melodyofmysoul

Skipping a week to update happened sooner than I thought it would. :/

Highlights from the past two weeks

I watched Deadpool twice! Two weekends ago, I viewed it with my sister and her partner from work. Just last weekend, I watched it again with my sister but this time our brother tagged along. We try to make it a point to watch superhero movies together, and we weren't going to make Deadpool an exception. It's a buttload of fun, as my sister puts it in her review written for What's A Geek!

Valentine's Day lunch was spent with the extended family to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of an aunt and uncle. Food!!! And I also got to buy my luggage for our Japan trip in less than 2 months!

Last week was a busy time for me because apart from my normal workload, someone decided to acquire my itinerary services on short notice. (I have a sideline where I organize bespoke travel itineraries.) I should be happy because it brought me extra cash, but since I didn't have a lot of time to work on it also cost me precious hours of sleep.

On the Arashi front, fans subscribing to J-Web were regaled with Sakurai Sho's entry highlighting some of his experiences in the Philippines. To this, we say: Sho, you sheltered, sheltered boy. You need to go to the convenience store more often.

Le Coeur De France closed for good last February 19th. :'( My sister and I made sure to buy whatever we wanted and could afford during their last week as a way of thanking them for all the good memories we associate with their hot chocolate and bite-sized cookies. It still makes me sad that I won't get to see their shops anymore.

I've started preparing the necessary documents for our Japan visa application! With less than 2 months before our trip, I'm just praying we do get that visa.

This week, I'm looking forward to...

submitting our Japan visa requirements to the travel agency! There's still a few we need to obtain, but here's to hoping we get them before Thursday.

buying a new phone! My phone's been acting up (it's been with the family for around 3 years, after all) so I need a new one before our trip so that it won't break down on me. Thankfully there's a holiday coming up on Thursday so I'll be able to make time to purchase one.

possibly going to the Great British Festival with my sister! My friend and I went last year and simply walking around the booths and eating British fare street-vendor style was fun!

Happy Lunar New Year! It's a non-working holiday here but I had to do work anyway. :/ Thankfully, going to the office was not made mandatory so I just worked from home.

Last week's highlights

I got mail! To be more specific, I received a Christmas card that a friend overseas sent before Christmas. Because the Philippine postal system is so terrific, the card arrived in the city post office a month after Christmas and got sent to my house a week after. Still, I suppose it's better late than never. My friend was just happy I actually got it, since the one she sent for Christmas 2014 never saw the light of day. :/

Us Arashi fangirls based in the Philippines lost our marbles when we found out that Sakurai Sho stepped foot on our country. He actually mentioned in his blog entry last January that he was overseas for work, but none of us had an inkling that he actually had work in the Philippines. It turns out that he went to the area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) as part of a documentary to be aired in March. Maybe it was best that we didn't see him, after all, if only because the work he did was very serious in nature. It wouldn't have felt right to flail if we did get to see him.

I watched a piano competition to support a friend who was one of the contestants. It brought me back to the days when I studied classical piano, joined recitals, and occasionally competed with other students from different branches of the school. A part of me misses it, but I also realized some things. (Hopefully I'll get to expound on that soon.) After the competition I went to the nearby mall and had some Costa Coffee! :D

This week, I'm looking forward to...

watching Deadpool with my sister on the weekend! We're both loving the advertisements for the movie, and my sister received a SkullPoopL shirt from a friend as a gift

celebrating the 40th(!) wedding anniversary of an aunt and uncle. I'm mostly looking forward to the food. XDDDDD

I can't believe it's February already! O_O And I'm already falling behind on this. :\ Work's been a bit unkind last week all until yesterday, not to mention I've been sick with the cough. I'm hoping this week would be better.

Last week's highlight
There's just one, yes: I passed the JLPT!!!!! I might do a separate post with an analysis of the results through the three levels I've taken (N5 up until N3). But until then, I shall rejoice in the fact that I actually passed.

This week, I am looking forward to... watching a friend's piano competition on Saturday, and going to Costa Coffee after. But first I have to get well.

