KONNICHIWA LITTLE TOKYO :D:D:D:D *HAPPY GRADUATION ATSI DOR!!!!*

March 31, 2009

- went to Dorenett's house after piano lesson around 2pm :D:D:D:D

- I decided to wear my jinbei that day for an authentic Japanese, homey/cozy feel :D:D:D:D....I'm glad I did!!!! :D:D:D:D

- made cuentuhan while waiting for Christiane to arrive....

- several decades later, Christiane finally arrived!!

- made cuentuhan again, while waiting for Dorenett's younger brother, Daniel to arrive....

- Several centuries later, Daniel finally arrived!! (around 5 or so)

- went to Little Tokyo to celebrate Dorenett's graduation!! YAY!!!! HAPPY GRAD!!!! :D:D:D:D

- Little Tokyo, for those who haven't gone there, is a tiny tiny tiny tiny place (they weren't kidding when they said LITTLE Tokyo) with a few authentic Japanese restaurants. What's great is that everything is Japanese....from the menu, the television, the people (except for the waiters and waitresses), the language, my attire (HAHA), the ambience, etc.

- first went to Hana for their famous takoyaki :D:D:D:D We sat at the end of the tiny tiny restaurant. That's they part where you can sit on a sort of "platform" with Japanese pillows and such....(eating Japanese style....in short)

- went to Ghost Town (another restaurant), for their famous yakiniku (grilled meat) :D:D:D:D The restaurant was named as Ghost Town, because their restaurant "theme" was the local Japanese cemetery. The waitresses are dressed up in funeral clothes (so they said....), and "tomb sticks" were placed around the restaurant. According to Dorenett, the place was "parang marumi na hindi", since the place was "maintained" to look dirty, old, and eerie, though the place was clean, and the servers were fun to talk to as well. Plus, there was a television with a random Japanese show on. Haha....We are able to sit on a place just like in Hana, an elevated platform, where you can sit, and eat Japanese food, Japanese style :D:D:D:D

- Went back to Hana for the shaved ice dessert. Imagine a snow cone, but on a bowl with milk....or imagine a Malaysian Ice Cacang without anything except for the colored syrup and milk :) :) :) :) We ordered two flavors - peach and ramune. Ramune tasted like bubble gum soda. Thanks to the power of internet, I found out a few seconds ago that Ramune was a brand of soda in Japan with different flavors, one of which being Bubble Gum.

- We sat at the same location, at the back with the elevated platform and such, and made cuentuhan again while eating the two bowls of shaved-ice-dessert. We ended the night with a "tummyfull" of Jap food....and a tingling "kakakilig" (as Dor would put it) feeling in the tongue....YAY....:D:D:D:D

- Btw, before we left, Rafael Rosell and some friends (non-celeb friends I guess) ate at Hana as well. They sat outside, ordered, and smoked. Haha.

CURIOUS CONVERSATION:

Dor: Ate, ate, ano po yung Ramune??

Ate: Ahhh....ehh....parang ano.... (can't explain, asks Jap owner)

Ate: Ee.....eee....ramune??....What.....ramune??

Owner: Ramune?? (looks at drawing of the shaved ice dessert with the word ramune under it)....RAMUNE!!!! (points to the drawing)

Ate: Uhh....what is Ramune?? (asks Jap owner again)

Owner: Ramune??....hmm....ehh....RAMUNE!!!! RAMUNEEEEEEE!!!! (points to the same drawing....ate looks more confused than ever)

Dor: Ate, ano po lasa nung ramune??

Ate: Parang....uh.....(goes inside to ask for help probably....she later comes out again)

Dor: Ate....ano yung lasa ng ramune??

Ate: Ah....kulay blue.
(All 4 of us looked at each other, with big anime question marks above us)

Ate: AH....uhh....parang lasang soda ganon....

Gil: AH OK....

"Earth Day" Getaway at La Mesa Eco Park FUN-day Saturday!!!!

- Sa haba haba ng mga plinano, sa La Mesa rin ang bagsak. Hahahaha....

- Met at CKSC around 9 ~ 9:30am

- Nathalie, aka Dora (since 4th year HS)....CUT HER HAIR AND DRESSED UP LIKE DORA (ako nakapansin actually)....ngayon alam na natin ang hitsura ni Dora paglaki....

