iBlos3om

Do not censor the web. Let Congress hear us.

We will be going back to the dark ages, where we were all living under a rock. Thank you wikipedia, google, mozilla, wordpress for showing the world what happens when Congress decides to censor our internet.

Posted in Family
Tags: End piracy not liberty, PIPA, SOPA, stopSOPA

On their last morning in the US, I gave my parents my sister’s baby album. An array of emotions splash across their faces: from laughter, joy, love and finally tears.

It was two months since my parents came for the birth of their first grandchild, here on named AFD. She came unexpectedly early, on an unforgettable day: 9/11/11. Before their arrival, I was a hurried mess trying to straighten the place and make it half presentable.

Hey, I think I know you

My parents, who were not expected in Toronto until a week after, were quickly ushered off to Toronto. There, they spent a month caring not only for my younger sister, but cooing, doting on, and caring for AFD. One month came and went in a blink of an eye. Before long, hubs and I were up in Toronto too, to celebrate AFD’s full moon, a “coming of age” of sorts for the Chinese.

AFD with grandma

The full moon symbolizes and celebrates a baby’s first month of life and her health. It is also the end of the mother’s confinement period, whereby both mom and baby are formally introduced to friends and (extended) family for the first time.

Mom & AFD

After the meeting of the newest, smallest and most precious addition to our family, we sadly parted ways once again. My parents came back to NJ with us and spent the remaining month in the US with us.

There were adjustments to be made, to say the least. Most of all the eating arrangements.

For the longest time now, all I have for “lunch” is a fruit and maybe yogurt. My day begins before the crack of dawn because of Jessie and Dusty. So breakfast is also very early. Two slices of bread OR a mug of oatmeal is sufficient to fuel me until the next meal around 2 pm. Then dinner around 7:30-8 pm with hubs.

My parents were in shocked and horrified at how little I eat. They think I’m scrimping on food, which is not even remotely true considering my secret love affair with food.

That quickly changed under their watchful eyes and regimented eating schedule.

My parents had oatmeal AND bread for breakfast. By 10:30am my mom will prep lunch, which came an hour later. Promptly after cleaning up, my mom would think about tea. Tea time came in two parts: 1pm and 3pm. Of course, there was the 5pm pre-dinner feeding too. Then dinner was whenever my DC (my elder sister, which my mom corrected to LUA cheh – that’s another story) and hubs arrived.

If I dared refused any of the eating times, I was forced-fed like a goose. No amount of argument worked.

I was well-fed, and have the extra flab to show for it.

My mom attended to everything in the house. The times when I tried cooking for them, she ended up doing most of the work. She got heartsick if she saw me doing a little more work for dinner. For one month, I lived and ate like a princess.

She made all my meals for me, making sure that all fat was removed, all veggies cut to bit-size, and the food served pipping hot. She skinned and cubed apples for me (and my dogs even though she professed not to like them), while my father washed, and cut the grapes. She cleaned, scrubbed and scoured my house till everything shone and not a speck of dust dared breath near her. She cared for me very dearly, and soon transferred that love to my dogs, who I doted on.

From the start, she was frustrated and angry with the time and care I showed Jessie and Dusty. She didn’t understand my devotion to them, especially when I needed the care myself too.

They have the best of food. The best of grooming. My utter and undivided love.

On one occasion of watching me prep their dinner, dried food, carrots, home-made chicken stock, rice and finally, a drizzle of Linatone, she asked me what the oil was for. I told her it was for their coat and general well-being.

She exclaimed, “Aiyoh! If only you would put that much attention to yourself. Look at your hair. Like 掃把 (sao ba – broom)!”

That got me cracking, which frustrated her even more.

Then, there is Dusty. Because he’s still a puppy, and utterly rambunctious and curious, a lot of things in my home are torn or defaced. Jessie’s toys are mostly marred (Tigger has lost an ear, Eeyore half a tail, the monkey is quadriplegic, and recently, the bear was disemboweled). Sofas and cushions are nibbled on. Even their beds are not safe from him. My mom calls him the “destructor.”

Jessie has incontinence issues. Dusty has urinary hesitancy and constipation-like syndrome. This only occurs when going out for potty breaks, but is never a problem at home. So there are occasions when a bed will be soiled (Jessie), or a poop found at home (Dusty).

But she, even disgusted, would help me with drying and sunning of the beds and empathize with them. She even took the time to mend the holly cushions and their beds. She swore that she will never feed the dogs, but broke when she saw Dusty’s persistence and perseverance. Ditto with my father. In his case, he was just trying to see what else he can feed them (which is everything in the house!).

The dogs were spoiled rotten with food and so was I.

Everyday, they walked, hand-in-hand, to Shop-Rite to get “fresh” food. My parents braved the cold and wind, to lug home fruits, fish, chicken, pork and bread. What’s more, because of my mother’s love for Cosi – brick-oven baked bread, they would walk 30 minutes into Secaucus just for a bite, and hurry home with a piping hot sandwich just for me. I was pampered. Rotten to the core.

They even went as far as to play with them. My father would play soccer with Dusty. Constantly kicking balls to him while Dusty tried to “catch” it. Unfortunately, he is not that slick. My father calls him, “Goalie bocor,” which in Malay means a torn / leaky goalie. Even my mom would play catch with him; throwing and bouncing balls for him to catch. And when they think I’m not looking, they would coo to and pat Jessie. They dogs and I love the company.

We went apple picking, with a promise of a beautiful day out. But the day turned mighty chilly the closer we got to our destination. Instead of a leisurely stroll in the orchard, we hurriedly picked apples, while trying to keep warm. Although my mom would not admit this, she was enjoying herself thoroughly. But the icing on the cake was the lunch soon after. We feasted like there was no tomorrow.

Chilly morning for apple picking

Then came their last weekend, which coincides with my father’s birthday. The feasting began that night at an Italian restaurant, Trattoria la Sorrentina in North Bergen. Followed by a birthday cake and a crazy night of gin rummy. Winner pays for the next day’s lunch and I surprisingly came out victorious.

Daddy's Birthday

That was followed by the next day’s lunch at Minado in Little Ferry. We ate like eating was going out of fashion, and green tea ice cream was going to save it. After we came home, we continued with rummy, after loosening the buttons off our pants. This time, the looser was not allowed to have lunch the next day. Unfortunately, that was my father.

Stuffing faces and not shy about it

Finally, before they left, we had a good Chinese meal at Petite Soo Chow. Even though leaving that night, my mom still made it so we had one last meal together as a family. We simply had chicken porridge for dinner. Soon after, she hurried around the house, doing her last-minute dusting and cleaning of the house. I watched quietly, thankfully and silently crying.

We left the house that night with a heavy heart, the dogs noticing something amiss.

We left them where we picked them. At the airport, a bittersweet location. It gives and it takes.

Today life has returned to “normal.”

But normal is quiet.

Normal is hungry.

Normal is only two toothbrushes in the bathroom.

Normal is only hubs’ and my shoes in the entrance.

Normal is me rushing to prep the human’s dinner while walking and feeding the dogs simultaneously.

Normal is quiet evenings watching animes.

Normal is without my parents.

Normal is sad.

Normal is lonely.

Posted in Family
Tags: dogs, Dusty, Eating, Jessie, Mother, New Jersey, Parent, Toronto

What is it about these “talent” shows that keeps me watching only the auditions? And when the “real” competitions begin, I lose interest.

It must be the circus.

In fact, it is better than the circus.

It is the inability of people to see themselves for who they are. Their arrogance. Their ignorance. Their shamelessness. So riveting!

It does take all kinds of people to make the world go round.

