Archive for September, 2007

Fullmetal Alchemist

September 30th, 2007
{ 7 Comments }

Image from Wikipedia
“All is one… One is all”
You’d definitely know what this means if you have watched Fullmetal Alchemist. Yes, it’s an addition to my anime favorites. ^-^

To those who are not familiar with this anime, here’s a brief overview:
(Note: The anime’s story is different from that of the manga’s)
In this anime/manga series, alchemy refers to a technique used to transform one material into another (referred to as a transmutation).

The main protagonists are the Elric brothers, Edward (Ed) and Alphonse (Al). I still don’t know what happened to their father (about 20 episodes more to go ^-^) but their mother died when Ed was 11 and Al was 10 years old. Determined on bringing their mother back to life through alchemy, both became apprentices of an Alchemist (forgot her name).
When they tried to revive their mother, the attempt backfired, resulting in Al losing his body, and Ed his left leg, as well as bringing to life something inhuman. To save Al’s soul, Ed sacrificed his arm and bound Al’s soul in an armor suit. Ed then got himself artificial metal arm and leg. The story focuses on their quest to find the Philosopher’s Stone, a medium that could help them regain their normal bodies.

Sorry, that’s the best introduction I could come up with. I recommend Wikipedia for more details. Better yet, watch the anime… you won’t regret it. ^-^

The fight scenes are great but not as exciting as that of One Piece, Bleach, or Naruto. So, why am I really hooked into this anime? It’s because of brotherly love. ^-^

The bond between Ed and Al is really amazing… and heartwarming. Ed is really bent on protecting his younger brother, and Al wholly trusts Ed. So far, Al never blamed Ed for what happened to him. Of course they have some serious disagreements but the strong bond between them is their ultimate weapon against those who try to harm them.

And I thought animes were just for exaggerated stories and jaw-dropping fight scenes… ^-^

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Anime

PhotoHunt: Original

September 28th, 2007
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This was my first attempt to get a close-up image using my faithful cellphone camera…
I had a good laugh while taking this one because I did some awkward positions just to get a good shot with just my cellphone while the others had their powerful SLR cameras in tripods! This was also the first picture I took that I used as a wallpaper for my cellphone.

Original (from Merriam-Webster)
1 : of, relating to, or constituting an origin or beginning : INITIAL

I hope I made the right interpretation for this week’s theme… ^-^

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Photohunt

The Diyandi Festival

September 28th, 2007
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I have no idea what “Diyandi” means but it’s St. Michael Archangel fiesta in Iligan City and is celebrated every 29th of September.

I was still in highschool when I last experienced this merrymaking and I love to see it again, especially now that the city government has done so much to make it merrier and a better tourist attraction. ^-^ For now, I’ll just have to be content looking at these colorful pictures I got from James Bonner:



There are more pictures from Bobby Timonera and the Kasadya Street Dancing Photo Contest 2005 entries.

To the people of Iligan City and Lanao del Norte… Viva Sr. San Miguel!

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Philippines

The $50,000 Question meme

September 27th, 2007
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A philanthropist awards you $50,000 with the stipulation that you may use half of it for yourself and the other half you must use for the benefit of others. By “benefit of others” it can mean anything really, buying a gift for a family member or donating to a charity.

Got tagged by Grace so here are my wishes…

1. How do you spend the money on yourself? $25,000 would be more than enough to pay off all those debts. Then I’d spend about $5,000 to buy the lot adjacent to the where our family’s little store is located. $2,000 would go to the whole family’s shopping spree! And $1,000 would be spent to my airfare (I desperately want to go home to the Philippines this Christmas)

2. How do you use the money for others? Please be detailed, so if you say “give X dollars to charity, let us know what charity and why you select that one.
I would set aside $15,000 for the college education of my (deserving) cousins. Then I’d give the remaining $5,000 to Kerygma Family and $5,000 to Gawad Kalinga.

3. If you were to spend part of your money to have a performer do a show for you, who would it be and why? I’d hire some of the Philippine’s top artists and have them perform in our barangay fiesta! That would definitely bring so much laughter to everyone in my hometown.

4. If you were to use it on a new vehicle for yourself, what kind? I would buy my dream car: Dodge’s Durango SLT!

5. If you spent part of it to go to a “fantasy” camp, what type would you choose? Can I have a camp setup like in my favorite anime (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach)?

6. If you were to use it to buy season tickets for a sports team, what team would it be? I’d like to see a figure skating competition and the boxing match of Pacquiao and Barrera!

7. If you were to use it to go on a cruise (assuming you like cruises) where would you cruise to? Cruise all around the world if possible!

8. If you were to use it to go to NYC to see a show (or shows) what would you see? Any Christmas-themed show would be great.

9. Totally off subject (but since Fall is coming) what is your favorite carnival food (I was watching “Big” while writing this and saw them at the carnival)? I’d eat anything, though. ^-^

Having spent all of the $50,000… I’m inviting YOU to dream with me. Considered yourself tagged ^-^

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Meme

A Year Later

September 26th, 2007
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This entry should have been posted a week ago! But due to our blogging spree, Idel and I completely forgot about it…

We’ve been working in this company for 1 year and 1 week! Happy anniversary to us!This company is soooo lucky to have us. hehehe

So, what happened to me since working here?

  • In times when I feel like behaving as a good employee, I’m forced to wake up at 6:30AM or earlier.
  • I got used to taking the train, that like the Japanese, I learned to sleep even while standing up!
  • Almost 4 hours travel and about 10 minutes of running from the station are obvious reasons why I lose a few pounds.
  • Because almost everyone here, even guys, were sooo thin that I decided to cut down my rice consumption.
  • If not for this office’s location (on top of a mountain here in Kobe), I wouldn’t have witnessed an hour-long downpour of snow!
  • GMail, Yahoo Mail, and Yahoo Groups were accessible at first, but for unknown reasons, they blocked the sites! (somebody’s feeling guilty… hehehe)
  • I met Linux, and different microprocessors.
  • Due to uneven distribution of “busy days”, I had the chance to enter the world of blogging.
  • I have always been sooo unlucky when it comes to seatmates!
  • I dreaded wearing “true” office attire, but fortunately, we could wear anything hear.

Our contract here is renewed every 3 months and since last year, we’ve been anticipating of a farewell party but, so far, that didn’t happen. I wonder why…. ^-^

P.S. I have been ranting about too much free time for the past months but a new task had fallen into our laps so we’ll be quite busy from now on. But of course, there’s always time for blogging. ;)

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At work

Of Survival and Hope

September 25th, 2007
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Most of the time I catch my self complaining that I don’t earn enough, that my salary is way too low for an OFW working in the I.T. field, and that many of my acquaintances earn a lot more than me. Then thinking about my hometown always leaves me feeling ashamed of my self…

More than a decade ago, Iligan City held up to its name as the Industrial City of the South. The National Steel Corporation (NSC) was still prosperous and thousands of its employees were well-off. Suddenly, the company plummeted along with other companies. Thousands lost their jobs and many youths stopped going to school. The once fully-booked ferries bound for Cebu almost became deserted and many families moved out of Lanao del Norte to find a way of living somewhere. This downfall also affected small businesses like carenderias and jeepney drivers and operators. Almost everyone suffered. Until today, many of the people in my hometown are still having a hard time.

How are they able to survive? That also left me wondering and in awe at the same time. This crisis drove many to tread on the path of an OFW. Some are forced to rely on the support of other family members and/or relatives. Others are left with no option but to take on a job that pays way below the minimum wage, part-time employment. Some take on the initiative of competing for a small pool of consumers by putting up a sari-sari store.

Indeed most of us have been going through hardships but these don’t keep us from smiling. We always have this strong will to survive and unexplainable hopefulness.

To every Filipino who is struggling for the sake of his family and the nation, mabuhay ka!

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Opinionated Me, Sentiments

Relationship Facts

September 24th, 2007
{ 6 Comments }

“Men and women are supposed to be different.” *
I should have known and accepted this fact before my past (and only) relationship crumbled. If I had known this, this would have made a big difference and that relationship might have been salvaged.

I have just started reading the book “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” by Dr. John Gray with the hope of understanding why people in long-term relationships don’t usually end up together or why some marriages don’t last.

The first chapter points out harsh realities about relationships:

“Falling in love is always magical. It feels eternal, as if love will last forever
… But as the magic recedes and daily life takes over, it emerges that men continue to expect women to think and react like men, and women expect men to feel and behave like women.” *

“From those who are able to sustain love long enough to get married, only 50 percent stay married. Out of those who stay together, possibly another 50 percent are not fulfilled. They stay together out of loyalty and obligation or from the fear of starting over. Very few people, indeed, are able to grow in love. Yet, it does happen.” *

Indeed, many people out there want to stay in a relationship not only so that they could avoid the inconvenience of starting over. Many, if not all of us, are hopeful that we stay in a relationship because that “magical feeling” is still there…

“By validating and accepting our differences, creative solutions can be discovered whereby we can succeed in getting what we want. And, more important, we can learn how to best love and support the people we care about.
Love is magical, and it can last, if we remember our differences.” *

I’ll be sharing more points from this book that I find important hope you’ll remain with me ’til I finish reading this book ^-^… ’til next time.
———————-
* these are quoted from the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”

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Books, Opinionated Me, Sentiments

Theatre Scenes

September 23rd, 2007
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Went to the movies again with Akane-san. This time, I’m more daring to take pictures that I even managed to take some inside the theater….