- **** BTW, Here's the whole Dora Crew: Nathalie = Dora, Ako = Diego, Jessica = Backpack (kasi Jessica was the one holding the map of La Mesa), and since we ran out of characters, Nathalie said that Berna should be SWIPER. Hahahaha....para masaya raw. HAHA!!

- GRABE....ang hassle papuntang La Mesa.... from LRT 2, MRT, cab, then trike. HAHAHAHA....

- When we arrived, we ate lunch first, then rode the boat at the lagoon. Thanks to the ever-reliable travel blogs scattered in the net, I was able to remind myself that we were allowed to feed the geese. I bought the pellets for the geese at the store nearby for 20 pesos. When were rode the boat and fed the geese, everyone else was watching at us....wondering where we got our ever reliable goose-food. HAHAHAHA....YAY....

- We planned to try the zipline next....but they needed to have a 1 hour break.

- We decided to ride horses (around 30 minutes??), and prance around La Mesa like DeeDee's pony dreams. (Dee Dee => Dexter's sister, from Dexter's Laboratory)

- After riding the horses, we decided to fish....but....they closed down the fishing site for renovation (boo us....boo them)

- We went back to the zipline thing, and hoped that they were already opened....and guess what....IT WAS. YAY....

- PERO....pero pero pero pero..................UMULAN!!!! So....we had to wait....kahit puwede....kasi moody yung rain....hay....hard to get talaga ang weather....

- Berna and I decided to go, then Nathz and Jess planned to do the rock climbing thing instead. PERO....it was kinda wet....so they weren't able to....awwwwwwwww....

- It was quite early pa when we ended....so we decided to ride a boat again....hahahaha....this time....NO FEEDING naman....hahahaha....

- While rowing the boat....the other boats near us made a slight commotion.....ALL BECAUSE OF A LITTLE CUTE SLIGHLY-LARGE SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE....Since kami ang may pinakamalapit na boat....at ako lang ang may gustong humawak sa cute turtle....ako lang ang pumulot nung turtle from the water....haha....

- We ended everything at around 4 or so....so we decided to go to Gateway to have something to eat....hassle ulit papunta don....hay....sort of pretty much the same way din kung paano kami nakarating....we had an FX instead of a cab though, so nakamura a bit....haha....

- We ate at Pizza Hut....and man....ANG HIRAP MAGTAWAG NG TAO DON....pero ok lang. Enjoy naman. Hehe :D:D:D:D

- Ended the day with sore sore legs....and....a penniless wallet (sort of....haha....).... I bought some things that I needed pa kasi from Gateway. Hahahaha....so ayon....

- We were pretty much sabaw and sira and vain today....since there were only 4 of us, when we're usually 5 or more when we go out....haha....Everyone was missing due to different reasons....hay....excuses....hahahaha....JOKE :D:D:D:D Valid naman kaya ok lang :D:D:D:D....haha....

Hay, today was also exactly a year after our last summer getaway (in MOA)....may Earth Hour din non....then naabutan namen....then nastranded kami....HAHAHAHA.... (refer to former album)

YAY!!!!

March 13, 2009, Random Friday In Ateneo, Last Day of Ms. Coo's "Play-a-thon"

ONE WEEK LATE POST....haha....

- took pictures from Ms. Coo's morning class, since she forgot her camera in the department. (gave the pictures to her na....)

- Gillian was a good actress. Hahahaha. "Typical Gillian" acting. HAHAHAHA

- I also performed for Leslie's Thailand group....bali this was Ms. Coo's 2:30 class. Haha. In return, Leslie and Kaz took pictures and did a bit of make-up thingies for our Nepal play (March 11, 2009). Haha. I did a Thai dance....complete with homemade headdress, and alternative cloth thingies for the costume. Hahahaha....

-After performing, Les, Leana, Kaz and I hung out in the caf to discuss our PR plan (don't remind of PR please. Haha). I realized that I didn't have a proper picture in my "Thai" costume, so I dressed up again....kahit na mejo hassle. hahahaha....Kaz took vain pictures of me. Haha

- After discussing out PR plan and stuff, I carpooled with Danica and company all the way home. Hahahaha. took pictures of the sky and all from the car....it's hard to take pictures there. HAHAHAHA....YEY



****photos courtesy of my cam, Les's cam and Kaz's cam....haha....

Karma Ka Dharma, Dharma Ka Karma: IT'S SHOWTIME....

