私の事について。。。 About Me (日本語 Version)

Can you read in Japanese? Well, I just hope you can 'cause after this "intro" statement, everything will be in Kanji and Kana characters. Don't you dare attempt to read this if you're not that proficient in Japanese, eh. You might get a nosebleed! Haha!

The language transition starts here...

こんにちは！！！

私は、ホヴェン・ザルロッドと申します。あだ名はザルで、日本名は砂です。1990年4月29日にダバオ市で、私は生まれました。ですから、今はもう18歳です。

家族と一緒にラサンという場所に住んでいます。私の家族は、両親と兄と弟の五人家族です。父と母は公務員で、兄はウェブサイトディベロッパーで、弟はまだ高校四年生です。一方で、私は大学生です。

今まで、ミンダナオ国際大学で日本語を勉強しています。もう日本学科三年生です。三年生として、日本語の授業がとても難しくなっているので、いつも成績について悩んでいます。先学期、成績が大幅に下がりました。それなので、今学期は一生懸命勉強しようと思っています。

ところで、初めは、ＭＫＤで勉強をしようと決めた特定の理由がありませんでした。しかし、時間がすぎるにつれて、日本人と仲良くしたいので、ＭＫＤで日本語を勉強しようと決めたということが分かるようになりました。他の理由は日本語の曲を作りたいからです。

曲を作ることが私の趣味です。それはさておき、歌を歌うことと踊ることに興味を持っています。なぜなら子供の時から、いつか演奏者になるという将来の夢があるからです。私はエミネムとブリトニースピアーズのようにとても有名になりたいです。その二人は好きな演奏者です。

「好き」と言えば、好きなものと嫌いなものがたくさんあります。例えば、アドボとフレンチフライスが好きな食べ物ですが、オクラという野菜が嫌いです。そして、好きな音楽はＲ＆Ｂとポップですが、ヘビーメタルが嫌いです。さらに、私にとって｢きれい｣の漢字が面白いと思うので、好きな言葉は「奇麗」です。その一方で、嫌いな言葉がありません。最後には、オプラ・ウィンフリーが好きな有名人です。どうしてかというと、オプラは上手なトークショーホストだからです。そして、本当に気前が良くて、他の人を尊敬しているからです。お母さんのようにオプラを尊敬します。私として、他の人を尊敬する人しか私は尊敬しません。

。。。以上です。。。

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お誕生日おめでとう、ＶＪ ザル！[My 18th Birthday Blowout Pt. 1]

April 27, 2008—It was past six when I woke up; pretty earlier than my usual summer vacation rise from being dead to the world. Of course, I just needed to do it. Something special would be coming my way. My special moment.

I turned my PC monitor on and opened my Yahoo! Messenger account. It was a relief to know Iris was online. It clearly meant she’s still in her crib and, Arianne and Katrine (image on the right) were not in the venue yet. The two decided to stay there to prepare what must be prepared. They were the event organizers, by the way.

An hour later, I caught myself in the bathroom doing, obviously, THAT thing. It really takes forty to sixty minutes for me to feel clean and at ease. Anyway, who cares?

Shortly after taking a bath, I did the next usual and normal: clothing myself, brushing my 歯 (teeth) and others that you simply know. After that, I did the occasional: preparing what I need to bring and of course, preparing myself. It took three bags to fulfill them—a body bag, a camcorder bag and my personal favorite, a sando bag. Extra clothes and money were inside the body bag. The sando bag on the other hand, had a Tupperware® of suman (image on the left) in it. And the camcorder bag…well, I’d be feeling dumb if I’ll answer what’s inside of it.

Before leaving, I informed Iris (image on the right) that I’d be heading too soon. She replied stating she’d be doing the same as well. いってきます！(I’m off!)

About 8:20AM, I was already on the roadside waiting for an airconditioned van bound that would pass through Barrio Pampanga, Lanang. The waiting time usually takes ten to fifteen minutes. Yet during that time, the fifteenth minute had passed and still, I didn’t catch any public van passed by. Another ten minutes later, I’d reached my limit and ended up riding on a bus with a route different from where I was supposed to go. But at least, it’s airconditioned. No profuse sweating!

to be continued...

