And School Begins...

Yesterday was the first day of school - and oh my what a day.

9am to 6pm straight, with a lunch break from 12.10pm to 1pm that was filled with errands to do, so that left no time for lunch until in between periods before my last class when we were let off early and I rushed off to get an onigiri to satisfy my poor growling stomach.

Started with 2 periods of Japanese class, and I have to say that for me, I think NUS has done a pretty darn good job of building a foundation for learning Japanese. Class ended early with a level check test and I realised it was everything I've learned in Minna No Nihongo in NUS. Economic modernisation of Japan was next: very lively teacher with a very wry, caustic way of speaking. Certainly keeps classes interesting though. Will have to read up on Japanese history since I can't remember much at all. Last 2 periods were a very sleepy Ecology, which would have been really bad if not for Angel taking the same class as me because she's a Life Science student and she could explain everything to me. Especially when I couldn't catch the terms the Japanese professor used (in English). Prokaryotes, eukaryotes, phylogenetic, eubacteria, protists, zzzzzzzzz. I have a bad feeling about this class... Might have to drop it. Argh.

Today had most of the rest of my classes, with periods 1,2, 4 & 5. Japanese again, then Global Environmental Systems, which seems manageable (hopefully) and Collapse of Complex Societies. The last one certainly piqued my interest and I would love to do more History modules but I need to fulfill the USP first-tier modules now, otherwise I am so gonna have it bad when I'm back next year. For Japanese class had to take the level 2 check test, but I'm really hesitant about whether I should even consider moving up - not that I think I can anyway. I mean, it would be great to learn as quickly as possible, but from my past experience with Malay, I really want to get a solid foundation instead. So even if I have to repeat half the book, why not right? I keep telling myself I have 2 years to master this language and I should bloody well make sure I do a good job and not a half-assed one. Slow and steady's what I'm tending towards now...

Oh well, might have to do a lot of reshuffling but we'll see.

Right now this is my schedule:

9am to 1030 1045 to 1210 1300 to 1430 1445 to 1615 1630 to 1800
Mondays: Japanese Japanese Ec. Modernisation of Japan Ecology Ecology
Tuesdays: Japanese Japanese - Global Envtal Sys. Complex Societies
Thursdays: Japanese Japanese Ec. Modernisation of Japan - Intro to Envtal Science


Hmm for some reason my classes all fell on 3 days. Blah.

In other news, I'll be trying out floorball at a Japanese club on Sunday! Yay!!

Ooi-Keibajo Race Track Flea Market

Sunday 27 September :

Decided not to go to the Tokyo Game Show but instead, made a trip down to one of Tokyo's big flea markets - Ooi Keibajo Race Track Flea Market. Travel-wise it was pretty far, having to take the JR Yamanote line down to Hamamatsucho (30mins) then transfer to a Monorail (that goes to Haneda Airport) and alight 2 stops after Hamamatsucho. Rachel and I then walked about 3-5 mins, and we commented on the pungent animal smell on the way there: "Smells like a zoo here!" Turns out we were just outside the Race Track.

Quite an interesting day at the flea market, especially when you see so many different types of goods, and hear so many different accents! The 'stalls' were simply located below the elevated one-storey carpark, hence providing some sort of shelter in case of rain - though not that there was any. Everything was on sale - and I mean EVERYTHING. From kids' toys and cards to guitars, to bicycles (saw one for 8,400yen! so cheap) to tissue paper (bought some) to alligator leather and old electronics/netbooks/washing machine, luggage bags... The list (and sights) went on. Well and of course there was clothes.

Arrived there about 12noon or so and started walking around. By 3pm most had begun to pack up and leave. But some started lelong-ing and reducing prices like crazy in the last minute. One example was 2 pieces of clothes for 10 yen - that's 0.075sgd for each piece! Best buy of the day had to be the A4 Printing Paper - 150yen for 1 pack - since we have to provide our own paper for printing in school, and most of those we've seen cost about 400-800yen (6-11sgd). Second best buy had to be well, I guess everything else.

Spoils of the day:

Gray Autumn/Winter Trench - 1500yen (22sgd)
2 scarves - 50 yen (0.75sgd)
1 dress + 1 black turtleneck - 10 yen (0.15sgd)
4 boxes of tissue - 150yen (2.20sgd)
1 pack A4 Printing Paper - 150yen (2.20sgd)
1 cowl neck winter l/s - 100yen (1.50sgd)
1 x owl brooch - 300yen (4.50sgd)

Perhaps the only item that was a little bit pricier was the owl brooch - but that's a gift so =).

