Roppongi in the Daytime

 

A few days ago, I went to Roppongi to renew my passport.  Our embassy (and most other countries') is located there, so off we trekked.

We found the embassy with little difficulty.  During the walk, I noticed the usual places I passed in the few times I've been there.  But all these other times were at night, as we went to Roppongi to sample the night life.  These places looked oh so normal.  It was still vibrant, but not as lively at night.  Maybe it's because it's their downtime, I don't know.  The Tokyo Tower still slices the sky, but without the illumination, it just seemed so...  clinical...  devoid of exuberance. 

Anyway, we spent almost an hour inside the embassy.  We still had to cut our photos...  We needed to affix our thumbmarks...  And we had to line up to the 'express lane' which wasn't that speedy at all!  But it was still loads better than queueing in the actual DFA office in Libertad.  So come to think of it, it wasn't that bad.  We could have claimed our new passports yesterday, but we couldn't afford to go back there and be absent again.  So we just paid the additional delivery fee of so that they'll deliver our passports at home.  Hopefully, it'll be at home by April 5th.

Back to the Roppongi scene.  As we were making our way back to the Hibiya line, we passed by the usual places...  TGIF, Hard Rock...  It was lunchtime then, but it wasn't that bustling.  We easily found seats at TGIFriday's. 

Am I just expecting too much?  Or is this just how Roppongi looks like in the daytime?  Maybe not.  Or maybe all the cool people are just asleep.

 

 

What a busy day!

Hello friends!

Just had quite a busy day today. I woke up early to play badminton, coz I'll meet my friend M who will be coming to Kozukue Chiku Center. But I had to wait for A, so we arrived around 30 mins late. Hehe...

We played from 9:45 to 12:15, with just a 30 min break because someone else reserved from 11:15-11:45. While waiting for them to finish, we played hoops.

After playing, we went directly to Yokohama station coz we agreed to bowl. We went to Round1 to reserve, and they told us we had to wait for 1.5 - 2 hours. Which was ok, coz we still had to eat lunch. You know where? Of course at Yoshimura-ya! I had my usual tonkotsu chashumen, which is ramen with pork slices, seaweed, spinach, garlic in meat broth. Yum yum! The last time I ate there was Feb 27. Hisashiburi deshita!

After eating, the number at the bowling place was still at 40. Ours was 48, so we still waited around 30 mins. Had to sneak off to Starbucks for my daily caramel macchiato fix. =)

Finally, at around 4, we were able to get 2 lanes!!! 5 games will take 5 hours I think!
The matchings were:
E vs. W
R vs. J
A vs. T
K vs. V
M vs. A

J, my 'rival' and I had a close matchup! We even finished the last game at 153 points apiece! The guys told us that they will look forward to next month's company bowling tournament! =)

They even had these games at 45-min intervals (I think) where they turn off the lights and just turn on the red lights at the side of the lane. If you get a strike (9 pins for girls), they give you a prize. Today's prize is like a Bowling ball rack photo frame. It was really cute! I was the last to get one!

We finished at around 9pm. Grabe! Now, as I write this. I can feel the exhaustion on my right arm... By tomorrow, ok na to!

All in all, even though it was tiring, we still had a lot of fun!

There's no rushing forgiveness

A careless remark of mine hurt a close friend recently. I can really be that tactless sometimes.

Now I'm sorry, and I'm hoping that remark wouldn't affect our friendship.

But I guess time is really everybody's healer. All I can do right now is wait and still be sorry.


Still sorry...

Time of the Season

Ahoy, mateys!

American Idol theme nights usually help me remember songs from yesteryear. Eliott Yamin did it a few times last year, so I got to revisit 'Moody's Mood for Love', 'I Believe to My Soul', 'Teach Me Tonight', 'What You Won't Do For Love', 'A Song for You' and 'Knocks Me Off My Feet', to name a few. These are all still in my iPod! =)

A couple of days ago, I saw Blake Lewis perform "Time of the Season" by the Zombies in American Idol, and boy did that bring back memories (Not of that time ha? coz I wasn't even born yet! Mostly of the times when I first listened to those kinds of songs - when I was in college with my barkada). I generally like songs from the British Invasion, and this was one of my favorites. It was jazzy and even pimpy because of the lyrics. Blake put a modern twist to it by putting his usual beatbox routine and his strut dance moves. It was a great performance!

To those who don't know the song, maybe you've encountered it already. It's on the episode of Friends, TOW the Flasback. It's the song that played on the Jukebox in Rachel's dream sequence when she was fantasizing about Chandler.

This song was also played in the background in an episode of The Simpsons, more specifically episode "D'oh-in In the Wind" in which Homer briefly becomes a hippie.

The term, 'Who's Your Daddy?' arguably traces its roots from this song.


Here are the lyrics:

It's the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try
With pleasured hands

To take you and the sun to
Promised lands
To show you every one
It's the time of the season for loving

What's your name?
(What's your name?)
Who's your daddy?
(Who's your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?

Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It's the time of the season for loving

What's your name?
(What's your name?)
Who's your daddy?
(Who's your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?

Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It's the time of the season for loving

LaLaport Yokohama now open!

A new mall opened last March 15 near Kamoi station, Lalaport Yokohama.

http://yokohama.lalaport.jp/ (Sorry, Japanese page only!)


It has 13 screens, dozens of stores, boutiques and restaurants, 2 department stores, 3 supermarkets and a Starbucks.

