This photo has been lying on my dresser for the past while. It was one of the photos I was going to use for my baby portrait in my grad yearbook. The other day, I took a closer look at it when I noticed something. One of the gifts I got that year was a lego block table, something that was a big part of my childhood.

When I was a child, I was fascinated by lego. You could make anything and everything out of it. And as I remember it, it was my only creative outlet. Sure, I did some drawing too, but nothing could compare to the sheer fun of sticking together lego blocks, and being constructive. Hell, I’m pretty sure I felt like “god” building homes for my lego people. And since lego was my best friend, that table was a blessing. I spent countless hours building things on that table to the point that I probably used it more than my bed. The table was my canvas, and lego was my paintbrush.

Now for those who may be wondering what a lego block table is, if you were to imagine a yellow plastic table with a lego baseplate on the surface, then you would have my trusty block table. But my table was different. It also had a place where you could store all the lego pieces on the top, so you wouldn’t have to go digging in the bucket. Yes, my parents loved me so much that they wanted to spare me all that trouble. Maybe.

My block table wasn’t just used for lego though. It was an exceptionally versatile table because well, it was still a table. I can remember some of the times where I used it as a surface to eat, write, draw, etc. I think at the time, I was just so attached to it that I wanted to do everything on it. Pretty normal for a kid growing up I guess.

As I got older, lego started to lose its appeal. I started opting to watch television, hop on the computer, play video games, etc. I gradually dropped my love for it until I no longer had any sort of affiliation with it. As that happened, the table started losing its importance as well. From being my deluxe workstation, the table eventually became that random space hogging piece of shit. So like most things that become “useless”, it got thrown out. Who knows where it is now. All I know is that I miss it. What a shame, huh?

It’s true when they say that a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

Tags: Childhood, Lego
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Unbeknownst to a lot of people, I actually watch a ton of Asian movies. To be more specific, romantic dramas/chick flicks. I recently went on a major movie splurge, and the above two are the latest ones that I’ve watched.

I Give My First Love to You

Takuma Kakunouchi (portrayed by Masaki Okada) is diagnosed at a young age with a rare heart condition that will only allow him to live up to 20. Having been in love with his best friend Mayu Taneda (portrayed by Mao Inoue) since they were little, he feels the need to push her away as his time winds down, all the while knowing of the promise they both made as kids to get married.

Although the title of the movie is very cheesy and Asian, I Give My First Love to You is actually a really touching movie. I bawled my eyes out so bad throughout the entire movie because it was just one of those movies where I really connected to the story. It was that fucking good. I mean I started tearing up just ten minutes in! But the movie isn’t just all sad for there were a lot of cute scenes too.

Since the movie is about first love, I really liked how the movie opened up with Takuma and Mayu as little kids. I mean it’s only fitting, right? And after watching it, I feel that the movie depicted first love perfectly. Seeing bits and pieces of their relationship from childhood through to high school is amazing. Hell, being further apart only brought them closer together. Not all first loves work out either, yet the relationship between the two explores the boundaries and limits of that as well as what one could call true love.

Another subject explored in the movie is death. No one wants to die when they’re 20, Takuma included. But it’s just simply amazing to see someone so brave and not afraid to die as it’s usually the opposite. It’s heartwarming to see him tackling on his situation by being optimistic throughout the entire movie, especially when everyone around him knows the outcome.

This movie has to be one of the best movies I’ve watched in a while for this genre. The screenplay, the acting, the soundtrack, everything was there. And whenever a movie gets me emotionally like this one did, it means I’ve truly connected to the story and the characters. For me, that takes the cake.

Rating:
10/10

My Rainy Days (Tenshi no Koi)

Adopted from one of the the ever so popular cell phone novels taking Japan by storm, My Rainy Days is a movie that stars Nozomi Sasaki as Rio Ozawa, a beautiful 17 year old high school student that operates a high school prostitution ring. While Rio seems to be as genuine as they come, her traumatic past has caused her to not care about anyone to the point where she secretly exploits her friends for money. Or at least until she meets Kouki Ozawa (portrayed by Shosuke Tanihara), a 35 year old college professor by chance. Instantly attracted to Kouki, Rio actively pursues him, while at the same time is confused by the unfamiliar feelings of love. And although Kouki wants to reciprocate his feelings to her, his days are numbered due to his malignant brain tumor.

My Rainy Days is an interesting movie to say the least. The first half hour of the movie illustrated Japan’s compensated dating (a form of prostitution) industry with Rio leading her high school’s “ring”. It was a great look into one part of modern day Japan as it somewhat laid the foundations for the more traditional premises of typical romantic dramas.

