Gaga over Ikemen

When I first came to Tokyo many years ago, my brand of handsome was blond, blue-eyed, and Hollywood-hunky. After all, those were the types of guys I grew up watching on TV and in the movies. My exposure to the Asian ikemen movement was nil. Sure, I loved animes like Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball, but I hadn’t seen any dramas.

But I guess when you find yourself immersed in a particular culture, you learn to appreciate their own set of aesthetics. So it's not surprising that I am now a certified ikemen-convert (Though I still love Piolo and Channing!).

I made a list of ikemen a couple of years ago, but there are so many new faces that I couldn't help but make a new one. Here are my top ten picks:

1.     Oguri Shun – I love this guy so much I practically stalked him online when I was preggers with Kid1. Having watched almost every single movie and drama that starred him, I can truly say that he is more than just a pretty face. Aside from being a skilled actor both on film and on stage, he’s also dabbled in directing. He’s my peg for Ken Nakamura in Be Careful What You Wish For :-)

2.     Osamu Mukai – There is something wholesomely hot about Osamu Mukai. Hihihi. I just used him as an LI peg for Ryohei Mori in my #SparkNA novella, Not Part Of The Plan.

3.     Yamada Takayuki – Rawr. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of Yamada Takayuki. First noticed him on Crows Zero, so I was floored when my hubby told me that he was the lead guy in the Densha Otoko movie. Hihihi. He even makes a cameo in the first episode of the Densha Otoko TV series.

4.     Kengo Kora – This guy is just beautiful *sigh*

5.     Mizushima Hiro – This former kamen-rider is married to Ayaka, one of my fave Japanese singers. These days, he’s not as active in front of the camera as I’d want him to be. In the past few years this Waseda-grad has been more involved in management and movie production. Oh! And he’s also a bestselling author!

6.     Hayami Mokomichi – Moko-chan is so pretty :-) Saw him first in Gokusen 2, but he captured my heart in Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend). I've heard he's part Filipino, but not sure about it.

7.     Kaneshiro Takeshi – Sigh. Still my first love. Hihihi. He was my peg for the character Daniel Sato in my novel Be Careful What You Wish For.

8.     Yamashita Tomohisa (Yamapi) – Adorable as a kid, beautiful as a young man. Lordy, my age is showing. Hahaha!

9.     Ikuta Toma – Loved him as Nakatsu in Hana Kimi! He’s so hilarious, that even though I'm almost word-perfect, I still giggle every time I watch it. Among others, he did a cameo on the second season of Hana Yori Dango.

10.  Satou Takeru – Gosh, I've been in Japan long enough to watch Sato Takeru transform from a cute kid into the hunky actor he is nowadays. He recently starred as Rurouni Kenshin in the movie adaptation of Samurai X.

I super enjoyed writing this post! I think my kids were wondering if I had gone crazy or something because I kept giggling in kilig every few minutes.

What about you guys, who turns you on? :-)

Dramarama

There was a time when I thought I was watching too many dramas (Disclaimer: I don't think you can ever watch too many dramas. Hahaha!). Alas, with two kids to care for, those days are long gone. But aside from reading books, watching dramas will always be one of the perfect ways to escape reality. Their absurd, over-the-top, out-of-this world plots force you to suspend reality and simply enjoy the moment.

Sharing with you my top ten all-time picks:

1.    Kami Sama Mou Sukoshi Dake

The drama that started it all (for me, at least). I think this was shown in the Philippines a few years back. I was in Davao for a friend’s wedding and bonded with her dad over the last two episodes. Interested in the story? Read my review here 

2.    Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)

If you haven’t heard of this drama, you really need to make time and watch it. The drama was based on the shojo manga written by Kamio Tuko. Wasn't into this much at first, but after the first episode, I was totally hooked. Loved how Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun were perfect for the lead roles!

3.    Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana Kimi)

A school full of ikemen? Count me in! Read my full review here 

4.    Seigi no Mikata

Literally, “An Ally of Justice,” this is a hilarious story of two sisters and how their relationship survives the challenges of everyday life. If you've a love-hate relationship with your sister, you'll be able to relate to this. O shimai!

