First week of winter break

30th November

Another year celebrating my birth into this world. I celebrated my birthday with B after his work. He brought me to this fancy restaurant and surprised me with a cute bear birthday cake. Although I don't exactly have the same fondness of bears now compared to how I was a few years ago; I appreciate his thoughtfulness to surprise me with this delicious chocolate cake! The steak dinner was also very delicious. Happy birthday to me.

A beary cute birthday cake

4th December

Second last day of finals week, I decided to be a rebel and went out to have fun at Shinjuku. B and I went to the arcade to play some shooting game (we're getting better at it, I think.), while watching for the movies to start. We caught the new Harry Potter series 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. It was a brilliant movie, I'm just missing the British accent a lot.

Just had to get myself a souvenir after watching the movie.  

 7th December

I paid a visit to my best friend from Beijing at her new place. I can't believe she moved to the outskirts of Tokyo. It was a lot further out than I expected; it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach her place! As the train drives to the outskirts of the city, more sunlight shined through the train windows. I looked up and saw trees, rivers, vegetable farms and mountains(?). It was an amazing sight! I haven't seen that much nature in a while. I can understand why people choose to live in the countryside or the outskirts of the city even though it might seem a little 'inconvenient'.

One of the reasons why I visit her was to play with the two new additions to her family. Dogs! I can never give a miss to play with dogs because it reminds me of the time with BB. I hate to play favouritism when it comes to pets but this one is really cute. It reminds me of BB a lot. I kept playing with her pet dogs until my dust allergy starts acting up again. It was a fairly short trip but I'm glad I got a chance to see her again. I haven't laughed this hard in a while. :)

Look at those puppy eyes!! :3

*** ***

Haven't got the time to write about the interesting stuff in my life for a bit so I thought I'd do so now that I have plenty of free time. It was fun writing in this space again. :)

Aside from all that's going on in my life, a little update on my uni; I managed to do really well this semester. I was surprised because I swore I was dying this semester. I'm really glad everything worked out and I managed to bring my GPA up a little. (^^)

I'll be heading over to the Persona 20th Anniversary Festival at Akihabara tomorrow. I'm really excited because I haven't gone to such events in a while now. I'll share my experience during my trip there if I manage to spot anything extremely interesting and/or where photography is allowed. I'm excited to see the Junes food court set up! x

それじゃあ～

A little break from the hustle and bustle

The weather dived all of a sudden last week and it snowed! It snowed in November! It's something that doesn't happen very often. Nonetheless, it's finally winter! Time to pull out the heat-tech inner wear, sweaters, coats and scarfs from the storage.

Finally, I am able to have a little breather after weeks of hustle and bustle from school. I took the weekend off from my assignments so I can nurse my health back to normal. I'm feeling a lot better now; I can taste and smell things again! 

I'm down to another one and a half weeks of school and I will be done with the fall semester! This semester had been so amazing. I got to meet some amazing people while doing a group project and tackled a few assignment-intensive classes fairly well. I also managed to pass an internship interview about a week ago. This means, I'll be taking on an internship next semester; alongside with three other classes. I'm really looking forward to this internship! :)

In another two days time, it will be my birthday! Sadly, I have assignments and finals to complete so until then, I won't be celebrating my birthday until the semester is officially over. Instead, I'll be celebrating my birthday with B instead since his birthday is one week away from mine! How convenient! We'll most probably have to push it all the way to the weekends to celebrate since he has work and I want to have a full day of celebration! Nothing has been planned yet though.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to write in this space again but I hope to bring back good news again when I do update. Next year would be a busy year with all the job-hunting, internship and school work. I hope I'll be able to improve my business Japanese and handle all the work-load! Until then... xoxo

Hello October!!

Hello. I barely updated my blog in September and it's already October. I've just been overwhelmed with assignments again. I have a lot of essays to write this semester, in both Japanese and English, so I have just been trying to juggle them. Now that I've finished several major assignments and have a little time for a breather, I thought, "why not update this little space of mine?"

I'll share the two things I've been working on and hope to do it by the end of this year:

• I'm hoping to change my whole look, by growing out my hair again; off with the bangs and short hair, and in with the long fringe and long hair. As you can see, it's very well on it's progress and I'm looking forward to the end results. I might do a perm to it if I'm feeling it! No promises because I still do love my naturally straight hair!

