The Phantom of the Opera: Manila

Someone told me that everyone's a nobody until they've seen Phantom. I've seen it twice, so I guess that makes me one step nearer godhood. If Armageddon comes, I expect a flying saucer to rescue me while Martian Nazis make mincemeat of planet Earth.

Extraterrestrials and screaming people filled my thoughts as we made our way to CCP. The weather was blissfully jolly when we left our house. By the time we got to Manila, it started raining. Not quite Noah's ark level, but enough to slow down traffic to a crawl.

Despite the floods, we arrived early. That gave us time to have dinner, loiter around the lobby and buy a souvenir program and a CD.

We got seats in the parterre section. It's not visible from the orchestra section. I didn't even know it existed. The seats were very comfortable and the leg room was quite spacious. It's secluded and very private. They say this is where Madam usually sat during her heyday. I can see why. I wish they'd lower the ticket price, though. I started seeing double when my credit card bill arrived the following week.

Cine Europa 2012

It was a weekday, so the usual crowd of shrieking youths was nowhere in sight. Most of the people watching were either in between jobs or retired. They were chatty. Not in a noisy kind of chatty, but chatty as in they're open to talking to people they've only met for the first time. A complete stranger glanced at me and smiled. I think he wanted to chat. I smiled back.

Inside the theater, an old guy sat beside me. He was very friendly. He called me "Bhradd." I took it as a compliment since it sounded like "Brad Pitt." He kept on talking. I kept on nodding. I was hoping he wouldn't ask me questions. But he did. He asked me where I work. I can't talk, so I got my cellphone and typed in "Eastwood." He said, "Oh." Then he went on talk mode again. 

The movie showing was In a Better World (Hævnen), a Danish domestic melodrama. Some of the scenes were set in Africa. I think that struck a nerve cause the guy beside me started to do a running commentary. Full volume. People started glaring at me. Wait, why me? My mouth's close. I can't even speak. 

I have a DVD of Senna, so no need to line up for that one. I'll be hustling for Atmen (Breathing), though. More than anything, I'm dreading the weekend crowd. It's going to be a long day.

BreadTalk's Hello Kitty Cake

It's cute, winsome and furball free. It has two flavors: vanilla chiffon with either strawberry or mango filling, and chocolate chiffon filled with chocolate ganache. I got the latter.

It's a very strange cake. If you cross a bread roll with a cake, this is how it would taste like. It has a very unique texture and an "almost there" sweetness. I kept waiting for the sweetness I was expecting to hit me. It wasn't there on the first bite and it wasn't there at the ganache core either. It was actually nowhere in sight. Children (for whom the cake was made) will be disappointed. People averse to sugar will rejoice. Don't be surprised if you find it underwhelming on your first try.

I'm thinking this is how pastry would taste like in Japan: quirky with just a smidgen of sweetness. Book me a ticket, will you?

Essential Posters: 69th Venice Film Festival

La cinquiéme saison is from another planet. If this poster is a person, it would be Björk.

Bella addormentata (above) steers clear of conventions by doing away with people. Viewed from the ground up, we're given a whole new perspective of how beautiful and eerie nature is..

Izmena (above) shows us a woman giving in to lust and adultery. This movie is going to be hot and sinful, and by the looks of it, tragic.