Writing Letters

My collection of letters
From the first letter I ever gotten from my grandparents to the most recent one from my friend overseas

Hello World! 

Well, just wanted to write in after I sat through one commercial I saw on TV that seemed really stupid but actually got me thinking.

It was an ad I assume to get people to write letters to xia xue and dash? Because I wasn't really paying attention to the content and happened to just hear bits and pieces of what it was saying, I cant really judge the ad.

However, a point I got from the video was that people now can just send an sms or whatsapp to connet with their friends and most people dont write letters anymore.

This point I agree. If I were to compare the times of my parents and our time, things definitely changed. Our world have became smaller and connected. Gone are the days of "snail mail", now is the era of instant reply. Heck now, we get a bit irritated when our friends don't reply within 5-10 minutes of our message. If we look back to the past era, we would have to wait at least 1 week to get us..so actually waiting 5 to 10 minutes is not that bad

Anyways point is, where did all the letter writing go? Personally I love recieving letters and I write a few letters in a year. Its the best way to surprise people plus you feel a person's sincerity through letters.

When I was in secondary school, my friends and I we made a point to write a letter to each other once a week and it was really fun! Because we were in different classes we just wrote what we did and what happened in our class. Since she was a really good artist, she would actually decorate the paper around her letter and it was really cool. This feeling cant be felt through phones honestly.

Yes typing a message an email is efficient but it makes a bigger impact if you send a letter on a person's birthday then a simple message that says 'happy birthday' right?

I feel that people should know more about that feeling of recieving and writing letters.

The letter I wrote to myself...That I finally opened 2 months back

Something I did with letters was I wrote to myself. Yes you may think I'm some lonely lil shit but when I was 16 I wrote a letter to my 21 year old self. And yes. I was embarrased as hell when I opened it this year. But I felt a bit emotional because it made me look back to those days when I was 16. (It could also be because I opened it at a time when I was really stressed out and just wanted to give up) 

But I realised that writing a letter to myself re-secured my goals. The 16 year old me struggled with her studies and was just insecure about anything. She was just content if she passed that damn N and eventually O levels. But..5 years down the road. This insecure 16 year old, passed both her N and O (not with flying colors for O, but still passed), graduated from poly with confidence and came out a little bit from her introverted shell. This insecure 16 year old got to actually travel overseas with her friends to the place she loved. The letter to myself actually made me realised that I actually am not a failure and was actually able to accomplish so much things!

So you see writing letters dosent mean you need to write to someone else. You can always just write to yourself. To actually get you to reflect about your past (and also boost your self-esteem).

So why not try by writing a letter to yourself. It may seem ridiculous but by the time you forget about it and a time for you to open it comes, it dosent seem ridiculous at all ;)

With that..I shall go back to researching on my paper (urgh),

Cheers!

You don't live to please others but yourself.

I went through a few things recently that made me realise two things.

I am the best when I am alone and I love my life right now.

Yes I still complain about how shitty school is and how having to balance work and school is not giving me a social life but...I really like it.

Working and schooling keeps me busy and tired, but you can only do this when you are young right? Plus I love my workplace too much to quit. As for school, its a stupid decision I made but I should still see it through right? And I am actually starting to enjoy my Psych classes and getting a tad bit annoyed at my media classes haha.

Being busy also means that I won't do stupid things (like trying out a date app and try to meet guys which I realised is really really reaaaally not my kind of thing.)

Another thing I realised while I was being so busy was that...I have no time for shit like relationships and I wondered..why have I always been seeking to be in one when being single is so good! (Maybe in secondary it would've been nice, but secondary school days are longggg over and  I'm over and done with it now.  Dueling in the past wont get me anywhere.)

Being single means you don't have to think about another person, worry whether to reply or not to reply and just basically live your life the way you want! I guess as many say, such a time will come when you meet the right person but I realised now is not the time for me to settle the shit down.

I want to travel. I want to work. I want to get over studying and THEN get married to my work.

I have no idea why I didn't see this until now. Being alone and independent is so awesome. (well that is unless a japanese guy comes and sweep me off my feet haha)

So yeah, life is awesome now for me. I am surrounded by people I love, what more do I need? I was a fool in the past. But now I am striving to live everyday with this new thought of mine.

You don't live to please others but yourself.

Cheers!

Time's passing really fast..No?

Hey peepos,

Been some time since I updated this page but seriously, at this moment, I shouldn't be. 

I should instead be working on my two other essays thats due next friday. 

I have barely started on these two essays so..i think i'm screwed. 

BUT Anyways, 

I have just 3 more weeks to go before I finish my first sem and I can't wait! 

Can't wait to just take a rest and catch up with the whole world. Cuz right now its so hard to balance work, social life and school. Juggling work and assignments was so bad that I didn't meet anyone during june. 

However, because most of my close friends are  flying overseas to study and stuff (you lucky people) i've been trying to make time and juggling everything to meet them before they fly and hence now, here I am barely starting anything on my assignments. 

But seriously, is it only me that finds that time is passing so damn fast? I feel like just yesterday I came back from Japan. But nooo,, its already been 5 months (As mentioned in my last blog post: Japan why are you so hard to let go? I overcame my phuket trip so easily...) 

It's been 5 months , my friend who went overseas to study, came back for winter break and going back again, fasting month passed and I can eat lunch with my malay friends. With all this happening I just thought "why so fast?" 

I don't know if it is because I am more aware of time or because  I am more busy now but I feel that time passes faster then when I was a kid. When I was a kid I had the impression that the sun was out longer and days took a long time to get over. But now, I just want time to stop and days to be longer. 24 hours is not enough. (Along with having only satuday and sunday as weekends is too short). 

