do you think it's true?

Have you ever thought of how important you are in this world? well, i never coz i don't know how important i am to such a big world...but just now, when i sit in front of my computer, i found tat to some ppl, i may be very important...but to some ppl, i don't have much impact on their lives....we may be have a great impact on the lives of our family members, close friends and mayb for a little while to your colleagues & ur boss..but sometimes, we are just nothing to some ppl...how sad is tat? i have a friend whom we used to be very very close...and now, we don't keep in touch...a part of me felt sad coz i know i don't mean anything to this close friend of mine and life still goes on without me....i guess this also means the end of our "fate" (缘已尽)...i just felt sad coz we used to be so closed, but now, it's just two strangers walking towards different directions...all i could say is, human relationship is so fragile...one moment, you could be best friends, and the next moment, you become strangers....luckily we are given a family which we will have unconditional and lasting relationships...till death do we part :') God is fair afterall~~

pain of house moving

i moved two weeks ago...ya...AGAIN...this is the 4th time i moved in my short 3.5 yrs in HK...it's really a pain to pack, move, unpack, pack, move, unpack etc etc every few months...and fyi, in one or two months time from now, i have to move AGAIN...sigh...now, have to look for a place to stay...hopefully i could find a place that i could stay permanently :( poor me...but now, i have become an expert in moving...hahaha...no la, i still have a lot of junks w me...i cleared some out this time but it was still alot...

Here are two pics of my old place before and during packing...FYI, my old place was sparkling clean after i moved :)

This is after all the things are nicely arranged in the living room of my new place...my sis went crazy when she saw the number of boxes i have...and a friend couldnt stop laughing when the friend saw the whole moving in process...i couldnt stop laughing too...but now, i cleared all these in my tiny teeny little room...i couldnt stop admiring how expert i am in arranging my stuff..heheheh

SUPERLICIOUS

Suddenly thought of an idea.....i always LOVE mcD...even back in M'sia, sometimes i had craving for McD and we would just go and have McD for lunch despite how delicious other food are in Kuching~~~Around the world, McD custom-make a lot of flavours to suit the taste of local ppl...in korea, they have kimchi burger, in Malaysia, we have Satay burger (wonder when curry burger could be available or should it belong to India? :p), in Japan, they have terriyaki burger...that's when i decide to have McD burgers whenever i go to a new country...^^ good idea? YES!!!

I wanted to start this "adventure" the last time i was in Japan....but because there were too many temptations (imagine the really really fresh sashimi, sushi, beef, bbq etc etc) that i didnt really leave myself a chance to enjoy the local flavoured burger...until the very very last day before i was due for airport bus....during the last 10 mins, i ran all the way from my hotel to the nearest McD...all the names in the menu are in Japanese...luckily i could read most of them...so i quickly ordered TWO terriyaki beef burgers and at the last minute, i decided to throw in a Katsu Pork burger (Japanese fried pork burger with cheese)...and i ran back to the hotel...phew...i was in time...i proudly told my colleagues that finally, i got the terriyaki burgers we were always talking abt...then my colleague was a bit puzzled..coz he thought it is only served after 8pm...i got a bit worried...so i checked..Oh MY Oh My...instead of getting two terriyaki burgers, i got TWO BIG MACs instead...crap...

luckily i had this to compensate..it was SUPERLICIOUS ^^ SLUuuuRPpppppp

thoughtful Japan

Having been in Japan for so long..i found that they are quite considerate...and sometimes too thoughtful that it seems so unnecessary...there was one day when i was walking to office, i noticed that there were a lot of metal drain bar protectors on the ground...hhmm..not sure how to call it...anyway, the protectors have holes in between of each bar and someone thoughtfully put rubber caps on the holes so that ladies with high heels would not be stucked, or coins will not be dropped into the drain etc etc etc....didnt take a picture of that thing...SAYANG...anyway, i have something more interesting to share...this normal looking thing is found in toilet...and it has a speaker if u look at it closely...oh well, the first time when i was there, i read the Kanji (ie the chinese characters) on the notice...it sounds like bla bla bla save water bla bla bla..so i thought, oh, you can save water by pressing on it...and what is weird is that it makes a lot of noise...i heard a lot of ladies pressing it, so i just followed...and it says, it will just take 12 seconds...so my steps go like this...first, i enter the cubicle, close the door, do my business and then press the button...when the sound finishes in 12 secs, i flush and leave....so this has been going on for 6 freaking weeks until the 2nd time when i visit....

