The Dark Knight Rises

THE DARK Knight Rises, the movie, is yet to hit cinemas this coming July 2012.  But the real Dark Knight in my life, my best friend Batman, has risen above all others in his latest endeavor in life.

The Dark Knight and I, somewhere in Greenbelt 5!

He just finished his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of the Philippines Diliman, arguably my country’s foremost educational institution.  He graduated with a general grade point average of 1.1548!  As a student I’m used to getting “flat ones” – grades of “1.00” – myself, but that kind of average is just beyond my wildest dreams.  I graduated at the top of my class.  But not with that kind of grade.

What is more remarkable to me is that he did this while keeping a full-time job, and at a time when he welcomed his and his wife’s first bundle of joy into their lives.  How he juggled all of those aspects of his life, I really couldn’t imagine.

Some say you can’t have it all.  But I guess, in Batman’s case, you can almost.  He does almost have it all – if not already.

Congratulations, best friend.  I’m so proud of you!

One of my send-off lunches before coming to Singapore was with Batman.

 

He presented me with yet another one of the toys from his personal collection. This one was specifically tasked to watch over me in the Lion City. Haha!

 

eNTeNG and Batman. For the record, that’s my happy face. Hahaha!

 

See, he was already doing what he was tasked to do. Watch over me! Haha!

 

Batman, waiting for boarding at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, 29 June 2011

 

Batman, a collage…

 

Batman, ION Orchard, Orchard Road, Singapore

 

Batman, in Black & White, Kinokuniya, Takashimaya Shopping Centre, Orchard Road, Singapore

 

Classic Batman, painted on Chucks, Converse, Mustafa Department Store, Farrer Park, Singapore

 

The Dark Knight Rises, move poster, Golden Village Cinemas, Marina Square, Singapore

 

See Batman, you’re even the image on my MRT card! Haha! (Photo taken by Yong Run, who has always been so patient and gracious to snap my likeness whenever I strike a pose… and not scream at the top of his lungs at me and say, “eNTeNG, would you please get yourself an iPhone4?! Geez!”)

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

Back at one

PAGE ONE, Vivo City, HarbourFront, Singapore

I’VE SORT of rediscovered Vivo City at HarbourFront.  I first learned about it in March 2011 when my frantic search for the Nixon Time Teller Blue-X wristwatch led me to the Tang’s Department Store branch there.  I will always remember the place to be where I amassed my first stash of Time Tellers.  But after my wristwatch lust was satiated, I sort of have relegated this sprawling mall to the backburner.

Lately, like a man on a mission, I’ve always set a goal to make it to the mall before they close at 10:00 PM.  I would finish all that I could at work – and more – and leave just enough time to travel and make it to my latest favorite gustatory destination – Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching.  I would do it almost everyday now, for the love of all the bowls of mee that I could handle.

Today, the first of February, I had a little time after dinner to do some shopping.  And I knew exactly where to go to – the book store.  PAGE ONE, to be exact.

I noticed that there were so much more people than I would normally see in a book store.  And that everything was marked down.  MARKED WAY DOWN.  I shrugged my shoulders and in my head, I chalked it all up to the still-ongoing Chinese New Year festivities.

I held one huge wristwatch-related coffee table book, saw that it was going for 70% off, and felt really strange.  This was not some usual sale.  I motioned to one of the staff members and asked what the fuss was all about.  She said that the owners have decided to cease operations of the business.  (I don’t think I’m at liberty to discuss as to why.)

I felt kind of sad.  Here in Singapore, I’ve taken great happiness in imbibing the soul-satisfying pleasures of allowing myself to be surrounded by the printed word – at Popular, at Times, at Harris, at Prologue, and here at PAGE ONE.  And while most everybody around me chooses to “slide to unlock,” I’d rather dirty my fingers with the color transfer I would get from going through the papers from cover to cover.

Seeing one book store go is kind of sad.

So to wallow in this grief, I decided to rummage through bins upon bins of marked down stuff and get what I would consider as “memorabilia” from another one of those that somehow succumbed to the changing times.  I think it’s magnanimous of PAGE ONE to allow the public to get a piece of “knowledge” at the cost of almost “nothing.”

