For the Love of the Game

      Trip down to memory lane, I used to remember how my sisters, cousins and I play badminton in our neighborhood. Considering that I live in Baguio, so just imagine how difficult it is to play on those slopes. These were the type of rackets and shuttle cocks we used during those times.  I couldn’t recall how much these cost but who cares as long as we had fun!

      I started playing Badminton, the “real thing” in the Philippines in 2005 when one of my friends dragged me to play after work. I was hesitant at first since I was not the sporty type.  Honestly, I would rather cuddle myself in bed during cold nights in Baguio than sweat.  After several sessions, I found the game rather fun and interesting.  All these years, I still couldn’t believe that we even represented our company during a tournament in Baguio.  Those were the days! =)  

     

       Being away from my family, I found this sport very helpful and somehow became, and still is, my outlet that keeps my mind off the feeling of homesickness.  It was during my second year in Singapore that I got hooked playing.  It’s a fact that Badminton is a popular fast-paced indoor sport. To be successful in badminton one needs excellent court speed and agility, with a good background of endurance, also strength and flexibility also important.   Unlike others, I didn't have formal trainings.  What for if my objective is just to have fun and do a bit of regular exercise?

      I normally watch youtube to somehow pick-up tricks.  The best thing is - it's FREE! =)

 

My personal favorite : Coaching Badminton Series of Videos! =)  

You can search YouTube for more Videos

       I consider myself lucky and was able to be part of a group named PinoySG Badminton Club.  This is an all-Filipino group based in Singapore which I consider my 2^nd family. I have joined the group since 2007 and have gained good friends from there.  Considering it as a huge group with about 150 members, around half of it are active, thus, we have 4 major officers who help facilitate the club. We regularly meet up for fun matches on Saturdays, but if time permits, we have weekdays and Sunday fun match as well.  Sometimes, we also call ourselves Baddicts - Badminton Addicts!

      We are also active in participating Open Tournaments composed of different Filipino groups in Singapore. Talking through experience, it’s a great exposure since events as such create camaraderie among our Filipino community.  

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Gardens by the Bay

     We recently visited the 2 Cooled Conservatories at Gardens by the Bay - Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. 

     We first took a short ride on the Garden Cruiser to view the gardens before going into the conservatories.  The Marina Bay Sands serves as a background to the Super Trees - 25-50 meters tall structures that are actually vertical gardens.  Given a few more years, I imagine they will be lush with plants, and will provide shelter from the searing heat.

    About 20 minutes later, we were dropped off near the ticketing area of the domes.  We first went inside the Flower Dome and our jaws dropped.  It was so amazing, bordering on surreal.  Here's a very apt description from their website:

Step into the Flower Dome and you’ll be standing in awe of nature. Spectacular and innovative in design, it is one of the icons of Bay South Garden. The Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments. Stop and smell the flowers in the colourful changing displays of the Flower Field, which reflects different seasons, festivals and themes.

Enjoy a cooling and leisurely stroll through the Flower Dome and experience the eerie profile of the baobabs, surrounded by fascinating succulents. Immerse yourself in the spectacular view of the Marina reservoir skyline, as you embark on your journey through the Mediterranean Basin, South West Australia, South Africa, Central Chile and California.  You'll discover amazing plants and flowers from different corners of the globe, and you'll be amazed by how different parts of the trees are used in daily lives across different cultures.

 

     We ventured off to the Succulent Garden first and were amazed at the plant variety.  Some looked beautiful, some looked odd, and there's one particular plant that brought out a eeeuuuggghhhh reaction from me, so much so that I couldn't even take a photo of it.  You will just have to see for yourself :).  Forgive me for the photos, I'm a point and shoot person :).

     Baobab Garden (photo courtesy of B) -

     There are actually 8 different gardens in the Flower Dome.  We didn't have the time to explore each one in detail but here's a collage of photos taken during our visit:

     Next stop - Cloud Forest.

Enter the Cloud Forest, a mysterious world veiled in mist; entirely different from the Flower Dome. A 35-metre tall mountain covered in lush vegetation shrouding the world’s tallest indoor waterfall showcases plant life from tropical highlands up to 2,000-metres above sea level.

Ascend to the mountaintop in comfort by lift before descending via two walkways in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy and mountainside below. Learn about unique biodiversity and geology of cloud forests and the environmental threats they face within the nine unique zones in this cool-moist Conservatory.

 

     I loved the ferns and the way they unfurl :)

     Cloud Forest has 9 gardens and the plants are from tropical montane regions 1,000 to 3,5000 meters above sea level.  It also has a 35 meter tall man-made mountain with matching water fall.  Very impressive. 

