Short-lived

After reviving for a week or two, my laptop has now degenerated back into that black-screen-only monster that refuses to hear my pleas about deadlines, essays, and World Cup matches. So far, with the screen being all black, I have only figured out how to get the music player Winamp to open, and play songs. So my laptop has become an MP3 player of sorts - what a bulky and sulky one though.

Why couldn't it just stay problem-free for just less than a month...?! If I were in Singapore, I'd probably just buy a monitor and connect it right up, but definitely not doing that here. Already have too much to send back/bring back, wouldn't help to have a new monitor to contend with.

Floorball league match tomorrow - excited-ish but sure have to get up early... 6.30am darn it.
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Really time for a haircut though; the decision about perming or not is still hanging in midair though. The courage and urge comes and goes in waves. Let's see which one catches when I am finally actually going to the salon.

Ciao for now.

Matters

Entering the last 2 weeks of exams and reports due. Yeah a mountainful more than I thought I had. =P

Yet, at the same time, I have had to start planning and indicating/bidding courses for start of school back in NUS. Quite an odd feeling really - neither here nor there - and just another reminder that I am currently traversing two countries, two time planes and basically 2 worlds.

Looking at the modules and courses that I have to take from next Semester (which doesn't sound anywhere as near as the reality of August, i.e.,in 1 month), I could only blank out and think: "oh my." Funny how the oft-quoted "the horror the horror" popped to mind (thanks JC Lit classes!).

Taking honours classes doesn't seem simple. Especially not when I have to overload 1 more module per semester since I need to finish my credit requirements. And the overloading module will be a time-challenging and intellectually stimulating USP class. Oh and not to mention, one of my compulsory honours seminars just happens to overlap a little with Tuesdays training times. What kind of Captain has been MIA for 4 months since the handover, and missed the League with the team, and doesn't know the year 1s (at all), and then now, has to miss 1 hour of every Tuesday training? Oh my. I am suddenly glad I applied for Hall again. Really glad. Can you imagine adding 2-3 hours of travelling torture to that each day?

I am in for =such= a treat. And so soon too.


Right now, having no summer vacation/holiday time is really the least of my worries. Hoho.

I can only say - as the Japanese often say - "gambarimasu!"　Loosely translated, it's "I will work hard. 我会加油！" So...頑張ります！

Cousin

Just met Vincent earlier tonight - had dinner at Shinjuku and walked around till Harajuku. Interesting that I met up with him here, in Tokyo, after 14 years or more.

Wantons

Saw wanton skins on offer at the supermarket the other day - 50% off - and the obasan (auntie) in me couldn't resist buying it, so I ended up making 1) fried wanton skins last night for supper (unhealthy but yums =P) and 2) wantons today.

Maybe I'm biased towards the food I make (as usual) but it was yummy! =)

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Not sure if I've posted this but my return flight is changed and settled. 30 July Saturday is confirmed but on the waiting list for 31 July Sunday. Hope I get the date I want. Since I only have 1 week before school starts again in NUS, was hoping to even just make a short/day/1-2days trip out of Tokyo before returning.

Laptop and Soccer

Been watching most of the WC matches on my laptop but then 2 nights ago, came home, turned on my laptop and guess what...?!

Yup my laptop's spoilt.... again.

Wow. Incredulous really. After the huge trouble the last time, I was thinking that it should at least be able to hold out till I get back to Singapore right!? Ugh.

This time seems to be a different issue though, cuz even though I can turn the laptop/harddrive on, the screen is a perpetual black. Thinking maybe my graphics card burned out or something.

Doubt I'll be getting a Fujitsu ever again. Suddenly all this trouble (what with breaking down and the expensive/difficulty of getting repairs) is making me think I'll get a Macbook next. Seems alot more reliable. Hrmph.

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In other news, went out to dinner with my friend's Japanese class classmates last night, then looked for a place/bar to watch the Japan vs Holland match and every place was just about full! And then we saw a few people carrying signs for a bar and since the minimum was 1 drink and 500yen (7~8SGD), the 6 of us trooped there in haste since the match already started a few minutes earlier. And only once comfortable enconched on the sofa, did we start noticing the full sign that says "let's watch and support Japan team, with gays". So we had ended up in a gay bar haha. Was no big deal though, since there weren't actually anything going on then, and there wasn't even table charge. We just got to watch soccer in a comfortable place yup (not crowded). Funny where life takes you sometimes =P

Midterms, The Little Itchy Bit & League

Just finished 2 midterms this week - one on Tuesday and another on Friday! Yay! Not too sure how I did but the important thing is that it's over! =D


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To the little small bit of itchy-twitchy on my hand:

- are you a real itchy part or a psychological mischief?!


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And I really should go sleep NOW. Tomorrow will have to be up by 6.20am to go to Surugadai University for my first Japan League Match with the Ducks! So excited!! =)

Norwegians, Yokohama & Curry Party =)

Today was a busy but fulfilling day - spent alternatively with both internationals and Japanese.

Sissel - my norwegian friend from floorball - came back to Tokyo last Friday, and 5 more of her Norwegian teammates tagged along for a holiday! They all turned up for the recent Monday's practice, and it was seriously the best that I've ever had in floorball memory. Each may not have seemed individually dazzling, but just having their presence and inclusion in the line up, made a huge difference across the board amongst our own players!

Today, woke up a tad late but made it to Yokohama's Minato Mirai to spend time with them + Yui. Had Krispy Kreme, then made it to Chinatown (Chukagai) for a lunch buffet, which turned out to be just so-so. Have to say the best I've had is still the one near dorm/school. Really really glad to have spent the time with this group of very friendly Norwegians though! Would love to visit them in Norway one day! Hopefully =)

Here are some pictures of them!:

(Ivonne, Rebecca, Yui, Bea (spelling?), Sissel)

(At lunch, L-R: Ivonne, Lotte (sp?), Rebecca, Bea (sp?), Ello/Elizabeth, Yui!)

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Time for Curry - Curry Party!

