Staircase Wit

The story is so beautiful and it made me cry buckets, yes yes okay. But what I loved the most is how this film transported me back to Tokyo! The locations just feel so familiar, and this film makes me ache to go back there. This film shows Tokyo so vividly! The busy train stations, the coffee vending machines, the city skyline, the architecture, the restaurants and cafés where you can just sit by yourself and enjoy your meal alone. This film even captures the eerily quiet and peaceful experience of riding a crowded Japanese train. I miss Tokyo so badly it's almost heartbreaking.

Thoughts after watching Hamilton on Disney+ three times: 1. Hamilton is an exciting and kinetic frenzy of a musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of American's Founding Fathers. It's a history lesson (but many liberties were taken of course), but sang in rap, hip-hop, pop, and R&B. 2. I have been obsessed with Hamilton since 2016. I have repeated the Original Broadway Cast Recording on Spotify probably a million times. Even if I can practically sing along to every line to every song in the musical, I was still awed and floored by the film. 3. There are so many witty details in the film; details that are so understated you will only see them on your second or third viewing. 4. Where else, in the history of pop culture, would you see two cabinet secretaries debate against each other in the form of a rap battle? 5. I have never seen a more talented ensemble of actors. They sing, dance, and rap. Their facial expressions add even more flavor to the already great musi...

No, this not a self-help book that teaches you how to be charming and how to effectively communicate with people. This a book written by Malcolm Gladwell, after all. Malcolm Gladwell wants to tell us that we generally "default to truth", that we have a tendency to believe that people are telling the truth, even if there is already glaring evidence that we are being lied to. Then again, Gladwell tells us that it's okay if most of us default to truth. After all, if we are all skeptics all the time, it would be impossible for us to have to have an organized society. Gladwell also warns us that not all strangers are transparent. We think we might know psychology and human behavior, and that we have ample experience in reading people. But some people's internal feelings and thoughts are simply not matched to their facial expressions and behavior. Talking to Strangers is another interesting and fascinating book by Malcolm Gladwell.  Read his books with a grain ...

The story of Bel Canto was inspired by the 1996 Japanese Embassy hostage crisis in Peru. That hostage crisis, just like the one in the novel, lasted for several months. In real life, just like in the novel, revolutionary rebels took as hostage high-level diplomats and business executives. The main difference between the two hostage crises: In the novel, one of the hostages is the world's greatest opera singer. Bel Canto is romantic, haunting, and fi lled with magical realism. It makes you fall in love with each and every character--every politician, diplomat, priest, idealistic young rebel soldier and general. It makes you understand why the hostages and rebels all wish they never have to leave the mansion where they are all locked up. Then it breaks your heart. Read the book, then watch the film. Both are inspiring and beautiful.

In Netflix's Hollywood, everyone is sexy, glamorous, and gorgeous. Everyone is miraculously talented. Everyone is in love. There are no real bad guys (except lawyers). Everyone wants to protect the civil rights of the minorities. Everyone does the right thing. The series starts out great--savvy and interesting. But then it slowly becomes cheesy, and ends in a cute Oscar awards show where everyone gets their happy ending. It's like the ending of the film/novel Atonement, where the writer fantasizes about an alternate reality in which everything turns out perfectly in the end, just because she felt bad about the actual events in real life.

Thanks to my HBO Go subscription (probably one of my most sulit purchases during the quarantine period), I was able to re-watch Season 1 of Sex and the City. I grew up watching SATC. All throughout my years in undergrad, I tuned in to HBO weekly to watch Carrie Bradshaw and her friends traipse all over New York City. I was a just a teenager back then, and as a teenager I thought Carrie and her friends knew everything there was to know about life and love. Watching SATC again, and now in my mid-thirties, I realized that Carrie’s maturity when it comes to dating and relationships is that of a woman in her early twenties. I mean, who else would: (1)  date a guy who clearly didn’t see her early on as someone he would want to marry eventually; (2) actually whine to the same guy about not being taken seriously; (3) actually arrange a meeting with the same guy’s ex-wife; (4) go to the church where the same guy accompanied his mother, hoping he would introduce her as his girlfri...

