Nine9Lives

Hokkaido Once More

2011-11-19T23:09:00.001+08:00

Some sort of fate brought me back to Hokkaido this season. The transitional period from autumn to winter brought me much surprises. The heavy snow rained on me as I walked alone on for a while in Kyogoku. Despite the novelty, the pricking cold was hard to bear...

Behold the best of Hokkaido as it display both the remnants of autumn and the first snow of winter.

Beautiful lake behind a small little hut where we had lunch. A pleasant surprise indeed.

Carefree swans paddled around the gorgeous lake in the nice weather.

Hell Valley as its name suggest. Much geothermal activities going on.

Forest patches dyed in what remains of autumn. Still glorious colours to me.


Taken on the bus.

Autumn almost fading away.

Mount Usu as I remembered in summer. Although the pathway heading down to this crater is closed during winter.

Lake Toya. The lake that doesn't freeze.

First snow of the season. Waku waku~.

Feels almost like Christmas.

The picturesque Kyogoku Fukidashi Park in winter.


Started snowing last night in Niseko and here we are in this serene morning outside Hilton.


Where you going?

Snowing back in Sapporo too. As if beckoning me to come back to experience its beauty in winter. Trust me, I will.

How can I not love this?

I must confess.... these photos are obviously not taken by me. I don't have such awesome DSLR. Only a semi-pro which is put to shame next to the professional.

A tiring trip. But definitely a fruitful one. One that strengthened my resolve on my future path.

Angelina Jolie x Arashi ni Shiyagare

2011-07-29T13:47:00.005+08:00

Following up on my previous post, another episode of Arashi ni Shiyagare caught my attention during my Sapporo stay last year.

But this time, I cringed.

How did this happened?

The obaasan in the UFO is MatsuJun's English tutor for the day. Things can't get weirder.

The funniest part was when MatsuJun gave her Arashi's CD as a omiyage. She looked at it and went "ooh that's you!".

And quickly put it aside.

A year later I finally found the video of the interview.

The interview starts from 6:00. Be prepared to cringe.

Gackt x Arashi ni Shiyagare

2011-07-26T23:55:00.007+08:00

I watched this while in Japan last week.

Freaking hilarious.

I know that Arashi ni Shiyagare is always hilarious. But twice as funny with Gackt.

Gackt telling Arashi, matter of factly, to buff their nails.

So one day, I randomly searched youtube thinking that some crazy Arashi fan might have put this up already.

Seriously? And subbed?

Even if you are no Arashi or Gackt fans, you might just pick up some useful ways to deal with girls. I must say it's pretty hard not to fall for Gackt with his seemingly impeccable "date course". Lol. And his house is an entire apartment building can you believe it????

On an unrelated note,

お客様、you will have an awesome view of the Tokyo Tower.

Oh cool, I have no intentions of visiting the tower so to be able to see from the room sounds pretty good to me.

Wtf so small?!?!

Sians.

Stop procrastinating bitch!

2011-06-17T18:07:00.004+08:00

I NEED TO BLOG.

Seriously, like now.

Because it's almost a year since my last Japan trip, and damn I'm not done blogging about it.

A year since the Genghis Khan meal.

I need to get my act together.

First! I shall finish up the Hanabi video!

....ah, but maybe after this episode of Detective Conan. The latest arc damn nice, not like you care.

Small voice: Ganbare atashi...

Updates

2011-05-28T22:11:00.004+08:00

Anybody on twitter right now? I just started this thing and it's like so noob that I only have two followers (who was forced to follow me).

Please add me! Or should I say follow haha. Although I have erm.. minimal tweets...

Find me @nine9livesnow.

One random photo for the road.

Yay to Brisbane.

Okay bye!

Kyoto International Manga Museum

2011-05-12T03:38:00.003+08:00

"There's a freaking manga museum in Kyoto?!!"

Now that's something new. As suggested by Nao, I decided to venture to this seemingly dubious museum. What could they possibly exhibit?? Come on, old mangas are so not valued these days.

It wasn't an easy journey because this stupid museum wasn't exactly accessible from where I lived. It also appeared to me that Kyoto folks are not as friendly compared to their Sapporo counterparts. Couple of dudes were pretty unfriendly and directed me to the wrong place. To top that off, Kyoto has the most unbearable summer....

As I turned the corner while cursing and swearing, I saw this bunch of people congregating in the museum.

Damn, so freaking crowded. Must be because its Sunday. I wanna watch superficial Japanese variety programs at home.....

Gosh, what are these people doing?

Precisely! Why so crowded? Omg aren't these people in some weird ass costumes with atrocious hair colours? Ah, naruhodo. Cosplaying in a manga museum. Fitting.

京都国際マンガミュージアム Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu

When will Naruto ever end.....?

BECK fever invaded Kyoto as well.

Other than exhibiting some nonsense here and there, the best part of the museum is that...

YOU GET TO READ ALL THE MANGA IN THE MUSEUM FOR FREE!

Of course, there's an admission fee of 500 yen (S$7.5). Very very reasonable though. Which explains why these people congregate here on a Sunday afternoon.

You can even read your favourite manga on a TATAMI!!!!!

Nobody gave much attention to the exhibitions as all of them were engrossed in their yaoi or yuri or whatsoever manga these people are reading.

But as a tourist (proud!), several exhibitions were pretty interesting to me.

Definition of manga?

I'm not sure how to define manga myself. But suffice to say that manga serves as guidelines for my imagination when picturing the story itself.

Although these books are free for all, they are not necessarily up to date. Recall: museum. Then again, the collection is so vast that you can easily find a few titles released in say, 1992.

Spot two of my childhood favourites.

1. Hana Yori Dango. Which girl doesn't like to read about 4 mega rich and handsome guys packaged as one.

2. Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo. CSI not the first to sensationalise crime solving.

Here are the top selling manga!

1. One Piece (but of course!)
2. Nana
3. Naruto
4. Hunter x Hunter (no wonder the author is not diligently drawing nowadays! pissed!)
5. Bleach

A lot of Suzumiya Haruhi fanboy items to go around. Think my otaku bro will love.

Similarly, he will adore these.

For adult males. *winks*

But will not be able to stomach these. Too "graphic" as many would put it.

For adult females. *winks*

I do hope that you are not too flabbergasted by the questionable items above (seriously NO idea why they are even on display!), because if you do visit the museum, there are other sections that display even MORE questionable drawings. If you know what I mean. *winks*

By the way, photography was not permitted in those sections for good reasons.

Moving on to less dubious exhibits.

People watching anime identify with the characters (I think they meant these characteristics).

Do you?

Secret to epic battle number 1:

Secret to epic battle number 2:

Secret to epic battle number 3:

Now we know.

Other exhibits on display.

So much more to manga than I thought.

We have heard so much about how the local cosplay scene suck so much. Those horrible costumes that haunt me still.

I have no qualms about cosplaying. In fact, I would think that it is a rather interesting activity (to see people doing it). But only if you are putting in effort and not half-fucked! For example, if you were to go extreme and put on a purple wig, at least make the same effort for your make up lar!!!

Anime Festival Asia in Singapore

Gosh I can't even look at the photo anymore.

Naturally, I was curious as to what these Japanese have to offer.

But the heat was killing me.

I'm sure most of you remember this female cosplayer of Ace.

Check out her freckles and brows. ~~She even shaved her armpit.~~ Effort max!

But you know what's great about these Japanese cosplayers?

They are extremely friendly. Ace even asked if I wanted her to stand up. Feeling paiseh, I said her current position was fine. I was not even a profession photographer lor.

But maybe it was my misinterpretation. For all I know she could have preferred standing...

Yet another decent cosplay!

Not too bad right!

These two characters look awfully familiar and I'm thinking maybe, just maybe they were trying to cosplay Sister and P-Ko from Arakawa Under the Bridge.

Sister and P-Ko. Erm yes, the guy calls himself a sister.

Omg she is just covering her boobs with these two things I dun even know what's that! Hair, costume, footwear, makeup, everything pretty well done! Only problem is - which character is she??

Now there was this bleach cosplayer and I have no idea who she was cosplaying.

Bleach was so long ago for me.

Compare this purple hair with the previous one.....

BANKAI!

At this point, I must add that not all of the cosplayers portrayed their characters brilliantly. Sad to say, most of the time it depends largely on their looks as well as their body figures.

But I will also acknowledge those who put in real effort!! Seriously the amount of time they spend on this is evident from their outfits.

But in reality, the sad truth of life is that when you place a cute girl next to one that is not as cute.... oh wells.

Give it to the girl on the left - Effort lar effort.

Found a cosplayer in one of my favourite character - Kagura from Gintama.

Her props were pretty accurately.

Found another Kagura cosplayer online.

Does it really all boils down to the looks? Can't deny that its a huge factor and a big plus point.

From the popular Kuroshijitsu:

After some research, it would seem like the two have a thing for each other. Or so the fangirls were made to believe.

Hence the intimacy?

Nah, on second look, both are girls what.... eh wait, are they? Do I see an adam's apple? Gosh I really don't know.

Most of them were just kids.

Kids.

What, no makeup??

Kids.

Is that a pan she's holding?

These cosplayers can strike a pose ANYTIME!

Wait, what? ...What???? Why this of all anime? And.... omg so many emotions I can't explain.

........

On the bright side! We see signs of effort! Look! Drawn eyebrows and freckles!

Quickly moving on to others...

The girl in green hair is freaking white!

I don't even wanna talk about the guy in the middle.

Irregardless of the outcome, these cosplayers put up a good sunday afternoon show to entertain me the tourist. The fact that these people braved the heat and stood outside the entire afternoon was enough to gain my admiration.

Oh, did I forget to mention someone nostalgic?

Ash Ketchum from Pokemon!!! Wtf!

I did a very crazy thing after this.

See this One Piece Gachapon.

Got Luffy on my first try!!!

All the other characters look so cute!! I need to have them!!

Oops.

Without Nami and Sanji though. Sians. (I know very well that I was mad)

Spent the rest of the day repenting in mountains of manga.

And had a wonderful dinner consisting of somen (perfect for summer!), tuna salad and nuggets (those nuggets were absolutely imba! I wished they sold these kinds here too).

The shit-like thing in my somen sauce is wasabi by the way. Those brown like things are call Tempurako. Yep, small pieces of tempura. Awesome much.

HAHAHAHA PIGBANG!

2011-05-07T06:22:00.005+08:00

Big Bang nisemono?

LAME MUCH!

SUPERIMPOSED!

Apparently these posters were spotted side by side in Tokyo Shibuya train station.

I will say this one thing though. Not a bad marketing tactic at all.

