The BBC would like to apologize for the following announcement

Don't read this if you don't want controversy

2011-09-04T23:18:00.010+09:00

So this is what bugs me.

I don't mean to make controversy (but I'm sure I will), and I'm not here to say whether it's right or wrong.

But this is what bugs me, right.

So I have recently came across with this article through a podcast, in regards to the new bill that passed in Tennessee.

The bill deals with creationism and evolution.

Woo... a very sensitive topic isn't it?

Take a look at this article.

So from my understanding, public schools teach evolution in science classes. Am I right?

At least that's what I learnt in Japan (including in an American school) and in Australia.

However, the legislation suggests "state and local educational authorities to"assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies" and permit teachers to "help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught."

The article further states: "The only examples provided of "controversial" theories are "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."'

Basically under the name of "academic freedom", teachers has the right to choose whether they want to teach evolution or creationism in their classroom.

Is there anyone who finds that a little odd there?

Look, I'm not here to argue which is the truth regarding how all living beings came to exist.

All I'm saying is that I believe all people have the right to be educated in both beliefs until compulsory education is over. Beyond that, it's the individual's choice whether they want to believe in creationism or theory of evolution.

Well at least that's what I thought a secular democratic country, such as United States, should be providing to their fellow citizens, isn't it?

To provide choices not to limit their choices.

I'm sure there are people who would like to have a say in this and I apologize if you were offended by it.

But this is my opinion and it's not likely to change.

If you're interested in the podcast I've listened to, here is the link where you can listen on your computer.

http://www.sciencesortof.com/2011/04/episode-82-creating-controversy/

Original blog post: http://nchaahi.blogspot.com/

Has it been that long? Crap!

2011-08-22T22:22:00.005+09:00

Holy crap I haven't been updating my English blog for two years. Two years! lol

Well firstly I gotta apologize to my friends and family for my previous post on facebook.

I sorta had a close encounter with a mental breakdown.

For the sake of my psychological health, I'm just gonna let it out, so bare with me here.

Some of you know that my mum suffered from depression few years back and although she is doing very well at the moment, sometimes her emotion gets the better of her and that really affects me too.

Unfortunately mum doesn't have any other family member except for me. She does have very close friends but she ain't the type to speak out her feelings and her struggles to them. She keeps it to herself. I am the only person alive that she can really open up to talk about, well, pretty much anything.

I am grateful for that, but sometimes it can get overbearing and frustrating.

"Sure she can turn to me, but how about me? Who do I turn to when I need someone the most? What do I do when I feel I can't take it anymore?"

"Am I stuck with her for the rest of my life taking care of her? Huh, if that's the case, I should just forget about looking for a relationship."

These are the thoughts that comes across my mind when it gets unbearable at times. I know, I feel terrible about it.

It's tough when you yourself don't have a support close by.

As much as I love my dad, I can't and won't ask for his help.

Ever since my parents split up when I was small, I live with my mum and dad married someone else (whom I love dearly. She's like my best friend) and has two kids, who are my little bro and sis.

He already has enough issues to be handled.

So yeah...

Yes I know I am not the only one with issues. There are people with whole lot worse. I understand that in my head, but that just won't make me feel any better.

All I can do is to bite my lips and bare with it (for now anyway!)

Besides, I am able to bare with it thanks to my friends all over the world and my family back in the United States.

Thanks to you guys I can release my stress with a smile.

I am truly grateful.

Thank you :)

So to all of you, I apologize in advance if I start whining again like I did yesterday. It probably won't be the last lol.

God, I can't wait to visit Perth in November to catch up with my friends!!

People CAN Change

2009-02-17T22:37:00.003+09:00

Watch this episode and tell me what you think about it.
It's about a story of a white man who was in the KKK, reunites with a black man who he beat almost 50years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X68z05YC2R8

Apology for our 2001-08 interruption in service‏

2009-01-25T00:16:00.002+09:00

Dear World:
We, the United States of America , your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy,
would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service.
The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located,
and the software responsible was replaced November 4.
Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly,
and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage.
We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come.
We thank you for your patience and understanding,

Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A Historical Day

2009-01-21T00:17:00.003+09:00

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

-Martin Luther King Jr.

full version of the speech at:http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

This is how I'm going to inform everyone if I get married

2009-01-18T00:57:00.003+09:00

Happy belated New Year everybody! or does that even make any sense? lol

Sorry for leaving my blog and not posting anything. I have been updating my Japanese one now and then but I guess that doesn't mean anything if you can't read Japanese, huh...
apologies everybody.

So... what's new...
NOTHING! HA!
well I have posting pictures on facebook so some of you may know what have I been upto.

Oh, by the way I will be going to Malaysia at end of Feb for a week. why? coz one of my very important gf is getting married!!!!! woot to her!!!
Very happy for her :)
Can't wait to catch up with her. Haven't seen her since... well since I left Perth. Goush, how long ago was that!? lol

Anyway, her getting married got me thinking.
If I ever did get married, how would I inform everyone?
And yes my friends, I have found the answer to this question.
I will inform everybod like the THIS!!!!!

oh, and check this one out if you have time (well it's like only few minutes)

Food Fight to the Max

2008-10-12T01:52:00.001+09:00

LOL

I dunno whether I should say that the guy that made this is brilliant! lol
or
What a waste of food!! lol

hahahaha

Sometimes, being too optimistic seems to cloud your judgement

2008-10-05T03:11:00.005+09:00

I have a girlfriend that just recently found out that she is pregnant (actually, last week). Her bf, whose the father, just turned 20. (my friend is my age, fyi)

I dunno... people say that friendship is unconditional. And you should support them and be by there side no matter what.

Well, first thing she told me that she was pregnant I got pissed off. No no no, "pissed" is an understatement.
I got infuriated.

I've been warning her from before, that she should use protection because there's no way she can support a kid. To afford a kid, to be exact.
But did she listen? Obviously not.

The same day that she told me, I went straight to her house after work and told her what I had to say.
She told me that she's been told that her body is close to sterile, and if she ever wants to have a baby, she will need to have a medical treatment. Thus, she thought it was safe to not use protection.
Well so much for a risk management!

Well I'm not going to mention everything that I said to her and the bf (few stuff went on like me crying a little), but in the end I told her that I'm too disappointed with you, that I can't see you for a while.
I haven't contacted her since.

Now don't get me wrong. I feel like crap telling my best friend off like the way I did. I still consider her as my best friend and if she is going to raise this kid, I will support her in whatever way I can. Since the child is not guilty of anything.
But at the moment, I know if I see her I won't be able to say anything nice to her. So I'm keeping a distance until I'm ready to smile at her again.
Anyway she's still love blinded so I don't think having one less friend is going to be much of anything, sad to say...

Two days later she told others about her being pregnant. So I guess she decided to raise the baby.

Although I won't go into details, I wouldn't be this angry if her life wasn't as complicated as it already is.

I believe that if you want a child, you should prepare the environment first.
Like, being financially ready, emotionally ready, and obviously talk about it with your partner if both of you are ready to have kids. For the sake of your child.
Not the other way around.

She doesn't have a job, and her bf has a part-time job (no uni digree).
Good luck to them both. Coz it ain't easy road ahead of you two.

You can't feed a kid by just being an optimist.

Samurai Champloo

2008-09-21T18:39:00.002+09:00

One of my favourite anime these days.
Awesome. Check it out if you can.
Jin's voice is so darn sexy :p

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Moving

2008-09-10T19:23:00.002+09:00

No, not house. But office.

