P I C N I C

準備できます

2012-01-04T11:05:00.000+08:00

いつでも。

さようなら

2011-12-16T16:33:00.004+08:00

最後のスッケチ

2011-12-06T16:43:00.003+08:00

健康とコーヒー

2011-11-13T13:38:00.002+08:00

血はカフェインで作っています。

砂糖とクリーマー。

日曜日

2011-10-09T17:49:00.002+08:00

駄目よ

2011-10-02T13:32:00.003+08:00

上級だろう？うそなんか駄目よ！

私の朝

2011-09-26T20:20:00.002+08:00

頭が痛くて、起きました。３時間ぐらいに寝ました。体が本当に疲れてしまいました。

今朝は通勤電車で乗りました。携帯電話でメールを返信して、送りました。目的地の駅を経ってしまいました。メールをもらいました。歩いて、知らないビルに入って、日本の電話番号をかけました。心がしきりにどきどきしていたし、心の中でも考えと込んでいました。

「じゃまたね」と言いました。
７－１０分ぐらいかかりました。

知らないビルを出て行きました。歩いて会社に着きました。

Joy

2011-09-23T08:24:00.002+08:00

死ぬまでどきどきしたい。

死ぬまでわくわくしたい。

いつか。

あら、夢だけ

2011-09-11T13:30:00.003+08:00

Just close your eyes and i'll take you there. This place is warm and without a care.

Bach [ Heifetz ]

2011-09-10T19:05:00.002+08:00

初めて、クラシックの音楽を買いました。色々な気分を見せ出しました。

止めてくれ

2011-07-24T19:45:00.002+08:00

大事な計画

2011-07-17T17:19:00.004+08:00

未来が暗そう

週末の勉強食べ物

2011-07-17T13:43:00.003+08:00

毎週末は喫茶店で日本語を勉強してる。また、日曜日のクラスの前には、喫茶店で昼御飯かスナックをしてる。ここでは勉強に行く喫茶店の列記だ：

１番：　スピネリ　「Ｒａｆｆｌｅｓ　Ｐｌａｃｅ」
スピネリのほうが一番大好きな喫茶店だよね。ここではいい音楽があったし、本当に安全な場所だ。それから、込んでいる場所だ。一番好きな食べ物がＡｐｐｌｅ　Ｃｒｕｍｂｌｅ「Ａｐｐｌｅ　Ｐｉｅ」だ。いつも、それをＣａｆｅ　Ｌａｔｔｅ　と注文してる。

２番：　ロッキー・マスタ　「Ｄｅｌｆｉ　Ｏｒａｃｈａｒｄ」　続く・・・

３番：　ハンス　「Ｃｅｎｔｒａｌ」　続く・・・

４番：　スッタバー　「どこでも」　一番大嫌いな喫茶店だ。

今いつも６時５０分午前に起きてた

2011-06-28T20:36:00.003+08:00

今朝早く会社に着いた。同僚が一人いて、挨拶してあげて、Good Morning と言って、女性の同僚も同じの挨拶を答えた。同僚達は初めは、僕に親切だけど、２週間から段々変わるようになって来た。本当に感じた。
その新しい生活が欲しいのだったか？新しい生活．．　意味はまだ分からない。
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ところで、SynthesizerとDrum Machineを買おうと思ってる。良く引くかなだろ？日本の音楽「Techno」を作りたい。はは！今から、頑張るべきだ。頑張るべきだ。頑張るべきだ。

新しい生活と同じの仕事

嬉しいニュースがある、今日は。

2011-06-12T22:08:00.003+08:00

この午後は、クラスが始まる前は、先生は来週Pre-Advance 2 が行けると言った。まず、このことに特別の気持ちがないけど、段々嬉しくなってきた。良かった！次の級がやっと入られるよ！みずざき先生、ありがたいんです~！

後で、ショッピングセンターに行って、建築学の本を買うかなと思ったが、その代わり靴を買った。TomsとZaraのEspandrille。

ところで、明日、新しい会社には最初の日だ。気分がわくわくしても、ちょっと怖いね。頑張ってみよう。

サブタイトルと日本語の勉強

2011-06-07T22:16:00.004+08:00

さっき、日本語の勉強をしたばかりだ。TOFUGUのサイトでは新しい勉強し方を見つけた。初めは、とても難しくて、ほとんどあきらめた。でも、ゆっくりちょっと良くなってきた「まだ難しいね　T＿T　」。良かった。気分がいいよ。今から、勉強し方のを頑張ってみよう。

それから、週末で僕の褒美は．．ピザ！！！　よし！　

進歩が遅い

2011-06-05T17:40:00.003+08:00

２年間ぐらい勉強してても、進歩が遅すぎだよ。なぜ？
たぶん、もう理由を持っていないだから。

無料腕時計

2011-05-29T20:59:00.002+08:00

クラスの後、キノクニヤへ雑誌を買い行った。得たものを見てごらん。

安そうでも、嬉しかった。

It's all make believe, isn't it?

2011-05-22T00:06:00.005+08:00

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

- Marilyn Monroe [ June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962 ]

すごく痛い

2011-05-10T20:15:00.002+08:00

心が破られた。

大変な決定

2011-05-08T21:17:00.004+08:00

６日５月には、上司に辞職の手紙をあげた。短く会話したことがある。ちょっと泣いてしまった。そんな時は決めるのが大変だ。上司は私を居座るの頼んだ。

明日、辞めるか居座るとかどうか決めるべきだ。
そんな決定は私の生活を変わるかなと思う。

難しいね。
________________________________________________________________

昨日カメラを持って来るのを一人で出て行って、バーでストレスを発散するためにビールを飲んだ。

SXRT 2

2011-05-02T13:50:00.002+08:00

I remember moments of happiness.
Endless summer acoustic guitars.

I called up ____________ told him/her/them I was drowning.

暗澹たる気持ちだ

2011-05-01T00:16:00.010+08:00

I just had a short chat with Kat. She's my friend's girlfriend who have a friend in Japan. According to Kat's friend, who happened to be a Philippine Jin Nikkei Nihon Jin and who's father owns an architectural firm in Japan, a foreigner needs to pass JLPT-1 in order to secure a job there. Though I know a few that only passed JLPT-4 or didn't even experienced JLPT and is now working there, I almost got pale at the thought of a closed door with it's big iron lock on which JLPT-1 is engraved. The key to the door? At the bottom of the ocean which is home to I-don't-know-how-many ocean dragons which breathes ocean fire and a glimpse from there ocean like eyes will instantly cause oceanic death (death in the ocean I suppose).

To cut it short, my plan to live and work in Japan suddenly came to a stop with a big "thud" sound. I heaved out a sigh, a heavy one. It's so heavy it can crush the laptop in front of me, but it didn't.

I've been studying Nihongo for two years now, telling my self to hold on -- Ganbatte!

Right now, there is nothing to hold on to.

しまった．．．

2010 JLPT N4 「４-級」

夢と誰かeyes

2011-04-26T13:32:00.002+08:00

電車でスケッチしました。実に大きな目顔は意味が分からない。なぜこれを描くのが分からない。

日曜日が終わるところです。明日はまた月曜日だ。

2011-04-24T19:08:00.002+08:00

今日はまたPre-Advance 1を取り直しました。次の級にいきません。（T_T）会話でちょっと良くなってると思いました。「少し」でもこのことは足りませんよ。言いたい物がまだ言えません。

ところで、９月の前は仕事を変わるといいのですが。疲れるようになりました。

疲れるようのですか？

けだるい日曜日の朝

2011-03-27T10:17:00.003+08:00

今日は８時ごろ起きた。ジムで運動しに行こうとかな思った。でも、頭が痛いから行かなかった。机の上にバナナ・ヨシモトの小説にあって最後の章を読み出した。「性交」。読んでいるのを辞めて本を棚に置いた。私の部屋を掃除するのを決めた。やれやれ、これはとてもけだるい日曜日の朝だろう。

日本頑張って

2011-03-19T21:35:00.008+08:00

日本で大地震があってから一週間余りたちました。毎日インターナットにはニュースを読んだり事態の写真を見ています。去年の日本の旅行を計画するのを思い出しました。花見に行こうと思いました。でも、行きませんでした。地震な時、日本「東京」にいれば何をするのかな。実は知らない。兄は安全でよかったんです。でも、家は福島から１７９キロだけあります。だからまだちょっと心配しています。去年の１月、アルバイトをすることがありました。私は日本の中学生にツアーガイドでした。楽しかったです。でも、彼らのメールと電話番号を取得することができませんでした。彼らが安全なのかな。安全だといいのですが。

しっかり祈りましょう。日本頑張って。

駒込高校：　サカイちゃやん、ユミちゃん、メグミちゃん、カリンちゃん

東京学館:　チアキちゃん、ユリーちゃん、ヒロミちゃん、アイちゃん「１」、アイちゃん「グルプ・リーダ」

再び日本が上がります。

先生にうそつきと呼ばれた

2011-02-28T20:30:00.006+08:00

昨日のクラスにはまだよく話せなかった。「いつも同じだ」。皆は先生に質問された。先生はIntermediateかElementaryからここで勉強していますかと言った。ちょっと分かるから答えるのを間違えた。分を少し過ごしてから私の答えを考えるのを間違えた。だから、私「はすみません、ここでElementaryを勉強していました。」と言った。すぐに私は先生にうそつきと呼んだ。先生の言い方は冗談じゃなさそうだった。それに声がちょっと怒った。クラスが終わってから気分がだんだん重くなって来た。少なくても先生は他のクラスメートに優しかった。
「痛い」
日本語わ二年間勉強してる。でも、前のクラス後から諦めようと思う。また気分が重すぎ。

CNY休み

2011-02-03T17:11:00.002+08:00

今、喫茶店にいる。友達を待っていた間もうコーヒを２杯飲んだ。時々待ってるのが楽しくない。とにかく、CNY休みにここ「Philippines」にいる。１週間でからシンガッポールに帰らなければならない。運転するからここに行った。カメラを持っていって、写真をちょっと取った。また、叔父さんの墓地を訪ねた。彼は６月前死んだ。

