Haiku & CNY

Here's me taking a stab at writing Haiku:

Golden oranges
Pink cherry blossoms in bloom
A new year is here

Reminiscing Zagreb

Sept 2008

Counting down...

5 weeks and counting.... yippeeeee!!!!!

Here's a teaser.... ;)

A lovely affair

It was one of the loveliest weddings I have ever been too. Loads of people, young and old (proportionately more young), squeezed into what I'd imagine is a hall meant for 250 at most. ;) Celebration was in the air and the crowd cheered as soon as the bride walked through the sliding door. T'was definately a first for me! ;)

The ceremony was beautiful and meaningful with personal exhortations and blessings meant for the couple. All in all, lovely! I was moved to tears.. hehe.

What I've learnt:

1) Testimonies from the couple's marriage counsellors lend a personal touch to the proceedings.

2) Choice of speaker is VERY important. All speakers should end with blessings for the couple.

3) A smaller hall creates a cosier atmosphere.

4) The element of friendship in a marriage must be nurtured and not forgotten.

And a whole host of other poignant things.. hehe. Congrats D & B!

"We are going to crash into the clouds"

Our tour guide, Tadashi, kept saying that when we were about to board the Ropeway at Hakone's Mt Komagatake - the second highest volcano in Hakone. Haha. He's a really cute old man who was waving a little red Mickey Mouse flag about to ensure we didn't get lost.

The day started far to early for my liking :P ... had to drag myself out of bed at about 6am and trudge along towards Royal Park Hotel for the Hato Bus pick-up. By 9.30am, we were on the way to Mt Fuji and I was nodding away towards the "little" Spanish boy who happened to be sitting next to me. He actually filled more than his seat and more into mine. :P

Nevertheless, the tour guide was entertaining with stories of Japan's past and the Shogun. He even gave us a dose of his viewpoint about the previous and current Prime Minister. Apparently, they both strive to be obedient to the American President, for trade reasons. He also taught us to make an erupting Mt Fuji so we would have our own "personal" Mt Fuji's. Hahahaha. Ask me and I might just teach you. ;) He also left us with some instructions on how to make a Shogun's helmet. Kewl. I'm gonna try with newspaper when I get back. Apparently, it's just the right size for a normal sized head. :P

Mt Fuji was glorious today, albeit for a short period of time. According to Tadashi, Mt Fuji is a shy mountain. So much for that. Anyways, I have been inspired to climb it. R's climbed it. I just need to find kaki to go with. I reckon that'll be harder than it sounds. Sigh.

The day ended with a ride on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train)... I actually thought it was going to be so fast that everything outside would be a blur... hahaa. Not. But it was a restful ride nevertheless.

Anyways, it was a lovely day and we're off to Yokohama tomorrow. Here're some pics from yesterday and today.

People are so considerate. Those with flu/cough don face masks so they don't pass on their germs to others. I took the shot because I noticed the word "pumpkin" on the advert, since I couldn't read anything else! Haha.

This little girl was trying to clean her mouth with her tougue while her daddy was rummaging thru his bag for a tissue. She's doing a pretty good job I reckon.

Falling asleep in Asakusa.

Everyone's always on the go. People don't even sit down at eating outlets when there are chairs. They prefer to stand. Here's an old man having a Red Bull. Btw, I've been told that everything can be bought from vending machines.... thus far, I've only spotted drinks and ciggies. Urban legend ler!

Lost in Tokyo

It's day 2 in Tokyo and I'm still amazed by the massive crowds... it's really intense here! Love the city, the lights and the architecture. Found ourselves lost in the subway a couple of times and ended up going round and round looking for the right exit.. hahhaha. ;) I also paid a special visit to the loo at the Aoyama-chome station. :P Had a raw egg for dinner. Thank goodness the toilets in the subway are clean. I'd have had no choice anyways. hahha.

Oh btw, it's Earth Day in Tokyo today so HAPPY EARTH DAY y'all!!! :) Here're some shots of today's sights... enjoy!

Women in symmetry

Interesting that HL captured this at just the right angle... (iBridge dinner, Mar 07)

Remembering 31 years of goodness...

Lilian & Wan Han's wedding

I attended their wedding last saturday.... WH was stoned at the end of the nite :P Here's lovely Lilian & me...

Bangkok - Nov 2006

Here're some long overdue photos of the trip with CY ... :)


The rest of the photos are available on ofoto.com....

Happy trails to Ipoh... bro and I

2007 New Year's @ Char Chan Teng

Since it was also Alwin's birthday, we were given a giganticus cup of tea!!!

I'm happy :D

I'm feeling HAPPY! Must be the amalgamation of it being the weekend, new phone, new hair colour and the lil Red Book (i.e. Mao Tze Tung's red book)... it's far too profound for me, but some of the concepts are worth considering. It's weird but I've just been hit by a wave of *happinesssss* ... all of a sudden!

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On a separate note, eere's a lil pix of the lil red book, a pressie from HP. No, no, I do not have communist tendencies. I'm a true blue believer in democracy, open market competition and capitalism. After all, these created an unlimited world of options for shopping!! ;o)

"Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history, such is the history of civilization for thousands of years. to interpret history from this viewpoint is historical materialism; standing in opposition to this view is historical idealism." HMMM.

1 year old!

As of this week, I'm officially 1 year old in the "new" workplace! "Happy Birthday" to meeee.....!!!

"Borrowed" Humpty Dumpty cake photo