Everyday is a faded sign I get a little bit closer to feeling fine

Last 2009, I got the chance to visit Dakak, not once but twice. My first trip, a team-building activity, had me all wide-eyed and giddy all over the place. I was giddy enough to wake up at 5 AM to take self-timed pictures of myself, for posterity's sake and for bragging purposes. On my second trip, a business plan workshop, I was more restrained and less giddy. I also went easy with the shutter button, preferring landscapes over me posing on some rock.

Sunsets are awesome.

Dakak is 8 hours from Zamboanga City by bus, and it's pretty isolated. To make sure you get there in one piece, eat and drink sparingly. Eating while traveling on torturous and winding roads is not recommended.

In Dakak, I preferred walking down the park's paths at nights, while everybody was either swimming, pigging out or watching the cultural show. Nothing beats solitary walks through abandoned pathways, listening to the silence and feeling the world disappear.

We also had the chance to pass by Dapitan, and visit the place where Jose Rizal first landed. According to Sir Ric, the old marker had more history to it.

Dapitan has its own theme park too! It's not anything like Enchanted Kingdom, but it's a great start. In my excitement, I ended up leaving my tickets with the front desk reception. Thankfully, we had extras.

Caution: Hot

I didn't go gaga over the beach, though. We have plenty of those here.

I've got my eyes only on you

And this time, I got my eyes on you Osamu Mukai. Oh yeah, the fangirl is back and she is rabid!

My concept of beauty has been blighted by my adolescent exposure to good-looking anime men. I remember a conversation that I had with my teacher back in high school:

Teacher: What do you look for in a man?
Me: (Pause). That’s a hard question.
Teacher: We’ll start with what you look for physically in man.
Me: As long as he looks like Rukawa, I’m good.

I wasn’t trying to be cheeky here. Rukawa was honestly the one guy that I wanted. I still want him, but I don’t think I can handle a relationship with a guy who is perpetually 15 years old. Anyway, Mukai here has some things which the objects of my previous fangirl rages did not have: He’s on the same level of 3D existence as me, a breathing, living and aging (!) person who I can actually meet – once I muster enough concentration and will to plan and save for a trip to Japan. He has a smile that makes you want to glomp him senseless.

He’s starred in a couple of interesting shows. He’s in Honey and Clover, where he plays Mayama. He plays Okura Sho in the ongoing Japanese series Atashinchi no Danshi, and he’ll play Yoshiyuki Taira in the movie adaptation of Beck: The Mongolian Chop Squad. After seeing him protray Mayama real well, I’m definitely going to check out Atashinchi and Beck.

Rabid, rabid, rabid.

I am the one who chose a summer that was unchanging

It's the second day that I have sat through 8 hours without doing any actual work. Never mind that I have a set of guidelines to complete or a newsletter to prepare. Having been at this kind of job for half a year now, my brain's configured to function best when the deadline monster is breathing down my neck. The only way, really, to get work done is to cut my ties with the intarnetz. But then, half my work is tied to the internet, so cutting it off is really rendering me next to useless.

This week, I'm interested to see how fast I can get through the 12, 1-hour episodes of the Japanese live-action adaptation of Honey and Clover.

The live-action cast and the anime cast. Both pastel-y.

I'm a fan of the anime version. Honey and Clover was the first anime series that I bought during my first trip to Manila back in college. My mom thought I was crazy for coming home with CDs instead of tshirts and donuts. Anyway, here's a link to a review of the anime version.

I knew that the anime had a live-action version of sorts (Japanese and Taiwanese adaptations and at least one movie) but it wasn't until I learned that Studio 23 will be airing the live-action version on February that I got interested. I think Studio 23 is going to air the Taiwanese version. I found the Japanese one online and I'm sticking with it for the meantime.

Usually, I'm everything but eager to see live-action adaptations of anime and manga. Think Meteor Garden for Hana Yori Dango and you get my drift. After all, live-action adaptations have a lot of things to consider: visual presentation (no super chibis here), budget, character likeness and plot accuracy. Most important? How to take a 26-episode anime and compress it into 12 episodes. Then there's measuring up to the anime/manga version. Online debates on which is better, and the comparison never ends. In live-action adaptations, many things can, and probably will, go wrong.

Thankfully, the Honey and Clover live-action adaptation is a good one. It does not follow the same story line as the anime, but it does capture its gist. Osamu Mukai is a dead ringer for Mayama sans the red hair and Hiroki Narimiya is impressive as Morita. Toma Ikuta, Riko Narumi and Natsuki Harada all do a great job as Takemoto, Hagumi and Ayumi. Natsuki Harada, especially, looks gorgeous while delivering high kicks. Wiki on the cast here.

On the other hand, I don't think Mayama was that mischevious in the anime. I don't remember Mayama ever teaming up with Morita to pull a prank of Takemoto, though when it does happen in the live-action, its really quite funny and fresh. So nothing majorly disastrous there for me.

Buffering the second episode now. Pretty slow, but I'm still trying to get the hang of these 1-hour dramas anyhow.

Have jacket, will go places

I live the simple life. I lounge around all day and only get up when my matey, a silly and clumsy girl I share an office table with, needs me. As long as I'm left to my own devices, I'm good.

