Greeeeeetings, my dearling Livejournal friends!

How's life?

I noticed I spend more time updating stuff on Facebook than on LJ now. FB is amazing! And so much fun than LJ, I reckon. :x I've reconnected with old friends and old uni mates, some whom I've not heard from since graduation.. which is like, what, 4 years ago?! Whoa~! Some folks are married.. WITH KIDS! Double WHOA! Haha!!

Also busy with my involvement in Soka Gakkai's peace exhibition, which will be held here in October. I will be one of the exhibition guides. Yay!

Other things (as ranted in previous locked posts), status quo for now.

Well, till next time! :D

My heart feels like it had been stabbed a thousand times over.

*cries*

Human life is a mobile thing. It is never standing still. Time never stands still for anything or anyone. Everything and everyone change, because that’s what life is all about. Moving on, moving forward, ever changing.

A foot step forward, and another, gradually building up to a pace. Walking away, walking out, going ever forward, not looking back.

It sounds simple.

If only it is truly so.

Hahaha! This is so cool! Learning to count from 1 to 10 in Japanese, using word play. I didn't get it the first time I listened to it, but I caught on the idea the second time. Hehe.

Works like this:
Itachi no tanuki = Nuki (basic verb Nuku - to omit) Itachi's 'ta' becomes "ichi" (1)
Kani no katori = Tori (basic verb Toru - take) Kani's 'ka' becomes "ni" (2)
Sanma no manuke = Nuke (Nuku - omit) Sanma's 'ma' becomes "san" (3)
Ohashi no ohanashi = Ohashi without (Nashi) 'oha' is "shi" (4)

And so on.

So cute!

As the Year of the Boar draws to an end, strange feelings are surfacing. Undescribable feelings of anticipation, dread and glee, all in one. Not to mention a heart-wrenching kind of nostalgia.

Let's hope the Ratty Year brings better tidings.

Manglish: to use or not to use For the uninitiated, Manglish means....

I think this has been around for some months, but I've just came across it today. It's just too cool!!

Toypography is a type of children's alphabet blocks designed by Dainippon Type Organization and produced by Kokuyo.

These blocks can be used to spell Japanese words in Kanji and the English version of the word can be formed by re-arranging the fragments of the letters. What's more, a pictorial version can also be formed!

How cool is that??







More cool examples at the site!

BOO.

Korea lost the game against Iraq!!

And judging from the rate that Japan's going in the game against Saudi Arabia, there is very strong possibility of a Korea vs Japan match. For third placing.

Gee.. who should I support then?

Da-yum. I wish Japan would score another goal or so. Eeek..

Err..

I wonder how is it gonna work.. A JRock band consisting of Yoshiki, Gackt, Sugizo and Miyavi.

Also, whoever came up with the name? Skin??

Hmm..

Sounds yummi-licious. Haha!

I'm impatiently waiting for song releases.

Collectors edition, Japanese version! Wooo~



Amazon.jp >> Click

I've got my set of free MOO cards!!

I'd take photos of them, but my cam's batt is running low. -____-;;

That aside, I'm on semi-hiatus, if you haven't noticed. Too busy. Sigh.

This is a Pink Rose soap from Kappus. It was a gift from Frankfurt. My cousin was there on official duty recently.

The scent is a bit overpowering. Despite its elegant namesake, it doesn't seem to smell like anything but strawberry to me. I'm not using it for bathing purpose. It's too pretty to ruin it with water, so it's just sitting there on my shelf as décor-cum-scent. Hehe.

I seem to be getting a lot of foreign toiletries for gifts lately.

That aside, anyone getting themselves a trial pack of Moocards?? 'Cause I am! ^_____^ The promotion is for LJ as well as Vox users, and since I'm also on Vox (albeit inactive), I'm hoping to get a second pack too! Hehehe..

This is Moonlight Path®, a lavender-infused body lotion from Bath & Body Works. It has a scent that is as divine as its name.

Got mine from my cousin who just got back from Cali. She has got some other fragrance like Wild Honeysuckle and Berry-something, etc, but I'm drawn to this one. Must be its name that sounds rather dark, like... a Nightwish song? Haha.. "Elvenpath"? =P

I still can't believe that Chow Yun-fat is the new villain for Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Heheheh.. Captain Sao Feng?? Maan. And it's set in Singapore, of all places! BAHAHA. Betcha there's plenty of pirates there but not the sea-faring kind. :P Anyway, it ought to be funny as hell. And looking forward to more action from Captain Sparrow!

I'm so excited about the upcoming JRR Tolkien book, The Children of Húrin, which has been completed by his son Christopher. It's supposed to be released on April 17. It will be great to read more about the First Age.

Claymore anime looks interesting. Yet another series based on an ongoing manga. I wonder if it's going to end differently or follow the manga closely.

Received my 3-kyuu cert. Wheee~ Still not very motivated about 2-kyuu; the grammar is killing!!! Aaarghgrhgrh..

Everything else aside, life is just busy busy. Not much time for my own stuff. *sigh*

I have no idea why, but today I was behaving kinda weird. On a couple of occasions, I cackled like a madwoman when a subtle chuckle would have been enough.

Think Suiseiseki of Rozen Maiden. I think I sounded somewhat like her indeed. Now, if only I start calling people chibi ningen...

Heeeeheeeheeeeeeheeee...



