I abso-fucking-lutely love Cloverfield! I'm telling you, I'm still getting chills while writing this entry. Super galing ni JJ Abrams and whoever is the director of this film.

One Caveat though: Don't watch the movie when you're full. You're gonna get dizzy. I won't give spoilers as you HAVE TO watch this movie. Basically the shots are like the ones in Blair Witch Project. But this is SO much better I guarantee!

I've written about my obsession with reality shows over a hundred times already. The first time I saw Survivor on Studio 23 I instantly fell in love with it. I never stopped watching it since then. But of course, I also have been watching other shows. My current favorites are The Amazing Race, The Amazing Race Asia and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (JDMA).

I'm not really a big fan of fashion but I love JDMA just because it looks more real than America's Next Top Model. They book models in real jobs and get rid of the bad ones instantly without going through the arduous process of doing hair and make-up and doing photoshoots only to be eliminated at the end of the show. What's also nice is that we now know that JDMA models are real working models.

Despite all the criticism, I still find ANTM entertaining. I miss watching it with Ria at our old apartment in Clark. We both think Tyra is amazing and beautiful but there's just something fake about her hit show. Now I heard about the Saleisha scandal which made me even more disappointed at her.



But this is not really the first time that I've been disappointed with one of my favorite shows. I was shocked to find out that some shots on Survivor were 're-created' with stand-ins. An insider once said that the scenes where they were seen hiking and walking miles and miles on their way to Tribal Council were all rehearsed. In reality, they take a short, air-conditioned SUV ride.

On The Apprentice, I didn't realize that the elevator ride to Donald Trump's office was just for show. This came to me as a surprise because there was a scene in the second season where Mr. Trump was deliberating Apex Corp's performance when he decided to ask their teammates (who were then already back in their fabulous suite) to come back to the boardroom for further evaluation on one certain incident.

It was purely the magic of editing.

I'm currently watching Cycle 9 of ANTM and I wondered, is it worth it? Why waste my time of we all know the real winner was robbed in this season?

I think Tyra Banks better shape up and better come up with a much better Cycle 10. Or else, Tyson Beckford and Nikki Taylor is going to give her a run for her money with Make Me A Supermodel.



It's a mix of ANTM and Project Runway but they feature both male and female models. The best part is that the viewers can vote for the model of their choice.

Today, my [orig] boss called for a meeting. I was expecting an important announcement since he wanted all morning supervisors to be there. I was surprised when he made an official announcement: I will be their Assistant Program Manager effective immediately. It was a mixture of excitement and fear, I have to admit. Excitement because I cannot wait to bring my career to the next level and at the same time fear of losing myself in the process.

I always fear that taking on a new role will result to many sacrifices, most important of which is my social life. Not that I have a fabulous lifestyle. Like now I have to deal with my friends in a more professional manner, I have to be cautious when opening my mouth; I have to treat everyone with utmost respect without getting bored or irritated easily. Too many things I should consider.

One thing I learned about my boss is that I've completely misunderstood him. A few months ago, I used to think that the former assistant manager was doing most of his work and that he was just sitting there, maybe working for a few hours but not as hard as we expect him to.

But now that I've started to work with him more closely, I am starting to see the leader in him. What's better is that he wants me to start making decisions for him.

I was so scared today because I screwed up on one of the important reports I submitted to him. I think I just have to remind myself to be extra careful in every task that I do.

***

It was also time for me to break the news to my crew. Aside from Heath Ledger's death, Team Pika will now be officially dissolved and they would have to be distributed to different supervisors across all shifts. It's a sad thing since I've started to develop a nice relationship with my team and I think they've already realized how concerned I was (and still am) for their welfare. I just hope they'll still support me as I take on this new role.

***

It's quite scary that I am sharing a role with someone I do not get along with. It's quite inevitable that this will become a competition between an a-hole who has a two Master's and degrees and an old-timer in the company. I think my only advantage is that I am well aware of the process and that my people skills are way better than his (based of course on my observation and experience). It's also funny that he accused me of being lousy then the next day he found out we're sharing this role.

I just hope everything turns out well. I really do.

Amici is a restaurant along Arnaiz Avenue. It used to be called Amici di Don Bosco (Friends of Don Bosco). It was opened sometime in the 90's when I was still studying at Don Bosco Makati. We used to sneak out buy their ice cream because it's just so delicious. Some students got caught, were charged with cutting classes and were eventually kicked out. That was the end of our secret trips to Amici.

