Japan Exchange - Christmas!

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[I have missed out a lot of posts so I decided to restart from the beginning of where I had stopped.]

For the first post, please visit here.

The next day after I arrived I visited the local market and cycling around the island the next few days.

 
Good bargains can easily be found in the local market

Had a pleasant cycling trip in the cool winter breeze

Then I started going to high school with Kyohei my host brother. The thing is, my Japanese was very limited and I certainly couldn't follow a lecture in Electricity or Mechanism in Japanese. (Kyohei was a year one student in Electricity stream and I entered his class.)
He then tried to rearrange my timetable so that I could go for classes like cookery,calligraphy, arts etc.

It's near Christmas then so they were quite a lot of events. 
One of which is the Christmas tree lightning ceremony in front of the Town Hall.

  
Me and Kyohei hanging out at the ceremony

Then I was invited to another Christmas party. Hosted by the Tanegashima International Friendship Society.

The entrance to the venue

 
  There were more foreigners than I had expected. Some of them were even invited to gave a small talk.

 And then I was invited to talk as a special guest as well. I was really nervous because I had been told to speak in English but they suddenly requested it to be in Japanese.

And then there were some performances. This is the taiko (太鼓).

The youngest performer. 

Photo with the mayor and the president of the club. One thing which is worth mentioning is the name of the president which is 小浜 in Japanese and it reads O-BAMA. Funny isn't it.

After that they had this sing-along session and everyone went really high!

 
Some of the people I met. The very funny Sakamoto brothers and the girls from Leo Club.

[ This is the second post of this series of blog. More and more coming! Please come back (: ]

How to plan the public transport route in Singapore

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A few days ago I went to Singapore with my family. In fact it's a one-day quick trip because my dad wanted to repair his broken watch and my mum wanted to do some shopping. I followed them and thought that I could use this opportunity to pay a quick visit to two of my friends who have been working in Singapore.

I have numerously heard about the efficiency of public transport in Singapore but I have yet had a chance to try it out. Hence I decided to give it a try this time. The thing is, after all it is really efficient. And it was so easy to commute that I had no difficulties in finding my friends and running around the place. My friend even asked me how I managed to reach her workplace as it was quite obscure to foreigners.

It's not about my luck, of course. It's because I certainly took advantage of the technology. Singapore, like many other big cities, has a very extensive and well ordered public transport system. Therefore everyone can easily plan and decide the route they want to take before they depart for the journey.

If you are from Singapore, or planning to visit Singapore, there's definitely something you cannot miss out.


DISCLAIMER: I do not get paid recommending these sites/apps. I just want to share it out cause it's really useful.

First is the website http://gothere.sg .


Go to the webpage and type in the the directions you want. For example, let's pretend we are going to orchard road from city square mall.


From there you can select whichever method you want, be it bus or train or taxi. The good thing is it points out the fare and time needed. Then you will see the very detailed explanation below your option. Walk how many metres, take which line to where etc. 

This is easy enough but if you want to reassure the plan is correct. Double check it again in Google Maps.
Please take note that gothere.sg is only available in Singapore, whereas Google Maps is available for more than hundred of cities.


Go to Google Maps and click on Get directions as shown in the picture.


Now let's pretend we are going to Universal Studios from Orchard Rd. It features virtually all public transport mode in Singapore so don't worry if you are heading to somewhere offshore.


There you go. A detailed route information. You may want to print it out, just click the printer icon up there.

Alternatively, if you haven't got the chance to plan your route beforehand. You may still plan on-the-go if you have a smartphone. Let's say you have an iPhone.

gothere.sg is available from Appstore. 


1.gothere.sg icon  2.the main screen, select Directions and insert the details. You can opt to use your current location.  3.The same thing as in the website  4. There you go, a detailed instruction. 

Don't forget Maps in both iPhone and Android as well.

 
iPhone: In Maps, click on Directions in the bottom bar to use this feature. And select List on the bottom right hand side.
Android: Android devices have the most detailed transit information. If you have to take a bus, it even lists out EVERY STOP on the bus route so that you can get prepared before it reaches your stop.

* TRANSIT on GOOGLE MAPS  is not only available for Singapore but also lots of cities like London, Hong Kong, NYC etc. However, it's not available in Malaysia. Maybe it will, in the future.


I hope it's useful! More and more blogs are coming, I am re-blogging all of the events I haven't yet blogged during these few months. :)

Places I've been to

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I love travelling.
And I mean really LOVE.
I know it has been discussed like more than a thousand times, but travelling does do good to us.
The old cliche is certainly true: travelling might broaden up our mind.

In fact I always consider myself  very lucky to be able to visit quite a lot of places at my age.
Recently I have been digging up to my travelling photos and surprised that I started travelling when I was a little kid. Reviewing those pictures again now is definitely reminiscent of those journeys and they were indeed wonderful. I would like to share some of my hand-picked photos.


Gold Coast, Australia, the very beginning of my travels.
I first traveled with my family when I was four. In fact I was brought along in almost every journey my parents went. Little did I know all of these journeys will eventually become a greatest part and the most enjoyable part of my life. Some of them are special enough to be influential up until now.

