I'm very happy yesterday ! :)

2 years back on the exact same day, I had a stitch on my head. Now I can hardly feel the wound, a little dent perhaps. Time heals all wounds, indeed that's true.

It's nearing the end of the year again. Feel very blessed for the past 1 year. I have started to believe in something which I've once lost faith in. Thank you for crossing my path and don't u dare to change path. :)

Hadn't been blogging for a long long time. Quick update. I have recently changed job, though that doesn't give me the excuse of not blogging... In fact, I have a lot more free time on hand. That kind of makes me feel void many a times. Human beings are never satisfied with life, aren't they? In my previous job, I kept complaining that there's no work life balance, no time for myself. Now, too much time, n I'm still complaining. Was thinking of taking some paper qualifications. But the cost and the dreadful idea of having to study after work and during weekends is truly daunting.. So, I'm still contemplating. Slower pace is something I need to get used to, and come to terms that the previous working pace is definitely NOT normal! strangely another part of (irrational) me, missed the previous hectic life.

And one more thing, my insomnia is definitely due to work related stress. Now I have less problems with that. Although some days, I still hv problems sleeping due to other worries in my mind.

Oh well, I better start signing up for e papers, which I have to do so by end of e year..

Some auditors find no more consolation in Toil

I'm back! Everything seems to happen so fast, before I know it, the crazy peak is over; and before I know it again, I'm on the plane to Japan! And before I know it again, I'm back, and have since started a new engagement in the far away land.

Before my memory fails on me again, I'll blog down the bits & pieces of my Japan trip J

Day 1 (2^nd April) - Tokyo/ Ueno

After taking 7hrs of flight, here we are at the Narita Airport (just see our tired faces). Our accommodation is in Tokyo, Ueno. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to find the railway (Limited express) in the airport that bring us to bring us to the place. But going to the hotel (Oak Shin) is quite a nightmare, with the long flight of staircase to climb, and the 20min walk, with the companion of our heavy luggage, and not forgetting asking for directions every few minutes with the non-English speaking Japanese.

That's the first cherry blossom tree that we have our photo taken. We were pretty lucky to have gone during this time, where cherry blossom were in full bloom.

That's our first meal in Japan. Particularly like the hygiene of the Japanese. The machine below is for payment of the soba you've bought (it took us some time to figure out how it works though), and you are supposed to bring the payment ticket to the counter. This is so to prevent direct contact with monies when preparation of food. And after each meal, the customer themselves will clean the tables with the cloth provided at counter (!) and return the trays to the designated return area. How civilised, I bet that wouldn't happen in Singapore in even 10 years down the road.

First night, we just mainly walk around the Ueno park and area. They have pretty lots of vending machine, from selling drinks to selling cigarettes.

We noted that the Japanese are very obsessed with Packino (slot), some gambling arcade game. Big buildings of slots are everywhere in Japan. Each of them have buckets of steel balls and feeding into machine. It should be familiar for those who watched Jap dramas. We stayed there for quite some time, but did not see anyone who won anything (i.e the steel balls should come out from the machine and overflow the whole place).

Day 2 (3^rd April) - Tokyo/ Ueno park, Shinjuku, Harjuku, Shibuya

1^st night we had already gone to the Ueno park, loads of Cherry Blossom. But it was already dark yesterday, so we decided to go again the next morning before heading to the shopping areas.

The Japanese enjoyed sitting down eating their meals under the cherry blossoms. The whole of Ueno park is covered with blue mats and decorated with light pink cherry blossoms. Really pretty J

We're off to the shopping streets, which we're very excited about. But the conclusion we had, it's really not as fantastic as we thought. Maybe the items are ridiculously expensive, so we basically walk passed all the clothing boutiques. Our interest are mostly little trinkets, and pharmacies (!) yes, Pharamacies. Kose is really cheap there (and it's everywhere, even in 7/11), a bottle of 360ml Sekkisei cost only SGD 75, compared to SGD 120. Other products, such as ettusai, Shisedo and Fancl, really does not that have much significant variance as compared to Singapore. So basically, I just whack a few bottles of Sekkisei mainly.  

