2010 Others

Ok, I was supposed to talk about some other things in the last post, but I realized the previous entry has gone on too long (sorry, once I start talking about tennis, I usually don't stop)

So... here are the best of the others:

Best movie I saw this year: Inception.

It had everything, a great concept told in a very entertaining and exciting way, an interesting group of people you could root for, and if that didn't work for you, you could still take it as a great action/heist film with awesome visuals. And that top didn't stop spinning.

Best TV series: I usually just say The Amazing Race here anyway, so I'll just enumerate the 10 runner-ups:

Bones, Criminal Minds, Burn Notice, White Collar, Modern Family, Parks and Recreations, Cougar Town, Community, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Big Bang Theory.

(Note: not that I have a lot of time in my hands, I don't even download any of these via torrents. I just watch these shows whenever I catch them on TV.)

Best line from a TV Show:

"All I ask is one thing... and this is... I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch. Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you. Amazing things will happen. I'm telling you. It's just true. As proof, let's make something amazing happen right now." (goes on to sing Freebird)

Well said, Coco. Well said.

Best Performance in a Movie:

Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl.

*Don't watch if you're under 18 or are otherwise immature or have strong aversion to gore.

Best Viral Video:

I was tempted to give it to the Cebu Pacific's Dancing FA's, but I remembered this one. It was hilarious when I first saw it floating around on Facebook. Still hilarious now.

Top 3 Annoying Facebook Trends:

1. People saying "unlike" when they really mean "dislike".

2. People tagging me on pictures where I'm just a blur in the background.

3. People tagging others on pics of things that they're selling. (Thanks to Jun for reminding me of this!)

Best Fake Twitter Account:

@PCOSmachine

Top 3 Food for Delivery:

1. Shakey's Greek Summer Salad + mojo potatoes with Caesar dressing

2. KFC's California Maki Twister or Hotshots + Choco-Banana Krusher

3. Wendy's Big Classic Burger with cheese

Most Addicting/Time-Wasting Android game:

Sige na nga, Angry Birds. (Air Control and Word Up are the runners-up.)

Best New Restaurant/Food Place:

Bon Chon at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. Saraaap ng chicken wings.

Watermelons!

Now that I've seen the premiere episode of The Amazing Race, and it looks like that lady turned out okay... I can finally admit that I was laughing my ass off after watching this scene. Multiple times.

So here's what I tweeted as I was watching the team intros. First impressions:

• Home TV Shopping Hosts: Annoying.
• 8months Dating Couple: Will fight a lot.
• Beach Volleyball Teammates: Woot!
• Ivy League Acapella Singers: Good voices, stop singing.
• Doctors: Double WOOT!
• TeamJumba: Dad's hilarious.
• Tattooed Couple: On the fence.
• Theater dudes: Not theatrical enough.
• Outspoken Douche Couple: Yeah...
• Dad/Daughter: Thick accents.
• RH Poster Girls: They just met.

This turned out to be a very likable cast, except for the blonde Home TV Shopping Host, who wouldn't stop talking and talking and talking and seems to just be generally self-centered and rude. Even the self-proclaimed aggro dudes from the dating couples weren't that bad. (Thomas, the self-proclaimed outspoken douche, was even polite at times.) The tattooed couple were HEE-larious. I was rooting for them to not be last just so they could bring in the unintentional laughs in the next episodes. It was fun to see the theater dudes get lost in England after boasting of their superior navigational skills and Bachelor and Master's degrees. I liked the Parent-Child teams too. The dad from TeamJumba is funny, and the Dad/Daughter team are pretty endearing.

I'm rooting for two FF teams though - the Doctors, who are most probably smart and can work well under pressure, and the Beach Volleyball teammates, who look athletic enough to last on the race, and seem to have cutthroat-bitchy personalities hiding underneath, which I like on TAR teams.

Next week: Teams head to Ghana! (I think.) Should give Tattooed couple lots of opportunities to bumble around.

