The first time I felt Tokyo is small.

It is not unusual to bump into not 1 but a few acquaintances, friends, or even famous people on the streets of Singapore.

It is also almost predictable or I would say a pretty easy feat to be able to find a link to someone you might have met for the first time. The person could easily be a friend of your cousin, a senior from your school, the sister-in-law of the colleague sitting beside you...
Just like the top 5 accounting firms in Singapore is filled up with graduates from NTU, 90% of the doctors making their rounds in Singapore's government hospitals are probably your NUS med grads too.

Well, it is not anything to be surprise about considering most of us are born, schooled, worked and socialised in the same 700km square for our entire lives.

I remember when I first came to Tokyo, I was just so overwhelmed by sea of unfamilar faces. There were times days gone by ( long weekends especially) when I realised at the end of it, I have not opened my mouth to talk to anyone for the entire 3 whole days. Tokyo is just so wide and confusing. The vast endless train lines just see so many people coming and going in and out of Tokyo daily.

In my 2 years here, I have also met so many people who come in and go out of my lives. Mostly introduced by friends over parties etc... and really... though I socialised with utmost sincerity, I know that most of the time they are also people I will never meet again. Twice.
The truth is, most of us ( or actually 99.0% of the Japanese people) whether or not with the intention of meeting someone again will say " see you again!" just to be polite (or as a form of greeting) and probably not contact the person again until there is a need to.

Same goes to the group of people I met 2 weeks ago when my friend's friend came over for a visit in Tokyo.

In fact, if not for my friend, I would not have met this friend.

If not for this friend, I would not have met her group of friends here too.

But then today when I went to church, just as I was settling down in my seat, I caught a familar face in front of me.

I was almost too surprised that it took me a moment to realised I was looking at the same lady whom I met through my friend's friend 2 weeks ago.

This lady almost became someone whom I thought I will never meet again.

She was also very surprised to see me. Her fiance too.

We chatted again after service and we realised that we have been attending the church for about the same period of time and is always sitting in the same area too.

It just dawned upon me how wonderful this kind of meetings can be. If not for that simple act of hosting my friend's friend, this lady will probably still remain a stranger to me till today. We could be sitting next to each other for the rest of our lives in the same church but never ever have the reason to talk to each other.

On the side note... I finally signed up for DCAT seminar. ( = Doing Church as a Team). I want to go the beach camp in Aug too but can't take leave now le... So sad!! I want to go to the beach and play soon! It's summer!

The rainy season is officially over..

The rainy season is officially over..
So it is also officially summer in Japan now.
As the skies cleared up to welcome the warm ( actually hot and humid) weather.... I feel more refreshed to a certain extent as well.
I really hate to live in an area which rains non-stop!

The picture on the left is the teru-teru bozu. Japanese children hang it up during the rainy season to pray for good weather. This is especially used on days where they have some event like Sports day or some festival...

So now summer is officially here. It is time to make plans!
So far I have plans to go to the biggest fireworks festival in Tokyo, visit sunflower fields, visit lavender fields. Also thinking about the church camp which is by the seaside... only problem is, I have to take 2 days leave to attend it..

Anyway... it was so hot yesterday that our CEO decided to treat everyone to ice-cream! It is the first time I ever ate ice-cream in office during office hours! ( our ex CEO disallowed that) it was really interesting to see everyone getting excited and licking on the ice-creams like a little kid! It was such a simple gesture on the CEO's part but I think it does wonders to boost our energy~~
SO here's a photo taken with the people sitting around me.

My new creation!

Since I had some time in the evening yesterday, I decided to continue my artwork creation.
I used extra buttons and beads which came with clothes I bought.
So, cost of the final work = $0!!

well well.... since this is made from odd and ends of extra materials I had, can't complain much about the final result.

But still I am pretty please with how supposedly trash-to-be can be converted into useful stuff!

The corsage on its own

A plain white singlet

With the corsage!

On a cap

On a bag!

Akanishi Jin Lookalike~~

When I first saw him, I thought he really looked like Akanishi Jin!
I don't have a good photo of him to prove my point... But he confirmed with me that he is often said to look like Akanishi Jin too...