Let's all blame it on STRESS, ok. -____-;;;

Tagged by Kiyoko on her Xanga.

10 Fave Japanese Bishounen from Anime / Manga

Name (version – title)

1. Larva (anime / manga – Vampire Princess Miyu)
2. Abel Nightlord (anime – Trinity Blood), when he is in Krusnik form.
3. Allen Walker (manga – D.Gray-man)
4. Kenjou Shiki (manga – Kamui)
5. Suou (manga – Yorugata Aijin Senmonten)
6. Lord Yui (manga –Alichino)
7. Touya (anime / manga –Ayashi no Ceres)
8. Cesare Borgia (manga – Cantarella)
9. Rociel (anime / manga – Angel Sanctuary)
10. Muraki Kazutaka (anime – Yami no Matsuei)

It’s a lot more than that, but I guess this will do.

Dang. I love all the supernatural guys. Especially vampires. o_O;;

That aside, I had a good time during this festive season. It was and still is mostly about feasting and sleeping. Despite the busy schedules of house visitations and the amount of entertaining and PR skills thrown in, it’s comparatively quieter than before. Surprisingly I made quite a small fortune by doing nothing (little red packets) and by gambling (*cough* just cards and small betting amount).

Well, Year of the Oink Oink should be off to a good start, if the God of Wealth continues to lend his support. Hehe.

Found this article on Aso Taro, Japan's Foreign Minister who is a noted avid manga fan. I think this was from Asahi Shinbun earlier in this month.

Basically, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Aso is actively promoting Japan's pop culture to the world especially anime, manga and J-music. To perform cultural diplomacy effectively, everyone needs to know their stuff well.

Hence, Mr Aso has officially requested that all diplomatic officials must familiarise themselves, by starting to "study" manga and making sure they're up-to-date about their subject matter.

BAHAHAHAH!!

I wonder if they read yaoi stuff..

어드바이스해줘서고마워요, 언니!! ^__^v

Hmm…

According to my site stats, most visitors came to this main page via my previous posts. Seems like my journal has got some posts that even came up in search engines. The "popularity", if that word can be used, is only significant this year. No wonder, since I had a lot of public posts. More than my locked, friends-only topics actually.

Anyhow.. the posts (from recent to old):

Gung, musings about monarchical Korea and naming issue

More on Sinocentrism

Corea? Or Korea?

Review of Wangeui Namja Surprising, because there wasn’t even an LJ comment! Anonymous lurkers I guess.

Looking forward to FIFA

About Vietnamese mail order brides in Korea

About local blogging and blogging dramas

The process of learning foreign languages

I can only conclude that I must have a lot of anonymous readers (or people who don’t own an LJ) because LJ friends would have access to my posts on their friends’ page without needing to come to my main page.

That’s pretty daunting. But it’s not deterring me from public posts. Not yet. I think I’ve been hiding behind locked posts for way too long. This year is supposed to be a change from that. So yeah.. whatever folks. Read all you want. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you leave comments rather than lurk around like thieves.

w00t w00t~!! Guess whaaaat?

I'VE FINALLY GOTTEN MY COPY OF NANA -SPECIAL EDITION- DVD!!!!!

I'm one happy person right now~~ Lalala~ Been drooling over the goodies!
:P~~~

Also, saw this interesting meme at a friend's Xanga. Such an appropriate one for the moment, so decided to gack it. Hehe!

Mark an X beside the Japanese movies you have seen. Mark + for those you're planning to see.

( 100 movies )

Phew~ A lot of fairly new stuff there ne..

Lee Jun Ki is my latest bishounen obsession. I know, I haven't been going at it for a long time and definitely never so obsessed over a Korean star. My mom was like, aren't there other more *rugged* handsome guys?? Why this "feminine" one?

Haha! Mothers! They wouldn't understand our love for BISHIES! Lee Jun Ki is manhwa-turned-reality guy! Just look at that almost aristocratic face, it's almost perfect! Artistic quality! *le sigh*

Anyway, here is a NEW LAYOUT plus NEW ICONS featuring my new beloved. ^_____^v

R oppa, don't see green ne! And Tyler oppa, DON'T even begin to say a word!!

Lalalala~

For your need of satire and humor..

Introducing... the YANGPA. It's equivalent to The Onion, but focusing on Korea-related news only.

For your info, "yangpa" (Hangeul: 양파) means "onion".

A random message that I received from a random Mixi.jp member:

ハイ、僕の美人！遊びをしたい！興味がある？ さぁ、情熱的なセックスをしよう！ メッセージくれ！

*coughs.sputters.chokes.dies*

Remind me again the reason why I stopped using Friendster actively..? OH YES, because of the repeated random messages I got from random persistent perverts. -__-

It seems inevitable that once you’re on a social networking site, you’re bound to get this sort of crap. Ah well, let’s see how bad the situation goes at Mixi. I’m reluctant to abandon it like I did to Friendster.

Somehow Orkut is still the safest ne, with invitation to friends only. If you could call any of them "safe".

Tagged by fuyudragon

5 random songs that I've been listening to:

1. Weezer - Perfect Situation
2. Gackt - Noesis
3. Mika Nakashima - Glamorous Sky
4. Kagrra - Genmei no Katachi
5. Dir en grey - Clever Sleazoid

Tagging ANYONE who cares to do this. :)