Sex and the City

It's nice to see the four New Yorkers that we came to love on tv up there on the big screen.

Just like Charlotte, I'm on Team Carrie-Big big time. When Carrie was presented with her walk-in closet, my dream of owning one resurfaced. Yep, I've got plenty of clothes too!

Charlotte was way funny in the movie. She's got two memorable scenes: one involving Big and the other has sumpthin' to do with non potable water. Lily, her adopted daughter, reminds me of my beautiful niece, Fiona.

It's hard to see Samantha being in a monogamous relationship. Her exposed body in her sushi-offering scene was fantastic for a 51-year old woman. Watch out for her humping pooch.

Got teary-eyed when Steve & Miranda reunited on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Jennifer Hudson is a nice addition to the cast but she didn't quite BUH-ring it *yawns*.

I like the New Year's eve montage. I like the song that they used too. A very sad version of "Auld Lang Syne" (Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis).

Now, it won't be Sex and the City without the good stuff. All the ladies showed some skin 'cept Sarah Jessica Parker. And yes, there was sex, courtesy of Miranda (& Steve) and Samantha's L.A. neighbor, Dante (Gilles Marini).

"Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours." a very noice quotation from Beethoven.

Es-Oh-Es

Thanks to Papa for sending us this funny vid.

Cole Haan

I'm in this big cool place where people come and go all the time. I could hear piano music in the distance. I see peeps carry bags and drag their small children with them. It's a fun place to be in.

Sometimes strangers would approach me and lift me up momentarily and then they would try me on. Then they ask for a nine or ten or another number, which signals the guy in a suit to go back to the room where I came from and then he would appear with my look-alike. The guy in a suit would put my look-alike in a bag and I would never see my look-alike anymore.

When the guy in a suit placed a sticker on me, it read, "155.00" dollars. I dunno what that means. Although I noticed that when people saw this sticker, sometimes they smile. But sometimes they put me down and I'd never see them again.

After a few months, I got a new sticker. It read, "105.00" dollars. I'm still here.
There's this one time, I saw this guy with long hair looking around. When he saw the "Reduced" sign and found me, he started to look at me seriously. That only means he likes me. He tried me on. I even saw my reflection in the mirror!!!

He checked the sticker again and frowned. Uh oh. This is not a good sign. I heard him saying, "I'm thinking of buying it but I dunno". I will never see him again.

I was wrong. I saw him again with shorter hair and this time, he approached me directly. He also smiled when he saw my new sticker, "75" dollars.

He gave the guy in a suit a golden card and in return, he got small white papers where he wrote sumpthin' down.

The guy in a suit then put me in a box and after some minoots, I finally got to see what's outside the store.

I love my new friend. He likes to go out all the time and have fun... although, he's a bit on the heavy side ;oP

Adobado

My grandma, Nanay Anda, handed me this adobo recipe more than a decade ago. For several years, I've mastered this recipe and it has become one of my well-loved dish. I'm sharing this to you now.

"Adobado" is a different version of pork adobo. Some use the fatty part of the pork but in this recipe, it's just lean meat.

The secret to a delish adobo is the garlic. Lots of it. You have to crush them and put them along with the bite-sized pieces of pork in water. How much water? Make sure that it's enuff to tenderize the meat. Use medium heat.

Add crushed laurel or bay leaves. Add pepper (I use freshly ground pepper). I like to put a lot of pepper too in my adobado. Look, Ma, no salt!

Then add three parts vinegar & 1 part less-sodium soy sauce. I used the ladle to measure. DON'T MIX!!!

Let this thing boil and simmer. After about 10 minoots, check it then mix them up. Let it simmer until all the water is gone.

Use a bit of oil and fry the pork. You don't want it pale looking ;oP

Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Six Flags

The first Six Flags of America I've been to is the one in Chicago. I'm thankful to AC because my ticket then was free. Now, Telos has good deals too for this amusement park. I got some BOGO VIP coupons. And since we're six in the group, it was perfect! Richie already left for CA to join his wife for the long weekend.

We left Ashburn around 11. Took Route 7, 267-E, I-495 via Exit 18, then 214-E/Central Avenue via Exit 15A. Since we're pretty close to Six Flags already, we decided to get some brunch first and KFC was the best choice.

Turned out that it's a wise decision because when we reached the park, there's a freakin' long line for the admission. We (Ogz, Raz and I) got a parking slot quicker than the other guys (Alwyn, Noel and Lizette). We took a spot first in the long line while waiting for them to get a parking space.When they joined us some minutes later, they informed us that there are much shorter lines near the entrance. Ogz & I checked it. I asked one of the guys in a blue uniform (I assumed he works there). He informed us that we could leave the uber long Season Pass line and take the shorter one (for other coupons maybe, like our VIP coupons).Still, it took us more than an hour of waiting before we could get our tickets. Good thing, we have VIP coupons. I only paid 25++ bucks for my entrance fee. Sweet!

Afterwards, there was another line for the entrance. Gimme a break!

When we got in, I felt like I was a kid again. Taking photos here and there. Looking out for the mascots. Enjoying the activities happening before me. It's like I'm in Disney again.We wanted to get a map but couldn't find it. Instead, we found this.Anyhoo, we started to the right and went counterclockwise. Found this Looney Tunes area. I was ecstatic to see Sylvester. He's one of my favorite characters 'cause he's got personality and let's just say, I hate Tweety for ruining his life.Next stop was the Gotham City section. This is where we found some fun activities to do. Saw this Batmobile. I suddenly remembered my co-worker, Rey, because he is such a big Batman fan.This game is freakin' scary. They will pull you up and swing you like crazy.The first ride of the day is called "The Wild One", a wooden roller coaster. We saw many kids falling in line for this ride so it should be fun. All of us tried it 'cept Raz who doesn't like coasters.During the first few seconds of the ride, it dawned on us how high the first drop is. We're, like, screaming from the first drop to the moment our ride stopped. Noel sat beside me and we're in front. I saw him holding down his cap ;oP I truly enjoyed this.

