Travel in Japan '10 [OSAKA Part 1]
Now KIT-IJST 2010-2011 had officially ended, it’s the time to pack up and travel! 

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The last morning in Kanazawa was spent to pack up everything left – since we’ve sent our large suitcases to APA Hotel in Osaka last night. I saw Tim Hsu being hugged by the Hawaiian and SGE Japanese kids. Awwhhh, Tim cried! He’s too cute, seriously! I’d certainly miss this loud group of people; they’re nice, friendly and all. Just a lot of drunken parties made me feel I didn’t really belong with them. 

Diya and I left our beloved 47.509 apartment room at around 11am. I went up to the office to return the room keys, Diya took care of our baggages downstairs. Komori-san and Fujimura-san looked a tad sad to see us leaving. Yes, I was sad; this place would be missed dearly! I won’t forget the 1st day at KIT, the nervousness during the placement test, the moment I got to know I was placed in the advanced class, the 1st class with Fujii-sensei, the 1st lunch at Vulcans, the 1st meeting with SGE kids, and so much more. I didn’t have the space to list them all here – but sincerely KIT-IJST 2010-2011 is one the BEST thing ever happened in my life! I’m glad I chose to go for this program, regardless the last-minute planning. Thank you ALLAH for allowing me to having this awesome experience in my life.

So, I grabbed my camera and snapped last few shots here and there in the KIT campus, especially the loud-chiming clock, which is very useful as my morning alarm. We boarded the bus to Kanazawa-eki together with Tim, Matt, Justin, and James. All four of them hadn’t exchanged their Japan Rail Pass for the train ticket to Osaka, so we were assigned different coaches. Fortunately, our train would depart at the same time. While waiting for departure, Justin, Diya, and I ate at a luxurious-looking cake/pasta shop. I bought fruit tart for snacking in the train. In the train, Diya and I were separated from the guys by three coaches, and we didn’t see them at the Osaka-eki – I bet they all stopped at Shin-Osaka-eki instead.
 

Osaka-eki is indeed large and busy, but very near to our hotel in Kidoguchi area – only 1 station away. We checked in at the hotel at around 6pm, and got a 2-people room, very small one, with a queen-sized bed, a plasma TV, and a very nice bathroom! The best feature? Of course, the blue yukata neatly folded on the bed (^__^)! Both of us got changed into the yukata, landed on the bed, slept like a log, and woke up at around 10:30pm! Uh oh, I haven’t contacted Makoto! I quickly grabbed my laptop and called him via Voipstunt regarding our trip around the city tomorrow. Luckily, he wasn’t asleep yet, and he agreed to meet us in front of the hotel at 11am. Due to hunger, we decided to go out to explore the nearby shops though it was almost 11pm. Good thing, there is a lot of konbini (convenient shops) around. I bought a large carton of my favorite drink – Van Houten Cocoa Milk – and several buns. I couldn’t wait for the next day…

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KIT-IJST '10 7th Week [FINALE]
Wednesday, July 21, 2010


The day of presentation had arrived! Even though I’d memorized my lines perfectly since a week ago, my nervous attack would still be a problem whenever I have to face an audience. I was placed in Group B – Diya was in Group A – and that wasn’t the worst thing ever! My turn was the third last, right before Tim Hsu and John Ng! I swore if I could find whoever listed my presentation exactly before those two freakishly excellent Japanese speakers, I might do something to him/her!! Since morning, I was really nervous. I couldn’t pay attention to the earlier presenters because I started shaking like crazy. I mean, it’s only a simple presentation right? Plus, the KIT President couldn’t attend the presentation, so it should be easier. But I simply couldn’t stop shaking *doublefacepalm* I really should see a doctor about this.


And….it’s my turn. I presented “Eco-Garden” – something really simple, but I might start it myself in the future – exceeding my practice timing due to random stutters and periods to take deep breaths between lines. Nevertheless, the audience of KIT-IJST teachers and other participants applauded me wholeheartedly. I still remembered the faces of Fujii-sensei and Suda-sensei during my presentation; for every stutter I did, they nodded encouragingly for me to go on. Thank you very much, sensei! After that, Tim and John took their turns. Tim was exceedingly well in presenting his “Hybrid Car”, while John was unexpectedly nervous throughout his presentation. No wonder Tim won the best speaker of the group – congratz Tim! You deserve it!


