As y'all may have noticed, I'm a tad obsessed with cute things. I guess it comes with the territory of being a fangirl of Japanese pop culture. And few things could possibly be cuter than sticker pictures or purikura!

Sticker pictures can be had at special photobooths, usually in arcades or unused corners of the mall. The older booths (I mean, 1990s sticker picture booths) allowed you only to pick your background or border (or both, but that was rare), then your photo was taken, then you waited a bit until it published. Now, the booths usually let you have your photo taken first, then you can pick borders or go all-out in doodling all over the purikura within a set timeframe. The insanity of it all has always made it fun for group shots, especially if you're amazing and can fit around 10 people in a booth meant for 4 (I've tried it). Oh, and don't forget to wait for your sticker print to dry a few minutes after it comes out of the slot in the booth!

It's sad that I'm older now and my friends and I don't have as much time - or inclination - to go to the booths, since they're always heaps of fun. But, thankfully, a website called Puricute (http://www.puricute.com) was developed so you can turn any digital picture of your liking into a soft-copy version of purikura! You can even pay for it to be delivered to you as a bonafide sticker picture set, for real cheap too (shipping is free within the USA). But right now, for me just decorating my photos is enough. XD

Here's an album of my Puricute photos, lemme know what y'all think! ;3

Labels: cute, kawaii, picture, puricute, purikura, sticker

For geeks into Greek (bad pun, I know XD;;;), the best place to go is Cyma. With four branches in four select upscale malls in the metro, it's accessible enough but still undeniably exuding class. The atmosphere is warm and familial; it always feels like I'm coming home no matter what time of day I'm here. And the food is superbly prepared, though I will have to warn you that their lamb dishes aren't always easy to cut up, and their Greco-Mediterranean desserts are a bit on the cloyingly sweet side. Try their couscous, kebabs, pita bread and pasta, and bring your appetite because the servings are extra-large by Asian standards (though they are pretty reasonable for European and American palates).

Let's take a short day trip outside the metro and enjoy the spectacular provincial venue of Sonya's Garden. Originally just an organic botanical paradise for its owner, it soon expanded into food after Sonya realised that her friends were going there for her cooking as well. Of course, if you grow your own food, and the healthy type at that, you will always be patronised no matter where your customers are coming from. Besides its signature vegetable salad in cream-and-onion vinegarette, the set meal of Sonya's includes pasta (the kind of pasta you get varies between "seasons" or the four quarters of the year), juice (normally dalandan, or the local orange) and some sweet dessert (usually either local fare like bananas dipped in hot caramel, or foreign fare like tiny slices of creamy, icing-rich cake ... lol, so much for keeping healthy XD;;;). All in all the food is worth the day trip. ♥

Back in the Metro, Xocolat is a franchise cafe specializing in chocolate, undoubtedly the best export of Aztec, Incan and Mayan civilizations. My favourite branch would have to be the one in Eastwood City, Qnezon City, as it's outdoors and literally right in the center of the Eastwood plaza square, and for the fact that my boyfriend and I had our first date there. ♥ Also, this branch doesn't serve the chocolate too thickly or sweetly as the other branches do. I am completely enamoured with their hot chocolate drinks ... thick, bittersweet and perfect for a rainy day. ♥ (My boyfriend prefers the iced chocolate-coffee concoctions better, since he finds the Philippines a terribly hot place. XD;)

Frustrated girl is bloody frustrated.Wavering at work (half the problem is with me, I know, and I'm working on it), the internet frustrating me with random disconnection (both at home and at work), my weight still being inconsistent and my fat still not melting no matter what I do at the gym... blah. Tips anyone? One more thing, please buy my stuff! :3 I can assure you I took good care of these things. v^_^vThe Povedan shirt is right this way, for those who may be interested (which I doubt, judging from my friends' list, harharhar): Little Miss Povedan Shirt.

This is how I looked up until early Sunday afternoon:

This is how I look like NOW.

And to top it off, I got myself nail art too!

LOL, I can't just say na niyaya ako ni Kaye (my younger sister), though ultimately she did convince me to go. I've been contemplating on looking prettier for some time, and worrying over the increasing thinness and hairfall of my already sparse eyelashes. XD;;; I think I'm becoming too vain for my own good, and it's starting to scare me... O_o

PS everything cost me only PhP1,000.00. Not bad if you consider that there was a manicure, pedicure with foot massage, and threading done to my eyebrows. hearts;

Labels: kabaklaan, kakikayan, kikay, prettiness, vanity

You're as uninspired as uninspired, f**k. >o<

I've been a bit more active posting on my Granado Espada fanblog, Cartas Y Dibujos con la Familia Lucido, but not by much.

