Bono and the new generation.

I'm still alive! Though it does feel like an age since my last blog. I actually had several occasions to update the site, but I didn't feel like writing just for the sake of an updated blog. The mindless rambling didn't seem worth another entry, if you know what I mean.

I've been pretty restless lately. Restless with my life and where I've taken it (or where I haven't taken it, rather). Not to say that I'm unhappy--no, not at all. In fact God has been good. Bebs and I reached our second year last week. Pretty amazing feat for a culture that takes marriage so casually. Work's work. Church's church. Everything's been peachy. Too comfortable even. Then again, that's probably it. I have admittedly been lackadaisical about the bigger things in life: giving back, making a difference, doing something larger than myself, pursuing that bigger calling. Believe me, I talk about it often, though I have now caught myself just talking without the corresponding follow-through. Not good. No, not worth the rambling.

The other night, I found myself checking out the World Economic Forum with Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Tony Blair and Bono and I insisted on watching it because I specifically wanted to hear what Bono had to say. Now, I've always loved the guy and held him in great esteem for his work and music, and though I've read about his lofty dreams of 1) eliminating third world debt and 2) fighting against AIDS in Africa, I've never really heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

And so I listened.

He didn't talk much, but when he did... boy, there was passion. And sincerity. And brilliance. The rockstar simply blew me away. He talked about people patting him on the back with "Well done, Bono. Great cause!" And to this he replied,

I'd like for the tone to change... I don't think 6,000 people dying of AIDS in Africa is a cause. I think it's an emergency. 5,000 dying of a simple mosquito bite: it's not a cause. It is an emergency... The world actually wants to be involved in something bigger than itself. What else are we going to be remembered for? We will be remembered for three things: the internet, the war against terror, and what we did (and didn't do) about Africa and its travails. And I think we can be the generation that ends extreme poverty. And I will pledge my life to that commitment.

He also talked about branding and the need to "redescribe ourselves to a world who is unsure of our values". He then concluded with a conversation he had withTom Lantos, a Hungarian politician who recounted his experience in the days of Fascism when he, as a Jew, actually watched families being led onto the trains. And though they didn't ask where they were going, you saw in the children's faces the look of fear. Lantos then analogized it to the present times where he said,

Here, we know where they are going. We know that Africa can die from a lack of drugs -- drugs which we can get at a drugstore round the corner. We know that people can die from a mosquito bite when they shouldn't have to.

Bono then capped off with words I will never forget,

Tom Lantos then gave me permission to use this analogy wherever I went. And when he asked me what I was going to use it for, I told him, Everytime I will talk about this analogy, I will say that this time, we will be the generation who will lie in front of the trains.

I didn't want a preachy entry for a blog comeback, but I just had to share all this.. Wouldn't it be great if we all did a little more than what was required of us? Wouldn't the world be so much better if we looked out for others and not just ourselves every once in a while? I for one want to make a difference. I'm sure there's something in me--a skill, a gift, talent, whatnot--something I can contribute and give back. I don't think I need to be rich (although that would definitely be nice) to do something. It doesn't even have to be in some grand scale. I just need to do something.. Be better at my crafts, work a little harder, give a little more, pray a little deeper, read, learn... something.

Anyway, to Bono:

Even if your Bay Area concert was sold out four minutes after the launch of ticket sales (sniff), I wanna thank you for the epiphany. I do want to be the generation who will lie in front of the trains. One way or another.

I guess yesterday is officially the start of the new year for me.

Beat that, Emeril.

Actually, it's probably not very wise to have this late at night. heheh. But in my case, I had a pretty good workout at the gym and the soup didn't quite make dinner for me, plus I just had one two minutes ago (YUM!), so without further ado, I present to you my five-minute carbo-loading ooh la la quickie snackeroo:

Microwaved Corn (and I don't mean popped)

Ingredients:
Fresh corn
Butter (lots of it! Or for us dieters, better to use this and save yourselves of that deadly trans fat)
Garlic salt
Saran rap (or a Ziploc bag)

Directions:
Grab that corn by the ears, spread and/or drown in butter, sprinkle (generously) with garlic salt, then rap it with Saran (or place in a Ziploc bag) and microwave for five minutes.

I tell you it will hit the spot and then some! ...Just get ready to work that treadmill for another hour tomorrow ;)

Enjoy!

