bokura ga ita

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Yet another film adapted from a manga series. 僕等がいた (Bokura ga Ita) is a high school romance story about a girl named Takahashi Nanami who fell for the popular boy, Yano Motoharu. Always the same trope but I never get sick of such stories. Haha.

I started out watching the anime series and liked it so much that I continued reading the manga. The anime series ends where Yano moves to Tokyo, leaving Takahashi back in Sapporo. That’s about halfway through the whole story. A lot of things happen after that. (No spoilers.)

I had high hopes for the movie, but was a teeny weeny bit disappointed. They changed a couple of scenes to fit the flow of the movie. Other than that, they managed to capture the essence of the story in two parts…kind of like an extended movie. Part one was their high school days and part two when they grew up. I thought the choice of actors was quite accurate.

Toma Ikuta played Yano, a character that has a playful streak and also a serious side. Was kinda happy that I watched this movie with Toma taking the lead role. I’ve missed seeing him on screen. Toma and YamaP came as a pair in Johnny’s, but as they grew up, YamaP overshadowed Toma. When NewS formed, I was crushed that Toma wasn’t in it. Eventually, Toma just faded away. He didn’t even debut in any group.

Yoshitaka Yuriko played the timid Takahashi. I’m not too familiar with this actress and at first thought Miyazaki Aoi would have been a better choice. After all, Takahashi is supposed to be a cute girl. But as I watched the movie, I felt Yuriko was fine.

Higa Manami played Sengenji Akiko, Yano’s Tokyo high school classmate. Akiko is the cool beauty with long black hair. What makes this character so appealing is that she has both the brains and beauty. When Manami appeared in the movie, I felt “Yes! She totally fits the Akiko character!”

Takaoka Sousuke played Takeuchi Masafumi, Yano’s best friend who also holds a torch for Takahashi. I’m ok with the choice of actor, just that I felt he looks a bit old for a high schooler. Incidentally, the actor is the ex-husband of Miyazaki Aoi. Hmmm…coincidence…

The movie ending was quite like the manga series. There is not much of an elaboration of after they got together again, yet the story does not end abruptly.

kyou, koi wo hajimemasu

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I’m the kind of person that likes to watch and read the same series to compare the treatment of the story in different mediums.

今日、恋をはじめます (Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu) is another film adapted from a manga series about plain jane Hibino Tsubaki who gets teased by the popular guy in her high school, Tsubaki Kyouta but eventually falls for him. A very typical high school romance story line. The ending for the manga was pretty good…the usual happily ever after ending after the protagonist goes through hardship. There was an OVA for the manga series which had pretty choppy scenes and ended only somewhere in the beginning of the whole story.

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degeneration of our country?

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I was happily catching up on my anime when I took a break and switched over to the Facebook tab. That’s when I saw this…this disgusting piece of news and now I cannot sit still without giving my two cents’ worth. *fumes*

I studied Advertising, but even without that knowledge, I know for sure NOT to compare these two entirely different things. For sure, a child does not need SAVING because he/she does not get “good enough” grades. There may be a lot of reasons for not doing well. And anyway, what is “good enough grades” these days? In my time, kids were sent to tuition only if they were close to failing and/or their parents could not give them the help they needed in a subject. I was sent for Mandarin tuition because my parents do not speak the language and I was a little weak in the language because of that reason. And thanks to that, I also hated studying the language for a long time…but that’s a story for another time.

I am perfectly aware that before we criticise the advertiser, we should examine the motives behind putting up such an advertisement. Should the “blame” be shouldered by others as well? For example, parents? My facial therapist once told me that she is considering sending her daughter for tuition because her daughter is not doing well in Math. She commented that these days Singaporean parents send their kids for more than one tuition class for the same subject and that scoring 80 marks is not even acceptable. Heck, we even see parents sending their two-year-olds to school for booster classes for “a headstart in life”. Like WHAT THE HELL. I don’t even remember anything when I was two. (My dad says I was kidnapped by an alien so my memories begin only when I was four. Haha.) I think this crazy behaviour is fuelling tuition centres to pop up like mushrooms sprouting on a log (erm…ok, bad analogy, but you get what I mean.) But isn’t it true? Where there’s a demand, people will jump on the chance to supply.

Then there’s the usual argument of whether we are breeding elitism in Singapore. These days all I hear are parents trying to “fight” for a spot in a “good school” for their kids. So much that schools start to have volunteer programmes for parents and even grandparents to “redeem” a spot in the school for their kids. I don’t believe in this bullshit (and yes, I am horrified to learn that some of my close friends subscribe to this…their choice I guess). While there are schools that obviously cater for advanced learners or just simply the smarter kids, any other school (whether neighbourhood or not) is the same. The only difference should be the method of teaching. THAT is what matters because each kid learns differently. At this point, I’ll like to warn people that before you start wagging your finger and saying that I don’t have a kid so I don’t know what I’m talking about, remember the thing about supply and demand? Also, as much as you look to your Government to change things, they cannot work wonders for you. You want change then you got to start doing something about it too.