• I've also been trying to be able to pair my outfits with pumps and more skirts! I don't have a chance to prove that yet because of school. I don't want to be wearing heels to school because who has time for dressing up in uni?! Thankfully, I managed to wear heels without pain in my foot earlier this week to some fancy event with the embassy. So, this also means there is progress! My marketing group mate even complemented the top I wore for that event so I'm very happy and honoured! Thank you, Shelby (Though, I doubt she will see this but just in case she does!)

• I've been trying to use more Japanese! I know it's ironic since I'm living in Japan. But I can get by my day without using a single Japanese while I'm still a student. Especially, when my classes are in English and surrounded by English speakers. Thankfully, I'm taking Japanese classes again so I'm writing and reading a lot more Japanese before. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've been trying to update my social media in Japanese again. I'm using the social media as a platform to practice the language since I hardly have any chance to use it anymore. So, if you understand Japanese, let's converse! :)

Seeing that action is taken and that there is progress with something I planned with myself mentally, I'm very pleased with myself. I'm looking forward to a 'new and improved' me! There is no reason why I should not focus on my own well-being and my goals just because I have a new partner in my life, right?

I'll update again when I have time.
Let's see if I'll have all of these accomplished by the end of this year! :) Adios!

Hello September

Blue

Hello September. I haven't been writing as much as I hope I would. I've either been busy doing things or simply busy doing nothing. I'm surviving uni pretty alright at this point of the new semester and I hope to hustle through this. I'm just dreading one of my writing intensive classes because I just simply cannot do that class. I might have to withdraw from that class if things doesn't get better. ((o(;△;)o))

Anyways, the weather is finally cooling down and I am excited for autumn to arrive! I can't wait to be in comfy over-sized sweaters while commuting to school. The change in the season also gives me a reason to do shopping as well. I love shopping for sweaters because you simply just cannot go wrong with sweaters!

-----

I just woke up from an afternoon nap. I was suppose to finish this post before doing anything but I guess the cooling weather got the better of me! I should stop writing and finish up my assignments. I could have wrote a better post but I guess it will have to wait.
#LifeOfAUniversityStudent (/□＼*)・゜

What if

Somehow, I was presented with a second chance to take on the "first choice" I gave up previously. It was something that lingered in my mind once in a while when I was in deep thought. I thought it might be a hint of regret I was feeling.

I took the chance and realised that it wasn't exactly regret. I just wanted to know the "what if". Now that I know the "what if", I was simply filled with disappointment and relief. Relieved that I didn't let my stubbornness hold me back.

Sometimes, it's better to leave the "what ifs" and it is. 

Summer Holidays

Hong Kong Style Food

I'm back in Singapore for my summer holidays. This time, it will be a short trip of about 10 days. It is a good get away from Japan to see my friends and family, and to indulge in all the food I've been craving.

Singapore is a food paradise, more so than Japan in my opinion. There are just simply so many different choices to choose from. Singapore isn't the best place to do shopping, but it's definitely the best place to feast! As a Singaporean, the only thing I ever miss is the selection of food and the savoury taste of the local food. It is something I can never get when I'm in Japan.

This is my 4th day in Singapore. I'm looking forward to the rest of my trip to meet up with my friends. I hope to get some good shots of the city and my neighbourhood before I leave. The hot and humid weather is really sucking up my motivation to do anything and my dust allergies are back with a vengeance.

It is nice to be back in this little space of mine again. :)
Oh! And hello, August.

Staring into spaces

I've been spending a lot of time at home. I go straight home after school if I have no plans; I usually have no plans which sounds kinda sad. I live in the bustling city where all the 'action' is but yet I still chose to be at home where there is just simply nothing. It slows my days down when I do that. It's great sometimes because it helps me to unwind a little after going through complicated issues and theories in uni.

I get caught up in current issues a little too often. I'm not sure if it is because of what I am studying in university which lead me to my constant habit of reading the news. It's good to be always 'in the know

 of the current affairs. But let's be honest here, it's tiring to always be doing that. I applaud the great leaders in the political world for being able to being able to do this and still loving what they do. 

