Bangkok Dangerous

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

We watched another movie last night. Yes its the second movie in just 3 days. In my family we tend to watch alot. Before when I was still a kid we usually watch every friday night in SM North Edsa even before the Annex was made and wasn't called SM City yet. We would usually eat Shakeys and Samurai Balls (a classic family favorite from way back). My mom is going to go to Iloilo tomorrow so we opt to go out one last time before she leaves.

Since she is a big fan of Nicolas Cage we went to watch Bangkok Dangerous. A Pangs Brother film which was shot in Bangkok Thailand (hence the name) and starring Nicolas Cage as an anti-social Assassin for hire who was contracted to do 4 hits in Bangkok before he retires for good. The thing is he befriended his messenger and fell in love with a deaf girl which ultimately brought his downfall.

The thing is this story would be very familiar with Filipinos. The first thing you'll notice is the settings in Bangkok is almost the same with Manila. The streets, the houses and even the culture even seems the same. There are only minor differences you'll see like the water market scene which looks (almost like) Vienna with their pagodas and the dialect used by the local residents.

What's not surprising is that the direction is also almost the same as Tagalog movies. You'll be seeing typical action scenes and camera angles used by our local film industries. Some camera angles scenes though through out the movie are used like some amateur camera man. I can't believe they would use those scenes at all. I couldn't even understand why Nicolas Cage would accept this offer although I'm sure, for him, it would either be something fresh or he just owes the director or producer. I don't think he would do this for the money or for prestige.

I hate to admit it but this is a low budget film and if you're more into high definition digital films with lots of eye candy special effects or a very deep well thought out script that will leave you breathless then this isn't for you. If you like simple action dramas with unlimited bullets flying around and villians (or even the police) who can't seem to shoot straight then this is for you.

I give this movie a 2 out of 5 stars for adequate direction, simple script and action scenes. The only saving grace would be that Nicolas Cage stars in it but, then again, his hairdo in this movie would probably make you wanna leave your seats in despair.

Craw Daddy at Fort Strip

Sunday, September 28, 2008

We went to Miguel's Taekwondo event today at Assumption college in Makati. Today's the day he was supposed to get his yellow belt if he passed his kata exam. The thing is he has to learn 2 katas styles. He got the first one down without a hitch but he's having a problem remembering the second... oh no!

Having looked around the gymnasium lo and behold who I saw was Miguels taekwondo teacher. It was my old elementary friend way back in OLGM (Our Lord's Grace Montessorri) John Paul. We had a few moments reminiscing old times since he has to take care of his class first. Sadly we had to go even before the whole event has come to the end so I promised him that we would go out one of these days and catch up with each other. It's definitely a small world out there.

After the event we went to the Fort Strip to have dinner. We ate at Craw Daddys which serves one of the most amazing assortment of seafood menu out there. Killjoy that I may be my carnivorous side still opted for me to order the baby back ribs in the menu. It's defenitely worth every penny with its soft and tender meat that slowly oozes off the bones when I picked it off with my fork.



I started eating the ribs when the other orders reached the table. I saw one of the most scrumptous crabs I've ever seen topped with garlic and butter. I couldn't resist trying out the crab fat which seems to cry out to me: "eat me! eat me!" it said. Hey who am I to deny something mouth watering? Sadly, after a few bites, I had to let it go since my head started spinning because of the cholesterol but it's worth it to taste something so delicious.

It doesn't hurt to indulge yourself once in awhile right?

Eagle Eye

Saturday, September 27, 2008

After I showed my sister the trailer of Eagle Eye this afternoon we opted to watch the last full show tonight in SM Fairview together with my mom and dad.

Funny when I walked into the comfort room before the start of the movie a girl came out from one of the cubicles and raised her head to look at me. Dumbfounded, I looked around to see if I was in the mens CR. I was sure I saw the right sign outside the door and there's definitely some lavatories alongside the wall (I was probably thinking girls can pee standing upright nowadays but... nah...) so how come this girl in front of me was looking like I was a pervert who's gonna get some from her handbag?

Meekly I asked what she was doing there since I am honestly sure that it really was the mens toilet (it reeks of urine as if a dog was guarding his territory) and she was puzzled that I asked her that question. Looking around she was shocked to see the lavatories and quickly excused herself from the room.

It's a good thing I haven't opened my zipper or else all hell would break loose.

And so I sat watching the movie. The theme of Eagle Eye was mediocre. It was about a super computer that executes a program to purge all the American officials and start a new government because the current president has broken the law of the Geneva convention (yes sad to say that was a major spoiler I just mentioned) and coerced two individuals to do its bidding.

The movie is action packed right from the start and Billy Bob Thorton has adequately done his role. He was sort of bland and mimics Tommy Lee Jones role in the movie "The Fugitive" but he fits his role as a police detective hunting the protagonists. I wouldn't recommend watching this at the movie house but this is definitely right for watching dvd at home with your friends or family with lots of popcorn or a few kegs of beer.

