危ない！髪をカットしてくれた！

To cut a long story short... I decided to let Kyoko cut my hair for free instead of visiting a hairdressor. It was quite an interesting experience. I am not crying... so I guess it was pretty ok! I think she was feeling very proud of herself because all these people starting examining me and saying it was nice and she just looked very happy...

Here we go...

Don't move your head!

My hairrrrrrrrr....!!!



A whole new experience...

Cleaning up after the deed...

寿司めいじんの冒険

本当に面白かった。今までそのことを知らなかった。It was really a new experience to take part in such a MASS jyanken game with the sushi chef along with every other customer in the sushi restaurant. Basically... everyone plays a game of scissors-paper-stone with the chef, and whoever beats the chef 3 rounds out of 3 gets free vouchers for cakes and/or drinks. You are basically eliminated the moment you lose any round. This has to be a game that can only work in Japan... try this in Singapore... and everyone will be pretending they won even if they didn't!

Not understanding how the game works... Michelle managed to confuse the waitresses at the sushi restaurant into thinking that she had won a voucher. She was already supposed to be out of the game! Oh well... we all enjoyed the free blurberry cheesecake that came later!

Everyone feeling satisfied after the amazing meal... the sushi was great!!! And significantly cheaper than in Singapore... oh wait... the sushi tasted miles better as well!

食べ物がいっぱい！

最近何もアプしなかった、ごめんなさい。じゃ、写真を見てください。Heya friends, I am so sorry for my lack of blog activity over the past few days. For some reason activities have been ending rather late... so I have been choosing sleep over blogging. Here is a summary of stuff over the past four days.


Main highlights would be... Tingting's 18th Birthday... Onsen @ hyoutan onsen and SUSHI! Well... there has been a lot of food as well... just check out the web album later to see how much food we have been having... everyone seems to be progressing in cooking skills and abilities. Haha.


Well, there was cooking party 1, 2, and so on... there was also a trip down to kannawa onsen area where Michelle, Jenelle and I relaxed ourselves over at the hyoutan onsen. Too bad... no photos there! There were so many different onsens inside the bathing area... rock... outdoor, waterfall, foot... etc.etc. Everyone should try sometime! Went down to kannawa onsen area again just now to eat SUSHI! 100yen sushi (105 yen after tax). I spent 1337yen but I felt like... I had 3000 yen worth. Great sushi, great price! Oh yeah... I also went for yossyakoe and went for a jog/run today... hmm I am really unfit.

On the horizon... TRIP TO HIROSHIMA (possibly inclusive of overnight @ karaoke due to lack of accomodation during Golden Week). Looking forward to that! Also... baking banana chocolate cake!

Not very fluent huh? I am quite tired... just check out the photos using the following link! I was basically too hungry to bother to compose my photos properly... you get the idea...
http://picasaweb.google.com/furrysnag/EndOfApril

Rose in a bush of thorns... Michelle showing the guys how it is done...

Weili defeated by Jenelle (12 items to 14 items)...

Ramen @... I can't remember the shop name! But the ramen was GOOD...

Goreng Pisang prepared by Weili @ Tingting's birthday dinner. Hometown flavour!

Kyoko and Ayako feeling very bored???

Standard Issue for AP House Babes...


Once again... more photos @ http://picasaweb.google.com/furrysnag/EndOfApril

読みテスト re-enacted

This is roughly what I had to do for my yomi-tesuto. Read out 15 sentences within 60 seconds. For the record, I took 51 seconds during the actual test... one of the slowest in class...

It doesn't matter whether you all understand or not... I just had to put this up to remind myself of the many interesting things that happen during Japanese Language class...

日本語の試験が三つあった

今日の日本語授業で試験がみっつあった。大変でした！でも、おもしろかった。渡辺先生は本当に可愛くて、面白い先生だ。

Alright sorry everybody. I realised that I should start practising blogging some posts in Japanese so i can improve. I shall attempt to do it bit by bit... starting with the really child-like sentences above.

I had 3 tests today during Japanese Language class... Kanji, Reading and Grammar. It was difficult but quite fun. Especially the reading test... it was really interesting. We were supposed to read 15 sentences out within a minute, so everyone took turns to read while the sensei recorded the time we took on the board. It was quite an interesting experience.

Ah well... as usual... some photos to remember the day by...

Michelle looking very happy with the "spread". Half of the 468yen Yakitori and 99yen gyoza that I cooked and veges cooked by Michelle. It tasted GREAT!

Yes... the results on the whiteboard. I took 51 seconds... not too bad... not that great either.

Watanabe Sensei insisted on posing with her stopwatch.

She also insisted that I pretend to hold the sheet of paper and look as though I was reading while she was timing me...

Han san (Korea) took 51 seconds as well...

Part of the campus I have never photographed before.

First time to Oita

Made my first ever trip to the neighbouring city of Oita (Prefectural Capital of Oita Prefecture). Shopped @ Uni Qlo and enjoyed myself tremendously. Bought Home clothes, Pyjamas and running clothes. I like that shop quite a lot.