Best Of '09... Part 2

Best Viral Videos of 2009:

JK Wedding Entrance Dance

In second place:

Kanye Interrupts Taylor Swift at the VMA's

(worth mentioning: Baby Dancing to Single Ladies, and Susan Boyle's Britain's Got Talent Audition)

Best Weirdly Awesome/Awesomely Weird TV Character:

Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory

In second place:

Sue Sylvester, Glee

Best Dessert Place of The Year:

Classic Confections (Nono's Chocolate Oblivion cake)

In second place:

Tie: Cafe Breton (Adam and Eve crepe), Wicked Kitchen (Gluttony)

Best Fish Dish I Tasted For The First time This Year:

Cookbook Kitchen's Parmesan Crusted White Fish

In second place:

Fely J's Tilapia with Sweet Plum Sauce

Best Sandwich for Lunch In the Office:

Subway's Italian B.M.T. in Parmesan Oregano Bread with Honey Mustard and Sweet Onion dressing

In second place:

Delifrance's Frech Dip Roast Beef

Most "I don't get it..." Music Trend of 2009:

Justin Bibier being popular (I mean come on, his voice is exactly a quarter of an octave lower than Alvin and the Chipmunks')

In second place:

K-Pop girl bands.

Most Annoying Showbiz Issues of 2009:

Hayden Kho sex tapes. (Seriously, a senate hearing? So you just couldn't find anywhere else to waste our tax money on, Bong Revilla?)

In second place:

Manny Pacquiao's alleged extra-marital affair with Krista Ranillo. (At least he didn't try to beat Tiger Woods' list of hoes.)

Best Starbucks Pastry That I Eat With My Cafe Mocha:

Banoffee Pie

In second place:

Cinnamon Swirl

2009 Pinoy Hero:

Muelmar Magallanes

In second place:

Efren Peñaflorida

Best Of '09... Part 1

Best movie I saw this year:
(500) Days of Summer

In second place:

Up

Most under-appreciated TV shows (because I don't know any friend who watches this show):

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

In second place:

The Soup

Best Trip I Took In 2009:

Coron, April 2-6

In second place:

Caramoan/CWC, Feb 21-24

Best Nickelodeon TV show:

Spongebob Squarepants

In second place:

The Fairly Odd Parents

Best "The Amazing Race" elimination:

Season 15, Dubai Leg Part 2: Mika and Canaan gets eliminated after Mika refuses to go down a 90-foot waterslide, allowing Globetrooters Flight Time and Big Easy to overtake them (this after the GTs fell behind by almost an hour when they couldn't figure out the right sequence that would open the combination lock of a briefcase that holds their next clue)

In second place:

Season 14, Beijing Leg Part 2: Kisha and Jen gets eliminated after Jen insists on taking a bathroom break, allowing Jaime and Cara to overtake them (this after Kisha and Jen gets U-Turned, and Jaime and Cara got lost for 3 hours++ finding a Chinese Opera House)

Most Unwelcome News of the Year:

Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) Flood + Damages. :(

In second place:

Ampatuan Massacre. Grrrr.

Most Addicting Website of the Year:

Facebook

In second place:

Tie: Television Without Pity/Twitter

Best Sporting Event of the Year:

Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in Wimbledon, 16-14 in the 5th set, over Andy Roddick

In second place:

Roger Federer wins his 14th Grand Slam title and 1st ever French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Must Saw TV

We're in the first few hours of the last day of the year, and since it looks like this day is supposed to be significant (judging by all the firecrackers and all that noise), I figure why waste it on sleep? So instead of going to bed, I thought I'd spend just a few more minutes blogging while eating some yummy czekolada from Warsaw that my teammate Piotrek gave me for Christmas (although it's not E. Wedel or Wawel, pwede na... Thanks Boss Piotr!)

So as a year capper, and since this is also the season for Top n lists (where n = 10, usually)... I thought I should list down my must-see TV shows in the past year:

1. The Amazing Race - It's travel porn paired with constant adrenaline rush. Of course it's my #1.
   
2. Chuck - It's Alias, but funnier and lighter. And AXN showing back-to-back eps of the first season only added to my addiction.
3. Pushing Daisies - I'm still pissed it's not coming back for another season. I'm really gonna miss this show, just like I still miss Arrested Development.
   
4. Top Chef - A cooking competition featuring great food set on a kitchen filled with competitive egotistical chefs? I'm in.
   
5. Damages - I remember wanting to be a lawyer when I was a kid. This brilliantly twisted show actually makes me happy that I didn't go that route.
6. 30 Rock - Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Kenneth the Page, Elaine and the whole cast is pure comedy gold.
7. House - Hugh Laurie as House is just completely fascinating to watch, even if the show gets too formulaic at times.
8. NCIS - It sort of replaced CSI as my favorite crime show. The plots are always interesting, but what really holds it up is the great chemistry between the cast members.
9. So You Think You Can Dance - Forget Idol (until the new season comes in January, I guess). I'm not one who likes dancing at all, but this show is addicting. srsly.
10. Family Guy - The best thing about Family Guy is that it consisteblgrruhgse.
    