If someone finds some scientific evidence that this is all in the brain or indeed time is passing fast as compared to the past please let me know. (Although I'm sure its not the latter). 

Well, I should be going back to my assignments. Its giving me a headache and I can't wait for it to be over. However, once this is over, I need to start studying for my exams (which I havent touched at all. I'm so screwed right). 

Probably will update a post when I'm swarmed with something and need a distraction. Hahaha. 

Cheers;

It's already june! Left another 6 more months for 2015

Things that brightens my day: Beer

Half a year is gone! It's already june (O_O) Half a year of 2015 is gone guys! How fast does time past. It feels like just yesterday I was having fun with my friends in the land of takoyaki and sushi. But noooo. now I'm in the new phase of schooling and one of my friend who went on the trip with me is now in army.

So yes, as mentioned above, I have started a new phase of school (unwillingly and stupidly...I should've taken a break till september).
Everything passed by so fast and I've already finished week 4 our of the 12 weeks of the term and I'm swamped with assignments (then why am I still here blogging right...well..I get distracted).

I am still not over my trip to Japan after even so long (and so are my friends). I really really feel like quitting school and just live in Japan but I can't cuz my mother would whack me.

The whole experience in Japan, I felt really changed me. Somewhere somehow I kind of found myself, like what I aspire to do and how I should see myself. Most importantly I reasoned  out with myself that being alone is not a bad thing. It's actually better if I want to achieve my dreams.

Yes, I still have a dream of working in a Japanese broadcasting station but if I really can't then at least at an advertising agency in Japan. Whether its internship or a work-stint, I really want to achieve that dream. I know it will be hard work but I feel that the experience will be really important to me.

Still on the topic of japan, I'm recently really into Kanjani 8 and it makes me want to really go back to Osaka and sing 'Takoyaki in my heart'. I am really sad that I didn't have enough time to explore osaka because it is such a nice city! The next time I go Japan, I'm definitely spending mroe time at Osaka and Kyoto. However, the next time I go to japan will most likely be for Yokohama again because me and my mom need to work on some documentations that apparently can't be settled from here. What is life right. At this time and age, there are documentations that can't be settled from here. But I guess that's how important they take the whole process.

Speaking of Japan, there was a big earthquake off Ogasawara Islands and it was 8.5 magnitude. It affected the  Kanagawa area and I really hope everyone was okay. (Cuz most of my relatives stay in that prefecture). My mom told me that my mom's boss felt the tremor as well and he was over at Tokyo.  My mom always tells me of her experiences with earthquake each time the news reports it and it made me think that we are really lucky that we don't experience earthquakes.

Tickets to Takizawa Kabuki!! 

Another news at hand here, I bought tickets for Takizawa Kabuki!! Sadly I don't have friends whom are into the same kind of japanese stuff as me so I asked my bestest friend in the world. My mom. Lolz.
I persuaded my mom to go with me and she agreed if I paid, so...I'm going to see my first kabuki! Honestly I am not into the tradtional kabuki thing but when I researched on Takizawa kabuki that has been going on for quite a while in japan, it seemed interesting and unlike the traditional kabuki. So hopefully I'll enjoy it!

What else have I been doing apart from school and dreaming about japan, well I went to vixx's concert! Yes they came to singapore and performed on the 29th. The sound system at max pavilion sucked as usual and did no mercy to ken and leo's voice. However the boys were really humble and gave a lot of fan-service. It was a nice concert and I constantly shrieked like a girl when leo, ravi or hongbin came into the screen. When you are a fangirl for a group, no matter how old you are, you will shriek.
 
However, I was really unhappy about something. There were this group of girls  seated in the row in front of me that kept standing. I mean you're excited i understand but think of the people behind you who paid as much amount as you to see their idols. I wanted to kick the girl's chair but I restrained myself because we must be nice to other fans or so I believe. They eventually settled down because i think someone pointed them out and they were forced to sit. However, after that this one girl kept taking a video of the group and blocked my view. If she took a good video then I wouldn't say anything but honestly I have no idea what she was taking.She zoomed in so much and the phone kept shaking. At that point I really wanted to whack her but then i stopped myself and just decided to focus on the concert. At the near end when everyone dashed up front to get a clearer view of vixx (yes it happned), i was glad cuz the whole group left their seats as well and I got a super clear view of the stage.


It was fun to attend a concert and I really enjoyed myself. Oh my gosh. I feel that the lack of writing articles and working on media stuff is make my writing style worse. I feel ashamed with this post and feel I can do better but my mind is not there at all because I am rushing my statistic assessment.
I apologize for such a boring post and hope the pictures make up for this post haha. I'll try to write a better post soon!!

Cheers!

Adding a picture of my graduation picture to close off.
I look terrible because I am never photogenic in these kinds
of shot. Try getting you picture taken on a stage where you are worrying that
you won't trip and fall over the stage or something.
Also, I swear the person who photoshopped this picture was high. My hair
looks like a pumpkin...my life. #ForeverUnglam

Day 7-14: Osaka>Tokyo>Yokohama>Basically Tokyo

Osaka Castle

Day 7
- Osaka Castle
Osaka Station ->Osakajokoen Station 
* We had to check out at 10am so we decided to leave our luggage at Osaka Station.
* For 400yen+, you can leave your luggage at the station (a small booth that is maned by people) and go around where you need to go. However do note their closing time. For us it wasn't a problem cuz we had to leave at 4+ for our train anyways.
* Osaka Castle seemed a little smaller then expected and was a bit of a disappointment but its okay cuz i got to see the Osaka-hall that many idols have performed at!

