ALTANGHAP @ Via Mare

December 5, 2008
Makati City, Philippines
5:30 pm


I was so busy, that as is my wont during Fridays, I forgot to eat lunch.

Yes Virginia, it does happen to me..more often than you might think. My stomach is empty but I pay it no mind in the thrill of answering emails and talking on the phone. Truly.

So...stomach grumbling and feeling dizzy... and remembering I had to pick up a gift for a christening tomorrow wherein I would also be a ninang/godmother to a hapless and innocent child (who will have no clue what kind of ninang she is going to be saddled with , she can blame her dad for that), I dashed madly out of my home and ran to GB1 (Greenbelt 1).

Lo and behold, I passed by National Bookstore, and Via Mare.

Didn't I say I would check out also if it was "lugaw" or "congee" that I had eaten and talked about in my post "Hankering for Congee" (http://cuh888.multiply.com/journal/item/62/Hankering_for_Congee).

So checked it, got bamboozled into checking out more of their menu..and under Altanghap, finally selected spicy tuyo flakes and a glass of cold, cold sago.

The only complaint I have relates to the rice in this dish. It was puffy, somewhat wet and certainly not the kind of fried rice I liked - which leans to fried and somewhat dried out rice - all the the better to pour sikwate (thick, rich, hot chocolate) in, my dear!

Its called "Altanghap" because its ALmusal (Breakfast) - TANGhali (Lunch) - HAPunan (Dinner) due to the fact that the meals under this heading can be served any time.

Enjoy!

- Dec 5, '08 11:43 PM

A Funny Fine Flight

November 14, 2008
Up-in-the-air

I fly PAL, but its usually economy and I sometimes I wish I could afford to go business class especially on long-haul flights such as those from the Philippines to the US of A.

Great was my surprise when things turned out very well for this particular flight of mine.

One of my best buds from college works as a pilot for PAL, unfortunately he doesn't do the US trips though but those in Asia. He did text me that while he would not be handling the flight (hmmmph, he could have taken the one I was on to Japan though...grrrr) he would be wishing me well. Let's call this buddy of mine as Mr. N.

I had just sat down and ruefully thought that I should really try to either check in early or reserve through the phone for an early check-in so I could have one of the exit seats and have more leg room. Long legs wasn't that great on long flights!

I was nonplussed when a pretty stewardess with a warm smile asked me if I was Cat Herrera and if Mr. R was my cousin. I had met Mr. R but had no idea why he would be claiming me as his cousin.  So I just dazedly said the complete name of Mr. R and remarked that I knew he wasn't on this flight.

Lo and behold, the stewardess remarked to another steward passing by that I was Mr. R's cousin!  As I was about to open my mouth to say we were really not cousins (btw, Mr. R is actually Mr. N's cousin and I daresay if I had married into Mr. N's clan, I would be probably Mr. R's cousin hehehe...) I got pushed towards an empty 3-seats. I couldn't believe my good fortune! This is a first time for me and a far cry from how I was situated on my flight to Sanfo in 2007!

Wow, I could finally curl and sleep at last. I was so thankful for that, that it was enough for me if nothing else happened and I thanked her profusely if quietly. And I didn't correct her anymore about Mr. R being my cousin *grin*

My next favorite part of flights arrived - they served meals. I got extra attention from the steward earlier who asked if I was okay. I asked for more water. I got a whole  big bottle, and a wink and a "sssshhh!" ....Hmmm...strange but satisfying as I love to drink water during trips like this.

I finally curled up with one of my heavy tomes when the stewardess earlier dropped by and passed me a tray which was full of cheeses and fruits and crackers and what have you. Hmm..probably from business class, eh? I gave her a big smile and said thank you so much, I will really enjoy this..and promptly went to munching on it while all the others around me slept.

Before the next meal though, another stewardess passed by. She was older and though quite hospitable, I had noticed her earlier in the business class section and she looked quite strict. I got a shock of my life when she suddenly stopped by and asked if I was Cat Herrera. What the? Was this more of Mr. R's doing?

Well, I wanted to hear what it was all about before I could say yes, but then she said she was looking for me row to row (since I had apparently transferred seats). Breathing more easily I hesitantly admitted my identity.

