Ha, I really need to be a little more active on this blog, even if my life is dull as beans and there is nothing much to update. Still, it's that time of the year to be reflective a little and be thankful that my baby is still with me. This year, took a day off to stay home with Wafe and just generally relaxed. I always get more nervous than usual when this month comes along, and the feeling is unlikely to go away for as long I live.

Took Wafe for a check-up at the start of the month as he'd been having a couple of seizures and I was worried. Vet recommended a brain scan and all, but it's $2k and above, so I was a little hesitant. Blood check turned out fine and Wafe is still healthy for a 13-year-old kitty. As the seizures had been sporadic and thus far idiopathic (since we haven't done the brain scan), I thought we could continue to monitor the situation and she was fine with that, but wanted me to keep a log. She prescribed the Rx Vitamins for pets (Ultra EFA), which has Omega 3 fatty acids and is supposed to be good for health. I am really hoping it at least helps hold off the seizures. So far, he's had three small ones in the middle of the month which I've been able to catch and hold down, and he wasn't dazed or anything after that. I've been feeding the Rx Vitamins twice a day, 1ml per dose, and Wafe has been ok with it, and I'm trying my best to be vigilant about it all. I may eventually go for the brain scan, just to be sure, but meanwhile, we're taking it day by day and hoping for the best. (Spoke too soon, had an episode later in the day, sigh.)

So with this health issue, I haven't been really too bothered about other stuff. Work has been frustrating and I've had days where I just want to quit on the spot, but family eats up my money and I can't as yet. I really don't like power plays at work and I fully expect to be fired or put on probation next because some people are just assholes like that. And if it comes to that, so be it. I have no more illusions about this job.

In other news, I killed my poor MacBook Pro back in March and have been surviving on the office computer, which is crap. I hope to get a new MBP soon, and Apple seriously needs to stop messing with the laptops such that people are missing a chunk of stuff and have to keep spending just to get their connections working. I'm going for a 13" and a possible additional screen, as the price of the 15" just doesn't justify my spending that much on it. I just hope all my externals work on the new laptop, or I'll blow a gasket.

I also finally chopped off six inches of my hair and it feels so good not to have it feeling like a dead weight on my head. It had reached my waist and although I have loved having it that long, it was also getting really painful just tying it up and feeling the weight press down on my head. It was seriously giving me headaches. I bought some Argan oil and have been trying it on my hair, so far it's okay. It wasn't great when I applied it on dry hair - made it look stringy and wet - so I am trying it on wet hair and apparently I could even use it during shampooing. Hope the investment turns out well. I'm making a conscious effort to use products that are, to the best of my knowledge, cruelty-free. I do have to pay a bit more sometimes, but it's worth it.

Amsterdam

Earlier in the year, I took about five weeks off for a holiday and went to Europe again. I had wanted to do a Scandinavian trip, but decided after spending the bulk of three weeks in Norway that I was so done with it and escaped to Amsterdam when I should have headed to Stockholm. It was just bliss being back in one of my favourite cities, so I'm really glad I made that last-minute decision. That's why I love travelling without a too-fixed itinerary, it allows me the flexibility of moving elsewhere should I decide so. Visited the Nijntje museum in Utrecht, felt like a kid all over again and bought up a storm, ha. I also trained up from Amsterdam to Copenhagen (as that was where I would fly out of) and stopped in Hamburg for a few days. It was quite an interesting journey as the train was loaded onto a ship from Hamburg to Copenhagen for the crossing.

Don't know when my next holiday will be, or what will happen tomorrow, but I just hope I survive it all with my sanity intact (and with Wafe in good health). Sometimes, I really question if I still have any working brain cells left.

junny@1.05am

Recently finished Beautiful Mind and loved it. Actually, I was surprised by how much I really liked it, seeing that I hadn't planned on watching it and only decided to continue after seeing Jang Hyuk in a doctor's coat on KBS World. It's been a while since I really liked a k-drama and found it worth my time. The premise was interesting - Jang Hyuk plays a brilliant doctor who lacks the ability to empathise - and the drama handled issues thoughtfully and with sensitivity. I've always liked Jang Hyuk and he put on a seriously impressive performance as Lee Young-oh, and pretty much carried the whole show. I also loved his chemistry with Park So-dam, they were so adorable together and made the age gap work to their benefit so well. He and Heo Joon-ho, who played his dad, also had some crackling scenes, and I think it's safe to say this is my favourite k-drama to date. If only Jang Hyuk would cross over to WOWOW, I'm sure he'd get solid scripts that would put his talents to much better use. He's too awesome an actor to do crappy mainland dramas when he's not filming in Korea.

Also, this man ages like fine wine. I thought he was awesome as Dae-gil in Chuno, but his portrayal of Young-oh is phenomenal, especially considering he took on the role at short notice and the production filmed on a very tight schedule. I love Young-oh as a character, and I love how Jang Hyuk portrayed him. Awards better be pooling at Jang Hyuk's feet soon, he deserves every one of them.

junny@2.05am

As I write this, I take note once again the purpose of remembering and being vigilant. I am thankful for another year with Wafe, and hope for many more years together to come. Today, I told him "thank you for being my cat", and promptly put him in cuddle jail, haha. He was not impressed. But no matter how suffocating it is to spend days off at home, it's made tolerable because of Wafe. Being able to be with kitty is what keeps me sane. I no longer know what good life is. Maybe I'm not dead yet cuz I have to take care of kitty. Or finish my backlog of dramas. In any case, I just hope I come back a cat-loving person in my next life, sans parents.

This year, I took a two-month holiday to North America, because I'd worked long enough to amass that amount of time off. The office was not willing to compensate me in order for me to cut my time off short, so I took the whole of the two months. The big moron was hopping mad, but I worked for every day of that time off and earned it fair and square, so my conscience is clear. I'd wanted to go to Scandinavia, but decided to do North America instead because Canada requires that amount of time and I didn't know if I'd ever get two months off again (well, I would if I got fired, but that's another topic for another time).

Snowy vineyard in Montreal

Flew Japan Airlines and really liked their more spacious economy class - the food was pretty decent too. Transited in Narita and then landed in JFK. Spent about a week in New York and Boston, met up with Amanda and Yin, and generally had a nice time. Managed to visit Harvard University too, and it was even snowing on that day. Took the train from New York to Montreal, the first of many train trips. The train system in North America has a long way to go before it reaches Japanese standards, but it was still pretty okay and I generally have no major complaints (except that it is really expensive!).

Did a mix of airbnb and hotels this time round, mostly because it was just cheaper to buy stuff back to cook than eat out, given the tipping culture - it also took me a while to adjust to the tipping mentality and how to tip, and it's safe to say I'm not in favour even if I understand the rationale behind it. Still, I did get to try a few local specialities, such as poutine in Quebec, and walked around a fair bit. In winter, it's always nicer to walk around and take things easy. I really only did an average of two sights per day, and one of my happiest times was sitting down in a bookstore and reading away, with the snow falling outside the windows. I loved waking up each morning checking to see if snow had fallen. I love snow-covered branches and seeing buildings covered in snow. The coldest temperature I'd experienced was in Montreal, when it hit -27°C on the day I went for an ice wine tasting. Seeing the vineyards completely covered in white, with the snow lashing down, was fantastic. The Montreal natives were like, oh this is nothing, we hit -45°C once, and all I could do was go wow.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

 Because I had seven weeks, I planned a trans-Canada trip via train. I spent a few days to a week in each major city, so I essentially covered Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Vancouver. Most were pretty nice, although I was basically rooted to the city because I didn't drive - occasionally I booked trips outside of the city, such as going to Niagara Falls or doing snow activities in the mountains, but otherwise it was a lot of getting used to each city's transportation quirks (and checking out a few Chinatowns, haha). No language issues, because apparently I totally passed for a Canadian - on the train from Toronto to Vancouver, a fellow passenger asked where I was headed and I said Edmonton, and the guy was like, ah you're going home? Haha. I met many nice people on the train and had a very good time.