- Hang out at Osaka Station
Osakajokoen Station -> Osaksa Station
*As we had about 3 hours before going to Shin-osaka to take our train, we hung out at Osaka Station first. However...we were late for our train and had to re-reserve our seats to Tokyo. (if you think its a hastle, you dont need to reserve seats but if you want to be sure of a seat definitely reserve. With the JR pass, reserving a seat is FOC)
* Try the buffet called 'The Platinum' at the mall in Lucca near Osaka Station. It's affordable and really good!

- Head to Roppongi to our apartment!
 Shin Osaka Station-> Tokyo Station-> Ginza Station->Roppongi Station  
*We got reached Roppongi at around 9pm+, though we got a bit lost we were really blown away by the apartment. It was really good. Our host was super nice too! And if I ever go back to Tokyo I might stay here again (haha) Roppongi station has got to be one of the more convinient stations ever. we could get to everywhere! Plus! TV Asahi was near the apartment and we could see tokyo tower !
- Hanami @ Tokyo Midtown
Walk over from Roppongi Station 
*As a reccomendation from our host who said that we must go hanami at Tokyo midtown, we walked over to Tokyo Midtown though we were really tired from our trip.However, we were really glad we did. It was really beautiful and it was such a good way to start our trip in tokyo!

Hanami over @ Yoyogi Park. All the trees were
 fully bloomed!

Day 8
- Shibuya, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku, Takeshita Dori, Omotesando
Walk over from Roppongi to Shibuya (15mins+) 
Walked Shibuya>Yoyogi Park>Cat Street?>Takeshita Dori>Omotesando 
*We woke up later then we used to wake up when we were in the Kansai area. Thats cuz we had more days in Tokyo to see everything. Also, we walked from our apartment to Shibuya and it took us about 30 minutes to reach.Basically, this day was all about walking cuz the places above can be walked, so we did. Walking to and fro this area is the best because there are many interesting stores and places you will walk past. Such as the yoyogi stadium!
*Also do do doooooo  try Ichiran Ramen if you are in Shibuya cuz its awesomeeee!!

Day 9
- Tokyo Skytree
Roppongi Station ->Aoyama Itochome Station ->Oshiage Station
*Look out for the Tokyo Banana at tokyo skytree cuz they have a special edition version there. These special edition version Tokyo Skytree Banana cannot be found anywhere but there. Also, if you feel that tokyo skytree is too expensive to go up then just hand around. The place has loads of shop to the brim!
- Asakusa Temple
Oshiage Station-> Asakusa Station
*There are booths before you reach the temple so check them out cuz they are really interesting. The fried manju is really nice! Get yourself some Senbei (though a little ex) if you want!
- Akihabara
Asakusa Station-> Ueno Station->Akihabara Station
*Honestly I have no idea why we made a trip here. We weren't Otakus and we didn't need to buy any electrical products. However, if like me you just came to this place cuz it was always often talking but you weren't a fan of eletrical products or anime, head over to the Don Qui Hote there!
*It was super interesting and you get to see things you don't see at other store! (cuz its filled with interesting anime stuffs!)
*Also, for those who need to chance money (SGD), the money changer just below Don Qui Hote, had the best rate for us to change. Though not as good as changing in Singapore, it was still better then other places.

Hanami over @Ueno Park. This was probably the nicest
place for hanami out of all the places I went. 

Day 10
- Ueno Park/Ameyoko
*The sakura blossomed fully by the time we went Ueno and it was breathtakingly beautiful. However there were many people there for hanami too.
*Since it was the Hanami season there were many booths and my friends and I kept stopping to eat food
* After Ueno Park, drop by Ameyoko and just shop around, there are really cute stores and some stores offer affordable clothes! (Funfact: Pentatonix filmed their cover video of  clean bandit's 'rather be' here!)
- Ikebukuro  (Pokemon Centre)/Sunshine City 
*Accompanied my friend to Pokemon Centre and if you aren't much of a fan like me, check out the stores at the basement of Sunshine City or head over next door to Tokyu Hands! They have a cat cafe at the very top of Tokyu Hands if you like cats!
*Also, the whole street of Ikebukuro is really interesting so you can check it out too!
- Tokyo Metropolitan Center
Walk over from Shinjuku Station (10 mins+)
*This place is one of the tall buildings in the area and you can see tokyo tower and skytree (though really small). We went over cuz it was for free and it was just another place to visit to see tokyo at night
- Meguro River
* Since we had time, we decided to visit Meguro river as well, a place popular to see sakura trees. It wasn't as awesome as the ones we saw at tokyo midtown, probably because it was at night and there were a lot of people. So I'd recommend you to visit this place during the day if your injapan during spring!
- Back at roppongi 
By the time we finished visiting all the places, we realised we haven't eaten so we ate at Afuri ramen neat the roppongi station. Afuri ramen seemed really popular cuz many people lined for the same store near meguro river. So we decided to try it. Apparently its famous ramen is the Yuzu ramen. So if you are over at the meguro river or roppongi or shibuya (ebisu) do try it! its an interesting fusion food.

The colorful Gundam!! If you are a gundam
fan like me, don't miss this out! 

