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Beyonce had to stuff herself and gain 20 pounds when she took the part of Etta James in the movie Cadillac Records. I was trying to look for a good pic of Beyonce in the movie to see how far she went. The closest pic I got didn’t look bad. She still looked voluptuous and sexy . . . darn it!

According to the sexy singer, gaining weight was so much fun (really?). The irritating part was having to lose it when she landed a role in the psychological thriller Obsessed. She had to go on a strict diet — no junk food, no chips, no candy and nothing fried. No wonder it was hard. Still, she managed to lose it to prepare for the role.

Beyonce also claims she is done being a pop star. Her goal is to be an icon like Diana Ross. It’s a tough act to follow. But with the way her career is moving at the moment, it is a possibility.

On our last day at the office, my friends and I decided to go to Chef Donatello at SM Megamall for lunch.  It was the only restaurant that wasn’t full.  Unfortunately, there was a valid reason it wasn’t full.  It was the worst eating experience I’ve had for a long time now.  It’s a fast food Italian resto where all of the waiters and cashiers were untrained.  I would’ve willingly shelled out big dough at Italianni’s had I known the horror we would go through.

First off, 4 of my friends at the end of the line were offered a seat already assuring them that their “specialist” would just handle their orders.  I consider that discrimination since the three of us at the start of the line had to queue to the cashier to pay for our orders.  When it was my turn, they didn’t have any change for a 500 bill and informed me that the change would be given once my order was served.  Those who made their orders through the specialist, however, had to wait for a full 15 minutes to get their orders which included soup that was just at the counter and salad that didn’t need any cooking.  One officemate ordered ceasar’s salad but the specialist returned to him asking him if he would prefer the chef’s salad because the cashier mistakenly punched it instead.  She even went on babbling that it tasted better.  We all looked at her like she was from another planet and reminded her that he wanted ceasar’s salad and that the cashier can remedy her mistake.  The salad was served without dressing and when my friend inquired whether it was already dressed, the waiter told him that he had to choose the dressing. This was of course several minutes already since it was served.  My other officemate, on the other hand, was informed 15 minutes later that the pesto was not available and had to change his order to hamburger with fries.  His order came another 15 minutes later but was changed to herb and spice without his permission — I guess they forgot he changed his order to a hamburger.  Except for tacky comments and a lot of laughter, we let it go and knew we would not make the mistake of eating there again.

The restaurant’s biggest mistake happened to me.  We had been there for almost an hour and we left in a hurry.  On the way back, I remembered I missed my change because I noticed I did not have smaller bills in my wallet.  I returned to the cashier asking her if she had given me my change already.  She smiled and told me it was with the waiter.  The waiter came to me taking out my change from his pocket.  I was fuming mad and screamed at all of them to just close shop for the love of God.  I was about to hurl more damaging words except that the cashier seemed almost ready to cry and everyone of their patrons were staring at us.

Since I told you my worst eating experience, let me tell you about the best one I had recently.  There is this small restaurant in Pasig City called Cafe Juanita that serves the most delicious food and provides the most exquisite service I have had.  We were a group of 12, yet when our drinks arrived, the waiter did not have to ask where each drink belonged.  He served the drinks like he could read it on our foreheads.  My table was a little wobbly and another waiter came to me asking if it was moving.  I said it was ok since it was not bothering me.  He dismissed my response and came back to remedy the situation as soon as possible.  One of our entrees was sinigang na maya maya.  After 5 minutes, a waiter returned to us with the sinigang broth in a small cup requesting that we taste the broth so the chef can make adjustments if we wished.  I’ve eaten in some 5-star hotels that can’t even match this service. 

Now, how does that compare with the first experience I narrated?  I know that Chef Donatello is a fast food joint.  But since their food cost almost twice as McDonald’s, I was expecting better.  Besides, I never had that experience in any fastfood restaurant.  Until now, I can still feel the angry heat that went all the way up to my head.  It’s a good thing the year is almost ending.  I would not want that to be a preview of what 2008 would be like for me.  By the way, I forgot to tell you, the “specialist” at Chef Donatello also approached our table to ask if we had a senior citizen’s card.  Trust me, I was the youngest at 38 but none of us on that table looked anywhere beyond 50 years old.  Happy New Year to all!

In the latest preliminary police report on the Glorietta 2 Mall explosion, the authorities have expressed serious doubts that the incident was a bombing attack as earlier reported. As there was no bomb crater nor fragments of improvised bomb explosive device found at the scene, the theory is that it might very well in fact be due to the “accidental mixing of diesel vapor and methane gas in the mall’s basement”. If this information is to be believed, then the criminal liability (for negligence) will now be shifted to both the mall owner and the city government. On the other hand, the Ayala Land spokesperson has vehemently defended against the initial police findings that the diesel fuel tanks and sewerage system of the mall was the cause of the explosion. As of writing, Makati Mayor Binay has reportedly ordered a separate and independent investigation to determine the real cause of the explosion.

While finger-pointing seems to be a trend nowadays, the inescapable truth remains that several innocent lives were taken and hundreds were injured and perhaps, will be scarred for life. And while the real cause of the blast remains a mystery, we will have to rely upon several photos that were taken at the scene immediately after the incident, to draw our sad conclusions. The snapshots shown below provide evidence of the extent of the damage to the building and the vehicles parked around the area, as well as some of the lifeless bodies buried under the rubbles of Glorietta 2. These photos do not lie, and say only one thing, and that is: a crime was committed, and someone has to pay for it.

[Click thumbnail to enlarge image. Warning: some photos can be very graphic]

Properties damaged

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Forty-four days after former Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of plunder, the deposed President is now set to accept and sign the order of executive clemency issued last night by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, current President of the Philippines. Previously, the legal team representing Erap withdrew the Motion for Reconsideration which they filed 15 days after the conviction was promulgated, and instead sent a petition letter to GMA asking for presidential pardon. The lady President didn’t waste time and just a few days after, issued the clemency with a condition that Mr. Estrada will distance himself from politics from hereon.

When the conviction first came out in September 12, 2007, I surely believed that an executive pardon is far from happening, at least not in the next 4 years, not when GMA is still the President. I was dead wrong, because it didn’t even take 4 months, but barely 44 days and now the “agreement” is a done deal. Read the rest of this entry »