Akanishi Jin = top member in KAT-TUN, from Johnny's entertainment. You'll see him in gokuzen 2005...
here's akanishi jin

HIm.... well well... still a cutie anyway! heee

So anyway we had him for nearly the whole of saturday from 7am onwards to have sushi for breakfast, taking neo prints, playing gundam stimulator in which you are seated in the cockpit and fighting with other team mates against another team. ( this is super cool!! gundam fans must try!) We only had dinner at 10pm, went to Mori Tower in Roppongi for a fantastic night view. Home at 1am.

deadbeat.

Japanese Magazines

One thing I love about Japanese magazines is, they love to include freebies with them!
It is not the usual free shampoo samples nor sweets, but really useful things you can use! They include things like tote bags, umbrellas, slippers and even ladies boxers!

And the best thing of all, they are from reputable designer brands.

From Jill Stuart, a cute apple tote. ( Front)

Back

Tsumori Chisato. Famous for her quirky, fancy designs~~

Cher. A brand very popular among young ladies here. A typical camisole costs around $80 there and a dress can be well over $300. One thing to mention about its shopping bag, you can only purchase it alongside other purchases from that shop. It is big enough to put in A4 size stuff so it can act as a bag on its own to go out with!

My trusty lunchbox bag! just the right size for a lunchbox and a fruit!

LeSports Sac 35th anniversary souvenir. A passport, notes cum card holder. Very useful when travelling! It comes with strap which you can strap over your shoulders or around the waist.

ML bought like 2 when she was here cus she likes it so much!

ML!! see all the nice and freebies from the magazines!! tempted???

Do I resemble her really?

My friend sent me a picture that day and she says that I look exactly like her　↓.
When my friend asked me if I think so too... I was stumped for a moment...

Not because I was shocked or anything...

But..

I was trying hard to recall how I looked like!

This made me ponder for a while how it reflects our own lives...

Though our face belongs to ourselves, we are not the ones who look at it the longest. It is the people around us.

These people are also the ones who can point out to us our blindspots, remind us of things we do not remember or even highlight things we have missed.

In the same way, whatever expression we carry on our faces, (happy or black), it is not us who have to bear with it. It is the people who have to face us everyday who are affected the most.

So for these precious people who sticks with us regardless the kind of faces ( or expressions) we have, let's do them a favour by smiling more and sulking less! Let's do ourselves a favour too because smilling is a great way to loose calories!!

Btw....

This is how I look from behind. I was shocked to see this too because I never knew my hair was that curly!

Blogging at 1.43am in the morning.

I slept only 2 hours too last night because I was out till midnight with a friend visting and this morning, we woke up at wee hours in the morning. 5XXam to catch the fresh early sushi at tsukiji market.

She is "my friend's" '(grins) friend actually and I have only met her for the first time yesterday.

The 2 days out with her and her group of Japanese colleagues led me to actually ponder on a lot of issues about myself in Japan and the current situation I am in. The issues are too personal so I won't be elaborating anything here.

Though it was fun to be out re-discovering Tokyo, I must admit it is really tiring to be up for 20 hours straight, and with a group of perfect strangers. I am not exactly an extrovert so it takes me to warm up ( pretty fast) and open ( very hard to people)...

At one stage, I was pretty zombified actually because I had to act as an translator for her and her colleague as well.

Then I received an sms from a friend who told me to read a verse from the Bible, Romans 12:12 because she said that as she was reading it, I kept popping up in her mind.

It says: " Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes."
Can't say how much it spoke to me about my current situation.

And it goes on in verse 13. "Share with God's people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your home."

Woohh... it speaks perfectly well to what I did.. bringing a perfect stranger into my home.
SO thank God for His timely assurance which brings comfort and an answer to myself too as to which I offered that friend's friend a roof~~

Last day before monday comes again!

In retrospect...

Thanks for the many comments and emails!



Woh.. I was quite surprised and shocked myself by the no. of emails I got after yesterday's post.
I have must gotten many people worried. Thanks for showing concern and care anyway!


After yesterday's written puke on blog... I feel well a little better today.
Nope the situation hasn't change. Nor has the girl changed better overnight.
She is still as ditzy as ever.

What has changed in my mindset to a certain degree.

I don't know how many of you other there think the same way. Sometimes we just think that the company cannot survive without us. If I am on leave, I will be still thinking of what will go on in the company, paying 100% attention to my phone 24 hours a day, checking emails to make sure everything goes well...

But the truth is... as my cousin kindly reminded me. No one is ( or should be) indispensible to the company. My ex-supervisor told me exactly the same thing when I was pondering if I should take a day off one day. He told me that if something really happened in my absence and it could not be handled because I wasn't there, it is not my fault but a flaw in the management.
I was very greatly for this very comment of his because he was the one most affected in my absence actually as he had to cover my work too.

And of course... that I am mere mortal.

No matter how much work my boss is going to dump on me, if my physical and mental health is not going to withstand, then it is just too bad. Nothing personal.
Same goes for the girl.

So today, I came to work more relaxed than I was yesterday. Shall just let my body do the leading. If I can handle I will.. If I cannot then I won't.
Nothing personal ( twice said!)

And of course.. Leave the rest to God. He says in His word that " My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness."

Brings me back to last week' sermon in which the pastor said. When challenges in life, before we start to complain, let's ask God first what is that He wants to teach.

And last but not least, TGIF!!!

How much more??

More " complaints" on work.

I have not really worked with any friends I know before except for some short stints, so no one really know the real me at me.

I am quiet. ( yes... don't be so surprised). I joke and talk at times yes.. but hardly ever being the one to start the ball rolling.

I keep to myself mostly. I refrain from discussing private details ( unless being pryed into)

I never gossip nor badmouth any colleague to another colleague. ( that's that I complained like mad to my friends!)

I hardly say No to any task given to me. nor complain to my boss about my workload.

see.. I'm the perfect little angel.. ( hiakk)

That's why both of my former working partners , also my direct supervisors ( both outsourced to different sites) told my present direct boss on separately occassions that I am not the type to voice out my difficulties so he mustn't take me for granted.

My direct boss is a good person and I know that he is trying his best and he is already like up till his neck. So most of the time.. ( in fact all of the time), I find it impossible to complain directly to him. Everytime he talks to me, I just find myself saying ok.... I will just press on more. I must not bring more troubles to him who is already so busy...
so in the end the case is forever unresolved.

Recently however, it has gotten worst with increased workload ( that's ok) but he not informing me in advance! ( that's rude)
not to mention the new girl whom I have to treat like a primary school kid. My friend told me that I have to go down to her level and teach her in ways she can absorb.
To me it is equals to teaching a primary school kid. As a responsible working adult, she should be the one to find ways to learn!

I feel that I am also loosing myself.. ( or discovering a new me) I never really remembered ever so pissed and angry at someone all the time. I don't even feel like having a normal conversation with her...

I remember this line in Inuyasha comic where one of the characters say :"私が私じゃなくなります”
Which rougly translates to I will not be me anymore...

I feel the same somehow.. like I am evolving into someone whom I don't really recognised anymore...

I am lost too between these questions,

Am I not doing enough?
Do I have more room for improvement?
Do I have to work even harder?
Am I am not suitable for the job?
or it is time to feedback to my boss directly?

But unfortunately... no one can answer me now I guess except God.

Yes... seek Ye first the Kingdom of God.

Need to pray and ask and SEEK!!

Btw... I just deleted a mail written this morning intending to tell my boss that are too many grey areas and things at work I find it hard to handle.

sighzzz

What does it take to produce an ace student?

Is it never dying patience?

Is it endless drills?

Is it passion?

Is it skills?

Or actually does it depend on the student actually?

How come she always makes the same old mistakes? How come she can never prove to me that I can trust her? How come I always have to clean up her mess after her? How come I always have to entertain her probing into my private? Why do I have to OT because of her? How come?? How come??

God... do you really have to give me such challenges to train my patience?
I am beginning to dread work now because of her.
I am aging at such a rapid speed because of the emotional stress....

Ahh... save me..
I am really exhausted...

Great Harvest in Summer

I totally understand when Carol says that her hair and nails grows faster in summer....

I last had my hair cut somewhere in early April and thought I should go soon...
Actually I didn't have the intention to. But each time I turn my head, I feel like I am swinging a mop behind me, ( looks like a mop, feels as heavy as a mop)
I am also super disgusted by the endless split ends...
so well I decided to make the visit to the hair dresser.

And he took 1.5 hours just to cut my hair without changing the style or length much.

Nope... fortunately ( or unfortunately) it is not because he is a novice or too slow. It is because of the huge amount, vast volume of hair that I have!
He had to pin them up layer by layer and trim each layer with care so as not to create more spilt ends.
And throughout the cut, he asked me at least 10 times, " It must be difficult when you blow your hair..." or " How long do you exactly take to dry your hair each time?"

It was just 2 months ( nearly 3) since the last hair cut!

I have made up my mind to go at least every 2 months now... sitting in the chair can be such a pain and tiring process...

But... at least my load is now half relieved! I am pleasantly surprised at how fast my hair dries now or how light my head feels. Yah... i hope i don't get too light-headed tho^^^

Stock UP~~

I went to the this Thai Provision shop near my house after dinner with my friend yesterday....

**Thanks for the treat!!**

Needed to stock up on my green beans! Chilled Green bean soup is really one of the best dessert to have after a whole days' work.

Thinking back... I realised I never had cold green bean soup before I came to Japan.
Green bean soup in my house was always served warm and I first had it at my Taiwanese friend's place.
It was so good and so refreshing that I think after that I never had warm green bean soup again in summer.
Btw, the Taiwanese apparently put barley in too!

This Thai provision shop carries most products in from China and Thailand so their stuff is closer to home and at a much reasonable price. However though... since it is from that C country... I am very careful with what I buy though. I usually avoid meat or processed food...
But anyway, chanced upon the below and I quickly snap them up!
My friend bought Mountain Dew though!
I think more than wanting to drink it, she was more amazed that there is Mountain dew in Japan, Tokyo.

I am just so happy to find green beans ♪♪

*Biyin: I found glutinous black rice in the same shop too!!!

Summer in Disneyland

I love!!!! Absolutely Love to go Disneyland.

Having said that, I don't think I can go there everyday though. Maybe once every 2-3 months is good enough.

But I really love Tokyo Disneyland ( which is actually not in Tokyo but Maihama, in Chiba Prefecture)

So this trip with ML is my 4th ( or 5th) I can remember going there 4 times but I can't recall if I went with another of my friend or not....

The fun stuff about disney land....

1. A different theme for every season!

Which you will find the decorations ( different flowers), different food, different parades, even different packaging for mechandise for every different season.

The seasons are not limited to Spring, summer, autumn, winter, also includes festivals like halloween, Christmas. New Year.

2. It is super duper clean in Disneyland.

We use to joke about cleaners hiding in bushes, waiting to "ambush" any piece of trash dropped. It is true. You don't see even a single piece of trash on the floor yet you don't see a single cleaner around.

On my most recent trip though, I came to the realisation as to why we don't notice cleaners around.They are in fact everywhere! But they are dressed so comically or brightly ( unlike the usual one color jumper) that you won't even realised they are actually cleaners.

My friend once told me about an incident how someone lost a tiny little brooch in disneyland. She later managed to recover it at the Lost and Found.

3. Every detail is very well taken care of.

You will notice every tile and brick, every corner, even the benches you sit on has something to do with disneyland. There is absolutely nothing out of place. Even the ducks and ducklings there are so cute!

4. Everyone is in a disney mood.

Not sure about other disneylands but it is almost a norm for people to wear minnie ears, mickey ears, tiggers' tail... and it is not limited just to young people. And yes, I mean male and female of all age groups! We saw a few little princesses and princes walking around as well.

Check out the below!

A lady in tigger's and tail

A guy wearing Mickey ears.

A uncle wearing pooh's ears and carrying a pink popcorn bucket

Last but not least....

The rides! I personally love Peter Pan and Pooh's huny Hunt best. They never fail to amaze me with their spectacular visuals.

Our cute and lovely lunch at Queen of Heart's Banquet....

Where we bumped into Alice outside!

We had a rather interesting experience that day too. I was there with ML initially but we ended up touring the whole disney with another 5 guys...

haaa not intentionally but we were together lining up from the first ride till the last, so we were playing together from the start till the end!

It was such a coincidence that our plans were so similar~~~

Brought to you by Minnie and Marie taken in Minnie's kitchen!

Arashi 10th Anniversary Concert

Finally announced!

But then it means the start of a bloodshed again.

I am more rational nowadays tho not to take part in the ticket war. or at least, not to end up as a blood-drained victim.

Still... I am excited! Need to make sure my schedule run well with it!

Continuing ML's trip to Japan...

I brought her to a Showa era themed resturant ( showa era = 1926/12/25~1989/1/7/). To be more exact, it should be the golden era in era, after WW2 somewhere 1960s?

This drinking place actually was discovered by Carol, me and some other friends on our hunt to some other restaurant early in the year. We were initially pretty disappointed to find the original shop we wanted to go close.

However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise to chance upon this shop instead! ( Btw, the other shop we wanted to go initially is the cutie place in the earlier post!)

Btw, this shop's menu is also totally in Japanese without a single picture. Another place almost impossible for non-japanese speaking pple~~

Here's the front!

The old alley leading down to the restaurant.

The walls pasted with old advertisments from the past~~

Menu and counter seats..

The food is well pretty interesting though not as interesting as the restaurant itself tho~~ But will definitely recommend it to people who wants to taste a different kind of experience in Japan! Ask me!!

Handmade Bak Chor Mee~

When you are overseas with no direct access to your home country's delicacies, either you choose not to eat them, look for near replacements or replicate them with your own hands!

Of course... you can also look for people who have good cooking skills.

My years away from Singapore has not really trained me to cook like a chef but I think I am at least capable of whipping up edible dishes!

So last night, when my tastebud was wailing away to eat bak chor mee, I did the most natural thing to.

And here's my creation!

But before that, I must give most of the credit to this big bottle of black vinegar! Bak Chor Mee is really not Bak Chor Mee without it!

So...

I gave it the best position in the house other than my bed.

The position right in front of my beloved Oh-chan~~♪♪　

Seriously speaking I can't recall how Bak Chor Mee looks like except it has lots of vinegar and of course minced meat... But anyway, it tasted great!

Hot hot hot....

I wonder what the 20 over years in Singapore has gotten me to...
Where has that endurance for heat gone?

I went out with ML on saturday morning to a park, under the hot hot sun and I ended up with a headache after that!

It isn't the first time though unfortunately... I recall other incidents where I ended up with terrible headaches after being in the sun for too long.
And I always make sure I have a cap or a hat on!

So... I sat through work the whole day yesterday with a terrible headache. Even popping 2 panadols didn't work.

Then I went home... managed to whipped up bak chor mee ( thanks for all the contributions!)
with an headache.
Even managed to boil some green bean soup so that I can have them today when I go home.

But I came to the conclusion I really had heat stroke.

I made some cooling tea with the tea bags Carol left behind for me. ( thanks! cus they worked wonders!)
I drink up 2 big cups of it and guess what? I didn't even had to go to the toilet after that and even throughout the night.
My body was definitely calling out for me to replenish the fluids.

Anyway I slept at 9pm after that and I felt much better today!

Must remember my fluids...

In my almost drunken stupor... ( feels the same as a headache!) I managed to take pictures of my bak chor mee..
hee. will up it later!

Great Japan Sales

For those who are enjoying the GSS in singapore...

This is also the sales period in Japan.

Sidetrack... but I wonder how many years have I not been in Singapore to enjoy GSS...

but anyway, like I said in the earlier post, if not for ML who is here... I don't think I would get my butt off the couch to squeeze with the sales-crazy crowd in downtown Tokyo.

