konnichiwa!

miscellenous pics :)

2007-05-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

こんばんは、みんな久しぶり！
hey everyone! its been a while.. :) approaching the end of may now.. would mark the end of 3 months here for me in Japan on the 25th.. the way time passes by still shocks me sometimes.. and i just sit for a moment to think abt how long i've been away from home..
talked to my family yest.. really miss them .. hoping that my sis can come visit during the June vacations but exams looming ahead for her too.. so maybe it'll be pretty difficult..

life here has been really comfortable.. getting used to the whole routine.. playing a little more ping pong recently too.. hee.. think the exchange students are prob the only ones still seeming to take it easy of late.. cos the end of quarter exams are actually just next week! heh. (which is also when i head to okinawa! ) will prob have to do some studying soon.. think i have 4 finals actually :P .. of which one is Chado, which is the traditional tea ceremony.. that's like the best class i have right now .. and we're gonna be tested on how to walk into the tea room.. bow and show our respects for the host.. how to eat the confectionery served before tea.. make tea.. have tea.. slurp tea.. and to "hab a look" at the tea bowls after drinking "because u never know when ure gonna hab tea with the same cup again".. hee.. the wise words of my sensei.. (whom i believe is thai and has the cutest way of pronounciation" :)

anyway..thought i'd upload some of the photos over the past week or two.. heh. hab a look!

girls from my floor at a snacking/drinking/chatting gathering..
"Nomikai"s, which mean drinking parties.. are very common in the dorm rooms.. we're not allowed to drink in common areas too. so just in the rooms.. hee. but all those i've been too are all really mild.. and no one gets drunk.. more to chit chat :)

yangyang (from china) yasuno (tokyo) and megumi (nagoya)

down at "freshness burger" in beppu.. kinda like a MOS burger.. i must say.. the burgers ARE fresh.. haha. yum!

kyoko and jenelle looking happy with their hot dog and mustard.. haha

trip down to oita again to catch spiderman 3!
(yes, there are no cinemas showing it in beppu.. we had to go to another city ;P)
pirates next!

friend of mine here adores giraffes to bits :) this was taken for her actually..

kane, jenelle and saori (jenelle's friend from Yamaguchi ken who went to hawaii abt 4 yrs ago!)

the cinema in oita.. it was this nice little building that was nothing like cinemas in singapore.. really cute and cosy feel to it..

ally (korean who lived in nz), and marie (taiwanese) from my japanese class.. so glad to have them in my class! really great girls :)

dinner with ally and marie.. :)

miso salmon with broccoli - done by me! hee.

bought this recipe bk thats titled "friend of homemakers" haha.. but a lot of great jap dishes in side.. kinda more like food for everyday meals.. and not like sushi and katsu dons etc..

cabbage rolls in soup! heh. really like making this one..will make it when i get home!

heh. getting to really like cooking over here.. only sucky thing is the washing up :P haha. makes the whole process really long.............

but still! will definitely try to cook more when i get back home ;)

hiroshima trip :)

2007-05-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

hiroshima pics! finally.. heh.. as mentioned in earlier posts .. the group of exchange students decided to head down to hiroshima over the weekend of the golden week (May 4-7)
it was our first trip ever since sch started so everyone was pretty geared up for the trip :)
hiroshima, was a wonderful experience.. travelling in a grp of 14 was indeed a challenge.. haha.. but we did it! managed some sightseeing.. hiroshimayaki eating.. and shopping of course! anyway other than the little town in beppu proved to be to enticing in terms of shopping.. ( we have a grand total of ONE shopping centre in Beppu.. hee)
do try to visit hiroshima if you ever have the chance.. the peace mark and museum are defnitely worth a visit.. a little sombre.. but.. its amazing when you see how the city has picked itself up..

View from the ferry.. :) we had to take a bus for 1.5 hrs.. drive onto a ferry.. take the ferry for 2 hours.. and another 1.5 hours on the bus to get to hiroshima!

first pic in hiroshima :) along the street with the whole group of exchange students..

We actually stayed in this karaoke bar for the night.. heh. Cos of the golden week, we were unable to book a youth hostel for the night.. so the 14 of us booked 2 rooms for overnight karaoke! first time in my life man.. was fleeting in and out of sleep throughout the session once we passed 3am i think.. but a few of them sang the whole night through.. hahaha. cheap too though like ard 20sgd each only..

this was a competition for a traditional japanese type of dance.. called yossa koi soran.. i actually tried learning this dance in apu.. hee..pretty fun..

this monument was one of the only ones left after the atomic bombing..

peace cranes filled up this huge field in the peace park

our youth hostel! bunk beds.. haha. first experience in a room like this two.. 6 beds in one room thats abt the size of my current dorm room..

the girls on the trip :) kane, jenelle, kyoko, me, rosanna and nadejda

this was the famous gate which is submerged partially in miyajima.. which is a short ferry away from hiroshima..really pretty place.. serene.. and they had deers roaming ard too!

with rosanna (from york uni.)

a successful "lets try to fit everyone and take a photo from the ground up shot" :)

singapore gang doing a shaolin.. hee

these are 6 PLATES of cheese scallops. story behind this was that we wanted to order one plate with 6 PIECES of scallops. but somehow.. despite our best(eh-hem) japanese speaker being the one who placed the order.. it got mixed up and voila! one place each for us. hahaha. ON TOP of our main meal of the okonomiyaki (pancake with noodles, bacon, cheese, eggs, prawns.. )

haha but the mix up did provide some entertainment for the night.. hee

shopping haul!

see the food on the table? yes. thats how much we ate. haha.

while in "foundation in information technology" class..

