Friday, December 28, 2007
Miss Saigon 1

I was reading about some fast facts of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)... and I came across: "There are no public toilets..."

Oh NO!! This is not very good for walkergal.... =.="

I read on further: "Pickpocketing is a big problem in Saigon... especially motorbike drive-bys with someone slashing the shoulder strap, grabbing the bag, and driving off..."

Okay, let's just face it. Such things are pretty common outside Singapore and walkergal just have to get used to it without falling victim to it. oh well! Put on your alert cap!! Alright.. I know what to bring then.

1. My chui (rugged) jeans.

2. A tshirt to get dirty and crawl on all fours at Cu Chi Tunnel and to be thrown away after that. (Good idea to throw away old clothes! I still have so many left after giving away to Nativity Church.. =.=")

3. My well seasoned training pants for the Cu Chi Tunnel. No way will I gonna wear jeans... Its gonna be damn hot, SweATY and DIRTY.

Essentials - The MUST Bring:
1. SAF Insect Repellent
2. Torch light
3. Wet Wipes
4. Tissues
5. Black Cap
6. Socks

SAF Brooks will be the best choice for footwear.. can wear and throw also nvm. Haha!

To be continued... ...

Hello Miss Saigon

State: Awake.

Ahh. After visiting Hokkaido, Tokyo, and Mt Fuji Base.... The next stop, Ho Chi Minh City, aka Sai Gon.

It will be a huge jump from culture, environment, temperature and food. I guess I'm kinda more or less prepared for that now though I really miss Hokkaido days.

These days.. have been a nice break for me. Although it haven't been really fantastically spent, I'm glad to have this well deserved break from FYP. I was checking school mails these days for more things to do from FYP Woo but there isn't :)

Out of these 12 days of Christmas, my blood pressure was maxed by that one person since Day 1. It really gets on my nerves and she has the cheek to demand her christmas pressie from me. Very irritating right??? =.=

Right. Let's MOVE ON to something less irritating and more interesting.

I was doing some random surfing to enhance my vietnam war knowledge and I was amazed by my findings. For those who are REALLY interested, you are free to wiki it. Let me summarise the whole chunk of sausage (passages that I read) into fine dining bits in layman terms for simple people like walkergal..

Basically. There's 2 islands. Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Something (too complicated to elaborate) happened. So there was a conflict. This conflict was known as the Vietnam Conflict which started from 1959. Simple to catch?

Next, the Vietnam Conflict avalanched into The Vietnam War from 1965 - 1975. It was concluded with a North Vietnamese military victory and a United States (US) defeat which effectively ended The Vietnam War. For those who still dunno WHEN was this Vietnam War executed, here's a bit on the timeline.

Second World War -> First Indochina War -> Vietnam War

Now, enough of the war happenings. Let's be more focused on the NOW. When you visit Vietnam now, for the adventurous (thats what walkergal will be doing), you get to explore the tunnels at Cu Chi area, aka Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of low lying tunnels that were used as a underground shelter that stretched as far as Cambodia, containing kitchens, medical clinics, commander's bedroom.

By the way, SGD$1 = VND$11000.

So the interesting and exciting part IS:
I would be crawling on all fours in the dark and humid tunnel. There will be tourists in front and behind so cannot get out of the tunnel once started. There are kitchens and hospital inside the tunnel system. There will be bobby traps on display. And can get to fire live bullets using M16 and other guns for as little as US$1. Ahhh... so EXCITING! But I really don't know if I've claustrophobia though.

Well well.. its gonna be a nice experience for me to get down smelly and sweaty on all fours with my only nice experience from my bmt days. Hur.. I certainly think this is one of the HIGHLIGHTS for me in Vietnam!

To be continued... ...

Thursday, December 27, 2007
Japanese Atmosphere

State: Sleepy.

Woke up EARLY this morning to reach Orchard Scotts at 0830... only to find a super long queue there already!!

This is my first and will be my last time running such an errand for the Empress.

The thing is, you queue a damn long queue to go into Isetan. Then you got to queue a damn long queue again at the right counter to buy the thing you want. At the counter queue, shortly after Walkergal joined in the queue, this manager walked over and inform about 15 people in front of me and onwards all the way to the back, that the Guess Watches were all sold out. No point queuing anymore.

I was disappointed. Couldn't get it for Empress but she liked it so much. When I called her to inform her about it, guess what? She said: "oh. I have a feeling that you won't be able to buy it this morning. Such private sales are all gimmicks..." =.=

Nevermind.

I guess to make my early wakey more worthed, I stayed on to look again for anything thats worthed to buy. Everything was like madly discounted. I got for myself a graniph top. As I walked on, I discovered that sports section is also having sale. All the sportwears, tshirts, SBs...I finally made my choice of 1 nike SB and a nike top. Quite pleased with my buys but it was really tiring. The queue to the fitting rooms were like damn long. Didn't wanna buy anything that it will end up chucked at wardrobe... So I queued still in the end, making sure that none of my buys will be a mistake.

