Don't Stop Believing

I just learned that Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is the now officially the most downloaded MP3 song on the internet.  The song had achieved some measure of success in the 80s when Steve Perry was the lead vocalist of the band, but in this internet age, it's the version by the new vocalist Arnel Pineda (member since 2007) that has caught the attention of the digital population.  It's been 5 years since Arnel was plucked from obscurity to take over from Jeff Sotto; Arnel was the lead singer of the Olongapo-based cover band The Zoo when his YouTube covers were noticed by Neil Schon, the group's lead guitarist. Truly, the internationalization of the Journey is strong proof that Rock is no longer a monopoly of the Americans, and is now a big part of World Music.

Maya Taqueria

We tried bar-hopping in Cebu, but when we got to the Vudu Club in the Crossroads Arcade, we realized that the club was geared for the college crowd, and while we thought of ourselves as young ones, it would be pretty obvious that we were classifed as young once.  The nearby KTV was lame and appeared dreary, so we walked along and chanced upon Maya Taqueria which had a large and elegant wooden door--a very inviting look!  We quickly learned that this was an affiliate of the Abaca Resort, and we sauntered in, took a table and feasted on quesadilla, tequila & margaritas!  Shades of the early 80s, when we would spend countless nights in Tia Maria, Jalisco and Johnny Midnight's El!  The interiors were nice and classy, the food was good, and the company was superb--truly a night to remember!

Pido's Grill

We were again treated by an old classmate to a SuTuKil experience for dinner at Pido's Grill along Hernan Cortes St.  This was a reunion of 23 friends in Cebu, of course with a lot of drinking and merriment.  Food was good--grilled scallops, marlin & tuna, stuffed ampalaya (bitter gourd), grilled bagaybay (tuna innards), pork belly and beef sinigang (tamarind soup).  We had time to reflect on how fast time flies--my classmate's eldest son is now almost 30 years old, and it was only yesterday that we played baseball (to achieve easier home runs, we used a tennis ball) and flew kites together (his Magnolia kite flew the highest).  By some stroke of coincidence, we had a lot of sports to talk about, as the golfers had just come from rain-drenched play in Club Filipino-Danao.  Moreover, the TV featured the Smart-sponsored exhibition game with the NBA all-stars (as in Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Derek Rose) and the Philippine Azkals would be up against the Kuwaitis in a few hours (we stayed up to 3am to watch this, but unfortunately the Philippines lost 3-0).  Thanks to great company (with a little help from San Miguel and Johnny Walker), it was very enjoyable evening!

Grand Majestic

Our group was treated to a Chinese buffet lunch at the Grand Majestic Restaurant, right at the ground floor of the Grand Convention Center in Cebu.  The buffet's main attraction is the Peking Duck, which was tasty, very succulent and roasted just right.  The dimsum spread had some dumpling, siomai and siopao, and the main spread was generous with various viands fish with tausi, garlic brocolli, Canton noodles, chili prawns (this was especially yummy), jellyfish, sizzling squid, fried rice and hot/sour soup.  Most of the people in our group went back for several rounds and we were all filled to the brim!  I was quite happy with the mangoes they had, it had just the right balance between sweet and sour, which is what  look for in yellow mangoes.  All in all I understand that the cost was very reasonable, averaging about P550 per head; definitely worth a visit if you are looking for Chinese food in Cebu.

Cafe Laguna

Continuing with our Cebu trip--dinner with the barkada was a unanimous vote for Filipino food, and we opted to try the food at Cafe Laguna at the Ayala Center in the Lahug area.  The restaurant is a popular choice amongst the locals and we had a feast with several dishes--pork sinigang (tamarind soup), chicharon bulaklak, fresh lumpia (spring roll), fried beef ribs, sweet-sour shrimp & stuffed crabs.  All in all, the bill came to something like P500 per head.  At the end of the meal, we realized that the food was actually Luzon-style cooking and it was quite ironical that we came all the way from Manila to Cebu just to eat Laguna cooking!  Well, good ambience and good food gave us all a good time.

Conching's Native Chicken

It's been a great field trip to Cebu with the old barkada.  On the recommendation of one of our friends, the group decided to have late lunch in Conching's, an open-air eatery in front of SM Cebu City.  We were lucky that the rain had stopped and cool wind provided a relaxing atmosphere.  The restaurant prides itself for native chicken inihaw, which is very tasty (comes with a tasty dip consisting of soy sauce, vinegar, chili, onions & green tomatoes) and together with puso (caked rice cooked in coconut leaves), makes for one satisfying lunch!  Being native chicken, the hatchlings are raised without large doses of growth supplements and antibiotics.  As these are uncaged and free to roam, native chicken squabs are less meaty as compared to farmed chicken, and the meat is considerably much tougher.  For complimentary dishes, we also tried the rellenong alimasag (stuffed crab), the grilled talakitok (fish), and grilled liempo (pork belly).  Parking was convenient at 2:30 pm, but I was told that the crowd would overflow at lunchtime.  An amazing find at less than P300 per head for a sumptuous meal.

Heroines!

Never mind the script... I'm here to watch the stunts, the explosions, the action and most of all, the beautiful women!  My top 10 list of the hottest heroines in the movies, again in no particular order:

1.   Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft:

2.   Mila Jovovich in Resident Evil:

3.    Charlize Theron as Aeon Flux:

4.  Jennifer Garner as Elektra:

5.  Kate Beckinsdale in Underworld:

6.  Uma Thurman in Kill Bill:

7.   Rhona Mitra in Doomsday:

8.   Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four:

9.  Emily Browning in Sucker Punch:

10.   Rose Mc Gowan in the upcoming movie Red Sonja (I've been waiting for this; originally slated for 2009, production difficulties have reportedly moved the release date to late this year):