Vlad and I have been spending quality time a lot lately. We're both stressed out since the arrival of the 'bad' boss so we decided to take a li'l trip to my favorite place when I was in college:

Je t'adore Mika! I was first introduced to his music through my bestfriend Ria

Je t'adore Mika! I was first introduced to his music through my bestfriend Ria who said his other song Love Today is the gayest song ever and she loves listening to it while walking down the streets of Australia. SO I checked him out on YouTube and found this. Cool indeed! Some people might not like Mika because he's always in that falsetto voice but hey! Justin Timberlake also did it (and did it so well) in his first album.

But my favorite song from Mika's album, Life in Cartoon Motion is Happy Ending. The lyrics may bring you to tears especially if you just broke up with someone or if you're still not over someone you really love. Funny thing though, since the theme is cartoon, the video is like an oxymoron. It's supposed to be funny with all the toys singing but the words of the song overpowers any other emotion when listening to this song.

Try it. You just might like Mika.

Vlad and I

We were in a meeting earlier and my [good] boss (remember there's the 'bad' one out there) Pio said we need to talk about something. I thought it wasn't really important. I've been in-charge of so many things right now and I just thought he'd give me another task.

About two hours after my shift, people have gone home but I was still working. Then he sent me a message through YM.

'Pika, go here.'
'Okay boss, I'm still on the 21st.'
'We need to talk so clear your mind.'
'Okay, I'll start packing.'

I wondered. Nobody has ever asked me to 'clear my mind' before having a conversation with my boss. I was so anxious to know what was going on.

When I got there, he started by asking the scariest question ever: 'Pika, how are you?' Usually, that particular question is followed by a negative statement, probably a positive one first to prevent panic but bad news almost always ensues.

Well, I was glad to know it wasn't really a bad news. In fact it was something really exciting for me. I'm sort of moving up... I'll be the acting Assistant Manager starting next week.

To celebrate my small victory, I treated myself to [yet another] movie. I finally had the courage to watch Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street. As I mentioned earlier, I was scared that this movie might have as much gore as , say, the Saw movies or Hostel. So I was too afraid to watch it. But I felt a little more at ease after reading the newspaper today that says it won the Best Picture for Musical/Comedy category at the Golden Globes.


Damn the movie was good! Johnny Depp did what he does best. And I am in love with his and Helena Bonham Carter's craziness! I love the story and the songs too. My favorite was Mrs. Lovett's song to the young lad entitled, Not While I'm Around.

+++

Aside from Johnny Depp, I'm also a huge fan of Ethan Hawke. I watched most of his recent movies and my favorite movie of all time is Before Sunset, where he also put on the screenwriter's hat to make the movie much more interesting, funny, dramatic, sad, and most importantly, very hopeful.

So one day I was going through his future projects on IMDB and I was surprised to see this:

To celebrate my small victory, I treated myself to a movie! I finally had the courage to watch Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street

Aside from the new 'boss', I've been sick and tired of people noticing how 'ugly' my new hair is. I've tried to maintain a semikal look since November of last year and I loved it. One bad thing about it: I looked too fat. But hey! I got more dates than ever! So the hair must have worked.... even with too much fat on my friggin' face.

So I decided to grow my hair back. It started growing back last December. When it got to the point when my nape started to itch and people kept convincing me to cut my hair, I paid my good ole barber a visit and had a barber's cut - meaning he trimmed he sides to help my hair grow to its 'normal' state.

Apparently, people didn't like my look. While some said that I looked like a young boy with my new do, most people said I look weird and that I should just revert back to being a baldy. Such a shame! I gave that barber a tip for, what I thought, was an awesome job he did.

So I am gonna pay him a visit later and get another cut.

I hate myself for doing it again:



+++

I don't know what the heck is up with my new boss. I just don't get him. He's out there trying to look tough and like he's actually acting like a boss but I just don't get this problem. I was on time yesterday. I arrived 15 minutes before the time and he said I gotta come in earlier. Okay, fair enough. Then when I was assisting my crew he asked me in that condescending tone, ' You know why you're scrambling?' I told him I'm not. I knew that the people who are having problems with their system today are the same people who had problems yesterday so why waste your time worry about such?

I don't know if he was just trying to make sure we are aware that he is now THE boss... or maybe he was just trying to show off the management styles he learned after getting is MBA.

Such people really get into my nerves. But hey, they're the boss! So I guess I need to live with this for the next two months. I'm afraid this ain't gonna be a nice Valentine's this year.

+++


I was so surprised to find out that Bee Movie was actually a good movie! My sister has a pirated DVD but it stops at a certain scene. She said she didn't like it so I was worried that it might not really be a good idea to watch it. WOW! I was amazed. Not only because the animation was excellent but also because the story was cool (though crazy, you might think).

+++


I also watched I Could Never Be Your Woman at Glorietta yesterday. I've actually been waiting for this movie since December because the trailer was, though lacked that Hollywood glamour, quite funny. And I wanted to feel better yesterday so I finally watched it.


