Yumi's JPOP Series - 4: My Favorite Female Group Songs

For my last post in C31's ENGLCOM blog, I decided to talk about three of my favorite japanese songs which were released this month or next month.


1] ℃-ute – Danceでバコーン! (Dance de Bakoon!) [Release Date: 2010.08.25]





℃-ute is an all girl idol group by Hello! Project, a company who trains young girls to become idols. This is their 13th single, and so far, my most favorite ℃-ute song since their single last January. My first impression was that the song is quite weird. On the first verse, (pardon me for saying this) they sound like drunk girls~~and then on the chorus part, the song became weirdly cheerful and bubbly. But after listening to it for three times, I came to love it <3!!!! I still don't like the first part that much, but the chorus is sooooooooooooo nice and addictive!!!! If the composer just change a bit of the tone, then the song will be a hundred times better!!! Music-Video wise, I think their sparkly black offshoulder top is a bit too old fashioned for them. They're still sixteen to eighteen year old teens!!! All in all,-I rate this song a 4/5


2]  AKB48 - Heavy Rotation  [Release Date: 2010.08.18]







OMG THIS SONG ROCKS! Yes, at first I thought that it's just a simple cute Japanese song, with quite a "sexy" music video (which is totally not related to the song at all), but when I understood the meaning, I loved the song immediately! It talks about loving someone very much, to the point that the person always pops in your mind everytime. It's a sweet, truthful, and innocent song. Moreover, it's sung by my most favorite girl group ever!!! AKB48! Yay! I was also glad that my favorite member was part of the ones who have solos, even though I do not like the center girl. She was voted as the most popular one so the company placed her in the middle. The album cover girl is also her. I don't have anything against her, but I really think that the girl with the short hair who sang one part together with the center girl should be placed in the middle. Actually, she was the number one girl before, but unfortunately, she was overtaken by her very close friend.......Anyway, I rate this song a 4.5/5!! 


*The video of the Heavy Rotation is their “live” performance, not the “sexy” one >.<”


3] Perfume -  VOICE [Release Date: 2010.08.11]





Yay! I LOVE ELECTROPOP! Perfume is also a girl group which makes electro pop music. What caught me was the very interesting dance steps Perfume does on every single they release. This one is also great :)! Although the english part, which is the "Everything you need to know the voice", does not make sense~~~the song's still nice! Also, the video has the part wherein the three members pose and a big cardboard passes through them. That, for me, was very cool! I rate this song a 4/5


4] Watari Rouka Hashiri Tai - Gyu [Release Date: 2010.09.01]





Gyu~Gyu~Gyu!! >0<3 I loved the innocent message it projects, saying "to embrace or to hug me" right now. Gyu means "hug" by the way :)). I was entertained by the music video because they used a balloon-like thing to represent the guy >U< It was just too cute! Especially the part where Harugon suddenly ran and hugged the balloon person~! and also the part where she kissed it~!!!...or him...hahahahaha! This one is my most favorite song yet! Therefore, I rate this a 5/5~! Perfect 5!

Climbing up the thorny vines of College

Know how my highschool life ended....

They say, highschool life is the best time of our life. Treasure it and enjoy it while you're still in it. But now, I have surpassed all the trials that highschool gave me. Although leaving it was a sad fact, I can proudly say that I had no regrets.... why? For I have accomplished all my missions and did my best.

I am just starting college and so far, my conclusion is that highschool was more pressuring than college. Seriously :) Although this may be in contrast with others that say that college is harder, based on my experience, college was easier than highschool.


 

 

One thing that gives pressure to students in star sections is the competition between the four corners of the room. If you're not competent enough, you're out of the section. We have this so called "setting the standards" in our room. For instance, if someone starts to set the standards in a portfolio such as putting more design, later on other students will start to innovate another design that will beat the standard setter. This is because we are fighting for a few position with only one person that can have that certain position. In highschool, you can only have one recipient of the valedictorian and salutatorian position.

