middle of the night

It is the middle of the week and I am already hoping for weekends to come. Everyday is like a routine, going to work, coming home and waiting for the next day to start. Luckily, I will be getting my alien card in the weekends, which means I will be able to set up a bank account, hopefully.

typhoon

First time experiencing typhoon. Luckily i'm at home. Well, how to say, very strong wind and rain. Hopefully tomorrow it gets better. Before coming to Japan and even before taking up Japanese, I told myself never to spend a single cent and master Japanese. Now after taking 2 classes and buying more and more textbooks, I can tell everyone that not spending a single cent to learn Japanese is virtually impossible. Anyway, hopefully I do not spend too much money buying books and rather more time studying it. My girlfriend says my English sucks. Hopefully, the English that is appearing in this blog from now on will be better.

First meal

Hey, first time I cooked something for myself in Japan. It is simple but filling and still have remainder for tomorrow's lunch. Want to know the technology level of arcade centers in Japan. You will be amazed. Well for a start, the basic drums, keyboard, dj and guitar games are still around. Also some of the old fighting games are still around such as the street fighter series. New games that can't be found in Singapore or other places are fighting games that original from Japanese manga or comic books. There is like about 4 or 5 of those kinds around and look kinda fun. Sometimes there are tornament held such as Initial D, the last time I saw in singapore. Here, there is a big screen in the middle of about 8 consoles and it shows occasional battles from on of the consoles. The games are Tekkan 5 and Gandam something. Just thought that it is cool. For Wenjie, remember typing of the dead, they have the keyboard here. Only problem is the words are in romaji which is not easy to type at all. Other than non betting video games, there is still another section of betting video games and another section of pachinko. Will not go into pachinko today as I had not tried that one. Saw some people play the betting video games and I tell you, it is really crazy. Firstly, for Clifton, there is a champion football game that looks really cool. You buy cards of players and place them on a board and they location are detected. You can move around the players to place them at the desired location and during game play you can shift the player's location and also change players just by sliding the cards on the board. Check out the website:www.wccf.jp. Other than this, there is also games for boxing and kingdom army strategy game that resembles this kind of play. Next, there is also an RPG kind of game where the coins you deposit will add up to the life that your character has. You will move around the dungeon to collect items to help you in your quest and fight creatures. Also, items can be obtained for your character to equip and to become stronger. The game looks like it can be pretty money intensive. Other than all these, there is alot of ufo catcher games and when i say alot, i mean a whole floor of them. If you still do not know what are ufo catcher games, they are those where you move your claws around inside a glass box and try to catch or scoop up sweets or soft toys, these seem to be a big favourite here. Anyways, I think I have said too much. Keep you guys updated on more stuffs happening here.

weekend

Hey, back from a fun weekend and not ready to start work. Well, Jeff came back from osaka and kyoto and told me about all the fun that he had, makes me want to visit those places if i could find the time. Basically, we met up with Sanae on Saturday and explored parts of Ikebukuro. Nice shopping area, very suitable for Carol. I'm pretty sure of that. On sunday, we went down to Ginza as Jeff wanted to see some art galleries. Somehow we were not really able to find alot but the place is pretty cool. They had the main road sealed off for people to walk and somehow during that time, Tokyo doesn't seem so crowded at all. There are some people walking their dogs, photographers shooting pictures and people relaxing and strolling. Most interesting thing is within that one place, many things can be seen going on at once. Did not bring my camera with me but I sure will the next time I go. This is a place I will recommend to Lucian. Most of the shops around are expensive boutiques. Not much of a buying stuff place but of a seeing place. Highly recommended by ME. haha. Well, Jeff is leaving for L.A today and it's going to be boring days for me again. Keep you guys updated if any interesting things happen...

Hey people. First time I write my blog in the office before people come in. Well, update on current situation. First of all, I am still a tourist visa status. Hopefully everything will be settled soon.

one week break

Hey guys, after disappearing for one week, here I am back again. Basically this one week holiday was pretty eventful. I went for one of the best fireworks display, beach with friends, visited a temple and tokyo tower. Jeff came over from the USA to visit us and i'm to bring him round to meet other mutual Japanese friends and also to see the place. The fireworks display was the best I had seen in my life so far. Guess how long is it, 1 hr and 30mins. Unbelieveable right. First time I am able to snap picture and enjoy the fireworks, really rewarding. It isn't really that dark at tokyo tower, that is just one of the effects, but the view is fantastic too. Too bad the clouds was pretty thick that day so didn't get the see fuji mountain. Got a nice tan at the beach but it's all peeling off. The temple I went to is Sen sou ji, didn't take any photos there and I will definitely go there again. Guess it's time I post some pictures up.