I want a souvenir so I tried this game where you'll throw a plastic ball and make sure that it lands in a box. You need to use the board as a rebound. Paid 2 bucks. After failing for my first try, I didn't do a followup anymore even though I like the cute Simba stuffed toy that I can win.I chose a game that I'm sure I'll get sumpthin' back. I searched for the Guessing Game. I paid the lady 5 bucks to guess for my age. Actually, you can choose age, birth month or weight. I thought the last two is easy to guess. She made me remove my shades, looked into my eyes and wrote something down. She showed the age to Raz & Ogz. They shook their heads. 'twas 23. Nope, I'm already 34. I'm pretty sure she does it purposely, making sure that the contestant will win a prize. I chose Scooby Doo.Second ride that we tried is called "Blizzard River". Only Ogz, Raz and I tried it. We sat on this big yellow raft and prepared to relax. I even waved and gave my friends in the distance some flying kisses while we were being lifted. As soon as we were let go, the raft began spinning like hell. Oh fuck! I hate spinning rides and all three of us kept shouting.I thought it would never end. When we reached the end of the slide, I heaved a big sigh of relief. We all got dizzy for a moment. I thought my vertigo would suddenly knock on my door.

Here's the "Superman: Ride of Steel" ride. It should be called "Balls of Steel" because I don't think anyone with a weak heart would even try this ride. Look at that height! I can only imagine the drop.For my last ride, I mustered enuff courage to try "Batwing". Nobody else wanted to try it so I went alone. The waiting time was, like, an hour. I've seen many peeps leaving the line already. I stood there just watching how the ride will take place.When it was my turn, I went with 3 other Japanese ladies. I sat on the left edge. Buckled my harness and relaxed. Guys in blue uniforms did some last-minute safety checks and after 5 minoots or so, the seats reclined and I was, like, on my back. Super excited now!!!

The coaster leaves the station backwards. I could feel the excitement building up. Then we're lifted slowly. At the top, the coaster turned and we're all inverted and sent flying all throughout the ride. I lifted my arms to complete the flying effect. There were some corkscrew tracks and I loved it. I screamed at the top of my lungs. The girl beside me kept saying, "oh my god! oh my god!"

It lasted about 2-3 minoots. I'm happy I survived the ride. Teehee. The girl beside me was still uttering, "oh my god", and I blurted, "You should've shouted!" and smiled. I helped her release her harness too. Before I joined my friends, she waved goodbye at me.

We continued to walk around the park. Found a silent & gloomy Green Lantern in one corner.

We saw kids of all ages climbing on wobbly rope ladders just to ring the bell at the top and win a prize. It was pretty hard to do. I noticed that the bigger the prize, the harder it is to win it. The operator would even show the audience that it can be done. He climbs up like it wasn't a rope. It looks easy to him. Maybe that's the clue on how to do it.

Alwyn tried a classic carnival game. He was given three tries to swing the hammer and hit the bell at the top. He didn't reach the top but he got a nice dollar-bill pillow which made him sneeze later on ;oPThe "Hurricane Harbor" is the water theme park section of "Six Flags". You can see families in their bathing suits walking around, swimming or eating too. And this is where the latest water-slide ride is located. It's called "Tony Hawk's Halfpipe". Ogz wanted to try it but he thought it might kill him too. Teehee.Before we left the park, we had our mandatory group picture. Unforch, it took us awhile to get someone to take the photo for us. Some girl must have noticed our problem and she offered to do it without my approaching her.

Tarara Winery & Antique Shop

The first time, I came by myself and attended their festival but missed the wine tasting. The second, I went with Pattie & Lizette but was too late for the wine tasting again. The third, I got to enjoy the wine plus more! This time, I went with Ogz & Raz. They both have never been to a vineyard here in Virginia so I was happy to take them to one of my favorites. From Route 7, we took the US-15 N towards Frederick, MD. The road changed to James Monroe Hwy eventually. Then we turned right on Lucketts Road and turned left on Tarara Lane. Pretty simple.

We went immediately to the wine tasting room. Ogz & I paid 5 bucks to taste their featured wines. If you wanna try out their reserved ones, you have to shell out 5 bucks more. We had 5 wines all in all: Viognier, Charval, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Wild River Red. For the white, I liked the Charval and for the red, I really liked the Wild River Red.

Afterwards, we went outside for some picture taking. There I found Shadow eating some crackers. He's so sweet and friendly to peeps.Then we decided to walk around a bit.We found the Shadow Lake. Later on, Shadow appeared & joined a family. He played ball with one of the kids. The girl would throw a ball in the lake and he gladly brought it back. So fun to watch.It's time to check out the antique shop that we passed by along the way to the vineyard. It's right on the corner of Lucketts and James Monroe Hwy. All three of us are not fans of rusty antique but we still enjoyed looking at the old stuff.

Looking at the animals made me think about Narnia. Instead of a Snow Queen making these creatures frozen, an Antique Queen made them all old, rusty and dead.
We went inside this house selling all kinds of antique decors. Ogz suggested that we don't smile at the camera 'cause he noticed that in old photographs, peeps in there don't smile at all. I love the chandelier shot because it gives out this sepia effect without any filter or Photoshop aid.