a 9 PM jog

Jogged for around 50 minutes last night. I took the path beside tama river and headed westward, crossing the highway and the train track, and finally turned around when I reached another highway. My main motivation was so that I could eat the polvoron that my mom made. They were really good! I may have eaten a bit too much actually. Therefore jogging was a really good decision.

what rain?

What a day! It rained all throughout but it was all fun as Hisumi-chan showed me around Shinjuku, including a food trip and a live music event at her school, the 29-floor Kogakuin University; plus some shopping for (my) winter gear and (her) job hunting outfit. After parting ways, I was back in Shibuya. While looking for the Yamaha mega store, I stumbled upon Shibashi, another musical instrument (mega) store, and soon after, found myself trying out (and then dreaming about having) one of their Pearl electronic drumsets. I missed making noise, hehe. Back on the rain soaked pavement, I then headed for nearby Tokyu Hands, and out of curiosity, did some window-shopping. I found weighing scales! And not so expensive ones too. I'll be buying one soon.

(Some pics here.)

Yokohama (part 2)

The other part of sea paradise was the (non-sea creature related) rides, the coolest one for me being the one called Blue Fall. It's a tower which takes you 350 feet up strapped on a seat, lets you enjoy the breathtaking view of Yokohama for a few seconds, and then drops you to free-fall screaming down to the ground. It was awesome!


There was also a big roller coaster. Its size doesn't break any record but it was the biggest roller coaster that I've seen, so I didn't pass up the chance to experience it. It was a pretty cool roller coaster actually, because more than half of it stands above the sea.


A pleasant experience my friends and I nearly missed was the dolphin fantasy. It was located in a small building in the middle of the park, but it looked like an ordinary store, we didn't think it was anything special. But good thing we were curious enough and so we got to experience walking under yet another big aquarium, but this time with the company of dolphins. Inside, the building was a tunnel-like structure, and gliding over our heads were colorful fishes and the dolphins. Then at the end of the tunnel was another aquarium, this one housing a lovely white whale.


Because we tried to finish all our sea paradise activities before lunch, when we had our lunch, it was was past 1pm already. We happily ate inside the park. Mark and Meema shared a pizza while I had a Popeye salad so called because the greens were spinach leaves. Loved it!

(Next in this series: Osanbashi pier, Chinatown, and more. To be continued...)

Yokohama (part 1)

My first saturday here was spent sight-seeing yokohama, a city already outside of tokyo and around 2 hours away from where i live, which is fuchu city.

First stop was the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, one of japan's largest aquariums. Inside the aquarium complex was a huge tank, more than two floors high and housing at least three huge manta rays (see previous post) among the many other colorful fishes.



Going up to the 2nd floor is through the escalator which cuts through the aquarium. Folks have a closer view of the creatures because the escalator is underwater! On the right above are Mark and Meema, the subjects of my many other photos from that day (not all have been uploaded, though, so just continue to check my flickr for updates.. sorry ^-^;;).






These were just some of the creatures featured in sea paradise. Compared to the animals in tokyo sea life which i visited a few months ago, the animals here were bigger, especially the sharks and the turtles! Also there were more giant crabs here.



Plus, there was a really entertaining marine animal show! It was my first time to see a show of this kind. It was filled with awesome stunts and funny tricks from dolphins, sea lions, walruses and a beautiful white whale.

(to be continued...)

back in japan!

Wow! Can't believe it's been one week and two days already since I got back here in Tokyo. Been really busy with work on the weekdays. And my first weekend here was spent on sightseeing the beautiful port city of Yokohama (more about this later) and getting lost in posh Daikanyama (later also) while looking for Tokyo Baptist Church. I've tons of pictures to process (each one to convert from RAW to JPEG). In the meantime, I'm sharing this pic of a huge ray (it's at least 6 feet wide) from the Yokohama Sea Paradise.

giant ray, originally uploaded by jemione.

Exultate Justi

last night i had an unusual LSS. can't get the all-latin song exultate justi out of my head. it was one of the concert pieces which our choir sang last sunday. among the repertoire's nine songs, it was the one piece that i studied the most, being a song with very unfamiliar words and tricky timing. and i can even say i was able to memorize it by heart. now apparently my head wouldn't just let it go.

here are some pics from the night of the concert.

blackout and boggle

blackout and boggle, originally uploaded by jemione.

