TABLE CLEANING!

I wanted to get my mind off stuffs so I thought of cleaning and arranging the stuffs in my desk. 

My table has only three drawers so I thought I'll be finished in a few hours time. 

I didn't expect though that it would actually take me 12 HOURS to finish up!!! (@_@;) 

I have this tendency to clutter all over whenever I'm cleaning up, so my room was a huge mess. 

And I somehow filled up an entire plastic bag with trash!

Oh table, what secrets have you been hiding??!!! ＼(◎o◎)／！

And remember "Brooke Shields", my lovely shelf?! 

Well, she can no longer hold my hoards. (╯°□°）╯

My books are overflowing and have finally reached the floor! ZOMG.

I SRSLY need a new shelf. Or a new room. Or better yet, a new house. With a library. A BIG one.

Oh, and I have a new set of manga. It's a birthday gift from my friend, Yume. 

It's kinda late cos it traveled all the way from Singapore!! （*´▽｀*）

  

翼を持つ者 Tsubasa o Motsu Mono by Takaya Natsuki, creator of Fruits Basket! ヽ（´ー｀）┌

I can't wait to read them!!!!  (≧∇≦)/

ABSOLUTE DARLING

We are all quite familiar with Watase Yuu, creator of the popular shoujo series Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres. Some of us might also be familiar with her other works, particularly the 6-volume manga Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend), which spawned a live action J-drama in 2008. This tells the story of a naive girl named Izawa Riiko who has bad luck in finding a boyfriend, and the love triangle that ensues between her, her cyborg doll Tenjo Night, and her childhood friend Asamoto Soushi. 

I have also been hearing news about a Taiwanese drama adaptation, and initially there were reports that pop artists Wu Zun and Jolin Tsai might play the main roles. Then I found images of Wu Zun and Goo Hye Sun doing some initial shots for the series. But it was quite a surprise for me when I saw a teaser trailer just recently on TV, and found Jiro Wang in the lead role beside Goo Hye Sun!

Well, just a little background about the cast... Goo Hye Sun is a multi-talented korean artist (actress, director, singer, author) who rose to international fame when she played the infamous role of Geum Jan Di in the manga-turned-Korean drama Boys Before Flowers. On the other hand, Jiro Wang is a member of the Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit, and has appeared in many manga-turned-Taiwanese drama adaptations like It Started with a Kiss, Hana Kimi and Momo Love. My initial reactions were mixed. Like, why cast a Korean actress for a Taiwanese drama? Well, she is good and well-loved by fans, and I guess a lot of Korean artists are now expanding their careers overseas. (For instance, the Taiwanese adaptation of Skip Beat stars Si Won and Dong Hae from Super Junior). But why Jiro Wang!? I mean, I like him in his previous performances for being goofy and for always being the supportive "friend". But I thought he wasn't cool enough for the role of Tenjo Night...

... until I saw this trailer!

WHEN DID HE GROW SO HOT AND DEVELOPED PECS AND ABS LIKE THAT!!!??  //nosebleeds~!!//

Definitely looking forward to this! (≧∇≦)/

Absolute Darling (絕對達令), starts airing this Sunday, April 8, in FTV/GTV. A South Korean adaptation will presumably follow later this year.

THERMAE ROMAE

I must admit that when I saw this image as part of the Winter 2012 line-up, I didn't bother to give it a second look.

But today, when I saw this trailer, I changed my mind!

So I immediately looked it up, and learned that Thermae Romae is an award winning manga by Yamazaki Mari that has spawned a three-episode anime and this upcoming movie to be released on April 28, 2012. The casting for the live action adaptation includes veteran actor Abe Hiroshi and pop celebrity Ueto Aya. It tells the story of a Roman architect named Lucius Modestus who hasn't been successful with his designs. One day, he visits a public bath, and somehow got trapped in an underwater hole and then transported to a bath house in 20th century Japan. He then uses these modern ideas to build his own bathing facility.

A hilarious story about bath houses and time travel -- why am I not at all surprised that this epic piece is from Japan!? \(^o^)/ Abe Hiroshi's multiple facial expressions in that trailer are absolutely priceless! I literally laughed out loud! Once my no-new-download month is over, I will definitely put this on top of my queue list.

MEET BROOKE SHIELDS

                                                                                                                                   


I've been hoarding collecting a lot of books lately, most of which were on sale. And as the number of books increased alarmingly in my room, I realized that there was already a need to buy a shelf to hold them in. Fortunately, I found the perfect one last month, but since my room was still such a huge mess then, I didn't buy it immediately. It was only last week when I've finally cleaned up the room a bit, and so the shelf was bought and delivered yesterday.

