Call it foolish or ironic, but it was actually my first time to the premier theme park in my own country, the Philippines. I have been to a lot of modern theme parks abroad but never did I had the chance to be in Enchanted Kingdom.
where fun begins!
I always thought that Enchanted Kingdom was nothing but kiddy stuff. I thought it was not like the dynamic Universal Studios that would also cater to adults. But what I did and experienced last Sunday was far from a kiddy adventure. It was an adrenaline-charged exploit.
As soon as I and my friends (Ludette, Beth, Red and JB) entered the square, we challenged ourselves to venture into the most extreme highlights of the park. We skipped the other rides which we consider weak and anemic. We settled to take the 4 most treacherous rides! We started with the least tormenting (among the four) and capped the day with the most terrifying.
The Anchors Away (Pendulum Ride); Disk-O-Magic (Spinning Pendulum Ride); EKstreme (Tower Drop); Space Shuttle (Roller Coaster)
reaction: a mix of fear and fun
level up with disk-o-magic ride with red and dette
extreme drop with jb, beth and dette!!!
adrenaline rush infested ride!
These fun rides may not be at par in terms of the extreme kick in adrenaline as compared to the newest and most intense state-of-the-art thrill rides found abroad. But what add up to the uniqueness of these rides are the added edgy hazards and dangers of riding it.
EK extreme thrill rides are like waging your life to chance. It is because EK is a 19 year old theme park that looks rundown and under maintained. Taking those old thrilling rides is basically like a death defying stunt.
I suppose inhabitants of first world countries and modern thrill-ride enthusiasts would not even dare take those rickety rides due to safety issues and out-dated mechanical concerns. This maybe the reason why I only saw a couple of foreign tourists inside the square (one Korean and two Caucasian dudes who were tagged along by their Filipina girlfriends).
Don’t get me wrong though, because I totally enjoyed my first Enchanted Kingdom adventure! It was one rare feat!!!
Aside from learning how to ride a bicycle, my other childhood frustration was learning to play a musical instrument. If I be given a choice the two musical instruments that I would love to learn would be the piano and the cello.
Though it’s impossible to carry around, I chose the piano, because of its versatility. For me it’s the all around instrument. There have been a lot of magnificent songs and great musical masterpieces that were composed using the piano.
On the other hand, I chose the cello not for anything else but its aesthetics. Since I am more of a visual person, I like the cello because it looks so classy and sophisticated. However, I actually have yet to know a hit song or music that originated from exclusively using the sound of the cello.
Here are four beautiful but less known songs that I have been listening to during the weekend. These are under-praised tracks that are magnetizing to the ear as well as penetrating to the core of the heart. Makes me wonder how come these swoon-worthy tunes never made it to be mega hits!
These are the types of music that you would listen to if you wish to laze around. It is best to listen to while lying in bed and staring at the ceiling thinking of nothing. The very thing that I have done the whole day of Sunday.
Maybe the reason why these tracks failed to make it big is because these are heartwarming songs that people would rather keep for themselves and would not want others to hear about. The beat, the sound, the message and the emotion it evokes are so deep-seated you would rather not share it.
Super proud and in love with my first SoundCloud playlist!
stars of beauty in a bottle: angeline, angelica and assunta (photo grabbed from starcinema.abs-cbn.com website)
Perceiving the unseen world of angels, ghosts or elements from a different plane and dimension is not my sixth sense. It is because what I consider as my sixth sense is my sense of humor.
And this has recently been sharpened and utilized when I recently laughed so hard inside a cinema. It is because of the Tagalog/Filipino movie Beauty In A Bottle that stars Angelica Panganiban, Assunta De Rossi and Angeline Quinto which I, Nengkoy and thirteen other members of my family watched.
Beauty In A Bottle is the type of movie that you would not mind in the end if it was good or bad. But what matters most was the spending of considerable amount of time having a good laughing spell.
