first kiss

finally, i'm back to watching my korean, taiwanese and japanese dramas... after being so busy with the program transfer, phone lab and certification, and playing with my pet bianca in pet society.. hahaha :D

i actually have a lot lined up since i've missed watching for quite a while... dvds have piled up in my rack, so i decided to start watching one. japanese dramas, being the shortest compared to korean and taiwanese dramas, i thought will be the best option to start with since i've just gotten back... so i won't immediately be stressed to do a long marathon... kind of an adjustment... hehehe :D

so i started off with the japanese drama "FIRST KISS" which stars Inoue Mao who was also the lead star in hanayori dango 1 & 2 (makino tsukushi). here's the synopsis i got from dramawiki:

"A bitter-sweet and uplifting comedy drama about a young girl Mio and her brother Kazuki. To treat her illness overseas, Mio has been living away from her older brother Kazuki for the past ten years. After learning about the upcoming surgery, which she has only a fifty percent chance of survival, Mio decides to fly back to Japan to spend time with Kazuki. Looking forward to seeing his sweet younger sister, Kazuki anxiously awaits Mio's return in Japan. However, their reunion is nothing but full of surprises as Mio has transformed from the innocent sickly girl Kazuki remembers from ten years ago into a sassy woman with an attitude. Kazuki has difficulty dealing with his wickedly selfish younger sister, but soon learns about the truth of her medical condition and has a change of heart..."
credit to: groink @ http://wiki.d-addicts.com/First_Kiss

for me, after watching the entire drama which consisted of only 11 episodes (typical for japanese soaps), i can say it's funny and heart warming... but compared to the other korean and tawanese dramas i've seen, it's just a so-so... well, i'm not a big fan of japanese dramas (no offense to all the others who are... peace to y'all!). i did love watching hanayori dango, but i loved meteor garden more... hehe :D

this is basically about a 20year-old japanese girl,in los angeles named Mio, who was diagnosed to have a heart complication so she needs to undergo an operation with only 50% chance of survival. having this, she decided to go back to japan first to see her brother and create beautiful summer memories before undergoing the operation. this sweet young sickly girl 10 years ago then turned out to be a sassy girl with an outrageously wicked attitude... her brother, after learning her medical condition, wanted to create the most wonderful summer vacation for his sister by finding her a special someone (or a boyfriend, so to say...). but this girl who saw her life already ending, didn't want to find this love anymore since it's gonna end soon as well so why the hell even start it, she thought. but she had this doctor, Yuki, with whom she was so irritated and annoyed at first... only to find out later that she has been caught by her own heart and has been falling deeply in love with him. having a relation with a patient created a huge problem for the doctor since their head doctor prohibits having such relations between patients and doctors... Mio had to give him up because she didn't want him to give up his dreams for her... but this cute doctor didn't agree in ending their relationship, he'd rather resign and transfer to another hospital than leave Mio... but with the help of his mentor doctor, Takagi, he succeeded assisting in a major operation that lead him to staying still in the hospital and still have a relationship with Mio at the same time. Mio then went back to los angeles with the promise of going back to japan after successfully undergoing the operation.


that's it... a little short right? if i were the director, i could have shown a scene after the operation where Yuki went to US to make sure he's the first one Mio sees after the operation. then after, there should have been several sweet and romantic scenes of Mio and Yuki travelling to different places in the US. this is why i'm saying that this is just a so-so drama... besides being so short, it lacks several romantic scenes mostly found in korean and taiwanese dramas.


but if there's one thing that i liked most in this drama... it would have to be the cute doctor Yuki as portrayed by Hiraoka Yuta! i liked him a lot! hahaha he's soooo cute infairness! i think i'm gonna check more of his dramas in the coming days... hehehehe :)


oh, by the way, today is nick carter's 29th bday... time really flies so fast huh? i still remember the first time i saw him in MTV when i was still in high school... back in my teenie bopper days... hahaha he's just a thin blond teenager boy singing "quit playin' games with my heart"... now he's all grown up... actually, he's getting a little old, next year he's already 30..

well i guess we all are getting older and older as days pass by... who's getting younger anyway? nobody right?

~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*

how did we survive?

yipeeeee! done with the certification at last! :) last wednesday, my 11th evaluation was sent by our friendly QA penny... i was so anxious when i arrived in the office that night. fortunately, the result was good... after crossing my fingers several times and praying everyday, i guess God really listened to eveything i said since the certification started. thank you Lord!!! i survived the cert luckily! :)

talking about survival, i found an aticle in my email about how the generations born in 60's, 70's and even 80's survived... so this includes me since i was born in 1983... and maybe some of you too... so read on...

