Year-end roundup 2012

In Japan, one of the traditions on New Year's Day is to send out a little postcard to friends and relatives and people you know. Not too sure what they write on them, but for one family I know, they use it as an opportunity to let others know what the family has been up to.

I really enjoyed hearing from them, but I was only reminded of it recently (a few hours ago really), so given the lack of time and the relative dearth of creative talent I possess, I have been unable to do up a proper postcard. So instead of a proper one, here's my 年賀状 for this year's end (I'll try to make a proper one next year), with some of the important things that happened this year!

1.  I got into a spot of trouble with the Customs authorities in Singapore because I overstayed, and for a few days at least, temporarily became an 'illegal immigrant'. Long story, but the end of it was that I was let off with a warning. (Maybe I will blog about this some day)
2. I got into my first car accident. Well, not so much an accident as a few scratches, but I damaged the car while making a tight turn around a corner that was much tighter than I realised. Nope, no one was injured and nothing was really badly damaged. Unless you count my ego. 
3. I got to go to Japan for a trip again! Got to see some of the places I wanted to see, got to meet many of the people I wanted to meet, got to eat quite a bit of the food I wanted to eat (which tended towards rather pedestrian tastes most of the time, like Matsuya/Sukiya/Yoshinoya/Manshuu, onigiri and conbini-bentos, much to Marie's distaste).
4. I joined a new CG. They had a reshuffle across the young adults' ministry in church, so we were all moved around and stuff, and now I've got a new group. Still trying to get it into a cohesive group at the moment, but things are fairly ok.
5. I started cycling regularly, since I finally learnt how to do it in Japan. First it was cycling every Saturday morning with Dad, and then since work started, I cycle to work every now and then.
6. In case you didn't pick it up in the previous paragraph, I finally found a job. It's with The Straits Times, the local dominant English news daily. Most of my colleagues are nice people.
7. Grandma passed away. I still miss her sometimes :(
8. I got to be involved in a close friend's wedding as one of his groomsmen. Fortunately for us, his wife's friends were rather nice people, and didn't make us go through a lot. 
9. I missed another month in blogging, just the second time in my blog's existence that I missed putting up a post in a month, which is why there is no October 2012 in the drop-down list on the left.
10. The world didn't end on 21/12/12.

Ok, that's really about all the major incidents that I can really think of at the moment.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! Please stay safe and warm (if you're in a temperate or arctic zone) and don't drink if you're driving!

God bless!

仲間

About a month ago, one of my really good friends from St. Andrew's School (no, we don't have the word 'secondary' in our school name) got married. Alvin was the only guy I was classmates with for all four years there, either through chance or misfortune. But whatever it was, while we didn't always hang out together all the time back then (something to do with the fact that he was a prefect, I believe), we struck it off really well in Sec 1, and remained close friends till now. 

Alvin is the one on the left. Coincidentally, this was taken almost a year before that, when the other Alvin (2nd from right, also known as Fuzzy) was about to get married. And even more coincidentally, both are married to girls called Amanda. The dude in blue is Joel, Fuzzy's best man.

A couple of weeks later, another of my secondary school mates tied the knot. Unlike Alvin, Sam was my classmate for only a year in Sec 2, but we were mates for all four years and then some, as both of us were in the Boys' Brigade. When you suffer together (since the 7th Singapore Company was an old school unit that believed in the value of corporal punishment to instill discipline), you do form some pretty close bonds.

Sam Tan is the dude in white with the biggest smile on his face, as befitting his happy day. In Sec 2, myself, he and Gerald (with bowtie) formed a little clique that came up with rather... embarrassing names for each other. Shaun is the fellow in front, and incidentally, there's another Sam, in the black polo.

Two weeks after that, another of the old BB boys from my cohort got hitched. Marcus was always ready for a joke, and I have to admit, he still hadn't changed at all much since we graduated more than 10 years ago.

BB 7th Singapore Company Charlie Batch ('97), plus Marcus's bride and his father. Marcus is the guy to the right of the only lady in the picture, Darius, is the one all the way on the left, and in front, next to Shaun, are Kelvin (in white) and Jiancheng. I'm pretty sure you can therefore figure out who the father and the bride are.

It's always fun to be able to meet up with old friends, to find out how they are doing, to see how their lives are like. And over the years, I have made many friends (hopefully not so many enemies). But one thing that always stands out whenever I meet some of my secondary school friends, either one or both of the Alvins or a group from the BB, is that no matter how long the interim, or under what circumstances the meeting, it's like time has never passed. We all slip so easily back into the bantering as if we were once again carefree youths, old enough to have some independence, but still young enough to not have to deal with too much of the responsibilities of life that invariably weighs us down.


I have to admit, of all my time I spent in school, I have always had the fondest memories of secondary school. And I do believe, part of that is due to the people I met there that I'm proud to call my friends.

Avia

My grandmother passed away around midday yesterday, and I guess most of the family is still kind of getting to grips with it.

Unlike when my grandfather passed away four years ago, she went really fast. Grandpa had been slipping further and further into dementia in his final years, and his health deteriorated and he was hospitalized for a week or so before he finally stopped breathing. But grandma, she was still pretty healthy. She had been complaining of pain in her hips for the past couple of weeks, but we thought it was a case of rheumatism like she had had before (we later found out it was a hairline fracture in her pelvis), and so she just stayed in bed while we brought her food and tried to get her to move about.

She was complaining quite a lot these past two weeks, refusing to move out to the living room, or even to go use the toilet, and she would constantly bemoan the fact that she had no appetite and did not want to eat, no matter how hard we tried to get her to do it; not surprising since she was quite a stubborn old lady. Still, yesterday morning, it seemed like she was getting better, and although she did not touch her breakfast, she seemed relatively cheery and upbeat. But then she lost consciousness once just before noon, regained it for a while, then slipped off really fast.

There are quite a lot of things going on through my mind right now, but one thing I do not want to forget is stuff I do remember about her. There are so many things that I can kind of pick up from memory, like how she would make fried rice with charsiew (mom hardly ever uses it), or how she would buy chee cheong fun or make samsokdan for Andrew because those were the only things he would eat for breakfast, or her special curry that we would have (bright yellow, lots of cabbage and taupok, and rather watery in texture, but spicy), but I don't want to just think about her in relation to food, so here are five things in my memory that kind of stick out.

1. My brother and I pretty much grew up in my grandparents' place. Both our parents worked, so during the day, we would be at their place until dinner, when our parents and aunt would join us for dinner, and then my family would head back. When we were there, and we were still kinda young, we would always take our afternoon naps, and grandma was the one to get us to sleep. And she would always hum this song to us. Only a single fragment of the song still resides in my memory, and I do not even know if I remember the tune right, but she would always go something like "hm-hmm-Hm", with a slight emphasis on the last syllable.     

2. Around the same time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became really popular in Singapore. Apart from watching the half-hour cartoons at 6.30 every evening, my brother and I really wanted to get the action figures. We were really happy once when we found a discarded Donatello toy once, and got to keep it. But we also wanted to be able to get our favourite ones (Andrew liked Leonardo, and I for some inexplicable reason, liked Raphael then), and we would beg our parents to buy it. But they would not, mainly because my father did not believe in needlessly spending money on toys (he sings a different tune nowadays, but most of his toys are electronic, and they are for him). When my grandma heard we wanted those toys one day, she suddenly said to me, "Ok, let's go and buy it," then brought me out with my aunt (I think she was there, she was not working or off on that day or something). I kind of assumed it would be at the nearby market (which had a few provision shops that had toys), but was stunned when she flagged down a cab and we went to Metro. I admit, I was kind of shocked, and somewhat horrified at the thought of what my dad would do to me if he found out I convinced grandma to bring me out shopping, but we got two toys and went back. Dad didn't do anything much to me, and Andrew was quite pleased with his new toy (he was in the afternoon session then, so he was in school while we were at Metro).

3. Much much later, grandma was living with us. She had moved in a few years earlier with grandpa, having sold her place at Henderson Crescent (#03-24), but now grandpa was gone. She was starting to get out of her sadness by the time I left for Japan in May '09, and it seemed she was ok (though she was still really worried about me being out of Singapore - it's one of her foibles). In November that year, I tried to sneak back into Singapore without telling anyone except my brother. I was returning for a friend's wedding, and my parents knew I was supposed to be back, but I really wanted to prank them by not saying anything and then suddenly appearing in my bed the next morning. My plan failed, mainly because some doofus kept calling the house phone in the middle of the night just after I had slipped into the house, and so my dad found me out. I went to take a shower after that, and as is my wont, I kicked the floor mat closer to the shower area so that I wouldn't get too much water on the floor. The next morning, I popped out of my room, and surprised my mom, but grandma was not surprised at all to see me. I asked her why she knew I was around, and she calmly said, "You're the only one in the family who kicks the floor mat in the toilet near the shower stall, so I knew you had to be back."

4. While I was working in Japan, I came back to Singapore three times during my two years and three months there. The first time was the above-mentioned sneaky time. The second was in between my first and second years, for about three months. The third was near the end of my term. And those times, as well as after I returned for good and remained unemployed for 10 months, I would usually eat lunch at home (to get free food). Usually it would only be grandma and me at the table, since everyone else was working or at school. Sometimes, we would eat in silence, but other times, she would tell me all these stories and things about her life, and I really enjoyed it, partially because I'm a history kind of person, and partially because some of the things she told me painted my dad in a somewhat less-than-flattering light (mostly to do with mushrooms or his pride). And I really enjoyed those times just listening to her. I would usually finish eating much faster than her, and she would try to chase me off, but I think she really appreciated the fact that I would always wait for her to finish eating before leaving the table. And when she was done, she would sort of shrug and lift her hands palms up to show that lunch was over and we could both leave.

5. I also remember when Marie first came to Singapore. She was horribly nervous about meeting my family, even though my dad and mom had been really nice when they spoke to her over Skype. She got in really late at night, and so mom and dad welcomed her and showed her to her room. The next day was a normal work day, so by the time she woke up, everyone (except me, being unemployed of course) had left for work/school. Grandma had of course heard that Marie was around, so when she saw her in the morning, she tried to get her to eat breakfast. They couldn't really communicate, since Marie doesn't speak Chinese or Cantonese, and grandma could not really speak English or Japanese. But she did remember a few Japanese words she picked up as a girl during the Occupation, and the one she was very proud of being able to say was arigato (thank you), which she told Marie, partly to show off, and partly, I think, in relief that there was some girl willing to get attached to her eldest grandson. Marie wrote to me after she heard about grandma passing away, and she said she felt less nervous because my grandma was so welcoming, and she remembered how happy grandma was when she was showing Marie pictures of grandpa.

I know someday we will all be able to meet up again (I was so joyful when mom messaged me one day that grandma had finally decided to believe in Christ - she was the last of my grandparents to do so), and I'm really glad that she had a great community in church, with friends that would always bring her laughter and joy, and who would regularly come round to visit or pick her up. And I'm thankful to God too, that He was with all of us in this time, and that He decided to take grandma back into His arms, to give her peace and rest.

So sayonara, mama (yes, she remembered that too). I'll be seeing you some time around.

Iunctura

"Well, you certainly took your time coming here."

Her eyelids fluttered upon hearing the voice. She had been sleeping quite comfortably, for the first time in quite a long while, but she had been woken out of her slumber. It wasn't that the voice was loud, or particularly harsh, but there was something about it that she knew was not quite right, yet sounded strangely familiar...

Finally, her eyes opened and managed to focus on the sky high above her. That was another thing that was odd. She had fallen asleep in her bedroom, and she did not think she had been sleeping long enough for the sun to have started setting anyway. She reached out to her side for her glasses, then stopped in surprise. Her vision was completely fine, and she was able to see everything clearly, down to the finest detail, as the sun's rays gave an orange hue to everything.

She breathed deep, and the air, Such pure air, she thought, filled her with joy. It carried within it, the strong smell of the grass and the fields, and just a touch of fragrance from the wildflowers growing in the lee of some rocks behind her. She turned her head, and lifted her hands to touch a blade of grass, and felt its smooth surface, its fine edge, the way it connected to the stalk, and realized that she actually knew it.

She sat up straight, and her body responded easily like how it was like when she was still young and not weighed down by age or concerns. She marvelled at her arms; the skin was no longer wrinkled and sagging, but was as tight and smooth as when she was a schoolgirl, before the Occupation. She felt the strength in her limbs, the warmth on her face, and wanted to jump up and run about...

"It's also been too long since I've seen you with black hair," the voice said again from her other side.

She gave a short jump and twisted around. Lying on the ground next to her was a young man, arms behind his head, legs crossed, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw that she was finally acknowledging him, then grinned. She stared at him. He definitely looked and sounded familiar, and the way he looked at her, those dark eyes... and in a burst of alacrity, she knew why she was no longer an old woman bed-ridden by pain, but someone much younger, much..better...

The man looked back up at the sky, which was filled with brilliant streaks of pink and orange and the white wisps of clouds, and said, "You should have been here earlier to set up the place, and arrange the meals and do the washing..."

She gaped at him incredulously as he closed his eyes to relax. She suddenly knew who he was, and her heart almost burst with joy at seeing him again, but she also wanted to reach out and smack him for his impudence and wipe that smug look of his face.

Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she tried to think of ways to riposte, then finally said, "Well, if you were here so much earlier, why couldn't you have done it yourself?"

"It's a woman's job to do that," he replied without opening his eyes, but the growing smile on his face told her he was not being serious.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "What did I do to have to endure this from you? I finally get here to be with you and that's the first thing you say to me. All you do is complain and demand things from me and waste our money on food that is too expensive and make me do all the housework..."

She stopped when he reached out for her hand. It had been too long since she felt him, and she fell silent as she soaked in the moment, and feeling happy and complete once again.

They sat in silence for a while, then a thought that had been nagging her at the back of her mind finally came to the forefront.

"How about the others? Will I be able to go back down to see them for a bit?"

He sat up and shrugged. "That's not up to me to decide. When I came up, they were willing to let me go down one last time to see the rest, but I don't have that sort of authority."

"Who does then?"

The man jerked his head at the rocks with the wildflowers. "He does."

She turned around, and realized for the first time, that the two of them were not alone.

"Hello grandmother," the boy started, then added, "Though I do not think you look very much like a grandmother anymore."

She looked closely at the boy. Like the man, she sensed she knew the boy, but in a different way. She peered into this clear, black eyes, and saw ancient wisdom and youthful enthusiasm, eternity and impermanence, past, present and future, and she instantly knew Him.

She bowed her head, and respectfully said, "Lord."

The boy giggled, his laugh a clear and pleasant sound, and he spoke again. "Welcome! It's been a long journey for you, always working and thinking of the needs of those around you, but now you can finally rest. No more worries or cares, just peace and joy with us."

She smiled at that. It was something her children, and her grandchildren had been saying to her. The though of them reminded her of her request, and she raised it up.

"Will I be allowed to go back down to see them again, Lord?"

The boy looked thoughtful for a minute, then looked at her with more sadness than she thought anyone that youthful-looking should be allowed to bear.

"They love you, you know. And naturally, they asked.  And I know how they are feeling too, much more than they could ever know themselves. But while I could do it for him last time, I cannot do it for you this time."

She looked downcast for a moment, but then knew that the decision had been made with thorough consideration, and she bowed to the infinite wisdom of the choice.

She looked around a bit, then heard a bell tolling in the distance. The boy jumped off the rocks, and reached out for her hand, then pulled both her and the man to their feet.

"Time for us to go back," he said, then started walking, hand still in hers.

She looked back wistfully for a minute, remembering all those she was leaving behind. But the boy continued to pull her along, and the man smiled at her reassuringly, and she knew that it was time to leave it all behind.

"Let's go," the boy urged again, and this time, she did not hesitate, as they walked towards the eternal city.

*   *   *

Good bye, grandma.

Rest in peace.

1926 - 17/08/2012

Trends

When I first went to Japan in 2005, I thought, I would never go back to Japan again.

Team members of Japan'05

When I went back again in 2006, I figured I would never go back as a team leader.

I took a picture with Steve Weemes back then because I didn't think I would ever see him again too.

When I went to Japan in 2008 as a team leader for a short-term youth team, I did not think I would ever stay longer than a month.

Team dynamics, as seen (and drawn) by Mavis.

When I signed up for the OLOY program in church and went to Japan in 2009, I did not think I would stay longer than a year.

It seemed like half my church sent me off that time. I felt so embarrassed.

When I went back in 2010 for my second year, I did not think I would want to extend past my second year.

Summer at Kamakura/Shonan with Shinagawa Kai, which seemed both so long ago, and so near at the same time.

And now, I want to go back again. Whether missions or not, I'm not sure. But I know I want to be in Japan. Here are a list of reasons why I want to go back to Japan:

Yokohama bay

Sunset over Tokyo

Tokorozawa station East exit

KHCN team

Tokorozawa HC

Tono city centre

Coco's English Corner

Walking home to Tokorozawa from Kotesashi

Snow in winter

CRASH Japan Logistics team

Kids' Club

Shinagawa Kai

Marie

I think, maybe, just maybe, I'm sensing a trend here. God, you really have a sense of humour, don't You?

引っ越し

I touched down in Tokyo 5 days ago. I started to clear out my house 4 days ago. I finished packing most of my stuff 3 days ago. And 2 days ago, I moved out of my house.

Now, generally speaking, I would say moving isn't exactly a very emotional event. Especially when you move to a place less than 200 metres away. And in the heat of Tokyo, it's a little hard to think when all your mind focuses on is that bottled drink you put in the fridge.

At the same time though, this was the place that I lived in, mostly by myself, for 2 years. It was the place I called home when I first came to Tokyo at the beginning of my initial year, and it remained home to me all the way till the end of last week. It was where I suffered through the heat of 2 summers, and the frigidness of 2 winters. It was where I learnt to cook food by myself (not just cup ramen and ochazuke), and where I could allow all my little foibles (ironing my clothes immediately after washing, not making my bed etc) to just come out.

Naturally, it also doesn't help when you have your special bowl, knife and spoon.

Yes, I had a special bowl. I used this bowl for rice. And noodles. And cereal too. This was actually my 2nd special bowl. I accidentally broke my original special bowl.

Yes, I also had a special knife and spoon. I always used that knife for breakfast (except when I was eating cereal), and I always used that spoon for my other meals. Strangely enough, I never had a special fork.

Staying with the Laus is a nice thing. They are pretty much the epitome of hospitality. It brings back a lot of memories, because this was where I stayed when I first came to Japan in 2005. And my room here is a lot cooler, because it's on the 3rd floor.

However, having to give up a place I called my own, that is not something I found easy.

So here's to my home at Kita-Akitsu Century, for all the memories I had, while I was living there.

Where I spent most of my time hiding.

2010

In Japan, there is a custom of sending out Nengajo, which are a sort of New Year's card to tell people you know that you are still in existence, and to let them know how you are doing. I won't be following this custom, since it costs too much money (and I'm too lazy), but still, the idea of having an update on what's been up is a good idea, so here are 10 things in 2010 that are 'new' or which I find either important or interesting.

1. I decided to do a 2nd term with OMF in Japan. I was pretty much contemplating this before the end of last year, but it was only truly finalized when I got back into Japan on the 14th of July (or was it 15th?)
2. I started taking up two martial arts classes while here in Japan. I started learning how to use a naginata in February and I started Kyudo classes in September. I am still not good at either one.
   
3. I have started to teach English classes to two 5-year-old kids. Chisaki and Yuichiro are nice kids whom I rather like, but that doesn't mean I find it easy to teach English to them, with the emphasis on this phrase being on the 'teach' rather than the 'them'.
4. I went to seminary! For two weeks, for a short course on missions work, and I made quite a few new friends. This makes me legit here in Japan (nah just kidding).
   
5. My long unused and dormant Chinese speaking ability has been recalled to service while here in Japan. While it's not surprising to have to use it in the Shinjuku HC (where 2/4 core members speak Chinese with regularity), I have also used it while at Shinagawa Kai and when with several new friends I met at my Japanese language class.
   
6. I started playing basketball at CAJ. Obviously, I'm not very good at basketball in general, but at least I have a better idea of how to play within a 5-man team on a full court. And the one thing I *have* become good at is setting screens.
   
7. I am now allowed to go to the izakaya and drink a bit under OMF rules. And I have gone there with Shinagawa Kai, whenever they have their Shinagawa Nomikai. As long as you don't get drunk...
   
8. I set up a Christmas tree in my house! It's only a foot high, but whatever. Thanks Vernon, for bringing it up haha.
   
9. I made chicken rice for the first time in my life. I had a Prima Taste mix to help me, and it was fun making it and seeing people enjoy it. The cleaning up after that... not so fun.
   
10. I guess one of the most important things I've started to learn (and am still in the process of learning) is about God's grace. Before this, it's always been a lot of head knowledge, and I've always lived under a sort of shadow of guilt and apprehension about sin (or about God's anger because of my sin), but I think now, I'm starting to understand the basics about God's grace, and how much love He has for us. It's no longer about trying to keep myself pure (an exercise in futility if there ever was one), but in just looking at God, no matter what happens in life.
    

So that's about it for me this year. Happy New Year everyone!

Coming to an end

When I first got here to Japan, I was thinking how long a whole year doing work here was. The first few days were packed full of things to do and places to go, but it still didn't seem to go by too fast.

Then life settled into a routine, and things started to speed up. And after a KHCN meeting, while talking with Shu and Ten, I came to realize that one year wasn't really quite as long as I had thought it would be.

And now one year is almost up. Having to prepare to say goodbye to friends, to try and settle what I need to do so I can leave the place, and to try to pack all my worldly belongings into three bags and hope it weighs less than 27 kilos... it's so difficult to do all that...

Good thing I'm coming back.

クリスマス

A few days ago, at the Tokorozawa HC, we were having a short discussion about the Nativity. Yoshitaka-san was leading it, and one thing that all of us noticed about the birth of Christ was how sad/pitiful/difficult it was for Mary and Joseph.

Everyone: murmur (about how sad it was)
Yoshitaka: So you all noticed it was quite difficult for Mary and Joseph.
Hideko: Yes, they had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. It was quite far.
Emiko: And by that time, Joseph and Mary had to endure the stigma of her being pregnant before getting married.
Me: And also they had to stay in the stable when they got to Bethlehem.
Yoshitaka: Do you know why all this happened? Do you know why it was so terrible for them that first night?
Yoshiko: Because Joseph didn't make a room reservation in Bethlehem!
Everyone: *stunned*

Yoshitaka's point was that even when Jesus was born, the forces of darkness were already working to cause problems, even though Yoshiko's joke kinda threw us off track for a bit.

My family came up on Monday to go and visit Japan. First time they've been here, and it's been a little bit hard for my Dad because:

1. Some of the best food is raw.
2. Some of the best food has mushrooms.
3. My mom and sis are experts at shopping.

It has been pretty fun going around doing stuff with them (Disneyland, meeting old friends, going shopping), but I think perhaps I have done a bit too much fun, especially since there's more fun (Hakone, Kyoto) coming up, so I have to stay at home and do work tomorrow. Which can be a bit of a bummer, but is actually very much like what most of my Japanese friends have to do, since Christmas isn't a public holiday here. (Though the 23rd of Dec is, since it's the Emperor's birthday).

Anyway, around this time of the year, many people have what is called a Bōnenkai (忘年会), where they would have lots of drinks, and forget the worries and bad stuff of the past year. But the KHCN people decided to have a Christmas party, which instead of a Bōnenkai, would be a Kinenkai (記念会), where we would look back on the year and remember what we can give thanks to God for.

I can thank God for the friends I've made in Japan, for the friends I've met in Japan, for colleagues who are friends, for a church that has supported me, for a family that supports me.

But most of all, I can thank God for being a God who loves me so much that His arm always protects me, even when I'm not a good Christian.

So yeah, that's about it.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Domum

A few months ago, when I had just been in Japan for about a month or so, my baby sister told me a dream she said she had had.

In the dream, I had returned home, and suddenly appeared in front of her, and she felt so happy that I was back, but then, she woke up, and realized it was a dream, and felt sad.

So naturally of course, I filed that story in my mind, and when I was preparing to go back for a short while, I decided to try to do it. But I didn't want to just stop at my sister. I wanted to prank my parents too. I would've thought of pranking my brother too, but it's more fun to rope him in and prank others.

I touched down on 20th November and managed to sneak my way into the house relatively undetected. My parents were suspecting I would be returning soon, but I had very cleverly avoided talking to them on Skype and not answering their questions about my flight details, so they did not know when I would really be back. Brother let me in, and I managed to get to my room without anyone realizing.

Unfortunately, while waiting for my dad to go and sleep so that I could go shower and sleep, some twit started calling my home phone. The twit would call, and when someone answered, he (or she) wouldn't say anything. Which of course, woke my dad up. And despite my brother's best efforts to keep him out of the room and in the dark, my dad found me hiding behind the door.

Oh and my grandma detected my presence the next morning because she spotted some abnormalities in the shower room. I bet she was like a counter-intelligence operative or detective when she was younger.

When I was trying to survive in Tokyo with the at-times-8-degrees-weather, I would think that I was more used to hot, humid, tropical weather. Once I got back to Singapore, I realized that being used to it didn't make me any more immune to disliking feeling sticky all the time. And now, what my brother calls 'cooling weather' is still too hot by my standards. But still better than shivering.

So anyway, I went back mainly for Josh & Aggie's wedding, which was on 28th Nov. The Tuesday before the wedding, Josh suddenly asked me to be one of the 'brothers' to help him gate-crash Aggie's place in the morning. Fortunately, most of Aggie's sisters were nice people, so the things we had to do weren't too terrible. At least, from my perspective. Probably not the same view for Jiehuai, Chai and Josh.

I guess the wedding felt somewhat different, maybe cos it was on Sentosa instead of in church, but also because it just seemed strange to see two people you have grown up with exchanging their wedding vows at the front of the hall.

I guess this means that next time I want to ask Aggie out for lunch, I'm really gonna have to ask Josh for permission first haha.

Also got the chance to meet up with several other important friends (there were lots of other important friends I didn't get to meet up with, so sorry), and settle some other important matters (saving the world vicariously through CoH, submitting PR documents).

Was rushing around quite a bit, doing stuff, meeting people, playing games, and it felt so packed. I wasn't even able to have like proper QT most days, and at the back of my mind, I kept on thinking how I wasn't getting rest.

But when I read Sul's message "...hope you had a good rest...", I realized that actually, I was feeling quite refreshed and all. Even though I was trying to reconcile having to re-adjust to being back in Japan after sort of adjusting to being in Singapore.

And well, hopefully this will help last till I finish off my term in April-ish.

Cheerio!

P.S. New official couple in church. And looks like they may not be the only ones.... haha...

P.P.S. Some people still think 31st Nov is real.

も一回

Once again, I just had to leave it till the end of the month in order to post to save the at-least-once-a-month record. Hard to imagine that the last time I posted was almost a month ago. Seems so much less.

The past month has been really kinda busy. In a way. I have now got a new-found respect for the people in the newsroom who cover school sports. Mainly because I had to do a bit of it, and there's really very little to show for the amount of work that you do. So if you ever go to the Straits Times Online and see all those scores for school sports, appreciate it, because the journalists who handle it have to call many different people to get information, and are usually swamped with the amount of data they do get after that.

I guess the most blog-able thing I have got today is that I left my job. Not because of school sports. I actually didn't mind it. But my contract ends today, and I chose not to renew it.

Even though it was such a short time, and I wouldn't exactly call myself close to my colleagues, it's still kinda hard to leave. For the past half a year, I've been going in every morning at about 10.55, dropping my bag, sitting in my chair, and logging onto my computer. And the process is always the same: Log into computer, log onto Lotus Notes, log onto Hermes, and then open up the Unisys Explorer, and then the Unisys Newsroom. Then start up Firefox (used to be IE, but then realized there was Mozilla in the comp), scan CNN, and then go to Yahoo Sports' NBA page.

My workstation

The routine is so...routine, and I guess I'm quite comfortable with that. I'm not so comfortable with other parts of the job, like you know, talking to strangers, but generally, I think I really enjoyed my time at SPH.

When I started to pack up today, it seemed like only a few days ago, I was moving my stuff into the workstation.

