Dinner at Mahathir

Was asked to join some celebrations on Merdeka day.. we ended up having dinner at a Malaysian restaurant at Shin-Ookubo, called Mahathir.. To me, the place was like celebration decorations gone astray.. there were pictures of Mahathir, AAB, fake plants hanging from the ceiling, batik here and there, decorations for Hari Raya, Deepavali, Chinese New Year everywhere.. a bit too messy for my taste.. but it does kinda looked ethnic/authentic Malaysian to the locals..

There were 5 of us who made it to the makan gathering.. 4 Chinese and 1 Malay, but all Malaysians! We ordered nasi lemak, mee curry and fried beehoon. I had the fried beehoon and it was not up to my standard.. In fact my order was forgotten until much later.. :@ which by the time it did arrive, I was way passed having any appetite and the beehoon was too spicy for my liking.. I didnt order the curry mee or the nasi lemak as my stomach is still a bit sensitive having just recovered recently from stomachache.. so in the end, I only ate half the beehoon..

But it was a good dinner as we talked and joked.. It was good to talk about our differences and similarities.. Cos seriously, I've not been celebrating Merdeka Day for a very long time.. It was just another ordinary day for me when I was working in Singapore.. and most of the Msians I meet there had nothing good to say about the place they left behind.. Only today I finally realized that there was nothing amiss among ordinary Malaysians.... We can always sit down together, minum teh tarik/kopi/milo/horlick and just talk-kok.. If there is a Malay among the group, we just look for a restaurant that serves halal food, no big deal, we all do understand.. there isnt any issue about who is Malay/Chinese/Indians/Lain-lain.. we are all Malaysians!!

So Happy Merdeka Day to all Malaysians all over the world! Hope the next 50years will be better than the last 50years..

Merdeka!

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kebangsaan Ke-50..

友情户头

相信那些认识我多年的朋友都知道，我这一个人最讨厌的就是已经决定好的事临时有所改变。。

当然我不是个死头脑的人，也不是个不讲理的人。如果是无法避免的原因而必须改变原来的决定，我会欣然接受并全心配合。。但是我常发现那些三不五时，经常临时改变主意或是决定的人都是惯犯。。就好像是寓言里那个爱喊狼来了的牧童，当真正是有无法避免的原因发生时，我已经无法相信了。。

如果你身边有一两个无事不登三宝殿的“朋友”，每次打电话来就是想请你帮他/她这个帮他那个的，你是否会很反感地接他/她们的每一通电话？心里是否会想说：“这回他/她又想我帮他干什么了？”？ 很老实地说我会。。

我曾经听说过有人这样比喻友情。。两个人之间的友情就像是在各自的身上开个户头，平时互动的时候彼此为自己在对方的心中的户头存进一些“好意”。。所以朋友是必须一直互相经营下去的，不然自己在对方心里的户头很可能被冻结。因为人与人之间的互动都会为各自在对方心中的户头加分或减分。。每当你想请求朋友帮忙时，他/她都会衡量一下你在他/她心目中的户头是否已经达到他/她的要求水平。如果合格，他/她会很爽快地答应，但会在他/她心目中你的户头支出相等的“好意”。如果不合格，那当然不用说了。。所以如果某一位朋友永无止境地要求你帮他/她这个帮他/她那个的，或是不断（有意还是无意）地伤害你， 除非他/她已经在你心目中开了个无限量的户头，否则终有一天他/她在你心目中的户头会成为负数，成为赤字。到那时，也许连朋友也当不成也说不定。。

也许以上友情的比喻是有太过于现实，把友情物质化了，但是这何尝不是事实呢？至少对我来说是如此。当然那些认识了好几（十）年的“老”朋友都已有“忠实客户”的特别优待。。:p 他/她们已经是可以让我赴汤蹈火也在所不惜了，但前提必须是我已认定他/她们是朋友。。老实说我这个人还算蛮严厉的，想在我的‘朋友’名单里出现不容易，但也并不难。。:) 而我自认自己是个值得深交的朋友。。你们认为呢？？

Karaoke Session II

Went to Karaoke last night with my classmates from Nihongo 1A Class. One of our Sensei, Sato-Sensei joined us too.. It was organized by our French classmate, Alex-san... There were a total of 7 of us - including Chris-san, Chua-san, Liu-san and Song-san..

We met at Shinjuku Station East Exit and went for dinner.. we were kinda persuaded by this guy touting his restaurant in front of the Station Exit. The restaurant was kinda far from the station, but luckily it turned out to be not too bad.. It was free-flow of drinks at a fixed price, so I had 2 glass of orange juice and 1 glass of Plum liquor.. We ordered some dishes to share.. It wasn't so much of really eating eating, but more like catching up with what each other was/is doing.. We left the izakaya(居酒屋) around 8:45pm..

We were actually at Kabuki-cho (歌舞伎町) which is (in)famous for its night life.. There were plenty of girly bars (for guys) and service bars (for ladies).. Posters of hosts and hostesses were everywhere.. and there were a couple of guys walking around trying to get people to go in.. Luckily we were in quite a big group, and we stayed on the main road..

Finally we went to one of the many karaoke-kan (カラオケ館) found in the area.. Since there were 7 of us, we booked the room for 3 hours... And we sang..

It was like a mini Chinese concert with the occasional English, Japanese and French song in between, as there are 4 of us who knows Chinese, a slight majority.. :p The choice of Chinese songs there was much better than the one we went to in Kyoto, but definitely not as comprehensive as those found in Singapore... Chris-san's voice is good.. Sato-Sensei's songs were all so kawaiii (かわいい - aka cute), which even has dance steps and hand gestures that goes with it... The rest was okay, maybe due to the choice of songs they chose.. but again, karaoke is not a place to be shy, hold back or worry about not singing well, so everyone really had a good time singing their hearts out.. :) Especially when Chris-san and Alex-san sang Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time".. it was totally hilarious!!

