Fall Semester starts

Tomorrow onwards, for the next 4 months is the Fall Semester of 2007.. And officially, my 2 years Master's course starts tomorrow too..

Taking 5 Japanese classes and 6 Masters subjects this semester.. Other than that, I have to study for my JLPT in Dec and then do my translations, so it should be a busy semester for me..

Running nose..

The weather is getting colder and my body is, again, reacting to it..

I should be downstairs practising my Karate now, but yet I am up in my room, sneezing away, feeling miserable, a handkerchief wet with 'you-know-what' beside me.. I am frequently drinking warm water and trying not to let my body get dehydrated.. Wearing 2 t'shirts and long pants, with my windows only slightly ajar so to allow some air in and not let the room be too stuffy..

This means that I wouldn't be able to know my karate promotion result today too.. :( will have to wait one more week... :( :(

Today, I was working on my Senpai's web survey project.. It was one of the first major public survey to be undertaken by my research lab, so lots of things had to be discussed and decided by my Senpai and Sensei.. Me being a 'junior' in the lab, I can only work when I've gotten enough information and instructions from them, although I did offer some of my opinions and suggestions to help them along.. So far, I am able to deliver what they wanted, and maybe more.. :p

Results out!

Today went to school to register for my Japanese classes..

Met up with Chua and Alex first, since the three of us aren't Bekka student. Bekka students are students who are studying Japanese only for a year, like Chris, Raila and the Kang Shifu gang.. Kim-chan is still Missing-In-Action. Haven't heard from her since she went back to Korea after our Kyoto trip in mid Aug.. :(

I signed up for 5 different Japanese classes, as follows:

Listening - Level 3E (Mondays, 9am)
Reading - Level 3E (Tuesdays, 9am)
Pronunciation - Level 3E (Tuesdays, 1pm)
Oral Expression - Level 3E (Wednesdays, 9am)
Grammar - Level 3E (Fridays, 9am)

I took more oral or spoken Japanese classes as I do not have much opportunity to practice speaking Japanese. Since I will be studying for JLPT 2 on my own, so I think the written portion should still be manageable to self-study..

Together with these 5 Japanese classes, I plan to take 6 subjects from my graduate school.. So it should be a busy semester for me.. yet still, I managed to arrange my timetable in such a way that my Thursdays are free and I have only 1 class on Wednesdays!! :p :p So I get to study 3.5 days and rest 3.5 days... ;) Although I must say that my Fridays are super heavy, I have 4 classes and 1 seminar from 9am to 9:30pm!

After registering for our Jap classes, the three of us went for lunch at the school canteen.. think it was one of the few rare occasion that the place was deserted.. I had a teppanyaki hamburg steak and rice.. We ate and talked... Then we went our separate ways as every one of us needed to go back to our labs..

I went to my graduate school, GITS and requested for my results for last semester. The result was out since 14 Sep, but I was too lazy to come all the way to school just for the result. My rationale was that if I did badly for that one Masters subject that I took last semester, I can always NOT transfer it over and just retake it again this semester to try for better result.. but fortunately I was wrong.. :D


When I saw this I did a second take.. Wow.. I've gotten an A for my Masters subject (CIO Strategy) and an A* for my Japanese Language!! Seriously, I haven't seen 2 As together on a result slip for a long while.. maybe not since my SPM (O level equivalent)!! :p Even in NUS, I never gotten 2 As within the same semester... Well, looks like I would need to transfer this subject over after all.. :) This really gave me the motivation to strive for good results for this Masters degree.. Imagine how cool it would be if my Masters transcript is filled with As and Bs.. :p :p :p Think I would need to do more than just day-dreaming about it but I think it is doable...

Hopefully I can maintain this momentum and keep going... :)

I.S.F.J.

Based on the Myers Briggs model that's my career personality type..

Some of the things written with regards to my career personality type from quiz taken at Tickle.com...

You are a strong team player and believe the needs of the group come before the individual. You generally care about the people around you, which allows you to provide a personal touch at your workplace. That sense of caring allows you to feel personal accomplishment and acceptance from your co-workers who know they can turn to you for help. You are generous with your time and spirit and look to make the present moment better for everyone.

Your emotional strength combined with a pragmatic approach to work makes you a strong asset. You don't like juggling multiple projects at once and would rather get one project off your desk at a time. Because of your internal value system, you don't need false flattery from others. You have a strong work ethic and inspire others by your example. Because of this, you are a strong leader on any team. To you, your work speaks for itself.

And according to them, these are some of the criteria that I should look for in a workplace.

• A traditional work environment with established rules and procedures
• A place where work capitalizes on your ability to memorize facts and figures
• A place where you can work closely with a few people who share similar beliefs and values
• A place that demands a minimal amount of networking and public speaking engagements
• A place where you can see your work result in improving people's lives
• A place where practical thinking and judgment are rewarded
• A place that will allow you to devote energy to one project at a time

A few more things...

When if comes to work, you:

• Express and respond to a wide range of emotions in yourself and in others
• Motivate others to produce their best work
• Are successful at serving and assisting people on a one-one basis
• Record information accurately
• Follow through and complete assignments
• Accurately use your five senses to distinguish sounds, shades of color, scents, and tastes
• Have an accurate sense of direction

Having this skill set means you have natural leadership ability, and tend to lead with a sense of emotion. You like to "work with" people and not have people "work for" you. In other words, you appreciate the people on your team, but also encourage independent work. You value personal relationships and enjoy helping people develop their skills for better overall performance.

I must admit that most of the above statements are pretty true and accurate.. I dislike starting a new project before the loose ends of a previous project are tied.. I prefer to deal with a few people rather than a big crowd.. I like to digest information and plan/action based on what is possible rather than speculating what might be possible based on gut feel/6th sense/etc.. I am more realist than a dreamer.. I would tell you the good, the bad and the ugly of things and let you make the choice than to tell you what you should do.. I like to work with a small group of people that I could click and work on a big/difficult project than to have to mediate warring factions within a big group for a small project..

Of course, what I dislike to do might not be the one I am poor at.. what I like to do might not be the one that pays me the most.. what I like to do might not be what is expected of me.. what I like to do might not be what I will get to do..

