Caffeeklatsch
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Kaffeeklatsch is literally "coffee chat" (in German). This is the type of casual convention, small talk and especially gossip enjoyed by housewives who meet in the afternoon for a cup of coffee. Wikipedia.We weren't housewives, nor did we meet in the afternoon, nor did we have a cup of coffee, but Joanne and I did our fair share of Kaffeeklatsch-ing last night at Caffeeklatsch. The C to K first letter change is probably a copyright thing, according to Wikimapia, there are established Kaffeeklatsch coffee shops in Alabama and Chile.
I met my friend Joanne last night for dinner at Pizza Volante. (Volante is Italian for flying... nope, they didn't throw pizza at us when we ordered them) I haven't seen or talked with her in a year, so over Mussels in Red Sauce, Vegetarian Pizza and a couple of fruit shakes, we caught up with each other's misadventures. We went to Caffeeklatsch after.
Joanne and I share a special weird kind of friendship defined mainly by laughter and flatulence. We make fun of each other, at unknowing strangers and of anything as mundane as a weird looking lamp.
Klatsch Brewers (I think, this is what I decoded from the vocalists words) played that night. They were a good acoustic ensemble reminiscent of MYMP, although with a male singer. I wouldn't be a band groupie, especially when they didn't know the songs I requested, but I wouldn't mind coming back to hear them play. I liked their renditions of Stitches and Burns (Fra Lippo Lippi), Mahirap Magmahal ng Syota ng Iba (Apo) and You to Me are Everything (The Real Thing)
Caffeeklatsch is a unique establishment in terms of its interior. Studying for five years makes architecture graduates harsh critics of the buildings we visit. We'd give reviews of restaurants we frequent and shops we go to. The professional credo states that "I shall confine my criticisms and praises within constructive and inspirational limits", but I'm sure you'll criticize it too when you need to limbo when you enter a door or when climbing a staircase requires you to bend your knees at 90 degree angles.
The mezzanine low ceiling, approximately 5'-10" because my head nearly reaches the ceiling, the humongous beams, the trip-prone spiral staircases and the low-watt light fixtures are worthy of criticism, but in the case of Caffeeklatsch, it works. These elements add to the cluttered, cozy hominess of the coffee shop. It is like a hobbit bar. I love stylish clutter: mismatched chairs, an assortment of decorations and conversation pieces strewn here and there. There is always something to see and something to talk about.
Some things didn't escape the subdued critic in me though, the shaking mezzanine floor when someone walks and the weird shaped comfort rooms with low doors. But the good clearly outweighs the bad... Be sure you include a night spent Caffeeklatsch-ing when you visit my city.
Of Mouseholes and Mozzarella Cheese
Friday, August 25, 2006
It's one of the simplest doodles but can be recognized universally (or at least that part of the world that have seen Tom and Jerry). Just an inverted "U". I'm thinking of who drew this and how much money he could have raked in if he patented it. Of course, actual mouse holes don't look like this. Mice teeth weren't designed to create such perfectly shaped doorways, and last time I checked, Mice haven't studied symmetry and Byzantine arches.
There are a lot more such images. Take the dog bone. When you see a drawing like this you immediately associate a dog bone. Bad example, cause it may not be anatomically proportional but it still resembles a chicken drumstick.
The heart! An even more recognizable icon. The person who drew the first heart would be ten times (I estimated...) richer than the mouse hole pioneer. Anyone can draw a heart, just two mirrored squiggly 3/4 S's. The real human heart however, doesn't look much it. You know what this means... time for another google search. Google is so convenient:Google: Where did the heart shape come from?
It came up with several pages but this, from Yahoo! Answers, caught my eye.
Two things. First, whoever said love and lust are two different things needs to contradict this argument... and second, I think a guy probably drew the first heart.The "heart" shape could be considered to depict features of the human female body, such as the female's pubic mound or vulva. A Sumerian cuneiform symbol for "woman" closely resembles the heart shape, and is believed to directly depict the pubic mound. Others maintain that the heart resembles the shape of the female breasts or the female buttocks, especially when bent over in readiness for copulation from the rear.
Another possible origin can be seen on the coins of the ancient city of Cyrene, some of which depict the seeds or fruit of the now-extinct silphium plant. The seeds are distinctly heart-shaped. Since this plant was widely used as an ancient herbal contraceptive or abortifacient, this shape may have come to be associated with sexuality and love.
Pizza, the New Anti-depressant
I'm glad to report that Baguio has experienced two rainless days in a row. Woo hoo! A conversation on our way home from work (me and officemates):
John: Ang saya no? Di na umuulan.
Me: Huwag mo batiin!
Tine: Oo nga! baka mamiss ka...
John: Sige... (isip) Sana umulan bukas! (his attempt at reverse psychology)
Tine: Huwag mo ipagdasal!
John: Ano ngarud sasabihin ko?
Me and Tine: Wala.
Bert: Nagugutom ako.
Tine: Libre ka!
Me: Oo nga! Ala ako last time.
Bert: P 500 lang budget.
Me: Kanya kanya na kami drinks.
Tine: O bat tahimik ka John?
