Japan - Part 1

Kiyomizu Temple

I finally managed to recuperate from my holiday to start blogging again. I was dead tired, arriving back home at about 11pm on Saturday. I slept from 1 a.m. Sunday till 2.30pm! I crawled out of bed and made myself go out of the house to look for dinner. A few of you have been asking me when will I be posting and I told myself I'm going to do it today. My living room is still filled with the stuff I bought and the clothing I have yet to send for laundry! Ha ha....

Well, Japan was good and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Arriving on the first day with just about a good 2 hour sleep, we were all whisked off to Osaka Castle. The sights were wonderful and the air cool and breezy. I had actually brought a little journal book to record my daily activities there but I lost it on the 2nd day when I left it behind upon checking out into the next hotel. Or who knows, maybe when I'm through unpacking, I will probably find it tucked in some corner hopefully. So much for my attempt, thank goodness it was just a new pad, not one filled with my life stories!

We had Sam from our previous tour leading us again together with the local guide, George Lim, affectionately known as Joji. Joji's Singaporean but speaks fluent Japanese (decided to put it to good use by being a tour guide in Japan!). Sam of course is ever so wonderfully entertaining with his rendition of Thai, Chinese, Malay, Hindi, English and Japanese songs! They made us feel at home though we were in a foreign land. It my entire 8 years of Premier Club trips, they were the best team I have had come across. When filling out the survery forms, all of us had nothing but good words for them. I will be posting more on my trip to Japan in the next few days. I took quite a fair bit of photos (about 150 plus) or that's what I thought till I spoke to Karen E. She took about 400 plus!!!!!

I bought my fair share of Grape sweets, snack food and souvenirs. Their packaging is so lovely that it entices you to just buy them. Of course, what stops me (sometimes) is the lack of luggage space! Ha ha ....Just look at them! Oh! What about those plastic food displays that they have that are realistic enough to make one salivate? As usual, food was the highlight of the trip. Well, apart from the cutesy and high tech stuff, that is. We went round taking pics of those display too!

It was a pity Mrs Pitt arrived in Tokyo on the day I left for Narita or else we could have met up for awhile. I do like Japan and will definitely have fond memories of my trip there. I don't mind making another visit in the future. Life as a tourist is always good!

This photo is courtesy of Karen E.

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
~ Elbert Hubbard

Creating Pictures

I will only be blogging again in a week's time as I will be off to Japan tonight. It will be the first break in my blog posting since starting back in Feb. As of now, I have started to pack but I'm not done with it yet.

K and I figured that we are probably the only two there who know who Yutaka is and our mission is to find him! Ha Ha ... Well, er, maybe not find, but to be on the lookout. Lyn and I said that if we come across Harajuku and see anyone dancing in the streets/park, we'll join in! I think I just want to do something crazy when I'm in Japan, so as to create some memories for me to take home. Jen reminded me, not that I forgot, but now it's constantly in my head. We should not only be literally taking pictures when the occasion calls for it but we can actually create pictures within us, creating memories that we can have as long as we live. We create the pictures by not holding back and just doing exactly what we want that picture to be, and memories are its prints.

I can't imagine going through life, denying myself of that pleasure and the spontaneity of it all. Happiness is within me, I will not allow others to tell me that I'm insane, I will not let others dictate and be in control of my happiness. I've learnt through experience (cried enough, angered enough, frustrated enough) that you have got to numb yourself to the rest of the world sometimes and just go ahead and do what you want to do and BE HAPPY. Now, that's what I call "Living Life"! See you all in a weeks' time! O ya sumi nasai (good night).

Memories from Central Park, NY. That's me, the one with the folded jeans.
Photo courtesy of Holymookie.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~ Danny Kaye

Packing & Unpacking

I need to start packing my clothes for my trip to Japan. Before that, I need to clear up some clutter in my house before I can start my house mini makeover. It's usually around this time that I find myself extremely busy, running last minute errands and doing things that I've been procrastinating for awhile. Just that being out of the country for a certain period pushes one to tie up unfinish business. As much as I look forward to the trip, I actually dread packing for my trip and the same goes for unpacking!

One of my unpacking sessions. Take note of the Advil on the bottom right corner. It's my wonder drug. I never travel without it!

It takes a lot of effort on my part, LOL! Usually packing to a destination is a Level 2 difficulty and unpacking when I reach home is the same. A Level 3 would be packing from the destination after buying all those souvenirs, food stuff and clothing. You will then realise that you need another bag to pack all of your stuff now. It can turn into a Level 4 if I try to be smart and attempt to pack all my newly acquired stuff together into the one bag I came in, only to discover that I have no room for my clothes! Then, I will have to empty it and start packing all over again! Of course, it always end with me sitting on top of my luggage bag while I get my sis/mom/friend to assist in locking my bag! Ha ha .... But chances are I usually end up coming back with an extra bag!

I have a feeling that I would not be able to resist all those cute and high tech stuff from Japan and will probably encounter a Level 4 when it's time for me to come back!

Happy April Fools Day to everyone, by the way.

Holidays are fun, enjoying ourselves in a foreign land
But wait till you get home, and find a woman in bed with your man!
With dishes piling up in the sink, you come back to a house that stinks
No wonder we remain single rather than to wear that ring!
- wmw -