MeLLoNiSeR

Christmas and its Miracles

2011-12-25T01:29:00.005+11:00

It feels so surreal that things pass by real quick this year.

I never thought I'd get through another year without getting older, yeah I wish. ha ha ha

Only less than a week and we welcome a brand new year, maybe a year that exceeds our expectations, or maybe a year much less than we expect, but nevertheless we must embrace all possibilities with open heart and open mind.

I have been MIA for quite a while, so sorry for the lack of updates.

As you all know who keep up with my blog posts, I went on a holiday the day after my JLPT exam.

With the lack of good connectivity in my home country, I can not be blamed :P

Phone carriers are trying their best to cater all their consumer needs but anyway, I'm disappointed with Matrix carrier, the reception is weak even in my house!

Telkomsel is the best ha ha ha ha

Anyway, cut the story short, I went diving in the island of Sulawesi, the pic is right there on top of my post.

I dived around Bunaken Island!

Well, I wanted to dive in their world recommendation sites e.g. Tanjung Kopi, Depan (Muka) Kampung and Mandolin Point, however our diving club took us to Fukui Point and Lekukan #3 (it means Bent #3) and the last diving spot that I didn't dive is quite horrible. Lucky I didn't dive, I was playing in the ocean in the middle of 2 meters waves because of the tide.

I got bruises on the half of my left torso LOL....... oh well.... I had fun by myself getting carried away by the current, the ship chased after me though so I am fineee.e..e.e..e I think I drank a lot of sea water... yuck. ha ha ha

Anyway, I did have lotsa fun and I wish to write more detailed stuff but I guess people will get bored.

Lastly,

Happiness is hard to achieve if you expect too much.

From now on, I enjoy little things that I experience even taking cold shower at 5 am. he he he

My life in my home country is not as easy as my life in Australia but most hardships will mature you.

I am just so grateful that I have Jesus Christ, the God many people make fun of, but I truly believe He is in our hearts and taking care of us and knows what's best for us if we believe in Him.

Some things are just impossible but many of my prayers are answered and they are always right in His time that in the end is beautiful and of course, makes me speechless, REALLY!

I wonder what New Year Resolutions people have brainstormed for 2012?

If you ask "what about you Sasa"

Well, I just got to say, I leave my resolutions all onto the hands of Jesus. Nothing to worry about.

he he he he

Okay, I wish you all a lovely night, lovely christmas Eve with God, and family.

Man, all the malls here are covered with Christmas trees and pressies. he he he he

Truly feels like CHristmas.

ANd, happy holidays! I will keep on updating this blog.

CHill Out and thanks for reading,

Love

XOXO

Sasa

Separation?

2011-12-17T03:08:00.002+11:00

Beloved said "‎"Every time I close my eyes your image is at the back of my eyelids". I cant explain more how much youve made this feeling so meaningful to me".

Such feelings being evoked from within because of somebody else worths millions more than diamonds.

It's hard to understand the meaning and their worth unless you experience things first hand.

So many smart people neglect and do not realise such emotions.

Everytime you are in a relationship and end it, you will always learn something out of it, even if you can't help it anymore....

2011-12-04T20:17:00.002+11:00

Yes, I've just finished my JLPT (nihongo nou ryoku shikeN) today.

Result? March.

Do you think I will pass? Only heaven knows.

Did you study? Yes I did, ijikan mae. LOL

Conclusion? Blah...........

After the exam, I fell flat on my bed and took a 3 hour nap.

Then I cooked dinner, and..... packing away to my holiday. LOL.

But oh boy, JLPT N2 2011 burnt 90% of my brains. If I can't remember things correctly today, at least you know what happened. ha ha ha ha ha

for the rest of you, good luck for your results. :D :D
Oh, but I think this year's not that bad. hehe

Cheers,
Sasa

Meeaooww

2011-11-29T09:18:00.004+11:00

What do you feel when you see delicious, mouth smouldering food, laying there in front of you?

EAT!!

Of course, a very natural reaction and a very natural answer, I believe.

But not when one needs to refrain for the goods of the body.

1st step is always hard but then the rest will get easier. ha ha ha ha

----------- That is totally random, Mell-------------------- hahaha

Well, I am going to write a very simple blog today.

Currently, life's been stressful, things do not always go the way you wanted them to be.

Where's the fun in that if what you get is always what you wished.

You'll take things for granted and become so obnoxious and prideful.

Now, now...

Recently, I am applying for a programme. I do not know whether I will pass it or not but I will have to anticipate for a long time to receive their reply.

It takes almost 8 months to go through all the process till the departure.

To be honest, at a point of your life, there are just things that we wish do come true because we want it badly and opting for all solutions that you can think of just to own that dream.

But I also have come across to the point that only when you give your plans to God, then you will not be disappointed.

I only live by the words of "ora et labora"

Meaning: work and pray, when you pray, you surrender your plans to God.

So if I pass the interview (well not knowing whether I will get one or not), then it's only by God's grace.

It's been really difficult finding a job in Australia, the government is a bit unstable, some of their political decisions are not wise.

Let alone the high Australian dollar, expensive labour market and also the decline of skilled-labour, people are made redundant/sacked/voluntary early retirement is everywhere, not only in the private sector but also in the public sector.

People try to secure their jobs and afraid of moving and exploring, afraid of the uncertainty of the future. It's been really tough for graduates like me in Australia, our population is not booming and can't really depend on overseas migrants.

I hate to say it, but everyone in Australia is a migrant LOL only the Aborigines are the true Australians.

ANyway, I do wish to return to my homeland if I am valued there. I like to open more opportunities and learn more about my homeland, I like to learn and pile more knowledge to use in the future, either for business or leisure.

I only hope for the best.

Oh, this few days I've been reading a book called "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren.

A very God-focussed book, that takes you into a 40 day journey, one chapter a day about what is the purpose of your life.

Without a purpose, you won't have passion, you won't have drive.

I am currently up to Day 3 and it's already a mindblowing book that you can't put down but I have to if not how will I take a shower right? he he he

Apart from that, I am going back to my homeland next week.

I can't wait to experience the traffic, the food, I also miss my friends very much.

Hoping to make them drive me around heehehehehe I'll be there for around 3.5 weeks, plenty of time though and in the midst of it all, I'm going to Bunaken in Manado in the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

A diving spot.

he he he he

Well, December will be a good month, full of blessings and happiness.

My birthday is coming soon too.

But I don't think I'll celebrate it. ha ha ha ha

I hate to be reminded of how old I am LOL urgh, I think a wrinkle just popped up there gyaaaa......

Okay, I hope whoever reads this blog had fun reading it.

I will update you all again in near future.

Cheers,

SASA

XOXO

Update!

2011-11-18T12:21:00.005+11:00

K POP FESTIVAL!
...
And, LIFE of course.

On the 12th of November, Sydney held a massive Korean Pop music festival at ANZ Stadium (a formerly used stadium for Sydney Olympic 2000) to commemorate our 50th year of diplomatic relations with South Korea. ha ha ha ha

There were 11 bands in total, like Shinee, CNBLUE, Mblaq, Girls Generation, DBSK, Miss A, Sistar, 4 minute, 2 AM, Kara and Beast. ho ho ho I still remember them all!

I am not fond of KPop except for Bi (Rain) because he is just uber cute with hot bod, hot ass and cute smile!
And seriously, many of these new upcoming young artists are just too skinny to my liking except for this one hunk who dances in the group called MBLAQ that is produced under the direct supervision of Bi. he he he
Anyway, this photo shows where I sit from the stage... sigh... too far!
Next time I will bring binoculars and, it was scorching hot! LOL
This seating area already costs me like more than 100$!!

The VIP ones cost like 200++.. sigh, maybe it's worth it for a 3 hours show. he he he
Everyone on our row did not even stand up, we were just basically listening to the awesome music from our seats but my mate was super hyped she literally screamed at every band. LOL

I just had to laugh at her sight, her eyes sparkling with stars ha ha ha ha
But it was a fun night because I got to see my friend from Canberra, my next door neighbour when I used to go to Chiba Dai. ha ha ha

Anyway, I miss this festival because it feels so energetic.
Don't you think KPOP songs are much better than hip hop to dance in clubs? he he he

Enjoy new post!

----------------------------
XOXO

Sasa

Sudden Emotions

2011-11-07T12:23:00.004+11:00

This song is so sweet.
Taken from his page! hehehe

Not that it is intended to me, but the song is good enough for me to replay it thousand times a day. LOL

Here is the lyrics:

Yeahh..
Girl I've been searchin so long thru this world
trying to find someone who could be
what my picture of love was to me
and you came along

When I saw you I knew you were the one
the love that I've been dreamin of

I've been waitin for you (waitin for you)
all my life for somebody who (somebody who)
makes me feel the way I feel when I'm with you, baby
have you been waitin too
cuz I've been waitin for you

Girl I've been saving my love all this time
cuz I knew someday I would find
the one that i've loved for so long in my mind

From the moment that I looked in your eyes
I saw the girl I've loved all my life

I've been waitin for you (waitin for you)
all my life for somebody who (somebody who)
makes me feel the way I feel when I'm with you, baby
have you been waitin too
cause I've been waitin for you

Now that I've found you I just can't let u go (cant let you go)
no no no ohhh
oh there's just one thing I want you to kno

Spoken: girl I love you so...

I've been waitin for you
all my life waitin for you
I've been waitin for you
all my life waitin for you
when I saw you I knew you were the one
the love that I've been dreaming of

I've been waitin for you (waitin for you)
all my life for somebody who (somebody who)
makes me feel the way I feel when I'm with you, baby
have you been waitin too
cause I've been waitin for you

I've been waitin for you
all my life waitin for you
I've been waitin for you
all my life waitin for you
I've been waitin for you
all my life waitin for you
(fade out)

---------
One day love comes
One day love goes

But no matter what, the love that never treasures you shall never return.
And, the love that deserves to be with you will come looking for you.
No matter how many years it waited for you.
It will eventually come to you.

Oh gosh, I think I am... in... sigh...

I don't care if this is only for a short time, but I will do my best to keep it long for eternity as possible, until God comes to the earth one more time for Rapture Day.
God blesses our relationship. Let everything falls onto His hands, not my hands.
:)

True love comes once in a lifetime.

XOXO,
sasa

Nissin Commercial Video

2011-10-18T07:59:00.006+11:00

Ah...
Hybrid Ramen
From Nissin Foods
called "FutoMen Dodo"
It's funny how they play on the words "futo (fat) men (noodle)" then the men in the CM are all chubby men. It's just awesome and creative. Watch now! hehehe

I stumbled across this CM from a website and it is hilarious and succeeded in me wanting to buy and eat it!
I wonder if Miracle Food store has this in stock or not. LOL

I want to try this cup ramen badly!

Oh why is it called Hybrid Ramen?
Well in the CM it is written "fried X non-fried noodle" combined together.
Now I wonder what that tastes like. lol

Btw, this cup ramen seems to be around for almost more than a year but I do not eat cup noodles that much anymore like I used to.

Now I stick to boiled noodles like Mie Goreng, Jajangmyeon (black noodle), Mama Tom YUm noodle, and of course Nissin Udon (that I make myself combine with tamanegi + wasabi + udon tsuyu).

XOXO
Sasa

Sydney's Japanese Festival

2011-10-17T11:58:00.005+11:00

シドニー日本祭りはめっちゃ楽しかったっ！　
十月十五日に10時から22:30時までダーリングハーバーで屋台、色々な演舞、辻芸なども行われました。私が浴衣を着ずに祭りに行ってが、大勢の観光客と浴衣を着ていた日本人もたくさん見たし幸せでした。
例えばこの夫婦：ご主人は白人ですが、はかまにとても似合いますね。　
このお婆さん達はどこから来るか分からないが、明るい着物を着ているし、とても目立ちましたね。
インドネシアの踊りもありましたよ。これはバリ島の踊りなんです。なんと言うか知らないけどとても美しかったですよ。

私と姉は祭りに行った後、hurricane　restaurant　で夕ご飯を食べた!
私は半分のばら肉を食べて、めっちゃおいしかったです!　いただきま～す

これは、自分で帯を結んで、浴衣を着て、失敗しちゃったので祭りに浴衣を着ずに行きました。
浴衣と着物の着るポイントは襟首が見えることです。　

今度のブログは短かいですか?
理由はほとんど九ヶ月ぐらい日本語を書かなくて話してないので練習したいです!応援してくれませんか?
それでは、次のポストはもっと面白いほうがいいですね。笑　

またね！
ササ

so...

2011-10-12T10:22:00.003+11:00

I read a funny shared picture on Fb where it says:

"Japanese attitude for work:
If one can do it, I can do it. If no one can do it, I must do it."

hahahaha
Funny, but somewhat true.

日差し。。。（ひざし）

2011-10-07T09:20:00.007+11:00

厚い。。。
暑い。。。
熱い。。。
夏か。。。
春か。。。
皆さん、太陽は綺麗だと思いますか。メリッサにとって、太陽は体にいいではなく、暖かいので幸せな気持ちをすぐ出てくると思っています。お正月の日、私と友達も初日の出を見て、いい感じでした。

し。か。し。
長い時間太陽に照射されたら、肌に悪いので、オーストラリアの一般社会は政府に皮膚癌についてよく注意されています!

（日本語が下手だ。。。笑）

さて、英語で書こう。。。笑。

This is only a scientific blog about UV rays, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!

THANK YOU!
If you care about your skin and you live in Australia (we are obsessed about sunrays, sunblocks, sunscreens, skin cancer bla bla bla bla) then I hope this blog will give you adequate information on how to have HEALTHY skin.

It is no longer a secret, freckles are caused by the sun.
They pop up because the outer barrier against the sun ray's are overly damaged so they come as abnormal collection of melanin pigment in the skin.

Now, I am not pale, I have yellow skin tone because most east Asians are or my other fellow South East Asians, kudos to you lovely coloured skinned people. LOL

I don't want to blab too much about skin colour or freckles but I always stress how destructive the sun UV rays can be.