Hellooo... sorry for disappearing from the internet lol. Have been quite busy with work and life (yes, da same ol' excuse everyone uses :p)
Well... about a week ago, my manager told me that I will be moving to another office.
The thing is, our company has contract with all these other company, such as Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and so on. At the moment my office is in Deutsche Bank and our clients are the Deutsche Bank people. Think of it this way, it's like having McDonald's in your school cafeteria.
Anyway, the manager told me that our company will be running a new office (or site) in Morgan Stanley from this month, and they want someone who can speak English. So... it seems that I was the right person. well... we will see about that lol.

I'm starting there from next week, and I have been told what my new job is going to be like. (Since it's going to be totally different from the job I'm doing right now)
This Friday I will be going to our company headquarter to meet the other staffs that will be working with me. Nervous nervous nervous.

At least Morgan Stanley is going to be closer to my home than Deutsche Bank, and waaaay closer to Shibuya! yay!

Wish me luck people. *sigh*

So now that I'm moving, my co-workers here in Deutsche Bank seem to be planning my farewell party kinda thing. Well 'party' is too big a word. Probably just head to a Japanese pub (or maybe Irish pub nearby) and have some drink. I think I don't have to pay so it doesn't matter! ha!

Always & Forever

2008-08-24T01:35:00.002+09:00

I luuuuurrrrveeee this song at the moment.
It's used in one of my body pump lessons at the gym (the remix version anyway).

I think the singer, David Goncalves is pretty cute :)
Never knew men from Netherlands can be this hot lol.

That was fun :D

2008-08-10T01:46:00.002+09:00

It's been almost 3 years since I was last in the dating scene. Well anyway I did go on a date yesterday.
Seems like I haven't lost my touch ;)

Had a great beef patty. yum!

I swear I saw...

2008-08-07T23:21:00.005+09:00

Ok, I am fully aware of the fact that this is going to sound crazy.
But I swear I saw an UFO tonight.

No, I don't know if it's a spaceship from outer space.
But it was DEFINITELY Unidentified Flying Object.

So the story goes like this...
I was walking down my apartment hallway, back from work, and I think it was about 8~8:30pm.
I noticed the moon was out. So as I listened to my i-pod and walked on, I enjoyed the bright moon shining at me.

Then I noticed something moving across the sky.

At first I thought it to be an airplane.
But you know how any airplane (or helicopter for that matter) would have a blinking light?
Well this one wasn't blinking, and believe me I was staring at it hard enough so there's no way I missed it.
And it wasn't making any sound. (yes I stopped my i-pod and tried to listen to the engine sound)

I thought perhaps it's the satellite. But it looked too close. Definitely inside the atmosphere, not outer space. But too slow for it to be a shooting star.

It did look like a orange star (something that looked like a bright Jupiter or something), but planet or star don't move that fast. If it did... whoa Nellie!

Anyway it was none of those things.
Then what the hell is this? What is this thing that's flying across the sky so smoothly?

I kept staring at it, until the "thing" flew towards a cloud. You know the freaky thing was?
The moment it went in the cloud, it faded away like a fire slowly fading away from a match stick. Then, it disappeared.
I stayed there for about 5 minutes to see the thing coming out from the cloud but it never did.
And NO, it wasn't a dense cloud. Hardly. It was one of those very very thin cloud that looks almost like a fog. So how could that flying object just disappear like that?

I'm very confused. I'm darn sure of what I saw and I'm not bluffing or over exaggerating the story. I swear to god I saw an "UFO".

So anyway, if I don't update my blog anytime soon, you know what have happened to me.
Probably mutilated like those cattle you see on UFO documentaries.
Whoa NELLIE!

E-mail from my brother

2008-08-06T23:11:00.006+09:00

Couple of days ago my brother sent me an e-mail to my mobile.

The rough translation is this:
While on the way to Grandma's place, I found this.
P**** is completely bare, and pubi* hair is covered all over it.
It even has a p** hole, and sets of realistic looking boobs.
Found out that this doll is going to be burnt....

From your beloved brother

And with that message, this picture was attached:

I don't know where he gets these ideas.
shame shame shame.
Well I would never have thought of such thing. *sigh*

Mmmm... to be or not to be...

2008-07-30T00:55:00.003+09:00

yay I have bit of muscle on my arms!
I know it's not much. Should I work out at the gym more to bulk up a little bit more?

Please please please say it isn't so!

2008-07-24T23:32:00.002+09:00

Ok, I'm sorry it was all my fault, I appologize from the bottom of my heart.

So please, don't humilate me! Please! You guys are mentally raping my brain!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I thought Dragon Ball Z as Hollywood movie was bad enough...

There's a rumour that now, Cowboy Bebop may become the next victim of Hollywood.

Oh god, now THIS is humiliating.

No no no no no, let this just be a rumour. Leave it the way it is, I can't picture Spike with a different voice other than THAT voice (sexy voice indeed... *drools*). Or that looks for that matter!

To be honest I really don't think current Hollywood can produce the same or better atmosphere like the anime.

see what I mean?

Curse you Hollywood with your unoriginality!!

Curse you Hollywood

2008-07-20T23:24:00.006+09:00

Yes, I know they're making the film, yes I know of the plot, and YES I KNOW WHOSE IN IT.
Goku a school nerd....
But to actually see the sneak peak of the film itself? I hate it before I've even seen the darn film.
No I don't personally hate the acters, they're just doing there job. But...

HOW DARE YOU HOLLYWOOD.

Are you seriously expecting me to accept the fact that this man is acting as Goku???????

Not just him, Master Roshi sure looks younger with lot of hair doesn't he!

YOU
ARE
ACTUALLY
TELLING
ME
THAT
THIS
IS
SUPPOSE
TO
BE
THE
SAME
CHARACTER

This is going to be the Dark Age for Dragon Ball Z...

How cool is that?

2008-07-17T23:50:00.002+09:00

I found out that my grandma in America has recently passed away. I did meet her 2 years ago and she was pretty sick already (of course that didn't discourage her for being full with sense of humour lol), and few month ago they found out she had a pretty bad lung cancer, so I guess she is free from her pain.

But the episode made me smile. Why?
Well, when my Aunt was with her, Grandma said, "I walked with Jesus".

Those were her last words.

How cool is that? I bet she really did walk with him :)

Miss you Grandma!

Dead meat on the simmering hot iron!... souds like some punk rock song doesn't it?

2008-07-14T23:11:00.021+09:00

Ok... so like I mentioned previously, I went to my friend, Ai's BBQ party held on the roof top of her house. hahaha, it sounds so funny when it's in English. but there you go. that's what is like to live in Tokyo. hell, at least Ai's house has a roof top we could all walk about!

Anyway,
IT WAS.... SO... FRIGGIN.... HOT....
and unlike summer in Perth, it's so ridiculously humid lol.

By the time I got there the party juuuust started so there weren't that many people. Still, everyone enjoyed the hot sun in a different way.

Some chat and smoked

Some pretend they were from a rural village selling vegetables,

Some sang and played the fan guitar,

Some tried to get the fire going, (owww... how nice of him ;D )

Some like me and Ai enjoyed the cold water to chill

Then came Nao, Ai's bf to disturb our slumber, so we decided to pinch his nipples.
And yes he loved it so. His facial expression is proof enough!

In between, the temporary summer storm passed by but it lasted for just about an hour or so, thus we resumed the BBQ afterwards.
Gradually more people came and had BBQ til dawn. yay, lunch BBQ and dinner BBQ and alcohol! woot!

afterwards late at night we cleaned up the mess and went inside one of Ai's room (coz we can't stay out for the whole night partying. Neighbours would complain. *sigh*) and continued on with the drinking ;)

Hahaha, this pic really looks like there's lesbian action going on lol.

yeah, can you tell it's that late night atmosphere, where everyone still wants to stay awake but the energy isn't much there? lol

or just go plan nuts.