John: Madami ako atraso dyan eh.
Bert: Cge.
Tine: Ang cute ng guy na yun na nakaupo sa likod mo.
Me: (Lingon) Talikogenic.
John: Pinakawalan na nya si Sheryn.
Tine and I look at Bert... tahimik.
Me: Eh si... si...
John: Rhea.
Bert: Nag-iipon sana ako para sa kasal pero sya na bahala kung gusto nya mahal na kasal.
Me: Mga magkano ba magpakasal ngayon?
Tine: Mga 100,000.00
John: Talaga?
Tine: Pakasalan mo na! Mura lang magpa-annul... 80,000.00
Me: haha... mas mahal magpakasal. Go na Bert. 180,000.00 pesos!
Bert... tahimik
There were writings on the wall and this was placed right beside our table.
UPDATE: I Jinxed it. Right after I published this post... It frickin rained!
Labels: bloghopping, cafe, filipinowledge
Mist + Matchbox + My Super Ex-Girlfriend + Millers
Sunday, August 20, 2006
4 pm. I met Tine and Ely to buy die-cast Volkswagens for our friend CA who was gonna celebrate her two-week delayed birthday celebration later on in the night. That's one of the things about growing up and having jobs, we rarely celebrate birthdays and even rarely do we celebrate them on time. The beetle matchboxes were requested gifts and CA was registered at her favorite novelty matchbox shop.
We had 5 hours to kill. I stayed up late because of Wikimapia, so I still felt a little groggy and disoriented. I needed a caffeine fix. So we checked out Paliz Zata, a new cafe our friend Joyce raved about. It was at the roof top of Porta Vaga, a mini-mall (I'm using mini here... Philippine malls keep getting bigger and bigger)
We decided to take the long route. Tine, Ely and I sharing one umbrella. Tine and I actually had umbrellas of our own, but we were just too lazy to bring them out of the warmth of our bags. We passed by The Baguio Cathedral and I had to take a picture.
The cathedral looked so ethereal with all the mist. The usual pastel pink walls were diluted by the fog. The church looked so majestically neo-European. We reached the cafe, the lower part of our jeans soaking wet. It was a nice cafe overlooking Baguio and had a revolving-restaurant-ish ambience. We chatted about personal stuff and pondered the structural integrity of the cafe which was 75% enclosed with glass. Wind pressure, glass thickness, beam-window connections... stuff I won't bore you with. I'm pressing the fast forward button...
7 pm. We met Joyce at the Filipino shopping hub known as SM. Malls... I have mixed feelings about them. We decided to spend the last two hours in a cinema rather than strain our calves window-shopping. A feel-good movie was in order, we needed to tune ourselves for the party. I wanted to watch Click but Ely already saw it, second choice was...
My Super Ex-GirlfriendThis movie raises the question:
If you had super powers, what would you want them to be? AND... would you use them on worthless scum like your exes?
Achtung! I blabber too much, I might say some things that would spoil the movie for youif you're planning to watch it.
Uma Thurman plays Jenny Johnson aka superhero G-Girl. Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) hits on her in a subway. A thief snatches Jenny's bag... Matt plays knight in shining business suit. G-Girl who does most of the saving, get's saved (in a way) for once. Jenny gets infatuated. Matt fulfills a fantasy after Jenny discloses her identity. Jenny thinks she fell in love. Matt discovers he's in love with someone else. Matt breaks up with Jenny... awful idea. Jenny becomes psychotic, vengeful ex-G-Girlfriend.
What I Liked:
- Uma as G-Girl is like Beatrix Kiddo on Prozac. She had the best looking superhero costumes, chic but save-the-world-functional.
- Uma as Jenny... Her portrayal of neurotic Jenny Johnson was reminiscent of dear dear Noelle (The Truth About Cats and Dogs) The usual Uma roles are defined by wit, confidence and excellent articulation, and on these rare occasions where she plays depressed and desperate characters, she becomes all the more lovable.
- Luke Wilson plays an architect.
- Rooting for Matt and finding G-Girl a psycho one minute, and then completely changing your mind: Finding Matt pathetic and wanting G-Girl to shove that chainsaw up his ass.
- Matt's bestfriend played by Rainn Wilson (Six Feet Under)
- Anna Faris made the friends that should be lovers thing with Luke Wilson's character work quite well, she is so much better when she under-acts. During the last 15 minutes of the movie, she fell back to her pigeon hole... as Cindy from the Scary Movies.
- The best thing about this movie for me is the humanization of superheroes (which is what made the last Batman movie, the X-men movies and the Spiderman movies really good) Years of keeping a secret identity can make you paranoid, untrusting and neurotic. Superheroes can also have their hearts broken, they can be petty, they can be desperate and they can use their powers for personal reasons.
What I didn't:
- Luke Wilson playing a normal, tax-paying and clumsy character usually works for me. This time it didn't.
- The in-your-face humor of Wanda Sykes was underused.
- The transformation of flashback Jenny into G-Girl should've been okey but they decided to add an increase in her bra cup size as a part of her transformation. Women who have bigger boobs have "super" powers in a way... but having that idea plastered on a movie screen is just tacky.
