Lyrics attack!

I am so addicted to Sekai No Owari's songs right now. Yes. Still addicted. They are in my head, and the thing is, I don't want them to leave!

And as I say time and again, the lyrics are awesome. This one is called Fantasy (video embedded below), and the the chorus is in English. Simple English, should I say...so I think the song is supposed to be considered a Japanese song. The Japanese lyrics are also mostly simple... just a song to lift your spirits.

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
and people
Let's sing along

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
Put your hands up

Itsudatte bokutachi no sanbyaku rokujugo nichi wa
"Heartache" bakkari de genki ga nakunacchimau na
Soryamaa sore mo aisubeki teki dakedo
Kyou kurai wa acchi ittekure yo
Kyou wa gensouteki na sekai he tsuretette ageru

We experience so many heartaches
Each year we live
That we end up depressed
I know these things are also lovable enemies
But today, I want them to leave us alone
Today, we'll bring you to a fantastic world

Bokura ni wa konna koto shika dekinai kedo
Kyou wa kimi ni waratte hoshiinda
Bokura ni wa konna koto shika dekinai kedo
Kyou wa kimi ni utatte hoshiinda

This is the only thing we can do for you
We want you to smile today
This is the only thing we can do for you
We want you to sing today

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
and people
Let's sing along

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
Put your hands up
Let's sing along

Itsudatte bokutachi no sanbyaku rokujugo nichi wa
"Heartbreak" bakkari de namida ga nakunacchimau na
Soryamaa ongaku nanka ja nannimo
Kaerarenai no kamoshirenai kedo
Kyou wa gensouteki na sekai he tsuretette ageru

We go through so many heartbreaks
Each year we live
That we end up crying all our tears
I guess you can't change
Anything with music, but
Today, we'll bring you to a fantastic world

Bokura ni wa konna koto shika dekinai kedo
Kyou wa kimi ni utatte hoshiinda
Bokura ni wa konna koto shika dekinai kedo
Kyou wa kimi ni waratte hoshiinda

This is the only thing we can do for you
We want you to sing today
This is the only thing we can do for you
We want you to smile today

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
and people
Let's sing along

Let's sing a song
Wipe your tears
Put your hands up
Let's sing along

(lyrics from here)

Then there is this song that I've shared before, called RPG. I won't embed it again, since I've already embedded it in the previous post, but I'm going to share the lyrics here, for myself more than anything else. These are copied from the video, like how I did for Death Disco, because the ones I find online are just not good enough. :P

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi o mezashite aruku
Kowai mono nante nai
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
Oh nothing can scare us
Because we're not alone any more

Taisetsuna nanika ga
Kowareta ano yoru ni
Boku wa hoshi wo sagashite
hitori de aruite ita
On the night it fell apart, that thing so precious to me
I was walking outside by myself, searching for stars in the sky

Peruseusu zaryuuseigun
Kimi mo mi tetadarou ka
Boku wa genkide yatteru yo
Kimi wa ima doko ni iru no
Did you also happen to see the Perseid meteor shower?
You know, I'm doing just fine
Won't you tell me where you are now?

`Houhou’ to iu akuma ni
Tori tsukarenaide
`Mokuteki’ to iu
Daijinamono o omoidashite
Don't get carried away trying to find "the way"
You can't forget about the "destination" yet

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi wo mezashite aruku
Kowai mono nante nai
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
Oh nothing can scare us
Because we're not alone any more

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi o mezashite aruku
Kowakute mo daijoubu
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
It's okay to be afraid
Because we're not alone any more

Taisetsuna nanika ga
Kowareta ano yoru ni
Boku wa kimi wo sagashite
hitori de aruite ita
On the night it fell apart, that thing so precious to me
I was walking outside by myself, searching for the place where you are

Ano hi kara bokura wa
hitori de umi o mezasu
Yakusoku no ano basho de
Kanarazu mata aou to
Since that day, all alone, we set out for the coast
Promising to meet again someday, at that one special place

`Seken’ to iu akuma ni
Madowasa renaide
`Jibun’ dake ga
Kimeta kotae wo omoidashite
Please do not let "society" make you lose your way
Remember the "answer" you decided on your own that day

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi wo mezashite aruku
Kowai mono nante nai
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
Oh nothing can scare us
Because we're not alone any more

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi o mezashite aruku
Kowakute mo daijoubu
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
It's okay to be afraid
Because we're not alone any more

Kirameki no youna
Jinsei no naka de kimi ni deaete
Boku wa hontouni yokatta
In a life that's like a flash that ends so fast
I'm lucky to have met someone as amazing as you

