random stuff...

I have an alarming situation here. When I flipped my laptop, a bunch of ants loomed before my sight. They seemed to find something sweet in the edge of my computer, just below my screen. The blow of the fan disrupted their organized flow and my cruel fingers reflexively crushed every single red ant that didn’t vanish from my sight. Poor ants, nothing personal, but they are threat to my comfort. Then I smelled my computer. Then I though that was strange, I don’t sense any signs that any food partied at my computer. Are they after the chips? Man, everything seems to be evolving except me!

Anyway, I’m all alone at the house right now. My mom and dad are on a vacation (or is that an nth honeymoon???) and will be away for 3 days. Rose went to work and Ivy went to look for one. So I was left all alone. It’s a little sad but there are also perks of being alone. For one thing you got to do everything you want without any objection from anyone and I got the chance to watch my yaoi videos hahaha! Bad kid! But I didn’t do that, to be alone and free from distraction is the best time to be productive, so here I am in front of my computer to do sensible stuff…whew!

Our Guava Tree

Earlier I was staring at my simple neighborhood and I noticed our Guava tree. I am truly amazed that it managed to grow, survive and bear fruits despite the limited soil it got. Even trees have a sense of resourcefulness, I should learn from our Guava tree. I looked at the fruits that fell on the ground and regret that they are all over ripe. The "just right" guavas are situated too high, I don’t stand a chance to get them. I wish we have a long hooker so I can get those two fruits that stimulated my appetite –sigh-

Gacha Vending Machines (sequel to Pokemon Gashapon Vending machine)

Whenever I go to the mall, it has become a must for me to check the Gashapon Vendors to check if there are other series of mini-vending machines. Of course I found some, and to date, I have 5 representatives from different series! I got Pokemon, Nobita from Doraemon, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Emily from Thomas the Train. They are really cute and they drive me crazy LOL. Okay that’s exaggerating, but hey they are really cute. Check this out!

At first I got frustrated that I got Minnie Mouse when I wanted to get Dumbo, but I realized that the pink vending machine is cute. Plus I love strawberries!

From this series (other characters are Mickey, Genie, Cinderella, Stich), I wanted to get Genie but I got Winnie the Pooh –sigh-. Now I have nothing against Pooh-chan, it’s just that when I was in college, my classmates thought that I was a Pooh fan because I have many Pooh shirts and I wore a Pooh pajama during one of our retreats. Mind you, they were all given by my sister and cousin who happened to be the real fans. Now if my college classmates see this toy, it would confirm their theory! But this toy is really cute =)

Believe it or not, the mini-capsules also have toys inside. No they’re not super mini vending machines but it would be great if they are hahaha.

If you see other series of mini-vending machines other than what I have mentioned, pls. inform me ASAP.

Dog beggars???

I went to Manila last Saturday. When I got off from the train at U.N. Avenue station, I was surprised at the sight I saw.

I found these poor dogs at Taft avenue corner U.N. avenue and though they looked cute I can’t help feeling sorry for them. Imagine holding those baskets all day long under the heat of the sun. They wore clothing articles and it must have been uncomfortable for them. According to Fars, sometimes they wore shades and other stuff. I don’t know what others think, I’m not particularly an animal rights activist, but would you do this to your pet? Or your friend?

888

Today is the start of the 2008 Olympics at Beijing. I’m not a sports fan but I’m wishing Team Japan and Team Philippines the best. Go for the Gold! Yeah!

