with the economic crisis embattling the world today and the tides escalating prices of basic commodities, it’s just not conscientious to buy even the things we know are necessary, but not that necessary.
so today i’m trying to weigh the things i’ve been wanting to get. going head to head: warehouse wide-leg jeans vs. victorinox swisscard + funky cat zippo lighter.
contender no. 1
warehouse dark wash wide-leg jeans
i have mentioned in a previous entry that there are two clothing brands i trust for jeans. i already wrote about beyouk. well, the other brand is warehouse.
friends tell me a person can never have too many jeans. i used to say that this statement must come from someone who has no corporate dress code. when i moved to this other company some time ago, i unwittingly stepped into the only corporation which states in its lengthy and stringent fashion-forward dress code: jeans allowed (if paired with a dressy top). and i’m not talking about fridays only.
so now i’m thinking, can i really not have enough jeans in my life?
warehouse jeans at approximately 3,000.00 per pair. warehouse boutiques in galleria, shangri-la and greenbelt 5.
contender no. 2
this option is a tag team of:
first, the victorinox swisscard in translucent blue, black, red and green. not shown: pink and purple.
from the makers of the boy scouts’ tool-of-dreams, the swiss army knife, comes swisscard, the only multi-tool that fits in your wallet. with the dimensions of a credit card, this will render obsolete rummaging through your bag for small basics. this small formidable card contains:
this will organize my life because i’m always looking for: 1) scissors, 2) screwdriver, 3) tweezers, 4) ballpen and 5) ruler. straight pin occasionally. letter opener hardly. i don’t use toothpick. but still, right? i never know when a pointy thingy will come in handy.
second, this funky cat zippo in matte pink
i know, i know this would just help perpetuate a nasty habit, but please can’t i get something really cute while i’m being unhealthy?
but for the color pink (i’m really not into pink, sorry), this is the perfect cat lighter (come to think of it, how many cat lighters have i seen?). besides, i’ve always meant to get a zippo, why not make it this one? all my yosi buddies say it’s so worth it. one of them even carries to this day the zippo lighter his dad gave him before his dad kicked the bucket over ten years ago. way to teach your kid healthy habits, old man.
victorinox swisscard at around php1,200.00. zippo funky cat lighter at around php1,800.00.
now think… which of these choices would give me more bang for the buck? anyone could really use another pair of jeans. but the swisscard and lighter are two things i could use everyday.
maybe… i’d rather not buy any of them at all?
stepping out of the cinema on the premier night of x-men origins: wolverine, it suddenly occured to me to ask my husband about his preference: marvel or d.c.? he said he doesn’t take sides on that one.
d.c. vs. marvel. would you like to pick a side?
well, i lean towards d.c.. but that’s just me. not to say that i don’t like characters outside of the d.c. universe, but if i had to choose just one over the other, my choice is very clear. but, of course, there are other publishers, other remarkable characters which are worth more than your two cents in comic book conversations. and don’t forget manga and their die-hard fanboys.
so with that train of thought starting my morning today, i decided to post some of the lists i have collected, counting down the greatest comic book characters of all time. many just enumerate the top ten, others go as far as two hundred. for this blog’s mediocre purpose, let’s just stick to the top ten or twenty of some of these “hallowed” lists.
empire magazine’s greatest comic book characters of all time (top 20 of 50):
this, i found, had the most favorable comments from fanboys and readers. their biggest beef about it is merely the ranking of batman and superman (who they think should trade places in the 1 and 2 spots). other than that, there is pretty much a general consensus to it, notably to the fact that the entire list includes both mainstream and indie characters.
check it out, vote and join the forum! many readers think this guy should have been higher on the list.
i think this is the best-presented list online. brief trivia and write-ups about artists, costumes, t.v. and movie franchises make it the most informative and, by far, the most interesting. plus you get to vote whether you think a particular character should be higher or lower on the list. how fun is that?
discovery channel’s top ten comic book heroes of all time:
disclaimer: i am jotting this one down from memory. although i remember all ten characters very clearly,  i am completely sure of the position of only the first four. thus, i refuse to rank characters from five onwards.Â
judge dredd the hulk wonder woman witchblade akira tintin
i'm glad this guy made it to the list! go, snowy, go!
