Kokology: The Stolen Berries

Here's another kokology from Kokology by Isamu Saito and Tadahiko Nagao. Play along, this is fun (",x)

Everyone likes a nice person and most of us try to be good in our own lives. Why is it, then that there are so few people in the world who are good all the time? As hard as you may try, there are always those rotten days of moments and weakness where it just feels better to be bad. Whether that takes the form of driving too fast on the highway, cheating on a test, or "liberating" a box of pens from the office, we've all done things we can't be proud of or justify. The key to becoming a truly good person is in accpeting the bad parts of your own personality and admitting that you're not perfect, not in trying to act like a saint while the devil on your shoulder whispers in your ear. We all succumb to temptation sometimes. But in the next scenario you might just get caught...

1. On a stroll through the countryside, you come across a field of delicious-looking strawberries. Your stomach starts to rumble, and there's no one else around. Only a fence stands between you and a free lunch. How high is that fence?

Kid: the fact that I saw the strawberries means the fence won’t obstruct my view. Maybe as tall as my neck.

2. You sneak into the garden and begin to help yourself to the fruit. How many berries did you eat?

Kid: I love strawberries so I’d probably eat all I can, maybe a basket of berries?

3. Suddenly the farmer whose berries you're stealing appears out of nowhere and starts yelling at you. What do you say in your own defense?

Kid: I’m sorry sir, I was just really hungry. I’ll just pay for the berries I ate.



4. After all is said and done, how did the berries taste? And looking back, how did you feel after your berry-stealing adventure was over?

Kid: If I never paid for it, I’d feel guilty. But If I did, then I’d be satisfied.

The Results..

Strawberries -seductively juicy and red - are common symbol of sexual attraction and desire. The way you envisioned this scenario helps us to understand your attitude toward forbidden romance and stolen love.

1. The height of the fence you imagined around the field is a measure of your own level of self-control and resistance to sexual temptation. The higher the fence, the greater your own defenses. People who imagined a total enclosure exercise admirable restraint. Those of you who said it was only a string tied around some be at about knee height run a higher than average risk of getting burned by the flames of love.

2. The number of berries you said you would steal is the number of people you can believe yourself in love (or lust) with at any given time. If you said you'd quit after eating just one, you're likely to be faithful in your own love life as well (or at least a devoted serial monogamist). Those of you who got onto double digits may need to think seriously about applying the brakes to your libido. Nobody can keep that pace up forever.

3. The excuses you made to the farmer represent the way you'd defend yourself if you got caught having an affair. What was your excuse?

"I'm so sorry. I promise I'll never do it again" Sometimes a full confession and a promise to behave is the best way to get yourself off the hook.

"They looked so good, I just couldn’t help myself" Well actually you did help yourself – to somebody else’s berries. But honesty is the best policy. After all, it worked for George Washington, didn’t it? If you keep it up, maybe someday you could be president too.

"Hey those berries were great! Do you have if I have a couple more?" Farmers have shotguns. Spouses have lawyers. Fortunately you still have a chance to reconsider your choice of words.

4. The way you described the experience and the taste of the berries gives an indication of how you imagine yourself feeling when looking back on a past affair.

"Actually, they didn’t taste good as they looked. The whole thing wasn’t even worth the effort" All too true for most affairs. Chalk it up to experience and put it behind you.

"So sweet! So juicy and delicious! I’ve never tasted anything like it!" Uh, let’s just say you’re addicted to love.

"The berries were nothing special, but all in all it kind of fun" Statistically speaking, you’re in the high-risk group for repeat offenders.

Kid: LOL! Really now?

Reunion X Eiga Sai X Takoyaki X DVD Window Shopping X Mcdo Happy Meal = Looonnng Saturday

I was surprised when I received a call from Sherry last week informing she already got back from Singapore. Apparently she quit her job due to a conflict with her superior. I was surprised because all along I thought she was having a great time with her job, plus she never informed me beforehand that she’s coming home (duh like I’d prepare something hahaha). Anyway, the first thing I did when I got in touch with her was invite her to Eiga Sai and she agreed in an instant which I find unusual, usually she’d say "I’d think about it" which more often than not means "NO". Yay I smell reunion! I smell chocolates and omiyage!

I anticipated July 13 – Saturday with excitement that I went off very early without realizing traffic is less likely during weekend mornings. I arrived at Megamall as early as 10:30 AM, our call time was 12:00 NN. Damn! I hate being early in mall rendezvous. When I start to get bored, I start to look around and I start to see things I like and I start to spend. Just to share, my favorite quotes for the last 3 months: NEVER BE A LOSER and STOP SPENDING. I immediately informed Sherry to hurry. While waiting for her, I did my best to stay away from toys and comics.

I went to St. Francis Square. I rarely go there, but this place reminds me of Greenhills’ Shoppesville cheap clothes, Cellphones, bootleg toys, Pirated DVDs. These stuffs don’t give me potential to spend. Hold it right there! Did I just say Pirated DVDs??? Oh my, it’s been a long time since I went for DVD shopping and I really missed Quiapo. I looked around to check and reminded myself, "JUST 2-3 TITLES OKAY". The good thing with Anime DVDs nowadays is that you’ll get the whole series in one disc, depending how long the series is. But nothing caught my interest. There are tons of anime titles to chose from, but I guess I’ve really grown up when choosing a title to buy. Before, anime in pirated DVD was RARE so I ended up buying every anime title I saw. And that explains why I bought titles with no subtitles and loose episodes (Houshin Engi Vol. 3, Tokimeki Memorial Vol. 2, etc). So I support pirated DVDs? So what? It’s cheap, that’s why! One thing that caught my attention is that the new DVDs are in blue and red packaging with labels "Blue Ray" and "HD DVD" and I stupidly thought to myself – WTF! So now there are pirated Blue Rays and HD DVDs??? When I asked one of the vendors he told me that they are just "blue ray" copy but the discs are still in regular DVD format. Whew! But it would be good if Blue Ray would be pirated too don’t you think hehehe.

Sherry arrived with no chocolates or omiyage, but I don’t really mind. The first thing I asked was to eat Takoyaki at the food court. There’s this Takoyaki stand in Megamall that I really love – Chito’s Takuyaki. Their takoyaki is the only food that made me eat veggies because they don’t taste like one when they’re inside the takoyaki balls, and Sherry loved it too. She was surprised to see me eat the whole takoyaki without separating the vegetables, really, it’s that damn good. Plus I get to drink my favorite buko shake. It was the best meal I had that week (mom I really miss you) –tears-

At 1:00 PM we started to move to the venue, the Shang Cineplex. We were lucky that we didn’t experience queuing for the tickets. The ticket lady informed us that the screening would start at 2:00 PM. So that gave us time to talk. She told me what happened at work. She now has friends in Singapore and she told me how much she wanted to go back. She started looking for job again through the internet. Then she showed me pictures of her stay there and the conversation went on something like this:

Kid: (looking at the pics on the phone) is this a penguin?
Sherry: Yep!
Kid: How did that happen? They don’t snow in Singapore
Sherry: It’s synthetic of course. Oh yeah, they (Ocean World) housed Polar Bears too. Look!
Kid: No way!!! (looks at the video of a swimming polar bear)… but they’re not cute when they swim, I like them when they’re dry so they’ll have this fluffy look.
Sherry: Oh really…
Kid: Yeah! (raise an eyebrow) BTW, did you see a Panda too???
Sherry: Uhm, no. Unfortunately… I wanted to see one too..
Kid: Hah! As long as you haven’t seen one, I won’t feel envious bwahahahaha! Look I’ve seen one (brags my phone)

Sherry: LOL! Panda your ass! This is not a real one
Kid: Of course it is! LOL!

-sigh- I want to see a real Panda…

The other things we did while waiting for the show to start – drop at Kid’s Station, answer some Kokology, CAMWHORE (this has been a regular activity whoever I'm with hehehe)… Then I saw Neitaro, she never changed. She always have this upbeat energy during events that would make you want to shout "hey" "woi"… Finally, when the show was about to start, I saw Chris but he doesn’t have the ticket yet. He went to get some and we followed him to check - and surprise - Aish and Duston were also there. Wow! Unfortunately, they were not able to get the tickets for the first film. So Sherry and I went ahead to watch the first film – Linda, Linda, Linda!