So in the end, what I like to do does not constrain what I will be doing in future... :p

Mid Autumn's Festival.. 中秋节。。

Today is the 15th of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, which coincides with the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar in the northern hemisphere... There are many legends and folk-lore regarding this festival and some of the things we eat or do on this day.. but unfortunately, this festival is also one of the most consumerized Chinese festivals.. instead of emphasizing the tradition of family reunion, we are bombarded with the message of giving exquisitely packaged mooncakes that are just an excuse (by the shops) to charge the consumers more for the same old fashioned mooncakes.. It is such a lucrative business that even the hotels are joining the act every year..

《水调歌头》
（宋） 苏轼

明月几时有？
把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？
我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒！
起舞弄清影，何似在人间？
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？
人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。
但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

This is a famous poem by a poet during the Song Dynasty which was composed into a song, sang by Faye Wong in the 90s.. 苏东坡的诗，但是是王菲把它给唱红了。。相信大家对这首诗或歌曲不会感到陌生吧？！

Happy Mid Autumn's Festival, wherever you are..
不管你身处何方，中秋节快乐！

I AM IN!!

Officially as of today, I am a Master's student of GITS, Waseda University! :)

Went to the GITS Entrance ceremony today at Honjo Campus...

Two main reason for going to the ceremony.. Firstly, I want to feel connected to my Graduate School and this is the best way to do it.. I get to meet fellow first year Masters students and see all the Professors of GITS, which some of them I would not see at all as I will not be taking any of their classes at all.. At the very least, I know how they look like.. :p Secondly, I want to see Honjo Campus, which is located at Saitama-ken, about 1.5 hours train/bus ride from Nishi-Waseda (main campus). Honjo Campus is the most high-tech place with fiber optic internet connections and sophisticated equipments..

Got up about 7:30am and left my room around 8:30am.. Reached GITS Building 29-7 around 9.30am. Rested a while and had my breakfast. Then went to the admin office to wait for the bus to Honjo Campus. If by train, it would cost me about 1,500yen to get there from Takanadobaba Station.. Meet one of Obi-Sensei's new PhD (Japanese) student.. We talked a bit.

The bus left the campus about 15mins late as we had to wait for some students who had some miscommunication. The bus was only 60% full.. The journey by bus took roughly 1.5 hours and we reached Honjo Campus slightly before 12pm.

Mmmm... How should I describe the place?? It was practically as 'ulu' (means isolate or remote in Malay) as you can get.. It was really just a few buildings in the middle of nowhere! There were plenty of wide empty spaces with trees and car parks.. I felt like I was back in Malaysia at some housing estate next to the highway.. In a way, it was the prefect place for doing research and development as there was no distractions at all!!! There is only 1 restaurant at the whole campus.. Didn't feel like eating at that restaurant, so I didn't... Went walking around the place and took a few photos.. Met a fellow Malaysian lady, who is from the government, who will be in Prof. Urano's lab.. she and her 2 friends didn't eat too, as they were fasting...


The entrance ceremony started around 1:30pm. All the professors were seated in from of a small lecture hall facing the new students.. First it was the Dean, Prof. Urano's welcome speech. From his speech, we got to know that in this new intake, there are 34 new Masters students and 10 PhD students, out of which 38 are foreign students!! :o That's more than 85% of the intake of this semester.. Then it was the congratulatory address by Prof. Mochida, who is the CTO of France Telecom Japan. After that it was a short self introduction by all the Professors of GITS from all 3 research areas..

Some of the Professors are humorous while some are serious.. Some told us to work hard and go to the research lab everyday, while some told us to enjoy our two or three (for PhD students) years stay in GITS... Some of their English were very good, while some were barely understandable.. But one common message was sent out to us loud and clear, all of them want us to be the dedicated, hardworking and contributing students of GITS.. which I do plan to do so in my next 2 years.. :)

After the self-intro, a short break and then it was a scholarship award presentation. It was then followed by a brief guidance of the three areas of study for GITS by 3 Professors and the school admin procedures by Kishimoto-san..

At around 4:30pm we were ushered in to the only restaurant in the campus for a reception. The food was okay, but I didn't really get to eat a lot as I was talking to Obi-Sensei and some of my fellow new labmates.. Two from the Philippines and one from Taiwan, all guys... Met a lady from China and another lady from Taiwan from other professors' labs too... Think we will be seeing each other rather often in classes in the future.. There were some entertainment by a group of Japanese Tai-ko (Big drum) players and it was quite entertaining.. We ended the reception singing (in gusto) the Waseda University Anthem. :)

The bus back to Nishi-Waseda left Honjo Campus around 6pm and by the time I reached my room it was almost 8:30... It was a tiring but fruitful day.. :)

Prior to the ceremony I was given my new Student Card, one that proclaims my status as an official tertiary student (no longer a research student), one that I could now use to 'claim' any tertiary student discounts.. :)

Tomorrow, I will be going back to Waseda to register for my Japanese classes and at the same time settle some of my admin stuff that are still pending at GITS.



Some photos of Honjo Campus

人生无常

昨天从父亲那儿听到了个消息，只能用“晴天霹雳”来形容。。 :(

到底是什么可怕的消息呢？我唯一一位堂哥竟然罹患了癌症！！:o :o :o

堂哥只比我大一岁，不抽烟不喝酒，没有不良嗜好，是个公认的有为的好好先生。未婚。今年年初又再度被升了职。正处于壮年，人生的辉煌点，事业的冲刺期。万万没想到，他竟然在几天前被证实患上了肺癌！！而且癌细胞已开始扩散到骨髓了。。。

在我的十位叔伯之中，已有两位叔叔因肝癌而逝世了。祖父也是因为抽了将近40几年的烟而得了肺癌过世的。而祖母也是因高血压及糖尿病所产生的并发症离开了人间。。所以我们吴家好像在遗传基因方面就已经略处劣势了。但这一切都不比听到了这个消息来得震惊。

我承认自己有一般人的通病，就是“这件事是不会发生在我身上的啦。。”所以当我一听到这消息，真的有一种当头棒喝的感觉。一个生活那么健康正常，不吃喝嫖赌，只大我一岁的堂哥竟然成为了癌症统计中的一个数字！！相比之下，我相信我自己（不管是平常还是二十多岁时）应该比他多喝了点酒，比他更会暴食，因为单看身材就知道了。（仔细想一想我好像比他还壮还大只）所以突然之间，惊觉自己也不是“金刚不坏之身”了。“病”和“死”已经不只是属于“他人”的问题及可能性了。。

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain.

