I blogged T.O.D.A.Y @ 20:44

AI

this is mariah carey's latest single "bye bye", which she performed during the american idol result show. it kept playing in my mind ever since the first time i heard it. really nice!




This is for my peoples who just lost somebody,
Your best friend, your baby, your man, or your lady
Put you hand way up high
you will never say bye.
[No no no]
Momma's, daddy's, sister's, brother's,
friends, and cousins.
This is for my people's who lost their
Grandmothers
lift your head up to the sky
cause we will never say bye.

As a child, there were them times
I didn't get it, but you kept me alive
I didn't know
why you didn't show up Sometimes
on Sunday mornings
And I missed you, but i'm glad we talked through
All them grownful things, separation brings
You never let me know it, you never let it show
Because you loved me and obviously

There's so much more left to say
If you were with me today
face to face.

I never knew I can hurt like this
And everyday life goes on like
I wish I can talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

I assume that you've reached a better place
And still I'd give
The world to see your face
Me right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say
Bye, bye-bye..
Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye-bye-bye..

And you never got a chance to see
How good I've done
And you never got to see me
Back at number one
I wish that you were here to celebrate together
I wish that we could spend the holidays together
I remember when you use to tuck me in at night
Or the teddy bear u gave me that I held so tight
I thought you were so strong,
You make it through whatever
Its so hard to except the fact you're gone forever

I never knew I can hurt like this
And everyday life goes on like this
wish I can talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

I assume you've reached a better place
And still I'd give
The world to see your face
Me right here, next to you
Feels like you're gone too soon

Now the hardest thing to do is say
Bye, bye-bye..
Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye Bye-bye
Bye-bye Bye- bye-bye-bye..

This is for my peoples who just lost somebody,
Your best friend, your baby, your man, or your lady
Put you hand way up high
you will never say bye.
[No no no]
Momma's, daddy's, sister's, brother's,
friends, and cousins.
This is for my people's who lost their
Grandmothers
lift your head up to the sky
cause we will never say bye, bye.

I never knew I can hurt like this
[I never knew it]
And everyday [ everyday I wish that I]
life goes on like this [ I wish, I wish]
I wish I can talk to you for a while
[I wish]
Miss you but I try not to cry
[I wish]
As time goes by
[as time goes bye]

I assume that you've reached a better place..
I'd still give the world to see your face..
and me right here, next to you..
and the hardest thing to do..
is say..
Bye-bye............
its hard to say
Bye bye bye bye bye
So Come on
Somebody sing it with me
wave your hands up high

Cause this is for my peoples that
just lost somebody
This is for everybody
Just lift your head to the sky
Cause we will never say bye-bye

0 comments

I blogged T.O.D.A.Y @ 02:22

nippon hairaito

Day 1 (8/4/08 Tuesday): Singapore

The tour group contains 19 people altogether, inclusive of 3 couples, 1 family of 7 (3 +2 +1 + 1), 1 pair of friends and 1 family of 4. We reached T1 at around 9 am and had some bread for breakfast at kopitiam as it was still early. Flew by cathay pacific CX714 to Hong Kong for transit and then to Osaka CX502. The first flight took off at 11am and reached at around 2.45pm. Watched Kite runner and had chicken rice for lunch. Not the hainan chicken rice I imagined to be. And the movie runs concurrently – ie, u can’t pause/fast forward etc.

Almost late for out transit flight as I misread the ticket – it said “to reach by 1550” and I thought the gate will open at 1550. So what we reached there, it was like final call already! Anyway, ate this pork rice, watched “Lust Caution”- the censored version and reached Osaka airport at around 8.45pm (Japan time – which is 1 hour ahead of us). It was appropriately cold since it was early spring, the temperature forecast was like 14 degrees.

Our tour guide is Gary who is a Singaporean based in Japan. We booked in straight to the hotel – Kansai Hineno station hotel room 408. This hotel had free internet access so I managed to write a short blog entry. That concluded the first day. One thing that caught my attention was the toilet. Besides the normal flushing mechanism, it also has three buttons by the side (similar to the toilet in AH) – basically the first button, when pressed, a hose will appear and cleanse the user’s back passage by direct spray; the second button is for lady’s use in view of anatomical variation from the male. The third button is to stop. Some toilets also have another button which produces artificial flushing sound when pressed. Its main purpose – up to one’s own discretion.



osaka airport.


toilet bowl with the 3 buttons on its right.


