Be My Guest and Follow Me

Curiosity at Crimson

2011-03-31T11:07:00.010+08:00

What was considered an incredulity became an action. I have seen it on several billboard ads. My mom heard about it from a bidding that transpired at her office. Both of us were amazed what that place looked like, until we went there and saw it ourselves - with more amazement than we thought of.

One Tuesday evening my mom, our family aid, and I went to Cebu's spanking Crimson Hotel Resort & Spa. Without qualms, we headed off to that resort after logging out from office. Though it could have been better if we had arrived before the sun set, I still love the zen layout of the resort's lobby entrance:

And also the walkway to the Front Office:
Ain't satisfied yet? Me either, because this story is not done yet. Uhm hmm...

Shortly after arriving at the lobby, we went down to the Pool level, where Saffron Cafe, the resort's flagship restaurant, and the pool are located. But just before we entered the restaurant, the Crimson Pastry welcomed us and made me drool over cakes and cookies. Yum!

Without much ado, we moved on to Saffron Cafe and ordered the following (adore the pictures, by the way):

Margherita Pizza

(L) Pancit Guisado, (R) Beef Tapa with Rice

Mango and Malunggay health drink

Soya Milk Panacotta

All of the food that we ordered are appealing to our taste buds. I adore the creamy goodness of Soya Milk Panacotta the most! It makes me wanting to go back to Crimson again.

After we paid the bill, we were given a 1 hour billiard game coupon at their sports bar. (This is definitely the reason to go back. Hehe) Also, the food attendants informed us that Crimson will launch their Day Use offer starting April 1. Day Use is for P1,500 from Monday to Friday and P1,800 on Saturday and Sunday. It is inclusive of whole day use of the pool and lunch buffet. Isn't it amazing and affordable?

Check out the hotel's site at http://www.crimsonhotel.com/ for more tidings on packages and promotions.

Influential Bloggers

2010-08-31T23:28:00.002+08:00

My friend is the owner of rabsing.com, and he pleaded me to compose a post titled Influential Bloggers. As he requested, he also wanted me to include his blog to be one of the top influential blogs in the Philippines.

So my choices for the emerging influential blogs are as follows:

1. rabsing.com - This video blog or "vlog" is a showcase of the blogger's talent in singing and video making.

2. facebuko.com - Facebuko.com is a parody of Facebook.com wherein blog posts are equivalent to status updates in Facebook. Those updates amuse readers by adding humor to actors, TV shows, and current events.

3. thirstyblogger.com - The Thristy Blogger shares his ideas on new drinks offered by different coffee shops, hotels, and restaurants.

4. wheninmanila.com - This blog is a lifestyle blog - the blogger provides updates on events, affordable travel destinations, and foodie stuff not only in Manila but also in other places in the Philippines.

5. nomnomclub.com - NomNom is a resident food blogger in Metro Manila. He gives readers updates on new restos in the Metro.

6. foodiemanila.com - Foodie Manila features different restaurants in Metro Manila.

7. tara-na.com - Tara-na is an all around blog. It features food, travel, and events.

8. thecreativedork.com - The Creative Dork is a commentary on people's creations in different industries such as in the film, fashion, illustration, interior design, books, comics, food, and music.

9. project52weeks.com - Project 52 Weeks is a video blogging project of Mica Rodriguez. It features her own music videos and documentaries.

10. kusinamaria.com - Kusina Maria is a cooking blog that features the blogger's own recipe.

So, those are my 10 bets for the emerging influential bloggers. I hope you could make your own bet, too. Just follow the instructions found in Influential Blogger.

Influential Blogger will award the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010. This competition is supported by Events and Corporate Video, Budget hotel in Makati, Pinoy Party Food, Copyediting Services, PR Agency Philippines, Budget Travel Philippines, Send Gifts to the Philippines, Black Friday Deals, Roomrent - units for rent, Search Profile Index, and Corporate Events Organizer.

Ghoti

2010-02-17T22:43:00.008+08:00

Both the native speakers of English and the multilinguals (That's us!) are aware how confusing the English language is in terms of spelling, as well as pronunciation. Speaking of "inconsistencies" of pronunciation in English, I recalled the day when I attended my summer class in Engl102 - Introduction to Linguistics. My teacher discussed the general or universal rules in phonology (a.k.a. the study of sounds or phonemes in words in a language). He then mentioned the word "ghoti," which is pronounced as "fish."

So why is "ghoti" pronounced as "fish?"

First, the words containing the gh sequence are pronounced as /f/, as in the words laugh, cough, and rough.

