May all dogs go to heaven

我相信 “有得必失” 这句话.
以前信, 現在信, 以后仍然信..

For all my enjoyable days here, this moment was a long time coming..
2days ago, received news that my dog, Soda, passed away.

Although im not that close to her, and she always ignores me (probably because I hardly bring her out for walks..), I still feel sad when I heard the news. There was always a special bond, probably because she was the first dog I ever had. Since when I cant rem, it seems like she have existed the whole of my life.

When I lose Sakae last yr, I was so heartbroken. Never would I know I would experience this pain so soon. What makes matters worst is that, this time, I am not even there to see her for the last time.

Now, I have 2dogs left, people might think of it as a comfort. But it only means I have to lose twice more. I have always wanted a pet dog, even in the future when I have my own family. I just hope these ordeals do not change my mind about having one.

And I hate myself for having only this picture of her.

soda~

sakae~

I really do hope that all dogs go to heaven. Rest in Peace. Both of u… I will never forget u..

SiNgapOrEan fOod n cUtE paNcakE dEssErts~

went to this supposed-singaporean restaurant in takadanobaba.. it was kind of recommended by Jennifer, well.. kind of because she also haven been there b4.. she is so funny lo.. the sun b4 this dinner, she suddenly called me on the phone and says "hey gerald, guess what, there's a restaurant here in Takadanobaba that sells singaporean food.. let's go there for dinner or something.." I was like, "......now?" haha.. I bet she could have waited till we c each other in sch, but i guess tts how she is.. very on the ball..

haha.. so since it was singaporean food, i asked min chu and ian along in case they miss singaporean food, and steph tagged along because we had classes together on friday.. so after school we headed down to Takadanobaba.. yeah.. it's the funkiest (or funniest) name in the whole of Tokyo in my opinion..

but when we were there, was quite disappointed because its not a singaporean restaurant lah.. got sell, but got others like vietnamese and malaysian.. no matter.. being Singaporeans, we choose the food and ordered Hainanese Chicken rice and satay for them to try! as well as some Korean chi chi mi.. wanted to ask if they have stingray, but dunno how to say in chinese wor.. cuz the shop owners know are from Ipoh and know chinese.. anyone knows how to say Stingray in chinese?

haiNanEse cHiCkEn riCe~

sAtay~kOrEan chichimi~

Well, the food was alright lah.. the satay, not as authentic cuz the sauce tastes slightly different and here they pour it over de.. not u dip urself.. the chicken rice was nice.. quite similar, just that the chili sauce and black sauce quite different..

stEph n miNcHu~

miN cHu n jEnNifEr~

hmm.. b4 u think this is the end, more is to come.. and they r so much nicer and cuter and tastier.. went to kicHijOji (slightly out of tokyo) w min chu and ian on the sun when roy was supposed to arrive with his gf.. thot we were supposed to go to this museum, known for being the location of famous animated movies like Spirited Away.. but we ended up spending hrs in a departmental store because they have so many handicraft works in there.. I managed to buy a pair of gloves, cuz i lost one while i was in Shibuya, and got myself some nice Snoppy envelopes! haha..

anyway, that wasn't the highlight.. we din go the museum in the end but as we walked, we spotted a dessert store and slack in there cuz roy informed his flight delay.. so they pei me longer lo since i gg straight to airport..

I tell you, the pancakes were delicious~ but i couldn't eat them properly, because they were so cute.. haha.. yupz.. eNjOy the pics.. aNd eNvy~ wahaha...

my stRawbErRy paNcaKe~

sMiLes~

sMiLes tOo~

no sMiLey facE, sObx~

cuz no sMiLey facE..haha~

yeap, now marks the time roy arrived on the 11th.. very lag i know.. why, he's already back in Singapore! haha.. but i got lots of work to do also u know.. u really think i m here just to play huh? :p will try to catch up.. *huff* *puff* do keep the comments coming even tho the posts are all zooming by~ haha..

for now.. more studying~

MaNchEstEr uNitEd, rigHtfuL wiNnErs~

This is going to be quite a sporting post~ so skip it if you like.. u ain't missing anything!