So now the steward from earlier and this older stewardess were bunked by my seat. And while I blinked rapidly, the latter was smiling naughtily and said she was asked to pass on a message from the pilot, who got contacted by an air traffic controller who said to greet me.

When she asked if I knew who the guy was, I said I had a friend who was an ATC (I was still thinking of Che, its impossible it would be Loo, her also wacky half,  who would be handling this flight). I didn't voice out my surprise when she grinned and remarked in such a way that meant she thought I had a secret admirer.  EH??

I thought - well, maybe Che asked one of her male co-workers to do the greeting, that is why they said a guy was greeting me. I smiled and didn't elaborate anymore but made a mental note to thank Che and tell her to thank her co-worker.

Before we disembarked, a couple of more things happened.

I got a bag full of chocolate cake slices in a Duty Free bag from the stewardess earlier (this was a blessing as I had to be up really early to walk to the office in Cinci and didn't have time to get breakfast). I had also talked to the steward who gave me tips on where to go in Sanfo and other places.

Lastly, when I stepped out of the plane into the tube...the older stewardess grinned at me again and remarked on the ATC who was my friend, making it more obvious she really thought I had either an admirer or was dating an ATC. EH???

Before I came back to the Philippines, I continued my PM with Che. I thanked her and told her the tale, and all the while I thought she had asked a co-worker to do the greeting. We laughed heartily over it when she said it was her wacky self who talked to the pilot. She was mistaken for a guy! Tsk--tsk..she really needs to work on her bedroom voice then *wink*

And here I am now, trying to ask Mr. N to give me the number of his cousin Mr. R (who I met before, along with his wife in the birthday party of one of Mr. N's daughters) so I could tell him thank you and to tell the three stewards on that flight that they made me happy I had flown PAL that day. I had noted down their names...but my buddy is not responding..so I'm writing this blog instead. *yawn*

Yup, that was one of my memorable long-haul flights to grin over.

- Dec 5, '08 12:19 AM

A flurry of snow in Cinci

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

I did mention to some friends that upon my arrival in Cincinnati, Ohio my manager thoughtfully presented me with borrowed stuff from his wife - coat, gloves, scarves, hats...enough that I could make a fashion statement every day of my stay here.

One thing which amused me though was the mask-like thing he also had me borrow..this time it was his hat/mask - it could cover the ears, and at the same time, protect the mouth area as it had some anti-bacterial cloth one could pull up to cover one's mouth and nose. His daughters gave it to him when he had to dig through goodness knows how much of snow in this year's blizzard.

The drawback? It reminds me of a robber about to hijack a convenience store :-)

I don't have pictures of myself wearing the other stuff, but earlier this afternoon, I did go walking around Cinci in the cold and snow as I wanted to take pictures of the buildings I had seen. Unfortunately, it was a bit difficult to maneuver and juggle my camera and bags due to the gloves I had on. 

I was particularly thankful though that I had chosen my manager's hat to use today as snow suddenly came down, then a gust of wind every now and then completed the afternoon's weather offering.

As a mad thought, I took out my cell and took quick pics of myself, covered face and all...don't I look warm and toasty?

Last picture here was taken where I usually get my bagels and  milk for breakfast...at least last year that is what I did (I survived on this diet) - umandar yung pagka-thrifty ko and I used the balance of the money for food, buying something else....like...books...I want to go to Newport on the Levy all in a sudden din...tsk!

The temperature ranges (in Fahrenheit now) I experienced were approximately from 23 to 38 degrees. Brrrrrrr. 

No wonder most people seems to be obsessed about weather here...it can make life pretty difficult - you just don't worry about food, but about the cold which could freeze you to death. At least I can now say I've experienced fall/autumn and winter-like weather...wheeeee!

-          Nov 21, '08 10:22 AM

Rant: Laying a big, fat egg..with melamine

30^th of October 2008

Makati City, Philippines

Mood: droopy-eyed tiredness

This is a rant. A short one though.

I am tired, irritated and wish I could just go on a slow boat to Hawaii. No kidding. It has been a long month and I am sort of losing steam already. It is not going to get better by November and in the midst of this I am treated to unsettling news.

I can’t remember when I first heard about eggs with melamine - probably it was last week. It has been a blur. *yawn* Can’t even go to a lovely party tonight. Darn.

