Back in Manila

Ilang beses na kitang nilayasan, iniwanan at ibang pinuntahan.
Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan... Manila! – The Hotdogs

We’ve all come back to Manila. Myself and the UP MedChoir, that is. Last time I saw them was during their nakakabiting five-song-repertoire’d concert at Frankfurt (see April 2005 Archives). Last Sunday they celebrated their homecoming with a concert at the PhilAm Auditorium in where else but… Manila (Citeee!... ngek hindi naman nilalagyan na ng word na “City” ang “Manila” eh, parang New York, Rome, at Paris).

Anyway I went there with Nats to give my support to TJ and ahem, ahem, (drumroll) Hanna. Brought my sister Dianne along with me and my niece Nene. TJ sings Bass I pala, akala ko Bass II like his kuya. Si Hanna naman Soprano I, akala ko alto like me. Dapat pala magtenor na si Aaron at si Ambet para SATTBB na kami at pwede na kaming kumanta sa mga kasal at family reunion ng mga Orillaza! Si Ging: band manager. Ehehehe… Peace, Ging! Soprano II ka! ;) Dapat ang maging girlfriend ni Aaron alto din para SSAATTBB na kami! O di ba ang taray nun?!

Nakakatuwa overall ang concert kasi may personal touch. Case in point: Alex’s intro spiel to each of the songs. Instead of the usual “this song was written in 1835 by an Austrian composer chuchuwa” or something like that, the intros were more personal and based on the choir's stories while in Europe, for example: “we taught a masters class to a choir in a university in Spain and this is the song we taught them which we also sang together with them, etc.” (incidentally, the song was “Kalesa”) and “this song brought tears to the eyes of our friend when we sang to her on our last day at the hostel” (“Someone Like You”.). Kakatouch di ba? May-I-reminisce tuloy about my own trip, lalo na when they talked about hostels in Spain.

So here are the pics... one last thing: bongga ang gowns ng girls ha! Not your usual baro’t saya… may Grecian feel ang mga gowns na ito. In fairness, perfectly complemented naman ng swanking-crisp na Pinoy barong… syempre mga Pinoy sila na galing Europe, eh! Taray!

Kainan muna sa Tia Maria's! Salamat Credit Lyonnais! Salamat CAF! Ambet (ni Ging), Ging(sister ni Nats), Nats, ako, Nene, Dianne, Aaron (bro ni Nats)

Bawal agawan si Aaron ng food... yun lang!

Sabi nya magsasmile sya... this is nats' version of a smile

Once more with feelings--and in your homecourt... the UP MedChoir

Count one, two three and... it's TJ! with his unmistakably TJ-ish TJ-smile

The Orillaza Brood: Papa Niel, Mommy Ann, Aaron, Ging, Ambet, Nats, with ako and Dianne

UPMedchoir Tanders, aka the US Tour group ca. 2001 aka the MedChoir Alumni. The new batch with TJ "conquered" Europe this year. I wonder where the next siege will be: Asia? Africa? Australia? Antarctica?

It's all in the the fam'ly... not hard to imagine what my kids are probably gonna look like

Mommy Ann's babies' "significant others": Monster-In-Law daw ni JLo ang aming drama sa pic na ito but I disagree... Mommy Ann is the sweetest! (Ambet, Mommy Ann, Hannah, me)

All Roads Lead to Narnia

...where Aslan waits for you!

Can I just say that I can’t wait for it to be December already? Not because of the usual goodies and funfare that the holidays bring but because of… The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe!! Saw the movie trailer last Saturday and I am just so IN AWE and EXCITED about what I’ve seen… seeing the lion Aslan so majestic on top of the ice-capped mountains gave me goosebumps. I really hope I don’t cry in the end of this one… although I really wouldn’t be surprised if I do considering I cried while reading the book!!

There are two reasons I’m so excited about this. First it’s because I totally love C. S. Lewis. (This man is one of the many gifts from God to me... along with Philip Yancey, I have to say). His words just cut through to the point of every Christian theme he wants to convey, whether through his essays (Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, The Problem of Pain) or his allegorical stories (The Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape Letters). The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is as honest and straight-to-the-point as an allegory can be about the reality of our world’s hopelessness and the amazing grace Christ has given to us through His redeeming love. Secondly it’s because I just know this is gonna be a great movie, not unlike “The Lord Of The Rings”. And I’m not alone in these expectations. Searched through the Internet about the movie and found that critics are calling it “The Next Big Thing” because of five reasons: (from http://movies.channel.aol.com)

