So I guess we're really leaving OED for good.

*starts tearing up*

This blog contains a lot of memories, rants, and just plain randomness from all three of us, and as much as it pains us to leave these behind, we have to. But hey, the journey to Japan hasn't even started, so if you had the patience to read on our blabbings, then you might want to visit our new 'homes':

Megane's blog: Megane~kun
KaiSu's blog: Sweet Anxiousness
Jenny's blog: My Strawberry Days

*waves*

Please look forward on our Japanese adventures! Soon!

This post is long way past its due. I'm glad kai managed to post something about the great and wonderful news of the realization of our dreams. Yes my friends, it has been confirmed. Kaisu, meganekodomo, and Jenny are going to Yokohama, Japan this June/July.

Sorry for my long absence, I think I owe you guys an explanation... So let me tell you my side of the story (warning, this might get long and nasty... prepare a pillow, eye drops, and lots of drinks):

A great tragedy has befallen me, and it started last February 15. It was a Friday and as I was getting ready for work, I suddenly felt an onset of chills. A teeth-chattering coldness that seemed to have seeped into my bones.

I decided not to go to work~ Woo~!

Saturday came and a fever started thawing my body, as my mom restricted me from attending my Nihongo class. I probably would've fainted halfway the journey there anyway~ Then Sunday woke me up with the fever still reaching the height of allowable human temperature...

The deciding factor announced itself on Monday when rashes began to creep through-out my body, starting with my face. Oh the horror I felt when my smooth skin slowly crumbled into pockmarked redness. But when we went to the hospital, the doctor said not to worry for it seems to be only a case of viral rash.

The next day, the rash invaded my chest and arms, my back and even my mouth! Ulcers started swelling inside my lips, gums and even inside my throat. My eyes began to swell as my fever reached an all-time high. My parents agreed that it's time for me to experience a hospital confinement.

I wasn't given a room until 10 PM, but it was worth it. It could've been a hotel room for all I know, if not for the tell-tale IV rack and the hospital logo plastered all over the bedsheets. It was soft, inviting and cozy. Warm lights, lounge chairs, and a floor to ceiling window with a great view of the metropolis. And a large bathroom too! I could've enjoyed the stay luxuriously if only there wasn't a 2-inch needle stuck up inside my vein.

The week dragged on as I spent the days asleep. Drifting into consciousness once in a while to either go to the bathroom or to slurp some of the hospital food. Tossing and turning, I was in so much agony. Mostly it's because of the mouth ulcers and the terrible tonsilitis, and the dextrose made my arm to swell so much that they had to transfer the IV to the other arm... ouch.

Then by Saturday, I was discharged. The fever's gone and I can eat well again, but the spots were still there. Obviously I wasn't able to go to the interview scheduled that same day. Actually while I was in the hospital, I dreamt that everyone got accepted and that I was the only one left... that really made me depressed...

Fortunately, the recruiter managed to move my interview schedule for Monday. And apparently, kai also got sick that day so she was scheduled to get interviewed on the same day with me. But come Monday, the marks were still there. I had to go to the interview wearing make-up (concealer actually, kai said I looked like a corpse... Better deathly than deadly).

Kai went in first then came out bearing the good news. I was next and was routinely questioned just like what Jenny said. Good thing we did some mock-up interview practices, so I was well-prepared for my answers. It went well, I even had the chance to talk to the company president in Japanese~ Hee hee!

I came out light-headed. All of us got accepted. We just had to wait for a couple of minutes before the orientation started. It was so surreal, here we are in a Japanese-styled Nihongo classroom (the interview and orientation were held in my Nihongo school) being oriented to our Japan job. Holding our contracts and salary breakdown documents, I was shivering not only from the cold aircon, but from giddy-ness as well. I don't care if the concealer wore-off, looking like a vassal of viruses. Our dream finally came true, and here we are being told that we might get a field-trip to Tokyo Disneyland! Woah!!

All-in-all it was a very hectic week for all of us. It was difficult coming back to work and picking up the tasks that I left off, especially if it was already partially done by someone else (thank you someone else!). Much so because I also had to give my resignation letter, because it's our company's policy to allot a month's allowance for proper transitioning of work.

I handed my resignation letter this February 28th, 2008 with a termination date effective as of March 28th, 2008. It was an experience I never want to experience again... I was shaking the whole time I was with our manager. Jenny already handed hers, only kai is the only one left to resign (ganbatte kaisu~!).

