SS #6: The Katakana Rush

I am now at the verge of rushing my Katakana assignments. Sighs. Maybe I didn't find it interesting enough to do it or I'm just busy at work. Anyhoo, I'll just finish 'em all till Lesson 6. Sighs sighs sighs.

Day 3: Numbers and New Writing

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! All screams for today since I forgot to do my Hiragana assignment! Oh hell, oh hell. I even left our house later than usual which resulted to my arrival at UP five minutes before class time! 

What I did was stay at the Sunken Garden and rushed my assignment. I even attempted to do it while on the jeepney to UP but to no avail since it's moving thus my strokes are affected. I rushed to our classroom at exactly 8 AM only to find out that there are only around five people there. So they're late. Also, sensei's late. I forgot that my watch is five minutes advance so I'm still on time. The panic! The stress! LOL. I just reviewed the mastery of the Hiragana characters for our quiz. 

The three hours passed with no quiz. LOL. Well, at least I managed to memorize everything as an expected output. What we tackled today were: 

1. Numbers - how to count from 1 to 999 

2. Time - how to tell time 

3. Katakana - we tried writing our names since Katakana is commonly used for foreign words 

My name in Japanese is pronounced as PORIN (sounds like poring in Ragnarok) and is written as ポーリン. Dofitas-sensei told us that he prefers Hiragana over Katakana since it's a lot easier to use. But he likes Kanji better since it's more convenient; as for Katakana, inconvenient he said. Ha-ha! Well, let's see what will my preferred writing system will be!

SS #5: Achievement Unlocked! The Dictionary Is Here!

I have my own Japanese dictionary! Yatta yatta!

I was able to get one in National Bookstore SM Masinag, the nearest mall in our house and the last mall I will go to since it's not so mainstream. I phoned different bookstores earlier today along with those near my office but only SM Masinag has the dictionary. I asked them to reserve it for me and they agreed. It was looking old maybe because it was not the first choice of the customers in the mall. 

Regardless, I bought it because it's a diamond for me! Ha-ha! Now I'm really really happy!

SS #4: A Dictionary Alternative

We already had our second meeting yet I wasn't able to bring my own dictionary. Errrmm, yeah, I have one but it's an electronic dictionary. Dofitas-sensei recommended Oxford Japanese Mini Dictionary since it has some useful daily terms and basic phrases to help in learning. I'm still on the run looking for that one! I went to three bookstores in SM Megamall to no avail. Where can I find that?

For now, I use imiwa?, a Japanese e-dictionary available in iOS. It is a good app which provides not only the definition of words but also gives it's correct pronunciation. I used this in our recent class and indeed a dictionary is really handy when you start learning the language!

SS #3: Achievement Unlocked! Hiragana Mastery!

I am very proud of myself! I memorized the whole Hiragana chart in one day! I'm so happy! I am now pretty confident for our exam this Saturday. I am currently looking for some practice items in the net for reading and writing in Hiragana to test myself. すごいすごう！！

How do I practice?

1. Go line by line. You don't need to know them all at once. You have to go slowly but surely.

2. Let's say you decided to go with A-line. Write each character in that line 10-20 times while saying the syllable out loud. Example, for the character A you write A while saying "A". Repeat for all the other characters in the line.

3. Once you're confident with your familiarity on that line, write all the characters in the line at least ten times. If you made it through without pausing more than 3 seconds then you're good to move to the next line. Repeat this step for every line.

4. If you are already familiar with at least two lines, you can now move to the mastery step. The mastery step is where you write the characters starting from the first character you ever written to the most recent character you wrote. Example, you are already familiar with the A-line and the K-line. Write those two lines starting from A to Ko. Do this everytime you learn a new line.

That's how I study! I know it's kind of hard since it's my and your first time in studying Hiragana. But I assure you, just keep going and don't give up! It's alright to make mistakes, it helps us think and learn more. By following those tips, you'll be surprised as I am that you completed the chart already!

Quick tip! You can also visit the sites I mentioned in my first side story to enhance your writing skills. がんばります！

Day 2: Those Japanese Sentences

SCREAMS AND MORE SCREAMS! Due to my hectic work schedule, I didn't finish my writing assignment. I rushed my N-Line before leaving home. I hope it turns out okay!

I came fifteen minutes before time today since last week I came to early. Lucky for me, there was no traffic and rain. I was surprised when I came to our classroom since there are only three of us even if it's almost time. Anyways, I just did some reviews on writing Hiragana before Dofitas-sensei came. Upon his arrival, he greeted us with a jolly Ohayou gozaimasu and we replied with the same enthusiasm.

