Staring into spaces

I've been spending a lot of time at home. I go straight home after school if I have no plans; I usually have no plans which sounds kinda sad. I live in the bustling city where all the 'action' is but yet I still chose to be at home where there is just simply nothing. It slows my days down when I do that. It's great sometimes because it helps me to unwind a little after going through complicated issues and theories in uni.

I get caught up in current issues a little too often. I'm not sure if it is because of what I am studying in university which lead me to my constant habit of reading the news. It's good to be always 'in the know

 of the current affairs. But let's be honest here, it's tiring to always be doing that. I applaud the great leaders in the political world for being able to being able to do this and still loving what they do. 

I made a little video out of boredom and also because I want to get in touch with my creative side again. I haven't been out a lot or doing anything impressive that makes me want to film. But its important that I start doing something, baby steps if I need to. Let's hope this kick starts into something more impressive. I need more self-confidence. x

My Trip to Mie Prefecture

Mie Prefecture, Train Station

A few days after the Golden Week, B and I went on a trip to Mie Prefecture to visit the famous Ise Shrine, Iga Ninja Museum and Moku Moku farm. The two cities we visited, Iga-shi and Ise-shi It was a complete opposite from what I am used to in Tokyo; bustling streets with many shops closing really late and many modes of transport. The trains don't come very often, and all the shops closes really early. There was hardly anything there compared to Tokyo. It was a bummer that it was raining half the time during our trip and it made travelling to places less convenient. 

I got to see my cute piggies at the farm, tried amazing food from Ise city, underwent my 'ninja training' and visited one of the holiest Shinto shrine in Japan! I never thought I'd be able to do all of these so soon. This trip was amazing; short and sweet. What a pleasant get away trip from the city before school starts!

I took some clips during the trip but I wasn't too focused on getting cinematic shots because I wanted to enjoy myself to the fullest. I don't want to be too absorbed on my electronics. I think I still managed to put everything together nicely in a 7mins video to sum up my trip. x

PS: I took a placement test in uni and was put in advance level class. I guess I haven't lost my touch on Japanese just yet!

A concert we went

Summer Diaries: A concert we went.

On 23rd of May, my friend and I attended a concert by a famous Japanese rock band, ONE OK ROCK. I couldn't do any filming in the arena because it wasn't allowed, not even a selfie before the performance started. But it's alright because I could enjoy the performance to the fullest without having a camera blocking my view.

I don't have much to say about the concert except knowing how awesome it was. It was my first time attending a concert in Yokohama Arena. I must thank my friend, Benj, or I wouldn't have had the chance to see their concert in Japan, ever. It was amazing how he could still sound awesome despite having a pretty bad sore throat. After the concert, I was having withdrawal effects right and decided to buy some concert merchandises such as T-shirts and sticker set. Can't fight the inner fan-girl in me. (I'm hopeless when it comes to One Ok Rock).

Ended the day with a dinner with Mai at some izakaya. We talked about our plans for the future after graduation. It's scary but I think we'll manage. We always do.

I also did some experimenting with filming on the day of the concert and whipped up a short 1min-2min video about 2 days ago.  Hope you enjoy it. It's nothing fancy but yeah. x

Spring break = Hanami

Hanami - 花見
4th April 2015

Hey there! It is currently spring in Tokyo, Japan. I've completed my finals and it's the start of the spring breaks! (hooray!) Since my first year in Japan, I had never went to a hanami or visited the parks to look at cherry blossom trees. Even after I entered college, I didn't have to chance to do hanami with my friends either because I have finals during the time sakuras are in full bloom. I couldn't understand the hype about Spring. I couldn't understand the beauty of cherry blossoms/Sakura. But, this year was different. I felt the beauty of sakura in Japan and understood the meaning behind Hanami. I think I'll probably never understand the meaning behind hanami and cherry blossoms in Japanese culture if I had not done a research about cherry blossoms for my cultural anthropology class. It's definitely something I'd recommend people to do if they are in Japan during this period.

For the past few days, I've been visiting the park and joined in with the Hanami activities with the locals. The view was magnificent! I love it when the wind blows and the sakura petals starts drifting down to the ground. It's just like the scenes from animes. No, it was better because I was there in person to witness it.

