The last journey

Was watching the annual 24 hours event hosted by Nippon Televison. The theme this year is "人生が変わった瞬間”or in English, " The moment my life was transformed" and a story of a lady was shared.

This lady was just like anyone of us living day by day doing the most normal things until one day, she discovered she contracted stomach cancer. To make things worse, the doctor also announced to her that she had only 6 months left. As she was working in Australia then, she decided to go back to Japan for the last 6 months of her life.

What would be your reaction if you were told one day that you only had 6 months left? The possible 60 years of life ahead had all of a sudden shrunk to 1/120 portion. In mathematical terms, every one day has now become merely 12 minutes. I would be in a daze for sure.

This lady however took the unimaginable step. She made the decision.
The decision to embark on a final journey to visit the friends she had made all over Japan. Despite the initial firm objections, her family gave in to her last wish eventually.

She visited the friends she made in school, went on hot spring trips with them.. And when it is time to bid farewell everytime, she did not say good-bye. She told them, " See you again soon."
When she did not manage to see the cherry blossoms bloom that day, she told her friend "Let's come back again next year..."

She went on to live for 8 months despite the inital prediction of just 6 months. In that 8 months, the ailing her went on to visit friends from 30 places all over Japan. Today, her friends still talk of her as if she had just visited them... Her friends do not just remember her for who she is. They carry with them the passion she had for them, an action I am sure had changed their lives.

I was truly amazed not just by her courage but the love she had for her friends. That with that very little time left, she did not choose to stop to just waste time being depressed. She had every right too.
But she wanted to see each and everyone of them again.

It just dawned on me how we just take our friends for granted at times. I am definitely guilty of that... Cancelling appointments just because I want to catch up on some sleep, putting Tv programs before meeting friends etc...

I am definitely humbled by her deed.

今日のテンション報告♪♪

爆睡！→テンション↑★

24時間のチケット取れなかった→テンション↓（ToT)
掃除→微妙　ややアップかな
料理→ややや。。。。やるかな

dvd→見る見る！★☆

週末短い→テンションめっちゃさがった↓↓

ニノの熱愛のうわさの発見

１週間後の感想～～

正直にびっくりた。（＞＜）
あまりの驚さで、仕事集中できなかった。（ToT)
何でかな。。別にニノのこと一番好きというわけでもないし。
別にほかの女性と付き合っても私と関係ないし。。。
だたら、あの嫌な予感はなんだろう。
まるで自分の彼氏が奪われたみたい。
怖い！！！
絶対嫌だもん。

福岡のコンで、ニノ自分の口で否定したそうです。
男らしくファンに誤ったらしい。。。
ほっとしたけど♪♪

でも、よく考えたら、何であやまくちゃいけないの。
アイドルといっても、自分のプライベトのこともファンに報告しなきゃいけないわけ？？！！
おかしいだろう！
っていうかかわいそう！
ある日はいずれくると思うよ。
いつか、自分が好きの人に出会って、結婚するかも
（っていうか、もう既にいるかも）

だから、私を含めて、
アイドルと自分の線をはっきり引いたほうが
自分にとっていいことじゃない？
あまり夢中にならないように。
自分のことをもっと守らなくX

でも、やっぱりちょっと安心した。
今、まだほかの人にニノ渡したくないな！
しかも、うわさが本当だったら、ニノ引越しするよ！
もう近所に会えないっていうこと？
しばらく、会えるかも☆★

ちなみに、最近の翼カッコいい！新発見　*ドキドキ*

Summer in Disney!

Last week saw the arrival of my cousin Yong xiang, let's call him Xiang-ge and his wife Areena who is of cus Xiang sao. And 2 other friends from church, Choon Chee and Sarah... SO the 5 of us, decided to brave the scorching sun, the double deadly weekend + summer crowd for a wild time at Disneyland!

The foursome. Xiang-ge already cannot take it too hot .. so it is thumbs down

Very cute or should I say handsome Japanese boy? He looks very cute when he smiles! Was happily chatting with us after this picture was taken...

