Everyone deserves a sex life that blows their socks off, the kind that makes old ladies blush and friends ask “What’s your secret?” You don’t have to have a porn star’s endowments or Energizer’s lasting power.

This post is going to piss off some people. Real men - the type who want sex lives that blow their minds - should click through. Are you an avowed porn-lover who will never consider giving up smut, or a person who has sex with her/his partner a year or less after getting together, and will not consider waiting longer for sex? You are? Yeah, you can leave now. Buh-bye.

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Cathy and I had the pleasure of meeting up with friends at Mario’s Restaurant in Quezon City to sample their delicious Sunday brunch buffet. The spread was one of the best buffets in Manila I’ve ever had, thanks to the following:

1) A mouthwatering cochinillo. Cochinillo is basically a roasted suckling piglet done to crispy perfection. Served with a variety of sauces, including the traditional Filipino lechon sarsa, this was the highlight of the buffet.

2) The dessert spread. I kept returning to the dessert spread even before the appetizers, thanks to the unbeatable dessert troika of an unbelievable chocolate fountain that one could dip several goodies into, including marshmallows and pretzels; an impeccable bread pudding whose delightful sweetness and cold temperature, I kid you not, makes it one of the best desserts I’ve ever had despite its criminally boring name, and Mario’s signature canonigo, which was irresistibly light and wonderfully sweet without being cloying.

3) Oysters Rockefeller. Cathy and I love oysters, and we’ve had oysters at some of the places that tout themselves as the best oyster places in town, including Rockefeller and Via Mare’s Oyster Bar. Compared to the oysters at Mario’s Restaurant Tomas Morato, forget it. No contest. Some of the best oysters in town. (Well, Capisce along Meralco Avenue also has some pretty awesome oysters in their selection.)

4) Potato balls! I didn’t think I’d enjoy these babies so much, but OH MY SWEET LORD, this must be what heaven takes like! Not oily at all, with the right mix of butter and cheese and… ahhhhhh.

Mario’s Quezon City is located at Tomas Morato corner Scout Gandia in Quezon City. Contact numbers are 415-3887 or 372-0360. Do go! It’s so worth it, at PHP475/head.

The American presidential election race of 2008 is shaping up to be the most exciting one in recent memory. The AP bills “Super Tuesday” a political day like no other, and it truly is: record numbers of Republican and Democrat voters - with a stunning number, as well, of independents - are turning out to choose the presidential candidates who will duke it out in November 2008.

I’ve followed the US elections since 1988, when Michael Dukakis lost to George Bush the Elder. I was eleven, and that year, I decided I was Democrat, and supported - at least in my mind, since I am not American - Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry. This year particularly excites me because of the history that stands to be made by a Democrat candidate, and regardless of who is chosen - Senator Hillary Clinton or Senator Barack Obama - I stand to be a happy little camper.

What makes this race even more interesting is that the likely Republican candidate - Senator John McCain - is strongly supported by independents, and his focus on national security and economic growth will probably make his working with Democrats a little easier. I’ve never been happier for the possibility of a Republican win.

So what does this bode for the USA in light of the impending economic recession? Regardless of what happens come the end of 2008, America will have a president who will do her/his darndest to bring Republicans and Democrats together to forge an alliance of hope. President Barack Obama, President Hillary Rodham Clinton, or President John McCain will usher in an era of change and hope, undoing most of the damage wrought by the years of sheer lunacy under the leadership of George Bush the Younger.

(Personally, it’s important to me that a candidate shares my values, especially on the environment and abortion. Both Clinton and Obama have seesawed on those issues, as have McCain and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. In this sense, it makes me kinda wish Republican Mike Huckabee had a ghost of a chance; at least he’s consistent in how his values affect his decisions.)

I actually think Barack Obama did the United States a favor by running for president. Regardless of whether or not he wins, he - and Hillary - have galvanized the United States primaries, sending waves through America that this is going to be a whole new ball game, a brand new road, something historic is in the making here. Obama’s agenda of hope, his meteoric rise to the top of American politics, and his feel-good rhetoric may not be the most practical in the world, but it speaks to America. He’s made Hillary work doubly hard for her victories; he’s challenged Washington’s stuffy closed-door image; he’s a breath of fresh air. I don’t doubt his sincerity for making America a better place; I wish I could say the same for Filipino politicians.

I wish I could paint a rosier picture for Philippine politics. After former House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s unusual display of remorse repentance emotion two days ago, the Jester-in-Exile paints a doomsday picture of how Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may be working behind the scenes to effect Charter Change by 2010. After JDV was unceremoniously ejected (my QC representative voted ‘Yes,’ my Paranaque representative abstained. Hay!), he thinks that Senator Manny Villar is next on the chopping board.

(While I’m no fan of the Constitution in its current state, I do respect where he’s coming from. I think, however, if done properly - and who, pray tell, is going to oversee it if not the current people in power, so useless din! - a shift to the parliamentary system can be very good for the Philippines.)

I have had it up to here with local politicians. Where are the statesmen? Where are the leaders who can actually inspire me to go out and vote? Where is the agenda of hope and renewal? In a country that prides itself with being the only democratic Christian country in Asia, where are the representatives who actually care about representing the people, who think about them in their decision-making processes, and place the Filipino first?

