January 2007 Archives

My Japanese Blog

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My blog in Japanese for my LAJ3201 project. :D

http://jiahui.blog89.fc2.com/

Pictures~

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Havent been updating lately because of the freaking hectic schedule I have. I'm basically not available from Monday all the way to Sunday. In other words, I am seriously very busy and I really hate my school timetable. I have classes like from 10am to 5pm on one day and from 8am to 4pm on another. OMG, can die ~! Anyway, here's yet another photo blog.:D


Went to Fish & Co with my sister before she went back to Canada. Ordered baked salmon and it was seriously delicious. In addition, the serving was rather generous:D


Besides the baked salmon, we also ordered the Seafood Platter for Two. Ok, I know it's a little too much food for three people(my mum, sister and me) but whatever, who ever said that you have to finish eating whatever you order? We da-baoed the leftovers for my father to eat as dinner. Hee :D


Since the Arts canteen is closed for renovations up till July(omg...so long!), NUS has actually set up a few food stalls around the Arts Faculty so as to allow us hungry students to have a place to eat after lectures, or probably during lectures. Haha. So one of the makeshift food stalls is the one situated in the...can you believe it...carpark! The carpark outside LT 11 is now officially a pasar malam so that's one carpark lesser. This's the chicken rice I ate the other day. What a generous helping....of rice! Like I need so much rice like that when there's so little ingredients...Wasted my $2.50. Heard from Fiona that the Tech canteen sells rice+egg+chicken+vegetables++++ for only $2.80! I feel so cheated.


Mango pudding that only costs a wee $0.70! The pudding's nice but it was too sweet that I didnt even manage to eat more than half of it. Then again, it's worth the money if you share between two people. :D


Watched 'Yotsuya Kaidan' for my Japanese homework. It's some old Japanese samurai ghost film and look at the box the tape was placed in...the box cover is full of pictures of ang-mohs...-_-


Yup, dont bother blinking your eyes. What you see is what it is! This is a picture of well...animal shit...that I took in the supermarket near my place. OMG, isnt it like so disgusting to find manure in supermarkets where food is being sold?! Somemore the shit was like next to all the frozen food. Eew.

Anyway, that's all for today. Will update when the things I ordered arrive. Hee...*secretive*

P.S: Does anyone know how to make a phonecall from Singapore to Japan? I wanted to call my host family but I dont know how...Email me at mikayo@gmail.com if you know how k :D

Food and food galore

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Went out with Li Ming last Saturday. Ate at the Sun Moon restaurant in Wheelock. OMG, look at the amount of food in this Komachi bento!


My X'mas present from Li Ming!


Met up with Donna who just came back from her L.A. holiday! My sister was the cameraman!


Ordered Omu rice from the Bento Box at Jurongpoint. The people there were like seriously grumpy. What's their problem?! We are like customers...shouldnt they at least force a smile?


Pizza~! The last time I ate pizza there with Shermaine and Swee Hong, it was super duper good. However, this time, the pizza was like soaked in oil...-_- I'm starting to think that the staff there hates us.


The mochi and dango set I bought from Japan. Looks good, doesnt it?

School officially starts tomorrow...grr...I hate it!!! I'm seriously pissed off with the CORS thingy. Will blog about why in my next post.

Todaiji! Like Miyajima, there were lots of deer there!


Took photos of deer poo-poo once again! The deer poo in Todaiji is different from the ones in Miyajima. The deer poo here are bigger. Haha.


The Buddha statue in Todaiji. JS1101E revision...


If you manage to squeeze through this hole, you'll be blessed. Got my fortune told again and once again, it was a good reading:D Bought lots of omamori there.


Osaka Universal Studios Japan! It was a weekday so it wasnt as crowded as Disneyland was. :D


Took the Snoopy Ride called Stunt Slide. Not exactly thrilling but it was fun. Next, we took the Jaws ride. The ride was kind of cute.


Jurassic Park ride. We were slided down from a height of 25m! Woo...scary! Reminded me of Haw Par Villa! Didnt buy the raincoats because I was too cheapo to do so...so in the end, I was drenched from head to toe...However, it was fun!!!


