Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
One weekend, my hun was in the mood to watch an animated movie. We did not really have anything on our watchlist. But I have been eyeing this movie on Netflix for a while. So we just decided to check it out.
- Title: Bubble (2022 Film)
- Run Time: 100 minutes
- Directed By: Tetsuro Araki
- Distributed By: Warner Brothers Pictures (Japan, theatrical); Netflix (worldwide)
This movie was set in dystopian Tokyo where bubbles made the city uninhabitable. However, a bunch of orphans lived there anyway. Tokyo was now being used as the center of parkour tournaments for these youngsters to barter and trade supplies. Hibiki was introduced as an exceptional parkour talent and a member of the Blue Blazes. He mainly isolated himself and wore headphones because of his hearing ultrasensitivity. This was very loosely based on The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Or at least I think it was. There were definitely some marked similarities between the two.
The premise was interesting. I enjoyed the few parkour tournaments that were shown in the movie. I enjoyed seeing Hibiki slowly come out of his shell once Uta was introduced. He started opening up to his peers and hanging out with them. The only fleshed-out character for me was Hibiki and maybe Uta, barely. I wished that they had enough time to give the other characters a bit more meat. It was a bit difficult to know the characters, especially the ones who were members of the Blue Blazes considering that they all lived in one ship. They kind of just blended in the background.
My hun and I agreed that this would have been better as a serialized anime than a movie. Aside from a lot of the characters just being background, the conflict was resolved pretty quickly. Almost rushed, in my opinion. Basically, this happened, bubbles came down the world, accumulated in Tokyo, parkour tournament, Uta appeared, parkour tournament, then the conflict was resolved. Done. All wrapped in a 100-minute film.
Regardless, it was a pretty decent film. The animation was great. And the soundtrack was pretty good as well. I enjoyed it while I was watching it. I was engaged with the story and with Hibiki. The movie made me smile and made me cry. I cannot ask for anything more. However, it did not do anything exemplary. Would I watch it again? Maybe, but it definitely would not be my go-to.
For the people who know me well, I am not a gamer. I suck at it. A potato gamer to the core. But after seeing some streamers play the game, and finding out that it is free to download, I went ahead, jumped the gun, and downloaded the game.
Yes, Honkai: Star Rail. After a very stressful and panic-induced morning, I wanted to escape my brain. And then I realized I have been playing the game for six hours. I was engaged with the game. Which was nice. And yes, I read everything and just let them talk. No skipping here. I do not skip dialogues.
Anyway, it was fun. I personally liked the turn-based combat system. I appreciated the fact that you can actually exploit the opponent’s weaknesses while in combat. The graphics were great. The music was pretty awesome. And the characters were interesting. I named my character “Pogi”. Because he was pogi.
I had to force myself to stop playing because I had to feed the dogs and actually had to prepare my food as well. Because if I did not do that, I would be gaming non-stop. So now what? I could go back to playing the game. But I think I want to read now. My eyes have been glued to the screen for practically the whole day. They needed the rest.
Well, there was nothing more annoying than waking up with a headache. Why oh why? Lack of sleep. I have no one else to blame but myself. I decided to stay up because I want to read. The problem is, since I am older, staying up until early in the morning has consequences. Let’s just say that I was sporting a headache the whole day. From the moment I woke up until now.
This was the question that came to mind: Was it worth it?
Yeah. It was. It was really something that I have not done in a long time. It was nice to actually stay up doing something I enjoy. I used to read like this in my 20’s. Stay up all night to read. Sleep at 4 AM. Then wake up at 6 AM to get ready for work. Of course, I could not do that anymore. My body wouldn’t let me be that crazy. So once in a while, I would love to do this. And I would like to take advantage of the fact that I have no job right now. So… Yeah.
I mean, I did have a nice nap yesterday though. A couple of hours was enough to derail my actual sleep schedule so I just went ahead and took advantage of that. And my brain was actually nice to me. I remember the beginning of a dream during my nap. I was back to working at the lab I used to work at. This was not the first time that I dreamed of this scenario and my sleeping self would just ride the stress out for the duration of that dream. But my brain was actually decent yesterday and forced me to wake up. As if to say, “You need to wake up. You are going through so much shit right now. You don’t need this bullshit.” I appreciated it.
Anyway, I finished The Lies I Tell last night or I should say this morning. Technicalities. Does not matter. The novel was decent. I liked it enough to continue. I enjoyed the friendship that blossomed between the two MCs. I appreciated how everything unfolded – the MCs’ motivations on why they do the things they do, and how that came into play with the whole plot. The twist was fine. It was not hard to see that the story was going that way. However, I did not want to believe it. I was blinded because I did like that character because of the three quotes that this person said that stuck with me.
I have not been able to do some reorg the past couple of days. I was in a really terrible headspace for a couple of days. But the project would resume tomorrow. I needed to finish this project in the next few days. At least that was what I want to happen. But would it happen that way? Most likely not. But if I could power through, then I would. So much to do, so little time.
Well, I was able to hang out with my love today. I was pretty much off the whole time. I was just tired I think. But I still had fun. Just a bit tired.
Naruto. The preliminaries started. We already some of the characters who won. No surprise on some. The next episode would be the Naruto vs Kiba fight. We both did not care about the Sakura vs Ino episodes, I still don’t get why there had to be two episodes for Sakura. Bleh. Ino should’ve won. She made Sakura fall for her hysterics and trapped her with her hair. It was a pretty good strategy. And yes, I had to skip the flashbacks. I just don’t like Sakura and she could be eliminated from the series and it will still be good.