I was chatting w my japanese colleague about how unncessary some of the things in japan are...and he agreed w me...then suddenly, i thought of asking him abt the thing...so i did...he told me that actually in Japan, a lot of ladies don't like other people to hear the sound of "water" when they relieve themselves, that's why the incredibly intelligent japanese develop the device to try to cover the NOISE...which also means tat i have always done it wrong coz i only pressed after or during my business....WALIAO WEI...i just couldnt believe it....u rather hear bbzzzzzzz than the water sound? what are they thinking? ok, don't laugh at me...u try reading the sign and see if you could really figure out tat this is the main purpose...hehehe :)

My personal space

This is my office room....u see, i have a lot of cats on my desk and wall...hehehe..the kitties on the table are the lucky cats i bought in Japan...and i got the cat postcard from Kyoto...the two pink and green postcards are the pictures hang on the wall in the Tokyo hotel...the rest are my work values, calendar etc....forgot to take a picture of my view...while sitting in my room, i can see Hong Kong island...well, i told jenn that i missed having breakfast in the restaurant in tokyo coz i could see mt fuji while having my breakfast..she asked me not to be too sad, coz i have HK Island view...yeah..tat's right..how come i have forgotten that :) thanks jenn for cheering me up ^^ I like cat so much tat even my wallpaper is a kitten...cute ler ^^

To my dearest friend ^^

Just last week, i saw this post from Kennysia that a bf proposed to his gf over the video and on internet...to me, this is an interesting way to propose, but i think it would be much more fun if it was done face to face :) just this morning, i received a very good news from my friend (ahem, u know who you are)....just last week, she told me that she will be going on vacation with her bf for her birthday...she imagined abt the beach, about the sunset, about the air, the coconut trees etc...and i told her, oh, so romantic, who knows, he might propose to you...well, this friend of mine is quite happy to be the way things are right now :) marriage is just out of her mind...oh well, that's totally understandable..afterall, we are in the 21st century already...anyway, during the vacation, they went swimming, cycling, candle-light dinner, cake blowing and just basically enjoying each other's companionship when he POPPED the question...

CONGRATULATIONS my dear friend...this post is dedicated to you but i won't reveal who you are as the good news should be told to the world by you...i just felt so HAPPY for you that i wanted to share w my friends :) another friend of mine will join the marriage club...how wonderful it is...you will get to wake up beside him to see his face, you will enjoy his companionship everyday and night...don't be afraid abt the cons of marriage...this is only the reality but surely, we are adults, we will be able to handle it ^^ go on to arrange your wedding pictures and dinners liao... let's CELEBRATE \(^^)/

Jane today is not the same as yesterday

today's jane is very very different from the jane last time....not that i have a complete make-over, not that i have a new personality (in fact, i'm still the nice and kind jane all of you know since x yrs ago *BLUSH*)....it's just that, i'm different now...you might wonder what i mean...let me tell you the story (in indian accent ^^)...the story begins when i no longer work for EY....

The effect of all of these...........

Equal to this.....this is the new me~~~~ :(

my japanese friend

i met a japanese friend while i was in kyoto few weeks ago...i was climbing the stairs while i bumped into him....it was love at first sight and looked like a typical japanese....

it was a cat ^^ i have a thing for cat mah...tat day, while i was exhausted from climbing, i stopped to rest...i could see a really nice lake and the blue blue sky..i took a deep breath..then i saw this cat lying on the ground...i went over and went "meow meow meow" and it meowed back..so i started playing with it....isnt him adorable? looks like a typical japanese 招财猫...