- A more charismatic and memorable actor should've played Bedlam... someone along the likes of Jack Black or Matt Stone.
- The last 15 minutes of the movie were predictable and uninspired. Everyone ends up happy of course.
All in all, My Super Ex-Girlfriend is an excellent feel-good movie. Watch it if you like movies like Shallow Hal, There's Something About Mary and Mystery Men. It may not be a life changing movie, It only engages your brain a little, but it has definite Entertainment Value.
It served its purpose for us. I left the cinema in party mode. We arrived at Red Lion, 10 minutes late and found out we were the first ones there. Drasted Filipino time. We waited at the bar... and actually had a fun time watching the bar tenders mix drinks and falter every now and then.
One hour and 30 minutes late, our extremely tardy celebrant arrives. We already had a couple of Millers each on her tab. Ok lang... Birthday mo naman eh. Beer, Pulutan, Marlboro Lights, Die-cast Volkswagens and great drinking buddies. It was an awesome night/morning.
Happy Two-Week Belated Birthday CA!
Chapped Lipped, Soaking Wet and Flat Broke...
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Episode 1: The Chapstick Incident
1830 hours. Circa one week ago. Just finished another day at the office, I was in an FX on my way to a friend's house. I distinctively remember hearing a cheesy Ilocano melodrama on the taxi radio. The type of radio program where the audio actors emote way too much and there are probably two supposed sound technicians walking with extra heavy shoes and slamming a door to demonstrate the theatrical walk-out of the main character's mistress... or something like that. Anyways, I recall twirling my favorite lip balm (the green minty one) in my hands like a baton looking at the dingy corduroy car seats when the taxi came to a startling stop (I almost went to first base with the passenger seat head rest... ullk). I was frantically rummaging thru my bag for the fare having seen that I was a couple of houses away from my destination. I paid, went out and as I was pressing the door bell realized that I wasn't holding my Chapstick. Drats.
Episode 2: The Umburglar (Part I)
1900 hours. Yesternight. The first day of my two week leave. I met up with a couple of girlfriends for coffee. Tine, Dona and I were having a fabulous time talking about everything from board exams to babies over brewed coffee, Marlboro lights and dessert. The waiters that night went from the good, to the bad, to the downright ugly. It was sometime during our conversation about that psychic that went on "Deal or no Deal" (with actions please) that I made a mental note to secure my umbrella from the table beside us. Earlier that evening, I came to the coffee shop unfashionably early and was seated, after a century of waiting, on a dreadful table. A couple of cigarettes and twelve Text Twist™ correct six-letter words later, the table in the corner by the windows cleared up. With ashtray, bag, and cup & saucer in hand(s), I moved. I however, forgot to relocate my umbrella with me... the tail end of typhoon Florita was still over
Episode 2a: Blame It On The Batteries (Part II)
2030 hours. Still Yesternight. After a Session Road hike while throwing bitching comments in the air over my stolen chartreuse umbrella, Tine and I were saying goodbye to Dona at the SM lower ground escalator. We were gonna do some late night hygiene product shopping. I ended up buying another umbrella. At the cashier's counter, Tine wanted to test the eyebrow trimmer she was eyeing before flipping out her SM advantage card. A saleslady told her to pay for it before testing it (huh?). Anyways, that's what we did. Over the UCB fragrances at the nauseous scents-intermingling-in-the-air perfume counter, the lady was opening the tightly sealed trimmer with a translucent pink cutter. I half expected the product not to work and to my surprise, it didn't! The saleslady was jerking it this way and that and finally came to the remarkable conclusion that it was because of the AAA batteries Tine bought to test it. For crying out loud! This lady must be kidding me. That's when I experienced the tedium of the bureaucracy of Customer Service. We were following this poor purple clad saleslady, named May, around the department store being passed from person to person, all happening near closing time. Blah blah blah... It all ended with Tine hesitantly accepting a replacement eyebrow trimmer. I'm happy to report that she SMSed me saying that it finally works.
Episode 3: Mr. Non-Brightside
1700 hours. This afternoon. I woke up late to a messy room. I promised I'd wake up early today but I had had had to do a marathon of the first season of Grey's Anatomy. I was supposed to fix my room today to look for my wallet that's been reported AWOL for a day and a half now. I can't bear thinking about what I have to go through to replace the IDs and licenses I had in that wallet so I pried myself off my bed. I literally turned my bed over and several other furniture in my room (and some parts of the house), searching in vain for that darn wallet, while Fiona Apple sang out of my radio. At about 5 pm, I called the search party off. I realized that I should be saving my energy for queuing and for filling out forms, replacing all the stuff in there that I've lost. On the bright side, my room is sparklingly clean. There is no bright side when you lose your wallet. Dang it! I'm so f***ing... (what's English for burara? scatterbrained? Thanks Geeyoe).
Notice to the public: If you see a green chapstick in a taxi, a bitch with a chartreuse umbrella or a black pirated Girbaud wallet please inform me immediately! (except maybe for the lip gloss, wouldn't want to touch that now) This three-bad-things-happening-to-you is real and highly contagious.
Moving Day
