// Day 3 (2/5/09) Osaka //

We realised that to live like Japanese, you need to have super thick and high quality socks

because a few holes actually appeared in our socks!

To them, walking is an instinct ; climbing stairs, a virtue.

It is not rare to see young people giving up seats to the elderly.

Or seats left emptied, as though those standing on the train anticipated elderly people to board the train anytime.

In fact, the young people stood as though they did not expect to be seated throughout their journey.

Hence it was not difficult for us, kiasu singaporeans to find seats.

Partly, it was due to our heavy luggage that we have to do so.

Coincidentally, Japan's Golden week falls on 30 Apr - 6 May, which meant that there were also large scale travelling within Japan itself.

Mostly, it was those in Tokyo who would grab the golden chance to retreat to the less expensive, slower paced cities of Kyoto and Hokkaido.

We spent 3 hrs on the Japan Rail to Osaka from Tokyo.

Like the locals, we bought food to eat on the train and then went into slumberland before awakened by the announcement of arrival at the Osaka teminal.

Set off to Osaka! (with our luggage=( )

We bought fast food from Wendy's Burgers near Sunshine Prince Hotel and planned to eat them on the train, just as locals do.

My irresistable BBQ beef burger!

People standing throughout the 3 hr ride cuz there were not enough seats.

Happily on the train though the train was so fast that there was pressure building up in our ears.

I think it's speed was about the same as a plane taking off. Incredible?

Passed by a scenic bridge.

Reached the Kaiyukan (aquarium). Lynette came here to see the whale shark.

My camera failed again so all the other pics are with her.

Off to Umeda Sky building!

This is the long long escalator ride up the 70 plus storey building.

Night view of Osaka!

// Day 2 (1/5/09) Tokyo Disneyland //

All set for Disneyland!

Our sumptious breakfast at this shop a few streets from our hotel.
Their beef is so soft and chewy but their salmon had uncountable number of tiny bones.

Japanese do eat very fast and we're the slowest among all the patrons.

the food vending machine!

it works just like a normal vending machine.

slot in your coins or notes,

press the button of the food you want.

get your change and your food voucher.

present it to the staff and

wait to be served =D

uni qlo - the new jap casual wear that is causing a wave in sg.

muji-to-go

Finally! our destination for today.

Tokyo Disneyland =D

Disney resort. wow. doesn't it looks like a castle?

i wonder how much is one balloon.

statue of walt disney and mickey mouse.

the background is disney castle!

firstly, we went to the haunted mansion.

the ride took us through the ghosts and ghouls

of the ancient victorian-style mansion.

alas, it was too dark to take any pics.

Next, we went on the "It's a small world" boat cuise.

It's the most harmless of all. haha.

then, it's to "Pooh's hunny hunt"

JAL starjets plane ride.

feel the cool air blowing through your hair =)

We also tried the go-karts, Buzz lightyear's busters.

This is the mini roller coaster which already had us screaming.

The afternoon disney parade! "Jubilation"

it's their special 20th anniversary parade,

we're so lucky to catch it!

can u guess who's who?

Next, microadventure!

It's a simulator cum 3D movie ride.

It's a good thing they have english translation.

To indulge in our fantasies,

we took the Snow White Adventures ride haha

My favourite,

Pirates of the Carribean!

we kept seeing wax models of Captain Jack Sparrow around

they looked sooo real!

unfortunately my camera went out of battery =(

As it was getting dark, we quickly got souvenirs

and rushed to see the "Dreamlights" parade.

Took me several shots to get the mickey clock =)

Tired, but truly happy!!
There was this man on our way back to our hotel

who actually asked Lynette,

Mickey mouse desu ka?
LOL.

// Day 1 (30/4) Tokyo//

We took a night plane to Tokyo Narita Airport and arrived bright and early in the morning!

Settled our Japan Railway (JR) pass, got our Suicas ( similar to our ez-link card), and boarded the Narita Express (Nex) to Ikebukuro to unload our luggage!

Just alighted from plane, we took ANA but not this cute panda plane!

The Narita Express train ( 1.5 hrs to Ikebukuro) and the Suica.

We passed by Tokyo Station!

After unloading, we made our way to Ueno Zoo.
On the way there, we had to ask for directions but the Japanese were really, really helpful.
One of them seek help from other people when he also didn't know where the place is.

Ueno Zoo – Main attractions: Giant Panda, Gorilla

kids with identical yellow bonnets

since the giant panda had died =(
we visited the gorillas- well-loved by Japanese, surprisingly.

Penguins- I believe they feel warm cuz we do, too!
I gauge the temperature then was about 24 degrees C.

Polar bear - it looked as though it must have felt the heat too.

No giant panda =( Take a picture with the fake one.
Shashin o onegaishimasu ka?
Please help us take a photo.

Next stop, Asakusa's sensoji temple and shopping street.

Food stalls galore.

Tasty takoyaki balls.

Souvenirs galore.

Kawaii stuff =)

Fish-shaped pancakes.

Transparent kitchen!

Their food models look so delicious, tempting you to go in.
Fortunately the real thing looks almost identical to the model =)

Next up, Ginza. It's the place where all the international brands can be found.
Things are branded, hence super duper expensive, like those in our Orchard Rd.

Back to Sunshine City Plaza Hotel, did u notice their lau pok tv set?
It's quite surprising, considering that this is the best of all the hotels we stayed.
Everything is nice, but why can they change their tv set? Haha not that we could understand their shows though.
Next time, I might post pictures of their toilet bowl. Or other hotels'.
All the toilet bowls come with control buttons to do things like warming up the seat, washing your bottom...etc. Hahahaha. We COULD'NT believe it =P

// back ! //

Finally completed a gruelling but enjoyable trip =)
Haha 10 days passed so fast but I'm just glad to be home.

We realised Japanese climb lots and lots of stairs.
Imagine carrying your luggage up the stairs...
Plus your shopping bags...

More to be updated cuz I'm still tired....

// holidays.vacation //

YAY! EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!
This marks the half time in varsity life haha.
Oops I'm still in applied chem/thermo mode.

Taking a plane later.
Everthing is going too fast. too furious.
I need to adjust my mind to post-exam happiness.

日本 - here i come!!!

// slack abit //

Finally finished my 3 vector calculus tutorials! (albeit with the help of solutions)
hahaha a sense of achievement cuz i didn't have time to do it during term.
PLEASE don't let me forget everything during exam!!!
I have a tendency to do that perhaps due to nerves or STM.
5 down, 2 more to go!
I hope my memory doesn't fail me!
Anyway for maths, there's still Laplace and Matrices to study.
Matrices should be Ok, if i remember correctly but er-hem Laplace is a tough one.
There's still tomorrow.
I hope I will be able to chiong finish all.

Played some memory game called Match It at viwawa.
It's a lame/dumb game but rather addictive.
Most of all, i hope can improve my memory errrrmm imperceptibly.

Feel somewhat high now..
Caffeine?
Unlikely.
I think it's cuz i have put my tutor responsibilities on hold...for 3 weeks.
Yay! A break from tutees who makes my blood boil everytime without fail.

// self-consolation vs. self-motivation//

totally bored with all the readings I have to do.
i regret so much taking so many modules.
yucks. ='(

sometimes i really think there is no use studying cuz it ain't going to
do any thing much to my GPA anyway.

i need to get out of this vicious cycle of hating what i'm doing.

think far.
look ahead.

// Boo.Yea//

I have been writing less and less because I've been pre-occupied with 2 major things.
Exams and Japan.
Exams gonna start on tuesday and I can't believe I'm still online wasting time.
Well, but that's me.
I hope i hope i can do better than previous semesters but don't think it's possible.
Everything becomes impossible when you're face to face with thermodynamics.
In every semester, there is always one module that is out to kill.
Furthermore, I regret taking so many modules.
Argh. I'm still on my psych project! due on monday.
Anyway, researching on psychology is the same as engineering.
That's one thing I've found out.
Popular search engines just like to throw out those results that are totally irrelevant to
your search, because they only look at the keywords you input.
As such the web they give probably only contains a small paragraph of what you need.
And they still place it at the top of the searches.
Hence, so much time is being wasted in sieveing the websites.
Sigh.
I hope some computer geek can invent a better search engine than
google or yahoo.