Finally I was done with payment. I decided to pop by the Isetan Supermarket. It was really big and beautiful and really did sell some of the things I've observed from Japan supermarkets and guess what? The goods sold in Isetan Supermarket were damn expensive!!

I saw the exact Nissin Cup Noodles Seafood one, Made in Japan. I bought that at Japan from one of the convenience stores at the base of Mount Fuji, it costs me only 95 yen = SGD$1.20.

It was sold for SGD$3.65 at Isetan Supermarket!! =.=

Well. This goes to show that really. Only way to make my world travel more worthed, it is to stay at the place longer. Else, paying a huge sum to fly to Japan and just stay for 5 days? Though it might seemed cheap to eat 95yen instant noodles but taking into account of the air fare.... I think its more sensible to pay for the same $3.65 instant cup noodles here in Isetan supermarket instead.

*****

After I returned home from town area.. I was zonked. Went for a quick bath and straight into dreamland. Seriously tired out from all my walking from the city these days. Sigh. To think I seldom go shopping and just a few days of shopping can already maxed me. =.=

Nice 26 December 2007.

State: A bit stoned.

Howdy Readers!

First of all, Merry Christmas and A Happy new year! It has been really interesting these days.. I finally took my well deserved break from my fyp. Hahaha.. well well. I must say the gellers have done a really good job for our Break Free themed Christmas Programme that was organised for the youth on sat and adults on sun. WELL DONE GELLERS! I pray that God will reveal more of his purpose to everyone of you who truely had put in effort in making the event a successful one. :)

I just came back from a BBQ. Ahh. It was fantastic. Its my first BBQ after... so long!! I can't even remember when was my last BBQ. =.= We had really good food. Here's a sneak preview of what we had.

1. Scallops
2. Sweet Potatoes
3. Sweet Corn
4. Sotong and Prawn balls
5. Otah
6. Man tous (the rice rolls)
7. Chicken Wings (marinated with special indo dressing)
8. Chicken Wings (marinated with light soya and sesame oil)
9. bacons
10. Marsh-mellows
11. Hotdogs
12. Crabsticks
13. Heaven and Earth Green Tea
14. Pokka Peach Tea
15. Carlsberg and Tiger beers by the courtesy of the guys

Yeah.. thats about all I can remember for now. Haha.. the best part? Each person just have to pay $8.50 !! Isn't that amazing and cool? :) All were great company. Special thanks to Kristy for booking the bbq at her condo and letting us use her house!

It was great gathering. Let's see who came for the bbq: Kristy, Lee Choon, Claire, Shi Ting, Yee Ting, Jessica, Cecilia, Charmaine, Dong, Dt, Luo Ren and Adrian. It was really nice to chat and catch up with one another! Hurhur... Walkergal learnt how to play bridge finally. All thanks to the Marshmellow babe of none other than Yee Ting Missy. Hahaha... :)

Oh, the best part of this entry? Ahh. Walkergal's besty is back to Singapore. Welcome home! :)
Walkergal woke up early morning today just to see her back safe and sound before she flies off again in about 15 hours time? Hur.

Alrights.. I'm staying up for BBC to be back.... tomorrow gotta run errand for the Empress. 0830 got to be at Orchard Scotts so I can get the watch for her. All for the reason to save money and get a good buy in this sale season. =.= Nvm. I'll take it as a morning walk.

Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve

Status: Happy.

Howdy Readers!! Walkergal wishes you Merry Christmas in advance!
You know, its always amazing for me to be able to sleep with lights on and music on because its practically impossible for Walkergal to achieve that!

Well, it seemed that way last night!! Hahaha... Amazing huh. Was uploading pictures on facebook. Its like taking ages to load up pictures. The worst thing happened twice when I painstakingly sorted out those pictures for uploading and facebook processed for so long and returned with an error message, asking me to try again. =.=

So I splitted my uploading to smaller portions. Then the very tired me multi-tasked.. used the time to apply moisturizer (don't all the vain people do that all the time? :)) and I guess it was that time. I fell asleep on bed while applying moisturizers!! =.= I just woke up you see. From a very nice sms by the Emperor himself. =.="

*****

Farmers.. a lost tribe.
I really hope that perhaps the farms in SG can be more open to schools. I do know they have been opened for many field trips. What I meant is to provide stay-ons. Allow the school kids to have a stayover experience, experience the life of a SG farmer. I would think its a pretty good experience. Don't you think so? :)

*****

Something got me to ponder about Gingerbread. How did it occur to people to make bread using ginger as an ingredient? And why is it a gingerbread man... and not a gingerbread woman? There isn't any parts of the bread that signifies that its a man and not a woman. Hurhur.

*****
The smokers in Paris must have been smoking much for their dear lives these days. A nationwide ban on smoking for France will come in effect on 1 January 2008. Well.. some people predicted that it could be a demise of the French lively cafe culture.

The entire country has been ready for a year now about this ban. It has been about 11 months after smoking was outlawed in workplaces, schools, hospitals and shops. The ban came 6 months after Britain made its pubs smoke-free and nearly 4 years after Ireland became the first European country to ban smoking in public places.