The Intensive Nihongo Training is scheduled to start by April 7th, and we are also expected to submit all the necessary documents before that date. We were warned that we might not get any chance to work on our documents during classes, so it's very much advisable to finish them up before we get chained up with our studies. I've almost completed mine, just a few more government offices to visit and forms to fill up, then I'm done.

*whew~*

If that wasn't a long story, I don't know what is. I'm not sure if anyone survived reading all those rantings, but I'm thankful you're even reading this part.

The countdown has began, it'd be March starting this weekend. We have a scheduled group pictorial this Saturday, and the first payment of our tuition is set on that date too. Things are finally rolling into place, I just hope we don't get squished flat!

See you in Japan minna~ Watch out for our new blogs! ^___^

Dear friends and fellow readers,

I'm pleased to tell you that our wish finally came true.

The first eye drawn, a wish is born,
then it came true, so now there's two.

Now there is two.


Our journey to Japan begins soon. Join us in our year-long adventure there.

And watch out for the two-eyed daruma!

We Japanophiliacs were thinking whether we should create a new blog for our new adventures, and while it's still under deliberation, we are glad to share such good news with everyone. Yes, Jenny, Megane and yours truly are finally one step closer to our dream, Japan.

Yo-yo-yo-yokohama! HERE WE COME!

Q: What IS the Japan job?
A: Programming/Systems Engineering

I won't give much details because of personal reasons (to not have some competition during the job application hehe). But once we do get accepted, I can refer anyone out there who wants to try and get the job too~

Here are the qualifications that you must have in order to be even considered for the job (found on their website).

With following skills and conditions:

• OS: WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, RTOS (VxWorks, TRON, REX, etc.)
• DB: Oracle, PL/SQL
• Language: C, C++, JAVA, C#, etc.
• Development and/or testing of cellphones, car electronics system and Business Applications
• Age: Below 35 years old
• Sex: Male / Female
  Hiring on “Single Status”
• Embedded software and Programmable Logic
• Japanese Language skills is very advantageous
• Working Place: Tokyo / Osaka
• Employment Contract: 1 year / renewable
• VISA status: Engineer
• Salary: ¥220,000 / month (after first 6 months, salary adjustment depends on performance)
• Transportation expenses distinction

I actually saw this ad before I applied for my first job but deemed that I still need more experience. Although when my aunt referred me back to this company, I did a more in-depth Internet scourging for any info concerning this offer and found out that:

"Experience is preferred but not required"

^^^THAT have set my hopes soaring high above the standard soaring height for human souls. And thus started the legacy of our 2 weeks agony of waiting till February 23rd.

We're currently studying again previous lessons we had back in college; a refresher, so to speak. Good thing we have a bit of reading materials left from different points of our lives... just waiting to be dusted off and its pages opened. It's also a nice thing to point out that whatever we haven't understood back at our computer labs are now quite easily understandable given the experience we've accumulated during our short stay at our current companies.

We now know a lot more than we did back then, and that's what's important. Because from what I've heard is that this job requires dedication and passion; from its steep learning curve to the demanding conditions.

We have no qualms (that I know of) regarding these facts. We just need a chance to prove ourselves, to show that we can do what those Jap programmers can do... or better! Computer Science and Information Technology evolves every day, we're aware of that. And because of such, we're ready to evolve along with it.

Writing this entry, I've assured myself that I am ready and that I am worthy of this job. I deserve to be selected (of course, along with Jenny and Kai) and be a programmer for embedded software. I admit that the reason I applied for this job is that because it's set in Japan. Well that may be, but another reason is because I want to learn~

Yeah, corny as it may seem, being an I.T. professional demands constant growth and experience; thus the many-tongued programmers speaking different kinds of programming languages. I remember back when we were in our 1st years, a prof told us that if you know and have mastered 3 (programming) languages, then that would have been impressive by itself. And considering that C++ is the first major programming language taught to us during college, it certainly is a nice little treat that we'll be doing the exact same thing in Japan. Of course, I expect that 'that' won't be the only language that we'll use~

So yes, I'm ready. We're ready. Yet we're still getting ready, because I still haven't realized just how 'surprising' life's surprises can be... until now.

Just wow... imagine, Japan?! @__@;

 

Pfft.

So...let's see...Megane asked me to post about something really really interesting, but there's really nothing interesting to post about today...except that I have a splitting headache, I have to finish one darn technical training, and work, to top it all off. What a great Friday.

