我的平凡故事

After 424 days since joining Xanga… (source: Xanga Premium advertising…hee)…… … My First Post! yea~Close friends, faraway relatives (gniyioh~~), missing school dudies…u can finally keep tabs on me on more than monthly/half-yearly/annually basis now~ (or wenever it is we meet/ i write/u write/i call/ u call)…

Hapi?… not that i’m promising to write in here all the time^^ buut still

Yoroshiku ne~

….i’m tired….cries me…..

(…do you live here asks the customers… )

1:31 AM – 2 eprops – 1 comment – email it

A long long drive later…and a few stops later for food and t-shirts, we made it to Hall’s Gap by 1800; there we were greeted by Eugene, Evgeny, Cheah, Zhi and Leean who had headed up the day before… no 21st party committments ^^
That’s 12 of us squashed in to the Holiday Retreat back house, complete with a pool table and a fire place…

A food ransom and some bed moving later, we were all settled, me asleep (nappin…5 hours drive on 3 hours sleep will kill ya) and dinner cooking.
Dinner for the nite: BBQ on a live fire started by…i forgot who ^^
So ends our first nite…
..oohoooh…and yes, F1 @ Silverstone was one~~ McLaren won~ oh yea~ Haha… i can live with the name of a Motorhead mi bro’s so proud of me

1107 DAY TWO : Hike to the Pinnacle
Awoken @ 0730 by Seraph’s alarm clock (and a birdie peckin on the window) as he and Andy AND XIAO headed out to chop some wood and build a fire … in the fireplace
Omelets for brekkie (thanks to Seraph) and some time later…when we finally got everyone up… we headed for the Pinnacle.
I was ready to walk straight back into the house and into bed (or the couch where i slept) when Eugene pointed it out our destination for the day… – -); High high up and far far away
Our first stop :

… plz dont ask me where and what these places are… i never realli looked.. most of the time my fear of heights and slopes consumed me. But them all pwweeettty

JackiJackJack, Xiao, Cheah, Chocoholic and AkaiNoChou in her “Wong Fei Hong” stance

and … I shall take time here to introduce the 3 Stooges of our trip;
Eugene, Andy and Seraph who found the opportunity to climb something @ every stop…

Second stop :

There be Evgeny, Eugene, Andy and Cheah
We were planning a stop every half hour or so…but the scenery caught us at much more regular intervals…

JackiJackJack..Chocoholic…”Dont Do It! Dont Jump”| Xiao

AkaiNoChou =) | The 3 Stooges up again

And up up we went…
3 Stooges at it again ^^

AkaiNoChou…eating, Cheah…eating, Andy…eating, Chocoholic…eating?, Seraph, Eugene…eating, Evgeny…eating, JackiJackJack…eating (as always), Xiao…hidden, Leean…eating, Zhi …. ^^

Da Adventurers~

And the 3 Stooges…. yet again

By 1530? we were almost there…

(why am i always the one to take the group foto? coz i’m always the last one there….. )
At the top… i was too cold, too scared to take any more fotos…. > <

Xiao, Cheah, JackiJackJack, AkaiNoChou, Chocoholic

As the sky darkened and half our group alreadi down the mountain (in 45 minutes!! to start dinner!! oh, i love u guys), my lil group with AkaiNoChou, Chocoholic, Xiao, Cheah and JackiJackJack, started our descent by 1600 something…
By now, my peripheral vision had narrowed to the feet directly in front of me… thanks to Chocoholic for guiding me down the mountain, thanks to Xiao for the sound of him behind me jumping down rocks followed by the rattle of Nerds (the candy) in his pockets..scary..yet reassuring. Thanks to the whole group for putting up with me… we made it down before dark and to the smell of pasta a cooking~ Mmmmm…. ^_____^

1207 DAY THREE : Bumming Day
After Day Two..we were all pretty zonked out and so Day Three was deemed bumming day where we’d all relax, take a trip to the ice.creamery (Choci and Mango in a waffle cone for ttYing~) and play some cricket
…as ttYing started her battle with a cough and a runny nose – -);
and Chocoholic tried to catch our dinner ^_~
Beer, strongbow and cruisers appeared…
Bomberman, monopoly, pool and poker ruled our nites ^__^ Oh yea~
1307 DAY FOUR : Downhill Biking
(Yep, one day up the Pinnacle wasnt enough for my fear of heights…i had to agree to go downhill bike riding too….)
Weather forecast from the guys at the Adventure place said possible showers for the day, icy the next and rain the day following.

And so, we decided to brave the cold and head up the mountain, in a van crazily droven by the guy at the Adventure place.

AkaiNoChou n Chocoholic

Crazy Driving all the way up~

Nothing to see from the top….

‘Twas one coooolllddd, foggy day with near zero visibility and bikes that either wouldnt change gears or wouldnt brake… sigh
By the time we’d gotten down the bitumen road to start the off-road tracks, our hands were frozen and we were wet.
On to the off-road tracks and we became frozen, wet and muddy ^_____^

My cough, asthma and fear of slopes made it one hell of …a slow… trip down…sigh… still its been a loooong time since i went whizzing on a bike… it brings a sense of freedom…with fear, heee
Stopped half way down for a lil walk (and me to cry…hehe…thQ Chocoholic) and some proper off-road biking for the guys

and climbing for the 3 Stooges …

And looki at this sign we found on the way down ^_____^

Sometimes me slow for a reason ^_~

Dinner of risotto courtesy of Eugene..niiice… i shoulda taken pics of our dinners…they were gooooood
The Iron Man played (sad..sad..) and more personal Drama ensued during the nite and me finally asleep by 0700 to the ending credits of LOTR II

1407 DAY FIVE : A Climb Up Hollow Mountains
A late start to one lovely day… weather forecast…as Andy put it; “UNRELIABLE”… a much better day for biking it was…but …ah well
Beautiful sunshine shouted at us to do something but options were limited at 1300 when we were still enjoying our pancakes, so a short trip up to Hollow Mountains was it (there is NOTHING here that doesnt involve heights!!!!)
An hour’s drive and a U-turn later, we were there~ Faaantastic view and me apprehensive about having to go down again as we made our way up…

Near the top, i lost my battle with my fear and sat down while the rest of my dudes and dudettes climbs up the mountain, while me took random pictures of the beeeautiful scenery and (tried to take some of) the sunsetting…

(Left) : Thats where they all disappeared!!!

Kirei ne?

My beautiful groupi…on the way up

and on the way down….

And then down we went and home to start a fire for one biiiig BBQ feast of sausages, kebabs, wedges, roasted potatoes and salad to farewell us earli leavers
Marshmallows a perfect end to a perfect dinner….Melti on the inside, toasti on the outside..mmmm…Mamolloowwss….
And poker started again where clothes was worth monopoly money ^_~ socks came off, ppl lamented they didnt have enough layers on to start and on-lookers ran as their friends grabbed them for use as chips…

1507 DAY SIX : The Road Home
Sigh… Just less then a week later, ttYing, JackiJackJack and Xiao had to head home for different reasons. Me? 3 guesses….yep, work
Me awake by 0930 in fear of it being too late if i slept again, packed and brekkied, enjoying the last quiet moments in the Holiday Retreat… Xiao woke, Seraph woke.
Mission Jack : to wake JackiJackJack up; years of practice on mi bro and my insistent poking, shaking and strangling proved successful by 1045 and he was outa bed…before everyone else too ^____^ Sorri Jackijackjack, had to make sure u got up, ur rep precedes u, hahaha
My hope to leave by 1130 didnt eventuate as omelets cooked and looong goodbyes took place
By 1230, we got on the road, JackiJackJack leading again, Xiao navigating and ttYing following alone in her lil Golf, bobbing to music provided by snowktt ^^
Stopped @ KFC along the way where we discussed roads and Xiao took up the passenger seat in my car
A powernap, a small traffic jam and a stop near Melb.Uni after we parted ways, ttYing to work and JackiJackJack and Xiao home. Bigbiiig thanks to the guys for leading me back to the Eastern, ttYing was back home by 1730 and off to work by 1800 absolutely wrecked… ^^

My babi needs a bathi ^^

And that ends my first holiday in two years… thanks to all on the trip for a fabulous time. Thanks to Eugene, Chocoholic and AkaiNoChou for their time in planning, organising and shopping. Thanks to those who cooked and cleaned. Thanks to Seraph and Xiao for keeping that fire alive (our pyros^^). Xiao, a special mention here… he chopped wood everyday too, yep, he chopped HALF A TREE!!! Thanks to those who beared with me and my fear of heights and slopes. Thanks for a much needed break. Thanks for the laughs and fun.

