Myth confirmed: The Green Hornet is awesome + MythBusters DVD Box Set Giveaway!

The Green Hornet

LIZZ: Okay, where do I begin? First of all, let me state that beyond knowing who the characters were and how it made Bruce Lee's career, I had little to no knowledge of the original Green Hornet. I heard it was like the old Adam West Batman series except less campy, so I went into the theater with an open mind and expected to be entertained. I think Seth Rogen is pretty damned brilliant, but suffice to say that I have mixed feelings about some of his movies. (Knocked Up > Pineapple Express). I do appreciate his sense of humor however, and I was wondering how he'd deal with playing Britt Reid- superhero extraordinaire. I guess I needn't have worried, because he played it like he played many of his more popular characters-- like a well-meaning dumbass.

This isn't to say that this is a bad thing, of course, as he plays the well-meaning dumbass stereotype incredibly well. The Green Hornet was a crazy fun flick with plenty of action and plenty of laughs, and I'm happy to admit that I laughed harder than I had in weeks (I'm looking at you, "Black Swan".) All in all, I found it a highly entertaining movie that makes for an interesting addition to the superhero movie genre. It's not as fantastic as, say, Kick-Ass, but it's definitely entertaining. I'd take this over Fantastic Four (1 AND 2), Wolverine, Spider-Man 3, and even X-Men 3 on any given day of the week. I recommend watching this if you're in a bad mood, as it will definitely cheer you up! :D




JOSH: The Green Hornet got mostly lukewarm reviews from critics (46% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it's not hard to guess why. The movie relies more on slapstick and juvenile jokes than wit and subtlety, which makes it the kind of movie many serious critics despise.

But I'm not a professional critic. I'm just an average moviegoer. Unlike film connoisseurs, I don't go to the cinema to admire artistic excellence or to have my soul touched. I only want to:

1) be entertained, and
2) stuff my face with popcorn.

I achieved both goals while watching The Green Hornet last night, so I'm happy.

The Green Hornet doesn't even follow the superhero movie formula of transforming an average Joe into an awesome hero who then performs amazingly heroic acts of courage and awesomeness. Seth Rogen's Green Hornet was a bumbling goofball from start to finish, and I loved that. Many fans are apparently not too pleased by the sharp departure from the more serious tone of the original 60s TV series. (Or so I've heard. I've never seen the show... I'm not THAT old.) But I'm glad that Seth Rogen played to his strength as a comedic actor instead of going the "I want to be a serious actor" route--I don't think that would have worked.

The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, played by a young Bruce Lee in the original series, is played here by Harold from the Harold and Kumar movies some dude named Jay Chou. He doesn't have Bruce Lee's magnetic screen presence and seemed to have trouble delivering some of his lines, but his performance was adequate for this light-hearted movie. And he did have good bromantic chemistry with Seth Rogen.

To sum things up, this movie isn't going to win any Oscars, but it's good silly fun. Just sit back with a big bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.

If you're a Mythbusters fan like I am, don't miss the Mythbusters Green Hornet Special on the Discovery Channel on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at 8 PM. In this episode, Seth Rogen joins the Mythbusters to recreate some scenes from the movie, this time without the help of Hollywood movie magic.



Mythbusters airs every Friday at 8 PM on Discovery Channel South East Asia, with a replay at 1 AM.

One more thing before we go....

We're giving away this 2-disc Mythbusters Mega Movie Myths DVD set to one lucky reader. If you want it, just leave a comment with your name and email address on or before Feb. 1, 2011. We'll pick a winner at random.

Restaurant hopping at the Ayala Triangle Garden

we had heard quite a lot about the new culinary hotspot that is the Ayala Triangle Garden (click here for map) in the past couple of months. In particular, friends and relatives have been telling us about big crowds lining up outside a new restaurant called Wee Nam Kee for some allegedly amazing Hainanese chicken.

So when we got invited to try some of the restaurants at the Ayala Triangle Garden on a Saturday afternoon last December, we jumped at the chance. And although Wee Nam Kee wasn't on our itinerary, we still had quite an enjoyable food trip.

Our first stop was Bonchon Chicken, which originated in South Korea.

Twice-fried (!) chicken wings (available in soy garlic and hot & spicy versions)

LIZZ: All in all, I thought this was a great little restaurant. I'm a huge fan of chicken wings, so it's no surprise that I loved the food. My only complaint is that the spicy chicken wings were tongue-scorchingly hot, and as a spicy food lover, that's saying a lot! I'd recommend the regular version for first-timers.

