Death to kids? | Crazy Pics

I took this photo almost a year ago, in the children's section of one of the malls in Makati City. What shocked me was the way they celebrated halloween. "Children's Cemetery"? Gory and funny at the same time. Oh well, hope does not happen this year. So (name of the mall), better watch out! :-)

Sumatra-Peru | Starbucks Coffee

I have tasted Sumatra coffee before so I was surprised to see that Starbucks blended Sumatra and Peru together. Apparently, blending different coffee beans coming from different places is now the trend. Sumatra comes from Indonesia, Asia and Peru, obviously from Peru in South America.

Sumatra alone presents an almost full-bodied coffee that is bold and noticeably acidic, something that I personally find common among beans coming from Asia. It was my first time to have Peru so I am pretty much excited like a child on a Christmas morning. This is usually my reaction every time I get to try a new flavor. Starbucks and probably the entire coffee world say that South American coffee has this herbal and cocoa-ish taste. While this may be true, the blending of the two flavors made the herbal and flowery taste more subtle.

The combination is really interesting since the Peru flavor somehow toned-down the powerful and bold flavor of the Sumatra, to give it a flavor that isn’t light yet not too bold.

I was having my dose of this blend which comes from places that I could only imagine (after all, South America is so far from the Philippines and I heard the plane ride could almost take 24 hours to complete, with connecting flights to Hong-Kong and South Africa. Sumatra, despite being just in Asia is still not a stones throw away) in the UP-Ayala Technohub branch Starbucks which is a nice place really. People who go there are mostly UP students, office workers and the like.

Rating: three stars

A Must-try: for people who would want to avoid palpitations and crave for a new flavor aside from their regular blends and cappuccino. 

Men's Liberation

I am for Men's Liberation. This is a movement that pushes for the abolition of the current patriarchal structures and argues that even men also experience the same harsh and unfair treatment that women experience. This movement is in no way contradictory to the Feminist Movement, rather, this is the key to its success.

The idea behind Men's Lib is simple. If we live in a patriarchal society there would always be men who may not completely benefit from it and majority may not even recognize that they are under a form of unperceived social order. This structuring and controlling effect of patriarchy should be rejected in all its forms. Obviously, most men would not subscribe to this idea, and I particularly have a hard time convincing them the need for a change. But personally, there are just to much expectations on men (and women) that prevent them from a truly liberated life where choices are really free. Come to think of it. Men are expected to be the providers, the protectors, and the strong people, and it is precisely these unfair expectations that place undue burden upon the fragile shoulders of a specific group of people. This is really unfair since we should pursue the things that we love doing and worth doing, rather than follow an obsolete form of social cohesion.

Socially-constructed men of the world unite! We have nothing to loose and the world to gain!

*the picture above is a sticker I made and I would stick them anywhere. If you want, I would even mail you some, just send me an email with your mailing details. Spread the word! :-) 

African Sunrise Vanilla Tea Latte | Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Name: African Sunrise Vanilla Tea Latte

Complete Name: *blend of African Honeybush and Orange Peel with French de luxe Vanilla

Where: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is definitely a break from the other coffee shop that people go to just to be seen and be seen. I find that pathetic really, though you couldn't really blame them for doing so. My favorite CBTL branch is the one in Greenbelt 3. The people there are friendly and you could really chill and have a quite time, at least most of the time.

The African Sunrise Vanilla Tea Latte is best savored warm or hot so you could really smell a very light sweet aroma, as if you are smelling the scent of the warm African soil. When you take your first few sips you could hardly recognize that it is tea, probably because it is a type of  milk tea. More sips however would seemingly bring you to the African safari since it has a very light and creamy taste (due to the milk, though the consistency is not heavy). The orange peel blend gives it a zing that is very mild almost sweet, which is a break from the usual citrus blends which are limited to lime or lemon zests. The beauty of this drink lies in the fact that the vanilla used isn't in any way overpowering (the French de luxe vanilla is a registered trademark!). It is just enough to give it a creamy texture and a light sweetness. The Honeybush that was added is not really honey but is a flower which gives off a scent and taste that resembles honey and grows in a few areas only in South Africa! The Honeybush successfully adds that subtle sweetness. You have to think and sip it deeply to taste it.

Despite coming from Africa, the tea almost never gives a hint that it comes from a region where millions are dying because of HIV-AIDS, genocide and poverty. The tea however gives you this

sensation of a warm african sunset, though I haven't seen one. All in all, the tea has an energetic vibe to it, seemingly reminding us of the struggles that Africa has to face every day. Sad and sweet.