2007-05-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

hey everyone!
yes im finally posting again! haha. currently in class which teaches microsoft word.. excel.. and powerpoint. haha. (because of the nature of this course, i couldnt transfer the credit back home despite many appeals :P ) prof is demonstrating how to sum up stuff across cells now......

anyway! let's see where i left off.. heh. seems like forever since i last blogged..sch here has been pretty easy going.. most of the workload is rather manageable.. except japanese.. that one takes more effort.. haha.. but a typical day goes like this (i have 2 days which start at 845.. these are the other days.. heh) :

9a.m - Wake up
915 - Make breakfast and watch japanese television which i do not understand. heh.
10 - Wash dishes
1015 - Wash up etc.
1030 - Check for any pending laundry
1045 - Turn on computer.. check emails
1115 - First attempt at homework/studying for quizes etc.
1130 - Distraction (Internet, msn)
1200- Second attempt at studying
1245 - Cook lunch (leftovers from dinner before, sandwiches, yaki soba, salads )
1330 - Wash dishes
1345 - Get ready for class
1400 - Go to class
1735 - End of second class , head back to the dorm
1800- Chat with other girls on the floor
1820- Check email etc.
1900- Cook dinner (dinner, depending on the number of participants.. varies from an hour to a 2 plus hour affair is we're having a mass cooking session.. usual suspects include the other singaporeans.. kyoko.. jenelle.. david.. )
21/2200 - Clean up and shower
2230 - Third study attempt (this usually is pretty effective but unfortunately lasts not more than an hour usually.. hee)
** Activities after 10pm also include movie watching on laptops with piles of snacks.. hand slapping card games (similar to snap) .. indian poker.. which i can officially claim that i suck at.. table tennis games ofuro( common baths) or ice cream accompanied chats.. =)
0030-0130 - Bedtime (phone calls back to zq.. family.. )

:) so that was it. heh. time seems to pass by so quickly even though i often dont recall what is it that im busy with..
oh.. went over to hiroshima over the last weekend! it was great.. travelling in a grp of 14 wasnt easy but it was fun! will post up the pics in the next post together with more of what we did.. went to visit the peace museum.. and attended a flower/dance festival too..its really a beautiful city.. its amazing how the city picked itself up after the bombings.. there was this air of sombreity though.. somehow.. knowing what had happened there before..

planning a trip to okinawa next! tanoshimini!! will be heading there end of this month.. its supposed to be really pretty.. great for snorkelling and beachy activities.. hee. finally! some sun and sea!! miss it over here with just mountains and hot springs surrounding apu. haha

k class is ending now.. will post up the pics next! missing everyone terribly...........

jya ne!

a trip to the suupaa.. yakiniku buffet and oita!

2007-05-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Supermarket
guess what we found in one of the aisles of the suupaa (supermaarket)

cheap eh? haha. television provided for children to watch even!

a typical shopping trip :p will often land us with at least twice as much stuff as we'd planned on buying.. jenelle's absolutely intrigued with the different kind of sweets (esp the kiddy ones) :)

Yakiniku 食べ放題　(buffet)

the staff putting in the charcoal.. with paul somehow looking very happy in the background.. heh

meat!!! here we come!!!

more meat?
Japanese lesson #101: Hasami (Have Some Meat) = Scissors. haha that's how i remember it. :)

pig's tongue!!! taste was better than i thought (factoring in the fact that i was eating a pig's TONGUE).. but the texture was rubbery and squishy.. kinda like squid...

happy pple with their meat. haha.

everyone! the guy at the back is called masa.. great hip hop dancer too!

大分ー　Trip to Oita! (Bigger city than Beppu.. heh)

all set to go at the bus stop! jenelle, thor, me, kyoko, dione (thai) and weili :)

in the rapid train.. the seats turn to face each other! how cool is that??!!!

the girls get one pic together for the day.. :)

jenelle and thor reliving their childhood? haha.

taken with this old train that was situated right in the middle of a park near the oita train station..

in the train.. pretty awesome ya?

oita station!

..hisashiburi! (long time no see!)

2007-04-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

hi guys!
realised how infrequent my postings have been.. pardon me!! its amazing how time flies by sometimes.. have been in apu for almost a month now.. going on to the 3rd week of sch (while my smu counterparts are having summer break now!)..
wish i were home sometimes even though im getting used to being away.. miss my family.. zq .. really dont regret coming to japan..its really been a wonderful experience so far..hopefully i'll get to travel ard a lil bit more too! okinawa perhaps! :)
it's still a little chilly here in beppu.. the weather changes so drastically! just 3 days ago the temperature dropped to like 10 degrees again.. was pretty glad that i still had one winter jacket with me.. everyone ard sch was decked out in the winter wear again .. haha. pretty interesting to see fur coats and scarves when we're approaching the end of april .. hee.

my jap hw is sitting on my table now.. calling out to me.. haha. but somehow.... think i'll let it sit there for a lil while more ;) ..
japanese is truly, a difficult language. although knowledge of chinese helps.. the sentence structures and grammar and polite/inpolite ways of speaking, writing and listening really boggles my mind. haha. its like, other than the formal japanese.. there's all these slangs used that flies abt when i try to listen to the japanese students speak.. haha.
for example, to put sth in the microwave, they use the word "Ching-suru" . "Ching" coming from the sound the microwave makes.. haha.. and suru just means to do sth. There are A LOT of description sound words in the japanese day to day conversations. heh.

oh oh!! went for hip hop dance today at oita city for 2 classes conducted by this damn zai instructor.. =) she reminded me a lil of my emix mama too.. small but lots of spunk and attitude.. was great!! but im so gonna ache tmr..the first class we did was reg. hip hop.. the second we did a lil locking and old sch.. the first was ok.. made me miss dancing with emix!! i miss you guys!!! (kun, go dance in switz! costumes made of swiss choc! heeee) ya but there were a few of the japanese who were REALLY good..made me feel sooooo inadequate.. like there was this little girl (i mean physical stature) who was amazing at freestyle.. and another damn cool girl in braids .. all damn zai at free.. there were also a couple of guys who really stood out.. one was good at old sch.. another at breaking/freestyling.. think the leader of the dance grp's pretty adept at house too! can't wait to dance more man.. got to brush up on freestyling .. haha..

gonna start on my hw soon i guess.. right after i do kitchen duty tonight (cleaning of the kitchen and throwing out the trash..) can feel my shoulders aching already...........

this is the view we get from our sch.. on the mountain we are.. hee

beautiful eh? imagine the cafeteria overlooking the mountains as well.. ..

my room!! all filled. hee

view on the other side.. (i have a shelf load of snacks stocked up. haha)

dinner over at ap house 2 (the other dormitory.. i live in ap house 1)

dinner for that day! taco rice! jenelle's treat that day .. so she cooked sth a lil more western.. more like mexican ..yummy!