To celebrate the day, a bigger group (us six girls, John, Matt, and Wakana-san) went to Karaoke Center once more. We rented a very big room, with a small stage and two sets of long couches in opposite corners of the room, enough to fit 20 people. But my personal favorite was the room we got on Monday – it has the coolest stage ever! Anyway, I chose to sit quietly at first and observed others having fun with their choices of songs. I didn’t actually remember, I think I sang a few songs (One Piece’s opening theme song, TVXQ’s Doushite, and maybe Utada Hikaru’s?). We spent almost 7 hours in the room. I drank countless glasses of hot cocoa (the drink was unlimited, so hey why not? XD) and almost fell asleep. Good thing, the others didn’t get beers, so none was drunk with alcohol. Instead, we were drunk with the happiness and fun spending time together for our last few days in Kanazawa.

 


Friday, July 23, 2011


We had the closing ceremony of KIT-IJST 2010-2011 this morning. Everyone was wearing nice suits and dresses. Before the ceremony started, we practiced the proper manner for when our names were called out later. It was pretty funny to see some bowed down in wrong angle, or said wrong greetings. After a few speeches from KIT Vice President, Head of Program, and John as our representative, we received the program certificate. I was getting teary as the ceremony progressing to its end. Some of the teachers had even started crying. Then, all of us got our picture taken. I still couldn’t trace whose camera used, and till now, I didn’t have the picture. We got together and said “thank you” and “see you again” to each other. Aaaaahhhh, it was truly a touching moment to remember. When I gave the teachers some gifts from US and Malaysia, I broke into tears when they hugged me tightly and bowed down to me appreciatively. I felt like we are now more than mere students and teachers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything!


After that, we returned to the hostel to change into casual clothes. The same group of us last night decided to grab our last dinner together at Tonkun restaurant since some of us would be leaving to Tokyo later that night. We booked a long Japanese table, and waited for Wakana-san from her evening class. I ordered cheese-baked mushroom – the one I had my eyes on the other day – but it was too oily! Alas, it was still good. We took pictures for our last memories together, and went back to finish packing. I couldn’t believe that the program had actually ended! I felt like I wanted to embrace everything: our hostel room, the river, the lounge, KIT classes, the self-study center, the cafes, the bakery, the teachers and staff, the Kanazawa wind, sunlight, smells, and all. 


That night, we sent Tiana and Sam off at the bus stop. I was really crying before I went to sleep on my last night at KIT. I didn’t want to leave this place, how I wish I could repeat this experience again… 


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HI AGAIN!
OMG I just remember that I have a BLOG! And it's been abandoned diligently for almost half a year! Sigh...


My writing mood suddenly comes back these days. I guess I should write something for the sake of practicing English and polishing my writing skills. Hope this new motivation wouldn't die on me after only several days. I'll try my best to finish up all my promised stories (if I could even remember correctly)! Wish me luck!


See you in the next entry~

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KIT-IJST '10 7th Week [Karaoke!]
Sunday, July 18, 2010


Finally, the moments I have been waiting for are here! I'm going to a Karaoke center, ~30mins away walking from our hostel. It's already the final week at KIT, and it's my first time going there ever. As long as I got the chance to, I didn't mind much. We took a bus towards Nonoichi town first,which then headed back to KIT, since the karaoke place is on the way back route.  Okay, I'm sure there were some people in the bus wanted to join us at that time, but we kinda ignored them so that they won't follow us. Lol, now I feel bad at them... Anyway, we arrived at the area somewhere before 6pm, since it's still bright as day, we decided to hang around at a shop which sells very cheap merchandises. There are CDs (new and second-handed) sold as cheap as 100yen! Such a good deal. I planned to buy some later in the week, though...


After it turned dark, we went into the karaoke place and rented a room for 6 of us. It's small, with a plasma TV, rows of couch, and a small table in the middle of the room. We didn't care much, we just grabbed the remote and chose songs. I didn't realize that Matt has such a deep voice, he could sing to Johnny Cash so well! I think I sang a few Japanese songs, including one from Arashi. Oh yeah, I did one from TVXQ too... After a few hits, we realized that we didn't get the package for unlimited drink! I ordered an orange juice, but it's very expensive! We should really go for the unlimited drink next time - a bit expensive, but worth the price. I couldn't wait for the next karaoke sessions! 



