Tally 2

Noong nakaraang ika-24 ng Marso ay isinulat ko dito ang bilang ng mga nabasa kong libro at napanood kong mga sine noong nakaraang taong iyon. Ngayon naman ay ililista ko ulit ang mga nagawa ko simula noong araw na iyon hanggang sa ika-24 ulit ng Marso ngayong 2008...
21 - mga napanood kong pelikula sa mga sinehan (tumaas mula sa 17 dati)
13 - mga nabasa kong libro/novel (bumaba mula sa 17 dati)
17 - mga nabasa kong graphic novel (bumaba mula sa 25 dati)
5 - mga nabasa kong textbooks (tumaas mula sa 1 dati)
13 - mga libreng konsiyerto na napanood ko (bagong kategorya)

Isang dahilan marahil kaya kumaunti ang nabasa kong pocketbook ay sa pagbabasa /pag-aaral ko ng textbooks. Gaya rin ng naisulat ko dati, marami-rami akong libro na nabili na ngunit hindi pa nababasa, mistulang "backlog" ng mga gusto kong basahin.

Indiana Jones

The 4th Indiana Jones movie is a good movie worth watching. It still has that same feel to it as before. It would have been better though if the cable networks and local channels showed again the previous Indy movies prior to the new one's release.

shirt tales: A slightly older man wearing a shirt that says "Overused Cock" in front... at the back is a picture of a tattered badminton shuttlecock. :-)

FlapJacks

Barely a month old, FlapJacks at Greenbelt 2 is slowly getting it's fair share of clientele. Probably because of the chance to eat at someplace new, as well as the eye-catching yellow, orange and violet colors of it's sign board, people are getting drawn to it...

FlapJacks prominently boasts of "Good Food. All Day." under their logo. It further promises "famous breakfasts, super lunches, great dinners" as written on the walls inside the restaurant. Looking at the menu, FlapJacks offers pancakes, omelettes, soups and salads, breakfast (griddle) combinations, burgers and sandwiches, coffee/shakes/softdrinks, and the usual lunch/dinner meals (ribs, porkchops, etc.). Prices are moderately high.

I went there for dinner with my sister. The place itsself was clean, well-lit, and cozy enough. We tried out their Baby Back Ribs (with fries and coleslaw siding) and their Original Hash Brown Burger (with garden salad on the side). The food came in lukewarm. The ribs were okay but the fries were a bit soggy and the coleslaw did not taste good. The hash brown was not crispy and the burger was medium rare. I asked a server how their usual burger is cooked and she said it was medium well. In retrospect, I later suggested in their service survey that they really should offer to their customers how they would want their burgers cooked.

Being new to the job, the servers were kind of jittery and kept on asking or getting food/plates even when we were still obviously not finished with the dish. They politely ask but they could not seem to wait for the reply and were already motioning towards getting plates away. Bordering on pesky and looking overstaffed, the servers were generally courteous though. Most of the female servers were also cute, thereby somewhat offsetting the above comment. :-p

We also later tried out their Fluffy Pancakes that can either come in stacks of 3s, 5s, or 8s. We had a Triple Chocolate Chip 3s and it was quite delicious. Served warm, these were chocolate-filled pancakes that were topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkled with chocolate chips. This (pancakes) was really their strong point. They even offer sugar-free syrup (Home Brand).

I took out a Country Chicken Fried Steak for my mom. They have a really nice take-out paperbag. I had a taste while my mom was eating the chicken and it was much better than the burger.

All in all, I'd rate it 2.5 (out of 5) at present. They are really probably "famous" for their breakfasts and that is something to look forward to if ever I get a chance to have breakfast there in the future. I hope they get to improve on their service and their food items as they get the hang of it. I guess it would be okay to suggest to try it out. Don't wear a yellow collared shirt though, because that is what the servers wear. They also have a branch in Robinson's Ermita, by the way.

tedbits...
...I also tried Slammer Burgers (Jalapeno) recently and it was quite good (mildly hot).
... celebrity sighting: Tim Yap at Fely J's Restaurant in Greenbelt 5, looked like he was featuring it for a show.

catching up..

Iron Man is the latest Marvel comic book hero to be made into a movie. The movie story is somewhat similar to the comic book origin of Iron Man, but adapted to the present day and age. The 2 hour long movie is rated PG-13 and has already made a killing in the box office. It has also gotten mostly favorable reviews, for the simple fact that it is an entertaining action film. Robert Downey Jr. makes a good Tony Stark/Iron Man and the rest of the cast give adequate support. Stan Lee also has his usual cameo appearance.
If you are planing to watch it, finish the credits because there is still a scene at the end (hinting at a sequel)...


I also watched the animated DragonLance (Dragons of Autumn Twilight) DVD movie recently. It features the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Lucy Lawless, and Michael Rosenbaum among others. Being a fan of the DragonLance series as well as being a D&D gamer, I was able to tolerate the low-rate animation and instead focused on the story itself. It has been ages since I last read the book it was based on but the movie really tried to stay true to the original. I was thinking that the probable rationale behind this animated movie was really to see how it would look like if it was made into a real action movie (remember the animated LOTR movies before the Peter Jackson's blockbuster Trilogy?)...


I received this book as a birthday gift... Now, Discover Your Strenths Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton. I don't really understand why I was given the book but I read it anyway.

This (management) book essentially states that "each person's greatest room for growth is in the area of his or her greatest strength". Based on the authors' research at the Gallup Organization on more than a million respondents, they were able to glean this management strategy that has been employed by most successful managers. Instead of focusing on one's weaknesses and trying to overcome these, the book focuses on how to know your strengths and then how to put these to work in a strength-based organization. There is a online component of the book at www.strengthsfinder.com where answering a questionnaire can reveal your top 5 strengths/talents.
According to that online survey, my (top) 5 strengths and a short description of what they mean:
1. Restorative - I love to solve problems.
2. Input - I am inquisitive.
3. Learner - I love to learn.
4. Analytical - I challenge other people to prove their ideas.
5. Intellection - I like to think.