For the first half of my trip I indulged myself in contemporary Japanese literature.

Haruki Murakami put an end to my fiction reading hiatus, and once again my senses were excited by words craftilly put together to convey a slice of life.

The story starts with a wide shot of Tokyo, like a crane camera breezing through the city. Everyone knows about Tokyo. Bright lights, funky outfits, crazy music, colors everywhere.

But Murakami's camera does a freefall and zooms in on people, places and actions. Closer shots may not capture the city's jumping neon vibe, but it makes the place more human. It fleshes out the secret thoughts and desires of people in the city as the night ends and another day approaches.

The book gave me a high. I read on the bus, while on a wildlife safari, outside my cottage with a maginificent view of Kilimanjaro, in the bed, and upon waking up. And no matter how beautiful Kenya was, I was enslaved by Murakami's writing. I couldn't put the book down.

Personally, I'm a very emotional and empathetic fiction reader. If I can't relate to the characters, I cannot finish a novel. And this is why I love After Dark. I think if it were made into a movie, it would be charged with energy and emotions, and a million other different feelings.

Mari, Takahashi, Eri. Deep slumbers, dreams of going away, committing a crime a decent person would never have done during the day, nights in the weirdest places. It's all about perception, feeling, getting a whiff, a slap, a sip of things. The things you do make you alive, and if you do something new it gives you a rush. In your brain, in your heart, in your veins. It's like drugs minus all the medical complications and the possibility of death. It is the complete opposite.

Come dawn, things are completely normal. The individual adrenaline dissolves in a mass of coats, boots, and slowly drowned out by rush hour noise. And it is devastating to be a faceless person in a crowd. We all want to stand out, in more ways than one. That's why we strive. And we do things differently. But a force collects us all so that the crane camera can film a perfect shot of the city. Coffee shops open, restaurants full, office computers turned on, cash being exchanged by busy hands.

Ok I have to stop writing before I get sad. The point is, I loved the book.

I got this from Facebuko. I do not own it and do not intend to, that's why I am sharing it with all of you. Hilarious!

update from Kenya

I am itching to blog but don't have much time!
What I can tell you is that I am having the time of my life.
Been eating lots of meat but the safari has been a total work out.
Lots of bruises and mosquito bites on my poor thighs.
Hmmm and have been reading a lot.
Any reading material I see, I grab and scan.
So I've learned a lot about anything and everything, but that's a different story.
Right now I am in a beautiful resort in Diani, with a view of the beach :)
I am three cartwheels aways from the spa, which makes it increasingly tempting to just go there and use my Visa card.
Shillings can be deceiving, you see.
You think a few thousands is just a couple of dirhams, but they all add up and before you know it your bank account's in jeopardy.
Luckily internet here is free.
Ok, pictures, anecdotes, and maybe a whole new layout when I' back.
See yah!

PS Follow me on Twitter! zeenahhh

FUNNY SIGNS!!!! (from the Definitely Filipino Facebook Page)

I loooove funny signs. Enjoy!

I want to change my blog layout but I am completely handicapped when it comes to following very specific instructions and figuring out which codes to use. The last time I fixed by layout and the color scheme, I was in front of the computer for hours and didn't even notice that I was salivating. The dining table had spit on it and even then I still couldn't find a way to move my profile picture from the center to the sidebar.

If you know a great blog layout site for dummies, let me know. I'm super bored of this look.
Might also change the title. Forward always forward sounds very Lea Salonga-ish, and I think I've outgrown that struggling nice girl making lemonade out of lemons phase.

Three Things (I got this from Eve)

THREE NAMES I GO BY
1. Zeena 2. Zinzin 3. ZZ

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
1. Brainstormer 2. Scriptwriter 3. Reporter

THREE PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED
1. Quezon City 2. Dubai 3. ELJ Building hehehe

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
1. The Office US 2. Family Guy 3. Ali G reruns

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
1. Bangkok 2. Delhi/Agra 3. Muscat/Nizwa

THREE PLACES I WANT TO VISIT
1. The U S of A :D 2. The rest of Asia 3. Some parts of Europe

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. Pinoy 2. Japanese 3. Anything sweet/salty

THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. My much awaited December vacation 2.Working on an awesome story 3. Hanging out with the people I love

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED
1. Sonia the infamous garter snake 2. an unnamed goldfish 3. that’s about it

THREE FAVORITE BANDS/SINGERS (I have so many, but ok lets see)
1. Garbage 2. The Cardigans 3. No Doubt

THREE FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH
1. Basketball 2. Boxing 3. That’s about it

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. WATERRRRRRRRR 2. fresh juice (coconut, mango, cranberry) 3. Wine

Annika

The latest from my cousin Annika :D

On overdrive
Sleep deprived
A thousand feelings
Come alive
Humming to
A catchy tune
Daydreaming
All afternoon
Fetching thoughts
From deep within
Tossing bad vibes
As I sing
Fading memories
Of a shady past
High five
I'm home at last

"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time."– St. Francis De Sales

"There will be change, because all the military have are guns." - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

I was having breakfast at Al Reem Tower while waiting for my passport to get stamped by the Kenyan consul when my eyes idly turned to the TV screen. Aung San Suu Kyi was on Al Jazeera, meeting a crowd of journalists after being sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest. I have not heard of anyone who has gotten used to being imprisoned in their own home - two decades to be exact. She has done nothing but fight for democracy and the people in Burma who wanted change, and the Burmese military junta just keeps throwing her back in her home where she is expected to shut her mouth and grow old, hands tied.