Queenstown, New Zealand 
New Zealand is definitely the most tranquil and peaceful country I have ever visited. Queenstown is a small town located in the South Island of the country, famous for its adventurous activities especially the bungy-jump. Though I didn't make an attempt LOL. 

Jeju Island, Korea
The first and only skiing experience in my life. Lesson I learnt: no matter how chilly the weather is, you will still end up sweating like you've just come out of a sauna after the ski. 

Amsterdam, Holland
Legal drugs, legal prostituition and what's more? The Netherlands is the most liberal nation in the world. Dutch people are nice and friendly. And don't worry if you don't speak Dutch, they speak English even better than some of the Americans. :)

Paris, France
Paris, ah Paris. I should admit it was quite different from what I'd expected. Well maybe the stereotype was certainly correct. Rumours about rude Parisians, unclean streets are perhaps the consequence of a really heavy travellers traffic. At least I saw the Notre Dame and mounted the Eiffel Tower!
  
 London, United Kingdom
Elegant, posh and brilliant. London is a world city but also a friendly city. It was Christmas when I was there, and even on the busiest street in the city, there were locals greeting Merry Xmas to me! 

These are some of the most memorable places among those trips. I would certainly love to visit them again. In fact, I am so desperate to travel now. Buy me an air ticket and I could fly to anywhere in the world right now.
To be continued.

Growing up

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Today on the radio, I heard a very warm and pleasant advertisement regarding Valentine's Day.
It featured a man in his mid-fifties replying a letter for his daughter who stayed far away from him.
It was in Cantonese, and the way he read the letter out loud was indeed touching.
I managed to roughly recall it out.

I've been forgetting things these few days. And I keep thinking about old times. When you were a child and whenever you cried helplessly in my cuddle, I would placate you and you would eventually burst into laughter. I love watching you smile. Well, I heard about Valentine's day a lot recently. Is it approaching? I don't even know why, but it seems completely irrelevant to me. Maybe it's because there has been so many festivals lately and celebrations simply left us numb. 
Easter,Xmas Eve, Xmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, Ren Ri (人日), Yuan Xiao Festival etc.
And now Valentine's day is coming.
I still remember when I was in high school, we would always hang out on Xmas Eve and partied as if we  were mad. The excitement and joy was impressive. Of course I still celebrate festivals now, but not as passionate as in those days.
Let me ask you one thing, would you prefer a lover who put his great effort on this specific day, present you roses, fireworks, red wines and a romantic night? Or you want a lover who doesn't take Valentine's Day very seriously, but treat you well 365 days every year?
(Laughter) I assume you would pick option A. But as you are growing older, you will definitely fancy the latter option. In my opinion, love should be really simple, plain and without posh or elegant decoration. It's because love is a sheer pleasure from the deepest part of our heart.

Maybe he was true. Growing up means that we would never see things in the same angle anymore. Maybe something we once regarded as a piece of worthless junk will become invaluably precious to us. Or once we thought extremely important will mean nothing anymore.



To me, the most important at present.

Life is like a box of chocolates

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Yes, and we never know what we'll get next.


Maybe the Irish Black Chocolate is your cup of tea, but sometimes what you can get is just an almond pie.
And vice versa. 

We might have a lot of options, as offered by our journey through life. But it is very likely that all choices all not appealing. Then you'll have to compromise. And move on.
Because this is why we are born.

Sometimes time moves so fast that we could simply forget what had happened .. without pain.
All those memories, which seemed extremely meaningful and momentous back in those days, are deemed ridiculous and insignificant at the moment. 

And what I once had faith in, lost and regained, is completely nothing to me now.


I really wish I could get myself a ticket again like this.
And then I can go away. At least a while. To somewhere beautiful, and motivating.

Then come back with another myself.


I'm back!

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Yes I'm officially back from Japan.
You know, I originally brought along my pc so that I could update easily but then it ended I only managed to post a single blog entry before I returned.
So now that I would need to trace back those days and luckily I've got a lot of pictures reminding me what I have been through.
I need to thank to lots of people there which make my stay extremely enjoyable.


I am really grateful towards my host family. They hosted me with kindness and warmth and treated me as if I were their own grandson/son/brother. 
I really burst into tears that day when I was on the flight leaving Tanegashima. I really couldn't bear leaving them.
Even though I have returned, I am still in contact with them and some casual Skype calls can really cheer me up.


They even delivered Japanese rice to my home! I was so shocked because I only told them I liked Japanese rice once and they could remember it. It was sweet. 

Then I knew a lot of people in the school where I went to. Especially thanks to the E-1 Class of Tanegashima High School. Nearly everyone offered me help and treated me nicely during my 4-day-lesson at there.


This was the last day before winter vacation and I wore YE formal suit to give a bilingual speech at the school closing ceremony.
A lot of people told me they were touched by my speech so I guess I was pretty successful!

Lastly a special thank to us Fukuoka YCEs!


Yes we are awesome!! Made friends with you guys and it was really fun! And I wouldn't forget we laughed during the whole flight from Fukuoka to Bangkok!
So glad that we made it altogether :D

(this is an rough update about the trip and details will be added one by one, very soon!!)

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