Work and diet: four-letter words.

Shucks, I've been so busy with work I haven't had time to do anything!

No new pictures
no interesting restos
no gimmicks
no videos
no nothing.

The upside to it all is that despite the hectic sched, I've been faithful with my gym-ing the past two weeks. Woohoo! Definitely an accomplishment since I haven't worked out the past two months. hwe hwe hwe.

But I've decided to ride along Bebs' weightloss bet with the two Rafs (Raffy E. and Raffy L.) and Edward. Y'see, we all came back from Vegas and realized how grossly we had used the holidays as an excuse to over-eat. So, (ironically) over a delicious Thai meal on our last day in LA, the boys made a bet to lose 20pounds by end of April, or else--

Loser buys everyone an expensive dinner.

Since then Bebs has been in and out of the gym and the sauna like they were the place to be. And sadly (for me), all I see in the fridge now are way too many greens and veggies... Although I've got my own stash of Pringles and truffles when the need to cheat arises. hehe.

Now, I don't intend on losing all of 20 like the guys, but I have resolved to shed off another five pounds and get toned for summer. It's a goal I promise to achieve in the next four months, and by golly I'm gonna make it!
...with the Pringles and truffles, thank you.

Meanwhile, I better do SOMETHING other than work and chores this week or I'm gonna be a cranky old fart. Have a great weekend everyone!

What if...

You had lots to do but needed a break and found yourself surfing the net and came across some weird site that asked if for some unknown reason the tables turned on humanity and you actually found yourself having changed into a dog,

What breed would you be?

You Are a Golden Retriever Puppy

Tolerant, fun-loving, and patient. You are eager to please - and attached to your frisbee.

Aww... with that face, I wouldn't mind at all. I don't know about the description though. Hmm..

Manthing music.

Michael Manring live in SF with Larry Kassin and Tom Darter last Saturday. Whoo boy, definitely not for the faint of heart. The guy is hands down the best bassist on earth, and quite a nice man too. Was fortunate to finally meet him after the show and he seemed almost shy.

Btw, Kassin and Darter weren't shabby either, in fact they all kicked major butt. Crazy things were going on on that show and I was aghast practically the entire time. You guys have to catch them atleast once in your lifetime. Awesome, phenomenal, genius.

The two-year mark.

Wow, look how far Bebs and I have come as a married couple: On certain (late) nights--like tonight for instance--we find ourselves slouched on our own side of the bed, staring at our own notebooks in an attempt to come up with a decent blog entry. Afterwhich, we visit the other person's site and check out what he/she's written, and then give an opinion about the post. That's usually the start of a long interactive conversation in bed till we finally drift off to sleep (Actually, I drift off to sleep, and poor Bebs is left talking to himself. heheh. But hey, I'm a good girl now and quite fully awake till the conversation's over ;)

The point is (before I myself forget what this entry's all about), it's nice to have a bonding session that is uniquely ours. We're hitting two years next week (woohoo!) and I'm ecstatic that we've become even closer friends than when we started. We're both goofballs and yet still have depth (or a semblance of it ;) Our passions are similar and I appreciate that he pushes me to do something about them. I like that my weaknesses are his strengths, and that I can encourage him through his own weaknesses as well.

Life's journey and where it's brought me now would definitely have been less meaningful and interesting without my Bebster. So here's to the two years that have gone, and to my God I pray a lifetime ahead of:

1) fulfilled dreams
2) a world change (or die trying)
3) an extensive music collection, and meeting the geniuses who created them
4) travels, and wonderful memories sprung from them
5) glorious, healthy and fit bodies (amen! hahaha) lived out till the end
6) and beautiful little Beblets who will, in their God-endowed gifts, change the world and inspire others to live life to the full.

Kampay! :)

The Vegas experience.

Warning: Very LONG post. But really, it's just Vegas in a nutshell... ;)

DECEMBER 28
7:30pm - Quickie pack-up. For some reason I thought we were stayin for a week, so obviously I had the biggest maleta among the group.
8:00pm - Dinner at an unusually smokey Carl's Jr. Looks like someone overcooked a patty.
10:30pm - The start of hours and hours of stop-overs, uncomfortable dozes, unhealthy snackin, and idle conversation.

