And with the food theme officially behind us, we move on to our next theme…………… CITY /COUNTRY LANDMARKS!!! In this theme, post a picture of your city’s or your country’s landmark. Building, animal, fruit, whatever as long as it’s a landmark, post it

And The Boss will start us off…….

Pobednik, my city’s (Belgrade) landmark

A-a-a landmark? Um... hmm... *Finds a picture*

I present to you....

San Francisco's very very pretty Golden Gate Bridge~!! At night <3 Hooray for California~! <3

Shiiiiiinyyyyyyy~ *sparkly eyes *

*Gigglesnort* It's pretty cool at night <3 You should see it in the morning sunrise. I've heard it's supposed to be VERY pretty <3

Maybe at sunset, as well. Everything is pretty when it's sunset, right?

*nods* Yes that too. <3

Well, ah... pryvit, everyone. I'm just dropping in to say hello!

Oh~! Hello Ukraine~! It's nice of you to drop by~! Come by again sometime! <3

@Yoki-chan: Kyaboo!!!! Cool! I saw your ATWT drawings Yoki pal. (Instantly saved in my file.) What a present!!! I’m so happy!!! Now we’re like manga X3kukuku…. Cool ones!! And I get to be taller and have a nicer figure in your drawings. (X3 That’s why I like manga versions.). That inspired me to draw too. (>.< Trying to resist temptation to pick the pencil…. I still have to study later >.<……). Although, I still have no idea how Ren nee-chan really looks like besides what I’ve read from her blog. I can use your drawings as a reference, but I still don’t know how tall are you…………… Aww, your drawings made my day! Thanks :D

@Kat nee-chan: I’m very glad you visited here, Kat nee-chan ^_^ ….. I wish I was around when you dropped by. *I invited Miss Ukraine to come here. Hey guys, have we still some snacks to offer our special guest? Ow, and vodka *I mean* tea or coffee or anything that would please a Ukrainian? Hope she did not find this room messy…. >.<*

@Ren nee-chan: Wishing you here to have a better day today!! Cheer up as always! :-D I heard that you had a fun day with bruder Prussia. ;-D (Ow, and our boss had too >.> … with Boss Spain X3…. Kyaaa!!! It seems like I’m the only failure here last time. T^T)


[What happened to Tine while she was not around: The mob stopped hunting me, but they captured Iggy instead so I tried to help him get away. But when we were finally able to find a safe place… guess what… Mr. England summoned a demon. He ordered the demon to attack me for what I did to him. …. You could just imagine what I went through. *Chased by a demon. Iggy laughing evilly at the background*…. T^T …. I really made him mad. What should I do? *sullen face* - options: a.) get back at him for making the demon attack me. b.) offer him 50% off *no, it should be* free mercenary and errand services (kyonshi side-line jobs) to make it up with him. c.) give up and take a love-reversal potion. Obviously, the most practical choice is the 3rd one – less effort, less expense. And I’ll no longer be bothered by this … silly feelings which does not fit for a kyonshi. A kyonshi has to be tough. *pumped fist*….. Besides, I vowed to myself to follow Gen. Sun Tzu (the great Ancient Chinese strategist) advice of always choosing the most logical and practical option so…. I have to ask for some of Izzy’s money to pay for a love-reversal potion. *Taking money again from the ATWT fund*]


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RANDOM TRIVIA: Noticed how I frequently address girls older than me as nee-chan? That’s because in real life I don’t call the elder ones just by their name. Just like in Japan, it is also a custom here in the Philippines to add respect names. However, the Japanese version is more internationally popular and recognizable so I use it instead of the Filipino way of addressing the elder ones. In the Philippines we address elder sisters (or women older than you by few years) as “ATE” (not “ate” like the past tense of the English word “eat”. It’s pronounced the same way as in Japanese.) It so happened that it sounds like the Japanese version/term for sister, which is “ANE” (mdified as onee-chan/san or nee-chan/san when added after a name.). While elder brothers/men are addressed as “KUYA” (which, in Japanese, is equivalent to “ANI” or “ONII/NII-CHAN/SAN” or “ANIKI”. One difference in usage is that respect names in the Philippines are added before the name (e.g.: Ate Ren, Ate Kat), while in Japan it comes after the name (e.g.: Ren nee-chan, Kat nee-chan).


