One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.
Tell you the truth, she's not that good-looking. She doesn't stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn't young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She's the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there's a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.
Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you're drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I'll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose.
But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can't recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It's weird.
"Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl," I tell someone.
"Yeah?" he says. "Good-looking?"
"Not really."
"Your favorite type, then?"
"I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts."
"Strange."
"Yeah. Strange."
"So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?"
"Nah. Just passed her on the street."
She's walking east to west, and I west to east. It's a really nice April morning.
Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world.
After talking, we'd have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed.
Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart.
Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards.
How can I approach her? What should I say?
"Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?"
Ridiculous. I'd sound like an insurance salesman.
"Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?"
No, this is just as ridiculous. I'm not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who's going to buy a line like that?
Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me."
No, she wouldn't believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you're not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I'd probably go to pieces. I'd never recover from the shock. I'm thirty-two, and that's what growing older is all about.
We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had.
I take a few more strides and turn: She's lost in the crowd.
Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical.
Oh, well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don't you think?"
Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.
One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.
"This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me."
"And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream."
They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle.
As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily?
And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?"
"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."
And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.
The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.
One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible inluenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank.
They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.
Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.
One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:
She is the 100% perfect girl for me.
He is the 100% perfect boy for me.
But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fouteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd.
Forever.
A sad story, don't you think?
Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her.
On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning by Haruki Murakami
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I am deeply in love with Murakami. *sigh*
I'm definitely buying my own copy of his books. All of them, if I may say.
Next will be Banana Yoshimoto and Neil Gaiman (wow, haha!) .. ^__^
Nyuuuuuuu~!
むらかみ (Murakami, in hiragana..)
Laika...
The first few words I uttered after putting Sputnik Sweetheart down were: "What the...?" Imagine it. Me, saying those two words, hanging in the air, with my eyebrows furrowed, soft and almost whisper-like exclamation. I was surprised. No. Not surprised, I was more shocked than surprised for what happened was something that I haven't experience in a while. Thinking. I was in awe for something that I think, for now, is more than what my brain could handle. Murakami. Darn, my head might have been hibernating for eons (aside from time to time stimulation brought by Ady's brainstorming sessions) that it took a fatal blow upon opening Mura-kun's book. Shimatta. It left this gnawing feeling inside me that lingers even now that I'm hammering away on my keyboard. See? Even my writing style is somehow nostalgic.. Shhh.. I'm reading it one more time.. :) Read! Read!
I'm eating Apples again! ^___^
I miss the smell of book pages. How long has it been since the last time I buried my nose in the aroma of ink and paper? Weeks? Months? Years? I can' recall, it's so sad. I know I don't have anybody else to blame but myself since I over indulged with shoujo mangas and anime in my spare time instead of finishing Age of Innocence (hontou ni gomen, Kaoru! I'm still not done with it.. T___T) I got so used of reading mangas online that when I open a book, my eyes automatically fly to the right side of the page. In short, the monitor replaced the ink and paper.
But it looks like I would start smelling pages again because somebody's artwork caught my attention.
Neil Gaiman.
Rai, a new friend from the new office (^___^/"/ hello Murasaki-chan!), introduced him to me.
Isn't he the guy who wrote Stardust? Yep, that's him.
(I remember Wywy-sama laughing at the title of the movie adaptation because it was so cheesy while I, on the other hand, was pleased because Stardust is one of my pet name for Arvin. Though it's a secret why! :p)
Anyway, Rai told me about his novel which involved a Fox, a monk and Morpheus (from The Sandman). I immediately got curioused because it was based on a Japanese folklore and it was drawn by Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy) and when she showed me this:
It literally took my breath away.
... and after reading it.
