I stayed in Japan for years but only Ai Otsuka captured the musical fan in me. To me, most of the Japanese female artists sound the same, and honestly (no offense to the Japanese), I don’t really like how they sing - kind of irritating to listen to. I can be close-minded at times so I never sought out J-Pop, except for a handful of good anime opening and closing themes. But there had been no anime theme that I ever desired to memorize.
I even tried listening to FM radio stations in Osaka but it is just so hard listening to something I can’t fully understand. Makes me more stressed than being relaxed.
Anyway, I’ve been watching this anime named Blood+. I often just skip almost every opening and closing song but in Blood+ later episodes, the closing song “This Love” by Angela Aki really caught my attention. The melody is so relaxing and I love Angela Aki’s voice. The lyrics is also really touching. I may have already left Japan but I admit I’m still so attached to the country and almost everything in it. I may have already decided not to improve my Japanese anymore but artists like Angela Aki makes me wanna learn Japanese again.
Intrigued by the song that changed my mind? I’ve attached it for you. You may not understand what the song is trying to deliver but I’m pretty sure you’ll gonna love it, too. The rest of Angela Aki’s songs are really good, too.
Can’t get this song out of my head because I heard it live a while ago! Yes, Journey had a concert here in Osaka! A very good friend paid for my ticket so I had the chance to see Arnel Pineda and Journey in action. Too bad cameras (even phone cameras) are not allowed inside. How was it? It was great and I completely enjoyed it! I like many Journey songs but I had never considered myself a fan. During the concert, I became a new fan.
The original band members were awesome and so was Arnel Pineda. As a Filipino, it warmed my heart to see the Japanese accepting him as the new lead singer, with open arms. I was even more surprised to see the Japanese getting up their seats and clapping and dancing to the music until the end of the concert. I thought that they would act as their usual reserved selves. An added bonus was this teenage boy (perhaps an American). He was seated right in front of us but even if I could only see his back, it was so evident that he was star-struck. He even stole a picture! A die-hard fan, indeed.
Anyway, watching that concert was a bonus for me. Early this day, I received a very good news and I’m just waiting for something before I write everything here. I’m going to embark on a new journey, soon. And let’s take it from the band Journey, don’t stop believing.
Lately, I’ve been busy searching for my highschool batchmates in the internet. As expected, I’ve seen many of them in Friendster! I sometimes do this because I have nothing else to do. But this time, we are trying to gather everyone to make very early preparations for the Grand Alumni homecoming. Each year, at the La Salle Academy in Iligan City, we have the Grand Alumni homecoming annually. I’ve never attended a single homecoming yet but I hope I could join the next one.
Anyway, each year, a class sponsors the big event. Our turn will be in the year 2021. It’s still more than ten years away but it would be great to keep in touch again with the people whom I’ve shared my teenage days. Everyone is so excited, many people have joined our Yahoo Group, and my highschool memories have kept popping up as if they have happened just a few days ago. I was really timid back then, but I had fun. Some of these highlights and most embarrassing moments were:
being hit by a soccer ball in my face while passing by the soccer field
being hit by a volley ball in my face (yes, I’m a ball magnet) while during our Physical Education class
wearing a pink and oddly-styled dress for our prom. All of the girls wore pink and all of us hated it. But we couldn’t do anything about it. It was part of our Physical Education class!
stumbling down while I was running to catch the flag ceremony and a few people witnessed it
There are more but I just can’t share them here. Ok, I didn’t just make myself as a laughing stock. I also had crushes and even wrote poems for them! Haha! But I just kept them to myself or let my closest friends read them. Now that I think about it, that was also very embarrassing. Well, it was part of the younger me so I’ll just bear with it.
Along this quest of finding my highschool batchmates, I’ve also gathered my favorite songs at that time. When I listen to them, I feel like a teenager again! Now I understand why my parents love listening to the songs from 1960’s and 1970’s.
Many people have already posted Danny Gokey’s “Hero” rendition at the American Idol’s first live show. But I’ve just got to write about it too. After all, I’ve been Danny Gokey’s fan since he auditioned! Just like how I faithfully looked forward to Melinda Doolittle every week in AI Season 7, I’ll be doing the same for Danny Gokey.
This album has been a favorite since I came across it. I could listen to these songs again and again (Hold On, Release Me, Impulsive, You’re in Love, Reason to Believe, The Dream is Still Alive), but all I had was a cassette tape copy from Florence. An original CD would have been great.
I’ve been searching for this album for years. Thanks to a second hand shop here in Osaka, my search finally ended. I was able to get the CD for only 280 yen (about $2), and it’s as good as new! A new music CD here costs more than 2,000 yen.
That second hand shop has many music CDs and DVDs. They also sell manga (comics) for 100 yen each that are also as good as new. Great buy, isn’t it?
So, if you want to buy something here, check out some second hand shops, first
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