from the pen of a bored foreign student in japan...
lets see. the last post was 11 november, over a month ago. since then, exams hv came n went, n life has become a boring, meaningless mess. now im juz counting the days till i go home. sure, its been 2 weeks since exams ended, but sumhow the days juz slipped by without me doing a single thing that has any significance. im talking major frustration here. actually, i dun even noe wat im crapping about. except dat im damn bored, most of my frens hv either gone home or going out wif other ppl, n the guy i called to play warcraft 3 wif is talking on the phone wif his family. sucks....
anyway, a few updates on my life. the day immediately after exams, i went to Tama Zoo wif the ppl frm biology class...even tho im a physics student here. kinda reminiscent of the f6 days when me n seng chee wud get out of class to attend bio lectures...hehe. got a few pics from that trip. the focus of the zoo trip was sum sort of chimpanzee observation, due to the bio sensei happening to know a keeper at the chimps' compound.
some time after that there was a trip to ueno, a part of the central, 'real' (read: busy, crowded, stuffy even in winter) tokyo. at 1st wasnt planning 2 go, but sumhow got myself dragged along...n was glad i did, cuz at least we did sumting worthwhile, visiting an art museum (has anyone heard of Pira b4? sum french or italian guy, i forgot...wif a seriously deranged mind dat is reflected in the slightly disturbing pandemonia of his drawings) plus the Ueno National Science Museum, an extremely interesting place wif 6 floors full of skeletons, presesrved animals, videos, hands-on tech gadgets, u name it...all for juz 500 yen entrance fee! anyway, i'll put up d pics i took there, sumtime...next week. hehe.
speaking of pics, im proud 2 announce dat i got myself a new camera! a Canon IXY 900 IS to be exact, arguably canon's most advanced ultracompact digicam at the moment. bought it from the same online shop from which i got my slightly disappointing Logitech VX Revolution mouse. this time they were extremely prompt in service..i ordered n paid on tuesday n received it on thursday, incidentally the day exams 'ended'. tho at dat time i was kinda pissed off at myself for messing up my maths paper, so i received my camera wif slightly mixed feelings. its hard not too feel kinda empty when u get urself a 'reward' for sumting u din do well...
anyway, the camera turned out excellent in most cases since i started to use it...n unlike my computer n mouse, both china-made, this camera is 100% 日本製! so i can probably expect more reliability n durability from it in the future...hehe. as ive sed earlier, i'll post the pics sometime later when im feeling like it...nothing turns u off blogging more than the thought of uploading photos, anyway....
so anyway, this week was kinda bz cuz of discussion sessions wif the teachers to determine which university we can apply to...plus doing the actual applications n stuff, which actually doesnt take much time by itself; but ppl like me hv a habit of putting off important jobs until the last moment, then getting pek chek...for those who wan 2 noe, i applied for university of tokyo wif sum misgivings, n put university of osaka as my second choice...tho i probably stand a better chance of getting osaka cuz theres this damn vietnamese who's trying to get into tokyo uni too, n u noe how crazy vietnamese r when it comes to studying...
this week, too, a bunch of us went to a nearby park for a picnic n 'maple viewing', but unfortunately most of the maple leaves had already dropped off so we din get to see the lush red carpets on the trees that we've been expecting. oh well, there's still next year. i must say tho, autumn is probably the best time of the year n it sucked that we were all bz preparing for exams n din get to explore around a bit more...
this morning slept at 4am, woke at 5am to send a fren off, then slept again frm 7.30 to 2pm. so now im feeling really weird. add dat to a neck ache i got frm overexercising at the gym yesterday n u've got a seriously messed up guy that is me. n i hv 2 do sumting bout the stockpile of food in my fridge which i hv 2 clear out b4 i go home...plus buy souvenirs n stuff...haih...looks like life isnt that empty after all, but its still shitty....
ah, last but not least, yesterday there was a party n i got myself drunk on 2 glasses of beer plus 3 of wine...hehe...then tried to do sum breakdancing too...chin siao...but good thing was i got to show off my piano playing, plus there was a ton of food im usually too kiamsiap to eat, AND there was a ton of gals frm other programmes....tho i din get 2 talk to any...:)
anyway, enuf for now. time to kick my fren's ass in wc3
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
the journey of a thousand miles.....begins wif a single click
there is nothing more fun than playing doom 3 on a 17-inch-screen laptop wif lights out n the room bathed in red from the comp's LEDs...hehehe...
ok so....how shud i start....i 1st started having this urge 2 get a comp earlier than planned (original plan was 2 get a comp after d end-of-term exam) sumtime around beginning of september. during d whole of december d library was practically closed (open till 5pm on weekdays only...we hv classes till 2.40 at the earliest) so i was almost cut off frm d online world...n other functions dat required a comp, such as searching for song lyrics, preparing presentations for speaking class etc, were oso affected.
so i started by checking out dell's comps. now, as many of u noe, i've been saving money like a miser ever since i got here in order 2 get a REALLY good comp when d time comes. so i immediately ruled out inspiron laptops in favour of the xps line. but the problem was...d only 'possible' models were the miniscule 12-incher M1210 n the huge 17-incher M1710 (sizes as compared to the notebook 'standard', 14 inches). initially, sum craze for 'the ultimate mobility' took hold of me n i even made an order for a suped-up M1210 online thru dell's website (wif big savings possible due to usage of online coupons n everything)...
a few days after making the order, even going as far as setting up a bank account so i can pay for the order by bank transfer, i changed my mind. n it was sudden too...i took coffee at nite 2 'help wif my studies' n ended up sleepless, n i tossed n turned for d better part of a night thinking how d hell i was supposed 2 play games or even chat onling comfortably on a 12-inch screen for the next 2 years or so. the next day i juz decided to scrap the idea of getting the M1210, even tho there was a great online deal on at dat time.
it shud b noted dat another reason i decided against the M1210 was becuz of its graphics card, a mere GeForce 7400 which wud not b capable of playing nowadays' games at acceptable settings anyway.
so i juz left the order there unpaid for n hoped dat dell wud eventually cancel it automatically :P now i noe dat dats not a good thing 2 do, but when u cant understand wats written on half d website n dun even noe the proper format for sending an email in japanese, u shud b at least partially justified 4 doing such a thing. as i was :P right???
anyway....next choice....i took to looking at a bunch of japanese computer brands. now, originally i decided early on dat i wud NOT get a japanese brand comp cuz of their relatively higher price for the same specs (compared to, say, dell), plus d fact dat they were generally built wif a different focus in mind (ie aesthetics - sleek, colourful designs dat sumhow exuded feminity; capabilities focused on multimedia functions eg tv-viewing, rather than raw performance) from wat i wanted as a gamer. but anyway, i picked out wat seemd 2 b d only good choice among toshiba, sony, NEC n fujitsu....the sony vaio type F, a 15.4 incher wif a geforce 7600.
then i decided the price was simply too high for its specs. i mean, wtf, sony charges 50000 yen to upgrade from 1 GB of ram to 2 GB?? n there was no 2.0GHz processor available, n d upgrade from 1.83GHz to 2.16GHz costs 60000 yen. talk bout cutting throats. so despite having spent hours poring thru brochures n doing online research, i decided to scrap the idea of buying a vaio after all. heh.
so then i came across this company in the US selling laptops wif supposedly fine-tuned performance n simply out-of-this-world designs...alienware. now, alienware was once (n still is, to a limited degree) a 'boutique' computer vendor....they sell highly customizable computers, claim to conduct strict benchmarking n performance tuning on those comps, n charge a relatively high price for these comps. but wat really attracted me 2 alienware was 1) the design n 2) the fact dat a guy here frm mexico who noes computers sed dat its good. n the real selling point was dat despite being 'boutique' n taking into account shipping costs n everything, it will still arrive at my doorstep half a grand ringgit cheaper (for roughly d same specs) as the sony vaio i had been considering. dat tells sumting about d relative prices of things in US n japan eh.
so after working out all the logistics (i wud hv it sent 2 my sis, n hv her send it to me), i placed an online order for a 15.4 inch alienware area-51 M5550, a relly cool piece of work despite being among alienware's 'lower midrange' laptops. reason was dat alienware makes comps geared for gaming, which generally indicates a 17incher wif geforce 7800/7900-class graphics.
then overnight i changed my mind again. until then i had checked up intensively on d alienware M5550 online, n while i discovered certain disconcerting facts about d M5550 frm reviews, i sumhow overlooked them in d zeal 2 get a 'boutique comp, shipped all the way frm US, n not available in japan!'. but then sumhow it struck me dat if sumting bad happens 2 d comp, i wud b stuck wif a broken laptop thousands of miles away frm d nearest alienare service center. in other words, lack of obtainable tech support here in japan = bad thing. n several comments i read online about heat problems (which i guess contributes to system wear) related to the m5550 settled the matter. i din wan a comp wif a burnt up 3d card n no way to replace it.
up till then, i did not even consider 17 inch comps becuz they were, in my own words, 'humongous'. of course they wud not b as light n mobile as, say, yst's 14 inch toshiba. but then the question was raised: y d heck wud i care so much about mobility over performance when i probably wun b moving it about more than once a month? n a laptop is a laptop...it'll b infinitely easier to transport to, say, the common room or even the library compared to a desktop anyway, regardless of size. lastly, only 17 inchers carry serious 3d gaming power. n so it finally dawned on me dat, as a self-admitted gaming addict, 17 inches is the way to go. (by the way, in case sum wacko out there is relating all this talk of inches to another guy-thing also measured in inches, GET OUT U STINKIN PERV)
n the choice for a 17 inch was simple. among all the reviews i read online, only one comp, the 17-inch dell xps M1710, had stood out as being virtually flawless - in performance AND aesthetics (tho of a different kind frm d jap comps). n d price, while high, was by no means exhorbitant, given the performance i wud b buying. so within 2 days i had placed my order online n paid for it via bank transfer.
so now, roughly 10 days after receiving my new baby, im now typing this acount on him/her/it at nearly 2am in d morning. sumbody help me, im addicted again.
btw, any suggestions on resolving the him/her/it question? ie which shud it be?
ok so....how shud i start....i 1st started having this urge 2 get a comp earlier than planned (original plan was 2 get a comp after d end-of-term exam) sumtime around beginning of september. during d whole of december d library was practically closed (open till 5pm on weekdays only...we hv classes till 2.40 at the earliest) so i was almost cut off frm d online world...n other functions dat required a comp, such as searching for song lyrics, preparing presentations for speaking class etc, were oso affected.
so i started by checking out dell's comps. now, as many of u noe, i've been saving money like a miser ever since i got here in order 2 get a REALLY good comp when d time comes. so i immediately ruled out inspiron laptops in favour of the xps line. but the problem was...d only 'possible' models were the miniscule 12-incher M1210 n the huge 17-incher M1710 (sizes as compared to the notebook 'standard', 14 inches). initially, sum craze for 'the ultimate mobility' took hold of me n i even made an order for a suped-up M1210 online thru dell's website (wif big savings possible due to usage of online coupons n everything)...
a few days after making the order, even going as far as setting up a bank account so i can pay for the order by bank transfer, i changed my mind. n it was sudden too...i took coffee at nite 2 'help wif my studies' n ended up sleepless, n i tossed n turned for d better part of a night thinking how d hell i was supposed 2 play games or even chat onling comfortably on a 12-inch screen for the next 2 years or so. the next day i juz decided to scrap the idea of getting the M1210, even tho there was a great online deal on at dat time.