What I did the evening the super storm Milenyo hit us--played boggle with my siblings and my mom till we ran out of candles.

trying to go traditional

This weekend I studied Steve Smith's Drumset Technique DVD--well, that is, the very first part of the video, which dealt with hand techniques. I tried my hand (literally) at his traditional grip. However, found out soon enough how difficult it was! I practiced for more than an hour but I don't know if I improved at all. In the first place, I wasn't even sure if I was doing it right. I may need a real life teacher for this one.

Jack's back

Started to include the tv series 24 in my watchlist. Since grabbing awards from the latest emmy awards, 24 has gotten my interest again. So last night, I picked up where I left off, and started season 4. I have to say, it was pretty good. I can immediately feel the action and excitement. Go Jack!

swing boy

Last night, I watched my bro Carlo compete in a dance sport event. I have to say he knows his ballroom, specifically cha cha cha, rhumba, and foxtrot. And boy can he get his hips shakin like jello. I wasn't able to compare his dancing with the other competitors because my eyes were glued to my camera, and my camera was focused on him and his partner. But they won first place, so my attention was focused on the right couple after all, hehehe.

swing girl

Finally, I was able to watch Swing Girls last night, a really nice Japanese movie about high school girls forming a jazz band. I have to say thank you to Tid for recommending it because it was very enjoyable and the music was great. I had actually been wanting to watch it for weeks now but no sibling was available to see it with me, and I don't like watching movies alone. Hehe. And also since the movie was about jazz, I was very much wanting to watch it with at least my sister or youngest bro, members of my family who I share the love for creating music.

So later that night, after the movie had already ended, the movie still had me in a jazz mood I just had to play Miles Davis' The Birth of Cool album while having my daily devotion sitting on a cushioned chair with my feet propped up on the bed. It was a cool swingin' evening.

at the city of majestic waterfalls

Third day (08/27) in Cagayan de Oro my family and I visited two beautiful waterfalls in neighboring Iligan City. First one was the super tall Maria Cristina falls, which I heard provides the electricity for Mindanao. It was the highest one that I've seen. But there wasn't much to do at the place except take pictures because the falls was enclosed by a powerplant. Still it was nice to witness water so powerful and so tall!

After a nice lunch by the seaside, we headed to Tinago falls. True to its name, it's a bit "tago" (hidden). It was tucked in a forest which could only be reached by going down this 360-plus steep steps of stairs. But it was one piece of nature that's really worth uncovering. It was lovely! It was pretty tall also, maybe at least 100 feet, but still way shorter than Maria Cristina. And it was wide! And very approachable--anyone with the provided life jacket can ride the available bamboo barge and approach the rushing water, and even enter the caves behind it (though I never got to try them, beause I took pictures instead, hehehe). Then in the middle, catching the charging white water of the main falls and the slower flowing water of the smaller falls surrounding the big one, was a magnificent blue lagoon, a wide circular pool of calm blue water.

Cool places to visit when you happen to be in Northern Mindanao! :)

More pics here.

shot the rapids

Day 2 in CDO (Saturday last week) was the highlight of my vacation--I went white water rafting! Rode a jeep from the heart of the city (where my family and I stayed), and around 30 minutes later, I was at Cagayan de Oro river. Soon after, everyone was putting on their life jackets, helmets, and storing precious stuff at water-proof bags. After a short orientation by one of the guides, we boarded our boats and glided to the river's center. Then not 200 meters from where the paddling started, was already the first of 14 major rapids that we were to encounter in our 3-hour trek down the wide river which divides the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon. The trip wasn't straight paddling though. There were ample rest periods to enjoy the wonderful view provided by huge rock faces and lush greenery by the riverside, and very clear weather. And at the river's calmer portions, we got to swim in the cold but refreshing water. There was also a side trip to a cave, which we entered and exited by floating in our life jackets. But riding through the rapids was the most fun. While our two boat guides worked hard to steer our rubber raft of seven people, the rest of us five paddled with all our might to push the boat forward. Of course everyone gets wet in the process. But how great it felt to be carried over rushing water! Add to that avoiding islands of sharp rocks and steering clear of walls. What a rush! T'was an adventure I'd definitely love to do again. :)

at the city of golden friendships

So here I am in an internet cafe in Cagayan de Oro City on the first day of my vacation. I have a 30-minute window before I join the rest of my family and head to the night market so I'm taking this precious chance to charge my ipod. I unintentionally drained the battery earlier today and I have no AC adapter so my only chance is through the usb drive. And since the computer is connected to the internet, we might as well blog!

So here I am blogging. First day's good so far. For lunch, we got to try the salads and pasta at Bigby's. The food was great! We were also able to explore Lim Ket Kai mall, which is a huge complex housing more than enough stores and restos to satisty all your "malling" needs.

