Hangover: Alcohol Appendix

• The reason why we sometimes have memory loss, splitting headaches and loss of focus when consuming excessive amounts of alcohol is because our body over-produces a chemical known as Cytokines. Actually, the body uses these cells to fight infections. But an overdose of cytokines can cause muscle pain and headaches.

• Why do they say that red wine is good for the heart? Because it contains Resveratrol, which is a strong antioxidant. Scientific studies would show that antioxidants such as Vitamin C or E, helps prevent illness or diseases. But studies also claim that excessive supplementation is also harmful. So it should be taken in regulation.

• “Martini, shaken not stirred.” One of the famous lines of James Bond. But what does that really mean:
• On the rocks — drinks are served and drunk over ice.
• Straight up — drinks are shaken or stirred with ice; the ice is then taken out before being served.
• Neat — drinks are served and consumed with nothing added.

• Alcohol causes dehydration. When consuming alcoholic beverages, it should be balanced out by drinking water so you will be rehydrated.

• You have seen the terms 40% Proof or 70% Proof, in bottles of Vodka. What does that stand for? Alcohol Proof is the amount of alcohol in the said drink. The computation is that it is twice the percentage of the actual amount of alcohol. So if the bottle indicates 40% Proof, the drink has 20% alcohol content.

Drinks with the Highest Proof:

Everclear - 190 Proof

Irish Poteen – 180 Proof

Devil’s Springs Vodka – 160 Proof

Bacardi 151 – 151 Proof

Enigma Absinth – 144 Proof

A Simple New Year's Celebration - 2012

No fancy restaurants, no out of town adventures, no splurging on expensive fireworks, just a steady New Year's Eve-family-get-together at the house. Totally stress free.

On the menu we had roast beef (c/o my cousin-in-law who was celebrating her birthday as well.), cold cuts & cheese, nachos, Lapid's chicharon, pasta in olive oil and garlic, rosemary chicken, my Tita's famous clam chowder, and of course the desserts.

Johnnie's Reserve

I was so happy to see my 2-year old son enjoying the fireworks. We just spent about 1,800 pesos for some sparklers, noise markers, roman candles and traditional fountains. Besides, all the other neighbors had wonderful fireworks in their cache.

We also lit up a Chinese lantern...but miscalculated the lift off and it got stuck in a tree.

Looking forward to a better and brighter 2012.

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” - Bill Vaughn

Raintree - Teapresso Blends

We live in an area that seems to be a traffic hub in this part of the city. But the upside to it, there are a lot of commercial establishments right outside the village. There are so many coffee lounges around, and Raintree provides an alternative to caffeine cravings.

Located at 141 Katipunan Avenue, St. Ignatius Village, Q.C., they are open from Monday to Saturday, 11:00AM to 11:00PM. (I do hope they open up during Sundays; this is the one day of the week that we want to kick back and relax before another week starts.)

Honey Grapefruit Nippy

and Dreamy Kiwi Tea Float

Almond Joy Milk Tea

Vegetarian Panini w/ Mozzarella Cheese

Their Strawberry Fields Pearl Tea Float is superb. (It has a scoop of Vanilla ice cream; yes I know, it defeats the purpose of drinking healthy tea, but I don't care, it tastes great!) And their Lime Pie hits the spot.(The pie is a bit expensive though) But the drinks are reasonably priced.

Thank you Raintree for being there, you are indeed my cup of tea.

Pacman at The Garage - 11.13.11

Spent my Sunday with the family watching the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight at our uncle's house. Since everyone is talking about how ugly the win was for Pacman, I'm riding the bandwagon and giving my thoughts on it as well;

It all boils down to the statistics. Based on the official scorecards and punch count, Manny was more aggressive than Marquez. JM Marquez being the challenger, he is expected to be the aggressor. On video you will see that indeed the punches landed by Marquez connected harder, but a punch is counted as one (1) hit regardless of hard hard it lands. (Unless that one punch knocks your opponent out.) According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 176 of 578 punches, while Marquez connected on 138 of 436 punches.

I know it's not a convincing win. People were probably used to Pacman either knocking the lights out of his opponents or they leave the ring bloodied and bruised all over and head to the hospital right after the fight. Some say he has gone soft, some say he can't balance boxing and being a congressman, and some say a win is a win. Regardless of what our opinions are, one thing is for sure...Pacman is 30 million dollars richer.

So we ended the day sharing our thoughts with Johnnie, Avion, Absolut and Smirnoff;

The Garage - Low Budget Lounging

Another stressful week at work. Check.
Long weekend. Check.
Injured my pinky finger in a bad loss yesterday, and wants to dwell on it. Check. (We almost had that Team Aquino)
Ready to drink. Check.

But wait, no Goose, no Johnnie, no Jose, no Absolut, no budget.

It's been awhile since I last had drinks at The Garage, and I wouldn't let this pass. So what's on the drinks list...

Antonov Vodka with C2 Apple Juice

Boracay Rum Cappuccino on the rocks

For the pica-pica, there were no beef tapas, no hungarian sausages or cheese platter, and no spicy salami. On the menu was just Boy Bawang cornick, Growers peanuts and Nagaraya nuts. And to cap it off, we went to Hassan's shawarma and steaks.

Not bad for a low budget lounging. I'd still take it.