Second, the sound of the letter o in the word women is /i/.

Last, the ti sequence has a /sh/ sound as in association, action, and initial.

But this doesn't mean that the word "ghoti" is a legitimate word in the English language. The word "ghoti" shows the inconsistency of English spelling. This gives us an impression that the English spelling and English pronunciation is not always the same.

Now, can you give me the "pronunciation equivalent" of ghoughpteighbteau? :)

2nd Anniversary of CBS

2010-02-14T00:46:00.017+08:00

I started blogging two years ago, and most of my blogs were just rants in life, relationships, and people. But after joining the Cebu Bloggers Society, I realized that blogs should not only be limited to such themes but on promoting Cebu.

Just like my blogging "experience," the Cebu Bloggers Society will be turning two on February 14, 2010. The bloggers will celebrate CBS's 2nd anniversary on that day at 5:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. at the Celebration Hall of SM Storyland, Lower Ground Floor, SM City Cebu. The celebration is dubbed as "CBS @ 2: The Cebu Bloggers Society 2nd Anniversary Celebration."

The event will not be possible without the following sponsors:

Major Sponsors:

Minor Sponsors:

Batang Yagit
Jehzlau Concepts

French Swear Words

2009-08-09T20:18:00.009+08:00

Pardon my addiction with the French language. But before I proceed to this very exciting topic, you must be aware that the content of this blog post is highly SENSITIVE and OFFENSIVE. If you think that this blog is offensive, you have the option not to read it.

We hear people everywhere uttering words such as sh*t or f*ck whenever they feel disgusted or the like, yet these expressions are very common nowadays. When you use these so-called cuss words against some foe, you might offend him/her and you will end up involved in cat fights or fist fights.

The following list of French swear words is a guide for you to throw these words against your enemies, leaving them clueless, stupid, and ignorant, without them offending. It is composed by someone, probably a French fellow. I don't claim that this is my work. I haven't known any French cuss word - not until now. Haha! I just shared it since I was amused with these expletives (cuss words, swearing, a.k.a. balikas in Bisaya), especially when someone pisses you off and you thirst for verbal vengeance. Wahahaha!

So here's the show:

French Swear Words: My 10 Favorites

While I grew up hearing accidental French expletives that would sneak their way out of my mother’s mouth, for those who learned French in the classroom, I’m guessing the teacher was not willing (or able) to teach students how to properly and thoroughly cuss in French. So, in that vein, here are some of my very favorite French curses. These are the things you hear spilling out of cab driver’s mouths, accidentally being shouted by my grandmother when she drops the milk, or accompanied by grimaced faces and occasional hand gestures in the streets of Paris.

Now, before you go around dropping the French equivalent of the F bomb on your next trip, keep in mind that language plays an immensely important role in French culture. In fact, being articulate and well spoken is considered to be an extremely valuable asset and characteristic, and while the French also like to curse a lot, the term most often associated with curse words is “unrefined.” However, in the right place, with the right people, you can impress your French friends (and make them giggle) by appropriately using these very useful and colorful curses.

Julie’s 10 Favorite French Swear Words

1. Merde!(MARE-deh)

This translates quite literally as “shit.” I grew up hearing this word mumbled (or sometimes shouted) when my mother accidentally would burn herself on the stove or have some sort of other expletive inducing outburst. You’ll definitely hear “merde” used in France in as wide context as “shit” in English.

2. Putain!/Pute!(Poo-TAHN)/(poote)

This word packs a serious punch, so use it with caution (and maybe not in mixed company). Putain literally translates as “whore,” but tends to be used more like the word “fuck” in English. Not only can it be used as an emotional reaction to something, like “Fuck!” in English, you can also direct it at someone in particular, “ca pute” (that whore). People joke that the word “fuck” can be used as every part of speech in English, and in French, putain functions much the same way.

3. Chiant/Ca me fait chier(CHI-ant)/(sa meh fey CHIay)

This word is most commonly used in the context of “ce me fait chier,” which translates as a more vulgar version of “that pisses me off.” This became one of my favorite expressions when I was living in Paris (which tells you something about my personality) and my great Aunt who I lived with would cringe when I would accidentally let this slip out at home.

4. Salope! (SAL-up)

You’ll most likely be directing this one at someone in particular, rather than as an angry expletive shouted in response to something. It translates as “bitch,” and is used pretty much exactly the same way the word is used in English. Also, like in English, you can incorporate this word into a a phrase like “fils de salope” (son of a bitch).

