Counting down...

Wherever you are at this moment, be contented to have gone through 2005 healthy and peacefully. And if it wasn't for you, may 2006 be one.

Pictures

福岡の雪景色：
今の福岡はこの感じだね。キムチィ。。。行きたいなぁ。 韓国も中国もアメリカもこの感じ？いいなぁ。

確かこれはダイエーの辺りだね。行きたい！

以上：中学校から、ほぼ10 年間の友情ばい。しばらく一緒に食事したり、しゃべりしたり、笑ったり。。。

この鞄可愛いでしょう？値段も。。。￥２３，２００！！バリ高いけん。

2005 in a glance...

2005 in a glance...

去年のポスト：

金曜日, 12月 31, 2004

A whole new year is about to begin and i'm embracing it with my arms w i d e open.2005 will only get more exciting as i flirt around with my interests...

1) Learn guitar. The guitar Jing gave me for my birthday is growing mold..So gotta rock n roll.
2) To Japan. Wooing Japan has to take on a higher level. I've checked out on SEPs offered in NUS, and set my sights on Keio University. Plus will get involved in a Club. And certainly, the quest to Japan has to be realised.
3) Get fitter. It's never easy to discipline myself to get the physique that i want. But in 2005, yes. With Raymond as my running budd, we shall cover some distance. Hit the gym!
4) Study harder. Just gotta play safe and pull my cap up to 4. And that means staying for longer hours in the library. mugging that is.
5) Part-time job(s). The incessant need for more and more money..to finance my huge budget for 2005.
6) Volunteer work. Always thought of getting started,but.. Maybe with a community-involvement project.

Ok,that's all for now..

Resolutions are important. As I review what I set out to do in 2005, I am pretty contented with the results.
To Japan:
Most importantly, I have gone to Japan. I am not too sure whether it'll be the only trip to Japan in my university years, but it was an experience I will never forget. Very often, I will reminisce the times I owned a room to myself in the apartment. How I cycled to Q-dai every early morning, I remember the turns, the corners, the buildings I zoomed past. I often think about my host family, their warm hospitality, the 1st time I learned surfing and swam in the warm waters of Japan. I think about the times I wandered into Tenjin late at night alone, zooming in and out of supermarkets I see at every corner of the city. I think about the friendships, the novelty of meeting people my age from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, America... Not a single day was boring as I take in all the sights and food with immeasurable interest. I took tonnes of pictures at every opportunity, spoke Japanese at every opportunity.

Cover some distance:
And yes I did. I must admit I never trained hard for the events, but I completed them anyway. Events covered -
1) NUS Biathlon on 20 Feb (but I only did the running of 10km, swimming was done by Jing)
2) World Harmony Run on 18 Jun (4.8km)
3) NUS Heritage Run on 19 Sep (10km)
4) Second Link Run on 9 Oct (21km)
5) Standard Chartered Half Marathon on 4 Dec (21km)
More distance to be covered in 2006.

Pull my CAP to 4.0:
In order to secure at least a 2nd upper class honours, I gotta maintain what I have achieved this semester. Work harder next sem.

Part-time job:
This would mean tuition assignments. Teaching 4 students for a whole year now. Keith has graduated from primary school and scored 257 for his PSLE. Nico progressed in his class position from 33/38 to 14/38.
Although the tuition jobs do not bring in incredulous income for me, it is a supplement nonetheless.

Resolutionって日本語では決断か？２００６へ向けて、２００５の色々な体験をちょっと検討した。
２００６にまた頑張ります。

On forgiveness.

Caught A History of Violence last sunday and I simply loved the film.

The cast was great. Especially the leads. It prompted me to think about Forgiveness. 許すことは容易ではない。
The shocking past of the male lead was revealed to the disbelief of his wife and children.
He was forced to face a past he had tried so hard to hide and now back to haunt him.
In the last scene, was quiet yet powerful as forgiveness sets in.

Forgiveness. The newspapers this week are splashed with articles on NKF's audit results. And the public disgrunts on the disgraced former CEO T.T.Durai.
"シンガポールで今、国民の怒りをかっているのは国内最大の慈善団体NKF(National Kidney Foundation)。NKFはもともと腎臓の病気を患っている人への治療代等を援助する目的でできたNPO団体である。最近、その不透明な金の流れが少しづつバレてきている。実際1ドルにつき10セントしか本来の目的である活動に使われていないとThe Straits Timesも語気を強めて批判している。募金の多くはスタッフの給料・ボーナス、あるいはNFK名義での高級マンション購入などに使われてきたらしい。" こっち 　The public has expressed their unhappiness on the papers, and many has since withdrew their contributions. Yes, the NKF now is the new NKF after the revamp, but it is not so easy to forgive what Durai had done.