Summer’s Last Hurrah: Calatagan

Summer may be officially over, now that we were already hit by a couple of typhoons, but nevertheless, the family still managed to spend the weekend in Calatagan. We rented a house, and it was like a property along Malibu beach or the ones you only get to see in MTV Cribs.

Coming from the graveyard shift, I had to drive about 170 kilometers and roughly 4 hours, but I don’t mind doing it all over again for a place like this. I didn’t get a chance to actually head down to the beach as I was knocked out mid afternoon, only spent a couple of hours cooling down in the pool.

And of course, what’s a getaway like this without the usual friends such as Mr. Sombrero and Mr. Jose Cuervo.

An Easter Sunday

Last Easter Sunday the village had an event for the kids, and it was my son's first Easter Egg hunt. This year's Holy Week was simple, yet memorable.

That evening the family had a surprise party for my cousin Jose who turned 17.

And of course, when you're at "The Garage" there are bound to be drinks around. This time it's Jack.

A Good Friday

The family used to spend Holy Week in Tagaytay when we still had the rest house in Rodeo Hills. Some of the memorable moments are; when every Good Friday our grandmother would not allow us to use the radio, TV, or any electronic gadget for the matter. The family would also do the usual fasting and abstinence the whole day and night, and when midnight came, we would then grill some steaks and started chilling out with some drinks.

This year we just stayed in Manila. But it was memorable as well because my father-in-law surprised us when he arrived from Hawaii Thursday night. We just spent the morning at home for breakfast and lunch, had merienda in Starbucks (Seems it was the only establishment open that time), and a delicious home-cooked dinner of spicy sardines pasta and fish fillet fingers.

To cap the night, my father-in-law and I had a couple of drinks; (I didn't notice but I drank almost half a bottle of Hennessy and one bottle of Lambrusco Red Wine.)

Hennessy Privilege



I know I should have abstained from doing so but I wanted to celebrate the surprise visit of my father-in-law who rarely visits the Philippines. It's been a while since I actually had the occasional night cap, and when midnight came I went out for a quick burger fix.

It's not as great as the times we spent in Tagaytay, but it's still a "Good" Friday to me.

Weekends at The Garage 01.08.11

Red wine for the heart, a couple of vodka on the rocks, and a plate load of spicy salami and sausages...(and a cup of garlic rice)

Discovered a new mix from my cousin;

Tequila Rose with the Goose

And Smirnoff Raspberry on the side, with a glass of regular red wine;

My Wishlist - Drinks

...And I am still convinced that I am not an alcoholic because i drink only once a week...

 Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

 Absolut Vanilia

Stolichnaya Elit

 Two Fingers Tequila

Grey Goose LeCitron

A Week's Vacation

Today I will be embarking on another journey in my Life as I start working for my new company. But before that, I was on vacation for a week. Got some time to rest and bum around;

• I leveled up my profile in Call of Duty Black Ops
• Watched a bunch of DVDs
• Watched the Pacquiao - Margarito fight on pay-per-view

I got Black Ops on it's release date, I just couldn't wait! I really haven't tried the campaign mode or the other multiplayer modes such as the new Wager matches. I pretty much just spent most of my call of duty hours in Team Deathmatches, Domination and Capture the Flag. On November 24th, it will be the release date for Gran Turismo 5! Finally!

I love watching movies especially when they come out on DVDs already. (You will even notice that I posted my most recently watched films on this blog) I don't have a specific genre, as long as the plot is good and of course the cast is good as well. (Doesn't have to be any famous actor/actress that is starring in it) I also find time catching up on the TV series such as the ever classic CSI (Vegas, NY and Miami), I recently finished season 1 of Spartacus, and I actually can't get enough of Friends. I have the boxed set from Season 1 to 10 in my car so whenever traffic hits me on the way home from the office, I just watch a couple of episodes and before I know it, I'm near my house already. I literally have a lot of DVDs and series that I purchased but haven't watched yet.

Manny PacMan totally obliterated Margarito to the point that Margarito needed surgery for his fractured eye socket! This is all the fault of his trainer, you should know better when your fighter has already taken a beating and you risk not just a fracture but probably brain damage! We watched at our uncle's home who got the fight on pay-per-view HD. And of course, when your at The Garage, Johnnie and his friends has to be there;

Johnnie Black and Johnnie Green

and their buddy Absolut Pears



Sunday Musical and The Garage 11.07.10

"I'll miss you, kiss you, take your shoes off and rub your feet.

Need you, feed you, and when we play checkers i'll let you cheat.

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink

Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink.

Oh I could be the one who grows old with you.

I wanna grow old with you."

Last Sunday we were witnesses to a hilarious and wonderful musical, The Wedding Singer. One of my very good and long time friends, Lorenz Martinez, portrayed Sammy. (I still can't get over the cart wheels brother, I didn't expect that you could pull it off!)
 
It was a steady Sunday afternoon and after the show, we went to Bugsy's along Julio Vargas. Though we plan on going back there since we made a mistake ordering the wrong entrees but the Absolut Lychee Martini was great.
 
We just capped the night off with a couple of Smirnoff Raspberry on the rocks and a bottle of Lambrusco Emilia.
 

Lambrusco Emilia                   Smirnoff Raspberry

Weekends at the Garage 10.30.10

Just a steady night cap, getting prepped for the Holloween Session in Magallanes...

Finlandia Lime Fusion

Vodka Mudshake Cappuccino

Boone's Strawberry Daiquiri