oh, and tho there r supposed to be many post b4 this~ I rather do this first while the topic is still hot and frEsh from the oven.. cuz, a few more posts and a few more weeks later, all that will be on every soccer fan's lips would be about the Euro Championship le~ :p

cHampioNs leaguE wiNnErs 2007/2008~ (btw, i got this pic from Soccernet.com, don't sue me~)

for all those who do not know me, b4 u start to assume i support Man u, pls take note that i do not.. well.. usually when i dun watch Everton or Spain, i just watch for the football, hoping to enjoy the complicated passing game, be thrilled with the wonder goals and probably learn from watching.. but when I watched the champions league final btween Man u vs Chelsea..as the game wore on, i found myself supporting Man u more..

b4 the match began, it wasn't exactly 50-50 alreadi, but i struggled to find a gd reason for it.. i always attributed it to Man u 's more attractive, more attacking style of play.. naturally because of its flamboyant players like ronaldo..

but it was only in extra time that i realise what my disgust for Chelsea was for.. their players. no doubt Chelsea have gd players in every department. Cech is one of the best gks, if not the best, as he shown with the double saves in the first half. Terry n Carvalho are the top few center backs, Lampard, Drogba and i haven even talked about Essien, someone whom i rate really highly..

I don't know them personally but it doesn't matter, its their attitude on the pitch which disgusts me.

with 10mins left on the clock deep in extra time, Man u were supposed to return the ball to Chelsea from a throw in. Instead of giving it back, Tevez puts it out of play near Chelsea's own corner flag. Whether this is a correct action, we do not have to debate it. Of course it isn't. I don't know since when has football evolved and produced such unsportmanship-like behaviour. The earliest i could rem when this happened was a match between Arsenal and Blackburn in a EPL last-day match.. who did it i cant rem.. but it didn't used to be like tt.. but of cuz this is not my main concern because it had been going on for many yrs now..

what irritated me was how Chelsea reacted to it.. from what i recall.. they were the ones who put the ball out for a throw first (much earlier in the game), when they shld have returned the ball.. but when Tevez did it, many of their players surrounded and confronted him.. Drogba, for all his capabilities and strength, flicked out at the cheek of Vidic. Full marks to vidic for not falling theatrically (something Drogba probably would have done), and 90 marks for the ref who spotted it amongst all the chaos, and rightly showed a red-card to him.

if u r wondering where the 10marks went to, it was for the yellow-card Tevez received. What wrong had he done? he just put the ball out of touch.

I hated the reactions of Ballack, but what really disgusted me was how John Terry reacted. In my eyes, he is a magnificent center back, he is the role model of how every strong classic center back shld play.. a similar type of player like Vidic. For all his problems earlier in his career, he made a great comeback as someone with humility and performed consistenly for Chelsea, and became a player Chelsea couldn't do w/o. But he, went up to Tevez and made a gesture that indicates he had played dirty and smelled dirty. This action, to me, is unfitting for a player, much less for any captain, not to mention, the captain of England, a nation responsible for the founding of such a great sport.

So, John Terry, if u wondering, come October when the qualifiers begin, why u r not wearing England's captain armband, u could just play the video of the Champions League Final 07/08, fast-forward it to the 116min, u will understand y so..

No doubt, Chelsea dominated the whole of the second half, and at times played a great passing game and attractive football. I have to give them immense credit for that, for pushing n forcing Man u into such defensive mode. But from all aspects, i would say Man u deserved to win. They deserved to win, probably only because Chelsea deserved to lose.

As qpdvmcn always used to say, "Bad karma comes in all ways" and tts also prob y u missed the penalty, John Terry.

fUji-Q~

Every yr in may, there is a week in which there r a series of hols, so many tt people dubbed it the Golden Week. Well, definitely not everyday of the week is a hol, maybe sat n sun are not, but still no need sch / wrk anyway, n maybe a couple weekdays, but generally companies will give employees off so that they can go for hols..

I dun really know what the hols are, but….. who cares right? As long as it’s a hol!!! Haha.. but still I was curious so I checked it up..

May 3 - Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日, Kenpō Kinen-bi)
A holiday since the current Japanese constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947, this is the only day of the year that the National Diet Building is open to the public. Being a day that draws its significance from the Japanese constitution, Constitution Memorial Day is often chosen as a day to reflect on the meaning of democracy and Japanese government.

