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My senpai blogged about our visit to one of our clients—my first since joining the company. Needless to say, it was nerve-wracking (-_-;) I was under the impression that I was there in the capacity of an interpreter and nothing more, but as it turns out, the boss was expecting me to talk shop all on my own (x_x) At one point, I even blurted out a taboo-keyword (Hint: It starts with S-P; ends with M; and rhymes with 'ham', 'jam' and 'alacazam')
Anyhoo, the blog is in Japanese, so I thought I'd provide a translation for all my would-be fans out there :P
Excerpt from Yuutarou by YUHEY.
Malaysian Spirit
The Asian Regional Manager of a Multi-National Corporation (MNC) was in Japan today, so we had a meeting (with interpretation) to brief him about our services, our progress and our objectives for the future.
They had an agenda prepared and all. It was the first full-blown conference I've had in a long time.
And...
I couldn't understand a word of what the Regional Manager was saying!
We were given some homework to do by tomorrow, and it ended without any problems...
He was surprised at what we in Japan consider common practice...
Even when you know that these things aren't done overseas, it's enlightening to see with your own eyes a person's look of surprise right there in front of you.
Our interpreter was a Malaysian—still young, but working hard in Japan. He doesn't usually come for business meetings, so he was tense from start to finish. Still, he did his best, and he looked so cool putting in all that effort!
I wish his mom and family back home could've seen him then. Young, yet working hard in faraway Japan.
He speaks three languages:
English,
Japanese, and
Malaysian,
but that doesn't mean that he was able to parley smoothly in English and Japanese. I can't imagine how nervous he must've been at that big ol' MNC right in the middle of Tokyo, Japan.
Nice spirit, Rastam!
I could learn a thing or two from you!!!
[Photo]
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My mother was here for a month in April, and at long last I'm posting about it. Well... actually this post is about the night we went to Asakusa.
It was the last night of the Sakura Cruise (a ferry ride on the Sumida River past the cherry trees on both riverbanks), so we rushed down there and hopped on board. In the end it was a bit disappointing though: not that many trees to begin with, and the lighting gave them a sickly yellowish-grey hue.
Stepping off the jetty, we noticed that the thing that kinda looks like a turd on top of the Asahi Beer Building was lighted up.
I've been meaning to get night shots of Sensouji ever since Lai-san and Khor-san were down here for Golden Week last year. Arguably Tokyo's most famous tourist trap, the streets are deserted once the Nakamise-doori shops are closed, and on top of that, the temple is gorgeously lighted up!
 
FYI each of these photos is actually made up of combinations of several different exposures: an imaging technique known as . Some were created using Photomatix, and some were made using masking layers in my graphics software and picking out the best elements from each photo. The latter is thanks to my photography sifu, .
 
One of Tokyo's best kept secrets. Innit.
nestum's tunes: utada hikaru - prisoner of love
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At the end of last year, Nat fixed a date for her wedding, and that set in motion the events leading up to an amazing trip to Melbourne!
I got started buying flight tickets online (all on my own! :P) and shopping around for a voltage adaptor and prezzies.
But it was only in the week leading up to the flight that the euphoria began to build up. With every passing moment, I got more and more excited. The night before the flight, at the very last minute, I went out and washed and dried my office shirt for the wedding at the coin laundry, and I had a big stupid grin on my face the whole time.
22 February : The Arrivals
The day of the flight itself, I worked for half the day, and then went back home, got changed, picked up my bags and hopped onto the Narita Express. I got onto the wrong car though, and got chased out of the seat at Tokyo station.
At the airport, I finished off all of my yen on Starbucks, and could only gaze longingly at the caramel crêpe on sale in the departure lounge. The plane was Qantas, which wasn't too bad - in-seat screens with on-demand entertainment, although at that resolution, Beowulf is just a bunch of fuzzy shadows moving about in the darkness.
The next morning, Australian Customs let me through without any checks at all to my surprise, and I joined my parents, Uncle Ravi, Auntie Siti and the Ogawas at the coffee shop in the Arrivals Hall. Raena joined us an hour later because she had missed her connecting flight in Singapore after misreading her departure times.
My father rented a 'people mover' (read: van) and drove us down the Great Ocean Road, stopping at Torquay for lunch. I was so exhilarated at seeing everybody that I couldn't stop jabbering the whole way. The journey was almost six hours, so that was a lot of jabbering.
Our destination was Port Campbell, a little town far outside my handphone's coverage (Softbank is carried by Vodafone in Australia). We checked in, mandi-ed and had a big dinner with the bride, groom, their families... and Jojo :P I overate and gave myself a stomach cramp. That didn't spoil the fun though - Jojo, Effendy, Raena and I holed up in Effendy's room and rolled around on his bed, talking kok and laughing ourselves silly. Effendy even did a bit of cross-dressing in Raena's leather jacket and silver bling-bling purse.
23 February : The Big Day
Effendy asked me and Rae out for breakfast, but for some reason we ter-excluded Jojo. We took our own sweet time and got in trouble for holding everybody up. Oops! (^_^;)
Jojo drove the three of us (and Uncle Dollah) to Neil's parents' house in Timboon. The ceremony was held in the garden, with lotsa deep-fried finger foods. Brian and Alexis arrived fashionably late, thus completing our gang of six. We celebrated the reunion by cramming into the bathroom and taking pictures of ourselves in the mirror. Sounds kinky, doesn't it? :P
 
As is typical of that part of the world, it was drizzling on and off all day. The ceremony was held during one of the sunny intervals, followed by lunch, featuring crayfish at centrestage. And just like the good ol' days, we had our own kiddies' table, which for some reason, became the dumping ground for uneaten crayfish (not-so-well-endowed lobster, as defined by Raena). No complaints here v(^o^)v.
* This and the next photo came from 's big-ass Nikon. They're too purdy to be mine.
Update: I got these pix printed out at a photo shop, and the resolution is amazing! You wouldn't think that they came from a JPG!
While Nat was opening her presents, Jojo, Raena, Effendy and I did the unthinkable: we sneaked off and drove down to the Twelve Apostles, still in our suits! All the better for us to act out our deepest narcissistic fantasies: modelling in front of Effendy's camera. The wind was threatening to blow Raena's dress right off, so we all joined her in a Marilyn-Monroe-on-a-grate pose.