The movie flutters basically about the old principles of ‘inner beauty’ and ‘self-esteem’ hilariously being paralleled to having smooth skin, young age, desirable diction and attractive body. I don’t remember when was the last time I laughed this hard on a Tagalog/Filipino movie. It was a riot! It was so funny I was having pits of persistent laughter even by simply seeing the movie’s video loop ads when we were already out of the movie theater.
But if I deeply assess what the movie waves about, maybe the reason why my sixth sense had a good workout is because I can relate. The very same hardships that the main characters in the movie are having trouble about – the rekindling of “the young and beautiful you” – are the very same troubles that I have been irrationally minding about. The theme is so close to my being! I was like laughing at my own reflection!
Laugh at yourself! Hone your sixth sense! See Beauty In A Bottle!
Never did I posted anything about the new X Factor Australia winner, Marlisa Punzalan, while the show was running. It is because I don’t want to cause any sumpa (curse) or negative effect to her fate and universe.
x factor australia 2014 winner
But honestly, I have been watching this young lady ever since the X Factor Australia has started this year. I know for a fact that she is actually the first one featured during the audition segments of the show. I followed this newly concluded talent show, maybe because of the reverberating feelings of joy and my overindulgence in its 2013 version when the superlative Dami Im won.
A week before the grand finale, I already had the impression that this young lady will win. The reason is not because of her tender age, nor her looks and neither her amazing talent. Three coherent reasons rolled up into my mind right after the semi-final round.
Winning the Toughest Battle
This is because during the semi-final bout she defeated Reigan Derry, the most excellent and the most seasoned among all contestants in this series. I cannot imagine how perennial favorite Reigan Derry being beaten by the other 2 finalists, Brothers 3 and Dean Ray. Reigan with her incredible pipes would easily beat these two other finalists to smithereens in case Dean or Brothers3 would be at the bottom two and perform back-to-back with her.
best showdown of the series!
Thus, before the grand finale, Marlisa Punzalan has already successfully hurdled the hardest challenge she would be faced with during the entire run of the series. For me, the semi-final round was actually more exhilarating than the grand finale. The grand finale was just a matter of confirming Marlisa’s crown.
Australia’s Enduring Love for the Underdog
When Marlisa got into the finals, everybody thinks that she would simply end up being a third placer. Even judge/mentor Redfoo after the semi-final round immediately predicted that Dean is the one to beat. Even online betting website SportsBet predicted that Dean would be bestowed the 2014 title. Dean Ray exhales the funky rock of breath trough out the show that is why everybody expects him to win.
the three rays of sunshine…
funky rocker!
Nonetheless, the whole Australia was gearing Brothers 3 to possibly snatch the title from Dean because these “three rays of sunshine” got the ever reliable cutey-boyband formula. Also, they have been identified halfway through the live shows to have received the most number of votes. Moreover, it would have been a very good promotional angle of story in case the first ‘wild card’ contestant wins the show. Thus, Brothers3 and Dean Ray prior to the grand final were considered the un-proclaimed winners. They were simply the Goliaths of the program!
But Australians (like Filipinos) love an underdog. They would not let a simple-looking lady lacking of self confidence be simply in the side light. It is of human nature to feel that those who have less power are deemed virtuous and noble. Human beings in general love the underdogs because each of us knows what it feels like to be a loser, to be brushed aside or to be a David in a world full of Goliaths.
Let me cap this reason with Ronan Keating’s beautiful wisdom when he was commenting on Marlisa’s performance during the semi-final, which illustrates Marlisa being an underdog. That he is still faithful on the thought that not all good girls finish last. That statement I suppose struck a nerve to the whole of Australia.
Shining at the Right Moment
At the initial phase of the show, Marlisa exhibited good performances but nothing spectacular compared to other contestants. I particularly loved her performance during the boot camp portion of the program, Jessica Mauboy’s Never Be The Same. But during her performance in front of John Legend, who would assist Ronan on picking his top 3 contenders for the live shows, she faltered big time.