Need your vote

Help me decide...i've made two headings for my blog..but both look so nice that i dono which one to use *BLUSH*...please vote which one u like the best^^

Lost in translation

just a few months ago, i posted a post about the complicated subway route in Korea...but that, i got on well...this time, in japan, i really really felt the complication and how easily one would get lost there...Japan is not big, but the subway lines are the world's most complicated subway lines...(Actually i think NY's subway is not tat easy...that's coz they don have a clear map like korea, HK and Japan)...oh well, to say how complicated it is doesnt mean anything...let's take a look at the picture below...this pic hasnt shown all of the lines available..most of them are still missing~~i guess the most difficult thing abt travelling in japan is most of the things are in Japanese and even they have it in Kanji (ie 汉字）, i still found it difficult coz on the website, the names will be in alphabets and they are totally different in Japanese :( i remember one day in kyoto, i wanted to go to "inari station" and i looked up and down on the map and couldnt find it...so i had to ask a passerby...inari station is 稻荷station...who could ever figure out????

drama in hk

i have only been in hk for about 3 yrs...and already, i have seen 3 dramas in hk... recent drama it was a lazy monday today...public holiday in hk...we were out for lunch and then for coffee n cake at inter-continental hotel, overlooking HK island...after such heavy dessert session, we decided to walk home....after 30 mins walk...finally, we reached home...wahh..so relieved coz all of us were pee tight and we needed to save fire.... when we were abt to go up the buidling, we were stopped by the guard...he said we cant go up, there was a fire!! we looked at each other..huh? what? my sis's first reaction was which floor...the guard said eleven...we were even more worried coz it is my sis floor..my sis asked which unit? the guard didnt know..she insisted of going up...not becoz it might be her unit but becoz she needed to go to a class in 45 mins time...so we climbed the stairs...a lot of ppl were evacuating and only the three of us were heading upwards...they must be thinking what got into these NUTS...hahaha... anyway, when we were abt to rush into the main corridor when the black smoke came out and it smelled like plastic...oh gosh....it looked serious...apparently some dumb ass threw the burnt incense into the rubbish bin in the rubbish dump room without putting them off...and the whole rubbish bin was on fire!!! but looking at the brightside...there were a couple of handsome firemen in uniform...when he took off his mask and helmet, all of us melted and forgot wat happened....he even escotted us to the apartment (i almost died of suffocation in the corridor...i didnt know how serious it could be)....my sis regretted for not pretending to faint while running to the apartment...hahaha....

previous encounters first incident back in 2006....i was taking the train bek from sz and just in the cart where i was in, there was a guy who accidentally knocked on a litle gal's head and she started crying..so the mum got angry and scolded the guy loudly...he kept apologizing but the mum kept scolding...the guy started to get pissed...he had already been apologizing for a millionth time and the stupid lady still kept on naggain...even i myself felt like slapping her hard on her cheeks..SHUT UP LADY, JUST SHUT UP WILL YA??? he was just saying something bek which i totally understood...then the dad got mad this time and Started to get involved too (what an unreasonable pair of b*ast*rds...they are made for each other) he wanted to beat the guy up...the train was full of ppl...then the passerby started to get involved too...some said yeah, fight outside...some said the guy already said sorry, what more do you want? bla bla bla....anyway, the train couldnt run because of the chaos..crap...this is the 1st time i found out how bored life is in hk...

2nd incident back in 2007...i was in the tram abt to get home from causewaybay...the tram was again, full of ppl...i was quite happy tat day coz i just got my new PSP and i wanted to go home and try it out...but just after one station, the tram suddenly stopped and didnt budge...after a few minutes, all Started to wonder what is going on...Then we saw a few policemen ran to our direction...saying that someone in the tram lost his wallet and nobody was allowed to leave the tram...so all of us were trapped in the tram in a HOT day for 30 mins!!! in between there was a lot of drama going on...some ppl started to yell impatiently, some started to make funny comments again........ other incident...back in 2007, while i was taking mtr back home, in the train, i suddenly felt dizzy and wanted to vomit...so i quickly ran to the nearest rubbish bin at the next stop...no half disgested food came out, just some slimmy hot thingie on my fingers...it was dark so i didnt know wat it was...so i took a tissue out and wiped my fingers...weird colour too coz it was brownish...so i took a closer look...OMG OMG...it was blood...so my friend suggested me to go to the nearest clinic to check it out...he said i might die from it...OMG, it was already 9pm, who the hell is still open at this hour???!! so we quickly jumped in the next train...in the train, i suddenly felt weak and dizzy and couldnt stand on my feet...i needed to sit down but nobody was giving me their seat..so i clinged on my friend...he was obviously worried...we got off after 2 stations and straight away when i came out, i collapsed on the floor...passed out...a kind passerby came to help me and called the ambulance...yup, i was carried away by the parametrics in the mtr station and i was in ICU for 2 days...i had lung x ray, tummy scan and hourly checked at night....turned out, i vomitted to hard and hurt my tummy :p oh well, i think my stay in hk was quite "fruitful" so far...hahahah..full of adventures...u know, it only is an adventure if everything is ok...

