Monday, December 19, 2005
back.
i'm back.Japan was a good respite from all the humidity, stress and hot weather in Singapore and i loved every bit of Japan. from the clean toliets, the polite people, their service-orientatedness and cleanliness, the yummy (though expensive) food, the self-service culture and thoughtfulness, the list goes on. my only regret was that my body was not as physically fit for all the travelling by bus coaches and plane and unable to withstand the cold, chilling winds no matter how many layers of clothings i wore. as a result, i had to miss the onsen, seeing mount fuji and being in the midst of falling snow as well as shabu-shabu and sleeping on tatami mats. humps.
the whole experience had been surreal.
i tried my hand at pachinko, which by sheer luck, managed to win a nominal sum. not bad for a beginner i would say, since 9 out of 10 who play pachinko actually end up losing. haha.
being in japan made me realise exactly what it means when someone says a dog talking to a duck. the language barrier was a humbling experience. the menus weren't that tourist-friendly either, hence we had to point at the food displays most of the time, which made us look like total idiots. haha. but at least we managed to get the food we had in mind, and i'm not complaining.
^_^
was tempted to buy back a few of their handphones, but unfortunately, the phones cannot be used in Singapore, hehs. what a pity. the phones there are chic-looking in bright lovely colours like lime and orange, compact, light and multi-functional. much better than the usual nokia and samsung phones we have here, which are mostly in black, silver, red. hfmp.
the shinkansen(bullet train) in japan is incredibly fast, stable and punctual. definitely the next best alternative mode of transport to the bus for me, who was suffering from severe motion-sickness, a blocked nose, blocked ears and a terrible headache. haha. in short, i kept throwing up whenever i got on the coach buses and air planes. weak. baahaah.
I loved every bit of japan. seriously. i'm contemplating on learning some serious japanese come next semester's 3 month holiday and hopefully visit the country again, this time, in a mentally and physically better state. maybe i'll even migrate there someday.
Oh, and did i mention, the japanese people are all so good looking! seriously, the guys and the girls. now i know where all the good looking people are. ^_^
dreaming of a white christmas in japan.
sarah at 12:02 pm
Night view of Tokyo city- a bad attempt at trying to capture the scenic sky-line from my hotel room through a misty glass window. hehs.
sarah at 12:00 pm
Sanrio shop in Tokyo city! A must go for all Hello Kitty fans (like myself, haha!)
sarah at 11:58 am
A must-see in Disneyland- Cinderella's castle. Oddly as my sister mentioned, Cinderella didn't quite have a castle of her own..so shouldn't it be Sleeping Beauty's Castle instead? hmm.
sarah at 11:57 am
Tokyo Disneyland- where every adult becomes a kid all over again.haha
sarah at 11:56 am
At Asakusa- a touristy spot with losa traditional jap snacks like red bean cakes, sweet potato cakes and rice crackers.
sarah at 11:55 am
the lovely tokyo bay.
sarah at 11:55 am
Thursday, December 08, 2005
hungry.depressed.tired.jaded.
okay, i'm not exactly feeling like what the title of this post says, maybe having one of those mood swings together with the low self-esteem thing every now and then, more so especially when i'm back to having trainings. sigh. it's a cycle all over again.and now, i'm incoherent, thanks to a lack of a proper breakfast and just about the right amount of sleep when i'd be sleeping for 10 hours straight like a log without the intermittent waking moments when i'm at home. i think it's just hall. and apparently, i'm not the only one who's having bad nights. bah.
anyhow, the end of the week's nearing again. haha. it's crazily fast for me, who is unfortunately engaging in nothing much but trainings twice a day for monday to friday and having pretty much, no life at all. sigh. you think that i'm dreading my trainings, so why not just heck them right.. i was contemplating on quitting all my hall commitments and just be a full time mugger cum couch potato during a regulat school term. but when i'm at home, my mum goes on and on about how so many others my age are getting temp jobs during the hols so as to earn their own keep and pass their time doing more 'substantial' things. humps. in fact, i think she might be quite happy that i'm still involved in hall, and that i'm still having trainings during the holidays.
it's so weird. i never used to dread trainings... okay, well i did dread trainings in secondary school and jc cos of the physically and mentally demanding trainings that always left me drained (utterly) and sleepy by the time i reached home. oh and of cos, i used to be quite afraid of my coaches too.. but now, i think i'm dreading trainings for the wrong reasons and for reasons i believe are unfounded yet logical, whimsical yet heart-felt. and i'm not making sense.
in short, i feel as though i've reached my peak, well, not that i'm that good to begin with. but yes, i think i'm at saturation point, no matter how much input you give me, i don't think i'd be able to make significant improvements in how i see and play the game. bah. and i'm not just refering to netball alone. sometimes i think that its the whole complacency translating into laziness that makes me under-perform (as some term it).
the novelty of learning a new sport is starting to wear off as i no longer see myself as competent, agile, fast, and observant as i used to be during games. then again, i'm possibly using all these excuses of not having trained for a long time, the lack of professional guidance and instruction that result in my lack of drive. i really envy those peers who eventually make it to higher levels of playing field; joining clubs, being in the national squad, and still loving and playing the game till they get old and suffer from arthritis.
maybe i need counselling. hah.
i guess i'm just jaded.
pride and prejudice. narnia. memoirs of a geisha. king kong.
sarah at 10:55 am