The movie explores a broad variety of subjects. For starters, the forementioned compensated dating. And of course, the forbidden land of student-teacher relationships. Then there’s also rape, suicide, and abortions. It’s hard to imagine seeing a movie incorporating all those topics, and for good reason. I felt the movie could’ve definitely been just as good without the latter for they didn’t seem to fit anywhere, and created very questionable subplots.

But with that all said, I still had a wonderful time watching the movie. There were times where I was lost within the various subplots, but it’s likely due to the complexity and depth of some of the characters, something I really liked. It surprised me as well just how good Nozomi Sasaki’s acting was, especially for an actress in her debut lead role. I highly recommend this movie if you’re looking for something a little different within the genre.

Rating:
7/10

Tags: Asian, Drama, Review, Romance
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For many people, high school is one of the best chapters of their lives. Known as a period full of growth, friendship, and adversity, most people have had their fair shares of ups and downs. But when all those years climaxes into probably the most memorable night of your life, there’s definitely nothing but the biggest smiles and the occasional tear of happiness on everyone’s faces.

During the week of prom, people were all asking each other “Are you excited for prom? OMG!” and I always gave the typical “meh” reply. To be honest, I didn’t think it was as a big deal as others were making it to be. To me, it was just a night of dressing up and spending time with your graduating class. But after everything was said and done, I realized that it was much more than that. I realized that it was the last night that I would ever get to see everyone together (aside from commencement) as one happy group. The more I think about it, the sadder reality becomes.

I originally planned on wearing a tuxedo from Black and Lee, but had to resort to my backup grey/silver suit I wore for my graduation Artona photos when I picked up the tuxedo and nothing fitted me due to fail measurements :(

The boys and I arrived at Queen Elizabeth park around 4PM to take pictures with everyone. Luckily it was a really beautiful and sunny day, so all the pictures turned out great, but that also meant it was hot as fuck. All the girls were complaining about the heat, but imagine us guys having to wear 3-4 layers compared to their 1, haha! I also placed my corsage on Shirley when she arrived as she was my prom date. Now that I think about it, it was stupid to go with her because we didn’t even take the same limo nor did we eat at the same table for dinner.. LOL.

After Queen Elizabeth, we all went to the Mariott Pinnacle hotel for the main part of the night, the dinner and dance. Lots of parents were waiting to take pictures with their kids. It was quite a sight as you could just tell how proud every parent was of their kids. Sadly for me, my parents couldn’t make it due to work, but they were with me in spirit.

Dinner quickly got underway with Callister and Warry being the MCs. They were quite dorky at times, but they were nothing short of spectacular the whole night. The food was great with the smoked salmon, and blueberry cheesecake being my favourites. And as people were finishing desert, the grad slideshow started to play. I have to admit I teared up multiple times. I mean how couldn’t you?! Five years of memories in ten minutes. I have to give props to Anthony for doing a great job on it because he really captured each and every important moment.

Next on the list was the dance, and boy was it fun. The grad council had hired a DJ, and he was pretty decent. He played a lot of the “party” songs from the radio as well as a bit of requests, which I respect him for doing. Throughout the whole three hours that the dance went on, everyone was just so full of energy, and it was great to see everyone having a good time, especially at the end with Sandstorm playing. Everyone was head banging and shouting “2K10! 2K10! 2K10!”

Throughout the whole night, there was a photo booth set up outside. People just went in and out of the booth in pairs and groups, and it printed out actual photos! It was definitely something I didn’t expect, and I thought it was a nice way to make even more memories with your pals.

After prom has actually ended, many of the grads (I included) went back to the school for dry grad. It was a pretty big fail as there was nothing really to do aside from sitting around talking to the others. Many people exhausted from prom actually just fell asleep on the couches, haha. There were stalls set up around the large gym that included a psychic, and “tattoo parlor”, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that found everything a bit childish. I wish I could get my $40 back, LOL.

Once dry grad ended at 4:30, I went with the boys (Jordan, Mike, Evan and Alex) to the McDonalds on Still Creek. It was nice to just get a bite to eat, chill out, and watch the sun rise. I actually hadn’t seen the sun rise in over a year. The last time I saw it was when I pulled an all-nighter to finish watching the last episodes of Gundam Wing, LOL.. Afterwards, I just went home, and slept.

May 14, 2010 will be a night that I will never forget, and I’m sure all the others will agree with me. Despite dry grad being quite a fail, it was still a wonderful night full of bonding, memories, and happiness. I’m so grateful that I was a part of something so special, and that I got to spend it with an irreplaceable group of people, the Moscrop grads of 2010 :)

Tags: Graduation, School
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