12 days of birthday

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 1:09 PM

Two Three

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 5:56 PM

saturday ippt

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 12:12 AM

75 degrees myopia

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 10:56 PM

Osaka, Japan

The Climate
Our virgin step outside Kansai Airport was surprisingly cold! Wind blowing from all directions, temperature was around 4 degrees but i loved the cold feeling!
It rained twice only for the 11 days we were there, that was fortunate and it snowed in kyoto and skiing at mt rokko, and hailed ice balls when we were in Universal Studios. Extremely cold.
Without a glove it felt like you put your hand inside the freezer for very long and mine was numb sometimes.



The Stay
We stayed at a backpackers hostel, J-Hoppers, which received many good reviews on internet and it's better than what i've expected! The staffs were forever so helpful and friendly (they speak english).

Our room was a cosy basic 8 bed dorm, with lockers and racks and we got to know so many people coz we were staying there for quite some time. Germans.. australians... americans... french... japanese... and one SMU exchange student! Everyone was so friendly and ready to make friends!

The best thing about the hostel: the toilets and showering room. The toilet bowl is in a room by itself, with the best invention in winter: seat warmers!!! So warm especially after a cold day outside to just sit on the toilet, so wen nuan, and there's the water jet to wash ur butt for both guys and girls. Haha. I can just sit there forever. After you flushed, the tap on top of the toilet bowl automatically activates and you can wash your hands and the water will be used to fill the toilet bowl again. Now that's smart reusing of water!

The individual showering room is so clean and neat! Step in, lock the room door, put your stuff on the basket provided and step into the showering unit, which is like a compartment. I LOVED the showering unit coz i always turn the heater to the max and fill the unit with steam and a steam bath is ready! Ultimate shiokness during winter and after a tiring day outside.

Both are even cleaner and neater than my house toilet la! I think i'm going to bring the showering unit and the showering room concept into my future home. haha.





The People
They know basic english and most restaurants have english menus and luckily we know some basic japanese too! It's quite easy to communicate with them actually.

From what i observed, Japanese seemed to be very private and conservative and they are used to being in solitude. For example most restaurants have single tables and seats and they usually dine alone, but thats probably when they'r really busy working class.

Once, on the train, the train conductor was going to do his rounds so after he locked the conductor's door he did a small bow, then he walked to the other end of the cabin, faced us and bowed and did the same when he came back. This is sort of interesting coz nobody really noticed him or maybe it's the norm for him but it shows that they respect and take pride in their work or whatever they do. One of the reasons they have superb service and professionalism.

Japanese fashion is very distinct and everyone really take care of their looks. They really make an effort to look good, even guys! which i think its a kind of respect to others and to yourself. Its really easy to differentiate a female foreigner from a Japanese girl:
1. Makeup, extended eye lashes, fancy hair, nice coat, boots, fat thighs(oops).
If a girl has none of the above, she's a foreigner.

Even most jap males groom their eyebrows! I couldn't get used to it initially but after seeing so many examples it kinda made their features neater. And some even put on make-up!! Like ew.

The Shopping
Japan's shopping is based on shopping streets, one sheltered street both sides filled with shops can stretch for an awesome few km but some shops are repeating so theres no need to walk the entire street. Shinsaibashi is the main shopping street in Osaka.

Clothes are seasonal, so a lot of winter clothes when we'r there. Advice is to try on the clothes you wanna get coz Japanese cut is so different from our normal cuttings. Shoulder and chest length are shorter, sleeves are longer. oh and a lot of boots on sale.

Their service line is superb, equivalent to taiwan. Salespeople forever smiley, polite and helpful, like Wego, one of our frequent stores, they kept announcing in japanese "welcome to wego! 10% sale! come and check it out! thank you for shopping!" and stuff like that, until a point i felt a bit irritated.

well, at least its a lot better than the local service line.

The Food
Japan's standard of living is very high, 3rd in the whole world.
Train rides costs at least $2, can go up to $25 for further places. Meals costs at least $10 but its really quality food! The ramen is the best. This little unnoticable ramen shop at the corner near our hostel sells orgasmic ramen, the best i've eaten. It's ramen at its best, the noodles are so smooth and chewy, the soup tastes like pork bones boiled inside for thousand years, and the tamago (egg) has half cooked RED yolk. Orgasm times million times plus a journey to heaven.

Although most food are a little salty, it was okay once the tongue got used to it.

All the bakeries are nice, we haven't eaten anything that is not nice. Desserts are mmmmmmmmph, especially Mille crepe from Doutor (a cafe chain). It's layers of crepe with fresh cream inside, once you bite, you can feel the different layers of crepe and cream combined. It available in singapore already actually, the original's from japan.

What i loved most
They package everything really beautifully (including themselves) but its adds on to the price-tag.
The complicated train routes and nice music when the train is passing by, coming and leaving.
The shop which sells wholely GUNDAMS.
Vending machines with hot drinks that you can hold when your hand is cold. haha.
Seat and leg warmers in trains and toilets, absolutely comforting in winter.
Most importantly, the main attraction in Osaka: FOOD!
Takoyaki, ramen, okonomiyaki, Mille crepe, sushi.. etc.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 12:51 PM

looking back 2009

Last year-end i did some sort of a review of my previous years and i should do it again this year and make it a point to remind myself of what happened for a year of my life - achievements as well as failures, what stayed and whats gone, experiences and inexperiences.

So many things happened in 2009, changes that made me felt like it was 2 years insteal of a year. It's like the end of year when the semester ends and starts again when the next semester starts.

My 2009 have been separated into 2 exactly. Here are some highlights.

first half: Jan to May
continued my College years,
my birthday was on the second day of Chinese New Year,
I changed to a new phone W705 which have been nice to me except those days when it crashed.
I applied for exchange at Taiwan and got it
I bought a new camera for myself, intended for the taiwan trip.

Second half:
May to July -
I exchanged at taiwan, kaohsiung with a group of aliens for 2 months, experienced the world of chinese which i couldn't get used to.
oh I met lovely Yang Cheng Ling on the streets. haha
I soaked in hot spring and saw lots of shooting stars at Green Island for the first time, went to Alishan and Kenting too.

July to August -
then i came back and there goes my tuition job.
Yanzi's concert soon after i came back.
Had a really fun trip to Melaka with Pri School friends and almost couldn't make it back for first day of school. haha
oh and I stopped staying in hall which is sadness.
I abstrained from alcohol.

August to December -
Got to know more people from all over - classes, friend's friend, randomly.
Found many new ice cream places. :) totally.
Attended first friend's wedding, Ming Wei and Bernice.
Experienced insomnia for the first time in my life during exam period which sucked totally.
Shirin's 21st Birthday party.
Had some real struggles with myself sometime mid december, but got better with friend and cindy!
and....*drum rolls*...... the event of the year.. (hm.. it can be considered for the next year too).. is COUNTDOWN AT OSAKA WITH FRIENDS!

well, overall I got closer to some friends and its great not to lose contact with any of them from last year. Many of the females friends have embarked on the journey of never-ending working life thus lesser time to hang out with. Nonetheless, we'r still comfortable with each other.

We cousins became much closer.. no idea why but i kinda liked the idea because i have not caught them for recent years, only on 21st birthdays. it's really nice to be close while the one generation older is not. haha. growing up together rocks.

I've been travelling a lot this year. I've clocked more milleage than I have ever done within a year. Travelling makes me think of life, culture and changes me as a person, expand my horizon, broaden scopes and eventually influences my views and decisions. It is simply a reset button in my brain, refreshes everything, every emotion and feeling washes away and come back with a clean sheet. A good side-lane from the highway, especially Osaka. SUGOI DESU!

i won't say 2009 was a life-changing year, instead its a year of discoveries.

Thank you for all the discoveries and experiences in 2009.
Let the dark be left behind and step on the trail to the 2010 light!

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 11:12 PM

what i bought from Osaka

for myself:
1 x tee long sleeve from WEGO
1 x checkered shirt from WEGO
1 x lined shirt from WEGO
1 x Spiderman handphone chain from Universal Studios Japan
1 x Spiderman stuff from Universal Studios Japan
1 x off-white wallet from Loft

and ulitmately, my prized possession:
2 x GUNDAMS!!!!!!!!! Seravee and 00 Gundam Raiser

Food:
seasoned stuff
expensive but orgasmic cake and biscult from kyoto
mochi
some fruits
rice crackers tidbits
MATCHA LATTE (i really bot a box)

and gifts from everywhere.

i bombed my credit card.



i love my gundams. can't wait to fix them up!!
and i'm editing videos soon.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 11:08 PM

back to the heat

Your Friendly Neighbourhood;
x 11:39 PM

Huiting gai
Ah yeow
Brandon
Huiyu
Jieru gai
Waiyin the retarted panties
Songhua
Vickini
Rolling PotatO
Agnes Les
Pei Xuan
Albert
Elsa
Shirin
Rachel
Michelle