, and Liz Uy, and even some top stars from all the networks, such as Kim Chiu, Rhian Ramos, and Aljur Abrenica. I just found myself mystified at how much effort Selecta put into making sure the event would succeed, and it was pretty clear that they were going to reap the benefits, even if there was, to me, one very sore spot about the whole campaign...

Hey, kids starving on the street! Hindi daw kayo COOL!

If you like Magnum, cool. If you don’t like it, cool. Ruffa Gutierrez, in all her infinite wisdom, decided to put down everyone who didn’t care about the product, and boy, did she reap the backlash for this comment. Privilege and the ignorance borne from it, here we go again!

I mean, really. Magnum’s a great brand, but it’s not in any way life-changing. Seriously. To put that much stock in it, to put that much emphasis on it, is just ridiculous, and let’s face it, Ruffa Gutierrez isn’t exactly the paragon of sensitivity, either. With people riding the wave of hate and calling Magnum “overrated” and “overpriced pinipig crunch,” and “the social climber’s ice cream,” there was a bit of anti-rich, anti-privilege sentiment there that bubbled to the surface.

Then again, at 55 bucks a pop, it really shouldn’t be that much of a social status symbol, should it?

Yet despite all of these mishaps, Selecta has a winner on their hands. While some might say they have a winner because of their marketing campaign, I would actually have to say, in large thanks to Ruffa Gutierrez, they have a winner despite their marketing campaign. A good product simply can meet only so much backfire before it edges out on its own merits.

Some Simple Pleasures...

.:Some Of Life's Simple Pleasures...

Olympic energy!

In general, I avoid fastfood ever since I went on a minor health kick. It normally takes some extraordinary thing or another for me to end up dropping in on a fastfood place, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to have the word "mushroom" somewhere on the menu.

Jollibee caught my eye twice this week, even if I'm guessing I'm probably late to the party.

First of all, they have a new chicken and mushroom pasta on their menu, which is a nice alternative to their Jolly spaghetti. When I ended up trying it out, I was not disappointed at all, and knew what I would keep coming back to once I get to Jollibee.

Then of course, the piece de resistance: their new Milo Blitz sundae. Everyone knows that Milo as a choco malt drink, and everyone also knows they've spun off into a lot of other products. If there's one combination that never fails to work, though, it would be malt and ice cream, so Jollibee did the most logical thing in the world by putting the two together, giving you a very tasty way to top off your dining experience at Jollibee.

Well, with all that in mind, I sure wouldn't mind coming back every now and then. Quite honestly, it's nice to enjoy the simpler things in life every now and then and to share those little joys on my blog. Not every meal has to be the epitome of fine dining, when comfort food like chicken and mushroom pasta and a Milo Blitz sundae are available at practically a bargain pretty much everywhere you turn in the Philippines.

Here's to simple joys and a fine weekend, everyone!

Binondo Food Tour: The Return Of The Comeback!

.:The Amazing Food Race:.

I won't pretend that I'm a food blogger, because I really am not. I don't take pictures of my food before I eat it most of the time, let alone even have a decent-powered camera to make attractive photographs of food.

That being said, I love food. A few years back, I went on a Binondo Food Tour with blogger friends like Juned and Nina, and it was nothing short of splendid.

Last Saturday, after so many attempts that failed for one reason or another, I finally managed to have another one of those tours, and this time, I acted as the de facto tour guide to the newly wed couple, Gail and Chad Sotelo.

Look at these ravenous, famished faces!

We met up at Quintin Paredes around 11, and we were all hungry. I was looking at the itinerary Nina helped draw up for us, and all things considered, it seemed like a good idea to pace ourselves accordingly for what all three of us perceived to be the main event: Wai Ying.

Walking across Quintin Paredes, we found our first stop: a very nondescript sign for New Po Heng, which, in all honesty, seemed like the proverbial hole in the wall. You wouldn't have seen it if you weren't looking for it.

For your reference.

So we walked in, and we saw that their menu would've already been good enough for us to just sit down there, pig out, and call it a day. But screw that, we wanted to space out our pigging out because we were proper like that, and we had their lumpia. For the first time ever, I ended up eating a whole lumpia, while Chad and Gail shared theirs. At fifty pesos, the lumpia was huge, and really great.

