10.31.2004

My Blog is Up again

My blog is finally up and running again. Thanks to Steph for her help!! It finally has a new skin that allows others to see pictures clearly... Yet I think cannot leave comments at the side due to the space. I will see what I can do though. But continue to come in and read my latest happenings. But I better go and make more friends... I think I will really get bored very fast when my number one entertainer Shaggy goes home. And yes, of course I got some really funny pictures of him again.

Please kindly ignore the third finger. I am so sorry to post this here but then, just for the funny effect.




The story goes like this. Shaggy came to my room one fine afternoon asking for help with his makeup cus he is going for this party with Owen ( the other funny guy). I was like what? What can I do to help? He want to dress up as a punk. I told him I don't know what I can do but he is to come and let me take a look at him before he goes off. He comes back an hour later with his hair failing to stand up. And I am like, "please you just look yourself..." Disappointed, Shaggy comes into my room and we started surfing the net for more ideas. And then the disaster took place. Haa... I tie up his hair like a TV antena and also some of the eye shadow. I was like laughing like mad all the way. He is also a very good sport. Just let me have my way. So a disaster or successful punk? You decide...




Mini Revamp

My room went thru a min revamp over the weekend. Now I have new sheets, new cushions, a mini table to eat and also a curtain to separate my kitchen from the main room! Yeah spent a small sum of money on it. But then I figured I will be here for the next 1 year or so… and also, treat myself for my birthday from home this year! I am pretty please with the changes so… am still working towards a cosy little nest.Probably might buy more cushions or some little toys here and there.
My new pink bedsheets and Hello Kitty Cushion!

I bot a new bag too. Err… a violet Nike bag. It is big enough for me to bring to school and also waterproof! Especially in this land of rising sun with consistent falling rain.



The Conversation Test that went Bonkers

Our class was supposed to have test for all the 4 periods. It consists of listening, writing and finally conversation. As for the conversation part, it was pretty easy to handle. We had to first do a small excercise to introduce our own country and then finally put it into proper sentences and of course memorise it. Since there were 2 characters in the conversation(one to introduce the country, the other to listen and ask questions), all of us had to go into the test room twice, each time playing a differentcharacter with a different partner. Well... of course, somehow, the teachers chose to put us with our usual partners and needless to say my partners are Owen and Shaggy. Initially I was pretty worried actually cus Shaggy didn’t come to school the day before and yeah, we din have much opportunities to practice together. And he kept giving funny answers. I was warning him again and again that he is NOT supposed to say anything funny to make me laugh. Ok the real thing. The segment with Owen was great! It was so smooth and with so much expression that the teacher stood up and shouted “Great job!” in Japanese. I could feel it was good cus Owen is a really good conversationalist. He led the way through the whole test. Now with Shaggy… It probably ain’t a surprise but yes, I actually burst out laffing at him upon saying the first sentence. And really, believe me, I tried so hard to bear with him but when I saw his face, I couldn’t help it. In my heart I was silently shouting "stop it! It's a test!" And cus the whole test is recorded, the teacher had to stop the tape and wait for me to finish laughing before we got started again. The teacher just stared blankly at both of us trying to stifle our laughter. It is not so good but nevertheless it was great fun and experience!

May I know your Blood Group pls?

I watched a super hilarious Japanese show on TV last week. It features on how people from different blood groups will react when put into the same situations. Well, to a certain extent, I thought this was pretty useless cus besides the blood groups, we have to take a lot of other factors into account, like age, gender etc... But well... it was very entertaining. I happened to be watching it with Steph and 3 other girls, and I think we could have jolly laugh the whole building down with our volume. Fortunately, the girl's (whose room we went to) neighbour wasn't in and the other had her stereo on.
Ok I didn't catch the first segment. But the second was like this. A group of kids were divided into classes of their blood groups. So there were about 10 plus children in each class all about 5-6 years old?! A teacher will walk into class with a tray of cakes which after a while, she suddenly had to go and attend to an urgent matter. Before she goes off, she tells them that the cakes will be shared in class later on; no one is supposed to eat it until she is back. However, just as she goes out, another male teacher comes in and he grabs one cake and pop it straight into his mouth. He realises that he was not supposed to eat it and he promises to buy one to replace it. So this is how the kids reacted! How about u??
AB group: They agreed to keep it a secret. And one kid even shouted 1,2,3 and together, they shouted " We are not going to say anything!" in unison. It was so funny cus nobody prompted them to say that. However, when the first teacher came back, one kid stood up immediately to tell the teacher who ate it.

