a quiet new year

Ganito ang pagdiriwang ko ng pag dating ng bagong taon sa Tokyo...
9pm, mag umpisang panoorin ang KOHAKU program ng NHK kung saan mo makikita ang da best and the worst pag dating sa kantahan. Magandang experience ito sa ENKA - ang walang kamatayang Japanese Ballad!

Kain kayo ng Sushi, sashimi, nabe (hotpot) at walang tigil ng ka-iinom ng nihonshuu (sake), of course one has to get a really good brew! This year, I would recommend, YO-I-SEN from Iwate Prefecture. A dry sake. Truly nomiyasui! (easy to drink and it does not give you that dreaded hangover afterwards)

Kohaku will end about 15 mins to midnight, by then you will be sated, and if Pinoy, you will start yearning for the sounds of triangulo, superlolo, boga, and the pika pika of hamon, keso de bola, and the stuff you usually find on a Pinoy dining table. The inuman part, is of course de luxe so I do not complain... I welcome the new year quietly, sated and still mindful of what I have to do in 2007. As the Japanese greeting goes...
AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU, KOTOSHI MO YOROSHIKKU ONEGAISHIMASU!

(congratulations on a new beginning, this year, may I ask you to please bear with me as I go about pissing you off while learning your culture...) the latter part take on a different meaning since it depends on who is saying it... Yoroshikku Onegaishimasu!

12:00am - happy new year.. sa TV you will see how the new year is received... very solemn and quiet. Temple bells ring 108 times, I can hear one from where I live if I turn off everything. It is a truly awesome way for me to celebrate the new year, drunk and meditating to the temple bell. It did brought me to my senses!

HERE'S TO GOOD HEALTH IN 2007!

Ano ang uso sa Tokyo sa tag-lamig?

So far, the temp here isn't that cold, about 6C lowest, as compared to Hokkaido. I guess that is why some young women can still walk around in this get-up. Wearing WOOL SHORTS in wintertime! Yep, isali natin ito sa listahan ng "beauty is pain". So far only the women do it. You will see a young couple with the guy in full winter gear, pretty much like the Michelin man, and the girl with her not so thick winter coat and the shorts, tapos you will see SKIN; exposure depends on the lengths of the shorts and the boots and the guts of the girl.

Most people in Tokyo commute by train and walking is pretty much the most sensible way to get to most places here. Flag-down rate for a taxi, 660Y.

I could still see some women braving 4C in this outfit last year... I thought they were slapping on some heating lotion on their exposed skin kaya nakakatagal sila sa lamig. hehehe...paano na kaya yung katabi nila sa isang packed train?

I already stepped out of the beauty-is-pain club, di ko na kaya, my hair has grown already and I do need that extra insulation aside from the warmth that my trusty wool cap provides.

Will it live up to the hype?

TEKKON KINKREET

I am watching a TV special on this anime masterpiece right now... ang galing, walang sinabi ang Steamboy at Innocence dito.

Matindi rin ang kanilang panganga-ilangan

Ano ang ginagawa ni Tommy Lee Jones kapag wala siyang dinidirek o pelikula?
SAGOT
Si Cameron Diaz? SILIP NA!
Ano ang ginagawa ni Brad Pitt kapag wala siyang pelikula o hindi nag bebebeybi-sit?
Answer.

AT MARAMI PANG IBA!

Ika nga ni Anonymous... "beauty is pain, baby!"

Ika nga ni Anonymous... "beauty is pain, baby!" --- ayon sa isang comment sa previous post ko. Totoo ito, kung matiisin ka o may pagka-masokista ka, you will go very far in the pursuit of beauty. A friend and I were talking about this on the train last night and he pointed out the foot-binding tradition in China, di ba extreme pain yun? Yung TULI... pwede ko bang isama yan sa listahan natin?


I recently had my hair styled. Big celebration, because I usually shave my head, and that I have actually saved half a million Japanese Yen (4Gs USD)! Heto ang home-made version, "Marukome".

The new 'do, I asked the stylist to cut it like Nakata Hide's, which prompted my partner to remark... "wow, looks like an expensive haircut, cool!" I love my partner, so honest at na-titiis nya pa rin ako after all these years I have been sporting a cheap-looking, home-grown, home-shaved hairstyle!


This is where I join the "beauty is pain club". As my partner and I stepped out of the salon, I had my first blast of freezing winter wind. I was so scared of catching a cold that night as I was going to have an opening party for my solo art show (kaya pala nagpagupit!)on the following day. My ears were already NUMB as we walked past one block. Hindi kasi ako sanay lumabas ng bahay ng walang woolen cap, but now I have to endure the freezing winter to keep the hairstyle!

In 2 weeks, mala-steelwool na ulit ito, tignan natin kung magpapagupit ulit ako, ne?

ang sarap pilayan nito ulit...

Kumg may tinatawag tayong "mercy killing" o "euthanasia"... ano yung tawag sa pagnanasa mong pilayan ulit ang isang tao para tuluyang gumaling yung pilay niya?
It was my 3rd time to see a young woman in high heels and a crutch! It was agonizing to watch her walk and at the same time she was doing her best to "look" cool and undaunted, really!

hmm, ok for humane reasons... babatuhin ko na lang sya ng sneakers.

RIVERMAYA

Honestly, I cannot tell you any RIVERMAYA song offhand but I am sure I already have heard the band. I was on my way to Bangkok last week and chanced upon a copy of Bangkok Post featuring RIVERMAYA on Outlook! AWESOME!

Kudos to RIVERMAYA!