My Top 3 Philippine Destinations :)

I've always wanted to travel and explore our native land which is the Philippines. If only I have all the time and the money in the world, why not right? I don't have to go that far, the treasure is right here. Right now, I'm so in the mood to answer Let's Go Sago's  question :) What are my top 3 Philippine spots? and why? Since I love this topic, let me give this one a shot. :)

Moreover, the most popular and common tourist destination in the country are Baguio, Boracay, Puerto Galera and Subic. During Summer, these places are jam packed with locals and tourist who fell in love with the hot-humid climate and the perfect white sand beaches or the wonderful-inviting places that we have. I've been to Baguio and Boracay and my memories with these amazing places will be forever treasured. Now, let's go to my answer with Let's Go Sago's question. :) 

My Top 3 Philippine Destinations are: Sagada, Palawan and Pagudpod.

SAGADA

Sagada is found at the province of Mt. Province. How do I begin describing Sagada? There aren't enough words to describe how amazing this place is. Even though I haven't been there, pictures, travel reviews are more than enough to convince me that this place is heaven. And yes, I also want to fulfill my nature seeker thrill part of me. I want to be in a place where peacefulness, dirt free air, sights of towering trees and caves are bountiful and will relax me. I want to visit the Sumaguing cave and pay tribute to the Sugong Coffins that are hanged on the rock wall. I believe that about 10 to 14 hours trip to Sagada from Manila is definitely worth it. God knows when I'll be setting my foot on Sagada but one thing is for sure. I'll definitely go there even if it means I'll travel alone. :)

PALAWAN

The Last Frontier, The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is one of my ultimate dream destination. It's also considered as the Island of the Gods and one of the most tourist destination across the world. Who wouldn't be at awe with the centuries old stalagmites and stalactites that will leave your mouth hanging open when you get to see it. There's plenty of thin gs that you can do at Palawan, you can dive or go dolphin watching and island hopping. But let me just say that I am also longing to go to Honda Bay, the breath taking view of white sand beach across the sea would really be a wonderful bonding time with mother nature.

Lastly,PAGUDPOD 

I'm Ilokano but the irony of it is that I've never been to Ilocos! Which is why I'm so eager to visit this place. I want to check out the most popular places like Cafe Bojeador Lighthouse, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation (which I really am dying to see), Patapat Viaduct, Bangui Windmills and lastly, The Blue Lagoon. There's plenty of time to take pictures at this wonderful places. 

I'll always be grateful that I'm a Filipino and living here in the Philippines is the best and the coolest way to exist here on Earth.I will definitely go to these places soon. My Palawan adventure is just around the corner since I've already booked a flight for next year! hurrah! :) I'm so excited to explore and discover our country. So what are you waiting for? Tara na! Wow Philippines talaga! :) See how captivating your country is! :)

If you want to win amazing prizes, join Let's Go Sago's Contest! Hurry! last day is on August 30, 2011.This is a wonderful treat from Let's Go Sago's 3rd Anniversary! :) Grab the chance now! :)

Steve Jobs: You're an inspiration!

A lot of resignation has been going on, mostly from government employees. Another big resignation happened just this month, Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple. I'm a big fan of Mac not that I use one but I happened to have a Mac computer when I was still working in my previous employer. As we all know, Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

I believe that Mr. Jobs made countless contributions to Apple's success now. He inspired a lot of employees to do better. For how many years, he has been dedicated to reinventing and defining technology. Let's not forget that his net worth is about 8 billion US dollars and yes, he gave that up and serves as  chairman of the board-director-employee instead.

Stated in his resignation letter:

"I have always said that if there ever came a day when i could no longer meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo, I would be the first to let you know. unfortunately, that day has come."

I can relate with this statement. I know for a fact that when you're not functional as productive as day you started, it's time to finally let go and move on. Which is why I boldly did the same thing. Mr. Steve Jobs gave me an inspiration. There might be some struggles and hardships in your life but the point is, how you stand up and go on no matter what happens. It might be a long wait but surely, you'll get there. I'll definitely keep that in mind. :)

Here's another inspiring speech from Mr. Steve Jobs on his 2005  Stanford Commencement Address wherein  he urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself -- at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.:

"you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. you have to trust in something. gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever." 