O group: The most righteous group apparently as the show says. (hee I am a O!) They refuse to comply with the 2nd teacher and they told the teacher immediately that the male teacher took the cake.
B group: The noisest and most violent group! Haaa most of the children. Except 1 or 2 rushed up to the teacher and attempted to stop him by beating him and ranting at him. Of course, it was not serious fighting cus the children were screaming and laughing at the same time. I guess they meant to protect it but ended up laughing and playing more.

A Group: This is the best of all. The also agreed to keep it a secret. So when the teacher came in, they all started shouting “We don't know! We don't know!" Then one kid even told the teacher that he saw the cake walking out of the room by itself which other kids jumped in immediately to agree with him. The teacher played on with them and she was like,"The cake grew legs and walked out on its own?" And the kids all were like "yah! Yah! Yah!"... wah.. I tell you, we were really defeated. By then the few of us watching were already rolling on the floor with tears streaming in our eyes from laughing too hard

Ok there were other tests can't really remember it now but O people apparently can mix with people with the best and have the best visual memory. B people are best in maths.

The last segment was about how soundly each group can sleep. It features 12 men, 3 in each blood group. They have a sensor attached to them which tells if they are asleep or not. So the B group wins hands down with all 3 of them falling asleep in 12+ mins. The O group next by about 39 mins followed by the AB group and lastly the A group which took 2 hours.
Then, was to test how soundly they can sleep. It was done by creating noises of different decibel. The first level being chopping something. A A-group guy woke up. The next was party, sounds of cheering, singing and popping party poppers. A few others woke up too, incl some O people. The funniest part is the B group people are really heavy sleepers! They did not wake up to most of the noises, even drilling of cement floors! The whole group finally woke up to the sound of tractors (those used in construction sites) and really by then, everyone was already up long ago. So if you know someone from blood group B, you will know why they need 10 alarm clocks in the morning

It was really interesting, at least something we don't get to see in Singapore. That's really what most Japanese shows are about, very dumb and silly but then with high entertainment value.


10.20.2004

Typhoon 23

Typhoon 23 is definitely more serious than typhoon 22. I was walking to school in the heavy rain this morning and got stopped by one of the staff from school. We got a holiday because of the predicted heavy rainfall and strong winds. oh well.. i was juz thinking they should have already informed us at the student hostels cus i was super wet can??!!

Ok... so I walked home. And pass by Shaggy's room. Yes, i can't help but got to mention him. He actually burst out laughing at me! How unsympathetic can he get. He was like,"what? u went to school? haahhaaaa"... and I stood there like an idiot for a good 15 seconds before regaining my senses to tell him off.. Of course he din stop laughing.

I put down my bag and went to Shaggy's room with another classmate, Jan (pronounced as Yan cus it is a French name). We just wanted to disturb him actually but in the end we just stood there and talked for about 2 hours. Was contemplating going KTV... haaa but in the end we decided to have dinner together instead. Which I did the honour of cooking Singaporean style curry.

The wind is like really strong. All the bikes parked outside the rooms fell and the trees were like really swaying from side to side. For a suaku Singaporean, this is the first time i ever experienced typhoon. So of cus... I went out to take some pictures hee.. But can't really see the full effect.

Anyway, dinner was great, we had a good time chatting and just crapping around. Shaggy brought some sake over but I din like the taste so I din drink much. Thanks to Jan for doing up the dishes! And well... Shaggy. He cleared the trash. So cheers to more dinners ahead!

That's outside my room. See the fallen bikes on the left?



Shaggy the bakka



Shag N Jan in my room



10.18.2004

Karaoke Queen still reigns!

For those who are "concerned" over if I can practise Karaoke here, let me tell you now I can and I did!!! Hey I found a KTV opp Seiyu which is like only 5 mins' ride from my house! My... I was super excited can! I think Steph can attest to that she had never seen me cycle so fast before this to rush to the KTV.