JOSH: To be honest, the regular soy garlic version tasted quite bland to me, but perhaps that was only because I made the mistake of trying the brutally spicy one first. Still, the quality was excellent, and I loved how the chicken skin was delightfully crunchy from being fried twice. I just wish that they had a mildly spicy version for people like me who want a little kick but not intense pain. But I guess Koreans really like their spices.

We also had this nice little bulgogi wrap, or as I call it, Korean shawarma.

Next up was Amici.

JOSH: I love Italian food, and Amici is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. I've previously visited their branches in Greenhills, Tomas Morato, and Don Bosco Makati.

This is the Quattro Formaggi, which I think is Italian for "four cheese." It's my personal favorite.

This is the Tutta Carne, which I think is Italian for "very ordinary pizza" :-P Don't get me wrong--it wasn't not bad at all. But Amici offers a lot of exceptional pizzas and pastas, and most of them are more interesting than this one.

This is a slightly spicy seafood pasta that I forgot the name of. It was excellent.

And this is a delicious creamy mushroom pasta that I also forgot the name of. I promise to take notes next time.

LIZZ: Both the pizza and the pasta at this place were great, though the 4 cheese pizza stood out as a definite must try. I often order this type of pizza at various restos, and Amici's version managed to be both unique and comfortable at the same time. Comfort food at its finest!

Amici's famous gelato is now marketed under the Cara Mia brand name. They have a mouth-watering selection of gelato, cakes, and (gasp) gelato cakes.

Mango Symphony gelato cake

Peach Walnut Passion gelato cake

Pistachio gelato

Sans Rival gelato

LIZZ: Utter Heaven! I loved both the gelato cakes and the gelato itself. Do yourself a favor and don't leave without trying the pistachio gelato... absolute bliss!

JOSH: What she said.

Our final stop was Golden Spoon. We were both stuffed by the time we got here, but we couldn't resist sharing a pomegranate & blueberry yogurt cone. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of the cone before inhaling it.

LIZZ: I've been a huge fan of this place since it opened, and for those of you who crave less calories but can't stand sour yogurt, this is the place to go. ;)

JOSH: Golden Spoon should call their yogurt I Can't Believe It's Not Ice Cream. Yum.

- - -

The Ayala Triangle Garden is definitely a happy place for food-lovers. We thoroughly enjoyed our short food trip, and we plan to go back sometime to check out the other restaurants. There are some familiar old names like Kanin Club, Banapple, MoMo Cafe, and Omakase, but we're most excited about the new restaurants: Chef Laudico's Bfast, C.B.D. (Cheesesteak, Burgers, and Drinks... hmm), and of course the much hyped Wee Nam Kee.

YesNoMeh gives gluttony a



Happy new year everyone!

Geek Shows Old and New

After months of waiting, the new TV season has finally started. Hooray! Let's celebrate by taking a look at some geeky shows.

[Old] Smallville Season 10

LIZZ: It's Smallville's final season, and it looks like the show's pulling out all the stops. Finally casting off the silly “no tights, no flights” rule, Clark Kent finally flies (or jumps really high?) in time to save the Daily Planet globe falling onto rush hour traffic. This is probably Superman's most iconic imagery, as it's been repeated in the comics and movies dozens of times before. Superman holds the globe on his back as a not-so-subtle metaphor for his carrying the weight of the world. Whew.

Also, we finally get a full-on look at the actual red, blue, and yellow costume. No teaser glimpses or angled shots, this is a good long look at the costume Clark is going to end up wearing on the season finale. It's the same one Brandon Routh wore in Superman Returns so I'm not sure how the tiny S is going to look on barrel-chested Tom Welling, but I'm reserving judgment til I actually see him wearing the damned thing.

A million fanboys jizzed in their pants simultaneously when this came on screen.

Ramen Bar: come here for yummy pork ramen and more pork ramen!

On a rainy Sunday evening a few weeks ago, we noticed a shiny new restaurant called Ramen Bar in Eastwood City. Because we're fans of both Japanese food and new restaurants, we decided to ignore the ominous "soft opening" sign posted on the door and give it a try. We ended up waiting almost an hour for our food. Oh well, we were warned.

Yakiniku Beef Rice Topping - Php165

JOSH: My favorite Ramen Bar dish has nothing to do with ramen. It's a simple but satisfying meal--rice topped with juicy beef strips and onions. The serving size is pretty good, and the price is reasonable.

LIZZ: This huge beef bowl was delicious and far better than the Teriyaki Boy Gyudon that's almost double the price. The beef was soft, the rice was excellent, and they didn't skimp on the spring onions. Delicious!

