It's my life + Yonex Open + 九州 [Super long picture blog]

昨日平さんが *「ロザリンの人生は、バドミントンだ．」と言った．
確かに，バドミントンしかいらないね，私．
*corrected.. =P

"I ain't gonna live forever... I just wanna live while I'm alive...
It's my life."

Such a productive night last night... after work I:
-went to baddy with NTT 通研
-did laundry
-cleaned my bathtub and toilet (sorry Fur, should've done it b4 u came)
-studied for JLPT
-did some situps and crunches
-stretched
Wow.. I can do so much more when I skip dinner. Maybe I should do that everynight.

Blogging while I'm waiting for my experiments to run....

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I still haven't updated on the last weekend yet and now I have my Kyushuu trip to blog about. There's too much to do and too little time... work sucks up all my time and I'm not even enjoying it all that much. The only reason I want to return to Van is to lose all the weight I've gained and resume regular baddy training....

Last weekend: Fur came over to visit and watch Yonex Open.
-JJ all night long on Friday with Neil going "SHUT UP... SHUT UP WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!", crazy fun jumping machine
-Tsukiji attempt #2.. got there at 7:30 and still got to see some 市場 action and had chirashi and 鰻たまご





-Headed over to Yonex Open... met up with Hira and other NTT baddy ppl altho we were majorly late. Mixed doubs from Thai were soo synchronized.. like me and Fur! haha



-Walked around Yoyogi after... street performers... stand up comedian, live bands
-Dinner @ Ding Tai Fung... it tasted pretty good but it was way overpriced.
-Finally... DESSERT CRAWL.. I think that made the day complete... chocolate crepes > seasame greentea float > tiramisu + cheesecake > sweet potato pie



-Girl chat @ my place with Fur... missed those times.


-Woke up too late to go shop on Sunday so went straight to Yonex Open
-Watched the most amazing girls singles match ever... Xie Xing Fang vs Zhang Ning. Went up point by point since 6 points and they played till 30. Xie Xing Fang lost but she is still my idol.
-Stupid act of the day: me and Jenn talkin abt the first game wondering wat happened to Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya in the mens doubles final when we finally realized after 10 minutes that its MIXED doubles we were watching. Haha... honestly the girls looked like guys...


*Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya vs the 2 Malaysian kids
-Walked around Harajuku for a bit... had pasta dinner.
-sent fur to shinkansen and left...
-This weekend's record of no sleep: 40 hours.

Kyuushuu : I ATE KYUUSHUU
Saturday
After 4 hours of sleep, I left my house at 5:20 to head towrads Haneda airport wiht Billy and Clem. The plane ride was 1.5 hours and it went by so quickly... upon arrival we met up with Jenn and Andy, dropped our stuff off and began our crazy adventure! Our first stop was acutally MOS burger... where I had the Kyushuu only chicken nanman burger... then we had a SECOND lunch shortly after at CocoIchiban curry. Tried beef katsu curry but it was not as good as I expected. The oyster katsu was soooo good though!!



The whole afternoon continued with shopping, shopping and more shopping. Eventually the girls and guys split up, so we could do MORE shopping.. lol... I got quite a few items that I like, so thatz cool =). After shopping we had 馬刺し (horse sashimi) and 地鶏刺身 (chicken sashimi with liver, heart and... stomach?) for dinner... haha that was very exotic food, but I liked it!!





Andy and Clem didn't quite like the taste of the chicken though... well after that, we went for our SECOND dinner at 屋台 (night street)!!! XD Lined up in this super long line for 博多ラーメン (Hakata ramen).. and man that was good.. except for the huge piece of FAT that I got instead of ちゃしゅう.. boo.... and our final stop for the day was カラオケ (Karaoke)... ended the day with a sweet ice-cream parfait and some booze. XD



Sunday
We took the 7:45 bus and headed towards 長崎 (Nagasaki). First stop was China town where we had the infamous 長崎ちゃんぽん (Nagasaki Champon)... and it was good! Tasted so much like chinese chow mein... oh boy how I miss chinese food.



Then we visited Glover Garden, and how can I go somewhere without having ICECREAM?