I know owning a bookshelf would make me happy, but when I saw it standing in my room, I suddenly just had this indescribable joy within me. It was beautiful! Then I remembered that when I was still a kid, and reading was still such a passionate hobby for me, I've always wanted a bookshelf I could call my own. So it was just like fulfilling a childhood dream! I was in absolute bliss! *^__^*

So here are close-up photos of my shelf, whose name by the way is Brooke Shields. Why? Well, it's a little complicated to explain, so I'll just leave it that way for you to wonder... XD

Top layer shows my latest books, which are mostly in sets.

Second layer holds all mangas, most of which are works by Clamp!

Big books at the far end are my Card Captor Sakura and Disgaea artbooks.

Third layer contains more mangas, including those I got from Japan, and my complete set of Slam Dunk.

Bottom layer holds my Dr Seuss collection, classic novels, etc etc etc

Lately I also got to chat with my cousin, and she told me her 10-year old son is an avid reader of fantasy books. It's so amazing how her little boy Shan can understand these kinds of books and how fast he can read them! I am just so proud of this kid.

So after much convo, we decided to exchange books! So I let her borrow some of my stuffs...

Lost by Gregory Maguire; Daniel X books 1-2 by James Patterson; The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke;

Artemis Fowl books 1-3-4-5-6 and The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

... and she also lets me borrow her son's books...

Percy Jackson series (complete set of 5 books) by Rick Riordan;

Fablehaven series (books 1-4) by Brandon Mull;

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud; The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

*jumps around in joy* 

Seeing so many books and seeing them in my shelf just makes me so so so so HAPPY!!!! ^_____________^

I wanna just curl up and read all of these!!!

IN LOVE WITH YOH!

As part of my determined attempt to finish all of my so-called backlogs, I saved a bunch of manga scans in my PSP and brought them to work. One of the titles is Koukou Debut (aka High School Debut), which is a 13-volume manga by Kawahara Kazune published in 2003-2008. It tells the story of a high school freshman named Nagashima Haruna who has decided to fall in love in high school and get herself a boyfriend. However, Haruna is totally clueless on fashion and love, and so to achieve her goal, she asks the cold but dashing Komiyama Yoh to coach her on how to become attractive. This is then the start of an odd relationship which eventually blossoms into a beautiful love story of a very unlikely couple.

Four years ago, my online friends Fangli and Piercing Sword, gave me a few chapters of this manga. It was still unfinished back then but it was so good! It was only about a year ago when I downloaded the completed volumes but I still didn't read it... UNTIL YESTERDAY. And then I went into my crazy raging fangirl love-love mode! :)


I SWEAR! Who wouldn't go into a crazy raging fangirl love-love mode over him...

Komiyama Yoh
*sighhhhhhhh...*

Seriously, I enjoyed this manga series uber-tremendously not just because of the killer looks of Yoh, but actually because of everything that makes Koukou Debut the manga it is. The artwork by itself is awesome. The drawings are clean and consistent, and the panels are structured so strategically. I swear there were a lot of instances when I turned the page and I was in for unexpected (and yummy) surprises! The character designs are very pleasing to look at, with dynamic facial expressions and really cool outfits! And the story is just so wonderful! Although it is fast paced and straight to the point, yet it doesn't fail to pull out various emotional responses from the reader. And despite the many twists and turns of events, there is something very concrete about the plot and the characters. Yoh, Haruna and their circle of friends each had solid personalities which never changed but rather matured amazingly throughout the series. Even supporting characters were developed in a way where you can't hate them but can somehow sympathize with them.

I laughed and cried when I was reading Koukou Debut. I felt Haruna's excitement and her pain, I experienced Yoh's confusion and his affections, I drowned with them as they immersed in their love. I just couldn't help but connect with the story and be reminded of the highs and lows, the joys and pains, the triumphs and frustrations of high school life. And then I wished I also lived and loved like Yoh and Haruna did. I wished everyday for me was like a debut too.

Despite all of these long and incoherent ramblings, I am honestly at a loss to describe how perfect this shoujo manga is. Koukou Debut is sweet and funny. It is a wholesome kind of sexy romance that does not stoop to smut. It is marvelously crafted and superbly entertaining. I have nothing else to say but pure praises and admiration for this series, and I highly recommend this to anyone who just wants to fall in love. I couldn't stop turning the pages at all, and as the series came to its inevitable end, everything was wrapped up perfectly and I was left with a warm sense of satisfaction and pleasure in my heart.

