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Something Like Life
Nov. 30, 2007

BEGINNING tomorrow, December 1, we have exactly 23 days to get our Christmas lists in order, subtracting the friends we haven’t seen for ages or adding new ones to the list (including new bosses for the proverbial sipsip gifts), and getting all our shopping done before the clock strikes midnight to herald the Christ Lord’s birth.

I’m almost done, having eliminated most of my lovable and understanding friends from my list and pleading poverty again this year, but I still need to get in order the gifts for the godchildren (with a plus-one courtesy of Iris this year).

After having had a less-than-productive shopping expedition with Fil at the International Bazaar at the PICC, I’m looking forward to a three-day shopping extravaganza at the St. James Bazaar in Alabang beginning today. Hopefully by this Sunday, I would be all done with my gift-buying, allowing me to concentrate on my own needs next. After all, I’ve toiled, sweated and run around godknowswhere, just to earn honest decent wages from my writing, so it’s time I get some rewards in return.

And I do have a lot of dream gifts for this Christmas, not that I can afford them all. But perhaps I can take a cue from the wildly popular video/book The Secret and focus all my positive thoughts and energies on these gifts. I shall visualize receiving these wonderful goodies and, for sure, most of them will be handed to me effortlessly. And, nah, I’m not going to wish for any of that “peace and goodwill to all men” crap that everyone unabashedly says when the klieg lights and cameras are switched on in their direction. I’m all pure materialism this year.

My 10 dream gifts this Christmas are:

Ananda in the Himalayas

1. A 10-day free stay in all the best spas in the world, with complimentary massages, body treatments and yoga instruction. These should include Reethi Rah in the Maldives, Banyan Tree in Phuket, the Ananda in the Himalayas and, just for kicks, the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort in Santa Barbara, just because Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens stayed there and tried to get an extreme makeover.

2. A monthlong cooking, eating and drinking tour of Tuscany, Italy, preferably, of course, with some gorgeous hunka-hunka burning love I’ll probably meet over there. Who knows, I’ll probably move there permanently. Think Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun, right Francine?

3. The freakin’ P3.2-million, 103-inch Panasonic plasma TV everyone’s been talking about. While I have no room in my mother’s townhouse to put it in, I can probably have it installed in the garage and watch all first-rate, still-to-be shown-in-local-theaters movies on DVD. Of course, I will have to charge my neighbors P200 each if they want watch the movies with me. That P3.2 million will be paid up for in no time. Uh-huh, I’m so smart, aren’t I? Don’t you wish we were friends?

4. Full-course lunch or dinner at French Laundry with chef-turned-TV host/book author Anthony Bourdain. I saw a long-ago episode of Bourdain’s TV show where he and his chef buddies dined at what has been called one of the best restaurants in the world, and everyone looked like they were having fun with the tasting menu alone and the wine just flowing. This time, I’ll do the eating and Bourdain will provide the laughs (along with the credit card to pay the bill). We will have fun roasting that perennially perky fake cook Rachel Ray! Ooof! What the hell was Oprah thinking?

French Laundry's Atlantic Halibut (Photo from KQED.org)

5. Majority ownership in at least one hugely profitable listed firm, like SM Investments, PLDT (yeah, even if Smart Communications is ever so slow to release my new phone under my retention policy) or Globe Telecommunications (just to get back at Smart), JG Summit Holdings and Metrobank. There are other companies that are attractive but I’m still too busy plotting the takeover of the other firms. Besides, I don’t want to appear too greedy…duh.

6. My own vineyard and winery in New Zealand, which produces some of the most exciting wines in the world these days. I had the good fortune of touring the Villa Maria Estate years before NZ wines were introduced in the local market and marveled at the modern processes used to produce its award-winning wines (large steel barrels in place of oak, and screwcaps instead of corks). I shall become the best world producer of award-winning Pinot Noirs, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blancs.

