One day trip to Odaiba

2 days before my next summer trip, not recharging 'my body', we decided to visit Odaiba, located in Tokyo. Teng, from Akashi College came to Tochigi-prefecture (the place I'm living in) for a motorbike competition. Not to mention about that competition. Yea, she didn't win. (a better way of saying it) XD. She stayed over at Oyama College for the next 3 nights n will follow us down for our next summer trip.

A 'manga' addicted gal. She desperately wanted to go to Odaiba to see something. Something. We stopped by at Ueno Station to have our lunch at 1130. It's kinda early but our stomachs were making noise.

Tomato+bacon spaghetti with a half-boiled egg on it. Not bad.

We had a brief walk around Ueno. (so tat she can tell her frens tat she'd been to Ueno!! haha) Headed to Odaiba next.

Gundam.

Yes. This was wat we wanted to see. Many of my frens went there before. Uploading photos in facebook. ' A damn big one sure it will be.' I thought beforehand. Nah, it wasn't TAT big. It was extremly crowded way down from the train station until to the exhibition ground. Ya, Japanese are the same. Last minute?? The gundam exhibition was due to end on 31st of Aug. We went on 30th. HAHA

Next, wat we saw was. . . THIS

'Statue of Liberty'??

A fake one of course. HAHA The place was named United States of Odaiba. Don't ask me why, neither I know the reason. HEHE

Next, we walked around a shopping mall. Aqua Park. Nothing much caught my attention, except this particular one.

Chips ??

Those are imported chips. There's a shop named PLAZA where all imported goods are sold. Yes, I love imported goods. Honestly speaking, I prefer European countries compared to Asian. I love speaking english compared to chinese. Although I AM A CHINESE. Maybe this leads to broken chinese but also broken english. HAHA Back to the topic, yes I bought a small packet one which cost me 210yen. Expensive.

Crowded.

Once again. It's crowded. It was a building of FUJI television. Sorta exhibition inside it. Not so sure. But we didn't went it since not much time left for the day. Next year perhaps.

We went to Shinjuku, didn't managed to walk around because it was raining. Rain during summer?? It was due to the typhoon. SAD

Simply walked around some department stores and went back to Oyama at 2013 time.

*Addition*

When I was busying talking photos, found that there was some dirt on my lense. Let it be dust or watever it is. Opened up my lense. Nothing. Seeing inside the body of my Kiss, saw some dirt on one of the mirror inside it. (do we call it mirror??) Being so nervous about it, I used my shirt to wipe it away. Yes, using . . . my SHIRT !! Wat the heck !!! Wat was in my mind !!! Yes, as predicted. My shirt left a scratch on it !!!! ARH !!! I was like dying !!!! Although it doesn't affect photos I take, I wanted to solve it as soon as possible. Went to 'Big Camera' and enquired about it. Had to be send to Canon Factory in order to get it repair. 2 weeks required. Of coz I didn't hand it on spot as I need it for my next trip in another 2 days. I'll solve it when I'm back. Frustrated.

OK. Gonna start packing my back pack and get enough rest to continue my journey . . . conquering Japan !! HAHA

* God bless me. Don't stop or even delay the train system due to typhoon. *

PRAY HARD !!

Foreign Students' Summer Program 09 @ Okinawa

*Continued from my Hokkaido trip . . . Okinawa was our next destination. Going from the northern part right to the southern part of Japan, it was indeed a tiring journey.

To those who aren't tat clear about Japan's map, this may give u a view of how far it is.

24/8

0630 - Reached Tokyo from Aomori via highways bus.

0910 - Reached Haneda Airport from Tokyo Station via train n monorail.

1440 - Boarded JAL ( Japan Airlines ) flight from Haneda International Airport to Naha Airport.

1705 - Arrived at Naha, Okinawa.

We were scheduled to attend a summer program organized by Japan National College of Technology Association. Its main objectives was to educate us about Japanese culture n make sure we get use to Japan college's life. Fully sponsored trip , was the main reason we, M'sians of 21 pupils took part in it . XD

Summer program scheduled to get kick started on 25th but some of us got a day earlier flight n reached there on the 24th n were accommodated at a hotel !! It was marvelous getting a single room for each n everyone. Including free buffet dinner n breakfast !! Can u imagine how happy were we ?? *sorry for those who just got there on 25th* XP

Yea, great moments doesn't stay for long as we moved to Okinawa Prefecture NAGO Youth Center. It was like other youth center around Japan with strict rules against participates. DAMN. I felt regret for agreeing to attend tat program. Lesson learned, not to be greedy. @@

We unpacked our luggage, attended the Opening Ceremony . . . . wat's next? LECTURES . . . Wat else do u expect from such kind of program huh. Short-cutting everything once again, "To help you understand KOSEN life" (KOSEN = Japan National College), "Japanese language n culture", "Net-etiquette and Information technology", Viewing Okinawa Traditional Dancing", "Presentation on the Overseas Internship", "Panel Discussion" were BORING programs we had. Boring huh?