What is this world getting into? WTH?

Did the chickens drink melamine-tainted milk?

Did the feed they were given originate from some animal or plant which had melamine poured over it?

Did the chickens reside near the milk or an industrial factory producing plastic with melamine? Were the eggs injected with melamine?

I just don’t get it. I’m just really dense today, probably.

Before I thought they’d blame the cows for the melamine-taint on the milk. Tcch! Blame the humans, who else would be good at altering the environment?

Next thing you know its steaks with melamine, softdrinks with melamine, melamine-flu?…

My gulay! Everything will be tainted with melamine except the leather and plastic it was supposed to reside in.

Darn again.

- Oct 30, '08 7:08 PM

Just When U Do Not Want It, U Get It. Got it?

11 pm Makati City, Philippines
Mood: Ornery and ready to fight a burglar with a rolling pin just to de-stress!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hell and damnation..Fire and Brimstone, Roses and Prickly Thorns.
I am torn between elation and despair.!!

Ok, so its partially my fault....ok, its all my fault. So what? Doesn't solve the dilemna.

But still.... *wails* I thought a trip to the US won't push thru because of cost-cutting from our company and some other stuff. I was thinking our team meeting also would not push through..so when my boss said last August that I was to cross my fingers so that if ever, F2F meeting or not, I could still go to the US this November 2008 for some other matters, I certainly didn't cross my fingers...I wanted the trip to be next year...next year!
...Lady Fate and Lady Destiny, do you hear me?? Listen to me!

Why? don't ask..I won't tell, suffice to say I feel I am not ready...double drat and triple drat!
I have less than a month to prepare for something which usually takes 4 months! I wasn't interested in pursuing it anymore, I thought I could try other interests, and basically I thought even if I got the chance, in the long run in my current company its not as if it translates to big bucks. Why oh why did I get a call which would send other people into a swoon..of happiness but weirdly makes me want to drown myself in a bucket of brandy?

In my case, although I try to think positively, it only means I will now have 2 hours of sleep everyday if ever I hope catch up to compensate for my lack of preparedness and time...and there are so many other things I have to do too...*sobs* and its not even sure...and I have to do it all by myself...*sigh*
Can somebody find me my twin? clone me perhaps? provide me with another brain? and extra hands too while you are at it....

Sorry, I just needed to vent...

I don't feel like writing this down in my diary because I am growling and I am hungry and I feel like writing it down straight here with my fingers flying over the keyboard will lessen the stress. So there...call me an ungrateful child/spoiled woman/impetuous person..but by writing it here, I'm half-hoping something else will come up and maudlot yung trip (I'm a believer in that kind of thing).

Let me eat dinner and sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow things will look better even if it means a deduction of 24 hours again on my time to prepare.

After all, tomorrow is another day. And no I will not ever speak of it again. I just need to concentrate on how to get it done. So there.

- Oct 9, '08 11:00 PM

Instead of...

October 4, 2008
Makati and Ortigas, Philippines
Mood: dreamy

Baptism. Who? "My spanking brand new baby daughter" - according to Albert, one of my ex-software devs.  When? Saturday. Where? Batangas.  Ayayay!  A bit too far for me.

Instead, I went to the Open House of the Nihonggo Center.  Instead of our Saturday class, this was the event that we would be attending.



Arrived late after lunch. Didn't know a soul. Looked fun though. The kids certainly do know a good thing when they see one. I also queued up for the glitter tattoo even though I was the only "adult" one. I'd have gotten a seahorse one too if I wasn't in a hurry. The good luck character will just have to do instead of having two.

Missed the tea ceremony, origami sessions, amongst other things...

Instead of getting to watch those I was interested in, I stood witness to their sumo demonstration. Hmmm...I wonder if female sumo wrestlers would ever happen in my time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the past week, we have not been having the best weather. I was set to go to Ortigas for some educational-related stuff, as well as a chika-thon slash food trip schedule with my "tokayo'/namesake/classmate Catherine who I have not seen in a long time that October 1, which was also a holiday.

