CDs for rent

A Tsutaya outlet is something I still have to see in Manila. It is where one can rent CDs, both foreign and Japanese; and the best part is that the foreign ones are mostly Japanese issues, so one can also get 2 to 3 bonus tracks apart from the high quality of CDs made here. The selctions are quite diverse and updated too. Ang galing nga eh, I can rent CDs of artists that I have not listened to yet, lalo na yung mga oldies. May mga BBC Peel sessions rin sila, I am listening to the Led Zeppelin's BBC live sessions right now, astig!

Sayang nga wala pa ring mga Pinoy CDs sa Asian section. Maraming Korean, Chinese, African at Brazilian cds pero bakit walang PINOY?

This is also a place where I can hone my Japanese reading skills dahil LAHAT ng titles ng CDs eh written in Japanese, of course hindi rin ito classified as "A,B,C.."
kungdi "a,e,i,u,o, ka , ke, ki..." minsan masakit sa ulo mag hanap sa totoo lang.

Sinong gustong maging BAYANI?

There is this eye-catching news about NASA getting really serious about landing a manned mission on an asteroid in the Guardian.
Hmmm, paano na kung ma-isip ng gobyerno natin at OWWA na ito na ang new frontier para sa mga OFWs na tulad ko? Pagkatapos ng araw ng mga oil rig workers, domestic helpers, entertainers, seaman, nurse at caregiver... ASTEROID BUSTERS naman ang ipapadala ng bansang Pilipinas. Sila ang talagang tatanghaling bagong bayani ng sanlipunan, mala "Armageddon" nga lang ang istorya ng buhay mo pag nag sign up ka dito at di ko alam kung pwedeng mag-text.

Another kind of tsunami hits Japan

Sa na-aalala ko, simula ng Agosto 2006, eh nag simulang dumami ang balita ng mga TEEN SUICIDES. A growing number of youngsters here have been ending their lives due to BULLYING by their peers. 30,000 people took their own lives last year, then this!

Tapos ito pa, suicide threats in the form of letters written to school officials have been reported, these kids are threatening the school to do something about bullying or else they will commit suicide. Today's paper reported these.

Go see this movie if you can, "All About Lily Chou-Chou".

Tsunami Alert!

Late night news is just about TSUNAMI, we had tsunami warning at around 9pm, the origin was from some island near Siberia, mag. 8.1. As of writing, the news is showing a part of coastal Japan where they have these "Tsunami Barriers", these are massive gates of steel that is activated by a tsunami warning.

The news is getting boring, at least the waves were just 40cm high and no lives were lost. Late waves are being reported now, I hope they would not be a threat to life or property for people living in the coastal areas.
I can sleep soundly now... wag na sanang sundan ito ng LINDOL.

Ano kaya ang bago dito?

There is this "new" M-stock alarm clock now on sale. You can upload your favorite music (or ringtone) from your cellphone through "muPass" to change the alarm tone. Sa tingin ko, pinag-loloko tayo ng nagbebenta nito. At bakit? Unang-una dapat registered ka sa "muPass", 315Y/month yan ha, 130 pesos! Siyempre di naman libre lahat ng downloadable stuff doon di ba, bayad ka ulit, and to top it all, bibili ka pa ng alarm clock na ito na nagkakahalagang 7350Y, that's 3000 pesos!

Eh di ba halos lahat ng mga mini-compo eh may alarm feature naman? Stereo pa! Pero maari nga itong maging mabisang alarm clock dahil pag nag ring ang cellphone mo at ang alarm clock mo di mo na alam kung ano ang una mong pupulutin hanggang sa malito-lito ka at eventually magising ka na.

PS3 madness!

Blogging from sick bay here, the reason? Noong Sabado kasi pumunta ako sa Philippine Fiesta, ang kaso eh UMULAN ba naman buong araw at ang lakas pa ng hangin sa gabi! Late fall na po dito, kaya ang lamig pa!

On my way to Hibiya Park at 11am, napadaan ako sa Bic Camera, isang malaking electronics/digital/ hardware/software shop at napansin ko yung pila ng mga "otaku"-looking guys. Para po silang lahat ay naglalaway... dahil debut pala ng PS3!
Oy my gass! Eh kung ganun kahaba ang linya, ibig sabihin eh nag kamping siguro ang karamihan sa kanila - 95% lalaki, geeky looking, in their mid 20's to late 30's, mind you, HOT ITEM na ang otaku dito ha dahil napag-alaman ng mga babae na wala silang ka-agaw kungdi ang mga babae ng mga otaku sa digital universe!Bukod dun, maraming pera yung mga geeks dahil usually they get the top techie jobs! hehehe, sabi nga nung isang geek na prend op a prend, noong High School at College, di raw sya pansin ng mga babae dahil nga nerdy yung dating nya, ang mga sikat ay yung mga Sports Jocks... ngayong "grown-up" na sila, yung mga Jocks eh they just hold mediocre positions sa office, pero itong si otaku eh, may PhD sa digital contents, nag tatrabaho pa sa isang malaking animation company as a consultant, at... professor pa! O di ba?!

Walang biro, may movie nga dito DENSHA OTOKO, based on a true-to-life story ha!

Kaya dapat yung mga nag huhunting ng mga otaku-BF... kapag may ganitong debut ng bagong gadget, soft o hardware eh go na... baka ma-meet na nila ang kanilang GEEK OF THEIR DREAMS!

This one will still make you fat

Kung may tingi-tingi na gin sa Maynila, eh sa Tokyo rin tingi-tingi ang beer. A 135ml shot of beer!
A lot of things here are also sold in small quantities, but one big difference between our version of "tingi" and the Japanese version is the quality of packaging. It has also been said that the reason why "tingi-tingi" is prevalent in the Philippines is due to the shrinking peso, while in Tokyo, things are sold in small amounts due to the cramped living space, walang pag-lalagyan kasi. There are refrigerators here that have doors that open bothways, like you grab the left handle, the door swings open to your left, and vice-versa. I don't know if this is popular elsewhere, I am just amazed, why would anyone design something like this unless it is a necessity!


Isn't this a cutie?

Philippine Fiesta sa Hibiya Park

YEHEY may piyesta sa Hibiya sa Sabado!

Lahat na tingi-tingi

I just blogged about the Japanese obsession with over-packaging things, when I stumbled upon this article in Newsbreak about GIN SACHETS! Siyempre, we Pinoys also have an obsession with all things in "tingi-tingi", di ba? Why not gin?

Onigiri

Talk about a quick lunch, this is it, "onigiri"!
Today's fare is tarako-mayonnaise, goma-salmon-ikura and okura-salmon.
I only ate 2 rice balls for lunch as they're really filling and I had the remaining one for merienda.

Feeling good today knowing that I did not use and dispose of any kind of plastic for lunch. Grabe kasi dito ang packaging, kahit toothpick, individually wrapped! When you buy a bag of cookies, the cookies inside are individually wrapped too!
Pero kahit sangkatutak ang pag gamit ng plastic wrappers, bags, etc. dito, the streets of Tokyo are quite clean though, compared to other cities I have lived in.

Tokyo Designer's Week

I went to TDW yesterday at Aoyama Jingu Gaien, just a 15-minute walk from our office. It was good to soak up the creative atmosphere, especially at the Student's Exhibition grounds. Pingmag wrote about the event plus pics, here and here.

The exhibitors were mostly Japanese and there were a number of Western exhibitors as well. There were designers from SEAsia, noatably from Indonesia and Thailand. I was hoping to find a Pinoy designer, sayang wala or perhaps I missed his/her/their stand.