***

I've also officially completed my Spring semester for college. I'm now down to my last final semester which begins in May. Congrats to my lovely friends who graduated in this semester! I'll see you guys during the graduation ceremony!

Since I was so busy last semester, I didn't have a chance to write about my trip to a tropical greenhouse with my fellow photography club members. Never fear, I've made a video about it! I'm not in the video because I was busy filming so... Yeah! If you enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up. :)



Until then,
Good bye.

PS: I'd recommend anyone who's interested about Sakura and its symbolic meaning in Japanese culture to read this book. It was an interesting read.

Spring is here!

14th March 2015

Flowers are starting to bloom everywhere in Tokyo, Japan. Plum blossoms are almost everywhere and sakuras are also slowing starting to bloom as well. Winter felt so long that not seeing colours on the streets seems so normal. I missed spring.

The photo was taken on the 14th of March, which is also known as 'White's Day' in Japan. Besides the whole hype about the men gives chocolate to women. It's exactly like Valentine's Day but the roles are switched. As usual, nothing special happened to me on White's Day.

Instead, I had a meeting with the boss and other reporters of AJNTV. We've planned a lot of interesting things for the rest of the year so that's a little something to look forward to!

Last few weeks, I've also made a quick wrap-up video for my school's International Food Festival! It's an annual event and it's my second time attending it. Good food cooked by my fellow schoolmates. Yummy!

I am down to my last few weeks of school before the semester comes to an end. Time really flies and I have not stopped counting down til the day of my graduation. I'm also looking forward to my Spring holidays which is coming up really soon. I'm glad my holidays aren't clashing with other students attending Japanese universities because I won't have to deal with the crowds in the streets!

Meanwhile, I'm slowly tackling my assignments. I'm tackling the small ones first because the big ones are really difficult and gahh.. the readings are never ending!

C.

146 days.

Highlights and wrap-up of 2014

Hello, I just got back from school about 2 hours ago. I stayed behind until 9pm because I had to meet my writing teacher so she can proofread my personal statement. Just a little more before I can throw all these application stuff aside. I hate the anxiety that comes from this!

Anyways, before I miss another whole month worth of update and be extremely late on my wrap-up of 2014, I'm going to write something.

Last December was my winter holiday and I think I did almost nothing really productive, but I did finish up part 1 of my vlog to Osaka. Part 2 of the trip will be up soon but I think it would be a really short one. Nonetheless, I'll try to finish it by the end of this week! (Procrastination) Meanwhile, here is Part 1 of my short trip to Osaka which I really enjoyed. I try to make all my vlog with a reminisce feel to it so when I look back 10 years later, I can either cringe at my bad video editing or smile at the wonderful time I've spend in Japan.


Moving on... I guess 2014 was really awesome because there was so much major changes in my life that helped me grow as a person and move on in life. I think I've wrote this many times as I try to reflect back almost every other month, I apologise. It's a habit of mine to do monthly self-reflections so I'd be more appreciative of the world and people around me. Trust me, it does help me to stay humble.

Highlights of 2014

• Accepted to an American liberal arts college
• Reconcile with my sister (we're practically best friends now. Okay, maybe not yet)
• Total makeover of my hair and style
• Picked up photography (a tiny bit of film/video)
• Met so many inspiring people in college
• Learnt more about myself and gained more self-confidence
• Went on small solo trips around Tokyo.
• Went on a trip to Osaka with my friends from College

I guess this is all that really happened. I hope I didn't miss anything. I didn't exactly have any new resolutions made during 2014. I always make goals throughout the year, and once they were completed I strike them off and forget that I actually made goals. Nonetheless, I think I've achieved quite a bit last year and I really enjoyed 2014.

This year didn't start out too well, but I think everything is starting to pick up. Though, I just received word that my pet dog Doli, is currently deaf. I really hate to have to witness it myself this coming summer. Nevertheless, like how I swallow all the harsh realities, I will swallow this truth down my teeny-tiny throat. 

 

Yesterday, I went to Meiji Jingu Shrine, like how I always do every year, and did some praying for the new year. I asked kami-sama for a smooth year ahead, as well as praying for my university applications. Then, I picked up an omikuji, and according to my friend there would be obstacles ahead but I will be able to overcome them. I always get such fortunes whenever I have huge plans ahead for the year. As much as I hate hearing that, I'm quite relieved that it says that because it means there is still hope.