"sometimes life's gonna hit you in the head with a brick. don't lose faith." 

"i am convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that i loved what i did. you've got to find what you love. and that is as true for work, as it is for your lovers." 

"as with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." 

"remembering that i'll be dead soon is the most important tool i've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."  

watch the video here:

BB Playbook for YAP4GRABS! :)

For me, "Being FIT is to PLAY" :)

Me & my office mates enjoys playing badminton after work,

It's one way of staying healthy and boosts self confidence as well :)
BB's Playbook is definitely included in my Christmas list and
it's like my gateway to experiencing something really cool just
like our physical activity which is playing badminton. :) 
Cool and worth it. :)

Follow Tim Yap on Twitter for the

latest trends and freebies! :)

Nicholas Sparks "At First Sight"

I think the sign of a great storyteller is the ability to grab onto the most unusual thing and craft a story out of it. Nicholas Sparks does a really good job with, “At First Sight”. Don't get me wrong, love is not unusual, but there are lots of love stories out there and this one is definately different.

Jeremy and Lexie meet and fall in love. Fast. Within weeks she learns that she is pregnant and they determine to marry. His family and friends are alarmed and seek to caution him about the dangers of tying the knot too soon. He will not listen, but what happens is that seeds of doubt are planted.

This is a story about learning how to love despite misunderstandings and anger. It is learning more about yourself as an individual and about how to be a couple.

This is a terrific book for young people just starting out their lives as adults not sure of themselves in a world full of people of the opposite sex.

I always love reading his books simply because I get to learn a lot of things best of all, at the end of every book, I always tend to cry.

Among other things, I'm also excited because Nicholas Sparks will be coming to Manila soon. I really want to meet him so badly! :) I hope I can have my books signed by him :( It's like a dream! :)

Visit Nicholas Sparks's Facebook page :)

Nicholas Spark's website :)

Roswell: TV Series

This is yet one of my favorite TV series before and I watched it at Channel 9 before every Wednesday night. I'm a big fan of Shiri Appleby and Jason Behr. I think they look good together, one of the reason why I watch this series is because I love their tandem. They tend to compliment each other.

Roswell was a teen drama that ran from 1999-2002.  It followed the lives of three teenage human-alien hybrids living in Roswell, New Mexico, and their human friends who get sucked into keeping the secret from everyone else (including a special unit of the FBI) after Max saves Liz from a gunshot wound in the cafe. Max Evans (Jason Behr) and his sister Isabelle Evans (Katherine Heigl) were found wandering in the desert when they were five years old after hatching from some pods they’d been incubating in since the 1947 crash.  They were adopted by a nice couple and grew up in Roswell while their pod-mate Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr - my ultimate crush at that time) ended up in foster care with a really awful foster dad who dies early in the series. 

The three of them try to be normal, but they have special powers–all of them can manipulate the molecular structure of objects–and when Max sees the very human Liz get shot by a stray bullet in her parents’ cafe, he springs into action, saving her life by using his magical healing powers.  This sparks a series of events that arouse the suspicion of local sheriff Jim Valenti (William Sadler), whose own past is haunted by his father’s obsession with finding aliens.  Once Liz knows about their secret, it isn’t long before her best friend Maria DeLuca (Majandra Delfino) knows as well, and eventually their friend Alex Whitman (Colin Hanks) does, too.  The group works hard to keep the aliens a secret and eventually Sheriff Valenti joins the team, as does his son, Kyle (Nick Weschler).

In addition to the alien problems that the cast faces, they also deal with the more teen-friendly issues of first love, first heartbreak, and betrayals. The show was canceled after three seasons, but it holds a large amount of nostalgia for people who were coming of age at the turn of the century. 

I must admit that I am one of those sci-fi die hard fans and I am really in tune with watching any show that is connected with aliens. But this series gave me something to ponder on, like what if aliens really exist and they can look as hot as Brendan Fehr? :) I would really want to watch this series again and come to think of it, I'm also wondering where are these actors now? Katherine Heigl obviously is still visible, making movies every now and then. I hope I can still watch Shiri Appleby in any series or movies too.