Some of us ended up staying the whole night at Ai's place. Next thing in the morning one of our friend came over and decided to try on one of the girl's swim suit.
how random is that? He's such an idiot, seriously lol.

I had a great time made my mind freshen up a little bit! Should do this again next year :)

She's Baaaack ;)

2008-07-10T23:23:00.004+09:00

Everyone, thanks for the warm and kind messages. I am getting better now. I'm my "usual" self as long as I'm with other people. Not when I'm alone though. *sigh*
Still I'm having hard time getting back home. I don't want to go home. Yeah, I even try to work overtime just so I don't have to go home sooner.
Every single thing in the house reminds me of her. Darn lol.
Anyway enough with the depressing talk. I will be ok :)

So... my dog came back home yesterday. Changed a little in shape and size though lol.

Yeah, she has been cremated. But I don't believe that she's actually inside this urn or anything like that. But we will keep it as sort of like a "beacon" for her to find the way back home easily. You know, whenever she feels like visiting us, so-to-speak.

Anyway, my gf's organising BBQ party on Saturday so I think I'm going to enjoy it.
Must DRINK! woot!

Empty space inside my chest

2008-07-08T00:39:00.007+09:00

Thanks to all my friends that came over on Sunday to say their last farewell to Maruko. Thank you for the beautiful flowers. Thank you for making me laugh.
And thank you for those of you that sent me messages through the internet for emotional support. It means so much. I'm glad to have you all as a friend, seriously :)
(and yes I mean it)

This morning me and mum carried Maruko back to the vet to ask for cremation.
God, I never knew dead body can be so darn heavy.
I didn't really have a big problem carrying my 14kg dog before, but now she's dead, whoa.

We left her body at the vet. I wanted to stay with her as much as I can but I had to go to work.

Today was the first time I thought "I don't want to go home"
There's so so many things that reminds me of her. I feel like she will be laying down on the floor waiting for me to come back.

Last night, I spent a while with my dog. Touching her cold body was such heart aching thing. But her fur was so soft, just like when she was alive.
I touched her furry tail. I couldn't believe that tonight will be the last time I will ever pat her and rub her fur.

So I cut a little bit of fur off her tail for me to keep. Do you think it's crazy? Maybe.
But I think those who has/had pets would understand.

I feel so empty today. I don't feel much of anything anymore. Perhaps I'm over exaggerating but I've sorta lost part of my life that I cherish the most. It must be the grieving stage. I'm sure I will eventually move on but right now...
I miss her so much I don't know what to do. It's sorta driving me nuts.
I can't even type properly coz of my darn tears (probably looking at my dog's pictures were a very bad idea).
Back in my head, there's part of me thinking "Maruko went on a trip and I'm going to see her soon" or "She's not dead, she's sleeping on my bed just like she used to".

But every time I check, she's not there. Why...

Gosh, I hope I'm not going mad...

I don't know if I could ever have a dog again.
No dog can replace her.

I will miss you

2008-07-06T10:37:00.005+09:00

My dog has passed away early this morning.

In my previous blog entry I mentioned she was greatly ill. I took her to the doctor yesterday morning but things weren't any better.
She still vomited blood, and her feces contained blood.

After she had her medicine, I took her back home. On the way, she vomited and her feces came out uncontrollably.
Finally I let her rest in her bed, cleaned her mess, and try to be beside her as much as we can.
But I didn't want to do that too much, because I knew she could sense us worrying about her, and she may try to hold on to herself more than she should be.

I wanted her to be in peace. I didn't want her to go through such pain as she already is.

Late last night about 2am, Maruko's breathing changed. She looked like she can't breathe properly. Very weak breathing pattern. Her eyes didn't move at all. She looked like she was ready to go. Yet, her heart (although very weak) thumped, and she kept breathing.

Me and mum stayed with her for a while, touching her and patting her telling her it's okay.

We had to wake up early tomorrow morning to take her to the vet (6am), so I went to sleep.

I woke up at 5:30am by the alarm. I went to check my dog.

She was already stiff.

But still warm.

She has left us.

She was a great dog. A family, I know since I was 8-years-old. She was there for our ups and downs.

You've been great.
I'm sure she is running around as much as she wants now she's free from her body.

I will miss you so much.
I love you.

My dog's sick

2008-07-05T01:15:00.002+09:00

well where should I start...

As I was trying to leave the house today to go to work, my dog, Maruko started puking. I wasn't that surprised because she was already 17-years-old and she did throw up occasionally when she either ate too quickly or drank too much water at one go.

However I had to leave so I asked my mum to take care of her.
During lunch break I checked my phone and got a message from my mum telling me that our dog's condition worsened and had to take her to our vet.
Apparently she had a fever as well (about 39C-ish).

After work, I went to pick up Maruko from the vet, and the vet told me that Maruko is having a kidney failure. Not good.
Seems that she was vomiting the whole day at the vet's practice. Wimping and growling because of the pain. Poor girl...
She had to get a dripping injection. *sigh*
She couldn't walk anymore so I had to carry my 14kg dog back home. Whoa, what a work out.

By the time I got in front of our door, she vomited again and collapsed.
I made a place for her to lay down and wiped her vomit.
As I pat my dog and trying to soothe her, what the vet told me earlier dawned upon me.

He told me to bring her back again tomorrow and will give her some more dripping injection and see if her fever will go down a little.
If not... well he said that we should be ready for anything.

I knew that one day something like this will happen, but so soon.
Yes, she has been doing pretty darn good for her age, but that still doesn't get rid of the pain in your chest from the fear of losing your family does it?

As I was typing this blog entry, she threw up again. She's in pain and all I can do is to sit near her and watch.

But this is what it's like to having a pet. They most likely will die before you do, and it's not easy at all.
Even my brother's prairie dog's dying. He's already 8-years-old (pretty good for a prairie dog) and is getting thinner by the day, or so I've heard. Won't eat anymore. Pretty much the vet's dripping injection is the thing that's keeping him alive. I don't know how my bro's going to react if something happens to the prairie dog. He loves that little thing so much.

However, I'm the type that believes that although her bodily form is destroyed, the 'being' once was called Maruko will never vanish, and we will meet again in some form or another. Hell, who knows she may be reincarnate to my baby, yeah? Sounds crazy? well that's just my opinion.

Actually, what I'm worried is about my mother. She has been doing fine ever since her medicine started kicking in and since she started her new job. But I'm afraid she may break down if anything happens to our dog...

Plus, we both work at day so if Maruko is bedridden, what the hell are we suppose to do? Both of us can't afford to quit our jobs. But I really want putting-her-down option as the last straw. That's the last thing I want to do to her. Of course, if she was suffering terribly and is in constant pain... then that's a different story. But I don't know how I can bare the idea though.

My head hurts from thinking too much. Can't eat much.
*sigh*

Since some people can't seem to understand...

2008-07-02T01:26:00.005+09:00

In my previous blog entry I mentioned poo attached to a stick.
Seems that some people are in doubt that this can be done (*cough* David *cough).

Anyway to make yourself a poo-attached-stick, one must find a coiled up poo.
Then you put the stick into the poo and there you go!
What do you use it for? Well to poke people with it of course!

I saw it on anime, therefore it's true.

See?

Some people can be so... grrrrr....

2008-06-30T00:18:00.003+09:00

Took TOEIC this morning. Was easier than I thought so hope I can get a high score, so if I did go look for a job in the near future, TOEIC's gonna make my resume look better lol.