Day 11
- Cup Noodle Museum (Yokohama)
We headed over to yokohama to visit the Cup noodle museum! This is worth a visit because you get to make your own cup noodles! And yokohama is a really pretty city, very different from tokyo and the rest because you can see the sea and stuff.
- Chinatown
* Another place to visit because Yokohama is famous for its chinatown. However, i felt it changed a lot since the last time I visited it and it wasn't as fun as it was in the past. However their panda bun is really cute so do try it if you have a chance!
- Yokohama Stadium
*Because we had to take a train at the station near yokohama stadium, Just nice when we were there, there was a huge baseball game so the stadium was roaring with cheers. Also they were playing Southern All Star's new song. It was so fun even just to walk past it.
- Odaiba (Diver's city etc. )
*This is where Gundam is at! It was super cool to see gundam at night. So if you plan to see it, watch it at night cuz the light effects are cool! Its head even moves and theres a mini gundam episode at the back.
*After that we walked around the Odaiba area and saw the statue of liberty. As we were walking around, I saw this pop up booth playing the latest PV for TVXQ's song, sakura. I literally dashed across the road to see and stare at it. (Guess this was enough for me cuz I stupidly didn't buy the tickets to their concert at tokyo dome)

The tokyo tower on the road. The light and cars brighten up
that street that makes it look like Tokyo Tower. 

Amazing view at night. You can see the Odaiba area! 

Day 12
- Imperial Palace Area
*We left after lunch time  to explore the palace area. The palace area is huge. The flowers were really nice around the area however, it was kinda boring to me because there was nothing. Like just flowers and all. Maybe it was because we didn't see the imperial palace, but its worth a visit during spring cuz of the flowers.
- Shinjuku
*We walked around shinjuku because 1.there was takashimaya 2. we were planning to go hakone and the odakyu sightseeing counter was there. However, the sightseeing counter was closed so we had to go back another day. We didn't go hakone in the end because the next few days till we fly back the weather was pretty bad.
- Tokyo Tower
*We went over to tokyo tower, BUT! it was pink that day to celebrate the coming of Spring. It was pretty, but my friends were disappointed about it. They didn't want to go up so I did instead. For all One Piece fans, there is a collaboration between one piece and tokyo tower, so do check it out. I didnt go into the one piece museum, but I shopped for stuff at the one piece store. ><"
- Roppongi
*We went back to roppongi hills for dinner and ate at the only shop that was open, a chinese restaurant. Its affordable but the food was so-so. We then realised we haven't drunk at a bar or club since we came to japan so we decided to look for one after dropping our stuff at our apartment. We then found this small bar near our place. Their open till 5am so when we went in at around 12, there was nobody and it was really nice. They played really good music so it was a nice place to chill. Sadly I don't remember the bar's name...if not i'll recommend everyone there cuz the staff there was really nice too!

Day 13
- Meiji Shrine
*This was a place I never been to so it was really refreshing. We got lost at first but eventually found our way there. Its deep in the forest like area but it felt really nice to walk around that area.
- Shibuya/Harajuku Area
*Since my friends wanted to buy stuff last minute and we didn't really see all the shops the last time we went, we spent half a day at the shibuya/harajuku area. If you like cute stuffs then Shibuya 109 is just for you. They have a huge H&M, Bershka store there so if your a fan take a look. Especially the Bershka store, its is quite sleek. If you have the feel for desserts at around 10pm like us, drop by Shibuya 109 men and theres a store called 'hoshino coffee'. They serve really yummy pancakes!

View from Tokyo World Trade Center. One of the best places to see the
night view of Tokyo. 

Day 14
- Tsukiji Market
Roppongi Station>Tsukiji Station 
*We reached tsukuji market at around 8am, but its open to public only at 9am. So take note if you want to visit the market area. We eventually decided to have sushi for breakfast but there were soooo many people. I gave up cuz I had other places to go that day and I went to eat at Sukiya instead. My beloved fast food chain in japan. My friends who ate the sushi at tsukiji said the sushi was amazing..so don't give up like me if you want to eat good sushi.
- Yokohama station area
Tsukiji Station> Naka-Meguro Station>Yokohama Station 
*This day was my solo-trip in japan day. Cuz I had to visit my grandparents grave. After visinting, I hung out around the area because its the only area I'm super familiar with because I stayed around this area when I went to japan in the past. The yokohama station area has 2 huge malls (takashimaya and sougou) but the area outside the mall is more interesting.
- Yamashita Park
Yokohama station>Motomachi Chukagai Station (Minatomirai Line) 
*Since it was still early and my mom asked me why not drop by yamashita park since I was near, I did. I bought sandwich and coffee and head over to have lunch there. It was actually nice to just sit on the bench in front of the sea and people watch. It gave me time to sink in the fact that I was in japan, venturing alone and I was kind of sad I had to go back the next day.
- Tokyo World Trade Center
*We decided to visit Tokyo world trade center really last minute because my friend was sad that we couldn't go up the observatory deck at roppongi hills cuz it was closed. And for just 600 yen, it was worth it. The sight was way nicer then the tokyo metropolitan center. Its a really nice dating spot but then again everywhere we visited seemed like a good dating spot. You can see tokyo tower really clearly and the rest of tokyo as well. (including the rainbow bridge)
- Tokyo Tower area/Azabu area/Roppongi Hills
*Since it was still early by the time we went down, we decided to go see tokyo tower because my friends wanted to take a non-pink picture of the tower. We then walked around that area and decided to walk back to roppongi from there. We passed by Azabu area and eventually reached roppongi hills. We then explored the place cuz though we stayed damn near the place we didn't visit it at all. Shops were mostly closed but we just window shopped around. Things at Roppongi Hills were branded stuff so I wasn't interested but my interest peaked when we passed by TV asahi's office building. I was so excited cuz I knew there was a TV asahi opposite our apartment but didn't think the main office was nearby as well! It was a really nice walk back and of course. We dreaded the fact that we were leaving the next day.