Monday, July 19, 2010


Oh yeah, that next session is today! We decided to go all out this final week, even though the KIT project paper presentation would be on Wednesday. I wasn't really worried, I've already memorized my lines =) This time, it's  ALL-GIRL trip! Me, diya, sam, tiana, sarah, and jackie. We grabbed the first bus after the Monday class ended, and rushed to the same karaoke place. Paid an unlimited drink package, we got a much bigger room. I could say it's the coolest room ever! There's a big stage at the right side of the room, and it gave us the SUPERSTAR feeling! A few poses here and there, we started our singing shots. Many Disney soundtracks were on the girls' list, such as Under the Sea, Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride, and Reflection. Tiana and jackie also had their share in a couple of headbanging songs, they're so cool! During these times, we could see the hidden sides of the people around us very well. They got surprised watching me dancing to Mirotic, expecting that I couldn't dance to that kind of song. Haha girls, you just got busted~ 


To make our night more memorable, we also ordered a dessert, something like mini waffles topped with a scoop of ice-cream, banana slices, and chocolate! I think jackie got herself a sundae. Mine was so scrunchy, delicious and pretty-looking, I should have got another one, haha. On the way back, 6 of us walked together, talked and laughed loudly at the midnight time. Suddenly, a police car stopped by in front of us. Seriously, I thought, "O,oo....are we gonna get arrested for making loud noises at night?", and the officers asked us, if we need help since we were all girls. I felt so relieved hearing that, I really thought we're in trouble. We dismissed them by saying we're okay and not very far the hostel anyway. The rest of the walk was much more peaceful from before, but we had a great time together...


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KIT-IJST '10 6th Week [Farewell Party]

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Another Saturday. But this is not a regular Saturday. There would be the farewell party for all KIT-IJST 2010 participants in the Platz. The host families should be coming to celebrate it with their ‘anak2 angkat’, unfortunately my host family couldn’t make it. Kidoguchi-san had an important matter to attend, leaving me and Diya alone during the party. Oh, not really alone since Tim’s and Taylor’s weren’t coming as well. But, theirs actually came during the 2nd half of the party.  Diya and I were definitely the unfortunate ones (T___T).
Earlier, I saw John, wearing a samue (a gift from his host family), cycled really fast towards Nishikawa Heights. I guessed he forgot to bring something important since he didn’t even notice me several feet away. It was really funny to see him like that; it’s difficult to have John in a messed up situation because he always appears calm and confident. Ugh, obnoxious John! (that’s what we teasingly called him – and he didn’t mind at all :p). Sam noticed my new belt bought at FashionShop, she really liked it and ‘marah2’ since I didn’t bring her along during the shopping trip. Of course lahhh, she left us first for Osaka (the long weekend)! It’s Osaka, babe! You won, girl~

During the party, Fudano-sensei gave a speech as the program director. Then, the SGE leader – oh, I forgot his name!! Never mind that.  A dedication video session from us participants to the host families was shown later. My clip was really embarrassing! Tim and SGE kids urged me to watch it, but I only dared to take a peep. Seriously, I should’ve made a new one! It’s kinda sad to see the host families chatted away with the students, knowing well that they won’t see each other again in the near future. I suddenly missed Obaa-chan, she’s such a nice old lady, trying to humor us with some Japanese jokes. Mama, a hardworking mother, did her best to please us. Kidoguchi-san, a very nice family guy, showed his best sides to his own family and us. The kids (Takeshi-kun, Atsushi-kun, Mami-chan), very active and joyous, dragged us along to play Wii, card games, and such, all the while trying to interact in broken English. Don’t worry kids, my Japanese is bad too!
Adorable senseis, SGE kids in the b/g
Since Diya and I didn’t have a host family that day, we got a table for ourselves – plus a full tray of sushi and cookies. Some SGE kids ‘stole’ the sushi from us, but it’s forgivable since they were the ones who bought them in the first place (^.^) I just found out that Natchan (a brand of orange juice) is really good! I never really tried it before – too occupied with Van Houten Cocoa – so I was really amazed. It made me wonder, what else did I forget to try? I only had several weeks left in Japan!! (@__@) Before the part ended, all of us received an orange T-shirt from SGE. They wrote our name on them using permanent marker! Yoshiyuki-kun gave mine to me, he’s such an adorable dimpled boy :p Fuji-sensei, Fudano-sensei, Suda-sensei, and Komori-san also wrote down on my T-shirt. I won't wear this T-shirt ever, in case the markers washed out.
looks so yummy, right?

