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. :)

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