kininarimasu!

It's been a while since my last book review, just like it's been a while since I've been wanting to finish this book.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, I think this book would appeal to you very much. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of similarities between this and Harry Potter, although their general "feel" couldn't be any more different.

The Name of the Wind focuses on the early life of Kote (real name Kvothe which I don't know how to pronounce), an innkeeper at a place called the Waystone Inn. It takes place in a fictional, sort of ancient time, in a world unlike our own.

The book starts off on dark times, filled with demons and magic that people are afraid to tinker with. Kote is the mysterious innkeeper in a small, rural area, where no one knows anything of his past. He keeps to himself and doesn't meddle with townsfolk, and just prefers to tend to his humble inn.

Although all around him, people are talking about legends and deeds of an infamous man named--you guessed it-- Kvothe.

Details about what he has done in his past remain vague. According to hearsay, he is a legend. On the back of the cover of the book it says:

My name is Kvothe

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

He tells his own story in his voice. Straight from the horse's mouth. Legends as he has played them out.

Kvothe was a gifted child. He could remember anything and everything he was taught, learns something in a fraction of the time most adults need to know things. Sometimes, those kinds of kids turn out to be the most dangerous adults.

The most disappointing part of the book was that it was not the complete story. It only goes to so far as to half of his misadventures. It's a real cliffhanger, and if the second book is as much of a cliffhanger as this one, then I won't know what to do with myself. Because apparently it's a trilogy and there have only been two books so far. Sigh.

As far as similarities to Harry Potter goes, I can name a few things:

They are both orphans. Killed by some sort of evil just for kicks, with them being the only survivor. Harry's parents were killed by Voldy, and Kvothe's travelling Ruh family were all killed by the Chandrian, a group of immortal 'demons', I guess you could say, because they're not really human.

The University could very well be compared to Hogwarts, a school for learning magic, or sygaldry and sympathy and lots of other things in Kvothe's world. But Hogwarts is a little more complicated and more magical, and the University just screams learning institution.

Harry has Draco, and Kvothe has Ambrose. But Ambrose is more of a Joffrey Baratheon, if you know your Game of Thrones.

What I do find different about The Name of the Wind in comparison to HP, though, is that it is set on a much darker atmosphere right away. I know it gets a little more serious as the volumes go on in HP, but TNOTW is just all around mysterious.

Also, there are certain differences with Harry and Kvothe. Harry was more of a regular kid, and Kvothe was more seasoned, experienced (in terms of hardships and adventures), and just more gifted. The more that I thought about it, Kvothe was a mix of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. He has Harry's bravery, Hermione's brain, and Ron's... well, financial misfortune.

Also, I think the story of Kvothe has more of a purpose. Kvothe is searching for the mysterious Chandrian, and Harry is just experiencing the wizarding world for himself. Although they were at about the same age when all of this started to happen.

And Denna. Oh, where do I even begin with Denna? Apple of Kvothe's eye. I honestly think she's just some opportunistic bitch and just doesn't want to get on with Kvothe because he doesn't have money. What a gold digger. She really annoys me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I can't really judge yet how magical it is since it's only the first installation. Patrick Rothfuss can really capture the magic details, although sometimes they might be too much details for a younger mind. I think this book is more for a more mature, I guess more adult audience, although not exclusively.

The gist: 9/10

This is a really good book if you like your magic and adventure. Although I compared it to HP in this post, they couldn't be more different. I thoroughly enjoyed it. They have a lot of similarities, but they each have their own charm. I think HP fans will find this enthralling.

Or better titled as why I torture myself with scary shit.

It's the last week of October, and Halloween is in high gear. I did not grow up in a country that celebrates Halloween with costumes, so I didn't really feel the need to dress up. And it's not my thing.

From where I did grow up though, spooky and supernatural stories are generously shared during this time of year. And one of the things that caused me to keep my lights on at night lately is the Silent Hills Playable Teaser, exclusively for Playstation 4.

Yes, that is indeed Norman Reedus from Walking Dead. And a damn realistic CGI animation of Norman Reedus, in my opinion.

This is only a playable teaser, meaning it's not the full version of the game, with the full release still TBA.

If you get scared easily, or if visions stick to your mind and make it hard for you to go pee at night, then don't even think about playing this game. Or watch anything related to it.

Early this month, my friends and I watched Annabelle in the theater and Jonathan, the friend who introduced me to the wonderful world of mechanical keyboards, was talking about how he was scared shit of this game. He's been talking about it for a while, actually, and said that no matter how many times he played the game, it still scares him.