It was the perfect way to get our appetites going. While this isn't the first time I had a food tour, this was the first time I went to New Po Heng in ever. From there, we started walking around as we got lost a bit, but I found my precious kiamoy in one particular stall. Within that same strip, I believe, we actually ended up running into a shop that sold some contraband items...

Seize him!

So I had kiamoy, I had White Rabbit, and I was ready for anything else to come our way. Our next stop was going to be Sincerity, famous for its oyster cake and fried chicken. Chad was allergic to oyster, but that didn't stop him at all.

Pro tip: the oyster cake is a trifle 140 bucks, and the three of us weren't able to finish it.

While we were there, I ran into my old friend and batchmate, Emily Fenix. What was amusing about this was the fact that she was one of the few people who wished us luck on our food tour, and we ended up running into her during the course of it. From this point on, I used the kiamoy to cleanse my palate for each succeeding stop, and it was definitely going to come in handy.

From Sincerity, we headed out to Dong Bei, famous for their very affordable dumplings, including Xiao Long Bao, sold at 60 bucks per order of 4 pieces...

Made from scratch!

The fact that I'm writing this without looking at any pictures of the actual food, yet I am getting hungrier by the minute, should be testament to how amazing the food was on this tour. At Dong Bei, we ordered shrimp dumplings and Xiao Long Bao, then proceeded to try out their canned iced tea. We definitely got our money's worth at our first three restaurant stops, as by my count, we have spent less than 300 pesos so far.

From there, we decided to take a few detours because we were running ahead of schedule. We swung by a Feng Shui store along Ongpin, where I bought a 5-Element Pagoda Keychain for my officemate, Denise, since it was her birthday last Sunday.

Apparently, your nails turn green when you hold it. It's a sign of good luck.

We then made a shopping stopover at Eng Bee Tin en route to Mezannine cafe, where I discovered Mochipia, which essentially is hopia with tikoy filling. It was brilliant and tasty at the same time.

From there, we headed on to Mezannine. It was pretty awesome, but I wished a fourth person was with us so I could've shared the kiampong with someone. While it was great, there's no question that eating mostly rice would hamper my ability to pig out once we got to Wai Ying.

Also, Mezannine is famous for being a cafe meant to cater to the volunteer firefighters of Binondo.

Pictured: worst fireman ever.

So we took a looong walk to Benavidez because we missed out on the fact that there was a branch of Wai Ying in Salazar. Despite that, we walked through 168, so that trek was bearable, as I laughed at Chad trying to dissuade his missus from looking at the shoes and completely undoing all the savings they had from embarking on this tour instead of eating at some fancy restaurant.

Finally, after much walking, we arrived at Wai Ying. We wanted duck. This was it.

This place needs no introduction.

... except, they had no duck. I was crestfallen. I think I even have a picture of the five stages of grief in Chad's camera somewhere. We had to settle for hakaw and fried wonton instead, which wasn't so bad, but it wasn't duck.

So we walked to President's after what was supposed to be our last stop, and along the way, saw another branch of Wai Ying. Nope, no duck there, too. Neither did President's.

Well, it turns out that Hong Kong, where most of the duck in the Philippines comes from, is not importing Peking duck at all for the time being. Whether it's because the Pekin duck is an endangered species or there's another bird flu scare is anybody's guess, but I was a very sad panda about this discovery.

After everything has been said and done, we individually shelled out less than 600 pesos per head to eat at five different restaurants. We had lumpia, oyster cake, fried chicken, shrimp dumplings, Xiao Long Bao, kiampong, hakaw, and fried wonton, not to mention some drinks on top of that.

Considering how good the food was, this Binondo food tour was definitely a bargain for everyone involved, and personally, I can't wait to do it again.

The only thing I'm griping about is how I actually got friendzoned in Binondo...

Ouch.

Mang Inasal Sucked... And Then They Immediately Ruled Again

.:Fluctuation!:.

Mang Inasal GC's rule.

So yeah, sometime last year, I received a bunch of Gift Certificates from Mang Inasal, and, as you could see from the pictures here, they kinda don't have any expiration dates on them. I don't really know the whole deal about the laws regarding GC's and expiration dates, so I won't get into that, but I think it should be pretty obvious that if the GC doesn't have an expiration date, then if the GC is in good condition when you take it to the restaurant, it should be honored, right?

