yo, reached indonesia yesterday around 4pm local time...Really tired, because i almost miss my ferry...you know i did not know that they were using the card-tap function for every ferry.... i boarded the ferry 10 minutes before departure time as i was too carried away wandering around VIVO CITY.
Of course when i tapped my card the screen wrote: "Please check with the operator" Wow, at that time i was panicking, because if i were to miss this ferry, i would as well miss my flight....
Fortunately for me, the security uncle contacted the other staff at the pier,and the response that was received was" LET HIM IN.." yah, and what will you expect for someone ,who have delayed the other passengers to do? Of course i ran like a crazy horse....cutting past aunty who was dragging her luggage gingerly.... and when i boarded the ferry, it was fully packed, with some people glaring at me with an unwelcoming atmosphere....expected...since i was the last passenger...
The Other part of the trip was as usual, reached batam and proceeded to the airport to catch the plane...and reached home....
yup, haha i could not believe it...there is a change in the city, a noticeable change... i shall talk about it more in the next post....
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Journey home
yah, today i'm going back already.... it has been around 10 months since the last time i went back.... haha Yup for sure, i'm not going to take a direct flight - it will be really troublesome you know,as the Silk Air will surely take me as "YOUNG PASSENGER TRAVELLING ALONE"
So, i will go home via Batam... yah, ok bye bye......
So, i will go home via Batam... yah, ok bye bye......
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Prom night
Hahahaha... Prom's Over yesterday and yup, its kinda a fine night, filled with people with their formal suits......The guys wore suits that range from less business like to Business formal suits.... while the Girls, wore dresses that ranged from usual to H.O.T haha anyway its a good experience after all....
The Buffet was satisfactory, the dance haha, Those in the same table as me did not join in, because....we did not have any female partner* haha you know, its kinda horrifying to see guy dance with another guy.... but seriously the dance looked more like a discotheque ! and we're underage lolz.....
Then lucky draw, looks like 404 students kinda lucky.... most of us struck the lucky draw.... i did not know what others got, but I got a $10 voucher for salon in People's park centre...lolz i prefer barber than a salon ! so i think the voucher is of no use to me....
The game shows are funny, by asking people " who wear black socks" " who's carrying a non-camera phone" "wear gold earing..." Then came the part whereby they were asking for volunteers of the audience to go up the stage to deliver a song....and i silently fled to the toilet...haha true to my instict, my table-mates wanted to sabotage me....
I have some pics and video that i had taken:
i personally like this one, because the three of us ( me, danial and teck ann ) are the anime-otaku(s) [a term used for those die-hard anime fans]
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The Buffet was satisfactory, the dance haha, Those in the same table as me did not join in, because....we did not have any female partner* haha you know, its kinda horrifying to see guy dance with another guy.... but seriously the dance looked more like a discotheque ! and we're underage lolz.....
Then lucky draw, looks like 404 students kinda lucky.... most of us struck the lucky draw.... i did not know what others got, but I got a $10 voucher for salon in People's park centre...lolz i prefer barber than a salon ! so i think the voucher is of no use to me....
The game shows are funny, by asking people " who wear black socks" " who's carrying a non-camera phone" "wear gold earing..." Then came the part whereby they were asking for volunteers of the audience to go up the stage to deliver a song....and i silently fled to the toilet...haha true to my instict, my table-mates wanted to sabotage me....
I have some pics and video that i had taken:
i personally like this one, because the three of us ( me, danial and teck ann ) are the anime-otaku(s) [a term used for those die-hard anime fans]
-Gundam Meister(s)-
The yakuza of "SETO NO HANAYOME"
Mingjun and I (Italian accent pics)
Me& Marco
Presenting the Best video!! featuring ZHENGYAN,SAYPENG,DANIAL,ME,TJJ,YUPING,TECKANN...
Monday, November 19, 2007
My birthday
Well sometimes there's a day that's really important to you and that's your birthday....you really treasure it a lot.. and yup, to me.... i did not celebrate it... i'll just take it as a reminder that i'm getting older, hoping to improve myself...
THEREFORE:
I would like to personally thank my friends who had wished me happy birthday! it was really an honour to receive such a warm wishing.... i'm really sorry that i could not mention your name here, else those unnecessary gossips will arise..... but i really appreaciate your kindness...so once again Thank you very much !
Well sometimes there's a day that's really important to you and that's your birthday....you really treasure it a lot.. and yup, to me.... i did not celebrate it... i'll just take it as a reminder that i'm getting older, hoping to improve myself...
THEREFORE:
I would like to personally thank my friends who had wished me happy birthday! it was really an honour to receive such a warm wishing.... i'm really sorry that i could not mention your name here, else those unnecessary gossips will arise..... but i really appreaciate your kindness...so once again Thank you very much !
My days in Japan:
Yosh...japan trip is over.... and to keep thinking about it is not a way too, because there's still tommorow... who knows i might get a chance to visit Japan again.....
Through this trip: i have learnt a lot about Japan and to develop an interest in Japanese culture, language and people....and everything about JAPAN !!!
I am inspired by the Japanese.... their behaviour are remarkable... their politeness are idolized by me,for that even my level of 'politeness' still could not match with theirs! Their Spirit really heats me up! they are really loyal to their country...
I really have a good image of the Japanese and of course admired them..To tell you the truth, i have been having special thought of Japanese since i was a little boy...through the Doraemon Comics that i had read Daily
My greatest dream is....... to be able to work in Japan.....and of course...to learn JAPANESE Language, Culture,and....not just that, everything about Japan !!!
I'll surely achieve my dream, Just wait for me, JAPAN!!!
Mate-kudasai Nihon, watashi Zettai !
Yosh...japan trip is over.... and to keep thinking about it is not a way too, because there's still tommorow... who knows i might get a chance to visit Japan again.....
Through this trip: i have learnt a lot about Japan and to develop an interest in Japanese culture, language and people....and everything about JAPAN !!!
I am inspired by the Japanese.... their behaviour are remarkable... their politeness are idolized by me,for that even my level of 'politeness' still could not match with theirs! Their Spirit really heats me up! they are really loyal to their country...
I really have a good image of the Japanese and of course admired them..To tell you the truth, i have been having special thought of Japanese since i was a little boy...through the Doraemon Comics that i had read Daily
My greatest dream is....... to be able to work in Japan.....and of course...to learn JAPANESE Language, Culture,and....not just that, everything about Japan !!!
I'll surely achieve my dream, Just wait for me, JAPAN!!!
Mate-kudasai Nihon, watashi Zettai !
Day 7 (finale)
QWSS Japan Trip June 2007
woke up....6am...haha didn't feel any aching at all, because i slept in Japanese FUTON* haha....
we're racing against time.... we were supposed to meet at the City Hall at 7am sharp! in order for us to catch our flight.....
sayonara Minna~~~~
Shirotori family surely really hardworking, the moment we woke up, Mrs Shirotori and her mother-in-law quickly prepared breakfast and asked us to choose between rice and bread.... haha curious about Japanese bread, we chose bread..... but guess what, their bread was really really really thick.... haha... not only that, they were also able to make soup and yup, they served us with pure Japanese green tea....wah....
After our meal, we gathered our stuffs and thank them for taking care of us....its kinda sad.... because we had just met and now its time for us to bid goodbye already...Yup, All of us left in two vehicles.... when we reached the city hall, there was no one, except the tv-crew... haha being the early bird, we were interviewed...haha, i was speechless when the camera was shooting at me...
Soon, the others came and yup it began to get noisy... yup all of us took photos and we're going home man!sooo sad.... as the bus steered away and gradually accelerating, we could only see the host families waving at us....
The journey home wasn't really fun at all, for that we had to leave our new friends ....
Reached airport, 2 hours earlier and we got time to do some shopping.... Couldn't buy much, for that my baggage is already filled with clothes....perhaps its my fault to bring such a small luggage...
Then,someone begged me to change seat with her...haha no choice, since she asked so politely that i just agreed..... actually i had to sit between danial and tingwei, but the girl asked me to switch with her...and haha at least with that, i make new friends: got to know two friends from 204: MEI LING & RaJveen
Soon the plane took off and fly fly fly fly fly away~~~~~~~~
reached S'pore at about 11pm and yup, queue up for taxi...