My 30 minutes is almost up so I have to go now. Tonight it's dinner time at the night market!

thankful they are fading

My weekend adventure (see preceding post) actually brought to my body three different kinds of pains that are only now beginning to subside. First is the muscle soreness that made almost every movement, especially going down the stairs, the utmost torture. Second are the effects of brushing my left hand with stinging leaves and an unfortunate encounter with a wasp colony. My right hand got swollen and even a slight touch on the back of my left hand sends a jolt of excruciating pain. Third, was a small wound nearmy right jaw, a sort of puncture I got from having my jaw landing down on an upright talahib stalk during one of my many slips going down the mountain.

But thank God all of them are starting to heal already... I'm starting to feel normal now... and can even walk straight already!

weekend activities

Last weekend I climbed Mt. Sembrano in Tanay, Rizal with the Wannabes and some folks from Habagat. What a climb! It wasn't a piece of cake and the weather wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Almost every part of the trail was going upwards. The beginning part was especially difficult because the road was angled high and it gave a shock to my unexercised body. There were also parts that were really steep and required me to use both hands. But after 4 and a half hours of walking, climbing, crawling, resting, and almost having cramps in my thighs, I was finally at the summit. Then, for dinner it was pasta and fried chicken. It was fantastic! Aaron must have already perfected his pasta recipe.

It rained hard in the middle of the night and the rain did not stop until around 9 AM the next day. But I stayed dry all throughout, thanks to my tent. It was a very comfortable night for me, despite the rain and the wind. Actually, the bad weather may have heightened the comfort that I enjoyed. Because the elements were wreaking havoc outside while I was warm and dry inside, my 2-person tent felt like a 5-star hotel suite. What a nice feeling!

The descent was difficult but unexpectedly lots of fun. The rain the night before made the trail the most slippery I've ever encountered. I actually broke my record for the most number of times I've fallen flat on my butt in a span of 3 hours. Then there was this part which was so slippery, I just went down on my ass and just pushed myself to slide a good 50 feet down the mountainside slope. But it was fun, mud and all. My knees also didn't hurt even once, so one big hurray! for that too.

At the house at the base of the mountain, we had chicken tinola which was cooked especially for us. It was great! I was also able to take a bath at the house, which had a shower, mind you. We took our time to rest in the house and I was able to recharge my batteries well enough for my next activiy. 'Coz when I got home, it was straight to choir practice, then a night out with my church friends to celebrate Joshua's birthday. What a fun weekend!

a carpet for the drum set

One cool thing about my being back is that I get to play drums again. And I was able to play at church too, for two straight sundays now. Ureshikatta! (happiness!) I have to add some improvement to the setup at church though. The kit needs to be placed on a carpet or any kind of huge cloth, because the drums keep sliding away during play time!

This post is to remind myself to find one for the church kit. Ijou desu (that's all). Back to work!

soba with lots of chilli

This dish made me cry. The chilli powder combined with the teaspoonful of wasabi that I added to the hot bowl was probably too much. As I was eating this, I had to wipe my tears quick lest the elderly woman who was finishing her meal nearby think something was wrong. But nothing was wrong, I was just enjoying my bowl of soba.

at the Tokyo Sea Life Park

Last Saturday was a fun weekend for me and a friend with the fishes of the Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen . It was my first time to see a shark and a penguin and many other interesting marine animals. The park was a huge place filled wall to wall with every sort of sea-related creature. Had a great time as I was shutter happy once again.


Went there right before lunch hour so by the time we arrived at this "tuna theater", a super wide wall of an aquarium set in front of an amphitheater-like seating area, I was already hungry and actually couldn't help but wonder how wonderful a meal the heavyweight fishes would make.

More pictures here.

hello oven toaster

Took home an oven toaster yesterday. Got it from a colleague who was moving away after staying in Japan for two years. It can't fit in my tiny kitchen anymore so I just placed it on the floor in the bedroom/dining area. But that's not really a problem because now I've got a new oven toaster. Whee!

dinner for one

This was last night's dinner--cold zaru, er, plate (no zaru in the house!) soba with lots of nori and lettuce salad with egg. Then I just added the leftover fish from lunch. It was pretty much a repeat of yesterday's breakfast, except for the fish. But it was one meal I won't mind having again. It was goood. :)

new favorite jdorama

Just finished watching Densha Otoko (Train Man). Really enjoyed this series. It was very funny, especially the alternate ending/special episode. Easily one of my favorites now. Another special episode might be coming in September this year... I can't wait! ^^

Official site (in Japanese)
English info

mystery balls for dessert

I had these for dessert this evening. I bought them from the supermarket on my way home without knowing what they were. The glossy balls looked intruiging and I felt like going on a food adventure.

