J Kurasu...

The J Class was an interesting group. Standing from L-R is Bong (aka Elvin), Rey (aka acheronsbane), Kiko the prolific, Edel, Rhea (RJ?), Nina (the gifted student), Dang (the prolific blogger), Berns (hmmmm). Sort of kneeling from L-R is Byron (my rival in asking the most questions), Claire (the quiet..so we thought....but proved to be a very popular girl) and of course me.... The location of the pic was at the Lyceum Law College Classrooms in Makati....

The Japanese Way...

I was reading through Dang's (she is a fellow bisaya and batchmate in JDS Batch 5 Philippines) and I was reminded that its been a year since we left Cebu and made Manila home (the tropical paradise of California Gardens in Mandaluyong was our home).. away from home for our Japanese Language Class or Nihongo Kurasu. The 2 month we stayed in Manila proved to be good practice for us promdis (a slang term and sometimes deregatory term for people "prom di" (from the) province). Though I am personally very proud to be labelled as such.... The short stint in Manila with my erstwhile rommies (Rey, Bong, Jason) proved to a good practice to living in such small quarters. Jason had the opportunity to move to more cozier accomodations so it was only me, rey and bong that were left to actually complete the stay in the tropical garden of california...Living in the tiny room in a building was the first step in knowing the Japanese Way....of course the main reason for our stay in Manila was to learn Japanese (nihongo) for our eventual trip to Japan. The Japanese Class was a very interesting experience. It gave me an opportunity that I had never had before.....that is... to be the DUMB (or bobo in Filipino) student in class. Ever since I could remember I have always been an academically accomplished individual. I was always a top student till I eventually finished my BSCS degree with a "cum laude" distinction. But as luck would have it, in Nihongo class I was the idiot (who kept on flunking the quizzes) and a consistent member of the Mou Ichido (repeat) group. I think I was so bad that I think my sensei's (honorific for title for teachers) were worried on how I would survive in Japan. But as can be seen I have thrived well (sign ang body language helps) inspite my atrocious Japanese. Nevertheless, my being so dumb in Nihongo allowed me to ask DUMB and outrageous (thats how dang described it) questions to my senseis....(I am still thinking if i want to retell my most interesting question i posed in class.....). Fortunately for me, dumb as I was, I was fortunately with classmates who were very supported such as my seatmates Edel and later on Berns.... We had many interesting moments in our class (J kurasu) and it made our journey in learning the "Japanese Way" a fun and happy (tanoshi?) experience.

My Abode - My Community Part 2

To continue from my last post...upon reaching the entrance of my building and turn towards the direction the building is facing... you will see the silhouette of a building...that building is the Seiyu Depato (department store) which is the Japanese subsidiary of the famous retail chain WalMart. As can be seen...its very close to where I live....Seiyu has a supermarket in the first floor, department stores on the 2nd and 3rd floor and a Hyaku En Shop (100 Yen Store) as well.

My Abode - My Community Part 1

One of the things that helped me make up my mind in choosing my residence here in Japan is convenience. Having had to forgo the luxuries of cars and cabs (forgo because I am not allowed to drive here...parking also is way too expensive anyway, and cabs are too expensive-flagdown is around $6.60), closeness to public transportation (train station) and other vital institutions (such as a supermarket, koban (police station), bank ATM, conbini (convenience store), post office, and a department store) is very important. When I say closeness...I mean walking distance....The picture as indicated was taken (who else but by me of course...and with a dash of digital magic) just outside the Hanakoganei Eki. As can be seen...my building is very near the Eki. on the the side of the picture is INAGEYA (only NAGEYA can be seen in the pic), a midsize supermarket (of course not as huge as SM Supermarket but good enough)...inside it is also a McDonalds...in case you get hungry from doing grocery....hehehe...

Mga Kausaban... Part 1

Sa akong pag puyo diri sa Japan...adlaw adlaw mabantayan nako ang mga kausaban sa ako kinabuhi diri i komparar sa kinabuhi nako sa Cebu. Mao kini akong na mat-an na mga kausaban...


