Birthday Lunch: Johnny Rockets + California Berry & More!

When: October 13, 2010

I am now 30 and, believe me, this is puzzling. Details of my puzzlement will be somehow revealed in batches as I go along and document my life in this little nook in the web. Deep down inside, I still feel very young and I sincerely hope that it will show. Wishful thinking or not, I don't know. Hahaha! 

Okay, allow me to ramble about adding another year to my earthling life. Big celebrations are not my thing. Several weeks prior, my folks posed these classic questions: Where are we going to celebrate? Shall we order food from CCME, Luk Foo or Savory? How about your cake? Pre-ordered (referring to Estrel's) or over the counter (Red Ribbon, Goldilocks or Conti's)? Blah-blah.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate my folks' concern over their firstborn's 30th birthday. Ladies and gentlemen, I just defied the family tradition and said no to those. No cooking necessary either. I'm 30, get over it. It's just one day and it will certainly pass. Call it madness or non-conformist behavior but I happened to love my no-frills birthday!

 

At the Johnny Rockets entrance: Me, holding my Johnny Rockets take-out and a pink balloon (huge thanks to BF who dared to ask if he can get a balloon from the grand opening day leftovers) beside a life-size cardboard illustration of a woman in WWII armed services uniform. If this doesn't spell happy, then I don't know what is! 

It will be a normal day, I promised myself. I pretty much evolved from not knowing much about birthday plans to enthusiastically reveling in little surprises. So I had a normal breakfast, normal shower, normal reading pace, normal playlist and then BF showed up. As promised, he appeared normal - meaning, no flowers and gifts mysteriously hidden somewhere. He then asked me where I'd like to have lunch and I instantly told him - Banapple at Il Terrazzo. So we trooped to Banapple but it was packed with yuppies. A few minutes later, we found ourselves entering Johnny Rockets. Whoa! Burger and fries on my special day, why not?

 

The concept is a diner-style resto circa 1950s. Very interesting!

Jukebox station in every table

Making a smiley face with ketchup on the paper plate when served french fries is a Johnny Rockets trademark. (Wikipedia)

The waitstaff assigned to us was very friendly and accommodating. Songs reminiscent of the swinging 1960s or Sunday classics blasted through the speakers. Then, all of a sudden, the staff began gyrating happily to the tune of  Build Me Up Buttercup. What a pleasant dining experience it was!

The diners, BF and I included, were very much entertained with the dance number. Then the food.

# 12 (Php 335) ~ cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, onion slice, pickle, mayonnaise & our tangy "red sauce." On a scale of one to ten, it's a twelve!

I thought it was too pricey and the only comforting fact I learned was that the burger actually included fries-all-you can. Never mind the fact that I avoid deep-fried stuff nowadays.

The birthday girl's order: sliders (Php 265) ~ mini-sliders with mayonnaise and pickles/ dijonnaise. Perfect for sharing.

I underestimated the capability of these little burgers to fill me up. They were in fact very juicy and heavy on the tummy. I even took the third dwarf burger home with me.

Drinks: bottomless lemonade (Php 110) and Coke in can (Php 85)

Well, dining at Johnny Rockets is definitely not for cheapskates like me. Hahaha! I've learned my lesson, thank you. While on our second plate of fries, the staff performed another dance number to the tune of Y.M.C.A.

Vintage shots

Can we take them home please?

Since I'm all for healthy dessert, then off to California Berry we went. We sampled their newest flavor - green apple - and it was okay, nothing fantastic.

Green apple fro-yo (Php 90, medium cup)

When I went home, I found the whole birthday spread lovingly carried by Lazy Susan. Oh wait, did I just say that I wanted no pre-ordered food? Oh well. Hahaha!

CCME's beef caldereta and lumpiang shanghai, Amber's spaghetti and pichi-pichi and ice-cold Coke

Did I just turn 30? :)

Johnny Rockets

205 Tomas Morato Street

Quezon City

California Berry

Kopiroti Building

186 Tomas Morato

Quezon City

Avenue Q: We're Back!

Hmmm, this is my long overdue post about Avenue Q. I watched this Sesame Street-inspired musical last March 24 with my BF at the RCBC Theater. And I furry furry furry much enjoyed it despite holding back a liter of pee (exag, I know) prior to the musical's 15-minute break.

The characters, namely, Princeton, Kate Monster, Rod, Nicky, Brian, Christmas Eve, Gary Coleman, Trekkie Monster, Lucy the Slut, Mrs. Thistletwat and The Bad Idea Bears will always hold a memorable spot in the theater fan in me. 

True enough, Rachel Alejandro was a revelation as Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut. I suffered from LSS for a couple of days, thanks to her excellent performance of "There's A Fine, Fine Line". And I bet I will associate anything R-18 to Trekkie Monster's hilarious song "The Internet Is For Porn". Last but not the least, I think I will never view Sesame Street puppets with 100% wholesome feeling, and any attempt of resurrecting that same feeling which traces its roots from my puppet-worshipping childhood days will always be futile. Two words: Puppet nudity.

Our precious tickets

And here's something not so trivial, I learned the concept of Schadenfreude from the musical. Hmmm. So that very human feeling has a name after all. Interesting, isn't it?

