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Book review: Convenience Store Woman

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

These days I find it a privilege to be able to finish reading a book. Convenience Store Woman is only 94 pages though, perfect for when you've got nothing to do but roll over your bed for the rest of the night.

At first, I thought this is going to be another plotless book, the kind I've learned to expect from Japanese stories like The Nakano Thrift Shop. But it gave me an extremely different kind of entertainment. I didn't find it funny or humorous, unlike the rave reviews I've seen. In this book I got mad, I smiled a little, raised my brows, and exhaled quite a few times. 



Relatable Keiko

Maybe, I could relate to Keiko. Except that I wasn't a troubled kid (okay, maybe just a little bit). And I could not see myself doing the same exact thing for eighteen years. Plus, I'd like to think I've successfully established my self-identity. 

Keiko can't define herself in any other way, except that she was born to be a convenience store woman. She felt the need to copy one of her colleague's fashion, mimic the way a university girl speak, and join the bandwagon when everyone feels mad, or upset, or celebrating. There was nothing distinctive about her, except that she's been working at the convenience store for half of her life. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is the fact that Keiko isn't too proud of it - she subconsciously restrains herself from telling people she loves what she does and that's why she's been there all her life and that it makes her happy and her life content. 

The convenience store nostalgia

It must be fascinating to work in a convenience store. The smell of frying oil mixed with the smell of plastic packaging, steamed bao, and brewed coffee take me back in time when everything else is normal and okay and that gives me ultimate comfort and maybe even a bit of nostalgia which makes me feel a whole lot better when I'm down. Yes, convenience stores are my time capsule. At least to the pre-pandemic era. 

Convenience stores also provide refuge, especially when the afternoon is getting too stuffy and you need to get some fresh air and some ice cream for that little pick-me-up. Or when it's raining in the evening and there's nothing else better than a cup of seafood noodles with another friend after a long day at work. It's cosy and warm and the raindrops are fascinating to watch and the next thing you know, it's 11 pm and there's no transportation available to take you home anymore. Good times. I miss those times. 

What does it mean to be normal?

A part of this book talks about people who like to measure your success with your career stability and marital status. When you reach a certain age and you're working, these people would wonder if you are earning more than enough, or if you have a respectable position in the organisation you work for. If you are single by the time you turn 30, they'd wonder why you haven't gotten married yet and would even go to the extent of finding you a partner (pakialamerang Marites!). If you've been married for 2 years, they'd be expecting you to have children and they'd also wonder if you're even healthy to bear a child. For you to be deemed normal by society standards, you should either be married or have a stable job by the time you're 30.

But normal is overrated. One can be a convenience store worker at 36 and single and can still be normal. What we should not normalise is to allow people to tell us what we should do, and think less of us as a person just because we do meet their criteria of being normal. We should not normalise people who think they can get away with their financial responsibilities by getting married to someone who has money (oh I didn't see you there, Shiraha). 

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book. Shihara might not be my most favourite character but he taught me that there are people that should be shut off your life forever. 


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Weekend read: You Can Wind Down From Time To Time and my reflections on adulting

Saturday, September 18, 2021

After a few months of staring at my bookshelf wondering if it somehow just became a decoration in my room to make me feel and look smart, I finally finished reading a book!


Apop has graciously provided us with books we can turn to when the whole world appears to be turning its back on us and we need to be reassured it's just a temporary thing. I'd normally shy away from non-fiction and self-help books but I realized I got to do what it takes to feel better in the middle of this worldwide mayhem. So I grabbed the whole set and set aside my scheduled Kdrama marathon weekend (Hospital Playlist 2) and read my first book from the bundle - Kim Dan's You Can Wind Down From Time to Time.  


Can you tell me what am I going to read next based on what's on my bookshelf?

The book is a compilation of snippets from our favorite kid stories, and essays on how they relate to the complicated part of our lives called adulting. Yes, I am an adult and I have no idea what I am doing most of the time so it is really nice if there's some kind of a manual that would remind me not to be scared when things don't feel right, and that it's okay to feel lost and confused because eventually, I'll find my way back home. 


When I Want to Be Closer To Me

Self-care is one of the many new things I see in my social media feed these days. A lot of people are sharing their own way of coping during this time when the whole world is in turmoil and the days feel dragging and uneasy. Look, it's way too hard to look at the brighter side of things when you have no idea where to look. In this part of the book, Kim Dan reminds us that stopping just for a moment and appreciating the little things we enjoy is so much better from that grand beach vacation we all look forward to when the lockdown is finally over. Write down your favorites, the things you love doing, and the little pleasures you treat yourself to. For me, it has always been books, music, coffee, and rain, and maybe a little bit of Kdrama. It's not an escape, but definitely, an effective way to recharge and take stressful things off my head even just for the weekend. Show yourself some love, cheer for yourself, and take care of yourself, because life is self-service. 

Life is self-service.


When I Miss Talking To Someone

It was so easy to make friends when I was in kindergarten - I didn't have to worry about how other kids would feel if I decided I didn't want to play my kitchen set with them. Now I have to be careful about what I am going to say, especially these days when everyone acts like a snowflake and everything is offensive. But what makes the strongest bond is a dislike towards something - believe me, I've experienced this countless times before. Coffee dates with Khendi are not real if we do not talk about people we both disagree on, and now I am beginning to think maybe that's what made our friendship stood the test of time rather than the fact that we both love the Backstreet Boys in our youth (well yes, until now). Sugar and I have the best bonding moments especially when we talk trash about visual holes and that group of people we call whistleblowers. Look, I am not saying we should promote dislike among our friends - I am just trying to make a point. 

