Month: November 2019

I missed last week’s entry as I went out to watch a movie, and because the WiFi at home was broken, so I’ll make up for it by writing about two things tonight.

Obviously, the movie I watched last Saturday was indeed, Frozen II. I’ve been hyped for it since the trailer, since it looked darker and not-quite-for-children. I’m happy to say I was right.

As I cannot share spoilers or even details about the film, I’ll just ramble on the feelings I feel about it.

We follow the main cast a few years from where we left them, and since learning to read, Olaf has become the most relatable, comic, and tragic character in the film – a scene stealer. He’s going through it. He’s marvelling sadly about how things seem to be changing rapidly, and how everyone is growing older. He has great hopes for becoming wiser in he grows up. All the adults in the movie house vibed with Olaf’s proclamations, and his lines can well encompass my everyday moods.

Anna is more optimistic about this, probably because she’s the only one who doesn’t know that change is around the corner. Elsa’s being weird, and Kristoff is trying his best at project management. I won’t even begin to touch the whole thing with Elsa because it was A LOT to absorb, speaking with a 21-year old brain here.

The story moves so quickly and takes such complicated ways to get where it needs to go, that it just got really confusing and difficult to chew on.

More palatable this time around is Kristoff, who has grown to be one of my favorite Disney Princes. He and Anna portray a refreshing, healthy kind of couple – even if things go wrong, he’s solidly there. Kristen Bell already spoiled this on a talk show, but his says a line that really just shoots arrow pangs into my heart: “My love is not fragile.” I also really, really love Kristoff’s solo song (which was covered by Weezer!)

The songs this time around are still very good (shoutout to Brendon Urie and Taeyeon for their versions), and I got a lot of chills watching the whole movie. Overall, it will take you on a rollercoaster, and it’s not for everyone, but I enjoyed it immensely. I really need to rewatch it so I can sort the mess in my head.

On the other hand, I went out for dinner last night at Soban K-Town Grill in Greenbelt 3. It was around 550 for two people, plus service charge. It offered unlimited side dishes (including some I’ve never encountered before, like a mashed potato-macaroni salad hybrid which was good), around three plates of meat, and coffee jelly desserts served in cocktail glasses.

I wish I got to try some of my favorite dishes there, like tteobokki and gimbap, which were reasonably priced but out of my personal budget’s range. The music they played was mostly BTS, which is understandable.

I didn’t really like the ambience, because it was a wee too dark for me. The part of the grill that sucks up smoke also prevented my friend and I from conversing properly, so that wasn’t great. It was also hard to try all the side dishes that were placed across the table.

I think the place is more suitable for date night, and I highly recommend coming in earlier for dinner. At around 7:30, there was already a line outside, so we were fortunate to have finished by then.

Hmm, that’s all that I have for these two weeks. I’m ashamed to admit that either I’ve been running on empty, or running on rage. Good things happen (like almost completing the entire Clique series, thanks to the local Book Sale) but bad things and blacker moods have been prevailing. Still, I have to record something of myself weekly.

I found that it helps to look back at a time when we were happier, and I can try to recapture that spirit from the words that remain. XOXO, and see you next week (I hope)!

This week, I reread Jane Austen’s Persuasion – which I enjoyed way more than my first read of it and devoured during my daily commute.

I’ve always paid attention to how Jane Austen wrote about members of the church, since she is famously the daughter of a genteel country clergyman. They get incorporated a lot into her works, and at least three of the love interests/heroes are clergy. I also appreciate the fact that she writes about them as human beings first, rather than their professions, because their characters are not always at par. In fact, I think most of them are never as good as they ought to be, and that’s a pointed observation towards a group of people she must have known very well.

So, to rank major clergymen characters in Austen:

1. Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility – OK. I personally think Edward here is a little weak. I don’t understand what attracted him at all to Lucy Steele, because she’s so clearly not a good noodle (although maybe that’s because we are reading it from Elinor’s POV). I always thought Elinor deserved better than him, simply because of his failure to explain the whole truth and sort matters out for himself.