Instead, I had to reschedule for an October 4 slot in the afternoon

Earlier before I left my quarters, Marie (Ellaftiz) texted if I would like to join her when she would watch the 4:30 movie from the current Spanish film festival showing at Greenbelt. Regretfully, I instead texted back that I had to take a rain-check because I was going to Ortigas after my visit to the open house at Pasay Road (see event post earlier).

I had little time left to spare after leaving the Open House affair, but I was hungry.



I felt lazy just thinking about going back home to cook and eat lunch. Instead, I stopped by Ole Spaghetti House in Glorietta.

I ordered the parma ham/walnut/cheese sandwich. The waiter came back after I was dreamily anticipating sinking my fangs into the sandwich. It was out of stock.

So instead I settled for tuna sandwich Italian-style. That and a rootbeer, and I felt half-human again :-)

I wanted to avoid irritating, boorish, and money-lusting taxi drivers.

Instead of that particular mode of transportation I took the MRT train, and arrived just in time to walk to the the corner of SMPC and Shangrila EDSA and to be soaked to the bone by the cold rain dumped by the dark, forbidding skies. I did not have a raincoat.

I had instead brought my umbrella, which wasn't really of much use under the circumstances. The wind was causing havoc with it and had ferociously lashed the water against my legs up to my shoulders. I swear the only part of me which was dryer than the rest of my body  was the inside of my nostrils. *Sniffles and flares nostrils like a horse*

I straggled into the building and dripped water on the pristine floor. I took occupancy of the comfort room, and wrung out a basin of water from my pants, t-shirt, socks, hanky and hair (my undergarments were the type to dry out quickly). Luckily the air-conditioner was out, so I settled down for some brain-usage time and slowly dried out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was told that two of my fellow AVPs at a previous company would be meeting me for dinner that night at the Fort or Serendra. I instead harrumphed and said I would believe it when it had already happened ...since I knew that one of the ladies concerned has a tendency to plan but not push through. I was hopeful but skeptical.

I ended up instead planning to have dinner before going home as my friend was dieting. I walked to Shangrila Mall with him and just when we were to go our separate ways, someone called my name.

It was Marie! Of all places and of all times! Just when I was super hungry too. So that means that instead of meeting in Makati, we still did end up meeting today.

Instead of going for the other restaurants at the higher level, we ate at Secret Recipes restaurant at the aforementioned mall.

 


Intriguing name.  Instead of cheesecake (they were supposed to have rave reviews for their cheesecake), I got tiramisu. Instead of their stew, I ordered fish and chips. Since Marie had to stay away from sugar, I slurped her ice tea instead of ordering any drinks for myself.

We were looking at each other ruefully - instead of being happy that we got to try out the place, we thought of not coming back in the future. Ever. As in. Never.
Why? Now that would be telling, so instead, I will be keeping it a secret (in keeping with the restaurant's name).

Instead of hanging out, having a beer, or coffee or some other dessert, I thought maybe we could watch a movie tomorrow from the filmfest because we both were unable to watch it today. So I caught the last train back to Ayala and Marie went on her way too.

I came home and multiplied. I found out from Marie's given links that there was still a 12 midnight showing of one more film.

I went to sleep instead.
I think it was for the best as another day was almost beginning too.

So, instead, I will ask you -

were your "instead" days as ordinary but wacky, wet and fun too?

- Oct 6, '08 12:53 AM

Coffee, Tea or Juice?

September 25, 2008
15:45 hrs,
Makati City, Philippines

As I was blearily contemplating mixing either a cup of Maxell's or SanMig's 3-in-1 instant coffee or just brewing myself a pot of either Chai or some good 'ole oolong ginseng I stopped to ponder if I should distrust tea leaves from China.....the news station was again running the Sanlu milk scandal and all the affected products from it...

It is dark and dreary in the middle of the afternoon...thanks to the weather we have been having, and with another typhoon on the way...well, I was feeling out of sorts. I needed to sip something bracing and hot while doing my work and going through hundreds of emails....and...as I reached out for the coffee sachet, the tv station I was tuned into suddenly blared out about a Filipino artist doing her works in instant coffee.

Wow!!

Although the colors are in the sometimes somewhat drab (for me at least) realm of brown, they were beautiful! They were eye-catching!  The Filipino artist is Sunshine Plata...and I am really proud of the creativity that is inherently built into the Filipino gene. *puffs like a puffin*

Not to mention, it is a cheap medium too 


One of her works, which is a favorite of other people, entitled "Fairy of Sorrows".