our first karaoke (japaneses youths' fav. pastime) session in beppu :)

paul (from korea) on the far left .. is an amazing singer.. we were all shocked when he sang! think he has a mini fan club now. haha

pica pica festival in sch! it was like a flea market, food market kinda festival held over the last weekend .. was great fun! this was a taiko drum performance.. there was even a food eating competition! haha.. sth we dont get in singapore huh. ;)

at the festival with takahiro, ryuta and kyoko =) a lil nostalgic cos it reminded me of pasar malams.. hee. oh the flea market was so good! bought a couple of tops for like 2-3 sgd each.. heh.

reiona (she shares the same birthday as me! just minus a few yrs. hahaha) apu in the background!

one of my first encounter with anything close to e.x.e.r.c.i.s.e in apu. Soccer!!! it was fun! =) only weird thing was i didnt perspire at all. too cold still..

girls from my floor: kaori, yuuki, cha cha (korean), yuri, and yuki :) this was in the ap house 1 lobby..

common kitchen in the dorm :)

one of the first dishes i made.. healthy eh.. hah.

first trip down to beppu city from some mum mum. joyful.. at the back.. is like this family restaurant that sells western and jap food.. kinda like a denny's ? but cheaper ;)

apu: the beginning..

2007-04-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Official APU Entrance Ceremony!

the ceremony was held in a convention like hall in Beppu-shi.. most international students were dressed in ethnic wear!

weili, genelle (from hawaii), thor, me and Yuki (my roomie! she's learning chinese and her english is great! )

One of my first sakura experiences!!! =) pretty pretty pretty.

this was taken outside the clinic where we had our health examinations (the japanese are really thorough.. weight, height, blood test, tb test.. etc etc) i found out that i have high cholesterol! ok, just a lil over but still!!!! too long ive gone without exercise..

thats pj, genelle, me and kane. there's snow on the mountain behind us :) its april! its supposed to be spring.......

this was the sunrise i was talking abt.. the beginning of it ..with the sun peekng out..

my papa and mummy! we had lunch in the APU cafeteria with the rest of the singaporeans and a few japanese .. oh oh the cafeteria's pretty cool cos it has an excellent view of the mountains outside.. benefits of being on top of a mountain.. heh

my parents at a little hot spring in front of the Beppu station.. (there are hundreds of hot springs in Beppu..prob one of Japan's most famous areas for it)

at our dormitory floor meeting ..each pair had to cook a dish for dinner.. yuki and i made black pepper beef (as mentioned in my earlier post..hee) and stir fried cabbage with.. more beef. haha.

with my parents at Beppu park.. sakura was in full bloom then.. きれいですね!

tulips! can never find these in singapore..

hanami (sakura viewing) with the exchange students =)

with fellow exchange students from canada, john and kai.. (havent really gotten to know most of the exchange students well yet though.. )

han and jung from korea.. connie and wing (both superb in japanese) from hk..

hanami session 2 (the next day) with the girls from my dorm floor:

minasan! its really cool how the japanese just grab food and a mat and sit under the sakura trees for hours just relaxing and chatting and enjoying the view .. heh. the only view we'll get in singapore is prob coconuts. haha.

dione (from thailand) and me! she thought i was 18.. haha

from top:

cha cha (from korea), reiona (japan), me , dione, yasuno aka azuchan (nickname from azuki bean which is a small red bean.. cos she's so tiny! really cute girl with a great personality..), yuki and megumi :)

start of apu life..

2007-04-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

hey everyone..
Think i've been lacking in the posts department for a while.. havent exactly been very busy.. but somehow i've not been able to sit down to type in a decent post..
School's finally starting for me tmr.. guess this whole experience is starting to feel less surreal now.. really missing home pretty badly now..
my parents came over to Beppu last week and it was great! didnt realise how much i'd miss them till i saw them and starting running to my mum .. and my Papa hugged me and i starting crying .. haha . quite drama now looking back.. but i was really so happy to see them.. :) it was great.. the whole 4 days or so with them.. went to catch the sakuras in full bloom.. tried an onsen overlooking almost the entire beppu city.. even caught a full sunrise from the hotel room! like literally saw the sky change colour.. and then see a full orange circle of light emerge from within the mountains.. it was a spectacular sight.. sth we could never see in Singapore i think..
Somehow the fact that they came.. makes me miss them even more now.. real pity my sis and bro couldnt come as well.. miss them terribly too..

The past ten days or so at APU flew by pretty quickly.. everyday I find myself meeting new people ard campus.. though i must admit i havent gotten to know anyone well yet.. haha. mostly his and byes for now.. its really interesting how APU is made up of so many different nationalities.. walking past the corridors of one dorm level i an hear mandarin, japanese, thai, indonesian, korean, english, vietnamese.. .. おもしろいね！(interesting!) ..
They're all so young too! Most of them being 18 or 19.. with a couple only 17!! makes me feel like an oldie over here.. hah . good thing is they all thought i was their age!! woohoo!! "forever young...i wanna be.. forever young.." hahaha ok ok .. enough of that now. but im really impressed by how independent they all are.. cooking (not just cup noodles) real meals that look like japan hour worthy dishes sometimes.. hee. makes me feel a little embarrassed man.. but im trying!! cooked a couple of dishes already so far.. black pepper beef (with the ready made seasoning packets ..no less.. haha) stir fried veggies.. potatoes with garlic, parsley, butter.. ;) pretty yummy.. hahaha . Guess what i've experienced so far has made me realised how sheltered a life i've had.. ive been really blessed .. and now its also the best opportunity for me to find out more about myself.. my direction in life from now.. and to truly learn to be more independent and be able to handle being alone.. w/o my loved ones by my side..
4 more months !!
Despite the internation environment.. one thing really clear is how the jap students still tend to stick together even if most can speak english pretty well..guess they're more prone to group together.. pretty much the same across most other nationalities too.. hopefully gradually we'll all be able to truly mix around.. that's the whole point of the exchange! haha.
Facing some probs with courses now..due to the lack of english courses.. guess thats been the only glitch so far.. will be having jap classes 4 times a week.. and classes split into 2 quarters for hte semester.. taking tea ceremony too!! but its the official courses i need for credits that's giving me probs now.. still hoping that sth can be done.. :P
Oh oh, porb gonna join a few circles (ccas) over here if possible.. japanese traditional dance perhaps? hee.. will update u guys on that next time..
Will be posting up my pics asap.. prob later tonight or tmr.. :) ..
for now.. jya ne! i miss you all!!

some final pics from my travels..

