- Never Stop Dreaming -
Alrite...went to school as usual but the only difference is that I went to the Asashina Elementary school instead. No lessons there as official lessons only start in Sept. So was just bumping around, getting around the school and letting the kids go wild over me...Yep they were holding my hands, asking me to go places, piggyback on me, etc! These kids were WILD...but super cute. Geez...I havent had such youthful and energetic environment for a long long time. Seeing these kids, anyone would have just smiled and uttered, "I miss my childhood days..."
Didn't really do much and had lunch in school with the rest of the teachers, food's great as usual. Getting acustom to the daily dosage of milk for lunch. Went to the city office after lunch to get my ALIEN REGISTRATION CARD, which looks really good and the pic of me in it where I took in Komoro, hmmm...a 100% Japanese. As the weather was wet and rather cool with an smooth light grey overcast, I went shopping around. Stop by Yamada Denki for speakers for my lappy, cant find what I want so moved on to a huge sports shop. Got a brandless cotton track pants at a measely, ¥951 which is less than SGD$13 and a yellow rain cover for my backpack. The other brands like Adidas, Nike, and the other big brands cost a lot more and besides, it's not really worth it to get a branded track kit now since I am saving up to blast my pay on BURTON snow gear. Big shop with a really wide selection of outdoor gear and sports stuffs...will probably pop by again to get a white baseball shirt since baseball is huge here.
Went back home around 4 pm in the mild drizzle...got home and cook some noodles and dine in my home sweet home. After dinner, was suppose to clear up my over due photos for my dear readers but...mum called and skyped with her for a while. Realised that the pictures that I took while riding the JR to Nagano city was too much to clear so I took my time...wont be up too soon...and yes I know it's way overdue but I AM JUST LAZY...haha so now grooving to ITUNES and updating my blog, I will try to clear up the photos soon..
Looking forward tomolo to seeing the students again...
Gdnite now as I am going to heat up some soup for supper...tata
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Samurai part 2...
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Now that I am in Mochizuki, the closest city is Saku city which is like a 20 minute scooter ride from my place. But that's where Kuroshishi is and that Komoro where Samurai is...I will not frequent it as often as it's like 35 minutes from my place. So here's more belated updates of Samurai...enjoy
Sweet Singapore Merlion Icon here in Japan for the shop Kuroshishi which neede Lions avatars.
I thought the toilet was artistic so here are the sweet scented pics
The Chef of Samurai..who is also the head of the shop...an AMAZING CHEF
The Boss of Kuroshishi and Samurai in the back and his 2 seniors in the front holding the Singapore mag I brought with Grant in the left
The sweetest girl that I have met till now in Japan in the bottom left. She was extremely shy but I managed to get her in the pic...click the pic for a bigger view!
Well the mask in the shop reminded me of the character L in the DEATH NOTE movie and so I....haha
Here it goes...FIREWORKS outside Samurai 11 pm in the nite...Whooooooooo!
So here is the Tempura Soba that I had at the 200 year old shop in Komoro just behind Can English School...sry didnt take the pic of the soba...
Now that I am in Mochizuki, the closest city is Saku city which is like a 20 minute scooter ride from my place. But that's where Kuroshishi is and that Komoro where Samurai is...I will not frequent it as often as it's like 35 minutes from my place. So here's more belated updates of Samurai...enjoy
Sweet Singapore Merlion Icon here in Japan for the shop Kuroshishi which neede Lions avatars.
I thought the toilet was artistic so here are the sweet scented pics
The Chef of Samurai..who is also the head of the shop...an AMAZING CHEF
The Boss of Kuroshishi and Samurai in the back and his 2 seniors in the front holding the Singapore mag I brought with Grant in the left
The sweetest girl that I have met till now in Japan in the bottom left. She was extremely shy but I managed to get her in the pic...click the pic for a bigger view!
