With so many light years to go, and things to be found.

Resolutions for 2012:

#1. Stop multi-tasking, even on the computer.

#2. Stop buying things just because they're cheap. I'll don't use/wear them more than 3 months later. Quality over quantity.

#3. No more TV. This isn't even 5% as drastic as it sounds, seeing as the only television I watch are special programmes/ the news/ half a drama episode if I happen to be passing by the TV then. I do, however, watch a great deal of shows on my laptop. Notable exceptions from this ban are Kurosagi (watched it halfway then stopped months ago), Doctor Who (already downloaded it!), and Sherlock (showing in January only anyway).

#4. No stupid little obsessions. I'm going to clear out my room later today and stuff anything remotely hobby-related in the attic storeroom. With my A-levels in 2012, I can't afford to spend my time making crafts, painting my nails or anything else. (This also means saying bye to buying my Eximus camera!)

#5. Exercise, sleep, eat well, blah blah.

Most of these resolutions are study-oriented, especially 1, 3 and 4. Number 4's only going to be true till until my A-levels anyway.

This is how things are like end 2011:

I managed to get to JC 2 after a great deal of last minute catching up. Below is how deranged I look after a typical school day.

Also I started bringing my dog to my room to play heh.

 Also I took some photos in my mum's toilet because I was bored.

The last two photos were from just before my birthday I think. If I don't lose the weight that I've gained over the past two weeks (as well as the weight that I will gain during the new year and Chinese New Year), I can always look at these photos to remember how I was slimmer then.

I just want to stay home and play Europe's The Final Countdown tonight! Or maybe on the supposed end of the world/world metamorphosis thing on 21st December.

And in reality, nothing happens.

My daydream: Waking up at six in the morning and cycling out to enjoy the morning sky.
Reality: Wake up at ten, then eat breakfast and lunch almost consecutively.

My daydream: Writing my thoughts, observations and even some short stories in my notebook while lazing on the grass in the afternoon sun.
Reality: Bought the notebooks. "afternoon sun" is ridiculously hot and I get disgusted by thoughts of worms, dog poop and soil when I look at the grass.

My daydream: Completing all of my homework and studying hard.
Reality: Still trying to start on homework.

My daydream: Reading all sorts of books; learning about our world and the universe.
Reality: Watch mine-numbing videos on YouTube.

My daydream: Fishing by the canal while I jot down my thoughts in my notebook.
Reality: Went prawn fishing once HAHAHA at least I managed to catch a few prawns! Anyway the canal near my house is now a hotspot for wannabe anglers so it's nowhere as cool and recluse-like anymore.

My daydream: Buy an Eximus camera and take lovely photos of places around my house before they change.
Reality: I really wanted to buy this but money issues sigh.

My daydream: Go to the dreams and reality exhibition at the museum.
Reality: Haven't gone yet but I WILL DO THIS SOON. I will be really upset with myself if I miss this.

My daydream: Find something to blog about.
Reality: Sorry, I guess my life is just too dull.

r e lie f

Checking my SAT scores scared me. Possibly more than my O-level scores. I guess it's the reality of it, the fact that this is a distinct step that will affect which university I get into whereas you could always get away with a bad O-level score and do well for your A-levels. Which was, coincidentally, why I couldn't really feel extreme disappointment and grief over my O-level score.

2200/2400. I'm really glad, seeing as I was hoping for around 2100. This is actually the first time that I've done well in any national, major-ish kind of examination. Hopefully I'll remember this feeling and it'll stick around for As. Rather disturbed by my writing score though......... So many China scholars took the test with me and I didn't do much better than them? And I've always prided myself on being able to write somewhat well oh dear this is embarrassing I shan't continue!

party like it's christmas

I now have two twitter widgets in the side bar because the one that's actually from Twitter has got to be one of the nicest widgets around but it doesn't always work, so.... I'm testing. :)

Tomorrow's the last day of school! But I've been spending so much money, I had about $300 +++ just a week ago and now I'm down to 150 bucks or so. And I want to get nice Christmas presents for everyone. And buy things for myself. But I have no money.

School kind of..... Really sucks. As I predicted it would when I first started and assumed that I was having a blast. But what the heck, I'm just going to school tomorrow and jump around and take photos with everyone and try to have fun.

And. Did I mention. I only have one hour of school tomorrow!!

Since I did badly for my exams, I was wondering which subject to downgrade: math or literature. So I decided to get cleverbot's opinion...

(click to enlarge don't you know this by now!)

... Needless to say we are now bosom buddies even though it's now accusing me of being bald. And also a boy.

I think this is important

I think it's becoming increasingly obvious that I'm just not posting as much as I used to. Just last year, I could churn out over 50 blog posts a month, mostly about J-pop and my obsession for it. Unfortunately, I've... Moved on. I haven't exactly fallen out of love with J-pop (and definitely not Arashi !), but my interest in it has faded. I've always been interested in Japan, just that this interest went full bloom once I discovered J-pop! I'd also like to add in, albeit rather unnecessarily, that my other favourite countries are England, China, HK and Taiwan. And with this, I'd like to shift the focus of the blog from J-pop to other things.