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Dinner was at a Sapporo Ramen place on the way back to the dorm - not bad at all. Had the Shio (salt) ramen that was a a little bit spicy but very yummy. A tad pricey though but very yummy after a tiring, cold day. Still can't beat the Harajuku Ramen though. Will certainly have to search out more yummy (and affordable) Ramen places!

Meiji Jingu Shrine

(Top Row L-R: A wish and token offering I made; Temizusha - a small stone basin where ablutions are to be done before prayers could be made at the shrine; One of the pretty light structures that are frequently found in the park)
(Centre: Barrels of Sake)
(Bottom Row L-R: One of the many wedding processions that took place today; The main gate to the Shrine - made of best quality Japanese cypress trees kiso and in the unique Japanese shrine architectural style called Nagarezukuri; Barrels of wine that were consecrated for the Emperor Meiji; the Shrine building)

Isabel and I visited the Meiji Jingu (明治神宮) Shrine today since Asakusa was quite far and we left the dorm pretty late.

The Meiji Jingu shrine is centrally located - just behind Harajuku Station - and it covers almost 175 acres. The deities enshrined here are the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Emperor Meiji is highly revered for his benign rule from 1868 to 1912. Also known as the Meiji Restoration, this is one of the most glorious and properous periods in Japan's history. The shrine is a popular place for wedding couples to get their blessings and photos, as evident by the never-ending processions today. Sadly didn't get to stroll through the very beautiful Yoyogi Park since it was getting dark already (sun starts setting about 5pm here).

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After which, we popped by Harajuku for dinner (udon!) and decided to walk back from Harajuku to our dorm! We did pretty fine all the way up till Shinjuku, which was then very messy and disorienting with the amazing horde of people and bright lights, but we did arrive back eventually. 2 hours odd later anyway, including a stop at a really cheap grocer place. Saved 190yen but more importantly, got to experience Tokyo in a different (and many) way(s): The bright lights and amazing vibrancy of Shinjuku versus the slightly subtler tones of Harajuku and the colourful lights of Kabukicho to the quieter roads enroute to Shinjuku; the small Korea town and alleys of Korean restaurants at Shin-Okubo and the dots of halal restaurants/places in between.

Meguro Parasitilogical Museum

(Left to Right: The Museum Building; A chart showing the different types of possible parasites in a human body; The 8.8m long tapeworm exhibit)

After Yebisu, also went to Meguro Parasitilogical Museum (Meguro 目黒 is 1 stop after Yebisu on the JR Yamanote Line). Thankfully we went in a group, because the museum was quite a ways from the station and also housed in a very nondescript building. This little museum was free-of-charge and 3 storeys full of information, pictures and preserved specimens of parasites. They had tapeworms, round worms, hook worms, etc etc to mention a few better known ones. And they even had an exhibit (as below in blue casing) showing the longest tapeworm extracted in Japan I think. Next to the exhibit, they had a length of tape to allow visitors to experience just how long it was - 8.8m!

Click on each picture to see a larger version.

Yebisu Garden Place

Went to Yebisu (恵比寿) Garden Place today. Apparently one of the key scenes of Hanayoridango was shot there, hence Rachel and Isabel were keen to give the place a look-see. It's a very pretty place I must say, with many many boxes of flowers and trees in the area and lots of benches. Almost every bench was taken up by a mother and her young child/children. There's a Beer Museum and the Tokyo Metropolitan Photography Museum there as well - will be sure to drop by these places some day.

Indian Food + Ramen

Today, we decided to pop into an Indian Restaurant for Lunch. I've noticed quite a few around my dorm area (Takadanobaba) - at least 5 I think - but I never really had the urge to try any. Well, how good can Indian food be in a country where their curry is not spicy AT ALL right? How can non-spicy curry be good Indian food?

So a picture of what I had - 1 naan + 1 salad + 1 keema curry (750yen):

The verdict? Yeah well I was proven right. There were 3 levels of spiciness that the customer can choose from - mild, spicy and very spicy. I went for spicy whilst my 2 other friends chose mild. Their curry came looking like cream of tomato, with a swirl of cream included lol. And my 'spicy' keema curry? Not spicy at all. The curry was thick, yes, but just... not spicy enough - not just in the chilli sense but the lack of oomph that the spice combinations always tend to give in authentic Indian food.

