Chibilicious

A man named Ban came to Tokyo to work as a helper in a high-class Italian restaurant for the duration of his college semeter break. His previous cooking experience designates him as a chef in a small restaurant in his province.

When he started in Tokyo, he may have the skill of a chef but he does not have the speed and agility to work in a fast-paced kitchen, wherein the cooks are pros and work like soldiers in a battlefield. Here, Ban realized his ‘amateur’ status and his confidence and pride gets shattered a lot of times when his co-workers treat him like garbage and insult him and demoted him as a dishwasher and assistant of the pasta chef.

Ban though, gave more than what was ‘expected’ of him. The other chefs and waiters of the restaurant made bets everyday if Ban was to last till dinner. The head waiter was the only one winning since he wanted to ‘gamble’ and he was lucky enough his ‘bet’ didn’t give up the war in the kitchen.

I remember a dialogue told by the head chef to his restaurant manager, when he mused whether Ban will come back after another day of depression over work.

Chef: Will our Bambi (referring to Ban) return? I expect he’s thinking things like, “If I go back to the restaurant, then what?”, “Why should I make myself so upset?”, “There has to be a restaurant that is easir than this one”, “It’s hard to think that one is not needed”, “There is nothing more upsetting than not being useful”. But you know, in the end, it’s about whether or not you run away from there. Not running away is a marketable talent. Even though they’re few… The people working in this restaurant all didn’t run away. The same goes for you.”

Wow. This is one of the reasons why I love wathing Japanese Dramas. They are made simply but give out profound meanings and morals in life that aren’t realized in normal circumstances.

In this series, everything about life is expressed through a cook’s perspective. His confidence shattered as a self-proclaimed ‘chef’ though he is an amateur, his learnings achieved through hard work after being insulted, demeaned and sometimes physically hurt through work or by colleagues, his determination to continue on living on his promise to his fiancee, that they would one day run a restaurant together.

I can’t help but be envious of him, Ban. I’m not sure if I would be willing to undergo the sufferings he went to. I’m not the ‘competitive’ type as some of my friends are. I can take a certain level of stress and pressure. Seeing Ban go through the pressures in the kitchen, I’m sure I would have left after a few hours if I were in his shoes.

I am envious of him because he has such a strong ambition to actually motivate himself to do more than what he presently can. I may currently have a goal, a short-term goal actually, but I am envious of his long-term goals. And I wonder, will I have his kind of spirit and passion to do what I want.

I wonder up to now.

As of now, I have seen only three (3) episodes of ‘Bambino’. The series stars popular Jun Matsumoto of Hana Yori Dango, Kimi wo Petto and Gokusen. You could view the trailer here to see its potential. Even if I have seen only a few episodes as of the moment, I can see its potential as another series to remember for a long time. The series is a reminder of the pains of growing up, of finding your true place, and of having the reason to live.

A must see for everyone.

I am not going to push anymore but I seem to get slower in studying Nihonggo on my own while trying to translate a manga with no furigana.

It ain’t my fault the manga I ordered in yesasia is without Furigana. I didn’t know. I took the challenge though, thinking this would also aid my practice on Kanji.

But nooooo, its frustrating to not continously progress everytime I try to translate a page. I get stuck on a kanji I can’t seem to find in my dictionaries. And I loose a lot of time that could be dedicated on learning grammar structures and vocabularies, not to mention new kanji characters.

This is REALLY depressing me.

So I think I have to lay of the manga for a while and concentrate on studying the neccessities first beforer I tackle the comic again. Then again, I have a manga coming up in a few weeks. Thanks to Licorne’s help, these have furigana. That definitely would make my life easier. ^^

Do you think my plan is okay? Am I on the right track? I really need someone to tell me what to do on this issue. I can’t seem to make up my mind. >_>

It’s still sinking in. Since the start of Holy Week, GMA7 has been continously airing a teaser on Hana Yori Dango LIVE series to be aired starting April 23.

I was aghast, shocked, jaw-dropped to the ground… I can’t imagine my fave japanese live series is making its way to local tv. That another version of F4, is going to have its position in the airwaves.

I’m not sure if it will gain the same popularity as Meteor Garden did years ago. People might think that Hana Yori Dango took after Meteor Garden. Its the other way around though, since the original Hana Yori Dango (manga) is from Japan and who better to do justice to a great work but those from the same place. Its the reason I prefer Hana Yori Dango than to Meteor Garden. It has a great plot compared to the latter.

I think, no, I believe I am just being… Selfish. ^^ Yes, selfish. Because I knew of Hana Yori Dango LIVE more than a year ago. I loved it, cherished it, absolutely went crazy over it together with an officemate and my sister and drooled over Jun Matsumoto.

And now, my feeling is I have to share this love to others. XD It used to feel like an elite likeness to something special with only a few of us who knew of the series’ existence. I AM SELFISH I KNOW! BUT ITS ALL FOR THE LOVE! XDDD

Oh well, I can’t help it I guess. Its going to air soon, in our local language! *groans* I hope they do justice with the dubbed. Sometimes, dubbing a great series could be so… Disappointing. >_>

I can’t seem to let go. The shock is still with me. >.<

I’ve recently purchased a new Jdrama series titled ‘Lunch Queen’. I’ve heard of this series from an officemate a long time ago. I previewed this in youtube and honestly drawn to it because of two things.

1) It is a comedy. I am a sucker for comedy especially of Japanese series. The Japanese have a certain skill of portraying comedy. Even if you don’t totally understand what they’re saying, you will laugh from their antics and facial expressions. ^^ It must be their ‘anime’ culture, where exagerrated antics becomes the usual norm. Even though its part of their lives, something new always comes out. I never tire from their type of comedy. ^_^

2) It focuses on one of my fave things. Food! \0/

Chef hunks with different personalities run Kitchen Macaroni and put their heart and soul into the trade. Natsumi, a girl from the coffee shop absolutely adores lunch time and suddenly finds herself in a position she has to pretend as a fiancee to a man she had never met. Meeting the family of her fiancee, she finds a place she could call home, if she could keep on pretending after her fiancee left and stole the money of the family. XD

But, love interests from the other members of the family seem to complicate things further. And the people of Kitchen Macaroni are learning more of themselves, all because of the quirky insights of the pretending ‘fiancee’.

I haven’t finished the series, but I’m definitely enjoying the plot, not to mention the FOOD!

But as Japanese drama goes, they smoothly inserted drama sequences in the series. Subtle moments of deeper feelings and hardships and life morals shared in a very simple frame of story telling.

I really love the simple but effective ways japanese drama touches lives. Simple lines such as these, can really bring a lot into reflection:

Have you ever known the taste of food with tears?

What keeps me going through life, is that one sweet smell that wafts from the restaurant at the corner. It brings back a lot of memories.

I’m glad that even after 5 years of unable to come to this restaurant, the taste has not changed. I feel good like I did 5 years ago. And I’m glad to know some things never change.

* I didn’t get the exact words, but their meaning is like that.

I got to see food in a very different manner. It’s not just an art, a cuisine, a variety of taste for your palette.

It’s also a way of remembering life.