Exactly what other things, I'm not sure yet. I started this blog in late 2009 as a platform for me to express myself, which coincided with when I watched Gokusen and fell head first into the world of Japanese fandom. Now, I'm going back and leaving this blog as, once again, an open platform for me to express myself and keep some memories which I can then read next time. Now, I cringe a little when I go through posts where I go on and on about my idols, but I'm pretty sure that years from now, I'll be able to look at those posts with fondness as I recollect those feelings from my teenage years.

I do feel like I've failed my readers, but well....... Okay, I've failed you. I do feel guilty, but I do have to move on. Doing this Japanese gossip blog thing has no longer become fun for me, and I think it's better for me to come straight out then just wonder about what to do with this blog, which is actually what I've been doing for the past several months now. You can continue to talk with me about the fandom, which I completely welcome, though I might be rather out of date on certain issues. ^^ (just felt that I should add a smiley to relieve the tension since I sound so serious here!)

So, my blog is now open and free again! I've no idea what's to come, but we shall see.

Learn Kame's diet secrets! Losing 5 kilos from Dream Boys musical

KAT-TUN members Kamenashi Kazuya, Nakamaru Yuichi and Tanaka Koki starred as the leads in JE's ongoing (3 to 25 Sept) Dream Boys musical and it seems that the rigourous training caused Kamenashi to lose five kilos - from 64kg to 59.2kg.

The musical featured the normal song and dance as well as "flying" and "boxing". Kamenashi managed to perform 15 high-speed turns without any mistake. In an interview later, he said that it was, honestly, something he was most scared of. He has been the lead in the musical since 2004, with Nakamaru pairing up with him in 2007 and 2008.

This year's musical was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Imperial Garden Theater, where the musical is held. It also marks the end of the long-running Dream Boys musical. (Azashi)

Honestly though, it looks like he put on weight to me.... And I don't think he was ever that heavy anyway! And the things these singers have to do is..... !!!

Short video on the concert + interview. Skip to 1:00 to hear them attempting to speak Chinese! Link here or watch below.

Please install the Flash Player

Just paused my music player.
Sometimes I think we should just... Learn to enjoy silence.

I finally got a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

woof.

All the books I will never read.
All the places I will never see.
All the things I will never do.
All the words I will never say.
And all the people I will never meet.

Make me wonder why I still continue to live as I do.

The feedback survey on my maths teacher wouldn't let me leave the "other feedback" box empty so I just wrote nil!

K off to copy do my chemistry.

Oguri Shun and Yamada Yu to get married, had dinner with each others' families (rumour)

It seems that actor Oguri Shun (28) and actress/model Yamada Yuu (27) are finally getting married after three years of dating! Apparently, Oguri Shun was caught cheating on Yuu last year, which resulted in them moving to seperate homes and almost caused them to breakup.

Last month, Shun and Yuu had a traditional sushi dinner with their families, which many feel confirms that they are going to get married soon. In addition, on that day, Yuu made a particularly cheerful post on her blog, where she mentioned that she was happy because she found some beautiful flowers on a walk. Of course, many think that it's a bit... unusual for her to be so cheerful about such a small matter. (Entame, Josei Seven, blog entry)

Doppelganger? Tom Felton and Alexandria from ANTM

Having exams right after the holidays has got to be the weirdest thing ever. Throughout the holidays, I can't enjoy myself properly because I should be revising. And after my exams, I only have one weekend to relax when I'm supposed to be rushing through my holiday homework.

On a brighter note, I've spent the past four days just rotting at home. I should have done my homework and today was e-learning day so I was supposed to complete this online quiz or something but well... And my mum got a dog!

Tom Felton kind of looks like this Alexandria girl from ANTM cycle 16! Nothing compared to this two though.

Please let me pass my math exam tomorrow even though I have not studied a single bit and skipped all my holiday classes and even some regular classes and don't pay attention at all in math class and have been getting single digits and "see me"s in all my previous tests. PLEASE.



And why did the school have to change the time of the Math paper from 2:30pm to 9am? That's just... really annoying. And why must the paper be on a Saturday. Oh god.

I do it over and over again

5 days till my Math mid-years, and I haven't understood anything that's been taught in the JC syllabus so far. I'm so sick of this. Why can't I do my work or at least pay attention to what the teacher says?

Anyway, I'm going to revise. I've said this a million times before, but... Really, I want to do well. So much.

