The Sign of the Times...and the Weekend.

So the trip out of Tokyo also provided much entertainment in terms of new (read: hilarious) signs. While we couldn't photograph the majority of them as we were either too tired, too hungry or running for whatever public transport was next on the list, we did however, get the best one.

And to be the best sign of all the signs we had seen this weekend means a lot, it had to compete with the 'Royal Hind' on an Indian Restaurant sign, the 'No Smorking' outside the bus terminal and the 'Town Sneakers' sign, which I still don't know if it was referring to a shoe shop sponsoring the sign or some actual sneakers sneaking about town.

So anyway, here it is..found in the restroom (thanks Max!) at a burger joint in Matsumoto, where we stopped off on the way back to Tokyo to see a Castle. (hmm...that probably explains the royal hind) And yes, on the other side of the wall, there was the male equivalent of this sign. Don't Mistake yeah!

Snowed over, under and out!

So I have finally seen snow..in fact, I think it would be correct to say that I am 'all snowed out'.

Had the most delightful escape from Tokyo to a cosy Youth Hostel in the woods that we decided was in the middle of nowhere as there wasn't a single 7/11 in sight. In Japan, there is a 7/11 or combini (Japanese for Convenience Store) at every ten steps. seriously. Also, as Max, who found the place put it, its a good thing we showed up or the Hostel would have had to lose the 'Youth' from its name as the other 3 or so guests were well past their youth..and ours!

So yeah, the first contact with snow was kind of lackluster, with some measly snow lying on the pavement at one of the stops along the way. Of course, that still didn't stop the snowball fights, that then evolved into just taking a handful of snow and rubbing it onto your opponents face...hey! all's fair!

AND THEN...on the Sunday we took the Rope Way up a mountain... 2.240m above sea level, gently rocking to a temperature of -10 degrees Celsius. With snow all around you, and your fingers feeling like they were about to fall off...I had wholly, and truly, finally seen snow. OK I get the point, lets go back now.


Of course, not before a somewhat short yet classy snowman and a few million poses in the said snow. All in all a good first snow show experience.


hmmm...whats next?!!!

The land of fancy toilets..

Japan has the most interesting toilets one could ever come across. From the back to basics squatting type to those which have space shuttle controls on the side.

Will try post up all the different sorts I come across...starting with the one in my room.

The water saving, hand washing toilet device!

It may look like a wash basin/sink thing...


But its actually a toilet with water coming out of the tap thingy whenever you flush the toilet.

of Weird and White Christmases

May the spirit of consumerism be with you!

So Christmas has come and gone, and thank goodness I am living in a dorm with other foreigners who have Christmases similar to the ones I am used to. Because despite all the commercial pre-christmas hype in Japan, that's all there is to it. depressing. yes.

Never mind getting a holiday on Boxing Day, Christmas day itself is...a WORK day. And the 'Japanese Christmas' tradition is for couples to go out for dinner on Christmas Eve...er, I wonder what they do on Valentines day then...gather around the Christmas tree and sing carols?

so yeah luckily Uni closed for Winter Hols on the 22nd so we could try to re-create at least a sliver of the 'normal' Christmas the rest of us are used to...and it actually turned out to be quite okay. It was more a Latin-American Xmas thingo but a few of us non-latinos joined in on Xmas eve!..helped with the chopping, mixing etc and sat down to a yummy feast of lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes (score!!!!!)and some yummy cakes etc etc. then stayed up till midnight to wish everyone Felis Navidad which lasted till 4am!!!!

There was a lot of reminiscing (ofcourse!) on what would be happening at home, "ahh, I would be scraping about a dozen coconuts for the Palusami etc right about now"..."oh, ppl would be opening their lovos around this time"...sigh.

Tomorrow am heading out to a place about 4hours outside Tokyo called Nagano for a few days and looking forward to my first ever sighting of...SNOW. So far this is the advice I have gotten:

-its wet
-its white
-its cold
-don't eat snow...unless you're outside Tokyo and know that it is fresh
-don't lick telephone poles.

So yeah, I think I am ready for my first ever snowy experience.

tis the season to ...kaicolo seasons!

Coming from a country which has eternal summers and...rain, the concept of having four different seasons a year is pretty...kaicolo worthy.