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My “Irreplaceable” Version Hits Airwaves

I’m not so sure about this but I hope it’s true. You see, I am really a musically inclined person and whenever I’m in the mood, I tend to write songs about myself, my experiences, love and even hate. Some of the songs that I wrote are entitled “A Road To Stardom”, “Jokes Might Hurt Me”, “Picture”, “Gimme Ya Move” and “Discovered”. They all have unique melodies.

However recently, I have been into a different songwriting scheme. I must say my music is heavily influenced by acts such as Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, the Backstreet Boys, Usher among others. I am so engulfed with most of their songs that I came up having a new and probably effective musical idea. That is, recycling their songs through translating them using my mother tongue—the Cebuano language.

The first and so far, the only song that I remade is Beyoncé’s smash hit “Irreplaceable”. The remaking process was fairly tough for the song has rich lyrics. However, I managed to have the finished product just after a couple of hours. I entitled it as “Di Maalisdan (Irreplaceable Cebuano Version)”.

After finishing, I uploaded the song right away on imeem.com. On the first week of its release, it was heavily listened mostly by my classmates and friends (haha!). As of this date, it has gained over 130 listeners. Not bad…But that’s not the climax yet!

Just this day, I received a text message from Theresa Natalie Conde, a high school classmate of mine, regarding my version of “Irreplaceable”. She stated that her brother heard it at a local radio station in Cebu, Philippines. What?!? Like I was so stunned when I knew it. My song was played on the radio?? I can’t believe it! Well, that just means they probably like what I made. I’m so flattered.

Now, it seems like my inspiration in making songs has finally come back. I think I’ll have to finish my new work. It’s called “Wala’y Kinsa”, a remake of Alicia Keys’ “No One”. I’ll also be doing my version of Mariah’s “Touch My Body”. Check them out soon!

If you want to listen to my song “Di Maalisdan (Irreplaceable Cebuano Version)”, I embedded it just above this post.

By the way, allow me to plug my very first music video. It’s my version of Rihanna’s “Umbrella”.

FYI, the Cebuano language is distinct in central and southern Philippines. Actually, it is the most widely spoken language in the country and the #1 major basis of the Filipino language.

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Allow Me to Introduce Myself

This was my very first entry on the original VJ Czar World blog. I decided to repost this just so you’ll know me better. I hope you’ll read it word by word.

Hello!

I guess it's better for you to know me more so you'll be aware of what you're gonna get from me. Allow me to introduce myself! :)

Where to begin...

I am Czar Rod Joven (in katakana, ホヴェン・ザルロッド), a new blogger of this old yet renowned blogging website. My high school and college friends (as well as the others) call me "Czar". At home and in my hometown, I am called "Khadaphy". I think that's a Muslim name suggested by my one of my late grandfathers. Yeah I got those sobriquets, but I prefer you to call me "VJ Czar". Wonder where that stuff came from? Well, don't ask me. I myself, don't even know where...Hehe.

But I do know where my first name originated. Actually, my real given name is "Czar Rod Bartolome". It was taken from the first names of my three grandfathers--Cesar, Rodrigo and Bartolome. However, because of the errors done by a nurse of Limso General Hospital, "Bartolome" was excluded in my authenticated birth certificate being issued by the National Statistics Office. I was really sad. I just found it out 15 years after the day I was born. I vowed to myself that I'm gonna retain my REAL name ASAP.

On the other hand, I just want you to know that I'm a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines. Sadly but proudly, I am a pure Filipino. But don't you get me wrong. I am not that proud of being such a being. I am a world citizen! I've got no nationalistic limitations.

