Blessing in Disguise...

Just as I thought that I will end up with no picture today, someone came knocking on my door. My landlady, Aso san knocked on m door and say," Your key..." My key is left outside!!! sigh... That's the 2nd time I have done that... Careless me...BUT.... My landlady was very nice. She asked me,"You like fish? Chottomatte..." and she ask me to follow her. AND she gave me a fish (Sa-n-ma). The thing is I donno how to grill the fish and the next thing I know is she brought thefish to my house and teach me how to grill the fish!!! I am going to try grill salmon the next time. I am so lucky to have her as my landlady. Tomorrow I am learning how to cook yakisoba from her.

Oishi!!!

太阳缓缓升起。新的一天。美好的一天

 美丽的日出

Parcel from Singapore!!!



Laksa, curry, chicken rice, Milo, Old Town coffee, Bak Kut Teh... I love Singapore food!!! There are others that I have craving for, like tom yam, chilli, Hokkien mee, popiah, prata... The list goes on and on...



Winter Clothings!!! and some warmer clothings for the windy autumn!!!



My 1st attempt at cooking Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki in the pan

The finished product! Yummy!

无意中找到的游乐场。。。

Children playing @ the playground

Nice weather, sunny and windy

1st month in Japan

It's my 1st month in Japan. It seems quite fast. I'm settling in and getting use to life here. Everything is still very new and interesting to me. I really donno what is in store for me few months down the road (for the rest of the 11 months in exact), I'm sure there will be more exciting stuff awaiting me! I guess I just need to go in search for them...

城山 Mount Shiroyama



View on the mountain top

 There is a mountain just behind my apartment, know as Mount Shiroyama. It is a flat-top mountain. If I ever get lost, i would just look out for the mountain and head towards it and I will find my apartment. I told myself that i should go climb the mountain one day. It's the 1st month of me being in Japan, so I have decided that I should go climb the mountain today. Early in the morning (around 830am, not that early), I went climbing. It took me about 20 mins to reach the mountain top and the view was great! The weather was good and the air was fresh. The best thing is I FINALLY did some exercise ( I have been eating and eating in Japan, arghhh...). Maybe I will go climb the mountain tomorrow too or make it a daily thing (haha... I doubt so...).

Out on my own...我自己也行！

今天，我非常准时下班。回到家，我决定自己骑着脚踏车到商场去。这是我第一次自己到Tokiwa，而且一定要在天黑以前回家（因为我怕太黑，我会迷路，嘿...)。我五点半出发，本来担心找不到路，不过还是顺利到达。我七点就得离开，所以只逛了一下子（目的是自己骑车到那里，那么下次我就会去）。七点离开时，已经很黑了，而且天转凉了，有点可怕，只好快速骑回家。

Tokiwa, here I come!

原来，很多事是可以自己完成的，以前可以靠家人朋友，现在，我要靠自己！Yeah!



才七点。。。



My first Festival in Japan

It was really kind of Kenshio Sensei to bring me, Yellie and Miho to his hometown, Ogata for the Gosengoku Festival. He brought us to the Harajiri Falls and treat us to gelato ice-cream. 

Harajiri Falls

His mum made lots of delicious food for us, and even packed food for us as omiyage to bring home.

Yummy! There were Sashimi and sushi too!!!

We couldn't catch the real action at the Gosengoku Festival (the shrine ceremony and fireworks) , but it was fun to walk around, playing the games and watching the performances.

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。。。

十五的月亮

今天是八月十五，中秋节，一个人在异乡，但至少大家看到的月亮是一样的。

A usual day...

My students doing group work.

Today is a usual day... Nothing special happened, except that it's my 1st pay day in Japan. Had to draw out money to pay for the Key Money and rent... But I went cycling around after school for a while and went to the supermarket to buy some grocery, and also to buy some snacks to reward myself.

Roaming around Saiki on my bicycle.

20 September 2010 - Craft Session @ Bungotakada

Me and Peihoon decided to go for a craft session in the morning. Took us 4 hours (3 hour to make and 1 hour to answer the sensei's questions) to finish it.

Tada... Here is it! I made the flower part, the rest my sensei helped me, cos not enough time.




The auntie with PeiHoon

 The auntie that taught us how to do it was a very friendly old lady, who kept giving us lots of things, from drinks to biscuits to earrings to soft toys...

19 September 2010 - 豐後高田市 (昭和之町)

昭和之町的旅游巴士

Actually I arrived @ Bungotakada (豐後高田市) on 18 Sept, and I had a great weekend with Pei Hoon. It was really enjoyable, eventho we were nuaing and eating most of the time (eating very "healthy" and "fresh" food). We spent some money so that Peihoon can win a TV (She has to win the TV so I get to watch it the next time I nua there) and we also collected lots of free stuff (very cheapo, but we like it.) Hah...

 豊後高田市里有是个昭和之町，那里有很多古老的东西，將洋溢著懷舊氣息的昭和30年代的日本街道再现眼前。我还蛮喜欢那个地方的，有回到过去的感觉。

三宝：电冰箱。洗衣机。电视机。

18 September 2010 - My 1st Baseball Game...

My 1st baseball game, was given a quick tutorial about the game by Hida Sensei.

