THE MAGIC OF TRON

So we had Family  Night on Sunday, and we watched a movie with the kids instead of playing a game. My husband and I were intrigued by the trailer for the new Tron: Legacy, knowing that the first Tron became so much a part of our childhood. 

Enter Jeff Bridges. 

He, in my opinion, is one who ages gracefully, getting better as the years go by. The Jeff of 1982 was already a good actor. He had the guts to be in a groundbreaking movie - the first one that came from a major studio (Disney) to use extensive computer graphics. Watching it now I thought, wow, that looks pretty good even today. Back then, the movie must have been incredible. (I don't like to use the word awesome).

And so here we are after 28 years, my husband and I excited to see Tron: Legacy because of sentimental reasons. We just can't get enough of Jeff Bridges - especially after Iron Man's Obadiah and Crazy Heart's Bad Blake.

I'm no movie buff, but I know the real deal when I see one. He's cool.

Or maybe now I can use awesome.

* Picture/ poster above from this link. *

MY NENUCO MEMORIES

I was so excited to open my package today - oh-so-hard-to-find Nenuco cologne. Its fragrance brought me back to my teen years when I was in college in Manila, when everything was sweet and innocent.

Nenuco is made in Spain. It's probably mostly unheard of here in the States, but in the Philippines, it was a fad for us girls at that time. I remember even getting a liter-bottle just to make sure I would not run out. And it did last me for more than a year. By then, I had outgrown it - but not the memories.

Let's see how long this one will last...





 

THE ALLURE OF APOLO

     Speedskating is a sport not many people know about. As far as games go, it is just gaining recognition although historically it began as a sport around the 1500's.

     Speedskating can be broken down into three types: long track speed skating (or just "speed skating"); short track speed skating ("short track"); and marathon speed skating. In the Olympics, only speed skating and short track are events. And as for short track, it became an Olympic event only recently, in the 1992 Albertville, France games. Here's an interesting piece of trivia as an aside: 1992 was the last year the Olympic Games was held the same year as the Summer Games. Now they alternate every two years.

     Eric Heiden, an American speedskater and cyclist who is now a medical doctor, is considered one of the greatest speedskaters of all time. Apolo Anton Ohno, however, is the one who has made the sport more famous. 

     Recently competing in the Vancouver Olympics, Apolo has been the focus of much attention. He broke the record of long track speed skater Bonnie Blair for most number of speedskating medals ever by a Winter Olympian. This is not only an American record, but a world record of any speedskater. 

     For me, this is the allure of Apolo Ohno. He has tried to keep the sport pure by doing his best in every competition. He pursues excellence just as he pushes himself further, sharpening his focus in all aspects of life. He knows his struggles and faces his challenges squarely and with fierce determination. He is unafraid and knows the reality of the volatility of the sport. His aim to win embodies the Olympic creed created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It reads,  


       "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is  not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."


       Apolo has fought well. And he is still fighting.

* Digital painting is by my husband, Bene Rullan *

THE MAGNIFICENT BAKERY NOUVEAU

If I were to imagine the perfect French pâtisserie - the pastel confections and butter-silk pastries that are a feast for my eyes; the smell of home-baked goodness and coffee so familiar like a hug and a kiss; the feel of chocolate so velvety, at once soft and yielding; and the taste of food that elicits memories of love and laughter even on a cold rainy night...

... all these "things" are embodied in a little piece of heaven called Bakery Nouveau. Tucked into a little nook on California Avenue in West Seattle, you are at once transported to a place you've only had in your dreams. In it you will find a long-lost friend, a kind word, an unforgettable moment, your own garden at Giverny. It is a special place and always a special time. It is a delicious secret you want to share with the whole world, a cause to pull someone's hand - even a stranger's! - from the din into its magical cocoon.


To me it was a coup de foudre, a thunderbolt, love at first sight (and smell, and taste). 


Oh, and it doesn't hurt that in 2009, Bakery Nouveau got a Zagat rating of 28 out of 30.

  *photograph from the website of Bakery Nouveau*

WHO DEFINES YOU

    
     Last week I was watching House M.D. and laughed at the scene where House arrives at the apartment, looking at the newly designed interior. He tells Wilson the style is not his, saying dryly, "Don't let anyone define you." He then turns, sees something covered with a sheet, peers inside and finds a Hammond organ. He looks at Wilson with something like awe and gets lost playing it.
     Oh but he'll be the first one to say he's not defined by anyone. Typical House!

POP-UP BOOKS AND OTHER CHILDHOOD FAVES

Again, this is a testament to my awesome childhood when it was filled with games and books and learning.
Favorite Dr. Seuss book: Are You My Mother?
Favorite board game: Scrabble (sorry, Monopoly)
Favorite interactive game: Operation
Favorite Sesame Street character: Grover
Favorite girly game: paper dolls
Favorite boy game: I dunno... running around until you're sweaty?
Favorite fairy tale: The Little Mermaid (the original version where she beceomes seafoam in the end. Maybe this is why I like sad stories and songs)
Favorite Disney story: The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp (with the famous spaghetti kiss), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Favorite young adult story: Little Women/ Little Men
Favorite TV show: Bionic Woman
Favorite Japanese cartoon: Voltes V
Favorite thing to do when it's cold: have a bonfire with my cousins
Favorite thing to do when it's raining: eat champorado (chocolate rice) and read a book
Favorite thing to do in the summer: hike and have a picnic
Favorite video game: Pong and Galaxian
Favorite Game and Watch game: Octopus
Favorite Crayola color: cornflower blue
Favorite pop-up book: The Gingerbread Man

Here, by the way, is an awesome pop-up book:

JUST LIKE HOME

The city where I was born is a famous resort destination in the Philippines. It was built by Americans whose names are memorialized everywhere: Burnham Park, Kennon Road, Camp John Hay, Melvin Jones Grandstand, Governor Pack Road. The city of Baguio was meant as a rest and recreation (or R & R) area for American military personnel, but because of its year-long mild weather, it became a place everyone could enjoy, hence its designation as the Summer Capital of the Philippines.

I remember when I first came to Seattle, a mother with two kids in tow, not young or old by anyone's standards. I didn't know what to expect but I had that surreal feeling of "coming home". It could have been because my children and I were finally going to be reunited with my husband after many years. In my heart, additionally, I knew it was because Seattle was just like Baguio in many ways. Weather-wise the two could be described as cool, if not rainy. In temperament, they are absolute twins: green urban areas with a stubborn suburban feel, where "downtown" is never "uptown", filled with places and delicious memories from childhood. And the people? You couldn't find a larger concentration of the nicest, wisest, most loving ones on earth, as they are there and here. Maybe that's why as immigrants my family and I did not have any culture shock at all, but seamlessly and immediately blended into life just as our new-found friends welcomed us as their own.

Everyone knows it's hard to describe home. And really, home is not something bound by geographical territories or tied to certain people and races and points in time. It's not just a place of residence or abode, just as a house encloses physically, basically, necessarily.

Like a well-worn cliche, home is where the heart is. I miss my hometown terribly, but I am content knowing that although my heart yearns, and longs, to go back, I don't need to go because I never really left. Baguio may be a million miles away, but to me Baguio is here in Seattle, endlessly cherished and nurtured by my dreams.

I am so happy to be home.