Start the New Year right with ORIGA!

I know I was 2 (maybe 3) days late to bring up a new post, but New Year and Youtube kept me hell a lot busy and I can say it was worth the wait. Last week, I was decided on putting videos of Emma and its classical, Victorian-style music, then I saw Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, and decided I'd go for Origa this week instead. XD

Origa is a Russian-born singer who went to Japan to eventually start a career. She is best recognized by her songs coupled in the GITS series and OVA. How does one describe her? While I'd simply say "a really awesome and distinguished singer", I found that lacking in sense @_@ so I'd go for "a revolutionary, multi-talented and open-minded foreign artist". LOL XD Anyway her songs themselves can speak in her behalf. She speaks three languages fluently FYI! That's one hard task. Singing and understanding it is a feat in itself as well. @_@


Inner Universe: First up is the opening theme for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 攻殻機動隊. (the first series, where you get to see young Motoko crushing a poor doll in her hand T_T) I found this AMV with scenes taken from the Korean sci-fi animation movie, Wonderful Days, which in my opinion is a perfect match for the song's cyberpunk feel.


Rise: This is a crowd favorite (and many prove this by making quite a large number of AMV's with this song, even if it's not GitS) and is the opening theme for Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd Gig. These are scenes from the high octane sci-fi action film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which btw is a story set 2 years after the happenings in the FFVII game. You can say it's a tribute to Cloud x Tifa, but in general, the song fits in perfectly to the film highlights, and to the fact that Cloud WAS an ex-SOLDIER.


Lullaby: This is one of her more recent songs (it's in Russian/English again) and the AMV includes scenes from Kingdom Hearts II. (This AMV reminded me how much I'm missing by not being able to play Kingdom Hearts. T_T) At first it does sound awkward, but after some time, the song kinda grows on you. Thank God Origa has a smooth, crystal clear voice. *meow!*


Player: This is the full version of the Ghost in the Shell: SAC Solid State Society OVA opening theme (gawd, they pick such long names! *pulls hair in frustration*), featuring a rap done by the sister singers Heartsdales. Origa's videos are scarce, so my choices were very few, and I liked this one best. (timing to animation is perfect around the middle of the AMV! XD)


Date of Rebirth: The full version of the SAC OVA ending theme (I tell you, the title's too long! @_@) Video clips taken from Naruto episodes, and the creator called this A Yankumo Tribute. And I assume plenty of people already know the Foxboy so no more links. ^^


Mizu no Madoromi: Last but not least is one of Origa's Nihonggo songs, which is also used as the ending theme of Fantastic Children. The series itself is not well known (the drawings aren't too appealing, just average I guess), but the song, being unique and melodious was given more credit. It's a pity FC's story wasn't appreciated as much as I anticipated. *sigh* Don't mind the video if it bothers you, I intend to only let you hear the song. XD

Russian is a very difficult language to learn T_T and I once said, "They use v, s and y too much." and it's true! Check the lyrics for these songs, they sure aren't healthy @_@ took me a while to learn how to pronounce them, and I'm sure as hell it'll take longer to read and write the words. :P

Hope everyone had a "not-too-bad" New Year. Akemashite omedetou!

New Year's Resolution: Die in Peace..? *shrug*

Taking off where I left...

December 28, 2006 - Thursday

We woke up early for the COMELEC voter's registration. I was groggy and felt too lazy to get up. It's not like I'm excited to vote, duh. Politicians are all the same anyways, what's the use of adding one or two more votes? No difference. But noooo, Yobee insisted we go. She left that cardboard with the "We will be back after 2 hours" message, and I was sure as hell it won't be kept today either. -_-

***Intermission start***

Trivia: ever since we had the PC shop, we'd leave that cardboard by the gate to show when we'll be back. The funny thing is, we never do get back after two hours. The quickest we made was 4, and that was not at all pleasing! LOL

***Intermission end***

We arrived in the town proper around 7.30AM and saw a bunch of people crowding in outside an old, Spanish-style building. The COMELEC office. Great. That's something to look forward to. It's a good thing she thought of asking a favor that we go inside where there's air-conditioning, she was worried sick that I'd faint right then and there in front of the huge crowd. (It's one thing I'm thankful for Yobee, madaya? Nah, just cunning XD) COMELEC people seem paranoid of sick girls so they let us in while I feigned coughing (which btw turned worse later!!). After I signed up the form, one grumpy lady recommended we return around 2PM to have my picture and fingerprints taken. Oh well, so much for the 2 hours. XD