I won’t write much about Fantastic 4 here. Anyway, the movie was ok, Jessica Alba was very sexy and Silver Surfer was really cool. ^-^
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Simply Osaka, Things I love

2.5-inch cookie

September 22nd, 2007
{ 4 Comments }

Just another rant on the food cost difference between the Philippines and Japan… However, I could not really compare the prices because I’ve never been to a Subway restaurant in the Philippines. ^-^

The meal on the picture cost 580 Yen (around 232 Pesos). The wrapped one is an egg roll and it tasted ok. But that chocolate cookie threw me off. It was really thin, has about 2.5 inches diameter… and it cost 100 Yen (around 40 Pesos)! My favorite brownies in all of KFCs in the Philippines is a lot more delicious.

Oh well, it’s just nice to eat out once in a while… especially when I can’t bear eating what I cook. ^-^

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Food

PhotoHunt: Paper

September 22nd, 2007
{ 13 Comments }

I just love collecting travel brochures! Unfortunately, the ones that I could get here are all in Nihongo! The pictures are just so lovely to look at that I don’t mind getting a headache when I attempt to read the Kanji characters. ^-^


For quite some time, I’ve been thinking of joining PhotoHunt but I don’t have a “decent” camera… and I still don’t. But I just love taking pictures! So, together with my 3.2 megs cellphone camera, I take on the challenge! Yosh!
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Photohunt

Scary encounter

September 20th, 2007
{ 9 Comments }

Japanese guy: Firipin kara desu ka? (Are you from the Philippines?)
Me & Idel: Hai

It was really strange when that Japanese guy threw that question at us as he sat next to me on the train home. Idel was lucky because she was seated at the leftmost part, while I was squeezed between her and that guy. Thus, I had the misfortune of putting on a polite and calm face while being wary at answering his questions.

The guy commented that Idel was “kawaii” (cute). Oooppsss… this guy could turn out to be her stalker. Forgive me if I judge him to have stalking tendencies. Well, the first question he asked us was the exact train station where we are working. He even asked the question twice, probably to see if we were telling the truth. Of course, we lied. Then he asked us which station we were heading to, where we live. I was really surprised why he correctly guessed that we were heading to Osaka. He even asked us if we are taking the Hanshin train. Of course, we lied again.

The succeeding questions became weirder and more suspicious. Then he took something from his bag… a photo album! He showed us the album and I got more scared because all the photos were of him and of a woman. Each picture, different woman… and most of them were foreigners! He even asked me who was the prettiest in the picture. When he finished showing all the pictures, he got two more from his bag and shoved them to me. Again, those photo albums contain the same kinds of picture. As I politely browsed through, my hand slightly shook from fright. Fortunately, we reached my stop (for another train transfer). Idel went out with me even if it was still not her stop. While we were waiting for the door to open, loudly he called out… “Mata aimashou ne…” (See you again… )

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Experiences in Japan

Don’t take a bath on Fridays

September 20th, 2007
{ 4 Comments }

“Don’t take a bath on Tuesdays and Fridays…Don’t cut your nails at night. For these will bring you bad luck”. “Don’t step over someone younger than you (especially children). He/she will not grow taller.” “If you eat chicken neck, you will always be on the lookout for a good looking guy/gal, thus, always stretching your neck.”

My grandmother stayed with us for a long time while I was growing up and tons of superstitious beliefs were constantly crammed into my brain that I had a really hard time convincing myself that these are not true. Lola Eyang, my mother’s mother, is very superstitious but a devout Catholic. She turns 70 years old today.

Lola Eyang is very hard working, and a farm-lady at heart. She loves animals and she has almost every kind of herbal plant in her backyard. And she loves collecting old things! When I was little, I always followed her around… from church gatherings to her search for new herbal plants. She was also the reason why I only knew Catholic songs and Filipino folk songs (like Matud Nila) until I was 13 years old. No wonder why I had a hard time blending in when I entered highschool in the city. Like her, I was downright old-fashioned! She’s very influential to me but, I’m really glad to have great grandmother like her. I shared different experiences with her, some are hilarious and embarassing like that one time…

She visited us in Mindanao and went back to Cebu with me (I was still in college at that time). When a ship docks at the port of Cebu, many Badjaos in their tiny boats, surround that ship and ask for money from the passengers. Usually, the passengers throw coins at the sea and the Badjaos dive into the sea to retrieve those coins. But what my Lola did was really unique. At first she asked me to throw something to the Badjaos and looking at what she intended to throw, I vehemently disagreed. Other passengers who overheard our little disagreement were already smiling and I could feel myself blushing. I told her every reason I could think of but she insisted that she made a promise to God and threw it anyway. I hurriedly went ahead of her and never looked back before she could throw that big, ripe pomelo to the Badjaos.

Thinking about that incident (among others), still makes me smile.
To my Lola Eyang, thank you very much for being a wonderful lola… we love you!
Happy 70th Birthday!

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Family
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