Some definite reasons why I want to do well:

• I don't want to retain and spend an extra year in this stupid school. Or, for that matter, waste a year of my life.
• Meet-the-parents is coming up a few weeks after MYEs, so if I don't do well for MYEs, the teachers will definitely only have bad things to say about me. Skipping tutorials...
• If I do well, my mother will buy me more things and bring me on more overseas trips. If I don't, I won't get to go overseas and my allowance will be cut.
• I want everyone in my new school to know that I'm not stupid and you don't need to study that much to do well.
• If I do badly, they'll sure to be rumors going around about how I'm from a top secondary school and still doing so badly...
• My parents actually think that I've been studying. Shit.
• If I don't do well for mid-years, I'll never be able to catch up for end-years, prelims or A-levels. The whole O-level story will repeat itself.

On a happier note though... Ashton Kutcher and his dad!!

Picture from TMZ

Yamada Ryosuke's CM

Watch Yamada Ryosuke's first solo CM for a Lotte product (gyugyu-to?!) at this link:

http://yurichinendaisuki.tumblr.com/post/6591199938

Definitely worth watching! :D

My dad bought me a brand new laptop from the IT fair thing! Almost everything from my previous laptop is gone but I don't really care because I'm just so happy!





And for those who think I'm overreacting, this is the first time that I've actually gotten a new laptop/phone/music player/camera/electronic thing so....

Suddenly feel the need to study hard so that my dad won't regret his decision. ^^

The Quiz Show 2 review (haphazard)

So, prior to this, I'd never heard of this drama "The Quiz Show 2" before. I found out that there is indeed a "The Quiz Show", but I don't really have much interest in watching it (no doubt because Sakurai and Yokoyama aren't inside).

The description of the show from DramaWiki:

 Sakurai plays the host of a live TV quiz program. On the show, contestants who achieve 7 correct answers win 10 million yen, and those who get 8 correct answers will have one of their wishes granted by the TV network. But while the questions start off innocently enough, as the game progresses, the questions gradually delve into the contestants' past crimes or indiscretions, presenting them with the dilemma of having to confess their guilt in order to win. Sakurai's character also has a mysterious past. Before becoming the show's host, an accident had left him in a vegetative state for six years, which also resulted in him losing most of his memories.

Though the format for the first few episodes are, without a doubt, ridiculously and annoyingly repitive, it still keeps you glued to your screen (at least for the first time you watch it, anyway) as more and more is revealed in each episode. The memories that Kamiyama gains from each episode also seem to change. It's easy to sense his confusion and anxiety. How is he related to Honma? Why did I stab that girl? Did I even stab her? Oh wait, I didn't stab her, I killed her later in the hospital... and so on. There are also entire scenes throughout the whole series that are repeated again and again, especially the whole introductory sequence. Yet, I have to admit that I was never tempted to fast forward at those parts (probably because it was too short anyway). And, I feel that I really ahve to mention Sakurai's dancing at the Dream Chance part.

The show only starts breaking out of this annoying mould from episode 7 onwards, by which the viewer will think that he/she has a pretty clear view of what happened. Things start to shake up, and more interesting truths are revealed, especially the relationships between the characters. I like how it's not just the relationships between the main characters that are revealed, but also that of the others. Also, the nature of the contestants on the gameshow start to take a *ahem* more interesting turn.

The great thing about this drama is that it is chock full of turns and suprises, and real ones, not those lame, half-assed sort that we frequently encounter in other dramas (Yay! It turns out that the poor boyfriend whom the parents diapprove of is the long-lost son of a billionaire!). The mistakes Satoru makes in recalling the past are entirely believable, and as a viewer, you actually get sucked into his train of thought and follow him as he tries to put the pieces together.

When the truth is finally revealed (and I have to mention that the ending was neither rushed nor anti-climatic), Honma and Kamiyama have a good cry. Oh goodness, the crying scene was really all out. You could even see Sakurai's mucus dripping!

However, I couldn't really see the "happiness" of the ending. There were little touches that made it sweet, like the poppy field scene and the reversal of Honma's watch, but it felt like the biggest thing was lacking. Kamiyama speech to Honma still didn't seem enough to give him new hope in life.

 And a few more minor things that bugged me during the drama:

• It's rather alarming how Kamiyama changes from a deranged soul in his cell to a charming MC on stage.
• If the other staff involoved in the production of the gameshow are curious about Kamiyama's origins, why don't they approach him directly?
• Really, why don't more of the contestants recognise Kamiyama? Surely, if you had been involved in the plane crash, wouldn't you at least care to read the news about your fellow passengers (and so few of them, too) to see how they fared?
• Lastly, why doesn't any contestant/audience member seem to care when Kamiyama gets into his headache-fits on stage?

So, should you watch this show?

If you are a Sakurai/Yokoyama fan, the answer is a definite yes. And if you're not, the answer is still a not-so-definite yes. Unless you're one of those who much, much, much prefer romance/comedy genres, I find it hard to believe that you can find this show boring.

Pictures from: http://www.ntv.co.jp/quizshow/guest/index.html, http://legally-cutie.livejournal.com/10369.html, http://dramacrazy.net/

Btw, I just realised that I've never had a tag for Yokoyama. And this is a really messy review but I! can't! do! anything! properly! until I get a personal laptop! Hopefully the "new" one which I've already transferred my dramas to...