Just like how for decades, Japan's war past has plagued its progress and its relations with its neighbours. No doubt many have forgiven, but the past returns when put to use in politics. And it'll constantly surface as a result.

Personally, forgiveness has come to mean that i do not hate the man who had brought me to this world, then left me in ruins. But it does not entail that i will treat him the way i did then.

For my mum, she has not come to forgive the mother who gave her away to a family which did not embrace her wholeheartedly. She was robbed of kinship, of paternal love, of family warmth. These days, she has been talking about it. Sometimes, she tears when she confronts her past.

Is Christmas a season of love? A time for one to forgive whatever has happened this year? Well, it's easier said than done. Send me a parcel of love, Santa.

よかった！

しばらくだね。最近体の調子がちょっとよくないなぁ。。頭もお腹も痛いし、でももうすぐ治るかもしれない。

今日とてもとてもうれしい。この学期の試験の結果は思ったよりよかったよ。 来学期また頑張ります！

嫌な、誰か僕の写真を撮られた。最高の表情だ。。。

今日はさ、マジ疲れた。３AMに起きて、３：３０AMから３：３０PMまで母の喫茶店で手伝った。ずっとずっと立った。普段の日はそんなに長い時間じゃなくて、月曜日だけ。だから、月曜日が大嫌い。
まだ少しエネルギーを持っているから、友達と一緒に食事するつもりだ。友達に会えば、幸せの感じが持てる。

Blah blah

I've been mistaken for a malay yet again today. I was buying some stuff from a chinese elderly lady at a provisions shop, for ten seconds she sprouted a few lines of malay. I just smiled at her and paid for my item. For the uninitiated, I supposedly bear much resemblance to a malay. Not that I have anything against that, it's just that I don't quite get it. The indian lady at the indian foodstall in the school canteen, even my fellow classmate in japanese class mistook me for a malay. Hmm, identity crisis. Anyway, this relates to an issue I've been pretty interested in lately - Ethnicity. In a racial-rojak country like Singapore, we seem to be very sensitive and interested in who's malay, who's chinese or who's indian. And then, out comes the stereotypes affixed to each race.

I have been waiting for the arrival of Sayuri. When is she going to reach our shores?
Slowly sashaying down in her flowy kimono.











次の学期のモジュールをちょっと決めて選んだ。日本の宗教　と　続いている日本語４　と　東南アジア研究　を選んだ。日本へ留学に行く予定は。。ちょっと無理かなぁ。。I am supposed to show that I have at least $6000-10,000 in my bank account. What the %*#!x# この世界でお金が大切だ。No money, no talk.

疲れています。

I am alive! まだ死んでいない！日曜日のマラソンできたよ。でも、友達は初めて出たから、ゆっくりで走っていました。We were there not to compete, but to complete. 友達の彼女もそのとおり。来年また出たい。いつフールマラソンができるか知らないなぁ。。

試験が終ってから、母の喫茶店で手伝っている。３時（AM)に起きて、ちょっと疲れている。これは義務じゃなくて、責任だ。若者なら、苦しくても大丈夫でしょう？

今雪見たい！！だれか雪を送ってくれない？今までまだ見ていないよ。Come on, send me some snow!　ハハハ。。

試験終った！

やっと試験が終った!
日曜日にハーフマラソン（２１キロ）に出る予定がある。
実は試験の期間にずっと勉強したので、全然走らなかった。今ちょっと心配だ。

Wanted to meet mel & co. for 北海道ラーメン, but was too shag after the exam. However, to satisfy my craving, I had Japanese food for lunch -
オムライス　と　豚うどん
チョーキムチィ。。。
Then i dragged myself to suntec, along with jing, to collect my runner's pack for Sunday's marathon. The singlet is バリnice this year, cos sponsored by the ubiquitous Adidas.
Hope I will survive this sunday.

The end of the exams, ushers in a whole list of things to do this holidays. Bz, bz...