Jackets for orders...

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Alrite, from now on I will update whenever there are new items up for sale, be it daily, weekly or monthly. Because I do not want to mass these Exclusive Japanese items in Singapore, I will limit the quantity to 5 pieces per item and if they are sold or gone, I WILL NOT REORDER them again...feel free to spread the word around about my site and also if you want a particular item from Japan, please email me for details and I will source it for you. Here are some points to note when ordering,

1. Prices will no longer be displayed on my site, email me for details.
2. All prices quoted by me in the email are EXCLUSIVE of shipping and handling to Singapore.
3. Upon full payment, the jacket will be shipped to Singapore.
4. When collecting, charges for shipping and handling to Singapore still applies.
5. Prices are subjected to the prevailing exchange rates.
6. Please email me if you intend to order in bulk for pricing.
7. A Singapore representative will contact you for collection and payment.

Cheers and happy shopping...

01. Japanese Print Jacket

Colors - White (SOLD) or Black
Size - L ( Sleeve - 66cm, Chest - 54cm, Length - 85cm)

White (SOLD)





Black




02. Japanese Print Reversible Hooded

Colors - White or Black
Size - L ( Sleeve - 63cm, Chest - 55cm, Length - 85cm)

White





Black





03. Dragon Hooded

Colors - White or Black
Size - L ( Sleeve - 65cm, Chest - 56cm, Length - 86cm)

White




Black





04. Tiger Sweater

Colors - White or Black
Size - L ( Sleeve - 67cm, Chest - 54cm, Length - 85cm)

White




Black

Mt. Asama (CONQUERED)

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Attended a belated Halloween Party organised by my Boss on Sat. I must confess, I am truely inspired by her as she had the whole street infront of her house cordoned for the event and even the city Mayor had to give face and grace the event which is going for the 5th consecutive year. My Boss had turned a small private Halloween event into a little town festival that is held annually...Gosh speak about achiecement! Well from what I had known, Halloween is usually not celebrated like a major festival unless there are a group of foreigners who live in the vicinity and they will make it a major thingy but not to the extent to cordon the streets. My Boss Nagisa San, I salute you...*SALUTE* And all we did were just bumping around in our silly costumes and chill with the 70 odd kids who turned up for the event and the reward, a 1 day lift ticket to Asama 2000 ski resort...Wow, I really didn't see that coming. Too bad I asigned the photography task to another one of my friend so no pics yet till he is done.

After the event, there was a drinking party in the evening with the adults (obviously...) and the city mayor and all the other important people of course...which is fully paid for by my Boss. She's an amazingly great woman and I really wouldn't mind slogging my sorry ass off for her. Haha..pardon the language there... :p And so there was a second drinking party with the rest of the English teachers...too bad I had a big day on Sunday so I didn't really drink much which most of you would have know that I prefer sweet stuffs to alcohol anytime.

And then comes SUNDAY, the big day. I was all set and prepared to scale Mt. Asama which was like my maiden hike. At 2568 metres above sea level, I wasn't quite sure I can summit but still I inquired about who's actually gonna summit. There were 12 of us in total going up, 5 Japanese, 1 Singaporean and 6 Americans.

And so going up by car, we reached somewhere at the base of Mt. Asama where I set my new Casio toy (PRW-1100YTJ-1JF) to zero elevation. This was to make the recording of the accend and decend more accurate as my new outdoor watch had a built in digital campass, altimeter and barometer which definitely proved useful at times like this...so all set, I started the accend at 9.30am (which was recorded by my watch) and promptly reached the summit at 2.14pm. Of course we stopped halfway up at 12.30pm for lunch which I had completely forgotten to bring. Was pretty sucky as I had absolutely no food or drink...so the rest of the kind souls had to spare me a peanut butter bun and some isotonic drink. Thanks guys...