Kate Spade fail

2011-05-03T17:53:00.006+08:00

There's obviously something going on with Kate Spade's designs that I am not aware of.

Do you get this?

It just gets better...

Enchantment Under The Sea, or so they call it.

........

Questionnaire about homestay

2011-04-16T03:04:00.001+08:00

Subject: Questionnaire about homestay
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:18:22 +0900

Dear Kathy-san,

How was your homestay in the Mizoguchi family’s house?

Hope everything went right.

Could you please reply to the questionnaire about homestay?

And if you have pictures with the family, please send these to me.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1. Why did you chose Homestay to stay in Japan?

I have always been intrigued by the Japanese culture and their way of life. Through homestaying, I believe it will (and it did) greatly aid in my understanding of the locals and improve my Japanese language ability in the fastest possible way.

2. What was/were convenient in Japan? What kind of thing were you interested in?

Conbini! Convenient stores in Japanese have almost everything you need. From onigiri to sausages to hokkaido milk to kani bou, it was fun buying onigiri and eat it in the car during long hour drives. I am a fan of shizen　(自然） and hokkaido truly showed me her interpretation.

3. How did you spend your spare time?

Sightseeing and interacting with the locals.

Shopping! As it was the end of summer sale, everything was on waribiki! Loved it.

Cycled from the house to places of interest was probably the most fruitful activity. I did this for a number of days. Sapporo is a great city to do cycling.

4. Tell us the most surprising thing while you were in Japan.

Nothing really surprised me. Just a few small things here and there. But the sheer scale of the fireworks in Obihiro was simply impressive.

5. How did you communicate with Japanese when you couldn’t explain it in Japanese?

Body language says it all.

6. Was your Japanese ability improved during homestay?

Definitely. And I learnt some useful Hokkaido-ben.

7. What Japanese foods do you like?

Everything. Particularly sukiyaki, tamagoyaki, chawanmushi.

8. What Japanese foods do you prefer not to eat?

Natto.

9. Please tell us some memorable thing or episode during your homestay.

Driving trip to Furano.

Watching Hanabi taikai in Obihiro.

10.Please tell us the thing that you got from homestay.

Yukata, geta, and some small stuffs here and there.

11.Please write a messages to the people who are coming to Japan from now on.

I have been to Japan multiple times but this is my first trip to Hokkaido. Hokkaido is nothing like other Japanese cities which you may have read so far. Sapporo may appear to be like other big Japanese cities what with department stores and office buildings, but it is much more than that. It is such a laid back city that people can live comfortably in without the hustle and bustle of life (I suppose). At least you don't feel like a squashed sardine when you hop on the train during rush hour unlike Tokyo or Osaka. Though the same can't be said for the highways because everybody owns a car in Hokkaido. That being said, taking a drive to the nearby countryside is probably something worth recommending. Look out of the window and all you see are series of rivers, mountains and vegetation fields (probably naganegi). If you are a city kid like me who exclaims even at the sight of fog, this is a must-do. Probably confined in the concrete jungle for too long, staring into the vast open fields with seemingly no end made me felt like migrating to Hokkaido there and then. And the great thing about having Sapporo as your base camp is that once you get tired of rivers, mountains and vegetation fields, you can always head back to Sapporo eki and Odori eki vicinity to do some crazy shopping while slurping the famous Hokkaido ramen. Take it from someone who is still homestaying in Kyoto at this moment, though the temples and castles here are awesome, nothing beats the spaciousness and the super friendly Hokkaido-jin.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you for your help in advance.

Have a nice evening.

Mariko

Haruna Ai and SDN48

2011-04-01T01:05:00.009+08:00

I'm sure all of you are familiar with Girls' Generation (SNSD).

In 2009, they released their hit single "Gee". The "Gee" fever and dance encroached South Korea like "Nobody" did.

A year later, SNSD entered the Japan market with this catchy tune among others. Not surprisingly, the Japanese love them and their dances.

With that in mind, the following is a rendition of "Gee" by Haruna Ai and idol group SDN48.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Haruna Ai is a transsexual???

At the end, the male host said "Is the Kakarichou mixed inside???"
*Kakarichou is like a department team leader*
Another guy continued "Why didn't any of you voiced out that this (performance) was impossible during the rehearsal???"
Finally, another guy sang "Gee" in a deep and mellow voice.

Freaking hilarious!

Haruna Ai blends in pretty well with all the others.... that is, until she speaks. But she's hell lot funny right! Furthermore, she's a recurring guest for many Japanese variety shows. Pretty hard not to know her.

And erm, SDN48 is some idol group which you can pay no attention to... unless you are a dude. Apparently, they are the matured sister group of AKB48. By matured, I mean THIS matured. And THIS! Omg police police, there are few young girls posing nude here.

ARASHI meets MANGA

2011-03-26T02:17:00.003+08:00

Enough about Korean nonsense already.

Not too long ago, Arashi appeared in Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Each member was drawn by a different (highly reputable) mangaka.

Can you guess which mangaka drew each member from the drawing style? MatsuJun one should be pretty darn obvious.

Matsumoto Taiyou, author of the manga "Tekkonkinkreet", drew Ninomiya Kazunari.

Has a Mushishi feel to it. Somewhat melancholy, love it.

“Honey and Clover” author Umino Chika drew Sakurai Shou.

Lots of attention on the details. Almost realistic.

“Hana Yori Dango” (AKA “Boys Over Flowers”) artist Kamio Yoko drew Matsumoto Jun.

How can you not recognise such a distinctive style! Omg this is totally like Domyouji with the face of MatsuJun! Awesome much!

“Bartender” author Nagatomo Kenji drew Aiba Masaki.

Not surprising as Aiba is currently starring in the Bartender drama.

Finally, “Kaibutsu-kun” author Fujiko Fujio drew Ohno Satoshi.

Although it may seem comical (very), that's the mangaka's style. Believe it or not, of all the mangaka above, Ohno has the greatest honour of being drawn by Fujiko Fujio.

Wanna try and guess why? (Hint: observe the style of the drawing)

"Kaibutsu-kun" is an incredibly popular manga in Japan. Japanese grow up watching/reading it. Granted we are not familiar with it, but surely you are familiar with Doraemon?

That's right. One of the authors (Fujiko Fujio is the pen name of a manga writing duo) is the guy behind the infamous robotic blue cat. And he wrote under the pen name - Fujiko F. Fujio. As we all know, he passed away before finishing Doraemon.

So yeah, the other guy (also a super big name in Japan) drew this and they obviously they have a similar style.

Not familiar with Arashi?

Worry not, I've placed the drawings with the real person alongside for comparison.

Nino. (Even managed to find one with a scarf *Pats myself on the back*)

Sakurai (This too).

MatsuJun (Handsome much?)

Aiba (Intending to watch the drama soon).

Ohno!
(If you google this dude, almost all of his images are found with his signature peace sign. Which explains why all the other characters in the drawing are doing the peace sign too. LOL)

Which mangaka do you wish to be drawn by the most?

Definitely Hana Yori Dango's mangaka for me!

TVXQ!

2011-03-21T03:50:00.004+08:00

Continuing my temporary infatuation with TVXQ, I introduce you their title track - Keep you head down.

Seriously, nobody dances like them. Guess that's what you achieve after being in this industry for 8 years. FYI, they are down to 2 from a 5 man team as 3 of their members filed a lawsuit against their company last year. The dark side of the Korean entertainment industry.

Here's the dance version of their mv.

Despite their hotness, I can't help but choked at the part where they appear to be wearing avant-garde suits in their actual mv.

Oh look! Furry shoulder pads.

I couldn't decide between fashion disaster or avant-garde. But after looking at it a while more, I decided to go with the latter. Threading on dangerous territory boys. But yeah, they are TVXQ, they can wear anything and still look smoking hot.

Look! Is that an owl?

Return of the Kings: 東方神起

2011-03-20T00:01:00.003+08:00

Recent dance choreographs of Korean boy bands mostly revolve around being beastly, manly, cool whatever. You see the likes of 2pm, Big Bang and Mblaq. Since when did they move away from being hot and sexy?

Other than Rain's "Love Song" which somewhat emphasizes (a little too much) on the sexy element, there seem to be no other choreographs in recent kpop I can think of that is sexy but not overly done. Skip to 2:16 if you wish to be disturbed by Rain's hip grinding movements or whatever one calls that.

Until Dong Bang Shin Ki returned.

After making their comeback two months ago with their power dance track “Keep Your Head Down,” the TVXQ boys took a temporary hiatus to recharge and have now returned on today’s Music Core with their repackaged album and brand new title track, “Before U Go“, for their follow-up promotions. “Before U Go” is a traditional R&B track with heavy emotions, where Yunho and Changmin’s vocals were put at center focus.

And this new track is steaming~ A very long time since I felt that these Korean boy bands are talented in singing and dancing. Yunho's moves and Changmin's vocals. And it is their talent in dancing that made this dance choreography come to live.

Not forgetting their hip thrusting movement are much more sophisticated than Rain's! (I sound like a perv but moving on).

Overall, nicely done performance suitable for all ages. But probably not for grannies. They might find it difficult to breathe from all the hotness. ~~(And possibly aching loins - as Amy Farrah Fowler would put it)~~

By the way, all their background dancers look damn comical.

Personally, though Yunho's moves are indisputable, the steaming hot one is Changmin. The charisma and the vibe he gives off really gets to you. Off to watch his new drama Paradise Ranch which has damn low ratings but will watch it anyway simply because the lead is hot!

How I Met Your Mother renewed for two seasons

2011-03-19T19:43:00.005+08:00

Good news!!!

CBS's hit sit-com How I Met Your Mother will not end at season 7.

A recent repor t tells us more.

Two and a Half Men may or may not be back in the fall. But CBS’ How I Met Your Mother ain’t going anywhere (unless, of course Neil Patrick Harris embraces his inner Harold and Kumar alter ego and starts tripping out on the Alex Jones radio show, which seems rather unlikely).
The network has just renewed the hit comedy for, not one, but two more seasons, which will continue to give CBS a great opening act on Monday nights (assuming the show isn’t shuffled to later spot in the lineup).

So the bad news: You’re probably not going to find out who the mother is until at least 2013.

Why are Singaporeans so kan cheong?

2011-03-16T00:33:00.007+08:00

Seriously, these stupid messages that warn people about the so-called acid rain and swapping yourselves with iodine is just freaking dumb.

Like I'm sure if the radioactive materials do in fact reach Singapore, the best way to warn people is through mass texting and not through proper media channels. Hello??

Just yesterday night, I received an influx of similar texts that apparently warned me to stay indoors and avoid the "acid rain" at all cost. While I appreciate these friends spending some time to text me, they might want to check the authenticity of these information before passing needless fear to their friends. Needless to say, Singaporeans get kan cheong easily and this is one of the few things that will trigger this trait of ours.