Well... the MTVs are a little off cus they are not the authentic ones. Imitation. With the same old few people running about the same old places. But well well it's fine when you have a KTV addiction to satisfy. It was a great time singing! Steph and I sang for about 3.5 hours. And it was only because it was getting late and we had school the next day. It is not too expensive though. On weekdays, you can sing unlimited hours for about $12 Sing dollars? Drinks are unlimited. Just get yourself from the counter. And they use wireless mike! The sound is much better (less interference) and also it is also easier to choose songs.. etc..

Wah.. this is like the big discovery of the week and immediately the next day, we went to tell our KTV comrades. And we are going again this friday! Yippee!!

ANd i got my handphone! finally!! I can be contacted now... I just hope I dun get those hentai (i.e perverted or bian tai) emails at all. I have to pay leh.. irritating. In-coming is free though. YAY!

10.17.2004

ICC activated...

My ICC is finally activated after so long... I can now finally use the phone just outside my room to call home. Which I did and spoke to my mum quite a long while on the phone. She is so funny, maybe cus we haven't spoken for weeks, she kept going on and on abt how to cook this and that. Think she is afraid I don't have enough to eat. but.... please lor!! Possible meh? Since when have I let myself gone hungry... if i had then I dun have to cycle so hard now... ahhh...

but anyway she taught me some really easy and good to eat things.. Steph is in luck! haa. and it really dawned me how the phrase "xiang jian hao tong zhu nan" (literally: easy to meet, hard to stay together) We would have conflicts here and there and cus she works long hours, we also hardly chat. But then when I called home, I really didn't want to put down the phone and talk longer. My mum was also more crappy than usual, cracking jokes here and there. Haizz...

ok... I woke up early to study anyway. till now haven't start yet. better get cracking....

p/s: I bumped into Shaggy at the vending machine when I was calling. So qiao... he wake up so early too? and He gave me yet another evil smile....


10.12.2004

The happening weekend...

Well... sorry not exactly very happening.. but well went Nagoya city for the first time! It's really different from Okazaki. High rise buildings, departmental stores... Okazaki is far more modest. Small little low shops.. But well, it was great to be in Nagoya cus the weather was good after the Typhoon. Yes... there was Typhoon 22 on saturday and sunday which was why Steph and I had to shelf our plans to Monday instead.

We shopped around Tokyu hands for quite a while cus there are so many storeys! 6 altogther and each selling different kinds of things. Eg, stationery was at a storey and kitchen tools another. It is a kind of store that sells all kinds of thing, DIY stuff, even certain massage tools. It got us quite excited especially with all the cute diaries that is for sale for the year 2005. Will definitely go back there quite soon.

Ok dinner was at steph's house again and I ate BAKKWA! Heard that! Yes! Flown in from Singapore by Steph's family! She was happy to see the 23kg of food and clothes here finally! It contained things like Ya Kun's Kaya! (oh... I miss that too), Floss ( Fish and Pork?), even oyster sauce. Envy.. envy.. but of cus, Steph being the angelic her as always offered me a big slice of bakkwa. Shiawase! (i.e very fortunate). Yumz.. ahh anyone reading this can send me some Singapore delicacies too?? *drools*

Ah... that's about all for the day. I finally got a table to put my toaster. Btw, can also email me or leave me a msg on the blog if ya wanna see my room's pictures. I dun wanna publicise it here tho =)


10.08.2004

The Eve of the Typhoon

yeah... we are all stuck at home now because the typhoon is coming and it has been raining cats and dogs the whole day. It is good in a way because finally I have the time to do some cleaning in the house... which happens to be my interest. haa.. ok so prior to this, I have cleaned the kitchen, floors, tables and the dishes...

Class is getting more and more fun day by day and Steph definitely agrees with me! We have a really interesting class with very lively and crappy people. As we progress into the 3rd day of class, I am surprised how each of us have already kinda spoken and open up to each other. Could be because of the many interactive games we have played. And I am really enjoying class!

Well well... today the guy sitting beside me was absent.. wonder what happened to him. But then because of that I had to partner Owen in class for the various activities. It's fine cus he was crappy enough and he entertained me throughly thru the day. Of cus, I didn't let him have his way, I crapped my way through as well.. Haa... It's hard to describe exactly what happened in class but Steph will know how many times I raised my eyebrows or rolled my eyes at him.