I am tone-deaf (with a music background. I’m beginning to sound like “one of them”). They are just plain deaf.

This is what makes it so entertaining. Amusing. Cringe-worthy.

They argue and deck it out with the professionals. Those who know what they are saying. The “authorities.” Otherwise they won’t be in this business.

That’s the ugly part.

There’s also the beauty of show.

I see the drive. Passion. And from time to time a voice, the voice, shatters the pandemonium.

Most of these people, who have an ounce of talent, just want a chance. A chance for a better life. Not just for themselves, but for their family.

Like Rachel Crow. She’s got spunk and cheeriness. She didn’t resort to strutting her feathers to wow the judges. She has exuberance, life, sincerity and a voice.

Like Melanie Amaro. Like Caitlyn Koch. Like Dexter Haygood.

One’s things for sure, it pays to be nice. Humble pie should never be served by a stranger.

This is a lesson to be taken to heart. By everyone, in all walks of life, no matter your standing in life.

Always be nice
Always be kind
Always be humble
Always be as unassuming as dormice (mouse)

Do unto others as you would yourself
And things would resolve themselves.

Posted in Idiot Box
Tags: Caitlyn Koch, Dexter Haygood, DoUntoOthers, L.A. Reid, Melanie Amaro, Rachel Crow, reality, Simon Cowell, X factor

All we wanted was a nice, exciting yet relaxing get-a-way with a concert as an added cherry on the cake. What we got was a harrowing, panicked-filled, mad dash to mark the unofficial end of summer.

My DC (大姐), who was recently introduced to Show Luo, aka Alan Luo, aka Luo Zhi Xiang (羅志祥) aka xiao zhu 小豬 (little pig) via his infamous drama Hi! My Sweetheart (海派甜心) became quite obsessed with him. She went from watching his dramas, to his talk show to tracking down his concert. As luck would have had it, he was throwing his 舞法舞天之一萬零一夜 (Dance with Limits Encore World Live Tour) concert in the Borgata Hotel and Casino at Atlantic City on Labor Day. What’s more, she sold it to me as a two for the price of one concert! Show Luo AND Vanness Wu. Not really convinced, but had nothing better to do, I agreed to go with her, and convinced hubs that HE needed some vaca time.

From the start, there were many signs that pointed to a no go.

Getting tickets to his concert was nearly impossible to get and a pain. No, it’s not like he’s as well-received as Wang Lee Hom (:D) but the venue is relatively small. Omen one.

Second omen: Atlantic City really isn’t a dog-friendly place. As a gambling den, there are a ton of hotels, but only a handful are pet-friendly. So we were relegated to the ultra expensive, or the semi-expensive hotel. If you can’t get Burberry, there’s still Guess. Ramada it was then.

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 came. We packed the car, dogs and humans and drove two hours south. We stopped at Renault Winery and bought a few bottles of wine, had a not very good sandwich lunch – which we ended up feeding to the dogs, and was almost attacked by a giant spider. By the time we were done with the vineyard, we were sweating like pigs and needed a shower and rest so badly. Omen three.

We headed straight to the hotel. The pictures lied. The Ramada is closer to a love motel than a hotel of any reputable name. My non-smoking room was a smoking room. My two queen beds were two full beds. Wifi = dsl or worse, dial up (more like dial down). Pet-friendly = pet inane (as demonstrated later). Omen four.

Not wanting to leave the dogs (especially Dusty who is traveling with us for the first time on a family vacation) alone in the room, we decided to bring them to the Broadwalk and have a look at “downtown” Atlantic City. Parking was a bitch, unless you paid NYC prices. Omen five.

Our first stop was Borgata to pick up the show tickets before heading to the Boardwalk (biggest yawn-er in town and sorry – the scariest red-neck and black town ever!). However, when we got to the Box Office, we were informed that we could only pick up the tickets after 9 pm. Omen six.

Six miles later, we decided to just head to the Boardwalk with the dogs in tow. Jessie was her normal angel. Dusty, on the other hand, pulled, jumped, barked and tried to attack everyone he saw. It wasn’t the easiest 2 hours walking him. But we managed. We even managed to stop at the Tanger Outlets, more specifically Crocs, to get some shoes for my mom. We were ready to eat a horse after that – didn’t help that it was close to 8 pm.

After feeding the tired dogs, we decided to return to Borgata for dinner and to pick up the tickets. We called for reservation at a restaurant called NOW, but was told that no reservations were needed. We reached said hotel and found said restaurant with a line that frightened a ravenous stomach. We surveyed our choices:

Metropolitan? No. Too sandwich-y and so was Bread and Butter.

Izakaya? No. Too sushi-only and boy are the prices other worldly.

Bobby Flay. Damn the line was long. Next opening – in your other life.

Wolfgang Puck? 30 minutes wait.

Cafeteria? No. Didn’t drive 2 hours to have Panda Express.

Wolfgang Puck it is. But, blardy hell, the line not only doubled, but the menu is so unappetizing.

Izakaya it is then. Beggars aren’t choosers. (No really!)

What omen are we at? I’ve lost count. Seven, eight, nine, ten…

We were led to a table as tall as me. We sat down on bar stools and my legs dangled. Super uncomfortable. Omen eleven (who’s counting anymore?!) We asked to change seats and were moved to the sushi bar. The food began to roll out and it was scrumptious, or we were really famished (!?). We had the baby dragon roll and the duck buns, and were thoroughly patting ourselves on the back on our great find until the fire alarm started blaring. Long story short, this alarm went off for more than 3o minutes, but we weren’t evacuated.  Twelve.

When the alarm was finally shut off, and we were deaf, we waited for another 30 minutes before the rest of our food rolled out. We were hungry again (most likely a ploy to get us to order more). Thirteen.

Not falling for that, we called for our check. The waitress must have been making papyrus, because she took a good 10 minutes to return with our bill. Pissed, my dc left her a $4.68 tip. If we were truly superstitious, we would have sat at the slots or the tables to try our (good) luck. But superstitious we are not. Greedy we are. So we strolled over to the next restaurant for gelato. (We should have turned back HOME by now, but silly us, we pushed on)

Ice cream in our hands, we walked over to the Box Office to pick up our tickets for the concert (it was 10:30 pm by this time). In a lined filled ONLY with Asians, a random white boy came up to us and asked if we were in line for Richard Lewis tickets. Wrong race, dude. As we closed in on our tickets, a hotel staff came up to us and announced that the waiting line is ONLY for comps for the concert and NOT for people who purchased the tickets online. The tickets can be picked up at 11 pm at the Event Center. Can you say ^*%@!! Fourteen.

Furious that we were once again duped, we stormed off. We will just have to come “earlier” for the 1 am show.

A quick shower, the hotel shuttle and we can definitely make it back to Borgata with time to spare. Not so fast.

We walked into the room, and the first thing that hit me wasn’t welcoming. A steely, yet sourish smell wafted around the room. The dogs were trying to get our attention. Then hubs saw a brown patch on the floor. He decided to clean up only to wipe down layers upon layers of brown gunk that finally thinned down to what looked like blood. I panicked. I picked up a wash cloth and began cleaning the dogs to find signs of blood.

Jessie was ok.

So was Dusty, until I cleaned his penis. The white cloth was soiled with bits of brown squirts. Investigating further, I pulled back his foreskin, squeezed his penis, and a steady stream of thick brown blood oozed out. This is not happening! I called front desk for a emergency VET clinic/hospital (seeing as how it’s not only a Sunday night, but a holiday weekend). The idiot on the phone, even after multiple reminders of the emergency being dog-related, gave me the number and address to a human hospital. If I had nothing better to do, I would have walked down, and slapped the blond fella into the next century.