the list says heroes, not characters. i suppose that explains the absence of villains like the joker. i am also happy that they recognize akira and tintin, both outside the popular comic-turned-blockbuster movie field.
wizard magazine’s greatest comic book characters of all time (top 20 of 200):
as opposed to empire magazine, this list received the least favorable reactions from fanboys and readers, many of them succumbing to low-down profanities and shameless insults to describe the writers of wizard. they object to wolverine ranking the highest, many of them claiming no surprise if either superman, batman or spider-man took top honors; but wolverine? does this mean the magazine is losing its credibility?
shadowcat over this amazon princess? what do you think?
i may not be as well-informed as the rest of the “commenters”, but i would have to say putting logan above everybody else is a very short-sighted move. plus kitty pryde!? higher than wonder woman!? d.c. fanship aside… honestly? will wonders never cease.
bigsmudge.com’s top comic book characters (top 20 of 100):
SPOILER ALERT! for deadpool fans who love his ascerbic wit and comic awareness, they might be disappointed that he has been "silenced" by stryker in the movie, stitching his lips together.
taken mostly from online votes, no surprise here that most of these names come from extremely successful t.v. and movie franchises. but i’m quite happy to see deadpool and bane make it that high on the list. i’m just a little surprised why superman is beneath the top 5, heck, even lower than 10. could it be because many alpha readers don’t appreciate how his character and story were developed in smallville? just wondering.
as for me, taking everything into consideration (readership, longevity, t.v. and film, hobby shop presence, lunch box appearances, adam west in leotards, etc.), the batman tops my list. and to all the listmakers: seriously, no comedian??
how about you, who are your greatest comic book characters of all time?
there are these cloying hypothetical statements that go “if i had one million dollars, i would…”, which never fail to turn on the boredom in me. one million dollars is such an unchallenging number to fit your imagination into. first off, it’s a huge amount, so it enables you to rattle off just about everything you reasonably desire (shoes, clothes, jewelry, car, house, anything) and still have spare change left.
so to make us really think, let’s make the amount in consideration only php300,000.00.  that’s right, only three hundred thou of our good ol’ philippine pesos. if you had the chance to just waste all that money on stuff, what would you buy?
i would spend the money on:
this marc jacobs bag
www.marcjacobs.com
 a pair of stella luna pumps
animal print, pointed, gold heels. the bitchiest you can find.
a visa and eventually round trip tickets to japan
japan in spring
and since i’ll be traveling, a set of rimowa topas luggages including the cabin trolley and beauty case in this color
rimowa topas luggages in gold
then i’d still have enough left to buy my husband this collection of james bond dvd’s
james bond limited edition 40-dvd collection in attache case
 this sony ericsson xperia x1
techie dreams are made of
for my little girl, more books for her little touch leap pad
little touch leap pad from leapfrog educational toys
and all the polvoron she can get her hands on.
what would you buy with three hundred thousand pesos?
marc jacobs boutique in greenbelt 4; stella luna shoe stores in power plant, shangri-la and soon in glorietta 4; rimowa store in greenbelt 5;Â Â leapfrog educational toys available in all leading toy stores; if anyone knows where we can find the james bond dvd collection in the limited edition attache case around here, please tell my husband. please.
ladies hardly go into hardware stores, preferring to let their men do the shopping in places commonly associated with heavy lifting and strenuous pounding. but i actually like going into hardware stores, browsing through cabinet handles and doorknobs, rolling out small garden wheelbarrows and testing different colored bulbs and fluorescent lights. i’m not handy in home improvement, but having been raised in an environment of construction, i find myself quite at home browsing around tools and fixtures. plus, i am frequently surprised by the things i find.
our recent trip to the handyman diy store yielded the following items:
tweezers with led light
tweezer with led light is available in various colors. i got the green one.
