Sunday, November 19, 2006

Pacquiao vs. Morales: A Flurry of Greetings

Yesterday was the day most Filipinos anticipated most. It was the Grand Finale between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. Almost everyone woke up early in the morning on a Sunday (some even earlier than the time they have to wake up to got to work).
I am not a boxing person. I love sports, don’t get me wrong. In fact, I’m quite an athlete. However, boxing was one sport I never really quite understood (and never bothered to watch, until this year) the game, until Contender came along. I guess it was the drama of the reality show that got me hooked. But anyway, after contender, boxing became bearable for me.
B likes boxing. So I treated him and his parents to watch the match over at Greenbelt Cinema. The preliminary matches began at 10 a.m. Kinda like the opening acts for a concert. One of the matches was between Bryan Viloria (Filipino) and Niño (Mexican). The commentators (Q.H. and C.T.) were obviously biased inn favor of Viloria. They exaggeratingly laud every punch Viloria throws and keeps mum whenever Niño throws a great punch. The commentators choose to give their “advice” or analysis during Niño’s great moments. Talk about bias. Hence, their commentary lacks credibility. How I wished that Solar Sports chose to have American commentators to ensure objectivity.

And then it gets worse. Following the Viloria vs. Niño match, was a match between two (2) Mexicans and another match between a Greek-American and a Columbian. Initially during the match between the Mexicans, the commentators did their job and give a blow-by-blow account and trivia and other info for the viewing public. And then it began. Few and bits at first but later evolved into a flurry of greetings just like a ***** radio station. “Hi to _____ of Tarlac”. “To the nanay of ______” “Nanood rin pala si _______” . Oh my God! It went on non-stop! All through out the match between the Mexicans and the match between the Greek and the Columbian. I was waiting for either Q.H. and C.T. to say “Can I pass the (micro)phone?” Only in the Philippines. I was unfortunate to sit through all the greetings. New Flash! I paid 700 bucks to watch a game and not to hear you greet all the Filipinos watching the game. I mean, really, what Q.H. and C.T. did was unprofessional. Moreover, there were other people (foreigners and Filipinos alike) who were watching the matches and may have been genuinely interested in the fight.

Anyway, after the flurry of greetings which lasted for an hour (or even more), it was finally Pacman’s time. I waited 3½ hours, for a match that lasted 9 minutes. Ugh. That deserves another post.

* Photo courtesy of Manny Pacquiao’s website

Friday, November 17, 2006

Krispy Kreme is almost here!

Krispy Kreme! This is probably the most famous doughnut (oh yeah, KK spells it that way and not d-o-n-u-t) and has gained such popularity and following that it’s like a Hollywood star! Well, it is actually. It has appeared in a number of Hollywood movies (either the actor actually says the words “Krispy Kreme” or it makes an appearance via its famous white and green box) Although Dunkin Donuts sometimes steals the role from KK. In fact, sometime after the 9/11 incident, I recall reading an article wherein someone was lamenting that his favorite KK store was in the World Trade Center. Obviously, it now has a career of its own (kinda like the infamous green Versace dress of J.Lo, which has achieved a career of its own independent of the gorgeous bod of J.Lo)

Anyway, anyway, after Mister Donut, Dunkin Donuts, Country Style Donuts (this showed a lot of promise at first but fizzled very quickly), GoNuts Donuts, and other donuts wannabes, here comes KRISPY KREME!!!! Opening on November 30 is KK’s first Philippine store right smack in the heart (or should I say, stomach) of Fort Bonifacio. (What is it with the Fort and donuts? Is there some kind of secret pact between the developer of Fort Bonifacio and the donut kingdom? Not too long ago, GoNuts made its first appearance at the Fort too). I was lucky enough to receive a box of KK doughnuts last night. So I gorged on them late last night, to the utter dismay of my trainer but to my extreme delight! I was planning on describing the whole KK experience but after reading Lori’s post, she described it perfectly. To do my own thing would not give justice to KK. (Neither do I intend to plagiarize her work).

Now I need to find someone who will unwittingly line up for me and buy my Krispy Kremes!

Soon: A Dissertation on Donuts: A Comparative Study

Baptism of Fire

Ahh… My first blog entry. Pressure pressure! Now lies the pressure to come up with something interesting, relevant and uncannily witty. Prior to actually setting up this account, I had a multitude of ideas and topics to write on (hence, my decision to have this blog) but now that I have it, I’m coming up with zilch! Gosh even my welcome note has as much pizzazz as a day-old opened bottle of soda.
So I’ll skip this whole “first entry” thing (to spare us both the agony) and just make another post when my brain decides to finally function.