Springtime

It's spring, and I've been hounded by a cold for the past month. Hurrah for me.

Blocked nose, slightly yellow mucus and sometimes with traces of blood - lasted for a month. Finally moved on to the next stage a few days ago but now is just equally troublesome: runny/dripping nose, puffy and itching eyes. Basically my fitness is not surprisingly at minus 200 (stairs are now pant-inducing woohoo) and sleep has been usually troubled by difficulty of breathing and the frequent need to clear my sinuses. I've also ran out of Ge Gen Tang and will be out of Clarityne soon. Which means I might actually have to go to the doctor soon, but that sucks because I don't want to spend anymore money on dentists or doctors thank you.


Ahhh spring. Thanks for your schizophrenic cold-rainy-and-sunny-days. Get over yourself already argh.

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In other news, I had reallllllllly good conveyor belt sushi the other day. The line for it was amazingly long even at 5.30pm, but because we were fine with counter seats, we only had a 15-minute wait. Yay! The seared salmon belly sushi was soooooo goood! I'd love to take my family there some time. If only...

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Just two months left to the end of this student chapter... The road ahead's still kind of obscured by desires, obligations, what ifs, and maybes. Ahh student life... I knew since 18 that I would miss you and that you'll always be a honeymoon period. But I guess I also knew I'd definitely be fine moving forward. More than fine probably - I've never really been one to look back in regret/longing.

So, with a scarce 2 months left in Japan too, I think I might start documenting things that I'll miss. Starting with cheap, but very delicious conveyor belt sushi! I can eat my fill for about 1000yen (16SGD). Yum! =)


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Also, why are tickets to California so expensive =( sigh. 

Exam Time, CNY, and Snow

It's been a rather busy exam period but for me at least, it's starting to wind down a little. Just a final report and one more exam left.

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On another note, here are some pretty pictures from the past week or two:

Sunset from a random building rooftop.

Symmetry: A beautiful park near my campus.

The same park.

In other news, heavy snowfall in Tokyo last night! It was kinda amazing. Until you start to feel the water/melting snow squish around in your boots/wet socks. Heh. Still... =)

A Happy Lunar New Year to one and all indeed!

Back in Tokyo

Got back to Tokyo 3-4 days ago after a 34 hour journey from my friend's place in Norway. Europe/Scandinavia was amazing, and it was so comfortable and wonderful to catch up with my friends there. Yet, the more I travel, the more I realise I don't know anything. Scandinavia is really quite an eye-opener.

Been busy rushing 2 presentations for tomorrow and well, still working on the 2nd one now. After tomorrow will be 2-3 weeks left of school, which means 2-3 weeks of deadlines, papers, and exams. Oh wowee.

Some photos to come after tomorrow!

Kyoto 23-25 Nov

Apologies for the recent neglect - caught up doing too many things and nothing at the same time heh.

Last Wednesday (23 Nov) was Labour Day and a public holiday, and since I usually have no classes on Tues and Thurs, that left me 3 days free, so I went on a solo trip to Kyoto! =)

Days 1 and 3 were on my own, but day 2 I was lucky enough to have Sze Ping come down from Osaka to join me. It was great catching up with her =)

Anyway here's some pictures from Kyoto. Even though it's supposed to be the start of the perfect momiji (red maple leaf) season, but the unusually warm weather so far meant that it was still pretty much multi-coloured with just some red trees. Still pretty though:

Famous Kinkakuji

Sze Ping and I at Toufukuji

The thousand Torii Shrine - Fushimi Inari

Kyoto Imperial Palace

It's Autumn =)

Europe next week on, but I still have lots to prepare. What's new? Heh...

Midterm Red Magic at Nikko

The past four days were the first school break in a while. Thursday was Culture Day - Bunka no Hi (文化の日); Friday was a school holiday in preparation for the Waseda School Festival on the subsequent Saturday and Sunday. So yay, no classes for 4 days in a row, and since I usually have classes 10.40-12nn, and 2.45 to 4.15pm on Saturdays, this was my first ever free weekend!

Thursday was spent recovering from the all-nighter that I pulled on Tuesday night that preceded a 9am-6pm day (with 2 reports and 1 presentation due), and so Friday we went off to Nikko (日光）to see some of the autumn red leaves.

Nikko National Park is quite an interesting place actually, with a World Heritage area, theme park area, onsen, mountains of deciduous forests, Lake Chuzenji, plateaus and waterfalls too. Definitely worth a second, and much longer, visit, but for now, mission accomplished.

More photos up on facebook.

Too bad but am now back to reality of more midterm reports, assignments and presentations.