This time its ROSE flavored icecream.. I knew I had to try it when I saw it... its Rosalynn's Rose icecream! XD and it tasted very good... mMmm... it was just the right sweetness and thickness... I loved it! We went to the war memorial park after that, where the US had dropped a bomb in Nagasaki. The atmosphere was actually not that solemn because there was a show there so people were singing and performing there... but when we went to the site of where the bomb landed, I could finally feel the serenity of the surrounding and the gloom and post-war effects of the city. It really makes me reflect on the life I am living right now and how fortunate we are to be living in a peaceful world. Anyway, after the very solemn visit to the bomb site, we returned to Nagasaki train station and took a short break before we go home. We continued our quest to EAT KYUSHUU shortly after we arrived back in Fukuoka. The rain did not stop us from consuming もつ鍋 (Motsu Nabe), another delicacy Kyushuu is famous for.



mMmm motsu, meaning the entrails of a bird, was very tasty in hot soup. After motsu nabe, we then set off to a famous ramen shop to have a second round of Kyushuu ramen!! This time we ordered Gyoza along with Mentaiko rice (yet ANOTHER thing kyushu is famous for)... by the end, Andy and Clem could not take in any more food so Jenn, Billy and I finished the rice and the gyoza.





Monday
We were supposed to get on the 7:30 bus to Beppu but we didn't make it.... uh-oh... YAY to our 乗り放題 bus pass (all you can ride), we booked tix for the next bus and off we went!!



After having a wonderful lunch at Jolly Pasta, where I had a beef doria (mmMmm sooo good), we visited the 9 地獄温泉 (hell onsens). Actually, we only visited 3 of the 9 cuz we figured it wasn't worth it to visit all 9. The onsen's were for seeing only cuz some of them were up to 100 degrees boiling hot... =P It was an interesting sight. Fur and I had onsen-ed our feet for a bit, and then we set off to our next stop: a REAL onsen. We visited 竹瓦温泉 (Takegawara Onsen) which is one of the oldest and traditional onsens of Beppu. However, we were slightly disappointed to find that the hottub itself WAS very old.. a bit too old. -_-;; and due to time constraints we did not get to try to sand bath which it was famous for. After sending Fur away, the three of us (Billy, Clem and I) visited a nearby beach called SPA beach. It was very nice and quiet there... reminded me a lot of Vancouver.



After beaching we headed to an izakaya... and had 黒毛和牛刺身!!



And mMmm was it good... we also had a couple of drinks and some more food, then we headed back to the hotel. Oh I've got to mention the hotel.. it was one of the BEST hotel I've ever been to, for $35 a night!! It had a view of the ocean, large rooms, individual shower room and toilet room, and it had yukata COATS... XD



The hot tub in the hotel was also excellent. Billy had a little interesting "show" but that will be not be mentioned in public by his request. hahaha

Tuesday:
By far one of the most craziest and interesting day, it started off with us waking up too late for our bus. We didn't get to Aso Mountain until around 12:30, which means we only had 2 hours on the mountain. Unfortunately, due to volcanic activity we could not get close to the crater of the volcano. We hopped on a tour bus which took us to the west of the mountain, and we got to take a few pictures on the hills. Then it was the deciding moment when we decided to hop off the tour bus to visit the Mountain museum. Little did we know at that time that we would not have enough time to catch the next bus to Kumamoto, which may cause us to miss our flight. Realizing our mistake in leaving the bus, we resorted to calling a cab. Unfortunately, the cab wouldn't come until 20 minutes later which was too late already. So.... our last resort was.. *dum dum dum* to HITCHHIKE in JAPAN... haha I dun think they even know the term here. Our first attempt to stop a car with 2 girls didn't work cuz I chickened out. Then the fearless Billy spotted 2 guys driving by and jumped in front of them and stopped the car for us. XD After telling them we're from Canada and we need a ride to the station cuz our bus leaves in 30 minutes, they said "大丈夫よ" and kindly offered us a ride. XD haha.. crazy stuff!! We found out those guys are from Fujisawa and they're catching the plane to go back the same day too! Crazy!!