Of cos, being a vanity city, the stuffs there are simply pretty. Food are packaged so nicely. See the hello kitty bento kit and the rose cake (actually, I'm still wondering if that can be eaten, it cost like SGD 60 bucks!) and the flower looks so real.

I think the best part of the day is our dinner. Just look at how pretty is our self made Japanese pan cake at a restaurant! (The result is the output of the long observation from the other tables J) *beams*

Day 3 (4^th April) - Hakone
After a not too fantastic opinion of Tokyo (guess we've set our expectation too highL), we headed off to Hakone for a hot spring stay and supposedly a glimpse of the Mt Fuji.

Yeah, it's a pretty place (with loads of cherry blossom again), and we've tried all modes of transport (bus, cable-car, cruise, monorail) using one day pass of 5,900 Yen. Visited Lake Ashi. Sadly, that the weather that day was too cloudy and we couldn't catch Mt Fuji L.

We stayed at a very authentic hot spring hotel (just the thought of dragging our heavy luggage up the flimsy flight of stairs still make me sweat). We had our dinner there, but got some scolding from the Obasan cos we have spoilt the hot stove with our wrong cooking method (by pouring the black sauce directly onto the stove). But we just kept laughing non-stop, cos we have totally no idea what's she saying, presumely she's grumbling at us? Cos she took over the cooking to serve us instead. J

Then, we went an open air hot spring naked (!) Luckily there's only one other Caucasian ladythere; it was initially quite shiok to relax in a hot spring bath, until she told us that there seem to be someone peeping from the forest above us. That night I didn't sleep well at all!

Day 4 (5^th April) - Osaka

After a night stay at Hakone, we took a 2hr ride of the the Shinkasen (bullet train) to Osaka, again dragging with us the heavy luggages. Thankfully, this time round the hotel was pretty near the subway station.

Places explored: Kuromon-Ichiba market --> Den-Den Town --> Sennichimae Doyuga-suji (Shopping streets) --> Dotombori --> Shinsaibashi-suji

To our surprises, we actually found this place much more interesting. Found a big gundam building J Manga stores are huge! It's a pity that I don't understand the language. Oh, and we found legal hentai & porn shops. The gals in the manga have boobs like balloons. I wonder what kick do Japanese guys get from drawings?

Guess these hentai can't be posted on blog, cos they are simply too x-rated!

Found some cute looking food along the way. And that day we had Mac for Lunch. A Mac set lunch costed >10 SGD! Food are so expensive there..Oh, btw, Mac sells pork over there..

Day 5 (6^th April) - Osaka/ Universal Studio

Buddy is so excited about going to Universal studio J so here we were! That day we went was a weekday, but not sure why were there so many kids around, could be a public holiday? Some rides take like 2hrs to Q! So you can either buy express ticket, so that you can jump Q (I think that's descriminating!) or opt for singles. I.e. your fren & urself have to take rides separately. But, a 2hr wait can be cut down to a 10 min wait, of cos we opt for that. And usually buddy is just behind me.

Anyways! the rides are simply amazing. The Spiderman & ET rides, where they put you in the shoes of the victim (for spiderman ride)/ or the boy (in ET ride) and let u encounter the scenes like the character in the movie. The 4D movie show, where u can feel the water splashing on you, the images popping out from screen with the 3D specs. Really Amazing! really got to try it for yourself.. I'm bad with description. L At night time, there's musical parade, which is similar to those seen in Korea.  Some pictures taken (not much, cos busy going for all the rides!)

Day 6 (7^th April) – Kyoto

Had a bento set before heading off to Kyoto. Osaka to Kyoto is about 20 min ride by bullet train. (Thankfully, that means no shifting of luggages). Any simple Bento selling at all the stations cost about 13 SGD (!). But it's really pretty, though buddy complains that these bentos are eaten cold.

Places explored in Kyoto in the earlier part of the day

Nishiki Ichiba -> Teramachi-dori -> Shinkyogoku-dori -> Sanjo Dori -> Tatsumi bridge -> Shibashi dori -> Yasaka Shrine -> Shijo dori -> Hanamikoji-dori.

