Travel Essentials

It is the sem break once again, ad for most students that means only one thing: vacation time! Whether you choose to go on an exciting road trip, go jet setting to foreign lands, or embark on an exciting adventure within neighbouring towns ad cities, you would need some travel essentials; the things you could never do without (when travelling). Here is a run down of all my top picks:

1.) Holy Seat (Pee in Peace): Everybody knows about the horrors of public toilets. Unfortunately, when you got to go, you simply got to go. To prepare for these gross instances, you must always bring some germ-fighting protection. My first pick does just that. This product is a simple combination of alcohol, water, and lemon grass essence (to give it a fresh and clean scent) but comes in a quirky little spray bottle. All you have to do is spray the product generously on the toilet seat and wipe it off with some tissue paper, and voila! You may now pee without feeling icky about that dirty toilet bowl. Oh, and it saves you all the hassle of having to wrap the toilet bowl with soo much tissue paper that it ends up looking like a mummy (and we all know it all sticks to your behind).

2.) Ziploc bags: According to studies, one of the filthiest parts of a hotel room is the television remote control. Think about it. Think about how many people have touched that remote, and think about what they have touched before touching that remote control. Unfortunately, not many hotels actually clean their remote controls (because they obviously can not spray it with disinfecting liquids and stuff), so all the dirt and germs stay and breed on it. The best thing to do is take a Ziploc bag with you, and put the remote control inside it. It may seem odd, but at least you are saved from all the grossness.

3.) Facial Wipes: Whenever people travel, they have a tendency to get oily and sticky. This is probably because they do not have instant access to the loo, or cannot readily freshen up whenever they wish. The solution for that oily face that oil blotting paper simply cannot get rid of: facial wipes. Simply wipe your face with it and feel refreshed, invigorated, and oil-free. My pick for the best facial wipes are those little packages that you get from Bench. They cost thirty pesos and contain ten moist facial wipes. Make sure though that you are using FACIAL wipes and not baby wipes, body wipes, or germ-fighting wipes, because they tend to be rich in alcohol and dry out your skin.

4.) Sunblock: People who travel often forget to bring sun block with them, unless they are hitting the beach. Bad move. The truth is, most people who go on vacations suffer from a little tan because they end up using public transportation in their travel destination. Waiting on the streets just to find a cab, tricycle, train, bus, or jeepney will take its toll on your skin. To keep safe ad protected from the sun, slather on some sun block at least fifteen minutes before stepping out of your hotel room.

5.) Noah’s Ark Mosquito Repeller: This product may seem a wee bit pricey for some (it costs around 500 pesos) but it is really effective. Simply push a button to set it to function for 2 hours, 4 hours, or 8 hours, and leave it on a place near you. You may also attach it to a lanyard to keep mosquitoes away. This little gadget makes use of sound waves to repel mosquitoes and repel mosquitoes three meters away.

6.) Lip Balm: I am not one who wears lip balm daily, but the fact that I am stuck for hours in an air-conditioned transportation seems to dry out my lips. Also, I find that I am often left dehydrated when travelling because I do not have access to free drinking water. The best way to prevent your lips from drying up is with a really good brand of lip balm. And please, for the guys, buy one without color.

7.) First-Aid Kit: Fill your first aid kit with some anti-allergy medication, pain killers, flu, cough, and fever pills, and some band aids too. This makes your life so much easier. Trust me, when suffering from an allergy attack, the last thing you would want to do is fall in line in a pharmacy. Plus, pain killers help ease a hangover. Again, a full first aid kit will not hurt anybody; so bring one with you every time you travel.

8.) A small, quick drying towel: Towels are not always available, especially when you plan to swim in public beaches or pools; or if you plan to stay in really affordable hotels or budget inns. However, a full blown towel will simply take up too much space in your luggage. Try to purchase some of those microfiber towels that are small in size, absorb a lot of moisture, and dry up real quick.

9.) Paper Soap: These small pieces of soap is very handy because you can carry it anywhere, and it fits inside your pocket. You never know when you will be needing some sudsing up; and this gives you the perfect amount of soap every single time

10.) A small spray bottle with water: I always have this in my traveling kit because it help soo much. I use it to wet my face (then wipe it off with my hankie), to wet my hands 9when i touch something sticky), or to spray on anything that needs moistening up (usually thats my head, hair, or nape).

