[Nico(ligand)]

zombienovela:

Childhood Hero: Ellen Nishiumi

    If you’re Filipino, around my age, and don’t know why she’s famous, then you’ve never seen quality television in the 90’s besides “Flying House”, “5-and-Up”, and the old-school MTV-Asia with VJ’s Mike and Sarah (these two came way before Utt, who was equally an asset to the channel).

    I still remember some episodes of season 1, especially the one where she went to the famous ramen museum. I just feel so nostalgic tonight. Has anyone found season 1 online yet? Right now I don’t even care if the videos look old (I mean, those videos are actually old anyway). And since we love lists, I’ll type the season 1 episodes that I’ve seen before I post this and go to sleep. Season 2 videos are just around the net I think. I’ve tried uploading what I have but I can’t make decent cuts that will make it on YouTube.

Season 1 episodes I remember:

1. Ramen Shop! I can give you a play-by-play of this one. That’s how much I loved it.
2. Cat Zoo (Yes. Apparently, cats are equally loved, if not more popular than dogs in Japan.) Lots and lots of furry cats. They also had a place where you can pet them. Popular with little kids without asthma. And the cookies in the cafe were also cat-shaped!
3. The amusement park with Japan’s oldest (first?) roller coaster. Here, she also got to ride something like a frog that just goes jump, a scarier version of that, a flying house, and went to a haunted house. There was an excursion of who looked like eighth-grade students so most of the people she interviewed were kids that age. She also ate stir-fried noodles from a stand (who knew I would see something like that on the SPS building at my school a decade later?). And this episode was the first time I ever saw a bottle of ramune. She even explained that the marble keeps people from drinking too much in one sip. The amusement part also had some performers. Ellen loved describing the old neighborhood just outside the place whenever she was riding high up.
4. A shopping district where most of the shops she visited sold hair accessories. I think he even bought some clips for herself that day! Her lightning-fast forex conversion skills were very well showcased here.
5. On a tour bus with old people from far away provinces of Japan. Hmm.. The show featured a traditional type of stage play here, and all the food was fish.
6. A tech museum for kids that featured a talking R2D2-like robot. I was so envious that she got to talk to R2D2, even if he only said things like “good day”.
7. A flea market that sold her some cute things for super knock-off prices because it’s almost closing time.
8. A botanical market? I only remember her visiting this one shop that sold plants and pots.
9. Cherry Blossom viewing! Again, she got to eat some delicious noodles and barbecue from a stand. She also met a Fil-Am student on vacation who didn’t speak Filipino.

Episode from season 2 that I haven’t seen online:

1. A modern amusement park with a flying carpet ride, and an Anchor’s Away. She also met a Filipino family on vacation.
2. Football stadium. I have to check if this was part of her visit to La Qua (the one with the large Ferris wheel with no “spine”) because I did see that one online.