WATCH TRAILER HERE:

My Nokia Shining Moment

Nokia for so long has been the family phone. Everyone uses or had used one type or the other. And so I was sure, my first phone and consequent ones would be Nokia. For my first phone, I was given the 8210 model. It was pass down by my cousin, when she finally got her very first job, she bought a new Nokia phone and at that time, the most popular Nokia model is Nokia 6600. I was so thankful that she gave me that phone since I think I was the only one who doesn't have a cellphone that time. I was a freshman at Polytechnic University of the Philippines and I was taking up Journalism.  My friends would often tease me when they're asking my cellphone number and I would tell them, "Wala ako cellphone." They would laugh and joke around, "Ano ba yan! Basurera nga at taong grasa may cellphone, ikaw wala!?" 

I really enjoyed having my Nokia 8210 around. It was those times that me and my friends enjoyed clans and textmates and meet ups plus prank calling! Yes, I was that naughty during those times. There was also a point when me and my friend met this textmate at SM Centerpoint, only to find out that he's planning something really bad to my friend. When I got the chance to excuse myself and I went to the comfort room to ask help from my cousin to pick us up, my cellphone is about to get drained. Thank God I used my battery wisely and took really care of it, it didn't drained when I was calling my cousin and rest assured, my cousin pick us up before everything goes wrong. If not for its strong quality i would have never been able to complete that call which was so crucial in the situation in which I was. Nokia has no equal when it comes to the quality of the handset. During our college days, having a Nokia cellphone, whatever model that may be, makes you popular and yes, Nokia made me popular those times. :)

Honestly speaking, Nokia would always remain the strongest and most durable phones of all times no doubt.  I actually lost counts of how many times my Nokia 8210 fell in the floor, but all those times, nothing really happened to my phone. The cool thing is that I get to change its casing. I'm also thankful because I have a cellphone, Nokia at that because it's one of the fastest way I can communicate with my parents since they're working at Dubai, U.A.E. Technology really helped a lot of people and through the yeas, Nokia has been "connecting people" and in my case, it gives me the freedom to talk to my parents through my happiest moments and even my lowest points. Hearing their voices makes me feel that they're just around the corner. 


Among all my wonderful experiences with my Nokia handset, there was one shining moment I will never forget. When my cousin got the chance to play at Pera o Bayong in Wowowee! :) We used my phone to text and we got the call to play at the ABS-CBN studio :) My cousin won at that jackpot round and although we didn't get the chance to win 1 million pesos, we did take home some money that was used to put up a business. :) Thanks to our lukcy Nokia phone. :)


Today, cellphones portray a big role in our daily lives. We live in a fast paced world and we need to keep in touch, be updated and connect with our love ones and to the world. For me, Nokia will always be the best phone, why? because of these main reasons: (1) the call quality, unless you have a problem with your telecom service (Globe-Sun-Smart) you won't have a problem with this one, (2) the hardware, like what I said, my phone fell on the ground for how many times but it's still as compact as it used to be. (3) The Battery life of Nokia mobile phones is longer than many other cellphones. (4) Hardcore, Everyone knows that Nokia mobiles are truly rock solid.  (5) Wide Product Range, Nokia has a vast and huge list of mobile phones. Right now, they have the dual sim feature which is really nice. (6) Price and Reliability, since most Nokia phone are really not that expensive plus you can really use it with whatever activity you want. 


Lastly, Experience. Nokia is the largest cellphone manufacturer in the world. They have ages of experience, hundreds of success stories and dozens of smart handsets in current portfolio. That helps them to evolve and thereby nourish our needs.


For now, I can say that every moment with my Nokia phone is a shining moment. Wherever I go and whatever I'm doing,My Nokia phone is there to support me. Whatever happens I'll be a loyal fan and I'll be as faithful as my phone is to me. My Nokia phone has served me quite well and in return I'll continue to support Nokia. :)

Felicity: TV Series (1998-2002)

I'll be starting to write some reviews of my favorite TV series that I have watched from start till the end. I'll be starting with Feilicity and yes, I watch this show before at channel 9 (RPN 9). I really love this tv series especially because it focused on this girl starting a new life in college, struggling to balance normal life in the city let's not forget her love life.

Felicity was a teen drama that ran on the WB fro 1998 to 2002.  It centered on a young girl named Felicity who follows her high school crush Ben to New York for college.  After establishing herself there, the drama focused on the lives of Felicity, Ben, and their group of friends as they came of age in college at the turn of the millennium.


