Grabe Gravity

Last Tuesday was a Muslim holiday so walang pasok, the day before my officemate mentioned that the cinemas in Lucky Chinatown Mall were really good and that movies there only costs 100 Php. I didn't find that odd, I thought maybe because of the far off location they lowered the ticket costs. And so around 10 AM of Tuesday after hearing about the earthquake in Bohol, I decided to leave the house and try the cinemas. Gravity was still showing so that became my excuse to leave the house. I hailed a cab and told the driver to bring me to Lucky Chinatown Mall which was right by Divisoria. After more than an hour sobrang traffic I decided to just walk all the way to the mall, siguro I walked about 3 blocks pa. I couldn't believe that people were already going to Divisoria preempting holiday shopping. 

My officemate couldn't have been any more wrong, they sold tickets for 175 Php plus 50 Php food voucher so the ticket costs 225 Php. Well at least she was right about how nice the cinemas were, it was rather small, CR was clean, aircon was on full blast it was almost unbearable but most of all walang tao!!! There were only like 15 people inside the cinema. 

I decided to watch Gravity because of the buzz, it was the number 1 movie that week and almost everyone I knew has already seen it. Also, I'm a fan of Alfonso Cuaron's work, I think the 3rd Harry Potter movie which he directed is one of the best and who could forget Y Tu Mama Tambien?

The whole time I was watching the movie I couldn't relax, there was always that threat of something horrible happening in the movie. The story latches on to you and never gives you the chance to just relax and see the movie, it grips you and involves you. I was seated uncomfortably the whole time and my face was crumpled. In short, my kind of movie. The type that really bothers you haha. One of the people from the office told me na ang ganda daw in 3D and I agree I think it would've been really good in 3D with all the flying things in space. Super tense, di ko na napansin the visuals which were really good!

I've never been a fan of Sandra Bullock, I just don't get her but she was good in this movie. I purposely avoided the Daily Beast articles pointing the scientific inconsistensies in the movie prior to watching. I just don't want to be that critical, hindi naman ako naghahanap ng NASA levels ng reality I just wanted to be entertained.

One thing I couldn't help my self from thinking was that, pano kung sa North Korea pala sya nag-land? hehe

Watch it!

My Introduction To Ashtanga Part 1

I have always considered myself to be a devout Iyengar yogi, one that follows the Iyengar tradition of yoga under Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar. I started learning yoga about 4 years ago at the Iyengar Yoga Center Manila (IYCM) and the good effects that my body and state of mind have reaped I cannot stress enough on. Apart from those isolated times when my friend dragged me to attend an Anusara inspired yoga class and that complimentary  (free!) core vinyasa yoga class at the office which the HMO scheduled for the company, I have always practiced Iyengar yoga. 

4 years ago, the IYCM studio was at the 21st floor of the LKG Tower along Ayala, it was practically a hop and a skip away from the office so I was able to practice almost every day. There were even times when I would attend classes during my lunch breaks. The studio was small but big enough for the small community of yogis that religiously attended class there. About 2 years ago they got another space in Joya Tower in Rockwell, at first they tried operating 2 studios at the same time, the original studio at LKG and the new one in Rockwell but they had few teachers, they only had I think about 4 or 5 teachers that regularly taught that time so they had a hard time plus the space in Rockwell was theirs whereas the LKG studio was leased. Until they finally closed the original studio and had all the classes at Rockwell. It took a while for me to get used to the idea of dragging my butt all the way to the new studio, going there and having no car meant that I had to take the Guadalupe Ibabaw jeep from Ayala, and endure the 40 minute ride to Rockwell. The jeep's route made it impossible for me to relax during the ride because I was always under pressure of having to get to Rockwell in time for the 7 PM class (I get off at 6 PM). Getting to class on time was my biggest frustration, it was already hard to get on a Guadalupe Ibabaw jeep at rush hour it was harder even during the rainy season when jeeps were scarce, traffic naman ang kalaban starting November all the way until the end of December. Last month I only got to attend 2 classes the entire month, it was always raining at ang hirap sumakay, 6:30 na I'm still in Ayala waiting for a jeep. I grew tired of this defeatist routine and so I made the hard decision of attending another yoga school even if it meant steering away from Iyengar. 

And so this month, I started attending classes at Echo Yoga which is temporarily housed in Templa Wellness, the studio is just a 5 minute walk from my office so it's really near. Chillax na yung papunta I didn't have to walk like a madman going to the studio. I chose to start with the Gentle Flow class since I didn't have any background in Ashtanga. The teacher was very good, she pulled me aside after class and asked me where I practiced she said that it was evident that I had experience because i knew how the poses worked. Bonggang pawis lang, I felt like my forehead was leaking perspiration. The next week I mustered enough courage to try the Intro to Astanga class, like in Bikram where they had a set of poses and a sequence that they adhere to ganun din in Ashtanga. I was told that it was the primary series that we did. It took some adjustments on my part because there were variations in how they did the poses, some went against what I believed in but I did as I was instructed anyway because I wanted to have an open mind and experience what the others were experiencing and maybe theirs just might be the better way. 