Think the next karaoke trip, I would want to sing a couple of Japanese songs. :) So that I will be able to sing in 4 different languages - English, Chinese, Cantonese and Japanese!! And it will be one more (fun) way to learn Japanese.. :p

农历七月

不自觉地已经是农历七月十五了。。华人习俗中所相信的地狱之门已经开了15天。。

在日本，没有依据农历的习惯，一切节日都是以阳历为准。所以日本也没有如华人所相信的鬼月的说法。。但他们还是有祭拜先人的习俗，就是日本有名的Obon Festival啦！

老实说，农历七月的日本根本就是阳气过盛，饿鬼想搞怪也蛮困难的。每天的气温都在35至39度左右，热得要人命！哪来的阴风阵阵？？！！ 人人趁着夏天，又是刚好有/是暑假，全都想好好尽兴地享受，谁还管鬼月不鬼月的！每晚在Bar、卡拉OK、Pub等地方流连忘返的人们不计其数。。尤其是星期五和星期六晚上更是高唱“今天不回家！！”的巅峰期。。所以深夜在日本街上碰到的都是些酒鬼、色鬼、夜归鬼及无家可归（鬼），而不是一年一度从地狱放出来的饿鬼。。

当然我不会以身试法，就算人在日本，但也还是会尽量少出“夜街”（广东）。但老实说我这个人本来就不喜欢人多的地方，所以晚上出去“cheong”或是“wet”的机率更本是少之又少，应该不到百分之五吧？！每晚我都乖乖地呆在房间，打game、看连续剧、看anime、上网或是温习日文。。：）

Five babies and a wedding...

This year sure is an auspicious year.. the year of the golden pig..

Among the few friends that I have/keep in Singapore, there are going to be 5 babies to be born in these few months and one wedding to attend, which unfortunately I will not be able to attend this September...

One is my roommate during my University years, two are ex-colleagues from my first company, the other two are ex-colleagues from my 2nd company.. And my 'disciple' (as I was his mentor for his internship attachment for 3years) from my 2nd company is getting married this September.. :)

So all in all, I need to prepare loads of baby gifts and wedding gifts, latest by mid of September!! :o

Anyone has any good ideas???

Beyond 的 《仍然是要闯》

这是一首我非常喜欢的歌。。至少有10年了吧。。非常喜欢它的词，很有意义。。

《仍然是要闯》
　　词:刘卓辉　　曲:黄家强

　　仍然是要闯　　似昨日一样
　　未惧别人在说多麽理想 　　
仍然是爱想像
　　感觉再度开始当初那样一起唱

　　将一切努力与热汗 　　换上新的渴望
　　将一切恶梦与绝望 　　全忘掉全滚帐
　　
Chorus:
总跟你路途上冲过 　　无论有几多荆棘坎坷
　　互助守望共渡风浪 　　纵是沧桑
　　(I'll always be with you)

　　总跟你热情地向往 　　难道困恼不敢于担当
　　越是失落越是希望 　　我会甘心看一看

　　一生中总有失败　　未曾后退去进取
　　现实永远崎岖　　 以理想再去追
Chorus

这首歌收录在《二楼后座》，是BEYOND在家驹逝世后发行的第一张专辑。。

Age is not a secret II

Normally people would just remember my birthday as a few days before Christmas (it's 2 days before, to be exact). So most of the time, I would receive either 2 small presents (one for Christmas and one for birthday) or 1 big present. That is also why I seemed to have lots of presents from my friends.. :) And maybe it wasn't for me for being a good friend but just so happen my birthday falls within the period whereby everyone feels charitable or generous!! Mmm...

However, in Japan I do not mind telling people my birth-date... cos I have the same birth-date as Emperor Akihito.. so it's a public holiday for all Japan on my birthday!! :D How's that for making a deep impression!

This year's birthday I plan to visit the Emperor.. :) Since he has his 'open house' only twice a year, I think I will go visit and shout 'Banzai' together with all the well-wishers.. It will be as if they are wishing me 'Happy Birthday!' too.. :p

A few other famous persons that I share my birthday with are:
Tsar Alexander I of Russia
齐白石，中国画家
Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982
Queen Silvia of Sweden
Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander

and persons who died on that day:
2004 - P. V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India
1948 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (hanged) (b. 1884)


I am a Capricorn.. Again from Wikipedia,
"Capricorn is the tenth sign of the Zodiac and associated with hard work and business affairs. Individuals born under this sign are thought to have an ambitious, modest, patient, responsible, stable, trustworthy, powerful, intellectual, perspicacious and persistent character. The Capricorn person is prudent, realistic, formal, methodical, disciplined, traditional, cautious, conventional, hard-working, persevering, self-reliant, businesslike, career-oriented, authoritative, conscientious, and competent. They can also sometimes be rigid, suspicious, status-seeking, demanding, insensitive, inhibited and saturnine, and be prone to coldness, conservatism, materialism, and dullness."

Lots of famous Capricorn people, just to name a few..
* Benjamin Franklin
* Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Sir Issac Newton
* Isaac Asimov
* J.R.R. Tolkien
* Mao Tse-tung
* Joseph Stalin
* Stephen Hawking
* Howard Hughes
* Alex Ferguson
* Michael Schumacher
* Muhammed Ali
* Jim Carrey
* Elvis Presley

Age is not a secret..

At least it isn't to me.. :)

Whenever people ask me for my age, I will tell them readily. I won't try to subtract a few years nor would I insist that I'm 'only' XX years old.. To me, age is a fact. Period. It is like a testimony of how many years I have spent in this world.. Although I won't know how many more years ahead I have, at least I am proud to tell the world how many years I've spend living. And frankly, lying is never my forte. So instead of worrying if I've given out my correct-fake age, I just tell the truth. In this way, I can save a lot of my neurons and brain cells from storing another piece of useless information.. :p

Also, I am proud that I was born in the year of the Tiger... I love tigers, among all the animals within the animal kingdom, and dolphin is a distant second...

In Wikipedia, "The tiger is solitary and territorial, preferring cover in deep forest, but also ranging in open areas. ... Adult tigers are territorial and fiercely defensive.." and for those born in the year of the Tiger, "虎 寅 Tiger (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish.".

Well folks, all the above practically sums up who I am, more or less, don't you agree?? ;)

A Trip to the Museum...

Today, woke up around 9am and decided to proceed with my plan to go the Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館).. Actually I planned to visit 2 museums within the Ueno Park vicinity, but in the end I had only time to visit one..

Tokyo has many museums and most of them are concentrated within the walking distance from the Ueno Station.. Besides Tokyo National Museum, there is the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, The University Art Museum Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and The Ueno Royal Museum.. And around Tokyo, there are The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Setagaya Art Museum, Ancient Orient Museum and many many more.. So one could literally spend the whole week or even month, visiting these museums!!

