A dash of Randomness

Home is where the Heart is

2008-07-27T10:40:00.002+09:00

Ever heard of that expression? Of course you have. It is after all, such a famous one.

Can Home be just one place? I think for my case, it is hard to specifically pinpoint it to only one location. Home to me is first and foremost the place where I was raised, the place where my family is. However, as I grow up, expand my wings and explore the world, Home takes on a new meaning. Home can refer to my small place here over in J-land, my host family's house etc. But most of all, it is where my heart truly is: with Marc. The recent but short holiday that we had showed me that just by being together, I find comfort and peace. It is indeed something that I miss on a daily basis. To come home to someone is a wonderful feeling. To have someone next to you, to have a meal with someone, to be hold, hugged and cherished are things so simple but yet so meaningful. Yes, Home is most definitely where the heart is.

Anges et Demons

2008-06-08T09:16:00.004+09:00

No, it's not Givenchy's "ange ou demon".
It's the title of a specific book.

"Anges et Demons" refers to another one of Dan Brown's books with Robert Langdon in it. In fact, it is his first adventure. "Da Vinci Code", anyone? The English title is "Angels and Demons". Enlightenment?

I recently acquire a copy of the title in its French counterpart, in a bid to improve my rusty French. This book is proving to be quite the challenge since I don't know it as well as I do for Da Vinci Code.

If you have never heard of the book, it's the story of Rober Langdon helping CERN, the European nuclear research centre in Switzerland uncover the truth behind the gruesome murders of scientists/priests, within the time frame of a ticking bomb. Throw in a hint of the Illuminati, the Vatican, and historical places in Rome, it's another thriller similar in fashion to Da Vinci Code. It's a good book in this sense, but please do not take it at face value.

photos link

2008-04-06T21:54:00.002+09:00

Alright people... I know I've not written in AGES... can't help it when time flies and I have my hands tied.

Anyway, at least I'll give you some photos update!!
You can check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/joyceljx

and as I write this, a minor, minor earthquake just happened....

Italia - Part II (final part)

2007-08-16T04:37:00.000+09:00

In two days’ time I’m heading back to Florence for a “long” weekend. Might have interesting things to write after that. But then I realise, I’ve not even finish the second half of my first trip there in July! And then Paris came too. Lots to write about. Not enough time. Maybe. I’ve been known to procrastinate after all.

Well, without further ado, let’s get back to Italy part II. ^_^

Florence's symbol

For the first time, I wasn’t just passing through Florence. After being there for four times you would imagine that I know it like the back of my hand. Right. That obviously didn’t happen. We went to Rome during my first “stopover” in Florence 2 1/2 years ago. Then the following year was Venice. Christmas was a whirlwind affair in 3days/2nights. So when I get lines like “so you must know Florence really well by now”, “what’s your favourite part?” I can’t answer them, at all. *sigh* But thankfully that changed! Thanks to my sister (yes Marc contributed a lil’), who happened to pop for a few days when I was there, I finally went to the Uffizi, saw David at the Academia, ate that lovely tiramisu and tried tons of gelato. That’s the way to see Florence, the centre of Renaissance a few centuries back.

A Jewellery shop on Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge that was not bombed during WWII.
Interesting fact: There's nothing but jewellery shops on this bridge!

"Gelato, gelato, gelato!"

Being the crazy tourist in Florence is quite the interesting experience. Because Marc abhor carrying cameras there (because he is now “local”), I could only go photo-crazy with my sister, who was there for the first time. I’m sure Marc would have joined in if he could, but the poor bloke had to work. (Well, someone has to make a living!). But he made it up by spending Saturday with us doing touristy stuff!

Grace with the fake statue of David by Michelangelo behind her (the real one is in Academia)

We ended Saturday with a special dinner to celebrate Grace’s new job. We actually
dressed up for the occasion even though the restaurant was only down the road! Great Tuscan restaurant, who said that Italian food was all pasta and cheese?!

All in all, we had a great time. He met a member of my family, and everyone had fun! ^_^
Next is him visiting me in Paris, city of Love, city of Lights …

ciao!

Italia - part 1!

2007-07-30T07:29:00.000+09:00

Maybe it's the Commonwealth connection, but the beauty of not needing a visa to enter Europe is great. At least that was what I was thinking until my arrival in Rome which changed my opinion on this. But then again, I can still blame the Italian immigration for incompetence, stupidity, and just plain uncooperative and un-informative. Pick any adjectives along these words and I'm sure it fits their description beautifully. At least I managed to get through and in after some "checking" done by them... That is another story altogether which will not be featured in here. But now I've made my way to Paris after spending about 10days in Elba Island and Florence, which makes better post that the previous incident!

And what an eventful trip it was! Upon arriving close to 11pm in Florence from Rome on Friday the 20th, I was taken straight to Marc's place, only to drop my bags and then go downstairs to the pub where I met the lovely people he hangs out with. Granted, due to the status change in our relationship there was quite a list of people whom I had to meet, but never would I have expected the honours to began the night I arrived... They even came in a car to the station (after Marc had left on foot!) to pick me up when they heard that he was meeting me. Let's say that he was just as surprised at the enthusiasm as I was.

That aside, the next day we left very early in the morning to catch the 7.30am train. I just keep racking in the travel miles!! In the space of two days I had done Tokyo-Beijing-Rome-Florence (which ended up taking close to 24 hours) and now to Piombino, where we later took the boat (or ship seeing that it was so huge!) to Cavo on Elba Island* to spend the weekend there; a weekend getaway that Marc had planned for us and kept as a surprise. It was an amazing weekend. The sun, the sea, the food, and of course, the great company! It was indeed a big change from Japan. I had a tan and "rosy cheeks" by the time we left on Sunday.

Elba Island taken from the boat

Marc and I on the boat/ship

* Elba Island is famous as the place where Napoleon was exiled. It is near Corsica, where he was born. Now we'll have to visit Corsica too to complete the Napoleon "tour" ^_^

typhoon?

2007-07-14T08:57:00.000+09:00

I heard that this weekend there will be a typhoon. The thought of it just give me chills. I definitely do not want rain and constant rain the whole day! But I guess even with the whole population wishing the same thing it really isn't going to work. So typhoon, (well up to now I really don't know if it's a real one), constant rain has been pouring since this morning.. and it will last for two days... yucks!!!!

Definitely more reason to look forward to Europe!! Sun and beach!!

Harry Potter World Premiere

2007-07-03T23:15:00.000+09:00

Guess what? June 28th came and gone, with us at the BBC not being very busy after all. Harry Potter is supposed to be top news priority for us, but funny enough, the Japanese organisers decided to block all foreign media red carpet access. Even London couldn't do anything and hence, it was a rather "quiet" day....

But yes, Daniel did come, apparently he greeted the Potter fans in Japanese too. Well done!

Day 3 & 4 - On the Island

2007-07-01T12:50:00.000+09:00

The day began at 7, being awoken to a beautiful sunrise and mist covered land that reminded me so much of the view seen from the top of Fuji. All that was missing was the “shadow of Fuji” on the “clouds”. Janice and I went jogging before breakfast, while the folks followed behind/ahead of us in the jeep, stopping occasionally to snap photos of us.

The highlight of the day was the VIP tree planting at 11am. Janice and I had the honour of planting two palm tree seedlings in the VIP patch, with a board of our names and date next to the trees. Immortalised forever… now we’ll have to come back to check its growt; perfect excuse to make a trip back… ^_~

Later in the evening we went to one beachside hotel for dinner of local dishes: deep fried fish, matoke, posho and some peanut and bean sauces. To top it off, we were greeted by such a lovely sunset that simply was, indescribable!

The next day was a slow one, but the weather was lovely. After lunch, we head down to the company’s private beach (they are trying to build it) to admire the view. How different it feels compared to the normal sandy sea beaches! Because Lake Victoria is a freshwater lake, the air remains fresh and clean; no salty taste. It was the perfect place to relax, do some reading, or just simply enjoy the view. There is a sign which says “Welcome to the island of peace, palm, and prosperity”. Forget the 3Rs, we’ve got the 3Ps right here, lol! I would really love to return here somewhere in the near future. I definitely didn’t feel like leaving the next day.

Day 2: Lake Victoria and Bugala Island

2007-06-24T21:26:00.000+09:00

What an amazing second day. An early start to the day as we needed to make it to the ferry before 2pm, we checked out early to run some errands – shopping and lunch! Lol We went to the crafts area to get some African goodies, and then head off to lunch at a Korean restaurant before driving all the way back to Entebbe to catch the ferry to Bugala Island, the biggest of the 84 islands on Lake Victoria, in which 64 are actually inhibited. If you’re having a hard time imagining what I am trying to tell you, just think of Venice, and times that by 10 to get the size, I hope!

The ferry ride is a 3h long trip, cruising 10knots down south on Lake Victoria. We were privileged enough to know the captain, and was given permission to visit the captain’s deck. The ride went pass the equator, and we were trying so hard to snap the 00”00 but were unfortunately not fast enough, getting a 00”03 S instead. But we will have another chance when we return to the mainland, perhaps we’ll get lucky then.

View from the ferry. The land seen at the back is Bugala Island.

We reached the island around 5pm. The journey into the estate takes another hour, and this time it’s bumpy dirt road all the way. The scenery shifted from Kalangala town, to greeneries – jungle and palm trees. Occasionally monkeys ran across the road, and little children ran and hid when they saw a car coming. There were various birds flying around, I felt as if I could reach out and touch them. We saw the lake most of the time too, as the island is of a longish shape.

The view from dad’s house, or this area, is breathtaking. Situated on top of a tiny hill, from one end one can see the stretches of palm trees, while on the other side we can see the nursery, and then suddenly, the lake itself glittering like diamonds in the day, and also the other nearby islands. Eagles fly really low around here, but thankfully they don’t attack… I think.

Due to an early and busy day tomorrow, the evening ended early. Besides, lights out at 11pm, which means even if I had wanted to do anything, it would have been too dark to do so. For the first time in ages, I slept before midnight! More to come in the next few blogs…

Africa trip - Uganda. Day 1 - June 15th

2007-06-24T21:19:00.000+09:00

“We are not beginning our descend into Entebbe. Please fasten your seatbelt.”

My heart did a quick leap. Finally! After delays and delays for takeoffs in each and every airport that I passed through, the plane finally landed in Entebbe International Airport, the old capital of Uganda. Great! Next step? No idea. Typically it would be immigration, baggage pickup and then customs, in that order, before I am able to get out. But I was quite certain that somewhere there would be a glitch. And voila! After some visa confusion (as I insist over again and again that I do not need a visa for entry, while the Americans apparently did, I played the blind person as I just walked out without much caring for stopping to be checked… As they say, ignorance is bliss.

My parents and my youngest sister met me at the airport. From there we travelled another 40mins into Kampala, the current capital, where we will be spending a night to catch the ferry to the island where dad works the next day. As I look out at the dusty houses, the worn road, I couldn’t help but felt a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps you know, perhaps you don’t. I spent my childhood in estates because of my father’s work; and until today I remember the dirt smell of the truck, the bumpy roads, dust everywhere. You can say that I was well contented to be here.

After a short rest, and a quick swim, we head out to dinner at an Indian restaurant. You might or not be aware, but there are many Indians here. I recommend watching “The Last King of Scotland” to brush up a bit on your Ugandan history. In short, the Indian food is very, very good; very, very spicy; very, very authentic. In fact, it was so spicy that I was sniffing...! From dinner we went to a bar/club/hangout (never found the right word to describe it, but you get the picture), where we met loads of people from dad’s work. It was opened air, very dark, only the stage had lights as there were some performers, and since the people we met were all Africans, I couldn’t tell them apart at all, seeing that besides their eyes and white teeth, I had trouble seeing them in the darkness! There were two memorable things to take away from this place: 1. an earthquake (perhaps it chased me all the way from Japan… 2. the funny performances. Tired as we were, we ended the night early since it was going to be a long day the following day. I was so happy to be able to sleep in a bed after spending 24hours in planes! (A total of 5 airports (Tokyo-Osaka-Dubai-Addis Ababa-Entebbe), 4 flights. Left 9pm, arrived 9pm (JST))

Friday once more

2007-06-08T12:36:00.000+09:00

I love Fridays; the start of the weekend, and especially for this week, a much needed break.

Let's recap this week:

Since Monday, a friend from Wales is here, and will be here for two months! He's slowly discovering Japan, and for me, it is very refreshing to see Japan from a foreign person's point of view. LOL. I might be a foreigner, but after living here for so long, nothing surprises me anymore, although the news freak me out....!

I finished all my presentations, yes! Now all I need to do is to write a report for Tuesday, and submit in my translation drafts for another class before I head off to Africa 6 days away. ^_^

And to top it off, the yen is strengthening slightly ^_^

D-Day

2007-06-07T03:18:00.000+09:00

June 7th is here. It is past 3 in the morning, and I've finally finished my handouts for tomorrow/today's presentation... Not happy with them but it can't be helped. It's a "Just Do It" situation ... LOL

Other than that, I've been having an alright week. Had some good news that kept me smilling to myself, I bet people on the road thought I was senile. Well, can't help it! Joy is joy, and true to my name I must stay.

In a week's time I'll be heading off to Africa... yeah! A much needed holiday, although I'll be working on my thesis at the same time. Perhaps I should just write about sustainable development and get my father to help me... lol

Definitely looking forward to next month, with some friends from Norway coming in, and then me heading off to Florence..! ^_^ Now if Paris works out perfectly, can't ask for more.

BEd time!!!!!!!!!!!

A new month

2007-06-01T14:33:00.000+09:00

Ohh.... it's already JUNE... we're closing in fast to mid-year, end of the 2nd quarter. Craziness. I really wish that time would go by slower. Just the other day, while I was in the radio studio with Chris, he said: "isn't it funny how long a minute can be when you're waiting, but how fast it goes by when you're in rush?" How true! I am most definitely feeling it this very moment.

Seeing that time is of great importance, I shall now return to my work...sigh. I've got 2 back to back presentations for my seminar class next week (what an idiot I am for agreeing to do two at the same time...!!), and then a short piece on Murakami Haruki for the third period. Good thing litterature is well fun; at least something that I enjoy that I've gotten that done already, haha.

Right, have a good weekend folks, wherever you are!

crazy Tuesday

2007-05-29T15:10:00.000+09:00

It is amazing how things can change in a short period of time, in the space of a day or even in an hour! This might sound strange, even I am not sure what I'm actually trying to write here.

Let's start with a recap since my last post.
1. I've finished my DALF! YES! Although I didn't do very well, in my opinion, but no point being down when there's nothing more I can do.
2. I bought my air ticket between Florence - Paris. Hmm, revising some countdowns:
Africa: 16days, Florence: 50days, Paris: 61days! Some things to look forward to, yippie!
3. I've decided to perform a short version of Hagoromo, a Noh play, on stage. Well, this is the target that I've set with my teacher as to not disappoint him, and to show the effort that I've put in. Let hope it goes well.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is out! Johnny Depp was here for it, and a friend of a friend was his translator, lucky girl! Oh it has been announced that Tokyo will host the world premiere of Harry Potter ^_^ If I'm still here when it comes out, I definitely want to go! I wonder if Daniel Radcliffe would be coming? The BBC might cover it, I should be nice to the bosses....

That's my random thought(s) of the day.

random stuff

2007-05-25T00:24:00.000+09:00

It's been a nice warm day today. The weather is finally starting to be nice! I'm thankful that the evenings remain cool, no need for air-conditioning but not too cold that I have to use the heater... just swell!

So what progress have I made lately?
no.1 Today (or more like yesterday according to the clock), my translation professor gave me the OK to start on my individual project pieces.
no.2 I finally bought my air ticket for Europe! However something went weird during the booking and somehow my first and last name got mixed up. *sigh* Got to ring up KLM office tomorrow to sort things out. Bugger!
no.3 I can now start all my flight countdowns...!! Countdown Africa: 22days; Countdown Florence: 55 days, Countdown Paris: 66 days. I am ignoring all the return flights... LOL
no.4 I've finally made up my mind on what I really want to do for my graduation paper - comparing multiracialism and multiculturalism. NOTE: Not the same thing!
no.5 Negative countdown: less than 6 months to get my thesis completed, OUCH!

Oh yes, I do have round 2 of DALF this Sunday. Can't be bothered anymore, seeing that I did well bad enough in the previous Sunday... *sigh*

My current emotion: caught between two sides of the coin, but still not neutral!

Music of the week

2007-05-19T01:19:00.000+09:00

What's on my playlist lately:

From the Heart (Another Level)
Shadows of You (Nakashima Mika)
Hitoiro （一色） (Nakashima Mika)
Carpe Diem (Alderbert)
La complainte de l'ex-fumeur (Alderbert)
Kuroi Namida (黒い涙）(ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA)
Can You Feel My Word (Wang Lee Hom)
You've Got A Friend (Hirai Ken)
Sakura Biyori （桜日和）(Hoshimura Mai)
Let Go (M-Flo feat. Yoshika)
Home (Angela Aki)
The Nearness of You (Norah Jones)

Nakashima Mika's voice is so beautiful, I really wish I could sing like her. Can't stop listening to her songs, they are quite addictive!!

Moving to the airport...

2007-05-18T22:36:00.000+09:00

At least this is how I feel, when I think about the number of times I've been going to the airport this year, and will be going to!
Let's recap...
January: came back from Paris; Feb: went back home for CNY; March: came back to Tokyo; April: send mom off. In May I would have been at the airport too, but opted to not there to send my friends off.

What about the future? Let's see, LOL.
Next month I'm heading over to Africa to visit my folks. Just a short, slightly over a week trip to dad's place in Uganda, and then stopping over Kenya for a quick safari before heading back. It'll be well cool to visit Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. How nice to go for a cruise down the Nile too, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately!

On to possible airport visits... In July I'm heading back to Europe! Yes YY, I so love it over there... hehe. This time because of school I can't stay for a very long time, but long enough to do a short language course either in Florence or Paris. In any case back to the airport again in August... hehe If not, going back to Narita again in September, as my folks come over for a visit!

Conclusion? I should have gotten a year pass for the airport...!!!

Kyoto in the Spring

2007-05-12T10:00:00.000+09:00

Yes, it is not Spring, it is Summer, as far as Japan is concerned. We didn't have Spring, Winter left and Summer came instead! Just when the weather was well warm and everything beautiful, I had such a cold day (like yesterday). Well, whatever it is let's recap a bit of the lost Spring.

Lunch at Gion - really yummy!!

Maiko dancers at the annual festival in Kyoto

Mom was here for the lovely cherry blossoms. We even went all the way too Kyoto for it, on a day trip (two night buses in a row, it really kills!). Kyoto is and will remain my favourite Japanese city. I love how one can never get lost, how there are always quaint and ancient things to discover, how although throngs of tourists stamp their mark there every year this little city strives to stay unchanged.

Ryoanji Temple, the Zen Garden

Canal Cafe

2007-05-12T00:45:00.001+09:00

What a wonderful day Friday is!

Today I met an old friend whom I had not seen for months. It was really lovely to meet again. We had lunch sitting on a bench under the trees on campus. It was well nice, but if only the wind was not that strong! Because we were in the shades we were quite cold although the sun was out, it was really funny!

Friday evening is the day I have my DALF preparation class at the French-Japanese Institute in Iidabashi. After two hours of intensive French, one's brain can just die from exhaustion. Good thing I had dinner plans after that! After class I met up with a photographer friend that I met during my internship with the BBC, and went for dinner at an Italian restaurant by the river in Iidabashi! FYI, there are rivers in Tokyo you know. It reminded me so much of the Seine, and my friend agreed too (he's French). It was really a lovely time, with pizza, pasta and a bottle of lovely red Italian wine. Just what I was craving after the doc told me to stay away from alcohol for a few days after I had my yellow fever vaccination jab. The restaurant was really lovely, it had an outside terrance by the river, where one can just enjoy a nice meal, or even do a bbq party if one wishes so! They also provided cute red blankets to keep us warm. It was a pity that the blankets were a little small. Because it was so cold, I wished they had turn on the heaters instead.

Now I am back in my place, dressed in a thick sweater as I defrost myself. Time for bed soon as it is past midnight, but just wanted to record things down.

Welcome, the weekend!

the 100th post!

2007-05-10T16:13:00.000+09:00

Wow, my 4th? 5th? year posting, and finally I reach the 100th post. Took me a while to get here, it did indeed.

I have been feeling blog-ish lately. Wonder why. The advantage of a blog is that it lets you let out your feelings, thoughts, stress, anything, you name it. I feel great after blogging, there's a sense of achievement, which coming from Ms.Procrastinator (me!), it is a BIG achievement, *laughter*

There has been much progress in my studies. So glad that I've got my presentation dates fixed. Need to concentrate on my graduation paper as well, so once I get all the other annoying, time consuming school stuff out of the way I can concentrate better. At least in 2-3 weeks' time my DALF exam would be over, and that will be one big relief, I must say. Regardless of the results, it will be done with as far as I am concerned. Turns out to enter graduate school in France one does not really need the DALF certification. bugger. I guess if I want a pursue a second degree there it would well come in handy...

There's big progress with my lawsuit too. Recap: We're suing our ex-landlady for incompetence, basically. We're submitting the papers to court next week, and then all we have to do is to wait. Finally after months of preparation (no thanks to one, but big thanks to the Foreign Students' Office), we are ready. I am now keeping my fingers crossed and pray that our ex-landlady will completely ignore the court order, hence the court will just rule according to our request, and then she just pays us. Now, if everything is a fairytale, life would be well nice!

Oh, I had the nicest Turkish lunch yesterday with the ACCU Culture department staff. They treated me to a farewell lunch at a Turkish restaurant. It was really yummy! Apparently the restaurant took part in the Aichi Expo 2005 at the Turkish house. They even have the Turkish ice-cream, the "hot and cold" one! Definitely going back there for that. Comfort food indeed.

What have I been up too lately?

2007-05-09T11:27:00.000+09:00

Well, before you decide to gang up on me and bash me for not writing, please note that I do have a good reason - BUSY - to keep me away from my blog! Come to think of it, half of you are also out there working your arse off so don't go calling the kettle black... although I do admit that you probably are a more faithful blogger than I will ever be...

So, back to the big question that is on the title...

I have been working my arse off, what else is there to do anyway in this no-life of mine? Ok, ok, I should be more detailed. I am right now doing an internship with the BBC; to be more specific BBC News Tokyo. They officially offered me the spot after the two week trial with the Chinese premier, in which my Chinese came in handy and well earned me some points! It is a well interesting job, as you know that the BBC has both radio and TV, and since we are such a small team we handle both. This is really nice since I get to learn how to do live broadcasts and radio interviews, getting in touch with London and Singapore via satellite, on-site reporting etc. We have been busy in April, with the murder of a British girl Lindsay Hawker in March, and the Lucie Blackman verdict that came out end of April. (I even made front and second page on the Japan Times, unintentionally! Page 1 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a1.html and page 2 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a6.html. It was well cool!!)

Being a British corporation (if you haven't figured that out from the name yet...), we focus mainly on UK or UK related news like Japan-UK news; although we do work on interesting and big events like Wen Jia Bao's visit, the Live8 concerts etc. I've learnt how important teamwork is, how crazy the media world is, and best bit? I've well polished up on my British accent LOL

My stint with ACCU will officially come to an end today. I've opted for an "early retirement" from my volunteer duties (ha!) since I really need to work on my graduation paper,hence I'm moving on to mainly part time jobs at ACCU when they come in. I am going to miss this place though, I've been here since last October, how time flies!

Other than that, I am doing well with my teaching jobs, working myself to death of course! The good thing is that I've cut down my number of class times (I can see Marc nodding to this one...). Well, if the Euro drops, then I don't have to kill myself working and saving for the summer.

Last bit of news: I've found a job in Tokyo with a Japanese firm (oh no!), which means that I will be staying here after graduation! It's a weird contradiction (and I've been told!) since I would like to move to Europe, but I guess God has his plans that are beyond me. But grad school is not out of the picture, I will go back to grad school, I will move to France (or Italy, if that ever happens!) and pursue what I want (don't ask me to elaborate, it's forever changing...)

That's all for now, I guess. Satisfied with this long update? No complains will be entertained but your valuable comments are most welcomed!

Spring is here

2007-03-27T23:21:00.000+09:00

Can't believe that March is almost coming to an end. These past weeks have been so eventful it is hard to believe that it has only been almost 3 weeks since I came back to Japan.

Quick update: I've been job hunting! Crazy as it sounds, I've decided to work first, gain some pratical experience before I go back to graduate school in the next 3-5years, perhaps. Rounds of interviews after interviews, submitting application sheets and getting rejections... what a mentally and physically exhausting time! I am already considered to be late, missing many foreign companies' deadlines. So far the companies that I have applied are mainly Japanese firms with international fame in the area of banking and consultancy. No idea where I would end up, but as long as I do my part, I can only trust God to lead me all the way.

Can't wait to get this job hunting out of the way. Once April starts, I'll be juggling classes and an internship with BBC! Just the Tokyo news bureau, a rather small one, but still cool all the same. In any case the internship is a trial, to evaluate me for further opportunities. At least something positive after I got rejected by Bloomberg, boo.

So much more to let out from within me, but I'll stop for now. Can't get my thoughts concentrated. Until next time!

CNY in M'sia

2007-03-05T09:43:00.000+09:00

It was great to be back in M'sia. Although only for a short 2 weeks. Except for my younger sister who was stuck in Swiss for her internship, the other members of the family came back. As usual, I ate and ate and ate... It the beginning, when everyone saw me, they went:"You lost weight! What happened?" But towards the end my mom said that I'm starting to put back on the weight.. oh no! LOL

I met up with my long time friends too, who went to Australia, US, UK and Germany. So swell to see everyone! It was interesting to note that our conversation was more serious than before, we ended up talking about long lasting relationships, jobs, income tax(!!) etc. What a difference from the old days, when we talked about uni and our future. Guess we must be growing up after all!

To stretch CNY thin, I brough back all the yummy goodies to enjoy here.. lol... 新年快楽！

lost...

2007-02-19T23:57:00.000+09:00

How does one gets over heartbreaks?
How does one become whole again?

It's only been a week since I broke up with my boyfriend, but it feels ages, yet the pain fresh. How weird! I don't really know how I should be, how I should act. Sometimes I feel so lost, sometimes all I can do is just sit down and think about the times we spent together, and it makes me miss him so much. Deep down I know that is not the right thing to do, but that is the only thing that I seem to be so good in doing at the moment. Argh, what a mess!

*sobs*

emotionally insane

2007-02-09T11:55:00.000+09:00

maybe i am, maybe i really am illogical and out of my mind. maybe i'm demanding, maybe i'm such a horrible person who is so dictative, maybe i am so emotional that i can't seperate what is urgent and not urgent. the list can just go on but i am JUST TOO emotional to write!

Your Honour...

2007-02-03T01:16:00.000+09:00

I hope it never comes to that, but it might be possible. Our "gracious" landlady has refused to negociate even a bit, and has "suggested" that we talk to her lawyer. Well, the school is going to do that, if our lawyer tells us that we have a strong case (meeting scheduled for the 7th). For all ye law students out there, this is a chance to follow a potential court case on tenant law in Japan...

On the other hand, things have started to perk up, after I've hit rock bottom I can't go anymore lower than that. I've found a new place to move into, and will officially move on the 10th. My exams are almost done, only Hebrew to go! So happy that I'm done with my social survey pratical class, Arabic, Italian and French! Dear Lord, what was I thinking? And I most probably need to do German too next term... oh yes, I'm going home in two weeks' time, CNY here I come! Started job-hunting too, in and out of Japan. Got to be frank, if I can work in Europe, I might just do it since Japan is really not my favourite place to be at the moment. (Yes coming from me it must be quite shocking but people change, end of story.)

Well, that's the update for now. Not really up for elaborating. Things are going well, but I must say my mental and emotional health has taken quite a tumble that I've gone quite weepy lately. urgh... From handyman Jo to weepy Jo. What is this world coming to?!

Unexpected behaviour from a Japanese

2007-01-16T00:42:00.000+09:00

Q: "What do you think of the Japanese people?"
A: "They are the kindest, politest, generous people I've ever known."

That was my answer each time someone asks me that, and it would have remained the same, if not for some troubles that have surfaced over the past 4 months. It all began in September, when heavy rain led to leakage in one corner of my roomie's bedroom. Quickly she contacted the real estate agent (in Japan you never have direct contact with the landlord), who promised to get the problem fixed asap. Due to the hot and wet weather, and to no sunlight into that corner, the walls and floor started to fall apart, with mould and mushrooms(yes you've read it right!) growing out of the wet wood!

Shocked at such turn of events, my roomie pestered the agent to contact the landlady over and over again, but to no avail, getting only the same replied from the landlady, who told us that she had already contacted the contractors and they will be coming. Sick and tired of the lack of activity, sincerity and everything else, we brought the case to the attention of our university, who acted as our guarantor when we signed the contract. The school quickly got into action, and in the space of less than a week, workers came to check out the situation. During that time, our dear landlady came knocking on our door, and I was the unlucky one who happened to be in at that time, yelled at me for being impatient (after 2 months that witch!), inconsiderate and for complaining so much!

The workers repaired? filled up? some holes, and things seemed to have been solved, altough the promise of cleaning and sanitarising my roomie's room has yet to be carried out (until today). Happy that we made progress, we left for Christmas break with a light heart. However, the weather god has refused to be kind to us, or perhaps, wanted us to know the truth. Coming back after a month, we found her room in a state worst than before!

That was the last straw and my roomie decided to move out (without caring whether the problem could be fixed, nor my feelings). We (she) handed in notice last Sat and this is where our real battle begins. Being so busy as we already are (it's the end of term), we will have to juggle school and apartment hunting, figure out how we're going to get the money to move, and start a whole negotiating process with the landlady to get our money back. Things are just going to get uglier and uglier...

On a different side, I found out that the landlady has refused the real estate agent to contact any contractors to fixed the problem (which would have solved the problem thoroughly back in September), for she has a contractor friend whom she contracts with. I don't really care who does it, as long as it is fixed in a week, but it is not possible for she is apparently not interested and doing so and tries to put us off by telling us that she's going to fix it... which was and is a big lie, for she only contacted the workers when the school got into the picture.

Such behaviour is unacceptable, regardless which country/nationality etc. Her actions has made us lost faith and trust in the Japanese people. We cannot help but question the thinking and the morality of her actions, which can only been seen as selfish and uncaring. Perhaps she felt that since we were foreigners, we will not be able to do much on our own. This is where is she is wrong. Precisely because we are foreigners, we are not afraid to voice out our opinions, our thoughts, and we are not submissive! Such behaviour is totally unforgivable and I hope that she will be well punished for what she did.

City of Lights to the Land of the Sun

2007-01-12T18:02:00.000+09:00

In a swift of smooth velocity, I gained 8hrs and found warm bright sunlight when I opened my eyes.

Perhaps you're wandering what I'm talking about, perhaps you already know, if you've been keeping tabs on the ever so mobile me (I've not found any GPS transmitter on me yet but I'll keep an eye opened for it just in case...).

Travelling in Dec/Jan season is never a good time I fear. Must be the year end buzz, for those planes just never take off nor land on schedule no more. Tension is high with all the long lines at the check-in counters, passport control and security check. Many people had to repack their suitcases to the allowed weight limit. The girl at the counter made me removed 3kgs from my bag as well. Thank God I had an empty bag at hand. CDG must have really tightened up on their security measures as well. As I was waiting in line at passport control/security check, out came 3 policemen: one walking ahead, one leading a passenger with his hands cuffed behind towards the exit, and one pulling the suspect's check-in suitcase(It seems that all check-in bags go through security AFTER the check-in procedure, hence from the
tag attached one can tell immediately). I wonder what the man had in his bag that warranted his arrest, but it obviously didn't please airport security.

Everything went smooth flowing after security check, although the late departure didn't go too well with my pangs of hunger for lunch... lol... But soon we were on air, and then lunch! (^_^) It was a pleasant flight, with me attacking the food while being absorbed with The Da Vinci Code in French(I snatched my friend's copy) at the same time. I think I shall give Angels and Demons a try in Italian next...
4 hours later, we landed and applause broke out...!

Moscow International Airport is one word: tiny. The "world's best duty free shops" are found in little corners of the corridors between the gates. Duty free products are quoted in Euros, while anything else is all in Rubbles. I heard that Russian chocs are quite the thing to pick up from Russia, so I bagged two boxes.... FInally, the last leg of my journey is about to begin. Hoping for at least some movies to cure my boredom, to my dismay the inflight system was not working! If not for
the book and my Ipod, I would have just cried myself to sleep, but that wouldn't have worked for the kind granny like Russian lady (on her way to Sydney via Tokyo) would have tried her very best to comfort me in... only Russian. I wished hard during the 9hr long flight that my Russian friend Alyona was beside me to translate instead of me trying to communicate in sign language! What a sight we were, the 2 people (an American as well) sitting by her side.

We finally got into Narita around 11ish. Applause. The plane couldn't park for 15mins so we were nicely tucked away in a big fat bird. But everything cleared up and I finally got out of the airport around 12. My bags took forever to come out!! Oh, one big thing I've got to clarify, TOKYO is not NARITA, NARITA is not TOKYO. Narita Airport is in CHIBA, a different prefecture altogether, making Tokyo city at
least an hour away by the fastest train!

All say and done, I got myself in one piece back to my place around 2pm. Of course the whole procedure of unpacking, laundry, sorting out the pile of mail (one month's worth!!) etc and here I end up, writing such a long piece (the longest ever on my blog).

All's well ends well. Applause.

ps. Some of you might have gotten this on your emails.

bye bye 2006...

2006-12-30T20:10:00.000+09:00

It was Christmas just a few days ago... and now New Year's Eve is about to loom up... Has everyone succeeded in achieving their resolutions yet, or shall that be brought forward? I think I gave up on doing resolutions for some time now. Just take each day as it comes, as long as there is a clear goal at the end ^_^ (which for me, after 365days, I'll be lucky that I actually remember it....)

Moving on! It's been cold here!! Gone is the sun that was here I arrived. Ever since Christmas kicked in, the weather has been gray, gray, gray.. It finally rained, and will continue doing so for another 5 days?!?!?!??! *sigh*

Oh well, that aside, it is the end of the year, so I wish you all a Happy 2007, and let's party when I get back!

Christmas in Paris

2006-12-26T19:32:00.000+09:00

Greetings from Paris!!!

Christmas is a magical time. The decorations on the streets, the crazy shoppers doing their last minuite Christmas shopping, all the feeling of love in the air as Christmas songs blares through loud speakers to warm the pedestrians up. Excellent!

I celebrated Christmas together with my birthday, so typical ^_^! Mo and I went to a really nice French restaurant called Kong (a little bit Jap fusioned, food and decor wise). I had foie gras, it was really good, for a first time trying something! Didn't cut any cake, but since I brought back "il panettone"(the Italian Christmas cake from Italy) when I visited Marc on a whirlwind trip just before Christmas, so we probably will try it tonight.

I've been having a nice holiday so far, apart from the cold weather. It hasn't been sunny since the last few days so there's a kind of depressing feel in the air. That's the problem with places up north. Italy is ok, lots of sun during the day!! But I am enjoying myself, between studying and rechecking out the places that I know.

Going to spend the next few days doing studying, and probably hang out with a group of people for new year's. Will also be trying to meet up with the French friends that I made while I was in Japan. The wonders of globalisation! lolz...

Oh well, Christmas shoutouts to all! Have a great one wherever you are.

City of Lights

2006-12-15T22:14:00.000+09:00

After clocking 15hrs of flight time, finally I arrived in one piece in Paris. What a long day it was! Late departure from Narita, late arrival plus late departure in Moscow! Of course we arrived late in Paris, I realised that Aeroflot tends to keep its flight hours and not the flight arrival/departure times. hmm... Service and food wise was ok, although I ended up watching Harry Potter:Globet of Fire in Russian as there was neither English or Japanese!!! Unfortunately, I can still only say yes and no, after 3hrs of it!! *sigh*

Paris is not as cold as I expected. Very similar to Tokyo, although it has been shining since I've arrived (hehe) and it is much more foggy at night. At this rate I won't really need heavy duty winter stuff, which is good for me, meaning that I don't have to go shopping and max my card... *lucky*

Alrights, this sounds weird but I've got to get down to do some studying now so that I can have some fun during the weekend! YES, there's always homework, regardless when and where... sigh...

dec 11th

2006-12-11T00:11:00.000+09:00

2 more days ~~ 2 more days ~~
lolz...

ok, the next two days are going to be so so crazy! Usual Monday at the Centre, and then, a quick stop at uni to get some work done before my part-time job in the evening. I really do wish that my ticket was on Thursday instead, I really could do with the extra day to get my work done... Why is it that winter vacation is always packed with homework? This is one Christmas gift that I do not want!!!!!!!

I had a good weekend, although I was extremely tired due to a hectic week, waking up at 7am 3 days in a row and working until 10pm everyday... It's amazing that I am still in one piece! Although mentally I've been hit by the depression bug since Sat, no idea why.

Ohh, I had a Christmas/Birthday party on Friday night! Was really worried that no one was going to show up (it almost ended up being a nice candlelit romantic dinner with myself, trust me!), but people started trickling in after 8pm so it was all good. I made my usual nasi lemak (nothing like M'sian food!!) and my famous cheesecake ^_^. Friends brought salad, snacks and drinks. We had a lot of rum in us, cause yours truly spiked both the cheesecake and the fruit punch (in public)! The Christmas and jazz music was a great help to the atmosphere. It was loads fun!! For those who couldn't make it, maybe next year? Hey, we could do a New Year's Party *hint hint*

15th Noma Concours

2006-12-06T00:19:00.000+09:00

After more than two months of volunteering in ACCU (Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO), I FINALLY had the sense to link the website (in Japanese and English) to you all and let you guys get a sense of what kind of work I do. Check out the link section on the right panel!