I haven't really draft out any huge plans for 2015 yet but I will definitely be going back to Singapore this coming summer after graduation with my Associates of the Arts Degree in Liberal Arts. I know it's really no big deal to others but I'm bloody proud of myself to have even got so far in my education (I was a trashy student). To be honest, I really can't wait to be home because I really miss my friends and family. I miss my pet dog BB too. I misses how he annoys me every night to go to bed because he wants to sleep in the air conditioned room. 

I'm going to take a quick shower now. x

216 days.

Simple indulgence

Nutcracker
18th December 2014

Hello. I haven't done a follow up since the last post ranting about not receiving my results from school. Nonetheless, I received my results the in evening on the day after I ranted. And, good news because I made it into the dean's list again which means I received good grades! Yahhhh.

I've been having outings with friends and I made a new vlog yesterday! Even though I don't have much clips to put together, I still want to make it because I want to be able to look back at all the silly/awkward dances I did with my friends. I think I'm on weird dance craze recently.

We decided to bake brownies but we ended up making a cake instead. While trying to bake, we did a series of silly and awkward dances while making the mix. I think it was because we were high on tacos. We had so much food from taco bell, we had to burn them off somehow. If you're interested, click the video below!



Today, I went on a solo trip to town to catch a movie and bought a small luggage! For a Monday, it was unexpectedly crowded. Am I missing out on something today? Is today some sort of public holiday that I do not know of? Is winter solstice a legit public holiday here in Japan?

Anyways, all the cafes I want to hide in was packed with people. So, I've decided to hang out at a bookstore and the manga shop longer to kill some time while waiting for my movie to start. I bought an evening ticket, thinking that I might oversleep and miss the movie time but I was just in time for the 3pm movie! I should have bought an earlier timing if I knew today was going to be so packed throughout the day.

I caught the live action movie of the manga/anime adaptation 'Parasyte'. IT WAS SO GOOD! The CG was really impressive. I jumped at a few scenes because of the sudden swiping of the blades. I felt so embarrassed though because no one jumped but me! *face palm*

I can't wait to watch the second part of the film. I'm not going to compare the anime and the film but I have to say that 'migi' is much cuter in the film though. Even though I don't really like the attitude of the movie version, Izumi, because he sounded so rude all the time. But, I have to admit, the actor is pretty awesome! Maybe they are following the original adaptation of the manga or that I'm missing out on something again. lol.

Speaking about movies and animes, I ran out of animes to watch for this season. There aren't many that caught my eye though. Last season's animes were SO GOOD though. Tokyo Ghoul broke me. :(

OH! I almost forgot... I just happen to spot the otome winter market event at Shinjuku. I just HAD to go and pay a visit so I ended up getting two cushion from the shop - Hakuouki designed and Shinobi Koi Utsutsu designed. How can I resist them since they are the few otome games I liked? I mean, both of the series had to do with samurais and ninjas. Anything that has ninjas and samurais win hands down! Two additional cushions added to my collections. Japan really spoils me. Or, at least Tokyo spoils me. haha.

Anyways, peace out! xoxo

Vlog: A trip to Yokohama!

11th December 2014
Trip to Yokohama

Hello. I went to Yokohama on Thursday with friends from college to enjoy the lovely illuminations! A little get away from Tokyo once in a while is always good. Yokohama will always hold a special place in my tiny little heart. I think Japan looks the best during winter season because everywhere is decorated with illuminations and it feels so happy and festive!

I haven't made a video in a while so I thought I would make a little video to sum-up our little evening trip there. I muted all our talking because there was loads of nonsense. This time, I also picked a little more christmassy and relaxing genre as the background music. I had so much fun! I want to go again! Anyways, enjoy the video! :)


Taken with my Olympus OMD EM10
xoxo,
C

Vlog: Fireworks Festival with my mates!

I took about six hours to edit a vlog on the fireworks festival I attended with my friends from college. I didn't expect to finish it that fast. I thought I will take perhaps the whole day to edit this because I have not touched my video editing software for a long time. Anyways, I enjoyed the whole process of it. This video was taken with my Olympus PEN E-P1 camera. I'm still not used to this camera's function, but I'm getting better at it.