Anyway... there is a holiday on Monday! Yeah! cus it supposed to be National Sport's Day. Of cus we are not in the public schools so we get to slack instead on Mon. The weather broadcasts that Monday is sunny so looking forward to more fun! perhaps going down to Nagoya!

p/s: Thanks for the ones who emailed me! I'll try to reply to your mails asap!

10.07.2004

Board Game!

Today's last lesson was pretty fun! We had a sort of board game where each square was some Japanese questions we had to answer or if it is a blank square, we can have the liberty to ask someone else a question. Well well... I was put in the same group as the US guy Owen and Icelander, Theodor cus we were sitting next to each other.

At first I was a little apprehensive as I have never spoken to either guys before esp, the Icelander who would always dash out of the room for a smoke during every break. It didn't help when he appeared so aloof in class. Always so laid back etc... Well, that aside, the activity had to go on right?

But I was proved wrong! Both guys were actually pretty friendly. Perhaps it is just that we hardly speak to each other. But they got all excited about the game as well and we started to crap while answering questions. It was pretty funny to a point where everyone was waiting to enter a blank square so as to have the chance to ask someone else a question. And of course it wasn't any normal questions. We were all thinking about the weirdest questions ans also trying to pry into each other's privacy . haaa.. but of cus through it we found out more about each other and also got to know more about each other's history in learning Japanese.

That was really an enjoyable time at the end of the day especially when it was the last lesson after lunch time. By then, everyone is also pretty groggy and sleepy.

Ahh... the weather is turning colder day by then.. tom's temp will be 17- 22 deg. better start bringing a sweater around... It's quite funny how most of us are still in shorts, slippers or sleeveless.

10.06.2004

The Few First(s)...

I had my first proper lesson in Japan today. Firstly, let me tok a little about my special class of 11. It's really a myriad of international students. We have 4 Japanese teachers. The class consists of a french guy, (who stays in my block!) 3 Taiwanese ladies, a guy from Iceland, a guy from US, another 3 ladies each from Hungary, Spain and Switzerland. And of cus, not forgetting my dear Singaporean comrade Steph who is also in my class. It is really very different here as compared to Singapore cus you experienced different cultures right in the class itself. For example, the US guy was so casual in his speech. He actually addressed the teacher directly by her name! Her name is Miki and he called her "Mi-chan" (an affectionate term to address girls or ladies) The teacher got a shock at first and of cus we all got a shock cus we would never call our teachers that. It is always the family name followed by Sensei (i.e teacher). But the shock never ended, the Icelander was the next to call the teacher by her name too. haa... many funny things happened in class. We all had a round of introduction and of course proper lessons after that. It wasn't too hard for Steph and myself cus it was all taught before. Take it as a form of revision.

No. 2nd first. I cooked! A proper meal!! I cooked curry first time in my life. And it wasn't the instant curry paste. It was the paste I imported from Singapore, my own home's kitchen. And it tastes great! Heh.. not that I wanna boast but Steph agrees so. Right? Ok lah.. can be improved. More gravy the next time round. But It was great to have some home cook food and also satisfying meal you done up yourself. And of course it includes Steph's special concoction porriage of eggs and salt. It was so soft and smooth! eh.. Supposed to be rice but we din know how to use the rice cooker! Till our Japanese gets better... But of course, no pain no gain. I cut my finger while removing the potato skin. Quite a deep cut and it was bleeding non stop. Ok now... the funny thing is Steph was limping when she arrived at my house. She hurt her toe while cycling here. Accident prone Singaporeans.

Ok.. till then.. and I really can't wait to call home to tell my mum I succeeded in cooking curry!
And yes! The sun was out today! No rain at all. And there was the cue man, everyone came outdoors and for once I could feel the human presence in my block. Some were airing their blankets, some clothes and others just simply allowing the cool breeze to enter. I hope more sunny days will come
!


My proud production!




Our sumptous meal =)



We Finished everything!




oh.... my bruise. Not exaggerating right..