Apparently, eating Mongo hopia and sipping Chuckie will not help cure your headache unless you drink medicine. I know that now. XD

AHA!

(Wow, the GazettE's Nausea and Shudder woke up my sleeping brain cells!)

I just remembered (and was suddenly rejuvinated) how I was spazzing last night because I was reading this very cute manga. Yeah, these days I've been reading manga whenever I can, I have no idea why.


FASTER THAN A KISS by Meca Tanaka (I also have no idea if it was a play of words or the name was a typo. XD)

キスよりも早く (Kiss Yori mo Hayaku) is a really cute story of a 24 year old "plain" teacher marrying his 16 year old student secretly. It all happened in a spur of the moment when Kazuma Ojiru, the sensei, took responsibility and agreed to the demanding request of his student, Fumino Kaji, of marrying and taking care of her and her four year old brother, Teppei.

So what would happen if a girl, bringing her own sense of justice to her school mates and was labeled as a delinquent, lived with the plain looking English teacher? LOL.

I was laughing my head off last night because it was too cute! There actually is a reason why I had to quote the word plain, you'll find out once you read the manga. Think, Onizuka. Muhahahaha. That's all I can say, you'd probably figure it out yourself. Hahahahaha.

It was cute in the sense that the girl, actually finding that she already likes her sensei/husband, was finding ways on how he'd notice her, and at least get a kiss. The ideas she get from their neighbour, who was an "ex-host", Ryuu and a good friend of Kazuma, are really strange (especially the costumes). Well Kazuma is strange, how he wants to be greeted by Fumino while she's cosplaying as a young wife. OMG.

Just when they were on the verge of doing "it", or when they almost kiss, something unfortunate always happens, and they're both frustrated in the end. ROFL. It was also cute how Fumino always gets jealous of her younger brother, Teppei, because he'd always be hugged and praised by Kazuma and she's not.

"Try growing it to a cup C first." (I flipped when Kazuma told that to Fumino XD)

And the fact that they have to hide that they were married when they were in school. There are extra romantic scenes too, I love the art. And how the "plain" teacher becomes like "someone else" when he removes his glasses.

The manga is still incomplete (darn it!) but you can read the first volume if you want. ^^ Highly recommended!

P.S. This actually is a manga made very recently, just this January 2008. Wooh~

I just can't sit idly by as other major attractions of Yokohama gets neglected. So here I am doing the majestic places some justice by showcasing each spot, and probably do some research for future plan-to-visit days~


We start off with Tokyo Tower's rival, the Yokohama Marine Tower. Standing 106 meters (324 feet) high, it is a lattice framework of iconic beauty. This tower is actually a lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the world in fact! There's also an observation desk 100 meters up there where you can sometimes see Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, it's closed to visitors since December 2006, but plans are to reopen it by 2009. Woo~!!!


Next up is Yamate. It is an area in Yokohama famous for being the foreigner's neighborhood with a lot of international school that are located there. Very rich people live here, as well as expatriates.


Of course, being a high-end district, there are a lot of fancy-pancy places to visit such as the Toys Club Museum, Cat Museum, Rose Garden, and the scenic Yamate Bluff that offers a panoramic view of the spread of Yokohama's sprawling urbanity and much more. Looks very sunny right? Fancy-pancy... heh~


Motomachi is a five-block stretch of miscellaneous shops and botiques, known throughout Japan for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, original fashion, and its seemingly western influence. A definite splurge-fest certainly awaits us there... Hohoho~!! *watches kai and her harisen cautiously*


There's also the InterContinental Grand Yokohama hotel, a definite eye-catcher in the city's skyline by having that sail-shaped architecture (some people see it as half-moon though). Quite expensive in my opinion, a double room costing as much as ¥43,000!!! I think I'll just use it as a backdrop for my photorgasmic voyage, thank you.


Being Japan's tallest building ever, the Landmark Tower is most probably the first thing you'll notice once reach Yokohama. Besides its height factor, there are a lot more interesting facts about this tower, so I'll just enumerate them:

> It has the second fastest elevator in the world, 1 floor per second. *woosh* indeed.
> It is located in the Minato Mirai 21, the futuristic distric of Yokohama.
> It has 70 floors: 49-70th floors contains a 5-star hotel and the lower 48 floors are used as offices and for the shopping mall.
> The 69th floor holds the Sky Garden observatory where you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the city and Mt. Fuji (even Tokyo). But the luxury doesn't come cheap: dinner at any of these restaurants is around ¥10,000 per person.
> And there's a hidden 71st floor where they've put some tuned mass dampers. Something to balance the building or something...