Based on this scientific article that the sun emits UVA and UVB.
The UVB does not damage the deeper skin layers but the UVA does and far more carcinogenic compared to its counterpart.

So when you see sunlight, the UVB only represents 5-6% and the rest is UVA.

I am not interested in the what-why... I am interested in HOW to counter the dangerous rays that damage your skin!

What I often do is I slap on sun screen on my face, in Australia the government only allows SPF30+, but never more than that.
How do I know? I asked a cosmetician, surely she knows.

I own several hiyakedome that are SPF 50+ with pearl shimmer too he he he he
And I use them lots of times, but according to what the research suggests, we can not rely on sunscreens alone acting as the only barrier against the harmful sunrays!

Interesting enough, we have quite a high number for skin cancer in Australia, is it because we are near to the ozone hole? LOL Well it is in Antarctica, far far far away...
Or do other countries experience the same problem? Or is it only the fair skin homo sapiens that are more prone to this problem?

Ah, need more research but just questions. LOL
Thanks for reading about my first topic.
------------------------------------------------------------
Next, I am ready to go on a 3-day retreat! I am nervous... ugh, but hopefully everything will be fine.

I kind of miss the retreat in Japan, it was my 1st time in public bath, no cubicles except for the toilets. LOL

I need to stop comparing Australia and Japan, it is not the same he he he
Just..... missing that country and all the roots that I have planted before there.......................

Someday I will return to my beloved Rising Sun.

Cheers,
Sasa

Hillsong - Love You So Much

2011-10-04T11:04:00.003+11:00

In this early morning, I felt a sudden shudder to praise my King.

Random blog but a very nice song to worship.
I realise, even though you have a stable job, an intellectual mind, a great husband/wife, helping others through charity etc, you still have that empty void and keep asking what is that knocking in my heart and why does it feel empty?

Maybe you can hear out this song and who knows it touches that empty void.

Love,
Sasa

Oooo la la

2011-09-16T12:42:00.004+10:00

Guys, I will post a blog about 2 absolutely amazing artists, both males, from different continents.
PITBULL and GACKT. LOL

Why do I like Pitbull?

He always has amazing bodacious dancers, not the skinny scrawny ones.
His songs are always dynamic, upbeat and dang hot.
His interview sessions are always very energetic, funny and very multi-cultural in how he speaks about his songs and himself.

I always have a thing with guys that have long black hair, with big muscles like gorillas, cool but funny at the same time. But, PITBULL is different. He makes me believe that there are many men out there who still love curvacious women just like my friend said "bon-kyu-bon" women. LoL.

Here is his interview from the AMA.

Next, is GACKT. Ah, he is just my typical guy. But, as a Japanese male artist. He is not too skinny, he's tall, he's a perfectionist, he has lots of pet dogs, great white teeth (shark? LOL), deep voice and looks totally CUTE CUTE CUTE. HE SEEMS PERFECT.

These guys are the type where ladies should be careful though. From most of my experiences, perfect-looking guys usually have the deepest darkest secrets because they don't show their true self most of the time. ha ha ha
But anyway, enjoy his prank interview from the Yellow Fried Chicken reporter-conference. Damn funny....

Random blog. hahaha
Love,
SASA

Random thought #2 refugees

2011-09-13T11:32:00.005+10:00

Currently, politics is what has been crossing my mind for a few days.
Every time I read an article on the wisdom of our current PM in Australia, my blood boils.

I know there's always 2 sides to every story and not every person tells the truth.
But really, here is my take on PM's decision to swap children and adult refugees to Malaysia in exchange with 4000 skilled migrants.

This, is only a short-sighted type of action that I see from her and her new upcoming tax policy on carbon emission.

On a segment of Today's Tonight or Current Affair I can't remember which channel that will go on air tonight, they will broadcast about foreign traders (and they put Asian face) which significantly questions Australians whether foreigners (Asians that they portray in the TV) actually do provide better, cheaper, faster service than the locals (white Australians).

If there is many Australians dislike foreigners, like how I was often abused when I was a kid because I am not white, WELL....look what the government has done to educate the Australian minds. (well not only Australia, discrimination exists in all parts of the world! not just skin but even status :D)

What our PM is doing right now is depicting that Asians actually have skills and if the PM cabinet wants local Australians to think that 'foreigners' are not threatening local jobs, then why swap with an Asian country anyways?????????????????????????

This carries on with the media. Sure I have no idea about the hidden agendas behind the 2 governments.

The problem is, it is the leaders that educate the mentality of the citizens on how they welcome or unwelcome the new or future or past arrivals.

Even if the Malaysians do arrive, they will be just treated like outsiders but fortunately they have skills and that's it.

This is a short-term solution, yes, but there will always be more and more asylum seekers coming to Australia and what will Gillard do? Will she keep on doing the same thing?
Will she make agreements with India next? Or China? Or Philippines?
Why not Germany? Why not swap with England? Why not with Switzerland? So silly...

I do not get the logic with PM and her short-sightedness.

How about the refugees in Christmas Island, they felt as if they were stuck in a bird cage. Wanting to be free. It even costs $1000 to replace a light bulb on that island because it is so remote and no electrician so they have to ship everything from sydney. *a true confession from someone who works for the detention centre management*

Why can't Australia cultivate these refugees and make use of their strengths and power instead of confining them in a steel prison?

I am sure that when people took refuge and flew out of their countries for safety (or other reasons), they are already willing to stake their lives on the journey itself to reach Australia.

Instead of shipping kids or their many hidden talents to another country, we can actually educate these kids to be the future bright citizens no matter where they come from.

Sorry if I stray away from the topic, but really, what the PM is seeing is only the short-term sight. I know Australia is a young country in contrast to America or England, but exchanging these people and treating them like container goods sound morally and ethically wrong.

Why not use the money to educate, clothe them, put them into traineeships and may even build the detention areas like christmas island as an area where diversity can flourish for the future. We just need to give them a chance, of course with good screening on their backgrounds.

It is the young generation and also cultures that diverse the country, not just technical skills, where is humanity.

---
What ever the future that holds for Australia, I wish God leads this country to become smarter, have high morals and ethics, and yea, lower the australian dollar for a bit may be good to some extent hahaha It is just getting too expensive.

I know I am just a normal blogger, I am not a student of politics let alone a lawyer.
Just a commoner who sees what the media, PM's words and judgments to create a better environment for the future of Australia.

Politics is always complicated, yes.
I know I can only yap yap yap yap, but seriously, balancing the good and the bad is never an easy task for any leader. We can't please both sides, right?
I grew up in Australia, I still love Australia. Please be well ... :)

XOXO

The new Japanese Cabinet

2011-09-02T14:31:00.005+10:00

Congratulations to the new Prime Minister: Yoshihiko Noda.
I am going to list the cabinet who was announced on Friday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary: Osamu Fujimura

Foreign Minister: Koichiro Gemba

Defense Minister: Yasuo Ichikawa

Finance Minister: Jun Azumi

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister: Yoshio Hachiro

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister: Michihiko Kano (retained)

Justice Minister: Hideo Hiraoka

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister: Masaharu Nakagawa

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister: Yoko Komiyama

Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister: Takeshi Maeda

Reconstruction Minister: Tatsuo Hirano

Postal Reform Minister: Shozaburo Jimi (People's New Party) (retained)

National Strategy Minister: Motohisa Furukawa

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister: Tatsuo Kawabata

Environment Minister, also in charge of the nuclear crisis: Goshi Hosono (retained)

Government Revitalization Minister, also in charge of Civil Service Reform: Renho

Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission: Kenji Yamaoka

Taken from: http://news.yahoo.com/lineup-japanese-pms-reshuffled-cabinet-032134551.html

I am not fond of following Japanese politics let alone Australian ha ha ha But, I kind of want to upload their new cabinet line-up.

And, I wonder how long will he last and what kind of contributions and changes will he make to this super country? :D

Just came in on today, a picture of when Naoto Kan officially leaves his office on Friday. He was given a flower bouquet, don't you think he looks really happy as if he won a Lotto? ha ha ha .... This is maybe his happiest face during his office years. LOL

Awww... I wish you good luck in your future endeavours, Mr.Kan.

Courtesy of Japantoday.com

XOXO

Sasa

MIA..... OOPS!

2011-08-31T17:14:00.009+10:00

MIA..
MIA..
Missing In Action... :(

Hello my blog and maybe readers? ha ha ha I have been missing in action for almost more than 2 weeks.

My parents are here because of the Ramadhan and Lebaran (fasting and end of fasting holidays) for around 3 weeks. I am very happy and glad since I only get to see my dad once per year.
So now, we can eat nice food and this means a lot of happy tummies every night! :D :D :D

Anyway, during these past 2 weeks, I had a job interview on Skype which is widely use in today's interview processes. It was a very fun experience and less nerve-wrecking in contrast with the face-to-face interview. Unfortunately, the quality of the video is very poor. *blah*

Okay so in this blog, I would like to post an entry on my current work for a non-profit organisation and also my day trip to....... *scroll down if you want to know!*

1. My Voluntary Work

In the beginning of August, I started on a volunteering work at the Japan Foundation Sydney to assist guests for being an assistant to their most-recent gallery exhibition called "Japanese Design Today".

It opened on the 29th of July till the 16th of September.
If you like unique designs, or if you are a design student, or an inspiring upcoming designer who focuses mostly on interiors, do come and visit us and you may even more inspired in your works!

What is it?
Simply put, Japanese Design Today is a display of vast arrays of Japanese inventions for the last 50 years, from Aibo (the 1st robot dog in the world), to a display of the first hybrid car (Toyota I think?), even the most amazing unthinkable jigsaw-like erasers! etc

I do get a lot of visitors from many office-workers because we are located in the heart of the CBD. (Central Business District)
The common question that is often asked is "Can I buy them?"
And fortunately, global online shopping websites are readily available, just a click away.

We do have a favorite object in the gallery for example the Yamaha Scooter, and I still remember 2 office workers asked me whether they can borrow it.
And I jokingly said "OF course you can! But you can not touch it" hahahaa.....
They laughed away.

I also partnered up with a lovely lady, she is intelligent and really easy to talk to. I really miss her, and fortunately we took the last photo together with the coordinator.
Sorry, I had to blur their faces just in case.
Here we are posing behind the famous Yamaha!

I only have 2 shifts left for the next 2 weeks, but seriously, I never yawned or even get bored.
I am very happy being surrounded with like-minded people who appreciate uniqueness and the abstract minds of arts and objects and coincidentally I did Arts in university. ha ha ha (not that it's connected)

I hope that there will be more visitors coming into our gallery in the last closing weeks.
Anyway, the organisation that I am currently working for has a broad range of activities for example yearly Film Festival, designer talks, manga-artists conference, assisting with JLPT learning, Japanese lessons and even classes sadou 茶道　（tea　ceremony)and 生け花（ikebana：　flower　arrangement) conducted in Japanese (you need at least N4 for language skill ability).

I still remember when I was in Chibadai, I was very interested in joining Ikebana but the membership fee and the dougu (tools and flowers) are very expensive, hence I did not join it.

Below are the details !

29 July – 16 September 2011
Japan Foundation Gallery
Monday – Friday, 11am – 4pm, Wednesdays open late until 8pm
Closed on weekends
Free admission
www.jpf.org.au

2. Day Trip to... Hunter Valley !!! 28th August 2011

Me and my girlfriends decided to go to Hunter Valley in New South Wales because we are wine fanatics. LOL

Just joking, I am apparently very weak to Sake/Alcoholic drinks because I am just.. weak. :p
Even a sip, I'll get drunk or heavily tipsy.

Now, the journey took us 2 hours and we heavily relied on the GPS navigating system.
Our trip started off by stopping at Mackers for breakkie, continued with non-stop munching the snacks that I brought.
(This is me and my friend posing with my fluffy furry hat which I got on Takeshita-Dori, Harajuku.)

Seriously, no one else thought of snacks and drinks except me. No wonder people call me mommy. LOL

The Australian country side is very interesting, they're just never-ending green pastures, series of horse ranches, cattle and their calves, more over, dead kangaroos on the road side. eeeuwww.w..w.w.w..w.w.w !!!
(More cows, cows, cows, munch munch munch) LOL

Anyway, I am just really happy to refresh my memories on Hunter Valley because the last time I went there was when I was really small, so I don't remember much. I have selective memory you know haha

Do you know why many Asians go to Australia? Well, apart from learning English that is!
One of the reasons is Australia has numerous numbers of European buildings like how we discovered this building just 20 minutes away from Hunter Valley vineyards area. Total Euro! LOL
This looks very European, it is a pub I believe he he he Me and my girlfriends were excited that we get to oversee a couple of restaurants and disbelieved about clothing shops. They were closed on a Sunday at 12 pm! LOL So, maybe we won't be moving to the suburbs yet. I think.

Anyway, when we finally arrived, we went directly to the Hunters Valley Visitors Centre.
They have heaps of brochure and just next to the Hunter Valley Airport.
What intrigues me is the line up of white Sakura trees that I can not resist not to take one.
This is our first stop! DE BORTOLI WINES.

I took several photos inside, there is no warning whatsoever about taking pictures, so I took a picture of their vineyard.
Here is the vineyard. Awesome ey?

I remember we were guessing why are the grapes gone? (Look at photo)

We suspected it's because of winter, they dry up and just waiting for the right season or some sort of reasons. LOL

W.R.O.N.G.

Answer is very simple. They just collected them.
We were dumbfounded. :((( LOL we are too scientific to think up of simple reasons hahahaha

Anyway, this is taken inside the De Bortoli shop, it is like a warehouse and really grande!
There they are, you can see the wine barrels as well!
I took pic of this one, how awesome, rose wine?
I love the colour and the design, looks very posh, elegant and royal.

Then, it wouldn't be complete without jumping off in the middle of the vineyard.
LOL. FREE !!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I will let the photos talk and write few captions.