Sometimes, we bond stronger when we share dislikes.


When I Want to Start Over 

Who would have thought that in this involuntary, solitary confinement, I'd discover how big the world outside is? That there are more things I can do, and that there's more to life than the one I settled for. Kim always called me Rapunzel - literally because I am always confined in my room on the 3rd floor of my family home with my hair flowing down my butt because I couldn't even go to the salon to cut it short. It's just so ironic that the world showed a better version of itself to me, right when I am on my own, confined by the pandemic. I discovered my capacity to learn a new language through watching tutorials and listening to Kpop songs. I found out that my writing skills can take me farther, that I can do more than just uploading somebody else's stuff on somebody else's website. I met new and exciting people who are all willing to help me in improving myself and finding out what else I can do. I figured that starting over, in the middle of all this turmoil, is not so bad at all. 

We can achieve what we want if we are bound by limited space and time.


You Can Wind Down From Time to Time is an easy read, something you can easily finish in one sitting. This is the kind of book I'll grab on a lazy weekend afternoon, and I bet it'll feel so much better to read with a cup of coffee in the sound of the pouring rain. Calming. Relaxing. Comforting. 


I wish you could read it too!


The complete set.

xo

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JDrama review: Perfect Crime

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Here's to another Dori Sakurada drama review.


We stan cute villain leads!

After the cringe-y Coffee and Vanilla I wanted more of him to see when I'd finally stop drooling over him if he's really a good actor because I'm not gonna lie, cringe-y or not, he's acting in that drama was great, along with the other actors. Anyway, Perfect Crime made it up for previous drama's lack of execution and logic and lived up to the expectations that Love Lasts Forever has set. Although it felt sad and I ached for some of the characters, I'm glad that I decided to watch it. 

What's the story about

Okay, this is such a tangled affair that I may need a diagram to explain it perfectly. While all of the characters are essential to the story, it starts with four people - Kaori Maejima (Reina Triendl), Haruto Shinonome (Dori Sakurada), Takuma Fuyuki (Hidekazu Mashima), and Miwa Fuyuki (Lee Ayumi). 

Miwa started going out with Haruto, but in the middle of their relationship, she decides she loves Takuma more than Haruto and went with him back to Tokyo, leaving Haruto behind, hurt and bleeding. Miwa marries Takuma. Meanwhile, Takuma starts having an affair with Kaori, his subordinate. When Haruto finds out about this, he flies from New York to Tokyo and vowed to use his "charm" to destroy Kaori, allowing Miwa, the love of his life, to take back her happy married life. 


Girls, we always have a choice  

I never understood the satisfaction that women get from having an affair with a married man. Kaori is perfectly aware that her boss, Takuma is married, yet she still continues sinning with him. She's a beautiful woman, accomplished, and not just your average employee - she's a freaking amazing interior designer. Was it the lack of love? Does she feel so empty and horny that she's willing to sleep with any man who shows her affection (although this might not be the case because one of her guy colleagues is obviously interested in her)? Does she need validation? But then again, whatever it was, I'm pretty sure she can find it somewhere else. 


Likewise, you won't go running to your ex when you're fully aware that he hasn't gotten over you after you got married to someone else. No, you just don't call him while he's still vulnerable and trying to get over you and tell him you figured "he might be feeling lonely." Girl, that's just cruel and selfish. Stop giving mixed signals to people who just got broken by you.


She looks like a doll, tbh


Villain leads are the relatable ones

I bleed for the villain leads - their backstories are often too painful to warrant revenge and turning into a monster (hi, Joker!). Haruto's plan of destroying Kaori in his hands is quite heartless, all because he wants the person who broke him to still be happy. It was sad and at the same time confusing, but of course, human emotions are complex. I wanted to grab him by the arm and tell him the best revenge is be happy so please be happy with me so forget about Miwa and just live happily with Kaori. I must say Dori Sakurada did pretty well in portraying a pained character who wanted to exude cruelty and indifference but in the end, his soft side, warm, caring, and loving prevailed.


And the smut scenes, ooh the smut scenes are just way too perfect I want them to appear in one of my books. 



Boys, for once stop being shitty

I do not hate Takuma Fuyuki. I loathe him. I loathe every fiber of his being. He claims that he had no idea that Miwa and Haruto were going out when he ran away with her. Okay, maybe that's true. But to justify his scumbagness of a cheater and saying he loved Miwa and Kaori both, that's totally unforgivable. I just couldn't make sense of it. Dude, you are a married man, okay. As I write this maybe there's a reason for Kaori that I can low-key forgive - maybe she feels threatened because Takuma is her boss and she had no idea what to do first so she just said yes and eventually got used to their illicit affair which is sick that I don't want to even imagine it. Their love scenes are just outright disgusting, knowing that they are just stolen moments.


And Ono-san... Yukiya Ono, what is your business controlling Kaori in your own way? Why instill false belief in Kaori in your favor? I totally agree with what you did in the end but please know you are disgusting af until that grand gesture. 


In conclusion

Perfect Crime is supposedly a story of revenge, but it appeared to be a little too soft in that area that it just ended up being a story of passion. It effed me up, in a lot of ways and in all the right places so I'd take it as a good sign and say I enjoyed the drama. Should you watch it? Well, I told my friends to give it a chance because it has a good substance. I mean, Hitori could have just allowed Miwa to suffer the same way he did by letting the cheating be, but no. I guess he has a different logic and I think that's the angle that I would want to explore. All in all, it kept me up all night, too. 


Sometimes, a happy ending is all we need.

xo

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