Archive for August, 2011

26 Aug

My Vehicle was stolen

Posted by renxkyoko in Manga, my life, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, random musings, Random thoughts, rantings, relationships. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Hello!

Renxkyoko Iglesias here .

*red-faced*

Okay. * takes a deep breath * So, I was rather harsh on men, as one annoyed guy friend pointed it out to me. I was generalizing, I admit, and I’d like to apologize for that. I  apologize only for generalizing, mind you. Other than that, I stand by what I said. But don’t hate me. I’m really a nice girl. q(^o^)p Muaaaah to all my readers then, including guys. Oh , especially those guys who have been  offended.  * grins sheepishly*  Oh, and I don’t hate men,  just the as*holes. I do like the bishies.  \(^___^)/ Well, check out this pic, ladies.

The image above is from the manga THE ONE, an ongoing series that I ‘ve been reading for 2 years.  Those two guys are twins ! As if one isn’t enough, lol ! These mangakas ( authors ) are so sly, drawing such pretty boys to draw ( pun intended ) lonely, homely girls  out of their holes, making them dream that someday, a knight in shining armor will sweep them off their feet ( and unrealistically looking like that, to boot), and together , they will ride into the sunset, to live happily ever after.

 ” Erm, girls, come over here…not to poop on your cake , dears, not to piss on your bonfires, dears,  not to rain on your parade, dears “….. *smacks each and everyone of them *…. IT’S  NOT GONNA HAPPEN ! ! WAKE UP! !

Actually, I’m talking to myself.

I have to smack myself for being such a manga fangirl. I guess I need to get a life or something. Hahaha ! Oh, by the way, do you know that  out of 3 books that are published in Japan, , 1 is a manga ? And  do you know that  books  frequently borrowed at US libraries are mangas? Otherwise, books in public libraries are just there, sitting in shelves , gathering dust, with no activity at all… Heck. What does THAT say about  today’s youth’s reading habits? So, okay, I’m guilty. But I read real books too. You’d be surprised if you’d see my collection of books.  ( You were surprised  to see my  collection of mangas, right? )See, I used to be a voracious reader. I even read the obituaries. But,  I don’t read much these days… I mean , real books…. I have Chemistry, Microbiology, Math and other college textbooks  to contend with.

Geez,  I almost forgot….. the title of this post is “My vehicle was stolen.”

On my previous blog, I wrote I was a bit depressed. You see, that night, the family van was stolen. I went to work that night and used the van . I got off at 10 PM, but before that, I got a call from a friend and he asked if I wanted to hang out with him after work. So, I said okay but only for a few minutes just to return something  as I had  work early the next day. So I drove to his house, parked , and just left my purse in the van . After 30 minutes or so, I left and darn, the van was gone. So my friend and I frantically drove around hoping to find the van abandoned somewhere. Fail ! But of course. We came  home, woke up dad at 3 AM, started calling credit card companies, the police, etc. My purse had everything in it… license, credit card, keys to the house and goodness knows what else is in  there ( good thing I got my still unpaid new iphone ),,, and that was a new purse too, the one I bought when Mom and I went shopping .( I wrote about that too, ( ^o^)# )…………………………….So, anyhow, I had a previous promise to drive 4 bratty middle schoolers to the ballpark  2 days after. ( Don’t ask .) The ballpark was at the downtown area.  Traffic condition at that place is the worst… one way, do not enter signs are all over. Since I wasn’t familiar with that place, I got lost, drove aimlessly for 40 minutes at 5 miles/per hour, then got pulled over by a cop, given a citation for not stopping at a Stop sign, and now, have to go to court on Nov.15. Citation is $220. WHAT ELSE CAN HAPPEN TO ME ON TOP OF THAT? Next day, I got a call from the bank. Apparently my credit card was used to buy gas 2x and stuff at 7-11, worth a total of $250. Then 2 days ago, we got a call from a cop. The van was found abandoned at a gas station and towed away. Towing fee …$250 which I volunteered to pay and dad accepted . T.T   The van was chop chopped., rendered useless. So now we have to buy another, a good used one coz we can’t afford to buy a new one. (We still  have that duplex on our beach property to build, right? I wrote about that too. ) I volunteered to hand over my lifetime savings of $2,000… good thing Dad didn’t accept. What a relief.  * sighs * Maybe I didn’t pray in my past life, huh.  Oh, and good thing my friend volunteered to become my chauffer. His car, of course… I just pay for the gas. I guess he feels guilty . After all, our vehicle was stolen at his place, AND, if he didn’t call me to come over, then THIS wouldn’t have happened.  >.<  Oh, but I do appreciate and am  really grateful for what he’s doing for me. My place of work is a good 35 minutes from our house, after all. And he’s not even a boy friend. He’s my  boy best friend. Uhm, well, maybe 3 years ago, he wished he was, but, we both realized it wouldn’t be a good thing. He was a Muslim… a  Muslim from Chekoslovakia. From Bosnia, to be exact….. a blond, blue -eyed Muslim. And I’m Catholic. ….. never the twain shall meet.  Right?   Oh, well.  They say if we lose something, another will always come to take its place. That’s the rule   of  the universe. Maybe I’ll win a lotto. I have to remember to buy a ticket.  I just know something good will come up. I can feel it in my bones.

