birthday wish…

Today is my birthday… hehehhe… yeah.. another birthday away from home. It is ok, I am so used to it. Not only so used to be away, but to have a birthday as single. I have friends who would congratulate me and I appreciate all of them, their thoughtfullness. I don’t like presents, yeah strange….. but I take birthday greetings seriously.

Very often, I am embarrassed because it is difficult for me to remember others’ birthday, not that I don’t care, but I am quite absent-minded when it comes to sentimental issues. I am afraid to show my affections, not sure why. Well, the Lord is good. There have been many opportunities given to me to change. Over the years, I have learnt to be affectionate and show emotions.

Nah, back to birthday. I tried to recall last year birthday wish. I think I made a few and have asked some friends to pray for me. If I think about it, I have to say that the wishes are actually answered. Hmmm.. it is amazing because the wish I made are rather weird, only 1 is an honorable one.

Last year, some friends came over and celebrated for me. I didn’t know why suddenly may came, but anyway it was a great time. The most memorable thing was when I suddenly felt the urge to request for my parents health and long-age. It was a sudden and urgent thought. Out of a sudden, I was so afraid of losing my parents. So, I made the wish for their health.

Three weeks later, I received a call from my mom. I didn’t remember why we didn’t keep in touch for that long. Anyway, mom just called me that the past 3 weeks she has been sick. I was shock. Nobody told me! Nobody! Could you believe it????

I was like… WHAT??? She told me, she was sick 1-day after my birtday. Gosh…. when she called me, she was only better not yet well. That night I cried. Yeah.. I loved my mom, even though very often we quarrelled or I just didn’t like some of the things she does. That nite, i called my bro and sis, they have their spouses and live away from my parents. My bro was busy taking care of his pregnant wife and my sis… err forgot, her husband and biz perhaps. It was then another reminder for me that I am alone. I need to settle down and have a family on my own.

That birthday wish… some may take it lightly, but I remembered that at that time, it was an urgent request. It was a reminder that God hears birthday wish..

Ok… so what is my wish today? Hehhehehe….

Ah…. let me think me..

healthy eating habit

I have searched some sites regarding daily calorie intake. My supposed  calorie intake is between 1450 to 1650. Different sites calculate different values. I have taken the mid-value of 1550 calorie/ day.

This is divided into 3 meals:

1. Breakfast- 250 calorie

2. Lunch- 700 calorie

3. Dinner- 500 calorie

4. Snack- 100 calorie

Total: 1550 calorie

1. Bread- 60 calorie/ slice, milk- 100 calorie/ 200 ml, apple- ??

2. Lunch- bento set, make sure it does not exceed 700 calorie!!!

3. Dinner- ???

4. Snack- no snack!!

today 30 oct

Hmm so what is today? As usual, went to office to work. Well, today the train was fully packed and again the squeezing. -_-” err but i never gets any slimmer

The good news today is, I weighed again and I think I lost a few hundred grams. I have decided to eat slightly less everyday, to make sure that my calorie intake is lower than the calorie taken. Hopefully, I do not calculate wrongly… ok, count carefully, ok?

Today, we had a meeting and again I was lost in translation. I barely understood what being discussed. It is a morning call for me. Study hard, use hard…. I better make sure that every going month my japanese understanding improve by 10%. It is making no sense if after all the months spent here, my languistic flair is still on beginner level. Yeah… ganbarimasu…

The work is so so. I had problem of falling asleep again. I really need to find a way to stay awake during day time. Sigh…. how………………….

Tonite, I went for japanese class, happy to meet new friends but it is unfortunate that we had no time to chat more. =) must find time next week. The lesson was ok, still basic. However, I faced problem with conversation. iI could here and undertood what being said, but I am not able to speak it well. It is just broken!.. aarrrggghhhh

a quick update

So today is another start of working days. This is my fifth week in Japan. Work was ok so far. Today, I took half-day leave to collect my alien registration card, i.e. IC. Great!

After the card collection, my friend and I went shopping. Err what else to do in Japan but to explore the shopping facade. Anyway, there is nothing much actually. I went around the staion, just bought some necessities for winter preparation, i.e. socks :p. Hehhee.. thereafter, went to the shoppin center in my neigbourhood. Finally, I bought a hand-bag for office and my autum jacket. Yay!

Btw, I am seriously thinking to buy e-dictionary as I am really struggling with the language. Thinking, thinking and thinking, better decide soon!

 Ah, got good news, some friends are going to tokyo this week for holiday, so hopefully can catch up with them during the weekend, Great!

Ok, that is all for today.

weekend foto

sunday update 28 october 2007

Ok, so just a quick update. Today, I woke up late again, I guess to compensate the lack of sleep during weekdays or errmmm just lazy perhaps.

I went to the same church as I went last week. Yeah, decided to got to the same church from now on and perhaps looking the possibilities of joining a cell group. errr ah that is just me. The service was ok, it is different from my church in spore. It is charismatic, but to me, the service is still very much acceptable.

After service, we had pot luck again. So, I rushed back and cooked something simple for the group. The lunch was good. We had a great time. Then, we continue with card game which I kept losing. Arrggh… I was too tired to think of some strategy, simply throwing the cards lead to my losing. Anyway, it was just a game.

 In the evening, I received a call from my sis. Yeah, it is good that she called, so I don’t have to make the call . Good to hear that everything was alright. She asked me how I am doing here. I said good. Yeah, I guess everything is easier when we do not have financial difficulty. I have come to realise, money may not be everything, but without it, a lot of things may be accomplished.

Later on, we went to bamboo lantern festival which is held once a year. Hmm even though the name is lantern, it was not lantern as we imagined. It was a bamboo farm and each bamboo has candles. Since there are huge number bamboos, it really look beautiful at night.

We went circling the area and we stopped at the place where they sold warm sake. So, we decided to drink there. Errr… we spent quite a bit of time there and as the place was closing, someone came to us and offer us sake. Yeah, they bought the sake too much. So,… we drank sake and eat snacks there. Errr.. I think we were a bit high, but not too bad. We could still walk, chitchat, had dinner and had our way back.

Talking about drinking, I started to understand why people loved drinking. Drinking make us more chatty, more carefree, lose restrain that we have tried so hard to tie. It is not bad, but I guess we just need to know the limit.

anime marathon

yeah.. this is what one will do when one has nothing to do. So, today after a significant hours of rest, finished the spring cleaning and taken the meal- time for anime.

I completed the whole series. Err shame on me, but well, what can I do? It is raining the whole day with a very strong wind, taifun perhaps- the house shook.

The series I watched is Mai Hime, based on nei’s suggestion. I love the series. Yeah, it is about gals who can change shape and has weapons. Hmmm… something like saint seiya, but more modern and definitely shorter series.

Love the anime. The only drawback was there was no sub!

weekly update

So, what is for this week… This week is relatively good. =).. I received calls from my parents and sister. I missed them. I hope they could come and visit me… May the Lord be gracious to me, may the Lord open the way that they could come. Not only my family, but also some friends. My stay in Japan now is only the beginning, not yet 4 week. I still have around 14 months left. It can be very short or very long.

As for the work, I think it is ok. The working environment is good, the people are helping each other. I can see a healthy team-work. It is really interesting to see everyone working together to finish the project. I have also tried to communicate with them and use the limited Japanese words that I have. It was ok. I learnt bit by bit. Slow but sure..

As for after-office hour. Err.. it is important to note that I am apparently the first person leaving the office everyday. Sigh.. -_-”… I finished my work and I don’t like to linger in the office doing nothing but show face. Hmm… Anyway, I could only hope that I am reliable, though I am on the dot kind of person.

I am also taking japanese lesson, 3 times a week. Hehhehe.. some think I am nutz. I don’t care. I want to meet new people. I want to explore new things. Anyway, last thursday there was an interesting talk. We had a conversation during the class and well…. I happened to mentioned where I am from. Err.. they were pretty surprised that I came from the unknown ‘town’. anyway… it was an engaging conversation as we learn diverse cultures. As language-wise, it is still very long to go. I think conversation may not be so bad. It is the kanji, grammar and written language that I will struggle. I will definitely maximise my time here to know the language more. =).. yeah.. I want to be able to converse with my dad in Japanese,..

Other than the class, my daily activities are rather routine. Watch TV, cook, surf internet and watch anime.

As for this weekend, i have decided to stay at home to clean the room, the kitchen, bathroom and toilet. I need to spend sometime to do house-chores and explore the neighbourhood.

ok, that is all..

falling in love

yeah… i am falling in love… hehehhe.. with Ofuro..

The explaination is taken from wikipedia:

Ofuro are part of a Japanese ritual of bathing. They are not used for washing but for relaxing. Washing is carried out separately outside the ofuro. The water is usually approximately 38 to 42 degrees Celsius. Some ofuro incorporate a small seat where the bather sits. Modern ofuro are generally heated electrically using a hot tub heater and control panel. Buttons control the heat of the ofuro or shower, allowing bathwater to sit for several days, being heated and reheated.

 err.. but I did set the temperature wrongly.. 44 degrees I think.. -_-”… I didn’t know how to change the temperature, can’t read the kanji.

Anyway.. it is supposed to be relaxing, but for me, it is really exhausting.. I will fall asleep in the bath-tub.. and very sleepy afterwards. As for the heat,… trust me.. it is very hot…

Hehhe.. i will continue to further explore the japanese culture and learn the art. As for the ofuro, the only drawback is the usage of water.. just afraid if the utilities bill too high, exceeding the cap…

tired!

Sigh.. yeah, this is happening to me. The reason is pretty simple, over-exertion. I have been sleeping late everyday, despite the fact I don’t have urgent things to do. To make the matter worse, I attend japanese classes 3 times a week. Errr….. yeah…. a bit too much. My friends are only going once a week. Anyway, I don’t care. I will still attend the classes. The reasons are obvious, I am bored everyday- nothing to do at home. the second reason which is not much different is i am kinda lonely here. I miss some people…. Thus, it will definitely be better to spend sometime being exposed to the new language, however tiring or difficult it is.