root, root root and buy me some eel
March and April Twitter-style (this is how much my English has deteriorated over the last ... XX months):
Went to Kansai for two weeks with two good friends, stayed at a friend's place and learnt how to make tea and wear a kimono. Fell in love with Kobe (is this 140 characters yet?).
Kobe is the next city I want to move to and live in - it has this incredible European old-school vibe, they even have The Old Spaghetti Factory (I adore that place in Toronto!), yummy food and a general chill-out vibe.
Visited: Nara (oh the dreadful scary deer :(), Uji, Hiroshima. Ate: everything (including Kobe beef! <3) Most memorable food: beef pie from Kobe off the top of my head :)
The day we went to Hiroshima, we had to make 5 transits because we took the local trains as part of the Seishun Juu-hachi Kippu (Youth 18 tickets). It was pouring when we got there, and combined with the graveness of the exhibits about the atomic bombing, it made for a really depressing day. We didn't quite have enough We had to rush to Miyajima (I insisted on seeing it, haha) and saw it in the rain ... not possibly the best view of Miyajima, but I'm glad we went.
It rained on and off during my two weeks in Kansai, and combined with the fact that one of my travelling companions caught stomach flu (I've just realised that "stomach flu" is possibly a Singaporean term??) and I kind of fell sick thereafter, we spent half of the trip chilling out at my friend's place, playing Wii, making bread & takoyaki (for the first time in my life!), cooking dinner and learning other things. It turned out to be the kind of homestay that I've always wanted to try, and that was in itself a pleasant surprise. :)
After Kansai, I came back to Tokyo for 2 days - headed out to the movies (Higashi no Eden Pt II!! Can't believe it's over and done with :( ), had dinner with some good friends, and then went home to pack. Left Tokyo at 5am and got to the airport to board on my flight to Singapore! I spent a short two weeks in Singapore, took a quick whirl around the new malls (I actually really like 313, haha), and ate my fill of Singaporean food. Of course, caught a whole bunch of movies since movies in Sg are ridiculously cheap and caught up with and got in contact with many good friends and ex-colleagues. It's really funny, but everytime I return to Singapore it feels like I re-meet a bunch of people who I thought that I've lost contact with forever. It's kind of nice in a way to see that things haven't really changed much, even though it's been a whirlwind these last 3 years for me.
FOUND OUT THAT THERE'S ROCHOR TAU HUEY IN THOMSON (my supper hangout!) and CINNAMON MELTS IN MACS. If I ever return to Singapore, I think my life would be complete.
Met up with fellow AIKOM-sei Fiona and Deww in Singapore! :)
Towards the end of my two weeks in Singapore I caught stomach flu (I believe the universal term for it is "gastroenteritis") and had the most miserable time ever - I live to eat, and basically being forced to eat nothing but bread, apple sauce, toast, porridge for about 1+ week was just excruciating. Still, I did manage to lose some weight (yay!) ... which I've re-put back on, since it's the last 3 months left in Tokyo and all I'm thinking is "oh no I might never get to eat this again".
Came back to Tokyo on 5th April: caught the very last bits of sakura (THANK GOD) and went out to two o-hanami! Also met some of the Singaporeans living here doing their bachelors, and I guess in light of the fact that I'm about to live soon, it does make me kind of jealous. :(
School resumed & it's going to be a crazy semester: I'm taking more credits than I really need to, and also taking up Italian and French. Italian's taught in Japanese (haha so that is a challenge on its own) and French taught in complete French (even though it's for beginners) ... of the two, I definitely enjoy Italian more because I've always wanted to learn it! I'm more or less only taking French because it might be useful to me in the future - and that, to me, is a terrible reason to begin any language learning. :(
Also, joined an a cappella circle at school and resumed going to pottery circle & Chabashira (the international exchange circle!)
I've also been eating out extensively, and exploring Shimo & Kichijoji and discovering that there's so many wonderful cafes and stuff that I really must visit! Especially Kichi - didn't quite realise how big it really is, and how many nice nooks and crannies it has (:
Saw Kabuki for the last time possibly because Kabuki-za is closing by the end of next week :(
And along the way, got involved in a car accident (long story cut short: car hit my bike and I flew off the bike) and into problems with the police etc., but am fine health-wise. Just got to settle stupid insurance stuff and get my money back :(
yay update doneee! :)
Went to Kansai for two weeks with two good friends, stayed at a friend's place and learnt how to make tea and wear a kimono. Fell in love with Kobe (is this 140 characters yet?).
Kobe is the next city I want to move to and live in - it has this incredible European old-school vibe, they even have The Old Spaghetti Factory (I adore that place in Toronto!), yummy food and a general chill-out vibe.
Visited: Nara (oh the dreadful scary deer :(), Uji, Hiroshima. Ate: everything (including Kobe beef! <3) Most memorable food: beef pie from Kobe off the top of my head :)
The day we went to Hiroshima, we had to make 5 transits because we took the local trains as part of the Seishun Juu-hachi Kippu (Youth 18 tickets). It was pouring when we got there, and combined with the graveness of the exhibits about the atomic bombing, it made for a really depressing day. We didn't quite have enough We had to rush to Miyajima (I insisted on seeing it, haha) and saw it in the rain ... not possibly the best view of Miyajima, but I'm glad we went.
It rained on and off during my two weeks in Kansai, and combined with the fact that one of my travelling companions caught stomach flu (I've just realised that "stomach flu" is possibly a Singaporean term??) and I kind of fell sick thereafter, we spent half of the trip chilling out at my friend's place, playing Wii, making bread & takoyaki (for the first time in my life!), cooking dinner and learning other things. It turned out to be the kind of homestay that I've always wanted to try, and that was in itself a pleasant surprise. :)
After Kansai, I came back to Tokyo for 2 days - headed out to the movies (Higashi no Eden Pt II!! Can't believe it's over and done with :( ), had dinner with some good friends, and then went home to pack. Left Tokyo at 5am and got to the airport to board on my flight to Singapore! I spent a short two weeks in Singapore, took a quick whirl around the new malls (I actually really like 313, haha), and ate my fill of Singaporean food. Of course, caught a whole bunch of movies since movies in Sg are ridiculously cheap and caught up with and got in contact with many good friends and ex-colleagues. It's really funny, but everytime I return to Singapore it feels like I re-meet a bunch of people who I thought that I've lost contact with forever. It's kind of nice in a way to see that things haven't really changed much, even though it's been a whirlwind these last 3 years for me.
FOUND OUT THAT THERE'S ROCHOR TAU HUEY IN THOMSON (my supper hangout!) and CINNAMON MELTS IN MACS. If I ever return to Singapore, I think my life would be complete.
Met up with fellow AIKOM-sei Fiona and Deww in Singapore! :)
Towards the end of my two weeks in Singapore I caught stomach flu (I believe the universal term for it is "gastroenteritis") and had the most miserable time ever - I live to eat, and basically being forced to eat nothing but bread, apple sauce, toast, porridge for about 1+ week was just excruciating. Still, I did manage to lose some weight (yay!) ... which I've re-put back on, since it's the last 3 months left in Tokyo and all I'm thinking is "oh no I might never get to eat this again".
Came back to Tokyo on 5th April: caught the very last bits of sakura (THANK GOD) and went out to two o-hanami! Also met some of the Singaporeans living here doing their bachelors, and I guess in light of the fact that I'm about to live soon, it does make me kind of jealous. :(
School resumed & it's going to be a crazy semester: I'm taking more credits than I really need to, and also taking up Italian and French. Italian's taught in Japanese (haha so that is a challenge on its own) and French taught in complete French (even though it's for beginners) ... of the two, I definitely enjoy Italian more because I've always wanted to learn it! I'm more or less only taking French because it might be useful to me in the future - and that, to me, is a terrible reason to begin any language learning. :(
Also, joined an a cappella circle at school and resumed going to pottery circle & Chabashira (the international exchange circle!)
I've also been eating out extensively, and exploring Shimo & Kichijoji and discovering that there's so many wonderful cafes and stuff that I really must visit! Especially Kichi - didn't quite realise how big it really is, and how many nice nooks and crannies it has (:
Saw Kabuki for the last time possibly because Kabuki-za is closing by the end of next week :(
And along the way, got involved in a car accident (long story cut short: car hit my bike and I flew off the bike) and into problems with the police etc., but am fine health-wise. Just got to settle stupid insurance stuff and get my money back :(
yay update doneee! :)