     I wish we had more time to explore every nook and cranny of Gardens by the Bay.  Next time... :)

For more information, please visit Gardens by the Bay website at: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/plan-your-visit/visitor-information.html#!/hour-admission

Rock of Ages The Movie

     Finally got to watch Rock of Ages (The movie) - was curious how Tom Cruise acted in this film since he's so intense, and this movie is a musical.  It was really hard to imagine.

    Film begins with a Sister Christian/Just like Paradise/Nothin' But a Good Time medley - now THAT should get anyone rockin'!  We get introduced to Julianne Hough's small town girl Sherrie, an aspiring singer who ends up getting a waitressing job at The Bourbon Room.  Diego Bonita's Drew (likewise an aspiring singer and also works at The BR) got her the job and they eventually fall for each other.  

     The Bourbon Room is owned by Dennis Dupree, played by Alec Baldwin and his manager/right hand man is Russell Brand's Lonny Barnett.  They're in dire need of funds to pay their taxes and Tom Cruise's Stacee Jaxx and lead singer of the band Arsenal is their lifeline.  Stacee Jaxx plans on a solo career and his last concert with the band is to be held at the BR, where he first started.  Full Circle.

     Now Stacee Jaxx is a strange one (but I guess all rockers are) - he can still fill a concert arena but hasn't had a new song in years.  Uh-oh, un-inspired is what he is.  He only has his groupies, a very sly and manipulative manager Paul convincingly played by Paul Giamatti, 2 burly bodyguards and a baboon named Hey Man.

     The other 'bad guy' role in the movie falls in the very capable hands of Catherine Zeta-Jones.  She plays Patricia Whitmore, the mayor's wife.  She wants to clean up the strip by closing down the BR.  We're looking at vendetta here, folks.  I do wish she had more singing scenes - she has a wonderful voice.

     Mary J. Blige is Justice Charlier, owner of the Venus Club (strip club).  Her role in the movie is small, but pivotal I think.  And my goodness, I would watch any movie that has MJB in it :).

     The movie culminates at the BR, where the conservatives and the rockers hash it out via We built This City/We're Not Gonna Take It.

     I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and sang along with most of the songs (80's).  Critics were mixed, and apparently it didn't do very well at the box office.  As for Tom Cruise's singing?  It wasn't bad :) AND he was quite convincing as a lonely and conflicted rocker.  Cool :)

     The scene that I loved the most?  Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin's characters singing I can't fight this feeling.  OMG is all I will say! :)

     I urge you to watch this movie, if you haven't yet.  Great entertainment!

 

Major Crimes - season 1 ends

     I've said before that I am thankful to the producers for creating a spin-off to "The Closer", as I've grown fond of the characters in the Major Crimes Division of the LAPD.  "Major Crimes" has me equally enraptured and now I'm feeling a little bereft after watching the last episode of season 1 (episode 10 titled Long Shot) last night.  You can read the episode recap here.

     Det. Lt. Louie Provenza has finally shown some approval to Capt. Raydor's way of closing cases, albeit short-lived.  Rusty Beck has changed for the better, despite the bad luck he's had with his biological parents (abandoned by mom, beaten by dad, he's had it tough).  But fret not ~ Major Crimes Division has become his guardian angels :-).  We've seen more character developments in the likes of Det. Julio Sanchez (weapons expert) & Det. Lt. Michael Tao and I'm s-l-o-w-l-y warming up to Det. Amy Sykes.  It will take a while to get used to her ... "apple-polishing" style.

     Memorable quotes from episode 10: 

Rusty: How weird is it that I'm happy to be an orphan?

Provenza: I thought you were just covering your ass so we could keep our case.
Sharon: I was precisely following the law.
Provenza: God. It's like working for a hall monitor every single day.

Sharon: Sir, I am afraid medical attention will not be reaching you in time. May I have a name to put on your death certificate?

Sharon: If it's any comfort to you Daniel, yesterday I was reminded how much good fathers are willing to sacrifice for their children. You're not cut out for the job.

     TNT has renewed Major Crimes for a second season (yay!).  They will return in summer, 2013, for 15 episodes. 

     à la prochaine fois

Arnold's Fried Chicken

     Lunch today was at Arnold's Fried Chicken's main branch in City Plaza.  It was the first time for me and I was really looking forward to trying it given all the good reviews I've been hearing.

     My all time faves are Max's Fried Chicken ("Sarap to the bones!")

      Jollibee's Chickenjoy 

     4fingers (aka Bonchon), soy garlic flavor

     and Popeyes (mild flavor)

     Will I be wowed by Arnold's? 

