Autodidactic Mode On

Lately I'm finding it difficult to come up with a topic other than food and/or restaurants for my blog and I fear that this blog may seem support consumerism when in fact I go against this and as much as possible try to live simply without fancy things. I do admit that I frequent food establishments simply because I love food and I seldom get to have my way in the kitchen at home. Plus, eating out gives me ideas on what to cook next. The only thing I hate about food-tripping is that it hurts the pocket.

Lately I'm engrossed with a lot of things related to higher learning. I recently resumed my study of calculus, determined to understand it and to somehow use it to solve some of life's perplexing problems. Maybe I'm just a bored kid who misses school so much as a teacher and as a student that now I assume both roles for myself as I venture into this self-study activity. It's pretty much like what I did last year when I attempted to learn Japanese and came up with a blog entry that gives tips on how to learn a new language on one's own. I guess I must be overwhelmed by the difficulties encountered especially on Japanese conjugations. Four lessons to go and I quit. Okay, I didn't really quit, I just gave myself space and it's close to one year now since then. Perhaps next month will give me more motivation to continue (another plan that is sure not to materialize).

Keeping myself extra busy with these things sometimes make me question why I do them in the first place. There always comes a point in time when I get so fed up (especially when topic's getting extra complicated) and I think of how learning seems to be a waste of time and brain cells, but I would pause and reflect that there is wisdom in learning. Who knows when I will be able to use the knowledge gained in practice? How many times have I felt disappointed and frustrated with myself over regrets when I encounter a situation where I could have used a certain knowledge of something only to find that it's not part of my arsenal and all I have to do is just stand and be frustrated because of ignorance? Those defining moments remind me to strive hard to learn something new each day. It doesn't matter which topic or discipline it covers as long as I build my knowledge base. And somehow that isn't enough. The how-process attracts me more and oftentimes I become restless when I can't figure out why something is the way it is.

Since time and money are finite resources, and since I cannot give up my job yet in favor of the academe, I'm investing part of my time to self-study with the hope that once I become ready to continue my formal studies, I can be better and more disciplined. So here I am in full autodidactic mode, learning things, discovering things, having fun despite the many difficulties. People may think I miss out a lot in life because I would rather curl up in bed with a book than spend evenings out in malls or waste time gossiping about people, but what actually makes me happy is the fact that I struggle with my studies. With this struggle I feel more alive.

Café France 08242013

Last month, I accompanied my sister to the hospital and we had lunch at Café France. My first experience with that restaurant was a few years back with my parents in their UN Avenue branch. I remember going gaga over their pizza breads. I love how clean their food tasted. (Clean meaning not oily, not loaded with MSG, a characteristic which I associate with having a light feeling even after a full meal.)

My sister had beef lasagna whereas I, ever the fish lover, had Norwegian salmon pasta in oil. Both are wonderfully cooked. The salmon bits gave a salty flavor to the linguine. Even with the pasta drenched in oil, I find it a rather healthy meal. As for the lasagna, I would always complain of small servings but that's just because I love lasagna so much that every order looks small for me. I especially like the garlic bread. I'm not a bread person so when I end up eating bread it means it's delicious and that I like it.

Will I be back? Depends on the budget. I still think their food is pricey.

16th Cine Europa @ Shangrila Plaza

Because I failed to go to film festivals earlier this year and even missed the Cinemalaya fest, I vowed to at least attend the Cine Europa which normally lasts more than a week, which means that I can allot at least 2 days for it. Here are some of the movies I was able to watch for this year's offering:

1. La stanza del figlio (The Son's Room/ Italy)

This movie portrays a family's grief over the loss of a son. The father is a psychoanalyst who had to go see a patient and in the process cancel a "date" with his family. His son went SCUBA diving with friends and died in an accident. The family members are very intimate with one another so when this happened, the father blames himself, the wife is still inconsolable, and the daughter starts having her own problems. They find healing when they meet the son's girlfriend who shows them pictures of the son's room.

2. Les bien aimés (Beloved/ France)

This movie is about two women with their respective tumultuous love lives. The mother Madeleine was a whore who first married a Czech doctor who cheated on her but would time and again come back to her life. They eventually divorced and the mother remarried. The daughter Vera was in love with a queer guy who seems to be fond of her, too, but cannot commit because he suspects himself of having HIV. 

3. Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland (Almanya – Welcome to Germany/ Germany)

This film is a drama comedy about home and identity. Young Cenk is confused on what he really is being of Turkish descent but living in Germany. His grandparents recently acquired German citizenship and the family of three generations go back to Turkey because his grandfather thinks they must not forget their Turkish roots. Cenk comes to know about the story of his grandparents and his uncles and aunt through his elder cousin Canan (lots of flashbacks in this movie). While in Turkey, the grandfather dies but is refused interment  at a Muslim cemetery because of his new citizenship. Cenk's second uncle decides to remain in Turkey and rebuild their house there while Cenk delivers his grandfather's speech. (I got teary eyed during this final scene...)

