About two weeks ago, I grabbed a copy of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no Mori), out of curiosity on Ken’ichi Matsuyama’s latest project, the film adaptation of the novel. He will star as the protagonist Toru Watanabe, a 19-year-old college student who falls in love with two very different women.
The story begins with the 37-year-old Toru arriving in Hamburg, Germany. Upon hearing an orchestral version of The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood–his first love Naoko’s favorite song–he is instantly transported back into his college days in 1960s Tokyo. In vivid details, Toru recalls every significant episode of his younger days, from developing a fragile relationship with the emotionally unstable Naoko, his best friend Kizuki’s girlfriend, to falling in love with his outgoing and impulsive classmate, Midori Kobayashi.
Norwegian Wood was my first Murakami read, so I didn’t really have any expectations about it (which was good, I think). While it may seem like a straightforward love story at first, each page actually does unravel a world of “uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss, and desire” as the blurb says. I see these as really mature themes, not entirely because of the element of sex, but because of everything Toru Watanabe had to go through as he transitions from a love-struck teenager, to an adult capable of real love.
The story unfolds in a linear fashion, very much like reading Toru’s diary, or hearing the story from Toru himself. As such, it’s easy to read, grasp, and get involved with. I found myself reading for hours, stopping myself every now and then so I won’t finish it right away. I eventually fell in love with Toru’s character–a bookworm, a drama student, a gentleman despite having slept with several girls (I can visualize him as an above-average looking guy, but has appeal, so I bet girls like him too), an honest and caring person, a good friend, and a devoted lover. He’s not perfect, (he has average skills, lacks conviction on his college education, and sometimes confused about his emotions and actions), but he’s easy to fall in love with.
To be honest, I had my doubts about Ken’ichi portraying Toru Watanabe’s character; there’s just something, aside from his boyish looks, that made me think he may not be fit for the role. But, looking back at his achievements and previous roles as an actor, he might actually pull this off. He’s no stranger to mature roles after all, with Don’t Laugh at My Romance in his credit belt. According to a Nippon Cinema article, Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung himself said he “knew he’d love Matsuyama as an actor as soon as they met because of his ability to express himself in a genuine way.” As with Ken-san’s co-star Rinku Kikuchi (who made a name for herself in Babel, Brothers Bloom) as Naoko, Tran likewise did not take long to decide that she’s fit for the role.
Norwegian Wood is among Haruki Murakami’s most popular novels, so perhaps a lot of people are thinking, it’s about time someone makes a movie out of it; or, the film adaptation should do justice to the novel. I’ve also read about people saying Tran Anh Hung is a well-established director himself, so this film adaptation will be interesting. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, and looking forward to its showing in Fall 2010.
News about the filming below (good luck, it’s in Japanese! LOL):
This is actually a “WAS looking forward to…” now, because I got the CD today! I was expecting to get it tomorrow, but it arrived earlier.
It’s my first time to use Fuji Provia 100F, and people were right. You can never go wrong with Provia! The film is best for sunny days outdoors, and will give you awesome blues and greens, and the usual over-saturation of colors. The pictures above are some of my best shots. You may also want to view my full Lomography Flickr Set.
B. ATTENDING TOYCON 2009
I’ve been looking forward to the 8th Philippine Toy Convention (scheduled on June 13 - 14) for five reasons:
a) Pinky St. Dolls - There’s a group of Pinky St. enthusiasts (I actually joined their Flickr group) that actively participates in the ToyCon. I discovered Pinky St. dolls through them, during the ToyCon a few years ago. They usually put up exhibits and sell dolls too, so I have to check them out!
b) Plush Toys - One of the regular sellers during ToyCon has lots of adorable Sanrio and San-X plush toys. She might have some nice Rilakkuma stuff for this year! ^_^
c) J-Music CDs and Anime/Kawaii trinkets - There’s usually a booth that sells second-hand CDs (very cheap) and anime/kawaii trinkets like small figures and keychains. I hope they’re in this year’s ToyCon.
d) Hard Gay Philippines - A popular cosplayer of Japan’s Hard Gay/Razor Ramon Sumitani!
e) Food Trip - Boyfriend and I, with our friends, often go food tripping after the convention. ^^
I’m totally smitten with Japanese actor Ken’ichi Matsuyama, who is known for his affinity with strange roles. He is perhaps adored for his portrayal of L Lawliett in the live-action film of popular manga series Death Note.
