What else is going on this month, Manila?

There's a lot to look forward to this month. Not only are we heading to KL next week, but there's a bunch of things going on around the metro. Check these out:


LATE NIGHT SHOW WITH THE COMEDY CARTEL
WHAT: For 150 pesos, you can watch stand-up comedy like how it should be done! None of the corny, below-the-belt bashing that is common in local comedy bars. Take your friends, have dinner, a few drinks, and share a lot of laughs this Monday after a possibly long day at work! ;-)

WHEN: Monday, April 12, 2010 at 8 pm

WHERE: Spicy Fingers Restaurant, Greenbelt 2, Makati City

FOR MORE INFO: eCircle Entertainment website



JON SANTOS' FOR VOTER OR FOR WORSE
WHAT: This came highly recommended by a friend. Jon Santos, apparently, has done this show a number of times in the Teatrino Promenade at Greenhills. It was initially slated for just a couple of runs but due to a high demand, they decided to extend the show at a theater in Makati this time. In his comedy act, For Voter or For Worse, Jon Santos impersonates the likes of Noynoy Aquino, Kris Aquino, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Arroyo, Aling Dionisia (Manny Pacquiao's mother), Korina Sanchez, and many others. And I heard he's really good at it too. It sounds like this is sure to bring a lot of giggles! ;-)

WHEN: April 14, 21, and 28, 2010 at 8:30 pm

WHERE: PowerPlant Mall, Cinema 2, Makati City

HOW TO GET TICKETS: Call 898-1441 or 898-1441 to book your tickets.

FOR MORE INFO: Check out this SITE to see Jon Santos in action. Here you'll see videos and short excerpts of his impersonation of Korina Sanchez, Gloria Arroyo, and Joseph Estrada. ;-)



AWESOME PLANET'S ULTIMATE TASTE TEST 4.0
WHAT: Anton, the blog writer of Awesome Planet, has put together this event for start-up food suppliers who would like to break into the market AND foodies who would be more than willing to try what they have to offer and rate them. It's a win-win thing where food suppliers get no-holds-barred feedback as a way to improve their products and foodies simply get to awaken their tastebuds from all these yummy samples of food! On top of that, the St. Michael the Archangel Parish is happy too since 100% of the proceeds (P150/person entrance fee) goes to the building and construction of this new church at the Fort. ;-)

WHEN: Friday, April 16, 2010 at 7 pm

WHERE: You will be informed of the location after your email registration. Just email rache@diaz.ph with your full name and contact info to join either as a supplier or a foodie.

FOR MORE INFO: Awesome Planet website



MALL OF ASIA SALE
WHAT: It's a mallwide sale with discounts of up to 70%! And if you have an SM Advantage card, you might not want to miss the special 10 am-12 pm sale that they have in the department store. You'll get an additional 10% discount on everything! And that's on top of the sale prices already.

WHEN: Friday, April 16-Sunday, April 18, 2010, 10 am to midnight (Friday and Saturday) and 10 am to 11 pm (Sunday)

WHERE: Mall of Asia, Pasay City



EARTH DAY RUN 2010
WHAT: Join a marathon and choose between 3K, 5K or 10K. Proceeds of this fundraising will support Design Against the Elements Competition. This competition is said to bring "innovative solutions to climate-vulnerable communities in developing countries."

WHEN: Sunday, April 18, 2010, morning

WHERE: near Mall of Asia, Pasay City

HOW TO REGISTER: Register online at http://natgeorun.com/ or go to Timex at the Mall of Asia or SM North Edsa to personally register. Registration costs 500 pesos for a 3K run, 600 pesos for 5K, and 700 pesos for 10K.



"MAS FLAMENCO" SHOW
WHAT: It's a fundraising show for the benefit of the Dance Scholarship Fund at Clara Ramona's school -- Centro de Danza Flamenca. Have a chance to see Clara Ramona dance. I've had a bit of exposure to Flamenco dance and I believe that Clara Ramona is the best there is here in the Philippines. She's very passionate and just completely breathtaking when she dances. For this show, she will also be accompanied by six other female dancers who she has trained and molded to become the amazing Flamenco dancers that they are!
For just 700 pesos, you'll get to see the whole show and enjoy Spanish tapas too.

WHEN: Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 8 pm

WHERE: Clara Ramona Centro de Danza Flamenca, 5062 P. Burgos Street, corner Guerrero, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City

HOW TO GET TICKETS: Call 899-1346 or 0915-434-5789 to reserve.