And just for kicks, I suggested while eating after the movie, that we go over to his place and watch him play it.

Well. I was in for some scary bathroom trips at night.

At the beginning of the game, you wake up in a room greeted by a cockroach. Charming. And you make your way out the door. You then enter this dilapidated hallway, with a radio announcement as your background. The guy talking on the radio says that a man killed his son, and his pregnant wife named Lisa. You see lots of seemingly disorganized memorabilia, like ripped photographs and destroyed picture frames.

You are in an L-shaped hallway, and the objective is to get out of that hallway, because, apparently, that hallway is in Lisa's house. Plot twist! Not.

It's the kind of game that you basically won't know what you're doing, or what you specifically did to make something happen. The first thing you have to do is complete this photograph on the wall, and after which you make this... baby, laugh three times. Only then will the main door open to the outside, which is just as bad as being inside anyway, since the city is a ghost town. You know, Silent Hill setting.

It is so mind tripping because the door at the end of the hallway just sends you back to your starting point, and when you do get back to where you were, something weird will have changed. I hate loop maps. The lights could suddenly turn red, the digital clock won't chime midnight, the bathroom door will open, or you  might see anything in this video:


If that did not give you a scare, I don't know what's wrong with you.

I myself didn't play the game, but I did watch my other friend play it, and I could not, for the life of me, manage to watch the screen for more than a minute. This is not for the faint of heart, I am telling you.

I also haven't played any of the other versions of Silent Hill, because I'm too much of a chicken and I would like to keep it that way.

And another thing that greatly contributed to the scare factor of this is that the graphics of the PS4 made it so seamless and realistic. If you have a PS4, or seen the graphics of the PS4 then you will know what I'm talking about. It's not the boxy 3D animation before. And imagine playing it on that gear you put over your head to make the experience a very realistic first person. That will just make me hold my pee at night til I develop kidney stones.

Needless to say, I have forgotten all about the scary movie I just watched beforehand. It was that creepy. And I didn't even watch the whole gameplay.

This I think is free on the Playstation store, so if you ever plan on playing or purchasing this when it comes out, I say best of luck to you and your bladder.

But on a brighter note, I did get this in my email a few days ago.

I just want to briefly talk about this new plaything that has been keeping me type-happy these past couple weeks, and that is my super awesome Corsair Vengeance K70 Cherry Red mechanical gaming keyboard!!!

Not the best photo, I know, but trust me, I really tried. Specially when it's a crappy iPhone 4S.

This is my first mechanical keyboard, and I really didn't even know about the different types of keyboard (in terms of model) until I visited my friend Jonathan. He's one of my more game-oriented friends and we were playing Silent Hills on his PS4 and he was chatting with our other friend for tips on how to get past that dreaded hallway.

Needless to say I tried out his keyboard on his throne that is his gaming hub. You know how some guys can get very particular about their computers, more often they'll spend more on their toys than say, a decent haircut. One of the many more mysteries about guys today that I might just never be able to fathom.

I fell in love with his mechanical keyboard. I do a lot of typing and data entry in my workplace, and you know how companies like to penny-pinch on their supplies. My work is definitely no exception, so you can tell how smooth it felt when I was typing on my friend's keyboard. He had a different model than mine, but I believe it was also a Corsair.

Having been used to membrane keyboards all my life, and being particularly happy when I first learned how to type properly (not looking at the keys and only using my pointer finger), I really enjoyed the feel of it. 

I liked how I didn't have to press the keys all the way through and has this really nice soft click when I type. I have the Cherry Red, which doesn't have that much of an audible click, compared to the Cherry Blue. Kinda helps when I play at night or do a lot of typing since my grandmother is sleeping in the room across the hall from mine. But I just really like the feel of the red, anyway.

It also has some light and sound controls, which is convenient.

Also, my old Logitech keyboard, the G110, always sticks when I play Maplestory (I have then since revived my characters) and I have died several times with that old keyboard, which is a pain and a definite major annoyance, so you can tell how much I wanted to get rid of that.

Overall, I'm really happy with this purchase, although it costs at least more than double your standard keyboard, but the investment is well worth it.

You can learn more about mechanical keyboards here, and you can buy the keyboard that I have here. Learn more about the Corsair K70 series on the Corsair website.

The right keyboard makes a lot of typing difference, which kinda makes me want to blog more often than I've already been doing, which is a plus!

Or better yet, why Filipino dramas suck.

