my journey

Umihotaru Of Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line

2012-02-12T01:22:00.004+09:00

The final stop we made during the tour was to Umihotaru (海ほたる), literally means "sea firefly". It is an artificial island at the bridge-tunnel crossover of Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, which connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture and the city of Kisarazu in Chiba prefecture. Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line has an overall length of 14 kilometers, which includes a 4.4 kilometer bridge and 9.6

Visiting The Largest Buddha Statue In Japan

2012-02-10T22:44:00.004+09:00

The tour of the Chiba Kun Ambassadors continued after we had a wonderful time picking strawberries in Tateyama and treated to a sumptuous lunch at Banya. The next destination took us to Mount Nokogiri (鋸山), a low mountain on the Bōsō Peninsular. The mountain got its name from its characteristic sawtoothed profile of a Japanese saw, nokogiri (鋸). During the Edo period, this mountain used to be a

Strawberry Picking At Tateyama

2012-02-08T10:14:00.002+09:00

After visiting the cool mak cik bunga at Minamiboso, we hopped onto the bus to head to the second stop. However, an unexpected trouble occurred. Everyone was already inside the bus but after ten minutes or so, the bus still didn't move. We saw the driver went down and opened one of the compartments behind the bus. Some of us joked that our bus broke down, but we told ourselves that it

Breathtaking Flower Fields Of Minamiboso

2012-02-06T14:05:00.008+09:00

The 100-kilometer journey from Chiba city (Point A) to Minamiboso city (Point B) in the southern region of Chiba prefecture. Chiba prefecture spans from the southern region of Kanto and spans over the hilly Boso Peninsular (房総半島), a rice farming region in the east coast. Plains and hills account for most of the land area in Chiba prefecture, and it is the only prefecture in Japan which

Thank You For The Memories, MSAJ

2012-01-28T02:02:00.051+09:00

"Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness" Harold Samuel Kushner I consider myself lucky to be able to be part of the family of MSAJ (Malaysian Students' Association in Japan). I prefer to call it this way, instead of using the rather heavier terms such as "excos" or "committee members", simply because that is how I see ourselves in

Keong Hee Huat Chye

2012-01-25T01:11:00.002+09:00

"Woah you bathed from the old year till the new year hor?" Kai Cung, my housemateon CNY Eve Just because I entered the shower room before midnight and it was already 12:07 when I came out haha! A Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Just in case you are wondering what the title above means, it says it's "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Hokkien. "Gong Xi" or "Keong Hee" basically means "wishing you",

A Return To Love

2012-01-21T11:59:00.009+09:00

"Mom warded. 6am came to ER. Asked Cheryl drive to emergency. BP very high. 200 up, 103 down. But got down a bit dy" Mom's text messageat 16:20 hours, January 9, 2012 My only thought was to hop onto the plane and reach my hometown as soon as possible. To receive a news about your Dad being warded in the hospital due to some health complications is enough to make you worried. A few days

My New Apple iPhone 4S

2012-01-10T14:59:00.010+09:00

"Hey, you are still using a normal phone, eh?" Most frequent comment I used to getwhenever I take out my phone from my pocket So guys, I finally decided to change to an abnormal phone. I just got my new Apple iPhone 4S a couple of days ago. It was released in Japan about three months ago, but I'm not a fan of joining the crazy people who would line up overnight, waiting for the release of the

Two Weeks As A Postman

2012-01-07T13:46:00.009+09:00

"郵便物はお客様の身になって丁寧に扱いましょう" Mihama branch post officedaily newsletter "Treat the customers postal items and mails as your own, by handling them with care." While people were busy enjoying their ski trips, that was how I spent my winter break this time. Many months ago, Japan Post sent out recruitment postcards to hire part-timers to help them in sorting and delivering out letters and New

New Year Party 2012

2012-01-05T01:20:00.004+09:00

Every now and then, a senior of mine, Crystal will have party at her place. I think by now, those who has been following my blog should have notice several parties we had at her place in the past. Everyone, which means the juniors will usually join her family for the whole day, beginning from the food preparation right until the end, when we usually will stay until nine or ten at night chit

Ushering The New Year The Japanese Way

2012-01-01T23:23:00.005+09:00

"Wow, you guys really celebrate the New Year throughout the whole year huh? I bet it must be very busy for you guys lol!" Fujinuki Yusuke a Japanese friend reacting after knowinghow often we have festivals in Malaysia First of all, a Happy New Year 2012 to everyone, as we step into another brand new year! Talking about New Year's Eve, the common things that cross over our mind are usually

Kena Put Airplane By The Minister

2011-12-31T01:04:00.005+09:00

Not once, but we kena put airplane twice in one night hahaha! So, the story goes like this. A group of Malaysian students in Tokyo were invited to attend a majlis ramah mesra, which in simple words, dinner with one of the Cabinet minister on Christmas Eve recently. However, there were no roast turkey or gingerbread on the night, because our dinner was authentic Malaysian food at Rasa

Malaysian Night 2011

2011-12-16T01:58:00.005+09:00

The stylish poster of Malaysian Night 2011. The Malaysian Students' Association in Japan (MSAJ) had one of its biggest event of the year - "Malaysian Night 2011" recently at Komaba International House in Tokyo. This event has become an annual year-ending event in MSAJ calendar for the past several years; however this is only my first time attending it and at the same time, being involved as

