Pleasant Surprises December 28, 2010

I think it’s safe to say that being a shy person does not help my desire to accumulate more friends.  A close friend of mine (yes you, Kapatid!) even jokes around and says that I’m not shy…just anti-social.  Haha..I’m not of course, but just when I’m about to surrender to the idea that I might just be one, the Universe throws some very pleasant surprises my way.  These pleasant surprises are in the form of new friends…friends who from the first/early encounters make you feel so comfortable and so welcome that it feels like you’ve known each other for a long time (well, for me anyway).  I would like to take this opportunity now to give a shout out to them.

 

1)  “Z” – She’s someone who’s only been with the company for a few months.  I’ve never even had a conversation with her.  Now last week, as I passed by her desk, I noticed a cute photo of 2 guys as her desktop wallpaper. I didn’t know who they were but I immediately assumed they had something to do with Kpop since I was told she enjoyed listening to it.  I was still curious as to who the guys were.  On the last day of work before the holiday break we happened to enter the building at the same time and after she said hi I figured it was a good time to ask her my question…and so I did.  She laughed and told me they were her 2 favorite members of TVXQ/DBSK–one of the most popular Korean boybands.  I swear I heard angels singing hallelujah in my head and all I could think of was, “Yey! Another fellow Kpop/Kdrama addict like me!”  And when we both got up to our floor, and after a few minutes of settling down on our desks, we coincidentally met each other in the pantry…and spent about 45 minutes (work? what work?) just releasing the inner fangirl in us!  It was awesome!  Not bad for a first conversation huh?

 

Still can't decide who my favorite member is..

2) “M” – I’ve been sharing & swapping stories/emails/pictures/music with her for a few months now.  Our common denominator in the beginning? The one who brought us together? Jang Geun Suk.  She’s even shared with me her other love, Big Bang–and her influence has pretty much rubbed off on me  because after Super Junior, Big Bang is the only other boyband I can name you all the members of.  Oh I really enjoy it whenever she drops by my cubicle to share her Big Bang videos (“Go to the S: drive and look for my folder…”).  It really is a refreshing way to break the monotony of work.

 

*ding dong* Delivery for Kamikazee Girl!

3) “Kamikazee Girl” – I know you’re reading this and you know you rock.  I’ll say it again, YOU ROCK!  You with your quirky obsessions with all things Japanese, Jun Matsumoto, Fashion, Jun Matsumoto, Cats, Jun Matsumoto, writing and blogging, Jun Matsumoto, paper and notebooks, Jun Matsumoto, the awesome-ness known as Brandon Boyd…and have I mentioned Jun Matsumoto?!  I have learned many great things from you Master! Obi-wan has indeed taught you well. *bows*

It’s really wonderful when you meet people who share the same crazy obsessions as you do…people who are open to sharing themselves, their stories, their time with you.  Thank you for being my pleasant surprises! Cheers!

 

 

My Playlist: Then & Now May 29, 2010

A friend recently posted her playlist from the 90′s.  You can check out her post right here:

http://kamikazeegirl.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/playlist-for-the-pimply-teen/

Because of this I’ve been inspired to look back & reminisce on the music & bands that I’ve listened to growing up.  With her permission and blessings, I now present my playlist from the years gone by…

Late 80’s

• Debbie Gibson – My earliest recollection of buying a cassette was her album “Out of the Blue”.  I remember dancing to “Shake Your Love” at our 5^th grade Christmas party–& sumi was in all white with her blue tin can bag (yung may airplane?).  C’mon admit it, you all loved “Lost in your Eyes” and at one point you even tried dancing the steps to “Electric Youth”.

Come to think of it...I never had ripped jeans growing up...

• New Kids On The Block – The band that pretty much took over my entire adolescent life! I’ve liked other boy bands in recent years but none of them could ignite the same flames that I had for NKOTB (well, Boyzone came pretty close..right ula?)  Donnie was my favorite. I enjoyed the ride along with other friends who loved them too. *ehem*ula*ehem* True, they may have been nearing the end of their career when they performed here in Manila…but we didn’t care.  And years later, after seeing them reunite on The today Show, I can’t help the fact that they still bring a smile on my face.

woo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh...hangin' tough!

