Day 36. 30th Nov 04

Whats with these people. They want to have everything...
young people nowadays...

today cooked again...getting quite used to it already...
getting good! hehe! nothing much happened today..
rushed home from office with shaonan...after stopping at
100yen and olympics..really dashed home...still late...
chey...anyway, gotta study today, internet quit on me..
so gotta go! chaoz.

Day 35: Fiona's Birthday

おはいよ！！
いい　てんきですか？
(Hi, great weather?)

yea yea...pretending to know my japanese...haha
today ah...went to celebrate Fiona's birthday...
went to the pizza place again...bought her a cake..
chocolate one...the thing about being the leader..
haha...why me...i lazy bum leh...
2 bobo went back to dorm to cook...tmr scold them!

Pizza Fun Facts:
Went to ask the waiter for a lighter...my friend dished out his
$300+ electronic dictionary..searched for "lighter"...
XXXX...dunno wat lah...then asked...XXXX ga alimasu ka?
he say...huh?...so we repeat...he gave us a spoon, cheese or something..
forgot...we were puzzled...then we say again...
he did a double check...then he said...
"Lighta?"...dui....

anyway, went to cut cake, don't have knife..
so what do we do? go starbucks. get what?
wooden spatula. a what?! spatula.
ice cream stick?
works just as well...haha...

Talked to a good friend online just now about guys cheating..
interesting manz...haha..okok..just a record for myself.
end of story.

Went to Yodobashi to buy fridge! S$300 poorer...
bought a waist high one...big enough for me i guess...
electricity goes up! dang.

yea, this is stupid...i should just post my recent ones up ASAP..
it took me long to realise...
the other days? wait lor...28 other entries to upload...
in hokkien: Dan Gu Gu. (Wait long long) heh...
trying to add pictures to the blogs...need time to learn!

Day 34. 28th Nov 04: Grocery Shopping Overload

Went shopping today...first at olympics...started off at 9.30am...
nothing really cheap there...got cheated man...sommore..its so
far away...have to climb that stupid slope sommore...dang...
shop till 11+ then go to musashikosugi...there we got our tau geh..10yen...
but thats after i bought one pack at 36yen...arrgh...

there are not really much cheap stuff over there...so we went to
motosumiyoshi to do the rest of the shopping...
once we reach there, we went to Vert...some shop selling cheap can drinks..hehe
very cheap..anyway, went to buy all my stuff along that whole market stretch...
got 2 slabs of chicken, 2 slabs of pork, 3 packs of soba, 2 packs of tau geh,
10 eggs...this was to become my lunch and dinner...whoa...tell you.
i will never cook like this again...the same exact meal for both lunch and dinner..
not only that, the portions were large! felt like bursting after dinner...
after lunch went to play soccer...fun...but not that exciting cuz there were
not many people playing...just 7 of us..the rest were sleeping or something...
oh yea...i got my banana again! hehe...

Peps: I would like to do up this site, but to do that, i would have to do it in my
precious free time, which ain't plenty to start with...with Japanese classes starting
soon, i doubt i will even have time to write everyday. its healthy to read back
about what happeneed...but...maybe...it's better if i do it when i get back to singapore...
1.5 years later..hehehe

ah...watched Garfield today...aww...though the story isn't that great...
i missed watching a movie...it was great in my opinion, cuz it's brainless,
and it's cute, and its touching. Too much complexity in life boggs a person down sometimes..heh..

Studying is still the topic of the day, there is so much to cover...
however, i guess i am getting better at this language already...
i got my study plan...my methods are being thought out liaoz...
i finally know how to learn this language...
and it's time to use it ASAP...

わたしは　にほんごを　じょじゅく　なりたいです。
それから、きょかしょうを　べんきょうしらなくればなりません。
じゃ、またあした。
おやすみなさい。

Day 33. 27th Nov 04: Saturday Studying Day

8 yen tao geh....where to find!!?!
yea..someone got that today...and i can only find 56 yen one...
sigh..but i got my coffee cheap!!
anyway, the nescafe tastes much better today...sugar helps...
checked my expenses today...spent 2930.604317 to this date...
some are pots and pans and everyhting lah...so long term cost...
so i guess 2600 will be a good number per month...okay for now..
they were talking about paying tax jsut yesterday..i hope we won't..
10% is alot of money! an Ipod every month! arrgh...

Cooked quite abit today, lunch was instant noodles...
dinner was instant noodles...to thnk i told myself no instant noodles at all..
dinner was better...there was chicken with light sauce...Cod fish...
yum yum...apple with carrot juice right after that...
but not full...there wasn't much to eat...
i guess i shall cook alone then...at least i get to eat more..hehe..
i am a GROWING boy....=P

Studied quite abit today, covered a few chapters..too sloow...there is still vocab!!
arrgh..i think i am really dead....been too slack...but there is no
incentives for me to study...i keep sleeping cuz this place is a virtual air
conditioned room...it's pretty cold with my shorts and tshirt...so i tend to
cuddle in the bed..and end up dreaming about singapore...of all places...

oh well...thats another day gone for me...in Japan...
i have started to feel like this is just like any other place...
there is no more foriegn feeling attached to this area...
maybe i should put up a world map to remind myself, this is JAPAN!
the place where i've always wanted to go and stay!!
which i am ...duh...

More studying time..took some coffee..time to study through the night!
Seeya! the night owl starts his prey hunting. Ko-Koooo, Ko-Koooo.

Day 33. 27th Nov 04

8 yen tao geh....where to find!!?!
yea..someone got that today...and i can only find 56 yen one...
sigh..but i got my coffee cheap!!
anyway, the nescafe tastes much better today...sugar helps...
checked my expenses today...spent 2930.604317 to this date...
some are pots and pans and everyhting lah...so long term cost...
so i guess 2600 will be a good number per month...okay for now..
they were talking about paying tax jsut yesterday..i hope we won't..
10% is alot of money! an Ipod every month! arrgh...

Cooked quite abit today, lunch was instant noodles...
dinner was instant noodles...to thnk i told myself no instant noodles at all..
dinner was better...there was chicken with light sauce...Cod fish...
yum yum...apple with carrot juice right after that...
but not full...there wasn't much to eat...
i guess i shall cook alone then...at least i get to eat more..hehe..
i am a GROWING boy....=P

Studied quite abit today, covered a few chapters..too sloow...there is still vocab!!
arrgh..i think i am really dead....been too slack...but there is no
incentives for me to study...i keep sleeping cuz this place is a virtual air
conditioned room...it's pretty cold with my shorts and tshirt...so i tend to
cuddle in the bed..and end up dreaming about singapore...of all places...

oh well...thats another day gone for me...in Japan...
i have started to feel like this is just like any other place...
there is no more foriegn feeling attached to this area...
maybe i should put up a world map to remind myself, this is JAPAN!
the place where i've always wanted to go and stay!!
which i am ...duh...

More studying time..took some coffee..time to study through the night!
Seeya! the night owl starts his prey hunting. Ko-Koooo, Ko-Koooo.

Day 33. 27th Nov 04

8 yen tao geh....where to find!!?!
yea..someone got that today...and i can only find 56 yen one...
sigh..but i got my coffee cheap!!
anyway, the nescafe tastes much better today...sugar helps...
checked my expenses today...spent 2930.604317 to this date...
some are pots and pans and everyhting lah...so long term cost...
so i guess 2600 will be a good number per month...okay for now..
they were talking about paying tax jsut yesterday..i hope we won't..
10% is alot of money! an Ipod every month! arrgh...