It's the June holidays and I can't even post properly because my laptop(s) died. I spilt tea on my old laptop and the "new" one (it isn't new, btw) wouldn't turn on after I used it twice. My dad said that it's because the charger has problem and that he'd get a new charger for me but it's taking so long. :(

bloody monday and the quiz show 2

Got two DVDs today... Bloody Monday and The Quiz Show 2!

Happened to walk into a DVD shop and saw that they were having a sale. I saw some Japanese DVDs going for $6 and got really excited! But then I realised that those were only the specials and not the whole serial. But then I found the serials which cost $7.90 each and $12(US$ 9.70) for two! I was thinking of getting Koizora, but decided against it because I felt that it would be more value-for-money to get two drama serials. And I chose The Quiz Show 2 over Akai Ito because it has two good-looking guys (Sakurai Sho and Yokoyama Yu!) in it. I've never heard of it until today but it seems really interesting!

This is the first time that I've actually paid for anything J-pop related, unless you count magazines.But it seems that you get your money's worth indeed! Each DVD comes with a write-up of each character and a chart to show the relationships between the characters. BUT.... it's in Chinese. Shall post better pictures tomorrow!

I had my General Paper mid-year exam today, but it didn't really have any effect on me? I guess it's because there's no way I could have studied and the exam went quite smoothly. And the June holidays are here!

Okay, I'm going to bathe and then I'll watch start watching The Quiz Show 2 (it's sounds so interesting that I'm going to watch it before Bloody Monday!) on my "new" laptop. No, I still haven't switched over to the "new" one! And here's why.

Imma write my plans for the June hols here so that I'll have more incentive to stick to them:

-Learn how to fish.
-Be more adventurous, i.e. not be such a chicken.
-Sleep early, wake up (reasonably) early. Only catch television programs that I'm actually interested in.
-Exercise and eat healthily to lose weight.

• No sweets, limited chocolates.
• No ice-cream either. Frozen yogurt at most.
• Try to exercise daily.

-Take good care of my skin.

-Study for MYEs.

-Learn to skateboard. (?)

-Go for more walks.

-Cycle to school to see how long it takes.

Oh gods. I am such a lazy piece of shit.

This is why drama addicts hate changing computers.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I'm becoming less and less infatuated with J-pop now because:

1. School's started. 'nuff said there.
2. My iPod DIED so I can't get my fix of Arashi goodness on the bus/train.

I think I'm becoming a Willow Smith fan.

So, which one do you prefer?

THIS?

OR THIS??

Because I really can't decide which one I like more! I thought the short hair and spiked-up fringe looked weird at first, but then I fell in love with it but now I think the long hair suits him better but I love both! And I really love the first photo of Jun because it reminds me of the good old slouchy Sawada Shin. I've never seen anyone who can look good in so many different moods: from grouchy and moody to satisfied and happy.

And the best Arashi hair-related macro ever:

Cheers to Arashi and Jun's hair!

Sources: grouchy Jun with long hair, happy Jun with short hair, Jun hair macro, Arashi!

I just found out the price of an ipod touch

$328 for the 8GB one,

$428 for 32GB

and $588 for 64GB.

So why do so many people have one?!

Being a happy sociable teenager is taking it's toll on my wallet. In my days of being an anti-social kid during the holidays, I could hole myself up at home 5/7 days of the week-long holidays and splurge it all on the one or two days that I went out. It's only Wednesday and I've been doing something everyday.

Monday was my orientation group coming over to my house. There was really nothing to do so we ended up borrowing a mahjong set from the house at the corner. And I learnt how to play mahjong! And I actually like it very, very much. I love my orientation group for frightening me so much during my first few days in college. I was  alarmed at how quickly they managed to make my level of English deteriorate (and I just had to check how to spell that word) with their relentless mixing of Chinese, English and Hokkien (in order of frequency used). But I learnt that being cheena is fun too and anyway my class is a History class and therefore speaks better English. 

Tuesday was meeting up with secondary school friends. I now use friends instead of the old "friends" because they are now, truly, my friends. I feel much more comfortable with them then I ever did in secondary school. Spent lots of dough on karaoke singing and fries. $4.20 for fries and cheese but it was so good!

I really do declare myself a star at saving money. I went to a thrift shop with the intention of buying new clothes/shoes/bags at dirt cheap prices, but ended up walking away with a ridiculously thick knit cardigan which I will probably not wear for the next ten months. Picture below:

It still has the price tag on it and the price tag says River Island UK size 14 UK£34.99 and I bought if for S$18 which makes me feel really smart and good at saving money. ^^ I actually intended to get clothes that I would actually wear, but I didn't have much time and most of the nice clothes were taken by two fashion designer-ish  dudes. It was quite obvious that they were getting the clothes for some sort of event because they had a trolley full of clothes from the thrift store. And also because they were two rather flamboyantly-dressed men in the ladies section. So there I was, grabbing onto my woolly cardigan thing lest they snatch it for me should I put it down for a second, looking around for anything else good when the lady at the counter started yelling, "Closing already, anyone who wants to buy anything, better hurry." Which is how I ended up with this woolly thing. I still haven't decided if I regret buying it yet. And all this happened today, which I'd intended as a hole-myself-up-at-home day.