所以我将会更珍惜我自己，更会为自己而活，会更加努力不去理会他人的眼光或世俗的期待，去选择我自己要的而不是别人认为我应该要的。我绝不要自己活在任何后悔之中。当然我不会突然变成一匹脱缰的野马，变堕落去尝试一些非法事物毒品等等。我只会更有理由不为他人的事和物去烦，去操心。

我坚信只要他本人不放弃，任何事情都会有转机的。也因为他正处壮年，身体的负荷及康复的能力也一定比一般人来得高和强，所以堂哥，你要加油哦！不到最后一刻绝对不能放弃！！大家都会在你身旁支持你的！！

A Trip to the Museum II

Woke up early last Thursday and felt that I wanna go out of my room.. so I decided to visit the special exhibition, "The Three Great Civilizations of Mesoamerica & Central Andes - The World of Maya, Aztec and Inca" at the National Museum of Nature and Science, near Ueno Park.. It was until 24th Sep only, so I had only a few days to visit.. I had planned to see this exhibition since the beginning of the vacation, but I was just plain lazy to get out of my room..

When I finally got to the museum, it was around 10:30am and already there was a queue at the ticket counter!! The admission was 1,400yen. No tertiary student discount.. :( When I got into the exhibition, it was packed!! :o Lots of people, old people mostly were already there viewing the exhibits...

Lots of the folks rented a audio tape player kinda thing with earphones at 500yen, which will explain specific important or interesting exhibits in details.. Too bad it was only in Japanese.. but I think this kind of audio explanation device is a norm at most special exhibitions in Japan.. this will definitely help visitors understand more in depth of the exhibitions instead of just browsing through (走马看花). There was a strict No Phone, No Food & Drinks and No Photography Allowed regulations in this exhibition..

First was the Maya civilization.. Things that I was most impressed were the Mayan script, their art pieces on human figures, especially being craved onto jades or stones and the wide usage of jade in almost everything they do. For the Aztec, I was most amazed by their calendar. Instead of using numbers, the Aztec used signs (jaguar, serpent, rabbit, deer, etc) to denote days.. Their calendar has only 260days. The Inca was the most interesting civilization, at least to me.. I was most fascinated by their majestic lost city, Machu Picchu. :o :o There was a large, detailed scale model of Machu Picchu, the famous "Lost City of the Incas" that was rediscovered in 1911 by archaeologist Hiram Bingham at the exhibition.. Other than that, I was mesmerized by the fact that the Inca were very rich with gold that they had their armor and costumes made of gold.. but unfortunately during the Spanish Conquest, almost all these gold were seized, melt and taken back to Spain.. :(

However, one common ritual among these 3 civilizations which I have problem accepting, but not understanding, is the practice of human sacrifices.. In the exhibition, there are plenty of artifacts that deals directly or indirectly with human sacrifices.. Lots of skulls on display, with many of them being deformed on purpose or being made holes at the sides to 'hang' them up nicely.. Lots of sacrificial knifes, containers (for hearts especially), pedestals, and paintings too.. Not even kids are being spared from this ritual... :o :o :o


I spent less than 90 minutes at this special exhibition.. Lots of reason for this.. Firstly, the crowd is too big. I cant even look at an exhibit without having to apologize or cut queue.. The crowd was almost 99% Japanese, so the basic courtesy was there, however, some of the old gentlemen were just too oblivious to the crowd around them.. They would just bump into you or stop suddenly in front of you or just start gesturing (pull their pants, stick their arms out, etc)... Luckily this is Japan, so the worst here is still not the worst that I've experienced.. :p Another thing is that most of the folks who were there were kinda on the short side, so I had no problem looking over their heads or their shoulders.. :p ;) :p Just one regret, my Japanese still sucks... All the exhibits were labeled and explained in Japanese, so my understanding of what were written was only about 30-40%.. :(

After the special exhibition, I went to the other usual exhibitions in the Museum.. The special exhibition was at the Global Gallery Building.. There are a total of 6 floors filled with exhibits in that building.. I started from 2F.. One thing I must mentioned is that cameras are allowed and photos can be taken of any exhibits!!


2F was about Exploration Space and Progress in Science and Technology (of Japan). Saw plenty of impressive 'old' made-in-Japan gadgets.. There was even a Zero bomber! That famous red dot plane seen in most World War II movies.. :p First Japan-made automobile, first Japanese vacuum tube computer, first Japanese calculator and many more Japanese firsts..

My feelings while walking around the 3F was mixed. I was amazed by the variety of specimens available in the Museum, but at the same time I just can't help feeling sad.. Why? Cos there was one huge area filled with stuffed animal specimens!!


I did not count how many animals are there in total, but I think it will not be a small number.. If I include the numbers of bird specimens, I think there could easily be more than 100 different types of animals.. The one thing that made me feel that way are the eyes of those specimens.. They really look real to me.. Some of them really looked like they might just be startled and run off any moment..

Among the 3 basement floors, I liked B2F the most, although there are dinosaur bones/skeletons in B1F. There are 8 different themes within B2F:
1. Stroll through 4.6 billion years of History;
2. Geological Samples from Planet Earth;
3. Biotic Response to Global Environment Change;
4. Explosive Evolution of life in the Sea;
5. Plants and Animals invade the Land;
6. The Age of Mammals;
7. Secondary adaptation of Tetrapods to life in water;
8. Flying Tetrapods.


When I was at the Dinosaurs section, a group of pre-schoolers came in with their teachers.. they were so adorable, especially when all of them were wearing a red cap with a little yellow ball on top of it.. so kawaii.. All the viciousness of T-Rex, Deinonychus or Saber-toothed Tiger just melt away.. :)

After finished seeing all exhibits within the Global Gallery Building, I moved on to the Japan Gallery Building.. over here, there are 3 floors to visit.. As the building's name has indicated, all the exhibitions here are regarding the nature and history of the Japanese Islands, the evolution of its endemic organisms, the process by which the modern Japanese population was formed, and the history of Japanese people's contact with nature..

Before visiting any of the floors, I stumbled upon an omni-theater like cinema, called the Theater 360. Instead of sitting down, viewers were lead into a ball-like cinema and remain standing. The movie is projected onto the 360 degree screen around us. It's like being inside a crystal ball looking out.. Instead of surround sound, you have surround view! Every angle you look, there is something fascinating to see... Two short movies were shown, The Whisper of Green and Deep Time into a Dinosaurian World. Both was impressive and very nicely done.. I like the 2nd one as it was about dinosaurs (Triceratops vs T-Rex).. :) The movies changes every two months, so in Oct and Nov, another 2 new short movies will be introduced..

Finally, I left the Museum around 3:30pm.. So this time, I spent almost 5 hours. Again, if I had been more prepared (as in bringing my lunch along) I would have stayed longer, maybe even till the closing time (of 5pm).. When I reached my room, my head felt very heavy, it seemed to have been cramped too much information within that 5 hours.. :p :p

During normal period, without any special exhibition, the admission fee to this museum is only about 600yen.. The knowledge gained is definitely worth more than that amount.. Definitely will go again when Sis is here next year..



More photos taken at the National Museum of Nature and Science.

Some online test results..

:p :p :p

Some of the online tests that I did.. it's kinda funny and sometimes a bit retard, but what the heck! At least it makes my blog more interesting.. hahahaha....

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My pirate name is:

Black Anne Flint

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

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What Form Would Your Patronus Take?

Your Patronus would be a Phoenix!




Take this quiz!

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Which X-Men character are you most like?

You are Professor X!You are a very effective teacher, and you are very committed to those who learn from you. You put your all into everything you do, to some extent because you fear failure more than anything else. You are always seeking self-improvement, even in areas where there is nothing you can do to improve.
Take this quiz!

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Which Sex in the City Character are you?

Your Results
=> Miranda Hobbs
You are fabulously successful as you plunge through the glass ceilings and dash forward to meet your objectives. You crave structure in your days, your clothing and your relationships. You don high power suits, as you efficiently move through your agenda and to do lists ensuring everything fits in. Cuddling and cutesy is certainly not essential and you haven’t seen a reason to believe that you’d like it. You take charge, and you mean business, but your heart doesn’t always buy into this, and luckily allows for some unplanned frisky fun.

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What Race Were You Born To Be? Clear You're clear!! Some might say you're having an identity crisis, others would argue you got it all figured out. For once you're someone who wont let themselves be stereotyped, and you're open to all kinds of new things. Usually you don't go by your culture, you do what comes natural. Also you if you're like me get really pissed-off and confused when someone tells you to Hang with your own people! because you really don't have people but that's good cause all people are YOUR people. Live clear baby, live clear!!

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What Were You In A Past Life? Poet You were quite the introverted one, misunderstood and alone in your thoughts. You would stay up to three o clock in the morning with your pen, sharing your dreams and losses with your beloved journal. Your poems were inspiring mostly to your love interests. Your words were your weapon...weapon of love, that is.

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Which Egyptian God or Goddess do you represent? (Pictures!) Ma'at, Goddess of Order, Harmony, and Truth Ma'at was the goddess of physical and moral law in Egypt, of order and truth. She was not much of a goddess, but more of a concept. She was what was right; she was the way things should be.<p> You lead a very well-ordered life. You are just and keep things in balance. You know just how to react to things, and people like you for that. <p>

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What Kind of Wings Does your Soul Possess? Gargoyle Wings Your soul posesses Gargoyle Wings! You are a lonely soul seeking solace in solitude. You spend many hours brooding. Your pessimistic outlook makes the more joyous beings feel gloomy and depressed. Like a Gargoyle you sit and watch while time rolls on.

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What Faery are you? (Beautiful drawings by Amy Brown!) .:Shadow Faery:. You are the Shadow Faery. You are a very dark person, and you tend to keep to yourself a lot. You're also very practical and possibly very smart, but don't show it very much. You like lurking in the shadows and thinking of ways to avoid people. You should lighten up a bit! People could learn to love you if you just come out of the shadows a little.

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Your Greek Goddess Soulmate (With Pictures) Girls Only Goddess Athena You are most like Athena. She was the divine sponsor of warriors and heroes, she introduced several of the arts and crafts necessary for civilization, and she represented wisdom. Obviously, the goddess played a prominent role in Greek mythology. The poet Hesiod states that Athena emerged from the head of Zeus; indeed, she sprang out fully grown and armed for battle. The idea that she was born from a male underscores her relationship with men, both divine and human. In the human realm, Athena consistently becomes a protector of heroes; while in the divine she completely avoids sexual liaisons with gods.

Which Superhero are you? Your results: You are Iron Man
Inventor. Businessman. Genius.
Iron Man		70%
Green Lantern		65%
Supergirl		62%
Superman		60%
Hulk		60%
The Flash		55%
Robin		45%
Spider-Man		45%
Batman		45%
Wonder Woman		37%
Catwoman		30%

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There is something wrong with the codes for Superhero.. cant seem to remove the extra spacing.. :(

Sianz day..

:( :( :(

Was kinda disappointed today at the karate session.. cos Sensei didnt announce the result of last week's karata promotion exam.. Hoping to hear some good news, but alas, I would have to wait until next week for it..... :(

Japan Open 2007 - Part II

16 Sep 2007

With heighten kiasu-ism, we decided to come early on sunday so to get better seats to better support Lee C.W... As the matches were to be started at 12pm, we decided to leave our dorm at 9am and try to get ahead of the crowd..

Little that we expect, there was already a queue forming when we reached the gymnasium around 9:45am!! It was very sunny and hot and we had no choice but to join the queue.. At the same time, we saw droves of people passing us by and went to the direction of the entrance.. so Jascee went to check it out.. it turned out that a long queue has already been formed to enter the stadium!! So Chua went to that queue, while the two girls stayed in the current one to get tickets..

Around 10 mins passed 10am, I noticed that the queue we were in wasn't moving and yet there are people walking passed us with tickets.. After talking a closer look, we realised to our dismay that we were queuing at the wrong queue!!! :o The queue we were in was to enter the gymnasium for the Arena Seats!! :o :o We quickly went over to the counter and bought our tickets.. Aiy.. stupid dumb dumb.. :D

After getting the tickets we went to look for Chua in the other queue.. There were at least 250 people in front of us in the queue.. :( There were lots of kids, either school kids in their school badminton t'shirts or kids with their parents.. I didn't know that badminton was such a popular sport in Japan.. but come to think of it, the population of Tokyo is about 16 million, so even if just 0.1% attend this tournament, it would be about 16,000 people!! Again, it was another 3,500yen for the admission..

We were allowed into the gymnasium around 10:30am.. Luckily we did manage to get a row of 7 seats in the middle section facing court no.4, which was the only court to be used for this finals.. Jascee had a HK friend who has player pass, so she was waiting for him outside the gymnasium to bring her in without the need to buy ticket.. So the two of us had to put things on the seats to 'book' them.. I think my seat was F-8-40... There was at least a 1.5 hours wait before the tournament starts, and luckily on the courts there were some exhibition matches going on.. There were 6 singles star players and 2 doubles star teams (men and women) playing against Japanese school champions of various ages.. the youngest being 7 years old.. :) Most of the star players were Japanese national players, with the exception of Lin Dan, Zhang Ning, Simon Santoso and Sony Kuncoro.. It was very good exposure and encouragement for the young Japanese players..

Time passed easier with something to occupy one's attention.. soon it was 12pm and the matches started.. First was the mixed doubles.. It was between Zheng Bo-Gao Ling (Ch) vs Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (ID). It was an exciting game.. The Chinese pair was somehow struggling to get their rhythm and unfortunately the Indonesia teams wasn't capitalising that.. In the end, experience and mental toughness prevails and the Chinese pair managed to beat the Indonesians slightly more convincingly in the 2nd game after playing neck-to-neck in the first game..

Then it was the match that all of us were waiting for.. :) So coincidently, there were 2 Indonesians sitting one row in front of us!! So it was very interesting to see how we will behave.. But I think this being Japan, the 'hostility' or competitiveness/patriotism will not be acted on so much if this was in Malaysia or Indonesia.. Riot police would have to be called in, i think, in those 2 countries.. :p

As with yesterday, Aishah brought the Malaysian flag... We held on to the flag through-out the match.. It was the first time I was holding on to the Jalur Gemilang and waved it during any matches.. There were pockets of Malaysians among the crowd but not as many as there were Indonesians.. Think in the whole gymnasium, there were about 3 or 4 Jalur Gemilang being waved.. Not too bad.. :)

Lee was playing a good game, getting the shuttle across and waiting for Taufik to make mistake, which Taufik did.. Lee won the first game amidst struggling point-by-point. Then Taufik fought back and took the 2nd game.. Lee seems to always 'stuck' at point 15 or 16 and always allow Taufik to catch up and even the score, even though Taufik was 5 or 6 points behind.. Knowing that mental strength was never the forte of Malaysian players, I dreaded that Lee might just self-destruct when the pressure is on.. It was really agonizing to watch Lee throwing away a 4-point lead and allowing Taufik to get 5 points consecutively to even the scores to 19-19 in the 3rd game.. Everyone of us were on the edge of our seats, praying hard that Lee would just hang on, cross that final hurdle and not stumble when victory was so near.. When he finally got that last point, everyone of us just jumped up and cheered! :D :D Okay, I was the last to jump up cos I was very self-conscious of blocking the people seated behind up.. :p


The award ceremony was held immediately after the match.. As my camera's zoom was not good, I couldn't get any good photos of the podium, so I took the photo of the giant screen that was at the two ends of the stadium.. USD16,000 for a 5-day playing, not bad.... :)

Next was the Women's Singles between Tine Rasmussen (Den) and Xie Xingfang (Chn). Xie has been the runners-up in the 2006, 2005 and 2003's Japan Open and unfortunately she was unable to break that 'jinx' this year.. Tine was playing very well and she totally controlled the court.. Her cross-court smashes and cross-court drops kept Xie wrong-footed most of the time.. Xie has no answers to counter Tine's complete court dominance.. During the 1st game, Tine even took 8 points consecutively.. Xie was unable to play her game at all.. Tine won in under 40 minutes to break China's monopoly of the women's singles title since 2005.

I was dreading the women's doubles match, actually.. Being an all China affair, I was expecting a cautious unexciting match, but luckily I was wrong.. :) The 3rd seed team of Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen was clearly the better pair.. The other pair of Zhao Tingting and Yu Yang, seeded 7 in the tournament put up a fight in the 1st game, but was stuck at zero point until they broke the egg at 11-1 in the 2nd game.. The more experienced pair took exactly 35 minutes to dispatch off their younger compatriots..


The finale was the Men's Doubles... was looking forward to this match.. Always a delight to watch Wijaya and Gunawan play.. They are equally good in both defending and attacking.. Although there are a couple of long rallies where the smashes and returns between the teams were fast and furious, Wijaya and Gunawan won the match in under 30 minutes.. The two of them were very emotional when they won the match, knowing that this win will bring them closer to qualify for next year's Olympics.. Wijaya started signing autographs for the fans in the arena seats even before the award ceremony.. :) The two of them was clearly the crowd's favourite of the day...

Some of the crowd started leaving once the last point was won, but we stayed on.. we even went to the merchandising section to take a look at the merchandise on offer.. boy, are they expensive!! A simple polo t'shirt with the Yonex logo cost at least 3,200yen while the most expensive is the winter jacket priced at 12,800yen!! :o :o Of course I didn't get anything.. wanted to get a t'shirt but it seems that everything on sale was way out of my budget range of 3,000yen.. :(

Overall, it was an exciting way to spend the weekend, although I must say I was very tired after those 2 days.. me not getting any younger... Furthermore, it was sorta expensive but it was worth it as the feel of watching the matches live is definitely different from watching them on tv... ;)




More photos of Yonex Japan Open 2007

Japan Open 2007 - Part I

Went to support the sole Malaysian badminton player last weekend..

15 Sep 2007
Lee Chong Wei made it to the semi-finals of the Yonex Japan Open when every other Malaysian players failed to do so.. there were at least 11 singles players (9 men, 2 women) and 10 doubles teams (6 men's, 3 women's, 1 mixed's), yet only one player came through... :x

We almost had the starting time of the matches wrong.. luckily we still manages to get to the stadium around 11.10am.. The matches were held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo. We took the train to Yoyogi Station on the Yamanote Line and then changed to the Toei Oedo Line to Kokuritsu-kyogijo Station. The journey was about 30min in all.. The admission ticket was on the high side, in my opinion.. It cost each of us 3,500yen, which is about SGD46 or RM106!! When I was in Singapore, I was unwilling to pay even SGD20 to watch the Aviva Singapore Open and here I am in one of the most expensive cities in Asia and forking out almost SGD50... Talk about peer pressure.. :p


There were 6 of us who went to support.. Aishah, Nadia, Hui Ee, Jascee and Chua.. It was very telling as to who are 'enjoying life', so to speak ,in Japan among the scholars.. Seems like the 4 fellas from Waseda (me included) are the senang (means easy or free, in Malay) ones.. :p The rest of the Msian scholars in Todai are either too busy or missing in action..

When we got into the gymnasium, seats at the center have all been taken up.. There were a total of 5 courts being lied out but for semifinals, only 3 (Court No.3, 4 and 5) would be used.. The seats facing court no.4 were all filled up thus we could only sit at seats facing court no.5. There were several single seats among the crowded sections, yet as we need a total of 6 seats, we don't have much of a choice....

The matches started at 12pm sharp.. Two semi-final matches of the same categories were played simultaneously.. First were the mixed doubles... It was Indonesia vs Korea on court no.3, and China vs Denmark on court no.4. The Indonesia pair were the 2nd seed while the China pair were the 1st seed.. and I can easily see why.. they are the aggressive attacking-type. Both the guys of each team were good at placement of shuttlecocks on the court.. The Korean pair were beaten fairly easily by the Indon pair, while the Denmark pair tried to resist the Chinese attacks. But in the end it was the text book case of 1st seeded team vs 2nd seeded team for the finals the next day...

Then it was the Men's Single.. Lee Chong Wei, seeded 4th, was to meet with the tournament's 1st seed and the winner of Japan Open 2005 & 2006, Lin Dan.. Frankly, I wasn't very optimistic about his chances to reach the finals.. Luckily Lee proved me wrong.. :) The whole match took about 40 minutes.. It wasn't so much of who wins the point, but more of who gives away/lose the point.. Lin made lots of mistakes, either sending the shots out/into the net or made wrong judgment calls that allowed Lee to get points... In the end, it was the case of who made the least mistakes wins.. The other singles match was more exciting as the two Indonesia players have the similar attacking styles.. In the end, experience prevailed and Lee was to meet Taufik in the Finals the next day...

The Women's Single was okay.. It was Denmark vs China and China vs Korea.. The upsets continued for the Danish player, Tine Rasmussen.. She was unseeded and yet has beaten 3 Chinese players (although one of them, Xu Huaiwen is representing Germany), with biggest scalp being Zhang Ning, the 1st seed player in this tournament.. She was to play Lu Lan, the 7th seed in the semis.. And she won convincingly to match on to the finals against Xie Xingfang, who struggled against the Korean player, Jun Jae Yun..

On next were the double's. The first Men's doubles match was between 2 Indonesian teams, while the first Women's doubles match was between 2 China teams.. There can't be more of a contrast between these 2 matches... The men's match was fast-paced and action-packed.. trading smashes and jumping shots - fast and furious which ended in about 20mins.. while the women's match was slow and cautious which took more than half an hour...

I was looking forward to the next Men's Doubles match between the Indo-USA pair of Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan vs the Danish pair of L. Paaske and J.Rasmussen.. while the other Women's Doubles match was even slower and more draggy.. It was real entertainment watching this Men's Doubles match.. Although the Danish pair had the support of the Danish team and some Danish citizen in the crowd, it was the Indonesia-US pair that has the support of the crowd.. In the end, it became an all Indonesia (almost) affair for the Men's Doubles and an all China affair for Women's Doubles on sunday...

Trip to Yokohama

Went to Yokohama today with Chris-san, Alex-san and Alex-san (Chris's housemate).. Chuan-san didn't join us as he wanted to watch the Yonex Japan Open..

We are supposed to meet up at 8am in Shinjuku, but Chris-san kinda overslept, so instead of meeting at Shinjuku, we made our way to Yokohama and met at Sakuragicho Station. Thus Alex-san and I took the Shonan-Shinjuku Line to Yokohama before changing to Negishi Line to Sakuragicho Station... The trip took less than 45min as we were lucky enough to catch one of the Rapid service..

We reached Sakuragicho Station around 9am, went to Beck's to wait for Chris-san and at the same time have our breakfast.. We ate and chatted.. Chris-san and Alex-san came around 10:30am and had their breakfast at Beck's too.. We weren't in a hurry or anything so we just take our time... We only went to the Yokohama Landmark Tower around 11am..

The Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m) is the 2nd tallest building in Japan, after Tokyo Tower (333m). Visitors could take the fastest lifts in Japan, which manage to accelerate to 750m per minute (at one point in time), and reached the 69th floor (273m) in about 40 seconds. The admission to the Tower is 1,000yen.


On a nice sunny and clear day, visitors are able to see Mt. Fuji from the Tokyo, but too bad today's sky wasn't very clear.. :( We couldn't see very far, but still the view up at 69th floor is very magnificent. Other than the usual souvenir shop, there is a small cafe and 3 vending machines at the 69th floor.. At the souvenir shop, we started to discuss how tall/big would Godzilla have to be in comparison with the Tower.. Thus Chris-san, using his keitai, started to search the Internet for the height for the Empire State Building and Godzilla.. We got the answers in the end to satisfy our curiosity... :p For those who is interested to know, Godzilla is between 50m to 100m depending on which film/books one refers to.. ;) We spend around 40 minutes up there..

After the Tower, we went to The Museum of Yokohama Urban History.. We walked to MinatoMirai Station and took the train to Nihon-Odori Station which is only 2 stops away.. The reason why I suggested going there is that there is a special photo exhibition on Yokohama's modernization history and with our (still) limited Japanese skills, it would be easier for us to look at pictures and understand (to a small degree) than to read all the Japanese explanations and descriptions which are usually the case in most museums here in Japan.. It was quite interesting looking at the pictures of people taken in the early to late 19th century.. We went to the Eurasian Culture Museum too as it was in the same building and admissible with our 500yen ticket. We left the museum before 2.30pm..

Next destination was China Town in Yokohama.. We walked there as it was less than 1km away..

This is my first visit to a Chinatown, if you discount trips I made to the 'Chinatown of Malaysia', Petaling Street. Maybe I was looking for something more traditional and authentic, but all I saw was consumerism and commercialism at its best... Everywhere I turned, I see shops or restaurants offering almost the same things, with very limited variaties.. Every restaurant or food shop is offering 麻婆豆腐, fried rice, gyoza (饺子), Niku-man (肉包子), moon cakes (月饼, as the Mid-Autumn Festival is only 2 weeks away), chestnuts (栗子), etc.. Every souvenir shop offer the same panda soft-toys, same phone accessories, same fridge magnets, etc... There is nothing to see, at least for me.. I wanted to try the Niku-man, but it was really expensive.. For one Big Niku-man, it costs at least 400yen!! :o And I saw the prices for the moon cakes too, it was ridicules.. 750yen for 1 black bean paste moon cake, without pumpkin seeds!! :o :o With the same amount of money I can get at least 8 moon cakes in Msia, or 4 in Spore.. Madness.. Luckily I do not have any cravings for moon cakes.. The only thing I usually craves are Zongzi (粽子).. :p

We had lunch at one of the restaurants.. after hearing so many bad reviews of restaurants in Chinatown Yokohama, I kinda lowered my expectation of having a good meal. But I was pleasantly surprised. The food was okay and the price was reasonable... At 750yen, we get to have a main dish (I had stir-fried pork with big onion as the main dish), with rice, some salad, a small bowl of soup, 1 spring roll and a small bit of salted vegetable... but one thing I need to complain about is their service.. it still needs improvement..


After seeing the shops, I had more or less gave up looking for something unique. I wanted to visit the Kuan Ti Temple (关帝庙). But when I got there I was very disappointed... The temple is too brightly colored and looked very artificial. The temple felt like it doesn't know how to BE a proper Taoist temple anymore.. Since when are visitors disallowed from going into the main (Taoist) temple?? :o The 4 deities in the temple were not properly titled (as in no title plaque on top of them telling visitors or devotees who they are, when all of them are so aged and blackened by the passage of time), all the temple attendants behaved as if you owed them money (black faced, instead of offering to help or give guidance/advices) and many other small things that just made this temple feel sooooooo wrong to me.. Instead of the usual awe and respect I feel whenever I enter a temple, this one just doesn't invoke any of it.. I had wanted to explain some of the stories behind the main deity, Kuan Ti(关帝) to Alex-san, but one of the attendants just chased us out after finding out that we did not pay to go in!!! I was pissed.. :@ :@ Usually, at temples I will make a small monetary donation and also make some other offerings (joss-sticks, candles, paper money, etc). I had planned to make some offerings but decided against it.. That 50yen that I put in the donation box is all they are going to get from me...

There are 2 temples in the vicinity. I could only remember this one at that time, but I wasn't disappointed for not visiting the other one after seeing how the Kuan Ti Temple was run.. It would probably be the same way.. The other temple was for Ma Zhu (媽祖), the Heavenly Empress. I had visited the legendary birthplace of Ma Zhu in Putian, China, two years ago so I won't miss visiting this Ma Zhu Temple...

We went back to Tokyo around 4:30pm.. Everyone was tired... But we had a good time.. It was fun hanging out with Chris-san and Alex-san.. Looking forward to our next hang-out session.. :)

Click here for more photos of my Yokohama trip.

One of the Game..

that I'm playing on and off is GE (Granado Espada), which is based on the 17th century Baroque period, where ladies are sexy (wear corset and show their boobs) and guys are charming (wear tight pants :p), and where pirates roam the new world... It was free until 29 Aug where new players would need to pay a monthly fee to play... luckily they implemented a plan to reward those who started playing earlier with a 90 days free-to-play offer, so I get to play GE until around end of Nov for free..


These are my characters in GE.. The front guy is a fighter, who fights with one sword on each hand; the lady is a muskateer who is using a rifle while the guy on the right is a scout who heals the other two fellas when they get hurt.. They are currently at level 23. The only interesting part about the game are the fancy costumes. So far the playability of individual characters are quite limited, as one character can only be fighter, muskateer, scout, elementalist or wizard. Unlike WOW (World of Warcraft) where you get to choose side (Alliance or Horde), then a Race (from a total of 10 different races) then a Class (from a total of 9 classes) , and then 2 professions (from a total of 12 professions), so I can be a Gnome Ice Mage who is also a herbalist and a alchemist.. Imagine the possible permutations available!! :) The chances of meeting a similar character build in GE is VERY high, as there is limited permutations.. :x and unlike WOW where you can do professions, you need to keep doing quests or kill 'mobs' (aka monsters) and sell the 'drops' (aka what the monsters will drop when they die) in GE, which is kinda boring for me..

I am playing GE in one of their non-PK server. PK means Player Killing, where other players can just jump at your character and kill him/her which I hate the most.. It often happens when you are trying to get your character to level up by killing monsters, then suddenly 'BAM!' your character is dead.. That is one of the main reason why I stopped playing Lineage II. It has one of the best graphics among MMORPG, but I just hate the PK feature of it.. It is even worst when other players 'camp' there and kill your character every time your character come backs to life.. For games that doesn't have penalty for dying except, for instance in WOW, the inconvenience of running back from the cemetery to your character to resurrect it or in GE, the waiting time for it to come back to life, I can still live with these inconveniences, but it really sucks when your character lost some experience points and has to bear the possibility of losing some hard-earned weapon/armor/money/etc..

For those curious about World of Warcraft, there is a very cute episode of South Park that centers on the four main characters playing WOW.. That episode even won this year's Emmys for the Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than 1 hour)!! :) The episode is called 'Make Love, Not Warcraft' featured in South Park's 10th season.. Maybe I will restart my WOW account later this year... :)

Karate promotion exam over!

Just had the promotion exam... not too bad.. made a small mistake during the kata.. :( but overall I think I should be able to 'promote' from white belt to purple belt.. :)

Went to the Multi-purpose hall around 7:45pm to practice.. It's different when you do it in a small place (like my room) and the actual location.. Was more worried about the sets of moves before the kata, cos I wasn't very sure which comes first and also the names of those moves.. Luckily, Sensei and one Senpai was there to guide..

There were 11 people taking the promotion exams, with 5 of us white belts and 6 purple belts.. The Grandmaster and Founder of Seidokai (成道会）, Mr Narikawa came around 9pm to conduct the test.. We had been practicing hard before that.. last minute kinda stuff.. where to stand, what to do between the sets of moves and kata, etc..

The 5 of us were divided into 2 groups, 3 and 2... I was in the group of two which was not the first group to do the exam.. How the first group of 3 performed didn't affect me much, cos in my mind, I've already accepted the worst case scenario.. Whenever I am faced with a challenge/obstacle/exam/whatever, I will always ask myself this question, "What is the worst that could happened?". In this case, the worst is not being promoted from white belt, which I have already know and accepted, if it really do happen.. So when it was my turn, I just blocked out all other thoughts and just do it! It was not as terrifying as I thought it would be.. The Senpai who was doing the counting hinted to us before the start of each sets of moves.. So it was just a matter of doing the moves correctly, instead of worrying about what moves was being asked of us..

