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No Reservations

I met up with Val at Trinoma to watch Stardust, a movie based on a book of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. Click The City said is already showing but, unfortunately, they were so wrong. There was no Stardust anywhere! So I ended up agreeing to watch No Reservations which is what Val wanted to watch in the first place. The movie is about a tough nut chef who won’t let anybody in but of course eventually did. What can I say? It was so-so and unconvincing. At least a lot of food was shown. Food. Now that’s the saving grace for the night. And while watching, I also devoured a huge slice of pizza and a big serving of penne with meat sauce from Sbarro. Makes me want to dust off and reopen that old Italian cookbook and get cooking even something as simple as pasta.

Rating: 2/5

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Starcraft II

A few days ago, I downloaded and watched the Starcraft II gameplay videos for the Protoss and Terran races. The Protoss video was cool. They have a lot of new tricks up their sleeves: mobile energy sources, zealots who rush to combat, huge mechanized units and an overly powerful unit called the mothership. But it was the Terran video that totally blew me away! Aside from light but high mobile infantry, they also have a bunch of new air units one of which can transform into a bipedal ground unit. But the best unit has got to be the Thor: A huge bipedal ground unit that’s essentially huge guns on two legs. We ended up  so inspired that we played Starcraft. And guess what? It was still lotsa fun. If that’s the case for a game that’s almost 10 years old, I just can’t imagine how Starcraft II will be. Can’t wait!

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Big Pink Bunny

Billie sent me this link about a big pink bunny. It’s not exactly what I expected. I thought it would be big but not this BIG. But my first reaction really was: OMG! They killed the big pink bunny! It’s odd position on the ground and the grotesque expression on its face just screams out dead. It is just waaay creepy and disturbing and somehow amusing at the same time. What will people think of next?

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Burning Out?

It’s the end of the week and I feel so drained and exhausted. It’s a long tiring week and it is showing. I’m being cranky and irritable. Is this a sign of being burned out? I’ve been working with the company for most three years. Long by my standards. Also, it’s been a hectic year in terms of objectives: MBA, ISO 9001, etc. They left me exhausted, but they were what drove me on. But right now the only thing motivating me is mentoring my unwitting protege. It’s quite ironic since just this morning I asked her if she is having fun. She said she is. And I told her that it’s good since work should be fun. But I’m afraid to ask myself the same question. Maybe a short vacation will fix me.

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Nasilemak

Val learned about this new restaurant along Morato called Nasilemak. So she, Rose, and I decided to meet up there. I found the place quite easily. It is in front of the McDonald’s at the intersection of Morato and Roces and beside an Office Warehouse branch (Let me practice my French: Il est devant McDonald’s a l’intersection de Rue Morato et Rue Roces et pres de un Office Warehouse branch).

The interior was well done. It is minimalist and Zen-inspired. The furniture is dark and the walls are light. Reproductions of paintings are hung here and there. The lighting is subdued but not too dark. At a corner, I saw Val chatting with the owner and I joined them. After a narration of the history of the place and the menu by the owner, we sat down and checked out the menu while waiting for Rose who arrived a soon after.

We ordered fried rice with dilis, fried fish with sambal sauce, pata tim, and milk tea. They actually come with more exotic sounding names but I just couldn’t recall them. The fried rice was good. The burst of flavor when you bite on the dilis is just great. The fried fish with sambal sauce was also good. The aroma from the sambal sauce is mouth-watering and the fish itself absorbed some of that. The best has got to be the pata tim. It’s a bit salty but it’s still so good I even sampled the fatty stuff :D

It’s a bit expensive but about still worth it for that occasional food splurge.

Rating: 3/5