Noche Buena

Nochebuena, often translated as "Good Night", is a Spanish word referring to the night of Christmas Eve. In Spain, Cuba, the Philippines and Latin America, the evening consists of a traditional dinner with family.

In the Philippines, this usually comes after the entire family has attended the late evening Christmas Eve mass or Misa de Gallo. Often on the table are: lechón, pancit, fried chicken, hamon, quezo de bola, arroz caldo, lumpia, rice, and adobo among others for the main course. Desserts include ube halaya, bibingka, membrillo, rice cakes, ice cream, pastries and cakes; drinks include hot chocolate, coffee, soda, wine, beer, and different kinds of fruit juices.

-- from Wikipedia.

It's that time of year again to gain weight.  If it's Thanksgiving in the U.S., here it's Noche Buena and New Year's.  We go out of our way to prepare enough food for one night that will last for days :D.  Of course it's time for the family as well.

Well me and Therese decided to meet on the 24th of December instead of our usual third Saturday of the month since it's a busy month for parties.  24th is our only free time.  It's my only time as well to buy gifts for the family so it's a good thing we'll be going to meet and hang out at the mall (Glorietta again).  We'll be home before night time anyway so we'll have time for Noche Buena.  I was a bit worried because for the past weekends the malls were jam-packed and the traffic bad.  I'm glad my worry was for nothing.  Few people went to the mall on Christmas Eve and most are going home to their provinces so traffic in the city that day was so light.  I'm so thankful I could shop with ease.  I wonder if next year it'll be the same? Hmm.

After I finished my Christmas shopping we decided to have lunch.  We already decided beforehand that we'll have it at Tony Roma's.  It's been a while since I last ate there and I still haven't tried their ribs yet so I was curious what it was like. I ordered their original baby back ribs since that's what they're famous for and Mojitos for drinks.  I've tried Mojitos at Fridays and loved it so I want to try the ones at Tony's. 

Tony Roma's Original baby-back ribs and Steak and Ribs Combo with Mojitos and Blue Romarita

Well the ribs wasn't exactly what I expected.  I thought it needed more sauce or something.  I even thought it's no better than the ribs at Kenny Rogers or Racks.  Hmm I even think my mom could cook better.  Haha! But my mom's a great cook so she'll be better than most restos of course.  I thought I shouldn't have paid a high price for it but maybe I was paying for the ambiance.  The thing I can say about the Mojitos is it's strong. Lol.  I could tell right away when alcohol is taking effect on my body and the Mojitos got through my system fast.  Therese said her drink was pretty strong too. She ordered a Blue Romarita and her food was Steaks and Ribs Combo.  She said her steak was a bit bland and needed some sauce but she liked her ribs.  We ended up going to Starbucks after to have some 'pick me up' haha.  Well next time I'll probably be back at Tony's for the Mojitos and not for the ribs since I know I'll have more bang for the buck with the drinks there. 

Before going home I also went to Kaya Korean Restaurant to buy Japchae for our Noche Buena.  Our family watched too much noon-time Koreanovela, particularly Don't Cry My Love and First Wives Club in Channel 5, and they wanted to know what Japchae tasted like.  So far Japchae in Kaya is the best one I ever had so I volunteered to buy it for them.  I bought six orders.  My younger sister also asked me to buy a cake for her for the Noche Buena as well.  She said it's the best Mango Torte in town and there's a stall in Glorietta Food Choices.  Well sure enough it was the best because by the time I went there after lunch they said it was already sold out.  It's the Dulcelin Mango Torte by the way.  Hm I wonder if it really beats the Mango Torte  in San Lorenzo Village.  Well I haven't tasted both yet so I can't judge.  I've only tried Yulo's Strawberry Shortcake and it's the best ^_^! (just FYI). 

So Therese and I went home to our families and below is what we had for our Noche Buena.

Noche Buena - (clockwise) KFC Chicken, Cookies, Roast Chicken, Rice Syrup Chicken, Pizza, Purefoods Ham, Kaya's Japchae and salad.  (Middle) Apple pie and Buko (coconut) Salad.

As you can see this year we're pretty lazy to plan for our feast.  We just bought most of it at restaurants or stores and mom only cooked the ham and made the Buko Salad.  We didn't really follow the traditional dishes as was written in the definition of Noche Buena above. We just served the food we like best.  I was the one who suggested the Japchae and Rice Syrup Chicken which are both Korean dishes.  Rice syrup chicken is from a Korean fast food restaurant called BBQ Chicken.  It's spicy sweet and crispy and goes great with the Japchae.  The apple pie was given to us by a friend of my older sister and it's amazing as well!  The ham (star of the Noche Buena) is as always the best.  Mom knows what we like already after years of experience.

