Month: February 2015

What’s Entertaining Me? – February Edition

Eats

Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken at Panera Bread

soba-noodle-bowl-with-chicken.desktop
photo courtesy of Panera Bread

My go-to place for lunch from work is Panera Bread. They introduced their broth bowls recently and ended up trying one of the bowls: Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken. It’s quite pricy so I doubt I’d order a broth bowl again but it was delicious!! There needs to be Ramen place closer to where I live and not in DC.

Guyabano tea

I bought some of this stuff in the Philippines. I don’t know if I ever had guyabano tea. But the tea tastes bleh. Nuff said. I’ll stick to my green tea.

Movies

Grand Budapest Hotel

grand-budapest

This was a nice, funny (not laugh-out-loud funny), quirky film. The other two movies I’ve seen directed by Wes Anderson were Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom, and I from what I recall, I enjoyed those movies, too. When I started watching this movie, the first thought that came to mind was the movie Amelie, a movie I really loved. So if you liked that movie, there’s a good chance you’d enjoy this one.

Music

Frank Ocean – You Are Luhh

That falsetto doe. Frank Ocean likes to randomly drop loosies on his Tumblr. Last month, as a tribute, he posted this cover of Aaliyah’s rendition of the Isley Brothers’ song, “(At Your Best) You Are Love”. Is that called Song Cover Inception? This joint got me trying to hit those high notes. Maybe I should just stick to lip-synching. His upcoming album is certainly one of my highly anticipated albums of the year.

Kanye West featuring Vic Mensa and Sia – Wolves

There is no CDQ version of this song so I’ve only heard some bootleg version of it. When I saw the featured artist, I thought this song was going to be a banger. However, it ended up being a song with no rapping at all. I still ended up liking it. It’s definitely mood music, but I’ve always had an affinity for sad, emoting songs. I see that Kanye West is continuing his streak of minimalistic production. The two other singles he has so far this year, Only One and FourFiveSeconds, do not feature any grandiose, cinematic production that he is known for. I think it’s also interesting to hear Vic Mensa, a hard-hitting, quick-witted rapper being casted as a singer on this track.

James Bay – Scars

I love this dude’s music. He’s coming to the 9:30 club in May. Hmm, maybeeee I’ll go…

Reads

Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D. Roth

This is a book written by the guy who created the website getrichslowly.org. It’s a general personal finance book. I decided to read it to refresh my knowledge of general personal finance. There wasn’t much that I already hadn’t learned before, but it did touch on stocks and managing one’s retirement account. This is something that I’m hoping to learn more of by summer since I’m finally getting my first lump sum for my work retirement arrangement. Which leads to the next book that I just started reading…

51os0KQpe4L

The Only Investment Guide You’ll EVER Need by Andrew Tobias

Let’s see if he’s right. I hope to me a pro at this eventually.

 

Split

IMAG1700

 

Looking back at all the pictures I took while in the Philippines, this is one of my favorite shots. I decided not to bring either my camcorder or point-and-shoot during this trip; instead, I trusted in my smartphone. As much as I love capturing moments with technology, I decided not to focus too much wanting that Kodak moment, but rather just inscribe them into my mind.

This photo was taken at my aunt’s house in Batangas, as the sun was setting. I love how you can tell the sun is setting, yet parts of the sky is still blue with some dark clouds lingering. My Tita lives in a rural area where people farm to make their living. Usually, when I visit, my cousin and I would go fishing in the ponds to catch dinner and go frolicking at the beach, which is only a very short walk from the house. It’s not a beach where you can lie in the sand and get a tan, but you get a nice view of the sea and feel refreshed from the consistent breeze. Most of my family, at least the family that I stay with, live in the probinsya, meaning not the city. I enjoy the rural life: it’s more relaxing and slow-paced. Whenever I’m in Manila, it’s just pollution and noise and HOT and I don’t want to deal with it. I don’t think I’m meant for that type of lifestyle.

…It’s been almost four weeks now since I got back to America. It’s like, each time I visit, more of me stays over there. I feel comfortable in that space. I feel accepted. I feel loved. I feel like I belong. I miss it. I miss them.

Hmm.