Japan on Two Wheels

2010-04-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you'll know that I like riding, photography and Japan. I haven't taken a proper overseas holiday in nearly 3 years, so I figured why not combine all 3? Hence I'll be traveling next month with a colleague to Japan for a holiday that includes a 5-day long motorcycle road-trip. The map above is the finalised route, which is a loop starting from Osaka -> Amanohashidate -> Tottori -> Okayama -> Tokushima -> Osaka.

2008-05-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

Haven't been updating for quite a while, here are some of the things I've been up to in the past few months:

Had a Zone 3 paintball session. Got shot quite a few times compared to the last time I played it, including one right smack in my visor. My team managed to emerge overall winner out of the 3 team round-robin though :D

Went with Secell for ice skating last Sunday. It was the first time in about 12-13 years, and only my second time ice skating overall, so I'm pretty satisfied that I didn't fall over. Quite enjoyable I must say, though a bit pricey.

Am looking forward to getting this :) It's the Yamaha DD-65. I don't have the space at home for a full blown drum kit, so will have to settle for this.

Zone 3 V-day outing 2008

2008-03-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, things have been rather hectic at work. Had to go down to our testing site nearly daily for 2 weeks followed by what seems like endless meetings. Anyways, here are some pictures from Zone 3's V-day outing at the Boom Boom Bridge:

Gail looking like she's either freezing or sleepy.

Daniel enjoying his Ramly Burger...

... as did Karen

We celebrated Ereen's birthday there as well

Two (unsuccessful) attempts at artistic shots

Jon Wong the street musician

More attempts at artistic shots, this time with Jon as the subject

The song sheet used at the gathering

David sharing at the gathering

Jason wrapping things up for the night

Long time no see

2008-02-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've last posted, partly because my laptop's screen is not working properly, while most of my photos are in there. Anyways, here are some photos from a trip to Changsha and Xiamen last December. Since it was a business trip, I did not have the chance to take as many photos as I would have liked, but here they are:

We took Air China (not to be mistaken with China Airlines) in to Xiamen from Singapore, before transiting on Southern China Airlines into Changsha. Verdict on these two airlines? Need more work in terms of customer service.

Landing at Xiamen International Airport. Lots of low level buildings near the runway.

A quaint little propeller driven bi-plane sitting near the runway. Not sure if it actually works or if it is just for display.

Inside the airport itself. We had to exit the international section and re-enter the domestic flight section.

My hotel room in Changsha.

Despite it not being along the coast, Changsha is a big city, as it is the provincial capital of the Hunan Province.

This is part of the 步行街, a shopping street not unlike Shinsaibashi in Osaka, just wider.

Part of the shopping street described above.

An interesting feature found in most big Chinese cities are bronze statues like this one, that depict life in older days. Apparently they are meant to remind the younger generation how life was like in the past.

Look carefully and you can spot fireworks going off. This was taken at about 9 plus in the morning. When we asked our local contact why, he explained that local construction firms set off fireworks to either celebrate the commencement or completion of a project, and such scenes happen almost daily. Goes to show the tremendous growth rate there.

Tea is served using these pots with extra long spouts at a restaurant that we went to. The waiters are trained to perform tricks using these pots; I have videos of them but will upload them another time.

Another restaurant had a lady playing on a huge drum located outside.

The interior of the same restaurant. We had our dinner at a private room however.

One thing that Chinese companies really need to do is to stop trying to ride on the brand name of western companies, or at least do it well. This shop is a case in point.

Upon our arrival back in Xiamen, the hotel was nice enough to pick us up from the airport. It was at this point that I noticed this baseball bat next to the driver's seat. There was also a metal rod next to a taxi driver's seat back in Changsha. Goes to show a thing or two about public safety huh.

Came across this OCBC bank in Xiamen. Unless I read the plaque outside wrongly, this is where OCBC started off from.

Besides finding this shop, we also found a BreadTalk branch in a shopping centre.

There were plenty of roadside stalls selling the local version of popiah.

Plenty of stalls selling the local version of oden as well.

Night view of Xiamen from a ferry.

A view of the Xiamen bridge.

A large statue dedicated to a Chinese admiral. The statue is supposed to drive away any storms from approaching.

We visited this temple located a distance away from Xiamen, as it is near the hometown of my boss.

This tree here is more than 800 years old.

The interesting feature of this pagoda and another just like it is that they are made entirely out of stone.

We had dinner at a foodcourt not unlike those back in Singapore. Quality of the food was not good though.

This was taken at the local Carrefour.

A little girl playing with a trike used for sight-seeing.

This building is part of the Jimei University, founded by a Singaporean before the Second World War.

The administrative building of the Jimei University.

The memorial to the founder of the university is located nearby.

The walkway leading to the interior is decorated with stone relief decorations explaning his life story.

The detail of the reliefs are incredible.

Alright, that's all the photos for now. Will upload more from other occasions later.

Recent church activities

2007-09-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

In the past month, I went to the Minds Cafe at Chinatown and went bowling with some Zone 3 people. Took some photos with the camera on my phone. Can't say I'm fully satisfied with it, photos tend to come out shaky, since it does not have a flash. Anyways, here are some of the pictures:

Starting with the first game, an animal card game similar in concept to Uno, except that you have to make animal sounds for most of the cards.

Dawn and Karen deciding to settle their differences in a 'manly' fashion.

The objective of this game is to launch your monkeys onto the tree. First person to have all 4 monkeys on the tree scores one banana, and the person with the most bananas wins. Simple yet rather enjoyable.