Had a little prayer with the rest at the little shrine there at the half way point which had a log hut and a resting point but that was it. There were no other buildings anywhere from the base to the top except this half way point. However no food or drinks were sold here except for toilets and a nice chill out log hut with some outdoor tables.

Continued the accend at around 1.30pm and reached the summit at 2.30pm. The last part of the accend, I almost felt like giving up...my tofu body like what Lawrence suggested was no match for the harsh elements...Yep my Ronin Jacket and Burton Gloves did kept the chilly 5 degrees wind out and my trusted Altama Desert boots was great but blisters were already forming at my heels. My knees and leg quads were on the verge of maxing out and the air was thin, steep slopes and I was panting away. Taking 10 steps max and pausing to catch my breath was a much dreaded routine which I had to endure to summit. I gritted my teeth, snapped some pictures and told myself, I came here fot a reason and that was to summit so dispite all odds, I had to do myself proud and also do Singapore proud...haha for the first time I felt patriotic.

So in the end, my hard work did paid off...I reached the summit and the gorgeous view and awe of the mystic scenery and charm of the barren mountain robbed me of my soul. There weren't any snow which had melted over the weekends except little tiny small pockets of snow. Since arriving in Nagano, I had only watched this great mountain from afar and from my school but to actually conquer it today was an amazing feat for me, a new achievement for a maiden scale, a new adventure and definitely rewarding pictures for my dear readers...The feeling is GREAT but I wouldn't wanna do it again...haha so here's some pictures for you guys to enjoy while I rest my battered body...I will post the complete set of pictures soon...enjoy now




On top of the world looking down...GREAT!


*sigh* I need to soak myself in an onsen now...

A nice dinner with Okada Sensei, Akira and Lucian

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Here are the pictures of my visit to Tenri City...not much though as the drizzle totally dampen my spirits and the fog along the way ruin any possibilities of a prospective shot.

Lucian proudly advertising for the amazing delicious Takoyaki store in Tenri (for FREE!)...




And the lovely LoveBirds being rudely intruded my Lucian and me...*GRIN*




And after dinner, chill session at a really small watering joint 2 minutes walk away...the ambience is perfect, probably the best chill joint I have been in my life...and there...time to flex my shutter skillz so without the assistance of any flash, by changing the f-stop on my camera I captured the essence of time. I do confess I really like the mood captured in the photos eventhough I though I could have improved more.





Alrite...that's all for Tenri.

Whoooo...Headphones

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Latest toy added to my wishlist...Skullcandy Headphones! Gorgeously looking headphones that I stumbled upon while looking around for snowboarding gear. I shan't go into the details but here are the pics of the Ti Fur Series and the G.I. series that I have set my eyes on.






For an indepth review on the headphones, click HERE

Finally, after some consideration, I have decided to get the Camo G.I. headphones eventhough I would want the fur one...*sigh*

Weekend at Tenri City

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Last Friday, after my classes ended at 11.45pm, I made my way to Sakudaira Station skipping school lunch. And the reason...yep like the title suggests, I made my way down to Tenri City. The hour long ride on Asama Shinkansen from Sakudaira Station to Ueno Station is about ¥5500+. I delibrately made a transfer at Ueno Station so I could go to Akihabara's Akiba to pick my goodies. Despite waking up with a sore throat, I pursued on with my much planned journey.

As you would have noticed (I bet you haven't) my wishlist on the right side of the page is constantly changing. So this time round, I picked up my Casio watch which is only available in Japan, my MacBook screen protector and an aluminium camera case which I thought was kinda cool to dub it as a normal personal carrier. Initially I had planned to do a bit more shopping around downtown Tokyo especially Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harujuku but due to the exorbitant Shinkansens fares, I decided to reduce the damage. So after grabbing my stuffs, I headed down to Kyoto via Shinkansen which robbed my off ¥13000 and 3 hours and then finally hopping on the Kintetsu line which takes me to Tenri City which is the last stop.

Alrite so here's the run down of the route...