Oh, and another thing……….. I just reread the previous log. That part where , out of the blue, I wrote about my sister’s BF’s new hair “do” ? That looked exteremly random, but actually, it wasn’t. I was talking about cheating men, and the first person that I thought of was my sis’ BF. Yep, he cheated on sis. But , that day, he came over sporting that new “do” , and that was what I wrote about. He he he… okay, that was really random.  (^o^)  Never mind.

*sighs*

Aaaargh, Bummer. School opens on the 29th…. * gets up to look at the calendar*    ! ! ! ! !  It’s this coming Monday ! ! !  Hah! Wish me luck, folks.  Back to the saltmines ! ! !

  I’ll do my best and go for the win !

This is all for now. Good day and PEACE!

15 Aug

The Unwritten Rule, or Maybe Not

Posted by renxkyoko in Manga, mangas/animes, my life. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Here I am again. Hello, renxkyoko Iglesias musing.

Seriously, what am I going to write about this time?  About debt ceiling? About how the US’s credit rating has been degraded from maybe 5 stars to just 2 now ? Although , the latter does have some serious implications on my parents’ pocketbook. You see,  our next door neighbor just moved out. They bought a new one for $ 150,000, but sold their old home, with a pool,  for $165,000. So, we’d think they profited from the sale? Nope. They lost a lot of money because 6 years ago, at the height of housing boom here in California, they bought  their old house  for $320,000.  So, what has it got to do with us?  Well, 6 years ago, my parents also  bought another house for $ 350,000 ( with a pool, too ), and now, we hear that the value of that house is now  a measly  $200,000. In other words, my parents lost $150,000.  Good thing that house is never without a tenant or tenants, so it pays for itself. We’re renting it out for $1550, and that’s also exactly how much we’re paying for mortgage. We’re not earning at all. We are , in fact, losing a few hundred dollars a month.  My parents decided to pay for the tenants’  water bills, monthly pool maintenance, garbage/sewage fees….. just some perks as long as they stay in the house.  But, this degrading of the US credit rating is a bit worrisome. This means , interest rates will go up. I’m sure we’ll get another love letter from the mortgage company.  A realtor friend of my parents told them to just walk away from the loan but we have to prepare ourselves  to lose our credit rating for 7 years.  No credit card, just cash for all transactions.  ( credit cards will definitely not be renewed.  I’m sure even WalMart will not give us the time of day. ) ……..But of course , my parents won’t do that.

You know, I just read this manga titled Momo Lover.  The story goes like this…… there’s this family of 2 sisters who are orphans. The older sister goes overseas to work, but comes back with a baby, named Momo, and hands the care of her baby over  to her younger sister, then leaves  the country again. ( But she doesn’t leave, actually. She stays for a while to secretly  observe how her sister handles the situation. ) The younger sister happens to have 2 guys ( Shirou and Yomi ) who are in love with her. They find out about the baby, and volunteer to help the main girl.  ( Chirei * Cherry* ) They are all high school students. One day, they decide to go outing at the beach.  Cherie and the baby almost drown. Shirou saves the baby while Yomi instinctively saves Chirei……

I  have this “bad habit” of checking out the forum to read the comments /opinions of the readers, and more importantly, to read “spoilers”,  before reading the manga. If there’s an unpleasant ending, or sometimes, gut-wrenching episodes that I know I won’t be able to stand ,  then I don’t read it. Eh. I know that’s stupid, but that’s just  me. I can’t help it. I try to avoid unpleasant stuff like that.  Anyhow, there’s a thread there that discusses  Yomi’s action of saving Chirei first. Each opinion is  understandably  againts Yomi. ” How dareYomi save Chirei who can  survive, instead of the baby who is helpless?”  That’s a natural reaction. But here’s the thing………   In the hierarchy of things, there’s an unwritten rule that the spouse saves his /her spouse first, even if the other one is his/her own parent or child. …. all things being equal, of course.  If’ for instance,  your  spouse is too far to be saved successfully, then save the one closest to you.  Another example is during childbirth. ……………If the situation  calls for a choice between saving the child or the mother, saving the mother wins hands down. Even in court trials, the court cannot force the wife ( or husband) to testify againts the spouse..  The unwritten rule is now part of the laws of the land.  What then is the point of all this?  My point is, that’s how strong  the marriage bond should be. When people marry, they become ONE  ENTITY in the whole universe.  You take a vow to be together, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in health and in sickness,  until death do you part.

