#KPOP – All For You – Versions

“All for You” is known to many international KPOP fans as the soundtrack of Reply 1997, what was then a successful breakthrough drama concept. The drama was so successful that it was followed by 2 more installments (Reply 1994 and Reply 1988).

For most of us KPOP fans outside Korea, we are used to this version of the song, sang by both main actors of the series (and are legit singers by the way), Apink‘s Eunji and Superstar K’s (Korea’s version of American Idol) first winner, Seo In Guk.

All for You – Seo In Guk & Jeong Eun Ji

Sigh, these two are perfect for each other.

But, did you know that this song is actually a remake? The original version of this song is from a mixed group called “COOL” and was released back in 2000, 12 years before the Reply 1997 version. The original version is very classic KPOP – a lot more chill, not too much high notes – but it has a nostalgic vibe that will take you back to the late 90’s/early 2000s.

All for You – COOL (쿨)

How “COOL” is that?

And, because I am Filipino, I need to post this amazing cover by these kids who used to be in a children’s gag show called Goin’ Bulilit, but have now all grown up, and have become amazing singers. They have a dozen or so covers on YouTube, but this struck me because, they’re covering a Korean song that I liked, and their Korean, although not perfect, is quite impressive! To end this post, I leave you with Kristel and CJ’s version of this song.

All for You – Kristel Fulgar and CJ Navato (Cover)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCW_p_fHDQo

Do you know of any other famous KPOP songs that are actually remakes? Let me know via the comments box below!

Movie: Bakemono No Ko (The Boy and the Beast)

Bakemono no Ko (バケモノの子) is an award-winning animated movie released last July 2015. The plot follows a kid, Ren, who ran away from home after his mother died, thinking that his father has abandoned him. He walked the streets full of anger and hate – until he ran into Kumatetsu. Kumatetsu is one of the top contenders to be the next Grand Master of the Bakemono world. He has a short temper, and a self-centered attitude so nobody wanted to become his disciple.

I won’t be spoiling you any further – but here are my learnings from the movie:

When we lose people, we lose a part of our heart. And we try to fill it up however way we can, sometimes with good things like friends and postive things, sometimes, with negative things like hatred, anger and fear.
Sometimes, the teacher becomes the student, and the student becomes the teacher. In the case of Kumatetsu and Ren (or Kyuuta, as he called him), although Ren learned how to be physically strong from Kumatetsu, Kumatetsu learned how to listen, how to care, and how to become a better person in general from Ren.
We are puppets of our emotions – if we let that control us, and it’s not that hard to do, we can end up hurting the people around us, even if it’s unintentional.
Everyone is struggling – deep inside, we are fighting some form of battle between the heart and the mind. When you feel down, don’t think that it’s just you – others go through it too, and that’s reason enough for you to continue fighting.

I enjoyed the movie – animation was superb, things were fast-paced and it was interesting all through out. I didn’t like the ending that much though, I found it a bit anti-climactic. You can watch it for yourself, and let me know if it’s just my personal taste.

P.S. If you are in the Philippines, you can catch this movie on the big screen during Eiga Sai this July to August. You can get the screening schedule here.

Crepe Amelie

I’m not a big fan of desserts, so when I stumbled upon Crepe Amelie’s Dulce de Leche, it felt like love at first sight (or taste, rather).

Just cutting through this masterpiece, cream oozing out of each layer of crepe – looks and feels so good. And the moment you take a bite – bursts of sweetness cover your mouth. It’s literally heaven on earth. I am not exaggerating. Or, maybe it’s because I’m not a big fan of desserts that I love this!

Crepe Amelie is a perfect place to:

Wind down after a heavy meal to chit chat with friends;
Work or study – the place isn’t as crowded as the nearby Starbucks or Coffee Bean; or
Just chill, either with a book, or a note pad to scribble things on.

There are a lot of other things on the menu, but my usual orders are Dulce de Leche and Iced Espresso Latte (perfect pair for me). I am a big fan of coffee and their Iced Espresso Latte is my #1 favorite cold coffee drink – beating Starbucks’ Iced Caramel Macchiato. I have tried their other crepe cakes, which are also good, but nothing tops Dulce de Leche for me (and for other patrons – this runs out of stock easily). They also serve greek yogurt, crepes, breakfast and lunch items.

