my 7 seconds of fame

At the end of the winter term, an email went out to the students asking if we would like to appear in a spot TV show called "O-i, Nippon! (Hello Japan!)". They required us to say something about Niigata and what we liked about the prefecture.

I signed up for it, and wondered what it would be like to appear on TV. The NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)staff came over one sunny afternoon in the beginning of spring and we went to the soccer field beside the dorms to do the recording. Weather was fine, but we were all nervously memorising our lines and trying to look good for the TV.

About a month ago, our PR Officer informed us about the schedule of the TV spots. There were about 9 of us, and we had 2 slots each on the prefectural station and national station. I was so excited about it and wanted to have a recording of it. But NHK mentioned that they would not be providing us a copy of it. What the...? But this is probably my only chance at fame

We weren't familiar with the TV here, and there was no proper recording equipment around to do it as well. One friend even suggested using a digicam to record ourselves while we watch TV! So in the end, we pestered begged the PR Officer to help us get a copy. She came back and informed us that the NHK director has kindly offered to send us a DVD that he personally recorded.

This is the page where they put up everyone's faces, try to spot the rest of the IUJ'ers.

I actually wrote a paragraph of things to say, but had to cut it down to 1 line since we only had about 7 seconds each. But if I'm not mistaken, this was probably what I said : 季節によって違いますが、色々な顔を持っている新潟が大好きです！

tagged again?

Don't know why but I suddenly remembered that I owe Loky a post since he has tagged me.

I've probably done some other tags before, but I suppose doing this will either give people an excuse to say I'm weird or have them tell me I'm the most unique person they've ever met. Heh. But then again, we're all unique and have our own quirks.

The rule of the tag is as such :
"People who are tagged should write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

I sometimes think I'm not good at following rules, so instead of the word "weird", I'm going to use "quirk". :D Quirks have no order, they will be written as they pop up in my head.

Quirk #1

I love my presents so much that I sometimes re-wrap them and open them again, just to extend the delight. And if I really really like the packaging, especially the handmade ones, I keep them. Well, I guess one of my top love languages is gift (giving/receiving?). It's not like I have only one or two gifts that I do this to make myself feel like I have more gifts. This is a "ritual" I find myself doing for Christmas and my birthday every year, since university days.

Quirk #2
Sometimes to pass time, I count. Like if I'm waiting at the reception, I start counting the number of tiles on the floor, the big ones that is. Or when I wash my face, I count the number of times I splash water to left side of the face. The same goes for the middle and the right side. It's not like there's a cleansing ritual I go through, but the counting just comes. Or when I'm boiling water and want to decide when it's hot enough, I count, say up to 20, before I switch the stove off.

Quirk #3
I sneeze 8 times. Don't ask me why, but yes, this is another thing I count too. So happened there was a period I had bad sinus and I realised everytime I sneeze, I sneeze many times continuously. Since my birthday is on the 8th and I kinda like 8 as a number, I decided to check if I sneeze 8 times. And although I don't think I consciously stop or continue until the 8th a-choo, I find that when I'm done with 8 successive sneezes, I'm ok again.

Quirk #4
I have this thing jutting out at my feet. On the part of the foot facing inwards, where its relatively straight for others, mine points out and goes back in. I'm not sure what part of the foot that is, but I think it's the sesemoid bone. Apparently I inherited it from my granpa Wong. That's why I can't wear a lot of shoes properly, especially those closed ones. Court shoes, mary-janes and all those kill my feet!

Quirk #5
...

Quirk #6
...


I decided I ain't that weird after all, heh. Nah, I realised I was taking such a long time doing this that I decided to stop at #4. Besides I started this post 2 weeks ago! So many things have since happened and I decided to focus on other things as well.