Anyway, after the exam, I head straight to the gym to attend the Powerfit lesson (similar to Body Pump). I definitely didn't want to miss today's lesson, because the Powerfit instructor was quitting her job as an instructor. I heard she was getting married, and that's why she's going to quit. Thus today was her last lesson.
She is a quiet girl with a nice smile, but once the lesson starts, she gets really pumped up and energetic. Whoa, her lessons are tough. But thanks to her, I'm starting to get six pack :p I've been taking her lessons for more than a year now, so it's kinda sad to see her go :(

But alas, by the time I got to the gym, the lesson was already full. Sunday lessons usually doesn't get that full easily but since it was her last day, people who doesn't come on Sundays that often seemed show up. I was really disappointed but I thought at least I will go and talk to the instructor. As I was talking to the instructor we found out that there seemed to be a cancellation and there was one place available for me! yes! yes yes yesssss!!!!

So for 60min I worked out as much as I can. yeah... I think I worked out too much...
I was sweating like a fountain.
Next day muscle pain all over my body, confirmed.

Towards the end of the lesson, few people brought flowers for her, and she ended up crying, which made me wanna cry too lol.
I wish all the best for her!!

Oh, and another thing. After I had a shower at the gym, my friend there told me something really unpleasant. There is this another male instructor which I will name him K. (yeah, he's the guy that used to teach me yoga and I had the hots for him lol. yes, past tense :p)
I noticed that I haven't seen him around much, and I always see him working at the swimming pool section. And yes, today I found out why.

It seems that someone complained to the gym about K because of his attitude. To be specific, this person was apparently annoyed by the fact that he was chit-chatting with few particular customers quite often.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Ok, K is a very friendly and nice person, but he is like that to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE. He greets every customer and is very easy to make friends with customers as well. Plus, if the customer comes and talks to you, as an instructor you can't ignore can you?
It's not like he doesn't do his job. He's very serious about his job and he loves it.
So what kind of idiot can complain about this?
It's not just about K. I heard that couple of the lesson schedule had to be rearranged because some customers complained that the lesson was boring or didn't like the instructor, or some crap like that.
I mean come on, if you don't enjoy it, just don't bother attending the friggin lesson.
Do you have to be an asshole to complain and make a fuss about it?
Geez... some people can be so self-centred.

If I ever did find out who is responsible, I should poke this person with a poo attached to a stick.

Um... I think I will make you all jealous

2008-06-28T23:38:00.005+09:00

Today, I will introduce you all to THE BEST ramen noodles I have had so far.
It's where I used to work, where my friend's mother runs the place. She is a brilliant chef.
She uses all organic and absolutely healthy and safe ingredients (she's really strick about that).
She mainly makes two types of ramen here. one is the usual ramen noodles in hot soup, and the other one is cold noodles separated from hot soup, where you dip the noodle into the soup.
I personally prefer the cold noodles.
And this is my all time favourite:

This one's soup contains chili oil, almond paste, chili powder, and their well known ramen soup (mainly using seafood).

and the noodles... chewy (in a good way) and absolutely yummy.

combine these two together?
HEAVEN

The normal ramen is also very popular. mmmm...

If any of you did come visit me in Tokyo, I could bring you here.
Ask Karen, she LOVED it ;)

Hahahahaha

2008-06-28T00:08:00.006+09:00

From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM
To: Jim Allchin
Cc: Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)
Subject: Windows Usability Systematic degradation flame

I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don’t drive usability issues.

Let me give you my experience from yesterday.

I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack … so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.

he first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.

This site is so slow it is unusable.

It wasn’t in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45.

These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like: C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.

They are not filtered by the system … and so many of the things are strange.

I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.

So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying - where is this Moviemaker download? Does it exist?

So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.

They told me to go to the main page search button and type movie maker (not moviemaker!).

I tried that. The site was pathetically slow but after 6 seconds of waiting up it came.

I thought for sure now I would see a button to just go do the download.

In fact it is more like a puzzle that you get to solve. It told me to go to Windows Update and do a bunch of incantations.

This struck me as completely odd. Why should I have to go somewhere else and do a scan to download moviemaker?

So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes.

Doesn’t Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?

Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff.

This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg.

So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn’t use it for anything else during this time.

What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished.

Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time?

So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state.

So I got back up and running and went to Windows Updale again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker.

So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.

What does it mean to have to click on that folder? So I get a bunch of confusing stuff but sure enough one of them is Moviemaker.

So I do the download. The download is fast but the Install takes many minutes. Amazing how slow this thing is.

At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to download.

So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things like "Open" or "Save". No guidance in the instructions which to do. I have no clue which to do.

The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing.

So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove programs place to make sure it is there.

It is not there.

What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package, Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.

Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable? The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable. This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.

But that is just the start of the crap. Later I have listed things like Windows XP Hotfix see Q329048 for more information. What is Q329048? Why are these series of patches listed here? Some of the patches just things like Q810655 instead of saying see Q329048 for more information.

What an absolute mess.

Moviemaker is just not there at all.

So I give up on Moviemaker and decide to download the Digital Plus Package.

I get told I need to go enter a bunch of information about myself.

I enter it all in and because it decides I have mistyped something I have to try again. Of course it has cleared out most of what I typed.

I try (typing) the right stuff in 5 times and it just keeps clearing things out for me to type them in again.

So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven’t run Moviemaker and I haven’t got the plus package.

The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don’t you just love that root certificate message?)

When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.”

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/06/25/gates-sends-angry-e-mail-sounds-just-like-a-customer/

Ok, yes I'm alive thank you

2008-06-22T23:44:00.005+09:00

yoo hoo... anyone out there? hehehe
sorry for the long 'no-I'm-in-no-mood-of-trying-to-update-my-blog' period. It's been tough. Yup, no doubt about that.

Anyway cut the long story short, I didn't work out with my previous job (yes my boss was a total... well that's another story), but now I've began a new job which I enjoy much more (and relatively good pay) and my mum is starting to work as well so gradually we're back on track... I think?

So... what have I missed out these days? Any sweet gossips from my good ol' Perth town? I know that Julian is in Brisbane but how about everyone else? oh! Honey is visiting Tokyo in August, so that would be exciting :)

Since I don't have much exciting stuff to talk about, lets talk about kiviak (or giviak) shall we? :D

So who DOES know of a thing called kiviak? I'm guessing almost none. Well I didn't know about it until last year or so.

Hint 1: It's a traditional food of the Inuits.

Hint 2: It's got to do with seals.

ok, I will introduce you the recipe of this delicacy.

Ingredients are simple. All you need is a seal and some couple of sea birds.

Step 1: Cut open the seal and take out everything (yes, take out all the internal organs)

Step 2: Shove in the sea birds inside the seal, and no you don't pluck the feather or do anything with the bird. Leave the bird just the way it is, and put them inside the seal. That's all you need to do.

Step 3: Sew the seal up and make sure you put some seal oil on the the sewed area to prevent flies to lay eggs (aka. maggots. ewww).

Step 4: Bury the seal under the ground. Leave it there to ferment from few month to couple of years.

The cooking part is complete!
Now to the "how to eat"

Dig out the seal, and cut the seal open. Oh, and the great thing about kiviak is that you don't need no plate, fork, knife or spoon to eat this thing.
All you have to do is get rid of the tail feathers, and put your mouth to the bird's anus and suck. Due to the fermentation, the bird's internal organs, meat and everything has sort of liquified, so you can suck all in like a... jello.