This film about youth is set in modern-day high school just outside of Tokyo. In the days just before the school’s culture festival, a girl’s music group is facing a dilemma. They planned on playing an original piece of music but, three days before the festival, the guitarist appears to have broken her finger (actually she doesn’t want to break her nails) and an argument breaks out between the vocalist and Kyoko. They need to find a new guitarist and a new vocalist. While the remaining three girls are pondering who to ask to be the new vocalist, they hear the song, “Linda Linda Linda” by the famous Japanese rock band Blue Hearts and decide they want to sing it instead of an original song. A Korean exchange student, Song, is sitting in the next room and they take the chance to ask her to be their vocalist. Her Japanese is not perfect, and she’s never sung in front of an audience, but she just happens to be listening to the Blue Hearts song. They practice and practice but they don’t seem to be improving. They spend a lot of time at Kei’s ex-boyfriend’s studio and at the school practicing late into the night. They are really tired, but a deep friendship develops among the four girls. The night before the festival, they practice late into the night and exhaust themselves. They suddenly wake up the next morning and realize that they are late for the festival. They arrive at the school just as the festival is finishing and perform as the last act. The audience loves them and the four girls play their hearts out.

-taken from Japan Foundation Manila Office (JFMO) Eiga Sai 2008 flyer

At the end of the film, we were both singing Rinda, rinda, rinda! I loved the film. Funny and endearing, this film made me remember my college days again. My favorite scene was when a certain Maki confessed to Son, the way he tried to speak in Korean and Son barely understand what he was saying, then she’d reply in Nihongo. A Japanese speaking Korean and a Korean speaking Japanese. A major BWAHAHAHA! I always find it funny to hear Japanese try to speak other languages particularly Filipino. Here’s a classic line I’ll never forget – tutugutogu kami – the Nitta Oyako saying "tutugtog kami" during their self introduction at the Tsugari Shamisen Play last October 2004, and they said that many times! This film made me want to check Blue Heart’s music, I liked the soundtrack!

When we got out of the movie house, there’s already a line for the next film and the tickets available are for the 3rd film already. I was planning on watching all the four films but it was impossible because by the time you finish the film, tickets for the next film were already "sold out" (admission is free, but for my lack of term hehehe). We queued for the tickets of the 3rd film that lasted an hour because they won’t release them for some reason.

After we got the tickets we decided to eat. I never told Sherry that I was feeling sick due to lack of sleep but at that time, I wanted to have some soup so badly (this is an indication that I’m sick hehehe). I was tight with my budget so I asked her if we could eat at Jollibee because I want their macaroni soup and she agreed. Now that reminds me, 8 years ago we’d go anywhere just to avoid eating at Jollibee hahaha. When we got there, the first thing that caught my attention was the happy meal toys. They featured Inuyasha! I got excited but sherry told me that Mcdo featured Conan Meitantei. I got more excited that I forgot I’m feeling sick. I inspected the Inuyasha toys and I found the details unsatisfactory so I told Sherry, "let’s eat at Mcdo instead hehehe". We both ordered happy meals and Sherry was kind enough to give me her toy. They are not action figures like the Inuyasha toy but a variety of puzzle games. Not bad, I love Conan more than Inuyasha anyway hehehe. I completely felt refreshed after eating and we were ready for the next film –We Shall Overcome Someday.

This film takes place in 1968 in Kyoto, Japan. The background of the film is the turmoil of the 1960s and the relationship between Japanese and Koreans in Japan. The story begins when members of the karate group of a Kyoto high school insult two girls from a Korean high school. A war breaks out when the Korean girls get the boys from their school, led by a boy named Lee Ang-son, to seek revenge. The Japanese boys are reprimanded by their teacher, and two boys, Kosuke and Norio, are told to go to the Korean high school and make a peace offering: to have the two schools play a friendly match of soccer. While they are at the school, Kosuke hears the sound of a beautiful song of Ang-son’s little sister, Kyung-ja, a non-violent, peaceful, 2nd year high-school student who is part of a band. He finds himself drawn to the young girl and the sound of the Korean folk song, “Imjing River.” He steps over the ethnic divide and becomes friendly with Ang-son and his rough-neck gang. Ang-son has plans to go back to Korea and has unknowingly gotten his girlfriend pregnant. Kosuke then find’s himself part of the group until an accident kills one of the Korean boys and Kosuke bears the brunt of the family’s anger. Kosuke begins to understand the anger felt by the Korean community toward the Japanese community through the music and words of the folk song. Ang-son finds out he is going to be a father and realizes he has to grow up.

-taken from JFMO Eiga Sai 2008 flyer

There were also funny and heart warming moments in this film but my general feelings were really heavy. After I watched this film I noticed something. The two films featured Japan-Korea friendship theme. So are these films part of Japan’s attempt to atone for its past mistakes with its neighboring Asian countries. "We Shall Overcome Someday" reminded me that Japan really started it all – all those hatred. I can’t blame those Korean kids for assaulting the Japanese’ high school bus since some Japanese highschool boys started picking on some Korean high school girls. If only the sense of revenge doesn’t exist… But as the title suggests, it also showed how the new generation can make up for the sins of the past. I find Kosuke and Kung-jya’s relationship as a perfect example of hope for a grudgeless truce among warring nations. World peace is still a far fetched dream, but I truly believe that we shall overcome someday. After all, the film concluded with a happy ending.

When we got out (again), I finally saw Chris, Aish and Duston queuing for the next film. We approached them and stayed for a little while. Chris said that film they saw is not really good, it was long and boring (no wonder the 3rd film started late). I informed them about the Anime Matsuri on July 26, JFMO will be showing classic anime Films like Doraemon, Chibi Maruko-chan and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but just as I thought, they are well aware of the event. According to Aish, the Doraemon film was heartbreaking but I can’t imagine myself crying at a Doraemon movie hehe. But that’s something to look forward at the end of the month. When the line started to move, we bid goodbye. Sherry and I eventually parted our ways.

It was a long Saturday and it was really tiring but it was fun. As soon as I got home, I slumped in my bed with a happy sigh.

Sad Dreams Lead to Sad Thoughts

As stated. Last night I had a sad dream that made me think of sad things that happened. It went like this:

I just returned from abroad, the country I went to was not stated but it appeared that I worked overseas for years. That was the premise but the scene showed that I was actually standing beside a tree in a vacant lot. I don’t have any idea where that was, but it’s definitely in the Philippines. Under the shade of the tree, I started to dig. I was looking for something. After about 1 ft deep I started to feel something. Yes that was it. A big capsule, typical drug capsule as big as an average size of a pineapple. Guess what, it was a time capsule. I opened it and a stack of letters loomed before me. I started reading one of the letters and I was shocked to see words of hatred addressed to me. I read one after another and I couldn’t believe it, they were all hate letters! There was no sender for each letter but it seems like they came from different people. I never realized being hated could feel so depressing….

Back to reality.

When I woke up, I knew it was one of those weird dreams. But I can’t help feeling lonely. It made me think of all the people I’ve hurt in the past, friends and relatives alike… it’s not like I really wanted to hurt people. I never intended to hurt anyone, but I know I did it. But in the process, I also got hurt. I wonder if they’d ever realize that they were not the only ones who bled. I’m also human and I have the right to have a fragile heart. Thinking about those things made me want to cry. Am I the only one to blame for everything that has happened, were they all my fault? Maybe… Maybe not. If only I was a little wiser, if there were more options, if I was a little more mature… but everything had been said and done and there’s no way to bring them back. No what ifs and regrets can change the present. I can never correct my mistakes, but I can atone for them. I can start anew and be a better person. But I don’t have to change. If people can accept me and my frailties then that would really be great… but if people can’t bear the real me then that’s fine. I just have to be more mature. Surely, I’ll get through this…

What 80s Movie Does Your Life Resemble Most

Pretty in Pink Your life mostly resembles Pretty in Pink. You have some financial difficulties, but because of them you are more creative. You are prone to having a sidekick who follows you everywhere because you are so cool. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

WTF!!!! I've never seen any of those films before...

What is Your Social Dysfunction

Your Social Dysfunction: Normal Being average in terms of how social you are, as well as the amount of self-esteem you have, you're pretty much normal. Good on you.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com Please note that we aren't, nor do we claim to be, psychologists. This quiz is for fun and entertainment only. Try not to freak out about your results.