Well, that's not what Mang Inasal Annapolis thought, when I showed up at one of their branches to redeem my GC's. In fact, they told me that they had a meeting where they introduced new GC's, and as such, wouldn't honor the ones I had with me.

Quite frankly, I was irate, because that meeting obviously didn't involve any of the people holding the GC's, to begin with. Who told us that there will be new certificates, and the old ones wouldn't be honored any longer? Again, I repeat: there were no expiration dates on the old GC's, so there was zero indication that I had to race against time to redeem them.

I was rather annoyed, and was contemplating if I should go out of my way and write an entry to just slag Mang Inasal altogether. I'll give you a hint: that isn't really my style, so no, I decided that wouldn't be the best thing to do. While ruminating on all this, I ended up at Mang Inasal in Greenhills. I thought to myself I had nothing to lose since I already lost my temper, and walked in anyways.

Lo and behold, the Greenhills branch, practically a stone's throw away from the Annapolis branch, went ahead and honored my certificates like they should've in the first place. And that's really the only reason I wrote this post, instead of just keeping my gripes about Mang Inasal Annapolis to myself: I just wanted to commend the Mang Inasal Greenhills branch for knowing a thing or two about satisfying their customers. Which is precisely why I made sure to buy well beyond the GC's, and didn't bother asking for the change, as my little way of thanking them.

So yeah, don't expect me to ever bother going to the Annapolis branch ever again. Not that it would matter in the end, since they're all owned by Jollibee now, as opposed to being franchisees and whatnot...

X-plorers And X-Boxes...

.:The Explorers, By Your Powers Combined…:.

It was tempting to inflict goatse, until I realized my blog is as close to all-ages as possible.

Last night, I ended up heading off to B-Side in Makati to plot and plan with one of the two de facto teams I’m associated with during Geekfight: the Explorers of Uranus. It seems we’re coming together to cook up something really special for Geekfight, and really, I’m very stoked about that.

Speaking of stoke, though, the food in the Offbeat Café was probably going to give me a stroke! I just had to try their bacon fries, which are deep-fried battered strips of bacon, as I took a long, hard look at my diet, and told it to go take a hike for a night. It’s still complaining to this very moment, by the way.

My cholesterol level rises just by looking at this picture.

Now, once my diet left the Café, I then noticed something that caught my eye before when I first saw it in Mercato: the Offbeat Burger. Now, it was like most other burgers, except its bun happened to be a Krispy Kreme donut split in two. I was so entranced by this that I didn't even realize that Leo, probably the most intimidating-looking geek you will ever meet, was already playing a guitar for his set.

Micheline turned to me and reminded me about my recent trauma regarding donuts, and told me that this would be a most cathartic experience. After all, my diet wasn’t looking anymore.

It's calling out to me.

So I closed my eyes, and told the waitress to cook up one of them new-fangled Offbeat Burgers for me. It didn’t take long before one was tossed in my direction, and I just gaped at how awesome the burger looked. It was even more sinful than the Bacon Fries!

Pictured: the burger, five minutes later.

Now, imagine the fact that I’ve ended up having both of them in one night. Wow. My diet and I are so not going to get along for a while.


                                                                                                  Getty

I think my diet’s the one on the left. I can’t really tell anymore.

.:Because I Take My Gaming Seriously…:.

This cost me a pretty penny, but it’s well worth it.

… I actually went and bought myself a Mad Catz joystick for my X-Box 360. It was worth every freaking penny, is all I can say.

It works like a dream.

Now, all I need to do is somehow buy Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the X-Box, and I’ll be all set!

Randomicity Halfway Through 2011...

.:Tomorrow, It's Her Birthday...:.

... and quite honestly, I don't know what to say or do.

I still wish my best friend would come back to me. I really do.

.:The Absolute Best!:.

Guess who guested on the DK last night? That's right! Ellen Adarna!

So I guested on the DK last night again, and I had yet another brush with celebrity with the lovely Ms. Ellen Adarna. It was pretty awesome shooting the breeze with her, but truth be told the night was really punctuated by the fact that radio history was made as 99.5 RT, the station steeped in so much tradition, has, for the first time in radio history, given away t-shirts of another station as a prize for a contest.

Considering that we are currently the station that's better than DM 95.5 right now, then I guess that makes us awesome people. Imagine, being the 24th best station among 25. There's something to be said about that, right?

Anyways, standup comedy was hilarious that night as well, and overall, it was a crazy night. I even ran into Ms. Saab Magalona in Tomato Kick, for that matter.