Yes, I definitely am! ^____^

P.S.
I wish they'll do an anime adaptation of this manga but I really don't know if it's possible. A live action movie is in the works though, and although I'm skeptical but I'm also quite excited. :)

SOME VARIOUS STUFFS ETC ETC ETC

Tadaima!

I have a terrible headache right now cos I did a lot of things today. T___T

Firstly, thanks to my ever-dependable boyfriend, I was able to wake up around 4-ish am since I still needed to pack my things for home. Unfortunately, since I was still on duty then, my packing was disrupted by a slightly toxic patient who arrived at the ER. After admitting the patient, I rushed my preparations since I wanted to attend the 8am church service at CCF-CDO. However I realized that I could not make it (because another patient came!), so I aimed to leave at 7am so I could reach CDO before the 10am service. It was a good thing Dodge arrived early to receive me, although I would have left the hospital anyway even if he came later. Emil was already awake then so it was OK for me to go already.

Arrived in CDO around 9-ish, went home to drop off my bags and change clothes, then went off to church. Pastor Chris gave a really nice and strong message on John 5 and on our spiritual blindness and our need to lead. It was very inspiring and I hope GOD will reveal more of Himself to me every moment of the day and not only in church.

I also found out where my missing ATM card is! Indeed I've placed it inside the tithe envelope and dropped it in the donation box 2 Sundays ago! The church staff returned it to me, and I laughed sheepishly at my carelessness, and told them (half-jokingly?) that all my finances belong to God anyway. But I'm a bit worried because I'm quite absent-minded lately, and always seem to be losing things. After I lost my ATM card last time, I filed for replacement in the bank the next day. And they actually had to call me up at home the next day cos I WROTE THE WRONG DATE on the application form. So stupid lah...

After church, I went to pay my internet bills, then luckily found this in Booksale...


Mahoromatic Volume 8!
It's the final volume! And it's thick too. Lucky!!! I've almost completed the set. Now I only need to find Volumes 4 and 7.

I met up with my parents, then we had lunch at Sunburst. After which we went to Capistrano Complex Subdivision in Gusa to check out a pad for rent which was referred by my friend Catherine. It was a nice location, but the place was sadly too small for us.

Then we went to visit my Mom's friend living in Alwana Village in Cugman. And although the houses for rent there were really pretty and even semi to fully furnished, but they were also way beyond our budget. It was also surprising because my Dad met his friend there too! Apparently my Dad's friend and Mom's friend were neighbors and friends, though they both don't know that they were somehow related to my parents. It would be nice to live in a peaceful and quite high end subdivision like that, but we just can't afford it. *sad* I hope in the future I can buy my own house there too.

We left the place and took a jeepney back to Gaisano Mall where I somehow ended up buying a Red Ribbon cake and brownies, Goldilocks bread, and early dinner for us at Pizza Hut. So much for trying to scrimp and budget. I was out of money by the time we got back home. *sweatdrops* But not before I got this...


I bought another *ahem!* a medical book in high hopes of studying. Because I have somewhat decided to set a goal for my life, and this decision might be life-changing. Or maybe not. But I'll expound on this next time when I'm really sure about my thoughts.

When we got home, I was quite tired, but we immediately set out again to look for more houses for rent. We ended up going somewhere around Sunshine Village in Tibasak, and I honestly think it's a bit far away already, but we found a cheap, brand new 2 bedroom unit there. It's so cute, however, it's still too small for us because we own quite a number of huge boxes which definitely won't fit there. And my parents think it's too far away from the city too. So after walking some more, we finally decided to call it a day and headed back home to eat our cakes.

I'm really so tired so I'll try to get some shut-eye now. Oyasumi!

STAND BY ME

I watched the second episode of Boys Over Flowers tonight with my mom, and I couldn't help but stifle a *kilig* grin.

Lee Min Ho, the guy who plays Gu Jun Pyo (Doumyouji Tsukasa/Dao Ming Si), makes the most amusing facial expressions! He is absolutely adorable when he looks confused or dumbfounded because he unintentionally shows the "baka" (stupid -- but we all love it!) side of Doumyouji. (And for some weird reason he keeps reminding me of Jerry Yan. XD)


Priceless.
I just love it. Hahaha
(I purposely chose this pic because it also has Kim Bum in it! Weeeeeee!!!!)