O! Walang kokontra!!! I'M NORMAL hehehe

What is Your Hidden Talent?

You have a sexual hidden talent You have a sexual hidden talent. You might not look it but you are a dynamo in bed. Most of your lovers think that it is from years of practice, but really, you were just born with it. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

HAHAHAHA!!!!

733+ 5l”3@!<

! j45+ vv@/V+ +0 5@’/ +#@+ !+ +00!< ^^3 +#!12+'/ ^^!/Vu+35 +0 (0^^l”73+3 =#!5 l”05+. !’^^ /V0+ 12377’/ @ 733+ v5312 13v+ ! +#!/V!< !+5 /V!(3 +0 73@12/V 50^^3+#!/V6 7!!<3 href="mailto:73@12/V3cl">73@12/V3cl @130v+ 733+ '/3@125 @60 !/V @/V!^^312!(@ ^^@6@2!/V3. ! cl0/V'+ /V33cl +0 #>7@!/V vv#@+ !+ !5 @5 /V0130cl'/ vv!77 v/Vcle125+@/Vcl @/V'/vv@'/. 13v+ !/= 50^^3130cl'/ ! #@u3 @ /V312cl 123@cl312. #@#@#@#@!

hehehe

In my search for a chess board for my Clamp chess pieces pictorial I came across that ‘ol treasure chest. I hardly pay attention to it although it’s just beside my abubot boxes, but now I’m looking at it with sheer interest. It’s antique! I wonder how much I can sell it. I can buy the Perfect Grade Wing Zero Custom Pearl Mirror Coating Version (I wish there’s a nickname for that) Bwahahahaha!!! But then a voice echoed “forget it kid, you’ll never know who’s gonna haunt you” hmmmm…-shivers- okay… Anyway, I went ahead and opened it hoping to find the chess board but luck was not on my side (it never was damn it). Instead I found yearbooks, photo albums, loose old pictures, old letters, old junks… It is a TREASURE chest indeed!

I browsed the loose pictures, laughed at how silly we look back then and realized something from this picture…

Notice the girls with same dress and boys with the same shirt design. Yes that’s me and my siblings, together with our parents and first degree kins. (to my cousins involved, sorry if I had to post this embarrassing photo hehhehe)

I wonder if your parents were the same as mine, but it seemed that they are obsessed in making their kids look so much alike by sporting the same hair cut and clothes. Yeah when, we were a lot younger, I have the same hair style as my sisters and we always go to mass with the same design/terno clothes. Whatever happened to man’s struggle for individuality… grrrr…. But this will never happen again, I’m glad hehehehe

And here’s another one… BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

By the way… it’s Killua Zoldick’s birthday! Happy Birthday baby, muah!

anticipations...

The other night my uncle came to pick my mom up for her flight. While waiting for my mom he had a little chit chat with me and my brother Oli. He told us what happened with his son Valjun that afternoon. He asked Valjun to go to SSS Antipolo to run some errand. Apparently, my cousin went off with exact money for fare only and he did not anticipate that the trike rate in Antipolo soars like a dragon! To make the story short, he rode the tricycle with insufficient funds and ended up loaning P50 from the SSS security guard, so Oli and I ended up rolling on our stomach laughing. But then, that brings me… hey, it happened to you before! Oh yeah… I think it was a couple of months ago –blush-

I was in Megamall and was about to go home when I felt the craving for fries. I have P100+ cash in hand left. I settled for fries and drinks at Mcdo and it me left with P58. The FX fare to Tanay is P60. I was not worried because ATMs are all over the place anyway. After eating, I went to the nearest Metrobank ATM, errr ET (electronic teller).

When I’m almost there and saw MB ET from the distance, I was surprised to see that there was no queue at all. Hmmm, there could only be one reason – it’s OFF LINE. No panic yet. Okay, I’ll have to settle for Bancnet ATMs which will cost me P10. No big deal. I tried China Bank and what did I get – Error 91: Cannot complete transaction, issuer is down. Still no panic. I tried City State, same error. BDO, error 91… Okay, I’ll settle for BPI, which sounded painful since it’ll charge me P100. I had no choice. But I got the same error message! Then I started to worry.

I went to Shangri-la and checked Metrobank. It was also off line. I tried GE and UCPB. When I got the same error message I knew I was already in trouble. I wish I didn’t eat fries. I went back to Metrobank and asked the guard what time will the ATM be online. Just as I expected, he told me it’s off line nationwide because the systems were down. I asked him if I can do transaction over the counter but apparently they were not accepting any transaction. Don’t you get it kid, THE SYSTEMS ARE DOWN! WTF! That’s bullshit! This is the BIGGEST bank in the country and they don’t even have a backup support?!? Or can’t they do it MANUALLY?!? Hah! People should not rely on technology alone. Finally I asked for a manager, customer relation officer, whatever I am a customer and I need MY money! So a manager loomed before me but it was like I don’t exist at her front at all. Whoever she was, she doesn’t deserve to be in her position. Dr. Mapa, Mrs Chan, Mr. and Mrs. Ty, the very cute Sir Alfred Ty, if one miraculous day you come across this blog post, pls. fire her. She’s an A-hole! Yes, the bank manager at Shangri-la branch. She was all on her paper works and the scene looked like a brat whining to a machine. I asked politely, Ma’am is there anyway I can withdraw money over the counter because I’m literally out of cash and I need to get home. All she ever said was “the mainframe of the system crashed and there’s nothing we can do for you. You can TRY to your branch, they MIGHT be able to help” What a very nice statement of ASSURANCE. What was Metrobank’s tag line again? YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS with… Whatever, I’m not keeping with this shit anymore. I was thinking at that time, as soon as your systems are up and running, I’ll get all my money and transfer to BPI, BDO, whatever, I’ll never do business with that bank again! (duh, like I am a loss hahaha)

Huhuhu, my money was short of P2… How will I get home… I was very far from home and I can’t think of calling anyone. At the very last moment I don’t want to impose. So I did the inevitable, as soon as I get to the terminal I asked the dispatcher that my fare lacks P2 because Metrobank is down and I can’t withdraw a cent. The dispatcher was really nice and said that it’s perfectly okay. He even told me that even if I don’t have money at all they’d let me ride the transpo –tears of joy-. There are still hospitable Pinoys after all. I promised I’d return the P2 next day which I did but he refused to accept –sigh-

It was an embarrassing experience but I also learned something. The incident was not purely on Metrobank’s end. I should always anticipate something like that when I go out. I also relied on machines alone for not keeping emergency cash. And of course, never prioritize your appetite! In the end I didn’t transfer my money to other banks. My angst ended the moment I received a simple altruism from the dispatcher and I also realized that I owed my college education from Metrobank, I do have a sense of gratitude so let’s just call it quits hehehe.

Momonji went to Hong Kong together with my uncle and aunt. She left yesterday and thank God she arrived there safe and sound. She’s staying there for 3 weeks. I’m happy for her. I know she always wanted to travel abroad and now she finally had the chance to do it. Hong Kong is not much nowadays. Even highschool kids can go there but still, it’s overseas and you have to ride the plane to go there so I know it means a lot to my mom and I’m really happy for that. I hope she can enjoy her stay even with limited funds she got. On the other hand, I’m a little sad. I can imagine what my lunch and dinner would be for the next 20 days - canned goods, frozen delights, salted egg, Ka Millet’s BBQ, Andoks, Jollibee, Tapsilogan… haay, I will be deprived of home cooked meals for 20 days and that’s equivalent to 40 meals (lunch and dinner) –tears-. Breakfast is my only saving grace – I love Gutierrez’ pan de sal! And dear lord what will happen to my… uhm… clothes? My mom would definitely expect a 3 weeks worth of clothes… I’m so helpless, sue me. And of course, home’s not complete without my mom around…

Good news, today I finally completed the Clamp No Kiseki, yay! Sandy of Comic Odyssey gave me great discount on vol. 6 and vol.12. He’s so nice. By the way, ever wonder if there’s any connection with the other comic store Comic Quest? I highly doubt if the 2 shops are in anyway owned by the same person or group, there’s a big difference in prices. But what’s with those names?! Maybe I should put up one and name it ‘comic journey’ or ‘comic trek’ hahaha! Cheesy me hehehe. But I definitely prefer buying from Comic Odyssey. Aside from cheaper price, the owner and staff gives me discount and are very accommodating. Unlike the people of Comic Quest, they seem to be nice to REGULAR customers only. You know, the typical “customer service”.

