FINALLY THE RECRUITMENT INTERVIEW IS OVER!!!

ELECTION/RALLY IS OVER!!!

Okay, I think 90% of the "shit" is over, and perhaps what's left is the AGM and orientation that is next week... So I hope to get my hall asap so that I wont be dragging myself out of bed for 830am lessons from Mon to Fri. REALLY DEMN SIANZ TO WAKE UP SO EARLY!!

On a side note, I have applied for GIP Prelude to China for 2 weeks this coming Dec. I really hope can get in lar, but with my relatively cui GPA and the fact that there's so limited vacancy, I doubt I can get in.. Sianz..

Shall finish my undone tut/readings for this week!!!!

It's only week 2 and I'm trying my best not to procratinate my work, despite the fact that I'm taking 21AUs this sem, and I have all the CCA fair/welcome tea/recruitment interview that will all be happening in the 1st 3 weeks of sch. So I'm just hoping that next week can faster end, and then I'll be able to "slack" for the next one year. Okay lar, I know this shouldn't be coming out from my mouth, especially since I'm in the main comm... But seriously, having 5 days of 8.30am lesson from Mon to Fri, and then after lessons still must attend to CCA stuff is kinda TIRING. Amazingly I'm still able to finish whatever tut/readings that are required thus far, but I guess next week will be really the "hell week".

Firstly, there will be recruitment interview next Mon and Tues from 630pm to around 11pm, which translates to the fact that I wont be able to go home and hence, I'll be squatting in my friend's hall for these 2 nights. And on Wed itself, there's some kind of election/rally thing, which is like compulsory for all the big CCAs. Haiz, what a hassel. And NTU will only be giving us our hall after our election, which means that by the time we get our hall, it will be around week 4 or 5 liaoz (September). Luckily this time round, the projects are not as disgusting as yr 1projects (I think so lar) and also all the quiz/test will be after recess week only.

So yes, I shall give all my attention and time for my CCA during these 3 weeks!!

So yesterday I went night cycling with 3 of my uni classmates, and it was an event that went horribly wrong..for me I guess.

Time was 9.00am. So I cycled from home to East Coast to meet them, cuz they rented the bicycles at ECP for the whole night. Anyway, we wanted to go Changi Village, BUT NO ONE KNOWS THE WAY THERE!?!?! Okay, then I suggest a very BAD IDEA of cycling back to Kembangan MRT station then follow the bus no.2 route!?!?!!? We really did that, so we cycled along the MRT tracks from Kembangan to Tanah Merah, and then reached a place somewhere further up EXPO, then we realised we are STUCK. Expressway is ahead and there's no cycling track for us.

So no choice, we cycled southwards back to East Coast Park, and from there we used the Coastal Park Connector that allowed us to cycle past Changi Airport and reach Changi Village. Seriously, when I reached Changi Village, I nearly want to die already...So were my other friends. I refused to eat anything except got myself a sugar cane drink, although my other friends ordered Nasi Lemak to eat. By the time we left Changi Village, it was 1.30am.

And here comes the horrible part... Initially we wanted to go the other route, which is the Loyang, PR, Tamp, Bedok connectors to reach back ECP. But slightly less than 10min after we left Changi Village, my bike's chain came off. Fine, I admit I donno how to do it, so my friends were very helpful in getting their hands dirty to help me settle the bike problem. But by then, the pedals were abit loose and it was really kinda unstable to continue cycling. Every few minutes, the chain will keep coming off. Okay, I was extremely sianz and guilty to waste my friends' time. The last straw was at Loyang Valley.

And I said "Okay, I really think I'm going to push this bike all the way back home. I suggest you all just cycled back 1st to ECP. It's no joke pushing a bike from Loyang to Kembangan" And really, my friends said they would just push their bikes along with me to go back Kembangan. I was kinda guilty at that point, but wellz, they started saying things like "Aiyaz, nvm lar, our butts are also very painful after sitting on the bike seat for so long. I think push the bikes also good idea, at least more comfortable." Of cuz they were saying all these to comfort me, WHO ON EARTH WILL WANT TO WALK FROM LOYANG TO KEMBANGAN WHEN THEY HAVE BIKES WITH THEM!?

As I'm the only person living in the East (One lives in Jurong, one Yishun, another in Seng Kang), I led them all the way from Loyang to TPJC. And while we were outside TPJC pushing our bikes, we heard a loud "pop". Wtf, my front wheel punctured (AND I'M PUSHING IT LAR, NOT EVEN SITTING ON IT). Excellent, seems like I'm destined to push my bike back home.

All along I know that it's just a straight road down from Loyang Valley to Tamp MRT station, so it was kinda easy to navigate around. From Tamp MRT station, we followed the MRT track and halfway between Tamp and Simei MRT station, we crossed an overhead bridge and soon we reached Simei MRT station. From there we followed the Simei connector that leads us to Simei ITE/EXPO there (Yes, we cycled there initially!!) and continued pushing our bikes to Tanah Merah. From there it was just following the MRT tracks all the way back to Kembangan.

But seriously, I guess pushing our bikes were so much better than riding (Okay, I'm not trying to give an excuse for myself). Because initially, we were all cycling rather fast, until we are all tired out and didn't have the energy to talk to each other. But from the time we started pushing all bikes back home, we basically talked about anything under the sun! Okay, at least I got to know my friends abit better...

We reached Kembangan MRT station at 515am, and then rested awhile until around 615am. So the 3 of them cycled back to ECP and I pushed my bike back home.
And morale of the story is: Cheap bikes are only MEANT for short distance trips, e.g cycling to student's house to give tuition. Not for LONG trips like going to Pasir Ris from Kembangan.