QWSS Japan Trip June 2007
woke up....6am...haha didn't feel any aching at all, because i slept in Japanese FUTON* haha....
we're racing against time.... we were supposed to meet at the City Hall at 7am sharp! in order for us to catch our flight.....
sayonara Minna~~~~
Shirotori family surely really hardworking, the moment we woke up, Mrs Shirotori and her mother-in-law quickly prepared breakfast and asked us to choose between rice and bread.... haha curious about Japanese bread, we chose bread..... but guess what, their bread was really really really thick.... haha... not only that, they were also able to make soup and yup, they served us with pure Japanese green tea....wah....
After our meal, we gathered our stuffs and thank them for taking care of us....its kinda sad.... because we had just met and now its time for us to bid goodbye already...Yup, All of us left in two vehicles.... when we reached the city hall, there was no one, except the tv-crew... haha being the early bird, we were interviewed...haha, i was speechless when the camera was shooting at me...
Soon, the others came and yup it began to get noisy... yup all of us took photos and we're going home man!sooo sad.... as the bus steered away and gradually accelerating, we could only see the host families waving at us....
The journey home wasn't really fun at all, for that we had to leave our new friends ....
Reached airport, 2 hours earlier and we got time to do some shopping.... Couldn't buy much, for that my baggage is already filled with clothes....perhaps its my fault to bring such a small luggage...
Then,someone begged me to change seat with her...haha no choice, since she asked so politely that i just agreed..... actually i had to sit between danial and tingwei, but the girl asked me to switch with her...and haha at least with that, i make new friends: got to know two friends from 204: MEI LING & RaJveen
Soon the plane took off and fly fly fly fly fly away~~~~~~~~
reached S'pore at about 11pm and yup, queue up for taxi...
DAY 6
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
Yup, today was a really special day for us,as we were going to stay with our designated host families… Well actually not many of us wanted it, after the first day whereby we met with our respective host families, we were terrified…. Not because they were scary or anything else, but the fact that only a handful of them were able to speak English and we’ll have difficulties communicating with them.
After Onsen-ing for the last time, we went to the restaurant to eat our last meal in that hotel…*sob
After that, we went back to our room to pack up everything… well it seemed just yesterday that we had just arrived in the hotel and now we’re already leaving….time seemed to have no hold in Japan…
written: Heilsam Kurikoma
Hiks* drinking Japanese Milk for the last time...btw my favourite is the blue coloured milk...
Sayonara mountain, Snow, Clouds....
Yup, the moment the clock struck 8am all of us boarded the bus,leaving for the city hall to meet our host families…. When we reached there, we directly went to our host family and yup…everyone was separated….. Tingwei and I headed towards our host family, Shirotori families….who led us to his vehicle….quite a big car…..inside the car its no joke! GPS system!!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes!
WOw ! ! !GPS SYSTEM
Well first, Kyotaro and his father,Mr Shirotori drove us to their home, whereby there we met his wife, daughter, 2nd son and his mother…outside their house, they had a dog that could able to listen to commands, because when we first reached, it’s a common sense for a dog to bark….but when Kyotaro spoke in Japanese to the dog, the dog kindly returned to its dog house……flipping through the Japanese dictionary, we tried to communicate with Shirotori families…. First they led us to their 2nd living room….wow their house was very big, it took quite a long time just to get from the main door to the 2nd living room…
There, we placed our bags and headed back to the 1st living room…we talked with each other by using a handphone translation….it was quite fortunate for us that they thought of such thing…..our hobby ranged from hobby….to school work..and then to my favourite topic: ANIME&MANGA….. Lolz Tingwei was puzzled when they talked about this topic, but I, being a anime-lovers was enjoying a talk with them…. GUNDAM….DETECTIVE CONAN….DORAEMON…ETC…
Soon, they asked us to get into the car as they wanted to take us out for lunch….and we did…. When the car was going out, they suddenly lowered their side windows and told us: “ OJISAN” , which means their grandfather…. He’s a nice man….and looked healthy despite I thought that he was already quite old….
Along the way, Mrs Shirotori asked me what song did I listen to and I told her Japanese songs…. She smiled and asked me which artist I favoured…. I told her ZARD and she raised her eyebrows…. I did not know why until I returned to Singapore and found out that the artist had just passed away from CANCER…. Mrs Shirotori then suggested to me,” AYUMI HAMASAKI?” and I nodded….
After one hour on the road, we stopped by a convenience store and they asked us to take what I wanted and they would pay for us….Being brought up with Manners, I kept declining their offer and thank them for their kindness….. But later the funny part was that when they showed me their translated text and it read” PLEASE DO NOT DECLINE” lolz…. Funnay hahahahhahahaha but still in the end I still did not want to take, but TINGWEI took a Caffeine water…then our Journey continued….
After another one hour, they asked us to choose whether we wanted to eat burger or beef rice…. Of course our answer were anything…but to the Japanese, Anything is not an answer….
Then we chose BEEF RICE…..and guess where we were brought to? YOSHINOYA! At first we thought it would be the same as in Singapore…. But there was something different when we entered the YOSHINOYA outlet in Japan…. The seat were all counter seat and the cashier would deliver the food to the customers…. Furthermore, they did not sell any kind of drinks at all and provided us with cold plain water !!!!! sooo nice, unlike the YOSHINOYA IN SINGAPORE, BOOOO!
Yoshinoya, Japan
Their Beef rice was also quite unique …. Their sizes were: small,medium,large,EXTRA LARGE….. lolz…
After a fruitful lunch, we headed to Sahara, a ceramic shopping centre …There,Shirotori-san wanted to buy for us necklace, which was made up by choosing the beads that we wanted…similar to those in Singapore and was usually for girls….. so we declined their offer…. But now in singapore, I regretted my decision, because I found out from JAPAN HOUR that the purpose of beads in JAPAN is not the same as in singapore,because each of the beads represent your characteristics…and it could even act as a TALISMAN!
Water-powered clock outside Sahara Shopping centre
us with the Japanese..aww doesn't they look kawaii*(cute)?
After that, we went to the most attractive sites; THE GOLDEN TEMPLE…. Which requires us to hike up the slopes…quite tiring, but It was a fruitful experience for us to watch the GOLDEN TEMPLE….everything was made of gold! Sadly we were forbidden to take photos and the monks were on guard…. Well,all the statues were the same as in Buddhist temple…haha its just that the explaination was written in JAPANESE….we prayed and threw in some coins…..
we're hiking...and hiking and hiking....wooohooo!
washing hand...pure water i think...
Outside the temple
Benkei with Natuko,Kyotaro's sister as the model
Torii*(gate)
Outside the temple, we tried the Japanese culture of fortune telling…. First we put in 100yen into the box and draw out a piece of paper…. Then, KYOTARO explained to me what it means….
My symbol was a broom….. then Kyotaro translated for me:
HEALTH – OK
STUDIES-OK
LOVE- NOT TIME YET >.<
Japanese Ice-Cream...
their family...haha i wonder why Yajiro(extreme right), Kyotaro's brother acted that way...
Later, shirotori asked us whether we wanted to play bowling…but we declined for that we felt very uncomfortable for them to keep treating us…..as they had spent a huge amount of money therefore, we headed back to their house…
Inside the house, they asked us to get into the car to shower and we were puzzled….shower in a car?? Haha actually we were brought to his 2nd house, just to shower…..but I could roughly guessed that JAPANESE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT FOREIGNER WILL ALWAYS TAKE A BATH, NOT A SHOWER….
After showering, we took a walk around the neighbourhood and yup, he brought us to a Japanese Shinto shrine…. We prayed and threw in some coins…Then, we returned back…..quite nice, Mrs shirotori and her mother-in-law cooked delicious food…but the interesting fact was that During their house meal, each members will have their own CHOPSTICKS,SPOONS, PLATES…. Because we were given wooden disposable chopsticks… Another treat comes again, when OJISAN returned home with 2 boxes of SUSHI.....WOW NYAM~NYAM…… Sushi ~~~ we could not finish it……
Tingwei and I
Us, with their family
Ojisan in the pics
at the same time, we were watching JAPANESE Variety Show on the television…. Lolz it was so funny,its about:
About a blackman who brought his monkey and tried to experience Japanese culture… the scene was set when he visited a ‘TAKOYAKI’(Octopus ball) shop and when he was served with the ‘takoyaki’,he used his hand to grabbed it and put it into his mouth…guess what, in the end, he was struggling and fanning himself , as the ‘takoyaki’ was too hot !Next, he handed the plate of the’takoyaki’ to his monkey and guess what, the monkey could not resist the heat that caused it to throw the ‘takoyaki’ away, in a funny manner! Haha
So, after a delicious food, we took some photos and yup, headed back to the 2nd living room…. There, Shirotori-san showed us three VCDs that he had just rented and asked us what we wanted to watch the choices were; TROY, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, The Great Chase
Well actually I wanted to choose Mission Impossible 3, but Tingwei just kept bugging, saying that he had watched Troy and Mission Impossible 3, ok lor, so I just relent to him…. To watch The Great Chase, since he was a car-racing-maniac…..
