KONICHIWA MINNA-SAN
hello, back from my 6 days japan (tokyo, hamamatsu, nara, kyoto, osaka) and 3 days china (shanghai, suzhou) trip.

i love japan EVEN MORE.
i was very happy during my trip in japan cause it's just a place that radiates joy (:
the place is beautiful and people are always smiling and happy too so it makes you feel great too :D
its really such a beautiful place to spend your time at and japan will always have a special place in my heart.
and i couldnt stop taking pictures HAHAHA.
i ended up shopping quite alot too, much more than that time when i went hokkaido.
this time i ended up buying more useful things like accesories, bags, clothes, food, shoes etc :D:D
i cant wait to go back!
or any hot japanese man, please take me with you!

ANYWAY.
SO MANY DAMN THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE TRIP.
but i shall try and take a general approach.

10 things i like about japan (in no particular order):

1) it is a very polite and friendly society
the workers are all extremely pleased to serve with bright smiles on their faces and always greeting you.
and it is common to nod and smile at people and say sumimasen (sorry/excuse me) if you knock into them or you wish to cross their path.

2) positive work attitude and diligent
everyone does their job as best as they can and dont slack off.
80% of the people that work in the service line are teenagers and they work very enthusiastically regardless whether at the food court, petrol kiosks , boutiques, convenience stores, ushers or cashiers in disneyland.
i think we need to learn from them (:

3) enthusiastic and sporting.
disneyland was surprisingly fun, it seriously brought out a child-like and feminine side of me that doesnt really have a chance to come out in singapore.
everyone there expresses their joy so vibrantly, getting all dressed up with minnie mouse ears and bow hairband and cute hats and outfits etc.
and japanese people spend money like free, they dont seem to hesitate to purchase to make themselves and their loved ones happy.
and alottttttttttt of families and couples were at disneyland, so cute!
when i was at this kyoto temple, there were also many sporting couples wearing traditional japanese costumes to go pray together for their love, SO CUTE OMG.

4) recycling bins are EVERYWHERE and people use them, thats real awesome.

5) EVERYONE IS SO GOOD LOOKING, PRETTY, TALL AND STYLISH.
total bullshit that jap people are ugly.
typical japanese people on the streets are all veryyyyyyyyyyy well dressed and styled and they look even better than the celebrities!
and im a total sucker for a guy in a suit and a tie and all office workers wear that as a basic working attire, HOW PROPER AND HOT IS THAT.
so dont judge just by seeing that the celebrities are very good looking, they usually look worse than the normal people :/

6) the babies are all freaking cute.
i swear i dont think i saw any baby that just didnt look absolutely adorable.
and in japan the parents all seem very young or maybe it's just cause they are all well dressed and do not fall into auntie-mode once they get married.
and they dress up their kids too!
in cute outfits, boots and hair dos, VERY KAWAII.

7) the children there are very independent.
it is very common to see them cycling alone to school and work.
the little children also do not cling on to their parents and are all very mature and cute, and i barely heard any child cry!

8) IT IS A VERY CLEAN PLACE.
streets, buildings, toilets, were all veryyyyyyy clean.
and the architecture is also beautiful and its always comfortable no matter where you go.
the toilets are seriously fantastic, they have like a little children seat that you can pull down on top of the toilet seat cause their ass may be much smaller HAHA.
they also have those toilet seat covers, toilet seat lotion to clean the seat, motion sensor flush where you just swipe your hand over this pad and even this little seat attached to the wall where you can place your infant while you pee HAHA.

9) everything is very high tech.
when you order food at the food court, you press a button on this vending machine and they give you a ticket.
you give the ticket to the attendant and she gives you a remote control.
you bring it back to your seat and when it beeps, it means you can go collect your food.
HOW CONVENIENT IS THAT.
japan is a very thoughful and considerate society where they always try to make things as convenient as possible for everyone using technology (:

10) tons of beautiful natural scenery.
70% of japan's land is made out of mountains and there are alotttttttttt of trees everywhere.
whoever said singapore was a garden city should go take a look at japan.
the sky is also clear blue and the clouds are white and fluffy and it makes you smile just looking at the sky :D
there are also alot of man made infrastructure like temples etc and they are also VERY GORGEOUS.

************************************************************************************
DAY ONE
SHANGHAI

nanjing road shopping
cruise down some river
view from hotel














DAY TWO
TOKYO <3
shanghai airport
shopping near disneyland
disneyland

the parade was PACKED and everyone waited very patiently in the cold for the parade and when it started, NO ONE STOOD UP.
i was like IN AWE.
singaporeans would have rushed to stood up to get a better view but everyone remained seated no matter how far they were and just took pictures, cheered and clap.
SO SWEET.























DAY THREE

TOKYO/NAGOYA
asakusa temple
tokyo shopping
onsen hotel






















DAY FOUR
MOUNT FUJI
HAKONE
gotemba factory outlet
HAMAMATSU
























DAY FIVE


NARA
nara temple and deer park














KYOTO
temple
shopping street
bullet train to osaka
shinsaibashi shopping


























DAY SIX
OSAKA










DAY SEVEN
OSAKA/SHANGHAI
morning shopping near hotel
shanghai

after experiencing japan and coming to shanghai, it was quite a disappointment.
the biggest and most important difference between the two countries would be their attitude, and china probably needs to work on it if they want to catch up and be a big global power.
generally it was dirtier and the food was less suited our appetite but it was ok.





DAY EIGHT
suzhou
shanghai















DAY NINE

shanghai
singapore HOME SWEET HOME YAY




wah that was bloody tiring :(
but i like seeing loads of pictures HAHA.
i took sooooooo much more and did so many things but hard to write about everything.
it was just a great experience :D

and while i was doing all this, i was watching angus thongs and perfect snogging.
i think it was yiting who told me it sucked but quite ok leh.
DAMN FUNNY.
or more like i kept laughing at the show cause it was quite lame but the plot is ok lah.
happy ending british chick flick :/
at least the guy's quite hot HAHA.
its very hard to go wrong with the zac efron hairdo, totally hot omg.
the soundtrack's good though, i have some of the songs that they used too heh (:

this morning woke up early to go down to geylang there to see chinese doctor with my parents.
had yummy breakfast and patronised this old stall that sold like red bean pancake, peanut pancake, tapioca cake, carrot cake sticks etc, SUPER DELICIOUS.
after seeing the doctor, we went to see plants and i got myself a potted plant HAHA.
it's really pretty!

i feel slightly disorientated because ive been doing alot of travelling around multiple locations within a day, going to unfamiliar territories in the east and spending the past 24 hours out of my house.
but i had alot of fun woohoo :D


monday
dragged myself all the way to kallang there for yiting's birthday surprise.
yuslina and yuling couldnt make it in the end :(
we were supposed to go to her place then bring her down at 5 but places got twisted and she almost found out!
oops sorry im not good at such things and i had to pretend to her all alone man.
so her class surprised her at her doorstep and we had a potluck yum :D
sent her class off, got free macaroons from amadea thanks and slacked by the poolside during the evening talkingtalkingtalkingtalking.
on the way back to her condo, i suddenly saw this thing like RIGHT NEXT TO MY FREAKING FOOT hop away from me.
and it was A FREAKING FROG OH MY GOD.
i got the shock of my life and screamed and ran like far far far away argh.
bloody frogs, why do i meet so many in my lifetime man :(

tueday
met qian at holland v.
sushi tei lunch, went back to THE void deck and its been like almost exactly a year since we were last there and roamed around.
we were supposed to help her look for a job but we ended up slacking HUR.
went to her house and explored her playground and poolside (:
stayed at her place till like 6 then went to meet fiona in town.











tried to take some arty farty shots but i think i failed HAHA.

had dinner at cine xinwang and spent shitloads of time in heeren.
went over to shaw, walked fiona to her bus stop then went home at 10 plus.

i really want to buy like a pair of geek specs and go to the optician and put in real lenses like my friend did (hello bryan!)
then i think it'll be super funny HAHA.
like im watching movies and going to lessons with geek specs hur :/

wednesday
met up with joan tay, opy and qian :D
lunch at raffles city ding tai feng
marina square arcade heh heh heh where we played shitloads of things
the guitar and drums game were damn fun HAHAH.
went over to joan's place and played learned japanese mahjong.

wah jap mahjong is so much more fun than hongkong mahjong, alot of patterns and must think alot but that makes it more shiok.
and i was really lucky, won alot of money woohoo :D
fake money of course, joan tay has the proper jap mahjong counters.

then went over to tiong bahru plaza for dinner at like 9 and like ran up and down the streets to get a cab HAHA.
went to butter factory then arena which was so much better.
drinks queue must faster and more efficient, dance floor bigger, live band louder and better but more crazy girls who dance and practically strip ew.
went for prata supper at tiong then went back to joan tay's for mahjong till 8 plus in the morning shiok.

