We Finally Bought Ghibli Museum Tickets!

Actually, Risa's the one who bought it. She was kind enough to help us buy the tickets at Lawson Japan. 

If it were not for Risa and Natalia, we'd never get our hands on it. Perhaps. We'd originally planned to visit Ghibli Museum on March 21st and bought the ticket ourselves at Lawson later in Japan. Tickets for each month up to three months ahead will be sold from the 1st date of every month - and they say Ghibli tickets often sell out so fast, so yes I was getting anxious. I don't want to miss a chance to go to Ghibli Museum, because I'd really REALLY REALLY love to meet Totoro T.T

By the way, I'm the only one who has ever watched Ghibli movies among our group. My friends do not even know what Ghibli is =.=; yet they are happy to comply with my request to go to Ghibli Museum!! *rejoice*  

Since, as I've said, we couldn't ignore the probability of us not getting the ticket if we purchased it in Japan, we'd thought to buy it in advance via agents. Well, if you google it, there's a number of them offering such service, with of course, a higher price for the cost. 

So Nata instead contacted our friend Risa (Risa was an exchange student from Japan and we shared a lot of classes together back then when we were in uni) to ask if she could help us obtain 3 Ghibli tickets for March 21st. 

Turned out, all tickets for all time slots on that day have sold out. 

SOLD OUT, although it is still a month away. 

And so we had to change our itinerary and put our Ghibli visit a day earlier to March 20th. There are 4 available time slots and visitors can choose which among these: 10am/12pm/2pm/4pm. 

We chose 10 a.m.; yet all tickets for this time slot, unfortunately, sold out already! That kinda reminds me when I purchased Big Bang concert tickets a couple of years ago, online (that was way more intense by the way). 

But thanks God, the 12 p.m. slot tickets were still available and obviously, we took them. 

Minutes later, Risa sent this pic to Nata, which she forwarded to us. 

T.T *cries*

We'll need to exchange the tickets with the real ones later at the museum's entrance booth. We'll also meet Risa (who happens to live in Mitaka now) to say our heartfelt thanks!

So.

Three weeks more to go.

Hopefully all will be well.

It's Wonderful, to Have a Reason

So many people in this world are too preoccupied with their own things. Too caught up in a tedious round of routine, they barely notice that time actually flies. Gone. And will never come back.

They know, actually. But still, they can't help it and reluctantly let it slip away.

It's sad. Really.

And then in one afternoon, or that moment when you lay down on your bed at night, in the midst of daydreams or idle thoughts, suddenly it occurs to you that you want to make your life somewhat different... perhaps only slightly, but significantly. At least there's a sense of accomplishment, of something fulfilled.

You can, by creating dreams.

Something simple, like perhaps, you want to buy a memorable birthday present to your mom, or that you want to do excellently in your work before year-end assessment. Or perhaps you want to plan a trip somewhere, buy your own car and pay it in installments, invent a wonderful recipe, create a stunning DIY project, sell your own art...

Our dreams are endless, yet it would even be more incredible if you get up for real and make at the very least one of them come true. It's not always easy, but believe me, the efforts you make are like something that will keep you on going - something that will make you look forward to tomorrow and when you finally make it true with your own sweat and sincerity, it would be hundreds times sweeter. Like when you go hiking a difficult trek into the heart of the mountain and climb through the density of the forest to reach the peak, and then you are rewarded with a painfully beautiful sight high up from the rooftop of the world. You come triumphant, like a winner.

It's wonderful, to have a reason, to set a personal milestone or two and then own something of worth, a reason for you, as I said before, to keep on going. You wake up everyday with plans and expectations, and there - you paint your life with colors and turn it into something more meaningful. And happier.

Perhaps there is another way (out of many) to live meaningfully, not because you need to do so, but simply because you can.

So what is your purpose in life? And how exactly do you give meaning to it?

When Disappointments Become a Yesterday Story

Ah... it's been a month since my last post. I remember that I recently felt terribly depressed (I now have to grudgingly admit) because of the continuous disappointment some people had to make me feel, with additionally all the mounting stress I was feeling at that time.

But the disappointments magically turned into miracles.

1. My friend (whom I gifted "How to be Interesting" book) sent me a message on Whatsapp in early January, almost like out of the blue because I didn't expect anything, saying that she reaaaaallyyy loved the book. Like it so much, she said. Her absence of comment and excitement earlier had made me believe that she didn't like the book - but it was likely that she'd only got a chance to read the book during year-end holiday, and hadn't had time to read earlier.

I feel relief. And foolish, for being so easy to let my own disappointment overcome me. Lesson's learnt.

2. The plan to go to Japan this year has been decided. Even now I'm writing this, I still can't believe it. For real.

My friend who said "I'll go if there's one more person in our group," well, she's decided she'll come along, and there's one more friend who has agreed too - so there will be 3 of us going. In March. Hopefully.

I said "hopefully", because I'm quite a realistic person - and that, regrettably, makes me feel slightly anxious of the likelihood of unforeseen circumstances that could happen and affect our plan. We're still months away from the D-day, and anything could happen.

