Sponge Out Of Water: Into Our Top Flicks List

SPOILER ALERT!

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water. I love this movie for three reasons.
1. No
2. David
3. Hasslehoff

Ok, that was harsh. Other than that, the storyline for this particular movie was also gold. Compared to the first Spongebob offering in the big screen, this flick has better pacing. Better dialogue. It's in 3D. And, dude, there's a nod to The Avengers so how can you possibly go wrong?

For a while, I did want to complain about the 3D hype though. Mainly because half the movie was still in its usual TV series cartoon form. So I felt a little shortchanged. But when the 3D action went on, the level of action that came with it made the wait so worth it.

I love how the storyline revolved around what the TV series has always hammered down on us as truly important: The Krabby Patty Formula. I love the plot twists --that the pirate who stole the formula actually stole it to boost his food truck sales. And that THAT pirate was actually the pirate in the TV series' intro credits music. I love the fact that THAT pirate just had to be Antonio Banderas!

And the kids, of course, appreciated that their favourite cartoon characters needed to have super powers to save the day. Mr. Krabbs, YOU ROCK!

SQUIDWARD, YOU ROCK!

Ah, Sandy… if I were you, I would so sue. :P

As a mother, naturally, I would have to say that the concept of TEAMWORK was the main backbone of this film is very good. Even Plankton became one of the good guys. Well… temporarily, that is.

Overall, good watch for the family.
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water hits cinemas on April 4. You'd be missing a lot if you didn't take a dip in this one.

The Sponge Out Of Water Premiere Post

I am pretty sure my boys have caught my Contest-Crazy Virus because as soon as Nickelodeon announced Free Tickets to the Sponge Out Of Water Premiere, they were all over the place with ideas on how to win.

The mechanics was pretty simple: Take a Selfie With Spongebob. My boys did like a dozen hilarious poses each, but we finally settled on these two. And as you would have it --WE WON! 4 tickets for the whole family in the bag!

*Photo from SM Cinema page

So, flashforward to March 28, 2015 at SM Megamall's Cinema One.

The long wait at the gate was made worthwhile with the ton of freebies being given away. There were these ultra snazzy Spongebob Cola Tumblers, these handy Spongebob Cheese Popcorn Tubs, Choco Knotts, ever-flowing Milkita candies, Propan TLC colouring pens and vitamins. Uh-huh. Talk about packing it packed!

There were games during the event itself. And raffles --which, given our luck in that arena, we didn't win.

But Invincibubble (aka Spongebob on steroids) was there --and that's like a huge win in itself. he high-rived Kenji! And, yes, I failed to take a shot of that. *whimpers hopelessly*

And then, the movie went on in its 3D glory --which I shall talk about in another post.
But for now, let me end this entry by saying thanks again, Nickelodeon! We've been joining your contests for years and we've been lucky enough to have always won. All our Nickelodeon Halloween Parties, we've attended for free, thanks to you.

Oh, last note: Get your kids into joining contests. There is just no better feeling of accomplishment for these little ones when they've won an event for the whole family.

Papier Macheniacs: The Gunslinger

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Engineer's melee weapon… The Gunslinger!

Goshdarnit! Let's start this DIY walkthrough with a videoooooo!

Now, let's get our hands dirty.
Our Team Fortress 2 Gunslinger has 2 parts: the wearable hand structure, and the wrist attachments. Both of which are made out of stuff you have lying around the house.

The hand part needs to fit you like a glove. So that's exactly what you'll need! A gardener's glove, a washing machine hose, and fishing floaters. Yes, fishing floaters! You'll have to cut the hose to a variation of ring lengths. The floaters, you'll have to carve at the bottom for finger space. Whip out your handy glue gun --and TA-DAH! You got yourself the basic foundation of power!

Now paint the floaters silver grey. This melee weapon is basically a robot arm. The floaters original ice cream colours just won't cut it.

Moving on to the wrist attachments --Oh, we got a lot going on here. You'll need a Pringles canister chopped into 2 parts.A Lays canister sliced for your top hand piece. Empty matchboxes for the bigger wrist band. Coins for buttons. And more washing machine hose rings for the details.