Machi o nuke umi ni detara
Tsugi wa doko o mezasou ka
Bokura wa mata dekakeyou
Itoshii kono sekai wo
When we leave this town and reach the sea
What's the next place we should aim for?
Let's start a new journey
And discover more of this beautiful world

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi wo mezashite aruku
Kowai mono nante nai
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
Oh nothing can scare us
Because we're not alone any more

Sora wa aoku sumiwatari
Umi o mezashite aruku
Kowakute mo daijoubu
Bokura wa mou hitori janai
And the sky is full of a beautiful blue
To the sea, we walk confidently
It's okay to be afraid
Because we're not alone any more

(The romaji lyrics are from furahasekai, a website that has Indonesian translations.)


There is another song called hono to mori no kanibaru, which translates to "fire and forest carnival". The video is rather special too:



The lyrics are nice... somewhat like a fairy tale (it matches the video!), with wizards and all. They're not that "great", but as is the case with RPG, I really like the tune, so the music and the lyrics complement each other and make me want to have both!

This time I got the lyrics from Misa-chan again. Her translations are slightly different from the ones in the video, but somehow I feel they are more literal (this opinion was based on Google Translate). The ones in the video are probably for best effect, if the lyrics had been written in English.

Anyway, I decided not to re-type everything, and only added (pink in brackets) some lyrics from the video that I felt were better.

YOKOHAMA ni aru yuuenchi no “kosumo panikku” no hijouguchi ga
Kono paatii no entoransu
Tobira wo aketara soko wa

The emergency exit to the attraction “Cosmo Panic” at this amusement park in Yokohama
Is the entrance to this party
When you open the door, you’ll see

Kyodai na ki ga shihai suru, kaijou no na wa “tsurii rando”
Kimi wa koko de wa dai sutaa
Hora, kane ga natta paatii ga hajimaru

An area ruled by huge trees (You will see a giant tree), a place called “Treeland”
You are the big star there
Here, the bell is ringing, the party is beginning

Honou to mori no kaanibaru
Miira otoko mo odotteru
Koyoi, boku ga manekareta kaanibaru

Fire and forest carnival (Tokyo Fantasy)
Even the mummy man is dancing
At my carnival tonight

Mahouzukai wa boku ni ittanda
“Kono koi wa himitsu ni shite okunda yo, samonakereba kono ko no inochi ga abunai to”.

The wizard said this to me
“Keep this romance a secret, if not, her life will be in danger”.

“Watashi wo paatii he tsure dashite”
Kimi ga sou yatte iu kara sa
Akuma no DJ wo mi ni ikou ka
Tsuki no kakuteru wo katte kuru yo

“Bring me to the party”
Because of these words you said (You look at me with your sad eyes)
Shall we go to see the devil DJ?
I’ll go buy you a moonlight cocktail

BAR no robotto ni mitoretetara
Kimi ga sou yatte okoru kara sa
Hitome wo ki ni shite kisu wo shita
Hora, kimi no deban darou?

I was fascinated by the robot at the bar
And because you got angry at me
I kissed you right in front of everyone
Here, it’s your turn, right? (And now it's time for you to take the stage)

Honou to mori no kaanibaru
Shinderera mo utatteru
Konya, boku ga manekareta kaanibaru

Fire and forest carnival
Even Cinderella is singing
At my carnival tonight

Hitogomi no naka, hanarenai you ni
Kimi to te wo tsunaidanda, kono kimi no te wo mou hanasanai to, boku wa kimetanda.

So as not to lose you in the crowd
We held hands, and I was determined to never let go of you again.
(In this sea of people, I hold your hand tight
And I will never ever let go
I've decided to stay with you, my love, forever *)

Honou to mori no kaanibaru
Miira otoko mo odotteru
Koyoi, boku ga manekareta kaanibaru

Fire and forest carnival
Even the mummy man is dancing
At my carnival tonight

Mahouzukai wa boku ni ittanda
“Kono koi wa himitsu ni shite okunda yo, samonakereba kono ko no inochi ga abunai to”.

The wizard said this to me
“Keep this romance a secret, if not, her life will be in danger”.

*Note: I find this verse so poetic in the video's translation! :P

Okaaaayyy, I'm done! For today at least... I'm a bit afraid to search for the translations of other songs; it might prompt another post like this! As of now, I've covered my favourites...

The beginning

My parents recently found my first French book. Café Crème!

I snapped photos of some of the first pages:

Filled with annotations :)

Sleeping beauty

Not one month ago, I raved about a few of Sekai No Owari's songs. (click on the label at the end of this post if you want to see all the posts)

There was a song that I found at the time, called Sleeping Beauty (Nemuri Hime). But I only found a short version of the song. Today I found the full song!



