pinakamaganda

I really never expected that I’d be coming back home this Christmas.

I was very hesitant on telling the boss that I want to be home. Honestly, I really didn’t want to. I told him that it’s OK with me to stay in Tokyo because I thought I was already doing fine on my “moving on” stage (but of course that was left unsaid). Well he probably thought I was just shy. And I thought, OK, at least I could spend Christmas with my family. And if we include the “pressure” of happiness provided by everyone in the party table (those who say “Yeah I agree you should all go”), you would really be forced to give it a go. Besides, we really should be thankful because these kind of “FREE” circumstances are once in a lifetime.

I thought instantly that those difficulties that I had been through (including that sucky feeling of sickness) would become a waste if I go back to Pinas and meet my past. Though I said “I won’t see the past” a couple of times already, and seeing how fragile I still was, I knew deep inside that I WANT it to happen.

I don’t understand why fate has to play its tricks on me. I was already back to circulation. I was already doing fine… and with one single poof everything was gone. I’m back to ZERO again. And it’s damn hard to think that I can do this one more time. I hate myself for being so weak, for being a fool (that’s what most people would see me).

It’s damn hard to fall… and fall… and fall.

I need those super powers. To keep me going… to keep me stronger.

Let your heart be light…

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight…

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Make the Yule-tide gay

From now on our troubles will be miles away…

Here we are as in olden days… happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us… Gather near to us once more

Someday soon.. we all will be together

If the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

… and have yourself.. a Merry Little Christmas now…

Big brother said that Christmas is the best time for us to have a family picture again (after N years), men I was just nene back then. Big Brother also said that we should be Christmas-Green. Hehehehe. So now, despite the fact that we had no digicams on our hands, we kinda improvised and used our phone cameras instead, and of course, with the special participation of my MACyGay.

…well, kinda.

On my flight back home, since there were really limited tickets available for this season (as you all know, the info that we were going home was quite a surprise), we took this flight via China Airlines to Manila but we have to take a connecting flight in Taipei.

When the plane was about to land in Taipei, I couldn’t help but sing “oh baby baby baby.. my baby baby..”

Wala lang, I always make my FIRST landing points very memorable. So even though the stay in Taipei was just waiting for the plane. I love it coz at least I was able to step my foot on the F4 Land! Hehehehe!

I have been to Japan’s TALLEST…
Now it’s Japan’s HAPPIEST…
and probably the earth’s too!

As what I have said, this is probably the biggest ever. Since childhood, I had always dreamed of coming to Disneyland someday – Pangarap na Bituin as what I told my friends here. Hehehe.

So last December 8, it was a dream come true for me. We were there from 7:30 up to the closing and boy it was so crowded! Well this is the happiest season so many people really go there.

But before I say the fabulous parts of our Disneyland trip, I got to say that it was really really crowded that time. Siksikan to the max even in the souvenir shops. Parang yung experience sa train.. ganun. Ang difference lang, masaya ang mga tao kahit na siksikan hehehe.

The Look

There are two Disney areas here in Japan. Disneysea and Disneyland. I’d love to try DisneySea also, maybe next time. The moment we entered the entrance doors to Disneyland, I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t decide at first where to LOOK.. Just LOOK. It was Winnie the Pooh that I saw first. The line was very very long for pictures with Pooh-San.

And then we saw these 3 little pigs roaming around! And I got to take a picture, kasi walang line, pero hinabol lang namin yung isang baboy hehehehe.

Tapos nakita ko na si Mickey Mouse! Ang galing!! Ang saya. Too bad the line was really long so we couldn’t afford to fall in line for a shot because we might have time shortage later on!

Ayun na, nasa loob na kami… Picture muna kami sa castle ni Cinderella. Maybe Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Belle live there also. Coz there’s only one beautiful castle there. Maybe they just share the rent hahahha.

Tapos nakakatuwa yung mga characters, no wonder you’d say it’s the happiest place. Coz all characters are ALWAYS smiling. So pag nakita mo sila talagang magiging masaya ang feeling mo (shempre naka mascot costume sila eh, unless nakadevelop na rin ang mga hapon ng mascot na nakakasmile and frown and other reactions, meron na ata, ewan ko lang kung saan makakakita).

The Rides

As much as we wanted, we’d love to try all the rides there… But sad to say, one day is not enough to experience Disneyland, especially this Christmas season. The “mountain” rides (splash mountain, big thunder mountain, space mountain, and other mountain name forgotten) were the recommended ones – those are like roller coasters with different themes… the lines were really long, and even if we use the fast pass, it was very long to wait still for the time. Fortunately, we were able to ride the space mountain. Yun yung pinaka “wild” sa lahat ng nasakyan namin. Kaya lang, ang weird, walang sumisigaw sa mga kasama namin sa roller coaster ride in space! As in walang sumisigaw! Kami lang!! Parang comeon people, throw your hearts out, screaaam!!! Pero ok, hindi naman nakakahiya, wala namang nakakaalam na kami yung sumisigaw kasi madilim. So keber na!