After everything was over, Diya and I went to Nonoichi again. Diya really3x liked the FashionShop so we headed there first. I think she got a few of new apparels, while I got myself a new pair of pants. I spent too much on apparels already (T___T). Then, Maruei grocery store! A heaven of food for me. I got myself grilled octopus, buns, and all those 
good stuff!

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KIT-IJST '10 6th Week [Food Rulez!]
Tuesday, July 13, 2010

After class, we went to Strawberry Café again! This time, it’s not an all-girl trip anymore. John, Taylor, Rohit, and James joined me, Diya, Sam, Sarah, Tiana, and Jackie. Now it’s the hungry dudes+dudettes dinner trip! As usual, 15min walk and there we were. The restaurant was quite full when we arrived, but the waiters managed to combine 3 tables together to fit us 10 ppl.

The 1st time, I had veggie pizza and matchan waffles. This time, I ordered banana chocolate waffles, and omurice (omelet fried rice – more like pattaya but different taste). Urmmm, honestly, I so much prefer nasi pattaya laa. Waffles kat kedai ni sgt sedap ok! Since we’re 10-ppl group, we had to wait diligently for each meal. I literally stared at each waffle in the making, in case it’s mine. Seriously, drooling giler tgk diorg buat…. yummmmmm…..


The overall dinner time was really havoc – in a good way. We had a good time bonding together. Eventhough tak dapat share food (macam makan dgn Malaysians lain), I could tell each of us was enjoying the food and gibberish talk once in a while J


Thursday, July 15, 2010

In one of JST classes, we watched a video of a Japanese variety show introducing Kanazawa and its specialties. There’s this 1 sushi shop famous with a special dish, white fat tuna. Very oishii, very expensive. Dgr kata sepinggan 2 slices kat Tokyo boleh cecah 10dolar! So, alkisahnya, we went to the same sushi shop right after class ended for the day. I was really excited! Sam, Jackie, Tiana, and Sarah had been there once; Sam did show me pictures of the piling sushi plates, she got 5 plates, Tiana got 6!

The restaurant was half full. We got 2 tables at the far back. Then we started eyeing delicious plates on the conveyor belt. I think Sam was the 1st at our table to grab a plate. She’s really a fast eater. I got my eyes on a salmon sushi with tomato and cheese on top. Certainly, it’s amazinggggg! Diya liked a tuna sushi or something, I forgot its name. By the way, I didn’t see the expensive white fat tuna rolling around, customers need to ask from the chef. Very the special eyh? Sarah bought it, and she told me, “it’s AweSoMeeeee!” I forgot to snap a pic of the dish, it was served on a golden-colored plate, priced ¥890. My sushi plates ranged only from ¥250 - ¥470, xde duit to afford more than that, but the overall bill I had to pay was quite high considering the amount of plates :p

my piling plates - 4 jahh
we went to Baskin Robbins again, i got the awesome Triple Shots! ngaaaa~

Friday, July 16, 2010

A week from today would be the closing ceremony of KIT-IJST 2010. OMG, how times flies….

Anyway, It’s an entry about Food again! Japanese food rulez! The others had discovered Tonkun, an awesome restaurant near Nishikawa Heights. I saw it once (when we’re walking in the rain during the long weekend) but it was closed that day. John, Sam, Sarah, me and Diya went there together, but it would be opened only after 3pm! Terpaksalah menunggu menonggeng kat depan anonymous shop across the street. Bila masuk jer, there’re actually customers inside! I dunno why it was closed earlier *geleng2 kepala*. Anyway, we sat down and analyzed the menu. Ada a pink pig as 'mascot' on the menu, very cute though, haha. The restaurant itself is small, maximum limit should be no more than 25 ppl. The other 3 ordered tonkatsu and some meaty dishes. I asked for a salmon with rice since it’s cheaper than other fish meals and I do LOVE salmon. Same goes for Diya. It came out to be too good to be true! Whenever I see the picture, I could still feel the crispiness and lemony taste of the salmon lingered on my tongue……….nak pegi lagi!!! (>.<)

see that "pink pig" on the menu?
my salmon dish! ^.^

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KIT-IJST '10 5th Week [2nd Half: Continuation...]
P/S: Since I’ve diligently abandoned this blog right after I returned from Japan, I couldn’t retrieve all memories very well, so I have to rely on the pictures taken (T___T). So sorry for not being able to share everything I did in Japan, one of the awesomest experiences in my life!