Under this smoking ban, those who light up in public places can be fined up to 450euros! Thats a whooping SGD645!! The business owners might face up to 750euros!

For those who supported this campaign, they hope to bring France across to people that it has become a more health-conscious country.

*****

Wosh.

The Blackberry 8120 is really cool. It cooked me!!

Of course. The digital camera part is... despite being upgraded, its still.. 2 megapixels. Facebook users can upload pictures to website using the phone very easily.. but 2 megapixels phone..

Easy to setup email and a 3.5mm audio port lets you use your own earphones. Has a direct USB port for transferring data and charging the phone. Its like the MP3s nowadays. Its powered by WIFI, making sure that its all worthed to be bought for the surf-all-you-want WIFI hotspots in SG.

The best part is, the battery life is impressive. It can last for a day with WIFI and GPRS enabled, and the camera and music player being used.

Hmm... looks wise, I'm still captivated by HTC Touch Dual. :)

Sunday, December 23, 2007
Feliz Navidad

Status: Calm.

After witnessing Granduncle's baptism today, I realised that Methodist Church seemed pretty similar to Catholics. Well. Granduncle became kinda thin. But he still looked very energized to everyone. His speaking and actions.. I'm so proud of him. Really.

For being the strong man that I've always know. Honestly, I have no idea of what actually led him to make this decision to go through baptism. But I really hope that it wasn't pressuring from his family side, but genuinely from his heart that he wants to accept Christ and to take this step of faith.

Woke up early this morning just to reach JB at 0800. Despite the squeezy journey back and forth, it was worthed everything. Well. I seldom find such a chance such that when I speak, all (Emperor, Empress, Grandma, Aunt, and XX)... ALL got to listen to Walkergal speaking. Hurhur... Cause they don't have much of a choice? All stucked in the same car as me and its such a loooong journey. =P

So I talk about my life, my travels.. At one point, Empress covered her ears cheekily. Sigh. Am I such a bad speaker? Why can't everyone just listen to what I've got to say?? =.=

After the whole visit ended, I went to some supermarkets there and got toilet papers and vitagens for The Shell. Dropped off back to The Shell and the rest went home subsequently.

Well. It seemed like today I get to know that I've many cousins there? Its really amazing. Over a short lunch. 2 tables reserved. It was just nice. 1 for all the adults and 1 for us, TEENS. Okay fine. I became the eldest at the table. Again. =.=

Well. Its really cool. I got one cousin who is studying medicine. And his sister, in college now, aiming to be an accountant. In fact, there's another cousin taking Accountancy and Finance over at Australia. Hmmm.. I have never had the opportunity to talk to them much. Because during CNY visits, everything gets noisy and messy. The focus of CNY visits weren't quite much on conversations. Most of the time it was on the red packets and food. Well. I really think today's meeting was very timely. I thank God for all the conversations and opportunities of discoveries. Hahaha. I might really need their (doctors) help next time.

*****

I'm Ever (GREEN)
You are freshness, renewal and in hot demand... You believe that sometimes it is best to start things fresh just for the energising buzz an adventure gives you. You love exploring, testing the limits and reaching out and raising bar...

*****

Gave my bomb shelter this afternoon a good scrub. A good excuse to work out my arms actually. Sigh. Ah Ying Auntie commented that I looked like her yoga teacher. Not my appearance... but my build. =.= The thing is, most yoga teachers are sweet looking and have toned arms and its not my case for BOTH. The aftermath from Hokkaido. =.=

*****

I'm glad that I fought hard for the things I have these days. Did lots of self reflections these days. Well. Towards the end of the year, its always a norm for me to do it more often. Hahaha.. so its no big deal cause I do it all the time! =P

You know what people? Sometimes it seemed why we seemed to be stronger (mentally) than others, more sensible than others, its due to the shits around that shaped and moulded you to the way you are now. Not that due to the thousands shits that you faced so it meant you must be in a good shape now. No. Just that you seemed being able to grab on a float in this big drowning sea.. faster than those who are still struggling for survival. Well, having a float in your hands doesn't mean holding on to them for your dear life is enough. For those with hearts (I hope all have), you got more things to do. You got to save those around you. Got it?

Where is this sense of goodness in A previously? What happened to it? Were there opportunities given for A to voice out everything? Yes. Was it taken? No. This is not a whose-fault issue. What happen to that sense of gratefulness?

*****

I thank God for the discipline these days. *SMILES* I've finally completed 90% of my FYP. Just sent the full format to FYP Woo. IF there's anymore things to be improved on (of course there will always be), that would be the 10% remaining. Haha. I hope what I've done has met FYP Woo's expectation. Of course, if it has, I'm quite sure he would add in more things for me to achieve. Whatever it is, I've cleared my own expectations of FYP completion for now and I'm all set to welcome the new year. :) Finally, tomorrow Walkergal aka The Town Noob, is gonna out to town to catch the 2007 Christmas lightings.