Tomorrow, I have extra Chinese lesson, which I'm looking forward to. Chinese lesson is a big waste of my life and prevents me from going home three hours earlier on some days but I still love/hate it.

I agreed to go to a friend's party on Saturday, which means I should get her a present. I told her I wouldn't be getting her one, but I still feel kind of guilty. And I signed up for a CIP thing on Sunday which is at Marina Bay. That'd be great if not for the fact that I stay at Yio Chu Kang. When I mentioned in my 2011 resolutions that I'd be more sociable, I mentally told myself that I'd meet up with people even if they were meeting up at the other end of the train line. (though my post says the exact opposite) But Marina Barrage is still too... far. And what's worst is that I thought Marina Barrage wasn't that far when I signed up.

The earthquake/ tsunami/ nuclear disaster in Japan. I didn't really want to mention this becuase I think everyone's read/ seen/ heard more than enough about it. I know people are going to get angry over this but I don't really get why people are all about donating money to Japan. Japan's rich... I think (based on my rather shallow knowledge of current affairs) I just hope the authorities use the money (their own/ donations) properly. The nuclear radioactivity thing's the worst of all that's happened so far and it seems like most Japanese are trying to get away. Either far away or out of the country entirely. Some Tokyoites my parents know have already come to Singapore to get away from the radiation. And my mum is going all berserk about how we can't go to Japan for the next three years and wondering if she should buy iodine pills. Singapore will never be able to build a nuclear plant becuase we don't have a 30km radius to evacuate out of. If I were Malaysia I'd build a nuclear plant in JB.

Anyway, life goes on.

Johnny's all safe from earthquake-tsunami

NEWS/Tegomass
Everyone's safe. Yamashita Tomohisa got into a car accident, but was unscathed.


KAT-TUN
Everyone's safe but Ueda Tatsuya's house got damaged.


Hey Say Jump/NYC
All members are safe, but Yuto is in hospital for minor injury. Hikaru Yaotome's house in Sendai was entirely wiped out by the tsunami. Chinen Yuri's house is also rumoured to be damaged.

V6, SMAP, Arashi, Kanjani8 and others
All are safe but Morita Go's house is said to be damaged.

I just found out that Tokyograph's layout has changed. Anyway, some Johnny's Jr. guy that I've never heard of is getting married.

JC is intense. It's fun but that doesn't make it anywhere less tiring/stressful. I overslept by 97 minutes today and missed one tutorial but the teacher didn't notice. And I finally got the guts to ask the math tutor for a consultation session next week. You go girl.

Other than that I've been in a really lazy mood and all my lives are dead. Social, psychological, INTERNET, you name it. So I advise you to check my blog less often/ unfollow me because I won't be posting a lot of Jap entertainment stuff.

I don't understand how people can do everything I do and still have time for facebook.

being alone is underrated

Things I have learnt after one week in JC:

You can still feel sleepy if you sit right at the front during a lecture. Teachers still care if you sleep in class.

Everyone's frank about what they want to be, eg. student council, house exco, etc. I love it and now I'm really open about what I want.

It's possible to have an enjoyable PE lesson with 6 students. (I bet I'll get muscle ache tomorrow)

Some toilets have maps to help you if you get lost inside them.

The bookshop auntie's clock is obviously spoilt because no matter how many times in a day you ask her when the notes/book you want will be available, she'll tell you that it's coming in an hour.

Being in a co-ed school is kind of really annoying because you can't change anywhere you want. I feel so tempted to use the guys' toilet when there's no one inside and the girls' toilet is packed.

Lastly, it is possible to survive a one-and-a-half hour Chinese lesson!

I am probably enjoying life in JC because 4pm feels like noon. And this was after the 90 minute Chinese lesson as mentioned above.

I'll probably write an emo post months later about how I hate school and have no friends/ feel like a loser/ no one understands me/ all sorts of whiny stuff.

Also, I am going to be a more polite person and stop saying "wahlao".

