Adventures in my Head: Strange encounters

I had a really awesome dream earlier today. It's really strange yet, I woke up feeling really good.

The setting was at old and dirty warehouse but it was actually an arts university. It was some trial class and interview session for an arts major that I applied for. I got bored waiting in the waiting room with all the other students so I decided to explore the school while there was still time. I stumbled upon this seemingly abandoned courtyard. In the middle, lies a huge, non-functioning old and dirty fountain. I'm usually not a brave person in real life but in my dreams, I'm always brave and adventurous. So, I decided to walk towards the old fountain to examine the Romanesque style decorations. All of a sudden, a huge dragon came out of nowhere and started chasing me. Instead of fighting back like what heroes do, I ran for my life because that was the only thing I could do. I ran all the way back to the waiting room where all the other students were. Apparently, I wasn't the only one in cold sweat and out of breath. To my surprise, one of my schoolmates, Martin, was also there. We exchanged looks for a bit and greeted each other. A few minutes later, the headmistress came into the room asking us to go in one by one to her office so she could do an interview with us. The headmistress looks like a modernized version of yubaba from 'Spirited Away'. She had with a different hairstyle and looked less intimidating . She also had white curly bob instead of the bun-up hairstyle. Fashionable. It wasn't long until it was my turn. I was still trying to recover from the horrible encounter at the courtyard. I stood up, trying to make myself look calm and neat and slowly wobbled my way towards the door.

As I touched the door knob, Martin called out to me, "You'll be fine."

I gave him a thumbs up, took a deep breath and turn the door knob. I entered the room, greeted and sat down. She did not seem to be surprised that I was in cold sweat and breathless.

She just replied, "You seem to have had quite an adventure."

I simply nodded and waited for further instructions. She started asking me some questions about myself without looking at me and I answered them. After answering all those mundane questions she finally looked up and asked, "Tell me about the adventure you had earlier".

My eyes widen and replied, "I don't think you'd wouldn't believe it if I told you."

She smiled and told me that if I don't tell her about it, I may not be able to pass this interview. I do not want to fail the interview so I explained what happened to her. Apparently, that whole 'adventure' experience was something that this 'magical arts school' had. If the student was creative enough, strange and magical things would happen. Depending on what sort of 'magical or strange' experience, it will allow the school to know which major is more suitable for the student and the level of creativity the student has.

I woke up from this amazing yet strange dream shortly after explaining and understanding the whole reason for that 'dragon chasing me' experience I had. Sadly, I didn't know what major I ended up taking and I didn't know why my schoolmate was in my dream. It's not like we're really close, and we only had anthropology class together this whole semester. Despite the how strange this whole dream was, it is definitely worth remembering because it has been awhile since I had dreams like that.

I've decided to start a "Adventures in my Head" series on my blog writing about the dreams I had. Perhaps one day, I'll be able to write a whole fantasy novel. lol. Not going to happen. If I have to face a dragon to be accepted in an arts university, I'd rather not.

Cool Kids by Echosmith

He sees them talking with a big smile, but they haven't got a clue

Yeah, they're living the good life, can't see what he is going through

They're driving fast cars, but they don't know where they're going

In the fast lane, living life without knowing

And he says

I wish that I could be like the cool kids cuz all the cool kids, they seem to fit in

I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids

I wish that I could be like the cool kids cuz all the cool kids, they seem to get it

Love,
C

Two more weeks to Summer Holidays!

Rockin' the sleeveless black and white stripe dress while embracing my flabby arms.
22th July 2014

So, I don't usually wear sleeveless tops or dresses because I feel insecure about my arms. They are not toned anymore because I have not been exercising or hitting the gym like I should. But I think I totally rocked the sleeveless look (or not). My eyes are a little puffier than they should so I decided to crop half my face away. It's just the side effects of not giving my tiny eyes enough rest.

Well, I think I've unlocked a new achievement. I managed to compete 3 research papers in 3 days. One of them, I've been working hard on it since June so I suppose that doesn't count. I worked really hard on that paper because I'm doing a topic that I'm interested in. I also want to prove to myself that I'm not a bad writer and I haven't lost my touch on writing. I just got to practice a little to get everything back!

My ethnography report for Anthropology was also interesting because I'm doing something more personal. I glad I did that because I learnt more about myself. Though, I must say that wasn't the most professional report because we're not taught exactly how to do a professional one. It's all for experience since it is just an introductory module.

The third report was horrible though. It got rejected once and I had to revise it. To be honest, I didn't think I revised much of it because I still think that it's a horrible term paper report. I'm not much of a history person anyways because I always have the thought that the actual events that happened in history might be different from what was taught. I mean, humans do have selective memory. I'm one good example; I don't remember half of what happen in primary school! So, what makes historians so different? It's not like they had recording devices back then to record everything. It's all just interpretations from what was left over, isn't it? Honestly, I don't know.

Now, I'm down to the final one, my research proposal for Sociology. I also have to tackle finals next week. Actually... Mine starts this Thursday. Boo. Looking on the bright side, I can have a little breather now that I've finished 3/4 of my assignments. I gotta stay positive. *nods nods*

I really cannot wait for summer holidays. I've been seeing more people on the streets wearing yukata. I want to wear a yukata too! I have to buy one! I left mine back in Singapore and I want a new one. Preferably a red coloured yukata because I think I'll look good in red rather than pink. I want to drop the "cute" image and go for something a little more mature. I'm trying my best-est to look and dress my age.