4. A Royal Affair (Denmark)

This film is a historical drama set in 18th century Denmark during the reign of the insane King Christian VII. His wife Queen Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, largely  ignored by her promiscuous husband, falls in love with the Royal Physician Johann Friedrich Struensee who gains considerable influence and briefly becomes the de facto regeant of Denmark. Struensee, a man of the Enlightenment, carries out reforms. He dies a tragic death of execution for all his efforts in  alleviating the commoners' plight. 

-O-O-O-

I think I could have watched more if I only were able to report for work earlier but cool mornings make it almost impossible to get me out of bed... At least I did get to watch "A Royal Affair" which won two awards (Best Actor for Mikkel Følsgaard as King Christian, and Best Script) in the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Elfen Lied

I was an undergraduate student when I first heard of Elfen Lied . Back then, otaku friends would recommend it to me since they know I love blood and gore. Everytime I try to watch the series though I would be repulsed by the seemingly harem-romantic drama series. (I seldom look for synopses in the internet for fear of spoilers...) It turns out it's much more than that. A few months ago, a dear college friend gave me a copy of the entire series insisting that I watch it because it's not what I thought it is. 

I watched it two months ago (and just finished today). The opening song blew me away the first time I heard it. WOW! It's the same song that played in the background at the end as flashbacks are shown. Despite having an echi side to it especially in the first few episodes (which is one thing I don't like in harem animé), the series is actually a poignant tragedy about the result of biotechnology, a Diclonius capable of producing vectors or arms which can be potential weapons. The promise of graphic violence is not a disappointment and add to that a psychological depth and this animé makes for a wonderful series. Philosophically, this series touches on human nature, morality, and biotechnological ethics.

The characters are thrown in a tangled web of conflicts. The main character/ anti-heroine Lucy (a.k.a Nyu/ Kaede) suffered mocks and taunts from bullies because of her horns and as a result learns quickly that the world cannot accept an abnormality like her. Having experienced the pain of being isolated and having a special friend in the form of a dog maltreated and killed in front of her just to make her sad, she in turn develops hatred for mankind. Her childhood shows the humanity of an innocent diclonius prior to transformation in contrast to the cruelty of normal humans. Things are about to change when she meets Kohta who briefly shared with her wonderful memories of the joys of human companionship. And it is no wonder that she falls in love with him. She committed a grave sin however when she begins to mistrust Kohta and in a fit of rage and jealousy, killed Kohta's father and younger sister Kanae. It is revealed at the end that though tormented by this unforgivable crime, she lives on to seek Kohta's forgiveness.

Years later, now grown ups, Kohta seems to have no recollection of the horrible past when he met Nyu (the innocent side of the grown up Kaede). Kaede seems to have developed a split personality: she is known as Lucy when her bloodthirsty and vengeful side takes over, and as Nyu when her innocent side manifests. 

Lucy is not the only Diclonius in the series. She seems to have been the cause of other Diclonius, having infected men with her genes upon contact. One of her tormentors, Kurama, was afflicted and his wife gave birth to a horned daughter who is supposed to be killed as mandated but was not. She grows up to be Mariko, a seemingly sweet and fragile child who can unleash significantly more vectors than Lucy. She was killed together with her father shortly after their reunion.

Another Diclonius is Nana, first appearing in the series as an agent sent by Kurama to kill Lucy. She later on learns more about the value of life thanks largely to Mayu, a cheerful young girl who ran away from home after repeated sexual abuses from her stepfather. Both Mayu and Nana are interesting characters in that they retained their innocence and never succumbed to the desire to exact revenge against their oppressors but instead, try to find a place where they can find happiness. Nana is very obedient to Kurama whom she calls father. 

Scenes from the final episode:

father and daughter reunited

moments before father and daughter are killed by a bomb implanted in Mariko

Kohta and Kaede´s (aka Lucy) first meeting

Kohta and Kaede´s childhood moments

August 2013

So last month Metro Manila experienced nature's fury once again when typhoon Maring entered, causing four consecutive days of work-from-home mode and annex that to the weekend and one gets 6 days outside the office. Those days I still thought like a student, I didn't want to wake up early because I knew there would be no classes. I often forget I'm no longer a student jejeje. ^.^'

August this year saw me trying out new restaurants and I just realized that my blog is slowly looking like a food blog. While I don't mind sharing my food adventures on the internet, I'm not really interested in creating my own food blog.

