Oscars 2013

I would be lying if I told you that the Oscars isn’t one of my greatest addictions.

Waking up early in the morning and sitting in front of the TV set with my cousin and my Lolo beside me just to watch the Oscars is a yearly ritual that started when I was a little girl, which I still practise today… Only, Lolo’s not in the picture any more, and because of school, I resort to watching evening encore telecasts. But still, it’s the same thing. I won’t make it through the year sanely without getting to watch the Oscars.

From the red carpet reports and interviews to the ceremonies, I couldn't help myself but feel giddy, nervous, and whatnot on Oscars Day.

This year’s Academy Awards is one of those that I’d like to call “special”, simply because it’s the first time that I got to see ALL of the Best Picture nominees, and I must say that every single entry in the category is deserving in their own way. But as it always has been, only one will win, and this year, it’s Argo.

Argo’s win is no surprise to me nor to anybody else at all – that’s for sure. It’s a great film, with a nice story, with a hot director, and it swept every major awards show this year with such consistency, winning every best picture award there is. So, bagging the naked gold man at the end of the night shouldn't be anything near unexpected at all.

Daniel Day-Lewis made history today after winning his third Best Actor Oscar for the film Lincoln. Meryl Streep presenting the award is a premonition itself, as she is the Academy’s record-breaking actress, having three wins under her name – two for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Best Actress win for Silver Linings Playbook is an obvious one as well. I’m not saying that the other nominees in the category are no match for her, because Amour’s Emmanuelle Riva (who turned 86 on Oscar Night) is amazing and Jessica Chastain’s performance in Zero Dark Thirty is also very much worthy of the award. But there’s just something in Jennifer that delivered, which made her stand out. And if you’ll ask me, it’s because she’s a natural.

I was very much close to tears when Ang Lee was announced as this year’s Best Director for Life of Pi. He truly deserved it after creating a film based on a story that was once deemed as “unfilmable” – such is an incredible and a very brave move that few film makers of today will take.

Here are some other things I want to say:

Seth MacFarlane is not a good host. Sorry.

Although this sparked much hate over the web, I loved seeing Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart present the award for Achievement in Production Design. It's not everyday that you get to see a Boy Wizard and a Girl Vampire on the same stage, y'know?

Anne Hathaway’s Best Supporting Actress win made my mum cry. 

Adele’s sultry performance of “Skyfall” is beyond words spine-tingling.

Suraj Sharma, who Ang Lee called a “miracle” in his acceptance
speech, looked very dapper. Oh, God, I love him. We’ll get married someday. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Can I take this chance to say how gorgeous
Jessica Chastain’s Armani Prive gown is? Very.

And this chance to say how much I love Anne Hathaway’s 
Prada gown? So much. She even reminds me of Audrey Hepburn...

Life of Pi totally deserved its 4 wins – the most for this year.

The number of Les Misérables gave me goosebumps again!

The Malfoys got it big in the Oscars! LOL :))

Why does Quentin Tarantino look and sound drunk
whenever he delivers his acceptance speeches?

Lincoln winning only 2 out of its 12 nominations must be an upset.

Emmanuelle Riva definitely looks a hundred
times younger than her age.I just LOVE her!

Seeing Norah Jones perform “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” was quite a treat!

Jennifer Lawrence falls - big deal!

Steven Spielberg didn’t win – haha!

*Note: I do not own any of these photos.

♥Andz

Music Thursday: Going for the Gold

The Oscars is less than a week away, and to heighten the excitement, I have decided to celebrate Music Thursday by posting the songs from the Best Original Song category. 

Enjoy :)

SKYFALL 

from Skyfall 

Music and Lyrics By: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Performed By: Adele

After bagging numerous awards - from the Critic's Choice to the Golden Globes - Skyfall appears to be the sure fire winner in the category. Well, nobody can deny Adele's artistry, and her sultry delivery of the song  is simply captivating.

BEFORE MY TIME

from Chasing Ice

Music and Lyrics By: J. Ralph

Performed By: Scarlett Johansson and Joshua Bell

The fact that this song was partly sung by Scarlett Johansson surprised me. I didn't know that she sings! Anyway, I really like the feel of this track, and its lyrics are written really well. However, I do not see this one winning the naked gold man on the 24th. 

EVERYBODY NEEDS A BEST FRIEND

from Ted

Music and Lyrics By: Walter Murphy and Seth McFarlane

Performed By: Norah Jones

I dunno if it's the Seth McFarlane factor or this song just reminds me of Family Guy. But whatever! Everybody Needs A Best Friend is the only nominated song that you can call "fun", and that can be considered as an edge. Who knows? This might just be the dark horse in the category.

PI'S LULLABY

from Life of Pi

Music and Lyrics By: Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri

Performed By: Bombay Jayashri

Perhaps, it would be fair enough to say that Pi's Lullaby brings a different flavour to the category. It's sung in Tamil and the French twang in its melody makes it stand out. I personally love this song, but the controversy behind this track might just break its possibility to win.

