341: i’m going to linger till dawn, dear

I’m back! For awhile, after a month on the road. The bus driver looked surprised when he stamped my bus ticket and noted that the last stamp was dated four weeks ago. And strange again, because I came home to an empty house, with a load of mail waiting for me. I’ve unpacked all my things, knowing that I will have to pack them again pretty soon, which is fine by me, except that I have a shitload of laundry to do by Monday. 

This past month has been good. From being with friends to meeting friends of friends, though somewhat randomly and by tenuous connection (one always marvels at how Facebook improves communications by leaps and bounds), we covered London and Paris and then Portugal — which I loved — Lisbon more than Porto, but still lovely all the same.

303: japan: dancing in tokyo

So – here is the last part. We spent three nights in Tokyo, but it was effectively two and half days left because we flew off in the morning. Less words before the cut now because there is just so much more to see in pictures.

293: japan: osaka city riots

18- 21 May.

So, finally, here is Osaka. Most of what they say about Osaka is totally true. It’s a merchant town, and it’s filled with people who love food, love being happy, love being loud and funny and living life. It’s kind of like being Hokkien on crack. Being Japanese, they’re naturally polite, and really really willing to help. They’re the sort of people that, when you are standing alone on the train platform surrounded by your luggage, an elderly lady will totter over to you asking, 大丈夫か？ (Are you all right?). At this point most of what you can say merely consists of ああ、はい (Ah, yes) which is really rude now that I think about it. Yet the same elderly lady, when getting onto the train, will fight you tooth and nail to get in and give you a not-so-friendly push if you dawdle too long at the entrance. Osaka people are always hurrying everywhere; not in the same way as Tokyo or the big cities, where everyone needs to look like they have something very important to do. Here it is pure unadulterated rush. 

We spent four days in Osaka, and they were a good four days. We visited temples and parks, castles, got lost, did lots of shopping, checked out Kennedy’s wildly expensive t-shirts, gawked at more wildly expensive merchandise, ate and walked, and ate, and ate non-stop. 

292: go out and get her

I’ve been sick for the past few days… guess the heat has finally gotten to me. I went to Ikea on Sunday with J and felt like shit after eating my meatballs (hmmm, I don’t think it had anything to do with the meatballs, though), so I went home, and I’ve just been sleeping my days away because the medicine knocks me right down again every time I wake up to take it. My mum is now worried sick (ha, ha) that I’m going to fall ill and die by myself over there, but I suppose everyone who goes overseas goes through that. 

In any case, I managed to get a flight to Amsterdam on SQ! Hooray for the nice person who decided to free up his reservation :D 

Also, we are going to Munich for Oktoberfest! I checked the train tickets and it seems pretty reasonable… if I buy a pass. Even though it takes 7-9 hours to get to Munich from Amsterdam. Still, it’s an overnight train, so I can take it at night and arrive in the morning. We are currently looking for one more person to share accommodation with, though. That is, if you don’t mind staying in a caravan (and it’s only 99 euros per night! That works out to… less than 25 euros per person per night.) Current parties involved include me, J and Kenneth. If anyone’s interested (preferably someone all three of us know… but if not, we can work something out), you can leave a comment here and I’ll get back to you! Accommodation is in very very very short supply (as I have found out, the hard way).

I’ve been watching Nodame Cantabile; it’s pretty good! The girl annoys me less than she should, she is very pretty, and her dress sense is kind of cute. I want her boots, but her Japanese accent is very irritating. I guess Tamaki Hiroshi makes up for it…

289: japan: yokohama city lights

It’s early in the morning now, and as usual, I can’t sleep. The sky is red and you know what they say about red skies in the morning and red skies at night. Tonight the moon is full, as it was last night, but tonight the moon hung low behind the tree outside my house and I had to look harder to find it. It’s just like most things, which disappear without you noticing in the hope you’ll look ever harder for them. 