The closest taste would be blue cheese or yogurt. Apparently it tastes really good but stinks like hell. probably as bad as Surstromming (Swedish delicacy consisting of fermented Baltic herring. you know the one which is in a can but it's swelled up coz of the fermented gas inside?)

Anyone interested? :D

Check out this anime to watch the eating scene (no it's not a horror anime lol). Watch especially the 8:10 part.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

I'm Alive... for now :)

2008-03-31T21:29:00.003+09:00

I'm going to be brutally honest. I was having a very difficult time these couple of weeks.

Since last year, my mum became bi-polar (manic depression). About last June, she became very hyper active and acting all weird. At that time, I didn't know what was going on. In August, she became depressed and cried every night. I didn't know what to do. I thought time will heal her.
Around November, she begin to recover and I thought everything turned out fine.

Then, about couple of weeks ago, she became hyper active again. She was restless, buys expensive things without thinking or checking the price. Won't listen to others. Do and say things that doesn't make any sense.

She couldn't work anymore. I couldn't work either because I had to keep my eyes on her. God knows what she might have done if I didn't.
So I took her to the doctor last week and he told us that she is having manic depression, and gave us medicine that will control her emotions and bring her back the way she was.
But, it's going to take time (for the medicine to kick in, it would take about 2 weeks). That means no income till she gets better.
I'm hiding all her bank cards and credit cards right now. I hate doing this but I can't trust her with it just yet.

It's tough. I feel like I'm going through depression. I can't laugh at the things that used to make me laugh. it's hard to smile these days. all I can think of is negative thoughts. Sometimes I couldn't stand how she was acting so I yelled and screamed while I cried. I seriously thought about committing suicide just to escape from this pain and suffering. But that's not going to solve anything. I have to live with it. I feel like breaking down but I gotta pull myself together. I'm the only one she got, and same goes for me.

These couple of days she is getting better and better. Not perfectly well but getting there. Then my friend told me that a friend of hers runs a company and is looking for someone to work for him ASAP. I gave it a shot. I contacted him and had a job interview today.

I've got the job :)
Starting from tomorrow. It's a company that deals with online advertisement (at the moment they're working for Nissin, the company that sells products such as Cup Noodle), and I will be helping out with that (no, I don't know exactly what yet lol).

I know, this doesn't mean everything is solved, but it's a start.

Wish me luck

Dolphin saves whales stuck on New Zealand beach

2008-03-14T02:39:00.001+09:00

I dunno, this story made my eyes wet :)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKWEL1524120080313

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The case of two stranded whales saved by a dolphin off the coast of New Zealand could be the first such case in the world, a conservation worker said on Thursday.

Moko the dolphin, a regular visitor to the coast of Mahia on the east Coast of New Zealand's North Island, became an instant hero after leading two pygmy whales that had repeatedly stranded into deep water on Monday.

"As far as I know it's the only documented instance of this happening," said local Department of Conservation officer Malcolm Smith, adding he had checked with whale stranding specialists who were also unaware of any similar dolphin rescues.

Moko, who had been visiting the beach at Mahia on and off over the summer, arrived at the beach in the nick of time, Smith said.

The disoriented mother and calf had resisted attempts to herd them out to sea, and kept restranding on the beach, to the point where Smith said the pair would likely have to be killed.

Then Moko appeared, and came right up to the whales before leading them out to sea.

"Quite clearly the attitude of the whales changed when the dolphin arrived on the scene. They responded virtually straight away," Smith said.

"The dolphin managed in a couple of minutes what we had failed to do in an hour and a half."

Smith said the whales had not been sighted again in the area.

Silversmith

2008-02-25T13:50:00.005+09:00

I've completed my 7th work of silversmith.
Here it is:

I've made a Japanese hair ornament. It's suppose to be water lily. can you tell? lol

May He Rest In Peace

2008-01-23T16:57:00.000+09:00

I still can't believe Heath Ledger has passed away

RIP 1979-2008

It's 2008!

2008-01-01T01:59:00.000+09:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!
WISH YOU ALL THAT THIS YEAR WILL BE BETTER THAN THE LAST ;)

English Lesson

2007-12-31T00:43:00.000+09:00

English lesson from a Japanese prostitute.
C'mon! C'mon Toshi!!!!!

Connie in the Britains Semi Final singing 'Ben'

2007-12-07T04:03:00.003+09:00

She's extreeeeemely cute isn't she? =)

Britain Got Talent - Connie Singing Over the Rainbow

2007-12-07T04:03:00.001+09:00

So what do you think of her?

Minutes to Midnight

2007-11-18T00:40:00.001+09:00

6 more days to Linkin Park Live in Tokyo.
Hoah!!!!!!

Experiencing Something Shocking.......Priceless

2007-11-08T12:04:00.000+09:00

Few days ago I worked out in the gym, and was taking common bath at the gym. they have artificial hot spring, so was soaking myself up, and relaxing... aaaaa.... such as life...

After couple of minutes, elderly lady (of course naked) came in to the common bath room, and started to unpack her toiletry in the shelf provided inside the bathroom. the shelf is in front of the hot spring, so naturally her back was turned towards the hot spring, aka me.

By chance, I happened to look her way. Thus my gaze was right on the spot of her naked bottom.

I noticed something white.

I paused, and turned to look at it again.

There was something white stuck between her bottom...

For a moment I thought it was perhaps tanpon string.
No no no, think again Nams, she is in her 60s, she's already in her menopause for sure. But then... no, it could not possibly be... but then again...

The conclusion I reached shocked me and gave me doubt. I saw the lady's bottom just once more.

It's... it's...

TOILET PAPER

The moment I realised what it was, she disappeared to the shower area. there were two elderly ladys in the hot spring with me. one of the lady said to the other, "there was something stuck wasn't it?"
So I'm not the only one who discovered the truth...

But after couple of minutes, the lady with the toiletpaper returned and decided to go in the hot spring.

I believe it's unpardonable to go inside a common bath without properly washing yourself throughly. if this was your house, fine. but this is a common bath. to make thing worse, it's the fitness gym. you exercise and sweat.
EVEN WORSE WHEN YOU HAVE TOILT PAPER STUCK BETWEEN YOUR CRACK.

so the moment she soaked in, I got out without a word.

As I was walking towards the bathroom door, by chance I looked at the bathroom tile.
The remnant of toilet paper... wet...

orz
("orz" looks like a person on its knees with it's head bowed. common in japan to express lassitude or feeling depressed lol)

NAGASAKI, Day 2

2007-11-02T16:09:00.000+09:00

okay, back to my trip blog.

oh, Happy Belated Halloweed by the way! Tokyo got hite by typhoon directly. *sob*
but we still held da party. i very much appriciate those who came (although were soaking wet lol). if we held it next year, i think we ALL can dress up in costume! (plus more ppl)

So anyway, Day 2 (Oct 10th, Wednesday)

all the remaining pictures are here (sorry, facebook people only)

Surprisingly, mum and I woke up early in the morning to head to Shimabara. it's about 2hrs train ride from the city. needless to say i fell a sleep during da ride.
so we finally got there, and head to Shimabara Castle.

the castle is surrounded by a lake, which was covered in lotus leaves. it must be beautiful during the season when the lotus flowers bloom...

the main castle tower

and the view from the top of the castle

this is the famous Mount Unzen, which erupted in 1991 and killed 44 people. it's still an active volcano you know. scary stuff.

Shimabara bares a sad history. a history of war between the Japanese government and Christians (mainly peasants), known as the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. thousands of people were killed.
and the leader of this rebellion was a 16-year-old boy named Shiro Amakusa. and he was supposedly an extremely handsome.
found his bronze statue within the castle's garden.

handsome? hmm....

next we headed to an area within the town where lower ranked samurais' premises (total of three) are.
the walkway to the premise.