Though I was almost certain that the information was false upon reading the message (I did doubt myself for a second). But if you have been following the news update from Japan faithfully, you would know that despite the disastrous situation, Singapore is highly unlikely to be affected by these radioactive material. Moreover, they already said on Sat/Sun that the wind direction is blowing in favour of the Asian countries. In other words, whatever radioactive material is being blown offshore toward the North Pacific Ocean. In any case, South Korea and Taiwan should be the ones worrying before us.

Speaking of Japan, the situation is really bad :( Though I feel strongly for the country and have contacted people I know there since the incident, I thought I would not get too emotional about this entire thing. Guess I was wrong. While watching the footage from Japan today, my nose turned sour, evidently on the brink of tearing up. Well, the triggering point was that this guy from World Vision was mentioning how children at the evacuation centres were spending nights on cardboards in the sub-zero weather. They desperately need water, food and blankets among other essentials.

In other interesting after-event news I've read that are not so tear wrenching, Hallyu star Bae Yong Joon, affectionately known as Yon-sama in Japan donated US$900,000 to Japan earthquake victims. That's a significant amount right. Other Korean stars such as Kim Hyun Joong donated US$100,00 which is also quite a bit but guess he doesn't earn as much as Yon-sama.

In Japan, Fast Retailing (owner of UNIQLO) donated 300 million yen and their employees from all over the world donated another 100 million yen. In addition, CEO Yanai Tadashi san personally donated 1 billion yen to disaster relief. In total, the corporation donated 1.4 billion yen (US$17.1 million). Wow.

Did you also read the news about SM Goh mentioning that Singaporeans should learn from the Japanese in dealing with crisis? He compared this incident to the flash floods we had some time ago which raised plenty of eyebrows. Netizens were angry that he made this comparison saying that one is a natural disaster while the other is a man-made phenomenon caused by clogged drains which can be prevented with proper planning. This shows how much people are aware of the real reason behind the flash floods. No, of course it was not caused by clogged drains or leaves or whatever. Nor was it the result of the barrage. It was, as mentioned by my professor from Earth Observatory of Singapore, caused by urbanisation.

On an unrelated topic, I drove to a destination I was not familiar with today. But of course, it rained damn hard. Visibility I would say, came down to 10%. The rain came on suddenly as I drove through Braddell flyover and I had to reduce my speed from 100 to 70 almost immediately. The point is, I ended up late for my French lesson.

After escaping from the dark clouds alive, I found a parking slot that was damn far away from the school and had to run in the rain without an umbrella. Finally I reached the school, saw my tutor and said "So sorry I am late! It's raining so heavily and I couldn't find a parking slot anywhere."

To that he said, "No excuses."

Wonder why it sounds so familiar.

日本、頑張れ！

2011-03-12T02:22:00.007+08:00

Here's my shout out post to Japan.

Sendai was the most affected area but I've never been there before. Guess I will make do with Tokyo photos then.

Side note: My NTU professor from Earth Observatory of Singapore was found chatting with Channel News Asia. They wanted to hear some expert opinion with regards to the tsunami. Totally lol when I heard his familiar aussie accent.

Hope that the Pokemon bullet train is alright.

Side note: They should probably consider a One Piece train too.

Hope that these random host clubs boys are alright.

Side note: I think the middle one is supposedly their 招牌 boy.

Hope that these policemen are doing their job well.
Side note: Spot Arashi's commercial.

Hope that all these random people are alright.

Hope that these random houses didn't collapse.

Hope that the land of the rising sun is doing just fine.

Side note: The quake and tsunami couldn't come in a timing worse than this now that DPJ is barely coping with Maehara's resignation among other things they screwed up. Then again, if they can recovery from this disaster promptly and rightly, the tables may actually favour DPJ once again. I'll be tuning in CNA to see if that happens.

What is your Mother Tongue?

2011-03-04T23:50:00.006+08:00

A french teacher posed this question to a Chinese national student in her class.

Quelles langues étrangère parles-tu?
(What foreign languages do you speak?)

He answered, English and a bit of French.

If it was me, I would have answered Japanese and a bit of French.

Later in the evening, I shared this answer with my French tutor and he said,

"What you don't speak Chinese?"
"Of course I do. It's just that I consider both English and Chinese as my mother tongue!"
"Non, non, you can't do it this way. English is your mother tongue and Chinese, Japanese, French are the foreign languages you speak."

But of course. For a French, his mother tongue is likely to be French. Similarly for Japanese, they may speak more than one language, but it is clear what their mother tongue is. How can they possibly comprehend the special circumstances in which most Singapore Chinese are brought up in. Then again, I couldn't argue with him further because I couldn't explain the situation myself.

Being brought up in a typical Singaporean Chinese household, I end up in a weird situation of not knowing which is my mother tongue. In fact, I envy those who have a language they can identify with. For that matter, even Chinese nationals.

Bilinguality has its up and downside. Well, at least the downside for me is that I end up screwing up both languages. Is my English even coherent now? I don't remember liking English very much in my younger years. I guess it very much has to with living with my mandarin/dialect speaking grandparents during my childhood years. It doesn't matter if I had studied at a Calvary and had to do tons of assessments books (you know which publisher) in English because the people around me mostly spoke mandarin.

Ah yes, I watched a lot of American cartoons though. But it didn't help that Coyote & Road Runner spoke no more than beep-beep.

Once, I developed a theory of identifying your mother tongue. The theory purports that the language you subconsciously count in would be your mother tongue.

Then again, it really depends on the situation.

When I'm taking a photo, I would use Japanese to count down.
When I'm counting cash, well, English is an obvious choice.
When I'm dealing cards, I tend to use Chinese.

So the theory is flawed? Perhaps. But worth a try anyway. Next time you take a photo, count cash, or deal cards, do take note what language you count in ya?

But I do realise that I count in Chinese more often. Does that mean that my mother tongue is Chinese? Highly likely. You see my Chinese used to be good. Heck I've read dozens of mangas in traditional characters. Now, I can't even carry a proper conversation in Chinese without the aid of English.

Is it possible that your mother tongue changed over time?

Possible. But that would probably take a long time if you stop using the language and it becomes deactivated.

I once read that you've mastered (or sufficiently good at) a language if you can discuss politics or accurately instruct someone to change a tyre in that language.

I probably can't discuss politics in Chinese now. Can you 政治? Then again, your mother tongue doesn't necessary have to be one you've mastered in right.

So what is my mother tongue?

I think it's Chinese. Although it sucks, but well at least for now, it is.

Big Bang Comeback with Secret Garden Parody

2011-02-28T03:05:00.008+08:00

Yearning for more of Secret Garden?

Joowon's mum and Gil Ra Im down to the details.
Yes the person on the right is a dude.

Big Bang brings you a parody like you've never seen before down to the wardrobe, Joowon's house, the hair and makeup. Everything is as-seen-on-secret-garden as this parody is made by the same broadcasting station (SBS) that brought us the epic drama of the century. Our boys are apparently fans of the show as well and the parody was done impeccably, no thanks to their good looks.

T.O.P previously acted in IRIS so his acting abilities should be more refined than others. And boy is he handsome or what.

The guy that cross-played is G-Dragon, leader of Big Bang. If you are not familiar with Big Bang, yeah, all their stage names are *shrugs*.

Seriously, his looks and build are wasted as a guy. He's so damn petite he can fit into all of Gil Ra Im's clothes ~~that I can't fit into.~~

Just recently, they formed a two man unit group call GD & TOP.

What do you get when you put two awesome men together?

Yaoi moments.

No, I mean awesome moments. Yes awesome moments.

Surely you don't suspect anything going on between them right? Look, they are so friendly towards each other. What if I add that they are childhood friends?

Surely you don't reckon they fit the typical Yaoi pairing of a Seme and Uke right?

Seme? (攻め)

Uke? (受け)

The Kanji makes the terms easier to comprehend right? *winks*

A Truly Awesome Day in Obihiro I

2011-02-26T03:36:00.025+08:00

Because one of my awesome friend is leaving today, I shall dedicate an awesome post to him.

-------------

Although the entire Nihon trip seems distant now that some time has past, memory of this particular day remains most vivid.

Remember how foggy roads consistently intrigue me? Well, at 4am on the highway, this is what you get.

No doubt visibility posed a challenge to Megu-san. But you've got to trust these Hokkaido people. It's like a daily affair for them.

On this day, we headed down to Obihiro for the annual Kachimai Hanabi Taikai （勝毎花火大会）. The event is scheduled on a Friday/Saturday. Given that the weather sucks on friday, at least they have Saturday as a back up plan. Most people are aware of this so they usually prepare accommodation for the night. Remember my new friend Kado-san? The girl who was with me during the unforgettable Uni ordeal. She and her boyfriend were gonna check into a nearby hotel for the night. Yeah, watching hanabi together is considered a pretty romantic and popular dating event for the Japanese.

And our lodging for tonight? (In case of bad weather)

Megu's grandma's house. You'll see in later entry.

That brings me to why I took the following pictures.

When we started traveling at dawn, we were almost certain that we would be spending the night at Obihiro.

Then the sky began to clear.

Viola! An hour or so later, we drove into clear weather.

According to Obihiro sources (Megu's mum), it was still pouring before day break but cleared as the sun rose. So yay, Hanabi for us TODAY.

Me, amazed by the sudden clear skies. Drove past a HUGE ASS double rainbow!

First things first when we arrived at Obihiro.... CHOP SEATS!!!!

Erm because the turn out at this annual (free) event goes into tens of thousands.

I supposed one fine day, some Japanese dude just came up with this brilliant idea of chopping seats waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the event. Seriously, did they borrowed this idea from Singaporeans?

The awesomeness of this idea is that once you chopped the area, you are free to leave and return right before the fireworks start. No waiting at the site pointlessly.

At 7am in the morning, almost all the good seats were already taken up. These Japanese are more kaisu than Singaporeans. AND, they wake up early.

Then again, I was not convinced.

"Megu-san, you sure it's alright to just leave the canvas and chairs here and come back right before 7pm? Won't they be.. removed by others who want the space? How do people even know which is their canvas when they return?"

"Nope, don't worry I'm positive that no one would ever do that. The people here know the rules. And they abide by it faithfully. Even if it rains today and the event postpone to tomorrow, you can be sure that our canvas is still where it is. You will be surprise, people do recognise their canvases. Everything about this event is under control. Except the weather."

You know, I was (and still is) truly amazed by this phenomenon. If this was Singapore, some auntie would grab your canvas and chairs and probably leave a pile of dog poo behind. Or, you return before the said time and find some ah bengs occupying your space nonchalantly. That is, if you can still prove that the said space is YOUR space.

