Reflections on the stream of life..: japan

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

so it has been like slightly more den a month since exams ended.. went to play sports with e kakis a couple of times.. watched angels and demons and also terminator salvation.. angels and demons was an ok movie.. pretty much action packed throughout, but otherwise perhaps sort of predictable and routine.. watched the da vinci code before, but i forgot wat it was like.. so i shall not comment on tt..

terminator salvation was quite disappointing i guess.. or maybe it could have been due to e cinema facilities (though i dun think so).. didn't like e fact tt light was shining in my eyes every so often.. and equally irritating was e overly loud booming stereo sound of e helicopters.. it felt as if my heart could also boom out any time.. plot wise, it was just ok..

i personally haven't been a fan of hollywood films of late.. and maybe it's time.. e usual mix of big explosion scenes, most-of-e-time meaningless sexual scenes and lame one-liners are just not getting to me.. instead, i've come to like watching those arty farty shows (read: oscar winning foreign laguage film, or e likes of it).. of course having said tt, i still quite like watching film series such as Harry Potter.. esp since i feel mythical stuff r always interesting.. not to mention, useful for experimental purposes in my dreams.. haha..

some other stuff tt i was occupied with during this time after e exams included finishing my reading of Ichigo 100%, planning for grad trip, editing my blog layout and completing e uploading of pics for e hokkaido trip last year..

1st up is ichigo 100%.. it's a manga tt i last read during my days in e army.. easily one which is labeled as an ecchi filled manga to e onlooker.. however, as i came close to finishing e manga, i thought tt e handling of e characters and storyline in e last 40+ chapters was quite good.. and i thought tt e illustrations were not bad too.. and just in case u were wondering, it's a teenage romance kind of manga.. i had actually thought tt, as with e other mangas i have read before, tt e manga would start degenerating into some ridiculous storyline tt shows a lack of idea on e mangaka's part as e manga series progresses.. but as it turned out, i liked e ending for ichigo 100%..

next up is grad trip.. going off this fri to germany, switzerland, paris and london.. 12 days in all.. 10 days of following e tour package and 2 days of self extension in london.. planning for e trip took place rather late and in e end, also because of differing views and money issues, sw and qq went on their own tent pitching marathon in europe.. haha.. most prob will be able to meet up with them over in london.. anyway, marc somehow managed to squeeze out time-off to join us on e trip..

although it's like only 2 days of free and easy in london, there was quite some bit of planning to do.. from e budget air tix from paris to london, to e hostel accomodation, to e london attractions and transport issues..

blog wise, i've modified e right column to make it more neat.. hopefully tt is.. although it's still a little headache cos e column is simply too long.. so i've been playing around with this text cloud thing and trying to get it to work.. just came up with an idea.. i think i would change e archives into a drop down box instead.. on another note, i've changed e label for lyrics to lyrics_main.. it's a new post tt i've created tt encompasses all e lyrics i've written so far..

talking abt lyrics, i'm afraid i have to disappoint some ppl in tt, once again, i won't be able to complete e filling in of lyrics for e music express competition in time.. figuring out e theme tt was most suitable for e melody has not been easy.. and given my lack of musical talent, it just makes things a little more complicated.. progress on e lyrics filling however, was better den e attempt for last year's competition, albeit still quite a miserable attempt.. and despite e fact tt i won't be able to finish e piece in time for e competition, i think i will do it as part of my own training.. i think after all, tt's wat e lyricist's job is all abt..

if u have noticed, there's this new category of links in e right column called google maps.. stumbled upon it one day and found it to be very useful.. clicking on e grad trip link would show u e places tt i'll be visiting for my grad trip.. spent a considerable amt of time trying to mark e locations for both e grad trip and japan maps.. esp so for e jap one.. quite frequently, e user created markings were not accurate and i had to scour e surrounding area for e correct landmark.. e jap map was particular challenging, since e user created markings were in jap.. markings for e hokkaido trip last year are completed, but markings for previous trips to japan have not been finished..

talking abt e hokkaido trip, i had only managed to find time to complete e uploading of pics.. and before i go on, u can find out more by clicking e may 2008 archive link.. once again, i had to spend some effort in trying to get e correct jap names of e attractions tt i went to and this took up some time..

exam results were out not too long ago.. and thankfully, i managed to pass my modules without much hiccups.. convocation is set on 27 july at 6pm.. kind of a werid timing if u think abt e usual photo taking tt follows along with convo.. e sky will be dark by 6pm and i wonder wat kind of pics we can take.. of course there is always this option of taking e pics b4 convo iteself.. but to get sweaty and all tt b4 e ceremony even starts? hmmm..

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

so i guess i finally have time to settle down and blog about my recent trip to hokkaido.. had actually written down a few short 'real time' posts in my little notebook which i had wanted to transfer here.. but dun think i'll be doing it.. will be blogging based on my memory and e notes tt i've jotted down instead.. most prob will be using one post to cover each day of e trip.. will be taking me quite a while to finish blogging about e whole trip and e posts would be constantly updated as i remember any stuff along e way..

for a sidetrack, was quite pleasantly surprised to see meiwen initiate a conversation in msn yesterday.. haven talked to her in a long time.. i feel such small acts can really sometimes show someone tt u really care abt him/her.. girls our age are now preparing to step out into e corporate world.. and just not too long ago we were laughing away, pretty much leading a care free school life together.. time passes fast..

just tommorrow i'll be starting on my own mini corporate adventure with my PA.. dunnoe y but somehow i have this feeling of dread..

in this post and e next few, it would be e 1st time u see me using 3 different languages within a single post..

so to start things proper, my account of e trip can actually be quite technical at certain parts.. but hey! there's gonna be pictures.. some background info: this particular trip was done with SA tours, with George as our tour guide.. and hmmm.. he's a freelance tour guide specialising in japan and also a part time cabby in sg.. now tt's prob 2 of e most conversational occupations u can have.. and rolled into 1 person.. geez.. haven used e jap language bar for a long time.. now i cant find a feature tt i need.. will continue with this post another day.. in e meanwhile i'll play around with e language bar..

ok nvm.. guess i'll just stick with wat i have for e moment.. e currency rate was at 100円:SG$1.35..