OCX showing off his skills at Uno Stacko.

The following pictures are from the bowling session we had at Yishun Safra:

Matz had the honour of throwing the first ball.

Dan sizing up the target.

Gail trying to use her immense mental powers to force the ball back onto the lane.

Joel Xu, showing us how a school bowler does it.

Joel Chin, not to be outdone.

Small kid was bowling two lanes away.

You know you've assimilated into the working world when:

2007-09-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

1. You try to 'chope' a seat at the NUS canteen with a pack of tissue.
2. You forget to clear your own tray after you're done eating there.

Well actually I'm only guilty of the 2nd one. It was a friend of mine who wanted to leave a pack of tissue on the table. A couple of us econs grads were back in school last Saturday to collect our plaques we had made during graduation day.

Haven't been updating in a long while, have quite a few photos that I'll be putting up soon. Also since Sony Imagestation is closing down, I'll try to shift some of the photos over here. Quite a daunting task though, since I have at least a hundred or so photos there. But here are some sneak previews:

A group shot from Gail and Syl-vyn's birthday celebration back in 2004.

My last route march before ORD.

Lunch stop on the way to Bible Camp 2004.

Days of our lives...

2007-08-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

During lunch after a Secell Leaders' meeting last Saturday, a few of us were discussing about investments, mutual funds, CPF etc etc. And the day before, during a dinner at Plaza Sing's Crystal Jade Kitchen , some of them were sharing about how they wanted their wedding to be like. These are the people I grew up with, through our primary school years, secondary and now during our working lives. What will we be discussing in another 10 years time? What school to send our kids to?

I believe that all this just goes to show how faithful our God is, and how He has watched over us all these years, bringing us to where we are now. Recalling all our plans and desires, I was reminded of this passage:

Matthew 6:25-34 (New International Version)

Do Not Worry

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

10 things...

2007-08-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Rules of the game: Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end, you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks.

1) During primary 1, I hated being teased for my surname so much that I used my hanyu pinyin surname instead (zeng) for the entire year. Nowadays I don't bother to correct people who misspell my name, most commonly as "Jessie". Makes you wonder if people have ever heard of Jesse James, Jesse Owens or Rev. Jesse Jackson though.

2) I used to brood a lot. Whenever something unpleasant happened, I would tend to just be by myself and brood about it. Still do from time to time nowadays, but much less so.

3) Music means a lot to me. I didn't use to study without music, but I find I can't do so now. Even at work you'll most likely find me with my earphones on. I ride my motorcycle while listening to my discman as well. Now before you think "that's dangerous!", consider that most cars nowadays have powerful stereo systems, and drivers are permitted to listen to them while driving. So why not riders? Someday, I'll put a camera on my bike while I ride to work, and let you all see just how dangerous drivers can be. But I digress...

4) I shut down without enough sleep. That, and I become rather irritable. You've been warned, approach me then at your own risk.

5) I don't like kang kong. Or nattou (Japanese fermented bean) for that matter. Used to not like durian when I was younger, as it made me puke. Nowadays can tahan, but it's not exactly on the top of my favourite food list.

6) I used to do debating during my JC days. Then I entered the army, where my IQ dropped...

7) I have a condition known as "glaucoma suspect". Basically that means my eyeball pressure is exceptionally high, a possible symptom of glaucoma, although nothing bad has arisen out of it at this point.

8) A dream of mine is to get a bike in Japan and just ride from the North to the South for a couple of weeks, taking pictures and videos, and interacting with the folks away from the cities. Japan has some lovely views that you can only see away from the cities and on the roads. Can't exactly stop anytime you like on a train either, so for me a bike is the best way to enjoy the experience.

9) I do part time translation of anime and tokusatsu (Jpn superheroes) for a local firm. Some of the past shows that appeared on Kids Central included my work. Figured that it's a good way to improve my language and earn some money at the same time. That being said, my Japanese isn't fantastic. Primary school kids in Japan speak it so much more naturally, sigh.

10) I have a very poor long term memory. I've forgotten lots of details of what happened in my earlier years, and I'm terrible with names. Good news therefore, is that if I do remember a person or event, it means a lot to me.

Gah, took me a long long time to come up with those 10 points, so appreciate it. I'm going to take the liberty of not naming another 6 people. Most likely they've already been tagged to do so anyway, haha.

More pics

2007-07-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some groups pictures that we took, courtesy of Nerine:

I believe this can be an award winning shot, haha

Group shot outside the Esplanade

More tossing outside the Esplanade. The kids in the background cheered for us.

Since the kids were formed up in tow rows, we figured that we might as well do the same.

More group shots. Lots of tourists took this shot of us as well.

Apparently Ng Wei could spot us posing next to the merlion from the NDP stands across the river.

Commencement 2007

2007-07-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

I had my commencement ceremony last Saturday; quite an enjoyable day indeed, though it didn't exactly start off too smoothly. It rained heavily in the morning, causing the Econs department to cancel the phototaking session, even though the rain had stopped by about 8.30, which was the scheduled time. That didn't stop us from taking our own photos, and indeed we were almost making a nuisance of ourselves as we were the largest group present.

Went to the Esplanade area after the ceremony for more phototaking. You can imagine 20 plus of us wearing the gown and walking around taking pictures. There were a large group of primary school kids there attending the NDP rehearsal and they certainly were amused. Cute kids though, clapped for us when we took a picture while tossing our hats.

Ok, on to the pics:

Putting on the gown inside the dressing room.

Colleagues at EMA.

Part of the group. It kept growing as more and more people joined in.

The inside of the hall, as the graduates got seated.

The parents and guests seated at the rear of the hall.

Taking a break at the Esplanade

Trying to decide where to take the next photo outside the Esplanade.

The kids were on their way to the NDP rehearsal, while we were trying to find another spot for a photo. Thought it made an interesting shot.

The kids were very sporting, cheering for us, going "congratulations!" Some of them pointed at us and went "Harry Potter" as well.

A shot of some of us on the bridge while on the way to the merlion.

KC and gang having some fun on the bridge.

There are obviously more pictures, just that a lot of them are on the cameras of others, and I'm waiting for them to come in. Will upload them once I can get them.

Kendo photos

2007-06-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Most of you who read this blog know that I do kendo, but for the benefit of those who don't, I've uploaded some shots of training this past Monday at NUS. It was also another attempt by me to take kendo photos, which I consider to be the toughest subject for me to take photos of.

My apologies for the blurry photos, I was trying to avoid using the flash because I didn't want to disturb the training.

Putting on the men (head armour) at the start of practice.

But first the tenegui (towel) goes on before that to absorb sweat.

Finally the men goes on.

Nicholas briefing the group before starting training.

Training starts with some men uchi (strikes to the top of the head armour).

It's really hard to catch moving kendoka (kendo practitioner) on camera, these are some of the 'ok' shots.

Zibin landing a strike on Kitt.

My best shot of the day. Kitt striking Zhen Yuan's men.

Zhen Yuan and Zibin having a go at each other during jigeiko (free practice).

Kitt attempting a men kaeshi dou off Zibin.

Clean men uchi by Kitt.

And to end things off, just a wallpaper I made sometime back from a photo I took.

Will probably be uploading a few shots from the Inter-Zone games day next.

Day 5: Kyoto

2007-06-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

Day 5 was once again spent at Kyoto itself. We headed first to the Nijo Castle, the summer residence of the Shogun. Next was the Arashiyama area in the west of Kyoto, a forested area with several shrines, including a bamboo forest.

After that, Daniel and I headed for the International Manga Museum, while OCX decided to wander around by himself, since he wasn't too interested in manga. Lucky for him, because when we got to the museum, we found out that it was closed on Wednesdays...

So Dan and I wandered around too, coming across a small shopping area where there was a trio of musicians from Europe performing some classical music on a piano, violin and flute. After meeting up with OCX again, he brought us to what was to be his favourite shop in the entire country: Kyoto Coop. Basically a supermarket with cheap prices.

The main entrance to the Nijo Castle.

The main building in the castle. Too bad we weren't allowed to take photographs inside. The floor of the corridors were made to squeak whenever someone was walking on them, the so-called 'Nightingale' floors. This was so that intruders could be heard at night.

A small pool in the garden next to the castle.

Even swans get to have their own castle in the inner moat.

Some of the plants were so old, their branches needed walking sticks.

This being late spring, it was rare to see any other colour but green.

Another part of the garden.

Part of the bamboo forest path at the Arashiyama area. The entire path is several hundred metres long.

The bamboo themselves are several stories high.

The view from the observation point on a hill in the Arashiyama area.

The 2 avid photographers check out their shots.

Daniel making it worth his while lugging his 5 kg camera bag around all day.

The river there had a hydroelectric generator installed, you can see the waterfall on the right.

Some buildings on the other side of the river. I like the reflections.

Dan wanted to go to this forest path where there are lots of monkeys; this sign pointed towards that area. We only realised that there was an entrance fee of 600 yen to enter when we got there, so we chose not to in the end.

The rest of the day was spent going to some souvenir shops, and going to another sushi shop to eat, all thanks to our local guide for the day, OCX, since he had spent time exploring the area earlier in the afternoon.

I don't have much photos of my time in Tokyo, you can look at Daniel's photobucket for those, since I didn't go to Disneyland with them. So here's what little photos that I do have as a bonus:

Packing up and getting ready to leave Kyoto.

Arrival in Tokyo after 3 1/2 hours on the Shinkansen. We slept most of the way.

Dan and OCX get ready to conquer Tokyo!

Jedi Knight OCX is all prepared to slice down anyone who gets in his way at the queue in Disneyland.

Next update will be on some Kendo photos I took at last Monday's training at NUS.

Day 4: Iga Ueno

2007-06-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

At Daniel's request, we headed for Iga Ueno, home to the Iga school of Ninjutsu. It took us an hour plus to reach there by train, but thankfully we had the JR pass, so it cost us less than 500 yen to get there and back from Kyoto.

The view of a town in the countryside from our train towards Iga Ueno. Really peaceful looking, isn't it?

The train we took to Uenoshi, where the Ninja Museum is located. Not sure if you can see it clearly, but there are pictures of little ninjas on the train.

The Ninja museum and village are located in a park along with a castle. Here we were walking in that park towards the museum.

Before we could reach the museum, we came across a Ninja technique demonstration show at 200 yen per person, so we went for it. This is the stage, and the words above the white background simply read: "Ninja Stage"

The 3 of us waiting for the show to start. Since all three of us take photos, you'll hardly find pictures with all 3 of us in them.

The apparent leader of the Ashura Ninja group performing some rite before starting his demonstration, cutting through the straw mats you see behind him.

According to the explanation given to us, the straw mats were soaked in water, making the thickness of the mats similar to that of a human body, i.e. if you were able to slice through the mat, you were able to slice through a human limb.

The ninja had to disguise himself, so they usually made use of everyday items such as the sickles above used to harvest rice as weapons.

Another member of the ninja group telling us that it was a lie that ninjas carried large number of throwing stars, since each weighed about 200 grams.

A display of some of the equipment that the ninjas used. The round wooden thing in the upper right were special shoes used to cross swamps.

A collection of various throwing stars that were used and some of the methods of throwing them.

A group of primary school children who were at the park.

The Ueno castle, not to be mistaken with the Ueno in Tokyo.

At the upper floor of the castle, there was an interesting grill made of arrows.

On the way back, we stopped at a nearby town where we had to switch trains. Thinking that since it was an interchange, there would be places to eat nearby. We almost ended up getting lost and thankfully a lady at the nearby tourist information centre pointed us to a family restaurant where we had an early dinner.

We dropped by Kasaga on the way back, cause eagle eyed Daniel spotted a sign for a natural hot spring in the area from the train in the morning. The hot spring was good, with several pools, including one outside and a jacuzzi.

The train station at Kasaga. Trains only come about once every 45 mins, and we had just missed the previous one, so that gave us lots of time to waste there.

The place is so ulu that the locals can take their dogs to walk alongside the train tracks.

Once back in Kyoto, we headed to the sushi place for dinner.

Staring intently at the belt of sushi, waiting for their favourite beef sukiyaki to arrive.

What can we say? OCX's still a growing boy.

Our last day in Kyoto would be spent at Nijo castle and the Arashiyama area, a scenic forested area west of Kyoto.

Day 3: Kyoto

2007-06-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

We took a short Shinkansen hop from Osaka to Kyoto in the morning, when I realised that I had forgotten to check on how to get to our hotel from the train station. Thankfully the police post there was able to show us the way. So, if ever you're hopelessly lost, look for a koban (police post).

Kyoto is one of the cultural centres of Japan, being a former capital and chock full of shrines and temples, making Daniel sick of them. It wasn't surprising thus to see lots and lots of students coming to Kyoto. We often saw groups of students walking around with some checklist of sorts, going from location to location; probably some field trip related thing.

The rear of the JR Kyoto station. A huge building in its own right, but loses out to Tokyo station in my opinion.

Just two out of dozens of fruit pies that were on display at a shop inside the station.

Question: Is Daniel surprised at the variety of colourful pies, or something(one) else?

Answer: Of course it's the fruit pies!

The entrance to the Fushimi Inari shrine, a temple dedicated to the fox spirit, located to the southeast of Kyoto.

One of the key features of this shrine are the hundreds of gates along a number of paths in the hills behind the main temple.

Apparently if one were to walk under all the gates together with their loved ones (takes about 2 hours or more), they'll live happily ever after. Guess this means that OCX and Daniel aren't fated for that.

Each gate was donated by someone or some organisation. The surprising thing was that the gates are all pretty recent, no gate was older than 10 years old. Seems like they're replaced every now and then.

The scenery around the paths are pretty nice, as it's set in a forested hill.

Next up was the Kiyomizu temple, a candidate for one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

The place was full of people, from students on field trips to tourists to families.

A common site at temples across Japan is this thing for people to hang wooden boards on which they write their wishes. Everything from good exam results to health to love can be seen, and in a variety of languages too.

This particular one was rather interesting. Not the wish itself (the guy's asking for good health for himself) but the way he wrote it, quite funny if you understand japanese.

The Kiyomizu temple is set in another forested hill, which makes for a beautiful backdrop. Just too bad the time of the year we went had no particular tree flowering, hence everything was just green.

The money shot of the Kiyomizu temple. Since it's built on a hill, the veranda is supported by pillars.

Statues of a local deity who looks after travellers. For some reason, they all had a red bib put on them, so we joked that they were getting a hair cut.

Another common feature at shrines in Japan is a small pool for people to wash their hands and mouth prior to entering the shrine itself. This one is unique in that the water flows in via three channels above. One has to use a ladle with an extra long handle to collect the water.

A couple of shots of some nearby traditional looking streets. Nice looking but full of tourist traps.

The rest of the day was spent at some nearby shrines, and since they close at about 4 plus, we weren't left with much to do, except to go back and bathe and then look for dinner. Eventually we found ourselves at a sushi place with 105 yen (less than S$1.50) for each plate. Nice place, so nice in fact, we ended up there again the next evening :P

Next up: Day trip to Iga-Ueno and the Ninja museum. 楽しみにしてください！

Day 2: Osaka

2007-06-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Day 2 was spent primarily at Universal Studios Japan. It was a Sunday, so we were expecting it to be crowded, but even then the size of the crowd was simply amazing. The park opens at 9am officially, but there were so many people that it opened at 8.50am. Dan suggested heading to the roller coaster first, and already the line was 80 minutes long.

We couldn't help but recall one of the Sunday sermons where the speaker told us that as Christians, we are favoured by God, because wherever we went, 3 things happened:
1) We spent less time in queue than what was stated
2) The line grew once we came out (we bring business)
3) We got to all the fun rides usually with queue times of only about 30 mins

Weather that day was pretty ok, windy in the day but got really cold in the night, so much so that it felt like winter all over again. We were watching the Peter Pan show at night, and wishing that it would end faster so that we could go home, haha.

Ok, time for more photos:

Daniel enjoying his futon at our hotel in Osaka.

Just part of the crowd that was already waiting when we got to the park before 9am.

Just as any good Singaporean would do, OCX and Daniel faithfully join the queue for the 'Hollywood Dream' roller coaster ride.

Part of the interior of the park.