Won't write spoilers. It's best to watch it on your own. (^o^)v


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Next to Lee Min Ho, my next favorite F4 has got to be the baby-faced Kim Bum!!!



I read HERE that this guy has shown great acting potentials in East of Eden (makes me want to watch EOE too - Song Seung Hun kyyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! - It's airing in the Taiwanese channel soon but I'm too lazy to watch TV. XD). Kim Bum's boyish grin yet manly charm prolly make him a good choice for the role of So Yi Jung (Nishikado Soujiro/Xi Men).

And it also makes him a good ogle target for fangirls like me, hahahahaha...


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


I seriously need to watch Boys Over Flowers before it hits local TV because then it will create a local fandom and I don't want to be part of it. I want to catch the fever early on (yet, the series has already ended and I'm still on episode 2?!? 0__o). I've downloaded until episode 19 already but I temporarily stopped because WITH S2 (I love them!!!) hasn't finished the subs for the last 2 episodes yet, so I'm waiting for their release before freeing some space in my disk drive.

Right now my utorrent is downloading more of my random clicks and choices (i.e. random surreal animes and random smutty mangas XD), which brings us to the next topic...


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


I've been downloading some smutty (hahaha...) shoujo manga scanlations and surprisingly started reading through some of them.
Right now I'm hooked to reading Ukyou Ayane's Yokujou Climax (Desire Climax), which is a rich guy-poor girl story. It has shown quite a number of interesting twists in the first three volumes and I'm excited to see more of what happens next.

Or rather, I'm excited to see more of this guy here...


SMEXY PRINCE JINNAI SHOEI!!!
* nosebleeds *

I've also been reading some of Kayono's works, like the rich girl-poor guy tale of Royal Seventeen. Kayono makes really beautiful boys *coughs* art... I wish I can draw this way...


* more nosebleeding *

One similarity I've noticed though about these smutty shoujo mangas is that they are really full of smut (hahaha...) which follows a certain pattern:

• Girl is approached by a stranger, who happens to be a good looking guy (who usually has a dual personality)...
  
• Guy suddenly becomes aggressive and without warning pounces on the girl, throwing her to the ground/bed/wall/etc...
  
• He steals her first kiss...
  
• Then he kisses her some more with a lot of tongue action...
  
• Next panel shows girl already half-undressed (how the heck did he do that!?!)...
  
• And guy is biting her [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• And his hands shot down to her [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• Then he [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• And he [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• Then they [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• And [*bleeeeeep*], [*bleeeeeep*], [*bleeeeeep*]...
  
• And we see that somehow the girl's virginity is still intact...
  
• And in next volume girl is already running after the guy, wishing he'd touch her more...

WTF!? 0__o Please explain and make some sense of this to me!!! XD

The guys are HOT though, which pretty much do not need any more explaining to me or any rabid fangirl out there. *winks*

ON MANGAS, EMAILS, AND WHY I'M STILL AWAKE AT 3AM


Interesting.

I was browsing through onemanga and I stumbled upon the title Monster Hunter Orage. Curious, I clicked on it and THIS came out...


Apparently, this is the manga version of the hit CapCom game, Monster Hunter! I got the chance to play this on my sister's PSP and it's really fun (that is, if you like being knocked silly by various monsters and in the process, develop calluses on your thumbs XD).
I feel very excited about the manga despite the fact that it only has 11 chapters released as of the moment. And it is being drawn by no less than Mashima Hiro, best known as the creator of Rave and Fairy Tail. Impressive indeed! ^___^

Actually I spent the entire day downloading mangas and filing them into folders. So far I've "leeched" the following titles...

Ai Hime -Ai to Himegoto-
Backstage Prince
Bitter Virgin
Hot Gimmick
Koukou Debut
Prince to Yobanaide
Shinsei Doumei Cross
I also checked the scanlations Yume and Fangli gave me before, and started arranging and grouping similar files. I was also downloading some random titles (just click whatever title shows up) and read through two different mangas -- one was highly filled with sexual tension, and the other overflowing with yummy yaoi-ness. XD

Don't ask me for a copy cos I already deleted them after reading. LOL

Then tonight I decided to check my email, and deleted around 70+ messages. In the process, I also forwarded some of those interesting (and not-so-interesting) emails, and spammed the inboxes of many of my acquaintances. Really really spammed. T__T

Right now I'm still awake. And I don't know what I'm really doing. I wish I can say that I have made some sort of achievement during the entire week I've stayed at home, but I think I made even more mess than before. I've done nothing but sit in front of the PC surfing and downloading random titles that I won't have time to watch or read, and playing Aveyond which is not really an important priority right now. I didn't play today though.