We also had the most amazing Korean Dinner ever. Well... it was perhaps my 2nd time having Korean food... so I wonder if that counts. Anyway... the bottom line is... it was really good food!

After returning to AP House, we decided to make our way up to "Beppu wan" to have a look @ the night scenery of Beppu City. It was great! We ate, drank (no alcohol), sang, jumped around and finished off with Thor's not-so-amazing Stories. In any case, I think everyone felt a lot more relaxed and happy... even though we only got back to AP House @ 1am.

Have a look @ some of the photos below and visit http://picasaweb.google.com/furrysnag/0421 for more! Oh there is also a very short video of something that "Hello Kitty" lovers may consider buying.

Beppu wan participants (ex. myself) : Jun (Korea), Thor, David (Australia), Michelle, Jenelle (Hawaii, USA), Kyoko (Japan), Kane, Tingting (Thailand)

View from Beppu wan. APU Campus in the foreground, Beppu in the middle and a bit of Oita in the background on the left. Point-and-shoot camera has limitations. Sorry.

Not-so cool jump into the frame...

Red train on the right, blue on the left. We took the blue one from Beppu to Oita.

Aymmetrically divided bench near Oita Station.

Random pavement shapes...

Thor trying to pick up a poor Thai Girl off the streets... with 100yen???!!! (Starring Thor as himself, and Dione as a poor version of herself)

To all you "Hello Kitty" lovers out there...

Those were actually Hello Kitty table fans... by the way...

普通の一日

今日の天気は　「晴れ」　です。気温は１４度ごろ。

Nothing much to report for today. It was a very ordinary day... woke up @ 11am, went for class... came back to eat... yes... one of those extremely uneventful days. 明日、何か面白くて、楽しい事があるかな？

My lunch for today. Yakisoba with fried-tofu-skin, cucumber, chives, beansprouts and egg. Garnished with parsley and parmesan cheese.


For those of you who are very bored, check out this link to watch a video of silly things that university students do while in the dorm. I decided to leave out the more explicit stuff... go figure... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybNhDXIaUAw

Pad Thai and Chicken Curry

今日の天気は「雨」です。超寒かった。５度ごろだった。

Hey folks! Nothing much happened yesterday. I basically joined a Circle (CCA) called "Gospel & Soul", which is a club which endeavours to sing songs such as those you would find in "Sister Act 1 & 2". It was fun... and they are going to have a joint performance with the Kyoto Ritsumeikan University students in June. Sounds like a great experience to me.

For the first time since I first arrived in APU, I had to wear 3 layers of tops today... and I still felt cold! Amazing. Who knows... I may be back to a single T-shirt tomorrow. Such is the unpredictability of weather up here @ APU. I love it! Very random.

Anyway... I totally enjoy my "Cultural Sociology" class. Professor Eades is great... and funny. The many videos, grand music and photos and pictures don't do his class any harm either. Great course!

So... today's lunch was... Soba, Pad Thai and Chicken Curry! Yeah! The Pad Thai was quite bad... or... really bad. Chicken Curry tasted just right, sans the red hot spicy feeling... guess they have to adapt it so that the Japanese students can eat it too. I ended up putting my soba into the bowl of curry and downing it just as I would soup soba.

そば　（１５０円）

パータイ　（２７０円）

鶏レドカレー

Indian Poker and Karaoke

Yesterday was mostly about KARAOKE! Yes... finally! Pretty cheap too... 1500 Yen for a room for 3 hours. We had 8 people so it was less than 200 yen per person. Sang Japanese songs, Korean songs, Chinese songs and English songs... don't you just love APU? Always so many languages.

Today was a day of strange weather. I finally know what it means when they say that the weather up here @ APU is CRAZY. Woke up to a relatively normal morning. Suddenly the fog started sweeping in and it felt like the whole campus was covered in a cloud. Then it started pouring and thundering... and before you know it... the fog suddenly clears, the sun appears and there is a beautiful rainbow. Yes... such is the weather @ APU. Did I forget to mention how the temperature changes drastically as well? I was sweating a little in the morning... and all of a sudden I was freezing in the afternoon... haha. おもしろい！

Here are some photos to share once again. Enjoy!

Photo from Entrance Ceremony @ the beginning of the month. Weili, Jenelle, Michelle, Yuki, Thor...

Weili's Dinner yesterday. Looks good yeh? (Hint Hint... the name of this blog is related to all the food that I cook)

Karaoke Crew from yesterday... Jenelle, Paul, Yuki, Yuuki, Michelle, Weili, Kyoko, Kane...

Rain and fog @ APU. Notice that the cafeteria is sort of hidden from sight by the fog...

Shadows in the fog...

Tadah! Rainbow and sunshine from behind...

Weili's Brunch from yesterday. Weili rocks!

