Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Legion Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 2, 2010

We were supposed to only watch one movie. We ended up watching two, Paano na Kaya & Legion. Just one look at the poster & I knew that it would be a good movie considering Paul Bettany was playing the lead character.

I was very happy when I saw Dennis Quaid in the movie. Unfortunately, even though I admire the cast, I was not impressed with the story. The Powerhouse cast included Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, and Kate Walsh were just not enough to make a movie a great one because the story is just too weak.

The story is about God who wanted to make humans extinct. Fallen Angel Michael (Paul Bettany’s character) didn’t agree with God’s decision. So Michael helped a group of strangers in a diner, including a pregnant woman who is believed to bear a child that is the only hope or savior of the human race!

Actually, that’s the story, which is followed by people in the diner fighting for their life. Possessed men attacking the diner, biting people, etc. haaayy… felt like an apocalypse movie with a zombie twist in it.

I left the movie thinking what the story was all about and what lessons it was trying to leave with us.

My Rating for Legion: 2 out of 5 stars.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Malaysia, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

Paano na Kaya Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 1, 2010

Long time no update 🙂 So, I had to work the whole weekend because of a deadline. You know how it is, right? Anyway, I decided to reward myself by watching a movie. I asked Lucy, my housemate/yaya, if we could watch “Paano na Kaya” and she was excited as ever! hahahaha!

“Paano na Kaya” is a Filipino Movie. I don’t really watch them that much but I love how Star Cinema makes great Filipino movies! The trailer of “Paano na Kaya” is just too nice to miss out.

Paano na Kaya is a story about 2 best friends, Bogs Marasigan and Mae Chua. Best friends forever but Mae though has been in love with Bogs the whole time. Though it hurts her, she helps Bogs take care of his surprises for his girlfriend, etc. She has always been there whenever Bogs needs her, even went to the point that she neglects some of her responsibilities on her shop just to accompany Bogs to wherever.

Bog’s Girlfriend fell in love with someone else and broke his heart. After that, Bogs & Mae had an interesting exchange of words. That scene was ssoooo emotional and memorable that I actually remembered one line! hahaha! It was so real! I guess, it is one of the reasons why I love this movie so much. IMHO, so realistic!

oh, wait, what’s my favorite line again?

“Ganyan talga ang Pagmamahal nagpapakaTanga… Tanga na kung Tanga, pero Mahal Kita, Mahal Kita!!!”

Actually, there are a lot of interesting lines in the movie that I could relate to. It’s true, you know? Each of us tend to be blinded by love and we do crazy things for love. Such is the realities of life.

What a way to start the love month, February! This is just a simple movie but it touches one’s heart. It definitely made me reflect on how I see love. The actors were so believable too! I say, kudos to Star Cinema for a great, great romantic movie. This is definitely worth watching.

My Rating for Paano na Kaya: 4 out of 5 stars.

Why Gibo Teodoro changed his mind on RH Bill

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 20, 2010

Presidential candidate Gibo Teodoro & his pretty wife, the congresswoman from the 1st district of Tarlac were once supporters of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. A few weeks ago, they changed their minds regarding the RH bill. So when the opportunity came to ask Mr. Teodoro some questions, I had to take it.

Why did Gibo change his mind regarding the RH bill?

Gibo Teodoro answered my question with authority & strong conviction. I was actually speechless throughout his reply. Now after reviewing the video that I just realized that I have several followup questions to his answer.

Gibo Teodoro said the main problem of the RH bill debate was this: Everybody got so involved with the bill & how to pass it that everybody forgot about what the actual problem was and how to fix it.

Nikki Teodoro

Mr. Teodoro then said that this debate is about government substituting itself as the people’s moral guardians. He said it was a mistake because family planning is a personal issue. He then recounted that the Reproductive Health bill will not pass. He reasoned, what good can the RH Bill do if we fight for something knowing the effort would simply fail?

Read the rest of the article in Blogwatch.PH.

References:

Videos – http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E11D7B003EF64C8F
Pictures – http://www.flickr.com/photos/rochellesychua/sets/72157623068690911/

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

My 1st Ever Tweetup

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 13, 2010

Last January 9, 2010, I attended my 1st ever Tweetup! I was very happy that I did. I met a lot of twitter friends personally. It was just so nice to be able to see your tweetmates in person. I really think tweetups can be more personal and bigger friendships could be formed.