Back to CLAMP no Kiseki, it’s a 12 volume publication that exhibits CLAMP’s works from 1989 to 2004. It’s a celebration of CLAMP’s 15th year in commercial manga scene. Each volume showcases exclusive interviews, artworks, short manga, essays and –deep breath- limited edition collectible chess figures. I don’t know how to play chess but I am a CLAMP fan so I decided to collect them. It’s a MUST have for fans! I learned a lot about CLAMP team from this publication and I became more obsessed with them hehehe. I learned that they are heavy drinkers and a bunch book worms. Despite their high profile, they were very friendly and approachable. Bunch of gullible also, right Takashi Yamazaki-sensei? Kidding hehhehe. But what really amazed me is that they are obviously more than just a team. They are very good friends. They used to live together but now they live separately, their cats Kakyou and Kogane, stayed with Ohkawa-san and the other 3 CLAMP members always visit them. It’s very rare to be colleagues and good friends at the same time without getting into huge conflict (case in point: Eraserheads). I’m pretty sure they have a smooth relationship otherwise they won’t stay together that long. It’s already their 19th year and they are still doing very well in the industry. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and XXX Holic are still ongoing and they have a project with Dark Horse Comics in 2009. CLAMP-sensei I love you!!!!

The bad news, no issue comes with a chess board and I haven’t heard that there’s an official release yet. Damn I can’t find the fuckin’ chess board! I need it for the pictorial! By the way, in Japan, if you completed the set, you’ll also get a Keroberos and Spinel as alternative Kings…. Too bad, I have the US version T_T

Oh yeah I know you're not asking, but I want to say that my favorite chess piece is the white king Shaoran and the black knight Nokoru. They are the apple and strawberry of my eyes, kawaiiii!!! 0_0

Dreams

Sleeping is a necessity for every living creature. It’s a time to recharge our exhausted body. But for me, sleeping is something to look forward to. A start of another adventure. A new world that may sometimes be better than what I have when I’m awake – through dreams.

“if it’s my lucky night I’d dream of you”

I’ve always felt that my sleep is wasted if I don’t dream of something wonderful or interesting. Sure having no dream is better than having nightmare, but not dreaming at all is just like being dead for a certain time. I don’t want that. I want to use every bit of my time to have fun.

Dreaming is like watching an anime or reading a manga. You get to see a fictional story from different genres: romance, adventure, suspense, horror, etc. But in my dreams, I get the chance to be the lead character (most of time). I get to experience so many things that I know I can never do in wakeful times. I fly, I travel in time, I pin down a nemesis in a flick of my finger, I do magic, I meet celebrities and even anime characters.

Of course there are times when my dreams can be really weird. There was a time when I dreamed that I killed Arnold Swachnegr using a lethal injection. I had a birthday party where every food prepared was chicken – fried chicken, stewed chicken, chicken pastel, lechon manok, etc. I attended a Soujiro Seta cosplay shoot and met different kinds of Soujiro – fat Soujiro, Tall and thin Soujiro, sleepy Soujiro, smiley soujiro, punk soujiro… My 1/100 Mastergrade Strike Rogue gundam is alive and is stalking me! A random face at my college school married Aga Mulach and asked me to be a godmother of their child. Weird, weird stuff that made me wonder, what was that all about?

There are also dreams that made me want to stay sleeping forever… these are scenes from the past which I never wanted to let go. Things that could have been, if only…

But there are some dreams that I couldn’t get enough of only for a certain time. Something that makes me want to sleep more UNTIL I see the end of it. My only regret is that I don’t have a writer’s talent to describe in details these wonderful dreams I had, but in anyway I wanted to share them with my readers.

Here’s something that I dreamed of a year ago and until now, I still wish for a sequel hehehe.

A Wish to Change the Future

It was the near future and the technology advanced a great deal. Ren and I run an unusual business. We have a “wish-granting” agency wherein our clients ask us to change their current state by fixing the mess they did in the past. How do we do it? We travel back to the past, bump into our clients’ lives, and make sure that they won’t do the mess they did that led them to their unwanted future. We travel the past by going to a “time terminal” wherein riding buses with “year” (i.e. 1999, 2000) signboards is the means to turn back time. It’s exactly like commuting in EDSA. But not everyone can ride in a time bus. You need a license to do so.

One ordinary day at our office, we had a not so usual client. It was my brother Richard. His marriage with May did not push through because he had done something that broke off the engagement and he’s asking us to interfere the past and make the wedding push through. I sighed at Ren because this is another “thank you” job since it’s my brother. But we went off anyway. We rode the bus with a signboard 2007.

And then I woke up. Ugh!

Reality check: Richrad and May’s wedding did push through last January and the newest member of Madarang clan is 5 months on the way. It’s a good thing that my dreams has really nothing to do with the future or I’d really freak out.

One funny thing about that dream was, Ren and I wore that traditional detective costume. When I told Ren about this dream, he laughed but he never commented. I want more of this dream but I want an interesting client. Someone like…-sigh-

Kokology: When Your Tastes Have Grown Up

This is from Kokology 2 by Isamu Saito and Tadahiko Nagao. Play along!

Coffee may be the quintessential adult drink. That rich aroma, that slightly bitter edge, the feeling of warmth and mellow anticipation as you blow the steam away before taking your first sip. It’s an experience you learn to enjoy as you leave childhood behind and serves as a sign that you have entered grown-up world. Somehow, despite the caffeine, in the proper setting, coffee soothes the nerves and relaxes the mind. A seat in a secluded corner of a coffee shop with a good book and some jazz playing softly in the background provides an ideal environment for many to take a step back from stresses and strains of work, studies or life itself and enjoy the true luxury of doing nothing at all, if only for the time it takes to finish a cup.

You work hard enough. Take a moment now for yourself and enjoy one of the privileges of adulthood. Will it be French roast? Rich Colombian? A decadent mochaccino? Go ahead, indulge yourself. You’ve earned it.

1. It’s that rarest occasions, a day with nothing on the schedule, and you decide to enjoy some quality time with yourself with yourself in a coffee shop. Describe the atmosphere and ambience of the shop you choose.

Kid: I’ll probably go to my favorite Starbucks early in the morning, so the atmosphere would more or less be friendly, relaxing and elegant.

2. You order a cup of coffee. What do you do while waiting for it to be brought to your table?

Kid: I usually take my laptop with me in coffee shops, so I’d probably be setting it up while waiting, if not then I’d be reading a book.

3. When the waiter delivers the coffee you ordered, how does it taste and how is its temperature?

Kid: It’ll be really HOT! It’s essential to blow and let it stand for a couple of minutes before I sip it. This is Starbucks coffee, so it’ll definitely be the best coffee experience. Mmmmm…

The Results

Coffee in general and coffee shops in particular are closely linked with ideas of the adult world and social relations. Your responses to the questions in this scenario tell us something about the ways you perceive and manage stress in your own adult relationships.

1. The atmosphere you described is actually what you seek most in your workplace (or school). Some thrive in a lively environment elbow to elbow with other like-minded people. Others value quiet and solitude. Then there are those who don’t care what the atmosphere is like as long as the coffee comes in a bottomless cup.

2. The thing you did while waiting is related to a major stress or concern in your life.

Did you just and sit and watch the other customers? You’re a little too nervous about what others are doing, saying, and thinking. Just be yourself. Everyone else is.

Did you pull out a magazine and start reading, or look at the menu? You may need to get your nose out of the books and try a little more physical activity.

Did you sit and wait without doing anything at all? It’s a sign you crave more stimulation from life and are looking for something to occupy your time.

3. How did the coffee taste? The flavor and temperature you imagined corresponds to the level of stress that you needlessly create for yourself. The better your coffee experience of the coffee, the less stress you add for yourself. If you imagined it was lukewarm, weak or too bitter, or scalding hot, you make problems where there are none to begin with. In your dreams, you can have anything you imagine, why not at least treat yourself a nice cup of coffee?

Blog Anniversary Post

I was exaggerating when I said that I’ve been blogging for 4 years. Sure it looks four if I look my archive column, but if I’d do math, it’s only my 3rd year. Numbers can be so tricky huh. It’s the start of July and it’s the4thram’s month! Yes this month I’m celebrating my 3rd year in the blogging scene and as you can see I’m trying real hard to make it survive. If I do have faithful readers then it’d really make me happy.