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This post is about Yokohama, with which I think I might have a special love affair. This is not to say that I didn’t love all the other cities I went to, but that they mean different things to me. Tokyo is the place of childhood and dreams, mainly because I went there so many times when I was younger, though as you grow older you discover its ever-increasing adult attractions. Osaka was all about food and relaxation and just generally having fun doing everything and nothing. Kyoto was full of history, but Yokohama…

Yokohama is full of lights and romance. Yokohama is the place you bring girls to when you want to impress them. It doesn’t seem like much because it’s so near Tokyo and it’s so easy to overlook, but it retains that particular, off-centre, sort of feeling. It’s near but not too near. It has its own voice, its own attractions, its own history. Some people say Chinatown wasn’t too interesting; sometimes you just need to know where to look. Stepping into Minato Mirai is fascinating precisely because we’re at an age where we can appreciate it, still: the free theme parks, ferris wheels, lights across the sea, the red brick warehouses and the smoke curling up from beneath the windows. It seriously is the number one place to bring a girl on a date. It is so romantic you can choke. 

282: 写真を撮って、いいですか？

Just a quick post: in Yokohama now, heading to Osaka tomorrow morning.

Everybody loves Japan, yes? I am no exception. I wish I could stay here forever, but we all know that’s not possible. However I thoroughly indulged my fangirl self ogling cute boys everywhere (and the girls are so pretty) including random Kanjani8 Nissin Cup Noodle advertisements in the subway, caved in and bought two KAT-TUN DVDs (haha did you know Johnny’s Entertainment has their own separate section in HMV?) and a magazine (the one where the photo below appears) while my boyfriend dragged me all across Harajuku and Shibuya shopping and looking for his weird obscure underground shops. Oh, and he bought about half of Uniqlo as well. Also, I have overheard more conversations about the merits of Akanishi vs Kamenashi vs random Japanese celebrity from girls with their boyfriends than I can count. Starbucks is freaking everywhere.

Today was good: Yokohama is a pretty place. Pictures when I come back; the night lights are beautiful. I’ve also sat more rollercoasters than I can count, including the ones in Disneyland (the parade was magical omg, but I got sunburnt haha) and some random super drop rollercoaster in Yokohama today, in a free theme park no less!

Lots of food. Ate orgasmic sushi at Tsukiji it’s like food porn. Really can die.　And my Japanese is super bad it’s so embarrassing.

More when I get internet again.

281: 日本行こう！

Pretty boys await. Back on the 27th.

じゃ、またね！

279: dinner with cleavageman j

Did I ever tell you I love Muji food? Like, not the clothes, but the random selection of weird and wonderful foods they stock up near the back. Like plum cheese tarts and black pepper cheese bites. Yum. 

I should be buying less since I’ll be in Japan in a few days, but I can’t help it. Anyway yesterday concluded the neverending series of birthday parties (surprise, and otherwise).

278: and now for something completely different

I’ve been trying to plan for Japan this past week. So I got a notebook, copied down my accommodation and flight details, listed a million things to do and see (and eat !!!!). That includes Disneyland and USJ which are touristy like hell, but I’m a kid only once and who cares right? Finally getting to go with someone other than my parents. It never strikes you how shitty being an only child is until you actually get to a theme park and you have to go on all the rides alone. Bah. 

I’m halfway through Osaka. There’s still Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kyoto to look up. And funnily enough, my boyfriend has been put in charge of the shopping destinations. 

… what? Turnabout is fair play, no?

 

277: the kids are alright

Obviously I had no time to do this before today. So even if it’s 1.5 months late, thank you:

275: it don’t mean nothin’

Cut because you know you don’t want to read this unless you’re a fan. I’m turning into a freaking fangirl.

273: don’t u ever stop

Please to be freaking just die right now. They are super offkey and the costumes are weird but everything is shiny and happy and … they look hot.

That sentence totally did not make sense.

p/s: cos you know you want to download it seeing as how the bloody thing won’t stream: http://www.mediafire.com/?hjypmbroyyj 

I should probably not be so excited over this.

270: for nurul hur hur hur

Because I am totally bored, its 6am and I can’t sleep, I’m still studying public law, and there are better things to look at.

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Don’t you think it’s amazing how people can change from this…

 

… to this?