Day 15
- Fly back to Singapore
Roppongi Station>Daimon Station>Haneda Int'l Airport 
*Before flying back, we had ramen in the morning at this store called "Tsurumiya Yokohama Home ramen style" It's between Nishi Azabu and Roppongi. Its definitely a must must try cuz its probably the best ramen I had during the time I was there. Another thing I regretted. Not eating this ramen earlier.
*We then took a train to Haneda. (We took the asakusa line because for the Tokyo Monorail you would have to go out the station and walk over, which is a bit tough if you have huge luggages. )We had to change only 1 time and it took us around 30mins. It felt super fast. (Especially if you wait for the express train).

=So that ends my journey in Japan. It's been more then a month and I still miss my days in Japan and can't wait to venture back again. But the next time I do, I'll spend most of my time at Osaka cuz I love the land of takoyaki hahahaha=

(P.s. I hit my 120th post with this update!! Whoa..haha)

For all my pictures of my trip,check it out here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things to Note:
1. Walking Shibuya to Harajuku Area
As mentioned these places can be walked so if you are not sure how to, just ask the Tourist Information Centre that is just in front of the Hachiko statue. Theres a woman there who speaks really good english!(though I talked to her in Japanese and we spent about 15mins talking about stuffs) They will even recommend what you should look out for!
2. Transportation
If you got the suica card, a charge of 1000yen per day is enough if you stay within the tokyo area. (unless you plan to venture to places like disneyland and yokohama which might cost a tad bit more)
3. Hakone/Mount Fuji Area
We were planning to go Hakone but gave up in the end because of the continuous bad weather report until the day we left, however for those who plan to go hakone/mount fuji area (lucky you) drop by Shinjuku station. Go out of Shinjuku Station West exit and head to Odakyu Sightseeing service center there that sells a 2 day hakone pass that allows you to take the romance car, ferry and trains within hakone for free. It is only worth it if you plan to stay there for 2 days. (because for hakone, you can't see everything in a day) The sightseeing centre has people who speak in english so no worries for ya'll! For more info check out this site: http://www.odakyu.jp/english/destination/hakone/

And So we being journey-ing through Japan: Day 1- Day 6: Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Uji

Day 1

Kyoto Station which we
made a brief stop at before heading to Osaka! 

On the Tokyo Monorail!! 

- Singapore, Changi Airport -> Tokyo, Haneda Intl' Airport 
*We landed at Haneda, got the things we needed and reserved our Shinkansen seat there. By the time we left Haneda, we only had about 50 minutes before our train departs and basically rushed our way to Shinagawa station (and ran to the platform) just in time for our train. When we found our seat, the train started moving. Yes, beware, trains in japan wait for no man.
- To our apartment!! 
Shinagawa -> Shin-Osaka, station (4hrs)
- We reached Osaka around 9pm, after which it took us about 2 hours to find our apartment. Eventually we had conbini lunchbox for dinner cuz that was the nearest thing to us there.

             Day 2

              - Uji 
Shin-Osaka Station -> Kyoto Station ->Uji

*Uji is definitely a place you should not miss if you are in the area..it is simple amazing.
- Nara
Uji ->Nara
*As for Nara, go empty-handed. One of the deer ate my friend's paperbag, so just a caution.
- Dotonbori 
Nara -> Nanba Station-> Dotonbori

At Nara with deers! 

*Definitely set aside 1 day for dotonbori and shinbashi if you love shopping. Though its crowded with tourists theres loads of things to see (and eat)! Try the Gyoza, Takoyaki and ramen if you have the chance!

Had our first bowl of
ramen at Dotonbori. 

The busy street of
Dotonbori/Shinbashi

In Front of the Aquarium!!

The beautiful and grand
Himeji Castle!

Saw our first bloomed Sakura tree at
 Himeji Castle!

Day 3

- Himeji Castle
Shin-Osaka Station -> Himeji Station -> Himeji Castle
*Himeji was really an impromtu trip for us but we did not regret it. It's probably one of the nicest castle I ever saw in my whole trip.
- Osaka Aquarium/Tempozan ferris wheel
Himeji Station-> Osaka Station ->Bentencho Station -> Osakako Station -> Osaka Aquarium/Tempozan ferris wheel
*If you've been to the SEA aquarium in Singapore then Osaka aquarium may be a little disappointment for you, however, its a good chance for you to see animals like capybara, dolphins (not just one or two but more and they swim freely in the tanks), penguins, sloths and even Mambo (its a type of fish)
-Osakako Station-> Awaza Station -> Nanba Station-> Dotonbori/Shinbashi area
* see half a day wasn't enough for us. heck 2 days weren't enough for us.

A Must eat in Osaka!
Takoyaki~~ 

This Takoyaki store is a must-try!
It was nice!

Kinkakuji was probably the hightlight
for the day for me. It was so beautiful.
Love kyoto so much! 