2007-04-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

hey everyone.. this will be my last entry with my pics from travelling japan.. then i'll finally post up my APU pics!! woohoo!! haha pardon me.. its already one plus here.. way past my bedtime and i just had nice green tea, azuki bean bread.. supper.......think its a country thing. the bread being nice that is. haha.
ok one new thing im gonna try here is uploading my pics onto a web album so it's much more efficient and i can post more pics! hee. will put down the addresses :)

toba.. japanese ryokan

japanese ryokan (japanese inn) in Toba.. its a little city surrounded by the sea.. famous for seafood and mikimoto pearls! Most japanese hotels gave us the yukata (thin kimono) to put one.. mainly to go to their onsens.. hee. but onsens are really good ways to relax once u get past the embarassing bit of being naked in front of complete strangers.. (all of the same sex of course..) the warm water is extremely calming..

check out the sashimi!! an entire fish PLUS lobster (small one la) PLUS oysters and sea snails (that was a lil gross..) but the fish and lobster were delicious! from a non-sashimi eater, i believe that counts for pretty much. haha.

our entire meal ! (the table was literally filled with food.. sashimi, oysters, fish, soup, rice......etc etc) pity we werent seafood lovers..

breakfast was equally sumptious.. heh. nice eggs, crab in soup.. tofu in miso soup, grilled fish,salad, sausages..........think u got the point. heh

back in osaka from toba (in transit to fukuoka)

katsu don!! sinful stuff. think this is prob why my choloesterol level went up!! i got a cautionary during my apu health check! high cholesterol!! got to cut back on the agemono (fried food) man!

kyoto station again! astro boys everywhere!

this was our "golden room" in a tokyo budget inn.. the walls were literally covered with golden wallpaper.. pretty tiny room.. but cosy i guess.. 4 tiny beds side by side..

pasar malam: japan style!

they had food stalls and stalls selling little trinklets and clothes, accessories..

pretty similar to pasar malam..only more expensive.. and more delicious food.. he

in front of kyoto station! this was after arriving from osaka.. the station building's architecture was pretty awesome.. will have more pics on the web album!

this was a typical fppd pose for our dear kane kane.. (she poses like this for almost all the photos that she takes with food.. heh) omu rice here!

durians in japan anyone? heh.. they cost a whopping 25 SGD

this is the amzing berry cafe at kyoto station.. the fruit tarts are heavenly.

amazing.

the four of us started out wanting to just share 2 but we ended up getting another 2 more. heh.

more pics here! : http://picasaweb.google.com/miche.tyh/NaraAndBerryCafe

kyoto pics!

2007-04-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, so sorry for being so laggy with my posts..its so much effort loading up the pics! haha. settling into the dormitory here in APU for the past few days..so pretty much going on.. bear with me!

First night in Kyoto:

Our backpacker's inn was pretty near Gion, the famous district to catch Maiko-sans (apprentice geishas) :) didnt really see many that night.. just one or two.. pity we didnt get to take many pics cos it was too dark..

one of the many streets on Gion..

heh we just saw this car when we went out to get groceries .. cute eh?

gigantic bowl of ramen! (they called it the special ramen..haha)

the shop where we ate.. the shops are really narrow in japan!!

eh.. this was in gion too.. in front of a restaurant interesting displays in japan.. think the dog is some mythical character though..

okashi! japanese sweets.. they all too pretty to be eaten..

day 2 in kyoto:

we went to visit a couple of the famous temples .. we got lucky! guess what?

we found her!!

this is a maiko san... =) just happened to bump into her taking photos here at the golden temple..she was really nice! turned to smile at us when we were taking photos of her.. really pretty! can tell that she is even with all the white make up on her face.. heh

she agreed to take a picture with us! =) really got us in a super mood the entire day cos it was really rare to bump into a maiko san..

Kinkakuji.. Golden temple..really pretty..

this was at the kiyomizu temple.. think its one of , if not the most famous temple in kyoto..
(kyoto's famous for its temples if you'd already guessd by now.. :) )

weili and kane trying to sweep the smoke over their heads (this is said to be able to make you smarter.. or bring you good luck..heh)

in front of the wooden plaques for making wishes..

the plum flowers in full bloom =)

this is a really famous zen garden comprising of just a few rocks.. you're actually supposed to sit down and look at them, reflect and meditate a lil..apparently there are many different ways of intepretating the meaning behind these rocks. (which we didnt do ..haha)

kyoto university - Kyodai.

This is prob the country's second best univesity after Tokyo University.. campus was pretty cool.. bigger and older than smu..but still very much like a city university..we even ate in the cafeteria ( which wasnt very good actually.. kopitiam might be better even! )

more pics at the kiyomizu temple.. sun was setting by then.

kane and thor drinking the spring water from the mountains..

sunset at the kiyomizu temple..

we kept bumping into these 3 ladies to my left that day..the leftmost two are from malaysia but are currently working in singapore whilst the 3rd lady ia japanese.. we actually heard them speak singlish on the bus which is why we started a conversation with them!

After the visits we met up with another 3 jap girls (weili's friends) and they treated us to tofu nabe!

u mai!! (delicious! ) .. it was really really really good.. the girls were all really nice.. all very warm and friendly =) you guys should try this sometime.. hee

outside the tofu restaurant.. mmmmmmmmmm

first days in osaka

2007-03-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

long overdue pics!

last day in tokyo, haneda airport ..

