Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I've had 2 conducive study sessions so far. The 3rd one will be tomorrow. I seriously require more motivation in my studies.
I shall keep this post short unlike the previous one.
May this year end well.
Labels: Outing and Study Sessions
loved at 10:49 AM
Friday, December 25, 2009
메리구리스마스 !
Merry Christmas!
Labels: 2 weeks of holidays left
loved at 3:35 PM
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The trip to Kyushu was fantastic. We had great food, great sceneries, and great fun, and we met great people too! Even our post-trip outing was really enjoyable. I have never taken so many photos in my life. My camera has more than 700 photos of Japan I think. Perhaps some of my group mates took more photos than me.
We left Singapore on Thursday 3 December at 1am. I was not tired, perhaps because I slept well the night before. Anyway, I checked in at the airport along with everyone else. I realized that my Jacket was in my luggage. I thought I was going to freeze to death. I didn't because I managed to take out my Jacket when the plane landed and we were collecting our luggages. I was dumb.
Despite all the lessons we had before the actual trip, I didn't know anyone except for the 2 people in my class who were also participating in the trip. I got to know almost everyone during the trip and they were all nice and fun people.
We arrived in Japan at about 8am in the morning. We packed our stuff and some of us went to the toilet before boarding the bus to our first destination - some nuclear plant. We met our tour guide and her assistant at the airport. The tour guide was also our translator. She was fluent in Japanese and English... maybe not so in English.
The nuclear plant was big. There was also a beautiful greenhouse where tropical plants, alike those in Singapore, grew. The inner part of the greenhouse was adorned with cute Christmas decorations. We asked more than 10 questions about the nuclear plant, its purpose, and its advantages and disadvantages.
We had our first lunch at some restaurant. We ate tempura. It was delicious. We then went to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park where there was some statue of a naked man. It was apparently a statue of peace or something like that. I can't really remember. But I know that it's huge. We then explored the park. There were some beautiful maple trees. We went to the bomb museum and learnt about the atomic bomb. There were exhibits of bombed items displayed in the museum.
We went to our hilltop hotel and had a sumptuous dinner. There were more than 9 courses for that dinner. Our bellies were bloated. Then, we listened to some survivor of the war talk about his experience during the bombing of Nagasaki. It was intriguing yet melancholic.
We had some group discussion before going to bed. There was a hot spring in the hotel but I didn't go to any hot spring until the fourth night. I've typed so much and its still only the first day. I did my JLPT 2 Japanese Grammar exercise before sleeping. The TV channels were all in Japanese, except for one channel which was meant for Japanese people to learn English. I love futons. They're so comfy. And white. And fluffy.
Oh, before I went to bed, some of us including me went to the rooftop of the hotel. Since the hotel was on a hill, we had a panoramic view of the cityscape. It was awesome. The city was apparently surrounded by hills of orange and green and red. The scenery was breathtaking. I snapped photos here and there. The experience was great! And the cool air was exhilarating. But chilly. I should have worn more than 2 layers of clothing when I went to the rooftop.
Now for Day 2. We boarded our bus and traveled from Nagasaki to Kumamoto. It was a nice bus ride and the scenery was beautiful. I took many photos of the autumn leaves and paddy fields. We had lunch at some udon restaurant on the way and me and a few of my new friends went to a Macdonalds outlet. The menus there were different from Singapore and they were selling cute calendars.
The tour guide's assistant would always greet us as we entered or leave the bus. She was a kind lady. We then visited a TV Company and had a chance to view the broadcasting room. The cameras and settings in the room were worth millions of yen. We were shocked at the price. None of us dared to touch the filming equipment until we were given permission to do so. It was yet another fun experience. Some of us were role-playing as the host of some random TV program. It was hilarious.
In the afternoon, we made our way to Hitsuyukan High School where we had a short but memorable exchange program. They performed a high school musical dance for us and did a power point presentation of their school in simple English. We also did a presentation of ACJC and it was long. Many thanks to our translator for her quick and effective translation from English to Japanese. We then sang some christmas carols and a "National Anthem Exchange". The Japanese Anthem seems relatively shorter than Singapore's Majulah Singapura.
We then toured the school. Their school is huge. They have a rooftop swimming pool. They have a baseball ground. Baseball isn't that popular in Singapore. They have a gigantic hall, a kendo hall, an archery area and so many other rooms. We were envious of their school and impressed by the school's facilities. I participated in the tea ceremony. The Seiza way of seating made my legs feel sore.
We had dinner at some Chinese Restaurant. Or was it the following night that we had the chinese dinner? I can't remember clearly. I slept "early" at about half past midnight. I did another JLPT 2 Exercise before sleeping. I should have spent more time with God during the trip doing TAWG.
The next day, we went to Kumamoto Castle. I met with the Japanese university students and interacted with them! I feel privileged to be able to speak Japanese. We had fun around the castle and went to eat at a ramen stall later. I got some of their emails too! As well as some photos of them!
We then went to a newspaper company and I saw this old printing machine which was like really old. I saw old newspapers too ... dating back to dates that I forgot. Lol. The current printing machine churns out newspapers at probably 100 times the speed of my printer. Or even faster. There was a queer device that sorted our the newspapers according to weight or type. I don't really know how it worked.
We then went to try out Kimonos. Old ladies fitted us with kimonos and yukatas. Mine was really tight but others were strapped even tighter. The girls look beautiful in their kimonos. Fake hair was added. We had an origami session too. We then had dinner and went back to the hotel.
This post is dam long.