Well the mask in the shop reminded me of the character L in the DEATH NOTE movie and so I....haha
Here it goes...FIREWORKS outside Samurai 11 pm in the nite...Whooooooooo!
So here is the Tempura Soba that I had at the 200 year old shop in Komoro just behind Can English School...sry didnt take the pic of the soba...
My New hse in Kyowa and SKYPE NICK
- Never Stop Dreaming -
By the way if u wan my new address it is
8443, Kyowa, Saku-Shi, Nagano-Ken, 〒384-0024, Japan.
and my skype nick is
DAMONSAN
so if u wan to video call me just drop me a mail at my gmail add and I will be more than happy to connect u. Here's the pics of my new hse...
En route to my hse I took this shot...
To the left of my hse
To the right of my hse
My hse in the background with my little white scooter
My commute
Grant San
My American dude, brother, buddy, pal, room mate GRANT SAN.
Yep that's all for my hse updates...sry inside a bit messy so dun wan show u guys and gals...haha :p
By the way if u wan my new address it is
8443, Kyowa, Saku-Shi, Nagano-Ken, 〒384-0024, Japan.
and my skype nick is
DAMONSAN
so if u wan to video call me just drop me a mail at my gmail add and I will be more than happy to connect u. Here's the pics of my new hse...
En route to my hse I took this shot...
To the left of my hse
To the right of my hse
My hse in the background with my little white scooter
My commute
Grant San
My American dude, brother, buddy, pal, room mate GRANT SAN.
Yep that's all for my hse updates...sry inside a bit messy so dun wan show u guys and gals...haha :p
Ahhh...finally the Mac is linked to the net!
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Finally, this afternoon around 1 pm, I got my precious Mac hooked up to the net..which means I can spare my room mate, Grant's lappy. Got so much to upate since the last one. After numerous failed attempts to get my little baby online not to mention so many troublesome trips to the city to get a router to work as most Japanese routers dun support any other language except Japanese and none had a installation CD compatible with a Mac OS. It's funy though as the routers here have tedious steps involved to get it hooked up which pissed Grant off sooo much. Well in SG and America, router are bought off the shelf and wired up...and then wireless is just broadcast everywhere and there is no tedious proccess to go thru. Here in Japan, you have to disable the inbuilt security feature of the router, open up the web browser and disable the firewall and other computer security features and then log in to the router site and input the IP add, Webgate and DNS codes provided by the internet company and save the info into the router before you can use it. Grant is basically pulling his hair off and almost killed the shop staff who literally spent 30 minutes explaining the proccess to get the router to work where in English it's just simply, "Input the IP add, webgate and DNS codes provided by the Internet company" which is less than a minute. Well the formalities that the Japanese go through to be super polite to customers or to people of a senior position is pretty unbearable to some but to me, it's pretty alrite and so here are some highlights over the weekend...
Friday, attended school as usual...only taught in 1 class with 1 student and another Japanese English teacher. The rest of the day, attended the 1st grade students' party in school. Went back home around 7pm, and then headed over to Eric's (another English teacher from Utah, America) place. Nothing much over there except that Grant and I spent a whopping 45 minutes locating his hideout.
As there were no plans on Friday nite, Grant and I headed back to out base area and checked out another small pub. Met some really hot Japanese dude and ladies. The dude then invited us to a Harley Davidson event near Parada Ski Resort in Saku city and so the dude, Kenichi-San, sealed our fate on Sat. A mass Harley gathering of about 1000+ Harleys from all over Japan gathered there to commemorate the 8th year anniversary of the event. And also to raise funds for the Niigata July earthquake victims.
So Sunday, went out with Eric and the other JETs teachers, Shane and Ashley to a BBQ session thru a non-profit group to bring the Japanese English speakers and the foreigners together. Cool but no pictures though...haha that all for now till i get the photos up.