7. The Jodie Ankle Boot from Louis Vuitton, which, I swear, is the most fabulous ankle boot ever! Made of canvas and calf leather, the brown boot just looks oh-so-comfortable even with its four-inch heel. I like it also because the LV monogram detail is subtle, unlike the ones on those fake LV bags available at your friendly tindera in the Greenhills tiangges. I especially love the metal rivets and tiny buckle detail. I stumbled on the Jodie after dreaming about a pair of LV boots, which set me off googling photos of LV boots one entire day.

8. The untitled 1954 oil on canvas by HR Ocampo displayed in the function room of the Bank of the Philippine Islands named after the artist. Or perhaps Pablo Amorsolo’s portraits of the Women of Rizal hanging in the BPI chairman’s office? Yes, some art for Christmas may be good for the soul, and will undoubtedly also raise one’s market value in the eyes of envious friends. And you all thought I was shallow!

Lake Como, Italy (Photo from Student Brittanica)

9. A house in the Southhamptons or maybe in Lake Como in Italy where all my friends and I can play all day. There’s nothing like exchanging gossip over cocktails with Vera Wang, Renée Zellwegger, and George Soros at the Hamptons abode, or having dinner with gorgeous George Clooney and his Ocean 12 buddies at my lakeside retreat. Of course, my friends will have to pay for their own airfare and land transport to get there. Sorry, darlings, no such thing as a free lunch!

And last but not the least:

10. Tony Leung. Need I explain?

'A professional smolder'

Guess who's on the list of Salon.com's Sexiest Men Living 2007? E di sino pa? My one and only Lust (Caution!) Tony Leung! (Pant! Pant!) Says this fab web site:

"Martin Scorcese's Oscar-winning 'The Departed,' a remake/rip-off of the nail-biting 2002 Hong Kong thriller 'Infernal Affairs,' turned off fans of the original for one unavoidable reason — and it wasn't Jack Nicholson's scenery-chewing. It was the absence of the smoldering Tony Leung in the role of the undercover cop lost in a convoluted game of spy vs. spy. As good as Leo DiCaprio's Boston honk and flinty rage are in the remake, he just can't hold a candle to Leung.

But then, of course he can't. Leung is a professional smolderer; the guy's a virtual human Duraflame. Throughout the past two decades, in 'Hard-Boiled' (1992), 'Chungking Express' (1994), 'Happy Together' (1997), 'In the Mood for Love' (2000), 'Hero' (2002) and '2046' (2004), he's left only glowing embers in his wake. In this year's 'Lust, Caution,' he added a sadistic streak we'd never seen from him before that caused us to recoil — and still come back for more." (Read on at Salon.)

How sad that NYT didn't get the point of Lust, Caution.

Guys like travel buddy Pangs, also didn't like the film and can't understand why we ladies are going gaga over Tony. He says he doesn't know what we see in this guy. Simple. The girls call it the "paso" factor.

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Here's a good read though, still from NYT, about how PepsiCo is trying to green their production of Frito-Lays. While some companies are harping about minor environmental changes in their operations as a marketing strategy, PepsiCo appears bent on implementing wide-ranging changes. For the sake of Mother Earth, let's hope this move by one of the world's largest food and beverage firms, jumpstarts a radical industry-wide, global revolution.

Read on at Low-Guilt Potato Chips.

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Back in Manila, there's news of World Bank's cancellation of a $232-million road improvement project due to ehrmmm, "anomalies."

Why so surprised? Monkey see, monkey do.

More on Tony Leung

THANK you Francine for clueing me in on Tony Leung interviews on YouTube. I spent a good part of this rainy morning half in bed and cradling my iBook just surfing YouTube for videos of this delish actor.

It amazed me to find out that he started his career like many of our own artistas here, in some That's Entertainment-like variety show in Hong Kong (or was it Taiwan?). No wonder he sings and dances too. Pang-Dats talaga hahaha! Anyway, I'm also posting one of his MTVs here. (Yeah, yeah, that's how hooked I am on this guy. Couldn't understand a frigging word of Cantonese or Mandarin but hey, it's still those eyes that mesmerize that makes me pay attention.)