I finally found an emergency Hospital, the Red Bank Vet in Linden and spoke to a technician. It was serious, but if he was still responsive we still have some time. We could go to the concert, come back around 4 am and drive home and see his vet in the am. A little assured, we were about to prep to leave when Dusty suddenly threw up the remainder of his dinner. We began to wipe down comforter, until, once again, I realized, I was wiping down blood.

I called the hospital again. The technician told me to bring him in asap. I followed hubs to the hospital with Dusty on my lap while DC took a shuttle to Borgata by herself. He vomited blood a second time, in the car, and I caught evidence of this for the docs. Little did I know too, but the little man was bleeding out on my white shorts. It looked like I was having my best friend over. After the long-winded paperwork, and formalities, Dusty was taken in for examination. Their preliminary overview of him was that he was still alert and “communicative.” (funny!) They wanted to do blood work on him. After I questioned their motive for the test (test=$$$$$) – because it still could be inconclusive, I caved and told them to run it because they wanted to rule out an infection.

As the test was going to take time, hubs drove me back to Borgata for the concert and then returned by his side (while the mummy went off to stop the drooling aunt in her stained white shorts). The concert was entertaining to say the least. But my mind was elsewhere, praying for his safe and immediate return to me. However, I did note that for a Dancing King, 小猪 有点胖呼呼的 (he was a little un-buff). Also, even though it was boorishly loud, he was a tad out of tune. What’s more, my promised “two-in-one” was not at all. Vanness never showed up. We did, however, get a crazed fan seated next to us, who claims of her “complicated relationship” with 小猪. All in all, it was fun watching my sister drool, while listening to his jokes and watching antics.

When we got back to the love motel at 4 am, hubs just got back with Dusty. After the time and not to mention money spent and wasted, he told me that the results were inconclusive. What was certain was his body breaking down his red blood cells. Why it was doing that – they were uncertain. There were no foreign objects in his body (so they performed more tests — without my consent), no stones, he wasn’t (surprisingly) anemic considering the amount of blood lost. He, however, could have ingested onions, or picked up “food” from the ground while we were out. (We could have poisoned him)

Hubs was sent home with some sample blood, tests results that prove nothing and told to bring him to a doc the next day for another round of blood tests.  With a hole in the pocket and nothing to show for, we decided not to take the drive home that night/morning but allow everyone to rest instead. As the rest slept, I slept with one eye open and stirred every time Dusty or Jessie moved. After a sleepless night, I awoke three hours later to walk the dogs.

I ran down to the car to pick up their shoes and on the way up, got stuck in the ancient elevator.

This is NOT happening.

I have experienced more heart-stopping moments in the last 24 hours than in my years on earth. After pressing the alarm and waiting for help to arrive (which felt like I was dealing with dumb and dumber as “help” arrived on the other end) I was finally rescued after 20 minutes, only to be told that the ONLY way to get up to my floor was to take the same elevator up as the stairs were actually in a different building (huh?).  Omen-number-I’ve-lost-count.

My string of bad luck in this dinky little town just went from bad to worse. Not wanting to stay any longer, I immediately took the children out to pee, and waited for said bedeviled elevator again. We had our crappy FOC bagels, packed our things and left as quickly as we could.

Home was a relief sight for everyone, even the pooches. Dusty, through it all, seems unfazed. He has been begging for food (since we are not permitted o feed him), playing soccer/ball but a little run-down. We didn’t bring him immediately to a vet – our choice, as his condition stabilized. The follow-up test with his regular vet will be scheduled tomorrow for everyone’s peace of mind.

I hope this weekend is not a sign of things to come in the following days/weeks. Or maybe it’s just getting all my year’s bad luck in in one night so that I can enjoy and partake in blessed days ahead.

Posted in dog, Family, Music, Travelling
Tags: bleeding, Borgata Hotel & Casinos, 羅志祥, Dog, 舞法舞天之一萬零一夜, onions, pet-friendly, RamadaSucks, Redbank Animal Hospital, Show Luo

Was it just another hurricane? Or a wake up call?

Irene, unlike the hurricanes of yesteryear’s, brought much fury up the eastern coastline of US. Move west and it causes massive destruction and life lost. Shift to the right, and people and property are saved.  Or is this a leveling or some kind?

It mimics the current economic and political turmoil of this country, and the world. Everyone is in an economic downturn, a recession. If that is so, we are all equal then, aren’t we? Or is someone gaining?

The politicians of the world are stirring the pot. Japan changes PMs faster than a person changes clothes. US has a four-year-termed President, but even then, by the second-and-a-half -year, the foundation is shaken. And then you have Malaysia. The king is a puppet, ran by people who are not voted in by the majority, but profess to run on democracy. Their “ruling” runs for eternity. Is anyone or anywhere safe(r)?

A few days before Irene, we were busy hoarding water into tumblers, containers and pails. Lucky for us, we Chinese tend to have a stockpile of these vessels lying around. At times of emergencies like these, water becomes our greatest asset. What’s the world’s greatest asset?  Gold. Gold is the world’s trading commodity.

Just like that, we hoard and stockpile these items, which is turn causes the “unnatural” increase of value to them.

Of course, we then squirrel away as much food as possible. Who knows how long we will be imprisoned in our own homes. Our home is always filled to the brim with food. I have a pantry of canned foods, biscuits, pasta and junk food, two freezers filled with vegetables, fruits, dumplings, fish and chicken, and a pull-out pantry packed with instant noodles, rice, flour. Those who go hungry in my home is a lazy bum.

In the economic world, silver and platinum is their food of choice.

The next thing on the emergency list is light: matches, candles, torch-lights and batteries to power it. The world’s emergency cling-on is steel.

In times of destruction, we find friends, family and turn to God. On the other hand, the world clutches on to barrels of oil and bags of coffee. We pay for the latter, but not for the earlier.

Water, food and loved ones keeps us going and warms us to the core. Try sleeping with gold, silver, platinum, steel, oil and coffee.

I’m not trying to be a hypocrite. I know I need some sort of commodity in exchange for some nourishment and protection. But let’s not clamor for metals. Let’s find our warmth in each other. Let’s go back to the basics and be thankful for what we have.

Posted in Family, Weather
Tags: Commodity, Family, Food, God, Gold, Irene, Oil, Steel, Water

That boy sure knows how to up the ante!

He ate my Easter Chocolate Egg from church.

Hubs and I were busy trying to set up our Pax closet (from Ikea – the poor man’s California Closet – which isn’t really that cheap either). On my last trip downstairs to clear the boxes, I realized the black dog was missing. That usually doesn’t sum up to anything good.

I turned on all the lights, and caught the boy, underneath the sofa, with my bag and the chocolate wrapper from my chocolate egg all torn up.

In a panic, I called my sister up to check exactly how much chocolate that greedy little canine took.

In case you don’t know, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Roughly about a pound of milk chocolate is detrimental to a 20 lb dog. Lucky for us, we discovered it immediately. We knew we had to induce vomiting. Just to be on the safe side, I called the vet (which was no longer open at 7:45 pm, who in turn referred us to the Animal Poison Control Center, who tried to charge me for nonexistence advice. Unfortunately, since I couldn’t ascertain the amount of chocolate the boy took, I hung up on them).

After discovering, a few days back, that Dusty has car sickness, we took him out for a drive – but not before making him drink a ton of water.

Hubs made the ride so bad, that even I had car sick. By the time Dusty threw up, I wanted to gag too – from the ride and from the atrocious stench of the bile.

We finally got home, in the pouring rain, feeling good that he regurgitated the chocolate. Not too seconds home, and he was down the front porch having explosive diarrhea.