Rating: A must try for the tired and weary souls. If you want to get energized, this isn't really recommended since it puts you in soulful mode. If you want to help out Africa you should definitely drink gallons of this stuff! 9 points out of 10.

The Sticker Project | 2

The second sticker for the sticker project/sticker hunt I am doing. I saw this around the UP Diliman Academic Oval. It looks like a dead rat to me but I find it very cute. :-)

Coffee, Tea or both?

I love drinking tea and coffee and nothing could replace the moments I enjoy with these two drinks. I don’t just drink them to get that caffeine or sugar high (though I admit I am addicted to both things- I am after all drug dependent), but I drink them because they often taste good and they let me think and contemplate on so many things. They are two of my friends who have different personalities but nonetheless I keep them not for the sake of variety but for company. I sometimes even wish that the boring and obnoxious people I meet and encounter every day would transform into a warm cup of tea or coffee- not only would that make the world a little more beautiful but it would also increase their usefulness. These two drinks contribute more to the world than the lousy existence of some people; some people are just better off boiled or placed in a very warm cup of water to make good use of them.  I bet if that happens, the Philippines would be the number one exporter of coffee and tea and we wouldn't be living in this third world country.

 

Okay, I will control myself and I will stop ranting about other people and instead pay homage to god's gift to mankind.

 

Tea gives you a very strong sense of calmness and serenity which almost brings you to the level of nirvana, which is probably why the Japanese hold it as an important part of their lives. When I drink tea, it almost gives me a glimpse of that promised paradise at least in my tongue that is. It gives me space to introspect, look within myself and clear my mind of the clutter this pathetic mortal life brings.

 

Coffee on the other hand gives me quite a different feel. Coffee gives me a vibrant spirit, a youthful energy and a perkiness that is palpable. It fills my mind with so many ideas, questions and answers to things I never thought of before.

 

I wouldn’t really say that coffee gives me sensations that are diametrically opposite to tea since I don’t think one is the antithesis of the other. As Slavoj Zizek would put it, they are simply two ways to look at the same coin; two ways to interpret the same world; two different meanings to the same existence. So here I am, always in the hunt to try out new teas or new coffee beans from different places around the world and within the country. I consider it a cheap way to travel. When I drink my tea or coffee I only have three rules. One is to drink it hot. Two, is to make the drink my own. Three, is to take time to savor every moment. So if you have time and a couple of bucks to spare, don’t hesitate to buy that cup of tea or coffee- may it be from one of those commercialized shops or that friendly neighborhood shop you don't pay attention to. And if want to have a pleasant (or an amazing) chat with me over a cup of warm hot coffee or tea (your pick), feel free to invite me. :-)

 

The Sticker Project | 1

I am fascinated with stickers and good thing the UP Diliman campus has a lot of street artists who stickerbomb the campus with their street art. This was taken along the academic oval and I think the name of the artist is Fyaso. Definitely cute. :-)

The Letter Tea

I love tea aside from coffee, so i decided to go to a tea party organized by one of the organizations in school last saturday (August 15, 4pm). It was an afternoon tea party with a twist: it was a soiree of sorts. There were students not only from the University of the Philippines School of Economics but also from other universities like the Ateneo de Manila (hi purgy! - the only other guest who had a name that started with the letter P) and the University of Asia and the Pacific.
Since going alone would be boring, I went there with Lowela Limbaring, my orgmate from the UP School of Econ and Marjowyn Vito, my orgmate from the neighboring College of Bus. Administration.

Andrew, my classmate in my Money, Banking and Financial Markets class was also there. I didn't really like their tea selections since there weren't too many, but I decided to go with the green tea that they served. There wasn't really something amazing about their green tea. I have definitely tasted better green teas but it was worth a try. The taste wasn't nasty and I sensed the earthiness and a hint of mint. Its mint taste was very subtle which made me wish I was sipping moroccan mint tea latte instead, so I could get a fuller flavor.

Restrictions and Perversions

This isn't my first blog or blog entry and probably will not be my last. Perhaps I love and even crave for beginnings yet never had the courage to end them; never had the courage to move on and continue the struggle for survival. And perhaps those are the reasons I decided to declare that I was on a blog-leave and never went into blogging again until now. There are no restrictions on the number of blogs that one could make only restrictions on what to write and where to write them, freewill after all is a myth. We are always under the grasp of a complex web of social structures that determine what to write and where to write them. A pretty grim way to look at the world. I don't believe in freewill. We are socialized and brought up to be what we are now, even if we try to pervert and transcend it. Choice after all is a metachoice - choice is simply the modality of the available choices available at our disposal, something that we have absolutely no control of.

Today, I refuse to make a choice or I am forced not to choose at all.