Cooked quite abit today, lunch was instant noodles...
dinner was instant noodles...to thnk i told myself no instant noodles at all..
dinner was better...there was chicken with light sauce...Cod fish...
yum yum...apple with carrot juice right after that...
but not full...there wasn't much to eat...
i guess i shall cook alone then...at least i get to eat more..hehe..
i am a GROWING boy....=P

Studied quite abit today, covered a few chapters..too sloow...there is still vocab!!
arrgh..i think i am really dead....been too slack...but there is no
incentives for me to study...i keep sleeping cuz this place is a virtual air
conditioned room...it's pretty cold with my shorts and tshirt...so i tend to
cuddle in the bed..and end up dreaming about singapore...of all places...

oh well...thats another day gone for me...in Japan...
i have started to feel like this is just like any other place...
there is no more foriegn feeling attached to this area...
maybe i should put up a world map to remind myself, this is JAPAN!
the place where i've always wanted to go and stay!!
which i am ...duh...

More studying time..took some coffee..time to study through the night!
Seeya! the night owl starts his studying.

Day 32. 26th Nov 04: One Month!

yay..one month's anniversary...fast neh...one month liaoz...
today another sleepy day...the wholeday i was in the battlefield...
SOLDIER!! HOLD YOUR HEAD UP!!! THE ENEMY IS WATCHING!!!...
yea..the head of department walks up behind me steathily..
*Smoke Grenade!*
it was lucky i was in the right website at that time...hehe...
hey..i do my work finish first okay.....

Day 32. 26th Nov 04

yay..one month's anniversary...fast neh...one month liaoz...
today another sleepy day...the wholeday i was in the battlefield...
SOLDIER!! HOLD YOUR HEAD UP!!! THE ENEMY IS WATCHING!!!...
yea..the head of department walks up behind me steathily..
it was lucky i was in the right website at that time...hehe...

HO HO. today, Jasmine's group gotta go dinner...left Fiona and the rest...
we went out to the 100yen shop though..hehe..yodobashi...
i was being an ass today.
Went to get a milk shake together anywayz...
went back ASAP...and tada...another day gone...chaoz!

Day 31. 25th Nov 04

Wah..today went to the Alien place...get my alien card...nice card...
eto..went to tokyu bus depot...then went to jr station...at musashi..
then went to bank..then had lunch..then work...then go shopping for food.

bought oil, pot, plate, sardines, soy sauce, soba...ready to cook my meal..hehe

went back by foot...sigh...then went stright to the room put down my stuff,
then start cooking at my level liaoz...easy man...haha...
wash my utensils and pots...boiled water...put the soba in..then went to
do my frying liaoz...got myself mince meat...too little i think...
fry till nice nice...with some soy sauce...then heated up my sardine..
yummy yummy.....then put them all together for a nice meal...
but too little ley...now i am eating my bread..hehe...hungry already...
it was only 1h and 45 min ago...oh well...nice nice....

time to study again...nothing to report today...enjoy your day!

Day 30. 24th Nov 04

today, workign day..boring all the way...after work, went to get a bite at Song Wu.
Squirrel house. literally. anyway, went to get Fancl Q10 after that...
nothing much really. who says japan has to be exciting everyday?

******************
Dreamt of someone i missed today. Bitter Sweet.

Day 29. 23rd Nov 04

Okies...this is really bad...where did i go today...Hmmm...
went out with the girls somewhere...Shinjuku!
yea...went there to the Tokyo Govenrment building or something..
went to the 40 something floor to take a look down...WAH..
very nice. lots of low rise...very different city view compared to
other places that i have seen...Then we went to walk walk all over the place...
to the Macs for lunch...yum yum...there, there was this Largest Pendulum Clock...
looks odd..but well...it's big...inside a building...

Tried to go to the garden nearby...but it was closeing already...4pm...
so we took a picture OUTSIDE the garden and then walked to a temple nearby...
small temple..but got people doing some proceedings inside...dunno wats goin on.
Night time. The place lighted up nice nice...the girls...went to UniQlo...
took sooo long...we guys went to have a pizza each and went back to find them...
still inside...waited sommore...went to Nikon shop...then went back to get a
can of drink..the nescafe can here is cool man! groovy literally...nice metallic
colour. went to takashimaya area..went to Kinokunia...7 stories worth of it...
went to take a look at all the japanese books...

we took photos outside..alot....got lots of christmas theme stuff..lighting and all...then went to eat yoshinoya without the girl couple...then met them at the tower...walked wrongly ...found a shrine at the junction...
then walked back and ask ppl...night scene...not as good...quite dark...but pictures are nice...large exposure time...went home after that...tired and exhausted from all the walking..but nice.

Day 28. 22nd Nov 04

woke up today with too little sleep. dang it. stupid mosquito.
went to make some coffee...this time with less water...tastes slightly better.
but i think the chlorine in the tap water is really pungent...sigh.
time to buy a hotwater boiler cum flask. more expenses.
anyway, cycled to work today again. this time, it was much better...heh..
work was normal...went to hundred yen shop again to shop...am an addict liaoz.
bought my knife and ladle and the frying stick. (WHATS IT CALLED?!)
watever..buy pan never buy anything to move the food. smart.
finished an iq question today...now everyone's joking that i have high IQ...
went off with t3, finally abandoning the group for the first time..
no one likes to cycle alone back..at least i dont...cuz i will get lost. haha
studying my jap now. just remembered to update this. oh well..i have to get back to it.
i will come back with more information when i am done with this stuff..
jaa. Mata ashita. (Seeya tomorrow) =P

Day 27. 21st Nov 04

whoa..overslept today...but didnt' sleep much..cannot sleep...
nothing much today, went to shop my groceries, filled the whole basket with
bread, a 26cm frying pan, more nuts, my 100yen banana, 6 cans of Coke for 409yen..
nescafe goldblend coffee..i am beginning to love my bike..hehe..

after which...went to eat dinner...yummy...i cooked for the first time...
most delicious meal i ever had in weeks! and its so easy!
first, take out the 26cm frying pan. next, put some water into it till about half
full. Then, when the water is boiling really hot, pour the water into the
instant cup noodle sitting just next to the sink. okay, it wasn't the best
after all..but you won't read this if i didn't say so! but i was trying to cook
some 100yen crab meat..i think i should have taken it out of the can before
putting it into the left over hot water...sigh...it sucks.

watch an equally sucky show on tv...john travolta...
then...it's off to bed for me..this sunday is nice...cleaned my room this morning...
very clean now..packed everything well...its nice to have time to clean
your own room...unlike back in singpaore...life just doesn't stop for me...
washed my laundry too...all the blacks today...my socks went in smelly,
out nice and scented...so that's what a washing machine and dryer does...

left my balcony door open to air the room. BAD CHOICE. The whole bluddy night...
i was chasing ONE idiotic mosquito from one corner to another ...on the roof.
i was so pissed i whacked the roof at 2am at night. it was LOUD. never do it again.
i promise. nevermind. went to get my insect repellant from singapore.
applied it and slept soundly finally.

Day 25. 19th Nov 04 & Day 26. 20th Nov 04

TGIF. its friday...and we planned to go pubbing today. not that it's part of
my staple "to-do"...going roppongi sounds okay to me..and just to look see
the night life of this area. The guys went home first, so i went out with the
girls to shibuya. okay place...lots of BIG screens..many people crossing at the
junctions...MANY...but thats about it. we didn't go in the stores today..
wonder what it's like..hehe...after that, we headed east along a highway
towards roppongi...aruite...on foot.

okay lah...about 45 min walk...not too bad...save 200yen!
the way there was boring lah..not many shops...dark dark...
no people...at Roppongi, there were signboards everywhere signalling
the start of the pubbing scene...