Catch Confessions of a Partyphile (the radio show) on 105.9 mix fm or www.mixfm1059.com every Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 PM. For comments, suggestions, and more confessions from this partyphile, log on to http://party.i.ph

Costume Suggestions

1. Lego

2. butcher

3. lady gaga

4. cereal killer

5. plants vs zombies

Top Ten Halloween Essentials

10 Muddy worms- Simply buy cupcakes and ask the kids in your house to decorate them with dirt and worms. Make dirt by crushing some Oreos, or putting Oreos in a food processor. Use gummy worms instead of real live worms.

9 Prepare Halloween Jello Shots - Click here for the instructions

8 Costumes- Require everybody to be in costume. If you think your friends are not the costumey type, provide hats, masks, and wigs by the door.

7 Discomfort Room- Remember to decorate your comfort room as this is one room that is often left undecorated. Plus, it is quite a novel idea.

6 Iced Snot- If you are serving drinks, remember to put some raisins in your ice cubes because black, wrinkly things in your ice, is never a good thing.

5 Play some scary sounds - Think Thriller, Gregoria Monks, or that Rihanna Video where she tries to sing Mariah (check the video below)

4 Slime Punch- Simply prepare some Lemonade and pour green dye. Then, drop in some chunks of crushed green gelatin to give it a slimy effect

3 floating Hands - grab some surgical gloves, fill it with water, then freeze it. before serving your Slime Punch, peel the glove off and wash the icy hand. Lay it in the middle of your slime punch

2 Scary Movie Marathon - Remember to play Scary movie classics like the exorcist or the ring, or the eye, or the grudge.

1 Order some odd food: DYE your spag, serve some dinuguan, isaw, paella negra, or bat wings (fried chicken coated with a sauce of soy sauce, ketchup, and green dye)

if you really want to scare your partyphile friends, DO NOT SERVE ALCOHOL

Drink of the Week: Jello Shots

This just might be the easiest drink of the week yet. Plus, it is very festive

Simply make the jello according to package instructions but lave out 1/2 cup of water from the instructions. Prepare it and then right befor eyou put it in the molds, mix in 1/2 cup of vodka or gin.

You may put them in condiment cups, little plastic cups or in orange halves (without the orange meat). Oh, and for halloween choose black and orange jelly.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to:

snoop dogg (37)

and

viggo mortensen (51) And yes, even I cannot believe he's that old

Party-throwing tips for the Non-Partyphile

Since the partyphile (that’s me) is absent from my radio show today, here are the top ten tips on how to throw a party without a resident partyphile. That is, here are tips on throwing parties IF you aren’t a partyphile, and you don’t know any partyphile who is willing to help

10.) Always have the latest house music playing in the background. The louder, the better.

9.) Do not serve beer because everyone does that. If you must serve beer, serve it with some pineapple juice and a shot of Vodka or Tequila. This makes a shandy with a kick

8.) Do not serve spaghetti, fried chicken, or barbecue if you are NOT throwing a CHILDREN’S PARTY. If you’ve already made Spaghetti sauce, pour it over some Fries instead, to make Coney Fries. If you’ve already bought some barbecue, slather it with peanut sauce (heat some peanut butter and thin it down with water. Add soy sauce and some ginger) to make a Satay. If you’ve already cooked fried chicken—KILL YOURSELF. No self-respecting party host pre-cooks fried chicken. It just ends up soggy.

7.) Only invite your close friends and people who actually know each other. If someone ends up not fitting in at your party, you will end up with some bad party-reputation.

6.) If you feel like your party is starting to suck…it is time to bring out the big guns. Play a drinking game that everyone can join. For example, group your guests into two. One player from each group go against each other per round. Ask the contestants to drink two glasses of Tequila (or any hard liquor) and ask them to spin around ten times and drink another shot. Repeat this until someone gives up.The first one who quits loses a point. The team with the highest number of points wins.

5.) To make your party seem more exciting, set a theme. It may be as simple as a “color theme” like an all white party or a blue party. This makes people prepare for the party, just a little bit. This gives your guests the idea that your party is actually important.

4.) Give your guests quirky souvenirs. If you are on a tight budget, simply purchase brown paper bags and put a sticker on it that says “puke your guts out”. Hand these out as your guests enter the door for your party.

3.) Always give out invitations. No matter how small the gathering may be, always give your guests invitations. This makes them feel important and appreciated, and you know how egotistical partyphiles can get right? For cheap yet interesting invites, print the party details on simple Oslo paper and burn the edges. Place them inside match boxes and give them to your guests.

2.) Introduce a new drink. To ensure good reviews about your party introduce new cocktails to your guests. There are many recipes on the internet. For simple recipes log on to http://party.i.ph. If you have no time to practice new cocktails, just serve them in quirky vessels like beakers, test tubes, or maybe even an ice bucket (to be served with several straws and shared).

