Bisdak Babbles

Lately, I have been reeeeaaaallllly crazy over Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) and Slovenian Big Brother (SBB). Why Slovenian Big Brother? To those who are not aware of this, a housemate from SBB was swapped with a housemate from PBB. Since then, more interesting things have been happening… and more videos to watch! Nope, I am not contented with the Uplate or the Primetime PBB shows.

I must watch… I have to watch the live feeds, too! Yep, as soon as I reach our apartment, I turn on my PC, open the browser, then check youtube for the latest BB uploads. I watch BB while eating my dinner, I listen to BB while doing something. What do I get from watching this? I have no idea! It has clearly become more addictive than coffee!

Again, special thanks to those who are so kind to upload these feeds to youtube. ^-^

Since I started my “career” in software development, I have also started relying on coffee to keep me awake (and to keep my sanity, I guess, he he). On my first year, a cup of coffee a day was just enough. Nowadays, I consume 2 cups in the morning and another 2 cups in the afternoon. At times, I just don’t drink coffee because I have to fight sleepiness (ever since I discovered that blogging also has the same effect ^-^). I admit that I drink coffee because I love drinking it! (Well, who doesn’t?) Gosh… I had turned into another coffee addict! This has to stop!

Now, I am on my 3rd day without coffee! And right now, I am sort of “shaking” and trying my best not to contribute a few yen in the vending machine. Somehow, I am also trying to replace coffee with green tea. Green tea is definitely NOT delicious but it contains caffeine, too. But at least it is more beneficial to my health… I guess. ^-^

“A 5.4-magnitude earthquake has rattled central Japan, injuring three people and disrupting traffic and some factory production lines.”

I was lying in my futon while watching the movie “Back to the Future 3″ when I noticed that it started to sway… earthquake! I called out to Jet, my flatmate, and when I got out of my room, she was already at the door with her jacket. I didn’t want to be seen in public wearing “spaghetti” so I went back to my room to grab my jacket, too. When Jet and I started to head off to the fire exit, the tremor stopped. We looked around and noticed that we were the only ones who were trying to run to safety. The other occupants of the building: “deadma”. We just laughed hard and went back inside our apartment.

*deadma = Cebuano/Bisaya/Tagalog slang for being insensitive; acting as if nothing happened (something like that ^-^)

Once again, the Sakura Hunters, equipped with 2-3 onigiri* each, headed to Kyoto for another Sakura adventure.

(1) Toji Temple
We just went there to see the 5-story pagoda but weren’t able to get close to it; not with the 1000-yen admission fee! So we just took pictures “within our reach”. ^-^

(3) Kamigamo Shrine
We went there last week but the pink sakura was not yet in “mankai*” mode. Much to our disappointment, the pink sakura tree had just started to bloom:

Inspite of the drizzle,　a friend and I went to the Osaka Castle for Sakura viewing. We agreed that the rain might have dispersed the crowd there, and it did. Too bad there’s not much Sakura trees near the castle; too bad the Sakura trees were no longer in full bloom. Nonetheless, our little excursion was fun. ^-^ It was very hilarious seeing people hiding under under tents; some under any shade the castle grounds had to offer; instead of enjoying the party under the Sakura trees.

A Broken Vow
Today is Good Friday and I vowed to make a little sacrifice, so I promised not to eat pork/beef/chicken today and not to eat something in between meals. Almost true to my words, I had breakfast and did not give in to doing something habitual: eating loads of bread once I arrive at the office. At around 11:30AM, I was already starving. I would have persevered ’til 12:00 noon for my lunch but my stomach growled so loudly that officemates sitting around me at 2 meter radius definitely heard. Yes, Idel had heard the growling very clearly. To avoid another incident, I broke my vow by eating 2 pieces of cheese bread.

An Embarrassing Moment

A teammate got a promotion and a team party was scheduled today at 8PM. So Idel and I left the office together with some Japanese teammates at around 7PM. During the 10-minute walk to the station, my eyeglasses frame suddenly snapped, the left lens just popped out of the frame and fell into the pavement! The sidewalk was a bit dark so I had to grope in the dark for a few seconds trying to locate the lens! Everything was so blurry that I almost stepped into the frame! When my teammates noticed what was happening, they laughed and there was nothing else I could do but to laugh with them.

Thanks to Idel that I recently purchased a screw driver for my eyeglasses. I was able to fix my eyeglasses while on the train, so, on my way home, there was no need for me to follow the road guide for blind people. ^-^

An Accomplishment
I love taking pictures especially of those I’m acquainted with.
Finally, after working in this company for more than 6 months, I finally gathered my confidence and asked Idel to take the following pictures. Too bad I don’t have a digital camera so I had to be satisfied with what my phone camera can do. ^-^

I’m so glad we had to work overtime on a Sunday 2 weeks ago. ^0^ Why? Because we were given a free day! So, Idel, Kagz, and I spent it Sakura hunting in Kyoto yesterday.

Here are the spots we visited:

1. Philospher’s Trail
It’s a path lined with hundreds of cherry trees beside a canal near Ginkakuji. We had a limited time so we only covered about 1/3 of the path.

2. Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion)
Unlike the Kinkaju (Golden Pavilion), this temple does not have even a single nail head painted with silver! But you could easily see that it has not underwent any major renovation. Also, its garden is fabulous, eventhough there’s not much Sakura.

3. Heian Shrine
Since this is one of the most famous tourist spots in Kyoto, the place was crowded even on a Monday! We didn’t go inside the shrine, but there’s an old Sakura outside the gate that was in full bloom:

4. Kamigamo Shrine
This was not in our original plan, however, we had a “little time” to spare and the shrine is the farthest bus stop in the north of Kyoto. We thought we would just waste our time there, but was delighted to see that the place was also amazing and not crowded! We will be going back there next week to see the pink Sakura in full bloom.

5. Arashiyama
Our expedition wouldn’t be complete without getting lost. ^-^ Yep, we “almost” got lost on our way to Arashiyama. When we reached Arashiyama, it was already dark so we could only see the lighted Sakura:

You may take a look at more pictures in flickr.
For a detailed version of this little trip, you may take a look at Idel’s entry on The Sling-bag Girls Adventure 01 ^-^

Finally, here’s my most favorite picture, the Sakura Hunters: