..going to bed very late.
..spending more time on the phone.
..playing with a rabbit.
..reading many arts and photography books and magazines.
..working on my laptop till late.
..getting to know more people. (who have inspired and enlightened me)

I call him..the “naughty boy”

But most of all, I have found my new loves, zeals and purposes!

I can’t remember how many times we have jumped for this picture.

Posted under Me! Me! | [3] Comments 

There were several major milestones that I have set in my life:

12 – My last year celebrating Children’s day and my beginning of adolescence.
18 – Owned a car. Looking for a good university for a good degree.
21 – Legal age to casino. Searching for my very first job after graduation.
25 – ???

I was wondering what other 25 years old ladies have achieved or are doing. So I looked in the net under “25-year-old lady”. And I must say, the results are rather….interesting.

1) A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing “sexual services” at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year. read

2) A 25-year-old woman presented with numbness in her left breast. read

3) At the age of 25, a woman’s fertility begins to naturally decline. It decreases rapidly after the age of 35. read

4) I am 25 year old lady and my hair becoming grey, I want to stop can use any medicine or oil for stopping grey? read

And the ultimate question posted by a 25-year-old…(super amusing)

5) I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl…looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year.

The response from this guy is priceless..

….So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates!

I was looking for something…positive, something nice about being 25. Instead, I found these.

DEPRECIATING ASSET???

How shallow…

That’s my name in Jap. Tokyo Disneyland gave me this to stick on my jacket. Every staff ws supposed to greet me when they saw me because I was a STAR!

Ya, we all know that woman generally starts to age when she is 25. But has anyone thought that this woman has also become wiser and stable?

So to me, being 25 is a beginning of a BIG milestone before 30. It is a time where I have to start thinking of settling down, a more careful financial plan, a long-term career plan and more responsibilities.

When I celebrated my birthday 3 days ago, my mom joked that I should start looking for a “soul mate”. In another word, “you’re old enough to get married”. Sigh…

When the clock struck 12…

I think being 25 is fabulous. I am much more ready, mature and wiser than before. And I am sure I will continue to grow to be a better person. And in these coming 5 years (before I reach 30), I have so much to achieve and I am already feeling the zeal man! Yoohoo!!

Anyway, I had a surprise advanced birthday treat from my students when we were in Japan. How sweet… And my colleague’s birthday is 5 days before mine.

Pictures by Alastair

The birthday girls, Nami and I

And at the actual day..

My beloved buddies and colleagues..

Last but not least, thank you all…Thanks for the lovely wishes and thoughts!

Posted under Me! Me! , Thoughts & musings | [8] Comments 

Japanese toilet never fails to amaze me. My dad used to tell us about their toilet when we were young.

I didn’t take many pictures 8 years ago when I was in Japan. And because of the invention of digital camera, I have taken so many pictures of toilets this time!

See the sensor? In another word, the bidet only works when your butt is seated on the toilet. I didn’t manage to take a video of it because I have only 2 hands: one on the controller and one with my camera. I wish I have the 3rd hand to cover the sensor.

The best thing is, you don’t need to know Japanese to use this controller.

Water pressure and etc.. I have learned my lesson. NEVER EVER SET THE WATER PRESSURE TO MAX! You’ll jump from your seat, especially its shocking perfect accuracy. It HITS THE “BULL’S EYE“!

However, the most hilarious device/function is still this..THE SOUND PRINCESS

It can be found in most of the female toilets. According to the local, many japanese women are embarrassed by the sound of peeing and poo-ing. Continuously flushing the toilet to cover the sound is going to waste lots of water. Thus, this clever invention.

It produces the sound of flushing for as long as 25 seconds for some. Pressing the “STOP” button will fade the sound out nicely.

Why is it called Sound Princess? If I remember correctly, it is named after a Japanese Goddess.

But frankly, it sounds so artificial that I can’t help but chuckled in the toilet every time I heard someone pressing the button.

My cabin-like toilet in my hotel room

This toilet can only fit one person at a time.

I have to stand in the bathtub to take this picture.

And this is the bathtub. The length is half of my height. And NO, I can’t straighten my legs. You can compare the length with the size of the sink on the right. The ceiling was so low that I almost hit my head when I stood up to shower. I felt like a GIANT!

But I like it because the tub can be filled fast.

Last but not least, the controller for the bidet…

YOU THINK YOU HAVE SEEN ENOUGH?? WAIT TILL YOU SEE THIS!!!
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Can you guess what toilet this is? Hint: It’s a unisex toilet. Some devices are for male and others for female. Can you spot them?

Posted under Travel | [4] Comments 

I am blogging from my room. I took longer than usual to write a blog with this keyboard.

Let’s play a game. Find “@” and “_” in the following pictures in 8 seconds.

I took so long to just type an email.

The OS..

Well, in the past 4 days…

- I need food every 2 hours (cold weather, walking and running..)

- I fell in love with Japanese Plum wine (ume shu) and Brown Sugar wine.

- I have Ramen at least once a day.

- Had the most sumptious sashimi with a wonderful company. I have tried the urchin sashimi! (Pictures – next post)

- I have been staying in the smallest hotel room (on my own record, of course)

The “wardrobe”. I will show you the “cabin-like” bathroom in the next post.

Nonetheless, the hotel room has almost everything that I need.

Ah..a PC with internet access

And…a toilet with bidet. (Water pressure can be adjusted)

Posted under Travel | [7] Comments 

My “dinner” at Brozeit

My favourite grandma has been longing to visit me since I came to Singapore. However, she was always worried that she would trouble or “disturb” me from my work.

Just today, she told me that she is coming in 3 weeks time. In fact, I’m very excited that she is coming and am looking forward to watch the Japanese symphony orchestra with her.

But it made me ponder how I have left this “I-am-so-busy” impression. After all, she has always been my favourite grandma and my priority always goes to her.

Then I realised that whenever we chatted, my topic has always been about my work and how busy I was. Though I was sharing with her about my life genuinely, somehow it got to her that I was always working (which is true, by the way).

Just awhile ago, when I was busy replying my emails from work, my mom talked to me and asked me a few questions. And when I work, my ears turn deaf (I could wear my headphones with no music for hours, without knowing it, too)

My mom was very patient with me. She knew that I was rushing some work and didn’t want to disturb me. I wish she would scold me or throw my laptop away. But, I know she will never do that.

I am feeling very heavy now. I know that I have not been able to spare time for people who love me very much and it troubles me. Whenever I need their attention, they will give it to me unconditionally. But what have I given them in return?

So my second resolution for this year, it is going to be spending more time with people, especially those who love me very much. It is very selfish and lame to say that “I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOU” and “I AM ALWAYS BUSY”, because it is not entirely true!

THE WORST THING IS, you have no idea how you have hurt people who care about you because you’re TOO BUSY TO CARE.

Milestones after milestones, plans (only for yourself) after plans, when will we ever finish the infinite race track? It feels like a hamster running on a wheel, round and round it goes – without an end, nor beginning.

I used to tell myself that I would be less busy after 5 years. But frankly, if I don’t change my lifestyle and prioritise, I will NEVER get time for myself and my loved ones. Same as MONEY $$, it will never be enough if one keeps thinking that it won’t be.

Similar to what my mom said to me once when I was asked to give a speech for the very first time:”If you always think you’re not ready, you’ll never be.” I was 6 years old then.

Posted under Thoughts & musings | [5] Comments