24 February : On To The Big(-ish) City
I woke up with a sore throat in the morning. It was later revealed that I had caught Uncle Ravi's flu. :S
After breakfast, the six of us plus Neil got together for a walk around the Port Campbell jetty. I got the feeling that everyone was a bit subdued, compared to the raucous days before. I guess we all sensed that this would be the last time we would all be together for a while. We had a group hug and a group huddle photo before parting ways.
Jojo, Rae and I then got on the road back to Melbourne with Jojo in the driver's seat. I was supposed to navigate, but the flu rendered me unconscious for most of the journey. We stopped at a cheese farm in Timboon for some cheese-tasting on the way. The herb-encrusted stuff was bloody good, so we bought a log and some crackers and had a little picnic then and there. I would've enjoyed it a lot more if not for the pounding headache.
For lunch we stopped at Torquay, after which we sat by the beach so that Rae could ogle the topless hunks doing some kinda athletic training running back and forth into the waves.
Once Rae had had her fill, we made our way to Geelong so that Jojo could return his rental car, but not before dropping by Nat and Neil's place for a game or two of Wii! Despite the burning fever, I managed to give it a few swishes as I lay prostrate on the floor. Meanwhile, Jojo scarfed down a few more pieces of the wedding cake. That boy sure does lurrrve his butter cake.
Soon the time came for us to drop off Jojo's car, and hop onto the train to Southern Cross Station (formerly known as Spencer Street Station, back in my day). Jojo's hotel was a short walk away. We were all so dead tired that we just crashed in Jojo's bed and stayed there for the rest of the day. Looking back, I wish that we had made more use of our time, by pigging out on gelati at Lygon Street or something, but I guess there's nothing to be done when you're completely spent.
25 February : Over Already?!
Jojo, Rae, my mother and I spent most of the day walking up and down Swanston Street. And a large chunk of that was spent in Melbourne Central.
It was there that I finally got my first taste of Krispy Kreme! A bit of an anti-climax though. Admittedly there is a bit of a pleasant sensation as the flavour spreads in your mouth when you take the first bite, but after that it was just another regular doughnut. Maybe there would've been more oomph if it had been piping hot, fresh out of the oven. The name also misled me into thinking that it would be 'krispy' on the outside.
We eventually made it to Flinders Street Station and sat sunning ourselves for a while in Federation Square, before Rae left to join her school friends. Jojo and I just sorta bummed around until it was time for us to disperse.
At 6:00pm, I met up with Jian Shung, one of the last few Hartamasians remaining in Melbourne (AFAIK). By then most places were closed (x_x) so we ended up chatting in Starbucks. We joined my parents, Rae and the Ogawas for dinner in Chinatown.
Apparently Aida had planned a post-wedding bash at some hospital-themed club where everyone downs shots served in test tubes. But that never actually came to fruition, because Uncle Dollah's dinner at St. Kilda's (attended by Jojo, Effendy and the bride and groom) ran late.
And then it was over.
Warning: What follows is a long, convoluted rant about my emotional state. Read on at your own peril.
But I have to say that the post-holiday blues are hitting me especially hard this time round. The simple act of walking around the office reminds me of wandering around Narita and Tullamarine. I just want to hop on a plane and fly off somewhere. Anywhere.
I keep getting flashbacks to stuff that happened before the trip: buying prezzies and plane tix and packing up; and most of all, getting all excited about it. And the background music is almost always .
What do you call this? Homesickness? I wouldn't call Melbourne my home though. Friend-sickness?
It's not as though life back in Tokyo is bad or anything. It's probably the sense of loss magnified after such an all-time high. God knows when I'm gonna get another chance to laugh like a maniac with those jokers again.
Maybe the six of us should make a pact to meet up, say, once every two years. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in KL. Brian's already got a tentative plan to come to Japan next next year, and maybe we could go see Raena in Scotland or Spain or wherever else she decides to plonk herself. I know that there are financial and timing constraints, but it's not like we're new to this.
nestum's tunes: m-flo loves hinouchi emi & ryohei & emyli & yoshika & lisa - love comes & goes
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明けましておめでとうございます。今年から日本語でブログを書こうと思いますので、よろしくお願いいたします。
今日は渋谷で年越しをしました。一人で。
別に楽しくなかったというわけでは決してありません。こうやって「若者の町」こと渋谷で新年を迎えたのも初めてです。が、やっぱりちょっと寂しかったです。
どうしてこうなったかというと、簡単に言えば僕は人見知りな外国人です。来日してから１年も経っちゃったといえども、友達が数少ないです。いや、「友達」というより、「知り合い」。
何とかしなきゃ。どげんかせんといかん。
よし、決まりました。今年の「New Year's resolution」は積極的に友達を作ることです。具体的にいうと、習い事などに潜り込んでいきます。書道教室とか。日本語能力試験１級にもいよいよ挑戦しようかな。それに備えて、日本語授業にも行かなくちゃ。
以上、日本語ブログ初挑戦でした。
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Happy New Year! I just spent this year's New Year aimlessly wandering the streets of Shibuya.
This post doesn't have any pix though. I lugged the camera and tripod along, but didn't come across any outstanding photo ops. The trees around there were lighted up, but it was nothing compared to Marunouchi.
First stop was Logos @ Parco Part 1. mentioned that they were having a sale on English books, but upon closer inspection, most of them were artsy-fartsy coffee table books. Ended up leaving the place empty-handed.
Next I went in search of dinner, and wound up getting a döner kebab out of the back of a truck. Followed by a banana maple cream crêpe. And along the way, I passed by the Yoshimoto Kougyou studio, where Oriental Radio were giving a live broadcast! It wasn't their trademark buyuuden though, so I lost interest after a while.
It was then that I realised that I needed to get my Melbourne ticket receipt thingy printed out, so I crossed over to the Kinko's on the other side of the station. I'm glad I found out about this place. Now I know where to go when I need to print out Letters of Invitation the next time Lai-san and Khor-san decide to drop by.
By then it was already 11:00pm, so I quickly had some (my first ever!) and headed back to the Starbucks opposite the Hachikou exit to watch the world-famous wall of people crossing the street. Unfortunately, everybody else had the same idea, so I decided to become part of the crowd in the street itself.