Love these stone fences, remindes me of Okinawa.

found a friendly cat. *muaaaaaaaks*

this was one of the premises.

so lets see inside the house...

(local lady was cleaning the room, which at first scared the living daylights out of me lol)

after a while, it was time to leave Shimabara and head to Unzen Onsen. so we headed to the bus stop. we had about 20 minutes, so i bought some local sweets known as kanzarashi.

it's made out of shiratama dumplings (made out of rice flour. sticky and chewy), filled with syrup made out of local springwater, honey and sugar.
it wasn't as sweet as I thought, and it was goooooood....

the bus came and we rode for about 40 minutes through the mountains.
Unzen area is famous for onsen (hot springs). what I really wanted to see in Unzen was the Unzen Jigoku (literally means Unzen Hell). woot!
it's an area where, due to active volcano, enormous amount of sulphur gas is emitted, which to early locals, looked like hell itself. Thus the name, Unzen Jigoku (Unzen Hell)

the moment we stepped in, it was STINKY STINKY STINKY!!!
I've never smelt such strong sulphur smell in my life!! stinks stinks stinks!

I love this signboard
it says:
Keep Out It's Dangerous Within Hell

I'm sure LOL

I don't know how could I let you all understand how rotten the smell was, so decided to express it with my own face.

can you feel it? no? didn't think so.

they sold Onsen Tamago (Hotspring Egg), which is usually eggs boiled in hotsprings, but in this case, eggs were steamed with extremely hot sulphur gas. we decided to give it a try (salt included in da bag)

taste?

just like your average boiled egg. tasted good coz we were hungry lol.
there were stray cats which were aiming to get eggs from the tourists. yes, I love cats but no, I did not give any eggs of mine. they get enough eggs from other tourists. what? me? mean? couldn't be.
but I thought for a moment. these cats live a pretty good life. they won't be needing to look for food since tourists will give some of their eggs to them (they are pretty fatten up for a stray cat!), and the smell of the sulphur is so strong, that fleas won't come any closer (the cats didn't seem to mind the stench of that place though). Plus, despite the smell, the ground itself is relatively warm (due to the volcanic activity) so they won't freeze during winter. I couldn't bare the smell. I started to have migraine (seriously). humph.

Lastly we headed to the most active part of the Jigoku area, known as Daikyokan jigoku (Screaming Hell).

apparently the sound of the steam coming out sounds like dead people in hell screaming.

what do you think?

we walked for a pretty long time, and after we left Unzen Jigoku, we found a hotspring for feet (that literally means for feet only), and yes it's free and is open to everyone.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....

I wish we had enough time to go to hotspring and take a bath, but we had not time for that. because there was like only one more bus that goes back to Nagasaki city lol.

We also went to a local Shinto shrine, where there was a friendly stray cat. *yum*

too many cat episodes? I'm sorry, I can't help it :p

Also found a hotspring for your hands. so cute lol

whilst we waited for the bus, I bought a local soda (the history of this soda is pretty old. I think they start producing this in early 20th century).

not bad.

the bus back to the city was loooooooooong..... it took about 2hrs. 2hrs bus ride! by the time we got back it was already dark (9ish?).

When we got back to city, I bought another local famous soda at a convenience store near our hotel, called "Banzai Soda".

it's the first soda in Japan to ever be of mass production. It goes back to 1904. I prefer this soda more than the onsen soda at Unzen. Banzaaaaaai!!!!!

NAGASAKI, Day 1

2007-10-17T21:37:00.000+09:00

Complete pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10241&id=611670904

Does anyone update their blog anymore? lol (except for the girls i mean)
Me and mum travelled to Nagasaki last week. It was just for few days but i really enjoyed the place. If u get the chance, I highly recommend it ;)

so... this is Day 1 (Oct 9th, Tuesday)

Nagasaki is about 2hours flight from Tokyo, and me n mum almost missed the plane n we got on 5min before the plane took off. phew!
I'm not going into details but rest assured that it wasn't my fault!!!

So we arrive at Nagasaki. unfortunately it was pouring down rain, because of the typhoon approaching. That ain't mean we ain't going sightseeing!! No time to waste my time (what?) just because it's pouring down rain til you can't hear what the other person is speaking although they are right next to you.

So! we first head off to Dejima! This area is an artificial island made during the Edo period (1603 to 1867), and it was the sole trading post that Japan had with the outside world during Edo period when Japan self-imposed isolation. It was mainly a Dutch trading post, so this island (quite small in size, 120 by 75 metres) portrays mixtures of Japanese and Western cultures.
the view of Dejima

This is a reconstruction of what a Dutch trade captain's house would have looked like in Dejima. I love how it's Westernised but the floor is tatami (traditional Jap floor made out of straw). love to have a room like this.
The dining room

(The noise you hear on the movie clip is from the rain. Thus you can imagine how heavy the rain was. And yes as you would imagine our shoes and pants were soaking wet. Thank god we brought umbrellas with us from Tokyo!)

We caught the circle route bus and head to Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture.
Yeah yeah, probably some of you think "yawn", but I love it so you think it's too boring, you can turn around and leave this blog :p ha!
While we were there, the lady that works there informed us that a group of Japanese drum players were to perform within the premise. This is because on the day we arrive in Nagasaki, it was the last day of the major festival called Kunchi.

Group of these drum players were paying a visit to major places within the city (I presume).

cool huh? I love it
I love it even more knowing that the main drum player in front was a woman.

After it was over, we continued our tour within the museum.

This metal plate is called fumie. This was used during the self-imposed isolation of Japan (during Edo Period), to find out whether you were Christian (mainly Catholics) or not, since Christianity was banned and persecuted from 1629. People had to step on the picture (usually a portrayal of Virgin Mary or Jesus). By the way Christians were called Kirishitan in Japanese back in those days.
Well... even if I was a Christian back in Edo Period Japan, I'm pretty sure I will step on it to save my life, because I really don't think Jesus or Virgin Mary is going to be angry with me for doing that! lol

As Christians were persecuted, many eventually hide their true belief, but secretly continued to practise their religion (they were known as "hidden Christians").
Take this picture for an example. This looks like Buddhist Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), but this is actually Virgin Mary in disguise. Kinda neat huh?

The museum contained a reconstruction of Nagasaki Bugyo's premise (Bugyo is a commissioner).

Damn, would love to live in a place like this.

After we left the museum we head to downtown for our dinner. Had quite a few Nagasaki specialities such as mini-gyoza (type of Chinese dumpling in Japanese style). It's so small you can eat it in one bite. yummm...

Heading Off To Nagasaki

2007-10-08T16:37:00.000+09:00

I'm heading off to Nagasaki tomorrow. It's just a short trip, coming back to Tokyo on da 11th. I don't know if most of you know Nagasaki in Japan, but it should be a cool place (I never been there either).
historically it was a international port back from the 16th century, n even after japan secluded itself from the outside world, Nagasaki was da only place that had access to the outside world during da Edo period. so Nagasaki's culture is well influenced by Western culture, especially Portugal.
So there's lots of historical Christian churches n western influenced buildings. Also it was da place where da 2nd atomic bomb was dropped after Hiroshima.

There's no way I can visit everywhere but should be fun :)

until then, adieu!