Ate at Snoppy Land. Serving size's small because it's supposed to be for little children...I think. Anyway, the food was really really good but expensive. There was a heater there so I basically sat there till I was about 90% dry.


On our way to the next ride, we saw Hello Kitty performing.


Terminator2:3D. Dont I look cool? :P Like real...This game would be really boring if one doesnt understand Japanese.


Last ride was Spiderman. We waited for more than 1 hour for this ride k! We queued from room to room and to more rooms and finally, we got to take the ride. Luckily, the game did not disappoint us. A wait worthwhile:D


Pretty~!

Dinner was yakiniku buffet again. However, there wasnt much choices this time round.


Stayed at the ANA hotel. The receptionist was really really helpful. I was trying to use the internet and wanted to type '\' so as to be able to log into NUS. However, no matter what button I pressed, I just couldnt do it. The guy tried lots of methods like typing, checking books and calling for help. Although he failed in the end, he was really quite helpful. I really like Japan's service level :D

So this ends my 2nd trip to Japan. More photos can be found in the Gallery.

Woke up early to go and see a kimono fashion show.


The models paraded around in kimonos from the Heian period to the Heisei period. The kimonos were like sooooo pretty! However, the show only lasted for a mere 15minutes. Wished that it was a little longer...


After the kimono show, we went to eat lunch. Lunch was Chinese food....-_-. Somemore there was a dish that's basically just tau-gay(beansprouts) cooked in sauce...Hello...tau-gay? I mean, I like eating tau-gay but I just dont think it's very nice serving people tau-gay as a main dish in restaurants. Anyway, it was raining that day so I got to be Red Riding Hood :P! Went to the Heian Jinguu.


The marriage stone at Kiyomizu Temple.


The Japanese God of Fortune.

Dinner was Chinese food...again! Ya, and there was tau-gay again. Ate dinner in a hurry because I wanted to shop at Shinbaishi. Bought WaT CDs, books again and went to the Hello Kitty shop! :D

Went to Mt. Fuji.


Drove up all the way to the fifth station. Didnt see any snow at all!!! Noo, why am I so unlucky? I've never seen snow in my whole life...:( Anyways, as it was Christmas, I gave my host family a call:D


Ate Chanko Nabe for lunch.


OMFG...look at the amount of meat inside the pot!


After lunch, we went to Oowakudani where we climbed a flight of steps. I dont mind running 2.4km for 5 times but I cant stand walking up a vertical flight of stairs. It's just too tiring for me. The sulphur smell there was just overpowering.


Ate this black egg there. It's said that one can prolong his life by 7 years if one eats this egg and by 14 years if one eats two. The eggs were kinda expensive. 6 for 500yen but I managed to find a family of 5 to share with me so I ended up paying nothing for my egg:D


Went on the pirate ship next.


Took a photo of the ship crew. They look nothing like Pirates of the Caribbean.:P


Took this 'Wanted' poster on 13 December when I was in Hiroshima.


Took this 'Wanted' poster on 25 December. Looks like they caught one suspect!

Boarded the Shinkansen to Toyohashi and ate yakiniku buffet there. Yummy~! Lots of selection there!

Went to visit the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum. Man, it would be the most interesting museum I ever went to. Instead of boring and lifeless exhibits, they actually transformed the place to that actual period! Cool:D


I caught the 'policeman' stealing!!! Haha, this guy auto-posed for this photo.


It was X'mas Eve that day so ya, Santa and Rudolph went too! Never knew that Santa and Rudolph had a love for ramen too.


'No Urinating. This is not a public toilet.' They modelled the place after a particular era...right down to the graffiti.


Stayed in a traditional Japanese room at Seigaku Hotel.


Had a spread for dinner! Freaking delicious but it was a little too much for dinner. Then again, who's complaining?


Took a photo with the cute old lady who served us.


After dinner, we returned to the room, changed into yukatas and started taking photos!


:)


Took this photo in the wardrobe. The wardrobe's a seriously comfortable place to sleep in. However, it kind of looked like the wardrobe in Ju-on. There's even a hole at the top of it. There were some weird noises in the bathroom whenever we switched on the heater so I spent like an hour or so deciding whether or not to bathe.


~~!


