put myself in a rather tight spot as ive declared staying away from social networks until i get to watch the episode 9 of game of thrones lest somebody spoils it for me. with nothing else to do, i write this short blog and give you this video of one of the best vocalists ever, karen carpenter, in a stripped down version of For All We Know. manila just cooled down after a brief shower and the afternoon’s perfect with karen’s alto brooding over the speakers.
check out this post here.
we spent about 2 weeks in capas, tarlac to shoot the battle scenes of HENERAL LUNA in may. why oh why did we only find this cafe last week? found on the ground floor of mr blue inn (macarthur highway, capas tarlac), where monica and the pm team were billeted while doing preps for our train station shoot, id see monica’s posts of her breakfast on instragram but it wasnt until i got here that i was charmed by the place.
LES CAPEHAN DE TARLAC is currently on a soft opening status, serving only breakfast but will cook lunch and dinner meals if you book ahead and discuss with the cook on what you want to eat. we asked for pakbet and galunggong for lunch and ginataang kalabasa and fish fillet for dinner, of which some ingredients were harvested from their garden at the back. the coffee they serve is from baguio, freshly brewed with panutcha sweetener and you pay per head (unli coffee? yes). it’s almost the cafe carlo and i wanted to resurrect blumentritt into where id only serve coffee and beer. whatever is available in the ref would be offered for the day.
im also of course a sucker for nice cement finishes and the semi-industrial minimalist nature of the interiors. it felt like the dining room tambayan of a buddy, intimate and totally friendly. i hope this cafe will be a hit with locals and tourists.
les capehan de tarlac is found on the ground floor of the DEB building along the macarthur highway in capas tarlac. look for the signage of mr blue inn.
after a grueling race against time, the art department managed to finish enough of our train and station set for HENERAL LUNA to be able to shoot on time as scheduled last week. perhaps given another day of construction on location, sets such as this would have a bit more detail and more texture. as they say, works of art are always works in progress. that didnt stop us from celebrating when the day’s shoot packed up of course. and with pictures taken by our DOP, pong ignacio. (sorry, no photos of the set at this time)
bottom row: jetro, mike-abueg, sammy, iyah, arman, myself, carlo, kitch. next row: melven, docdoc, pollyboy1, chet, kuya jaime in white, vlad in the cap, kuya polly, mikee and monica right behind me, ciara, rhon. backrow: bong in red, rydel, pollyboys (sorry, i dont remember all of their names, will research), norman in blue, richard, mike with the buri hat. not in photo were ate lhen, lolafer, dianne, nikki (who decided to get a glass of water at this time and couldnt be found, hence she missed this).
and so we dance
i am a designer but i am nothing without a team that backs me up for everything that needs to be built and purchased and setup and stowed away after a shoot. i always believe that with the combination of talent, skill, time, and work put in by this people, we’d have a great movie. however, it also wouldn’t be worth doing if everybody was so cranky and serious. that is why i always pick easy-to-deal-with people and i like to keep my crew happy and not ngaragged as much as possible (new word, put it in webster. means, harassed and stressed out to the nth level). and of course, as they say, the more the manyer. thank you guys.you’re all awesome!
heneral luna day 25 done. 5 more days to go. gow!
benjamin padero 