Since I still had that few packets of curry gravy that Nobu so kindly brought/bought from KL on his last business trip, I decided to whip up some curry and invite Japanese friends over to try what curries in Singapore might taste like. Japanese curry is really quite different - thick, chockful of curry-powder taste, mildly spicy and sweet.

What began with just 3 of us Singaporeans (Isabel, Rachel & me) + 4 Japanese, somehow grew to 16 people in total! Some joined in the morning, others just in the last hour of meeting, and even some just in the dorm. Included 3 Thais, 1 HKer too. So the menu was:

- normal (red) chicken curry with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions

- beef + chicken rendang

- lemak (coconut milk) chicken curry with potatoes and carrots.

- rice

- baguettes

- simple zucchini salad

- plus roomie Rach added a chicken curry of her own as well.

Seemed like a pretty good success on the whole I think! Ate, talked, had icecream/desserts/cheesecake (thanks to Hiro!) and ended up playing Murderer game (that Isabel and I taught some of them the last time at the recent Paddy camp). Decided to move on to the more complex game of Polar Bears, and it was pretty fun! Things rounded up at 10.30pm~ish since some had to catch last train, plus Manager-san started to make an appearance/hint for us to finish up.

Such fun! Really wanted to take some photos but completely forgot amidst the rush to cook 3 curries at one go, and serve and try to be a good hostess and teach/play the games!

Really glad that everybody seemed to have enjoyed it though! First ever time for me to 1) organise a large party 2) cook most of the food 3) cooked for THIS many people 4) cook curry. =P

Happy dappy! =)

May

These days have been filled up with many things, and filling up with many more to come:

Had camp with my English Conversation Circle over the past weekend - one of the best short trips ever! Now I actually see the lure in doing a roadtrip in Japan, no matter how short. Hmm.

Today I showed a couple of visiting Singaporean friends around Tokyo - hopefully wasn't too bad. I'm not a very good tour guide - kept getting lost myself. =P

Upcoming events/activities:

- Floorball league matches are finally starting soon!

- Meeting Shungo with Isabel --> he's learning Chinese so we can all sing Chinese songs

- Meeting Hanako for lunch + Karaoke --> just because she heard from someone else that Isabel and I like to sing Lady Gaga songs in karaoke and that we're funny hehe

- Meeting the Singaporean tourist friends once more tomorrow night --> best of what I can spare aside from full-day school on Thurs and Friday.

- Cooking curry for a group of 6~ people next Wed! --> hope it turns out okay gosh, but it's instant anyway haha!

- My norwegian girl friend is coming back to Tokyo this friday! with a bunch of norwegian floorball mates --> interesting! probably will be catching up

- Still wanting to send the house-warming gift to jon&noriko in norway

- And so many many things!

And these are of course all on top of my usual weekly...

... meetups with Shungo to help him with Chinese.

... meetups with Yui to help her with TOEFL English.

... part-time job of 'teaching' English

... floorball practices every Monday!

... school circle's activities every Tues and Fri

... and of course classes. =) --> ultimately still a student after all eh.

Friends, Ping Pong and Food!

Last Tuesday, went to eat a Yakiniku Buffet (焼肉食べ放題）with 4 other Singaporeans on one of their recommendations. It was 1280yen (~18sgd; seems expensive but really quite 'cheap' by Tokyo standards) for 90 mins, including drink bar! No wonder reservations are usually required wow. Honestly, everything was pretty good - but a few dishes like the thinly sliced pork, and the squid were quite outstanding. Yum! Hopefully will be visiting the place again at least once more before going back to Singapore.

Good food (and great company of course) was followed by a leisurely stroll in the cool breezy night (~17deg) around Shinjuku and we went up to the Metropolitan Government Building to check out the city view. Not bad.

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2 days ago, on Saturday, went out with Isabel and 2 Japanese friends with the idea of playing... badminton! Shock shock! Especially since I don't have my badminton rackets here. But anyhow, this plan was born from the time when we played a little bit of badminton in the small garden in one of the Japanese friend's house, and he ended up wanting to play seriously/challenging me. Of course I said bring it on heh. But yeah, turns out, unfortunately, that the courts were seriously full that day. The system in that sports centre is kind of weird - you simply buy a voucher from the machine and go up to use the courts if any are empty. So disorganised no?! I like the system back home much better.

But anyway, not much loss, we ended up finding a place to play table tennis instead! And after some leisurely play between all 4 of us, the 'badminton challenger' became the table tennis challenger and well, since I've actually had 2-3 months of training before (looooooooong time ago), I guess there's really no point in delivering the results of this match-up. Then two people had other matters on, so we called another 2 to join us for dinner - Hiroshima-okonomiyaki! I'm sure I've mentioned this dish before - it's full of cabbage and soba noodles rather than the Osaka version that is heavy on flour batter. Really so yummy!! Turns out one of the girls that joined us later - a really cute and lovable Thai! - likes the place so much she's actually been there 4 times just this week! 0.0 Talk about staunch supporter huh.

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And recently, the weather's been okay - or honestly, quite fine. Ranges from 12deg (at night) to about 22 deg in the day time. Perfect spring weather I would say. Except that... I think I miss the cold. Being so used to feeling chilly and cold during trainings, I'm now really NOT used to perspiring at all! In fact it really feels quite uncomfortable. I'm sure I'll be re-adjusting soon though, especially since it seems like the start of summer is not too far off.

Oh humidity and sunlight, for good or for worse, welcome back to my life.

Short sleeves!

Last night was the first night that I've been able to just wear a short-sleeved t-shirt and walk in Tokyo at night! Spring! Spring!! SPRING!! It was about 18 degrees I think - and still very cooling thanks to the characteristic windiness of Tokyo.

And since last week, I've started perspiring during trainings. Somewhat odd and uncomfortable feeling but I'm sure I'll be used to it soon. Have to be =/. I almost miss winter already. Sigh. Hehe.

Golden Week Happenings

Am now in the middle of Golden Week - Japan's most expensive and most crowded travel period. Seeing how much more prices are in this week, you wouldn't be blamed if you thought this might be Japan's only holiday period. It's that bad. Prices jump by 2.5 to 3 times - and travel in Japan was never cheap to begin with. That aside, what is Golden Week anyway?