I think I'm kinda lazy to blog about all the places I have been to, but I'll just blog about one place - 靖国神社 (Yasukuni Jinja)

On the second day I was in Japan, I went there to pay a visit. Wellz, that place is kinda large, and yes, the shrine by itself has nothing much. There's a place where you throw the coins, clap ur hands and pray (Japanese style of praying, if you ever watch Japanese shows). So I just follow suit and try my best to blend in with the others who were there.

Anyway, my main purpose was to visit the Japanese War Museum that was inside Yasukuni Shrine. Wellz, I guess not many tourists were there (due to sensitive issues), but I do see a few ang-moh who were there as if they were on some study trip, scribbling notes here n there.

The War museum was rather informative as it showcased not only abut WW2, as well as some of the early warring era within Japan a few centuries ago, and proceed on to sino-jap war, russia-jap war..then WW2..blah blah. But during that 1.5 hrs while I was walking inside the museum (there's alot of things there!), I felt that the Japanese kinda gave "excuses" for going War. Their main "reason" is that there is a lack of natural resources, and so the only way to survive is to conquer new land. Well, perhaps it's true to centain extent, but that doesn't give Japan the right to invade foreign land.

Secondly, I didn't really see any form of "apology" or "remorse" on the part of Japan to the victim countries that they have invaded. They are only concern that to continue this war will bring more pain to their own Japanese people, and so they decided to surrender. Wellz, WW2 has ended almost 60 years ago, and I think I don't have the right to give any critical comments. But I believe non-Japanese will have a more ACCURATE idea of what this Pacific War is about.

And of cuz, one part of the museum showcased how they conquered Malaya/S'pore. The last part of the museum showed all the black and white photos of the Japanese ppl (Soldiers/civillians/males/females) who were enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine. The photos were like "printed" on tiles, and have a glossy effect. Omg, it's kinda EERIE can!?!? There's like thousands of such black and white "photo tiles" of the people that are sticked to the walls. As I was looking around, I think majority of the people in the photos were very young, probably in their late 10s to late 20s. (Actually their age were stated as well, and how they die, where they die etc etc) Some were kamikaze pilots who were in their early 20s, or university/high school gals who helped out in the war, and obviously most of them were military soldiers in their uniform, and all were very young lar! Which means that if there were still alive, they would probably be 80++ of age now.

Conclusion: Wellz, I think it serves as a refresher to my history knowledge? And when I went back to hostel and told some of the Japanese that I went to Yasukuni shrine, they were kinda shocked as well, because they themselves also try to avoid such "sensitive place".

Just came back from my Tokyo trip a few days ago. Unlike the previous 4 times in which I went with guided tours (and only during winter), this is my first free & easy trip there, and also during a different season - summer.

No doubt the weather was quite hot, but I think is comparable to Singapore. And most importantly, I felt I have more interaction with the culture and people there, getting to learn many new things which I will never get to do in a guided tour. In the past, the tour guide only bring us to selective tourist attraction places and we don't get to mingle around with the Japanese. But this time round, I used the public transport extensively and the fact that I live in a rather poor district of Tokyo makes me see Japan in a different light. In the past, they only bring us to Ginza to see all the expensive things, but this time round, I went to rather cheap shopping districts (e.g Ame-yoko at Ueno) and some things can be even cheaper than in S'pore!

Getting used to the Tokyo subway system can be quite challenging, but luckily I did my "hw" b4 I went there, so it was rather easy and comfortable for me. And the fact that I bought a concession ticket (700 yen = S$10.50) each day makes travelling more easier. Firstly, I dont really go for shopping, so it's obvious that I can travel to many places within one day, which is definitely more cost-saving for me. Secondly, if I dont buy concession ticket, I will need to plan my route carefully. Taking the wrong train and changing lines unnecessarily will only mean more charges. Within one station, there can be quite a few train operators, and they dont tell u that! So if you are not careful, you may end up paying much more than what you initially think you are paying for. In short, my advice is to JUST BUY a concession ticket, unless you are confident you will only stick to ONE place each day.

And unlike during a guided tour when all my meals are covered for, this time round I need to settle my own meals. Of course. if you are going to places like Macdonald's where you can just POINT at the picture and order without speaking a single Japanese, that's okay. But if it's like going to a typical traditional Japanese restaurant to order, with no pictures to rely on, it can be quite tough for some ppl. If you are inside a sushi shop, most of the time you can find the food you want on the conveyor belt. But for me where some of the sushi I like is not available (e.g Kani sarada, ebi sarada, shifudo sarada), I have to ask the sushi chef standing in the middle to prepare for me. Of cuz there's no extra charge or what, each typical plate of sushi cost 130yen (S$1.95) in most sushi shops in Tokyo, so it's still not that bad... Unless you order some red plate or what which is more expensive. Bottom line is if you cant speak Japanese, you may have to settle for whatever that's available on the conveyor belt.

The same applies to ramen shop or tempura shops, which can be quite challenging to order when the menu is all Japanese without any pictures. But I think basic understanding of hiragana and katakana should be fine.
So if you dont have much trouble with ordering food or transport, then I guess all other things shld be fine!

The fact that I live in some cheapo hostel means that I got to see many tourists from all over the world as well. I think caucasians made up 70% of the ppl in my hostel? And yaz, my first time interacting with so many ang-mohs, and it can be AMAZING to hear some of the words coming out of their mouth, e.g "Singapore is bigger than a SMALL country like South Korea"....

And yes, I don't want to go Japan during summer again! But they only sell summer clothings (which is what I need) during summer means that I wont be able to buy much clothings during other seasons. Going during Spring and Autumn is definitely OUT OF THE QUESTION becuz there will be school terms and usually the one week sch holiday is so pathetic that I'll be probably busy with sch stuff as well. And tt means going during Winter where they only sell winter products, which is kinda irrelevant to me.

Next post will talk about the places I been to....