1) Karon automatic na ko mo ingon ug "sumimasen", dili na "excuse me"
2) Mas paspas nako no lakaw, kung tawagon nako "japanese power walk"
3) Mo inum nako ug tubig gikan sa gripo...ug feel sad nako ang lasa sa ilang tubig...
4) Pag tangtang sa sapatos una mo sulod sa usa ka balay...bisan pinoy pa ang tag-balay...
5) Pag "segregate" sa basura...karon pa jud ko naka sabot sa pag ka importante sa segregation
6) Anad nako sa turo turo na pamaagi sa pag palit ug pag kaon...kung sa cebu pa mo ingon ka "kani, kani, kani" diri sa japan mo ingon ka "kore, kore kore"....duol ra sa dali ra hinumduman
Kung ang kani - kore, ang kana - sore, ang kato - are.... dali ra hinumduman kung huna huna-on nimo ana...
7) Nakat-on ko luto ug usa ra ka "burner"...mao na kinahanlan ka mag plano una ka mo sugod ug luto...
8) Mo salig ug tawo (basta japon? hehe)...2 ka adlaw ni labay ni palit ko ug pagkaon sa mcdo...naa koy sinsiyo na bilin sa cashier na mga 20 yen.....gi gukod jud ko sa gawas para mahatag nila nako ako sinsiyo...
9) Mag gamit ug lotion....para dili mo uga ang panit...wala jud ka choice....kay maka uga jud ni bugnaw...
10) Karon na naa ko sa layo mas ma storya na nako ako mga higala..pama-agi sa chat

ang sumpay sa sunod nasad....

Title Change...

For those who have read prior posts in this blog...you might have noticed I have changed my title. The reason for the change is, I wanted a more consistent title of my friendster blog and this blog. The title also best reflects the contents of the blog which is whatever comes to mind...I have also decided that from time to time I will post blogs in Bisaya (Cebuano) and maybe in the future (if my Japanese will improve....in Japanese...or a chopsuey mix of the 3 languages....

The Shocking Price of Durian and Buko in Shinjuku

D0-ri-ya-n...thats what the kana on Japanese fruit stand said....or durian to the rest of the world...the amazingly smelly fruit but whose flavor quite a few people enjoy. This fruit I have always just taken for granted as I am not really one of its fans though I do love those durian candies... hehehe... anyway what amazed me was the cost. Yes folks the sign says 4000 Yen for 1 durian! Thats like 1600 Pesos or around $40/fruit. So far its one of the most expensive fruits here... (so does it make it a status symbol if you are seen eating it?). The other fruit? nut? that was in the same stand and was also pricey was the lowly coconut. At 600 Yen per piece that is pricey indeed. Thats around 240 Pesos or about $6/coconut. Whereas in Cebu you see coconuts just lying around...no wonder Japanese tourists are willing to pay 100 pesos per buko at Plantation Bay ..... it is still a lot cheaper than here in Japan... I''ll have to wait till I go back to Cebu for my dose of buko juice...

The Grades Are IN!

I finished my first semester at Waseda GITS and my grades are in. The grades in Waseda are given in BOTH Japanese and English. The images on the side are scans of my grades in English and in Japanese. As you might have noticed their grading system is more like the US rather than the Philippines. The possible grades are A+, A, B, C, D and F. F being a failing grade. As you can see I did fairly well in my first sem and I hope to continue doing so in the succeeding semesters to come.

Danggit

Of the many things I missed when I moved to Japan, it is the various delicacies from Cebu that I miss the most. One such delicacy is the famous Danggit of Cebu. On the pictures are the danggit (dried fish) as served (with the ever popular Datu Puti Vinegar as dip in the background) and of course the other pic of me about to gleefully getting my first morsel of danggit in almost 10 months of being danggit free. The picss were taken over dinner today at John's place and the danggit was courtesy of Bong (who brought it in from Cebu just a few days ago).