Shoot Me, I met SEAMO

2007-09-21T19:41:00.000+09:00

yesterday was one of da best day of the year...
went to Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art to see Studio Gibli paintings from all the well known Studio Gibli animations. it's amazing how someone can paint like that. it looks like a bloody photograph. n all da details they painted just for a few second screen shots. damn.

afterwards, me n Ai went to Zepp Tokyo (probably this live house can contain about 2,000 ppl) in Odaiba, to go see a live called B-JAM. many artists were to perform, including Ai's friend Tony, whose a member of W-SCORE (can see their video clip here. Tony does da rap). i have to thank Tony for getting us a seat as guests (aka VIP!), so we watched from da 2nd floor.
da artists were as follows:
1. deco & G
2. W-SCORE
3. suzumoku
4. SunSet Swish (they sang song from Bleach)
5. Nice Hashimoto
6. FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
7. SEAMO (my main reason that i came...)

i gotta say FUNKY MONKEY BABYS were hilarious. they are 3 members, one DJ n two MCs. n i've never seen such crazy DJ in my life. n i love their songs! so energetic!!!

HOWEVER... da special guest for da night was of course, SEAMO!!!!!!!
wooot wooot!!!!!!
i luuuuuurrrrve SEAMO!!! n finally i've had da chance to see him in real life.
imagine my excitement. *gasps*
i had da chance to listen to his new single "Kiseki". ya he looks all serious in da video clip but he can go nuts. most of his performance at a concert is performed totally naked except for hiding his private area with just a mask lol
(unfortunately B-JAM was on live on cable tv so he didn't strip off, which was extremely unfortunate)
i was soooo happy when he finished off with "Lupin the Fire". (i wish he had sang "A Love Story" too :p)

after da performance we got to stay behind for da after party for da crews only.
all da artists were there including SEAMO!!!!! *screaming in da inside*
thank u Tony... u may not know it but i owe u big time.
i was about 5 meters from him. but not like i asked him to take pics with me...
didn't want to disturb him. im happy i had da privilege of sharing da same time n space.
i know, im such a nice fan... ;)

Any guy would feel inadequate after seeing this

2007-09-10T23:26:00.000+09:00

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
check out da whale vagina!!

(blue whale vagina, to be exact)

pic from this site

The Final Sexy Time

2007-09-07T17:45:00.001+09:00

last tuesday, caught up with my girls. it was da last day in Japan for Miki, as she was going to England and live with her husband-to-be. well she's coming back in Feburary for her wedding but she won't be single no more. sad :(
so! this was like THE last day of her single life with us.

yups no boobs for me thanx!

(girl next to me is Miki)

will miss u Miki, n will be waiting for u to come back for ur wedding!

Meeting old faces, in real life and in a movie

2007-09-03T20:16:00.000+09:00

last friday night i caught up with Adrian, who was visiting Japan from Singapore with his family. glad to talk to someone i know from Perth. long time no see!!!

we had heaps to talk but alas such little time! hope u had fun in Hokkaido and Tokyo Adrian! n thanks soooooo much with da Marimokkori stuff toy!!
Hokkaido is well known for marimo (round green alga), n they created a character called Marimokkori, an alga ball with limbs n i dunno why but has an erected penis LOL.

love it!

on sunday i woke up eeaaaarly in da morning n met up with Miki, Ai, Sayo n Teppei to watch da new Evangelion movie which just premier this saturday.

the story consists of 4 movies n this was part one. "first three movies will be an alternate retelling of the TV series (including many new scenes, settings, backgrounds, characters), and the fourth movie will be a completely new conclusion to the story; the series is intended to be much more understandable and accessible to non-fans than the original TV series and movies." (from wikipedia)

da graphic was great n there was much more details on da battle scenes. but i don't think is THAT accessible to people who never watched Evangelion before.
my gfs were going nuts when they Kaworu appeared. horny bunch! LOL
but after 10 years, who would have thought i will be watching a new Evangelion movie?
da next movie supposedly is coming out next spring, so looking forward to it.

n check out these lunch boxes that some crazy ppl made!!

how could i possibly eat these...

afterwards us 4 girls went to help Yuna (whose mum owns a super delicious ramen shop n i happen to work there) about 1 year worth of reciept to be in order so she can had it to their tax accountant. whoa... da amount of reciept... n how it was all over da place (date-wise).
THANK GOD for my gfs to help out. if not, we would be there until night.

after we were done, Miki and Sayo went home, n Yuna, Ai n i went out for dinner. this restaurant we tried out had heaps of different types of soup, n i ordered pumpkin soup which is filled inside a huge bread. mmm...
afterwards we went to karaoke, n of course, Ai sang da new Evangelion movie theme song. this song is sang by Utada Hikaru. pretty cool song!
it's called "beautiful world" n da lyrics are pretty meaningful (can check out da full translation here).

before we left Shibuya, we saw a crowd gathering in front of da main starbucks building. i saw this young guy going.... nuts... i suppose? lol
i can't really explain how interesting he was. he didn't look like he was on drugs, perhaps he was absolutely drunk or he was really pissed with his work (coz he was yelling towards da end "tomorrow is monday! i hate monday!!", "what da hell is monday anyway!?")
it seems like he was with his friends but his friends didn't stop him (seemed like they couldn't stop him lol).
plz check out these video that i took. thank god i brought my camera with me!!

(think towards da end he got a cramp in his leg LOL)

i love Shibuya lol

To those who loves Star Wars... and Winnie the Pooh

2007-08-30T15:49:00.000+09:00

An interesting article about Anakin Skywalker and Winnie the Pooh.
The funny thing is these articles are published by experts in psychology and neurology. yeah, it's actually a serious diagnostics.

these are da articles:
"Anakin Skywalker: Borderline Personality, Bipolar or Narcissist?"

"Pathology in the Hundres Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne"

i love how they describe Pooh as having ADHD and OCD lol.

The Truth? Or A Scam?

2007-08-28T23:31:00.000+09:00

everyone knows that global warming is causing a problem. read or watched "The Inconvenient Truth"?

well... what IF this is all a political scam?

I've recieved email from my dad. my dad and I both don't really have a opinion towards this. However, apparently this man is VERY highly regarded.

here's a link to a british documentary which supposedly exposes everything and shows what's really going on.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3028847519933351566&hl=en

these are da basic points:

1. Global warming and cooling is something that has been going on for ever. The geological record shows constant changes.

2. This current warming started in the 19th century - long before mankind had significant industry and over 100 years before the automobile became widespread.

3. Industrial activity rose dramatically from 1940 to 1974. In this period, the temperature fell.

4. The oil crisis lead to large scale reduction in man-made CO2.

5. From 1975 the temperature began once again to rise.

6. The last two warm periods (both much warmer than now) were the Bronze Age and the early medieval period. Both times of greatly increased prosperity.

7. The "mathmatical difficulty" which Al Gore mentions in his portrayal of global warming statistics from the Greenland ice cores is that the CO2 rose each time 600 to 800 years after the temeprature rose. This is because almost all atmospheric CO2 comes from the oceans and they take a long time to warm up.

8. CO2 forms a tiny, tiny proportion of all atmospheric gases. The amount produced by humanity is almost unmeasurably small - the farts of animals produce many times more.

9. Human made global warming was latched on to as the justification for increasing nuclear power and by "Luddite" extremists to further their political aims. None of it has anything to do with reality.

no matter what's da truth, i think we still have to take responsibility about our environment. coz we only have one place to live, and that's earth. we're screwed without it.
so what do u think?

Fiesta! Transformers!

2007-08-26T14:21:00.000+09:00

couple of days ago i saw this car with lots of... stuff on.
guaranteed to be da chick-pickup-car of da year.

