Come and get it, boys. And girls.

Expat Travel and Lifestyle Magazine out now! :) Buy it. My piece about Gandiva is included.

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, a review

I’ve left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page.

If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.

Sixteen year-old Lily left a red moleskin, a “book of dares” beside a copy of Franny and Zooey in Strand, her favorite bookstore, (which frankly sounds so awesome! It would be my favorite too!), waiting for a worthy guy to take up the challenge.

Dash picks it and they end up exchanging the moleskine with dares and letters back and forth without ever meeting. When they finally meet, in the worst possible way! It first appears that neither one could live up to their written selves.

Just when you think it’s over before it even began, they find a way to get together and pretty soon we see the stirrings of first love, or terrible infatuation.

Young love. Le Sigh. No one quite gets it like Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. They’ve set the bar quite high for themselves with Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. I never really expected them to top that. And they didn’t. Nevertheless, I do love Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares. It’s fun, smart and poignant. There’s so much crap in YA right now, I think this book singlehandedly redeemed the whole genre. I exaggerate, but you get my point.

I can’t help comparing it to Nick and Norah though, especially since it shares the same structure, with chapters alternating between the guy and the girl’s POV. While Nick was a consummate “nice guy,” music geek who makes mix CDs, Dash is a “snarly, hipster wannabe” who eats yogurts. Norah was a charmingly awkward but generally wise outsider, while Lily is a sheltered, self-confessed “weird girl,” nicknamed “shrilly” for good reason.

Nick and Norah was a love letter to indie music and bands. I was hoping Dash and Lily would be a similar love letter to literature. That’s where it kinda fell short. They did reference a lot of books, poems, writers and poets. It even referenced Nick and Norah. A graffiti in a bathroom stall of a dingy club read, “The Cure. For the exes. I’m sorry, Nick. Will you kiss me again?” It just wasn’t enough.

Lily was a huge fan of J.D. Salinger. I’m a bit wary of Salinger’s teenage followers. They’re unbearable! To be fair, she identifies with Franny, not Holden Caulfield. I wasn’t too wild about her.

Dash reminded me of my ex, what I think my ex was trying to be, rather, which is why it took me a while to warm up to him. He’s snarly, as mentioned earlier, arcane and bookish. But he did proved to be a pretty stand-up guy in the end.

My favorite character was Sofia, Dash’s ex-girlfriend. And I have NO sympathy whatsoever with ex-girlfriend types. Sofia seemed genuinely interesting, much more so than Lily. She also had some of the best lines!

All in all, there’s so much to love about this book. It’s a love story which began in a bookstore and progressed through journal entries/letters. It’s every teenage bookworm’s fantasy, including mine, once upon a time. (But MY love story is so much better!)

This is the third collaboration between Cohn and Levithan, and only the second I’ve read. I’d love to see more from them. I’d love it even more if they move beyond the YA genre and do something with older protagonists. 

Some quotes:

“…like most guys, you carry around this girl in your head, who is exactly who you want her to be. The person you think you will love the most. And every girl you are with gets measured against this girl in your head. So this girl with the red notebook—it makes sense. If you never meet her, she never has to get measured. She can be the girl in your head”

“It’s the great male fantasy-all it takes is one dance to know that she’s the one. All it takes is the sound of her song from the tower, or a look at her sleeping face. And right away you know this is the girl in your head, sleeping or dancing or singing in front of you. Yes, girls want their princes, but boys want their princesses just as much.”

“I want to believe that despite all evidence to the contrary, it is possible for anyone to find that one special person… Someone who wouldn’t judge another for the propositions they dangle or their run-on sentences and who in turn wouldn’t be judged for the snobbery of their language etymology inclinations.”

“Only the stories are dangerous. Only the fictions we create, especially when they become expectations.”

“I want to believe there is a somebody out there just for me. I want to believe that I exist to be there for the somebody.”

I just found out that the book is being adapted into film, to be written and directed by none other than Lena Dunham. I can’t think of anything more perfect! I CANNOT WAIT! Oh my gosh! I’d love to see Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning / Chloe Moretz as Dash and Lily, respectively!  