Last and yes it's not the least (whatever that means) is the Yokohama Bay Bridge. I think this is the bridge being constructed in the anime You're Under Arrest!. Anyway, this bridge crosses Tokyo Bay with a span of 460 meters (1,510 feet) and there's a toll of ¥600 probably only for vehicles. Although I'm not sure if anyone can walk the whole stretch of it... Maybe we'll try it sometime, haha~

And there you have it, a glimpse of some of the places-to-see of our future residence in less than 6 months' time. Woohoo~!! It is still a bit unbelievable, but I guess we have to accept the truth that life is sometimes fair. Once we do get there, expect the same set of pictures but with our faces plastered all over it... with our peace signs and whatnot. (=__=)v


D'you know that the rose is Yokohama's flower? Hehe, random thingy~

Joining in with the 'festive' mood of Megane and Jenny, this post is my rantings about the place we're gonna be spending a good year or two once we get into Japan, that is, the City of Yokohama.


Now now, Yokohama is located in the Kanagawa Prefecture, in the Kanto Region, South of Tokyo. It's a major commercial hub and is also the entertainment district of Japan! It used to be just a small fishing village, but Yokohama happened to be one of the first ports to open itself to the Western World, and became the base of foreign trade in Japan. You can think of this place as a 'rival' of Tokyo with its booming and prosperous industries~

YOKOHAMA!

*scream*

YOKOHAMA!!

*scream*

YOKOHAMA!!!

I have lots of places I wanna go to when we get there, I just don't know where to start! My fangirl self might get in the way! AHHHHHHHH! First off, I guess, would be? Yokohama Arena (that explains the screaming part in this post, yeah, YOKOHAMA!). It's the place where the GazettE had their Decomposition Beauty Final Tour. Its <3.


Five minute walk from the closest subway station, Shin-Yokohama. OMG THAT IS SO SO <3! Ahh~ I can finally watch concerts! the GazettE, alice nine., OMG! OMG!


I was actually surprised that Yokohama had its own "Chinatown". Yup, there is. Yokohama Chukagai. And they say that Yokohama Chukagai is actually the biggest China town not just in Japan, but also in Asia. (What about the Chinatown here? XD)


I've seen this in a documentary in NHK. TADAH! The Ramen Museum! Incidentally, this museum is in Shin Yokohama. A food amusement park! They actually had the museum built like the old streets in Japan (during 1958, when instant noodles was invented XD), so you'd really get to feel like you're somewhere else while inside. And aside from eating Ramen, you'd also get to see some shops where you can buy other stuff too~


Weee~!!! They also have amusement parks! Yokohama Cosmo World! They have that HUGE FERRIS WHEEL, they call Minato Mirai 21 (Cosmo Clock). Those illumination thingy you see actually changes color every 15 minutes. ^^


I've also seen this in NHK, Yokohama's DOLL MUSEUM! They have over twelve thousand dolls from over one hundred countries!

There's actually more to see! The Bay Bridge, Yokohama's Marine Tower, The Silk Center, Harbour View Park, The Rose Garden and the Motomachi Shopping Area. Whew~ Too many places to go to!

Though there are lotsa good place to go to in Yokohama, of course I'd also like to visit Tokyo, Shibuya, Akihabara, etc. Go to festivals! So many things to do when we get there! I'm pretty excited about this! XD

Q: Japan here we come?!
A: Yes, you've read that right!

There's a great chance that we'll be blogging from Japan by June/July this year. Kaisu, Jenny, and I are getting ready to fly ourselves to Japan and work there 6 months from now~!


The job my aunt has promised us pulled through, and while she promised certain employment, there's still the final and official interview two weeks from now. We have to prove that we're fit for the job, maybe dazzle the Japanese panelists a bit with my mediocre Nigongo skills and give them a wink or two...


Anyway, after the interview we will know the results that same day. And the orientation will come the day after. Talk about cutting the red tape! Everything will be so fast... Once we're sure about our employment and signed the contracts, then we'll resign from our current companies to dedicate ourselves and pursue this new one.


The intensive Nihongo lessons will start by April, running for a full 3 months to ensure that we'll be ready for the job, which will be located in Yokohama by the way. The classes will be held everyday and lasting the whole day! Monday-Friday 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. I never knew I'd be this excited for school~! Woo!