Day 2 (9/4/08 Wednesday): Osaka – Kyoto - Awara

The sun was already up and rising when we woke up at 5.30am. Breakfast was the usual hotel buffet style; the only difference was there were some Japanese-style breakfast, which included rice, cold side dishes and miso soup. We had our first taste of cherry blossom today en route to our first destination – Osaka Castle. Took a lot of photos with me, cherry blossoms, family, familiar strangers in the background, and of course, the Osaka castle. To enter the castle, u will have to pay a small entrance fee.

Shinsaibashi was our next stop – which is basically a shopper’s paradise. Something like bugis street and Heeren in Singapore. I don’t remember me buying anything though, cos firstly we were too early – most of the shops ain’t open yet. Secondly, nothing really caught my eyes other than the food outlets. Thirdly, it was kinda cold and that probably freezed my enthusiasm too. We had lunch at one of the restaurant here called sun restaurant. Unlike the sun and moon restaurant in Singapore, I don’t find the food here very fantastic. It was buffet style, and there were just too many people lining up for food.

We went on to take the superfast bullet train from shin-osaka to kintetsu-kyoto station. That took like 20 minutes, compared to traveling by bus which would probably take an hour.

We reached Kiyomizu Temple next whose main hall extends out to a veranda that commands a panoramic view of Kyoto. Along the way to the temple were many small shops selling souvenirs and finger food. More photo shots of the temple, sakura, incense, kawaii jap girls and me. There were many different types and shades of sakura – pure white, whitish-pink, pinkish-white and brilliant pink. Some blossoms in an out-stretched manner, whereas some hanged around like mangroves. Osaka and Kyoto are the best places to view sakuras now I think. Kyoto is supposed the place where geishas still lurk around but unfortunately I didn’t manage to camwhore with them that I so looked forward too, simply because I couldn’t find any, and there were no samples standing along the streets too. Not even the fake ones. Sighz.

A three hour long ride before we checked in to our hotel at around 6 plus – Koganoi hotel in Awara, one of the famous hot spring region. Our first experience staying in Japanese-style accommodation and sleeping on tatami! Dinner wise, they called it the samurai meal and it was really sumptuous! It was like having everything in a single meal. Nice!

Talking about hot springs, it is the traditional jap style where u will have to bathe first in a specially designated individualized area before entering the hot pool in your birthday suit. The temperature is probably around 40 deg. Quite soothing especially after a day in the cold. But u can’t stay there for long before u suffer from heat exhaustion. And more photoshots of us in kimonos.



sakura.


osaka castle.


sakura.


Day 3 (10/4/08 Thursday): Awara - Takayama

Bad weather today. It was drizzling and windy. Freezing cold. Think it was as cold as when I was in NZ, except that I was not in my parka, long johns, gloves, shawl and hood!

After breakfast, our first stop was Tojimbo, which features magnificent pillar-shaped rocks created by sea erosion and weathering (my residual knowledge from my secondary geography class does help me appreciate things a little bit better heh). Most of the photos taken here had umbrellas in them. There was a shop selling local products and we had our first onslaught of shopping for food!

We visited a pottery outlet next and bought back some souvenirs. Of mention is this ham sap cup which portrays a lady clad in kimono and when u fill the cup with hot water, she will strip naked! I wondered how long it will take for the clothes to appear again once it cools…

We visited Kagahan next, which sells a lot of Japanese desserts ranging from biscuits, crackers, rice dumplings, chocolates and more! And all come with samples for us to try!

Our lunch consisted of this local signature dish where the tofu are sprinkled with golden powder. Yup it is edible gold and I wonder why people would want to eat it – absolutely tasteless and more suitable for decos.

We proceeded on to Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, acclaimed as one of Japan’s 3 great gardens. It is huge; I believe it is 10 x that of Japanese garden in Singapore. But it was damn cold… I was like shivering away. So we decided not to conquer the whole garden; in fact, we only covered like 10%. Time was a constraint anyway. Just added some Kodak moments that’s all.

Next stop – Shirakawa-go village, basically a national heritage which showcased Japan’s old farmhouses with steep roofs resembling two hands folded for a prayer. They also served to aid clearance of snows on the rooftops. It was just scenic, nice and cold.

We stayed in one of the hotspring hotel in Takayama – Hida Hotel Plaza. Room no 1507 (level 5). Quite grand – there are like 3 wings to it with 2 hot spring areas – one open-concept and the other one was in-house. We had shabu shabu dinner, which is basically jap food with cooked pork.

And I was starting to have some prodromal symptoms already. Sianz.




a sumptuous meal.


now u see it, now u dun.


(the golden sparkle on )the tofu is the main signature dish here


this pic was supposed to project how big the bird is. but didn't turn out that obvious..


nice snowy pictureque view.