The boys gave their best and it was a great game. Though we lost the game, but they are the BEST! Gambatte!

In Bungo Takada...

I'm visiting a fren n Bungo Takada, so i will probably only update my blog on Monday :)

月圆人团圆？

今年，我没办法和家人团圆。他们寄了一盒“大中国”月饼给我。

太棒了！是双簧莲容月饼。。。错！！！是四簧莲容月饼！！！
太棒了！！！

谢谢！我爱你们！

Enkai

I attended my 1st Enkai in Japan. The teachers were so fun. They drank and everyone is so relaxed at the party, even the Principal and Vice-Principals. I was immersed in the Japanese culture...

鹤城文化祭 part 2

Energetic Taiko performnce

The Kakujyo Bunkasai continued today. There were activities lined up for the day. It started with the energetic Taiko preformance, followed by the presentations by the clubs. There were also dances, jamming and singing performances. It's an opportunity for the students to showcase their talents and I am truly impressed by them. 


Calligraphy





PIKACHU!!!

 

The home rooms for the 1st and 2nd grade students were decorated with different themes. Students put in lots of effort and they were simply wonderful! It was my 1st Bunkasai and I enjoyed myself very much! 





 

Those were the days... (文化祭)

Today is the start of the Bunkasai (文化祭). The school is filled with excitment and the students were all geared up to showcase their homeroom tomorrow. Some are putting up performances for their club and some are showcasing their talents. All of them are talented and smart kids. 
I am reminded of my days in Secondary and JC where everyone is so full of energy. We played hard and we studied hard (sometimes). Those were the days...where there are less worries and we just live our lives to the fullest. Looking at the students now, I miss school life...

The school is celebrating its 99th year... Next year it will be 100 years, amazing...

Sado Club ( 茶道 )




Attending Sado Club, enriching experience...

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called chanoyu (茶の湯) or chadō (茶道; also pronounced sadō). The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called otemae (お手前; お点前; 御手前).


日本茶道的精神，即是‘一期一会’。所谓一期，是指人的一生；一会，则意味着仅有的一次相会。也就是说：在日本，主人和客人的每一次相会都被视为今生今世仅仅一次的相会。于是，茶人们每次喝茶，都要怀着这碗茶是此生最后一碗的心情，去好好品尝。


我的博客就以“一期一会”为标题，要自己学会珍惜。。。

Previous Photos...

I arrived in Japan on 25 August...The blog doesn't seem complete if photos for these days are missing, so... Here they are...

 

  

25 August 2010 - I said good-bye to my family and friends in Singapore. It was really difficult to say goodbye. Terrible feeling and it lasted for a few days... I didn't enjoyed Tokyo at all and I badly need to call home. Tears rolled down when I'm alone. I miss Singapore so much!!! 我好想念他们！！！  26 August 2010 - This is the view I get from the Hotel room. Didn't walk around in Tokyo at all. Wasn't in the mood. 27 August 2010 - Welcome dinner @ a Japanese restaurant, had fresh sashimi, but I was a little too overwhelmed by the new place, SAIKI CITY... 28 August 2010 - Still trying to settle things in my apartment... But I'm glad it's a well-furnished apartment. I still miss my family and friends so much, and I can't listen to 五月天's songs cos they bring back so much good memories... Gambatte!  29 August 2010 - Sightseeing around Saiki, but it was raining cats and dogs for 2 days... I think I brought the rain...  30 August 2010 - I reported to school... excited and nervous... ALT 新任式 1 September 2010 - My little kitchen that has everything... 2 September 2010 - The English teachers had a welcome party form me at "Pizza Savoy". The Italian food was fantastic. The teachers were good company... 3 September 2010 - Had another round of dinner. This time it's at Ni Pa Chi, a Japanese restaurant with Yellie and Jerry. 4 September 2010 - Singaporeans in Saiki!!! I'm so glad to see Kiyomi and Pei Hoon. It feels so good to be with them. 5 September 2010 - My 1st Taiko performance by "TAO" and it will not be my last. They were fantastic! I really like 太鼓.   6 September 2010 - Random photo... Think I didn't take any photo on that day, so this is a photo I took on my way home one day. Nice sunset...Something I enjoyed everyday if I go home slightly later. 7 September 2010 - World Best Ramen!!! 8 September 2010 - The walk to Tsuruoka High School take about 30 mins, but it's scenic, with the padi field and railway track. People who walked pass me greeted me like I am their friend. Warm feeling... 9 September 2010 - One of the many meals my landlady Aso San cooked. She is a really warm lady who took good care of me. 10 September 2010 - My students Emi (on the left) made some Japanese food for me. It really made my day! The rest of the girla are students whom I met during Calligraphy Club - Megumi and Rika (who promised to bring me for baseball training). Chiharu is missing from the picture. 11 September 2010 - 1st train ride to Oita City on my own... Met up with Kiyomi and Sue Jean... Had a wonderful time with them... 12 September 2010 - We went for KTV Oita City... and there is 五月天's songs, but all MTVs are fake...   Finally... Updated all the days before 13 September....