「だめだ。友達がまだ来ない。」

2011中国の新年

2011-01-29T15:02:00.003+08:00

今朝、名金町へ写真を取りに行った。あそこで人々が多いい！明日は中国の新年からね。新しいレンズを試し見た。このレンズはCanon 85mm f1.2L ｌｌ。Aperture が多き過ぎてもFocusが遅い。Candid写真を取るのが難しくなってしまった。F1.2が初めて使ってボケが格好いい！このレンズを買ったのが嬉しいよ！
でも．．．
今、人々の写真を取るのをちょっと臆してた。どうしてだか知らない。

魚

2011-01-22T21:45:00.006+08:00

今朝EF 15mm F2.8　レンズを買った。ちょっとテストした。このレンズをよく使ったことができるまでに数カ月かかる。

この寝室は汚いようだ。

Matteru

2011-01-22T18:45:00.004+08:00

Waiting can be fun. Right now, I'm at raffles city waiting for the guy who will buy my 10-22mm lens. At first I thought it would really piss me off since I'm the type of person who doesn't want to wait. I turned my attention to the people passing before me. Old and young. And since this is raffles city, many of them are dressed enough to be called fashionable. You can get clothing ideas just by watching people, provided that you are in the right place. One couple approached me and asked if I'm from here and as soon as I answered no, their faces turned sour like a half-chewed nougat. They want to know how to get to east coast park. I got back their enthusiasm when I quickly added that I know how can they get to that place. I started to explain and even though I'm not sure if they understand my explanation, they were smiling and bid me farewell with a double thank you; one from each of them. Just a few minutes after the couple left, a pair of murderer approached me. They asked me how to get to funan mall which is just around the corner. They are quite polite. So they are not murderers after all. I explained to them the directions and it seems like they already got it even though I'm not yet finished explaining. Murderers are quite smart and sharp nowadays. The murderers thanked me and left. Again, they are not murderers.

Suddenly, I thought to myself that it would be cool if a swordsman suddenly appear and cut me into half. People would be amaze on how cool the swordsman can cut me without spilling a single drop of blood. If it's compared to a pasta, it's definitely al dente. But since I don't have any power to defend myself, I will die. But it will be a dramatic death. Only few individuals can have the opportunity of being slashed into half.

Headline for tomorrow: A 25 y.o. was cut into half. He died because he didn't have the power to defend himself. He died in a cool way. Al dente.

I lost my youth just like that

2011-01-15T15:55:00.003+08:00

Kyou wa hokka no hi to onaji da. Mono wo kawaranakatta..
Daijoubu da..
Demo, demo.. Komatteru you ni naru.
Tokidoki simiru shite mite waratte mita. Feku da. Itsumo feku datta.
Hitobito wo tomodachi you ni natte mite, kono koto ga dame da.

Kono seimei ni warawareta.
Hitoride waratta.
..Shimatta.

New Year's Resolution slash Nihongo no Fukushuu

2011-01-13T19:43:00.004+08:00

This noon, just before having lunch, I went to the gents and decided to take a dump when I suddenly realized that I need to have a New Year's Resolution and brush up my Nihongo at the same time. I was about to blog inside the toilet cubicle but shit came out way too fast than expected. Anyway, I'm on my way home now and decided to write my list of NWR, 10 of them. Then after that if I still have time, I'm going to translate them to Nihongo. Let's see if my 3 months vacation from bunka has goten my jap rusty. Lots of commuters today huh. Oh well, workaholicks are back.

Here goes my New Year's Resolution:

1.) Cut my facebook time in half.
- フェスブクの時間を半切る。

update: I already have a reason. This one shouldn't be a problem. ne?

大変な。
困ったな。T＿T

2.) Learn how to smile and take things easy.
- シミルを習って、、、物を、、、こと、、だめ。

3.) Don't think too much.
- 考え過ぎるな。<－あんたばが。

4.) Save, save, and most of all, save. (Money)
- 浮かして浮かして浮かす。「お金」

5.) Find a girlfriend.
- ガルフレンドを探せ！！！お願い！！！

6.) Put some color into my life.
- 生命の中に色を置く。

7.) Try to sleep early.
- 早く寝てみる。

8.) Socialize.
- Socialize する。

9.) ...
- 「何もない」

10.) ?
- 「何で」

Coin Bank

2011-01-02T22:40:00.004+08:00

I found my kindergarten crush in Facebook. I've been searching for her for years, even during the classic "Yahoo Groups" and "Friendster" days. She's already engaged and will marry soon (I think). I'm really happy to see her and it's been 19 years! All those years, from time to time, she kept on appearing in my thoughts, not that I'm thinking of her.. hey, that was 19 years?! It's way too long to miss a person and we were kids back then. Anyway, I'm happy to see that she's doing fine and already have plans on starting a family of her own.

I also found this 1992 graduation yearbook by the way, and decided to post our Kinder II graduation pictures. Just now, I asked her if I can tag a photo of her in Facebook to which she replied "yes" and a short conversation began to follow. She said that she is still using the coin bank that I gave to her as a gift for our Christmas party. A tear fell onto my cheek, followed by another one. I found myself crying. I can't remember the last time I cried. I've been through a lot of pain that I am almost numb and It will take a tough situation for me to shed a tear. But a few minutes ago, I cried, only for a very short duration, but I cried. And I'm happy that I cried.

I told her not to dispose the coin bank yet for some reason which I myself am not aware. I don't want to ask myself anymore, I had too much things spinning in my head last year. I have to start the year right. So our short conversation ended with an exchange of Thank you.

I guess, I won't be seeing that nostalgic coin bank. :D Good luck to you my kindergarten crush. I'm very happy for you and I wish you all the best this world can give.

２日１月２０１１年

2011-01-02T21:00:00.002+08:00

新年。
新生活。
新しい髪形。

Roboto Boya. Roboto Garu. Roboto Minna.

2010-12-20T20:18:00.003+08:00

昨日文化へ時間割をチェックしに行きました。Pre-Advance-級を取るのに予定がないでも私に入られました。理由が分かりません。理由がないです。みつざき先生は厳格な先生ようです。みつざきは難しいとちょっと同じですね。~＿～

なぜがこのことをするんですか。もっと考えたくなりません。もう頭が痛いです。

グライダ

2010-12-08T23:18:00.004+08:00

I took JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) last sunday. It was tougher than I thought. I was inside the train on my way to the test center when I ran through the description of each levels. I found out that N4, which I'm going to take, is same as the old 3-級(level 3). It was too late to get shocked. The test was held at SMU (Singapore Management University). I didn't find it hard to find the exact location of the test center (SMU is a not a small uni) all I need to do is to follow the crowd which seems to be on their way to take the test too. The test started with vocabulary, followed by grammar, and finally, everyone's favorite, listening. I saw my intermediate classmate at Bunka, Cherry, in fact she was sitting just in front of me. We didn't exchange greetings. I'd like to say hi, but I'm not sure if she'll recognize me and the room was so quiet that you can hear heartbeats, so the greeting went unsaid. Exaggeration and excuses.

It was a quick one. I didn't even noticed that it was over. I left the room feeling tired, finding my way through the crowd like a battered salmon on its way against the flow of the river. I plugged my headphone into my music player and listened to capsule, a techno pair. An annoying feeling of emptiness is forcing its way inside my mind synchronizing with every beat. My Japanese class is over. JlPT is over. What's in store for my boring life now?

How to make it interesting???

気分がhigh. 6:15am: before going to the gym for my early morning workout.

2:30pm: Inspecting our almost completed hotel project. (I have to use the stairs since the lift isn't working yet -- 10 storey?? -- *pants)

何を見えるの？

Early year-end summary (2010): a black insipid year

2010-11-26T15:14:00.005+08:00

My monotonous grey life 2010. Bow.

As of November 27, 2010, this floor plan graphically illustrates how messed up my life is

(excerpt)

" I tried to make new friends.

Knowing 'who I was before', this task should be very easy for me. Since I am studying Japanese. Why not look for Japanese friends? I tried social networking sites like facebook and flickr and found some individuals who I think have the same interest as mine. I befriended them and things went smooth.. And fast. very fast. They left my life as quick as they entered. It was like a beautiful thing entered your cone of vision, and even before appreciating it, it was already out of sight. Nowhere to be found. Irrevocably gone. All that is left is a little pain clinging to the ones you already have. I don't hate them. I won't hate them. In fact I am thankful. Very thankful. For I'm almost out of memories and they just supplied me with a new set which will last for i-don't-know-how-long. I wish I can do something for them.

I am writing this during our tea break, inside a toilet cubicle."

(Tsutsugu..)

手紙をまらった

2010-11-13T16:20:00.003+08:00

どきどき。どきどき。どきどき。
４-級の試験まで２６日かかります。
．．
どきどき。

残業の写真

2010-11-08T12:59:00.004+08:00

大変でした。そして、疲れ過ぎましたよ。＠＿＠
やれやれ、終わりました。よかったな。

太るようになってしまいました！

色々な考え

2010-10-11T16:32:00.003+08:00

二週間前違い本を買ってしまいました。先、非実用的なタンブラーを買ったばかりでしまいました。
今から２ヶ月は４級の試験がありますが、用意するがありませんよ！
「どきどき」「わくわく」
恐いよ！

段々悪くなる

2010-10-09T16:10:00.004+08:00

昨日、上司は私に何かするのを尋ねた後くそと言ってしまいました。上司は聞いたか聞かなかったが分かりませんでした。
すぐに勤めを辞めるとおもいます。重い..　気分が重過ぎました。

生命は全然あまり寂しくない

2010-10-02T15:14:00.003+08:00

昨日ヘードフォノをかいました。本当に高い「ヘードフォノ＋Amp＝７１９ｓｇｄ」ですけど、大好きですよ。このヘードフォノの音がとてもすごいですよ！今、通常のイヤホンを使いたくないんです。最初かぶっていた時は外で使えないと思いました。間違ったんです。頭の上に良いです。

ヘードフォノの箱

ゆっくり開けなさい..　ターダー！

AKGヘードフォノとiBASSアンプー

ドモくんは楽しそうよ！｜ドモくん：ボリュームを絞れ！！＠＃％＊

このヘードフォノですから、生命は全然あまり寂しくないと思います。

...今日はいい日です。毎日は同じだといいのですが。

一匹狼の生命

2010-09-26T21:48:00.006+08:00

めんや・しんちゃんのラーメン｜シンガポールで一番ラーメンと思う。

あそこで勉強場まで歩いた。散歩するのがいい。

船が古そうでもまだ色々な人々が使ってる。

クラーキ｜パーチｨ場｜夜でこの場所に人々が多い。

クラーキ｜パーチｨ場｜週末の日で静かようになってる。

この坑道を通った時、気分が奇怪ようになった。

Lost

2010-08-27T12:00:00.003+08:00

Why try so hard to embrace a society that will not accept you as you are.
I can't answer this. I don't know..
..where am I heading to?