Our topics for today include:

1. Remaining Hiragana Characters with diacritical marks and long vowels

2. Basic Declarative and Interrogative sentence structure

3. Vocabulary

Next week, we will have our very first writing exam! I can feel it's a real class now! It will be about our familiarity in Hiragana so it's definitely work for me. I am hoping and praying I can master it in a week! With the help of the internet and my strong will, I know I can! Ha-ha!

SS #2: Achievement Unlocked! Two Down for Hiragana

Before programming at work today, I managed to memorize the S-Line in Hiragana! *evil laugh* Hopefully I can do so with the remaining two lines within the week!

SS #1: Learning through the Internet

I managed to memorize the Hiragana characters for a, i, u, e, o and ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. I used the website written in our practice sheets, Japanese-Lesson.com, to review myself. I am happy to have a 100% score in all drills. Woooohh!

For those who want to learn Japanese on their own, Google is your bestfriend! Here are some links which you can use in learning and helped me too:

1. Japanese-Lesson.com - it contains drills, charts and practice items for the Japanese writing system. It also gives you some basic Japanese phrases and vocabulary that you can use to survive in Japan! LOL.

2. Deviant Art - If you are into mastering Hiragana first, you can check out the series of Hiragana Writing Tutorial by emm2341 in Deviant Art. I used this before when I am at work so it's pretty handy and it contains examples of words per line so you can practice!

Plus, never give up and you'll learn it in no time! がんばります！

AOTW #1: Natsuyuki Rendezvous

What would you feel if the woman you loved the most finds someone who sweeps her off her feet?

Shimao Atsushi died in sickness leaving his wife, Rokka, with the flower business they started. One of his wife's workers, Hazuki Ryosuke, fell in love with Rokka at first sight. He eventually confesses his feelings for Rokka leaving her dumbfounded. Atsushi appears to Ryosuke as a ghost everytime he works at the shop, telling he's no good for Rokka. Being the only one who can see Atsushi, Ryosuke pushes him away and continues to win Rokka over. 

Natsuyuki Rendezvous revolves around a ghost of a guilty husband, a lover who would do anything for his woman and a lady drowned in doubts and longing. 

I learned about Natsuyuki Rendezvous from a request in KNK Radio for Yuya's song which was the ending theme for the anime. Curious about what the story is about, I finished reading the first eleven chapters of the manga. Don't worry though, the manga is still ongoing. However, I am currently downloading the anime since it may be more advanced than the manga.

Of course, there is always this one guy who I like in an anime. For NR, It will be Hazuki. :D LOL. Bad boys continue to rock me forever. LOL.

If you are into a different twist on love stories, this definitely needs to go on your list! :)

Day 1: Greetings and Characters

I was up early for today since it's my first day of class. My parents and sister were very supportive of me and even wished me luck before I left. My father accompanied me to the terminal, as well as our dog. I accidentally rode a different jeepney (I was supposed to ride a Cubao-bound jeepney but instead I rode a LRT-Santolan one) but I managed to get on one with the correct route. Upon arriving at Katipunan, I rode another jeepney, UP Loob Campus and alighted at Palma Hall, to where the class will be held. 

My room assignment is Rm. 428 which is located at the fourth floor and at the very end of the east side of the building. Fifteen minutes before time, we entered the room which amazed me because it is airconditioned. I am seatmates with my classmate, Annie, an accountant who works somewhere in Makati and her friend. It was not long when our sensei came. His name is Mr. Cristopher Dofitas. He is cool since he said he has the same reason why he chose to study Nihongo: to watch anime without subtitles. I learned that he is jolly and quite an anime otaku.

He gave us our modules and discussed today's topics. What I learned on my first day were: 

1. 1. Basic Greetings in Japanese (which I'm quite familiar with) 
2. 2. The first five lines of Hiragana writing system (a, k-line, s-line, t-line and n-line) 

We also have an assignment on writing and he even gave us practice sheets to which we will submit next meeting. Little did I know that it was already 11:00 AM. Time really flies when you're having fun eh? Gambatte Pau-chan for the assignments and the meetings to come!

THE すごい PROJECT: The Making

I was browsing the net one awful afternoon and I came across my e-mails. The messages I sent to the Nihongo learning centers throughout Philippines appeared in front of me; one of them was from UP Department of Linguistics. I opened it and I found myself in their blog and there it is: the announcement of the January to March Cycle of Asian Languages Extramural Classes. 