As you can see, I’ve already made some improvements (no matter how little they are) in the blog. I know for some time it had come to a hiatus but I’ll try to write as much as I can to keep it going. Because this blog is a reflection of me, my life, my story.

Have a wonderful July everyone.

Survey #5: The Conditional Survey

1. what is your name? (must not contain: a, c, g, h, s, j, u, r, n):
>>> kid

2. what time is it? (you CANNOT use numbers):
>>>am snack time!

3. what school or job do you go to? (you CANNOT use proper nouns):
>>>none (of your business hehehe)

4. how are you feeling right now? (must contain at least 6 letters)
>>>a little frustrated

5. how old are you? (cannot be in terms of years):
>>>9125 days

PREFERENCES/FAVORITES:
1. where's the perfect vacation place? (cannot be in the philippines)
>>>Tokyo

2. favorite musical artist? (must be outdated):
>>>Siam Shade

3. favorite book? (must contain at least 400 pages):
>>>Kafka on the Shore

4. favorite junkfood? (must come in at least 3 flavors)
>>>nachos

5. favorite spice (you must also state at least 3 food/drink items in which the spice is used): >>>Cinnamon: coffee, cinnamon bread / cake,

6. favorite country? (you must be able to name the capital and a natural landmark)
>>>Japan, Tokyo, Mt. Fuji

7. favorite food? (must be filipino food)
>>>sinigang na sugpo

8. one of your favorite movies? (you must also state one of the characters of the movie and a memorable line they said)
>>>Card Captor Sakura Movie 2, Sakura Kinimoto, Watashi no ichiban wa Shaoran-kun da yo (my number one person is Shaoran)

9. state another memorable line from that movie..
>>>her answer… it’s not necessary

10. last movie you saw?
>>>Wings of Honneamise

11. favorite holiday? (must be celebrated by all)
>>>New year

OTHERS:
1. who is/are your best friend[s]? (must be the full name[s]):
>>>si momonja na lang

2. who is a celebrity you wish to be your friend? (you must state the month and day of his/her birthday)
>>>Mokona Apapa, June 16, 1968

3. name a person who irritates you (you should state the full name)
>>>it doesn’t matter

4. adjective most used to describe YOU (must not contain the letters: j, v, g, z, k, x, q, o, p)
>>>shy

5. phrase you use often (this must be an original phrase and not copied from a movie, book, or another person):
>>>Eh eh eh eh eh!

6. phrase you hear often (must have been said by a relative):
>>>”anime na naman?!”

Kokology: Bare Necessities

I’m currently into Kokology. It’s a Japanese pop-psych quiz game that reveals one’s emotion and behavior through his response to a given situation. Most of the time, my results are accurate and playing is really fun whenever I’d picture myself in a given situation. Here’s something from the book Kokology by Isamu Saito and Tadahiko Nagao. Try it!

There are a few common items that keep people in their pockets or bag nearly every time they leave the house: wallet, keys, ID and credit cards. The inside of our bags are like the insides of our heads; we all carry around a lot of the same stuff but there’s always something in each that makes every bag unique.

You’re getting ready for the day and putting your things. Besides the bare necessities, which of the following items do you want to take along with you?

1. your personal organizer or address book (my answer)
2. hairspray or mousse
3. a lucky charm
4. candy or gum

and the results are…

-drum roll-

What is it that you always have close at hand? The item you wanted to bring along is something you feel a little uncomfortable being without and your choice actually tells us something about a part of your personality you feel insecure about.

1. your personal organizer or address book
You can’t trust your own memory. Phone number, birthdays, appointments; they run through your head like water through a sieve. You don’t mean to forget things, but somehow they just never seem to stick, and you end up apologizing for missing you anniversary –again. It’s probably a good idea to keep that address book with you all the time. Now if you could just remember where you left it. (LOL!)

2. hairspray or mousse
Appearances are all-important to you. The attention to detail means you always look great and ready to take on the world, but sometimes you take things too far. Remember, a bad hair day is not a valid excuse for calling in sick.

3. a lucky charm
You’re a firm believer in your own bad luck. The other lines at the tollbooths are always moving faster, your toast always lands jelly side down. Things never seem to go your way, and you’ve noticed. How couldn’t you? It’s not to say you’re superstitious, but you do feel a little more comfortable with your personal good luck charm, whether it’s a four-leaf clover, St. Anthony’s medal, or a pair of old socks you’ve grown attached to.

4. candy or gum
You’re worried about controlling your diet. Eating a pint of cookies ‘n cream the day after starting a new diet, opening the door of the fridge every time you go past, “just to check” – your appetite fills your mind more than it does your stomach. Keeping some mints or a candy bar makes you feel safe. No matter what happen over the course of the day, at least you know you wont starve to death.

Bad bad kid!

I hate it when at my age, I'm still being directed what to do with things that I can obviously decide for myself. Grrrr! You can guess by now that I'd had some petty arguement with my parents. But not really an "arguement" since I'm not really the type who argues.

It's Sunday and I know as a Catholic, it's my responsibility to hear mass. But lately I've been missing going to church and it bothers my parents. Just now they FORCED me to go to church. It's not that I'm turning my back on my religion. I love God. I believe in Him. I talk to Him on my most solemn moment and pray from time to time. I do want to go to church, but not when I'm too pre-occupied. It's just that I think it'd be useless for me to hear mass when I'm not really listening. Is it really okay for me to be JUST physically present? Will God condemn me for violating the 3rd commandment? I want to see the hearing of mass as an voluntary act from the heart rather than an obligation.

Anyway, to end my parent's worry, I fixed myself and went off. But as you can see I didn't really go to church. I chose to go to an internet rental shop and vent all my frustration. Sheesh!!!

May God forgive this child of His. Amen.

The Groupies!

I miss hanging out with my friends that I decided to feature the different groups I hang out with.

The Magic 5

For some reason we are called such. No particular reason. It just so happened that we gave “nicknames” for various factions in the Hospital. There’s a group of doctors called Voltes 5 and there’s another one called Teletubbies. These names are actually meant to ridicule them but I don’t think they’ve ever known. Anyway, in one of our “trips”, we were talking about these groups and we suddenly wondered what our group will be called. Then Ren suddenly blurted MAGIC 5! with a caption “watch your back”.

This is the OLDEST group, and I don’t mean the longest I’ve stayed with, but in terms of age. Unlike the other groups I’m with (which I’ll be discussing later), I’m actually the youngest member in this group. The weird thing about this is we are completely different from one another. I’m into anime, Frances is into clothes, Ren is into antiques, Aris is a gambler and Dindee is always “roaming”. I think the only thing that draws us to one another is our deranged personality hahaha.

But despite differences, I had a lot of fun with Magic 5. We rarely get together now but back then, we were always laughing. Thinking about our days makes me wonder, what were we doing back then?

Being the adult people that they are, this group is FULL of green jokes! Plus I’ve learned a lot of dirty language from them, especially Ren. Despite me being the youngest, I’ve always believe that I’m the most mature. They can be immature in a lot of ways sometimes and they remind me so much of my SIBLINGS!

The Bubbly Group (a.k.a the Cosplayers)…

At least that’s what I want to call this group. I think this is the best description that fits these people hehehe. The members varies from time to time, but the consistent ones are Chris, Nagi, Jam, Lee, and Aish. We all started our love with ANIME and eventually branched out to J-music, J-drama, Games, cosplays and almost anything Japanese. We have considered anicons to be the venue of our reunions. Thanks to this groupie, despite the lame performance of the conventions, I manage to have fun during those events.

This group hast the most COLORFUL and creATive people I’ve ever met. Everyone (excluding myself) has a high sense of fashion and artistry. But one thing I like about them is, other than anime and Japan, they can generate engaging discussions out of anything under the sun and even the moon hehehe. Although most of the time I’m passive, I enjoy just listening to them. I’ve learned a lot of things from this group, be it about anime or reality. Love them!

Birds of the same feather flock together

I can’t think of a good name to fit this group. Genshiken. The nerdy group. The autistic ones. The blue otakus?

I’m talking about social implications not just the typical anime attachments or expertise as what some elitist would claim. If you’ve seen (or read) Densha Otoko then you’ll understand what I mean.