Setting up "our" space with Take-san's American friend. Ben-san is an English teacher. Yes the name is Ben. Probably short for Benjamin.

Those smart ones would set up a string formation instead of decking out their canvases as the ground is still fairly soaked from the rain.

Job done. Moving on.

Plenty of these observation platforms along the road.

Seriously, park anywhere.

Took plenty of vain useless photos as usual.

I suggested that the couple use this shot to entice more people to homestay with them.

I'm sure many have heard of Hokkaido's native bears.

They wander all over Hokkaido and boy are they huge.

Photo on the net depicting two wild Higuma roaming the streets.

Naturally, I was hoping to spot one what with all those "Beware of bears" signs all over the place.

No such luck after all.

Though I will probably run if I spot one. But not before I snap one bear shot for this page.

Randomly stopped by this lake.

And hopped onto the boats! ...Though very awkward to partner with the angmoh-san whom I just met. But bo bian, wanted to give the couple some time on their own.

Very awkward to jibuntori while boating partner stares in your direction.

Successfully created some productive couple time. Though later I was informed that they went that way to examine the plants.

Don't you just love awkward moments?

Ben-san rowed for some time and I suggested we swap places. Best decision ever. When I started rowing the damn boat, the experience just stop being awkward and be awesome instead. True story.

Likewise, I helped Ben-san took an invaluable boating photo and he twitted immediately. Invaluable because when was the last time you rowed a damn boat?

By the way, angmoh-san has been in Japan for some 10 years and he's married to a Japanese with two kids currently residing in Argentina (if I recall correctly). Hence his Japanese is way above my level. Most likely English too. I was afraid he can't understand my bloody Singaporean accent so I spoke to him all the way in Japanese. Two gaijins speaking nihon-go to each other must be LOL to nihon-jin.

Guess our next destination

A cattle ranch!!

Extremely cite upon seeing the barns!

Angmoh-san still twitting?

Let's go to the Bokujou!

Identifying the most delicious parts of the ushi. Or so I thought he said.

Apparently stroking her tail relaxes her.

That's the way you do the you-know-what.

I mean milking the cow.

By the way, the entire barn smells like crap. I just wanna quickly squeeze some tits and get out.

But it was fun lar!

I always thought you could drink straight from the freshly squeezed milk but apparently it's not recommended. Oh, probably because of the disease that hit Japan last year.

Poor cows. I couldn't bring myself to eat beef for a while. (Not.)

'Sian, I'm screwed' cow was chosen to be slaughter next. Hence.

Cows eat these nonsense.

He probably felt this way. Haha. No lar, Ben-san is a very nice dude.

But I'm sure he would have preferred this photo. Lol.

What are these people staring at???

After the entire session, I just felt that those cows are so pitiful. They look genuinely sad probably knowing the fact that they will end up on someone's plate someday.

Sads.

How now brown cow sads.

Brushing that thought aside, the moment I've been waiting for finally arrived!!

Yay gimme some of that gyu nyu!!!

Maybe I was thirsty, but it was damn tasty.

Aww, savior in the freaking hot weather.

Haven't wore the flowers-dangling-on-my-back-camisole since this day. Think nobody appreciates this nonsense back in Singapore.

End of farm tour!

Tons of people head down to Obihiro on this day. Part of their itinerary usually includes a stop at one of Obihiro's specialty - Buta don!!

Megu-san and Take-san have been raving about it. Nonstop.

Although we are likely to wait up to an hour for food, it was ALL worth it. They said.

Drove to Itou restaurant, famous for its Buta don.

Fortunately for us, there wasn't any queue as we were early. I noticed the queue started forming shortly after.

The image alone makes me drool.

Megu-san and Take-san both ordered the Kurobuta don and I followed suit. If their regular Buta don is that good, their Kurobuta don should be imba good. At around 1100 yen, I consider it very worthwhile for Kurobuta.

Chef at work. Gosh, CAN'T WAIT!

Friday the 13th, but who cares when my day is so awesome.

And it didn't disappoint.

HEAVENLY.

Gosh I can't even begin to describe the taste! The grilled pork, the sauce, the onsen egg. What the hell is wrong with these Japanese geniuses??!!!

I'm willing to pay 5 times the original price to eat this. Seriously, they undercharged this dish.

I licked the bowl clean btw. And I can't help salivating now.

See how you mixed everything together turning it into some gooey nonsense but tastes extraordinary???

DAMN YOU BUTA DON!!!

Aww man, randomly craving for Pulut Hitam

2011-02-24T23:29:00.004+08:00

Among all the sinful supper choices one can make, Pulut Hitam is the worst of the lot.

Why? Because its freaking glutinous rice that's why.

Taste best in old school bowls

But, aww man, the sweetness, the smooth and sticky consistency... Damn.

Auntie one bowl of Pulut Hitam please!

Tribute to Barney Stinson

2011-02-22T00:00:00.000+08:00

This one video exploded from all the awesomeness it contains.

True story.

My 17 year old self

2011-02-21T03:02:00.006+08:00

Found some old photos recently and they made me feel sad.

Really sad...

Because my entire face was filled with collagen!!!! Awesome skin!! And natural blusher!! ...then.

Not forgetting nostalgic MJC lecture theatre as backdrop. Feel the wrath of Wong Meiling and her ever-so-difficult economics questions.

Awesome complexion and erm... centre-parted fringe.

Hahaha spot zhiheng!!!

Kenneth - our spiritual leader.
FYI, this was at the benches somewhere outside our class.

Omfg. Still remember why we had to take this stupid photo??? And seriously why were we forced to watch Star Wars together??

Random reminiscencing makes me feel ashamed of what I have not achieved now....

Oh well. Back to youtube.

Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit

2011-02-14T15:53:00.002+08:00

What better ways to celebrate the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother than to create an epic song for Barney.

The song is simply legen.. wait for it.

...dary. Legendary.

Aux Champs-Élysées

2011-02-11T00:01:00.005+08:00

Even if I know nothing about France, I know the existence of Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

It is deem to be the most beautiful avenue in the world. Heck, they even made a song about it. One that is so damn catchy I can't seem to get it out of my head even after 3 years since I first learned the song from a friend who speaks the language.

So while I was trying to re-learn the song recently (my current short-term goal), I came across a Japanese version of Aux Champs-Élysées. Wait..... Did you say, Japanese?

At the western end of the avenue lies the famous Arc de Triomphe commissioned by Napoleon in 1806.

Indeed. Apparently a French singer was active in Japan some 40 years ago and I chanced upon a video of her singing the Japanese version live.

Her name is Daniele Vidal but she is better known in Japan as the 「歌うフランス人形」, literally "The Singing French Doll". Yeah I know.. these Japanese come out with all sorts of stuffs they think the world needs.

But I'll give it to them this time. Why? BECAUSE SHE FREAKING LOOKS LIKE A DOLL THAT'S WHY. Look at her pictures in her younger days. Her face is so freaking small. WHY IS HER FACE SO FREAKING SMALL??? Life is unfair.

"Konnichiwa" as an equivalent of "Bonjour" in this French+Japanese version. The way she sings them - lovely.

Yeah, so just watch the video and get the tune stuck in your head. FOREVER.

Do it the right way you hotel people

2011-02-06T18:17:00.006+08:00

Kids, in the summer of 2008, your aunt ele and I went to Tokyo to ~~shop our asses off~~ immerse ourselves in Japanese culture.

We stayed in a particular Shinjuku hotel and everything was awesome. Well, at least not until we found ourselves waking up sweating on the first morning. The situation was puzzling but we brushed it aside and went on to enjoy Tokyo.

The second morning at dawn, we woke up sweating, again.

After much ~~bitching~~ discussion, the only possible conclusion we could draw was that the damn hotel people turned off the air conditioning in the middle of a hot summer night.

Damn you hotel people.

Fast forward to 2011.

My Services Marketing professor said one day,

"Kids, I ask many hotels how they cut cost. And they told me they undertake measures such as switching off the air conditioning between 5am to 6am believing it to be the coolest period in the day and guests won't suspect a thing."

He continued,

"But I tell them - the true difference between a hotel that understands the Service-Profit Chain and one that does not, is that the former would never jeopardize customer's satisfaction at any level. Switching off air conditioning without customer's knowledge is exactly what one would do to jeopardize it."

The class was silent.

And one student said in a rather audible voice,

"YEAH and wake up in the middle of the night sweating like hell."

French Roast

2011-01-30T00:00:00.001+08:00

Another good short animation that I recommend.

I love how one guy commented: "Hey, It's Hagrid! I guess things went really bad for him after Dumbledore died"

Haha.

La Maison en Petits Cubes

2011-01-29T04:50:00.001+08:00

Recently reminded of this short animation (yes animation not anime) I watched some time back. It's really good.

I love how nothing is spoken at all.

Secret Garden is the best Korean drama ever. Hands down.

2011-01-23T17:46:00.000+08:00

I hate dramas that are long and draggy and whiny and uninspiring. Korean dramas used to be all that but I watched a good deal of it in my younger days. But I hate them now or at least grew outta it. That's why I haven't been watching Korean dramas for quite a while. And had no intention to pick it up again.

Until I came across this drama - Secret Garden.

As I surfed through allkpop.com digging for celebrity gossips (like Jokwon and Gain dating in real life, which is apparently false) a few articles pertaining this drama popped up. Like how 2NE1's Minzy and Se7en are both big fans of the show. Interesting right? Considering how these stars are so famous themselves.

So I decided to give the show a shot (mainly because I have nothing better to do now anyway).

And I couldn't stop. At all. I did nothing else but watched the show for two freaking straight days. 20 episodes 20 hours.

The genre is comedy, romance with a dash of fantasy. Fantasy part comes when the two leads experience a body switch. I know. Cliche. I thought so too until I realised that the body switch was only a small part of the air time but a big part in the story development.

The two leads are veterans. Of course. Considering how difficult it must have been to act the opposite gender. So I assure you that the acting itself is worth watching. At least you won't see lousy acting even from the supporting characters. Yes the cast is that good.

That being said, how would a drama ever succeed without having a super handsome and rich male lead? How can fangirls have their fangirling moments if such a character did not exist?

Give me a moment. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Hyun Bin!!!!!!!!! Damn how can one guy be so perfect and charming??? Just look at his chiseled features and pretty boy face! How can one guy have both???!!!!

That's not the best part!!! He plays a aristocratic, arrogant, self-centered, narcissistic, eccentric guy basically to the extent of being a jerk. HOWEVER!! You have to watch! There is absolutely NO reason to not love his character.