5.    Zettai Kareshii (Absolute Boyfriend)

Watched this mainly because of Mokomichi Hayami. Hihihi! But the concept of having a robot to be one’s personal boyfriend? Absolute genius.

6.    Nodame Cantabile

You’ve got to have a strong sense of the ridiculous if you want to watch this. But after you get over the unreality of the whole thing, you lose yourself in the fun and in the music. Follow Chiaki and Nodame as they navigate through music school and strive to reach the pinnacle of their music careers. Loved it until the very end!

7.    Cat Street

This is a relatively short series and revolves around Aoyama Keito. Keito used to be a promising theater actress, but after a traumatizing event onstage, she closes herself off from society. This drama is all about coping with bullying and finding one’s place in society.

8.    GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)

I hear this was remade in 2012, but I saw the 1998 version and I absolutely loved it! This is one of my fave tropes---a teacher who influences his students. In this case, Onizuka-sensei is an ex-gang member who has his own unique philosophy of life and learning. Oh and it also features a young Oguri Shun *swoon*

9.    Gokusen

Heehee. I told you I loved the teacher-influences-students trope :-) I’ve seen all the Gokusen dramas, but my ultimate fave is still Gokusen 1. Hel-lo! MatsuJun and Oguri Shun? *sigh* I remember watching this while I was in grad school. All my labmates thought it was hilarious when I accidentally slipped and used yakuza slang (which I picked up from the drama) in our conversations.

10. Densha Otoko
Loved this because I'm an otaku at heart too :-) Densha's character was so vulnerable, so sweet, that you'd have to be made of stone not to empathise with his predicament. Densha otoko (literally train man) is a geeky otaku who falls in love with Hermes (a girl he unwittingly saves from being harassed by drunken men on the train). When I watched this, I was amazed at the full-star cast and the number of cameos (Lahat na lang nag-cameo, I swear!). Densha's all-otaku support group, though virtual, was all-out in their love for him. And after a few episodes, you'll find yourself rooting for him. Go, Denshaaaaa! Loved that he got the ending everybody was hoping he'd get :-) *sigh*

BONUS: Nobunaga Concerto

This was shown only last year and I still haven’t seen it :-( But still, Oguri Shun + Yamada Takayuki + Osamu Mukai = something I’ll definitely enjoy. Also from a popular manga, Shun plays a high school student who travels back to the Edo period and discovers he's a dead-ringer for the samurai-daimyo Oda Nobunaga. I can't believe Shun's still playing high school roles, but hey, I'm not complaining.

What's your favorite drama escape? :-)

Guest Post: Tina and the Tubero (Tampipi)

The hubby is guesting on the blog today :-) Wheee!

Though his day job lets him play with semiconductors, my hubby, Julius, is a indie songwriter / musician for the band Tampipi.

The band used to be based in Japan and the original band members consisted of some engineers, a couple of English teachers, a marine biologist, and a member of the diplomatic corps. Unfortunately, they stopped public performances because some of the members had to leave Tokyo to explore new horizons. But with the help of technology, the band lives on and continues to produce music by collaborating with Filipino musicians around the world. Tampipi has guitarists from Tokyo, Dubai, and Manila, percussionists from Amsterdam and California, arrangers from Osaka, Quezon City, and Pampanga, and vocalists from Sydney, Brisbane, Canada, Manila, Baguio, and Tokyo. They've also collaborated with other Filipino indie songwriters and singers through the Facebook community,  Songwriters Philippines.

Anyway, the other night, we were discussing parallels in writing fiction and writing songs. This article was supposed to be published in an online magazine, but it didn't push through, so Julius decided to post it on Tampipi's Facebook page. And since I felt some ideas resonate with writing fiction, I got permission to repost here.

Hope you enjoy it!  :-)

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Tina and the Tubero

(Disclaimer: This is not erotica)

by Julius Joseph Santillan / Tampipi

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” 

- Louis L'Amour

I’m a believer of these copy-pasted words. But as with most beginner writers like me, starting a song---or in this case, an article---is one of the most difficult things to do. Still, drawing strength from some helpful (and not so helpful) song-writing habits, allow me to roam before getting to my point . . . starting with these borrowed words about writing and water.