Now, I've eaten all of them already, but I still don't know what they are. I've tried translating the label but all I got was that they were some kind of pastry. And from the ingredients, they're made of flour. They're very good though--loved them! They turned out to be sticky flour balls covered with a really sweet paste. They're a bit too sweet so I scraped off some of the sticky covering. But how addicting these balls were! I ate them while watching magnificent Argentina demolish Serbia and Montenegro. The game's decided now and the balls are all gone.

Eat out pics

Top to bottom:
1. Me at the kekkon omedetou (contrats-to-the-newly-weds) party last Friday in Nagayama.
2. Astra people and significant others at the same party.
3. The pinoys having okonomiyaki or Japanese style pancake (taken on May 27).

new experiences

Monday to Wednesday I attended a seminar in Hachidoki, around 1.5 hours away by train from my place. I got to experience new things, like getting pushed and squeezed during morning rush hour in the express train on the way to the big (huge) train station in Shinjuku. The mass of people during rush hour is incredible. In every train stop, people just keep on coming in and when it seems the train car couldn't take any more passengers, somebody from the outside pushes the people by the door to get everybody to fit inside.

Trying out monja was another new experience for me. On Tuesday, Souma-san treated M and I to drinks, monja, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba in Hachidoki, where there was a street filled with monja restaurants. What is monja? I don't know exactly. It's a gooey mix of different ingredients for you to cook (or you can have the waiter cook it in front of you) on a big hot plate which takes up most of your table. What was in our monja? I recognized tentacles, so there was probably octopus. And I guess there were some vegetables in there too. It tasted okay. But I guess it's not food to make one satisfied, but more of food for group discussions, because everybody gets to share the one big liquid "pie", and you can only get a tiny quantity at a time. Also, you can only scrape off bits from the edges, because the pie is hot and still mostly liquid except at the edges, and you are only given a tiny (super mini) spatula for your spoon. It allowed plenty of time for talking.

The okonomiyaki was good. And I was able to flip it successfully (whew). I also got to try jasmine tea. It's better than oolong tea, but it's more expensive.

an eventful Friday lunch hour

During lunch break today I went home again. Since Monday this week, I've been returning home during lunch hour to cook my lunch and save money in the process. I also go home to make the most out of my host's fabulous kitchen (a really cool kitchen--roomy, well stocked, and has all the appliances and utensils and gadgets) which I have only until the end of the month to enjoy.

But lunch break today was a bit different. I had company. First, my host Kei-san came. I think he was a bit surprised to see me. But I don't think he minded seeing me. We exchanged a few words then he left soon after.

Right after Kei-san was gone, another visitor came. It was Kei-san's mom. I was really surprised. And apparently, Kei-san's mom was too. I can tell because she asked lots of questions. The difficult part was her questions were in Japanese. Thankfully I was able to understand her (I think), but I had to speak in Japanese as well. And it wasn't easy at all to do. My unprepared mind was almost in panic scouring for vocabulary words from my past Japanese lessons. At one point a few moments upon first stumbling upon each other, she asked when I arrived. But instead of saying the Japanese for Tuesday (Kayoubi), I blurted out Mokuyoubi, or Thursday.

When Kei-san's mom left a few minutes later, I made a mental slap of my head when I remembered that Tuesday is Kayoubi. Now I misinformed her. Sorry about that. I really have to step up learning the Japanese language.

Perfect Timing

Not really. Still, it was a nice photo, don't you think so?

This one was taken this last weekend (May 21) at the Shinjuku Gyoen park. It was a huge garden, and a major attraction for photographers because of the many colorful flowers in the Frech formal garden area. I have no pictures because my camera's not working and only during the day this picture was taken that it was brought to the store to be repaired. =(

But that didn't stop me from enjoying the place. It was as closest to nature as I can get, and a great place for a jump shot!

Eating and jogging and eating

To ease the guilty feeling brought about by eating piaya and caycay at the office, I went jogging this evening, my first official jog here in Japan not counting the running spurts that I have done on my way to work in the past week to avoid being late. Jogged for around 43 minutes around the area where I'm staying right now, which is in Tama City, Tokyo. The place is great for jogging. The weather is cool and there's ample space for pedestrians by the roadside and also walking pathways beside the river. I went towards the side of the city I wasn't familiar with, and stumbled upon the Nagayama train station, which I've been to before once, but I reached it by bus. I explored the area and then turned back to go home.

