Big Eating in Little Asia

Had dinner in the Greenhills branch of Little Asia, where my sister, who has steadfastly been adhering to her naturopathic diet followed by health huts and gym bunnies everywhere, broke all rules and ate whatever was on the table.

That was a good decision on her part, because out meal consisted, among others, of Salt and Pepper Frogs Legs, hot and crunchy-chewy and delicious when eaten with the fried chili and garlic strewn about its serving plate; the restaurant’s famous Crispy Chicken, whose thin, crispy skin, my family agrees, tasted like that of Peking Duck and whose juicy insides had a tang of flavor, so subtle as to be almost missed, that made it different from other fried chicken; and our personal favorite, the Thai Chicken barbeque, that tastes like a cross between chicken barbeque and chicken teriyaki, the chicken’s flavors enhanced (not masked, mind you!) by its accompanying peanut sauce.

For dessert, we shared a Caramel Mango Tower, a, well, tower made out of fried won ton wrappers and warmed mangoes, drizzled with chocolate syrup and served with vanilla ice cream. We also had a Crepes Samurai, a crepe-soufflé hybrid that my sister insisted on finishing, naturopathic eating be damned.

The restaurant has an extensive menu filled with dishes that sound so good, you almost want to eat the paper they’re printed on. There’s lots of things I want to go back to try, like… everything else on the menu. I wanted to take picutres of the food, but with my crappy phone camera, I was afraid that they wouldn't look very appetizing.

In other news, Luis made me watch Donnie Darko. “Jake Gyllenhaal kind of looks like k.d. lang!” he gleefully pointed out during the opening sequence. I had to forgive him his blasphemy because Donnie Darko, despite its geeky title, is actually a great movie. At its simplest, it’s about time travel, without the time machine. Though I protest the simplistic solution Donnie had to his overarching dilemma, I don’t think that it could have been handled any other way, at least in the way the character was written. Incidentally, James Duval, the guy who plays Frank the freaky bunny looks like one of the trainers in the gym I train in.

Image from www.rit.edu/~lmb8451/nmportfolio/design.html

Vince Vs. Ben Vs. Ben

“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” So says Patches O’Hoolahan, famed dodge ball guru played by Hank Azaria and Rip Torn the movie named after the sport. Plotwise, Dodge Ball is the typical loser-team-has-to-win-championship-to-save-ailing-farm/restaurant/school/beauty salon, or in this case, gym.

It still had me in stitches, though, because, aside from having Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller in the cast (Norman Bates against Derek Zoolander, how can you go wrong?), it actually makes dodge ball look cool.

I love the graphics they used to highlight the championship, making the game seem fast-paced, exciting, and professional. I guess it’s this absurdist treatment of the mundane as spectacular that garners laughs.

I love it when Ben Stiller plays a character, be it a vain, overconfident gym owner in this movie or (one of my favorites) a Hispanic newscaster in Anchorman. He should give pointers to Ben Affleck on how not to take himself seriously. Speaking of Ben and Ben, one movie I that I’m sure would be horrible but I would like to see anyway is Ben Stiller in the title role of Ben Affleck’s blind superhero movie, Daredevil. Fanboy protests aside (and there were lots who didn’t like Affleck anyway), wouldn’t that be a scream?

Image from www.screensavershot.com/tvmovie15.htm (Dodge Ball) and movies.yahoo.com(Daredevil)

Will Ferrell is Hot

Not! I so do not understand the appeal of Will Ferrell. Granted, he was amusing in Anchorman, but I think I liked the movie more because of Brick (played by Steve Carell, the 40 year old virgin in The 40 Year old Virgin) whose profession of love for the office lamp still makes me laugh uncontrollably.

I was willing to give Will another chance when my sister brought home a video of Elf, just in time for Halloween. The premise was promising, as holiday human baby displacement stories go, and Zooey Deschanel was charming as Buddy’s (Will’s character) love interest, but I did not, for the life of me understand how anyone can consider Will Ferrell charming. My sister thinks he’s funny because of his mastery of “The Blank Stare.” I dunno. Mastering “The Blank Stare” usually means you’re either stupid, insane, or a great actor. Heaven forbid Will be the latter.

Things to Do With Craft Foam

Interviewed Mel Silvestre, who teaches in UP College of Fine Arts and who likes making things out of craft foam, this nifty rubbery material used to make shoes and is found in abundance in Marikina.

He started off my using craft foam to make masks for storytelling, later moving on to dioramas, hanging mobiles, and toys for his three sons. Forgive the photos taken with my crummy phone camera (believe me, I love my phone, I just wish it took better pictures), rest assured, they look better in real life. It took a lot of self-restraint to keep from yelling “Oooh, how cute” and running off with his artwork. Okay, maybe I did scream “How cute!” but in a very restrained way. Honest.

People who want to check out clearer photos of his art can beg, borrow, or steal copies of the November 12 edition of the Junior Inquirer, or buy the book Mario’s Special Day, published by Adarna.

Mel has plans to put up a Craft Foam Workshop this summer. Interested parties who want to make their won toys can e-mail him at melasilvestre@gmail.com for details.

What Do Sunflowers Smell Like?

I got to watch most of Samurai Champloo, basically a young girl and her two rogue bodyguard’s quest to find “the samurai who smells like sunflowers.” I like the way they weave hip hop elements into the samurai tale, which is set in the Edo period. The storyline is riveting, never too shallow or too cerebral.

Fuu, the teenaged main character, is, in the tradition of female leads in anime everywhere, a bottomless pit (“Her stomach is connected to outer space!” one guy exclaims).

Mugen and Jin, Fuu’s ‘bodyguards,’ seem like cardboard stereotypes at first, both of them almost unbeatable; Mugen a rough, crass thief-swordsman and Jin a quiet swordsman who values honor and does everything by the book, but they get fleshed out as the series progresses, Jin more than Mugen, which is fine by me because he’s nicer to look at.

I would love to get hold of the soundtrack for this anime. I would also love to get hold of the last three episodes. If anyone has any information on where to get any or both, please, please, please let me know!

Image from sprat.blogspot.com/