QC’s Favorite Haunts

(Excerpt)

Quezon City’s history is as colorful as it gets. It once held the lofty distinction as the nation’s capital from 1948 to 1976, until Manila snatched the title back from the young upstart of a city. Nevertheless, Quezon City’s most marked and enduring characteristics have been its ability to reinvent itself and to forge its own identity. Though not as storied as Manila, or as cosmopolitan as Makati, with all its concrete and congestion, QC, as it is colloquially known, holds its own. These days helping to spruce up the city’s image are a collection of dining spaces, some of them springing up, seemingly, out of nowhere in what was only a few years ago sleepy suburbs. These establishments capture perfectly the spirit of the young city it belongs to, constantly in flux, inventive, and bidding its sweet time to take its place in the spotlight.

……….

BRGR: The Burger Project

122 Maginhawa st., Teachers Village For deliveries call: (02) 212-1-212The DIY approach to dining is arguably one of the most exciting things about this burger joint, that and its varied selection, all equally delicious. Patrons may order from any of the “designer” burgers such as The Sloppiest Joe or the Western Bacon Melt. They may also design their own, starting from the bun: poppy seed, potato or oatmeal; the patties: 100% beef, chicken, or tofu; and the cheese: cheddar, mozzarella, gruyere or bleu. The toppings are seemingly endless, from the customary bacon or chili con carne, to the more adventurous guacamole or mango salsa. The lettuce pickles and tomatoes are complimentary with every order of burger. Permutations abound in The Burger Project! Here’s to hoping you’ll find “the one.”

Western Bacon Melt

……….

Pino Resto Bar

39 Malingap, Teachers Vill, QC For deliveries call: (02) 212-1-212 www.pinorestobar.com

A Filipino restaurant with a twist, Pino takes the best regional Filipino dishes and comfort food and combines them in one spectacular menu. The offerings are a far cry from what one would usually expect in a Filipino restaurant. The chef Edward Bugia keeps things interesting and infinitely more delectable by reimagining old favorites and fusing together unlikely stand-alone dishes. For instance, one of the best-sellers is the Kare-Kareng Bagnet. Kare-kare is a peanut sauce-based stew from Pampanga, while Bagnet is deep fried pork, a specialty of Ilocos Norte. Also on offer are the Sisig Carbonara Pasta, spaghetti with sisig, diced bacon and onion in carbonara sauce, and the Pork Tonaktsu with Vigan Longganisa, and for dessert, the Chocolate Tempura.

Sisig Carbonara

Kare-kareng Bagnet (omg! this was the best!)

……….

Pipino

2F, 39 Malingap, Teachers Vill, QC For deliveries call: (02) 212-1-212 www.pipinovegetarian.com

In Metro Manila, one would be hardpressed to find many restaurants that can properly accommodate a vegetarian diet, let alone a delicious one. Enter Pipino Vegetarian, a restaurant offering Filipino dishes reinvented for the herbivore and the healthy-eaters. The result: creative and appetizing dishes that are completely meat-free, like the Squash Risotto, Brown Rice Champorado and the Portobello Inasal. The menu offers a full range of starters, sandwiches, pasta, entrees and desserts. 

Banana Polenta

Portabello Inasal

……….

Published in Expat Travel & Lifestyle Magazine

Photos c/o PJ Lanot

Touch me, I’m famous

Lolz.

I’ve freelanced for many different publications but I’ve always declined to be included in the contributors page. I’m super shy like that. This time though, my editor from Expat Travel and Lifestyle Magazine didn’t give me a choice. Hah! So here goes. I’m upper left, by the way. The photo was taken by my friend, Pranz Billones, who is an awesome photographer! 

Here’s a bigger version. I LOVE this photo. Never mind that I kinda look like a demented poodle. It’s just so…ME! A guy I dated briefly did once say that if I were a dog, I’d be a French poodle, spoiled and with a bit of a temper.

Well, he’s a pug. 

…and I said to my inner goddess, “Eat me!”

I spend way too much on books. Honestly, I wish I could spend more. But I gotta eat, clothe myself, and buy makeup and all. I avoided bookstores all of April because I’m weak in the face of temptation.

Today being the first day of the new month I figured I can afford a new book. I ended up spending close to two hours scouring Fully Booked unable to choose and feeling sorry for myself that I even had to.

