Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sorry it took so long to put this up... had blogged on my pda during my trip, but hv not taken time to upload it :P It may be rather cheong hei... but...Japan travelogue (a.k.a eating trip)
Land of clean toilets & good hair days!
99.5% of the toilets are extremely clean, and even the dirty ones din even match up to the clean ones in Spore. It must have been the water or something, my hair nv fails to shape nicely despite not having all the usual stuff i put in it. *that sounded real blonde*
Day OneRealised that we wld hv spent the day on the plane. Timing for the flight was limited as it was a special deal, & availability was low. lt was our first time on ANA, nice & spacious. Mostly Jap so chatter level was low - Good! The only gripe was that they only served one proper meal throughout the 8 hr flight. Ice cream was served as the refreshment before landing.
Caught two really great jap movies on the plane: Nada Sou Sou and Metro ni notte. Highly recommended!
Was starving by the time we reached our hotel! The nearest & best place to satisfy the hunger is none other than this ramen shop!
Loads of funny & interesting ads on their local tv. There's this Kirin beer ad with a male lead that resembles steven lim! *quiver*
Day Two
After a yummy traditional jap breakfast, we headed off to Odaiba. The Toyota showroom was loads of fun (think even my folkes enjoyed the place)
I found this "interesting" signage... bet it was a direct translation from Jap/Chinese
Lunch was tonkatszu spread @ Tokyo fashion town. Next was shibuya where I got 2 hrs shopping time alone. It was certainly more effective & efficient.
Day Three
Tsukiji market! Yums Yums Yums... more ramen! Before we started walking around the market, it was breakfast at a stand up ramen stall...
Then it was walking around (and a bit of shopping) @ Ginza for the afternoon
Day Four
Thank God that it rained in Tokyo only when we had to set off to Mt fuji area. Was sharing with Dad at the train station that God had a great plan, when he "complained" about the rain.... It would not have been possible to walk around Tokyo area since it was pouring. He just nodded and smiled. He knows. The weather was clear there.
Got into a bit of trouble when we were exiting the train station at Otsuki. We had taken a train from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku station for a transit. Was told (in very broken Eng) that we could exit from the station and enter again during that transit, and that's what we did, exiting by slotting our tickets into the machines. I tot it was right coz we had 2 sets of tickets. It turns out tat one of them is some kind of receipt.
So we happily re-entered Shinjuku station by just flashing our tickets, and went on our way. Upon reaching Otsuki, we realised that what we were holding were not tickets. The station people insisted that we pay for the tickets. I was adamant not to pay for them and started explaning to them the situation. (okay i admit i got a bit heated up, and raised my voice in annoyance) The station master was a nice elderly man who called up their head office (i think) and explained the situation to them. After checking our return tickets, he believed us and allowed us out of there. Thank God for His favor. The loop hole to this was, the person who checked our tickets at Shinjuku actually let us in! So part of it was an oversight on their end as well :P
After close to 3 hr jouney, we finally reached our destination. It was a 180 degrees change from the city life of Tokyo. It was the nice quiet town by the lake.
We stayed in a hotel with public bath facilities. When we first booked it, we were under the impression that it was hot springs hotel. However, to our dismay, it was more of a hot bath than hot springs. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the experience. There were hot baths located outdoors, and we tried it. Imagine sitting under the clear blue sky and soaking in hot tubs... it was a great experience.
The view from our rm was great too... we could see Mt Fuji from the balcony.. or shld i say our private bath (see pic on right)? We tot we would have our own hot springs in the rm... oh well... it was a jap website and we have no idea it mean bath rather than springs... haha
Oh yes, we were blessed with a 15 min fireworks display that night. We stood by the roadside right outside the hotel and froze there for a while.
Day Five
Long journey back to Tokyo by train. Lunched at Ueno (one of our fav sushi hunt) & visited Asakusa in the evening. There were simply so many Hello Kitty stuff in the area that i could not resist not getting one just for the trip :P
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Like i have shared with my cell, it was a very trying trip... However, God has His ways and means of speaking to me and reminding me.... esp of the traits that i have inherit:
- Wanting to do things my way. You reminded me to let go, not to be so strict/demanding on wanting it my "right" way. You also reminded me that travelling with family shld be a happy occasion. But it seems so painful. So i have to not to be so hard on them.
