McDonald’s New TV Ad: First Love

People have been talking about the new TV ad of McDonald’s that first aired a couple of days ago. It is, perhaps, one of the most bittersweet commercials I’ve ever come across. While I’m no fan of McDo, the ad certainly made me go, “Awwww…” :cute:

Basically, the story goes like this: There’s this bespectacled guy who remembers every moment of the first time he met his first love, whom I’ve codenamed pretty girl, whenever he goes to McDonald’s. Their mothers, complete with the 80’s big hairdo, were old friends and crossed paths again on that certain McDo branch. He felt that pretty girl and he had known each other a long time, having the same favorites (dipping the fries on the hot fudge sundae, which, as I side note, I have to admit I’ve been doing for a long time, hehe). So anyway, bespectacled guy fell in love with pretty girl, and this love never died.

Fast-forward to many years later, pretty girl drags him to meet her family, and you just have to see the expression on the bespectacled guy’s face to know how he feels. You know, when your steps falter and your heart suddenly takes a nosedive? It becomes a little bit hard to breathe, your palm gets sweaty, you try to smile but the ends of your mouth pulls down into a frown?

The ad ends with, “At kahit hindi rin naging kami sa huli, siya pa rin ang first love ko.” (Transliteration: And even if we didn’t end up together, she still is my first love.)

Cute, huh? Doesn’t help that the song used is arguably one of the greatest Filipino songs of all time.

Have you noticed the pretty girl’s expression when the bespectacled guy dipped his fries into the sundae? Sort of, like, a mixture of nostalgia and a little bit of regret? Or maybe I’m putting color into how touched she seems?

Don’t worry, bespectacled guy. I’m here. *pats back* I can be your second love.

According to the one who posted the video, who seems to be involved in the making of the ad, here’s the Creative Team:

GADC (McDo Clients): Margot Torres, Christina Lao, Mel Montemayor
Creatives: Teeny Gonzales – ECD-Copy, Argem Vinuya – Sr. Art Director
Accounts: Tey San Diego, Wella Balagtas, Lester Obice
Producer: Irene Chingcuangco
Director: Stephen Ngo
Prod House: Provill, Sound Design
Caster: Enrich Munchua
Musical Work: “Ang Huling El Bimbo” by Ely Buendia

I applaud the team for this slice-of-life and candid bit, a very heart-warming and brilliant ad that hasn’t graced the local television in a very long time. Great concept as well. Unrequited love is something that a lot of people can relate to. The ad gets even more touching each time I watch it. Kudos! :clap:

So anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and croaking singing lately. Just because. A couple of hours ago, I did a cover of one of my most favorite uplifting songs, You Gotta Be by Des’ree. I messed up on the bridge part, boohoo.

Perfect counter-song for the McDo ad.

New BookMooch Acquisitions!

So…I came home from the BookMooch Pilipinas New Year’s Party about 2 hours ago. Extremely grateful to the guardhouse guard for hailing a cab for me. I brought home 3 heavy bags full of books. Happy, happy moocher!

The ones I was dying to get are in bold. Basically, they’re the I-can’t-believe-I-own-them-now books. The ones I found highly interesting are in italic. May be because other people recommend them to me, or they’re written by authors I’ve read before, or I read about them somewhere, or they touch on interesting topics. Some of these books are actually brand new.

Hardcovers

• Rise Mindanao!: Stories of Peacebuilding and Development from the Land of Promise (coffee-table book)
• Ballyhoo Buckaroo and Spuds (Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins) – Michael Quinion
• Leadership and the Customer Revolution (The Messy, Unpredictable, and Inescapably Human Challenge of Making the Rhetoric of Change a Reality – Gary Heil, Tom Parker, Rick Tate
• Love Always, Petra (A Story of Courage and the Discovery of Life’s Hidden Gifts) – Petra Nemcova and Jane Scovell
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt
• Babyproof – Emily Giffin
• What Southern Women Know About Flirting (The Fine Art of Social, Courtship, and Seductive Flirting to Get the Best Things in Life) – Ronda Rich

Trade Paperbacks

• Suite Française – Irène Némirovsky
• A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (US edition) NOTE: I actually already have a trade paperback of this in UK version, but, *ahem* Oh, well, haha.
• Last Chance Saloon – Marian Keyes
• The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
• Read the Beatles (Classic and New Writings on The Beatles, Their Legacy, and Why They Still Matter) – June Skinner Sawyers
• Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
• Friday Night Lights (A Town, a Team, and a Dream) – H. G. Bissinger
• The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory
• Possession – A. S. Byatt
• Blind Submission – Debra Ginsberg
• The Divide – Elizabeth Kay
• Holes – Louis Sachar
• Black Robe – Brian Moore
• The School for Husbands – Wendy Holden
• The Book of Ruth – Jane Hamilton
• An Eye for an Eye – Malorie Blackman

Mass Market Paperbacks

• The Bookwoman’s Last Fling – John Dunning
• Across the Nightingale Floor – Lian Hearn
• The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank – Ellen Feldman
• The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne

Will tell the story some other time. For now, just drool over the impressive list of books. Here’s to hoping I actually get to read all of them. Haha.