SUDDENLY

from Les Misérables

Music and Lyrics By:  Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boublil, and Claude-Michel Schönberg
Performed By: Hugh Jackman

Specially written for the film, Suddenly doesn't deviate from the rest of the songs in Les Misérables. It's got the same emotional vibe to it that's very likeable amongst musical theatre fans, but I don't see it winning the Oscar trophy either.

♥Andz

Adventures in Old Manila

8 February - Friday

Binondo, Manila

Trying not to stick to the reviews section of my class' magazine (which we decided to call "Spectrum"), I joined our team of Chinese New Year correspondents - if you could call them that - to break free from my writing comfort zone and, also to go explore one of Old Manila's biggest prides: Manila Chinatown.

Established in the 1590's by the Spanish for Catholic Chinese inhabitants, Manila Chinatown is the oldest in the world, and is named one of the best by CNN in 2012.

It was around 12 noon when we arrived in Binondo, and the heat was intense! The sun was incredibly hot, the car exhausts were suffocating, and making our way through the sea of people in the packed side streets (without getting hit by a motorcycle or a car) was quite a task.

With all the pre-Chinese New Year preparations being made, Manila Chinatown was, indeed, one of the busiest places in the country at the time. Vendors selling round fruits and lucky charms lined the streets; bakeries and delis overfilled with customers; and tourists were everywhere!

We had lunch at President Grand Palace Restaurant, courtesy of Jinger and her Auntie, who kindly spared our wallets' lives. The food was extremely yummy - I'll leave it like that, cos we have to write a separate article for that.

After buying some pasalubong for our folks at home (yep, tikoy, hopia, pansit - you name it!), we dropped by the ancient 400-plus-year-old Binondo Church to say some prayers.

Street signs have never been this interesting

A street vendor selling round fruits, which are believed to
bring luck

A young girl selling lucky charms by the busy
pre-Chinese New Year street

A salesman of the famous Eng Bee Tin shop
assisting customers with their tikoy and hopia
needs

Some lucky charms arranged and displayed on a table along
Ongpin Street

A lucky charms shop overfilling with customers

The Salazar Bakery

Shoppers doing their noontime bakery runs 

Incense sticks and prayers

The façade of  President Grand Palace Restaurant

My Chinese New Year Section buddies :)
Jinger, Daniel, Yna, and PL

And then that would be me, Charry, Kai, and Jica

9 February - Saturday

Intramuros, Manila

My adventure in Old Manila didn't stop in Binondo. The next day, I headed to Intramuros to meet with my Stargirls, Felis and Lanie, who I terribly miss.

We usually hang out at the mall (eat out or something), but this time, we wanted a change, so we took a historical walk trip around Intramuros with nothing but a map in our hands.

I went to Intramuros a lot as a kid, since it's where my parents used to work. But when my mum started teaching and my pa earned a scholarship to study in the UK, my visits to the Walled City were cut short, until I just stopped going there, so it was really nice to see the place again.

We began our walk trip in Fort Santiago, and then made our way to the Manila Cathedral - which is under renovation - church-hopped to San Agustin Church, and then crossed the road to Casa Manila.

My God, Intramuros has changed a lot since the last time I saw it! If there's a word to describe it, I would say lovely. The people were lovely, the sights to see were lovely, and everything else was lovely! 

I especially liked Casa Manila, which I never got to see before. It's definitely not my dream house, but just going around the Casa was like taking a step back in time. The antiques were simply exquisite!

There were also a lot of foreign tourists - some coming from India, Taiwan, and even from Russia! Apart from Boracay, I've never been to a place in the Philippines with so many foreigners! 

Just before twilight, after having our merienda at Barbara's, we finally took the pedicab (our legs got really tired from walking for hours and hours) to Puerta de Parian, so we could chill on the walls of Intramuros.

I'll tell you what, I'm not really afraid of heights, but the sloped walls we had to sit on (and eventually lie on) really got my innards flipping a bit. Anyhow, the place was really nice. Students from the neighbouring universities and just regulars were seated on the walls, playing music, chatting, and all that.

I wish I could write this post better, but words can't simply tell how wonderful my time was in Intramuros with my Stargirls.

You can pick up guide books at the Intramuros Visitor's Center
in Fort Santiago - the perfect place to jumpstart your walk trip 

Rizal's "footsteps" 

My Stargirl Melanie

Me :)

And my other Stargirl, Felis

Lanie emoting in the Rajah Sulayman Theater

Felis' candid photo

I should stop adding captions to my photos...

In front of the Manila Cathedral - which is being renovated

The cobble stone streets of Intramuros are as lovely as ever!

You are now entering the courtyard of Casa Manila

Waiting for Romeo :P

With a super tall kuya guard in his guardia civil uniform
(minus the hat)

While taking a pedicab ride to the walls of Intramuros

Just chillin on the wall ;)

♥ I love my Stargirls ♥

♥Andz