Ok, let's go to the interesting part of the whole program !

Firstly, delicious meals were served 3 times a day ! Tat's the only time we were punctual. N guess wat, we M'sians were always in the front line. M'sia Boleh !! We go . . . HAHA

Everyone were just waiting for the 3rd day's event. A sightseeing trip to Okinawa Curium Aquarium. Again explaining by viewing photos . . . =)

Tat's my hand touching a rough-starfish. HAHA

Eels.

Baby sharks.

Whale + dolphins show.

It was a great show, but i prefer watching Sentosa, Singapore's pink dolphins. HEHE

Bye-bye.

See the blue sea over there? Okinawa always been famous with it's beautiful sea n beaches but unfortunately there weren't any chances for us to have some sea-bath.

28th of Aug !!! The day I'd been waiting for since the 1st day of the program. Bidding farewell !!

HAHAHA

0850 - Depart from youth center to Naha Airport.

1130 - Flight from Naha Airport to Haneda International Airport via ANA (All Nippon Airways).

1350 - Arrived at Haneda International Airport, had our lunch n headed back to . . . OYAMA !!

It wasn't an exciting trip as expected, but we had free meals everyday, free air tickets, free sightseeing at Okinawa. Not too bad I suppose. Last but not least, of course meeting new frens from all over the world.

Roommates.

We met with other foreign students who are under Monkasho ( Japan Gov ) scholarship. They came from Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cameroon, Thai n many other more.

Great experience throughout a 5 day trip to Okinawa.

*Addition*

When I reached Haneda International Airport, turned on my cellphone n immediately I received a voicemail from an unknown phone number. " Lim, please phone back to school office!" A voicemail from my school teacher. OH MY GOD !! He sound rough. Wat would have appear in ur mind getting such mail, during holidays ?? Worse comes to worst, I thought ' I failed my test ?? Have to retake it ??' September is the period when those who failed their subject retake it. Oh no, I'm certainly dead if I had to do it. Ya, I admit I didn't do well in my last test, but it won't be as worse as to have retake it, right?? ARH !! Another month to go until my summer break ends are fully-packed. I rang back to the school office but it took my hours for the secretary to connect to the teacher who called me. * I could recognize his voice * I hang up. After collecting luggage, my college-mate told me tat the teacher contacted him. It was regarding to the H1N1 case which occurred in Okinawa. One of the participate of the program, a Malay gal from M'sia was confirmed infected and was quarantined at Okinawa College of Technology. The teacher was worried of us or worried we might spread the virus over here and told tat he gave us some precaution notes n a termometer for us to check our body temperature everyday.

THANK GOD, it wasn't anything about me retaking test !! HAHA

Summer 09 - Hokkaido 北海道

Weeks since I last updated my blog huh ? My first summer holiday in Japan just started n we went for our FIRST summer vacation to . . . HOKKAIDO !!

Lets go through my journey via photos. * everyone loves viewing photos isn't it? * XD

Here we go . . . Starting from 13/8 . . . .

We decided to go by our own route n meet at Hokkaido.

I went with 2 more frens by cruise !! Sadly, I accidentally deleted photos of it. :(

We slept n woke early n waited patiently for the sunrise.

We reached quite late n made everyone waited for us there. HAHA

There was a Beer Festival.

See. It written til 20th right??!! We went on 16 . . . Everything were gone !!!

See !! Was a waste isn't it ??!!

TV TOWER.

The time shows my date of birth . =)

Ice made models.

Could be seen during winter.

Forgotten the name.

Clark . . . something ?? HAHA

English Translation : White Lover ?? HAHA

Chocolate Factory famous in Hokkaido.

Factory View.

Polar Bear.

One of the main attraction at the zoo. Rainy day. Bad luck for us carrying umbrellas around. Not much photos took.

Lavender Farm.

Our main destination of the whole tour.

Music Box Speciality Shop.

Another main attraction at Hokkaido. You can make your own music box over there. I bought a simple one for my own though. XD

Here is it !

Sapporo Beer Garden.

It was my birthday. 20th of Aug.

A birthday card from M'sia. Cristiano Ronaldo Nike Football . As my gift.

By cable car . . .

We went to the top of the hill . . .

Had such a nice night view of Hakodate. XD

Suppose to go up n have a view of a star shape garden. But didn't think it was worth it, n had a walk around the garden. HAHA

Our first hot spring bath.

