Saturday, March 29, 2008

dining in TOTAL darkness!!!


Oh my gosh!!! i had so much fun last night because my friends and i went to this new restaurant here in Moscow. Its called V Temnote? (Dans Le Noir?) or in english IN THE DARK? The point is, well.. people dine in complete and total darkness!!! and we were served by blind waiters. could you just imagine that!!!

This restaurant first opened in Paris. it has one branch in London and in Berlin. The concept, as per the leaflet translated from russian, says that "this restaurant proves that being blind does not mean living a wretched existence. It is absolutely a new sensory experience as your other senses are heightened and visitors learn how it feels to be blind in everyday life. The blind waiters are highly skilled and the visitors feels as if he is blind during dinner time, which lasts about 1.5 hours." Its new here in Moscow and it was good that we were able to book last night!

It started off with us choosing from the menu, which consists of a 3 course meal of meat, fish, white and mixed surprise. so we cant actually know what we were eating! after ordering, we were instructed to wash our hands and leave all our things in the lockers before entering the veiled room. and then a blind waiter guided us (we were like schoolchildren, fall in line!) in the twists and turns inside the veiled room to get to our table. goodness!! it was absolute total darkness! we were so rowdy and noisy because really.. you bump into so many things/people everywhere. even in sitting, the blind guide had to assist us.

when we were all seated, it was a challenge to find our drinks and napkins and forks and knives. ohmygosh we were soooo noisy. and nobody cared coz no one recognized us anyways. when we started eating, we had to feel the plate and the food in it. hahahaha. so we had to use our hands. we gave up on the forks and knives coz they were useless. so we ate like starved children. again, no one will see so nobody cares. haha. it was so funny coz one of my friends had the gall to ask the blind waiter for pepper!! he didnt even know what he was eating and where his plate was! he was complaining like i have 6 forks around me. and another friend goes, where is my fork?? where is my drink? whose hand is on my plate???! hahahaha.

the best part was when we asked to go to the toilet. hahahaha. so the three of us, sasha chris and i were guided by the blind waiter outside. and when we finished, we got back to the locker room to wait for dimitry, the blind waiter. but it took him a long time to get back, so we were like. we know how to get back to our table. lets try it on our own. hahahahha. it was a disaster! in 3 minutes, we were like oh no, whose head was that or whose food was that! hahah. so we tried getting back to the locker room and we were like oh no theres a wall now!! how do we get back?!! hahahah. i couldve died laughing if dima didnt show up to guide us back in. bummer, the dinner was only up for 1.5 hours. so we had to bill out when we got back to our table.

seriously, it was one of the best dinners ive had in my life. although i didnt know what i was eating and someone poured sauce on my shirt and someone was throwing table napkins from somewhere (surely it was chris), it was a really really great experience. i sure am happy i could see!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

modern art exhibit.




went to a modern art exhibit somewhere in kurskaya last saturday. photos, paintings, weird stuff. something different on a saturday afternoon.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

i want













im a dog person but i so want a pet cat!! in case youre wondering. hehe. got these lolcat pics from http://icanhascheezburger.com. good for no-brainer de-stressing. hehe.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

If Your Life Was A Movie, What Would The Soundtrack Be?



meme from Chachie and EJ. the other one i did was a bit scary (diba yung wedding song ko chach? hahaha.) kasi puro soaking songs lang kaya heres my external hard drive version.

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool. =p

Opening Credits: Cheek to cheek (Ella Fitzgerald)

Waking Up: Give it to you (Eve feat. Sean Paul)

First Day of School: Release (Chris Lake - Techno)

Falling in Love: Lovestoned (Justin Timberlake)

Fight Song: Amber (311)

Breaking Up: Come rain or shine (Keiko Lee)

Prom: Who's your Daddy? XD (Benny Benassi)

Life's just ok: Knocks me off my feet (Donell Jones)

Mental Breakdown: London Bridge (Fergie)

Driving: Talk show on mute (Incubus)

Flashback: Love me tender (Norah Jones)

Getting Back Together: Please please please (Fiona Apple)

Birth of Child:  Someone to watch over me (Elle Fitzgerald)

Wedding: Partita in AM BWV 1013 allemande (JS BACH) bat ganun lagi wedding songs ko?!! yung isa repentance. lol.

Final Battle: you are the sunshine of my life (stevie wonder)

Death Scene: Verdi/Rigoletto - La Donna E Mobile (hahaha. pavarotti!)

Funeral Song: Mozart - Cosi Fan Tutte (operatic talaga)

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

waakkk!!


hahaha.. ive always loved walking. especially long, leisurely walks. and ive always considered myself a very fast walker. i remember when i was in high school, in the barkada, jill anne and i were always forever waiting for our other friends who walk at a turtle's pace. but kakaibang lebel talaga dito. walk is not walk, its WAAAKK!! my walking power is like level 1/8 lang.

kasi my routine these past few weeks. and until next month include: spending one hour (5 minutes in the train, 5 minutes shoving people inside the subway and 45 minutes walking) travelling to the client. spending 8 to 10 hours at the client's office and then going home (1 hour, same as the morning routine). i spend almost 2 hours walking everyday. and not just your average leisurely walk. its run-walking. or else i might get run over by the crowd behind me.

today was particularly hard for me. its wednesday and i was getting tired of walking (its my 3rd week at this client). i was dragging myself to the client's office this morning. and ang pamatay was going home. i went home with two of my assistants. it was pretty cold outside coz winter has ended (the siberian winds are really full force near the start and end of winter) kaya they marathon-walked the 45 minute walk to the metro station!

halfway through, i was almost tempted to "bumulagta" in the middle of the road or stop my officemates and pant from exhaustion. coz even my biggest strides couldnt match up to their pace. hahaha.. oh God. how i miss the cheap cheap taxis in Pinas! (taxi here is at 500 pesos minimum for a 10 minute ride).. no kidding but i was really being careful that my legs wont fold up under me. kakahiya it would just go to show how physically unfit i am. hahahha.. when i got to the metro and parted ways with my officemates, i walked so slow as to rest my poor calves and feet. and i terribly thank God for escalators!! hahaha.

grabe. every minute here is almost an experience of its own. i should really lose weight after this or else!

PS. for all the people who are thinking of going/migrating to Europe, be prepared to WAAK!! a LOT!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008