J.TEST B1

Whew!

Our company is Japanese-owned. So you guessed it, we need to study the language.

There are certain merits in having a high proficiency in it.

You get to speak your mind in their tongue.

The responsibilities are greater.

The 'respect' is higher. (Meron ba?!)

And the allowance is bigger. Yup, we have an allowance. Our company has these tiers or rather levels in determining our proficiency. Before, it was pass or fail 4 certain levels of examinations as administered by the Japan Foundation (The Japanese Language Proficiency Test or JLPT). Now, we have sublevels. You may not have passed the exam, but if you attain this certain score, you have reached so and so level. Yup, it was like that.

Then we had another proficiency-administering body, coz the freakin' JLPT just comes out once a year! Which is ok, come to think of it.

Now, I reached this certain level which I have to redo, coz my friggin' allowance period's almost up! Help me! I don't want to get the lower level's allowance! I'm quite happy with my allowance now, thank you very much!

So study study study for little ol' me.
No more blog blog blog for the meantime...

Dekiru ka naa?!

Bye bye Veronica!

Frak! Can't seem to get over Veronica Mars. It's been a week since the last episode aired. I kinda miss it. Today, being a Wednesday, should have been a Veronica Mars night. I thought another channel will pick it up, but so far, no news... Arrgh!

For a while, it has been one of the more intelligent shows on the boob tube. I think the writing is so smart that the average joe didn't seem to understand it, therefore, would not be able to appreciate it.

The show stars Kristen Bell as the title character: a student, progressing from high school to college during the series, who moonlights as a private investigator under the wing of her detective father. Said to be "a little bit Buffy (Joss Whedon said so!) and a little bit Bogart", the show balances murder mystery, high school and college drama, and social commentary with sarcasm and off-beat humor.

I especially like the writing of the show, the witty banter between characters is like a doubles tennis game - you really have to focus to be able to see the ball. The story arcs are also quite good wherein each one is long enough to keep you wanting for more but short enough that you won't lose interest (Lost, anyone?). You want to be there when Veronica finally solves the case.

The theme song doesn't hurt the show either. The Dandy Warhols' "We Used To Be Friends" is another song that's been in my iPod forever! Whenever I want to lash out at somebody, or ponder the current state of friendships, I just listen to this. It has been right on in this one particular friend of mine. "A long time ago, We used to be friends, and I haven't thought of you lately at all, If ever again, A greeting is sent to you, Short and sweet to the soul I intend"

Folks, give Veronica Mars a try. Help bring her back to the small screen. Sign all online petitions! C'mon!

New song I like - Maroon 5's Makes Me Wonder

I like Maroon 5's new song. It's so funky and fresh... When they performed it live in American Idol, I didn't mind it but after a few playbacks, it started to grow on me. It's on my iPod now.

I'd like to imagine I'm saying this to a certain someone.

Anyway, check it out!
Here's the video or (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrF8vxLRDNE)

and the lyrics:

[Verse]
I wake up with blood-shot eyes
Struggled to memorize
The way it felt between your thighs
Pleasure that made you cry
Feels so good to be bad
Not worth the aftermath, after that
After that
Try to get you back

[Bridge]
I still don't have the reason
And you don't have the time
And it really makes me wonder
If I ever gave a f**k about you

[Chorus]
Give me something to believe in
Cause I don't believe in you
Anymore, Anymore
I wonder if it even makes a difference to try
(Yeah)So this is goodbye

[Verse]
God damn, my spinning head
Decisions that made my bed
Now I must lay in it
And deal with things I left unsaid
I want to dive into you
Forget what you're going through
I get behind, make your move
Forget about the truth

[Bridge]
I still don't have the reason
And you don't have the time
And it really makes me wonder
If I ever gave a f**k about you

[Chorus 1 + 2]
Give me something to believe in
Cause I don't believe in you
Anymore, Anymore
I wonder if it even makes a difference,
It even makes a difference to try (yeah)
And you told me how you're feeling
But I don't believe it's true
Anymore, Anymore
I wonder if it even makes a difference to cry
(Oh no)
So this is goodbye

[Breakdown]
I've been here before
One day a week
And it won't hurt anymore
You caught me in a lie
I have no alibi
The words you say don't have a meaning
Cause..