This food is very popular among filipinos and is something most enjoy for breakfast together with fried rice. The danggit is sold at TABO-AN Market (Tabo-an is the Danggit mecca of Cebu where all sorts of danggit and its related products could be bought at its cheapest price (buying danggit at the supermarket is a bit more expensive, around 30% more). Tabo-an is a Visayan (Cebuano-local language of the island) word that means "meeting place". Though over the years Tabo-an has been closely associated with Danggit and is becoming a famous must see place for tourists (local and international) for danggit and other exotic food items such
"sun dried fish bones". If you ever visit Cebu, do try the danggit (it might smell...but its really delicious...oishii as the Japanese would say). For those buying danggit for the first time...choose the medium size or small unsalted danggit..or the medium sized ones made with lemonsito (small lemons)....and if buying in Tabo-an market, dont be afraid to haggle..thats part of the experience...they will (at no extra cost) pack it in plastic bags and seal it...for example when I buy 1 Kg of danggit I can have it packed in 10 100 gm packs (just about enough for a meal of 2-4 people). This is specially convenient if your brining it elswhere for friends or family.

Sakura-Hanami in Koganei Park

Its spring time and Sakura season is upon us for just a week or so. And of course being in Japan, one must try out the things they do here. Coming from the Philippines, we don't get to experience the various seasons and hence I have never experienced Spring. One of the traditions here in Japan during the spring Sakura season is HANAMI. The word is a combination of Hana - flower and mi - to see. So literally it means flower viewing. For someone not used to it, it does look strange. Imagine throngs of people going to the parks to have parties (food and drinks?) and watching the trees and taking pics. It is said doing so helps uplift the spirit.....so as can be seen in the pic in the side...thats me starting at a tree (not seen in the pic) with another big tree in the background....
My first attempt at HANAMI was with several friends last weekend in UENO Park....but it was a bust as it was raining and there were simply too many people...Since my first try at HANAMI was a bust, I scoured the internet for a park that was much closer to my home (which is near Hanakoganei Station). As luck would have it. One park was indeed walking distance from the EKI (train station). Using google maps (being the IT person that I am) I located the general location of the park and printed a map. I emailed a friend if she was interested to go to the park and maybe take pics with me. She was interested, and the next day we set of to find the park. Using the printed google maps of we sort of wandered towards the general location of the park and as luck was with us found the park after about 30 minutes. We took the scenic route (and indeed it was scenic) the first time we went a few days ago, but today, I decided to find the fastest route. A faster route to the park took about 18 minutes brisk walking from my apt and about 15 minutes from the eki. ( I will blog about the routes to koganei park in another post). Needless to say, Koganei Park is a nice place to go for picnics, jogging and biking. It also has an outdoor museum but have not been able to explore that yet...maybe next time...

Studying in Japan

Its been a long time (14 months) since my first post...got sidetracked when I moved here to Japan for studies. Just a short recap of what happened in the last 14 months. When I started this blog I was in the midst of applying for a scholarship to study in Japan. By march 2007 after so many months getting through the application process I was finally accepted (as part of 25 guys and girls). To celebrate my acceptance, me, my sister and my mom went to Singapore for a short holiday (another future topic i guess??) . By April I was attending Japanese language classes in Manila (I am, by the way, from the beautiful island of Cebu) . After 2 months of difficult nihongo classes (supposedly to help me in my stay here in Japan)..we had a break and prepared for our trip to Japan. Everything went by very fast (though I still was able to attend some conferences in between) and by July 2, we were off to Japan....The first 2 months proved to be very interesting...we stayed in one of the big hotels in Shinjuku (Shinjuku Washington Hotel) for 73 days...the longest I stayed in a hotel....living in the hotel had its ups and downs but it was generally a fun experience....since the university I was going to (and I think same with the rest of the universities here in Japan) will start the fall semester in September yet...we spent the next 2 months with more nihongo classes...but this time not as gruelling (though it was implied otherwise...thank God i was in the Mou Ichido Kurasu....aka....repeaters...) ....
September came and we moved out of the hotel....and into more practical accomodations for the rest of my stay here in Japan. My classes in Waseda started in late September and we finished end of January...And now its spring break.... and pretty soon, the spring semester will start...and that is what happened to me in for the past months in a nutshell....