Water is an interesting concept for describing the flow of ideas from one’s brain. Water is vibrant. Water is the essence of wetness (according to Zoolander). But water is also messy.

Writing songs is a messy emotional exercise because the first few attempts at stanzas usually come out in random, disconnected words and phrases. This is especially so if one does not have a topic or theme in mind (take this article for example). In such instances, a piece of paper becomes a warzone of conflicting concepts / ideas, wrong grammar, and misspelled words. But we have to start somewhere--- so we go back to the topic of Water.

Before finding Mr. L’Amour’s words, I read something about writing and water faucets a few years back (my pasensyas to the writer whose name I couldn’t remember). The piece discussed ideas, water, and tina (dirt and rust in Filipino). If a faucet has not been in use for some time, the presence of tina is unavoidable. If that happens, we need to flush all the tina out before we can enjoy potable water.

This idea also holds true in the case of writing. In this case, writing is our faucet and tina refers to the repository of “wonderful” yet useless clichés that radio, television, print media, and the internet has deposited in our brains all these years. So how do we cleanse ourselves of these?

Start writing.

Start pounding on those keys or scrawl on pieces of paper to flush out the tina. What the heck, make whole songs---no---make a whole album with these tina. And in the process, abuse the Ctrl+Z or delete buttons (or Ctrl+Y if you changed your mind). Or better yet, do the old school eraser-scrubbing or paper-crumple-and-throw (ala-three powents!) technique for effect. The main purpose of this exercise to  to take the tina out of your system, put it in physical form, and destroy it.

Why do we need to do this? Because I believe that deep inside all of us, there is a certain pureness that we need to draw out. But before that happens, we need to get rid of all the unnecessary things that prevent us from putting into form the exact thought that we want to express. These exact thoughts are defined by our experiences and learnings. These exact thoughts define what we are. And as with most writers, being able to convey these exact thoughts to our targeted audience (which can also be just ourselves), with clarity, provides gratification . . . and great satisfaction.

Satisfaction, I believe, is what writing thing is all about. Self-expression without any distractions is very satisfying. Writing provides this. Writing is a one-way conversation that allows clear self-expression. The only interruptions you will hear will be from yourself (or your “selves” for those of us blessed with multiple personalities). Tina clogs us up. Tina prevents us from getting to the nirvana of clear and untainted satisfaction.

So open these faucets and let the water flow. Be your own tubero. Start writing and reach for that goal of self-clarity. If you can, forget about other people first and write for yourself. Hone your skills. Clean your faucet.

It will be easier to convince people* to drink when you know your water is clean.

* People will have different preferences for the taste of water they like of course, but that’s a different story.

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Interested in listening to the music of Tampipi?

Check out their albums and collaborations! Have a listen HERE

Tampipi is open to collaborations from all over :-) 

Have a story to tell? Message them on Facebook. Who knows, yours might be the next hit song :-) Hihihi

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Also, was browsing through Tampipi songs and found the perfect theme song for my #SparkNA novella :-)

#SparkNA: Choosing to be Brave

Two weeks before the #SparkNA deadline, I shook my head and told my husband, “This isn’t working. I’m not going to finish.”

That admission was really disheartening. After all, I already had my final chapter and epilogue fleshed out. The problem was the four chapters that preceded the last. Although they had some scenes written here and there, the thought of weaving them together loomed before me like a herculean task.

I was on the verge of falling into a writing funk and giving up. But my hubby told me, “Remember Nadine.”

Too cryptic to digest? Let me explain.

Eight years ago, I was on the verge of finishing another book—my dissertation on the architect Leandro Locsin. But three weeks before the deadline, I had a major panic attack. I ran out of the lab—my heart racing and my hands clammy. Like a lunatic, I paced up and down the square in front of the engineering building, muttering as I walked.

I was already considering breaking the news to my professor, when I bumped into Nadine, a Filipino sempai (or senior) who was doing her postdoctoral at the same university. When she asked what the matter was, I told her everything—that I couldn't finish my book and that I wouldn't be able to graduate on schedule.