You could feel the excitement mounting until finally a slightly confused-sounding countdown (beginning at three, not ten) gave way to loud cheers. Then a group of rowdy Australians started jumping up and down, and that's when it got a bit scary. The movement rippled out in all directions, and I scrambled into Tsutaya to avoid getting squished to smithereens. From then on I kept to the safe (and warm) little bookshop there until 1:00am.
nestum's tunes: koh+ - kiss shite
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Jennifer (Tan)-san was in town for a month, and on one of her last few days here, she contacted me and we went out to see the Christmas illuminations at Marunouchi - the area around Tokyo station.
I was really impressed with this one. Besides your usual sidewalk trees draped with cicak lights, there were Christmas trees made of flowers. Doesn't sound all that impressive, but the pictures speak for themselves.
 
Down the street, at the Imperial Palace, the trees lining the moat were lighted up. And behind them was a square filled with fountains and these lanterns, each autographed by a celebrity. I managed to spot Mino Monta's and Berryz Koubou's. There was a signboard that said that Nagasawa Masami, Agnes Chan, Morning Musume and Ishihara Satomi among others each had a lantern somewhere in there too.
 
While I'm at it, I guess I'd better go ahead and add the pictures that I've been meaning to post this year. This one is the Merdeka fireworks behind the Hilton-Meridien @ Sentral from when I was back in KL.
And this is the Bon-Odori that I stumbled upon with the Ogawas in Ryogoku, after our ride on the water bus. This was back in summer - either July or August.
nestum's tunes: erika - destination nowhere
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Wow. This past month has been crazy.
First of all, my uncle and his family and friends took me completely by surprise when they suddenly showed up in Tokyo. We had three dinners together, during which I actually got to know my almost-estranged cousins.
Then my mother arrived for a three-week stay, most of which was in my tiny tiny room. It drove her up the wall at first, but after a while she warmed up to it. This photo is from the first weekend, when we had to rush to catch the last remnants of sakura. My mother keeps referring to this as the 'Wedding Picture', which gives me goosebumps to no end.
At the time, my father was on the other side of Japan (in Osaka and Kyoto to be precise) on a golf tour. He joined us in Tokyo for the last few days.
After that I had about a week to recover before Lai-san and Khor-san came-a-calling. We all spent the first half of Golden Week at Jennifer-san's so-called first class hotel, before moving back to my budget jambatan. And every single day was spent walking and walking and walking. We walked around Odaiba and Tokyo Station...
 
... and we walked from Minato Mirai all the way down to Chinatown in Yokohama...
 
... and we spent an hour in a queue that spanned the entire length of Venus Fort: at the Yuna Ito concert at Zepp Tokyo (Our first J-concert in Japan! Woot! We've finally made it!)
As an avid J-drama fan, I made it a point to stop by as many TV stations as possible. The best by far was Nippon Television in Shinbashi. We each came away with goodie bags chock full of Queen of Enka merchandise! Too bad they didn't have anything from this season's dramas yet.
We also did a day each at Disneyland and DisneySea. The crowds at Disneyland were as bad as we expected - we actually relented and queued up for two hours at Space Mountain.
The next day we were rained out. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise though. There were next to no queues and we covered all the rides by 5:00pm, including two rounds at the Tower of Terror! Unthinkable on a sunny day. I have to admit that I prefer DisneySea. Disneyland is just so tacky. Not that DisneySea isn't tacky - just less so.
nestum's tunes: koike teppei - kimi ni okuru uta
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It's finally here! Tokyo is in full bloom! Woot!
The weather during the daytime was a bit crappy, so I decided to go for the lighted-up yazakura (night sakura) at the ever-controversial Yasukuni Shrine. The shrine itself was closed for the night, but the entrance was nevertheless impressive, with its towering torii...
... and golden chrysanthemums adorning its doors.
The sakura around the shrine were a bit disappointing because the place was crawling with people out for hanami (sakura-viewing parties). I had the matsuri (festival) food there for dinner: konnyaku-balls-on-a-stick, okonomiyaki-on-a-stick and a choco banana (banana coated in chocolate and sprinkles - also on a stick).
After crossing the street, I stumbled across this statue that was purrrfectly framed by sakura. Photogenic-ness!
And then, to top it all off, I happened to wander into a 700-metre row of sakura trees lining the western moat of the Imperial Palace. And all of it was lighted up!
Needless to say that this was a very satisfying night.
nestum's tunes: monkey majik + m-flo - picture perfect
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The day of the yee sang party, one of the guests noticed a pink flowering tree by the train tracks near my house. We all immediately assumed it was a sakura tree, which for some reason, was flowering long before all the other sakura trees lining the very same tracks.
(That blurry streak in the bottom right corner is a passing train by the way.)
I went to take a closer look a few days later, and it turned out to be some other kind of tree. I'm guessing peach, since the news that day reported that peach flowers were in season.
It may not be apparent at this level, but these photos were taken without my tripod, so the end results were a bit shaky, especially if you look at them up close. I tried to go back again a week later, but both trees were botak by then. So fleeting!
Disappointed, I decided to take a walk and explore some of the as yet undiscovered nooks and crannies of Higashi Nakano. And to my surprise, I came across a little Shinto shrine along Yamate-doori*, with a real live flowering sakura tree!
As far as I know, the rest of the sakura trees in Tokyo still have at least a week before full bloom. This premature fella must be of some particular early-bird species or something. Either that or it's the divine presence there.
(If these flowers look redder than the rest, that's because I went and fiddled with them a bit. The original was pale and almost white.)
So I guess this is a sneak peak at things to come. I am particularly looking forward to hanami (sakura-viewing) at Ueno Park and along the Sumida River. Hope the weather is good!
* That's right. The main street running through my area is Yamate-doori (Yamate Street). And no, it's not the "Yamate!" that Malaysians know and love. Actually, we Malaysians have gone and salah dengar the word "Yamete!", which means "Stop!".
nestum's tunes: utada hikaru - flavor of life
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As I mentioned a few posts back, my parents sent over a box of yee sang by PosLaju. I had it last weekend with my team leader, her friend and a soon-to-be colleague. None of them are Malaysian of course, so this was their first loh-ing experience.