That should, hopefully, be everything.

We finally had dinner at 10:30 pm. Even he took five.

Posted in dog, Family
Tags: Chocolate, Dog, Easter

I never know what to expect coming home everyday. Will I come home to utter destruction, one wagging tail, and the other sitting at the corner feeling remorse? Or will I return home as I left in the morning, with two wagging tails, plenty of licks and jumps?

My lack of time to write is all thanks to our newest addition, our raven-haired black beauty, Dusty Uzumaki Chong.

The bodily excrement in the pee pen has become a norm. So I’m not even touching that – at least not without protection and an arsenal of cleaning aids.

Once, we came home to three packages of Japanese ramen noodles ravished. To top it off, Dusty hid an unfinished bag of noodles under the sofa – for consumption at a later date. Other than his breath smelling like msg, scattered lids and boxes, and crumbs of dried noodles, there were no after effects of his deed.

Jess, sitting regally atop her bed, wasn’t even tempted by the aroma of the dried noodles.

After that incident, he was good. Temporarily.

Then, he started on a lip balm fetish – in particular, Burt’s Bees – hidden underneath a covering, inside a bowl filled with stones. That bowl has since moved to higher ground. He later burrowed into my new bag to get to my chapstick and ice tea mints. The rest of the content in the bag was discarded like yesterday poop.

A nice swat on the behind and a little chastising did him little good.

Hubs told Jess to keep the boy in line. She blinked.

Once, after returning home from our toilet walk, which he did absolutely nothing but try to attack all moving objects, he promptly went down to his poop pen to release a huge turd. Too lazy to clean up immediately, we let it sit for a bit. I went upstairs, and hubs decided to clean up the mess. The next thing I heard was, “Did you clean up his poop?”

“No… Why?”

“…”

“He ate it…?  !!” we said in unison and in shock.

One would think we are not feeding him. Skinny as a rail, constantly famish, but pooping giant-size tnts and then scarfing it down.

Who’s turn was it to watch him?

Jess.

Then, he took to eating, what looked like, 2-3 cups of uncooked rice. That scarred us. Not him. He had explosive diarrhea soon after: consisting of rice and brownish fluid that later turned yellow. The clean up was a mess, to say the least. It was rank and runny, without form. It was, cruelly, quite hilarious hearing him purge. The most obnoxious farting sound can be heard, miles away, when he erupted. This went on for two days. If we were lucky, we made it outside. Otherwise, it was on the front porch, under the sofa, in the kitchen, where ever he found convenient. And yet, through the ordeal, he was still playing ball by himself, running after his ball, and being the crazy dog that he is. Fever and purging are not deterrents.

We thought THAT was the lesson he needed.

Too quick to jump the gun.

Hubs told Jess to bite him if he’s out of line the next time. She was half awake.

He started taking on the toys.

He maimed the newly bought lamb for Jess. Four legs became naught. And it almost lost an ear too. The little dog toy lost its button nose. The orange dinosaur lost fingers and stuffing. Eeyore lost the ribbon to his pinned tailed. Pooh almost lost his ear. Tigger almost lost his tail. The blue donut frisbee-like toy lost its stuffings.

Jess was a little upset with her legless lamb and torn up toys. But she was otherwise nonchalant.

I mended them all, for Jessie’s sake. But he started on them again. Hubs decided to put aside Jess’ favorite toys, which were a majority of the torn up but mended toys.
Bad idea. It took away Jess’ “gift” to us. Worse, it gave Dusty idle “hands.”

He bore a whole in the couch. And pulled out stuffings.

We stuffed his kong ball with treats. And returned his blue bouncing ball, which he was bouncing at all hours.

That kept him entertained for 5 seconds. So he tore up the box that hubs left behind.

When he finally “settled down,” I returned the toys back to its original safe keeping inside the basket on the floor.

That day, we returned home with all the toys pulled out from the basket, strewn all over the house. You would think I had children in the house.

(But then again, I do.)

Better that, than destruction. At least that’s what we thought.

Yesterday, we returned home to all the toys congregating at the front door AND the entire bag of recycled papers pulled out and torn up. He left a trail of paper littering the kitchen into the dining room.

I should ask for a refund on my paper shredder. He will be a nice replacement.

Hubs didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. He chose the latter.

After a deafening scolding, Dusty was relegated to a corner in the house – for him to think about his faux pas. Not 2 seconds of mulling passed before he “freed” himself to come to me for some consoling. For all his toughness, he is a puppy at heart, looking for constant attention and love. Hubs doubled his time-out – to another 2 more seconds. No one can resist those brown, trusting eyes.

The reason (my logical mind thinking) that he doesn’t remember these lessons, is because we too forget about it. Just as quickly as it happens, it is quickly cleaned up, as if nothing happened.

And yet, hubs reminds Jess to, “Bite his ankles next time.”

She yawns.

As Dusty runs off to find another piano to climb on, corner to explore, object to tear up. This is why he is the size of a lidi.

Posted in dog, Family
Tags: burt's bees, cocker spaniel, destruction, Dog, Feces, Pet, ramen noodles, toys, Winnie-the-Pooh

For 1 billion Chinese people in the world, February 3, 2011 is the beginning of one of the most celebrated and auspicious holidays in its culture. For the following 15 days, the Chinese celebrates and ushers in the New Year with not only a big bang, but plenty of eating, visiting and gambling. This year, the Year of the Rabbit, is said to offer much respite from the tumultuous  passing of the Year of the Tiger. It is said to be a calm-er and slower year ahead, one for those who strive and slogged through the Tiger Year. It is a year of recovery and comfort.

Little known useless fact: the Year of the Rabbit is also known to some as the Year of the Cat (by the Vietnamese). I once watched an anime called Fruits Basket that had 13 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. That 13th animal is an ostracized cat, but a cat nonetheless.

Aside from the usual tradition before and during the celebration of the New Year, there is the much sought after food during the festivities.

Unfortunately, there will be none of the celebrating for us, or visiting. We are by all accounts, still in mourning after my grandfather’s recent passing. One hundred days have not yet passed.

We, however, can still eat and enjoy each other’s company.

We also swept and cleaned the house, and even managed to change the bed sheets over to the silk comforter that my father bought from China years back. Hubs thought the golden silk duvet cover of dragon and phoenix embroidery was just too Chinese. He told me to sleep by myself. All the better, because I think this “Queen-sized” comforter was meant for little people and not the “American” size.

Unlike last year, the eve of this New Year falls on a week day. What’s more, I was not allowed to take the New Year off (I called that racism and everything else under the snowy and icy sky of New Jersey). So no big dinner on the eve of New Year, but hubs, DC and I will be going out for dinner tomorrow. We would have done a cookout for friends and family over the weekend, but circumstances dictates otherwise.

In any case, we will STILL be stuffing our faces and awaiting my younger sister’s arrival on Superbowl Sunday (the third day of Chinese New Year) to have steamboat at home.

初一 First Day

Went to work – to earn my keep. Came back to really happy children.

After waiting for some time to get a table at Petite Soo Chow in Cliffside Park, NJ, we were finally seated. We ordered fish 鱼 steamed with tofu and chilli in clay pot, (鱼 yu sounds like “extras” – extra food, extra money, extra love, just plain extra), pan-fried noodles, vege wrapped in bean curd skin and scallion pancake. Great dinner that left us waddling to the car and DC made sure the final bill came up to $X8.88.

Damn Chinese!

Off to more eating tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday!

