“May you never forget what is worth remembering, nor ever remember what is best forgotten"  ~ Irish blessings

 
I don't remember things very well, but I guess penning it down is good for looking back at stuff that I want to. 2011 is too special to pass without me giving it due recognition so this post will be dedicated to that!

My 2008 OBA trip with the kids (unforgettable experiences of not bathing for 9 days, sleeping with the rain on my face, tramping thr marshes and walking for long hours in the rain in a bright-yellow-paddington-bear raincoat) started with the raising of the Blue Peter flag.  The deeper meaning behind this simple ceremony is that it signifies the moment where the ship leaves the safety of the harbour and is "outward bound", in search for new lands and experiences. For me, 2011 had the same significance – this is the year I have chosen to leave the safety of everyday experience and challenge myself in new ways.

Outward Bound Australia 2008 – Off we go!

It wasn't easy to make this decision, but my family provided the strongest support that I needed. I am grateful to my mum for giving me the assurance that I wouldn't have to worry about finances or well-being of the family when I had to be away from home. One of the best things this yr was that I had more time to spend with my family. We have gone eating , shopping (in ntuc mainly -.-) and spent a few days chilling out in MBS. I've learnt that you really need to make time for the people you love and cherish. They are the ones who will be with you, through the good times and bad. Good times won't last forever, so I'm glad I realised this now. It's really good that civil service now allows people to take 2 days of parent care leave. As much as how young children require a lot of time and attention, our parents also deserve equal concern from us because they had once taken care of us in the same manner.

No matter what happens, we are still family

School has always been an important part of my life, and I really enjoy what I'm doing. I felt a sense of loss initially when I no longer need to report to school everyday, lunch with my frens, enjoy some lorong gossip and interact with the kiddos. No input of lame jokes this year Fortunately I did my msc project in school so I went back often and had time to explore other aspects of teaching (content) that I had little time in the past. It felt really good to be doing various experiments in the lab just for fun! OK actually I was looking for potential ones to incorporate into the teaching packages, but nonetheless I had a great time reconnecting with Chemistry this yr. The modules taken at ANU also enabled me to see science differently and from a broader perspective than just a body of knowledge to be acquired. My focus had been on affective education for so long that I've forgotten about why I had chosen to study and teach science back then. It was good to regain some of that passion – Science Nerd on board!

Science adds colour to your life!

The 4 months in Australia had enriched and changed me in many ways. Academic life is solitary, even more so if you are studying overseas. However, that was good as it allowed me to be very focused in my learning. I might not have enjoyed all the classes that I have taken but I've definitely learnt much from the readings, forum and preparing for the assignments. That is what learning should be about, university or otherwise. No matter how good (or otherwise) the teachers are, the motivation to learn and improve will be on yourself. Still, 毕业真好!

No more essays to write.. no wonder bear is glowing with happiness!

Important life-skills picked up in Aussie such as cooking (so as not to starve or get food poisoning) and maintaining a work-life balance (submit assignments on time so that I can travel around) will continue to be useful this year and beyond. So I've made some resolutions for myself in 2012:

1. Continue the spirit of learning and upgrade myself in terms of knowledge not just in the subject that I teach.

2. Find time for my loved ones even after school starts. Because you have to find the balance in your own life.

3. Appreciate the diversity of friends that I enjoy and be a worthy friend to them as well.

I'll continue to experiment in food chemistry

The same downward trend in wages can be seen in low skilled, low wages jobs such as drivers, cleaners, serving staff. If the gross wages are falling over the years despite inflation going up, is the idea of a minimum wage still "impractical and not pro-market" or maybe just worth a try to ensure basic sustenance for these workers? Bus drivers in UK have a minimum wage and maximum no. of work hours that employers adhere to strictly, they impress me with their pride and professionalism for their job. This comes with job security I guess.

睡著的大提琴安静的旧旧的

我想你已表现的非常明白

我懂我也知道你没有舍不得

你说你也会难过我不相信

牵著你陪著我也只是曾经

希望他是真的比我还要爱你

我才会逼自己离开

你要我说多难堪我根本不想分开

为什么还要我用微笑来带过

我没有这种天份包容你也接受他

不用担心的太多我会一直好好过

你已经远远离开我也会慢慢走开

为什么我连分开都迁就著你

我真的没有天份安静的没这么快

我会学著放弃你是因为我太爱你

I need the moments of goofiness…at least during the inane convos of unimportant matters, I forget about all the unhappiness for a while..

