もう一度お正月を来る

Well the new year is here, again. Well, it has certainly been off to a good start!

Internet Connection in room... at last!
Well well, after months of denying myself the pleasures of Skype, MSN and peer2peer networks I finally decided that i was earning enough money to afford paying for internet access in my room. And the modem came by mail on the 27th. Sweet! Now I can finally catch up with all the people back home that I have been neglecting, as well as to watch internet TV and listen to internet streaming radio again. Ah. sweet!

add 2 more English students
Well, on my most recent English lesson with Kayomi, one of her friends came in halfway and sat in the class. Initially I was peeved because I never really liked freeloaders, but after the lesson he asked if I could teach English to him and his girlfriend, so of course I said yes! After Kayomi and Kotoe migrates to Australia I would start teaching the both of them, since I am so swamped now. Praise God, his providence never ends

Personal best?
I asked Saksama ( 300 points bowling man) whether he is good in bowling because he likes it, or whether he likes it because he is good at it. Well, his answer is the former, which gave me encoragement that even a lack of talent (in my case, not his) could be rectified. I always thought I sucked at bowling, after all those consistent gutter-balls that I threw in Sec school and JC. Apparantly army/growing up must have helped because I doubled my personal high score today (after 6 years of not touching the bowling ball). Well it was obviously a fluke but I guess I dont think I would be so hesitant about bowling from today onwards... practice makes perfect!

Comfort foods
Well, my dad's collegue came to Fukuoka today (for reasons unknown to me, as this place is practically dead when it comes to Chinese New Year festivities) but well, they brought financial assistance from my folks, as well as my favorite PINEAPPLE TARTS, a whole box of them! Im munching on them as I type. nice. :)

friends!
Celebrating Chinese New Year would be suckky without them. Well, for starters, I teamed up with the LLM chinese girls to make dumplings for the rest of 'em classmates. Preparation was hardwork, but fun (I learnt many a dumpling making skill during Kaikan matsuri, and im glad its being put to good use, heh), and by evening all the other LLMmers were wrapping dumplings as well. And we played CNY songs in the background, you cant get more cheena than that, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Jiaozi are really low-cost-feed-lots food, suitable for china I guess. We made batch after batch, but there were only 9 dumplings where we added whole almonds to, and they said these were lucky dumplings, and I managed to eat one! haha, its nonsense I know but its all fun





Prep work....





and the rest of the guys enjoying them! :D

Well, reunion night proper was spent with the Singaporeans at Sak's place. Well, this pic is an understatement, but we had potluck of (takes a deep breath) of friedmushroomsandscallops, minchedmeatwithmushroomsandonion, redwinebeefsteakslices, friedonionandeggs, friedvegetablesandgoldenmushrooms, teh-tarik, sashimi, fried-oysters, tofuwithsoysauce, and hiroshima's momijimanjyuu... gochisosamadeshita!



Yea, all in all, its going to be a great new year, i know it! but i am getting old... its the year of the dog again...

ビールをあげて

New Year 01-01-2006
Amelie's face just says 'Stay away from me, you bad influence!' hurhur

I finally got the pics from the New Year's Party from Iman as we are now working together on our presentation for East Asia International Law. I am trying to convince myself as well that an 'ASEAN plus 3(China,Korea,Japan)' regional integration is indeed possible. Thats part of my presentation, and one bad habit I have, is that I cannot talk convincingly about anything unless i firmly believe in it. We'll see how it goes next week.

And this month would be a little quieter, as I have to finally hand in all the term papers for Japanese Law, Japanese Administrative Law, Issues in Japanese Law, Law of WTO, and International Business Law. Die la. Die, die, die. See lah, Kareen the SuperNintendo Emulator came at a bad time. I am currently playing this: die. Its like getting hooked on Starcraft a month before the A levels. Same feeling.

食事について

広島の名物はお好み焼きです。おいしかった！





This is how I love winding down: some great local jap food, then chilling out with nice jazz at a bar with some friends. Perhaps I have mellowed and even Ministry of Sound back home might not be that much of an appeal to me perhaps



Been spending waaay too much money these few days. I told myself that January I would be a good boy and stay at home and finish my many assignments but then au contraire I have been karaoke-ing, pubbing, travelling, buying non-essentials, and eating good food more often than I should. Well, I aint feeling guilty, I know its CNY period in SG and since I am not getting my fair share of Bak Kwa and Pineapple Tarts I aint going to shortchange myself hurhur.