Mr and Mrs T brought me all the downtown to buy an pan (red bean bread) from this really famous shop in ginza.. (which had a whole lot of diff flavours..heh) couldnt bear to leave them...

arrival at kansai airport.. waited for an hour for the rest of my travel mates to arrive from sapporo..

on the train to the city:) the trains in japan are really really cool. you can turn the seats ard to face each other.. and they have all these automated stuff which are not found in singapore.. but transportation expenses are atrocious!

first group picture!!

thor, jin ping, weili, kane kane, me!

cheap katsu don (meaning abt 6-7 sgd) ard our hotel.. the area was a little, scary. cos it was a lil like the suburbs.. with mainly working class males being the pop.. and pachinko parlours and suspicious looking shops ard... ended up avoiding walking ard the hotel for the next few days.. just went to whereever we wanted and back.. think it allowed us to see another side of japan.. that told us not all was pretty..

matcha flavoured beard papa!

they had a kuishinbo (which actually means glutton) in osaka! :) it was more like a food street in the shopping centre selling all sorts of jap goodies.. heh

eh... this was a really "interesting" hotel facade...

sculptures in front of a hotel.. heh.. this was near minami.. which is in namba (like the orchard/far east of singapore)

red bull gives you wings! right kun ? hee

famous osaka okonomiyaki! friend noodles/ pancakes with eggs and sauce etc etc.. had to queue quite a while for this!

another osaka specialty, takoyaki!

at the famous osaka aquarium.. comprising of 8 stories........ think its supposed to be the largest in japan..

spot the seal?? heh

ferris wheel in osaka.. freezing cold that day..........

attempts at being dainty, think kane's pretty suited for it.. but as for myself..............

on the cable car :) brrr..was abt 4 degrees that night..

charlies' fallen angels? haha..this was taken outside the osaka castle..pity the sakuras werent in bloom yet..

osaka castle.. its been turned into a historical museum now..

sakura! or so we thought.. hee.. i think they were the plum trees instead..

3 duo hua? :) :)

lunch/dinner was omu rice. must have been the best omu rice i've eaten so far....cheese and eggs over the rice in cream gratin with veges.....

plates all wiped out! one of the rare times!! :)

my room in osaka! tiny little room with 2 beds and a tv.. shower was a shared bath (but not mixed bath!) or a single shower for all the guests.. but i think through this i overcame my shyness to use the common baths. after a while u realise that everyone's too busy washing themselves then to bother noticing you ..haha

universal studios and mount koya pictures!

2007-03-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

universal studios japan!

we happened to visit on the first day of spring break for the students so it was jam packed!! heh busted our hopes of entering the place early to catch all the rides.. ended up paying another 40 or so dollars to get the express ticket to bypass the queus.. hee..takaii ne!!

first shot of the theme park from outside.. we arrived at around 930 and there were literally thousands of people (mostly teens) at the place.....

one of the buses that went ard the theme park.. it was really amusing how they translated all the songs to japanese.. imagine "sesame street....." in japanese........heh

oh oh we caught this shot musical of Wicked.. which is this new broadway musical of the wicked witch of the west (from the wizard of oz ) pretty interesting ! cept that it was again in jap.. haha

rahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

spiderman! spiderman!!!! the ride was pretty interesting.. a lil 3 d effects.. realised the park didnt have many thrilling rides.. mostly visual.. guess thats cos its universal studios la..

got hungry! katsu hot dog! (the food is ridiculously overpriced in theme parks :p)

wizard of oz!

MOUNT KOYA
One not so pleasant thing abt this trip has been that we've had to move a couple of times... meaning lugging our 20 over kg luggages ard .. onto trains and buses... dragging them across bumby roads.. up slopes......... im craving a massage! haha. Point to note: NEVER carry heavy baggage when travelling . Guess we dont have much of a choice cos we're all moving to the hostel after this so lots of barang.. haha we prob look really silly to the locals lugging such huge luggages ard...

Took a train then had to take a cable car ride up to Mount Koya..pretty cold up there.. mountain air was definitely colder..

at the cable car station..

at the entrance of the famous tombstones..mt koya is supposed to be this really sacred place...and serene..

dinner! they actually laid out eth nicely for us in the tatami room..

vegetarian dinner! tempura, tofu, beans, vege.. :) delicious!

trying out jap cutesy poses while wearing the yukata! haha..

breakfast the next morning.. rice, miso soup.. beans.. tofu..vege.... healthy yah.......

After mount koya we were off to kyoto!!

2007-03-24T07:35:00.001-07:00

i miss my family... (and my lil cousins! )

osaka and kyoto!

2007-03-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

hey everyone!!

im sorry ive been so laggy with my posts ever since i left takasaki .. ;P
its been pretty crazy since then cos weve been moving abt quite a bit whilst lugging our ridiculously large luggages (we looked like really silly backpackers ..hee) cant believe its been almost a month now that i've been in japan!

im getting more and more homesick by the day.. missing my mummy and papa.. yilin, kor and zq.. really hope everyone's doing well .. cant wait for my parents to come by in abt 2 weeks time.. :)
miss all my wonderful friends.. jun especially (in paris!) happy birthday girl!!

im in kyoto now! its a beautiful city with lots of culture seen through the little lanes of traditional japanese housing and the occasional sighting of a maiko san (apprentice geisha) all dolled up in the traditional kimono and white make up.. saw a really pretty one! will be posting up pics as i go along..

its my third day in kyoto now.. spent the last week in Osaka and Mt. Koya (this sacred mountain which is the site of many famous japanese families' tombstones.. ) . Stayed in an inn run by monks in Mt Koya, but it was wonderfully serene and we had a great vege/tofu dinner provided :) went to universal studios japan (it was so packed! the day we visited coincided with the spring break for the students.. haha) and we ended up buying this express ticket to bypass most of the longer queues.. heh..

i really miss takasaki, Mr and Mrs T.. I guess they grew to become like family to me and now im starting to really miss their presence..really hope to vist them again sometime soon..

think i'll post more as i upload pics ya? update as i go along.. :)

day 18

2007-03-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

DAy 18: Last night in Takasaki..

heading off for osaka in a couple of hours! prob get to see the cherry blossoms there or in Kyoto :) ..

im gonna miss Mr and Mrs T so much.. and julia too :) really feel as if they welcomed me as a part of their family.. theyve welcomed me to come look for them anytime whilst im still in japan :)

had chinese food for dinner tonight.. Mrs T had learnt how to cook chinese food way back when they lived in Singapore for a couple of yrs.. abt 10 yrs ago? She said she thought i'd prob not get to eat chinese food for quite a long time.. so she cooked it for me.. damn sweet of her..........
it was delicious! had tofu with veg and scallops.. home made char siew that was juicy and tender........ and prawns in chilli sauce (a lil like chilli crab style) hee.. shiok! haha...

had my last lesson with mihoko sensei as well.. she and this other teacher at the centre got me a little gift :) japanese inkan (personal seal with your kanji initials on it) .. heh. really nice of them! Theyve really been so warm towards me and helping me so much with japanese..