it shud b noted dat another reason i decided against the M1210 was becuz of its graphics card, a mere GeForce 7400 which wud not b capable of playing nowadays' games at acceptable settings anyway.
so i juz left the order there unpaid for n hoped dat dell wud eventually cancel it automatically :P now i noe dat dats not a good thing 2 do, but when u cant understand wats written on half d website n dun even noe the proper format for sending an email in japanese, u shud b at least partially justified 4 doing such a thing. as i was :P right???
anyway....next choice....i took to looking at a bunch of japanese computer brands. now, originally i decided early on dat i wud NOT get a japanese brand comp cuz of their relatively higher price for the same specs (compared to, say, dell), plus d fact dat they were generally built wif a different focus in mind (ie aesthetics - sleek, colourful designs dat sumhow exuded feminity; capabilities focused on multimedia functions eg tv-viewing, rather than raw performance) from wat i wanted as a gamer. but anyway, i picked out wat seemd 2 b d only good choice among toshiba, sony, NEC n fujitsu....the sony vaio type F, a 15.4 incher wif a geforce 7600.
then i decided the price was simply too high for its specs. i mean, wtf, sony charges 50000 yen to upgrade from 1 GB of ram to 2 GB?? n there was no 2.0GHz processor available, n d upgrade from 1.83GHz to 2.16GHz costs 60000 yen. talk bout cutting throats. so despite having spent hours poring thru brochures n doing online research, i decided to scrap the idea of buying a vaio after all. heh.
so then i came across this company in the US selling laptops wif supposedly fine-tuned performance n simply out-of-this-world designs...alienware. now, alienware was once (n still is, to a limited degree) a 'boutique' computer vendor....they sell highly customizable computers, claim to conduct strict benchmarking n performance tuning on those comps, n charge a relatively high price for these comps. but wat really attracted me 2 alienware was 1) the design n 2) the fact dat a guy here frm mexico who noes computers sed dat its good. n the real selling point was dat despite being 'boutique' n taking into account shipping costs n everything, it will still arrive at my doorstep half a grand ringgit cheaper (for roughly d same specs) as the sony vaio i had been considering. dat tells sumting about d relative prices of things in US n japan eh.
so after working out all the logistics (i wud hv it sent 2 my sis, n hv her send it to me), i placed an online order for a 15.4 inch alienware area-51 M5550, a relly cool piece of work despite being among alienware's 'lower midrange' laptops. reason was dat alienware makes comps geared for gaming, which generally indicates a 17incher wif geforce 7800/7900-class graphics.
then overnight i changed my mind again. until then i had checked up intensively on d alienware M5550 online, n while i discovered certain disconcerting facts about d M5550 frm reviews, i sumhow overlooked them in d zeal 2 get a 'boutique comp, shipped all the way frm US, n not available in japan!'. but then sumhow it struck me dat if sumting bad happens 2 d comp, i wud b stuck wif a broken laptop thousands of miles away frm d nearest alienare service center. in other words, lack of obtainable tech support here in japan = bad thing. n several comments i read online about heat problems (which i guess contributes to system wear) related to the m5550 settled the matter. i din wan a comp wif a burnt up 3d card n no way to replace it.
up till then, i did not even consider 17 inch comps becuz they were, in my own words, 'humongous'. of course they wud not b as light n mobile as, say, yst's 14 inch toshiba. but then the question was raised: y d heck wud i care so much about mobility over performance when i probably wun b moving it about more than once a month? n a laptop is a laptop...it'll b infinitely easier to transport to, say, the common room or even the library compared to a desktop anyway, regardless of size. lastly, only 17 inchers carry serious 3d gaming power. n so it finally dawned on me dat, as a self-admitted gaming addict, 17 inches is the way to go. (by the way, in case sum wacko out there is relating all this talk of inches to another guy-thing also measured in inches, GET OUT U STINKIN PERV)
n the choice for a 17 inch was simple. among all the reviews i read online, only one comp, the 17-inch dell xps M1710, had stood out as being virtually flawless - in performance AND aesthetics (tho of a different kind frm d jap comps). n d price, while high, was by no means exhorbitant, given the performance i wud b buying. so within 2 days i had placed my order online n paid for it via bank transfer.
so now, roughly 10 days after receiving my new baby, im now typing this acount on him/her/it at nearly 2am in d morning. sumbody help me, im addicted again.
btw, any suggestions on resolving the him/her/it question? ie which shud it be?
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
good news everybody!
well, not really. juz for those noisy buggers out there who had been verbally pummelling me into blogging, especially in the photo-posting department. i juz uploaded a slew of pics frm no less than 5 events (all during or slightly before/after summer holidays) onto my multiply site. btw, the url is http://shaothing.multiply.com
now b4 those buggers start complaining dat i havent labelled d pics, havent arranged them according to date, blahblahblah, let me remind u dat i m operating on severely limited library hours during which, n ONLY during which, i can do any sort of computer-related stuff. so shaddap. ;P
juz off the top of my mind, lately ive been playing tekken. specifically tekken tag tournament n tekken 5.
ah, n i juz ordered a laptop today. AND PAID FOR IT....which means no more changing my mind. i'll provide more detailed information on it when it arrives (sadly, in 2 weeks' time minimum). n theres the rather amusing story of my search for 'the perfect laptop' which preluded this purchase :P
anyway, gotta go now, library closing liao. btw theam, teach me how to overclock a GeForce 7900GS....
now b4 those buggers start complaining dat i havent labelled d pics, havent arranged them according to date, blahblahblah, let me remind u dat i m operating on severely limited library hours during which, n ONLY during which, i can do any sort of computer-related stuff. so shaddap. ;P
juz off the top of my mind, lately ive been playing tekken. specifically tekken tag tournament n tekken 5.
ah, n i juz ordered a laptop today. AND PAID FOR IT....which means no more changing my mind. i'll provide more detailed information on it when it arrives (sadly, in 2 weeks' time minimum). n theres the rather amusing story of my search for 'the perfect laptop' which preluded this purchase :P
anyway, gotta go now, library closing liao. btw theam, teach me how to overclock a GeForce 7900GS....
Saturday, October 21, 2006
........
does anyone noe dat jay chou has a new album titled 'still fantasy'? actually i knew bout d album sum weeks back but juz managed 2 find time 2 download it. also managed 2 find time 2 post a blog entry, as u can see...
anyway, i've decided to open a multiply account n use it for posting up pictures. makes things much more convenient than posting them here....the sheer horror of having to sort thru my photos, then uploading them one by one is the reason y my blog has been empty for so long.....so from now on i'll juz use this page to talk crap n mebbe write the occasional poem like dan is doing :P
the last time i posted an actual entry was probably around the beginning of august, ie summer holidays. reason was dat during summer hols the library was closed most of d time so i din hv d opportunity to blog about my summer exploits. after dat sch restarted but for the whole of sept d library was open until 5pm only. hence, my blog being empty for the past month too. then this month there was exams. so basically i m well justified in being away for so long.
anyway, there was a school trip to matsumoto castle around the end of last month (or did i blog about it already?) basically juz a 2 day 1 night affair, but loads of fun esp since it meant 2 days of sch holidays :P im sure yst blogged about it (n oso about the videos taken there) so y dun u head over to his blog for a more colourful account of the trip :P
well, nothing much else 2 talk about for the moment....summer's over, winter's coming so its now cool n nice most of the time, tho i cud do wif a few more hrs of sunshine (it gets dark at 5pm now). i'll b er...'trying' to work harder at my studies for the next 1 n a half months in preparation for the big year end exam...so dun expect too many posts from me. when i hv more time i'll put up pics at my multiply site tho (its currently empty so i wun link to it yet).
haih, for some reason blogging is starting 2 b a real PIA. n yet it somehow feels like something of a duty or responsibility so i cant stay away from my blog without feeling guilty....
anyway, later guys
anyway, i've decided to open a multiply account n use it for posting up pictures. makes things much more convenient than posting them here....the sheer horror of having to sort thru my photos, then uploading them one by one is the reason y my blog has been empty for so long.....so from now on i'll juz use this page to talk crap n mebbe write the occasional poem like dan is doing :P
the last time i posted an actual entry was probably around the beginning of august, ie summer holidays. reason was dat during summer hols the library was closed most of d time so i din hv d opportunity to blog about my summer exploits. after dat sch restarted but for the whole of sept d library was open until 5pm only. hence, my blog being empty for the past month too. then this month there was exams. so basically i m well justified in being away for so long.
anyway, there was a school trip to matsumoto castle around the end of last month (or did i blog about it already?) basically juz a 2 day 1 night affair, but loads of fun esp since it meant 2 days of sch holidays :P im sure yst blogged about it (n oso about the videos taken there) so y dun u head over to his blog for a more colourful account of the trip :P
well, nothing much else 2 talk about for the moment....summer's over, winter's coming so its now cool n nice most of the time, tho i cud do wif a few more hrs of sunshine (it gets dark at 5pm now). i'll b er...'trying' to work harder at my studies for the next 1 n a half months in preparation for the big year end exam...so dun expect too many posts from me. when i hv more time i'll put up pics at my multiply site tho (its currently empty so i wun link to it yet).
haih, for some reason blogging is starting 2 b a real PIA. n yet it somehow feels like something of a duty or responsibility so i cant stay away from my blog without feeling guilty....
anyway, later guys
Saturday, October 07, 2006
argh
ok guys, i SWEAR i was gona post up something today...but i juz got back from an outing wif my japanese host mother.....n now i hv 2 settle some bank stuff 4 my dad...so u'll hv 2 wait!....I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS BLOG!!!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Leave of Absence
well guys, i had a really great summer holidays....went lots of places did (quite) a lot of things n such...but unfortunately due to er...'time constraints' i was unable 2 blog bout the happenings. but rest assured, i'll get around to it soon! in the meanwhile the library's closed for 2 weeks starting next monday, so i'll b gone for a while.
anyway in short, i've gone to an english summer camp in nasu where i had my wits tortured by a bunch of retarded 14-year old kids, who also gave me a nickname that everyone in the dorm now noes about; a guitar 'camp' (gasshuku, meaning 'live-together', in japanese...) in akita-ken which is one of the most beautiful places i've seen, also getting to know quite a few new friends there; and a homestay programme in karumai-cho of iwate-ken, which is the neighbouring prefecture of akita-ken (both far to the north, juz short of hokkaido....approx. 8 hrs' bus ride), also a beautiful place, where i slept at 10.30 n woke at 6.30 each day, n played park golf n acted in a play; n oso played dota after a VERY long time! but details will hv 2 wait. anyway, signing off!
p.s. i've been receiving disturbing reports of my msn account signing in at times when i cudnt possibly hv access to a computer. so if u c me on9 late at nite or sumting, its prob not me. but juz send a msg 2 b sure :P
p.s.s. this post is basically juz 2 let ppl noe i'm not giving up on my blog yet, unlike many of the ppl out there...heheh...strive to the end!
anyway in short, i've gone to an english summer camp in nasu where i had my wits tortured by a bunch of retarded 14-year old kids, who also gave me a nickname that everyone in the dorm now noes about; a guitar 'camp' (gasshuku, meaning 'live-together', in japanese...) in akita-ken which is one of the most beautiful places i've seen, also getting to know quite a few new friends there; and a homestay programme in karumai-cho of iwate-ken, which is the neighbouring prefecture of akita-ken (both far to the north, juz short of hokkaido....approx. 8 hrs' bus ride), also a beautiful place, where i slept at 10.30 n woke at 6.30 each day, n played park golf n acted in a play; n oso played dota after a VERY long time! but details will hv 2 wait. anyway, signing off!
p.s. i've been receiving disturbing reports of my msn account signing in at times when i cudnt possibly hv access to a computer. so if u c me on9 late at nite or sumting, its prob not me. but juz send a msg 2 b sure :P
p.s.s. this post is basically juz 2 let ppl noe i'm not giving up on my blog yet, unlike many of the ppl out there...heheh...strive to the end!