Finally, this afternoon around 1 pm, I got my precious Mac hooked up to the net..which means I can spare my room mate, Grant's lappy. Got so much to upate since the last one. After numerous failed attempts to get my little baby online not to mention so many troublesome trips to the city to get a router to work as most Japanese routers dun support any other language except Japanese and none had a installation CD compatible with a Mac OS. It's funy though as the routers here have tedious steps involved to get it hooked up which pissed Grant off sooo much. Well in SG and America, router are bought off the shelf and wired up...and then wireless is just broadcast everywhere and there is no tedious proccess to go thru. Here in Japan, you have to disable the inbuilt security feature of the router, open up the web browser and disable the firewall and other computer security features and then log in to the router site and input the IP add, Webgate and DNS codes provided by the internet company and save the info into the router before you can use it. Grant is basically pulling his hair off and almost killed the shop staff who literally spent 30 minutes explaining the proccess to get the router to work where in English it's just simply, "Input the IP add, webgate and DNS codes provided by the Internet company" which is less than a minute. Well the formalities that the Japanese go through to be super polite to customers or to people of a senior position is pretty unbearable to some but to me, it's pretty alrite and so here are some highlights over the weekend...
Friday, attended school as usual...only taught in 1 class with 1 student and another Japanese English teacher. The rest of the day, attended the 1st grade students' party in school. Went back home around 7pm, and then headed over to Eric's (another English teacher from Utah, America) place. Nothing much over there except that Grant and I spent a whopping 45 minutes locating his hideout.
As there were no plans on Friday nite, Grant and I headed back to out base area and checked out another small pub. Met some really hot Japanese dude and ladies. The dude then invited us to a Harley Davidson event near Parada Ski Resort in Saku city and so the dude, Kenichi-San, sealed our fate on Sat. A mass Harley gathering of about 1000+ Harleys from all over Japan gathered there to commemorate the 8th year anniversary of the event. And also to raise funds for the Niigata July earthquake victims.
So Sunday, went out with Eric and the other JETs teachers, Shane and Ashley to a BBQ session thru a non-profit group to bring the Japanese English speakers and the foreigners together. Cool but no pictures though...haha that all for now till i get the photos up.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
First Day in Asashina Junior High
- Never Stop Dreaming -reat p
Here it is, the moment of Truth...Moved to my new place on Sat. Didnt have a net hook up till Tuesday which is the reason for the lapse in the delays of necessary updates. Dear room mate Grant bought a router which ain`t compatible with my poor Mac so went on MSN Messenger last nite and had a quick chat with the witty bunch of great people from Singapore.
So here I am in the Teacher`s quaters in the school. Located deep within the valley amongst famous rice padis is this magnificient school, quiet and embraced with the essence of nature. All around me when I look out the school windows are beautiful ridges of lush greenery and behind them in distance are partially dafed mountains. A view like this...priceless.
Went on stage in the morning for a well staged but solemn ceromony to give me a proper introduction to the school of about 200 odd students. Eventhough I had to don a cute white scooter helmet and ride my little white scooter to school, my hair is none the less pretty messed up...but the power G2000 suit that I got back in Singapore with sweet Evelyn is giving me the invisible "aura". And there I was on stage with my simple and short speach in English and a million pairs of eyes staring at me. Not a word, a whisper or a sigh, just pure silence and stern eyes.
Well that soon changed when the students went back to class. Walking down the corridor, I waved to them and said hello and they were laughing coyly, giggling and some were actually screaming like as though I am some movie star. :P
Haha yep I am often mistaken for a Japanese here in Japan which is quite common since I get that all the time in Singapore too.
Lunch in Japanese schools is a little different as compared to Singapore. The teachers dine with the rest of the students in class. Which of course is pretty cool since the students, mostly girls would steal glances at me and some would speak about me and eventually come up and speak some sentences in English with me. It felt like I am living the missing popularity years that I seem to have lack during my geek days...Haha.
Home cooked food with some seasoned ikan bilis liked fishes, cucumbers and vegetables and a bottle of milk which I initially detest. But Hey I am in Japan...everything here literally becomes nice...yeah I know it`s probably the evolution of my mind thingy.