Posted in Family, Festivals
Tags: chinese new year, Chinese Zodiac, Petite Soo Chow, Year of the Rabbit

New anime

Beelzebub

Beelzebub (べるぜバブ Beruzebabu) is a manga written and illustrated by Ryūhei Tamura. It was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump’s 2008 volume 37-38, then serialized in 2009 and is ongoing. An OVA was announced in July 2010, while the anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot aired from January 9, 2011 (Sunday) with a scheduled 12 episodes.

The opening and ending theme are:
1. “DaDaDa” (だだだ) by Group Tamashii
2. “Answer” by no3b

The story is an action-packed, supernatural, comedic series starring protagonist Tatsumi Oga, the “strongest juvenile delinquent” in a school filled with delinquent.

During a trouncing of thugs by Oga at the riverbank, he finds a man (a transporter between worlds) floating down a river and pulls him to shore. The man promptly splits in half and a baby boy emerges. The baby is the son of the Great Demon King who the transporter, Alain Delon, has chosen based on his prowess as an “evil” human. Later, Baby Beel chooses Tatsumi as his guardian and care giver when the heir to hell’s maid, Hildegarde, comes to retrieve him. It then becomes Tatsumi’s quest to find a replacement caregiver for baby Beel. But first, he has to find someone from school more evil and stronger than him.

Watched the premier episode in Japan with no clue what it was, but found it extremely interesting and adorable. Didn’t realize that these new series are aired at the weirdest hours, most likely for insomniacs. Definitely will continue with the series.

FULL STORY | beelzebub

Dragon Crisis!

Dragon Crisis! (ドラゴンクライシス!) is light novel written by Kizaki Kaya and illustrated by Akata Itsuki since 2007 and is ongoing. It is adapted into anime by Studio DEEN and airs from January 11, 2011 (Tuesday at 1:30 am) with a scheduled 12 episodes.

The opening and ending themes are:
1.  Immoralist (インモラリスト) by Yui Horie
2. Mirai Bowl (ミライボウル) by Momoiro Clover.

Fifteen-year-old Kisaragi Ryuuji is unwittingly enlisted by his cousin Eriko to seize a relic from a black broker FANG. While making their escape, the case for the treasure opens and a girl emerges, only to call Ryuuji by name and burn up the pursuers. Upon returning home, the cousins realize that the girl is a red dragon, characterized by the red dragon scales on her left hand. She is thereafter named Rose. To protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuuji fights against them using his power as a relic handler. Unlike most of his family, including his parents, they are “Lost Precious” hunters.

Kind of a slow start, reminds me of Toaru Majutsu no Index. Rose is kind of irritating, much like the Index character in Toaru Majutsu. She keeps calling “Ryuuji!” the same way Index calls out “Touma!” – a very whiny little girl.

Gosick

Gosick (GOSICK -ゴシック- Goshikku) is a horror light novel series written by Sakuraba Kazuki that ran from 2003 to 2007. In Spring of 2006, a drama CD based on the first volume of GosickS was released. The series was later adapted to manga and serialized since the end of 2007. The anime adaptation produced by BONES soon followed and premiered on January 7, 2011 (Sunday at 1:23 am). Crunchyroll is also simulcasting the series.

The opening and ending themes are:
1. Destin Histoire by yoshiki☆lisa
2.  Resuscitated Hope by Komine Lisa

In a 1924 European country of Sauville, a Japanese exchange student, Kujo Kazuya, meets a mysterious but brilliant and beautiful girl who plays truant at school. She spends the day in the library, never leaving except to sleep and to solves mysteries. The school, St. Marguerite Academy, is shrouded with urban legends and horror stories.

Victorique de Blois’ brother, an aristocrat and a policeman, relies on her smarts to solve mysteries. Meanwhile, Kazuya is the youngest son of a military man, struggling to live his own life away from the shadows of his very successfully older brothers. Together, they solve new cases and form bonds and friendship with different characters.

Point to note, she smokes a pipe when thinking and solving cases – ala Sherlock Holmes.

(IS) Infinite Stratos

IS (Infinite Stratos) (IS〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉 IS (Infinitto Sutoratosu)) began in 2009 as a sci-fi light novel series by Yumizuru Izuru and illustrated by Okiura and is ongoing. A year later, it was adapted to manga by Akahoshi Kenji. Not surprisingly, a year after the manga was serialized, the anime adaptation began airing on Jan. 7, 2011 (Friday at 1:25 am). It is also simulcasting on Anime Network.

Soundtrack of the anime is composed by Nanase Hikaru. The opening and ending themes are:

1. “Straight Jet” by Kuribayashi Minami (released Jan. 26, 2011)
2. “Super∞Stream” by Hikasa Youko (2nd and 3rd episode ending by Youko and Yukana) (released Feb. 16, 2011)

Not too far in the future, Japanese scientists have engineered and created an exoskeleton called Infinite Stratos (IS). To avoid war, IS can never be used for military combat, and only women can operate it, thus creating a society dominated by women. Ten years after its creation, the world enters a new age of peace. It is momentarily shattered when they discover that 15-year-old Orimura Ichika, brother to legendary IS pilot (Orimura Chifuyu), is capable of operating an IS.

Ichika is then forced by the government to enroll in an elite academy that specializes in training IS pilots from all over the world. Things prove challenging to this shy adolescent who is suddenly surrounded by girls.

Unfortunately, I fell asleep watching the first episode – I blame it on my time traveling and unable to adjust my sleeping schedule. It was relatively interesting, but on a tried and true premise of amassing a harem and everyone liking the protagonist in the end.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (Korezom)

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (これはゾンビですか? Kore wa Zonbi Desu ka?, lit. Is this a Zombie?) is a light novel written by Shinichi Kimura, and  illustrated by Kobuichi and Muririn since 2009 and is ongoing. Like many longer-named series, this series has been abbreviated to  Korezom (これゾン ). In the same year. a drama CD was released by Marine Entertainment. A year later, this magical, action-packed  story was adapted to manga (by Sacchi) and has three different manga adaptations to it. On January 11, 2011 (Tuesday @ 1:30 am), Studio Deen’s adaptation of the series was aired with a scheduled 12 episodes followed by an OVA as the 13th episode. Crunchyroll is simulcasting the anime.

The opening and ending themes are:
1. “Leave-It-To-Me. Tonight” (魔・カ・セ・テ Tonight Ma-Ka-Se-Te Tonight) by Iori Nomizu
2.  “Realize, Mr. Zombie, I am your Classmate” (気づいてゾンビさま、私はクラスメイトです Kizuete Zonbi-sama, Watashi wa Kurasumeito Desu) by Rie Yamaguchi

Protagonist Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy going about his own business until he is killed by a serial killer and resurrected by a necromancer Eucliwood Hellscythe. Procceding to act as Eu’s servant, he unwittingly absorbs Haruna of her magic powers and is now not only a zombie but a forced magician in place of Haruna, while searching for his killer who is continuously terrorizing the neighborhood).

Quite a hilarious comedy, especially when he is forced to cross-dress ala Haruna. Seeing girl’s panties in Japanese animation is pretty common, but when they zoom up into the guy’s backside, with his stripped panties in full view, it totally evens the playing field!  Definitely a watch! Eu (Yuu) is as quiet as Haruna is rambunctious. However, both just want to be fed. Wait till all the girls emerge. Trouble will truly come a knocking!

FULL STORY | korezom

Level E

Level E (レベルE Reberu Ī) is a sci-fi/comedic manga created by Togashi Yoshihiro and was serialized from 1995-1997. It is adapted to anime by Studio Pierrot and David Production and aired January 11, 2011 (Tuesday at 1:45 am). Crunchyroll is also simulcasting the series.