Shoyu Ramen - Php280

JOSH: It's a big bowl of ramen with shoyu (soy sauce) soup base and topped with slices of pork. The thing I liked the most about it was the rich and flavorful soup. It's on the expensive side, but it's worth a try.

LIZZ: I thought this was pretty overrated. It's good, but not that great, and it's certainly not worth almost 300 pesos. :P

Philippine Travel Mart + Another Giveaway!

 We love to travel. Who doesn't? Travel is fun. We make it a point to get out of Metro Manila once every few months or so. If you're a long-time follower of our blog, you've probably heard about our Holy Week trip to Cebu, which we still haven't finished blogging about yet--oops, sorry. We also recently spent a week in South Korea. (We'll blog about that soon, we promise. Stay tuned.)

The downside of travel is of course the cost. And that's why we're quite excited about the upcoming 21st Philippine Travel Mart, which will be held on September 3-5, 2010 at the Megatrade Hall in SM Megamall, Ortigas. The event is organized by the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), the largest association of registered tour operators in the country. We expect it to be a great venue for everyone to find good travel deals and tour packages. See you there!

And if you click on the "Sale ng Bayan" link on their website right now, you'll get a chance to bid on various tour packages.

---

Now, it's time for another YesNoMeh giveaway. To make things more exciting, let's have a real contest this time. But first, let us tell you about the prizes....

In keeping with the travel theme, we're giving away a handy foldable lightweight tote bag from Design Go and a nice blade-and-nailcutter set from Philippine Airlines. We're also throwing in various packs of delicious candies we got from Korea. Yum!

How to join:

1) Follow @YesNoMeh on Twitter.
2) Tweet, Plurk, or blog about this contest.
3) Leave a comment with your email address and Twitter/Plurk/blog URL. But don't submit your comment yet! You'll also have to guess the number of candies in the Blueberry Candy pack.

The person who gets the closest to the actual number wins. In case of a tie, the winner will be determined by a random draw.

Join now! This contest is open to all Philippine residents. The deadline is August 15, 2010.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to thaMaldito for correctly guessing the number of candies: 20. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Ziplines in Manila: Flying Above the Concrete Jungle + Giveaways!

Last Friday, YesNoMeh was invited to experience the Zoom Tree Top Adventure at Circulo Verde. The newly opened attraction was launched at 4:00pm to a throng of media and press. Featuring the first ever motorized zipline, it included the Superman Ride (where you fly face down through the air), and the Silver Surfer Ride (where you stand on a perch while you zoom back and forth on the zipline).

LIZZ: I chose to be the photographer so that we could document the event, and I (haha) promptly volunteered Josh to try both rides. The Silver Surfer Ride costs Php300 and the Superman Ride costs Php400, and both rides take you from one tower to the other twice.

Melo's Wagyu Steak: the Father of All Steaks

JOSH: About 10 days ago, on the night before we left for a fun 8-day trip to Korea, we got invited to a sumptuous Wagyu steak feast at Melo's, a high-end steak restaurant famous for being the first to serve certified Angus Beef in the Philippines.

Lizz and I both love Wagyu beef. We often celebrate special occasions at this place in Eastwood City where you cook your own Wagyu steaks on stone grills, which is fun but sometimes produces inconsistent results. It was nice to have a qualified professional handle the cooking for a change.

LIZZ: Wagyu apparently has different grades, and they range from 1 to 10 (10 being the best). Melo's serves Wagyu from grades 4 through 8, and they pointed out that other restaurants that don't share the grades of their beef may very well be serving the lowest grade. Very interesting!

The featured dish of the evening was Steak ala Dad (Php2,999), which is a thick juicy slab of grade 8 Wagyu Tenderloin wrapped in bacon, topped with Al Funghi Porcini sauce, and served with mashed potato.

Sakae Sushi: The Happiest Place On Earth

JOSH: Last Tuesday, we went to SM Mall of Asia to join a bloggers' dinner at Sakae Sushi. I had been wanting to check out the place for a long time because I had heard that they have sushi-making machines. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see how the machines work (and no, they're not knife-wielding humanoid robots). But we did get to sample various menu items.

LIZZ: Of course, we also got to see their sushi conveyor belt. It snakes across the restaurant, supplying all the tables with their favourite sushi. The plates are color-coded according to price (blue = P39, yellow = P59, green = P79, red = P99). If you're in the mood for Eat-All-You-Can, you can pay P399 (P199 if you're a kid) for a sushi buffet and get everything you want from the conveyor belt. Very affordable!

