high road to… Shanghai!

i am sure this will come as a huge surprise to my friends and officemates. barring any mishap or any freakish turn of events (*knock on wood*), we'll be arriving in the huge, sprawling city of Shanghai (est. pop.: 15M) later today. my ticket says 9:50 am, but i'm basically pragmatic, so for the moment let's skip the bull and agree that we'll get there in more or less 3 1/2 hours. well, whatever.
 
i purposely kept this trip under wraps because frankly, i feel ambivalent about the whole thing. plus, i've been so busy these past 2 weeks — everything had a surreal feel to it. maybe the next few days will help me keep up with events as they happen.
 
up until noon yesterday, i wasn't sure if we would actually push through due to some visa hassles; fortunately, around 4pm everything cleared up and by 5:15pm we were given the green light. and so, to shanghai we go.
 
*yawn* sorry. i was up until 3am throwing things haphazardly into my battered suitcase, and generally wondering what i'm letting myself in for. i had to check my hastily drawn-up list, which looks as though a major battle has been fought over it, every now and then to make sure i'm on track. finally, i decided to trust things to luck (aka The Art of Winging It), and made sure i had packed the following items:
 
@ camera — of course! what self-respecting tourist would be caught dead without one? (*checks the bag just the same; sighs in relief upon finding said camera tucked in a corner*)
@ celphone *looks at the unit dubiously* — cripes! i just realized that i totally forgot to have my international roaming service activated on time. oh well, at least i can play some games in it when i get bored.
@ tickets and hotel voucher (*dives back to check if they're in the bag*) (*breathing resumes upon finding these docs folded neatly in my neck pouch*)
@ travel money and credit cards — this early i'm already mourning the total amount i'll end up spending for this trip. whatever it is, i'm pretty sure it'll be considerably more than i'd bargained for. *shrugs*
@ my other list… (*gasps, goes frantically through the bag's contents for the third time*) ye gods, i left it on my study table!
@ cold weather gear (coat [check], scarf [check], mittens [completely slipped my mind], socks [check])

all  in all, i guess i'm ready (i hope). be back in good ol' manila in 4 days (mar. 12).

a follow-up note on My Neighbor Totoro

An english version of this highly successful anime film was released by Disney last March 2006. the voice cast includes Dakota Fanning (Satsuki) and Elle Fanning (Mei), Timothy Daly (Mr. Kusakabe) Pat Carroll (Granny), Lea Salonga (Mrs. Kusakabe), and Frank Welker (Totoro and Catbus).

hmm… somehow i must get ahold of a copy of this one.

a sloth’s creed

mantra for underachievers

i watch life pass me by
while i stand bemused
in a shadowy corner, gathering dust…
i stare as seasons rush by
unconcerned, and curiously untouched
burrowed in my safe, mossy niche…

maybe i was born too soon
or else, born too late
because there's nothing in my sight
that tempts me to challenge Fate

i gape in wondrous surprise
as people go through their lives
in colorful and violent swirls
reaching lofty heights
and plunge into heart-rending depths
while mine stays curiously flat

methinks that life is just
too complicated to be rushed
so i'm going to take another nap
and wait for these things to pass…

have a good day 

miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro

for some reason, i have been feeling sluggish lately. i had this sudden feeling that maintaining this blog is more trouble than it's worth — that's the sloth in me surfacing once again. still, rather than let this whole thing go to waste, i'm delving back in my past files to post something here — just to see some progress…

The other day, while I was rearranging my CDs, I stumbled across an old anime favorite (Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro) that got mixed up in the pile by mistake. Without further ado, I popped it in my player

As the familiar strains of the upbeat opening song wafted into my tiny living room, I was once again reminded why I (and thousands of other viewers) like his films so much. suitable even to young children, although it does deal with the threat of loss and pain as only a child can sense it. The film teems with childlike wonder, discovery and ready acceptance of extraordinary incidents. Basically, it’s one anime title that I’d be pleased to recommend to anyone regardless of his/her age.

Among Miyazaki’s animated films, I’ve always found My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro; 1988) the easiest to relate to because, notwithstanding the supernatural element of old forest spirits, the story is essentially grounded in reality (with subtle autobiographical brush strokes) and takes place in a sleepy rural setting.

The movie has no overt violent scenes, which should make this animated feature fairly suitable even to young children, although it does deal with the threat of loss and pain as only a child can sense it. The film teems with childlike wonder, discovery and ready acceptance of extraordinary incidents. Basically, it’s one anime title that I’d be pleased to recommend to anyone regardless of his/her age.

The animation, as expected for a Studio Ghibli (founded by H.M.) offering, is top-notch, and the characters are well delineated. The story focuses on two young girls who, along with their father (a college professor), move into an old country house — a quaint, rustic structure complete with cobwebs, rotting posts and rattling windows — in order to be near the hospital where their mother is being treated. In one of her rambles, 4-year-old Mei (and later, along with the her older sister Satsuki) stumbles into the slumbering guardian spirit of the forest — a huge, cuddly, bear-like creature called Totoro, who’s apparently only visible to young children…

Without giving away the rest of the story (I really don’t want to spoil the experience for those who still haven’t seen it), there are several items in this film that should be fairly obvious to a Miyazaki enthusiast. The main protagonist is a young girl (or in the case, girls) who’s learning to grapple with the complexities of life (a recurring theme in many Studio Ghibli films such as Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Laputa Castle, Porco Rossi, etc.). There’s also an endearingly clumsy young boy, Kanta, who shows an abiding interest in planes/aviation (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Laputa Castle), a trait that Miyazaki shared as a child. This movie likewise highlights, in unobtrusive but touching instances, the way the Japanese show respect for their old and the ‘natural’ spirits around them.

I don’t know how much of what is shown in My Neighbor Totoro actually reflects Miyazaki’s childhood, but I’ve read somewhere that he was quite close to his grandmother and that his mother had also suffered from a serious ailment (TB) which required a lengthy hospital treatment. He’s known to care deeply for his female relations and I think it shows in the way he presents his female characters, even those who are initially perceived as the villainess of the piece.