Friday, August 18, 2006
still alive
had lots of fun these past 2 weeks, but unfortunately computer access was limited for certain reasons which i will not go into detail about now....n going to homestay tonite! so, bye for another 10 days or so!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
postponed again
i swear i was going to post sumting today, mebbe about the crazy n wacky english summer camp i juz came back from (actually, i came back last thursday but...oh nevermind...) but then this guy frm peru wanted me 2 show him how 2 play dota n of course i cant give up the chance to corrupt another soul, can i?
so i'm gonna post tml! n guys, make sure u comment this time or i'll go on permanent blog strike. hehehe....
juz an interesting tidbit of info: most of u noe the song Dragonstea Din Tei rite? the 'mai ya heeee, mai ya haaaaa, mai ya hoooo, mai ya ahh ahh...' song....well, it turned out dat one of the other 'captains' (dats wat we 'paid participants at the camp were called) is the fren of the song's artiste. cool eh.
anyway ciao, gona play dota
so i'm gonna post tml! n guys, make sure u comment this time or i'll go on permanent blog strike. hehehe....
juz an interesting tidbit of info: most of u noe the song Dragonstea Din Tei rite? the 'mai ya heeee, mai ya haaaaa, mai ya hoooo, mai ya ahh ahh...' song....well, it turned out dat one of the other 'captains' (dats wat we 'paid participants at the camp were called) is the fren of the song's artiste. cool eh.
anyway ciao, gona play dota
Monday, July 24, 2006
post exam...pre camp
this afternoon i'll b leaving for the english summer camp so i tot i'd juz post a few random thoughts here despite the fact dat probably no one comes here anymore judging frm the number of comments on the last post >(
anyway, exams' ended last wednesday n we did sum crazy things since then. 1stly i've been actively expanding the number of dota players around here after discovering dat we can play dota on the library computers, thus living up to my title of The Corruptor ;P
also, dat nite, we went on an expedition to.......(drum rolls).....Tama Reien! ok...i better explain a little here....'reien' means cemetery in japanese, n this tama reien, which is juz 15 minutes' biking distance away, is one of the biggest in japan. or so i've heard. me n yst were taking a 'loooong walk' back to the dorm the week b4 dat n ended up on the far side of it n it took us mebbe an hr to circumnavigate it. since we failed to go thru it that time due to yst chickening out, we gathered more ppl n hence this expedition last wednesday...n it was spooky alright....but it was damn cool :P in fact we're planning another trip to go ALL the way thru the cemetery next time...
btw, about the long walk thing, yst n me took a train to sum place duno how many km away to take sum pictures of sum famous park...n then walked for 3.5 hrs all the way back...cuz we were looking for a place to eat at first n there wasnt any, n after we found one n ate, we walked most of the way back while looking for a train station to take us home. funny eh.
hmm...wat else...
last thursday me n yst went to shinjuku n bought a porn dvd to giv to a fren as a bday present. man, it was expensive. but the joke was worth it lah ;P n in shinjuku we went to an indian restaurant n ate stuff dat was ALMOST like penang mamak...of course, for about 5 times the price...
n last nite there was this hanabi (fireworks) display....it was cool but the pics i took din turn out too well cuz my camera was sucky...hv 2 get a better one soon....anyway, refer to yst's blog for the pics....
well, gotta prepare for the camp liao, signing off...
anyway, exams' ended last wednesday n we did sum crazy things since then. 1stly i've been actively expanding the number of dota players around here after discovering dat we can play dota on the library computers, thus living up to my title of The Corruptor ;P
also, dat nite, we went on an expedition to.......(drum rolls).....Tama Reien! ok...i better explain a little here....'reien' means cemetery in japanese, n this tama reien, which is juz 15 minutes' biking distance away, is one of the biggest in japan. or so i've heard. me n yst were taking a 'loooong walk' back to the dorm the week b4 dat n ended up on the far side of it n it took us mebbe an hr to circumnavigate it. since we failed to go thru it that time due to yst chickening out, we gathered more ppl n hence this expedition last wednesday...n it was spooky alright....but it was damn cool :P in fact we're planning another trip to go ALL the way thru the cemetery next time...
btw, about the long walk thing, yst n me took a train to sum place duno how many km away to take sum pictures of sum famous park...n then walked for 3.5 hrs all the way back...cuz we were looking for a place to eat at first n there wasnt any, n after we found one n ate, we walked most of the way back while looking for a train station to take us home. funny eh.
hmm...wat else...
last thursday me n yst went to shinjuku n bought a porn dvd to giv to a fren as a bday present. man, it was expensive. but the joke was worth it lah ;P n in shinjuku we went to an indian restaurant n ate stuff dat was ALMOST like penang mamak...of course, for about 5 times the price...
n last nite there was this hanabi (fireworks) display....it was cool but the pics i took din turn out too well cuz my camera was sucky...hv 2 get a better one soon....anyway, refer to yst's blog for the pics....
well, gotta prepare for the camp liao, signing off...
Thursday, July 13, 2006
here they come!
tml...exams begin! spring term-end exams, to be exact.
so wats a guy to do?
play SOLDAT, for one thing!
to save me from the boredom of exams (due to the fact that everyone's holed up in their rooms studying kanji, which WE learned 10 years ago ;P which resulting in there being no one to go shopping with), ive been playing this game for the last week or so. pretty simple 2D game, but fun n addictive! or mebbe its juz desperation due to being unable 2 play dota, i duno....but anyway check it out guys!
btw, yup, lately ive been going shopping a lot. no need for those looks of horror. i go becuz theres nothing else to do around here n i need a constant supply of fresh food for the kitchen. saving up for....stuff, u see...so i cook every day instead of eating out.....it makes a huge difference in ur finances here in japan....
well anyway, tml's exam, as i was saying. but the weather's so damn hot its near impossible to study, n anyway i THINK im pretty safe liao...compared to back in penang, theres a lot less study pressure here, at least for the time being....
anyway, hv 2 play a little soldat to loosen up! mata ne!
so wats a guy to do?
play SOLDAT, for one thing!
to save me from the boredom of exams (due to the fact that everyone's holed up in their rooms studying kanji, which WE learned 10 years ago ;P which resulting in there being no one to go shopping with), ive been playing this game for the last week or so. pretty simple 2D game, but fun n addictive! or mebbe its juz desperation due to being unable 2 play dota, i duno....but anyway check it out guys!
btw, yup, lately ive been going shopping a lot. no need for those looks of horror. i go becuz theres nothing else to do around here n i need a constant supply of fresh food for the kitchen. saving up for....stuff, u see...so i cook every day instead of eating out.....it makes a huge difference in ur finances here in japan....
well anyway, tml's exam, as i was saying. but the weather's so damn hot its near impossible to study, n anyway i THINK im pretty safe liao...compared to back in penang, theres a lot less study pressure here, at least for the time being....
anyway, hv 2 play a little soldat to loosen up! mata ne!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
helllooo
it appears that either no one's been visiting my blog lately, or ppl r growing a litle stingy wif comments. either way, as rentai did before, i demand comments. minimum of 10 on my pictures post before i post anything else.
and ppl in penang shud play dawn of war. new expansion coming out...necrons n tau! tho i wan tyranids...
juz a few random updates cuz im feeling rather shitty at the moment due to the cloudy weather outside.
- (1 month ago) bought a pair of earphones....model is N.U.D.E. ex. cool eh? they're the stick-in-the-ear-canal earbud type.
- (1.5 months ago) can now cycle without using my hands! tho turning is still a problem. n it contributed to a minor crash about a month back, which cost me 3500 yen in repairs. f_cking bike...
- got a summer 'job'! as a camp counsellor or sumting liddat...for an english-speaking camp for junior high sch students. how old is junior high anyway? :P
ok im out of ideas. bye.
and ppl in penang shud play dawn of war. new expansion coming out...necrons n tau! tho i wan tyranids...
juz a few random updates cuz im feeling rather shitty at the moment due to the cloudy weather outside.
- (1 month ago) bought a pair of earphones....model is N.U.D.E. ex. cool eh? they're the stick-in-the-ear-canal earbud type.
- (1.5 months ago) can now cycle without using my hands! tho turning is still a problem. n it contributed to a minor crash about a month back, which cost me 3500 yen in repairs. f_cking bike...
- got a summer 'job'! as a camp counsellor or sumting liddat...for an english-speaking camp for junior high sch students. how old is junior high anyway? :P
ok im out of ideas. bye.
Monday, June 26, 2006
THEY CALL IT TAG!!!
-The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points about his/her perfect lover.
-Have to mention the gender of his/her perfect lover.
-Tag eight other victims to join this game and leave a comment on their blog.
-If you are tagged the second time.There is NO need to do this again.
-Lastly, most importantly, HAVE FUN DOING IT!! ^^
gender: female AND younger than/same age as me (sorry ghee n rentai...)
1. hv a voice like jin sha (kym)
2. cute! but not in the...er....'affected' sort of way (read: natural)
3. has a REAL hobby/interest as opposed to 'hanging out, chatting wif frens, etc...'
4. someone that i can trust, can share secrets with him/her (<- taken from caryn's)...AND....b patient enuf 2 listen to my whining cuz i get relly tongue-tied n incoherrent when trying to express certain stuff, like wat i'm doing here actually, and u noe, u'r wasting ur time reading this so y not move on to the next point...
5. must b rich?? neh!! BUT, must not b AFTER my money hehe (which i dun hv much of, anyway...)
6. likes music
7. likes, or at least tries to understand, 'guy' entertainment eg martial arts, cursing each other, n dota (does not include porn tho :P)
8. makes me proud? (sounds egoistic rite)
ok now for my victims......
1. lydia (i noe u'r reading this!)
2. dan
3. ghee
4. theam (this gonna b interesting)
5. sam (this too! ;P)
6. xinch
7. june..er...either one....
8. rentai (hmm....hope its not too...shocking...)
-Have to mention the gender of his/her perfect lover.
-Tag eight other victims to join this game and leave a comment on their blog.
-If you are tagged the second time.There is NO need to do this again.
-Lastly, most importantly, HAVE FUN DOING IT!! ^^
gender: female AND younger than/same age as me (sorry ghee n rentai...)
1. hv a voice like jin sha (kym)
2. cute! but not in the...er....'affected' sort of way (read: natural)
3. has a REAL hobby/interest as opposed to 'hanging out, chatting wif frens, etc...'
4. someone that i can trust, can share secrets with him/her (<- taken from caryn's)...AND....b patient enuf 2 listen to my whining cuz i get relly tongue-tied n incoherrent when trying to express certain stuff, like wat i'm doing here actually, and u noe, u'r wasting ur time reading this so y not move on to the next point...
