Double Date: Lani-kun & The Arriesgados November 3, 2010

 

Last saturday was a double header for me.  I had morning coffee with one of my 2 Nihon crazed friends, Lani-kun…and after that a lunch date with Mr. & Mrs. Arriesgado.  The Mrs. is one of my oldest / longest friends (we met in Nursery!) and the Mr. is simply one of the coolest, most wonderful dudes I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. (naks!)

This is my second coffee date with Lani…also known as Mrs. Matsumoto in an alternate universe.  It’s sometimes hard to set a date with her because she works on saturdays but I’m glad we were able to squeeze this in.  It was very touching and flattering that she even told her boss that she will be a tad late for work that day as she was meeting someone special and important to her…*ehem*ehem*.  Though it was short Lani-kun, I had a lot of fun swapping stories with you in person!…as opposed to doing it over on facebook where our wall posts end up looking like novels!  Til the next coffee date! (I HOPE YOU’RE READING THIS GAEMAREE & AVA! *WINK*WINK*)

After coffee and a quick trip to the bookstore, it was time to meet up with Ula & Ron.  I requested her to choose the place where we can have lunch because though “she’s not a foodie”, she does keep a food blog which I regularly visit.  You can check her out at: www.jodiesmommy.wordpress.com

They took me to Pepper Lunch at Greenbelt 5 (which took me a while to find it hehe).  This is what we ordered:

My lunch: Beef Pepper Steak with a side order of egg

Ula had the Yakimeshi Japanese Fried Rice

And Ron had the Steak and Burger combo

It was my first time eating there so I was kind of surprised when I found out that I still had to cook (i.e. mix & season) my order while the plate was still sizzling.  The joke was, “Ano? Binayaran ko na nga, lulutuin ko pa?” (“What? I already paid for it and I still have to cook it?”) But once I got the hang of it, the meal was indeed very delicious!  I’ll definitely recommend it to others and for sure I’ll come back and visit.  After the meal, we walked around Greenbelt and checked out the Mac Store.  The Mr. & Mrs. got one of their ipods checked while I oggled at the new ipod touch.  Had the store been complete in their accessories, I would’ve bought it then..but they weren’t, so I didn’t. (but soon…very soon…*cue in evil laughter*)

Thanks to Lani, Ula & Ron for a fun filled saturday!  Til the next weekend date!

Meeting an old friend for the second time May 14, 2010

I have a date tomorrow.  I’m meeting an old friend for the second time. Now some of you may argue:

1) It’s not a date if it’s with a female friend.

2) How can you be “old friends” when you’re only meeting each other for the second time?

3) Isn’t it Saturday tomorrow? Why the EFF are you scheduling a lakad at 9:30am—shouldn’t you be in bed ‘til at least 10am?!

Allow me to explain.

Tomorrow, I’ll be having coffee with Lani—kamikazee girl, Gaemaree’s ex-officemate, Japanese connoisseur,  future travel writer & mother of baby shin, fellow fan of Brandon Boyd and the person responsible for my love of Jun Matsumoto.

This is the beautiful Jun Matsumoto

 

I first heard about Lani from my friend, Gaemaree (note: kapatid, ever notice how I always call you by your full first name?)  way back in 2008.  Incubus was scheduled to perform in manila for the second time that year (ehem, on my birthday no less!) and Gae was already working for TNT with Lani. She found out that Lani also loved Brandon—obsessively and psychotically as I did—and knew we simply had to meet. Unfortunately, the meeting that we planned didn’t push through on the day of the show.  I finally met her later that year when I went in for an interview with TNT. If I recall correctly, she was wearing a white ribbon-ed head band and she also had Brandon as her pc wallpaper. I didn’t get to talk to her much then because of her work and I was preoccupied with my nervousness about being interviewed.

Then in 2009, when I had just started with my new job, the 3 of us were sending long email threads to one another during an obviously boring day at work.  I found out then that she was also a fan of Meteor Garden and I even asked her to give me an introductory lesson on it. Call it Meteor Garden 101 or Hana Yori Dango 101. Fast forward to last March when I had just finished Ava’s copy of the animated Hana Yori Dango series. I got so addicted to all things HYD and I was desperately looking for someone to fuel the fire.  I immediately thought of Lani.  She was to be my master…and I her padawan. Coincidentally, we’re both Star Wars fans as well!

I’ve been keeping in touch with her since then…mostly via email or ym or text. And because of her, I’ve also developed a new obsession—Jun Matsumoto. Now, let it be known that as of this writing, I am exerting all efforts to prevent myself from sounding like a crazed fan girl but may I request that you allow me to say this: MatsuJun rocks & watching him makes me smile!…Oh all right! He’s sooooo kawaii!!! (that’s japanese for cute!) Ok back to regular programming. All this joy over watching koreanovelas & jdoramas are all thanks to her. We no longer just share Brandon, but I’m thankful that she’s shared Jun-Kun with me as well.

It may be weird to some to find that special connection with someone you’ve only just met…ako pa! I’ve been accused of being anti-social more than once…hehehe…and I don’t deny it sometimes. Sometimes when you feel like your world is a little “blah”, the Universe surprises you with a nice little package…mine was all wrapped up in papel de hapon! (Sorry, it’s a corny joke but it’s still Japanese related right?) I don’t have gazillions of friends, but the ones that do come my way (both old & new) are very special indeed…and I’d rather have a handful of special ones than a bunch of others I couldn’t care less about…or who couldn’t care less about me either.

Of course if she were a gift, she'd be wrapped Japanese style!

 

In all the emails that we shared, an actual sit down meeting has been proposed but initially we couldn’t find a schedule which was convenient for us both.  Luckily, an opportunity arrived and we’ve decided to meet for coffee tomorrow at 930am. On one hand it feels like going on a blind date (though I’ve never actually been on one) because technically we haven’t really spent that much time face to face before this. But on the other hand it also feels like meeting up with a good friend that you haven’t seen in a long while. Yup, that sounds more like it. So to answer the opening arguments:

1)      Yes, it still is a date.

2)      You don’t have to count “times we’ve met” to consider someone your friend.

3)      Getting up at 630am on a Saturday to have coffee with a friend at 930am? Hell yeah!

 

ps: Much love & thanks to Jun, Brandon, Gaemaree & the Universe!

Ground control to Major Tom April 20, 2010

How did I get here? Why am I here? Long have my friends encouraged me to keep a blog…and long have I resisted.  “What was the point?”, I asked. I was quite happy keeping my thoughts on pen & and paper…it’s more old-school…more intimate…more personal.

Enter my friend Lanie into the picture! Lanilakwatsera’s “The Adventures of Kamikazee Girl” has been my new fun companion at work (must not let the boss hear that!) and it’s from there that I’ve gotten the urge to try my hand at blogging. Ok. Fine. I’ll give it a go and see where it takes me. Please feel free to join the ride! Cheers!

The world’s a roller coaster & I am not strapped in. Maybe I should hold with care but my hands are busy in the air. – Incubus