Paula Cole once sang, Where have all the cowboys gone? Me, I sing, Where has our Obama gone?

Have you heard Unrestrained? Written by Calvin Nowell and Tony Sutherland, and performed most notably by American Idol finalist Mandisa and Myron Butler and Levi, Unrestrained is an absolutely spectacular worship song. (I want the worship team at the church in Greenhills I attend to do it.)

The Biblical basis for this worship song is Luke 7:36-50, which details the story of the sinful woman who visited Jesus at the house of one of the Pharisees. (Many believe this to be Mary Magdalene.) In an act that took the entire household by surprise, she entered the house weeping and began to “wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”

This act prompted several important events in the story:
1) A Pharisee’s self-righteous condemnation of the woman (in his mind)
2) Jesus’ parable of forgiveness, the point of which is, between two debtors whose debts are forgiven by the lender, the person in greater debt is more likely to be grateful to the lender and “love him more”
3) Jesus forgave (absolved) the sinful woman of her sins
4) Jesus asserts the sinful woman’s faith in His power to forgive sins has saved her

Unrestrained is a particularly powerful song of worship for me because it puts a lot of things into perspective for me about the act of worship:

1) God knows me inside and out. The initial verse goes:

Most holy Lord
You have my attention
You know my thoughts and all my intentions

In Luke 7:39, the Pharisee mutters his condemnation of the sinful woman in His mind. Jesus is able to read his mind and proceeds to tell a parable of forgiveness. I can’t hide anything from God, and when I set aside time exclusively for Him, to worship Him, to talk to Him, to ask of Him and to hear from Him, I can trust that what happens in that sacred time is honest and open, because the Lord knows what is really going on inside me.

2) Worshipping God is to put Him first above all else, sometimes at risk of rejection or scorn.

I want to honor You in every way

I pour my love on You
My whole life belongs to You
I worship You completely unashamed
I give You my heart unrestrained

When the sinful woman came before Jesus, she honored Him in the best way she knew now, the context of that day: she came before Him and perfumed, wet, and kissed His feet. One’s feet can literally one of the dirtiest parts of the human body, and in many cultures, kissing one’s feet is one of the ultimate acts of servitude. To do it before a crowd can be utterly humiliating, but the sinful woman knew who Jesus was. What she did was total, unrestrained, unashamed worship of Jesus. Combined with her own repentance and her faith in Christ to forgive her sins, she was forgiven everything.

Of course, everything can be taken out of context in today’s day and age. People have different ways of worshipping God, and I don’t think any of them should be criticized for being any more or any less relevant to God. For instance, me, I like to worship God in my car. Seriously. At 5AM. It’s the only place in the house where I feel I can sing at the top of my lungs and not be heard by my sleeping wife, kids, and househelp. I can play a worship song - like Unrestrained - and literally worship Him with my arms flailing around. For me, when I sing Him worship songs in the early morning, I feel it’s literally just Him and me, and I appreciate that.

3) To worship God is to offer Him everything. There’s a favorite Christian saying: Either God is Lord of all or not at all. Mandisa sings:

Almighty God
You have my devotion
With all my mind and all my emotion
I want to, God, I want to know You more

When we worship God, we offer Him all we’ve got. Heart, mind, and soul. It’s easier said than done, but the desire to know God more, to draw closer to Him, overpowers any feelings of self-consciousness or shame. With one’s faith in Jesus, one offers God his brokenness and sinful nature and allows Him to purify us and make us whole.

My favorite part of Unrestrained is the bridge:

I pour my love like oil from this broken heart
I give myself away unrestrained
I let myself go
You have set me free
I surrender my soul

Jesus mentioned that the Pharisee did not anoint His head with oil. In those days, anointing with oil was a high token of honor and esteem. When we offer God our love, offering it onto Him like poured oil, we’re offering Him the best we have to give. Total surrender, total praise, total worship, in thanksgiving for setting us free from certain eternal suffering.

It’s no wonder I can’t stop listening to Unrestrained. It’s a song that’s so rich in meaning and relevance for me. I hope you can give it a listen; it may minister to you in ways you’ve never experienced before.

The Spa is offering a Valentine’s promotion titled Massage Pour Deux (Massage for Two, in case someone can’t put one and one together) at all its branches. The premise? You can book a Couple’s Room and choose from a variety of massages at around 20% off:

• Aromatherapy
• Volcanic Rock
• Herbal

Given that Cathy and I have been subject to a lot of aches lately - I think it’s our bed - I talked to her about it, and the Volcanic Rock Massage looks promising. It’s a massage that uses hot basalt stones to treat aching muscles. The warmth of the stones is supposed to help achieve deeper relaxation. I haven’t had a body massage myself since my wedding in 2002 (mainly because I don’t like being half-naked in front of strangers.)

Update: We booked for Thursday, but apparently, there’s an additional update to the promo that gets bookers a chance to win a dinner package or more spa packages. I wonder if Cathy’ll object to moving our date. Hmm.

This vlog features new Jack N’ Jill Pinoy Favorites Caldereta Flavor, sampled for the first time at Chili’s Greenbelt.

Vlog Title: Jack N’ Jill Caldereta Flavor
Time: 1:43

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