Anyway.. we arrived at the station 5 minutes before the bus leaves... *phew*. And that was not the end of the crazy adventure yet. We arrived at 熊本 (Kumamoto) 30 minutes later than expected, but since we were determined to EAT KYUSHUU how can we leave without trying the infamous 熊本ラーメン (Kumamoto ramen)?? So there we were running around the Kumamoto traffic center looking for a ramen shop before our next bus back to the airport leaves in 30 minutes. Luckily there was one right inside the mall, and it was the one that the tour book recommended!! We ordered 王様ラーメン (King ramen) which was the shop's おすすめ and it was SOOOO GOOD. I declare that the best ramen I have ever had, it was even better than Hakata ramen!!!



I loved the thick white pork soup and the fried garlic bits they had for topping... mmMmm... Clem consumed his ramen in 5 minutes and Billy and I finished shortly after in 10 minutes. With 5 minutes left we rushed to the bus stop and headed back to Fukuoka airport.

And that concludes the end of our trip... or does it?
Apparently all the guys got food poisoning/stomach flu after the trip, and the girls were all alright! For more info, check out Clem's xanga with the blog titled "Magical Chicken Sashimi Surprise". Lol...
Get well soon guys...!!!

Oh one more thing to mention... Billy's line for the trip "I AM NOT BILLY!"

Pix of trip (and FOOD of course) coming up soon!



The only group pic I have... people, send me more pix!! Especially the one with us spelling up Kyushuu!!! XD

ありがとうございました *bow 90degrees*

A huge THANKYOU to everyone who remembered my birthday, left me msgs, msg on their nicknames, emails, and celebrated with me at the party today..!!
本当に、ありがとうございました！！



Special thanks to CJP Kanto crew for the surprise party... believe it or not it was actually my first surprise party ever and altho i may not have looked like it, I WAS truly surprised!! Thanks everyone for coming all the way over to Yokohama!! XD And thanks Neil for the card and the BADMINTON phone strap!! XD!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Anyways.. who knew that I would be celebrating my 22nd birthday in Japan with a group of friends who were still strangers just half a year ago. Life does make unexpected turns sometimes... and this year it has truly taken me on one hell of a memoriable journey. I'm so glad to have met everyone in CJP2006... really... THANKYOU GUYS!! I love you all!!!

My day started off pretty bad actually, but you guys made it alll gooood..XD
This morning I fell asleep on the bus to work and woke up realizing I missed my stop. So I rode all the way to the final stop and took a 20 minute uphill walk back to my building.... I guess I should be glad that it's ONLY a 20 minute walk eh? heh..

I did, however, have the best Power lunch ever... it was about our company's year end party!! We're heading to Takeyama!!! WOOT!!! It's gonna be fun..... XD

Byebye, 21... my year of 21 has had its ups and downs... but I don't think I'll miss it all that much, except for the portion of time I spent in Japan.
22... am I prepared for you.... are you prepared for me?

最高

平さん，中沢さん，高西さん，ありがとうございました！

And also lamshiufai, Jenz and Kerubin... XD

DBWeb 2006 + random thoughts

Received an email from DBWeb 2006 that my paper is accepted to the workshop, and therefore I will be going on a work trip to Kyoto in the end of November!! XD
Excited... ~ Once again I am finally motivated to work hard. =P

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Random:
After watching Yonex Japan Open... I want to train very hard... I wanna be like Xie Xin Fang... even just being 10% of her is enough.
I even thought about taking a year off after graduation to hardcore/fulltime train and see how far I can get... but....... そんなことは夢中だけできるでしょう...

Finally after 3 months I had VITASOY for breakfask again... I LOVE U JENN!! XD
And thanks for the pie too.... and the seasame eggs... XD Hehe keep feeding me with good food.

After Fur came and left, now I miss having someone around in the house... =( My next guest is not until... December???

Kyushuu trip... too bad Jenn can't make it on tuesday... but let's make the most out of it!! Can't wait!!

I taught my supervisor's son how to play 天下太平 today.. .hehee I think he had a lot of fun although I renamed the game to "World, peace, love and hope".. hahaa what a lame name, but that was the best I could come up with then. -_-;;

Haircut tomorrow.... hmm... straight... or curls? =P

Weekend update.. coming up soon.