The story is pretty obvious. A 40-year-old woman fell in love with a 29-year-old man who doesn't care that she's an aging woman. Paul Rudd is a super hilarious guy and he's kept his cool guy image since the movie Clueless.


I love that they made it a more hopeful version of Prime (Bryan Greenberg/Uma Thurman). If they beefed up the script and had a more updated soundtrack, this could have been a much better movie.

+++

I dunno if I should watch Sweeney Todd. I am a fan of Johnny Depp and all his craziness but I read that the movie has enough gore to keep me out of the cinema until the end of the movie.


Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are like Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa during the peak of their careers. They look good together and their movies actually make money. It's one of the most stable tandems in Hollywood.

++

I cannot wait to see Sex and the City this May!

Well, it seems that doing covers is not only famous here in the Philippines. Major artists abroad are doing the same thing now. I loved Mandy Moore's version of Rihanna's Umbrella. Now, thanks to my fave gossip blogger Perez Hilton, comes John Mayer with his guitar rendition of Justin Timberlake's Lovestoned.


-

I don't remember if it was Carla or Meianne who once told me, 'You gotta slow down. I'm worried that you might be an alchoholic.' This was 200

I don't remember if it was Carla or Meianne who once told me, 'You gotta slow down. I'm worried that you might be an alcoholic.' This was between 2003 and 2004, when we used to skip classes and get our butts to this students' bar in Katipunan called Beckhams. I initially thought it was sort of in honor of David Beckham, but then I didn't really see a lot of pictures of him....

...Or maybe I was just too drunk I couldn't remember.

And scrap that. Meianne was also an alcoholic so it was definitely Carla who said that. It really didn't matter. I always thought I had full control of myself when I'm surrounded by alcoholic drinks even though I always end up snoozing in the cab at the end of each drinking session.

Hay, college! I miss those days! Especially now that UP is celebrating its centennial.

Anyway, I made an interesting discovery about a month ago. I was too tired to go out and was too excited to get blasted. So I took a quick trip to the nearest 7-Eleven store and bought the cheapest vodka I could find. When I lived in the Legaspi condo with Belle, we used to go to Mini Stop and buy cheap vodka. She's good in mixing it with some stuff. I was never good at that. So I took a bottle of Cossack vodka and a bottle of Mountain Dew.

It might not be the best drink in the world but it definitely is a good treat when you're drinking alone... especially:


...if you pair it with these yummy Pastel buns filled with yema-like goodies. YUM YUM YUM! It was Boris, my housemate in college who once brought this tasty delight. He said it can only be purchased in Camiguin. But lo and behold, I found a stall two years after in Market! Market! so I was REALLY in ecstasy (and on the verge of being over-overweight too).

The nearby Shopwise bakery sells them too. If you want 'em, come and get 'em. You won't regret it. Pair it with a great drink and you can enjoy yourself while watching some good TV care of the bitch named Janice Dickinson:

-

Grabe, I've been away from UP for so long that I forgot the most important event this year (aside from the opening of Iron Man and Sex and the City):

Yesterday was another long day for everyone in the office. It's payroll time once again so I had to stay in the office for another four hours just to try to finish everything. And just as I was hiding other employees' names in excel, trying to focus on those people under my supervision, I was shocked to find out that one of the supervisors abruptly resigned. No one was there to fix the payroll for her team so I had to step up and do it for her.

And just as I was about to finish everything, Nards approached me while I was glued to my laptop. He informed me that one of the trainers was brought to the hospital (after collapsing probably due to fatigue) and that he was thinking of sending me to train that class. It was about 7PM, I was in the office since 645AM and I was just speechless.

Luckily, he cancelled the whole idea the last minute. I am thinking that he might have had an idea that I might be stressed out already (duh!) and that I should get some sleep but who cares. I really had to rest so I'm thankful someone else took over.

I am infuriated. For the record, I know I am not the most hardworking person in the office but I do know more than a couple of people who've been having a dream vacation while some are just overworking themselves to the nth level. From people who get sick all the time, to people claiming to have resigned already but are still showing up for work [sometimes], to people sleeping on the job, to people with a lot of emotional baggage to deal with, to people with no concern for the job at all. It's so fucking insane. I wish someone would do something about this.

I made something really stupid [but abso-fucking-lutely right] thing last week. Nardz and I were chatting on Skype. I was on leave and he was working. It was New year's eve and he was berating me because apparently some people didn't show up for work. I'm like, don't look at me! There's someone that you should've fired a long time ago. BAD BAD BAD. But I was basically telling the truth.