Felicity Porter (Keri Russell) is a shy, geeky girl living in California.  At her high school graduation, she gets up the nerve to ask her crush-to-end-all-crushes, Ben Covington (Scott Speedman) to sign her yearbook.  She’s so moved by what he writes that she dashes all her college plans (pre-med at Stanford) to follow him to the University of New York.  Her parents are not okay with this, obviously, and try to get her to reconsider, but after some waffling, she decides to stay in New York.


Once established in New York, she realizes that Ben is not interested in her so much as her friend Julie Emrick (Amy Jo Johnson).  She strikes up a sweet, awkward romance with her resident advisor Noel Crane (Scott Foley).  Over the course of her first year, she also becomes friends with a competitive pre-med student named Elena Tyler (Tangi Miller), struggles with a strange, combative roommate named Meghan Rotundi (Amanda Foreman), and deals with a flamboyant but lovable boss named Javier (Ian Gomez) at Dean & Deluca.

Over the course of her four years at the university, Felicity deals with many of the normal college issues.  Although her love triangle with Ben and Noel forms the basis for the dramatic tension in the series, the supporting characters are given their own story arcs and add a richness to the show.  Issues such as drug use, date rape, unwanted pregnancy, plagiarism, and alcoholism were covered over the show’s four seasons, and for the most part, they were covered without being too heavy-handed.


Thanks to a largely talented cast and strong writing, the show remained interesting and engaging throughout its run.  Although it faltered in the ratings during the second season (some blame Russell’s dramatic haircut while others point to the show’s move to Sunday nights) and veered into the strange in the last third of its final season, the show was one of the smartest, most realistic shows on the WB in the late 90s.


Problems with the show included Felicity’s complete inability to choose between Ben and Noel (she wanted them both, I think, which was completely unfair, not to mention impractical).  As the end of the series neared, the characters were uttering “I want to be with ____” so often that one could have created a drinking game out of that statement alone.  At some point, viewers wanted Felicity to just choose already, and it started to go on a little long.  The waffling between the two male love interests and the ill-advised time-travel arc near the end of the fourth season are the show’s major flaws, though.

The show was an entertaining look at coming-of-age in college in the late nineties.  It was a show that I really watched and keep an eye on.   Smart, funny, and often heartbreaking, this is a show that I absolutely recommend.

P.S.–I am now, and always will be Team Ben.  Sorry, Noel.

Let's go back to memory lane, watch the opening theme here:

Friends with Benefits: Film Review

I've been waiting for this movie for as long as I can remember ever since I googled Justin Timberlake's upcoming movies. Plus Mila Kunis, I so love her at Black Swan :) she is really hot and pretty as well. Especially in this movie, can't imagine any other actress in Hollywood who could portray the role perfectly although Jessica Biel auditioned for this role, she unsuccessfully didn't got it. You will also get the chance to see Emma Stone on a cameo role as Justin's ex-girlfriend. Also Woody Harrelson is Dylan’s gay-coworker at GQ.

At the start of Friends With Benefits, Mila Kunis’s character unleashes a tirade while walking through New York: “We’ve got to stop buying into the Hollywood cliché of true love!”
   
What about the Hollywood cliché of friends who have casual sex?
After Jamie (Kunis) and Dylan (Justin Timberlake) are dumped by their respective partners, they launch into a commitment-free affair, promising each other: “No emotion. Just sex.”
If this sounds like familiar film territory, it’s because Kunis’s Black Swan co-star, Natalie Portman, faced a similar situation earlier this year with No Strings Attached

Dylan, like his hometown of Los Angeles, is the typical guy-next-door which is totally laid back. Meanwhile, Jamie is like New York, modern yet naive. They’re both cool and charming — the kind of people you want to be friends with, date, or imagine yourself to be, if you had an eight pack or cellulite-proof thighs. 


They meet when Jamie, who is a headhunter, recruits Dylan to work as the artistic director of GQ Mmgazine in New York. They soon become" you know what",  in one of the most fun, awkward sex scenes in recent cinema history. 


It helps that Kunis and Timberlake have a kind of natural onscreen chemistry that is truly rare and really fun to watch: both are very good in their roles.  Kunis is in fact exceptional as Jamie, elevating her character from the stock females that plague romantic comedies, giving her depth and allowing her to be funny, warm, and able to go head to head with the men in her world.