Merry Xmas~!


Breakfast was udon. Dont really fancy udon but cant deny that it was good.


Went to Asakusa.


Got my fortune told there and I got a good reading:D


Bought lots of Koike Teppei stuff from this idol shop at Asakusa.


Cute shop name.


Tokyo Tower:D Didnt really go up the tower or enter the building. All we did was just stand at the carpark and take photos. How unromantic...


Had a Chinese buffet lunch at a restaurant near Tokyo Bay.


After lunch, I watched this monkey perform tricks outside the restaurant. OMG, the mokey was just too cute for words. Too bad I couldnt finish watching the show:(


Next, we went to Yokohama Chinatown. Really busy street and it was packed with people. It had a total different feel from Singapore's Chinatown.


Ate a mooncake at there. Quite weird eating mooncakes in December. Hee.

Considering that the briefing for the Japan trip took place when I was still in Hiroshima, it was my first time seeing my tour guide and tour group on 22/12/06. My tour guide's well versed in Japanese, or so I heard, but she's really B.L.U.R. She gave us a flimsy sheet of paper and told us that it was our boarding pass. When the lady at the check-in counter said that it wasnt and that she had to collect it, my tour guide said...

Tour Guide : Need to collect one ar?

OMG, how freaking blur was that? Plus, her luggage broke at the check-in counter...My father was like laughing his head off at her at Changi Airport. Anyway, let's move on to my travelog.


Got onboard the airplane on 22/12/06, reached Japan's Narita Airport on the 23rd. Just right after the plane touched down, with no time to wash my face at all(we took the overnight flight), we were brought to Tokyo Disneyland. In addition to that, it was a freaking Saturday for goodness sake! So ya, the place was packed with hordes of people.


I'm someone who really hate crowds, unless it's crowds at the shopping mall. So, I wasnt really interested in doing anything at all in Disneyland. Yes, you can call me crazy or stupid or whatever, but I just wasnt interested in squeeezing my way through queues of people with bunny ears.


Ate at this place in Disneyland called Plaza Restaurant. Ordered the seafood gratin. As usual, nothing's cheap in Japan but the taste of the food was just out of this world. It was scrumptious! I really wanted a second helping but decided against it after looking at the snaking queue in front of the counter.


As I was really bored in Disneyland, my cousin and I left the place and went to this sort-of shopping mall called 'IKSPIARI'. Wonder what it means...There was 'Maruzen' in there so I went books and magazines shopping. Seriously, I see 'Maruzen' all over Japan, or rather, all the places that I went to. Haha.


After shopping, we ate anmitsu. The anmitsu was like so so so different from Singapore's. Different in the sense that it's 100x more delicious.


Returned to Disneyland to watch the fireworks at 8.20pm. Initially, we were supposed to leave at 6pm but since almost all the families with kids, which is like 90% of the tour group, wanted to watch the fireworks, we stayed back. Ok, I dont know how to put this but my first impression of the fireworks was...'Normal'. It's basically just watching normal fireworks...

So ya, that ended my first day in Tokyo.

Went out with Miyoshi-san today. Kashitani-san from Hiroshima Keizai Daigaku drove us around. Firstly, we went to Okonomimura. There were like soooo many Okonomiyaki shops there!


Ate seafood okonomiyaki at Goemon. Wasnt really familiar with how to eat okonomiyaki so I took the longest time to finish my food but it was seriously sedap!


Next, we went to the Hiroshima Keizai Daigaku. Talked to the students there too. The students there are like freaking nice people~!


The cafe run by the students!


Breathtaking view from the university.


At Mitakidera, a very quiet place. Great for relaxing.


Ate warabi-mochi and many other stuff. The warabi-mochi was a bit cold but nevertheless, it was good~!


Church in Hiroshima.


Me outside Hiroshima Castle. Didnt went inside though. Kind of wasted but whatever, I can always go there if I ever have the chance to go to Hiroshima again:D

I really enjoyed the Homestay there. The people there were exceptionally kind, helpful and honest! Especially my host family...Shinkawa family. I will definitely miss everyone:D


The dog figurine Obaachan gave me. There was also a necklace inside :D I almost wanted to cry when she gave me it :D

As usual, other photos can be found in the Gallery. Will blog about the 2nd Japan trip I went to a while later:D

Took JR from Kyoto to Kobe to see the Kobe Luminarie. Freaking crowded!