I really enjoyed my winter activities. Went for ice walks, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, dog-sledding and wildlife watching, and basically had a great time. I had a real fright when my snowmobile kinda veered off track, but fortunately the guide came to help me and I safely made it to the mountaintop and later back to base camp. Being at the top of the mountain, seeing it covered in all that white and then having a go around on the snowmobile was pretty awesome. I even snowshoed a little on a frozen Lake Louise, and had a fantastic time dog-sledding (I'd worried I wouldn't get a chance because there wasn't enough snow going around, but fortunately still managed to do it!). I also walked to a couple of lakes in Jasper, and encountering elk along the way was such a sweet bonus. It's so nice to have nature at your doorstep.

View of Vancouver from Burrard Bridge

Met up with Reza in Toronto, it was really nice to meet after so long. Spent a few days with Beth and her family on Vancouver Island, and actually developed a liking for fresh oysters. It kind of reminded me of the time I spent in Akita, where I had really fresh seafood. Also met up with Viv back in Vancouver and had a great time. And Moiny even drove up from Seattle and we had fun walking in Stanley Park and chatting. Come to think of it, I do have quite a few friends in North America, haha.

Overall, it was a good holiday and I had a relaxing time. I'm glad I was able to meet up with friends - some of whom I've known for a long time but never had the chance to meet face to face, so that was memorable in itself. And because a couple of my airbnb hosts had Netflix and allowed me to use their accounts, I managed to polish off quite a few films that I'd otherwise never have bothered with, haha. The best of the lot was the 2004 BBC miniseries North & South, which starred a very delicious Richard Armitage as John Thornton, and I was pretty impressed by how well made that series was - didn't make me want to read the novel though, but the miniseries is highly recommended.

I don't know where my next holiday will be, but let's hope I'll still be alive and sane by then.

junny@1.36am

How hot is Kim Kang-woo in this poster again? I love it when he goes all dark like that (although his character is not as dark as I'd like). It's been a while since I actually, properly watched a k-drama, so even though this is really not very good, I shall persevere to the end (only two episodes left). Lee Jin-wook is pretty sexy in this drama and such a great kisser, that always gets bonus points in my book. I'm kinda hoping Ji-won dies, since the only good thing about this aneurysm plot is the lovely Lee Jin-wook angst and pain on my screen, so let's milk it to the max, but otherwise the shitty writer and director should be booted straight to Timbuctoo after this. It's been very nice discovering Lee Jin-wook again (he has such a wonderful smile), and Kim Kang-woo is generally excellent, so let's hope they get much better projects after this. I'd love to see them in the same drama or film again, but not as adversaries - it's been hard deciding whom to root for!

junny@2.40am

Currently nuts about 追夢者, which is the theme song of the 2012 drama 造王者 and sung by Leo Ku. I find the lyrics so meaningful, and the melody is pretty awesome as well, especially when you blast up the volume. The chorus is fantastic and my favourite part of the song. Have been replaying it these few days as I catch up on the drama on cable. The drama is not the best, it's historically inaccurate - the Chinese wiki page has listed at least 40 inaccuracies - but the plot is still fairly interesting and acting is generally solid across the board. I also really like watching Wayne Lai and Kristal Tin together on screen - they're both solid actors and I love their scenes and their chemistry. Hopefully they'll get to do more dramas together.

