Satisfy your appetite for romance at Richmonde hotels
Film review: Along With The Gods
Satisfy your romantic cravings and hunger for love on Valentine’s Day as you celebrate the red-letter day with your special someone while indulging in a delectable dinner at Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo.
Take a virtual Tuscan holiday right in the heart of the metro and make it an Italian Love Affair as Richmonde Hotel Ortigas’ Richmonde Café serves up a buffet of inspired antipasto, insalata, zuppa and dolce to complement your choice of mouthwatering main dish for only P1,420 per person. Journey through scrumptious starters like Marinated Seafood, assorted cold
cuts and cheeses and Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus, and tasty salads like Mediterranean Grilled Tuna Salad, Artichoke and
Potato Salad, and Pasta Salad with Pine Nuts, Cherry Tomatoes and Raisins in Olive Oil. Warm up for the main course with Tomato Basil Soup, then choose between the Grilled Rib-Eye with Mediterranean Rub and Pan-seared Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce served with a siding
of Greek-style Roasted Potatoes or Saffron Rice Pilaf. Treat your sweetheart and sweet tooth to an eat-all-you-can spree of desserts like Strawberries in Dark Chocolate, Tiramisu, Mini Baklava and Pistachio Cheesecake. Richmonde Café’s Valentine’s dinner comes with a glass of red or white wine. Impress your Valentine’s date with a six-course dreamy dinner at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel’s newlyrenovated Eastwood Café+Bar. The Taste of Love Valentine’s dinner brings a menu of exquisite flavors. Relish an amuse-bouche of Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Cucumber Bites; starters of Baby Spinach & Strawberry Salad, Chicken Terrine with Creamy Basil Pesto and Broccoli Soup with Miso and Oyster Mushroom;a trio of entrées
of Honey-Ginger Grilled Salmon, Grilled U.S. Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine and Rosemary Gravy and Cheesy Prawn Thermidor with Pasta & Shitake Mushroom; and an assortment of Valentineinspired cakes and pastries like Heart-shaped Red Velvet Cake
and Strawberry Brownie Kebab at the dessert buffet, all for P1,850 per person, inclusive of wine pairings of sparkling wine, white wine and red wine. Also enjoy a photo souvenir, live romantic music and a chance to win Valentine tokens.
Celebrating Valentine’s in the City of Love? Discover the divine flavors of Iloilo and so much more with your loved ones at Richmonde Hotel Iloilo’s The Granary. Catch the Love Feast Valentine’s Day dinner buffet of sumptuous global cuisine for P1,300. Revel in a lavish array of appetizing international dishes
like Baked Veal in Tex-Mex Sauce, Bacon-wrapped Red Snapper in Romesco Sauce, plus tender Braised Short Plate and
Rolled Pork Belly at the carving table. Also not to be missed are the grilled fresh meats & skewers,
Breton Gallete, and heavenly sweets at the grilling, crepe and dessert stations, respectively. Buffet comes with a glass of red or white wine.
For inquiries and table reservations, call 6387777 for Richmonde Hotel Ortigas’ Richmonde Cafe; 570-7777 for Eastwood Richmonde Hotel’s Eastwood Cafe+Bar; and (6333) 328-7888 for Richmonde Hotel Iloilo’s The Granary. For more details, visit www.richmondehotels.com.ph. abound and unexplained characters and situations surface and disappear. But total attention to what is going on in the screen solves this problem and what is left is a deeply involving drama spiced with spectacular action scenes.
South Koreans have acquired the reputation of becoming very good in all that they try to do. This attempt at epic filmmaking is no different. Along With
The Gods is a high-quality production that lifts Korean filmmaking to new heights. It is not yet on the same level as Lord Of The Rings but I can assure you, these guys will get there soon. And those behind Along With The Gods even have an advantage, they are Asians.
The cast which includes some of Korea’s biggest stars, turn in capable, wide-ranging performances. As in many things Asians, emotions, pent-up of in full view here, are also on a grand scale. Think action star serious in one breath, angelic sweetness in the next. Cringefunny in another and thought provoking in the next.
Then in a manner that is typically Asian Kim Yong-hwa, blends action with fantasy and drama in an intriguing narrative with a total disregard for genres. This is why it should not surprise you to discover that enjoying visually exciting hell and its creatures will turn into deep emotional purging in the blink of an eye. Don’t feel ashamed. I am sure you will not be the only one tearyeyed in the theater.
That never happened with The Matrix or Lord of the Rings. Released by VIVA International, Along With The Gods is now showing nationwide.
What happens after death has always fascinated humans. Do souls get another chance at a new life in another universe? Does heaven, where religious faith says the departed goes, exist? Or do they morph into other beings fated to continue learning life’s lessons through eternity?
South Korean author Joo Ho-min had a theory that he presented to the public in a webcomics titled Along
With The Gods. As the blurb about it says, his story is: Opening the gate to the place where no one has been to but eventually reach. Along With The Gods is set in the Afterlife. This is where a soul goes after death. According to its laws, all deceased must go through seven trials over a period of 49 days. These trials are divided into seven categories of sin. These are betrayal, violence, filial piety, murder, indolence, deceit and injustice. Only after clearing all seven trials can the deceased be reincarnated and will be able to start a new life.
Ho-min’s premise so piqued the curiosity of readers that his comics tale topped all the views in the Naver portal site and eventually sold over 450,000 copies in the paperback edition. It is now acknowledged as the biggest selling Korean webcomic of all time. With success such as that, can a movie deal be far behind? Of course not. Along With The Gods, six years in the making at a cost of $36M, has recently become the most expensive film produced in South Korean motion picture history.
Written and directed by Kim Yongwha, it is also the biggest box-office hit. In fact, it is so big that a part two, Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days, is already scheduled for release this summer. But before that happens, let us take a look at part one, Along With
The Gods: The Two Worlds, which is now showing in local theaters.
The deceased in the story is Kim Ja-hong, a firefighter who died in the scene of a fire while trying to save a little girl. He is taken to a purgatory by three Guardians of the Afterlife. The trio is thrilled about receiving what they believe is a Paragon soul. They see Ja-hong as a model of excellence, somebody with a good life and a meaningful death who will most likely just breeze through the trials. He is their 48th soul. This means they are only two souls short of the required 50. Once they get their 50th soul reincarnated, the Guardians will themselves be reincarnated and sent back to Earth. So they have a lot riding on the fate of Ja-hong.
But it turns out that their task will not be easy. As they face the courts in the trials, secrets are revealed in Jahong’s life that put his reincarnation at risk. With their fate in the Afterlife also in danger, the Guardians must now defend Ja-hong and get him acquitted of his sins. Otherwise, he will be doomed to spend eternity in hell while they will have to wait for they do not know how long for another Paragon.
Just like what usually happens with films based on material from another medium, director Kim Yong-hwa worked with the assumption that the viewer is familiar with the webcom story. Unexplained bits and pieces