Waited for about 2 hours. There were like 622,000 people there that day...OMG @_@!


As there were too many people, after taking like a few miserable steps, there would be this 'STOP' sign coming out every now and then.


Finally...some lighting!


Okaasan and Obaachan.


After a few more steps, finally...we got to see Luminarie!! The 2 hours we spent waiting was like totally worth it! The theme for this year was 'Sora to Miwaku'. ~L'Incanto del cielo~


There were also small stalls along the way. Looked a bit like pasar malam. Hee.


Took the Shinkansen back and ate Ekiben~!


Everyone bought different kinds of ekibens.


Yummlicious~!


We walked like for one whole day so everyone was like tired and slept on the Shinkansen. However, luckily we didnt miss our stop as we were seated in the silent car compartment.

I really had fun in Kyoto and Kobe. Thanks to my Okaasan and Obaachan~~!

Free time with host family so we went to Kyoto! Had sandwich for breakfast on the Shinkansen. Their sandwiches had so many different flavours. They had egg, meat, tomato and so on. Yummy~!


Took a photo of the Shinkansen ticket guy.


Booked a taxi for the day. First stop was Kinkakuji. It was like a JS1101E revision tour but better because I got to see the real thing, instead of textbook pictures.


Had Kushi-age for lunch. First up was oden.


Kushi-age! Dip these into a pot of white sauce...


...then fry it in this pot filled with oil.


Done! Damn delicious.


Last was Shiratama dessert. Loves it!


Met a maiko-san outside the shop we ate at.


Took a picture along our way to Ryoanji because the scenery was just too pretty.


At Ryoanji's stone garden! Ya...JS1101E again:P


Ware tada taru wo shiru. I am satisfied with what I have.


Also went to Unryuuin.


Inside Unryuuin was Reimeian, where they had like tablets of few of the past emperors.


Drank matcha in this Japanese tatami room that was surrounded by nature.


Matcha!



Went to Miyajima today:D Took JR from Hiroshima station to Miyaguchi Station then proceeded to take a boat to Miyajima.


There were like so many deer in Miyajima!


So when there are lots of deer...there would also be lots of deer poo-poo :P The deer at Miyajima eat almost everything! Tissue paper, paper and even scarfs!!


Damn pretty.


Ate at the Shinkin Bank Miyajima branch. The bento they prepared for us was like freaking good but however, we had to pay 500 yen for it...So stingy!!!


After lunch, we were dismissed from Miyajima so we went shopping for Miyajima's speciality...Momiji Manjuu. The auntie of this shop was freaking nice. There were six of us standing there and she opened six packets of Momiji manjuu for us to try. She even asked if we wanted to try other flavours! In Singapore, the auntie will like divide one into six itsy-bitsy portions and offer us...See the difference in service level!!! Remember to buy from this shop if you ever go there. The auntie there kept rounding DOWN the prices...so good!


After Miyajima, I met my Okaasan at Hiroshima station and went shopping for books. These are the books she bought for me.


And...she also bought for me the whole Death Note comic series. OMG!!! Thank you sooo much! After shopping, we went for a cup of coffee before returning home.


Dinner was Sukiyaki! I finally know the right way of eating Sukiyaki...have been eating it the wrong way all along. Haha.


Took a photo of the Hiroden guy. :D


Went to the Hiroshima University today. After we got off the bus, we had to walk like a freaking long distance before we reached the university building. Can't imagine if someone was late for lecture...


Ate Chap Chae in the university. Weird...eating Korean food in Japan. Haha.


Took a tour around their Art Faculty. Their artwork were like seriously realistic and good.


Next, we had a English Debate Class.


Discussed about whether women should work after they get married. Reminded me of JS2228...-_-but it was kinda fun.


Next class was like Southeast Asian studies. Sounded boring but when we reached the class, we realised that there was no class but instead, we played games with the students! In addition, my group won! Yee haa~!


Had sushi at home for dinner...freaking good!



