Reunion

Day Forty Nine.

I’m sorry if it took me quite a while to write this post. I’ve just been extremely busy these past few days. I told you, day forty nine would be different from most of my posts and believe me it is. What’s so different? Well, for one thing, I’m writing it in a different country. I flew to Singapore last Monday and I am now writing this post in my hotel room. I’ve been planning on going back to Singapore for quite some time now. But I didn’t have enough money for my expenses. But recently, I got my hands on some cash so I flew here immediately.

But that wasn’t the only reason I came to Singapore in such a hurry. The main reason was that two of the most important people in my life are here on vacation. Shortly after their engagement, Kazu and Reiko flew to Singapore to relax and see the sights. And I’ve decided to finally face them. Yes, I was really shocked and hurt when I found out about them but I didn’t cry at all! Truth is, the more I looked at their photo, I started to realize how much I wanted to see the both of them. I miss them so much. And so, eventhough it might hurt me even more, I decided to go and see them.

When you have decided to do the right thing, luck would definitely be on your side. Everything went smoothly when I came here to Singapore. My plane arrived ahead of schedule, the cab driver was extremely nice and helpful and even though I didn’t make a reservation, the first hotel I went to had an available room. And it wasn’t just any room, it was a very very nice room and it even has free wifi access!  It was my most relaxing and convenient trip ever!

Of course, the first thing I did when I got here was take a 2-hour long hot shower and then I pigged-out on the local cuisines! It was amazing! Unfortunately, the sudden change of weather and the different types of food I ate, did not agree with my body at all. Not to mention, the jet-lag and the extremely long time I spent in the shower. So after one day in Singapore, I started to feel really sick! I had a terrible cough and cold and even a slight fever! It sucked big time!

But that didn’t stop me from seeing the sights! I went to Sentosa the other day, hoping to feel a little more relaxed. But it didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would be. Sentosa looked completely different. They seemed to be renovating the place, so what used to be a beautiful view was now replaced by steel bars, tractors and machineries! It wasn’t a pretty sight at all! The park was also quite empty. In fact, there were barely any people there. I even got to ride the cable car by myself! The last time I went to Sentosa, they squeezed five people in our cable car! But now I had the cable car all to myself! It was unbelievable! But I sorta loved it! Although an empty park could be quite depressing.

When I got to Sentosa, of course the first few attractions I checked-out were the movie theaters. I first went to “4D Magix”.  It was rather disappointing. The 4D effects were pretty good, especially the water splashing and the claw-like thingys nipping at my legs.  But the movie itself was really crappy! I thought it would at least be funny since Leslie Nielsen was the lead actor but it was a total disaster!

After 4D Magix, I went to “Cineblast”. Now that one was so much better! We went on this Extreme Log Ride and it was like a virtual roller coaster but so much more exciting than your average roller coaster. I  had so much fun! I was sitting next to a Korean girl and we were both laughing and screaming!

After that, I planned on going to the “Underwater World” but I just couldn’t find it. Maybe they were renovating it or something. So I just walked around the place, in my high-heels, no less. It was exhausting but it was quite refreshing being outside again! When my feet started bleeding, I knew it’s time to go back to the hotel. So I rode the Skyride which was awesome, by the way. The view was spectacular and the wind was cool and very relaxing!

But before I went home, a movie poster at Vivo City Mall caught my attention. Currently showing in Singapore was the movie “Cyborg She”. A Japanese movie from the directors of the Korean “My Sassy Girl”. Of course, I couldn’t pass the chance to watch a Japanese movie in a movie theater! It’s been a year since I watched a Japanese movie on the big screen! All this time, I’ve been watching them online! It was so frustrating watching them in this teeny tiny screen of my laptop.

So, “Cyborg She” had all the elements that made the Korean Sassy Girl such a success. The lead female character is a gorgeous but strange and nameless girl with a very strong personality and the lead male is a dorky, silly loser with a kind heart.  The nameless heroine, was played by Ayase Haruka who looked too perfect to be human in this movie. Which works, since she’s not supposed to be human! The male lead, Kitamura Jiro, was played by Koide Keisuke who looked uncannily like Gyeon-woo of “My Sassy Girl”. Seriously, they could be twins! Even their facial expressions were the same!