In the end, I think I did enough to be eligible for promotion from white belt.. :) Hopefully I am right.. I will know about it next week.. so stay tuned next week for the result of my karate promotion exam!! ;)

For those who are curious about the 'branch/school' of karate that I am learning, this is the web site.. http://www.seidokai.com It is based on Gensei-ryu (玄制流) which is a karate style with roots in Shuri-te (首里手), one of the three original karate styles on Okinawa (a Japanese island).

Anime watching..

Been watching a new anime series called 'Jigoku Shoujo' or "地獄少女" (Hell Girl), where anyone who harbors a desire for revenge can send go to a website to send a request to Jigoku Shoujo and ask her to bring their tormentor(s) straight to Hell, in exchange for his/her own soul which will also be bound for Hell when he/her die later.. Just like making a deal with the Devil in the western cultures/literatures... Some of these scums really do deserved to be send to Hell, but in my opinion, the price is way too high.. unless if I had done lots of bad things too and is already destined to go to Hell, else sending one person to Hell in the expense of my own soul is not worth the price.. I have always believed in Karma, what goes around comes around.. maybe the retribution of a bad deed done might not be now, or x years down the road, but i do believe that it is just a matter of eventuality...

As of now, I am watching several animes... Bleach, Naruto Shippuuden, Claymore, Darker than Black and Jigoku Shoujo... :p So instead of being crazy about Japanese drama as I was several weeks ago, I am now mad about Japanese anime.. hahahaha.. Well, at least it has something to do with Japanese.. :p This will help in my listening skills... although I would still need to work on my grammar... The different types of verbs is driving me crazy.. Really need to strengthen this part of my Japanese.....

These few days..

It is the start of Autumn.. but for the month of September, rain and typhoons are the norm.. The sun still rises around 5:30am but the sunsets around 6pm, so by 6:30pm, the day is almost as dark as the night...

Went to school on Monday to see my Senpai, Naoko-san and managed to get some of her requirements for her online survey. Think this is her first time doing a 30+ country survey, so she is still feeling her way through.. I have send her some of my questions regarding our graduate school's web server so as to have a better understanding of what can and cannot be done on the server... I've also been writing JavaScripts to do some validation before users submit their results.. Boy, am I rusty in coding.. :p Haven't been writing codes, any codes for a long time, more than 5 years I think.. Now it's a waiting game.. waiting for responses from the IT dept to response to my questions.. The mock-up survey that I've created is placed in my PacNet homepage which doesn't support any cgi script processing at all.. In the mean time, Naoko-san will check through the mock-up site and get back to me...

Tomorrow, I will be having a karate upgrade exam.. think I had the kata memorized, but I still need to practice my stance.. Hopefully it will go smoothly...

Will be going to Yokohama with my Jap class's classmates on Friday.. from the weather report, it seems that there will be a 70% chance that it will be raining.. :( Hopefully it will not spoil our fun...

New Task, New Stress

New Task....

Today went back to Waseda University as there is a lunch meeting organised by my Prof. Actually we met at Rihga Royal Hotal at 12pm.. I was kinda puzzled as to why do we need to go to a four-star(?) hotel to discuss about a survey project.. Maybe it was the Japanese way of doing things?? Cos being a practical person, I would think that we could get things done faster and more efficiently at a small meeting room where everyone can brainstorm and talk things through with no distractions (food/people/whatever). But don't think that I'm complaining though, because we went to Cafe Corbeille which the lunch buffet is at least 1,700yen per person!! :p

After the lunch, our Senpai, Ms Iwasaki asked us to fill up the survey that she had created and after filling it up, comment/feedback on it.. The target survey group are university students from 30+ countries, asking them about their awareness and opinions on sustainable development and the role/task of global companies. The survey was translated from Japanese, so the English was kinda hard to understand... The four of us (Bobby, Jayne, Ilu and me) were struggling with it and we spent an average of 20-30min on it, which was way off the initial set time of 10min.. In the end, all of us volunteered to help with the improvement of the English version.. Once we managed to get the English version of the survey right by end of this week, I would need to translate it into Chinese for students in China, Taiwan and maybe Hong Kong...

In addition to that, I was asked to look into the creation of a web-based survey content, so that we can have the option of asking the university students to do the survey online and not just via email as initially planned. As the requirements given to me was very vague, I had to get more information, especially the user requirements and expectation. If the requirements are very simple, I could even do it myself and not have to engage any vendors to do it..

Although it had been a long while since I did any programming, but with my improved 'skills' in getting information off the Internet, I think I could do it.. :p And I did manage to do it.. I created a simple html page with all the survey questions and used a 3rd party (free) form processing service (which also offered the feature of storing the survey answers). In the end, I managed to get it to email the survey answers to an email address. Not too bad for someone who hasn't written any codes for at least 4 years!! :p I have just sent my Senpai all these and asked her to test it out.. Now I am waiting for her response..

All these were a good way to showcase my expertise.. both technical and language skills... ;)




New Stress...

During today's karate session, I found out that there will be an upgrade examination next week!! :o And there is no way for me to escape from taking the exam... :x Although I don't really mind being white-belt all the time, I do want to see if I could remember all the things that I've learn so far.. which I must admit I tend to forget very easily.. Frankly, I don't have the 'gift' for remembering the katas (sets of moves), either I get the arm movement wrong (arm raised too high, too low, etc) or I kinda 'stucked' during the kata, not knowing where to move my legs next.. :x

Being on holiday for more than a month now, this will definitely raise my stress level.. And there is no place for me to practice the kata, as my room is too small.. think all I can do is to replay the movements in my head and pray hard hard that on the day of examination, my nerves will hold, my mind won't freeze and my limps won't turn rubbery... :x :x :x :x :x :x :x

Twenty more days..

before school starts, that is...

Been having the "mood" to study lately, so I've been studying.. really, the more I study the more I realised how much I don't know or have forgotten.. :( And seriously, I think I haven't been as 'hardworking' for a very long time.. :p

The decision to take JLPT Level 2 is both a challenge and a suicide mission, I think.. I had to have something to make me study, some sort of target so that I would have something to focus on, as I know Level 3 is definitely doable after these few months of studying.. The reward that I sort of dangled at the end of the exam is a month of R&R during Dec.. hahahaha.. Hopefully, I will be able to pass Level 2... Gambatte!!