How did we survive our childhood? If you were a kid in the 50's, 60's, 70's or even early 80's.. how did you survive your childhood?

1. When we were growing up we never wore seatbelts in the car, cars didn't have airbags...
2. Riding on the back of a pick up truck was an adventure that we still remember!
3. Our cribs were painted with bright colors (paint which was full of lead)
4. We didn't have childproof medicine bottles, nor did our parents ever childproof our house
5. When we rode our bikes we never wore a helmet.
6. We would drink water from the faucet or from a hose in the backyard (not bottled water).
7. We didn't have cell phones , so our parents were never able to reach us (awesome) .
8. We would get scrapes, bruises, brake bones , lose teeth, but we would never sue for these accidents.
9. We would eat cake, bread and butter, drink sugary drinks, and we weren't overweight because we were always outside playing...
10. Four of us would share a drink, we would all drink from the same bottle and that wasn't gross nor would anyone get sick.
11. We didn't have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X boxes, video games, cable TV with over 100 channels, VCR's, surround sound , cellular phones , computers , online chatrooms , instead we would have tons of FRIENDS.
12. Some of us weren't as bright as others but when one would get left back that was no big deal. They would not get taken to a psychologist, nor did they ever suffer from dyslexia, hyperactivity, ADHD, ADD, etc, they would simply repeat the grade until they passed.
13. We had freedom , mishaps, successes, responsibilities, and we would learn to deal with them.

The question is... How did we survive? and above all, to become the GREAT people that we are today? They will probably say that we were very boring, but I believe that we were VERY HAPPY CHILDREN!!!

well, i perfectly agree! (^-^)v


~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*

world without engineers...

i'm currently enjoying my break... leave slots were offered since it's martin luther king's day today... it's holiday in US so there wouldn't be a lot of callers calling in... yey!!!

so here i am, inside my room updating my blog and playing pet society... hehehe :D two weeks have passed since my certification started... so far so good... done with 10 straight evaluations just waiting for the last one... hopefully, everything's gonna turn out fine... crossing my fingers for the nth time!!! :)

since i'm left with nothing to do for today besides relaxing and playing, i decided to sort my yahoo mails... i came across several emails... some are really touching, some are funny, but all worth sharing... so i will be posting several in the coming days...

let's start with this one... i got this from an email in the office entitled, "world without engineers". the pictures are so funny so i thought why not share it.. here, take a look:

without civil engineers...


without computer engineers...


without communication engineers...


without mechanical engineers...


without electronic engineers...


without aeronautical engineers...

hahaha soooo funny!!! (^-^)v
there's more to come...


~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*

Pet Society

Pet Society lets you create and care for your own pet and interact with your friends. You can feed, wash and play games with your pet, as well as choosing clothes and accessories for it. You can also explore the village and visit shops and your friends’ pets. While visiting someone you can leave notes and gifts to your friends, or just watch TV or dance together if you feel like it! The economy is based on coins that you can either earn through gameplay or buy through various payment methods by going to the bank in the village. There’s plenty to spend your coins on - ranging from food to shirts, hats, shoes, plants, and tons of different types of furniture and accessories. (source: http://blog.playfish.com/2008/08/08/announcing-the-beta-launch-of-pet-society/)

here's one of the new things i've been addicted to for the past days... i'm not a huge fan of facebook, but this application/game they have is really something! if you love interactive games like the SIMs, you'll probably love this one too! i was just invited by one of my friends in facebook to add this application. there were tons of games/applications in facebook and amongst all of them, this one's the best i've had so far. thanks to playfish who created the game! here, take a look at my pet BIANCA... here she is:

first, by accepting the invitation, you will be given the opportunity to create your own pet. you get to choose how it looks, the color, the gender, the nose, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the eyebrows, etc. and you get to name it too!

_

next, you will have your own house in the neighborhood. you'll start of course with a single-room house. as you progress, you earn coins and paw points, your status changes as well along with the appearance of your house. and of course, when you've earned coins, you get to buy your food, clothes and furniture.