While waiting for our space mountain ride, we tried the Small World ride, it’s just like an indoor water ride, parang tour around the world ang theme. Tapos yung mga madadaanan mo, mga weird (na cute naman) small creatures na nakacostume ng mga costume ng iba ibang tao sa iba ibang bansa. Hinahanap nga namin kung nasan ang mga pinoy… Nakita naman namin SHA – isang pinay na nakacostume ng maria clara. Hindi naman sha spain kasi nasa Asia kami. So feel ko yun na yun. Kawawa naman ang pinay na yun, nagiisa sa isang parang cave. Yung iba, merong mga kasamang mga unggoy, mga kangaroo, tapos yung iba naman mga dance groups (hawaiian, macarena, egyptian), heheeh! Ang saya saya nung tunog dun… “it’s a small world affffter all”… ngayon ko lang nalaman, Disney pala nagpauso nun? Tama ba? Anyway, pinapatugtog iba ibang language ng it’s a small world, tapos me halong Christmas song na masaya na nalimutan ko na. Ewan ko, ako kasi, dun sa upuan namin, napapa-sway-sway to the left to the right ako. Para akong retarded na nakanganga lagi dahil sa  “awe” feeling! Ayun, naobvious ang kababawan ko!

After the space mountain ride, we went cruising naman dun sa ship ni Mark Twain. It was a boring ride if you really want some action. Hinahanap namin yung ship ni Jack Sparrow (of Pirates of the Carribean) pero di namin makita. Malaki kasi talaga, I guess we didn’t really were able to go around the WHOLE Disneyland. Si Mark Twain, sha yung author ng unang unang classic novel na nabasa ko – The Prince and the Pauper. So memorable sha sakin. Haha lagyan daw ba ng koneksyon para lang maging meaningful ang boring ride? Pero if you want to relax and enjoy the view, dun ka sumakay. Tapos yung mga nadadaanan nung ship na yun, parang mga Indian tribes and others. Me nagkkwento ata sa background, kaya lang shempre hindi ko gets… what do you expect. Pero dun pa lang sa mga nakikita namin, na amaze na naman ang lola mo! Mga dummies lang sila pero parang totoong mga Indians, tapos meron pang mga deer(?? I am not sure if those were really deer), na parang totoo… kumakain pa sila dun sa grass sa me baybaying “dagat”. Hehe galing. Akala ko nga yung mga nakikita kong mga bibe (glamorously colored ducks) eh mga dummies din. Pero totoo sila.

Ayan. Yang tatlo lang ang nasakyan namin. Sa dami ng rides dun, na puro pila, Yan lang. Mukhang sad sa part namin… but… WAIT! There’s more!

The Happiest Moment – the parade of the stars!

Those parades would really make your day at Disneyland complete. There were two parades that SHOULDN’T be missed – the day parade and the night parade (What a loser Naming scheme). Anyway, yung day parade, sila Mickey and friends and all other Disney characters in their respective floats, with their fabulous costumes… dancing to the Disney Christmas tune (I’ve gotta get that happy tune!!!)… ang cute nila panoorin! Si Mickey and Minnie, hiwalay sila ng float – LQ ata. Pero si Donald at Daisy magkapareho… wow sweet.

Cinderella, Snow White and other people from the Fairy Tale Kingdom were just busy projecting! Hay naku ang lalandi ng mga bakla! At eto pa, totoong tao sila, at fine magaganda sila!

Tapos shempre ang mga PRINCE CHARMING nila, ang PO-POGI! Tall and Muscular! YUMMY ang mga hunky dunky!

They say that the parade changes themes every season. Since this is Christmas season, so Christmas theme sha. They also told me that this is the best one. Like what I said, I’d gotta have that tune! Disney Christmas theme ata yun. Patutugtugin ko sa dorm pag nalulungkot ako, para biglang maging masaya ang paligid. Hehehe.

The reason why we really weren’t able to catch all the other rides was that we gotta have the perfect place to watch the parade. Sad kasi pag nandun ka sa likod.. kung saan dumadaan yung mga tao di mo mashado mafeel (although daanan din naman yung mga pinu-pwestuhan namin). So approx 2 hours before pa lang, pumuwesto na kami sa harap… para feel na feel ang sparks of happiness. Actually a lot of people were also doing the same. They even have their picnic mats with them. Kami, poor kami, hindi kami ready so either mga tissue lang na pinagdikit dikit o kaya yung Disney map (poor map). Hindi kering umupo sa semento ng walang cover. Mashadong malamig, baka maging frozen ang mga keps! Ay!