Day 4 (11/4/08 Friday): Takayama – Mt Fuji

Western style breakfast buffet in hotel before setting off at 8.30am. First stop was a local fresh produce market in Takayama inclusive of food and souvenir. Luckily the sun was out today… no more rain, though it was still quite breezy. We bought some stuff, one of which was this wooden samurai sword, which… well… served as a prop for photo-taking later. We moved on to a Ramen house which showcased how ramen is made and also get to try some samples. There were many different flavours of ramen and we bought some home too.

We had an early lunch today at around 11 am, and the food was very similar – shabu shabu lunch. It was starting to get a bit boring…

We were on our way to visit the Hirayu waterfall but unfortunately, during to the climate condition (avalanche?) , the road was close. So in the end we just stopped by the roadside to take some pics and pretend that we were in the midst of snow mountains.

Our next stop was the Baioh Wasabi Farm which showed us how wasabi is produced. Well according to the japs, wasabi was initially not to be mixed with soy sauce but to be dipped separately. They also sell wasabi ice-cream which was not that spicy after all.

We then moved on to visit the Azumino Winery and sample some of the Japanese fruit wines. I didn’t buy anyway cos I thought it wasn’t that fantastic and it tasted kinda weird.

We proceeded on to our final destination – Mt Fuji. Of course we didn’t really get to climb the mountain (who will anyway?), but instead look at it from the observation tower. We were quite lucky to get a magnificent view today, cos sometimes it can get too misty or cloudy for us to appreciate. I took at least 20 shots here. More of the mountain itself.

We stayed in Kawaguchiko Popura hotel (room 406, level 4), one of the hotels in the region of Mt Fuji. From its side window, we could still catch a glimpse of the mountain. The room was colder than previous rooms, probably because it is near the summit. Dinner was great! We had Japanese buffet and a boat of sashimi – which comprised 12 different kinds ranging from salmon, scallops, abalone, lobsters, toro, ebi, ika, tako etc. That made the day =). The most sashimi I ate within a day in my lifetime!



shabu shabu dinner


the owls. in japanese, they mean "dun need to slog".


the waterfall that we wanted to go was closed..


wasabi farm


fruit wine. got free tasting too!


fujikyu. one of the largest amusement park in japan. too bad i didn't get a chance to try the roller coaster..


mt fuji


SASHIMIIII!


Day 5 (12/4/08 Saturday): Mt Fuji – Tokyo

We woke up early today at around 5.50am, cos we wanted to take some more pictures outside the hotel and enjoy its scenery with the backdrop of Mt Fuji. Breakfast was once again buffet style comprising Japanese and Western cuisine.

We left for Tokyo finally and today was mainly a day for shopping. Our first destination was Asakusa Kannon Temple, which housed the famous big lantern and the five-storey tower. Following that, we shopped along the Nakamise Avenue for more souvenirs.

Our lunch was tepanyaki style; quite delicious for a change. But unfortunately, most of the meat that I roasted were chao da, especially those thin pig’s tongue.

We spent the whole afternoon shopping in Palette Town which consists of 2 main wings – Venus Fort Shopping Mall and the Toyota Mega Web. The three-storey shopping mall is rather nicely decorated and it made u feel like you are really in a fortress. Dimly lit, wallpaper which made it look like a monastery and all makes shoppers comfortable and possibly help to earn some revenue too. I didn’t really buy a lot of stuff; just a couple of shirts. My mother and sister, on the other hand, like most women, spent the most. They bought a Burberry bag each, some jewelleries and clothes. The most expensive day I must say. The Toyota Mega Web, on the other hand, houses Toyota cars of various models and types, and u can test drive them too – provided you have an international driving licence which we don’t have…

We moved on to Odaiba Park for our self-bought dinner which was not included in the package. Well actually there was nothing impressive or interesting to eat there… there were 2 storeys of restaurants selling Italian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese food but nothing really caught my attention. Eventually, we bought some side orders from the stalls which included some dumplings and baos and ramen. Ordering the ramen was quite interesting – it is from a vending machine; well basically the machine will issue u a piece of receipt after u have paid and chosen your order, and u pass the piece of paper to the chef who will start cooking for u. I won’t say the food was fantastic, but it was at least value for money.

We checked in Shin Yokohama Prince hotel that night. Hotel was big – we stayed at the 20th storey, but room wise was quite crampy.


the golden shit-lookalike monument in the top right corner


the five-storey tower


the big big lantern


the bottom of the big big lantern


Teppanyaki


landmark of venusfort


in-house casino in venusfort.


cool cool car.


Cool car.


Palette town. shoppers' paradise!