Which reminds me, I have to start pushing myself to actively look for a job and to get a proper subject as a thesis. Will continute to update from time to time. In the meantime, you can have a look at my online album for some latest pics :)

hopping into hongkong 3 + hanami

I have been alerted by a loyal fan comment that I have not been updating my blog as often as I should. Feeling very guilty that I have let my fans readers down, I shall try to fill up this post with as many photos as possible. Warning : reading this post will clog up your bandwidth!

Macau trip
The last leg of my HK hop ended with a stop at Macau, just about an hour of a ferry ride away. Macau has a sort of old world charm to it. We were only there for a day trip so we didn't get to see as many places as we initially planned.




I've always associated Macau with casinos and Portugese egg tarts. But instead of gambling away and stuffing myself with food like in previous days, we ended up going around appreciating the many ruins found around Senado Square.




The distinctive wavy pattern at the square is known as the Portuguese pavement. Many colonial style buildings surround this square, and it reminded me of Malacca, which was also colonised by the Portugese. From here, there are signposts guiding you to the various churches and refurbished buildings which make up one of the most fav tourist spots.





Hanami on campus
The day after Macau, I flew back home for about a week. Many people thought I was nuts to just do such a short trip but I haven't been home for a year already. Plus, I wouldn't know what would happen after graduation. Being back was good. Though it was superhot + humid compared to here, but being surrounded by all things familiar was comforting enough. Needless to say, I didn't want to leave.


The week I was at home, I heard that the hanami had started in the southern part of Japan. The bloom of the cherry blossom is a big thing in Japan, often signifying the beginning of spring. Even though it can withstand strong winds, the flowers grow into full bloom for only a week before wilting away.


The blossoms begin from the south, slowly moving towards the north, and likewise from the cities to the more rural areas. Since Niigata prefecture is slightly to the north of Tokyo, that meant I would still be able to come back to enjoy the flowers. True enough, 1 week after I arrived here, the row of trees near the tennis courts started flowering.


Many Japanese take the opportunity to have picnics under the sakura tree. At parks around the country, you will see groups of people sitting on mats having a merry time with their beer or sake. Some even bring their own tents and portable tables.


For me, it's a reminder of how fleeting and fragile our life can be. Here today, gone tomorrow. But we learn to appreciate what we have while we have them. That was how I felt as graduation day draws near. The fact that I will not be seeing many of my friends makes me wish I was here longer.


Most of my friends are in programmes which are 2 years in duration, while the Ebiz will be graduating this year. Have lots of things to consider and think about; graduation, job hunting, thesis writing, going back or settling down in a foreign country. So many concerns, but the only thing I can do is to submit all these to Papa in heaven, trusting that He will see me through my next phase in life.

hopping into hongkong 2

Since Carlos wanted to get a memorabilia to add to his collection, we took a brief stop at Hard Rock Cafe. Some of the guys bought a t-shirt each for keepsake while I put on one for the camera. I still liked the Hard Rock at Bali where it was bigger and they had a whole lot more merchandise than the one at Tsim Sha Tsui.


Since HK is such a small island, it's pretty much easy to hop off the train station and walk around the area and see lots of stuff. So after HRC, we walked towards the Central area at Wanchai. I'm not sure if this was normal, but HK seemed to be foggy/hazy all the time. Must be the tall buildings causing the stuffiness, coz I don't remember Tokyo being like that.


There were many people that time who were there to take pictures too. I'm not sure if they were HK-ites but I saw this middle-aged lady dressed quite elegantly with her little black dress with lace and strands of pearls around her neck smiling for the camera. Her hair coiffed up, and with matching accessories, she looked kinda out of place. But since everyone else were taking pictures, I decided to get the guys to pose for one too.


On the way back, we passed by the Hong Kong Museum of History and saw this banner with a rather interesting title. Running from late March till early June, the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Gallery displayed works of art depicting the distinctive language which is affectionally known as "Chinglish".