While waiting for the night parade, we went back to Mickey’s neighborhood. Mangangaroling. Hehehe.

Yung night parade, electric parade (?) ang tawag. Ayun, panalo yun! Parade of lights sha… yung mga characters naka outfit na very bright, tapos yung mga float nila, very bright din… million ata ginastos nila para sa mga ilaw na yun… ang ganda ganda talaga… Ang sarap sarap manood… ang saya saya panoorin nila mickey and friends habang nagsasayaw sila. Kumakaway…

Isama mo na rin sila thumbellina,  Snow White, Cinderella pa rin…

tapos yung float ni Beauty and the Beast… huhuhuhu naiiyak ako sa ganda!! (sorry OA pero I was at awe talaga!) ang ganda ng ilaw tapos nagsasayaw silang dalawa… isn’t it the sweetest thing to watch?

Yung mga nakikita nating mga pictures ng Disney characters sa mga folders (as in yung lagayan ng mga papel) and other school supplies na merong Disney characters, parang ganun yung itsura ng mga characters dun sa parade na yun. The colors were very magnificent and so real!

The show

Sa harap ng castle, nagkaron ng show nung gabi (before and after the electric parade). Parang love story ata yun ni Mickey and Minnie. Etong si Minnie, pakipot pero malandi rin ang bruha! Actually di ko naiintindihan yung story, kasi again, Nihongo sha. Pero masaya pa rin, kasi yung mga Disney characters in their sparkling Christmas costumes – sila Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, sino pa ba… nalimutan ko na, me mga extra pa ata – kumakanta sila ng we wish you a merry Christmas in Japanese. Tapos nagsasayawan, nagkukulitan on stage. Ang ku-kyut!!! Naisip ko, someday pag nagkaanak ako, sobrang matutuwa siguro talaga yun pag dinala ko dito. Kasi ako pa nga lang na thunders na, eh sobrang saya. Pano pa kaya yung mga bata.. galing!

The Fireworks

Shempre hindi ito mawawala. Eto walang problema kahit saan pumwesto. Parang pyrolympics ang dating nung fireworks. Zzzz sorry boring description for the fireworks. But it was really still nice to watch…

Everything was nice to watch!

Everything was very SPECTACULAR… SURREAL…

The Happy Effect

Grabe. It was really a HAPPY experience. Hindi ako nanghinayang sa isang lapad. The Disneyland experience really helped me get through! For the whole week after it, parang naka smile ako lagi. The happy effect that the experience brought about made a wonderful change in me.

Nakakatuwa. Ang isa sa mga Pangarap na Bituin ko, nagkatotoo…

more pics!

1. Nagkasakit ako!

Sheeet! Ang mahal magkasakit dito! At sobrang hassle pa. Ubo sipon lagnat you name it. My last healthy week before I got sick was full of self-pity, depression or whatever sordid word that comes like them. So I guess my white blood cells and ever reliable body defenses were weakened as well. OK ok fine, I did not intend to skip meals, I just felt like not eating during those times. Hahaha! My office mate tells me to go to the gym because the cheap membership fee will be a waste if I don’t utilize them, and then I told him recently that I lost 3++ kilos for the last 2 weeks. Hahahah!

Hay naku talaga! Bukod sa kailangan ko pang magpasama dun sa EA namin papunta sa clinic (kasi usually hindi nakakaintindi ng english yung mga ospital dito, sobrang nakakahiya magpasama, kasi shempre time niya yun), ay shempre bibili pa ko ng mga gamot! Walangya! Ang mamahal ng mga gamot nila! Well, I kinda used my healthcard though. But just for the consultation, not for the meds, I couldn’t find time to check out HOW to get reimbursements with the meds that I bought (katams na naman). Pero hmm effective naman yung mga gamut (lalo na yung huli kong binili). Me effect nga lang ata sa ulo, hahaha!

Sabagay, me excuse ako. PaWinter na nung time na yun, so “uso” ang mga sakit! Kaya hindi ako nagiisa. Pero sa sobrang bad feeling na naramdaman ko nung sick ako, hindi na ko magpapaka”unhealthy” ulit! Ang chaka na nga ng itsura ko, sobrang chaka pa yung feeling! As in ang panget panget talaga. Like kung pwede lang na humiga na lang all the time.. Pero di pwede me pasok kasi.. Hay naku talaga SOBRANG HAGGARD!