The first thing we notice was *dirty* things. Lots of man in black suits with pictures of
women. Self-explainatory. Wrong street? next up was lots of blacks.
they were all touting their pubs...we went into several before settling down on
one called the 911. speak english.

There, the girls had a better time with guys picking them up.=P
and the guys basically dance to ourselves. i was watching playback of
soccer which probabably occured year ago..nothing fantastic to see...yet.
then as the night goes on, it gets a little crowded...

The basically it's a push here push there like any other disco...
but only, this one is happening. Guy squeezing girl..
girl on top of guy...some caucasian dancing wildly...all of which...
i did NOT see...but from accounts of the other guys...dang. busy watching
Veron take his freekick...replayed at least twice on the screen through
the night...there was this guy with the afro hair just standing in the middle,
pointing his hands at a direction like "watsup dude"...and staying in that position
for some time. The girls were okay there...there was this 30+ lady coming to
tackle one of us. More dancing and all later, i was out of the pub with winston
to go play pool...tired of dancing with the guys and alone.

went to yoshinoya for dinner..breakfast...watever...then headed to the toilet and all
to wash up and sat somewhere till the train station opens.
There, we took the tokyu train all the way back. the girls went back
themselves. Japan is safe. ha.

Came back to wash all my clothes and bags...there is this thing
with the pub i went..got sprayed by some florescent stuff...
i was glowing all over. my jacket and bag i mean.

Got my handphone bills today. scared me with 32099yen. that is like
500 dollars sing liaoz. siao. anyway..it was consolidated with the other members
of the family. everyone was quite hiong. i managed 4300 plus 2700 startup..
so okay lah...no one to call anyway.

Got my electricity bills too...2000yen...and it's not even a month yet..
maybe it was the lighting i used during the first days...heh...
anyway, going to meet the girls for dinner at yodobashi...cycling there..
finally using my bike...had a nice lunch using the bike today too..
so i guess my investment is paying off slowly but surely...
but t3 says he can get a REAL mountain bike at cheaper price!! arrgh...
some freak sale on Sunday...tomorrow....aRRRGH....nevermind...
mine got a basket in front...very auntie...but everyone here IS auntie...
welcome to Japan.

Posted my stuff up on the web finally..though not really the better ones...haha
too lazy tomorrow going to see if i want ot go akihabara...maybe not...
dunno..see how...heh....

Day 24. 18th Nov 04

yikes...2 minutes to bedtime! been doign my computer stuff eversince i came back..
so many viruses...oh well..update update...
tomorrow they are going to change my shower curtain...a procedure said to
prevent mold from forming...interesting...but troublesome!
went home alone today... i want my mama!!! =P

Day 23. 17th Nov 04

Hmm...Singapore rocks! well...maybe...1-0 to Japan is quite a good score already i guess..
but then again, maybe if i were there...with my aura...strange things might
happen! =P

oh well..today had a less than satisfactory meal...eating up my biscuits
and stuff liaoz...i think tomrrow is coffee day..hehe...will make my
own coffee...hmm...once i get a mug for office...at the 100yen shop...
drew out my money today...about 4500 sing...put into my dorm...
cuz most of the time, my working hours don't match with the ATM hours..
after working hours, there is a 105yen surcharge..
better to have cash in this place...there is no NETS or Credit card payment
system available at the local ramen shops...

T3 and some others are going to
buy a bike tomorrow...for 6900 yen!! arrgh...so much cheaper..
kanna cheated...but mine got shimano gears! and a 100yen rear view mirror i just bought..
dangerous to cycle next to the curb and looking back for the cars...
at least for now...never really liked the heavy basket infront...
but if so many school girls can do it, so can i. haha.

Skyped home today again..not as bad as yesterday..and finally got to video cam
back...got to see granny and mum after 23 days. granny hinted for a japanese doll...
yesterday also hinted...sigh...where to find?! she also asked me to come back..
oh man...only 23 days...there are still more than 500 days to go! 547-23 days.
ja...nihongo o benkyo shitai desu. (want to study japanese)...
till 12am then sleep liaoz. Mata Ashita.

Day 22. 16th Nov 04

woohoo!!! internet is on today! work was okay...debugged my software again..
nothing to talk about. went to 100yen shop to finally buy my groceries..real ones..
like cooking oil..pasta...sauce...1155yen...ouch.
but i am prepared for anything now...self sufficient..hehehe
realised that i spent alot man...about 1575 sing already? cnanot be right...
oh well...i guess maybe...transport really sucks...
chatted with granny today...mum and lijie too...
granny wants me to come back...sigh...
t3 wants to write to his granny..hope he has already done it..haha
in chinese leh....not my forte!

Day 21. 15th Nov 04

today i surfed the net the whole day at work. ranging from free internet in Japan, Travel in japan and speaking japanese. damn boring. anyway, found out at the end of the day that my program still got more to do. ack. tomorrow will be a busy day.

Anyway. went to eat bento at Muza Symphonic hall. next to me was a giant christmas tree. it played a pretty nice tune while i was eating. kinda like i was in christmas mood lioaz. but then, there is no christmas day in japan. haiz. so that ended my boring day.went to musashikosugi at the end of the day.walked home, and finally washed all my utensils. now for the cup of hot....nothing. i bought nothing but coffee..ack again. ack. didn't wash my sugar container. no free internet today. so sian. better remember to post desmond's stuff. hehe. oh i have Pepsi twist! with no gas. ack ack ack.wah...got nikita to watch...hehe...finally an english show. news in english too...there was SMAP too! and also one of my fav actress...AWWWW........she looked older though...sob sob...

today's a freaking cold morning. rained and cold wind. without my trusty jacket, i was left with the Nautica Jeans Company sweater thingy. BAD choice. doesn't keep me warm enough. i guess the wind just penetrated...the 100yen umbrella is really damn worth the money. so portable. so nice. gotta get one for each of you back in singapore for christmas. eh. you wish. i don't know if i have time to complete a set of cards or not. haha. DANG it.

Day 20. 14th Nov 04

hehe..that was fast. anyway. today woke up at 11++ for lunch with t3 and the rest.
then went to shop for groceries with my trusty bike. i really think its a good
move to get one. bought the weeks groceries. actually snacks. there is no way
i am going to cook this weekdays. i finish work at 6pm ley. reach home. about 6.30 liaoz.
where got time. and i would be eating alone. Anyway, found my Nescafe coffee gold blend
at motosumiyoshi for ~989yen...the other shops were 1100~1310...cheap lioaz.
anyway, needed one for tomorrow morning. bring to office..hehe...
bought some creamer, and sugar packet (1kg). that should make me quite alot of
coffee for a long time. Got my bananas, my coke(1litre), pepsi, lipton tea, Cuppaccino 3 in 1,
...that's grocery shopping for me today. haha. hope i start buying proper stuff soon. =P
ah. thats about it for today. i need to sleep more...and the weather is getting
really chilly. i feel cold with even 3 layers of clothing. well..thin layers. heh.
14 degrees, but the wind ain't that warm.

Day 19. 13th Nov 04

Today's a saturday, went to Ueno to visit the Zoo.
We started the day off with McDonalds breakfast!! the first since our arrival.
the price is okay, but the portion is smaller than that in singapore. haiz.