'

Everyday we spend almost 12 hours in school excluding the 1 to 2 hours of cheerleading training. Highschool is so stressful for me because I got to sleep only 3 or 4 hours per night and even worst, I don't sleep at all just to finish all the paperworks, study for quizzes and meet deadlines. I was often regarded as the "zombie" in our room because of my eyebugs and my stressful face. hahaha:)

 

<>

ME with ALENN STARSTRUCKED AT ME. HAHA!:)

I have put all my efforts to finish highschool the best way and ever since, I have aimed to bring my parents to the stage for them to give me my diploma and medals as the product of my labor. I aimed to be one of the 12 honorable mention including the valedictorian and salutatorian. During the 3rd quarter of my senior year, I was one of the top ten students of my batch. So as the finals exam was fast approaching, I did the best I can.....

And there it goes.... during a departmental assembly... COMES THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GRADUATION AWARDEES. My body was really.. really trembling because I was so nervous of the result. And as they announced the awardees, it was a heartbreaking moment of revelation, as our academic coordinator announced that I was just a recipient of the special recognition in sports cheerdance and a recipient of Gold eagle certificate (for those students having a final grade of (95.5% and above). I felt inferior and depressed... Knowing the fact that I will not be able to walk with my parents in the center isle (because the 12 honorable mention students get to march with their parents in teh center isle). I feel like useless, because they have worked hard for me to graduate and this is all they get?.... I felt worthless. Later on, my classmates excitingly informed me that I was top 14 out of the 300 graduates. I FELT MORE WORTHLESS THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE TOP 12.

And so, I told this to my parents and guess what, they were so proud of me! I was shocked, how could you be proud of me?! hahaha! Soon, I realized that being sad and depressed because of something I didn't get served as a big hindrance in seeing my potentials and my blessings from God. Later on, I realized how proud I can be and how my parents can be. I started to appreciate the so many blessings God has given me. As the captain of the squad, receiving the special recognition in cheerdance is such an honor for me. Getting a final grade of higher than 95% is an unexpectable surprise that some normal students can't have and lastly, being the top 14 among the 300 graduates is such a blessing for me.

"I still can't believe I'm about to graduate na.:("

And now, because I was trained to handle the pressure, I can easily manage my time in college especially that we have shorter time to spend in school and we get to have long breaks. Cheerleading practice is not anymore in my schedule and so, I get to enjoy my major accounting subject!:) We get to have subjects that is scheduled one day after and not everyday (OF COURSE EXCEPT ENGLCOM HAHA!). This gives me more time to study, eat, party:) and most of all,

SLEEP!!!:)

Melissa Angelyn R. Pascual

C31 Englcom

In the last days of first part of suffering

         We have studied and studied for 2 months, and know we are able to arrive at this point in time.
         We studied accounting to the very limit of our time. There are also times that we don’t get enough sleep just to be able to finish assignments for other subjects. We learn from our experience, there is an incident that we had a take home quiz and most of us didn’t go to sleep just to be able to finish the test, but in the end we had learn that we prefer to have our make-up class than a take home quiz. Past is already past but the times that we had together and the lessons that we learned will last forever.
        We are about to end the 1st term of academic year 2010-2011. We are about to step into another stage of our lives, that we would be thinking of how to pass the subject. And in these few days, a lot of us are studying hard to cope up with our grades in each subject especially in accounting. We know that some of us will have to repeat the subject while others are already planning to shift to another course intended. We’ll surely miss each other, because of the times that we are together, and he time we spend with each other.
         Our life here in college is really no joke at all. We only had one term but it’s like we already spend a year studying and trying to analyze the things quickly so that we won’t be late for the lesson. But still some of us are able to have time to bond and have fun because that is what college life is all about. We learn and have fun all together.
         Have a nice weekend to everyone!
Charmaine Ngo of C31,
Signing off.

3 Best Places to visit

This is an article from the New York Times magazine; it gives 31 places yet I chose the places that I’d like to go.

1) Norway

One of my dreams is to go backpacking around the Europe right after I graduate. I am still waiting for the time :d anyway.. I like the places that has magnificent natural beauty and I believe that Norway is also one of those places :D

2) South Africa

Before, when I thought of Africa, I would think that Africans are poor, thus it is dangerous to go there….etc. but now that I have gained more knowledge as I grow up, I want to go to Africa to see the uniqueness of it unlike other continents around the world. I want to see the real safari with giraffes, lions and hippopotamus :D it might be real dangerous though.

