pinakamaganda

Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas. There’s no Christmas Break. There’s even work on Christmas Day. Japanese Catholics do celebrate, but unlike in the Philippines, Christmas is not a national holiday.

I think establishments like malls decorate because of the vibe. Christmas is a happy day, a happy season. Everybody’s happy and in the mood to celebrate, and most especially, to shop!

I have a few more days (and a few more boxes to fill up) left before I call my Tokyo stay a wrap. Because of the uber busyness at work, I didn’t get to feel the excitement today. Sometime in the middle though, when I paused for a moment, I suddenly shouted (not scandalously) to my colleague who’s also working late with me, “OMG we’re going home na!! Can you believe it?!?!”

Anyway, took a photo of this house on my way home… This house is the only bright and shining house in my area. I felt bright and shiny too! This is it… I’m comin’ back!

So it begins… cleaning up… and packing

And so it begins. The busy days and the busy nights.

Though I sometimes check out my horoscope at Facebook (coz it was fun) I was never really superstitious. I rarely believe in those sayings but sometimes they do come true.

Maybe it was some careless statement I made one day. I was blaming my stomach for it. Or my mouth. Either of the two, it’s related anyway. First my stomach is always hungry (or craving for something), and my mouth is also always craving for something. That’s just it, every day, at random times, whether it is near-lunch time or after lunch-time, I always had to have a bite. I was always looking for something to nibble. So I would go out and buy snacks and food and all kinds of craving materials at the convenience store in front of my office.

Then on that fateful day, I became very busy. Not that busy but enough to keep my mind occupied. And my momentum was so high that I forgot all about the cravings. At the end of the day, I commented, “I wish it would be always like this so I could save a lot of money (from buying all those food)”.

Now. It is. And so it begins.

Maybe it was just me, always over-imagining things or a little over-assuming. I had been told that we were going to walk 1 hour to reach the rock-climbing area. Walking one hour is fine with me. It’s part of the adventure! But I didn’t imagine that walk = mountain climb! I thought we were just going to walk to some flat muddy/grassy PLAINS.

When I woke up after one++ hour drive to the place, I was surprised to see a familiar site. I thought about UPLB (my university). It looked like we’re driving up to Makiling. Then we halted, and parked the car. Right then when we stopped, I knew. We were going to climb the mountain. It somehow freaked me out because as I’ve said, I imagined plains and grass and flowers.. not a mountain. But of course I had to oblige. After a few stretches and some snacks, we took off.

I had to take photos discreetly (hence, the ugly shot)… I was so shy taking photos because, since my companions are way too used to these kinds of stuffs, they probably aren’t interested on taking photos and milestones anymore. But being the first-timer in the group, of course I would love to capture every moment. But it might slow the group’s pace. And they might think I’m such a… err… cam-whore!

I didn’t eat too much, nor drink a lot of water the whole time. Besides, I didn’t feel any hunger or thirst the whole time we were going up, rock-climbing, and going down. Maybe because of my ultra-heavy breakfast. There were no toilets up there, so I didn’t want to ruin my day by having a terrible kind of stomachache or worst, diarrhea, or I don’t want to pee anywhere in the woods neither. Some small creature from the kingdom animalia might bite my *beep*beep*.

I never felt tired the whole time we’re climbing. Maybe because it was a perfect day, no sun (because of the trees), no rain, and we were just starting. I ate a lot of rice for breakfast, for non-stop energy. There were plenty of pictures and scenes going on in my mind though. Like scary animals appearing in front of our eyes… like what should I do when that happens… if that would happen, we had no one else but only the four of us.. and oh, maybe superman might be there if I shout for help (though I would prefer Edward Cullen saving me )  And just when I was thinking about Jennifer Lopez and her anaconda, a small snake appeared and crawled really really fast towards us! I really froze out there! And again, my same panicky self thought about that small snake calling its friends sending messages of *hot fresh humans for food* alert. I was a bit scared. But good thing nothing bigger than that small snake appeared. But some bees never left us! Maybe those bees thought I was some kind of big flower because I was wearing a bright hot pink shirt! The bandana became useful because it covered my ears the whole time. Lesson Learned: NEVER WEAR ANYTHING BRIGHT IN THE WOODS. Scary or annoying animals found these bright flashy stuffs attractive.