Oh yes, one thing I really love about his character is that he is freaking rich. No, not just rich. But super wealthy on a totally different scale. When you give us a drama, we don't want a male lead that is just rich. We want one that is in a different league. After all, this is a fiction so us audience don't give a damn about reality. Ah, just imagine him to be the CEO of say, Takashimaya? (I don't have much knowledge of Korean brands)

Above that, I LOVE his eccentricity. The character's deviation from the stereotypical protagonist is so pronounce. You know usually the poor and ugly female lead has a make over and the male lead would undoubtedly proclaim how beautiful she looks now. But no, our dear male lead in Secret Garden walks over to her, hands reaching out to the back of the dress, and flips the dress to see its label. And said "Oh this is an expensive dress". This scene cracked me up so much. Peculiar but SO good.

Looking good in his suit. In fact he looks good in everything. As you know, Korean male fashion is at its pinnacle.

Take this collar for instance. So simple, unique and cute!

Trust me, every fangirl would wish Hyun Bin is their lover after watching this epic drama.

The plot, character development, dialogues, cast, acting, wardrobe, setting, twist, music - each element contributed to making this an epic drama. Though I would go as far as saying if not for Hyun Bin's charms and amazing acting I would probably grow tired of it half way through. But don't take my word for it! The fact that even male audiences enjoyed the show says a lot more than just a pure fangirly drama.

May I also add that the drama clinched several awards including best drama in 2010, best actor, best actress, best couple etc. And I've never seen a drama with such high episode ratings before! Seriously, the nation love this drama. And so should you!

The hilarious moments came when they switch bodies and Hyun Bin now has to act as a girl. It's so gay but good. Haha.

Speaking of gay, there were indeed gay element. Tee-hee.

This guy, Lee Jong Seok, plays a gay and I can see why he was chosen for this character.

He's too pretty and tender (I sound like a perv) to not be a gay. And he vaguely resembles Osamu Mukai.

Hyun Bin even sang the OST and topped all charts for weeks to nobody's surprise. The song is freaking AMAZING. I can cry upon listening to it.

The lyrics is obviously made for the drama. So sad~~ Can I cry now?

I want Hyun Bin to be on top too. (I sound like a perv, again)

A pity, this handsome chap is taken. Guess who he goes out with in real life.

Yes, Song Hye Kyo the nation's natural beauty. Sian unfair competition.

All that being said, why haven't you start to search for the drama streams? Lucky for you, and me, we do not have to suffer the ache of waiting for the next episode after episode because the drama just ended last weekend. I feel damn lucky that I only started this 2 days ago else I will go berserk waiting for the next episode every week.

Two websites I recommend to stream this drama.

http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/secret-garden/

http://www.mysoju.com/secret-garden/

End with my eye candy.

Time to suffer from Secret Garden withdrawal now....

Hitting the roads of Furano in Summer

2011-01-21T02:01:00.000+08:00

Rise and shine! For a much awaited day!

Although I was guilty of indulging in anime till some 3am, I surprised myself by promptly jumping outta the bed to wash up 2 hours later. Sleep deprivation can fry in hell.

When was the last time you see sun rise this early.

Boshi for the day.

September Vivi which I bought but totally neglected. Best onigiri flavour in my opinion - torigomoku. See the onigiri is still freaking warm!

Guides for the day - Take-san and Megu-san. Ahead lies a foggy path which intrigues urban folks like myself.

(I know its tempting but try to refrain from reading it as 'take'. It's 'ta-ke'.)

Highway break area

Shameless jibuntori early in the morning.

One of the many streams which we came across.

Princess Mononoke would appear any moment.

Endless road with no cars in sight.

The scenery warrants a jump shot. I look retarded though. Tell me how do you maintain a straight face while doing a jump shot?

Megu thought my dress was from Liz Lisa. Now I know where Miss Selfridge got their inspirations from.

I look genuinely... what's that word.. delighted? Haha how could I have been otherwise.

Everywhere you look its amazingly breathtaking. Best still, we could simply stop the car anywhere to take in the scenery. There would be no need to look for parking spaces. With flowers blooming everywhere this time of the year, one could hardly resist the urge to halt and awe at nature.

One of my favourite shots

No civilization in sight. Just vast greenery.

And endless blue in the sky. Seriously love how the roads are clear of cars.

Did you say..?

Excuse me, there's a truck coming your way.

Stopping yet again at random places to take in the panoramic view. Though I haven't quite figure out how to use the panoramic function in my camera.

Checking google map on ipad occasionally.

Jet coaster roads. Cuz the roads vaguely resemble roller coasters.

You see that we drive on the jet coaster road from peak to peak.

Came across a sunflower field. Surprise surprise.

Oh hello sunshines!

Then there was this photo which I love.

Nice right.

But little do you know that the first pose was something like this.

I know.. laugh please. Haha.

Take-san showed me around the famous Farm Tomita while Megu-san takes a nap in the car. She said she's been here one too many times which I can totally understand why. In addition, she has been driving for what 5 hours? Yes she desperately needed a nap.

How convenient to just water colour the flower fields with a slab of their respective colour.

Gorgeous. But a pity the lavenders were mostly gone by August.

Mountains and fields and mountains.

Japanese love their soft cream, especially in summer. In Japan, soft cream flavour has no boundaries which explains why lavender soft cream exists.

Scrutinising the dubious purple soft cream.

Mazui desu.

Take and I concluded that lavenders should stick to what they are best and not get involve with food.

Take-san loves taking photos randomly and that includes absolutely random candid shots of me. He believes that one must have some while traveling. Say no to jibuntori.

A caught-in-action photo which seem like I actually posed for it. Guess which photo I was taking.

Another one caught-in-action.

Masaaki asked when he saw this "あの。。誰ですか。” which can be roughly translated to "who the heck is that damn chio Japanese girl?".

Must thank Take-san for constantly offering his photography services.

Diorama effect. Slightly off focused but still gorgeous.

Well I won't be surprised if all the workers managed to blend into the lavender field.

We stumbled across this seemingly abundant train station that is too beautiful to be missed.

One of my favourites.

電車来るのかな～

Nah, this train station looks deserted. Looks like the train won't come this way for another 2 hours or something. I thought to myself.

電車はどこかしら～

Then we heard "dang dang dang dang~".

Omfg is that the train?? How lucky! 本当に来たよね！

Quick flag the densha!

Densha no more.

Seriously you couldn't imagine how ecstatic we were when the train came. This is what everybody call - cheap thrill. Lol.

Hokkaido University

2011-01-11T16:02:00.005+08:00

Or Hokudai in short.

Looks something like this.

Compared to this. Eww concrete jungle NTU.

Can't imagine if I hadn't cycle there.

..........

I kinda ran outta things to say so I'll summarise and conclude that its a nice place.

You see for yourself.

Picnic by the... stream. Cool huh.

Those Japanese have really cute kids. Isn't the air? Or the Hokkaido milk?

Lol the guy like totally ignoring the girl.

Omfg there are mandarin ducks in Hokudai.

???

Hokudai Botanic Garden a stone's throw away

But of course we would find a topless angmoh with hairy chest in the middle of nowhere.

And uncle in erotic position...

Omfg what is he doing in public?

What makes you think they don't exist - Lolicon, Shotacon and others

2011-01-06T15:02:00.014+08:00

In the end, it all boils down to the definition of Anime...

GINTAMA IS BACK!!!!!

2010-12-28T00:05:00.001+08:00

Dear Kamisama,

Can you make me hibernate for 4 months so that waiting for the epic-anime-of-the-century won't seem so long?

Please? In any case, university and FYP seem so trivial next to the epic-anime-of-the-century.

WHAT? YOU DUNNO WHAT IS GINTAMA? It's the epic-anime-of-the-century ain't it!

Go watch season one or grow some mushrooms!

Now, for the trailer of season two.

Epic-anime-of-the-century. Coming to you in April 2011.

Why do you wear jeans?

2010-12-27T01:26:00.010+08:00

(On the way to Genting)
Friend: "You sure you alright with those shorts?"
Me: "Yeah, I don't like anything beyond my knees."
Friend: "Heard Genting is cold though. We'll see how."
Me: "No problem lar, I survived Hong Kong winter without long pants too."

(At Genting)
Me: "I go change into my leggings..."

Genting was freaking cold. I had no idea what I was into. I thought "Meh, Genting = Malaysia". Seriously, cold?

I was wrong.

It was cold enough to sleep through the night with no aircon, no fan, and with jacket.

But obviously not cold enough to warrant winter gear. This brings me to the dilemma of people's choice of clothing, particularly those living in Southeast Asia.

Genting - Fun above the clouds! But I think they meant within the clouds. It was damn foggy 80% of the time.

Living on this side of the globe with no prominent fluctuation in temperature means that we do not spend on winter wear. Which also means that we have little knowledge of winter wear and how to wear them appropriately.

You can't blame us. It's like my Hokkaido family exclaiming why all Singaporean girls wear short shorts when the same is rather rare back in Hokkaido. The climate simply does not permit us to wear anything more or for them, less.

Although it would be nice if seasons were to ever exist in Singapore (and of course wear all those autumn/winter furry stuffs), I admit that having a constant warm climate has its benefits too. Like erm, you don't have to spend excessively on winter wear? Because I think I would. Without a doubt.

Back to the point: why do folks here like to wear jeans so much?

Okay fine. I acknowledge that jeans are great. They go with everything. They go with most weather. They can last for days. They can cover your fat thighs.

BUT DOES THAT MEAN THAT JEANS IS THE ONLY FREAKING THING YOU CAN WEAR??

Random shot of Genting with everybody in jeans. Isn't that great? Yay.

So when people from this side of the globe visit Resorts World Genting, they have nothing better to wear other than jeans, considering the weather. Those who try to be funny will accessorize themselves with mufflers (ugly ones), scarfs (ugly ones), beanies (ugly ones) and gloves (huh?).

I won't mind so much if they are a little more fashionable..... again, considering the lack of knowledge for winter fashion......

You probably wear jeans too. Perhaps an avid fan. Not implying that jeans is unfashionable. It's just that in this context, it dawned on me that every single Asian was freaking wearing jeans! (ok fine, most).

It's not like I don't own a pair either. One. Currently tucked somewhere. I would love to find another pair that I fancy but apparently no luck here. If you are particular about the cut and design, you would realise that not many here make the mark.

So I tried the streetwear in Japan hoping to bring one home.

Nordic jeans from Spiral Girl, about 11,000 yen.

Nordic denim from Spiral Girl, about 8000 yen.

I really liked that pair of jeans but nordic is so 'meh' now that the trend is fading. Luckily I bought the latter which I can wear so much more often and the nordic is so subtle nobody notices anyway. Which is a bit sad considering the price.