追夢者 - 古巨基

作詞：張美賢
作曲：鄧智偉．葉肇中
編曲：葉肇中
監製：鄧智偉．葉肇中

我沒有　放不低的散聚
捍衛我　要堅守的壯舉
我沒有　過不到的畏懼
無視那　誣蔑我的判罪

紛擾的世界總會有唏噓
誰亦有維護理想的血淚
消失的證據　未曾磨滅著過去
和我面對　雨打風吹

仍執著一個信念無論結果撐下去
血脈未靜似水　怎會絕望疲累
一些過去　一些面具　放下埋進土裡
自尊教我面對　劫難亦是無懼

仍想像總會有日能讓你知我是對
趁著陣陣雨水　准我靜靜流淚
得失進退　千秋萬代　那管天崩山粉碎
曾歷劫未怕艱辛　日後再聚

紛擾的世界總會有唏噓
誰亦有維護理想的血淚
消失的證據　未曾磨滅著過去
和我面對　雨打風吹

仍執著一個信念無論結果撐下去
血脈未靜似水　怎會絕望疲累
一些過去　一些面具　放下埋進土裡
自尊教我面對　劫難亦是無懼

仍想像總會有日能讓你知我是對
趁著陣陣雨水　准我靜靜流淚
得失進退　千秋萬代　那管天崩山粉碎
曾歷劫未怕艱辛　日後再聚
回望最壞那一天　伴著有誰

junny@3.43am

Wow, so I haven't blogged here for half a year. I guess this is a good time as any to update.

Took a few days off work because it's the time of the year again, when I remember what happened back in 2008 and once again feel grateful and blessed that Wafe is still with me. Not that I don't remember everyday and try to be more vigilant, but this time of the year is particularly touchy. No matter how many days, months or years have passed, that incident still chills me whenever I think about it. So no matter what, I had to take time off and stay home with Wafe. I count my lucky stars that I can still cuddle my baby and take care of him.

I didn't do much, just lazed around, read a bit, watched some TV, and was basically happy to be able to spend time with Wafe. As I get older, I don't feel like I want to do "big things", because ultimately I just want to be happy. Maybe I'll die with unfulfilled goals, or never be able to realise my dream of moving abroad with Wafe. But I guess in the end, it doesn't really matter. I'm just another speck on this earth and I'm not out to change the world. I just want to do what I can to live a happy life with my cat. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to achieve.

The year is almost halfway done and as usual, I've done nothing of note. I guess that's my life! I did go to Japan for 1.5 months in February and early March, which was pretty fun. I love long holidays, they allow me a better feel of the country I'm visiting. I flew ANA and landed in Nagoya after transiting in Narita Airport, and that journey took pretty much the whole day since it was a 6am flight and I only reached my hotel in Nagoya at 8+pm. The neat thing was that while flying to Nagoya, I saw the top of Mount Fuji! I was on the aisle seat, but the lady next to me kindly pointed it out and made me look, and our side of the plane was all ooohing and ahhing. I thought it was pretty cool to have seen Mount Fuji from the top in all its snow-capped glory, since the hordes of tourists just see the side of it.

Nagoya street view

Nagoya is Tamaki Hiroshi's hometown! I'm so glad I got to visit it, and it's quite a nice city, even if it was a bit pricey transport-wise. It was also where I got to eat hitsumabushi, which is a must for any unagi fan. As I'm pretty bad with directions, I kept losing my way, but finally managed to find the restaurant that's most famous for it in Nagoya. I was pretty much the last customer to leave, since I got there pretty late, but the staff were so nice about it and didn't rush me. I also managed a day trip out to Kiyosu, to visit Kiyosu Castle, since I was into a bit of Sengoku history then.

Travelling in Japan means I got to take plenty of trains, which I love. From Nagoya to Kyoto, it was about a two-hour ride and I really liked the feeling of relaxing in a train and watching the scenery go by. I walked a lot because I got lost a lot, but that also meant I had the chance to explore a bit, which was kinda cool. I also took plenty of public transport, most notably the subway in Osaka and Tokyo, because these were the cities with the most connected train systems. Kyoto has a very good bus network (albeit pricey), and I think by the time I left Japan, I was pretty decent at navigating trains and train stations when I wasn't losing my way on the streets, haha.

