Day: February 19, 2008

The Rebirth of 6UG

Karla Redor Leave a comment

I got this one in my inbox:

After a number of rumors, I can finally confirm that 6Underground will have its rebirth at Pearl Plaza, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, in Pasig City (near Univ. of Asia & the Pacific). After much deliberation, we decided to reopen it due to a number of opportunities that presented themselves to us that will better promote indie and alternative artists and help our rock industry as a whole. We had often been challenging ourselves to better our features and not be limited to being a bar (2 albums, prepaid cards, mixed martial arts, media tie-ups, etc.). We will reveal our new offerings as time goes by.

Now called 6UG Live & Raw (as a tribute to our live album under Warner Music), the bar will have its soft launch come this Thursday, Feb. 21 with Plastic Baloo, Publico, Jab, and my band The Amandas. Only 3-4 bands will play a night to give them much exposure. Beer will only be at P30. The rest of the sched this week is as follows:

Feb. 22, Fri: Imbuenokudos, Teenage Hero, & Subscapular
Feb. 23, Sat: Muziklaban Champs – Gayuma, Sunflower Daycamp, & 18th Issue

If you are a fan of these bands, I suggest you come in your best rock attire and support them. I can only explain further once you visit the new venue.

Thanks and see you live and raw! :)

This is good news! It was last April 13th when the last gig was held at 6 Underground. The sad news is that it won’t be in C. Palanca St. anymore. And this is because the building where 6 Underground used to be is being remodeled. I just passed by it last week. I hope I could make it to their soft launch. :D

Where to get FREE Blogger XML Templates?

admin Leave a comment

Aside from my self-hosted WordPress blogs, I also have Blogger accounts. The major problem with Blogger blogs (aside from permalinks) is looking for a nice layout, especially if you do not know how to make your own. Compared to WordPress, Blogger templates is not as widely available as WordPress themes.

These are some of the great, professionally done, beautiful, free templates available for Blogger users:

Wow Blogger Template, Dilectio WordPress Theme

Wow Blogger Template, designed by JackBook.com is a derivative work from the Dilectio WordPress theme of Design Disease. This is best for personal, fashion and entertainment blogs. Preview Read More

Halal restaurants in Manila : the expat’s guide

ajay Leave a comment

shrimp biryani at ghazal

For this lazy Thursday, am suddenly craving for a tasty serving of shrimp biryani at Ghazal, the best little hole-on-the-wall for Middle Eastern food in my book, even better than Shawarma Center. Don’t expect anything fancy, the resto is an affair of eight or so tables in the busy thoroughfare that is Mabini St. in Manila, a walking distance from the Hyatt Hotel. What you can find here: various kinds of biryani and tikka, kebabs, lassi and other home-cooked specialties that escape me now. In this place, I go to the extremes and slather my hot rice with butter… it’s really good!

Ghazal just happens to be one of a few restaurants in the city serving authentic halal food. There is certainly much demand for places offering halal food… but the question is, where to go?

For purposes of this discussion, halal means food that’s permissible to consume by Muslims and non-pork eating people. They shouldn’t contain pork or pork-related products (such as lard) and must have gone through the proper slaughtering process.

Luckily, I have Facebook friend Fahim to show us. There happens to be a useful guide being distributed to students of Asia’s top management school AIM which should come in handy for expats and Muslim tourists to the country looking for genuine halal food. Here it goes:

Assad’s Café - Pakistani joint serving decent Indian and Pakistani fare. Value for money. Meals cost P400 for two. U.N. Avenue, opposite Unilever, Paco, Manila. Telephone No. 5261349, 5265034

Ghazal - Muslim-owned eatery. 1551 A. Mabini Street, Ermita, Manila

Halal Caterer to Indonesian & Brunei embassies (Gerry) - serves/caters halal meals on daily basis on request; separate cutting boards, knives & utensils for halal meal preparation. Charges Peso 40 delivery charge per dinner, if less than 5 orders. Cebu Financial Services, Rolex Building, Paseo De Roxas (next to AIM)

Hossein’s Persian Kebab - Meals for two cost an average of P1,000. Original branch at 7857 Makati Avenue, Makati (Telephone no. 890-6137) Can also be found in Serendra.

(more…)