Fresh Selections

Fresh Selections 
Maginhawa corner Magiting Street 
In front of Mini Stop 
UP Teacher’s Village, Quezon City 

R and T and I met for lunch today, and since R hadn’t been around the QC area so much after the Boards, T suggested that we try the new restaurant that popped up at Teacher’s Vill. None of us had ever eaten there before, by the way. It was a safe experiment then, because there was almost zero possibility that any of us would feel over-exposed to the food.

Ramen X

Ramen X 
Space 2087, Level 2
Trinoma, Quezon City 

D and I wandered here because she Googled the restaurant’s menu online, and decided she wanted to try their ramen. I don’t know how she first heard of it, or if anyone she knows had ever eaten there before we got to, but it was a remarkably no-fuss experience even with both of us clueless about what the place had to offer. Even though Ramen X is technically a high-level restaurant given it’s in a mall, the whole space had a laid back atmosphere that made it almost inevitable for customers to just relax and to enjoy the food.

Fairy Tale Fail

I will have to warn you that I am nuts for the author of this thing, Ms Mina V. Esguerra. I can't even refer to her without that title! I sometimes feel it's blasphemous to cite her using just her pen name, but we shall reserve analyses of my awkwardness for later. The point is, one of Ms Mina's self-published novels was recently picked up by Summit Publishing for national print distribution. [Excellent move, Summit Team! I've always approved of your creative decisions, even if you did phase out Seventeen PH.] The most recent of Ms Mina's Philippine-published books is entitled Fairy Tale Fail, and it has won the first ever Filipino Readers' Choice Awards for the Chick Lit Category.

I would describe the book this way:

Even with the modest income of a twenty-something Makati-dweller, Ellie Manuel's hobby remains planning efficient escapades to foreign countries, where no one knows about her and her recent awful breakup with all-around good guy Don. She can't even hate Don - she can't get over the fact that he's broken up with her in a disturbingly calm fashion that all their friends decide to be downright awful, and she still thinks they have a chance of getting back together. Because their romance is a carefully brought-together fairy tale, and Don is her only prince charming.

Contrary to what the typology of traditional fairy tales promises, however, a mysterious, undefinable character arrives in the form of Lucas Haresco, who is neither Fairy Godmother nor Donor nor Messenger. He is the office Rock Star, and while the little switch in Ellie's danger radar hints he might not be the type of guy to bring home to Mom, she finds herself falling for his addiction to chocolate truffles, his offers to refill her coffee mug with caffeine stashes from the department pantry, and his stern half-resignation, half-support of everything that had caused ex-boyfriend Don to decide to drop out of her life.

So who does Princess Ellie choose? The Prince her life plan demands her to pursue, or the Half-Prince whose existence may be the undoing of her happy ending?