This was the Koutou Fireworks Festival 「江東花火大会」 . I didn't write a blog post about it because its sort of the same as the Itabashi Fireworks Festival, and the only difference was the friends I went with. I had more fun the second time because I got to enjoy the fireworks from a closer view and we also had time visit the stalls selling food! Also, since i've decided on making a vlog about it, I might as well wait til I'm done with this video right? After the fireworks, around 5mins 45secs, there are some goofy scenes that I've decided to add because I am usually really goofy with I'm with my mates. Also, you guys can actually hear me speak some Japanese! Now I can look back and think of summer as something enjoyable just by looking at this video. Everyone was smiling and having fun. My friends are so adorable, I want to bring them all home!! :P

I'm into my second week of my summer holidays. It has been great so far. Due to the typhoon that was approaching, the strong wind and rain yesterday was pretty terrifying. But I was indoors the whole time so I'm safe. Recently, I've stumbled upon another RPG game called 'Mana Khemia' and I've been hooked onto it! I love this game! Til next time.

Love,
C

Hello December

Enoshima Beach
30 November 2013
2013年11月30日

Hello.

It's finally December!! I can't believe it's almost the end of the year 2013! Just a few days ago I celebrated my birthday. Time really flies doesn't it?

I'm really looking forward to Christmas. Though, I don't have any special plans as of yet. But I'm hoping to make it really special since I'll be moving to a new place before Christmas! I'm still packing up my place so it's in quite a big of a mess currently. I can't tell you how excited I am to move, really.

I can't wait to go shopping in the nearby supermarket at my new place. I have a thing for big supermarkets. I prefer shopping there than other shops because it's food. Nothing can ever go wrong with food in my opinion.

I'm not sure whether it's because of the cold weather, but I'm munching on things more than usual. So, I believe I've gained some weight but I hope to lose them soon before my friends come over for a visit.

Last week, I volunteered for the ASEAN music festival which took place at NHK hall. Which was the most amazing experience yet. I really want to thank the singapore embassy for this. They needed helpers for this event so I volunteered. Mainly because it's not everyday you get to go into NHK hall. This is just probably the perfect reason for it.

I wrote on my Facebook status about my fantastic encounter with a quite a few artists. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much because I know how strict they are. But well, I believe if you're fated to meet them and also to take a photo, even without much effort, you will end up getting them.   It's a chance one must take beforehand though. Like, if I didn't take up this volunteering job, I wouldn't even have a slightest chance!! Also, I'm very happy to be being able to meet new people and make new friends. They are all so friendly! (^^)

On the 30th of November, I went to Enoshima to celebrate my birthday. To be honest, it was alright. It wasn't the best, it wasn't bad at all. At least I got to sit at the beach and enjoy the sea breeze and the awesome view of the sun setting! Nothing beats sitting there doing nothing. If  only I had a beach chair and a book with me, that would probably be good. But it's winter so I doubt I can stay there that long and there are eagles flying above us. lol.



Not a videography sort of person so pardon the badly taken video. I even got help from this iphone app to do it. Nonetheless, I took a photo of the nice sunset by the beach sort of photo as seen on the top of this post! Best shot of the day, I believe! :D

Counting down the days til the end of school and winter holidays!

I am looking forward to college!! :)

Making goals, fulfilling them. That's all part of growing up isn't it?
I'm a happy happy kid. (^^)


xoxo.

Chi.

A day out with bestie.

Hello. Good day.

I had a awesome day yesterday. I hope you had a good day yesterday.

Let's summarize it up. I went out with my bestie, Shizuka. We can get pissed or irritated with each other sometimes but when we see each other all that anger will just disappear straight away. It's an awesome friendship which I'll cherish forever.

Initially, we planned to sing karaoke in the morning and continue our day shopping, then dinner. But because I was so tired, I woke up late and called it off and decided to meet a little later. We decided to go shopping then dinner at this place called "Bijin Nabe" 【美人鍋】 ,or "Beauty Pot".

A short video taken when we had our dinner at this restaurant called "Bijin Nabe". I can't stress how yummy it really is. I'm no food critic so I can't do the description or anything of that sort so I'll just tell you to go try it if you can.