All that jeans talk and at the end of the day I end up buying denim. Big difference to me though.

More than just convenient food

2010-12-21T04:33:00.010+08:00

Crap. It's one of those nights where you have to get up early the next morning. But you can't seem to fall asleep no matter how many youtube videos you've watched. What? You mean you don't watch youtube videos to sleep???

And despite the fatigue from completing the last exam paper earlier today, some unknown force is driving you to click on yet another youtube video.

But of course. Before you know it, it's 4am.

Yet you still don't feel sleepy no doubt from the irregular sleeping hours the past few days.

At this time, there's really only one thing that would interest you.

FOOD!

Truth be told, I'm starving now. I'm craving for hot food. Or for that matter, any food. Yet the only food I can think of at this hour is instant noodles. And the instant noodles here aren't even nice.

As many would know, the convenient stores in Japan are one of a kind. A haven in their own right. Granted, those back home sell indispensable consumer items as well. But where are the hot food????? I don't freaking wanna eat bread or pies or lousy mash potato. I want real food! Like hot piping food!

One night in Hakodate, I happen to reach the place I was lodging at rather late. Cold and starving (like now), I popped by the convenient store directly opposite.

At 2am, there was hot piping oden, wide selection of onigiri (you can warm it up), bento and noodles, among others.

I grabbed the oden (damn good), onigiri, jumbo sausage, kanibou (カニ棒） and banana milk.

Kanibou is this snack in Hokkaido I fell in love with instantly.

Looks something like the normal Japanese crabstick but those they sell in the convenient stores are thicker and longer. You eat it like how you would eat a Popsicle. Not sure if its only available in Hokkaido since I couldn't find it in Kyoto's convenient stores for instance.

Tell me, are these you would enjoy for a midnight supper?

Definitely a yes for me!

You see, even Taiwan's convenient stores sell pretty good convenient food like tea leave eggs and whatnot. But what about those back home? Are there no market for some quality convenient food?? I highly doubt so.

On my return ANA flight, no passenger was beside me so I wasn't paiseh to snap my airplane meal. Ahhh but... yes... someone was next to me on my midnight flight to Japan so childish actions such as taking photos of your airplane meal was refrained. But the breakfast was damn nice lar. Think it was omelet or something.

The choice was between cordon bleu chicken and some Japanese dish. I chose the former because apparently I had enough of the latter. The butter roll reminds me of Yakitate Japan (some anime. it's ok you don't have to know).

Turning back time a little, as I was traveling southwards, I noticed the habit of passengers dabao-ing bento and stuffing themself with it happily during the boring train rides. It wasn't uninteresting for me because staring out of the window was one of my enjoyment amid the abundant greenery in Japan's countryside. Trust me, it's highly intriguing for urban folks like you and me.

So I was contented with onigiri/futomaki and cocoa milk/tea from various brands.

Then again, how could I possible resist from buying into the train bento when they look so appetizing from the menu.

But on closer look, damn they are not cheap at all. The most expensive one could go up to 2000 yen which is a freaking 31 bucks! Like WTF?

In the end, I decided on the 800 yen bento (12 bucks - still not cheap lor).

Chahan (fried rice) bento with fake siewmai. Taste - 6/10. Fun - 10/10.

Seriously onigiri tasted much better. But it was worth the try anyway!

I've always wanted to demae (take-away) ramen and eat at home while watching One Piece. But of course no such luxury in Singapore :(

On a side note, demae or written in kanji - 出前, literally means 外卖 in chinese. So from here you can guess the meaning behind the famous instant noodle brand 出前一丁.

Still in Hakodate and on one late night, I furafura solo and passed by this chinese ramen store whereby these autographs caught my attention.

Autographs of many famous (I assume) pro-baseball players.

In case you don't know yet, Hokkaido is home to pro-baseball team Nippon Ham Fighters.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks is another big team.

And apparently they all have patronised this little chinese ramen store in Hakodate after winning their baseball matches! (I would like to believe so)

Demae, I must!

A look at their menu and I went for their signature dish.

Just an ordinary Shio ramen with minimum ingredients and it drove me to ecstasy.

It was that good. Simply because of the delicious soup base and chewy noodles. The char siew pieces were bonuses. Nothing flashy. No soft boil egg like Marutama's. No premium meat like Santouka's. Just a simple bowl of ramen back to the basics.

And seriously that is all I need.

BP spills

2010-12-10T01:24:00.001+08:00

Watch this if you haven't.

Amazon.com

2010-12-04T23:58:00.000+08:00

For some weird reason, it feels great to receive a package.

Nah, your packaging sucks.

One for writing my music elective papers and the other my core module. I suppose the ojisan on the cover is Claudio Monteverdi. As the title suggest, he's the first composer of Opera as we know of today.

Guilty of spending a ton on money to ship these items in the shortest possible time. Seriously, damn ex.

Jibuntori in Japan: Chottomatteyo~

2010-12-03T15:07:00.003+08:00

Omg it's this time of the semester again...

Get me my needed dose of caffeine please.

Jibuntori in Japan

2010-12-01T14:42:00.001+08:00

Learning Japanese is fun. But definitely not the easiest thing.

But learning Japanese in Japan was fun yet easy.

No doubt I'm missing the days in Japan already. (And of course, the chance to jibuntori max)

日本語で遊ぼう！

2010-11-30T12:37:00.001+08:00

The day started out with some shifty eyes and awkward smiles.

The phenomenon is evident when you put adults alongside kids.

Where is this awkward place you may ask.

I unwillingly dragged myself here on a rainy and lazy Saturday afternoon.

In order to attend this event with my classmates. Encouraged by Itou sensei of course.

Started off with the art of Origami.

Why am I not surprised we had to fold a Uchiwa? Seriously even those Japanese thinks that Singaporeans need a freaking Uchiwa in this mad hot weather.

I suck much at Origami. Never had the knack of making one corner exactly meeting another. That's why I had the secondary school kid beside me helped me with the last step of the stupid boat. Something that involves turning the paper inside out. Or outside in. Who cares.

That being said, I like the boat. Mostly because of the polka dots.

Yay. Done with the Origami. Okay can we go home now?

Snapped one of the Japanese dude who taught us Origami.

Trying out this gun-like thing.

I loaded the rubber band but it was gone in like a second even before I could push the "trigger". So I put aside this childish toy and went to get food instead.

That's my classmate from China whose Japanese level is easily top in our class. Of course, she happens to be my team mate for our Oral test this Thursday. We are so gonna pwn the rest of the teams. HAHA! I'm confident in my conversational ability but not vocab and writing capabilities though.

So anw, each randomly formed team had to rotate and compete against each other in 4 different games. Japanese games of course.

Guessing Japanese food/sports/anime characters.

Each person, from one of two teams, could ask the Game Master one question at a time of which the Game Master would only answer yes or no. The same guy had to give an answer straight after.

For instance, I asked the first question when the topic was anime character "Is the character the main lead?". Game master answered yes. "Is he Naruto?". Low and behold, the guy (above) bankai meaning I actually got the answer with one question. Eh but seriously too easy lar. One could guess just by putting ourselves in their shoes.

Other more challenging answers include: Crayon shin-chan, boxing, Sumo, natto

Some not very interesting game which our team easily pwned the other.

Standard Japanese game. But eh this is more fun than I thought!

Quite obvious what this is. Only one question stumped us. How do you explain coconut in Japanese? And if you do get it right, what is coconut in Japanese? Wtf なぞなぞ

Coincidentally, I was the one giving hints to my team mate guessing this question.

The other team started off first and he went "It's a type of food - fish on top of the rice.". No answer from his team mate. By the way most participants were kids younger than us. My turn and I said "You know there's this famous Japanese restaurant here. The name is SAKAE ~?". Of course, even primary school kids know what Sakae Sushi is these days. It's so disgustingly local.

And yeah all of the above in Japanese. That's the purpose of the event right.

Most challenging games of all. Passing down difficult sentences among others. I love how that guy on the right stands.

After much friendly competition, the event came to an end.

Closing speech by, who are you again?

Then it was time for the prize giving ceremony. You didn't think we were just playing the games for fun right.

Apparently, last year's prize was some imba Japanese snack. Or so I was told by the secondary school kid next to me. So yeah, why not win it?

Presumably the gathering of Otaku and Hikikomori

Back at our table, we were almost certain we will make it to the top 5 amongst the 8 groups as we won all 4 games. (Because they only award top 5 groups with prizes) So I was like yay, got snacks.

"In 5th place, team ~~!"
"In 4th place, team ~~!"

Me: "Oh so we are in top 3.."

"In 3rd place, with a score of 260+, team ~~!"

Random team mate: "Oh so we are second.."

"In 2nd place, with a score of 270+, team ~~!"

Me: "Masaka?? Eh can't be first right??"

"In 1st place, with a score of 340+, team C!"

Me: "WTF?!"

And I was made to go up to collect the prize. Eh it was paiseh.

Random guy handing over the prizes: "Congratulations! You guys worked hard for this! Sugoi!"
Me: "Err... Arigatougozaimasu.." (seriously we didn't work hard in particular. just erm... sheer luck?)

So here are the prizes for the winning team. We even got like 5 extras because we only had 7 people while other teams had 10 or more for starters. I guess too many cook spoils the broth.

And it was amazing that we PWN all other teams like mad. No doubt credited to those zai kids in the team.

Omg Doraemon gone wrong.

Still, it was fun lar.

私

2010-11-28T23:17:00.000+08:00

Though we were only supposed to submit one, I submitted two essays. The following essay was written based on some random story I made up that ultimately ties back to one great work of Natsumi Souseki - A famous Japanese novelist of the Meiji period, and whose portrait appears on the 1000 yen note.

私はカフィーです。今年もう三歳になりました。私がまだ生後２ヶ月のときに今の家族に拾われました。それ以前の記憶はさっぱりありません。なんだかある日気がついたら雨の中、たった一人きりになっていました。

そしてあの人と出会いました。大雨なのに、私をじっと見ていました。まるで何か言いたいことがあるが、私に伝えられないようです。眼鏡をかけているその男の人は急に私を優しく抱いてくれました。雨で濡れた私はびっくりしました。

目覚めるとすでに晴れていました。よく見ると、きれいな家にいます。「ここはどこだろう」と自分に聞いてみたが、答えられませんでした。窓から眩しい明かりが見えました。あまりにも美しかったのでつい窓の枠へ上ってしまいました。すると、夢の中の眼鏡をかけた男の人がキャッチボールをしていました。いや、夢ではなかったのかもしれません。でも、その時はもう疲れていたのであまり深く考えませんでした。うとうとしながら横になったとき、ある物が首に着けられているのに気づきました。すごく気になったので外そうと思いましたが、肉球ではなかなか外せません。鏡に近づくと、自分の姿が見えました。

あ、そうです。我輩は猫である。

伊藤先生のcomment: カフィさん、文才があります！面白いです！

Japanese to English translation

I am a coffee. Now three years old this year already. Our family was picked up when I was still two months. Refreshing memory and not earlier. Somehow I realized one day in the rain, had only been alone.