It's like falling in love with someone that won't love you back. Yes, it's foolish.

週末の生活

2010-08-26T22:02:00.004+08:00

週末に普通に物を用意することにある。

JLPT-N4 準備できてるの？

2010-08-26T13:01:00.007+08:00

夕べはN4-級のサンプルの試験を取ってみった。　失敗してしまて、だめだった。

簡単なテストだった。でも、まだ合格しない。とても残念だった。１年で日本語を勉強していたが、このことはしかできないよ！
くそ。私の日本語を改善したら、日本で働けないで、この国を出て行くことはできない。
だれか、助けて。

部屋

2010-08-19T11:40:00.005+08:00

痛過ぎ

2010-08-08T22:23:00.005+08:00

時々死にたい。
時々いたくない。

この場所がだんだんもっと嫌いようになる。

日本へ行きたいので、あそこですべてを終わると思う。

新しい人生か最後が分からない。

．．．

痛い。
痛い。
だれか...
助けて。

色々な人々

2010-07-22T13:06:00.009+08:00

iro iro na hito bito
「various, random 」「people 」

Joyce | She only has a name. She is Joyce

I met her at this Korean hair salon. She replaced the one who usually do my hair, Sunny. Joyce was from South Korea and she can speak English, though not so fluent. The first time I saw her, I asked "are you new here" to which she smiled and answered "yes, my name is Joyce." It felt weird, something like we already know each other for quite sometime. Even while she's doing my hair, she would throw random questions and facts, and things which strangers normally don't talk about. She's quite different from her colleagues, she always has this radiant smile and it seems like she's not faking it like everyone else does. On my last visit, while were talking about random things, I asked her if she can speak Japanese, my reason because South Korea is just a few hour away from Japan. She giggled and started to laugh. It was so real. I've been living a life where I'm surrounded with fake things that somehow I acquired this skill which enables me to distinguish what is fake and what is not. Anyway, she only has a name. She is Joyce. She made me smile, not a fake smile

志田先生 Shida Sensei | 「"ありがとうございます。" in red pen」

Well, how to cut this short..
"Dame desu, a-uin san." Sensei's class is where I'd say, I learned how to become a thick faced feeble minded asshole *note: I learned but I didn't changed into that. Here I tried a couple of "kick-the-brick" stunts like acting cool by using grammars which we haven't studied yet, answering questions in the form of jokes (75% of my answers are like that), and even telling my kawaii female classmate the she is an idiot (in a practice conversation). To be honest, I think I'm the only student in this class whom Shida Sensei can tell Dame desu (no good). There are even times when it feels like she's looking down on me. Being the only s.e.asian in the class, I convinced myself to understand and accept the situation I was in. One day, in our class, Sensei returned my corrected Shukudai (homework). Usually it has random corrections in red pen. On the bottom of my paper was something written in Hiragana and further below are 2-3 characters covered with a liquid eraser. Douitashimashite, Shida Sensei. It's been a while since I felt being acknowledged. My deepest and sincere thanks. For those unknown characters, well, there are things which are better left undiscovered.

Mr. Charles | Everyone, speak in English pls.

My boss asked me to go to a site meeting on his behalf -- means I'm going to be him for like, 1-2 hours. This is my first time to handle a meeting in my 3 years in this company. Ok, just act cool and show them that you're an experienced ~~unexperienced~~ substitute ~~wannabe~~. I'm the only one who can't speak and understand mandarin so roughly I know what will be the outcome of the meeting. Every issues was carried out smoothly. Somehow I managed to be a replica of my boss. As usual, "they" will discuss things to themselves (that's what I think) by speaking with their native language. It's fine with me. It's normal here. It's not something rude. No one was disrespected. I just can't understand what they are talking about. I just don't know what will be my next move because I have no idea what was happening. No big deal. Not until the Project Manager from the developer 's side butt in. Everyone was shocked and it was kinda funny to see those puzzled look on their faces. "..Not everyone here can understand Chinese." I never had any positive expectation from that person, actually I used to hate people from the owner/developer's side since they like to push people to work like a horse. So the meeting ended with everyone speaking in English, which was very unusual.

to be continued...

木曜日の練習

2010-07-15T15:14:00.003+08:00

好きなの

2010-07-13T16:56:00.002+08:00

書けるようになりました。

2010-05-11T22:14:00.003+08:00

My interest in Nihongo started when I was 10 years old. Back then, the only study material I had was some puny print outs from anime websites which I downloaded using a less-than-100kb internet connection. I only learned one correct sentence; "sore wa nandesuka."

「kakeru you ni narimashita 」
kakeru (can write) you ni (*pt) narimashita (naru-to become).

Kanji no Renshu: I usually practice my Kanji writing during lunch and tea break. Years ago this was far from possible.

独りで欲しくないよ。

2010-04-30T22:10:00.004+08:00

[ hitori de hoshi ku nai yo. ]
alone want [-] [don't] !

アジセン｜私の日本語の同級

2010-04-30T20:48:00.008+08:00

[ ajisen | watashi no nihongo no doukyuu ]
[ ajisen | my japanese class ]

[ a few hours ago ] I'm in Novena again and decided to have dinner at Square 2. Though I had a not-so-nice experience the last time I went to Ajisen, I still payed the Ramen shop a visit. I flipped through the menu which I already memorized, hoping that there's a new item. I saw this "Paiku Ramen" which looks funny but interesting. I asked the waitress what's the meat on the picture and if it is a pork rib. She answered me with an irritated face saying "..It's Paiku Ramen". Oh ok.. "people can be rude sometimes, just let it go" I said to myself. So they served me this Ramen with four small pieces of odd looking meat. Yes, it was pork ribs, 40% bone, 40% lard and 20% meat, truly Ajisen! My Ramen was accompanied with a bland fried white fish with a silly sauce (mix mayo and sweet chili) and a hot green tea. It may sound exaggerated but the only thing I enjoyed was the green tea. I left Ajisen thinking that It would have been better if I went to the Kopi Tiam (food court) at 4th level.

[ just now: realization ] My Japanese class, which is one of my [very] few source of happiness, is turning sour. Why? Yep, it's because of me and my selfish motives. I'm trying to impress everyone in the class by coming up with a more complicated answer whenever my sensei ask me a question.. and as a result, I keep on making mistakes because I didn't focused on what has been discussed. There was even a time when Shida Sensei asked me a simple question: "donna tanoshi ku narimasuka? [what makes you happy?], and it took me almost a minute before I came out with a "wrong answer". Everyone was looking at me knowing that the question was an easy one. I really felt ashamed of myself whenever I remember that situation. What's more depressing is I keep on repeating the same mistake; failing to answer a simple question. Though I did well in my Kanji quizzes and midterm exam, I still find it hard to answer and to understand verbal questions. Makes me want to pull my hair. So anyway, finals will be on Sunday. Good luck to me.

Shida Sensei, I know that you won't have a chance to read this 99.9%, but I'm really sorry for showing my selfishness and stupidity in your class. You are a nice Sensei and I enjoyed being your student. I'm sorry. Gomen nasai.

It's been more than a month since i last updated this blog. Right now, I'm running out of reasons to keep this running. I find myself aimless.

ないです。

2010-03-14T22:07:00.004+08:00

Rita Eriksen's version of "In My Life" playing..

..[2:05] tears began to pour down. It was so heavy like there were inside my eyes for years.
I want to write what have been happening to me this past few weeks, but it seems like the dark void inside me swallowed all those feelings waiting to be expressed.

..memories getting burned at a faster rate.
What if I'm out of memories to burn?

..pitched-black.

CNY'10

2010-02-13T20:22:00.003+08:00

今日の午後はチャイナ町へ行って、写真をとりました。
とても扱ったけど、家で何もしませんでした。
楽しく為りました。

ウエルカム二千十年

2010-01-21T20:01:00.005+08:00

..suffering from stress because of daily OT, tons of work, sent-from-hell clients and irritating thick-plastic faced colleagues.

..just got home from office and having a high fever.

..

..6 days before my (supposed to be) resignation.

Belated happy new year. Welcome 2010..

つまらないいせかい。

2009-12-13T22:02:00.005+08:00

いま、何もつまらない。だから... 何かしたい。　やれやれ、つまらない。

「My internet connection is acting bitchy again, so photos will be posted later. 」

楽しかったことがありました。

2009-12-07T23:40:00.005+08:00

「tanoshikatta koto ga arimashita 」 - Satou Sensei no Kurasu.
was good (fun) experience it was.

The sentence above was from the first lesson of my Intermediate-1 Japanese Class. It was a make-up class, from 6:30-9:30pm, so I really focused on the lesson -- if it was my regular class, I would have observed my classmates for we will be under 1 class and Sensei for 8 months.

The Sensei on this make-up class, Shida Sensei, is also my Sensei in my regular class which will resume on late December. I still have to discover what kind of class I'll be joining in. Anyway, the fact that I missed Satou Sensei's Sunday afternoon class makes me feel gloomy.

Maybe to sum it all up, my fake smiles became real in Satou Sensei's class. It was a very nice class, so nice that I find it hard to accept that it's over. Again, I'm too tired to elaborate.