Himeji Castle

After converting our tongues to Japanese, we have two weeks to pack up, finish any unfinished business, and to say goodbye to our loved ones. I don't know if I'd be able to sleep during those two weeks of unnerving giddy-ness. Although I'm planning of making a video, of our last few days here, and my target is to make ourselves cry~

Japanese Vending Machine.. WOOHOO!!

Of course, during those 6 months' worth of waiting there'll be a lot of challenges and problems (documents/paperworks, medical checkups, resignation letters and LOTS of money), but we will never falter! We will stand and reach out, stepping one foot at a time.

Japan here we come.

Keitai novels are a big hit/trend in Japan right now. Yup, you've read that right. Keitai (Cellphone) novels. If in Korea, novels are mostly posted in forums and daum cafes, in Japan, its in those cellphone novel sites.

One popular cellphone novel, Koizora, was published into a book and was later turned into a movie of the same name.

How did I know of all this? XD

I've watched this NHK music show hosted by Melody, J-Melo and they aired a very very cute song sang by Yui Aragaki, Heavenly Days. It was one of the theme songs of the movie Koizora, which stars Yui Aragaki herself, alongside with another guy, Miura Haruma. (That blonde Hottie!)


The PV contains selected scenes from the movie, and I fell in love with it through the PV (and well, because of Miura XD). I wanted to get my hands on the original novel (this was what I did when I watched He was Cool and A Wolf's Attraction, I've also read the original novel/script by the writer herself) before watching the movie, hopefully. But wait, is the original script even translated in English? Pfft.

Something about the movie, hmmm, the only thing I got which gave me an idea that the movie was sad is this short report:

"Koizora" is a love story that was originally published on the popular cell phone site Mahou no iRando. It was authored by new writer Mika, and is based on her own experiences. The story was released in book form last October, selling more than a million copies in its first month.

The story revolves around Mika (named after the author), who falls in love with her classmate, Hiroki, upon entering high school. But over the course of the novel, she ends up suffering through many trials, such as rape, abortion, and betrayal.

- Tokyograph

By the way, the director of this movie was the same person who directed "Taiyou no Uta". A lot of people are saying this is one hell of a tearjerker, but I've yet to see the movie (and find the subtitles <_<) to give my own judgement. I can get my hands on the movie, but its RAW and the subtitle is nowhere to be found, since its less than 2 months since it was released in theaters. Someone please sub this! Onegaishimasu!

Anyway, YUi Aragaki, an idol turned actress, released an album the same time the movie was released, entitled Sora. It contains the song "Heavenly Days", and its beautiful. Just in case you're wondering, she in the same league as Horikita Maki, both top idols below 20 years old. (NVM Erika Sawajiri XD)

Download Heavenly Days here.

Boku ni Natta Watashi.


*grumbles*

Ok, I did say and swear by it that I HATE INCOMPLETE mangas in my previous post. But then a couple of hours later here I am downloading an incomplete manga series. So much for saying that. ><

僕になった私! The summary is enough to arouse my curiousity, so here I am downloading. Wooh~ *sporks self*

Yes, it's another Hana Kimi like plot. Thank goodness this only has 5 volumes though, not 20+. HOORAH! What actually attracted me in downloading was the manga art. *whispers* I have read a manga with the same art as this but I forgot the name of the author, and what manga it was. Pfft.

3 volumes out of 5. Crap, I seriously hate waiting, because I ultimately forget it! I lost hope in continuing reading Goong and You're so Cool because I remembered them manhwas almost a year after I read the latest chapter released. <_<

*READING CHAPTER 1*

Ok, the first few pages reminded me of the movie "She's the Man", she took her brother's place, but in this one, he was enrolled in a prestigious school. Oh, did I mention? They're twin bros and sis too! *thinks* Hey that's just like me and my bro! And that the girl was forced by the mother to be her twin brother by cutting her long hair off and throwing her out of the house. Twisted story and parents. LOL.

Then the next few pages we switch back to Hana Kimi! That gorgeous dorm manager, Yousuke Saeki. *drools*

Sano Izumi = Kunio Itou
Ashiya Mizuki = Momoko Takanashi

Her chest got touched in her first day too! Muha. XD Ok, I now see the difference. Haha. It was the dorm manager who knows she was a girl, and the main guy, Itou, doesn't have a clue. I rarely see a manga where the main guy wasn't the one she was supposed to end up with, so yeah...but let's wait and see.