But at least we're making this come true. In the process of making it true. And I, with my best efforts, will make it true. So far it hasn't been easy - but I'm glad, nonetheless, for having come to this point.

I will surely post an update if I indeed go to Japan. For real.

Merry Christmas!

Have a joyful year end holiday! God bless!

Early Xmas Presents from My Bookish Friends!

Much love <3

The Harsh Truths

It's been a number of times already. Again, the reality of things dawns on me and forces me to see how most of things in this world work:
1. People will move on. Even if it is without you.
2. In relation to point no. 1, they will, gradually, no longer care that you are presently not part of their lives, because they're either OK about it or they've found a replacement.
3. People will see you the way they want to see you.
4. Time will likely lessen feelings, such as the value of friendship, if you don't maintain them.
5. People can grow ignorant - they'll no longer care about you.
6. People change. A sad fact.
7. Everything in this world won't stay the same. Yet a sadder fact.

Perhaps this is why I find the greatest comfort in books and music.

Devoid of Expression

The day was late afternoon. The sweltering heat started to wear off. Gathering my hair and tying it quickly into a messy ponytail, I decided to drop by at a nearby mini market ahead to buy myself a cool drink or ice cream. I strode purposefully, covering my face with the back of my hand - the exhausts from cars and motorcycles from the busy thoroughfares and pollutants as well as other unidentified yet equally just as harmful particles were so intense, almost unbearable.

So it felt really really really nice, to finally set my feet inside the mini market; their air cons were blowing cool air - the hum of its engine was quite loud - and immediately my hot skins were soothed. 

Only few people walked about between the aisles. I walked to the cool beverages section (it was cooler there), choosing something refreshing, and was torn between a flavored tea or a juice or simply a mineral water, when the front door was open. 

The mini market was small, and there was actually a round mirror attached on several different and interspersed spots within the small room, high up against the wall, almost to the ceilings. I absentmindedly looked into one of the mirrors, and from the reflection could see a girl - still with her school uniform (that must be around the time school was finished) - entering the mini market. 

She went to the beverages section, and came to a halt a small distance away from me. 

She was pretty. She was also young, so young, and looked so innocent that I was somewhat remembered of my school days - and wondered if, back then, I looked as innocent as she was or at least gave a more or less similar impression. 

I stole a glance or two at her, and it was exactly at that moment... that I came to be surprised. 

Her face was devoid of expression. 

Why, I don't know. I was confused. It was completely different with people's usual face expressions. For example, let's say, those office workers who flocked the street as they just got off from work - and while they didn't particularly display any apparent expression or emotion as they briskly walked or hailed a cab to go home, their faces and postures were still ones that depicted a story, or at least clues to guess a story - that perhaps work had been rough and demanding, or that certain vibe of anxiety and weariness from their simplest gestures, telling that they dreaded the mounting and awaiting tasks to be done at home. 

But this girl... you would think she was at least pondering, what kind of drink I should choose, or anything. But no. There wasn't a single hint. 

Nothing. 

Her face, as I said, was devoid of even the barest hint of expression. It was something akin to a porcelain doll, I think, or a mask. A mask that was destined, for the entirety of its life span, to bear only a single, fixed expression stripped from anything else. 

The girl quickly took out a mineral water and dashed into the cash register.  

I also went to the check out my drink (Pocari Sweat), and queued behind her. 

The man behind the cash register was friendly - young, perhaps in his 20s. I don't know if he found the school girl pretty or what, but he smiled at her. And while he was working with his cash register with the girl's purchase, he cheerfully said, "What a lovely day outside!" 

I thought, it's really hot and dusty outside and you call that lovely. But of course I kept quiet. 

He then continued, "Aren't you with a boyfriend?"

Perhaps he meant, it is a lovely day outside; why aren't you spending your day with your boyfriend?

I could see he only asked this out of friendliness, not of curiosity. At least... no apparent intention. But still, I didn't know what prompted him to ask her that question, out of many. Perhaps she was just beautiful - and that all school girls these days always went out with their boyfriends after school, and the very sight of this girl - so pretty and beautiful - was strange enough to the man because she only came by herself... was that it?

While it would prove to be so random yet funny (if he really thought that)... 

I was disturbed by the girl's response. 

The girl - one moment before had been devoid of expression - suddenly pursed her lips in a hint of smile. And then, slowly, ever so slowly, the muscles in her cheeks moved upward, and that small line stretched into a longer line - the smile then became visible and grew even wider. 

It was a sweet smile.

Not a plastic smile, but definitely not a real smile either. 

(What was that smile?)

Yet... she didn't utter a single word for further response. Not a single word. 

(Why?)

But she smiled nonetheless, so the man could only smile. 

(What was it with that smile?)

I was filled with a lot of questions. But of course, the girl, and the man behind the register, were oblivious.

After receiving her change, the girl took her water and went out of the door. 

Outside, she stopped a moment to pocket the change. She moved sideways, and I squinted - looking outside through the glass door at her. 

When her side profile came into view, I saw that the smile was wiped off completely from her face. The lips weren't stretched, they were clamped shut in a flat line, no longer curved. 

Not a hint she was just smiling a moment before.

Once again, devoid of any expression. 

And I shuddered.