a sea of happy faces at HOOTERS by the bay...



The members of QUIAPO DVD,
the yahoogroup dedicated to all things DiBiDi,
were fortunate enough to get the best table in the House of Wings,

and we arrived early enough to meet the last lady left
from the U.S. Launch Team, the dazzling DIANA!!!



No wonder Aidan looked positively delighted.
I now know how the little dude felt at Hooters!



Speaking of which, I was talking to his awesome daddy,
and we were both bewildered by the sheer number of too-cruel
and vitriolic comments addressed to the Hooters Girls whose pictures
were posted in Anton's review in Our Awesome Planet.



There have been quite a number of uncalled for insults
from some "haters", and frankly, I don't see the need,
nor the relevance of these severely anti-Filipino comments.

True, not all of the Hooters Pinays might live up to that
"mestiza" ideal of beauty; but hey, to each his, or her own.

I saw most of the ladies up close, and met a few of them,
and they are, to a woman, all wonderful and very pleasant.

Our Hooters Girl MADEL was so nice,
and we took so many pictures with her,
we now want to put up her website!
(see post immediately below)



They have honest jobs, earn decent incomes,
and have lots of fun, and spread lots of smiles while at it.

And just because they don't all look like Marian Rivera,
they get insulted in ways that would make Simon Cowell cringe?

And insulted by their fellow Pinoys at that.

Malu Fernandez, what have you wrought?!?!?!



Seriously,
all you "Shallow Hals"?

SHUT THE F*CK UP!!!



My buddy Roque Jr. gave the most intelligent and fair-minded
assessment of the Hooters Girls:

"I thought the girls were great-looking and
ethnically representative of the Filipina;
whoever was hiring took efforts not to discriminate
against height, color and other physical features."

Excellent point, sir. I agree completely.




And after that spicy appetizer,
on to the main course:

THE ALMOST WORLD FAMOUS CHICKEN WINGS!!!



Forget the "Mild", ignore the "Medium";
go ahead and order the 20-piece "HOT" Wing platter.
I promise, you won't regret it:

just the right amount of heat,
extremely tasty & crispy skin,
and moist, tender meat.

Addicting, and perfect with my beloved Pale Pilsen.



And I love the fact that all tables
come equipped with these hefty napkins
for you to use after you lick your fingers!



Don't ignore the burgers either;
the burjer experts in our group were very pleasantly surprised
by the humongous all-beef patties;
juicy, and with just the right bite.






All San Miguel Beers at only P45.00,
bottomless iced tea and sodas for only P85.00,
The Best Chicken Wings in Manila, bar none,
and awesome Hooters Burgers...

a naughty but nice atmosphere
punctuated by hourly Y.M.C.A. dance dance revolutions,
a dozen plasma TVs showing the NBA play-offs,
a classic Rock and Roll soundtrack
(including "Those Magic Changes and other songs from GREASE!),

HOOTERS
really is our Happiest Place on Earth!!!



HOOTERS Philippines
San Miguel by the Bay, Mall of Asia

> it's the last building on the strip,
in the area behind the IMAX theater

www.hootersphilippines.com







p.s.


Yup, definitely an awesome view for the Pyro Olympics;
inside or outside Hooters, the sights are spectacular!

www.MADEL.com

Tuesday,
July 29, 2008
8:00 p.m.
Eastwood City

ticket prices:

* SUPER VIP (1ST 4 ROWS)
P5775

* VIP CENTER
P4515

* VIP RIGHT/LEFT (1ST 3 ROWS)
P4515

* VIP RIGHT/LEFT
P4190

* LOWER PATRON
P3413

* UPPER PATRON
P2625




This concert is freaking expen$$$ive!!!

And in an open-air venue right smack
in the middle of the rainy season?!?!!?

Is Paula Abdul the concert's promoter?


Now,
if it were a joint concert with this other American Idol rocker,

AND if it were in a venue with guaranteed dry seats,
then the too-high prices would be probably justified...

but no matter how exorbitant the cost,
I will be at the front row for this long-awaited concert,
and probably find myself seated right next to Roderick Paulate:

Friday,
August 1, 2008
8:00 p.m.
Araneta Coliseum



And the world's
2nd Most Gorgeous Piano Playing Sultry Singer:
(Sarah McLachlan still is my number one)

Tuesday,
August 5, 2008
8:00 p.m.
Araneta Coliseum




>>> Ticketnet : 911-5555

The three best and smartest sitcoms of recent years:

all have that special Seinfeld-ian ironic sensibility,
and that affection and appreciation for the truly absurd.