A shop selling plush toys of Sesame Street characters, Shrek ears etc etc

The Spiderman 4-D ride. Possibly the best ride in the entire park. Too bad for the guys, all the speech was in Japanese, haha.

Agents 002.5 and 006.667 could never understand why they weren't selected for any missions.

The Shrek float from a procession of floats that went through the park during noon.

The Peanuts float. Snoopy is apparently very popular in Japan, though not many people read the actual strips themselves.

A carpark of sorts for baby cars. One thing for sure, the park is family and disabled friendly.

A Hello Kitty car that was driving around the park.

Part of the cast of the Waterworld show prepares for the show by filling buckets of water to toss at the audience. No kidding, they have specially coloured seats for areas that are certain to get wet. The fellow above, in the pre-show segment, started off by asking us to clap, then tossing water at the audience because we weren't loud enough.

Outside the 4-D theater, where we watched the Sesame Street 4-D show. Quite entertaining, and interesting to hear all your favourite characters speak Japanese. Too bad the Shrek show had ended by then.

Towards the evening, we had run out of rides and while waiting for the Peter Pan show to start, we wandered into the Peanuts area, meant for kids. Colourful and full of interactive things.

Further updates may be slow, now that I'm working, but I'll try to get the remaining photos up as soon as I can. If anyone can tell me how to upload quicktime video clips, I'll be very grateful. Next up: Kyoto and the Ninja museums pics.

Day 1: Osaka (continued)

2007-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

The rest of the day was spent at Shinsaibashi, a shopping street several hundred metres long, and Dotonbori, a street full of restaurants.

Part of Shinsaibashi. You can see how the shopping street stretches into the background.

OCX and Dan along the shopping street, which was expectedly crowded on a Saturday evening.

Even the drain covers were elaborately decorated, something that is apparently commonplace throughout Japan. Our PUB should really take notes.

Part of the lights near Dotonbori.

Just some of the restaurants at Dotonbori. The most noteworthy thing however, is the Jetstar advertisement in the centre. Does this mean we will soon see budget flights to Japan? It's about time I say.

Another section of Dotonbori. No wonder the phrase 食い倒れ (eat till you drop) is used to describe this place.

Still to come:
Universal Studios Japan; Kyoto, a place overflowing with shrines and students. Includes a day-trip to Iga-Ueno, the land of Ninjas! Last but not least, Tokyo.

Day 1: Osaka

2007-05-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

We touched down at Kansai Airport at about 5 plus in the morning after transiting at Bangkok the previous night. Headed straight for our hotel, arriving there at about 7 plus, where we were told that the check-in time was after 12. So we had breakfast, and headed to Osaka castle, since it was open from 9am.

Daniel checking OCX's list of japanese phrases. The last phrase on the list was 愛している... -_-"

At the Bangkok airport, whose name I cannot remember, spell or pronounce.

Kansai airport.

Dan on the way to the Osaka castle. He had no idea about the amount of walking that was to come in the days ahead, hence the thumbs up at the start of the entire trip.

View of the castle from a distance.

Closer view. In April the castle would be surrounded by lots of blooming sakura (japanese cherry blossoms). Too bad we came at the wrong time. I blame NUS.

Warhammer anyone? A display of figurines representing a crucial battle for Osaka castle.

Close up of one of the main generals.

Close up of the castle.

But frankly speaking, sight seeing wasn't the top of my list of things to do in Osaka. That belonged to food, haha. More pics of that, plus the super long Shinsaibashi shopping street in the next update.

Preview

2007-05-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a great 5 days so far; was in Osaka for the first 2, then in Kyoto for the next 3, although the 4th day was largely spent outside of Kyoto, going to the Ninja Museum in Iga-Ueno and a hot spring at Kasaga. Legs and back are killing me though, from all the waking we've done, and any possible weight loss has more than been mitigated by the amount of food we eat, haha.

Ok, here are some pics:

Universal Studios Japan, our stop on the 2nd day.

Outside a shop in the JR Kyoto station selling colourful fruit pies. Is Dan gawking at the pies, or at something(one) else?

The hundreds of Otori gates at the Fushimi-inari shrine at Kyoto. Supposedly if a couple were to walk through all the gates together, they would live happily ever after...

Dan and OCX splitting up at a fork in the road, which means that they won't be together for the rest of their lives...?

Part of the Ninja techniques demonstration show at the Iga-Ueno ninja museum.

More photos to come later :)

復活～！

2007-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

本当にご無沙汰しておりました。

It's been quite a while since I've used this blog; hadn't had much motivation to carry it on once its original purpose (photoblog for my exchange programme at Kyudai) was over. It will still be primarily a photoblog, and updates will still be infrequent at best, but hey it's better than nothing.

Let's start this new chapter with ironically an ending of an era. With the end of my exams comes the end of my time at NUS as well. It's been a fun 4 years, with a wide range of experiences that I never thought I would have, as well as meeting friends from literally all over the world. But one of the greatest bunch that I've met are those right here in Singapore, namely the Econs honours class of 2006/07. The times spent in the honours room studying, complaining, sweating over our thesis and ISMs, really made university life feel like school life again.

Of course, I have to mention NUS Kendo as well. After all, it was there that I've made many good friends over the years. Who can forget the sheer tension of having Takeuchi sensei take training at the Clementi dojo, or Kato sensei's hearty laugh? Keep at it guys, NUS Kendo will have its day soon! I'll join as often as I can, pending work schedule.

Speaking of work, I've gotten a place at the Energy Market Authority as a policy analyst, pending confirmation that I've graduated with a second upper honours. While my actual jobscope hasn't been confirmed yet, the EMA deals primarily with the regulation of the energy market (duh), i.e. the power companies like Singpower, with the intent of making the energy market competitive.

Well enough words, this is meant to be a photoblog, so here are some photos:

Part of the econs honours class 06/07. Taken on the day before the exams began, which explains why we were still able to smile.

Part of the NUS Kendo Kai, photo taken at a chalet last year.

Will be going for a grad trip to Japan along with Daniel and OCX in May, so look forward to lots of photos then.

2005-08-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

All hail the loss of common sense and the rise of the litigatious society.

2005-08-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

My peer tutor, Kuwazuru Masayuki and myself at the closing ceremony for the course.

2005-08-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

My japanese class, at the last day of school.

2005-08-14T07:13:00.001-07:00

ATW students and tutors enjoying the show.

2005-08-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

2005-08-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hanabi taikai (fireworks display) at Ohori park. One and a half hours in length, with a crowd good enough to match Chinatown on Chinese New Year eve.

2005-08-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

10 screens display the progress of each court in real time, while the paper progression chart at the bottom took up the entire wall.

2005-08-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

The high school tournament that I went to. 10 courts, dozens of schools, easily the biggest competition I've ever seen.

2005-08-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Another shot.

2005-08-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

A shot from the japanese garden at Ohori park.

2005-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

The little bugger trying to drag a cushion across the living room.

Sleepy is this puppy's name. He's no longer with us though. Given away as there are too many pets. 2 other dogs, a variety of insects and fishes.
The view from my room at my homestay family's house.
Meet Bill, Sleepy's father.

Long time no see

2005-07-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Things have started to get a little busy here, hence the long break from posting. That, plus I'm a little lazy, and it doesn't help that I have to contend with a celeron equipped laptop that takes 3 minutes to display all my photos in thumbnail format.
To make sense of all the various photos that have been posted, here's roughly what happened.
We went to watch the Yamakasa festival, where basically teams of men run around the town carrying a one ton float in a race that starts at 4.59am. We then went to school and boarded a bus bound for Hiroshima. Arrived in the afternoon, took a ferry over to Miyajima island, visited the Itsukushima shrine, had dinner, went back to the Otori mon at night. The gate was quite remarkable indeed.
The next day was spent at the A-bomb museum and its surrounding, lunch at the Okonominura and then back home. We were scheduled to move from our apartment to our host families, so the next update will probably be on that, as well as a few other activities, such as a nomikai (drinking session), a tea ceremony and others. Stay tuned.

2005-07-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Okonomiyaka, Hiroshima style. They add a huge amount of vegetables to it, in contrast to Osaka style okonomiyaki.
The Okonomimura, with 3 stories worth of nothing but okonomiyaki stores.
The A-bomb dome, now protected by a fence complete with infra red sensors and CCTV.

Paper cranes with wishes for peace.

Hiroshima castle. We only got to see it from our bus.

2005-07-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Another shot of the Otori mon.
The Peace Park and the A-bomb Dome at Hiroshima.
One of the exhibits at the A-bomb museum.

2005-07-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

The gahment supports the sewage system on the island, apparently.
No idea what the name of this temple is, but it is a nice shot, no?
The Otori mon at night. As it was low tide, we were able to walk up to it.
The dining hall where we had dinner.

2005-07-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Fancy a Kendo doll for S$300?

2005-07-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

The Otori mon. You can actually walk to the gate during low tide, which we did later in the night.
I was thinking that the small square platform here would be nice as a shiai-jo. Incredibly scenic, being next to the water.
Deers on the island will eat just about anything, especially paper. I had to risk my camera cover to lure this critter for this shot.
The platform I mentioned above. Its actually meant for some religious ceremony.
I was taken aback when I found this at not just one, but a few souvenir shops. Bokkens and bokutos.

2005-07-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

The tide coming in. The entire temple seems to float on water when the tide is high, making it quite a view indeed.
Some random shot of some buildings.
The entrance to the Itsukushima shrine.
A shot of the exterior of the shrine.

2005-07-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

The jetty over at Miyajima. It has an uncanny resemblence to Tekong. Refer to the photo below.
Arriving at Miyajima.
The Otori mon from a distance.
Our first surprise upon arrival was the fact that deer are allowed to roam free on the island.
Not a perfect point of view for comparision, but the resemblence is there.

2005-07-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Miyajima Grand Hotel, where we stayed for the night. Possibly the most extravagant place I've ever stayed at.
Fancy a ride?
The view right after leaving the ferry terminal.
The first view of the famous temple.
Getting a briefing about the rest of the day from Kozo san.

Trip to Hiroshima

2005-07-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

The bridge linking Kyushu to Honshu.
Lunch prior to leaving for Miyajima.

2005-07-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Tired participants after the festival.
Some of us ATW students.
Me and my peer tutor, Kuwazuru Masayuki.

More Yamakasa pics

2005-07-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yamakasa 2005

2005-07-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Each float is preceded by a bunch of children and older participants carrying signboards with the team's name.
One of the teams passing by the ground floor of my apartment.
Various shots of various floats.

2005-07-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

The mess we left behind.

2005-07-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Making yakisoba (fried noodle) step 2. Refer below for step 1.
Cook till golden brown and you're good to go!
Step 3: add soba.
Step 1: Add meat.

2005-07-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

The BBQ getting underway.

2005-07-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

The shed where we had a BBQ after the farm trip.
Making my way back after the weeding. The wind had lighten up, so it was somewhat easier.
Beef and chicken we had for the BBQ.