Feline themed dream

I was walking in an unidentified mall, the closest I can associate it with is Adriatico Wing of Robinson’s Place Ermita. I was walking endlessly. I don’t know why I was there, I can’t remember the purpose but it’s just like any ordinary day at the mall. Then suddenly, a weird stray cat looms before me. It’s actually an ordinary cat if you’d look at the size, the way it walks and the way it meows. But what makes it weird is the color scheme. It’s black and white, STRIPES! It looks like a cat cosplaying as Zebra! But nobody seemed to bother. It looked like it’s nothing out of ordinary. Our paths crossed in matter of seconds and it was gone. I moved on when I saw another cat with weird color scheme. This time it has the scheme of a Panda. And I was like, WTF?!? But anyway, being a Panda fan, I followed it, but I lost it when it mixed with the crowd gathered at the Ice Monster stall. When I gave up looking for it I saw another cat, and this time it’s has the color scheme of a Siberian Tiger. That day at the mall felt like a day at the zoo. I saw different sorts of animals– Dalmatian, Cheetah, Crocodile, yellow duck - in the form of a cat…those are what I could remember. When I finally accepted the fact that it’s a normal thing to see, I suddenly realized that I am being followed by the king of the jungle. No it’s not a big cat, in a Lion color scheme. It’s a real lion this time. It was following me silently, more like stalking. I walked as fast as I could to disappear from his sight but he noticed it and he started calling his allies. Then every lion was after me. I felt like a fugitive and yes I’m still in the mall. I can see lions riding escalators and the people didn’t really mind. But these lions were after me! How could anyone not care! I ran as fast as I could, the lions were not chasing after me, but everywhere I ran to there’s a lion stationed waiting for me. Then I started to lose the anxiety. I grinned and told myself, heh it’s time to fly! I started to lift myself from the ground. I suddenly smell candies. Yummm!!! I looked up and realized it’s raining gummy worms. I’m starting to have fun when I suddenly heard Doraemon’s Tagalog voice saying “ANG MAHIWAGANG MENSAHE!!!”

-sigh-

It was my cellphone’s message alert tone. I picked it up and read the message. It was Nagi, greeting me good morning –sigh- I wonder what happened to the Panda cat…

Asian College of Science and Technology 2008 Acquaintance Party

My sister works at the said school and she invited me at the said event because they featured Pinoy bands – Sandwich, Imago and Kitchie Nadal. I like Imago so I decided to go but I never thought that the party is anime themed! I was surprised to see there were cosplayers, of course they were students. And that reminded me how common cosplaying had become nowadays. Nagi told me how she hated the idea of cosplay going mainstream and I couldn’t agree less. 8 years ago, cosplay is a new and cool thing that only devoted anime fans did it but now, as anime went mainstream too, cosplaying had become a normal activity for normal people. But as I told Nagi too, there are ways to make you feel it’s as exclusive as ever. For one thing, the cosplayers I’ve seen in the party are very amateur. I had a very hard time identifying the characters considering they are portraying popular anime characters. The colors of their costumes are not very powerful. Plus, they can’t do a skit that would identify them. It’s highly acceptable though since it’s not an anime or cosplay convention. There are so many good cosplayers nowadays but only few justify the characters they portray. Back to the party, I didn’t have to remind myself that I was there for Imago and the cosplay thing was just a bonus. And yes, Imago ROCKS! Woot!!!

When I was watching the cosplay parade though, I realized that it would be wonderful to hold anime conventions on a stadium. It’s big and everyone gets the chance to watch cosplay while sitting. Booths can situate at the flat form, I think that would be fare enough.

Over the years, I feel like the organizers are not very sensitive of the audience’s convenience. The average admission fee for an anime convention is P100 and what do you get? No freebies, no loot bags or whatever. The main attraction of conventions is the cosplay catwalk but even cosplayers are asked to pay the entrance fee. Everything’s done for money, there’s no way you could feel the “from fans to fans” spirit. IMHO…

Bonbon Candies

Sherry gave me this Sakuma bonbon candies. Now I don’t know if this stuff is as popular as Pocky but this tin can played a very important role in “Grave of the Fireflies”. When I saw this can, the first thing that I thought of was “Barefoot Gen” and I don’t know why Sherry and Mike agreed, but it’s a different film. Maybe because it’s also a story about a child during World War II. According to Isao Takahata (director of “Grave of the Fireflies), Sakuma bonbon candies were popular during that time but it was scarce due to war. In the film, Seita put Setsuko’s ashes in the tin can and took it with him until the day he died. It’s a very sad story, just looking at the can made me want to cry. The candies were really tasty though.