... im going to miss Takasaki, the people and the food :) .. Sabishii ne! ..

last dinner in Takasaki..

day 17

2007-03-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

day 17: kimono - the challenge :)

i guess no one can call a japan exchange complete without trying on the kimono.. heh. so try it i did! boy was it difficult.. but fun nevertheless :)
Mrs T has an entire wardrobe of kimonos and obis (the waist belt) in her possession.. they were all so beautiful! According to her, the cheapest ones started at ard 5,600 dollars and could go up to the thousands! but the fabric was gorgeous.
We decided to try on this particular kimono which Mrs T wore when she turned 20 ( girls in japan have to put on the kimono and have pictures taken etc. at the age of twenty.. kinda like a ceremony for them.. ) 40 yr old kimono but still in good condition .. heh. It was pretty!

So off we started on the kimono tryout.. hehe. Both Mr and Mrs T were so enthusiastic abt it..heh. even buying me the white socks/slippers to wear with the kimono even though i was just trying in on at home.. :)

well enough said, i'll let the pics do the talking!

This was when we were almost done already! After abt 45 mins! The kimono was heavy man.. plus it was tight.. so felt kinda like a heavy corset.. heh. but Mrs T was amazing in helping me :) she hadnt worn a kimono in years so she got a book on how to wear it properly.. heh. and it turned out great! a natural at obi tying.. heh.

they actually moved all the stuff behind me away to take this pic.. said must do a sitting down one.. heh.. more traditional.. see the socks?

back view! the knot at the back was really well done.. hm but i think its not so clear in this pic..

everyone! :)

dinner for the night at this traditional soba restaurant.. (soba is hand made everyday!)

fish cake.. kinda similar to the thai fish cakes but served with onions and ginger and shoyu.. yumyum..

hot soba! oishi yo! really light but delicious :) heh. there i go abt food again...

Days 15 & 16

2007-03-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

Day 15 & 16

Konbanwa!

I really believe this is more like a food blog than ath.. haha. Just looking at the no. of pics of food compared to that of people.. :) Well, kinda hard not to talk abt the food here.. i'm like trying almost a different type of Jap food everyday.. Mr.. and Mrs T are trying to make sure i get to try as many as possible before i leave for Osaka.. which is in two days!!! Argh... im gonna miss them and Mihoko sensei.. and Julia.. and the food of course :)

Man, im starting to miss dancing.. was showing them some of the emix videos the other night.. made me miss it even more.. hopefully will get to dance a little at the University :)

Yest was great! We went to vist the Koshike Doll factory.. its those wooden Jap dolls? Anyway.. I tried painting one!! Had to draw out the outline based on a sample and then paint on it afterwards.. was much more difficult than it looked man.. we asked them how long itd take and they said should take abt 1-1.5 hours.. but i ended up sitting there for 3 ! haha. My right hand was almost cramping up afterwards from holding the doll still in one position the whole time...... but it was great fun! :) really enjoyed myself there..

Didnt really do much today.. just went to the dog cafe with Mrs T and Julia then went for a short swim again.. heh. Real nice diving into a warm pull when the weather outside is chilly.. Its been exceptionally cold these 2 days.. the mountain areas were snowing and there were blizzards in hokkaido.. temperatures like 1 degree in the mornings and at night.. plus the wind is extremely cold from the snow.. so when it blows.. brrrr........... the other night when i came back i was in such a hurry to change into the room slippers cos it was so cold that i put on Mr. T's ones instead.. haha. he ended up chasing after me in pink furry slippers (which theyd gotten for me) and konked me on the head laughing.. haha. :P

Anyways, dinner tonight was great! (As with almost every night.. hehe) .. We had corrokke.. the friend potato pancake thingy.. hee. And chicken stew!!

went to this little restaurant (an hours drive away) yest for this hamburger steak in tomato soup/sauce. It was oh so delicious.. meat was tender with melted mozarella on top and served with toasted bread which was so soft on the inside... when dipped into the tomato soup ... simply heavenly ........

hard at work at the doll factory.. this was the position i stayed in for 3 hours!

almost done!!

voila!! the finished product.. hehe. didnt get to lacquer it and stuff.. so it still looks pretty raw.. but still.. yay!!!

dinner tonight... - corrokke with chicken stew, cucumber and tomato salad and rice.. :)

Days 12-14

2007-03-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

Days 12-14: Matsumoto, Wasabi, Dengaku ...Sukiyaki. :)

hey peeps!
Uploading photos is tiring! heh. takes a lot of effort man.. haha.
Well its been 2 weeks already here in Japan, 5 more days and i'll be leaving Takasaki and heading back to Tokyo to catch a domestic flight to Osaka. Im gonna miss it here.. kinda like a home away from home.. theyve been really like family to me..
oh ive finally managed to connect my laptop to the cable! so dont have to take time translating the jap settings on the com first.. haha..

i miss home!!

yest i got a lil bit of a scare.. cos my face started itching like crazy.. thought my whole face would end up in spots or sth.. but thankfully its better now.. think it was some kind of allergy to the cold.. plus its extremely dry over here.. 40/50% humidity only.. much less compared to singapore.. so maybe my face couldnt take it.. so .. yeah... just hope it doesnt come back.. otherwise i'll have to pull stockings over my head already.. haha..slabbing on moisturizer is also one thing i have to get use to doing over here.. heh.

was looking at juns pics of europe.. really beautiful.. would really hope to travel there someday.. maybe try backpacking.. heh. somehow i'd like to give backpacking a shot.. sometime in my life:)

hm back to my past few days.. we drove up to this other city called Matsumoto which is famous for their art, large proportion of scholars and musical talents.. it was a nice quiet town (though they had quite a vibrant youth scene) and it also houses one of the remaining castles in japan..
The view there was spectacular.. snow mountains lined the sides of the town.. got chilly though.. temperature hovered ard 1-5 i think..

anyways, check the pics out!

our first stop when we arrived in matsumoto: chestnut restaurant -they served chestnuts ( gao lak) in the rice.. and salted fish..miso soup..mixed veges.. healthy but delicious ;) the rice was a little sticky .. as little like what we find in bak chang.. heh

next stop: wasabi farm! behind me are the wasabi plants.. apparently they can only grow in extremely clean water.. the water flow from the mountains in this case. .

the place was huge! did you know that most wasabi we see isnt the real thing? mostly made up of powder.. the real thing is pretty costly and youd have to grate it off the plant..

matsumoto castle! it was gorgeous..the mountains behind actually had snow caps..

another view of the castle...