3) Antarctica

Now that the global warming is in serious issues, I want to go to the Antarctica and see it with my own eyes. I want feel how it’s like to be the bottom of the earth. I also want to see Eskimos and how they live in the house that’s made of ice. I heard that there is even a hotel with Eskimos houses as the hotel rooms allowing the visitors to experience sleeping in the Eskimo houses. It will surely be fun :D even though I am already used to hot weather in the Philippines.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html?src=mv&ref=travel
 
Kim, Woolim (Cathy)  C31 ENGLCOM

Yumi's JPOP Series - 3: Female Solo Idols - Aragaki Yui and Okamoto Rei

Name: Aragaki Yui

Nickname: Gakky

Birthday: June 11, 1988

I first discovered Gakky in a Japanese Drama called "Papa To Musume No Nanokan" (2007) where she played a high school girl who has the "soul" of her father (father-daughter switched bodies). I was especially drawn to her charming smile and her talent in acting. After that event, I began researching about her and found out that she was previously a model in the popular middle-school targeted girl magazine "nicola". She became a model at the age of thirteen and was the most loved model, having appeared in covers for at least twenty times. When she graduated from nicola, she started her singing career and produced many melodic and heartwarming songs. Truthfully speaking, Gakky's not really the best singer......it is only because of her mellow voice and the meaningful lyrics that I grew to love her songs. I also watched some of her other dramas and movies including Koizora (2007), a superb tear-jerker movie, and Smile (2009), in which she played a high school girl who has lost her voice due to an accident. Currently, she is concentrating more on modeling for magazines and acting. Her singing career somehow was put to an end(????) i guess....but I hope she will be making more songs in the future :)

Here's a song by Gakky called "Heavenly Days". This was the theme song for the movie "Koizora"

Name: Okamoto Rei

Nickname: Rei

Birthdate: June 18, 1991

The way I found out about Okamoto Rei was very amusing. It all started when I came across a blog post about my favorite Japanese celebrity, Arioka Daiki, dating a girl (Okamoto Rei). I became curious and looked her up. I though to myself then that even if Daiki has a girlfriend, I will still be his fan. Then, because of that, I started to become more interested in Rei, including her looks and her skills. She was also a nicola model, a junior of Gakky. But, Rei surpassed her by appearing in more covers than Gakky. She also had her singing career, but it was short lived. Although it was only for some time, I still loved her songs. She wrote most of it and composed a few tracks. Rei also knew how to play the guitar and the piano so in some of her songs, she was the one playing the respective instruments. Like Gakky, she's now concentrating more on her acting skills with movies and dramas lined up for her this year. So far, I have seen two of her dramas, Akai Ito, and Koishite Akuma ~Vampire Boy~.


Here's the link to a short promotional video of her last single, Railroad Star, released last 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ORaWJHVjU

Doggie Fever!

Together with my mom and second eldest brother, we went to Kenny Rogers near College of Saint Benilde to eat dinner. One of the hottest topic of discussion we had while eating was our dogs at Bataan. If I remember correctly, we currently have eight dogs excluding those we sent to our grandparents. 

I'll just mention three out of eight...

Casper the Maltese

This is Casper, our cute Maltese. It (he) has a partner named Snow White, but it (she) isn't as cute as Casper so I didn't include its (her) picture. Talk about discrimination. (0_o)

Casper is part of the toy group of dogs since its (his) breed is Maltese. I like carrying it (him) even if it's (he's) so heavy for a midget. It's also fun to watch it especially when it's time for it to go back to its cage. It keeps on running and running until you get tired of chasing it in order to catch it. Although I have to admit that sometimes, I get scared of it because I am afraid that it'll bite me.  : P

Gremly

On the right side is our "SUPER KULET" Gremly. It (She) is really funny. Whenever there's a stranger, she will bark so loud that you'll hear it from the other side of the subdivision but when a stranger touches or gets near her, she won't even bite. Another thing about her is her favouritism. She really likes our mom. Everytime we play with her, she'll cooperate and play with me and my brothers. But once our mom shows up, it's like we didn't exist at all. Geez!