I made a little video out of boredom and also because I want to get in touch with my creative side again. I haven't been out a lot or doing anything impressive that makes me want to film. But its important that I start doing something, baby steps if I need to. Let's hope this kick starts into something more impressive. I need more self-confidence. x

Daughter - How

Colourful world

仮谷せいら - Colourful World

今はこの曲をすごく浜っています。

是非聞いてください！

I'm in love with this song!

Please listen to it! :)

Second week of school!

Snapchat filters are fun

Before I start being productive and work on my assignments from school, I want to write a little. It's the second week of school and I think Japan is going into its rainy season. (Huge bummer!) 

Today was horrible! I almost dozed off in all my classes. It was unintentional, I swear!  It was drizzling and the weather was pretty chilly. Perfect weather to sleep in or to take a nap, right? I also had so much fun the day before on my monthly date that I can't help lacking a little energy. Yes, B and I hardly go on dates because we're really tight on budget every month. I'm okay with it since I love staying at home too! 

Anyways, yes, I was dozing off... But I did pay attention in class. I'm not sure how I do it but I remember at least two-thirds of what was taught in class. Mind you, I was barely awake, so this is definitely an achievement!

Speaking of achievements, I've recently updated my 'dusty' resume and revamped it. I really like how everything looked! It looks simple and easy to read! I had a lot of help from google.com, so thanks google! I also wrote an amazing self introduction! Not to be bragging but I suck at self-introductions and this was just the best I had in like... forever. 

Anyways, I'll be graduating really soon, like in a year and a half's time. (I can't believe I literally took 3 years to graduate an American university. I rock! lol. ) So it is important to get myself some additional work experience since I took a break from the working society. I mean, I need to update myself on the new working etiquettes, right? I'll also be in a completely different culture so I would really love to start early while I am a student so I have something to fall back on - school and internships. I'm really nervous on how the whole process would go, so wish me luck! Meantime, I will focus on getting my homework assignments done. Can't be slacking too much in this really short summer semester! x 

Repetitive days

Summer semester has begun and I've survived the first week of uni. I've also reached third year mark of living in Japan. I am happy how far I've come in regards to live in a foreign country. I really want to be dedicated more time to keeping a record of my life in Japan in this space that I have been trying to keep for awhile now. I'm not sure if I will be able to keep up with this promise to myself because at my current stage, life isn't as interesting as it suppose or should be. I don't have much things to write about because my days had been quite repetitive and peaceful. I am thankful for that. But there isn't much worth writing about unless I want to keep a food diary of my home cooked food with B or the progress of my games that I've been playing. I'm not sure what I'll do with this space but I'm keeping it indefinitely. I mean, I'll never know when it will start getting interesting again. I'll still update once in awhile when I feel like I want to scribble(type) something down. x

My Trip to Mie Prefecture

Mie Prefecture, Train Station

A few days after the Golden Week, B and I went on a trip to Mie Prefecture to visit the famous Ise Shrine, Iga Ninja Museum and Moku Moku farm. The two cities we visited, Iga-shi and Ise-shi It was a complete opposite from what I am used to in Tokyo; bustling streets with many shops closing really late and many modes of transport. The trains don't come very often, and all the shops closes really early. There was hardly anything there compared to Tokyo. It was a bummer that it was raining half the time during our trip and it made travelling to places less convenient. 

I got to see my cute piggies at the farm, tried amazing food from Ise city, underwent my 'ninja training' and visited one of the holiest Shinto shrine in Japan! I never thought I'd be able to do all of these so soon. This trip was amazing; short and sweet. What a pleasant get away trip from the city before school starts!

I took some clips during the trip but I wasn't too focused on getting cinematic shots because I wanted to enjoy myself to the fullest. I don't want to be too absorbed on my electronics. I think I still managed to put everything together nicely in a 7mins video to sum up my trip. x

PS: I took a placement test in uni and was put in advance level class. I guess I haven't lost my touch on Japanese just yet!

Dog Heart Dog cafe

Mingling with the pups!
27th April 2016

My visit to the dog cafe with Sandy was fantastic. I love dogs. I haven't seen BB for 5 months now and I'm missing him dearly. Visiting the dog cafe gives me the chance to cuddle with dogs. Even though I am unable to receive the same amount of love and companionship as I could have being with BB, this was enough to suffice for now.