But aside from being a great actor, Tony is really intelligent. He thinks and knows his characters inside out. This is not a bobito like some of the present crop of the artistas here and abroad. No wonder a lot of famous film directors want to work with him. Magaling sya talaga! Sana ma-discover na sya ni Martin Scorsese and uses him in a really fabulous movie. (Frankly, I don't know what Marty sees in Leonardo. He's just a pretty face...not much of an actor though.)

Shet...I wanna go to Hong Kong and stalk Tony Leung! Sigh...

An interview for Lust, Caution (www.movieweb.com)



Photos of Tony Leung by a fan



An interview in 2001 on working with John Woo and Kong War Kai...grabeh, he's so smart!



Bonus MTV...sappy but Tony really looks yummy! Haay!

Don't torment me, Tony!

Why Lord, why? (sigh)

I DIDN'T realize that all this time, I've seen Tony Leung in a few other movies before Lust, Caution, until I read Gerard's piece. This Chinese actor, often dubbed the Clark Gable of Asia, certainly did not look as ruggedly handsome as he was in Lust in the other films I've seen him in. Errr...must have been the business suit and the pomaded hair this time, hehe. Lust, Caution is a film by Ang Lee, the genius behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain. (Damn! lots of tortured souls in these films!)

Leung was brilliant in the role of Mr. Yee, portraying a man so consumed by passion, and unleashing his frustrations and suffering as an intelligence agent, killing enemies of the Japanese, in his trysts with Mrs. Mak (played by newcomer Tang Wei). For Mrs. Mak, she is torn between her loyalty to China/her role as a spy in setting up Mr. Yee for the kill, and her realization of how deeply he has affected her emotionally and physically. Their lovemaking was so total, a complete surrender...as in sagad sa kaluluwa. Their situation is something I can relate to, yet do not relish reliving. (Oo mga kapatid, super-affected ako sa movie na 'to! Grabeh!)

But there, I'm a jill-come-lately fan, and very eager to see Tony Leung sizzle once more on the big screen. As Jessica says, "Mmmm..." (Instead of Clark Gable of Asia, I think I will call him the male Ate Guy. Them there eyes! )

P.S. Was it just the makeup or does Joan Chen look really old na?

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BTW, I checked out the Landmark Department Store at Trinoma after watching the film and picked up a few goodies. Whenever I'm in Makati, I try to pass by Landmark because I'm a real cheapo when it comes to clothes. I'll hunt for the perfect jeans, slacks, top, even pantulog, but make sure I purchase them at really bargain basement prices.

Landmark QC has a section called Great Bazaar where I bought a real sturdy yet fashionable pair of jeans for less than P300. I saw it on the rack, liked its deep midnight blue color, simple design (don't you just hate it when all the jeans are either stone-washed, acid-wash, etc. which simply will not do when you have fat thighs?!) and best of all, it's low price. I slipped it on, and the pair seemed tailor-made for my roundish figure. Fabulous!

There lots of other items for sale in that section, you just have to be really choosy and patient when going through the racks one by one. There are nice tops less than P200, mostly made in China (see, a hangover still from Tony Leung!), but some were really made of thin fabric they ought to be priced at P80 instead!

Only thing though, Landmark's owners still seem to be stuck in the 1950's when intercoms in department stores were still unheard of. If you want to make your goods move faster, make sure it's easy for customers to check if their item in some other color or size is immediately available. But noooo, the customer has to wait at least 15 minutes for the sales lady to return from the faraway stock room. (C'mon these girls aren't even paid enough to walk that far!) If I were in a rush, I would have left my items pronto! In fact, even the guard on duty told me that customers have been complaining of the length of time they have to wait just for the sales ladies to check on the items they need in the stock room. So if you're in a hurry, Landmark is not exactly the greatest place to shop in.