*****

Oh, do you readers know whats the bomb shelter? Don't think too deeply. Its very simple actually. Just a toilet. :)

Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas Special

State: Renewed.

Heya readers! Walkergal would like to share with you something that she has been putting at the back of her mind for quite some time.

I wish to own a nice piece of big plot of land in NZ. Build my own three storeys high BIG house and set it such a way like a guesthouse or hostel for budget travellers to stay in. There will be a common huge kitchen for them to cook if they wish to. A common living room with long and wide book shelves containing all kinds of books for guests to read their hearts out. The backyard will be converted to a BBQ area for guests to enjoy chilling out and to watch the stars while BBQ-ing. There will be a mini cafe... with the chef.. none other than Empress herself. The Emperor can mend the gardens and go fishing.

A common TV room for the TV enthusiasts to watch DVDs free. A common gaming room with 2 arcade machines. Since I love Daytona.. hurhur.. Both the machines will be Daytonas. The next corner of the gaming room will be dedicated to the board games fanatics.

I will get a huge space wagon for myself. Will drive my stay-in guests back and forth to the nearest station or bus stop. I will mend the counter too. All the profits will go to improving the cafe food and the entire place. My greatest satisfaction will be when my guests enjoy their nights and will recommend my place to many others! :)

Just that for now, the dream is still short of one thing.

A husband to take care of everything. Hahaha...

*****

Guess what? I bought 2 things from Tokyo and I'm very happy with it. The 1st one is a ring. Haha... I finally know my own ring size! Next, a 4GB Sony memorystick. I got no choice, the 1GB memorystick given to me was too small. So I checked out the price of a 2GB one in Hardwarezone.com before my trip and it costs $240+.... =.= So I didn't buy it and I went to Japan with 2 cameras. Hahaha.. who knew at Tokyo, there was a place like Singapore's Sim Lim Square. So I went to take a look and my goodness, the 2GB one only costs about SGD$80+.... then the 4GB one costs SGD$118... what a steal! I bought it straight off the shelves. :)

*****

Ahh. The Asian Idol consisting of India, Vietnam, Singapore... a total of 6 countries... Each country sent their very own Idol.. so Hadi went and.... He won. :) Singapore very own talent. :)

*****

I'm Daffodil
You have a sunny disposition and are normally one of the first to show up for the party. You don't need too much attention from the host once you get there as you are more than capable of making yourself seen and heard.

*****

According to the news today, it said more Singaporeans are choosing high-end gifts this holiday season. Well... what to do. Everyone's getting bonuses due to good economy. This better last. Once I jump into the working sector.. I want my share of bonuses too!! Oh well nevermind. Walkergal is cool with getting herself just a seiko watch for this Christmas.

*****

School of the Arts is gonna start its operations in this upcoming new year. There will be courses of dance, music, theatre and visual arts. This is very significant in Singapore. An opportunity to groom the talents that Singapore has never done before. Hmm. I wonder if there's opportunity for BBC to teach there? :)

*****

Ahh!! I'm so touched! XX came by today and gave me a very early Christmas gift! Guess what it was? Nike water bottle! :) Thank you XX!!! Its something that I really want but.. hur.. as usual, I'm always waiting for price to drop. Hahaha..

Seriously I seldom have the over-the-moon feeling when I receive gifts. Most of the time, nobody knows what I want.. or what I want its not cheap.. hurhur...

The 4 gifts that I got this year 2007 that made my heart literally screamed for joy would be:
1. 2 pairs of silver earrings - BBC and XX, XW, XR
2. Speedo swimming cap - Eligator
3. Sony Cybershot - Nickermann

Although I would never buy a sony product knowing that its a quite selfish brand, I got it as a gift. After much thoughts, I think since its a blessing to own it, I guess I might just buy sony products next time... so to make my buying of the sony memorystick more worthed! Hurhur... =P

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tip Of The Iceberg

State: tired.

I wonder if its really true that when one gets baptised, all the angels will rejoice up in heaven. I wish I can see such scene. But still. I'm a human. Destined to be on earth now. I thank God for everything still. I look forward for his baptism this sunday. I haven't seen him for close to 2 years now. I pray that his health will be restored. God.. you heard me.

*****

Heya people!! Here's whats gonna happen this saturday. Don't blink.

Its Christmas celebration right at Glad Tidings Gateway this Saturday (22 Dec 2007). Its open to ALL YOUTH in Singapore. Bring all who are genuinely interested at heart to come along with an open heart to find out the true meaning of Christmas for yourself. :)

*****

I'm totally bushed. I seriously think that my body won't ache so much if I went to Japan alone. Well. On the other hand, it could possibly be due to that I'm reaching my thirties. =.=
Anyways. Here's some of my illegal shots of the little boy. It wasn't easy to take photos on the tour bus by the way.





*****

Well. I went for hotsprings on a daily basis during the days in Hokkaido. It was really cool checking out the different onsens for both indoors and outdoors they have for every different hotels that I've been to. Its really amazing and they switch the female onsen side with the male onsen side on a daily basis. This is to allow all to fully experience the different type of onsens that the hotel has.