Special Mention:

• How I Met Your Mother- The only problem with this show is I can't catch it often enough on my TV...
• The Office - You know how there are parts of this show that's so damn funny, and then there are those parts that really make you cringe and want to change the channel? Because it might actually be your office they're basing the plot on, and you might actually be a Dwight? Or a Michael?
• Digging for the Truth - This is a show on the History Channel, and the host travels from continent to continent to prove (or disprove) a historical mystery. It's awesome if your a history/geography/travel geek like me.
  
• The Summer Olympics - Hey, it only comes once every leap year.

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Now playing: Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
via FoxyTunes

A Mixed Bag

In another not-so-good news, my grandfather has been in the hospital since last Friday. I really hope he gets well soon.

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*Some spoilers here, if you haven't seen the TAR 13 finale yet...

On a much lighter topic (because I really need to talk about a much lighter topic), I just finished watching The Amazing Race 13 finale. I really liked this season, and that final leg was pretty exciting with Ken and Tina and Nick and Starr neck-and-neck through most of the leg. The final task was a pretty good life-sized memory game, and since it was life-sized, there was a lot of running around involved too. I still think last year's final roadblock, the logic puzzle that Rachel (of TK and Rachel, the mellow quasi-hippies) rocked, was more challenging though.

And just like last season, the team I was rooting for won! I love this show, but most of the time, a team that I hate crosses the finish line first... So it's good to have a team I like win two seasons in a row.





(It was the siblings, Nick and Starr btw)


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Now playing: Kings Of Leon - Fans
via FoxyTunes

Awesome Things, and Things One Should Probably Rethink Before Trying

Had a great time last Wednesday, celebrating my team lead Jonpe's and my former team lead Seph's new roles. The pics are over here. It was a fun night with the free food and beer, and the all-night karaoke. But what really made it awesome was when one of our teammates suddenly was given a rose by a "mystery" guy. What's funnier is my teammates went out to investigate who the "mystery" rose-sender was, and they were given the most obvious clue about who it was by the staff who delivered the rose... ROTFLMAO! Some things just align in a way that makes you think the universe intended them to happen exactly like that, and some things, well, not quite sometimes.

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Nickelodeon is back on my cable. I can finally watch Fairly-Odd Parents again. Yay.

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The Amazing Race 13 had teams going to Siem Reap, Cambodia last episode. Woohoo! They went to Angkor Wat for the roadblock task (where teams had to look for the Chamber of Echoes, which I think I found when I was there, but I had no idea that it was a chamber where you had to thump your chest to hear an echo), and to Bayon Temple for the pit stop. Awesome awesome awesome!

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Krispy Kreme has some new Reese-flavored donuts. Which will probably make me fatter because I love Krispy Kreme, and I love chocolate, and I love peanut butter. (I just took home a half dozen box of donuts for the weekend, right now only two are left.) Hurray for my belly!


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Now playing: The Magic Numbers - Mornings Eleven
via FoxyTunes

Habits of The Highly Disaffected

Earth Hour a few hours ago. My mom didn't want to turn off the lights because she was watching TV.

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Earlier this week, I attended the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminar. I definitely learned a lot from it, but I can't say that I'm an effective person now. After all, they were called habits for a reason. I think I have a lot of gritting of teeth to do before I finally can declare myself to be highly effective.

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There are days when I wake up and I just declare the day to be over, that it's gonna be bad. There are times when I'm pleasantly surprised that I'm wrong, and there are times when I can satisfy myself with the fact that I can say "whatever" and really mean it.

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I'm addicted to this show Damages. It's being shown on AXN a lot, with 4-episode marathons on Saturdays. It's seriously good. Season Finale is on Tuesday.

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This week, I was extremely and unexpectedly stressed out. I felt like I was scrambling for no apparent reason. I think it might have been because of the long holiday, followed by the three day out-of-office training I had. E-mails and tasks piled up, and instead of having the positive, I CAN DO THIS! attitude (I don't), I simply became overwhelmed and just tried to zone out as best as I could the two days I had work at the office. Being stressed out and anxious and overwhelmed has been nagging at me for a few weeks now. I think it's because of finding out and understanding the notion that I may not be standing on grounds as solid as I thought.