It was hot in the morning.. I took Keio's Inokashira Line to Shibuya, then I transfered to the Ginza Line to Ueno. It was a short 10 minutes walk under the hot sun with some shades in between. Admission fee is 1,300 yen for adult, but I showed my Student ID and managed to get the discount for Tertiary Students. So it was 900yen 'only'.


From the TNM website, it was written 'This exhibition, "Zen Treasures from the Kyoto Gozan Temples", in commemoration of the 600th anniversary of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, presents famous works of Zen culture from the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period, from the Kyoto Gozan and related temples. '. Yes, I know, it's about Kyoto's temples/shrines and statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, AGAIN.. :p


In this exhibition I got to see some of the Gozan Temples-related artifacts that were either off limits to the public during normal times and/or were scattered all over Japan in various different museums and temples.. For example, on display is the phoenix that is perched on top of the Kinkaku-ji Temple, the photos of the interior of Kinkaku-ji Temple before it was burnt down, plenty of paintings and writings from the 13th, 14th and 15th Century and some raw paintings of Zen Masters from China, like 慧能 and 慧心.. There are also lots of statues and carvings of the temples' abbots, Kannon-bosatsu, Bodhisattvas and Buddha.

During that period of time, which coincides with China's Tang Dynasty (唐朝) , all the writings were in Kanji!! as in Chinese Kanji! 写的全是中国的汉字!! I was actually quite pleased with myself as I was able to read what was written on the paintings, scrolls, diary and etc. Although I must say their writings really put me to shame.. In most of the formal documents, like decree, scripture copies and correspondence, each and every character was written as if it was type-setted!! :o

Kyoto Gozan Temples refers to Nanzenji, the highest ranked among the Gozan temples, followed by the other five: Tenryuji, Shokokuji, Kenninji, Tofukuji, and Manjuji. Until then did I realised the importance of Nanzenji among the Zen temples in Japan, which makes me wanna go back Kyoto for a 2nd visit even more.. :)


I really loved the paintings and writings on displayed but yet no photography allowed, which is the normal practice. In the end I bought the exhibition commemorative book that cost 2,500yen that has ALL the things on display and with plenty of descriptions and information.. :)

Other than this special exhibition, there is another smaller special exhibition that has just started today, The Path of Buddha, which showcase, again, Buddha statues/carvings/etc. Of course there are also other regular exhibitions, like the 'Itabi Tablets - Stone Memorials from the Medieval Age', 'Masks and Costume for the Noh Play "Yamanba"', Japanese Archeology and many more..

All in all, I was there at TNM from around 10:30am to almost 2:30pm.. I under-estimated the time I would spend looking through all the exhibits.. even with 4 hours, I didn't go to Toyokan, which has all the Asian civilization exhibits and Hyokeikan, which is the education center.. Walked until my legs are aching.. and add to the fact that I've not eaten anything, except a small packet of crackers since last night's 6pm! I was too famished.. I was both thirsty and hungry.. There were no vending machine within the museum, at least I didnt see any. I didn't eat until I got back to my dorm, 2 hours later but I did manage to buy a drink on my way back to Ueno Station..

Maybe next week I wanna go to National Museum of Nature and Science which is having a special exhibition named, 'The Three Great Civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Central Andes: The World of Maya, Aztec and Inca'. Even its regular exhibits are interesting enough, like space exploration and DINOSAURS!! :p The special exhibition will be on open until Sep 24, so I have about 1 month to make my trip there... :)

Frustrated!! No Game to play!!

Aaarrgghhhh...

Been looking for other MMORPGs to play, rather than WoW.. but have not been very successful.. Why? Cos I'm choosy and so are the game companies...

I wanted a game where I wouldn't get PKed and I have to agree to any dueling.. sound quite simple, right? WRONG!! Of course I do not mind paying a monthly subscription fee of about USD15, just like WoW... but nope, not much luck.. All of the other games have either free for all to PvP or 'are encouraged' to PK (Player Kill, ie kill any player for the `fun` of it).. Played Lineage II in a private server before it was threatened by the official game maker and closed down.. Played WoW for a couple of months before coming over to Japan.. Played MapleStory, but didn't really like it, cos kinda too kiddish for me..

Out of the MMORPG games available out there, let me tell you about the 2 games that I had really wanted to play but can't due to some reason or another...


2nd Life
As a big fan of The Sims and a closet control-freak, 2nd Life is like my first choice of online games.. Unfortunately, 2nd Life can't run on Windows Vista! :@ It's like I am penalised for getting a new/latest laptop/PC that automatically comes with Vista!! Seriously, I think MS should work closely with Linden Grp to get 2nd Life running on Vista...


Cabal
One of the coolest games I've seen.. The combat moves and the combo of skills and weapons are awesome! Unfortunately, seems like all users from Korea, US, Japan, Thailand, Msia, Spore and India are banned from playing the game!! Only users in TW, HK and the EU get to play this free MMORPG game.. due to some licensing constrain stipulated by the game maker..

Now, I'm half-way downloading Granado Espada and hopefully it will be fun/interesting enough.. else I will have to start playing WoW again but only on a PvE server.. :( As I am sick and tired of getting killed by the opposite fractions whenever I get to a contested area to do quests... What fun is there for a high level character to kill a low leveled one?? Maybe I'm not as frustrated/twisted/whatever as those fellas are in seeing the joy in that...

Ok, finished downloading GE.. hopefully it is as good as the website says it is..

Should I or Shouldn't I??

Start playing WoW that is..

I had stopped playing World of Warcraft since Feb when I went back home for Chinese New Year.. I decided not to extend my account as I will be back in Malaysia for almost 10 days, which meant that I had to miss playing for 1/3 of the 30 day subscription.. And when I got back from Malaysia, the mad rush for the relocations due to the scholarship started and there was just no time for me to think about other things, especially MMORPG! :p

When I came over, I had thought that my studies would be quite 'senang' (Malay word for easy), so I would definitely have time to resume my adventure in Azeroth.. Not to mention getting the upgrade (the Burning Crusade)! How wrong was I... The Japanese classes was 13 period a week and 1 period for my Masters course, which came out to more than 21 hours a week, not to mention the time needed to study/revise/practice on my own... :x The traveling to school takes about 1 hour, so everyday I spent 2 hours traveling between my dorm and the school. I know I shouldn't be complaining as 1-hour traveling time is consider 'near', according to Tokyo's standard.. :o

And now I think it's a very good time for me to start WoW again.. I know myself. Whenever I start on something new and exciting, a new hobby/game/drama/etc, I will be totally absorbed by it for at least 2 full weeks. I will do nothing else but that particular activities, except to do the minimal to avoid being a 'recluse' totally.. So what better time to shut myself in my room for the next 14 days and play WoW, if not during this summer holiday!! :p I know I should be doing more studying... but the temptation of doing things other than study is ssoooooo strong..