Final Fantasy VII Remake feels like a dreamy and stylish upgrade of the same game I used to play.

Notes on Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (now on Netflix): 1. This is a fun, fun, fun movie to watch. This is Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in their element, and this is their kind of movie. 2. Leo and Brad have awesome chemistry together. Rick (played by Leo), a narcissistic almost has-been movie star, and Cliff (played by Brad), his "more than a brother, but less than a wife" sidekick and stuntman. 3. This film features real celebrities--Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, et al. In real life, Tate, Sebring, Folger, and Voytek Frykowski were killed by the Manson family (the hippies who tried to kill Cliff, Rick, and his wife, Francesca). In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the hippies break into Rick's house instead. This movie gives us a fantasy "what-if". 4. Awesome soundtrack. 5. So Brad Pitt's character just easily beats Bruce Lee Bruce Lee, who can go against the Chuck Norrises of this world. Yes, this mo...

City of Girls is a decadent, booze-filled, and sexy coming-of-age novel about New York City, the theater, fashion, and feminism. While it starts off light and fun, it eventually reminds you that the novel is set against the backdrop of World War II, and tells of the somber reality experienced by the war's survivors. Photo credit: Bloomsbury UK

Finally watched Oro, Plata, Mata, Peque Gallaga's obra maestra, and one of the greatest and most important Filipino films of all time. Some thoughts on the film: (No spoiler warning because this is a 40-year old film, pwede ba?) 1. Oro, Plata, Mata is a film about two wealthy families waiting for the end of World War II by living a life of luxury and privilege at a big hacienda in the province, playing mah-jong and being waited on by countless servants. A very timely social commentary considering the war our society is facing against Covid-19. 2. Ronnie Lazaro and Joel Torre were incredible in this film. Lazaro plays a mute guerilla, but he needed no words to express his emotions. Torre's character starts off as limp and weak, but towards the end of the film he evolves into a violent, dark, and strong man. 3. Even more admirable and colorful are the women in this film. They were all headstrong, beautiful, and intelligent in their own way. 4. In the words of Trining Ojed...

GSIS suspended work today, so I stayed home and watched the remastered version of Hihintayin Kita sa Langit. Some notes on this Filipino classic: 1. Sobrang ganda ng digital restoration. 2. And the musical score (arranged by Ryan Cayanyab) is just perfect. 3. This film is an adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Richard Gomez is one smoldering, cruel, darkly handsome Heathcliff. Name one present-day Filipino actor as hot as Gomez in his prime. 4. Intense ang chemistry ni Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. Their love scenes are sensual but beautifully shot. No wonder they became a couple while they were filming this movie. 5. Nakakakilig man si Gabriel (Gomez's character), one must not forget that he is a violent, abusive, and selfish man. 6. Actually, everyone in the entire movie are selfish jerks, with the exception of the yaya. You can watch the digitally restored version of Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit on HOOQ. I just paid 15 pesos for a one-day subscription.

Just sharing some of the prenup photos taken by Picava Studios. My fiancé really really hates having his photos taken, and he just agreed to this prenup shoot because I want to have prenup photos. Despite his dislike for posing for pictures, Picava's output was still amazing. Their team made us feel comfortable and relaxed. My fiancé and I are into books, graphic novels, and music. Picava's team incorporated all of this in our photo shoot, and transformed a simple hotel room into a nook that featured our hobbies.

Flexing the spoils of my Valentine's Day visit to  # BigBadWolfBooksPH   # BBWManila2020 . A little bit of politics, historical fiction, spy thriller, finance, and of course, chick lit.

Flowers from the fiancé at the stroke of midnight. ❤️

Booked our "mini-moon" and "real honeymoon" trips at super low airfare rates! (Rates include 1 20-kg check-in baggage for all flights). 2 return tickets to Taipei, Taiwan: PHP 9.3K Travel period: August (right after our wedding) 2 return tickets to Tokyo: PHP 12.9k Travel period: December The 2019-nCov outbreak has either ended or gotten way worse by then. But for now, I'm crossing my fingers, taking advantage of the cheap flights, and wishing that scientists will soon find a cure for the entire world's sake.