I fell in love with the artwork and with the story. Arigatou, Murasaki-chan for lending me the book and introducing Gaiman! ^_________^
... and thus, it triggered my decision to collect graphic novels. I know, it's impossible at this point but hey, we'll never know! xD
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Also, I finally bought one of Murakami's books. This one:
It cost me a LOT. I sacrificed the new shirt and jeans that I've been planning of buying for months now in exchange for this book. It's worth it, I can still manage with my current clothes but my brain couldn't take its hunger anymore. I have to feed it. Haha.. xD
Another friend from the Office, Ron (haller, Ron-kun! ^___^/"/) , and I will be exchanging books next time because he has Norwegian Wood. Yey! Finally!
What can I do, I'm becoming the bookworm that I was again.. So happy.. ^___^
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I'm not very happy with DeviantArt though. They keep on deleting my wallpapers, saying that I commited a copyright infringement. WTH?! I try to put credits on my work as much as possible. *sigh*
... and worst, they took my most "Favorite" -d work, Itazura na Kiss.. T__T
Hate them! Grrrrrr.. To think I've encouraged so many people to sign up in deviantart.. huhu.. T__T
[chuu~
I look stupid, I can't stop smiling. ^_____^
No matter how many times, how many versions, how many episodes, whether it's on print or in tube, I still get this stupid smile on my face every time I watch Itazura na Kiss (It Started With A Kiss) and it still has the same effect on me: Lovebug. Haha.. :D
As I've said on one of my posts on DeviantArt, Irie-kun (or Zhi Shu in ISWAK) is somehow my ideal guy. Come to think of it, he almost have the same attitude as Chiaki-senpai.. (sorta cold, teehee.. xD) Sheesh. And then I like Kyouya Ootori from Ouran.. Jeez, am I a masochist subconciously? >__<
SPOILERS!!
Muahahahaha! Omedeto Kotoko-chan!
It's been a long journey!
I kinda like the manga more though and ISWAK.. :D Joe Cheng did a good job portraying Shi Zhu (Irie-kun), although he's a bit, uhmm, soft (?) at times.. xD
Kyaaaa, more, more, more! ^___^
If you're curious why I love this series, you can watch it here:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/group/CRSeries_-_Itazura_na_Kiss_-_Anime
Enjoy! ^___^v
たそがれ
I wonder if the person who crossed my mind today also thought about me. Even just for a minute, a second, a millisecond, a nanosecond. Did you miss my smile, laughter, smell, eyes, stories, conversations, as I miss you, in all your entirety, on that split second you entered my thoughts? I wonder.. (But then again, you'll just tell me I have too much time to laze around that's why I can still think of these things) No. You don't understand. Memories, it leaves a lingering bittersweetness for the soul to feed upon.
Updates lang.. ^o^
I'm borrowing your line, Nathan.. Updates lang.. :)
There hasn't been enough time to write lately. I'm in the 10pm to 6am shift, so it's either I stay up until 12nn out of the house or get home and be asleep by 8am. I miss my friends, I miss my Cabal Online Wizard (Akong, we're yet to play together! Wait for me! \"\ ^___^/"/), I miss going to Divi, I miss... A lot!
Hay, I haven't been producing wallpapers either. Just this one:
I made that after taking some time to do a marathon of Parfait Tic (read chapters 1-103, all in one sitting!). I should be glad because it's my first decent CG in PS but instead, I'm kind of down. I feel like my creativity (if there has been any to begin with xD) is slowly seeping out of me. No, I don't blame the job, I think I matured (just a bit!), and I finally understood some things.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
I want to finish my romance novel but after giving it another run through, I trashed the idea. One word came to mind:
Plagiarism.
I'm sorry Tada Kaoru, I got carried away by Irie-kun.. :) I'll make my own hero next time..
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
I think I'm getting along pretty well with my new officemates. Nobody calls me Essie-hime anymore (I miss Wywy-sama, Patty-chan, Ria-chan, Mari-chan and Joanne-chan! Not you, Anselmo, daikirai!! Hmpf! :p) but I'll be forever using that nickname, arigatou.. ^__^
My new officemates make fun of my name Ester. It's because they've known me as Essie since Day 1 and when it was my chance to report, my name was flased on the projector. Sheeeesh. :p
=-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
I'm pretty sad and hopeful both at the same time.