After we bought my lozenges from the nearest Mercury Drug (I did say my coughs got worse x_x), we rode the jeepney intending to go to SM City Sta. Rosa. Stupid thing we did was we took the jeep headed for Biñan, we got off at the intersection to cross the road and ride all the way to the mall. We didn't know there was a direct ride okay? -_- When we got there, we ate early lunch at KFC (that was past 11AM). Yobee ordered something new for us: the KFC Orange Chicken. (Ohh, Wikipedia explains it!) It's basically the same classic KFC chicken recipe with an orange twist, and I meant to specify it's the rice. It's colored orange! XD I liked the taste, though I can't quite identify what gave the dish that distinct flavor. Maybe herbs? Dunno. I ordered the usual Value meal #1. Nothing new there. XD

KFC Orange Chicken and Mushroom Soup, picture from Metroblogging Manila

After we ate lunch, we decided to go see a movie. it is, after all, time for the 32nd MMFF. We wanted to watch Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo because I hate Enteng Kabisote! ».« The movie struck me from the previews because of its light, Filipino flavored humour. Also maybe because the movie's theme song was Hawak Kamay sung by Pinoy Dream Academy 1st Grand Star Dreamer, Yeng Constantino. But I'm not about to talk about her. (kainis! Her singing style is so not unique! *rant rant rant* -.-;) We caught the movie around 3/4 of the current screening (Kat and Juday talking in the mall) so it took a while for me to catch the shocking parts. What did I mean by shocking? Let me explain.

Sa Pinoy! (from a scale of 1-10, 1-lowest, 10-highest):
• What are the odds that you'd go out for a voter's registration and end up malling later? 9
• ...that you'd sneak food in the theater even though it's prohibited? 8 (muahahaha)
• ...that your seatmate would accidentally knock over your gravy and spill it all over the theater floor (gravy is especially mentioned on the prohibited list btw!!)? 5
• ...that you'd be able to watch a movie with no music breaks (just a few commercials and previews)? 3 (that is very rare! Buti MMFF, lol XD)
• ...that the plot of the story is similar to what your relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend) is going through now (in this case, away-bati)? 6
• ...that the names of the lead roles in the movie you chose to watch (and it was 4-5 months ago when you last watched a movie at the mall!!) would match your boyfriend's name and your name (or alias)? 0

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As if by some fuckin twist of fate their effin names are Jerome (Jed) and Angelita (Angie). [So yeah, my bf's name is Jerome, and my writer alias/pen name is Angela aka Annie. Sounds almost the same anyway so... grr!] Now THAT I soooo did not expect. I was almost thrown off my seat just by the mention of his name! And to think we've been having problems with each other since Christmas day.. or earlier. I can't remember >.> seems like so long since I got pissed off by him. -_- watching the movie almost moved me to tears but i had to stop myself. If Yobee ever saw me crying God knows what kind of interrogation would await me when we get back home. (maybe question me outside the theater, "Sinong iniiyakan mo?!" Waaaah! Nightmare! It's what I hate with secret relationships @_@)

Jed (Ryan Agoncillo) and Angie (Judy Ann Santos) at the mall. Photo courtesy of PeP.

*calming down* Ahh, that's better. -.- anyways right after we came to the first scene we saw the previous screening, we left the mall and returned to the COMELEC office. I saw one of my former Religion class teachers~ (so sorry sir, I forgot your name!! T_T) had my pic taken and I was so noob when the shouter guy guided my fingers on that digital scan thingy, the girl on the PC recited "kanang hintuturo, kaliwang hintuturo, kanang hinlalaki, kaliwang hinlalaki" like a mantra. Katakot.. T_T after that we went straight home. I watched a bit of TV before I went to sleep.

December 29, 2006 - Friday

Today's Christmas Party day! Truth is it's much like any other EiC meeting except we had a lot more fun, more kids making noise around us (they refused to stay in the living room XD) and less worries in our minds. We also had snacks after we had the talks, and I'm just so happy to have them back in the house again.

It warms my heart to know that they really missed me, as much as I missed them. I gave Kate and Lai a gift each, and had only one wrapped gift left (she was absent, but I'll talk about that later). They said ever since I isolated myself from the group several months ago (it was over a year ago if I remember correctly), EiC went into loops and they kept making stories with no sense. Pile after pile of work had strings left attached that twisted into each other, making one very messy mesh of subplots. Much of the core of the story came from me, concoctions in my mind left unfinished, and they weren't really able to understand the concept I laid out for us. And they said it wasn't until November (when I rejoined them) that they began to understand those vague parts of the plot that I left hanging. Right now I'd say the core structure of the story's 80% done. Not much waiting left now. w00t~! ^^

A part of EiC's first group picture, circa May 2001. We just played with stuff ^^

NO ONE TOUCHES THIS! IF YOU DO I WILL HACK YOUR SYSTEM AND PERMANENTLY DESTROY YOUR HD!!!