I knew exactly the first person to tell about this to – my Youngest Brother!  After realizing that considerable floor space was allocated to architecture, industrial design and interior design, I knew I would need to hoard stuff for Youngest Brother’s office.  I told him, “They would look good on the mantel.”  Hahaha!

I will miss PAGE ONE.  Today – it’s already past midnight – I shall go on a mission to go back to PAGE ONE.  Youngest Brother is going to make me search for titles and authors.

 

*The closing-out sale ends on the 19^th of February 2012.

“UP TO 80% DISCOUNT”… Say what?!

 

So many titles on architectural design

 

Design Hotels Year Book

 

The Architecture Section... I've got to be back!

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

New Lunar Year new wristwatch

Just another shopping bag that says, "THE HOUR GLASS."

I CAN hear Nigella Lawson in my head, “But of course once you start collecting things, there’s no reason to stop.  So you get sort of madder and madder.”

As a guest here in Singapore, I found it apropos to observe the Chinese Lunar New Year, which has got to be the most festive celebration I’ve ever seen in the past seven months I’ve been here.  I also found it to be the perfect excuse to get myself a little something to mark the Year of the Water Dragon.  Hehe.

It was a hard decision to make as to which wristwatch to purchase.  Though one thing is clear, I’ve started to veer away from quartz movement, and have been exploring the world of automatic and mechanical-winding wristwatches.

Should I go Swiss, where the wristwatch-making industry was born, or should I go Russian, which was brought to my attention as it is the current fixation of my youngest brother?  Lucky for me, I have Alex of The Hour Glass at Takashimaya and Nicolas of Krasnaya at ION Orchard to guide my next step.

So what's inside a nice "THE HOUR GLASS" paper bag? An equally nice presentation box for a new wristwatch.

So here’s my new baby, the GLYCINE Incursore 46mm Automatic Ref. 3874.  (Nicolas, we’ll have to talk Russian again.)

Meet my new baby, a GLYCINE!

 

Gotta love all 46mm of it!

 

And I adore the screw-down crown that has, embossed on it, the brand's emblem – also a crown!

I love it for its size – 46mm across the dial, without the crown.  You can’t go wrong with a flat anti-reflective sapphire crystal for the watch glass, and hardened mineral crystal for the exhibition caseback that showcases the ETA Caliber 2824-2 25 jewels Swiss Automatic movement.  It’s screw-down crown – embellished with embossed image of the brand’s “crown” emblem – guarantees water resistance of up to 200 meters.  But I guess for the most part, it appealed to me because it is not as mainstream as other brands, but it does have a rich and colorful history to back it up.

The exact moment I first put it on!

 

The serial number of the wristwatch is laser-marked on to the solid stainless steel case! (Photo taken with my Blackberry Bold 9780.)

 

One of my happy places here in Singapore – THE HOUR GLASS at Takashimaya.

I debuted it at my first ever trip to Universal Studios Singapore.  And I couldn’t take it off ever since.

Taken on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

Meet the BOSE®

My brand new BOSE® OE Audio Headphones

I GO to work with a song in my head.  There’s nothing like finding that perfect song to encapsulate moments in vivid detail.  And when I do, I would always get up in the morning excited and literally darting through the front door on my way to hop on that train to the office.

Ever since I have moved to Singapore, there will always be one song that I would keep on playing for a whole week.  It could be an old song I re-discovered through a movie I just saw.  Or something I heard while doing my groceries.  Sometimes it was a tune I heard through someone’s blaring earphones.  Most often, my songs-of-the-moment would be old hits, like way too old.

One time, I mentioned to my good friend DJ Raoul how songs get me going and how, as I have already said, I’d keep playing the same one over and over again all through my almost-half-hour travel time to work.  I talk music with this guy because not only do I know he spins professionally back in the Philippines, but also because I have collaborated with him on a number of events where he would DJ and I would emcee (and sing!).