Got here in Summer which was sometimes unbearable even for me! Now we have reached the end of autumn and winter has begun in most parts of Japan. The Japanese promote "leaves watching" during autumn where popular places are named to go and see the leaves that have changed colour, actually went for a hike up a nearby mountain called Takaosan and yeah, very pretty trees with leaves that are red, orange yellow etc.

This was taken on the hike up Takaosan



Although i have found another way of enjoying autumn.

With winter setting in the pretty leaves from Autumn are all slowly falling off...my way of enjoying the leaves is jumping on the piles that collect under the trees and in the park etc.

Unfortunately the streets are cleaned a bit too efficiently so there are just a few windows of opportunity available to one to jump on the piles and hear them crunch...and for some unknown reason i get a great sense of enjoyment doing that. Envy the kids I sometimes see in the park who get to actually roll around in the piles of leaves. damn! just ain't fair!

Some of the trees at uni finally changed colour and the leaves are now falling off...walked out of class last Friday to a nice, sunny and windy day outside...everyone was shrieking in glee walking down this road with these leaves falling all around you. although..they aren't as crunchy when jumped upon. :)



this other one i took yesterday on the way to the cafeteria.

Yattooooo!!!!

So I finally have:

1) a laptop. Although its blasphemy to call it A laptop as it is more THE laptop. Saved up a months allowance (well it actually came in late coz i signed up late but i like to flatter myself) and did some (insane) marking of English exams and finally had enough to FINALLY get myself the new....macbook pro. This baby makes consumerism/materialism worth every ism.

2) Internet in me room! and oh boy is it fast. did a speed test:



:)

My life is complete.

I wants to...

I wants to see Mishka's bebe...
I wants to have "half chicken, half roast pork with rice" at Hanging Duck with Posh.
I wants to have have corned beef and biscuit at work with Kaos and the gang with MC Hammer threatening to cut our pay...oh and some dalo or cassava would be nice too!
I wants to meet the monkies for coffee at Ronald McDonalds hang out.
I wants to get hugs from my darling Lunatic.
I wants to take a can of(cold) coke from Dophlins and sit outside FijiTV and chat with Jolie.
I wants to stay up late and talk about everything and nothing with me mummy and eat all the yummy foods that she makes.
I want to bother my dogs when they are asleep.
I want to catch up with me bro...in person.
I wants to be able to see the sea from the main road.
I wants to...sigh.

and no, this is not an emo post. I can be absolutely happy here and still miss the wonderful things and people from back home. Infact, I think these are the things that keep me from turning all emo here!! ok, i will stop writing before I get too soppy. I am hardcore. /grrr (thats my hardcore grunt)

oh and i also wants to have cheap beers at the Lighthouse with Aung...but I couldn't do that even if I WAS home. sigh.

what a week!

started the week with a cold...sniff, sniff...the cold outside didn't make it any more bearable and with it also came a wave of semi-homesickness...i wants my mummy!!

Had dinner with two of dad`s friends yesterday. Got to the station where i was supposed to meet them early so wandered about the fancy stores to kill time. Here`s a shot of the Xmas display at Shinjuku station.

Shinjuku is an area in Tokyo and the station is usually the one most people go to to change trains so its VERY very busy and crowded, with waves of people pushing through every few minutes (as opposed to the rest of Tokyo which is only very busy.) A new `Shinjuku Terrace City` has been set up which basically just has (more!!) shops and restaurants to get people to spend (even!!) more money.

Here`s part of the Xmas display on the roof, have a strong suspicion it was set up the day after Halloween. The shops here go all out with the Xmas themes too coming up with any excuse to get people to spend more money.
Joy to the world, consumerism lives!



Dinner was both awesome and sad at the time. One friend of dads' just moved back to Japan last month after working in Fiji for 4 years. Hehe...you can tell he spent a lot of time in Fiji by his vakachis and complaints about the crowds on the train and the cold! He bought a parcel from home, Mum had sent sulus, a bula shirt (yippeee!!) and some spices to assist with my attempt to make Fiji curry in Japan! Funny how things happen when you most need them to, this helped immensely to snap out of the homesickness!!