Then we went to the park, which the zoo is located. Saw the last samurai's statue,
his dog, the tomb of soldiers who fought at Ueno, and went to a temple.
there we washed our hands with water flowing from a dragon's mouth.
left hand, right, then left again to drink the water. a ritual if we got the
instructions right. heh.

Then we went to get a lot each. fortune lot.
i got a japanese one, then when i asked for english, she showed me the OTHER
one with english. dang. anyway, the rest went to that one...while i still don't
know my destiny.haha. oh well, there, we paid 500yen for a wooden card, wrote our
wishes, and hanged it on the outside.

When we finally got into the zoo (600yen),
went to see Shuan Shuan and Ling Ling. sour sour and zero zero. but we were more interested
in Cha Cha, a red panda i think..like a racoon...spent more time with it,
since it ain't sleeping motionless on the ground like Shuan Shuan.
10 seconds with Shuan shuan is all i could take. maybe it's the freaking cold
day. Thousands of photos later, jas, who had taken photos at every exhibit, ran out of
battery...duh..anyway. the usual animals you see anyway. but it's comfortable
with the cold wind. For now. then we went to see penguins. They were mass sleeping.
looks like their heads got chopped..next we saw the pandas...the girls were disappointed,
i was kinda sighing. the pandas were locked in a cage only around 7 times their size...
poor thing...and to see them, their cage was in another cage...abit sad...
thought we could have a nice photo...saw an animal that hops and looks like
Pikacho..haha...the tail...in zig zag manner...kawaii neh!

after all the exhibits, while waiting for Jas to finish her reptile section,
the rest of us went to sit down. Legs were tired. We saw "michillin man" there..
a little boy, with thick winter clothes...damn cute. running around. his coat is
branded one okay. ELLE. when we were finished, we went to find a place to eat.
That's when we saw the market there. it's like our pirated goods galore place.
quite alot of cheap stuff. most prob pirated i guess? anyway. there are lots of
stuff there..too bad we went there too late..they close around 8+...
will go baack there for some shopping one of these days. Bought gao lak at 1000 for 4 packs.
eating one now as i type (sunday 8pm). After everything, went to search for a place to stay till next morning.

they want to gossip. haha..no lah. didn't do any of that at all.
went to Ringer hut at Musashikosugi. Ate a nice 480 noodles there.
sat there through the night ever since. they don't serve hot drinks there.
funny. their coffee is cold one too. so went to the vending machine and smuggled it in.
cannot eat our gau lak there too. cannot play cards there too. wah.
so we ended up playing "zing zhi mi ma" guessing some number which someone has alrready set.

we punished with water. cold water. so after that, most of us were quite cold.
Fiona was very cold. guess because she didn't bring her jacket along. only a
scarf. brave indeed. bingwen went to get pi pa lu for yh. oh well.
there wasn't much gossip today, cuz i guess everyone was still paiseh. haha.
anywya. At the end of the day, sent the girls back to the station for the first train.
wah. it was cold!!! Shaonan and me lent our jackets to Fiona, cuz i think it was
really cold. After which, Dam and SN cycled back and i walked quickly with them. heh.
end of story. straightforward. cuz i have to move on to Sunday's! see ya in a while!

Day 18. 12th Nov 04

Friday!! the weekend is here! woohoo!
but then hor...there is nothing to do here!! Pool is so damn expensive...
680yen for 1 hour...then must buy a 400yen drink...thats PER PERSON...times 1.556..
ouch man... so we went to tour the funny place with spiral walkway...something like
that building we have in chinatown...but 100000x classier.

After which, we went to starbucks. hehe. there, we sat at the seats at the windows...
then talk and talked. shaonan, damien, yuhui...and jas, fio, me...
jas talked about her life story...then we warmed up after that...talked more about
school...university...our histories..haha..then talk about school uniforms...
you get the drift...hehe...gossiping.
anyway, when we were at the climax of everything, they have to close starbucks...
oh well..there is nothing fit for publishing today, tomorrow is Ueno Park...
cool...see polar bears and such..haha...oh well...
it is beautiful....they say...

finished my program today again...then my trainer ask me to add more stuff to it..
i am starting to feel that they are trying to keep us occupied...haiz...
today no need to vacuum the office...just have to clear the empty paper boxes and stuff...
they did it anyway..the rest didnt do anything...

went to eat the yakitori chicken don today...chicken yaki style, with rice and seaweed,
then topped with a half boilled egg. the white is just done, while the yoke is
liquid...mash it all together, and it tastes simply great! abit like claypot rice..haha

dinner was 650yen...2 hamburger meat slabs, each topped with cheese...rice and a bowl of miso
soup...mash potato, one brocolli..cold water...nice...

Day 17. 11th Nov 04

Today t3 gave a lecture. Then i almost completed my program again.
then we ate at the staircase near Yodobashi Camera. damn...feel like a singaporean again...
after that, went back to dorm...and realised there is internet connection!!!
so i called t3 and he came over to my room and we chatted with ben, des, calvin on skype.
finally hearing some voices from singapore. (i seldom call singapore)...
then shaonan came in and joined the fun...he went to the lounge cuz i think the network is better there..hehe

Zhongliang complain that i didn't tell him about the details of my flight..hehe..
SORRY!!!...i guess i was too busy...really was packing like mad before the trip...
went to queensway so many times...drove to countless locations...

anyway, back to my surfing...hehehe...NITES!!!!

Day 16. 10th Nov 04

short day today. 930 to 515. they play music and something in jap to discourage staying back. Finished my program today. but he wanted it to be done another way, so now i have to redo it.

Another uneventful day, went to eat dinner at a shop, where we had to stand and eat. for 480yen i ate lots of carbo. very unhealthy too, cuz the tempura is so oily. went to the hundred yen shop again, near exit 27.

this is the biggest i have ever seen. lots of stuff. you name it, they got it. No food though.
bought my mug, glass, sugar holder and bowl and plate and air fresherner, and a toy. some wooden thingy, you brush the stem with another stick, and the propella at the end of the stem is supposed to spin. 100yen. didn't work. will try another day. first day we are going to play tai tee. at 930 later. maybe i should do my laundry..hehe...

washed some cans today. collected some of those cans for myself. but i guess there is someone else more onz than me. lets see how she bring them all back to Singapore.
quite a hot night today...i could walk around in my folded up long sleeve ...

the laundry here don't dry one...left it over the night..then left it over the day...it won't dry at all...i want to learn more jap today, so i better stop here. oyasumi!

Day 15. 9th Nov 04

heyo!

Musik: "Mika Nakashima - Find the way"

Home stuff:

hehe..i finally found my way. was quite lost yesterday. today too. i woke up still feeling i was in singapore...it was warm in my bed. then, when i opened my blanket and stepped on the parquet, dang it was cold. i went back to my bed. thinking for a while whether i should just take a SHORT snooze. Nah, bad idea. off i went to the bathroom. the floor, made of plastic, was even colder with the moisture left from the bloody leaking toilet bowl tank. ah. anyway, this isn't the coldest morning...its just like every other mornings. brush teeth, shave, choose clothes, change clothes, do my hair, get my banana, get my jacket, and i was out of the room.

The lights in the main room are controlled by a key. the door key. great way to save money...but they put it on the cardboard wall seperating my neighbour and i, every 1130, i will hear the key being inserted by my neighbour. hanged out clothes to dry today, don't think i will use the dryer. the clothes will become hard though. who cares.

back to the dorm today at 8+, early for normal standard. stopped tubbing with the hot tub. don't have the time already. will do a few chapters of my nihongo. today wanted to communicate with my trainer also so hard. better brush up my japanese.