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On the subject of food, the other day - well just yesterday actually - we went to Harajuku to get our mobile phones. That took almost 2-3 hours and concluded at about 4pm. So we went to the Ramen shop nearby which Rachel recommended and was apparently very popular and crowded. Thanks to our weird timing, there was enough space for us to sit, but only just. So this Ramen place (forgot to take a picture of it -grumbling stomachs and all) offered 4 different types of broth - Kyuushuu (Chicken+Pork+Veg), Bon Chan (Pork), Miso and Shoyu I think. The Bon Chan one was supposedly good for your skin and popular due to its high collagen content. I had the Kyuushuu Jangara, which was simply the most basic combination of ramen, 2 slices of boiled pork, bamboo shoots and black fungus.

Oh my gosh, Angel and I were commenting that this was possibly the best ever ramen we've eaten - not that I've had alot - but it was SO yummy! THIS is exactly what I'm looking forward to in Japan - and THIS is why I never eat ramen in Singapore even though I'm sure there're nice ones just that I have odd ideas about authenticity and broth. The boiled pork slices (something like the chinese 3-layer-pork dish) was AMAZING - tender meat, melt-in-your-mouth fatty parts and SO flavourful! Definitely going back there, and hopefully often too. And this time I'll get pictures.

Yum. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

Silver Week

Just thought I'd do a short introduction about Silver Week since it was just over, though apparently it's not officially over (all the sales anyway ;) ) till this Sunday.

Silver Week or シルバーウィーク in katakana, is basically a string of consecutive holidays in September, where 3 public holidays fall immediately after a weekend. So this year, the Monday 21st of September was the Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日, Keirō no hi), and Wednesday 23rd of September was the Autumn Equinox day (秋分の日Shūbun no hi). Well so Monday was a day that has been declared a national holiday which specially honours the elderly in Japan. Apparently, this tradition started in just one particular city in 1947, although it was originally held on 15 September, but the popularity spread such that in 1966, it was then declared a national holiday. As for the Equinox, it is a day when the earth's axis is neither tilting toward nor away from the Sun, hence the Sun is shining directly upon the Equator. This happens twice a year - once in spring and once in autumn - and apparently marks the middle of the season (spring or autumn).

If Monday and Wednesdays were both holidays, then what about Tuesday? Well that was Citizen's Holiday (国民の休日Kokumin no kyuujitsu), whereby Japanese Law states that when there are two national holidays just one day apart, the day in between shall be declared a holiday as well. What a thoughtful rule huh? Singapore's national holidays are all too nicely calculated and spaced out though.

Oh wait, what about the "Silver" in "Silver Week"? Well yeah, so that apparently comes from the graying hair colour of the elderlies. And perhaps also in comparison, it is a less significant and shorter holiday period as compared to the Golden Week.

Otsuka - Mongolian Buuz and International Friends

Today, in a very rare spirit, we made our way down to Otsuka (near Ikebukuro) and partook in an 'international exchange' that had nothing to do with school. We had no idea what club/circle it was actually, but signed up anyway, because Chance had it that we'd bump into one of the main organisers outside our dorm doors just a few days ago. Well but I'm guessing that the food was partial incentive too. Not exactly free food, but we were going to exchange our summer have-dones whilst making Mongolian buuz. How cool was that!

Turns out Mongolian buuz is something similiar to the Chinese xiao long bao, except the filling consists of lamb meat and diced white onions rather than the juicier pork meat. Still yummy definitely, especially with the Japanese ponzu sauce.

Not to say that the entire activity was smooth-sailing; in fact, it was anything but. Especially when there's people like me who understand so little Japanese and not all of them understood English. The international mix was certainly eye-opening though, with about 6-7 Mongolians (who spoke varying levels of Japanese), 2 Chinese, 5-6 Japanese and well, 3 Singaporeans - of which one knew no Japanese, one who knew the littlest bit, and one who knew quite abit. Nonetheless, the 5 hour activity was great, especially since I separated from my countrymates for the first time in a few days I guess. Oh there was Mongolian chai too, where they added salt instead of sugar - what a novelty. Seems like a few Japanese had got to go on a Mongolian exchange and homestay programme - will certainly be looking out for that! Wonder if I'll be eligible.

The only sad thing was, we haven't got our handphones yet, so whilst everyone else was bustling about busy exchanging mobile numbers, the 3 of us silently left. Certainly hope there'll be more of such activities on the horizon!

Surreal

14 September 0850: SQ638 arrives at Narita Airport, Tokyo; one hour late due to a power outage at Manila which delayed takeoff, but still, it arrived.

A somewhat surreal feeling upon arrival, because just 1 night before you're in a safe, comfortable place called home, and just 7 hours later, you're in the new place that will be home for 1 year.

Exciting =D

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Hello.
你好.
Selamat pagi.

and now?

おはよう。