miscellenous pics :)

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 :)

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..

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!

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!)

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 ;)