Same thing as usual althought there will be a holiday from thursday onwards for about a week. In that time most probably will not be able to update my blog. Just to let you guys know in case you guys are checking for updates. haha. Anyway, I don't think I have so much fans yet. So far there are no comments. Anyway, I have a friend that is going to be in the area, so will probably bring him around and at the same time tour the place myself. Hopefully the both of us will not get lost. That's the plan for the next few days until i'm back to work. My gf is complaining that I did not mention her in the blog so get ready to hear more about her from now on.

Want to know the difference in prices from a big shopping center and a discount shop. 3000 yen to 150yen. Well, quality has yet to be compared but at the big shopping center, that is the cheapest I can find. At least now I know where to look for my stuffs. Well, guess the thing new about this place is not only the culture but also about living myself. Without a roommate,things are really different. Things are getting on smoothly so far because I open up my wallet flaps a little more. Guess some stuffs that has to be bought has to be bought. Maybe think of it like open up the strings more so that I could save in the future. Weird concept but it works, at least for food. Looking at the pictures in carol's website reminded me of the fun times the group of Singaporeans had when I was in Tucson. Kinda wanna go back and join them. Well, Japan is fun too, I could feel the energy, life, history and culture behind the city which I had yet to explore. Lots of time, for now, settle down.

Thinking back, this is the first time I had been staying alone for about 10 days. What happened before was I was either with my family or friends, not reallyin a house where I was alone. So far things are going fine. I have sort ofa cozy place with the things that I need. Groceries enough to last me for a short while, still alive and kicking. Anyways, slept alot today. Tonight,got to do some important things like studying and such. Till later.

Well this is a message to my family and anyone who doesn't know. I do not needtissue paper at all. They are giving out so many in the streets I thinkthat if i collect them all, I might not even need to buy toilet paper.I should be able to use them for months and months. Also another thingthey give out in the streets other than phamplets are fans. The fans are like the plastic ones they have during national day but these really comes inhandy during the hot summer nowadays. Well, today basically spend about 1000 yen plus at an internet cafe catching up with some friends and my gf online and searchingfor more information about japan. Think it's quite expensive but i don't knowbecause I had never been to one either in Singapore or in U.S.A. Anyway,it's so good seeing old friends and able to talk on skype and downloadingall the stuffs that I need. I think I might be going to the internet cafe onceevery 2 weeks until my internet is set up, kinda like the environment there.Most people there are actually mainly to read manga and the price is the same. Today also is the day where I bought groceries. Wanted to buy knife but the place doesn't sell, so didn't bought meat in the end. Anyway, I got rice enough to eat for about a month or so, depending on how much I eat nowadays which hasdropped since I went back to singapore. Might not be able to eat as much as the timeI was with clifton. haha. Tomorrow will be going out with neighbours to getsome of the rest of the things that I need. See ya guys.

A very sleepy day. Trying to keep awake during training class, luckily, I already knowall that is taught, only now it's really fresh in the head. Doing well inclasses, which give me time to try to advance faster than the rest, and at the same time catch up on my japanese. First time doing laundry here, thedetergent cost about the same in usa, only reduced in size, at the rate thesegoes, I better start to find another part time job soon. Anyways, leave thethinking till next time. Tomorrow is an early day...

Things are more or less on the way but not settled. Still need to wait for the school to send me my certificate of graduation and with that, i could do tons more things. Anywayz, I didn't write yesterday because I went out todrink with my old friends from usa,Take and Grant and a new friend i met here.Well, all of us ended up drunk and I had to carry my friend home. Well,kinda first experience for me, carrying someone accross the streets full ofpeople, riding the trains and also dragging him all the way back home. It's kind fun in a way as we get to talked to people who we normally will not talk toAt the bar, got to know a friendly group of people beside. At the station,we met an american guy who came over and ask if we are alright. Turned outthat he's from U of A. kinda cool huh. Then next on the train talked withan elementary school teacher. Anyways, it's an experience. For today, thingsare as per normal. Met up with kenya, u of a japanese friend. Went out to eat,had fun. Guess that's about it. got to sleeeep..soooooon...

first day

The first day of training. Met the people, go through the orientation, listened to the lectures(50-80% in) and walked round shibuya area. Didn'texpect the company to be pretty big. Prospects looks good although the problem now is the language. Guess I will be here for quite some time.Met people from other places in the world working in the same company. Most of them are at a later stage of training but it is fun to talk to themand see how they cope with the life and stuffs.