Maybe I should go sleep now. Will prolly write more later.

Maybe. Or maybe not.

This is a pretty random entry...


P.S.
Perfect!
Now I know how to watch softsubs and load .srt files. I can watch Boys Over Flowers episode 1 now! Woohoo!!!

I'M NOT YOUR SUPERWOMAN

Because of the current nature of my work, I have been living within hospital walls for the past three weeks. Although the people at work are uber-nice and the workload is bearable and (yes, thank you Lord!) there's good pay, but I felt all stressed out because of the simple fact that I'm always away from home. I'm away from my family, away from my dog, away from my PC, away from my usual ordinary and boring lifestyle. When I'm out there at work, I can't do the stuffs I used to normally do before (i.e. have coffee with my mom, clean my room, watch movies, download torrents etc). It made me realize that time at home is really gold, that I shouldn't take for granted my time with family, and that there really is no place like home.

Right now, I'm trying to catch up with stuffs that I need to do here (before I go back to work again next week... *sigh*). Some of them are relatively irrelevant stuffs though, LOL. But I thought I'd list them down here (in no particular order) just to give me some perspective...

» Download Drama/Anime Torrents.

After the PC got busted last month and had to be reformatted, I lost my very long list of torrent queues. Well, I think it's somehow a blessing in disguise because most of them were pretty random titles that I just clicked and probably won't watch. But now I started downloading some more torrents again...


(click to view clearer image)
As you can see from the list, I have Kurozuka and Kuroshitsuji there because I wasn't able to download them last month. I also have Code Geass R2, Terra no He, and White Album on the list. And I'm also supporting Hetalia: Axis Powers. For dramas, I'm downloading the raw version of Boys Over Flowers, the korean rendition of Hana Yori Dango which is gaining popularity these days. I'm just not quite sure yet how to load the .srt files with the raws, but I'll figure it out eventually... (hopefully... 0__o;)

I'm also looking forward to download/acquire the following Taiwanese idol dramas:

• Honey and Clover
• Love or Bread
• Superstar Express (ToGetHer)
• Miss No Good
• Extravagant Challenge (postponed indefinitely... *sigh*)

Oh yah, and I need to prepare/burn animes for my friend Jan and for my cousin Beth too!

» Download Manga Scanlations.

I don't know when I'll have the time to read these though. But I've been randomly downloading (or planning to download) the following titles:

• Monster
• 21st Century Boys
• Hot Gimmick
• Kare First Love
• Tokyo Crazy Paradise
• Cat Street
• Shinshi Doumei Cross
• Ore no Hanashi wo Shiyouka
• etc etc etc

» Clean Room and Arrange Things.


'Nuff said.

» Watch Pending DVDs.

Last month I've returned a whole bunch of borrowed stuffs. This time I plan to return Joey's DVDs and the rest of Gervie's stuffs by the end of the month or early March. But I still have yet to watch them...

• Darker Than Black
• Night Wizard
• KimiKiss Pure Rouge
• Tehnjo Tenge
• Baccano!
• SCRYED
• Berserk

Then I plan to watch Suoh's CDs so that I can return them next month. But I'm not confident that I can finish them.

» Read my Books.

Just finished Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage. And contrary to the high recommendations Gervie and Yume gave it, I actually couldn't quite appreciate the book. Maybe I'm just dense. XD

Next on list would be Katherine Neville's The Eight, which is a very thick book that Yume lent me. I think it's going to be an interesting read, but I'm intimidated by its thickness. LOL

I also bought a book yesterday - The Rule of Four - which was quite a bestseller last year (or the previous year?). I think that will be another exciting novel. And I still have a lot of unread books which I bought from Manila.

It's also important to read my Bible daily and to study my medical books everyday. But I still need more DISCIPLINE to be able to do these, hehe XD

» Finish Playing Aveyond 2.

I'm currently playing the PC RPG, Aveyond 2, the sequel to well... Aveyond. XD Somehow I think the first game was more exciting, but that's just my opinion.

I might make an Aveyond 2 fanart later on. But that's just a plan. And that brings us to...

» Finish Pending Drawings.

Right now I have 4 unfinished drawings, 9 unscanned artworks, and a whole bunch of ideas in my head which cannot make its way to paper because I lack talent. *sigh* But please continue to watch and support my DA page, my labor of love. I'm not yet good enough, but I try to make decent works, so hopefully people can appreciate my efforts.

http://pandaandpotato.deviantart.com

And I still have many other important things to do like...