Tokyo Hike

Waseda had an event whereby students could sign up to 'hike' - by which they actually mean saunter at your own pace - for 20km, through 5 different university campuses for one whole day.

It was quite fun, despite taking up my Sunday, leaving me with no weekend again, but then again I never usually do have free, lazy weekends.

Pictures up on Facebook.

Weather changes

It's more than midway through October; and today was the first day I felt an autumn chill. 15degC. Took you long enough, Autumn, but I did so enjoy the past month of summery cool.

Time to pile on the autumn layers and break out the furry jackets. Hooray. ...Or not. More layers do mean taking more time to decide what to wear though. Ugh.

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And just because I have glue and a stack of receipts (I always keep my receipts in Japan), I'm making a recycled post-it pad. It's still a baby, but I'm sure it'll stack up in no time at all. My only grouch: I just wish it were more colourful.

Butter vs Margarine

Just earlier tonight at 6.39pm, I'd thought to myself "It's a Friday night and I'm off to the library. Gosh." ^^

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On the way back to the dorm from the library, I made my customary rounds at the supermarkets (so I guess it's not surprising at all that most of my expenditure is at supermarkets, so much so that I think I have accumulated enough food to hypothetically last me through a world war...). To my horror, I realised that the supermarket seemed to have started selling much fewer brands of butter, and many more of the cheap affordable, claim-to-taste-like-butter margarine. I've always been some sort of purist when it comes to food and ingredients: Want it to taste like butter? Then use butter, not a replacement! Want to be healthy and ingest less oil/sodium/polysaturated fats? Then ingest in moderation, but never ever replace it with less-salt/fat/etc items that more often than not compromise a lot on taste. I tested this out recently by purchasing a low-sodium soy sauce, and can I just say it must have had a totally opposite effect. Its taste is so mild and mildly off-putting at that too, that I probably have ended up putting in salt just to try and remedy the taste. Ugh. The only reason why I'm still putting up with that low-sodium fake of a soy sauce is because I'm holding out for fish sauce, which I have yet to locate.

Anyway, back to the point of my post. It all got triggered because when I got back, I checked my mail and the daily quote that I subscribe to and received today was none other than about butter and margarine!

"As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists".

-Joan Gussow

So true, don't you think?! Hehe. =)

Dinner - Asian Minestrone?

Cooked dinner last night and it was yum.

Made a soup with the onion confit, snap peas, mushrooms and tofu. Cheated a little by using half a chicken stock cube but oh my, the end result was delicious. I had bought some french bread a day or two ago so that was my carb for the day. Felt like a weird combination at first - toasted sliced baguette and the soup - but it turned out so well that I just dipped the bread in the soup and ate it plain. Did not need the butter as planned. Healthier and yummy choice yay.

In other news, I've been on a hunt for arubaito - which is part-time job in Japanese but apparently with a German etymology. The yen is way too strong that even the thought of withdrawing from my Singapore account is hurting my invisible pocket's heart. So as of now, I have about three random jobs. One is a conversation partner for dinner meetings once a month, to be conducted in English, Japanese and Chinese. This one is a brain-fryer - it is so difficult to keep switching every ten minutes - so thankfully it's only once a month. The second is not really a paid job, but I get so much out of it still. I babysit - in English - an adorable two-year-old Japanese girl for one hour, and in exchange for that, her mother helps me with Japanese for one hour. Wonderful way of language exchange isn't it? Last (for now) but not least, I had an interview yesterday with a guy who set up an international babysitting company, and I got a job scheduled for Sunday already. Exciting but a little nervous because unlike the one hour, this one is minimum 3 hours and may include infants. We'll see how it goes. If all else fails, I can always apply for a waitress job that I've been eyeing, or go work for the ramen shop that I worked for in Singapore. We'll see how it goes. I'm thinking of giving up floorball too. Think of how much money I could save with that hmm.

Activities...

I've been feeling bored - I guess I just have to get used to doing less and slowing down - so I went to reply to all sorts of ads and stuff. Before I know it, I'm travelling places to get discounted shoe racks, guitar (!)... but still trying to get an electric kettle/boiler though. Worst comes to worse I might buy one - the kitchen ones are just too disgusting beyond description.

And suddenly an empty Saturday (today) is filled with language exchange with a little 2-year-old girl and then her mother will teach me Japanese; followed by a dinner for conversation exchange in English, Chinese and Japanese. Wow.

Out and About on a Sun(ny)Day

Whilst its howling wind, lashing rain thanks to a raging typhoon out there today, just three days ago was a bright, 33degC sunny weekend with not a cloud in sight.