JLPT... averaging 90Kanjis and 100vocabs per day. I have 35 weekdays left.

我想要什麽？我只想要快樂.只此而已．

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Jenz: if you are reading this, can u msg me when u see me on MSN, cuz I can't msg u cuz ur status is always "offline" for some reason.

KSo: Yeah I went to watch Japan Open with Jenn.. that game (XXF vs ZN) was soooo intense. They went point by point since like... 6 points. The whole game lasted for 1.5 hours... it was CRAZY! By the end of the game, the usually calm and composed XXF got frustrated too.

謝杏芳 is my idol

[Non CJP related post]

Today, I watched the best girls singles match I've ever seen in my life ever..
Xie Xing Fang lost to Zhang Nin today (Yonex Japan Open, girls singles final) 29-30!! OMG...
I can't believe they played to 29-29..!! In the last rally, XXF served a high one to ZN's backhand side and ZN smashed it right down the line... holy crap..
I love XXF's agility and calmness... she's always calm and composed and her playing style has a lot of flexibility. She's my idol!! XD

Update on the weekend a bit later...

UBC.. defeated!! Muhaha... + Hokkaido !

"Carol, I've got a chance to verify Co-op Japan's requirement. Rosalynn
is not required to provide a work term report for SU2006 but should
provide her student evaluation. "
SO wanted to reply the email with "I told you so".... =P

===========================
Group meeting???
which means my area is completely empty right now.... and that means the group beside me can be loud and noisy? ermm.... すなわち, Hokkaido trip update time! XD

北海道

Day1
Met up with Clem and Billy to fly to Hokkaido... had a MOS Burger at Hokkaido airport, then met up with Anton and Vincent to find our ryokan. It took us a while but we finally found it... for $30 per night I'd say that is a GREAT place!! Although the rooms are not as big as the Mount Fuji ones, it was still really nice. All its missing is an お風呂 and a shower curtain.. hehe After getting to our ryokan, we got hungry so we had dinner @ at nearby ramen place.



Had Hokkaido's infamous Miso ramen and it was mmMMMMmmmm soooo yummy!! XD After that we headed to Moiwayama but the cable car was closed so instead, we carried on a chinese mid-autumn festival tradition-- BOU LARP! haha in fact it was my first time doing it, and under the guidance of Vincent we melted a pack of 100 (?) candles in half a beer can. I guess we had some fun doing that, although Billy's attempt to throw rocks in the can almost took out the fire completely. hehee...



we headed to an Izakaya afterwards, had some yakitori, played a game where you had to connect words based on the last letter of the previous one (but you also have to memorize all the previous ones), had a few drinks, and called it a night.

Day 2
Waking up after getting 7 full hours of sleep, we headed back to the ramen shop for some brunch. They had a 700￥ set there which includes a bowl of ramen, 3 gyoza and an onigiri!! This time I tried butter ramen... Hokkaido is suppoesd to be famous for their dairy products, and this one didn't disappoint me at all. It was sooo goood!! =)


*sorry clem, gotta steal ur picture cuz I forgot to take one myself =P

After our brunch we headed towards Ishiya chocolate factory. I LOVE it there the buildings were so westernized and I felt like I was Charlie. hehhee.. and Ishiya is where they make the infamous 白い恋人 (white lovers) chocolate... which is mouth watering-ly yummy...



throughout the whole factory tour (in which we got to see the assembly line of the chocolate in making) I was just craving for a piece of 白い恋人!! ><



Anyway... after grabbing a whole bunch of those in the Omiyage seciton, we headed towards 小樽 (Otaru). Since the typhoon loves me, Vince and Billy and followed us all the way from Okinawa to Hokkaido, it was pouring rain that day. We managed to find the Orgel Museum (which apparently appeared in TVB drama Chung seung wun siu), and the best part of that museum was decorating my own orgel (music box)!!! Hehee I haven't done any arts and crafts in a long time and it was definitely tons of fun doing that. After the orgel museum, we headed to すし街 (Sushi street) which is a street filled with sushi shops. We found one in a little street and we all tried yet another food that Hokkaido is famous for-- ちらし (chirashi), which is sashimi on rice. Since the city is near the ocean, seafood is supposed to be really fresh there. And of course the chirashi was SUUPPER tasty but also quite pricey. ><


*Very yummy chirashi don that we had

Anyway, after getting warmed up and refreshed there, we were ready to head back to our hotel after grabbing a few drinks from the local Lawsons. There's seriously one Lawson every 2 blocks there! haha...