I realised I'm not good with big dogs even though I think it would be really nice to hug them. There was this golden retriever in the dog cafe and I was slightly scared of it. I don't know how to handle big dogs. All these time, my experience with dogs were only the small to medium sizes and perhaps slightly obese ones. BB and Doli are pretty fat for their size because my family feeds them constantly; almost like a daily ritual. Nonetheless, the golden retriever was, like all dogs, cute! x

If anyone is interested in visiting this dog cafe in Tokyo, do visit their website: http://dog-heart.ico.bz/
It's only in Japanese but I think its pretty easy to navigate while having no knowledge of Japanese. Google translate would suffice for translation for basic information.

Moving out soon

Chilling at the new (empty) apartment with my trusty vitamin filled C.C. Lemon drink

The beauty of life; how it can surprise you with all the amazing wonders it has to offer.

Moving to the new apartment has been surprisingly smooth and faster than expected. I thought it was going to take longer than expected. I also managed to find time to head to the immigration office to get apply for my visa extension. We'll see how that goes.

This whole experience of moving into a new flat that is unfurnished was a challenge. Both B and I was new to interior design and we have only ever stayed in furnished flats or sharehouses. The process of getting new basic furniture for the flat and setting up the wifi and other kitchen appliances was nerve-wrecking but I believe we both learnt a great deal through this. We might have miscalculated several small things but I am glad B was with me throughout this whole process. I would never have been able to handle all of this by myself with my less-than-perfect Japanese. I am also glad I could easily text my mom for advices and help. Thank goodness for technology! haha

Just a few more days before I can officially stay at the new place with electricity, water and gas. I can't wait to start using the new kitchen! I miss home-cooked food.

xoxo

The last week of the semester...

Happy march under the cherry blossom trees

First semester of uni felt like forever; my semester ends officially in a few more days. I couldn't even have a proper hanami session. There are no longer any cherry blossoms trees blooming left for me to do so! Simply the worst. I don't usually do this sort of stuff but I would want to try doing a hanami with B for a change of pace. I think the rainy season is coming soon too. I haven't got a good taste of spring and it's incoming summer. Boo!

I am currently in my finals week and never had I looked so terrible in a long ass while. On the first day of finals, I had two intensive papers on the first day and I look like a complete wreck! I was suppose to meet B straight after my exams for a mini celebration dinner but I looked so shitty to be wanting to be out in the public. I went home straight after and got my hair sorted out and slapped some light makeup on before heading back out again. It was the worst I've ever seen myself. My hair was a mess and my seen looks like it suffocated. I swore I had ample amount of sleep before the exams and had breakfast! It is still a mystery as to how I manage to look like a complete walking disaster. I'm really thankful B said he didn't mind. But well, I mind; I want to look presentable when I am out, with or without makeup.

A few days ago, I received news that I would be graduating in about one and a half years time. Exactly about two years and I will be back into the workforce. I hope I'll be able to transit back into the workforce in Japan smoothly. I don't want to have to end up going back to my home country. I want to finish what I started and not be forced to quit halfway. Oh the stress!

I need to start revising Japanese language again.

PS/ I'll be moving out of my current place in the next few weeks. I won't have to put up with my housemates's awful habits anymore. 

Me- 1 Housemate - 0. 

Growth

I've begun to be more selective of the friends I make; friends as in those I would want to keep. Instead of making a bunch of 'hi-bye' friends, I would rather have lesser of those and continue building the relationships with the ones that I already have. I'm not sure if this is an 'age' thing. Though I do believe it does have some relation to it because I wasn't as selective as I am right now few years ago.

I am at the point where I don't care if I might look anti-social because my real friends would know who I am and how I'd react to situations. I don't even bother voicing my opinions as much as I use to unless I know I am in the right situation to. I am trying my best-est to transit into a working adult, trying to don a more mature look while I still have the time to experiment as a mature student in an institution where it is dominated by teenagers trying to figure out what they want to do with life.

More dresses, pumps, pants and begone with the fringe. I want to fit into the 'adult world' without being told I look 16 anymore.

I've been a busy B.

B walking his bicycle

Besides being busy with uni, I have also been busy hanging out with B. I think it is pretty obvious but "B" is my boyfriend. (gasp! I can't believe I've said it) Yes, we've been dating for the past four months now so I think it is safe to announce it publicly. To be honest, four months for me is a big deal because I haven't been in one that even lasted this long. Took me awhile to 'unlock this achievement' alright? This was not planned at all. I was going to just finish uni and hopefully find a job. But I guess life surprises you sometimes. 