• The Dawn – the first local act I ever loved & worshipped!

The 90’s

It was during this time when I discovered The Beatles.  ABC 5 was a new station back then and they would always run this Beatles documentary courtesy of Steve O’Neal—the same dude who brings in those “oldies” acts at the Araneta.  I soon learned that my mom loved them too and proof of that was the little fan notebook that she made—complete with trading cards & band photos & of course, her record collection (still alive and in mint condition to this day!)  She loved Paul, and I loved John.

yeah..yeah..yeah..

The 90’s was the period where I solidified my love for rock music.  That period also saw the birth of my love for British Music, thanks to Brit Pop.  Some of the bands I listened to during this time were:

• Guns n’ Roses – I pretty much listened to one album only during the summer of 1993 and that was Use Your Illusion I.  I actually had to buy another copy of that album because I’ve worn out my first copy.

 

This was the only band photo I could find with Gilbey Clarke in it!

• Bon Jovi – Hey don’t look at me…you couldn’t resist him too during those Keep The Faith years…the manila show was a disaster though…But all in all, “Metal Hair Bands” in the 90′s weren’t that bad…*lighters in the air* “I’ve finally found the love of a lifetime….”

• Nirvana & Pearl Jam – Ok, I never saw the reason why people made these two awesome bands compete with one another.  Honestly, I was more of a Nirvana fan because I have most of their albums.  My favorite Nirvana song is Lithium and my favorite Pearl Jam song is a toss up between Alive & Daughter.

• Soundgarden – Their album “Superunknown” was the first cd I ever bought.  It kicked ass back then…& it still kicks ass now.

• Stone Temple Pilots – I loved Scott Weiland with his red hair & raspy voice.  Sadly though I’ve been hearing stories that he’s quite an a-hole.

• Green Day – I remember listening to Dookie over & over again just so that I can memorize the songs. I can still sing “When I Come Around” perfectly to this day.

• Weezer – How can you not love Rivers Cuomo?

• Oasis – One of my favorite bands ever.  I never cared that people hated them, to me they were simply EFFing cool.  I loved Noel even when he was still a cokehead…but I love him more now as a family man & elder statesman of British rock. (mental note: grabe daw ang work ethic ni noel…he hates being late!)

• Wolfgang / Eraserheads – I personally think that pinoy rock was alive & well during the 90’s. These 2 were my most favorite local acts then…but I consider Wolfgang to be my #1.  I never saw the eheads live during those days but when it came to Wolfgang I was always on stalker mode! (especially when my friend Josette & I would watch them play at the Hard Rock Café).

• Boyzone – Well, I did mention earlier that they came close to NKOTB right? So amidst all these rock bands in the 90’s, Boyzone is the lone boyband that I loved.

Year 2000 – present

• Incubus – Another one of my favorite bands.  I remember liking the video for Drive but it was only during the release of Morning View that I started collecting their albums.  Honestly, they do write brilliant songs…but it doesn’t hurt that Brandon Boyd is perfect either.

Brandon = Perfect!

• Hoobastank – You can blame Doug Robb’s abs on this one.

• Morrissey / The Smiths – Must I even expound on this?

• Fall Out Boy & My Chemical Romance – Ava & I both watched their shows with little or zero knowledge at all about their songs.  It turned out pretty well since we both had a good time.  So, emo na kami ganon?

Ava: Toro! / Fizz: Iero!

 

Ok fine. Pete Wentz it is...but Patrick's cute too...

• Linkin Park –  I started out really, really liking them…but then I wasn’t so inlove with the 3^rd album…sorry guys.

Chesteeeeeerrrrrrr!!!!!! - Ava

And lastly….

• Slipknot – Again, one of my favorites.  Does it still seem weird that someone like me would love a bunch of guys who look like they’ve taken Halloween way too seriously?  But I never saw the masks as some joke.  I loooooooove these guys!

There's my Joey in front!

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