// starved.stuffed //

I think I'm a bit slow but anyway, recently I read 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown.
It's supposedly a prelude to the all famous 'Da Vinci Code',
and I hope it'll be made into movie too!

I shan't dwell on the religious aspect of it since I'm non-christian.
What really caught my interest was the way the book explains that
everything has an opposite.
For instance, in the scientific point of view, every matter has its equivalent of anti-matter.
The idea about anti-matter is so intriguing because it has properties that is the exact opposite
of matter.
In fact, once matter is in contact with anti-matter, they annihilate each other.
Since even air is matter, anti-matter has to be created and stored in vacuum.
Haha. ok, it is getting boring.

Anyway, i read this book some time ago, just that i was reminded of it today as
i was so starved that i stuffed myself.
To be fair, i didn't want to eat so much but food was especially easy to reach haha.
My bloated-ness was more than sufficient in eliminating my hunger though. lol.
I needed that energy to deal with an inquisitive P6 kid anyway so
in a sense it's justified? haha.

exams exams exams
the torture all over again.
fighting fighting fighting
the ends justify the process.
three mths of freedom comes with a hefty price.

//aimless and tired//

i always admire people who know what they want to do with their lives.
determination is a quality i've always lacked.

of course there is another type of people who do not question about their aim in life.
after all, ignorance is bliss.
if you do not question, you do not even think about it.

thinking too much...that's always more of a bane than boon.
why am i here?
how did i get here?
why do i have to continue what i'm doing?

Successful people always say everything that happens in their life has its own purpose.
that's easy for them to say as presumbly they are already successful and satisfied with their lives.
how about me?
I hate to think that but it's so true.
I'm just living my life for the sake of survival.
Studying, travelling, tutoring.
Satisfying?
Tiring.
I'm living from day to day like a rock.

// an unfortunate event //

I guess most people must have heard of the ntu stabbing incident.
Bad news spreads really fast.
Yesterday, I was at the library when I overheard some people talking about it.
The time was only less than 2 hrs after the incident took place.
Ironically, the news did not came from the students themselves,
but from their friend who was watching Channel NewsAsia.
Ok, haha i managed to overheard quite abit but they were talking so loudly,
I think everyone else present heard everything they were saying.
Soon, it was all over the web, in forums, msn.com etc.

Of course this sort of incident will invite a lot of speculations and theories.
However, since the student in question is already dead, it's nearly impossible to find out the truth.
It could be that the student was especially stressed due to the final year project.
It's also a possibility that he was depressed or agitated due to certain reasons.
Since I heard that the student was on scholarship and the professor has always had
good relationships with students, the cause of this incident is really full of doubts.
Could it be that the prof impose too much pressure on this top student?
Could it be that the student bore grudges toward the prof?
Anyway, I believe his move was pre-mediated, from the very fact that he had
a knife with him.

As of all suicide cases, there are some questions I want to ask.
Why hadn't anyone, friend or classmate notice the student's strange behaviours?
Did anyone know that he was stressed, or feeling emotional unstable?
Had we, in the pursuit of academic excellence, failed to show more concern to our
friends and people around us?
If only someone had realise this, he could have been talked out of doing such
a deed.
Conversely, he could have vent his anger and emotions in other ways than
choosing such a path.
His life could have been saved, and his parents, spared the agony.
The prof would not have been injured.

// midterm crisis //



After one week of break, it's back to school, back to midterm quizzes.

Midterm crisis, how apt.

Somehow, i just lack the motivation to study for the tests.

Some people say the weightage of midterm is very heavy, while others do not really care.

30-50%

I think it depends on how well u can perform for the exams.

haha in my opinion, if you can create a miracle in the exams, then midterm does not really

matter.

which i can never create.



Anyway, the break wasn't really a rest week for me .

Except for going to the travel fair and k-box, i was either having project meetings

or tutoring.

Yes. haha anyone keen on a free and easy trip to japan/hk?