[Bridge]
I still don't have the reason
And you don't have the time
And it really makes me wonder
If I ever gave a f**k about you and I...
and so this is goodbye

[Chorus 1 + 2]
Give me something to believe in
Cause I don't believe in you,
Anymore, Anymore
I wonder if it even makes a difference,
It even makes a difference to try
And you told me how you're feeling
But I don't believe it's true
Anymore Anymore
I wonder if it even makes a difference to cry
(Oh no)
So this is goodbye
So this is goodbye, yeah (x 3)
(Oh no)

Wii!

I bought a Wii last April.

Sadly, only the Japanese version is readily available here. I wanted to buy one before my family went home last Feb, but every time I'd visit a store, it was always sold out.

Then in the first week of April, I accompanied W to Ito Yokado store coz he'll buy another Wii remote. Lo and behold, stacks and stacks of Wiis!!!

I knew I didnt have enough yen with me (it costs 25,000yen) so I thought of charging it to my credit card. Thoughts of my wife killing me were playing in my head, hehehe. But I finally gave in! Sige, bili pa!

I, for one, am not really a game purist. I dont mind that the game doesnt have the end of the line graphics technology. I like the fun aspect of it, and I'm sure my family will enjoy it. I could already imagine my kids swatting away while playing baseball/tennis or punching each other in Boxing (I bought Wii Sports)

I thought that the games are just for fun. But if you really put your body into it, you can have a workout as well. Most of the time, I dont stretch before playing, and I end up with sore muscles after.

Tip to those who want to buy:

Have lots of space

Buy only 1 extra nunchuks. You only need 2 at a time

You can have up to 4 remotes. It's fun when playing tennis.

A bigger TV helps

Stretch before every game

I'm waiting for the Spider-man game to come out here. It looks like a lot of fun in the trailer, dangling through NYC. Dragonball also seems cool, especially when you're doing the power moves (can anyone say "ka-me-ha-me-HA"?)

My Macbook

I was supposed to buy a Macbook right about now. I have been saving for it, and I sold my old Sony Vaio to add to my funds. The initial press release for Mac OS X Leopard hinted of a Spring 2007 availability, so I thought I could buy one by salary day May.

More than a month ago, I found out that Apple got a part of the Mac OS X Leopard team to work on the iPhone, so that it can be released by June 2007. This move pushed back Leopard a few months to Oct. Since I did not have another PC (once I sold my laptop), I felt I had no choice but to buy one even with the current Mac OS X Tiger. Good thing J "won" the right to purchase 1 of the Dell desktop PCs used by our clients and he lent me this instead. So I figured, I could buy my Mac in the fall.

My other friend J was assigned here in Japan about a month ago, and he was also planning to buy a MacBook. Since he did not have a computer yet, he had to buy already - a white MacBook with Core Duo 2.0, 1GB memory, 80GB hard disk one. (I personally would have preferred the 120GB model since I also plan to run XP on it). It was sweet! I was with him when he bought it and I also helped him in getting an Internet plan. This plan further slashed 30,000 yen off his purchase price - not bad!

A few days ago, Apple released a faster variety of the MacBook, increasing the processor and storage a bit. The processor is now 2.16, while the HD is 120GB. I was tempted to buy one then and there! Good thing I didn't have the money yet, I would've circled it until I finally bought it.

But is Leopard really worth the wait? There are a number of specific changes and enhancements announced. Some notable features include support for writing 64-bit graphical user interface applications, an automated backup utility called Time Machine, support for Spotlight searches across multiple machines, and large revisions to most core operating system components. Leopard is also expected to include a software assistant known as Boot Camp, which assists the installation of Windows XP or Windows Vista to a separate partition (or separate internal drive) on Intel-based Macs. Hmmm...

After going home and stewing about it for a while, I think I'm gonna hold out for the newer OS. I still have J's desktop anyway!