The other friend of my dads (who is now more my friend than dads`) is probably one of the coolest Japaneza I have met here. He got me from the airport to my dorm on my first night here and is just all around a fun guy...my first friend in Tokyo and a very good one at that! there are some people you just click with and feel comfortable with immediately after meeting them...he's one of those people.

Unfortunately he and his family are moving to Pretoria in February as he is being posted there for work. :( So yeah. His parents live in Kyoto and so I have been offered free lodge at his folks' place whenever i decide to go up there...hopefully sometime soon, Kyoto boasts beautiful temples but also want to see some of the left over old architecture before the place is completely turned into concrete jungle like the rest of Japan!! oh! and i also get his bike...for free!!!

A good friend at the dorm, lets call her Neto (will refrain from using nationalities to refer to people as Kaos pointed out that it 'paints their characters with wide strokes'...woah! like totally deep dude!) So anyway, Neto found a flat close to uni and is sealing the deal today! Her boyfriend gets here at the end of the month and so it was kinda urgent but she also got a sweet deal so that's a double delight! Downside is that moving into the new flat means moving out of the dorm :(

boohoo! my partner-in-crime, alcohol/art gallery/shopping/just being randomly silly buddy, confidante and sorta neighbour (her room is down the corridor from mine and we have an understanding where instead of using the fone we'd just walk up or down the corridor and knock on each other's door at anytime!) is moving away! wow, been a good three months!

Hehe, for Halloween Neto forgot to get a costume for the dorm party so with whatever resources we had, we dressed her up as an ...Island girl. Yes, necessity IS the mother of the most random inventions. She`s also the only other person in half of Tokyo who was as mad as me to go swimming when we finally got to a beach at the end of summer. sigh! oh well, at least she`s moving closer to the uni so we still get to see her!!

Ok, time to go enjoy my weekend, yes its only Thursday but tomorrow's Japanese classes are canceled and Monday is ...yep, yet ANOTHER national holiday in Japan. I love this country!!! Cheers to a week that's as long as the weekend, and to one that started off miserably but is now as cheerful as the flowers on my new Bula shirt. :)

KAICOLO!!

So was on my way to the station this morning around 7.30...and let out a sigh...and and..
...
...I saw my BREATH!!!! lol..

and when i realised that i had seen my breath...i continued to breathe out (huff out) of me mouth so i could see more of my breath.

Who cares what the passersby thought...I COULD SEE MY BREATH!!!!

hehe...yes, kaicolo central!

a slang be!

SO being from the city of slangs...the Fiji Islander in me had to go ahead and start creating slangs with my newly learnt set of Japanese vocabulary. (but ofcourse).

Very benri...

benri= convenient.

Usage:

A san: I found an apartment right near Waseda!!!!
B san: ooh! very benri!!!

could also be used as "totally benri"..."absolutely benri" etc.

How benri is that?!!!!

Let there be heat!

So I made it a point to take the ac/heater remote downstairs to the TV room and get one of my kanji-knowing friends to translate.

Kanji-knowing friend: "So the system is set to COLD mode right now."

...

my room no longer resembles the inside of my bar fridge.

yay! for the acquisition of much needed warmth.

brrrrring on the winter gear

...coz it be getting cold!
thing is...apparently this is autumn...so i dont know what the hell is going to happen in...winter.

Now if I could only figure out how to use the damn ac/heater in the dorm room.
and yes, the remote IS in Japanese...and not even in Hiragana which I can now read (!!!) but in Kanji. Atleast in Summer I could play around with the dials and eventually figure out how to cool my room (i found out the hard way that taking down the temperature to 18 does not mean that a/c will emit cold air...taking it up to 25 actually makes the room cold...go figure!)

Cept now, hoping for hot air when I DO take the numbers down to 18...the air is still cold. hmmmm.

"Pacific Islander found frozen stiff with heater remote in hand in dorm in Tokyo"

R.I.Freeze.

Procrastination...

Its amazing how many new posts are generated out of the time one is supposed to spend working on one`s research plan for an application that is due tomorrow.

"Procrastination is like masturbation, in the end you`re just screwing yourself"

gone up in smoke...

I may, quite possibly, have given up smoking...maybe not indefinitely maybe definitely...but i haves.