The package didn't contain any carrot, lobak putih, cucumber or salmon, so I had to get those on my own (apparently lobak putih and daikon are one and the same). I also had to get my own lime, and the only ones available here were these huuuge whoppers. The ¥100 coin is there as a point of reference - it's about the same size as a Malaysian 20 sen coin.
And of course, no yee sang blog post would be complete without pictures of the loh-ing process: before, ...
... during ...
... and after.
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Now that my apartment's internet connection is finally up, I can upload the backlog of photos that have been accumulating in my hard drive.
First up is what is arguably the symbol of Tokyo: Tokyo Tower (left). So far I only have a night shot, simply because I find them easier to take. I am never satisfied with daytime pictures unless the sky is perfectly blue. Luckily, it was a lovely day and the planets were all in alignment when I got this shot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (right).
 
When my parents came over for New Year, we went to see the Christmas illuminations at Tokyo Dome, which is a stadium with its own amusement park. When we got there, the place was overflowing with crowds, the likes of which we Malaysians have never seen. We later found out that the KinKi Kids' concert had just ended.
I also went for a walk around Nihonbashi, the historical epicentre of Tokyo. Lotsa regal European-ish buildings, including Nichigin (Japan's Bank Negara) and the pioneer stores of Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi. And of course Nihonbashi (literally, Japan Bridge) itself.
I've also been talking a lot about the Krispy Kreme store in Shinjuku. Here's why I haven't bought any yet: there are two queues, the first of which is the queue to get into the shop.
And then there's the queue to get into the queue to get into the shop. (This is not a typo)
There are a few more pictures in my .
nestum's tunes: natsukawa rimi - nada sou sou
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has been here for the past week or so. My boss and I had dinner with him once last Friday, and then again last night after work at (the Malaysian place in Okubo).
I had my first nasi lemak in four months. And my boss was in for a nasty surprise when he unknowingly downed the cili potong sitting in the tauyu saucer. LOL
After dinner, I tagged along with them to a snack (snack cum karaoke bar) in Shibuya. It must've been one of their regular haunts, since the bartender knew them by sight. We belted off a few numbers and - don't play-play - those two can sing! And powderfully at that. But out of all the songs they sang, I could only recognise Sakae-san's Nada Sou Sou. The rest were mostly enka. I played it safe and stuck to easy pop ballads, like Itou Yuna's Endless Story. We also did a round-robin version of the never-ending Satoukibibatake.
One other interesting observation was the kimono-clad mama of the bar. An aspiring enka singer, she was handing out promotional posters of herself. If I'm not mistaken, Sakae-san bought her single, and I got her to autograph one of her posters. This whole state of affairs is startlingly similar to the drama thats airing at the moment, (DramaWiki article ), minus the jinx-ish bit.
Sakae-san is flying back to KL next Wednesday. He says he'll be back more often this year though.
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Gong Xi Fa Cai! It's that time of the year again, and I've got a major craving for yee sang. I went searching for some the night before last after work, at I found on Google. Alas, 'twas all to no avail.
was in Ikebukuro, which is quite close to my office, so I stopped there first. None of the staff were actually Malaysians so they had trouble understanding what I meant by yee sang.
Next was Rasa Malaysia Singapore in Shinjuku. I found the address, but the restaurant itself was no where to be found. Must have chap lap-ed. Probably should have known better, since the website was down.
Before heading home, I tried in Okubo. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by the taukeh auntie in BM, no less. Apparently they used to serve yee sang five years ago, but since then their Malaysian Chinese clientele has dwindled. *sigh*
I guess all I can do is keep looking. There are still a few more places in Koenji, Ginza and Setagaya I think.
Update:
My father just told me that he sent over a box of yee sang by PosLaju. Yay! Hope it doesn't go bad by the time it arrives.
nestum's tunes: mr children - shirushi
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It's December the 29th, and by right, it's supposed to be a public holiday. But I'm in the office doing menial labour. It isn't as bad as it sounds though. Everyone is gotong-royong-ing for 大掃除 (spring cleaning). I think it's more or less like Chinese New Year, where you clean your house from top to bottom before the new year, because you aren't supposed to do any cleaning after that.
Anyway, as promised, this post will be about work. So here goes.
The office is big and shiny, and when the blinds are open, there is a gorgeous view of the turquoise roof of Gokokuji temple surrounded by yellow autumn leaves. The toilet and pantry is technically outside the office proper, but it's not that big a deal since we occupy the entire top (6th) floor. The men's loo has two sitting toilets, one of which is the canggih-manggih type, with all the seat-warming, water-spraying, deodorising functions. I don't use the water-spraying bidet function though. I just can't get used to the idea of cleansing yourself with water that comes out of the toilet. *grimace*
For lunch, we get bento delivered (ordered the day before), and everyone eats at the office's conference tables. There are always three choices, and the menu changes everyday. That makes it easy for me, because all I have to do is pick the one that doesn't have any pork (as far as I can tell). When all three options are decidedly haram, I tar pau from the convenience store down the street.
I should probably mention that I have been doing VB.NET here. The first week or so was a real pain, but I think I'm getting used to Visual Studio. Still, I miss Eclipse. All the same, my seniors keep telling the big bosses how impressed they are with me, because I've been finishing my tasks ahead of schedule. One of them in particular says that the thing that impressed him the most was the fact that I figured out how to use the .NET Data Grid control in one day. Woot!
Another pleasant surprise is that we don't have to wear suits to the office. Only when we're out at the client's site, which is more or less the same as Alfacom. Also, newbies are supposed to wear suits on Fridays.
My current team is made up of 6 members: one Japanese senior and four China Chinese. And two of them are Hokkien! What are the odds?! The team leader is one of the aforementioned Hokkiens. The project we're working on is actually a maintenance job - the system has already been in existance for almost a year. We sent off the first release last week, and if I'm not mistaken, we are done with development for the second release. They really take their documentation seriously here, and that includes the client, who has to approve every design spec.