Check them out at A. Venue Mall, Makati Avenue, Makati. I’m already thinking of heading there now!

Oshaberi Salon – Tanabata

The Japan Foundation Manila (JFM) is organizing an Oshaberi Salon this July 8 for Tanabata! The Oshaberi Salons are different “Japanese-speaking” activities where Nihongo enthusiasts can freely join and practice their Japanese. To be honest, I have never attended one session (because I get intimidated by those who speak good Japanese), but to those of you who want to test your skills, or just connect and make friends with fellow Japanophiles – this is a perfect venue for that! According to the invite:

This time, let’s have some activities about Tanabata using Nihongo!

We will make origami Tanabata decorations, talk about our wishes in Nihongo and so on.

Check out the invite below for the full details and contact numbers for inquiries:

Tanabata is a Japanese festival held every *July 7th (technically on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Lunar calendar – but this has been simplified to July 7th on most areas). This is the only day in the year when lovers Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair) get to meet. You can read up on the interesting story behind the festival on Wikipedia, but what people do on this day is tie their wish, written on a paper, to a “wish” tree (mostly bamboo).

What makes Tanabata special to me, personally, is that it falls on my birthday! That said, I probably won’t be able to attend this Oshaberi Salon – but I’m thinking of doing my own Tanabata-themed birthday party, if I don’t get lazy.

Tanabata also reminds me of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. And, this song by Tegomass (sorry, Youtube no longer has the full version of the video).

Someday, I’ll celebrate both my birthday and Tanabata in Japan!

Anime: Attack on Titan

I finally got around to finishing all available episodes of Attack on Titan on Netflix (US)! It is as good as people say it is. I did not read the manga, so I really had no expectations on the story, nor saw any of the twists coming.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Eren is your typical protagonist who has a lot of issues with himself and the people around him. He’s kind of like Harry Potter, in the sense that he is looked up to as the person who can save everyone (because *spoiler* he can transform into a Titan). The world sees a savior who can defend them from the Titans, and he is pressured by it. Mikasa and Armin are his two faithful and loyal friends, who stay by his side throughout the story (I guess you can say they’re his Hermione and Ron) – Mikasa is a talented fighter, while Armin is the intellectual guy.

This anime is full of gore – Titans gobbling up people or squatting them like flies. But what gets me hooked is finding out the story behind the Titans – who they are, and how did Annie become a Titan like Eren, and why – are – there – TITANS – INSIDE – THE – WALL?!?!

Ok, I could of course, read up on the manga and find out more – but I’ll wait fo the next season of the anime. I’m not sure if it’s already out (it isn’t yet on Netflix). I’ll savor this suspense a little longer.

If you haven’t yet – I recommend you watch this! Now I know what this photo is about:

Featured photo credit: http://moviepilot.com/

Travel Expense Tracker for Groups

Have you ever had a hard time tracking your travel budget and expenses, especially when you travel in groups? I have created a very simple Travel Expense Tracker that automatically does this for you.

The tracker is saved on Google Sheets so you and your travel buddies can access and update this at the same time.

Sheet 1 – Travel Buddies

On this sheet, you just need to input the name of your travel buddies, as well as your budget for the trip. As of the moment, I have limited the number of travel buddies to a maximum of 20 people. You can also input your travel destination and travel dates (for labeling purposes).

Sheet 2 – Expenses

This is where you will input your specific expenses, who paid for those expenses, and the amount involved per expense. The expense column is a free field so you can input whatever you want. The Paid By column is limited to the names you’ve entered in Sheet 1 – Travel Buddies. This sheet also shows a snapshot of your total expense as a reference.

Sheet 3 – Summary

The last sheet is basically a report that shows the allocated expense for each travel buddy (note that this tool allocates all expenses EQUALLY). This also shows the receivable/payable amount based on the payments made by each person vs. their allocated expenses. Lastly, it also shows the remaining budget per person. This will vary depending on the initial budget set for each person.

In the above example – Ron owes 17.75, and needs to pay Maggie for 11.25, with the balance of 6.5 to John. Keith will also pay 1.75 to John.

Because this is on Google Sheets – you can easily access this on your smartphones (iOS & Android have standalone Google Sheets apps).

You can purchase the Travel Expense Tracker for 100 PHP only (~2 USD). This will help me fund my hosting services for this blog! 🙂 Payment will be done via PayPal. Once payment is confirmed, I will create a copy of the tracker and give you Edit access via Google Sheets (this will also allow you to share this with your travel buddies).