5. must b rich?? neh!! BUT, must not b AFTER my money hehe (which i dun hv much of, anyway...)
6. likes music
7. likes, or at least tries to understand, 'guy' entertainment eg martial arts, cursing each other, n dota (does not include porn tho :P)
8. makes me proud? (sounds egoistic rite)
ok now for my victims......
1. lydia (i noe u'r reading this!)
2. dan
3. ghee
4. theam (this gonna b interesting)
5. sam (this too! ;P)
6. xinch
7. june..er...either one....
8. rentai (hmm....hope its not too...shocking...)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
at last...some pictures
at long last, the ravenlord has gotten down to posting up some pictures. so below is a careful selection of pics taken during the past mt fuji hike (well, its the only interesting thing worth taking pictures of anyway). note: since my camera's battery died years ago, all these were taken by my frens. so dun complain if the quality's bad or anything.
btw, dun stop commenting on the last post cuz i wanna break dan's record for no. of comments per post! :P
ok 1stly this is mt fuji, end of story. actually, if u zoom in, u can see a few dots that r me n sum other students. makes the whole scene, well, grander. kua...
there r platforms like this built all over the face of the mountain (at least, the lower part, where we hiked along...). supposedly for stopping landslides but oso gives a great view. n of course there r the suicidals....this IS japan after all....
group foto wif sum ppl....represented here r the nationalities of indonesia, phillipines, brunei, macau, south korea, laos, columbia n lithuania. im not gona mention names here cuz its pointless n u noe it. or mebbe u dun. anyway...
another group foto. this time theres a guy from cambodia (left-most) n a gal from sri lanka (the half hidden one). n the ravenlord was trying to do sumting funny wif his own hp camera but it din turn out well...n that crazy guy who looks like he's gonna rape the gals in front is Bo (full name, Tansri Wibowo....no kiddin!) from indonesia.
heres the rapist Bo-san again. a bit further back is our favourite ravenlord. this is a dried up riverbed btw....or mebbe lava used to flow here. i duno...
the guy in black jacket is oso from indonesia. the guy in the middle is doing sumtin interesting wif his favourite finger...(btw isnt it cool...the riverbed juz stretches up all the way to the top of the mountain...as far as we can see....)
this is Bo, the ravenlord, n the guy from cambodia whose name is Vitou. n if he tries to look any cooler i'm gonna push him off.
ah, my favourite (2nd favourite actually) pose! the human koala!
i call this...er....Koala Waiting In Ambush....
2 years of taekwondo doesnt go to waste, even in japan where its all karate....
group foto of ALL the students..taken at the 'summit'...which was not relly it, but the highest we got to b4 turning tail. guys, comment on the gals n tell us if we're lucky. :P
- edit: notice the rock in my hand. was gonna club sum1 at random over the head, but dun get to do it :(
candid shot (of dunno wat, by dunno who). i picked this to post up cuz it shows a gal rubbing her soles, a guy playing wif himself n another guy taking off his pants. all unwittingly captured in one masterpiece.
finally...at the foot of the mountain, near the entrance of the ice caves (where there is real natural ice). another group foto. move along, nothing interesting. guys, dun forget to comment tho.
well, i guess that conludes today's photo presentation. nite all!
(ps. these pics r not taken in the order posted. duno y i botherd 2 mention this but well...)
btw im thinking of introducing a few japanese words wif each of my post in the future, so u guys can belajar sambil membaca/melihat. it'll give me a bit more to blog about besides the miserable few intersting things happening lately too. anyone in favour of it, raise ur hands.
btw, dun stop commenting on the last post cuz i wanna break dan's record for no. of comments per post! :P
ok 1stly this is mt fuji, end of story. actually, if u zoom in, u can see a few dots that r me n sum other students. makes the whole scene, well, grander. kua...
there r platforms like this built all over the face of the mountain (at least, the lower part, where we hiked along...). supposedly for stopping landslides but oso gives a great view. n of course there r the suicidals....this IS japan after all....
group foto wif sum ppl....represented here r the nationalities of indonesia, phillipines, brunei, macau, south korea, laos, columbia n lithuania. im not gona mention names here cuz its pointless n u noe it. or mebbe u dun. anyway...
another group foto. this time theres a guy from cambodia (left-most) n a gal from sri lanka (the half hidden one). n the ravenlord was trying to do sumting funny wif his own hp camera but it din turn out well...n that crazy guy who looks like he's gonna rape the gals in front is Bo (full name, Tansri Wibowo....no kiddin!) from indonesia.
heres the rapist Bo-san again. a bit further back is our favourite ravenlord. this is a dried up riverbed btw....or mebbe lava used to flow here. i duno...
the guy in black jacket is oso from indonesia. the guy in the middle is doing sumtin interesting wif his favourite finger...(btw isnt it cool...the riverbed juz stretches up all the way to the top of the mountain...as far as we can see....)
this is Bo, the ravenlord, n the guy from cambodia whose name is Vitou. n if he tries to look any cooler i'm gonna push him off.
ah, my favourite (2nd favourite actually) pose! the human koala!
i call this...er....Koala Waiting In Ambush....
2 years of taekwondo doesnt go to waste, even in japan where its all karate....
group foto of ALL the students..taken at the 'summit'...which was not relly it, but the highest we got to b4 turning tail. guys, comment on the gals n tell us if we're lucky. :P- edit: notice the rock in my hand. was gonna club sum1 at random over the head, but dun get to do it :(
candid shot (of dunno wat, by dunno who). i picked this to post up cuz it shows a gal rubbing her soles, a guy playing wif himself n another guy taking off his pants. all unwittingly captured in one masterpiece.
finally...at the foot of the mountain, near the entrance of the ice caves (where there is real natural ice). another group foto. move along, nothing interesting. guys, dun forget to comment tho.well, i guess that conludes today's photo presentation. nite all!
(ps. these pics r not taken in the order posted. duno y i botherd 2 mention this but well...)
btw im thinking of introducing a few japanese words wif each of my post in the future, so u guys can belajar sambil membaca/melihat. it'll give me a bit more to blog about besides the miserable few intersting things happening lately too. anyone in favour of it, raise ur hands.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
no time 2 blog
library is closing...juz wanna do my duty 4 d week so here it is :P
nothing much's been happening lately...except dat the maths classes r deadly dull....n last sunday i went to an interview for a summer camp job...n iv been attending 2 karate classes a week so dan better cover his ass when i get back end of the year. oh, n i went 2 university of tokyo last last sunday (did i already blog about dat??) but it was dull.
anyway, cya guys!
nothing much's been happening lately...except dat the maths classes r deadly dull....n last sunday i went to an interview for a summer camp job...n iv been attending 2 karate classes a week so dan better cover his ass when i get back end of the year. oh, n i went 2 university of tokyo last last sunday (did i already blog about dat??) but it was dull.
anyway, cya guys!
Friday, June 02, 2006
Raptor's Untitled Blog
man...mount fuji was subarashi (= great, wonderful).....unfortunately dun hv time 2 blog bout it now cuz the library's closing early tonite 4 sum reason....
also our rooms got fogged today while we were outside....to kill cockroaches, u see.....
my list of dota acquaintances here grew longer again today...got 2 noe dat 2 more of my coursemates r players....i think there's already enuf for a 4v4 at least...if all of us hv computers...
neway, back tml!
also our rooms got fogged today while we were outside....to kill cockroaches, u see.....
my list of dota acquaintances here grew longer again today...got 2 noe dat 2 more of my coursemates r players....i think there's already enuf for a 4v4 at least...if all of us hv computers...
neway, back tml!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
what ive been up to
been quite a while since my last post eh? but i always say that. blogs r like girls, burdensome yet indispensable. haha, juz kiddin....
anyway, the 1st exam came n went last week....there was only 1 subject (japanese language) tho, n i got 98.5% for it....in fact i din actually study apart from a bit of last minute look-thru....im not a genius tho, its juz dat knowing chinese helps tremendously wif learning japanese...esp since the teaching speed isnt very fast anyway....
to take sum of the free time off my hands, i joined the sch karate club n a classical guitar class....the karate club is juz as its name suggests, a club....there's usually no instructor so the senpai (seniors) teach newbies like me...n man its hard 2 adapt 2 karate after two years in taekwondo...hv 2 relearn the stances, movement n everything from ground up.....
lately my ability to write chinese characters hv degraded to a horrifying extent....some of the words ive forgotten r so simple dat it seems impossible i cud hv forgotten them...haih, i suppose dat comes of not writing them for the past 2+ years....luckily i can still recognise the words so i hv an edge in learning japanese kanji.....
speaking of memories, lately iv been having 'lapses' into the past, especially when im in class. sumtimes i'd settle down into my seat n sort of think dat im back in my old classroom back home, then i'd juz look up from my book n wonder how in the world m i in a country thousands of miles away, in the same class as ppl from all over the world. theres sum sort of 'shock' involved, u noe. but dun worry, its not homesickness, more of 'surprise' or sumting nia....
last but not least, visited fuchu city planatarium the sunday b4 last, n university of tokyo last sunday. visit yst's blog for details..hehe...
ah well, did my duty to the blog...will b going on a trip 2 mt fuji tml....hope its gonna b fun!
ja mata guys!
anyway, the 1st exam came n went last week....there was only 1 subject (japanese language) tho, n i got 98.5% for it....in fact i din actually study apart from a bit of last minute look-thru....im not a genius tho, its juz dat knowing chinese helps tremendously wif learning japanese...esp since the teaching speed isnt very fast anyway....
to take sum of the free time off my hands, i joined the sch karate club n a classical guitar class....the karate club is juz as its name suggests, a club....there's usually no instructor so the senpai (seniors) teach newbies like me...n man its hard 2 adapt 2 karate after two years in taekwondo...hv 2 relearn the stances, movement n everything from ground up.....
lately my ability to write chinese characters hv degraded to a horrifying extent....some of the words ive forgotten r so simple dat it seems impossible i cud hv forgotten them...haih, i suppose dat comes of not writing them for the past 2+ years....luckily i can still recognise the words so i hv an edge in learning japanese kanji.....
speaking of memories, lately iv been having 'lapses' into the past, especially when im in class. sumtimes i'd settle down into my seat n sort of think dat im back in my old classroom back home, then i'd juz look up from my book n wonder how in the world m i in a country thousands of miles away, in the same class as ppl from all over the world. theres sum sort of 'shock' involved, u noe. but dun worry, its not homesickness, more of 'surprise' or sumting nia....
last but not least, visited fuchu city planatarium the sunday b4 last, n university of tokyo last sunday. visit yst's blog for details..hehe...
ah well, did my duty to the blog...will b going on a trip 2 mt fuji tml....hope its gonna b fun!
ja mata guys!