有惊无险

last night, i was still in my dream land when suddenly my hotel phone rang...i was scared by the ringing tone and quickly picked up...hoping that something bad did not happen...i thought it was jenn...i picked up and the person from the other line told me..."do you know that there is an earth quake now? the windows are shaking.." it was my colleague...oh gosh, is it? i put on the speaker and started to get out from my bed...i thought i am drunk coz i could feel the building swaying...i made my way to the window and opened the curtain...i looked down the streets and saw cars moving as usual, ppl walking as usual...hhMmmm? was it earthquake or was it a false alarm? but i could definitely feel the whole building might collapse!!!??? oh dear, what should i do...my colleague was talking on the phone and asked me not to go back to sleep yet just in case we need to evacuate...i said ok and when back to my bed...i guess i was just too tired to move...while i was lying on my bed, suddenly, there was a female voice, coming out from nowhere...i was again scared by the sudden noise...it was from a centralised speaker...the lady said something in japanese...i lied on my bed, trying to guess what she was saying...is she asking us to run or what? then after 2 mins, she translated wat she said earlier...she said "attention pls, attention pls, there was an earthquake. Pls don worry." then after 5 mins, same thing happen...again, i was thinking...oh dear, what's next? oooh, turned out it was an announcement to say the building is now safe...*phew*

the funny thing is my colleague actually got changed to a nicer clothes and went to the lift and found tat there was nobody outside and he thought everyone had escaped~~~the lifts didnt work so he went back to his room...we all laughed at him after that coz 1> he was the only one trying to escape...ie 怕死 2> during earthquake, he even had the time to get changed!!! haha..his rationale is if he had to die, he wanted to die with pride coz there definitely would be reporters around to take photos and there would be billions of ppl who might see him on the newspaper

for some of my colleagues, they didnt even know that it was earthquake and some didnt even hear the announcement (nan ni -> AKA WHAT?) and for me, i knew it was earthquake but i just went bek to sleep...because i knew, i was on the top floor and there was nowhere for me to escape...but while i was lying on my bed, i couldnt keep myself from thinking, would it be painful to be under concrete? how would ppl find me? shld i keep my mobile phone close to me just in case? a lot of thoughts flooded in my mind...but i guess this was something i couldnt control..if it was destined to happen, it would happen....

Just this morning (9/5) at 743am, there was another small quake...gosh, i think it's time for us to flee...i don wanna die in japan eventhough i really like japan....here's a little news from CNN...

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Japan early Thursday, the national Meteorological Agency said, waking up people 100 miles away in Tokyo. Two people suffered minor injuries from falling furniture, public television broadcaster NHK reported. An 18-year-old man was hit when his stereo speakers fell onto his bed, and a 25-year-old man was hit by objects rattled off shelves. There were no other immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 6.8 earthquake, NHK said. No tsunami warning was issued. The earthquake occurred at 1:45 a.m. offshore at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 100 miles northeast of Tokyo. A second quake with a magnitude of 5.3 struck the same area about 30 minutes later, and more aftershocks could follow, Tamotsu Aketagawa, an official who monitors earthquakes for the country's Meteorological Agency, told The Associated Press. "Since it was a very large-scale earthquake, we would expect to see some modest aftershocks," he said. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it sits atop four tectonic plates. Tokyo has not been hit by a major quake since 1923, when 140,000 people died in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

my little adventure in kyoto

this is my little cozy "hotel" in kyoto..it's in a huuUUuuge temple...love it...love the setting, love the futon, love the colours, love the smell ^^ love the peacefulness, love the place, love the area...just love it..ahhh...life is so beautiful~~~

明知故犯

was strolling around in sydney airport the other day and i came across this sign...isnt it funny how ppl put tat sign up and yet, underneath the sign, u see a lot of "culprits" under it...hhmm...so contradictory...sometimes, i think human just never learn...ppl put up disclaimers all the time but never do we digest it...it's just in and out immediately...tsk tsk tsk...this is what i call "bo tak chek" (AKA uneducated)...it doesnt mean tat literally..just tat no matter how educated we are, we just never read signs properly and take it personally...when would we learn, i wonder??!!