Found some interesting shops. This shop sell T-shirt indicating your role in the family. This reminds me of the Japanese manga, where the dad will always wear such Tshirt when the daughter is bringing in her bf for the first time.

And the picture on the right.. Look closer! these are not edible. They are actually made of Kimono fabric!

Kyoto is a beautiful place. Along Shijo dori, Cherry blossoms again! This place was less crowded compared to Ueno. The view is alluring when the wind blows and the petals flew like snow. So pretty!!

In Yasaka Shrine, I'm practically busy taking photos of Japanese women in Kimono (secretly snapping), quite many of them were dressed in Kimono when they go for praying at the shrine. Their hair were always so nicely done up, and the way they walk was very elegant too. Too bad, I dint have a chance to wear L  

Oh, and usually at each shirine (which seems a little strange?) there's a "Pasar malan" place where there sold some snacks and food. And found this really interesting stall that was hiding below the Cherry blossom tree. The food was almost touching the flowers...

The 2^nd part of the day, was to visit Kyoto Imperial palace. BUT! After a LONG walk, and upon reaching there, only did we realize that you have to book an appointment with the guided tour, walk-in visitors are not allowed for security reasons. And the guided tour has been fully booked for the day L

Our next destination is the Nijo Castle; where we got to look at how the Shogen (General) lived in the past. And the castle is another pretty place with lots of cherry blossom again.

Day 7 (8^th April) – Western Kyoto/ Osaka

Our planned itinerary did not have anything on schedule for the day. But it took us less an hour the previous night to decide on where-else we can go.

Our first destination was to go Kinkakuji Temple. It was a Zen golden pavilion temple. The areas surrounding which were pretty. Followed by Ryoanji Temple, which is famous for its "dry garden" – i.e. without trees/ grass. I got to know of it when I was in NUS Architecture, so thought that was a must see. Somehow we dint quite appreciate seeing 15 stones (and maybe that's why I didn't finish my architectural course). And buddy amused herself by counting the number of stones. We kept missing 2, which was hidden from our view. We're supposedly to get some insights after observing long enough, which obviously we dint manage to. Ha.

Our lunch for the day is Conveyer belt sushi, pricing is reasonable. Although I thought I love raw food (only Salmon to be precise), Japanese are the ones that really love raw. 8 of 10 plates are raw fish of all colors. Poor buddy, did not have a hearty meal, cos she's not really a fan of sashimi, but still forced herself to eat some. I still prefer the variety of sushi in Singapore.

Interesting find for that day was that we stumbled upon a University (Ritsumeikan) while we were walking our way back to find the bus station. We decided to walk in confidentally as "student" to take a look (hopefully can still pass off):P The school's pretty, with cherry blossom too! How I missed school days!! ugh.

The 2^nd half of the day was back to Osaka. The next day, we be heading back Tokyo area. We took the Osaka Giant Ferris wheel to capture the view of the night scenery. Seriously, I think Singapore Flyer should put on more lights, ours really looks a little boring.

Taken using my camera (I'm quite proud of it – Casio Exlim – better than buddy's Panasonic Lumix :P) 

This was followed by Hot Spring at Suminoe. We had initially thought of giving up going there, cos it seems dubious to be the only hot spring place we read of. It turned out that it was a big place (and many naked women too) with indoor and outdoor hot springs. What I thought was interesting was the sauna, where you can watch TV inside, and there's a big bucket of salt (dunno what salt it was) for you to apply and do scrubbing. The salt was miraculously good; it cured my eczema at my knee joint! It pained a lot though when I rub salt on my body cos of the wounds I've accumulated over the days of dragging my monstrously heavy luggage.

Day 8 (9th April) - Tokyo

Back to Tokyo again. Itnerary for the day was:

Meiji Shrine -->Tokyo Imperial Palace --> Roppongi (to see Tokyo Towers) --> Odaiba

Meiji shrine was "recommended" by my manager. She said it was very "ling" cos she had bought 2 amulet for her single frens, and both got attached shortly, and one getting married soon. So, it has been in my muz-go-checklist place. *beams* Got 2 pairs of amulet for happy relationship, one for myself and bf; and one for brother and his gf. So let's see if they really works!