This is delayed by a day since until yesterday I was recovering from a horrid 39-degree fever I got over the weekend. It is no one's fault but mine, since I ate a load of sweets the week before and I went out to meet friends on Saturday which made everything worse for my body afterwards. No regrets, though.

Last week's highlights

I attended my first ever major concert!!! Last October, when my sister and I learned that Manila was going to be one of the stops for ONE OK ROCK's 35xxxv tour in Asia, we immediately hustled to buy tickets. I decided to go for VIP Seated and my sister just followed suit. XD The band did not disappoint in the least! They were so amazing, getting the crowd to sing along and jump and raise our hands and what-have-you. Taka's vocals were always on-point, not a single note out of place.

Early lunch last Saturday was spent with college friends! I wasn't able to see them last Christmas so even if I wasn't in perfect shape in the morning I figured it would still be best to get together with them. (Also, I was quite sure that whatever I was ill with was not viral in nature.) We had lunch at Din Tai Fung, and had very expensive xiao long bao because truffle and pork. The best part of lunch, though, was being regaled with stories of their Japan trip a couple of months back. That definitely beats expensive xiao long bao.

After lunch, I trooped to the nearby mall to have second lunch/dessert with Judith, thelittleone, and Pam. We ate at a place called "Maple." Best. waffles. ever! But good food is made even better with excellent conversation, and there was an abundance of it. Topics ranged from my sister's numerous GIF-able faces to why Pam thinks "Blue is the Warmest Colour" should not be given the title of the best lesbian film ever.

Saturday night until Sunday (and all through yesterday) was spent at home, save for the one hour that I attended Sunday mass. My body temperature shot to 39-degrees. O_O I really must reduce my intake of sweets.

This week, I'm looking forward to...nothing, at least for now. I don't have anything planned for the weekend that doesn't involve people from work. They're nice enough people, and they do their work well. But I wouldn't classify having to spend time with them beyond work as something I'd look forward to.

This week, I'm half-dreading...the release of the JLPT results online. There's only less than 12 hours to go, and frankly I don't think I'll pass. But I'm still hoping for a miracle.

Last week's highlights

It was my sister's birthday last Tuesday! Gah, I feel old.

Much stalking on GACKT's Instagram was done, as he has decided to have a short vacation in the southern part of the Philippines (presumably to escape Japan's winter).

Friday dinner was spent with Judith yet again, and this time we decided to go for Yellow Cab. Their salmon with dill pizza is awesome!!! Also, it was my first time to try Carmen's Best ice cream and it is also awesome. :D

Saturday was spent eating out and meeting people! Lunch was spent with immediate and extended family since it was to celebrate my sister's birthday. Shi Lin is quite good, I want to go back. Before dinner, I finally met up with a fangirl friend since our schedules were in sync, and I was able to get the Arashi in Miyagi Blast clear file I requested! Dinner was spent with my sister's friends (who are slowly becoming my friends as well, I think). It was fun watching them play Monopoly Deal, and the food was so delicious!!! Tasty club sandwich ftw. Too bad the place will most likely close soon. :(

I have a new crush, thanks to the K-drama Hotel King. [I can't believe I'm almost halfway already considering that 1) there are 32 episodes and each one is around an hour long, and 2) I only started watching last Thursday or Friday.) Lee Dong Wook is just too handsome, and it really helps that he's quite toned as well! I also love his acting chops; his eyes are really expressive.

This week, I'm looking forward to

watching the One Ok Rock concert!!! It's the first major concert I'm watching live, so I'm really excited for it. I'm going with my sister, but we'll be meeting other friends as well!

having lunch with Judith, thelittleone, and Pam! Yay~

Last week's highlights

My Arashi Japonism calendar arrived! I've been keeping it in my office locker and just taking it out whenever I arrive at work. It was a good decision, seeing as how my seatmate who isn't even that familiar with the group is very amused by it. XD

Dinner last Friday was spent with my sister! I finally got to try Coffee Empire, a third-wave coffee shop which has been in the area for a few months. Since we still had time to roam around, we passed by the newly-built canal. Though there are no gondolas yet since the mall will not be fully open until later this year, lots of people have been going to the place as it is indeed lovely for photoshoots. As we were going back, "Time to Say Goodbye" (Con Te Partiro) suddenly blasted on the mall speakers and my sister was so overcome with Princess Tutu feels. XDDDDD

Saturday was spent with my sister and my best friend from high school! Series and movies were traded on our external HDs, and we got to watch "The Riot Club." It's a good film, though something I may not want to watch again if only because most of the movie made me wince in disgust and disappointment. If you perceive Oxford and Cambridge male students as being the prim-and-proper type this movie may make you think again. Sam Claflin's performance was superb!