I think I'm gonna leave the office now, so I'll end my post here. I'm meeting my parents at Takashimaya in Shinjuku. BTW, last night we discovered that there is a Krispy Kreme there! Can't wait to see what everyone is making such a fuss about.
nestum's tunes: aaa - q
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Wow. After such a long absence, there's sooo much I have to blog about. I originally intended to wait until the internet in my apartment was up and running, but it doesn't look like it'll be ready for at least another week.
The day my father left, my boss helped me move into my little apartment. Specs-wise, it's technically a 1R (1 Room) with an adjoining UB (Unit Bath - a bathroom that has a bathtub, shower, sink and toilet). The rent isn't too bad for central Tokyo: a steal at ¥52,000. Of course there was the three-month deposit (shikikin, reikin, etc), but it didn't hurt as much as I expected.
At first I was all gung-ho and unperturbed by the size of the place. The 'kitchen' is quite literally the corner of the room, weighing in at about 80cm x 40cm. It was only when I tried making Ayam Masak Merah, that I truly began to appreciate the usefulness of a nice big sink and counter. The spatula thingy kept jumping out of the saucepan and splattering the whole room with gooey red perencah. At least in Melbourne, the kitchen was in a real, separate room of its own. Actually, come to think of it, there were two: wet and dry.
After almost a month of waiting, my 外国人登録書 (aka gaijin card - basically my Japanese IC) was finally issued. I went out and bought my phone the very next day in Akihabara. It's a nice jeng orange flip-phone by Softbank (formerly known as Vodaphone, before they chap lap-ed). Brand-new model, and I paid ¥0 for it! Calls and mail with other Softbank phones are also free, which is why it is supposed to be the cheapest at the moment.
I also signed up for internet that same day. Hikari One by KDDI fibre optic 100mbps at about ¥4000 per month for the first eleven months. It still hasn't been set up though. And the agent-guy looked like Eiji Wentz from WaT, except with glasses on. Haha.
I think that's enough for today. I'll blog about work next time.
nestum's tunes: orange range - un rock star
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We went to look at one apartment yesterday and three more this morning. Personally I didn't have a problem with yesterday's one, but my boss didn't seem to like it because it didn't get much sunlight. The only thing I had doubts about was how far from the station it was at first, but that was because I hadn't noticed the subway station quite literally around the corner.
We ended up choosing the first apartment that we saw this morning. It looked much wider and had lots and lots of sunlight. There were also two shared washing machines, which means that I don't have to buy a new one. The other tenants are a mixture of foreigners and locals.
The second one looked kinda run down, so we gave that a miss. The third one was unusual because it had a loft, which is supposed to act as a double-decker bed. I was intrigued, but my father warned that after waking up in the morning, when I'm still blur-case, I'm gonna end up rolling off or bumping my head.
I should also mention that we were late yesterday after getting lost in Shinjuku station. It makes KL Sentral look like child's play. God knows how many lines go through it, and the same line doesn't necessarily use the same platform for different directions. I used to scoff at people that couldn't find their way around train stations, but now I've been put in my place.
Today we had ramen for lunch. It was amazing! Sooo much better than the ramen in Malaysia. The only thing was that it had a thick layer of oil floating on top. Although that may have been what made it so good.
nestum's tunes: juanes - la camisa negra
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This is my first day in Tokyo, and I am blogging from the free internet provided by the Keio Plaza Hotel! I still can't believe it.
This morning, on the plane, we woke up to a clear, cloudless view of Mount Fuji and Tokyo Bay. The temperature was reeaally nice - not too cold - but a bit stuffy whenever I went indoors under my three layers.
After landing, we took the Narita Express to Shinjuku station where we met my new boss. He helped check us into the hotel, and brought us for a prawn burger for lunch at McDonald's, which in my opinion wasn't too bad, for McDonald's.
We also dropped by both his office and the office I'm going to be despatched to. I know it sounds confusing, but I'm too lazy to give a complete explanation right now.
Thus endeth my first day in Tokyo.
Update: 9 November 2006
Haih. Nobody commenting. Does this mean I'm talking to myself? :(
nestum's tunes: go!go!7188 - kinkyori renai
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I'm flying in a few hours, so I guess there's time for one more post.
As I mentioned in the last post, I've been going to all sorts of farewell/reunion gatherings for the past month. If I'm not mistaken, the first was with my APIIT Diploma classmates. The original plan was to buka puasa at the Marriott, because someone online said that the buffet was only RM30. Of course, this turned out to be too good to be true, and we ended up relocating to Souled Out in Hartamas. The turnout wasn't bad at all: Alex, Farouk, Jessy, Nash, Qahar, Jay, Joey Boy and Roger.
Since Farouk had just gotten engaged and Alex's birthday was coming up, Jessy decided to throw another party at her house the next week. This time, Nick, Wan Kin, Darryl, Dhillon and Li Ean made it. And on top of that, we discovered that Dhillon had also gotten engaged!
Then there was the small dinner with Nick, Cheryl, Wendy and Dani (from APIIT Higher Diploma) at Kiwi Xpress in Hartamas, followed by another get-together the very next day with one of our lecturers, Mr. Yew. For this one, we had to brave the treacherous roads of Cheras, since it was aaall the way in Sungai Long; with Marcus, Botak, Wendy and Cheryl.
I also convened a Hartamas (secondary school) gathering at Madam Kwan's in Bangsar. We managed to get Ashlin, Geetha, Eunice, Nisha, Puvy, Neville, Rais, Amin and Guang Ming. After dinner, we watched the Devil Wears Prada DVD in my projector room. Everyone was busy taking turns to sit in the massage chair. LOL.
Neville's birthday came the week after that, so Puvy made a booking at Poppy. At the entrance, I got carded! (That means that I was asked to show my IC) I look like I'm less than 18 years old! Woot! We were there clubbing until about 3:00am, plus an additional sobering-up session at Agros in Hartamas until 6:00am!
Dinner with my Japanese class classmates (and teachers) was at the Korean restaurant in front of Sayfol on Deepavali day, and the Ogawa sisters had us for dinner at Shook!, Bukit Bintang.
For the company farewell dinner at Bangsar Seafood Garden (One Bangsar), Jee Meng decided to make use of the vouchers from our baby: . And even our 'guest of honour', Seer Kuen, came all the way from Penang! We also got to see Max turn bright red at Finnegan's after downing three drinks.