Let me share with you about my last day at Hokkaido for my last onsen. It was beautiful. The indoor onsen was like the rest that I've been to.. but the outdoor onsen... it was totally outdoor. Those previous so-called outdoor onsens.. all have shelters. The outdoor onsen on my last night at Hokkaido.. it was out in the open.. the onsens pool walls were made from stone... oh, the best part? It was snowing. Now let me say something about the snow in Japan. Its beautifully light. Like feathers. I made my way to the outdoor onsen.. found a nice corner and settled down. Placing my towel on the rock and resting my head on it. Staring up at the dark blue sky filled with millions of snow slowly falling... Gently closing my eyes and feeling the snow falling on my face. It was truely an awesome first hand experience for me.

There wasn't many people.. Walkergal is brilliant okay. She chose proper timings so she can get her personal space and peace just to go through the last night at Hokkaido..

*****

I was thrilled when I went snow-skiing. It was my first time at such a place. To tell you the truth, I've no whatsoever idea of how to do it. But I refused to spend 8000 yen just to let some translators and ski instructors to teach me skiing for a mere 2 hours. So I paid just 3600 yen to figure out things for myself! My actions amazed many from my tour because they knew I have zero experience in skiing... For those who has seen me from the stage of not being able to stand up properly in my skis to falling down umpteen times and finally performing a proper full ski down a slope without falling down. Thank you for spending time looking at me. Hahaha.. Some uncles commented that I was very brave. Well. Honestly, I think I was crazy but I did it all the same. :)

*****

Oh. I have yet to say that my direct flight to Hokkaido on the 9 Dec 2007, it was the first direct flight ever done in history.. with subsequent similar flights operating now. The plane that we took, it was double deckered. Yeah. I'm not talking about a bed here.. It was the plane that we took.

I was seated on the first section of the upper deck of the plane.. It was like I was part of the business class.. with my food and drinks being served to me first. Very interesting.
When I took the 1055 flight back from Narita Airport to Changi Airport, it was damn cool. I watched 3 different movies straight from the 7 hours of in-flight entertainment. I watched The Bachelor, Stardust and Resurrecting The Champ. May I add? Stardust is a really good movie. I was touched by its plot and everything. How it transformed an ordinary young man to a brave King. It speaks alot about Love.

People can say Love is greater than anything in the whole universe.. that it surpasses human understandings, cultures and lifetime. Walkergal does agree and wanna add on. Love is unpredictable.. uncontrollable.. unexpectable.. and unbearable. Does somebody knows where to get the soundtrack of Stardust? I love it.

Oh. Lunch was really good. May I comment that JAL offers really good food and service? It was really good. You got to take it to experience it. I had 2 servings of plum wine. Its really good. 2 hours after lunch, we were given ice-cream. Thats why I say afternoon flights are the best. :) Oh. The flight was full by the way. So the 3 of us got to sit separated. I was delighted!! Hurhur.. Finally some quality time for myself.

It was a 3 column seating. I was seated on the right most column on the 2nd seat. The window seat person didn't make it to the flight. Hence I had it all to myself. But I did not seat on the window seat. On my left was a Japanese male. I guess he was in his late twenties? He wasn't dressed like those punks and seemed quite comfortably on his seat. Let's talk a bit about his appearance. White long sleeves with Khakis cargo pants. He looks like those olden days Japanese man.. thick eye brows, not too big but not small eyes. Quite decent looking. Walkergal felt comfortable to remain on her seat. We didn't converse throughout the flight. It was purely comfortable through simple gestures. At one point I need to pee. Almost automatically he stood up for me to pass. Very nice.

*****

Have been doing FYP. I'm so dead. I need a life.Oh, BBC has been so busy these days. I miss BBC. Guess what? BBC's dream came true. Performing for Mediacorp for 2007 Countdown Party. Its held at Vivocity.

Funny clip given by dear Aijia on msn. Its really funny. Watch it to know it.



miss sy miss hokkaido sapporo classic.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
FAT

Howdy people!!

Greetings from Japan, at Mount Fuji Base, K's House!

Okay. First of all. Let me say.. Walkergal is FAT and she FARTS every now and then! =.=
All thanks to the food here. Humph.

These days at Japan. Well. I must say there are many things very different.
After about 5 days at Hokkaido.. the main catch there : SEAFOOD and HOTSPRING.

I met really great people from my tour bus. Its actually a big tour group of 90 people and they split us into 3 groups. My group is the smallest.. 20 people. Best! And the best part is, thank God that there ain't trouble makers. All are cooperative and I really appreciate all of them. =)

Now let me elaborate on my tour group. There is a family of 8, a couple who brought both their parents and 2 little sons along. The little son is soooooo cute. Walkergal did an illegal shot of the little boy and oh boy its SOOOOO GOOD. Haha.. I'll post it when I've the time. :)

I made great friends.. and in fact, there is this group of 4 gals from N T U!! They had graduated last year. Haha... and they know how to speak Japanese... one of them been to Japan last year. So she gave me some shopping tips at Tokyo. Oh, she was from SCI too. I think I have lots of chances of bumping into SCI people orh.