Geek stuff:

finally got to compile my program. and woohoo. it sure came out with lots of stuff for me to correct. better do it tomorrow. everything is in jap, had to use Babel to check out the meanings.
created a program to create the binary file today. still in progress.

eto...finally finished the dreaded lecture session today. Hehe..wasn't so bad. Although i have prepared my speech, the trainer asked me to read the book. disbelievingly, i took a few checks with him: "read? er read? straight from the book read?" yea. so i now found myself reading out loud an english textbook. as though i was in english class. haven't done that in a long time.
i spoke as fast as i could, since i knew the rest wanted to rest asap. they probably read through it already anyway.

Food stuff:

Went to eat at Muza Symphony Hall. There is this "guo tieh" kinda thingy. forgot the jap name once again. oh well. 672yen for a place of what seems and taste like san mian...and a plate of guo tieh (6). nothing is cheap anyway.

*independence day finale playing at the background*

we are going to the Muza Symphony Hall for a concert. i think Great World Symphony(?). Eto. i suck when it comes to names. 1000yen i hope. lets see how it will be like..hmm...there will be scheherazade later on in the month. another one i might go.

Jap lessons come at 1200yen per hour....damn...expensive. but they continue from the same book which i used in singapore...the rest are hesitant...i want to go i guess. maybe get the book and self study. see how.

*Avril Lavigne - Complicated" teenish pop. hehe.

Tshush bought a new pair of shoes today. Nike one. $72. he was thinking of the other one when i mentioned this to him. oops. the other cost $62.

getting boring. oh no. do i have socks for tomorrow?!?! haha. life of the independent is so fun.

bento today was good for 470yen. cheap already. plus my cuppachino, 570yen. and another cup of tea, 640yen. then dinner, 1312yen. man. never spend so much on food alone in singapore.

the 2 jokers went to cycle to work again today. the kancho knows about it...so dua zhong.
doesn't matter. i can't stop them even if i was there.

okies. time to save it and bring it to the office to try send out. hehe. Nights!

Day 14. 8th Nov 04

Little bro's birthday today. Set 2 alarms to remind me to call..hehe...
got a little pissed off buying the phone card. couldn't get the right one.
and i keep dialing mum's number without "65"...dang.
brother dyed his hair. with the dye his friend gave him. hehe. cute.

oh well, today we went to the main building for a meeting with sugino and kawauchi, regarding the bank account thingy. the girls went to apply for giro. the guys went back to work after that.
there was an earthquake today at the north. didn't notice it till i read the news paper.
read TODAY finally ...

today finally, they called t3 and me to do some programming. finally. i am getting really bored at doing nothing. convert binary file to text file and display it in a format 16x16. yasashi! okay...i don't know. there is a lecture which i am supposed to give tomorrow. but i think i won't be able to do it anyway. sigh.

anyway. today got my parking lot for my bicycle. no.44. dang.
i have my "fu" with me..so i should be okay. cycled to work and back today. to work, it was 30+min. there was this bloody truck behind me, i tried to go up the curb, but realised that this is not the normal mountain bike, but a 2cm rim of rubber only. jialat. i had to throw my bicycle on the ground, ala SAF biker course style. not beautiful. haha. it wasn't that dangerous other than realising the wrong wheels at the wrong time.

when i reached our building, damien and me found out that we cannot park there at all. dang.
then the security guard told everyone in the department that we took a bike there.
there is this big rule that we should not drive or cycle there at all. For safety sake.
so there goes the save money project. they even hold a meeting with all TAP trainers and trainees, Nagao, and the HR manager. They did not tell us about it beforehand anyway. so it was okay.

so we went to eat at gate 36 of Kawasaki stn. there we had cheap beef patty hotplate with rice and soup. for 390yen. quite okay. after which we went to check out the Muzu symphony hall. haven't been inside the theatre or hall but in the building, quite nice. there is a cheap sports store there. there is also a big christmas tree. playing really nice music. down there, i found my 88yen Ritz small pak. and oreo small pak. pack. eating a packet of nuts now. its not cheap, neither is it expensive in japanese terms. i don't think i will save much money here. everything here is so EX. time to go back to dorm time with dam and sn. went the wrong way at a Y junction. dang. had to call Calvin. haha. kinda fun anywya, little traffic.
the traffic was heavier on the way there, and there were more people on the pedestrian path.
took more than an hour to get back. haha. anywya, went to a convi and went to search out the motosumiyoshi stretch. alot of shops there. got something called cue cue. hope it's a pool palour!

first mail today. from vodafone. dunno what it is saying anyway. all in jap. 5 of them. for each of my "family members"...dam, shaonan, vincent, wenlong.
oh well.

Eh...tomorrow take bus. hahaha. cool! i rather listen to my NUDES and switch off.
3 more bananas. i shall take one tonight. it's getting more matured by the minute.
vitamin C. forgot to take for the past few days.

what to wear tomorrow...hehe...i shall go off now, tata! oyasumi! dang..12 oclock liaoz.

Day 13. 7th Nov 04

Ohaiyo gozaimasu!

Another sunday, today we are going to celebrate jian Long's birthday. The girls are still asleep at 1145. hehe...went to get a set of breakfast today. Some Koiwai Lact Coffee. Tastes okay..milk with coffee...Then tried my handphone barcode scanning thingy...cool! but what's the use i don't know. Cleaned my room today, and washed my clothes. Both for the first time. Clothes in the washing machine of course. Been handwashing my clothes till my muscles big big liaoz. ah, better check the dryer now!!! times up! continue later when i am back. Ciaoz!

Ah, things are getting more and more steady man. Today is Jianlong's birthday. We celebrated with him at an eatery. After that, we went seperate ways, i went with t3 to walk the street after the railway at motosumiyoshi. Along the street, there were lots of stores selling various stuff. ALOT of them. in this 12 days, we didn't venture that far closer to our dorm due to the girls, but now, i think i rather stay around here..haha. there is lots of cheaper stuff here. not singapore cheap, but cheap enough. Heck, the banana is cheap. bought another bunch of 5 for 105 yen. Del Monte! but small, and quite mature already.

After that, met at 230pm at the garden to celebrate Jianlong's birthday. Cut cake, (there was kinda like a shortage, fang yih didn't take), then there is more soccer! all this till around 4+ then went back to dorm. i packed up the room while entertaining Jasmine's "how to get to your dorm". wanted to bathe so much. but i think they are really coming. and they did.
Went to pick them up. Jasmine said they were not there yet, but I heard Fiona at the background of the HP, that she saw the landmark that i was describing. heh. ah, anyway, went there. pick them up, wanted to go to the dorm, they wanted to visit our dorm.
but cannot. they only can go to the visitor lobby. that's all. something about being female.
Then went to eat at Suki"jia". cheap! got salmon for 450, with rice and soup(with meat inside).
Great meal for that price. The salmon got lots of bones though.