For those of you who aren’t too familiar with twitter, it is a social networking and microblogging site. It allows us to share our thoughts in 140 character messages or tweets, as we call them. Think of it as a single text message but online. In fact, in other countries, you can send sms to twitter to appear as tweets.

Twitter is a bit addicting, really. I can’t go on a day without posting tweets. It can either be replying tweets from other people, sharing relevant links from different websites or just sharing news.

A few weeks ago, I saw several people i follow on twitter tweeting about a tweetup on Ayala Park. That was last December 2009. Unfortunately, I was too lazy that day to drive all the way to Makati. (Hey! In my defense, I was on vacation!). So anyway, I ended up sleeping instead and tweeting online. I later regretted not going. I was so excited when @mcmanoloto and @ssowy were tweeting about the next tweetup! And yes, I made sure to join 😀

haha! I was a bit late, ok I was late by 30 minutes. I only saw @mcmanoloto there at the time. At first I thought that this tweetup was going to be a bit of a disaster as the people who confirmed weren’t coming. A few minutes later, people were starting to arrive! Awesome right? Here we are 1 hour after the meeting time:

It was amazing. People just kept arriving and I felt so sad that that I was so pressed for time. I had another appointment to attend so I had to say goodbye & wasn’t able to join my tweetup friends for lunch. 🙁

Anyhow, I had the taste of what tweetup was like! 🙂 I must say that I loved it! It reminds me of the eyeball days when MiRc was still popular. I’ll make sure to attend the next tweetup! Holler to my twitter friends! 🙂

More pictures from the tweetup here.

Mr. Jones

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 11, 2010

Mr. Jones
Phase 2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
(02) 501-3111

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Sharleen and I met up for dinner last week. It was a great night to bond with one of my dearest friends. I just missed her. We used to go out a lot before. Since she got married and had kids, we had to cut down on our meet up days.

For our dinner, I gave the suggestion that we should try out Mr. Jones because I have heard lots about it on Twitter. I like to try out things I see recommended online, it doesn’t matter if it’s foxy bingo online or a really good book, I think it’s good to try things that others recommend. When we arrived at the venue, we had to wait because we were 3rd on the waiting list. I thought to myself, I guess that they really were that good.

Here are what we ordered:

Cherry Almond Crunch (Php 175)

cherry shake mr jones

I love almonds and cherries! So I had to try Mr. Jones’ famous milkshakes. I ordered their cherry almond crunch 🙂

Mr. Jones’ Cherry Almond Crunch milkshake basically has vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, cherries, almonds and almond syrup. All ingredients were shaked in the metal container then poured into a glass. If there were any excess, they would still give it to us. That’s the reason why the shaker was served to me as well.

“Garlic Portobello” Steak & Eggs (Php 450)

garlic steak mr jones

According to my friend, this Beef Tenderloin steak topped with mushrooms and served with three eggs (cooked any style) and with potatoes was too watery and ended up with no taste. I could see the disappointment so I guess I will never order this Mr. Jones’ menu item.

1/2 Inch Thick Double-Smoked Bacon & Eggs (Php 295)

smoked bacon mr jones

This is 1/2 inch big big bacon! I usually prefer crispy thin bacon though but this is okay. It was served with biscuits, potatoes & 2 eggs. Definitely will make your stomach full.

U.S. Beef Ribcap “Tapa & Garlic Overload” (Php 295)

tapa overload mr jones

This is like the yummiest tapa I have ever eaten! Overload, true sense of the word! I wasn’t able to finish it. It was just too much but I defintely recommend that you order this. Bestseller! 🙂

The tapa was topped with tons of toasted garlic and was served with garlic rice, 2 eggs and atchara. This is definitely a must order.

Twinings Green Tea Lemon (Php 110)

tea mr jones

The servers will let you choose which flavor of Twinings you prefer. Then right after they served it in a tea pot with a huge cup (which could actually be a container for a soup). It’s that big! :P:P Cute!

I also liked the ambiance of the restaurant. It had this diner design. They even had a jukebox!! I tried the jukebox out (it’s the small thingy behind the seat in the picture below). It had songs of Elvis Presley. All of it!! hahaha! I also love the couch which was very comfortable. You would really love to hang out at the place for quite some time.

mr jones sits

Food trip! Loved it! 🙂 More pictures here.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Manila, Philippines and Asia.