Japan Tourist Visa Application for Filipinos

The application for a Japan Tourist Visa is not as difficult as let’s say, applying for a US Visa. Everything is coursed through an agency, and there’s no need for personal appearance (with the Embassy). Japan has relaxed the requirements for Filipinos to encourage tourists to visit their country. Traveling to Japan is at its most affordable today, with the rise of cheap airfares from low-budget airlines all year long. If you are worrying about the visa application – don’t!

I tried to put all the requirements and necessary links here – so that you don’t need to check out different sources anymore.

Of course, you need your Philippine Passport. Make sure you have more than 6 months from date of expiry, otherwise, it’s best to renew your passport before applying for a visa. Also, make sure the laminated photo on your passport is not broken or folded.
Download the application form and fill it up. You can leave the fields for guarantor/inviter blank if you are going as a tourist. But, you need to indicate where you are staying (hotel/hostel or Airbnb accommodation). If you are staying in several places throughout your visit, you can just indicate the first place on the form.
Photo – 4.5cm x 4.5cm with white background, pasted on the application form. You can visit a nearby ID studio (e.g., Kodak) and tell them you need a photo for Japan visa application.
Birth certificate of applicant from NSO. This needs to be issued within the past 6 months. If you don’t have one – you can have it delivered to your doorstep by ordering it online (via ecensus.com.ph)! No need to go through the long lines at NSO for this. It normally takes 3 days to get this so make this your first priority before completing the rest of the other requirements. Note: if you already have a used Japanese visa on your passport, you don’t need to submit this anymore.
If married, you also need to submit your marriage certificate. You can also get it from ecensus.com.ph. As with the birth certificate, this is not required if you already have a used Japanese visa.
You need to submit your daily schedule/itinerary for the duration of your trip in Japan. Suffice to say, you need to plan your trip ahead, including accommodations, etc. If you need a reference, here are my past Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto itineraries.
Bank certificate – to show you have sufficient money to fund your travel. To be safe, I suggest having an ending balance of more or less 100,000 pesos. There’s no exact rule as to how much money you need to have but it wouldn’t hurt to have more (borrow from your parents/friends for a while).
Latest income tax return (Form 2316) original and photocopy. Again, this is to prove your financial capacity to travel (as well as prove that you are generating enough income in the Philippines, and you’re really just visiting for travel and not for work).

If you’ve completed your requirements, you only need to submit these to an accredited agency (see full list here). It normally takes around 3-5 business days to process your visa. The agency will also connect with you in case there are additional clarifications/requirements needed. Fees vary depending on the agency. I used Discovery Tour for both of my applications and they charge 800 pesos for tourist visa.

Some applicants are granted multiple entry on the first try – but most (including myself) start out with a single-entry visa. On the second application, that’s when they usually grant you a multiple-entry visa. This is not within the control of the agency, rather, a decision of the embassy, so don’t stress your agency contacts on this.

That’s it – I hope you’ll find this post useful. If you have any questions, let me know via the comments below. Please also feel free to share to your friends who are planning to visit Japan for the first time!

5 YouTube Channels for Japanophiles!

Don’t we all wish we live in Japan? Unfortunately, most of us don’t. Fortunately, the Internet helps bridge that gap to a certain extent. Here are 5 YouTube channels you should follow to keep the Japanophile in you alive!

1. JPCMHD (Japanese Commercials in HD) – Japan is so unique and creative in so many ways, that even their commercials are world-renowned for their wit and sometimes WTF moments. I spend hours going through the videos in this channel, and it’s a great way to kill time!

2. That Japanese Man Yuta – this guy gives you a deeper cultural experience by interviewing Japanese people on the streets and asking them about different things that make Japanese people different. I gained a lot of understanding as to how Japanese people think, what their principles and beliefs are, just by watching the videos on this channel. Good job Yuta!

3. Japanese for Morons – hats off to this guy Victor (and his friend Tomoko) for creating a very fun and interesting way to learn Japanese! Who says studying a language should be boring? I suggest you watch from the very first video!

4. Max D. Capo – Max is a half-Japanese guy who talks about what it’s like being a “hafu” in Japan. He also guests fellow half-Japanese, and feature a bunch of other cool stuff about Japan you wouldn’t otherwise know about if you didn’t live there. So yeah, more perspective on Japanese culture like That Man Yuta!