May 4 - Greenery Day (みどりの日, Midori no hi)
The present observation of Greenery Day as a national holiday in Japan stems from the celebration of the Emperor Shōwa's birthday on April 29 every year during the Shōwa era. In 1989, following the accession of the current Emperor Akihito to the Chrysanthemum Throne, the name of the holiday was changed from "Birthday of the Emperor" to "Greenery Day". Officially, as its name suggests, it is a day to commune with nature and to be thankful for blessings. The day was renamed to "Greenery Day" to acknowledge the controversial wartime emperor's love for plants without directly mentioning his name. However, in practice it is seen as just another day that expands the Japanese Golden Week vacation.

May 5 – Children’s Day (こどもの日Kodomo no Hi)
This day is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, and is part of the Golden Week. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.

So anyway, during this period of time, people in Japan like play 大風吹 or someone perform 乾坤大魔移 lydat, pple from Tokyo go Hokkaido, Hokkiado go Okinawa, Okinawa go Hiroshima.. anyhow 移 lah.. haha.. so I was supposed to 移 as well.. to izu where there r beautiful beaches and onsen (hotsprings) with minchu, amy, Leona, yuting and ian.. well.. minchu booked their room but ian n I haven’t cuz tt day I no sch and ian.. dunno where he disappear to, so when they go book, i couldn’t tag along.. so in the end, in the night when I wanted to book it.. 没了.. kinda disappointed cuz we 说好了.. dun really understand y she couldn’t have booked for us as well.. I mean.. we already said we would go de mah.. scared we back out meh? Haha.. but well.. guess she has her reasons de ba.. and it wld be weird ba.. 4gals 2 guys..

So, in the end I was tinking, ok lah.. make full use of this time to study, up my level (jap).. haha.. but who knows ian was like so dying to get out of Tokyo.. so we headed to Fuji-Q highlands on mon, after my bdae hike~

Oh, speaking abt my bdae.. thanx to everyone who wished me, whether by sms, emails, offline msn msgs, by card, or even through the “presents” I received.. keke… I really appreciate it much much.. it brightened up my day!

So anyway, we took a bus in the late morn towards fuji-Q because the early buses all fully booked le.. basically it was a theme park, but upon see-ing the rides, they r definitely more havoc than disneySea lah.. tho disneySea is so so so much nicer and prettier..

Throughout the day, the sky threatened to rain, but most of the time it drizzled or have slight rain only.. the first ride we queued for was stopped because of the rain lo.. haha..

all prEparEd~

So we went to a ride which wld continue despite the rain.. it’s a water boat ride plunging from a certain height.. the splash created from the plunge was so high it was like a tidal wave.. haha.. u know, they have this bridge where u can view the plunge.. the water will splash all over the bridge.. of cuz they have a shelter at the bridge lo.. haha.. too bad I couldn’t get a gd shot of it..

watErbOat ridE~spLaSh~

We took the usual rides like the Vertical Drop, I don’t even know why I took tt cuz I am abit afraid of these type of rides de.. but mayb see-ing ian more afraid than me sort of convinced me to force him to take it with me.. how sadist.. haha.. but the view was very nice.. from one side of the ride, u can see mt fuji~ its so magnificent.. if Josiah was here, he definitely will take a vid of it, just like in genting, or even a pic.. it wld be so nice.. but I dun dare.. my hands will shake, plus my cam got no string to be able to tie to my hand.. =(

vErticaL dRop~

Then went on to take the Panic Clock.. its like a 360 degrees ride lo.. its really no big deal when u see from below, but when u r up there.. man~ its scary.. I think its becuz u hang in mid-air, the fear starts to creep in.. but again, gd view of mt. fuji on the ride.. that is if u dun mind the constant turning or see-ing mt.fuji up-side down.. haha..

paNic!

After that, was deciding between the Pizza-La or the Moon-Raker and went for the latter instead because the queue wasn’t as long.. it was as scary as the Pizza-La but it definitely was giddy.. it spin n spin like nobody’s business lo..

yEah, tHosE r legs~

Anyway, it was like close to 4 and we have yet to sat any of the big 3. There are 3 really exciting rides.. one is the Fuji-Yama, King of Coasters. The second is the speed shutter, which claims to travel at 172km/hr. The last one, if u have sat the superman ride in Genting b4, its something similar.. just that this one.. u r not lying down, but sitting instead. The thrilling part is that through the ride, you will face front, face back, turn sideways, 180 upside down, 360degrees round.. all at highspeed! To me, this is the worst n the most exciting ride..


tO the spiNniNg, tWistiNg, anyhOw turN ridE~

but these 3 r not named the big 3 for nothing.. all these waiting timings r at least 3.5hrs.. and we don’t have so much time.. not even for 2, one already very 勉强 le.. the fujiyama was closed for the day already because of strong wind currents and the damn exciting ride’s queue is really really long, so we decided to get the speedster ride..

speEdridE~
wait & wait~

The ride was really worth it.. when they said 172km/hr, I was thinking, not that a big deal mah cuz usually on car I went 130km/hr b4.. but I guess it feels different on the ride as compared to the car.. to me, it felt like 200plus km/hr lo.. haha.. and it was pretty scary.. there was a part where it dropped vertically I couldn’t see the tracks I thot we derailed le..

After the ride, wanted to take some pics of mt. fuji de lo.. but was so rush cuz wanna buy souvenirs n stuff.. I bought a squid too, it was so huge I wanted to take a pic w it lo.. but lighting not so gd.. plus had to rush so cant slowly re-take n re-take.. in the end, the pic din turn out so nice cuz abit blur.. sianz..
big, taSty sQuiD~

In the end, I bought a few souvenirs there cuz I was tinking might not come back le.. buy a few, but still duno who to give.. so many pple to buy souvenirs for wor.. duno what suits them what doesn’t oso.. 头痛.. so if u mind what I can for u, pls let me know what u wan huh~

biRthday hikE~

Yeap! U heard it right~ hiking! I’ve never been a great fan of hiking cuz it involves so much walking, but then again, mayb cuz Singapore dun have much nice places to hike to ba.. the highest is Bt. Timah hill? And even tt doesn’t give me any motivation because I dun think they wld be a great view awaiting me..

that day, ming and her husband, dave, invited us to this hike at Mitake, slightly out of Tokyo. Im not sure if I have introduced them b4, but I met them at a gathering some weeks ago. Min chu’s classmate lives at this dorm at Komaba-Todaimae and this couple lived there b4 and was holding a gathering. They heard that there r more Singaporeans in Keio Uni and wanted to meet us, so tts y we got invited to that gathering lo.. then now they invited us to this, so go lo.. I mean, I rather go hiking and hang out with some friends on my birthday, instead of spending it alone.. wld have been so pathetic lo.. haha..

mitAkE~

anyway, I reached mitake only ard 1130 tho we were supposed to meet at 1115. I left home super early ard 730am lo.. cuz I found myself late for many outings since I came here.. totally under-estimated the transport time here in Japan.. so I left home early, determined to be early, on my bdae, but who knows.. late again.. haha..

but when I reached there, I got a nice little surprise.. apparently, the gals knew it was my bdae because Leona checked it off facebook~ the other day at Akihabara, we were on the topic of birthdates and they asked me but I refused to ans.. I thot I removed it already but I guess she must have seen it b4 I managed to do so ba.. I oso dunno.. sometimes I don’t wan pple to know, but when they know, im always pleasant.. =)

met daryl at some station on the way there.. so qiao.. I oso duno how can be so qiao.. Japan is so big, yet I manage to bump into him.. on a much later date, I saw Justin (Justin from eusoff) at a starbucks in Shibuya after a Thai festival at Yoyogi Park. I wasn’t sure if it was him tho so I din go up and talk to him.. but after chatting with him on msn a few nights ago, confirmed it was him lo.. I mean.. in Japan, its sooo big, yet I manage to bump into pple like nobody’s business.. in Singapore, I don’t even bump into pple whom I haven met in a long time.. its like they just vanished from the surface of the earth.. its just so ironic.. haha..