I give this movie a 3.5 out of 5 stars for the non stop action scenes and for the twist in the "Big Brother" theme.

Sushi Marathon

My friend and I was supposed to come to the Hyper Angels Ramen EB but she wasn't feeling well today (she got herself wet coming home the day before =( ). Before the Ramen EB was set we were planning to eat again at Saisaki for another sushi chow down so we decided to take out some sushi and eat at her apartment.

I bought some sushi from Rustans supermarket in Katipunan where they sell alot of different sushi at a very cheap and reasonable price (which prompted my "takaw tingin" mode and bought alot and I do mean ALOT).

Having bought the sushi I proceeded to her apartment and started our food trip. Our sushi was composed of california, tamago and ebi maki, some prawn and eel temaki and tuna sushi that I had at home which I saved for rainy days. Needless to say we ALMOST finished all of it with a few remaining leftovers that we can barely look upon.

We stopped after 4 hours of eating sushi with plans of doing it again nex time.

Did I mention that her sister was also there eating with us?

Outback Steak House at Alabang

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My elder sister, Ate Joy's birthday was september 10 and to celebrate it she invited us to have dinner in Outback Steak House restaurant in Alabang.

I ordered their specialty, the black Angus beef, which was a 16 oz steak and a half inch in height. I had it medium rare, since I like my steaks not burnt to a crisp, thank you very much. The taste was absolutely amazing and the meat was so juicy that they had to put the juice in a sauce pan. The size of the steak was also another thing. It was so big that I didn't get to finish everything in my plate. My niece, Isabelle, had to get about one third off my plate just so it wouldn't go to waste.




Another thing that was sooo good in Outback was their beer. They have their own beverage bar where all their beers are placed in a special sub zero degree freezer. The outcome was the beer was so cold that the flavor came out even more than usual but it didn't freeze over unlike when placed in an ordinary freezer.

I had an oppurtunity to drink 2 San mig light, which to my brother-in-law, Kuya Don, and to my surprise as well, downed within the span of 30 minutes.

At Gunpoint

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Ever had a feeling of premonition just right before something bad happened? Well, guess what, it happened to me just this evening. 10 minutes before I was about to go out I had this certain “thing” tugging in the back of my mind that I have to leave behind my wallet and my cash at home. Now I understand the reason behind that peculiar moment.

I went home tonight riding a jeep from Quiapo. Feeling impatient of waiting for an FX or a bus to come along I took the first jeep that stopped before me. Luckily my favorite spot, which was the passenger seat beside the driver, was free of one person and I sat there and grabbed hold of the bar beside the side view mirror as the driver rolled off zig zagging along the highway with a speed that’s definitely inhuman.

I was thinking it was smooth sailing going home tonight. Too bad I was wrong on that account.

Just after we passed through Banawe st. along Espana road we stopped in front of the Chow King restaurant to wait for a passenger to come in. There was this one guy who just hangs onto the entrance of the jeep as if waiting for something to happen. He was a small lean guy with a face that still looks like a student and wearing an orange shirt and brown slacks that’s a bit too tight for him. He was carrying a backpack behind him which he was holding with his left hand. A frown was painted flatly on his face.

I never really noticed him that much after entering the jeep as I had thought he was just the typical average guy along with the rest of us. Never would I think he was capable of doing something malicious with that face of his (the frown I suspect was from stress of a day’s honest work or something along that line).

And then it happened.

Actually I was listening intently on the savage beating of the drums of Slip Knot’s “Before I Forget” at that moment. You’d think you would have time to prepare for such things but then again these kinds of circumstances can never be predicted at all.

The guy whipped out from behind his back pack a .38 caliber pistol and aimed it at a girl who was using her cellular phone to sent text messages. “Walang kikilos” he said “Holdup up eto. Akin na iyong mga cell phone!”

A holdup. Aw great… Just my luck.

I looked at the mirror in front of me to see the reflection of what’s going on behind the jeep. The guy was still hanging from the entrance while aiming his gun at the girl with the phone. The poor girl was too terrified to react let alone give her cell phone to him. Once again he shouted profanities to give him all our cell phones and aimed the gun at the head of the girl.

The guy beside me was starting to get paranoid. He was shouting hysterically that it was a holdup and he was willing to give up his cell phone just as long he gets to keep his sim card (He was bigger than me, mind you, and you’d think he’d react in a different sort of way). Frantically he opened his cell phone’s casing and took away his sim card then dropping his phone afterwards on the jeep’s passenger compartment.

The jeepney driver now pulled over along the side of the road since he was too witless to carry on his destination onwards with a thug holding a gun behind his back. The other passengers were all quiet now except for the guy at my side who was screaming at me to let him pass through the door so he can jump out of the jeep. Lucky for him the guy with the gun was also shouting and screaming at the lady with the cell phone to even notice what my fellow passenger was planning to do. Me, I was still looking at the guy’s reflection at the mirror wondering if he would fire that gun or not. I barely even noticed the guy pushing me away from my seat let alone his screams.