I wasn't going to post any more of their songs... but I was curious about the lyrics. They didn't exactly blow me away (not like the previous one :P ), but they are pretty good, and I spent some time copy-pasting the romaji close to the English translation so I could listen to the corresponding verses while looking at the translation. (fangirl much? :P )

So... after all that work, I think I won't let it go to waste.

Kimi to boku to de sekai wo bouken shite kita kedo
Naitari warattari shite
Bokura wa donna toki demo te wo tsunaide kita kedo
Itsuka wa itsu no hi ka wa

Even though you and I have had adventures around the world
Crying and laughing
Even though we held hands through everything
Someday, on that day


Aru asa boku ga me wo samasu to kono sekai ni wa kimi wa inain da ne
Odorokasou toshite kakurete mitemo kimi wa sagashi ni konain da

When I woke up one morning, you were not in my world
I tried hiding my shock, but you never tried searching for me


Ah kimi wa itsu no hi ka fukai nemuri ni ochite shimaun da ne
Soshitara mou me wo samasanain da ne
Bokura ga imamade bouken shita sekai to
Boku wa hitori de tatakawanakya ikenain da ne

Ah, you fell into a deep slumber one day
And will never wake up again
This world which we used to have adventures in
I now have to battle it alone


Boo tto hi wo fuku doragon mo bokura futari de tatakatta ne
Yuusha no tsurugi mo mitsukete kita yo ne
Ah kono mama kimi ga okinakattara dou shiyou
Sonna koto omoi nagara kimi no negao wo miteitan da

We fought dragons that breathed fire
We found warriors’ swords
Ah, what will I do if you don’t awaken
Thinking that, I watched your sleeping face


Konna aozora no toki demo donna arashi no toki demo
Te wo tsunaide kita kedo
Konnani ureshii toki mo donnani kanashii toki mo
Itsuka wa itsu no hi ka wa

Whether the skies are blue like this, or when storms blew
We’ve always held hands
Whether we were happy like this, or in sorrow
Someday, on that day


Aru asa boku ga me wo samasu to kono sekai ni wa kimi wa inain da ne
Okosou toshite yusaburu kedo kimi wa mou me wo samasanain da

When I woke up one morning, you were not in my world
I tried shaking you awake, but you will never wake up anymore


Ah kimi wa itsu no hi ka fukai nemuri ni ochite shimaun da ne
Soshitara mou me wo samasanain da ne
Bokura ga imamade bouken shita sekai to
Boku wa hitori de tatakawanakya ikenain da ne

Ah, you fell into a deep slumber one day
And will never wake up again
This world which we used to have adventures in
I now have to battle it alone


Ah mada minu takara mo bokura futari de sagashi ni itta ne
Hoshi ga furu yoru ni fune wo dashite sa
Ah kono mama kimi ga okinakattara dou shiyou
Sonna koto omoi nagara kimi no negao wo miteitan da

Ah, we went searching for treasures never-before-seen
Rowing out our boat on the night stars fell
Ah, what will I do if you don’t awaken
Thinking that, I watched your sleeping face


Ah kimi wa itsu no hi ka fukai nemuri ni ochite shimaun da ne
Soshitara mou me wo samasanain da ne
Bokura ga imamade bouken shita sekai to
Boku wa hitori de tatakawanakya ikenain da ne

Ah, you fell into a deep slumber one day
And will never wake up again
This world which we used to have adventures in
I now have to battle it alone


Boo tto hi wo fuku doragon mo bokura futari de tatakatta ne
Yuusha no tsurugi mo mitsukete kita yo ne
Ah kono mama kimi ga okinakattara dou shiyou
Sonna koto omoi nagara kimi no negao wo miteitan da

We fought dragons that breathed fire
We found warriors’ swords
Ah, what will I do if you don’t awaken
Thinking that, I watched your sleeping face

Lyrics copied from Misa-chan. Thanks Misa-chan! Like she'll read this. Hehe.

Being a regular at the hawker's

The char kuey teow seller is always very happy that he knows what I want to order. I usually order the same two things to go, and since a few months back, he has been telling me what I want to order, together with the dish specifications (one char kuey teow without cockles, one big fried rice without chilli). He likes to joke around, so he will say to me proudly, "You see? I know what you want!"

