Bisdak Babbles

I love the train stations here because they could be adjacent to department stores or shōtengai (商店街).   The Shin-Osaka station is one of my favorites.  It’s neither close to a mall nor shōtengai but the station building itself has many small shops and restaurants.  I always drop by the Uniqlo shop and see if they have some stuffs that are on sale.  In front of the Uniqlo shop was this small drugstore where I always buy the best acne treatment I’ve ever used.  The prices there were generally cheaper than the others.  Unfortunately, the location is currently under renovation and I forgot to buy an extra tube of my acne cream!  I’ve searched through many stores but couldn’t find one.  It’s really a wonder why it’s not available everywhere when that cream is manufactured by Shiseido.

Difficult situations often make a person learn something new and stick it to his mind.  This is usually the case, well, at least for me. 

The Japanese word “ochita”, is the past tense and colloquial form of the word “ochiru”.

ochiru (落ちる) means:
(1) to fall down; to drop; (2) to fail (e.g. exam); (3) to crash; to degenerate; to degrade; (4) to fade; to come out (e.g. a stain);

One time, I felt like I was a walking zombie on my way home.  I was holding my train ticket as I got out of the train but a Japanese lady was so impatient that she dashed into the train and bumped into me.  Being half-awake as I was, I was shocked when my train ticket fell into the train tracks through that narrow gap between the platform and the train.  The lady stared at me and then rushed inside the train without even apologizing, while I felt other pair of eyes looking at me.  I felt so stupid.  I actually thought of just leaving my ticket there but I still have to explain what happened.  So I approached a train station personnel.  I forgot the Japanese word for “fall” so I just used my broken Japanese and sign language.  Fortunately, the personnel understood me and confirmed it by asking “ochita?“  I nodded and she rushed down the platform and had a colleague pick up my ticket using that very long clipper.

I always open tons of applications simultaneously in my computer. One time, it was annoyingly, horribly slow that I decided to hit Window’s “hottest key combination”, the Ctrl-Alt-Del… or so I thought. When I looked at my screen, I panicked to see this:

I mistakenly hit the Ctrl+Alt and the left arrow key. If your laptop’s a Dell Inspiron 1300, try that.. it’s pretty cool. I’m not sure though if the same works for other laptops.

Thanks to my flatmate, Jet. If not for her, I’d have went to work with a stiff neck and a still lop-sided display.

The solution: Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow Key

My right arm and my left foot are still throbbing with pain because of the escalator incident this morning. I’ve always had weird escalator dreams so I’m a bit afraid of taking the escalator. But, I was in a hurry this morning. I stepped on the escalator on my way down to the train platform while fumbling for something in my bag. Suddenly, my left foot slipped! Morbid images came flashing in my mind and my thoughts flew to my family in the Philippines. What would happen to them if something bad happens to me? That and nothing else came to mind, while my right arm acted on its own. In a flash, it shoot up and grabbed the hand rail. Thank God my reflexes are still working perfectly! I dearly grabbed on to the handrail and ignored the pain I felt and prayed that I’d be strong enough to support my full weight. Did the guy a step ahead of me help? Unsurprisingly, he didn’t. He just took a quick glance at me while I was still trying to find my footing. Not even a quick “Daijoubu desu ka?” (Are you Ok?). To him, nothing happened. Perhaps he was just kind enough to try to ignore the incident to save me from further embarrassment.

Anyway, I’m just really grateful for reflexes and for handrails!
Lessons learned:
* When going up or down the stairs or escalator, make sure to take the “handrail side”.
* Don’t do other things, (no groping inside the bag, etc.) when taking the stairs or escalators.
* Don’t rush especially when on the stairs or escalator.

Once again, I got the misfortune of watching another troubling Japanese movie.

The first one was a entitled 2LDK. 2LDK specifies an apartment with 2 bedrooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen. The story revolved around the two roommates who were both vying for a lead role in a movie. Jealousy and and extreme differences led both women to kill each other.