1.) Have fun. Plan everything ahead and have everything ready before your guests arrive. The last thing you would want to happen is for you not to have fun because of stressing too much about your guests. Take it easy. If anything bad happens, blame it on Zhaun.

Drink of the Week: Sangria

Since we are celebrating Brandied Fruit day today, here is a recipe that involves just that: brandy and fruits.

Here's how you make it.

In a pitcher combine:

Two shots of Brandy

Two cups of Soda Water or Club Soda

One bottle of cheap red wine

and slices of fresh oranges, lemon, and apples.

Stir and serve with lotsa ice

October 20 is Brandied Fruit Day (Nilasing na Mangga)

Since it is WORLD BRANDIED FRUIT day to day, here is a recipe for a yummy appetizer or pulutan that can get you drunk.

In a bowl combine:

One green mango

Two spoons of sugar

One spoon of salt

and One shot of Brandy

Let it seep overnight in the refrigerator and serve it the next day with more brandy.

So gather all your friends, serve up some Brandied fruits and get drunk while eating.

October 19 is Evaluate Your Life Day

Today is Evaluate Your Life Day. So go on and evaluate everything you have done thus far and decide whether to keep on doing the crazy stuff that you do. More importantly, evaluate how many party opportunities you have missed just because you wasted time evaluating your life.

Q Bar Gensan

Most discoveries often begin with a question. Partyphiles know this for a fact as some of the best discoveries in Partylandia started as innocent questions like:

“Will Rum go well with Coke?” which lead to one of the most popular cocktails, the Rum-Coke. “Will it be a hot idea to actually give people a place to dance in, without having an audience?” which lead to the creation of the dance bar. Or “will it be a good idea to boil, then grill, then chop up pork cheeks and ears and then serve it in a sizzling plate,?”, thus the creation of the pulutan everybody craves for: sisig.

Alright, alright, so maybe those discoveries did not actually start with those questions, but they totally could have. Because in my experience, a curious partyphile always gets ahead in Partylandia. That is, they get to discover new places, new trends,a n new products. And that is exactly how I discovered my new favorite resto bar in General Santos City. Yes, it all started with a question that went something like “Are there new party places in Gen San”

To my delight, an overwhelming response (that’s four out of five of my Gen San friends) directed me to Q Bar. For Davaoenos, the name might be all too familiar. That is because their main branch is at Damosa Gateway. And yes, being a branch, they have virtually the same menu, and more importantly, they also serve “Endless Chicken” (eat-all-you-ca greaseless chicken with eat-all-you-can gravy, eat-all-you-can rice, and drink-all-you-can Iced Tea). Having said that, the menu is probably the only things the Gen San branch and the Damosa branch share.

The truth is, Q Bar Gensan isseveral notches higher in the aprty-scale than the one in Damosa. So how does it look like? What do they serve? What music do they play? And what is the crowd like? Here are the answers to your questions:

Interiors. The interiors of Q Bar Gensan is awe-striking. The interiors are posh, ultra modern, yet still manage to give off a cozy vibe. In fact, it is so cozy that it is pretty easy to settle in your seat and get lost in a conversation with your friends, without minding the rest of the room. If you still think that Gensan is not urbanized enough, one look at Q Bar will make you change opinions as fast as Lady Gaga changes costumes.

Food. As I’ve said. Their menu is pretty similar to that of Q Bar Damosa’s. That is, they serve the traditional pulutan we all so love including Sisig, Chorizo Sisig, Calamares, ad everything else you would expect from a Pulutan menu. However, being a resto bar, they also serve actual meals. In fact, unlike Q Bar in Damosa, they have steaks, and even pasta dishes. I have only tried their onion-filled Sisig that is super savory and filled with “umami”, their perfectly cooked (that means, super crunchy, yet still quite tender inside) Calamres, and their addicting Cheese Sticks which were not too salty, but were super stringy and gooey. Needless to say, their food was great. So I suggest a trip to Q Bar even to non-drinkers.

Drinks. Compared with most bars in Gensan, they have a more traditional drink menu, but their specialty cocktail, the HypnotiQ is the star of their liquor bar. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be at Q Bar would not tell me what was in the cocktail, but it had hints of citrus, just the right amount of sweetness, and a creamy texture that mad the cocktail go down really well. It was a perfect balance of flavours; a gorgeous blend of all the right tastes that you would hope for in a cocktail. Plus, it looks gorgeously posh, in a deep blue hue.