For now, I read the piece of news, shake my head and think to myself what is Singapore becoming? Is this degeneration of our country? Have we lost sight of what is important?

too many in the world to help

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I was watching a documentary on the HIV/aids situation in Myanmar. The focus was on shelters set up by a volunteer for people diagnosed with the illness. As these people are shunned by neighbours in their villages, they make way to the shelters to seek medical aid and refuge. All of them are also poor and can barely make ends meet.

The sad fact of life is that medical supplies are expensive and thus, only the rich can afford to keep up with the payment for these necessities to keep them alive for the rest of their lives. The poor just look to their governments for aid and rely on the goodwill of the rich. To make things worse, their government is just not very smart when it comes to such issues. It makes me really sad and angry to hear that their government does not do anything to help these people. In fact, they make things worse by creating trouble for the volunteer, threatening to close down the shelters. They have even ordered Doctors Without Borders to stop their work.

It is said that the medicine the patients need cost USD30 a month. If for any reason, the patient stops taking the medicine, when they start to take it again, they need a second dosage which brings the cost up to USD60. For such poor people, they cannot afford this.

A family was featured where the husband passed the HIV virus to his wife, who in turn passed it to her baby girl. The couple have a healthy three-year-old son as well. Doctors have advised the mother to stop breastfeeding her baby girl as they believe this is aggravating the virus in her daughter. However, she sadly told the camera crew that this is not possible as they are too poor to buy a substitute to feed her daughter. It is heartbreaking to hear this.

I am angry. Why doesn’t their government do anything? Is setting aside USD30 a day to ensure someone else gets a chance to experience life too hard to ask of a rich government official?

It’s at times like these that I wish I could save these people from their misery. They don’t deserve to die just coz their government is incompetent. But there are just too many people in the world that needs to be saved.

And so, I go to sleep feeling frustrated.

brothers conflict

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It’s here! It’s here! The kyaa-ing post for Brothers Conflict. So the story goes where main character, Ema goes to live in a mansion with her 13 step-brothers after her father remarries. All of her step-brothers develop feelings for her (I think it’s coz they are just surrounded by guys all the time and suddenly a female enters in the picture!) The anime is adapted from the otome game, but I honestly think such anime exist for girls to kyaa over hot bishounen.

The brothers in their birth order:
1: Masaomi Asahina — Paediatrician who supposedly cannot stand the sight of blood. He is closest to youngest brother, Wataru. Father figure of the Asahina household.
2: Ukyo Asahina — Lawyer and mother figure of the Asahina household. He cooks for the family.
3: Kaname Asahina — Monk? I wonder if he’s really a monk or a host? Has a casanova attitude.
4: Hikaru Asahina — Novelist and fashionista. Into cross-dressing. He is rather observant and knows that his brothers have romantic feelings toward their step-sister.
5: Tsubaki Asahina — Seiyuu. Eldest triplet; has an identical twin and a fraternal twin.
6: Azusa Asahina — Seiyuu, like his identical twin brother Tsubaki.
7: Natsume Asahina — Works in a game company. Lives apart from his brothers. He is the fraternal twin to Tsubaki and Azusa. Has two cats named after his triplet brothers.
8: Louis Asahina — Hairstylist. He is an adopted son. He is the only brother who can communicate with Ema’s pet squirrel, Juli.
9: Subaru Asahina — College sophomore who is the most athletic of his brothers. On the basketball team. Closest to Natsume? Or rather Natsume acts like his strict manager.
10: Iori Asahina — High school senior with a prince-like behaviour. Loves flowers and knows the meaning of them.
11: Yusuke Asahina — High school junior (a delinquent) and Ema’s classmate. Has a crush on Ema even before he finds out she is his step-sister.
12: Fuuto Asahina — Famous pop idol.
13: Wataru Asahina — 10-year-old kid.

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helter skelter

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I don’t watch movies nowadays (especially at the cinema), but I do enjoy Japanese movies. I’m not being bias here and I’ll say that I have watched a Japanese movie or two which sucked. I like thought-provoking movies, the kind that would make me want to share my thoughts/opinion…like now. *Note: There may be a few spoilers in my commentary.