back to the hike, we walked to the foot of the mountain together but eventually split up.. since we were invited, and ming & dave were invited as well.. there was a huge grp of us going for the hike.. and its really difficult to hike in such a big grp.. I ended up with the 4gals because one grp was the "senior citizens", one was the rikkyo uni grp which daryl was in.. so yah lo.. :p

drawbRidgE~
the hiking grp~

Well.. the hike from the foot of the mountain gave us all a preview of how difficult this would be.. the slope were soo steep.. most of us were struggling to walk.. in the end, almost half of the original grp took the cable car up to the top of the mountain. Ironically, all those who used the services of the cable car were the supposedly young n energetic young adults, while the “senior citizens” took on the mountain… haha.. by the way, not being defensive or wat, but I think I wld be able to hike to the mountain top.. I was just afraid we wldn’t be able to get up n down in time for the last train tt leaves mitake at 515pm, which is really early!

cabLe car stAtioN~

So, we cheated our way up to the mountain, and I have to admit that the view is really gorgeous.. wonder if im paranoid or not, but the air has a different smell up here tho.. its just so fresh.. its really nice to be away from the hustle n bustle of tokyo city life once in awhile..

nice view~
nice weather~
nice place~
nice everything~

Since the view was so nice, we decided to settle our lunch there.. amy woke up really early tt day to prepare her sumptuous lunch and leona’s one was so miniature its so funny.. haha.. but it looks cute in a way..

amy's lunch~
leona's minature lunchbox~

I din prepare any lunch because not used to cooking my own food nor having bento sets for them.. so I only got myself a bread while on my way.. no really full lah but the gals gave me lots of tidbits.. they keep coming I wonder where in the bag they kept it.. its like Doraemon lydat lo.. never ending one.. haha..well.. I ended up w lots of “birthday presents” after lunch too.. w them giving me all their rubbish.. and I had to carry them throughout the hike because there wasn’t any rubbish bin ard, something alike Tokyo then.. haha..

mountain top pic~

After lunch, we walked further uphill to a shrine.. it was another steep slope and long, countless rows of stairs.. no wonder the pple living in the mountains r so healthy.. all the fresh air plus the constant walking~

tOo tirEd~

After tt, it was abt time le so we started our hike down.. this time we didn’t cheat, we walked down.. if u think walking down is easy, u must be mistaken.. it might be slightly easier.. but it is just as diff in my opinion because the slopes were so steep, had to consistently break to prevent ourselves from running lo.. haha..

rOws of tReEs~
mystEriOus feeliNg~

takiNg a brEak haLfway dOwn~

prEtty fLowErs~

Anyway, there r way too much pics to post.. so if u r interested in see-ing my pics.. go to my facebook lo.. I have just added the link just below my 'L' pic on the right baNnEr (yet another improvement to this bOriNg bLog~ haha) but u have to be a facebook user to access it tho.. so i shall continue the trEnd.. jOin fAcEbOok! haha.. not for the games, nor pokes.. those r irritating.. but for sharing n viewing pics of ur friends.. its really worth it~ haha.. i sound like facebook pay me money~ keke..

QuEst fOr tHe maid's cafE

yEs! it's fiNaLLy herE~

maids' cafe~

As I have mentioned b4, Akihabara is known as Electric City District.. it's like.. ermm.. Sim Lim, but much, much bigger.. as I have introduced in an earlier post. But this is not all to Akihabara.

To many people, this place is also known to be a heaven to Otaku(s), people who mainly stay at home (mostly guys), play computer, get addicted to anime, and of course, have a fetish for costume-dressed females. They have countless shops here that sell miniature figurines of sexily-clad schoolgirls, maids, whatever you can think of.. but it is the fact that Maid's Cafes are in abundance here that makes this place sooooo popular with these Otaku(s).

Till today (May 18), I have went to 2 cafe's so far.. I think once is enough though.. just to 开开眼界, see what is it like.. I mean.. "If you haven't been to a Maid's Cafe, you can't say you have been to Japan!" haha.. well.. not so extreme tho, but yeah, u got what i mean.. I know its abit ironic here that I say go once is enough but I went twice only because xos came mah, so I brought him and his gf there to see see lo..