After that comes the EXCITING part. we went to buy our bikes. Those you see in the movies with the male lead cycling and the lady behind cuddling. =P anyway, i chose the one with 6 speed gears. 13800yen (15350 total plus extra lock and registration). The other one is 10000 + 500 + 1050. No gears. i think gears are useful when i really want to travel. oh well.
3 of us took the gear ones, calvin(red), winston(grey green like my nokia 6110), mine's grey.
then Damien(champagne) and Shaonan(blue...expected) took the nongear ones.
After much phototaking session, we were on our way back to our dorms with our new bikes.
Cycling isn't that bad here. Lots of people cycle. even schoolgirls and kids.
now i can join them and play play. of course, safety is most important.
i intend to use the bike to cycle to work, and to buy groceries nearby. the basket in front should come in handy. tomorrow i shall start my biking. cool!. 8am. gawd. so early. wonder if its going to be a white elephant. doubt so. i really wanted to have a bike for my sunday grocery shopping, since there is no other way to get the load of cheap food home without any car.

scheherazade playing at the background, brings me this question. Which ones did we play?! hahaha...part 3? err..4?

My ATM card is here liaoz. Looks much better than our POSB ones. no such thing as NETs over here. So everythnig is cash or credit card. but cash is king. Arrgh. that reminds me. i have to ask UOB to reactivate my account. darn.

Oh, went to do my next handwashing today. so much better with my 105yen glove on. but bought the wrong size. S is for ladies with SMALL hands. remember that.

saw a japanese schoolgirl with such a short skirt, she was showing. i tell you, they really boh chup here. this is definitely not the first time. okay, maybe 1 out of 1000 don't bother. you can ask t3 about his band concert. heh. if that was my daughter or something, my head would be spinning (as in angry).

ok, time to go sleep. Another day has passed. with no internet, there is no way to check out the news during the weekends. Newspapers are expensive. 130yen for one set. thin one sommore. Where's their version of TODAY or STREATS?. but i am getting used to the media blackout. there is no stress in this world. i do my stuff, you do your stuff. it's bad, but therapatic. Life seems so much more simpler here. but once i start to access the internet back in the office,
there is so much things to absorb, news, emails, work, notes, research. I have not added in ICQ or MSN. I think i will be so pressed for time.

Ichinotsubo-honcho. that's my bus stop. hehe. just ranting.
SLEEP!
Oyasuminasai. Everyone in singapore, no, i have not forgotten u. i have just forgotten to call back that's all. =P
too lazy to call. the phones aren't near the dorm. the handphone is so ex. the international call is so ex. wait till i get my hands on SKYPE. then we can chat till dawn. just you, and my alarm clock.

a nice song just started. hehe. lets talk more?

There is this girl. The end. hahaha.
eh. wrong song.

Goodnight. May i come back with the same english standard.
i doubt so.

Day 12. 6th Nov 04

ah. Another tiring day. Forgot to write again. hehe.
today's a saturday, no work!! 5 day week for me...
Went to tokyo today, met at shimbashi today...so that we can go to Tokyo Bay.
Traveling is expensive!! about 400 to go to shimbashi, then another 200 odd to go to the bay...ONE WAY. thats about S$18 total for both ways. ouch.

There are not exactly anything much there besides the bridge. Fuji television is there too.
there is this sphere thingy as part of the building...make it look so spacecrafty. (for those who watch Jap drama, it's one of those stations). Went to DECKS tokyo beach, then walked all over the place. Nothing much to report, check out my photos...they tell a better story. There is this Toyota city Showcase thingy, where you can pay 300yen to test drive any of the cars,
in the course they have set for you. I was eyeing on the silver convertible. A car-idiot like me won't know the model. now i know where i can practice my driving. Brother, maybe you would like this place. BUt only toyota. hehe...

met alot of dogs there again...cute dogs galore! wish i had one!
More photography 101 today. Almost filled up my 512MB...battery almost conked.
There is a fake statue of liberty there too. we took a nice group picture with it.
More pretty babes today. hehe. The day got dark pretty early... around 3.30, the sun is starting to set...around 4...it was dark already. i keep thinking it's dinner time..heh...But we had a full lunch...here's why: we went for a lunch buffet! 1250yen per pax. There is not really much to eat though...as in the variety. The food ain't seafood galore either...nothing fantastic at all. just 1 hour to eat and leave.

There is this ferries wheel thingy too at the bay. dunno if it's as big as the other one we saw...
but the place really gets dark so quickly...my mind says 8pm when it's actually 5.30pm...the darkness..hehe..all part and parcel of a nice cool autumn... we walked alot today on a bridge, big but nothing spectacular. Skaters were there...then...more pictures later, we are back home.
found my toilet leaking again. this time, the flush is no longer working. someone must have come to my room and attempt to fix it again. TRY HARDER.

Tiring day, leg pain, and a nice bath later. I am on my bed Sleeping on my S$100+++ bedsheet and pillowcase... yea...cheap sale...bought it at $25..hehehe...but hey...it still felt nice. dunno about the design though.

Day 11. 5th Nov 04

Today is another uneventful day. i guess it's like that when you are at work.
if you want to know, i was studying VLSI. Verilog. HDL stuff.
wanted to do some japanese today, but i guess i didn't, cuz there is still no internet back at the dorm.

I surf websites today too. it was DAMN boring. oh well.
changed my keyboard to US style. now to remember where the keys are.
after work, went to eat at the Kawasaki station. 700yen for curry rice and egg..t3 got cheated. thought he got half boiled egg. then we went to walk walk around the station, looking for the cheap fruit stores.

we walked till the place where we start to see guys in suits holding some pamplet.
i think they have this earpiece in their ears. They were saying 3000yen or something. hehe.
naughty stuff. they were pimping. we decided to give it a miss. (since we have girls around too)
eh. But i guess we went the wrong way, went to the other side, there were nothing there, except car rental shops.

then when we went yet the other side, where we walk until we start to see girls(or rather, LADIES) outside of some shop. You guessed it. as we walked even further, there was one more shop. i think we better turn back. heh.

We then park ourselves at the Docktors Coffee(or something) for a drink. shifted to the none smoking area. talked about the japanese night classes and bitching. haha. then we went back to our dorms.

it's an okay day. but spend like mad. 430yen bento, 100yen cuppachino, 700yen dinner, 280yen coffee. did i miss out someting? that's already 1510 yen. S$23. Thats a normal cheap meal day. wan dan le.

Went to play soccer again today. play like @#$3. but who's complaining. I scored today. I would love to celebrate, but it happened on the wrong side of the court.

Getting pretty adapted to this place already. actually, it was long ago. haha. there is nothing yet that makes me want to go back to singapore. if there is any complains, maybe the lack of singporean girls. haha. but i guess i ain't complaining in this "mini skirt" society. it's funny, cuz we were already shivering in our jeans. heh.

Someone bought FANCL today finally. XXXXXyen worth. for 6 months heh. do they have something to turn back the biological clock? i need to repair my pimple face.

Ah. today ah. my trainer suddenly come up to me and say "sou ji..." (that's all i recognise)...it meant cleaning. then i saw another guy holding the vacuum cleaner. dang. don't they employ cleaners?! oh well...so i went to grab a vacuum cleaner, and cleaned the section's area. but it only took around 15 min and we are all back to our work at the desk again. haha. i got my personal dustbin today! sigh. these were the more "exciting stuff" today.

ah. crapping liaoz. goodnight everyone, and hope things are great back in the SUNNY AND HOT singapore! i LOVE the weather here by the way. Playing soccer in such a cold weather is GREAT! Tomorrow's destination is Tokyo. The newest capital of Japan, was Kyoto long ago right? It's just one stop away from Akihabara. Wonder what i will see there...=P
Ah. must meet them downstairs at 10am! arrgh...how to wake up...it's 1am!!...oh well..i'll have a sip of my cheap Pocari Sweat before i go off to bed.

that's all folks. Goodnight and sweet dreams!

oh, earthquake last night. at the north area. 5.0+ didn't feel a thing. Daijiobu. (all right)
i learnt never to put heavy things on the top shelf. ah. SLEEP!.