Photo Credits:
Juice website, http://www.juice.ph/nightout/event/jon-santos-in-kuring-gluring-syerrap-at-dyuning-election-is-nearing
Comedy Cartel, http://www.comedycartel.com.ph/
Eating Asia, http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2007/09/index.html
Jun Acullador's Flicker account, http://www.flickr.com/photos/acullador/1377674349/
Running Pinoy, http://runningpinoy.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/national-geographic-channel%E2%80%99s-earth-day-run/
Life of Guangzhao, http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_35/node_112/node_264/2007/12/06/119692370831324.shtml

Just for laughs...

It's a beautiful and sunshiny Saturday AND a long weekend too. And so far, no power interruptions yet. Thank God! ;-) To make your day even brighter (no pun intended), let me share with you a video that brought a few giggles in the Santillan home this morning. ;-) To appreciate it even more, watch Michael Flatley's video first below. It's just to give you a point of comparison. There's a long intro in that video so you might want to skip to the 2:10 part for Michael Flatley's actual entrance. Then click on the link after that will direct you to the video that features tan ta ra raaaaaannnn: Stavros Flatley!!! ;-) Super cute and adorable duo. You will love it!



CLICK HERE IF YOU'RE READY FOR STAVROS FLATLEY!

Did you see the 2:45 mark with Lagi getting off balance? Jojo finds it a hoot and can't stop laughing! Move over, Michael Flatley! Hahaha! Happy Saturday everyone! ;-)

Pampering yourself at home

One thing about Jojo and I is that we love massages! Admittedly, we're both too lazy to give each other a full body one. Actually, make that I'M too lazy to give a massage. ;-) And after a long day at work, we both get too lazy to go out and find a spa or massage place too. So the next best thing or most logical thing to do would be to call for a home massage service! ;-)

Jojo and I must have tried more than a dozen of these home services. Whenever we'd get a new flier in the mail, we'd try them out in search for the best massage and most professional therapists out there. We've had a whole gamut of experiences with these home massage services. There are those that just poke and pinch -- seeming to not have an idea of what they're doing as well as a few therapists that cause even more tension and pain to your body as oppose to trying to ease and relax it! Too painful! And there's that one therapist that we encountered too that felt too "at-home" at our place -- thinking of himself as a guest at our house. We were getting a few services done and he had to wait for his turn. I was surprised to see him sprawled on our couch sleeping while waiting for us. He went to the bathroom without asking for permission and even took a cookie from the batch that I had on the table without the usual "pleasantries." Not only that. He did a foot spa on my friend. And somehow, rubbed too too hard when he tried to exfoliate. My friend asked him to go gentler a few times but I guess he didn't listen. In the end, my friend had two bleeding toes with cuts! Needless to say, this home spa service (Revived Senses) is blacklisted. Never again.

Well, after going through all these experiences, we were able to weed them out and find two home spa service providers that are really good. One focuses on massage and body scrubs while the other focuses mostly on salon services.

Angel's Home Massage, for months now, has been our suki. Our balikbayan relatives who stayed with us has tried them. I recently organized a small spa party with my friends and they've tried them too. All of them have given Angel's Home Massage a thumbs up! Not only are their services incredibly cheap but their therapists are professional too. Oh and the massages -- wow! I'm not a big fan of hard massages. I go for the gentler ones that provide just enough pressure to release the knots. If this is your thing, you would probably want to request for Susan. She's available except for Fridays. Now I don't normally fall asleep when I'm given a massage. I don't know why that is. But with Susan, I'm always falling asleep. It's just so relaxing and it feels so good!

If you prefer harder massages, just let them know that when you give them a call. You'll find all of the info and rates in the flier below. It's not an updated flier but do note that they've made their massages cheaper. For a one-hour massage, all you have to pay is 200 pesos. If you want it for an hour and a half, that's when you pay 250 pesos. Amazing huh? ;-) By the way, I haven't tried their body scrubs yet. But Jojo and I can really vouch for their massages. All rave reviews from everyone who's tried them! ;-)

For salon services, I usually try to go to Freshaire at Market, Market. They're the best when it comes to manicures, pedicures, and foot spas. They're gentle and I don't ever get stressed when it comes to them removing the ingrown toenail. ;-) Oh and that's where I also have my hot oil, highlights, and cut. But for waxing, I go to Lay Bare. They're conveniently right across each other at Market, Market. But during my "lazy" days, I go for Salon-at-Home. When I feel like getting a mani/pedi at 11 pm, it's not going to be a problem. That's because they are able to provide these services from 10 am until midnight! Give them less than 30 minutes and they're there right at your doorstep. I've gone for their mani/pedi and their foot spa a number of times. They come in with everything that they need -- even the mini-chair for the therapist and towels. All you have to do is plop your feet up, really. ;-) All the while, you can type a blog, check your FB account, watch TV, or read! And it can all be done even with your PJs on. ;-) This is what I call multitasking. This can't be done when you're at a real salon.

