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2 weeks ago we had the Fureai Matsuri and Open Day here in the center. It’s an annual event where people outside are invited to the center for cultural exchange program with students from various countries.

My お姉さん in the center

Tagging along with the cafe’s staffs

The forever funny Takuya-san, you won’t believe how old is him…

Among the few programs and performances presented during the day, I joined Iaido, an art of controlling the movement of sword. Though the one we used were not the real samurai sword, it’s still pretty heavy. Took us 4 weeks to practice, and I can still hardly swing the sword correctly. Needless to say, performing the “Kata“’s and forms correctly is even more challenging.

Ok, I know my slippers spoilt the pose…

A little warm up before performance

Guess I’m just too scary for her…

The little kid who wanted to join us in the performance

Very slow hor… haha. I think it is even harder for the one who was holding two cameras while recording this clip and took pictures at the same time. Special thanks to Nu-san for the help.

Til then…

Ok, I just realized I’ve abandoned this blog for a month… so hi guys, I’m back… The past few weeks were fully packed with activities and exams, and without us realizing it, the first semester is over. Let’s update:

Visit to Nara

Nara was once the capital of Japan, even before Kyoto, and the history of this city is way back in time. This year, they are celebrating the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijyo-kyo Capital.

Heijyo Palace

Deer, the symbol of the city

Whoever holding the food, you’ll get a bunch of deers “charging” at you

Celebration and performance in the palace

Kofukuji Temple

Autumn in Nara

ICA Cross Cultural Program

This is one of the cultural program organized by ICA in order for us to interact with the Japanese people and introduce our own country’s culture.

Islam, Mostafiz, me and Mario

Beauties from Vietnam

“Super-Saiya” from Thailand, Ton and Wee

Samba Dancers from Brazil

The Indonesians

The Malaysians

Raymie with his trademark jump

Myo’s Birthday Celebration

The eldest among us, yet one of the funniest…

Present for him, a father-to-be…

Our favorite pass time, Karaoke

Visit to Matsuno Lab Open Day, Kyoto University

If nothing changes, I’ll be joining this lab next year to conduct my master studies. Projects in this lab are way different from what I have back in UTM, so I guess the journey ahead won’t be easy.

Multi-agent collaboration research

Simulation and motion control of a snake robot

Multi-agent motion pattern control

Rescue robotics

SGOG Farewell Party

SGOG is another program for Japanese-learning students around the world. The program’s objective is the same as ours, except the duration of the course is only 6 weeks.

Carolina from Brazil

Hang, me and Van

Next week, new semester will be commencing, with new classmates (well, not all…) and new challenges. 3 months left before my entrance examination into Kyoto University, with most of the subjects I have never learned before. Not sure if I can survive with both the Japanese learning as well as the entrance exam preparations.  Anyway, will try my best.

Til then~~~

Time passed without us realizing, and it’s been almost three months we’re here. Everyday learning while having fun, and this time our task was to do a presentation to introduce our own country.

Sounds simple huh…???

… well, except everything must be in J.A.P.A.N.E.S.E.

Each of us was required to conduct a 5-minute speech about our country, and of course, get ready to be shot by questions in Japanese.

The handsome and pretty MC of the day…

Bon-san (Laos)

Mario-san (Indonesia)

Pen-san (Cambodia)

Nu-san (Vietnam)

Raymie-san (Brunei)

Me (Malaysia)

Myo-san (Myanmar)

Mostafiz-san (Bangladesh)

Wee-san (Thailand)

With the cute Haruka-chan and Momo-chan

The three of us…

IMC の会社員

Me and the Cambodians, Pen-san and Vutha-san

The Malaysians

Islam-san and Mostafiz-san

Ban-san in his Vietnamese traditional costume

Still don’t know why we’re asked to make this posture…

With Haruka-chan and Momo-chan again…

It was a good experience and great practice for all of us, especially when we seldom apply what we’ve learned in our class into our daily life here in Japan. Guess everyone is more confident now to converse in the language. To all my AYF batch mates, いっしょうに　がんばりましょう　！！！　:-)

Ok la I know I sound funny, don’t laugh la… Now I understand why they straightaway knew I’m a foreigner whenever I start speaking… |||-_-

The past few weeks were filled with activities and visits to various places in Osaka. One of the reasons I feel pleased to be able to participate in this program is that we have heaps of opportunities to learn and experience life in Japan, which is something that can hardly be achieved through self traveling alone.

First is the Mount Koya (高野山）, which is one of the world’s heritage as declared by UNESCO. It is located in the Wakayama prefecture at the South of Osaka and was once the headquarter of Japanese Buddhism. Lots of temples and shrines were built in this area and are still preserved til this day.

Okunoin Cemetery, a very famous historical spot for tourists

Secondly, my visit to my host family. In this program, each of us are assigned to a host family, where we get to practice our Japanese speaking skill and learn the way of living in Japan. In my case, I didn’t get to visit my host family’s house, but instead visited them at my so called “Okaasan’s” shop near Mizumatera.

My Okaasan (Right), with her friend who just wanted me to address her as Obaasan (Left)

Obaasan teaching me how to make “Otedama”, a traditional game in Japan

Visit around Mizumatera (水間寺)

The cutest member of the family…

Next, the Autumn Festival of Taijiri-Cho. This festival marks the switch of season from Summer to Autumn in Japan. In Japan tradition, change of season is actually an enjoyable moment, where people get to change their life style, new clothing, their home decoration, food, or maybe change their partner as well… , etc…

If anyone has any plan to visit Japan, personally I think this is the perfect season to be here. The sun is warm and the weather is cool. Mixing both of these gives you a very comfortable sensation when you are traveling around.

Representatives presenting flowers to the organizing committee of the festival

The cute Akachan…

Autumn is also a season when the weather is quite unpredictable and changes frequently. There is a joke proverb among Japanese people, “女心と秋の空”, which simply means female’s heart and the sky of Autumn. So how true is this…?

Til then~~~