So, that's what we had for Christmas.  If you have questions just leave a comment or email me.  Up next... Media Noche! (New Year's Eve)


christmas food

PC Express, LG and Samsung

I've been meaning to buy a new PC for the past three to four years I think and finally I have the time and funds for it!  Whenever I buy a PC I always choose my specs and never buy the packaged one.  There are just some brands I can't live without and have already tested through time.  It could be a little more expensive but I know it will last.  In Packaged PCs usually they put in one great part/spec and the rest are lower brands or generic so it wouldn't be wise to get packaged unless you're inexperienced and don't know what to do.    The brands I can't live without are: Intel, Asus, and Seagate.  Here are my specs:

Intel Core I3-530 (2.93 Ghz)
Asus P7H55 Motherboard
Kingston 2GB DDR3
Inno3d GTS450 1GB DDR5 128bit HDMI
Seagate 500Gb SATA
LG 20" E2040T LED Monitor

I originally wanted the Intel Core I5 but it's just too expensive for now so I settled for I3 instead of a core2duo as replacement.  That way I'll be able to upgrade my processor when I5 becomes cheaper.  So far so good.  Everything works great.  I'm now on Windows 7 Enterprise which is a huge jump from Windows XP on a Pentium 4.  I'm still getting used to the difference.  I'm thinking Windows 7 is pretty heavy but my specs seems to be handling it fine. I'm also doing Autocad Architecture 10 with ease.

The last time I bought or assembled a PC was probably about 10 years ago so I'm not sure which stores are the best right now.  Everyone kept saying it's good to buy at Gilmore since stores there are cheap but it's just way too far from our place especially if we want to get something fixed.  My brother in law suggested PC Express.  I actually had no experience with them yet so I wasn't sure at first.  Then I remembered my friend, Joie, always go there to have her PC fixed that she bought originally from PC Corner.  So then I decided to find PC Express at Festival Mall since people at our house usually go to that mall.  I couldn't find it at first.  It wasn't with the other computer stores that's beside each other in one part of the mall.  I almost gave up and thought there wasn't one in Festi.  As we're walking at the top floor and arrived at Abesamis (located at the very end of the mall) since my brother was looking for a dentist, there at the lower floor was PC Express! It was incredibly small and no computer parts or peripherals on display.  It looks like a service center more than a store.  I just went inside and practically just showed them a list of what I want assembled.  After some discussion on the missing parts they told me I could get the assembled PC after an hour.  I was shocked.  Last time I bought a PC I picked it up after a week or so.  I asked them if they have everything in stock and they said yes.  (A note by the way: I checked their website first before going to the store and chose from there what parts I want)

So after an hour I got my PC and went home.  I just want to say that people at PC Express really know what they're doing.  All their staff there seem to have ample training unlike with other places that just hire anyone to man their stores.  Also they're the ones who suggested I get the I3 instead of the core2duo.  Not sure if they have commission on the I series but it does make sense that I get the latest trend at the same time cheaper as well.  That way I could upgrade to an I5 without changing the motherboard in the future.

My new PC with an LG 20" E2040T LED Monitor

I didn't open the boxes until the next day, Sunday, then I went to work and hooked up the PC.  It was a great sight.  Loading only took seconds and Windows 7 looks and feels great!

But something was wrong.  My eyes were hurting.  There's something wrong with the colors.  My old AOC LCD monitor looks better than this!  Yes it's bigger and it's LED but the colors were off.  I couldn't place what was really wrong.  I tried adjusting the monitor and the graphics card settings and even asked help from people at home to no avail. Colors were just a bit off.  Green isn't green the way I want to, blue isn't blue and red isn't really red.  After a few days of trying to figure out what's wrong or if it's just my eyes that's just overreacting, I gave up and went back to PC Express to replace my monitor with another brand.  I have a 7-day grace period where I can replace any part if I'm not satisfied with it.  I decided to go with a Samsung (which everybody was saying you can't go wrong with) and upgrade it to HDMI.  Yes I had to add extra money with the upgrade because I didn't want to keep coming back to the store.  Now I've got a Samsung BX2250 21.5" LED monitor.  When I first powered it up everything was smooth.  The colors were right.  The brightness just right.  I didn't have to adjust anything.  At that moment I was at peace :).

I have to thank the people at PC Express.  They were very accommodating.   I even left the power cord of the LG monitor at home but they still let me take home the Samsung monitor and bring the power cord to them the next day.  I know it's against rules but they trusted me.  Lol.  So below is my lovely new monitor.  I feel like my couch potato-ism is calling me again and find no need to get out of the house for a while.

