That was my reaction when I played his “Straight Up” Hollywood piece. It was a Paula Abdul original but Andrew Garcia turned it around into something that made everyone gasped. Because it was oh so good you won’t believe your ears. Even Simon was floored by his performance, ” “The only person who’s walked through today who I genuinely believe is a good singer…a genuinely, genuinely, good, good singer…”
Of course, after that audition piece went on air, I’ve read a couple of queries on his ethnic background. Most people back here asked if he is a Filipino. Sure he does look like one – with dark hair and a built that seemed to be in need of weight loss products prescription. But Andrew Garcia is a pure-blooded Latino. His girlfiend/wife, according to news, is a Filipina named Christine Concepcion. Satisfied?
Andrew Garcia is already a dad living with his family in Moreno Valley. They say that his parents grew up in the streets of Compton and were very active in the gangster lifestyle. But somehow life changed a bit and we can see how Andrew cherished his young family by spending more time with them.
GMA 7’s SOP (Sobrang Okey, Pare) will have its final episode this Sunday, February 28, after 13 years of live Sunday noontime entertainment. SOP lost the ratings war to ABS-CBN’s ASAP over the past few months.
I used to be an SOP fan, until the program’s format slowly became boring and predictable. The program simply stopped evolving creatively from the stage set to their segments. There seemed to be a dearth of new good artists while pioneers Regine Velasquez, Jaya, Janno Gibbs and Ogie Alcasid started to lose their luster already as the years go by. You see them grow old doing those back-to-back segment and one can’t help but change channels. It sort of evolved into like a German Moreno 80’s show, or any program that carry home TV shopping segments selling diet supplements. Now, who wants a recycled show?
What SOP needs is a major makeover – from their creative team down to their hosts. Getting it off the air was a smart move. But the challenge remains – whatever the management replaces it with should be really really good.
If it weren’t for the humongous EDSA traffic yesterday, I wouldn’t be able to watch the movie “Valentine’s Day” in Megamall. Not that it was a great movie. It was an okay movie that allowed room for a few laughs and twinkling thoughts about the beloved. The best part was I had the whole back row seat for myself and was able to stretch my aching legs comfortably.
Back to Valentine’s Day, I can only say that the movie lacked substance. If it weren’t for big name stars like Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Fox and Taylor Lautner, I’d say it was completely forgettable. I don’t really attribute that to the complex story of a dozen lives in Los Angeles that sort of connect with each other. It’s a Facebook movie plot. Too predictable, a no brainer. It’s like buying a phentermine without prescription. There’s nothing really special about it.
Ho-hum. But the trip to the cinema was certainly worth the time spent waiting for the traffic to die down.
I dropped by the gym I used to frequent many years ago to revive an old health routine. I was glad to meet Tessa (yes, we both remembered each other) and I signed up for a one-year program. The lifetime membership was way way beyond my current budget.
Here’s the shocking thing. I found out I weighed 10lbs heavier these days than I did a year ago. I pretty much have the idea that it was not just stress or lack of sleep. It was my bad dietary habit of starving myself during daytime and getting into a full meal at night. Not to mention that I move less these days, spending hours in front of the computer either working or just facebooking.
I have recently implemented a “no work at home” weekend policy, to reduce my stress levels and idle time sitting. Quite successful there. And I managed to include regular servings of fruits daily. And just today, we took off extra pounds of beef and meat from our grocery list, and diverted the budget to fruits, vegetables and fish.
While finalizing my gym enrollment, tomorrow is going to be the start of my “walk week”.
I’ve searched around and found significant amount of information about walking. It’s easy, simple and rather cheaper than your weight loss product. All you need is a pair of good shoes, a schedule, and a route. Then you’re good to go!
Here’s my Walk Week 1 plan:
- 15-minutes of brisk walking for 5 days
- Destination: just around the neighborhood
- Time: 6AM
Now the diet: Strictly NO RICE and heavy dinner. All in the name of fitness.
Note: I just had pancit for my nth birthday today. So I decided to write about it.
It has been a family tradition to have Pancit in every celebration – from birthdays to Halloween parties. Mind you, there are varieties of Pancit out there to choose from – bihon, canton, sotanghon, malabon, and recently the cup variety. Pancit in Hokkien is “pian i sit” which means “something conveniently cooked fast”. In the past, it would take us at least an hour to prepare the dish. But the advent of instant noodles changed the way we look at it. The dish lived up to its reputation as something easy to prepare. In fact, it’s just one cup of hot water away.
Every Filipino family honor this culinary practice since the time the noodles reached our shores from China in the 19th century. Yes, this particular dish is Chinese in origin introduced to us by these enterprising people, among other things like tikoy, firecrackers, abacus and probably an mmf drawer. To give it a marketing edge, they added a special meaning to it – long noodles symbolize long life. Who would refuse that? Cut the noodles short then you change its meaning. Have none, you run against fate. But these days, it took a different meaning. Eat more of it then you gain weight, plus interest. We have become a carbo-conscious generation.
But no matter how you look like it, this is not your ordinary Pancit. It’s versatile. Eat it with bread and rice. Fry it or boil it. Take them raw too. Put chicken, meat or seafood. Or just plain water. It’s filling and appetizing, not to mention cheaper at P5. If rice is a staple in this country, this one probably lands second.