Looking at the gun gives me the shivers. It was as if Death’s tool of destruction, which was right in front of me, would explode at any minute.

Miraculously, the man with the gun stopped waving around his piece when he took the girls cell phone away from her. He then ordered the driver to start the engines and move forward telling us never to look back. I don’t know whether it’s because he is afraid like the rest of us (must be his first time) or he was just happy he already took one cell phone away from the group. He never even asked us to take out our wallets nor our jewelries (not that I have any haha!).

As we sped away I looked in the mirror and saw the man cross the other side of the street probably finding another jeepney to victimize on the opposite route. He was probably doing it all night long unless somebody would have stopped him.

In the movies situations like this lasts a lifetime with your life hanging in the balance. In reality this all happened in just a span of 5 minutes tops and you’d still think it was a lifetime. You never would have the ample time to think everything through with all that pressure.

After the man disappeared everyone began talking in single unison, each telling his own account and other past experiences like this that happened to them before. The driver confesses that this was the umpteenth time his vehicle was robbed.

The guy beside me told me, that once, the jeep he was riding was held up by three men with knives, he also jumped out of the running vehicle.

Force of habit I guess.

Oh well.

Scramble

Sunday, July 30, 2006

A funny thing happened on the way home tonight. As I would usually commute nowadays because of my car being in near retirement (and that’s just putting it mildly) I’d usually take a tricycle ride home to the subdivision where I live.

A ride in a tricycle would be a total bore if not for the person handling it. Typical of a pinoy driver, people handling tricycles are in everyway the same as those of taxis, jeeps and FXs which, except for the smaller contraption that they are handling, are veterans of the highways; being able to swerve gracefully and run amok along the streets while making sure that their passengers are on the verge of fear and anxiety. They’d be praying to whatever deity they worship that they’ll be able to arrive at their destination safe and sound.

It’s no wonder everyone was hanging on to dear life at the steel bars of the tricycle that we’re riding tonight.

I tell you that guy’s a maniac!

If I were a cop I’d halt him for road rage, and speeding, and swerving and whatever there is there for him to stop. Too bad all the Police I’ve seen tonight are either lolling around in their jobs or getting a drink at the local store. There’s nothing to save us from getting 10 years growth out of our system.

And to think people are wondering why I have a lot of white hair in my head. Go figure.

Alas for our trusty driver his perennial good luck has come to an end. A taxi started to get too close to him for comfort resulting in an angry gesture from our man and a little pat on the hood of the taxi (did I say little? More like a hand slam from the taxi driver’s point of view).

If I’d make a guide to Manila’s driving etiquette the first rule I’d make is that whenever someone tries to challenge you in a drag race you’d be obliged to follow suit. As if on cue, the taxi driver lounged ahead and cut in front of us. Not one to be taken lightly our trusty hero did his best to overtake the taxi but it was like a snail challenging a turtle in a race: No matter what you do you’ll see his big shiny shell in front of you stupid. So our man tried to zigzag across the traffic hoping he can elude Mr. Bigshot in front of him.

Funny thing about being responsible on the road is that you’ll have to be aware of your surroundings especially of other vehicles beside of you. I guess our hero forgot to keep that in mind as he crashed with another motorcycle on his right. With a large thud and a bit of a yelp from the other guy on the motorcycle our man came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street.

It seems that things have come for the worse and I was in the middle of it all. I was thinking this is going to be a loooooong night one which would probably last for a few hours at the least. Sure enough, the two drivers were yelling at each other. All that’s left for them to do was to strangle each others throats.

To top of it all Uzis (a personal term I use for gawkers or uziseros) started to appear and surround the scene of the crime. Traffic began to build because of other drivers looking at us and shaking their heads. Cars were at a standstill for half a mile along the road.

Kids and other tambays were coming from god knows where just to look at us and make comments to each other. With all the commotion around you’d think someone had died. I’d shudder to think if someone did this place would have been in chaos.

I felt like the monkey at the zoo being stared at by everyone who passes by.

Yep, I thought again, it’s going to be another long night.

But miracles of miracles, the tricycle and motorcycle drivers had come to a bitter conclusion. After a few grunts and guffaws from each side they had come to a mutual agreement. One of which they end (surprisingly) with a little bit of brotherly hug. I was flabbergasted at that sight and a little bit touched but mostly shocked (my thoughts were swarming around that of a little brokeback gesture) but I guess all’s well that end’s well. With a little help from the observers we took apart the tricycle and motorcycle from each other and went on with our separate way.

Having arrived at the front gate of Filinvest 2, our man was greeted with assurance from his other tricycle buddies that it really wasn’t his fault (at the least). But we all know he was the cause of it all. But who wants to say that at that time? The guy’s swelling with moral justification at the moment.

Tired and weary the other dazed passengers started to walk away from the tricycle shed and off to their respective homes. I stood there for a little bit thinking that with the entire ruckus that happened I forgot to pay the guy as he sped off the street and into the night.

Oh well, I guess I’ll probably see him again one of these days.

Hopefully after a year or two, that is.