Seriously. I should start doing more (which I always say I plan to use but never do) and collect photos from the intarwebz less. XP

I've been feeling extremely restless due to the conflicting thoughts and emotions I have experienced in the past 12 (and more!) months, so much so that all I've been doing is pray desperately, like in the unfinished choral psalm of Henry Purcell: "Hear my prayer, O Lord / and let my crying come unto Thee." Yes, that's pretty much it - I don't even know where to begin defining what the cause of my desperation, dissatisfaction and depression is. The reason is actually the sum of so many things. And what's even more frustrating is that things are actually starting to look up for me, considering my personal history, so why do I still feel this way?

I began my search by going to the Relics of the Passion visiting Exhibit in Makati Medical Center's Chapel in Makati City on March 2nd. The event was hosted by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, and organised by the Apostolate for Holy Relics. I'm still very sorry I wasn't able to bring any friends; it was a spur-of-the-moment visit with Dad, who had found out that the exhibit would last only till that day (it ran from February 24th to March 2nd ... right on time). Here are some photos, with matching information from the accompanying information booklet:

This is basically what the exhibit was. Of course, it is airtight to protect the small items within, which are said to bear the DNA of Our Lord Jesus Himself. (It's sad though that, with all the manhandling through the ages, it's actually safe to assume that it ISN'T all His DNA anymore...)

A portion of cloth which touched Veronica's veil (hidden in the framed photo) and some reliquaries. The one most visible at left contains a piece of the Crown of Thorns, the one in the middle is said to have a portion of the items from the Upper Room (more on that later), and the one at the right keeps a piece of the Holy Column of Flagellation.

Left: Mensae Coenae DNJC - according to the booklet, this relic is "from the table or the upper room (I'm quoting almost verbatim here) where the Last Supper took place.
Right: The Holy Column of Flagellation - according again to the booklet, the column against which Jesus was scourged was "transported from Jerusalem to Rome by John Cardinal Colonna, one of the leaders of the north Crusade, in the year 1223, and was placed in his title church of St. Praxedis." That's all. :S



Clockwise: Reliquary of the Lance/Spear of St. Longinus, frame reliquary containing the part of what once wrapped the burial Shroud (of Turin?) of Christ, and the replica-reliquary of the Holy Nails.
Lance/Spear of St. Longinus - This is said to contain part of the lance/spear which pierced the side of Christ to ensure His death; a few other bits are said to be found in one of the four pillars over the altar in St. Peter's Basilica. Its owner, Longinus the centurion, is credited to have said, "Indeed, this was the Son of God." He soon converted, left the Roman Army, worked with the Apostles, and became a monk in Cappadocia; he was shortly arrested and beheaded hereafter, with part of his body buried somewhere in the church of St. Augustine in Rome.
Sindonis DJNC - The relic contained inside is believed to have come from the exterior wrapping that would contain the burial Shroud (of Turin?) when it was not travelling or simply being venerated.
Holy Nails - The nails contain filings from the true Holy Nails, three of which have been lost due to natural and supernatural reasons. Only one nail survives, in Sta. Croche church.

Also, during Holy Week, I took two "online retreats" ("online recollections" would be a better term, considering none of the retreat modules last longer than 1 hour). The first would be Meeting Places, run by Fr. Johnny Go of the Society of Jesus and hosted by the Philippine Jesuits' official blog site. The second is the Holy Week Retreat Special on Video run by noted lay preacher Bo Sanchez on his video-streaming blog site Preacher in Blue Jeans. (Special thanks to my dear friend CJ Latosa and Ms. Lori Tongco for the online retreat recommendations. And, the website of the Philippine Society of Jesus is also handling Easter/post-Lent mini-retreats called "Easter Moments.")

I am learning that the reason I continue to feel restless is because I am still as infirm spiritually, morally, emotionally and even mentally as I used to be. I am still very painfully shallow and heavily set on my exterior self, as indicated by my still-strong fandoms for animanga and video games, and my rapidly returning passion for fashion. I still hate looking inside myself, especially because I don't like what I see. So much for maturity heh. The stress and duress of living have gotten to me, but since I just can't afford to go on an out-of-town retreat, I am very glad I found these online "retreats" so that I can reflect peacefully, detached from the rest of the world for a few cherished minutes. It amazes me every single time that just when I thought I knew everything I needed to know about my religion, my personal beliefs and myself, a few seconds of meditation will obliterate all of that, and force me to re-evaluate. It amazes me that I am still so undeserving of God's sacrificing love, and that I have already lost so much of myself - or, rather, what I used to be - in the world. It's sad. There is no way you can return to the past, after all. But now I am determined to be more alert with my thoughts, words and actions in the present, and to hopefully make better decisions for my own future. And hopefully, I can make do without the online shopping pages I have now become a slave to...