What I can say about Salon-at-Home is that they're very professional and efficient. You can tell that they've done this a number of times. My nails ended up looking great! And I love the fact that they use imported nail polishes. From what I recall, I think I ended up picking this bright red nail polish from The Face Shop the last time. She applied about three coats of it and it looked fabulous! Not to mention the fact that it didn't chip easily too. That's unlike the Ever Bilenas and Cutex nail polishes that other salons only have available. For more info on Salon-at-Home, check out the flier below.
Have 700 pesos on you? With that, you can have your pampering right this minute! ;-) For that amount, it's amazing that you can have your mani/pedi done, foot spa, and a 1-hour massage too -- in the privacy of your own home! Enjoy! ;-)

WARNING: Do not read unless you want to be a couch potato!

I can't believe I only have less than two days left of my spring break. I've had the last nine days off and it just went by sooo fast! We took part in the usual Lenten traditions such as Visita Iglesia, Good Friday fasting and abstinence, and Easter celebrations. Honestly, other than that, I don't quite remember accomplishing anything else.

Well, I did accomplish something. Actually, make that TWO things. It's not exactly a chore, errand, or anything major. In fact, it's not even all that productive. But I had a whole lot of fun doing it! I'm talking about getting caught up on a couple of my favorite TV series! ;-) It's such a bummer that all the TV series that I follow are about a season behind here in the Philippines. I've just given up on following my favorite shows using local cable. Pirated DVDs are even way ahead of them. When the season is over, out goes the pirated DVDs of these shows a few days later. I think they start selling these DVDs in early June some time. That's what I did last year. As a teacher, I have two full months off for summer break. Last year, I used my summer to get caught up on all of my favorite shows. I bought all the DVDs and watched them one after the other. Among my favorites include the 3 CSIs, The Mentalist, Mad Men, The Tudors, Desperate Housewives, Damages, and reality TV shows like Project Runway, Top Design, and So You Think You Can Dance. I watched all these during the summer and waited one whole year before watching the next full season. It wasn't a smart thing to do, frankly. After watching all these shows, you start to confuse the series and storylines -- not to mention forget where you left off in the plot after a full year! ;-)

Well, you can always download each episode on iTunes for a small fee. But being the cheapskate that I am, I tried to get on the Fox or CBS station, etc. to see the online streaming of their shows. ;-) Didn't work though. These websites only allow those with North American IP addresses to view them. It sucks. But I didn't give up. I searched some more online and finally found this gem of a website:

http://www.freeonlineepisodes.net/watch-tv-shows-online/

Wow. It's just an amazing site! I didn't find "Top Design" on it. But this website has a list of about 100 or so TV shows and series that you can click to watch. We're not just talking the current season here. I just got caught up on CSI New York, Season 6 and was surprised to see that they provide online streaming of shows from Season 1 to 5 too! And the list of 100 or so shows, wow! There's a lot there that I've never even heard of. For instance, there's a series called the "Ugly Americans"??!?? Did you know that? Oh and there's one called "The Secret Diary of a Call Girl" too. What's that? Another intriguing series is called "Cupid." Hmmm.

Well, I know for a fact that my husband is going to be thrilled to know that he can watch his favorite series -- Destination Truth, Ghosthunters, and Man vs. Wild whenever he wants now. There's a lot of good stuff there. The hardest decision would be figuring out which one to start with! ;-)

It depends on how fast your connection is. But for me, I usually give the online streaming a 10-minute headstart. Just like YouTube, I let it populate first before watching it from the beginning. The quality of the streaming has always been good. But sometimes and on some episodes, it does get pixelated when you enlarge it to fit the screen.

There you have it. Enjoy hours and hours of fun getting caught up on your favorite episodes! And if you do discover one that is really good, please share and leave me a note to tell me about it! Frankly, after I finish following my favorite shows, I don't think I'd know which one to pick next! It's too confusing and there's just too many choices! ;-)