Friday, April 25, 2014

ginseng candy

Feeling kinda like ginseng candy now. You know it's good for your health, and you try to eat it convincing yourself of its benefits, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste. You imagine it's like candy but with a different flavour. After awhile, the bitterness will fade away.

Maybe I need to start picking up the habit of eating more sweet stuff... like these chocolate flakes I got from Amsterdam. It's the first time I've seen or eaten anything like this. I guess It's kinda like Nutella but instead of creamy it's shaved chocolate sprinkles. I find that if you spread butter over first, it enhances the chocolatey taste.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

framing it

I've had the joy of getting out a bit more lately thanks to spring!


No more heavy down jackets, though it can get a little chilly in the evenings. But at least I can explore more freely and get other colours into the picture other than my usual green jacket >.<

Monday, April 07, 2014

of spring birthdays

I had meant to share a little more about the blessed birthday celebrations I've had this year, but since it coincided with some sad news from home, I decided to lie low for awhile. I haven't even logged into FB to reply back to all my friends who wished me happy birthday.

I was just thinking 8 March is significant not only personally it's my birthday (yay!), but also it's International Women's Day. 6 years ago, I missed the election tsunami that almost overturned the ruling party and this year even though I'm away I have been following closely the baffling case of the missing MH370.

So in the meantime I made collages of the various birthday cakes, presents and makan-makan throughout March, as a way to immortalise those special moments. Lots have happened last month, starting with the ski trip, me recovering in time for my birthday, and then just before I could enjoy the gifts had to go off on a business trip, then came back for more treats.


Of course March also signifies the end of winter as the weather gets a little warmer. Even McD's is celebrating spring with their special sakura fizzy drink, and sakura burger special menu. I have not tried the cherry blossom burger but apparently the bun is fluffy pinkish and sakura flavoured, while the patty is topped with creamy pink sakura mayo!

Friday, April 04, 2014

birthday and white day, yes again

春は大好きな季節です。私の誕生日で、天気はまだ寒かったのに、だんだん温かくなします。













去年と今年も、神様の恵みに本当に有難うございます。

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

skiing in kannabe p2

Even though the ski trip was a month ago, the friends I made during that trip still say hello sometimes when we bump into each other at the corridor. 2 of the ladies are friends of Aino-chan, and another is a sister of one of the 2. The rest of us are from the IT department, and Leon who was on business trip got invited because he happened to be in Kansai that time.


I have difficulty remembering Japanese names, but better at faces, because of the long syllables! But I must say, I remember Malaysians better because there is so much variety - we are of different ethnicities, colours and personalities that it makes it easier. In a homogeneous country like Japan, I sometimes have to meet a person twice to remember the face, and speak more often to have the name stick.


The other day, I happened to take the same train back as one of the ladies. Usually Japanese are shy and a little hesitant to open up and be close during the first few encounters. So I've gotten used to this somewhat seemingly cold reception living here (of course there are exceptions).

As we started chatting on the way, I remembered she was a China-born Korean, but we both spoke Japanese to each other. She started offering me some snacks as it was way past dinner time (eating in trains is a no-no in Japan), and started asking rather personal questions like my rental and such (apparently this kind of questions is common in Kansai!). She also asked if it was too late for me to go back to cook for my husband.

In my tiredness, I thought I had misheard, or my Japanese was not good enough to capture her question. When I tried to clarify, she said Aino-chan had told her I was married. I responded that I didn't even know I was married!

The things you hear about yourself sometimes from seemingly strangers @.@. I wonder how Aino-chan got that impression, or how that piece of information got passed around. I forget sometimes I'm a foreigner and possibly a novelty still to my Japanese colleagues.