It’s not a perfect movie: at the end of the day, it’s still unequivocally conventional, sending the same message as the romantic comedies it pokes fun at.  But it’s an entertaining, engaging movie, and there are certainly worse ways to spend an afternoon.

watch the trailer here:

“True Believer” by Nicholas Sparks is a terrific love story in only the way that Nicholas Sparks can write them. You just can’t go wrong with him telling a story to you. It feels that way too, just you and the book and shut out the rest of the world while you devour this book.

Jeremy Marsh is worldly and works as a free-lance writer who has come to excel at uncovering hoaxes. His latest expose was in the field of the paranormal, specifically with a channel.

In any case, he receives a letter inviting him to come expose a ghost story in a sleepy little town in North Carolina.

Ghostly lights is what they are. They show up in a haunted cemetery. Jeremy takes the bait and is drawn into the lives of people who have an entirely different rhythm to their lives than he does.

He also meets Lexie who is the librarian and is in much the same boat as he is in as far as a satisfying love life goes. Neither expects much to happen. He is only there to do the story for a few days. She is not at all interested in having a short fling. But, you never know what’s going to happen when sparks fly and souls cleave together.

As always, the sign of a really good book for me is when I cry at the end. And, I cried with this book a long time after it was finished.

“The Choice” by Nicholas Sparks

“The Choice” by Nicholas Sparks is about the choices we make that affect our lives forevermore. Travis Parker lives by himself. He is not a hermit because he enjoys spending time with friends who go back many years. They are all married and all have kids, but he is a bachelor.

Gabby moves in next door. When the two of them meet it is both embarrassing and a clash of natures that you would think would totally ensure they would never exchange a civil word to each other in this lifetime.

This is a wonderful story about falling in love. I have enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve ever read by Nicholas Sparks. I was not surprised that this was such a good book. And, for those who can understand…I shed a few tears as I made my way through it.

The Last Samurai: film Review

“From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.”

This is one of favorite movies so far, Ken Watanabe is such a wonderful actor…good thing he was nominated for an Academy Award for this movie  As for Tom Cruise, he did well too.  In The Last Samurai, an American soldier travels across the world to train a newly burgeoning Japanese army in preparation for defeating the Samurai.The title of Edward Zwick’s The Last Samuraiappears to apply to not only the Samurai’s leader Katsumoto, but also Nathan Algren, an American soldier who lives with the Samurai and eventually learns their ways and customs. The film goes to great lengths to analogize Algren and Katsumoto to underline, as well as blur, the cultures that define both characters. It would also seem, however, that despite these obvious similarities, Katsumoto’s clear equal in rank and influence is the American Colonel Bagley. Throughout the film, Zwick makes the differences and similarities between the traditional Samurai and the modernized American most obvious with Bagley and Katsumoto. With the position, relationships, and portray of both Bagley and Katsumoto, Zwick brings out the contrast of new America and time-honored Japan.

When we are first introduced to Colonel Bagley, he is sitting at a table with Japanese representatives in an attempt to make a deal for his – and Algren’s – services. Katsumoto manages to win the heart of the audience before he is ever seen. Later on in the film, Hasegawa elects to die at Katsumoto’s hand for his betrayal.  Though Katsumoto’s actions seem barbaric, it is later revealed that he was truly showing Hasegawa compassion.  To Katsumoto, as well as the rest of the Samurai, they are fighting for their livelihood and love, not for territory and hatred.  Katsumoto fervently believes that he is fighting the rebellion for the Emperor best interest, as he is under the impression that the Emperor is being brainwashed by his advisors:  “No, Highness.  I rise against your enemies… They advise their own interest”.

While this may or may not be true to some degree, Katsumoto does not raise his blade to disintegrate the nation, but to protect.  To Katsumoto and the Samurai, the preservation of tradition and honor is above every individual’s needs. Katsumoto’s relationship with his sister, Taka, immediately seems to counter-act Katsumoto’s compassionate nature.  He gives Taka the obligation to take the wounded Algren, who had killed her husband on the battlefield, into her home to care for him. What seems like a cruel task, however, is truly Katsumoto teaching Taka to make peace with death.  Not to mention, it shows the audience that Katsumoto is just as respectful and honorable to his perceived enemies.  Katsumoto could have had no knowledge that Algren would become his good friend, even if he recognized Algren’s warrior spirit on the battlefield.