I will acknowledge that I am an avowed Roman Catholic, and it scares me that the one I love is not religious, not because he does not believe at all, but because he has a whole other system of belief that I really cannot understand. I am trying my very best to see everything from his point of view, but I guess the key difference between us is that my faith and my experiences have always been intertwined, while he bases his beliefs from his experiences, and can even keep the two separate. I am hoping and praying this won't be a source of conflict later on, since we're compatible in many other ways. I am going to anticipate the worst though, and try to make our relationship work no matter what.

Which reminds me, since I couldn't find the original recording of UP ICTUS singing the psalm by Purcell, I found some videos of other choirs rendering it. (Being a choral geek, I couldn't pass this up. Some of the best songs have always been the depressing ones, and this is an excellent example. XD;)


This first one is by the Choir of Clare College Cambridge. This choir's version is very nearly perfect in pitch and timing; the beauty of the song is because of the thickly textured polyphony inherent in it, given that the lyrics are composed of only two phrases and repeated throughout the entire course of the song.


This second one is by the Monteverdi Choir. Their pitch is a bit off (like, a step or so lower) and the Spanish pronunciations of the choir stick out during the entire song, but the video makes up for it by featuring only the soprano, alto and tenor 1 sections (both notations and lyrics), making the song fairly easy to follow - perfect if you can't get a copy of the original notations online.
I sang soprano 2/mezzo-soprano with my orgmates/choirmates, and I was pleasantly surprised that although I can't remember reading the notes, I could still follow the flow of the song through this video.

Labels: cuaresma, lent, online, retreat

I wish we had heartbreak leave at work too, but right now what's more important is that I don't and won't actually need heartbreak leave. ^_^

Thanks to a batchmate of mine from high school, Ada Yao, for posting this. Originally taken from Yahoo! Headlines. XDDDDDDDDDDD

============

Japanese firm offers "heartache leave" for staff

Mon Jan 28, 4:48 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off after a bad break-up with a partner, with more "heartache leave" on offer as they get older.

Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick," CEO Miki Hiradate, whose company of six women markets cosmetics and other goods targeted for women, told Reuters by telephone.

Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said.

"Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious," Hiradate said.

Hime & Company staff can also take two mornings off twice a year as "sales shopping leave", so they can race to stores to hunt for bargains.

"Before, women could take half-days off to go to sales, but you'd have to hide your shopping bags in lockers by the train station," Hiradate said.

"But with paid leave, we don't have to feel guilty about bringing our shopping bags to work, and we can enjoy the best part about sales shopping -- talking about our purchases afterwards."

Happy New Year everyone! Hope your holidays were good. X3

As if my growing addiction to Charmmy Kitty is not enough, a friend of a friend introduced me to the most ridiculously cute and hilarious sci-fi/slice-of-life anime comedies to come out of Japan this past fall season: Moyashimon, Tales of Agriculture.

It's about this freshman at an agricultural university whose talent is seeing and communicating with micro-organisms. By this I mean bacteria and germs mostly, but I guess this extends to virii, amoeba, fungi and others like it. If you name it, I guess he pretty much can talk to it. And he sees the microbes in cutoid glory, so lovingly drawn, animated and voiced that it's difficult to remember that many of them are actually disgusting (and even dangerous) little creatures. XD There's even a Microbe Theatre 5-minute short at the end of each TV episode where the microbes interact with each other and discuss their raison d' etre very cutely and comically.

As my greatest frustration is that I am so far removed from my doctor, dentist and pharmacologist relatives because my eyesight is so bad and my entire personality is better suited in the arts and geared towards cute things, this satisfies my latent geekiness for biological things quite nicely. It's obviously very educational, and succeeds in being so especially because it presents the subjects of micro-biology and agriculture with an interesting slant. The facial expression of the girl who showed this to me was quite priceless once I began talking (originally to her, but as it was to no-one in particular) about showing this to my pharmacologist aunt and cousin, who've done work with bacteria until recently (our family owns a drugstore, and they used to produce our own medicines until the bacteria and other ingredients were too expensive to cultivate and purchase). XD;

True to form, the labjunkie animanga fans are spazzing over this, and an increasing number of them have even provided highly informative yet very digestible notes and discussions. Here's one by Riuva (a Food Sciences and Technology major) and a whole slew by ~cerulean88 of Livejournal (a Biology major) to enhance your enjoyment of the show.

Alrighty, back to work. Will scour for more Moyashimon goodness sneakily in between. XD;

Labels: anime, manga, moyashimon, tales_of_agriculture