Met Farisa, Janice and Grace at Kamiyacho-nishi station to collect our night bus tickets. We were supposed to collect our tickets from JTB and so the first JTB building we saw, we went it. However, there were like 2 JTB buildings side by side and we ended up walking into the wrong one...


Ate lunch at Macdonalds. Woo...they have Ebi-Filet-O there! Haha, yummy :D Besides this, there was also hot cocoa. Damn shiok drinking it!!


Yummy~!


Went to visit the place where they manufacture newspapers called Chuupii Club. The logo's like damn freaking cute!


Was introduced to the process of printing newspapers. Everything was like automatic till the last part where they needed people to send newspapers to the various vendors. So high-tech seriously. I wonder how Singapore prints newspapers...


Freaking heavy stack of newspapers.


Delivery game:D


Dinner was held at RIGHA ROYAL HOTEL again. However this time, we had to perform. Did a short introduction on NUS and the various races in Singapore.


Watched Kagura.


Took a photo with the Ambassador of Singapore to Japan and the President of the Hiroshima-Singapore Association.


Miyoshi-san, Midori-san, Obaachan, Me, Okaasan


Delicious and healthy breakfast!


Went to the Hiroshima War Memorial Park today.


Lots of clips and exhibitions related to the bombing of Hiroshima. Plus, there was also a replica of the dome that was bombed.


There was this Peace Post thing inside so ya, I posted a postcard back to Singapore! I posted it on Tuesday and it reached Singapore on Saturday. -_-

Had lunch at the employee canteen in the Shinkin Bank. 200 yen soba! So freaking cheap!


After lunch, we were supposed to have a meeting with the young managers/CEOs of Japan...who didnt look as young as I thought they would be:P Initially thought that the meeting would be like helluva boring because we were supposed to discuss about the economy. Like seriously lo, Economics is one of my most hated subject after Physics. However, turned out that it was quite interesting. Probably because we talked lots of crap that had absolutely nothing to do with the economy.Hee.

There was a dinner party at the RIHGA ROYAL HOTEL. They arranged us such that the NUS students would not be seated next to another fellow NUS student....-_- The man seated next to me was like super helpful. He kept taking food for every single lady at my table! Whoever said that Japanese men are MCPs? However, he was a little too enthusiastic that he kept piling up my plate with food!!! How to finish?! The sad thing was that I didnt have much stuff to talk to him and I ended up talking to the other man seated next to me...oops.
Took Thai Airways from Singapore on 10th December. Transited at Thailand and reached the Kansai Airport on 11th December.


Next, we took the JR Haruka and Shinkansen Hikari to Hiroshima.


At the Shinkansen station:D


My first meal in Hiroshima! Everyone bought a bento from the supermarket and ate near the fountain. Their supermarket is like a larger version of 7-Eleven! You get to heat up your food there! The bento was really delicious and there were lots of food in it. The best thing is that...it's freaking cheap! Only 390 yen. Yum~


After lunch, we went to the Madza Museum. I always thought that Mazda was some French brand or something...turned out that it's Japanese.(Matsuda)...
Saw lots of cool cars at the museum but since we like just got off the plane in the morning, everyone was feeling damn sleepy. I even managed to fall asleep for like 2 seconds while watching the video...somemore it's not only the students who were dozing off...Okada sensei dozed off too, in a more obvious way than us. Haha.


After that, we proceeded to the Hiroshima Shinkin Bank. Seriously, never believe the Japanese when they tell you that you only have to walk a short distance...because it's never ever short! They told us it was a 15-min walk but in reality, it was a 30-min walk...in winter somemore. How freaking cold that was! In addition to it, we were like so sleepy. Why couldnt they like charter a bus for us?!

However, along the way to the Shinkin Bank, there were lots of light-ups along the roads of Hiroshima so ya, it wasnt that bad.


Met up with the Shinkin Bank President. Next, we finally got to meet our host families:D My host family was Shinkawa.


After that, we went back home and had dinner. Dinner was like super duper delicious. We had something like curry stew. Following that, I went to shower, called my parents and went off to zzzz.

And this ends my first day in Hiroshima:D

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This page is an archive of entries from January 2007 listed from newest to oldest.

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