The Angels ^^ ttYing, AkaiNoChou, Chocoholic

The other 3 Stooges – Cheah, Xiao, JackiJackJack

The couples – Andy and AkaiNoChou, Chocoholic and Eugene, Zhi and Leean

Hope u all had as much fun as i did. Sankyuuu~~ *Muah~

1 bottle of 2L Mountain Dew and a mug of Bavarian Coffee;

2 loaves of Garlic Bread;

1 bag of McCain Crunchy Wedges;

1 bowl of Fried Rice;

1 TV showing Two and a Half Men and CSI:Las Vegas rerun;

1 VIAO notebook playing Suite Chic;

1 study/living room of Fluffy Carpet;

1 computer Online;

1 quiet happi nite in with Friends @ home ^____^

Ground Speed 855km/hr

4 hr 31 mins and 3787 km to destination HK

[This and that...]

Thoughts/
On review of my prevoius blog entry, I shall face the fact that I lack both the brain creativity and word sophistication to compose musing posts as intelligent and witty as my other bloggi pals. Hence from now on, I shall restrain myself to procrastinating content-less entries with useless photos. ^_______~

Parentals Update/
In reply to Aiai’s PS… chatterbox comment, yep! my parents visited with 6 twin-packs of Tim Tams, instant noodles and tuna cans from the 4th til the 10th. We ate, went sight-seeing, ate, shopped, ate, walked, ate, shopped, ate. (*shrug* What else do you do on a holiday?? I planned by their request…)
(And yes Aiai, they saw my bear ^^ Though I would think the bear might like a bit more say on the being kept and brought Down Under part, hee)

America and Asian Glow/
ttYing and many (many) others were transported to America last sunday night for what ttYing was assured to be a true American-style frat/house party (apparently it means horrendeous amounts of alcohol, social groups, beer games and body shots….and later on one unhappy resident manager). Reconfirmed : ttYing suffers immensely from the Asian Glow, though luckily she has yet to get beyond ‘tipsy’ and become disgustingly drunk. Australia won Beer Pong against the American and Japan team, yay! Reconfirmed : ttYing really doesnt like beer that much.

Anguish/
Still no news…

Photos/
Look @ what I got for Chrissy last year…

….complete with a veranda and an opening door!

Ahhh….chocii…and Totoro…all from my bear….^^!!

When Mami and Dadi were Here…

Heh heh…Oishikatta yo! ^0^)~

Showing True Asian….Glow (me only)

My bear, American Jina, Australian Ky-Lee, Yours truly

Some food to line that stomach..soon to be assaulted by cocktails, shots and beers
Aussies won Aussies won!!
…oh, twas just a small get-together
Tipsy…maybe…but not drunk…. bleh!

[Museo D'Arte Ghibli]

‘Twas a rainy special day for ttYing (20th Feb, 2006).
She had bought tickets for her bear and herself to visit the Museo D’Arte Ghibli – the Ghibli Muesum. There laid the creation of her most-adored anime characters.

In Mikata City….

Between the trees….

On a 1090m walk…

Her destination *

The Ghibli Museum.

There, she met her childhood hero, Totoro

at the ticket counter;
The robot from Laputa

on the roof.
Together, with her bear

who wasn’t given much choice on whether or not to go.

—————————————————-
No photograhping was allowed inside, and it was raining all hell outside so not many pics were taken.
For those who are interested though, Ghibli Museum is dedicated to the Studio Ghibli Ippai Collection animations. Created by the mastermind of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki, is the genius behind animes such as Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind; Laputa, Castle in the Sky; Mononoke Princess; Spirited Away and Howl’s Castle.
The Museum tranports you to the Ghibli world. Its exterior resonates Ghibli’s creativity and take a step inside to discover some of the magic that has captured so many around the world.
Be greeted by a breath-taking ceiling mural of Ghibli characters floating around the sky-light. A mini cinema shows mini Ghibli films and a gallery of the technicality of motion pictures lays on the first floor. Watch your head as your taken through doorways at waist-height. Take the old-fashioned elevator, climb up the stairs or wind through the narrow rickety caged stairwell up to the second floor. Walked through the special exhibition (currently showing Heidi) on one side and a studio taking you through the animation process, from inspirations to colours and editing. The details are just as astounding as the main features. See the making of a storyboard, but then notice the modelled bunched up copies in the bin.
Take a moment’s timeout in the middle of the bridge connecting one side to the other and look up. A fan with wings from Laputa circles slowly above your head.
A Cat Bus from Totoro grins at you on the 3rd floor, waiting for playful kids to come. A library next door brims with Ghibli books, sketch books and original stories. And what museum would be complete without a shop? Selling pens, CDS, paper models, cookies and candies?
Before heading to the Straw Hat Cafe, climb up to the roof where Laputa -the castle in the sky- awaits. A lone robots stands and the stone remains hidden behind the hedges, at the end of a small path.