I always told myself that before I resign to a lifetime of practicing Iyengar that I would have to try other forms, how could I honestly confine myself when I haven't experienced the other forms right? But deep down I know that my heart is with Iyengar just like I know that no matter how many issues I disagree with the Catholic Church on I just know that Catholicism is deeply rooted in me. I'm not saying I'll stop attending Ashtanga classes because I really enjoyed the primary series class and look forward to learning more but I'll always be an Iyengar yogi first and other forms after. I'm no yoga snob as what the others think.

For more info on Ashtanga Yoga click here.

For more info on Echo Yoga click here

Pelicula Pelikula 2013

This year I managed to watch 4 films from this year's Pelicula offerings. I was able to watch Colgados de un Sueno first (my previous post) then I went on to watch 3 more films which I'll talk about here in this post.

Tuesday, I was able to see La Ultima Pelicula a film by Raya Martin. Hipster Crowd alert! Going up the escalator to the Greenbelt 3 Cinema level, I already saw a familiar face but I couldn't put a name to it. We almost made it to the Cervantes table in front of the entrance about the same time. I saw Raya Martin (I knew his face because I've been following his career and also recently followed him on instagram) talking to the head of Cervantes Manila and immediately introduced the guy I was tailing at the escalators. I heard him say that he teaches Politics and History at University then it dawned on me that he must be Leloy Claudio, famous for challenging Tito Sotto on a debate when the whole plagiarism debacle was going on. Raya (first name basis ito feeling close) went to thank several people involved in making the film before the film started. Then I saw the most amazing person, Armi Millare, the vocalist of Up Dharma Down, with Kawayan de Guia. I was screaming inside!!! I wanted to approach her and tell her how much I love her and her band pero tinamaan ako ng hiya, wrong timing as always. I contend with the knowledge that I was once seated 2 rows behind her inside the cinema. The movie was...weird. I have no other words to describe it. It was just wasn't for me, it's beyond my comprehension. It's hard to say something about that which I don't understand. 

The next movie I saw was Promocion Fantasma, the lead actor was familiar but I couldn't recall from which movie. I was itching to google the film right then and there but I resisted and saved it for an idle moment at the office the next day. Turns out the lead actor's name is Raul Arevalo and I was right, he was also in Primos and Gordos both films I saw from previous Pelicula Pelikula's. The movie was a teenage comedy, it was very light and funny and I would very much encourage anyone to watch it. I had a blast watching this movie! Watch the trailer here:

Finally, the last movie I saw was Samurai. Nung una akala ko it was one of those foreign (meaning other than Spanish) movies that were made by a Spanish director just like what they showed last year with Buried (Ryan Reynolds) and a Colossus of Rhodes yun pala the movie was shot in Argentina and it had bits spoken in Spanish and Nihongo. The movie was about a family that moved to Argentina after the emperor abolished the samurai class, the plot is largely about the grandson we set off on a journey to find Saigo, a good friend of his dead grandfather. I didn't pay much attention to movie sad to say, my mind was wandering off outside trying to figure out how I was gonna get home because it was raining like hell outside.

Honestly, I feel like the movies this year are not as strong as previous years lalo na last year when they had the likes of Grupo 7, Pan Negre, No Habra Paz Para Los Malvados and Lo Mejor de Eva but still I'm grateful for the chance to see Spanish films here in Manila. I hope one day I'll find time to study Spanish!

Si Idol Zedd

I'm sure we've all heard the song Clarity and I'm pretty sure the tune also got stuck to your head. The melody is really catchy and it's really hard to get it out of your system. I myself have suffered a serious case of LSS over this song but I never really bothered to find out who sang it. 

Lately, I've been crushing on Hayley Williams from Paramore and started listening to their songs. I downloaded their album but I was looking for "Stay the Night" which wasn't there, so I googled it and turns out the song is credited to this artist named Zedd with Hayley Williams only featured for that song. Again googling "ZEDD" and started educating myself on who this Zedd person is. My jaw dropped when I found out that he's just 24 freakin years old and already super successful. He has his own album, has produced tunes for Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. The bio on his website says that he has always been musically inclined and both his parents are classically trained musicians. 

Anton Zaslavski aka Zedd (pic from spin.com)

What I'd do to be this young and be this successful, he looks adorbs! 

Somebody bring this guy to the Philippines!

Colgados de Un Sueno

Every year around October, Instituto Cervantes Manila organizes Pelicula Pelikula, a Spanish Film Festival that shows Spanish language films in Greenbelt. I have religiously attended this film fest for something like 4 years now and make sure that I get to watch as much films as I can. Aside from being a fan of movies in general, I love watching foreign films because it's like I get to travel, through Pelicula I have seen Madrid, Barcelona, Mexico and Buenos Aires. 