went to tiong market for breakfast and i bet we looked like 4 crazy women cause opy had a pink streak in the hair, qian was half dead and emo looking, joan tay had a ribbon in her hair and i was wearing like clogs cause joan ran out of slippers to lend :/
but CARROT CAKE AND DAO HUI CIU BREAKFAST :D

went back and knocked out for a while then shared cab home.
i only sleep for a few hours cause i want to conserve my sleepiness so that i can sleep early and wake up at FOUR PLUS for my morning flight omg.

gone from tmr to next saturday, hope it'll be fun :D

i dreamt that 4 of my teeth dropped out yesterday, it was very terrifying indeed :(
ive been having this problem since A levels and it still hasnt gone away, sucks really.
ive been having troubles sleeping and i dream every night and i seriously hate it sigh.
ive also been sick for 3 weeks, and its scaring the shit out of me cause i still havent recovered from a typical cycle of like sore throat, flu and cough.
and michelle lai where are you.

but anyway, thursday was spent with qian.
met in town to go cuppage to find this jap restaurant that she read about that has delicious and cheap set lunches.
10 bucks for this oyakodon set lunch with like miso soup, 2 side dishes and fruit.
YUMMY AND WORTH IT.
and it was packed with office people who were having their lunchtimes.

we then took a bus to city hall and walked walked walked walked till we reached somewhere where you can find these:




haji lane!
well not technically haji lane cause that is just a pathetic stretch of road but the whole area including places like kandarhar lane and arab street has more things.
and haji lane is overrated seriously :/
the best find was this cafe + shop called pluck, and it serves yummy teatime snacks and the place is gorgeous :D
and we also came across this shop that sells home + clothes + accesories related things, EVERYTHING THERE IS SUPER PRETTY.
but expensive of course :(

the other lanes were better and we found qian's bakery called rich and good bakery/cakes that she read about online and she bought her mango swiss roll.
its yummy!
but not very filling, i think i could eat the whole thing myself HAHA.

we also came across like toy and antique shops and everything is soooooooo cute.
and i got conned by party city at holland v.
i bought a heart shaped pen that can blow bubbles for 5 bucks and i could get a star shaped one for 1 buck at arab street ARGH.
so i bought it and started blowing bubbles at qian HAHA.

then it started to rain so we were like stuck there.
we decided to just open our umbrellas and rush to the nearest bus stop, which was very far away.
my precious shoes got all wet and i was damn scared that i destroyed the material :(
took a bus to qian's house and she's always such a gracious host (:
there was also this badminton match on tv where it was my favourite mixed doubles korean team who won the olympics vs this pair from china.
ARGH I WAS SO ANNOYED BY THE CHINA PLAYERS.
sorry i get very agitated during competitions, they were bloody cocky lah.
stayed until it was around dinner time then i went to meet my mum for dinner (:

friday

met yiting in the morning for karaoke at marina square.
BECAUSE SHE WAS LATE AGAIN WE WASTED 20 MINS OF OUR SINGING TIME.
then we ended up extending, which ive never done before, cause we just had so many songs to sing and we didnt want to leave yet.
it was fun fun fun :D
and i came across alot of nice songs thanks to yiting!

by the time we came out it was 3 plus then we just randomly decided that maybe we should watch a movie.
but i was like, nah now all the crappy movies nothing nice to watch.
but she was like, just go and check timings lah!
and we went and... THERE WAS TWILIGHT.
OH MY GOD I WAS SO STUNNED CAUSE I THOUGHT IT OPENED ON THE 18TH AND WE WERE LIKE WATCH TWILIGHT NOW!
so we did but the ticket damn ex lah, 10 bucks :(

I DONT BELIEVE ANY GIRL WONT FALL IN LOVE WITH ROBERT PATTINSON/EDWARD CULLEN AFTER WATCHING THE MOVIE.
QIAN I BET YOU, YOU'LL START TO LOVE HIM AND ILL CALL YOU A HYPOCRITE HAHA.
generally i thought the acting was good but it was just the development and the dialogue that was abit weird for me.
some parts seemed unnecessary and some were developed too quickly imo.
personally i think the notebook was the movie that did the best job of making almost every single scene a necessary development in their relationship.
but anyway i would give twilight 3.5/5, giving it an extra 0.5 cause ROBERT PATTINSON IS SO HOT, ESPECIALLY AT THE END (spoiler: prom)

anyway today is my stay home day, i really hope i recover asap!
maybe its cause when i go out, i just eat like whatever and dont really restrict my diet well enough for someone who's sick :x
ok bye!