Music. They play the latest and the greatest mix of house music and R&B. The thing is, R&B music in Gensan clubs is still big, thus the DJ geniusly lays R&B ditties over house tracks to give them the ‘best of both worlds’. Does it work? Well, that is pretty relative, and I’m kind of biased since their play list at Q Bar is almost identical to the play list I have on my radio show; and that should tell you that their song selection is updated. Also, considering that there isn’t an actual dance floor (because again it is a RESTO bar), there are droves of people who dance the night away; and that might be the best gauge of a good play list, and a great DJ.

Crowd. I was surprised to see soo many yuppies and posh girls at this place. Honestly, I have not seen this crowd in all the other Gensan bars, clubs, and watering holes. I don’t know where they were all hiding, but they were obviously waiting to come out for Q Bar. The good news is, even if they all look posh and glam, they are pretty friendly. This lends a light and happy atmosphere that is a wonderful contrast to Q Bar’s dark interiors. The fact that Q Bar manages to generate such a great crowd is pretty mind-boggling as they do not charge for an entrance fee. I think, the fact that their interiors are classy and that their food is really great draws in the ‘right’ crowd. Whatever their secret is, I think more bars should follow suit.

For a wonderful mix of gorgeous people, gorgeous interiors, a gorgeous song selection, and some gorgeously gastronomic treats, I give this Gen San gem, five out of five stars. Visit Q Bar Gensan at the Sun City Compound just along the National Highway, right beside East Asia Hotel.

For comments, suggestions, and more confessions from this partyphile log on to http://party.i.ph. Or follow the columnist on twitter.com/zhaun. Catch Confessions of a Partyphile (the radio show) on 105.9 Mix fm or www.mixfm1059.com every Wednesday evenings, six to nine in the evening.

Top 9 Partyphile Finds

10.) Q Bar Gen San

9.) Oktoberfest

8.) Goldschlager

7.) Black Rhubbard Hookah Lounge

6.) Beer Cupcakes from Johnny Cupcakes-

5.) Spice Boy Gourmet -add them up on facebook

4.)Lychee Martini

3.)C 24/7 - grand men seng

2.) Photo Qube - 09177008933 // 09228805025 :)

1.) Starr

October is National Pizza Month

October is National Pizza Month, so gather all your pie-loving friends and order some pizza. And oh..dont forget to serve beer with that pie.

xoxo

Davao's Ultiamte Partyphile,

Zhaun Ortega

Top 15 Alcohol Facts

15.) The top five most alcoholic drinks in the world are: Everclear Vodka (95.5%), our very own Lambanog ( 80 90%), Devil Springs Vodka (80%), Bacardi 151 (75.5%), Sierra Silver Tequila (75%)

14.) In some European countries, McDonalds serve alcohol.

13.) Beer is the oldest drink in the world and is the most-consumed drink in the world after water and tea.

12.) Winston Churchill was one the world’s heaviest drinkers. Adolf Hitler was one of the most popular abstainers from alcohol.

11.) Wines should be stored on their sides so the corks may be kept moist. Dry corks allow oxygen to pass which defeats the whole purpose of it.

10.) Alcohol does not decrease the effectivity of antibiotics. It is a myth that you should swear off alcohol when taking antibiotics.

9.) The top three countries with the highest consumption of beer are Czech Republic, Germany, and Ireland

8.) Champagne may only be considered Champagne if it comes from the Champagne region in France. Otherwise, it is only considered ‘Sparkling White Wine’

7.) Moderate drinking does not affect women who are pregnant, and does not affect the child they are carrying.

6.) Contrary to popular belief, alcohol actually decreases your body temperature.

5.) Snake wine is popular in the Phillippines as well as in China, right? In Cambodia, they have Tarantula Brandy, and in Korea, they have Baby Mouse Liquor.

4.) The most popular cocktail in the world is the martini.

3.) The pressure in Champagne is 3x ore than that of the pressure inside a car’s tire

2.) Most vegetable and almost all fruits contain a small amount of alcohol in them.

1.) Although “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is considered to be the shortest sentence that includes all the letters of the alphabet, alcohol lovers came up with one of their own “Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.”

Drink of the Week: Orange Cocktails

If you only have orange juice and are wondering what to do with it, here are some easy orange juice cocktails:

Screwdriver: 1 shot vodka. orange juice to fill glass

Tequila Sunrise: 1 shot tequila. orange juice to fill glass. 1 teaspoon Grenadine

Orange Blossom: 1 shot gin. orange juice to fill glass

Mimosa: equal parts Champagne and Orange Juice

October 5 is World Teacher's Day

Today is World Teacher's Day! So gather all your dumb friends and school them about the whole partyphile world. Give them tips about alcohol, partying, and maybe even teach them some cocktail recipes.