Little does he know that the curry mee seller has been doing this for years, and after I had only placed my order for two or three times! (Also two dishes: one curry mee without cockles and blood, one big curry mee without cockles, blood and chilli. And recently, after she added cuttlefish, the big one is without cuttlefish too.) The first few times she told me she knew already, when I had just started giving my order, I didn't believe her and continued chanting (yes, it's a chant, you can try it if you know Hokkien). But after she said it with me a few times, correctly, I realized it was true. Now I only need to tell her "two packets" and she will know exactly what I want!

There is also the hokkien mee seller... also two packets, and she only started remembering since the last few months too. (one small hokkien mee with pig skin and extra chilli, and one big one, normal) Also recently, I felt that she was giving me extra noodles without my asking... I ended up feeling very full after eating her hokkien mee!

Oh, and the char kuey teow seller keeps forgetting that I want extra chilli in my kuey teow. Actually I didn't use to request that because the kuey teow was quite spicy, but later on it became less spicy (I say it is all because WW started requesting no chilli in his fried rice, so the hawker reduced the chilli in my kuey teow as well :( ). So after that I requested more chilli, but unfortunately it is still less spicy than before. Unfortunately after he "knew" what I wanted to order, I think the extra chilli was forgotten... I will need to request it next time.

So... the curry mee seller wins, hands down!

My team stinks

Why do I always seem to end up working with inconsiderate people? Is it just Penangites who are this inconsiderate? This never happened to me in Kuantan. Or is it just a matter of age... as people get older, they grow less considerate of the people around them and become more selfish?

My team at work, as is common in Penang, is Chinese-majority. Main language when chit-chatting is Mandarin, or for some of them, Cantonese. Recently (for a few months now) a Pole joined our team for a one-year transfer. We sometimes have team lunches outside, and this is where it starts to stink: The members happily use Mandarin even with the Pole there. For myself I have gotten used to it. Sometimes I even manage to understand everything that they are saying, if they don't talk about too complicated things.

I brought up this topic during the last team lunch. I said, sometimes I don't understand the conversation around me during team lunch. And the Polish guy must have it even harder! Right after I said that, and on the way back to the office, I noticed a marked improvement: They actually made an effort to speak English.

But today, at the very next team lunch, the Mandarin-speaking groups started again... and as is usual with this kind of scenario, it ended up with the group laughing happily together at a joke that had been made in Mandarin... which today I happened to understand, but of course someone else didn't!

I spoke up again. They didn't seem that supportive. (neither did they, the first time, except for one person (not the Pole) who had nodded understandingly) How is this a team?

How can you say you are having a team lunch when you are knowingly excluding a member (or a few members) of the team from your conversation? How do you expect the people who don't understand what you are saying to participate in this so-called team activity? What exactly are you trying to achieve with this behaviour? This is not a team lunch. If you are not willing to include the whole team, why don't you just have a "part of the team" lunch instead? If you can even call yourselves a team. Because you might as well be a bunch of people forced to work together. Unwillingly.

Polite Poles

Polish people are so polite.

Today we had an online meeting with a Polish colleague. (We use Google Hangouts for that.) She was the organiser, and she started the meeting by asking cheerfully (the other three participants in the call, including me, were Malaysians), "Before we start, how was your holiday?"

I responded with a quiet "Oh, it was fine..." because I'm not good at small talk anyway. And there was no reply from the others. Quite an anti-climax. It was rather awkward for a moment, before she said "Okay, let's continue..." (I'm paraphrasing).

This Polish colleague is really quite friendly, but somehow most of us Malaysians in this team can't seem to fall into chit-chat so easily. It isn't just us though... we are also working with people from China (Chengdu, to be precise), and they don't do much small talk either.

And talking about small talk... Previously I used IM to ask another Polish colleague some questions regarding work. This was quite long ago, and for a short period of time I needed to message him quite often to discuss how to fix some issues. Usually when I start an IM conversation, I would say "hi", and proceed with my question. But if he was around when I typed my first "hi [his name]", he would immediately reply with "hi WP" and "how are you?"

It made me feel rather bad because I was not planning to ask him how he was... :P

So the "how are you"s would go both ways and then we would both reply "fine" or something to that effect, and then he would ask "how can I help you?"

Oh...my...goodness..... could you be a little less polite? You're making me feel bad...

Well, I still haven't learned this aspect of politeness very well. If I think of it, I will start with a "how are you" if that person has a history of asking "how are you". But otherwise... it's just not my style to make small talk. The best I usually do is to ask people, "Are you free now? Could you help me with something?"

I met a happy penguin!

The other day I was in Queensbay Mall's Aeon (formerly Jusco). And the title says it all: I met a happy penguin!

And fell in love, of course. You see, it's happy with me too! :D

The price, however, is not so happy... RM159. :(