Then I saw the stacks of photos that I took down from my cupboard some time back. It’s like going back in time, all the happy memories of me and my students, colleagues, friends, even myself when I was a student in HC. Fortunately I had to go for invigilation shortly after, or else I think I might cry. It has been a good six years.

These few days are too emotionally draining… It’s not a good time to think too much.

分享 was one of my favourite songs when I was in secondary school. Sky Wu is a talented singer, he composes the melody for most of his songs and many of his compositions are meaningful and touching, such as 寂寞公路，一半， 特别的爱给特别的你. Do listen to them if you’re free! 90′s music rocks!

分享 – 伍思凯
时间已做了选择
什麽人叫做朋友
偶而碰头心情却能一点就通

因为我们曾有过
理想类似的生活
太多感受绝非三言两语能形容

可能有时我们顾虑太多
太多决定需要我们去选择
担心会犯错
难免会受挫
幸好一路上有你陪我

与你分享的快乐胜过独自拥有
至今我仍深深感动
好友如同一扇窗
能让视野不同

与你分享的快乐胜过独自拥有
至今我仍深深感动
好友如同一扇门
让世界(变)开阔

I’ve gotten to know people thr the bread run. The two aunties at RP often offer me drinks and bread (though I’m usually not hungry but I’ll still eat to show my appreciation). They are quite amazed that I can squeeze onto the mrt (peak hour crowd is madness!) with the load of bread! But they are happy that at least the unsold bread is given away to people who are needy. At the FSC, there’ll be this friendly malay uncle and lady who’ll always wave hello and make some small talk. This chinese auntie will always volunteer to carry the food for me (she’s so thin I don’t think its a good idea) and open the door of the FSC for me when I reach. They thanked me on many occasions for taking the time and trouble to collect and deliver the bread for them. The volunteers are there friendly but they are often busy packing when I reach. Nonetheless, they’ll always have a word of thanks for the people who deliver the food (I’m not the only one).

I think the heart of gratitude is important, to appreciate others for what they’ve done for you and be thankful for what you are given. When we’re always complaining about what we don’t have or comparing ourselves with people who are more successful/wealthy/good-looking or expecting things to happen our way as though its our birth right, we’ll never be able to feel happiness or gratitude. No one is born to be entitled to anything – we’re fortunate to be born in a society of affluence and times of peace. Whatever you want, work hard for it. If you have received help (no matter how small), say thanks for it. If only everyone can look more closely at ourselves and be grateful for what we’ve received, then will we feel satisfied and at peace. I’m thankful that I can at least have good warm meals everyday when there are many more less fortunate people out there at the brink of survival (even tho I’m getting fat from them and pretended to be counting calories when I don’t really care ).

The bread run doesn’t take up much of my time – I’ll be done within 1 hr from time of collection and it’s only once a week. The impact of what I’m doing is FAR from saving the world - just saving about 70-100 buns each time and giving the forty families on the FSC list a special treat, hardly a blip on the radar of trashed food or poor families in the whole S’pore. However, the greatest benefits are to myself – meeting people of different sectors and having the chance to talk more to my mum as she now comes along with me. I don’t usually have much  time to talk to her in the evenings – I’ll be either busy with marking or doing work on the comp and she’ll be watching tv (taiwan long juan feng-.-). However, we get to talk while we’re travelling back and as we go shopping at Sheng Siong aft the delivery. There are benefits to continue, although I’ve been thinking of stopping. The bread’s heavy (my mum will insist on helping to carry them -.-) and my school schedule really disrupted my volunteer work quite badly last term (interviews, meetings, events). I am thankful that FFTH was able to find people to cover for me in my absence and I’ll be happy to cover for someone else if I’m free but I won’t want to trouble them too much. I guess I’ll carry on to end of the year and decide then.

BTW, I’ve found a new volunteer opportunity – food distribution for the elderly at blk 105 every fortnight Sat (now that I’ve made up my mind to stop going for nusco, my sats shd be mostly free unless there’s sch stuff). I started yesterday and some of the elderly folks there stay in equally dire conditions as those I saw in TPY block cleaning but they are still carrying on with life in an optimistic and forward-looking manner.  The volunteers there are really friendly and caring people - the ICs Mr and Mrs Yeo are so nice!!! CL’s (Mr Yeo) blog is really motivating (http://ychaoloy.blogspot.com/)  and J (Mrs Yeo) is so gentle and caring! They spent most of their weekend doing volunteer work or planning for volunteer events (http://www.apexsg.org/apexcity.htm) I’m really looking fwd to go for their newspaper collection at Opera Estate next Sun. They are looking for more volunteers – tell me if you’ll like to join. Next week will be hectic, with school meetings, jac’s wedding and this. But I think it will be meaningfully engaged time for me before work starts again

Had dinner with mum and sisters at Changi Airport before leaving. Kampong fried rice was disappointing. Golden Rooster is so much better! Following that was plane ride to Nippon – Land of Rising Sun (just nice, it was morning when we got there). Zoe Tay and family were on the same plane, it must be sad that she can’t avoid curious stares even when she’s on vacation. I’m glad there’re no kiddos on the same flight as us!

First day was spent walking around the Shinjuku area, getting tickets for ghibili museum and hakone trip.  Dinner was at Keika Ramen, which coincidentally was the restaurant that we were looking for but under a wrong name (keiko). Mouth-watering braised fatty pork meat, it must be the best that I’ve eaten so far! However, the broth tasted too porky, and the noodles were so-so.  We saw a bike overturned at the junction in Shinjuku. It was scary. Fortunately the cyclist was okay and able to pick himself up.

Day 2: Ghibli museum (Mitaka) – Ton katsu at Ginza

We went to Ghibli museum (宫崎峻!!). Saw my favourite characters – catbus and howl’s moving castle. I spent much time watching the children climb on the huge catbus plush toy and throwing dustballs around. Children having pure simple fun are such a joy to watch. More pictures of the place at the official website cos you can’t take photos in the museum itself   http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

After which we went to the park behind the museum and saw more people there – there were a mother and her toddler (her son was having fun playing with the leaves on the ground :)), two girls kicking a ball that looked like sepak tekraw, and parents picking their kids up at a nearby school. We spent abt half an hour taking jumpshots which was quite hilarious cos there would always be someone jumping out of sync with the rest (OK, I admit, I’m one of the LSS as mei would have said). Following that was tasty katsu don in Ginza (with the meat in layers inside the katsu instead of the usual big chunk of meat, very interesting). I left Ginza earlier cos I wasn’t that interested in shopping and went to Shimbashi to try and find the wet market that I went to the last time. It wasn’t the right place, but I managed to get myself some cup noodles and fruits in the supermart. Had a quick dinner and settled down to try and sleep despite the trobbing headache that was bothering me the whole day

Day 3: Torodoki – Jiyugaoka - Nakano

The rest of the peeps went to Disney today, I went on my nature walk to Torodoki and visited the Keikoku valley. It was a nice walk beside the flowing water and rustling trees. Saw the cave tomb that was supposedly built in the 7/8th century (pity the glass cover was fogged up and I couldn’t see wat’s inside). Took a walk in the garden at the end of the valley and took some nice photos of the maple leaves.. The sweet shop next to the temple wasn’t open! Pity…

Jiyugaoka was next on the itinerary. An up and coming residential + shopping area, it’s an interesting place to visit with lots of individual shops (lots of fashion, esp children’s clothing) and long stretches of chill out areas with benches for people to sit on. There were many mums with their children (babies, toddlers, kids), all dressed up to the nines. Suddenly, it feels fashionable to be a mum. Haha.. I bought my takoball machine at a huge electronic store there!

Wanted to visit Fukato-Tamagawa for the Tama River (it’s supposed to be a popular spot for exercise and relaxing like ECP) but it was quite late so I decided to go to Nakano directly. Spent 300Y to store the heavy ‘loot’ from JYG at the station’s locker. Nakano Broadway Mall is like mecca for anime/manga fans, they have everything and other related merchandise (less touristy than Aikhabara). Actually, its mostly Mandarake that has interesting selections of  manga/electronics/TV serials/action figurines/toys/cosplay costumes, dating way back into the 50s when it all started! Old Japanese action figurines, game consoles, anime sketchings and more! For an arm and leg, you can own one of those toys (game sets/action figures) that you used to play with back in the good old days! If you are interested to see how the Japanese subculture developed over the years, you should really visit that place! More pictures and an interesting writeup on the place at http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/523/Nakano+Broadway.html 

Dinner at 元祖寿司, a revolving sushi restuarant (finally ate at one of these places!), where I managed to grab a plate of crabstick mayo (this was the only plate of COOKED sushi I saw, Japanese only eat raw food -.-) and washed it down with two more plates of salmon mayo sushi (no choice, others looked more raw :S) and a chawanmushi.