i believe tweezers with light are also available in beauty stores (i have seen them online in sephora and other foreign retailers), but i haven’t seen much of them around here yet. the most serious challenge in plucking (aside from ingown hairs, of course), is finding adequate light source to help us weed out even the most hidden of hairs. as for me, i usually end up turning my face up against the sunlight or under fluorescent lights, which usually hurt my eyes after a while. so the tweezers with light is a happy solution to my age-old problem.
tide to go bleach pen
bleach pen for my messy little accidents
no matter how hard i twirl that spaghetti with my fork, my top still ends up mottled with tomato sauce. i guess i don’t have the chops to eat spaghetti clean. i love sauces, i let siomai wade in puddles of soy sauce and calamansi, and i am one of those jologs people who soup their rice with gravy in kfc, so anyone can tell that i am no stranger to food stains. fortunately, cleansers now come in marker form (it certainly looks like your average marker), small enough to carry in your purse. i won’t leave home without it, especially if i’m wearing white for the day. so bring on the kare-kare and bagoong, i can deal with the small accidents, no sweat.
bleach pens are also best for parents who go out with their babies and/or toddlers.
key caps with personality
these caps look like something you'd find in gift gate, not the handyman
if you’re someone who locks up everything and frequently fumbles for keys in confusion, typically taking two or three tries on the keyhole before landing the right fit, then you should seriously consider getting key caps. like me. these will help you tell your keys apart, thus saving you time and keeping you from frustration.
i know there are key disks you can buy in supply stores to color code your massive collection of keys, but how boring is that? i want to tap into my inner nerd and use glow-in-the-dark skeleton key caps.
glow-in-the-dark skeleton key caps
monkey and skeleton keys… get it? get it? oh sh**, i am a nerd.
we moved to a new flat last saturday, which meant big time packing was our weekend itinerary. while this is no big news to either my husband or me (we’ve lived off suitcases and boxes before, moving from one address to another), i am quite surprised by the volume of shopping bags we have amassed.Â
putting away the bags, i further realized just how stickler i am to brands. because aside from a few renegade paper bags, i can classify all the rest into only four categories: tyler, gingersnaps, loalde, stella luna.
tyler
tyler white top
tyler grape-colored top
my preeminent brand for uncommon styles. their outfits are so beyond typical, they can’t help but be remarkable; strangely enough though, they remain rational. that’s the charm of tyler, making real-world styles hang on the edge of couture. no one else can combine wearability and high fashion as flawlessly as this. tyler also in this entry.
gingersnaps
gingersnaps petal sleeves with rosebud prints. and badly cut bangs.
gingersnaps pale pink blouse with rosette and tie detail. light gray shorts with cuff and ribbons.
what can i say? i can’t resist the baby and toddler clothes at gingersnaps. unlike many other stylish kidswear brands (whose fashion philosophy is the brighter the better), gingersnaps makes good use of otherwise bold colors by muting them to dusty pastels and vintage patterns. their quirky prints make for the most disarming appeal, they’d make your child even more adorable than he/she already is.
loalde
loalde red mock turtleneck, three-fourths sleeves
my default blouses are all loalde. i’ve been loyal to their luxurious knits for over ten years now. all the ones i’ve had from years ago still look as good and as colored as when i took them off the store rack. plus they are very breathable outfits, making them ideal for even humid weather. loalde also in this entry.
stella luna
stella luna black heels with hidden laces, slingback, peep toe and red sole detail.
stella luna white heels with peep toe, sling back and cutaway sides
need i explain?
nine is a medical doctor and a fragrance junkie.
she was once a designer for a collection of handbags (together with the cousin) which was once featured in the lifestyle section of the inquirer. she also makes her own jewelry, all of which look as if a professional created them. and she cooks too. i often wonder how she squeezes in all these activities during those hours she’s away from the hospital. which is even hardly ever, in the first place.
now, this is a fetish. 61 bottles and counting. and to think she has given away quite a few already.
so there is no question as to who i rely on when i need fragrance advice. here is her email regarding perfume recommendations. i hope you find it useful too:
hey tessa! syempre, hindi pwede ang simple text para ibigay ko sayo yung list ng recommended scents ko for you. kasi may explanations pa! hehehe… here goes:
from my personal collection:
philosophy baby grace
Philosophy Baby Grace (this i love); but do also try Amazing Grace — I’ve been wanting to get this forever but syempre when I see another perfume that I like, naoovertake sya. Also try Falling in Love — it’s sweetish, medyo berry-ish, baka di mo gusto but well, who knows.