And also announcing the 15th Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations!! It's a biannual competition organised by ACCU for the promotion of artworks etc from Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Arab states. The selection, which will be held over two days, begins today at 1300hrs Japan time. Since I'm also working on this project, it's so exciting to see all the beautiful and touching illustrations that came from all around the world. If you are interested, check it out at http://www.accu.or.jp/en/culture/cul02.shtml (English link), where you can also find previous winning works online. So check it out when you have the time!

Good luck to all the 400 odd contestants, a new record!!

Forgetfulness

2006-12-02T01:50:00.000+09:00

There are many kinds of forgetfulness in this world. Most of them is personal, so whatever we forget, it ends up affecting ourselves. However, there is another kind, the one that imposes trouble on others without creating any for the culprit.

Why am I suddenly talking about this at 2am in the morning? Because I am pissed at my housemate who for the 100th time has forgetten to turn off the darn lights that, because of my glass room doors, jolly well reflect into my room! It is beyond funny when I end being woken up by lights flooding my room, only to find out that it is her bloody fault that I don't get a straight 8hr sleep. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For this time, she left the lights on and went to bed without any care, and wonderfully waking me up. Maybe I should make her pay the electricity bill, since I tend to come home to lights left on in the toilet, her bedroom etc. GRRRRRRR... I feel like yelling....... can't wait to get out of all this stupid stress that isn't even because of me!!

December

2006-12-01T01:27:00.000+09:00

YES! IT is finally December... 13 days before I go to Paris, 22 days to winter break, 25 days to Christmas, 26days to AHEM day... lolz... 31days to the end of 2006.

What a year, 11 months in flash. I had so much fun, and am still having fun. Winter sem has been tough so far, and I had to do all my presentations and reports before I leave. But it was worth it, it meant less work during winter vacation, although the lecturers must have caught wind of my thoughts, for two new reports have popped up... *sigh* So I guess I'll be spending my days in Paris writing reports, just like summer!! *sob*

By the way, December also marks the beginning of SALES, SOLDES... for Autumn stuff, and some winter (probably last year's batch) stuff. Who cares... I can't wait to go shopping, can't believe I held myself back so long (hooray for self-control!!). Uniqlo (the Gap of Japan) is having a special one week sale, got myself a nice down jacket ^_^ ah.... oh... Shiseido is gonna give me a birthday present, yeah!! Don't you just love the membership stuff they have over here, all the points and rewards. Life is good!~!~!~!

Happy J

Firing students

2006-11-28T22:57:00.000+09:00

Yes, you've read it right!

The phrase came from my dad, actually. He was concerned that I didn't enjoy teaching one of my students, so one day, he suddenly asked me "Have you fired your student yet?" Funny, isn't it? ^_^

I am glad to say that I am no longer teaching Baito-kun(a nickname my friends and I came up for him. "Baito" means "part time" in Jap, and "Kun" is just a way of addressing a guy, like "san" for example), and I can say that there's no love loss in this case. No big loss when it comes to money too, he was such a "kecchi" (miser) person and he dared think that just because he was paying, he could order me around like I'm his personal slave or something. Typical Jap guy (or the steoreotype ones, perhaps I should say), who doesn't know how to treat the opposite sex well. No wonder gender studies in Japan is becoming more and more popular.

Anyways, moral of the story is that one has a right to even fire students, if said student(s) is(are) not interested in learning. hohoho

Christmas plans

2006-11-26T23:34:00.000+09:00

Hello!!

Wow, time flies. It's already the end of November. I think I should get started for the end of year speech... might take me a while ^_~

So people, what's up for Christmas? I know that some of you are heading home, wish I was too, but I'm gonna go off to Paris instead, even better, although am sorries that I will be missing so many of you.... *sob*
YY, should I come visit you this time? Keep me posted!

As for everyone else, just to remind you that I start my final year next April. IF you want to come visit me, better do it before I leave here....

rainy days and mondays always make me cry~~~

2006-11-20T16:41:00.000+09:00

Hands up those who know the Carpenters. Ah, the days of childhood. Somehow, this song got stuck in my head today, and how fitting it is to reality! It's a Monday, and it was raining in the morning, a token from yesterday's shower. On top of it, been feeling kinda depressed lately, due to various reasons (so far I've gotten different possible reasons from other people ^_^) I say it's the weather, and that I'm overworked but underpaid, and that I want a change of air, sort out my life, and decide what to do for my future. So yeah, lots of heavy stuff going around, and the people who are supposed to be there are never there. Me is disappointed, to the max. Dunno if I should laugh, shrugh it off, cry, be upset, or be angry. I guess any adjectives work depending on my mood of the day. Any votes to cast?

Another 13mins and I will get off work. Gotta rush back to school to do a bit of Noh and then, have an English class with my horrible student. I just wanna go home and sleep, but still got homework waiting for me. Just found out that I used the wrong data for my research class, now I've gotta redo everything by tomorrow noon for I'm up for a mid-term presentation that very day!! grr...

irritated me

London #3

2006-11-15T23:57:00.000+09:00

With Nisha in Oxford Street... after a day of shopping ^_~

Sherlock Holmes museum!!!!!!!!!!! 221b Baker street (it's true!!)

London #2

2006-11-15T23:45:00.000+09:00

Photos from Madame Tussauds......Good looking guys and girls... the stars!

1st rejection

2006-11-14T09:03:00.000+09:00

3rd year students have it hard over here. We spend two sem getting all the credits we need so that one can devote oneself to writing the graduation paper during the 4th year. However, one is also required to spend the 3rd year either job-hunting, or preparing for grad school.

I am still so uncertain whether I want to work or continue studying. I'm already behind the official job hunting schedule, cos over here, they hire by bulk a year in advance, for everyone enters the company in April only on the year we graduate. Weird system I know. Anyways, I am so so lost that I even have trouble with internship applications. Just got my 1st rejection today *sob sob*

This is going to be a tough winter...

London #1

2006-11-13T20:15:00.000+09:00

Posting some photos from London. Will get the "stars" ones out soon!

cheers, j

carrefour rocks!

2006-11-13T18:49:00.000+09:00

Yes, Carrefour, the French supermart absolutely rocks ^_^ Going to Carrefour for us deprived people over here is like going for an outing, rain or shine...lolz ... Finally last Sat, we went to Carrefour, and the French ppl who came along declared us to be in France. *laughs* I guess it's like the Amerians with Cosco (I have seen it too, believe me!). I wonder what would make M'sians like that, perhaps mamak stores? LOL

Back to the subject of Saturday. Well, we got dinner there(two whole chickens!), red wine, cider, and my French friend Joan got his ingredients for a French dessert! He made us a Bordeaux speciality, something similar to the tarte tartin. It tasted great, but he forgot the whipped cream!!!!

So we had loads of fun, cooking, eating, and we even ended the evening with poker, ha! Was my first time, it was loads fun. Next weekend I want to go for karaoke, and we've got another dinner lined up already...hohoho...

moral of d story? Great fun, but yours truly fears that she has put on just a bit of weight from that night..... (I can imagine reactions now...)

aucun subjet

2006-10-12T14:37:00.000+09:00

hellos!

Looking at my last post... it has been almost a month! wow... time flies. can't believe that I am now back in wonderful Japan and on top of it, classes have begun..yucks! haha...

The winter semester is always business and business and business. The lecturers just don't care that students are trying to recover from 2 months of idling... Can't believe that I even had an exam at the end of the summer hols! Darn my faculty for their weird tastes.

Good news for me: less classes this sem! yippie! but more work...boo! well, must be a balance somewhere. At least technically, I now have more time to work, more time to procrastinate, more time to.... no ideas.. maybe I might actually make more effort to go out, if the weather agrees with me. haha!

Speaking of new sem, new students! The yearly cycle for the exchange students. Seems that there are some rather interesting people this time round. I've only met the French speaking people (typically me, lolz. Gotta practice all the time now!).

And lastly, happy belated birthday Su! I know that it's a week late..sorries about that! hope it was great ^_^

signing off, J

The last leg of the race

2006-09-19T01:47:00.000+09:00

I think I deserve to take part in the Amazing Race, I am sure that I will be able to compete in that without much problems. Heck, might even win!

Can't believe that I am almost at the end of my travel, 7 long glorious weeks of wandering (almost) around Europe. Just the other day, I realised that I've actually taken all possible modes of transportations! Planes, trains, subways, trams, funiculars, boats, cars! You name it and I would have done it already. I even managed to use all 3 of Paris's airports! Crazy. Yes, indeed when I look back at what I have done, I can't believe I actually did them.

Am now in England. Can't even remember the time I started wanting to come here. It is like a dream to be here. Visiting monuments and areas of names that I know so well but yet have never been to is just a fantastic experience. I only wished that I had enough time, energy and money to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, Stonehenge, Oxford etc. I will have to come back here another time. For now I am contented to be just in London, to see the Phantom, to visit Madame Tussauds (absolutely amazing!), the British Museum. The best part? NO language problem, yeah! lolz... brilliant!

Photos of Venice below, check it out!

cheers, J

2006-09-19T01:46:00.000+09:00

Does it look postcard-ish or what?

2006-09-19T01:43:00.000+09:00

What is Venice without gondolas?

2006-09-19T01:40:00.000+09:00

Alyona, Marc and me at St.Mark's Square

2006-09-19T01:39:00.000+09:00

Me and Marc on the vaporatti (water bus)

2006-09-19T01:37:00.000+09:00

Venezia Sept 05-07

Norway 25th-30th Aug

2006-09-09T17:06:00.000+09:00

Norway.... land of Vikings and of trolls... of terrible tales and heroic voyages. Also a land of fjords and wonderful sceneries that only New Zealand can rival with.

Bergen is Norway's 2nd largest city, after Oslo. But it is so different from Oslo. It seems that Bergens to not consider themselves to be part of Norway.... or so the tour guide said as we took a quick bus tour around the city's attractions. Must be the region thing, which is not at all uncommon in Europe.

So here are some photos to titilate your senses... and a quick note to the last few photos on food... in order... whale meat, reindeer, and moose. Yes, you have read it correctly... those 3 are Norway's specialities... ^_^

Yours trolly.... J

2006-09-09T17:05:00.000+09:00

from your friendly trolls in Flam (pronounced Flom)

Norwegian food

2006-09-09T17:04:00.001+09:00

Moose....moose...moose...

reindeer! yes... rudolf...

2006-09-09T17:04:00.000+09:00

raw whale meat....

2006-09-09T17:03:00.001+09:00

more more scenery...

2006-09-09T17:03:00.000+09:00

scenery...

2006-09-09T16:41:00.000+09:00

A stave church, typically Norwegian

2006-09-09T16:38:00.001+09:00

With Alyona. Both of us enjoying the sun ^_^

2006-09-09T16:38:00.000+09:00

First day in Bergen, Norway. Gorgeous weather, fairytale town.

2006-09-08T09:43:00.000+09:00

My French classmates (well half of them anyways) and my professor who is in pink. This was a class excursion to a park in Paris.

Ciao!

2006-09-08T09:23:00.000+09:00

ITaly... Venice... canals... gondolas... After a month in Paris, and a quick tour or Norway, I finally made it to Italia....

Venice is gorgeous. And why shouldn't it be? With great sunny weather that reminds me of home, and after the coldness of France, what a welcomed change. 7 of us, a small house to ourselves for 3 days 2 nights. What wonderful liberty!

Between riding on the vaporatti (water buses), strolling down the well trodden and narrow streets of Venice, being part of the 20 million visitors that come to Venice each year, can't say things aren't great. However, one must be highly aware of pigeons (+ pigeons poo) at St Mark's square!! Standing still/ seating still regardless makes one perfect pigeon's poo's target... as yours truly have discovered.

The downside of Venice? IT is sinking... and amongst all its beauty, there is an air of fatiguity that one cannot not miss. Being back in Florence, and having to choose between the Italian cities that I have been to (which is not a lot, just Rome to make it 3), I must say I like Florence the best.

BUt other than that, I was in good company, a wondeful guide and friend who made my short trip excellent and memorable. Thanks Marc!

Bonjour!

2006-08-11T22:47:00.000+09:00

Hey guys...

sorry for just not writing... don't know what I do with my time but it is definitely not enough. I need 48hrs a day, seriously.

Oh well, not to waste more time, just a quick update for the last 4?5? months.

Third year 1st semester came and gone in a flash. Met lots of great people, studied a bit, partied a bit, had exams and stuff. Farewells. The usual usual. A difficult year as I am just seriously was to lazy but will havta buck up now.. just a bit...

And now moving on to August!!!! Recent new.. finally..
Am back in France....YEAH!!! Still hating the french keyboard, seriously, y can't the world just use one same keyboard... drives me crazy with all d typo errors i make.

Enrolled into language school... this time in a university in Paris... it's nice here. I like Paris. I think I wanna spend a long time here... Anyways, classes r so-so cos they r just a bit too easy due to some disputes over class organisation... darn the office... but am just gonna take it as revision...

Photos will be posted soon... when I find more time... it's cold here for summer, kinda like Japan autumn. I'm very much busy freezing myself atm ^_^

If u need to get hold of me, leave me comments or email me.
until next time...

Update: Skiing

2006-03-26T20:00:00.000+09:00

Well, I know I promised these photos a long time ago...but once again, being the busy me... sorries! Well, anyways, photos from my skiing trip in Kita-Shiga, Nagano!
Went with a bunch of people, first time skiing, fell so many times.... luckily the bruises weren'T that bad... if not, no one would want me anymore.... sob!*chuckles*

Here you go! BReathtaking scenes.....................

2006-02-27T16:17:00.000+09:00

Us eating ramen...a Hokkaido speciality

2006-02-27T16:16:00.000+09:00

Cronicles of Narnia...big huge ice thingy...

2006-02-27T16:15:00.000+09:00

gorgeous sculptured stage with lights!! compare the size of the man and sculpture behind him...

Hokkaido

2006-02-27T16:14:00.001+09:00

Ok, time to update my blog....it's the end of FEb already...can't believe how time flies. First update: Hokkaido. The Snow Festival was terrific! THe sculptures...amazing...huge....unbelievable.... the food? swell... the beer? wordless... wish you all were there as well... but don'T worry, here are some photos ^_^

2006-02-27T16:14:00.000+09:00

said ramen

2006-02-27T16:04:00.000+09:00

Me enjoying sapporo beer....so good!

"Forget the year party"

2005-12-28T00:49:00.000+09:00

THE Japs have a tradition of having forget-the-year parties during the year end, to mark that the year has come to an end, that it's time to reminisce about the good times and forget the bad things in that year. My circle had it as well, and it was a lot of fun. An all-you-can-eat-and-drink yakiniku (bbq)! So here are some photos of the Jap version of bbq......in a restaurant mind you, not outside!!!

ps. This should have been posted before the Christmas one.....but too lazy to change so....hehe

last post of the year?

2005-12-28T00:25:00.000+09:00

Oh well...Christmas came and left....so did my 21st. Can't believe that I'm officially legal in every (i think) single country in the world! WOW!

Didn't go to church on Christmas Day *gasps*. Kinda overslept...hehe... I had planned a Christmas cum birthday bash for that night in the dorm, and the turnout was great, almost 20 people! It's a small lounge next to my room, so if more than 10, it's already a nice cosy place. I managed to decorated that place with my pareo cloths (those things are just wonders!!) and lots of candles and yellow light. nice setting don'T u think?

In a nutshell, it was great fun, a good balance between foreigners and Japanese, good food (it was potluck) and great music (by me, of course ^_~) Here are some photos...not all of them are well taken as the lighting wasn't that good, and the flash kinda spoilt the ambience, but just for a feel on how I spent Christmas this year. For a first time in J-land, it has been a great one ^_^

Happy Christmas!

2005-12-25T12:15:00.000+09:00

Dearest Everyone!

Happy Christmas! The year end is finally here! For all those who are back home, have all the fun on behalf of me too, ok? Your thoughts shall keep me warm in this cold country... ^_~

A big thank you to everyone who has made my life worth living, you all know who you are, thank you for being such wonderful friends. Love ya all to death!!As this year ends and a new year approaches, come what may people, I will be here still for all of you!!!

Have a great Christmas, may God give you a double triple x100 doses of blessings!!

love, joycie

Be-earliered Christmas Party in the dorm

2005-12-19T03:21:00.000+09:00

hmmm
more photos!!
actually, the christmas pary was on the same day as the dance party. the dance party was in the afternoon while the other one was of cos, at night.

photos were actually taken after it was over, just to let u all see some of the folks that i hang out with.

dance party

2005-12-19T03:13:00.000+09:00

alright...some waltz...cha cha cha...move right, take a step back...!!

my circle's annual dance party.... oh, did i mention that I'm doing ballroom dancing? ^_^ here are some photos from the party on the 11th last week.

i've no idea how the photos order's going to be. just a brief explaination.
1. Klara, Kirsty and me
2. Photo of the four pairs for the christmas waltz presentation
3. us on the train, exhausted.......

"Sugar Daddy? I'm a sugar man." - Nikhil

cold cold cold

2005-12-19T03:08:00.000+09:00

well, even if i don't write, i could at least upload some photos.... thinks me ^_^
here, here; well said!! LOL

so here are some....from my hike up to Mt.Takao 3 weeks ago.... nice big group of foreigners.... the essense of globalisation...

halloween....

2005-11-06T14:19:00.000+09:00

A pumpkin from me to you!!!

.......

2005-11-06T14:07:00.000+09:00

Couldn't really figure out a topic, but they insist that I put one, so..... :) It's November already! ENd of the year! Yikes!! Right now I'm more worried on surviving the next few days, weeks, months to even care which year I'm living in...boo...

Sometimes I don't know what to write. Probably a brain defect on my part. I never say anything intelligent anymore, can't spell for me life, and really, I've no idea what I'm thinking about as I write this. OH well, one of those "moments".

Each time I hear Alanis's That I would Be Good, I wonder if I'll ever be that. Inner demons are scary monsters that pry on your sanity. I would give anything to not succumb, or maybe not. Temptations are awfully tempting, wish I didn't make so many promises to not give in...gah.

What's wrong with me?
I wish i knew. Someone answered nicely that there's nothing wrong with me, it's the whole world that's screwed up....hmm...thought to ponder. Maybe I shld do a huge survey and incoporate it as one of the many "social studies" material. Kill two birds with one stone, yeah!

If u stayed with me till the end of this, thank you for ur time, hope it wasn't a waste. Great stuff :-)

a passing note

2005-10-24T14:10:00.000+09:00

OH gosh, before I knew it, it's been 2 weeks since I last wrote. Can't believe it. Time sure flies, too much for my liking...psh!