March 11, 2009, ChingTan Room, 12:30-1:30 (classtime)

Karma Ka Dharma, Dharma Ka Karma is basically a creative non-fictional story about the kumari that lived during Prithvi Narayan Shah's reign in Nepal. Parvati Shakya becomes the kumari but gives out a bad omen about Prthvi's son, who will not be a good successor to the throne. Seeing this, Prithvi's "loyalest to the highest level" soldier could not accept the bad things Parvati told the king. Parvati then menstruates, meaning letting go of her kumari position. She grows up, and her parents tell her that some minor officials (who are harcore loyalest to the highest level din) are planning to get Parvati because of the bad omen she gave when she was still the kumari. She escapes, but falls into the clutches of the soldier (same as the one kanina), but now with a more Batman's Joker-like effect....because he never like the kumari anyway. Parvati escapes, falls into the hands of the son of one of the officials (who had no connection with the kumari's capture). He soon becomes kumari's lover....and husband. The husband dies young, and the kumari says "HOINAAAAAAAA" which means "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO". Hahahaha. :D:D:D:D

Patti Sunio as young Parvati Shakya
Nica del Rosario as old and gurang Parvati Shakya (haha, mean)
Joe Machuca as Shambho Baral (Parvati's lover)
Dave Anastacio as Gopal Shakya (Parvati's dad)
Pauline Bolisay as Uma Shakya (Parvati's mom)
Chester Cheng as Prithvi Narayan Shah (king)
Michael Abano as Soldier
Lauren Yap as Taleju Devi (goddess) and peacock (sa peacock dance)
Rexon See - sound
Karin Fernandez - lights
Me - Lakhey, Kathak and Bharatanatyam Dancer, extras in many scenes, costume provider, etc etc.

MANY THANKS TO:

-my group, like Duh. Haha. Thanks for cooperating with each other and with me as well....I know it's tough to put a play like this together....especially within a limited time.

Dave, thanks sa almost realistic goat and buffalo heads....and sa set :D:D:D:D

Pauline, thanks sa paglagay ng eyeliner saken, at sa pagdala ng maraming random stuff including the garlands for Ms. Coo

Patti, thank you for being the bestest of the bestest kumari. Haha....

Nica and Joe, thanks for cooperating with the dance and song number....

Mac, thanks for putting up with my constant nagging. Hahahaha....

Rexon, dude!! Thanksssssssssssss....can't express my utmost gratitude....

Karin, thanks for putting up with my constant nagging with the playbill, and for being my wonderful "secretary."

Chester, muchas gracias por siendo un rey bueno del Nepal....

Lauren dear!! Thanks for being the most wonderful peacock!! :D:D:D:D

- Tibs, thanks for helping out in out group, kahit na hindi ka namin kagroup, or classmate in histo for that matter....you're not even my blockmate nga eh. :)) :)) :)) :)) Pero still the same, thanks!!!! :D:D:D:D Thanks din pala for video-ing us :D:D:D:D

- Kaz, thanks for hacer make up de mis groupmates :D:D:D:D (conyo Spanish....haha)

- Charlie and group!!!! Thanks talaga for showing our trailer, lalo na you guys had that "thing" that happened pa last time, pero still the same, you managed to show our trailer :D:D:D:D

- Leslie, thanks for taking pictures of us during the play (with my camera....haha)

- Everyone who went....THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!! HUGGIE!!!!

- Ms. Coo, THANK YOUUUUU (if you can see this, our gratitude was expressed in the playbill):D:D:D:D Haha....


TRIVIA about the play:

- Lauren's peacock tail was made from 2 dead palm leaves that I found on a random walkway....the 2 leaves stared at me like crazy....so I figured that I needed them, so ayon....haha....

- Nica and Joe's song was just made up of 4 lines :D:D:D:D (minus the "aaaah" part)

- most of the costumes were from me....haha....

- Dave made the realistic skulls and heads from styrofoam plates, bowls, and other items (ASTIG SOBRA....)

- We all discovered Rexon's "other" side....Rexon is usually quiet kasi (pero pag bumanat benta)....pero yung music sa computer niya....well....hahahaha....very opposite sa impression namin kay Rexon....HAHA....Dave fondly calls the songs in Rexon's computer as "Rexon Music"....haha....labo....