- Flare up easily sometimes.
"Do to others what you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31It was a reminder for me to be more patient with me folks... and treat them with respect. Sometimes we take it for granted that they understand, but it is when we take it for granted that we take advantage of it.
It was a great trip.. and i really Thank God for blessing me with this (eating) trip... now back to the diet! Need to stress that food in Japan is really not that ex! a bowl of fresh Chirashi is about 800Yen which is about S$10... if we take into consideration food court prices here + extremely fresh sashimi... it's indeed value for $. Other options like ramen range from 300Yen to 600Yen which is comparable to foodcourt pricing here... so its really not that ex!
Full set of pics are found here!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Was reading a friend's blog on how her life is changed within few seconds. There are times of hurt but yet she kept her eyes on You. Her faith truly inspires... Despite all that she is going through in her life, what she has shared through her blog truly reflects her faith in our Heavenly Father.After reading her blog, all the thoughts of "why can't we get along", "why is it that when we are together, it's just silent most of the time", "is it me or is it just her" from the office situation just diminished. Insecurity. It made me realised that there is a bigger plan and purpose then just looking at the situation before me. What can i do to use the situation to glorify You? This has never crossed my mind.
Hard as i try, it had been me, myself and i. It's something that You have been reminding recently... J-O-Y = Jesus, Others, Yourself. That is the right order. Or rather, perspectives of others should not be viewed from me dimension. It's more than humility, and placing others before self.
Looking back, all of it seems so shallow recently. What happened to the one that was truly on fire for You... not just doing things for the sake of it. Does it really have to take desperate situations before I turn to You once more? Somehow the desire is there, but the flames just does not seem to be blazing. I need You to be that oxygen tank to just inject more and more... so much that it just burst into a blazing fire.
Lord it is my desire to walk stronger and closer with You like nv before. Though I may not have fancy words or ability to write in poetry fluency, in simple words i will say: Thank You and I Love You, Lord.
1 Cor 1 "30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Seeing all that hype about people queuing up for up to an hour for these donuts, me dad decided to try it on Sunday just to appease me mum. Conclusion: the donuts are nicer than the ones in the normal bakery for sure. Its rather bready and not cakey... however the icing portions are a tat bit too sweet for my liking. Think its the hot and humid climate that affects the taste bud.... if it was in a cold country, it would be perfect to have it as breakfast for tha sugar rush.It was a great weekend, starting from Friday nite's sushi party at cell... it was meant to be a farewell party unfortunately we din get to tha part. Next came sat where the supper cell hung out for great food, showing guests where to get great local food. Besides the great sermon on Sunday morning, the weekend was completed with a 4 hr k session filled with head banging, eye candy artists, lovey dovey and "i-got-learn" songs with the 2 gals.... the session started with us seated on the couch and ended with a couple of us perching on the top of the couch (ask us for a live demo).
Oh yes, the week certainly started on a good note! Saw Daniel Wu and Louis Koo at Protege's Gala Premier. Well, the movie was definitely better than seeing then rush pass the screaming fans.
Count down to Tokyo: 2 days!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
ooo i finally found out what the bright green light that Su and i saw at Green Ridge park was!It was Comet McNaught!
Had fun watching Proj superstar live on Sun nite with sabbie whilst the rest of the supper cell cheered the Spore team on... Had great seats, all thanks to the ex-B... 4 rows behind the judges! Sabbie and i were afraid that we would be caught on national TV... good thing they only panned up to the second/third row... hehe
Pics from the event!
Daren and Diya receiving comments from judges
The excellent accurate yet high pitched Cao Ge!
All Project Superstar finalist on the stage before the winners were announced.
A sea of red also at the indoor stadium - Diya's supporters
about
Settling down once again in the buzzing city of Spore...yet hoping not to be affected by the "busy" culture, hoping to maintain some stillness and quietness....more inspired to run after God's plan for her life... desiring to live a God-centered life
This is me - eve
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