It's actually a few national holidays grouped together - namely 29th Apr, 3rd, 4th and 5th May. As to what each of the days actually are, have gone through several changes since day of inception, but as of this year, 29th Apr is the Showa Day, 3rd May is Constitution Memorial Day, 4th May is Greenery Day, whilst 5th May is Children's Day or Boy's Day. Of these few, I think Children's Day is quite an interesting one, because even though Singapore also celebrates a Children's Day, the actual practices and notions are quite different. In Singapore, Children's Day is literally a day that celebrates being a child - so the best thing is to give you a holiday of course! =P But here in Japan, Children's Day is actually more like Boy's Day, and koi-shaped banner flags are flown. The equivalent for girls, Hinamatsuri, is actually on a separate day - March 3 - and ornamental dolls in the Heian period style are displayed in the house.

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Aside from all these, some updates on recent events.

Thursday was spent with the floorball members - jointly in a celebration of our girls' team getting Champions for this league season as well as a farewell gathering for Jon, who will be moving back to Norway (with his lovely Japanese wife!) for good this coming Saturday. Sad but this is not the end and I'm sure we'll meet again some day soon! Since being so fortunate as to have met him and Sissel at floorball, I now have a reason to go visit Norway! =D So I'm sure I'll meet him again someday! He's really been a great player, mentor and most importantly, friend.

Friday was a visit to Masa's house! Because Bel and I were saying that we were really curious about how a Japanese person's house is like and so Masa very very generously invited us (and a few others) over! One of the most fun I've had in Japan! We basically chilled out at his house - played badminton, guitar, card games, Uno, Jenga, and even ate yummy curry rice that his mother kindly cooked! And met his cute sister too! =)

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And recently, I've been watching Xing Guang Da Dao (5th season) on Youtube, since chancing upon one of the episodes recently. And I've realised that I like 咪咪小眼睛的男生！^.^ Haha Lin Jie Yu and Luo Zi You are both very cute! Because of their eyes haha =P

Titbits from Japan: Condensed Milk

For me, condensed milk - as long as I have known it - is something which goes in something like this:

But having been here in Tokyo for the past 7-going-on-8 months, I have hardly come into contact with this sweet sinfulness until... until my friend mentioned it to me in passing just last week. And pointed at tubes - yes you heard me, a TUBE - of condensed milk that I had actually always seen displayed near the strawberries, but never taken the time to actually look and see what they are. Turns out it's quite common for them to have strawberries with condensed milk! Sounded really yum! Up till now, I've always only dredged my strawberries in (mounds and mounds) of sugar but never thought of condensed milk. So yesterday I conceded defeat and bought a tube. Heh, did I mention that now the whole packet of strawberries and half the tube was already gone in the same day? =P

Mmmm. =)

Icy Rain and School

Today concludes the 2nd week of the new school semester, so my courses for this semester are more or less fixed by now. Taking a human biology class (by the same professor who taught the mindset-changing biological anthropology class last semester), a class on international war and peace, culture and society of Southeast Asia, contemporary pacific islander perspectives on USA and Japan and finally, of course Japanese language classes.

My timetable turned out to be 3.1 days every week - 3.1 because 3 very full days (Tues and Fri: 9am to 6pm, Thurs: 1pm to 6pm) followed by one measly ONE, FIRST period (9am to 10.30am) Japanese language class on SATURDAY morning. I've always had to wake up early on Saturday mornings for trainings and such, but NEVER for class. For the unaware, schools are allowed to hold classes on Saturdays in Japan. Last semester I was lucky to not have any, but this semester, since they changed the system for the Japanese language classes, most of us have one period on Saturdays. Can't say I'm enjoying my 'new' class though - really wished that they allowed our old class to move up together. Not really looking forward to Japanese classes these days, especially when I have to brave the 3deg cold like this morning.

Speaking of 3deg weather, it actually snowed/iced/rained last night, to the extent that patches of ice and melting snow was visible along the sidewalks this morning. Coooooold! Thankfully I did not pack my black winter coat into the small luggage I passed to Heng to bring back to Singapore. Brr.

Oh my sunny sun sun, where art thou?!

Oh, and Golden Week is coming up in about 2 weeks' time - should I go somewhere maybe? Probably a day trip if anything - if not 1 week lazing about Tokyo is a little too uncomfortable for my already restless person. Checking out Sendai. Best thing would be that I'll be working the week through though =P.

Anyway, I'm off! Off to my arubaito (Japanese word for part-time-job; of German origin) of hosting a Mandarin chat table! -gasp-. Wonder if my Mandarin can sustain 2 hours of talking. I don't think it's the talking that's difficult, just the part where you are NOT allowed to run out of topics. Go brain go!

Hiroshima Trip 23 Mar to 27 Mar 2010

There's a special kind of train ticket that's only sold 3 times a year during the school holidays: seishun 18 kippu 青春18切符 (Youth 18 Pass). It allows 5 non-consecutive and non-user-specific days of local train rides (in this sense, local means any type of train even express local trains, except Shinkansen/bullet train). So armed with this exciting pass, we (me and 2 other female friends) decided to make our way further further south to Hiroshima. By the fastest Shinkansen, it takes about 4.5 hours 1-way and 18,000yen; with local train rides, it took about 14-16 hours and 2,300yen. Thank goodness for the overnight train that runs during this special pass season, thus allowing us to use just 1 day of the pass each, instead of 2! 1 pass costs 11,500 yen so each day (5 days total) cost 2,300yen and the original journey cost about 10,000yen to 17,000yen - woohoo or what?!