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As to landmark…..
I chose the Rizal Monument. It is the most popularly known landmark here. (I’m not sure though if it is considered as the Philippines’ national landmark ‘cause there always comes a controversy in naming a national symbol.) It is the mausoleum of the Philippine national hero – Jose P. Rizal. It is located in Rizal Park (Luneta Park), Manila.
Jose P Rizal lived in the 19th century, when the Philippines was still under Spain. He was a highly intellectual man (genius, I should say) – a polymath with many talents and professions, and a polyglot who can fluently speak 22 internationally known languages. He learned those languages from his many travels in Europe and Asia (It is one of his talents to learn a new language in just a short period.). He bested at a Spanish/European dominated academe. He is indeed a role model, but what made him a hero is that he awakened the awareness and nationalism of the Filipinos and fought in a non-violent way by exposing in his literary works (esp. the novels titled Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo) the abuse and misgovernance made by the Spaniards. But good things never go unpunished. He was sentenced to death by squad firing. He died a noble death. He was supposed to be shot about-faced but upon firing, he turned around to face the gunshots. He did not fear to die.

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As to Belgrade's landmark: It really gives that Eastern-European impression. It gives the impression that this landmark had been a part of some significant events in the history. I like things like that. It stirs my interest. *packing my travel luggage now..... in my dreams.*

As to California's landmark: From the looks of it, the name really suits with that amazing structure. Golden indeed. I like how it brings that awesome experience of seeing it's beauty at sunrise and sunset.

Thanks, I kinda like doing it "old school", really glad that you like it............... You just couldn't resist poking that spot, could you? -/////- You sure have been gone for a long time, glad you're back. And it's nice to see new faces in our headquarters, wonder if we can get more?

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In the past, my land has been ruled by many (mostly Hungary and Turkey). I'm guessing that's why it has that kinda vibe. Although you are not the only one who likes to see the world.

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There is also the Belgrade Fortress or Kalemegdan in Serbian. The Belgrade Fortress is the core and the oldest section of the urban area of Belgrade and for centuries the city population was concentrated only within the walls of the fortress, thus the history of the fortress, until most recent history, equals the history of Belgrade itself. First mention of the city is when it was founded in the 3rd century BC as "Singidunum" by the Celtic tribe of Scordisci who had defeated Thracian and Dacian tribes that previously lived at the fort and around. The city-fortress was later conquered by the Romans, became known as Singidunum and became a part of "the military frontier", where the Roman Empire bordered "barbaric Central Europe". Though there is a lot more to it, but it's just too much writing

Belgrade Fortress/Kalemegdan

Oi hey!
O yeah. I should be thanking you more for the drawings.
Sorry by the way I was no longer able to return last time. I had to study for exam right after finishing the chores. We still have another exam tomorrow. I only have about half an hour remaining time to stay online.
Ya, I'd like to have more visitors here. Maybe we can do something about it later. (Gotta deal with exams first.)
Wow, I'm learning more about Serbia. This is quite a good opportunity to learn about it straight from a Serbian. I love the sight. If ever I get to see that in real life, that sure will take my breath away. *get back to preparing my travel luggage* It's always fascinating to see a fortressed and walled city and to know about the intermingling of many tribes in Serbia during the old days.

Since you've mention about walled city and getting poked by the mention of Spain..... In Manila (I don't live there but it's our capital.) we also have this "Walled City Within a City" called Intramuros. It was built by, who else, the Spaniards during the 16th century. It was the seat of government in the Philippine Islands during the Spanish era. Now it is a heritage sight/tourist spot famous for retaining the ambiance of the Spanish era. It still look the same as how it used to during the Spanish period. It's like getting warped by a time machine, going back in time when you enter the Intramuros. It features the old Spanish-style buildings, structure, statues, museum. It sure is a great spot *heaven* for history buffs.