Also, having it with your best friend, it's the best homecoming dinner ever! I had quite a lot of homecoming dinners already so I have officially gained weight. So far, I've been having hot pot for dinner though it's suppose to be summer.

Talking about summer, the moment I woke up, it was pretty chilly. Oh the perfect weather to continue sleeping, entering dreamland. But I decided not to and woke up to play a little Persona 3 on my PSP. I just got a PSP it was a gift for me to tide me over when I'm feeling bored living in Tokyo, or when I want to take a break from stress and whats not. I've also gotten a new game on my Steam account. It's an introduction from my brother, Torchlight 2. We can play together online so I'm really happy. I'm always be big fan of my brother. But sometimes I just can't agree with his opinions even though they are not exactly wrong. But I want to do it my way, you know how people can be stubborn. Those are one of those times.

Shizuka & Chisaki
12/08/2013

We took a photo together and we did the same pose. I suppose that's why people saying that we look a like. I suppose the similar thing I can see is the pose, how small our eyes are and our fringes. But I'll take those comments as compliments. lols.

Also, I've got compliments on my new hair color. Well, the color has already faded off really badly in this photo. So, having a faded hair color and still getting compliments from it, I'll gladly accept those compliments with open arms!

We also went shopping together and bought clothes. She's practically my fashion consultant. She's really good with fashion so it's good to ask her along for advices. I'm not good with fashion, I'm usually going for comfort and simple wear. I also bought new makeup setting spray from urban decay! I still can't believe there is no urban decay shop in Tokyo. How is that possible?

My summer holidays are coming to an end really soon! My room is a mess, my table is a mess. Thinking of packing my luggage and cleaning up the mess hoping not to forget anything, that's one of the worries I'm having. But I still have some errands not done yet. I'm really lazy to get my butt out of the house. No really. This cooling weather thanks to the rain, I want to crawl back into my bed and sleep the day away. I haven't been able to catch up on my sleep yet. I guess I'll have to do that in the plane and on the sunday before school starts next monday.

I think I'm pretty much recharged to go ahead for the next race. No promises though.

xoxo.

Back home for the summer holidays

Hello. It's officially the start of my summer holidays so I've decided to go back home to do a little catch up with friends and some settle some other personal stuff while I'm back home. Before I receive anymore tweets or facebook messages asking if I'm back. Yes, I am back home for just a short period of time.

I'm really happy my friends came to fetch me when I reached the airport. I couldn't ask for more love! I hung out with them for the whole of yesterday. We played billiard and had dinner together. Yesterday, I really ate a lot more than I usually would. I can already feel the fats collecting. I really can't help myself! The local food here has never been more tempting. I've ate quite a lot already, I still have half the list to finish eating before I fly back to enjoy the rest of the year back in Japan.

We hung out at the airport for abit before leaving the place. I mean, it's not everyday we get to hang out at the airport. A few instavideo taken while we're at the airport. The second one is pretty hilarious. I call it the "Funny Runny Thing". Apparently, it's my friend running in a odd way that's why it looks really silly and funny.



Follow me on instagram if you would like to see more photos. It's pretty much like a photo album for my photos that I post online. I don't usually attach anything on this blog if you realise.

Summer is pretty alright here. Though it's just my first day back for my holiday, I'm already having the feeling to want to go back to Japan. I'm not sure but nothing seems to make much sense when I'm here. When I'm with my friends, probably but other things, they don't seem to make sense. The language I am listening to doesn't really sound as pleasant anymore.

Anyways, putting the negative thoughts aside, I manage to make my home a mess again straight after I got home. My stuff are everywhere as usual. I came back and cleared away tons of my clothes which I no longer wear them anymore. I realized that I kept quite a lot of junk. I'm really surprised at myself as well. What was I thinking back then?

It's just the first day, today's the second day. I'm going to try to enjoy myself and enjoy home though I'm already having the feeling of wanting to go back to Japan. I texted my classmate and she was thinking the same thing. We both thought, we should have bought a 1 week ticket instead of 2 weeks ticket. But I believe that the days will get better.

I have an appointment at the salon today and I can't wait to get my hair trimmed because it has been a long 4 months since I got it trimmed. I'm going to head for a shower now. See you.

x