Speaking about dressing, I've been wearing dresses/skirts more often. I actually feel comfortable in dresses and skirts now. I used to be insecure about wearing dresses because I don't want to be "too girly". It's funny because I am a girl/lady so I don't understand why I even felt insecure about wearing them before. Maybe my female hormones are finally doing their job. Ha.

Love,
C

Windows by Lewis Watson

I stumbled on this song when I was surfing the web. Brilliant song. Really relaxing.


Good News: I finally finished a research paper that I've been working on since a month ago.

Bad News: One of my other term paper report was rejected by my professor and now I got to re-do it. Well, on the bright side, at least I got a deadline extension.

Love,
C

We Are Young by Fun

Another song that isn't very new but I really like it. I would like to believe that I'm still young. School's a bitch.

Love,
C

Youth by Daughter

This song isn't very new but it definitely has gotten into my "favourite" list. This song doesn't have the happiest lyrics and for some odd reason, I love songs like this. I find that songs sang by japanese idol groups that have lyrics that are too positive are too unrealistic. They are good with lifting mood but I get bored of them really fast.

I'm currently trying to make a collection of songs similar to this so I can play them the whole day like as if it was my theme song in a drama when it's my scene. haha.

Summer is officially here. Summer semester is ending soon. Summer holidays is nearing! :)

Love,
C

Train of Thoughts

I do self-reflections frequently. Before going to bed, when I'm showering, walking to school or walking back home, in a cafe.... Almost anywhere as long as I'm alone by myself. Recently, I do most of it in the train when I have my earpiece on listening to the news and latest tunes on the radio. In the train, I usually get to notice the social behaviours around me and once in a while strange ones. I thought it would be interesting if I were to write what the things I observe and probably have an opinion about but too scared to speak out. Also, the random things I think about when I'm in the train or when I'm out alone in some cafe, and any sort of self-reflections. I mean, I would love to write it down in twitter but I won't be able go back and read it about it 5 years later! I think it would be fun to read how weird my thoughts were 5 years in the future. This is what I came up with when I was in the train home earlier.

They will be tagged under Train of Thoughts. No the most original title but what can I say, I'm awful with creating titles! haha.

• What should I have for dinner? Mcdonalds, Matsuya or some random bento from the supermarket? I could just skip dinner today since I need to be awake for school early tomorrow.

• I hope I can concentrate on my assignments when I get back home. Deadlines are nearing and progress doesn't seem to be in sync with my schedule. Speaking of school, tomorrow is class registration day. I hope I can get the classes I want. Though I'm not a genius in web design, I really hope I get the class because I think it would be a great contribution to my CV.

• I wonder why the train doesn't switch on it's air conditioning. It's so humid in here. It's already summer!! I'm not ready to "endure" this heat like a traditional Japanese when it's so warm and packed with people.

• Is it me or some people on the train feels obliged to look at their iPhones/android because almost everyone is doing it. They don't seem interested in their phones but they are holding it in a position convenient enough to look at it.

• Japan still has this book culture. People still hold books and read them instead of being distracted by their electronics. I find people who still read books in this century to be quite charming. That serious look they have when they are so indulged in the book. I can't help but giggle.

• I just topped-up my commuters pass. I feel really poor now. I need to watch my spending during the summer holidays. Boo.

• I'll be reaching in the next stop. I hope I can squeeze out safely from this crowd. They look like a bunch of really tall trees in the forest and I'm just a tiny hobbit. Well, that's also because I'm sitting down. 

• Lovely tunes on the radio. I still have no decided what to do with dinner. I already had sushi late in the afternoon. Craving satisfied. 

• Ah!! The train reached my stop!! Gotta run!!

I might do this daily or as frequent as I can.

Love,

C

Hello July.

Hello July.

It's already July and I didn't even do a proper post on my first anniversary in Japan during April. I guess I was caught up with the new semester that I ended up not doing it at all.

I find it really sad that even though I made this blog to record down the possible amazing and memorable happenings that was suppose to happen after coming to Japan, I did nothing of that. This blog became a place for me to do my horrible writings.

The first year in Japan was pretty much adapting and getting use to the surroundings. It took me six months to do so and it was the longest amount of time I took too. I even went back home during my summer holidays because I felt really lost on what I should do with my life. It's not that I don't know what I want, but I was worried if it was all possible because I don't want to be selfish. I'm glad I went home during the summer holidays because I got everything figured out and ended up back in college.

I studied at a Japanese Language School for just 9 months, dropped out/graduated and enrolled into a liberal arts college. I was hoping I get to do more creative writing and literature but I ended up only have more choices on social sciences. I don't dislike social sciences but I was hoping with a balance of both because I can't really decide on which I like better. So I've decided to settled on social sciences because it would be fun to be able to read people like a book and "people watching".

I got so caught up with my new friends from college and school work, I didn't think anything else was more important. I keep thinking about creating memories but I guess I didn't do a good job recording them down in this blog like how I intended to. Now when I look back, I don't really know the details. Thankfully, photos speaks a thousand words so I can still keep up with it. I didn't post all of them up on this blog though. But I do have them saved in my laptop and uploaded to my instagram and facebook.

I think I should really put in more effort in my writings in this blog. Like what my sociology class teacher said to me a few days back, "You don't seem to be a person who will give up on something once you've started it." Bingo! As stubborn as it may seem, I think this is also one of my strengths.

I should start reorganizing my blog. It's as messy as my apartment now. Weekends tomorrow, which only means one thing, tons of readings and research papers to finish. How exciting.

Love,
C