*If I mentioned about Spain for many times, it's just it can't be helped ~_^ *
*I can't find an overview pic of Intramuros. It's quite a huge district. link: link

So, as you know by now, Philippines was very much influenced by Spain. Just as how these Mexican guys are *check out the vid*

@Tine-chan: I-I-I-I I did nothing like that~!!! St-stop being so weird~!!! >///////<

Wow, I missed a lot...

@Tine-chan If I weren't in such a good mood, I so would have used our new defense weapon *slight look at Ren followed by a small nod*
Don't worry, I'm also burred in projects and homework, on top of that I'm also in the night shift..................................... Ah, yeah that. Well, when going to school you have a day shift (leave at 8 come back at 14) and a night shift (come at 14 leave at 20). Of course you don't stay full time, it depends on the number of classes. I HAVE NO F****** IDEA WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH LANDMARKS?!?! *face palm*
Anyways, I would really like to visit Intramuros (and no, not for that reason, don't give me that look -////////-)

N-n-no destroying the HQ and Tine-chan!!! > 3 <

It's okay little sis. No worries~! *huggles*

Oh...sorry I haven't been on in so long...but I'm back~!^^

Wow, so many great landmarks, don't know which one to visit first? I wonder what kind of music will we hear there? And on that note, that's our next theme...........*drum roll* .................. MUSIC ACROSS THE WORLD! Tell us the history of your music (or maybe post a video)

Serbian music that relates to the musical traditions of the Serbian people and the music in general by from Serbia. Historically, the traditional or "original" music of the Balkan region, especially influenced Turkish music, and music of Western Europe in the last two centuries.

Turbo-folk (often newly composed music, folk) is a music genre that originated in Yugoslavia in the early 1980s [requested resource] years, under the influence of popular folk music performers such as Lepa Brena and Dragana Mirkovic. The peak of popularity in the 1990s reached Serbia. He had a strong influence on the folk-pop and techno-folk music that will occur later in the decade of the former Yugoslav republics, as well as the music styles of other countries, such as Bulgaria (chalga) and Greece (Laika).
For turbo-folk is said to be kafanska music, and it is extremely popular name populists, both for music and for artists. The term turbo-folk singer used the first Rambo Amadeus and how he defines "turbo folk is not music, turbo-folk is a cacophony of tastes and odors in a single sound-related drafts tasked to meet the tastes of the widest, lowest passions."

During the seventies and eighties was created in Serbia large number of rock groups, among which the most popular were Smak, Time, Ju-group Kornelyans, Generation 5, fish broth, Bajaga, and Van Gogh.
The first signs of popular music that is not aimed at the general population as well as its audience (ie "alternative" or "indie" music) appeared in the eighties when it was put into practice in Serbia in the short term movement known as new wave. Its founders were the idols, Charles acrobats and Electric orgasm and followed them Discipline spine, EC and Partibrejkersi that in the years to gain more readers.
During the nineties in Serbia appear first significant musical groups are turning to genres such as hip-hop, reggae and electro or counted on for at least some of its effects.
As for hip-hopa/repa significant performers are: Sunshine, Gru, Voodoo Popeye, 187, Juice and later gained great popularity as Belgrade union, Škabo, Marcelo and underground rap bands Bed Kopi, Prti Bee Gee, 43zla, Ajs etc..
Pop music in the strictest sense (with a few exceptions, the most significant being George Balašević) have been the end of the nineties and early millennium year began, to obtain a significant audience, primarily among young people. Once the turbo-folk began to lose importance, and traditional rock scene continued to be associated with the older generation, there have been many new pop artists most notably Georgiev, Tap 011, Ana Stanic and Maria Serifovic.
During the second half of the nineties, the alternative / indie scene more or less related to the resistance of the former Serbian government, and partly gathered around the radio and the record company were found to be B92 Darkwood Dub, Kanda, and Nebojsa Koca, Rambo Amadeus, great disdain, Masts , Eva Braun, etc.. Also at this time taking root and electronic scene and organized the first techno, house and electro performances and parties in major cities. After the change of government that followed the 2000th years, a number of these and similar groups to cease their political activities and therefore somewhat lost its importance.
Among the most important young alternative / indie groups partly related to the so-called "New Serbian scene" (originally a column in the magazine launched a web-Popboks) With today. A. R. S., Petrol, Repeater, Goribor, Lira Vega, Horkestar, Cinch, Elektrolasta, Inje, Sleptrep, Tusilago, Gentle Dalibor, Virvel, Ana Never, endorphins, etc. Picnic. These bands are the musical style very different to each other and are associated primarily facts that have become active in the past few years, as the audience are almost exclusively young and urban population, to promote yourself (particularly via the Internet), you generally do not have official Publication (or self-releasing the album), and that all have a negligible media coverage compared to the number of fans.

