it's yahoo's fault

i was just about to check if i have a new mail in yahoo...
so i typed my username and password, hit the enter button and then bham! there it was...

kris allen wins american idol!

errr... i was not supposed to know it yet. for people like us, living outside of US, we will only be able to download (or should i say, borrow it from a friend) a copy after a couple more hours... but now the anticipation that i have built since yesterday gone in a second... for sure my husband would tell me "you researched again!?!".
P, it's not my fault... it's yahoo's. they served it before you can access your mails!

anyway, last night i thought adam would win but deep within me i wanted kris to win. they are different artists. one will sell records, while one will sell concerts.
congratulations kris!

baby step/s

about a week ago, i have received a letter from the itabashi-ku city hall. i was excited because this might be the notification that the 12K yen assistance/gift has arrived in our bank account. yes, yes!

after opening, cold water splashed my excitement.

it's a questionnaire for foreigners (gaijins) living in itabashi-ku. written questions are all related to how the city office can improve the integration of gaijins to the japanese community. it contains information about the on-going efforts of free japanese classes available in the junior HS schools, the cultural exchange programs, survey on how interested are the gaijins in participating in the events, and many other questions. and i finished this 4 page questionnaire, no sweat!

how come?

because the questions were in tagalog =D woohoo! i think my negative view of japanese system toward gaijins deserves some second thoughts. i should atleast give credit to this city hall. i know i have been verbally bashing the japanese gov't about their policies and beliefs related to gaijins but i think it's also unfair of me. see, they are also doing some efforts on how to make their community a bit gaijin-friendly as they can. they put effort to translate this survey in my native language for me to understand them, so i can tell them suggestions on how to improve my living. hopefully these baby steps would go further. and the results won't just end in reports and statistics.

unfortunately yesterday we moved to another city so i won't know if there would be positive outcome from that survey. i wish there'll be.

swine flu in japan: 92 and counting (hopefully not)

ok, this is starting to slowly freak me out. i have just read this news from yahoo that over the weekend, the number of swine flu cases in japan rose to 92!
imagine last friday, it was just 4 and just after 2 days it grew exponentially to the nth power.
this is serious. it's really unavoidable. we take the train almost everyday. i go to the supermarket almost everyday. we go to church almost every sunday. what to do now?

well, one thing for sure, we (opo Pato ikaw din) must strengthen our immune system. vitamin c overdose. but our kidneys might cry. so maybe right amount of vitamin c, enough rest and sleep, lesser coffee, more water, more veggies and vegetable, more lean meat, and maybe have an exercise. in short - live healthy. the last one, is really hard. i haven't rode my stationary bike for about half a year :D and haven't touched that supposed-to-be-exercise-initiator wii fit that a layer of dust is really visible. *achoo!*

if you have other suggestions to avoid this flu, please please share them!

this and that

yesterday, even before we watched the result of AI, i already know who'd be voted off. i couldn't stop my self from clicking those pages in the google news page... talk about my discipline.
at first, i was so happy that gokey was the one to go but after i watched his farewell video, i felt positive emotions for him. i don't know, i never liked him. i was always curious why paula's jumping up after his every performance. but after last night, i felt bad for him and i would like to wish him well. oh.. the drama of reality tv. it's really consuming.
but i believe that adam and kris deserve their spots in the finals. good luck to both of you!

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after almost 2 years living in itabashi-ku, now we're moving to the west side of tokyo, to sumida-ku. so this weekend is reserved for packing and cleaning and more cleaning. we'll move on tuesday next week (tip: fee for hikoshi services is cheaper during weekdays). husband was able to negotiate to lower down the fee to 50% off. we're moving to a much smaller place but nearer to the station and newer building.
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i received another beautiful and helpful cookbook from andrew mcmeel publishing. it's entitled Memorable Recipes. thank you very much guys in andrew mcmeel ! i'd be writing a review after all these moving stuffs are done.
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to all the remitters of metrobank in japan, in case you don't know yet, they now have their website. and good news, their exchange rate is now the same with pnb tokyo. nice one.
they used to have .005 pesos lesser rate.
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happy weekend everyone!

for now

i heart this song from broadway musical avenue q. when we visited NY a month ago, we're lucky enough to catch this show. it has everything in it - it made me laugh, profess, admit, bit teary-eye and then laugh again!

this song is a reminder that nothing is permanent. it's a very handy thought to keep in your pocket in case things take a turn around the bad corner.

difficult decision? it's only for now... only for now... let's sing it!

happy mother's day

to all the moms around the world, especially to my nanay and MIL, happy mother's day!

pacquiao-hatton bout watch live!

http://manny-pacquiao-vs-ricky-hatton.blogspot.com

go manny!

grand canyon, las vegas and hoover dam

i was so overwhelmed of the grand canyon. it was really grand.
God is the best landscaper of all. it's just very beautiful and looks so unreal.