Hot Summer

I’ve never felt so uncomfortably hot. Normally, we don’t use the electric fan since there is always a nice cool breeze providing a constant ventilation inside our living room. But now, it’s quite impossible.

Summer in the Philippines is not based on the four seasons. I think it’s more of the time when elementary and high school students have no classes and where the hottest months are felt throughout the country. These months are March, April and May. And I just heard from the news that the hottest temperature are usually recorded during May.

Anyway last Easter, we received lots of Easter eggs after the mass. The nuns of the Poor Claire Monastery have prepared them all, for devotees of St. Claire often offer trays of eggs. We made them into yummy egg sandwich spread along with other ingredients: mayonnaise, onion, sugar and salt. We consumed about two loaves of bread with that amount of egg sandwich spread.

I also spent most of the time watching anime and doing advance review. About anime, I just finished watching D.Gray-man, Hetalia, Azumanga Daioh, Yumekui Merry, Pretear and Kare Kano.

D.Gray-man is just amazing. I love the concept of the story, the Noah, exorcists, akuma, the fight between good and evil, and the main character Allen Walker which seems to be in the gray side. I can’t totally describe how I felt after watching all the episodes, and after continuing the story by reading the manga. The story is so deep and overwhelming, the characters are much appreciable even those on the evil side. And Allen being the 14th Noah and also a powerful exorcist is such a nice twist. After reading Chapter 205, I can’t help but think what would happen next. What will Allen do now? What will he do to prevent the Noah from devouring him? Is the 14th Noah really good? Will he have a chat with the 14th Noah to decide the course of events? When will he return to the Order, even knowing he wasn’t an exorcist anymore in the eyes of the Headquarters? Did Cross die? Did Road die? What? Why? How? The suspense is building up quite high and I have to wait for more than a month to know some of the truth. What a well-woven story!

This is a scene in Episode 93 where Allen plays the piano to save and control the ark, being the host for the Musician/14th Noah. The singer was the same voice actress of Allen Walker, Kobayashi Sanae. Video uploaded by BlizAngel.

I also enjoyed watching Hetalia, it was like having a funny world history lesson. My most favorite character/country is England; he has quite an interesting personality. And I like how he deals with other countries, especially France and China. Maybe the thing I didn’t like much with this series is how annoying North Italy could get, especially every time he shouts “Doitsu! Doitsu!”, asking for Germany’s help for such trivial things as tying one’s shoelace.

That’s it for now. Hello, hot summer!

Dandan

I really don’t like watching drama except when there’s some cultural aspect in it such as my all-time favorite “Dae Jang Geum” and “Queen Seon Deok”. Maybe because I feel in awe and admiration every time I encounter an exotic culture, especially their traditional dresses, food and other material aspects. So it’s not that I don’t appreciate my own Filipino culture, in fact I love it very much; the food, our traditional dresses, and especially the rondalla which seems to be unpopular to the masses. I just hope that we, Filipinos, should never forget our own culture in spite of this other culture invasions.

Anyway, I have encountered another Japanese drama called “Dandan”, said to be the Izumo dialect for “Thank you”, which is about twin sisters who were separated by their parents since they were babies. I think it’s like “Parent’s Trap” with a Japanese twist on it. The firstborn “Nozomi” became a maiko or apprentice geiko in Gion like her mother, and her geimei is “Yumehana” while her mother is “Hanayuki”. On the other hand, the second-born “Megumi” lived with her father as he married another woman and had a new family on their own in Izumo.

But then, twins are always connected by a thread of fate, and it’s quite expected that destiny should let them meet even though how distant they are to each other. Soon they discovered about their identities, though secretly they kept it to themselves for now. Then they planned to meet in Kyoto, and soon, Nozomi executed her plan that they should exchange places so that they could meet each other’s parents. Megumi became a maiko and stayed there, though it’s a relief that another housemate geiko, Hanatsuru, assisted her in her job in entertaining clients in private parties.

Nozomi then went home to Izumo. Their parents soon discovered that the twins have switched places, and so, they have no choice but to tell them what happened to the past. I don’t know how this drama concluded, but I plan to watch it all till the end.

Ookini! Dandan! Salamat.

Song Slumbook 2

I thought that I should answer a song slumbook using Yoshioka YUI’s songs. I really love her music and her style; she incorporates a lot of classic and electric guitars, drums, etc. which really rocks.  She’s quite talented and I’m happy that her songs are hitting the top charts in Japan.

Boy or Girl: I Can’t Say
Describe yourself: Rolling Star
How do you feel: Ready to Love
Describe where you currently live: Skyline
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Tokyo (actually Kyoto)
Your best friend is: Daydreamer
What’s the weather like: Summer Song
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: Just My Way
What is life to you: Merry Go Round
You fear: Goodbye Days
What is the best advice you have to give: Laugh Away
How I would like to die: Simply White
My soul’s present condition: Free Bird
My motto: Love is All
That’s what she said: It’s All Right

Maiko Drawings

I was suddenly inspired to draw a maiko.

First of all, maiko are apprentice geiko or geisha. Geisha are traditional artists and entertainers in Japan. I’m quite fond of their culture and tradition, so I’ve been reading and gathering  information about them. Click here for my recent post about them.

Hanachizu-chan. I’m aware that the hair is wrongly-drawn; it should be in wareshinobu hairstyle. The kanzashi are alright, I guess. The kimono and obi designs are just random since I don’t have the slightest idea on how to make  a proper one that would fit in a certain season. The furisode is also too short. But I think it’s okay as a whole.

Hanayuri-chan. This is another maiko drawing, this time with wareshinobu hairstyle. I think I should practice more on drawing girl faces. It has the same kimono and obi design, and a slightly-improved kanzashi. But I wrongly placed the ougi-bira kanzashi at the left.

Hanatsuru-chan; my newest sketch. I didn’t put the wareshinobu hairstyle  and ougi-bira kanzashi this time, but all in all, it’s correctly-drawn.

Chopin Music

I love music ever since I started playing my instrument, octavina. So, when my sister told me about an anime which was about music concerts, “La Corda d’oro ~Primo Passo~”, I agreed to finish the series. And I liked it, especially the concours. I also started to appreciate Frederic Chopin’s piano. Twice or thrice in this anime Chopin’s compositions were shown, and they were played by Tsuchiara  for the concert contests.

This is Etude Op. 10 No. 3 in E Major, played in violin. Video by  christelle7108

This is Fantaisie Impromptu. I used to play it in O2 Jam. Video by  christelle7108

I like listening to Chopin’s music when the environment’s peaceful and quiet. It’s very soothing.