10.05.2004

Updates from these few days

These few days have been pretty packed for me. Besides riding my bike up and down town to get the necessities, I was also busy with rubbing my bruises! Yes up to date, I have 6 patches of bruises sustained from riding my bike. Either I bumped against the pedals, the sides of my bike or somehow I jumped off the bike at the wrong time. And my my... I got a shock when I was in shorts attempting to clean the toilet and floor last night. 2 big dark purplish spots on my left thigh! It is an horrifying sight. I can't believe how klutzy I can be... sighzz

Anyway, school started yesterday with placement test and opening ceremony. We were all asked to stand up one by one after being called. A tad scary. But I made 3 new friends out of the event. The Taiwanese lady who knocked on my door that night introduced 2 other girls from Taiwan and America. They happen to stay in Res U! Steph's block. What a coincidence =) We all got along pretty well especially after the Taiwanese girls found out we could speak Mandarin. Thrilled at the idea of discussing KTV and Jay Chou, we all went for dinner together at a sushi oulet. Enjoyable time eating and chatting in English, Mandarin and well of course Japanese =) It was quite interesting at one point when Steph and I were talking among ourselves. And you got it, in our usual Singlish. Mixing all the different languages. Then the Taiwanese girls were so amazed and they asked if we were speaking in Singaporean language. So we got to explain to them what happened and the rest is history...

But well today's a little off. Firstly I dragged myself out of bed cus I ended up sleeping too late the previous night to iron my laundry. It's been raining everyday in Okazaki and till now I have been drenched every single day. Yes.. that's becus I haven't mastered the skill of cycling with one hand on the handle and the other holding the umbrella. (My parents will probably scream if they knew this) But so far, God have been sustaining me. I am not down with flu or anything. But of cus won't take this for granted. I bought a tranparent umbrella in the 100 yen shop! The most commonly seen in Japan.

Well orientation was more of less about the school's stuff and survival in Japan. Everything is ok except the recycling system! You guys in Singapore better be thankful. In Japan, everything has to be sorted out before throwing it away. Eg, plastics in a bag, paper in another. There's not all! The caps and labels of the bottles are yet in another bag. Leftovers are not supposed to be left in their containers. It must be cleared then throw separately. I am still pretty fortunate. I just have to separate into burnable or burnables. Poor Steph have to separate into 5 or 6 catergories then take it to the recycling centres with designated bags she gotta buy. Then if the people at the collection centre are not satisfied, you have to take back, re do it again. The thing is, there are specific days for different kinds of trash. If you fail to meet the expectation, you have to bring the trash back and wait till the next collection day which could be next week. Chim right?

Now I am back in my comfy little abode. Classes officially commences tomorrow. A little nervous cus I am not as out-spoken as my "Ang Moh" counterparts but ok lah... take one step at a time.


10.02.2004

Autumn is here...

Hello, welcome to my humble blog again. Today marks the 2nd day I've arrive in Japan as well as my first post here.

So far so good! Thanks for the people who came to see me off. So sorry I got to rush in so fast.

Ok what have I done so far? I got a bike le! A cool metalic brand new bike. So I was riding up and down the town in my bike yesterday with steph to get the things. Bot quite a bit of ncecessities. Didn't manage to talk to anyone so far except the American guy outside steph's room who was pretty friendly, took us to the school. He was talking to us non-stop in English tho. Hey ain't we suppose to practise Japanese together?

The room. Quite spacious. Got 2 beds though! Suppose to be double room I guess. But too bad no mattress. But can be some kind of sofa... Got a huge fridge! At least bigger than expectation. A gas stove.... big sink and a small bathroom/toilet. I haven't got anything to decorate my room with which I feel quite sad about. For those who ever been to my room at home or pgp know tt I like to paste pictures and meaning things on the walls... see when got time will get some.

Anyway I stay on the first floor so not so safe to open the windows wide.. or at least I thought so. But there are pretty sunflowers outside! A whole row of them! so pretty. cheers me up a lot!

I haven't seen any of my neighbours yet. Except for this Taiwanese lady who knocked on my door last night cus she had some problems calling. Oh and my next door neighbour who was playing darts. So noisy can cus kept throwing at the wall... grrrr....

Ok peace peace.. I am now waiting for my supposedly breakfast from steph. Become lunch le cus wake up too late....