Paper mache like the devil!

Paint and distress.

And you're set!

Now get out there, kick some intense butt, and be the Engineer of your own Team Fortress destiny!

Pump It Up at Village Sports Club

Since 2012, I've given you so many reasons to want to be a member of the Village Sports Club. From the sports facilities to the banquet halls to the fun-filled family events…
Well, guess what --here's one more!

If I've managed to reel you in with their 4 kinds of end-to-end swimming pools, then how about a little food fest on the side? Right in the middle of these bodies of water, Pump is perched to serve you snacks, full meals, bar chow, ice cream, movie house popcorn, and more!

Here are just a few of our favourites:

Vegetable Sandwich, hone-made potato chips, and Fresh Banana Shake

Grilled Tuna Belly

Lechon Kawali with Veggies

Chicken ala Kiev with Potatoes (which strikingly resembles a race car… woohoo!)

Mmm… have I managed to reel you in again?

The cool thing is that Pump is just one of four restaurants in the Club. So after a full day of energy-pumping sports activity, you can chill and fill at your food place of choice. Sweet!

Check out the Village Sports Club in Paranaque. And while you're at it, check out Pump --sit back, munch, and think about how physically and gastronomically fulfilling it is to be a member here. :)

Now Serving in Style: Gourdo's Swissmar

If you're the kind of kitchen whiz who loves entertaining just as much as cooking, then these two names should be your top-of-mind and word-of-mouth.

Now, not to be cocky or anything, but I happen to be a pretty lean, mean cooking machine myself (second to my husband… eep!). So you can imagine the crazy thrill I had when I got an invitation to Gourdo's --world-renowned name in anything food and cooking-- for a press launch and lunch introducing Swissmar --the innovative brand to beat in European gourmet houseware.

My first impression upon gazing at the Swissmar products spread before us was, "Wow! These are pretty!" Swissmar's designs are fashionable as they are functional, which is a big win for me.

Susan San Miguel, Gourdo's Assistant General Manager for Merchandising went on to tell us that these kitchen tools are all high quality and the creativity in each piece's design is actually a purposeful innovation. Ooooh… I'm liking that! 
Then, Swissmar Brand Manager and International Sales Manager, Marc Hoffman, added that each Swissmar product is user-friendly. Thus, giving every Filipina housewife the chance to bring gourmet cooking into her home so she can entertain her family and friends in the highest form of style. Okay, darn it, I'm sold!

But apparently, the good stuff doesn't end there. Gourdo's invited celebrity chef, Jackie Ang-Po, to give us a  cooking demo. Swissmar in action? Nomnom right after? Oh, Lordy!
The next few drool-worthy pictures, I have no words.

Absolutely… no… words.

After an orgasmic gastronomic food fest, we've decided as a whole that the Swissmar Raclette Party Grill was easily the crowd favourite. It cooks the food on the top grill and melts the cheeses on the trays below, and transforms you into a stress-free party host in no time. It is so ridiculously easy to use!

Swissmar's Foundue Set came as a close second. Nothing says celebration quite like a delectable dipping affair composed of bread, cheese, meat, fruits, and chocolate. Fondues make me happy. I speak from the heart here.

You'd think it's nuts to be excited about peelers but  when the Swissmar 100% Swiss-made Peelers were rolled out, I was just beyond giddy. Light weight bad boys in a variety of sharp blades: Scalpel for hard fruits and veggies, Serrated for soft fruits and veggies, and Julienne for stick form fruits and veggies. Sweet!

Swissmar Spatulas are also 100% Swiss-made and each is designed with the perfect blend of flexibility, sturdiness, and comfort in handling. Cooking has never been this fun and colourful!

There were other fabulous kitchen tools introduced that would surely catapult you from Kitchen Queen to Hostess with the Mostest but these, by far, are my top faves. And you can get them all at Swissmar's  new Philippine home, Gourdo's. And I mean, every Gourdo's on the map. Swissmar is also at Living Well branches.

Oh, and Swissmar made it to my Blogger Goody Bag, too. SO. MUCH. YAY!