I’m not saying married people should stay together forever, even if the marriage turns into an untenable relationship. Definitely not. I only have 2 reasons, though,   if I’m the one to initiate  divorce.

1. Husband cheats on me.  Before I turn over my life, body and soul , to a man, he should get my  my complete trust and faith in him. Once they are betrayed, lifeline is permanently broken. Why ? Because  I do not forget nor forgive. The man’s presence will always remind me of  his betrayal, an act that I know will haunt me forever.

2. Being in an abusive relationship, in words and in deed.  It ‘s not abusive, Hollywood style, it is the real McCoy, where I am threatened with bodily harm, get yelled at and insulted  24/7.  In fact, this is one of the very, very few reasons the Vatican will annul a Catholic marriage.

Other than these two,  I shall stay married, for better or for worse, forever.  Unless, of course, husband divorces me.  That’s fine. I’d rather have that, than staying married and cheat on me.  Hah! Do  people think  it’s only women who are left holding the short end of the stick? If you  believe that, you better look like this……

Because,  mister,   women are as capable of leaving men for guys who look like that before they  can cry Uncle !  Men  are also as likely to turn into  simpering ninnies , pining for their  beloved exes .  Women do not even need men to have children nowadays.  They can just go to ferility clinics and have themselves impregnated, give birth to a child, be loving mothers, and at the same time, live a happy single life, free from worries of trying to please a man every single day.  ( Hey, hey, calm down , Ren… not all men are cheaters. there are more men who are as  faithful  as your Dad.  Just choose well, and use your head all the time )

Ahahah ! I’m just musing…………. My heart  does  go out to those whose hearts have been broken, whatever the gender is. I live by the motto, Golden Rule. Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you. Oh, speaking of which, my sister’s boyfriend had a haircut… He’s almost bald now. He hehe …. Sis freaked out. We all did…..   it was only Dad who approved. Well, he used to have long blond hair, longer than shoulder length, and it was always tied back. LOL ! This is so random.

Oh . oh! ! !  I just read 3 mangas. one is completed, 2 are ongoing.  One is a Korean manhwa, by the same author as Ways of the Jogang Jicheo and The Boy Who Will sell Kisses for 5000 Won. The title is  ” Die or Like Me ” , I wrote about the other two on my previous blogs. But this one, Die or Like Me is heart wrenching. Aaaargh ! I don’t think I’ll read this. I ‘ve seen the raws… oh. my gawd ! ! The main guy is in bed with another girl several times.. I mean, they’re both naked, so I assume they’re doing it. Oh, oh ! ! I won’t read this ! ! Damn ! ! *ponders* You know what, if there’s a guy who wants to go into a relationship with me,  he better not tell me his past, if there’s any.  I’d prefer to be blissfully ignorant; The thought of him doing it with another girl will forever haunt me. I don’t think I can handle it. This is one of my hang-ups.I know it’s unrealistic in this day and age, and I hope I can get past that, but , right now? I don’t think so. Ah, uh. A guy friend tells me it’s called mental voyeurism. I had a classmate last year ,  a Filipino, too, whom I liked, and I was very sure he liked me too.  Even our classmates thought we had started dating. But then, one day, he told me, oh, so  casually , that  he used to live with his ex girlfriend. I don’t remember how that came up. …… Oh, I remember…..  our tenants were moving out, and I thought he was living alone in an apartment, so I asked him if he wanted to rent the house, and he could just get roommates, like our students/tenants.  ( The house is located near the university.) And he said, “Oh, no, I live in a  house now with my cousins as roommates, and the house is owned by a relative. I used to live in an aprtment with my ex.”  I was dumbfounded and went into complete shock. Do you know how it was like? Icy chill crept from my head down to my toes. He was still speaking, but I couldn’t hear it… the sound seemed to come from far far away. In a second, I went into total  ignore mode. I stopped speaking to him, ignored his calls, and wouldn’t even look at him.  Good thing school was almost over. But I know he was as devastated as I was, but , ” sorry. It’s me. Can’t help it.  it’s not your fault. ”

Oh, my. I think I should stop here.  I’m not making sense anymore.