Kitsune at Fushimi-inari station

I am also glad that I chose to spend time in Kansai because I really like the region. The main three - Kyoto, Osaka and Nara - all have animal mascots of sorts representing the cities. For Kyoto, it's the fox (kitsune), rat (nezumi) for Osaka and deer (shika) for Nara, and each city has souvenirs and whatnot relating to these animals. Kyoto is lovely and you can feel the culture and history. I even saw a maiko while waiting to cross the street, but only surreptitiously snapped a photo of her back since we aren't supposed to badger them for photographs. Kyoto is also unfortunately an overdose of temples and shrines if you're not really into those. I visited the key ones and liked them enough, but did not enjoy having to share my space with the hordes of loud China and Taiwan tourists, they were so irritating. I thought going in winter meant avoiding the usual crowds, but apparently that was not the case! Anyhow, I took a side trip to Nara, which was fantastic because of all the deer and history - I was also fortunate to catch a winter illumination event while there. Osaka has a very different vibe that I totally dig, and I loved walking along the streets and having my pick of street food to nibble at. Takoyaki was everywhere! And I took a day trip up to Mount Koya, it was completely free of China tourists and was a fantastic, peaceful day up in the mountains. Also, temples on Mount Koya are very different from Kyoto's - they are more... shall we say, really more places of worship and where one can find (spiritual) peace. Kyoto's temples, because they have become a huge tourist attraction, give off a very preserved vibe.

Snow and mountains in Minakami, Gunma

My trip this time was mostly to the more well-known places, but I'm also glad that I managed to take in a few somewhat off-the-beaten track places, or at least cities that are not as often visited. The train journey to Kanazawa was fantastic and I saw really beautiful winter scenery - there's not as much snow but still, mountains and snow is a sight I'll never get tired of. Kanazawa is a lovely, compact city and it had one of the best kaitenzushi restaurants - I loved how I could order sushi with or without wasabi/other condiments, it was fantastic. I also enjoyed my stay in Shirakawa-go and Takayama and only wish I had more time in both. And I was told that Hakuba started snowing heavily on the day I arrived, so that was a stroke of luck having so much snow! Small towns have a charm all of their own, and it's a pity I wasn't driving or I'm sure I could have taken in more sights (damn buses stop running at 5pm, haha). Gunma was kinda in the boondocks, but I'd gone there primarily for snowshoeing, and managed to finally appreciate relaxing in an outdoor onsen - doing this in winter takes on extra flavour and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

And even though Tokyo was your usual big city, I really liked it as well. It has a different vibe from Osaka, but really cool all the same. And I love the Yamanote Line, it's bloody fantastic and really affordable. I was in Tokyo when the sakura were just beginning to bloom in certain places (in Yoyogi Park, some trees had already flowered and people were having picnics underneath them), so it was kinda neat too. The only disappointing place was Hakone, which I found to be overrated. Having been to other small towns in Japan, I didn't see what the big deal was about Hakone. I should have made use of that day to visit Ueno or other areas of Tokyo, or even do another side trip or something. Oh well, maybe next time.

Aji sushi - one of my new favourites!

Throughout the trip, I made sure I stuck to Japanese food, so I was dining out almost every day and restaurant-hunting was a big part of my trip. I also availed myself of food samples - that was how I discovered yatsuhashi, which is a bloody fantastic Kyoto snack. Even so, when I just wanted a quick meal because I was starving, I found soba/udon shops inside the train stations a lifesaver, as they were real cheap and I could catch the next train after filling my tummy. Every time I visited a kaitenzushi or unagiya, I ended up at least ¥3,000 poorer because I just kept eating, haha. At one time, I was even eating more than the couple sitting next to me! The only time I didn't eat Japanese was when I went for pseudo-Korean, since I was craving something real spicy. But I'm glad I managed to dine out almost every night, because it was fun learning how to order in Japanese and get a feel of eating out in Japan. And almost everywhere I went, I made sure I tried the unagi - sure, it sets me back at least ¥3,000 every time, but I always got quality stuff and the service was great. I think of all the unagi I tried so far, the best was in Nagoya and Osaka - Nagoya for the hitsumabushi, and Osaka because the sauce was fantastic. Tokyo's was a bit disappointing, or maybe I just prefer the Kansai style. Also tried a few local/seasonal specialties such as kishimen, butaman, shinshu soba, ichigo daifuku, yaki imo etc, and had my fill of shochu and amazake, hehe. I'll be sure to try more specialties if I ever return to Japan.