This year, time flew by so fast that I almost forgot about Pelicula, luckily I made a note on my organizer at the beginning of the year to check Cervantes' website for the schedules around this time.

Friday night I went to my first Pelicula which happened to be a documentary about the contributions of Fernando Zobel to Spanish art.The documentary was entitled "Colgados de un Sueno" which was taken from the Museum Mr Zobel established in the town of Cuenca in Spain. Fernando Zobel is part of the prominent families in Manila, very rich! Below is the trailer to the documentary.

The film selections this year I feel is not as strong as previous years, selections are also quite limited. The duration I think is shorter this year, last year it was something like 2 full weeks with 2 cinemas showing different films at the same time. Check out the schedules here:

Pelicula 2013 schedules from cervantes website

I've bought tickets in advance for 3 other nights that I'm free, I bought tickets for "La Ultima Pelicula", "Promocion Fantasma" and "Samurai". I'm excited to see La Ultima Pelicula because this one is by Raya Martin.

For more information on the films you may check out Instituto Cervantes' website.

Flashback Friday: Boyzone

Nood nood din ng Boyzone videos pag may time, these guys were so big back in the 90's. This is one of my favorite Boyzone songs.

So what happened to them? 

Ronan Keating is probably the most famous of the band members, last I heard of him he was on the Australian version of the X Factor and still continues to record music.

Stephen Gately unfortunately met an untimely death in 2009 when he was just 33. 

Find your Yoga

There are so many types of yoga out there, how does one choose? I downloaded this guide from the internet, it came from yogatrail.com to help you choose which tradition is right for you.

I have been practicing yoga for like 4 years now, I'm a devout practitioner of the Iyengar Yoga tradition which follows the teachings of Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar. In the guide above it says that if you have a touch of OCD then you should try Iyengar. I think it comes from the way the classes are taught, poses are practiced over and over again with details so minute every muscle in the body has a direction. It worked wonders for my body, not only has my posture improved my asthma totally disappeared. I can't guarantee everyone will find it as good as I did but in my heart I know that yoga is for everyone and that the world would be a better place if everyone started practicing yoga.

In Manila, you can learn the basics of Iyengar yoga at the Iyengar Yoga Center Manila.

PFW: Rick Owens

Forget Dior, forget Alexander Wang at Balenciaga. I'm sorry Alber it's not Lanvin either. Paris fashion week's best show for me, none other than Rick Owens. Theatrical kung theatrical, levelz lang ng performance art. He invited American college students who were members of different steps groups to model his latest collection.

Check out the facial expressions, menacing kung menacing.

Read Robin Givhan's review here. 

Sana Dati

Last friday, I was supposed to have dinner with friends from college but someone tested positive for Dengue so dinner got cancelled. Last minute (yeah right like I don't often do it) I checked clickthecity.com to see what movies are on, fortunately I saw that Sana Dati was showing in Greenbelt so I decided to watch it. Sana Dati is part of the last Cinemalaya festival, as much as I wanted to I failed to see any of the movies that participated which was such a shame since the entries this year were very good. Buti na lang Sana Dati got released commercially, I have read good reviews about the movie but went to it without much expectations. (I managed to catch "Instant Mommy" pala, it was good but I felt underwhelmed)

The movie revolves around a wedding and the hours leading up to it, flashbacks were used to depict how the main conflict came about. The lead seems unsure of she's gonna go through with the wedding. 

So here's what I thought of the movie, it was fresh! As far as Pinoy film making goes this was a definite step forward. It's different from mainstream movies it has that fresh feel to it. Acting wise the actors were great, in my opinion everyone stepped up their game for this movie. I had a bias against Lovi Poe who plays the lead actress, I didn't like her and I went into it determined to hate her but in the process she won me over. Benjamin Alves has this classic leading man features, TJ Trinidad was so good in this movie and Paolo Avelino as well plays these characters real well. The film won a slew of awards including acting awards for TJ Trinidad and best direction for Jerrold Tarog. But more than the acting what struck me the most was the cinematography, busog na busog yung mga mata ko with the images it delivered. The director is a master of those poignant moments where the actors didn't have to do anything, the camera did the work. Scenes were so beautiful I don't know how they managed to do it given that the setting was just some small and unknown hotel in the city.

The film also won an award for Best Original Music Score which was something that I also appreciated, lalo na the end scene. In my FB post after watching the movie I said that there are times when movie scenes meet the perfect song, the end scene of Sana Dati by Jerrold Tarog met "Indak" by Up Dharma Down and it was a thousand levels of awesomeness. As soon as the first beat played I already recognized the song and I instantaneously started cursing in Tagalog. The combination of the scene and the song hit me straight in the gut, I was already familiar with the song prior to the movie actually it is one of my favorites from their Capacities album so I knew how the scene together with the song will go down. The song choice was genius!