Still, to Katsumoto, this proved that Algren was special.  The same can also be said of his execution of Hasegawa.  While it may seem brutal to other cultures, to the Japanese – and especially the Samurai – living with dishonor is far worse than death.  By giving what Katsumoto asserts is an honorable death to Hasegawa, Katsumoto was extending the Samurai’s version of mercy. Although the end part was really heartbreaking, it really made reminisce the 300 movie, they are united till the end. Katsumoto really got my heart here, inspiring story.

I love this movie. The story. The actors. The plot. The place. The script. Everything. I can watch this movie over and over again.  :)

“You have nightmares.”
“Every soldiers have nightmares.”
“Only one who is ashamed of what he has done.”

—	Katsumoto to Algren under the blossom tree.

watch the trailer here: 

The Last Samurai: film Review

“From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.”

This is one of favorite movies so far, Ken Watanabe is such a wonderful actor...good thing he was nominated for an Academy Award for this movie :) As for Tom Cruise, he did well too. :)

In The Last Samurai, an American soldier travels across the world to train a newly burgeoning Japanese army in preparation for defeating the Samurai. The title of Edward Zwick’s The Last Samuraiappears to apply to not only the Samurai’s leader Katsumoto, but also Nathan Algren, an American soldier who lives with the Samurai and eventually learns their ways and customs.  The film goes to great lengths to analogize Algren and Katsumoto to underline, as well as blur, the cultures that define both characters.  It would also seem, however, that despite these obvious similarities, Katsumoto’s clear equal in rank and influence is the American Colonel Bagley.  Throughout the film, Zwick makes the differences and similarities between the traditional Samurai and the modernized American most obvious with Bagley and Katsumoto.  With the position, relationships, and portray of both Bagley and Katsumoto, Zwick brings out the contrast of new America and time-honored Japan.

When we are first introduced to Colonel Bagley, he is sitting at a table with Japanese representatives in an attempt to make a deal for his – and Algren’s – services. Katsumoto manages to win the heart of the audience before he is ever seen. Later on in the film, Hasegawa elects to die at Katsumoto’s hand for his betrayal.  Though Katsumoto’s actions seem barbaric, it is later revealed that he was truly showing Hasegawa compassion.  To Katsumoto, as well as the rest of the Samurai, they are fighting for their livelihood and love, not for territory and hatred.  Katsumoto fervently believes that he is fighting the rebellion for the Emperor best interest, as he is under the impression that the Emperor is being brainwashed by his advisors:  “No, Highness.  I rise against your enemies… They advise their own interest”. 

While this may or may not be true to some degree, Katsumoto does not raise his blade to disintegrate the nation, but to protect.  To Katsumoto and the Samurai, the preservation of tradition and honor is above every individual’s needs. Katsumoto’s relationship with his sister, Taka, immediately seems to counter-act Katsumoto’s compassionate nature.  He gives Taka the obligation to take the wounded Algren, who had killed her husband on the battlefield, into her home to care for him. What seems like a cruel task, however, is truly Katsumoto teaching Taka to make peace with death.  Not to mention, it shows the audience that Katsumoto is just as respectful and honorable to his perceived enemies.  Katsumoto could have had no knowledge that Algren would become his good friend, even if he recognized Algren’s warrior spirit on the battlefield. 

Still, to Katsumoto, this proved that Algren was special.  The same can also be said of his execution of Hasegawa.  While it may seem brutal to other cultures, to the Japanese – and especially the Samurai – living with dishonor is far worse than death.  By giving what Katsumoto asserts is an honorable death to Hasegawa, Katsumoto was extending the Samurai’s version of mercy. Although the end part was really heartbreaking, it really made reminisce the 300 movie, they are united till the end. Katsumoto really got my heart here, inspiring story. 

I love this movie. The story. The actors. The plot. The place. The script. Everything. I can watch this movie over and over again.  :)

“You have nightmares.”
“Every soldiers have nightmares.”
“Only one who is ashamed of what he has done.”

—	Katsumoto to Algren under the blossom tree.

watch the trailer here: