Tuesday after Japanese class in the morning, walked back to the dorm with HY and by chance Hiro, the English Conversation Club's president, happened to be walking behind us. Said the "hi"s and the intros, and turns out that like me, he still had class a period after, and he was on his way to the game centre - aka arcade - so I decided to tag along. Arcades are not a place that I frequent, maybe like just only once a year if I happen to be so free after a movie or something. This was quite interesting though! Japan has some machines that seem so 'high-tech' for arcade games like horse betting game (you're the bookie, and plastic horses actually run around a miniature toy track), and the simulator flight fighting game (where you sit in the cockpit capsule with surround sound and digital), and the card game (where you use real cards with chips embedded in them to connect to the game machine), and many many more. Did not have my usual game of Bishi Bashi though.
Hiro was a great host/tour guide and entertained me throughout even though I was prepared to just watch him play whatever he wanted to play. So we tried DDR (Dance Dance Revolution - the one where you have to step and dance according to the arrows on the screen) and I was so bad at it I got grade "D" for beginner's level 3! Despite the DDR craze back in Secondary School, I've never ever tried it, so unsurprisingly I couldn't coordinate my 2 left feet. Then it was race car driving, except it's not the usual race track Daytona, but like mountainous road as though in Initial D. Hiro was way ahead of me; and the replay showed me bumping the car from side to side throughout the WHOLE way - evidently I'm not too good a mountain road driver. Rest of the time was spent looking and learning about the other interesting arcade games.
Seems like game centres are everywhere in Japan though, almost like Pachinko areas. Interesting how Pachinko is like the "public" gambling though not exactly gambling, since you only win items like pens etc, and you have to go to another shop to exchange such items for money - ie, your winnings. What a roundabout way haha.
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Friday, November 27, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
CFC + Culture #1
Cultural Exchange #1
Wednesday's practice was not so good - the feeling of frustration and being a burden on the rest. But today was a nice way to start the weekend. I scored my first-ever goal in Japan; Tomoyuki-san said:" 日本に来てからJingwenさんがうまくなった。”Although I totally didn't understand what he saying until a few explanation attempts later, but I finally understood that he was saying... I've improved!! So made my day =).
After practice today was a teach-little-children-floorball day, and it's so amazing to see some of them holding sticks which are obviously too long for them (6~13year-olds) and yet handle them with such dexterity that belies their young age. Joined in for a little bit, and A's mother was so kind as to do the drills with me and Y-san kept asking me to join the small kids in groups. Nice. And then there's the chat with T-san and R-san, and learning about Unihockey (a sport probably only found in Japan), and just about many more random things. Both of them have been to Singapore before (T-san 4times, R-san once) and they were so funny; Singapore is known as a food haven, but the one thing that they said they kept eating there was.... MACDONALDS at Orchard Road! Gosh! Made me laugh so hard. Apparently because it was so tasty and slightly different from the Japanese Macs. Interesting haha. And they actually still kept the laminated floorball souvenirs that NUS gave them 2 years ago during the Christmas friendly!
I really liked this chat with them, because I feel like despite the huge language barrier, it's really nice to know that there are people out there who still try to communicate with you and sincerely so, despite the evident difficulties. =) Esp T-san. He's always been one of the first to actually call out my full name properly and talk to me (in Japanese). Appreciated!
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Cultural Exchange #2
I often got to practices with another teammate J - a Norwegian who has played for the Norway National Team before, and just moved to Tokyo last year after marrying his Japanese wife. Most of the team stay in Chofu, or nearby, and J is 1) the only other English-speaking person 2) the only person staying near me (ie, near Shinjuku rather than Chofu). So most travelling time is spent learning more about each other's culture and way of life and common mindsets. He made a comment today that he liked how I described Singapore as a "forward-looking country" and I found that so odd because I mentioned it a few weeks back so it must have really struck him to have stuck so well - and yet this was a very common notion and nothing special to me at all. Turns out Norway not only has 37.5hour weeks, (8 hours per day, 5 days a week, 0.5 hour lunch break), but it also has a flat societal system whereby most people get 5 weeks off per year, 1 week paid leave, many days of (singly occuring) unexcused (ie no doctor's MC) sick days, just 0.5 million population in Oslo, 6 lines that run through the central train station on ONE track, free healthcare - and yet people complain about things like not being able to get a single room for free hospital stay. The laidback pace and mindsets are worlds apart from Singapore's - but I guess the societies are in vastly different stages. Norway's a society that has probably already settled down comfortably and no longer sees the need to partake in the daily drearies of the global rat race, having found it's own niche. Singapore is so young; so eager to try everything new and have all the best and be the best. Each society faces its own perils though - the former is so comfortable that it borders dangerously on complacence, and the latter is so quick to move on that it never stops to look and appreciate its past, however short. Such striking contrasts, and SO interesting to learn about others! =)
Wednesday's practice was not so good - the feeling of frustration and being a burden on the rest. But today was a nice way to start the weekend. I scored my first-ever goal in Japan; Tomoyuki-san said:" 日本に来てからJingwenさんがうまくなった。”Although I totally didn't understand what he saying until a few explanation attempts later, but I finally understood that he was saying... I've improved!! So made my day =).
After practice today was a teach-little-children-floorball day, and it's so amazing to see some of them holding sticks which are obviously too long for them (6~13year-olds) and yet handle them with such dexterity that belies their young age. Joined in for a little bit, and A's mother was so kind as to do the drills with me and Y-san kept asking me to join the small kids in groups. Nice. And then there's the chat with T-san and R-san, and learning about Unihockey (a sport probably only found in Japan), and just about many more random things. Both of them have been to Singapore before (T-san 4times, R-san once) and they were so funny; Singapore is known as a food haven, but the one thing that they said they kept eating there was.... MACDONALDS at Orchard Road! Gosh! Made me laugh so hard. Apparently because it was so tasty and slightly different from the Japanese Macs. Interesting haha. And they actually still kept the laminated floorball souvenirs that NUS gave them 2 years ago during the Christmas friendly!
I really liked this chat with them, because I feel like despite the huge language barrier, it's really nice to know that there are people out there who still try to communicate with you and sincerely so, despite the evident difficulties. =) Esp T-san. He's always been one of the first to actually call out my full name properly and talk to me (in Japanese). Appreciated!
=============
Cultural Exchange #2
I often got to practices with another teammate J - a Norwegian who has played for the Norway National Team before, and just moved to Tokyo last year after marrying his Japanese wife. Most of the team stay in Chofu, or nearby, and J is 1) the only other English-speaking person 2) the only person staying near me (ie, near Shinjuku rather than Chofu). So most travelling time is spent learning more about each other's culture and way of life and common mindsets. He made a comment today that he liked how I described Singapore as a "forward-looking country" and I found that so odd because I mentioned it a few weeks back so it must have really struck him to have stuck so well - and yet this was a very common notion and nothing special to me at all. Turns out Norway not only has 37.5hour weeks, (8 hours per day, 5 days a week, 0.5 hour lunch break), but it also has a flat societal system whereby most people get 5 weeks off per year, 1 week paid leave, many days of (singly occuring) unexcused (ie no doctor's MC) sick days, just 0.5 million population in Oslo, 6 lines that run through the central train station on ONE track, free healthcare - and yet people complain about things like not being able to get a single room for free hospital stay. The laidback pace and mindsets are worlds apart from Singapore's - but I guess the societies are in vastly different stages. Norway's a society that has probably already settled down comfortably and no longer sees the need to partake in the daily drearies of the global rat race, having found it's own niche. Singapore is so young; so eager to try everything new and have all the best and be the best. Each society faces its own perils though - the former is so comfortable that it borders dangerously on complacence, and the latter is so quick to move on that it never stops to look and appreciate its past, however short. Such striking contrasts, and SO interesting to learn about others! =)
Waseda Sai 2009
Seems to be a tradition here for universities to have a University Festival (大学祭daigakusai) - nobody I've asked so far knows why though. So Waseda's was held on the past weekend (7th and 8th Nov) and we dropped by on Sunday since Saturday was spent at Hadano (one post before the previous). Met Chuan and his girlfriend Yihe at the festival too. Haven't seen him in so long - he said 10 years? Anyway they were really nice but the Festival was so crowded that it didn't really facilitate much interaction. So what was there at the school festival? Food stalls, game stalls and alot of performances, even concerts which had sold-out tickets. We barely stayed an hour before the boredom and the crowded-ness took its toll. Pictures below:
(Angklung Performance - they played Bengawan Solo.)
(Just a peak at how many people there were at the Festival, seeing how this was only one small (and filled with people) part of school. Some of the soldout concerts were held in that building behind - Auditorium.)
(Saris and Indian dances in Japan!).
(Abit of Uzbekisthan in Japan).
(Angklung Performance - they played Bengawan Solo.)
(Just a peak at how many people there were at the Festival, seeing how this was only one small (and filled with people) part of school. Some of the soldout concerts were held in that building behind - Auditorium.)
(Saris and Indian dances in Japan!).
(Abit of Uzbekisthan in Japan).
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Atom Club
No school on Wednesday (school holiday) and Thursday (replacement holiday for the previous Monday's Health Day), so Tuesday night, decided to follow Yuting (Taiwanese senior at Waseda) to go... clubbing! I guess there's a curiosity there since Japanese people can drink so much everyday without actually needing a reason for it - so it just left one to wonder what do they do when they go clubbing then? Back home, for me at least, clubbing is usually to drink and hang out with friends, and I only usually go for Hall bashes or as a gathering activity of some significance (ie, send someone off/ goodbye gathering thing).
So we went to Atom Club at Shibuya, which is apparently quite a well known club here. Perhaps because it is very cheap (1000yen before 12 midnight) and that allowed entry + 2 drinks. Rachel and I were a bit later than the pre-agreed 11pm and we ended up having to run from Shibuya to the club just to get in before midnight. What a sight we were - 6 nicely dressed girls running and clacketing around in heels (5 of them were wearing heels, I was wearing flats yay), and most people looked on rather bemusedly haha. 6 of us because we met 3 of Yuting's friends/dorm mates. There was C (short for Cirus I think; from Thailand), then Min (from Korea) and Ran/Lan (Japanese). Such an international mix eh.
Ran was explaining the club culture here to Rachel and I, and it turns out that clubs are frequent places for girls and boys to meet, ie, it's actually common to have guys come over and talk to girls (but not the other way around hrmph chauvinistic haha). So different from Singapore, where it seems like clubs are more for big group of friends to go and have fun, hang out, rather than a dating/meeting spot. Or at least for me anyway. Oh, but the alcoholic drinks here are certainly very cheap! 500 yen for most drinks! That's like 7-8sgd, almost 2/3 of the price in Singapore! And the first drink I had was pretty yummy - Brandy Mariana - saw it was by Calpis so I tried it heh. My subsequent two were not so pleasing to the palate.
We were planning to wait till the morning for the first train, but Min got her poor toenail stabbed into by a chair leg, and it was bleeding ferociously. She got sent to the hospital at Roppongi and the rest of us cabbed back so that her roommate could get back and fax her national health insurance card to her. Poor girl. Cab fare was not cheap -3000yen - but it was shared amongst the 5 of us so it turned out to be pretty okay.
Now that I've had the experience, probably won't be going for a while.
---
In other matters, will be having the Reception for Singaporean Students @ the Embassy on Saturday, followed by dinner with Fujii-san on Sunday and Paddy's Halloween Party on Tuesday! Full week ahead vroom!
So we went to Atom Club at Shibuya, which is apparently quite a well known club here. Perhaps because it is very cheap (1000yen before 12 midnight) and that allowed entry + 2 drinks. Rachel and I were a bit later than the pre-agreed 11pm and we ended up having to run from Shibuya to the club just to get in before midnight. What a sight we were - 6 nicely dressed girls running and clacketing around in heels (5 of them were wearing heels, I was wearing flats yay), and most people looked on rather bemusedly haha. 6 of us because we met 3 of Yuting's friends/dorm mates. There was C (short for Cirus I think; from Thailand), then Min (from Korea) and Ran/Lan (Japanese). Such an international mix eh.
Ran was explaining the club culture here to Rachel and I, and it turns out that clubs are frequent places for girls and boys to meet, ie, it's actually common to have guys come over and talk to girls (but not the other way around hrmph chauvinistic haha). So different from Singapore, where it seems like clubs are more for big group of friends to go and have fun, hang out, rather than a dating/meeting spot. Or at least for me anyway. Oh, but the alcoholic drinks here are certainly very cheap! 500 yen for most drinks! That's like 7-8sgd, almost 2/3 of the price in Singapore! And the first drink I had was pretty yummy - Brandy Mariana - saw it was by Calpis so I tried it heh. My subsequent two were not so pleasing to the palate.
We were planning to wait till the morning for the first train, but Min got her poor toenail stabbed into by a chair leg, and it was bleeding ferociously. She got sent to the hospital at Roppongi and the rest of us cabbed back so that her roommate could get back and fax her national health insurance card to her. Poor girl. Cab fare was not cheap -3000yen - but it was shared amongst the 5 of us so it turned out to be pretty okay.
Now that I've had the experience, probably won't be going for a while.
---
In other matters, will be having the Reception for Singaporean Students @ the Embassy on Saturday, followed by dinner with Fujii-san on Sunday and Paddy's Halloween Party on Tuesday! Full week ahead vroom!
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