• get my PMA ID
• go to the bank
• iron my clothes for next week
• update blog, deviantart, friendster, emails, etc.
• decide if I will change ISP from SmartBRO to Bayantel DSL
• have some scrub suits made
• buy toiletries, etc
• meet Joey on Friday
• meet Shay-Shay (not yet scheduled)
• meet Yume for exercise (hehehe, not so sure about this)
• etc etc etc

I wonder if I can finish all of these in just one week... So many things to do, so little time... *sigh*

FINAL-LY! THIS IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!


I almost forgot to blog about this!



A few months ago (I think around February or March), my cousin went to Hongkong for a vacation. And while she was there, she texted me saying that she saw INOUE MAO outside her hotel shooting a film! Yes, Inoue Mao, as in THE Inoue Mao who played Makino Tsukushi in the J-drama adaptation of Hana Yori Dango! I was very surprised, and she later sent me the pic she secretly took of the young actress. She told me that since security was tight, they were not allowed to take photos of the shoot, and hence, obtaining an autograph was also impossible. But my cousin jokingly told me that I should keep an eye out for this movie/drama, since we might see her loitering at the background. XD

I scrutinized the pic and noticed that Inoue Mao is sporting the same hairstyle as her character in HanaDan. (She had a different look in her other drama, First Kiss). So with great curiosity I browsed through DramaWiki and learned that there is an upcoming Hana Yori Dango movie, which will serve as the finale of the previous two seasons. That time, there was no set date for airing yet, but it was absolutely great news for me! I felt so excited! \(^o^)/

As most of my friends know, I'm quite an avid fan of Hana Yori Dango. ("Avid" isn't even the right word, since I'm more like obsessed with it! It's my absolute-st favorite-st shoujo story!!!). And well, this is how it all began...

[] The fandom started when I first read about it in an old Questor issue.

[] It then proceeded on to an excessive hype over Meteor Garden when it was first aired in CTS and my mom "accidentally discovered" it. Ah, those were the days when googling for "Meteor Garden" would only yield search results related to flowers and astronomy, and getting the original CDs meant persistently annoying an uncle working in Taiwan to buy them for you. XD

[] After a year, I met a new friend/textmate online who is from Manila, and I got hold of the anime, all 51 + 1 episodes recorded into precious VHS tapes (since CD writers and blank CDs were still quite expensive back then).

[] And when the F4 craze arrived in the Philippines, I then became some sort of a HanaDan guru in class, and all new converts (most especially my friend Hya) would gather around me during breaks and I would be telling them the story, equipped with notes I painstakingly wrote over the years. There were no DVD/subtitled copies of Meteor Garden back then, and since my VCD copy is raw, I had to translate all 20 episodes VERBALLY to my friends when they requested to watch it (I think I did that at least 3-4 times!).

[] A few years later, I was able to acquire a copy of the complete scanlations (I had to "order" it from Manila), which Hya and I perused page by page, over and over.

[] And then we totally went bonkers when we got hold of the first season of the J-drama, not quite liking MatsuJun at first because of his curly hair (but yah, I know Doumyouji has curly hair XD) but eventually falling for his charms anyway!

[] And when the sequel "returned", we had to bribe someone (itago nalang natin sya sa pangalang suoh XD) to download it for us, and when I'm off duty, I had to travel from Pedro Gil to 5th Avenue, carrying Hya's bulky external DVD-writer, to pick up every episode, and then go back again to PGH. And even when Hya is so tired or she's on duty or no matter how toxic she is, she will always make watching the episodes her priority.

I can't help but smile to myself whenever I remember these many mis(adventures) from the past. Hehehe
I really really LOVE Hana Yori Dango... Thank You so much Ms Yoko Kamio!!!


And now THIS!

HANA YORI DANGO FINAL : Already out last June 28!!!


trailer one



trailer two



trailer three




And if that isn't enough, at the end of this year, we might be looking at another set of F4, this time from Korea...



Yes... Yes... Apparently the koreans will make their own version of the story too and it will run for around 24 episodes. You can read more about it from dramabeans.

I think I will just end my rant here for now. Because I might start talking endlessly.... XD


P.S.
BTW, there's also a 1995 Japanese movie version of Hana Yori Dango, starring Naohito Fujiki, but it's difficult to get a copy.
One fansub group though has already listed it as one of their upcoming projects, so we'll just wait for that! (^o^)v