During the first few weeks of the live shows, she was simply sailing through. Viewers and even other judges/mentors were particularly concerned because Ronan could not seem to tap the right song that would best fit Marlisa’s age, tone and range.
She was lucky enough that other contestants gave inferior performances compared to her. She even performed the worst performance in the whole show when she sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi while suffering from severe illness, in which, she was nevertheless praised by the judges for her guts and professionalism. During these times, other contestants were delivering the best performances of their lives. They were peaking at those moments.
Unfortunately for these other contestants (except for the shoo-in Reigan Derry), they failed to sustain the high points in their performances while the show near its end. Fortunately for Marlisa, she seems to simply just starting to oil up. She was gaining confidence in her stage presence, she was starting to feel the mood/s of her song/s and Ronan is commencing to realize and tap the exact songs for her. She was slowly peaking up!
She only sparkled at the last four or five weeks of the entire series. I totally agreed with Danni Minogue who was stuck to her seat and would hardly stand up after every Marlisa’s performance week after week. That Marlisa’s rendition of Sia and David Guetta’s Titanium performed on the 9th week of the live shows was truly Marlisa and Ronan’s game changer. The Titanium performance of Marlisa made Danni stood up to her feet and cheered for the young lady!
All throughout the TV show, Marlisa seem to be the last contestant to shine. And what is so amazing about her shining is that she was able to sustain it and even progressed further every week! Australians then realized that something special was with this young lady.
Hahaha! Ellen’s gardener already got a movie offer! This only shows how powerful Ellen DeGeneres could be…
Charming and now-the-world’s favorite gardener, Nick, got a call from no less than Channing Tatum to inform him that he is in the upcoming Magic Mike movie. The adorable guy really looked moved and surprised!
obviously surprised…
Now that Nick The Gardener will be in the next Magic Mike movie, it shall be something to look forward to then. It would definitely be a fun booster blast if Ellen would do a cameo!
I know how much it takes to achieve a hot gorgeous body. It doesn’t only take few exercises and a good set of genes. It takes a lot of physical workouts, a pretty good knowledge about concepts of human musculature and isometrics, good knowhow about nutrition and of course loads and loads of time, sacrifices and attitude. And once you achieved your goal you must not stop. It again takes loads of what I just enumerated to maintain it.
That is why I praise and applause all those human beings who were able to achieve their physical goal and successfully maintains it.
Just like Nick the Gardener. Here’s an enjoyable clip when powerful Ellen pushed for Nick to be included in a Hollywood movie.
I have not seen the movie Magic Mike. But after that, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he got at least a small part in the movie. And because of this, it looks like there will be a pretty good chance that I will be watching the sequel.
Nick the Gardener must have worked so hard to achieve that. Good for him!
From my own personal observations and from what I have seen so far, pink movies usually have tragic or sad endings. It usually has too much or prolonged erotic scenes, it is fully packed with emotional wallop and it’s either too heavy or too flamboyant in terms of plot and characters. Everything seems too extreme making gay movies too cinematic.
Glad to note that all of these observations about a gay movie are not present in the Brazilian feature length film entitled The Way He Looks (original title: Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) directed by Daniel Ribeiro.
About two or three years ago, I saw on YouTube the short film version of this movie where it was adapted and directed by the same director. That is why when YouTube recommended on its page the full length movie’s trailer I initially got confused. I was telling myself I already saw that adorable film but the images of the movie and the appearances of the characters seem to have changed. I thought the teaser was a continuation of the short film version and that the characters have grown a bit. Out of curiosity, I searched for the film online. I only realized that the director did a re-make of the short film into a new full length movie after I have clicked and searched YouTube.
Luckily for me but unfortunately for filmmaker Ribeiro, the full length version is available on YouTube. This enabled me to watch and appreciate the beauty and excellence of the film. Everything about this movie (both the short and the full-length versions) though simply expressed and executed, seem so brilliant – the light, lovable and innocent quality of the storyline, the captivating fineness of the actors, the distinction of the editing and production design and of course the cleverness of the director.