Narita, Chiba

 And the Japanese were very nice in general. People often wonder why I travel alone, and whether I'd feel lonely on the road. But I never do, because when I'm alone, away from all the noise and chatter, I get to look at my surroundings more and be a little more adventurous. I get to decide what I want to do, and I experience the kindness of strangers. I remember on my first night in Kyoto, I found a small oden shop and the owner was wondering how I knew to visit since it probably isn't on any food guide or something. It just happened to be near my hotel and one of the few places open for dinner, but I had a great time chatting with a couple of customers and the owner in my very broken Japanese. They were all surprised I was travelling for so long and I liked shochu, haha. And the gyoza was delicious. And when my luggage handle broke on the way to Takayama, the ryokan owner in Takayama actually helped me fix it even though I was all prepared to buy a new one on the spot. To thank him, I bought some sake and he was very pleased. There was a girl who chatted with me for a bit on the journey back to Osaka from Mount Koya, probably because she realised I was a bit nervous whether I had missed my stop (I wasn't able to hear properly the stops being announced, and it was pitch black outside). We chatted a little about dramas and hot actors, haha, and she helped me find the right stop to get off and transfer trains. It was really nice of her. Others have helped me with directions when I got lost on the road (and that happened everytime I'm out, haha), and I'm forever grateful. So travelling alone is never alone. And I want to be a traveller, not a tourist.

junny@7.30am

Gave Wafe a bath today, and he totally did not like it, heh. It's always funny to see how he is half his normal size when his fur is all wet. I'm in the middle of a five-day break from work and have enjoyed the time off, doing absolutely nothing and just relaxing. I've slept a lot, spent time with Wafe, watched dramas and even finished a book tonight. Also went out with June where she kindly treated me to Japanese buffet, and we had a swell time pigging out over lots of food. I even indulged in a glass of shochu, which was lovely. Would definitely return if I can.

It's almost the end of the year, and as usual, I've done nothing of note. I am still mulling over a couple of things, which may displease a few people ... but for one, I'm not indispensable and there will be others who can do what I do, and secondly, I'm at an age where I think I would like to have a bit of a breather without people breathing down my neck about it (even if they will). We'll see how the next couple of weeks go, hopefully I can come to a decision by early December.

As for the book, it was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, and I enjoyed it. Finished it in one night and loved being able to read in the quiet of the night with no distractions. Normally I don't read Agatha Christie's stuff even though I generally like detective stories, but Tamaki Hiroshi is going to star in an adaptation of this story for a New Year's special, so I thought I'd read the original in advance to get an idea of the story. If I am right and his role is the one in the story, then he doesn't feature a lot but it shouldn't be too bad. I have a general idea of who will take on which role, but it'll be interesting to see how the adaptation goes.

Story-wise, it was pretty interesting, with a murder occurring on a train heading towards London. As the murder happened while the train was stuck in a snowdrift, it means none of the passengers was able to get off and Poirot has to figure out which of them is the murderer. How it all came together was quite interesting, even though it kind of required quite a few leaps of the imagination. Anyhow, it was a good read and I could even figure out the few French phrases used in the story, haha.

Okay, now for my J-drama, and hopefully I can polish off another book before the week ends!

junny@6.22am