Guess what, we could not understand the movie at all,Because it’s a German Movie that had a Japanese language as the subtitle…. No!!!! haha so in the end, we just stare at the moving picture….But unfortunately, I got a sore eyes after that….. Not because watching the movie for too long, but to see something that I was not supposed to see yet….. You know, the movie scene that suddenly show a Caucasian Woman’S Boob !!! Sianz lar, I immediately covered my eyes….couldn’t believe what I had just seen !!!
Halfway during the show, Ojisan came in and brought us cake!!! Wow so generous of them… and he asked us to write some kind of message for the family….and they will write some for us too…. (exchanging messages) yup, its very nice, Japanese surely really treasure their guests!
That night, I could just doze off easily, as it was the only moment I got to sleep in Futon*(Japanese mattress) Recorded down some information in diary and…. Yup ZZZ..zzzz…ZZZZ….zzzzz OYASUMI!
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
Yup, today was a really special day for us,as we were going to stay with our designated host families… Well actually not many of us wanted it, after the first day whereby we met with our respective host families, we were terrified…. Not because they were scary or anything else, but the fact that only a handful of them were able to speak English and we’ll have difficulties communicating with them.
After Onsen-ing for the last time, we went to the restaurant to eat our last meal in that hotel…*sob
After that, we went back to our room to pack up everything… well it seemed just yesterday that we had just arrived in the hotel and now we’re already leaving….time seemed to have no hold in Japan…
written: Heilsam Kurikoma
Hiks* drinking Japanese Milk for the last time...btw my favourite is the blue coloured milk...
Sayonara mountain, Snow, Clouds....
Yup, the moment the clock struck 8am all of us boarded the bus,leaving for the city hall to meet our host families…. When we reached there, we directly went to our host family and yup…everyone was separated….. Tingwei and I headed towards our host family, Shirotori families….who led us to his vehicle….quite a big car…..inside the car its no joke! GPS system!!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes!
WOw ! ! !GPS SYSTEM
Well first, Kyotaro and his father,Mr Shirotori drove us to their home, whereby there we met his wife, daughter, 2nd son and his mother…outside their house, they had a dog that could able to listen to commands, because when we first reached, it’s a common sense for a dog to bark….but when Kyotaro spoke in Japanese to the dog, the dog kindly returned to its dog house……flipping through the Japanese dictionary, we tried to communicate with Shirotori families…. First they led us to their 2nd living room….wow their house was very big, it took quite a long time just to get from the main door to the 2nd living room…
There, we placed our bags and headed back to the 1st living room…we talked with each other by using a handphone translation….it was quite fortunate for us that they thought of such thing…..our hobby ranged from hobby….to school work..and then to my favourite topic: ANIME&MANGA….. Lolz Tingwei was puzzled when they talked about this topic, but I, being a anime-lovers was enjoying a talk with them…. GUNDAM….DETECTIVE CONAN….DORAEMON…ETC…
Soon, they asked us to get into the car as they wanted to take us out for lunch….and we did…. When the car was going out, they suddenly lowered their side windows and told us: “ OJISAN” , which means their grandfather…. He’s a nice man….and looked healthy despite I thought that he was already quite old….
Along the way, Mrs Shirotori asked me what song did I listen to and I told her Japanese songs…. She smiled and asked me which artist I favoured…. I told her ZARD and she raised her eyebrows…. I did not know why until I returned to Singapore and found out that the artist had just passed away from CANCER…. Mrs Shirotori then suggested to me,” AYUMI HAMASAKI?” and I nodded….
After one hour on the road, we stopped by a convenience store and they asked us to take what I wanted and they would pay for us….Being brought up with Manners, I kept declining their offer and thank them for their kindness….. But later the funny part was that when they showed me their translated text and it read” PLEASE DO NOT DECLINE” lolz…. Funnay hahahahhahahaha but still in the end I still did not want to take, but TINGWEI took a Caffeine water…then our Journey continued….
After another one hour, they asked us to choose whether we wanted to eat burger or beef rice…. Of course our answer were anything…but to the Japanese, Anything is not an answer….
Then we chose BEEF RICE…..and guess where we were brought to? YOSHINOYA! At first we thought it would be the same as in Singapore…. But there was something different when we entered the YOSHINOYA outlet in Japan…. The seat were all counter seat and the cashier would deliver the food to the customers…. Furthermore, they did not sell any kind of drinks at all and provided us with cold plain water !!!!! sooo nice, unlike the YOSHINOYA IN SINGAPORE, BOOOO!
Yoshinoya, Japan
Their Beef rice was also quite unique …. Their sizes were: small,medium,large,EXTRA LARGE….. lolz…
After a fruitful lunch, we headed to Sahara, a ceramic shopping centre …There,Shirotori-san wanted to buy for us necklace, which was made up by choosing the beads that we wanted…similar to those in Singapore and was usually for girls….. so we declined their offer…. But now in singapore, I regretted my decision, because I found out from JAPAN HOUR that the purpose of beads in JAPAN is not the same as in singapore,because each of the beads represent your characteristics…and it could even act as a TALISMAN!
Water-powered clock outside Sahara Shopping centre
us with the Japanese..aww doesn't they look kawaii*(cute)?
After that, we went to the most attractive sites; THE GOLDEN TEMPLE…. Which requires us to hike up the slopes…quite tiring, but It was a fruitful experience for us to watch the GOLDEN TEMPLE….everything was made of gold! Sadly we were forbidden to take photos and the monks were on guard…. Well,all the statues were the same as in Buddhist temple…haha its just that the explaination was written in JAPANESE….we prayed and threw in some coins…..
we're hiking...and hiking and hiking....wooohooo!
washing hand...pure water i think...
Outside the temple
Benkei with Natuko,Kyotaro's sister as the model
Torii*(gate)
Outside the temple, we tried the Japanese culture of fortune telling…. First we put in 100yen into the box and draw out a piece of paper…. Then, KYOTARO explained to me what it means….
My symbol was a broom….. then Kyotaro translated for me:
HEALTH – OK
STUDIES-OK
LOVE- NOT TIME YET >.<
Japanese Ice-Cream...
their family...haha i wonder why Yajiro(extreme right), Kyotaro's brother acted that way...
Later, shirotori asked us whether we wanted to play bowling…but we declined for that we felt very uncomfortable for them to keep treating us…..as they had spent a huge amount of money therefore, we headed back to their house…
Inside the house, they asked us to get into the car to shower and we were puzzled….shower in a car?? Haha actually we were brought to his 2nd house, just to shower…..but I could roughly guessed that JAPANESE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT FOREIGNER WILL ALWAYS TAKE A BATH, NOT A SHOWER….
After showering, we took a walk around the neighbourhood and yup, he brought us to a Japanese Shinto shrine…. We prayed and threw in some coins…Then, we returned back…..quite nice, Mrs shirotori and her mother-in-law cooked delicious food…but the interesting fact was that During their house meal, each members will have their own CHOPSTICKS,SPOONS, PLATES…. Because we were given wooden disposable chopsticks… Another treat comes again, when OJISAN returned home with 2 boxes of SUSHI.....WOW NYAM~NYAM…… Sushi ~~~ we could not finish it……
Tingwei and I
Us, with their family
Ojisan in the pics
at the same time, we were watching JAPANESE Variety Show on the television…. Lolz it was so funny,its about:
About a blackman who brought his monkey and tried to experience Japanese culture… the scene was set when he visited a ‘TAKOYAKI’(Octopus ball) shop and when he was served with the ‘takoyaki’,he used his hand to grabbed it and put it into his mouth…guess what, in the end, he was struggling and fanning himself , as the ‘takoyaki’ was too hot !Next, he handed the plate of the’takoyaki’ to his monkey and guess what, the monkey could not resist the heat that caused it to throw the ‘takoyaki’ away, in a funny manner! Haha
So, after a delicious food, we took some photos and yup, headed back to the 2nd living room…. There, Shirotori-san showed us three VCDs that he had just rented and asked us what we wanted to watch the choices were; TROY, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, The Great Chase
Well actually I wanted to choose Mission Impossible 3, but Tingwei just kept bugging, saying that he had watched Troy and Mission Impossible 3, ok lor, so I just relent to him…. To watch The Great Chase, since he was a car-racing-maniac…..