Samsung BX2250 21.5" LED monitor

here's another pic playing around with the wallpaper :)

computers

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

Treats for my birthday

It was a cloudy day on my birthday.  There was a storm coming the PAGASA said.  I was being lazy that day because I knew nothing was going to happen.  I planned on treating my family the next day, Monday,  to a buffet at Shangri-la Makati so on Sunday, October 17, I didn't plan on spending anything for my birthday. 

Well that morning I had a surprise from my big sister.  She came home with boxes! Boxes of donuts that is and it's my favorite! Krispy Kremes donuts and Kruffins. I told myself this will be the last time then I'll start my diet already.

Krispy Kreme Donuts Halloween edition

Krispy Kreme Kruffins

Kruffins are amazing. The cream fillings in the middle is what makes this special. You're already tingling when you take a bite on the scrumptious cake but then you'll be in heaven when you get a taste of that filling with the cake. Both my siblings were able to shout Wow! when they tried it. It really is a surprise. This has become one of my dessert favorites.


Well that's not all my sister brought home.  I didn't think she would be this thoughtful but she also bought my favorite drink! Chowking's Nai-Cha (milk tea).  I love cold milk teas that I buy from coffee shops but for some reason Chowking's is addictive.  I'm thinking maybe it's the jellies or the tea itself or the milk that makes it so good.

Chowking's Iced Nai-Cha

All of the above were served during lunch time.  When dinner came I didn't expect there would be more. Mom and our helper served one of my favorite dishes, Chicken Satay! I just love the sweet nutty flavor of this dish.  I reminds me so much of my Singapore trip where most dishes are sweet and have peanut in it hehe.

Chicken Satay

Then my younger sister surprised me by saying she bought me a birthday cake.  I was surprised because I don't think I ever mentioned a favorite cake... well not yet anyway.  So I kept thinking what could she have bought that I might like.  Well she brought out Red Ribbon's Rocky Road and I remembered I kept telling them for the longest time that it's a good cake but they always chose the other cakes.  Hehe birthdays are so good.  You get to have your favorites even if others won't like it ^_^.

Red Ribbon's Rocky Road

Cross section of Rocky Road

food
desserts
cakes

Friday for Homebased worker

It's 11PM and I just finished my work.  Working at home has some advantages because you don't have to commute going to and from work.  But it does have its downs as well.  Like today I worked 12 hours straight just to finish my deadline and I'm not being compensated by the hour but by project which normally I should have done in 8 hours.  I'm lucky if I have an easy project but unlucky sometimes when I get a hard one and not compensated well.  I'm sure other people have it worse so I'm not really complaining, just informing :).  Well other workers would be at the movies, restos or bars right now since their workplace is at the city and near those places while I'm here at home. The bed will be my next destination I suppose.  My entire commute all week will be from my computer chair to the bed which is approximately one step away and of course a few more steps to the bathroom and kitchen. 

The first two weeks after I resigned from the office and started working homebased again was tough.  It feels like a breakup.  I had to remove myself from the company of my office mates that I've been with for almost two years. And like a breakup, if I had another company waiting for me with new office mates I probably would have gotten over my previous work easier.  But I only had home so it was tough!  Right now it seems my body is getting used to being home again.  Yes it lacks exercise but I'm going to buy an exercise machine soon.  Anyway, my body is more relaxed now (more lazy actually).  The veins on my feet are not that visible anymore.  I'm getting a little fat now but I'll take care of that once the exercise machine arrives.

Here now I'm chatting with my friends online planning the next time we will meet, probably next month.  Such are the doings of a homebased worker :)

work from home

Fountain Show at the Ocean Park

One thing I don't like about blogging is that you have to blog everything even if it's a bad review.  I didn't feel like it this time but my sis told me it's my duty to do so.  I guess there's always a first time.

We went to Manila Ocean Park last Saturday, October 9, to avail of the P50 promo of their new Musical Fountain Show.  Gray skies were forming in the afternoon so I started feeling lazy about going and also there will be no sunset which is one of the things I'm looking forward to when going to Ocean Park.  The restaurants there have a front seat view to one of the best sunsets in the world at Manila Bay. Well since there will be no sunset I figured the Fountain Show will be enough.

This was the second time I went to Ocean Park with my family.  The first time we went I thought the parking place was okay. It's not that great but it was a work in progress anyway because the place just opened.  This time I was surprised to see that nothing has changed.  We parked in a different spot but for me it was still a so, so place.  When we got to the entrance of the Ocean Park there we saw some construction in progress.  It's a bit of an eye sore actually.  Not only that, I felt that something has changed at the entrance.  I don't know if it's because it rained but I didn't feel the place was clean.  It wasn't maintained well and it wasn't as clean and attractive when we first went there.  Well there was a Bungee Fun going on at the entrance and that's new but still not as exciting.

the Bungee Fun ride

We went and fell in line to get our tickets for P50!  We just showed our text message we got after registering at the Ocean Park website. 