1. Built-in Fan Base. Like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Narnia is based on a phenomenally popular book series. The seven tomes that comprise C. S. Lewis ‘The Chronicles of Narnia” have sold more than 85 million copies since the first one, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” In other words it’s a movie cult waiting to happen.
2. Fantastic New World. Middle-earth has nothing on Narnia, the land four children discover through the doors of the eponymous wardrobe. Populated by centaurs, giants, dwarves, and—of course—a lion, Narnia is the kind of magical place every kid (and kid at heart) wants to believe exists.
3. Potential For More. Unlike JRR Tolkien, who wrote only three “Lord of the Rings”, Lewis has seven installments of the “Chronicles”.
4. A Director With A Vision. Helmer Andrew Adamson knows a thing or three about hit franchises and special FX—he directed Shrek and Shrek 2—so who better to bring a possible new megahit series with a majestic CGI world to the big screen?
5. Family Appeal. With less gore than Star Wars and children as the main characters, “Chronicles” might be “Harry Potter” minus the wizardly magic, meets “LOTR”. In fact the Lewis books’ much-explored Christian allegory themes are already inspiring some to predict similar results as the awesome outcome of the behemoth Christian non-allegory, “The Passion of the Christ”.

I’m definitely standing in line (whether in online or ticket-booth-facing ones) for this movie. My only contention about the movie is that I hope they present the book in all its thematic glory. I hope they don’t just gloss over and downplay its Christian message just to appeal to a wider audience. If they do that, they won’t be giving the Lion the proper place He deserves, they won’t be paying tribute to C. S. Lewis who we all know wrote this story with the mission of evangelism in mind, and they won’t stay true to the heart of the story itself. The movie opens on December 9, 2005.

All In One Night: France, Italy... and Gotham City?

Saw "Batman Begins" today with my family, my cousins Kuya Jay and Kuya Nanie and my niece, Nene. The movie was good, nothing really special though, considering hollywood movies keep getting better nowadays, specially cinematically. I like how they showed that there was a time when Bruce Wayne was not as invincible as he eventually became when he rose to his Batman persona. Christian Bale is very effective and I'm looking forward to more Batman movies with him. On the other hand, I can't help be annoyed at Katie Holmes' half-smile-half-smirk expression which she never quite got around to losing since her Dawson's Creek days.

destination: gotham city... from www.batbase.com.br/filmes/batman_begins

We had a great time watching the movie but for our family, it wasn't the movie that made our day... it was the simple fact that we actually went on the proverbial "night out in the town". Together-times like this don't happen very often: my dad and I are usually busy, my sister has school whenever I'm free and my mom doesn't really want to go out a lot--she'd rather stay home and cross-stitch. So when the opportunity to go out like this comes, we grab it right away, hence tonight's "night out with the parents".

We arrived at makati a bit earlier than the movie's schedule start at 6:45pm (we reserved tickets through the web--highly recommended when seeing blockbuster movies so as to avoid the long lines and be assured of sitting together and not a dozen rows apart) so we had some snacks first at le coeur de france, a french-style cafe in the mall, before going to the theatre.

The cafe was wallpapered with various oldish posters which i've seen on sale at paris. Am a bit disappointed now i didn't have enough time to shop for at least a couple of these posters for my room and from some friends. I remember they cost around 6 to 15 euro, depending on the size of the poster... will just look at it as another reason to go back to europe in the future...

the heart of france in a styro cup? oh well, that's commercialization for you

at le coeur de france in makati: aileen, nene, and dianne

a light moment at le coeur

kuya jay and pademure na kuya nanie

these are the parisienne posters... i particularly liked "savon le chat"

i just realized with this picture that i really look like my dad

After the movie, we had a late dinner at italianni's, an italian restaurant also in the mall. Although the knee-jerk reaction would be to order pizza and pasta, we had to exercise some caution because my dad's got a heart condition and my mom's diabetic. We ended up ordering a salad for my parents, spaghetti with meatballs for my dad, pork chops and lasagna for us. The food at Italianni's was great... but that's to be expected. The biggest surprises for us were: 1) my fresh grape shake, and 2) dianne's and nene's moccha frapuccinos. Super sarap! Yum, winner sila in my book.

destination: italy

eat. drink. be italian...

kuya nanie, nene, dianne, me, mommy, daddy, kuya jay

masarap ba, dianne?

grape juice and two fraps... in the background my dad STILL reading the frank sinatra DVD...

We gave Dad's Father's Day gift after the salad and while waiting for the spaghetti with meatballs. He liked it the DVD! As in niscrutinize nya ng maigi and pinanuod nya agad pagdating sa bahay. We're watching it as I type this, actually. Buddy Rich's appearance was only for one track but that's ok na din... my dad likes Sinatra din naman plus Buddy Rich's solo, while very bitin, was nonetheless super galing. Worth his billing in the concert on the DVD title cards. Anyway since nasoli na ni Mikoy ang digicam ko, my sister and I were able to take pictures all throughout tonight, not because we felt like tourists, but because we both know it may well be a really long time before something like this happens again. We're both sentimental that way. :-)

opening his Father's Day gift

my sister and me

i forgot who we were laughing at here... malamang si kuya nanie