I’ve actually watched him in several other films, but fell in love with him after watching the live action movie of Detroit Metal City. Ken’ichi starred as the naive Swedish Pop lover Negishi Soichi, who somehow became an unwilling vocalist/frontman (Johannes Krauser II) of a Death Metal band called Detroit Metal City. Negishi/Krauser was a totally crazy role, and I was amazed at how he pulled it off! Many people actually regard him as a ‘chameleon actor’ because of his versatility, his ability to portray any role with flying colors.
I’m looking forward to watching three of his most recent films: Ultra Miracle Love Story (where he stars as a young Aomori farm boy who falls in love with a woman from Tokyo), Kamui Gaiden/Legend of Kamui (where he plays the lead role as a ninja), and Norwegian Wood, a film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel of the same name (as the protagonist Toru Watanabe). The first two films are scheduled for showing this 2009, and Norwegian Wood in 2010.
Curious about the character he will be portraying in Norwegian Wood, I grabbed a copy of the novel yesterday, and started reading it today. I knew it’s going to be a mature role, but I wanted to know the character for myself. I was a bit short on funds so I hesitated a bit, but it didn’t take long for me to decide that I should grab a copy. Afterall, I couldn’t resist a good book + Ken’ichi! XD
a. A few weeks ago, I went to my Mom’s hometown for a very short vacation. They had my grandmother’s house renovated so we have a decent place to stay whenever we feel like going on vacation there. It’s still pretty much a simple rural town with rice paddies, tall trees, farm animals, and corn fields. I brought boyfriend along with me, and he said everything about Mom’s hometown seems to be telling him to “go slow.” True enough, life there has been pretty “slow” for most; there’s nothing else to do but to chit-chat/gossip around, watch TV (if you have one there), go farming, or visit relatves.
Going there just triggered my vacation mode; I’d like to have a longer vacation, even for just 3 days off from work. I want to go back to my Dad’s hometown, where everything is much closer to city life despite the presence of farm lands. And the best spots for taking pictures are there–especially the beach! ^^
b. My digital camera died on me several weeks ago, so I have to stop Project 365 indefinitely. >_< My camera phone isn't good enough, so I decided I'll just buy a new camera. I know I can use Helga, but it would be difficult for me to track which shots are for which days. I am hoping I'll be able to resume/restart Project 365 really very soon.
c. Speaking of Helga the multi-colored Holga, everything has been okay until her shutter disc went stiff and won't turn properly, which caused my Fuji Velvia 50 shots to be underexposed. Good thing I was able to do something about it. >_< She's now doing well and I'm looking forward to having my two Fuji Provia 100F films processed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the shots turn out okay!
d. Helga will soon have a new friend since I’ll be buying a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim or White Angel Fat Lens camera (which actually is still Vivitar UW&S). Despite being dubbed as “The Poor Man’s Lomo,” the shots I’ve been seeing are mostly really very nice, and I’ll be able to use 35 mm films when medium format films are hard to find.
e. My life for the past year has been pretty much revolving around sleep, food, work, and thinking about things I want to do and places I want to go. It can’t be forever like that. I need to force myself to follow the schedule I’ve set; I have a blog to redesign, a photography project to restart, lots of craft projects to resume, too many books to read, heaps of stuff to watch, friends to catch up with, and many, many other things. Not so long ago, I complained about having too much time in my hands, but nothing interesting to do, nobody to see, nowhere nice to go. The total opposite has happened now, and I must find time for everything.
Is this really how “adult life” is? I don’t want to wait until I lose interest in the things I love altogether, or I end up too old to try any of them. I’m feeling like “the girl who never grew up.”
Our client has been generous enough to sponsor monthly dinners for all three of us in the account. We usually have buffet, but for this month, our boss decided to take us to Little Tokyo, a mini business district comprised of Mini restaurants, grocery stores, in Makati City. I haven’t been there yet, but our boss has been there (she’s Japanese, and let’s call her Ms. Y ^.^;), and she has a faint memory of it. She probably remembered it when we talked about craving for sushi, and I told her about Little Tokyo. I’ve been wanting to go there, but I hardly have any time. So when she said two weeks ago that she wanted to go there and take us with her, how could we say no? XD
I’ve heard so many nice reviews about the takoyaki there, at a mini restaurant called Hana. Indeed, the takoyaki was authentic and awesome! Very very yummy, different from the many rip-offs I’ve tried. Even Ms. Y, who confessed that she’s not really a takoyaki fan, said it’s really authentic and interesting. It’s a bit crusty on the outside, and fluffy/soft inside. It has real octopus bits, tasty toppings (most likely katsuobushi or dried bonito flakes, and aonori or green seaweed powder), and mayonnaise. I swear, it’s pure heaven for the tastebuds.
