The reason => it snowed.

Sounds lame? Well, maybe… but it is rare to snow here around Osaka area during winter. Even if it snows, it’d be like just 10 minutes or something.

But yesterday was different…

View from my room

We’re here…!!!

Continuous shot of snow kicking while getting “hammered” from the back… Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Snow “baseball” shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Shot 4

AYF circle…

Raymie and I

It was a great day having fun, and luckily it came before our program ends… Well, at least one of my dreams in Japan came true.

Hiroshima Castle

Okonomiyaki-making class, one of the famous Japanese cuisines

My work

In front of the Atomic-Bomb Dome

This is the only building which is closest to the point-zero of the atomic bomb detonation that remains till today

Tales of a miracle child – Sadako

Atomic-Bomb Monument

Miniature structure of the bombing of Hiroshima

The red ball on top was where the bomb detonated, a 4000 degrees Celsius fireball

300 meter above ground that flattened the whole city…

The rebuilt Hiroshima City

Illumination along the night street

Just like in dreamland…

Photo frame…???

On ferry to Miyajima Island

Itsukushima Shrine, the shrine above the sea

Hands-on learning to make Momiji-Manju, a famous local food

Our group… Oo-san, Nu-san and me

Oysters, another famous local food

The best oyster I’ve ever tried… fresh, juicy and sweet… yum yum…

Hiroshima is the symbol of peace and end of warfare in Japan as it was the first city in the world to suffer the blast of atomic bomb. Back then, people thought that it was impossible to rebuild the city anymore due to the radiation of radioactive wave. But yet on that day, we stood on a city which has the mixture of world class modern facilities and traditional history. People of Hiroshima didn’t gave up on hope to reclaim their land, and endured much to get to where they are now.

Sometimes, things that cannot be done alone, can be done together…

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…

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~~~

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… |||-_-

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~~~

Arrival at Haneda Airport, Tokyo

The first 2 days of our trip was planned by the institute personnel, where we got to visit the Asakusa Sensoji Temple, Edo Tokyo Museum, Imperial Palace, Panasonic Center and University of Tokyo. Generally, personal transportation vehicles are not required as there are heaps of trains and subways to get you to every corner of the city.

Raimon of the Asakusa Sensoji Temple

A shrine for hand wash to cleanse oneself

Me and Raymie

Edo Tokyo Museum

Kabuki, a stage performance presented solely by males

In front of the Imperial Palace

Too bad we’re not allowed to enter…

Visit to Panasonic Center, Odaiba

A place displaying all the high tech gadgets and latest products of Panasonic that can never be found anywhere around the world. Too bad photo shooting is prohibited in the center…

View from Aqua City, Odaiba

Rainbow Bridge and miniature Statue of Liberty

Visit to University of Tokyo, the dream university of every Japanese student

Being the oldest and top university of Japan, most of the buildings have long history and sometimes it feels a bit creepy when you are staying alone here. The library gave me the “Hogwards” feel in Harry Potter, where you can actually experience similar design and decoration around the building.

Dinner with AYF seniors, big family…

Once again AYF Malaysia reunited

Tsukiji, one of the world’s largest fish trading market, handling over 2,000 tonnes of marine products per day

“The art of slicing”…???

No sushi or sashimi is comparable to these freshly made in Tsukiji

Tokyo Game Show 2010, the gamers’  arena

Beauties and the Beast

Anime cosplay, a popular teenagers’ trend in Japan

Akihabara, the electronic gadgets heaven in Tokyo

Shinjuku, where different cultures mixed

The famous crossroad at Shibuya

Hachiko the faithful dog

This is a story about a dog which waited his master here at this spot for 9 years despite after his master’s death. The monument is built as a token of gratitude for the loyalty and faithfulness of the dog to his master.

The Autumn Festival in Shibuya

Harajuku, Japan’s most extreme teenage culture and fashion spot.

Visit to Tokyo Tower

This is actually the old tower, with a height of about 300 meters. A new tower is currently under construction and is expected to reach a height of about 600 meters !!!

Night view of Tokyo City

Ginza, the high end shopping street that will dry up your wallet in no time...

Tiffany

BVLGARI

Cartier

Chanel

LV

These are just a few examples. In fact, the street is full of branded fashion goods’ flagship. A shopping heaven for those who don’t know where to spend their money.

Returning to Osaka with Shinkansen a.k.a the “Bullet” train

There are basically 3 types of Shinkansen, Nozomi (fastest), followed by Hikari and Kodama. Of course, the speed of the train is proportional to the ticket fee…

Everyone’s tired after 5 days in Tokyo

Mario and Wee, the classical moment…

Generally, Tokyo is a nice place to visit, but not a good place for long term living. Life here is so hectic and you can see the crowd rushing here and there all the time. Lots of entertainments, but everything here is much more expensive as compared to other places in Japan. So why is there still almost 10% of the Japan population being located here…?

Career opportunity. Most of the big companies’ headquarters are located here in Tokyo. In the Japanese working society, being transferred from branch office to the headquarter is actually a promotion and great advancement in one’s career life. In some cases, one will actually bring his/her family along with the reallocation. But in most cases, one would have to be separated from his/her family due to the inconvenience. Well, guess there are always negative elements behind the positive ones.

Til then~~~

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for centuries, during the Shogun era before Tokyo. It is a place full of Japanese history and mixture between the old and new. Too bad I didn’t have enough time to explore around during my visit there.

Come to think of it, I have been going through quite some troubles for the past few months in search for the suitable university to pursue my master degree. Applied a few different universities, got rejected, search again, applied, got rejected again… bla bla bla… and finally found one that willing to accept this pity me.

However, this is not the time to relax yet:

1) The application status for master course scholarship is still uncertain. No money = no talk.

2) I have to take an entrance examination in this university on February 2011. The main obstacle now is, everything will be conducted in Japanese.

3) Among the 6 topics of the exam, I’ve only learned ONE of them during my bachelor degree.

Kyoto University has been famous for offering most of the courses in Japanese Language, which is one of the main reasons foreign students seldom favor it. Some people asked me why choose this university when I can actually apply for other universities with international course being conducted in English instead. Well I guess it depends on individuals.

Firstly, I wanted to master this language, if not mastering it, at least able to use it flexibly. 7 months here in this language training center will never be enough for me. It is hopefully that this master course can help me achieving my objective here in Japan.

Secondly, I once told myself that if I am not going to do it, I won’t even start it at the first place. But if I am determined to do it, then at least I want to be in one of the best.

My future is still uncertain, all I can do now is to start preparing for the entrance exam next year. Hopefully everything will be fine.