Pounding The Keyboard

     My Facebook News Feed has been abuzz with posts about the apocalyptic Netflix movie Bird Box so I felt obliged to immediately watch it (I am usually not really excited regarding Netflix-made movies). Bird Box is about invincible evil creatures that once seen will make an individual go insane and suicidal. They say it’s a A Quiet Place rip off, and that accusation is not without basis (although the book Bird Box is based on a 2014 book and A Quiet Place was released in 2018, so it’s possible that A Quiet Place ripped off the Bird Box book. Lol). The movie The Happening (2008) also comes to mind.      But still, rip off or not, Bird Box is quite suspenseful, terrifying, and enjoyable. Some people found it so scary that they watched it blindfolded. Lol. Sandra Bullock, as usual is fine, and John Malkovich, a first-rate actor, is always a delight to watch and the two children are really good.      But t...

     While inside the mall, I snuck inside a bookstore and walked straight to the customer service and asked if they got a copy of Neil Gaiman’s latest book, Norse Mythology. A sales clerk went in front of the computer and looked, then shook her head. “Out of stock,” she said. “But we have Greek Mythology.”      I suppressed a laugh,   but then, come to think of it, Greek Mythology, I think,   is more popular than Norse Mythology, although there is no Greek god that is as popular as Thor or Loki now (because of the Marvel superhero movies.) Mr. Gaiman should have probably retold or reimagined Greek Mythology instead.      “Do you have other Neil Gaiman books?” I asked the clerk, who promptly looked at the monitor again.      “We have Trigger Warning. ”      “Nope,” I shook my head.      “We have Fragile Things, ” she said. ...

       A few weeks ago, my sister and her husband had dinner in a restaurant and she noticed something different in their drinking water—deliciously different. The water was obviously infused with something. “Pandan leaves,” the waiter answered when she asked about it. Apparently, it’s an old trick; pandan leaves are not  exclusive to buko and sinaing.        And now, we’ve been drinking refreshing and delicious (and a bit healthier) water in our house—pandan-infused water. Just wash some pandan leaves thoroughly and put in your drinking water and after two days, you’d taste its (mild, not too intrusive) flavor. You can also simmer the leaves in water, and afterwards, take the leaves out, let the water chill and enjoy. We’ve tried lemon water before but we’d probably stick with pandan water for the meantime. Not everyone enjoys the taste of lemon in water every day and pandan leaves last longer in the water. ...