Anyway, we had a really nice lunch at Majors Lane Restaurant, I even bought their hand made sweet chilli sauce that's very pricey and I have yet to try. AUD $16.50 wow.

Putting aside the price, I had a really rare Australian luncheon style. Usually I eat Asian food like Washoku, korean food, Indonesian food, Thai Food, fusion food, so this is like a breath of fresh air to my diet.
Due to this healthy food, I can definitely tell you, my digestive system works better now (wink wink) hehehehe

Food photos next:
Smoked ham with brie, raspberry jam and bread.

Smoke salmon with fried mash potatoes.
Pate, bread, chutney, and other sauce I do not know what it is :(
Anyway, we also ordered chicken caesar salad, potato wedges with sour cream, and another plate of chutneys, plain awesomeness.
So, next is Blue Tongue brewery. In case you don't know, blue tongue lizard is Australia's native lizard species. When they had this candy that coloured your tongue to blue, we used to call each other 'blue tongue blue tongue'. blahh.. lame joke. hahaha

We ordered their beer paddles.
AUD $14.00 for each paddle, all by Blue Tongue brewery, the best is their ginger ale.
I like Japanese beers better! Like Asahi or Kirin, it suits my tongue!
I don't drink much but maybe because I don't drink much I know what is nice and what is not. ha ha ha Our afternoon chat was accompanied with this awesome guitarist, I don't know his name but he is amazing.
Rock on, Mr.Hendrix????? (Well Jimi Hendrix has a lot of old school guitars like this ojiichan has).

So next we went to Tempus Two! This is a very famous Australian winery factory.
Well, it used to be the French that operated the factory but then they sold it to the Australians and so they changed the name to Tempus Two. How do I know? The guy at the wine tasting counter told me so :P

I bought my sparkling wine from their 2011 selection and did not regret it.
It is spot on !! Not too sweet like their dessert wine, just, perfect.
Eat it with strawberries and it will enhance your taste buds. :D

And again, being narcistic in front of Tempus Two.
LOL I love these girls. :)

Anyway we left Hunter Valley around 5 pm and this is the sunset... How pretty and breathtaking.
Don't you feel like sighing and admiring and just, be grateful to this country even though it is not overly crowded and less shops to shop around... LOL

This is the last photo to end the blog, which way to choose?
Sydney?
or
Toronto (Canada) hehe he h eh eh eh h e h e he h ehe *cheeky Sasa*
booo hooo....

Hope you guys enjoy my new updated post.
XOXO
Love,
SASA

Japanese Sandals: 下駄

2011-08-15T21:24:00.006+10:00

げた。。。下駄
カランコロン　
カランコロン
私のげただ。

This time the topic is geta !
WHY GETA?
Because I am obsessed about geta... he he Urgh, I am not going to do the informative type of blog about geta because I am just going to tell a story LOL

To put things short, geta is Japanese wooden clogs or sandals, worn with yukata (summer kimono- very thin and not as heavy as real kimono that has layers and layers inside).
I asked my Japanese friend if I can wear it with shorts or just with plain western clothes, and he said no, it should be worn with wafuku (Japanese clothes). Shux, anyhow, I should respect it :D

A good geta is made from paulownia wood because it is very light and for many other reasons which I am not familiar with hahaha

Seriously if you want to know lots more about geta go to wikipedia LOL

Anyway I bought 3 pairs of geta sandals in a shop in asakusa just a couple of streets away from Sensouji temple. I'm familiar with the owners, a pair of lovely ojiichan and obaachan, and this is the thing about me, I came across this shop by accident.
I got the sandals, and forgot to take the business card and just too busy talking to the owners.

The geta that I've uploaded on this website are custom-made by the ojiichan fit only for me.
He adjusted the fabric thong to fit my chubby toes LOL

When my mom wore it, obviously it could not fit her feet well.. ha ha ha ha
She also asked me "why are your heels outside the thongs, not inside the thongs"
I said to her "I also asked the same thing to the seller but they said it is how you wear it"
And I have the answer to the question.
To balance! You'll know why when you own and put on a pair, I hope the sellers will explain it to you and I think it also depends on the type of geta you buy! :D

I opted for the 2-ha (2 teeth) geta, they are really pretty and more traditional, harder to walk in than the modern ones where there's just one continuous heel for the geta.

Anyway, geta is different to zoori, the Japanese sandals where geisha maiko usually wear or just with really pretty kimono(s).

For this pair, I paid around 7000 yen-ish. Not bad for a pair of traditional Japanese sandals. The ones I bought for my priest and my son were slightly more expensive, the wood is really nice and smooth. The guys' geta are square-ish and of course really BIG. Mine is for females so the dai (台)is more oval. Dai is like the shape of the sandals.

And I think if I wear it with my yukata to the Tanabata festival, I will wear my hair like this.
ha ha ha ha with a little bit of kanzashi (hair accessories) pin somewhere at the side. hehe
Too bad I can't go to any of the festivals.. :( sad....

Now, what about this picture??

WHY Do i post a picture of another type of wooden sandals here? hahahahaha
Because this is Indonesian 'geta'.
We call it bakiak (ba from bark, ki for key, ak from whack). so ba-key-ack. :D
Sorry, I have really poor examples LOL

Now I will explain the difference between Indonesian bakiak and Japanese geta.
The most obvious is, we wear bakiak to dirty places LOL
To the toilet, to the super slippery dirtiest market places, and usually good ol grandmamas wear them.
We wear them because they are not slippery and the thong, yea not the nice fabric thongs like the Geta, they are made from rubber band ha h ah ah aha h ah a

And they nail it on the two sides with 2 small nails and you're done. hahahahaha

Very simple, not artistic, we just think of the use not the esthetic value like the Japanese does. :D
Bad thing about bakiak, well, common sense, wood + water = mouldy bakiak(s). LOL

So after we use it, we usually dry them out in the sun but even if we do so, they still get mouldy.
sigh...

Anyway, I really miss the shop in Asakusa, and I hope I can go to Japan again before I start any new job (still hunting) LOL.

Then, gonna go to Ryougoku and take my beloved Toshiba rice-cooker back to Sydney.

I love my brown coloured rice-cooker. It's like my baby.... he he he he

By the way, I don't know if it is just me, but when I buy something, I love it so much that I wipe it everyday just to get rid of the dust.

Am I a clean freak? ha ha ha ha

Anyway, enjoy the blog, gahhh!!!

Cheers,
XOXO
Sasa

Random thought #1

2011-08-11T22:54:00.004+10:00

I saw a status update from my friend that's written

"A real man never hurts a woman!!!

Be very careful when you make a woman cry, because God

counts her tears. The
woman came out of a mans rib, not from his feet to be walked on, not from his
head to be superior but from his side to be equal! Under the arm to be
protected, and next to the heart to be loved."

Just thinking how scary it is, if God counts the tears of a woman who dropped a single tear everyday for 40 years because a man left her when she's at her utmost vulnerable state.

What would God do, will He avenge her tears?
What about when a woman hurts a man? God will also count his unseen tears........
It's even more heartbreaking.

TO be honest, no matter if you are a woman or a man if you do something wrong, say sorry.

I've seen too many arrogant men and women, and in the end they lose even more.

But the thing is, it takes guts for one to admit their faults.

How many people have 'guts' these days I wonder?

Just a random thought..

Fattening up week!

2011-08-08T19:52:00.010+10:00

この一週間、私は色々なおいしい食べ物を食べた!
た。べ。も。の
食べ
物
。

HOLY MOLY, I have not updated for almost a week, I usually update every 6 days or 5 days, not that much difference but still .... ha ha ha

This time, the blog is full of food because my closest 3 people in my life invited me to lots of food tastings, restaurant hops in Sydney.
2 of them had their birthday in this 4 days, and the previous days were spent in either Korean restaurant or Japanese restaurant.

Okay, in this blog I am going to write several topics and will be PICS HEAVY!
Why? Here goes the contents

1. Farewell lunch for Spongegirl
2. Bestie's Bday 1st celebration
3. Bestie's 2nd Bday celebration
4. Mom's Bday

Let's go to #1

1. FAREWELL LUNCH for SPONGEGIRL

Who is spongegirl? She's a friend I met back in TAFE 3 years ago when I studied Japanese, she is damn hilarious, talks her mind and blurts out like no tomorrow but with witty humour.

She's going back for good to her home country even though I also thought Australia is her home country.

We went to a Korean Restaurant near my house and apparently very famous for their ox tongue. But we didn't order that at all because we all wanted to eat Nabe with Makkeli.

So here is our photo, I may not be able to see her again, I don't know, I am so sad. I thought that when I am here, we won't go off all over the world anymore hahaha

Everyone has their own life.
Here she is.... she can eat alot and still slim, like many Japanese girls, I don't know how LOL
*jealous*

Then, what is Makkeli?

Makkeli, is a korean word for Rice Wine, hahhh.. not many people knew that right? hehe
Usually it is 6% alcohol, so my friends said it's pretty safe for me, they all know I can't drink hehe
See? You have to shake the bottle well so the rice mixes up well with the drink.
So, if anybody wants to go to this restaurant, go ahead since I am going to put the details here.

My recommendation is their ox tongue, their jab chae, BBQ to be honest, they are all good. Must be one of my favorite korean restaurants in Sydney.

The location is quite hidden in an alley but many people are well informed of this restaurant, you wouldn't get lost whatsoever! so I will just give you the details.

Madang Korean Restaurant
371A Pitt St
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9264 7010
Mon to Sun 11:30am - Midnight

2. Bestie's 1st Bday Celebration

Now now, this birthday celebration is supposed to be a 3 DAYS celebration, gosh.. LOL
Costs me alot T_T money, i need money... 実はお金が大必要だ　笑！
So it was her birthday on the 5th of August!

I arranged a birthday dinner for me, her and my sister at this German Restaurant.
This restaurant is very famous too! They have real German band, authentic German antiques decorated on the walls, feels like you're in Germany! hahaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa *TOAST*

And of course the German beer.
Let the photos do the talking.

The name of the restaurant is Lowenbrau.
We ordered 3 beers, I ordered lemon beer (the smallest since I can't drink much and I ended up drinking only half, mango beer (VERY FAMOUS!!!!!!) and my sister ordered the usual beer. LOL
Yea, I was mesmerised by all the beers, i swear i fall dead if i drink that many.

For the main meals we ordered jagerschnitzel , pig knuckle and pork something... They're all pork pork pork, my fav food. LOL
Pig's knuckle.

This is the one that I ate
small but to be honest, fits my stomach perfectly.

This is my friend's order. I don't know how to say it, you have to go to their website and check it out and the name is so long...
It looks delicious, she finished it all off and since she's the birthday girl, she got any main meal under $35 for FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lucky girl. Cos me n my sis had to pay LOL

But anyways, I arranged a secret surprise for her. I told the waitress to bring over someone from the band to play her a happy birthday song.

hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

She was so shocked, death by embarrassment, and the good thing is I taped everything on video hahaha *evil mellon*

This is the trumpet player, he was literally like 20 cm away from her face LOL
The guys next to our table were even cheering and singing happy birthday for her hahaha I hope this will be an unforgettable birthday for her... :D

I guess she was so happy that she decided to give me a kiss..
*ちゅう～された。笑い

Let me give you the info on this famous German Restaurant, it is located in the Rocks Sydney, so you can see the Sydney harbour bridge and just opposite to Guylian Chocolate Cafe. LOL
Awesome ey?

www.lowenbrau.com.au
Book from website (they can confirm with you via email or phone) or call *if 2 days before booking*.

3. Bestie's 2nd Day birthday celebration

Okay, same person different restaurant LOL
She invited me again to have dinner with the girls, not-so private function located in front of Darling Harbour, Sydney.

I feel really happy that this time Darling Harbour put on fireworks for her, sounds like a great b'day huh. hahahaha

This time we ate at I'm Angus steak restaurant. I was going to eat the cheapest menu there but turns out is the biggest, yeah I know, I kind of suck LOL

I ate half-rack pork rib. LOL all my friends were laughing at me the way I ate, but seriously can you eat half-rack pork ribs with pretty manner? With knife and fork without wearing a bip?

I won't upload a pic of that but I will upload this picture of her birthday cake, AWESOME!
She got the cake as a present, how wonderful !! haha
The restaurant sliced the cakes with additional ice cream for us and FREE.. Awesome ey?

Now the details

I'm Angus Steak House
The Promenade, Cockle Bay Wharf
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Reservations
T: 1300 989 989

4. Last one!!!!!!!!!!!!

This restaurant is called Encasa. Spanish Restaurant and for the last 12 years since I moved to the city, I have never stepped my foot even once in this beautiful mouth smouldering restaurant.

It's just that, it is always crowded, the line is long and kinda made you lost your appetite.
But this time since it's my mom's bday, I booked it in early and we even came 1 hour early from the booking time.

Here goes the pics
Fried potatoes with mayonnaise and a bit sour tomato chili sauce but OMG, everybody orders this dish. I saw that every table has this dish LOL Damn I don't know the name of this one, I was chugging down my sangria and went tipsy ha h aha

We also ordered Spanish spaghetti (or pene if you want), This one is called primavera.

This is one of the 4 tapas (small dishes) that we ordered.
Bread with very salty fish soaked in olive oil but OMG so delicious.

We also had pizza called Mediterraneo !
Classic plating, with 3 olives, perfect, belissimo (no isn't that Italian? hahaha)

I also took a picture of the decoration.
It is as if you're in a tunnel, totally authentic, even the table cloth feels like you're eating in one of those small-medium restaurant in Europe, a bit dodgy from the outside but feels totally warm and fuzzy in the inside !!

Now, more food pictures.. hahaha Another tapas! Bread with salami, yummmmmm
So delicious, the salami is not too salty it is just perfect and delicious.

Me eating salami. LOL
Yum yum yum yum yum......................................................
And we safely got back home, me a bit tipsy and mom cutting her birthday ice cream cake from Baskin n Robins, Haagen Dazs preferred but no cake from them LOL

Happy birthday mommy!!