Posing as geishas upon the wives's request ( or command..)

SPlashED Mountain!

Xiang-ge bought the picture cus he thinks he looks very shuai and brave it it. ahem..

Very hot so eat ice-cream.

Very greedy so eat turkey leg! See other people eat he must also buy one!

Outside Pooh's Hunny Hunt! Finally I appear after half a day of being camera man

They look like they are hiding behind the bush!

Playing the FAKE piano. ACt very well.

Mickey!! Fantasia Mickey is my Fave in the series

My primary sch class mate

Must intro my pri sch class mate... whom I have not met for 13 yrs!

And our re-union had to be so dramatic too...

My weekends...

What do I do?

Among others, clean up one week's worth of mess, catch up on sleep( which is never enough), catch up on TV shows, relax, let time pass and wonder why monday comes so fast...

Till I bought my loyal steed! A bright red bicycle. It brought me further than my legs can and would like to go and look what I discover!

My latest hobby is to spend a lazy afternoon sitting on the slope reading and just enjoying the cool breeze...

Sitting on the slope and watching a game of frisbee

The "slope" that always appears in Japanese drama and the track very condusive for jogging.

A cyclist ahead

The long riverbank and highway across

A typical scene from Japanese drama- baseball game!

The big beautiful grass patch

See others also sitting on the slope watching the baseball game? Very common to see families gathering on weekends to watch games...

The dessert...

Was pretty reluctant to stab the very carefully decorated dessert

(No, I am lying actually, was dying to gobble it up..)

ANd I did!

It was sickening sweet to my disappointment.

Reminds me of the proverb, "never judge a book by its cover"

Never judge a dessert by its appearance I would say.

Countdown!

4more days to Tackey's musical 【滝沢演舞城2007】yippee!

5 more days to ARashi's 2007 Summer tour! Yippee Yippee Yippee!
5more days to seeing ohno kun in live again!! 'chants Yippee eternally'..

Pls take a close look at my dear satoshi, second one from left.

SO cute!

Add on to Visitors

And....

Congrats to Carol who got the monbusho scholarship!

A prestigious scholarship given by the Japanese Ministry of Education to smart asses .. Ahem I mean elites! Leaders of the future!

But just a correction, she won't be another visitor to me, cus she will be here for 18 months!

°。*☆*☆* °。°。°。+　°　°。°+　°　°。°+　°　°。°+°

おめでとう　キャロちゃん！

°。* °。°。°。+　°　°。°+　°　°。°+　☆*☆*°　°。°+°

Counting the Visitors

The first day I arrived in Tokyo 4 months back, I was just plain miserable. I was home sick, I was unsettled. The symptoms worsen as the days pass by and all I could think of is when I can meet people I know soon and how to survive the 8 months till a friend ( you know who you are, hee hee) will come and be my house-mate.

Then now I look back, I am amazed at the numerous, unexpected number of visitors.

March: Candy, my very first visitor in Tokyo

April: Yilin, the very first visitor to my house

May: Bill, Ike and his friend who came over to my house, Mengwei and gf, 野瀬 sensei and of course, not to forget Shin, the first visitor to stay over night

June: My long lost Primary School classmate (whom I have not met for 13 years)Ruifen and Sister whom stayed over night too.

July: Esther, who is currently still in my house cooking dinner and waiting for me to go home every night! Btw, she has found a job in Tokyo and an apt 3 mins walk away from me!

To expect:
August: My cousin Eong Sian and his wife Areena
September: Liza who might be coming on a work trip

Amazing right?

I want a new bed...

I need to get a bed soon... I am getting tired of sleeping on the floor...

and I want new bedsheets too! Saw this!

Very in tune with my red-ribbon summer theme right!

The horrifying discovery, The overwhelming assurance...

Job is really tough and I am really going through an emotional roller-coaster at work. But I still thank God for the opportunity to learn, to trust and lean on Him so that my faith can grow and also how He has so wonderfully orchestrated events to happen in my life.

Another among the other wonderful things He has done, just want to share this testimony today.

The door to my house does not come with a key. It works on a password basis.
And for 4 months that I have been here, it seems like something was wrong with the door.
I could never open it on the first try, always on the second try. Only on days when I was "lucky" (unexplainable situations) was I able to do it on the first try.
I was contemplating going to the shop I rented my apartment from to complain that there was something wrong with my door. The only thing that held me back was plain laziness… the hassle of going back to the shop just to say this. So I lived with the situation for 4 months..
Until Esther came yesterday...

As I had to leave home early for work, I taught Esther the way to "locked" the door, shut the gate etc…
Anyway, work yesterday was pretty terrible… I was talking to a customer on the phone and he completely didn't know what I was saying that half way through he started speaking to me in English instead. He was very nice though, he didn't flare up at all… He didn't show the slightest hint of being irritated. But I felt like totally defeated. I have been in Japan for 2.5 years, 4 months in the company and still I can't do such a simple job.
I was questioning God with so much confusion and frustration. Asking him to show me why He had put me in this position, what can I do to overcome the language barrier… I even begin to question if I have "heard" wrongly about His plans for me… In fact, I have been asking myself a lot? Why did the boss decide to employ me? Why did he bother to go through all the trouble to apply a visa for me. I am not using much English at work so he could have just employed a Japanese…

And so I went home with a heavy heart.

Came to my door and as usual entered the password.
And to my surprised, it opened on the first try. I opened the door and told Esther,
"Hey today's my lucky day, the door opened on the first try."
Esther was like " oh haa… anyway, about locking the door, either you did tell me and I forgot about it or you forgot to tell me, there should be one more step after entering the password word right?"
I didn't digest that statement when she first said it. And she said it so casually…
Me: "Wait a min… what do you mean by there is one more extra step?"
Esther: "oh, I guess you did mention to me but I forgot about it. I was trying to lock the door this morning and I realized I couldn't. Then finally on the 3rd try, I realized, after entering the password, I need to turn the handle down once to lock it".

Esther mentioned to me later how shocked I looked.

I was totally horrified to know that only after 4 months. Suddenly, it came to light why I could only open the door on the 2nd try.
Everytime when I go home to try to open the door, the action of holding down the handle locked it and that's why I could only open it at the 2nd attempt.
The thought of me leaving my door unlocked everyday while I am at work totally shocked me.
And to add on to this, my neighbour doesn't have the habit of closing the main gate properly (and I am not better not locking my own door)

In the peak of the state of confusion, Esther exclaimed, "Wow you are so blessed! For 4 months God protected you!

Yes, He did. I can't imagine what will happen if God had not protected such a careless me. And to add on to this, I was having lunch with my colleague on the same day and somehow we came to the topic of rings and she told me the story of how burglars entered her friend's house stealing away everything. And it happened to them 3 times in the same year!

And I thought how timely the reminder came… It could have 2 months ago when my friend came to stay over. A week ago when my friends came from Singapore to stay over… both times they left the house themselves too but none of them were alerted.

It came at such a time where I needed assurance to know I am safe in His hands. It came not one day early nor late… just on time. Indeed, God makes everything beautiful in His time. Although I shudder at the thought of that, the joy and peace of coming to realization that God is in control overwhelms all fear inside me. Of cus, it taught me to be more careful too… But I felt so refreshed today though I only had less than 4 hours of sleep cus Esther and I chatted till 3+ in the morning… It is spiritual freshness which also calms the physical mind. And somehow today, I found the courage to go to work and to continue the challenge again.

So, be assured we are all safe in His arms.

The Letter!