Hana has the typical ambience of a Japanese restaurant, only that it’s more home-y. Tables are lined up on one side, and there’s a long table on the other side, next to the preparation area. The owners are obviously baseball fans (specifically, Yomiuri Giants fans), with televisions tuned on Japanese baseball games. Near the entrance is a towel with “Giants” on it, surrounded by photos, apparently of their favorite among the Giants.
After having takoyaki, we moved to another mini restaurant called Urameshi-Ya and tried some yakitori (grilled chicken). There, we had the funniest moments. When the waitress handed us the menu, only Ms. Y understood what was there; although they were also written in Romaji and some English, the three of us had no idea about the rest. One of my officemates even said, “Okaaaaay…so what are these?” Ms. Y found it funny, and I’ve never seen her laugh so hard!
Another funny moment was when we noticed that one of the items on the menu said “MOMO,” and the same officemate said, “Hey, we’re going to have your cat!” Hence, Momo’s “WTF MOMENT!” XD Ms. Y said momo is the thigh part of the chicken. I think what she ordered was Negima, chicken thigh spaced with Japanese leek called negi (thanks, Google XD). She ordered another yakitori dish and a salad dish, whose names I can’t remember, but they were also good.
Urameshi-Ya’s ambience is more traditional compared to Hana; it had what seems like mini rooms walled by bamboo blinds, with small square tables at the center. Each table is at the center of a box, whose edges serve as seats. It actually looks nice and can accomodate around 6 to 8 people. There are also Japanese magazines and manga at the center of the restaurant.
Our next target was sushi; no Japanese eat-out would be complete without it. For me, it was the “main event” since I knew it would be tasty, but also expensive. There were around three restaurants in the compound offering sushi, but we decided to try Seryna, which seemed to us like somewhere businessmen would prefer to go. The other restaurants are offering sushi within the same price range as Seryna’s, but when it comes to ambience, the latter is definitely the best. It looked clean, orderly, and a bit more classy than the other restaurants. A tip from Ms. Y: When you’re eating sushi or sashimi, go for the cleanest restaurant there is since you’ll be eating raw ingredients.
True enough, authentic sushi cost way more than the usual sushi available in malls. Ms. Y ordered a sushi set called Seryna Special, which comprised 12 pieces (one per kind) and also included 4 maki pieces. I don’t remember the names of everything, but I remember there’s toro (fatty tuna belly meat, the most expensive), unagi (eel), ebi (shrimp), uni (sea urchin eggs), and hamachi (yellowtail fish meat). She also ordered a yummy variation called tempura sushi, where, as the name suggests, tempura is used as a filling for the sushi. Everything tasted awesome, even the uni sushi, which didn’t look very appetizing (at least to me), and the toro sushi, which had gold flakes on top!
Pictures courtesy of Dianne and Ms. Y, since my digital camera gave up on me, and my mobile phone takes crappy pictures. But, I was able to take pictures using Helga (yep, my Holga is no longer named Holly; she’s now Helga!). See more pictures here!
I know this post has long been overdue, and it has been so long since my last post about getting my Holga. The very first shots from my very first rolls weren’t really good, but by the next rolls, there’s definitely some improvement.
The photo above was taken in the university where I finished high school and took AB Journalism. I love how it turned out. ^___^
Born Joy Celine. Called Yoj. Twenty-something. Gamer. Bibliophile. Mangaphile. Frustrated writer. Full-time cat-mom. Addicted to coffee and Guitar Freaks. Obsessed with Purple. Sushi-powered. Shopaholic. Late bloomer. Daddy's little girl. 85% geeky. <3 Sep-pu, Hello Kitty, pixels, and web design. More?
To be honest, I had my doubts about Ken’ichi portraying Toru Watanabe’s character; there’s just something, aside from his boyish looks, that made me think he may not be fit for the role. But, looking back at his achievements and previous roles as an actor, he might actually pull this off. He’s no stranger to mature roles after all, with Don’t Laugh at My Romance in his credit belt. According to a Nippon Cinema article, Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung himself said he “knew he’d love Matsuyama as an actor as soon as they met because of his ability to express himself in a genuine way.” As with Ken-san’s co-star Rinku Kikuchi (who made a name for herself in Babel, Brothers Bloom) as Naoko, Tran likewise did not take long to decide that she’s fit for the role. 
Born Joy Celine. Called Yoj. Twenty-something. Gamer. Bibliophile. Mangaphile. Frustrated writer. Full-time cat-mom. Addicted to coffee and Guitar Freaks. Obsessed with Purple. Sushi-powered. Shopaholic. Late bloomer. Daddy's little girl. 85% geeky. <3 Sep-pu, Hello Kitty, pixels, and web design. 