Oh, how do people celebrate birthdays in Japan? Do people eat noodle as a sign of long life?
hehe

Sorry my blog is just full of food pictures, maybe unnecessary for many people but it's for fun reading he he he

Let's play the GUESSING GAME! HAHAHAHA
Now if anyone can guess, WHAT IS THIS LAST PICTURE?
HA HA A HA HA H AH A HA AAA

Have fun reading !!!!!!!!

XOXOXO
Sasa

赤ちゃん!!!

2011-07-31T23:05:00.005+10:00

エサン。。
ethan。。。
エサン。。。
可愛い子だ!
What a cute baby boy, he is my cousin's first born son. Congratulations!
This guy gave me little *winks* every time I take a look at him in his crib, you're gonna be really motteru, dear boy ha ha ha

It took us around 40 minutes by car from Sydney city to their house, not bad, the road was perfectly clear, thanks to NavMan GPS navigation system for easy tracking. It worths the money obviously.

So, what's the story today? Well, we usually bring food when we come over to someone's house, it is always this similar custom when you come to somebody's house especially in Asian culture. ;)

Usually, you bring fruits, but this time, we brought BBQ King's roast duck, BBQ pork and roast pork from Chinatown hahaha THey love their PORK Gewddd... :D :D :D

I gotta take pict of the cute boy, he and me are futago (twins), just separated by age LOL
How similar are we? hahaha

And so, it was my turn to wreck their house LOL my cousin's house has this big orange tree in their backyard, I harvested them and got 4 oranges with my own hands! It was really fun so I gotta do the victory jump!

YEE HAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And, to prove it .. here we go another photo..

You know what I look like that lady justice ha ha ha
hahaha..,, I;m being silly. I had a good chat with my aunt as well, and took nice pics because the weather was being kind to us, as you all know, we had an almost non-stop OOAME (heavy rain) like 1.5 weeks ago. urghhh..... Gotta thanks God for all the good and bad things in life you know.

Anyway, the baby started crying every now and then maybe he was saying "mommyyy, me want milk but hold on I gotta poop and fart at the same time...".. i heard Ethan farted. LOLLLL

Oh man, babies are cute. But I think I am not ready to have any kids because I watched the childbirth video.
Oh gosh, my knees went really weak, I don't know .. I don't want to think about it.. haha ha haha..

Anyway, I notice that Australian house is really different, the regular houses always have this awesome beautiful front yard with pretty bush and flowers.
You know, it's kinda rare to see this type of lawn when I was in Japan, the houses in Japan are cramped together and I almost never saw any WIDE yards at all except maybe in the countryside?

But yeah, around 4-ish, we went back to the city, leaving them in peace while baby Ethan was sleeping soundly with his belly full of milk. I was hungry too.. lucky Ethan, no one spoon fed me anymore when I say "IM HUNGRY MOM" cos my mum will say "Just eat laa..." hahaahaahha
Ah, kids are so innocent..... adults are so.... the exact opposite, we're more complicated and lotsa things to think about when we become adults.

I hope lil Ethan will grow up to be a responsible, mature, brave, God-loving man, loyal and faitful to his family.

GOd bless you Ethan.
Peace out!!

SO I leave you with almost sunset picture just after we pass the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Hope you all had an awesome Sunday.
XOXO
Sasa

Eye-Makeup Failure Terminologies LOL

2011-07-24T21:39:00.005+10:00

Panda... Panda..
Panda
eyes....
メイクの失敗時は嫌だね！
パンダになちゃったっ！

This will be a very short entry about Japanese vocabularies that many girls like me found very annoying when we put our eye make-up on our delicate eyes.

Apparently, there are many words that describes one's mishap. LOL Which one do you usually ended up in after applying your eye make up? Mine is definitely #1, #2, #4, #10.

But us girls, I guess we can't really live without make-up, well at least I can't. If I don't wear make up, I blush all the time .... so embarrassing.

So I cover my face with make-up to hide my imperfections, not to exaggerate anything, really ;)
So check out the words below:

にじみ目nijimi-me Oozing eyes: Makeup was applied well, but after a while it all started to run.
パンダ目panda-me Panda eyes: Blinked too much and…
アシン目（トリー）ashin-me (tori-)Asymmetric eyes: Left and right eyes don’t match
ヨレ目yore-me Wrinkly eyes: Drew the edges of the eyes poorly
黒い涙目kuroi namida-me Black tear eyes: Cried and the eye shadow ran
ひじき目hijiki-me Seaweed eyes: Tried layering on but it backfired
腫れ目hare-me Puffy eyes: Used pink eye shadow and ended up like that
宝塚目Takarazuka-me Takarazuka (theater) eyes: Got carried away and put far too much on
盛り目mori-me Served-up eyes: Just ended up over-emphasizing my eyes
遅目oso-me Slow eyes: Just took too long doing my eyes
ヒラ目hira-me Flat eyes: My “Eye Putty” (glue to make eyelids doubled or rounded) lost its adhesion.

Taken from whatjapanthinks.com !!

I think Lady Gaga does not have any problem with any of the disasters whatjapanthinks.com has gathered, she ultimately cleared all those problems away with the ultimate make-up, the PANDA EYES.

GO GAGA! LOL

Have fun smiling at least ;)
XOXO
Sasa

After 1 week?

2011-07-20T19:32:00.008+10:00

akiramenaide....
あきらめないで！
あきらめない。で。

If you read my previous post, I wrote about my cross-stitch project. This is where I am up to, I finished the hat. I had to re-do some again and again because the DMC thread tangled together and I had to snip off the ends for un-even-ness. Is this even a word? LOL

Anyway, I did many things last weekend.
I participated in an Amazing Race game and guess what, my group is the winner. LOL
YAY!! THE VICTORY JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm 2nd from the right).

We had 2 Pit stops. One started off in Central Station (finished with 5 challenges) and in the University of Sydney (5 challenges).

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if you know Teh Botol Sosro or simply put, a tea bottle. yes, we won that. LOL quite an unattractive idea for a prize give-away but I got the rewards that I want even more, FRIENDS!!
友達ができたよ!

So many exciting things like how Nadeshiko Japan won the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011, they should be VERY proud and become a symbol for recovery and SPIRIT no matter if their country is in a mess, it will recover!!
To celebrate it, I ate a german bread called "Soccer Bread". LOLLLL
There you go LOL well, it looks really cute. With raspberry and custard filling. YUmmmmm...

I also watched Harry Potter, the last movie , the END, fin, owari, selesai, finish! LOL
Finally they put an end to HP. In the beginning I think they are fine for kids to watch but towards the end, I think they're getting scarier and scarier that I don't think I will let 12- years olds kids watching it.

Seriously it should be rated M+. It's too scary or maybe it's me who's a scaredy cat. LOL
But I want to post something, I took a picture with Voldemort! ha ha ha ha ha It's rather blurry but yea, as long as you know it's 'you -know who'.
yeehaaa.....!! He's so white well, cheers to your wand with my Coca-cola LOL

Oh yeah, I am addicted to this song called Pon Pon Pon by

きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ ! (KYARI PAMYU PAMYU)

.

This is the video!!
Warning: lotsa repetition, techno voice, if you're not a fan, it'll cause you headache.
HOWEVER, the MV is very cheerful and very colourful, but she looks childish. I prefer artists who are cute but sexy at the same time.
But Japan always has this 'cute' image. haha I must say, it is really catchy. I will end the post with this video hehe
Thank you for reading!! mwahhh

Cheers
Sasa
XOXO

NB: 就職活動のニュウすはFujitsuに断れたが、大丈夫です。頑張ります!　 :D

Projects!!!

2011-07-13T12:01:00.009+10:00

PROJECTS...
ProJects..
projects..
Fellow random readers, as you can see from the right hand side of my blog, I have several projects, well, goals that I pursue. Just to keep me motivated, entertained each month.

For number 1, I just became a member of Virgin Active Australia located @ Midcity Mall level 2 on Pitt Street! I love that gym, enormously big, lotsa space to move and of course it has good views of..... "men" to cruise my eyes. hahahaahaahha just joking. They are all muki-muji just the way I like how Exile moves in their MV. hahaha

Only 2 days in and I gained 100 grams. haha My body is all sore, btw, I gain 100 grams must be because Im building muscles too!.
Fat is lighter than muscles hahahahahaha *ini mah alasan*.
So, I hope to see at least 4 kilos weight loss in a month starting from this monday.

For #2,
I am making a Chinese Cupidboy Cross-stitch. This is the progress I've been making since Sunday.
That's the hat!! I love cross-stitching, but you gotta have good eyes and lotsa patience though.
I will keep you updated with this!

#3, JobHunt
For this, I have applied several but hasn't gotten any replies yet. But it's OK. I prefer to wait for the best from God and just be grateful when I haven't gotten any job.
Remember to "be grateful for everything". This way I am MORE positive.

#4. Amazing Race
My local church, IPC Randwick (Indonesian Presbytarian Church) is having a local youth event called the 'Amazing Race', from what I heard of the last year's one, they had to run around but I mean this is Winter. haahahahahahahaha

Can't imagine running around in winter, not only that, they will throw in some little activities along the way to complete. Last time they had to eat sunflower seeds like LOTS of them. haha
Jadi jagoan kupas kwaci gitu. Yg menang pendetanya. LOLLLLLLL ketauan deh kalo ngemil sukanya makan apa. hahahahahaha

#5. Singing
This will be in August. But yea, my voice is not improving at all because I no longer sing in the church. But I will do this competition for the sake of giving my praises to the Lord. hehehehe

Okay, hope you have fun reading my blog this time. More updates and good news coming.
GBU all

Love,
Sasa
XOXO

2011 Hairstyle!!

2011-07-08T18:48:00.012+10:00

HAPPY TANABATA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So sad I can't watch Fireworks from Sumida River. :(( and no yukata...
ANY.WAY.!!

髪。。。
髪。。。
女の人には髪は冕冠だ。
(Translation: for women, hair is their crown).

Before and After.. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hha h a ha ha h ah a h a

Much shorter, much more styled.
Before unhappy, now happier.
Past, then future.

I only had wash, cut, blow.
The hairdresser (Ayako-san) from Shinka Make up and Hair in Gallery Victoria even taught me how to use hair wax. ha ha ha

I asked whether having fringe is suitable for my face shape. She said no, it will make me look bigger and fatter.
So, in the end, I don't have any fringe ha ha ha ha just some layering.

Side view, as you can see when you use the hair wax, it holds and styles the ends of my hair.

I guess it needs really strong hair wax.

I was looking around for some Japanese hair wax but mostly are for guys but thankfully I found one.

The brand is Sexy Girl, I used to have their hair cologne that I used to spray on every morning when I was still back in Tokyo ha hah aha

But anyway, it is good, I still loved my hairstyle when I had it cut by Chie from a salon in Harajuku.
I got kind of interviewed after getting out of there, but oh well, as long as you have a cute and nice personality, no matter what hairstyle you have, you are still cute and beautiful ha ha ha ha

Okay, thanks for reading my blog..

Level 2, The Galeries 500 George St. (Opposite to the Queen Victoria Building: Same level as Kinokuniya Bookshop)
Sydney NSW 2000 [View map]
To book: 02 9283 3220
sydney@shinka.com.au

Mon to Wed	10:30 - 20:00
Thu to Fri	11:00 - 21:00
Sat	10:30 - 19:00
Sun	10:30 - 18:00

Love,
Sasa
XOXO

Additional story:
Shinka is a Japanese hairsalon, their clients are mostly Japanese, hairdressers can speak English but don't expect that you can converse with them and talk about politics or scientific inventions.

Anyway, I think it was easier for me to convey what I want to say in Japanese than English that my friend's hairdresser asked whether I am Japanese or not to the hair washer (whom I talked with) and at that time was doing my friend's hair. The guy said "jya nai" (means no) .
My friend told this story afterwards.

I am glad that I am a foreigner, even tho I may look like East-Asian (I am SOUTHeast ASIAN) because being a Japanese is much harder than you think, the unwritten rules are a lot and scrutinizing. Apart from that, their pop culture and technology inventions are still #1. he he he

The Quiet Days

2011-07-05T11:08:00.007+10:00

HA...
HA...
HA..
HA..........................
SHOPPING.

The worst thing that one can do is do nothing at all. I am sick to the bone of doing the 'nothing'.

By the way, the picture is showing you all, that Australia is in the middle of Winter.
The trees shed its leaves, leaving it like eerie tree skeletons. Some trees are not deciduous hence they still have their leaves in tact.

Weird enough, there is the supermarket trolley, a pretty common sight in Australia. People leave their trolleys behind on the street side.
Unlike in America where homeless people use trolleys to store their things, I rarely see one in Australia pushing their trolleys, occasionally I see several but not often.
They usually sleep in parks with their blankets or in the train station tunnels, sheltered from the wind, rain and the cold bites, thankfully, not froze bites. Australia's not that cold in the cities.

I took this picture on my way to see my friend on Monday, we promised to go shopping in a factory outlet in Homebush. This whole job hunting is stressing me out especially when all the recent graduates GRADUATED at the same time.

YES, I am competing with those fresh out of school graduates, younger, maybe much smarter than me. LOL

So, why not go out? This friend of mine, loves shhhoooppppinnnngg and of course, she is her own managing director in Jakarta, going back and forth from Sydney-Jakarta and it is that 'time around' when I get to see her and hang out.

So she picked me up in her driveway and off we went to Homebush with her almost empty gas tank. The gas arrow has pointed itself towards the letter 'E'.
But, as easy going as she is, she said to me "Mell, even though the tank symbol lights up (*which means VERY EMPTY*), we can still drive up for another 20 km, no worries, just have a look out for petrol stations and we'll be fine".

Easy for her to say :P

We ended up couldn't find any!! I was nervous, cold sweats began, who knows she might tell me to push her car from behind when it stops. ha ha ha ha h a jadi tukang dorong mobil, untung mobilnya bukan kayak truk atau van, mampus kan gua kalo iya?