Day 10. 4th Nov 04

ah. forgot to write for today.
didn't take any photos today anyway. so i kinda forgot what happened.
its a boring working day anyway. struggled to stay awake.
I think i did only one paragraph today, the rest of the time,
i was battling with Mr Sandman.

Called my father today, cuz it was his birthday. My Mother and brother went over to visit him in China.

put a nice looking dog picture (courtesy of Photoshop) in my handphone today. kinda cute looking one.

ah. now i remember. i searched the whole day about the kanji input to my PDA. apparently,
only japan windowsCE can write kanji into the pda. tried it out at yodobashi. dammit. i gotta get one of those. But so ex. well. Found a free program, but i have to wait till i get internet here in the dorm before i can try it out. damn. kanji input is really great if i can get it. No chance for photography today. Toshiba has strict rules. but there is really nothing to take here anyway.

Day 9. 3rd Nov 04

Applied for my internet today, hope they get it done ASAP.
Today went to a stop after yokohama. Went to the tallest ferris wheel.
Kinda hot today, so we went out in our tshirts and it was okay. it was still cool though.
Eh...we take alot of photos of the ferris wheel today.
Today is a photo taking day i guess. Went to KFC for lunch. The chicken is OILY! not crispy. But delicious. i ate two breast meat cuz Fiona didn't seem to want to eat them.
maybe i looked hungry =P. The salad here is so much better than singapore's.
The drinks however are so much more ex. i took a 160yen chocolate ice cream.
There is a thick 3mm layer (paiseh...so engineer) of chocolate covering the icecream. Very nice.
"Cheap" too. in Japanese sense. After lunch is more ferris wheel photo taking.
Then, the thing i feared the most happened. "Lets take the ROLLERCOASTER!".
Aww man. i never liked throwing my money away like that. oh well. Peer pressure and 10 minutes later, i paid my 1166yen for the ferris wheel and roller coaster. It's a rather less adventurous RC. the dips were okay, not too long...there is this part where it shoots right into a pond, and there are nozzles in the pond spraying out water as though we really splashed into the pond. (of course it was a hole lah). the safety harnest is too tight for my chest. Couldn't really breath properly. they locked it in too fast for me to adjust. but who's complaining of a tight fit? hehe

eh.next we see the sun set. it was kinda fast. the sun went down like it was in a hurry to go somewhere. we were hurrying to catch the orange sun.

Next is the ferris wheel. Tallest in the world currently. Initially i still thought i was going for a RC. so it was kinda scary till i told myself, hey. it's a ferris wheel!! no vertical drops!
but still, for a height phobic, this is not that good. But halfway through, it was much better.
tried to take some photos, but most of them are blur. dang. Must try harder.

after that, for the next 1.5 hours, we were taking photos of the ferris wheel. Sheesh. Catching the "fireworks" every 10 minutes interval. In between, we went to play at some amusement centre. Catching pooh bear with those 2 thong UFO thingy. Couldn't catch any.
The closest was the pooh bear being grabbed into the mid air, then it dropped due to change of movement of the catcher. haiz. disappointed.

saw a black poodle, if anyone is interested, with its own flashlight. heh.

Went to subway for dinner. or rather a foodcourt. Had some roasted chicken breast.
300 odd yen. CHEAP! After that, went to Hard Rock Cafe.
There the girls bought their polo T. while the others went to take pictures with a large
bear sitting outside the shop. expensive bear. (eh. stuffed bear).

Came home, and found my toilet leaking!!! those japanese made toilet ain't that good either!
i think due to expansion, the toilet ceramics broke. been leaking for the whole day i think.
The water here is very cold. it's like holding ice water for washing down your waste.
there were condensation around the tank. Ah well. as usual, i went to fix it. cannot use for the moment.

okies. after my banana, i thinki better sleep. Goodnight!

Day 8 - More Rantings

Ohaiyo! (eh. or rather konbanwa!) Today we have interviews. (pardon my english, but as the day goes on, there is no chance to use perfect grammattically correct english.) It was kinda relaxed one. There were many people shooting things at you, but i guess i already have the knowledge, plus they asked about other stuff like what i did in school. simple enough.

During the waiting time, i surfed the net for my PDA again. Didn't check mail. wonder why. maybe it ain't that important now. i am already enjoying not having any internet connection. life is so much simpler. When there is no handphone, life is so much more straightforward. Alas, we surcomed (huh?!) to the temptation of television on the phone and also 2.2mp camera.

i realise my english is getting rather bad. haiz. maybe i am rushing this diary so that i can spend the rest of the night doing something like studying. there is a new book for us today, Modern VLSI Design, system on chip design. by Wayne Wolf. Just need to do chapter 8 for the rest of the 2 or 3 months. Actually i think we are smarter than that. The book is pretty basic.
anyway, i guess i can channel my energy to my japanese then.

We went to the bank after lunch to collect our bankbook. Deposited my money 540,000yen. After which i went to buy a bunch of bananas. 198yen for 5 del monte size banana. Cheapest fruit i can find for that size! i think i will need the fibre. i can't seem to get enough vegetable here. salad maybe, but not chinese vegetable like at home.

The weather (again) is considered hot today. We can go out in our tshirts. but we still feel the cool breeze. After the banana purchase, T3 and i, along with the other TOSMEC members went to a shop far far away to eat with the TOSMEC staffs. The place was like a traditional japanese house. We have to take off our shoes and we sit on the tatami mat crossed legged. Haiz. i hate sitting like that. after 1 hour, my legs were numb. There was a wide variety of food in front of me once i sat down. There was this raw squid, felt like i was in FEAR FACTOR, but it was OISHII!!!! i drank beer with it and it was out of this world. Next plan of attack is the sashimi. Oishii desu ne!! there was even sashimi prawn with some blueish green egg roe. the prawn tasted sweet neh. Next is the Purple chreacentamum(dammit!) flower...soaked in vinegar, soy sauce, and wasabi. Nice nice.

chotto. i go put on some moisturiser. After washing my clothes, i realised i should have gotten a glove.

Ah. next was this vegetable kinda thingy. brown, toufu kinda thing. Next. Chowamushi. need no intro. but there was a little bit of orange peel in it. just a small piece. next, the fish. delicious cod fish i think. next is the tempura vegetable. then last is the soba. i tell you, this is really a great meal. There is sake, beer and lots of food for everyone. i finished all my share. it's a great way to save money too. haha. that's S$10 saved you know!

in the morning, i bought the wrong coffee. Bought a cold one. but i guess i didn't regret it cuz the weather today aint' that bad.

sorry for side stepping, we were also asked to drink alot today. There is this guy who kept filling our glass and kampai with us. he's the joker of the company i guess. hehe. anyway, they taught us the "protocol" of pouring drink for the other person. they even pass the bottle to another person so that they can get their own glasses filled. (of course you have to do it first to get
the honour.) he have pirated DVDs too. muahaha. That was after we mentioned "the last samurai". they were amused that we have watched it before. There is this robotic thingy in kawasaki twice a year. i wonder if i can get there. anyway, Bingwen and I drank quite abit. Bingwen kanna more cuz he didn't turn as red as i did. i looked like the sashimi on my plate. They didn't offer the sake to me today. sigh. maybe i am too red. and everyone thought i was drunk? don't know. ah, at the beginning of the party, we were told of our assignment. T3 got into Jpeg, Vincent and Yuhui into NAND Flash HW, bingwen into ECC, and i am in NAND Flash SW. Yay. It's just what i wanted.

end of the party, everyone went "Yoooooooooooooo!" and clapped once. another tradition.