Rent: No Day But Today

If only money will keep rolling in and notwithstanding the story lines, I would prefer watching theater performances/musicals than movies. I strongly think that stage actors are much more impressive than film actors since the former have no room for errors while on stage. Raw, God-given talent at its best.

Then I heard the buzz that Broadway musical RENT is making a comeback in Manila. I was warned that balcony tickets are seriously running out at Ticketnet branches, hence I had my moment of panic. The available balcony tickets will be for the closing night, February 28. Three weeks before the date, I got hold of the precious tickets from an agent of 9 Works Theatrical, the theater company responsible for RENT production.

RENT was really worth waiting for. The story is nothing but ordinary. But what makes RENT extraordinary is the superb cast. Aside from the fact that the setting is New York, one of my favorite places so far, most of the stage actors/actresses performed well to the audience delight. Overall, I appreciate the songs maybe because they have been playing in my playlist for a month. "Seasons of Love" has been the target of my LSS lately. 

First off, I love Carla Guevara-Laforteza's performance as Maureen Johnson in "Over The Moon" and "Take Me or Leave Me" duet with Jenny Villegas as Joanne Jefferson. Truth to tell, I'm a bit disappointed that she was replaced by Rachel Alejandro in the upcoming musical "Avenue Q". Carla was simply amazing.

Second, I think Roger and Mimi (played by Gian Magdangal and Nicole Asensio, respectively) did justice to the song "Light My Candle", but the pair failed to exude a convincing chemistry to the audience. Oh well. We saw Gian's wife, former Viva Hot Babe Sheree, in the audience and she has a striking resemblance to Nicole's character Mimi. You know, petite, colored curly hair, sexy make-up. So there.

Third, Job Bautista did an excellent performance as drag queen Angel with HIV.

Last but not the least, I commend Ring Antonio's powerful voice in "Seasons of Love". She reminds me of Chaka Khan and Frenchie Dy.

Kudos to the whole cast for superb performance overall, for making us aware of the struggles of LGBT under the scare of HIV/AIDS and, most of all, for making the audience realize that life is meant to be lived to the fullest. Carpe diem! No day but today!

Music Monday: Random 10

An officemate blogger sent me this link. I'm supposed to list down 10 songs that were on my weekend playlist.

1. Seasons of Love (from "Rent")
2. Light A Candle  (also from "Rent")
3. Fireflies by Owl City
4. Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
5. So Long Sweet Summer by Dashboard Confessional
6. Bottle It Up by Sara Bareilles
7. I'd Still Say Yes by Freestyle (Jinky Vidal's version, that is)
8. Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
9. La Vie Boheme (again, from "Rent")
10. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

Truly, a meme a day keeps the boredom away!

The Culprit: Shuffle Mode

I should have never set my iPod in shuffle. With shuffle mode, I'm the unwilling servant of my yesteryears. Songs that I uploaded out of boredom, songs that remind me of my teen-dom, and the pains of first love and then love after that, songs that remind me of the stage where I wallowed in pain and other emotions worthy of memory space. You got it. My iPod literally represents my life in various rhythms, high and low notes. 

Then one song stuck my to mind, rendered me motionless for a moment, and then the what-ifs played in my mind. That song. That one particular song. Out of 1,595 songs in my iPod, this song was played. Fat luck. It brought me to that one particular day of my life in a very historical town (present status: city) in the north, circa 2001. The hot summer breeze, the sound of rustling dried leaves on the front yard, the deafening silence of the house and the smell of the fabric conditioner from the clothesline. And myself. The heartbroken version of my young self: sniffling from the fact that she remembers too much of the pains of first love, entertaining thoughts of what-ifs and reenacting in front of the mirror her farewell lines in case she'd be swept into a time machine and land in year 1996.

Now, I'd think twice in hitting shuffle again unless I want to go emo randomly.

Wonder what the song is? Brace yourself. It's a classic. Here it is.

Anna Fegi's Saan Ka Na Kaya Ngayon?

List your favorite music artists

I do enjoy music a lot, but I don't really think the type of music you prefer defines you as a person. Music fills up the blanks and the gaps in my mind. Although my music of choice lately has been the  Legally Blonde  soundtrack, so that may say something about me considering I'm rewinding the life I had.

Anyhoo, here goes. Judge away...

1. Regina Spektor
2. Lenka
3. Regine Velasquez
4. Sarah Geronimo
5. Natasha Bedingfield
6. Alanis Morisette
7. Michael Jackson
8. The Fray
9. Paramore
10. Miss Saigon, Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Dawson's Creek soundtracks (those aren't musical artists per se, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
11. E-heads
12. Freestyle
13. Switchfoot
14. Jason Mraz
15. Corinne Bailey Rae
    
16. Augustana
17. Duncan Sheik
18. Howie Day
19. Maroon 5
20. Dave Matthews Band
21. The Carpenters
22. The Corrs
23. Lighthouse Family
24. Martin Nievera
25. The Cascades
26. Kelly Clarkson
27. MYMP
    

To quote ABBA*, "thank you for the music!"

*not my official favorite but Mama's