Day 4

- Tenoji Temple-/Arashiyama
Shin Osaka Station -> Kyoto Station -> Saga Arashiyama -> Tenoji Temple-/Arashiyama
* Try the soybean ice-cream around this area. Its everywhere so its hard to miss. Also, the meals here are quite affordable so do stop by and eat cuz its really nice!
- Kinkakuji Temple 
Arashiyama Station -> Kitano Hakubai-cho Station-> Bus  201/Bus 101 -> Kinkakuji Temple
* Kinkakuji is simply amazzzzing, however wear proper sports shoes when you go cuz walking around the area is no joke. Theres a lot of climbing to do.
-Nijojo Castle
Bus 12 / *Bus 101-> Nijojo Mae
Just nice, when we were there and thanks to the tourist information center, there was a 3D light mapping show at Nijo castle, so we stopped by.
- To go back: Take Bus 9/ Bus 50/ *Bus 101 from Nijojo Mae to Kyoto Station *Note: Bus 101 stops service at around 5pm. Check before taking it!

Kiyomizudera temple was amazing as well! 

The torii gates was really pretty. To think that all these
torii gates were donated by people whose wish has come
true is simply amazing.  

Day 5

- Fushimi Inari  Taisha
Kyoto Station-> Inari Station
* Choose the right route to walk. Best is to follow the red torii gates up the mountain and down. We took another route and hiked up some mountain on our way up and got lost.
- Kiyomizudera Temple
Inari Station -> Kyoto Station -> Bus 100/ Bus 206 to Gojozaka->walk to Kiyomizudera
*This temple was built only just using wood and not a single nail was used. Amazing right!
- Sannen Saka
Walk down from Kiyomizudera
* A good place to walk around and they sell really fun things. They even have a huge Ghibili store here with totoro! Also, if you are a hello kitty fan, there is a special kyoto edition hello kitty stall here
- Gion Area 
- Kiyomizumichi stop -> Bus 100/Bus 207 -> Gion Stop -> walk to Shirakawa then to Hanami-koji 
*When you walk through the Gion area, look for 2 places. Hanami-koji and Shirakawa.
Hanami-koji is just one stretch of road but don't miss the place to turn in, if not you might end up somewhere else. Shirakawa is another spot and if you are visiting during Spring, here is pretty nice as the the sakura blossoms along the whole street. We didn't get to see any Maikos though :(

Take bus 206 back to Kyoto Station 

Got to see captain levi!
Whoooots!So handsome. 

Universal Studios..WE MADE IT!

Hogwarts was so beautiful!!! Felt like I was right in
the movie!

Day 6

- Universal Studios at Universal City
Osaka Station (JR Osaka Loop) -> Nishikujo->Universal City
*We took a train from Osaka Station so we had to change at Nishikujo Station to Universal City. Sometimes, there would be a direct train to Universal City so take note of that. The train to Universal City from Nishikujo station is really cute! So have your camera ready when it comes!
*Definitely avoid school holidays if you ever plan to go USJ, however we went on a sunday and apparently it was a time when there wasn't many people. So just maybe (i'm not sure) but if you happen to go to USJ during a school holiday period, try to go on a Sunday.
*A MUST MUST MUST drink thing at USJ is the hot chocolate at the cafe near the gift store area. It was really nice and we couldn't find a hot chocolate that was amazing as the one we had at USJ anywhere else.
*If you want to get the butterbeer from Harry Potter, please get the cold one. It tastes nicer then the warm one apparently. I got the warm one (cuz I was super cold) and it had a lot of ginger in it (that I didnt mind so..) Take note!

• To see images of my entire trip Click HERE ~
• My next post will be all about TOKYO so look out for it :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things to note that helped us on our trip: 
1. Get a JR Pass 
    - If like us you are planning to go to more then 3 prefectures with bullet trains, definitely get this. One trip to and fro Tokyo and Osaka cost you almost the same amount of a 7 day JR Pass. Might as well get the JR Pass and explore more area right?
2. Get a Suica Card
   - Trying to figure out costs via the train map can be a hastle so getting a Suica card makes your travelling journey a lot smoother and worry free. The suica card can be purchased at the airport at the JR counter. (P.s Suica card can be used on buses and vending machines too!)
3. Sim-card
   -  We debated on whether we should get a portable wireless or prepaid sim card but eventually decided upon prepaid sim card cuz we were too busy before going to Japan to apply for a portable wireless. We were also skeptical on long the portable wireless would've last for the 3 of us. So we got our prepaid card at Haneda Airport and it cost us 5000yen (its cheaper if you get it online). per day you get 100mb which is more then enough for you to whatsapp, google map, instagram and browsing through the web. Here's the site for more information: http://prepaidsim.jp/
4. Research about the place if you are renting an apartment on Airbnb 
  - Honestly speaking, I liked our apartment in Osaka though it was cold. However it was super far off from the station and it was hard for us to journey around with our luggage. But it was a super good place to live like a local for a week cuz there weren't any foreigners at all around the area. Heck, the ticket machine at the train station had no English option (thank god my mom made me re-learn jap). So, if you want to really soak in the life of a japanese these places are good however, if you have a JR Pass and tend to travel around using the JR lines, research properly before booking.
But, really, I liked that place though it was super cold. The park nearby the apartment had sakura trees!! It was beautiful.
5. Drain holes 
 - Something me and my friend realised during our trip around was that, the drain holes were different in every city we went. So we took a picture of it everywhere we went. Maybe I'll post it up soon but it was really interesting! And the drainholes weren't just boring words, it had pictures on it! So look out for them when you travel around japan.
6. When visiting Kyoto Area
* Definitely visit the tourist information counter at Kyoto, the people there will be able to guide you the best way to visit the places you want to go and also how to go there. If you ask, they will even recommend you places to go! (that was how we found out about the Nijo castle)
* If you are planning to kyoto, get the one day Kyoto city bus/Kyoto bus pass. However do note that is  worth it to get the pass only if you are traveling to more than 3 places a day.

