30

I "turned" 30 today...and I didn't go to class. Not because it's my birthday (well, maybe, partly because it's my birthday), but mainly because I'm preparing for something. No, not a party (Although we'll be having a small dinner tonight too). But, something else; which, as of now, I don't feel I am at liberty to say.

In the meantime, let me just leave you with this email (from Melody I.) about aging that I got a few weeks ago... Hilarious (especially the part about "turning" 30)!

"George Carlin's View on Aging"

"Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old
is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

"You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

"But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

"You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

"But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

"So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

"You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a
Day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

"You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; You TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90's, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

"Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"


May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

Update: I had 3 'parties' and I had 3 cakes (plus one that Rassell sort of made/bought). Probably one of the perks of "turning" 30. One party/cake was at Carlo's place during movie night. The other was at the Thai Resto in Yakuin where we had a very "hot" dinner with friends. And the last one was in Agape where I co-celebrated it with Amy (whose Birthday was a day after mine). Funny, except for the cake Rassell gave me, all the cakes I got had strawberries on them. : )

Nature Trip

Just got back from a trip to Karatsu, Saga and a sleepy fishing village (Keya no Oto) right here in Fukuoka Ken. The places we went to were so, so beautiful. Here's proof...

Here's another one of Rassell taken inside the Karatsu Castle; one of my personal favorites...

List

Got this from another Blog:

Instructions: Name ten of life's simple pleasures that you like the most, then pick ten people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

Here's my ten simple pleasures:

1. Having late night coffee with close friends.
2. Hearing the sound of leather soled-shoes walking over a sandy pavement (Don't know why, but I really like the crackly sound it makes).
3. Reading a good book in bed on a rainy weekend.
4. Waiting for the boarding call in a nice airport at the start of a trip.
5. Reading a really interesting blog post.
6. Waking up to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.
7. (When I was a kid) Waking up and finding out that there were no classes.
8. Stopping at rest areas during long road trips.
9. Having your prayers answered.
10. Waking up every morning right next to the person you care for the most.

They're not in any particular order, btw. And oh, ignore the ten people requirement. I did.

Isuzu

Ran accross the Steel City's Finest site recently. I like cars so the video ads featured really appealed to me. One particular ad caught my attention and interest. Maybe it was because of the catchy music and the unbelievable driving done in the video. Here's the link:

http://www.steelcitysfinest.com/Isuzu.htm

Wi-fi

I'm in Kyoto now. At the holiday Inn lobby -- to be exact. I'm taking advantage of the Hotel's free wi-fi which is only available in this area. Maybe, it's too expensive for them to put wireless routers in all 8 floors of the Hotel.

I should already be sleeping as I have to leave for Osaka early tomorrow. But I'm not. By tomorrow afternoon, I would already be back in Fukuoka.

I'm travelling with my parents and Rassell. We're here for Sakura and everything else.

Pictures to follow... But for now, let me leave you with this: a picture that I took the moment Rassell and I got off at Arashiyama --