They were right about 1 hour walk. We reached the top around 8 am I think… We rested for a while and then there they were, busy preparing their gears and all.

Photo-talks: (1) that was me taking my own photo again *discreetly* after we arrived to the climb spot; (2) Our climbing master’s bling blings; (3) The path where we came from; and (4) Me, in full battle gear and ready to climb! My boss somehow noticed me taking photos discreetly (hehehe), so he volunteered to take this photo

After they setup the ropes and all, my boss climbed first. Seeing him climb amazed me and it looked so easy. I volunteered to be the next one because I was way over confident about it being easy but when I was starting, it was difficult. I managed to reach the top part though. I knew that falling (or going down) would be the easiest part because you just have to let go, hold on to the rope, hang while going down. But I just couldn’t let go because seeing the rocks below scared me!! So I went down the same way I climbed up. I never hung. Maybe after three rounds of climbing, I finally let go and found it easy going down. You just have to trust them. Hehe.

Firsts: The first stage, and my first set of scratches (fortunately, nothing else followed)

And boy I was so glad that the climbing master thought about bringing a camera and taking a photo of me climbing! Yeah!

(1) Weee; (2) Dreaming of becoming spiderman’s better half.

And then my competitive self suddenly unleashes. But hehe, I did enjoy climbing

The second stage was higher. Way way higher. I was feeling sooo sad because I didn’t get to reach the top because I twisted my ankle badly Now I knew the importance of wearing the appropriate shoes for a specific ocassion/activity. The rubber shoes won’t be that effective. You need extra effort because it would be sometimes slippery. And that was the reason why I twisted my ankle. I stopped at one spot because there were no more grips… I couldn’t find any! I wanted badly to go up but I twisted my ankle instead. So I had to go down While the last person climbed his way on top, I was left below crying inside. Then these girls beside us, also climbers, probably regulars there, noticed that I was holding my ankle, they offered their help and wrapped my foot with some tape. I made friends!

(1) That was the spot where I stopped and eventually twisted my ankle; (2) That girl in orange (it’s so tiny in the picture) is one of the two girls who helped wrapped my foot;

(1) Those were not scratches! They’re supposed to be cushions for my next climb, bandaids are perfect; (2) My poor poor sad foot

I managed to climb again after a few minutes of rest. I didn’t want to sit there and cry because of my sprained ankle (it’s always sprained anyway). One of our mates lend me his shoes since we were of the same size. Next time… climbing shoes for my oh so dear foot.

It was tiring, exhausting, difficult and all related words. But the best part of it all, was the fun and experience. It was fun! I enjoyed! I wasn’t a pro-climber but my boss told me I was too good for a first-timer (hehehe, I hope he’s serious). At the end of the day, since I was so tired and since I deprived myself from eating too much or drinking too much, I had to eat a lot – in the car and in the station – few sandwiches, cheesecakes, one liter of water then after some hour, one big ramen bowl and rice = great great day and a satisfied stomach

I had been blessed with great superiors all throughout my assignment here in Japan. It has been really a good experience working with the coolest bosses around. This year, so far so good… First, there is my rocker boss, who gave me my once-in-a-lifetime experience of performing live at Roppongi! Then, there is my other rocker boss, as in rock-climber boss (aka outdoors boss), who made me believe that there ain’t no mountain high enough

Outdoors boss had always been asking me to join them rock-climbing at the gym since I had already expressed my interest on the sport way before. I did wall-climbing during my university days (at some fair). Rock climbing, not yet. But since I had always loved to be geographically high, and since I know that I’m physically fit and active (not bragging), I knew I would have liked to climb too. Though my boss had fairly asked me a couple of times before already, I had always declined because it was too expensive for me to climb at the gym.