     Ordered the 2 pc chicken meal (comes with fries and coleslaw which I had it changed to mashed potato), buns (carbs to the max!) and iced milo (natch!).  B had 1/2 spring chicken meal (with fries and mashed potato as well), buns and rootbeer float (sige na nga pagbigyan ang soda).

     The chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, nice!  Do note that I had the chicken breast part, which is normally bland and dry.  It was, however, a bit too peppery for me - I have a very low "anghang" (spicy) threshold. 

     The gravy that came with the mashed potato paired well with the chicken, though most of the customers ate theirs with chili sauce/chili ketchup.  The mashed potato is just normal, nothing extraordinary.  I still prefer Popeyes version with cajun gravy. 

     Halfway through our lunch, we noticed the long queue outside the resto - boy, were we glad we got there early :)

     I left the place full (burp!) and admittedly content.  I will surely come back for seconds but I will order 2 drinks next time :).

     Arnold's can be found at the following outlets and they also deliver.  As the locals say - die die must try!

Ice Age: Continental Drift

     The kids and I watched Ice Age: Continental Drift 2 days ago.  They were laughing and giggling so much!  This movie's one of the few that didn't scare them. 

     Here are some of the laugh-out-loud (LOL) and "awwww cute" scenes from the movie:

The Storm (the rainbow part was what made them laugh)

Sid - Salty!

The Hyrax (too cute!)

Sid - Paralyzed

And of course, Scrat

     If you haven't seen this yet, and you have time in your hands & want to be entertained,  suggest you watch this  :)  

    

Homeland!

I was looking for something great to watch this weekend. I've finished downloading (and watching!) all the series I have for the week. So I'm back to my desk tip-pity-tapping, thinking of what to watch next. And then I though of the Emmy's!

I remembered I watched the Emmy Awards two weeks ago, and they have loads of TV series-nominees that I still haven't heard of, or watched even. Surely these nominated TV series must be good, right? One of those series is Homeland. Nominated in 9 Emmy categories and won 6, Including "The Best Drama Series" category.

Damian Lewis, who plays Nicholas Brody won the Best Drama actor and Claire Danes (..yes that same Claire Danes!) who top bills as Carrie Mathison also won Best Drama Actress.

Claire Danes and Damian Lewis pose in the press room at the 64th Emmy Awards.

I'm very quite intrigued that in its premiere season it already got so many recognitions, that it must be that good to watch. Season 2 started September 30, 2012 and I'm way too behind already. I will not let this pass by any longer and I must start watching soon!!! Thanks to fast internet connection and torrent ;) I managed to get a copy of all previous episodes.

As I'm writing this, I'm on the fourth episode of Season 1, and I must say I'm hooked on it already. Oh and one more thing, there are some sex scenes and partial nudity in it, so make sure the kids are not watching with you!

Enjoy and let us know what you think in the comments below!

-B

La Cage and Smiggle

     B and I watched La Cage Aux Folles last Aug 4, 2012 at the Esplanade Theater (Matinee show).

     But before going to the theater, we dropped by at the Funan Digital Life Mall to buy me a laptop sleeve.  Finally bought one from Case Logic - quite happy with the product, thank you very much :)

     After a not-so-nice lunch, we hailed a cab to get to the Esplanade but unfortunately some of the roads were blocked because of the National Day rehearsals.  So B and I were dropped off somewhere near Suntec and we were forced to walk all the way to Esplanade.  B wanted to go home right at that moment (can you just imagine what was going on in his mind at the thought of walking that far??!!) but I managed to convince him to forge ahead (I'm not sure how).  Sayang naman yung ticket noh?  So finally we got there just in the nick of time, sat down on our seats, and while trying to catch our breath, surveyed the scene.  :)  The theater was decked out in red (as is the theme) and the audience was charged, especially the one I was sitting next to (not B).  This person was dancing in his seat!  Obviously, it was quite a fun show :)

     Dinner (and of course, cocktails) was at Harry's.  After a lovely meal, it was time to head home.  Uh-oh, no cabs kasi nga may rehearsals, pambihira.  B and I walked all the way to City Hall Station, and all that time I was trying to re-assure him that we were almost there, that walking is good, that its exercise, kaya mo yan.  Finally, just a few meters from the station, we stopped so that B can rest a bit.  And Smiggle caught my eye [City Link, B1-48 City Link Mall].  I was attracted to the array of colors and I told myself that I will just browse, but man, their products are really very nice :).  Ended up getting this for my daughter's birthday (photos courtesy of Smiggle.com):

30 pack gel pens.  Pack contains a mixture of gel, neon, glitter and pastel pens.  Oh and they're scented too! 