I hope to write more but I really should get back to finishing up my commodity paper. It is nice to be back writing on this space. Even if it is just a short tiny paragraph. It calms me. :)

I enjoy days like this

Today, I've forgotten to bring my earphones out. I wanted to go back home and get it but decided not to. I wonder why though. I wonder if the lack of earphones today contributed to this but I felt rather calm. For the record, today was strangely calm. The sounds of the bustling city became 'the playlist' for the day. I hated the sound of the city and still do. But today was different. I enjoyed it. It was... surprisingly refreshing.

Everyday, without a thinking, I'd stuff my earphones in my ear, choose a playlist on my iphone and press play. Giving no appreciation to any other noise other than what the little device in my hand had to offer. So much for trying to appreciate life, huh? Even though I did not particularly felt like listening to the same old songs I had, I just did it as if it was natural. It became a habit. A bad one I'd say. If I had my earphones today, I might not have had the chance to enjoy the awesome music the cafe I went to earlier today, had to offer. I must say, the cafes/book cafes in Tokyo have great music tastes.

I enjoy days like this. The pace seems to be different from usual.

Good Night. xo

PS: Happy Chinese New Year.

Into the third week

I woke up later than expected but thankfully, I wasn't late for class. I had a long day yesterday and slept much later than initially planned. I was trying to finish my microeconomics homework. I take forever to finish it! I really need to work on it. Economics is not my forte but I am glad that I'm beginning to understand the concepts. What's most surprising though, was that I actually tried. I actually did the assignments! I could've chucked it one side like how I usually treat algebra classes. This is a miracle.

I believe it was also my sense of pride that's giving me the extra push. I debated whether I should change my major from International Affairs to perhaps something else so I would not have to deal with economics or anything math-related. But I did not want to give up without a 'fight'. I would either do a minor or a double major in communications studies. That was my conclusion I ended up having after debating with myself.

I'm into my third week of uni and I'm starting to get the hang of the new workload and new environment. Classes are starting to get interesting too. I hope to find time to pick up my camera again. I'm itching to shoot some photos and do some editing!

Lots of love,
C.

First day of classes

I woke up early at 6:30am but was reluctant to leave my bed until my room was warmed up by the heater. It was surprisingly cold this morning. It was 3°C when I woke up and the whole of Tokyo didn't seem to warm up at all, even in the afternoon. My hands were freezing the whole day while I was out travelling between campuses!

It's the first day of school and I think it's pretty alright. I guess having friends from your previous college in the same uni does help liven up things. There are also m&ms in the school's vending machine so that's something to be happy about. Though, I am kind of bummed out that I won't be able to use as much Japanese as I could in this new school. How can I ever practice my Japanese now? I'll need to get B to speak to me in Japanese more now. 

I am actually surprised that I managed to wake up early and even had time to pack lunch for school. Not the typical cute Japanese obento with cute decorations. It was the lazy 'Chinese-styled' packed lunch. It was really delicious so I don't care if it did not look presentable. Stir-fried ginger sauce pork with vegetables are the best! I hope I can keep this up.

Lots of love,

xx

Hello from the New Year

2nd January 2016
Biking through a tunnel, Feat - Shogo & Jimmy
Mito city, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Hello 2016. I fell sick over the new years and was able to recover and consume solid food again. Thank goodness. The first week of the New Year had its ups and down but overall, it had been well.

I spent my New Years over at Ibaraki Prefecture with some friends and made two new friends from France and Germany. I got to experience a traditional Japanese new years with a trip to the temple at midnight and had 'toshikoshi soba (年越しそば)' on New Years Eve. I also got to explore some parts of Ibaraki and talked about worldly affairs with the new friends I've made. It was a very international experience over the new years.

First week of school was orientation. I get nervous with huge crowds so I'm not sure if I'll like this school as much as my previous one. The classes seems to be much more interesting so I hope it would help balance my interest in coming to uni. Official school semester starts in a few days and I hope I can keep up with my classes and make new friends.

Winter is still cold. My mom sent the remaining of my clothes and shoes over so I'll be able to tide over winter just fine. I'm looking forward to how this year will unfold.

Lots of Love.
xx