&booboo&

SO in order to de-stress, I put on some DVDs I bought. Brothers and Sisters season 2 wasn't working. Dexter was just so fucking morbid and violent for my taste. I am Legend sucked like hell. I ended up watching Cycles 7 and 8 of America's Next Top Model. This show has come a long way. I remember watching the first show and it was great. It was just like any other talent show, except this one was looking for real models. My understanding was that they were just looking for pretty faces to put on the covers of magazines but now, I realized there's a lot of drama behind it.

When they released the Philippines' Next Top Model, I was thrilled because I know we have a lot of beautiful women out here. But I was disappointed because the show lacked production value and.... it was hosted by Ruffa Gutierrez? WTF? She's not a model. Well she might have joined a modelling contest in the past but Google a Ruffa fashion photo and you'll only find her beauty pageant shots.

In Cycle 7, Tyra Banks said that she's always happy to introduce the previous host of Australia's Next Top Model because 'Top Model was just a concept in the US but it is now shown in more than 50 countries.' So I went to Wikipedia to search it and was shocked to see this:


So I searched for an episode on YouTube and found this:



I certainly hope this isn't really how the show is done in their country.

Last week I met with my best friend Ria's sister at Glorietta. I picked up my gift (which came all the way from Sydney down unda) and I gave my gift for Ria as well. She wished for the latest Jessica Zafra book Twisted 8 and some DVDs of Project Runway or any reality TV show.

On the same day, I did a last minute trip to Pirate Central, also known as Makati Square lower ground DVD house. Unfortunately, I was only able to find the seasons 2-8 of America's Next Top Model and Top Chef. I put the DVDs in the paper bag which has the book but later pulled out seasons 7 and 8 of ANTM. I figured I could burn some time watching some dramz c/o Tyra.

I never realized it until Ria reminded me that I was the one who introduced the Twisted book series to her. Awww... talagang friends nga naman.

Ako naman, I didn't know what I wanted. I just told her I wanted something which I can only get in Australia. I originally wanted an original A&F shirt but I don't know what happened to that. Then one time I saw online ads about the AussieBum underwear. I dunno why, but the brand sounds much cooler than Diesel or Calvin Klein. So that's what I asked her to get for me.

She said they don't have an actual store, so she had to get a money order sent to their office but she ordered it online. I was excited to see what design she bought for me. They had cool designs, some even funny, but they were sort of catering to the muscled guys which makes me crack every time I think about wearing one. She asked me to visit their site and guess what she picked out for me.

Anyway, before I even opened my gift, I first read the card she gave me. I miss my bestfriend a lot:

Last week I met with my best friend Ria's sister at Glorietta. I picked up my gift (which came all the way from Sydney down unda) and I gave my gift for Ria as well. She wished for the latest Jessica Zafra book Twisted 8 and some DVDs of Project Runway or any reality TV show.

On the same day, I did a last minute trip to Pirate Central, also known as Makati Square lower ground DVD house. Unfortunately, I was only able to find the seasons 2-8 of America's Next Top Model and Top Chef. I put the DVDs in the paper bag which has the book but later pulled out seasons 7 and 8 of ANTM. I figured I could burn some time watching some dramz c/o Tyra.

I never realized it until Ria reminded me that I was the one who introduced the Twisted book series to her. Awww... talagang friends nga naman.

Ako naman, I didn't know what I wanted. I just told her I wanted something which I can only get in Australia. I originally wanted an original A&F shirt but I don't know what happened to that. Then one time I saw online ads about the AussieBum underwear. I dunno why, but the brand sounds much cooler than Diesel or Calvin Klein. So that's what I asked her to get for me.

She said they don't have an actual store, so she had to get a money order sent to their office but she ordered it online. I was excited to see what design she bought for me. They had cool designs, some even funny, but they were sort of catering to the muscled guys which makes me crack every time I think about wearing one. She asked me to visit their site and guess what she picked out for me.

Anyway, before I even opened my gift, I first read the card she gave me. I miss my bestfriend a lot:

As I look back, so many things happened this year.

1. Came back from suburban Clark.
2. My favorite boss (whom I love dearly despite our skirmish) quit.
3. I bought my laptop.
4. My bestest friend Ria left for Australia.
5. I bought a Samsung phone.... and lost it to the snatchers 5-6 months after.
6. My kind-hearted uncle gave me his old Moto Krzr since I lost my phone.
7. I lost and gained and lost and gained and lost and gained weight.

ALMOSTS:

-almost got fired
-almost lost 10 pounds
-almost took ecstasy (peer pressure can be hard to deal with)
-almost got killed twice (Glorietta bombing and car explosion)
-Almost didn't go to my sister's wedding

I look forward to a better life this year.

Happy new year everyone!