266: 你是我的花朵

 

爱你伍佰年！Thank you for the ticket, guys. It was so wonderful. I sat 10 rows from the stage and I got to see every single detail up close, properly, including his 34869759 guitar changes (beautiful guitars too!) and everyone was jumping up and down with lightsticks and generally going crazy. I didn’t sit down at all the whole time, and that was over 3 hours. He gave two encores, there was a lot of fireworks, and random confetti. Whoever said Singaporeans are staid obviously aren’t going to the right concert. Chinese fans are seriously crazy. It was so fun. That said, I have never seen so many Ah Bengs congregated in one area before. Hahaha. 

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In other news…

 

262: random eye candy

Okay I know how everyone is damn sick of all the random Japanese shit here… 
But I am freaking OBSESSED with this guy. OMG. 

260: クローズ ZERO

Watched Crows Zero over the last weekend. Can’t believe it’s already Wednesday and I have so much work to do. Anyway it was pretty good, although I admit I’m biased because I so totally went to watch it because of the two male leads. It reaffirms what Isaac said to me the other day about Oguri Shun – which is that he manages to be convincing in any role he plays. Even here, as a high-school gang boy. Not like in Gokusen; more intense. I literally saw his mouth twitch in rage for an agonizingly long period of time before he let loose a roar and his eyes burn. Anyway like I said, maybe I’m biased, but he is a very good actor. Who plays a deaf boy, a gangster, and Hanazawa Rui (花沢 類) so convincingly all at one go? (Don’t forget Hana Kimi!) In contrast, Yamada Takayuki – who is also a very good actor, in very diverse roles – doesn’t convince me that much. Maybe it’s because of his baby face.

The soundtrack was good though, and so was the directing, by Takashi Miike. I hadn’t heard of him before this movie but I like his style so I’ll probably check out more of his stuff. J didn’t like the choppy cinematography used for the landscape, but I think it worked pretty well. And there was judicious use of colour vs. black and white. I liked that a lot. That said, it is a manga adaptation after all, so there are loads of funny and stupid parts. I didn’t get the crow reference till the last part, and then it all became clear.

It’s probably going to be on limited run, so go watch it soon!
It’s such a refreshing change not to see Caucasians on the big screen. -_-

255: don’t look back in anger

 

246: 赤西 仁

I am going on holiday!!!!

 

So, here is something (someone) for you to look at.  

 

 

Strangely and inexplicably attractive, but so talented. 

229: lovers’ chatter is as dust

I’m having a headache. I’ve been having a headache on and off for the past week, and I don’t know why. This is all so strange. I feel like a mysterious and fatal disease is quietly descending on me. Hur.

This week –

We went to the National Museum on Friday, and I hadn’t been there since the last primary school field trip, and to Timbre for dinner after, because we happened to park there. It’s changed a lot, and I liked it. There are a couple of pretty cool exhibitions there, including one on New Buildings (modernist architecture) and Greek sculptures from the Louvre. Now they make me want to go to France, not for the first time.

We watched Two Days In Paris on Monday night, and it was wonderful. I hadn’t watched a movie that uplifted me in so long (I’m sure you will agree that of the many things that Lust, Caution is, uplifting is not one of them), given there was never a single down moment or a lapse in concentration. Like every movie with Julie Delpy, the conversation just keeps going, even though sometimes that’s all there is keeping it up. I love it. I love how a movie can be made so completely out of words, and though the surrounding is important in providing a context for these words to fall in, it’s still part of a supporting role. Each character, whether mimicking life or art (Julie Delpy’s real-life parents are her movie parents as well), has their own backstory and past, the glimpses of which are shown solely through conversation, evoking a picture just as vivid as a visual flashback.

I love her. And the part about the balloons and where Adam Goldberg smiles goofily like a squirrel. Daniel Bruhl (Goodbye Lenin fame, another movie I love) was totally random.

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So the second week of my vacation has passed, with three more weeks left to go. In another week, it’ll be Christmas, and then the New Year. It feels strange not going away this holiday, but I’ll live. I’ve been spending my time redecorating my room, unearthing old photos and sticking them on my wall, fixing random things like the TV wiring and getting a tape unstuck from the VCR (antique device that it is), going out with the bf and my mother and grandmother, watching Japanese dramas.

More on Japanese dramas. I like them a lot, not solely because the cast is attractive, but because they deal with interesting issues (not like Taiwanese ones, which are either idol dramas or about scheming heirs to a family fortune plotting to take over the company), like Kimi wa Petto, which deals with the highly improbable situation of a young OL keeping a teenage boy as a pet after she finds himself abandoned in a box outside her house. Or Kindaichi — which though predictable after 2 seasons — continually amazes me with ingenious ways to solve crime. In addition to that, they come in manageable 9-11 episodes, not requiring you to follow the slow unfolding of a very complicated plot (like in Hong Kong) over something like 30 episodes. And unlike Korean dramas, nobody gets a fatal disease and dies at the end (most of the time).

My boyfriend is probably sick of me talking about them, since I talk about a different one every week.

In other words, I’m doing nothing very productive. But lovely enough, for the days to come, where 18-hour days come to haunt me again.

228: hop on the magic schoolbus!!

you know what i really need for christmas?

1. DVD box set of Tom and Jerry (1960-2000)

40 years’ worth of Tom and Jerry for just $38! Guys. I need it now.

2. DVD box set of The Magic Schoolbus

Oh man. I grew up watching this. It is possibly the best and most educational cartoon IN THE WORLD.
(Screw Transformers. I’m such a nerd.)

206: 让自己忙碌可以当作借口

it is 6.15am. these days i am more amazed by how i am still awake to watch the sky change colour, as i think back to the first time i stayed up all night when i was in sec4. that time was during the SARS quarantine, and i had nothing to do, but remember the sky was faintly yellow and i was watching the hours in my study, with the scene of richard falling off the balcony playing again and again. that it was cold. this morning is a cold morning too, having rained all the way since i came back from school after property lecture, though the reason i’m awake is very different. some may ask, why don’t you sleep?, but these days i think it’s better to push myself during the week than leave everything to the scramble of the weekend. and yet, all i can think of to ask myself is why can’t i find the CLRFC report on lawnet? am i typing the wrong search words? is lawnet down (again)? why do i choose topics that are interesting but so difficult to answer? and why am i once again, inexplicably, 500 words over the limit when the last 20% is not done yet?

one day this, the next day another. randomly, i did finish watching densha otoko. this marks, officially, 4 dramas that i have seen with yamada takayuki in it.

if only all geeks transformed so nicely.

i bought a dress today on UO for $9.99 and that made me happy, even though it’ll probably arrive in the middle of exam period. something to cheer me up during those long, impending blue days, i suppose.

204: stay with me

finally getting down to work on my assignment… after 3 weeks of not doing anything besides choosing my topic and finding a few articles. my goal is to finish the first draft by wednesday. go me!

this week has been good though. mainly because the holidays gave us a week in advance, so completing tutorials and stuff hasn’t been that hectic. i spent most of our anniversary on thursday eating – lunch at hua ting, dessert at ps cafe, then jap buffet at ikoi. i don’t think we did anything else, though i was very tired by the end of it. went to oosh! at dempsey last night to watch marcus play after having trial/advo at raffles place, where we had the longest tutorial to date. at first i thought it was the freshie marcus, which made me wonder why so many year2s (from everywhere and random social circles) were going, but clearly i was mistaken. oops. but marcus played very nice songs and that made me happy. and the drinks at oosh are expensive, even though it was a very very very (x10) nice place. i wish i had a house like that!

i just watched half of densha otoko (電車男) the movie starring yamada takayuki (山田孝之), whom i like very very much. he’s not really hot in the normal sort of way (cheryl toh was amazed by this super-hot guy she glimpsed on my computer while i was watching taiyou no uta – think his name is kaname jun) but just has this charm. i first watched him in waterboys (ok don’t laugh) while i was in japan and my host sister (errr, the daughter in the host family i was staying with) loved the series. so i watched it all raw, in japanese, without subtitles. while i was there i watched crying out love in the centre of the world, which was showing on tv at that moment. i think watching jap dramas is the only reason why my japanese is still not that rusty now… hmm.

ok. need to stop talking about all this. shall go do my work now!!