2005-07-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Eddie almost wanted to quit school and become a full time farmer.
Getting our hands dirty weeding the field.
Stephen washing his feet after the weeding at a storm drain.
The first few brave souls to step into the field.
Making our way down to the field, by walking along the edge of the terrances. Throw in some strong wind and rain, and you can imagine the fun we had just getting to the field.

Farming trip photos (1)

2005-07-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Briefing from the farmer (left) before we moved to the field. Standing in the centre is Shikai sensei, our lecturer for the agriculture course.
A shot of some of the guys who went for the farming trip

A shot from the bus while on the way to the rice field. True enough, we were to have quite the problem with the weather for the entire day.

2005-07-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Went to see the Softbank Hawks vs the Rakuten Golden Eagles at the Yahoo! dome. (everything is owned by some business) Luckily I knew enough rules to at least understand the game, but i still prefer soccer at the end of the day. The entire game took 3 hours from start to end, with little action most of the time, and a split second of excitement. But it was really fun watching the crowd cheering, as they really get into the spirit of things.
They have quite a unique way of marketing. If the customer doesn't come to you, you go to the customer. There is literally an army of people like the guy here, who carry everything from a portable beer dispenser on his back to ice-cream to sandwiches etc etc.
See if you can count them all. Those with bright coloured clothings are the sales people I mentioned. Bear in mind that this is only a small section of the dome.
One of the more enjoyable moments was when everyone inflated a yellow balloon and released it at the same time at the end of the half-time show. I have a really nice video clip, too bad I can't show it to you here.
Me and a few friends at the game.

More pics of Kyudai

2005-07-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

The dojo at Kyudai, Hakozaki campus.
This is where we foreign students gather to access the net. Its not usually this crowded, but everyone was waiting for the baseball game to begin later in the evening.

2005-07-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

My room. It's meant for one, but it houses 2 at this point. This here is the micro-kitchen.
Someone sleeps on the bed, someone sleeps on the futon next to the bed. We take turns.

It's a good day to die

2005-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

No, I do not intend to commit suicide, that's just my favourite quote from warcraft 2. I'm headed off for my second session of Kendo with the Kyudai kendo club in about an hour, the first having been on saturday. They train here 6 days a week, but there's no need to attend them all, thankfully. The saturday session was short, at 1 1/2 hours, but it was a killer. Actually, it isn't as hard as you might think, just that I'm somewhat out of shape. A few kiri-kaeshi, followed by men-uchi, nidan waza, for around the first 20 min. A short kakari-geiko later, we formed up in rows for a ji-geiko session with the 6 senseis present. Each ji-geiko lasts around 5 min, and with the numbers present, I managed to get to practice with 2 senseis. Nearly died. But I get the feeling that saturday sessions, being on a weekend, are a little different from practice on other days, as I didn't see that many senseis on the friday that I first went to watch their trainings. In fact, only one sensei, Shiroki sensei was there that day. We shall see whether this observation holds water soon enough.

Random uploads

2005-07-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

The following pictures will seem rather haphazard in terms of chronological and frankly, any and all order. The reason is simple. I am using a school computer to upload pics, so it isn't as easy as point shoot upload type. Its more convulated than that. The process is roughly as follows:

1) Take photo with lousy camera that sucks under low light conditions.
2) Transfer from camera to my own laptop.
3) Burn photos from laptop onto CD-RW.
4) Go to school laptop and upload photo.

It seems at times that the laptop I'm typing on is a 386 or something. It takes several minutes just to display all my photos in thumbnail format. Plus typing on a Japanese keyboard can drive you mad, as the punctuation marks are on different keys, slowing you down greatly. Last but not least, I can't be bothered to correct the sequence of photos after they are uploaded, so bear with me, yah?

2005-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Briefing before the start of the tournament.
Cigarettes are dirt cheap in Japan. Apart from costing just half of the prices back home, they are also easily available from vending machines, which carry a rather pointless 'minors are not allowed to buy cigarettes' sticker.
Living in Japan is an exercise in common sense, and trying not to tear your hair out. This was taken in a train, obviously.
Case in point. While the english translation is appropriate (a rarity in Japan), the actual transliteration reads: 'Anyone also can toilet'.
The dojo located below the hall used for the middle high school tournament.

2005-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Katsu-don. While it was very good, it almost came up during practice later, as we had lunch a little too close to training.
Shinais galore.
Watermelons in Tokyo are so heavy, it takes 2 people to carry one.
A street near the Togoshi dojo at night. The restaurant where we had dinner with Tajima sensei is located here.

2005-07-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Lost in Tokyo? No fear, just refer to the map and try to locate your line, then your station!

Differences btw Singapore and Japan: Part 1

2005-07-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: things written here are of my own view and do not necessarily reflect the truth. Reader beware. That being said, here we go:

1. Bus drivers here talk non-stop, taxi drivers are the strong, silent type.
Actually, its not that busdrivers here are talkative, its just that they anounce everything they do.
'We are now at xxx bus-stop.'
'We are moving off.'
'We are stopping at a traffic junction.'
'We are turning right.'
You get the idea. Taxi drivers, on the other hand, hardly make a sound, other than asking you where you wish to go, telling you your fare (clearly displayed to you anyway) and the obligatory thank you.

2. There is little if any graffiti here.
While this can be attributed to the general sense of cleaniness and social responsibility here, there may be another plausible theory why one does not see much graffiti here, like in the US or some other places: Most Japanese can't spell. When you start seeing peace mispelled as 'peece', you know that there's a problem.

3. Drivers here are generally nicer
Its amazing how much faith the Japanese public place in their drivers. They seldom check before jaywalking across small streets, trusting drivers to slow down and make way for them. Good luck to you if this was Singapore. I still find myself waiting for the car to go past before I cross. Not that all drivers stop for you, but a large number do. While the drving atmosphere is nicer, the road designs here will drive you mad though. An infinite number of small roads, poorly designed junctions etc.

2005-06-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

A photo taken after day 2 at Togoshi dojo

2005-06-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Its been almost a week since I arrived, and what a week it has been. Met some really great kids, had a great time in Tokyo, got myself lost upon arriving in Fukuoka, etc etc.

And now the news in detail.

Apologies to Shermaine, for making her wait as long as she did, and causing her to attract some unwanted attention. A great deal of thanks as well, from helping me to my hotel, helping me ask whether I could train at Togoshi and showing me around the place. Without her help, it would have had been alot less fun.

Training at Togoshi was quite the experience. The entire atmosphere is drastically different from anything I had even experienced at any dojo back home. Fun, relaxed but dedicated. Less emphasis on discipline, but you could see that the kids were enjoying themselves, despite the small size of the club. Might be hard to implement for our own club though, as we take in a rather different breed of people, among them samurai wannabes. If we were to adopt a similar training atmosphere as that of Togoshi, we would see alot of problems, I believe.
Trained with them for 2 days, sparred with alot of great folk, e.g. Yamamoto san, the first time I met an opponent who used jodan no kamae. Promptly got creamed, of course; including a one handed tsuki followed by a men. The kids themselves are also incredible, with an energy level that is enviable.
Went to watch a middle high school tournament on Sunday morning, and yes, there is indeed a marked difference between shiai kendo and normal kendo, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the speed and energy level of these kids.

Took the Shinkansen down to Fukuoka, and promptly got into trouble. Apparently, I was to meet some representatives from Kyushu University (Kyudai for short) at the platform, which I misinterpreted to mean at the station, which was downstairs. Long story short, I missed them, waited for an hour, decided to get to my apartment via taxi, taxi driver also didn't know the exact position, went around the correct bunch of buildings several rounds, luckily saw a van unloading a bunch of fellow students and got saved.
So far, lessons are rather dull. Japanese lessons have yet to begin, and the other class I'm attending, on agriculture is not very interesting, to put things nicely. I have a feeling that this course is going to be one where they justify their own agricultural policy. In any event, I have to do a report on genetically modified organisms. Any useful information is highly appreciated.

Updating prolems

2005-06-24T21:13:00.001-07:00

It's going to be a pain to update this blog with pictures as I intended, simply because the computer at my current hotel doesn't have Hello, and I doubt the computers at Kyushu University will have them either.

2005-06-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

My 2 tatami room. Hey, for 2500 yen a night in Tokyo, I'm not complaining. In the corner is my piracy centre.

2005-06-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Dinner.

2005-06-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

View while departing for Tokyo.

2005-06-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Chiang Kai Shiek (sp?) airport. The last time i was here was in 2001, on a flight chock full of army personnel.

2005-06-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

breakfast on route to Taipei

2005-06-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

changi airport

2005-06-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

How to deal with problems in life:

This is some good schitt

2005-06-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of bash.org,

<Nori123 > You don't know jack shit
<VioletSky > That's not true, I know him well
<Nori123 > Haha
<VioletSky > I'm serious
<VioletSky > Jack is the son of Awe Schitt and O. Schitt. Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt Inc. They had one son, Jack. In turn Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt, the deeply religious couple produced 6 children
<VioletSky > Holie Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Giva Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins: Deap Schitt and Dip Schitt. Against her parents' objections, Deap Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school drop out.
<VioletSky > However, after being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later remarried Ted Sherlock and, because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name.
<VioletSky > She was then known as Noe Schitt-Sherlock. Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt and they produced a son of nervous disposition, Chicken Schitt.
<VioletSky > Two other of the 6 children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony.
<VioletSky > The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens wedding. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd, and Hoarse.
<VioletSky > Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt.
<VioletSky > So there.
<FiPo > LOL
<Nori123 > I have actually chortled coke through my nose

Kendo Vision

2005-06-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

I recently got me some daily contact lenses for kendo. Been meaning to do so for a while, just never got around to doing so. Anyhoo, I think I frustrated the lady at the optical shop quite badly, as she was showing me how to put on and take off them lenses. Apparently 9 out of 10 people find putting on lenses more difficult than taking them off. I happen to be in the minority. Maybe its the lenses, or maybe its just my eyes, but I find it incredibly difficult to take off contacts.
Vision has improved, but not perfectly, as the lenses do not compensate for my astigmatism, only my myopia. Prior to this I could fight well enough, but I couldn't make out minor details like the eyes of my opponent. Now I can, but I have yet to see (no pun intended) how that will affect the way I fight. Well, the first major test will be the upcoming grading I guess.

take 2

2005-06-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Technically this isn't my first blog. The first one died simply because I couldn't be bothered to update it. The reason I'm restarting one now is twofold. First, I'm anticipating that I have to write a report for Toshiba, who kindly gave me a grant for my summer programme. This blog thus serves a role as a sort of record. Secondly, if I didn't, I'll get bugged to death by some people.

Don't expect daily updates though. Internet access while I'm in Kyushu is only available while on campus, and frankly speaking I'm too lazy to do so as well. I will try to upload as many photos as possible.