2007: The Year in Review

Third "year in review" piece. What to write, what to write.

Okay. Game.

This year I turned 25. My theory that the year you turn (put your birthdate here; in my case 25 since I was born July 25th) is a memorable year is finally put to the test. So far it has been memorable naman. On my birthday Jim, Aldy, Aps, and I went to Osaka Castle Park in the day, watched a fireworks festival at Sakuranomiya in the evening, and had yakiniku for my birthday dinner. Tsalap.



This year obviously was a big year for me, work-wise. I went to Japan for the first time in March. and so far I've spent five months here in total. Travelled to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, basically all tourist sites surrounding Osaka. Japan's great. Some things I've learned living in Japan:

- No matter how good you think you are in Nihongo during training in the Philippines, when you get to Japan, you are going to stink. Big time. Every time. It doesn't matter how many anime series of J-doramas you've watched. YOU. WILL. SUCK.
- All Japanese are always in a hurry. Always. Walking, smoking, working, serving food, lahat. Hindi matatawaran ang efficiency ng mga Hapon. Bow talaga.
- "Kupal" is not a cultural thing. Some people generalize and say kupal ang mga Hapon, pero I don't agree. Ang masasabi ko lang, if I were asked, mababait ang mga Hapon. Sobrang gagalang. Pero hindi lahat. May mga gusto mo ring bigyan ng isa minsan. Para ring sa Pinas. So it's really not a cultural thing. Kahit saan ka magpunta may kupal talaga.
- Maraming gwapo sa Japan. You can go on and tell me na biased lang ako sa mga singkit, pero seryoso. I don't know what they have in the water here, pero every time I go out I always get to see a major hottie. Oftentimes I don't even have to go out, I just have to turn my head in the office and hello, there's Anjo, stretching and unintentionally lifting his shirt in the process, giving the world a free peek to his flat, toned stomach. Sigh. Which brings me to my next lesson learned.
- Bawal lambingin ang may asawa. Sorry talaga, Mrs. Anjo. You've caught yourself quite a hot daddy.
- Last but not least, I learned that just because you are in Japan does not mean you will run into Matsumoto Jun looking like this. Damn.


Oh well. May three months pa naman ako dito e. Lots of time.

Moving on, this year was also The Year of Arashi.


I discovered Arashi via the Jun bait, or getting hooked on Arashi by watching Matsujun doramas (Hana Yori Dango, Gokusen, etc.) and discovering his boyband in the process. Damn, kung nung 1997 meron akong Hanson (oo na!), ngayong 2007 meron akong Arashi.

(L-R)

Aiba Masaki
Initially I thought he looked, well, ordinary. Ugly, even. But I've since reformed. He's totally entertaining to watch, his pants are always falling off, and he I have to admit has a certain quality of hotness din naman pala. And he's such a softie too, he will cry at anything, even during thanking their 55,000 fans for attending their Tokyo Dome concert. Aaaw.


Sakurai Sho
Rapper dude. Rapper dude with a hot hot hot body. That alone would make him cool in my book, but apparently he's also a graduate of Keio University, the Japanese equivalent of an Ivy League school. Or Ateneo, if that makes it easier. (Harharhar.) So he's rapper dude with a hot body and brains to boot.


Ohno Satoshi
If I had to choose among all of Arashi who I would like to spend the rest of my life with, it would be this guy. I mean, Matsujun's the Matsujun of Arashi, but Ohno is the most hilarious person EVER. And the only person in Arashi who can actually sing. And dance. The first fifteen seconds of Ohno's solo in "Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono" is just... I dunno, I don't even understand the words, but I get them because of the way he sang them. SHIT THAT WAS SO CHEESY. Pero anyway totoo, pramis. Pero angkulet pa rin ng mukha nya talaga. Haha. And no, Marie, hindi nya kamukha si Elbert. Syet.