The opening and ending themes are:
1. “Cold Finger Girl” (コールドフィンガーガール) by Kuriyama Chiaki
2. “(Yume) ~Mugennokanata~” (「夢」～ムゲンノカナタ～) by Vivid.

A high school student, Yukitaka Tsutsui, who is a gifted baseball player finds himself with strange company after moving into his new apartment away from his parents. Yukitaka is unwilling to believe this stranger’s claim of being an alien, a Prince nonetheless from another planet. It seems that earth is populated with an array of aliens, who know of each other’s existence and try to coexist peaceful. The humans, however, do not know of their existence until the crash of Prince’s craft onto earth. Yukitaka soon becomes the target of Prince’s torment (who had momentarily lost his memories after the crash).

This is what sleeping with the enemy means. It’s a double-edged sword that has humorous consequences: with the aliens trying to keep peace with the other alien races and this one human that has become the Prince’s (Baka ki El Dogra from the planet Dogra) involuntary roommate.

FULL STORY | level e

Continuing

Bakuman
Bakuman is a shonen manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was originally published August. 8, 2008 and is ongoing. The anime adaptation is produced by J.C. Staff with a run date of October 2, 2010 until Spring 2011. It has a scheduled 25 episodes for the anime series.

The opening and ending themes are:
1. “Blue Bird” by Kobukuro
2. “Bakurock ～Mirai no Rinkakusen～” (Bakurock ～未来の輪郭線～, Bakurock: Outline the Future) by Yakyim

The series follows a talented artist Moritaka Mashiro and an aspiring writer Akito Takagi, two ninth graders, who wish to enter the world of manga. After Mashiro accidentally leaves his notebook in class, with drawings depicting his crush on classmate Azuki Miho, Takagi tries to convince Mashiro to illustrate for his writings. Join him, or he will hold on to the notebook, or worse…

Reluctant and disillusioned by the fate of his uncle as a mangaka, Mashiro is sucked into the Takagi’s dream after his crush Miho reveals she too wants to be a voice actor for animes. They promise to marry each other only after achieving their dreams. So begins Mashiro long and arduous journey of becoming a famous mangaka. After three unsuccessfully launches or different titles, can Mashiro still stay strong and follow through?

Bleach (Season 14)

Bleach is an ongoing shonen manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo (Noriaki Kubo). The manga began since 2001 and was soon adapted to anime on Oct. 5, 2004. This series has even branched out to movies, CDs/OSTs, trading card game, video games for different consoles, books and even a musical.

The series is about a teenage boy, Kurosaki Ichigo, living in Karakura town, who lost his mother when he was young. In the process he was able to see dead people, and the soul reapers/shinigamis (死神) who come for them. He assumes the duty of shinigami when the official soul reaper sent to guard his town, Kuchiki Rukia, is unable to perform her duties when she is severely injured in a battle with a hollow trying to protect Ichigo. Rukia then transfers some of her reiatsu (霊圧 – spirit energy) to Ichigo to enable him to defeat the hollow, but he unwittingly absorbs all her energy. Because of her lost powers, she is stranded in the human world, unable to return to Soul Society.

After a few months, the Soul Society’s higher-ups receive word of Rukia illegally giving away her powers and sends a detachment to arrest her. She is returned to Soul Society to await her false trial and immediate execution thereafter. Together with his classmates who possess spiritual abilities, Chad, Orihime Inoue, Ishida Uryuu (a Quincy) and ex-shinigami captain Shihouin Yoruichi, they travel to Soul Society to rescue Rukia. Once there, Ichigo and his classmates battle Soul Society’s elite, from vice-captains to captains and successfully rescues Rukia.

Rukia’s execution was conjured up by Captain Sousuke Aizen (3), who faked his death, to usurp powers in Soul Society. He betrays his fellow shinigamis to ally himself with the strongest of hollows, the arrancar. Ichigo then joins forces with Soul Society’s ranking shinigamis when they realize that Aizen’s next target of destruction is his hometown. Orihime Inoue is kidnapped by Aizen’s subordinate and Ichigo and a few friends are forced to enter Hueco Mundo, the hollow’s world, to rescue Inoue. Now that the forces are split, there are less shinigamis defending Soul Society, Karakura town and rescuing Inoue.

Season 15 of Bleach (of the same manga written and illustrated by Tite Kubo) will begin airing on April 13, 2010 to present. It continues with the Shinigamis facing off the Arrancar in Karakura Town. Meanwhile Ichigo and his friends fend off the Arrancar to try to rescue Inoue yet again. Aizen shows he is not only a true villain, but a exceptionally powerfully one too.

The season’s opening and ending theme are:

1. miwa’s “chAngE” (ep. 266-291)
2. SID’s “Melody of the Wild Dance” (乱舞のメロディ, Rambu no Merodi) (ep. 292-present)
3. DIGGY-MO’s “Stay Beautiful” (ep. 266-278)
4. Universe’s “Echoes” (ep. 279-291)
5. SPYAIR’s “Last Moment” (ep. 292 -present)

Will Ichigo become stronger to save his friend(s), Soul Society and Karakura Town? That’s a lot of burden for such narrow shoulders. Also, Inoue has a serious job as the resident damsel in distress. Not only that, but she’s the ultimate dumb blond (with red hair), and irritating as hell. Stop being such a timid wuss. You give girls with big boobs a bad name!! Like Inuyasha, I’m forced to watch this, just because I’ve “gone through so much” with it. It started out really good. Unfortunately, it has also gotten bad very quickly. “Kono reiatsu…”

FULL STORY | bleach season 14

Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is a manga created by Hiro Mashima serialized since Aug. 23. 2006 and is ongoing. Season 1 of the anime began airing on Oct. 12, 2009 and will end on September 27, 2010 with a total of 48 episodes. Even though it was initially meant for only one season, due to the popularity of the series, a second season was announced and will begin airing on October 2010. This series is also being developed as a game for PS by Konami.

Opening Themes:
1. “Snow fairy” by FUNKIST
2. “S.O.W. Sense of Wonder (S.O.W.センスオブワンダー)” by Idoling!!! DOWNLOAD
3. “Ft.” by Funkist (ep. 25-35)
4. “R.P.G. ~Rockin’ Playing Game” by SuG (ep. 36-42)
5. “Egao No Mahou – Airi” by Magic Party (ep. 49-60) DOWNLOAD
6. “Fiesta” by +Plus (61-present)

It begins with Lucy Heartfilia meeting Natsu Dragnell and his best friend, Happy a flying cat, who is searching for a dragon, Igneel. Turns out, Igneel is Natsu’s foster father, the one who raised him and taught him the skills of a dragon slayer. Shortly after their meeting, Lucy is abducted by a person posing as Salamander of Fairy Tail, only to be sold as a slave. Natsu rescues her and reveals that he is the real Salamander. He then brings Lucy into the land of Fiore, and she is accepted as a Fairy Tale Guild member. Soon after, the three become teammates, together with two more Guild members, Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet. Of the lot, Lucy brings forth a saner and calmer side to the rest of the team, albeit being exceptionally klutzy.

They battle the Phantom Guild, Gérard at the Tower of Heaven and now the ever evil Oración Seis.

This is a cute magician story about impatience while striving to better oneself and never giving up on one’s friends. As Happy says, “Aiii!”

FULL STORY | fairy tail

Hyakka Ryōran Samurai Girls

Hyakka Ryōran Samurai Girls (百花繚乱 SAMURAI GIRLS) is a light novel series written by Akira Suzuki. It is adapted to anime by ARMS with designs illustrated by y Niθ. An advanced broadcast of the first episode aired on September 4, 2010. The anime series officially begins airing on October 3, 2010 with a scheduled 12 episodes. The OVA:Hyakka Ryōran Samurai Girls: A Maiden’s Happy Yet Embarrassing Pledge is released on November 2010 with 6 episodes (ending April 2011).