Nothing much to do today as the students are basically having tests. And a little word to send all you people envious...Since I got here in Japan and those people that know that I am teaching English, Yes I mean the Japanese...they told me one after another that I will definitely be popular because I am cute. Now that`s what I am talking.....YEAH!
Here it is, the moment of Truth...Moved to my new place on Sat. Didnt have a net hook up till Tuesday which is the reason for the lapse in the delays of necessary updates. Dear room mate Grant bought a router which ain`t compatible with my poor Mac so went on MSN Messenger last nite and had a quick chat with the witty bunch of great people from Singapore.
So here I am in the Teacher`s quaters in the school. Located deep within the valley amongst famous rice padis is this magnificient school, quiet and embraced with the essence of nature. All around me when I look out the school windows are beautiful ridges of lush greenery and behind them in distance are partially dafed mountains. A view like this...priceless.
Went on stage in the morning for a well staged but solemn ceromony to give me a proper introduction to the school of about 200 odd students. Eventhough I had to don a cute white scooter helmet and ride my little white scooter to school, my hair is none the less pretty messed up...but the power G2000 suit that I got back in Singapore with sweet Evelyn is giving me the invisible "aura". And there I was on stage with my simple and short speach in English and a million pairs of eyes staring at me. Not a word, a whisper or a sigh, just pure silence and stern eyes.
Well that soon changed when the students went back to class. Walking down the corridor, I waved to them and said hello and they were laughing coyly, giggling and some were actually screaming like as though I am some movie star. :P
Haha yep I am often mistaken for a Japanese here in Japan which is quite common since I get that all the time in Singapore too.
Lunch in Japanese schools is a little different as compared to Singapore. The teachers dine with the rest of the students in class. Which of course is pretty cool since the students, mostly girls would steal glances at me and some would speak about me and eventually come up and speak some sentences in English with me. It felt like I am living the missing popularity years that I seem to have lack during my geek days...Haha.
Home cooked food with some seasoned ikan bilis liked fishes, cucumbers and vegetables and a bottle of milk which I initially detest. But Hey I am in Japan...everything here literally becomes nice...yeah I know it`s probably the evolution of my mind thingy.
Nothing much to do today as the students are basically having tests. And a little word to send all you people envious...Since I got here in Japan and those people that know that I am teaching English, Yes I mean the Japanese...they told me one after another that I will definitely be popular because I am cute. Now that`s what I am talking.....YEAH!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Meet the Mayor...TV crews...?!
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Alrite so yesterday I was dressed in a full suit with black tie and leather shoes, and along with Grant and another American teacher, Eric, we went to see the mayor of Saku city. There were TV crews there and we were told that there will be a broadcast of a short introduction of ourselves over the city. My GOD, what have I just landed myself into was a question that`s constantly spinning in my head. I mean I am no celebrity and with this kind of publicity, it`s scary and it`s always been my style to stay away from the media`s limelight. I do not mind being the center of attention among my friends or their friends but MEDIA???? That`s not very healthy...haha
But...the G2000 "Power" suit that I wore, kinda kept me flying and giving me the confidence I badly needed to deal with the TV crew. The Mayor was a pretty nice chap...heard he`s been running the office for 18 years, growing a small place to a vibrant city now. And with my much limited Japanese, I could understand his words. He felt regretful that he did not put much attention to English when he was younger and now that this paps is like 60+ he understood the importance of English and that`s why he wanted to get more English teachers and make sure the younger generation pay more attention to it.
After that, met up with some members of the Education system and a retired Principal, advisor and now mentor of some English education system. He`s funny but with his rather awkward English, we had a hell of a time.
Went for lunch at a 200 year old soba restaurant nearby my place in Komoro-Shi and had cold tempura soba (will get the pics up soon). It`s REALLY REALLY GOOD and really living it up to it`s 200 years history.