     While paying for my purchase, the cashier tells me that this was on offer and I should get it.  I heard myself say OK (what the ??).  My daughter gets another present :)

Smiggle 24 oil pastels

     And then she tells me just for a few $, you'll get a stamp.  I quickly looked for something and ended up with this (pasalubong):

Smiggle Rainbow Pencil

     Now THAT was a very effective sales strategy.  I was hooked LOL!  You can find Smiggle at these locations.

What a day!

Intro to Star Wars

     My 5 yo twins watched Star Wars (Episodes IV and VI) a few days ago. 
       

     My son was in awe and he wanted to watch Return of the Jedi over and over again.  He loves R2D2 and C3PO,

is amused by the Ewoks ("Why are they so small?")

and mesmerized by Darth Vader ("He's Luke Skywalker's Pappy, right Momma?").  Who wouldn't be (mesmerized)?  Vader's such a complex and conflicted character.  AND he likes the Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) - is he going to the dark side??!!

     How do you explain to a pair of 5 yo why Luke burnt Vader at the end?  The music's beautiful, by the way.

     Watching the movies again made me curious how the main actors look like now.  Harrison Ford (aka Han Solo) has been very visible ever since, but what about Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)?  Searched the net for photos and came up with these:

            

  

     They still look ok, yes? :)

     Anyway, I think I will wait until they're a bit older before I let them watch Empire Strikes Back.  And I am still thinking if I should let them watch the prequels - should I expose them to Jar Jar Binks??  What do you think?

Sanrio Fete

     Went to Takashimaya last week to check out the Sanrio Fete 2012.  I have been crazy over Sanrio products (Little Twin Stars and My Melody are my fave characters) since I was in Grade School so you can just imagine how excited I was when I saw the ad (15% off, yay!) :) 

     Ended up buying these for myself:

Little Twin Stars Stationery Set

My Melody Tags - Yes!  I did choose you! :)     

     And for my daughter:

Hello Kitty Trio Set

Hello Kitty Panties, set of 5

Hello Kitty Place Mats

Sanrio Fete 2012 at Takashimaya Dept Store, Talking Hall (B1).  Sale on from now until Oct 9, 2012

Major Crimes

     As the profile says, we are a group of friends who, I have to admit, hardly see each other, but we follow the same TV shows and we're fans of Chuvaness :)  We thought of setting up this blog to keep in touch.  There's six of us so hopefully we have an entry per day per person, rest on a Sunday? :)

     Let's begin!

  

     I have been a fan of The Closer since it first aired in 2005.  The main character is Brenda Leigh Johnson, wonderfully played by Kyra Sedgwick (the significant other of Kevin Bacon).  She's the Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Division of the LAPD and is well known for closing a case by fantastic detective work from her team and by her style of interrogation.  She is sssooo good in making them confess to their crimes, half of the time they don't even realize they've already confessed!  Riveting stuff.  Unfortunately, the show ended last Aug, 2012 but....



Photo sourced from: http://elisesramblings.blogspot.sg/2011/09/tnt-closer-canelled-update.html

     Thankfully, the creators came up with a spin-off - MAJOR CRIMES <sigh of relief>.  Most of the original cast are still there but the team is now led by Capt. Sharon Raydor (fabulous Mary McDonnell).  She's strictly by-the-book as she was previously in IA (Internal Affairs).  She's definitely less intense than Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson, but after watching the last season of The Closer, I find that very refreshing.  She's cool, calm, and she listens to her team's suggestions on how to proceed with a case. 

 

Photo srouced from: http://www.tntdrama.com/title/display/?oid=262562

      Here's the cast:

Cast	Character	Photos (source: IMDb.com)
Mary McDonnell	Captain Sharon Raydor
G. W. Bailey	Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza
Tony Denison	Detective Lieutenant Andy Flynn
Michael Paul Chan	Detective Lieutenant Michael Tao
Raymond Cruz	Detective Julio Sanchez
Kearran Giovanni	Detective Amy Sykes
Phillip P. Keene	Buzz Watson - Civilian Surveillance Coordinator
Graham Patrick Martin	Rusty Beck
Robert Gossett	Assistant Chief Russell Taylor (recurring)
Jon Tenney	FBI Special Agent Fritz Howard (recurring)
Jonathan del Arco	Medical Examiner Dr. Morales (Los Angeles County Coroner's office) (recurring)

     Season 1 only has 10 episodes and the last one will be aired on Oct. 15, 2012.  Can't wait!