Yo quiero hablo Español (Wo hen xi huan hui shuo Xi ban yan hua)

Please feel free to post a comment to correct if the title of this blog translates correctly.

I've been watching the new TV series of ABS-CBN, Crazy for You starring Luis Manzano and Toni Gonzaga and I'm quite enjoying it for a few weeks now. It was shot in Barcelona, Spain and it is really an opportune time for me to be watching it, just when I'm in the process of reviewing my Spanish (not that the TV series is in Spanish) in preparation for a diagnostic exam which I plan to take at Instituto Cervantes. I actually plan to enrol at Instituto but in order to save, I would like to review first so I wouldn't be placed in Level 1 of the Beginners class. Eventually, I plan to take the D.E.L.E. which is much like the IELTS for the English language, and fulfill my dream of reading the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in Rizal's handwriting, in Spanish. Of course, I would like to see Barcelona someday and try to converse with native speakers. I remember the thrill I experienced when, in Shenzhen, I was trying to buy a doll outside the Wonders of the World but the girl was ignoring me. Then, I gathered my guts, thought hard what to say and uttered some broken Mandarin which goes, "Wo xihuan yi ge" and then pointed to the doll and asked "duo shao?" I knew it wasn't exactly correct but I though it meant, "I want one. How much is it?" To my delight, the girl looked at me and smiled and in a few minutes, I was able to purchase the doll.

I had another experience with trying out my mandarin in the "real world" in Singapore. I was in Sentosa with my friends and I followed them to the islet where you can find the rock forming the word "Sentosa". Purportedly, that islet is the southernmost point of Continental Asia. That same islet was actually featured as one of the pitstops in the Amazing Race, asian leg, the same one which had a pit stop in Manila, specifically the Coconut Palace. Anyway, you needed to cross a long hanging bridge to get to the islet and so, carrying all my implements, I crossed the bridge with a bunch of Chinese tourists. Right in front of me was this dork who kept moving and jumping, shaking the bridge, causing it to sway. I do not easily get dizzy but all the swaying got into me and made me nauseous. I asked the guy to stop but he was ignoring me/ He just looked at me, smiling! Geesh, he was enjoying all the swinging! thought I had to think quick and say something. Out of dizziness, I asked him, "Ni shi zai na li?!" which I though meant where are you from. Again, I got that silly smile (he probably didn't understand Mandarin afterall) and before I could remember the curse words in Mandarin, we got to the end of the bridge, he hopped on the islet happily while I saw the world spinning around me. Later on, I told my Tsinoy friend about it and discovered that I was wrong! I wanted to ask the guy where is he from but ended up asking him "Where are you now?" Yikes! I should have asked, "Ni shi cong na li?" or something. Yikes!

Obviously, aside from Spanish, I also need to practice and learn more Mandarin. I plan to enrol at the Ateneo Confucius Institute but again, I'm reviewing so I could qualify to enrol at the Basic Chinese 2 and later on to Business Chinese. Podcasts are quite helpful and there are a lot which can be downloaded for free.

Hopefully, by the end of next year, I'll be able to watch my Chinese movie collection without needing to read the subtitles.

Harry Potter has grown up

Since one of the contents of my google personalized home page is the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator or HPANA, I got the chance to view the most recent pics from the Order of the Phoenix set. I took particular note of Dumbledore's Army group pic showing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Cho Chang, Neville (he's grown tall!), Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ginny (di sila bagay ni Harry, I swear!), Fred and George, and the others. I just realized that this movie series is probably one of the few wherein casting has been kept wonderfully intact (notwithstanding the death of Richard Harris) despite the length of time shooting the entire series. They are now on the 5th movie while the 1st of the series was shot way back in year 2000. And despite the fact that the HP movies are not exactly of classic or epic proportions, I personally consider it as one of the most memorable films I've seen primarily because of the books and how much satisfaction the movie gives me seeing the story come to life in the big screen.

At this point, I know it is needless to say that I am a fan of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books. I particularly admire her for standing up to the pressure, having to write the last few installments (books 4, 5, 6 and 7, in particular) with the whole world watching. At the very least, she had the luxury of writing the first 3 books in relative peace as the series gained phenomenal status between the release of books 3 and 4.

I unexpectedly foudn myself reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone over the weekend. I suppose I was trying to relieve the wonder of reading that book which I believe, plucked me from the adult world back to my childhood. I have since read the Chronicles of Narnia which, although equally magical and in my opinion suitable for children, it lacked the humor and fun that was in the HP books. Lord of the Rings was of course quite serious for trying to be goofy, childlike and loving it while Roald Dahl books, while funny, aren't as magical and novel as HP. HP may not be the "best" children's book but certainly, it was for me personally life changing, not in the philosophical sense, but in the recreational sense.

Having reminded of all the enjoyment I had reading Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, I somehow feel betrayed by J.K. Rowling because I never expected the dark, gloomy mood NOT to pick up after Cedric Diggory's death. It was quite evident that Book 4 is not only the chronological first half of the series; it was truly the turning point of the story. I felt betrayed because I loved the books for being children's books and it has turned our to be a thriller. Anyway, I have placed things in perpective and realized, as I mentioned earlier, that it is actually admirable for J.K. Rowling to be able to write in this environment where all her fans are awaiting the conclusion of her book, each having his or her wishes how it should end. There are actually several websites espousing the belief that Dumbledore is not dead despite J.K. Rowling's categorical statement that he is indeed dead. Come to think of it, none of us would probably be outraged about Dumbledore' death if we had read the book several years after all seven books have been completed. Readers and fans of Harry Potter have had the rare opportunity of being able to see the story unfold before us with no one other than J.K. Rowling knowing how things will eventually turn out.

The Order of the Phoenix movie will be released on July 2007 while there is no announcement yet when Book 7 (still untitled) will be released. I still feel for Harry and really couldn't see how else can he be happy even if he defeats Voldemort, having lost all his loved ones in the process. But certainly, I have been ardently following Harry Potter for six years now and I will certainly not relent until I've read the last word in Book 7 and have seen the last of the Harry Potter film series.