About her, she was the last member of the group I expected to see back in my home. Nope, not after what happened between us. Long story from long, long ago. It's not worth going back to. Even so, I wrapped an extra gift, looking at that possibility that she'd finally come over and apologize. Well... as I said, you can't have them all.

2007 is so near, and yet old wounds refused to heal... (Joey,) Happy New Year na lang. =)

Christmas Aftermath -- InuYasha Movie Marathon

The last few days that passed after my 12-24 post have been quite eventful for me. I found it appropriate to write about it now before I forget them. XD

December 25, 2006 - Monday
I got off to a great start by arguing with Yobee (my mom) about my phone's new housing. You see the night before, my twinkling star (which is now dull, stained, and a lil bit moldy) got caught in between one of the monobloc chair's many holes and broke off, along with the "ear" of my old 6610i. I was really much stressed out after trying to mix and match the colors of my blog with her breathing down on my neck and constantly nagging for me to shut the f***in PC off, that when it happened, I just had to literally roar out my frustration. I was this close *gestures with thumb and index finger* to throwing my phone against the wall or something!! Then it dawned on me that I won't even dream of spending my savings to buy me a new phone. ¬_¬;

So much for a fun Noche Buena. I just stuffed myself down with Hamonado Roll and watched Inuyasha Movies 3 & 4 (since I damn forgot to watch 1 & 2 anyway). Slept past 12MN.

December 26, 2006 - Tuesday
I wasn't able to wake up early (4AM or earlier) as planned, so I woke up a bit grumpy and... sick. -_- So I got up, dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast. As usual I work at our shop and get stressed over rambling kids, noisy speakers and hot weather. But it felt so much heavier that at one point I wanted to collapse. I couldn't even sit straight to stare at the monitor, what more to play. ¬_¬; Around noontime I resigned to the fact that I felt sick in the stomach and surrendered to the lumpy couch in the living room. Yobee came and checked on me and declared that I had a fever. (then there she went on her usual panic streak, fetching medicines, answering the doorbell, attending to customers.. meh, usual stuff ^^)

I decided to watch TV at around 4PM for the InuYasha movie marathon on Animax. No way siree, my sickness shall not hinder my passion. XD I stared in awe through my mega cool megane (yeah they look so much clearer through my specs! *teary-eyed*) when Hari performed her awesome moves (I'm a fan!! XD) with her double katanas, and Ruri with her spear, I guess, was pretty impressive too. (But a lot of people know I'm all for double daggers! XD) Here are links to video snippets of InuYasha: Affections Touching Across Time. Link1 Link2

Hari looking cute after Kirara throws the Hiraikotsu off

InuYasha: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass shows an adaptation of a famous Chinese/Japanese(?) legend about a celestial maiden taking a bath in a spring and some pervert stealing her clothes. (Wikipedia provides a good round up for this) The maiden here is presented by the movie's antagonist, Princess Kaguya, while a descendant of the guy who stole the celestial robe is presented by Hojo, an ancestor of one of Kagome's classmates back in her time (she proves this because Hojo was a "health freak", and the feudal era Hojo gives them oranges, saying they're good for your health XD). I liked the kissing scene the best, despite feeling it was too awkward for words. @_@ Link

The Kiss (he liked it too, that dawg! XD)

A lot of people know very well that I am a fan of silver-haired bishounen. Kurama, Hisoka, Killua and Sephiroth to name a few (them being demented characters is a plus, dammit XD). Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama counts. *swoon* I liked him best in InuYasha: Swords of an Honorable Ruler. Aside from being glamorous as he always was, he showed a hint of brotherly love for InuYasha by shoving him out of the way of the Sounga's blast and taking in the damage, all the while partly being protected by Tenseiga's barrier. Link

The brothers fighting over the spotlight against Sounga

Well by this time i was already feeling so damn dizzy that I could barely watch, but I just had to see the last of the marathon, InuYasha: Fire on the Mystic Island. Not much to say about this installment, except the Fire War God looks like a girl (he has a fan dammit!), the Water War God (Ryu) looks cute in blue braids (double katanas! waaaaiiii~!), the song of the hanyō of Horai is nice and mysterious (I liked it! Am lookin for it on MP3, help please x.x) and I liked Kanade's priestess garb. (Watch the movie and look for Kanade in the Cauldron, she's only shown once in her robes and she's too far from the camera! X3) The first link is a trailer for the 4th movie. The second is for a video of the ending song, "Rakuen" (English title "Paradise") by Do as Infinity. Link1 Link2