So, we finally arrived @ the Homebush factory outlet located at Homebush Bay Drive.
We began our hunt.

Cut the story short, we ended up with this much in her trunk.
That is... TOO MUCH!
And, they're not mine, all hers ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha But I love her shopping spirit, never gives up!

Not long after, we were dead tired, walking for 5 hours, we moved onto another factory outlet, this time @ Birkenhead Point. HA, more shopping? yes you are right. I did not buy any, just in case you were wandering.
I like this one a lot better as you can see from this next photo
It is open space and, at almost 5, the shops are closing. S.U.X.
BIIIIGGG S.U.X!!!
When I was in Japan or Indonesia, shops close at 9 or 10, but Sydney, okay, maybe no more complaining.
I am in Australia anyway.
LOL

So, time to go, and time to take a picture of both of us (sideways).
ha ha ha ha! I can't describe 2 princesses are out and about in an almost empty gas tank car.

Oh, for your information we spotted several petrol stations, but one petrol station deceived us.
It looked as if it is open but actually, it's close for renovation. S.T.U.P.I.D.

But, we managed to refuel, @ seven eleven. Thanks God for 7/11, at the end it is the Americans that saved our journey, now, happy car and its driver and passenger can finally speed safely on the m4 motorway back to the city of Sydney.

Last picture, just a photo taken when it was dark. Lights... lights.. full of hikari (light).....
................................... under the bridge.

Thanks for reading!!

Love,
Sasa
XOXO

６月へよこそうっ！Part 2

2011-06-27T20:24:00.013+10:00

I.N.D.O.N.E.S.I.A.
T.A.N.A.H.
A.I.R.
B.E.T.A.
(translation: Indonesia, my homeland)

Continuation.. yes... yes..! Are you ready??? This part will be quite short, I know I uploaded a lot of pictures and made my browser runs too slow.

So, in this part, I will post the photos of my reunion and Jakarta's Sea World in Ancol!!
One of the roads inside the amusement park (above picture). Taman Impian Jaya Ancol otherwise known as Ancol Dreamland is an integral part of Ancol Bay City, a resort destination located alongJakarta's waterfront, in Ancol Kelurahan, Pademangan, Indonesia. (Wikipedia) They also have this crazy club called "Alexis", full nude dancers are available for view ba ha ha ha ha... I've never been there, I don't really lie :P

This is the entrance into the aquarium, I think it costs like 70 000 rupiah or AUD $8 or around 700 yen per person. The price is the same for weekends or public holidays.
But you can get discount if you use a certain Bank card, I forgot which Bank.
Luckily, my friend paid for me, they are so nice.. ha ha ha

By the way, the above picture, the one where I hugged the tube is a pretty strange one!! It is called ExQuarium.
The tube is slanted and so is the fish head looking downwards ha ha ha ha ha.. poor fish, being tricked :P

I love aquariums, hands down! If you ask me to go to a museum or zoos or aquariums, I pick Aquariums!!!

I think it is the fish, those mystical creatures that always succeed in luring me back to where they live under the waters. No matter the price I must go to aquariums.

Then you also have the open aquariums where you can touch the animals. I touched 2 !!
Here goes:
Star fish, OMG, how can I describe it? It was sucking my hand, as you know, starfish suck and cling to the sea beds and move around by pumping around the water from their five hands ha ha ha .... *i was thinking, five fingers, no no, not five fingers but five hands*
And that is why I screamed in the photo... ha ha ha

Then, I also touched

SEA TURTLES!!! HA HA HA

There were 10+turtles inside that open air aquarium as far as I can remember. The warning instructions said "Do not touch the mouth" "Do not dip your hands deeply" whatever, I am a good person, I obeyed the rules!!!!!!! Except, I was chasing around the turtle wherever it swam. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Anyway, I remember why I felt guilty when I saw the sea turtles swimming around happily. I confess, I ate sea turtle meat when I was in Bali. Hey, it was in a satay form, all Indonesians love SATAYS!!!! sate sate saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaateeee...

By the way you can dive into the big shark tank (above picture), I wouldn't dare, no way man, cause I will eat them not Them eat me :P *imagining shark fin soup*

Then, inside the aquarium, there's the long tube where you can travel with a travelator underneath. N here I took a picture with a stingray.
ha ha ha ha it is soooooooooooooooo big!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know that there is sting ray satay as well? ha ha h aha

I relate everything to food.. :p

And, one thing that SURPRISED ME is this.
Yea yea yea, normal....... it's just a full drawn background wallpaper with sea creatures.
BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When it's dark then you use your flash camera and take the picture, the paints glow in the dark!!
Like this! How cool ey???????????????????
I have to admit, Indonesia's tourist attractions are superb, but we are just lacking good management and good government AND people who care enough about the country.

We are actually unbeatable in terms of exotic places, it is just that we are do not do a lot of promotions and those stupid terrorists that make Indonesia as their home base reduce Indonesia as a terrorist country in front of many "no natural resources country". ha ha ha

So anyways, during my stay in Jakarta from the 21st of May to the 30th of May, I met up with my elementary school friends and my friend when I was in Chiba University.

One is getting married, one is engaged, one is a single-free-fighter just like me. ha ha ha ha

So Part 2 has ended for the period of 21st May to the 30th. I will close this period with few pictures of more Indonesian food. ha ha ha so that you will come to Jakarta / Indonesia and eat our awesome complicated very rich in protein and taste that will make your tastebuds melt with the weather as well . ha ha ha

1. Nasi Padang ( Padang Rice: mixture of many vegies, fried fish, fried chilli egg, chili sauce etc)
2. Me eating one of the big fish from Nasi Padang.

How big is that fish!!!!!!!!!!!! my sister thought I was going to eat it ALIVE, eeuww.. ha ha ha

3. Martabak Manis (Sweet Pancake)

So yummy, inside is healthy full slab butter + sugar + melted sugar cheese. It is like pancake but more awesome than those Canadian pancakes with maple syrup.

Everybody tried to make this type of pancake but no one can!! Only those street pancake vendors can make this type and too bad, I agree. LOL
YUMMMMMm, one box, you can eat like 10 pieces (top and bottom that means 20 pieces) for the price of AUD $2 or Rp.20 000 or 200 yen.

4. My closing picture and motto "KEEP EATING and SMILING".

Cheers,
Sasa

Still......

2011-06-17T22:16:00.003+10:00

Just a thought that made me realise something.

"How can one opt to treat someone, take everything away from her with no thank you- no sorry, no goodbye, no nothing... I realised I was treated like a 女郎"

けど、私は相変わらずその人を愛してる。。。

泣いてる
泣いてる
泣いてる

ササ

６月へよこそうっ！Part 1

2011-06-12T20:27:00.014+10:00

SYDNEY...
JAKARTA...
................................................ WORLD...................................

これはシドニーハーバー橋の下を取った写真です。

スゲーだよね！私と姉はthornleighに行く途中で、橋の後ろは美しい空を見るとすぐ「写真を取らなきゃ｣と思った。

ごめんなさい、日本語で、これから英語で書いています。ニコニコ　

Okay, so I am back in Sydney since the 29th of May!! I have just been back from my 10 days trip in Jakarta.

I visited my family, met my old elementary school friends and they're either in a relationship, engaged or getting married this year. LOL

So in this post, I would like to say that I am very happy in Sydney except for the weather. In this 1.5 years that I've been away from Sydney, I only experienced summer once.

I miss SUMMER and SPRING.

The season is Winter and I have winter-allergy! I always get sick during early winter and have been sick for almost a week.

This is a very excruciating pain, plus, I have just changed my internet provider! So without a week of Internet, and endless fever + flu + cough and no one to take care of me, I could tell you it is a painful week. ha ha ha ha

Anyway, maybe most of you are wondering "what is Sasa going to do now when she is in Sydney".

Simple. Job Hunting. LOL

But, before that, I'd like to list the things of what I did in Jakarta!!

Culinary tour!! this includes Jakarta Food Festival, yummy pics!
Sea World in Ancol, Jakarta.
Malls hopping in Jakarta.

INDONESIAN FOOD

1. This above picture: me eating in Kafe Betawi. (Betawi Cafe)
They're called Lontong Sayur with Yellow Fried Chicken.
Drink is called Es Cendol.

2. This picture under is the seafood I ate with my family in Ahyatt Seafood Restaurant in Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta.
Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin soup, scallops. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm~~~

This picture below is Es Kopyor with Durian Ice cream.

Now next is Chicken Satay made not in posh restaurant but those sold on the streets! Literally, they had to fan the charcoal by hand with a FAN! I think the street ones taste better than the restaurants. But just becareful of your tummy.... if you're not ready for the street food, don't go for them.

Next picture is a Sundanese restaurant that I went to is called Bumbu Desa.
Literally means "Village's Spices". Not GOOD, disappointing service and the Sour Soup does not taste delicious. Even my sister said my Sour Soup is even better. LOL
But I think they have a pretty display for the food so you can choose whatever you want to eat.

Still, quite pretty and interesting. Sundanese food consists of the picture one the right like

yellow fried chicken
yellow fried tofu
fried tempe
sour soup or Sayur Asem
petai
Gurame Fish
Lots of chilli sauce (Sambel)
Rice

Next is: Soto Kikil, me and my family ate this in Serpong. The Restaurant is like in an open outdoor space.
I ate this along with the Es Kopyor.

NEXT:
This is not Indonesian food, more of AMERICAN? HAHAHA
But I used to drink A&W float rootbeer when I was in Elementary.

I miss this so much and so yummy!!!

This, my friend is the famous Kwetiauw Akang located in Pondok Indah Mall in Jakarta Selatan (South Jakarta).

Kwetiauw is flat rice noodles.

This one is called "Kwetiauw Siram Seafood".

It means "Poured Flat-rice Noodle Seafood".

Why poured? Because it is not dry, it is in fact that the fried rice noodles is poured with yummy egg sauce. SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!!! MOUTH WATERING and i am drooling.

Next picture:
This is called Mie Medan.

Or Medan Noodles.

Medan is a city located in Sumatra. I was brought to eat in this little restaurant in another location in Jakarta called Pluit, and they also have a little Chinatown there.

Anyway, I am not the type of person that can identify the ingredients inside food.

What I can do is like most people : eat and knows whether my stomach loves it or not. :D

And this is YUMMY if you ADD a lot of fresh raw chili in to it. LOL I don't know why, I don't know how, chili is like a big part of us Indonesians.
LOL

Now, the last picture of Part 1 is this food.
I ate this in Gandaria City Mall's food court called Eat n Eat. LOL

That goes by motto...... eat to live and live to eat ha ha ha ha

I forgot the name but it is a mixed rice from the Solo city of Indonesia.

Solo is located in the middle of Java Island.

I rarely eat Solo food so it was an experience!

Now, the next blog will be the Jakarta Food Festival.
A little prologue: Jakarta Food Festival is all the traditional Jakarta food that you can rarely find. So this event is once in a year held in Kelapa Gading at the La Piazza.

They have stalls and.. to be continued.. LOL

XOXO

Sasa.

PS: God, I miss Japan.

ANIMAL CRUELTY???

2011-05-31T11:33:00.004+10:00

Today is the last day of May, so in turn I thought "Why not update this blog" ....

The topic is rather different and I picked it up from the news circulating around Facebook, that is animal cruelty.

Last night, Four Corners, a TV programme on ABC2 highlighted a serious issue around Australian cattle slaughtered inhumanely in Indonesian abattoirs.
The Indonesian abattoirs did not follow the correct methods of 'immediate slaughter' that may reduce stress on cattle, but instead, performed numerous methods that incur slow, painful death, not to mention leaving the animals 30 minutes to die or 33 stab wounds.

In Australia, abattoirs use stun gun on the head for immediate slaughter, but, Indonesian abattoirs seem not to like 'immediateness' but love seeing 'pain' on animals, hey at least that's what I seem to interpret.

The Indonesians have been performing numerous ways of slaughtering cattles especially during Lebaran. Goats/cattles, cut using hands with knife and left them to die, usually at the throat.

I see the similarities with the narrations on the video about cattle being slit on the throats.

THE PROBLEM: Australia wants to ban the Australian cattle export to Indonesia.

I see this as animal cruelty for some, but is it also the problem of slaughtering animal in a different way? (different country, different culture?)

For example, some people put crab to sleep in the freezer first then boil them straight away.
Some, directly stab the crab's gut and cut it open.

I don't think ban on export is the way to go since we all don't know the depth of this issue.

But deep down inside, I, TOO, want to see those cows being slaughtered in a peaceful death...

Internet!!!

2011-05-12T14:27:00.000+10:00

I am so used to all the fast internet speed connection in Japan that I am calling my internet speed in Sydney as TURTLE, worst, SNAILS. :p

I think a couple of years ago I had a contract plan with the provider to max the plan.

HOWEVER, it seems to have not gone well due to many former talks about how this company performs afterwards.

SO, that should explain you my lack of updating!!!!

It is just not fun to write heaps of stories, with the slow photo uploads. That's just the deal breaker for me to upload anymore stuff.

In the meanwhile, I am planning to go back to my other home for 2 weeks.

Other great news, I have been catching up with my lovely friends here!

And my one other friend is coming back to Sydney permanently, I am excited that wherever Mell goes, everybody flocks as well. LOLLLLL

I still remember the last day I went back to Sydney in Japan, my sweet friend was crying heavily.

She said to me that out of everybody, mell is the person whom she can talk about anything and just feel at utmost comfort. I really want to bring her back with me heheheheeeeeeeee

My housemates also sent me messages that when sasa's gone, it's so quiet. No one meets and connects with each other, no meet ups.... That's SAD!!

When I remember all these memories, it reminds me of my grandpa who has passed away last week.

What I learn is that...Life is so short. You can die tomorrow or today. No one knows.

B.U.T....

I don't want to leave this earth without any legacy when I die.