2. Mr. Collins and George Wickham from Pride and Prejudice – I had to include both. Wickham was studying to take holy orders, but he’s such a cad – imagine if he actually ended up pursuing the profession. *shudders* Collins is a little better, but he’s so odious and condescending that I should hope my parish to never be led by a person like him.

3. Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey – I think my best beloved Austen clergyman is Tilney. He’s a genuinely good guy who knows what love entails, and isn’t afraid to pursue it. Of course, he has his flaws. He rebukes Catherine without thinking that maybe she has a point about his parents: his father might not be a monster in a horror novel, but he did treat his wife terribly. Tilney realises this in the end, I think.

4. Mr. Elton from Emma – Collins is at least odious at front. Elton is a snake of a vicar. He isn’t quite the villain (I think Emma herself is the villain in her story) but he comes very close to it. Him and the wife he eventually got deserved each other for being mean-spirited people. The poor people of Highbury.

5. Edmund Bertram from Mansfield Park – Oop, Edmund very nearly fell into temptation with Mary Crawford. Pity Edmund for making mostly correct decisions except where it may have mattered the most. I’m one of the rare people who do love Fanny Price (because how can they expect her to be as sparkling as Lizzy Bennet when she’s basically a subservient charity case in her Aunt’s care??). It was mortifying for Fanny (and for me!) to watch Edmund be so blind.

6. Charles Heyter from Persuasion – A name not familiar to many, because Charles Heyter only serves the purpose of getting together with Henrietta Musgrove, leaving the playing field for Captain Wentworth open for Louisa Musgrove (and lowkey a Miss Anne Elliot, yeehaw). Charles Heyter shows more of the circumstances of clergy rather than a character, although he seems like a good dude too. Whatever, he’s one of three Charles’ in this book.

I haven’t read through Sanditon, and I don’t recall any clergymen in Lady Susan, but I think there was a shift in how Austen characterized her leading men. From mostly genteel suitors who were landowners, clergy, or soldiers, she changes her view in Persuasion, where the good men are the productive members of the Navy – who are informed about the world and well-travelled. These are people who worked hard to get to the top of their profession, and it does look like a great compliment to Austen’s brothers and their friends who were in the Navy at the time as well. Though they don’t get much screen time until Persuasion came along, I think she made their roles here count.

I love getting trapped in Austen’s world and her time, even just for a little while. You can feel the shifts and the changes in how she thought women ought to be viewed, and even if she’s a rector’s spinster daughter from the 1800s, she writes about real people and real characters so that even a girl from the South East Asia in the 2000s can still relate to her.

Even though a lot of the criticism directed at her is that her worldview is stuck in the ball rooms of her time, I think it’s these pictures of real human beings from the mind of a wickedly funny, observant, wine aunt single woman are what make reading Austen a truly extraordinary gift.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not the least bit prepared for today’s blog post. Between the weather and the fact that the end of the 2010s is just around the corner, I’m a little bummed out. I’ll compile a happy, summer-y K-POP playlist here to cheer myself and everyone else up.

1. Red Flavor – Red Velvet: Their entire Red Summer album is one of my absolute favorites. While I like “Zoo” and “Mojito” as well, the iconic 2017 ppalganmat! fruit song cannot be dethroned in my heart.

2. Touch My Body – SISTAR: As many fans would tell you, SISTAR are the unrivalled queens of summer. This one is a classic, but another song called “Shake It” is also a strong contender.

3. View – SHINee: One of the first SHINee songs I listened to and loved from the start, I think View really solidifies what SHINee’s sound is. Also I enjoy the MV where they have fun being kidnapped.

4. Summer 127 – NCT127: Only recently did I hear this song, and it’s one of the few NCT songs I like. It’s groovy, but I judge some of the lyrics.