Tokyo imperial palace is only opened during public holidays/ king's birthday!. We really don't have much luck for palaces. But we amused ourselves by taking photos at the big open field, which was very pretty place.

Roppongi, was mainly to snap a shot with the Tokyo Towers, decided it's not worth to pay and get up the towers.

Odaiba has pretty night scenes... :) but it was freezing cold due to it's open space (and that day I thought the weather is getting warmer, and did not bring my jacket. And there is a statue of liberty there. After a search at wiki, realised that there are actually hundreds of statue of liberty worldwide!

Day 9 (10th April) - Tokyo
How could one not go to Disneyland when in Tokyo. Met a pretty japanese gal on train and spoke to her, she said she has lost count going Disneyland. At the back of my mind, I was thinking, was it really that fun?? It is! Ha. All things are done up to the finest details.. each ride long and amazing. Particulary like the "it's a small world ride". They have thousand over dolls in 10 over different "worlds", which sings the song, its a small world, while you cruised in the river. Other rides are just as good!

The floats are great as well, with all the familiar disney characters. Cos it was the 25th anniversary, they have day parades, as well as night parades. A pity was that, due to the strong wind that day, there's no fireworks performance!! ugh. I'm going to HK Disney in June, so hope will be able to view it this time!

And btw, the Disney stores really sell very pretty items... it's so hard for me to resist. For someone that like frivlous stuff (quoted from: Buddy)

Day 10 (11th April) - Tokyo
Asakusa --> Akihabara --> Ginza --> Shibuya
Asakusa, was the place I found my Zao Cai Mao! it was an unexpected find actually, cos we had thought that Asakusa was just a temple.
Next was to Akihabara! Which was the place that I had been looking forward to! Cos of what else, animes & mangas. Our find: pretty gals in costumes giving out pamplets. These 2 were the prettiest! and even posed for us.

The highlight of the day, was going to the maid's cafe! These "maids" will address you as master (i think, cos I don't understand) and kneeled down to serve you. See these silly guys following what the maid asked them to do.. When you pour milk into the tea, you supposed to put in your heart to it/ or do some zao cai mao action. Em, don't quite understand what they were trying to do, is juz very funny to watch those big grown up men doing silly things. We had a good time laughing at other tables. keke. Our only complaint was the maids aren't pretty enough..

Next was to Ginza. Basically we just go there to tour branded buildings. Yes, they are in buildings! Superficial people spending beyond their limits for overpriced stuffs, and hence, there we have, richer branded goods in BUILDINGS! Who's the winner, and who's the loser..

Day 11 (13 april)- back to SG
With just a morning, we walked around Ueno shopping areas, and off we were to the airport. Even at the airport, we spent away remaining  yen of 10,000 easily.. Had a pretty good trip in Japan, people there are helpful, frenly and Civilised! Despite the language barrier, we actually hadn't quite lost our way... =) *beams*

I'm not a food person actually, for me.. it's definitely eat to live, rather than live to eat. But there are certain simple food which I do have craving for it.. yummmmmmm..

Drinks/ desserts

(1) Each-a-cup bubble tea at OUB Centre (B1 level)
The pearls are so chewy! And the tea is not so sweet with nice aroma of the tea tea. So far the best bubble tea in Sg. My forever craving during lunch when I'm in office area. My pick: Honey red tea =)

(2) Sweet SLICE of life at Far East Plaza (1st level)
Slice ice dessert (same as the famous xue hua bing in Taiwan).. the milk ice is sliced so fine that it melts in your mouth. My pick: Milk ice with choc sauce (generous serving of hersey choc sauce)/ fresh mango puree. They have other flavours sich as green tea ice, black sesame ice, blue berry ice etc...
Price is reasonable too, between 2 to 4 dollars.. My definite to go dessert place when I'm in orchard area. There are other slice ice dessert stalls around in sg,(eg: AMK hub, Hereen, Kallang etc), but so far, this is the best!

