Bisdak Babbles

Got a desktop tag from Elaine. I actually did this one last year and this tag just shows me as a Naruto fanatic. I thank Levian for my current desktop background.

Sydney Tower(As seen from the 41st floor of Meriton Apartment along Pitt Street. This was taken by my friend, Jermaine. At that time, all I had were a couple of disposable cameras. )
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I’ve caught the American Idol fever and of course, my favorite is Ramiele Malubay. Aside from being a Filipina, I eventually became a fan upon hearing her sing You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me. However, after that performance, she had poor song choices. Last Tuesday, she sang “Alone”. The song was an excellent choice but she was sick, so as Randy put it, the “pitch was all over the place.”

I really thought she would be eliminated this week. She still has to show what she’s got. I saw this home karaoke video proving that “Alone” could have been a piece of cake for her if she were not sick. I’m really grateful she’s still in the competition and I’m really glad to have came across Ramiele’s studio version of the song. I wish she’ll choose a song that’s as good as this one and I hope she’ll be in top shape in the next performance. She’s really amazing!

Ramiele Malubay’s “Alone” - studio version (with only few images)

Despite the deadline to catch, I sometimes feel so bored and sleepy. How do I usually overcome this? I either drink tons of coffee or observe the people around me. There’s no partition between the desks so it’s very tempting to do this.

Here’s a list of people who sometimes entertain me pique my interest.

1. He’s seated 2 rows away from me. I’m always sleepy in the office, and I’m pretty sure that some people notice my eyes drooping, but this guy makes me less guilty. Why? He’s always extremely sleepy that he looks like he’s drunk. Thus, we gave him the code name “hubog”, the Bisaya word for “drunk”.

2. He’s probably the only (a little bit) irritating person in the office. He’s seated across Idel, the only Filipino officemate I have in the office. When Idel and I start talking, even if it’s entirely work-related, he gives us this “stop-talking-look”. He’s nice at times but prone to mood swings. He’s my team leader (sort of) and not only does he give me tasks, he corrects my Japanese grammar, too (which is OK for me).

3. He was once our team leader. At first, he seemed scared to approach us. His face always turns red when talking, so we call him “pula”, the Bisaya word for “red”. The most distinct behavior of this guy is that he can’t stay in his desk for too long. He keeps on walking around the office, just like a supervisor.

4. He’s uncommonly very short even for a Japanese guy (about 4′5″), but he has a booming voice. I think he’s already a team leader. When he talks to his team, everybody could hear him. He seems to drag his feet when walking and the sound of it sometimes gets on my nerves. We call him “putot”, the Bisaya word for “short”.

5. We call him “phone guy”. The reason is obvious: when I see him in the corridor, he’s always talking to somebody in his cellphone.

6. His code name is “densha guy”. Another obvious reason: he closely resembles the lead actor of the famous Japanese drama series “Densha Otoku”.

7. He’s very tall and very slim. His hairstyle is so anime-like and he has this habit of plucking off some hair strands. We call him “kuhit”, the Bisaya word for a “stick” or “pole”.

8. I don’t really know why many of the Japanese lady try to “soften” their voice. The effect sometimes is far from being a music to my ears. There’s this lady from another team who makes me feel like banging my head on the desk when she speaks.

9. She’s an HR personnel and I sometimes wish I have her height and charm. She’s exceptionally tall for a Japanese lady, at about 5′6″.

10. She’s seated a row away from me. I sometimes wonder how she feels being different from most of the Japanese ladies. Japanese ladies are usually petite and she’s far from it. She’s very nice, though.

11. He’s a few rows from where I’m seated. While everyone is very serious with the work at hand, this guy seems to be always in a good mood. He’s grinning all the time!

12. Just like me, this guy always arrives past 9:00AM. But when he says his “Ohayou gozaimasu” (”good morning”), everyone could hear him. For me, this is a good thing. I wish I could muster confidence and enthusiasm just like him, to say my greetings out loud.

13. He’s seated a few rows in front of me so he looks familiar already. One time, we went out of the office at the same time and after a few agonizing moments of trying to communicate in Japanese, I found out that he speaks English! He’s a Korean and I’m just glad he’s an addition to the people I could say “hi” to in the corridor.

That’s it! Mmmm, I wonder how my officemates see me. Am I irritating or another source of entertainment?

This wouldn’t be wordless anymore but I was just happy with the output of my phone camera’s macro mode. I’ve finally tried using this feature to take close-up shots of peach blossoms at Osaka Castle Park.

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And here for a related entry.

Here’s a situation:
You’re in Japan, and your Japanese speaking skill is still incomprehensible. Then you find a cellphone on your way home. Would you pick it up or just pretend that you didn’t see it?

I was on my way home when I found a cellphone lying along the path.  After much deliberation, I pretended not to see it. I almost picked it up but a voice at the back of my head reminded me about my still horrible Japanese skill.  I was worried about talking to the owner if he/she calls.  I’m pretty sure we’ll have a hard time understanding each other.  The people here are honest, anyway.  But I felt really terrible and I still do.  I just hope that an honest person picked it up, and the owner was able to get it back.

I’ve always thought that mannequins are made of either wood or plastic. But there’s this high-end shop center here in Osaka that has mannequins that appear to be made of metal. I haven’t touched it but it sure does appear metallic to me…
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Jazevox of Honestly Fresh tagged me with this one:

The rules:
Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share six un-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let these random people know that they are tagged by leaving comments in their blog. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Now, the 6 things that I consider weird or even bad things about me:

1. If I really like an anime or drama series, I couldn’t sleep soundly until I finish watching all the episodes!
2. I don’t eat the brown/black part of fish. Some people say it’s delicious, but for me, it tastes bitter.
3. My mother used to put raisins in her macaroni salad, but my siblings and I take the raisins out and set them aside. Now, there’s not a single raisin in my mother’s macaroni salad.
4. I’ve got hard-muscled arms (such an ugly sight!). When I was a little girl, I was fond of arranging and rearranging things at home and in our little sari-sari store. Those activities involved lifting furniture, all by myself!
5. My white/gray hair strands started appearing when I was 9 years old. Now, at 28, I think I badly need to color my hair.
6. I couldn’t bring myself to cook another dish without eating everything that I’ve previously cooked, even if it means eating the same dish for 6 consecutive meals.

I am tagging no one in particular. If you want to reveal how “unique” you are, please, feel free to do this.  Thanks!