Friday, July 9, 2010

As usual, we had the weekly Art Club meeting in the Art Room in Building 14. Today, they suggested to do something interesting – involving both Japanese & ‘gaijin’ (as they called us) – which was drawing portraits in 10mins using the utensils in front of you. They arranged drawing utensils (watercolors, pencil colors, oil pastel, crayons, etc.) in a circle. Each of us took a seat anywhere they like. Someone would pose as the model in the middle of the circle, and the rest of us would draw him/her. John was the 1st to come out. Next, the e-board Japanese kids, Sam, and including ME! Yes, me! Haha! Diya drew my peace-signed hand longerrrrrr than necessary. Oh yea I forgot, we had to change our seats each time the  models changed. I got pencil colors (2x), watercolors, pencil (?), couldn’t remember much (T___T)

that's me, LOL
Sam
Display on the floor
Jackie's (on left) and mine (on right)

After we’re done, we had snack dinner together at the Platz café.  I got myself THE Van Houten Cocoa drink like always, so goooood – substitution for Minum Milo Anda Jadi Sihat dan Kuat! Tonight was really fun! The e-board said they would post the drawings later in the North Campus area, I couldn’t wait!

the ultimate drink ever!


Sunday, July 11, 2010

Ertl-sensei invited us for a social gathering at Rakutei restaurant in downtown Kanazawa. Unlimited drinks (alcohol, unfortunately) and a few food servings available with ¥2000 fee per person. I contemplated at first, to go or not to go, yelah nama pun bar Jepun. But then, it’s for the sake of mingling around, so why not? Movie “Tampopo” was supposed to be shown during the first half of the gathering (1-3pm), but I’m gonna skip it!

I met Tim at 1pm, he’s doing the research paper HW (really Tim?). he said he wanted to go together with us, and the bus was at 3pm. But he didn’t show up at 3pm, so we had to blah dulu. We arrived quite late actually, but better late than never~ Rakutei is a small, hidden bar/restaurant in the back alley of Korinbo 109. The arrangement is pretty neat, but crowded with 30++ people from our cultural class and Kanazawa Todai. I sat at a table with the RIT girls (Sam, Sarah, Tiana), Matt, Rohit, and a cute-looking Todai Japanese girl whose name Tomoko. I’ve never talked really close with Matt before; I found out he’s actually pretty friendly. Just start a dialogue, he may go along with it. Matt and Tomoko-chan talked most of the time, about his 2-month biking trip across USA continent, and mountain bikes. Not my expertise, so I wasn’t included :p. Tomoko-chan’s very cute, very friendly and polite. When most people around her (excluding me and Diya) gulped down beer and sake, she only took sips each time. Oh, talking about the drinks, there was this fruit cocktail looking so deliciously yummy! But well, not my rezeki…and I was satisfied with just ocha, lemonade, and water. The food? It’s not bad. We were served with eggrolls, seafood, fish, and an unknown dumpling – apparently it was a chicken dumpling! Oh mai….


What else? While I was having a ‘great’ time talking and eating away anything I could, the rest of the party was having REAL FUN. They drank, laughed, drank again, patted each other, and then….BAM!! Someone fell down…too drunk to balance himself. I had to hide my smiling face, hey that’s a LOL moment for me okay! The Tim brothers had arrived sometime after us - Taiwanese Tim told me he had to wake Korean Tim up, that’s why they’re late – and they were drunk. It’s my first time seeing my friends being drunk, with red flushed cheeks and sloppy walking. It’s weird, and I’m glad that I’m not a drinker, ever.

At 6pm, we had to leave the space. Some of us, the non-drunken ones, decided to hang out at Mister Donuts across the main street. John and Ainaa - pretty drunk with hiccups, even - and Tomoko, tagged along. Ainaa, a Malaysian freshman girl in Todai, speaks Japanese fluently. We talked some more, both in JPN and Malay. How I wish I could live in Japan longer…. And, that’s how my weekend ended. Wasted? Not really….I had fun with them J


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Updating my life
...In the Name of ALLAH...


It's already past the V-day - meaning it's been almost 2months since my last update (o___O)


Since I have nothing to do before my last final on NEXT FRIDAY (hantu betul!!)...updating blog seems to be a good idea, at least for now. My writing class has ended rather successfully, and I will be missing writing essays from now on. So yeah, why don't we write blog entries!? 


This is just an introduction. I'll be back.

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........
i just plainly HATE myself.
when will i update this blog???

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2011!


HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011! 

New Year, New You!
(adapted from Mustela, 2011)

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