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Yesterday we had our first trip to explore the Osaka City. The whole batch was divided into 3 groups, each went to different parts of the city to accomplish some tasks. As for my group, our destination was the Osaka Castle.

At Rinku Town Station

Water front view near the castle

Somehow similar to Singapore’s

Will definitely come to this spot again during autumn

In front of the castle gate

Leftover skin of insect

A historical spot in the center of the city

Arrival at the castle

Posers…

View at the top of the castle

Our task was to get photo of this – the “Shachihoko”, guardian of the castle

Miniature model of Japan war era

In front of Osaka Museum

After accomplishing the task, we proceed to Osaka shopping paradise. One of the famous spot is the Den Den Town, which is famous for electronic gadgets and appliances.

Who dares to step into this shop ???

Notice something missing ???

Frankly speaking, one day is just not enough for us to explore the whole city. There are still so many interesting places in this city which I yet to visit. Without hesitation, I managed to get myself another one day pass yesterday at the station. Now in the process of planning my next trip there.

Til then~~~

In a blink of the eye, my first week ended with lots of joy and excitement. The class has started and few events had been going on throughout the week.

Classroom

Group lecture and discussion room

As advised by our AYF 14th-batch seniors, 7 months of training over here is just too short, so make use of every moment we have as meaningful as possible. My first shopping at Rinku Town with fellow  AYF 15th-batch mates:

Me and Raymie, our papa of 15th-batch

The Seacle

Rinku Premium Outlet, lots of branded clothes here

Err guys, we are supposedly not allowed to take photos there, but who cares…haha

Taijiri Town visit with fellow AYF 15th batch

Morning market

This town is famous of producing sweet onions, so they actually build an Onion Sanctuary here

Kasuga Shrine, the biggest shrine in the town

One of the temples in Taijiri Town

Tatami room – Visit to the cultural museum

Not sure if I’m doing “seeza” (proper sitting method) correctly

Our very friendly tour guides – otoosan, okaasan and Yamakawa-san

Orientation with 14th-batch sempai’s (seniors)

(from left) Sue, Siew Fang, me and Karen, AYF Malaysia 14th & 15th batch reunited

Our kawaii (cute) Nagai Sensei (teacher)

The handsome Kurihara Sensei…

… and the pretty Izumimoto Sensei

BIG FAMILY – Reunion of AYF 14th and 15th batch

One of the things I realized is that the teachers here in Japan have very good sense of responsibility and close relationship with students under their care. Some of the sempai’s actually told us that their professors took really good care of them and arrange most of the things nicely, making their master course study here more convenient. In fact, our sensei’s and staffs here actually join us in the karaoke session til night !!!

Karaoke session with the sempai’s

Our funny and crazy sempai’s

Cha-cha dance… ??!!

Sempai’s teaching us their “Nobody” dance, guess we have to come up with our batch dance as well

Unfortunately, we are being told that this will be The Final Batch of AYF Students. Due to some budget restrictions and political changes in Japan, the government decided to end this 15-year training program. It is a sad truth indeed, but there’s nothing we can do bout it. So all we can do now is to appreciate every moment we have here and continue the spirit of AYF.

Til then…

Yesterday whole day busy doing registration and orientation, and we’re taken on a tour around the campus.

Hostel tower

Classroom and office block

Cafeteria exterior view

Main hall

Right beside the front entrance

Library entrance

Hostel front desk

Book store… postcard, anyone?

Laundry

Kitchen

Fitness room

Karaoke room… too bad my kara not OK~~~

Chatting lounge

The most convenient mode of transport

Supermarket near the institute

Looks familiar…?

Set lunch

Everything is so good, at least for the moment, and I’m getting used to the food and currency here… class will be starting soon, so will update later on.

Til then…

Dear Dad, Mum, Sis, Dear, pals, friends, ladies, gentlemen, kids… After 6.5 hours flight, I’ve landed safely at Kansai International Airport.

Soraya and me, both participants from Malaysia

My first impression on Kansai is, “WOW”… Things are very different here, as if I’ve just stepped into a whole new world. Everything’s so systematic and arranged. Back then, all these are just TV shows for me… but now, I am actually inside of it.

My training center

If you’re thinking this is simply just another university or what, well, I think you might be surprised. What we’ve known as hotel grade accommodations back there, are just hostel grade accommodations here, which really makes me feel like having a long vacation here.