Thanks again, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer!!!

"The original Krispy Kreme doughnut,
filled with zesty strawberry or creamy blueberry,
hand-dipped in cream cheese icing,
topped with whipped cream,
glazed strawberries or blueberry,
and sprinkled with graham cracker crunch."

WOW.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
opens in the Philippines
on Independence Day, and then...


from Entertainment Weekly:

Marvel Studios has set a date for the sequel to
IRON MAN:

April 30, 2010

Meanwhile,
the comic-book-based entertainment company
has unveiled the roster of superhero movies
it plans to release during the next three years:

THOR
June 4, 2010
(with Stardust's Matthew Vaughn on board to direct)






The First Avenger:
CAPTAIN AMERICA
May 6, 2011

THE AVENGERS
July 2011
(bringing together the characters of
Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor
in one magnificent, marvelous movie)



and finally,
just to make the Marvel Purist happily geekified,
and to stay true to the very first Avengers comic book...

ANT-MAN
— In development
(with Hot Fuzz's Edgar Wright attached to write and direct)

"Excelsior!"

First up,

after aborting the initial plan to open at The Fort,
the real HOOTERS finally opened at the end of April
at "San Miguel By the Bay" over at the Mall of Asia.

Initial feedback hasn't been too great:
the Hooters Girls aren't gorgeous enough,
the World Famous Chicken Wings are too bland, and
the Hooters Girls aren't gorgeous enough.

My buddy Awesome Anton inadvertently created a firestorm
with this picture of the HOOTERS girls,
(the blondes of the U.S. Launch Team will only be there 'til mid-May)
one that disappointed a lot of the potential patrons
who didn't really intend to go there for the food...

(I'll be at Hooters this Friday night,
and I'm still optimistic that, just like the new COKE commercial,
I'll be singing "ANG SARAP DITO. . . aaahhhhhh!!!")




Next,
the restaurant I've been staking out ever since
my first taste of their unique steaks in Singapore,
PEPPER LUNCH!!!

It's going to open very very soon at the "Concourse Level"
(Rockwell's Gucci Gang term for "basement food court")
at the Power Plant Mall, where the old Shakey's used to be.

For updates on the exact opening date of this Carnivores' Paradise,
check out Chuvaness!!!

And last, but definitely not the least,
(specially in terms of calories)

KRISPY KREME's 7th Donut Haven
(after The Fort, Greenhills, Megamall, Trinoma, Mall of Asia, & Ayala Ave.)
opens in a few days at the Robinsons Galleria!!!

After the overwrought, over-dramatic Ang Lee version,
MARVEL comes roaring back with the definitive movie about
The Not-So-Jolly Green Giant!!!

And just like NICK FURY did in IRON MAN,
watch out for another way cool crossover:

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark
(brandishing a scotch, not clad in hot rod red)
makes a cameo appearance in

somewhere in QUIAPO this afternoon...

And now, I'm hooked!!!

This small delicateseen serves some of the most
delectable Chinese dishes this side of Binondo:



The unforgettable SHANGHAI FRIED RICE!!!

I loved this;
the consistency of the rice reminds me of the famous "wet paella",
and as an added bonus, the whole serving (good for two),
comes enrobed, crepe-like, in a scrambled egg wrap.

Scrumptious!!!




The outstanding BEEF HOFAN!!!

I had no idea what a "hofan" was,
but since Ajay recommended this, I was hopin' it was good;

and yes, it is definitely gooooood:
Hofan is an oriental version of Fettuccini,
basically, a wide, flat rice noodle.
The "pasta sauce", in this case, is very tender beef,
stir fried to perfection with spicy tendrils of green onions.



Definitely worth a return visit;
you can't beat attentive service, three kinds of Coke on the menu,
clean surroundings, and very affordable, very good food
(P120 for the rice, P150 for the noodles)...


and yes, I shall return,
if only to take pictures of plates
that haven't been ravaged and emptied!!!

p.s.

just click on the names of Ajay and Sakai above
if you want to see the My Home food porn pictures!

...exactly three days later, on April 22,
after years of praying and anxious waiting,

she finally got her approval for
Permanent Resident Status from the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.

'Viva il Papa!!!'


Enjoy the pictures my cousin took below;
no captions needed, just looking at them brought me back
to those inexplicably blissed-out goosebump moments
when I waved at Pope JP2 on Roxas Boulevard.

And according to BanANA,
Pope Benedict XVI has
exactly the same kind of blessed aura that
Pope John Paul II had.

I pray that he visits the Philippines soon,
GOD knows we need him now!!!