Do check out some of the links I found while googling her name:

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSP17573720080826?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10003

http://misteryosa.com/blog/sunshine-plata-coffee-painter/

http://thismakesmyday.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunshine-plata-coffee-painter.html

Hmm...I wonder what would be next, orange juice? milk? squid ink? avocado seed?....

- Sep 25, '08 4:43 PM

Travel Thoughts, Travel Books

Thinking Travel

Sep 18, '08 4:42 PM
for everyone

17 Sept  2008,  National Bookstore, Greenbelt 1 -  I'm just happy. As simple as that. I've added to my ever-towering, ever-leaning-precariously-like-Pisa pile of books (some of which I've not read completely).
I was in the vicinity of the bookstore to have a special order made for a book on trading, when I noticed they were on sale.  All books with white dots were marked 20% off...and even if my penchant for travel books leaves my wallet groaning, I still could not resist.

I grabbed the books I wanted, but realized I had to leave at least half of them behind as I was already juggling other bags and I still had to go to the grocery to get my prosciutto and salami milano, and whatever fruit I could find to pair with them. The ones I picked were all thick and heavy tomes, save for one.

So I only got four, because I'm thinking I may be traveling again next year or this December, and what could be better than to be a girl scout and be prepared. Goodbye books on Italy, France and Greece!

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List by Patricia Schultz

Although there aren't very many pictures, and whatever there were scattered between the book's covers, were all in black and white, it may be nice to have a checklist of where to go. It is at least 2 inches thick though...sheesh! some checklist eh?

Under the Philippines, they placed Banaue Rice Terraces (no check), Taal Volcano (check) and Amanpulo (super no check).

Lonely Planet's Tokyo: City Guide by Andrew Bender and Wendy Yanagihara

I'm planning a collection of city guides...and even if I have been to Tokyo, I felt I had only scratched the surface. One never knows, I may visit Tokyo again before I reach the golden age of 50 :-)

DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: China by Staff of DK Publishing Inc.

I dithered between Frommer's China and this book. The lovely photographs won out in the end. I resolved to come back later for Frommer's version.

Some people may prefer Lonely Planet, but I liked my experience with Frommer's details on how to get from one place to another, but it doesn't have the beautiful photographs (which can serve as one's album too) which I see in DK.

Frommer's Southeast Asia 5th edition by Jason Armbrecht, Brian Calvert, Jennifer Eveland and Jen Lin-Liu

Hmm...I was expecting it to have an entry on the Philippines....but it did not.  Why? Bakit? Ngano? Porque?

Isn't my country in SE Asia? Was there a mistake? Maybe its classified somewhere else? Grrrr....

Oh well, if my trip to Vietnam pushes through before the end of the year, this will be handy.

Hankering for Congee

That is what got me out of my home one Sunday afternoon.

Passed by David's...nah! Passed by Chowking....nah!

I finally settled in at Via Mare, Greenbelt 1.
Rap-sa..with hot salabat pa!


I ate here a few times before when I was still a student at AIM...the last one which I remember very well was a treat by Sir B and Ms G coz I think it was somebody's birthday..and Bong was there...*sigh* my happy memories seem to be always connected with food :-)

- Dec 5, '08 2:29 AM

Eiga Sai 2008: "Linda Linda Linda"

Saturday at the movies: "Linda Linda Linda"

Jul 16, '08 1:37 AM
for everyone

On July 12, 2008, a bunch of us J-Club members went to see one of the films being shown on Eiga Sai 2008 and indulged in some girly-girl activites outside of the office.

We agreed to meet up between 11 to 11:30 am at Shangrila mall. I ended up taking a taxi because I thought I would be last however it is good not to rush too much.

Chelle and I met up the graphic novels section of National Bookstore.

Luckily she came in before I could be tempted to buy more books or graphic novels. After we queued for the tickets, and the other girls Grace, Hannah and Alyson arrived, off we went to have lunch at Green Tomato.

Trying to decide among the many dishes of pasta and pizza and the other dishes on the menu, the lunch talk was full of teasing and stories.

