Monday, January 31, 2011

Take a break

Hello hello! Gonna take a break from the Tokyo updates and here's some recent updates.

First of all, please vote for my entry for ANA's contest

This is my picture haha I wanted to take e a Nara inspired photo but my reindeer hair band broke!! and my sister even suggested 'Okinawa no Umigame' picture haha
and as much as I love Tokyo... Osaka is the place I want to be. *insert KFC that's where I want to be song*
Anyway, CLICK HERE to go to ANA's fb page and join!And HERE to vote for me! Please vote for me! Probably very hard to get into the top but please vote for me ya =) So I don't have to eat Takoyaki made of recycled materials haha.
Anyway a quick update on what am I up to lately.

Reading! currently reading my very first all Japanese book besides text book Let's just say I'm thankful that I didn't buy Kangerou (a Japanese novel) when I was in Tokyo.


Super bad hair day. Nope, I'm not blowing my hair haha.. was haha it's like Jin's Gokusen hair in a not so stylo way?


And.. the thing about staying at home is you lost the sense of time. CNY this week and I'm still not feeling it.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Tokyo Trip part 2

It’s really funny that geographically speaking, Malaysia is only 1.5 time zones away from Japan and am I undergoing what people call a jet lag??

Third day and still barely alive. But I felt that I’ve wasted one day yesterday so I should at least walk around the neighborhood today.

Breakkie of the day. Rice, omu and *cue Tegomass’ miso soup song*.

Nerima city!

After breakfast, I started my adventure. I went to Homepic which sells a huge variety of stuff from DIY to food. I wanted to get a square fry pan to cook tamagoyaki but somehow I forgot! AHH. I shall just stick to not-in-shape tamagoyaki next time.

Next destination was the super market and 7-11 to hunt for some omiyage.

very bad hair day

This is me half alive, after a ‘fight’ with the flight. I had to at least take a picture because I really like the Nordic top I wore (can’t really see in the picture). Should have save it when I’m feeling better.

Strawberry shortcake

I had Strawberry Shortcake for lunch at a pastry shop nearby. It was really good!! I was feeling sick and this cake actually appeals to me. Must be some super cake. I manage to finish the whole thing but sadly, I ended up vomiting everything out.

Walked around the town, bought some super strong motion sickness medicine, came back watch tv, fast forward to dinner time!

oishii bangohan

I’m not sure what is dish called but it was REALLY GOOD! Appetite has not fully recovered but I still manage to nom some stuff down.

rice and hotate

Mushroom rice, mochi-ish dish and hotate (scallop). The hotate was a huge challenge for me. And yes, I got chocked by it. Had to pull it out from my throat.

I was feeling 20% better on the fourth day so I decided to go to Ueno’s Ameyoko today. I didn’t know that Ueno was so far compared to Shinjuku or Shibuya. More info and pictures on Ameyokocho can be found HERE

Ameyoko

“Ameyoko is a busy market street along the Yamanote line tracks between Okachimachi and Ueno Station, the site of a black market after World War Two.”

I like this place!! Things are quite reasonably priced here. I saw the exact same items in Asakusa and it’s about 20-30 yen cheaper in Ameyoko. So before visiting Asakusa, you might wanna visit Ameyoko first. The people there were quite friendly too. They were like “Gong Hei Fatt Choi, Xin nian kuai le” (Chinese New Year greetings) to me. They also keep mistaken me as a China tourist.

cheap cheap watches

Guess how much did I pay for these 2 pair of watches? Less then 2000-en in total! Totally love the Kanji watch but its slightly oversize for me. And there’s a story behind the other watch haha. I was at the watch store, pointed to that watch and the guy was like “are you sure you want this one? *points at another model* this is the most popular model right now” I insisted that yes I want this watch and turns out that this is the only stock left. should have asked for a discount since it’s a display and he replied “ woahh you’re really lucky, today must be your lucky day” Oh really? I hope so too.

And for dinner~

curry rice style="font-style:italic;">To be continue...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tokyo Trip part 1

Finally the long awaited Tokyo Trip report! Sorry it took me so long to update. I was having some major adaptation problem back home. Suddenly I’m dehydrated, migraines, back problem etc. Anyway, enough of the rants, story now.