The mystery of the missing hat

After the shopping spree and Art exhibition, Danish and I met up with Australian at station near dorm and went to get some Okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is where you sorta mix a buncha ingredients and cook them on a hot plate in the middle of the table...sorta like omelette's. The wikipedia definition describes it as "is a Japanese dish consisting of a pan-fried batter cake and various ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked"; thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like".

Danish and I made Australian do most of the cooking, we were trying to live out our fantasies of going out shopping all day and coming home to a nice meal prepared by the man..close close! but we pooled our efforts for the final order and cooked up quite the feast! a splendid meal indeed!

Got back to the dorm room and had a few nightcaps (till 3am!) with Australian and Danish and were joined by American and Spanish-japaneza and Chilean. Amazing how many people one can fit into these tiny dorm rooms when an occasion calls for it!

So while hanging out decided to go through the shopping to see what I had bought earlier that day and how much buyer`s remorse it would ignite (hardly any!)..went through all the bags and still couldn't find the hat! /gasp! oh noes! we figured it probably got misplaced..and would be in one of the other gals bags.

Next morning everyone rendezvoused in one of the kitchens to cook up a brunch of bacon and eggs (nomnomnomnom) and also found out that the hat was...missing. Tried to trace back my path to figure out where I would have dropped it and figured (hoped wished) it had been left behind on the shelf near our table at the Okonomiyaki place as the colour of the bag matched the colour of the shelf.

So more than 12 hours later dropped by the restaurant with Australian (who did translating) and they had...kept the bag!!!!!!! I love this country. I have had friends forget wallets, books etc on counters and come back hours later to have it sitting exactly where they had left it...!!! How safe is that!!!

/tips hat.

A day for several firsts!!!

After the shopping spree on Saturday, with my new boots in tow, went with Danish gal to the Mori Art Museum in a place called Roppongi Hills that has an amazing view of Tokyo! Since we got there late afternoon we got to catch a bit of sunset and even saw what we are calling `a silhouette of Mt Fuji`. After the exhibition we got to see Tokyo at night from 53 storeys high! breathtaking!

The exhibition was a display of works by a French artist Annette Messager and for my first art exhibition was a very nice one. The artist had some very skewed and morbid perspectives, sprinkled with a dash of humour at times. tres awesome!

What not to do when broke

Go shopping!

yes. bad idea. Decided to have a gals day out with spanish-japaneza and danish friend. on Saturday. Seriously addictive shopping in Tokyo is...especially when you keep coming across things that are so cheap compared to what you would have to pay for them back home.

A pair of boots (my first pair of boots!!!), a nice hat, some sweaters, stockings etc later...I am now...fashionably broke!

:) life is good!

Also, teriyaki chicken with mayo and lettuce wrapped in crepes to beat the hunger pangs while shopping is absolute awesomenesss!!! The crepes in this country are awesome...infact, I think they deserve a post of their own.

FAIL

So was eagerly awaiting my second allowance due to arrive on Oct 30th so I could splurge straight away on a new macbook.

Checked account on 30th...no new deposits. I thought...meh, i probably got the date wrong.

Checked with other kids at the dorm on the 31st and everyone had gotten their`s so this time it HAD to be in! checked account..zilch. How could this be! I clearly remember signing up for the allowance on the due date! ( and yes, we have to sign up at our Grad School EVERY month to recieve the allowance)

so inquired at the International students centre who had to inquire with the scholarship office and word finally came to explain why the funds were MIA.

Signing up on the due date is apparently not good enough...it has to be done before Midday. A small but majorly important fact i had overlooked in the piles of papers with instructions given out during orientation at the University.


"Good afternoon, Apple helpdesk? Hi, I am calling regarding an order placed for a mac book yesterday. Would it be possible to cancel or postpone...."

Also, I are broke.

Be warned!!!!

Got this on my daily feed from Writer`s Almanac...too good not to share.
cant decide on my favourite warning but "Shin pads cannot protect
any part of the body they do not cover" comes pretty close!


Warnings

by David Allen Sullivan

A can of self-defense pepper spray says it may
irritate the eyes, while a bathroom heater says it's
not to be used in bathrooms. I collect warnings
the way I used to collect philosophy quotes.