..I remember the time when I noticed Satou Sensei's pronounciation of "Blah blah blah" was "Brah brah brah", it's because Japanese find it hard to pronouns the letter L. It made me smile for a moment until a wave of thick grey sadness strangled this thing inside my ribcage. I remember few weeks ago, how I rushed to enroll for the Intermmediate-1 class only to find out that Satou Sensei's Sunday class was already fully booked minutes after our final exam. There was a an I-2 class on January under Satou Sensei, but I ignored it thinking that January is too late. So I took this December class.

I regret the decision I've made.

I remember the first time I went to Bunka where I told myself "You're not here to make acquaintances, your here to learn Nihonggo for your personal goals".

Well then..

..life is a bit unfair this past few months, let's just see the outcome of this reckless move. I've no more things to ask and hope for. I'm fucking tired.

カレーさん™ 「mister curry 」

2009-11-28T18:31:00.005+08:00

きょうは、カレーさん「レストラン」へいきました。かれらのたべものをたべてみました。
「１」やきたてのほたてこめ、と「２」ごほんやきとり、と「３」アイスーコーヒをちゅうもんしました。
あまりおいしくなったけど、たかいでした。S＄３０＝１,９３５円でした。
あのね。。
あまりたかいくて、もし日本にすんでいます。
それからおちゃをにみたいてきぶんがおかしいからです。
グルトーニー！。：D

やきたてのほたてこめ。

やきとり。

アイスーコーヒ。よくありません！

ひとりに＄３１です。いいですか？

これはさいごです。

2009-11-22T21:05:00.004+08:00

これはさいごです。
「kore wa saigo desu.」
- this (sbj) end is
たにしかったけどこれはさいごです。
「tanoshi katta kedo kore wa saigo desu.」
fun it was but this (sbj) end is
いま、またさびしいです。
「ima, mata sabishii desu.」
now, (me/I'm) again lonely is
やれやれ。。。
「yare yare.」
well..
みなさんは、わたしのしんぞうがから、どもありがとうございます。
「minasan wa, watashi no shinzou kara, domo arigatou gozaimasu.」
eveyone (sbj) me (my) heart from, thank you very much.

My elementary II Japanese class has ended.

This is our last day where we took our final exam (shiken). I've mentioned before in one of my post that my class is the only thing that keeps me sane. Now, it's over. I'm moving to another level, in fact, I should feel happy about this. But it affects me the other way around. Maybe I enjoyed too much being with the group that I over-attached myself to them without me knowing it. Anyway, It was fun, I enjoyed every single day we shared in learning Nihonggo. Indeed, it's like a Pikunikku (picnic), people will always come and go.

ひだりからみぎまで「from left to right 」：ショアンさんのかれら Xiaoan San's boyfriend, ショアンさん Xiaoan San, シュイーさん Shui San, マベルさん Mabelle San, シィンさん Shixin San, さとうせんせい Satou Sensei, サムソンさん Samson San, エゥさん Elle San, ダフニさん Daphne San, ヤニさん Yani San, アウィンさん Erwin San.

おありましょう　「let's start!.」

さようなら。「sayounara.」

エレベーターでしゃしんをとりました。

2009-11-19T22:33:00.004+08:00

「erebeetaa de shashin o torimashita 」 elevator in/at pictures (i) took

If your hobby is taking pictures and you usually do it alone, chances are you won't have a photo of yourself. So I came up with -- エレベーターフォトグラフィー。「erebeetaa fotogurafii 」 The thing I like about this stupid hobby is for every trip, you only have a couple of seconds to prepare. Along with gravity (going up or down) and the fear of getting caught by other passengers, this activity will sure give you some adrenalin rush to pump you up during lazy office hours. So why not give it a try! がんばって！「ganbatte 」

Location: International Plaza, 1st-19th floor and vice-versa, Lift no. [who knows]. Equipment: 5mp nokia N97, Erebeetaa.

Yes or No to Post-Processing

2009-11-11T00:06:00.003+08:00

I've been thinking if it's better to post-process my photos or just leave them as they are before posting them here. I would love to hear from you, my dear invisible viewers [ you can drop your comments at: fb, ym, flickr, or.. here? :| ].

全素地、浅くさ、東京、日本。　Zensoji Temple, Asakusa, Tokyo Japan. Before and after post-processing.

ふるいいしゃしん

2009-11-08T20:23:00.002+08:00

「furuii shashin 」 Old photos.

いちねんかんまえにふろいしゃしんをみつけたんだ。
「ichinenkan mae ni furoi shashin wo mitsuketandesu 」
I found some old photos which are taken more than a year ago.

Might as well post them here rather than letting them rot. These are the photos while I'm in the process of falling apart. Now, as I've lost something that enabled me to take these photos, I'm just like a [used] overused tooth brush. Though I can't be used to brush your teeth, I can still be helpful in removing stains from your dirty nuts and bolts.

Here are the photos.

なにもできなかった

2009-11-08T20:03:00.003+08:00

「nani mo dekinakatta 」nothing, couldn't do. I couldn't do anything.

Another wave of depression banged on face. A fever-causing type. Anyway, I feel so tired that I can't even express myself -- just another excuse for my lame writing skills. [ lame skill? wtf. ]

Oh yeh, I took some photos yesterday. Watching people at boat quay (Singapore river) is becoming a habit. Here they are.

くつをかいました。

2009-11-06T21:09:00.004+08:00

[ kutsu o kaimashita ] I bought a pair of shoes.

Got a phone call from adidas, the stock that I've requested finally arrived. やっぱり！Lunch break wasn't a bad time to shop.

アヂダス™シｨーロー。　adidas™ciero.

Ice-Cold Life

2009-11-01T20:42:00.007+08:00

The only thing that keeps me sane is my Japanese class. It's from 2:00-5:00 p.m., 3 hours of tranquility and bliss is so fast that it hurts when I look at my watch and realize that a few more minutes and the class will end.

Before and after that is Hell.

せんせいとみなさんは、どもありがとうございまうす。
sensei to mina san wa domo arigatou gozaimasu.

旅行に日本。 ryokou ni nippon. - Day 4

2009-10-25T20:43:00.006+08:00

Day 4 was the time for me to enjoy my trip without taking too much photos. It feels a bit different because since Day 1 I've been carrying my camera and it's heavy, plus the fact that I'm not a fan of those neck straps (think how heavy is a dslr beefed up with a battery pack and a not-your-very-heavy-almost-1KG lens, WITHOUT a neck strap). You really need to get used to it or else you'll end up hurting your wrist. This day is for me to summarize my trip, though I still have 1 more Day left which is purely dedicated to packing my stuff and some panic buying. As I look back on the previous days, I can say that a large percent of my shots are photos of people, or should I say it belongs to a category *they call street photography -- street photog wannabe here! I love candid shots and where else would I want to take candids? Oh yes, Tokyo! I like the street fashion here and the modern Japanese culture you can see and feel on the streets. If you're into POPculture, colours, neon lights, nike dunk (low) ???!, then Tokyo is the place you should go. I'm not saying that there are no other place in the world that offers those things, Its just that the way they are expressed in Japan is very unique, something which I can say "only in Japan".

Anyway, It really is a comfort walking around with your camera inside your bag rather than carrying it everywhere using a hand strap. But still, Tokyo is a place where I couldn't help taking photos. So here is my last set.

Back to my favorite street in Tokyo -- Takeshita Douri.

Nice hair dude.

The eyebrows says it all. "Gomenasai Oneesan".

Great response on my last photo walk day.

Inside a restaurant on the 12th storey of the mall at Tokyo Station. Nice atmosphere, waitresses in komono, a view of Tokyo (this is the only view we had since there are lots of customers), let's wait for the food..

I enjoyed this small portion of sashimi which is included in my "Unagi Setto".

Unagi Setto. A whopping Y6350. But for that price, you get a nice tasty "ooki (big) unagi". "Oishii (delicious)! Dai Suki! (i like it very much)". Down with food photos, I'm hungry!

Beefu Setto. Another whopping Y6000+. I'm almost out of $$$, fortunately I had my card with me. *Wheew* that was close. :)

Yakiniku (grilled meat). Combinations of pork tongue, inverted intestine, cheek, liver, and.. uterus. Yes, uterus.

It's been almost 3 months since my trip.. it took me 3 months to blog my trip?!!!! What a busy man I am. So anyway,
this ends my Ryoukou ni Nippon Post. All I can say is I enjoyed my trip and this won't be the last. To my "invisible" readers/viewers (if I have any or else I'm just talking to myself), Thank You for visiting my blog. Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu!

旅行に日本。 ryokou ni nippon. - Day 3

2009-10-11T19:36:00.005+08:00

日暮里（にっぽり） Nippori

I really don't have a clue about this place. It just happen to appear in my almost-torn tour brochure and since we're planning to visit Central Tokyo, which is just a few stations away, why not pay a visit to this mysterious place. Nippori station is not as crowded as the other main JR Yamanote stations, I can say that it's quite dead and that makes me wonder, "am I in Tokyo?". So we just followed the trail on the brochure and yes, it's really a place for the dead with temples-cum-cemeteries as one of its attractions. Nippori is also home to old-fashioned neighborhoods in Tokyo -- means less noise and less people at night, and less life. There is also an old-fashioned shopping street (Shotengai) called Yanaka Douri (Yanaka Street) where you can find old-fashioned stuff and surprisingly delicious old-fashioned delicacies.

At Nipprori staion: old fashioned place combined with a very hot summer is not something I will enjoy.

Even the staff at "Makurodonarudo" Nippori (Mc Donalds) wears old-fashioned Mc Donalds uniform - Retro, kewl.

Red is the complementary color of Green, and if that applies to this scene.. is this categorized as sustainable architecture? -- nevermind, Geeky thought.

Hongyo-Ji Temple. Also called Tsukimidera Temple -- temple for viewing the moon.

According to my stock knowledge, the star-like crest below is of the late Ieasu Tokugawa. If so, then this is a very old temple!

At the back of the temple.. is a graveyard. They use these wooden piles to name the owner of the tomb.