DECEMBER 29
5:30am - Vegas in sight! Whoopee!
7:30am - Hotel check-in and bedtime. This would be the start of a messed-up body clock.
12:30nn - First official day in Vegas. Woke up, got dressed, and drove to...

2:30pm - Late lunch at China Star buffet. Now, you know a Chinese resto isn't good when you don't see a single Chinese eating in there. But hey, buffet for $5.99... Ya really can't complain ;P
4:30pm - Sight-seeing & shopping (aka Walkathon) at Bellagio, Caesar's Palace and Paris.

9:00pm - Dinner at Bourbon Street. Steak and lobster for $7.77 was way too good to be true. Twas more like Litid steak with crawfish. hahaha.
10:30pm till the wee hours of the morning - More trekking at the Venetian, capped off by drinks with the Big boss.
5:30am - Finally catching some zzz's.

DECEMBER 30
12:30nn - Wakey wakey!
2:00pm - Buffet lunch at Bally's. We had an hour to eat before the buffet closed, so we practically stuffed ourselves crazy (think oink, oink).


5:00pm - Gaming at the Luxor: Some tried their luck in Blackjack & Baccarat, while we opted for Air Hockey and arcade games. hehehe.

8:30pm - The magnificent watershow at the Bellagio. It simply took my breath away (good thing Celine Dion wasn't playing at the time though, that would've killed it for me).
930pm till God knows how long - Dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel. Man, what took the burgers forever??
12:00mn till the rooster crowed - Party hardy at Tangerine. Now that was a mighty fine club.
5:30am - End of another day.

DECEMBER 31
1:30pm - Naturally, we woke up late, so that totally ruined our bathroom schedules (imagine eight of us sharing two banyos. Veery busy and very complicated).
4:00pm - Extremely late lunch at that Chinese cafe in Venetian (the name escapes me right now).
6:30pm - Shopping at the Fashion Show mall. Now shopping is usually a great experience for me, expect that in this particular occasion, we actually bore witness to a girl (in her 20s) getting mauled by two other women. She was climbed on, punched on the face and God knows where else, till she fell from the beating. And just when you thought it was over, some idiot of a guy came while she was on the ground and continuously kicked her on the neck, right by the spine! Man, it was too painful to watch. Some onlookers screamed for Security, and guess where we saw them? A floor below us, oblivious! Like they were strolling through the tulips. Pssshhh. I felt sick to the stomach. I really hope that woman's alright and those bast*rds rot in jail.


8:30pm - Drinks at some mexican place above Venetian.
10:00pm - Dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe. I had a hearty serving of slow cooked ribs while Bebs had chicken. Yum! Poor Em though, brushed her thigh against the table and caught a freshly-chewed gum on her black dress pants. hehehe. I did feel bad for her, but now in hindsight it's pretty funny, especially when you think about how she raised hell for it and wanted to sue the hotel. Hahaha. That will definitely go down the anals of history :)
11:45pm - There we were lounging at the resto, not realizing it was apparently close to midnight, until one of us noticed the time. We then sprinted to the hotel patio, and just when we were a door away from reaching it, I realize I had left my camera at the restaurant. GREAT, NIKS. So Bebs and I dashed like mad and retrieved the cam back, and ran even faster towards the patio, hoping against hope we didn't miss the fireworks.

11:55pm - We make it five minutes before midnight! Whew! There we were with our closest friends in such a beautiful place. It really was such an awesome way to welcome the New Year. There were fireworks lighting three different areas in the sky, so you really couldn't miss anything. Ah, Vegas. What a great New Year's :)

1:00am - Back at the Grand Lux Cafe for dessert with friends, the Big boss, and the rest of his extended family. We had a humongous plate of fudge and ice cream coupled with one of those margarita yarders. Yeba! Naturally, we went giddy from there (either from the sugar or the alcohol, no one really knows).
2:00am - Hung out at the Aquanox for all of fifteen minutes, until we realized the darn thing was closed, then moved on to...
2:20am - V Bar for our final Vegas hurrah. The downside: Man, of all celebrities to catch, we saw all these pinoy starlets! Good god, who let these people loose?? hahaha. I'm being mean, but you should see them strut their stuff like they actually owned the place. Well, atleast one of us took home one of the girls' numbers. Woohoo! I'm not tellin ;)
4:00am - I'm spaced out by this time from all the colorful lights and exhaustion, but I do remember the guys driving us to Dre's in the attempt to catch yet another New Year party. Unfortunately, it was going to cost us an arm and a leg to get in the club, so we scurried outta there and--with someone's recommendation--drove to some place I thought was way too far to be a party place.
5:00am - I woke up in the car to find we had just arrived at another place called the RoadRunner. Now, the name alone should've warned us; but nooo, we jumped right in that log cabin of sorts and found exactly what that ghost town of a neighborhood told us... nothing. No one was in there. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Not a warm body in sight, unless you wanted to pop it like it's hot with the bus boys. Our swinger boys decided to call it a night and we finally drove home for some much needed sleep.