Wittgenstein's There's no such thing
as clear milk rubs shoulders with a box
of rat poison which has been found
to cause cancer in laboratory mice.

Levinas' Language is a battering ram—
a sign that says the very fact of saying,
is as inscrutable as the laser pointer's advice:
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.

Last week I boxed up the solemn row
of philosophy tomes and carted them down
to the used bookstore. The dolly read:
Not to be used to transport humans.

Did lawyers insist that the 13-inch wheel
on the wheelbarrow proclaim it's
not intended for highway use? Or that the
Curling iron is for external use only?

Abram says that realists render material
to give the reader the illusion of the ordinary.
What would he make of Shin pads cannot protect
any part of the body they do not cover?

I load boxes of books onto the counter. Flip
to a yellow-highlighted passage in Aristotle:
Whiteness which lasts for a long time is no whiter
than whiteness which lasts only a day.

A.A.'ers talk about the blinding glare
of the obvious: Objects in the mirror
are actually behind you, Electric cattle prod
only to be used on animals, Warning: Knives are sharp.

What would I have done without: Remove infant
before folding for storage, Do not use hair dryer
while sleeping, Eating pet rocks may lead to broken
teeth, Do not use deodorant intimately?

Goodbye to all those sentences that sought
to puncture the illusory world-like the warning
on the polyester Halloween outfit for my son:
Batman costume will not enable you to fly.

"Warnings" by David Allen Sullivan from Strong-Armed Angels. © Hummingbird Press, 2008.

Shopping pee!!

I think they sold clothes...amongst other things.
They had a stock of adult diapers, urine tract infection meds...hehe. No, I didnt find out. More fun this leaving it to one`s imagination, no?
Maybe Bruce Lee was copyrighted so they took the next best option...
Suggestions for this absurdity are welcome.

white water...rafting?

well its like water....and it IS white....but then there`s no use crying over spilt white water now is there?!

let the good times roll!

incase there was any doubt...this beer is brewed for GOOD TIMES ONLY.

hehe...took this with me fone while waiting for a table outside a soba place at lunch time earlier last month.

hurrah...i survived!

got through the first week of japanese classes...alive!!!....yay!

I haven't been in a class in three years almost..and then this week I have had to be in a class...after getting up at 6ish every morning in the cold...and commuting for one hour...20minutes of which is spent squashed against strangers in a packed train. yes, life is hard. Did i mention that each of those morning classes MON-FRI were all three hours each?


yeah so i cant wait to buy a carton (read get cans of beer out of vending machines) and celebrate my survival...but cant celebrate too much as allowance gets in mid Oct and a lot of us are going broke...so yeah.

also...got a stack of HOMEWORK for the weekend and two tests next week...that i KNOW of. so yeah..there goes the weekend.

Also...its going to be a tough 6months. Learning a foreign language...with three sets of alphabets...i have come to realise..is going to be difficult. but I am at 0 level so it can only go up from here.

so yeah. virtual fiji bitter cheers to the weekend...and posh who is celebrating his birthday!!! dammit, wish i were there!

one month...and counting

Wow...

for the first time in my life...I havent seen the sea in...30 days

...and counting.

sigh.

ｏｒ ａｍ ｉ ｊｕｓｔ ｅａｓｉｌｙ ａｍｕｓｅｄ？

Ｓｏ　Ｉ‘ｍ　ｓｔａｎｄｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　ｌｉｎｅ　ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｒｅｇｉｓｔｅｒ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｙ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　ｃｌａｓｓｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ｔｗｏ　Asian　ｇｉｒｌｓ　ｓｔａｎｄｉｎｇ　in front　ｏｆ　ｍｅ．Ｔｈｅｙ　ｓｐｅａｋ　ｅｎｏｕｇｈ　Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ　ｔｏ　ｍａｋｅ　ｓｍａｌｌ　ｔａｌｋ．Ｗｅ　ｂｉｔｃｈ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ，　ｔｈｅ　ｂｕｒｅａｕｃｒａｃｙ　ｔｈａｔ　ｌｅａｄｓ　ｕｓ　ｔｏ　ｗａｉｔ　ｉｎ　ｌｉｎｅ，　ｔｈｅ　ｗｅａｔｈｅｒ　ｅｔｃ．　

Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎｓ　ａｒｅ　ｉｎ　ｌｉｎｅ　ｓｏ　ｍａｙｂｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　１０ｔｈ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｔｈａｔ　ｄａｙ　Ｉ　ｔｅｌｌ　ｓｏｍｅｏｎｅ　ｍｙ　ｎａｍｅ　ａｎｄ　ｗｈａｔ　ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｆｒｏｍ．　Ｔｈｅｓｅ　ｔｗｏ　ａｒｅ　ｆｒｏｍ　ａ　ｎｅｉｇｈｂｏｕｒｉｎｇ　Asian　ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ　ａｓ　ｗｅｌｌ．

ｇｉｒｌ　１：　Ｈｉ　Ｉ‘ｍ　Ｗｅｎｄｙ！
ｇｉｒｌ２：　Ｈｉ　Ｉ‘ｍ　Ａｓｈｌｅｙ！

ｅｎｄ　ｏｆ　ｓｔｏｒｙ．

：）

now that I`m back in the blogosphere!

This post is long long overdue! Have been in Tokyo 29 days and counting...and oh what an interesting ２9 days it has been！

Have photos to go with several different stories...some hilarious engrish and the usual unusualness! That will come in due time...still waiting to get a laptop...but when i do the updates will be less irregular.

Today the Japanese language classes started. brain=pulp. but things will improve. just nod in approval.

Arrived in Tokyo during summer so 20days or so were bloody hot! More humid than Suva at times and of course there was the occasional downpour that made me feel like i hadn't left Suva at all! The last two days though have been kinda cold. Autumn is here...although in my terms its winter so when the actual winter begins. brrr. freeze. if i don't write know that my fingers are probably frozen stiff.

The dorm...is nice. Scored one of the best rooms in the dorm!!! On the 5th floor...overlooking a buncha trees and garden type thing as well as some of the buildings...so a nice mix. Some of the other kids got rooms that were looking right into the trees which meant no breeze on the hot summer nights and great audibility when it comes to the crickets (cicadas). The cicadas are annoying as hell. But have died out or something with the cold! thank goodness. There are about 300 or so single students..co-ed. and a coupla couples. ppl from everywhere...countries that i had to go and check on the atlas!!! hmm...france, spain, moldova, madagascar, denmark, sweden, switzerland, sudan, russia, etc etc....

hmm...i will not attempt to sum up the 29 days in one post...that will require a few days of writing. So will complete this in intervals.

until then. mata ne!

Genki desu arigato gozaimasu

that means...I'm fine thanks...in Japanese. :)

have been going to a whole week of orientation at the Embassy and its been a lot of fun and helped calm the butterflies...immensely!

Today they had the official ceremony to present us with our scholarships before i fly off on Monday...media and all. Felt a bit weird answering questions from the media instead of being the one with the notebook on the other end firing the questions. Fun!

Three days to go...the excitement is getting tiring and the list of things to do...is not budging, wish i could just go to sleep and wake up there. sigh. My teleportation powers are down at the moment.

Posh shouted me to a yummy lunch and midday alcohol fix yesterday...I haven't even reached Japan but already excited about HIS visit!!

Looking forward to the final customary drinks at Bad Dog, karaoke and dinner at Peking (numnumnum...roast pork!) tomorrow night with friends. Gonna miss the love and the laughs.

to space and beyond...or maybe just up till Japan for now :)

Multitasking through the weekend!

So the play is finally over, had volunteered to help out with a local play that went up to the Pacific Arts festival in Samoa last month.

They put up the show in Fiji last week, Wednesday was opening night and it ran until Saturday...which meant that i had to run between farewell parties and sober up to do audio cues and call the show...according to the director i was a pretty good stage manager thankyouverymuch!

Closing night was awesome...so awesome in fact that one lady in the audience ran out in ONE of the violent scenes. tsk tsk tsk....some people are just not built for...violent scenes. hehe.

remember remember...

the first of September...

ok, so maybe the date is not according to the real rhyme but more relevant to me coz found out this morning that i am leaving on Sept 1st!!!! wow...this is for real...no shit!

um...feel like a deer caught in the headlights right now (gosh i sound like sucha drama queen) but yeah...i dont know where to start from, supposed to clean out my room, sort through my books and put my favourites (which are like...all of them!) into safe storage, i'm actually more concerned about the books than packing...but i cant move my arse to do any..of ...those..things.