Kyoo-Ji Temple. The temple next door. :)

Nippori's Shotengai (shopping street), Yanaka Douri. This is supposed to be a crowded street. (view from Yunake Dandan)

Yunake Dandan (sunset stairway). They say the view here at night is nice.

We tried to help the old lady but she quickly replied "gomenasai, gomenasai." (I'm sorry) Startled with her reply, we just let her pass.

The supposed-to-be-very-busy Yanaka Douri.

The sun is already at its peak, TOTEMO ATSUKATA!! (it was very hot) I think this is the place they call "Hebi Douri" (snake street) because of its snake like path.

Ahh, the old-fashion feel.

The quiet neighborhood of Nippori. It was like I'm in a different dimension.

It was a relief to see these ladies, otherwise passing all those streets would be lifeless -- literally no presence of human beings especially at Hebi Douri.

Zensho-Ji Temple. This is the biggest temple in Nippori with a big Tori.

The path going up is full of orange Tori's. I wonder what's the story behind its color.

I'm contemplating on the wonders of those rounded shrubs but the heat is getting inside my head.. argh!

Some old-fashioned house.
Another Temple.
Another another temple. :)

Another temple?!!!! Fortunately this is not a temple. It's an old Sake house.

Part of an entrance way to.. another temple!!!

Smells like Tatami spirit.

This place has a spooky atmosphere, maybe these monks doesn't want to be photographed.
Update: these are the Edo guardian deities for children.

Nippori neighborhood is a combination of residential blocks and temples at every corner of the street, and also cemeteries.

Enmei-In Temple.

東京（とうきょう） Tokyo (Central)

So far, all the places that we have seen in this Ryokou ni Nippon post is in Tokyo except for Chiba. But let me call this place Central Tokyo, not only because Tokyo station is located here (duh), but also this is the Tokyo that we all know (addressing non-Japanese). This is the central business district of Japan, though I think some of the main wards in Tokyo has their own business district. The Imperial Palace can be found here though both foreigners and locals cannot enter the palace unless there is an official scheduled tour. A short train ride on Tokyo's Oedo subway line will take you to the Eiffel towers's painted-in-red twin, the Tokyo Tower -- the symbol of Tokyo. Though this is Tokyo's center, I find the other wards more interesting perhaps because majority of the people here are focused on business.

High-rise buildings surrounds the Tokyo station and construction of more structures are on its way.

Part of the east (or south) garden that surrounds the Imperial palace. A haven for the homeless.

How about a bench under the shade of the trees on a very hot summer afternoon.

A touch of Zen.

So this is the Imperial Palace... warehouse. No chance of seeing the actual palace since there was no available scheduled tour.

Nihonbashi Bridge. You must pass this bridge to get to the main entrance of the Imperial Palace.

Reminds me of a Murakami short story: A Chance Traveller.

Honestly, this was my first time to actually see a green building. Grass facade, anyone?

The symbol of Tokyo: Tokyo Tower. That's all. :) Actually, there is a viewing deck near the spire of the tower but the queu was very long, and there is also another city view nearby, so sayounara Tokyo tower.

A post-modern structure called NOA Building. We saw this on our way to the next ward, Roponggi.

六本木（ろっぽんぎ） Roponngi

Roppongi is one of the district of Minato Ward in Tokyo. It is known for its foreigner-friendly nightlife scene (not all bars in Tokyo are foreigner-friendly :D ). Roppongi, and other surrounding districts like Azabu and Akasaka, is home to a large expat ( gaijin :D ) community. So if you are wandering alone in this area, it won't be very hard to ask around unlike in other parts of Tokyo. We went to Roppongi for one reason: the queu for the Tokyo Tower viewing deck was veeeerrrrry long and we heard that there is a tower called "Mori" which can give you the same view but 3/4's less queu. This Mori Tower is located at Roponggi Hills, a shopping and dining haven. And indeed, you can enjoy a 360deg. city view of Tokyo. I didn't enjoy Roponggi that much, maybe this is a place for people who like to shop and dine.

It was my first trip to Japan and I was amazed by these women wearing Kimono on the modern busy streets of Tokyo. I know that it's normal in JP but still, I find it kewl. Maybe I'd jump in joy if I saw a Geisha. (yeh, my happiness is like a shallow well).

One of the shots that I really like was from Roppongi. It could be anywhere else, but why in Roppongi?

Nothing special, I just like the building's facade. Archi peep, quite nice right?

The mori tower. And we're going up.

So you're not that tall, I'm glad I didn't queu for your viewing deck (talking to that red tower over there).

The view is not really very nice. I think it's more on the feeling that it can give -- you're up there and all things inside your head seems to free themselves (that sort of feeling).

It's strange how you can see a very busy city below and still feel peaceful just because you're high above. That's what I felt.

I admit, I spent most of my energy on the first two days of my trip. Day 3 is when I felt a hint of exhaustion and it's like all my excitment was drained. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every single day on this trip and will still enjoy it on my next visit. Next is Ryokou ni Nippon Day 4.

旅行に日本。 ryokou ni nippon. - Day 2

2009-09-13T22:31:00.008+08:00

浅草（あさくさ） Asakusa

Asakusa is one of the most conserved areas in Tokyo. The atmosphere of old Edo can still be felt in this place, (Edo is the old name of Tokyo). If you've watched the anime, Rurouni Kenshin, then you may have an idea what Edo looks like. It is used to be Tokyo's leading entertainment district, known for Kabuki Theaters and large red light districts. You can still see tight alleys lined up with old houses which now serves as tourist attractions, while others are converted into souvenir shops and restaurants. One of the best known attraction here is the Sensoji Temple which is Tokyo's most famous and oldest temple.

うえの Ueno. Ueno is 4-5 mins. away from Asakusa by train. We went here first since this is the only place we know where we can find an access to the Ginza subway line that will take us to Asakusa. I'm curious about this bar's interior, probably different from the rusty corrugated G.I. facade Brutalism themed design. I'll never know.

Aside from Ueno Park, which is not part of our photo walk route, I don''t know any other place of interest in Ueno. This street offers bargained goods which is as low as Y100. Like all other streets in Tokyo, it is lined up with commercial and entertainment establishments.

Must be livelier in the evening.

At last, Asakusa! We were very hungry so before anything else, must fill in our stomach first. Itadakimasu! (bon apetite).

Edo Sushi. They may look like your ordinary Sushi which you can get from any Japanese restaurants, but this one is oh-soooishii-fresh!!!

Chinese crispy noodles. Nothing special (maybe because I've tried a lot of this back in SG).

This is the weirdest Katsudon I've had. I don't know if the chef have combined the concept of Katsudon and Omu rice here. As I cut the thin layer of scrambled egg, a steam-like smoke came puffing out! Sugoi ne! (amazing!)

One of the souvenir shops in Nakamise -- a shopping street which will lead you to the main grounds of Sensoji Temple.

Nakamise. From souvenirs like Kimono and Yukata to popular skewered snacks, you can find a lot of classical Japanese stuff in this street. The only problem is, how to fit all those souvenirs in to your luggage.

Freshly baked Takoyaki (octpous balls) and Okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza). Oishii sou (looks delicious).

Sensoji people. August is the summer vacation month in Japan so the crowd here is a mix of foreign and local tourist. Some locals came all the way from the far north, Hokkaido! (it's funny how normal facts amuses me).

Kaminarimon, the front entrance gate (outer gate). This is the symbol of Asakusa. Before my trip I tried to search for Asakusa at flickr, and there it was, tons of Kaminarimon photos!

Lantern of lanterns. I don't understand why there is a Nazi emblem on the brass part of the lantern.

Hozomon, the main/inner gate. On the wall is some kind of.. rope art I don't know what to call it.

5-storey pagoda converted into a museum. I don't know what's inside and I''m more interested in the scenery so..

Kameraman San waiting for a subject. I heard that Photography in Japan is a known hobby for old people.

Those thick wires are use for hanging small papers which you can get randomly from a small box. You will hang the paper only if the one you got contains bad luck (in the form of notes written inside). I didn't try my luck for I'm satisfied with this photo -- Kawai ne!!!

A couple trying their luck. Oh well, good luck. Ganbatte ne.

I think these teens are from suburban areas like Chiba and Saitama. Tokyo teens are a bit "different".

What the world needs, I saw in Asakusa.

Dragon Fountain. A concrete and steel version of the one we found at Meiji Jingu. The water is also cool and very inviting to the thirsty throat.

The curse of the Dragon Fountain. Funny pose but still Kawaii.

Inviting the smoke. Is this a Buddhist or a Shinto practice?

Jin Rikisha (human powered rickshaw). Obaasan (old woman) doesn't look convinced with the rickshaw man's explanation/story.

The people of Old Edo (minus the highlights). A strange excitement electrified my senses as I came across these people.

Conserved Asakusa back alleys brings back the days of pre-war Japan.

What the world needs, I saw in Asakusa (2).

Kawaii!!!

Kawa... Kireii!!! (beautiful)

One last look at the symbol of Asakusa, the big red lantern with the unknown Kanji.

Sayounara Asakusa. Sayounara Edo.. of all things, I forgot to take a picture of the Sensoji Temple!!! Yare yare.. Daijobou. (haaay *sigh*.. oh well, it's ok).

秋葉原（あきはばら） Akihabara

Looking for out-of-this-world gadgets which will make you the coolest kid in the neighborhood? Are you a big fan of Anime and want to see the real thing, in the flesh? All you have to do is book a flight to Japan and go to this place called Akihabara (I wish it can be that easy). I've heard the name before when I stumbled upon this Anime called "Cyber Team Akihabara", they are an all female group which fights evil while dressed in maid uniforms. In fact, there are cafes in this place where you will be served by waitresses dressed in maid uniforms - the Maid Cafe. Indeed, Akihabara can be called cyber as it is Tokyo's "Electric City". It is the only ward in Tokyo which is filled with electronics and gadgets, and Anime. Akihabara is also the center of Anime culture in Japan, I'm not so sure if this is the birthplace of Anime though. You can find Anime-related shops in almost every corner of this place. You can even see your favorite Anime characters walking on side walks and chatting with non-Anime people -- I think this is something which is very common with Tokyo people.