Day 4: Asakusa – Saboteur card game

Fell sick due to the cold weather but fortunately revived by pc’s 葛根汤. Woke up after a good sleep to join the rest on their trip to Sensoji temple at Asakusa. It was raining hard that day (fortunately the only day it did during our trip). Ate a rice biscuit that was quite hard and drank some nice sweet sake (I suspect its the same as amasake in Hakone -see day 7). We decided to head back to the hotel early today (thankfully!)as the weather was SUPER cold and got our dinner at nearby Lawson’s mart. Spent abt an hour eating and playing Saboteur in our room before we retired for the night. One more packet of GGT and finally my headache went away after three days of suffering..

Day 5: Odaiba -Miraikan museum – Palette town

Caught the Yurikamome line to Odaiba and had brunch at Macs in Decks (as we baked in the morning sun). Popped over to Fuji TV building which was crowded as they seemed to be having a carnival of some sort there. Saw a giant Nodame Cantabile poster, the movie is coming to town on 19 Dec! I hope it would be available in Singapore soon.. excited!

Next we headed on to Mirakan – National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. We spent the most time at the Food Science special exhibition which has interesting exhibits beginning from growing of food (agriculture), food processing (e.g. perservation, storage, manufacture), right up to how they are served (in macs for e.g., how they serve a customer in 50s). It was informative and the information were presented in many different modes e.g. posters, models (which you can play with), exhibits, interactive screens, tv programmes etc. I wished my camera had not died on me then We also watched a 3D omni movie on the birth of the galaxy but all of us (except pc) fell asleep soon aft the show started as the seats were too comfy

After rushing through the other exhibits before the museum closes (5pm!), we went on to Palatte town to catch the giant ferris wheel. Saw a LONG queue which we mistook to be that for the wheel. It turned out that they (mainly women, think there weren’t any guys) were waiting to enter 玉木宏’s concert at the culture centre! Pity I didn’t managed to see him -Chiaki senpai!!!- Walked around Venus Fort after the ride. Had the good luck to be there when fake snow started falling around the fountain area (it’s actually foam I think). We saw a sumo wrestler too (with his hair tied in a topknot and dressed in a yukata and wooden sandals)!

Dinner was a good end to the day. We had cheap and good curry rice at C&C restaurant in Shinjuku station where we stood to eat our food :)

Day 6: Meiji Shrine – Harajuku - Shibuya

Brunch at this interesting ramen restuarant where I ordered the 人气 No.1 ramen that has everything: chasu, braised fatty pork meat, prawn roe, egg. Although the meat wasn’t as tasty as Keika, but the broth and noodles were wonderful!

 They also had funny posters on courage and hard work on the door of their washroom. I wonder why

After food, Meiji Jingu was our first destination in Harajuku. Saw Zoe Tay and family again at the entrance. The rows of sake barrels are gone! We went into the shrine and saw a Japanese marriage procession going on!! Exciting!! Pc said that the groom was quite good-looking but I tot he looked sleepy (The bride was elusive, I didn’t managed to get a good look at her until the end). Today must be a auspicious day cos we saw another 3-4 couples subsequently. We hovered around this garden where the couples gathered to take their family portraits. It took quite long for them to get ready as everyone had to be in the right position (optimum distance from one another), the kimono must fold nicely over the seat (for ladies) and if you have uncooperative kids who refuse to look at the camera, that would add more time. Talk about Japanese perfectionistic streak… No wonder you need three people to help out, in addition to the photographer. Just before we left, the first couple came over to have their portrait taken. And pc was proven right about this couple being the most good looking :)

Next we went shopping at Takeshitadori, next to Harajuku station. The number of people there was crazy!! But not many cosplay pp today.. think I only saw like two the whole day? I saw more the last time I went on a weekday! Disappointing..