Am still looking around for closed shoes that are more formal than the Skechers i picked up a few weeks ago...its weird wearing closed shoes...i am a flipflops a.k.a thongs and sandals girl...my toes feel claustrophobic in closed shoes. oh well, deal with it.

yeah so...trying to bask in the warmth of friends and family love for like 12 days or so.

sushi, sashimi and the likes.....numnumnumnumnum

I gots .....

i gots the sniffles
i gots my visa to Japan
i gots a bond signed to serve my country for 18 months upon my return from Japan (or pay the Govt F$43, 562.../cringe)
i gots the butterflies about leaving soon...like nervous kinda butterflies...

oh and i got no more free internet since i'm not at work anymore.

yay.

de ja film?

Was in a rather melancholic mood one evening earlier this week. I think it was partially brought about by a ridiculous Hindi movie that I decided to go watch based on a funny preview I had seen on TV…of course while the teaser had been about 2 minutes of humor, the movie was two and a half hours of ‘predictable, ludicrous, ridiculous, only occasionally funny, randomly break into song and dance’ Bollywood.

At least the eye candy ensured I did not slit my wrists. Drool…sigh. But there is just so much a cynical-occasionally-losing-faith-in-love girl can take of the rose coloured glasses view of the mushy wushy idealistically sweet love portrayed in the movie.

I think the trailers at the beginning of the movie also set the mood, well one trailer in particular anyway. God in a white suit looking all majestic and well…godly, and an everyday guy being given the chance to be God for a week or so. Hmmm..I feel a strange sense of dejavu…like I’ve seen this movie already. Hang on a sec…I have!

Just when you thought Bollywood had ceased ‘stealing inspiration’ from Hollywood along comes…a Hindi rip-off of Bruce Almighty. There are certain scripts that they could have copied and may have been able to get away with but (directly) copying something as obvious as Bruce Almighty…wtf??!!

I don’t understand why Bollywood directors resort to such tactics when original Hindi movies have been made and succeeded. It’s not like there is a shortage of storylines…its India for goodness sake! The logic, or the lack thereof, totally annoys me.

Sigh.

Oh and Morgan Freeman’s ‘God’ character is being played by none other than…Amitabh Bachan.

I curtsey...sort of

Tomorrow is officially my last day at work.

Of course, there is a major difference between 'officially' and 'actually'.

Also have one major article left to submit for the mag...argh, I can procrastinate no more!

I think I'll start on it...tomorrow.

Sputum ad nauseam

Yucks.

My chest hurts from all the coughing and oh boy do i have a 'chesty' cough!
Good sense prevailed, though, and i got my coughing self to a doctor and got antibiotics and some expectorant...so hopefully i will be phlegm free in no time!

oh, and i got a divorce yesterday.

I am now legally single...the world better ...*cough* ....watch ...*cough* ...out.

...once I'm done coughing.

after the (short) divorce hearing I got brunch with Posh...pancakes, maple syrup, bacon with extra butter and some nice coffee...thanks for the shout Posh!

After dropping Posh off at work i ended up wandering around the city shops looking at handbags...still haven't found my perfect bag, I think its a sign that i should just stick to my backpack and satchels.

I did however find the cutest gloves and some green tea and checked out a tattoo place...need to take one of the boys with me next time, the guy who was at the counter looked...stoned. Hope he's not the one doing the tattooing!

And THEN i went home to get some shuteye. Single life is so exhausting!

:)

Two angels were born...

Date: 28 July

Persons: Two peeps I {heart} long time...Heenal and Jolie.

Current Location:
One angel is living among the clouds up in heaven (yes, Heenal even puts my agnostic self on the shelf on this one)
Another angel living in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Happy Birthday my angels!!!

Yes, your honor, i am phlegmed.

Have my very own divorce hearing to attend tomorrow. Joy!

Leading up to this date I wondered how it would feel, now that I'm actually here... there's too much phlegm in my system for me to feel anything else. oh well, just glad it will all FINALLY be over.