Sakudaira Station (Nagano) ---> Ueno Station (Tokyo) via Shinkansen ¥5460 , 1 hour+
Ueno Station (Tokyo) ---> Akihabara Station (Tokyo) via JR Yamanote ¥???, 4 minutes
Akihabara Station (Tokyo) ---> Tokyo Station (Tokyo) via JR Yamanote ¥???, 5 minutes
Tokyo Station (Tokyo) ---> Kyoto Station (Kyoto) via Shinkansen ¥12710, 2 hour 30 minutes
Kyoto Station (Kyoto) ---> Tenri City (Nara) via Kintetsu Line ¥730, 1 hour+

In summary, the Shinkansens are the ones chalking up most of the fares, so if you can, choose other alternatives. But bear in mind the the ratio between fares and time taken are relatively proportionate. If you want a cheaper alternative, you would end up spending more time and vice versa.

Met up with Lucian, and Vincent upon arriving and had a scrumptious extra big Katsu Don fit for a judo master. Yes the portion was HUGE but yummy...superbly fried Katsu that's so crispy on the outside and yet so tenderly juicy on the inside only to be covered by a layer of egg and onions. YUMMY! Poor Lucian and Vincent had to struggle to witness me down the entire bowl while they feast on the normal size ones. Hahahaha...

Nothing much on Friday nite so hang out for a second meal of Nabe with the other members at Semba's 86 Moya.

On Saturday, went for the SenenKai in the morning at the main santuary (Jiba) as it was drizzling outside. Had another incredible Katsu feast from the same restaurant yesterday for lunch and then attnded my second Besseki lecture at around 1330 hours. Just like the last time, i fell asleep in the middle of it. :p After the lecture, went shopping alone at Hondori, ate some outta this world Takoyakis before finally having a get-together feast with Okada Sensei and Akira (Okada's bf) and Lucian. Dinner was amazingly great as well so after dinner, crashed with Lucian and Akira in a little small but cosy pub. I would strongly recommend this little water joint to anyone going to Tenri...It's no doubt small but the ambience inside is worth every cent spent.

Took the 0600am train from Tenri with Akira after crashing 2 nites at Lucian's place in Senba and got home around 1200pm with my huge shopping bag. Down with flu and a really bad throat...but nonetheless, the experience still rocks. Am really glad I got to see Lucian, Okada and Akira and had a great time together.

Not much pictures though as the small drizzle dampen my mood for any chances of a prospective shot.

By the way if anyone's interested in knowing in advance the various train timings, fares and frequencies, check HYPERDIA and click the English tab on the top left of the site. Punch in your place of departure, and place of arrival, dates and times, transfer points and VIOLA!

Second heaven...

- Never Stop Dreaming -

On Sat last week, I went on a road trip with the staffs of Elementary school, went to a place by the name of Akiyama-Go which is like 1200 metres above sea level. Winding mountain roads along the cliffs of a fantastically "painted" scenery of yellow and red autumn. With the peaks of the mountains hidden in a soft, light fog, I reached a secluded place which is tucked deep in the mountains away from civilization. Here, a soba restaurant and an open air onsen is all nature could offer but that's really enuff...I felt like I was in heaven for places like this have ceased to exist at least for me.

After the best soba lunch I had in my 26 years of my life, I enjoyed a relaxing onsen, blown away by the mystic charm of this place. Went pass Shiga-Kogen on the way back.

Literally the entire experience could be described as, "Rise above the mountains only to decend from the clouds" (登上山 峰、从天而降).

Will update the photos soon.

BMW Dub Edition (Tokyo Auto Salon 2007)

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Here are some pictures which I found online from Tokyo Auto Salon 2007, the latest BMW "Dub" Edition. Alternatively you can also click HERE for more insanely looking vehicles like a 4 door Toyota MR-2(SW20).

This particular BMW truely resembles the Bat Mobile tradition...Whooooo...I like it.