BAMF: Person of Interest’s Jim Caviezel is ♥!

I am slowly warming up to Person of Interest. I don’t know how or why it suddenly got my attention. Perhaps it was the fact that Jim Caviezel is one of its leads. Hey, the man still commands attention with his mere presence. The salt ‘n pepper hairstyle + the suits + his skills = one BAMF protagonist. I am totally digging his more mature image these days.

It's Edmond Dantes and Ben in one TV series!

Person of Interest pairs him up with LOST’s Michael Emerson, and together they make quite an unlikely tandem out to stop crime before it even happens. It’s an ambitious plot, but I think Jonathan Nolan and JJ Abrams have their cards played out right. Think of it as Minority Report for TV + Big Brother. I’m currently on the second episode and I am forever amazed by how suave Reese (Caviezel’s character) executes every mission given to him by Finch (Emerson).

Wow, one more show on my weekly viewing list this year! 

Dear readers, what shows do you follow lately?

Charmed by Mystic Falls

When The Vampire Diaries premiered almost three years ago, I simply dismissed it as another CW show out to cater to its teen market. I wasn’t sucked in by the hype because I tend to be cautious of shows marketing cheesy vampire love stories. *cough*Twilight*cough*

They survived two seasons.

Team Stelena? or Team Delena?

Now on its third year, the drama set in the idyllic town of Mystic Falls has managed to enthrall viewers not only because of a forbidden love affair between a human and a vampire, but also because of its eclectic mix of residents. Where else can you find a place where vampires, werewolves and ghosts actually (albeit unknowingly) co-exist? I finally realized that in order to appreciate a certain series, it’s best if you don’t lean towards a specific ‘ship. Enjoy whatever coupling the writers throw at you. If there’s one thing that Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec and their team of writers have proven, it’s their knack for tightly-written scripts that leave you breathless with each episode.

Six episodes down and they show no signs of slowing down. I’m loving the addition of Klaus this season. He’s a very effective villain, and so charming to boot. I think I’ll enjoy learning about the backstory of the Originals in the upcoming episodes. And who here thinks that evil!Stefan oozes with appeal lately? I like how he gets under Elena’s skin with his whole ‘Klaus-sent-me-to-protect-you’ drama. I do hope he gets his humanity back someday.

Fellow TVD fans, are you loving the third season so far? :)

American Reunion: Still naughty as ever…

Jim and his friends are back! For me they were the characters who truly defined the American Pie series. I’d rather think those straight-to-DVD ones never existed in the first place. :) Just recently, the first teaser had been released for American Reunion. Jim and Michelle are now married and have a kid together. The humor is still naughty as ever but I don’t think this will discourage people who grew up in that generation from seeing this next year. Don't you just love nostalgia trips?

It’s so nice to see the original cast-members reunite for this. Although Tara Reid looks surprisingly good in the photo, I cannot say the same thing for Mena Suvari. And what happened to Thomas Ian Nicholas’ boyish charms?!? Stifler’s mom will definitely make another surprising appearance in this flick and that I cannot wait to see.

Fantastic + Fabulous Sunday

The Sundays of October have been nothing but great so far. I’ve been out and about with friends for dinner, catching up with what’s the latest in our lives these days. Isa and I have agreed to make this a bi-monthly event, given that we’re the only ones from our circle of friends who happen to live in the same city until now. Sometimes you have to take an extra step in the name of friendship. Xtian’s visit this week was an added bonus. She was in town to celebrate her big 3-0. Can you believe that? My friends and I (save for one who’s celebrating hers in December) are now officially three decades younger.

It was a full-packed Sunday spent starting with a mani-pedi session at Hollywood Nails, then off for coffee at Starbucks before killing time at Xtian’s hotel room while waiting for the 7PM dinner with former college classmates.

Our nails after that mani-pedi sesh at Hollywood Nails. No nail-art for me...

