Tomatoes

It's now our hobby to eat. Yes, hobby. That had been the effect when we got good jobs, giving out fair amounts of salary. Dati, masaya na kami sa "french fry" dun sa fastfood sa may dating gasolinahan. Ngayon, improved na kami. Trial and error in the restos between these two malls in North Edsa area. "Pagkain lang ang pahinga natin!", we used to joke. Ayos na din, kesa magbisyo.

This is our third time to eat in an Italian place. The first one we didn't enjoy much, dahil madalian lang din siguro yung order at kain. The second one is terrible. And this third somehow justified our second encounter. Note that these three are three different stores.

We ordered this good for two meal. There's this big plate of spaghetti, two half-rule long bread sticks (garlic or not, haven't tasted it much), two pieces of "reddened" chickens, two slices of cheese pizza, 1 cup of soup and 1 cup of vegetable salad (the meal component is a clue on what restaurant i am referring to, if you've already tried there, that is). To complete it out, I ordered a separate dish of potato salad, and accepted the offer of the order-taker to have our drinks "upsized".

When we got all the orders in our table, we started tasting everything. She started with the soup, as that's what she most of the time, aside from potato/fries, craves for. The soup is red, and there are visible carrots floating all around. This is her comment after tasting a bit of it:

"Naku, parang alam ko na ang lasa ng lahat ng pagkain na nandito!"

And yes it is. Deja vu. This is also what happened when we eat on that 2nd Italian resto. But at least, this 3rd one was way lots better. Bakit ba kasi iisa ang lasa ng Italian cuisine? Kung hindi white sauce, tomato sauce! The 2nd time, naumay kami dahil sa white sauce. Ngayon, dahil naman sa tomatoes.

The spag is definitely Italian style. Tomato. Hinahanap ko ang Filipino style na may hotdogs ang sauce.
The chicken is salty, but still got flavor of tomato. That is why it is "reddened".
The soup, which is the only food we can't finish up, is a tomato soup. It's like a "menudo" since you can clearly see the carrots and the potato-resembling macaroni bits in it.
Good thing, the pizza is cheese-flavored, the bread sticks are somewhat garlic, and the vegetable has no tomato at all. However, dahil sa lasa ng kamatis, mabilis siyang naumay kaya maski potato salad, na ineexpect kong papapakin niya, e tinake-out ko pa.

I think that was also the first time I tried a tomato soup. Hindi pala kaaya-aya. Maasim. Literally. Mangangasim sikmura mo. "A sour soup is not pleasurable to take, unless it's SINIGANG." That's an important lesson and fact we learned.

Anyway, the food is still fair enough, compared to this other restaurant where we wished we ordered their pancakes instead to see how their name speaks.


Overall: This is the food place where we will eat in it only once a year. Just to try it again. It's not bad, but we will not be craving for their meals.

Exception: Potato salad. Naumay si Mimitaba, but I enjoyed it. It's probably what I will only order, for take-out, the next time I got curious on it again.


And, there! So far, no Italian cuisine gave me the i'll-be-back-here-tomorrow impression yet. I bet Mimitaba feels the same.


--peso--

Nine Fingers

We played a game in the pool. For bonding. Some intriguing game.

We lay our hands open, exposing the ten fingers we have (except when you're a New Year's day victim). We are formed in circle. One by one, we will mention "something" that we have never experienced yet. If somebody in that circle already experienced that "something", he'll drop one finger. The first who loses all ten fingers win as he has, according to the purpose of the game, the "least boring life".

The game started. One by one we all throw our non-experiences. To cite some, there are things like "hindi pa ako nakakapagshabu", "hindi pa ako nakikipag-sex", "hindi pa ako natry makipag-relasyon into a same sex", "hindi ko pa naranasan mag-one night stand", "hindi pa ako nakapasok ng gay bar", "hindi ko pa natry makipag-kiss torridly sa hindi ko karelasyon", "hindi pa ako nakapatay ng tao", "hindi pa ako nakasayaw sa dance floor ng isang bar", etc.

Among all those, ako lang yata ang may pinakawirdong non-experience: Hindi pa ako nakasakay ng roller coaster. That is true. Many dropped one finger, and their faces seemed disappointed with the example given out.