My tour at Hokkaido ended on 15 Dec. After that, its my own 3 days of free and easy at Tokyo. I had my first hand experience moving from ANA Hotel to my budget Sumisho hotel at Tokyo. Hurhur... Its challenging for a first timer like me.. to move around Tokyo.. using their transportation of trains.. after a long continuous ride on a nice coach for 5 days at Hokkaido... OMG. Thank God, I did it fast and well. I think if I bring 2 obaasans walking round and round without getting to the destination successfully, I'll be skinned to death. Perhaps its like fattening the sheep during Hokkaido and getting killed in Tokyo. But one thing, Sumisho Hotel doesn't have internet.... =.= Hence, this is walkergal's first internet using in Japan. They have 4 pc stations of free internet broadband for anyone to use!! Oh boy.. I logged on to Msn today and saw so many emails had bombed my email.

Let me briefly explain a bit about the trains in Tokyo. There are many lines. Everyone knows that. But do you guys know that at the same railway track at one particular station, there can be multiple type of trains stopping at that plaform? It just means one thing. You can't travel with your eyes closed.

Its like even if you are at platform A at Tanah Merah waiting for train to go back to Boon Lay, the train that arrive at your platform a few minutes later, it might not be the train that will bring you to your destination. It could be another type of train that goes to another route after leaving your platform. You got to recognise the train or look at the destination of that train that is displayed sometimes near the head or the sides of the train.

So, my first day of free and easy, I went to Harajuku.. the famous place of shopping.. I went there with mummy.. and we walked and walked and walked.. till our legs were soooo tired and its so so so COLD. =.= After that I stoned on my way back on the train... I could still remember vividly how tired my legs were like that before.. in Beijing. It was when walkergal and her besty were walking out on the streets from early morning till late night... doing retail therapy all the way... it was damn damn cold... and our legs were damn damn damn tired from walking. Hahaha!

Back to Harajuku.. the place have lots of clothes... well.. from the guidelines that the gal from my tour group had told me, 1 - 15 July each year is the summer sale of Tokyo.. so its best to shop in Tokyo from 8 July onwards.. cos from 1 July, its only 30% discounts... 8 July onwards, everything is around 70% discounts!!

Yeah... today I brought them to take some pictures of Mt Fuji... we took a long 2 hours journey bus ride from JR Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station at the base of Mt Fuji. All thanks to HostelWorld.com, I got a room for the night very cheap for the 3 of us!! They speak really good english and the room.. is really nice and cosy. Tonight is budget eating!! Its so COLD outside.. no transportation.. its impossible to bring the 2 obaasans out with me to enjoy nice hot ramen outside the hostel. So I brought them to buy some beers and instant noodles... woot! Its so nice and warm in the hostel... not gonna be good if they fall sick.

Tomorrow, it shall be another 2 hours journey back to JR Shinjuku and some last minute eating out before I say sayonara to Tokyo.. Till then..

This is FAT Walkergal signing off from K's House Mt. Fuji.

Sunday, December 09, 2007
Shoes?

State: Sad.

Before I leave for the airport, I think I should blog abit.
It has been lots of beefing up these days for the obvious reasons. I'm scared of cold.
Its gonna be cold in Hokkaido.

These days... didn't really sleep much. Been rushing FYP.
I hope what I've done is sufficient.

I had things planned out but things just won't go our way sometimes.
Already set on my attire to go airport..
I couldn't find my columbia shoes.
This is the problem when you know what you want but due to many reasons, you can't have it.
What can I say. Blame why the rooms were changed? Perhaps its just not meant to be.
I just own these few pairs of shoes.. I just have to accept it.
Hence will be wearing hush puppies. The one that I wore and braved the roads during the early phase in China. Its comfy. Just that I'm very sad that I have a better pair of shoes and yet I can't wear it to Japan.

Howdy Readers.. Hope you all be good alright? Its nearing to Christmas. A time to forgive and not forget. Oh. I pray that perhaps one day I'll find it.

Don't forget to lock the door and shut the windows. Been raining lots these days. Walkergal is gonna be away for a bit. Don't SMS her.. unless you got lots of money and don't just miss her.. Pray for her. Hurhur.. ;)

Sayo..nara!

Thursday, December 06, 2007
Nokia N82

Picture taken from Computers, Asia Pacific, Nokia

It is a power packed phone with high performances in photography, navigation and wireless internet capability. It is already in Singapore since 5 days ago..1 Dec 2007. Since everyone is writing so deep about its technology, walkergal shall make this writeup to be more reader-friendly.