My inner goddess kept telling me to stick to my budget. I’ve taken to having imaginary conversations with my inner goddess after reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy (It was awful, by the way.) My inner goddess is not as annoying as Anastasia Steele’s. She doesn’t do pirouettes or yoga poses. Neither is she into Christian Grey. She thinks Christian Grey is a sick fuck. For once, I agree with her.

My inner goddess is actually very mature and responsible. I should listen to her more, except I can’t, not when it comes to book-hoarding. It’s Labor Day, after all. Being the “laborer” that I am and since I HAD to go to work while the rest of my comrades were on a day off, I figured I’m entitled to a treat.

We did reach a compromise, my inner goddess and I. She said I could have just one and I wanted four, which actually isn’t a lot, but the Fully Booked in Gateway isn’t the biggest so the selection was limited. I narrowed it down to these two:

After I read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist years ago I’ve wanted to read more from the awesome duo of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. There was no way I was going home without Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares. I hope it’s as good as Nick and Norah’s, if not I might just cry or go on a depression-induced VC Andrews reading spree. It has happened before.

I also picked up Eat Me by Alexandra Antonioni. I’ve never heard of this book or the author before and I’m resisting the urge to google it. I think I want to be pleasantly surprised. With a tagline that says “Love, Sex and the Art of Eating,” how can it go any other way? I’m a former food editor who is obsessed with talking about (if not the actual act of) love, sex and eating, after all.

Happy Labor Day to one and all. Except to the top one percent. To them I say, as I say to my inner goddess, EAT ME!

Last Friday Night

Two bottles Stella Artois. Two bottles Heineken. One shot tequila. One can San Miguel Pale Pilsen. One bottle Dos Equis. One bottle Red Horse. And far too many sticks of cigarette to count. Fortunately, I never get hangovers. Never. 

Bluewater Panglao, Bohol

I love Bohol. I went back late last year and went scuba diving again. It was fun and I went deeper than I did the last time. I finally saw a pawikan! I’m still not sure I want to go the whole nine yards and get certified and all. I’m a fairly good swimmer but the open sea and the creatures that live in it terrifies me! ‘Tis true. Once on a dive, a clown fish tried to take a bite of my finger.

I stayed at Bluewater Panglao this time and it was just gorgeous! Food was good, too. I went home fat, tan and happy!  More on that below:

http://www.asiatatlerdining.com/philippines/splendor-by-the-sea

Splendour by the Sea

Bohol beckons to tourists the world over with its natural wonders, but in Bluewater Panglao’s Aplaya Restaurant and Bar, the dining experience is just as much of a draw.

An outstanding newcomer to the picture-perfect resort town of Panglao in Bohol is the Bluewater Panglao. The resort combines the luxurious amenities and personalised service that Bluewater properties are known for. It also boasts premier accommodations, a range of water sports and leisure activities, and modern amenities, including the full-service Amuma Spa.

One of the most pleasurable experiences to be had is at the Aplaya Restaurant and Bar, the resort’s main, all-day dining area, which envelops you in an incomparable tropical paradise setting. The name Aplaya translates into “by the sea,” a fitting designation for a restaurant that serves up an unobstructed view of the pool and the nearby beach alongside deliciously prepared dishes. Aplaya, helmed by the sous chef Jose Jovenal, offers dining choices as varied as your moods, from authentic local dishes and live seafood to select international fare, all made from the freshest ingredients.

Start your mornings with a lavish breakfast spread featuring different cuisines, live cooking stations, and everything else expected in a luxury resort. For lunches and dinners, fresh seafood is still the best as it takes full advantage of the island’s bounties and complements the seaside setting. Get your fill of crabs, oysters or prawns at their very best.

A perfect way to end the day - and a thoughtful touch — is the sweet surprise that awaits guests once they retire to their suites: a tray of delicious pastries, a different one each night!

Giving delicious culinary and sensory offerings and lavish pampering and attention, Bluewater Panglao is poised to follow in the successful footsteps of the two other Bluewater Group properties in Maribago and Sumilon Island, both in Cebu.

Aplaya Restaurant and Bar
Bluewater Panglao Beach Resort
Sitio Daurong, Danao, Panglao Island, Bohol 
Tel:             +632.817.5751       (Manila Office)

Some photos

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

I know I said no rereads but my resources are limited, so give me a break. Besides, I think enough time has passed.