Tokamachi Yuki Matsuri

The Tokamachi snow festival is one the biggest snow festival in Japan. Enjoy the pics!!!

School Visit to Elementary Schools

One of my activities during this fall term is to participate in school visits. Sometimes, the teachers just asked us to listen to the kids' presentations or shows. Most of the time, it is to introduce about my country. This is where I go all out!! Malaysian flag, baju kurung, Ringgit notes and coins and postcards are basically my presentation items. Check out one of the school's websites of yours truly in action. Can you guess which picture I am in??

http://www.minamiuonuma.ed.jp/~oosaki/

Halloween Party

We had a Halloween cosplay party recently at the university. Quite a number of students took the opportunity to come and dress up : ). Really had a great time!!! I was dressed as a witch with the hat i borrowed from a local elementary school teacher.


Doraemon trying to bring us to our home perhaps? We are supposed to ride on a broom which this camera failed to capture : )

Kowaiii desu yoo!! Casting curses on pregnant lady. She is not really pregnant by the way. No harm done even if the curses are genuine!!!

Outside of the venue - taking a breather as it was very hot inside. However it is freezing cold outside. Japan - the land of extremes!!!

The Filipinos students carved this pumpkin donated by the local farmers!! It is really big!! I do wonder what happened to its inside?

Ken - the super DJ!!!! Nice music makes people eager to boogie!!!

Not to worry for any ghouls or zombies as we have a sailor uniform student equipped with a sword to protect the innocents (and not so innocents) on Halloween night!!!

It was the best party ever and a great way to kick start the first semester!!!

Akibahara and Ueno!!!

After the Yokohama visits, we went to Akibahara and Ueno for some RnR. Thanks to my friends, I had lovely pictures from my visit to both places. The above picture was taken from behind while walking to the Akibahara station . The picture below is in Ueno - just outside the JR station as we made our way to Ameyoko

Akiba rocks!!! This is my first time here on Sunday.
So it was amazing to see lots of people cosplaying as well as many girls in their maid costumes!!!

Yokohama Memories II

I have been told that my blogs sounds and look like a travel blog. Could not help it since basically this blog is about my journey as a grad student in Japan. So hopefully my friends that keep coming back to read my blog are entertain through the pictures posted here.Certainly this is not a blog for intellectual discussion : )

The above picture was taken in Chinatown, Yokohama. I love this picture as it provides a vivid background.


This picture was taken at the amusement park, Cosmo World. I also realize that this is the theme park in the Japanese Drama Titled Yasuko to Kenji. I was so excited when I found out about it recently

First Chicken Tikka while I am in Japan. There was a Diwali celebration at the Yamashita Koen and some of the food were HALAL!!! I was so excited and this can be seen by how I looked like when svoring the taste of Chicken!!! It is a big deal because usually I have to cook if I want to eat any meat based food in Japan.

My friend and I went for a ride in this. Two mistakes!! 1. Should not bring a backpack (especially filled with a laptop to amusement park) and 2. Should start with a less wild ride. Totally cool ride but I was dizzy about 15 - 20 minutes after the ride. Definitely a recommendation for the thrill seeker. My friend did not appreciate the ride though : ) as she was dizzier than me!!

Pondering?? Nahh.. More just posed for a more artistic picture.

The sea was nice and it was sunny on that day. However the wind made it a bit cold. As for me I truly enjoyed it as I dislike hot weather!!!

More entries coming soon!!!

Yokohama Nights

This is the view from the hotel room in the Landmark Tower - from the 58th Floor if I am not mistaken. We were fortunate as we were invited to visit one of the HR staff at her hotel room.
The view is spectacular and would cost us 1000 yen from the observatory tower of the same building.
I totally love the Ferris Wheel. There is a romantic feeling to it even though from past experiences, Ferris wheel ride can be pretty boring. Maybe I need to find the right person to ride the Ferris wheel to feel the romantic atmosphere. : )

With friends enjoying the evening breeze near the Yamashita Koen (Park). We took a boat ride (Seabass) to get to the park which is not that far from the Landmark Tower. The view was fantastic. Definitely a place that I would love to come again

Yokohama Memories

I was in Yokohama!!! Attended a job interview with two fellow uni mates and met other Malaysian students there!! The interview was for two days so we managed to squeeze an extra one day for sightseeing activities.














This picture was taken at the Sakuragicho station at Yokohama.









It is the Halloween season in Japan where a lot of Halloween theme accessories as well as decorations can be seen. Really had fun posing for pictures in front of the Landmark Tower.







The interview took place on Thursday and Friday, so on Saturday, I went with friends to the Chinatown in Yokohama as well as Motomachi Street. The Chinatown is pretty nice although not as interesting as I would have thought. Maybe due to the similarities to other Chinatowns that I have visited. However I found a cute stuffed panda hand. Wish I could have bought it but at the price tag of 1700yen, I am too practical to waste my money on trivial things.

The last week in Cambodia - If things goes well

Yesterday I was roped in by a friend of mine to go to a dance club, Heart of Darkness in Phnom Penh. She convinced me that I have to experience the Phnom Penh night life at least once. It was good fun and the place was not that crowded as it usually are on Friday nights. Therefore yesterday night I had my first and most probably last exposure with the Cambodian night life.

Today after recovering from a not so late night out, I went to the Central Market to do some last minute shopping for my sister and mum. Gotten them some tshirts and bags. I also went and picked up my custom made shoes. The boots is quite good but the sandals was disappointing though. Sigh.. Shopping for custom made items in Cambodia can be a hazardous thing. Often you might end up for a substandard product.

Tomorrow would be the last Sunday I would be in Phnom Penh. If things goes well and I do not have to extend my stay here, I would be back in the Malaysian soil next Saturday, Sept 20th!!!
Can't wait to go to Pasar Ramadhan and get a taste of Bubur Lambuk. Malaysia - Here I come!!