Photo from UP Linguistics website

At first I am very much eager to go since I know I can do it. It will only be held on Saturdays, I said to myself. But when I read the instructions on how to enroll, it requires the student or some representative to go to UP to pay for the tuition. The cashier's office is only open during weekdays so it's a little bit impossible for me to go. But with motivation and my passionate interest to the language, I went to UP and paid for it. 

For more information regarding UP Diliman's Extramural Classes, you can check out their website here.

Soshified PH Into The New World Screening

It's been a while since Ray and I became Sones. Sones are the fans of So Nyeo Shi Dae (SNSD) aka Girls' Generation. I don't know what happened we just happened to like the Girls so much when we saw them in the videos. My bias is Choi Soo Young; while Ray's is Seohyun.

Last December 30, Soshified PH posted in their Facebook page that there will be a screening of Into The New World: The First Asian Concert of SNSD to be held at the Korean Cultural Center today. The post said that there are limited seats for the event so they'll be posting a registration page and it will be in first-come-first-served basis. Once the link was posted, Ray and I signed up for it immediately.

Earlier today, we went to the screening in Taguig. The screening didn't start at exactly 1:00 PM since the music video of The Boys was still played and they conducted games. Our shop, A! Shop, was also promoted in the event by giving out bookmarks and photo prints of SNSD.

As soon as the screening started, the fans went wild. They're fanchanting and screaming as they see their bias' face. That's normal but when I realized that they were really into fan service, I felt kind of awkward. Maybe because it was my first time to attend a fans club event. We headed out early since we still have other plans to do.

Despite our early departure, the screening was fun. It brought out the Sone in everyone inside that room. I can feel their love for the girls and that made me one proud Sone.

The Mann Hann Experience

Now I'm back to work. After a week of vacation, I gained weight. *sighs* I am off once again to the weight loss regimen. Despite that, the A! Shop co-owners (me, Ray, Sienna and Maye) along with Jasper, decided to take a lunch out at Mann Hann in SM Megamall, Bldg. A.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were asked on how many are we. When the guard found out that we were more than four, we were transferred to Mannang, which I believe is a substore of Mann Hann. It was proven when we looked at the menu; there was Mann Hann on the front, and Mannang on the back. Mannang specializes in Filipino cuisine while Mann Hann offers Chinese food.

We ordered nothing from the Mannang menu since it's the typical food we eat. What we got from the Mann Hann menu are:

Garlic Rice (Php 145.00)

Seafood Special (Php 265.00)

Spicy Spareribs (Php 250.00)

Mixed Vegetables (Php 210.00)

We just had service water for our drinks and of course, since it's a Chinese restaurant, they serve unlimited house tea. Serving time is around 15 minutes which I can say is really accurate.

Our food, in my opinion, was superb. I was craving for vegetables, so maybe that's why I enjoyed our lunch. I can taste the authenticity of the dishes and how crisp the vegetables were. The only down side (but not really), was that the spareribs were not spicy at all. I am really fond of spicy food, so I don't know if I am already immune. It was just my friends who justified that it's not spicy.

Mann Hann definitely has value for money. It cost us less than a thousand for our lunch. Remember, there were five of us and the authentic taste the dishes have. We left the restaurant full and our pockets intact.

Have you eaten at Mann Hann? I believe we have the same experience! :)

MANN HANN

Basement, SM Megamall, Bldg. A

Budget: Php 200 - Php 500

Rating: 9/10

A New Year's Resolution

It's the first day of year 2013! :) Yayayay! I'm thinking about compiling all my pictures in 2012 to have a year-end recap but ended up not doing it. I tried to upload my first video blog (vlog) of the year, also to no good. What I did for today was just lie on my bed and watch We Got Married.

My mom and sister are cleaning our kitchen but since I'm no kitchen pro, I just decided to spend the day in front of my computer like usual. I had a glimpse of my planner and just decided to create some new year resolutions which are as follows:

1. Maintain my blog.

2. Be more productive at work.

3. Do well in my businesses (A! Shop and Lynque Prints).

4. Be less moody.

5. Weigh at least 110 lbs.

6. Give more to those in need.

7. Spend more time with my family.

8. Capture each moment.

9. Enhance my skills.

10. Be closer to God.

11. Be frugal.

Those are my resolutions for the year. I know there are others but it's way too many. I just took the liberty of writing the generic ones first. Well I believe everyone of us has our own resolutions. What's yours?