Harry Potter and Pho Hoa Noodle House

It's the third Saturday of the month again and it's time for me and my good friend Therese to meet.  After almost a month of pure work we definitely deserve this break.  Harry Potter was showing that weekend so it was a no brainer what we were going to watch.  For some reason it didn't hit me to reserve tickets early.  I learned my lesson during Harry Potter 2.  Me and an old friend of mine (a guy) went mall hopping in Manila to try to get some tickets for the movie.  We just decided to watch that day and found the tickets are all sold out.  We took a taxi and went to another mall just to find out it was sold out as well.  From then on I always reserve tickets almost a month in advance for a Harry Potter movie.  Well good thing Therese and I found some seats the day before the showing.  It wasn't the best schedule but it will do.  It was around 11am so we won't have time to take lunch on our usual schedule.  We just have to take it after the movie.

The movie itself was good.  I'm glad we get to watch in Glorietta 4 Cinema 3. I love the crowd there and the screen fairly big.  Sounds were great too but this time it was too loud I think but it was only for a short while because the greater part of the movie was pretty silent.  This Harry Potter movie was quiet.  Well what do you expect three people can do?  Since the protagonists didn't go to Hogwarts this year it's only Harry, Hermione and Ron who were shown in most parts of the movie.  The movie is also catered to mature audiences now.  Well the little kids who watched part 1 are probably grown up now as well.  The movie was dark and sad.  I can't see how it will have a happy ending on the second part.  Hehe I didn't read the last book.  I wanted to watch the movie first so I won't have too many expectations.  There are funny moments as well and on the last part was the funniest -- only to be finished with a very sad end.  I can't help but sigh but it was a good and unforgettable movie.  First time I saw the protagonists almost naked.  My eyes @_@!  I hope the last part would be much, much better.

Well Therese decided where to have our lunch this time.  I couldn't come up with anything at the moment.  She said we could eat at Pho Hoa Noodle House in Greenbelt 1.  It's Vietnamese.  I've eaten in Pho Bac way back in college and liked their dishes.  My favorite was Caramelized pork loin.  I've never heard of Pho Hoa until Therese mentioned it.  She said she had eaten there and had a good experience.  So there we went to have lunch at almost 3PM in the afternoon.  On our way to the restaurant I've come to realize that Greenbelt 1 is so much neater now.  They must have renovated it since it's already connected to Greenbelt 5.  It doesn't seem like an old building now unlike a few months back. 

Pho Hoa Noodle House

The restaurant like the mall is neat and cozy.  I was a bit surprised.  I was expecting an old noodle house when Therese mentioned it was in Greenbelt 1.  I really like the ambiance here.  So cozy!

I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and Therese ordered noodles and some spring rolls.  Hehe I have to ask her again what she ordered and update this website :P.  I know Kung Pao is a Chinese dish but they have a variety of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes in their menu which makes it great as well. Pics are below.  I have to apologize I forgot to take a nice pic before eating. Lol!  I guess I was hungry.  Oh did I say I love what I ordered?  It's just the right spicy sweet and crunch I was looking for ^_^. Great dish!  I recommend going to munchpunch.com if you want to check out their menu.

Kung Pao Chicken

Pho Hoa noodles and spring rolls

movies

food

Gothic Lolita

One thing about being a couch potato is that you're most likely familiar with the world of anime or Japanese animation. I'm not sure how but if you like watching TV, DVDs and playing video games you're bound to get introduced to it. Well I'm an anime fan or used to be or maybe moderately now. Back then I used to buy VHS tapes somewhere along Taft Avenue just to get the latest Ranma episodes. Whew! It was expensive  and I used to live in the province so I have to go all the way to Manila.

Well a friend of mine had been asking a favor from me for a year now that I should do a photo shoot for her sister, who's a make-up artist, and the concept would be Gothic Lolita. If you're not familiar with the term just google it and you'll be taken to a world of cute but different fashion culture that can only be found in Japan. Hm so what does this have to do with anime? I'm not sure where this fashion statement originated from really. Let me look it up... Even Wikipedia's unsure of its origin. But anyway Lolita fashion is prominent in a number of anime series like Death Note.  So if you're an anime fan then you'll be familiar with it as well.

It's kind of been my dream to dress up as a Gothic Lolita for a time now and I thought why not just agree. Yes I probably need to lose some weight first and probably why I keep rejecting my friend but she made it clear it's now or never. Sooooo I agreed.. reluctantly. I was impressed actually with the result. Well not really the one I imagined but we had to make do with our little time and scant inventory. Due to the sponsor's request since the pics will be posted in another website I can only show a small pic as a preview of what I had been doing :P. They said when the other website's up and running then I can share some photos.

Hehe what do you think?  Sorry I couldn't show all of it but it's not really what I expected anyway.  Maybe next time if we do this again I'll be more ready with the props.


animation

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf new apple drinks

November 7, 2010 Sunday I went to Coffee Bean to meet with my friend, Joie. We had plans for the day to spend quality time with another friend who came home from Dubai.  Joie likes going to Greenbelt Church and Coffee Bean is our favorite hangout so it's a no brainer that we would meet up there on a Sunday.  Honestly Sunday is family day for all of us. We seldom go out on a Sunday to meet up but this is an emergency since this is the only time we all have free time to meet up with our friend who will go back abroad in a few days.

Good thing my sister told me about the promo at Coffee Bean the day before.  She said that I will get drinks for only P50 from 10am to 12pm on Sunday. I got to Coffee Bean around 9:45 so when I asked about the promo the barista told me it's only available starting from 10am.

So I ordered brewed coffee in the meantime while I waited for my friend.

Waiting for 10am with a black brewed coffee

Waiting to avail my Holiday Harvest promo drinks exaclty the ones on the table flyer

At last my friend arrived just around 10.  We chatted for a while and then decided that I will have the warm drink and she will get the cold one.  I went to the counter and told them I will avail the drinks.  I don't know if it's my imagination but the clerk seems to be whispering about it when I first asked about the promo.  Maybe they don't want it to be well-known with all of their customers.  The promo is not visible anywhere inside the store.  The drink is not even in their menu list yet.  It can only be seen at the table flyer. So anyway I told the cashier that I would take the hot and cold drink and paid P100 for both of them.  The clerk actually told me when I first asked about it that the drinks were free before.  They only added the P50 fee as donation for charity.  I forgot which one he said. 

Apple Pie Tea Latte and Apple Caramel Ice Blended

So we got our drinks.  I'm not too disappointed I didn't get exactly what's in the picture.  I mean it looks nice in a tall clear glass right?  And Joie asked that she doesn't want whipped cream on her cold drink so this is what we got instead (picture above).  I love my Apple Tea Latte! It's so refreshing and warm, something I didn't imagine can happen in this drink.  It's not too sweet!  The apple flavor is so refreshing!  Joie said she loves her Ice blended as well.  She said it's probably richer compared to mine.  We didn't try each other's drinks.  I don't know why.  I guess I was just too lazy to get another straw :P.  But definitely next time I will buy the Tea Latte again even on a regular price.  I think it will be a favorite of mine.  I will try the Ice blended as well next time.  Hmm I can still remember the taste. Yum! applefood