The Electric City. All these buildings are filled with yummy gadgets and electronics. As my time is very limited, I didn't get to snap some of the only-in-Japan gadgets which many will find weird but oh so Cool.

One of the leading electronics shop, Faox.

Ahh.. remember the days of S-nes, Atari, Nintendo, and of course, Sega.

Anime Billboard. I would die starring at this if I've seen this during my Anime addiction days.

May I present, The Maids of Akihabara.

Shy Maid. Actually, if they saw someone carelessly snapping around, they will quickly hide inside one of the shops. The maids are giving away leaflets to advertise their respective Maid Cafes. Photographers, shooters, tourists, mind your own efking business and leave them alone! *clicks*

The Neko (cat) Maid.

The Gossip Maid. I wonder what are they talking about.. "are wa otokonoko ga bake desu." (that man is an idiot)

The Rabbit Maid.

Maid with Glasses. (i'm not good with descriptions..)

The Chubby Maid with Big Fluffy Ears.

Maid in Natural Light.

Simply Kirei, nice piercing too. Kirei..

Angry eyebrows?

Akihabara Crowd.

お台場（おだいば） Odaiba

Odaiba is a man-made island constructed in the bays of Tokyo wayback during the Edo Period. Now this place is one of the Futuristic tourist attractions in Tokyo. Even going here is already an attraction as you will be riding an elevated train called Yurikamome which will let you see the whole area in one single trip. There are a lot of popular spots here like the Rainbow Bridge and the big Tokyo Ferris Wheel, but the thing that pushed me to go here is the 1:100 scale Gundam. Yes, 1:100 scale. They had it built for the Gundam's 10th anniversary. Too bad it will only be there from August to late September. So for Gundam fans out there, better luck next time (wait for the 11th anniversary).

Gundam RX-78. I've never watched the series in which this Gundam belongs. The only Gundam TV series I've watched are Gundam Wing, Gundam-G, and Gundam Seed. From the design I can tell that this is one of the first Gundams invented.

Gundam San Mug Shot. When the Gundam moved its head all people began muttering the word "Sugoi" (amazing).

I wonder if this thing will be a future weapon, who knows. North Korea got Taepodong and Japan got Gundam!

The Gundam at night.

Gundam San has lots of fans.

Some are so amazed, they started acting weird.

EF 24-105mm L IS USM.

Fashion photogs?

This group is competing with the Gundam for attention. They got 1 Gundamn too!!

This ends Day 2 of "Ryokou ni Nippon". Stay tuned for Day 3.

旅行に日本。 ryokou ni nippon. - Day 1

2009-08-29T21:34:00.035+08:00

池袋（いけぶくろ） Ikebukuro

We found a hotel in Ikebukuro, one of the major areas on the JR Yamanote line. Y6000 (S$92) per night for a double bed, that was cheap (!!!) considering that the standard budget single room is Y6500. Ikebukuro is a quite-ok place, your standard commercial district. It's pretty similar to other areas in Tokyo; people are everywhere, slight traffic jams, Pachinko parlors in every corner, etc. If you want to explore Tokyo area, you will be needing a hotel which is at least close to one of the major stations of the JR Yamanote line. Ikebukuro is a nice place if you're looking for accomodations, lots of budget hotels to choose from.

It's just 10:30am in the morning and they are already calling people for lunch. Their shop serves rice toppings but I want Ramen.

Tsukumen. I don't know if this is a variety of Ramen. It comes with the noodles (on a separate bowl) and a thick stock for dipping. You can have the noodles hot or cold.

The Stock. This is the dipping where you will.. dip the noodles. Is it really called a "dipping"? This one has a Miso based stock. Nice combination.

Ikebukuro at night. Quite similar to Shinjuku and Shibuya, only less lights, less people, and less entertainment establishments.

Gyoza. Now this one's full packed with meat!

I-forgot-the-name Ramen. Maybe it's a Shio or Shoyu Ramen. At last, a taste of the real ramen -- salty, oily, おいし！(oishii!) - delicious) Japanese joints in Singapore had their Ramen adjusted to the local taste so I'm glad I finally tried an original.

Another Tsukumen. A cold version.

Thicker, richer, hotter, and tastier dipping! ~ すき！(suki - i like)

Can you guess what is she holding? Positive!

原宿 (はらじゅく) Harajuku

Harajuku refers to the area around Harajuku station. One of the main attractions of this place is the extreme Japanese teen fashion -- Cosplay. In Japan, in my own opinion, the Anime are the people themselves. I can see teens wearing Anime wear while going around the city and it's very normal in Japan. Teens usually gather around Harajuku station for Cosplays on Sunday afternoon, too bad my return flight is on Friday. It also offers shopping for adults and some historical places like the Meiji Jingu.

I'm actually looking for the "Harajuku Girls" which refers to the extreme fashioned females but hey isn't a girl in Harajuku also called a "Harajuku Girl"? Nah, lame thought. *I just learned from Wikipedia that Gwen Stefan's 5 female Asian back-up dancers are called Harajuku Girls.

She's one with her thoughts. What is she thinking?

And who said only females can have a blown dyed hair?

Overpass connecting Harajuku and Omotesando. I never thought an overpass would be a nice place to explore your inner thoughts and feelings. Take a look at the mobile phone. There are a lot of i-phone killers in Japan! I tried to get one, but since Japan has its own network which makes their mobile phone unusable outside the country, I dropped the plan.

Nice combination. Brown hair and green.. green.. whatever you call that thing.

"Hey man, you look great today!" "Really? How's the fringe inside my shades? Cool huh." Oops. They are girls.

明治人具 (めいじじんぐ) Meiji Jingu

Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu) is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirit of Emperor Meiji. It is only a few minutes walk from Harajuku station. The weather is still quite gloomy with a light drizzle, thanks to the huge trees, we didn't get wet.. too much.

とりい (torii - entrance gate) The main entrance gate is huge, telling us the the enshrined spirit here is from someone who had great power and influence.

This is the path you have to take to get to the main shrine. It has a very calm atmosphere and the sound of the pebbles against your shoes compliments well with the whole surrounding.

さけのかばん (sake no kaban - bags of sake). We found this along the way. Quite a wonderful sight where 100 bags of sake are stacked on top of each other. I wonder what's the story behind this.

Little Shrine. You can find two structures just before the main entrance to the shrine. One of them is this so-called mini shrine.

This is the other structure which is facing the "mini shrine". It has a spring water fountain made with bamboo wood. You can use this to wash your hands. Maybe the washing of hands is a form of ritual. You can even drink the spring water!

The main entrance to the inner cloister.

Cut blocks of wood where you can write your wishes, or whatever you feel like writing.

The main shrine. Ookii! (big)

Purple is the new in-thing. The Shinto priest didn't want us to take a picture of him, but my hands moved by itself and took a shot. "Komenasai Shintosan"

Another spring fountain. I tried the water here since no one is around.. definitely better than bottled water!

表三度 (おもてさんど) Omotesando

Omotesando is an avenue that begins at the upper part of Harajuku and ends at the foot of Takeshita Dori. It has wide sidewalks lined with trees, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. If you're coming from this direction, it would be a nice approach towards Meiji Jingu.*I found out from Wikipedia that its name has a connection with the shrine; Omote (frontal) and Sando (approach). It's quite similar to Orchard road but most of the crowd are made up of the younger generation, maybe because just opposite of it is the Takeshita Douri, a long, teen concentrated street.

Wide sloping sidewalk lined with trees and shops, the Omotesando trademark. More benches are provided on the other side of this avenue, and that's where the teenagers are.

Crossing the street with her Jitensha (bike) and Keitai Denwa (mobile phone).

I noticed that hats/caps/headgear(?!) are common accessories for females in Japan.

I've read about "Barbie Girls" from Hitomi Kanehara's Auto Fiction, she resembles one of them.

Just imagine this avenue during autumn, brown and yellow-orange leaves falling on the ground.

A signature style of the famous Japanese architect, Toyo Ito. The concept is to make the building look like a tree and that works better in the evening where all those concrete braces becomes silhouettes.

This Louie Vuitton store occupies 5-storey of this 10-storey building. It is known as the company's largest store as of 2002. Designed by Jun Aoki.

You can also find shops selling antiques, souvenirs and vintage kitchenware in this trendy avenue.

This is where Omotesando and Takeshita Douri intersects, an area dominated by teenagers. I really love the atmosphere in this area, it's like a place where you can showcase the real you through style and fashion.

竹下道理 (たけしたどうり) Takeshita Douri

If there is one place in Harajuku that you must see, it would be Takeshita Douri (Takeshita Street). I believe that this is the focal point of Harajuku where most teen fashions are born. The entrance to this street is just opposite of Harajuku station exit B(?). The first thing you will notice is the jam-packed crowd. I've seen narrow streets full of people but this street is really different and very unique. Shops, botiques, cafes and fast food joints are lined up on both sides of the street which cater mostly to Tokyo's teenagers. If you want to shop for clothings, accesories, and teen stuff, you'll find this place very interesting, not to mention that items here is not as expensive as those in the opposite avenue, Omotesando. I really enjoyed this place so much that I went back one more time before the day of my departure. Truly only in Japan!

Narrow street. I feel like I'm a salmon forcing its way up against the flow of the river.

The one-shade-of-brown/red/yellow hair that I really admire.

Weird looking man giving away leaflets. Weird because of the sharp and expressionless look, fashion wise, quite common in this area.

A haven for teenagers, especially for girls. I wonder why most shops here are for females.

渋谷 (しぶや) Shibuya

Shibuya is one of the most colorful places in Tokyo at night (second to Shinjuku[??]). Neon lights and bright screens dominates the facade of the buildings. Oh how I love bright lights!!! Shibuya is also a very busy place, I realized this when I saw the large crowd crossing the not-your-average intersection. Just watching those people gave me a feeling of amazement. Such a nice representation of a busy place. Just outside the Shibuya station are tall buildings which is very popular for shopping and entertainment, I find it hard to imagine getting bored in this place. You can still see high concentration of teens near the train station exit, and the rest of the crowd are from mixed age groups.