I'm currently living in Davao City, specifically, in the northernmost barangay of Lasang. [FYI, Davao City's found in the southeastern part of the Philippines.] My father Raul, is a barangay kagawad (a councilor of the Philippines' smallest political unit called barangay) and my mother Lucila, is a social worker. Both of them were once being affected by local political bullshits (sorry for the word)...Don't wanna expound that anymore.

I have two brothers--John Raul II and Kirk Luke Raul III. I'm like confused about their names having "II" and "III", respectively. I haven't known any person named John Raul I, Kirk Luke Raul I and Kirk Luke Raul II, you know. Maybe it's because of the existence of "Raul". Whatever! Well, the former is a college graduate and is currently working as a web developer. The latter is still on his junior high struggle.

Let's get it on!

I was born on April 29, 1990 so, it means my sign is Taurus. My religion's Roman Catholicism. Height: 5'1", Weight: almost 70 kg...I can speak Filipino, Cebuano well, and English fairly. I got a bit of linguistic skills in Japanese language, too. I know how to write using the Kana characters and a little bit of Kanji characters.

I spent my elementary days at Alejandra L. Navarro Central Elementary School. I graduated there as a valedictorian (but in the invitation. I was like the "First Honor"). I pursued my studies at the Davao City National High School. That's the largest high school in Davao City that houses an average of 7,500 students. I was also proclaimed as a valedictorian at that time. It's kinda surprising but I guess...that's just me..ahaha!! :)

Currently, I am in college taking up Bachelor of Science in International Studies major in Japanese Language and Studies. The institution? It's Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku (Mindanao International College or ミンダナオ国際大学). However, as of this moment, I'm thinking of shifting to fields that I love better. Those are Environmental Science and Computer Science. I'm not yet sure regarding that matter. I'm still searching for signs.

When it comes to interests, I must say that music is my #1 love. It's a way of releasing my emotions. It's a way of telling things that I can hardly say to somebody. It's my friend, my confidant and my boo. I write songs since I was a sophomore high school student. So far, I've written 30+ songs using Sound Recorder or Adobe Audition 2.0. I'm pretty sure their melodies are original. The only problem is, I find it hard to play those melodies through a particular musical instrument. I mean, I don't have ample knowledge when it comes to playing stringed instruments, keyboard, percussions, etc. I guess it's better if I'll have a collaborator.

I'm also freakin' interested in surfing the web...or should I say, anything with relation to the internet. I always download stuffs...sounds, movies, e-books, name it. I can also webhost and create webpages in HTML (only..). I created the website with the URL http://nodebatch10.sitesled.com. It is currently under construction for I am so busy about my studies. Yeah, it's just a sub-domain. Don't have any bucks yet so I can have my own "www.blahblahblah.com".

Video editing then is my third love. The program that I'm using is Sony Vegas 7.0. I'm looking forward to learning Adobe Premiere’s operations. I’ve tried it and I must say it's pretty complicated. If you wanna see one of my works, watch my version of Rihanna's "Umbrella" below.

Meanwhile, I have a huge interest in the entertainment industry...either internationally or locally. I don't know why but I find the need to disseminate news and even gossips about celebrities doing crazy things. Presently, Britney Spears is the most interesting newsmaker for me. I love and hate her actions. Kinda confused? Yeah! That may be the reason why she'd caught my most of my attention.

I also love Geography, Astronomy and anything about the environment. I can name all the countries of the world and their capitals as well. On the other hand, I believe in UFOs and the existence of aliens. I really love those enigmatic beings.

Since music is my supreme interest, I have a dream of becoming a performer. Yes, a performer...not a singer. Though I can sing (but not so excellently), I don't wanna isolate myself to just one thing. I believe that I am capable of dancing and acting so, why not do it all at the same time. I'm a performer (period!).

Below are links that will lead you to how I am working to realize my ultimate dream:

http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/vjczar

http://vjczar.imeem.com

http://profiles.friendster.com/vjczar

http://www.myspace.com/vjczar

So, I guess that's it! Now you know what you're gonna get from me. If there are any infos that I missed, you may contact me here.

Got a lotta things to say here!

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