Now, I’ve just finished watching 僕は妹に恋をする, read as “Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru“, which means “I Love My Younger Sister”. The title says it all. The lead character Yori Yuki, portrayed by Jun Matsumoto, had always been in love with his twin sister Iku. Iku, on the other hand had also been in love with Yori. I was hoping that the movie would at least clear things up and include something that would take off my mind from the incest going on this movie. However, the movie ended with the two of them still into the forbidden relationship.

This troubled me a lot so I had to do some research regarding this story which was based on the manga (comic) of the same title. To my relief, I found out that Iku was actually adopted. But I’m still troubled by the movie so I must watch another one that would eventually make me forget about it…

* Osaka no Makati - Osaka’s Makati
Before I start another week at the new company, I have to tell you that my first day went very well…

I stepped into the shower half-awake and I slipped! I thought I couldn’t go to work because I ached all over. I successfully ignored the pains last Friday but my body finally gave in yesterday. Now, I have these nasty bruises in my right shoulder, my hip, and my left leg.

I wasn’t able to buy a notebook and at lunch time, I got lost looking for a convenience store, then bought a note pad. Its cover says “This is the most comfortable Report pad you have ever used. All times you’ll feel pleasant with it”.

The floor layout was a bit confusing that I almost went inside the men’s toilet, and almost bumped into a guy as he was on his way out of the toilet!

I won’t be able to attend to calls or personal emails during office hours.

I think blogging is not prohibited but it’d be very embarrassing if I’d try to access non-work-related web sites.

I haven’t seen anybody eating in their seats during work hours so I’d have to appease my revolting stomach by popping in tiny bars of chocolates. No more chips and sandwiches for me.

The company doesn’t have an unlimited supply of water and tea but before I could start my litany of discontent, my eyes bulged upon seeing the prices on the vending machine! Canned coffee, bottled water, bottled tea, everything costs only 50 yen! There’s another vending machine of drinks in paper cups and each cup costs only 20 yen! That’s definitely more than 50% cheaper than in the previous company.

I love the location and the office! It’ s definitely Osaka’s version of Makati (Greenbelt Area). From the office, you could see the beautiful Osaka Castle.

The place was filled with professional-looking people and I felt shy so I only managed to take few pictures:

I just love using my highlighter so I prefer reading printed materials. It’s not surprising that after a year here in the current company, I’ve accumulated a very thick layer of printouts. Strictly following the company’s security guidelines, I would have to shred all those colorful pieces before leaving the company.

When our HR Manager, a.k.a. “nanay”*, showed us the only shredder in the 6th floor, the shredder bin (is this how you call that box for the shredded paper?) was almost full. He instructed us to replace the trash bag if it’s already full and deposit the trash a good 50 meters or so away from the shredder. I planned to shred mine on the last day, to avoid replacing the trash bag. However, I had nothing else to do so I decided to do it, hoping that somebody already replaced the trash bag.

As I was feeding the papers into the paper monster, it suddenly stopped doing its job and started giving out this irritating, beeping sound. Crap! The bin’s already full! I tried to squeeze the contents and proceeded but it kept on beeping. So, I had no choice but to remove the monster’s collection, which by the way was very heavy, and put in a new trash bag. Having fed everything into the shredder, I asked the person sitting closest to the shredder where to place to trash, hoping to hear that it is indeed OK to leave it there. Unfortunately, he just told me where to place it.

Gathering all my physical strength, I dragged that big bulk across the room, passing and bothering many desk occupants along the way. (I did intentionally hit their chairs. hehe.. Just kidding! The trash was just too bulky for the aisle). I could see eyes at the back of my head while I utter dozens of “Sumimasen*”. To overcome my increasing discomfort, I just repeatedly told myself that to them, I’m just one crazy “Gaijin*”. That area was full of male employees but NO ONE volunteered to help - as expected. Na-deadma ang beauty ko! haha

Well, I’ll just take it as another blooper, another unforgettable moment here. ^-^

Nanay - Filipino term for “mother”
Sumimasen - Japanese word for “Excuse me”
Gaijin - Japanese Colloquial term for “foreigner”
Image from: Cartoon Stock