Pasta and its sauces and ingredients were varied, with plain OO, tomato-based,  pesto, brandied shrimp, spaghetti, penne, fetuccine etc. while the pizza was for meat-lovers.

Too bad no dessert was on the plate :-(

We had enough time before the 2 pm movie and ended up comfortably ensconced in the middle aisle though we at first kept on moving around due to the "Reserved" signs (which turned out to be disregarded).

Humming "Linda Linda Linda" after the movie was finished, we proceeded to walk around and do some shopping. Some of them apparently were going to go on a run the next day, therefore new running shoes were a must.

Of course, when one walks around with fellow girls, one gets sucked into buying some things too, even if it wasn't on the agenda at the start *looks at credit card dolefully*

Before splitting up and heading home, we also decided to go to Glorietta and have coffee at Gloria Jean's...there was an ulterior motive for that, which I shall not disclose here *wink* but the conversation during that coffee break was like an interview for each of us girls...hehehe...plus some other perks *sticks tongue out*

The Film: Linda Linda Linda

Japanese Title: Rinda Rinda Rinda
Director: Yamashita Nobuhiro
Cast: Bae Doo-na as Song, Maeda Aki as Yamada Kyoko, Kashii Yu as Tachibana Kei, Sekine, Shiori as Shirakawa Nozomi, Mimura Takayo as Marumoto Rinko, Komoto Masahiro
as Teacher Koyama

Synopsis partially taken from  the brochure:

This film about youth is set in modern-day high school just outside of Tokyo. A couple of days just before the school’s culture festival, a girl’s music group is facing a dilemma. They planned on playing an original piece of music but, three days before the festival,
the guitarist appears to have broken her finger and an argument breaks out among the two band members who founded it. They need to find a new guitarist and a new vocalist. While the remaining three girls are pondering who to ask to be the new vocalist, they hear the song, “Linda Linda Linda” by the famous Japanese rock band Blue Hearts and decide they want to sing it instead of an original song.

A Korean exchange student, Song, misunderstood and said yes when they ask her to be their vocalist.  Her Japanese is not perfect, and she’s never sung in front of an audience, but she listens to the song and says yes. The girls practice a lot but they don’t seem to be improving much. They spend a lot of time at Kei’s ex-boyfriend’s studio and at the school practicing late into the night..and with all these practicing a deep friendship develops among the four girls.

The night before the festival, they practice late into the night and exhaust themselves. They suddenly wake up the next morning and realize that they are late for the festival. They arrive at the school just as the festival is finishing and perform as the last act. The audience loves them and the four girls play their hearts out.

Linda Linda Linda was ranked as the 6th best film on the 79th Kinema Junpo best ten list for 2005. Director Yamashita Nobuhiro’s other films, Hazy Life (“Donten Seikatsu,” 2001), No One’s Ark (“Baka no Hakobune, 2002) and Ramblers (“Riarizumu no Yado,” 2003) also deal with the lives of youths.

In Linda Linda Linda, the film uses minimalism and a level-headed approach to convey his ideas to the audience. The Korean character in the film, Song, is played by a Korean actor, Bae Doo-na. She has starred in such Korean films as Park Chan-Wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Hyeon Nam-Seob’s Saving My Hubby (2002). The actress who plays the role of the bassist, Nozomi, is a real-life musician.

Well, I enjoyed the film. I am not really into drama and I honestly was dreading seeing the films being featured this year as some of the girls had attended the first night of the festival and according to Hannah it was "bloody" (aka dumugo ilong nya or maybe there were bloody scenes?). hehehe...

But this one film was light, youth-oriented, feel-good, enjoyable.

It's simple, direct approach to telling the story is refreshing and the song's tunes and lyrics were catchy too. Makes me wanna see what other Blue Hearts songs are out there.

The film reminds me of "Stand by Me" but on a lesser scale. It is more of a tale of friendship developing between these girls who worked hard so that they could perform in the festival. There are no tricks to how its presented and its strangely fun to see this kind of film these days when those marked as good or blockbuster films (not necessarily exclusive descriptions) we queue for feature either camera tricks, CGI or a bunch of confusing turns in the story. I had a good time watching it with the company I was with.

