JAPAN 2010.

i feel i am really blessed to be able to go on another trip to japan in a span of just one year. this time not a cut throat price but a better experience definitely. lets start by chronological order of the places i visited: hiroshima, okayama, osaka, kobe, kyoto and tokyo.

HIROSHIMA

i felt rather fortunate to be able to get accepted into a homestay program by the japanese studies department. so then i went to hiroshima, from JAL to haneda, followed by a domestic flight to fukuokaa then a shinkansen trip down to hiroshima. hiroshima has really blossomed over these 65 odd years after the atomic bombings.there isnt a hint of their nuclear victimization past except for the dome that serves as a constant reminder to the nuclear activists worldwide of the potential devastating effects. everything is pretty there. the momijis, the food (okonomiyaki and kaki!) and the scenery especially at the miyajima shrine that is actually in the water. i am really thankful that i am able to get to know some japanese cripz too at the university and now the ball is in my court to go make the effort to cultivate the friendship even though technology isn't really quite on my side with the weird email addresses they gave me.

and of course, a special paragraph dedicated to the hagiwaras. even though they were not quite the ideal family i hoped for that would include kids to play with and some cripz of course but i am really thankful to them for the family warmth i experienced. something which i havent experienced in my entire life. being able to sit down as a family to have dinner, and sit on the counches together to enjoy a television bangumi. this is something i will never experience at my home ever. yuyu was being really hospitable, with her excellent culinary skills while satisfying my humongous appetite. i had trouble adjusting to the climate of hiroshima and my nose leaked pretty badly and it must have raised a few eyebrows during my week stint there, especially when the japanese are so particular about hygiene and consideration for the others. in the end, otoosan, kayato(diarrhea) and yoshito had flu. i felt guilty and the fact that she made ginger soup for me on couple of occasions did not help to ease my guilt. i attempted to get to know them better through using facebook to show them about my life, using maps of japan to ask them of the interesting places in japan untouched by foreigners. i watched a number of interesting bangumis with them like how the cut various sports ball apart and how they actually prepare various pizzas from pizza hut. this experience had taught me the how it is still possible to have a proper and healthy family relationship but maybe not with a singaporean spouse. anyway, hagiwaras, domoarigatogozaimasu.

OKAYAMA
after that i headed over to okayama with jm, jw to meet jm's friend masa, a friend she made during her exchange in denmark. he was really nice to offer his car to bring us around. so we went to kurashiki as recommended by my otoosan. we spent an unsually long time at the desert place which meant that by the time we reached kibitsu jinja, it was already dark. it was quite a pity as the jinja really looks like some ancient temple good for photography.

KOBE
the weather wasnt really on our side as we attempted to go on some mountain sightseeing and it was pouring quite badly. and apparently not everyone shares the same definition of round trip so i ended up paying 1700X2 on the sightseeing tour. however, i had the best ramen i ever eaten in kobe.

KYOTO
it was better luck this time with the weather.the main highlight was actually seeing the golden pavilion which was really glittering.

OSAKA
at this point of time, i was pretty fed up with some of the travelling group and i ended up touring osaka on my own. first it was the umeda sky building. its an observation tower that offers you the overall view of osaka. then i travelled to see the osaka castle. nothing spectecular about castles, now that i saw the hiroshima and osaka's. then i did something stupid as to walk to dotombori from some eki which appeared rather near on the map. in the end my feet almost couldnt take it. maybe its a good thing that i did not spend so much time at dotombori because i might have ended up spending even more. bought my leather jacket there for 2000yen and spent about 6000 yen at H&M. at night it was clubbing with haruki and the gang. the clubbing atmosphere there was so much better where everyone could just say hi to everyone. needless to say, japanese cripz. haruki and co. once again, i want to thank you for your hospitality in showing me around and the countless entertainment. till we meet again. ( i will definitely go to osaka to find them should i go japan again)

TOKYO
at this point of time my feet was about the verge of breaking. too much walking. anyway its basically the same stuff in tokyo. sometimes i wonder why i go back to the same places to take the same photos. this time, the only difference on this trip was having japanese to bring us around, a welcomed difference that is. jm and i went to tsukiji with natsumi with another girl which i forgot her name. the sashimi there is really different in terms of freshness. then we chilled at the starbucks at asakusa before heading back to ikebukuro. the next day, i went wasdeda with minami and natsumi. one of the main highlights of the trip was disney sea, with jm saki and natsumi. saki was natsumi's friend from their badminton club. having lived in the states or canada before, her english was brilliant so no form of communication barrier whatsover. well God willing ...

well i spent about 3800 on this entire trip together. the mentality of 'i came too far to save money' just did me in. but i am really thankful for the japanese friends i made this trip. hopefully one day, i will get to live there. for now, its time to brush up my japanese.
 

  -when you're dreaming with a broken heart.

YOG 2010

    YOG 2010. The experience of a lifetime. It all began with an email from hall, calling out for volunteers who can speak more than just English and mother tongue. With the ability to speak Japanese and German, albeit limited, I thought this role was made for me. There, I signed up and never looked back.

First, it was the CEP Seminar back in March. With no friends whatsoever, I was a little apprehensive initially but everyone was just so friendly and outgoing despite having already went on a first batch of cep training. Then came the Young Ambassadors (YAs) who were ever so nice and accommodating despite vast age differences (for some). Most memorable event for me was definitely HortPark (Sofia with her kungfu stances!) then funvee ride where we cheered “YOG” at bystander on the sidewalks, and the foodhunt where the YAs got to experience arguably the best side of Singapore, the food. It was extremely rewarding when I saw Danka had her first spoonful of watercress soup and nodded in approval. Also, there was the Chef de Mission dinner, my first formal dinner in my entire life. Herr Guth, my cdm, was really professional about his job (okay maybe a little too upright) but well that was why he was there in the first place. I’m glad that he valued my role as a CEP champion and gave me valuable feedback and insights of YOG. After the seminar, I certainly did not regret by decision one bit despite lagging behind academically.