Dinner! : Dengaku.. Tofu satay with miso sauce.. :) delicious! had yakitori too.. the shop we went too is pretty famous.. one of those traditionally ran kinds.. theyve been in business for like 80 yrs already!!

The morning view of Matsumoto: Can you see the mountains behind? It was fantastic! The sky was a clear blue and we had full sight of the entire mountain range..

Had breakfast in this little bakery which was first established in Seattle by some Japanese.. they then brought it back here .. allow me to repeat the splendities of japanese bread. heh

Last stop before heading back: Karuizawa

A little street with shops by the sides.. kinda seems a little like holland v.. but more slow paced..

Day 14:

Homemade okonomiyaki! Pancake with noodles.. egg.. bacon... mayo.. jap sause.....One thing i'm definitely gonna miss is the food...........

Before dinner today: From Left= Mr. T. , Julia, me, Mihoko Sensei ( the teacher teaching me jap now :) she can drink A LOT. Finished 3/4 a bottle of wine by herself! and she was completely sober!! heh. i had some sake and im half struggling to keep my eyes open now... haha)

Sukiyaki: The whole works. mmmmm.. think theyre trying to let me try as many types of jap food as possible before i leave.. from what i hear.. theres hamburger steak.. some sort of a bento awaiting me still . hee............

Sizzling beef!!! Nice tender beef..............

Mr. and Mrs T getting eth ready :)

Thats all i guess! Was walking ard the house for like an hour after dinner cos i was so full. haha. They were pretty amused at this.. even more so when i told them we all did that at home.. =)

Alrights.. night for now!! Oyasumi!

Day 9-11

2007-03-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

day 9, 10 &11:

hey everyone! i wonder how everythings back home.. though i know that things are prob not much different from when i left.. but i miss it. miss being at home.. going to school, dance, coming home to dinner.. even quarelling with my lil sis. heh. ( lin, you better take care of yourself ah.. dont make me nag at you k..)

Mum, pa, kor, js and zq, hope everythings ok too.. I miss you all.

zq, im so happy that you got that interview! gambatte ku dasai!

Im starting to lose track of the dates recently.. everyday seems like a sunday now.. (cept for the fact that i actually am trying to get some japanese studying done ..heh)

It struck me that this is only ten days or so.. gonna have to get used to the fact that i wont see everyone whom i care for for a long, long time..

Msn and skype have truly been a lifesaver for me.. haha. But its never the same i guess..

Alls good over here.. still eating delicious meals and having broken jap/english conversations with Mr and Mrs T. They really have been so sweet to me.. even gave me a handphone strap with a picture of Julia( the dog, and they have the same strap.. heh..theyre really cute la.. ) suddenly feel a lil sad that im gonna be leaving them in another 8 days only.. off to another stage of my journey here..

Have been studying jap with this really nice lady for quite a few days now.. really enjoy it.. but its tough man! She usually ends up teaching me some slang which i then com back to say it to Mr and Mrs T and get them laughing. haha.

Anyways, got some pics up from the past 3 days.. went up to the mountain area and had the most delicious udon :) and the view was breathtaking (but awfully cold!)

Also went to the city area today.. did a lil window shopping in this department store populated by the youngsters.. kinda hard to buy stuff though.. eth was too expensive! so i ended u with just socks and muji stuff.. heh ..

Gonna go to Matsumoto tmr for a one night trip.. its supposed to be this really beautiful place with an old castle (small one) i think... bed times coming so before i start sprouting nonsense.. shall end off here then! ( yes kun and j, its eleven here. :) )

at a temple near Haruna san, the mountain are which we visited

i like this picture :)

'mizusawa udon' absolutely delicious.. they were made with the fresh spring water.. and you just dip it into this soup before eating.. mmmm.. the mushrooms were fantastic too! theyre called dancing mushrooms in jap :)

well.. actually putting on the kimono proved to be too much of a challenge..... settled for this first. heh.

amazing view from the mountains.. could see the snow capped ones as well..

the lake on the right was formed from the volcanic eruptions from way back.. think one of the volcanic mountains is still alive till now..

another pic of the view.. we were freezing after taking this shot! ran back to the car .. haha

a typical bus stop in takasaki.. had a lil bus ticket as well when you entered ( from the back door).. you only paid when you got off...

pic on the right is that of the shopping centre that we visited..

we had a hard time looking for food.. then we finally found this old style restaurant! oyako don on the right.. hee. they served udon, soba, curry etc.. yummy...... :)

Day 7 and 8

2007-03-05T05:57:00.000-08:00

day 7,8

hey everyone!

its been exactly a week now.. feels much longer though.. getting used to living with Mr and Mrs T... haha im the official dishwasher in the house now! So no worries about dong my own dishes when i get to the university.. even learnt to do my laundry! heh.

Gonna learn to make jam, garlic butter, katsu don etc. from Mrs T before i leave Takasaki :)

Hopefully i can get it done half as well!

Have i mentioned that the bread (pan) here is simply amazing? Its super soft and after toasting with butter.. mmmmmmmm.. crisp on the outside , nice and soft on the inside. hee. this is becoming a food blog. ahahha .

Oh yesterday i had my first encounter with the youngsters here.. Visited the polytechnic where Mr T teaches architecture .. There was an exhibition of the students' works.. so i went to have a look as well.. There actually have this special architecture course which spans 4 yrs whereby they actually build an actual house at the end of it! They should have such things in Singapore too! I think its fabulous.. like actual hands on .. from drawing to finding the contractor to supervising the building process... damn interesting.. too bad i forgot to take some pictures of it..

Well back to my encounter, haha. We met some of Mr. T's ex students and had lunch together. They couldnt speak english (other than hello, thank you etc.) and my japanese is still limited. heh. you can prob imagine the conversations we had.. But still i had a great time! They were all so warm and friendly and spoke REALLY slowly for my benefit. heh.

They were like 26 or so but all looked pretty young.. realise that japanese tend to gesture a lot when they speak.. and a lot of funny outbursts and sound imitations.. haha. They were also really cute.. trying to speak english and chinese even! 'Sneeze' was immediately related to 'Snickers' for their memory. heh.

jap poses! (cept me) heh. In person the guy on the extreme right looks like this hk actor. haha ok nvm. you prob cant tell from here as well.. it was a great lunch anyways!