Saturday, May 20, 2006
boooring
nothing much 2 blog about, but there was a bazaar on the campus last week n i bought these for 100 yen (along wif other stuff).cool eh? the 2-pronged thing is for handling sashimi (exactly how, i dunno)...the others....well, i see a throwing knife, a longer assassin's blade n the biggest one is for fighting wif, i guess. kiddin :P
Saturday, May 13, 2006
the long-awaited update
lately i've grown sorta lazy....esp when i sit down to blog....so i'll try 2 keep this short...paiseh 2 all my fans out there lah (kiddin :P)
anyway, for those who dunno, japan's Golden Week is a week in which several national holidays fall consecutively...so most businesses n schools take the whole week off n there r lotsa celebrations n festivals n duno wat else. so last week was golden week n we had 5 days off in a row (not the whole week tho..the teachers here were too hardworking)
d 1st day passed pretty boring-ly, wif most of us malaysians spending the day aimlessly wandering around the dorm, playing a bit of ping-pong (me n ck), studying (cs), playing d piano (me), n making burnt food at the kitchen (me n cs). the 2nd day was a bit more exciting tho; there was a festival at okunitama shrine in fuchu town center, so tufsia arranged an outing to visit the place plus sum other activities. but in the end a few of us (me, cs, yst n a guy from indonesia) decided to go by ourselves...so off we went, on our bikes..
well, the festival itself wasnt dat great, since im not the festival kind of guy anyway...took a few pics wif my hp's camera but cant transmit them here yet cuz dun hv IR...but anyway there was basically sum parades n lots of yelling n shouting n drums n singing...n at nite there was a parade of floats...in short, those traditional festival stuff dat we'v all seen plenty of in malaysia lah...the REAL attraction there (besides the other thing dat i'm famous for) was the food! there was sumting like a food fair there so i went from stall to stall sampling the various 'specialities'...including octopus, yaki-tori (grilled chicken pieces on sticks) n kebab...yummy! the normally-kiamsiap me spent quite a lot of money there...lunch n dinner, in total, cost me around 3000 yen..but it was worth it (i think)
the next day, we went to watch thomas cup! teik chuan, our senpai, booked us subsidized tickets at the malaysian embassy...so instead of paying 2500+ yen, we only paid 500 yen each for the ticket - plus a dismal-looking malaysian flag dat snapped 20 seconds into the match, n a pair of 'pong-bong' inflatable noise-sticks dat wudnt inflate. heheh. but still it was quite an experience 2 b there, watching a world-class event! tho i must say, the performance of the malaysian team, esp the singles, were....heheh u noe lah. malaysia boleh. n after that we met up wif a bunch of jpa scholars who were oso there 2 watch...no chicks, but found 2 guys who play dota, so the evening wasnt entirely lost...
on sat, the 4th day of golden week, we met up wif a dai-senpai who is now working here...had dinner at an underground pasta restaurant (there r lots of underground eateries in the central parts of tokyo)....n i had squid-ink speghetti. looked pretty disgusting but tasted great, tho it left a relly yucky black stain on my teeth n tongue after dat (which i took a pic of). after dat, the other 2 senpai, soon li n teik chuan, took us around shinjuku..n we went to kabuki-cho, the city's sex district :P n the most funny thing was when ppl started approaching us asking if we wanted to watch 'free shows'...tho we din take up any of their offers lah. sorry guys. +P
well, dats about all worth mentioning about the golden week lah. as for the photos, i'll post them up sum time next week, cuz now feeling a bit lazy n wan 2 read adventures of huckleberry finn liao :P
mata, ato de!
anyway, for those who dunno, japan's Golden Week is a week in which several national holidays fall consecutively...so most businesses n schools take the whole week off n there r lotsa celebrations n festivals n duno wat else. so last week was golden week n we had 5 days off in a row (not the whole week tho..the teachers here were too hardworking)
d 1st day passed pretty boring-ly, wif most of us malaysians spending the day aimlessly wandering around the dorm, playing a bit of ping-pong (me n ck), studying (cs), playing d piano (me), n making burnt food at the kitchen (me n cs). the 2nd day was a bit more exciting tho; there was a festival at okunitama shrine in fuchu town center, so tufsia arranged an outing to visit the place plus sum other activities. but in the end a few of us (me, cs, yst n a guy from indonesia) decided to go by ourselves...so off we went, on our bikes..
well, the festival itself wasnt dat great, since im not the festival kind of guy anyway...took a few pics wif my hp's camera but cant transmit them here yet cuz dun hv IR...but anyway there was basically sum parades n lots of yelling n shouting n drums n singing...n at nite there was a parade of floats...in short, those traditional festival stuff dat we'v all seen plenty of in malaysia lah...the REAL attraction there (besides the other thing dat i'm famous for) was the food! there was sumting like a food fair there so i went from stall to stall sampling the various 'specialities'...including octopus, yaki-tori (grilled chicken pieces on sticks) n kebab...yummy! the normally-kiamsiap me spent quite a lot of money there...lunch n dinner, in total, cost me around 3000 yen..but it was worth it (i think)
the next day, we went to watch thomas cup! teik chuan, our senpai, booked us subsidized tickets at the malaysian embassy...so instead of paying 2500+ yen, we only paid 500 yen each for the ticket - plus a dismal-looking malaysian flag dat snapped 20 seconds into the match, n a pair of 'pong-bong' inflatable noise-sticks dat wudnt inflate. heheh. but still it was quite an experience 2 b there, watching a world-class event! tho i must say, the performance of the malaysian team, esp the singles, were....heheh u noe lah. malaysia boleh. n after that we met up wif a bunch of jpa scholars who were oso there 2 watch...no chicks, but found 2 guys who play dota, so the evening wasnt entirely lost...
on sat, the 4th day of golden week, we met up wif a dai-senpai who is now working here...had dinner at an underground pasta restaurant (there r lots of underground eateries in the central parts of tokyo)....n i had squid-ink speghetti. looked pretty disgusting but tasted great, tho it left a relly yucky black stain on my teeth n tongue after dat (which i took a pic of). after dat, the other 2 senpai, soon li n teik chuan, took us around shinjuku..n we went to kabuki-cho, the city's sex district :P n the most funny thing was when ppl started approaching us asking if we wanted to watch 'free shows'...tho we din take up any of their offers lah. sorry guys. +P
well, dats about all worth mentioning about the golden week lah. as for the photos, i'll post them up sum time next week, cuz now feeling a bit lazy n wan 2 read adventures of huckleberry finn liao :P
mata, ato de!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
updates? no time lah
stay tuned for updates on wat the ravenlord had been up to during golden week; highlights include:-
visit to a festival during the (name forgotten) matsuri of the golden week;
trip to watch the thomas cup!
n sum gy stuff dat happened during our 'tour' of kabuki-cho of shinjuku :P
also expect interesting photos of:
raptor's very well-stocked fridge!
raptor's messy but comfy room!
sum random pics of mostly birdy stuff...
well, folks, until next time!
visit to a festival during the (name forgotten) matsuri of the golden week;
trip to watch the thomas cup!
n sum gy stuff dat happened during our 'tour' of kabuki-cho of shinjuku :P
also expect interesting photos of:
raptor's very well-stocked fridge!
raptor's messy but comfy room!
sum random pics of mostly birdy stuff...
well, folks, until next time!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
random updates
last saturday there was a bbq organised by TUFSIA, a campus group 'dedicated to helping foreign students adapt to life in japan'. it was held on the bank of...tamagawa? river...but actually it was more like the dried up bed of the river cuz there wasnt any water in sight..n the stones lying around were the smooth pebble type u see in riverbeds. ok back to the topic..the food at the bbq was great....the food was cooked on metal trays over fires built from twigs pulled straight out of the ground n was delicious cuz we (well, i at least) were hungry by the time everything was ready...but it was so damn LITTLE! i cud hv finished everything on the tray myself but it was shared among 10 ppl...ish...
after eating we played frisbee n i learned to throw an american football...there was this guy from marshall islands who dresses like a hip hop guy all the time n throws the football damn good...
dat nite i tried cooking stir-fried vegetables wif the old cooking pot left by seniors...n it was a halfway decent dish...but it turned out to be a damn expensive cooking experience cuz i used up like 400+ yen of meat n 150 yen of vegetables juz to make dat one dish...it was originally supposed to be for 2 meals but i ate up most of it at once cuz i was so hungry..n my fren from macau 'helped' me clean the rest up. n i left my pack of maggi chicken stock cubes in the kitchen n they were gone the next day! chin cibai ne.....so much for saving money thru cooking...
anyway, for those who erm..havent seen my msn nick yet..i LURVE my new frying pan! wif it i finally made sumting nice...fried noodles (called yaki-soba in japanese btw)...n its even easier than cooking rice AND having to make a separate dish..cuz for this i juz throw everything in n stir-fry to my satisfaction. n my fren from chille praised my noodles. hehe.
ah...n another reason to luve my frying pan: it makes terrific sandwiches! i can toast bread without spending like 2000 yen on an oven toaster (which will probably be too troublesome to carry downstairs n wud eat up a heck lot of electricty if used in my room)...n when i fry bacon wif butter on it...damn..its so oishii-licious....n put in slices of apple to substitute for salad..ah...wat heaven..
okok, shao thing's back. anyway, to continue wif my random topics:
the 1st instalment of scholarship money came already! all 134000 yen of it (yes, its been reduced by 1000 yen liao this year..but its only like 10 bucks to the japanese anyway) deposited straight into my postal savings account. n juz today i went to withdraw sum money...more for the heck of it than from need...n their ATM machines can oso b used 2 deposit money...so i mite b depositing the money i brought from home into the account sumtime next week lah.
speaking of which, the rest of this week is holidays! its the Golden Week, where there r like 3 or 4 holidays almost in a row so most offices n businesses r closed for the whole week...the japs call it the 'oogatarenkyuu' (dun try 2 pronounce it...i'm not responsible for damaged vocal cords or tied tongues)...so apart from joining the activities organised by TUFSIA, i'll hv time 2 look around the place around here...as i mentioned b4, fuchu-shi (the district the university is in) is damn nice....lots of greenery n the town is quaint n high-tech at the same time...n mite b going 2 other parts of tokyo if time permits lah...there r even plans to watch the thomas cup, tho i'm not quite sure exactly when or where that will b...
on a more sombre note, my hp bill soared to over 9000 liao since the last post...all becuz i downloaded 2 songs thru the ezweb, their version of gprs.....tho the broadband speed was impressive....170kb file downloaded in less than 15 secs....aih...so next month i'll prob juz b using my fon 4 cmailling (1.5 yen per msg) n calling home...no more stupid downloads for me! n btw those who noe my ezweb email address, pls do NOT send anything other than text msgs to me...best if dun send at all lah, since if u can send email mite as well send it to my internet email address rite? :P
anyway...to continue after last saturday...on sunday i borrowed sum tennis racquets from the office n had a game of tennis on the campus tennis court...the court wasnt as good as the psc court back in penang tho...it was soft court which i wasnt used to, n lots of sand all over the ground. n the tennis club was using the courts so we had to use the most ill-maintained court....chin boh song..but still chin song cuz got to play after so long..tho my frens were..ahem..not dat good at it....so not much chance of my game improving for the time being..hehe.. sorry lah ej...
today met a couple of chinese here in the library...from taiwan...its always so cool to meet ppl who speaks the same native langauge here..itho it isnt exactly uncommon cuz apparently a lot of taiwanese students come 2 japan...n it may seem funny but here, even malay makes me feel kinda proud cuz its a 'common language' we hv wif the ppl from indonesian n brunei so its like a secret language for a mini-'society' here. n dat day at the ywca thing interview, i even met a couple of guys from PENANG, malaysia!! jit sin tho, n a few years older...
anyway, duno if i mentioned it b4 but its been getting hot here lately...not relly hot lah, in fact its still cooler than malaysia...but i've got used to the cold weather so it feels hot if its juz warm enuf for me to sweat.....haih..the best part of spring is over liao....the good thing tho, is dat i dunnit 2 spend so much on food liao...cuz i noticed i dun get hungry so fast or need so much food when its not so cold....