The opening and ending themes are:

1. “Last vision for last” by Faylan
2. “Koi ni Sesse Tooryanse (恋にせっせ通りゃんせ)” by Aoi Yuki, Minako Kotobuki and Rie Kugimiya

In an alternate reality, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power into the 21st century, thus isolating Japan from the rest of the world. It is loosely based on the Sengoku period of Japan, a time of war and chaos fought by warring leaders. Student councils in schools are tasked with oppressing its student.

Enter Yagyuu Muneakira, a 16-year-old high school student of a giant academy for children of military families at the foot of Mount Fuji. He rebels against the council with the aid of girls who carry the names of famous samurai heroes. The girls of one faction, Yukimura Sanada and Matabei Gotou rebel against the ruling student council Tokugawa Sen (Sen-hime) and Hattori Hazou (to name a few), while Yagyuu Jubei and Mineakira are caught in the middle.

Naruto Shippuden (Season 10): The Five Kage Summit

Naruto began as a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto, which was later adapted to an anime series that started airing in 2002 until present. The anime, much like the manga, is split into two parts: the time split in the manga is simply named Part I & II while the anime is named Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. The second part of the series takes place two and a half years after the first part ends. Since Jan. 2, 2009 Viz Media and Crunchyroll have been subtitling Naruto: Shippuden.

The series is about a young and rash ninja from Konohagakure, the Leaf Village named Uzumaki Naruto. The story unfolds as Naruto searches for recognition and acknowledgment from his peers and elders as he aspires to become the Hokage – leader of the village. As a baby, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (kyuubi) was sealed in him to protect Konohagakure (the Leaf Village). However, the villagers, who were very much afraid of kyuubi, transferred that fear to the infant and eventually the child. Naruto grew up hated and mistreated by Konoha’s residents throughout most of his childhood.

Naruto, together with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura are placed in Team 7 lead by Hatake Kakashi. Even though the team seemed mismatched at first, the soon find that they complement each other. The noisy idiot, with the skilled genius and the quick-tempered thinker quickly become one. However, Sasuke has a one-track mind – he vows to avenge his family and clan by killing his beloved older brother. When the chance is presented upon him, he takes it and leaves the village forever. Naruto vows to bring Sasuke back to Sakura, but to do so, he have to become stronger.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he is not the only one with a goal in mind. The Akatsuki is out to capture him, to drain him off the sealed Demon Fox.

At the start of Naruto Shippuden, Naruto returns home from his training with Jiraiya, having learned the Rasengan developed by the Fourth Hokage. Sakura is well-versed in the arts of medical jutsu thanks to Tsunade. Sasuke may just have surpassed the group in skills, training under Orochimaru. History, it seems, is about to repeat itself. The dreaded Akatsuki is on the move, and Gaara, an old friend, is the first of many targets. Soon Team Kakashi gets a new team member as a replacement for a departed Sasuke. Everyone is suspicious of him because he is recommended by Danzou, the person vying for the Hokage seat. Team Kakashi’s new mission is to seek out Sasuke while getting acquainted with a recluse newbie, Sai. While tracking the death of Asuma‘s old friend, Konoha ninjas go up against two immortal Akatsuki members – Kakuzu and Hidan. Naruto improves on the rasengan and creates a new jutsu under the careful tutelage of Kakashi and watchful eyes of Yamato, called the Rasenshuriken. Shikamura learns the horror of wars and finally lives up to his fullest potential to avenge a beloved mentor. Finally, Sasuke overpowers and absorbs Orochimaru. Unfortunately, Jiraiya sacrifices his life to learn the truth of Pain, the puppet leader of Akatsuki. Sasuke forms team Hebi to avenge his clan, while Naruto is forced to become stronger just to get a brother home and avenge a beloved teacher and god-father.

The tenth season of Naruto Shippuden (Part II of the manga by Masashi Kishimoto) begins airing in February 2011 to present. The Leaf Village learns of Danzou’s treachery of claiming the Hokage seat while the Fifth is still unconscious. Meanwhile he puts out an edict calling for the assassination of Sasuke as he is now considered a missing nin. Gaara of the Sand Village tries to protect Sasuke, on behalf of the absent Naruto, warning them that anyone who touches one hair on Sasuke will have to answer to him. However, events roll down hill thereafter and the Fourth Shinobi War is declared by the ever conniving and power hungry Madara. Sasuke meets the bandaged Danzou and questions his involvement in the elimination of the Uchiha clan: the real Sharingan battles the impostor in a fight to the death. Soon, the prodigal student meets the teacher and his fading eyesight proves to be a hindrance.

The season has a few opening and ending themes.

1. Nico Touches the Wall’s “Diver” (ep. 197-present)
2. Aqua Timez’ “Mayonaka no Orchestra” (真夜中のオーケストラ, “Midnight Orchestra”) (197-present)

This series gets better with each season. The storyline is so well-written and the characters very well-developed. It’s like peeling an onion – layers upon layers of tear-jerkers. Everyone’s rooting for you U-Zu-Ma-Ki Naruto! Ganbatte! Fight-O on!! Underdogs of the world unite. Perseverance, patience, friendship and loyalty are all good themes and moral to learn. You watch as all the characters grow from young tots to responsible and courageous teenagers, learning and flourishing with every new challenge thrown at them. Friends become foes, and enemies become allies. History is never learned but doomed to repeat itself. “Dattebayo!”

FULL STORY | naruto shippuden season 10

Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto
Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto (STAR DRIVER 輝きのタクト Sutā Doraibā Kagayaki no Takuto) is a machinery action anime created and animated by BONES and produced by Aniplex. The characters are designed by Yoshiyuki Ito and Hiroka and Misa Mizuya. The anime first televised on Oct. 3, 2010, with Aniplex of America premiering the first episode at the New York Comic Con/Anime Fest on Oct. 9, 2010. It takes over the time slot of Sengoku Basara 2. It is scheduled for 25 episodes.

Pretty boy Tsunashi Takuto swims from the mainland to the island of Southern Cross Isle for a better life. He later enrolls into Southern Cross High School as a senior and befriends Agemaki Wako, a shrine maiden, and her fiancee Shindou Sugata. Beneath their school in an ancient ruin, lies the mysterious and gigantic humanoid robots (22 of them), Cybodies, which can only be activated by shrine maidens like Wako. A mysterious organization known as “Kiraboshi Juujidan” or Order of the Glittering Star Cross abducts Wako for the purpose of powering the robots, but Takuto goes to her rescue with his own Cybody Tauburn. They are soon caught in the web of secrets, while trying to prevent disasters or worse war!

Tegami Bachi Reverse

Tegami Bachi or Letter Bee is written by Asada Hiroyuki and originally serialized in the now defunct Monthly Shonen Jump since January 2007 until February 2010. This shonen manga, entitled Tegami Bachi: Hikari to Ao no Gensou Yawa (Letter Bee: Light and Blue Night Fantasy) was adapted to anime in the fall of 2008. The television series soon premiered on October 3, 2009 and ran with 25 episodes. A second season of the anime, Tegami Bachi Reverse, began airing October 2, 2010 with a scheduled 15 episodes. A drama CD, aptly named “Drama CD Tegami bachi,” on Jiggy Pepper was released on February 2009.