There were hilarious moments in the film - and when I least expected it! I emitted a couple of giggles in some scenes even if I was busy reading the subtitles. One was when this Japanese boy who apparently had a crush on Song arranged for them to meet so that he could tell her his feelings. Aside from the girls and the boy's friend spying on them, the guy was trying his best to speak in Korean to Song (with matching script or kodigs or cheat sheet pa ha!) of how he felt, and the oblivious Song was answering in her not-so-fluent Japanese.

Another unexpected (somewhat icky!) scene was when Kei was gifted with a hand. Yes, a hand! I thought at first maybe the film had some horror twist when I saw the hand inside a box and being gifted to her on her birthday (?).

It looked real, big and hairy. Urgh!! Enough said. Apparently its because she needs help because her hand was small and she needed a bigger hand to play her guitar. WTF?

Though it was a somewhat rainy day in the end, this Saturday was a nice break from routine.

Instead of having classes, we had played hooky *grin* and watched a movie instead, and got to know each other a little bit more. I felt like a young woman again...este..correction much younger woman..again.

Japan (2008): Of Timely Trains & Forgotten Bags

Describing Tuesday (May 6, 2008) as a hectic day for one traveling cat would be an understatement.  On that day, I traveled between Osaka and Kyoto.

The good part? I had a guide with me, who helped ensure that I was able to visit some touristy spots in Osaka which would not make me unhappy with just a one (1) day stay in that bustling city.

At the end of Tuesday, I had at least 5 Kyoto shrines/temples, garden viewing, tea ceremony set and macha (green tea powder), free dinner, yummy strawberry cake and a Gion visit tucked under my obi (figuratively speaking as I wasn’t wearing a kimono).

Aside from a marathon visit to castle/temple in both aforementioned cities,  I was also  prepped with advance information so I could henceforth continue with my plan to visit the Kyoto Imperial Castle, geisha performances in a cultural show in Gion the next day and a trip to the manga museum, to name a few places.

The bad part?

I left one of my bags on the train going to Kyoto. I suppose since I had somebody with me I was a bit relaxed and only remembered the missing bag when I checked in the Kyoto hotel I had chosen.  The bag contained my tripod, leather jacket, castelle (Nagasaki cake) and some other food, and the brochures I had collected.

All of my available cash and credit cards were distributed among the other 2 locked bags and my usual purse so while I was dismayed at the idea of missing this other bag, at least I could continue on my trip without too much worry.

I didn't bring a lot of cash as I was dependent on credit cards. In a country where many of its people still bring cash along with them which they use instead of relying heavily on credit cards, it says a ton of things of how safe and reliable an environment Japan has.

I was assured by my new friend and Kyoto-frequent-visitor Calvin and the JR train officials - the former told me that the bag would be found and returned, the latter told me they would contact me or the New Miyako Hotel I was staying in for news. Since Calvin already had a prior experience of inadvertently leaving his wallet on the JR train, well...he may be justified in his statement.

I admit I was itsy-bitsy-teensy-weensy bit skeptical. On the other hand, I was also 50% more optimistic than I was cynical at the idea of my bag being found.

Guess what?  I did get the bag and all of its contents intact after 2 days.

The first day I inquired at the JR Information desk in Kyoto station, I had Calvin to translate and ask for help.

The next time I visited, even though different people manned the desks (volunteers who probably wanted to practice their English), they were quite helpful. With some lengthy exchange of English and Japanese sentences, I managed to get some good news (though I missed visiting some other sites and my Philosopher's Walk). I was amused by the elderly woman who attended to me...she smilingly told me that my Japanese was probably better than any English words spoken at the Lost and Found office when I asked how I could follow-up on my bag if I were just to venture by myself to that place.

How polite and sweet of her...but yes, they do not speak English that much at the Lost and Found - so a note of warning to future lost-bag owners.

I could say my Japan trip was a compleat travel experience in the sense that I had this kind of incident happening to me.

In all of my travels and trips both local and abroad, this was the first time I left a bag on a public transportation vehicle. I was lucky though, that it happened in Japan.

Although my liking for Japan was spawned by my anime/manga interest, there are also a few things about Japan and its culture which do not appeal to me. Considering all I've experienced both good and bad during this trip, a very favourable impression was stamped indelibly on my mind with how this all turned out in the end.

- Jul 3, '08 3:36 PM