Surrounded by old folks n been starred by everyone around !! OMG !! HAHA

There ends our vacation at Hokkaido.

Along the way back to Tokyo, we stopped by a place named Aomori n spent 1 day there. XD

Aomori is a place which is famous with it's apple industry. * we didn't manage to get to the apple farm though *

Triangle Building.

Apple look apple pie ! XD

Biggest Buddha Statue in Japan.

Kinda short cut of it . . .

here comes the end of our trip. We head back to Tokyo by mid-night bus after having our dinner at Aomori. =)

It was really tiring but fun trip. Meeting everyone from our batch of PPKTJ ( Pusat Penyediaan Kajian Teknikal ke Jepun ) again really made this trip meaningful indeed. Would like to thank those who solved our accommodations n planned throughout the whole trip !

Thanks a lot guyz ! Looking forward to our next reunion !

Unfinished business ahead . . . . . . . . .

Utsunomiya 1 Day Trip

To begin my summer vacation, I decided to pay a 1 day visit to the biggest town in Tochigi prefecture, the place I'm living in. It's kinda weird not to have visited the biggest town around since it's nearby rite? So, me n dongsheng *my college-mate* decided to have a go. Lets see through some photos while I give a brief throughout my trip. =)

Here it is. Utsunomiya Station. XD

We initially thought of taking bus to our destinations but decided to go on feet, using te map we took from te train station. XD * we wasn't really sure where we wanted to go actually. HAHA Lazy to plan* XP

1st desnation. Futaarayama Shrine. Hmm.. nth special about it honestly. Just like any other temples in Japan. HEHE

Utsunomiya is a place famous wit it's dumplings. I did do some research about nice dumplings around that area but wasn't so sure about te location. While trying our luck around, I accidentally saw there were crowds . . . lining-up for a dumpling shop !

See?? It's just a small shop named MinMin, but owns many branches in Utsunomiya. And guess wat, we're at te main shop !! HOHOHO

OPSS !! * Wipe wipe wipe* watch our for ur saliva. XP

Hmm..honestly speaking, it wasn't as tasty as it looks like. Dun ever belief tat dumplings in Utsunomiya are the best ! 'Faking truth' we shall call it perhaps?? XD

' Memorial Park ' written on the map attracted us. We reached after 30mins on feet, asking around here n there. I was hoping it won't be something disappointing after such tiring walk.

Tada~

Isn't it 'big' ??

The worst was . . .

It's just a small corner at a T-junction !!!! Wat the ... !!!!!!!!

U surely cant understand my feelings seeing tat after finding it for such a long time.

LAME~ SPEECHLESS~

Hmm . . . unfinished lame business yet . . .

'Biggest Tree' ??!! HUH??!! How they dare to put something like tis on Utsunomiya Travel Pamphlet??!! Again, it was beside the road side, corner of another T-Junction. Come on . . . We have plently of these back in our Zoo Negara in Malaysia don't we ? HAHA

A nice place to rest our wounded legs n a cup of nice drink was wat we were looking for. Starbucks Coffee was ideal. =)

Java Chip Frappuccino n New York Chesse Cake. Yummy yummy~ HAHA

At the end, wat I can finally say is, tis would be my 1st n my last visit to Utsunomiya . . . HAHA

I'm not coming again . . . ever . . .

To my frens in Japan, dun ever dare u guyz think of going there too.

* especially to taste their dumplings. Those sold in Jusco are nicer I suppose * XD

My Piano

" Hmm.. no. Turn your finger like tis to play te note la. Haiyo.. "

I dreamt that I was teaching piano again !! HAHA

Woke wit a smile with those memories flying back into my head, it did make me miss my piano ever again. Yesterday.

I learnt playing the piano since i was 6, until i passed my G 8 at 16. It was indeed a period full of sadness n laughters. HAHA I wasn't really into it from the beginning but eventually got te interest soon later, and really enjoyed it. =)

Waited til yesterday nite to ask my sis to take a photo of our house piano n send it to me. Just for fun la. XD

TADA !!

K.KAWAI piano I played until today. * not kawaii (which means cute in japanese) la.. *

Kinda old one already and my both sis kept on asking for a new 1 but i secretly told mummy no need ! since they dun play so often. (including me la) HAHA

But wat I really miss wasn't the period i learnt piano, it was the period I was a part-time piano teacher back in 2007. While waiting for my SPM results, I went for a try in a music center nearby my house n interviewed for a piano teacher vacancy. Lucky enough for me, I got it. XD

I didn't really liked it at the beginning becoz te boss there, was really . . . BOSSY !! HAHA I was grateful tat i didn't gave up n continued to the end becoz it was really an interesting job. I wasn't just able to get close with music, but also . . . KIDS !! Yea . . . I do love kids, very very much. HEHE

Most of my students were small kids aged 5-9 yrs old. Of coz there were adults too, including a veterinarian. He was like " hah? he a? how come so young? " when the secretary told him I'm gonna be his teacher. HAHA Guess wat, he came from a same school wit me, Jit Sin High School !