Whew~ So much details there Yoki-chan.... I'm too lazy to give that much details (And I'm not so sure if I know that much about our music since I don't listen to mainstream) so I'm going to post a link to wikipedia instead X3: link

It is said that the music of the Philippines is a mixture of indigenous, other Asian, European, Latin American, and American influences. Our music is colloquially known as OPM (original pinoy music.... pinoy = colloquial term for "Filipino".)

Here's an OPM remake by David Archuleta. I don't know if he already went back to US.

Music huh? Wow... -struggling to think of something- Oooooh~!! Okay.... Um... Well... Here... Have an Owl City video~ <3

*humming Forevermore* Yeah, I felt like putting a lot of details ^_^ I tend to do that sometimes. I like Owl City too, especially the song Fireflies

Wow, the melody is already stuck in your mind.
Ow yea, Nee-chan here loves Owl City. Most of the foreign mainstream are from US so I'm familiar of it. BTW, my fave Owl City song is Vanilla Twilight. There was a time when I got LSS of that song.
I like how deep the Serbian music is (judging on the melody and the singing). This next song i'm going to post is.... should i say... the opposite.

This next one is a funny wacky pop rock OPM. I don't know if I should feature this here, but...o well... people here won't mind playing goofy if it's for humor' sake. I find the tune of this one catchy. *kinda sounds anime-ish* Well, because it has something to do with that Online RPG Ragnarok. This was released when Ragnarok was at its height of popularity here in the Philippines. The song has a... funny *crazy* storyline: The guy in the story is an avid Ragnarok player. He happened to fall in love with another player whom he only knew online by the name of "Maldita" (lit. cheeky cruel girl). The two decided to finally meet each other in person, but then when they did the guy finds out that Maldita is actually a... gay. He then realized why this Maldita chick is so good at swordfighting XDD (it's because she is actually a he)... Hence the title CHIKSILOG (slang term for drag-wearing gay man). *go ahead... you may facepalm*

O.O........... (-.-lll) *epic facepalm* This reminded me of Gangnam Style (nobody is gonna do that, that, I don't know what it is, OK)

Ow, I posted my comment at the gangnam vid before I read this one.
Yea... you really are going to need that shades when you watch that CHIKSILOG vid.

Okay, I gotta post some decent music from our country.
This one is a music for a traditional dance called "Pandanggo sa Ilaw". The music is performed by a "rondalla" (ensemble of stringed instruments). Philippine rondalla is different from Spanish rondalla but the former is derived from the latter.

I'm sad... You two know more about your country then I do about mine.... AND I LIVE HERE~!!!! -sits in emo corner-

*worrying about nee-chan's emo mode*
That's understandable. US is quite a melting pot of cultures and very mainstream so I guess it wouldn't be too easy to digest about the music of US.

Yes that is very true. Still it would be nice to know a little bit. -comes out of emo corner-

That's when wikipedia comes in handy.
*lol, we're like in an advertisement**not a paid advertiser of wikipedia*

-gigglesnort- Very true~ Wikipedia would definitely be helpful <3

Here's something for you~ They aren't from America though. I forget the country they hail from but, I like this song. I'm sure most of you have heard it hehe. Oh well, please enjoy~!

Whew! I’m back! Sorry if it took me so long to get back here.
Hey there Ren nee-chan! *flashy entrance* We should play Break Even on a stereo.
Look what we got here. *see pic* Cool right? I just thought it’s about time to take our HQ utilities to a higher level. *Hope they don’t mind about the expense**gulp/sweat drop*
Okay! Let’s enjoy the music…..