Isa and Xtian w/ my sister (Sheila, who's a KJ in front of the camera ^___^)

My sister took this shot at Xtian's hotel room

The group right after dinner at PINO Restaurant

It’s funny how dinner conversations go about lately when we have our get-togethers. From individual careers, the topic usually shifts to planning trips abroad with the group by next year. I nod absent-mindedly knowing for a fact that I do not have a passport yet. Maybe this is a sign that I should get one before the year ends.

To end, I chose to remember this day for the good vibes it brought me and my sister. People who wish to pull our spirits down will never succeed. After all, there’s still November to look forward to.

Cebu City celebrates 1st Korean Day

My sister and I were fortunately in Ayala Center Cebu when we chanced upon the celebration of the city’s first ever Korean Day last October 1. With their growing population in the city, whether as tourists or residents, what better way to introduce their fascinating culture to their adoptive city than setting up a celebration in one of the biggest malls in the area. Bibimbap, gimbap, Korean pancakes, topokki, kimchi… the basic things that make Korean cuisine famous were offered by participating stalls at the bazaar. 

Somehow I regretted splurging over lunch before we made a beeline for the bazaar. By then we were too full to sample the free food tasting offered by accommodating stall owners to curious patrons. We ended up trying only the Topokki (stir-fried rice cake) even if I was raring for some bibimbap (too full!) instead.

One of the participating stalls at the bazaar

These ladies prepared my Gimbap order

Topokki a.k.a. stir-fried rice cakes for P50/cup

Gimbap (original) for P130... I ended up taking this home since we were still full from lunch

Can they make this a monthly thing? :) I wouldn’t mind. It’s a good start considering we’re not that into food bazaars/weekend markets yet. Who knows, another Mercato Centrale or Banchetto will rise in the Queen City of the South in the near future.

What’s cooking with The Kitchen Musical?

The Pan-Asian musical drama series starring Karylle, Christian Bautista and a slew of other Asian artists finally premiered its pilot episode last night on ABS – CBN. Before that, viewers were treated to a primer of sorts as they showed behind the scenes footage from the 4-month shoot in Singapore.

The cast of The Kitchen Musical

It’s all about fine dining and chasing your dreams as the story takes us to the struggles of restaurant heiress Maddie Avilon (Karylle), who returns home to work at her father’s restaurant after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Her idealism is quickly shot down by The Avilon’s executive chef Alex Marcus. Somewhere along the episode it is hinted that it was her who recommended him (most probably to her dad) for the job as head chef of The Avilon. She was his biggest fan. But he shows no fondness for the favor. To him she is nothing but a spoiled princess whose opportunity was handed to her in a silver platter because of her name. 

So how did the pilot episode fare? Nice. But still a lot to improve on. Maddie reminds me a lot of Rachel Berry, a misunderstood overachiever who’s eager to please the higher-ups. She’s very polarizing as a character which is why you’d either love her or hate her. Karylle’s at her best when she’s feisty. When she switches to pa-tweetums mode, the character of Maddie becomes really irritating. Stephen Rahman-Hughes, on the other hand, registers well on-screen as Alex. I don’t know if there’s some sort of romantic connection to happen between him and Maddie in succeeding episodes but I’m not looking forward to it. I’d rather they focus on a mentor-student type of relationship instead with her getting the respect she finally deserves from his as a fellow chef. Christian Bautista though was surprisingly the one who shone best as Daniel, Maddie’s childhood bestfriend and fellow sous chef. He was convincing enough with the accent and could actually manage some decent moves on the dance floor. 

Speaking of dance moves, was it only me who felt that the ‘Boom Boom Pow!’ movements were a bit contrived? I wish they stuck with the ‘4 Minute’ dance routine (from the unknown pilot circulated in YouTube months ago) instead. But other than that, the (re-arranged) songs were lovely. ‘Unwell’ has to be my favorite although ‘For Your Entertainment’ comes as a close second. The series shows a lot of promise, so I hope they can sustain the momentum with the succeeding episodes.

Asian talent, FTW!