5. Mahjong Saikyousen – This might not be applicable for all Japanophiles, but to those of you who are learning Japanese Mahjong (Riichi), this channel shows professional mahjong matches in Japan and is a good way to learn strategies and stuff. If you are a fan of the anime Saki, this almost feels like a live action of the matches you see on that anime. Saikou desu!

Do you have other interesting Japan-related channels that you follow on YouTube? Let me know via the comments below. And, if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the channels listed on top, and you’ll be a higher level Japanophile in no time!

#Thirstday: The Bottle Shop

There was a time when I went out for drinks with friends every Thursday night, and we called it “Thirstday”. Today, I thought of reviving that tradition – it might not necessarily be with the same friends, but I wanted to introduce a different place each week where you could go chill and enjoy the weekend one night earlier.

Tonight’s featured place is located along 26th street in BGC – a quaint place that sells different craft beers from all over the world, aptly called “The Bottle Shop” (by Global Beer Exchange).

Look at all of these bottles! Any beer lover would feel like they’re in beer heaven! They have craft beers from different breweries around the world, including some locally brewed ones (try out the ones from “The Cebruery”). I am actually tempted to give each one of these a try, and keep the bottles as a souvenir, or home decoration, if I figure out where to put them.

The menu features a guide for both “beginners” and “not-so-beginners” when it comes to craft beer. To be honest, I don’t bother with identifying which beer is which, but it’s good to know what sets these beers apart from each other and feel like a connoisseur for a night (you’ll probably forget which is which the the next day).

As you would expect from a special craft beer bar in BGC, price is a little on the expensive side – BUT – they do have some promos on certain days of the week. Today (Thursday), they had Unlimited Beer from a specific brewery for 699 pesos – but it was only from 6 to 9 pm, and we got there at 10pm! Wednesdays are Tequila Wednesdays, where you can get Margaritas at 125 pesos, 100 pesos cheaper than the regular price. Fridays are for Gin & Tonic, where you also get to save 100 pesos per order as well.

And, if you happen to be working in one of the companies that have offices in TNG buildings, they have an additional 10% discount for you until April 30, 2016 only. Just bring your company IDs and show them before settling the bill!

I ordered the Dumaguete Dubbel from The Cebruery, and the Blonde Bock from Gordon Biersch. I liked the Dumaguete Dubbel more than the Blonde Bock, but they’re not of the same beer type so it’s not right to compare. I can’t wait to try the others in my next visit. Thank goodness this place is only a few steps away from the office.

I’m looking forward to the next Thirstday! If you have any suggestions on interesting drinking places within BGC (for now), let me know via the comments and I’ll put it on queue!

Utada’s Back With 2 Digital Singles

Utada’s back with 2 new digital singles – 真夏の通り雨 Manatsu no Tooriame (Midsummer Showers) and 花束を君に Hanataba wo Kimi ni (A Bouquet For You). Manatsu is the theme song to NTV’s news show, “NEWS ZERO”, while Hanataba is another theme song for a drama called “Toto Nee-chan”.

If you don’t have it yet, you can download the songs on the iTunes (Japan) store here:

Manatsu no Toori Ame – 真夏の通り雨 – Single – 宇多田ヒカル
Hanataba wo Kimi ni – 花束を君に – Single – 宇多田ヒカル

Utada Hikaru has been on hiatus for a long time and everyone was excited for her comeback. Although the two songs are getting mixed reviews from fans, I personally love both of the songs. They’re quite melancholic, but both songs show Utada’s emotional growth as she went through some highs and lows in the duration of her hiatus. You can definitely feel a stronger, gentler Hikki from listening to these two songs. I like the melodies of both songs, although my favorite of the two would have to be Hanataba. I’ve read somewhere that she wrote this song for her mom, which just levels up the emotions and makes you understand really the feelings behind the lyrics and the melody. That’s what I love about Utada, she is able to tell a story with her songs, and she tells (and sings) it very well.

You can watch the music videos in the link below:

Manatsu no Toori Ame – JPOPASIA
Hanataba wo Kimi ni (Short MV) – Utadahikaru.jp

How do you find the new songs? Let me know in the comments section below!

Photo Credit: aramajapan.com