In the late afternoon when the sun is not too hot, went with Grant to check out this snowboarding shop nearby. Too bad the winter gear were not in yet as it`s still summer now. Will probably go get a Burton winter gear soon...and proably get set to try out SNOWBOARDING!
Yep that`s it for yesterday updates...adios peeps!
Alrite so yesterday I was dressed in a full suit with black tie and leather shoes, and along with Grant and another American teacher, Eric, we went to see the mayor of Saku city. There were TV crews there and we were told that there will be a broadcast of a short introduction of ourselves over the city. My GOD, what have I just landed myself into was a question that`s constantly spinning in my head. I mean I am no celebrity and with this kind of publicity, it`s scary and it`s always been my style to stay away from the media`s limelight. I do not mind being the center of attention among my friends or their friends but MEDIA???? That`s not very healthy...haha
But...the G2000 "Power" suit that I wore, kinda kept me flying and giving me the confidence I badly needed to deal with the TV crew. The Mayor was a pretty nice chap...heard he`s been running the office for 18 years, growing a small place to a vibrant city now. And with my much limited Japanese, I could understand his words. He felt regretful that he did not put much attention to English when he was younger and now that this paps is like 60+ he understood the importance of English and that`s why he wanted to get more English teachers and make sure the younger generation pay more attention to it.
After that, met up with some members of the Education system and a retired Principal, advisor and now mentor of some English education system. He`s funny but with his rather awkward English, we had a hell of a time.
Went for lunch at a 200 year old soba restaurant nearby my place in Komoro-Shi and had cold tempura soba (will get the pics up soon). It`s REALLY REALLY GOOD and really living it up to it`s 200 years history.
In the late afternoon when the sun is not too hot, went with Grant to check out this snowboarding shop nearby. Too bad the winter gear were not in yet as it`s still summer now. Will probably go get a Burton winter gear soon...and proably get set to try out SNOWBOARDING!
Yep that`s it for yesterday updates...adios peeps!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Samurai and Kuroshishi
- Never Stop Dreaming -
Kuroshishi is a fine dining restaurant just next to Sakudaira Station in Nagano Prefecture. The place has been in operation since 2005 and they have really really fantastic food at affordable prices. The staffs are super friendly but unfortunately non of them can speak English. You can visit Kuroshishi for more info.
Here are some pics of the restaurant...
While Kuroshishi is the main restaurant under Article Lion chain of restaurants, Samurai is the second one which have been in operation since Feb 2007. The Boss and his brother is now running Samurai but business is picking up due to it`s fantastic cook, staffs and ambience. These 2 restaurants are a MUST to visit if you ever come to Komoro or Saku regions. And the staffs at these 2 places are the wacky bunch of people that I went on a road trip with. They totally ROCK!
Anyway there are random goodies they the boss offer...too bad I wasn`t able to get the original Kuroshishi Face towel but this time round I got the ARTICLE LION T-Shirt which is limited to 300 pieces. Whoooooo
Here`s some Samurai pics...
Kuroshishi is a fine dining restaurant just next to Sakudaira Station in Nagano Prefecture. The place has been in operation since 2005 and they have really really fantastic food at affordable prices. The staffs are super friendly but unfortunately non of them can speak English. You can visit Kuroshishi for more info.
Here are some pics of the restaurant...
While Kuroshishi is the main restaurant under Article Lion chain of restaurants, Samurai is the second one which have been in operation since Feb 2007. The Boss and his brother is now running Samurai but business is picking up due to it`s fantastic cook, staffs and ambience. These 2 restaurants are a MUST to visit if you ever come to Komoro or Saku regions. And the staffs at these 2 places are the wacky bunch of people that I went on a road trip with. They totally ROCK!
Anyway there are random goodies they the boss offer...too bad I wasn`t able to get the original Kuroshishi Face towel but this time round I got the ARTICLE LION T-Shirt which is limited to 300 pieces. Whoooooo
Here`s some Samurai pics...
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