well, this is a long entry...hope its been an interesting read +P at the very least, u juz spend 20 minutes reading raptor ravenlord's crap! hahaha....
ja mata guys!
after eating we played frisbee n i learned to throw an american football...there was this guy from marshall islands who dresses like a hip hop guy all the time n throws the football damn good...
dat nite i tried cooking stir-fried vegetables wif the old cooking pot left by seniors...n it was a halfway decent dish...but it turned out to be a damn expensive cooking experience cuz i used up like 400+ yen of meat n 150 yen of vegetables juz to make dat one dish...it was originally supposed to be for 2 meals but i ate up most of it at once cuz i was so hungry..n my fren from macau 'helped' me clean the rest up. n i left my pack of maggi chicken stock cubes in the kitchen n they were gone the next day! chin cibai ne.....so much for saving money thru cooking...
anyway, for those who erm..havent seen my msn nick yet..i LURVE my new frying pan! wif it i finally made sumting nice...fried noodles (called yaki-soba in japanese btw)...n its even easier than cooking rice AND having to make a separate dish..cuz for this i juz throw everything in n stir-fry to my satisfaction. n my fren from chille praised my noodles. hehe.
ah...n another reason to luve my frying pan: it makes terrific sandwiches! i can toast bread without spending like 2000 yen on an oven toaster (which will probably be too troublesome to carry downstairs n wud eat up a heck lot of electricty if used in my room)...n when i fry bacon wif butter on it...damn..its so oishii-licious....n put in slices of apple to substitute for salad..ah...wat heaven..
okok, shao thing's back. anyway, to continue wif my random topics:
the 1st instalment of scholarship money came already! all 134000 yen of it (yes, its been reduced by 1000 yen liao this year..but its only like 10 bucks to the japanese anyway) deposited straight into my postal savings account. n juz today i went to withdraw sum money...more for the heck of it than from need...n their ATM machines can oso b used 2 deposit money...so i mite b depositing the money i brought from home into the account sumtime next week lah.
speaking of which, the rest of this week is holidays! its the Golden Week, where there r like 3 or 4 holidays almost in a row so most offices n businesses r closed for the whole week...the japs call it the 'oogatarenkyuu' (dun try 2 pronounce it...i'm not responsible for damaged vocal cords or tied tongues)...so apart from joining the activities organised by TUFSIA, i'll hv time 2 look around the place around here...as i mentioned b4, fuchu-shi (the district the university is in) is damn nice....lots of greenery n the town is quaint n high-tech at the same time...n mite b going 2 other parts of tokyo if time permits lah...there r even plans to watch the thomas cup, tho i'm not quite sure exactly when or where that will b...
on a more sombre note, my hp bill soared to over 9000 liao since the last post...all becuz i downloaded 2 songs thru the ezweb, their version of gprs.....tho the broadband speed was impressive....170kb file downloaded in less than 15 secs....aih...so next month i'll prob juz b using my fon 4 cmailling (1.5 yen per msg) n calling home...no more stupid downloads for me! n btw those who noe my ezweb email address, pls do NOT send anything other than text msgs to me...best if dun send at all lah, since if u can send email mite as well send it to my internet email address rite? :P
anyway...to continue after last saturday...on sunday i borrowed sum tennis racquets from the office n had a game of tennis on the campus tennis court...the court wasnt as good as the psc court back in penang tho...it was soft court which i wasnt used to, n lots of sand all over the ground. n the tennis club was using the courts so we had to use the most ill-maintained court....chin boh song..but still chin song cuz got to play after so long..tho my frens were..ahem..not dat good at it....so not much chance of my game improving for the time being..hehe.. sorry lah ej...
today met a couple of chinese here in the library...from taiwan...its always so cool to meet ppl who speaks the same native langauge here..itho it isnt exactly uncommon cuz apparently a lot of taiwanese students come 2 japan...n it may seem funny but here, even malay makes me feel kinda proud cuz its a 'common language' we hv wif the ppl from indonesian n brunei so its like a secret language for a mini-'society' here. n dat day at the ywca thing interview, i even met a couple of guys from PENANG, malaysia!! jit sin tho, n a few years older...
anyway, duno if i mentioned it b4 but its been getting hot here lately...not relly hot lah, in fact its still cooler than malaysia...but i've got used to the cold weather so it feels hot if its juz warm enuf for me to sweat.....haih..the best part of spring is over liao....the good thing tho, is dat i dunnit 2 spend so much on food liao...cuz i noticed i dun get hungry so fast or need so much food when its not so cold....
well, this is a long entry...hope its been an interesting read +P at the very least, u juz spend 20 minutes reading raptor ravenlord's crap! hahaha....
ja mata guys!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
omg omg
6600 yen. thats about the amount i'm going 2 b paying for my hp juz for calls alone this month. y? the stupid ol' me din check the call rate for international calls so the day i got my hp, i spent like half n hr calling home n 2 a few other numbers. ish. good thing i found out how 2 check my call credit juz today...or who noes wat sort of bill i wud hv racked up at the end of the month...
anyway, for those interesting in knowing wat my phone looks like:
cool, no? i like the shape a lot..n its got a nice camera dat can take pics at 1024x768...
unfortunately, it dusnt hv memory card support n theres a model wif an even better camera (3.2 megapixel)...yst took one of those, as did chee siang. at 1st i was complaining a lot :P but now i got 2 like my fon liao...
anyway, my number is +81 80 66284197 BUT dun try 2 sms me cuz in japan, they dun hv sms...for phone to phone msging they hv sumting called cmail which is not compatible wif sms. (calls r okay tho :P) i can oso receive email on my hp but since i'll b charged for every 128-byte 'packet' i receive, i'd better not post the address here...if u wanna noe, juz tell me...i guess its ok to receive text-only emails lah..
well..on to other stuff....last saturday a bunch of us international students went to tokyo YWCA to listen a talk about the 'Japanese Mother for International Students' movement....basically its sumting in which they pair u up wif a japanese 'mother' whom u can contact 2 ask about stuff n get help etc (no money lending tho :P).....its like a homestay program minus the homestay, if u get my drift...anyway, since many of the other guys r signing up, i think i'll give it a try too...its a good chance 2 practice speaking japanese after all...
besides that, nothing much 2 talk about except my 2 recent disastrous attempts at cooking. 1stly was the speghetti i 'cooked' last friday. the 500g of speghetti i bought for 100yen made enuf for 4 meals! n big meals too...since i became a glutton after coming 2 japan, i'm eating about 1.5 times my normal (malaysian) amount. unfortunately, (1) sum of the noodles stuck together in unsightly clumps cuz i din put oil or salt in when boiling the them; n (2) the sauce i bought (oso for 100 yen) was totally shit....not only was it not enuf for the huge batch of noodles, it had totally no meat taste...only tomato...n not very nice tomatoes at that...
ur ingenious fren here got around the problem tho, by using the noodles as 'rice' n eating it wif cafeteria-bought meat, salad etc. clever, no?
2nd disaster was when i made a 1cm-thick rice cake when i tried to cook rice wif a normal saucepan. i duno wat happened, but mebbe i din stir it enuf or turned the heat up too high. anyway, the rice above the 'cake' (read: burnt crust) was still edible so it wasnt a total waste.
well, dats it for now, signing off liao cuz got other stuff 2 do. n sum baka told my mom i had been on9 too much lately so now i better go do sum 'productive' stuff...
ja mata!
anyway, for those interesting in knowing wat my phone looks like:
cool, no? i like the shape a lot..n its got a nice camera dat can take pics at 1024x768...
unfortunately, it dusnt hv memory card support n theres a model wif an even better camera (3.2 megapixel)...yst took one of those, as did chee siang. at 1st i was complaining a lot :P but now i got 2 like my fon liao...
anyway, my number is +81 80 66284197 BUT dun try 2 sms me cuz in japan, they dun hv sms...for phone to phone msging they hv sumting called cmail which is not compatible wif sms. (calls r okay tho :P) i can oso receive email on my hp but since i'll b charged for every 128-byte 'packet' i receive, i'd better not post the address here...if u wanna noe, juz tell me...i guess its ok to receive text-only emails lah..
well..on to other stuff....last saturday a bunch of us international students went to tokyo YWCA to listen a talk about the 'Japanese Mother for International Students' movement....basically its sumting in which they pair u up wif a japanese 'mother' whom u can contact 2 ask about stuff n get help etc (no money lending tho :P).....its like a homestay program minus the homestay, if u get my drift...anyway, since many of the other guys r signing up, i think i'll give it a try too...its a good chance 2 practice speaking japanese after all...
besides that, nothing much 2 talk about except my 2 recent disastrous attempts at cooking. 1stly was the speghetti i 'cooked' last friday. the 500g of speghetti i bought for 100yen made enuf for 4 meals! n big meals too...since i became a glutton after coming 2 japan, i'm eating about 1.5 times my normal (malaysian) amount. unfortunately, (1) sum of the noodles stuck together in unsightly clumps cuz i din put oil or salt in when boiling the them; n (2) the sauce i bought (oso for 100 yen) was totally shit....not only was it not enuf for the huge batch of noodles, it had totally no meat taste...only tomato...n not very nice tomatoes at that...
ur ingenious fren here got around the problem tho, by using the noodles as 'rice' n eating it wif cafeteria-bought meat, salad etc. clever, no?
2nd disaster was when i made a 1cm-thick rice cake when i tried to cook rice wif a normal saucepan. i duno wat happened, but mebbe i din stir it enuf or turned the heat up too high. anyway, the rice above the 'cake' (read: burnt crust) was still edible so it wasnt a total waste.
well, dats it for now, signing off liao cuz got other stuff 2 do. n sum baka told my mom i had been on9 too much lately so now i better go do sum 'productive' stuff...
ja mata!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
short note
ok i think i restored most of the links from my previous template...damn mendoukusai it was, but oso taisetsu....anyway, if anyone's link is missing from here pls tell me cuz rite now all i did was cut n paste from dan's blog :P
me thinking of changing me blog-no-template soon, any ideas? sumting dark n moody as usual...
today i ate lunch n dinner for less than 500 yen! lunch was 3 pieces of bread (half a loaf, they cut the slices really thick here) plus tuna, cheese n margarine...oishikunai but yasui deshitane......n i heard from my senior bout a nearby stall dat sells packets of noodles at 250 yen so tml will b checking it out...
there was sumting else i wanted 2 blog about but i forgot liao, dats y i was crapping so much about the lunch n stuff. oh yeah, i found this when pasting june (ooi)'s link from dan's blog. u can check the error by visiting the link to june's from dan's.
osoi deshita, ja mata!
me thinking of changing me blog-no-template soon, any ideas? sumting dark n moody as usual...
today i ate lunch n dinner for less than 500 yen! lunch was 3 pieces of bread (half a loaf, they cut the slices really thick here) plus tuna, cheese n margarine...oishikunai but yasui deshitane......n i heard from my senior bout a nearby stall dat sells packets of noodles at 250 yen so tml will b checking it out...
there was sumting else i wanted 2 blog about but i forgot liao, dats y i was crapping so much about the lunch n stuff. oh yeah, i found this when pasting june (ooi)'s link from dan's blog. u can check the error by visiting the link to june's from dan's.