Went for a chinese dinner last night too.. think Mr and Mrs T thought i might be missing chinese food.. which was real sweet of them.. but home food is still the best. Porridge with salted egg, bah hu, steamed eggs....

Had my first jap lesson today with Mihoko sensei! She's friend of theirs whos actually a tutor of sorts... works in this after school centre.. went there today for an hour or so.. will be learning more jap from her! Cycling there everyday from tmr i think :)

Alrighty, that sort of sums up my last 2 days.. think this has been a pretty long post.. but i guess typing eth i experience down serves as an excellent memory for me to look back upon as well =)

Minasan, Jya mata ne!

Days 5 & 6

2007-03-03T06:41:00.000-08:00

Day 5 : Ichigo Farm. Buta. Dog Cafe

the whole area was filled with strawberry farms! at least 20 or so.. had to drive for abt 45 mins to get there . But it was oh so worth it :)

We could pick as many stawberries as we could eat.. had a condense milk dip to go along with it too! Yilin, you'll love this place!

Buta Farm = Pig Farm

We bought some fresh pork for Katsu don (japanese home cooked food is absolutely delicious)! Didnt get to see the pigs though..

not allowed to cos we'd frighten them..

and guess what i found! heh.

Almost everyday, the couple would take their dog, Julia, to this dog cafe..

theres a membership of 1500 dogs!

Julia has got to be the most well behaved dog ive seen..Havent even heard her bark once and shes amazingly smart.. :)

Day 6: Swimming and Hina doll festival

went swimming at a fitness club today.. indoor pool.. they had nice warm water and jacuzzi facilities too! finally got some exercise for the ramen, karaage and katsu dons! heh.

Japan has a tremendous number of festivals.. Today being the Hina Dolls festival which is in fact a day for all unmarried girls.. We had the special chirashi sushi for dinner comprising of sushi rice.. wintermelon, mushrooms, egg, prawns, crabmeat, ginger, seaweed etc..

Which explains my earlier claim on japanese food :)

Day 2-4..

2007-03-03T06:05:00.000-08:00

Day 2: Edo Tokyo Museum

the shogun was transported in this sedan in the edo period! with me is the wife of the couple im staying with.. i call her Aunty Okaasan (Mummy) :) shes got more energy than me!

behind us is a set up of the kabukiza (theatre)
wanted to catch a live show or even sumo wrestling! but its their resting period now..

senso ji (in asakusa).. it's one of the most famous temples in tokyo..

p.s. my first attempt at the kawaii pose.not perfected yet.

light but satisfying meal at asakusa: rice cake (like mochi) with red bean and glass noodles ..

Day 3 & 4: Takasaki

my room! small but adequate. computer, bed, cupboards.

minus tatami though!

Couple whom im staying with now.. tremendously hospitable!

that night of day 4 we had vege udon and karaage! fried chicken which was crispy and juicy!! so much better than the ones we eat in singapore..

Day 5: Flower arrangement and Glass blowing

my first try at flower arrangement!

the little one on the right was done by me (with help of course :) )

glass blowing was an enjoyable experience! much more difficult than i thought.. get to keep the cup i made too!

this shop is famous for its silk dolls and decor..amazing stuff inside..

2007-03-03T05:33:00.000-08:00

Day 1 : Narita Airport

Temperature was 1 degree when i landed! long queue at the customs as well.. customs officers began speaking to me in jap when they saw my student visa..i just smiled and went 'hai, hai'

Day 2 : Ginza, Roppongi Hills, Harajuku, Shibuya

had ramen in a little shop near roppongi hills.. spicy black sesame..
its nothing like we have in singapore! was slurping away!

famous taiyaki (red bean pancake) shop in roppongi: Papa i went there too! :)

takeshita dori in harajuku (minus the harajuku girls..heh)

harajuku still. eating a strawberry, strawberry icecream and fresh cream cream. sinful! crepes stalls seemed to be very pop. so i had to immerse myself in the whole experience. heh

shibuya 109- harajuku girls here aplenty! abt 9 floors of shops similar to far east.. nicer but more expensive! bought the army cap though=)

first week in nihon :)

2007-03-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

hi everyone!!

finally managed to set up a blog.. heh.. pardon my short posts and inadequate descriptions ya? Blog virgin!

This is my second time travelling alone.. (the first being to bangkok for like 3 days so its doesnt really count i guess.. heh) So i left with mixed feelings.. excited but a little scared too.. was worried id miss home .. or have trouble cooking.. washing.. communicating.. plus my super klutzy and forgetful ways.. haha.

but i guess this experience will truly be one that i'll learn so much from.. and i got to take things as they come.. Can't wait to see what lies ahead for me! :)

Nihon no Ryotei (Japan journey)

25th Feb - 27th Feb : Toyko

28th Feb - 16th Mar: Takasaki

16th Mar - 29th Mar: Osaka, Kyoto, Toba

29th Mar onwards: Beppu, Oita (Near Fukuoka)..

Mid Aug : Back in Singapore!

Have been in Japan for about 6 days now..staying with this great couple in Takasaki (abt 1/2 hours from Tokyo)

Pa, Mummy, Kor and lin.. hope everyone is doing fine :) Say hi to Rach, Jo and Qi for me also k?

Lin, the box was a lovely gift.. made me cry on the plane la .. slowly savouring the nuts and the chocolates you got for me =)

Thanks for coming to the airport sherm, youjin & saz (via long distance from turkey. heh) .. really meant the world to me..

Kun, justin and weida for the wonderful surprise :) Great seein you guys before i left..

Its been great so far! But i miss my family already.. and zq.. saz, youjin and sherm, jun, kun, justin, sue, celine, vida...and emix of course..the dancers and the dancing too! :)

The host couple has been nothing short of wonderful to me the past week.. bringing me around and cooking all sorts of delicious food for me.. oooooooooooishiiiii ne! Will be posting some pictures up too!

Feels as if ive been here for more than a week now considering the things that ive done and places ive vistited.. heh. Almost 6 more months!!

Heh now im wondering if this entry is too long? Argh. heck it. heh. Just wanna use this to show you guys what im experiencing over here.. and hope that all of you will get to share it with me :)

Here goes!