My sister and watched 3 more episodes of Daredevil. It's few mainly because the plot's getting heavy and I don't think I can bring myself to watch more than 2 episodes in a row at this point. Still, we'll definitely make sure finish the series before season 2 starts in March.

This week, I'm looking forward to...

celebrating my sister's birthday! We'll be having our family lunch on Saturday. :)

getting my clear file from the Arashi Miyagi Blast concert! I actually almost forgot about this, but my friend who went to the concert reminded me last month that I still haven't gotten it hahaha!

making an actual draft of our Japan trip schedule. The plans are all in my head, and we already have a high-level schedule since we'll be staying in both Tokyo and Osaka. But since a detailed schedule is required for visa application, I'll have to make a document for it.

Happy New Year to everyone! :)

I thought I'd try something new to spur me into journaling at least once a week. But because I'm still mostly a lazy ass with this kind of thing, the weekly entries will be (mostly) in bullet form. Here's to hoping I actually keep this up.

Last week's highlights

One good thing about the holidays is that I get to catch up with people, so I had lunch with grade school friends! I'm really happy they've been generally successful in their chosen fields. One of them lives in SFO and works for a startup, the other has an IT job during the day and runs her business of bottle cap accessories at night and on weekends. It's left me wondering about what I really want to do with my life, and how I should go about certain things. (I might expound more on this if I find myself in the proper mood to do so.)

I was also able to catch up with perfumedrooms! This was actually the 3rd time we met over the holidays, but it was only on the 3rd meet-up that we got to talk at length. And I got to meet new people, too! XD For an introvert like me, it now seems that I have to meet new people through mutual friends/acquaintances. I'm not fond of going out of way just to expand my network, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

I actually watched an MMFF movie! It started last year with "English Only, Please," but I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to watch one this season until my sister expressed interest in "Honor Thy Father." It's a really good film, a social commentary of sorts. But it's definitely not a feel-good film for Christmas.

My sister and I binge-watched a couple of series! One is BOSS, a 2-season Japanese detective drama. Both of us have watched it more than once (I love this drama so much I've lost count), but my sister has fuzzy memories of Season 2. XD Another one we started on was Netflix's Daredevil! It was been long overdue as I've had the series in my PC for some months already. We've watched until episode 5 (or 6?) and we're really loving it so far (even if we cringe at all the blood and broken bones).

Our family went out for lunch on New Year's! We ate at this Filipino restaurant that's always full when we try to reserve, so we were really fortunate to be able to get a table on New Year's Day. Then again, there were few people in the mall for a holiday.

My sister and I got to meet up with Mina, even if it was for a really short time. Her family was having lunch in the same area so we thought of dropping by to say hi. We missed her so.

I'm looking forward to...

getting the Arashi Japonism 2016 calendar! A high school batchmate was able to buy it for me when she watched their concert.

meeting with my best friend from high school. We were supposed to meet during the weekend but she got sick. :(

visiting the new Starbucks across our office. Hopefully my sister can tag along.

buying new pens for my planner ~~which I will probably stop filling out in three months~~.

I'm NOT looking forward to...

dealing with work. I don't exactly hate my job, but time and again I've questioned if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm leaning more towards "no." Not to mention I haven't been transferred to another client as requested.

getting myself to exercise in order to lose weight and be fit for our Japan trip in 3 1/2 months. I know I have to build up stamina at the very least, but I don't think I've found a routine which I can faithfully stick to. It doesn't help that space at the house is very limited so if I wanted to dance it's more likely I'll bump into furniture. But my sister does it anyway, so I definitely should be able to do it.