A greater concern is finishing work tonight and actually getting to Court alive...sucks donkey balls being at work on a Sunday evening while feeling half dead. My position was finally advertised this weekend, wonder who'll take over from me...whoever it is...i hope they hurry the hell up!

Hmm...what do I wear to Court tomorrow....

Hugs r not us!

Was randomly looking up interesting facts about Japan in preparation for the move in September. Here's one that's kinda ....sad?

Not only is it considered rude to blow your nose in public, but it is also considered rude to openly express your emotions in public. This is why a straight face showing absolutely no emotions is worn by most of the people in Japan. It is also unheard of to show any signs of affection in public.

Note to self: keep booger intact. No hugging. godammit...no hugging.
/sad pout.

slack.

Quotes, lines, sayings etc

I collect interesting quotes, lines, sayings etc. some inspirational, some witty and some just obscure.

I usually scribble them down in whatever notebook i am using at the time, or a master list i keep on my work comp or save them in my email...one day i will bring them all together.

Here's a nice one I came across today on Waiter Rant, funny story, but then again, most of his stories are! The quote is kinda soppy though, but I have a cold.

the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
Blaise Pascal

Achoo!

I haves the cold.
My head feels ugh, my nose is temporarily unavailable and i hate breathing through my mouth.
My usually extremely healthy appetite is only delighted by tea and noodle soup today. I hate being sick.
My dad always told us that it was good to get a cold or the flu once in a while so your body can sorta test out its immune system. Well, when my brother and I were younger he used to explain it as 'So you can drain some of the unwanted fluids from your head' lol.

So here's to draining unwanted fluids from my head...hope none of my brain cells seep out.

sniff. sniff. achhoooo!

Toothpaste Aftershave

Watching Dr Horrible's sing-a-long blog (Neil Patrick Harris=lols) at Kaos place with Kaos, Albie, Verd and Celia who I'm sharing a chair with. Celia btw is a little punk around 4 years old.

Throughout the viewing Celia keeps leaning forward to snif (yes, snif) Albie's cheek. 5 minutes later she has 'sniffed' Albie about 5 times.

Father of Celia - Kaos: Celia, stop sniffing Uncle Albie
Celia: Daaaadddyyy, Uncle Albie smells NICE!!
Albie: I think its my aftershave (blushes)
Sharky: Celia, what does Uncle Albie smell like?
Celia: He smells like...he smells like...TOOTHPASTE!

cute. :)

Back to the grind...

Had a LOVELY weekend!

Got out of town and went kayaking down the Luva River in Navua with Stepty and Ronnabelle on Saturday...the entire trip was beautiful and rejuvenating! Nature has a way of helping us reconnect with ourselves.

The bus trip up to the village was spent gawking at the mountains and rock faces, the trees, the cows and horses on the side...everything was...beautiful. After the sevusevu (traditional kava offering for permission to use river and introduction) was presented to the chief at the village, there was a quick buffet sandwich lunch by the river and then it was time to kayak! BLISS!!

The icing on the cake was the stop-over at the waterfall! It was freezing at first but soon your adrenalin takes over and its just exhilarating...despite me bashing up my shins on the rocks and cutting my small toe (ouch...but i AM accident prone!)

And then there was the punt ride back to the pick-up point so you could take in the surroundings without having to paddle.

The thing is I had been on the same trip two years ago but it was filled with drama from beginning to end. I was pretty much forced to go on it, the trip was for an exes friend who was doing a shoot for his cooking show and needed extras. There was even a cat fight at the waterfall between two of the camera men's girlfriends and that kinda soured the trip.

So to be able to do it a second time, drama free and top off the first trip was absolutely awesome!!! Will post up pics when they're downloaded.

Of course now its back to the grind...le sigh!

on the brighter side, i have 8 working days left...at work! :)

Lumpia Rolls (and Rocks!)

Picked up two chicken lumpia rolls from Kusina Filipino at MHCC today...yumky! The rolls i got didn't survive long enough for me to photograph of course so am 'borrowing' this pic from www.bunrab.com.
Kusina Filipino is the only filipino restaurant in Fiji...and a very good one at that! Salamat!

Ready, Set...

Here I go....