The Italian Resto that Your Wallet Will Love

I was lucky to have a taste of Italian at Abbondanza Pizzeria Ristorante. They cater Italian cuisine in an affordable price. Like the name itself "Abbondanza" (which means abundance), servings are abundant indeed. Thus, their dishes are always good for sharing with your families or your friends.

Minestrone

Zuppa Rustica

I love their soups! Minestrone has a strong tomato flavor making this one of my favorite menu in Abbondanza. The parmesan cheese is also rich in this soup which soften the tanginess of the tomatoes. Another soup is the Zuppa Rustica. This soup can kick. The warmth of the chili pepper won't be felt as you sip it. When it goes down to your throat that's the moment the chili starts to kick in.

One of Abbondanza boasts in their menu is their gargantuan pizza. It's 27 inches, it has 4 different pizza flavors, thin crust and shaped like a wakeboard. It is definitely for sharing.

Pizza Abbondanza

I think I was already halfway full after the Pizza Abbondanza when the Pollo Arrosto, Salsicce al Vino Biance with Baked Potatos and Calamari Ripeni came to our table. Of the three courses, I highly recommend Pollo Arrosto. The chicken is so tender and delectable because of the tomato sauce and herbs. It don't need teeth to chew it.

Pollo Arrosto

Salsicce al Vino Biance and Baked Potatoes

Now their Rissotti. I was really really full this time. But how could I avoid not to taste it? I was drooling just by looking at them. Even the aroma makes the rissotti inevitable to eat. Moreover, it was my first encounter with risotto dishes. They served us three kinds of risotto: Risotto al Funghi Porcini, Risotto con la Fondutta, Risotto con Osso Busco and Risotto con Sogliola. I find the al Funghi Porcini and con la Fondutta overwhelming but I'm a fan of con Sogliola. It's not overpowering like the first two and gives you more room for dessert.

Rissotto con Osso Busco

Risotto con Sogliola

Risotto con la Fondutta

And we get to the last part, dessert! They served us Panna Cotta, Crema Catalana and Tiramisu. Like the rest of their menu, their desserts are also rich and flavorful. Though tasty, it's not overwhelmingly sweet. It's just perfect to top off your meal.

Tiramisu

Panna Cotta

I really wanted more and finish off everything in front of me. My bad, I was already full halfway of the course. Because of that, I will definitely go back to Abbondanza.

Abbondanza Pizzeria Ristorante is located at 2nd Floor, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia and at Ground Floor, Crescent Condominium, Amethyst Drive, Ortigas.

The Red Shoes... is not just a love story

I had a chance to see The Red Shoes ahead from anyone else. The movie revolved on Lucas who stole a pair of Imelda's shoes back in 1985 which he gave one shoe to his mother and another shoe to his childhood sweetheart. Isa para sa katarungan, isa para sa pag-ibig.

What I like about the movie...
It's a very fresh and innovative Filipino film. It's like Maalaala Mo Kaya where one object is significant to each characters in the film. Only this time, the significant object is given already in the title.  Aside from the red shoes, there are still other symbolisms throughout the movie. Like the bridge that symbolizes relationships and the act of stealing which is quite redundant in the film.

The actors are also brilliant. I never thought Nikki Gil could also roll her tears down her cheek ala Judy Ann Santos. Tessie Tomas is excellent as a comic relief portraying the Imelda Marcos fanatic/parody artist and espiritista.

I have to applaud the movie for its marvelous cinematography. Each scene is beautiful as a photograph. I love how the shoe boxes are used as the timeline in the movie. The Red Shoes did not end in the traditional happy ending but it was heartwarming.

What I don't like about it...
Like what I said before, dubbing is what turns me off in most of our local films. Monaural sounds is not really satisfying in a theater. Since this is aimed as a love story, it can be cheesy at times.

And yeah, Marvin Agustin. He is a good actor but the problem with him is he is not believable as Lucas; he is still Marvin Agustin. He also has a tendency to overact and be really corny at cheesy moments. But if you're used to Marvin's acting, it is tolerable.

But overall, it is a good movie. It is not the typical drama or date movies we have here.

The Red Shoes is written by James Ladioray, directed by Raul Jorolan and produced by Tony Gloria under Unitel Productions.

Forget Everything, Watch Kimmy Dora

It's been my first time to watch a local movie in theaters after a few years. Not that I don't watch Filipino movies on TV too, because I still do if we still have Cinema One in our cable TV. Unfortunately, our cable provider gives us PBO which showcases mostly bad Pinoy movies. I rarely watch local movies in theaters because ohmigod the sounds are monaural and ohmigod the voices are dubbed. A film should boast exemplary surround sound to be seen in theaters, right?