.:Death By Sugar:.

Let that image sink in for a moment.

You are looking at sugary madness. A single Sylvana(s?), sandwiched between a slice of sans rival, like a menacing sandwich of sweet, sweet death.

Thanks to Carlos, I managed to indulge in this ridiculously delicious diabetic delight. If you're one of my readers who has never tried sylvanas or sans rival, then I just gave you two reasons to go to the Philippines and try them out.

Street Fights, Sword Fights, Laugh Bites, And Geek Fights

.:Apparently, Spiral Causes Fights To Break Out:.

This is like, what? The fifth or sixth time someone challenged me to a fistfight or something? And over what? The fact that they can’t break out of the Spiral knife trap on Marvel vs. Capcom 2? That’s pretty sad, really.

Next time I see that guy, he’s not gonna like it when I give him even more Spiral goodness.

Let’s face it: if you suck at playing games, don’t blame the expert for owning you. Learn to play, and get better.

.:Machete Hotdogs!:.

Aljur’s hotdog rocks.

I never expected tuna hotdog to taste more hotdog and less tuna, but Century has pulled it off! On top of that, I even had the opportunity to just run into Mr. Aljur Abrenica himself, who seems to be the nicest guy ever, to say the least.

The Disenchanted Kingdom has definitely been a very star-studded show the past week, what with Karylle and Jim Paredes showing up as well last Thursday. It’s a bit crazy to know that they’re gonna be six to nine in the evening, Mondays to Fridays, come next week, though. Let’s see how that plays out.

.:Merk’s Yet Again!:.

Missed out on performing in Tomato Kick because of the Let’s Get Digital party, but I made up for it by having an excellent eleven minutes in Merk’s, combining some of my new and classic standup material with the ultimate crowd-pleasing mentalist act: psychokinesis.

There were just four comics that night, and surprise surprise, Chino Liao headlined!

Larger than life, that Chino.

.:To The Victors! To Uranus!:.

Last Thursday night, in Gweilo, the team that adopted me last time hosted the Geek Fight for the night, and it was all about Nerd Machismo.

Not pictured : an actual nerd.

With eight categories, including Organized Crime, Post-Apocalyptic Scenarios, Male Fashion, Manly IQ, Manly(?) Music (They played a Bieber song! How was this manly?!?), Secret Agents, Vehicles, A Goddamn Batman round, and of course, the round we Jokered (That is, you win twice as many points per correct answer in that round.), Pro Wrestling.

That night, I ended up seated with the team who apparently won the previous Geek Fight: the Explorers of Uranus, and they gamely adopted me, as I convinced them that we should focus on Pro Wrestling as our Joker round, even if it seemed, I was the only one on the table absolutely certain about our (collective) pro wrestling knowledge.

So we got down to business, and we didn’t have a very auspicious start. We were mostly keeping pace with everyone, until things started cooking during the Organized Crime round, when one of the veterans, Leo, just took the reins for our team and introduced us to the wonders of the Omerta and the Colombian Necktie. Ouch. Remind me to never pick a fight with Leo. Heh.

It was also shocking that during the music round, the ladies of our team were the ones answering with utmost confidence. It turns out they were clearly manlier than the men on our table, which just amused the Hades out of everyone involved.

The round that really swung it was really the Pro Wrestling round, as our team got 8 out of 10 answers (thanks to also getting the bonus question right), that catapulted us past Broken Social Skills, one of the best teams in Geekfight bar none, by the slimmest of margins: one measly point. That round must have been my favourite round of all time, considering how much of the questions I really knew the answers to.

As an amusing side note to the Batman round, when asked who played Batgirl (Lexi Belle!) in the Porn Parody, I absent-mindedly blurted out, "Wait, I know this! I saw... err... read about this!" The rest of the team just nodded at me condescendingly. :p

Anyways, as I did mention, Explorers Of Uranus ended up winning a second straight Geekfight. As you can tell, we were very happy about that…

This picture proves that the iPad 2 is the most awkward camera ever. Just sayin’.

Immediately upon winning, we decided to cash in and pig out in Gweilo’s, as most of us actually ordered conservatively that night. There was a lot of food to go around afterwards, all in the blink of an eye.

Ah, the sweet taste of victory. It is very sweet. And victorious.