DJ Raoul

 

In action at one of our collaborative gigs.

A few days from that talk, he handed me a 32-minute mix he called “Give Me Some Electro.”  I loved it so much it became my song-of-so-many-weeks.

Between that time and right now, he’s given me three more mixes, the last one being my own playlist.  I’ve been listening to these and all the other music I love using really dirt cheap earphones that you’d use for a short while, until the rubber tubing wears off and the wires unravel, throw away, and replace with yet another set of dirt cheap ones.

Eventually, good influence rubs off, and following my other good friend Darryl’s fine taste, I finally decided to get myself a nice present, the BOSE® OE audio headphones “designed to bring my music to life.”

Make that “bring DJ Raoul’s music to life.”

The DJ & The Emcee

 

The Palms Country Club, Alabang, January 2010

 

I can't wait to take this out for a spin!

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

Math on my feet

Gotta love TOMS's advocacy – "One for One." With every purchase, TOMS gives a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

I ACED calculus in college.  Where I studied, the grade “1.00” meant “excellent” or the equivalent of 99.00% – 100.00%.  I got a 1.00 for Differential Calculus, and 1.25 for Integral Calculus.  (My other favorite subject was Chemistry, for which I got 1.00 on three of four semesters, and a 1.25 on the fourth one.)

So when Mama saw this pair of TOMS Classics in “Calculus,” she just had to get it for me for the holidays.  I woke up on New Year’s morning with this gift by the bed.

Good thing I’m no longer in school.  Otherwise, my professors would probably make me take off these shoes on exam days.  Hahaha!

 

Very environmentally conscious... these shoes are made from pesticide-free cotton!

 

The box is finally opened! Nice...

 

The print looks like someone's notes.

 

For me, TOMS are quite comfortable. This is my third TOMS gift... all from my family.

 

I debuted my new TOMS on the first Monday workday of 2012, together with the Lacoste LIVE! graphic shirt from a sister-in-law and Philippine-made jeans from one of my brothers.

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved

Pen and muncher

Parker pen and Ferrero Rocher

I JUST love how most, if not all, of the gifts I received for this past holiday season were “so me,” so eNTeNG in a way.  When the gift-giver gets you, that in itself is the gift already.

On the morning of the last working day of 2011 (30^th of December), I was so surprised to find on my desk the gift of a Parker pen and Ferrero Rocher chocolate.  Nice, I said to myself.  This person knows exactly that I’m my own crusader to keep the art of handwriting alive, and that I enjoy popping into my mouth one or a couple of spherical chocolate sweets that ensconce in its center a whole roasted hazelnut enveloped in hazelnut cream, then encased in wafer, before being smothered in milk chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.

It wasn’t easy to figure out who the giver was, and I was reduced to asking my cubicle mates if they saw who left the gift.  Good thing that as I scrolled down through my swamped inbox, there it was, the shy gift giver’s e-Mail one of them had predicted.

I had to immediately reply, especially since I couldn’t wait to let the giver know that just a couple of days back, I found myself fixing the Parker pen display at Popular Book Store with a longing, almost unwilling-to-let-go stare, as in my head ensued the debate whether to buy or not to buy.  I didn’t buy because, as it is the case, I penny-pinch when it comes to me.  Hahaha!  Well, except when it comes to timepieces.  Hahaha!

I love a handwritten element to a gift, be it a short note or just my name in the giver's penmanship.

I must’ve sounded so over-the-moon in my reply, even mentioning how the pen will go perfectly with my Ray-Ban Classic Wayfarers Rare Print in white.  How couldn’t I?  It’s the one thing at the moment that I knew I really wanted.  The giver said it was a token to express both friendship and gratitude.  And one more thing – that it may somehow help delay being forgotten.

My Ray-Ban Classic Wayfarers Rare Print in white

Which is not a problem with me.  For I don’t forget.  I never forget.  And for this gift and many others, I’m quite thankful.

My new, lovely Parker pen in white. I used it for the first time the following day, filling out and signing all my travel forms on my flight back to Manila.

 

Copyright © 2012 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved