So blessed!

My blog is in a mess... Too many things not updated... I want to update those past events, but there are just so many happening at one time, and i will be leaving Saiki in 3 days. JUST 3 days!!! oh gosh....I can't believe it.

This week is filled with packing and farewells. I went to my 2 schools for Farewell ceremony, said my speech 2 times, nearly cried at Kakujyo, but managed to contained my tears. Walked arpund the schools, taking pictures with students... I tried to arrange to meet many people. There are still so much that I want to do here.

Sat was the drumming performance at the "Kappa Meeting" for bikers. It was crazy! haha... but I enjoyed my last performance with Antatoronia. Wonderful people! We had gyoza party after that at Masako's house. It's fun being with them and I will definietely miss them.

Sun I met with PH, SJ and K, the few Singaporeans in Oita. Had a great KTV session with them and received some gifts from SJ and K who are staying in Oita. All the best and let's meet in Singapore! 

Then I met Kensho Sensei, his wife and Miho for dinner. Ever so generous Kensho Sensei brought us for Toufu. Expensive toufu course!!! and he gave me an expensive bag as farewell present. sigh... feel so bad... Then he insisted on going to KTV for 30 mins, so he can hear me sing Chinese songs. (I am supose to sing at his wedding, but I went to Okinawa instead :P) When he comes to SIngapore with his wife, I have to be a really good host!

Today! HANZHI KHOO IS COMING!!! I woke up early, and i am so excited, so I had to blog now to announce her coming! Cya soon! I need to go prepare to go Beppu meet her...

(Photos will have to wait)

Time flies...

It's time to say goodbye again. I have a lot to update, Hiroshima, Okinawa... but I simply have no time. After coming back from Okinawa, I have only 3  days left in school. I was busy preparing farewell gifts, farewell speech and also having my last lessons with the students.

1 year passed so quickly. It has been a great year. I have experienced a lot here and enjoyed myself.

Life is full of ironies. I don't like being away from home, but I kind of enjoyed staying alone, having my own space and time. I look forward to going home, but I don't feel like leaving Japan; I will miss Japan and the people here. 

Bidding farewell is so difficult. When I left Singapore, I was tearing away on the flight (It's uncontrollable... tears just flow...) This time round, I don't think I will be crying, but I truly am going to miss my friends and students here. (i suddenly know why I will not be crying, cos Han and Gin will be with me, that makes a whole lot of difference...) Nobody is indispensable, we will soon get over it, get over the sadness of leaving, continue on our journeys. I might not have made an impact on all the students' lives, but I'm certain some of them would remember Sandy being their ALT in high school. I hope they will keep in contact with me and we will meet again. To the friends I made here, with technology, distance is shortened. I hope to see them in Singapore.

Today is the last day in Kakujyo High School. It feels like graduation. I had to make a speech in front of the whole school in both English and Japanese. I think Japanese show a lot of respect to teachers. In Singapore, the students will not be informed that the teachers are leaving. Here, there's a ceremony and I think teachers feel appreciated. Well... I do. It's a simple ceremony but it made me feel so appreciated. I didn't cry, neither did the students. I stayed around to say good bye to them. Some promised to write me emails, I will be counting (not too hopeful though...cos they will be caught up with school work and new ALT will be here to replace me.) 

As for now, I will enjoy my last 5 days in Saiki. Drumming performance and gyoza party on Saturday, packing on Sunday (still thinking whether to meet some friends in Oita), Closing ceremony for Tsuruoka on Monday, Han's arrival on Tuesday, last enkai wiith 1st grade teachers, meeting the new ALT, last drumming session on Wednesday, farewell cum welcome party after drumming.

Leaving beautiful Saiki on the 28th July......

Opps...

1st of all, I forgot Hiroshima Part 4, day trip to Miyajima... hee... will update that after my Okinawa trip...

Today I had a farewell ceremony in Oita Kencho (Prefectural Office), it was a simple ceremony for 8 leaving JETS to receive a certificate of appreciation. I didnt stay for dinner, and had to go back to Saiki for my drum practice.

Drumming sessions are fun and I really enjoy the company of my drumming friends, feel so sad that I am leaving soon. Jealous of the new ALT! We had our practice today in the mountain till quite late. While taking Gokkin's car down, his car had a puncture. We had to stop and try fix it, but we couldn't find the screwdriver. Nao-Chan had to call for help and Hashi had to drive the rest back to Cosmotown to get their cars and then drive Nao-Chan back with the membership card for the service centre. Interesting memorable night for me... (I took some photos of the car... will post it later)

Now is 2am in the morning, tmr I will be heading to Okinawa at 730am, time to sleep... おやすみなさい!

Weekend in Saiki...

Enjoying myself in Saiki

8 July to 10 July 2011

Last week, I had my last lessons with my  ni-nenseis. This week, I will be having my last lessons with my ichi-nenseis and san-nenseis. I prepared a quiz and chocolates for them. The students had fun playing the games and I took class photos with them. Leaving a place is really difficult. I remembered when I had to leave Singapore, I was really sad too. There were moments when I didn't want to go to Japan. Now, I don't feel like leaving. I am going to miss my students, teachers and my friends in Saiki. With the Japan system of transferring the teachers to other schools after working there for 3-5 years, even if I come back to Saiki for a visit, I might not be able to see the teachers too. They would have been posted to another school. I hope they will kepp in contact with me and come to Singapore for a visit. Hopefully, some of my students will email me too. I would love to be updated about Saiki, the schools and their lives.

Friday evening, I went for dinner at Yufu (specialising in cooking chicken) with Hida Sensei and Masako. It was fun and the food was great. How come I didn't go to this restaurant earlier?! The 2 of us were posing for pictures with the chicken. Maybe I will bring Han there for dinner when she gets to Saiki. There are so many good restaurants in Saiki! I want to bring her for Fuku sushi for Saiki sushi, tempura, gomadashi udon, Yufu for chicken, Pizza Savoy for pasta and pizzas... 



Enjoying our chicken @ Yufu



I have only 2 weeks left in Saiki, so I stayed in Saiki for the weekend. There was a farewell party for the leaving ALTs in Oita, but I don't think I am so close to the other ALTs. Staying in Saiki is great! I like Saiki. On Saturday, I was packing and packing. Now I have 3 boxes waiting to be shipped back to Singapore. I baked Focaccia Ham Sandwich. It was easy and delicious! Happy with this "experiment"... I skyped with a Japanese teacher whom I had worked with last year. I don't think I would get to meet her before I leave.




success!

On Sunday, I went cycling with Jerry on Oyujima (an island like Pulau Ubin). The sun was scorching hot, but windy. Jerry is a private ALT working for the Saiki BOE and he was my guide for the day. Biking on Oyujima was easy and relaxing, took us about 2 hours to go round the island. We both agree that there should be a beach on Oyujima so more people would go there during the summer. It's a great island! We treated ourselves to a pon-gan softcream at the end of the bike trip.


Beautiful and clean sea




Jerry (My guide). Fortune Well. Softcream.



In the evening, Hida sensei and I decided to go to Kamae Marine Cultural Centre for the 東日本大震災チャリティー　KAMAE SEASIDE TWILIGHT ～海と音楽と星空と～. Gokkin was performing when we arrived, so we watched his performance before heading for a walk at the beach. Kamae has really beautiful beach. Looking at the sunset, listening to the music, walking on the beach, lying on the ground.... Perfect place to relax! That's what I call slow life... Once I get back to Singapore, I will have to adjust back to hectic life again...




Relaxing at Kamae with my friends...

 
We went for Saiki tsukemen at a newly opened shop after that.



Tsukemen (Saiki Style)



Perfect weekend for me! I love Saiki and I love my friends here!

Hiroshima Alone... Part 3

Hiroshima Part 3

Hiroshima Castle and Mazda Stadium

1 July 2011

After lunch, I went to Hiroshima Castle. I'm not really into castles, but since I'm in Hiroshima,I might as well visit the castle. Hiroshima Castle (広島城, Hiroshima-jō), is also called Carp Castle (鯉城, Rijō) which was the home of the daimyō (feudal lords) of the Hiroshima han (fief). Originally constructed in the 1590s, the castle was destroyed in the atomic bombing in 1945. It was rebuilt in 1958, a replica of the original which now serves as a museum of Hiroshima's history prior to World War II. The castle looked majestic, but the view from the top of the castle is not that great.

Hiroshima Castle

After visitng the castle, I am pretty much done with Hiroshima City. I have to do something for the evening, so I decided to hop by Mazda Stadium to see if I can get a ticket to watch a baseball match. Watching a baseball match is on my "to-do" list in Japan, so might as well do it then. (Gin and Han, we can still watch the Softbank Hawks in Fukuoka... no worries:)) 

Carp logo

The match is between the CARP and the SWALLOW. 

MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima (MAZDA Zoom-Zoom スタジアム広島, Matsuda Zūmu-Zūmu Sutajiamu Hiroshima), is a baseball stadium in Minami-ku. It is used primarily for baseball and is the home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. The ballpark has a capacity of 32,000 people and opened on April 10, 2009. Since the CARPs are playing at home ground, it should be exciting to watch. True enough, there were many CARPs supporters, mostly dressed in red or in jerseys, all ready with food and clappers.




I managed to buy a ticket at 1600 yen, and found a seat beside 2 foreigners. They are from Finland. It was exciting and the Japanese fans sitting near us were very friendly. They started asking us questions and offered to take pictures for us. They even offered us balloons. The balloons were released at the 7th round of the game, signifiying lucky 7. However, the CARPs lost in the end. :( Baseball was interesting, but it's a little slow, so not so exciting as soccer or basketball.

I am looking forward to watching the HAWKs in Fukuoka Dome. If they win, there will be fireworks.

Hiroshima Alone Part 2

Hiroshima (Part 2)

Peach Museum

1 July 2011

After a good night sleep, the next day I went to the number one tourist attraction in Hiroshima and that is the Peace Museum. It was really sad looking at all the artifacts and exhibits. The people truly suffered a lot due to war and the after effects of the Atomic Bomb lingered on for a long time. The impact was great. Makes me wonder why there are still wars around, why don't human beings learn from mistakes? I spent a long time walking in the museum and reading the history of what happened. Depressing facts...



The fateful day, August 6, 1945, 8:15am

It wasn't depressing all the time though. I met some elementary school students on school trip. They were tasked to interview foreigners in English. I was pf course not their 1st choice, I looked too much like a Japanese. I was just standing at a corner, watching them and nodding to myself. They did a good job and memorised their introduction well. They saw me nodding away and decided to give it  try. One group walked up to me and started i troducing themselves," Hello, we are 5th graders from xxx Elementary School. We have studied English in school.  Can we ask you some questions?" They were so cute. They asked about my favourite Japanese food, which country I came from... The most difficult question would be "What is your favourite Japanese word?" I couldn't find a word at that moment, so I said "konnichiwa"... haha... silly me...After that group left, another group decided to come talk to me. It was very fun taking to the kids.

Cute interviewers...

After the Peace Musuem, I walked around the Peace Park again and met more students. This time round, they are junior high school students. They were looking and the A-Bomb Dome and sitting around, resting. As an ALT, it has become a habit for me to ask students," How are you today?" and I would expect the same answer, "I'm fine, thank you and you?" I started a conversation with them. We had a great time trying to understand eachother (broken Japanese and broken English).



Junior High School students...



I must say meeting these kids added colours to the trip.

After parting ways with these students, I went to the Tourist Information Rest House. I wanted to try Tsukemen which is suppose to be famous in Hiroshima. Tsukemen (つけ麺) is similar to ramen but the noodles are served separately from the soup – the noodles are to be dipped into the soup. The noodles are usually best served cold while the soup is hot and contains all the usual stuff like leeks, bambooshoots, diced char sui pork, etc. The one I ate as a cold spicy sauce. 

广岛名物 - つけ麺



Hiroshima Alone...Part 1

Hiroshima (Part 1)

30 June to 3 July 2011

Hiroshima has always been one of the places in Japan that I wanted to visit, the main reason being that it was the Atomic Bombed city and I want to try Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. I took 2 days of nenkyu and went on the journey to Peace City on Thursday. The journey on the bus then on the ferry was long, so I only have 2 full days in Hiroshima.

A-Bomb Dome

I arrived in Hiroshima in the evening and while walking to the hostel (J-hoppers), I passed by the Peace Park and decided to walk through the park. It was indeed peaceful and quiet in the evening. I saw the A-bomb Dome standing there, reminding people of the terrible effects of war. It truly was a tragedy. There were serveral memorials built in the park too. It was a quick walk that evening, I planned to visit the museum and the park again the next day. Upon checking in, it was time for dinner. I asked the staff at the hostel where to go for a good meal ands she recommended me an okonomiyaki shop around the corner. The shop has an English menu and the staff tried to explain to me the difference between the "Black" and "White" okonomiyaki. I ordered the "Black" one which she said is crispier. The okonomiyaki was BIG! I was sooooo full after eating it. It was delicious and a great way to end the long bus journey.

Okonomiya wirh shrimp and sotong... Yummy!

Trip to Hiroshima

Peace-loving Hiroshima

30 June to 3 July

I made a short trip to Hiroshima on my own. I don't like travelling on my own, but this trip was great. I had a relaxing and fun-filled weekend on my own. Ate good food, met some nice & friendly people, stayed at a clean hostel (J-hoppers), visited the places I wanted to go and watched a baseball match.

I am busy this week with lessons and other stuff to settle b4 going back to Singapore, so I can only update my blog about the trip during the weekend :) 

Somen for Dinner

Monday zoomed pass with 2 lessons in school with my sen-nen sei. Something to be happy about, the air=con was on in the afternoon!!! Wohoo!!! Felt so much better with the air-con on.

After going home, I was lazy and didn't go for my jog, so I only intend to eat an apple for dinner. BUT... my super nice landlady Aso-san called me and gave me somen for dinner. (cannot complain, cos it's delicious! Tmr I will jog! I will! I will! I will!)

Sōmen (素麺) are very thin, white Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. The noodles are usually served cold and are less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The distinction between sōmen and the next thicker wheat noodles hiyamugi and even thicker Japanese wheat noodles udon is mostly the size of the noodle. Somen noodles are stretched when made. Sōmen are usually served cold with a light flavored dipping sauce or tsuyu. The tsuyu is usually a katsuobushi-based sauce that can be flavored with Welsh onion, ginger, or myoga. In the summer, sōmen chilled with ice is a popular meal to help stay cool. It is actually like our 面线.



 Aso-san's "Teishoku" (定食)

Somen (素麺)

Nagashi Somen

Some restaurants offer "nagashi sōmen" (流しそうめん flowing noodles) in the summer. The noodles are placed in a long flume of bamboo across the length of the restaurant. The flume carries clear, ice-cold water. As the sōmen pass by, diners pluck them out with their chopsticks and dip them in tsuyu. Catching the noodles requires a fair amount of dexterity, but the noodles that are not caught by the time they get to the end usually are not eaten, so diners are pressured to catch as much as they can. I would like to try this, it sounds fun!

Information from Wikipedia :)

Another weekend in Saiki..

I have been staying home for a few weekends, cos of the rain. I wanted to explore Oyujima island, but the rain just wouldn't stop. It stopped on Thursday and Friday and start again on my precious weekend. sigh... I only have 5 more weekends left in Saiki, 5 more drumming sessions, 4 more lessons with my sen-nen sei, 1  more lesson with each with my ni-nen sei, maybe no lessons with my ichi-nen sei. My time in Saiki is running out, have to go back to reality in Singapore soon.

There are things I look forward to...

Next week, there's exam week, so I am going to Hiroshima. I paid for the bus, reserved the hostel, and I checked the weather forecast and... it's RAINY! THUNDERSTORM! I hope it will not rain the whole time I am there.

Before I go back, I look forward to more time with my students, the teachers and friends in Japan.

I look forward to my 5 drumming sessions and the performances on the last weekend that I will be in Saiki. and I am planning to cook chicken rice for my drumming friends.

I look forward to OKINAWA in mid- July with Anna and YP. It will be fun!

Then... Han and Gin are coming!!! We will go rafting, eat lots of food and shop!!! not forgetting ZJ and David too... Can't wait to see them...

Japan 1 year is ending, but it's definitely a great memorable year!

Going back to Singapore to see my family, my tyrant niece (Juliette) for the 1st time, meet up with friends, eat local food, celebrate National Day... It's pretty awesome... only down side is I have to get use to hectic working life again...