Instead of indulging my little pity party, she asked me if I had all the data and results I needed. I told her that I did. I just needed to string them all together into a coherent narrative.

I’ll never forget what she said to me that day. Behind her thick spectacles, her brow furrowed, “Gaga ka pala e. You know what you have to do, just do it. Go back to the lab and write. Wala nang next year.”

At that time, the ice bucket challenge hadn’t been invented yet, but that's exactly how I felt—like a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. She was right, there wouldn't be a next year for me—unless I was willing to pay for my tuition myself. Considering that a year’s tuition was more than enough to buy a new car (albeit a very modest one), paying was certainly not an option.

So I went back to the lab and got to work. Two weeks later, I finished the first draft of my dissertation—all three hundred and fifty pages of them (Disclaimer: half the pages were filled with pictures, charts, and graphs).

And I’d never have done it if Nadine hadn’t hit me on the head (well, figuratively at least).

Through the years, when I’m on the verge of giving up on something, my hubby would always remind me of Nadine’s words.

Back to the present day—with Nadine’s tough-love pep talk in mind, I sat back down in front of my computer and forged on. 

Back when I had first started writing a month and a half ago, I mostly wrote scenes, settings, and dialogues—anything to reach my target word count for the day. One day I'd be on chapter three and the next day, I'd skip to chapter seventeen. But although I surpassed 20k words, my story was far from complete. I still had a lot of holes to fill. 

I think that having an outline really helped. The outline gave each chapter a goal—how it contributed to the development of my characters and their relationship. It was a step-by-step process—much like building a house. First, you had to make sure the foundation was solid before you erected the skeleton of columns and beams. Then you roofed it over, poured in the concrete for the floors, built the walls, and put in the doors and windows before you moved on to finishing. The outline was my story's blueprint, it's basic foundation and skeleton. Without the outline, I don't think I would have been able to write a completely new novella in only two months.

Also, knowing how the whole story would end was also immensely invaluable. It was like a compass—even though I was panicking, I knew the general direction I was headed.
Six days later, I completed the first draft of my #SparkNA manuscript. My word count was 40,360 words.

But my journey was far from over.

#SparkNA’s theme is being brave. And for me, bravery is a highly personal journey.

Bravery is not only about jumping off a cliff or initiating a big confrontation. It’s the little things—sucking up your fears, learning, accepting, and moving on. It’s about taking a chance and being vulnerable . . . opening up to people . . . and to the joy and pain they bring. Bravery is realizing you were wrong and admitting it. It’s doing something concrete to salvage the situation. It’s doing something—even if you don’t want to—because you have to.

In this case, bravery meant sticking to my writing goals. This meant continuing to write even though I wasn't in the mood to or even if I thought my words were crappy. I wrote on my phone while my kids played. I dictated dialogues onto the Notes app while I folded laundry. I thought of solutions to plot holes while I washed dishes and vacuumed. On weekends or at night when the kids were fast asleep, I edited and revised. I sent copies to my betas for feedback then scrambled to complete the final edits. My final word count was 38,993.

Even at the very end of my #SparkNA journey, my bravery was tested yet again. It took a whole lot of courage to press the SEND button . . . knowing that I was letting a little part of myself go and not knowing where it will lead.

But I chose my path and I am happy I stuck to it until the very end. Because bravery in battle isn’t about waving a sword in the air and shouting expletives—it’s about getting out of bed and fighting the fight. It’s about overcoming the simple things in your everyday life . . . making time and space for something you’ve committed yourself to.

Bravery is a choice. And what makes it so scary is that you have to do it all by yourself.

*crossing my fingers for ALL #SparkNA participants*

P.S. And to honor Nadine and her tough-love tactics, her beloved strawberries get a special mention in my #SparkNA novella. Though to this day, all I really know about her research is that she makes damn good strawberry ice cream after she finishes her sampling. Hahaha!

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Note: #SparkNA is an free online writing class that was sponsored by Anvil Publishing’s Spark Books imprint. The goal of the class was to help authors write and finish a contemporary new adult novella. For more info, check out Facebook or Twitter :-)