The last dog is a mixed breed, in short... "askal". The name of the dog is "Puppy". It (He) is our first dog ever since we moved houses. He was originally living with our grandparents but because of certain circumstances, we took him in. I don't have a picture of him saved in my computer so I won't be able to show you what he looks like. Even if he is a mixed breed, we shouldn't underestimate him. Believe it or not, he can open our house's gates on his own. We've seen him in action. If only I had a camera during that time, I would have definitely recorded it. At first we thought there was a thief that noise came out from our gates. We checked it out and found our small Puppy trying to open the gates.  He's also scary. If he sees someone passing by at our house, he will immediately chase that person and... bite him or her for no reason. Most victims are tricycle drivers. This is the main reason why we get complaints from our neighbors. So far no one has been bitten and in order to prevent it from happening, we decided to lock him up. But, because my mother is such a dog-lover, she secretly lets the dog roam around early in the morning. Everytime I see that dog, I often think "I know you're just trying to help guard the house... but please... as much as possible, stick with a low profile."

That ends my blog entry. There are 5 more dogs but it'll take too long for me to describe each of them so I'll end it here.

-ELEONOR M. CORRALES

Ten LRT lessons

          I'm sick and tired of the LRT's in the metro! They are so outdated and small! How could they possibly expect all the commuters to fit in those trains for ants? Are they crazy? Isn't it before you build something, you have to plan it first? What happened in the LRT's is the opposite. Instead of researching first for the number of commuters so the they could buy trains with the right capacity, they bought smaller and cheaper trains and renovated it later so 5,000 people can fit into it which is by the way, a stupid idea. Purchasing trains with wrong size led to an inevitable everyday riot and nobody can do anything about it. Being my only mode of transportation to La Salle, I don't really have a choice but to take the hell ride. Surprisingly, through this experience, I've learned a couple of things about life. Woah! I know right. Who knew you can get something from frustrations. Haha! Here they are:

1.  It's unforgivable to push woman during desperate times when boarding trains but it's okay for woman, with the strengths of Xena, to push men just to get in first. (Gender equality? I guess not.)

2. Woman should be given a seat inside the trains even though we paid the same fair. (The question is would they do the same for us?)

3. I improved my sense of touch (checking my wallet and cellphone if it is still inside my pocket every minute without even touching it with my hands).

4. I developed my swimming skills specifically holding my breath for long periods (if the guy in front of me smells like rotten eggs.)

5. I learned how to improvise. Since there are no proper door signage in LRT1 stations, I made my own. For example the "no spitting" sign is the door opening for the new train, while the "no entry" sign's the door opening for the old train.

6. I improved my body endurance. I can now withstand more nudges, punches and overall pain. (Result of an everyday "training").

7. I managed to stand on a wobbly floor.

8. I am now more patient because of  the slow speed of the aging trains.

9. I became more polite by saying "excuse me" frequently.

10. I discovered that most men seating inside the train are sleeping because they don't want their conscience to work and give up their seat to a woman. (Now that's a fact!)

Juan Carlos Benedicto

C31 BSA

Yumi's JPOP Series - 2: "AKB48" [Part Two]

Konbanwa~! Yumi here! ^U^ I am now going to rank my top four favorite AKB48 girls from #4 to #1 :)


4.
Maeda Atsuko
Birthday: July 10, 1991
Age: 19
Nickname: Acchan

Acchan was actually the first girl I admired in the group. She was the number one member last year and is currently the second most popular member this year. So far, Acchan takes the center position in the singles and in live performances. Of course it's because of her cuteness that I started to like her, but it was actually her dancing that made me admire her even more. I have observed how graceful and poised she is every time she performs. A video to prove it is this (she is at the center):

New York Anime Fest, Iiwake Maybe:

3.
Watanabe Mayu
Birthday: March 26, 1994
Age: 16
Nickname: Mayuyu

I really reaaaaaaaaaally like her super cute voice! Her high-pitched voice matches with her young and fresh look. Although she's almost the same age as I am, Mayuyu's cuteness is too....too cute!!!!!! >0< Mayuyu ranked fifth as in the popularity survey this year.


Nantai Renai Kuragekko:





2.
Kashiwagi Yuki 
Birthday: July 15, 1991
Age: 19
Nickname: Yukirin

Actually, I just noticed Yukirin's kawaiiness just recently. She's the leader of Team B and is also placed eighth in the survey this year. What caught my eye was her beautiful and pleasant voice in the sub-group Team PB's single, Enkyori Poster. Yukirin might look like she has a high pitched voice, but in reality, she possesses a quite mature voice ^U^

Yukirin's the one at the center at the start of the performance:

MY NUMBER ONE GIRL WILL BE.............

1.

