Wear It Like A Celebrity: Me in Givenchy!

As my body became more and more rotund, I have already given up following what male celebrities are wearing and I don't know anymore what's fashionable and cool (at least in Hollywood), because I always thought none of those clothes would fit me.

So I was intrigued when the sales person in Givenchy told me that the shirt I was wearing was very popular with Hollywood celebrities!

Apparently, Givenchy designer, Riccardo Tischi has been plastering this Rottweiler dog in many of their items, from backpacks to shirts, which is popular with Hollywood's hip hop community.

Usher still wears it much better than me - and his Rottweiler is bigger!! I don't feel like I'm wearing the shirt well. That angry Rottweiler is an antithesis of who I really am!

I was shocked though to learn that this shirt costs the same as your I-phone 6???!!!!

Cheeky Moment with Zac Efron: Hanggang Poster Na Lang

Halika na bae, watch na tayo movie! ‪#‎walangkokontra‬ ‪#‎myfantasylife‬‪#‎zacismybaeandimhisnaenae‬ ‪#‎baliwagtransit‬

Morris Chestnut: The Hunk In Conflict In 'Not Easily Broken'

There are some really hot African-Americans and one of them is this actor whom I've seen in this movie tonight in HBO - Not Easily Broken.  His name is Morris Chestnut and I've seen him in several Hollywood movies but I never really featured him here.  His character is so stolid and has simple wants, unlike the character played by his wife, who wanted more in life. Anyhow, I do not really see him without a shirt, in this movie, and that's too bad!  He looks fine!

7-Year Old Dylan Deals With A Grandpa Bully!

While we were already in the car headed home tonight, Dylan told me the most incredible story that happened to him in the Internet cafe in Trinoma.

Apparently, an old man saw me with Dylan in the computer shop before I proceeded to the gym upstairs. He then said to Dylan "Your Papa is bakla", referring to me.

Dylan and Laura calls me Papa C, a term of endearment they created by themselves, although I'm technically their uncle.

Dylan snapped back at him and said "How rude are you! Apologize!" (I think Dylan meant How rude OF you, but still, to come up with that reply in a split second is AMAZING!

Then the old man says to him, "I'm sorry, I apologize."

To which Dylan said "Apology accepted."

Dylan is only seven years old and for him to teach an old man manners, is amazing! I asked him to describe the man and he said he was a lolo!

Tingnan mo, ang matanda pa ang tinuruan ng good manners ng bata! In English pa! Di siguro akalain ng matanda na sasagutin sya ng bata ng ganyan!

I've always taught Laura and Dylan not to take s**t from anyone! "No one should ever walk all over you and make you feel like you're lesser than anyone", I remind them from time to time.

I was actually worried about the bullies they might meet in school. Turned out, the first person to bully him was a lolo!

And Dylan showed him the error of his ways!

Reading the Classics Again

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to start reading the classics again, now, just for the sheer pleasure of it and not worrying about book report requirements.

Not easy to do because at any given time, like most people, I'm simultaneously reading 4 books - one nonfiction, one for business, one English fiction, one book written by a local writer and now, one classic book, and that's not counting the Spanish and French books I read from time to time - at a very very slow pace!

I know it would be much easier to just download the movie versions of these classic books but I've always believed that our own personal imagination is more powerful than anything that Hollywood can conjure for us.

I've found that reading it aloud is more fun because you can hear the cadence of the dialogue and it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that dialogue written in the 1850s is so different from the cadence of today's contemporary dialogues. It's just world's away in terms of politeness, degree of intrusion and the amount of deference one gives to each other. Plus, you don't read f**k or s**t every other page!

I quickly ran through two chapters of this book while I was just browsing at Powerbooks and decided that this will be my first classic of the year.

I'm just into the first twenty pages but you can immediately see that one of Emily Bronte's talents is quickly setting the mood of the story, not only in the physical setting, but in the mystery that cloaks the main character.

Delicious Beef Rendang in Banana Leaf!

Mama and I finally visited Century Mall in Makati last Sunday. It's a small compact mall pala with high end stores. Exactly the mall I like because everything is so expensive, I won't have to worry about spending on anything.

Anyway, we decided to have lunch at Banana Leaf because I saw they had beef rendang in their menu.

It was delicious! Not exactly genuine because they had to adapt to the less than spicy demands of the Pinoy taste buds. It was also a bit sweet. Themeat was tender and the coconut and the coconut milk on it definitely gave it its own identity, totally different from the beef rendang of Solaire, which is the more genuine tasting one!

They also had these delicious spring rolls which we surprisingly, quickly consumed, considering I don't really like vegetable rolls! I've been snubbing Banana Leaf for years! They serve pala Malay food and have adapted it to the singular taste buds of the Pinoys.