So ngayon, nagrerecharge na ko. Hehe kinukumpleto ko na yung meals: breakfast-lunch-dinner… Dapat healthy lagi! Tapos ang aga ko na natutulog! Ang galing, 10 pa lang tulog na ko! (maaga na yun for me). Minsan insomnia attack pero hindi na sha lagi nangyayari. Tapos ano pa ba, hindi na chaka itsura ko. Back to fabulous days hehehe!

I can still remember what my terror English teacher in High School said to us. It was in the midst of one student who dropped out because (probably) of some parent problems. The chizms was that one of the parents was having an affair. But THAT was never confirmed. So, this English Teacher told us something like this, “No matter what was going on between your parents, or whatever bullshit is happening at your house, DON’T ever let those get in your way. DON’t ever let it ruin your life.”

Having that as my reference, I learned that no matter how shattered you’ve become, DON’T ever let it ruin your health! Your health should always be your ally in times of difficulties, so never ever take it for granted!

Yun nga lang, what about my sanity? I’m pretty sure I’m still sane. I think I’m having a Multiple-Personality disorder (Nikki Sanders! You rock!).

2. Bring it on Mah Heroes!

I finished Heroes Season 1 and 2. Marathon on weekends and at least 2 episodes everyday! Yea I am an Addict!

Though I watched Bring it on (1, 3) a million times, even memorized the steps, I still love to watch it again and again. I dunno. Well I guess that’s what I needed – Cheering. Coz I lost my self-esteem, self-respect, self-chuvaness, and even myself. I need to cheer to myself to be back again… I need to be Happy… Cheer Joane Cheer!

3. It’s time to turn Japanese! Seriously!

It has always been my dream to get a certification in Nihongo. I began taking Nihongo lessons everyday, with all the right materials.. all by myself. It is never too late to learn. Failure to pass it the first time doesn’t mean I’ll fail again the next time. So cheers to Level 3 next year!

And since the Japanese LURRRVE Karaoke (SO DO I!), I have been studying Japanese songs as well. Coz I want to sing Japanese songs with them! Hehehe.. Magaganda ang mga songs nila. The good thing is, I am not FORCED to learn the songs. I learn the songs because I LIKE them. The melody is great and if you take a deeper look at their meaning (aka translation), maganda.

4.Year-End Parties. Money shortage.

The Japanese people also love to party! And they really don’t mind how much it will cost (because they earn bigger than we do). Since this is Tokyo, it’s really expensive for me! Haay. Fortunately, I was able to sing my memorized Japanese songs. Maybe they thought I could read KANJI characters already in the karaoke. But the truth was, I memorized them! Hehehehe..

5. Winter Collection

Japanese Women are ALL fashionistas. Even the mommas wear this very typical ensemble this season – skirt and boots. And it looked so good on them! Here, it seems pretty normal. But in the Philippines, it’s very unusual to wear knee high boots ever. I just wear mine behind pants or just when I go partying. It’s good thing I brought all my boots here. Coz I just love wearing them at the office! I feel so like Julia Roberts everyday hehehe. Feelingerang bakla!

Oh, I should not forget… The hair! It seems that the Japanese fashionistas find time to fix their hair up… EVERYDAY – fix means, the hair getups that we girlfriends do during some events/formal gatherings in the Philippines. Like the curly curl curls with spray net all over. They just do that everyday. Isn’t it so fascinating? I was thinking maybe they have wigs for each day. Monday – curly hair 1, Tuesday – curly hair 2… hehehe!

And of course, the make up! Parang ang gaganda lagi ng mga fez nila.

6. DISNEYLAND!!!

I got a separate post for this one. Coming up!

7. So much blessings in a MONTH:

“Thank You God for the blessings… in spite of my misfortunes, You were still there to lift me up and make me smile every single day…”

a. Unlimited Internet Connection… FINALLY!

I could still remember how happy I was yesterday when I saw my modem in my room. The lines were already ok. All I had to do was connect them. But grrrr! I was having problems! So I had to call yahoo support and deal with the Japanese speaking support people! OMG! But good thing, I have internet already!

b. A New DOMAIN

Dumating na ang PINAKAMAGANDA!

c. A Promotion

I am surprised I jumped to the next-next level in the announcement. They never corrected it. But anyway I am still glad, I got the promotion. So the career highway is going smoothly.

d. And last but not the least… A ROUND-TRIP ticket for the Christmas Season … for FREE!

Yes my dear friends… I’ll be home for Christmas. All along I thought that I’d be spending my Christmas in my dormitory, busy talking with the internet society. It was really a surprise and it was a very very short notice, that’s why our EA experienced a hard time finding the best ticket. Grabe! I am so thankful talaga for the blessings. I asked my mom nga to just offer a prayer at the mass back in Pinas.

Pano, kita kits na lang!