Guess what, we could not understand the movie at all,Because it’s a German Movie that had a Japanese language as the subtitle…. No!!!! haha so in the end, we just stare at the moving picture….But unfortunately, I got a sore eyes after that….. Not because watching the movie for too long, but to see something that I was not supposed to see yet….. You know, the movie scene that suddenly show a Caucasian Woman’S Boob !!! Sianz lar, I immediately covered my eyes….couldn’t believe what I had just seen !!!
Halfway during the show, Ojisan came in and brought us cake!!! Wow so generous of them… and he asked us to write some kind of message for the family….and they will write some for us too…. (exchanging messages) yup, its very nice, Japanese surely really treasure their guests!
That night, I could just doze off easily, as it was the only moment I got to sleep in Futon*(Japanese mattress) Recorded down some information in diary and…. Yup ZZZ..zzzz…ZZZZ….zzzzz OYASUMI!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Day 5
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
Woke up, earlier than usual because today was a special day for us…. The mayor had kindly invited us to his office…. So we’re all excited….. at 8am, we boarded the bus and left for the mayor’s office…. The mayor’s a kind guy, he welcomed us into his office….. when we were heading to his office, we walked pass the civil service workers….. yah, we had to greet them ‘ohayo gozaimasu’(good morning) and there were lots of them that we had to keep bowing for every step we took…..
outside the mayor's office
the staffs working for the city
teachers talking
Then, the mayor brought us to his meeting room , together with his assistant… there we were given origami paper, looks expensive !!!! and they taught us to fold a ‘shiratori’ (swan) yup , a ver y fruitful experience…..
the memorable meeting room
Ms leong presenting a gift to the mayor
after that, we bid goodbye before leaving for UGUISUZAWA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL…..
For our entertainment, the mayor had passed a CD to our tour guide, mr Ronnie tan… and it contained the news report on our arrival in Kurihara, featuring the PAPER MAKING SCENE & WHEN WE WERE AT THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS PLANTATION.
us, on the news
Soon, we reached the high school and received a warm welcome !!! yup, only the principal greeted us as the rest of the school were still having their lessons….. after taking off our shoes and wearing the sandals provided, we were led into a waiting room, where we rested for a while before going on a tour around the school…
Guess what, we were introduced to the school’s information and surprisingly the school only have a population of 70 students…. Wow, compared to Queensway’s 1400 students 200 TIMES MORE !!!!!! I could say their teaching style were similar to Queensway…btw at that time, they were learning mathematics, home economics and history….. and there were only 1 sec 1, sec2 and sec 3 classes….
After that, we returned to the waiting room whereby we were served ice-cream….mmmm yummy, especially the ice-cream was branded …. I couldn’t recall the name, but I ever seen it in s’pore, which costed $14 bucks for 1 tub…..
Then, we went to their hall to practice our performance… their hall was far more bigger that queensway’s ….. yup, here we go, everyone except me went to the toilet to change to their designated ethical costumes, while me…. Haha, went backstage to become the DJ !, well, I was kicked out from malay dance as I danced as stiff as a rawhide….hehe sabotaged DANIAL instead…. So here we goes,after the formal opening speech by a student representatives from both party, the Japanese showed us their skills: from basketball, to soft tennis, and softball … all of them were magnificent, all of them took turns to ‘serve’ so quickly and professionally, just like machine guns….. But the part I like the most was the softball…. Their skills were unmatchable…… because on several occasion, when you expect them to miss the ball, they could still able to catch…WOW!
Soon its Queensway’s turn,after an opening speech by ARIYANI, I hit the play button , sit back and watch their performances, however view was only of their butt ! =D
After the dance, we were exchanging gifts, ahh…. Most of us made mistakes for not bringing our ‘prepared’ presents and yet we still dared to argue with Mr Tan who scolded us… but soon after we realize our mistakes, we apologized to him, except one student who did accept that he is wrong….
After that, we were given a treat by the principal, their school’s lunch… JAPANESE SCHOOL STYLE BENTO! The looks may be quite unattractive, but the uninteresting look didn’t mean that the food is insipid! It was…. OISHI~~(*delicious) . Well some information, in Japan, their school did not have such thing called” canteen” They have an aunty who lived in the school, who will plan and cook their menus everyday and their parents will just pay monthly fee….
After a delicious meal, we were separated into groups and went around to enjoy their culture…. Actually the Japanese had planned for us to rotate around the activities, but due to time constraint, we were not able to enjoy all of them. For me, I’d only felt their local deer dance, which looked the same as Singapore’s liondance, its just that we have to put a deer-look-alike hat that was sooooo heavy. Furthermore, there’s a veil that covers your face, so you would not feel hot and in addition, there was a huge drum tied on your belly…. You had to dance while beating the drum…. Quite difficult but haha enjoyable… too bad I did not bring my camera there…
Afterwards we went to the ‘community centre’ to watch the other groups learning tea ceremony… not bad, we were served with Authentic JAPANESE GREEN TEA… and a candy-like stuff… Well I could roughly guess the procedure, since I was interested in JAPAN when I was young and I’d read too much DORAEMON, which roughly teach you about JAPANESE CULTURE.
Tea drinking procedure:
EAT THE CANDY first, then hold the bowl in your hand…. Turn the bowl three times(believed to be able to make the tea delicious) and drink it…. Afterwards, use your fingers to wipe the spot on the bowl that come into contact with your mouth…..
Soon, we headed back to the school and yah, it’s a sayonara already and Japanese are really kind people…. When we went back to gather our things, and walking out of the school, we could see all of them lining up to shake hands with you and there were….. 70+++ hands !!!
some of the blue 'YAKUZA' lolz
So yup, feeling grateful to them we shook hands , boarded the bus and we left….. Along the way, Mr Ronnie Tan told us that He was impressed with our performance and decided to reward us; KARAOKE ON THE HOUSE ! haha at first we thought it was merely a joke, but when we reached the hotel dining room…. Wow, it was really there…. The karaoke machine, the same machine that was used by the other patrons in the next dining room…. At first everyone was shy….. then we began to volunteer each other…. First in the row, ARIYANI singing DANCING QUEEN ~ woohooo bravo !
Next, Ms Annie Tan , singing an English song…. Quite an old song…. yay!!!!
ms annie tan singing
Then Hiromi take up the mike and delivered us a Japanese song ~~~ wooo everyone was enchanted by that
Hiromi singing
Then its my turn, but 1st song was a DUET , ARIYANI and me, singing YESTERDAY ONCE MORE ….. just an applause…..
DUET!
The Duet was not really a duet, because I joined in when she was singing halfway, so it was not counted and the audience requested me to sing them another song….. I trembled, because I rarely listen to English songs. I only listen to JAPANESE songs,but the song that I wanted to sing was not there, so I flipped through the song book and saw a ‘light’ , the song “ UPTOWN GIRL “ choo looking….. I smiled and take the stage….
but before that, Hiromi DUET with Natasha singing a song.... i kinda forgotten hehe~~~
When I sing, everyone had a good laugh…. Yah I know, the lively song was changed into a monotone,classical olden songs…..
Uptown girl! even mr ronnie tan was laughing all the way
~my singing causes the audience to be like this~ horrible isn't it?
After singing, haha quite glad, received applause and some even threw 5 yen coins at me muhahahahaha luckily not tomato!
Then Mr Gary Tan also did not want to lose, he braised himself up and deliver his best song : STAYING ALIVE, everyone enjoyed the song haha ….that we even did a style…. Pointing sidewards while yelling STAYING ALIVE !!!
Well after that, we had our presentation and yup, ONSEN~~~~~ THEN not time to sleep yet !
Mr ronnie tan has prepared a karaoke lounge for us and wooo hoo.... we sang and sang and sang till the midnight oil burns out!
my japanese name: A-U-IN
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
Woke up, earlier than usual because today was a special day for us…. The mayor had kindly invited us to his office…. So we’re all excited….. at 8am, we boarded the bus and left for the mayor’s office…. The mayor’s a kind guy, he welcomed us into his office….. when we were heading to his office, we walked pass the civil service workers….. yah, we had to greet them ‘ohayo gozaimasu’(good morning) and there were lots of them that we had to keep bowing for every step we took…..
outside the mayor's office
the staffs working for the city
teachers talking
Then, the mayor brought us to his meeting room , together with his assistant… there we were given origami paper, looks expensive !!!! and they taught us to fold a ‘shiratori’ (swan) yup , a ver y fruitful experience…..
the memorable meeting room
Ms leong presenting a gift to the mayor
after that, we bid goodbye before leaving for UGUISUZAWA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL…..