And I met him. Even though rain was staring at me. There is something to say though, it seems to me not to tell. The man gave me the glasses, suddenly embraced me tenderly. Wet with rain, I was surprised.

I woke up was already clear. If you look closely, I clean house. "This is probably where the" but I asked myself, did not answer. I saw a light shining through the window. I climb into the window frame, so beautiful about that too. Then, the catch was a man in the dream glasses. Well, maybe not a dream. But at that time did not think too deeply because it was already tired. When I lay dozing while, noticed that things have been wearing around his neck. I thought that was really intriguing to me 外Sou in the 外Semasen paws easily. Approaches the mirror and saw my appearance.

Oh, yes. Soup is a cat.

Professor Itou's comment: Kafi's have literary talent? Interesting!

Hi, I am a coffee. Oh and a soup too.

...No seriously. The last sentence was supposed to go "I Am a Cat" (like a revelation). And apparent I was inspired by this famous quote.

Quote Wikipedia:

Sōseki phrased his work's title, Wagahai wa neko de aru (吾輩は猫である), in very formal language incongruous with its meaning. Written with a majestic plural, it conveys a grandiloquence and self-importance intended to sound ironic, since the speaker is a house cat.

Oh, in fact I didn't know it was a house cat. Come to think of it my story does make a lot more sense now that I realised it was originally meant to be a house cat.

Despite the almost ridiculously google translation, I'm quite reluctant to do the translation myself anyway. To tell you the truth, I worry that it might just sound super corny and cheesy in English. Then again, it is. Haha.

(Btw Itou sensei meant it as a statement. Yes don't doubt I have talent in this. haha)

私

2010-11-28T02:47:00.003+08:00

自分のことを話すのに、欠かせないものが一つあります。それはある大切な場所です。雨の時でも晴れの時でも、それはいつもそこにあります。昼間でも夜でも、そこにあります。私が泣いている時でも寂しい時でも、そこを思い出すと心が落ち着きます。それが、私の家です。

休みの日は私の年代の人たちは出かけるのが好きでしょう。しかし私は家でのんびりするのが大好きです。パソコンでユーチューブというウェブサイト見たり、ニュースを読んだり、映画を見たり、音楽を聞いたりする時が一番幸せです。こんな私はひきこもりでしょうか。

私はホラー映画などの怖い話が苦手です。でも時々友達に誘われて断り切れず、怖い映画を観てしまいます。映画を観た後は面白かったなと思えますが、後で一人でいると色々怖いことを想像して怯えることになって、後悔してしまいます。その時私はなんて馬鹿だろう・・と思ってしまいますが後悔先に立たず。

うちへ帰ったらまだ怖いのですが、何だか家に入ると心が落ち着きます。なぜならそこが私の帰る場所だからです。何も怖がらなくてもいいんだ、と自分を落ち着かせることができます。また、家に家族がいるので怖がる必要なんかありません。私にとって、家とはものすごく大切なものだと気づきました。

今の人々にとって、家は何でしょうか。家とはただ寝るだけの場所ですか。それとも帰るべき居場所ですか。１０年前の私に聞くと、きっと答えられませんでしたが、今の私なら答えは一つしかありません。家は帰るべき場所です。それがもちろんあたり前のことで、皆さんも知っているはずですが、家の本当の意味は理解しているでしょうか。

伊藤先生のcomment: 大切な人、大切な場所を持つことができる人は幸せです。カフィさん、幸せですね。

So I reckon it's my job to do the translation else nobody gives a damn what I wrote for my Japanese essay. By the way the topic was "Me". Yeah tell me about it.

Yes translation! What better ways than utilising the almighty google translation!

Japanese to English translation

To talk to himself, there is one indispensable. It is a precious place. Even when the rain even on a sunny, but it is always there. Even during the day or night, there. Even when I feel lonely even though they are crying, my heart calms down and remember it. That is my home.

Days off of my age who would like to go out. But I love to veg out at home. Website of the PC watching YouTube, reading news, watching movies, is happiest when listening to music. What I would like this withdrawal.

I do not like horror movies and scary stories. Invited by a friend asking uncontrollably sometimes, but will watch scary movies. After watching the movie might seem an interesting and, to be frightened by scary to imagine that a lot that people later will regret. I regret that time will stand before I thought I'd fool.

I still afraid to come back out, and my heart settles down into the house somehow. The place is because it is my home. What should I be afraid, you can soothe myself. Moreover, there is something I have a family at home need to be frightened. For me, home and realized that something terribly important.

Now for the people of the house What. What is the location of the house and just sleep alone. What place or go back. I heard 10 years ago, certainly did not answer, I would say there is only one right now. Is the place to go back home. Of course it can Atari前, but you also should know, what the true meaning of the house know.

Professor Ito's comment: an important person who can have an important place is happy. Kafi's, I'm happy.

I know... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Hi my name is Kafi and I like to veg out at home.

Nine9lives statistics

2010-11-14T02:18:00.005+08:00

Once again, this page's statistics never fail to amaze me.

How they found me (this week):

Why in the freaking world would "nico robin" end up being the top find? And the fact that it surpasses the boring "nine9lives" search by a big margin puzzles me even more.

No seriously, why?? Should I change this page to nico9robin?

I know I blogged about Nico Robin (from One Piece in case you are ignorant) some time ago. But what about her that warrants the mass (I assume) Googling of her name? She is not even in the limelight of the epic One Piece arc now. Meh~.

The only conclusion I can draw is that these random strangers are searching for "nico robin porn" or "nico robin naked" or "nico robin and nami 1 cup". And unwillingly ended up on this page.

One other interesting search worth mentioning (is not "silken tofu and vegetables photos" because I don't care) definitely goes to "cosplay yamamoto".

Did I ever mentioned anything about cosplay yamamoto in this page? Doubt so. Nonetheless, if this dude is referring to the Yamamoto from Gintama I would definitely love to see someone attempt to cosplay this un-interesting character. *googles "cosplay yamamoto" immediately*

How they found me (last week):

"japan love boys". Hehehe. Someone is being naughty.

I think I shall dedicate a full entry to "japan love boys" in order to live up to this search. Whatever you can imagine (surprise buttsect, bishounen x 2, silken tofu, just to name a few) can be easily catagorise under this category (But of course!).

"lady gaga anime eyes" and "fried fish balls photo" might have reaped the same results for all you know.

"best homecooked japanese" anytime. (Y)

And wtf, "nami bikini" again? Don't these people get sick of drooling at nami? At least search something like "nami, nico robin and luffy threesome". Eeek! Omg! What have I done!!

How they found me (last month):

Excuse me, who is "kudasian?"

Is it some sort of new Japanese naming which I haven't heard of yet? I meant yeah why not? Kudasian sounds pretty awesome. Like fffffsian and damnsian, Kudasian has a nice ring to it.

Well, unless this joker meant "hot photo kudasai" which can mean please give me some freaking hot photos. Then perhaps that makes more sense considering how many people are trying to find nami and robin's photo for god knows what reasons.

This dude searching for "classic moment" must be in need of enlightenment of some sort. A pity "classic moment" in my life includes getting drunk at friend's house while witnessing another friend puke all over at said friend's house, amongst other along this line.

Where they came from?

I suspect its those people in US who kept searching for "nami and robin".

This page is so global! Probably not taking into account Sweden and Australia though. Haha.

Now who wants to see "japan love boys" in next entry?

My Favourite Pastime

2010-11-12T20:43:00.001+08:00

I'm a big fan of Equals Three. And recently he made another big hit on youtube.

Check it out you won't regret.

Come on wave your hands in the air like the cat!

Ooohhh~~~ Sunny D and Rum~~ Yum Yum~~

Project Runway vs. Kangxi

2010-11-11T14:57:00.005+08:00

Do I observe a striking similarity between the first runner up of Project Runway Season 8, Mondo Guerra, and host of Kangxi Lai Le, Cai Kang Yong?

No seriously, if you think they don't look alike you are so freaking blind. Everytime Mondo does his sewing I'll be like "OMG Cai Kang Yong is sewing clothes! GAAAAY~!".

But if you beg to differ, well, at least they have something obviously in common.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaay and Homosexual. (I think)

Guess where I went again

2010-10-26T17:40:00.007+08:00

For the freaking fourth time - Universal Studios Singapore!!!

With my Sapporo family who came down in order to escape the Hokkaido chills

And so I was the tour guide for some 3 days. Tiring but rewarding. (Y)

I guess this was where my specialization came in handy. Oh and not forgetting the various food hunts.

Rather unwillingly took the luge and sky ride. Twice. But oh well, it was super fun pretending to be a tourist.

Nice curls on the way to USS. Before taking that faithful Jurassic Park's Rapids Adventure ride and got drenched all over.

On a side note, I happened to ask my friend the other day.

"Hey do you read my blog?"
"Yeah, the Uni post quite exciting ar."
"Oh that, haha yeah. But how come I don't feel your presence in the comment box?"
"Cause I'm those secretly stalking kind."
"Huh?"

Thanks ar friends. Haha.

Seriously, Voyage De La Vie can do better with their costumes

2010-10-22T02:20:00.006+08:00

Wtf I can't believe I just spent 100 bucks watching people twirling around in embarrassing outfits. High waist G-string? Mankini? Thanks man.

No seriously, I'm no circus fan. Heck, I've never even watch a proper one before this. Why would I wanna watch it when I don't even like it.

But I guess this might be one of those "You will never know what's install until you've tried!" kinda thing. Bullshit.

The two main stars of the show arguably in a compromising position. I'm trying to contain my imagination.

That being said, I actually enjoyed the show. No you didn't read me wrongly. Despite, omg-is-that-a-freaking-mankini and not-so-handsome protagonist wearing roach shell (?), a consumer like me actually thought that the money was worth while.

We paid for Cat 3, but there's also Cat 4 and 5 which are 80 plus and 60 plus respectively. So the consumer surplus is even greater. But nothing beats watching if-that-is-not-a-mankini-I-dunno-what's-that drop a few balls here and there upclose (He juggles).

Hi Mankini. And other (possibly) non-human performers.

Seriously, how can you NOT bring your focus to that red mankini???

Food for Thought

2010-10-19T09:13:00.004+08:00

"Am I allowed to walk through the fare gates freely?"