This is the group were I can compare myself with most numbers of similarities. For one thing, everyone in this group is single. Our love life is equivalent to coke… ZERO hehehe. (Ewan ko na lang ngayon ha who knows they might have made some progress hehehe)


We also consider anicons and concerts as a venue for reunion, sometimes this group can merge with the Bubbly Group but even though that’d be the case, I’ve always thought that a barrier exist between the 2 groups.

We lack social skills. We are quiet most of the times we’re together, but even with the presence of silence, we know that we are having fun. Weird huh?

The 3 pork butts?

OMG I had longer hair! I can’t think of a name for this group. But we always sing our own rendition of 3 blind mice and replaced the lyrics with 3 pork butts. It was heavily influenced by Cow and Chicken hahaha.

Sherry and Sri are probably the friends I’ve known the longest. Thanks to them my college days was a blast and remains the best days of my life (so far). I MISS THEM SOOOO MUCH!

They are the very first people who made me realize how wonderful it is to have friends. Back then we were also all about anime and other crazy stuff.

We dream a lot.

We create our own world. Our own language.

We sing a lot.

We made fun of other people (without them knowing of course).

We stole a Geographic magazine from the library.

We collected tons of McDonlads straw (I’m not that earth friendly before) and store them in our locker. Eventually we popped all of them.

We borrow books for the sake of leaving our name in the Library card, every single book that nobody really cares.

We were always at Comic Alley spending our allowances for our dearest anime.

We were always excited whenever we’d discover a new anime shop.

We were excited whenever AXN would do an “Anime Marathon”

We were excited for new anime to be shown on TV.

We hate mushy things.

We love sweets.

Sri brings Skittles and candies. Sherry brings the chocolates (courtesy of her suitors hehehe). I bring Pistachio nuts and Gummy bears.

Every summer, we’re always on the telephone and we never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

The only thing we ever worried was where to eat our lunch or dinner. It seemed like the hardest decision to make.

We were like kids. We never took things so seriously. Everything seemed so simple. My life with them was like an extension of my childhood with so much excitement.

But we have grown up and we rarely see each other anymore. We talk about serious things now. Before we used to dream of going to Japan together. We all wanted to spend a vacation there and do what we’ve seen in anime. When we graduated from college and parted ways, we realized it’s not as easy as we thought. But I would always be thankful meeting them. They are the very first people who accepted me as a FRIEND and the first time I was ever IN a GROUP.

******

There are other friends I have not mentioned because they are not part of the group. But I miss them as well...next time I'll make another feature for them hehehe

Survey #4: Mulitiple Choice

This one's from April...

1. Elementary, High School or College lyf?
■ COLLEGE!!

2. Mcdo , Jollibee, KFC?
■ Mcdo

3. Globe, Smart or Sun?
■ I'm a Globe loyalist hehehe

4. SM, Robinosns or Ayala Malls
■ Ayala malls have the best designs

5. Coffee , Milk or Juice in the morning?
■ coffee

6.Friendster, Myspace, Multiply?
■ Friendster for profiles, Multiply for photos

7. Pants, Shorts, Shirts?
■ all

8. On a saturday: go to malls, stay at home, go to the spa, do some sports?
■ home/mall

9. Alternative, RNB, Hip Hop, Rock, Goth, Death Metal or House Music?
■ alternative... (what's house music?)

10. Local brands: Bench, Penshoppe, or Human?
■ none, I have no brand preference

11. Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Filipino , Thai, Vietnamese, American food?
■ Japanese and Filipino

12. Emperador, Red Horse, San Mig?
■ red horse

13. Night or Day?
■ night

14. Math, English, Science?
■ Math is the easiest, Science is the most interesting

15. For opposite sex: Asian, American, Latin?
■ Asian

16. Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall?
■ Spring

17. Kapamilya or Kapuso?
■ none

18. Shopping Spree or Eat all you can?
■ shopping spree!!!

19. Cats or Dogs?
■ dogs

20. Say: I love you or mahal kita?
■ none. I'll just kiss you *muah* =) hehehe

21. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung or Motorola?
■ Sony Ericsson forever

22. White skin, Beige, or Tanned?
■ Asian pale white hehe

23. Red Ribbon or Goldilocks?
■ Goldilocks

24. Frnds or Lovers?
■ who?

25. MTV or MYX?
■ MTV

26. Touring: European tour, Asian tour, American tour?
■ Asian tour (including JApan!)

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Personality and Country Compatibility Test

I took this from the TRC Character Guidebook (TRC Fans, get this book at any cost!). This is really cute and fun. Here are my results:

Personality: Fai D. Flowright – The Popular One Who Seems to Have Everything

You’re upbeat and you seem to be able to do everything better than the average person. Everyone around you likes you. But when pressed, people think you’re a little capricious.

Fai is the wizard of snowy land, the Country of Ceres. In order to run from King Ashura, he joined Shaoran’s group to travel from world to world. He includes himself easily in plans and he has a casual, talkative style. But under his quick smile, his true heart sometimes peeks out from where it is hidden. He has made a vow not to use magic when he gave away his markings as his price to travel words. Even in deep trouble, he keeps his vow.

Fai’s famous line: “I have to run away to any number of worlds”

Recommended Country: Country of Jade – A Country of an Old Castle and Forest Where Legends Sleep

You want to travel to a world steeped in legends and old tales, and this is the location for you. But there’s also plenty of books and literature so be sure to enjoy a good mystery.

The country of Jade surrounds one in thick forests with the ground covered in a carpet of snow. Shaoran and the party came to the town of Spirit in this country after hearing rumors that led them to believe that it may have one of Sakura’s feathers (of course). However, because of the cases of disappearing children happening one after another, the people are living in an era of terrible unrest.

Legend: there’s a legend in Spirit of a Golden-haired princess who took the town’s children away. Many of the willagers are convinced that there is some connection with the legend and the present missing children.

Climate: Spirit is located in the cold northern part of the country of Jade. During winter, it’s cold penetrates wight through the bone (ouch!)

Culture: In a snowy country, it’s difficult to grow crops in the best of times and so the people live frugally. The main method of transportation is horse.

(Painful) Addition to my Wishlist

I was looking at an online shop of toys when something caught my attention. This is actually an old news but I just accidentally learned that Bandai released a new version of the Perfect Grade Wing Zero Custom, the Pearl Mirror Coating Version. When I was looking at the pictures I felt a mixed emotion of happiness and sadness.

I was flowing with happiness because it’s so f*cking gorgeous. Magnificent! I’ve been pre-occupied by it for a week already. It feels like falling in love. The sad part is… it’s so f*ckin’ expensive gaah =’(. Much more expensive than the original version and it really hurts me that I can’t get it now. And this is what you call a one-sided love =’(

But this is just my impulsive nature towards toys or anime stuff. It is my only passion in life after all. I know if I’d just think a little longer, give it more time, I’d realize there are more important things that I can get for $399. The price would go down eventually.

Then again, this feeling at this moment is also important. If I could satisfy this yearning for this TIME… then that is something I can consider as PRICELESS. But this is just my childish wish…

The Simplest Wish

So the typhoon Frank hit Region 4 and Metro Manila. With a speed rate of Signal no. 3, what can you expect afterwards? Yes, a power failure. It’s a good thing that it rained all day so I didn’t have to worry about temperature. It was cold. I couldn’t be at all bored since I have a LOT of reading materials. Until the night time came and darkness covered the whole town. We don’t have an emergency fluorescent light so we have to be satisfied with candles and flashlight.

But I can’t! I can’t read at all with the “orange” light. I’m bored!

This is the moment when I forget all the problems. To hell with stress and pressure. I can’t think. I can’t move. I can only lie down and wish…

Oh God… please… LET THERE BE LIGHT….

At around 10:30 PM, the power resumed.

Halleluiah!

But I got exhausted from boredom and I felt sleepy so I went back to my bed and sleep… and dream… and my day is just starting for real.

KiD's Toy

I have so many things to do, so many things to finish but when I get hooked to something I tend to forget my responsibilities -sigh-.