Day 6 (13/4/08 Sunday): Tokyo Disneyland

We devoted the whole day to Tokyo Disneyland, which is not really enough to conquer the whole land, as most japanese will actually spend around 2 days there and check into one of the nearby hotel. It is definitely much bigger than the Disneyland in Hong Kong, and according to our tour guide, it happens to be the only Disneyland which Walt Disney did not invest any money into it, i.e., they only earn the copyrights, which was a bad move cos Tokyo’s has one of, if not the most revenue in the world.

Not the best day to go to Disneyland cos it was a Sunday; it was once again drizzling; it was damn cold especially when the breeze blew by. It was probably 8 degrees. Unlike HK one which is divided into 3 main sub-lands of adventureland, fantasyland and tomorrowland, this one has an additional westernland, critter country and toontown. Unfortunately, confounded by the climate and waiting time (yup, for some of the rides, we have to wait for at least an hour), we can’t really try most of the stations. We manage to take some cruise-rides, ride boat down the splash mountain, travel with Pinocchio, watch the mickey mouse revue of audio-animatronics, toon-size roller coaster, etc. They also have this fast-pass system where u can actually get the ticket in advance and come back at the specific time so as to avoid long waiting hour. Only applicable to the more popular rides though. Anyway, it would be better if the weather is more humid and warm. It is like a absolute contrast to the one half year ago in Hk.

Lunch was in one of the restaurant in critter country – chicken bake rice. Nice warm food in a cosy atmosphere =).

Dinner wasn’t fantastic. A 6-course Chinese dinner at some nearby restaurant. Noisy environment.

Spent our last night at Narita Radisson Airport hotel. Level 2 Room 2623. Quite comfortable.


Welcome to tokyo disneyland!


the only reason why i took this photo is to make sure i remember that i took the ride earlier.


mark twain riverboat. breezy ride.


the raftride towards the splash mountain. quite exciting!


the cinderella's castle


one of the wall pictures in the aisle of the castle's linkway which i find quite cool.


the parade happens once a day. here's minnie.


cinderella and the prince


flower girl at parade


goodbye disneyland..


the toilet in japan - notice the 4 buttons by the side


Day 7 (14/4/08 Monday): Tokyo Narita – Singapore

Checked out at around 8.30am. Did some last minute shopping in the airport. CX501 -> CX 711. Ate chicken rice and fish with mash for lunch and dinner respectively. Watched the wedding crasher and Beowulf. Touched down at around 9pm.

The Aftermath.

A get-away from the mundane workplace is a definite must once in a while. In fact, we should have a holiday break every 6 months and that will make life happier. The only regret for this trip is that we have underestimated the cold weather. It is in fact comparable to my last NZ trip on certain days, especially when it rains and when the cold wind blows.

0 comments

I blogged T.O.D.A.Y @ 23:08

greetings!

greetings from japan!
well this hotel that i am staying now has free internet access, so i might as well use it for a while. but anyway i have to end for a while. but anyway i have to end now cos people are waiting behind and there is only one terminal.. so till then! see ya!

0 comments

I blogged T.O.D.A.Y @ 19:21

sayonara

my long-awaited leave is finally here! imagine having worked for 5 months without any break other than the pathetic few weekend off. and guess what, i have to literally pester the leave planner to grant me the leave despite the fact that we have already forecasted the leave. the final month of the posting is always the bad time to apply for leave, cos everyone will like to have a happy ending before the start of the next posting (for the non-medical personnels, fyi, we rotate through different posting every 6 months, and the change over period will be may and nov, hence april is our last month).

anyway, i am supposed to be taking exams instead in april, but i have decided to delay it further cos.. well i am not really ready to settle down to mug. and since fate has it that way that i am posted to rehab med for the next six months, i think i better start studying (cos rehab med is supposed to be less siong) and probably gonna take my exams in august.

ok exams aside, this is supposed to be a happy post since my friend said all my previous entries recently were quite negative. so i finally got my leave approved and this time, i will be going to japan! it is the correct season to see cherry blossoms, though it has oredi commenced since 22 march and should last till 10 april (for central japan - where we are heading to).



this is my half-packed lugguage. well actually these are about all the things that i want to bring. stuff like toiletries, hair gel, comb, dental floss etc can only be put in tmr after i have used them. and now i am busy charging all my batteries - ipod, hp, cameras, palmtop.

went out just now for last-min shopping. wanted to buy the wireless keyboard for my palmtop but to my surprise it is rather costly and didn't buy in the end. so i will just have to stick to paper and pen for my travelblog and transfer everything here when i am back next week.

and i have finally switched off my work hp today!
till then.

0 comments