Oh, yeah. Have you seen my reading challenge for 2009?

2009 Begins

• Apparently, I’m off the list of must-read “political” blogs of the wayward government, a little birdie told me. I found this quite funny. News flash: this is a personal blog, so thank you for bugging off, assholes.
• I decided to add a little spice to my bookworm life by participating in Flips Flipping Pages‘ Diversity Challenge, and that’s on top of the Quantity Challenge. I intend to “expand my horizons” and try other genres and authors this year. Here’s the list of the books I’m planning to read so far. Dare I say ambitious? I’m already getting lazy just by looking at it. Any suggestions are welcome.
• About to complete SEC registration of the [insert name here] organization and my registration to be a voter, and the renewal of my driver’s license.
• I embody the psycho in psychology no longer…I think.
• Started the year right by drinking with other bloggers.
• A friend said, “You’re the densest person I’ve ever met. She was obviously flirting with you!” A statement that received a raised eyebrow. Really, if it was *that* obvious, I’d have noticed it. The friend has an overactive imagination is all.
• Fascination with Dominance & Submission (of the BDSM acronym, yes) must be tamed, if not completely destroyed (at the back of my mind, the only way to rid of the filthy thought is to experience it).

Happy new year!

Another Year for Misteryosa.com

I was heavily drugged during the first hour of the year 2008. Clueless that the sleeping pills my psychiatrist prescribed me was *that* powerful, I downed a whole pill on the 31st of December last year and was promptly knocked out for about 30 hours. When I woke up, I felt like I was floating on air; I was only vaguely aware of my surroundings, and even the loud fireworks were like a faraway dream. After the festivities, I went back to sleep and woke up feeling hooman again.

I don’t intend to make a repeat of that and miss this year’s celebration. New Year has always been one of my favorites. There’s something about it that always brings hope, change, and hope for a change. As the year drags on, these things become in vain, but before we know it, another year is about to begin, and the cycle repeats. It’s tiring yet necessary for us to build up on our patience and strive harder.

I’ve never set goals for myself. I join no challenges. I don’t make resolutions. Some people might see it as a fool’s tactic to avoid disappointments, but then, disappointments have always been a constant. If there’s one goal, challenge, or resolution for myself that I’d love to have, it’d be to live life as I live it. Enjoy it. Treasure it. Reach out and share it.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing 2008 with me. I’m grateful that in this little nook on the web, our paths have crossed. I hope that you’re still with me on my journey this coming new year. Let’s learn and be inspired together as 2009 comes knocking on our doors.

(Oha, oha! Ang drama! :buckteeth: )

Misteryosa.com lives on as well, all thanks to Jaypee and Massa P, two Filipinos from overseas who refuse to see a fellow Filipino blogger get toppled from the crown. If it weren’t for them, the domain would’ve been history. Thanks also to the people who’ve lent their support and aired out suggestions, kinky and otherwise.

PlurkLakbayan08 at Tagaytay City

‘Twas the day after Christmas and the last Friday of the year. Plurkers from all over Metro Manila convened at Paseo de Magallanes for some early-morning caffeine fix and breakfast. The missions were to crowd Tagaytay City, eat like a king, enjoy the cool December winds and weather, and just have fun.

Jenny was my “official chauffeur” since we’re practically neighbors. Loaded up with a hearty Hellenic lunch at Manos Greek Taverna. The interior was blue-and-white utilitarian, with bottles of Greek wine and maps of Greece on display. We left with stomachs full. The place to be if you want home-cooked Greek cuisine.

Next stop was Bag of Beans. Made chit-chat and teased the guys mercilessly. It was a forgettable experience in terms of service, which could be a hundred times better (how dare they ignore the kid that was Jeric), but the company was great so I wasn’t bored…much. :p

Stayed for a couple of hours on the view deck of Taal Vista Lodge, a must-go if you want a spectacular view of the Taal Volcano and Taal Lake (“a lake within an island within a lake”). The sun was beating down on us, but the cold wind whipping around the trees more than made up for it. A series of jump shots were taken, with Fritz having the most creatively thematic and funnest poses.

And I wasn’t emo-ing, okay? It’s just that I love the serenity that overcomes my normally angsty state, and this only happens whenever I have a panoramic view of the ocean, or any body of water. I welcome a relaxing atmosphere and a breathtaking view, which I usually don’t get in the hustle and bustle place called Manila. I’m sure someone who has led a city life since birth and never got around to travel much will know what I mean.

Attempted an early dinner at Leslie’s Restaurant, but it ended up badly. Let’s just say that if I were in their place, I wouldn’t even *think* of charging a service fee when I didn’t even render any service. Leslie’s = FAIL talaga. Such a disappointing experience.

Dinner found us at Kanin Club in Paseo de Sta. Rosa. You’re in luck if you get a table in less than 15 minutes, because the place is almost always full. No wonder, though, because their dishes are absolutely made of YUM! Much thanks to the owner for the complementary salad, which was just about the best plate in the table.

‘Twas a fun-filled day. Although I pretty much spent too much money. Heh. Worth it, though.

(First photo: Arbet. Second photo: Karla. Third photo: Fritz. Fourth photo: Fran. More photos on Flickr. )