Here are some things I already did there:
- Ate at CPK on the opening night
- Bought my Wii at ItoYokado
- Watched Spider-man 3 there last May 1
- Purchased many clothes at Uniqlo - the ones on sale, of course!
- Purchased my Fossil watch there
- Bought my black and white Adidas SS 2 PTS at Ito Yokado
- Enjoyed the many comfortable couches while watching many kawaii oneechans pass by
- Bought I don't know how many cups of coffee at Starbucks

As long as there's a Starbucks, the mall's ok with me. ;)

Maritess vs. the Superfriends

I really like the comedy of Rex Navarette.

He's the kind of guy that makes you go, "Oo nga ano, ganon pala tayong mga Pinoy!"

I've watched his DVD "efforts", and listened to his 3 audio CDs. Laughed my head off, man!

One of his best bits is this one: http://www.fractalcow.com/rex/
(choose either Low or High quality, depending on your internet connection speed)

Still makes me laugh, after all this time. =D

Another swf file of note, SBC Packers. "If you pack with us, we'll pack with you"
Find it here

Happy Times are Here Again!

Tomorrow's Allowance Day!

Yes! I can finally start saving again. Felt drained the past couple of months. Happy, yet drained.

Oops, I forgot. I still have to buy my MacBook!

Kahit Pa

Muling lalapit
Ang liwanag sa paligid
At ang tinig
Na sa akin nagsasabing

Hindi mapipigil ng mundo
Papatunayan ang pangako

Dahil kailangan ka
Kailangang pakita natin tayo’y iba
At kahit pa
Hindi papipigil sa mundo
At sa umagang darating
Lahat ay aking kakayanin
At kahit pa ikaw lang at ako

Huwag mong iisipin
Ang mga harang sa atin
At ang ihip ng hangin ay darating

Bigla lang titigil ang mundo
At ang lahat ay maglalaho

Hindi ko man hawak ang panahon
Maging ang ikot ng buhay
Basta’t ikaw at ikaw pa rin
Ikaw at ikaw pa rin

Broken Sonnet

And now I concede on the night of this fifteenth song
Of melancholy, of melancholy
And now I will admit in this fourth line
That I love you I love you
I don’t care what they say
I don’t care what they do

‘Cause tonight I leave my fears behind
‘Cause tonight I’ll be right at your side

The clock on the TV says 8:39pm
It’s the same it’s the same
And in this next line I’ll say it all over again
That I love you I love you

Lie down right next to me
And I will never let you go
But still I see the tears from your eyes
Maybe I’m just not the one for you

Caramel Macchiato

After trying all of Starbuck's coffees, I came to like Caramel Macchiato the best. This March, I think I had it 20 times already. That's like once a day. Am I this addicted already? Y-y-y-yes, I think so!

Maybe there's a cheaper alternative. After all, it costs me 410Yen a pop for a Tall Hot cup. To those who want to make their own cup, here's the recipe I think tastes the nearest to the original:

Caramel Macchiato
The average coffee mug is probably equivalent to a Tall (12-oz/355 mL). I am not following precise Starbucks standards, though if you must know it's properly one shot of espresso, about .75 oz syrup (.25 oz per 4 oz liquid capacity).
milk
espresso
vanilla syrup
your favorite caramel sauce
In a regular-sized coffee mug, add vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Top with milk foam and add freshly brewed espresso through the foam. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Voila! You now have your own steaming cup of your favorite liquid poison!

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to JB & Ciara!

Their party was a little different from what we usually do. They prepared a barbecue feast for us, at the banks of the Tsurumi-gawa near Kamoi station. I liked the chicken, pork roast and beef slices! Yum yum! The usual Starbucks dosage at mid-afternoon complemented the feast!

Dinner & Drinks followed in JB's room. We had beer and white tequila. But aside from that, the usual 'kwentuhan' was the best part of all!

Today was the best! Thanks, everybody!




P.S. Happy birthday also to some of my other friends, Bebe, Ate Wewet, and Art!

Notting Hill

I love this movie! and yes, I'm a guy.

In the 8 years since it has been released (watched it in '99), I have watched it countless times, even bringing my VCD, then avi, then DVD copy, whenever I'm assigned abroad.

I still can't pinpoint what I like about it.

Is it a commoner hooking up with a famous actess?

Is it the songs, which draws you into the story? I mean, who wouldn't get drawn when Hugh Grant's character William is literally aching and Al Green's rendition of 'How can you mend a broken heart' is playing? Or when William walks the streets with the changing seasons while 'Ain't no Sunshine' tearfully invents itself?

Is it the oh-so-syruppy ending, when William non-chalantly tells Anna that he is a 'daft prick' and if she would mind taking him back?

Is it at the whoopsidaisies scene and we are shown how sweet and innocent a garden is? (Nice shot with the camera swooping up at the end of that scene)

Maybe it's just the magic of falling in love.
Yeah, maybe that's it! =)

I'm Back! after more than a year!

It's me! I'm sorry for not being able to update my file. I know I wasn't that busy, I guess I was just too lazy to update. What happened the past year, you ask?

1. Am a year older
2. 2nd straight year in Japan
3. Watched shows get cancelled - Arrested Development, The OC, Veronica Mars, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (?)
4. Brought my family here in Japan to stay with me for 6 months
5. Met new friends and bonded with them
6. Went home to Manila for 4 friggin' days last January!
7. Watched UAAP limp around without La Salle
8. Ginebra won the last conference
9. Ate around 50 bowls of Ramen at Yoshimura-ya in the past year
10. Went to Universal Studios Japan, Disneyland, Disneysea, Sea Paradise and even Sanrio Puroland!
11. Was promoted (kinda)
12. My assignment was extended to Sep 2007

What else can I say? I'll expound more on some items in the following days. I'll be selling my computer so I'm using a temporary one. I'll be buying a MacBook soon, just after they start selling the Mac OS X Leopard. They say, it'll be out this spring, and what do you know, today is Vernal Equinox Day!

Peace!