5. Kokobop – EXO: Another hallmark of KPOP Summer 2017, Kokobop really sickened a lot of EXO-Ls because they kept singing it everywhere. Still, it’s a jam and I love the trippy MV.

6. Party – Girl’s Generation: Other notable contenders were SNSD’s All Night and Holiday, but Party’s lyrics (‘Lemon soju, tequila, mojito!’) are more appropos.

7. ‘Bout You – Super Junior D&E: This song really gives me a lot of cheerful, happy vibes. It makes you want to dance along with D&E.

8. gogobebe – MAMAMOO: Another song for dancing, but with more drops. MAMAMOO’s vocals are nonpareil.

9. Selfish – Moon Byul x Seulgi: For people out there who just want to cut loose and focus on self-care for awhile, this one is for you. It’s a great collab that talks about wanting to be a little selfish every once in a while.

10. Bingle Bangle – AOA: The core message of this song is to shake your butt, let’s dance – isn’t that what summer is all about?

Hoping I can impart a little cheeriness in this bleak tropical winter of rain and chill. Stay healthy!

I’m proud to say that my hometown of Quezon City has many good food haunts which is perfect for the munchy family I was raised in.

Since it is a holiday today and my older brother got Php 3,000 worth of gift certificates from before, we visited this restaurant called 1950 in the Gilmore area of Quezon City.

We ordered:

1. Bone marrow (Php 380): Served in the bone itself with onion jam and toasted bread, it’s a good appetiser if you enjoy onion jam (like my sister did). I’m not a big fan of onion jam (too sweet) so I didn’t think it too tasty.

2. Caesar salad (Php 400): Three lettuce boats topped with bacon and cheese, this Caesar salad was a headache to divide among seven people. Eat it with your hands, and don’t bother with the forks.

3. Buttermilk fried chicken bites (Php 300): Really good: crisp on the outside, but tender and juicy on the inside. Served with two biscuits, I think. Made me miss fried chicken in Korea so much more – they got the texture right but I miss the kicky flavours available abroad,

4. Beef cheek bourguignon (Php 470): Three thick-ish slices of tender beef, in tomato-paste with glazed carrots and mashed potatoes. Delicious with their plain rice (Php 60/cup) but I wasn’t satisfied having to share.

5. Sinigang na lechon (Php 375): If my mother cooked sinigang like this, I would not turn up my nose at it as often. For those unfamiliar with sinigang… it’s soursop soup? tamarind soup? It’s sour and savory with meat chunks, and this one was roast pork – complete with the skin. Delicious.

6. Gambas na hipon (Php 375): I can’t quite explain what gambas is, though I’m sure that almost universally, “tasty, oily shrimp” is easily understood, yes?

7. Baked Alaska (Php 280): I think this was my favorite. It’s a plain, rich cake topped with pink ice-cream, covered in marshmallow toasted outside, then topped with strawberries and mint leaves, and finally smothered with strawberry jam. My sweet tooth was pleased.

8. Toasted ensaymada (Php 280): This was served with two slices of crisp bacon and a small cup of hot chocolate. So you dip the ensaymada (sweet brioche-like bread) with the bacon into the chocolate, then you repeat. If you’re lucky, you get to gulp that hot chocolate down your throat like a ravenous animal – which I did.

9. Mocktails: Dreaming apples (Php 150) and Red carpet (Php 150) – I ordered dreaming apples, which is best described as liquefied apple pie. My sister ordered red carpet, which was a fruity blend of strawberry and apple. I thought it was a little pricey for a drink, but I was surprised that the glass they served it in was almost comically large.

The service was pretty good, even if they are just in their soft opening stages. The ambiance is old-timey and classy, so I think it’s more suitable for a date night rather than family luncheon.

Overall, it was pretty good food, but I think it’s a little fancy and overpriced for the relatively small portions – so it doesn’t quite satisfy my family’s qualifications for a regular food-haunt. I’d give it a 7.5/10 stars.

Question of the Week: Have you jopped today?