I naively thought to myself.

A subway gantry in Japan

"What happened to the clamps that bar you from entering and squash you to death if you attempt to without paying??"

Alas, Japan never fail to impress me.

Food for Thought: The gates in Japan are always open.

I interpret it as a certain level of trust and respect given to commuters.

Think about the difference between an "opened" and "closed" door.

"Hey, come on in! The door's open. Please enter. Oh and by the way, please drop the fare at the counter first alright."

and,

"Please pay the fare at the counter before entering the premises. You will be barricaded from entering before you have done so."

Perhaps there is no such underlying meaning in implementing this system. Nevertheless, as one netizen put it, it makes line-ups move a lot quicker because you're not waiting the extra 1/2 second for the gates to open... you just continue walking after you swipe. It's even more seamless with contactless smart cards.

Of course, the gate closes immediately if you haven't paid the right fare. But from experience, the probably of doing so is near zero for Japanese. Those who get stuck at the gantries are nooby foreigners ~~like me~~.

An ad for the iPhone 4 found in a Tokyo Subway

There seem to be another city whose gantries differ slightly from the ones back home.

Apparently, the fare gate at London Underground consist of two harmless flimsy panels.

An example of high gates

As one guy rightly put it,

The Underground's fare gate is essentially two flimsy panels that open away from the passenger as she walks through. The fare gates at MRT consist of two sturdy bright red contraptions that extend and clamp shut when the passenger is through.Therein lies the difference - one pushes you back while the other crushes you. Believe me, you wouldn't want to be caught between the two lobster red clamps. The experience could be kidney crushing, literally.

Now that's one more reason to love Japan and London.

Other irrelevent photos

2010-10-18T09:39:00.000+08:00

Photo in photo

Yanyu rocks

While waiting

Wooden specs

Love-hate relationship

Adventure Tourism

2010-10-17T20:41:00.012+08:00

It's not everyday that you pour through mandatory case studies and relate it to a long time friend.

A friend who opts for something so niche that you can't imagine a second person doing it.

A friend who scales glacier like an everyday affair.

A friend who has been away for as long as this hair length.

A friend that shows the tau huay whose the boss.

A friend whose voice we haven't heard for some time.

Actually, make that two. haha

A friend who expresses his awkwardness like no other.

A friend that appreciates sucky dinner @ Riverina. (of course you do right, haha)

Effects courtesy of Xue Conga

A friend that I managed to send off (er-hem).

But will meet again next year to scale glacier.

YES! You, you and you. You know who you are. Scale glacier next summer at NZ and hit the roads in Aussie.

No.. not even BMW

2010-10-03T20:45:00.003+08:00

Channel News Asia, 1st October 2010

FRANKFURT - German luxury automaker BMW said Friday it was recalling 350,800 BMW and Rolls-Royce vehicles worldwide owing to brake problems that a spokesman stressed were "without danger."
Of the total, 5,800 vehicles were limousines built by Rolls-Royce in Britain, a BMW spokesman told AFP.
In the United States, BMW has recalled 198,000 vehicles but the problem was "without danger" for passengers, the spokesman said.

The problem concerned braking systems that could become "slightly more difficult to use" following an extended period of operation, he added.
In Britain, a BMW spokesman told AFP: "It's a voluntary recall, we took it upon ourselves. It affects large-engined 5, 6 and 7-series (BMWs) and Rolls Royce" cars.
Large engined models are those equipped with V8 and V12 engines.
"The potential fault is a small leak that could develop in the power-assisted braking system ... if there is a leak the car would lose some breaking power but should still be able to stop," the UK spokesman said.

Ok this sucks. I'm scare to brake now.

It's time...

2010-09-26T09:20:00.002+08:00

for this epic tale to wrap up.

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/

Coming to all Hogwarts alumni this November.

Asari beach in Otaru

2010-09-25T19:52:00.002+08:00

海でのんびりしています～～　Floating around in the bloody cold sea with tons of seaweed attacking your feet. Evidence of wakame being abundant in Japan. Playing "fetch" with the random branch I found. Winner gets an ice-cream treat and I won! Oh, and waving the branch like a wand is a must. Hogwarts style.

Did the sea urchin just splatter all over me?

2010-09-17T21:15:00.002+08:00

Ever read Japanese comics where those Japanese kids get all excited about the beach during summer?

As one of the Japanese beer commercial aptly put it: Summer = Yukata = Beer = Festival = Beach!

I like this chain of thought. But a pity "beach" doesn't come under my list because Pasir Ris Park is behind my house and East Coast Park is 15 mins drive away.

BUT!!!

The adventurous me was all hyped up when Megu said we could spot some sea urchins or Uni while snorkeling.

Sea urchin! I've never eaten one. Much less come face to face with a living one.

So on one fine Monday, we head out to the sea to ~~capture~~ spot some Uni!

海へ行きましょう～！

While it may be easy to assume that everything in Japan rocks my socks. Their shoreline may prove to disappoint. Granted, not all of Japan. We have the lovely tropical Okinawa islands further south. But this my friend, is Hokkaido.

Gravel beaches as a common sight.

Sure, they have sandy beaches as well. But the beaches are so packed you probably have to queue up to enter the sea. Back to the point where everyone young or old flock to the beach during summer vacation.

Being veterans, my two guides chose a quieter spot with less people. Either way, the sea is nothing to behold. Except my Uni!!

You see my Usamimi is not erected as it should rightfully be. Like these over-photoshopped girls.

Seriously I feel paiseh to act as a rabbit for my age but Usamimi was ALL over Japan. I can't help but join in the fun. Heh. Thank god I only bought one though.

Had to wear Crocs to battle the uneven gravels and defend against slips on moss (unsuccessfully). Megu's strawberry Crocs. I know its a fashion disaster but heck, EVERYONE was wearing crocs. No seriously, everyone.

To prove that I'm not making things up, spot 3 pairs of Crocs in this random photo of a family living by the seaside. Evident from their small living room with a functional table. All they need now is a TV.

That's damn nice half-boiled egg onigiri.

Megu lent me her Crocs and she wore diving shoes instead which I swear was 10 times more anti-slip than Crocs. Wtf I almost slipped to death with all those moss on the pebbles no thanks to Crocs. And try swimming with heavy-ass-Crocs. I attempted and survived. I love Crocs.

My company for today. Megu and new friend Kado.

We floated around a bit and took a break every now and then. Ironically, the UV rays were intense but the sea was freezing cold. The few hours in the sun probably made a large contribution to my tan.

Evidence of family members looking alike.

What you see in those Japanese shows depict the real situation in Japan. Fact: Japanese love their pool floats in all shapes and sizes.

I wish I were that kid being dragged around on the pool float.

Then there was this kid who changed into his orange trunks under public scrutiny.

Disregarding the fact that they were already standing out as foreigners. Fact: Japanese love to scrutinize foreigners indiscreetly.

Check out our boy in orange trunks scaling new heights.

I'm the King of the Castle??

Chilling on the uneven gravel beach and people-watching.

But where's my Uni????!!!!!!!

NO damn, I tried snorkeling but to no avail!! I couldn't see any bloody sea urchins because the sea was too cloudy. Notwithstanding the fact that the sea was filled with irritating Konbu (seaweed) getting into my way.

According to reliable sources (ie. the ojisan at the beach house), we were informed that there was a huge storm the day before which resulted in the murky waters. Ok fine, I couldn't spot any Uni. At least let me swim around in peace. Guess what, the water was freezing cold even in summer. What do I expect! It's Hokkaido.

Bikini from Kado. Hell no did I bring Bikini to Japan. Never would I have thought of entering the sea before this.

While we were chilling on the uneven gravel beach, an old man appeared and caught everyone's attention.

He ~~ripped~~ took off his top, dived into the sea and began swimming like how people do in the Olympics pool. If this was an anime scenario, you could probably see questions marks appearing above everyone's head.

Soon after, he resurfaced from the waters and rested in front of where we were sitting. Alas, we spotted something from his hands.

Megu and Kado approached him unhesitatingly and this was what the Ojisan showed us.

OMFG he dived into the sea and caught a freaking Uni!!!!

Megu then strike a conversation by asking him the ways of preparing a sea urchin. I was so amazed by the sea urchin that my mind went blank when he said,

"Do you girls want to have a taste of it?"

He picked a rock and mercilessly slammed the sea urchin with it. The poor guy not only cracked immediately, it SPLATTERED and SQUIRTED the life out of itself. Of course, the liquid (?) ended up all over us and we screamed in unison.

See some of the sea urchin's blood (?) splattered onto the Ojisan's arm. And we suspected that Ojisan had a pace maker in him.

OMFG. Tell me if this is not the freshest sea urchin you've seen.

And I was given some fresh Uni. So fresh I couldn't tell if it is still alive. In addition, I swear you could smell that raw taste of sea that the Uni was emitting from 10 miles away.

Megu and Kado caught my repulsive look but urged me have a taste of it.

Ok here goes nothing. Brace yourself.

I took a small bite. And it tasted just what you would expect the sea to taste like. In Japanese, we describe it as 「海の味」. But it just wasn't the most pleasant taste. While I acknowledge the fact that Uni would taste a hell lot better after preparation, I reckon that some sort of phobia towards sea urchin had already been rooted in me.

Ojisan, sumimasendeshita~~ We truly appreciate the fact that you willingly cracked the Uni which you must have spent a hell lot of effort to find. (He did mention that he had to look underneath the reef and the murky water blocked all vision of the otherwise abundant Uni in that area)

As I slowly recover from the Uni-shock, I notice blood dripping from Ojisan's knee. First thought had to be "Omg he hurt himself while trying to obtain the Uni that we just ate without any obligations!!" :(

Shortly after we expressed of appreciation and bid the Ojisan farewell, Megu told me,

"No lar, he fell on the gravel beach while trying to get to us earlier on"

"Err.... ok..."

馬油 is everywhere

2010-09-12T16:33:00.002+08:00

Hokkaido Horse Oil became a hot topic among us some time back when Ele and Zh made their Hokkaido trip respectively.

Then I realised how gimmicky this product is when it can be found in all sightseeing destinations. The Hokkaido peeps like their Lavender scent in every other thing.

馬油 is said to be one legendary skin cream. But are you game enough to spend 35 bucks, and I dunno end up smelling like "horse"?

Then we have Marimo.

My family was curious why foreigners are so intrigued by Marimo when no doubt they are mere moss balls.

After some 6 months, the Marimo I have at home failed to grow into a splendid Marimo it should be.

Like this one.

Heck, rather than 馬油 and Marimo, let's try some 熊油 instead.

These Japanese have the best idea for their skin products.