A Very Good Girl

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Vicious entrepreneur Molly (Dolly de Leon) owns a chain of Mother Malls all around the country and is courting investors for the construction of another one which will coincide with her 50th birthday. Young socialite Philo (Kathryn Bernardo) does her best to fall into her good graces and eventually succeeds after multiple attempts to earn her trust. In reality, Philo’s name is Mercy, and she has an axe to grind with Molly who happens to be her ex-boss who fired her, inadvertently leading to her mother’s death. She plots all the supporting characters on whom the woman relies and targets all of them in her elaborate plan to seek justice. As the pawns fall one by one and she becomes her frenemy’s new girl friday, Philo is suddenly faced with the epiphany that she and her ex employer/now BFF might not be so different after all. Will she get the justice she pursues or will she become the very monster she is trying to slay?

[CHUBU] Budget and Itinerary (2)

THURSDAY: September 21, 2023

Cebu Pacific (Manila - Nagoya - Manila) - 13,350.00

Entetsu Bus (Nagoya Airport - Hamamatsu) - 3,200.00

Hamamatsu Station (Locker) - 400.00

McDonalds (Cheeseburger Meal) - 520.00

Bus 40 (Hamamatsu Station - Shiyakusho Minami) - 150.00

Hamamatsu Castle (Admission Fee) - 200.00

Tokaido Line (Hamamatsu - Shizuoka) - 1,340.00

Hotel Capsule Inn Shizuoka (4 Nights) - 16,520.00

7 Eleven (Groceries) - 1,372.00

JPY37,052.00

[AICHI] Nagoya Castle

Nagoya, Nagoya, Nagoya. Located in the Japanese heartland halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. If you are flying in from Manila via cheapo airline Cebu Pacific, this is one of four destinations on offer. I guess what struck me about it, though, is the geographical correlations I feed to the map in my head. Since most prefectures are named after their eponymous capitals, Nagoya stands out because the prefecture is called Aichi. Nonetheless, Nagoya serves as the capital city and is considered the fourth largest city of Japan.

[GIFU] A Castle and a Squirrel Village

As I looked at my map of Japan, I decided that it was about time to turn more prefectures red. Since the flights were landing at and taking off from Nagoya, I had limited options for destinations easily accessible via train. Of course Gifu is probably the closest prefecture you can reach from Nagoya. In fact, it only takes 20 minutes via the regular Tokaido Line. The fare? JPY470 (~PHP180). But why should you even go to Gifu? What will you see there? Well, there are several options.

[SHIZUOKA] Another Castle and Mount Fuji from Afar

To say that there is nothing to see in the prefecture of Shizuoka is a gross exaggeration. After all, isn’t the majestic Mount Fuji itself straddling its border with Yamanashi? But I don’t want to climb that dormant volcano. All I wanted was to see it from afar, and Shizuoka the city has a handful of options for that. Unfortunately, just like any other tourist activity reliant on weather, whether the mountain will show up is totally up to the sun and the clouds. When I went to Miho no Matsubara, Fuji decided to stand me up.

The Nun II

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A priest in France levitates and spontaneously combusts, leaving a terrified young boy running away. The news does not bode well for Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) who now resides in a convent in Italy. After her supernatural confrontation with Valak (Bonnie Aarons), life has been relatively quiet and more easygoing. Maurice (Jonas Bloquet), on the other hand, has also moved on with his life working at a boarding school in France but not knowing that Valak has latched onto him, terrorizing the residents of the boarding school without his knowledge. As news of the renewed demonic attacks reach the Vatican, Sister Irene is summoned once more and sent against her will to investigate. It does not take long for her to realize that what they are about to face is a familiar evil she has already dealt with before. With a new ally in a reluctant Sister Debra (Storm Reid), she faces off once again with the sinister nun.

[KYUSHU] Budget and Itinerary

FRIDAY: September 1, 2023

Cebu Pacific (Manila - Fukuoka - Manila) - 10,905.00

Kyushu Rail (Fukuokako - Ohori Park) - 260.00

UNPLAN Fukuoka (8 Nights) - 26,570.00

JR North Kyushu (5-Day Rail Pass) - 14,000.00

Yoshinoya (Gyudon) - 448.00

JPY52,183.00