Day 3
I love having ramen (again) after 8 hours of sleep... =) This time I ordered 五目ラーメン which is seafood and veggies ramen.



It wasn't as good as the other 2 I tried but it was still pretty damn good!! After ramen lunch, we headed to 登別 (Noboribetsu) for some ONSEN!! XD We visited 地獄谷 (hell valley) and hiked all the way into the hot spring lake.


*"HOKDO"!

Unfortuntely we could not onsen at the lake so we hiked back and went into a hot spring resort! The one we went to was a bit expensive, but it was GREAT. The inside hot tub area was huge.. there were all kinds of hot tubs like 美人の浴,鬼の浴 (which was VERY hot),万病の浴, but the best was definitely the 露天風呂 (outdoor hot spring)!!! I was sitting in the outdoor hotspring enjoying the beautiful view of trees outside while the rain pelted on my shoulder... that feeling is so sensational!! XD After onsen, we headed to 薄野 (susukino), the red light district of Sapporo. After searching for a while we found a place to have 毛蟹 (hairy crab), but that store ran out of rice (wth!) ANd green tea (WTH??)... haha nonetheless, the crab was great (makes me misses cold crab back home ><) and sashimi was really fresh!



After dinner came the best part of the night-- we went to an izakaya type restaurant, but aside from AYCD and AYCE, they also have Karaoke in the room!!! So all of us got to sing quite a few songs and it was cool hearing Anton rap... XD You did a good job Anton!!! And I finally got to hear Vincent sing... he has a great voice!! Hehee let's sing again someday!!! The only down side to the night was that all the "drinks" seemed to have little to no alcohol content so none of us were even slightly buzzed after downing at least 5 drinks each. Anyhow... that was a great night, we returned to the ryokan at 3:30 and walked through 道り公園 which, according to Vince, is another scene that showed up in Chung seung wun siu.. lol...

Day 4
Unfortunately Anton and Vince had to leave early today, so the crew that's left is only me, Billy and Clem. We toured around downtown Sapporo, went to the clock tower, TV tower, walked through 道り公園 again in daylight, and I had the BEST BUTTER CROQUETTE in my life!!!



OMG that was so good.. the milk icecream I had was not bad either!!! XD Then we visited Hokkaido University and then to Sapporo Beer museum where I tried Corn flavored and soup curry flavored icecream.. the first was good but the latter was.. meh.... And after all that tourist-y things, we headed back to Susukino and tried Ghenkis Khan (yes, as u have guessed, yet ANOHTER delicacy of Hokkaido).




*ps. no "no more icecream la, little fattie" comments plz! XD

...
It was definitely a trip filled with FOOD... and I loved it!!! XD
This trip is just as good as the one in Okinawa, and hopefully next week's trip to Kyushuu will be just as good as well. =)

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Junk food note:
For cheap and yummy junk food, look for Bourbon brand ones... for 100￥ you can already choose from a LOT of variety!! Oh yeah... I should start a junk food blog soon, but maybe when I get back to Van with nothing to do... lol.

Mmm.. had 長崎ちゃんぽん (Nagasaki Champon) today at lunch.. it tastes exactly like chinese fried noodles (the ones with crunchy noodles)!!! XD 3 hours after lunch and I'm still savouring the after taste in my mouth... man this sounds gross.. but it was THAT good.

Studying for JLPT...
trying to cram everything in within these 2 months.
Need... more..time!!

Pissed at friggin UBC...

#1
Did anyone get emails saying we need to hand in a work term report for summer 2006??
Frick.... this is the reply I got when I told them I shouldn't need to hand in one:
"Did you discuss this with Gwen? I am not aware that you expect to hand
in only 1 report for the 2 work terms."
.......... sai ng sai joi inch d tim? wth...