Oh, well.

This is all for now. I think I’m feeling a little depressed.  Sorry.  Bye, PEACE!

6 Aug

Just Musing..and Ranting !

Posted by renxkyoko in mangas/animes, my life, random musings, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Hello there ! renxkyoko iglesias here, musing…

I;ve been slacking, I know. But I’ve been really busy with this and that. This and that  are of course my work

and this—–>

Actually, I’m reading   another Korean manhwa ,”Ways of the Jogang Jicheo” that  I’m trying  to translate  from Vietnamese to English, through Google translate. Vietnamse translations are super crappy.  But I suspect it’s just Vietnamese  that’s difficult to translate.  Perhaps it’s a difficult language. But it’s surprising because I notice Vietnamese language has very  few words . And maybe one word has several pronunciations, and each pronunciation has a  different meaning ? ? The most common words are gia, gi, gio, khong, kho, cua cau co non, noi… chu, chau chac, di, dai, dian, ngoi,nguoc, etc. I swear these are the only words I read. To confirm whether Google translate is useless and not helpful at all, I tried translating Filipino language  ( I’m kind of fluent in conversational Filipino) to English, and what do you know, it was almost 98% accurate ! 

To compare:

Filipino language:  * Google with asterisk*  , my own translation enclosed in ( parentheses)……..

Oy, estupido, tarantado, gago, tanga, bobo!  * Hey, stupid, flustered, foolish, idiot, simpleton ! * (  I have the same translation , except tarantando  has a stronger meaning in Filipino, and bobo can also mean stupid and dimwitted)

Bakit mo sinira ang kotse ko?  * Why have you destroyed my car?*   ( same translation )

Doble cara ka talaga. * Doble cara you really.* ( You’re really double faced )

Akala ko ba magaling kang mag maneho? * I thought good to drive.* ( I thought you were good in driving.)

Bayaran mo iyan. * Pay that .* ( same translation )

Hora mismo!  Kung hindi, ihabla kita. * Hora itself.  If not , chargeable income.* ( Right now!  Or else, I’ll sue  you.)

Mabuti na lang , wala kang pasahero. * Fortunately, you don’t have passengers.* ( same translation)

On the other hand, this is what  I go through with Vietnamese translation.

Ne… Den gio roi. Nau di thoi.  * Ne… Gio roi den . Nau di thoi. *  ( What the !#$%^& )

I rest my case. In one previous translation, there were only two English words.. constipation and toilet. So the rest of the dialogue  was up to my colorful imagination and tons of patience.

     Don’t think I’m crazy.  So, okay, I am. \(^____^)/ Well,   the last English release of this manhwa  was in May. I’ve been patiently  waiting for 2 months, and right now, I’m at the end of my tether . I really want to know what happens.  So what’s in the story that I find really interesting?  Well, it’s about a couple who are involved in an arranged marriage.  The main girl is passive but it’s the main guy who vehemently opposes it, but for some reason,  cannot do anything about it, and has to  follow the  family’s wishes and honor. The couple are very young, both high school students. The main girl moves in to  the main guy’s home   ( his parents are there ) and transfers to the main guy’s school,too. The main guy happens to be the most popular student at  school ( rich and handsome )and has a regular  groupie, 2 boys and 2 girls. The 2 girls are hopelessly in love with the main guy, and thus, resent the presence of the main girl. The main guy is oblivious to this adoration and is also resentful of his fiancee, and is actually quite cruel to the main girl.  Not only that, the main girl gets bullied by the 2 girl rivals. The bullying is unbelievably cruel  . She gets beaten up , like everyday? , comes  home with bruises and the main guy doesn’t even care. It’s utterly frustrating and aggravating  that the main girl  takes shit from everybody, including her fiance, like it’s constant abuse ! she doesn’t do anything about it,  and nobody seems to care.  Is she  really  Mother Teresa?  If I were the girl, I’d pick up a jackhammer and impale their heads .  Let all hell break loose.  Just kidding. Meh. Of course the story is exagerrated. Anyhow, the main girl is really not weak. The familes are steeped in tradition , and she has been told that the moment she enters Ja Euk Hyun ‘s household ( yep, that’s the bastard’s name ), she’ll be a Euk Hyun forever, even her ghost. No divorce allowed.  !#$%^%^&* ! ! !  Here’s a sample of  how she gets bullied.