For our entertainment, the mayor had passed a CD to our tour guide, mr Ronnie tan… and it contained the news report on our arrival in Kurihara, featuring the PAPER MAKING SCENE & WHEN WE WERE AT THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS PLANTATION.
us, on the news
Soon, we reached the high school and received a warm welcome !!! yup, only the principal greeted us as the rest of the school were still having their lessons….. after taking off our shoes and wearing the sandals provided, we were led into a waiting room, where we rested for a while before going on a tour around the school…
Guess what, we were introduced to the school’s information and surprisingly the school only have a population of 70 students…. Wow, compared to Queensway’s 1400 students 200 TIMES MORE !!!!!! I could say their teaching style were similar to Queensway…btw at that time, they were learning mathematics, home economics and history….. and there were only 1 sec 1, sec2 and sec 3 classes….
After that, we returned to the waiting room whereby we were served ice-cream….mmmm yummy, especially the ice-cream was branded …. I couldn’t recall the name, but I ever seen it in s’pore, which costed $14 bucks for 1 tub…..
Then, we went to their hall to practice our performance… their hall was far more bigger that queensway’s ….. yup, here we go, everyone except me went to the toilet to change to their designated ethical costumes, while me…. Haha, went backstage to become the DJ !, well, I was kicked out from malay dance as I danced as stiff as a rawhide….hehe sabotaged DANIAL instead…. So here we goes,after the formal opening speech by a student representatives from both party, the Japanese showed us their skills: from basketball, to soft tennis, and softball … all of them were magnificent, all of them took turns to ‘serve’ so quickly and professionally, just like machine guns….. But the part I like the most was the softball…. Their skills were unmatchable…… because on several occasion, when you expect them to miss the ball, they could still able to catch…WOW!
Soon its Queensway’s turn,after an opening speech by ARIYANI, I hit the play button , sit back and watch their performances, however view was only of their butt ! =D
After the dance, we were exchanging gifts, ahh…. Most of us made mistakes for not bringing our ‘prepared’ presents and yet we still dared to argue with Mr Tan who scolded us… but soon after we realize our mistakes, we apologized to him, except one student who did accept that he is wrong….
After that, we were given a treat by the principal, their school’s lunch… JAPANESE SCHOOL STYLE BENTO! The looks may be quite unattractive, but the uninteresting look didn’t mean that the food is insipid! It was…. OISHI~~(*delicious) . Well some information, in Japan, their school did not have such thing called” canteen” They have an aunty who lived in the school, who will plan and cook their menus everyday and their parents will just pay monthly fee….
After a delicious meal, we were separated into groups and went around to enjoy their culture…. Actually the Japanese had planned for us to rotate around the activities, but due to time constraint, we were not able to enjoy all of them. For me, I’d only felt their local deer dance, which looked the same as Singapore’s liondance, its just that we have to put a deer-look-alike hat that was sooooo heavy. Furthermore, there’s a veil that covers your face, so you would not feel hot and in addition, there was a huge drum tied on your belly…. You had to dance while beating the drum…. Quite difficult but haha enjoyable… too bad I did not bring my camera there…
Afterwards we went to the ‘community centre’ to watch the other groups learning tea ceremony… not bad, we were served with Authentic JAPANESE GREEN TEA… and a candy-like stuff… Well I could roughly guess the procedure, since I was interested in JAPAN when I was young and I’d read too much DORAEMON, which roughly teach you about JAPANESE CULTURE.
Tea drinking procedure:
EAT THE CANDY first, then hold the bowl in your hand…. Turn the bowl three times(believed to be able to make the tea delicious) and drink it…. Afterwards, use your fingers to wipe the spot on the bowl that come into contact with your mouth…..
Soon, we headed back to the school and yah, it’s a sayonara already and Japanese are really kind people…. When we went back to gather our things, and walking out of the school, we could see all of them lining up to shake hands with you and there were….. 70+++ hands !!!
some of the blue 'YAKUZA' lolz
So yup, feeling grateful to them we shook hands , boarded the bus and we left….. Along the way, Mr Ronnie Tan told us that He was impressed with our performance and decided to reward us; KARAOKE ON THE HOUSE ! haha at first we thought it was merely a joke, but when we reached the hotel dining room…. Wow, it was really there…. The karaoke machine, the same machine that was used by the other patrons in the next dining room…. At first everyone was shy….. then we began to volunteer each other…. First in the row, ARIYANI singing DANCING QUEEN ~ woohooo bravo !
Next, Ms Annie Tan , singing an English song…. Quite an old song…. yay!!!!
ms annie tan singing
Then Hiromi take up the mike and delivered us a Japanese song ~~~ wooo everyone was enchanted by that
Hiromi singing
Then its my turn, but 1st song was a DUET , ARIYANI and me, singing YESTERDAY ONCE MORE ….. just an applause…..
DUET!
The Duet was not really a duet, because I joined in when she was singing halfway, so it was not counted and the audience requested me to sing them another song….. I trembled, because I rarely listen to English songs. I only listen to JAPANESE songs,but the song that I wanted to sing was not there, so I flipped through the song book and saw a ‘light’ , the song “ UPTOWN GIRL “ choo looking….. I smiled and take the stage….
but before that, Hiromi DUET with Natasha singing a song.... i kinda forgotten hehe~~~
When I sing, everyone had a good laugh…. Yah I know, the lively song was changed into a monotone,classical olden songs…..
Uptown girl! even mr ronnie tan was laughing all the way
~my singing causes the audience to be like this~ horrible isn't it?
After singing, haha quite glad, received applause and some even threw 5 yen coins at me muhahahahaha luckily not tomato!
Then Mr Gary Tan also did not want to lose, he braised himself up and deliver his best song : STAYING ALIVE, everyone enjoyed the song haha ….that we even did a style…. Pointing sidewards while yelling STAYING ALIVE !!!
Well after that, we had our presentation and yup, ONSEN~~~~~ THEN not time to sleep yet !
Mr ronnie tan has prepared a karaoke lounge for us and wooo hoo.... we sang and sang and sang till the midnight oil burns out!
my japanese name: A-U-IN
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Day 4
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
“yawn…” woke up at 6.45am, feeling great , because I can wake up on my own…. You know, for the past 2 days, I so called ‘disturbed ‘ my room mates with my handphone alarm clock…. Yup I began to know, that the alarm could only be functional to me if it was set as my favourite song, “NANATSU NO UMI WO WATARU KAZE NO YOU NI by Rina Auichi & Yuuka Saegusa”
Morning after breakfast, went to visit KAWAGUCHI GREEN CENTRE, a Chrysanthemum plantation and yup, something quite special, we’re on TV !!!! when we reached the Chrysanthemum plantation, from the bus , we could already see a TV-crew carrying his gigantic video camera….. lolz, we adjusted ourselves, trying to look as neat as possible...before walking down the red-carpet =D
Well haha, after a brief welcome and explaination by the owner, we got a chance to help plant the chrysanthemum plants . Well, all of us planted around…..5000 I think…..Then, as a refreshment, we’re given soda drink… what made the drink unique was the special type of bottle…. It has a marble inside it …wooohoo…..of course, majority of us kept the bottle and soon, we bid goodbye to them before boarding the bus….
When it was noon, we stopped by a park called KURIHARA NATIONAL PARK for our lunch…. Well for lunch, we had ONIGIRI WITH GREENTEA….. quite simple but it could made your stomach bloated in no time ! oh yes, the moment we reached the park, it was a wonderful sight, the green trees, blue sky…… and the chirping of the birds that were relaxing…… There was even an eagle !
On the park, there was a special treat for us, the slide ! yup feeling like we had been thrown back to our childhood time, most of us went to give it a shot ! the teachers even joined the fun ! I’ve got the video too !!!! hilarious….. hahaha but so sorry a few of us had agreed to only use the teachers-related videos for personal entertainment…soo I can’t release it here….