Burberry Brit Sheer: this one comes in the pink bottle with the Burberry plaid printed on it. What first attracted me to it was the bottle. Ang cute eh. Anyway, I like this scent, one of my fail-safe scents – yun tipong “I-don’t-know-what-scent-to-wear-today” days, this is what I wear.
Burberry London: this is more floral-y than fresh, but I like that it’s very long lasting and doesn’t turn sour on me. A few sprays lang in the morning and I rarely have to re-apply during the day.
clean line of fragrances
Clean (for women) and Clean Fresh Laundry: I discovered this scent when I was in the US around 4 years ago. Saw the ad in a magazine and rubbed the sample on my wrist. It did smell very soapy pero I was intrigued! Never got the chance to try it there but was pleasantly surprised to find it available in Rustan’s some time later. The line has a basic clean, soapy note, from which the other variants take off from. I like both (the original Clean for Women and Clean Fresh Laundry). The other variants Clean Provence has a touch of lavender (hence the name) and Clean Sweet Layer is candy-ish sweet but still has that “Clean” base. Anyway, they also have stuff for guys which smell good as well.
Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue: this is a bit citrusy, but not overtly so, though. Hints lang. It is mixed with green notes and some musk in its base. I love this. It’s actually perfect for Manila weather because it doesn’t turn masangsang even if it’s really hot. It is popular, though- a lot of ladies like this so you’ll probably end up smelling like the next girl, but who cares? Hehehe. This really smells lovely. > If you do end up liking this, a less expensive alternative is Moschino I Love Love: it smells like a D&G Light Blue dupe; Also similar-smelling is Body Shop’s Apple Blossom pero i think this is a limited edition scent eh, pero it smells so much like Light Blue.
l'eau par kenzo pour femme
L’eau Par Kenzo: I think I used up 2 bottles of this in college! It’s fresh, with just a hint of sweetness — there is also that green note to it, which i think is mint…or something…basta I loved this in college. Kaya I was so happy my mom got this for me recently when she went on one of her trips abroad.
Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels “Heavenly”: This one naman is fresh, powdery. A lot of people compliment me when I wear this. I saw a bottle of this on Samantha Jones’ dresser in one Sex and the City episode. Trivia lang. Haha.
bulgar omnia amethyste
Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste; Bvlgari Pour Femme; Bvlgari The Vert; Bvlgari au The Blanc: ** Actually Omnia Amethyst lang yung meron ako; the others my mom has/or had; I love all of these especially yung Pour Femme and Eau Fraiche; Basta siguro spend more time at the Bvlgari counter and try them ksi generally Bvlgari has some really great perfumes. ** they also have Petit et Mamans for babies (hint hint for baby girl haha sosyal na bata)
L’Occitane The Vert (Green Tea): I think I finished a bottle of this back in Med School. As with the name of course, green tea talaga sya. It’s one of the better green tea scents along with Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Bvlgari. The scent doesn’t change even if it’s mainit, I think it even smells better as the day progresses. ** Speaking of L’Occitane, they have a new scent called Cherry Blossom (ops, wait before you say “I don’t like fruit scents”) which is not really a cloying, sickeningly sweet cherry scent. It’s a really pretty fragrance–very girly girl. I actually do not have this yet but I am raring to get one. It has two variants, one is Summer, and the other is Spring (I forgot which one I like, pero it’s the lighter one of the two).
For some lower end ones….
Bath and Body Works Sheer Freesia Bath and Body Works Freshwater Cucumber Bath and Body Works Sea Island Cotton Nina Fragrances (theninaaffair.multiply.com) – My Secret Potion (this smells like Escada Sexy Graffitti); I finished a whole bottle of this since I loved this one, mura pa. P480 i think. They sell this also at True Love in Galleria.