I can personally relate to that as Malaysians speak Manglish just like the Singaporeans with their Singlish. Owing to their British colonial backgrounds, these countries are a place of mixed identities where people are caught between the "East" and the "West". Even though we are taught the Queen's English at school, spoken English is commonly mixed up with the local language, ending up as a form of English foreigners find hard to understand.


At 8pm every night, the buildings across the harbour light up in synchrony with background music, resulting in the famous Symphony of Lights. This multimedia light and sound show which involves buildings such as Central Plaza, IFC Tower, Bank of China Tower and HSBC main building is a popular tourism attraction.


From there we walked through the Avenue of Stars, which is modelled after Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Located along the Victoria Harbour waterfront, it honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry. Stars whose names I've never heard of have their palm prints immortalised on the pavement along with those who are more internationally recognised. So we tried to match our palm size with actors like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and Chow Yun Fat.

hopping into hong kong

I'm back in Urasa, and spring has arrived. It was still cold when I came back. But being in HK for the transit sorta cushioned the change. Reached here on Sunday evening and was immediately depressed coz the very next day school started! Was beginning to miss the warmth of home and Malaysia.

So for the whole of last week, I was in holiday mood. Everything that the lecturers said went in the left ear and came out the right. Almost. Only managed to get myself organised last weekend. Still some stuff to sort out, like last term's papers to file and getting a big file to put them all in so that I can move on for this term.

Here are some pictures from HK. It was a shopping+eating trip, as many of those who've been there can readily testify. Here are some shots for your viewing pleasure :


Didn't know the Coca steamboat restaurant had a branch in Tokyo. They had really fancy ethnic looking decor and so were the prices! Food was oishikatta but such small portions.


Our first meal in HK. Had some noodles at the Crystal Jade restaurant in the Times Square near Causeway Bay. Within walking distance from our hostel.


That night we went walking near the Arena of Stars and watched the Symphony of Lights. Many "tongkang" passed by, and this bright crimson junk caught my eye.


The New Zealand Rugby Sevens Team were in town coincidentally when we visited the local Adidas store. Even though I've only seen rugby played on TV, I've never had much interest in this male adrenaline-charged sports. But I joined the crowd and got their signature!


Dim sum is a must in HK. We went to one of the most expensivve place to stuff ourselves for brunch at Maxim Palace. Think it's one of the largest chain of food outlets in HK as they have other variants of the Maxim brand wherever we went.


More eating throughout the trip. This time at another small outlet near the Mid Escalators area where many foreign restaurants can be seen. We had our king prawn wan tan mee here. (I'm craving for some authentic Chinese food even as I write this!)


We went up Victoria's Peak and visited Madamme Tussaud's Wax Museum. For a total fee of HKD125 which includes a tram ride, I got to hug Bae Yong Joon and get close and intimate with many other movie stars.

home sweet home 2

Can't believe I'm typing this at 2am in the morning. I am still a night owl after all. Have so much to do! Need to settle some stuff with my bank accounts. Think they deactivated my account after not having used them for such a long period of time. Also need to see the doctor. Caught a cold from HK coz of the weather and the pollution!

People are beginning to know I'm back. Not good Lovely to know that I'm still remembered hehe. But alas, I only have limited time. Mum's only coming back tomorrow, so the remaining days I'd like to reserve for family time. That's why I tell people I'm only free for breakfast/tea/lunch/afternoon tea/supper. Don't worry, I will be back again by the end of this year. I hope. If all goes well :)

I will be missing out on some weddings. Can save money haha I guess I'll have to send a little Japanese angpow as a little token. They have really nice packages with ribbons and origami-like paper which are carefully arranged, and these are given for weddings or special ocassions. Too bad I'm not the one getting married and having a friend who's living in Japan!

Had many gatherings and catchup sessions already, was good seeing familiar faces and stuffing myself with typical Malaysian food. But it's killing my throat. Should I sacrifice and deprive myself of assam laksa, tomyam and nasi lemak?

home sweet home

I'm back!! Haha... Great surprise? Well, not really. I heard of stories of my friend who surprised his family members and had a great reunion. I also had another friend who told me of his experience who tried to keep it from his family, but had to wait for his family to return from another state about 2 hours away, some days after that.