When I got home, I had lettuce salad in olive oil and tortang talong cooked sans cooking oil.

Two weeks ago in Mt. Cristobal...

I took pictures of the local scenery, which was mostly ferns and moss--and found it fascinating! The mountain was a lush tropical forest, and it felt great to be surrounded with greenery almost every step of the way.

I also met cool new people, fellow lovers of the great outdoors. The total attendance was around 60. Some of them became new friends!

I learned that I need to go back jogging! The climb wasn't supposed to be very tiring (based on what I remembered when I last climb Cristobal two years ago), but it just sapped me of my strength. It was exhausting.

Still, I had tons of fun! I also learned that tomatoes can a good tinola make. Surprising but true.

More pictures here.

remembering what I did last Monday

A few minutes ago, as I was recording my tasks for the week in our office "work monitoring system", I noticed that I signed out relatively early (around 6:30) last Monday. However, I can't, for the life of me, remember why. Did I go jogging after work? No, I did that on Tuesday. Did I have a date? I would have loved that, but no again; nobody to date. Oh, now I remember! I went to a pre-climb meeting, to plan for the climb I'm joining this weekend. Now, why did I forget that, when I drove all the way to Makati just to get there? I guess my brain's not yet fully functioning this early in the morning. Or it must be this headache I'm experiencing right now, messing with my memory!

Mt. Batulao

After many weeks of not blogging, finally something made me write again. And it was my most recent climbing trip that made me do it. You see, after many "inactive" months, I was once more able to conquer a mountain, this one called Batulao, in nearby Batangas province.

I went with a different group this time. And so for the first time in a long time, I was a "guest" again, with former labmate Leo and his gracious officemates as hosts.

The trail leading to the camp was easy enough, but except for a tree or two, most of it was exposed under the burning sun. And having neglected to put on sunblock, I got an unexpected tan. I actually got much darker and it's safe to say I--most unfortunately--got fried during that weekend.

Climbing from the camp to the summit was the hard part. The way that lead from the camp going up to the summit contained the steepest parts of the trail. A lot of times, the only way to proceed was to use all four limbs and kiss the wall. Some parts, because of the dry loose earth, had become slippery and it was hard to look for footholds.

I didn't expect it to be the tricky and challenging ascent that it was, but I gamely took all the experience in. I knew it was part of the adventure, even if your very life depended only on the grip of *the tip* of your shoes as you step from one tiny foothold to another. Besides, I thought, the descent was probably more scary, because at parts the soil had become so loose the trail would surely be dreadfully slippery going down. (Thankfully, it wasn't! Though I had to slide down on my butt from time to time, but with the big help of my trekking pole, going down turned out to be manageable enough.)

Finally, we reached the top alive and well after almost an hour climbing from our camp. The breathtaking view at the summit was well worth all the difficulties. We reached the peak just as the sun was about to set, and no time was wasted as we tried to capture the moment on our digicams. We had to go down before it gets dark, though, so after some jump shots, we headed back to camp.

Nighttime at the camp was dinner and socials. And for the first time in my entire camping history, I cooked a meal. I prepared penne with sardines in red sauce. It was a success! And the others seemed to agree. (You gotta love the the effects of having tired bones and muscles and high altitude!)

We went down the next day. But what torture the homeward hike was! The sun seemed hotter, and the trail had more upward slopes than downward ones. My skin was a roasted brown after that trip. Well, I had lots of fun though. I enjoyed the climb a lot, and a lot of that had to do with the right mix of thrills, hardships, and relaxation that Mt. Batulao provided; and the company of a fun bunch of friendly adventure-seekers.

"Pride" proud

"And I... was born... to love you,
With every single beat... of my heart..."
--Queen (I Was Born to Love You)

This song by Queen is still ringing in my ears as I've just only recently finished watching the Japanese drama Pride. And I must say what an enjoyable series that was! I loved the chemistry between the leads, the kakkoiiii KimuTaku and the pretty Takeuchi Yuko. The story was great, and the storylines about the other characters were engaging too. And the Queen themes (We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Too Much Love Will Kill You) weren't bad additions either, as the soaring tunes mixed really well with all the well-acted drama.

Haven't really watched a lot of jdoramas (just three so far including this one), but after learning terrific Japanese-made shows like this exist, I think I'm going to get hooked with jdorama now. And if I don't find other jdoramas to watch, I wouldn't mind watching Pride again.

smile for the camera

Photos courtesy of Peejay and Pat. These were from last December, when I was still in Tokyo. My trip has been cut short so I've been back here since Christmas.