InuYasha, Kirara, Kagome, Sango, Shippou and Miroku with the hanyō of Horai Island

All 4 movies were beautifully made, and I liked the music too. I guess it was worth watching them all even when I was feeling like dying at any moment. @_@ One thing I missed in the InuYasha Movie 4 epilogue (a scene that follows after the ending song) was the scene where Kagome would command "Osuwari!" and InuYasha dives face first towards the ground. Ah, memories. Well, you can't have them all. XD

Ohh lookie! A video of Movie 4 with cool music. Nice frame timing. 5 stars. ^-^

BG Music: "Chop Suey" by System of a Down

I slept the rest of the afternoon and woke up around 9PM. Quick dinner, my dose of medicines and it's off to bed.

zzZZZzzZZzzZZZZzzzz....

December 27, 2006 - Wednesday

I woke up feeling much better than the day before, like I was given a new lease on life. Hey, it may be exaggerating but I really did feel a whole lot better. My mom scolded me for taking a bath XD you see, my girl friends said they'd come over to hold our annual Christmas party at my place today. I sent them a message asking what time they plan to come, but they said they'd postpone it to let me recover. Well, none of us expected me to recuperate overnight o.O so I was left idle all day. I just had to play instead. XD

Next post, I'll wander off to register as a voter (as if my vote would matter! LOL) and blab on about a movie I just saw. I haven't watched any movie on the silverscreen since Mr. and Mrs. Smith! Howmaygosh! @_@

My First Slew of Videos -- Chronicle of the Wings

I forgot to "advertise" the new stuff on my blog. XD First off, I decided to change my blog's theme color. It's (almost) the same template, except I mixed the Christmas colors to make it more friendly. I also took out the old TagBoard and will replace it with a better one soon. And though obviously VERY late, I threw in a counter from Andyhoppe.com to make it all the more friendlier. Autumn themes rock XD

So, to celebrate an out-of-the-ordinary Christmas, I decided to look for videos of my favorite anime series. This week, I chose to get Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (a.k.a. Chronicle of the Wings). I just watched an episode on Animax and I fell in love with it all over again. :D So without further ado, here are my fave YouTube videos for Tsubasa Chronicles.


A Song of Storm and Fire: This is an AMV made by saily with a song composed and sung by Yuki Kaijura. Just wonderful.


Kaze no Machi He: This is an AMV of a song featured on Episode 21, sung by the lady singer in the bar, also known as the [1 oni]. She looks like Arisu Fujisaki of Angelic Layer, except she's older! But truth is, I'm really not sure whose crossover she is >.>


You are my Love: An AMV of Sakura's song, by Makino Yui. Sweeter if we played a duet. ^-^


Yume no Tsubasa: A Sakura-Syaoran duet sung by Makino Yui and Irino Miyu, respectively. OMG!!!11 I just LOVE them! I was totally squealing with delight the first time I heard it. XD


And this one's a piano rendition of Yuki's composition. Gosh I really wanna learn how to play the piano now! X3

Next week, I'll try to look through the other videos and search that song I'm looking for. It's an instrumental with the piano, violin, possibly harp... It played while Sakura soared through the sky before Syaoran found her falling (episode 3 I think). I'll remember the melody so I can identify it next time.

Update: Hey, I found it! The music that plays at the beginning of this clip from Episode 4. Also liked the instrumental of "A Song of Storm and Fire" here. Gotta download anime subs soon. Link

Many thanks to YouTube, Wikipedia, their contributors, and Animax Asia. I feel better already. ^-^

A Chilly Christmas Eve (afternoon blues)

"There's this missing ingredient in the soup of our relationship, and I just can't put my finger on it.
I don't know what it is. Neither would you since I'm the one looking for it.
Just... forget it. Okay?
I know. It sounds stupid."

Maybe it's just me, but I've been feeling under the weather since December came. Maybe that's why I'm writing here again. Ironic, huh? Most people blog coz they have stuff to share, friends to brag to and/or about, entertainment reviews to dish out and all that. Me? I blog to rant, to mope, to wonder... well, basically be the introverted (and sometimes apathetic) girl I'm usually not. Hey, everyone's got to have their moments.