I'm currently addicted to Kodomo no Omocha by Obana Miho. It's a shoujo manga. Kurata Sana is a child star who wants a normal life at school. Things are not as easy as they seem. The delinquent Hayama Akito is a hindrance to Sana's ideals. He leads a group who terrorize the class which made it hard for the teacher to conduct a class. And so the dream of a "normal"school life shattered in Akito's hands. But Sana is not your typical weak school girl. She decided to stop Akito at any cost. In the pursuit to stop him, Sana discovered a lot of things about Akito which made her want to change him, which resulted into, uhm well you know... Sounds like your typical school drama but this series really hooked me. It's funny, endearing and cute cute cute! I love it! It reminds me of Furuba and CCS minus the magic and curse.

I learned the perils of childrent wanting to grow up, acting like adults but still the fact remains that they are just kids. Like most shoujo manga, it tackles friendship, love, dreams, perseverance and responsiblities. These kids have a great sense of responsibility...

Responsibility Kid!

Ack >.<

Happy 159th Birthday Kenshin!

Kanpai to the greatest anime hero ever created! Today I decided to feature some of Kenshin’s lines that really moved me. I got them from the manga version. Here they are:

Now I will deliver Tenchu (NOTE: yes it did move me!)

As long as I can remember what human warmth feels like

I didn’t mean to deceive you, but, it’s just something that I don’t want to talk about

It’s an important swordman’s nature to know his own strength as well as his opponent’s

Watch me from the depths of hell I say… If deep within I’m a hitokiri, I will control myself to the end

Both the Ishin and Bakufu Samurai were forced to fight for their own beliefs. However it was not a war about who was right, but a war about what was best for our country

Someone I parted with in Tokyo said the something like that to me. But I never expected to hear those words in Kyoto

I can’t die! There’s no reason for me to die here. Someone is still waiting for me to come back. Nothing is stronger than the will to live

Which side was right is up to the future generations. What we can do is believe what we know ourselves to be true… and fight for it

Life is many things… A journey but not a separation, a beginning not an end. It’s disheartening but that’s the way things are

On that cold, cold day, two feelings were frozen – grief and hatred. And after 15 years, the frozen feelings start moving under one smile

Okay there has to be more but I can’t seem to find my old files hehehe… Did these words touch your heart? They will if you read the manga. (“,x)

7th Toycon 2008

So I went to the Toycon and now comes the hardest part – my report! NOT!

I’m a little lazy but I have a responsibility to my journal –sigh-

I didn’t stay very long and I wasn’t able to take a lot pics. It was time-constrained, I need to go by 5 PM. I was able to meet with old friends and it felt nostalgic to see them again. I didn’t watch the cosplay catwalk, I was busy shopping. Sadly I didn’t get any toys, just magazine and manga. As always, I didn’t finish the event. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to my friends, I was really in a hurry. I can only say this much… I feel like I’ve been numbed by previous conventions so I don’t think there’s a point extorting what I think about it. But of course, you can expect me to be present by next year hehehe…

And here’s my coverage of the 7th Toycon.

Freudian test

Freudian Inventory Results

Oral (63%) you appear to be overly passive and dependent, wanting things to be given to you instead of working for them. Anal (43%) you appear to have a good balance of self control and spontaneity, order and chaos, variety and selectivity. Phallic (16%) you appear to have negative issues regarding sexuality and/or have an uncertain sexual identity. Latency (66%) you appear to be afraid or averse to present or future real world responsibilities, this will only make your inevitable transition more difficult, so learn to deal with the real world. Genital (63%) you appear to have a progressive and openminded outlook on life unbeholden to regressive forces like traditional authority and convention.

Take Free Freudian Inventory Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Happy Fodsie’s Day!

Greetings to all dads out there, good or bad, thin or fat. THIS IS YOUR DAY. Kanpai!

Today, I’ll talk about the BEST dad the earth has ever known. My dad of course. I’m pretty sure you’d think of the same thing about your dad but on THIS blog, Fodsie is the BEST FATHER ever!

Teehee I call him Fodsie, it’s my pet name for him hehehe. It started when I was a LOT younger when I realized “daddy” is plain and boring so I decided to call him “Fodi” (pronounced as Fowdee). It’s MY slang term for “father”. Then it evolved to “Fodi Dodi” (Fido Dido influence hehehe), later to “Fodsie Dodsie”, to “Fofodsie”… and I don’t know what’ll be next.

I call my mom Momonji while I call ALL my siblings PANGET hehehe.

Oh yeah, this space is all about Fodsie…

A lot of people think I look so much like my dad. When I was young, I didn’t like the idea. I’ve always thought my mom has better physical features, which will forever be the truth, and it felt unfair that I’m the only one among my siblings who has the pure “Madarang” features. I’ve always felt that the Alvarez genes should be dominant in my blood. But I started to accept the idea (and love it) when I started to understand how GREAT my dad is.

I experienced a time in my life when my dad is not around. He worked in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before and we (family) all felt the loneliness and incompleteness. The parting at the airport always felt so heavy even for a young mind like me. SOMETIMES I felt selfishly thankful for the Gulf War or else my dad would still be working in Saudi. When he came back for good, I started to know more about my dad and started to feel proud.

He took the role of preparing our breakfast before going to work. On weekdays, he helps my mom with the laundry and cooking. When we (siblings) were still studying, he helped us in our studies on areas that we had difficulties. I remember, back in our high school days, we lined up for a tutorial/homework session every night. While my mother managed the household and took the role of a disciplinarian, he was our spoiler. He may not be able to provide luxury but he did everything to provide our needs. We managed and continue to survive. He did well. I still depend on him (and on my mom), it can’t be helped but I’m doing my best to return everything.

There are so many things I want that I don’t and may never have, but I’ll always be thankful for a GREAT father like Fodsie. HAPPY DAD’s DAY FODSIE!

Off to 7th Toycon

In a few minutes I'll be off to toycon, I'm just finishing some downloads here at Shangri-la... I'll be seeing otaku friends again. I'm not expecting much on the event, but I hope I'd see familiar faces and hopefully I can buy something worth it hehehe... It may take while before I can post pics and outcome of the event since I don't have a 24/7 access to the net.

Minna-san, tanoshin desu ne!

Sisig

Sisig is a Kapampangan term which means "to snack on something sour". It usually refers to fruits, often unripe or half-ripe, sometimes dipped in salt and vinegar. It also refers to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork which is marinatedin a sour liquid such as lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices.

Sisig as is popularly known today is actually sizzling sisig, a Philippine dish made from parts of pig’s head, liver and usually seasoned with kalamansi and chili peppers

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig

I just had my lunch. My mom asked Ivy to buy sisig from plaza and I was really surprised that there was actually an eatery here that sells it. This was actually my first time that I’m gonna eat sisig in my home. My mom doesn’t cook it. I’ve always had it at Dencio’s or Padi’s Point with my friends and no we never take it out.

We were excited to taste it. Yummmmm!

Suddenly my priest uncle texted my mom saying that he’ll take his lunch here. Whoops, that was a dilemma. It was unexpected. The food would not be enough. So in the end my mom and Fr. Caloy ate their lunch at Chowking.

I find it really funny, because we were really excited like it’s the first time to taste it. But I was thankful. I could tell the meal is FULL of CHOLESTEROL which is really bad for my HBP mom. But it was really good hehehe. Now that’s one perk of being young. You’re not restricted on things like this hehehe. Mmmmmm!

Anicon nostalgia

Part of my daily routine at home is looking, savoring and caressing my anime collection. Kinda weird but I never seem to get tired of looking at them. This is what you call avarice (BAD!). Anyway, this morning I was looking at a manga called Imadoki (vol. 3) by Watase Yuu and I noticed something that caught my attention and memories.

This is a Watase-sensei’s free talk. Free talk is a column in tankoubons where authors talk about random stuff, usually embedded in between chapters. I find it surprising that I get to notice something important just now when I bought this manga 6 years ago. If you know how to read katakana and hiragana and look closely at the image, you’d know that the mangaka is actually talking about her experience with the Filipino fans at the Anime Explosion 2000. Yes! The Very first anime convention held in the country. And there it goes, nostalgia filled the air.

