My 21st Year as a human

Birthday cake Birthday Girls Fukuoka Tower w/ bday girl


Drinking Buddies Sushi restaurant


Today is my 21st birthday. No surprise cakes, no midnight countdown, just me and my Japanese homework (listening to a Jpop song and taking down the lyrics), and "One Love" by Arashi.

Peiying called me to greet me Happy Birthday... I didn't recognize her sweet voice, hehe, paiseh.

Then woke up and dressed up a lil bit in my better clothes among the few I brought here. Usual sweltering hot weather, disparaging JL class, super funny J-pop culture class. Then, MC, PY, YunnQing and Wawa and I went to a Kaiten Sushi Restaurant MC's prof recommended. The sushi was good, and price was reasonable. I left with a super full stomach and my wallet short of $6.20.

Then wandered around in Tenjin (shopping district in Fukuoka, Japan) and entered a super expensive mall, boldly windowshopped in Prada store and asked for the price of a bag, which was about 800 USD. It wasn't even pretty >_<|||

Tried to get to Fukuoka Tower to meet WeiWen and KeLan who had their birthdays yesterday and this friday respectively to get free admission to the observation deck and free birthday cake.
Waited for sunset in the deck, to be efficient, started doing homework for JL class...

The cake were two disappointing slices of fruit cake and we had to pay $3 for entering the cafe after 6pm...Rushed back to meet up with my drinking buddies at the dorm...was late for more than half an hour due to miscalculation of time, traffic jam, lack of stamina to run 1km, etc...mainly my stupidity and carelessness...

So, dear drinking buddies (Meichen, Bobby and Jobi) who had to wait more than an hour for a drink...I am the worst bday girl ever...

After waiting for another two drinking buddies who were lost on the wrong platform (Nikki and Nina), we went to a nearby bar/restaurant to eat the bday cake my host okaasan gave and have a drink to celebrate. We had colorful fruit wine, lime, peach, lemon, apple, and oolong tea ^__^
I had a great time chatting to all my drinking buddies.

Returned home to see lovely orchids and necklace from my Okaasan, touched till wordless, haha.

Thanks a great bunch for being there with me for my 21st bday.

A volcanic getaway - Mt Aso

For our first weekend in Japan, we decided to go to Mount Aso (Meichen's idea) after finding a reasonable package. USD 175 (roundtrip train tix, 1 night accomodation in a hotspring resort, dinner and breakfast included).

The resort was beautiful with dome shaped rooms. I feel like a hobbit, living in Frodo's Uncle Bilbo's house, ^__^. Since it was cloudy, we can't go visit the volcano crater...so we walked around our resort.


The resort is called Aso Farm Village, with an attached strawberry farm (greenhouse with rows of strawberry trees in pots) and mushroom farm (a chilly room with fungi growing from
cheese-like rectangular medium). There are many souvenir and health food stores which offer free food tasting ^___^ hehehe...so we were half full before lunch time. Three of us shared 2 bowls of ramen for lunch...it's about USD 14, cheaper than AA jap food.

Then we went for a health inducing sauna spa thingy, which means baking us in a hellish hot room for 50 minutes. We heard crying kids who came with their parents before which I napped most of the 50 minutes...but it felt great getting out of the hot pot room.

Then we went for our dinner in a Japanese restaurant. The exotic food was truly surprising. Cold steamed egg with seafood, cold prawn seafood jelly, sashimi, bitter wine-cooked fish, sushi and veggie tempura, soup, rice and mandarin orange sorbet for desert. Our table were full with all the dishes but we hardly finished half of it. We decided that we shall never say that we love Japanese food without a second thought... but it was a truly eye-opening experience.

We intended to go to the hot spring after dinner but the all-naked policy in the hot spring was a big STOP sign for Peiying and Meichen and I have no intention of going in alone...so we went back to our dome and watched Japanese TV (a program in which contestants have to make 3 guests laugh in 50 seconds) which we didn't understand but found interesting...

The next day, our wishes written on the Tanabata bamboo tree came true. It was finally cloudless and we could go to the volcano crater to sightsee ^__^. The mountain terrains were really scenic but it was super windy and my hair is messed up in all the photos =_=||| It was really cold in the mountains, as opposed to what we three expected the temperature near a volcano were to be. There were hawkers selling shining stones and sulfur from the volcano.


Then we went to the volcano museum which was small and slightly boring...but the attached music box museum was really cool, we saw the first music box from German, the music was played by a huge rotating disc with tiny portruding metal points struck by a piano-like metal structure. The melody was beautiful. I was really tempted to buy a music box from Switzerland which plays Canon so beautifully, it was more than USD 200...wish I could learn how to play it on the piano...

On our way home, we stopped by a local shrine which looked really deserted and saw some old folks playing a wooden ball golf thingy...they were really friendly and didn't seem to mind us intruders ^__^

Then we went back to our dorm...

First Time in Japan

After arriving in Tokyo Narita Airport last Saturday afternoon, this is me, Peiying and Meichen's 6th day in Japan.

Mei Chen and I are assigned to Cour de Reve, a dormitory in Ijiri, Fukuoka for 4 weeks before moving to our host family for home stay program. The ryoobo (dorm mother) is really kind and the dorm food (breakfast and dinner) are simply delicious despite the omnipresent rice. Our rooms are very compact and well furnished, a bed with a thin mattress, internet, a small fridge, a toilet complete with bathtub and an air-con !('0') I love my room. One downside though, is that the dorm is 45-50 minutes away from our classes...

Peiying is placed in another dorm, nearer to our campus, 30 minutes away by foot. Condition, yet to be investigated, but Peiying loves it ^__^

Our classes, my 802 Food and Agricultural Economics of Japan is slightly slow in pace, as usual, I am dozing off in class occasionally...but MC and PY's 801 Modern Japan in the Pacific Times or sth has a great reputation of being cool and fun.

Japanese language classes, for us are very challenging, endless vocabulary to be remembered and for me, search in the dictionary...

Wondering if I should get an electronic dictionary... $230 like that for a sharp, got traveller's dictionary for Spanish, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Korean; Oxford English-Japanese dictionary, Japanese dictionary etc...I hate the fact that it's powered by AAA batteries...can't they make them like ipods and mp3s that run on USB power or sth ???

Met my host parents today, they are super super friendly people !!! So kind that they overwhelmed the three of us ^__^ I am really really thankful to be placed as their host student.
They also gave me a huge box of Japanese snacks to share with my friends. Delicious but not as delicious as Hueyshann's pineapple tarts (as noted by Peiying)

Got to go research on our weekend getaway...where to go ah???

Besides, I think the clothes and shoes here are overpriced, overly laced, too flowery, too expensive, too 'auntie', and the shoes only got S, M, and L sizes =___=

So, nothing to kill my wallet yet...