By the way, the Bad Friends Trio and the Baltic Trio are going to have their official character songs. Exciting isn't it! Here are the previews:

The Baltic Trio song: link
The Bad Friends Trio: link

The BTT song is way too awesome!!! (Too bad the previews are too short though.)

And… well……. We’ve been naughty before *or are we still?*… so….. >///> We hope to make it up to you Ren nee-chan, so… here’s a present – strawberry cake! You said you love strawberries, right? ^^

And here! Cute mochis among strawberries, pancakes and buns….. No, they’re not left-overs from the ones I sell at the Mochi club….

And to make it complete, here’s another fun music to enjoy from your favorite Owl City together with Mattie’s Carly Rae Jepsen (That Canadian darling. Matthew’s cheering from behind for her X3). Our new stereo will really make a good use.
May you have a good time, Ren nee-chan... as always. :-)

Guys, Miss Ukraine might visit us again so…

I bought a more stylish sofa and painted the wall with jolly pastel shades ^^ *I actually hired an interior designer. I’m afraid that would raise further questions about my spending.*….

Our visitor is a Ukrainian so we should display some Ukrainian stuffs. Here’s a set of fancy Ukrainian figures.

Sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower so we should have some here. *Just don’t ask me which restricted garden did these sunflowers were sneakily picked at. ^^;* *>_> I don’t think Russia will ever end up here before Miss Ukraine comes. *sweat drop*)

And of course, receiving a guest will never be complete without serving some food – A sunflower themed cake! Yum~

Although it’s too much temptation to bear, we should wait for our visitor before we slice this delectable, sweet, mushy, pretty cake that’s quite-irresistible-to-try-and-now-making-m­e-d­roo­l-a­nd-­mak­ing­-my­-st­oma­ch-­gru­mbl­e-t­hat­-if­-th­is-­goe­s-o­n-a­nd-­do-­not­hin­g-t­he-­dro­oli­ng-­wil­l-g­et-­wor­se-­and­-I-­wil­l-n­ot-­be-­at-­eas­e.
It doesn’t mean anything if I’m holding this cake knife……. Hey. Doesn’t this cake have two layers? *sinister grin*

*Shakes head* Get back to your senses, Tine.

And to pair with the cake, here’s slatko (thin fruit preserve) and water. It’s part of the Serbian way of hospitality I learned from boss Yoki.

@Ren nee-chan: Hey, another strawberry goodie here!

Having music always makes it merrier so here’s Miss Ukraine’s version of Marukaite Chikyuu. Such a jolly song .

Miss Ukraine and anyone who drops by here can bring home some of these sunflower cupcakes.

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The things I came up with Izzy's fund. ^^

Well, since here is everything but music, I guess the theme is over (will come up with new one soon). Don't think the boss is gonna be left out of this random fun, meanwhile in today's newspaper...........

l
l
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(Translation: In the Philippines, a 1000 years old village with tombs of limestone that have been found in the southeastern country has been discovered. Based on tests conducted on human tooth found in one of the 15 graves, a village near the town of Mulanaj (I think it's translated like that, not sure) is at least 1000 years old.)

Wow, I didn't know about that. And I only came to know about that from you. Tombs of limestones huh... interesting.... I don't remember well if Philippines really already had recorded villages of that sort from that time (1000 years ago). But that one sure would be included in the upcoming Philippine history books.

We had similar situation to this one. The village was almost gone (though I don't remember the name of it), until one day a lot of tourists came and visit. They decided to use that village as a backdrop for a movie which one of the tourist is going to make. Kinda like a fairy-tale. Plus, we also advertised those weird rat poisoned tomatoes in the link dana (link dana = link of the day)

Wow, so it gets to be featured on a movie. I'm not sure though if it's going to happen on that new discovered site in the Philippines *most likely it won't*.
WT* So it really is rotten/poisoned tomatoes they're advertising. Why would anyone ever buy poisoned tomatoes by the way?

See, the boss is always right, and you said they were filled with love potion *inner mind: *facepalm* why did I do that?* I knew that was a lie, no sane person would give anybody poisoned tomatoes

Did I get it right? You mean... you found a good use of those advertised poisoned tomatoes?! O_O