osoi deshita, ja mata!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Raptor's Untitled Blog
hey guys
1st of all, sum disaster happened while i was updating the frens' blogs links this afternoon...so now i lost my template n hv 2 use this stinkin' one for the time being (no time to fiddle around wif html at the moment)
anyway, a few updates on wat i'v been up to. as usual, no photos, cuz the very excellent photographer in our group, yst has already kindly settled that mendoukusai aspect of life ;P
last saturday 3 senpai's (japanese for senior) took the 4 of us malaysian 'noobs' to the central city area of tokyo, namely shinjuku, hanajuku, akihabara n shibuya. man, the crowds there...all u can see is a sea of bobbing heads...n the noise level is like totally deafening....definitely not a place i wan 2 live or study in....
unfortunately we din c much of shinjuku...in fact we left almost as soon as we arrived..cuz the *someone* in our group claimed to hv went there b4 n thus din wan 2 waste time touring the place again..so we headed to hanajuku, then akihabara to see the electronic n electric stuff there. yst especially needed an electronic dictionary while i was checking out the laptops there. (they suck btw, since apparently pc gaming isnt a hot thing in japan)
anyway dat day was damn cold esp for this poor guy who went out in only 1 layer of clothing...so at nite the senpai brought us to a 'tsu-ke' noodle shop for dinner. the thing about that place is the price for small, medium n large helpings r the same....of course, being malaysians, chinese n penangites, we all took large. n boy it was large....a whole basin....about twice wat i usually eat for a full meal! sumhow, we all managed to cram everything down tho...
well, nothing much more 2 say about that day trip, esp since as usual i was blur blur n din notice much things. oh, n we passed by a red light district of sorts dat nite. but nothing 2 c except the prices, so move along here....
anyway, as usual i'm blogging during the last minutes of the library so now its closing again n i gtg. cya guys!
1st of all, sum disaster happened while i was updating the frens' blogs links this afternoon...so now i lost my template n hv 2 use this stinkin' one for the time being (no time to fiddle around wif html at the moment)
anyway, a few updates on wat i'v been up to. as usual, no photos, cuz the very excellent photographer in our group, yst has already kindly settled that mendoukusai aspect of life ;P
last saturday 3 senpai's (japanese for senior) took the 4 of us malaysian 'noobs' to the central city area of tokyo, namely shinjuku, hanajuku, akihabara n shibuya. man, the crowds there...all u can see is a sea of bobbing heads...n the noise level is like totally deafening....definitely not a place i wan 2 live or study in....
unfortunately we din c much of shinjuku...in fact we left almost as soon as we arrived..cuz the *someone* in our group claimed to hv went there b4 n thus din wan 2 waste time touring the place again..so we headed to hanajuku, then akihabara to see the electronic n electric stuff there. yst especially needed an electronic dictionary while i was checking out the laptops there. (they suck btw, since apparently pc gaming isnt a hot thing in japan)
anyway dat day was damn cold esp for this poor guy who went out in only 1 layer of clothing...so at nite the senpai brought us to a 'tsu-ke' noodle shop for dinner. the thing about that place is the price for small, medium n large helpings r the same....of course, being malaysians, chinese n penangites, we all took large. n boy it was large....a whole basin....about twice wat i usually eat for a full meal! sumhow, we all managed to cram everything down tho...
well, nothing much more 2 say about that day trip, esp since as usual i was blur blur n din notice much things. oh, n we passed by a red light district of sorts dat nite. but nothing 2 c except the prices, so move along here....
anyway, as usual i'm blogging during the last minutes of the library so now its closing again n i gtg. cya guys!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
raptor ravenlord's japan journal
ok guys i'm safely in japan n i juz got my computer account on monday but i left it in the computer room so i only got to on9 yesterday but the post i submitted last nite wasnt pubilshed so now i'm juz dropping a few lines here....
for a better (n more graphical) description of japan pls refer to see tatt's blog http://escapist5.blogspot.com cuz i had been kinda lazy wif photo taking n since he took most of the pics n posted them liao i guess i dunnit 2 do redundant work :P
the keyboards in japan suck....not relly lah...but the special characters like '@' n '_' (n even the apostrophe n brackets) r in different places..so i kept typing the wrong things on msn n such...but ah...its good to b on9....i cant imagine how i lasted the whole week without the internet (n without dota....god...i miss pwning ppl.....)
well..japan's cold n dry...i've kinda got used to the cold but the dryness still sucks...cuz it was so bad dat the skin was flaking off from my face...n the corners of my mouth dried so much it hurt to open my mouth..so last week talking n eating was sucky...luckily i started using lip balm n the skin oil my mom gave me n it helped lah..kind of. its weird dat now i like rainy days more here in japan despite it being colder..cuz the air becomes more humid when its raining.....
japan's like, really clean. u can hardly see any rubbish like plastic bags etc on the streets n even the backways n alleys r well...not-smelly. its great how they manage to blend in technology wif nature...like...the convenience stores in the smallest village oso hv stuff like electronic scanners n microwave oven...while mebbe a few steps away is a park wif subarashi landscaping....
one thing tho..the stuff here r really expensive...we malaysians hv been living like meanies for the last week......buying only the cheapest stuff from the cheapest place...so far our daily food budget is like 1000 yen but even that is around RM30 liao.....
well, library is closing soon...at least i think dats wat the announcement voice is saying...another thing about japan is dat everything is in japanese cuz they'r so self sufficient they hardly need any imported stuff wif english on....so many times we hv 2 guess wat a particular notice or document or announcement is saying.....
so minasan, ja mata, i'll prob b on9 again tml nite to blog about the classes n sum other stuff....if got anything u wanna noe about japan juz leave a comment lah...cuz i relly duno wat to write when i sit down here....
for a better (n more graphical) description of japan pls refer to see tatt's blog http://escapist5.blogspot.com cuz i had been kinda lazy wif photo taking n since he took most of the pics n posted them liao i guess i dunnit 2 do redundant work :P
the keyboards in japan suck....not relly lah...but the special characters like '@' n '_' (n even the apostrophe n brackets) r in different places..so i kept typing the wrong things on msn n such...but ah...its good to b on9....i cant imagine how i lasted the whole week without the internet (n without dota....god...i miss pwning ppl.....)
well..japan's cold n dry...i've kinda got used to the cold but the dryness still sucks...cuz it was so bad dat the skin was flaking off from my face...n the corners of my mouth dried so much it hurt to open my mouth..so last week talking n eating was sucky...luckily i started using lip balm n the skin oil my mom gave me n it helped lah..kind of. its weird dat now i like rainy days more here in japan despite it being colder..cuz the air becomes more humid when its raining.....
japan's like, really clean. u can hardly see any rubbish like plastic bags etc on the streets n even the backways n alleys r well...not-smelly. its great how they manage to blend in technology wif nature...like...the convenience stores in the smallest village oso hv stuff like electronic scanners n microwave oven...while mebbe a few steps away is a park wif subarashi landscaping....
one thing tho..the stuff here r really expensive...we malaysians hv been living like meanies for the last week......buying only the cheapest stuff from the cheapest place...so far our daily food budget is like 1000 yen but even that is around RM30 liao.....
well, library is closing soon...at least i think dats wat the announcement voice is saying...another thing about japan is dat everything is in japanese cuz they'r so self sufficient they hardly need any imported stuff wif english on....so many times we hv 2 guess wat a particular notice or document or announcement is saying.....
so minasan, ja mata, i'll prob b on9 again tml nite to blog about the classes n sum other stuff....if got anything u wanna noe about japan juz leave a comment lah...cuz i relly duno wat to write when i sit down here....
Saturday, April 01, 2006
memoirs of a - SCRATCH THAT - last memories of penang..?
ah...2 more days n i'll b off to japan...i suppose i hv a lot to write about....not least the stuff dats been happening since my last, ancient post.....but no time lah, hv 2 go over 2 sue lyn's hse in half n hr, then tml morning got one final dota session wif my classmates...
anyway, now i noe how u overseas ppl feel when u were leaving for d 1st time...man, i'm scared to death! much as i hate to admit it, i've been completely dependent on my family (n frens) for my life here in penang...going to a place where the language, customs n surroundings r all so different seems so...intimidating....
luckily i've managed to buy everything (well, almost) dat i need...now its juz a matter of cramming them into my luggage cases....it took me about 7 trips to this n dat stores n supermarkets to get everything..whew...n i probably bought more clothes in one week than i ever bought in a year...
well anyway, my mind's at a blank rite now, will try to continue this post when i've cleared it wif a few rounds of dota...n when an annoying junior isnt bugging u about academic stuff :P
anyway, now i noe how u overseas ppl feel when u were leaving for d 1st time...man, i'm scared to death! much as i hate to admit it, i've been completely dependent on my family (n frens) for my life here in penang...going to a place where the language, customs n surroundings r all so different seems so...intimidating....
luckily i've managed to buy everything (well, almost) dat i need...now its juz a matter of cramming them into my luggage cases....it took me about 7 trips to this n dat stores n supermarkets to get everything..whew...n i probably bought more clothes in one week than i ever bought in a year...
well anyway, my mind's at a blank rite now, will try to continue this post when i've cleared it wif a few rounds of dota...n when an annoying junior isnt bugging u about academic stuff :P
Sunday, February 26, 2006
hello world
ah...its been a long time since i took up the 'pen', so now i'll write a little sumting while waiting for rise of nations to install.
as many of my gang know (they were responsible for it in the 1st place), i've recently got hooked on a new hobby...watching anime. specifically, Naruto, the anime series about a dumb ninja wif a super powerful demon locked inside him dat saves his ass when his carelessness leads him into trouble. on top of that, my interest in dota was resurrected after temporarily being replaced by civ4 (i've deleted THAT time consuming game from all my comps d....whew...)
anyway, on to more 'serious' things. lately i've been...well...not-so-cheerful (read: depressed) as the date of my departure to japan draws nearer. well, the i dunno the exact date yet, but it'll b sumwhere between 1-7 april. that leaves me slightly more than 1 month more in penang now. n knowing u'r about to leave ur hometown somehow sets u thinking on stuff u normally dun think about. eg regrets bout the stuff i din do, wondering wat things wud hv been like if i took another path in my life, etc etc.
on top of dat, there's so many things i shud b doing in preparation but havent done yet, cuz i've been procrastinating n wasting my time on games n stuff. n wondering about the future: whether i'll b able to settle in there, how i'll adapt to the new environment etc. so u guys who r already overseas, u better leave sum comments n advice!
ok, rise of nations finished installing. sayonara!
as many of my gang know (they were responsible for it in the 1st place), i've recently got hooked on a new hobby...watching anime. specifically, Naruto, the anime series about a dumb ninja wif a super powerful demon locked inside him dat saves his ass when his carelessness leads him into trouble. on top of that, my interest in dota was resurrected after temporarily being replaced by civ4 (i've deleted THAT time consuming game from all my comps d....whew...)
anyway, on to more 'serious' things. lately i've been...well...not-so-cheerful (read: depressed) as the date of my departure to japan draws nearer. well, the i dunno the exact date yet, but it'll b sumwhere between 1-7 april. that leaves me slightly more than 1 month more in penang now. n knowing u'r about to leave ur hometown somehow sets u thinking on stuff u normally dun think about. eg regrets bout the stuff i din do, wondering wat things wud hv been like if i took another path in my life, etc etc.