According to ML and my another reliable source. It is a mayhem out there now. People queuing just to GET INTO shops...

Queuing to get to the clothes rack.

Queuing to get into the fitting rooms.

Queuing to get to the cashiers.

but well... sometimes it is good just to get out once in a while because you might just discover some bargains!

ML got herself so many things that she had problems packing them all into her luggage. She had to get an extra huge "dumping tote" just to contain all her trophies.

As for me....

Got the below at the closing of a shop... the last few minutes of business for less than $15 sing!

The length is approximately that of a 2L mineral water bottle. (i.e A4?) an absolute favourite size of mine.The design is simple and clean cut.

The original price was at a hefty price of $50 sgd.... Really not something I would buy at that price. But for less than $15, it becomes a good companion for weekends or even girly workdays!

The other bag.. (opps..) was discovered by ML when we went to the outlet to shop. The original intention was actually to help her colleague find an coach bag from the last series.
However, we came across Agnes B and found this treasure below! Since it is already at the outlet, it was already way below its original price. However, on top of that we got it for another 30% off! So all in all, we paid only about $80 for it!

This bag is slightly bigger than the one above. But with its compartments and broad base, you can carry lots of stuff inside!

I like the colour combi a lot and also the size because it is hard sometimes to find a nice size for bags! ( I am not really an handbag kinda person...)

Besides, it can look really casual ( goes well with jeans) because the bag is made of cloth and yet formal as yet because of the leather straps and gentle colour.

It was such a pity that this was the last piece and so we couldn't buy one for each of us. So ML bought it.

However, when she was packing her stuff yesterday.. ( actually till this morning when she is about to leave for the airport) She came to the conclusion that she has shopped too much, bought too many things that she decided to let me have the bag instead. But then I know deep inside me, it is more of her generosity rather than the reason above. Thanks gal! Will take good care and put the bag to good use!

In return, I gave her another bag that she borrowed from me over the few days she was in Japan seeing that she liked the bag a lot too!

Am really satisfied with the above 2 buys!

Oh yes.... and of course Tokyu hands must thank me for bringing them sales cus ML bought up all the apple cutters from the Ginza branch to give as souvenirs to her colleagues! (see previous post)

MeiLing's trip to Tokyo~~

MeiLing's a friend who is in many of my social circles...

We first met in JC during orientation in the first 3 months. (JC friend)

Then we were in the same orientation group again after for the 2nd time during the 2nd intake.

We then met again in NUS with her being in Arts as well. During the 3 yrs there, we were also module cum project mates. ( NUS friend)

Then I brought her to cell so we started attending the same cell since NUS till now! (Church friend cum fellow cell member!)

A long 10 years since I first met her!

So anyway, she came last week and it was such a good timing for me to brush up my guiding skills as well as to re-visit the places that I like but hardly ever go alone.

I totally agree with Serene who talks in her blog about touristy places. You can check up on the internet or ask as many people who had visited a certain place before for travelling tips. But you can NEVER beat local information which offers much more interesting, delicious, authentic thrills and food at the minimum price. Shopping is altogether on another planet of information on its own. Most of all, ways and means to enjoy to the max without falling into the typical tourist traps. ( check out ML's review of Japan!)

The first shop I brought ML to is a place safely tucked away in a small town some distance away from central Tokyo. ( no names and addresses! Only for the priviledge few) What I love most about it is its quietness, serenity and most of all the interesting, colorful interior!

However for this place... it is ( not impossible) but difficult to go if you don't speak Japanese because the menu offers no pictures and the staff take orders from the intercom.

It is absolutely small and tiny too... but super comfy and homely.

The little entrance and door

Seats by the windows in which you can people watch at your own pace...

It has a loft too offering a choice to people who wants more privacy.

Colorful painted walls. While it does looked like a nursery... it reminds of the purity and innocence of little children which I equate to freedom.

Our star of the day at the table!

And finally.... Our food. Eggplant, spinach risoto and Tacos rice.

Splendid..