Play, Pray, Probe Around Chiba City

2011-12-05T19:24:00.005+09:00

It was completely an impromptu plan to explore the city last weekend. My initial plan was to have a short and simple photography outing, as I tried to look for some photo-shots of the autumn foliage around few major spots in the city. Equipped with a mamachari, a term which refers to a very familiar kind of bike in Japan ("mama" means mom and "chari" means bicycle), it make the exploration

Inage Lights Festival 2011

2011-12-01T20:28:00.000+09:00

This magnificent main hall of Inage Sengen Jinja was build in the year 808, more than 1,200 years ago. Inage Sengen Jinja is a beautiful Shinto shrine which sits on top of a hill near the place I am currently living. This shrine centered around the worship of the kami of volcanoes in general, and Mount Fuji in particular. There are two main annual festivals held around this historical

Kabuki At National Theatre Of Japan

2011-11-27T01:30:00.004+09:00

National Theatre of Japan, the venue I saw my first every kabuki theatre. Another must-see Japanese scene has been ticked off my list. I received a call right at the middle of one night from my senior, who told me she had a couple of extra tickets to watch a kabuki theatre on the next day. It was kinda last minute thing and she asked me if I was interested to join her to see it. I hesitated

Rasa Malaysia At Chiba University Festival 2011

2011-11-22T13:58:00.005+09:00

Stole Lat's comic (without permission) to promote our "Rasa Malaysia" stall in the pamphlet. One of the thing I look forward most during my life as a university student is doing stuff only students get to do while they still have the qualification to be called a student. Does the long and twisting sentence above make any sense in the first place haha! Autumn is the season of maple leaves.

Meeting A Loyal Reader In Tokyo

2011-11-20T00:46:00.005+09:00

Three weeks ago, someone sent a message to my Facebook inbox, telling me she was coming to Tokyo. This "someone" is one of my blog reader who calls herself the "loyal reader". She sounded super excited, well probably because it's gonna be the first time in her life she will be meeting-up with me step her foot on Tokyo. Since she has made all the way from Osaka, she asked me if I would like

Kevin Turns Eleven

2011-11-17T00:15:00.015+09:00

"Otanjobi omedeou, Kevin!" How fast time flies. I know that sounds cliché; anyway a year has passed by since I went over to my senior's place to celebrate his son's birthday. Last weekend, I joined several other friends for Kevin's birthday party at my senior's apartment in Tokyo, a place we can now safely call it our headquarters haha! The reason is because every few months, we will have

Narita Yume Bokujo

2011-11-15T10:02:00.007+09:00

The signboard showing the direction of the final stop of our second tour of Chiba Kun Ambassadors. Narita Yume Bokujo (成田ゆめ牧場) or Narita Dream Dairy Farm is a tourist ranch located in Narita city of Chiba prefecture. It is one of the most successful ranches in Japan which put a strong emphasise that they would try to create as many possibilities as possible for the visitors to do in the

Inoh Tadataka Museum & "Little Edo" Of Sawara

2011-11-09T12:44:00.005+09:00

Inoh Tadataka Museum in Sawara. The next stop we made was the Inoh Tadataka Museum in Sawara. So, who is Mr Inoh, you might ask. Inoh Tadataka is credited to be the person for completing the first map of Japan, created using modern surveying techniques. Before Inoh Tadataka left for Edo (Tokyo now) aged 50, he worked in Sawara as the headman of the village administration and managed the

Katori Shrine Of Katori City

2011-11-02T12:53:00.003+09:00

The torii (鳥居) of Katori Shrine (香取神宮). The second tour of the Chiba Kun Ambassadors project was held over the last weekend. This time, we were taken to tour Katori city, a city in the northern region of Chiba prefecture, approximately 50 kilometers from Chiba city. There were three new faces who joined us for the first time, besides the familiar faces we saw during the first tour. That

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum

2011-10-27T00:09:00.004+09:00

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum is approximately five to ten minutes by foot from Shin-Yokohama Station. Ramen, which consists of noodle and rich soup, has continued to evolve uniquely in Japan although it was originally introduced from China. It has now earned as much popularity as another traditional Japanese dish - sushi, that is widely loved not only by the locals, but also non-Japanese

Fukuoka In Twenty-Four Hours

2011-10-22T00:15:00.006+09:00

I was recently in Kyushu as part of the delegation from the Ministry of Youth & Sports to watch the 2012 London Olympics men's football qualifying match between Japan and Malaysia. As it was my first time to Kyushu, I was eager to spend more time there. I took that chance to extend my time there for another day, so that I could perhaps visit at least several interesting places around Fukuoka

When Young Samurai Meet Young Tigers

2011-10-17T13:21:00.004+09:00

One of the most memorable achievements the Malaysia national football team has ever achieved was qualifying for 1972 Munich Olympics. The team got the Olympics ticket after beating Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Philippines en route. Although they managed to defeat the United States 3-0, they could not make it to the next round as they lost the other two matches 0-3 and 0-6 to West Germany