April 29
was a holiday that day, i oso forgot y liao.. haha.. too many hols around tt period, i rest until cant be bothered.. keke.. who cares y its a hol anyway just as long as u dun have to go to sch rite? =p
Was supposed to go with ian, minchu and stephanie only, but you know lah.. 一传十 十传百.. steph told edward, then edward asked gtuhit (some girl from Singapore as well but not in Keio, who keep saying she wans to go buy XXX).. then minchu asked her gang of girls (amy, leona and yuu). But last minute ian go Kamakura with genichi, edward go watch Keio vs Waseda American football match, abandon me 1 guy I felt so weird.

so anyway, we walked for quite long and went to many cafes.. trying to find one really suitable one.. we somehow stumbled upon a Butler's Cafe, but luckily it was close, else surely go in.. imagine.. girls surely rather see guys rite.. and its 6 to 1.. i surely lose lo.. but lucky.. keke..

prEtty bOttLes~

premium seats~
desserts~

anyway, we ended up in this cafe which looks like how a maid's cafe should look like.. its all pinkish and there is a sweet atmosphere to it.. but i din really enjoy myself tt much.. I couldn't really read the menu and all my sensei sit so far away from me.. oh oh.. cuz we weren't sitting at a table.. its like counter seats.. so one whole row.. i was at the corner.. sitting beside the porn-crazy gal.. even worst! haha.. but the gals in the cafe wasn't particularly pretty tho.. after we came out, the gals (as in the grp of gals i went with) were like saying that with those kind of looks, they themselves could open a cafe lo.. haha.. well, i think its true tho.. =p

lousy jap photographer~
the gals~

after tt, walked ard.. took some pics.. the girls wanted to take neo-prints but i din take cuz
(1) i feel weird im the only guy
(2) the area where the machines are says, "Only females allowed"
Im kinda getting sick of their sexist stance. First was the Yokohama ferris wheel, I had to pay 200yen extra just because im a guy.. and now this.. and then there is a female-only carriage on the train.. It just seems that they are like trying to make-up for all the bad things they have done, are doing, and will be doing, to gals here in Japan, by giving them the false image that they are enjoying certain benefits guys do not have.. I say false because all these seems so superficial to me.. sigh..

May 12
The second day xos arrived. Met them at Akihabara straight cuz went to sch mah.. *good boy*

Anyway, ian tagged along becuz the prev time he din go mah, so come along see see.. I tried to pull minchu as well cuz with my level of proficiency, i highly doubt i could handle the maids..
but well, she had hw to settle and she went b4 le.. so nothing new to her.. anyway, as usual, we walked many places in Akihabara to source for a gd cafe but I wasnt really satisfied with most of them because some the inital sitting fee was too ex (yeah, every cafe has a min fee of 500yen/person), some the desserts and drinks were too ex but mainly most the settings were like too rigid. Wanted to bring them to the place where i went with the girls the previous time cuz the settings there quite gd, but they were having some private function, so we made do with this place lo..

the cafe we went to~
roy's tiramisu~

my vanilla sundae~

but lucky oso cuz the first maid we spoke to could speak abit of english. They were quite shocked to see them kneel down on the floor to take our orders.. but its quite common here.. if you play game with them (u have to pay though, mostly at least 500yen), they will also kneel on the ground.. got once, xos even wanted to pour the drink for himself lo.. cuz the maid left the water jug on the table n went off to get something.. but was stopped animately by the maid.. haha.. practically, u have to let urself be treated as a master there, i mean, they dun call it maids' cafe for nothing.. =p

her drawing~

above is a drawing she drew while trying to explain her name, Ruu, she says its a spice that u use when cooking curry.. but till now i still dunno what is it.. in anycase, i thot her drawing was pretty sleek, esp the ice tt is melting.. but the other time i went with the gals, i saw a maid draw doremon on a coaster.. it was even nicer.. mayb ability to draw is a criteria to work in maid's cafe? =p

in the end, were took pic w the maid who serve us.. I think she is the 当家花旦 liao lo cuz everytime customer take pics, its with her (except for once).

we paid 500yen for this~

I must admit that in this pic she doesnt look pretty at all, but in real life, she's way cuter than this.. maybe just not so photogenic ba?

Oh oh.. the most interesting thing is there was this weird guy sitting beside our table. He was alone and we managed to peep when he took out an album.. it was a photo album, filled with all the pics he took when he visited the countless maids' cafe.. all i can say is that it was a really thick album.. otaku~ haha..