Ehemm.. Of coz the one who appeared in my dream wasn't him. HAHA

It was THEM !

The 1st 3 photos belongs to the same gal, Yuet Kei.

Last one, forgotten her name @@

Cute, adorable, funny, interesting

Are the words to descride them.

Yuet Kei. I always tease her english name. " How come har.. ur chinese name is yue4 qi2 but ur english name is yuet kei de har..not same at all de.. " HAHA Saw the 2nd photo? Isn't it kinda weird? Can u see te chair?? HAHA I asked her to start playing while I was busy entertaining another student, but I cant hear she playing. Turned over my head, I saw her busy covering the chair with her dress ! HAHA

Forgotten name gal. For a sudden, she started wiping her tears while doing theory !! Shocked, I asked her why. She said she doesn't know how to do. HAHA Anyway, she was my best student i think.

Their mum or dad would accompany them upstairs to the music center for every lesson and carried their bags for them. And I stil remembered for the 1st lesson for Yuet Kei, she didn't wan her mummy to leave te room, she was scared of me. HAHA But it just lasted for the very 1st n last time. Since then, she evolved into a 'monkey' . HEHE

It was just a few months of experience there after I had to continue my studies again. Bidding farewell to them, they said I was bluffing them n Yuet Kei even told her mummy. Not telling tat I'm no longer teaching her again, but she told tat I bluff her I'm not teaching again. HAHA Wat a cute lil gal. And wat a dream to see her again ! =)

Last Class of Sem 1

Went to school as usual this morning, to get my results of my final exams. It wasn't that bad for TODAY but I wish I wouldn't need to go for the following days to get my mechanical subjects' ones. HAHA As planned, our last class for today was a visit to a nearby factory named Komatsu. An engine producing company, owning branches all over Japan and we're luckily enough to have one nearby. XD

We're suppose to go by our own vehicles ( bikes? bicycles?) One of my fren offered me a ride on his bike since he's riding it alone. Without hesitation, i accepted it. * Because i knew he riding a damn big one *HAHA

So, there we go !

Front view from the bike i'm riding on. XD

Back view. XP

See those bikes their riding? Cant be denied, they are RICH man !

My fren who sits behind me in class, Kaneko kept on laughing seeing my taking photos while waiting for the reds turn to green. On a bike ! HAHA

Ok, I know i shouldn't do this. OK, I stopped.

Erm, after this last photo la. XD

This was the bike I was on !

Isn't my fren cool? Erm...maybe the bike?? coz u cant see his face ><

* Cute pig sticker on his helmet though*

After a 15 mins journey, we finally reached. KOMATSU !

We were given these. Erm, should be they lent us these, except the booklet.

One guy took the booklet, flipped through n said, " Arh, not interested ar.." * あぁ。。興味ない！* HAHA Someone smacked his head, and said," Dun say it so loud " HAHA It seems no one was interested in that either. Many slept during the video introduction, many talked through the walk around the factory, including me. HAHA See the black thing over there? It's like a speaker for everyone of us to put on in order to listen the explanations n instructions clearly since it's noisy in the factory. It was an useful kit i thought. U noe y? I went for a same sort of visit to PERODUa during days at PPKTJ ( Pusat Persediaan Kajian Teknikal ke Jepun) and it was pretty hard to catch wat the guide was talking. HEHE

It came to the end after 2 hours + of listening. Just a few listened though XD

Then, we went back to our school, classroom and . . .

received a SHOCKING NEWS !!

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IT'S HOLIDAY TOMORROW ONWARDS !

Said our class teacher.

It was suppose to be another study week for we all Oyama College Technology of Japan students, but we were sadly to be informed 2 cases of H1N1 found among students over here. Means, school closing for this whole week. "Y sadly?? YEAH YEAH~ got holiday !! Should it be." Is wat u guyz be thinking rite? BUT, it's not YEAH, but ARH !! It does means that my 1st summer holiday in Japan starts earlier, but don't forget, it does end earlier too ! @@ None of our friends in other colleges will not start their holidays by next week, i think so. What's te point having such early holidays then?? ARH!!

Ok, finished crapping.

Here will be the start of my summer holiday and I will enjoy it to the MAX !!