Come games time. It wasn’t quite what we expected, considering the buzz and hype built up upon us CEP champions during the seminar but the takeaway from games was nonetheless great. My promotion of Culture and Education Programme began at the Marina Barrage. I was paired up with the track and field athletes from British Virgin Islands. Albeit a small NOC, they were very enthusiastic about CEP activities, signing up at every possible chance. Ms Stephanie, the CDM, was like the parental figure of the athletes (eg asking them not to play with their phones when the crappy bus host was ‘hosting’) One of the athletes included Jamal Alexander, this 100m sprinter who wore cute earrings of his name on both ears. Next up was Hortpark. There was the Italy gymnastic team with Carlotta (girl with pretty eyelashes!), Ludo and their coach Rino. There was also Petra, the Finnish wrestler who went to Hortpark on her own (how brave!)its good to see these kids being so fascinated by the sights of Singapore. Then came island adventure. Deutsche Jugend-Olympiamannschaft. Germany! That was where I got to know the rebellious boys like Ibu, Samir and Tahir, the taekwondo boys who were constantly rebelling against the obs instructor. There was also Laura (who looked anything but a wrestler) who fought against Petra! and Fabienne, the german shuttler. Tahir was the ultimate, who told the facil to stfu. Win! They ended up not taking part most of the activities. Then came one day when I bumped into them in the village and I decided to just follow them around. Then we made masks to scare people around the village. Boys being boys, they used this opportunity to pick up girls. Who would forget the clubbing night when the two guys got refused entry. But I’m glad the reverse bungee kept them occupied. Then the two guys got ‘lucky’ with two fat Indian girls while me pam and ibu camwhored at macs. It all ended when I bought the bakkwa as a farewell gift to danka. Hope she’s enjoying it now as I blog.

I’ve been going around saying that I will go germany next year but what if my application gets rejected? It will be really an experience of a lifetime being able to tour Europe and whats more, now that I have friends all over Europe. For now, all I can do is study hard and hope for the best. Thank God for this wonderful experience to make such wonderful athlete/YA friends along with the CEP champions. I certainly pray that I will fulfill my promise.
 

  -when you're dreaming with a broken heart.

    my first ever volunteer trip and definitely not my last. taung kun village was a village left almost unscathed by globalization. contact with the outside world was minimal let alone foreigners. when we stepped foot into their village, we were the first ever foreigners they ever come into contact with. they were at first apprehensive and it certainly took awhile before they started warming up to us. the bathing experience was unique to say the least. we bathed in our DUs in the first night, with just bailers and cold water with a tinge of metal taste from the relatively new well that was recently dug before we came. as for sleeping, everyone was simply confined to their own body outline and we had to have our fingers locked together at our bellies. any other movement will result in knocking into someone else. i often had to fan myself to sleep due to the unbearable heat and sometimes had my sleep disrupted because of the chickens (chirping?) or dogs barking. but it was the healthiest ever sleeping habit i ever adopted. well who sleeps at 10 and wakes up at 6 nowadays? as for the meals we had to cook for ourselves with each van taking turns to do so. the others will then have construction duties like building toilets and wells or teaching in the schools. well there were many first times for me in this trip ie cooking charsiew, peeling vegetable leaves, mixing cement, laying bricks, operating the well machine, teaching children, buying groceries in a wet market and even being in a farm. i especially love it how independent i was from technology

village slang day. we went back to the previous village that the past two expeditions team went and we were greeted by the huge banner they had in their house. the ppl there were warmer (but then again they have encountered many volunteers in their village) the desire of their youths to improve their command of english was admirable as they constantly chatted with us throughout the tour. we ended up playing monkey with the kids with the rugby ball and although the time spent with them was short, there was this sudden surge of emotions when we said our goodbyes.

culture day was definitely one of the highlights although not the most enjoyable. it started with how we prepared local delicacies like bak kut teh and sambal kangkong which was too spicy for the villagers liking and curry chicken. we then attempted to show them how singapore was like through photos and our members donning the traditional costumes. for dinner they prepared food for us and the preparation was rather shocking. how they used the well water to wash the rice (we bought and use distilled water) how they used the pail used for daily activities like washing to contain their curry but i must say the chu mifen is not bad. they then ordered huge ass speakers for us so we can party village style. nvm the humid conditions but the terrible music? omg. but it was not polite not to dance for it must have cost them quite a bit to rent those speakers plus lights given their meagre income so we pressed on for like a good 3 to 4 hours.

the last day: i anticipated a teary goodbye. it turned out anything but. partly everything was damn rush in the morning. every van had their duties to do before we leave the village so everyone was just frantically rushing plus some last minute packing here and there.

initially i thought the whole expeditions thing was a bit of an overkill in terms of commitment but after going on the trip, i realised the importance. i can't imagine going on a trip like this with a bunch of random ivle individuals. and there's more to expeditions than must merely toilets wells and teaching. aung kunh had their fair share of social problems like gambling and laziness. many of their padi fields were not irrigated and it can be done despite the harsh weather conditions with the use of the irrigation machines but they did not. also, it was not so much a closely knitted commmunity as reflected by one incident. there was a storm and the family opposite us had a tree uprooted. instead of approaching their fellow village members, they approached us instead. initially, i was hell bent on joining other expeditions team to avoid the heavy workload but i think i'm sticking to eusoff expeditions for now.

its definitely one of the highlights of my life and i am looking to relieving the experience again next year. afterall, its free:)
 

  -when you're dreaming with a broken heart.