A cartoonishly beautiful place; heart-warmingly creative and unforgettable.

[Little things that bring a Smile]

An amazing sunset to greet you when you take a break and peek outside absentmindedly …

Cherry blossom leaves raining on you as you walk out of school, comprehensive about the new semester …

The lounge whiteboard decorated with up-coming events and people’s creative touch …


Faces on ballons, each one representing its maker’s mood and personality in the moment they took up the marker …

Flower blossoms showing their colours on a tree branch …

A wooden bucket brimming with kitties, waiting for someone to claim them as their own …

Friends, happi but exhausted, making their way home, leaning on each other for support after an all night out …

Hanabi, self-lit fireworks; the fire, the sparks, the brilliant lightshow … self-made …

A spotty dinosaur costume on a normally conservative Japanese student, joining in the school festivities – a moment’s release from society’s norms

A lounge of friends, smoke from the grill, meat burning, beer in hand, cheeky grins, satisfied stomachs (lucky there werent any smoke alarms) …

Not one, not two, but half a wall of Gachagacha machines, waiting for some crazy, immature person with a few hundred yens jingling in her pockets (ok, me) to come and gachagacha some The Nightmare Before Christmas toys home …

One ridiculously large red Christmas stocking, packed with Secret Santa pressie, one ridiculoulsy large red Christmas stocking, bursting with some 15 dormmates’ chrissy spirit and friendship …

A Japanese garden, showing signs of spring, another battle won over the harsh winter …

A dangerously hilarious game of Jenga, balanced precariously on a vinyl mat in the park during Blossom viewing …

Enjoying the wintery sun with you on a backpacking trip to countryside Japan …

Our reflection on a road-side mirror, your arm around me as you grabbed me to capture the moment…

Our shadow on the platform as we wait for the train to arrive …

Our matching footsteps … traversing over Japan ^^)v

[Countdown begins]

Less than a month to go before I hop on the plane….

the countdown begins……!
——————————–
Greetings from the beaches of Japan…
(miss you guys…but gona miss my bear too… ^^;)

[Two Weeks...]

The beautiful peeps I’ll be leaving …

[Farewells]

…more than a goodbye
it is a challenge…
to the strength of our friendship
of our experiences together
to the promises we gave
the memories and the plans

A challenge to the future
….that we have all boldly stepped up to
tearfully or calmly
acceptingly or grudgingly
with people we love
or people we have only just met

I have failed this challenge before
more than once
and the gauntlet has again
been thrown down
in front of me..
…………………………………
I hate to lose.
That is my promise.

[Change and No Change]

Yes folks, back I am.
Yes, happy I am.
Yes, sad I am too.
So much and so little has changed.

I think for a majority of us heading or have arrived back home from our time in Japan, the fact that our life as an exchange student is over has not yet hit us hard enough… (weell, oki, I may only be speaking for myself. ^^;)
Which is not to say that I am not glad to be back to my family and friends… my queen-sized bed, clear blue skies (amid the clouds that have decided to come greet my return to Melb’s four-season-in-a-day weather), home-cooked meals (thou my bear’s cookin was very good too ^___~), my own car (may be a while yet before my mami lets me back behind the wheel by myself though)… and I’m not wishing for a ticket to return back to the Land of the Rising Sun as soon as I regain some funding. It’s just that amid all the familiarity and the small changes here and there, the year thats past seems… unreal. Perhaps the wrong word… but it floats there on the line between reality and a long summer night’s dream.
Not so much has changed here in Melbourne and there are times when I navigate so unconsciously that it doesn’t seem that I’ve left for a year, yet the memories and occassionally sigh of things I miss in Japan (say…service??? – -);) quickly puts up a flag, claiming their own land in my head.

[Setting the records straight~]

I guess its my own doing, that since coming back home to Melb, that my blog posts have not been all cheery and bright. Hence, the amount of concerned messages asking if I’m not happy back @ Melbourne, Australia.

On the contrary however, I’ve been enjoying my time back here. Despite a year in Japan, there were still times when I was clueless and yes, stressed.. at life, at people and myself. So it has been nice, coming back to the place I’ve grown up in and will always call Home. I can’t deny that there are things that I miss in Japan (yes, my bear being one but not the only) and having experienced different ways, been approached different thinking and seeing different people, my views and thoughts have also changed.

I haven’t had much time to reflect so far on my year in Japan, or simply, my year away by myself. But as much as I am the same, I admit that I am also different.
How? … More confident maybe, a lil more … ready to go out and catch hold of life. Maybe.