Here’s to the next Geekfight, then! I’m totally stoked for it, and who’s to say what happens next, right?

How Chowking Completed My Life: On Meeting Kim Chiu

.:Thanks, Chowking! My Life Is Complete:.

Last night, in celebration of Chinese New Year, Chowking asked several bloggers and media people to go to Mercato and be a witness to Chowking’s as they celebrated the way only they could: with a bang.

The whole thing was hosted by Ms. Lyn Ching, who was as eye-catching as ever, and she actually remembered me from my several guestings for Unang Hirit in the past. It was really great meeting her again, and after three years, it finally occurred to me to have a photo taken with her...

She is still awesome! Photo from Russel.

Anyways, as she went through the signature dishes of Chowking with father and son chefs Gene and Gino Gonzalez, who cooked their own versions of sweet and sour pork, orange chicken, and tender beef broccoli, as the audience’s mouths watered with each dish, although we did have some dimsum and some Chicharap for appetizers. As the ineffable Lyn Ching talked up the tastes and sensations of each delightful morsel while poking fun at herself for her supposedly imperfect figure, two of the brand ambassadors of Chowking also made an appearance that night, which made the whole thing even more exciting.

Of course, as everyone can assume, Mr. Jericho Rosales himself was there, which was all good, but more importantly...

Kim Chiu was there.

This features the Marcelle Fabie seal of approval! Photo from Bambi.

From the moment I got the invite to this event, the main reason I went was because, as I told my organizer friend, “You had me at ‘hosted by Kim Chiu.’” I was hoping to run into the lovely young lady, and while I talked a big game of approaching her and leaving a lasting impression, it was pretty clear to everyone on my table, from Arpee to Bambi to Russel that I was not going to be cool and unflappable that night.

My heart was pounding every single time I was within ten feet of Kim Chiu, and I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t faint if I managed to so much as talk to her. In fact, the only time I could remember myself having a smile this huge was three years ago, when I met Rick Astley during his party in Alchemy (And now that I mention it, that doesn’t sound like a very manly thing to say...).

Mas singkit pa ako kay Kim Chiu sa sobrang ngiti ko! Photo from Russel.

I finally mustered up the courage to have a photo taken with her, and she was kind enough to oblige me. I stood there, grinning from ear to ear like a complete idiot, and the pictures were taken, then I offered a handshake and a heartfelt thank-you to Ms. Chiu, all while I was doing everything I could to keep myself from hyperventilating in front of her.

Unfortunately, she was looking away, and one of the organizers had to tap her on the shoulder to say I was sticking my hand out to thin air. She smiled sheepishly, shook my hand, then said...

“Sorry po, kuya!”

I was mortified, and if I turned any redder, they’d probably think I was already bleeding. But for the rest of the night, I was beaming proudly because finally, after all this time, I have met the undeniably gorgeous and incomparably flexible Kim Chiu. Only Chowking has made this possible for me, so what else can I say but “thanks” to those amazing people who not only serve great and affordable Chinese food, but also made me smile genuinely for the first time in a long while?

I think I need to have my heart rate checked... picture from Bambi

The Weekend, In Brief Yet Again

.:A Weekend For The Ages:.

In shorthand, here's what happened:

Friday - went to the Goldilock's awarding event. Ran into an undesirable, but also ran into Kcat, who won the iPad that evening. I was pretty surprised to see her win, but it was good to know that my dear batchmate (She's from Don Bosco Sta. Mesa!) has been on quite a roll lately. And yeah, we met Elise and Brad today, which was pretty cool.

Saturday- quite a loaded day, but instead of going to Tali beach, we just headed out to take Elise, Brad, and another friend to Mall of Asia, where we just took in the sights and sounds, then had a hearty lunch at Dampa. Elise stepped into wet cement, which got a rousing ovation from the entire wet market. Carlos over-ordered and we ended up having food meant for a group twice our size. Afterwards, we drove around Greenhills, they got massaged in The Spa, then we had dinner at Chickboy, where they had Cebu lechon liempo and sisig. Unfortunately, the liquor ban hit us in the middle of their drinking spree, so Brad and Elise were majorly disappointed. :P

Sunday - wow, just wow. Richard led us to an awesome Japanese place for lunch (I forgot the name of the restaurant. I'll fill it in when I post again.), and he then joined our ragtag group on a walking tour of Intramuros, conducted by Carlos (Celdran) Palma. It was here that we decided to make "official Filipinos" out of our guests, but only Brad had the guts to chow down on balut. After that, him eating isaw and tenga didn't seem nearly as impressive. We did a tour of Greenhills this time, and they definitely looked shocked at the low prices they were treated to. Wait 'til they get to Divisoria. Dinner was in JT's Manukan at Ortigas Home Depot, and desert was at Razon's.

