Engine : About a defunct F1 racer who went back to Japan to restart his career but was surprised to get into a race he never planned to get into- the race of life.

Coffee Prince ( Korean) : About a street- smart girl who struggled everyday to feed her family and suddenly found herself involved in a scheme where in she is mistaken as a boy. She met a man who needed to start a coffee shop and was hired as a boy- the twist is that the manager fell in love with her not knowing she is a girl. She grew to love making coffee so much that could not bear to reveal the truth. and so the story thickens.

Lunch Queen : Natsumi loves lunch. By chance she starts working for “Kitchen Macaroni”, posing as the fiance of the owner’s eldest son, Kenichiro. Kenichiro’s father Kenzo and his three younger brothers – Yujiro, Junzaburo, and Koshiro – run the restaurant, famous for its omelet. Also working at the restaurant are Mamoru, a chef, and Minoru, a live-in apprentice cook. Not everyone has a liking to Natsumi at first, but over time they will surely fall in love with her.

Hotaru Hikari : Hotaru leads a double life at work and at home. Nobody knew this fact except a man( who later turned out to be his boss at work ) came to live with her in the house. What i liked here is how Hotaru was able to overcome the obstacles in her work which propelled her to strive harder. I hated though her unwillingness to change her hygiene habits completely; plus her reactions to normal social encounters are so contrived and exaggerated like talking to oneself while someone is talking to her. in these sense its not so cute as Nodame Cantabile. Nodame character’s expression are suited to her personality and to the story but Hotaru seems almost unbelievable. Hotaru has a career and Nodame is still finding out about herself that’s why her messy habits maybe believable.

Hana Kimi – The drama is based on the popular manga of the same name by Nakajo Hisaya, which has already been dramatized in Taiwan. Horikita plays the protagonist Ashiya Mizuki, a Japanese girl in the U.S. who one day sees the young athlete Sano Izumi (Oguri) compete in the high jump on television. She begins to idolize him, and decides to move to Japan to attend the same school as him. However, Izumi goes to an all-boys school, so Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to achieve her dream of being with her idol.

Nobuta wo Produce Kiritani Shuji is the popular guy who gets along with everyone, from the jerks to the nerds to the just plain weird. The one person Shuji cannot stand is Kusano Akira. To Shuji, Akira is just plain annoying. He laughs, talks and acts funny. Things heat up when a new student comes to school. Her name is Kotani Nobuko, a girl who has no self confidence at all and is content at being made fun of and bullied in school. Shuji and Akira come to an accord that in order to make use of their “youth” they will “produce” Nobuko as the next popular girl. One of the conditions, however, is that nobody should find out that they are working together as a team to make this concept possible. Unveiled here is the story of true friendship between three unlikely candidates who would not have been friends if not given the special circumstances.

Nodame Cantabile – Based on the hit comic book by Tomoko Ninomiya, this is a fun-filled quirky romantic story of two very opposite people.

Megumi Noda, or “Nodame” is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. She is messy and disorganized, takes baths several days apart and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend’s lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies.

Shinichi Chiaki, is Momogaoka’s top student. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. An arrogant multi-lingual perfectionist who once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy, he feels mired in Japan because of a childhood phobia.

They meet by accident. Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame’s unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Because of Nodame, Chiaki transfers into the Conductor Division, leads a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people’s musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.

some movies i have watched

Swing girls 10/10 – hilarious – light hearted, nostalgic,

TEN promises to my Dog – endearing tear-jerker

i cried a lot of times and during so many parts especially when the children have to be distributed to different orphanages because the Home had to be closed down. The children got into the usual bully fights but the neighborhood bigheads used the children’s pasts as opportunity to chomp onto them.

i wonder if there are really people like those in the drama who judge you because of things that can’t be helped or because of things your parents did. Are the society ( in this case – japanese ) really that harsh to children or people who are helpless? or the movies just glamorizes them for income sake ?

in the drama, the kids were abandoned or left at the Home due to parent’s reasons ( mostly selfish- the kids are mere responsibilities the parents refuse to take care of).its understandable if the reasons are due to health or financial incapability.

well these maybe spices up the series into a real tear-jerker feel – good kind of entertainment.

here is a really funny scene where in Aoi ( a gifted 8-year old with psychic sense) and his older brother were left at the new orphanage. Aoi told Teacher Tomome (Jiro’s love interest) to take care of Jiro.

A: Take care of Jiro ok ?

T: huh?

A: if there is not somebody serious watching over the immature Jiro, who knows what will happen?