Mine is a bit of both. I wanted to make it a complete surprise, but upon realising that I left the house keys with my mum, had to tell at least one member of the family about my going back. Made my brother the initial accomplice but since he would be at work at the time of my arrival, I had to include dad into the picture as well. So came dad obviously glad at seeing me after almost a year away. We chatted and caught up during dinner yesterday.

Mum's away on missions trip in Thailand. I thought she'd be the best person to surprise. But in the end I couldn't resist but send her an SMS to let her know I was home. Well, no one knew where my house keys were, so I'm practically stranded in the house until someone comes back and allows me to use his keys to get out of the house! Wat a bummer, like a prisoner in my own home.

It has been a great holiday in HongKong (was there before flying down Malaysia). It was a transition of sorts for me. Weather in Niigata was hovering around 10degC, HK was about 20degC and KL a blistering 30!! No wonder my face reddenned and puffed up! It didn't help that it was hot and rainy at the same time, weather these days are getting crazy.

I am looking forward to more eating sprees and feeding myself with Malaysian food during this 1 week. If I haven't already messaged you, you are welcome to call me and invite me out for mamak sessions!

ladies and gentlemen, presenting....

Business Communications class was not the course that I, and most of the class, expected it to be. The course syllabus outlined 4 main components such as Speaking Skills, Writing Skills and Cross Cultural Understanding, but in the end the one thing that I brought back was only Presentation Skills.

Not trying to boast, but even then I did not learn much as most of what were taught were common sense. And I didn't agree with some points which the professor mentioned as there really is no one absolute way to design your slides or do a presentation.

But this was one of the lighter courses which did not require heavy reading or analysis of cases. To be fair, I did improve my presentation skills and had fun in the end. During our first assignment, we were asked to give a solo presentation on any topic. I had to change my topic a few times just to get one which I thought was interesting enough. I spoke on "Being Malaysian Chinese".

Some of my classmates come from homogenous culture or were pure Burmese, American, Indian, whatever. So the term Malaysian Chinese itself was intriguing to them. I shared on my ancestry, the upbringing my brother and I had, and the multi-lingual conversations that go on in my home. Even the professor enjoyed my presentation.

Our 2nd assignment was a group project on Cross Cultural Communications. We had to choose a country and present the do's and don'ts of doing business in that particular culture. We chose China and incorporated some role-playing to make it more interesting. As the group leader, I did most of the work and pushed for many practices. It was good to see us presenting well on the actual day and entertained our audience a little. But what I didn't expect was us being the top 3 teams!

For the final project, the professor reshuffled the groups and had us do a roadshow presentation in which we were the top management of companies trying to get investors to pump in their money. My group was Red Hat. I had really good team members as each one took initiative to contribute to the group. It's always a breeze and joy to work with members like that. I had the same experience for my Marketing Communications and Mobile Business Strategies teams as well.

Since it was just a week before the finals and everyone had priorities for other subjects, we couldn't practice as much as we should. One of our teammates brought along her son and that kinda distracted the concentration somewhat. I don't blame her nor her son, he is such an adorable kid.

On presentation day, we delivered better than rehearsed. The opening gimmick, or hook as what we're taught, was a success. We did a blue screen act which had the audience sympathising with us as they taught it was a genuine technical error. But I turned it around and put it as Red Hat's advantage as the largest distributor of Linux software. Slides were welldone as they incorporated the corporate colours as well.

We had compliments from both the professor and students alike. Again, I thank my team for how it all turned out. It doesn't matter if we were one of the top teams, but having people talk about our hook days after that never failed to put a smile on my face. It had been an awfully exhausting week, but jobs well done like that are worth it all.



*Pictures are of the area surrounding the campus, credit due to the school's yearbook imagebank