I received a letter from Mr O.W.H today!!
My dear dear friend whom I miss so much.\(＊＾ワ＾＊）/

His letters are always so sloppy, messy. He talks as if we just met yesterday about his job, the things he saw, the fact he is drinking his beer and writing to me.
His honey-words how much he is also missing me and thinking of me.
haaa.... I believe in him though cus he is very capable of thinking of many girls at the same time.

happy happy.. I am glad Owen is still Owen...
I can feel him in the letters.
I am so glad he is still his old genki self (^O^)

Our conversation

My mum called me yesterday and it was a rare day that everyone was at home.
FYI: My mum works in Japanese restaurant thus irregular hours, my brother's jobs takes him to all parts of the world and each stay in a different country can be from a month to 3.

My mum and I: We talk about everything under the sun. In fact, it was almost as if we were sitting on the sofa just chatting. She tells me about who she met, her facial trips, what to cook...talk about God, talk about praying, talk about work.

For some reason, either, my mum monopolises the phone or my dad is too shy to talk to me.. haha my mum is always the one who does the calling. She will then tell me that my dad misses me a lot cus he is always nagging at her to call. Then both of us wonders why he can't do it himself.... My mum says it is because he doesn't know how to.. haha . There was once I called home and my dad was like, " oh your mum is coming home soon and I will get her to call you ok? and he cuts the phone... strange.

My brother and I: We always talk crap... or about buying things. Haha he is always asking me about the latest gadget in Japan, the price etc... sometimes we play online games on msn too. Our conversation yesterday went like this:
Me: Hey you going Russia for work this week right. Remember to buy souvenirs for me hor..
No magnets or keychains ( meaning want something bigger and more significant
Without a moment of hesistant, my brother answered casually:
"oh Ok can, means bookmark loh"
X$#%OX#$!!!#"$
Then he ended the conversation by this, " Got anyone bully you or not? I don't think have right, you don't go bully others ok"
X#$!!$#OX##$

My dad and I: I called him again today. Kinda deliberately called when my mum is not around so he has to talk to me. But well, I did most of the talking though. Shared with him my conversation with another Singaporean friend, Esther who is also studying in Okazaki ( where I used to study. Yes, i must share what I talked to Esther in another blog soon!
So he listened, asked me if I am doing ok... and well he always ask this same question tho.
"Money enough?"
Haha... my dad indeed.
He never ever failed to ask this question. I told him I have more than enough because I don't have time to play. But we all know, I don't have more than enough but I have more than enough because God provides and I am safe in His hands.

Funny right.... mum, dad and brother. My beloved Family.

ハダシの未来 barefooted future?

Haven't quite figure out the real meaning of this phrase yet, but it is one of my favorite songs by Arashi!!

Can everyone, even those we don't know Japanese just spare the time to hear it once? Very cute MTV and very catchy song! Anyway it was coca -cola's CM song in 2004 in Japan!

Johnny Depp

Watched Gakkou e ikou last night on Tv and Johnny Depp made a special appearance...

He looks just normal or well queer at times with the deliberate( I chose to believe he did it deliberately) weird sense of fashion.

But my goodness, I can't believe how charming he actually is. His mannerisms, his choice of words, ｔhe occassional playful side of him...

Very witty and charming person.. I am enchanted　♪♪♪

プロポーズ大作戦 The big proposal plan??

Thought of writing about this today...

A Japanese drama I have been catching recently.

Actually, I didn't plan to catch it at all because of the seemingly ridiculous plot, the main actress whom I don't like because she is always acting cute and the main　actor whom I don't exactly think is super good-looking.... but it just kinda caught my eye as I was walking around the house (with the bad habit of leaving the TV on)... soon I found myself sitting down in front of the TV at 9pm every monday.