I don't want to be remembered as someone who caused severe heartbreaks, pains, heartaches, dysfunctional life on others, never asks somebody else how's their day or someone who never replies to someone who's been so caring and nice or a cold person who never gives anything or never loves SO that no one cries on your funeral day.

NO WAY!!!!!!!

Treasuring people by being gentle and always strive on what you have for others may seem as weak by some people.

or even SOFT.

But come on, these days are evil. Let's do good, peace and not hate each other anymore.

Spread gentleness and comfort and support each other.

Up till this moment, I am grateful to what I have.

After all those heartbreaking events in Japan, feel unappreciated and unloved, dumped just like that, I have the spirit to say "Loe yg Rugi."

Not only towards somebody but to anybody who throws out someone else in their life just because of your selfish ambition (your work, your emotions etc). That's selfish and sad...

Now...... I have set myself a series of projects. As you know, if you used to read my 3 years ago blogs (which I have taken out). I was a multitasker, 2 jobs, taekwondo, gym, uni full time, extra-curricular activities, and another evening college, I am set and ready to take on the world once again.

This time, I don't feel lonely, I know people's saviour Jesus Christ is standing right by my side!

The Spirit is bigger than anything else.

And ... you're almost at the end of the blog now, let's all say..... AAAAAAMEN. heehheheheheehehehehheeheh

Awww, I want to shop in Shibuya (that's so random).

Love ya'll,

SMoooooooooooooooooooch

XOXO

Sasa.

My 1st item

2011-05-02T12:22:00.002+10:00

If things go well and blessed, the 1st will be all to God.
but, the 1st item that I wish.. is for a really good quality camera, not some digital funky one that you take pics with when you're just having fun.
BUT
The professional camera to document memories in your life, epic scenes that no money can buy.
That's what I think is awesome.
That's when one needs more than just a standard product.

Thinking of Canon or Sony.
yummy.

Scared...

2011-03-24T23:31:00.004+11:00

Have you ever known someone for several years, say, almost 5-6 years, almost rarely in contact with you, only met twice-three times REAL LIFE and rarely talks to you on the phone.
they know your phone number and actually STALKED YOU and TRIED to contact you non-stop!!

It is not that I am the one who is weird.
You know I just came back from my beloved Red Sun country, it is normal to ask like "how are you, are you okay"

But not like "Hey, oh youre back in Sydney, you want to come to this seminar, it teaches you about life..."

Then called you, smsed you, called you, smsed you...
I said to em "I am doing fine for my life course, what I need right now is catching up with my friends in Sydney, if we're doing catching up then it's cool cos i havent seen you for like years".

Then this person denied catching up with me instead more excited if I could go to the place that was being talked about on the phone.

Seriously I am deadly scared because this person knows where I live, my phone number, my other networking stuff...

I just don't want ...... to show up in front of my door and grab me / kidnap me, OK im being paranoid, but whatever, I had an almost similar experience back in Indonesia.

A caller called the wrong number but he fell deeply for my voice and called me every night when I was in my home country. I know how it felt to be stalked around.... this is freaking me out...

Neway, Im going back to Japan soon.
I hope TOKyo is alright now and I miss my housemates, dunno how they are doing. ...

1 week ahead

2011-03-20T07:40:00.004+11:00

Sydney... Sydney... Sydney...

SYDNEY .............

I am already back in Sydney!!!!! Had a reunion with my high school friends and boy I was surprised to see 2 other peeps who I haven't seen for a few years......

Update about me:

To be honest, I am currently happy because Japan is recovering FAST but I guess the trauma by my fellow Japanese will stay forever in their memory.

WHy?

ME too, I had severe nightmares but I believe we all will progress to a better state, my nightmares lessened and just want to enjoy my life here in Sydney for a bit.

Since my arrival on Tuesday, I had a decent reunion and spent lots of time with my family. My sis, my Mom and me went round to few restaurants in Sydney and just had the best days.

The atmosphere in Sydney is FAR lighter than in Japan... Japan's atmosphere is heavy because of some reasons, that's just one thing you have to experience. *NB: not because of the natural disaster thing*.

Sydney walkers are just so free, to the point where I have to say, every one treats everybody else as if their own family a bit TOO much.

You know, in eastern culture, we are so much cultivated to RESPECT and BEHAVE so much. (manners)

I feel this is another thing I have to deal with: reverse culture shock.

But apart from that, I am just lucky to be here, everyone needs to be at a crossroad at one point and CHOOSE.

With the things I experienced up till this moment, I know that God is greater than anything.

Humans can PLAN whatever THING they want to plan, but no one knows what GOD plans for us.

in the end, people will say "God is unfair, He killed 3000+ people in this tsunami thing etc"

I know how it feels, life is unfair afterall...

Because of this, I lost what I have rooted in Japan, E.V.E.R.Y.T.H..I.N.G...

But, when I see the bigger picture, this disaster helps us to be more HUMAN.

Solidarity, Understanding, Tolerance, Giving without Return....

THey are things that you can never buy with money.

So, in Sydney, I just miss people who I had lots of time with, can't wait to see them.

In the meanwhile, I figure it is pointless to be in touch with someone who doesn't want to keep in touch with you.........

I got to let it go...

ne????????????????

Japan, I pray you to recover FAST and be humble. You are a nation of intellect and care about details SO MUCH to the point of not being OPEN.

Not many people will understand you but do not let misunderstanding gets in our ways...

Talk and being open helps but that's my culture not yours and I understand....

Find a way so that other people not always trying to understand you, because that's selfish.

These are personal opinions, people have their own thoughts...

Love

Sasa

PS: i miss Japan

Running Away Temporarily away from Japan- Nuclear (acid rain)

2011-03-13T11:55:00.003+11:00

Currently, already 9 people who have been affected by radiation.
The govt said they're unsure whether it's already leaking or just a fear of leaking (WHAT DA)

But of course they are trying to cover things up so that we don't panic.

My friends in Sydney asked me to go back and my family persuaded me as well.
I feel reluctant to go back but I can't help making them worried.

The friends I will leave temporarily have each other, I will cook them food during the blackouts in Tokyo that starts from Monday because we are lacking power.
They said they'll turn the electricity off for every 3 hours.

I don't want them to feel hunger and I don't want them to feel cold because everything in the supermarkets are sold out.

Good thing I am a stock up person LOL I stock up a lot of food (instant food).
So I will make them something before I leave on Monday.

My flight's been booked, it's moved from the 8th of April to tomorrow.

All I need right now is to pay a month's advance rent.
Mail my teachers.
Book Airport Limousine to Narita.

That's it...... oh gosh....T_T

Escaping the Earthquake Tremor in Tokyo

2011-03-12T13:32:00.003+11:00

Just a little update about the 8.8 Magnitude earthquake that occurred on the Friday of the 11th.

The first sign was actually in the morning when I began my final test \in my Japanese school in Shibuya.

Then it went for a long time then it stopped.

2nd time (the big one!!) happened when I was in the subway on my way to the hospital @ Shimurasakaue.

It was real big and all these obaachan started panicking, one of them tried to talk to me but since she was panicking I just went quiet. There's no use to panic in this time.

The train driver informed us to go to the street level and all the handphone signals were down.
Not only softbank BUT ALL. I couldn't contact call anyone.

I saw the trees swayed, and I just went dizzy.

Oh by the way, when I am typing this, I am actually in the middle of a 3 magnitude scale earthquake. *phew*

The building which I live in has so many cracks and a big CRACK behind the building.
There were cracks on the walls of the stairs................
The gas was off automatically but thanks to Yaya and Tantan and Hoshino, we all managed to get hot water. WOOHOO

THe funny thing was that, I believe God lead me to RYOGOku, my iphone was dead and I almost had no idea where I was.

Somehow, I was given signs when I was in Shimurasakaue (which I dont know where it is) about the buses that I shud board. I and the others were blessed enough to get on board the bus while many passengers couldn't even get on board.

Eventually my phone DIED in Asakusa Kaminarimon (Asakusa senso-ji temple).
I went there with my friends during New Year.
But i m bad with directions... I was so confused, but I looked at map directions and follow the little voice inside my heart....

I could not stop praising God for leading me the way to the bus transfers, standing in the bus almost for 4 hours.
The traffic was crazy.

Out of all, I was given the opportunity to circle around our little Tokyo. Because with trains, You don't usually get to see the little streets in Tokyo hehehehe
So I was enjoying it. LOL

My feet were killing me actually!!! I was kind of wearing a 2-3 cm heels. not that high but if you stand for 4 hours following the bus' breaks etc, they will get swollen.

When I arrived in Oakhouse, my friends greeted me and hugged me because they were so worried about me.

I was the 2nd last one to arrive in Oakhouse because everybody was ready with their packed bags LOL

I was looking so pretty with my lovely eyeshadow and a cute smile and because of this earthquake, I had to erase them all LOL.
My friends outside Japan called me and texted me non-stop and given me prayers... maybe like 40 of them.
They care so much about people in Japan, but specifically about me.
I guess the impression I made on them lasted forever in their mind. hahahahaha
I know, I am a good girl, unlucky for those who wanted to separate from me.....................
But my arms will still open though for those who hurt me. This is just who I am.

I also heard that many couples got divorced during disasters like this. See? Love alone won't last if you have problems.
Love + commitment = lasting.

hahahaha

Anyway, back to earthquake, I was not able to talk to my family and my friends in Tokyo especially, but thanks to Viber... an application for IPHONE, made communication available even if you are overseas.

I called my Tokyo friends to check if they're alright.

But one person remained in my mind until now.
I wonder if he is okay...............................................................................
I wonder if his family is alright................................................................
I hope when I see him, I can still see his smile........................................
I hope God protects him and his family because I don't even know where he is right now.......

--

Amazing thing, my room was actually pretty alright, only my makeup stash that were on the floor. hahahahaha

I know, awesome ey?

But my neighbour's room, it really looks like a 8.8 magnitude wreck of a room LOL
When he saw my room he said "yours look like it's been hit with a 3, but mine is like the real 8" hahahahaha

So I said "hahaha yea it's just that there is a guardian angel, guarding my room" LOL

----
Another news.... my dad requested me to come back to Sydney for good.

The End.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love
SASA
XOXO

Sigma Beauty Brushes

2011-03-07T19:15:00.003+11:00

SIGMA.. SIGMA... SIGMA... SIGMA...
SWEET... SWEET....SMOOTH BRUSHES!!!!!
What do you think this is? Well just like what the title says, they are brushes!!!!
No, not to paint the wall but they are make up brushes!!!

Bought them online because I need a good set of brush, after a lot of browsing and researching which brushes have the best quality (well.....) I decide to give Sigma brushes a go.

You can find them on www.sigmabeauty.com and they ship worldwide!!!
They came like around 2 weeks after my order!!!

With this type I had tremendous difficulty on which colour to pick!!
OMG, they are gorgeous because they also came in black, in purple, in coral (like the one I purchased) and Aqua!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(you also see here, the oval shaped box is also embossed with their brand "sigma makeup).

I wanted all colours but yeah tight on money LOL I only splurge when I have achieved something. Anyways, the bristles are so smooth, easy to use and with the package also came with all the description of each brush.

And you don't have to FREAK OUT, which brush does what because for each of them is engraved as to what they serve for!!!

For this set there's like 12 brushes and what intrigues me the most is that you can bring them ANYWHERE you wanna go because it is packed into this one big clipped tube.

Then you can separate your brushes like I do here (see picture).
It is just so convenient!!! Pretty, girlish and I separate my big brushes and my medium-small brushes to 2 separate parts.

So easy to use, easy to place anywhere and doesn't take much room and it is just worth it for a price where if you buy MAC brushes will cost you like hundreds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So check out their website!! Yeay!

Love
Sasa
XOXO

PS: I will update a bit on my life!!
Well, this week I'll be having my final exam on wed, thurs and Friday and on Sunday I'm gonna have my TOEIC test.

What is it with all these qualifications test in Japan? They're strict and sometimes too much concentrated about the brain - brain - brain, maybe that's why the people have poor human relationship skills...

It is a good thing to be a book-smart, but to survive and be happier, you gotta be emotionally-smart as well!! If not you'll end up ALONE!!
HAHA

Peace out.. smoochessssssss mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh

A Little Present !!

2011-02-22T21:20:00.007+11:00

Prezzies
Prezzies....
PREZZIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Present is not Kebab, hahahahahahahahaha

I ate this delicious Kebab in Akihabara, a place called Star Kebab, it is located in a very small street and I had to find it through a long straining walk with my friend, an ex-motorcycle racer back in Indonesia. We were both kind of sad and lonely since none of our closest friends is around on Sunday. LOL

So we both strolled and this nice friend of mine bought it for me, so sweet..... aww..........

Anyway, WHY A PRESENT?
There is an answer to it!!

I AM CELEBRATING MY 5 KG WEIGHT LOSS!!!!!

So, what present did I purchase for my self?????????????????????

I AM SORRY to *you know who* but I HAD an EYEKO MAKE-UP HAUL!
LOL

I bought a set of 3 lipsticks. They are called LipTastick. (Loudmouth, Hot Lips and Lip Lover)
A set of 2 creams: highlighter and a tanned cream to create that glowy look.
A set of 3 lip balms: minty, strawberry and raspberry.

I wore the 3 lipsticks which are in the shape of a pen/pencil, so you only need to TWIST the body of the pen and it will come out!
And, the 3 pics below are the colours! They are so easy to use, it does not feel that matte because I applied Lip Balm underneath. I have not tried wearing them without Lip Balm, though.

This top one is Hot Lips. The colour looks like my camera's colour.

This is Loudmouth.
This is Lip Lover!! I really love bright colours on my lips, actually I have another lipstick in bright red hahaha LOL I don't know why, but I love red lips.

Lovin it????????? Yeah I love it.

So my target now is to lose another 2 KG. And, I have prepared a present for myself if I lose 2 KGs. If I can't lose 2 kgs, I SHALL NEVER OPEN THAT PRESENT.