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I don't know what it is about going home from work late at night that gets my mind so riled up and I start arguing inside my head. Not arguing violently, but just... debating why things are. I think I do it sometimes because it makes things clearer for me. The sad part though is when that clearer perspective makes you see that things aren't going great for you.

Just thinking out loud.

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Check out the song on the Now Playing link below... It seriously kills me each time I hear it.
Or better yet, check out the live performance here

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Now playing: Biffy Clyro - Machines
via FoxyTunes

Hi, I'm Jim

Alvin, you're Jim Halpert

You're not the person running around the office with a lampshade on your head (yet), but you've still got a sense of humor (and it's not of the makes-us-cringe variety). Sure, sometimes you're too busy cracking jokes to take care of business, but is that a crime? And you can't deny it — nothing says "HR meeting" like hiding a coworker's notes!

But when you're up against the clock, you'll come through in a pinch, which is why upper management keeps you around. After all, getting serious is always a possibility for you, just not exactly the probability...


You're Jim Halpert

Do You Belong in The Office?
Brought to you by Tickle

Ha! And I know who Dwight Schrute is...

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Now playing: Modest Mouse - Invisible
via FoxyTunes

Channel 82

BBC Food is gone from our cable. Just disappeared without notice.

Damn. I loved watching that channel.


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Now playing: Portishead - Sour Times
via FoxyTunes

21 inches of sleep

I finally got around to buying a TV for my bedroom last Sunday! =D I think it should help me whenever I have those nights when sleep just can't catch up to me (I'm not sure if I have insomnia. There are no problems with the quality of my sleep, but I do have ocassional problems initiating sleep. I may be an intermittent transient insomniac, if that makes sense). Cable hasn't been connected yet though, so I'm just watching DVDs in the meantime.

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Just because it can't be said enough (or there are too few chances of actually saying this without lying): Work has been kind lately.

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Did I also mention that the latest season of The Amazing Race just kicks major ass?!? If not, then let me just state for the record that TAR 10 is awesome! One of the best seasons ever (along with Season 1, 3 and 5, imo). I really like the racers this season (there are now just 5 teams left, the Beauty Queens, the Model/Former Drug Addicts, the token Bickering Couple, the Asian Brothers, and the Single Mothers), the cluses and tasks are back to the level of difficulty where you really need to use your brains, skills and enough common sense, and the locations are just awesome amazing! (so far they've been to China, Mongolia!, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Mauritius and Madagascar.) The Amazing Race Asia also just premiered an hour ago (it's an Asian version of the original TAR, franchised by AXN.) TAR overload! I love it! :D

I'm also back to religiously watching Survivor again. I sort of stopped watching the show somewhere between the 6th and 9th seasons, then started at it again the last couple of seasons (the one where Steph and Bobby Jon kept on losing and losing and Ian did this stupid move to hand Tom the win, and the one with Cirie, where Terry kept on winning everything but it was Aras who won in the end.) I don't like Survivor as much as TAR (since TAR is, uhm, my favorite TV show of all time), but it's enjoyable enough to get me glued to it again. (Plus there are two Pinoys in Survivor this season, which i have to admit, adds to the Watch Me! factor)

Oh, thank you TV.



ps: Other shows I recommend: House and The Office. =D

Much Has Been Said...

Bought the Bamboo album "Light Peace Love"

I have to admit it's a really good album... Not really a big fan of the band, but after hearing the whole album, I gotta say, yeah it's very impressive.

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Happy Halloween kids.

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I finally got to eat at Cibo last week. I always wanted to do that place but never got around to actually eating there. So last Sunday, we went over to my brother's house in Cainta where we had lunch, then later that night went to Gateway Mall in Araneta (site of my 7-hour Neil Gaiman Experience) because my parents have never been there and they wanted to check out the place. I treated my parents, my kuya and his wife (my sis was in Puerto Galera, where apparently, she got stung by a jellyfish) to celebrate (celebrate nga ba talaga ang tawag dun??? gagastos ka para sa kabusugan ng iba? not that I'm complaining, but....) my first paycheck. Anywayz, I highly recommend the Funghi Pizza, forgot what it's called but it's the pizza with mushrooms in it, and the La Foresta Pasta.

/end of plug

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Caught season 3 of 24 on AXN some days ago. That show is damn good.

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