I can’t read kanji and I know very little of Nihongo so I don’t really understand the whole free talk. But the thing is, the first Philippine Anime Convention made its way on the manga pages is really amazing (at least for a simpleton like me). I even downloaded the manga scanlations, unfortunately this page was not translated…

Anime Explosion 2000 was held November 3-5, 2000, the height of Fusigi Yuugu and Ruroken popularity. I wonder why Watase-sensei said in the free talk it’s 11/4-6/2000, I’m pretty sure Japan is just an hour ahead our time. But I knew all about the event beforehand because my cousin, Van, was actually working with ACPI at that time. I remember how excited I was every time I’d get updates from him. The sad thing is, I never made it to the meet and greet (with the mangaka and anime directors) part of the convention because I had class. I was able to attend at the last day and missed the cosplay and panel forums. The good thing about it was I went thru without paying for the entrance fee and was able to get enough freebies because of my cousin. Too bad I haven’t had a camera at that time. It was also the age of Nokia 3210, what can you expect? I don’t have any friends with me that time too, but for some reason, the event felt more lively than the ones I’ve attended the recent years and months… being a newbie is really something and besides, we’re talking about the FIRST ANICON here.

Have a sweet Friday the 13th everyone (“,x)

Survey #3: Randomness...

I think I'll be filling my blog with surveys heheehe... this one's from Kim

1.Spell your name as it sounds.
♣ keeed

2. Are you available?
♣ hell yeah!

3. current song ur listening to?
♣ it's quiet

4. Favorite color? (s)
♣ black

3. Does your home have a bookcase?
♣ yep

THE HAVES:
1. Have you been to Laguna?
♣ yes

2. Have you ever gone fishing?
♣ yes, but it was never successful

3. Have you ever seen a celebrity?
♣ yes

4. Have you ever been on a motorcycle?
♣ yes

THE HOWS:
1. How much money do you have on youright now?
♣ I don't have much, but I have enough =)

2. How many jobs have you had?
♣millions! hahaha

4. How tall are you?
♣ 5'

THE LASTS:
1. Last person to call you?
♣ dindee

2. Last word you shout out loud?
♣ ahoy!

3. When's the last time you ateMcDonald's?
♣ last saturday

4. The last thing you bought?
♣ bday card

5. Last person you saw?
♣ my dad

6. Last time you cried?
♣ loooong time ago

7. Last time you laughed?
♣ yesterday

THE WHATS:
1. What is the temperature outside?
♣ prolly 24C
2. What time did you wake up?
♣ 5am

Random:
44. Do you have a best friend?
♣ you can say that

46. What did you do two days ago?
♣ she's far away

49. Is your birthday coming up?
♣ nope
53. Where were you at 3:02 AM thismorning?
♣ bed
61. What are your plans for thisweekend?
♣ attend toycon and the rest will follow hehe

64. Coke or Pepsi?
♣ coke forever

66. What do you dislike at the moment?
♣ so many things... wishful thinking

67. What did you dream about lastnight?
♣ ala nga bad trip

68. What's the last TV show youwatched?
♣ kiniro no corda

69. What is your favorite piece ofjewelry?
♣ none

72. Are you on any medication?
♣ sorta...

73. Have you ever cut your own hair?
♣ yeah, very little though

74. What is your favorite frozen treat?
♣ ice cream

76. Where's your favorite place to be?
♣ home. manila. japan

78. Who was your last text from?
♣ aris

79. Do you care what people think aboutyou?
♣ HELL NO

Survey #2: The First 13 Songs

This one is from Kath. List the first 13 songs you ca think of right now. Then answer the questions below.

1. Dive To Blue
2. Raison D'etre
3. Komm Susser Tod
4. 4 Seasons of Loneliness
5. Summer of '69
6. Dance Inside
7. Talk Shows on Mute
8. Dreams
9. In My Life
10. Nakayoshi
11. Brand New Breeze
12. TWILIGHT
13. Kimi Ni Fureru Dakede


1.)who do u remember when u hear no. 4?
♥ ack!!! next question onegai!

2.)does no.8 make u happy?
♥ YES!!! Very!

3.)has no. 3 made u cry?
♥ Yes, it's my funeral song hehe

4.)in what occasion did you hear no. 9?
♥ I hear it randomly when I'm working on my laptop

5.)do u miss no.10?
♥ No I have it in my cel, I always listen to it beofore I sleep =)

6.)which lyrics do u like the best from?
♥ summer of '69

7.)do u imagine something when u hearno.2?
♥ YEAH!!! nostalgic

8.)who do u remember when u hear no. 6?
♥ Si Diego haha... I got it from his site kasi..

9.)when was the last time u heard no. 11?
♥ just now

10.)how about no.8?
♥ a while ago

11.)do u often sing no.1?
♥ I used to...

12.)have u sung no.7 to anyone?
♥ NO

13.)does no. 10 inspire ur life?
♥ YEP

14.)does no. 05 show how you truly feel?
♥ YES!

15.)what do u feel wen u hear no.7?
♥ neutral. Basta I like the song

16.)do u smile when u hear no 12?
♥ YES

17.)when was the first time u heard no.1?
♥ OMG, 6 yrs ago hahaha

18.)if u could dedicate no. 9 to someone,who would it be?
♥ a lot of people

20.)does no. 7 mean a lot to u?
♥ Yes, I remember HXH manga whenever I hear it

21.)what's so special about no 10?
♥ something I can't explain...one thing, I remember scene from Honey & Clover hehehe

22.)would u sing no.11 to anyone? to who?
♥ I dunno... haven't checked translation hehehe

23.)does no.8 remind u of someone?
♥ Myself (",x)

24.)what memory comes to ur mind when uhear no.5?
♥ My memories... best days of my life

25.)do u want to hear no 12 right now?
♥ yes

26.)can u remember clearly the first time u heard no 13?
♥ YES! the start of 3rd season of Ruroken =)

Survey #1 Are You That Somebody?

It's been a while since I've answered those little, cute and fun surveys posted at Friendster Bulletin. I have my reason but I'll never post my answered surveys at Friendster, but I love answering them so I'll just post it here hehehe...

This one is from Kim...

The "Had To" Section
1. If you HAD to get a tattoo, where would you want it?
>>>>upper right part of my back

2. If you HAD to dye your hair which color would you choose?
>>>>>i'm pretty satisfied with black, I can dye it anytime anyway

3. If you HAD to get a piercing (THAT ISN'T YOUR EARS) what would you pierce?:
>>>>>still in the ears, I have one at the left cartilaginous part

4. If you HAD to change your name, what new name would you choose?
>>>>>KID

The "Would You" Section
1. If you could go bungee jumping, would you?:
>>>>>yeah, easy to say but I don't really have the guts hehehe

2. Would you move somewhere else, if you could?:
>>>>>>maybe... if only for call of duty

3. If you were given the chance to go to Paris, would you go?:
>>>>> as long as it's free

4. If you found 10 million dollars, andit was YOURS to spend, what would you do with it?:
>>>>I'll go to Japan. I'll buy my own house

The "Let's Say" Questions.

1. Only 1 person has a chance to survive. The 3 people on the ship are Your Best Friend, Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend, and a long lost friend (that you don't know too well). Who would you save if you HAD to choose ONLY 1 person?:
>>>>> I hate these kind of questions, so unfair. Well, in all honesty it'd be the person I love the most

2. Let's say you became President,what is the first thing you would do?
>>>>>>One helluva question, it's not easy to be a president. On my first day as a president I will relax, definitely after that day I'll never find a time to do that hehehe

3. Lets say you had to eat a live tarantula for $1,000. would you ?:
>>>>>exotic food is not my thing, besides, it's so environment unfriendly

4. Let's say you could star in any movie (made or in the works) what movie?:
>>>>>back to the future

The "Favorites" Section
1. color/s?:
>>>>black (as always)

2. current song?:
>>>>>brand new breeze by Kanon

3. shirt you own?:
>>>>>The NERV shirt

4. electronic device?:
>>>>>my laptop

5. movie?:
>>>>>see my friendster profile

6. book?:
>>>>>see my friendster profile

7. pair of shoes?:
>>>>>>sneakers

8. sandal color?:
>>>>>>I have none, and no I don't like them

9. hair color?:
>>>>>>see my answer on #2 HAD TO section

10. eye color?:
>>>>>>bluish gray

The "Other Stuff" Section
1. what makes your bedroom unique?:
>>>>>I don't have a bedroom, that's unique!

2. Who do you like?
>>>>> alot

3. Do you go to parks?:
>>>>>>>>sometimes

4. what's your favorite season of the year?
>>>>I prefer rainy =)

5. Do you like cheese?:

>>>>> who doesn't?!?!

6. What's bothering you now?:
>>>>>oh so many things...