Thoughts about my trip to Japan

Every trip's reflection post starts with an airplane. 

2 weeks ago, this day, I was still venturing about the streets of Tokyo (Shibuya to be exact)

and now here I am writing a post about my trip. 

I honestly thought I already left a post about my trip but apparently I didn't. 

So the basic questions everyone asked me were "How was your trip?", "what did you do?" and more importantly "how much did it cost?". 

Well, I shall answer all the questions slowly and probably post my Itenary here though maybe not in this post cause it will become super long. 

Basic information about my trip, my friends and I travelled 3 places in the 2 weeks. We went to Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. The trip was simply amazing and very surreal to me because firstly, I never imagined my parents allowing me to travel with my friends (cuz they don't let out of the house late at night, how did they allow this trip was really mysterious for me). Secondly, to even go to Japan during spring was a far-fetched dream for me. 

Though it was a bit costly, I never regretted my decision to journey through Japan one single bit. The last time I was in Japan was probably about 4 years ago and I never been to other parts of Japan except Tokyo because my grandparents lived in Yokohama (which is pretty much near Tokyo). So it was really exciting (yet worrying) to venture to other parts of japan. I was also really worried about travelling without my mom because I never really spoke to people in Japan when I travelled with my parents cuz my mom did all the talking and I never had to buy train tickets cuz my mom did those as well. But all in all my trip went smoothly and it was really great. 

Being in Japan for the 2 weeks was simply amazing. The people were so nice, the skies were so blue and the air was just different. However it was super cold. You would expect spring to be around the coldness of being in an air-conditioned room but NO. When we reached Osaka at around 8pm, it was 3 degrees. How was this spring! I basically only wore 1 long sleeve and my coat. It was not enough (people who know me, knows I'm very weak to the cold) .We reached the station that was apparently near our apartment but we got lost. It took us a while to find our apartment and I swear I wanted to just curl up at one corner and just stay there. However, we managed to find it but it was still so cold. 

Though during the entire trip it was super cold, I liked it. I mean I rather suffer in cold then in warmth. 

We visited a lot of places that I only ever saw images of on the internet but the place I fell in love the most was Uji. After that was Kyoto followed by Osaka. Uji was simply beautiful and I definitely recommend people to visit there if you are ever in the Kyoto or Osaka area. 

I managed to make a trip to Universal Japan to visit Hogwarts and that was probably another highlight of the trip as well! Though it rained and there were many people and I didnt take any rides, Being in hogwarts was just fun. I got to see Shingeki no Kyojin as well so...YESH.

Uji, the land of green tea and probably the most  beautiful place
I ever visited. 

The week I spent in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Uji was probably the best but all good things come to an end and we had to go back to Tokyo. 

Tokyo didn't really change much since the last time I was there. It was still a busy city but it was beautiful this time because everywhere we walked somewhere there was a sakura tree. We rented an apartment in Roppongi and omg I think it was the best place I ever stayed. The apartment was so comfortable and we could even see tokyo tower from the apartment! It was simply amazing. The place we stayed at was also near Roppongi Station and we could visit all the places we wanted to go with ease. 

Basically in Tokyo what I did was Shop and eat. That's all I did. But one place I really liked that I never visited was probably the meiji shrine. It was totally zen. I never knew there was such a place in Tokyo. 

OH! AND YES! Our apartment was really near TV asahi. It was so cool, but sadly I didn't see any actors or idols..it was kinda sad..cuz I think I could have seen Kimura Takuya the day before I was about to fly as he had a press conference for his new drama at the area, but being me, I didn't think of exploring the area that day and missed the chance to see him. I was so near yet so far *cries*.

Leaving Japan was almost unbearable, honestly I didn't want to leave. I wished I could stay there for a month. It was nice to talk in Japanese and actually talk to the people there! I honestly feel that taking up Mass Comm changed my life because I became more of an extrovert. Throughout my entire trip in Japan, I went around asking people questions and occasionally had a chat with them. One such person was this elderly lady in Osaka. She was 81 but she still worked as a nurse and learns traditional japanese dance on the weekends and let me tell you, she dosen't look 81 at all. She then went on talking to me about stuffs and it was nice. I talked a lot especially to people at the tourist information counters. I don't know why but we'd just start talking until another customer arrived. Many of them start chatting with me after I finished asking my question by telling me "you japanese is really good!" then I'd tell them my mom was japanese and after that we just chat. It was really nice. 

If I travelled with my parents, I probably would not have the chance to chat so much with the people there. Also, me being able to speak japanese probably saved us time and our lives. I was pretty shocked that there weren't much english menus wherever we went. Though it was troublesome to translate menus to english for my friends, i'm still glad I managed to read the menu to explain to them. If it was me 4 years ago, I might just die at one corner cuz I couldn't read it. 

Honestly I never planned to go to Tokyo for this trip, but because my friends wanted to go to Tokyo and I wanted visit my grandparents graveyard so we went. Visiting my grandparents graveyard was painful. I never cried when I attended their funeral but I don't know why that day as I stood in front of their graves I just broke down. I thought to myself that if they were alive, it wouldn't have been me guiding my friends but my grandfather. Instead of visiting their graves, I could have been visiting them and they would've been proud of me finding their house. Something my grandfather and grandmother always told me was "come visit us by yourself one day! We'll let you stay here and bring you around!" but even before I could do that they passed away. So that was probably one reason out of the thousands I cried before them. After visiting their graveyard, I just roamed around Yokohama thinking about things and eventually ended up at Yamashita park. It was a nice half-day alone that day but once again it was unbelivable. I was in Yokohama alone and I managed to go to the places without help. Amazing, I thought. 