From Harajuku, It will take around 15 minutes to Shibuya by foot.

The tower records building. 8 or 9 storeys all for music.

Streets of Shibuya. Shopping, shopping and of course, shopping.

The great intersection. The large crowd crossing this intersection is an amazing view, people are coming from every direction, just like a scene from a movie.

Huge neon advertisement boards for people to stare at. I just hope I can read the Kanji.. need to brush up my nihonggo.

Some scenes from Hitomi Kanehara's Auto Fiction. Feels good to see in real life what you've read.

Stuck on a bench while playing psp in the middle of a crowded area.

新宿 (しんじゅく) Shinjuku

Locals and tourists claims that Shinjuku is one of the best place (if not the best) to see and experience nightlife in Tokyo. Unfortunately we were very exhausted when we arrived at Shinjuku (this is the last place that we explored before going back to the hotel). I've learned from Japan-guide.com that Shinjuku station is the busiest station in Japan but from what I saw it has no difference with Shibuya, maybe because it's summertime and a number of workers in Tokyo went back to their hometowns for summer vacation. Be aware that you might get lost in the station since more than 10 railways and subways are located in the same location -- indeed a very busy place. We didn't get to see the popular skyscrapers but we went to the largest red light district in Japan, Kabuki-Cho. If I'm amazed by the lights at Shibuya then Kabuki-Cho doubles, or even triples the amount of light! Neon signs here and there, lots people wandering around, and middle-aged men advertising their.. you-know-what. I am very convinced that Shinjuku is the most colorful place in Japan at night.

The Shinjuku crowd near the station. I think after summer this place will be more crowded.

Pachinko. This is my first time to peek inside a Pachinko parlor, but this one is quite unusual becuase of the super transparent glass. Usually, glassess are tinted or covered with signages.

I called this the Pachinko street since both sides are lined up with Pachinko Parlors.

Pachinko girl wearing a Kimono, another classic meets modern atmosphere.

The streets around Kabuki-Cho. Not so crowded which is quite unusual.

Welcome to Kabuki-Cho, Japans largest red-light district. It is named after a Kabuki theatre. Both sides are lined up with establishments for both sexes. Be cautious when exploring this area, I heard that both Yakuza and Chinese Mafia are operating here.

Lights, lights, and more lights!

In Kabuki-Cho everyone needs.. ?

At first, I'm a bit afraid to take photos here, but after getting used to the crowd I'm back again to panic-shoooting.

After Shinjuku, we were very very tired and decided to call it a day. All I can say is the long walks are worth it, Tokyo is a nice place may it be on daytime or nigh time. This ends Day 1 of "Ryokou ni Nippon". Stay tuned for Day 2.

旅行に日本。 ryokou ni nippon. - Arrival

2009-08-29T17:14:00.016+08:00

*The title translates to "travel to/at Japan" --> Trip to Japan.

August 9, 2009. Sunday. 4:30 am. McDonalds. Terminal 3. Changi Airport.
"FInally, I'm going to Japan." This thought keeps on repeating itself as I drank my tasteless lukewarm milo. I planned to go there last year on my birthday, but things went wrong and so the plan vanished into thin air. Now, I'm just waiting for the boarding gates to open and in a short while I'm officially starting my trip.

A Background (you can skip this one :D ): I was a die-hard anime fan. My anime craze started in my mid-elementary days (3rd grade - 9 y.o.). Back then Dragon Ball Z was the most popular anime, and the network airing the anime claimed that it's the number one "cartoons" in asia. I was on the 6th grade when I started creating manga-inspired comics. It was a hit! -- only in my classroom. It got too far when one of my classmates asked me to try a "hentai" type of comics. Unfortunately, we got caught and comic-making ended. Years passed and high school days came (13-16 y.o.). The craze became an addiction. I dedicated my allowance in buying anime stuff - cards, shirts, cd's, manga, etc. I remembered the 4:30 habit, where two giant networks aired 3 consecutive animes which starts at 4:30 in the afternoon. That is my so-called quality time. It was also during high school that I've tried to learn Nihongo through self-study. I downloaded articles from the web, watched the "Learn to Speak Japanese" on sky cable, and I even tried to converse with a Japanese kid in my school using only "kore wa nan desuka" (what is this) -- maybe the kid thought I'm crazy. There was this anime that really had some impact on my character, it was "Neon Genesis Evagelion", and until now there are still some existing traits that I have acquired from that anime. College started, and slowly my bond with anime deteriorated and after graduating I thought it was out of my system.

The point of this boring backround is that my desire to go for a Japan trip and my liking of the Japanese culture started with anime.

Ok. Back to the trip. It took 7 hours to reach Narita airport. By the way, I got a cheap flight throu zuji.com (united airways for 699SGD), you may want to visit the website for cheap flights. My brother picked me up at the airport and so we went our way. The plan is I'm going to spend the night in his place then we'll look for a hotel on the next day.

My advice: book your hotel 3-4 weeks in advance. Almost all of the hotels, ahem.. budget hotels, are fully booked 1 week before my arrival.

ARRIVAL: on our way to Chiba.

We took a train from Narita airpot to the Narita terminal (30 mins.). Train tickets are of different types, more than 6 if I'm not mistaken, not like in Singapore where there's only two.

The Narita Terminal. We're going to transfer to two more lines before reaching our destination. The weather was gloomy and I was having some negative thoughts for the days to come. Rain, rain, go away!

The Yamanote Train which will take you to Ueno, and from there, you can take the Jr Yamanote Line (one big loop) if you want to go around Tokyo area.

Trying some candids. I still have to adjust to this new environment. ;) ~excuses!

First sighting of a fully-dyed-to-the-tip-anime-like hair. Well, not really anime-like.

We waited for 30 mins. (trains here can be very stubborn). Good chance to take pictures of people. But since I'm tired I only got one clear shot.

The train that will take us to Chiba, Ibaraki Prefecture. We experienced a mild eathquake while inside the train. The train was really shaking but to other passengers, it seems like nothing happened. That's.. cool.

Too tired? I was a bit cautious on shooting people inside the train though no one is looking towards my direction. If they (passengers) are not sleeping, they're too focused on their mobile phones. You really can tell who's a new comer. A very quiet train ride.

Finally, Chiba! Streets are not really this dark, this is the back alley shortcut.

おべんと　O-bento! I was dead-hungry (didn't ate much of the plane food, I think you know why) so we tried to look for a place where we can have dinner, but all the food shops are closed. Lucky there's a bento you can always rely on.

My nameless bento. Mixed ingredients with noodle and sesame stock(?) below.

Pork rice topping bento for bro.

As I was too tired, there's nothing much in this Chiba post. And by the way, Chiba is like a semi-province. It's only 1 hour from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo but the atmosphere here is very different. A very quiet place. I remember calling it a ghost town due to the lack of people roaming on the streets. The next post will be the start of my city photo walk, stay tuned.

Dear Me

2009-08-02T00:30:00.013+08:00

I woke up very tired. My body feels like it’s being electrocuted with massive voltage, leaving my whole physical being numb. I don’t feel fresh. My mouth is so dry. It’s like I’ve done tons of work while sleeping. A heavy and uncomfortable atmosphere envelopes my room and it keeps me glued onto my bed. The only thing that caused me to get up is the fact that I have to be in the office at 9:30am and I’ve used every ounce of energy left in my weathered body to do that.

It’s a Saturday.

Only three people in the office. Me, my boss and a colleague. I was doing my job just like what I’m doing everyday. Same pace, no complains, and my eyes only knows one view – the monitor and the army of lines it shows. Hands clicking and typing commands on a constant rhythm. The sound they make is the only known sound to my ear. Body is still numb. Mind’s a big mess. Enough with what I’m feeling, I must generate a good floor plan to have something to discuss with my boss on Monday. I switched myself to autopilot, robot mode.

I didn’t finished my work.

I left the office around 12 plus. I still have to rush some unfinished homework and my autopilot system crashed. I was in a bad shape inside-out. Veggie-infested sandwich for lunch. Must eat less for I haven’t paid a visit to the gym for almost two weeks. After filling myself with puny energy I went to a quiet food court to finish my homework. Unfortunately I lost the materials I needed for my homework. How? I don’t know. I still got 3 hours. So I rushed out of the office to do nothing. Nice. I checked my bag again and I found out that I also left some lecture materials that I’ve printed in the office. I want to pull every strand of hair on my head. But then I would be bald if I do so. I abandoned the foolish thought. I went to delfi ahead of time and decided to ask some extra homework materials from my sensei. The receptionist told me that sensei was in room “no.__” for the early afternoon class. I waited, approximately, for 2 hours. sensei was not in room “no.__”.

8:00pm. Class dismissed.

Actual time is 4:30pm-7:30pm. 30 minutes extension. More than the usual homework. I’m the second one to leave the room, the first one is a female sit-in student from another class. I rushed to the toilet to take a piss. I walked from my classroom to the toilet at the end of the corridor like there was a puppeteer controlling my arms and legs. It was one of the shortest and tiresome walk I’ve ever had. My head now is like a messy mess. I saw sensei on my way to the escalator and he greeted me sayounara to which I nod in reply. Right there and then I realized that there was strange nothingness in the corridor. The sound of my classmates and other students chatting seems so distant like it was from a different time. A time that existed without my existence. I can’t imagine that a few minutes ago there were people walking on this corridor. Everything was gray. No sign of life. Colorless. Insipid. I was already outside of delfi when I noticed the short gaps between my breath. I was gasping. I didn’t run. But I’m catching my breath. I shook my head. All right, I’m still alive.

Inside the train.

I want to cry. I want to shout. I want everything to end. Not that I’m thinking of suicide, in fact I don’t believe in taking one’s own life. I just want to stop existing. My drive to continue life is at its lowest point. It’s not even qualified for the word “drive”. Now, my head is a total mess. Take this scene as an example: a gun, bullets on the floor, still warm blood, some brain pieces, and my head in a total mess.