After a fun in the park, we headed back to the bus to leave for KURIHARA-WASHI-TAKEN-KOBO, A wooden paper making factory….yup the owner named MR. HIKOJI KUGA( the 7th generation)… the Japanese paper is called “SIZUNOME JAPANESE PAPER” and the raw materials needed are a paper mulberry & clean spring water… the history of this paper traces back to the end of EDO ERA,(about a century ago) can you believe it !!!! I was like “wow”
Mr HIKOJI, spoke the ancient Japanese language, as claimed by our guide…. So now we know that Japanese also have their own dialect, just like Chinese….. and…. He’s quite a nice guy, he let us to have a hands on experience…… and at that time, the tv-crew were filming us……=) Meanwhile, outside there were a few people looking at us…. The guide told us that those were the villagers, including the Head village chief…. After that, while waiting for others to get their turn, we went to the field opposite and discovered …… clover plants !!!!! so some of us, went to hunt for four-leaved clover….. including ME !!!!! haha actually I almost gave up, because there were myriads of three-leaved clovers….. but aha ! found one !!! jumped with joy, even to the extent that I took a few pics of it…then, safe-keep it inside my notebook, which still there up to now…….
After that, Mr HIKOJI gave us the Japanese papers as a parting gift….what a nice guy ! yup, took a shot with him…. And we all boarded the bus…
Then, we visited ISSAKO-SANNO-ROMAN_KAN, a museum ,well we got to see the artifacts of ancient japan.
Yup, then that’s all for the day… quite simple, spent most of our days in the bus, travelling….. while on the bus, we’re doing our presentation, but in my group, only one guy was doing it…. Which I felt was not fair, because the presentation was meant to be a group work, not individual stuff !!! so in the end, our presentation was filled with English grammatical errors, vocab errors , everything !!!!despite we had sec 3 english band 1 students in our group…. HECK LAR !!!!! btw,I am not that ‘guy’…..and to that guy, you know yourself well….
QWSS JAPAN TRIP JUNE 2007
“yawn…” woke up at 6.45am, feeling great , because I can wake up on my own…. You know, for the past 2 days, I so called ‘disturbed ‘ my room mates with my handphone alarm clock…. Yup I began to know, that the alarm could only be functional to me if it was set as my favourite song, “NANATSU NO UMI WO WATARU KAZE NO YOU NI by Rina Auichi & Yuuka Saegusa”
Morning after breakfast, went to visit KAWAGUCHI GREEN CENTRE, a Chrysanthemum plantation and yup, something quite special, we’re on TV !!!! when we reached the Chrysanthemum plantation, from the bus , we could already see a TV-crew carrying his gigantic video camera….. lolz, we adjusted ourselves, trying to look as neat as possible...before walking down the red-carpet =D
Well haha, after a brief welcome and explaination by the owner, we got a chance to help plant the chrysanthemum plants . Well, all of us planted around…..5000 I think…..Then, as a refreshment, we’re given soda drink… what made the drink unique was the special type of bottle…. It has a marble inside it …wooohoo…..of course, majority of us kept the bottle and soon, we bid goodbye to them before boarding the bus….
When it was noon, we stopped by a park called KURIHARA NATIONAL PARK for our lunch…. Well for lunch, we had ONIGIRI WITH GREENTEA….. quite simple but it could made your stomach bloated in no time ! oh yes, the moment we reached the park, it was a wonderful sight, the green trees, blue sky…… and the chirping of the birds that were relaxing…… There was even an eagle !
On the park, there was a special treat for us, the slide ! yup feeling like we had been thrown back to our childhood time, most of us went to give it a shot ! the teachers even joined the fun ! I’ve got the video too !!!! hilarious….. hahaha but so sorry a few of us had agreed to only use the teachers-related videos for personal entertainment…soo I can’t release it here….
After a fun in the park, we headed back to the bus to leave for KURIHARA-WASHI-TAKEN-KOBO, A wooden paper making factory….yup the owner named MR. HIKOJI KUGA( the 7th generation)… the Japanese paper is called “SIZUNOME JAPANESE PAPER” and the raw materials needed are a paper mulberry & clean spring water… the history of this paper traces back to the end of EDO ERA,(about a century ago) can you believe it !!!! I was like “wow”
Mr HIKOJI, spoke the ancient Japanese language, as claimed by our guide…. So now we know that Japanese also have their own dialect, just like Chinese….. and…. He’s quite a nice guy, he let us to have a hands on experience…… and at that time, the tv-crew were filming us……=) Meanwhile, outside there were a few people looking at us…. The guide told us that those were the villagers, including the Head village chief…. After that, while waiting for others to get their turn, we went to the field opposite and discovered …… clover plants !!!!! so some of us, went to hunt for four-leaved clover….. including ME !!!!! haha actually I almost gave up, because there were myriads of three-leaved clovers….. but aha ! found one !!! jumped with joy, even to the extent that I took a few pics of it…then, safe-keep it inside my notebook, which still there up to now…….
After that, Mr HIKOJI gave us the Japanese papers as a parting gift….what a nice guy ! yup, took a shot with him…. And we all boarded the bus…
Then, we visited ISSAKO-SANNO-ROMAN_KAN, a museum ,well we got to see the artifacts of ancient japan.
Yup, then that’s all for the day… quite simple, spent most of our days in the bus, travelling….. while on the bus, we’re doing our presentation, but in my group, only one guy was doing it…. Which I felt was not fair, because the presentation was meant to be a group work, not individual stuff !!! so in the end, our presentation was filled with English grammatical errors, vocab errors , everything !!!!despite we had sec 3 english band 1 students in our group…. HECK LAR !!!!! btw,I am not that ‘guy’…..and to that guy, you know yourself well….
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
DAY 3
QWSS JAPAN TRIP 2007
I was enjoying my time in my ‘lala land’ when suddenly I felt someone tapping me.
When I opened my eyes, it was ALAN who did that. When I looked below, I saw TINGWEI AND DANIAL looking up, complaining “ HEY DEY, YOUR ALARM WENT OFF ALREADY AND STILL YOU CAN’T WAKE UP...INSTEAD, WE’RE THE ONE WHO WAKE UP FIRST…”
Lolz , yup it was true, I set my handphone alarm clock the night before, an hour and a half before the time whereby we were supposed to report for our breakfast; 6.45AM. Then, DANIAL,TINGWEI AND I put on our yukata and proceeded down to the onsen. Along the way, I managed to greet everyone that I walked passed, including the receptionist guy& gal and the complete strangers…
“OHAYO GOZAIMAS” ,I said, while bowing at the same time.
Soon, we reached the bathing area and *censored* reason: ‘lightsabres….’
After a comfortable onsen-ing, we proceeded up to our room to change to our usual clothing and headed down straight to the Restaurant… mmm…yummy…ITADAKIMASU!!! our breakfast was specially prepared for us, and there’re sashimi,unfamiliar foods and a bucket full of rice…….
breakfast !!!!
Then, after a delicious meal, mr Gary Tan instructed us to put on our Jeans as we’re going to do river studies deep inside the forest. When we went back to our respective room, we found out that our futon*(Japanese mattress) had been cleared, and everything inside the room had been tidied up…[room service]WOW, Japanese are surely very responsible people...not mentioning, I left my handphone on the the table, and it was left untouched…..(in other country, most probably it would have disappeared). Then, I wondered whether to bring my slippers along or not.. but, later after a grave debate up in my head, I decided not to…and I just wore my track shoes,put on my backpack and proceeded out…
When we gathered at the hotel lobby, the hotel staff passed us a plastic bag full of sandwiches and an orange drink[ QOO] The moment I walked out of the hotel, brrrrzzz its very cooling sensation, the breeze was very refreshing….
First time seeing real snow in my life !!!!
Our bus driver was indeed a very nice and friendly guy, the moment we got up the bus, he kept greeting us “ GUDU MORNING” and I just smiling and greeted him back. Soon we set off to the river.Along the way when I took out my handphone, I was surprised “ BATTERY CELL, 1 bar…” despite I charged it the night before. Soon, the battery flatted… sianz….
When the bus stopped , all of us alighted with our backpack and followed the gently sloping path that led us to the river… it was quite a rough path I would say, the ground were uneven, luckily that day it did not rain, else we would be walking on the puddle of mud…After a laborious work, finally we managed to discern the river from a distance and we impatient to get there… when it was just a stone throw away,
we were paused for a while as we need to cross a small river, whereby there were no proper path, only uneven small stones and the river flowing… however, we managed to cross it, by stepping on the stone one after another.
The river was very beautiful, the stream of water flowing continuously, the green surroundings and the sound of birds chirping we felt like we’re transported into the other world…. Yup it was completely different from our daily urban experience. Despite my hometown was in Developing country, whereby the scenes of natural areas were common in the suburb areas, I was still amazed my this scene as it was completely different experience….