For more info on Swissmar, click here.

Papier Macheniacs: Rubberatronic Freddy Fazbear

"Hey, buddy! I'm Freddy Fazbear!"

Yeah, this guy creeps up on me every night now. He's our version of one of the animatronic robots in the game, Five Nights at Freddy's.
Eh, you know how we roll --new online game discovery, new paper mache project.

So today, brace yourself as we take you through the Freddy Fazbear Rubberatronic Mask DIY!
Why 'Rubberatronic', you ask? Ah, in due time, little grasshopper, in due time.

First, we gotta do some sculpting. Most of our masks are paper plate-based. Because paper plates are easy to shape and they've got that nice shiny silver surface that doesn't rip when the wearer of the mask sweats or decides to sneeze. Uh-huh.
Our Freddy mask is made up of two parts: The face itself and the jaw. This has something to do with the Rubberatronic awesomeness I've been blabbering about.

Second, when you've got all your sculpted newspaper down pat, it's time to whip out the glue and tissue. Paper mache-ing in progress! Now, for this particular mask, the nooks and crannies were insane. So you have to fill those pockets up with paper mache to make sure every bit of the mask holds in the end. Do the same for the jaw and teeth.

Third, applying the details. We use standard marker for this. Make sure you do this with Freddy's picture right in front of you. I mean, even the freckles were crucial to my boys.
If you haven't punched holes for the eyes at this point, you better do it now.

Fourth, paint!

BAM! Pretty handsome specimen, eh? :P

Just as an added tidbit here, the Freddy mask is heavy up front because of the bear's snout, the hat, and that jaw attachment. So instead of our usual backstrap, we opted for a full-on 'skull cap' to keep the mask secured on the wearer's head. Yes! We measured my son's head and then paper mache'd and painted the mould accordingly. The skull cap is then cinched with a horizontal strap and an additional vertical strap.

Fifth! The Rubberatronic attachment!
Okay, okay… too much fanfare. It's really just a couple of rubber bands that the jaw attachment can hang from at a good distance from the bottom of the face. So with just a tug, you can get Freddy Fazbear to talk like a robot. Kinda like in the game. Except it's manual. Not, uh, technological. Hahaha!

There you have it --Papier Macheniacs' very own Five Nights at Freddy's top man, Freddy Fazbear!

And now, I leave you with a few words from our sponsors.

Penguins of Madagascar: Pure Madness!

"Nicholas! Cage them!"
"Drew! Barry! More power!"
"Kevin, bake on! We still need that victory cake!"

These are just some of the insane reasons why Penguins of Madagascar is such a huge hit. It's a movie that makes no excuses. It looks you in the eye and says, "We're here to have ridiculous fun and there's nothing you can flappin' do about it!" 
*cue intense side eye*

The Penguins --the best thing to ever come out of Dreamworks' 2005 Madagascar movie, other than King Julian's 'I like to move it, move it'-- are back. And this time, it's spy versus spy with an outrageous bunch of new characters who go head to head with the flightless badass birds' individual expertise.

Skipper and Classified ('That's not my name!'). Leaders.

Kowalski and Eva. Brains.

Rico and Short Fuse. Demolitionists.

Private and Corporal. Just so darn cute!

And, of course, there's Dave.
That maniacal be-tentacled antagonist with a bizarre motive and an absurd vengeance plot whom we've all come to recklessly love. John Malkovich makes it so. And this sea creature's 'I HATE CUTE!' battle cry just makes us all feel better about ourselves. Hahaha… ha… ha… eherm.

All in all, the Penguins of Madagascar seemed to have broken into some high level security facility and stole the formula for an unbelievably enjoyable family movie: Impossible gadgets, fantastic action, incredible confrontations, brilliant pacing, and hilarious upon hilarious dialogue. Cameos by King Julian and Mort are just the coolest icing on the cake, too.

So if you want to just laugh your medulla oblongata off, then this is the family quality time for you. The Penguins of Madagascar. In theatres.

Oh, and the best part? This throwback.

Awwww…. <3 <3 <3