Weili's 豚ヒレカツ丼定食 (before)

Weili's 豚ヒレカツ丼定食 (after)

Selecting songs @ the karaoke


Some highlights from a lively game of Indian Poker in Thor's room. Participants : Thor, Michelle, Weili, David, Yuki, Paul, Jun, Shingo, "Shima", Hiro, Tsubasa... did I leave anyone out? Anyway, Michelle holds the record of 4 CONSECUTIVE forfeits... she should buy 4D.

Pica Pica 2007

Today was Pica Pica 2007! The welcome event for Freshmen into APU for Spring 2007. Don't ask me what Pica Pica is supposed to mean because I really don't know.

There was a flea market, lots of food and many live performances. Highlights of the day...

1) I finally got a tan... the sun was really really strong today...
2) I bought 4 tops... 100 yen each!
3) Watched "The Notebook" @ Jenelle's room with Kane, David, Michelle, Kyoko and Ayako...
4) Shed some tears due to (3). Its a movie worth watching. I would love to die in that manner...
5) Bought 10 packets of Meiji Matcha Fran @ marusyoku. They were 21 yen cheaper per pack as compared to buying them @ the APU Co-op.

Anyway... just have a look at some of the photos. View all the photos @ http://picasaweb.google.com/furrysnag/April14.

Strange Horseman seen @ Pica Pica

Crowd @ Amphitheatre enjoying the live performances...

Kaori and Yuri...

Kane's Floormates - Yumi, Junko, Akiko, Machiko...

Clockwise from Top-Left - Junko, Kane2, Yuki, Akiko, Machiko, Megumi, Jenelle, Michelle, Kyoko, Yumi...

Team Indonesia - (from left) Clarissa, Loretta, Marsha...

Happy Shopper (Yasuno) @ Flea Market

Flea Market with Student Union 2 building in the background

All things Japanese...

First of all, nothing much happened yesterday. The only highlights worth mentioning were probably our first step towards opening a bank account, using the gym, and of course playing real football with the Koreans! It was really fun... but extremely tiring.

OK... today was a tale of Japanese Language lessons. I attended my first Advanced 2 Course... and almost died.

Apparently in the course of the term, we need to write 2 reports entirely in JAPANESE... and at least one of them has to be more than 2000 words long! Also below are photos of my first piece of homework and some readings for the class. I took 2 and a half hours to do the homework. If I were to do it in English, I probably would have taken 5 to 10 minutes MAX. Scary... maybe I really should drop down to Advanced 1... sigh.

Enjoy some photos below... and make sure you DON'T miss the Intercultural Communication video!

Today's Lunch... garlic-butter-tuna-mayo toast with Japanese cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with cheese.

The campus is suddenly a lot more crowded...

Today's Dinner... Weili-Style Yaki buta with japanese cucumbers...

My first piece of homework...

Sample page from notes stack ONE. Plenty more to come...


Next up... a hilarious video of Megumi, Yuki, Tingting and myself trying to teach another Thai girl how to pronounce ta, chi, tsu, te, to properly.

Intercultural Communication 101


20 Minutes later...... more Intercultural Communication mayhem...

Day of Card Games

No interesting photos today... I did learn to play a few new card games. Rat Race, using poker cards... Hola (Or something like that), a Korean card game also using poker cards... and Aussie Rules Uno and Bluff.

Early class tomorrow! 0845 > Cultural Sociology. Hope its fun! Here are some videos that should brighten up your day.


Below > Jun (from Korea) tries very hard to explain the rules of "Ratrace" to his compatriate, who happens to have lived in New Zealand and speaks perfect English. He should have just let David explain in English in the first place!



Thor attempts a simplified and scaled-down version of Michelle's Dance warm-ups, to hilarious effect.



Thor at his limit... Deep Impact!

Exercise Regime Begins!

I have finally started to exercise. Played football today with a mixed group.

Team A:
Baptiste (France)
Weili (Singapore)
Kai (Canada)
Michelle (Singapore)
Yasuno (Japan)

Team B:
Jerry (Italy)
Wayne (USA)
Alex (Some European Country)
Marsha (Indonesia)
Gennelle (Hawaii, USA)

For the record, Team B won 6-5, with Marsha scoring 4 goals... Cute little Yasuno, small and fragile as she may seem... was ferocious and possessed a really powerful kick. In addition to that, she was dressed in a really cute frilly knit top and berms with leggings, and wearing dainty little slipper/shoes. Amazing! Japanese girls seriously can run in anything.

I also played Table Tennis tonight. I realised that I am hopeless with the Chinese Grip, but can hold my own with a Western Grip. Anyway... the important thing is... I have finally begun to exercise! Yay!

Cooked a Fusion Dinner! Laksa but using stir-fried Pork and Spiral Pasta intead of Laksa noodles and fishcake. It was great! Also tried more Weili-Style tonkatsu, using thin slices of pork. It was... great! Haha... now I just need to work on my speed... I'm kind of slow in preparing my food, despite the rave reviews I have received. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera down... so... no photos. Next time!

SMU Jump @ 別府公園

Can you imagine ANY SMU student who doesn't know the SMU Jump? Photo starring Kane, Thor and Weili