The plot: A young man rushing to attend the wedding of his childhood goodfriend whom he had always been to school with since 9. As he watches her walk down the virgin road,he instantly regrets not being able to tell her how he really feels about her in the 14 years they knew each other. As they are shown a photo presentation of the newly wed at the wedding reeption, he encounters a strange man who brings him to and fro to the past and present. Every episode shows him going back to a certain incident in the past. The rule is that he will only be there for a while and will be transported back everytime a final photo is taken. for eg, he goes back to a baseball game in the past he took part and he will only be there until their group photo is taken. (*they are in a clique consisting 2 girls and 3 guys and they take photos all the time)

For a start, he kept going back to find chances to correct the times he upsetted her. Their relationship was very much like that of 2 guys, he talks to her loudly, he shoves her around... the times they quarrelled becus small things...

Then comes along a guy who got closer to the girl through some school activities. That is when he goes back and tries to find chances to make his feelings known to her before the other guy can.However, he never suceeded in confessing his feelings for her. She too has actually always liked him. She wrote him a letter when they were 15 and has been waiting since for a chance to pass it to him but never finds the chance to do so.

On the day before her 20th birthday, she decided that it was time to call for a settlement for the issue and plans to hand him the letter. In a cruel twist of fate though, both of them waits for each other at different places. So in the end, she made the decision to move on into a new phase of life, leaving behind her feelings for him as well.

Hmm.... how should I put it... I don't think I am doing enough justice to the show with my poor explanation. In a nutshell, the guy goes back and trys to do a lot of things. He manages to turn some sad memories into wonderful ones for her, he even helped 2 of his friends get together where in the first future, the relationship was just a one-sided love. But no matter how hard he tries, he never manages to tell her he likes her.

This show just reminds me of the reality of life. I don't think anyone can say without a doubt that they have lived life so far with absolutely no regrets at all. Regrets come not just because of something we have done or not done but also how we think life might have become better if things was done that certain way.

Yet, this show re-affirms the fact that there is no such thing as 早知道。 Precisely, because we don't know what is ahead of us we need courage, need support from others, need the little faith in ourselves to try and most of all need to live on. Who can actually judge for sure that life will indeed be better if things were to happen in a certain way? At the end of the day no matter how much you cannot accept how present has turned out to be, or how you regretful you feel, it is impossible to turn back time to go back into the past to change anything.

The only thing you can possibly do is then is to move forward to either create a better future or make the best out of the situation. Or to repeat this vicous cycle of regret by letting opportunites slip through your hands again and again.

Don't know what the ending to this drama will be. But I don't think the girl will get together with this guy in the end anyway. It will be pretty silly if they do.

Another thought of the day too. If he really liked her, how come he didn't do anything when she was unmarried? Why must wait till she is in her wedding gown that he starts to regret...

Sigh... man?

Short clip of the drama...

昨日細木先生の番組「ズバリ言うわよ！」見ました。

いろんな理由で自殺のケースに対して、そうおしゃった。

「いじめに負けても、命を渡すまではない。
仕事のい負けても、命を渡すまでははい。
負けたら、どうすればいい？
生きることです。
死ぬことは罪じゃないけど
生きることをあきらめるのは大罪です。」

細木先生のことは別に大好きというわけではないけど、
今度はすごく賛成です。♪♪
いじめでも、仕事の失敗でも、負けたら、しかたないけど。
何で一番大切の命まで渡すの？
そうしたら、一生でも勝つのチャンスはないじゃないか。

命は自分だけのものという考え方は直してほしい。
だって命は一人のことじゃなくて、
家族や親戚など繋がっていますよ。

いくら苦しいでも最後まで頑張ってね！
自ら命を取るのはやめとけちゃいな！

Pre-summer splurge

New red bag...

New red sandals...

I am all ready for a RED summer!!

What is a red summer anyway.... I don't know...

Just find red so appropriate for summer.

With a nice yellow top!

Or make it I am just such a sucker for ribbons!!

Recent revamp to room

Did some arrangements here and there... so here's my room recently... but I posted up for specially for someone very dear to me to see... =)

The room proper- rearranged

My comfy bed beside the big window, love rooms with big windows

The other favourite window! With nice flowers and clovers

The walk way...

Finally the kitchen!