Food

(1) Thunder Tea rice(available at several food courts - eg Lau pa sat, Amoy)
Guess this should be familar to most... yes yes, the mint tea may taste funny (cos I don't drink it alone either); but it taste really nice when mixed with the vege..
The many kinds of vege (some nver seen before kind of vege) are delicious, added with ikan billis and peanuts. AND it's so easy to eat, just mix with the soup, close ur eyes and munch, PLUS it's healthy! The mint tea is claimed to have several health benefits too --> lower blood pressure cholestrol bla bla

(2) Manna Dolsot Bi Bim Bap @ Lau pa sat/ Telok Ayer Street
Another super easy to eat food. Just mix and you can close your eyes to eat (as evident, I'm actually a very lazy person when comes to eating)... Dolsot means hot, so remember not to get just Bi Bim Bap or you wouldn't be able to get the sizzling pot and raw egg to mix with the rice!

*the stall at LPS cost just one third of the restaurant @ telok Ayer. The restaurant has 6 unlimited serving of korean side dishes and wheat tea drink though.

(3) Han Kee Fish soup at Amoy (2nd level right at the back, next to Muffin stall)
I love nice fish soup, this stall, the fish is so fresh and so smooth.. Can't understand why the fish is so smooth for this stall, it looks like the fish has been moisturised.. Yummy. Very long Q though, so gotta be early. Although they have great seggregation of duties (one person take order, one person serves rice, 2 person cook), so even if it's long Q, it will not be that a long wait.
There's actually quite alot of nice fish soup around office area (golden shoe, boon tat street)  but this is definitely the best! Though, i feel quite thirsty there after, mayb it added some msg..

(4) Western food at Meixin Golden shoe carpark
Don't mixed it up with the italian food stall . It's the stall with a black signboard in the middle of the coffee shop.

My pick: The grilled fish with salsa tomata sauce (nice!) .You can chose the carbo you want: Wedges, mashed potato, or raisin rice. Coupled with Salad and Corn.
Priced around 6 bucks, which is a little pricy compared to the rest of the stalls. All other dishes, eg, it's brazilian chicken leg, lamb chop are great as well.. it's served in a nice squarish black plate, and the combi colors really makes the disk looks appetizing.
Will definitely put up a picture next time.

<actually, I kind of scared it will close down,.. cos its price seems to have deterred the price conscious patrons from ordering> So I've already highly promoted it to my colleagues.. haha.

----

I'm a simple person that enjoys simple food...=) 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Stepping into a new year, it's a mixed feeling. Excited over the new year yet, at the same time, know that my peak period is coming SHORTLY.

Something happy happened on new year's day today. =) And something which I hope not to be carried forward to this new year has been settled just before the end of 2008. I guess... this marks a great start for 2009. So I'm in VERY Good mood now (if for the moment, I shall not think about my work, all else is great!) 

Looking back, 2008 hasn't been a great year, till perhaps the last quarter of the year.

No resolution this year, cos I know I will not be working towards it anyway (based on past experience..). As for wishes, there are loads of them of cos.

For the past 4 to 5 mths, I been volunteering at Jurong SHG (Student homework Group).. few weeks back was their "graduation". Before my memory fails me, I decided to write something about it.

I liked to confess, that I did not previously have a special liking for kids. Kids these days, are all spoilt (yea yea, I'm stereotyping, but you can't blame me for that, cos my nephew is super duper spoilt and my cousin is spoiling him like crazy).

The reason for me wanting to try out volunteering for kids, is that I had some spare time on hand then. (that time I had a 1.5 months of leave); and had wanted to do something meaningful all these while. Volunteering for animals is actually my first choice.. but that SPCA is SO far, so that's out. As for Volunteering for old people, I knew Minimum (almost zero dialect), I don't see how I can be of much help. So kids.. became my choice. 

Remembered my fren's brother did some volunteering for CDAC, so I went to the website to read the programs they have and signed up for it. So, the person in charge called up and briefed me. Jurong SHG is a little different from the rest of the SHG, as it is activity based, rather than homework supervision (which I thought, sounds more interesting that supervising their homework..) So the week after that, I went for it... that was in July...

The first time I went, was the orientation with the kids... frankly speaking, after the first session, i thought, it doesn't really seem beneficial for the kids, cos they were just playing some orientation games.. But i decided to stick on to it, and have an experience of their "normal activity".