So off to Hiroshima we went - and despite the tiredness of sleeping on trains and transferring on and off, there was a much more credible sense of travelling, of a journey undertaken. Many times, when I've sat in the window seat on the aeroplane looking out over the ocean and islands below, there's always been a surreal feeling. Especially when they start making the announcement "We have now arrived at XXX Airport. Thank you for flying with XXX Airlines. Please wait till the ...". Inevitably I think,"that's it?? we're here?!". Somehow there's no sense of a day passing, no feel of the geography, no idea of the cultures/people we might have flown by along the way. Now, passing by small fields of tea, and rice, cabbage, and chugging slowly by platforms that look different from the flashier city cousins, spying mountain ranges in the distance, and even passing by the sea glittering with sunlight - one could not help but feel, "yes, I'm travelling!" I'm traversing not just space, time and land; but cultures, people's lives, history and even the present." Yes, I'm travelling. I've never thought much about travelling in Europe before (except to visit Italy and Spain for food *slurp*), but now I'm starting to see the charm of taking a train across Europe.

Okay enough babbling and some pictures from the Hiroshima Trip:

1) On one of the trains to Hiroshima! Behold the fields of green and mountain ranges in the distance.

2) Himeji Castle - about midway on our journey to Hiroshima, so we stopped by to take a look. Especially since it will begin 5-year renovation work starting April 2010, so we were really lucky. Also known as the "White Heron" (due to its distinctive white walls) and is probably one of the few (or the only?) castle that has kept its interior intact. Very interesting castle - very defensive on the inside.

3) Lunch at Himeji - Anago Don. Unagi is freshwater eel, whilst Anago refers to saltwater eel or conger eel. Supposedly one of the local produce of the area. Both are equally tasty in my opinion, though anago is supposedly less fatty/oily than unagi.

4) Hiroshima-Okonomiyaki: Perhaps the most famous food dish in Hiroshima. Quite different from the Osaka version, in that it has just a thin layer of flour (the round white piece), usually includes noodles and more cabbage. This was served without mayonnaise too. We tried 2 shops: first was the very famous Mi-Chan and the other was Okonomiyaki-MuraChou (お好み焼き村長の店 = literally the Okonomiyaki Village Headchief's Shop). Funnily enough, I prefer the Hiroshima-okonomiyaki that's near my school in Tokyo instead! =P Like how I preferred the okonomiyaki I had in Tokyo compared to the one in Osaka! 0.0

5) Of course we took a walk around Peace Memorial Park - (clockwise from bottom left) Golden crane under the Children's Monument, walking the solemn path on a drizzly day, the Peace Bell, the Peace Monument, Aioi Bridge - the T-shaped bridge that apparently became the A-bomb's target, the Peace Memorial Museum from afar, and the A-bomb Dome.

6) And of course we entered the Peace Memorial Museum. 2 of the several things that struck me so much: (top) a clock stops at 8.15am; and the whole city has since stopped with it. (bottom) the self-sewn uniform of a 13-year-old girl that died from radioactive poisoning. what struck me was not so much her death in itself, but the tiny size of the uniform that looked more befitting of a 8-year-old perhaps. The costs of war...

But that aside, although the museum was so strongly geared towards peace and quite objective in its exhibits, I found that it was ultimately still a Japanese museum, and it served - albeit very subtly - to still further the Japanese story of WW2: Japan is an innocent victim and one that should be pitied and sympathised with for the very fact that the A-bomb was dropped upon her. Hrm, not denying this, but it'll be nice to have the whole story please.

7) Hiroshima's also known for oysters - we often saw oyster 'bed racks' floating about in the sea/river. So here's a meal with steamed oysters on rice. Not bad. Also tried grilled oysters in the shell in Miyajima, and Oyster Fry (deep fried oysters in batter).

8) Unlike most other cities in Japan where an extensive network of subway and train system exists, the tram/streetcar is the way to go for Hiroshima - largely due to the fact that Hiroshima is a delta, making it difficult and expensive to construct such a subway system.

9) Usually, every city/area in Japan has its own distinctive design for manhole covers. Hiroshima's is - surprise surprise - one of colourful cranes.

10) We also made the trip out to Kure City, to visit the Yamato Maritime Museum, which basically documented the importance of the Kure Naval Base to the WW2 and Hiroshima then. Interesting perspective. It also had an entire area for interactive play experience mainly for kids, but we 3 had a smashing time there. And I learnt alot about the science that makes shipbuilding possible. Neat.

11) Having made our way to Hiroshima, we could not possibly miss out the day trip to one of the top 3 scenic spots in Japan - Miyajima. Famous for its beautiful scenery and the Itsukushima Shrine with the bright orange torii (or Japanese Shinto Shrine Gate) out in the water. It was a welcome change away from all the peace and war. (And look mum! I'm wearing the giraffe dress! =) ) Miyajima by day was pretty but slightly crowded; Miyajima by dusk/night was breath-taking and awe-inspiring...

12) Besides tourism, another major industry in Hiroshima is none other than Mazda!

We took a (free -yippee!) guided tour around Mazda's factories, facilities and museum. Learnt more about car-making and got to see the assembly of cars in real life! The engineers are really quite amazing. Whilst alot of the big parts were assembled with precision robotics, highly-skilled workers were still necessary to put in the small screws, bolts, attach the dashboard etc etc. Each person only had 1min 48 seconds to finish doing his specific part on the conveyor belt!

13) Also chanced upon this special exhibition in Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art. William Kentridge is a South African, and his works - especially his animated 'videos' - reflect that. Really thought-provoking exhibition. The permanent exhibition was not bad as well - focusing on the theme of "Boundary" yet somehow the curator (unsurprisingly?) managed to incorporate the idea of 8.15am once more...

14) A good trip on the whole - and I do quite like Hiroshima. Oddly enough, what I find sad about the city is not the whole 8.15am A-bomb milestone event; but the fact that everywhere, everything was about that ONE fateful day in 1945, August 6 at 8.15am. As a history student, I certainly appreciated coming to Hiroshima - if not just to learn how subtle biasness can be so skilfully delivered. But on the whole, I really did like Hiroshima. Not for any of this war and peace business, but for the spacious wide thoroughfares that criss cross the city; and the graceful bridges that arch above the water ways; the quiet buzz of her people - completely opposite to the 'loud' mass of Tokyo.

How sad that she can't seem to move past her past though. For today's Hiroshima is almost as if characterised only by that one mushroom cloud that dominated her past, haunts her present and will probably shape her future.

Dinner

My dinner tonight is...

Mountain Dew, Macdonalds Large Fries (150yen! cheap cheap) and strawberries from Seiyu.

For some reason, couldn't really focus at floorball practice just now. Mind kept wandering off.

And of late, my dinners and lunches have been very scrappy put-togethers, with the main theme of "cheap" haha. Hope this mindset manages to continue on throughout even though school starts tomorrow. I really need to get down to actually looking for part-time job. Money aside - but I really think I need some new environment, or new activity of some sort to stimulate me, get me going. I'm actually getting bored. Raaa.

Laptop

My laptop is back up and running - though all my data files were wiped clean. I love how my brother is so dependable. Only thing is I'm not too sure why my Microsoft Office product key doesn't work?! Hmm. And I can't find a driver for my bluetooth online - so now I can't bluetooth the nice sakura pictures that I took on my phone to my laptop.

Anyway, school's starting tomorrow - before I know it, it'll be the end of semester again. Time flies.

Awaiting Recovery

Still awaiting the arrival of the recovery disc from Singapore -- express mail for 40 bucks is sure not worth it if it takes so long to get here hrmph.

School is starting soon and I'm starting to feel glad about that. Because since yesterday, I've been feeling stirrings of restlessness. And they're not subsiding. Funny how Tokyo can be so vibrant thanks to it's sheer amount of people and high population density, but yet so ... boring and closed out in some ways.

By the way, the sakura trees have been in bloom the past few days - and are estimated to reach full bloom (満開）this weekend. Went for a 花見hanami (sakura-viewing) picnic with some Singaporean friends and Taiwanese people on recent Thursday under the sakura trees in Yoyogi Park. And today, walked to the Kandagawa River to see the stretch of blooming blushing pink sakuras that line the river. Very pretty. Let's hope my laptop comes back to life soon so that I can upload some photos.

Which brings this all back to the recovery disc. That still has not arrived. Sigh.

Blue Screen and Black Days

I hate my laptop.

Recently it's been crashing so much and refusing to start up. 2 nights ago it refused to start up for 2.5 hours - only the blue error screen and black "Windows has failed to start up" screen kept mocking me. Was such bad timing then too. Thank god for friends and their laptops.

Since then I didn't dare turn off my laptop or even let it sleep, because this is such a crucial time for me to stay in contact - not just for course registration, module mapping, but even floorball back home. But last night I stupidly had a moment of belief in the laptop and turned it off to let it rest. This morning I wake up to another 2.5 hours of futile waiting and fervent prayers for the laptop/Windows to just start up - and nothing. Seems like Waseda doesn't have a computer repair centre unlike NUS so I will have to check up on Fujitsu instead. Doesn't look good though - the Fujitsu Japan website was all in Japanese only, and it didn't seem like they have a physical repair centre; more like they send people to repair it. And I'm not so keen on getting a repair either, since I think my warranty is already over (laptop going on 2.5 to 3 years now) and I don't think I brought my recovery disks and what nots over. Hope it won't be expensive. Such lousy timing. I guess I should just be glad that it's not in the middle of when I was doing a term paper or something.

I hate my laptop now. Ugh.

Back from HK

Arrived back from HK 2 days ago. It was... okay on the whole. Felt like I went there to do grocery shopping lol. List of what I bought in HK - supposed shopping paradise:

- 1 jacket
- 1 long sleeve top
- Body soap
- Shampoo
- Contact Lens Solution
- Pimple cream
- Bourjois silver eyeliner
- Lip Balm

Grocery shopping huh? =P


Well but there are a few highlights of the trip:

1)The Aviary in HK Park



2)The expensive Sunday dimsum lunch at Hoi King Heen, Intercontinental


Hmm but honestly, I don't think the food in HK is anything special. Maybe I didn't get to try the bestest of the best, but I guess I've been having really good Cantonese food, Hakka food in Singapore,Penang,Ipoh since young so this was really nothing mind-blowing.

3)A slight, comfortable familiarity with back home; but yet very much a sense of I'm-glad-I-stay-in-Singapore-slash-Tokyo-and-not-HK

I've always thought Cantonese to be such a pretty dialect - singsong, tonal and refined. HKers obviously showed me how wrong I was. Not just about the language, but the people too. I've never seen a kid 'fight' to race to an empty seat in front of an old woman before. Amazing really...

I'm sure HKers themselves don't think too highly of mainlanders; but for me right now, I don't see much difference between HKers and the stereotypical image of the uncultured, civic-mindedless mainlander. And perhaps even if there might be any subtleties, I don't think I'm interested enough to uncover any further.

A Quick Note

Just a quick Hello to say I'm still here!

Updates for Korea Trip, Paddy Ski/Snowboarding Camp and Ming's visit to Tokyo will be up soon. Highlights include eating still-wriggling octopus tentacles sashimi, falling at least 121 times in 2 days, and visiting the Beatles Cover Pub + John Lennon Museum!

In other news, my laptop's been crashing alot the past 2 days - the blue error screen keeps popping up. So worrying ugh. Wonder what hit it. Been trying to fix it or find the cause but to no avail - evidently me is no techie genius raa. So I've been backing up important data instead oh well.


Good night, world =)

Day 1 and Day 2 - Seoul

Day 1

Arrived in Seoul last night - cold, cold, cold. -2deg to -6deg I think.

Dinner with Ingle, a Dutch girl that I coincidentally met at the bus stop whilst we were both feeling lost and finding the same hostel. Dinner was good - grilled korean bbq with lettuce and kimchi, and a sweet sukiyaki-like beef stew with tanghoon.

Korean Air stewardesses are pretty - very much the idea of the Korean beauty - and their uniforms are a very smart beige formal blazer skirt type. Nice.


Day 2

Ming arrives. Nandaemun window shopping (everything is really so cheap! and nice!) and tried alot of food. Fried chewy dough balls in sugar, roadside kimchi soup noodles, meat patty with tteok in the middle, then bimbimbap for lunch and got canned sikkhae and seujeounghwa from the supermarket to try as well. Interesting!

Will be watching Nanta - a nonverbal comic performance with kitchen tools - with Ming and Ingle soon! Then probably dinner/supper. I like Seoul =)

Spring spring -boing!-

Just a short post to say I'm doing okay - more than okay actually... I'm doing great for some reason! Every day has been a pretty good day so far with many great moments and surprisingly quite abit of interaction with Japanese, Koreans and Norwegians.

Last Friday went to the Studio Ghibli Museum with Seunghee and co, then got called in last minute for my first ever part-time-job.
Saturday was floorball training in the morning then cooked phad thai for a few friends that night.
Sunday was Chofu Recreational League in the evening and a quick curry dinner with Sissel - floorball goalkeeper from Norway who used to be on exchange here at Waseda just up till last August before I came!
Monday was Karaoke with Seunghee and Paddy members (as a sort of farewell since she was leaving on 10th), followed by floorball training which turned out to be one of the best I've had since starting last October. Timely too - the last training before our first Japan Cup match this Sunday 14th Feb. Came back that night and managed to book my ticket to Korea for the cheapest price and the perfect flight timings! How lucky am I really...
Tuesday was spent sleeping late and weather was so good at 20deg that I dragged Isabel out to go randomly walk around for 3-4 hours with me. Exploring is fun - just grab a friend, a random direction and a Mister Donut (popular donut chain here)!
Wednesday was spent meeting Donna (a Singaporean friend studying at Monash, who came here to travel with her cousins) and Donna's Japanese friends and my friends. The "party" grew to be pretty big towards the afternoon, with 2 Japanese, 3 Singaporeans and 1 Canadian. Went to Ueno for a stroll, then to a calligraphy exhibition and a small art exhibition, followed by a walk to Akihabara (electronics place), then went to see the Imperial Palace and even visited the "entrance examination" deity shrine en route. Finished up with warm cuppa cocoa at Starbucks at Tokyo Station. Really comfortable company for some reason. Rushed back to near the dorm to meet my Norwegian floorball friend Sissel. Took her to try the new Chanpon (a Nagasaki Chinese-origin dish reminiscent of Hokkien Mee!!) place near the dorm, then she took me to a bar where she used to frequent and we got a drink called Sugar and Spice. Pretty name and delicious drink. Dropped by Picasso for a while for her to reminisce about staying at Hoshien just last year.
Today was spent with 6 Japanese friends from Paddy (my english conversation circle at Waseda) and Isabel - and the 8 of us went to Yokohama to play the arcade (cuz it just HAD to rain ugh) then did 2 rides in the cold, feathery rain; took purikura (neoprint) and found out how well Sou knew how to use those machines; then went down to Chinatown - biggest one in Japan - for dinner to 'celebrate' an early CNY.

A spring break travel report: I'll be going to Korea next Tuesday 16th Feb till following Monday 22nd since one of my friends from hall was free to travel too!
At this rate, I just know I'm going to have to work hard and find a stable part-time-job (not like now) once school semester 2 starts again in April >.< May not actually be bad at all - just the searching part is so tiresome.

But till then life is great =) Good night world.

Spring break and... Snow!

Last final today! A 5-minute oral presentation of your answer to a question that everyone gets - Was/Has Japan (been) a victim? So nerve-wrecking to present in front of the class and with a time limit too. Need to work on my public-speaking huh. But oh well. Last exam = Spring break is here! Funny how the 3rd of Feb is supposed to mark the start of spring, yet February is supposedly the coldest coldest month. Speaking of which...


...雪が降ってるよ！= It's snowing!! In Tokyo! And not the half snow half rain type but actual snow that piles up white on sidewalks and falls magically like white fluff from the sky! Supposed to have 5cm by tomorrow but probably will all melt by morning. SO pretty! Didn't think I'd see any snow in Tokyo actually, since they predicted a warm winter this season. Yet it's been surprisingly warm at times too this winter. What a see-saw. Only thing about snow is the difficulty to walk on the pavements when everyone else has walked the same way and turned the white magical fluff into dirty, ice-water that is so slippery!

Pictures!
(On the way back: it's not rain; it's snow!)

(And nope, not flowers but snow!)

Noodles Yum!

Today was a pretty tiring day - full day of class + make up class and a final exam. Hence the excuse to treat myself a little and I ended up eating out for both lunch and dinner - but I'm so glad!

Lunch was a great recommendation by ZQ - Japanese class classmate - to a tiny little shop selling Abura Soba (油そば). About 10-15 min walking distance from the main gates of school. And when I said tiny, I meant TINY. The shop had counter space for maybe 10? And enough standing space for 2 to cook behind the counter. The shop opens till 4am and apparently it is not uncommon to see a long queue outside at 1am. Abura Soba is actually more like ramen, with no soup and just a little bit of some kinda soy-based sauce, topped with bamboo shoots and a slice of grilled pork. On the table, there's some kinda of dried chilli paste, vinegar and (not spicy) chilli oil which you can add at your own preference. 600 yen for 1 regular-sized bowl may not seem very cheap, but the serving is SO filling. And YUMMY!

(Our shop looked pretty much like this one - though the picture is not taken by me. Too busy eating! >.<)

Dinner was a spontaneous decision to try Champon(ちゃんぽん)! There's a shop nearby the dorm that opened about 2-3 months ago by the same people at Ippudou and so finally got to try it today. Especially hooked when Jf mentioned that it's something like hokkien mee - which I loveee. And it certainly almost felt like it. It had a variety of ingredients from long cabbage to squid, egg, pork and fish cake (gosh! first time!) and was cooked in a flavourful gravy with ramen-like noodles. Again very yummy and very filling! Came back to find out that this was actually a dish that a Chinese created in Nagasaki - and apparently has Fujian origins hence the similarity to Singapore's hokkien mee huh. I like Champon! So much so that it helped me decide that I shall certainly go to Nagasaki/Kyushuu region this summer - whether on homestay or some other way.

Food =) yayyy.

Random Things

Interesting trivia:

Apparently Japan has one of the world's most expensive pizzas; second only to Norway.

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One of my floorball friends at the club is a Norwegian married to a Japanese; and they had met whilst studying in England. He can't speak Japanese (yet; learning but still very basic) and she can't speak Norwegian. Was just thinking earlier what it's like to be communicating in one's second language most of the time. Or perhaps for them it's close to their first anyway. Hmm.

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Just played my first match with Chofu today, albeit a friendly and not the Japan Cup. But didn't go too well, and the worst thing was, I forgot to enjoy the game. Hopefully won't be repeating this!

School

Although it's just been 1 week after winter break ended, it's almost time for the end of the first school semester (in about 2 weeks!). Which means nows the time where project deadlines, essay submissions and final exams are here, there and everywhere. Plus I need to decide on what to do during my 2-month spring break as well. Work? Travel? Homestay? How much? How far? How long? - Such a headache.

But so anyway, pardon a probable silence till exams are over! =)

Things to Do In Tokyo - Grand Sumo Tournament Jan 2010

This recent Sunday, Hoi Yin and I went to watch the Grand Sumo Tournament 2010! Fah was supposed to come along as well but she wasn't back from Thailand yet, so called Yang Chen instead and he joined us in the afternoon. Sumo is the national sport of Japan, with roots from even before Edo period even though it was popularised and nationalised then. I never knew much about Sumo so going to this event was certainly an eye-opener!

The Sumo Grand Tournament　(大相撲協会) happens 6 times a year - thrice in Tokyo and once each in Nagoya, Kyushu and Osaka. The tournament lasts 15 days and each sumo wrestler (rikishi　力士) gets to fight once each day. The one with the best record of wins at the end of the tournament wins the coveted Emperor's Cup. One of the most interesting things about Sumo (to me anyway) is the rigid hierarchical rankings. Who you fight is not based upon weight/height or any physical-related factors - rather it's upon your ranking. The sumo rankings (banzuke) is really complicated, with 4 divisions and 5 different rankings in just the top division. Basic rule for Sumo is basically to force your opponent out of the ring (dohyou 土俵) or force him to touch the ground with any part other than feet.

Even though the first fights started at about 9am, we went around 11am instead and it was SO empty, even though the tickets were almost sold-out. Lowest rankings start first, building up to a climax where the highest ranks fight last at 6pm. So most people only started coming at about 3pm, after the middle division fights started. The difference between the lowest ranks and the upper ranks was marked though - from size and fighting technique, to crowd response, to prepatory rituals and sponsors. The fight itself is actually less than a minute most times, but the prepatory and obligatory pre-fight rituals and cold war (shikiri 仕切り) often lasted up to the maximum 4 minutes that was allowed. This was only for the top ranks though - beginners had to start immediately. Okay less talk and some pictures:
(The arena at about 11.30am...)

(Sumos stay in traditional sumo stables - like a martial arts centre - and are paid a salary according to their divisional ranking. Only the top sumos often get sponsors - and one had like almost 20.)

(The coveted Emperor's Cup.)

(Speaking of which, guess who came unannounced? The Imperial Couple!)

(Several other prizes are given out each tournament as well like Best Techinique, Biggest Upset and Fighting Spirit.)

(Past winners get a huge potrait-picture up on the walls of the Kokugikan 国技館.)

(The Shinto Shrine roof that hangs above the sumo wrestling ring. Surprisingly, Sumo had alot of ties with Shinto religion, including actions like throwing salt to purify the ring, and stomping the left leg then right leg to drive away evils, or even just the Shinto-priest-like headgear of the match referees.)

(And the sold-out crowd at 4pm.)
(A sumo wrestler performing the Bow Dance after the last fight - it's a victory dance on behalf of all the winners of that day's bouts.)

Interesting fact about Sumo:
- The highest rank (yokozuna) is not one that is automatically granted upon winning tournaments. The Sumo federation and elders have to approve that the candidate is 1) consistently good enough, and 2) is character-worthy; because once a yokozuna, you never get demoted. Instead if you drop in standards, you are expected to retire.
- There are only 2 yokozunas now and both are Mongolians (Asashoryu and Hakuho).
- Besides Mongolians, there are Georgians, Russians and Bulgarians within the top division too.
- The referees are ranked as well, with the lowest rank ones going barefoot into the ring.
- The silk cloth wrapped around the sumo's waist and lower body is called mawashi.
- Being a sumo is more than a sport - it's a way of life. Staying at the Sumo Stables, doing chores and training according to rank, not being allowed to wear anything else but the traditional Japanese garb of yukatas, skipping breakfast, eating chanko-nabe for big lunch and sleeping afterwards...
- The sumo ring is considered sacred, and women are never allowed into it.

The last one is such bullshit honestly but it just totally reeks of Japanese-ness to me. The previous Osaka governor (a female) challenged this because she was to give out the trophies but the elders refused to budge, citing tradition. Sumo is declared as a 'modern Japanese sport' but everything in it is from centuries-old traditions. Interesting.

Tsukiji Market 築地

Last Tuesday (5 Jan), finally went to Tsukiji Market (築地)after being in Tokyo for 4 months. JF's brother was on visit here from Singapore, so we went in a big group of 8 people. 5 Singaporeans, 1 Taiwanese, 1 Finnish, 1 American. The famous tuna auction was closed to outsiders till 23rd Jan though, so we did not make the early wee hours trip (3-4am) but instead went at about 9am. Just in time to see the last vestiges of fresh fish market transactions and feel the dying-down bustle of the place.

Of course a trip there cannot be complete without a taste of the freshest sushi of course. The apparently best 2 sushi places were Dai Sushi and Sushi Daiwa, and both had loooooooooooong queues. Dai Sushi had the longest queue - it snaked in front of the shop, paused and picked up on the other end of the row of shops. So we went into Yamazaki which was a few doors down instead, because as much as yummy food is a must-go, queueing up is not quite the best way to spend one's time though, especially since we had 8 people.

In these 4 months, I've only beared to have sushi twice, and both times at kai-ten sushi of course (discount conveyor belt sushi). And I've always heard that Tsukiji is expensive but never realised how much more until I saw the menu which listed the cheapest sushi to be 400yen EACH and going up to 700yen each for the more exotic catches. Gritting my teeth against the shock of the prices, I just ordered whichever I felt I had to try (for novelty or for comparison) and mentally told myself that I'll definitely find a tiny village somewhere one day and enjoy cheap, fresh sushi then. Maybe 2 years later. So below are the pics of most that I tried:
(The sushi chef. There were just two elderly men manning the sushi counter - one was a nigiri (hand rolled sushi) specialist, whilst the other was the maki (sushi rolled in nori seaweed and topped with the seafood) specialist.)

(After you order, they place a fresh leaf on the ledge in front of you, together with pickled gingers and a pinch of freshly grated wasabi.)

(And the adventure begins! Started off with(L-R) Kanpachi (yellowtail stomach), Maguro (tuna) and Hirame (flounder). Before I came to Japan, my favourite sashimi was always hamachi (yellowtail) but now, it's Kanpachi. And I only just found out that day that it's actually the same fish, just that kanpachi was the fattier stomach part. <3 )

(That was followed by (L-R) salmon and toro (2nd grade tuna belly). Tuna has 3 grades - maguro (red colour, fillet part of tuna fish), toro (middle grade; fattier than maguro, hence pink rather than red) and Otoro (prized grade; fattiest tuna belly part, melts in your mouth). I also tried the Otoro (1st grade tuna belly) which was more expensive but I actually like the middle grade one (toro) best.)

(Amaebi - sweet shrimp. Not bad but I still think that prawns taste best when freshly cooked and in white wine for some reason. Yums.)

(And this is... abalone! Tried it for curiosity but will probably be the last time. Somewhat tasteless and still hard.)

I also tried uni (sea urchin) because I had tried it before at kaiten sushi and it wasn't all that good then. Kinda fishy and slimy. But this time was really good. I guess uni is one of those (like ika, prawns and maguro) where the freshness really makes alot of difference. This was smooth and not fishy at all - slid down the throat a real pleasure.

The whole experience was pricey yes, but really one of those that make you realise "oh, it can actually be sooo good". I still hope to do a roadtrip in Japan's less known areas and walk into a family-run sushi place with cheap but fresh sushi though!

Winter Break Trip - Osaka/Nara/Kobe Part 2

Second day in Osaka was spent at the rather famous Osaka Aquarium.
(Osaka Aquarium - Otters, dolphins, sharks, rays, penguins, jellyfish etc...and more. )

Ate 串かつ(ku-shi-ka-tsu) for lunch. Kushikatsu is apparently another Osaka specialty, where most of the food is served on skewers and you dip it in batter, then panko flour (something like bread crumbs) and deep fry the stick in a small fryer in front of you at the table. Interesting.


(The number of skewer/sticks on the girls' side of the table. Yum.)

After that was mostly spent walking around in Ame-mura (short for Amerika Mura; mura = village) which is a shopping area. Osaka fashion is somewhat louder and more colourful than Tokyo's - almost like an ahlian version, but it could be said that it's a much more individualistic and self-confident image than Tokyo's depressing sea of black coats. The people seemed more friendly and direct too, quite in contrast to Tokyo's politeness and keep-to-oneself feeling.

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Day 3 was spent at Nara - famous for its free-ranging deers and ancient Buddhist temples/shrines. Visited Todaiji, apparently the oldest and biggest wooden temple in the world maybe? Very pretty. The deers were some sort of nuisance though, especially if one was carrying a handful of the deer crackers - they'd come chasing after you.

(The beautiful Todaiji - biggest wooden Buddhist structure in Japan and maybe in the world too.)

Can't say I really liked Nara much - seemed too much like a tourist town, a town that never developed it's own modern character beyond displaying it's old glories. I had very yummy omu (shortened from omelette in katakana) rice there though. Omu rice is usually a fluffy fluffy (japanese call it fu-wa fu-wa) creamy omelette atop a mound of 'chicken rice'. Their chicken rice is basically rice with chicken meat and 'fried' in tomato sauce. The whole thing is then topped with demi-glace sauce. Somehow the whole dish just came together as a pretty delicious combination. No pictures sadly - ran out of battery and too busy eating heh.

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Day 4 was mostly spent walking around Namba/Amerika-mura area for shopping since one of my friends really liked to shop there. The 3 of us spoke to a shopperson for almost 1 hour. Osaka people really seem more curious towards foreigners - perhaps maybe because Osaka isn't really crawling with foreigners like Tokyo sometimes seem to be.

In the evening, took our backpacks/duffels and boarded the local train for Kobe! Kobe - port city with the "exotic" atmosphere - was quite a change from either Tokyo or Osaka. Dinner was at a small individually-owned (not franchise yay!) and dinner was good. =)


(The menu was written/printed in beautiful calligraphy script on what seemed like shaved wood.)

(My dinner - The lovely udon set meal. Came with so many things - rice topped with 1 prawn and omelette shreds, abit of tempura, udon and a mix of sushi!)

(A sashimi mix that I ordered and we all shared. All was good except for the squid/ika.)

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Day 5 was for Kobe and it was a surprisingly very likeable place! Despite all the 'what are you going to Kobe for? it's boring...' responses that we got prior to the trip. Beautiful mixture of architecture, many tooth-decay inducing patisseries, restaurants of various cuisines, a quietly vibrant frequency, sake breweries, the red port tower... and last but not least, KOBE BEEF.

(The entrance of the sake brewery museum we visited. Free entry and free sake-tasting. I like!)

(Before dinner, we went walking about Kobe - saw the European houses, Kobe's signature Red Port Tower and Nankin-machi, Kobe's Chinatown. As gaudily red and exaggerated as the place was, there was a sense of familiarity and comfort. =) )

(Last dinner of the trip in Kobe - went to a steak place and despite the hefty price tag of 4,500yen, I decided I really just had to try Kobe beef because once I got back to Tokyo, I just know I would never be able to willingly spend so much on it again. Normal price of 1 piece of Kobe beef is about 10,000yen anyway, so I went ahead and tried it. The moment I bit into a piece, I immediately thought: "I am NEVER going to be happy eating any other type of beef again...". It is THAT good.I still think about it.)