Finally, last Saturday, Khor-san and Lai-san tar pau-ed a Lukut Chicken Curry Bun and we had a picnic in the KLCC park. And on Sunday, my facialist belanja-ed us a dim sum lunch at BSC.
*catches breath*
Okay. That's all for now. My next post will be from Japan. See you soon!
nestum's tunes: arashi - sakura sake
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Gawd. It's been more than a year since my last post. I've made some life-altering choices since then, but first of all I think I'll go through all that's happened in the past year.
Bali
Rae was back for summer hols and Nat brought her fiancee, Neil, to KL. We spent a week goofing off in Bali and laughing at Nat's American pronounciation of the word 'plant' (It makes her sound nasal and un-edjumuhkayted).
We didn't do a lot of touristy stuff though, apart from walking around Kuta, which was a pity, considering this was Neil's first trip overseas. I managed to take in a short rindik (Balinese bamboo gamelan) class. Fun, but tiring.
Ogawa-san
I passed my JLPT Level 2 at the end of last year. Yay for me!
Unfortunately, JLSM wasn't able to find enough students for the Advanced class, so I was left stranded. With my weekends free, I started tagging along with Lai-san and Khor-san to the Japan Foundation library every Saturday.
It was there that I was spotted by Ogawa-san, a retired teacher staying in Malaysia with her sister under the Malaysia - My Second Home programme. She was taking BM classes and needed someone to help her ulangkaji. My Japanese was an added bonus, since I could give explanations in Japanese (Her classes are conducted in English).
I also brought them around KL, showing them the sights and sounds (and tastes, of course!). We've been to Petaling Street, Muzium Negara, Masjid Jamek and Batu Caves.
Et Cetera
I went all out and got my hair done up like Koike Teppei's character in Dragon Zakura, complete with the crimson fringe-y bit.
I lent my voice to the project. My first reading was the in Malay.
And I saw Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical. It rocked.
That's all I can think of at the moment. If there's anyone out there that can point out anything I've missed, please leave a comment.
Finally, we've reached the climax. Drum roll please...
I'M GOING TO JAPAN!
Warning: Long story up ahead.
Earlier this year I realised that I was almost a quarter-of-a-century old, and I still hadn't made it to Japan. So I kicked up my heels and started applying for jobs online. I was surprised to see that a lot of the jobs fit my qualifications more or less: JLPT Level 2 Japanese and two years' Struts experience.
However, most of the companies in Japan itself weren't too interested in candidates overseas. Can't blame them. Who wants to deal with the hassle of visas and all that nonsense.
In the end, I actually got an offer from India. The company trains programmers in Bangalore before sending them off to Japan. I was all geared up and set to go when I decided to tell Sakae-san (my company's partner company's Japanese boss, based in Malaysia). He had this to say:
- It sounded dodgy. He'd never heard of the company before.
- The salary they were offering was around RM3500. Not worth it to move overseas.
- India's a huge detour to make if you're aiming for Japan.
He then offered up an alternative. I would go and work in his friend's company in Tokyo for a year or so, after which he has his own plans for me. *cheeky grin*
And so, the wheels were set in motion. I sent in my application for my Certificate of Eligibility, and a month later, got my visa. This is my last week at my company, and I'm flying off next Tuesday.
The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, with farewell parties left, right and centre. I might blog a bit about those next.
nestum's tunes: chemistry - yakusoku no basho
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Romy's gone back to Indonesia, so we moved Chomel over to Prof. Looi's house last weekend. Prof. Cheah was there too, to witness the historic event :P.
Chomel seems a bit less lonely now that she has two housemates: Shanxi and Jilin. Both girls. They aren't fast friends yet, but Prof. Looi says they'll probably start warming up to each other later on. She says that when the other two start making noise, Chomel tries to join in, although she looks like she isn't sure what the fuss is all about.
We were hoping that she would lead a healthier lifestyle from now on, but she's been 'taxing' her housemates by finishing off their meals. The last time we were there, she ate so much that she didn't even have enough space for durian. Yes, she eats durian too. She eats everything.
At night, all three girls go upstairs to sleep in the air-conditioned room! That has got to be the best perk of all. Apparently Chomel has plonked herself directly in front of the air-cond. Of course that's only when she makes it all the way upstairs. According to Prof. Looi, she sometimes overeats to such an extent that she is renderred incapable of making the arduous journey up the stairs. So much so that Prof. Looi's husband has to carry her up.
nestum's tunes: orange range - onegai! señorita
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Believe me when I say that I had no time whatsoever to blog these past few months. The Japanese project (), had me and my senior slogging away 24/7 (in 11-hour shifts) for three long months. Three long months without any weekends or public holidays! And the project itself was a nightmare. We were fielding conflicting requests from at least four different sub-sub-sub-contractors.
Thankfully, is no longer our problem. It isn't over by any means - some other company has taken over maintenance. Whoever they are, I wish them the best of luck. They're going to need it. All of the earlier fiascos have turned the code into one big pile of incomprehensible rojak.
At least I wasn't the only one that was suffering. was (and still is) being tortured at Shangri-La six days a week. And he isn't even getting paid! God knows how he puts up with it.
On the J-front, JLSM has moved to Bukit-bloody-Bintang, which is a real pain in the derriere. Sure, it's more happening than before - we can now go to Sungei Wang for our breaks - but getting there, be it by monorail or car, is sooo mar fan!
My grandfather passed away the day after Vesak. I've been looking around stationery stores for plastic loose-leaf sleeves to store all of his old black-and-white photos. Apparently those 'normal' sleeves from your neighbourhood mamak bookshop are made out of PVC, which degrades over time and releases hydrochloric acid. And that results in your photos disintegrating. So far, I've found that the best stuff comes from Kokuyo. やっぱり、日本製が一番です。
We're also at a loss as to what to do with Chomel. Romy is itching to go back to Indonesia, so the status quo is out of the question. Our alternatives are either our neighbour's house in Damansara (she'll be housemates with Snoopy :P) or Nathan in Klang. Anybody else out there willing to take her in?
PS: Guang Ming sent me this photo from the . I look so fat :S
nestum's tunes: m-flo loves emyli & diggy mo' - dopamine
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Finally, I've found a small scrap of time to scribble down my long-overdue CNY entry. Let me start off by wishing everybody a very belated Gong Xi Fa Cai!