And, if I lose another 4-5 kgs from my current weight, I already prepared something in mind to make myself happy. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Yeah, I WANT TO BE HAPPY. I WILL GRAB MY HAPPINESS.
I have ENOUGH already of the depressing 2 weeks just because I feel I am not loved.... LOL

SO, HAPPY READING.
Love,
SASA
xoxo

Video Song!!!

2011-02-17T01:15:00.004+11:00

Romance... Romance.. Romance...
Roma.. Roma.... Roma..
Ridho Rhoma....
Ridho Ridho dhoki dhoki hahaha

I fall in love with this song. It is a movie OST, based on the dangdut genre.

Dangdut is one of Indonesian specific song genres that I absolutely adore. All I know is the mass music genre that many commoners love to listen to like me LOL

But who cares if you think it's a cheap music, I love it.

Here goes the lyrics:

cuma kamu sayangku di dunia ini
cuma kamu cintaku di dunia ini
tanpa kamu hampa ku rasa dunia ini
tanpa kamu sunyi ku rasa dunia ini
*courtesy of LirikLaguIndonesia.net
cuma kamu sayangku di dunia ini
cuma kamu cintaku di dunia ini

tiada kalimat dapat melukiskan
betapa sayangku kepada dirimu
tiada ibarat sebagai ungkapan
betapa cintaku kepada dirimu

dapatkah kau rasakan
dari belai tanganku
dapatkah kau rasakan
dari tatap mataku

cuma kamu sayangku di dunia ini
cuma kamu cintaku di dunia ini
tanpa kamu hampa ku rasa dunia ini
tanpa kamu sunyi ku rasa dunia ini

cuma kamu sayangku di dunia ini
cuma kamu cintaku di dunia ini

New Week

2011-02-12T10:27:00.009+11:00

After almost a week, I can gradually accept that things do not go according to my plan LOL

Of COURSE.

We all know why... there is somebody out there who thinks that "IF YOU execute THIS PLAN, YOU MIGHT BE DOOMED mell, DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOOOOOOOOMMM" LOL

So, yesterday, I spent almost 80% of my time making Japanese resume, the last 2 bits that I have not done is Shiboudouki and cover letter.

But I will write them by this weekend I know it.

And I had a great time talking with my family and GOOD NEWS, my friend is coming on Sunday. So I have plenty of fun stories to hear from her. YEEHAA, I wanna strip off her XXX STORIES lolllllllllllllllllllll

What is my plan for today?

Well, to be honest, AGAIN, if things were the way they were, I would be......doing this n that...

Anyway,

My friend asked me to go to this lady's house to make food for Sunday's Valentine's event.

I mean, I have no problem, I like cooking and talk in Indonesian and usually they use some Japanese Vocabs so I can learn something LOL.

Yeah, at least I can take things off my mind and just accept things....

Yeah....

I guess our hot blood heads got in the way LOL we still have young blood you know "YOUNG n DANGEROUS' LOL u know that drama, that Hong Kong yakuza/gangsters drama, AWESOME. LOL

Tomorrow or even today will be great, who knows who I might meet... for future purposes? lol

Love

Sasa

Day 3:Thursday

2011-02-10T16:38:00.005+11:00

I finished my exam today.

And for the 4th consecutive day, Sobu Sen's densha became my silent witness for my sadness...

If the densha can talk and act, I am sure it would hug me tightly.hahaha

My current thought:
Why are you letting me all alone waiting in the darkness...

My future thought:
I hope tomorrow is better than today.

What happened today:
A friend of mine asked me out for lunch, he is much older than me, a very nice man. He works for Nissan auto-maker company and...He can talk non-stop LOL I felt better ....
I think people who work alot seemed to be single somehow LOL

Afterthought:
There is nothing eternal in this world, good things must always come to an end.
But at least, the good deeds will always remembered by God because humans are forgetful.

Love,
Sasa

PS: i am back to those days where I will sleep in on Val'z day :D

Day 1.

2011-02-08T21:52:00.005+11:00

Kontak pagi + malam= 0.

Nice girls are always taken for granted.
Nice boys are always taken for granted.

Nice girls are played around by playboys.
Nice boys are played around by playgirls.

When a nice girl meets a nice boy, nice boy will take her for granted stating she is boring and not challenging.
When a nice boy meets a nice girl, nice girl will take him for granted stating that he is boring and not challenging.

But, when a real man meets a real woman, both have grown up mentality, they can accept each other, sacrifice their own egos for the better harmony.
They fully understand a joke is just a joke.
Even if they have disagreements, both with a cool head reach AGREEMENT, knowing they have to sacrifice something in themselves in order to be together.

I do not even have a reason why I am in love with you.
If you love someone because of a reason, then when that reason no longer exists in that person, you will find yourself locked and trapped.

You will never be able to love someone with a reason.

I am in love with you because you are you.
I do not know why you are so blind, I wish you well, I want to take care, but you are not letting me into your world.

Someday, if you decide to buang aku, you will know the true meaning of true love, don't know when you will realise, but I can bet 100% you will understand but only when it is sudah telat.

I will have no regrets, because I tried instead of running away. And even so, I forgive you.

Love is forgiving, love is patient, love is not selfish, love covers mistakes, love does not joy when someone is hurting, love is compassionate, I think I have written this in a letter.....

When you are in a relationship, the first person that you should tell everything is your partner, the person you chose to be in a relationship with.
Not your friend.
Not your parent.
So, if you think that your partner does not listen to you, you just gave up and turn your head to somebody else?
How easy is it?
If every one is like that, then no marriage can last in this world.

It is better to have a fight and let your feelings out no matter how long as you do not become quiet.

When you are quiet, that is when the most dangerous situation has come in. That means you have given up... given up on us.
The moment where we all say 'I dont know anymore". Is not that the end?

If any of you is in this kind of situation.
I hope you give yourself time to yourself.
Just be quiet, and think.

Is this person not good enough? We all know no one is perfect.
How NOT GOOD is this person?
If we continue, can we reach a win-win solution?
We tell what we don't like, what we like, and work it out.
Something needs to be sacrificed.................
That is effort.

I believe NO KIDS should enter relationships.
Relationships are only for mature adults.

I don't know about many of you, but I know what I want.
I know I am ready to take on any consequences what the world has to offer.

It is true what the bible says "Love is strong like death, even water can not quench it. Even if you sell your house for love, no one will respect you".

Love is Strong.
But how strong is your partner with you or you with your partner?

Love is Deep.
It is too deep to describe my words.

So, I hope with Valentine closing in, those of you in a relationship can become stronger.
While those who are single, choose wisely.
While those who are in the middle, being hurt, believe that no matter what happens, happens for the best.

Same goes for me too, after everything that I gave, I received. I appreciate. I say thank you.

Love,
Sasa
GBU

Love

2011-02-07T23:43:00.002+11:00

Why is it when people in a relationship hurt each other?
It is because there is love theree.... if there is no love... they wouldn't even care...

why?

2011-02-07T21:19:00.002+11:00

Why is it that in the end, my heart is broken into pieces...

Ueno Ueno Ueno...ScHoOoOoOOoOOLLL.

2011-01-14T18:50:00.012+11:00

BBBaa...ba.....
Oink.... Oink.....
...
...
*ZOO?

YES, WE WENT TO UENO ZOO...!!
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a very smart gorilla! HE KNOWS how cold it is and decides to wear a stylish yellow hoodie for himself LOL.

Now, if you all know it's winter and still not covering up like my friend here, you know who's smarter by now. HE HE HE HE

Cut the story short, I went to Ueno Zoo on the Sunday of the... 2nd! So it is almost 2 weeks ago and please forgive me I have not been updating due to various reasons.

I had to say it was one of the best days in my life....
Not because I was led around by fugu-chan but it was because I had the opportunity to eat in Ocha-ya (Tea houses) like in the olden days.

Anyways, let's start with Ueno Zoo.
This zoo opens at 9:30 am- 5 pm (Ticket office closes at 4 pm) and viewing for some animals ends at 4.30 pm so if you are like me and Fugu, you have to pull the English map suitable for quick reading before the time runs out. LOL

The admission ticket for adults: 600 Yen and defers according to your age group.
But if you're 0-12 years old: FREE!
Pensioners/seniors and Students are of course half of the adults price but you have to show identification or if you are students (13-15) living in Tokyo or attending schools in Tokyo.

As always, many amusement parks/theme parks whatever you want to call them closes on Mondays or if the Monday is a public holiday, then the Tuesday usually closes e.g. Dec 29-Jan 1

IF YOU WANT TO COME TO UENO ZOO FOR FREE!! YES FREE!
Come on the Zoo's anniversary = March 20.
Greenery Day = May 4
Tokyo's Citizens Day= October 1

You can rent stroller for 300 Y and coin lockers depending on the size 100-300 Yen.

Inside the zoo there is also a monorail for 150 y (13 yrs and above) while Children (2-12)= 8- yen from the East Garden to the West Garden. You only need to queue for a bit.

Anyway, enough with the infos, enjoy the pics!
Ms. Elephant, strolling inside the pen ........... where is your herd?
Family of Nihon Zaru (Japanese monkeys), how cute! They like to soak themselves in warm water pools, this one is like a family. LOL Well, I pointed to Fugu that the fattest one looks like him.. and well, he pointed to the other one near the baby that yea... you know.... me. -_-

Penguins! Penguins from Madagascar, SAVE YOUR SIS n BROS in JAPAN!

Wow, kangaroos. I just have to take pics of Kangaroos, no comment/remark needed, I miss Australia that instant.
Pretty pink Flamingos.... dance dance little pinkies..... dance my beloveds..... before the redness of the sunset sucks you in...

It was a pretty fun date! We actually manage to cover the entire area by visiting one pen/site for like less than 30 seconds or even under 2 minutes, if not, we probably could not catch up!

But my favorite animal has to be this guy.....
Galapagos turtle. Simple reason, I owned 2 turtles back in Jakarta: CK and DKNY hahahaha

Now, around Ueno, there is a lot to see. There is actually this eerie swamp and a temple.
Temple is EVERYWHERE in JAPAN.
Now, we spotted a tea house and I have never been to a tea house that serves proper tea.
I went to one similar in Nara when I was with my mom but no, it was different.

Fugu and me decided to take the seat outside where we could face the swamp and here is the view from our seat which is on the balcony.
Sigh.... if this is in Indonesia, it would probably stink and full of garbage but of course not in Japan.

It was a serene environment and there was no one else drinking outside (COZ IT WAS COLD!) but it was so romantic, drinking tea and eating youkan (sweet red bean made into jelly but not jelly).

Now, this is what I ordered:
Basic Maccha (Green Tea- no sugar) with 2 blocks of Youkan.
Fugu said this is the purest form of Maccha, very traditional, the best and the most bitter.
That is why you have to eat with Youkan to balance. AND... as usual there is always a history to it.

Long long time ago, travellers who are on long journeys often stops at tea houses to quench their thirst. They are usually thirsty and hungry.
By drinking Maccha, they are not as easily thirsty and by combining with youkan, they gain energy and last longer. This is why, Maccha and Youkan with the combination of their tastes create this unification that has a name to it.. damn it.. I forgot. *Warabi?

Now, Fugu ordered this one, it is not as bitter! And, he finally took over my Maccha and gave me his LOL
He was laughing hysterically when he saw my expression because the Maccha was so so so so so bitter.....
Yea, this set is really pretty too LOL
I like the porcelain cups, the youkan, the plate, the stick.

And late into the night, we walked around AMEYOKO.
Ameyoko is this street food located just outside UENO, if you love Ueno and been to Japan- especially Tokyo, I am sure you have been to AMEYOKO.

They have this underground market for imported food- South East Asian Food etc, you just got to walk around and explore.

We met the handsome Yaya there and ate Xiao Long Bao from this Chinese food stall.

Really.... I am sorry, but, i am a Chinese descendant but no matter where I go I found my race often disobeying basic manners.

No matter where I live, which country I put my steps on, I always think that smoking and throwing out cigarette everywhere especially in front of children is a big NO-NO.
Not only just Chinese, many Japanese do the same and it really pisses me off.
I am just mad.

Apart from that, another Chinese lady (how do I know they're Chinese?) Well, I've studied Chinese and she just cut through the line and I could see how the Chinese guy in front of me was being cut too... well he threw the cigarette on the ground and I could see how pissed off HE WAS, well felt better afterwards. oh.. meanie me.... LOLLLLLL

When I looked at the Tenchou, I think he was kind of embarrassed by his own countrymen because he kept on looking at us with a sorry-face. But oh well..... because we know, we understand. LOL

So yeah, I had a really great time on that day...............................
Something happened that day and looking back... now I really had no regrets...

If things had to happen for the best, I sure learned it the hard way.

But all I said is "Do not disappoint me".
If things go bad, I know that I had done my best.

Okay,
Thank you for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will write another blog based on my new week, new course.

Love,
God bless you
XOXO
Sasa

25th Dec: Christmas Dinner, Church and 3 Mos of Us

2010-12-27T00:29:00.020+11:00

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!
MERRY ...
MERRY ...
MERRY ...
CHRISTMAS!

God bless YOU!!
Wow, can you believe that it's Christmas already? I went to Church from 2 pm - 5.30 pm for our Christmas Celebration to remind us again what is the meaning of Christmas.

We had a guest speaker, his name is Hiroshi Sakakibara and He talked about "Holy Child" which is Jesus Christ.
As a believer, I believe Christmas is to remind us that it is all about Jesus Christ, born into this world to wash away our sins. We should have died and just burned away in Hell because of our sins but redeemed by His blood on the Holy cross.
We originally were created as creations that are Holy, but because Adam and Eve fell into sin (death) we have to suffer (experience death).

I know Christmas for those who are non-believers mean dinner, exchange gifts and Christmas tree.
But believe me, I also DID all that but not many people know the meaning of Christmas.

A person who lives under the same house, apparently know the meaning of this but it is because he said to me "I am Anti-Christian". And yes, because he knew about me as a person who believes in Jesus, he never talks to me anymore and even do not want to meet eyes with me.