Even the endearing soundtrack is so merit-worthy. I am now so in love with the song ‘There’s Too Much Love’ by Belle & Sebastian. My favorite scene in the film includes the playing of this song! For me it was not the light kissing scene that is the most tender and most charming part of the movie. Rather it was when Gabriel was teaching the blind Leo how to dance while ‘There’s Too Much Love’ tune is playing.
Another appealing and impressive things about the movie is that it is not just about young gay romance. It is also about delightful family relationship, super friendship, boosting of self-worth and the quest for independence.
This movie deserves to be released commercially here in the Philippines. And if it does, expect me to be queuing at the box office and I would definitely be the first person in line.
hustisya movie poster grabbed from cinemalaya website
Joel Lamangan is a Filipino film director who has been very successful in consistently disappointing me with his works. I have seen a couple of his movies but seeing his latest one made me conclude that it would take me a great deal of convincing to watch his future works.
Lamangan’s latest movie is entitled, Hustisya. It stars the great Nora Aunor. This film is an entry in the on-going Cinemalaya film festival. Unfortunately, for my taste the 2-hour film, Hustisya, is a big disappointment. Because I was so bored in the first few minutes of the movie, I kept on looking at my watch. And to my surprise the first disenchanting 35 minutes of the movie was nothing but seeing Aunor walking within the rundown streets of Manila.
For me, the movie’s core and story can easily be told in less than 45 minutes. It ran for 2 hours because Lamangan inserted unnecessary footages of the sorry-looking and sordid spots of the City of Manila with the aim of putting socio-political connotations for the film.
For me, Lamangan is nothing but an inferior imitator of the genius Filipino film director Lino Brocka. The latter’s work contains heaps of socio-political implications and undertones which would hit directly into your being. Lamangan’s representation of socio-political issues on the other hand seem nothing but superficial.
Because of the footages inserted in the film and the secondary scenes placed in the movie (like the anti-government rally that suddenly came out from nowhere; the pickpocket scene inside a train; or, the stabbing murder scene along a dodgy street), which has nothing to do with the story has failed to touch a nerve. His depiction of social ills and government-political inadequacies looks artificially pilit (forced).
Lamangan must thank the heavens for Aunor who agreed to be in the film. She is the sole saving grace of this movie. And I cannot imagine how the film would look like or what the film would have become if it was not for the great Aunor who stars in it. Without Nora, this movie could easily be considered a non-worthy entry in this year’s highly prestigious Director’s Showcase category of Cinemalaya festival.
When I learned in the past (about a year ago or so) that Matt Bomer was not considered to play the role of Christian Grey for the movie adaptation of the massive hit novel 50 Shades of Grey, I was glad. Besides the face of Matt Bomer is buckets-full prettier that the visualized looks of Christian Grey.
I was glad that I will never have to be compelled on seeing that movie, because otherwise, I would have to watch it simply because Matt was in it. Though 50 Shades of Grey was a massive hit novel series, I can profess that I am among the few adults on this planet who has not read it. And I don’t have any plans neither intentions of reading it anytime soon or anytime in the future. Reason? I actually don’t know.
I guess destiny did not allow Matt Bomer to star in 50 Shades because the universe intended him to star in a much much better material that is The Normal Heart. I saw this HBO film, adapted from the autobiographical play with the same title two months ago. And this movie definitely deserves an Emmy-worthy recognition for Matt. His characterization on his role as Felix in the film was no big joke. He loosed 35 pounds for it.
But beyond Matt’s physical transformation in the film, he was hauntingly amazing in this movie! He was the heart-wrencher in the story that will make you feel the pain. I saw the film 2 months ago and yet the drama, the thunderous message and Matt’s powerful performance still lingers in my mind. His character was definitely louder than the beat of a normal heart.
The Normal Heart is out for sale on DVD and Blu-ray format on August 28, 2014 – which I predict as – 3 days after Matt Bomer has gone home with an Emmy trophy.
Nengkoy 