And that is just the first of many.  Of course she knows how to fight… she’s trained in the martial arts, but she’s not supposed to fight. That’s one of the douchebag’s and  for some reason, her own’s family’s  conditions.  I wonder, how come nobody gets sued for assault in Korean manhwas?  Over here in the US, real time, there is zero tolerance on bullying. Well, at least , in elementary…………….  I have to confess something…* sweat drops *…. When I was in 5th grade, I was suspended for 2 days for bullying.  Hey, it wasn’t my fault !  I got indirectly involved  with my best friend’s shenanigans.  So what was it about ?  Well, there was this boy classmate… apparently, he was seen one time picking his nose. At recess ( about 10 AM ) , my classmate accidentally touched the booger boy, she screamed EEEk and touched me ( to pass on the germs to me ) and I touched another girl, and she touched another one. Booger boy saw all that , cried like a girl, and ran to the principal’s office to snitch. So, we four girls were called to the office  and scolded by the principal, who  had someone call the parents to pick us up, and told we were suspended for 2 days.

Ooops, I digress.. back to the manhwa. 

And this next pictures  portray  the attitude of the main guy…. Grrrrrr ! !  The main guy is even handing over his fiance to his best friend ! Oooh, I wanna see how that guy will fall off his high horse and go crawling  to the pitiful girl to ask for forgiveness ( and he will … there’s a scene there where the girl finally leaves him and he goes to her house  and stays there, outside , ( the family of the girl doesn’t open the gate)  kneels down, and  stays that way for goodness how long, it seems 2 days , until he passes out.  Oh, one more thing , the best friend falls deeply in love with the girl, and the bastard fiance starts to get jealous.  Ahahaha ! That’s shoujo for you. So typical and cliche but I’m lovin’ it! !

I try  translating this manhwa, but I thinknI’ll just give up.  I’ ve seen the happy ending anyway, so, that’s okay.. Yep, I love happy endings. I try to avoid  sad ones, or stories where the main guy hooks up with another girl, likes another girl,  does not like the girl ( the unrequited love ) or heaven forbid, cheats on the main girl. Aaargh ! there are numerous stories like that. There were   times when I unsuspectingly got to read something like that, and I was like, Shoot ! What is this! Noooo !  and I would just stop reading, and get really upset, and try to erase it from my memory. And I’d  look like this……

Avoiding stories like these is one of my hang-ups. I’ve got  a lot and  being in denial is just one of them.  I’m on Cloud 9. I don’t want to get off. Perhaps that’s the reason why I don’t go into relationships ?  I’m afraid to get hurt. …. * ponders*  ( Wow, that’s melodramatic !  Ahahaha ! So not me. I said I was shallow, right? Lol ) .  But that’s true, though! !  You know, there’s one blogger here , a young wife whose husband cheated on her while she was pregnant with their first child!  When I read her story (  in fact, it’s a series of stories ), it upset me for days. The OW ( Other Woman ) travelled 10 hours to meet up with her husband. Meanwhile, the husband reserved a hotel room. And, when they met up at a parking lot, they couldn’t even wait to go to the hotel, they  almost did it in the car. (what the #!$%^&*&^% ! !  The thought of that would devastate me. ) Now,  I don’t remember how the wife found out. Anyhow, they went into counselling session. The husband told her that if he lost her, it would kill him. ( Wahahaha!  Are you F#!%^&*& ing kidding me? That’s what I’d say…. ) The therapist, in fact, told her ( I;m sure without her husband  ) he’d do it again. Well! ! ! I’m sure the therapist knew what he was talking about and he was merely telling the wife to be prepared for that happening again. So, anyway, I commented on her blog…. told her not to let go of  her physical appearance, start saving up, have money of her own, so that just in case that darn prick did it again, just kick him out of her life.  Garnish his wages!   ( Says to self… Alright, calm down, Ren…. relax, take a deep breath )  …… I’m okay. ….

Ahaha ! I guess this is enough ranting for one day.  Oh, wait, before I say bye bye, have you seen the movie, “The Devil Wears Prada ? ”  Unfortunately, my sister’s friend, my manager at my second job, has been transferred to another store nearby, and he has been replaced by someone  who came from San Francisco. The new one is like that woman in that movie, and I’m Anne Hathaway. She’s only 30 -ish, but is very demanding and stern -looking. We’re now supposed to dress up all in black.  * sighs* Let’s see what happens.

So, bye for now. Be cool and stay cool. PEACE.