Saturday was spent walking around Harajuku for a bit, before joining some of the girls from the dorm at Yoyogi Park for a Vietnamese Food Festival!

People bought food from the many many tents, sat down on these stairs and tucked in. =)

One of the things we tried was Banh Mi - a pork sandwich in Vietnamese-style French baguette. It was SO good!

People trying on the traditional Vietnamese attire and taking photos on rickshaws.

After visiting this fair, a never-before-urge to visit Vietnam surfaced. Combined with the Vietnamese dishes that I've been seeing on Masterchef Australia, I cannot wait to go Vietnam and try the food there sometime soon hopefully! This is how travelling itches always hit me - first the food, then the travel. Oh dear.

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Sunday was even more blazing hot than Saturday, hitting 33 degrees Celsius or perhaps a bit more. But the sun was the bright cheery type and humidity was not very high, so that made a good day out for walking (and tanning! -.-'').

I started the day with one of my favourite activities in Tokyo - visiting flea markets!

Look beyond the row of bicycles, through the trees and see the ... flea market!

Tada.

I reached there pretty late though - about 2.20pm - and only had around 40 mins to browse around before people started packing up to go. Nonetheless it was a good experience, chatting up storekeepers, checking out bargain wares, and even randomly striking up conversation with a Japanese uncle, who was browsing the flea market too. Knowing a language and a place really opens up windows and doors of opportunities.

The flea market wound up by 3pm and the day was still too beautiful for me to just head back to the dorm. So I decided to take a stroll and indulge in another of my favourite pasttimes - getting 'lost'. Initially I thought I was somewhat headed back in the direction of my dormitory but I soon realised that I went off the opposite way. Nonetheless it proved an enjoyable time with new things and new sights. Ended up in Aoyama - the Beverly Hills of central Tokyo - and had a chocolate shake at a Lindt shop. Wandered into the back alleys of Harajuku, where rather than cheap garish girls' fashion, these were the more chic, funky and creative shops and facets.

Photos and captions to be up on facebook soon; uploading photos and captioning them on blogspot is just too much of a pain. Here are some examples though:

Typhoon No. 15

Another 'present' for Japan - Typhoon No. 15.

I applied for a part-time work permit yesterday and whilst waiting in the queue - 150 plus people! - to submit my application form, there was a TV there broadcasting news of the Typhoon and its effects. Nagoya seemed to be one of the worst hit areas, with people having to evacuate and floods reaching waist-level, subway stations being submerged and all... Really sobering. I hope casualty numbers will be minimal or even zero after this Typhoon but that may be just hopeful at best.

Japan seems really hard-hit with all the natural disasters this year...

And yet, as horrible as this may sound, I think all these disasters, if carefully handled by authorities to minimise casualties, may actually prove to be some kind of timely intervention for the society to rebuild herself and her economy.

Waist-high floods in Nagoya.

Submerged subway stations.

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I understand that Japan's economy has been stuck at a stage called stagflation for some time now - stagnant growth, high inflation. I'm not sure if the government is using exchange rate to mitigate the inflation, but the Yen is at a freakishly high rate as of now. 4 years ago when I first came to Japan for a floorball friendly match, the rate was 100yen = SGD1.30. 2 years ago, it ranged from about 100yen = SGD1.50-1.55. Now, the rate has climbed to an almighty 100yen = SGD1.65, just up from 100yen = SGD1.60 a week ago. And it's not like the Sing dollar has been weakening; in fact, it's been reaching stronger rates especially against the US dollar and the Euro.

I'm so not withdrawing any money from my Singapore account right now - the exchange rate is way too horrendous. I can only hope it'll go down some in time, and hopefully by the time I'll need to draw cash out.

Tadaima!

16 months later, I'm back.

Tadaima Japan. =) ("tadaima" is a Japanese way of saying "I'm back!")

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1 year on, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of change in Tokyo, unlike the 1-year difference that I keenly felt upon return to Singapore from Tokyo in Aug 2010. There are certain signs that linger on after the earthquake and the Fukushima incident though. Unlit vending machines. alternate lamp posts switched on, etc.

Doing my part too, with the table light switched off now and air conditioning turned off in the day. Plus I'm folding paper boxes now out of scrap paper, and as in the past, attempting to limit the number of plastic bags I take from shops.

Edit: Added pictures of the little boxes

one for my nail polishes...

one for my accessory box and sunglasses...

another for my moisturiser, just 'cause it fits...

another to hold my to-go stuff: handphone, mints, lip balm

one more for keys& watch, one for charger, and below them both: 100yen coins

And there's more lol. For tissue papers, food... yeah. Lots.

Hmm paper boxes, anyone? =)

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.

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.