T: ( stammers )

Then Jiro butts in,

Jiro: hey why are you looking so troubled?

T: well its a joke right ?

Jiro : Aoi ! ( motioned her to come nearer and looked at her in an arrogant serious manner ) … Dont cheat on me.

A: Too bad . Its over for us, we have to break – up for good and move on from here ok?

Jiro: Where did you learn to say that?

A: Jiro we have our own lives to look forward to.

Jiro: too Cool … ( smirks) everybody smiled …

The series was really enjoyable.

It is not about whether he wins in the race itself but whether he wins against himself and what he does after that.

It is more about picking up your dreams again after they have been torn by someone or something and laughing any way because you got it mapped out in your heart. and nobody can take it away from you.

It is more about trusting others again and about second chances, about crying when you are sad laughing when you are happy, about giving your best no matter what you are doing, about not giving up on somebody because what they have done in the past but because they have a good heart after all.

Vvvroooooooooooooommmmm…

i watched this japanese drama comedy Engine where in Ueno Juri appeared before her big break in Nodame Cantabile.

The story was about a Euro-racer named Kanzaki Jiro who got fired and went back to Japan to seek his former coach to take him again on the team as a champion driver. To his unbelief, the coach refused Jiro but that did not stop him from proving to him that he really wanted to race again. When he got home , he was equally shocked to find out that his father have taken in 13 children in his care calling their house Kaze no Oka Home and not an Orphan asylum. Each child had a unique past that kept them from trusting others as possible parents and having their own dreams and pursue them. This awkward seemingly difficult chop suey of personalities makes up the story that will definitely make your hearts swell as they learn and grow with each other try to regain their own self -worth.

As i have finished Episode 5, i am really intrigued how defunct racer Kanzaki Jiro will be able to get back on the winner ‘s podium. Well, right now my heart is really pounding with excitement on how it will turn out.

one of my favorite scene was when Jiro made a pinky – swear to all the kids and Teacher Tomome that he will win again one day. it was kind of sweet. the children pretended to be asleep but they were really listening.

Episode 6…. here i come.

i am scheduled to go home on the 13th of june this year for the wedding of jinky in batangas on may 20 .  i am so blessed  that i can go home this year since may 2007 .

i am going with anne via etihad airways so it will be definitely an enjoyable pleasant trip. but of course when we get to manila we have to spend more time with the family also. i must also go home to bicol province to see my Lolo mentz… and other relatives…

my brother is now in manila with my aunt in pasig so i guess i will be staying there while im in manila.

after the wedding we will be going on GK immersion as well and trips to bohol maybe or palawan which reminds me that we should start planning our trip so the time wont be wasted .

right now i am dreaming of white beaches and mountain jeepney rides and swimming in freshwater… well maybe because our office air conditioning system broke down so it seems i am already in manila. grabe buti sana kung winter. arrrrrrrrrrghhhh…

hopefully we can play badminton again tonight so we can shake those calories off.   we jogged/ biked  last monday and played yesterday.  on thursday  night will be jogging/ biking too.   cycling was fun because i was able to find a really good bike ( rented )  which lets  me pedal harder  -working my leg muscles more.

Smash and hit, bend and serve,

Pant, sweat, laugh and shout!

” There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft… When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.”

- Baba to Amir … ( Chapter 1 of 7 )

I was able to download the BBC audio book  of Kite Runner from the net and I must say I am enthralled even just hearing the first Chapters!

This book is a jewel!

Ang gwapo ni HOwl…but he turns into a griffin   when he uses violence to fight. Nkakatawa lang mejo madrama ang loko kasi me part duon na nagalaw ni Sophie ( bida na girl) yung mga shampoo ni Howl e me magic pala yun, so yung buhok nia parang litmus paper ng- iiba ng kulay. Sabi ba naman, pano daw sia mabubuhay kung di sia maganda. Bading! Pero in the long run tinuruan sia ni Sophie makita ang tunay na kahulugan ng kagandahan.

Sort of the Beauty and the Beast plot.

But of course the film was amazing with its imagery but the plot is a bit hazy.

I want to watch the other Ghibli films.

Castle in the Sky,

My Neighbor Totoro,

Whispering Heart

Like The Cloud , Like the Wind.

“the thing about kids is Its all about the take-aways. “

Two things Matt learned today,
One- his first Major heartbreak and two, that he can always try again. “
– Aubrey , October Road

la lang . just thought id post this cartoon strip of Calvin and his tiger. i so love these cartoon strips. i found them on the net by torrent zipped format all these from 1985 to 1995 by Bill Watterson.