*salop (pronounced sal-o) is the masculine version

5. Foutre/ Je m’en fou (FOO-truh)/(Juh MONH foo)

Again, although you may hear this dropped around a lot, use it with caution as “foutre” is the verb for “to fuck.” You’ll most often hear this in the phrase “je m’en fou,” which essentially means “I don’t give a fuck.” This also became one of my favorite phrases while I was living in Paris and it was another one that would make my grande tante (great aunt) cringe when it slipped out at home.

6. Con/conasse/connard (cohn)/(COHN-asse)/(COHN-nard)

This is often used as “ass” in French , though it is also sometimes translated as a milder “idiot.” There is a famous movie in French titled “Le Diner des Cons,” which is about a group of Parisian businessmen who each bring a “con,” or an idiot, to dinner and then the favorite “con” is chosen at the end (i.e. the guy who makes the biggest fool of himself). The movie title has been translated a variety of different ways (like “The Diner of Idiots” and “The Dinner Game”) and exemplifies why direct translation of idiomatic phrases, slang and cuss words can be difficult. Also, while this is a milder curse than “putain,” it is also certainly not polite, so use with caution.

7. Nique ta mere! (neek tah mare)

Watch out for this curse, as it literally translates as “fuck your mother.” This phrase is not only extremely vulgar, but also very offensive and should be reserved for situations when only the most extreme curse is needed.

8. Ta Gueule! (THAI-gull)

This is just about the rudest way possible of telling someone to shut up. While it does not really have an exact equivalent or translation in English, it’s kind of like saying “shut the fuck up,” or “shut your trap.” You’ll definitely hear this in banter among friends, but it can also be used in a really insulting way.

9. Casse-toi! (KASS-twah)

This French curse became the center of a French controversy when President Sarkozy was caught saying this a French citizen who had refused to shake his hand at an agricultural fair in France. This insult is kind of like a very rude way of saying “bug off,” or maybe even “fuck off.” Combined with another expletive, (like “con”) it can actually pack quite a powerful punch.

10.. C’est des conneries! (Say-day-KOHN-ree)

Clearly this curse is related to #6 on this list, and can be translated best as “this is bullshit.” I particularly enjoy this phrase and found it very useful in my daily life. I also like to throw in extra words for emphasis like “C’est vraiment des conneries!” (That is REALLY bullshit).

*If you want to know some of our Paris resident’s essential French swear words

So, those are my favorite French swear words and cusses. You may have your own colorful expletives. What’s your favorite way to swear in French

Source: http://www.francetravelguide.com/french-swear-words-my-10-favorites.html

Learning French

2009-08-08T02:13:00.006+08:00

I am currently enrolled in French 1 since I really love to learn the French language. I didn't enrol myself in Spanish because of our bitter history. You know what happened right? Hehe

To give you a little "FYI", the French language belongs to the Romance group of languages. Spanish, Romanian, Italian, Catalan, and Portuguese are some of the languages that belong to that group. The Romance Languages are derived from the 'vulgar' or vernacular Latin of the Roman empire in contrast to literary or classical Latin. (Rosal, Anita J., Introduction to Linguistics: General and Applied, 2009. 4th Edition) Common characteristic of these languages is that the sounds and vocabularies of such languages are quite close to Latin.

According to my teacher in French, Americans find French language a very hard-to-learn language. It is because nearly no English sounds can approximate the sounds in French. For example, in English, the letter o can have numerous sounds such as [ow] as in "close", or [ah] as in "clot". But in French, neither of these English sounds approximate the sound of the letter "o" in French.

Surprisingly, Filipinos find French language easy to learn. First, most of "Pinoy" sounds are very close to the French sounds. Second, since we learn English when we were still very young, sentence construction in French is the same as in English; that is, the French language follows this syntax: S-V-O or subject-verb-object. Last, a number of English words are derived from French words. For example, papier is paper, classe is class (be it social class, classroom, or rank), anniversaire is anniversary or even birthday, page is page, and the list goes on.

Many people complain that French language is complicated. Yes, it may be, but SELDOM! Always remember that ALL CONSONANTS that are located at the end of every word are SILENT, except for letters c, f, l, and r. Unlike other languages, some vowel and consonant combination are nasals. When you encounter this combination on and om, pronounce both as if you are uttering the surname "Ong" but don't make that [ng] sound prominent. The vowels are called nasalized because you have to produce the sound through your nose.

Still have a "French-y" problem? Well, a thorough discussion of French vocabulary and sentence construction is not enough for just one post. You can buy a book on how to learn French or you may contact me. I'll keep my site updated as soon as I have lots of free time.