Drama series are a big part of Asian culture, or any other culture, for that matter. They have been around for as long as I can remember, the first ones I can recall would be the historical Chinese dramas with Chinese subtitles that aired on Sunday mornings on RPN 9.

Different countries in Asia, I've noticed, have some sort of pattern or preference when it comes to which dramas they would air. Korean dramas are very heavy on the romantic side, while Japanese dramas tend to be more on the serious side, most of them being medical dramas. I haven't ventured into the Chinese dramaland, though, but maybe one day I will.

My native Philippines also has its own penchant for drama. Mara Clara was the first drama I could remember. It aired back before I was  four years old, and my mom's cousin, who babysat me, would always watch it right at 3 pm after the three o'clock habit. Always. Without fail.

But in my opinion, in my very OWN honest opinion, Filipino drama is one of the least entertaining to watch. And I'm Filipino, so I'm not being racist, standoffish, or konyo. Here's why:

1. The plot gets recycled all the time

Let me tell you some of the main gist of Filipino dramas: There will be a child that gets separated from its rich parents. That child goes to a poor family, while the real parents adopt or have another child. The child that stays with the rich parents is mean as hell, and the separated child won't hurt a fly. The rich kid bullies the other child without knowing that she (it's usually a girl) is her sibling or her parents' real child. Once she finds out, she'll be ten times meaner.

Or the typical rags-to-riches story, where someone steals all of one person's riches, and the main character gets revenge or the parents/grandparents discover one day that the main character is the true heir of their rich company. Or the whole marry-someone-rich kind of thing.

And there's always the jealous other woman/other man who tries really hard to break up the two main protagonists, and does all the means like kidnap for ransom in a warehouse, killing someone, pretend that they share a kid and blah blah blah. Or the "in" plot nowadays: adultery.

Or they could have some sort of physical deformity and they have something that would transform them into someone prettier, so their bullies would all of a sudden befriend them, or get their crush to like them. But they have a guy/girl best friend that knows about their true identity but still loves them  no matter what. Ending: the ugly person gets together with the best friend when the effects stay permanent.

Tweak in a little bit of variety, like a former flame or the husband's family doesn't like the mother, but the same old story is still there. If you've seen one, you've seen em all. Rinse, repeat.


I see a lot more variety in other Asian dramas, although some are the same or similar, and there are the endless Korean/Japanese/Taiwanese adaptations. But they are not recycled drama after drama after drama. I see more creativity from other countries because some of them are novel or manga based, and it's not the same people writing the same shit shows over and over again.

2. It's always the same actors

You will hardly see any fresh new faces on TV from the Phils. If you do, it's usually the child/grandchild/niece/nephew of some other TV star, that just looks like said TV star. Nobody really scouts for new talents or actors from acting schools, or even host auditions for outsiders. They always keep it in house or use the same actors all over again. Eula Valdez. Cherry Pie Picache. Cherie Gil. Christopher De Leon. Judy Ann. Piolo. Vic Sotto. Marian Rivera.

Or they could use "actors" from Filipino versions of western reality shows like Pinoy Big Brother, or on shows like Starstruck and Star Circle Quest, Star Magic, in which contestants are the family members of current actors, anyway.



I mean, sure, some actors in other Asian industries would use the same actors for lots of drama series, but there are some shows with new actors here and there.

3. The same actors always play the same roles

If you know actress Maricar Reyes, she always plays the rejected ex-girlfriend. Gladys Reyes always plays the bitchy girl. Coco Martin is always some poor man's son. Judy Ann Santos is always the good girl. Marian Rivera is always the protagonist paired with Ding Dong Dantes. Everyone else is just the supporting actor/actress.

I understand there are so-called 'love teams' and are very common, but other countries mix up their actors and actresses and get them to portray different roles, and people love them just as much, if not more. It just goes to show that most stars in the Philippines are one trick ponies.

4. Some aren't even really actors. They just look good.

Or have some sort of foreign background, or does some modeling gig. Take Spanish-Chinese Ellen Adarna. She's very beautiful, yes, but she got a breast surgery and all of a sudden she is now an actress. The girl can't act, she just looks good on-screen.

And did you know that Sandara Park of 2NE1, or Dara as she is more infamously known nowadays, joined Star Circle Quest back in the early 2000's and had some acting roles? She was not made for acting. She would've made Kristen Stewart proud. Her expressions were blank, she could barely speak any tagalog, yet the people would fawn over her because she's a foreigner. She'd just appear like a ditz yet she gets acting gigs. Oh c'mon. I don't know how her acting career is going for her nowadays, but those roles she used to play made me cringe.