As the game goes, many fingers of many players were dropped. Bunyagan na. Intrigahan. I was left with 10 complete fingers still. Talo ako, obviously. By the time I left the game, dahil naiihi na ako at giniginaw na ako sa pool, someone has 2 fingers left, and I dropped a finger (somebody mentioned "hindi pa ako nagka-crush sa officemate ko"). I just joked, "I should be a priest."

But do you know what's true? I was sick. It was funny to see how "boring" my life is for them, but it seemed funnier on how they measure the rate of boredom. Are we sure that not losing the innocence won't bring the spice for life? In my case, does being a different being among others, having an old-school prehistoric attitude, means I am not adventurous? Is living against the flow today a big No-no? I don't think so. No life is worth ignoring.

May pinanghahawakan kasi ako e: UNIQUENESS. Wala naman daw mawawala sa akin kung ita-try kong magyosi. Sabi ko, meron - 'yung pinanindigan kong h'wag magyosi. It's not tangible, but principle is not an absent thing either. Kung natira akong may pinakamarami pang bukas na daliri, then I won the game.

Yeah. Principles. And attitude towards it.

On the next round robin, if I and others hadn't quit the game, I would have said, "Hindi pa ako nade-dextrose." But I came to think I'm glad I discontinued the game. In the society's ecstatic game, it might be a corny thing to say.


Clipped from Heroes, season 1, episode 1:

Ando: Why do you want to be different?!
Hiro: Why do you want to be the same?!



--peso--

Rockathon Finish Line

I refuse to sleep.

NU107 has just signed off. Not for the week, but for life. For real. Many had been there in the station, showing their last support, paying their last respect. We should have been there, but we failed to be.

I can't believe tomorrow's going to come, 6am, and no more NU to greet us good morning.


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Clipped from my comment on Zig Rabara's status:

2nd year HS, i woke up in the middle of the night with our karaoke tuned in to NU. a song is playing; a slow, sweet-sad song is playing. i listened to it, solemnly, and i was wowed by it. afterwards the DJ announced the title of the song and who sung it. from that moment, "Bituwin" became my favorite Itchyworms song. :(


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I haven't actually listened to NU for the past months. I've been contented on my winamp, and tuning in to Crossover radio to have a change of musical mood. But I don't regret it, for NU had always been the station. It's automatic. Until that sad news came, that reformatting thing, that Justin Bieber will soon rule the air. FUCK!

I remember quite a few, memorable things:

1) Request days on NU then is from Saturdays 6am up to sign off on Sundays. That was on my Highschool era. Sinasadya kong gumising nang maaga para makapag-request. I felt it was like an achievement to be the first to request. Hindi naman ako nabigo. I requested on "Anchor" by Boldstar via the number I still memorize - "Six-Three-Six-Double Owe-Double Nine". And so it was played. I reaaaalllly love the ending guitar of that song! =)

2) Stairways to 7 na ngayon 'di ba? Before, wala pa nun. It's "Midnight Countdown". Top 12 songs of the week, scheduled every Saturday midnight. This is really nothing to do with Midnight Countdown but anyway, there is where I first heard this song by a local band, fronted by a female voice. But i really couldn't catch the title or the artist of that track. One afternoon, it was played. Wala nang hesitation. Tumawag ako sa station and asked who that band was, and the title of the song. They said it's "Airhead" by "Chaingang". I got hooked into it, then I found their lone record in Tower Records, na pinag-ipunan ko at nabili ko sa halagang Php450. Isa sa pinakamahal na nabili kong local album, but also one of the "greatest & rarest". I owe NU for that.

