2015

Fireworks at Marina Bay Countdown 2014/2015.

 

When people say,
'2015 - please treat me better' - I don't necessarily believe in things like that.
I usually believe that it's how you treat the year, your attitude and actions towards things that'll make the year count.
Is 2015 a noun, you think it has a mind of its' own on how you will be treated? 

2015 is the year I start feeling like I'm not a small kid anymore. I'm getting to be a little more than a quarter of a century old (just a little!) and it's time to take on more responsibilities I guess.

Let's work hard, guys.

Oh Japan, you have my heart.

6 days of Japan, over in an instant. 

Time always passes so fast when you're travelling - and in a flash, I'm back at reality, at work already. 

Let's work even harder, so as to earn another trip to Japan. 

皆さん、頑張ってね‼

(All pictures are from the iPhone.)

Day 1 from Narita Airport: waiting for the Toei Subway Line to take us to our hotel. 

We stayed at the Chisun Inn Asakusa this Tokyo trip - and both me & the boy thought it was a great hotel.

The rooms are small as per every other Japan hotel, but the location to nearby attractions and the train lines are really fantastic.

It was near 2 metro lines, near 2 convenience stores, and near Senso-Ji Shrine too! (All less than 10 minutes' walk away!)

Also, the housekeeping was quite immaculate in keeping each corner of the room clean. Staff are well-versed in English, and helpful, to boot! 

We booked our hotel & accomdation via Expedia.com.sg. 

We set off on Sunday evening, transited via Kuala Lumpur, and arrived in Narita Airport on Monday 07:40am.

For departure, we set off on Saturday 21:40pm, transited via KL again, and arrived in Singapore Sunday morning.

Flight and accommodation (including taxes) cost us 674 SGD each, via Malaysia Airlines. :)

Our hotel was right next to (and opposite, they had 2 buildings) the Bandai HQ. You can see the line of characters lining up the path of the building.

It was also a (less than) 10 minutes walk from Senso-Ji Shrine.

We spent Day 1 at Asakusa, exploring the streets and the shrine. Since we still had time before check-in, we set off to Akihabara, aka Electronic Land. Because I was too busy sweeping anime stuff, no pictures from the phone was taken lol.

Day 2 was spent at my absolute favorite place ever. Ever.

Tokyo DisneySea. Japan is the only place in the world to have a DisneySea. There's a Disneyland right beside, but that one has rides other Disneyland around the world has.

It's said that DisneySea is catered more towards adults because of the nature of the rides, and I found that true. More teens and couples are here as compared to families each time we went.

It's a very common to see groups of friends dressing up themselves in similar costumes to come here, too.

We went on a weekday, but it was still crazy crowded.

Beautiful scenery everywhere. I love it.

End of the day, we caught this amazing fireworks parade that was part of it's Halloween special (Not pictured, lol)

Harajuku & Shibuya was on the list the next day. Wanting a quiet start, we went to Meiji-Shrine.

Not long after we started shopping in Harajuku, it started pouring. Like reaaaally pouring.

Found a Rilakkuma-themed toilet in Kiddy Land too lol.

Odaiba the next day.

Venus Fort.

And of course, the obligatory Gundam shot.

Night scene at Odaiba.

We also went for Puripuka, the Japanese's version of a photo booth. Look at my amazing legs and eyes wtf.

Yokohama on Day 5, featuring the ferris wheel at Cosmo World.

Cosmo World is a free-to-enter theme park, but goes by a ride-to-ride ticketing basis. As we went to DisneySea for the rides already, we skipped this and went to..

The Cup Noodle Musuem. Yea, the boy & I had been here before - but the boy's cousin wanted to come, so we did.

Created our own cup noodles - you can choose the flavor, and the assortment of ingredients to be placed inside.

Me and the boy's completed noodles!

Also skipped this Yokohama Port Musuem that I really wanted to go because there was no time /sigh.

Last stop of Day 5 was the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise for the Aqua Resort.

The pictures on the website are really, really, misleading. They paint the aquariums as this really big, glorious place but all I saw was that the marine animals just look sad and too big for their small enclosures.
The enclosures also don't look very clean... . I don't know. I really wouldn't recommend this place for those who love marine life - maybe you'll be as sad as I was after I left, seeing the state of the tanks.

The Dolphin Fantasy in the resort was really ...  though. (I'm sorry, I can't find any words for it.) It featured a walk-through tunnel with maybe 4 dolphins, then a round tank featuring a really, really big Sunfish. .... That was it. (Lol)

Or maybe don't expect too much - expect nothing, maybe it's good enough for you.