Just had a haircut.

I decided to alight at the next station. My reason, I have to cut myself away from the pathetic feeling which was eating me, like how rust eats steel. And so I decided to go to the nearest barbershop/salon to have my haircut. I ended up in a Korean unisex salon. A female Korean hair stylist did my hair. She can’t communicate in English and I used hand signs and words like “short”, “thin”, “here”, etc., to tell her what kind of haircut I wanted. I also showed her a hairstyle in a magazine on which she commented “cannot”. “This is a gamble” I told myself. After dusting off the leftover trimmed pieces of hair on my shirt, I saw my new hair. Not bad. I paid the bill and left. The moldy, gray feeling slowly withered away.

Inside the train, again.

I’m on my way home. I don’t know what is wrong with the world that I’m in front of a teen couple. The exchange of smiles is enough for me to conclude that they are at the peek of their relationship. Smiles without words. A private kind of happiness only known to them. I’m starting to feel that ugly feeling again. It’s welling up at a fast rate until I closed my eyes.

Inside my head. Inside myself.

“As long as you close your eyes you won’t feel a thing. You can say that all you can see is darkness but it’s not darkness at all. It’s just a void space. So vast that no one can go through to reach you.” I opened my eyes and they are not there anymore. For how many minutes did I close my eyes? I couldn’t determine. How many stations have passed? I don’t have a clue. I found a vacant seat. It’s been waiting for me. I made myself seated, took out my notebook and started to jot down this short realization:

“This day, I just realized that I’m going through a great turning point in my life. Everything is inside a rapid twister with strong winds tossing things around. An ice cube on a hot frying pan. A shirt inside a jam-packed washing machine, all tangled up. I don’t know.. maybe I entered this stage some time ago and what I’m going through are just its effects. I really don’t know. Am I living other person’s life? If so, where’s the life that I’m supposed to live? I’ve been living under a dark thick gray cloud this past few months. It took connections to be detached, friendships to be dropped and trust to be broken just to give myself a nice wake up slap. It doesn’t mean that this will lead to a right path.The gray cloud is still there. More kick-the-brick situations are still waiting for me. But now I gained something to equip me on the upcoming blows of life. Pain will result to more pain but it will make you tough at the same time. I almost feel like giving up but here am I, still going on. I may go through tougher situations. Life wouldn’t be called life without those things. For now. I’m geared up again. Set to move on. One thing I am certain. Things won’t be the same again.”

Hello world. Here am I again. Let's get it on.

Supposed to be Last Week's Post

2009-07-31T09:53:00.007+08:00

2 main reasons why this post is delayed:

1.) Things got very busy in the office this past few weeks. No time for working out. No time for reviewing my jap lessons. No time for doing something creative. I'm spending an average of 12 hours per day in the office. Yes, I'm learning and sharpening my skills.. but social life? As dull as my stress-inflicted eye bags.

2.) 1.. 2.. 3..
My Fucking starhub maxmobile is so Fucking slow!!! I can't even fucking connect to yahoo mail!!! I called their Fucking hotline, which took me almost one hour to get connected to a customer service representative, just to tell me that I can't Fucking do anything about it. How Fucked up is that? And oh, I got a 2-year contract!!! Suspending it will cost me a whoping $S500+, and I can't even upgrade!!! SUCKS!!!

Anyway. The post is just about another weekend. Just as I mentioned, office life is getting very busy and last saturday, work grabbed me tight on my twat. Luckily my sunday was spared and that explains the new photos (only the last few). For my comrades in the field of architecture, you may want to look at the photos of some of the new shopping malls here in S'pore.

Saturday..

Breakfast: This is where I'm having my breakfast almost everyday. It's not really this dark, but the lighting here is quite dim.

Value breakfast. (S$2.20 )"Mee" with decapitated sunny-side-up, chili, and hidden luncheon meat. It doesn't look as good as it taste.

The oriental interior look of the eatery.

The plan I had to massage. Wrong planning is equivalent to -$$$. The selling value should be maximized. But some developers are very greedy when it comes to spaces. They should be reminded that these residential developments are for humans, not for dogs.

A water closet on my desk.

We are not selling bottled water. This is a customized HUAY Architects mineral water. Rumors says it can clean your soul.

The scale, the calculator and the markers.

Lunch. The famous "China Square Fried fish Bee Hoon" which is now in Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Before it was only S$4 or S$4.50, now it's $S5 but the price can be justified by its quality.

You won't get thick chunks of fried fish from other fish soup stalls. Nice fishy broth.

Sunday.. (captions will be added later)

Cold Sundae

2009-07-19T22:35:00.008+08:00

As Usual. A good type of "as usual".

It was only 25 minutes since I started running on the treadmill and I'm already like a haggard horse. I used to run for 35-40mins. at 10km/hr. -- about 6-7miles [?]. 25 minutes of running is pathetic, and I didn't even bother to try some equipments. That's how tired my body is. I don't know why, but lately it seems like I'm deteriorating. *cut*

I was planning to do my しゅくだい (shukudai-homework), and so did I. *cut*

I was looking for a nice spot, and nothing is nicer than the cold, crowd-less, silence-stricken Raffles Place on a Sunday afternoon. Imagine an abandoned CBD, well actually there are still few people roaming around though If you are working there you might find the lack of crowd quite disturbing. But for me, it's perfect. The mild depression I'm carrying is quickly absorbed by the structures surrounding me as if they are the made to absorb them. Another thing to describe what it was like for me to go to Raffles Place on a Sunday afternoon is like entering a warm house on a cold winter. Let's go into details. Hanging your coat and hat (your issues and problems) on a coat and hat hanger (the structures) inside a house (Raffles Place) on a cold winter (uhmm.. oh yeh, my life). But then, wearing them again as you leave the house because it's not yours and no matter what, you can't stay there forever. That is me and Raffles Place. We have a strong bond and yet we are aware that it won't be forever and at any time, at any moment, that bond can disappear like there wasn't a bond formed.

So I was in Raffles Place for the nth time. My favorite hangout place there, besides from Hans and Mr. Teh-O, is the Spinelli at Far East Square. How I love that place. My mind is always at peace in that small coffee shop. I can afford to lose everything but not that place.. enough exaggeration. I did my homework and studied in advance at the same time. There are few people passing by the thoroughfare which is connecting Spinelli from other shops but I don't mind. I think those people are part of the whole soothing gray atmosphere. Others may find it boring and a perfect place to doze off. Yes, I do agree. No one's around. Nothing special to see. Gloomy music (they play 80% jazz). The place is cold. It's not about the air conditioning, but the place has this strange coldness in it. In fact, it's like everything and anything is literally dead, and the only thing that keeps the visitors alive is the coffee they are serving. Nothing special though. But talk about balance, dead is the place but alive is the coffee. Ok, there's no balance there.

Homework done, advance study finished. I'm left with nothing to do. Lucky I have my camera with me. Photo walk resurrected.

Nihongo no Sipineri.

しゅくだい (shukudai-homework). This was a piece of cake, same with studying the lessons, but with studying, the cake is harder. You have to give everything in your first bite to reach the core where there is overflowing goodness.

A "cold sundae" photo walk.

Other photos taken at the same location some few months back.

The Knot They Tied

2009-07-18T15:01:00.007+08:00

I witnessed my ex-classmate's civil wedding this morning. I brought my camera with me but since my mind and body was in a bad condition, 95% of the photos didn't even make it to the standard level. Anyway, I wish them all the best. They finally tied the knot. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Gan.

Fuck

2009-07-17T23:00:00.009+08:00

Have you ever had the feeling of "I don't belong.."? Sentence incomplete, no. And I'm not just talking about the place. Actually I don't even know what I'm talking about. Fuck. Like you were inside a train.. ok.. I'm on my way home and I'm inside the train. Friday evening commuters. A group of teens are discussing something funny since they are all giggling. 2 girls and 6 boys, who are about to enter the death curve -- age 20-24. A couple in their late 30's resting on each others arms, tight hug with eyes close. Intimacy, personal problems and issues, I don't know. "Leave them alone" said lady's ear which is almost perfect. The ear gave this repelling impression as the lady's hair gently covered her ear. Professional groupie alighting. I can trace a hint of alcohol from their almost red faces. Maybe they are going to continue their session in another place and some of them might end up sleeping with unknown partners. Will they still have their corporate attires on while doing it? An old lady which looks like she's given up on life and just waiting to decay. Her shirt is giving her some advice which says "Just Do It." No, don't.

Mixed up conversations of mixed up languages by a mixed up crowd and 23 year old having mixed up thoughts. I felt an overwhelming anger followed by a shallow depression. I set the volume of my headphones to maximum just to divert my attention away from the crowd which seems like mutating and about to become a single dark entity bearing a name on its chest, You Fucking Don't Belong! What the fuck is this. Some monster with a not-so-nice long name. My ear is getting numb from the gargantuan decibels pounding it like a pile driver against earth's soil. The music is not helping anymore. I'm forced to close my eyes.. I just can't stand You Fucking Don't Belong!, the crowd. Add the paralyzing stress I got from work and there am I -- drunk without liquor, drugged without drugs. All these things make me want to puke. Fuck.

Anyway, I think It's better to post some photos rather than to rant some garbage.
Some outdated random photos here..

I want to drown myself with this. And I mean now. I want to visit the floating world. Unfortunately the only drink I have in the fridge is a half-empty mineral water.

Ahh! The soft tipe (not its real name) I got addicted to. Serious type of addiction. It's so serious that I thought I'm willing to fuck my life for this. The serious addiction lasted for 2 days. I never and will not crave for soft tipe anymore.

One of my cut-yourself-from-this-world device. No wires please.

Naruto is an anime w/c is all about ninjas with superpowers. One of their powers is to summon anything by using a summoning technique in which they use rapid hand/finger movements to create a symbol (like what the blind people do, but faster). Why didn't they add this hand action/symbol? It could have summoned something.. just something.

1:11am. Fuck.
Fuck. Selfish pride. Fuck. Selfish life.