On the first day, I found myself besieged with a raging flu. I suspect I might have caught it when I went out with Priscilla (from Hartamas and SKBD) and her Norwegian friends the previous weekend. Nevertheless, we dutifully went to my grandfather's place to pei cha (give tea). And the extra effort really paid off. After five long years, I finally got an ang pau! The dry spell is finally over! (I haven't been getting any ang paus ever since my grandmother passed away five years ago)
We also went to Prof. Cheah's house (my mom's ex-colleague from UM) that same day, and Auntie Imelda's luncheon at Equatorial. And the company had not one, but two New Year dinners: one before; and one after.
So all in all, this year's Rooster tally is:
Ang Pau Total: 4
Yee Sang Total: 8
Not bad at all  . Especially since I'm no longer eligible for duit raya. *grumble*
PS: I know that I'm being unbelievably materialistic this time round, but let us not forget that it's a materialistic holiday :P
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Last week I signed up for the Walk with the Japanese programme at JLSM with Yoon-san and Ee Hwa-san. Each of us were supposed to chaperone and guide a group of high school students on holiday here. This year's rombongan was from Tomogaoka High School in Kobe.
My group was made up of four girls: Shirasaka-san, Ochi-san, Kawamoto-san and Yoshida-san; and two boys: Sakata-san and Ueda-san. We had a buffet lunch together at Nikko Hotel, and then walked over to KLCC. There, they changed ¥1000 each (about RM35), and the girls went off on their own. I wonder what on earth they could've bought for RM35.
 
The boys then asked me to bring them to the supermarket to get some omiyage (oleh-oleh), so we went up to Isetan. They were surprised to see that most of the stuff there was Japanese. We also checked out Kinokuniya (both the Japanese and English outlets), and stepped into the park until it got unbearably hot a few minutes later.
In the midst of all this, Ueda-san managed to impart some Japanese slang. A combover is called バーコード (barcode), because that's what the strands on an oyaji's chrome dome look like. And DDR is abbreviated down to ダンレボ.
Before we knew it, our time was up and we walked back to Nikko. Everyone was busy taking last minute group photos before the students were huddled into their buses for their final journey to the airport. Both Yoon-san and I came to the conclusion that five hours was definitely not enough to forge any kind of lasting friendship, mainly because people need more time to open up. Or at least, that's how it is with me.
That night we had rabbit for the first time at and 's place. It was... interesting.
nestum's tunes: hirai ken - omoi ga kasanaru sono mae ni...
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Yong Shen and Kian Howe tried to organise a few outings this week with Guang Ming and me. But in the end Guang Ming couldn't make it, so on Thursday, the three of us went to Kayu Nasi Kandar in SS2, which is supposed to have good ais kacang.
The next day, we tried again, and this time Guang Ming came along. We shared a KL Tower, which is a reaaally tall roti tisu. Three plates were needed to lay it down horizontally on the table.
Then on Sunday, out of the blue, Yong Shen organised yet another get together. The venue was Soul'd Out in Hartamas. I knew that he had managed to rope in Delanie, but the turnout exceeded everyone's wildest expectations. More than twenty people showed up! Me, Yong Shen, Kian Howe, Delanie, Ashlin, Rais, Nisha, Pei Ying, Guang Ming, Ifran, Parjit, Prashant, Elizabeth, Sui Lin, Sheh May, Amin, Adly, Istvan, Chin Teng, Kelwin, Leon, Zher Wyn... the list goes on and on.
Just like the good old days, Guang Ming, Ifran and Parjit were the life of the party. And Elizabeth showed us her freaky ability to whistle without closing her mouth.
Fishy Business
We have an aquarium in the office, and one fish in particular has been on everyone's lips. According to my boss, the other fish all ganged up on it and nibbled its tail off. So my boss checked it into the ICU (the aquarium's net) to give it some time to recover and separate it from the others' cannibalistic intentions. Kesian.
nestum's tunes: road of major - kokoroe
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Chuc Mung Nam Moi! That's Happy New Year in Vietnamese.
Ho Chi Minh was a lot more fun than I expected. Especially after my last visit to Hanoi, which ended with a severe bout of sashimi-induced diarrhoea.
Day One
Our tour guide, Sam, picked us up from the airport and brought us to the War Remnants Museum. Of particular interest was the Hall of War Crimes, with its gory photos of US soldiers maiming local peasants with glee. And our morbid little minds were immediately drawn to the two-headed Agent Orange baby, pickling in a jar.
That night, we went down to the street to usher in the New Year. There weren't any fireworks, or even an audible countdown, but the roads were teeming with thousands of people and their motorbikes. Uncle Ravi, Auntie Siti, my mother and I decided to walk down to City Hall which was lighted up gorgeously.
Day Two
Us kids and my father had to wake up bright and early for our hour-long drive to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Used by the Viet Cong as subterranean hideouts, the tunnels are tiny, and we were forced to squat just to get through. Luckily, our stretch was only a hundred metres long, but our thighs ached for days after that.
We also got to sample the Viet Cong staple diet of tapioca, and fired some AK-47s. Two bullets per head, at US$1 per bullet.
Back in town, we had pho for lunch. Incidentally, it's pronounced fur, not poe. And ao dai is pronounced ao yai. Heh.
After lunch, we went to Ben Thanh Market for shopping. and I lost interest after a while, so we decided to walk to Notre Dame to get some photos. I think I may have traumatised Nat by making her cross all those treacherous streets. Oh well. *shrug*
nestum's tunes: crystal kay - bye my darling!
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The past few months have been plodding along slowly at work. We finished off Phase One of the Telekom project just before Hari Raya, so after that we spent most of our time there just bumming around. Then last week, our boss decided to put us to good use and summoned us back to the office.
So now we're helping out with a document management system that we're making for a Singaporean company. Also, there's a Japanese project that my boss has been wooing, and I was given the honour of translating the specifications. *big grin*
This morning, the head honchos from the Japanese company paid us a surprise visit. Everyone was caught off guard, including my bosses. They talked for a while before calling me over to meet them. The Japanese clients asked me a lot about my level of proficiency.
Q: Have you been to Japan before?
