hello again

it's been 20 days since i last blogged.

oh dear, time passes so quickly.

i apologise for my lack of updates, over the past few weeks i have settled more or less into a routine.
finally.

weather has been steadily getting warmer.
now when i cycle to school i can actually sweat.
temperature in the day is 23-25 degrees and at night goes to about 18-20 degrees.

also i play soccer quite regularly here.
training starts at 6.30 and ends at 8.40 like that, training everyday except monday.
so since i teach english on thursdays, ususally i only go on tues wed and fri.
sat if i can wake up cos it's training at 9.
sunday they have league match so i go and watch when i can.
so far they have had a good campaign.
unbeaten run of 5-2, 0-0, 8-0, 4-0
quite imba actually.

because of soccer i come back quite late though and that means that i have to use my time efficiently.
i reach back about 8.50.
need to order and finish dinner by 9.30 at the canteen, then they will wash dishes for you.
anytime after 9.30 have to wash yourself.
then i go up and eat an orange and drink a yoghurt drink.
10 pm is ST.
st stands for study time for japs,
and (my version) shower time for non japs.
so no japs in the bath at that time.
prime time to bathe.

after taht, finish about 10.30 and i try to sleep by 1 am.
so that means 2.5 hour to do everything else so i can get enough sleep.

this wednesday i am going to a j-league game.....in saitama.
haha.

i anyhow buy ticket. so now got to travel OUT of tokyo to go to watch the game.
hope we don't get lost.
i will try to take pictures and update what happens then.

now is time to sleep.

38 golden week chronicles part 1

golden week is over and it's back to school tomorrow

what did i do over golden week?
not so much but still some.

friday it started and i was glad that there were no lessons that day.
i generally chilled at home. morning went to kick football in school and rest of the day was just a well-deserved break from my usual hectic schedule(haha).

saturday is go to yokohama.
there is really man mountain man ocean. cos of golden week i guess.
we went to chinatown

people people everywhere

everywhere people people

so in yokohama it's basically a port town place, and the other main thing there is the chinatown.

look familiar?

but chinatown was just ok for me, super commercialised as expected and anyway i think i am chinese enough liao.
we had lunch at this chinese dish buffet place.
pay 1980 yen and u can order anything from the menu any quantity. and the menu got 136 dishes to choose from. but is golden week so price become 2480, my friends din know about the price hike :(
so we eat loh. eat until super full haha.

order anything u want

after that we go to the portside of this yokohama place. at first my friends were saying can see the sea. and i thought, "oh, beach? cool!" but turns out is just like psa in singapore. chey.

the port

after that we go to take train to some other happening part of yokohama. there were many things to see there. the shopping centre was HUGE (but didn't get to explore. my jap friends basically lead the way and i just snap away).

super size shopping centre

out of the shopping centre, we went to the nearby amusement park, but did not sit any rides. just looked around. there were many pretty lights there.
and further beyond that was a the cup noodle museum which we did not go to and also another building called the red brick building or something. there was  german beerfest going on and there were tonnes of people there too. but......we didn't buy or try anything, just looked around. haha.

this is the red brick building(if that's what it's called)

and this is the amusement park

pretty lightsssssss

and the beerfest at the red brick building

so after all that walking around, we eventually headed home. lotsa walking that day, and lotsa money spent....on taking the trains. doh. haha. my budget for last week blown cos of the past few days.
will write about day 2 and 3 tmr.

oh and new furniture came to the dorm on this day!

say hello to NEW SOFAS

now i sleep on the sofas cos they are more comfortable than my bed. hahaha
no la.

day 37 : golden week begins

this year golden week is  3-6 may.
that means that there is a massive holiday for tonnes of japanese from friday(today) until next monday.

usually i have free day from sat to tuesday.
plus golden week, that would give me one additional day to travel.
hence i finally decided on visiting hiroshima because i thought it would be interesting.
only thing: I CAN'T GO.
because of golden week, all the hostel all filled up.
NO SPACE.
haiz.
such a let down.
guess i'll be hanging around my area abit then.

still, having seen some of hiroshima on the net, i will go in future.
currently my list of things to do and see in japan include:

watch a j league soccer match
go to a concert
visit a castle
climb a mountain
go to ghibli museum
go to hiroshima and stay a few days
go northern japan(haven't decided where yet) and stay a few days
see an old town
go to a forest
see a beach

like that so far.
if got more i will add or if got suggestion, please let me know.

been joining the soccer training the past few days. as a result, my toes have not been very happy

ouchie

got blisters on my feet cos of the training...haha. but it is ok, i think maybe too long never play this hard...
will be resting the next few days cos of golden week. my muscles also pain haha, so need to recover.

i've been cooking the past few days cos i thought i should clear my stock before golden week comes in case i'm not around during the period(turns out no need of course) and my food turns bad.
so here is a sample of what i cook. it is hard to take pictures of me actually cooking, and asking a friend to take picture of me is a bit silly. so i can only show my ingredients and the transformation.

first i take some vegetables and mushrooms

and then some pork strips

and then i make MAGIC

like real.
no la, i chop up my vege and stir fry whatever i have.
the oil recently ran out, so i have been using an unclaimed butter to fry.
haha.
what i really get is this.

close enough