But Dr. Suu Kyi has shown nothing but resilience. The very first thing you notice is the calmness on her face that does not at all indicate surrender. It's both a knowing look that saw yet another mockery of justice and democracy, and more importantly, a sign of hope and dedication. She will just keep trying, house arrest after house arrest.

She has a lot of supporters around the world. Governments, high-profile officials, intellectuals, non profit groups, civilians. She has won a lot of international awards for her efforts to pursue democracy and peace. It's sad that the only place in the world where support for her is perpetually suppressed is in her own country, which is the only reason she has been through a life-long political struggle.

I realized while watching her gracefully accept her fate that she is someone I truly admire. There is something in her eyes that says the struggle is worth it, and one day her efforts will pay off. Not for her own benefit, but for the nation she has lived for. The challenges in my life are nothing compared to hers, and there is no reason for me to worry, something I tend to do all the time. So I reminded myself to do like Aung San Suu Kyi --- live life or calm and ardor, with a smile that only the people who truly understand me will know the meaning of.

When I got my passport stamped with the visa, I beamed and glided down the escalator, in true Aung San Suu Kyi fashion. The only thing I've got that she hasn't is my black abanico. What's up Dr. Suu Kyi.

I'm eating Khadijah's cold spaghetti
Straight from the Coca Cola paper cup
Thinking if the dots on my face are happy
Wondering if the swelling will ever stop
I finished writing my piece for the day
About a satellite and a bunch of men
And I plan to drink a glass of chardonnay
After work for a moment of zen

From Khalidiya, to Rashidiya
The heat and stink gonna kill ya
I miss Manila, my esquenita
Where my peeps dont sleep we gonna grill ya

I was so bored I started rapping in my head.
And these words just came together like a badly made mosaic.

Zoe was such a cute adorable kid.
And a smart aleck too.
She used to have witty conversations with old people, like our great grand parents.
May they rest in peace.
Ok so back to Zoe.
She looooved dogs. She would wake up in the middile of the night just to witness my uncle's dalmatians and boxers give birth.
She would look after the pups and watch my uncle feed them and bathe them.
She smelled really nice, like Johnson's baby powder or just the natural scent or an adorable little girl.
When she was 5, I dressed her in cargo shorts and Birks and she started to think she was a boy.
She rode bikes and did rough things in the playground.
That was a good laugh.
Her tomboy phase lasted a few months, which drove my mother crazy.
She also loved dancing.
She would do the otso otso like there was no tomorrow.
She would flash her toothless smile while grinding up and down.Then she would get all sticky and sweaty and we would all hug her.

In less than a decade, my sister bloomed inside and out and became a pretty young lady.

And she now has a boyfriend.

I cannot believe it.

She likes dressing up like like any funky teenager.

She likes her phone and her Nintendo DS Lite and her music and her pictures.

She likes hanging up on me because she thinks big sister is an old hag.

I didn't know what to think when I heard the news.

I knew there were a lot of gentlemen who would like to be around her.

But she had chosen one and now everything is official.

And when I go home in December I am likely to meet this man.

To be very honest, I don't like his hair and that drunken smile.

But my mom said he's a good guy. He visits Zoe at home and they all go to the mall.

Something like that.

And when I ask my sister about him, she stays on the phone with me for more than a minute, which is really unusual.

As long as he's a great guy, I don't really have a problem.

My problem is, I feel like an old fart.

My Zoe.

Virgin Beach Resort, Batangas

Punta Fuego, Batangas

Blue Coral Beach Resort, Batangas


I am going to the beach in December.



I want a quick fix when I get tired of shopping for the holidays and drinking until the break of dawn with my friends in Manila.



That means I would have to rule out Boracay, Palawan or any place beyond Luzon.



So when the choices are narrowed down, it is easier to choose.



I asked a lot of people to recommend nice and quiet beach resorts up north, like Batangas.



Kathrynne suggested checking out resorts in Laiya. So I did, and I found really heavenly resorts that would make me forget my name.



I especially liked Blue Coral and Virgin Beach Resort.



Some people also recommended some places in Cavite, Subic and Bataan.



Not bad, not bad.



It will be very very difficult to choose, but I will make sure that I get a nice clean bamboo bungalow with the best view of the beach, and a hammock where I can happily sip by coconut juice while being swung by a young local kid.



I will probably bring a book, my iPod (loaded with songs that remind me of happy summer days), and a good sunblock.



If I could drop the bikini and go skinny dipping, all the better.



I would really like a holiday free from garters, straps, make up, big bags and pricks.



I will do it in December, by hook or by crook.

Garbage - Cup of Coffee

i had been looking for this since 2007! Love it.

No Doubt - Suspicious Minds (live)

Bella's Boyfriend