Here's it:

Dimensions (Its thick)
-Volume: 90 cc
-Weight: 114 g
-Length: 112 mm
-Width: 50.2 mm
-Thickness (max): 17.3 mm

Wireless LAN/VoIP
- Can surf at any Wireless@SG spots
- Make internet calls using VoIP technology

5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash
- High picture quality. (My Canon Powershot is merely 4 megapixel and my E65 is only 2 megapixel!!)
- Scene modes of macro, portrait, landscape, sports, night (used without flash) and night portrait (used with flash).
- Self timer option. For the narcissises!
- Fast camera activation. (My E65 is slow!)
- 2GB MicroSD card in the sales package (can store up to 900 high-resolution photos or up to 84 minutes of high quality video on the device)

Navigation
- Internal GPS receiver with Nokia Maps installed (of course, you need to purchase for additional features, such as city guides and longer subscription to the navigation.. how I wish that receiving GPS is free.. =P)
- Lock on to location in maps in less than 10 seconds
- Faster than N95's

Display
- 320 x 240. This is same as my E65.
- QVGA TFT screen of 16.7 million colours. High resolution display

Connectivity
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 3G
- HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, aka 3.5G technology)
- WCDMA2100 (HSDPA), EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)
- Automatic switching between bands and modes

User Interface
- Symbian OS 3rd Edition
- Orientation sensor that rotates the user interface automatically between horizontal and portrait mode.

Memory
- 100MB internal memory (My E65 has 50MB)

Power
- Battery: Nokia Battery (BP-6MT) 1050mAH
- Talk time: up to 190 minutes (WCDMA),up to 260 minutes (GSM)

Its is a speaker phone with FM radio in it... like a big size MP3 player. In short, it has many good functions, just that after learning much from my E65 experiences, its better to wait for a few batches of it to be out first then see if it really can perform well with all the functions. E65 wasn't smooth sailing to those who bought it way before me.. Haha.. even when I bought it, it was still struggling hard to cope with all its power packed functions. So N82 as powerful as it is, one must be prepared that it might not run smoothly for the first few batches of it.. with some technical glitches here and there.

Pricing always plays a part right? There wasn't much specific details on much of its pricing but some said 450 euros, others said SGD998, SGD968, SGD898... anyway, nokia n95 is already at SGD818 now. N82 should not be any lesser.

That's all for some gadget insights at walkergal's shell.
Tata!

Wet Wednesday - Yesterday

State: Red Alert

The flu epidemic has already reached warning levels in Hokkaido. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases warned that the flu might start spreading across the nation this winter at the fastest pace in two decades. It is forecasted that next week it might reach the breaking point for the start of a nationwide flu epidemic. And walkergal is going right straight into Hokkaido next week.

Well. Dangerous ... it is, but you won't know it until you are there in person.
Let walkergal be the live reporter for you readers to report the goings on at Hokkaido.. if she survives. Now, the main thing is to get more vitamin c for the empress.

*****

Sigh. No money to go Europe for now... Oh nvm.
Its ok. I haven't seen many other parts of the world too.
I shall clear them one by one eventually :)

Was dozing off while doing FYP yesterday.. until I simply cannot take it anymore. =.= I decided to allow myself to think abit about May 2008. Its gonna be either travel or work for that month. Not gonna waste any of my precious time slacking in Singapore after my final exams. So I finally got a little list out. Haha. Well. At least this woke me up a bit.

A Peep to May 2008 Possible Travels
China: (Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou) or Taiwan?? I dunno. With 2008 Olympics at hand.. Good timing?
Myanmar - Laos - Cambodia... well on the map it sure looks good. but with all the riots and stuff.. we'll see.
New Zealand: Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Rotorua, Wellington.. its high time I visit NZ..

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Body Lody Pain

State: Full.. BURPED!

With Christmas coming just round the corner, what's the first thing in my mind? Catch the christmas decorations before they cleared for 2008! Sigh. I need a break to hit the town!!

*****

Its been a nice day today.. Went to tampines sports hall for badminton with some of the nbs babes. Haha.. well done.. we finally meet up again!

I missed Beijing. Again and I say again.

Wonderful Li Xiang jie.. A capable woman with a great husband and a good son studying in New Zealand. God is good. I had lunch with her and all at Tampines Mall's Crystal Jade. Well... I must say the food really. It tasted better at Beijing.

*****

FYP lecturer still haven't replied me when he can meet. Well. Could he be busy marking the examination papers?? =.=

I hope I didn't disappoint him with my cryptography result!!

*****

Some modules have past year's exam paper for reference. Some don't. Its a tricky issue. Its gonna be quite a bit of dilemma for me. Each day I have a different perspective of the modules. I pray that God will guide me to choose the right cores.. its gonna be my last semester of studying.

*****

What's Stressed spelled backwards??