They're probably back in Singapore by now, but that was quite a weekend. Hope we get to do it again, and next time, I hope the Nuffies aren't sick!

Remember, Remember, The 29th Of September...

.:Memorable:.

So I ended up doing two shows, guesting on 99.5 RT, getting stuff done in the office, and being greeted by so many people I practically lost count before I even had lunch.

I have to say, this was a pretty stacked 27th birthday, to say the least. My head is still swimming in details, but overall, I was stoked about the whole day from start to finish.

Woke up pretty early that Wednesday to head out to RT and join the Disenchanted Kingdom, and boy, it was a really fun show. Met Ken for the first time, and there was a lot of fun to be had as we just ran with the show from start to finish. It was too bad Lu was still absent, although when I dropped in on Friday and caught him singing Tagalized Christmas carols, it was just as hilarious as it always would’ve been.

Immediately after the show, I headed to the office, and I decided to try my luck with Dang Dee and have them deliver ten bento boxes to the office for the team. I have to say: Dang Dee’s 78-peso bento boxes are a steal considering how great the food is and how affordable they are, all the same. From there, I had to start doing my shows, as I did a table-hopping show for a make-up brand. Overall, it was a fairly simple and quiet performance, and I was a bit disoriented because the venue was in close quarters. Still, that didn’t stop me from giving them their money’s worth.

Afterwards, I set foot in Votre bar and closed that night’s open mic comedy show with a full-fledged magic show where I actually went ahead and tried something new: the torn and restored newspaper routine, which, while new to me, is admittedly pretty old for most other people who have seen magic before. Despite that, I used it, if only for the ability to have a sucker finish, and capped the whole night off with some hypnosis and then some metal bending.

After the performance, I managed to kick back with the people in Votre, and there was a lot of fun to be had. I was pretty happy that my potential client actually checked out my show and was sufficiently impressed.

It wasn’t a momentous, earth-shattering night, but it was memorable, if only for the sheer number of people who actually remembered me. It was much-appreciated, and while yes, I’ve had better birthdays, it certainly turned out to be far from the worst.

For me, that’s enough.

Grab-Bag For The Weekend...

.:Bon Voyage!:.

One of the most awesome people I know, Daphne, is going on a trip to the US for about a month. I’m gonna miss her, but I hope she has a great vacation there!

.:Bon Chance!:.

Awwww, yeah!

GB Labrador, comedian extaordinaire, will be having his second fundraiser show in Votre Bar on 24 September. You might want to catch it, as they’re pulling out all the stops for this man’s trip to the Hong Kong Comedy Festival. Going as well are Raffy Taruc, Noel Gascon, and Eri Neeman.

Last night though, I was there, and you missed a lot if you didn’t go.

Now with more Luke Mejares action!

It was awesome that night, really. I opened after the musicians by doing the Shackles and some hypnosis, and with the crowd receptive for comedy, the house was packed with a ton of people just raring to be entertained.

Overall, this was one of the best nights courtesy of Votre, and I was glad to be a part of it. I’m gonna try to be there again next week as well, though...

Lots and lots of exciting stuff happening in the comedy world. Glad to be there in the thick of it.

.:Distilled Fellowship:.

Last Tuesday, I was deeply honoured to have been invited by The Boss, Rannie Raymundo, to go to The Tavern and meet “the old guard of Philippine magic.” Needless to say, I was stoked and very excited, as I had no idea what to expect that night.

So I got there a bit earlier than most other people, albeit the first person I ran into while walking into The Tavern was none other than Lou Hilario himself. Immediately, I realized that I was going to be surrounded by magic royalty, and the night certainly didn’t disappoint.

A few of the many highlights of the night included the one and only Erik Ma, who felt like a truncated Erik Mana, a mini magic competition for a cool set of cups and balls, and a host of amazing stories from The Boss, the Maestro, Anthony Co, Jason, Lou Hilario, Hermann, the Chubster, and a host of other amazing people. From mentalism to coins to cards, everyone had something to share, and it was all for the sake of fellowship.