- Ilang times nang napalitan ang sched namin sa play, due to some instances like the holiday or something....buti na lang inayos ni Ms. Coo ung mga schedules....:D:D:D:D....the original day of the play was Feb 25. :D:D:D:D

- One time when we were practicing in Leong Hall, nagalarm bigla yung Fire alarm, tapos Manong guard asked kung may pinindot kami....haha....e wala naman, malayo nga kami sa "Break the glass" fire alarm eh (tapos hindi pa broken ang glass, which proves us innocent. Haha).

- In our last day of practice (the day after the fire alarm thing), 3 groups were practicing in Leong: our group (12:30 class), Toni's Mongolia group (2:30 class), and Kenn's Sri Lanka group (11:30 class)....wala lang, may kanya kanya kaming borders....kanya kanyang mundo, kanya kanyang countries, etc. Hahahaha....
Kulang na lang pala yung 9:30 class ni Ms. Coo....nasa Matteo field ata sila eh....haha....

- Patti's crown was made from illustration board, cartolina, yarn (for the handmade pompoms and tassels), Chinese lawit thingies, and plenty of flat marbles I found in my drawer. :D:D:D:D

- Lauren's peacock dance was a mixture of the Chinese and the Nepalese peacock dance, due to some circumstances :D:D:D:D

- Joe and Nica's song was an original composition written and composed by me :D:D:D:D

- Pauline is the goddess of all bangles known to man. Hahahaha....

- We released a trailer and 3 versions of the poster for the play :D:D:D:D

- We cut our next class after the play so that we could eat our lunches :( :( :( :(

- A 5-yard olive green cloth was wrapped around Chester's head to form his turban :D:D:D:D Haba noh??

- I didn't let Pauline wear much of her bangles and other accessories because her role was poor....so ayon....hahahaha....sorry Pauline. HAHAHAHA :D:D:D:D

- I included the dances Bharatanatyam and Kathak in the play, even if they're Indian in nature. Kathak was used to tell a story, since that's what the Kathak dance is all about. Bharatanatyam, in my point of view, caters more to Hindu related stories....Lauren and I danced this towards the end when Joe was telling a story about Shiva and Parvati's love.

- Sa lahat ng tao....Ako ang may pinakamaraming costume changes....:(( :(( :(( :((....TORTURE....haha....after ko, si Lauren....haha....

- We had fun :D:D:D:D

Karma Ka Dharma, Dharma Ka Karma (Posters)

Here are our posters for out History play, made none other than Mr. Dave Anastacio himself :D:D:D:D Galeng. :D:D:D:D

RETURN TO HEAVEN: CCA AGAIN....HAHA *Can't get enough of CCA....*

March 3, 2009

- I invited Pauline to lunch, since wala akong kasama. She invited Chester to join us, which is great (the more the merrier.)

- It just so happened na pumunta rin ang kabilang Comm block to eat there (massive PR/advertising naman kasi namin ni Leslie and other groupmates ko sa CCA. Haha....)

- Same format: 50 (yes, FIFTY) pesos for a 3-course meal, excluding refillable drinks and the bread basket. Today, the bread basket had assorted bread (unlimited bread), and unlimited butter. The drinks were either soda or the special non-alcoholic bar drink with whatever nice syrup that is with orange juice. It's non refillable, but you can still order the bottomless soda afterwards. O DI BA??

- The soup was a sort of "Yin Yang" fashioned cream of tomato and corn. The main entrees were either pork belly with eggplant and rice, or salmon with risotto mixed with green peas, bacon bits and baby tomatoes. (We all ordered this ata). The dessert was a big slice of white chocolate cheese cake na meron nakakaumay in the end due to its size. :D:D:D:D

- We went to practice afterwards. (most of my Histo play groupmates were there kasi....like Joe, Nica, Pauline and Chester :D:D:D:D). Yung ibang people naman, well, they went elsewhere. Hahahaha :D:D:D:D

- I AM GOING BACK TOMORROW....it's the last day na raw, then yung susunod, next next month na....so mga May ata yun. I won't go to Katips just for this, sorry CCA. Haha. Going back next schoolyear. BWAHAHAHAHA....