Feeling ko madami pa ko gusto i-add pero baka maloka ka na. Ito na muna. Btw, remember my free perfume from Guerlain, yung My Insolence? I sprayed some on my wrist and it smells sooooooooo good. Baka type mo din, FYI.
This is Nine, the scent junkie, signing off. Mwah!
then a few minutes later, she appends the email with:
Symepre may P.S. pa!
jennifer lopez still
J.Lo Still and J.Lo Glow: I owned and finished a bottle of Glow and gave my mom Still as a bday present before. I love them both but I think Still smells better. Don’t be turned off that these are “celebrity scents” pero these two are just too good to pass up.
Nine C. C., MD
of these recommendations, i am most intrigued by the clean line of fragrances and l’eau par kenzo. if anyone else has tried these, please drop us a line and tell us all about it.
when ryan seacrest announced earlier this season that the american idol judges have a one-time saving power to preserve an otherwise eliminated contestant, i cocked my head, turned to mystik and, like a serious psychic, boldly predicted, “matt giraud will get the lowest number of votes one day and the judges will save him.”
last week, they did just that. which proves i am carefully attuned to tachyons, thus the sharp deductive powers. go, me!
well, it wasn’t that tough to guess. he is obviously not a viewer favorite. he is, after all, in the final round as a wildcard. he is obviously a judge favorite. and the four panelists have expressed their liking a great many times.
so… not a fan favorite + judges’ favorite = lowest number of votes + save.
how could you not like the guy? he’s a dueling piano player for crying out loud.
from dueling pianos:
A dueling piano bar is typically a small nightclub that centers around two grand pianos positioned back to back with two pianists facing each other. The pianists play songs based on requests from the audience. Patrons write their requests on request forms or any piece of paper they can find and put them on top of the pianos. The piano players then get to work on playing as many requests as they can – usually starting with the requests that have cash attached to them. Cash tips that accompany the requests range from $1 to $100 depending on how badly the patron wants to hear their song – or how drunk they are.
other articles further say that dueling piano players greatly entertain and humor the audience, you can’t help but take part in what’s going on. which means, if matt giraud does such a vastly entertaining job for a living, he must have the makings of a marvelous performer. though, honestly, i have yet to see those charismatic traits on stage. if he is what i imagined a dueling piano player would be, he would have breezed through the competition with no effort. but looks like his chances are putting up a fight.
who is your favorite american idol contestant this season? who do you think will win?
during a recent trip to cebu, i was careful not to dine in places i can find in manila. one of the unique experiences you can find in cebu is eating in houses that owners turn into restaurants… or, well, establishments that serve both residential and commercial purposes, where the proprietors live upstairs and the customers dine downstairs.
two of my favorites of this kind are handuraw and casa verde.
handuraw looks like an outdated residence juxtaposed with indie art and alternative rock music. i automatically belong there because they play gin blossoms, collective soul and stone temple pilots.Â
this is handuraw:
handuraw entrance
dining area and art pieces
they also have bookshelves within the dining area
they serve buffet, aside from the usual ala carte menu.
this pizza!
you have to try the thin-crust pizza. just thinking about it now makes my mouth water. i’m serious.
thin-crust pizza
and they don’t gyp you on the toppings. each bite guarantees a mouthful of different tastes.
imitation mojos. tastes good too.
ok, we know the name mojo potatoes are trademarked under a global brand, but if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, shakey’s should be proud. handuraw has its own take on the mojos and they taste good too.
this is casa verde:
casa verde in ranudo ext.
although located in an area right in the middle of uptown cebu, casa verde is quite a challenge to locate. it is situated along a less-traveled side street off the city’s main thoroughfare. it also doesn’t help that the entrance is surrounded by foliage, but if you just keep your eyes in where’s waldo? mode, you would definitely spot the wooden sign nestled among the greenery.
casa verde entrance
non-aircon dining area
one of the aircon dining rooms
i have a staple diet here: bliss and mushrooms with pitcher of lemonade. bliss and mushrooms is a rice meal of beef tenderloin tips, bacon bits and button mushroom slices in a gravy-like sauce poured into a well of rice.