Ninomiya Kazunari
The evilest little fucker among Arashi. Anlakas mang-asar, grabe. First among them to crossover to Hollywood (he was in Letters from Iwo-Jima.) And actually the most good-looking during their earlier days, nung nasa awkward teenager phase pa silang lahat. Come to think of it his face never really changes. Thirty years from now he's still going to look cute and angelic. Kahit sobrang walanghiya nya.




Matsumoto Jun
Last but not the least. Obviously. No introduction needed. Sabi nga ni Kabo, he's twice as famous as any other member of Arashi. But he's definitely the humblest one, and he loves Arashi the most kaya ayus lang. (Parang close kami no.) Pero anyway I didn't say that, the rest of Arashi said that. Pero there, I love him 'cause he replaced Dao Ming Si in my heart with Doumyoji Tsukasa (kahit sobrang reluctant ako dahil mahal na mahal ko yung Meteor Garden dati) and I will never forget the last episode of Gokusen because of his awesome acting. (Yankumeeeeeh!!!) Plus, he's so pretty. :)




And the good thing about fandom in the J-pop world, you will NEVER run out of stuff to buy/read/watch. They're everywhere. In fairness to my self-control this year I only ended up buying the Arashi Around Asia + In Dome DVD.


It was 5k yen, but what the heck. At least I didn't buy all the rest of the glorious Arashi merchandise (and there were a LOT. Man, Arashi's popular.) Last night there was a Johnny's Countdown special and all of Johnny's Boys were there, and Arashi was the host. Stig.

Ok, enough fangirling. Hmm, what else went down in 2007? At the risk of sounding even more boy crazy, I also noticed that I noticed a lot of boys this year. And it all started with Lunch Guy.

- Lunch Guy
- Anjo
- Boyfriend
- Onin
- Kat-tun Guy
- Morning Meeting Guy
- Berdie (na bagong chupet)
- Boah and Bondi (kailangan magkasama)
- and Vren (pumalit diumano sa trono ni Baldy)

Hmm, if I had to choose one boy among them, I would choose... Anjo. Nah, he's married. But if he wasn't I would totally choose him. He's hot, smart, arrogant, kinda gay, and really cute. As in I-can't-believe-he's-a-frickin'-programmer cute. Ok, enough coveting my neighbor's husband. Sorry God. Sorry boys.

This year, courtesy of Japan, I also was able to buy stuff I previously did not have the funds for. Financial freedom, we meet at last!

First, the Creative Vision: M I bought last March. It was my first major purchase since forever, so of course I love it. It is currently filled with around 20 gigs worth of songs and 10 gigs worth of everything else. I mainly use it in trains and stuff.


Second, my totally cool HP Pavilion Entertainment PC, which I bought last October. This one really hurt in the wallet department, but it's still worth it. I love it love it love it.


Third, well, I didn't really buy it, it came with the laptop, but it's still something new I got this year so I'm putting it here anyway. This is the HP Deskjet D4160 I got for free. Haven't actually used it yet, though. Maybe because at the office I'm surrounded by like 50 big ass printers.
And, last but not least, my 500 GB external HDD from Buffalo. Gave me my first taste of omnipotency. Thank you.


Yay. So now you will understand me when I say sorry that I wasn't able to buy pasalubong for you guys when I get back - I spent all my money on me, me, me kasi. Sorry na.

This year, one of my bestest friends got married. I wasn't there to celebrate with the rest of the admuECEzerofive gang, but I was there in spirit, pramis. Congrats, Grace and Melvin.

Also, my effervescent older sister Marie got back from Dubai after two and a half years to the Philippines to hatch the latest Little Ricky Hermoso. Dumadami na sila.


Man this is a long post. Symbolic of how long 2007 was. Syet. Hahaha XD Anyway tapusin ko na muna, pag may naalala pa 'kong thought provoking shit that went down last year habol ko na lang sa ibang post. If any.

Anyway as my boss Richard Gere taught me, in Japan aside from "Akemashite Omedetou" (or Happy New Year), they also say "Yoi Otoshi Wo," or literally, "A good year," in remembrance of the year about to end. And it was a good year, in spite of everything. Here's hoping we all have another good one. :)

良いお年を, and Happy New Year everyone! :)