Mónica

“my espadrilles got wet, pare”

After my Spanish class yesterday, I headed off to the ‘expoEspana 2007′ at Rockwell. It had been pissing down with rain with puddles here and there. I couldn’t believe the irony when I entered the expo and the first stall I saw was called Sueno de Espadrilles! I had that guy’s voice in my head instantaneously!

At any rate, the expo was not very impressive, in my opinion. It seemed like all your well known Spanish restaurants and food sources were placed under one tent, only with extra eager sales assistants urging you buy a bottle of mediocre wine. But with the entrance to the expo being free, one can’t complain really.

Gone Bananas

Being unemployed makes you do silly things to amuse yourself. In my case, I’ve been playing in the kitchen. Recently I have been having a great craving for turon, and over the weekend I had asked my Grandad to pick up some saba bananas (plantains) in his visit to the market. He dropped of a dozen plantains which was more than what I needed. However, it made me decide to try and make a few of the meriendas that I knew that needed saba. I had never made any of these before, but then I thought, how hard could it possibly be? So here is what I came up with…
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Involuntary Memory

I passed a Délifance today and saw that they were selling Madeleines. The last time I had them was over a year ago, when my sister made some home made ones. I was rather skeptical on whether these particular ones would be as good as the ones I fondly remember having with my sister, but I decided to give it a go anyway. I must say, they aren’t quite bad (but not as good as my sister’s — I am obviously partial to anything my sister makes). So I am sitting here, enjoying a cup of Earl Grey (when it should be limeflower tea) and piece of Madeleine, writing about it… in Proust like fashion.

(I did soak a morsel of madeleine in my tea - it was quite good and comforting)

“It Sucks To Be Me”

Ever wondered what’s your purpose in life?
Or, the word for ‘pleasure taken from someone else’s misfortune’?

Finally, the Broadway musical Avenue Q from NY and the West End, has crossed the oceans and is now in Manila to answer those queries. Who would have thought?

After seeing the musical last night, I can’t seem to get the catchy tunes out of my head! “It Sucks To Be Me”, “The Internet Is For… Porn” and “Everybody Is A Little Bit Racist”, are a few of the tracks off the soundtrack. You might be a bit puzzled, Sesame Street-like-puppets expressing depression, bigotry and sexual desires? Yep, one should even expect to see puppets fornicating on stage! Which I think is the kind of episodes they should have shown on Sesame Street (minus the sex bit). Learn from a young age, that there are times in our lives when life sucks because you can’t pay the bills because you can’t get a job or you are in your thirties and still don’t know what to do with your life, or that relationships are complicated and being an adult can get lonely, or that the world is not colour blind when it comes to race. The play addresses such issues — only light humoured. You can’t help but feel better after watching Avenue Q simply because it’s your life, only, in a fantastic theatrical production!

I was quite skeptical about seeing another play produced locally. I still have not recovered from my recent disappointments with the Rep. I was concerned that they would again, adapt the play to the local environment. However, this production was done brilliantly and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The casting was perfect, Rachel Alejandro played Kate Monster & Lucy The Slut and I thought she was quite impressive. The only thing I was not quite sure of, was Aiza Siguerra’s role as the character of Gary Coleman, but perhaps it worked out for the best as she too was a former child star, as was he.

I won’t say more, you will have to see it for yourself. Again, I really thought the play was absolutely fantastic and would definitely give it another go. I think people who grew up watching Sesame Street, like I did, would find the bits of parody really amusing.

For spoilers, click here. And here for the Swedish version.

P is for Politics and Podcasts

Back by popular demand from my long hiatus, I didn’t really think people kept track of my inane ramblings. At any rate, there has not been much to write about in the past few months. Today however, I find myself growing more and more exasperated by the verdict of the present political affairs. Not that I expected him to be acquitted and live happily ever after. No, that would mean ‘Lord Farquaad’ stepping down from her illegitimate throne and having Shrek run Duloc now wouldn’t it? It scares me that the political history of this country is starting to resemble a parody.

On a happier note — One of my most favorite British comedian, Jonathan Ross, has now joined the Podcast bandwagon! Hurrah!! On his first podcast, he goes on about how he ceases to see the point of a Podcast and is really averse to the idea. However, it is perfect for ‘expats’ like myself who can listen to his show whenever and not having to be tied to an internet connection, which half way through a three hour show is bound to get cut off. Though you miss out on his actual playlist, I am quite happy listening to his waffling and playful insults.

Bye for now!

This post was brought to you by… the letter P. ~Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Oxford Street?~