Our last day was spent at Skytree Town. We first went to the Tokyo Skytree. How can you go to Tokyo and not go to an Observatory Deck right?

The view from Level 350. Every time I go to the Skytree, I feel like I'm seeing a live version of Google Maps.

Tons of Tokyo Bananas as souvenirs.

NTU Fest '14/ Being a Fangirl

/edit 22 Aug: Added some of my own shots taken at the event at the end!

Is it even apt for me to term myself as a fangirl, given my age now?
Okay I'm not that old I know but I guess going to a concert & seeing boisterous young girls going crazy does something to your thoughts. 

The event on Saturday was sorta like a mini-excursion for us.
A bunch of girls, gossiping, chatting the time away.. But coupled with the bonus of seeing our favourite oppa.
We were more mellow compared to the first few times we saw him, now it's all anxious waving instead of full-on screaming.
I guess we are getting older, aren't we? (But hey! Mr Kang is more of our age group no?)

Mr. Kang does look happier this time though, all the full-on smiling and smirks (Oh my fangirl feels lol)
(I wonder if he remembers my signboard, he was staring at it lol... Looks like bringing it to every event works!)

My own pictures aren't ready yet: these are from TNP Backstage, by Gavin foo.
Amazing pictures though, and for my own keepsake I'd thought I'll put them here. 

Maybe I'll add my own pictures next time. For now, enjoy these of Mr. Kang Gary (& Jung In, who has amazing, amazing vocals.)

----

Kang Gary's not always the man you see on Running Man. 

The Kang Gary on stage excludes this charm that is different to the one you see on variety. He loses himself to the beat & rhythm of the music so easily & readily, it makes you drunk in the same manner. 

When he sways with the music, the looks he gives you is enough to do the same.

Part of his attraction is how he looks like a bad boy but is actually a good boy at heart. 

Oh, the point that he's not bad looking either? That helps.

As usual. All shots below are taken by me. It would be impossible for me to upload all 625 shots of the event here, but I would be happy to offer you the Dropbox folder link. Just drop me an email & I'd assist.

Please also do not remove my watermarks. I appreciate people enjoying them as much as I did taking them, but not taking credit for them at my expense.

All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

 

Sometimes he's the cheeky boy you see in variety. Just sometimes.

 

I really, really, like this shot. I've always loved him smiling so happy, especially when his cheekbones show. I think it's absolutely adorable.

See? Just like a little boy. I wonder sometimes if it's just my maternal instincts talking...

Mokona the bunny

The very first time before I held her in my arms, I didn't know rabbits could be so cuddly.
Prior to this, I've never owned a rabbit before. I've had hamsters, house mice, fishes and terrapins, but not bunnies.

When she is on my chest looking at me with those grey eyes, I feel like giving her all I have.
I guess it's an indication of how I'll be a mom next time wtf. (Read: Spoil my kids rotten)

We got her on the 1st of August (Just yesterday!) and I wanted to document things a bit, so here I am.
As usual, please go to my dayre for almost daily updates.

Ah, as I'm typing this Mokona (That's the name we decided to give her.. :) is giving me the puppy-eyed look cos she wants to come out and play..
I've put her back in her cage as my mom's back and I don't want her to run around with Mom's bigfoot squishing her lol.

Short intro about her: Mokona is a 3 month old pure-breed Netherlands Dwarf with grey eyes.
Some shots of her I managed to get today - she's still quite shy about her surroundings, being new here.
But I've seen her do a binky today, and it's the most adorable thing. (Apart from her licking me, that's cute too. And and her sniffing on my chest!! And... okay I'll stop rambling wtf.)

Her name is drawn from the anime, Tsubasa Chronicles. Google it if you're interested!

Mokona's quite the timid bunny - but then again I think all bunnies are timid, easily scared by large noises.

The first few days she was here, everytime I'd sit by her cage she would stop and look at me with these eyes, because she was still nervous about having me around.

Everytime she sees me open the top latch she gets ridiculously happy, bouncing around the cage. Bunnies need to be fed an unlimited amount of hay daily, for their nutrition needs, and for their teeth.

Hi babygirl! Sometimes she just sits there so obediently and lets me stroke and pet or take pictures of her. It's really adorable when she licks me, it's like she's saying, 'Continue the stroking, human!'