Romeo on Ice

I've never been into sports. Heck, I even used to cut PE all the time back in elem. I'd rather read books in the library (bookworm alert!) than do lay-ups in the hot sweltering heat. No, thank you. But every now and then, something sparks my interest. For instance, I got interested in volleyball because of the FIVB World Grand Prix, taekwondo because of Japoy (HS crush lol), UAAP basketball because of the Blue Eagles (sige, Fighting Maroons na rin :p), football because of the Azkals, and now figure skating because of Michael Christian Martinez. As the lone representative of the Philippines in the Sochi Winter Olympics, who wouldn't be interested in him? A figure skater from a tropical country where the closest thing to snow is probably in the form of halo-halo. I instantly admired his determination and courage to pursue such a sport. At such a young age too! But this post is not about MCM. Haha

Princes on Ice
L-R: Patrick Chan, Yuzuru Hanyu, Daisuke Takahashi, Javier Fernandez

Before the men's singles SP event last February 13th, Erin and I took to Google to scout the competition. We googled and watched videos of the current male top skaters such as Patrick Chan, Yuzuru Hanyu, Daisuke Takahashi and Javier Fernandez. We were instantly in awe (after getting over the frilly costumes and unusual music choices) at their performances. Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez were easily my favorites - Yuzuru because of his smooth skating and his ability to execute one jump after another without much effort, and Javier because of his Hispanic looks and manly moves. I knew right then that MCM needs to up his game to get on their level.

MCM proudly holding up his Philippines jacket at the kiss and cry.

So I stayed up late and tuned in just in time to catch MCM's SP. I've never watched a figure skating competition before so I was instantly mesmerized by the skaters' dedication to their programs and passion for the sport. As much as I wanted MCM to place well, I didn't want the other skaters to fall. My heart broke each time a skater falls on the ice (even going as far as blaming Sochi for the lackluster ice lol) and I cheered them on every time they get back up. I even shared their feelings of either triumph or despair at the kiss and cry. I was surprised at how much an FS competition virgin like myself was already so invested in the sport! Haha Ang drama e!

Yuzuru Hanyu at the Flower Ceremony.

As much as I wanted to catch Yuzu's, Javi's and PChan's (yes, we call them by nicknames now haha) performances, my eyelids just couldn't hold up any longer by 1 AM! I did the same thing the following night but gave up again around the same time. Darn you, 4-hour time difference! But thank God, TV5 aired a replay of the FS event last February 16th. I was giddy to finally see Javi perform but got heartbroken upon realizing he got 0 points for a jump because of a schoolboy mistake. Apparently, you can't perform the same jump twice and he under-rotated one of his quads to a triple so yeah, one jump got 0 points. When it was Yuzu's turn, I couldn't help but snicker a little at his costume. He looks so delicate - almost like a girl! For someone skating to Nino Rota's Romeo and Juliet, he totally looks more like the Juliet part. But once he started skating, I couldn't take my eyes off him. His movements came naturally, it's almost as if it didn't take any effort on his part at all. So I was really surprised when he fell on his first quad! </3 But he stood right up as if nothing happened and carried on with his program. Boy, his jumps were spectacular. Maybe it's his lean physique that enables him to jump beautifully across the ice. Nevertheless, it was a performance worthy of a gold medal even if he fell twice.

One of the most creative memes I have ever seen. Haha I especially love how Pooh-san is in there too!

As expected, the internet responded in the form of gifs and memes after Yuzu won the gold medal. The more I looked/laughed at them, the more I got fascinated with the kid. So I did the next step: google him. After reading his back story, I couldn't help but admire him even more - his courage in believing and pursuing his dream is amazing. Not to mention, his unbelievable love for his hometown, Sendai, which was terribly hit by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The next day, this was obviously inevitable...

Initial stages of fangirling. :))

Before you know it, I was browsing through photos in every social media site you can think of, reading articles and interviews, and watching videos on Youtube. But it's not his super adorable face or obsession with Pooh-san that made me a fan. It's the way he skates his heart out on the rink that not many skaters can do. Sure, the jumps are my favorite part of FS and a lot of skaters can jump beautifully as well but only a few skaters can make you feel something when they skate. And Yuzu does just that (to be fair, Yuna and Mao too). I watched most (if not all) of his programs and even ranked Romeo and Juliet 1.0, Parisienne Walkways and Hana ni Nare as my top 3 favorite programs. I watched interviews and documenteries, some of which didn't even have subtitles or translations. Haha It brought me back to my Johnny's Jr fangirling phase where I used to watch Shokura regularly even if I couldn't understand a thing. :)) A Yuzu-filled day turned into a Yuzu week then a Yuzu month and yup, it's still going! Erin, Mabel and I even created a Yuzu (Love hahaha) group in Line and Skype to regularly update each other about FS but mainly Yuzu stuff. Hahaha #FFFs

And as if the universe wanted to take my fangirling up a notch, I happen to be flying to Japan later in the afternoon. This was totally coincidental, okay, as this trip was a year in the making so yeah why am I even explaining myself. #defensive =))))))) And if that wasn't enough, I will be watching Stars on Ice Japan on the 13th. How lucky could I get?? But luck won't get you anywhere if you don't work hard for what you want. I already blogged about how difficult it was to get tickets but yay my fangirling woes finally disappeared last week when I received these:

Best news ever!

So yeah, I can't wait to get to Japan and finally see my Romeo on ice! Lol Too bad, my fangirling buddies won't be coming with me. :( But I promise to bring back as much Yuzu/FS omiyage as I can because that's what #FFFs do. Hihi