Anyway just last week Chindawan brought us (the WTO Presentation team) to an authentic Thai restaurant somewhere in town . She was so happy, talking to all the Thai cooks in Thai. I think I roughly understand that feeling. So far I havent been feeling homesick at all, until i got a whiff of that fragrant Thai rice. I tell you, eating Jap rice everyday seems like a dream come true but nothing beats the smell of Royal Umbrella Fragrant Rice lar. omg.

平和を信じる

歴史と戦争の遺産：原爆ドーム
博物館で原爆の後の怖い画面の写真を見た




今の原爆ドーム



Then and now

広島城

Hiroshima Castle!
Spot the multi-national delegation of Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, Belorussians and Uzbeks at this really magnificent looking building. It was rebuilt, of course, as it was smithereens after the atomic bomb

困った

It never rains but it pours


Ok, in 24 hours, I have met with a bicycle accident and found out that the Japanese Language Centre's computer system has fucked up and it has registered that I have not attended the lessons for last semester and I have to repeat the same modules again even though I got straight As and was finally aiming for something more challenging.

Well I have paid my insurance this month, and so I will go back to the dentist　and doctor with Chihiro tomorrow because i was not 100% sure about what the nurse was talking about.　Anyway falling sick or getting in accidents in Japan is %%%%ing expensive, even with partial insurance coverage, it still costs more to fall sick here than back home. shit. Anyway no photos with my face from today onwards. Dunno lah, have to go and teach 2 lessons of English liao. I'd rather curl up in bed and whine but I have to pass up 3 research papers and do a presentation by the end of this week. Its time to pick up the pieces and move on.

Author's　note:
I'm fine! The dentist did a fantastic job of fixing my broken teeth, and once the scars heal I will look just like I did before. Once again, God has answered my prayers and has shown me grace in this foreign land.

成人の日

Its a public holiday again! Today is Adults day, an excuse for 20 year old girls to wear kimono and 20 year old guys to wear suits/hakama. Well, raise your hands if you think girls look better in kimono!!



Secretly taken, Hiroshima-eki 15:00hrs



Not so secretly taken, Kashiihama 21:59hrs
With a few of my friends from the Kaikan. They aren't Japanese, but they are 20. so... :)

Noh Play

No photos of the actors, because no cameras allowed actually

Went to watch a very traditional "Noh" play with some of the LLM students. Was really difficult to understand cos they were using terribly ancient Japanese. Anyway the reason why I am still in Fukuoka is because of the heavy snow and we postponed our Hiroshima trip.

玉取祭（玉せせり）

玉取祭は、俗に「玉せせり」といい、全日本に知られる祭りです。起源は、諸説あって定かではないが、昔から、午後一時玉洗式で洗い浄められた玉は、恵美須神社に運ばれました。



New Year festival at Hakozaki Shrine, near my school, where stalls were lined up like pasar malam (we had overpriced takoyaki and ume-mochi) and at 1pm, there's this competition where a round metal ball is fought over by men wearing only underwear in the dead of winter with water being splashed over them for an added measure of insanity. Apparantly its all done in the name of luck, hence the dogged dogfight.





Matsuri's always fun. Chihiro was working part time as a miko selling trinkets but because of the crowd, I didnt get to see her in her hakama outfit. 残念！

あけましておめでとう

Happy New year everyone! We held our breath and counted down and then.... erm.... the anticlimaxical happens. I never understood the rationale for counting down anyway, the only thing extraordinary is the date and the fact that the next day would be a holiday. Nonetheless it was really enjoyable having Shabu-shabu steamboat with the Chinese folks, Partying at A block with the JTW students, and counting down with the Qiang who came all the way from Singapore! Its not the first time I spent New Years Eve away from home ( Y2k in Bangkok, 2004 in KL i think) but nonetheless this year i really really missed my friends back home, and friends screaming "hello James! Wish you were here" in unison when I made the trunk calls back home didnt make me feel any less homesick. Not that I wasnt having a blast here, its just that i wish I was there with them as well. Oh well.

The next few days were spent visiting some of my Japanese friends at their homes. I have been really fortunate I think, but really broke after buying all those really expensive new year gifts! Chihiro invited a few of us to her place and I was surprised to find out that her Mom was a Kimono teacher. Well before anyone blinks at that I have to tell u that even folding a kimono and storing it away is an art in itself. It was really an eye opener to see....so many kimonos, especially the really expensive ones can cost more than an imported European car.




I will upload more pics when Chihiro finally sends them to me. haha.
Anyway, to all those who understand

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!!