Vincent: “lan si la you, stay hotel for training ar…?”

Each participants is granted a personal single room equipped with TV, radio,  LAN connection hub, phone, bathroom, free weekly room clean up service and air-cond (thank god, it’s freaking hot out there right now… summer average temperature 35 degrees).

The main attraction in my room is of course, the window view:

Osaka Bay

In fact, we’re not the only bunch of trainees here. The institute is conducting several other language training programs at the same time as well, with participants from different countries around the world.

Cafeteria

Food menu

My first lunch in Japan, spaghetti and green tea… sounds weird huh? European food in Japan?

Jacky u’re right, I found one near my institute

At the moment only both of us are here, while the other participants will be arriving tomorrow. Class will be commencing this Wednesday, and I’ve yet to prepare for my first language test and research proposal … Will cherish every moment I have staying over here for the next 7 months and will update as often as I can.

So, stay tuned…

Let’s recap:

3 weeks ago…

1) Outing with XH and YL, whole day KL trip, went to The Curve for movie, Manjalara for steamboat (but ended up sesat jalan), Kepong for Korean BBQ dinner, Look Out Point at Ampang, had a pint of Hoegarden at Solaris. Unplanned schedule which turned out to be more relaxing and enjoyful… thank you pals.

2) Searched for info for research proposal.

3) Rushed to complete Japanese language homework.

4) Applied for visa.

2 weeks ago…

1) Went back UTM again to get my certs certified, had a nice chat with my ex-project supervisor, got some insight with the life of an academician.

2) Dear came back all the way from Singapore to meet me, feel touched and get to discover and resolved something which both of us thought we lack in the relationship. The two days in KL was memorable. Dear, I love you…

Last week…

1) Went out for lunch with YL, she looks old in her formal wear… haha

2) Went out for lunch and movie with Kim, felt sorry to make her feel bad on what I said. I’m sorry…

3) Went out for dinner with YS, YW, Vincent, Toh, CheeMun, Lisa, Chris Ang and Harish. All registered under the list of “Calvin, when you come back, bring us Japan XXX”. |||-_-

3) YSGoh came all the way from Penang to meet WKLee and me, went for movie and dinner… talked alot on work, which made me really excited to start working.

4) 2nd aunt called to inform she won’t be sending me off, scared she can’t control her tears in the airport, she cried in the phone that even mum didn’t. Got a few good luck messages from my cousins. Thank you all.

Today…

1) Went for brunch (breakfast + lunch) with family, then went for last minute shopping.

2) I know mum is not feeling good these few days, I know she feels like crying… but she kept controlling herself not to, coz she probably knows I doesn’t like seeing people around me crying because of me.

3) Dad probably feels the same way too, he didn’t talk much today, just gave me some advices to take good care of myself when I reached there. And… he gave me something which almost made me drop into tears — a small piece of family photo, which he has kept inside his wallet for years.

4) Sis bought me a waist pack. Since morning mum has been talking a lot, sis just told me one sentence, “I won’t talk much, I believe in you and I know you can take good care of yourself over there”… very inspiring to hear such words from my sis.

Tonight 11:45pm, I’ll be leaving to Japan…

Sorry for being M.I.A. for so many days, was having troubles logging into my blog account and busy packing. Frankly speaking, I’m still not really prepared for this.

Let see:

Clothes and jacket

Cultural costume (Batik)

Formal suit and blazer

Shoes and sandals

Toiletries

Camera and charger

Medicine pack

Spare specs

Passport and visa

Flight tickets

Offer letter and documents

Japanese language homework

Recommendation letter

Transcript and certs

Hard disc

Handphone and charger

Undergraduate final year thesis

Research reference books

Lots of souvenirs (which occupied most of the luggage space)

Malaysia presentation material (suddenly become Malaysia tourism promoter)

Laptop

Stationery

Universal adapter

Photos (should I bring these?)

Money (anyone kind enough to sponsor me?)

Research proposal (haih, the biggest problem to me…anyone with any idea…?)

TOEFL result reports (why still haven’t reached me?)

TOTAL WEIGHT :-  25 KG

Just nice, but critical, I can’t really trust my house’s weighting machine 100%. Anything else to add in, or to be reduced…?