Dramas - can happen in real life...

Recently I watched a drama series. In this show the 2 main characters had the joy of starting a relationship. It was all so sweet and nice especially in this show as the male character comes from a rich family background and very intelligent whereas the female character even though smart would not have stand a chance to be in the social group of the guy.

But as all dramas, the two of them end up being together. How sweet...

Having watched many dramas, Japanese, Hong Kong and Korean and even American, this kind of storyline is a sure win formula to get all the girls rooting for the drama. Picture "Pretty Woman".

Hey which girl wouldnt want a rich, smart not to mention handsome guy who is so out of her league. And this guy turn out to be not just your average boyfriend but a loyal one who only have eyes for the lead. (cue drool and all the girls in the house go "Ahhhh...")

There is just something in a girl or woman that make her yearn for that. However I think this yearning for this kind of fantasy turn to reality to happen to herself... I mean if it's her girlfriend who hooked this guy, I'm not sure if she's that she'll be rooting for her... Though this is quite debatable but I'm sure there must be a reasoning for the word "catfight".

Anyhow as the story of this drama series progresses, we see the both of them facing a lot of oppositions (how else can they stretch the movie to 25 episodes right without any opposition) and they end of breaking up (cue tissues and removing of glasses to wipe tears).

Depending on a lot of factors, they could be on their feet very fast but then I guess not all men (or women) are created the same. Some are more emotional than others and it's the emotional ones who will suffer the most. Do women suffer more than males in breakups? Again this is debatable.

But like all shows, in the end they always patch things up, which gets the ratings up and running but is life that simple? But the undeniable fact is that all women love happy endings especially the happily ever after endings. Sigh will women ever change? I guess not unless we change the dramas which we watch. After all many times dramas imitates life and vice versa.

But till then, I'll be on the lookout for other good dramas to watch. I guess I'm content rooting for the lead actress rather than go find one lead actor. So that means there's no catfight, breakup and make up for me ;D Now where did I put my remote control...

Can one person make a difference? To the fireflies in Takano - yes!

I recently had the privilege to travel to Japan. During the trip I met a few japanese and some became my new friends.

This was a particularly fruitful trip for me as I tried homestay for the first time in my life and it was really rewarding to experience life hands on in a different country.

There was this morning where I was awaken by the loud noises downstairs. I was really reluctant to go down to check as I was exhausted having arrived on an early morning flight the day before and had a full day of walking.

The noise it turn out was from my host's 11 year old son. He was angry over not being able to sleep the night before and hence woke up late... too late to finish to his homework in the morning. So he was stomping all over the kitchen and throwing things about.

What was interesting to me was not that he was angry but because we are so used to concrete floor and walls, I didnt realised how un-sound-proof houses are in Japan until that morning. Sounds that we generally filtered out like of footsteps, fridge doors, toilet doors, any doors were amplified. Maybe japanese houses are built in this way to minimize the scope of destruction in the event of earthquake. Light but strong... hmmm....

But I digress, the main subject of today's blog is about this remarkable japanese whom I met in Takano. It was really a chance encounter. Many asked me of my trip to Japan whether I met any cute handsome guys and my answer was "Yes" but they forgot to add young to the list as all of them are above 50 years old.

This remarkable man apparently came to Malaysia 10 years ago and saw our fireflies. He fell head over heels in love (I added this on my own but who wouldn't if you see these fireflies plus 10 years ago must have been more beautiful).

So he was determined to bring these fireflies back to his hometown and began to cultivate them as fireflies need river, clean water and food (trees).

Through his hardwork, there are now annual fireflies sightings in Takano where locals around Osaka will come every June to see them.... Wow!!

But this was not the only thing that struck me. The thing that struck me most was when he mentioned that the fireflies in Malaysia are more beautiful... I was dumbfounded....

Ours was more beautiful?! What have we done for nature to deserve this wonderful spectacle which we can enjoy all year round in Malaysia. Not only that I was too embarrassed to tell him that many of the fireflies in Malaysia are gone due to rapid development and river pollution.

So what can one man in Japan do that we so many in Malaysia cannot? Perhaps that is why malaysian have concrete floorings... to cover our loud footsteps noises. Perhaps we should pay attention and listen. In listening to act before it's too late.