I have a lot on my mind today. I've got my cellphone stuck with me in the PC room where the signal can't reach so my boyfriend can let me mope all I want. I've had an argument with my mom at around past 9 coz her ears can't hear me asking about where she got the oblong-shaped plastic dish. I ignored a mother-and-child pair when they called from our gate asking for Christmas favors. It's like me undergoing a 180-degree change of attitude. I even told a friend how Christmas is seriously overrated in the Philippines. What is UP with me?

... I guess I have less than 10 hours to bang my head on the marbled floor before I go out and enjoy Noche Buena with the dog, the cats, the ghost of the parrot, my three musketeers and hopefully, the panda.

Do you still love me?

With love from California

“Love is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
- Forrest Gump

I got a parcel from my Tita Beth living in the US. She sent us a box of chocolates from the MyAyala.com online shopping site. In fact, I took pictures of it as a remembrance. Hey, it's not everyday I get a box of chocolates for Christmas nowadays. My godparents are so... out of here. Nagtatago! XD

The almost complete, ransacked and put-back-together-again box.

The box made me think of planting flowers. Almost looks perfect as a flower box no? XD

Kulang yan ng isa. Yung Nestlé Crunch. Kaya mukha akong nalugi sa karera ng kabayo.

They're a bit on the dark side. Meh, I don't mind. My blog background's lively enough to compensate. ^-^ Anyway the Crunch conversation went like this:

I was walking towards the PC room. I set up the PC, took the first 2 pics and went to the dining room to fetch the Crunch. Kaya lang wala na pala dun. So I asked mom.

Me: "Ma, nasan na yung Crunch?"
Ma: "Inubos ko na."
Me: "ANO!? Nasan yung balot?"
Ma: "Bakit mo hinahanap? Tinapon ko na.."
Me: "Pipicturan ko yun e! Wave ko sa cam na paubos na! San nyo nilagay yung balat? T_T"
Ma: "Nasa basurahan na sa labas!" *chuckle*
Me: "Waaaaaaaaah!" *walks back to PC room*

And she had the nerve to chuckle! WTF!!! It's been more than a year since I was able to taste that. Fave ko pa man din. Grr grr grr! x_x I know, ang babaw. [[I can't remember what the effin hell I put here but it sure was damn long. Thanks Blogger, for deleting it. I will NEVER use the arrow characters here ever AGAIN! -_-]]

Anyway, here's a lil treat for the good people who tried to research about my real identity.

The pic was taken around 2AM. It's a good thing i even felt like smiling. XD

Merry Christmas everyone. Thank God I have one. Be careful with fireworks ayt? Be content watching. :)

A Momentary Glimpse at the Past

"Whence the skies shall fall,
and the dawn of a new rule shall rise.
From the ashes my crest shall glow;
free me, and pray I see your light."

I thought of dropping by and posting something after more than 7 months. I know, it's been so long. I seriously was thinking of abandoning this again. :P I had this really pesky friend convince me otherwise.

I still am thinking of changing the layout to something a bit more genki. How does pink sound? Though I'm afraid pink might not suit a kitten, with the exception of Hello Kitty. o.O bah, I'll think of... something. Soon.

Anyway, me and this friend of mine had a lil chat, he was rather curious (more like gossiping, lol) about my previous stories, why I posted this or that way and who I was pertaining to. At more that one point, I just thought the same old things, and it's an old list of "What ifs". It's not a healthy list to dwell on, definitely. But one can't help but feel like wanting those moments back, even if you are happy with what you are, where you're at and who you're with.

Maybe in the next couple of days, I can find time to update this blog, maybe even renovate it, and make it look a tad bit more special. After all, my memories aren't posted here for nothing. They're here to serve as my memoirs, tokens of my past. Gifts of knowledge I can share to those who need it.

'till next time. ;)

I'm all messed up again.

Tell me... Does anyone know the feeling of being torn apart? Literally? I think I just felt it.

I was checking my friends' profiles in Friendster when I saw one that really caught my attention. So I opened it. Wow, many photos.. lemme check 'em. ~_~ As I browsed through them and saw the date stamps on the pictures, I tried to trace back to what happened on those dates. I tried to analyze the facial expressions on my friend's face. Then my heart ached when I saw that person's face change from melodramatic (late December) to really happy (mid January). I knew right then and there, what I felt was wrong... It should be wrong. I'm not supposed to re-enter in that person's life becuase I know where that person's happy now, and I'm happy for that.

I know it's wrong to feel this way about that person. Because I'm happy with someone now. This is all so wrong...

Now I remember, and understand what this quote from "Tips on Moving On" meant: Pick up the pieces but never put them back."

It's easier said than done.

:(