A: I've been there twice.
Q: How many years were you there?
A: I was only there on vacation.
Q: How much kanji can you read?
A: I'm up to Standard Five of the Japanese primary school syllabus.
Sigh. Doesn't sound impressive at all. This makes me sound like a tourist dependent on a phrase book. *wince*
Tsunami Update
Uncle Dollah, Auntie Sandra, Uncle Rajan and Auntie Stephanie got caught in the tsunami after the Acheh earthquake. They were sailing en route to Phuket. Luckily, their boat managed to stay afloat. But by the time they reached Phuket, they couldn't dock anywhere since all the marinas had been destroyed.
And then yesterday, according to , they set foot on dry land. Now all they have to do is get their passports stamped.
The other Nat (Cheong) tells me that Amiyouni is still in the Maldives. She says that she saw him online that night, but she didn't actually speak to him. Hopefully he's alright. Male is more than two-thirds underwater by the looks of it.
nestum's tunes: m-flo loves yoshika - let go
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The gang's all back to escape from the dreadful Australian summer. Hooray!
Brian got here last Tuesday for Uncle Haris' wedding. He came over and repossessed the Playstation. He's taking it back with him to his new house in Adelaide :( Luckily, my dance mats have parallel ports, so I hooked them up to the PC. I also managed to find a DDR Simulator: , which comes from of all places. Best of all, I can now search for and download as many songs as I want! So far, has been the most fruitful, yielding all sorts of goodies including Utada Hikaru and BoA.
After work the next day, I picked up at Sentral and we went to watch Rae's play at HELP. was originally supposed to come along too, but he wasn't feeling well that day. The show was Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and Rae was the Head of Wardrobe. We found it a bit slow at the beginning, but it picked up the pace towards the end.
My mother, grandfather, Romy, Hanie and Auntie Maria watched it the next day. My grandfather fell asleep, and Romy and Hanie were bored out of their minds. So the three of them left during the intermission.
After Uncle Haris' wedding, Rae, Yu Ming and I picked up for dinner and Starbucks. They were out of their new Toffee Nut Latte, so I had my usual Frap. But to my horror it was full of small bits of plastic! I was coughing up the darn things for hours on end. Sheesh. Someone must've dropped a plastic spoon or something into the blender.
flew back to Sydney on Monday for his exams. But he'll be back again next week. That's a total of three eight-hour flights in less than two weeks!
nestum's tunes: bump of chicken - sharin no uta
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Rae (the cousin) and Bernard flew back to France (via Amsterdam) last night. I couldn't be there to send them off because I had to go for my Japanese 筆記試験 (written test).
The whole paper varied quite a bit from section to section. The vocabulary section was a breeze. And surprisingly, the 聴解 (listening comprehension) wasn't too bad. But the 読解 (reading comprehension) was a real killer! I couldn't figure out what the darn thing was trying to say. Something about arguments for and against greeting cards (?!?!). And I think I screwed up the reading for 修正. I looked it up in a dictionary, and the answer should have been shuusei. I can't remember what my answer was, but I doubt it was correct. *sigh*
Oh well. Anyway, since 聖月のラマダン (the holy month of Ramadan) has come to an end, I thought I'd expand my vocabulary by looking up some common Islamic terms in Japanese. The following come mainly from 's Eijirou.
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to dakwah or anything. I'm doing this partly because it'll help me remember all these terms, and partly to 'fatten up' this post. Also, if the layout down there looks crappy, it's because this thing won't let me use HTML Tables. I have been forced to resort to CSS Positioning.
回教の五本の柱 - The Five Pillars of Islam
信仰告白しんこうこくはくKalimah Syahadah
祈りいのりSolat
断食だんじきPuasa
喜捨きしゃZakat
巡礼じゅんれいHaji
nestum's tunes: chemistry - long long way
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For some reason, this year's Hari Raya felt more festive. Celebratory. If such a word exists. I know I say that every time another festival comes along, but this time, it's as though somebody really upped the ante. Maybe it has something to do with my parents flitting off to Europe and leaving Raena and I to go visiting on our own prerogative.
Hari Raya Day One
On the first day, we dragged Rae and Bernard to my grandfather's house, where we waited for Uncle Feisal to turn up. Then he in turn took us to Uncle Mahmud's open house. Auntie Ruby could still remember us, but Uncle Mahmud pretty much drew a blank. Apparently, my grandfather and Uncle Mahmud go all the way back to Penang Free School. Which gives me hope that my fellow Hartamasians will still be in close contact in for a long long time to come. :P
Uncle Feisal took custody of Rae and Bernard for the rest of the day, and Hanie went off to celebrate with Romy and the Filipindo Maids' Brigade. Rae and Yu Ming went off to some open houses of their own, and I went upstairs to Auntie Zalina and Uncle Jamal's open house.
That evening, I took the monorail to Bukit Bintang for my project manager's wedding dinner at Federal Hotel. Rachel (Lam)'s brother was there, and my senior was supposed to come too, but he didn't make it in the end.
Hari Raya Day Two
We didn't originally have any plans for the second day, until Raena groggily woke up in the wee hours of the afternoon to find an SMS from inviting us over to his open house. So we picked up Yu Ming and got there around 3:00pm. The guests for the lunch session were all relatives from Auntie Sandra's side, so us kiddies confined ourselves to the computer room, watching Effendy chat.
The dinner session yielded a few familiar faces. Uncle Bill and Auntie Lillian were pretty impressed with my Moroccan baju Melayu (the red one with the black embroidered trimming), much to my delight. *grin*
Hari Raya Day Three
Yu Ming and I drove down to Low Yat to help Rae and Bernard pick out some computer components to bring back home to France. Or rather, Yu Ming helped them out - I know diddly-squat about hardware. But as it turns out, they had already gone around most of the shops, sniffing out the best bargains. The only problem was that they had forgotten their credit card, so we had to backtrack to the apartment to pick it up.
When they got back, Rae showed us a video tape from Terengganu. Apparently, they became TV stars while they there. They were invited to participate in this RTM travelogue called Orak Arek. The host of the show had given them a challenge to canting and colour some batik. And it wasn't just a short segment - they were prominently featured throughout most of the episode!
nestum's tunes: gospellers - mimosa
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