Yay! Endless stream of sushi!

JOSH: But first, let's look at the a la carte items. We got to chat a bit with Sakae Sushi owner Hubert Young, who also runs the popular UCC chain of cafes. Mr. Young is like a mad scientist of food. Instead of sticking to traditional Japanese cuisine all the time, he comes up with strange and creative menu items like this one....

Ebi Salad Roll (asparagus, shrimp salad, and some other veggies)

LIZZ: As someone who absolutely loves shrimp (but is also allergic), I have to say that I absolutely loved this roll. The shrimp was fresh and delicious and it quickly became a fast favourite. :D

YesNoMeh goes to Cebu! Stuffing our face at Casa Verde

On our recent trip to Cebu city, we decided that we had to try our friend Bliss' family restaurant. She told us that it was closed during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, so we ate there on the last night of our trip and boy, was it a great way to end our vacation!

 Casa Verde (69 Ranudo Extension near Ramos St.)

Watermelon juice (Php70) and Panama Orange iced tea (Php30)

Lizz: This watermelon juice was pretty good. The most you can hope for with fruit juice is that it's fresh and sweet, and this ticked off all the right boxes.


Josh: I got the Panama Orange iced tea, and I liked it. The orange flavor made it interesting and sets it apart from your run-of-the-mill iced tea. Best of all, it's not overpriced.

YesNoMeh Goes to Cebu! Reviews On Marco Polo Plaza Hotel and Zest Air

Lizz: Josh and I decided to spend our Holy Week vacation on the sunny beaches of Cebu, and being the OC guy that Josh is, he's planned every day down to where we were going to eat at each meal and which attractions we would hit.

Josh: That's not true! I'm still not sure where we're going to have lunch on Friday. As we start this entry, we're sitting at the old domestic terminal in NAIA.

Lizz: It's horrible. The only airlines left here are Zest Air and SEAIR, and the food is overpriced crap. (I just had an P80 cheeseburger from Vin Vin's Cafe and I give it a big fat NO.) We'll be blogging during our trip (if we manage to find a decent internet connection), and will be updating this entry as we go. So tune in if you want to live vicariously through us (or are just bored and stuck at home). :D

Josh: As Lizz was typing that, a shouting match broke out outside the playroom behind us. From what we can overhear, one kid bit another in the face, and the dad of the victim was freaking out.

Lizz: No blood no foul, I always say! And on that note, we're off! :D

EDIT: April 4, 2010 (Sunday) 6:30pm

Josh: Okay, the live blogging didn't go so well. Globe Tattoo is a piece of shit. We couldn't get a proper signal from our hotel room even though we were on the 16th floor, and there's no way I was going to pay 800 pesos per day for WiFi.

Zest Air, the first airline named after a juice drink

Lizz: Before we get into that, I find it necessary to point out that our Zest Air flight actually wasn't so bad. We paid a little less than Php6,000 (approx $120) for two round-trip tickets to Cebu and hey, we didn't crash!


Josh: The last 20 minutes of the return flight was bumpy as hell though. I almost threw up. But yeah, it's cheap, so it's tolerable.

Marco Polo Plaza Hotel's gorgeous lobby

Lizz: We stayed at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. I really enjoyed everything it had to offer, as it had comfy beds, a great buffet, and some seriously nice staff.

Josh: And the rates are surprisingly affordable for a 5-star hotel. It was just Php3,500 a night, breakfast buffet for two included.

Dining at the Poolside

Lizz: It's too bad we didn't get the chance to take a dip in their pool (we'd had our fill of swimming at our day trip to Plantation Bay), but we had dinner and some drinks at the poolside restaurant and it looked great. The drinks were a bit strong for cocktails, but I guess if you want to get drunk really quickly, that's a good thing.

Josh: I'm still a bit buzzed. Whee!

Hella strong cocktails. (Yes, we are lightweights.)

Lizz: All in all, we spent three great nights at this lovely hotel and it was totally worth it. (It's a bit far from the other resorts, but close enough to the city and getting cabs isn't a problem.) I wholeheartedly give this a


Josh: If you want to stay in for a meal, go to the poolside restaurant. The prices there are cheaper than those in the other restaurants (Php100-200 per dish as opposed to Php400+), and the view is nice. I give it a


*Stay tuned to YesNoMeh this week as we post our reviews on Plantation Bay, Crown Regency Hotel and Towers (Edge Coaster ftw!), Ayala Center Cebu, and Casa Verde (yum yum!).