The place for the Fountain Show is new so we were excited to get in.  It was like a big stadium with a pool at the front as a stage.  There was a building in front of us as well which is a shocker for me.  I thought I'll be looking at the sunset of Manila Bay in front of me just like in Singapore where their fountain show is looking out to the sea. But anyway I let it go. We were excited by this time.  A disposable raincoat was given to us at the show entrance.  The attendant that handed it to us didn't say anything.  When we got to our seats we just saw people putting it on so everybody did the same including us.  I thought we will be splashed all over.  Well during the entire show nothing splashed at us.  The raincoat was probably just in case it rains or if it's windy and the fountain splashes right at us.  It was hot and uncomfortable wearing the raincoat so it was a minus to the entertainment.  They should explain what it was for in the first place.

left side of the stadium

right side of the stadium

swimming pool and stage

Lights turned on in front of us and after a while fountains started shooting up.  Everyone was thrilled.  The show is starting.  There were people still coming in at this time so the initial fountain show was just to entertain while waiting.  I can hear people saying oohs and ahhhs.  It was exciting during the first part of the show.

lights turned on

first fountain shoots up

introduction fountain show 1

introduction fountain show 2

introduction fountain show 3

introduction fountain show 3

introduction fountain show 4

introduction fountain show 5

introduction fountain show 6

introduction fountain show 7

introduction fountain show 8

introduction fountain show 9

introduction fountain show 10

introduction fountain show 11

Light, smoke appeared and then loud music started playing. Then a laser light talking fish appeared and greeted us.  It wasn't impressive because it's a stick figure of a fish.  I thought it was just an extra but it seems she'll be the hostess of the night.  It was my first blow of the night.  I just figured it will get better soon.

Show is starting

The fish hostess

The rest of the show was for me disappointing.  Purely the lights and fountains are the highlight of the show and it seems it's still amateur. I thought there will be talented people acts included but there were only costumed people in fish, lobster, chef, and starfish outfits who just danced and ran around in the stage.  It feels like they were commercials but it was already the main attractions!  The lobster being chased by two chefs was pretty entertaining but anyone could have done that, just running around the floor.  The fish dancing was ok and anyone could still do that.  The starfish singers well they probably needed a little talent for trying to move their outfits as if it was dancing but still I think I'm just being nice here.  After I saw all these I was still wishing it was just an introduction and the real act was still to come.  Because to be honest if I have P300 (the regular price of the show) I would rather pay for a 3D movie instead of this.  Alas! my worst fears came true.  The show was soon finally over.  There was a feeling that me and my family went all this way for this?  Well it wasn't that bad of a show.  There were good points as well.  When Nemo and his friends appeared in 3D in the fountain everyone cheered but the 3D characters never spoke . There was an octopus playing the piano also which was quite entertaining.  But I never expected that those will be the highlights already.  In Singapore these will be like  the intermission parts I think.

fountain show 1

fountain show 2

fountain show 3

fountain show 4

fountain show 5

fountain show 6

fountain show 7

The three singing/dancing starfish: Wishing starfish, Falling starfish and

Nemo 3D

A stingray in 2D

Fish friends in 3D

The lobster being chased by chefs

Two fish dancing in a romantic tune. (at the end there was a surprise)

 

there was also fire with the fountain show

fountain show 8

octopus 3D playing the piano

octopus playing 2

octopus playing with reflection on water

the chefs chasing the lobster

the starfishes with another number...

 

... and another

fountain show 9

fountain show 10

fountain show 11

fountain show 12

fountain show 13

fountain show 14

Maybe I just expected too much since I've already seen the Light and Fountain Show in Singapore.  I don't know how I would have reacted if this was my first time seeing this.  I would probably still be enthralled with the fountains and lights but still be disappointed with the talent acts.  I mean this is the Philippines. There are so many talented people everywhere.  It could have been more entertaining if a singer or a comedian entered the stage.  They should have a story or a play with the show or a real musician playing with the fountains and lights.  Mascots running around dancing and singing made it really boring.  To think they reappeared three times the entire show! Once is enough! It seems so under-budgeted.  To be honest it took three days for me to get over my disappointment.  That's why I only started blogging it now or else I would be too mean in my writing.

But you know what, I think because they tried their best even though it wasn't good enough, I kinda miss those three starfish.  At least they danced and sang.  My 3-year old nephew can't forget the running-lobster-chased-by-chefs scene.  He's still humming the tune.  But all in all it was still an amateur show.  We felt like we just got our P50 worth.  There's so much room for improvement and I hope it will improve someday because I really feel even though we're not that advanced technically (lights and fountain) we can excel in talent.