Nakagawa Haruka

Birthday: February 10, 1992

Age: 18

Nickname: Harugon

OMGGGGGG Harugon is THE prettiest AKB48 member EVER!!!!!! >_____<; Her slightly husky voice makes her more kawaii! At first, I did not really noticed her because she was not very popular. But when she beacme a member of Watari Rouka Hashiritai, I  started paying close attention to her. HARUGON WILL ALWAYS BE MY ICHIBAN (Number One)!!!!!! >3<



Note: AKB48 rarely sing live when they perform sing and dance numbers.

Salt vs Inception

After being a college student, I wasn't able to watch any movie. I LOVE watching movies and yet due to so many assignments and academic things to do, I still haven't watched anything. That’s why on my desk, I have a note wherein I listed down all the movies that I am going to watch during the sem break. I even pity myself for not being able to watch anything.


Since I don’t have much time to go to the movie theater I wanted to introduce the major movies that I want to watch. These are the “Salt” and “Inception.” They are the two movies competing for the top in the US Box Office.

I’ve heard that some professors in La Salle gave an assignment on watching Inception and writing an essay about it. I wonder how mysterious and complicated the movie is. It is a science fiction action film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I heard that it require a lot of thinking to understand it fully while watching the movie. It’s about a person entering dreams of others to obtain information that are not accessible is reality. So it’s like entering a dream and shifting to another dream and another again.

On the other hand, “Salt” is an action movie starring Angelina Jolie. As a CIA officier, she swore an oath to serve the country. Angelina Jolie as the main character of the movie, she shows drastic actions in the movie.

I hope that I will be able to watch any movie this weekend to relieve my stress and burden from the academic requirements :D

Kim, Woolim (Cathy) C31 ENGLCOM

Six Impossible Things

Alice survived Wonderland. Well, sort of...

Waking up in a world of uncertainties and impossibles, Alice experienced everything that was Wonderland... A place where, flowers are talking, rabbit run late, and potions and cakes make you grow or shrink, it's a dream. PERIOD.

I had my six impossible things too, you know:

If Alice had a potion that can make her small, I had a tendency to look down on myself.

Believe it or not, I may talk endlessly and somehow exude self-confidence but I still have a tendency to evaluate myself. Whenever, I'm alone I write things in a piece of paper like: practice English grammar, try getting on a diet, focus more on studies, you're losing yourself and blah blah blah... I question myself so much, that I am my own insecurity. In my family, I'm the only one who can't play an instrument and I feel so down already. They say, that it's because I was 'attention-deprived' when I was a kid... but I somehow fixed that. Highlight: somehow

If Alice had a cake that can make her grow, I have a pill called Cherifer.

Yes, I still take Cherifer! I'm a flat 5'0 and I want another number next to it. Hell, 5'2 is my goal, two inches to go!

If Alice's animals can talk, my magic eight ball always answered my questions, in yes, no, maybe and later.

I have two magic eight balls, the black and red one. I believe so much in things like charms, luck and magic eight balls that my family finds it amusing. But every time I was right, I always felt smug. I once shaked the eight ball and asked, "Will I pass UP?" Magic eight ball answered, "Definitely." My mom checked if I really did pass and when I got home, I did. I even had 'lucky' headbands and 'study' headbands that I wore to school whenever I needed luck, wisdom or fun. Yes, so far all of them do work.

If Alice's cats can disappear, my voice can disappear too.

Thrice in my whole life, I've lost my voice. All of them after Batch Cheering Competition. Splits, cartwheels and etcetera are deemed to be so easy that I can't do any of them, except bridge! So I show support with my loud voice, during those two days of practice and competition day itself, I never lose energy because I feel like if I lose mine, others will follow suit. So I'd rather lose my voice for a week or two than the whole batch lose their 'muchness'.

If Alice had Wonderland, I had Dollhouse.

Dollhouse is a series of short stories that I've written, a creative outlet. It's actually not very 'happy' since it revolves around horrors like enchanted dolls, voodoo dolls. porcelain dolls and Barbie. Yeah, I have a dollphobia. So instead of fearing them, I wrote a few to let out my fear... It was really fun writing about fears.

If Alice had to slay the Jabberwocky, I can pass the BSA program.

Can I really?

We defy reality when we live out our dreams.


We start doing the impossible when we've set our minds to it.


We stop just existing when we start living our lives.


Signing off,
Ana Raymundo of C31!