Sad because:
1. Nobody likes anime in my team that much
2. I don't have anybody who I can learn Japanese with
Hopeful because:
1. I can see A LOT of people onemanga.com at the lobby!
Sad because:
3. But I think they are just a bunch of Narutards or Bleachmaniacs.. Haha, don't get me wrong, I meant that in a good way. I, eherm, like Naruto and Bleach too but I just can't stand people who says "I love anime" and then when I ask them what they've seen they would tell me all the animes that were shown in either GMA or ABS-CBN only. Well, I kinda want to have an anime conversation away from those two animes because I dropped Naruto and Bleach as well as One Piece from my must watch list because of the sole reason that those series were too long. (oh, and maybe because they were too commercialized.. @__@)
Hopeful because:
2. I did make a bunch of new friends.. :) hontoni shiawase da! ^__^
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
On Ouran:
'Atta boy, Hikaru-kun! You did it!
Next:
Go go go Tamaki!
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
T___T
Still no Nodachi.. *sigh* and just about when Chiaki is giving his carrot to Nodame..
Gyabooooo!
(Haha, that didn't come out right. It was waaaaay too ambiguous. Oh well, Nodame fans would know what I'm talking about.. :D)
(.. and does that mean Chiaki only has a ... carrot?! Buahahahahahaha.. xD sorry, it's already 5 in the morning, I'm no longer thinking right.. :p)
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
and also, I got this from Nathan. I was curious so I took the "test:
You are The Empress
Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.
The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Another broken promise..
Nah, it's nothing serious. I'm just kind of down in the slump lately since there hasn't been any update recently on the mangas I reallly really love.. No updates yet on Nodame Cantabile, Nana, Ouran HS Host Club and Itazura na Kiss, so sad.. T___T I miss Chiaki-senpai badly and yet there's no shirt to smell (haha, only Nodame enthusiast will understand the joke, gomen!). I've watched Nodame Cantabile's Paris Night Special for the nth time. It doesn't sate the thirst for more Nodachi update, but it fills my senses with Noda spirit! Gyabooooooooooo! \^____^/ See? I'm already intoxicated by the Nodame spirit, I'm no longer making any sense! xD -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- Bukol was disappointed when ABS-CBN suddenly decided not to air They Kiss Again while I, on the other hand, was relieved. There's really something about Xiang Qin and Shi Zhu (or Naoki-kun and Kotoko-chan in the original version) that really makes me stay put and watch them. The manga's incomplete because Tada Kaoru died of a disease before she was able to finish the manga. I'm currently up to date with the animated version of the manga. I'm done watching the live version and God, the Taiwanese version almost just literally translated the whole deal into their language. Well, my point is, I still can't get enough. Why did you leave us, Tada-san? T___T =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- OHSHC, I'm still waiting for Tamaki and Haruhi to realize their #%$#%# feelings! Haha, they're so naive. Cute! ^__^ o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= I'm back in the call center business and I can say that I'm enthusiastic about my job again. But.. I wanna change some things this time. I want to focus on my job, no more half hearted attempts and lame excuses for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm still holding on to my dream. But Arvin said something to me that made me decide in favor of BPO industry again. (No, Hun, it's not the "I told you so" speech.. It's the "Let's compromise" talk.. ^__^) Anyhow, my CCT (Cultural and Communications Trainer) in 24/7 was really good. He's so observant of what my flaws were and was able to pin them out individually. But then again, I noticed, since I started working with 24/7, I got scared to speak and write in English again. I feel like there's always something wrong either with my S-V agreement or with my tenses.. Ugh. See? I won't edit this post anymore, I'll end up redoing everything, just tell me if I have any errors, OK? :D ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* So there, another senseless post.. But Paula's right, this is my blog so I can choose whatever is in it.. xD maybe I can write a more thoughtful post next time.. Teehee.. xD Jaa! d^___^b