Oh, one curious thing is that the first few days I was in, time seemed to crawl. And then after the F1 weekend, it suddenly sped up. And now, just as I'm leaving, it's crawling again.

So anyway, today, I said bye to the people I met, from the pix desk, from CCAB, from the PR companies, and even two friends I met from my first day during the training session.

And of course, I wrote a short farewell note on Lotus to the good people at ST Sports desk, who have had to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't make them look like the New Paper.

Naturally, it was a bit sad, but the good thing is that unlike in army, I can get in a lot easier. And I will probably take advantage of this feature, even though the sports desk told me not to return without food.

View from the roof, near the cafeteria

So it was a great experience being there. Now I'll just need to go off and do some other things first.

Cheerio

P.S. I'm so used to writing the articles that after finishing typing this post, I started to look for the 'Spell Checker' tab. Looks like I'll have to use manual version for a while.

回想する

Was talking to my friend A last night, and he remarked that I hadn't blogged for a long while. The reason I gave him was that when you're doing a job that requires you to write articles, you kind of lose interest in blogging, mainly because you are forced to use your literary energy to write those, so there's less for blogging.

But since I had a long break over CNY, and I don't want to miss out another month like I did last year, I shall now write an article so that I won't miss Jan 2009. And it shall be a reflection on 2008, which had several major happenings which I shall try to recall.

Let us start with going to Phuket for a trip in March (I think). What makes this trip so special, is that this is one of the few times I really cut class to go for it. I mean, I have skipped some lessons before, but it was always like one lecture, and my parents don't know about it. This time, I went for a week, and my parents knew about it, but they did not kick up a fuss. I mean, they would have (trust me, even though I am 24, they would kick up a fuss if they know I cut class), but I was going to do a job. Sort of. So it was all cool.

Next big thing that happened was that I went to Japan, and led a team. You can read about the trip here, and here, and here, and here, and here. Personally, I am not really a 'leader' person. I would definitely have preferred playing a supporting role, and let some proper 'leader' persons lead. But the trip went pretty well. I'm guessing if a proper 'leader' person led, it would have been a lot better, but well. Made some new friends, got to know other friends even better, and met up with several old friends again. Plus, it was the first time I really lived by myself. Which didn't turn out too well, since I recall eating Pocky and Pringles one night for dinner (and promptly getting scolded by almost everyone who heard about it).

I also graduated. I remember meeting up with H (since she was the only history major from VCF who attended) and going up to receive my certificate, and also remember Prof L giving me a slight smile (he's a really cool guy. He taught me in HY 1001E and also for History of Christianity. Plus, he speaks like 15 different languages or something). I also realize I didn't post up anything on that.

H and me. Sole VCF history representatives.

While it was nice to graduate from uni and all that, somehow, the graduation ceremony didn't feel quite as good as commissioning parade at OCS. Even though it was a rain out then. I guess there are different values in a way. While the degree will be my ticket to jobs and all that, I felt like I really had to earn my commission, so maybe that's why I felt a greater sense of accomplishment on the parade square at OCS. Plus, my mortar board was a bit too small. Bummer.

Next big thing was that I found a job, working at Singapore Press Holdings. It's quite an interesting job, and I quite like it. Plus, it has forced me to become a bit more active and outgoing, since the nature of the job requires me to be like that. Still need to work on that though. I always feel so paiseh to talk to people. Still, it has been quite fun. Started on the 1st of Sept, and have met quite a few friends there, both inside and outside office. The colleagues are also really good people. A couple of church people also found jobs at SPH recently, and once, the two of them robbed me of my candy. Even though they asked politely.

Guess the biggest event that happened was that my Gramps passed away. He had been deteriorating for a while now, and in early November, he was admitted to hospital. After a few days, he was discharged, but less than a month later, he was re-admitted, and he went to be with God on the 4th of Dec. There are quite a few things I shall remember about him, but the three that stuck most with me (which I told myself I had to post) during his last few days, are here.

1. He kinda got dementia, so his mind started to become simpler, but he would always remember the sound of our voices. And everytime he heard us greet him when we were at home, he would have this really big smile come on his face, and he would return the greeting.
   
2. The first time he was admitted in early November, he was surprisingly sentinent, and once, when I visited him, he said three words to me: "Take a seat." It was surprising, because of the dementia, but those few words, even though it seemed like nothing to make a fuss about, stuck with me. Fyi, this was during an orange time.
3. The last was a lesson I received from him, which I have mentioned before in passing. Strange thing was, he wasn't even conscious. Anyway, what happened was that when he was admitted a second time, he was not breathing properly, and was really weak. Now, for background, my grandfather is the kind who can panic if things happen that are not within his control, so being in such a weak state, struggling to draw in air and all, I could feel that he was scared. Can't really describe it, it was just a sort of instinctive understanding, that he did not know what was going on, and he was definitely frightened. And if he was at home and was awake and frightened, we could easily calm him down, since we could talk to him, but since he was unconscious, there was really nothing we could do. Then I remembered this verse: Psalm 139: 7-12. It's not like I remembered the exact words of the verse, but I remembered there was such a verse around. And it reminded me that when God is everywhere, it's not just in the physical world, but even within the mind of Gramps, God was there comforting him, and that made me feel much better.

I have one last point regarding the past year. I only cut my hair once in 2008. First time such a thing has happened. It was in July I think, just before I started applying for a job, as I don't think I would have made a good impression with long hair in an interview. Plus J told me I look better with short hair anyway.

So now, this year, I have got several other things to look forward to, to plan for and to prepare. I already have one big move that I hope to be able to make, but guess I'll just have to see how things work out from here. And trust God to guide me and do the rest.

Cheerio.

Valeas

The slanting rays of the setting sun felt good on his face. The orange glow covered him in its warmth as the cool evening breeze rustled through the grass, bringing with it a freshness, a certain fragrance that he had not experienced in a long time.

He breathed in deeply, then exhaled, delighting in the ease at which he accomplished so simple a task. It was so different from what he could recall, but the anachronism did not bother him, as he sat on a rock, leaning back on straightened arms.

He looked up to the sky and caught sight of the riot of colours filling it. The hues seemed so much brighter, so much more vibrant, so... alive. And even though he was alone in the wide grassy expanse, he felt so at ease. And so he closed his eyes and sat, just a tired old man admiring the beauty of his surroundings...

"Hello, grandfather."

The pleasant voice gently brought the old man out of his reverie, and the old man cracked open one of his eyes to find the source of the words.

There, standing in front of him was a youth, a young man who looked no older than twenty. Yet, as the old man peered closer, the boy seemed so much older than his years, so much wiser, as if he had gone through more than the old man ever had.

He looks so familiar, thought the old man. But he definitely was not one of his grandchildren, despite the boy's greeting. In fact, he did not even think he had seen the boy before.

The old man's confusion must have shown on his face, for the boy smiled disarmingly back at him.

"You may not remember me, but you accepted me, and I remember that. I told you back then that I would never forget you."

And as the old man looked into the youth's clear eyes, the old man suddenly knew who he was. And instinctively, he knew why the boy was there with him.

"Is it time to go already?" asked the old man. He did not really want to leave his seat on the rock. It felt comfortable, and so much more known that wherever it was he was supposed to go with the boy.

The youth smiled again, a wide smile that reassured the old man.

"I'll be bringing you somewhere better, but no, we're not leaving yet. I've got a request asking to let you remain awhile more."

The old man sighed in relief. The thought of going somewhere better sounded good, but he also felt that something was not quite ready, that he could not leave, that there was something in him that was holding him there.

"Take a seat," invited the old man.

As the boy sat down, so many questions rose in the old man's heart, so many answers that he wanted to hear from the boy. But when he looked at the young man sitting on the grass besides him, smelling a flower, a lily, he realized, the old man realized his questions were not important, and that he would have plenty of time to ask them later on.

So the two of them sat there, watching the golden fields around them, silently contemplating the wonder of their world.

Abruptly, the boy stood up. The old man looked up in surprise, as the youth took his hand.

"Hold on, grandfather. You'll have to go back for a short while."

The world went dark. The old man suddenly smelt the sterile smell of the hospital, felt the unwelcome feeling of tubes, tasted the odd plastic flavour of air that comes through a breathing mask. And he realized it was difficult to breathe again, almost panting as his body tried to draw in life-giving oxygen to lungs that were not working efficiently.

He started to panic. He couldn't see, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe properly... then he felt the warmth of the boy's hand in his, and as he gripped tighter, his fear subsided. Then, he noticed the presence of others around his bed.

One of the presences leaned over, and gently shook his shoulder.

"Grandfather? We're all here, don't worry."

He recognized the voice, and the old man wanted so much to open his eyes. To take a look at the face of his granddaughter, and see her dimpled smile one more time. To look one more time at her two brothers, who, he could sense, were standing stocially to one side trying not to cry. He wanted to see his youngest grandson, who was sitting in the chair, sleepily trying to stay awake for his grandfather.

He wanted to see the maid, who had taken care of him so well the past few months, and to thank her. He wanted to see his son and daughter, and their spouses, who he could sense were maintaining quiet vigil by his bed.

And he wanted so much to see his wife, who he knew would be worried. He wanted to hold her one last time, and tell here everything was ok, but though she was calling his name, his body just would not respond.

He felt so frustrated. He could feel them, but he was unable to respond to them, and he was so upset he wanted to cry. But the strong grip of the boy's hand in his quickly drained all the despair out of him, and he relaxed again.

He sensed his daughter-in-law bending over him.

"Don't worry about us dad. The kids are all grown up, and we can take care of ourselves. Rest easy," she whispered into his ear. Her voice cracked on the last few words, and he knew she was crying.

And even through his laboured breathing, he also heard his two older grandsons praying over him, asking God to take his hand, and give him peace. He smiled to himself at that, for he knew he already had.

The youth's hand tightened around his, and he could see again, back in the golden field, breathing freely, bathed in the amber glow of the evening sun.

He was standing up too, on good, strong, healthy legs that he had not had for years.

In the distance, a bell tolled, as if signaling an end to the day.

"Is it time to go now, my Lord?" asked the old man again.

This time, the boy nodded.

"Where are we going?" The old man looked around, then saw a city in the distance. It glittered as it caught the rays of the setting sun, and the fading notes of the bell appeared to come from within its walls. "Are we going there?" pointed the old man.

The boy nodded again, then cocked his head as if listening to something. He turned to the old man.

"Your grandson asked me to tell you that he'll be meeting you there someday soon."

Happiness flooded the old man's heart, even as tears welled up in his eyes, as he knew he was being apart from his loved ones temporarily. The youth continued to hold his hand, leading him to the city.

"Come on, grandfather. You've finished your journey, and I've prepared a place for you, to welcome you to my Father's place. You're finally going home."

At this, the old man smiled. And he walked off with the boy, hand in hand, to the eternal city.

* * *

Good bye, grandfather.
Rest in peace.
4/11/1927 - 4/12/2008

空港

In the previous post, while looking for a link to put up, I inadvertently started to read some of the older entries I had put in. Now of course, as you all know, I get easily distracted, so although that post was a serious one, before I really got into it, I was just reading all my articles about what it was like in Tokyo. So that sort of sets the tone for what went on today.

See, I had to go to Terminal 3 for an assignment for work today. Since the meeting was at 12, I decided maybe to just go a little earlier and maybe do a spot of QT there, since I hadn't exactly been having a very good QT recently, though the past couple of days was a lot better. In fact, I even brought along my grad present from Mr. K (JC GP tutor), which was a book by a certain Philip Yancey on the subject of prayer. The book is quite good. I mean, not that I read very much Christian literature, but really, the book is good.

But the stuff I got from the book, or the QT I did, or the assignment I covered, or even the coffee I drank (which was way too sweet and which necessitated my running to pee an hour later) is not the issue here. What I wanted to talk about was what I was thinking while at the airport. Which I had thought before, but had not really told anyone. Except maybe A. And S from Japan.

Now I'm not sure how many of you have gone to Changi Terminal 3. It's quite new, quite nice, quite empty. There are a total of 7 floors (I think): from B3 (which is all parking I think), to 4 (which is really only a small floor with the viewing gallery).

Now I'm also not sure how many of you have gone to Narita Airport's Terminal 2. And for the number of you who have gone there, I'm not sure how many have actually explored the place. But I have. This all happened because when the JMT 08 first touched down way back on the 9th of June, I went to meet them there. And because I can sometimes be such a stickler for being on time, I made sure I got there early.

It was actually a bit too early when I got there, since my paranoia apparently also managed to affect my judgment. Plus the plane landed a bit later than normal. Or something. So I actually had a massive amount of time just hanging around there.

Now being such a caring leader (and knowing that R is a bottomless pit, and that they would all prob be a little hungry), I figured maybe the two packets of bread I bought was not enough, and so I started walking around the airport looking for snacks to purchase. It was not a very good idea, mainly cos there was not very much of the sort of snack I was looking for. I think I bought a few muffins, but that was it.

But anyway, I managed to explore most of the airport while waiting for the team to arrive.

And this is what I sort of remembered when I was walking about in Terminal 3 this morning. Because Terminal 3 has very much the same sort of layout that Narita 2 has. Especially the Departure hall and the small shopping arcade on the 3rd and 4th floors.

If you haven't been to Narita 2, just go to Terminal 3. And imagine a smaller, slightly older, less futuristic-looking version of it, without the viewing gallery, and you've got Narita 2.

Yup. The whole long post, just to tell you I think T3 and Narita look somewhat similar.

本当だ。いじょうです。

Cheerio

昔の時

Today I ate lunch with my grandparents. Sounds kinda odd when you think about it, since my paternal grandparents stay in the same house, but today there was fried rice for lunch, and usually, if brother and me aren't like, obviously waiting for lunch, we'll just sort get a bowl each and eat wherever we were, like in front of the comp, or while watching TV.

But today, I thought it would be good to eat with them, since I hardly eat with them, and in fact, hardly talk to them. Which can be a whole story by itself, but that's not gonna be the focus here. So I took my bowl and joined them at the table, and brother also ate there.