Aibu Saki and Hayami Mokomichi in "Rebound", Mizushima Hiro movie rumour

Rumour: Mizushima Hiro might be acting in an overseas movie soon! Overseas as in... Not Japan. Apparently the reason for this is because it'll be very complicated if he acts in a Japanese movie. (does it make sense to you?!) (Azashi)

There's an interesting new drama called "Rebound" about Nobuko (played by Aibu Saki), the daughter of a tonkatsu shop owner who grew up on tonkatsu and cake. As a result, she weighed 60 kilograms by the time she graduated from elementary school, and at age 20 she weighed 85 kilograms. In order to turn her life around, she quits eating cake and sheds 37 kilograms, leading to her current career as the editor of a fashion magazine. When she goes to interview the "sweet prince," a fashionable pastry chef played by Hayami Mokomichi, she winds up breaking her ban on cake and begins "rebounding" from her diet. She soon finds herself having to decide between her currently slim lifestyle and a delicious romance with the handsome patissier. Aibu Saki and Hayami Mokomichi were co-stars in Zettai Kareshi. And they should really invite Mizushima Hiro for a guest appearance. (Tokyograph)

I have school from seven plus in the morning and reach home at six... Which probably explains the lack of updates. JC life is tiring but fun, and I think I'll enjoy it since it's only two years. I guess no matter how great your secondary school is, you're bound to get sick of it after four/five/six(?!) years.

Cape Town, South Africa.

And some animal butts

I have a lot more better animal butt photos, but they're on another camera... or got deleted. I haven't updated anything really Japanese gossip related in ages (okay maybe two weeks but it feels so long). Hmm.

Fujiki Naohito, some SMAP guy and Kuroki Meisa will be in a drama together! School's been great except for the studying/waking up early/other school-ish stuff. No, really, school's been fun. Though I've probably spent less than 5 hours in lectures this week (first week of school) and I already hate H2 Math. And everyone keeps on speaking to me in Chinese because it's a Chinese-ish school and I have a China face (not saying that it's bad or anything).

Me: "What are you eating?"
X: "不知道" (I don't know)
Me: "Why are you speaking in Chinese?!"
X: "为什么不可以?!" (Why can't I?!)

And when I decide to blend in and speak Chinese, they tell me I sound weird (I bet they're just biased though). I might not speak Chinese at home but I took Higher Chinese in secondary school. Yah I know I got a D7 but still!!! But other than the language issue (and the way the principal pronounces neighbours as "nay-balls"), it's quite a nice place. I think. I hope.

Arashi in Asahi Shimbum. They were portrayed as characters from a drama that each of them has starred in before.

Yamashita Tomohisa from NEWS drinking with his friends. I took the effort to combine them all into one picture even though it doesn't really look that much like him.

Also, you need to watch this video whether or not you're a fan of Mizushima Hiro/ Sato Takeru/ Mei-Chan. WATCH IT.

Happy Chinese New Year!

First day of school - now it feels like the new year! Mid-January, I was thinking that I was missing school just a teeny weeny bit, but come yesterday, when I received the text said (I quote), 'Pl report to JC/MI on 27 Jan 11 at 07:30am', I felt so tired. School.........

I can count on two hands the people I know from before in my JC man. Okay, I was really tempted to say one hand, but one of my new year resolutions was to be more honest, so... Looks like I'm off to a good start! Except that I'm pretty friendless in school right now. I SHALL BE SOCIABLE AND MAKE FRIENDS TOMORROW AT SENTOSA.

My 2011 resolutions! I'm more optimistic about 2011 than 2010, and 2010 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And I know it's almost February, but like I said, when you're a student used to having school start on 2nd or 3rd January and have no other life, only the school year matters. Let's just pretend I'm following the Chinese calendar. Chinese new year is in single-digit February (3rd and 4th... I think).

So, resolutions (not confirmed yet  Okay I only added that so that I don't have to look at this one year from now and regret)

2011 RESOLUTIONS.

1. Be more sociable. Smile more. Stop making dumb excuses for not going out with friends - unless they're going to Vivocity when you stay at the other end of the train line.
2. Stop making dumb and useless lies. It just wastes brain space because then I've to remember everything.
3. Be a more caring person. Smile more (again). I greeted the security guard this morning! Achievement of my life (okay no). I'll be nice and give up to my seat to people on the bus/train. And if I can't tell if they're old/pregnant enough, I'll stand up and move somewhere else to save both of us embarrassment. This works really well in theory, but I've tried it before and it's really awkward.
4. Sleep, read and exercise more. I will try to sleep for at least 8 hours on weekdays and 10 hours on weekends. And I will exercise until I become fit. Whenever that is.
5. Do well in JC1 so that I don't get retained and hopefully do really well. Maybe I should try out for top student. ^.^
6. Don't get a Facebook account, though I doubt it'll be as popular in 2011. How popular can it get?!
7. Touch my toes. Forget it. Some things are better left untouched. (IS THIS HOW YOU USE THIS PHRASE)

Photo from here.

Sawajiri Erika in final stages of divorce, wants to continue as an actress

Actress and singer Sawajiri Erika (24) was in Tokyo yesterday for an event held by her sponsors, Tanako Yuri Beauty Clinic. There, she announced that she was in the final stages of divorce with her husband,  Takashira Tsuyoshi (46), whom she had married in January 2009. Apparently, they had been settling their affairs through talks in the past three months.