****************************************************

went to a summer festival in Azabu-juban last friday. thought of wearing yukata (summer kimono) but too hot, too humid, too many ppl, so forget it!
this is how crowded this festival is

(this pic is provided by this site)

met up with Ai around 6pm (Sayo and Miki wasn't feeling well so they couldn't make it), n head to da fiesta! lots of food stands, woohoo!

there's da takoyaki (octopus balls). mmmm....

fruits coated in candy (starch syrup)... mmm...

we saw some hula dance performance. at first da students performed, and in da end their teacher performed. she was very beautiful indeed...

hula dance is popular among women in japan these days. heard u lose weight. i wish i can move my waist like hers...
it's interesting coz when u look at her dancing, it makes u feel like ur in a tropical island
aloooohaaaaaaaa!

while we waited for Teppei to meet us, we watched da popular summer festival dance, called Bon Odori (or Bon Dance).

love da drum. it's so cool when woman plays da drum

(this pic is provided by this site)

we moved to da park area where multicultural food stands are. there was at least 20 different countries' food stand. whoa... where to start lol
i tried some Swedish meatballs. did u kno they have them with fruit jam? think it was strawberry jam that i had with.
u know what?
it wasn't bad as i expected. actually, not bad at all!

then i had this so-called "Naan Burger". basically tandori chicken-ish thing rapped in naan bread like buritos. not bad. very filling...

after a while, we had this sudden feeling of "oh-i-really-want-to-watch-a-movie-syndrome".
so... we moved to Roppongi Hills (which is just up da hill), n i finally watched....
TRANSFORMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

woot! woot!

OH MY GOD... this movie was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome!!!!!!
i love it. i just LOVE it.
cars changing in to robots, robots changing back to cars or whatever machine they wish to be.
i thought i was going to have a nose bleed. cool cool cool cool coooooool!!!

or as paris hilton would say "thats hot" times a million.
and da linkin park... gotta love that linkin park's song. aaaaaaaaaaaaa...
i want those robots. they were super cute indeed.
i remember watching da tv series when i was a little kid. never would have thought there would be a movie like this...
im definitely watching the 2nd one, if there is one, which im pretty sure there will be one.
true, some of da story plot was a bit... well, typical american-would-love-it plot but hey, gotta love that computer graphic.
who can possibly not like Bumblebee?
"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the human" LOL

And now, for something completely different

2007-08-25T15:11:00.000+09:00

place where i live at da moment, my home town, is a relatively quiet place. not much is happening. super local town.

HOWEVER

for some strange reason, few weeks ago a Tunisian restaurant opened.
yes, a TUNISIAN restaurant.
WHY Tunisian? why in this local town? i mean... where da hell is Tunisia anyway!? is it in Africa!?

so i decided to check it out

hmm... so it's this brown part... that's Tunisia eh?

i c... i c... right next to Libya. so it's more like Middle Eastern than African...

me n mum decided to try out this Tunisian food. had absolutely no idea what it's like.
checked da menu... yups, it's definitely Islamic food coz there's no pork and they don't serve alcohol. lots of lamb meat and tomato based dishes.
so we ordered whatever cought our eyes.

this is called Brik (pronounced breek), egg, potatoes, parsley covered in crepe and deep fried.
pretty yummy stuff. when u cut it in half, medium boiled egg came out. mmmmm....

this is Tagine (pronounced tajin), a form of quiche with meat and vegetables in it, cooked in tomato sauce.
da quiche was delicious n i love how da onions are still half raw, coz love da crunchiness!

this is Kefta (pronounced kifta), lamb meat balls cooked in tomato sauce with vegetables.
i've never tasted something like this before. i can't really explain it. i think it's da spice. very... strange taste. but after a while i got used to it, n start to love it! i guess it's one of those dishes that u either like it or hate it.

dishes came with complimentary bread (which contains cumin seeds), together with a paste called Harissa (made from red chili, caraway, coriander and salt). pretty hot stuff! but it goes well with da bread.

finally for dessert, we had Kadi, which contains sesame paste called Chamia (pronounced shamia) and almonds. it looks like samosa doesn't it?
it tasted quite similar to some of da Indian sweets. it was good but four was too much for me. aarrr... slight headache...

to tell u da truth, trying out something totally different was soooooooooooooo fun and exciting to me. but then again, i didn't have da will to even try da sheep brain stew that they had on menu lol.

to tell u da truth, da estate that this restaurant begin is i believe, cursed.
all these years since i grew up, lots of shops (mostly ramen restaurant) comes and goes. it's never steady. previously, it was a chinese restaurant but it closed down in about half a year.
so i hope this restaurant lasts! coz i kinda love it.
da only problem is they don't serve alcohol.
u want to start a restaurant in japan, u gotta serve alcohol. hmm... maybe i should suggest BYO (BYO is not common in japan)

Male Synchro

2007-08-25T02:20:00.000+09:00

these are da clips that i took at Yomiuri Land
three boys performing synchro swimming lol

Swimming? or just been soaked?

2007-08-23T22:34:00.000+09:00

welcome...
i hope this address is going to be my permanent address.

so... last Tuesday i went to a theme park (called Yomiuri Land) which has couple of swimming pools. kinda like Adventure World in Perth.
went with my gfs (from left Sayo, Miki's sister Nayomi, Miki, Ai and moa).

we had a friend that works there so got a discount. banzaiiiii!!!!

there's three major swimming pool there: one where artificial current is produced, n da current takes u around n around da swimming pool. another one is where artificial wave is produced. n another one is ur usual big swimming pool. we all rushed to da wave swimming pool. it's not that deep was still pretty fun. da only problem is that it's summer holiday, so there's heaps of families and couples, so u can't really swim, but just soaking in da water i guess lol.

n da shocking truth is that there isn't any eye-candies around. sad isn't it? *sigh*

then we head to da waterslide, which we had to line-up for almost 40min!! can u believe it? it's pretty ridiculous. coz one of da reason is that they wont let u go until da previous person finished n got out of da pool. well how much fun is that? :(

fiiiinally after a long wait, we all slided down smoothly except for my gf Sayo lol. it's not like she does it on purpose but somehow she kinda stopped in da middle of da waterslide. wahahahaha. i dunno how she does it. we all were cracking out laughing down here while she tried to get her way through da slide. u gotta to love her...

next was the pool with da current. da water is so shallow that even if u folded ur legs n sit up straight, ur head will pop out from da water, so everytime im at a corner while my legs are folded, me n Ai pretended we were driving a car n drifting. yes, of course we made car sounds skitting out loud. i think my knees are relatively smooth than before from all that friction.

got really hungry so decided to head to a restaurant (more like cafeteria), but before we got in, there was a performance on da big swimming pool. three boys (either high school or uni students, age-wise) performing synchronised swimming (male-style). it's pretty darn different from female synchro swimming. pretty darn funny too lol. wish i can put da video clip of it, but dunno how :(

anyway, we had late lunch. i had what's called "taco rice". u kno da mexican taco sauce (minced meat with salsa sauce)? well instead of da taco sauce being in a corn tortilla, it's on rice. mmmmm...

here are some random pics Miki took. yups we all look tired n ridiculous lol

yups, i kno... i look dumb. no, im not posing im just trying to tie my hair goddamu!!

well all n all, it was fun touching each other's boobs.

we changed our clothes n went to ride few of da theme park rides. damn, da last time i came here was primary school n it sure did felt large, but this place is pretty small! so much for getting older! :p

we head home afterwards except for me. i followed Miki n her sister's home n got my body measure. well, Miki's getting married n she asked me to be her bridesmaid. her mother is going to make all da dresses including her wedding dress and all da bridesmaids' dresses. incredible isn't it? so anyway, she needed da measurement so she can make my one n only dress! woohoo!