Through most of the meal, nothing much happened, except that my grandma mistook some luncheon meat as lup cheong and tried to throw it in my bowl (cos she uses dentures and she doesn't find it easy to eat that sort of stuff), and so we all ate. Then after I was done, she told me that I could go and do my own stuff since they (Gramps and Gran) ate really slowly. But I told her it was ok. It actually sounds somewhat different when it's in Chinese, but that was essentially the core of the conversation. So I just sorta sat there and continued to talk to Gran, which takes some doing on my part, since I am not exactly proficient in Chinese.

And then Gran started reminiscing about like the past. I mean, it all started out because of the lup cheong, as she found some in her bowl, and then it progressed to how it was good to be young, and then she said the best part of her life was when she was taking care of me and brother when we were kids. (Sister wasn't born yet). When I was about 8 and brother was like 5. She was talking about how he would go to kindergarten in a bus and she would send him off, and then I would come back from school, and he would come back from school, and then my parents would come in from work and go to her place for dinner before Dad took us back to Bukit Batok.

And as my Gran continued talking about the past, I suddenly remembered two events that are somewhat related. One was when my Gran and my aunt (who's about 10 years younger than my dad) took me to a shopping center. I don't remember when, I don't remember which shopping center, but I'm guessing it had a Metro inside, cos I clearly remember the white tiling that Metro always has. And my Gran bought me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figurine, and one for my brother, which for us was a big deal since my parents refused to buy anything like that for us. (Dad was always a firm believer in buying gifts of practical value, so he would give us useful things for birthdays and Christmases. Like... socks....).

And so this memory popped right back into my head when she was talking about all the old times. And then it went even further back when she started talking about how dad's friends were good kids too and told me that when I go visit friends, I should make friends with the parents too etc etc.

But it was a really nice conversation to have over lunch, to be able to talk to my Gran (Gramps isn't a very talkative person right now), and to remember good memories of the past on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

Cheerio.

Oh, and that other thing I remembered up in Paragraph 5 was when I met J on Tuesday, and she asked about my grandparents. Don't know why this memory popped in though. Must be a grandparent thing.

Memoriae

Today, when I met J to do up the trip report, I just started wondering what I had been doing exactly a week ago. It seems so strange and far away, when I think about it, because last Wednesday was when I ran all over Tokyo to do my own last minute shopping. It was only last week, yet it seems like a whole world away. Which is somewhat odd, considering how I mentioned in previous posts (I think the depressed one) about how I felt that three weeks seemed really short and easy to remember what had gone on then.

So anyway, here's what I did by myself for the last few days I was in Japan.

On Monday, like I mentioned, I was depressed in the morning. So after I got back from the bus stop, I had to blog about it, hence the sadness in the post. I then managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours (since I had only slept an hour and a half that night) before waking up just in time to catch the train to Kotesashi for E-crew at Waseda Tokorozawa.

So I managed to get on to the Waseda bus on time, even though the way I got on would be reminiscent of the second time the team went for E-crew (read: I was rushing on to the bus) and met SW, sitting in his favorite seat in the last row.

Got down to the canteen there on time, but this time C wasn't there yet. So I took this shot:

This really reminded me of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. Remember, I was in a depressed mood, even though I didn't show it. And it only reminded me of the title. I don't think "Now my friends are dead and gone" is accurate.

E-crew felt really different without the team around. A whole lot quieter, everything was toned down a bit. And it didn't help that that particular day was a busy day, so only C, as well as (my look-alike) W were there. But it was nice to meet them both again.

Went back after that, and was contemplating going out to do some of the shopping, but I felt so sleepy that I ended up sleeping most of the time, and ate dinner from what I could find in the house, which for Monday night, consisted of half a can of Pringles, two packets of Pocky, and two fried fish that M had left in the fridge from the morning. Decided not to go to sleep in the room, so I slept on the sofa, like how I had been doing all day. It would prove to be a continual sleeping spot for me for the rest of my stay in Japan.

Took this shot in the evening of Monday. I wasn't quite so depressed as before, but this sort of sad shot sort of catches the mood. It was an Orange Time.

Tuesday woke up as per normal, did some QT, then proceeded to wash the rest of the bed sheets and stuff, and cleared out the tatami room, and cleaned up the place a bit. While clearing out the tatami room, I noticed a charger stuck to the wall socket. Now initially, I thought it was the Au charger, since I didn't know where that charger had been since first week, so we hadn't used that phone. On closer examination, however, I realized that charging jack was like no phone charger I had ever seen. And on even closer examination, I saw the "Nintendo" on it. And so I knew that it had to be that someone (who's name starts with W) had left it behind.

Went out to Mr. Donut to meet DL and Y for Bible study again at 3. Then after Y left, DL and me chilled out for a bit at the Mr. Donut (no donuts, only coffee. Strangely enough, I think the last time I ate donuts on that particular trip was when we went to Costco and everyone bought Lil' Donuts), then I bought my bus ticket. And when DL heard what I ate for dinner the night before, he and J invited me over for dinner at their place, as they had gone to Costco (wow. What's with the Costco connection) and had just come into ownership of food, so they could afford to have me over for dinner. Spent the evening watching Brave Story (not too bad a show) and chatting with them.

Wednesday, as mentioned, was when I did all my shopping. Morning was QT again, then I left at about 1130 to go out. First stop was the Christian bookstore at Shinjuku where I managed to spend quite a bit. Didn't go by Yamanote, took the Seibu-Shinjuku instead, and walked from Seibu-Shinjuku station over to Shinjuku. Not too bad.

After that I took the Yamanote all the way out to Ueno. Because it was at such an odd time, the train was really quite empty.

So empty I could've gotten a seat if I wanted to.

Bought some stuff at the anime shop again, then walked up and down Ameyayokocho trying to find a particular t-shirt for brother, but I just couldn't find it. Such a bother. Then was preparing to go to Ikebukuro, when I realized that Akihabara was just a stop away. One of my friends said she found a certain pair of ear pieces very nice, and I didn't know where else to go, so I took a short hop out to Akihabara, bought the earphones, and then went to Ikebukuro, where I did even more shopping in Sunshine City and Loft. Went back to Tokorozawa after that, met C for a bit, then ate dinner (a proper one at Matsuya) before toddling off to D&J's house to pass them some stuff and to chat a bit more.

Thursday morning was more cleaning. And packing. I started to feel worried that I wouldn't have been able to pack all my stuff into my bags, cos there was really quite a bit of stuff. But up till that point in time, I was able to stuff most of it in, so yeah. But I knew I had to stop buying stuff soon. Went to Shin-Sayama to help HJ do some furniture moving for her counselling place. It was like some dude's house, and it's really cool. It's a two-storey building, but with two separate houses inside. The bottom floor is where his mum lives. He lives with his family on the top. And there's no real master bedroom. He has a loft. Like I would have taken a picture, just that it's not nice to take pictures of people's rooms like that. I want to have a loft in my own house next time. As if. HDB flats aren't exactly very accommodating when it comes to wanting to have a loft.

The weather was like Singapore weather then. Warm, just not quite so humid. But yes. It was starting to get hot.

Went back home for a while first, then went to Takadanobaba to meet AM for dinner. Met him long ago in church, but only really got to know him from the 2006 JMT, and he's at Waseda Uni on exchange. Had quite a good time just talking and eating around Ikebukuro.

Got home around 10, hoping D&J would be able to make it for supper like they said they would, but they were both feeling out of sorts that day, so D called to say they couldn't come over. A bit sad, since I wouldn't see them again there. Did all my last minute packing, and managed to stuff everything into my luggage. It still weighed a ton though. Caught one and a half hours of sleep (just like on Monday), then ran to catch the Seibu bus.

It seems that everytime some member of the team leaves Tokorozawa, it's drizzling. Makes it so much sadder. When R left, it was drizzling. When the team left, it was drizzling. And when I left, it was drizzling too.

Why does it always rain on me

The trip to the airport was uneventful. Wanted to see if I could take any nice pictures, but I just sorta fell asleep (it's due to lack of sleep) and woke up at Narita. Did quite a bit of shopping there, especially for some chocolate biscuit that brother (and later I found out, V) really liked and wanted.

The plane ride back was pretty ok too. First meal, from Tokyo to HK, was decent. It was some sort of pasta with meatballs. But the best part was that I got this for dessert:

It's a mochi! It's really nice to eat. Sorry to hear that you didn't get any on your flight J!

The other meal, from HK to Singapore, wasn't that great. I didn't want to eat pasta again, and since J wasn't around, I thought I could eat pork. Tasted pretty bad though. Really salty. Good thing there was other food there to help get rid of the taste.

Got back to Singapore at about 8pm local time. Was really surprised (and touched) when I got through the gate and saw my team and V, along with my parents. Wasn't expecting it, since there was JPM on that night, and I had told them to go for the prayer meeting. Still, it was nice to see them at the airport. Was torn between going with them for dinner and going home, but went home in the end because parents wanted to go home, and V had to go meet her mum and so we gave her a lift.

Final installment for the JMT was as mentioned, today, where I met J at Ang Mo Kio Hub for lunch and then wrote out the report. Going through the itinerary, remembering all that we did, and typing it out, as well as remembering all that we did, and not typing it out cos it's within the team only, was quite a nice experience. But that's about it for JMT 2008. Maybe have to do a presentation, but if not, this is officially the end of JMT 08.

Cheerio.

P.S. J, if you can guess the title of the CD I bought today, I'll, er, give you a melon candy. haha

Absum

I must say I'm a little upset that I missed typing out a post in February. I try to make it a point to have at least one post per month, but now I have ruined my record since Nov 2004, when I first started I think.

So anyway, just three things to post for the time being until I can get enough time to really write out all the happenings. There have been quite a bit, but these three are what I shall do first.

1) I know in the previous post, I promised to talk about what had irked me so, but due to the fact that it has been settled (sort of), and best be kept buried, I shall not say anything about it.

2) I got my iBook back today! Will tell the full story some other time, but suffice to say, this event has made my day! Though in all probability, after I get back my essays or something, I shall become depressed again.

3) This is really big, somewhat sad news. Just a week ago, Brett Favre announced his retirement from professional football. Quite possibly the greatest quarterback Green Bay has ever had, and who led the Pack up to the conference finals... Thanks for the memories, and all the touchdowns.

Ok. I shall post another one soon, and just so that I remember, it will include stories of V-Day event: No Sugar Added, the woes of the Milwaukee Bucks, the story of the fallen iBook, the tale of how Tea and Marmalade came to be together, and some interesting photos.

Cheerio!

Fictum

Today I was kinda happy, because I managed to find a very nice dvd at HMV and got it at $30. Think it's a classic show, first saw it in Japan with Uncle L and family, and I believe that it had a great deal of influence on many of later movies. If I'm not wrong, it was made in '80s. I even bothered to take a picture of it, so as to show you all this wonderful masterpiece:



Haha. So anyway, I went down to town today because I was supposed to be having a meeting with C and HS and Y and a lady from Nav called J. Which was ok. Went to Soup Spoon for lunch, then almost fell asleep during the meeting... Good thing C was there to provide relevant input. Well, after the meeting, we went shopping. OK, more accurately, C and HS went shopping. C said she deserved it because she got deprived for a whole semester.

So after she got her track pants, and got a dress or something from M)Phosis (or is it M(phosis)? I'm not sure which side bracket it is), we went to this place to get ice cream. And it was here, that I got cheated. See, when I went to Japan, and went to the Karaoke places and stuff, there is this drink called melon soda, which is a nice green color and has a maraschino cherry on top. Really nice stuff, even though most of my team-mates think it's way too sweet. Anyway, it's a little hard to find it in Singapore. (I guess the closest is F&N Fruitade, but even that's hard to find now).

So I was pleasantly surprised when the menu in that Japanese restaurant had a picture of a melon soda with ice cream. Naturally, I ordered that. This is what it looked like:



When it came, I offered it to HS first, and then after she had a sip, I passed it to C. Then HS asked me, "Are you sure it's melon soda?"

I certainly thought so, but C also remarked that it tasted more like some syrupy thing, but definitely not melon. Not beliving them, I took a sip myself. To my horror, they were right! It didn't taste like melon soda at all, even though it looked like it. It tasted more like... blueberry!

I'm like WTH?! It's a fake-o melon soda! I was cheated!

Bummer.

Ice cream was nice though.

Cheerio

Signum

So once again, it takes me a long time to post a new post. As per the title, such a lack of input means that I've been busy.

Or that I've been lazy.

Or both.

Essentially, that means that my lack of entries could mean anything... which makes this whole post up to here rather moot. Oh well.

But I was really busy. As in, I was never like swamped with work or anything, but there were just assignments that kept on coming, so there was no real stopping time. (OK, I confess I made my own relax time, and then ended up having to rush my essays.) Anyway, the last of my essays has just been submitted, so I actually have a short lax period now. Until the realization that I've got one more Japanese review, and Japanese homework, and an upcoming History test, and another History tutorial, and a Japanese oral test a couple of weeks from now.

Wait a minute... That means I don't really have a lax time, which makes the post up to here moot as well. Bummer.

Anyway, talking of Japanese, a sure sign that I've spent too much time doing Japanese is when I'm reading my Chinese manga, and I try to convert the people's names back into the Japanese pronunciation. Naturally, a further sign is when I can actually get the Hiragana correct. Haha.

Just to sidetrack a bit, I wish to thank God for sustaining me through the essays, and for helping me keep awake, my mind relatively conscious, last night while I was trying to finish off my final essay. I had had a mental block in the afternoon, but at night, I believe God helped me make things clearer. And also to mum for helping me make some powerful coffee. And also thanks to D and JS who sms-ed me at like 12 and 2 respectively. It helped. Heh.

On to more frivolous stuff! I must show a couple of pictures I took:



Haha... This bridge must be really old to have to mention things like cattle and horses... welcome to Singapore's colonial past!



I don't know about you, but I find this sign really hilarious. I mean, it looks almost comical. It's hard to imagine that this is to warn NUS students to not walk under the gantry when the gantry's up...cos we NUS students study so hard sometimes we don't know where we are going, then walk under carpark gantries. haha.

Finally, a new riddle from good friend G.
Q: When the red ship and the brown ship crashed, what happened to the survivors?
A: They got marooned.

Hahaha... Marooned, get it? Like maroon... ok nevermind.

Cheerio