Talking abt unrelated stuff, again, while i was strolling in and out of the shops at the airport, a sales gal came to me and spoke to me in korean...i looked at her blankly and said, i'm only browsing...in english of coz....immediately, she apologized to me...i thought, geezzz, do i look like korean? while i was waiting at the gate, a japanese gal came to me and asked me something in Japanese...again, i looked at her blankly and told her that i don't speak japanese...she apologized to me and walked away...i was asking myself in my mind, geeezzz, do i look like japanese? when i was in kuching, one day i was strolling in the cosmetic section, the sales gal asked me where i'm from..i told her, i'm local..she was a bit taken aback and said, well, i thought u are from China...*sweat* and one time when i went out with my friends at night, we were stopped by the police at the roadside...and i was the only one being asked for my IC among the 5 of us...WHY WHY WHY? now my question is, DO I REALLY LOOK SO FOREIGN?

Shinkansen

Took me a LOOoooong time to upload another video....it was my first time taking shinkansen (AKA bullet train) in japan...and i found the difference in speed...this video was taken while i was in the bullet train and it was fast..yeah, the view was like the scenery from japanese cartoon...except cartoon is nicer :) nevertheless it's beautiful~~~i will try to upload another video on local train..then u know wat im talking abt ^^

P/S: LJ, u are very efficient..i havent finished my blog and i got a comment already..keep it coming ^^

geisha hunt

there is a special area in kyoto calls GION that has a lot of Geisha...i have been in Japan for 8 weeks already and im ashamed to say, i havent seen a real geisha...ya, seen a few before...on movies...hahaha...oh well, so as not to be so "sua gu" (translation: 乡巴佬）, i made a plan to visit the area...so i took a train, walked a bit, took the bus and arrived at Gion...it was a nice area, with a lot of temples and shrines (PS: kyoto is full of temples and shrines...each meter u walk, u will see one...honestly, after a while, u just get tired of it and won't wanna see anymore of it)...it was a HUUuuuge area and i walked and walked and walked and finally, i came to an alley....which looked like a traditional japanese street....so i turned in and saw on both of my sides, a lot of japanese restaurants, with Geisha posters at the entrance...i walked for hours in that area and it was quite disappointing, coz after hours of effort, no geisha spotted...when i was abt to give up...suddenly, there was one pretty geisha walking pass me...i was soOOOooo excited...I quickly took my camera out coz i wanted to take pic as sourvenir...but i was too shy to take openly..so i took a pic of the back of the geisha...i thought it's a sign that i shld go bek to the street..so i turned and walked back to the famous street...and guess what? another geisha passed by me...and again, i was too shy so i used the zoom function to take pics of her..and again...it didnt seem to work quite well...

so i decided to see them with my own eyes..i guess this should be enough..but still, i was determined to get a pic of at least one geisha..so i waited and waited and waited....when i was abt to give up...again...suddenly i saw a lot of ppl standing outside a restaurant..so curiosity took over me and i went and joined the fun (or crowd)...I stood there like an idiot, not knowing wat to anticipate!!!??? then just after abt 10 mins, there were two very beautiful and expensive geisha coming out from the entrance, with an obviously very rich OLD guy...so i got excited and walked closer to take pic...then this fierce looking guy came towards my direction and shooed me away...crap!!! but i managed to take a few pics...i saw this western guy getting very excited over geisha..obviously he watched the movie too..he just took the pics of these ladies right in their face...wah..so open???!! you know what? actually, geisha is not easy to spot there also...need to wait and depending on ur luck, u might not see one at all...then after me pacing up and down, i saw one coming towards my direction, so i ditched my shyness and just acted like the ang mo and took the pics of the geisha right in front of her...she looked happy though, to receive the attention...

somehow i felt a reporter...coz you have to pace up and down the street, waiting for geisha to come out while you get your camera ready...gosh..it's tough job but i see geisha with my own eyes and taken a lot of pics ^^ (^^)y success!!!

• this is my first attempt and the motivation for me to walk back to the street to spot more geishas

• this is the fierce looking man who tried to shoo me away for taking pictures....this is like a scene from the movie...the guy must be rich...but old :p

• After pretending to be reporter for a while..finally, i dare to take a pic of the geisha right in front of her face...they are all very pretty ^^ now i also finally understand the underlying meaning of 一白遮三丑 (fairness covers all the ugliness) ^^