“Cyborg She” started exactly like Sassy Girl. A shy and timid loner was leading a very sad and normal life when a mysterious and extremely strange girl came into his life and turned it upside down. She was obviously trouble! She was emotional, crazy and eats wayy too much! But she was gorgeous and charming and she immediately captured the heart of our hero. But just when I thought this would be exactly like “My Sassy Girl”, things took a turn to the sci-fi genre. There was this Terminator-like scene then it was followed by scenes reminiscent of Zettai Kareshi. The heroine came back as a very different person. She was more robotic and emotionless. She was a lot like Night when he first came to Rikko. So it was up to Jiro to teach her how to be more human. Or as they future Jiro said, “It was up to him to give her a soul”. By the way, I loved how, the heroine was modeled after Ayanami Rei of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Ayase Haruka looked exactly like Rei! It was amazing!

Anyway, it was really fun seeing how Jiro tried to make our heroine more human. And just like Night, our female lead was some sort of Superhero too. She goes on saving lives during her free time. She really is exactly like a female version of Night! She even recharges at night. Although instead of sitting on the toilet, she just stares blankly outside the window.

But although the concept and some of the scenes are unoriginally, Cyborg She, is definitely a must-see movie! The special effects were superb, the two lead characters had great chemistry, the performances were stellar and it has a very ambitious plot! Plus there are lots of familiar faces playing minor roles, like Kiritani Kenta (One Pound Gospel, Crows Zero), Kohinata Fumiyo (Ashita ni Kita Yoshio), Sato Megumi (Hana Yori Dango, L:Change the World), and Takenaka Naoto (Kurosagi Movie, Nodame Cantabile and First Kiss).

Plus it has the perfect mix of comedy, drama, action, sci-fi and romance. There’s just so much going on in this movie. It even had a scene that reminded me of the apocalyptic movie “Dragonhead”. And I cried so much when they revisited Jiro’s past. His grandmother reminded me so much of my own grandma. And just like him, I neglected her. I felt so awful. Well, anyway, just go watch this! It has something for everyone! The only thing I didn’t like was the cheesy ending. But it’s okay, I guess.

Anyway, on to the main topic. I came here to do one thing and that is to see Kazu and Reiko. And yesterday I did. They were both so happy to see me! And surprisingly, so was I! I could not believe that both of them were standing right in front of me. I really missed them so much! I thought I would get hurt when I see them together. But I didn’t feel any pain at all! I was genuinely happy! I could not believe. We hung out all night and we were laughing and chatting. It was just like old times! Eventhough they were engaged, the three of us hung out as friends. Kazu and Reiko held hands occasionally but I didn’t mind it at all. I was really happy for Reiko. She’s been through so many bad relationships before and Kazu was the perfect guy for her. Kazu hasn’t changed at all. He was still funny and nice and we had so much fun last night! He was even joking about me being his first fiance (Remember, we pretended to be engaged before so that I could quit my job)

When Kazu and Reiko told me how they got together, I just realized that the one thing that lead them to being together was me leaving the country. If I didn’t leave, the things that happened to them wouldn’t have happened. But you know what, I didn’t feel bad at all. Their story was so funny and beautiful, it could be made into a dorama! Seriously! It felt great to finally face them. I now know that I did the right thing.

But when I said goodbye to them and rode the cab, I felt sadness welling-up inside of me. I didn’t know why. When I got to the hotel room, I lay on the bed and for the first time since I found out about them, I cried. Tears just kept falling. All the emotions I’ve been bottling-up inside me, went pouring out. I cried all night. But when I woke up the next morning. I felt like a new person. The chapter of Kazu in my life is finally over. Now, I don’t have any unfinished business. I’ve never felt better!

End of Day Forty Nine.