That night was truly distilled magic fellowship at its best. No politics. No BS. No egos flying in each other’s faces. Just a bunch of people getting together to express their appreciation for the art form that has brought them all together. It doesn’t hurt that there was excellent food to go around, either, and I’m still overloaded from all the new stuff I learned that night. I’ve tried only a few of them last Friday night, and it has been unequivocally amazing for me.

.:Teh Fish And Teh Meat:.

Mmm-hmmm...

With much thanks to Carlo Ople, Fish and Co genuinely surprised us a few days ago with some new meat items from their menu.

While I may have a shortage of words to describe the food, I have to say that I liked the lamb chops a whole lot. Considering how Fish and Co’s fish won’t be remotely affected by these new items on the menu, it’s good to know that the selection has only gotten even better from this point on. No question about it: I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Fish and Co if I ever wanted some good comfort food, because the stuff they have, from their fish and chips to their new meat items including lamb chops, breaded chicken with seafood, and grilled chicken with seafood, are made of win.

.:The Sweet Taste Of Victory...:.

Glad that my efforts weren’t in vain, and I am definitely playing next week in the Scars of Mirrodin prerelease. Awesome.

Heavenly

.:I Died And Went To Dumpling Heaven:.

The best thing about working with one of the top food bloggers in the country is that he, of all people, would definitely know where it’s good to eat at.

As the new country manager of Nuffnang Philippines brought the team to Makati Shang to try out their dimsum buffet, myself, Patty, Judd, Denise, Trixie, and Anne were all excited over the prospect of hakao, hakao, and more hakao until we couldn’t take it anymore. In fact, Judd and Trixie even had a little wager going on who would eat more, and well, Trixie won it handily.

It was great bonding with the Nuffies, really. Even if they tend to poke fun at me a lot (There’s a rumor going around that I’m gay. Yes. The rumors get pretty unfounded here.) and all, I wouldn’t trade these guys in for the world.

If they threw in a plate full of hakao though, I just might. Nah, I kid, of course.

Last Wednesday was extra amusing because to get over the hump day, we watched “One More Chance”, and I realized that makes two out of three movies from the collection I handed out on June 2, since we watched “500 Days Of Summer” the previous week. Overall, it was pretty fun times, even if the movie does hit a little too close to home, really...

.:Speaking Of Dimsum And Chinese Food...:.

Last Thursday, I was part of an awesome event held by Chow King. Now, I normally don’t go to events anymore due to my unbelievably busy schedule, but I thankfully squeeze this one in, and it was well worth the trip.

As a matter of disclosure, I am a very rabid Kimerald fan. When the invite mentioned they would both be there, wild horses could not have prevented me from getting to the event.

All that aside, though, in the world of marketing, people always tend to ask themselves who the personification of their brand could possibly be, and after some brainstorming, the answer Chow King ended up with was both enlightening and interesting.

You see, every single brand advocate of Chow King just so happens to have a very interesting story to tell. Whether it’s beating the odds for Kim and Gerald, or coming from the wet market for Jericho Rosales, or giving the gift of education for Efren Penaflorida, or the sheer adversity overcome by Bea Alonzo, it’s the taste of victory that is indeed the most delicious.

But really, all niceties aside, I must say that this particular commercial tugs at the heartstrings pretty well:

Seeing Kim Chiu up close and personal as I did, there was no doubt that I was giddy to no end. It was an awesome day all around, and I must emphasize that I especially like their new item, the Chow King Tender Beef Broccoli. Prior to this, their beef dishes were rather limited, and their most notable one was braised beef, so having Tender Beef Broccoli ready in a fast food chain is such a great thing. I kid you not: this is quality stuff we’re talking about, and considering my up frontness about other items and restaurants, when i recommend food, you know I’m not just shilling at this point: it’s good. End of story.

Anyways, I’m still really flabbergasted over Thursday. In the meantime, all you really need to know is that Chow King’s Tender Beef Broccoli is awesome, I am a huge fan of Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson, and you can be sure that victory can taste even better when coupled with great food.

Oh-Some!

.:Oh-Some! Orange Chicken Night!:.

Thanks to Alodia, I found myself smack dab in the middle of one of the most interesting blogger events I’ve come across in a while, which was the launch for Chowking’s Orange Chicken, which promised everyone an exciting night, and they definitely didn’t disappoint.

