Only in the Philippines kaya?

This morning, a couple of Sky Cable servicemen arrived to hook up the extension to Mom's TV. It's an old JVC, so the television itself has long outlived its original remote control and one Sony universal RC. Anyway, just as she asked the cable guy if they happened to have one on them, a street hawker called out "REMOTE CONTROL DIYAN!" Talk about being at the right place, at the right time.

It was unbelievable.
Hysterical.
Uncanny.

Surely this could only happen in the Philippines?


*****

Here's a short list of interesting items you can purchase while stuck in traffic:

1. Fishing rods
2. Cowboy hats (available in black and red)
3. Remote controls

Lemme know if you see anything else. :-)

*****

Tonight's A.I. was so ho-hum. Lots of bad song choices, lots of shouting. Even Katharine McPhee was pretty disappointing. She did a Christina Aguilera song... considering a poll on her fan Web site reports that most of her fans are over 35, I'm sure many others were let down. I think her charm is that she's young but beyond her years--she can easily pull off jazz numbers, standards, and classic soul (her rendition of "Think" is one of my favorites)--so I don't think that contemporary is her niche. Oh well. Next week's show should be better. Nowhere to go but up.

Gaudi in the banyo

I've never been able to appreciate the style of Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. Call me a dilettante, but his work actually reminds of the house in the movie Casper... which actually isn't that far-fetched considering they both have Gothic elements. Anyhoo, my inability to see the beauty of Mediterranean Gothic notwithstanding, I just saw something on Luxist.com that I'd actually like to have -- a Gaudi-inspired toilet!


Quite the conversation piece, eh? Very unique, plus, it's designed to save water! Kinda reminds me of Casper, too... ;)

My A.I. Season 5 Favorites

This year's batch of Idol finalists is probably the best yet. It's really hard to pick favorites at this point--every singer deserves to be in the finals and as Paula said, it's anyone's game. But because it's always more fun to actually root for someone, I'm listing my personal favorites. Nothing against the other six contestants, they're still really great performers.


My Top 5:
1. Katharine McPhee - adore this girl and hope the show lets yet another female contestant win.
2. Elliot Yamin - love this guy's voice and even though he isn't good looking like Ace Young (rrrrrr...), he does have a certain appeal.
3. Chris Daughtry - though I'm not a big rock fan, Chris (close kami) really does stand out.
4. Lisa Tucker - honestly, Mandisa and Paris have been doing much better, but I've liked this kid since Day 1 and would like to see her grow...
5. Mandisa - although nakakasawa na the whole African-American diva thing, she's undeniably an incredible vocalist.

My Bottom 6:
6. Paris Bennett
7. Ace Young
8. Taylor Hicks
9. Kellie Pickler
10. Kevin Covais
11. Bucky Covington

Into India

Read past the half-mark of The Village Bride of Beverly Hills, a delightful piece of chick lit by Kavita Daswani; attended my first ashtanga yoga class in months; and capped the evening off with palak paneer, chola, chapatti, mushroom masala, and yummy hot chai at New Bombay along Dela Costa St.

All in all -- a very relaxing evening in celebration of solving a major problem at work. It was just what the doctor ordered. :)