_

there are lots of things to do with your pet. you can bathe, play, feed, watch tv, change clothes, etc. you earn coins and trophies by doing these things.

you can also visit your friends' pets and play with them. you can kiss, hug, dance, joke and watch tv together. the more friends you have, the bigger neighborhood you're in and the more coins you earn for visiting them daily.

there are also different places your pet can go to. there's the grocery for food, the clothing store for clothes, the stylist for your pet's looks, the bank, the D.I.Y. (do it yourself) store for the doors, windows, floors, etc of your house, the luxury store, the furniture store, the cafe (where you can meet other pets too)...

and the stadium where your pet can race, practice and bet.

lastly, when you leave your pet doing nothing for quite a while, it will become sleepy and sleep on its own. so you better have a bed ready for him/her. otherwise, it will just sleep on the floor... hehehe :D

she's so cute sleeping huh? i'm really loving this a lot! so so so much! so grab yours too! sign up in facebook and add me up: nicolai_louise@yahoo.com.

see you soon in the neighborhood!!! :)


~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*

Atlantis Hotel in Dubai

I don't know if a place such as this really exists... I got this in an email sent by a friend and I was really amazed when I saw the pictures. if this is real, I really would love to go here. they said this opened on september 24, 2008. take a look and brace yourself... :)

here goes...

*** water world... the atlantis hotel in dubai, one of the world's most anticipated hotels, situated on 113 acres of the Palm Jumeirah, the hotel boasts over 1,539 rooms. ***




*** water bed... the Neptune and Poseidon Suites are exclusive to Atlantis, with both bedroom and bath views directly into the mesmerizing underwater world of the Ambassador Lagoon. ***




*** sea view... the Ambassador Lagoon is a window into the wonders of the ocean, and the center-piece of Atlantis, with over 250 species of fish and sea creatures. ***




*** fish surprise... keeping with the water theme, the Lost Chamber is a maze of underwater halls and tunnels under the Ambassador Lagoon with over 65,000 fish. ***




*** see sea food... Ossiano is home to a three-star Michelin chef, and offers gourmet seafood with views of the exotic marine life of the Ambassador Lagoon. ***




*** pleased to meet you.. Dolphin Bay is a four-and-a-half hectare lush tropical setting where you get the chance to meet the colorful characters in their natural habitat. ***




*** shark tank... after the Ziggurat, you will emerge slowly through the lagoon at Shark Attack. ***




*** shark proof... you can also experience the Shark Tank from the dry, and more comfortable, viewing chamber. ***




*** bar view... sip cocktails in the oceanic space of Barazura and enjoy the views overlooking Palm Jumeirah. ***




*** Grand View... the Grand Lobby makes a colorful first impression. ***




*** bath time... the spa experience includes two hours of spa treatments, your own private time in a jetted tub and access to both indoor and outdoor relaxation areas. ***




*** the spa service... the Royal Spa Suite offers treatments designed to individual needs, and a spa menu delivered by private butler service. ***




*** grand designs.. each of the 1,373 spacious guest rooms and 166 suites designed with subtle oceanic and Arabic influences. ***

so how's the trip? i was almost drooling when i saw these the first time...
wish i can get here soon!!! :)


~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*

1st entry for the year...

happy new year everyone!!! happy 2009!!! (^-^)v

new year's eve passed while i'm on the phone with a client in the office... waaaaaahhhh! i know it sucks! the clock struck 12 and i'm on a call (what a loser!!!!) this is also the first time that i was in the office during a year-end and a new-year-start time.. so it's true, there is always a first time.. i'm usually on leave on december 31 - jan 1 but not this time. the food in the office was just a so-so, both for the noche buena and media noche buffet. though it was catered by tgi friday's, i wasn't that contented with the taste.. sorry.

today's the start of our training certification week. we are required to pass 11 consecutive evaluations, otherwise, we flunk. with one eval a day, the fastest would be to pass in the first day of the third week. and this is with straight 11 passing/perfect evals... isn't that scary?!?!? sigh...

so what's new this new year? well... actually there's nothing much. i'm still an addict of korean and taiwanese dramas. i still love joe cheng to death.. hehe :D i still love purple. i still got my old phone but i'm planning to replace it this year... old shoes, old clothes, old bags, etc... well there's one thing new that's keeping me addicted nowadays... and that is my pet bianca in my facebook account pet society game. well, i never thought i'd get hooked but i am now. here, take a glance at my pet BIANCA...

facebook is the new friendster now. though it's not as colorful and as beautifully designed as friendster is during its launch and until now, this networking site has lots of fun applications and games that keep the subscribers busy and happy. one of which is this pet society interactive game. this is the most fun application i've found in facebook so far. i will be making a separate blog for this so people who are interested or probably interested will have an idea of how it really works. this is really fun so i recommend that you try this one soon! definitely a 'two-thumbs-up'!!! :)

so that's all i have for now. hopefully, i'll have time to post a new blog soon.

ciao!


~grazhishu~
*a wu chun fan*
*forever loyal joe cheng gal*