We began to start work, after the briefing by the teachers and the distribution of the Geography equipment… My group; DANIAL,TINGWEI,XIAODAN,SHAHENA,AISYAH,AND I was selected to be the first to do the measuring of the gradient,whereby we had to use a tool called the ‘leveler’ to measure the difference in height and a 20centimetre ruler. At first, I just let Danial and TINGWEI to went in, as they did brought along their sandals… and they claimed the the water was freezing cold… lolz …so it was true that earlier, mr TAN went into the river and quickly came out as it was cold…
So, up and dry, I assisted XIAO DAN,AISYAH AND SHAHEENA to record down their reading. However, after a while, they still could not come out with a reading and Mr tan told us to send in another member… So, since I’m the only guy who’s dry, and it is impossible for XiaoDan to get down into the river as she was carrying the laptop,Shaheena and Aisyah, were helping Xiaodan, so I volunteered myself… Indeed, the water was freezing cold, and I almost lost my balance as the river current was quite strong…. Soon, we began to take the reading… Then, we were told to measure the depth of the river by holding a measuring tape across the river and one guy in the middle, which was me, holding a stick and a measuring tape to measure the depth of the river every 20cm in order to achieve accurate reading….yeah its quite an experience….soon after river cross-sectional area measurement, we proceeded to the speed of the current of the river and finally, the nature studies, whereby we had to snap a few shots of the plants and describe about them… its quite hard for us, as most of the topic we’re covering for the river would be the Pure Geography syllabus….
Then finally lunch came….mmmm yummy, we ate our sandwiches, funny thing is that one of the sandwiches contain mashed potatoes…. Mr tan said;” Bread, contain glucose already…. Then add another source of glucose; MASHED POTATO….lolz it was the funniest joke at that time…. Well, during our lunch, we could see the QOO bottles floating in the water, yup all of us purposely put them there, because the water was very cold and it will sort of ‘cool’ our drink.
After lunch, we snapped our group photo and we made our way back to the bus…. We had to hike the gently sloping ground,yeah its quite tiring…
group photos
After the tiring river studies, we returned to the hotel to change our clothes, as most us were wet… well at the hotel, we were given 30mins to rest and changed… in our room(guys) we played card games…and watched POKEMON on the television…Soon the time’s up and we gathered at the hotel lobby…. Our next destination was the town of KURIKOMA,
Please watch the beta 1 video made by me; giving you a virtual view of kurikoma town
its quite an experience for us, because this time, we’re allowed to roam around the town freely…. Only to meet when the sun was going to set…. Well,first we alighted at the BRANCH OFFICE OF KURIHARA , SOME SORT OF TOWN CENTRE…..equipped only with a Japanese language map of the whole town, we set off…..our objective was to identify the reason for the town growth, in other words, the reason for the development of the town…..
FLOWERS THAT BLOOM in early summer
Actually it was quite hard at first, as we had a different opinion…one group member stressed on to go that way, while when the others were still discussing.In the end, we finally could come down to an agreement…. We walked around the town, found out that the reason for the town is because of the cross sign…
and many more.......
Are they Churches? Nope, they are not….they’re pharmacies… in other words, the town grew because of the good health facilities…. Lolz….By the way, I also wonder how the pharmacist will survive, as if there’re lots of pharmacies, isn’t that they will find it hard to make a living? I mean you know, if one shop sell the medicine cheaper than the others, that stall will be occupied with customers right???
Then, we even encountered such an odd vending machine, the battery-vending machine….. Battery !!! can you imagine that????
Hahaz, looks like we brought along our ‘southeast Asian bad habit’ , which was….. Jay-walking on the road….somemore, we jay-walked in front of the police station, right in front of the policeman’s eyes, who was standing in front of his post….. cool right???? Luckily we were only being adviced not to do that again…..he even know that we’re from Singapore and surprisingly, HE’S ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH !!!!, [by the way, something to add on; I’m very impressed to see the policeman, clad in his smart uniform standing still infront of his post…. Which other country’s policemen would be able to do such thing???? Standing for few hours with hands on his back…. I bet other country’s policemen would have either brought along chair to sit or wander to other places to satisfy his ‘want’] such an honorable thing, the Japanese……
Oh ya, along our way round the town, we often walked pass other group…. We’d just say hi to them as we walked pass each other…. Haha then, after sometime, we met Mr Gary Tan and Ms Annie Tan…. They recommend us to visit a Café called “TIMES CAFÉ”,
which sells cakes and beverages.They also say that their cake tasted good and at an affordable price….so, after getting a rough location of where the café is, we headed to search for the café….. Yup after much hard work, we found it…. The café was actually quite small, with a big table and a few small tables…. Surprisingly, we saw the teachers; MR JUSTIN, MS LEONG, MR RONNIE TAN(our guide), even MR GARY TAN and MS ANNIE TAN had overtook us despite we just met a few moments ago…
Instead of sitting down and eat, A few members from my group had decided to continue roaming the town, while some wanted to eat the cake… so in the end its 50:50 The group members that are going to continue the roaming of town were only left; TINGWEI, XIAODAN AND ME…. Well its quite harder as our manpower had decreased, but still at least we managed to obtain some information…..
Soon the Sun was on its way towards the western horizon and we’re making our way back to the rendezvous area….Along the way , I finally managed to see JAPANESE YOUNG GIRLS IN KURIKOMA…..they were cycling as well…..yeah !!!! finally…… (YUP IT’S TRUE THAT I ‘OOGLE’ AT YOUNG JAPANESE GIRLS)
This is the proof:
CHIOBU !!!!
.
queensway teacher.... walking down the street
MR & MS TAN
(WHOOPS !!! i'm not the one taking this pics)
This is because in that town, town of KURIKOMA, majority of them are the elderly….. the young ones had gone into the city to look for jobs -> sad =(
Oh ya one thing about the town of Kurikoma that I wish to treasure will be that; the policeman in that town always carry out their patrol…. I managed to see one,But this policeman was handicapped, yet he still did his patrolling duty on his wheelchair… I was really touched by that, because even though he know that he’s handicapped, yet he still did not want to abandon his duty….a very responsible and honorable person……
That night was our very first presentation for this trip…. It was quite well done for my group and during the presentation, the 4 teachers (two of them are HOD )….[3 OF THEM ARE ENGLISH TEACHERS,TEACHING THE SEC 4 ENGLISH BANDS] were paying very close attention to our contents and the English language that we’re using….. so the presentation for this trip is much harder, as you need to focus on both content and the language usage…….
Well I quite pity the sec 2, because they did not know what’s going on as this trip is targeted actually for the upper sec, so as to help to give them information…..So in the end, they had to re-do the whole slide…..
After a very tiring presentation, around 11.25pm, we’re allowed to take a bath….. light’s out at 12.30pm…… yup went to bath and ONSEN-ing ~~~~
After that, went back to room and sleep, what a very tiring day…..
QWSS JAPAN TRIP 2007
I was enjoying my time in my ‘lala land’ when suddenly I felt someone tapping me.
When I opened my eyes, it was ALAN who did that. When I looked below, I saw TINGWEI AND DANIAL looking up, complaining “ HEY DEY, YOUR ALARM WENT OFF ALREADY AND STILL YOU CAN’T WAKE UP...INSTEAD, WE’RE THE ONE WHO WAKE UP FIRST…”
Lolz , yup it was true, I set my handphone alarm clock the night before, an hour and a half before the time whereby we were supposed to report for our breakfast; 6.45AM. Then, DANIAL,TINGWEI AND I put on our yukata and proceeded down to the onsen. Along the way, I managed to greet everyone that I walked passed, including the receptionist guy& gal and the complete strangers…
“OHAYO GOZAIMAS” ,I said, while bowing at the same time.
Soon, we reached the bathing area and *censored* reason: ‘lightsabres….’
After a comfortable onsen-ing, we proceeded up to our room to change to our usual clothing and headed down straight to the Restaurant… mmm…yummy…ITADAKIMASU!!! our breakfast was specially prepared for us, and there’re sashimi,unfamiliar foods and a bucket full of rice…….
breakfast !!!!