*

*

*

Its Desserts. So. Don't get stressed. Get some desserts instead. :)

Monday, December 03, 2007
Monday

howdy people!

this is walkergal, the town noob speaking.
just yesterday, it marked my first step into town after... a break of about 3 months?
and what's the purpose? not shopping.

it was to run the standard chartered marathon. but of course. there were some termed as 'illegal' runners around like me who never registered. ended up being denied entry at the starting point. it was sad. so only those who can afford to pay will get to run?

what kind of impression would this give to foreigners? would some flexibility given hinder the runners from running properly? if the idea was to limit the number of runners to a certain number for the entire route, it wasn't so. there were counters setup there for registration on spot. so, tell me what's the main aim of this marathon.

nonetheless. walkergal did not let this stop her from running. all thanks to her wonderful little runners. we took mrt from city hall to kallang. started running from kallang all the way till east coast park food centre. halfway through, the route was no choice but to merge in the route with the S C marathon. by then, it was clear that anyone can join in the run. well. i really have no comment for this.

anyways. this morning... walkergal was like walkerobaasan. whole body aching... this is the result of inconsistency in running.. =.="

*****

do you know that with effect from late Nov 2007, entry into Japan will need two more security implementations... taking a photo and fingerprint will be taken from the person entering Japan. cool right? this means it will take a longer period of time to clear the customs.

*****

i was at the istana on sunday to catch the Changing of Guards. it was interesting to see the two officers marching up and down to and fro when they were facing each other with the band playing some catchy tunes... hahaha.. its really kinda nice and smart. then the military policemen in their no.3.. very hardworking NSFs.. but one dropped the rifle during the swinging. nonetheless, the audience was really amazed by their rifle performances. so to all the NSFs.. WELL DONE!

*****

the stress of FYP is in and travelling thoughts have to be held back first.. at least for this week!

*****

friction and friction and still friction.

Saturday, December 01, 2007
Onsen Onsen

State: FYP-fied.

I haven't done much research for FYP. =.= Better get some fuel pump in soon.

*****

China has its Golden Week Holiday and its the first week of May annually.. and guess what? Japan has their own Golden Week Holiday too. Japan's Golden Week is from the end of April to the beginning of May.

*****

News from ChannelNewsAsia.com.

New HIV cases this year expected to exceed 2006's: MOH

SINGAPORE: HIV cases are on the rise in Singapore. In the first 10 months of this
year alone, there were already 356 new HIV cases reported, as compared to 357 new
cases for the entire 2006.

164 cases were reported in the first six months, while another 192 were reported
between July and October this year. 78 per cent of all the 164 new cases reported in
the first half of the year involve people between the ages of 30 and 59 years.

Heterosexual transmission accounted for 67 per cent of infections, while homosexual
transmission made up 24 per cent. Bisexual transmission was at three per cent, and
intravenous drug use accounted for two per cent, or four cases.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) expects the total number of reported HIV cases
this year to exceed last year's.

It is urging people who engage in risky sexual behaviour to do regular HIV testing.
To encourage more voluntary testing, the Ministry has allowed more medical clinics to
offer HIV testing using rapid test kits. To date, nearly 100 clinics are offering HIV
testing with rapid HIV test kits.

Most people prefer to go for anonymous HIV tests, and more have done so this year.
In the first nine months of this year, 5,967 anonymous HIV tests were carried out at
the three sites - Action for AIDS, Anteh Dispensary and Cambridge GP Clinics.

Between July and December last year, there were only 3,416 anonymous HIV tests.

The Health Ministry said that with HIV testing made more convenient, it hopes more
people can be diagnosed early.

Of the 164 diagnosed in the first 6 months of this year, 55 per cent of these new cases
have late-stage HIV infection.

As at the end of June this year, there were a total of 3,224 HIV infected Singaporeans,
of which 1,092 have died.

Most of those infected with HIV are men - 2,870 cases - while 354 are women, giving
a gender ratio of 8 men to 1 woman.

At the point of diagnosis, 60 per cent of the men were single, while 60 per cent of the
women were married. 59 per cent of cases were diagnosed when they were between
30 and 49 years of age.

However, about 17 per cent of the cases were diagnosed with the illness when they
were between 20 and 29 years old. - CNA/yb

Alright people. You know how small Singapore is. How much Singaporeans love sex. They challenged themselves to temptations and play the love sex game. For the sake of that momentary enjoyment, they seemed to be less aware of the loss they might face. Well. At the end of the day, think before you do it. Its better to be safe than sorry.

Sad when people out there are dying from hunger and people here are dying from sex.

*****

News from ChannelNewsAsia.com.

Writers Festival to include literary works, film screenings

SINGAPORE : Writing is no longer just about penning poetry and prose.

Today, it includes genres such as film scripts, video dramas and electronic media.

Launching the Writers Festival, Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Dr
Lee Boon Yang said organisers had noted this and included other forms of literary
works such as film screenings.

He added that the National Arts Council would invite literary agents to Singapore to
explore new works for publishing, provide guidance to those with a flair for writing
through a mentoring project, and offer grants for writers, literary publishers and
translators. - CNA /ls

This is certainly something that is changing in the Art's movement in Singapore.

People, its high time to include your creative drama juices and add it into your pencil case. Being art conscious is one thing. Living it up is another. Singapore's culture should not be kept to just hainanese chicken rice and its four colours. Diversity in races can be put into good use for Art.

Don't underestimate this small dot that you are living on!