3) I actually had interviewed Pontri over the phone, about 2 minutes long. Needed for a project, er. So I dialed 6360099, then I asked if I can ask something not related to music or so. He said yes, then I shoot. I said, "Saan ka naniniwala - sa theory of evolution o sa God's creation?". Sinagot niya ako ng "Depende sa kung ano pinapaniwalaan mo." I said, "Uhm, survey po kasi e, for school project." He said, "Creation." Then some explanation, then I asked his name. "Pontri", he said. I said goodbye and thank you and keyed in his answer down. I, and my other groupmates was amazed I was able to get an answer from a radio host. Nung time na 'yun, hindi ko inakalang ganun pala kalupet ang build ni Pontri. :D

4) Yeah, i heard Bituwin there. But there's also where I first heard "Buwan". And it's a different version; some demo you will never heard from somewhere. Nasanay na ako sa timpla ng boses ni Jugs at Jazz kaya naconclude ko agad na Itchyworms yun.

5) It was Zach hosting, and he cracked an information, something like: "And that song you just heard, it was from Matthew Andrews (I'm not sure of the first name, but I'm certain of the last name). And oh, I've got a trivia for you. Do you know that Matthew is the brother of our local actor Bobby Andrews? Do you know that?". By then, I went "Oh? Ayus a.", when he continued, "Nooooo I was just kidding! Ahahahaha!"

6) We used to sing in harmony: "Zach and Joey... Eeeeeen the... MooooooOOOOoooOOOOOoooorrrneeengggg!"; and imitate the dialogue: "Where in Europe is Germany?"

7) NU plays a song, no matter how long it is. May it be the 7-minute "Ang Huling El Bimbo" or the 9-minute "Jesus of Suburbia". And I bet, even the 12-minute "Production Number" is a no-cut. They played Beer, the album version, not the typical radio one (I have lots of Itchyworms example :p). Other stations don't do that. Once, I tuned into RJUR, another pure-rock station, and they are playing Oasis' Champagne Supernova. The intro is cut off, and so is the ending part. I have the verdict. RJUR is so far from NU.

8) NU's slogan is "Home of NU Rock". In fluent English, "new" is being pronounced as "nu". That's why. And literally, it is rightest place where "New Rocks" can be heard. Halimbawa, Evanescence. Nagta-top sa midnight countdown 'yan. Doon ko sila unang narinig. After few weeks, inilabas na 'yung "Bring Me To Life" sa ibang radio stations. Then my classmates went rocking. I said to myself, "e laos na 'tong kantang 'to ah!" *Kamot-ulo*

9) I bet, Chico Sci's Paris is the longest stay in the Midnight Countdown? I think they made it for almost a year, to the point na sawang-sawa na akong makinig ng NU. HAHAHAHA.

10) When I first heard of Urbandub, I thought they were Teeth having a comeback. Their song that time was "Come". Then I doubted and said, "Ay hindi pala, international band 'to e." I was both wrong. Now they are on their 10 years and counting. :)

11) NU Rockawards coverage @ ABC5 some years ago, our nanay saw Francis Brew and exclaimed "Sino 'yan? Mukhang ET!" Laugh trip.


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Clipped from my comment on Dado De Guzman's status:

Right. in its simplest form (parang math - simplest form), think of NU's "In The Raw", where they give chance to many of these unsigned bands to be heard. I don't think there are similar programs from other stations. Sayang.


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"Do you believe that good things must come to an end?", Echo Singson once asked the Boldstar Yahoo Groups, then we all got sad.

Now what do we do? Well, let's just all be brave. Let's face it. Like I said, let's keep the ball rolling. The next generation deserves our assistance. Respect other's music, and support our local indie bands, as that's what one thing NU has been fighting for since the start.

Nakakalungkot talaga kanina, ayoko nga mag-tune in sa Ustream e. But 15 minutes are what is left, and so I did. They were all saying their last goodbyes. Now I became interested on what would the last song be, before Justine Bieber starts singing. I thought of "Salamat" by the Dawn or "Minsan" by the Eraserheads. But they played "Ang Huling El Bimbo".

I never really thought of that. We all deserve to hear that song. It's always played in the final, but for me it's not really that sad either. It's a great, wonderful song. So I think it should help us lift up, and felt grateful and proud that we became part of this era. Blessed is what we are.


"...DWNU One-Oh-Seven dot five, megahertz in Pasig. A LOUD AND* proud member of KBP...". Will surely miss that line, good thing I somehow memorized it. Blessed is what we are.


I want to be in a band. :)



--peso--

* - My brother corrected, said it should be "Loud and Proud". :)