Then, after a delicious meal, mr Gary Tan instructed us to put on our Jeans as we’re going to do river studies deep inside the forest. When we went back to our respective room, we found out that our futon*(Japanese mattress) had been cleared, and everything inside the room had been tidied up…[room service]WOW, Japanese are surely very responsible people...not mentioning, I left my handphone on the the table, and it was left untouched…..(in other country, most probably it would have disappeared). Then, I wondered whether to bring my slippers along or not.. but, later after a grave debate up in my head, I decided not to…and I just wore my track shoes,put on my backpack and proceeded out…
When we gathered at the hotel lobby, the hotel staff passed us a plastic bag full of sandwiches and an orange drink[ QOO] The moment I walked out of the hotel, brrrrzzz its very cooling sensation, the breeze was very refreshing….
First time seeing real snow in my life !!!!
Our bus driver was indeed a very nice and friendly guy, the moment we got up the bus, he kept greeting us “ GUDU MORNING” and I just smiling and greeted him back. Soon we set off to the river.Along the way when I took out my handphone, I was surprised “ BATTERY CELL, 1 bar…” despite I charged it the night before. Soon, the battery flatted… sianz….
When the bus stopped , all of us alighted with our backpack and followed the gently sloping path that led us to the river… it was quite a rough path I would say, the ground were uneven, luckily that day it did not rain, else we would be walking on the puddle of mud…After a laborious work, finally we managed to discern the river from a distance and we impatient to get there… when it was just a stone throw away,
we were paused for a while as we need to cross a small river, whereby there were no proper path, only uneven small stones and the river flowing… however, we managed to cross it, by stepping on the stone one after another.
The river was very beautiful, the stream of water flowing continuously, the green surroundings and the sound of birds chirping we felt like we’re transported into the other world…. Yup it was completely different from our daily urban experience. Despite my hometown was in Developing country, whereby the scenes of natural areas were common in the suburb areas, I was still amazed my this scene as it was completely different experience….
We began to start work, after the briefing by the teachers and the distribution of the Geography equipment… My group; DANIAL,TINGWEI,XIAODAN,SHAHENA,AISYAH,AND I was selected to be the first to do the measuring of the gradient,whereby we had to use a tool called the ‘leveler’ to measure the difference in height and a 20centimetre ruler. At first, I just let Danial and TINGWEI to went in, as they did brought along their sandals… and they claimed the the water was freezing cold… lolz …so it was true that earlier, mr TAN went into the river and quickly came out as it was cold…
So, up and dry, I assisted XIAO DAN,AISYAH AND SHAHEENA to record down their reading. However, after a while, they still could not come out with a reading and Mr tan told us to send in another member… So, since I’m the only guy who’s dry, and it is impossible for XiaoDan to get down into the river as she was carrying the laptop,Shaheena and Aisyah, were helping Xiaodan, so I volunteered myself… Indeed, the water was freezing cold, and I almost lost my balance as the river current was quite strong…. Soon, we began to take the reading… Then, we were told to measure the depth of the river by holding a measuring tape across the river and one guy in the middle, which was me, holding a stick and a measuring tape to measure the depth of the river every 20cm in order to achieve accurate reading….yeah its quite an experience….soon after river cross-sectional area measurement, we proceeded to the speed of the current of the river and finally, the nature studies, whereby we had to snap a few shots of the plants and describe about them… its quite hard for us, as most of the topic we’re covering for the river would be the Pure Geography syllabus….
Then finally lunch came….mmmm yummy, we ate our sandwiches, funny thing is that one of the sandwiches contain mashed potatoes…. Mr tan said;” Bread, contain glucose already…. Then add another source of glucose; MASHED POTATO….lolz it was the funniest joke at that time…. Well, during our lunch, we could see the QOO bottles floating in the water, yup all of us purposely put them there, because the water was very cold and it will sort of ‘cool’ our drink.
After lunch, we snapped our group photo and we made our way back to the bus…. We had to hike the gently sloping ground,yeah its quite tiring…
group photos
After the tiring river studies, we returned to the hotel to change our clothes, as most us were wet… well at the hotel, we were given 30mins to rest and changed… in our room(guys) we played card games…and watched POKEMON on the television…Soon the time’s up and we gathered at the hotel lobby…. Our next destination was the town of KURIKOMA,
Please watch the beta 1 video made by me; giving you a virtual view of kurikoma town
its quite an experience for us, because this time, we’re allowed to roam around the town freely…. Only to meet when the sun was going to set…. Well,first we alighted at the BRANCH OFFICE OF KURIHARA , SOME SORT OF TOWN CENTRE…..equipped only with a Japanese language map of the whole town, we set off…..our objective was to identify the reason for the town growth, in other words, the reason for the development of the town…..
FLOWERS THAT BLOOM in early summer
Actually it was quite hard at first, as we had a different opinion…one group member stressed on to go that way, while when the others were still discussing.In the end, we finally could come down to an agreement…. We walked around the town, found out that the reason for the town is because of the cross sign…
and many more.......
Are they Churches? Nope, they are not….they’re pharmacies… in other words, the town grew because of the good health facilities…. Lolz….By the way, I also wonder how the pharmacist will survive, as if there’re lots of pharmacies, isn’t that they will find it hard to make a living? I mean you know, if one shop sell the medicine cheaper than the others, that stall will be occupied with customers right???
Then, we even encountered such an odd vending machine, the battery-vending machine….. Battery !!! can you imagine that????
Hahaz, looks like we brought along our ‘southeast Asian bad habit’ , which was….. Jay-walking on the road….somemore, we jay-walked in front of the police station, right in front of the policeman’s eyes, who was standing in front of his post….. cool right???? Luckily we were only being adviced not to do that again…..he even know that we’re from Singapore and surprisingly, HE’S ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH !!!!, [by the way, something to add on; I’m very impressed to see the policeman, clad in his smart uniform standing still infront of his post…. Which other country’s policemen would be able to do such thing???? Standing for few hours with hands on his back…. I bet other country’s policemen would have either brought along chair to sit or wander to other places to satisfy his ‘want’] such an honorable thing, the Japanese……
Oh ya, along our way round the town, we often walked pass other group…. We’d just say hi to them as we walked pass each other…. Haha then, after sometime, we met Mr Gary Tan and Ms Annie Tan…. They recommend us to visit a Café called “TIMES CAFÉ”,
which sells cakes and beverages.They also say that their cake tasted good and at an affordable price….so, after getting a rough location of where the café is, we headed to search for the café….. Yup after much hard work, we found it…. The café was actually quite small, with a big table and a few small tables…. Surprisingly, we saw the teachers; MR JUSTIN, MS LEONG, MR RONNIE TAN(our guide), even MR GARY TAN and MS ANNIE TAN had overtook us despite we just met a few moments ago…
Instead of sitting down and eat, A few members from my group had decided to continue roaming the town, while some wanted to eat the cake… so in the end its 50:50 The group members that are going to continue the roaming of town were only left; TINGWEI, XIAODAN AND ME…. Well its quite harder as our manpower had decreased, but still at least we managed to obtain some information…..
Soon the Sun was on its way towards the western horizon and we’re making our way back to the rendezvous area….Along the way , I finally managed to see JAPANESE YOUNG GIRLS IN KURIKOMA…..they were cycling as well…..yeah !!!! finally…… (YUP IT’S TRUE THAT I ‘OOGLE’ AT YOUNG JAPANESE GIRLS)
This is the proof:
CHIOBU !!!!
.
queensway teacher.... walking down the street
MR & MS TAN
(WHOOPS !!! i'm not the one taking this pics)
This is because in that town, town of KURIKOMA, majority of them are the elderly….. the young ones had gone into the city to look for jobs -> sad =(
Oh ya one thing about the town of Kurikoma that I wish to treasure will be that; the policeman in that town always carry out their patrol…. I managed to see one,But this policeman was handicapped, yet he still did his patrolling duty on his wheelchair… I was really touched by that, because even though he know that he’s handicapped, yet he still did not want to abandon his duty….a very responsible and honorable person……
That night was our very first presentation for this trip…. It was quite well done for my group and during the presentation, the 4 teachers (two of them are HOD )….[3 OF THEM ARE ENGLISH TEACHERS,TEACHING THE SEC 4 ENGLISH BANDS] were paying very close attention to our contents and the English language that we’re using….. so the presentation for this trip is much harder, as you need to focus on both content and the language usage…….
Well I quite pity the sec 2, because they did not know what’s going on as this trip is targeted actually for the upper sec, so as to help to give them information…..So in the end, they had to re-do the whole slide…..
After a very tiring presentation, around 11.25pm, we’re allowed to take a bath….. light’s out at 12.30pm…… yup went to bath and ONSEN-ing ~~~~
After that, went back to room and sleep, what a very tiring day…..
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