I spent about 2-3 hours everyday doing something related to Japanese language, ie reading, revising (past lessons) or listening.. I am trying to remember more Japanese vocabularies as I realized it is one of my key weaknesses, in additions to grammar.. the only thing I had a headstart (or sort of) is Kanji. :) Once I've seen it, i can write it, but pronouncing it correctly is another issue.. :p I have about 3 more months before my JLPT 2 exam. I wouldn't want to fail it, especially it cost more than 6000yen to register for it..

So it is a struggle between my mind (knowing that I need to study hard on my Jap) and my heart (wanting to enjoy fully the life of a student again)... Any good suggestions??

Coming over and going back...

Due to some bureaucratic issue (i.e. red-tape crap), Sis is not able to come over to Japan for a visit this summer... :(

I had planned out an itinerary for her visit, including all the touristy places like Tokyo Disneyland, Disney SeaWorld, Odaiba, Ueno Zoo, etc.. Aiy.. Was hoping for her company this summer to these places.. it's always more fun with her around.. :) Although I won't be able to pamper her much with my scholarship money, but at least it will be enough to cover the minimum.. Well, next year then, with a better mastery of Japanese, I should be able to guide/experience more..

Sis isn't coming over, but Bro is going back to Malaysia.. He took some annual leaves and will be back in Malaysia for about 10 days I think..

As for myself, I think I will only go back Malaysia next year, around Chinese New Year, since school ends around 5 Feb.. I didn't want to spend 90,000yen (about SGD1,200) for a short trip. It wasn't as if this is my first time away from home.. I've been living on my own for the past 12 years, so the part of missing home has long been 'gotten used to'..

Being away from home, one tend to learn a few things..

Firstly, tell/inform them of the good things, but hide/postpone telling the bad ones. (aka 报喜不报忧)
Especially true if one is sick. What good does it do for you to tell your family back home that you are sick? It would only make them worry even more, especially when they tend to think more on the bad/worse side. The best way is to get well as soon as possible and just mention it briefly in the next conversation/correspondence.. unless of course you wanna get some sympathy and/or some T.L.C. (tender loving care) from them.. Parents have been worrying about us even since we were born, so the only filial piety action to do, at least to me, is to not let them worry more by telling them how terrible you are/were feeling, how pitiful you are/were without someone to take care of you, etc.. Personally, I think you are responsible for your own well-being, regardless of whether you are staying with family or not, and more so, if you are staying alone.


Secondly, the 2 most important things while staying away and alone from one's family are HEALTH and FRIENDS.
Unless one has experienced it before, else there is no way someone who always has family members close-by to know the loneliness and pathetic-ness of being sick alone in the room/house. When you are so weak that you are unable to even get up, laying on the bed and looking out, the empty house, no one to cook/feed you not to mention to shower you with TLC, the pitiful-ness of the situation will make even the (emotionally) strongest shed tears.. So the way around this? Either be healthy and make sure such occasions will not happen or make some very good friends who will take care of you or get marry.. (I know which solution my parents would like me to choose.. :p) For me, to depend on someone is too risky. I would rather be in-charge of how I feel, I would make sure I don't get to that stage of sickness.. Sometimes, the occasional fever /flu/cough is welcomed, in fact, especially when one is overworked and is entitled to 30 days of medical leaves.. ;)


Lastly, DEPEND on YOURSELF

Like some wise men had said before, '靠山，山倒；靠人，人跑；靠自己，最好(牢)', which translated means, 'depend on the mountain, it collapses; depend on people, they leaves; depend on oneself, the best/most secured'. I am a true believer of this saying.. No one owes us to be there for us, not even our parents. We have ourselves to praise/blame for whatever situations that we found ourselves in.. If you feel lonely, then do something about it. Find a companion, get a hobby, do something but whining about it, day in day out.. I dislike those who kept whining about something and not do anything to remedy it.. To me, either you suck it up and take it or you resolve it!!

Okay, enough rambling for today.. Time to sleep.. :)

日本的盛夏

现在正处于日本的盛夏。

每天的气温都在摄氏33-37度左右，就连晚上都有30度。。对于我这个从热带国家来的人而言，也并不如我想象中来的好过。

因为我不需要到研究室，所以每天都呆在宿舍的房间里。但由于天气实在太热了，我不得不开空调。因此可想而知，这个月的电费肯定比前几个月高出至少一倍。。:(

当初还没来之前，我对于为什么夏天要有暑假这个问题非常不解。现在自身处在盛夏的酷热之中才明白其原因。当天气又闷热干燥，处处又蝉鸣四起，令人根本无法专心于任何一件事情，除了睡觉或休息。。:p 也因为如此，每天为自己定下来温习日语的课程表都无法一一遵守，每天温习不到两个小时就开始打瞌睡。。加上自九年前开始工作以来，从来没有那么长的假期，想做的事实在太多太多了，如看书（小说、非小说）、上网、看美国/台湾/香港/日本的连续剧、玩网上游戏等等。加上我的兴趣很广，好奇心又强，任何事物都会引起我想更进一步了解其来龙去脉，所以时间还是不够用。。。 工作的时候，年假最长也不过15-20天，哪有现在当学生的暑假来得又多又长？仔细算了算，一年当中，早稻田大学至少放18个星期的暑假！！ 而这还不包括公定假期呢！ 我想其他的大学也都是大同小异吧。所以，如果不好好地利用我这两年半的学生生涯，好好地慰劳慰劳一下自己，就未免太对不起自己了。当然，书还是要念得好，日语也必须练得精， 不然就真的浪费这两年半了。

Kyoto Trip - Day 04

According to the itinerary I planned, we were supposed to visit Nishiki Food Market in the morning. But after checking with the hotel personnels and the train station masters, the Food Market (all the stores) will only open around 10.30am! Raila-chan wanted to explore Kyoto Station instead, we arranged to meet up at Nijo-jo Mae Eki at 11am to visit Nijo-jo Castle.. So the 4 of us had to find alternative place to visit in the morning.. After discussing the night before, we decided to visit the Imperial Garden instead, which is just 3 train-stops away from Nijo-jo Mae Station.. Also, we decided to cancel the trip to Kyoto International Manga Museum, as the admission fee of 1000yen was too high for our liking and also the fact that most manga are in Japanese which, at our level, we might not be able to read/enjoy.. So we decided to visit 2 temples/shrines that are near to Kyoto Station..

We checked out around 8.30am and left our luggage with the hotel concierge..

Certain part of the garden was beautiful but most of it was just rows and rows of pine trees.. The compound is HUGE, the perimeter was almost 5km!! :o There were 2 small shrines within the compound.. As we didn't get the approval in advance, we were not allowed into the Imperial Palace.. The garden had wide sandy roads, which were used for athlete training by some schools.. It was a good-weathered day.. the sun was out in full-force.. mercury rising fast..

We left the Imperial Garden and went to meet Raila-chan. As we haven't had our lunch yet, we wanted to find a place to eat.. There was none in sight when we reach Nijo-jo Mae Station. In the end, we had to go to one of the convenient stores and buy Bento/Bread/Rice rolls and eat them on the stairways! I felt bad for making them eat this way... :x

It was another BIG surprise when we reached Nijo-jo Castle... And I thought eating on the stairways was bad... The Castle was closed on Tuesdays in July and Aug!!! :x I was shocked.. I did all the researching of the places to visit in Kyoto and yet I didn't check/find out that Nijo-jo Castle was closed on Tuesdays in July and August!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How careless I was!! I knew everyone in the group was looking forward to visit this castle and I screwed it up!! Really Very Sorry guys/gals.. My BIG mistake.. :x

So we proceed to our next destination, Toji-Temple by bus.. And this was another place that exceeded my expectation..

Other than the tower in the photo, there are several big halls within the compound that houses statues of Buddhist deities.. One of them houses the Healing Buddha, 薬菩薩. There is also a lotus pond with lots of lotus flowers blooming.. I never saw real lotus in such a close range.. and they are really very beautiful.. took lots of photos of them.. there are still several halls that we didnt visit due to time constraint.. Thus Toji-Temple will be another Temple that I will revisit in the next 2 years while I'm still in Japan.. :)

We then go to Nishi-honganji Temple. It was either my bad luck or the day was jinxed, the Main Hall of Nishi-honganji Temple started renovation the day before!!! So we could only see the side Hall.. Everywhere was covered or segregated for the renovation... In the end, we left less than 45 minutes later..

As there were still time, we decided to give Nishiki Food Market a try. Raila-chan wanted to do some window-shopping at the shopping center adjacent to the Kyoto Station, so the 4 of us took the train there.. When we got there, it was not as fantastic as we expected it would be.. Maybe because we were ignorant of the food sold and merchandise on display, we were not able to appreciate them.. Frankly speaking, those food items look odd to me, rather than delicious/exotic.. Maybe the trip to the Food Market would be more interesting if we have some local Japanese to do some explaining to us.. We finished walking the entire Food Market in less 40min.. When we walked out from another exit of the Food Market, we realized that we had been there the day before!! Cos we were there in the evening, the Food Market was closed. It was just another street within the shopping area!!

After getting some souvenirs (お土産), we headed back to Kyoto Station. We decided to have our dinner and then get our luggage from the concierge. We went to the same curry restaurant at the Station for the 2nd time.. :) Instead of ordering the vegetable curry again, I ordered beef stew omelet rice.. It was delicious.. Chua-san wanted to get some お土産 from the shops nearby, so the 3 of us went back to the hotel to get our luggage.. While waiting for Chua-san, Alex-san realized that he had misplaced his card reader and went back to the hotel to inquire about it.. I was (as usual) sweating over the possibility of not making it in time for our train back.. and as usual, my worries are redundant.. In fact we got onto the platform 15min earlier.. :p

One very interesting thing, at least to me, was that it rained heavily when we got onto the platform.. The weather for these four days in Kyoto was sunny, sunny and very sunny.. So it was kinda weird for it to rain suddenly.. It was like someone up there saw to it that we had safely made it to the station and were on our way back to Tokyo, that HE/SHE decided to let it rain in Kyoto.. :D :D :D

On the trip back, as usual, Kim-chan and I chatted, Chua-san slept, Alex-san was watching anime on his laptop while Raila-chan was listening to music. Later Chua-san woke up and join in the chat.. As usual, Kim-chan and Chua-san was tugging/pulling/disturbing each other's hands/arms/hair/etc.. It was like two kids playing.. :p

We reached Tokyo around 9.15pm.. By the time I got back to the dorm, it was almost 10.30pm..

And so ended the exciting trip to Kyoto.. I must thank everyone in the group for putting up with my bad temper/mood and my bossiness during the trip.. And I sincerely apologize for any toes/feelings that I have stepped on/hurt in the trip.. Of course, not forgetting to apologize again for the big boo-boo that I've made for Nijo-jo Castle.. 本当に　ごめなさい。。

Lastly, do mark my word, I will be back to Kyoto for another visit, at least once.. :p




Click here for the photos I took during the trip...

Kyoto Trip - Day 03

Had a good sleep on the night of Day 02, but still managed to wake up early...

Had a quick breakfast of bread and tea. Met Raila-chan at Shijo Station at about 7.30am.. We all bought ourselves 2 day passes, one for buses (500yen) and one for subways (600yen). We were supposed to find the correct bus stop for Bus No. 59 that will take us to Ryoan-ji Temple, northwest of Kyoto town center.

Kim-chan was really very 'handy' in the sense that her Japanese was the best among us, and so she became our group's spokeswoman.. :p The Bus 59 that we stopped was actually going back to the bus terminal, but all of us didn't really care. We just treated it as a sight-seeing trip around Kyoto before going to Ryoan-ji Temple..

We reached Ryoan-ji Temple around 5 min past 9am.. The place was quite quiet which suited me just fine.. We walked around the garden outside the Temple and took lots of pictures.. Then we went in.


Here we saw the famous stone garden of Ryoan-ji Temple. The stone garden was wide, so there is no way I could take a photo of all the stones.. There were 5 groups of stones amist the sandy surface.. Those stones are in all different shapes and sizes. The picture beside is my favorite group of stones... We sat down to appreciate the (Zen-ness of the ) stone garden, and to enjoy the shade and breeze the Main Hall had provided... About 9.30am, crowds began to turn up in droves.. and so we left for our next destination, the famous Kinkaku-ji Temple.