Shibuya was our last stop for the day. RT managed to find her phiten shop and I got most of the local snacks that I wanted to get (hikoyo honpo for gar and other snacks for pp in school). Declared bankruptcy after today so had to get some emergency money from sisters in order to survive the nx three days :P

Day 7: Hakone – Old Tokaido stone paved road – the Detached Palace – Onsen

Woke up early to catch the Odakyu line to Hakone Yumoto. As expected, Hakone was much colder than Tokyo, but at least it didn’t rained. We checked in, left our luggage and caught a free ride back to Hakone Yumoto station. I said goodbye to the rest as they went on their freepass tour and took the bus to Moto-Hakone (which costs Y930 one way! I should have gotten the freepass ). I had wanted to start with the Detached Palace first, but ended up following the sign to the old Tokaido Highway (behind a small Japanese cemetary). The front part of the walk was relatively easy with a few steps, a flat gravel path and signboards stating the history of this highway as an essential and difficult passage for travellers from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo) in the past. In front of me was a group of senior citizens who quickly disappeared on a path at the opposite side of the road. I followed them, thinking that it didn’t look difficult as the sign said, unknowing of what was in store. Soon I came to the REAL stone paved road (by now, the group had disappeared) and before long I realised that walking on a road paved with large, slippery stones was not easy at all (in fact I took 2+ hours to reach the Rest Station).

After about 45 min on a seemingly endless road of stones, I wondered if I should turn back to Moto-Hakone. But a sign that points in the direction of Amazakechaya (甘酒茶屋) made me decide to go on. It sounded like an interesting place to go for food. 

I almost gave up at a steep downslope (I still have a fear of downslope from my butt ride down in Sapa valley a few years back) if not for this elderly couple who stopped to check if I’m alright (yes I am moving from STONE to STONE) and invited me to join them. Of cos I politely declined (I can’t hold them back, I’m practically crawling!), and they happily went downslope within a minute or so and disappeared round the bend. I sat down, got a drink and told myself – I can do this. And I did afterall. It’s all in the mind, that’s a lesson that I learnt today. 

I got to Amazake chaya Teahouse, had amasake (甘酒) which tasted like cereal drink and mochi for lunch. Popped over to the Rest station of the Hakone old Tokaido Road which was just next door. Saw some interesting exhibits on how the road was used by travellers in the past. I could understand how they must have felt back then but of cos I had the option of taking the bus back to Moto-Hakone now

The Detached Palace Garden was next and I was rewarded with spectacular views of the mountain ranges in the region at the observatory tower. Lake Ashi is really pretty.

After I came out by the Cedar Avenue, I actually met the rest of the peeps at the Moto-Hakone Tozan bus station! It was really a pleasant surprise cos earlier on I was contemplating if I should wait and see if I could catch them after their pirate ship ride Haha… So our day ended with us enjoying a nice dip in the onsen back in the hotel and a good Japanese dinner with a dining room all to ourselves! 

Day 8: Little Prince museum – Shinjuku

After we checked out early morning, we rushed off to the Little Prince museum which was the last sightseeing place for our trip.

Following that, we took the train back to Shinjuku and the rest of the day was spent scouring the various shopping centres for Agnes B. and the likes. Met a Singaporean family who bought a S$200+ A.B. as a school-bag for their girl (abt 7-8 yrs old). Really, I hope the girl understands the value of what she was given but I seriously doubt it..

Day 9: Narita Express – Plane ride – HOME!

Woke up super early to check out and catch the narita express for our morning flight back. Everyone managed to pack all their stuff into their luggages afterall.. Heh. And we didn’t exceed the luggage limit! Watched a few shows on the inflight entertainment: UP!, Gokusen and House. UP is a really nice show, and I cried when Ellie died… But it was really quite touching when Carl re-read the adventure book and Ellie thanked him for the wonderful adventure he has given her in their time together even if she didn’t manage to go to Paradise Falls.. You may not have achieved what you wanted to do, but that doesn’t mean the process wasn’t meaningful in its own right. Do watch it if you have the chance!

 I was really happy to be back, seeing my mum waiting by the arrival gate (poor her, she waited for 2 hours as the flight was delayed) and receiving an sms that made my day (even if its contents didn’t)! Though it was quite late by the time uncle came and sent us home, I really felt very blessed and glad. This is home, truly