So this is probably all my thoughts throughout the trip. I'll probably post up my itenary in my next post so that for those of you whose planning a trip to Japan can take a look! I'll try and add in some tips too! 

To end of my post is to answer the question of "How much did it cost". It costed my hand and limb. Okay I'm joking. Everything from air ticket, apartment, transport fee, food and shopping it costed me S$3,685.  (yes a weird number but when I calculated this was the amount it added up to). 

Honestly, since I saved up money since I was a kid, this trip was more than affordable for me. Many people around me probably thought my parents paid half my trip for me but nope. I funded the entire trip myself, which is maybe why my parents had no say against my trip. 

Till the next post, 

Cheers! 

Many thanks for my travel buddies. Cuz of them I was never bored and
because of them we were never lost. It was such a chill trip with them. ><

The Last Lap of a fulfilling learning journey

The pond that I walked passed everyday and wonder what's it for

From classes that started at 8:30am, it changed to become classes that started at 9:45am
From being the enthusiastic student of trying to finish everything in the worksheet and final presentation, it changed to a student who chopes one question and works on it for 30 minutes.

It has been three years since I stepped into RP and I am now awaiting graduation day. There is still 2 UTs waiting for me before I can wash my hands off completely from Poly but I still think I need a pat on my back for completing my studies.

Honestly speaking, the last 3 years didn't feel like I was schooling. As compared to my secondary school days, where cramming was a must and tuition classes filled my daily schedules even on the weekends,  being in poly was a breeze.

The awesome lamas that changed my life 

The lunch gang that made my last sem awesome

It could be because in there was less theory and more hands-on activities. Presentations everyday and trying to apply what you learnt in the mornings, if you participate in class and pay attention you get the gist of what was happening that day. There's not much need for mugging unless its Media Law and campaigns and advertising lesssons (which I didn't mug and forsee myself failing the paper)

Also, as compared to secondary school I met a lot of people who changed me in poly. They changed the introvert me to a less introverted person. I hung out more after school till late in the evening (not gonna say night cuz I always need to be home by 10. But its an improvement from secondary school.)  I made friends I would never exchange something else with in the world and also met with different type of experiences that made me realise what I might want to do in the future.

Being able to participate in industry projects was probably one that widened my horizons during these three years and I think that was what I liked about being a budding journalist. In my assignments I was given the chance to interview different type of people you wouldn't talk to in your daily life and find out more about them. By doing these interviews I realised one thing. You always need to hear two sides of the stories and most importantly don't judge a book by its cover.

With my awesome team and intern buddy. Missing my director tho. :(

Internship was another interesting milestone I encountered. I walked into my internship filled with anxiety but came out a changed person.

Working in an company that could be my future job was a real eye-opener and through internship I found something I liked other than broadcast. I made new friends during internship that I wish to keep forever and just honestly experienced a whole lot of things. My team was the best and I wished I could have worked with them a long time. Though I was to be there for 5 months, I extended and stayed on for another 2 which allowed me to learn even more things.

When we were all rushing to meet a deadline for a pitch.
We all went mad. 

One example of how it changed me was the fact that I hated making calls to people. I hated talking to people I don't know, but working in a media agency meant day-to-day meeting with old and new mediaowners, calling people for proposals and going into yet another meeting. Over a few months after doing this, I became comfortable in talking to people that I didn't hesitate anymore to pick up my phone and ask about the proposal I recieved.

I even managed to handle one campaign with the help of my director and manager and seeing it come to life after I left was really awesome.

My very first industry-related assignment.
Felt like it was so long ago among the many other assignments I've done. 

Overall, the three years journey didn't feel long and I never once regretted my decisions. To those who always told me that "poly is just another route for those who can't get into JC" I would say you are wrong. Poly is for the people who want to learn beyond the books. Poly is for those who are willing to take risks to break from their normal routine of learning from the books and to experience the real world a tad bit early. Poly lets you learn from people who used to work in the industry or has experience in the industry hence its really interesting to hear how what you learn is indeed applied in the working world. It goes beyond just learning from a book with a teacher standing in front of class.

The wednesday team with one of the awesome facis

I also never regretted choosing RP as the poly to go to. Yes its damn far from the MRT station, yes it may look dull but I had fun in RP. Their method of teaching may be different from other polys but you'll get used to it after one semester. (And they have awesome nasi lemak, yong tau foo, western food, milk tea and iced chocolate latte). If you ask me what I will miss about RP, i would just say its the food and the facis I had, cuz there were some facis that were really awesome
*cough*broadcast *cough*development journ *cough*

So since its already the end of Year 3 Sem 2, it also means that some of sec 4 and sec 5 students are awaiting to see what courses they will get into. If you get into RP just welcome it with open arms. Who knows you mindset might change after you go in like me. Also, if you get into Dip. of Mass Comm in RP, welcome it with open arms even more. You will have awesome and fun facis waiting for you. Also there will be a number of industry projects you will learn from and widen your horizons with, so look out for that.

Presentation all day err day. Something I dont think I will miss. 

As for me, since i'm graduating its time for me to find another school to study. I will once again be in unfamiliar surroundings and I am still unsure where I will be going. I only applied for one school so if they don't accept me, I guess I'm kinda screwed? But I don't know. Lets just see where my life brings me. Lolz.

Cheers.