Today's itinerary was to visit 6 temples/shrines, all via the Kyoto City Bus. And so we took the bus. Same bus No. 59 but in the opposite direction as the bus passed by Kinkaku-ji Temple before reaching Ryoan-ji Temple.. And boy, the weather was getting hotter by the minute... :o

Being one of the 2 most well-known temple in Kyoto, Kinkaku-ji Temple was crowded with people!! Tourists and locals alike were out to see the famous golden temple of Kyoto...


Looking at the photo on the right, the Temple does lived up to it's name.. The garden and the pond was very beautiful, not to mention that the temple was literally glittering in the sun.. Everyone kept taking photos, at every angle... :) Too bad my camera's zoom isn't as powerful as I would like... There were lots of Caucasian tourists... It was a funny feeling hearing so much English being spoken here in Japan.. :p At the temple, I bought myself (yet) another pendant. Since there wasn't any nice pendant for wishes, I bought one for 'Happiness' (幸).. :)

Then we went back to Shijo Kawaramachi area for our lunch before heading to Ginkaku-ji Temple.. As Raila-chan doesn't eat seafood, and the rest of us wanted to eat sushi, we decided to split up for lunch and then meet up again at 1pm.. We were all famished. The sushi shop was those conveyor-belt typed where you take what you wanna eat.. And so, Chua-san, Kim-chan and me ate 8 plates of sushi, while Alex-san ate 11 plates.. :) 8 plates of sushi costed less than 900yen! That's quite cheap, for Japan's standard..

After lunch, we again took a bus (No.32) to Ginkaku-ji Temple.. After seeing Kinkaku-ji Temple with its magnificent golden aura, it was kinda disappointing to see Ginkaku-ji Temple.. it was..

black!! Not silver as its name suggested.. It seemed that the builder wanted to cover it in silver, but due to unforeseen circumstances failed to do so.. So this temple remained as a 'Work-in-Progress' forever... but comparatively and truthfully, the garden of Ginkaku-ji Temple was much nicer that the garden of Kinkaku-ji Temple.. Lots of cool shades and nice stone paths.. Also, the crowd here is comparative to the crowd in Kinkaku-ji Temple.. Think we spent less than 1 hour here.. :p

We have 3 more temples to visit and we have less than 4 hours left.. The last temple/shrine was Yasaka Shrine which closes at 4pm. There was not enough time for it, so we decided not to go there.. The last two temples/shrines were Nanzen-ji Temple and Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Personally, I wanted to go to Nanzen-ji Temple. Why? I can't really put my finger to it, it was just a feeling.. just like Sanjusangen-do Temple.. I just felt that I had to go there.. So we decided to make a quick stop over at Nanzen-ji Temple before heading to Kiyomizu-dera Temple..

And we all didn't regret that decision... In fact, once there at Nanzen-ji Temple, we had hoped for more time to explore as the compound of Nanzen-ji Temple was HUGE!!

There were lots of gardens, meditation halls, buildings to see.. This building in the photo was San Mon. To get up to the top floor, one has to pay \500. In the end, only Chua-san and me went up. To me, since we came all the way to Kyoto to sight-see, why save that small amount of (comparatively speaking) money and miss out on the scenery?? Ah boy, was that 500yen well-spent.. From the top, the view was magnificent! :) and not to mention the treasure on display inside the Hall, which can only be seen from a small window the size of a A4 paper!


There were lots of unvisited gardens and halls... but we had to leave as the bus would take a while to get us to Kiyomizu-dera Temple and it was almost 4.30pm... In the end, I for one, will definitely go back to Nanzen-ji Temple for a second visit.. :)

We had to walk a long way from the bus stop to get to the Temple.. We reached Kiyomizu-dera Temple slightly after 5pm.. as the Temple closes at 6pm, we had about an hour to explore.. Lots of tourists at the place too.. Think everyone leaves this Temple as the last place to visit as its closing time was one of the latest among all the temples..

I must profess that after seeing so many temples/shrines today, Kiyomizu-dera Temple still didn't fail to amaze me.. The temple's platform was supported by beams of wooden columns and from there one can see the view of Kyoto.. At that time, it was near sunset, thus the view was really beautiful..

There was a shrine within the compound, when prayed at would help one succeed in finding an appropriate love match, but too bad it was already closed when we arrived.. :p And then there was this waterfall [which is have therapeutic properties, and drinking from the three different streams is said to confer health, longevity and success in studies - I only knew about this after the trip.. :p] We queued and drank the water.. Before drinking it, I was expecting some bland tasting water but it wasn't. It was crystal clear and was really tasty and sweet.. I know it's kinda difficult to imagine water being sweet, but it really was.. [I kept wondering which stream did I drink from?? If I knew about these 'properties', I would have drank from all three streams!! ;)]

As none of us were interested in watching any culture shows, the original plan to watch Kyoto Traditional Culture Performance was canned. As Raila-chan's feet was hurting, she decided to have an early night.. So all of us went back to Shijo Station to send her back to her hotel..

But to the 4 of us, the night was still very young.. so we decided to do some window-shopping at around Shijo and Sanjo.. But first we had to have our dinner.. All of us decided that we want to have something good for dinner.. so we went around looking for a not-too-expensive but good restaurant.. then we saw a 店員 giving out flyers for 10% discount and so we went in.. As Alex-san and Kim-chan was very interested in hearing the legend of White Snake and Journey to the West (Saiyuki - 西遊記), I spent the whole duration of the dinner telling stories.. :) When it was time for the bill, we took out the flyer and asked for the 10% discount, the cashier told us, stone-faced, that the flyer was for the restaurant next door!! :D You can imagine how embarrass we were at that time!! We kept laughing when we got out from the restaurant... What a way to end the night.. :) The dinner was a treat by the guys.. Arigatoo!

As the night was (still) young, only 9pm, we decided to have a drink at Starbucks.. This time, Kim-chan treated us each a drink.. Arigatoo!! I ordered Mango Ice-blend.. :) We talked.. somehow the topic turned from France's riot last year to France's immigrant issues to Islam.. And only Alex-san and me were talking.. Chua-san and Kim-chan were listening and soon became bored.. so we all went back to the hotel around 10pm..

And this was what happened on Day 3 of Kyoto Trip..




Click here for the photos I took during the trip...

Kyoto Trip - Day 02

Didn't really sleep well, as I was worried about the day's itinerary.. but from her deep breathing, I know that Kim-chan had a good sleep.. ;) but I did manage to get some shut-eye.. so not too bad..