#2
Apparently I have a site visit on November 8th but no one has told me anything about it aside from my supervisor. Don't I deserve an email of notification... at least?

============================================
問題解決了
卻感覺又離你遠一點

Gotta blog about my trip to Hokkaido... but like everyone else who blogged that they would blog about Hokkaido... I am also too busy to do it at this moment... ><

Home sweet home

I think I have *finally* settled down in my apartment enough to call it my "home" (for now).

Last weekend was quite an eventful and active one...
On Friday night I went to baddy but Yukiko and Goh san was too busy training that I didn't get to play with her... I wish I could join their training too but after hearing from Ayako that Goh KICKS Yukiko when they train... I have second thoughts. But isn't it nice to someone to keep on pushing you sometimes.. I think I need a coach like that.
After baddy, I spent the night partying at lamshiufai's (haha gonna call you that from now on) apartment with Neil and Clem... I THINK I can play half a song on the guitar now... plus 2 lines of Ivana's "ngo jan dik sau seung liu" and 2 lines of the "Lam sik sung say luen" theme song.

On Saturday, we headed to Yokohama Sea Paradise at around 6pm to get the twilight discount. Turns out the couple discount doesn't include rides, so TOO BAD for those who missed out!! =P Anyway, YSP was SO MUCH FUN! XD We went on a hellevator-like ride, except this one is waaay taller than the PNE one and riding it at NIGHT and beside WATER adds to the thrill and makes it like 10x more scary!! Since we went at night, there was no lineups for any of the rides so we went on it twice... XD. Next we went on the rollercoaster that extends out to the bay... that was really fun too!! These 2 rides are already worth the $25 admission.... then we went on a tower thing and took some pictures while we're on top. After that we went to the aquarium... this must be one of the BEST aquariums I've ever been to! In the aquarium there were sea otters, walrus, huge seal, PENGUINS, sharks, huge display with sting rays, and 2 POLAR BEARS!! XD It's my first time seeing a real polar bear, and it was just separated from us by a thick piece of glass... and then there's the elevator ride which is surrounded by a tube shaped aquarium. That was such a fun evening... =)


*Yokohama Sea paradise is located in Hakkeijima, which features a beautiful park right outside the amusement park


*Bearz, see how much I miss you?? XD


*Huge sting rays swimming inside the aquarium


*PENGUINS!! XD


*POLAR BEAR!!!


*A whooole rack of icecream with 105 flavors (including wasabi)... Mmmm

and of course... if you see icecream.. you'll see this:


The next day I set out at 8:30 in the morning to go to baddy practice with 羽魂. This time we're doing "Roz menu".. in other words, I'm deciding the drills that they're doing for the day! XD hahaa so I conducted a 4 hour long Darryl-style training with crazy warmups, birdie pickups, singles and doubles drills, 3vs2, 4vs4 games... haven't had such good training ever since I left and its good to hear that everyone there thought it was 楽しかった．=) There's still so much lactic acid in my legs today... gotta go bike it off!! Haven't felt like this since...1 hour birdie pickup... or.. 100 star jumps.... XD

So after badminton... I felt like I needed protein so I went to the supermarket in search for beef. In the end, i found 400￥ steak so I made steak + asparagus + cup macaroni for dinner... mmMMm.... it was sooo good!!! If its only 400￥ I can eat this like everyday! lol...... and it was after making this meal that my apartment finally felt like some place I can call "home"....


*It was after I made the steak that I realized I have no plates at home...

On a side note.. on the way back on Sunday I was training with Hira san and suddenly, the lights went out and the train stopped at one stop. After listening to the announcement on the PA, Hira san explained to me that the train may have HIT someone... and that person may either be suiciding or just causing trouble.... whoa... I was kinda shocked like "......!!!!"

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Someone suggested that people get looked down on or "hupped" when they are not cocky enough... so what has happened to this world, what about modesty? Sometimes even when they see the truth they still pretend it was a coincedence.
I'll show you....

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The long awaited (?) Jay chou lookalike pic: (he's the guy in pink in the background...)