But I do consider having my own travel blog and hopefully get contacted by airlines for free tickets in exchange for writing about my travels. One book which greatly inspired me to go to where average men fear to tread is Gerard Helferich's Humboldt's Cosmos which I read a few years back. (Pardon my slight digression but I cannot help but write something about this wonderful biographical book which narates key events in Alexander Humboldt's life and I was particularly interested in his navigation of the Amazon basin for science.) At present, I am reading a wonderful book by American journalist Peter Hessler. Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China is combination of travelogue, observation of present day culture, and historical connections to the present. It's quite interesting to see how Americans perceive Chinese culture while being immersed. Also, I'm curious as to how he navigates through chaotic China which is known for its anti-western stance. (I might write about this book after I finish reading it.)

The biggest moment of August 2013 was the Linkin Park concert. It was my first rock concert. I admit that I was ambivalent about it because I dislike rowdy crowds but during the concert I'm surprised to find myself going crazy together with the audience. And I was with a very dear friend and I consider it as our special date. :)

Yeah and another achievement is finally getting to finish writing about my Shanghai trip. Going through my travel journal while selecting photos for upload had been fun. It feels like the trip was made just yesterday.

I'm taking a break from ASOIF since I have yet to watch the third season. I'm still mourning for the death of Red Viper. I think he could have been one great character. I was already speculating on what would happen if Red Viper joins with Dany... It's such a pity he died shortly after being introduced in the series. (DAMN YOU, GRRM for creating such wonderful characters and killing them too soon! HMPH!) Though truth be told I can't wait to see what happens to Tyrion in book 4. (Come to think of it, I have yet to write about A Storm of Swords!)

Ang lately I've been watching as many movies as I can just so I can free up some space in my external hard disk. But I only delete those which I find crappy (rom-coms, lewd comedy, etc.). And I'm still watching Elfen Lied and B't X. I can't wait to write reviews of those two, but many other things are vying for my attention at the moment.

For instance, I started to review my math lessons. And in between I wonder whatever possessed me to take up European Languages in the first place but then I realize that with my knowledge of many languages I can open up new worlds and expand the scope of my research and the like only I am a bit lazy or maybe I'm just lost as to where to start but I know I'll get there somehow since I believe enlightenment will come soon but it will be perfectly fine also if that never comes coz I'm so used to being such a wandering wonderer or maybe it is wondering wanderer? (I guess I owe it to my Spanish to be able to write a sentence which looks like a paragraph...)

Hoping to get busier in September. One of my trips got cancelled but it's okay. I can always travel some other time.

Casa Armas 08232013

After four consecutive days of working from home due to Typhoon Maring, we finally experience better weather and so I asked my friend E out for dinner in Greenbelt. The two of us have been food buddies since early this year and we make it a point to have dinner once in a while and catch up on each other's lives. I especially love the fact that we share many similarities. We both can't live without books, food (okay this is a necessity), cooking, and experiencing new things. The only big difference in our lives now is that E has found a possible love interest and I still am happily single.

That time, we opted for Casa Armas which is near my office. We had beans and beef stew which had generous tender beef pieces. This dish reminds me of my favorite monggo but the addition of beef adds extra flavor. The spanish sausage also included in the stew is nicely made though I can't seem to find anything special in it.

The tortilla española was also very good. It's got the usual small potato cubes and it feels like eating soft hash brown. What I like about this in particular is that it's not oily.

The Marinera spaghetti is a tricky one. At first glance I thought that maybe I wouldn't like it due to lack of color. (Okay, judge me for being judgmental!!!) It looks like Chinese birthday canton to me. I tasted a forkful and found very little flavor. But when I scooped up bits of seafoods, it feels like heaven.

We skipped dessert because we were very full.

No pics because we were so engrossed in our conversation about the academe, our careers, future plans, etc. that when food came, we just attacked and continued conversing.

Papa Bravo Romeo: Navy Patrol Boats at War in Vietnam (Wynn Goldsmith)

A week ago I finished reading another book related to the Vietnam War. I saw Wynn Goldsmith's Papa Bravo Romeo in Booksale a few months ago and even deliberated on whether to purchase or not since I still have a mountain of unread books at home (bibliophile's dilemma tsk). Since I greatly enjoyed The Tunnels of CuChi I ended up leaving the store with the book.

The book is a personal memoir about river warfare during the Vietnam War. While I don't find it exactly engaging, I gained a few insights after reading the book. There's naturally the hardships suffered, the usual politics in army hierarchy, the occasional musings on vacations, stories about comrades, etc., but the book is sadly lacking in the author's own views on the Vietnam War. He doesn't mention anything that shows his justifications for the war. The only thing that mattered is to stay alive and to defeat the Viet Congs whom they consider as the enemy. There was no reflections on how the American army was perceived by the Viet Congs, or anything like that. So in the end, the book is largely boring and too self-centered.