The day's itinerary is to visit Koka and Konan, both Ninja towns... :) I couldn't get any map to guide us there..

This was the first time I've been out of Tokyo and be in the Japan countryside. And frankly, I love it.. It was peace and quiet, with the vast rice fields and mountains as far as the eyes can see... And so we walked..

Took us about 30min to get to the Ninja Estate.. and seriously I was kinda disappointed by the sight of the so-called Ninja village.. It was just a typical Japanese house that has some of the 'traps' or trap-doors built in and some shelves with some ninja artifacts on display.. Although it was fun crawling and climbing through those secret passages, I was expecting more.. Maybe it was more fun for the kids than adults.. The kids got to change into Ninja clothes and had fake swords as weapon..


Some of the artifacts (real thing or not, I have no idea) on display/sale... For those who know me would know that I am fascinated by swords and guns (or at least the replicas), thus it was no surprised that I bought a small samurai sword.. :)

One of the guides, an ojiisan was trying very earnestly to explain the history and background of Ninjas to us, but it was a great pity that our (still) poor mastery of the Japanese language had limited our understanding of what he was trying to convey.. In the end we had to give up trying to make sense of what he was saying and just wandered off on our own..

We rested a while and asked for further directions on how to get to our next destination, the Ninja Village.. Somehow the people in the Ninja Estate don't seem to know where we wanna go and suggested that we go to another place with a Ninja Museum.. but all of us are determined to go to Ninja Village.. So all of us decided to get to Koka (甲賀) Station and ask the Station Master for directions..

As Raila-chan refused to walk in the hot sun back to Konan (甲南) Station, Kim-chan accompanied her to call for a taxi. The guys and me decided to walk back to the station taking the same route we came..

Then we manage to get on the train to Konan (甲南) Station. Luckily for us, the Station Master at Konan (甲南) Station knew where we wanna go and even told us that there is a free transport from the Station to the Ninja Village. He was very kind to even call the Ninja Village and arranged for us to be picked up! We waited almost an hour for the van..

The Ninja Village was again, to me at least, a disappointment.. Again, I was expecting more, especially with its 1000yen admission fee.. The whole place was quite run-down, with many of the places and routes overrun by weeds and negligence. That place may have seen its glorious days perhaps some two decades ago.. With the 1000yen admission fee, we still had to pay 300yen to try the Shiriken, which none of us did.. Alex-san and Chua-san tried the flying-fox, which was kinda run-down too, with mud all over the place... we spent slightly more than 1 hour there..

We got back to Konan (甲南) Station around 4pm and took the train back to Kyoto.. Since Raila-chan wanted to rest early for the next day, we parted ways in Kyoto Station. The 4 of us went to have dinner at one of the restaurants selling curry.. It was a good satisfying meal for the day.. Later we decided to do Karaoke at one of the Karaoke Lodge near our hotel, after all of us had washed up...

Went back to the hotel and had a good shower.. Rested until 7:15pm before making our way to the Karaoke place.. Since only Alex-san has been to a Karaoke once, we didnt know what to expect and told the guy in-charged that we will sing for 2 hours, which will cost us about 4200yen.. pretty reasonable price for 4 person..

And so we sang.. I wasn't in the best mood the whole day and this karaoke session was like the last chance to make my day.. and so I SANG!! :D I think I sang the most songs that night, while Kim-chan sang the least as she kept being interrupted by phone calls.. Although the choices of Chinese songs are very limited and the music videos are non-original, I just kept requesting for songs.. My throat was beginning to hurt due to the extended exposure of summer sun during the day, but I just kept singing.. hahahaha... Think I sang almost 50% of the time.. with Chua-san in 2nd place and Alex-san in 3rd.. In the end we extended one more hour, making it 3 hours.. :p

Think I would have continue singing had we not have an early day the next day.. as I had decided not to worry so much about whether the trip is going smoothly as planned or not anymore, I slept much better that night..

Thus ended the 2nd Day in Kyoto..



Click here for the photos I took during the trip...

Kyoto Trip - Day 01

Woke up around 4:30am on 4 Aug.. Had to meet the group in Tokyo Train Station at 6:45am.. Didn't really sleep well the night before as I had been sleeping late the past few nights due to the eGov ranking tasks...

Anyway, met with Chua-san at 5:40am at the dorm's lobby and we took the train to Shibuya. Then from Shibuya, we took the Ginza line to Asakasa-mitsuke and changed to the Marunouchi Line to Tokyo.. We reached Tokyo Station around 6.30am.. Went to get some sandwich and a drink on the way to the rendezvous point.. Met Alex-san on the way... Around 6:45am, Raila-chan arrived.. and Kim-chan was still no where to be seen.. She has our tickets for the Shinkansen and the hotel accommodations, so we were pretty anxious.. Luckily, she made it by 6:55am and we get up the train on time, at 7:06am.. :)

Didnt manage to take any photos of the Shinkansen train on the way to Kyoto, but did took some on our way back.. The train was clean (not a suprise) and spacious.. plenty of leg space.. It's arranged in 3-2.. Think we took Hikari for both to and from Kyoto.. The journey took about 2.5 hours.. As usual, Chua-san slept almost immediately after we were seated.. The gals chatted away while Alex-san was working hard on his PC... The journey was very pleasant.. :)

We reached Kyoto Station around 9:40am.. We went to our hotel to deposit our luggages as the check-in time is after 1pm... No problem there.. Then we started walking to go to our first destination, Sanjusangen-do Temple (三十三間堂), the Temple with a thousand buddhist deities...

From the map that we have, it seems near enough from the Station, so I put it as a walking trip.. With the temperature getting hotter, the 'short' walk turned into a 20-min walk.. And the map that I've seen (on the Internet) and on the booklet was badly scaled.. We had to ask people along the way if we were going the right direction...

We managed to get there around 10:30am.. It was the first Temple I've ever visited in Japan, and I just fell in love with this particular Temple...

Everything there looks sooo beautiful.. The trees, the stone paths and the Temple buildings.. I took lots of photos, in fact throughout the trip, I took more than 400 photos!! :D

And when I went into the Main Hall, I was transfixed.. There were 1001 statues of Buddhists deities, with an additional 28 bigger ones lining in front of them!! Too bad we are not allowed to take pictures of these statues... I donated some money to light up 2 candles on each side of the main altar.. I could really spend the whole day just looking at these statues.. they looked sooo serene... There are 33 different kinds of statues within those 1001 deities..

On the way out from the main hall, as usual, there are pendants, scriptures, tablets, etc for sale.. I bought a small pendant for 'Dreams come true'.. :) while Kim-chan bought one pendant for her sister for 'Safe Delivery'..

Of course after getting out from the main hall, we went around taking more photos... We spent about 2 hours there.. After that we walked back to the hotel (New Miyako Hotel) to check in..

On the way, we decided to have our lunch.. And the Kyoto Station has lots of restaurants with some cheap food to offer.. we went to one small restaurant and had our lunch.. I had Gyuu-don (牛丼) with yaki soba.. Ooishi.. Alex-san and Chua-san had the same thing too, while Kim-chan had Omelet rice and Raila-chan had Curry rice..

We got back slightly before 1pm and managed to get into the queue for check-in. We were lucky enough to get rooms right next to the lift lobby.. I heard so many ghost stories about corner rooms that I was praying hard not to get them... In the end, we got Room 836 and Room 837, the guys took the latter room.. The room's window oversees the Kyoto Station.. not a bad sight.. :) The room is wider than I would have expected and is pretty new.. So no complains about the room.. :)

After we checked in, we had to accompany Raila-chan to her hotel for her to check in.. We asked the hotel staff the direction and was shocked to hear that it was 2 train stations away! From the map, it seems that our hotels were near to each other.. well, so much for touristy maps.. So we had to get on the train to get to Shijo Station (四条駅) and walk from there.. Took us about 5 min to find the hotel.. and Raila-chan checked-in without any problem.. She was given Room 1016, which is also near the lift lobby..

Then off we go to our next destination, Tenryu-ji Temple (天竜寺) in Arashiyama (嵐山).. We walked from the hotel to Shijo-Oomiya (四条大宮駅) Station to take the Keifuku Railway.. The journey was about 30min..

We reached the Temple around 3pm and started our tour.. Luckily there wasn't many tourists there..


We paid the entrance fee to see the garden and the Main Hall... Lots of people were there taking a rest at the Main Hall, sitting down on the tatami and admiring the scenery of the garden.. It has a nice pond that reflects the trees and rock formations surrounding it... It was very beautiful... Just like those postcards.. The place was quiet too.. It was cooling too, as the ceiling of the Main Hall was high..


In front of the Main Hall, looking out into the garden is a picture of the Cloud Dragon (雲龍図).. I managed to get a picture of it, although there are lots of reflections..

After a short rest at the Main Hall, we walked around the garden.. Again, the garden was big and well-kept.. Lots of stone paths and stone stairways... All throughout the walk, Alex-san was teasing Kim-chan with the rest 'chipping' in with some remarks here and there.. The group was bonding, which was good.. :) Although I would have preferred that the bonding not to be on Kim-chan's 'expense' so to speak..


We went to Togetsukyo Bridge, beside Tenryu-ji.. We walked along the banks of Hozu River.. Again, the scenery was fantastic... We would have walked further down the river had not one of us was having some problem with her legs.. The rest was understanding enough to go along..

When we got back to Shijo-Oomiya (四条大宮駅) Station, we decided to find a place for dinner.. We went into a small isakaya.. we ordered a couple of dishes and ate.. As Raila-chan was not a fan of seafood, she ordered separately.. After that we accompanied Raila-chan back to her hotel before getting on the train to get back to our hotel near Kyoto Station... Along the way, we went into a 100yen shop and a convenient store to get some food for the next day's breakfast..

So much for Day One...




Click here for the photos I took during the trip...

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

Yes, I woke up this morning and the first thing I remembered was that today is Singapore's birthday... :)

All of the years staying in Singapore, I think I made good use of the holiday to go back to Malaysia to visit my parents.. except the first 3 years as an undergrad in NUS.. It's one of the few public holidays during this time of the year that I can use.. since I always go back Malaysia for Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb, Jul/Aug is just nice for another quick/short 'balik kampung' trip...

If you ask me, which countries' national celebration is more fun/exciting/inspires patriotism/etc, I can't say... Malaysia is where I was born and grew up.. but Singapore was where I wised-up (I hope, :p)... Malaysia has my family while Singapore is where I made good friends...

Happy 42nd birthday Singapore!

Hot Hot HOT!!

This is the first time I'm experiencing summer in a temperate country..

Coming from the tropics, with the average daily temperature between 28-30, I (thought I) wouldn't have given a second thought when the thermometer reaches 35 degree... but this summer is really hot.. at least for me.. Think my utility bill for this month might reach 5 digits, as I've been switching on the air-conditioner almost 24hrs a day, yes, even during the night... IT'S SO HOT!!! :o

Just got back from Kyoto yesterday night.. :) It was a hot hot hot 4 days in Kyoto, but I'm not complaining.. It was better to be hot than to have rain... I drank an average 2 liter of water or maybe more per day, and I don't even have to go to the ladies... :p

Took more than 400 photos during that 4-day trip to Kyoto.. I will upload them onto dotPhoto by this weekend and also write my experience for the trip.. It was fun and Kyoto is really very beautiful... Will definitely go back there again soon... :)

The last few days..

Well, the last few days were spend completing the assignments given to me by my Senpais' of Obi Lab.. Each of us are to be responsible for a few countries. We are to surf the websites of these countries and gather informations on the maturity of their e-Government initiatives.. It was pretty hard shifting through all the information published on these websites.. I'm lucky in a sense that the countries I'm in-charged of are countries that I'm familiar with.. But it was a mad rush and there are so many websites I need to search for and reference to....

After coming back from Mt Fuji and recuperating for a couple of days, I have about 1 week to complete this assignment, and add to that I need to work out the itinerary of the Kyoto trip.. I hate to go to a place and waste time on founding our way around.. so I try to plan out the trip so we wouldn't have to spend time wondering around or being lost...

Also I went back to my graduate school to hand in my Masters enrollment form. I went to the Post Office too to pay the fee for the JLPT exam this Dec.. Run several errands in one day.. in the end, had a slight fever :x that Wednesday night as it was pretty hot and sunny and I walked a lot under the sun that day.. Fortunately now, I've recovered..

Will be going to Kyoto tomorrow... Will be spending the next 4 days there.. :) But according to the weather report, there is a 40% chance that the next 2 days will be raining.. hopefully we are lucky enough to have that 60% chance of it not raining there... otherwise, I would need to find alternatives to the planned itinerary..

So "Rain, Rain GO AWAY!! Come again next Saturday!!" :p