If ever I'll see a local movie, there might be a great reason for me to watch it. Eugene Domingo is one of those reason for me to watch Kimmy Dora. It's her first starring role and I'm insanely waiting for this.

Kimmy Dora, like other Pinoy movies, still has its flaws. Like the ohmigod dubbing and ohmigod why aren't they using surround sound technology. There are unnecessary CGI's and an ending that is oh so annoying that must be removed. There's nothing spectacular in the plot. It's very basic but fun.

This film is not about surround sounds, flawed plots or wasted expenses on CGI's. Kimmy Dora is about real talent, and that is Eugene Domingo. Watching her making fool of herself and acting like a woman with a bipolar disorder is superb. I had tons of laugh. Unlike other comedy movies that will give me a few seconds of laugh and thats it, Kimmy Dora is different. I could have a heart attack or choke myself from laughing. There's that part I had a hard time breathing because I was insanely laughing in the cinema. Kimmy Dora is orgasmic indeed.

Forget the formulaic direction, the dubbed dialogues, the monaural sounds and predictable screenplay. Just see Eugene Domingo and her looney antics and you'll forget who you are with leaving the theater.

Ratings:

• Entertainment: 5 out of 5 stars
  
• Plot: 3 out of 5 stars
• Intelligence: 2 out of 5 stars

Prawns are Aliens!

District 9 is one helluva fresh alien movie. Aliens here are not as adorable as Steven Spielberg's E.T. nor a battling robotic lifeforms from outer space nor energy forms to save the human beings. They're like 6-foot tall walking and talking prawns. If you like eating shrimps and the likes, you should be ashamed of yourself after watching District 9.

In the Philippines, a hipon (shrimp) is a euphemism for a fugly-faced hot bod – you eat the flesh but trash the head

With alien movies, I expect gore. I fear that everytime a human had a contact with a "prawn", the aliens would just decapitate and obliterate humans with their awesome weapons. There are still those kind of gore but not too much like in Aliens and Starship Troopers. In District 9, I'm siding with these gigantic ugly malnourished shrimp-looking aliens over humans or that puppy-eyed Kokey.

I'm actually more afraid of Kokey than with prawns, seriously

The movie is great. It's like a mixture of different alien movies where there is gore, action and mushiness of E.T. It's a thrilling rollercoaster ride of "ooh", "wow", "eww", "woah" and "aww". After watching District 9, it stopped me from eating that Wendy's Shrimp Sandwich. Prawns have feelings too. Thank you Peter Jackson and Director Neill Blomkamp for that realization.

I can keep on yakking how great District 9 is and spill some spoilers here. Or watch it for yourself.


Ratings:

• Visuals: 5 out of 5 stars
• Intellect: 5 out of 5 stars
• Plot: 5 out of 5 stars

Battlefield Heroes… enough to keep me busy

I always wanted to play an online game that doesn’t give too much toll on my computer hardware. I want it no more than 2 GB, doesn’t need a high-end videocard to play it and doesn’t require a big RAM. Something I can play with my laptop which is not that powerful.

I’ve read a plurk from Jayvee and tried Battlefield Heroes on my laptop. Battlefield Heroes is an online first-person shooter game from the Battlefield series. It’s free to download, free-to-play and distributed by Electronic Arts. All you need to do is signup for an EA account, install the browser plugin/game launcher and play it.

The graphics for Battlefield Heroes is cartoony, which is very different from the Battlefield series. There’s not much details (or maybe I’m just playing it at the lowest setting for the graphics) since it’s an online game. The only downside of Battlefield Heroes for me, it doesn’t have a stand-alone game launcher. I have to open my browser to launch the game. Since it’s still in open beta, players will still experience downtime with servers. Players can’t choose the servers because the game does the matchmaking for them. Avatars are not that customizable, but they’re appearance can be modified by their clothings which are only limited from a week to a month usage. There are also items in store that can be used for unlimited duration but it requires Battlefunds to purchase it; real cash.

It’s fun to play and has features to keep the player busy aside from shooting and killing other Heroes. Be it for customizing your own heroes, achieving missions or plainly doing some player-kills. It kept me busy alright. I haven’t updated this blog regularly since I started playing this game.

Register and download the game at www.battlefieldheroes.com.