Wanted to play soccer again today, but i guess everyone is too tired after the drink. T3 says he have never drank so much. So i went for my bath anyway. Before that, went to try my PDA, and IT WORKS!!!! but i lost every single data. DAMN. Since i was so happy, i decided that today is the day that i will START doing my laundry. It's only a small bucket full. hehe. So i went to do it by hand. bad choice. i have no idea how to do it, though i have done it before at home. But after a while i guess i got the hang of it. One bucket of soapy water, next is a rincing water, then final rinse. (water here is fixed fee) the white socks can't be washed nicely though. There was too much damage done by the boots i wore on the way to japan. Tomorrow is a holiday! wonder what we will be doing. Day after, work starts at 9am. heh.

i haven't taken any photos to put in my phone yet though. So anyone who call me, i will not recognise. number too long. t3 one i recognise liaoz. got 3201 in the middle. Yay, the PDA is fully charged! time to play with it. haha. Tata

Day 7 - Thoughts of the day

yoz! today was a rather boring day. Went to work with Tshush and started to surf web at the office. I saw the emails but i don't have time to reply. was busy searching for my IPAQ stuff. Charging it now, hope it doesn't blow.

We were given an intro to the various technology and stuff. Everyone was tired, so it was a drag. doesn't help that they don't really speak good english, so there was no humour and it was in monotone. Sleep was the only thing i can think of. Dang. The pda ain't working.

After that was web surfing. then more intro. then lunch was curry rice. shiok. but ex. 500yen.
today's weather ain't that bad. Now i knwo why they talk about the weather. Its different EVERYDAY. today was counted as warm. a polo shirt will do. Dinner was settled at a french shop selling pizza and pasta. 665 yen each. Not exactly filling but nice pizzas. hungry
perhaps. there is one topped with those sandwich ham slices and in the middle, they break a raw egg. had 2 of that today. they break it up in front of you and spread it throughout the pizza. Japanese style. Delicious.

Came back to the dorm early today (9pm) and tshush invited me to a game of soccer. So at 10pm, 7 muskerteers went to the park nearby to play soccer. Haha. It was fun. The Kan-cho (dorm master) was so amused with it. i think it's the first time he saw this kinda thingy.
Nice person. Told us to be careful due to the wet ground. And it was true. I slipped near a pond. heh. anyway, i ended up on the team of 3 all the time. the ball fell into the pond. There were still people in the park doing tricks with their BMX bikes. Saw a girl doing it too.

After seeing all the short skirt girls in japan for 1 week, kinda got used to it already. they don't really care about u. Those plump ones still go ahead with the short skirt. they compensated with fair skin. yee....They really like to cycle here as well. With their short skirt, i hope they are wearing something else underneath. Though, i think they get the attention they wanted i guess. ha. Eh. but then again. the nice looking ones aren't the school girls. It's the grown ups. maybe i have aged too. haha. and some of them don't even wear skirts. they show character i guess.
so far, there ain't anything from the high school opp my dorm. too far and timing isn't right anyway.

It gets really boring when there is no internet. Entertainment is counterstrike, which i think is too hard already, and WMP playing music. BORING. Tomorrow going to get my bank account number. Finally can pay for internet!! woohoo!!! i hope it takes a few days. i am getting REALLY desperate for a nice connection in the bunk!!!!Dorm i mean.

i love living alone by the way. there is no one hounding you. you can pretend to sleep and stay in the room and really relax and stone. The temperature in the room is great. just put on more clothes if it's cold. however, the morning gets a little cold, coming out of the nice comfy blanket. But i love it! there is no electric bills to pay for this kinda aircon comfort. it's natural too!
environmental friendly! I will definitely miss this when i get back to singapore. it's something which i cannot get there. BUT i will come back. no matter how great this place is, i still love being with my bros and everyone back in singapore. it's cheaper too. hahaha. (Oh, i just realised wine is cheaper here! heh...totally still in Singapore mode.) Beer and tabacco should be
cheaper i guess.

talking about tabacco. The workplace is filled with it today. DAmmit. how am i going to do anything with the office smelling like zouk on a wednesday mambo night?! i seriously hated it as it was causing some headache. Maybe i shall complain =P
but i guess not. one of the trainer smokes. haha. maybe on my 100th day in japan. =P
Never really liked smokers. though i did try a few times. Well, some friends around me smokes anyway... guessed as much. very telltale signs. sometimes, i guess i am just too "i hope i'm wrong"...but my intuition ain't that sala most of the time. heh

shucks. forgot to check my snail mail box. wonder if the water bills are here. Hehe.
Now, who's in charge of my laundry? why is it still in the basket after so many days?! =)
This living alone thingy IS fun.

the water bill is 7400yen per month?!!? thats about 100 odd per month sing dollar!
i didnt' use the tub today. so warm today. after soccer sommore. i hope it's a mistype.

Ah...time to eat my vitamin C. 500mg from GNC. Courtesy from Jeff's discount card. i realise this one can eat 1-4 per day. time release in 5 hours. luckily never get the dissolving kind. else i would need to employ someone to wash the cup everynight.
(Hey..the sink is pretty SMALL. after putting my toothpaste and brush, hair wax, shaverS, diswashing stuff, there is no more space!)

Ah. bought a Tea light candle, lavender, Bergamot and Cedarwood. Calming. It claims.
Burn already SMELL NOTHING!. chey.

food of the day: nuts from the convinient shop. those with seeweed. OISHII!! but my cough ain't getting better! CHEAP too! 105 yen!!!! the cheapest thing i can get here...=(
damn i finished it. it was meant for 3 days. not 3 hours.

okie. time to brush my teeth. now i let the water run and brush with warm water. SHIOK.
it's better this way for my face too. since the water is "unlimited". but i am a little environmentally concious. so don't worry. i don't waste much water too.

ah. the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly report format is here!!! arrgh...i hate it!!!
why write a report when they don't even really care!. sigh. it was so hard to get a "cost of living in japan" from someone already. still haven't gotten it. oh well. i'm having a paid holiday anyway. i think the subjects are relatively easy. they are going to teach C programming within the first 3 months?? i have already mastered 50% of it. it's going to be a long boring day. Ah. we are supposed to lecture each other sommore. we will be assigned a chapter each, and teach the rest of the TAP trainee. The trainer just watch and correct. i think it would be cool. There won't be hard to understand lectures from japanese. neither will i need to use my even lousier japanese. haha. fun fun. i hope to get the programming part. what else can i do??

ah. time to sleep again. 1230 local time liaoz. Tomorrow gotta wake up at 730am. Sigh. Sleep i need most. but i always feel so nice when i am back in the dorm typing mail, eating, listening to music, just SITTING down. Almost forgot to charge my phone. electricity is very cheap after 11pm. hence, they do most of the boiling at night (hot water). i still leave the light on when i sleep. cuz i tend to wake up at night as it gets colder.

Music of the day: er...now it's 10 oclock Jazz Orchestra3-Groovin_hard. whatever that means. I wonder where i got it from.

okok...thought i wanted a short one. but ended up so "lor sor".
Don't worry guys, i am fine and still am thinking about you guys. (10 seconds each a day) muahaha. oh. the ambulance or fire engine is always activated in this area. siren every single night not just once sommore. will remember to send the photos when i get my 100MBps connection. Muahaha.

oyasuminasai.