She cried and said that although she does not have any projects on at the moment, she wishes to continue working as an actress/singer again in Japan. (Sanspo)

Sato Takeru's blog - photobook "NOUVELLES" is out

-------------------Photobook is out---------------------

posted on 23 January 2011, 20:39

To everyone who came to the high five event for the relaease of my photobook today, thank you very much.

I received a lot of power from your smiles and felt very warm.

I will do my best again tomorrow. Once again, thank you very much.

If you have not seen the photobook yet, please take a look as there are lots of good photos.

I had a happy time today.

Now, at 21:00, the second episode of winter drama Fuyu no Sakura is airing. ☆ (original)

--------------------------------

Additional info: The photobook is titled "NOUVELLES" and is Sato's third photobook. A high five event was held in Shinjuku, Tokyo on the 21st to celebrate.

From Shirota Yuu's blog - translation FAIL

I was bored so I decided to attempt translating Japanese celebs' blogs, and I'm starting with Shirota Yuu. Here goes.

-------------------Everyone, nice meeting you for the first time-----------------

posted on 21 January 2011, 23:56

Everyone, nice meeting you for the first time (初めまして, hajimemashite)


Actually, it's been decided that I will have a new manager. My manager has changed from Tsuchi-san(?) to K.


I look forward to working with him/her. (どうぞ宜しくお願いいたします dozo yorishiku onegai ta shimasu)


Today, I had an interview/photoshoot with the magazine "with".


**Okay, I really don't understand this next bit. It seems like he'll be working with "with" for another two years, or has already worked with them for two years, or something along that line. UGH.**


"with" is released on the 28th of each month, so please buy it! (original)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matsumoto Jun in Code Blue?! The million dramas I want to watch.

I just discovered the existence of this drama starring Nino and Sho!

The very brief synopsis as found on DramaWiki...

Yamada Taro, a freshman on a scholarship at Ichinomiya Private Senior High School, is high-achieving, strikingly handsome, and truly athletic and seems perfect. But he is actually extremely poor. The story humorously portrays Taro, who tackles problems that occur because of his poverty, and his six younger brothers and sisters.

Now I can't wait to watch this drama! And there's one of my favourite child actresses, Yoshida Riko, in it. Okay, she's the only child actress I really know, since I usually don't take notice of child actors except her and the cute little boy from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (and I thought that drama had a long name).

But I'm kind of stuck in the middle of Natsu wo Koi wa Nijiro ni Kagayaku (this drama really needs a shorter name), which puts me in a bit of a quandary. I'm wondering if I should continue with NatsuNiji or just watch the other dramas, and I also have a ton of books that I want to read.

And I need to watch Byakuyakou and Densha Otoko and possibly finish watching Smile, though I can't find the videos for the later episodes anywhere. And school hasn't even started yet! How do all those smart, atheletic, TV and computer game addicted kids who know about everything ever survive.

List of dramas I should remember to watch soon before school starts:
-Yamada Taro Monogatari
-Byakuyakou
-Densha Otoko
-Proposal Daisakusen
-Code Blue

Oh, and look what I just found at the Code Blue DramaWiki page... Matsumoto Jun?!

I don't know if you can see it, but if you click the image it should appear larger. (sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't, I don't know why)

Arashi, Arashi, as kids (I feel so lame)

Matsumoto Jun, who seems more interested in stuffing his face with cake than looking at the camera.

Ninomiya Kazunari.

Sakurai Sho. So cute!

Ohno Satoshi and his elder sister.

I came across Sho and Nino's photos and thought I'd do a complete set, but I couldn't find any of Aiba's kiddy photos. (they're probably somewhere in my flickr account though) So, to make up for the loss, more Nino!

Sakurai and Nino's childhood photos from here and Jun's from here. I "recycled" the other photos from last time so I lost the sources. And in case you're wondering why I'm doing this, it's because there's no news (as far as I know) and I don't want to lapse into another round of not updating. I've been reading books a lot lately. It's been so long since I've read book after book for hours and I realise how much I miss books and reading. I'm probably one of the few teens that could survive a world without internet... Or maybe not.

Akanishi working on US album

Akanishi Jin (26) kicked off his Japan tour on Friday with the first of three concerts at the Saitama Super Arena. On the same day, it was revealed at a press conference that he is releasing a solo single in Japan this March, and he plans to release his debut U.S. album this summer. 

Akanishi's single "Eternal," scheduled for March 2, will be his first release since signing a global contract with Warner Music Japan. The single's B-side will be his song "Murasaki." 

Currently, the singer is working on his debut U.S. album. He is reportedly aiming to release it on July 4, which is his birthday and is Independence Day in the United States. It is said that he is mainly self-producing the album, but he plans to get participation from some big-name artists in the American R&B and hip-hop scene. It is also said that Akanishi may release a single in the U.S. before the album. 