The opening and ending themes are:

1. Chisana Mahō (小さな魔法 Little Magic) is by Stereopony
2. Wasurenagusa (勿忘草 Forget-Me-Not) is by Piko

The series revolves around Tegami Bachi / Letter Bee, or to be exact, letter carriers, and their fight against armored insects, Gaichuu, to deliver letters in the surrounding land of Amberground. Gaichuu feeds on human hearts and are attracted to the letters that Letter Bees carry because the letters have “heart” in them too. Once a human is attacked and drained off its heart, it becomes a soul-less vessel that doesn’t respond or eat. That human then dies from starvation.

Gauche Suede is a Letter Bee (a postman) at the Bee Hive. He finds a boy of 7, Lag Seeing, marked as a letter to be delivered to the boy’s aunt, Sabrina Mary, in Campbell Litus. Lag’s mother was kidnapped and brought to a place called Akatsuki. Coincidentally this is the same place that Gauche’s sister, Sylvette, will be able to find cure for her paralysis. Gauche aspires to be the Head Bee to enable his sister to walk again one day. To that end, he goes out of his way to get his jobs done as efficiently as possible to hasten his climb up the ladder. He also reasons that because each letter carries with it the “heart” of the sender, the letters have to be protected and hand-delivered to their destination in one piece.

Little Lag, the underwear-less Niche and emergency food supply Steak are all ultra cute. However, the anime can sometimes be a sleep inducer. It did pick up towards the end, though, with the reappearance of the idolized hero, Gauche, who seems to have had an amnesia.

FULL STORY | tegami bachi reverse

Toaru Majutsu no Index II
Toaru Majutsu no Index (とある魔術の禁書目録（インデックス, A Certain Magical Index of Prohibited Books), is a sci-fi cum fantasy light novel written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura first published on April 2004. Three years later, it was serialized into manga that is ongoing. The first 24-episode anime adaptation, produced by J.C. Staff, aired on October 2008, followed by a second 24-episode season airing October 8, 2010. The second season will be streamed on Nico Nico Douga. A side story of the manga series, A Certain Scientific Railgun was serialized in 2007 and later adapted to a 24-episode anime, which aired on October 2009. An ova of Railgun will also be released on October 29, 2010 and a game for PlayStation will be released on January 27, 2011. Funimation is licensed for the series, which will be released in 2011.

The opening and ending themes are:

The series is set in Academy City, a technologically advanced Academic city, which studies scientifically advanced superhuman students with magical powers. Their students are called espers, ranked from a level 0 up till 5. An esper is an individual capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities.

Protagonist Kamijyou Touma is a level 0 esper at Academy City, located west of Tokyo. His right hand, the Imagine Breaker, can negate all magic and psychic powers, as well as his own luck. He finds a young nun named Index from Necessarius, a secret magic branch of the Church of England, hanging from his balcony railing. After saving her, he learns that she has been implanted with the Index Librorum Prohibitorum – 103,000 forbidden magical texts the Church had removed from circulation. His chance meeting with Index leads him into the secret world of science and magic, while uncovering the hidden truths of the Academy City and Index.

Of course, he goes on to amass a harem of not-quite-damsel-in-distresses, starting off with Index a nun, followed by a shrine maiden Himegami Aisa, a level 5 esper Misaka Mikoto and her 10,000 sisters Misaka Misaka, and finally an illusion called Hogyoku. “Fukou da!”

Returning

Baka to Test

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (バカとテストと召 喚獣, lit. Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Beasts) is a light novel written by Inoue Kenji and illustrated by Haga Yui. It was first released on January 29, 2007 and has seen a total of nine written volumes. On October 30, 2009, the series was adapted to manga. The anime adaptation was soon released and began airing on January 7, 2010 with a total of 13 episodes.

The opening and ending themes are:

1. “Perfect-area Complete!” by Natsuko Asou
2. “Baka Go Home” by Milktub and BakaTest All Stars
3. “Hare Tokidoki Egao” by Hitomi Harada, Kaori Mizuhashi, Emiri Katou and Tomomi Isomura.

Protagonist Yoshii Akihisa is Fumizuki Academy’s certified idiot / “Baka” – hence the title of the series. The school and staff are stringent in dividing the students based on their academic performance. Students are sorted into classes ranging from A to F based on their entrance exam scores. Class A has only the élite students, and their classroom reflects their high standards, while Class F doesn’t even have proper desks and chairs, as the students resort to using orange boxes as desks and flattened sitting cushions for seating.

Akihisa, together with the rest of his F-Class classmates are embroiled in Summoned Being Wars for many reasons. For Akihisa, it is to get intelligent girl Himeji Mizuki back into the class where she belongs (Class A) since she failed her entrance exam miserable after falling sick. The others, like class rep Sakamoto Yuuji, just wants to prove to others that there are more to life that just being book smart. Perverted ninja Kouta Tsuchiya, bishounen Hideyoshi Kinoshita and tomboyish Minami Shimada just want privileges that goes along with winning each war.

Aside from this caste system, the students of the academy can also conjure up Summoned Beings (Shoukanjuu). The Beings are used for battles between classes to up each other’s standings. The state and prowess of each Summon Beings is based on the knowledge of the Being’s owner.

This is a silly, but entertaining comedic series. Akihisa is constantly used as a punching bag for everyone, except Himeji who finds him endearing. The love-hate relationship of the F & A Class reps is physically painful, yet emotionally soothing.

Second season is under development and is scheduled to air sometime 2011. Two OVAs will be aired from February to March 2011, under the title “Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Matsuri”

FULL STORY | baka to test

Kimi ni Todoke 2

Kimi ni Todoke: From me to You (君に届け) is a romance manga written by Shiina Karuho and was first published in 2006. In 2008, it won the Best Shojo Manga award. The manga is ongoing, but in March 2009, the authoress took time off for her pregnancy, and resumed as of October 2009. This manga has since been adapted to anime on Oct. 6, 2009 with 25 episodes (which ended on March 30, 2010). The manga has also produced a series of light novels and a video game for Nintendo was released in October 2009. A live-action film adaptation of the series was also released in Japanese theatres on September 25, 2010 starring Mikako Tabe and Haruma Miura (Bloody Monday). The second season of the anime begins airing January 4, 2011.

The opening and ending themes are:

1. “Kimi ni Todoke” by Tanizawa Tomofumi
2. “Kataomoi” is by Chara

The series is about a girl, who is feared and misunderstood because of her appearance but finds an unlikely champion in the school’s most popular and outgoing boy. With this new attention, more people are drawn to her, and as the love grows between both of them, there are others who are jealous and, instead, throw a wrench in their new-found relationship.

The main protagonist, Kuronuma Sawako, who is called by her classmates as Sadako (from the Ring) is a painfully shy but honest person. In comes super popular and good-looking school idol, Kazehaya Shouta, who is not only well-liked, but is kind to Sawako. He takes her under his wing, teaching her to speak up for herself. With this new-found confidence, she earns two new friends: Yano Ayane and Yoshida Chizuru. After the seating arrangement in class is changed, where Kazehaya, Yano, Yoshida and a new boy Sanada Ryuu surround her, things begin to look up for her.

Another beguiling series, on the same line as Hatsukoi Limited and KimiKiss – Pure Rouge. Both characters are shy, but one’s been living under a rock for ages and suddenly sees the light of day. Finally caught the movie on the plane ride to Japan. Mikako Tabe is the epitome of Sawako.

FULL STORY | kimi ni todoke 2

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Posted in anime, Idiot Box
Tags: Baka to test, Beelzebub, bleach, Dragon Crisis!, Fairy Tail, Gosick, Infinite Stratos, Kimi ni Todoke, Korezom, Level E, Naruto Shippuden, Tegami Bachi Reverse, Toaru Majutsu no Index II