on top of dat, there's so many things i shud b doing in preparation but havent done yet, cuz i've been procrastinating n wasting my time on games n stuff. n wondering about the future: whether i'll b able to settle in there, how i'll adapt to the new environment etc. so u guys who r already overseas, u better leave sum comments n advice!
ok, rise of nations finished installing. sayonara!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
back from the depths of addiction
today i found myself doing sumting i havent done for many a week: sipping a cup of coffee, i plonked down in front of my comp n logged in to blogspot for a bit of (short?) blogging! yes, i noe my blog has been in hibernation lately, but now its time to revive it!
anyway, so many things hv passed since my last post (about my trip to china, if i remember correctly) that i cant possibly cover them in this single entry. in fact, i'm not sure i can recall all the stuff i did since then, much less the details to write about. so i guess i'll juz drop watever comes to mind into this little box here n hope u guys out there will enjoy reading. or watever...
sum time (exact date forgotten) after d china trip wif my family, i went for another trip, this time to genting n kl wif my frens, namely jiao jiao zhi (dan), tu lan leng (ghee), sam n uncle theam. we were joined in genting for the first 2 nites at genting by caryn n amoi aka bak kim (dun ask :P). caryn was kind enuf to bring her ps2 to genting, which meant no 1 got to watch tv while i was in the room. hehe. anyway, a lot of stuff happened dat trip, not all of them good. disaster struck almost the moment we arrived at pudu, as sam's hp got stolen by some fuckin' asshole who probably will die by the age of 30 due to the bad karma accumulated on him. but anyway we went on to awana (halfway up the mountain) where d gals met us.
dat evening, another strike: d apartment's hot plate rosak, so we had to eat microwaved canned meat wif bread. sounds yucky rite...only thing is we were too engrossed wif d ps2 (well, i was anyway :P) to care bout wat we're eating. the next day, we went to the cablecar station to take a ride up the mountain, only to be informed dat the cable car system is closed due to strong winds. so in d end we had to take taxis up. (for brevity's sake i shall exclude the good stuff for the moment, n concentrate on the bad). dat nite, we were supposed to take the 12 midnite cablecar down, but missed it by a few secs (we actually saw it departing) so had to wait till 1am to catch the car down. at dat time tho, it din matter so much cuz we were all high from drinking our 3rd or 4th consecutive cup of coke.
ff to kl. on d 4th day of the trip (2nd day in kl) we went to sunway pyramid for ice skating. n guess wat...uncle theam sorta had a nasty fall n his old bones cudnt take it. so poor ol' theam cudnt eat chicken, eggs n duno wat else for several weeks after...due to the (dubious?) advice of his chinese sinseh. apart from dat, i borrowed dan's cap (due to a bad hair day) n left it in the bus on the journey back. n lastly, sumhow an extra piece ended up among our luggage, an orange bag dat din belong to any of us. so oho, we're all having bad karma now.
in case anyone's wondering about the karma thingy, i watched a movie starring andy lau on astro during cny eve, titled 'mr. big'. n in case anyone's wondering y i watched dat movie, ask me wat is cd-pro2 :P
anyway that trip wasnt a total waste: we still managed to hv loads of fun n i learned 3 important skills: ice skating (very VERY mediocre), pool (as in billiards, not swimming) n chor dai di, in which i recently won 5 games in a row. hehehe...
sum time after dat trip, we had another major event....lanparty! theam booked a unit in leisure cove n we happily carried our comps over n hooked them up. well, theam n dan happily, the rest of us had to lug our CPUs n monitors along so we werent THAT happy. n apart from exchanging the wacky stuff we downloaded (including the now-infamous cd-pro2 episodes), we managed to get hooked on Civilization 4 after trying it out on the lan.
more recently, last tuesday i joined my classmates in visiting (u noe...拜年) each other. then wanted to end wif a cc session but unfortunately netcity was packed to the brim. n our visiting ended rather early cuz most ppl were not at home (hiding from our onslaught i wud say). the next day a bunch of us visited pn hong (our physics teacher) n belly yeap (havent relly taught me b4 but he was d discipline master b4). so this year my angpow collection is rather impressive :P for sum reason tho, this cny i decided to forgo my 'custom' of writing 珲春 (u noe...those big big pieces of caligraphy wif 4 or 7 words on red paper) cuz i was bz playing civ4 until 6am on cny eve.
on thursday we (me, dan, ghee, theam, yst, lydia, caryn, xy, xy's bro) went to redbox n had our throats cut. dan booked the room for 4-7pm but when we got there we were informed the room had been taken cuz we were late. cb gy tl lc....anyway, after sum discussion n a lot of reluctance on my part - n a few others too, although they din dare 2 voice it out >.< - we took the nite session (6-9) which includes free buffet. guess how much dat came to? RM55. THAT IS TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS OF CYBERCAFE TIME! but haih, sum1 wans to hiao wif his gal, wat to do? n redbox cut our time short by almost half n hr...we had to wait until 6.15pm for them to clear the room, then around 8.50pm our time ended d. cb gy tl lc redbox.....BAD KARMA FOR THEM!!! after dat we went to caryn's hse for sum gambling, wif half of us playing sumting on the mahjong table n half of us playing bluff n chor dai ti. n oh, there was a relly hot gal at caryn's
hse (her aunt's hse actually, so i think dat was her counsin...hehehe)
then finally (is that a sigh of relief i hear from u, o dear reader?) we (same grup as b4, only without caryn n xy's bro, n including sm n sue lyn) had a 'bbq' at the crown prince beach on sat. actually it was more of a beach party since we din bbq any food....we had bought pizza n satay.....tho we lit a campfire. n we played truth or dare (n sum relly weird stuff happened afterwards). AND THAT DAY I WON FIVE GAMES OF CHOR DAI DI!!!! muahahahhahaa.....
ah btw, i'll b going 2 japan in april. got the monbu-something scholarship n all that. n i'v been learning d language the past 2 months or so....not too easy but interesting oso. anyway, everyone better treat ur fren here nicely cuz he's going away in less than 2 months...ehehe...
lalala....TO BE CONTINUED.......
anyway, so many things hv passed since my last post (about my trip to china, if i remember correctly) that i cant possibly cover them in this single entry. in fact, i'm not sure i can recall all the stuff i did since then, much less the details to write about. so i guess i'll juz drop watever comes to mind into this little box here n hope u guys out there will enjoy reading. or watever...
sum time (exact date forgotten) after d china trip wif my family, i went for another trip, this time to genting n kl wif my frens, namely jiao jiao zhi (dan), tu lan leng (ghee), sam n uncle theam. we were joined in genting for the first 2 nites at genting by caryn n amoi aka bak kim (dun ask :P). caryn was kind enuf to bring her ps2 to genting, which meant no 1 got to watch tv while i was in the room. hehe. anyway, a lot of stuff happened dat trip, not all of them good. disaster struck almost the moment we arrived at pudu, as sam's hp got stolen by some fuckin' asshole who probably will die by the age of 30 due to the bad karma accumulated on him. but anyway we went on to awana (halfway up the mountain) where d gals met us.
dat evening, another strike: d apartment's hot plate rosak, so we had to eat microwaved canned meat wif bread. sounds yucky rite...only thing is we were too engrossed wif d ps2 (well, i was anyway :P) to care bout wat we're eating. the next day, we went to the cablecar station to take a ride up the mountain, only to be informed dat the cable car system is closed due to strong winds. so in d end we had to take taxis up. (for brevity's sake i shall exclude the good stuff for the moment, n concentrate on the bad). dat nite, we were supposed to take the 12 midnite cablecar down, but missed it by a few secs (we actually saw it departing) so had to wait till 1am to catch the car down. at dat time tho, it din matter so much cuz we were all high from drinking our 3rd or 4th consecutive cup of coke.
ff to kl. on d 4th day of the trip (2nd day in kl) we went to sunway pyramid for ice skating. n guess wat...uncle theam sorta had a nasty fall n his old bones cudnt take it. so poor ol' theam cudnt eat chicken, eggs n duno wat else for several weeks after...due to the (dubious?) advice of his chinese sinseh. apart from dat, i borrowed dan's cap (due to a bad hair day) n left it in the bus on the journey back. n lastly, sumhow an extra piece ended up among our luggage, an orange bag dat din belong to any of us. so oho, we're all having bad karma now.
in case anyone's wondering about the karma thingy, i watched a movie starring andy lau on astro during cny eve, titled 'mr. big'. n in case anyone's wondering y i watched dat movie, ask me wat is cd-pro2 :P
anyway that trip wasnt a total waste: we still managed to hv loads of fun n i learned 3 important skills: ice skating (very VERY mediocre), pool (as in billiards, not swimming) n chor dai di, in which i recently won 5 games in a row. hehehe...
sum time after dat trip, we had another major event....lanparty! theam booked a unit in leisure cove n we happily carried our comps over n hooked them up. well, theam n dan happily, the rest of us had to lug our CPUs n monitors along so we werent THAT happy. n apart from exchanging the wacky stuff we downloaded (including the now-infamous cd-pro2 episodes), we managed to get hooked on Civilization 4 after trying it out on the lan.
more recently, last tuesday i joined my classmates in visiting (u noe...拜年) each other. then wanted to end wif a cc session but unfortunately netcity was packed to the brim. n our visiting ended rather early cuz most ppl were not at home (hiding from our onslaught i wud say). the next day a bunch of us visited pn hong (our physics teacher) n belly yeap (havent relly taught me b4 but he was d discipline master b4). so this year my angpow collection is rather impressive :P for sum reason tho, this cny i decided to forgo my 'custom' of writing 珲春 (u noe...those big big pieces of caligraphy wif 4 or 7 words on red paper) cuz i was bz playing civ4 until 6am on cny eve.
on thursday we (me, dan, ghee, theam, yst, lydia, caryn, xy, xy's bro) went to redbox n had our throats cut. dan booked the room for 4-7pm but when we got there we were informed the room had been taken cuz we were late. cb gy tl lc....anyway, after sum discussion n a lot of reluctance on my part - n a few others too, although they din dare 2 voice it out >.< - we took the nite session (6-9) which includes free buffet. guess how much dat came to? RM55. THAT IS TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS OF CYBERCAFE TIME! but haih, sum1 wans to hiao wif his gal, wat to do? n redbox cut our time short by almost half n hr...we had to wait until 6.15pm for them to clear the room, then around 8.50pm our time ended d. cb gy tl lc redbox.....BAD KARMA FOR THEM!!! after dat we went to caryn's hse for sum gambling, wif half of us playing sumting on the mahjong table n half of us playing bluff n chor dai ti. n oh, there was a relly hot gal at caryn's
hse (her aunt's hse actually, so i think dat was her counsin...hehehe)
then finally (is that a sigh of relief i hear from u, o dear reader?) we (same grup as b4, only without caryn n xy's bro, n including sm n sue lyn) had a 'bbq' at the crown prince beach on sat. actually it was more of a beach party since we din bbq any food....we had bought pizza n satay.....tho we lit a campfire. n we played truth or dare (n sum relly weird stuff happened afterwards). AND THAT DAY I WON FIVE GAMES OF CHOR DAI DI!!!! muahahahhahaa.....
ah btw, i'll b going 2 japan in april. got the monbu-something scholarship n all that. n i'v been learning d language the past 2 months or so....not too easy but interesting oso. anyway, everyone better treat ur fren here nicely cuz he's going away in less than 2 months...ehehe...
lalala....TO BE CONTINUED.......
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