After my 2nd trip there.. I actually found it interesting. The kids learnt stuffs outside their ciriculumm, such as chess play, biology, hip hop, story telling, organising for open house.. Which help them to grow in another way.

Also, I like the kids, to my surprise... Maybe cos they came from low income/ single parent family, they aren't the spoilt kids I know.... Yes, they may be noisy at times, but most of them are responsible kids, who do housework (how many kids these days do that?!), knows how to care for their family and sibling... They changed my perception of these-days-kids.

Not to mention, the group of volunteers are very nice people and very welcome newbies like me..=)

And my favourite student, ... is him! 

During my first time at SHG, the kids did not know me, hence, did not talk to me... Only him, came up and talked to me... so he left me a pretty deep impression with his skinny limbs and talkative nature.

Subsequently i was assigned to his group. The volunteers told me he was a "problem kid" - Hyper active kid that can't sit still... As i interacted with him more, I think he just wanted attention... Cos he would tell me things like " i cut a cat's tail", when he knows that I liked cats... But deep down inside, he is really a sweet boy. Always saving snacks we bought for his little sister and his mum.  He seemed to like when i tried to pull him back whenever he "attempted" to walk around without permission, and bonelessly swing back to me..

The next term of SHG will start in Feb 09. Hope to see him again..=)

*jason, assign me to his grp hor...

in the mood to blog...

Gone back on a sat night to take some stuffs..and decided to take a few picture as momento, since there's no one ard to laugh at me! This is my office desk! To have a desk of your own, you need to perserve in audit for a freaking 4 years, before you get your name imprinted at the aisle.

Name in red = Assistant manager
Name in blue = Manager...
only when you are at your manager grade 2, then would you have a side cubicle...

Actually, I still find it amazing that I been in the firm for so long.......

This is my desk.... with all sorts of rubbish .. My big red sticker of the nike human race... Maybe I shld put up my std chart tag as well.. ha..

Peak is coming... I'm sure the office area will be transformed into a mess of files and papers very soon.. ..  haa. We just had a spring cleaning days ago, so that's why every where looks neat and tidy ~

2 years ago, if people tell me that they are running for half marathon/ full marathon, waking up at 4am for it. I would think that they are crazy. Never would I have thought that this year, I would actually sign up for a 21km half marathon

Rationale: Did the 10k nike human race.. and thought it's easy.. so.. the next jump would rightfully be 21k... N Company gonna sponsor it.. N... we thought we would have time to train for it..

Yesterday, I was complaining to my fren, that I muz have been crazy then.. to sign up for it and toturing myself for nothing..

Today, I DID actually wake up at 4am. N actually COMPLETING the race~ "Impossible is Nothing"... maybe this famous addias logon did have some truth. Despite not training much (emm, 7km a week at most), we managed to complete the run within 3 hrs! Walking for 1km plus and jogged through the rest of the race....  ha... We're so proud of ourselves...

See, me.. beaming with the participation medal..=) My knees are now suffering from the after effects of the run... some abrasion here n there..And walking looking like a duck.. But still, din't regret going for it...=)

42km next year???? err, I will be nuts if I sign up for it. But who knows?

Update on 8 Dec 08:
The results is out! 2hr 56min... *beams*   So proud of myself..
This is interesting.... the stats..

*F2529 -- In the category of female aged 25 to 29

I've known JL since Primary 1... and I remembered we did say if one of us gotten married, we would be each others bridesmaid... And ....20 years later, this actually came true... =)Congratulations!

Here's the pretty bride...

And the Jie Meis...

Being the Emcee for the banquet, I went to do up my hair at Jurong Pt. I can't help but exclaim how amazing he has done to my hair...The hairstylist was a   Filippino, who couldn't speak english too well... .I only know that he's gonna tie up my hair.. And See, what he did! ... Don't I look like I got very LONG hair and ALOT of hair? (actually it's air inside..lol~)... I thought was something different, but my mum said I looked old =(...

The side view and the backview.. I think he has used up a whole bottle of hair spray to come up with this.. haa. Cos my hair is so hard and steady that even if strong wind blows, it won't move..