Akanishi was in the U.S. from January 2 to January 10 of this year to do some production on the album. 

Currently, his artist name is expected to remain as "Jin Akanishi," but there is a possibility that it may be modified for the American market. 

There are plans for a U.S. tour after the album's release, followed by a tour in various Asian countries. (Tokyograph)


I was going to go out and it started raining. What is this.

O-level results are out, I submitted my JC application form and all I have to do now is hope that I'll get into my first choice. My L1R5 was 11 raw, but I failed my Higher Chinese so I could only get two bonus points from CCA, which makes it 9. Hey, Chinese lucky number! I don't even know what to say about my score because it's so unsurprising. It's like upper average (how do you phrase this) but I'm sure I could have done better, so I guess I feel bad about it. And it sure doesn't help that I know very well that I didn't study enough! But at least I didn't get 20+ and have to go to poly because I really, really don't want to go to polytechnic. I don't care if it's cool or poly grads earn more, I just want to do A-levels and show everyone that I have brains! And non-Singaporeans, if you don't understand what I'm talking about ("Huh? Raw L1R5? CCA?!), feel free to skip to the next paragraph or skip this post altogether, though the fact that you're reading this probably means that you've just read the entire paragraph.

And I changed the look of my blog! I don't know why the header is so enormous but there you have it, I finally changed the layout! Don't know why I'm going on and on about it even though it's one of the pre-set blogger template things.

The electrician is coming to fix something so I've to turn off my laptop, but till then, sweet dreams!

Arrested - manager of club Akanishi Troop visits

The manager of a bar Akanishi Troop frequents has been arrested for blackmail. Akanishi Jin, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo and some of their other friends often drink at a popular club called "alife", which is situated at the Nishi-Azabu district. However, reports by Nikkan Gendai claim that the manager of that bar, along with a few other employees, have been arrested. And in case you're wondering how this is really related to Jin, Yamapi and Ryo, it's not.

The club is known to be popular with celebrities. The supposed "blackmail" involves some female university students and reportedly took place in September last year. (Azashi)

This rumour is 1. weird, 2. completely unrelated to Akanishi Troop and 3. doesn't seem true at all.

92 million yen for wrongly jailed man

A Japanese court on Thursday awarded $1.1 million (S$1.4 million), the maximum possible compensation, to a 64-year-old man who spent 17 years in jail after being wrongly convicted of a child's murder.

The district court in Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, awarded 92 million yen (S$1.4 million) to Sugaya Toshikazu for his suffering and to cover his legal costs in the case, a court official said.

Sugaya, who was sentenced to a life term in 1993, was cleared of his conviction after a genetic test re-ordered in 2008 found the DNA evidence against him to be flawed.

The compensation of 12,500 yen per day in jail is the highest amount allowed under Japanese law in such a case, the official said. (The Straits Times)

Ayase Haruka and Fukada Kyoko to star in "Himitsu no Akko-chan" movie

Actress Ayase Haruka (25) will be starring in a live-action version of "Himitsu no Akko-chan" as the main character, Akko. Fukuda Kyoko (28) also has a leading role in the movie, where she plays Akko's nemesis.

"Himitsu no Akko-chan" is a popular manga and anime. The original manga was published in the 1960s and the original anime ran from 1969 to 1970. The anime has been remade several times since then, twice on TV and twice as an anime film.

It is understood that the live version starring Ayase and Fukuda will be released in December 2011. (Entame)

Ohno Satoshi and Koda Misono often meet up in Roppongi

According to Tokyo Sports, Arashi leader Ohno Satoshi (30) has been meeting up with singer-songwriter Koda Misono (26) often in Roppongi area of Tokyo. Koda Misono is the younger sister of singer Koda Kumi. The article states that the two started meeting up with each other towards the end of last year. It is still unclear if the two are dating. Koda Misono has appeared in some of Arashi's variety shows, like VS Arashi and Himitsu no Arashi-chan. (Entame)

SMAP and Taylor Swift sing "Mine" and "You Belong With Me"

Happened to chance upon this at aramatheydidnt! I'm not a big fan of Taylor Swift or SMAP, but it's entertaining enough. :)

Hi (: I'm selling Liz lisa eyes falsies. Wonder if you're interested? (: Or any of your readers are interested? :D hehe. Cheapest in town, 1 time charge and No Waiting Time as its Instocks! :D http://lizlisa-instocks.blogspot.com! :D I don't use fake eyelashes. :3

HI .
hi.

So Akanishi Jin did left KATTUN ?
Yes, he did! He's held quite a few concerts in the US since then, and they seem pretty successful.
On my blog: http://andwewonder.blogspot.com/2010/07/akanishi-jin-to-leave-kat-tun.html and on Tokyograph: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-6357

I'm now pretty confident that the second and third "questions" were "asked" by the same person because of the space before the punctuation. (you can't really call 'hi' a question, can you)

Don't let my attention to such petty details get the better of you, ask me a question! (or two!)