Inuyasha. It was alright. Kikyo showed herself again in the last episode that we watched. It was fine. That stupid sacred jewel fragment snapped out of the chain around Kagome’s neck. I’m just so done with her.
I still had to find a new anime to watch since we finished Sk8 the Infinity since that was my pick. Maybe tomorrow or tonight, I can browse for one. I honestly just want something fun right now. My patience was a bit thin today and I got really worked up with seeing Sakura and Kagome on the screen.
Plans tonight? Most likely read until I pass out. Because I will. Tomorrow, reorganize another part of the apartment. LOL
I’ve been wanting to make this dish for quite some time. tried maybe a couple of times in the past but for some reason, I cannot get the taste right. It always end up tasting like another Filipino dish called mechado. For years, I did not want to even try learning how to cook this again. When I go to the Filipino store close to my apartment, I just buy cooked beef caldereta if they have it that day.
Anyway, beef caldereta is a hearty Filipino beef dish simmered in spicy tomato sauce with potatoes, carrots, and bell pepper. Very simple to cook, but like I said, I was having trouble with it. Before, I cooked it by taste, this time I decided to follow a recipe just to get started (Spicy Beef Caldereta by Kawaling Pinoy).
I used pretty much what was listed except for olives. I was never a fan of olives. From my experience, olives tend to overpower other flavors. So I decided not to use it in this dish. But I did use onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, Thai chili, liver spread, tomato sauce, tomato paste, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper. However, I did not follow the measurements exactly. I tend to cook by feel and taste, so I never follow recipes to the exact measurements. I pretty much followed the steps on the recipe except #1. I went straight to sautéing the onions and garlic. But the recipe itself acted as a guide for me this time.
For the first actual try, I thought I did decently. Chris liked it. I appreciated the heat from the Thai chili, I used 4 reds and 6 greens. Surprisingly it turned out pretty good considering the recipe called for 10 red Thai chilis. I wanted to start moderately on the spiciness. But at least 4:6 was a good ratio for my taste. The flavors were better the next day, like any Filipino stew dish.
However, I was not satisfied. It was not the caldereta that I grew up in. I would need to tweak the recipe a bit to make it my own. I was looking for a full-bodied flavor that I was not able to recreate this time around. Chris added some fish sauce while eating it. It gave it a good flavor. But I was thinking of cooking the beef with soy sauce first before adding the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water next time. See if that helps the flavor a bit. Maybe it would make the dish closer to how my mom’s side of the family cooks it.
After only a week and a half of not having a job, I’m already feeling the pressure and I’m starting to panic a little bit. The job I recently lost was not something easy to replace. That position was not easily replaceable. Not because it was that great but because a position like that rarely becomes available. So I am stuck. I feel I might need to withdraw my 401K to survive. I might not have a choice.
Anyway, I was feeling out of sorts. I was not really in the mood to do much of anything. But I think my anxiety is just off the roof right now. Especially today. I’ve just been browsing the internet the whole day. Yeah, productive right?
I was able to hang out with love today. We finished Sk8 the Infinity and watched an episode of Naruto.
Sk8 the Infinity. Mu hun enjoyed this one. He gave this anime 7.5 to 8 rating over 10. I loved this anime. As weird as it may sound, I think it’s 9 or 9.5 for me. Why? It’s so easy to get caught up in the slice-of-life part of this anime and enjoy it that way. Enjoy the theatrics of Adam. Enjoy the fast-paced skateboarding races. But when you look deeper into each character, there’s loneliness, there’s wanting to be strong for another person, isolation, and depression. Seeing the characters overcome that, to open themselves up to other people, was amazing to see. And when it all comes down to it, that was the hook of this anime for me. The interpersonal relationships of these skaters with each other was the one that kept me watching. Well, that and the soundtrack was good.
Naruto. Nothing really happened in the episode that we watched. The trio just passed the second Chunin exam. So hopefully the next episode will have more.
I am planning on reading tonight. Not sure if I want to read a book or some webtoons. I am leaning toward more webtoon reading. I am just so out of it today. And I don’t know if I will be able to focus on a book. I don’t know. I am just winging it right now. I’m pretty sure I’m just in a funk today because of the vet bill that I had to pay. I am hoping tomorrow I will be in a much better mental state.
When I decided to do this reorganization project while being jobless, I should’ve realized that my CTS will act up and make me suffer. Yeah, that happened today. My right wrist decided to just yell fuck you as I was hammering the nails on the shelf that I am want to use as some kind of makeshift pantry since this apartment lacked space in that department.
I mean, I did it, the shelf looked decent on top of another shelf. But my wrist definitely suffered. I know – consequences. But at least, that area looked somewhat organized. It would have to do for the time being until I can move to a bigger place with actual storage.
Other than that, my day has been pretty chill. A lot of it involved watching streams. And reading. I definitely made a dent in The Lies I Tell. And I have feelings about it. I was happy to see how Meg, the con artist – MC, got her start and why she did it. And I appreciated why she did. It needed to be done. Sure it was for selfish reasons, but I think the first person she conned deserved it. The reason why she did it was a bit difficult to push through. It was definitely triggering. And then we have Kat, the reporter – the other MC, who spent 10 years of her life researching Meg so that she could expose her as the con artist that she was. Why? Because of something that happened to her 10 years ago that changed her life and seemed to be blaming Meg for it. Which I don’t get. But who knows, maybe it will unfold more for me as the story goes on.
So far, I’m invested in the story, which is good. That is how it should work for thrillers. I should not be able to put it down. It is a page-turner for sure. Even the triggering parts were only a paragraph or so. Not too bad. I’m going to continue reading tonight. I do have an early appointment tomorrow for the dogs, so I need to wake up early-ish to at least get ready.