And then one day, he asked me again to join them, rock-climbing in Tokyo. And he told me it’s free. My wide eyes opened wider and instantly said yes in glee. He said that they’ll lend me the gears. He told me its outdoors and I said it’s OK (all I could think about that moment was buy a really really good sunblock).

It was funny because I was thinking of the same ones in the UP fair, and that wall at the now-destroyed Adidas sports complex at the Fort. But then he showed me the pictures days before out climb. And I was shocked.

There were no “holders” or grips (whatever it is called)… all I could see were real rocks, real high, and real… just real! Like if you fall, you’re dead. Morbid was the word I was thinking that time.

What the boss said about it being free was true. I didn’t spend a single penny the whole day. But the day before the climb, I had to panic shop. Though the gears are provided already, I had to shop for the perfect attire. I couldn’t wear my ordinary pants and other sporty attires I brought from Phils because they’re not supportive enough or just.. too sexy (yeah they are). And it wouldn’t be appropriate for rock climbing. I spent a couple of thousand yens to buy the perfect climbing pants. My fit-jogging pants just wouldn’t do the trick. So I had to buy a new one. Also a long-sleeved sporty top (long-sleeves to avoid scratches as suggested by boss).

I had to buy a few stuffs from the great 100 yen store – bandaids, bandana (which I thought I could use just for fashion but turned out to be pretty useful), rain gear, arm cover, cap, etc.

I was thinking of buying a pair of climbing shoes as my friend advised but they’re too expensive and I’m not planning on splurging 9000+ yen for a pair of shoes that I would just probably use one time big time. So I skipped buying that and settled on my rubber shoes instead.

And oh, my boss gave me a big big outdoor bag.. all mine.

I did prepare a little for the climb. I bid my long nails good bye. Because it would be difficult to grip rocks with those long nails. I just left the polish for some protection for the nails. I slept early because I had to wake up at around 3 in the morning to eat breakfast, shower and most of all, catch the first train near my place at 4:30. And besides, I was too exhausted panic shopping the day before so I was able to sleep early.

I was able to catch the first train. And of course, I had to spend some time cam-whoring in the train:

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Apart from some scratches and a sprained ankle (which has to happen everytime, I just don’t know why), I SURVIVED!

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Last Sunday, a strong earthquake hit the city.

I was outside, preparing to cross the intersection bound to my house. I was shuffling my ipod to Paramore when suddenly the earth seemed to move. If you’re in that intersection, you wouldn’t feel that the earthquake was strong. I didn’t know that it was an earthquake until I got home and my roomate told me about it. In a room it’s a different feeling. She said it was too strong that the walls were really shaking and the house seemed to be going down. I believe her. I’ve felt earthquakes like that before, inside a room. But that Sunday’s was probably the strongest. I heard in the news that it’s like 6 or 7…

Then this morning, I was awaken with another rattling sound. The earth moved again. (Yup I know the earth moves everyday, earthquakes all the time because of these seismic waves etc but those were not really obvious you won’t feel them and classify them as what we humans perceive as earthquake).  This morning when it occurred (since I was of course, in my room asleep in my bed), I felt it. Weaker but strong enough to wake me up. It’s kinda bad to wake up at 5 in the morning and not be able to sleep right away. Hence I woke up so late again for work. It was raining damn hard but I had to use my bike to go to the office because the bus will just make me later. But you guessed it right, when I got to the office, I was soaked (still thanks to my umbrella my upper body was dry though). :’(

It’s been raining for two consecutive days already. I thought rainy season is over. I have a strange feeling that the earthquakes caused the rain. Silly geographical idea. What I am afraid of actually is the tsunami. Like what if the Pacific Ocean started to attack Japan… In Okinawa I thought about that all the time everytime I am in the monorail! And it made me scared. But here I was thinking, I’m far from the ocean this time. So I’m partly safe I guess.

I’m crossing my fingers though. I hope they’re just another strong seismic waves that won’t cause any disturbances in the oceans around.