ヘルタースケルタ (Helter Skelter) is a film adapted from a manga series about uber fabulous supermodel Ririko (played by Sawajiri Erika), who has the perfect body and face that every girl dreams of having. However, what those girls do not know is that Ririko is “manufactured” — every inch of her body and face except for her “eyeballs, ears and pussy” (as her manager states) is the result of plastic surgery. Of course, there is a hefty price to pay for the body and looks that every man and woman would die for, which comes in the form of treatments and medication to keep her body functioning even as it struggles to keep up. On the sidelines, an inspector is investigating a series of suicides and organ thefts that point to the shady practices of the beauty clinic that services Ririko.

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desserts and cupcakes

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We have booked the place for our wedding reception. Yay! Though I’m a little sad that I can’t get my ex-colleague to do a dessert table or even bake some cupcakes as wedding favours. I kind of knew that a dessert table was out of the question, but the place said “strictly no outside food”. Orz.

There aren’t many shops or places that I would strongly recommend for cupcakes (except for that place in New York), but Des bakes good stuff. I have high standards for desserts. They can’t be too sweet (such that they taste artificial). Twelve Cupcakes is good but mainstream, and I’m usually afraid of chain stores. They can be good, but once they start rapidly expanding, their quality goes down. Besides, Des has some stuff that is different and she doesn’t stinge on ingredients.

So, if you want a good cupcake, I’ll recommend Des’ business called Pretty Delish. As the name suggests, her cupcakes are pretty delicious. My favourite is her lychee rose cupcake.

 

office habits

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This is another one of those posts where I make comments to something shared on Facebook.

17 Things You Suddenly Start Doing When You Get an Office Job

My Comments:
#1: YES! Lunch was the most sacred time where we could all stop thinking about work and actually socialise. Our lunches ended at 2pm no matter what time they started, never changed. But the lunch bell rang later and later, from 12pm to 12.30pm and finally the ultimate 1pm.
#2: YES! I never felt so deprived of sleep during school days. Waking up at 6.15am and ending work at 7pm or later (with no naps in between) every day is no joke.
#3: Yea, I always signed off with ‘thank you’ in my emails until one day I stopped to think whether I really needed to thank people or not.
#4: Haha, it doesn’t matter whether I’m at home or in office. I have at least five tabs open. 60 is just overkill. At home, the permanently open tabs are Gmail and Facebook. I kid you not. I think this is about the only multitasking I can do.
#5: Yup. When I’m stressed and snacks are within reach, I WILL SNACK. I know it’s bad, but I can’t help it. I need to make myself feel better.
#6: I get locked in vicious breakfast cycles instead. Three for a dollar nuggets are way better than facing work.
#7: Please, hell no. I don’t want to be caught in this. The use of acronyms at work is INSANE. The engineers use them a lot for technical stuff and I’m like “WHAT???”
#8: I treat my co-workers like friends. What are you talking about?
#9: Didn’t happen to me.
#10: *sigh* Yes, I cannot switch off if something’s bothering me and it’s work-related.
#11: This doesn’t just apply to the office. If it’s free food, it’s good.
#12: It’s the saddest thing that can happen to someone and yes, it happened to me before. Thank God for wonderful colleagues. They bought me my favourite hazelnut latte from Starbucks to cheer me up.
#13: Nope, didn’t happen, but we did have a growing playlist specially for the department. Our theme song? “Titanium” by David Guetta. Not hard to figure out why. My theme song was “Carcrashes” by Standfast.
#14: Didn’t happen to me.
#15: Wished it did happen.
#16: Omg…yes. It became like an after-school party…in the office. WTH.
#17: Didn’t happen to me.

kirei sakura

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I know Starbucks has been releasing their popular Sakura goods for quite a few years now, but newbie Starbucks fan here has got to make a post now.

The goods are so cute…and pink! My favourite colour! Here are some of the goods I like. *big hint*

I like the two pink hot water tumblers behind. I can’t decide which I like better…maybe the one with the flip top cap on the far right?

Then there’s the regular Starbucks mug on the left with the special Sakura print. 超きれい!

And this! I got the Christmas version of this during our office gift exchange, but it was the smaller one. I really wanted the larger one and now they have it with the Sakura print!

Of course, kaypoh me had to go check out what Japan and Korea Starbucks were offering for their Sakura goods.

*spazz*

Japan Starbucks didn’t really have nicer ones but they have this…

A set of glasses, one’s clear and the other’s frosted. The clear one has print that turns pink when cold liquid is poured into the glass. So cute!

And they have a special drink — Sakura Chocolate! Ah…now I really miss having Sakura-flavoured soft cream in Japan…

Korea Starbucks had quite a few cute pink Sakura print mugs too, but they have since taken down some of the pictures from their website. Guess those are sold out already.