Back then on the 11th of January, I board Air Asia’s flight D72652 to Tokyo. During the first half of the flight, everything was really good. I read the magazine, flip through their pamphlets, read the emergency guide throughly.. I was like “Hey, I can totally take this to London”.

Danny Choo spotted on the AirAsia’s in flight magazine

Hmm..perhaps I’ve sort of jinxed myself? The later half of the journey was horrible! I vomited four times in four hours time. That’s a new record for me. It’s probably not AirAsia’s fault because everyone seems okay except for me. Anyway, before puking, check your airsickness bag. I’m pretty sure you don’t want a bag with a hole.. like me. don’t ask

Around 10PM local time, my plane landed at Haneda airport. We had to take this bus thing from the plane to the airport and it was SOOOOOOOO cold! Pass through the immigration, grab my luggage, greeted by the nation’s favorite boys and the challenge starts here! I have to head to Edogawa-ku by myself with luggage that weighs about 20kilos.

Arashi says irrashaimase

Just as I walk to the arrival hall, someone called my name. I was like “should I turn back?” I did and it was my cousin. I was totally shocked and didn’t expect him to come. Switched on my phone and realize I was flooded with text messages from home informing me that my cousin will be waiting for me at the airport.

Made my very first purchase, which was the PASMO card, transferred several lines, walked here and there and very big thanks to my cousin, I manage to reach my hotel at Edogawa-ku safely, still feeling sick. Thank you very much for the crash course on Tokyo’s train system.

My ‘touch-and-go’ card

Checked in to Mizue Daiichi Hotel which is located just outside of the Mizue station. I book a room via Airasia and the price is really reasonable. I paid like RM183 for one night which is about 5000-en. There’s a book shop right next to the hotel which I think is open 24 hours? Not exactly sure about that. It was open when I reach there (midnight) and it was also open when I left (morning).

Here’s how the single room looked like

The next morning, I’m scheduled to meet my host family at Kamishakujii station, Nerima-ku. Had to transfer about three trains to get there. Is it me or the elevators are really hidden or there are not elevators at some stations? I had to carry my luggage up the stairs and a swarm of people just ran passed me. Wasn’t expecting anyone to help and this really nice obaachan helped me lift my luggage and ask whether I’m ok. To that lady, thank you so much for helping me!

Skipped breakfast cause the sight and scent of food just turns me off! Anything that goes in, liquid or solid will ended up floating into the ocean via my mouth. I was terribly sick and perhaps anemic? Totally did not expect that. It is very important to prepare yourself for every worst case scenario. Remember, what can go wrong, will go wrong!

Met my host mother at the Kamishakujii station and then walked to their house. My host mother prepared a mochi dish for me. I couldn’t finish it cause I wasn’t feeling well. Ate a little and went to sleep.

My very first meal in Tokyo

To be continue...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Monami

A very random entry today haha



this is what I did when I was 17. haha. The only part about Biology that I love is counting genetics but I wonder why was I distracted?

Friday, January 7, 2011

Cold cold cold!!

It's so cold lately that I don't feel like I'm in Malaysia. I understand its the raining season but.. it feels like I'm in the lecture theater 24/7. You see I think my house's water heater is solar based? So if the weather's cold especially in the morning, I gotta shower cold water.

A couple of days ago while I was showering, my palm turned really pale and there's this really weird numb sensation. Had to use the hair dryer to blow my hand haha. Some days, I had to 'warm up' before going to shower. Had to run up run down run here run there.

Then I realize that my cold resistant level is really low so.. I have to bring that oversize coat borrowed from my aunt to Japan. I don't care anymore if it doesn't match my boots or it has a pair of shoulder pads inside. =( I also bought a pair of cheesy looking leg warmers from Daiso haha ..Warmth comes first!

New Year resolutions!
1. Find out what I really want to do. I have some things in my mind but I'm not too sure
2. Start working on assignments at least 2 weeks prior to the due date.
3. Keep a diary
4. Improve in Japanese
5. Spend less time on Bejeweled Blizt
6. At least a distinction for my average marks, increase GPA
7. Read more
8. Spend more time playing the Wii Fit
9. Spend less money
10. Be a nicer person

It will be hard especially the 10th one but I'll work hard for it!