We got to Chowking in The Fort around 6:30 or so, and the whole place was just all glammed up, and I, being completely disconnected from the world of television for the past few months, have been completely unaware of who was the endorser for the new product Chowking was launching that night.

I knew that the Orange Chicken was going to be a part of their menu. I just didn’t know that Mr. Jericho Rosales, the very same guy Sarah and I saw during the Gary V tribute night last year, was the endorser.

Neither did I even know that he was actually going to be there that night.

In any case, the party started off fine, as I met some of my good blogger friends like Ryan and Arpee, and even ran into Tita Ginggay and Diane, two people I’ve worked with in the past when they booked me as a magician. It was pretty fun just catching up with them, and then next thing I knew, we were served by good food from Chowking, as tons of orange confetti showered all over us.

I was half-expecting Manny Villar or Joseph Estrada to show up at this point, but I was happily disappointed when they didn’t.

Soon enough, the lovely Chef Rosebud showed up and introduced us to the latest from Chowking, as the venerable franchise celebrated its 25 years in existence, and we went up for what would be a very big surprise for all of us. Chef Rosebud is already a celebrity, but we were in for yet another surprise as Jericho Rosales showed up in the flesh.

I could’ve squealed in delight that night (In the manliest possible way, of course.), but I restrained myself. Then again, maybe I didn’t. Soon enough, we were introduced to how to do the chicken dance, and next thing I knew, all of us were doing various versions of it.

It was sheer hilarity, to say the least, but with cosplayers taking part in the whole thing, and eleven of them eligible to win 25,000 in a YouTube contest courtesy of Chowking, everything was just crazy that night. Prizes were given away to daring souls who danced like they’ve never danced before, and I found myself just laughing along as I danced like a fool that night.

Sarah even had a picture taken with Echo, which is a far cry from the last time we ran into the guy, as I was the one who was more keen on having a picture taken with him than she was. :P

Nonetheless, aside from Jericho Rosales, the highlight of the night was easily none other than our chance encounter with Mr. Robbie Carmona, whom we mistook for Vice-Presidential candidate Edu Manzano. As I was in green, I tried passing myself off as his running mate that night, which provided for a lot of amusement.

Your moment of Zen.

Happier Times...

.:Diyes Is It!:.

Hayskul life, oh my hayskul life...

If my DBTC homecoming was marked by the fact that I saw only four other people from my batch (And they were all classmates.), the DBS homecoming was marked by the fact that batch 2000 came to the venue armed to the teeth.

It was good seeing old friends and classmates, albeit I was the only guy in my batch who went there and didn’t have a girlfriend or wife from the batch. Nonetheless, I felt right at home as I caught up with my friends from the batch.

It was crazy, really. From bonding with Mrs. Penano to hearing from Iza after all this time and discovering Apol’s married, to seeing Eky and feeling like it’s just another weekend (We hang out a lot. LOL.), everything was just surreal. The fact that we had an after-party to cap off the night with a massive table occupied by former DBS students was

.:Tasteh. Ravioleh.:.

En garde!

Thanks to Arpee, I found myself in a very quiet dinner for a few bloggers with the likes of Ryan, Karla, Sha, and Bambi in Bistro Ravioli. Ultimately, it was a very great experience, and the owner, Princess, was nothing but gracious to us.

We tried out pizza, ravioli, buffalo wings, and even desserts. The pictures of the food don’t do justice at all (You can catch most of them in Arpee’s blog.). You just need to taste the food to find out how delectable it really is. I’m a sucker for cheese, cheese, and more cheese, so I went for their four-cheese pizza and their spinach ravioli. Needless to say, I was floored by the food. The noodles are hand-pulled and fresh, the dough is baked on the spot, and all the ingredients are top-notch.

As a guy who loves Italian food, it takes quite a lot for me to stand up and take notice of a restaurant. You either have to be exceptionally economical (Like Fazoli’s.) or exceptionally good (Albeit not necessarily worth the price, like Italianni’s.) for me to bother to talk about the food. Bistro Ravioli is good and very affordable. You can find it in Mall of Asia’s south wing on the second floor, while another branch with a different menu, Ravioli, can be found in Robinson’s Galleria’s foodcourt. It’s like an oasis there. You can’t miss it.