bliss and mushrooms is bliss
my friend’s staple food here is: brian’s ribs. or something that sounds like that. no, it’s not made of brian’s ribs, that’s just gruesome. it’s a hefty serving of big slabs of pork ribs, spread lavishly with their trademark tangy-sweet sauce.
brian's(?) ribs on an extra-large plate
in my last trip, i only recently discovered their potato skins. halved medium-sized potatoes, hollowed in the middle but still fleshy. topped with a generous amount of cheese, bacon bits and spring onions. served with a sour cream dip.
potato skins and glass of lemonade
you end your meal with some of their signature desserts, like death by chocolate (sorry, no photo). it may not be decadent enough for some chocoholics, because it also comes a in white chocolate variety. talk about sweet tooth. just think, it’s rocky road ice cream with a thick layer of crunchy chocolate. i actually love this one. mmmm… chocolate….
while you let all that gluttony digest for a while, why not hang around the garden or the open terrace?
by one of the house's lamp-posts
just sitting around after the meal
a lot of green
what kind of charm does a house/restaurant serve its guests? it makes you just take it eeeeeasy. somehow, you want to slow-mo your experience because it makes you feel like you’re home. and your home serves you fancy dishes.
 so if any of us have old-school houses and excellent culinary skills, let’s put up a house/restaurant. if we have more of these, maybe we wouldn’t always be in such a flustered rush.
Gone are the days of begging mum or dad for coins so you could rush to the single arcade game that stood outside the corner store, so you could belt and mash the directional stick, hammer the buttons and take on all rivals and claim your prize as the neighborhood champion.
Kinda the same now? I don’t think so. Most time you sit at the arcade, it is feared that a person eye snipes you from the corner, sits down just as you swipe your game card, only to play one round until a Challenger comes along and PWNS! you (usually a young Asian kid ten years your junior).
That’s why I decided to purchase a Playstation 3 so I could sit in the comfort of High Definition glory and battle away like there’s no tomorrow.
With the advancement of technology, classic arcade games have gone through some major revamps, but now the memories of yesterday come flooding back with my latest purchase. With new graphics overhaul and in-game features, I am arcade-happy as I sit in my lounge and immerse myself in the true glory of STREET FIGHTER IV.
A New Beginning
 From the classic Street Fighter. And after a gazillion sequels, the classic is back with a host of new features all wrapped up in the stunning art of japanese ink painting, close to the PS2 marvel Okami.
Original characters like Ryu, Ken, Sagat and Guile from the SF II series make their appearance, as well as new characters who will provide a good challenge to any player.
Visually Stunning
IGN.com rates the game 9.3/10 and I agree with the verdict. I personally miss a few characters who are not in the game after Street Fighter Alpha 3, but something’s gotta give.
*From IGN*
Capcom has managed to strip away the baggage that has accumulated around the series over the years and returned to the franchise’s roots. The result is a game that plays very much like a purified, simple fighter — but with several modern enhancements to enrich the combat. If you’ve been playing Street Fighter for years, this game will feel like an old friend. If you’re completely new to the scene, Street Fighter IV is a great place to start.
Click here for full IGN review.
With new game systems like Focus Attacks, the Super meter and the Ultra meter. Classic gameheads and new game addicts can spend hours kicking butt, and with the online battle front, who knows, you could just be back to being the neighborhood legend you once were, but this time on a world-wide scale.
Happy Gaming, people.
Are you a world warrior?
Love, Peace and Inspiration
Mystik
P.S DOTA and WoW?? Puhleeease! you can stick that where the sun don’t shine.
we have winners of the chapstick contest! each of these five readers gets one (1) chapstick ultra and one (1) cherry chapstick:
and since we love to give away stuff, we’re giving away chapstick ultra to five more entries! each of these readers will get one (1) chapstick ultra:
congratulations, girls! please wait for our email requesting for your full name and complete address.
thank you to everyone who participated in our little contest! please keep posted for more prizes.
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