I don't hate Dara, but for Philippine TV, it's looks over quality acting. Philippines also has its own idol-casting problem. And I think it's much, much worse.

5. Not another mermaid series...again.

I am so sick of Dyesebel. I know it's already a Philippine fantasy icon, but pleeeeease, for the love of god, we've seen enough of this goldfish. The two main channels, ABS-CBN and GMA7, both made remakes of the series. Five movies of the same character is more than enough.

Not to mention the mermaid spin-offs like Marina and Agua Bendita. Oh puh-leeeease. When will people get tired of this shit???


6. The series go on and on forever

Do you know the current (as of now) series Be Careful With My Heart? The show is still freakin' ongoing for two and a half years now. The episode count is 622. Six. Hundred. Twenty. Two. It's trying to rival One Piece's fifteen years' worth of episodes by accomplishing it in two and a half years.

And the infamous original Mara Clara had twelve hundred episodes. It started when I was four years old and didn't end until I was nine. That's five years in elementary school.

That's a common thing in Filipino dramas. An average drama would last a least a hundred episodes, and they're not even that good. They just cook up whatever situation they can think of just to make the episodes longer and longer (and more unbearable). They're not being creative anymore. They're doing half-assed episodes just to stretch the drama, instead of making shorter, top-quality ones. The succeeding episodes aren't even related to the main plot anymore. There's an episode every single day, instead of a more palatable weekly airtime.

7. It's a cliche galore

There will always be some sort of gunfight with goons that don't even know how to do their jobs. There is always a happy marriage ending, with the villain dying of gunshot (or went mental). The good family always lives in a barrio, in some countryside wearing long skirts or those farmer garbs. The rich family owns the whole land, and they can buy you, your friends, and this club. When you're portrayed as ugly, you either have a big nose, thick eyebrows, crooked teeth, dark skin, or all of that.

It never ends.



8. They talk in a prehistoric language no one ever uses

No Filipino nowadays would ever call or introduce their parents as "inay" or "ama" unless that's their nickname, or they are being really formal. No one uses "maaari", "nais", "iniibig", "minamanman" or whatever cheesy old word they can think of. No. People use "pwede", "gusto", "love", or "tinitignan", even TANGINA. No one talks like dramas in the Philippines, ever, unless you want to be called feeling or tanga.

In other dramas, some would talk how they would normally talk to others, especially in western series. The conversation flows more smoothly and natural. Filipino drama just sounds like fake crap. And the only people who would shout while in angry trysts are people in the public market.

9. The unrealistic image of poverty and wealth

In which poor area have you seen a girl with shiny, bouncy curls? They don a full makeup complete  with rosy-pink blush and eyeliner. They look as fake as their lashes. Kim Chiu and Julia Baretto both played the poor girl, yet their makeup looks better than mine on most occasions. And even in the countryside, young girls don't wear gypsy skirts or those conservative tops. It's so hot in the Philippine countryside, they would boil in those garbs. I have cousins in the country and they don't dress that way.

As for the wealthy ones, no one wears a full tux or ball gown at home, in their mansion of six million rooms, yet they're always seen lounging around in their study. In reality, rich people dress up to about looking as clean and sosyal as they can, but only a loon would dress up in ball gowns everyday.

10. The death scenes. In fact, any scene

The I-gave-everything-up-for-you scene, the what-do-you-want-me-to-do scene, the let's-bully-the-hero scene, the public ostracizing scene, the face slap scene...URGH. They're all overused and abused. The drama factor is a little too high up. There will always be one. In every episode.





And those are my main reasons for not watching any Filipino series. I don't hate it just because I'm Filipino and not proud of my country, but just because they aren't really that good. I believe you are better off watching other things that wouldn't eat up your time as uselessly as Filipino drama.

This is what appeals to the Filipino masses, but it could really use an upgrade. This may be the only entertainment most Filipinos have, and for that reason, I think they deserve more than drama garbage. Quality over quantity.

A lot of Filipinos may go all defensive after reading this and say so many negative things when their culture gets attacked, but I don't care. Filipino dramas, for me, are at the bottom of the barrel. This is my own opinion. I have experienced it first hand and it's really not my taste.

But hey, if you like it, I won't judge. I have some friends, my boyfriend's family, even my own family really loves watching those dramas. They all have TFC and GMA network subscriptions. My grandma watches it all the time.

It's just that I'd rather use my precious drama time for something more worthwhile.