On the 4th day, we went to Minamata and experienced the survivor's talk about the minamata incident and disease. It was touching. We had fun touring the disease museum. We also had a talk on the environment. It was long but interesting and we toured the factory where products were recycled and made into new stuff, and where posters with broken English were displayed.
We had dinner again. I forgot what was the dinner but it was delicious. Oh, I remembered that on the 4th day, we had lunch at a Spanish village. The Spanish food was delicious and the scenery was incredible. We snapped photos here and there and I bought stuff at some souvenir shop.
On the last day, we had some interaction with an official in Minamata City hall who elaborated on Minamata's waste classfication and recycling program. We then headed back to Fukuoka and had lunch at Canal Point, some big mall. We then went shopping and it was fun. The bookstores were filled with good Japanese books and some were filled with adult magazines and comics. I bought 6 books. I should have gotten more one piece posters! I was left with over 80 Singapore dollars! The goodies were great!
I forgot to talk about the hot spring experience on the fourth night! It was under some cave and the water wasn't as hot as I thought it would be. Probably because I went to Korea's hot spring last year. The outdoor hot spring was not working and the water was cool. After a while, we headed back to the indoor hot spring. The cave was unique.
I have a lot more stuff to talk about but no time. I have only touched less than a fragment of my holiday homework and a lot of important A level knowledge is seeping out from my clogged-up brain. Yes my brain is clogged up with Japanese and Korean and Spanish and Esperanto and etc.
Oh yes! The toilet. Japan's toilets are the bomb! I love their toilets so much. I love the butt dryer and butt warmer. Oh and the butt sprayer is so cool. You get to press buttons to adjust the water pressure. It's so unique and cool! They should incorporate such toilet bowls in Singapore too! But I think Singaporeans would take advantage of such toilet bowls.
The trip was great! Japan is the best country I have ever been to. The only thing I disliked about the trip was my lips peeling no matter how much lip balm I applied. Perhaps I need to be acclimatized to the climate there by staying in Japan for a longer period of time. I really wish to go to Japan again! But before that happens, I wanna achieve a 90% grade for JLPT Level 1 or N1, which is the new term for it.
I enrolled in a new Japanese school. The advanced course wasn't as advanced as I thought. I'm going to find a new school next year. I'm aiming for Ikoma's JLPT 1 Preparation Course! Wait a minute. I have A levels next year. My priorities are all screwed up.
I need to think things over again.
We had our first post-trip gathering last sunday and it was fun! I also did some holiday cip last thursday. Pictures are on facebook.
Going to Malaysia tomorrow ... I need to go for more swimming training sessions. Sigh.
All the best!
This post is really long.
Labels: Narration about Kyushu Trip 2009
loved at 12:47 PM
Thursday, December 10, 2009
I have so many things to say about the trip!
I really don't wanna forget about it!
I can't upload pictures here. Most of them are on facebook!
Labels: First time in Japan
loved at 5:44 PM
Friday, November 27, 2009
宿題がたまっている。
やりたいけど、やりたくない。
不合理的なことを打っちゃった、だね。
来週、九州に行く。
準備は、まだ整っていない。
最近の俺は、勉強を怠ける傾向を示している。
いけない。いけない子になってはいけないこと。
どうしたら、いいのかな。
ぶらぶらしている。
いやだ。
今、何かをしにいく。
じゃあ、また。ね。
Labels: ふわふわふわふわ
loved at 6:09 PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
I'm going to eat later at Sakae. I dunno what to blog about. I felt the need to blog but now I don't feel a need to. I'm just going to ramble on. I have swim camp coming up soon, and some CF outing which clashes with the last day of swim camp. The CF personnel actually remembered me. I've got to attend some concerts which I paid for using edusave. I've got the Japan trip to Kyushu. I've got homework. I mentioned that. What else have I got? I've got 2 eyes and ears. I've got to plan some cellgroup outing.
Oh. I started learning Esperanto. It sounds like spanish and its fun! Now I can speak 6 languages! Haha! But I'm not good at Spanish, Korean and Esperanto. I need to work on them. I was wondering if I should start learning French? No, I'm too busy already. I wanted to go for real language lessons but money and time and padres always place a problem, sometimes.
I'm left with only 80 dollars with of Kino vouchers and Kino is having 20% sale for members from the 19th to the 22th of November! And my card is expiring on the 26th of December. I need to renew it soon. Kino has really nice but expensive books.
I shall end abruptly here.
Labels: 休み万歳
loved at 2:04 PM
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I went to school just now to rehearse for our presentation. We're pretty much prepared for everything but we need to brush up on our power point and add in more pictures and color. I hope the slides to do screw up tomorrow during the presentation. We cannot afford to use the teacher's lap top since it doesn't have the fonts and materials needed to load our power point appropriately.
I'm a lot of holiday homework to do. I feel like wishing for homework not to exist. I always put my passions and interests above my studies which is why I'm not performing as well as I could have in my academics. I also need to spend some time during the holidays to reflect on the things I've done this year and how I can improve myself and be of better use to God and the people around me, not forgetting myself.
I went for quite a number of outings this year. I didn't put in effort to record them down and I've forgotten some of those outings. I got Kinokuniya vouchers from school. I hope to spend them wisely. I've already bought 2 huge tomes on Spanish grammar and vocabulary, and 2 books on Japanese and Korean grammar respectively.
I started playing maple again. I trained to about 4% and then died. I don't feel like playing maple anymore haha. Maybe I should start playing cabal again.
By the way, I'm going to blog in English for the time being.
When I feel like it, I'll blog in Japanese.
When the load gets too heavy or the task too hard, give it to God.
Nothing is too heavy or too hard for him.
Labels: Holidays
loved at 5:03 PM