Skateboarding: I think that I shall never flip, a trick lovely as a kickflip

Whoever was those dudes who had the crazy idea of attaching roller skate wheels to wooden boards, you have my respect.

I am a skateboarder. I have been riding on a skateboard almost 11 years now. I have been ollie-ing down and up stuff, sliding on ledges, impressing people by doing some tricks, and trying to get my kickflips to look as clean as possible for 11 years.


How did I even choose this sport?


Tracing it back, the curiosity of the sport sprouted from another hobby of mine, which is common for kids: Video games. I was (and still am) an avid fan of the Tony Hawk skateboarding game series. I grew up on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 & 4 and spent most of my play time on doing all the goals in every level, unlocking skaters and skating gears, and just working on combos. Even though it is a game that has so many impossibilities, like landing perfectly from jumping off the tip of a clock tower to flat ground, or grinding electrical lines, or landing kickflips perfectly every time, I saw the real, possible potential of the sport. Maybe doing darkslides all the way along a 20-meter power line isn't possible, but I do realized that sliding your board along a rail IS possible. Maybe doing a manual after jumping off that clock tower isn't possible, but I did know then that going into a manual after some tricks ARE possible. These ideas went through my head and that made my curiosity grow and grow. 

Post-apocalyptic

Well, this was a fun semester. Andaming nangyari, andaming nakasama. It's been a fun college experience as a whole. A whole 4 years ever since graduating high school and entering the "college life" chapter.

This semester was very exhausting. Not that I can blame anyone for it. I've been an avid practitioner of procrastination although I'm not really proud of it, I am quite adept at it. Academics and Deadlines decided it was time I realized this. At the start, it was still as before. I can still afford to take it easy. But then, before I knew it, there was just this wall of deadlines were just set so fast and so dangerously close to each other.

It's because of this semester that I realize now where I'm lacking. At first, I'd say it would be down to prioritization and efficient time management, but there's more to them. To me, they seem more like mere branches from a tree. Follow them to their roots and there lies what's more important: my self-discipline is lacking.

Anime: Dono Taipu ga Suki Desu ka?

I've been watching anime for quite a while now. Started out 3 years ago, as an anime enthusiast. Or maybe earlier than that, if watching dubbed Mojacko and Cardcaptor Sakura as a child on local TV stations after school counts.

It first started out with manga. I started reading Detective Conan chapters for a school assignment. Yes, you read that right. "For an assignment". While reading it, I got hooked on the storyline and eventually caught up with the recent chapters. After catching up, I decided to watch a few of its movies. And it was awesome. I guess that was the time when I began to be curious about anime.

Although I haven't watched a lot of anime, I've seen enough and ones which I think are honorable mentions when suggesting animes to watch.

And here are my picks, in no particular order.

NOTE: Japanese names mentioned in this list are in the "Given name-Last name" order. However, I will refer to the characters using their last name by default, unless the anime character is usually addressed in some other way.

EXTRA NOTE: Even though I've mentioned Mojacko, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Detective Conan, they won't be in the list anymore. And just so you guys know, Pokemon isn't in this list either.

Naruto

Starting out with something pretty mainstream: the famous blonde-haired orange ninja of the manga/anime world. Naruto is a well-known ninja battle manga/anime around the world. Hell, you've probably AT LEAST heard of it. 

For those of you who do not know the setting: Main character, Naruto Uzumaki, was treated as an outcast by his own village because of a powerful entity sealed inside him: the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. In spite of everyone's cold treatment towards him, Naruto found teachers and friends that are willing to help him. As he gained a little more sense to living, Naruto now dreamed and vowed to become the Hokage (the village's prime leader), to make everyone pay no attention to the beast inside him and acknowledge him as a fellow ninja, as a part of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.