2006 November | Mónica

My Sacred Place

November 30th, 2006 6:18 pm Uncategorized, London, UK 2 comments

Sacred Cafe has got to be one of my favorite cafes here in London. The place is really cozy and it has a basement seating area which feels like a lounge rather than your typical cafe. Best of all the coffee is actually good! I found out today that use New Zealand organic fair-trade coffee roast. They also prepare the kind of coffee I enjoy — a cortado.

A cortado is an espresso “cut” (from the Spanish and Portuguese cortar) with a small amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity. The ratio of milk is 1:1, and the milk is added after the espresso. The steamed milk hasn’t much foam, but many baristas make some micro foam to make latte art. It is popular in both Spain and Portugal, as well as throughout Latin America, where it is drunk in the afternoon.
~wikipedia

I found it cute that instead of giving you a number stub for your order, your number is on a red London bus. I once had their Tiramisu and it was quite good. They also have a huge array of teas and it comes in different kinds of oriental tea pots. Girls and our tea parties

The one thing I love about this place as well, (apart from all the great memories created here with some special friends), is that they always play my kind of music. There are times when they play Latin Jazzy type and today they played music from Hot Chip. I didn’t know that this is what they were called. I had heard their song Over and Over which I liked but never knew who it was by. The album is really good and would recommend it.

Excuse me sir
I’m lost
I’m looking for a place
Where I can get lost
I’m looking for a home
For my malfunctioning being
I’m looking for the mechanical music museum
~Hot Chip - The Warning

And lastly, another plus point about this cafe is that they have free wi-fi connection. They couldn’t have found a better way of giving Starbucks “the victory sign”.

Swedish Festival

November 27th, 2006 1:04 pm Uncategorized, London, UK 6 comments

Back by popular demand! Not really, I fear if I don’t post this entry I may be peer pressured to post by an eeeevil midget. Anyhoo, I went to the Swedish Festival yesterday in the Swedish Church in London with my sister and her hubby. The place was packed! But I could see a sign that lit up my face….

Sibylla hotdogs! I wondered if they would have the tunnbrod rule, Swedish hotdogs in a wrap with mash potato. MMMMMMM!! But they just had regular hotdogs with a long line for it too. So we decided to go to the cafe instead, which was a food hall inside the church. They had arranged a smörgåsbord with lax, köttbullar, Kanelbulle, cakes, and more cakes and my favorite cake of all– Prinsess Tårta. It was a really nice experience sitting in the pews, eating our köttbullar sandwich, Kanelbulle and shared a Prinsess Tårta. It almsot felt like I was in Sweden again!

L-R: Bazar, Glögg stand, sweets stand

The photos taken, aren’t too great as I was too worried to be in someone’s way. The bazar had all kinds of stuff, from Swedish Christmas decors to food. The food was rather expensive, most of the stuff you can get in IKEA (that big blue place) a lot cheaper. The Glögg, which is mulled wine, was really good and soooo warming. Over all it was a nice experience, it reminded me of those times we used to go to the Christmas bazars in Forbes in Manila.

And oh, I have never seen so many cute babies in the same place!

Journler for Mac

November 25th, 2006 10:01 pm Uncategorized 1 comment

I found this cool mac program, Journler. You can use it as simply a journal program on your computer, or use it as a third party software to post your journal entries it to your blog. Sweet! It’s these sort of programs that makes “the switch” worthwhile.

As we are in the subject of blogging…

I finally found the cure for the SPAM problem I have been having with wordpress! If you have been trying to resolve this issue you will probably know that you will need Akismet plug-in. That’s fine, no problem. The problem begins when you are asked for an API key, which I couldn’t find anywhere! But alas, there is a solution around it. Go to www.wordpress.com, not .org but .com. Sign-up for a new wordpress account, not just a username. You will then be given, with your new account, a new API key. Use it with your current wordpress account, and Bob’s your uncle!

Mnga

November 21st, 2006 6:24 pm Uncategorized 3 comments

As I was getting ready today and about to put on my jumper, I noticed that the jumper I bought was made in the Philippines. It annoyed me, because they had made the label “Made in PHILIPPINES” when it should be “Made in THE PHILIPPINES”. I have seen it in GAP written correctly, so I know it’s not just me being anal. God knows where the labels were made, if it was in Spain shame on them considering everybloodything has an article before the noun, el articulo, la camisa, las philipinas! If it was printed in the Philippines, then shame on them too!

The one thing that used to bug me in the past as well was seeing products of GAP saying “Made in The Philippines”, but we never got the bounty of the products. The Philippines never even got to see GAP products unless it was sent to them by relatives living in the states. A lot of really good furniture and goods are made in the Philippines but the best of the best are sent abroad, and the mediocre quality produce are left for the Filipinos. …see what agro can lead to by just a label of clothing? haha!

Stern’s World Cafe

November 20th, 2006 11:27 pm Uncategorized, London, UK, Restaurants 4 comments

I had to go to an embassy around Warren Street today, and I found a new place around the area. The first thing that caught my eye was the fact it said “World Music Cafe” on the window. Sounded like my kinda place, since I enjoy listening to Brazilian/Portuguese and Spanish music.

The cool thing about Stern’s World Cafe is that not only do they play world music, but also sell world music too. Unfortunately, the food sold in the cafe was not very impressive. Although they serve Guatemalan coffee, which is revered as one of the most flavorful coffee, I am not a fan. I prefer the taste of Italian coffee (i.e. bristot, illy). But then it could be all a matter of taste. The ambience is pretty cozy and I would recommend it if you want to have a cuppa tea and a chat. I wasn’t impressed with the staff either. I was hoping to grab some brunch and I asked them if they did sandwiches since I could see that they had some ham, cheeses and salmon. They lady said no. So I then pointed and said that I would have a pie (meat pie). Sat down, my coffee and “pie” arrive. Was just surprised to receive an apple pie and not a savory pie. I would have said something, but then I didn’t wanna go into more miscommunication. Only thing is, I don’t like apple! I don’t mind apple as long as it is cooked and in a warm pie. Even then it’s not my favorite. I do like the Swedish Apfel Kaka (apple cake) though. Anyhoo, as I was eating this cold apple pie only to see the lady behind the counter make a baquette sandwich. Hmmm…

Anyway, while I was sipping my coffee, listening to the music, I decided to write a Life List. Ellen Degeneres keeps going on about it, and my mom has been telling me for ages to make one. She really believes in the power of visualization. A case of “if you build it, it will come”. So there I was, writing down this list (perhaps one day put it up on here) and I also ended up making a list of the things I was fortunate enough to do and always wanted to do (i.e: go skiing, see a musical in London etc.). Hopefully, one day when one of the things in my Life List become a reality, I will have fond memories that I was once writing about it in a cafe in London, that served me Guatemalan coffee and apple pie.

Babe In The City

November 20th, 2006 6:16 pm Quirky, London, UK 1 comment

…This little piggy went to Tottenham Court Road…

I came out of Tottenham Court Road Station and that little piggy greeted me. I don’t even know what they were trying to promote as I was in a rush. (Only had enough time to take a photo ) haha! I just find it amusing how when you see these sorta mascots in London. I once saw two Bananas on the way to work one morning, they were promoting Crush. On another occasion, I saw a mascot dressed as balls, promoting prostate cancer awareness. What a job!

“Hey dude, what was work like today?”
“bollocks.”

MacWorld

November 19th, 2006 11:35 pm Gadgets 2 comments

Today has been a rather frustrating day for me in the world of computers. A very Dilbert moment. I have been trying to revamp my site for the past week and it’s turning out to be a frustration rather than a creative outlet! Having recently switched from a PC to a MacBook, I have had a lot of getting used to. I have had to get all new programs or the equivalent for a mac and make some adjustment to the switch. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful (I have a MacBook, oh woe is me!). But I am finding it incredible slow! The new MacBook was deemed to be theeee fastest and most powerful laptop — it is, if all you do is surf, use word and chat. No doubt it is a very pretty machine and cool. But to do the work I need to do… argh, I am ready to pull my locks off! haha! For the love of god! This is extremely insane. On a PC this would have been done in 3 days! The only solution is I believe is for me to up the RAM. Yep, it’s time to bring in the big guns.

Computers, very much like men. Can’t live with them, Can’t live without them.
(though, it’s a lot easier to get a computer than a man)

/rant over.

Don’t Cry For Me Argentinaaa!

November 17th, 2006 10:20 am London, UK, Friends 2 comments

One of the silly things about being me is that, when I was I child I always thought that this song was about a girl named Argentina. This is probably because when I was a child and I would have moments when I would cry and be upset, and when my dad found out he would ALWAYS start singing… “Doooon’t cry for meee Argentiiinnaaa…”. There I was thinking he was singing to me to make me feel better (me being Argentina), but no it was just his excuse to break into song. His broadway dream put into reality for those few moments, in the expense of his child’s misery. Mind you he does have a great voice and could as well pull it off.

Yesterday, Thanks to Rina, I was fortunate enough to watch Andrew Lloyd Webber’s EVITA. This was the first musical I have seen in London. I have been meaning to see a musical for the past 3 years I have been here but never really knew which to see, or who to go with and all that kuffufle. But day before yesterday, Rina offered me a free ticket which she won from a photography competition. Woohoo!!

Anyway, while I was waiting for Rina in Carnaby Street, I was able to witness another “firsts”. They were turning on the Christmas lights in Carnaby Street. I was in Boots buying some mints when I could hear them outside starting. Of all the bloody time to buy mints! haha! WAIT FOR ME!! Luckily I made it in time for the countdown and was able to take short video clip of it. Have a look.

Anyway, back to Evita. We had a bit of a problem looking for the Adelphi Theatre in the West End. It’s so ironic that you keep seeing all these musical theatres when you walk in London, but when you need to actually go to one, you can’t find it!

Elena Roger played the story based on Evita Perón, the wife of Argentinian dictator Juan Perón. It depicts her life as Argentina’s powerful political figure up until her tragic death. I must say it was fantastically done! The performance was fantastic and the stage set was amazing! Rina and I both fancied the narrator (the guy behind Evita in the photo above) haha! We were amazed by the quick costume change, specially the hair piece!! One scene having dark hair and the next blonde! Obviously a wig, but how did they do it? She was flinging her head like mad and it stayed on! It was really well done and the actors were great.

When I was growing up my parents would take us to the Repertory Philippines to watch plays such as “Nunsense” and “Little Shops of Horrors” and I always get a buzz when I would watch it. I really used to enjoy it a lot and I feel that I am going to try and start watching more plays/musicals again.

Have I said too much?
There’s nothing more I can think of to say to you.
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true….

and… before I go… an attempt of Rina and I to get a photo outside the thetre… but as we are so short we couldn’t get the sign and us in the same picture! haha!

Temporada de patos (Duck Season)

November 14th, 2006 11:11 am Foreign Film 2 comments

I saw Temporada de Patos, a Mexican film, about a month ago. Unfortunately, I never got to finish it because when it was recorded from the t.v., it was 10 minutes short. I was so frustrated! HOW THE HELL DOES THIS MOVIE END?? Luckily they had it in the library where I am learning Spanish. However, there were no English sub-titles. haha! As I had seen practically the whole film, I knew what it was about and with the help of my pre-intermediate Spanish, I was able to finish the film.

Temporada de Patos (Duck Season)
I must say this movie is going in my “favorite foreign film” list. It doesn’t have an exciting story or any cool effects, but I guess what makes it really a nice film is that it is so simple. Another reason why I really liked the film is because it reminded me so much of those summer days back in the Philippines when I too was 14. Drinking HUGE glasses of coke to keep cool in the summer’s heat. Being so bored that you eventually find a way to occupy yourself with either watching t.v. or play video games only for a power-cut (brown out) to come and bring you back to reality of boredom. Possibly your neighbor or a friend of yours will drop by and raid your kitchen and just hang out in your house. You eventually realise you are hungry from all your venting about the heat and boredom, but even then you can’t even be bothered to make your own lunch. So you call the nearest pizza place to where you live, in my case Magoo’s (the only square pizza!), which was literally a 5 min walk from where I lived. The two 14 year olds in this film however, took it to another level though. They decided to make it more exciting but timing the Pizza guy and if he wasn’t there in 30 mins or 45 mins as they say they would, your pizza is free. Or in the case in Manila, a free bottle of Coke. These kids were smart, as there was a power cut they knew that they could push this deal as the pizza man had to take the stairs to get to their flat and probably pass out by the time he got to their flat! haha! In the mean time, their neighbor is comes by thier flat saying that she just needs to bake a cake and she needs to use their oven as hers is an electric. Pizza man arrives and sure enough the two guys refuse to pay the pizza man. So he refuses to leave until they pay him. Power comes back on and the two teenage boys decided to win the pizza by playing a video game. Sadly, they never settled the score due to yet another power cut! haha! Mean while Rita the neighbor is still baking her bloody cake and has made several batches infact, it’s only later that they find out that it is her birthday.

That is not the only thing they find out, but I won’t give everything away. There IS a reason why it’s called Duck Season. One of the parts I found rather cute was when one of the teenage boys was teaching Rita this game using “Freskas”, I believe some Mexican chocolate snack. Frescas in Spanish means strawberry. Paula, my good friend from Mexico told me once that they that is what they call certain girls in Mexico who thinking they are all that. I guess like what the Filipinos call maarte.

Anyhoo, enough of the trivia. So the boy tells Rita to make a wish, and guess the colour of what is inside of the chocolate. Then you have to take a bite and check if you have guessed the colour. If you did get it right, then your wish comes true. If not, you’ll just have to keep trying.

….and 385 Freskas later….

She didn’t get one colour right. How cruel! haha!

I would recommend this movie if you can find one with English sub-titles. It has a similar charm and simplicity as Amélie. Definitely, the movie to watch when you are bored and want to watch people who are probably as bored as you are… or even more.

My first movie clip! (…and YouTube post)

November 11th, 2006 12:19 am Uncategorized, Quirky, Art, London, UK, Restaurants 2 comments

Look out Spielberg! Jiandani coming through! haha!

I finally got to make my first video clip using my niffty piece of computer equipment. With the use of my mobile phone I took two short clips of the Jasmine Flower Tea from one of my favorite restaurants, Ping Pong. They give you an empty glass with this flower bud inside and as they pour hot water the bud slowly grows in the water and starts to bloom into the flower. My sister was really freaked out by it hahaha! But it is really lovely to have with your dimsum.

Anyhoo, with the two clips I took with my phone, using Quick Time Pro (Thanks Jai! LOL) and iMovie I was able to put the clips together. As you will see, the editting isn’t too great, but not bad for a rookie! With the use of GarageBand I developed the “theme tuuuunnnne” (write the theme tuuunneee, sing the theeemmmeee tune! haha - off Little Britian) and wham bam thank you mam, added it to iMovie! ~~I was going to use YouTube to uploaded it, but then it wasn’t working in my favor, so it will have to be photobucket for now. The upload has compromised the quality, but oh well.~~ I’m off to bed! Enjoy!

Update 11/11/06 18:29 Was able to get Youtube sorted, this is a better quality of the video.

Stand Up

November 10th, 2006 8:14 pm Quirky, London, UK 2 comments

I first came across Omid Djalili an Iranian comedian in 2004 and immediately I found him extremely hilarious! He makes my belly ache and gives me hiccups by all the laughters!

I love the bit when he tells the lady “SIT DOWN!” hahahaha … check the clip out

and Russell Peters an Indian comedian

Visited Countries

November 8th, 2006 11:28 pm Uncategorized 4 comments

I feel like I have done quite a bit of travelling and feel very lucky to have done so. However, when I tried to plot the places I have been on this site… I feel like I haven’t gone that far!

The countries I have actually visited (no stop overs included)

create your own visited countries map

Now, this is what I really want to see in my travelled map….

It still doesn’t seem much!

I think my top main places I want to visit are:
-Spain (soon!!!)
-Portugal
-Italy
-Switzerland
-Mexico (cause Paula is there)
-Panama (cause my grandparents lived there for sometime, and I never got to meet them) been watching way too many “who do you think you are” LOL!
-Japan
-Bolivia
-New Zealand (cause Rin is there)
-Cape Town

And of course to revisit - France, Croatia and Sweden as always.

If it weren’t for the visa issues, I would be a globe trotter! Damn you immigration people!

Mónica