JANUARY 1, 2005
12:30nn - The start of a New Year!
2:00pm - Hotel checkout then drove to Luxor for a buffet lunch, except that the queue was as long as a Disneyland coaster ride. We ate at Nathan's instead, and had practically everything with bacon and cheese. And because the food court was grossly overpriced, we paid more for those darn hotdogs than we would've had, had we eaten at the buffet. hwe hwe hwe.
3:30pm - Took the tram and headed to New York New York Hotel for more sight-seeing.
4:00pm - ESPN Zone for more arcade games (aka. air hockey, car races and basketball).
5:30pm - We were pretty much all low batt at this point, but we couldn't leave without riding the hotel's roller coaster. So we did. Now, considering the ride snaked in and out of the hotel, and gave you a beautiful view of the Vegas strip when it actually led you out, it was one helluva ride. In reality though, the fun was only in the first 25 seconds and somewhat turned into a choo-choo train afterwards. Nonetheless I give it props for its unique concept.
8:00pm - Drove to Primm for some final shopping and gaming. This is where Raffy L. and JJ teach me Blackjack, and I eventually play a few hands. I probably have my dad's itch in gambling, cause I actually more than doubled my $20, except that the momoy Bebster lost $20 on the slots. Which means we merely broke even. Ha! Twas a fun experience though :)
10:00pm - Buffet din-din at Primm's resto. We had a pinoy (gayish guy) wait on our table who took good care of us. Apparently in all his five years of work there, he has not once played at the casino. Good job, manong! Talk about principles. We on the other hand were on a vacation. And since it was our first time there, I wanted the full Vegas experience, so I'm happy I got to do a little of everything. Well, not close to everything, but more than enough for this visit :)
11:00pm - Goodbye Vegas! Thanks for the grand experience :)

We then drove to LA for the night and pretty much stayed up till 5:30am as Master Host Raffy L. (literally) wined and dined us while watching Martin Lawrence Live. Man, that guy is hilarious. Crass, but extremely funny. heheh.

JANUARY 2
12:30nn - Good morning LA!
2:00pm - Lunch at Thai in L.A. Super yum! Highly recommended, best bang for the buck Thai food.
4:00pm - Two hours and five pounds after, we head back to the car with our to go boxes (leftovers) and were met by a hobo who was either peddling or other. Check out our unusual conversation:

Me: Hey, Raf, ask if the guy wants some food. We can give him our take-outs.
Raf: Do you want some food?
Hobo: Food? You have some pastrami? (huh???)
Raf: Uh, no, but we have this (shows the man our bag with leftovers).
Hobo: Oh, food! (grabs the bag, sorta sniffs it, then says..) Is it kosher? (what the???)

At this point the guy tucks the bag under his armpit, and just when we thought he was going to show some gratitude, he says..
Hobo: Do you have a tobacco in there too?

Hahaha. What a strange character. I hope he ate that food, cause that would have been a total waste of good Thai cooking.

4:15pm - Drop off Raf, meet Pao for all of two minutes, exchange gifts (not mine though), then drive off for another six or so hours back to SF.
11:00pm - Back in San Mateo! Late dinner at Joy Luck Place
12:00pm - Ah, home sweet home :)

So there. Whew! A chronological account of our New Year happenings. I hope 2005 will prove an even bigger adventure for all of us. I sure am ready for it! As Martin Lawrence would say (minus all 200 cuss words), Life: drive it till the wheels fall off.

...Wow, who knew I'd be quoting Martin Lawrence someday. heheh. ;) Dont forget to check out our Vegas trip in pictures!