Today, though, something happened. I was walking around the office with my matey, doing our usual errands, when we got called in by one of our supers. Lazy bum that I was, I tuned out of the conversation. After all, the girl I was with could handle the conversation baggage just fine.

Yada, yada, yada, Japan. Yada, yada, yada, 6 weeks. Yada, yada, yada, can I bring you with me. And more yada, yada, yada.

Wait, what?

At that point, everyone got excited. Above the ruckus that ensued, I mentally pieced the fragments of the conversation. "I'm going to Japan for six weeks. Can I bring her with me?"

Me. Getting invited to go to Japan for six weeks. In the winter season. Snow. Japan.

I waited for my mate's reaction. Though we've only been together for a couple of months, I knew that she had this great passion for anything Japanese. She reeks of Japan love. I mean, I spend my time in useful lassitude. She spends her time in front of a computer screen, sifting through anything that has a connection with Japan - anime, bento boxes, magazines, manga, sushi maker, tofu strains. She even sneaks a peek at those hentai stuff when she gets the chance. No wonder her computer is so slow these days. Probably some illicit virus found its way to her PC's drives or something.

Anyhow, I was surprised to see her so cool about it. She was even smiling and being helpful and all that. Prolly hiding all that disappointment inside. Beh.

The trip is not until next week, so we went back to our table. She was pretty silent. I wondered what was going through that weird little head of hers. Of course, she'd be thinking of all the Japan stuff she would be asking for as omiyage. Personally, I know she'd be wanting some of these stuff. I just hope she has enough hidden moolah to get them all.

Gurren Lagann's Viral figurine. Rawr.

Oodles, piles and columns of these...

...And even more oodles, piles and columns of these..

Something traditional like this kimono...

An inkstone would be nice too...

Still, it's not as if she's picky. I can bring back a stone and she would suck out all the Japan essence from the darned thing in no time.

Too bad, matey. You'd like it there, I know. I'm sure you'll go there someday and drool all you want. You may be the 'most promising' employee and all that, but this time, it's me they need there. It's winter, and everybody'll need a jacket or two. Don't worry, I'll give Japan your hellos.

Sincerely, your jacket

It goes on and on and on

The boss was out today, and I had the lullz at work. But still, it wasn’t enough to kick start my brain, rusty as it is from the holiday break. I reek and creak of rustiness. Rawr and a double rawr! So, shake it off and let’s get a-cracking.

I couldn’t complete any of the things I had set out to do today. Partly, it was rusty engines and partly this (the darned thing won't embed itself, boo).

I’ve heard of Glee before but never really paid attention to it. I figured I was too old for musicals and singing anyway. Which goes to show how much I know and that we’re never really too old for anything. Anyway, instead of doing work, I spent the afternoon hunting down online episodes. The ports of the office connection are all closed, it seems. I don’t know what that means, really. All I know is that it won’t allow me to torrent and it’s making my life just a tad bit difficult.

I’ve been meaning to write about the stuff that had happened since 2009 ended. For a self-confessed social retard, the year-end and the year-start were pretty hectic, what with friends and old classmates coming over for vacation, a last-minute office trip to Dakak, my grandfather’s 86th birthday and my aunt giving birth to my latest niece. With everything such a blur, I don’t think I gave my 2009 a proper send off. I don’t remember much of it, which is good because then I’d be nostalgic and depressed and it’s not really a great way of starting the new year.

2009 was the year I finished my stint as a volunteer nurse at the Zamboanga City Medical Center. In 3 months, I learned more than I did from the 4 years I spent in college. Volunteering gave me the confidence to admit that I was a competent nurse, and that I was a pretty darned good one at that. I gained back my confidence and realized that I did not need anybody to make a name for myself. I could do it on my own. I was working punishing hours, received no pay but I was blissfully happy. Now I know. I am meant for the medical profession, and I’d never be as happy elsewhere.

My three months ended and I needed another job. All hospitals in the city needed volunteers, but I wanted, needed, compensation too. Obviously, you can’t be a rich nurse in this country anymore. The family urged me to go abroad and I refused. I want to work here, on my own land, my own city. For God and country. It took me a while, but I finally understood it.

For two and a half months, I worked as a researcher for a military-affiliated agency, and I’ll always be grateful for the experience. I worked with nice people, met a fine mentor, mad friends and had the finest boss of all time. We only had a short time together, but I’m happy to have met such people. I want to make them proud of me, which is why I’m working really hard at my current job. I’m six months in and counting. I think I’ll be staying for six months more and then I’m probably off to another job. By that time, I hope I’d have the guts to go back to nursing and start a career. I’m 23 year old, undecided and career-less. Tch.

I’ve worked the hardest this year. I’ve also travelled the most. I went to Cebu, visited Pampanga and went to Manila and Dakak, twice. It’s an exercise which I hope I can continue this year, travelling. I encountered the dreaded pimple this year, after 22 pimple-less years.

I discovered that coffee hates me and I it. I discovered new anime and fell in love with old ones as well. I saw terrific sunsets. I saw the sun set behind great mountains, settle on drifting clouds and sink behind the calm waters of the ocean.

This year, I want to start things right. I will work harder. I will be of use. Go out more. Do crafts. Take up a new hobby. Write more, draw again. Save money and splurge! I will be better. I want to be awesome, but yeah, I’ll settle for better for now.

Goodbye, 2009. You were great.