Quick update: life's a bitch. But then again, what's new about it eh. Some ppl has ben asking me about my MSN "coffee and cigarettes" line, so I'll answer them now. NO, am not smoking, although sometimes I do wish that I could just do that. Now I know why ppl says that stress makes a person want to smoke more. But no worries, I am not going to be doing that, so you can all breathe. As for coffee, can't drink that, and no change it that, so that's that. The line came from a movie "Coffee and Cigarettes". It's a rather interesting film, you might wanna give it a short. But be warned that it's a rather long black-and-white thing, you might get bored off your pants halfway through....

Major books atm? "Le Suicide:Etude de Sociologie" by Emile Durkheim. Ppl over here have been giving me rather strange looks when they see me reading this book. No, am not a suicide fanatic(might have suicide tendencies...?!), it's actually my textbook. It's a classic sociology book, thus it's a must for socio majors to read it...yeah..ok..whatever. Not progressing much, but have to admit, it's one rather interesting book. Try it when you're bored, if not, stay clear away fr it...

Oh well, back to class...Spanish class was canceled, that's why I've got time to write. Hitting French next....brr...

cheers folks!
Have a great week, wherever you are!!

closer

2005-10-09T01:28:00.000+09:00

THAT should be the film of the week.... Just finished watching Closer, the film with Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and etc. It's quite good actually, definitely a discussion film. Well, I personally like it, so there... it's my recommendation for the week.

Putting that aside... my week, has been hell. What a mess. Ever since returning here, I find one obstacle after another, one letdown after another. Seriously, if I'm asked to name the worst period of my life, I would say that NOW's a good answer. Other than my complusory classes being set at the same time, (I ended up "discussing" with the admin to change my schedule which resulted to nothing, so guess I'll have to hang out there more...grrr) I've also got a killer timetable to compliment it. And on top of that, my personal life ain't that great either, and my eating and sleeping habits have also jumped off the roof. I feel like I'm waging war with myself and my life... How typically normal.... Welcome to my life... any takers?!

So, what are my options? No idea. Study harder? Sure, to my grave. Yeah, life's a bitch but than again, life has always been one. IF you're wondering how I became so pessimistic and dark, well, welcome to the new side of me, sorry it took me so long to show ya all...psh...

So, it's all good, or it's all going to be good?! We shall see...

--Try lying for a change; it's the currency of the world.--
Jude Law in Closer

Europe Photos

2005-10-07T09:19:00.000+09:00

Finally got the Europe photos up!!!! IT's in my Yahoo photos thingy. Access is by email invite only, so you've gotta drop me a note if you want to view it.

cheers!

joycie

Photo.

2005-10-05T09:32:00.000+09:00

Just realised that I've never shown you guys any pictures of Marc. So here. Us at St.Peter's Square, in front of the Basilica.

back to school

2005-10-05T09:18:00.000+09:00

ever get sick of that phrase? after all these years, we still at the education sector.

Well, classes officially starts today... boo! This sem is going to be tough I believe, let's see how well I'll survive it. If I do horribly, then I'm going to suck the next to years too, since I can't handle the prologue, don't think I'll be able to handle the real thing!! *shvers*

yeah, yeah, that was my inner fear talking, sigh. Had to release it somehow before it ate me alive...scary thought...

Well, time for me to start revising my thai and italian... 3 straight periods of languages... i must be mad! but then again, when am i never not? ~_^

weekend in Paris

2005-09-12T16:04:00.000+09:00

There's this book written by a Sophie something English woman titled "Weekend In Paris". The excitement of partying on a boat, meeting a guy and so on just seems rather possible and far fetch at the same time. Somehow, I did wonder if my first weekend would be like that, but then again, reality bites. boo

But, that aside, I did spend a rather nice weekend. Sightseeing included Le Jardin de Tuileries (Garden of Tuileries), le tour Eiffel, Arc de Triompe and Champs-Elysees. Well, they were all on the same 5km long street! It starts from the Lourve, but that's for today, one whole glorious day in the Lourve. Yippie!

Went to the movies too. Man, so much cheaper than Japan, but can't beat home though. Well, can't complain too much either, although I do wish that they would stop the free-seating nonsense.

Did I ever mention that french food is fabolous but they serve in too large a portion? I know it should be "do as the Romans do", but heck, I just can't stomach that much of good food!! "Lucky" Julien ends up eating for me, guess the way through a guy's heart is his stomach?! *lool Lucky me...!

Oh well oh well, time to get moving on. Will never get to the Lourve if I seat here writing all day, now would I? :p

oh yeah!

2005-09-07T22:34:00.000+09:00

did i mention that i went to Geneva as well? oh, it was so sudden. We were on our way to Annecy, and the highway takes us past Geneva, and Julien's dad just went: "oh, why not go to Geneva as well?" and voila... i was there for probably like 30mins.... just to take the picture of the symbol of Geneva, the "jar d'or".... madness!!

still ALIVEEEEEEEE

2005-09-07T22:25:00.000+09:00

Yo people! By now I think some of you would have
1.recieved my long email
2.slaved through my long email
2.thrashed my long email

well, either way, i won't get mad, so no worries =) i just hate you from a distance, it's ALL good folks!

YEs, Europe is fabulous, France is great, Italy was even better. And no, no one is supposed to repeat what I just said.

Can't believe that it's already my 4th week here. Time flies so fast that I don't want it to fly more!!! urgh...! Miss you all loads, wish all of us were here together instead of just me you know. Screw the language, we'll be fine regardless.

ANyway, it's my last week in Lyon, will be heading off to Paris on Friday. More visiting around... =) can't wait...

Until then, I'll leave you guys with some photos... or it just one?!

don't be a hypocrite in front of me!!

2005-06-29T23:19:00.000+09:00

I've never beeeeeen so pissed off.... as far as I can remember. On monday, I gave a presentation on fansubbing, it works, legality etc.(for all those who dunno, i think i wrote about it a couple of months back...go check).

Now, during the Q&A, I was seriously bullied.. boo! Instead of asking me questions about fansubbing, I was bombarded with questions about how to stop people from downloading those fansub episodes. I kept on repeating that no law will be able to successfully stop people from doing so, that it all depends on the individual. But no, bloody classmates, 2 actually, insistently argued back on how it's useless, but yet proceed to give me suggestions on how to stop them. ARGH... I was so ticked off! Best part? They admitted downloading those things also. If I had a clearer head then, I would have said: IF you really want to stop people from ripping of the internet, why don'T you be the example? ARGH...WASTED.

Note to all: Fansub is considered illegal, hence on general, only unlicensed anime will be fansubbed. A licensed anime is defined as having its distribution rights bought by a foreign company, in most cases, an American company, since the US is considered to hold the biggest market. The purpose of fansubbing is to allow anyone to have access to subtittled animes currently shown or only available in Japan. Thus once some company outside of Japan buys its rights and distribute it, fansubbers usually stop fansubbing that particular anime.

Lesson of the day:
1.don't contradict yourself
2.don't be a hypocrite in front of me.
3.don't tell me what to do if you don'T do it yourself.

If you can't comply with these, then piss off.
If you didn'T get what I was on about, it's fine. Just that t's already wed but I'm still pissed. Had to release it somewhere....

what's on my head

2005-06-29T23:14:00.000+09:00

after spending about an hour thinking on what to write concerning japanese immigration and identity, i'm really getting stuck, not to mention pissed. who would have thought that some japanese youths still believes in the pure blood thing?! come to think of it, i think somewhere else too was very much into all this pure blood shit. Must be that Draco Malfoy influence...humph!

apart from that, moving on to something less serious...

looks like the bd thingy shld be either on the 5th or 6th Aug. You guys need to let me know which date is better. We suggest potluck, and venue could either be my place, or Su's. Juni's another option too, but need to check with her. Yeah, you may crash the night. Oh yes, I need to know how many ppl can come, cos i would love to get everyone something, so either you let your presense known, or recieve no present! it's your choice....muahahahahahhahaa

i'll be back in 5 weeks! Cheers!!!!!!!!

birthday bash!

2005-06-12T20:40:00.000+09:00

Yo people!! Since we all turn 21 (ohmigosh, legally adult in every single country in the world.....) this year, regardless of the month, I think we should all celebrate in together in one big bash in august, when we all come back. What do you all think? Since it's a very special occasion, we shouldn'T miss the chance to celebrate it together. the probable dates are between august 3rd-10th. Please let me know what you think, and which day is good for you asap.......... you can leave it in the comment section and let me know.

well, stil more than a month away....but... hehe.... kinda getting excited about it, now that I know that YeanYik and Lifan will be back too! Plus Su and Cindy and WeiMing and me, GREAT!!!!!!

cheers!

I scared myself

2005-06-11T11:24:00.000+09:00

Yesterday has been an eventful day. It started out as any other normal day, classes in the morning, then lunch with Mei Yen, a CCC staff, and then we went to the gym together. Other than the rain because of typhoon #4, it was as normal as any other day.

So what happened? There I was, working out happily in the gym when my stomach started to ache (period pain). So i went to the bathroom to compose myself and when I got out, took one look at the mirror, took one more step, and passed out. Thank GOd that it was in the locker room, and a lady caught me before i hit my head on the floor. Thank God too that i met another friend by accident there, if not for her painkillers, I would have gone to the hospital!

Few things that I learnt from this: God is amazing! He provided me with friends that just happened to be there, and even sent me home. Wow. The other thing is that there's only one body, one JOyce, so if I don'T start being careful, I'll be.....(touch wood)

OH yeah, FYI, i'm fine now. Don'T end up like me people!! ^_^

summer plans

2005-06-04T22:07:00.000+09:00

I've finally managed to set the dates and stuff, yeah!! *applause applause*

GOod question Juni, now I can answer you.
Will be arriving in M'sia on 2nd August around 7-8pm. Guess will reach home after another 2-3hrs, so make it 11pm or so. YOu all may go ahead and ring me all ya like on the same day....!! hehe

I'll be leaving for Europe on 12th Aug, and will only be back on 20th Sept. I'll be leaving for Japan the following thursday, on the 29th.

Most, or all of you won't be around anymore in Sept, so I wanna meet up with you guys in Aug! Open up your timetable if you can for me, let me schedule an appointment somewhere k =) I don't care, find time for ME!! LOL

Oh yeah, might be heading to London for a few days around 9-12th Sept. Back in UK then? Let's see if we can work something there too. =)

Looking forward to summer with ya all!
Food! Shopping! More Food! hehe.... will be expecting you all to do it with me as well.. ^_-

and there it goes....

2005-05-18T21:20:00.000+09:00

Well well, it took me quite a while to realise that i've not been blogging... My last entry was May 8th, seems ages ago.

During the past few weeks, I've had classes (oh duh!), went for a weekend dance camp and came back with a cold that's still giving me headache and fever.... psh... To top it off, I twisted my foot on monday while playing tennis, had to skip basketball on tues since I can't exactly run (thank God that it doesn't hurt anymore!), can i... argh.... damn unlucky this week... I wanna get well by tomorrow!!!!

Speaking of tomorrow, i'll be going for a Van Gogh exhibition... yeah! something to look forward to after being in bed for 2 days. No Kidding.

Oh yeah, for those who's overseas and will be coming back, or are already back, when are you guys leaving? I wanna know d dates.... most prob I'll b back on d 2nd of Aug, and leaving for Paris on d 12th, and only coming back after Sept 9th. Shld be heading for Tokyo around the 28th or 29th. It's d plan now, subject to changes due to loads of loose ends on my side.... *sigh* well, let me know so that I can catch up with u guys during my short week back home...

cheers!!! hoping to see you all soon!!!

hiring time

2005-05-08T21:14:00.000+09:00

Finally it's May!
It's supposed to be summer now, but it's still the springy weather that makes me wonder if summer will come. Well, I don't really like the extreme heat, as long as it's not too cold, and doesn't rain, then, now's great.

So, the big question: why am i hiring time? If there's time for hire, then i want! Things have picked up so much then 7 days just whizz by before i know it. Now i want more time to do my work, and also, to relax, catch some zzz, watch anime, read books, do nothing, hang out with friends etc. Things have become busier than i thought, but, i'm enjoying them. Well, make the most out of it right?

Wel, am a bit envious of those who are already in their summer hols (u know who you are...) not fair that you get such a long break.... =( but yeah, will be back home for a short while in aug, if all goes well. keep your fingers crossed!

cheers ppl.

a quick thinga-ma-bob

2005-04-26T00:23:00.000+09:00

err...that word came from....little mermaid? it was in one of the songs, but no idea if spelling is correct or not... *shrugs*

yes, joyce+tennis is odd combo, but so is joyce+basketball. but joyce has been doing basketball for one sem, and will be doing it this sem as well...lol...

Tennis is fun. I finally managed to hit some balls, but man, i can't serve for my life...sigh... it either went out, our it won't go over the net. psh... but we had volley practices today, it was pretty cool. all i need is some control in strength and ball direction. easier said than done. weiming, how in d hell did u master tennis? must be all the swimming muscles working. i've got nil muscles at the moment... should head to the gym, i say. psh, more work for myself.

Dancing is fun! I can see Jo's head nodding in agreement. LOL. I'm no expert, only been to 2 lessons, but am damn enthusiastic about it... can't wait to get my dancing shoes. the only downside is that it costs 7000yen! that's about 70usd... ex huh... but, well, for all things there are sacrifices... ^_-

and before i sign off (bed's calling me....jooyceee) i've been good to myself by only taking 10 classes this sem, compared to the 18th that i had last sem. (applause). LOL the reaction i get when i tell ppl about my classes... my parents are cool, marc's one happy guy... don't think i'll hear "you're overdoing it joyce" this sem... yeah!!

and on that note... i'll go sleeep...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

latest anime..oh-la-la!

2005-04-20T23:34:00.000+09:00

April, is known as the new term over here. It does not just mean school, it means everything else too....work, new projects, tv programmes etc. Well, TV's slightly off but usually, esp for anime, they try to end them in march and start afresh in April.

So, what's new? hmm... I only know of 2 - Ichigo 100% and He is My Master. Originally a featured manga for guys. Ichigo 100%'s manga is still being published. Well, that's not the point. Wanna know the story? Sure you do...

Ichigo 100% is about a guy and 5 girls. A plain looking guy who for some obscure reason, has 5, yes FIVE hot high school girls falling for him and fighting for him. LOL... Definitely a guy's dream...

He is My Master is even...A young rich guy, prob 14-15, with his 2 maids (it'll become 3 later). He's fav thing to do? Make his maids wear costumes that he designed. In other words, cos-play. Sigh...as if Harajuku is not enough already!

These kind of anime is only possible in Japan, me thinks. What thinks you? You'ld agree with me, no doubt yeah!

cheers to my supporters...LOL

oh yeah, if you'Re wondering why i'm writing about them, well, i had nothing better to do....yeah right...yeah, serious!

Anyone interested in anime??? *lelong, lelong* I'll recommend....muahaha

yes, yes, going nutters. time for bed. laterzzzz

europe - vote

2005-04-20T00:49:00.000+09:00

so ppl, i've got a lil' dilenma... should i go study in france for summer? or shld i just go and have fun? lol..i need d moolah man..... any donors?? lol

oh yeah, suggestions ppl, for which part of europe i shld go during my hol. florence is already on d list. rome is worth going..... oh yeah, romania sounds cool. long live dracula-land!!!!

suggestions suggestions!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sports and diet

2005-04-20T00:38:00.000+09:00

lol.....if i actually manage to diet....lol

but this sem will b fun, well at least sports class will b. doing tennis and basketball...!! hey weiming, din know that tennis is damn tough. i'll break my wrist someday. need to stop trying to swing d 250g racket like a badminton one. sigh....my arms ache.....ouch!! but hey, give me lessons next time? i wanna learn how to do a twist serve...lol....does it even exist...lol

joined d dance circle!!! yeah...it's on sun 2pm though, right after church. but it's fun. yeah...i'm happy..... =D

the weather and i

2005-04-14T20:24:00.000+09:00

japan's gonna be a desert soon...

or so most of us felt since april. hot days + the occasional strong wind during the day, and cold winterish nights that just reminds you of the savana...not like i've been there before but, u get the picture. all we need now is sand and sand and some quicksand.

after that, comes a few days of cold winterish days and nights that rains non-stop. enough to put chills in ur bones and make u hibernate. what is wrong with spring??? grr....

and to top of the weirdness, joyce has started teaching chinese conversation, as a part time. yeah ppl, go buy toto, lotto, or whatever lottery that's near you. it's a private thingy, 9yr old kid, absolutely adorable. it's fun and good money. i need fun, fun and more fun this sem. time for partying and travelling!!!! (at least i hope so...psh..)

my first week

2005-04-14T20:14:00.000+09:00

What a boring week...boring semester it will be....so i thought as i start my first week of 2nd year. geez, now that i've got most of my credits, i don'T need to take a lot of classes. it's a good thing, but heck, the classes that i wanna take seems to be at the worst hours, creating holes in my timetable...!! argh...... still fixing that problem at the moment. well, good news is that i've passed all my exams..yeah!!

so, what else have i been up too? slacking, would be the word of the week. as i cut classes out of my timetable, they are even days that i don'T need to go to uni!! good thing is that well, it's a hol of some sort, bad thing is that, it'S in the middle of the week, not a monday or friday....so no long weekends for me...boohoo!!

oh yeah, started to fansub yesterday. ??? u might think... Basically, i translate anime episodes from jap to eng, and together with the team, we hammer everything together to make a subtittled episode. people will download the finished episodes from the internet or through IRC. am discovering a new fun world out here. not like i'm getting paid or anything. it's fun, good jap practice, allows me to meet up with loads of ppl around d world who are anime lovers... amazing. currently doing translation check. fun fun fun!!

just one thing

2005-04-07T21:45:00.000+09:00

classes start tomorrow. enuff said.

the unfaitful

2005-03-06T21:38:00.000+09:00

wow, it HAS been a while. looking back at my last blog. perhaps you guys have stop reading. who knows? i might have just lost my touch to blog, well, maybe just maybe.

Things has been rather messy and rather uninspiring on my end. from ending exams to finishing reports to having spring break, celebrating CNY and etc. Things seem to all come together and go together. *sigh* sure makes life loses direction. not that i've got much of it to complete about anyway.

so, what has been on my mind lately? hmm... too much yet too little. can't organise myself properly anymore. feels rather hollow-ish and empty. feel like a mechanical being with no sense in what i'm doing other than living each day like a routine. this is so un-hol like, but to be honest, i really don't have the will to do anything. no urge to move forward, nada. being stagnant has it ups and downs, and other i'm feeling ok with where i am now, i know, deep down that things are not supposed to be this way. all sense of enthusiasism seems to evade me. sometimes i wonder if i've become an empty shell. there is no more satisfaction in pursuing anything or getting anything done. just, as i've said, it's a routine to live with doing what is expected of me.

is this supposed to be life? i wonder.