I do not know what kind of grudge he has but we, who believe must forgive with all your heart.
Why? Because he does not know how it feels and yes, there are many Christians out there who do not show what it is to be a believer. A believer in Christ must have Love, Faith and Hope.

Anyways, I did not stay for the whole caroling and dine together with my fellow mates and instead, stormed off my way back to Oakhouse!

Now, enough about that. Let's move on to the dining, eating etc!!! :D

Well, we have planned this Christmas party since around 2-3 weeks ago!

We all had to make or bring something! And I made Spicy Fried Diced Chicken with Lemon Sauce. YUMMY!

It is really easy to make and it did not require a lot of time.

I prepared mine since morning such as marinating the chicken and left it wrapped with plastic until I came back from church.

The lemon sauce was easy to make it only took me just 20 minutes. The frying takes more time, I used margarine to fry so it is tastier!
Now, let's see what other people made! YEAH!!

This raw beef (I am sure there is a technical name for it), is made by Fugu Chan. He asked me to buy 2 KG of beef at Niku no Hanamasa for the price of 1500 Yen or Rupiah 150 000. Not bad ey? It was good! To be honest, i think it is kind of hard to chew hahahahahaha I mean, of course, raw beef. But the sauce was superb. You dip the meat into the sauce along with the onion.
He said that he used to make this for Christmas dinners in Canada. So there you go!

This, is Chijimi or Korean Pancake made by our Chef!
When I see this, it looks like a total easy thing to make. I mean, I think Korean and Japanese food are a lot easier to make than Indonesian food.

I know because I am Indonesian (read my profile yet? hehhehehe) and we use a lot more herbs and therefore hard to identify what kind of ingredients once you eat.

Just like Indian cuisines, they are complicated!
But I guess that's why I envy Korean and Japanese food, they are so popular because they are easy to make!!!!

This Chijimi is also dipped in the tangy sauce.
Oops, the sachets down there are my chili sauce HAHAHA.
They're my favourite chili sauce, you can mix anything with that chili sauce especially Kewpie Mayonnaise!

This is made by Park-san. Since she is Korean she made Sangeta? Geeze, I don't know how to spell! So if you know how to spell it, tell me! She made this with 2 chickens and I think this is healthy, the chicken is so tender and I love the wings and the neck the most from chickens LOL.

Fugu told me "Yeah you love the neck cos it's the fattiest"... urgh, he can really remark lots of sentences correctly and painfully :p. hahahaha
Anyways, I love this food. I think it's awesome too, oh gosh, I'm drooling.
Oh, she said she did not sprinkle any salt at all so if it is tasty it is from the chicken broth.

We have to add the salt ourselves into our bowls.

Oh and Yaya-kun made these cocktails! I told him to make Fruit Punch Bowl, but being a creative person as he is, decided to read Cocktail recipes from the Internet and made his own version for each one of us.

I am the only one who had non-alcoholic drink for the night.

But I am still grateful! hehe I am happy!!!!!

Last but not least is our Christmas Cake made by Fumie-san!!!

Here GOES.
Can you see the Santa Claus in the middle? hahaha This cake is awesome!
The sponge cake is actually squeezed in the middle with 2 compacted Chocolate layers and inside the layers are creams filled with chopped Banana and finely chopped strawberries.
OH HEAVENS!
If you think "Death by Chocolate" is the ultimate think again!
This is the true "Death by Chocolate AND Strawberries". SEXY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And we exchanged gifts!
As you can see from the picture, I got more food.

I got Chocolate Doughnuts (more chocolate!! Oh sexy high time coming up)! hahaha

And also MORE CHOCOLATE bites!

I bought some bubble baths products all for under 500 Yen in Kinshichou's Olinas.

Some people got apple and face scrub, pendant, storage box, a box of candies. It was an awesome time! I appreciate everyone's efforts we DID IT.

Now... I want to show you 2 pictures of my Christmas Tree, inside my room. I turned off the lights and it just looks pretty.
Fugu bought and decorated it for me. I am extremely happy. He even packed it away on the 26th Morning when I went to Church.
He is awesome.
And one more thing, it was our 3rd month together. Nothing special. I only gave him a card, something handmade LOL Kinda funny though lol
But he bought me these stuff.
I LOVE Teddy bears and especially Rirakkuma!!!!!!!!! He prepared this like a week in advance and was hiding it from me with the Chef LOL That brown teddy is so HUGGABLE.

I absolutely love teddy bears and the pearly-pink-hand-made teddy bear chain (phone strap) is another gift from Fugu and he goes "you need more colours in your life so I bought you the pink teddy bear"
SPOT ON BABE! lol
And lastly, that bear actually has a zipper behind it and I felt a box is stuffed inside.
And it turned out to be an antique watch and I love it.
I love anything that is antique, unique and this has to be one of it. He said that he looked at it and caught his attention cos it's different. And I wear it everyday but don't worry Mom, I still wear the watch we bought in Kyoto! I love that purple watch too because it is bigger LOL.

I felt bad that I did not give anything to him but then at that time he said "But you know, it is fair enough, i gave you presents with no card but you gave me card."
So I guess even though we are 180 degrees different like North and South Pole, I guess we actually complete each other in a sense that no one can understand. LOL

So this Christmas has been an amazing event. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you all have an amazing time and that you are not alone, especially when you read this I hope the warmth that I had is being transferred into your heart.

God bless.
XOXO
LOve,
SASA

Shu Uemura 2010 Christmas Collection

2010-12-14T17:13:00.009+11:00

Shu oh Shu......................................... What can I say about Shu?
Shu Uemura's been my favourite make-up brand ever since I discovered his pencil concealer.
After that, I just fell in love one by one, his Foundation Architect which I am onto my 2nd bottle and now his Christmas 2010 Make up Collection.
For your information, I only bought 2 items. This palette above, and the deck-built lip gloss-lip stick.

Then of course the colours!!! I chose this palette instead of the more glamorous one because EVERYONE IS JUST BORING.
Yes, BORING!

Same colours, same gold - brown - colours, put some COLOURS in your life i mean Face :p
hahahaha

Anyways, The turquoise blue, the gray glitter colour and the slightly aquamarine blue are super soft and easy to apply and I have to inform that they stay on!

It is better if you use primer first as base then apply your eye-shadows.
The 2 colours at the sides are your eyeliner as well as highlighter. The darker one is the eyeliner which is brownish colour, while the light beige colour is for highlighting I think.

I guess I am not that good in reviewing make up ey? hahahaha I only know how to apply. LOL
I have not used the brushes because I hate using palette brushes, I think they're just there to fill up the compact. But, I don't know maybe some of you have used it before? I don't know the quality of Shu's brushes but I hope to get some feedback on that.

This is the lipgloss that I picked and I AM IN LOVE.
I have always LOVED RED. RED LIPs is my trademark (when going out) and I always need to have RED lipsticks in my make-up container, everywhere... I have one from Benefit and this one from Shu.

I looked at the other lipglosses, they are pretty but they're too dolly-colours for me. I think there is this pink one that LOOKS oh so pretty and princessy, but I am a bit of a tomboy and I prefer bold colour.

Not only pink, they also have another set ( so in total there are 3) which is peach colour, but nah, I have one from MAC.

SO I love this one so much and you can build up the colour from light red up to deep red. Just use your finger or lip brush.
But since the red lipstick is matte based, it's better to use primer/lipbalm first then apply the lippy--> lipgloss.
Btw, when I am writing this blog, there is this dog that keeps howling whenever those AC-Television-Furnitures cars prowling around the hood. They use these BIG microphones so people can hear them coming to call them over and pick up unused electricity appliances etc.

But really, THEY'RE LOUD... babies can cry and jump from their sleep because of their loud noises! ARGH... :p
Oh well, kinda used to it since the Japanese politicians often do the same as well, with their cars and Travel around making speeches.

I wonder why Australia would not do the same? Maybe some of us might be too aggressive so when we see one we'll jump straight at them? Phewww...!! Tough being an OZ but gotta be proud as well right? hehehe

Anyway, lastly, I would like to show the video of the Shu Uemura 2010 Christmas Collection so that you can see their advertisement video. PLUS:::::: THEIR LINK in Japanese.

I am sure there is an English text but since I am in Japan and want to practice my eyes in Japanese, I gotta post it in Japanese. Oh, you can also get the prices from the website.

http://www.xmas-shuuemura.jp/#fortune

There you go!

Thanks for reading lovelies!

XOXO
Love,
Sasa

24th Birthday in JAPAN!!

2010-12-11T13:25:00.009+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

THIS is my 24th birthday celebrated in Japan, it's my 2nd time so, it feels as if I am in Japan for 2 years but actually not. It's just that my birthday is in December (7th to be exact!!) so I get to celebrate it!

So this is the people who celebrated my birthday with me!!! We made CHEESE FONDUE for the night!!! YEAY!!
And with generous KANPAI(s) with NO-ALCOHOL, because I am alcohol intolerant, we started our dining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehehe

The cheese was OK, as usual, Cheese or any dairy products in Japan is very weak in taste, it felt as if I was eating cream instead. LOL not cheese.
But since everybody was so nice, I love them alot, it really made my day!

And, since Fugu-chan worked like crazy during last week, I assumed he is not going to come AT ALL.

But HE CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only spent 2 hours in Tokyo and back to Tochigi which takes like 1.5 hours by Shinkansen one way.
He ordered this cake which says "Mellissa, we love you".

So sweet, and he gave me 2 presents. (One was like 2 weeks ago and another one on my birthday).

Everybody knew he was gonna come except me of course, and it was a pleasant surprise.
I was really touched but I am just the type of person who can not cry unless something upsets me badly.So here is me and him with my cake with a birthday song in the background!
And, FYI, Fugu-chan decorated the whole room with balloons and it took him the whole day, and I think it was the day when I did my JLPT test.

Thank you EVERYONE, I LOVE ALL OF YOU.
And Especially Fugu chan, the love of my life.

Now, I wonder whose cake this is, since I am not 23 years old! hahahahhahahha
This lady is actually a friend of mine, she's from Korea and her birthday is on the 8th which is exactly next to my birthday.

So at the exact 12 AM, we knocked on her door, sang her happy birthday and made her blew candles. Then we went downstairs (again) to cut her cake heheheheheehheeeeeeeeeeeeee
She's a sweet girl!
Me and her..... with her cake. hehehehe I gave her a neck-warmer present so that she doesn't feel cold. Love her to bits since she's cute.
All of us eating Fondue hahahahahahahahaha

I think this is one of the sweetest birthdays I had, it was a fond memory to have a special day celebrated with your friends and your beloved.

Thank you God for this opportunity and please bless everyone with happiness even though we may face a lot of upcoming troubles in the future.

IT WAS A DAMN AWESOME 24TH birthday..!!!!

Oh, a friend of mine also wrote me a poem, he wrote this 25 lines of poem by himself.
And also a necklace by the same person with my initial 'M'.
He's awesome.

Sorry this post is not really about Japan but about myself and OAKHOUSE RYOGOKU.
I hope you like what you read and that this house is totally awesome.

XOXOXO
love,
Sasa

New HairStyle!!!!!

2010-12-06T19:58:00.013+11:00

NEW HAIRSTYLE ALERT!!!! ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!ALERT!!!!

Yes, I had a new haircut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you like it ladies and gentlemen?

<<<<<<<<

>>>>>>>>>BEFORE

AFTER>>>

I AM VERY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to admit I found the hair salon through a lot of vain for example I went through the Hot Pepper magazine, lurking around Shibuya, Kinshichou and Ryougoku.

Then, I figured that I should try searching in the Internet, I finally found it.
It is called

Watanabe Hair Salon
Address: Sun Beauty Harajuku B1
2-25-6 Jingumae Shibuya-Ku Tokyo 150-0001 Japan
Telephone: 03-3405-1188
Fax: 03-5411-5633
Website: www.watanabe-hair.com

I went to their website and pulled out my courage to call their English-line and ended up talking in Japanese because well, I want to practice my Japanese. hehehe

Anyways, they asked "do you have any preference on who you want to get a haircut with?"
I said the Art Director which is famously called by the name of "Chie Funakura".

We have a splendid time chatting in this underground salon!
It was not that hard to find this salon if you follow the directions on the website.
But what I found most interesting is the entrance INTO the salon.

The entrance is decorated with the Salon's placard, and it was black slogan, entrance was dark and gloomy, it was awesomely mysterious. I mean it evokes my curiousity!!
After the entrance you will be greeted by a portrait of this lady (below).
Then you will descend the stairs and there you go through your usual regime in salons.
You leave your things with them and you will start on having one-on-one consultation time with your hairdresser.

I wanted to have this Fresh, New Life ! That was my THEME, so I believe she pictured this concept and I believe she executed everything splendid!
My Hairdresser can speak English well because she used to live in London before for 4 years and she has heaps of experience and it is easy to talk to her.
So you do not need to worry on communicating because I know how hard it is to get a real nice haircut according to your wishes and I think Chie-san understands this COMPLETELY.

The person who shampooed my hair is really nice too, Unfortunately I did not get to catch his name at all.
He had Indonesian friends before and loved Mie Goreng so we had a good fun talk as well.

I can ensure you, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

Chie Funakura has MADE my DAY better for ever and ever :D

Oh, by the way do you know that when I stepped outside and crossed the Harajuku St back to Takeshita Street, I got approached by a woman who asked for my hair.
She clearly identified that 'oH You just got a new haircut, it looks really nice. and bla bla bla"

I wrote bla bla bla because after that I do not understand one thing she said! hahaha
So I will just take it as a praise. :D

I paid a good amount but I think it's worth it.
This is my 2nd time going to a hairsalon in Japan and trust me, I will keep on going back to this Salon as long as I am in Japan, no matter if I live in Okinawa hehe Just kidding.

Alright, This is just an update on my looks!!! Everybody was amazed even Fuguchan said "You look prettier and different".

Yeah I took it as him saying that he got a new girl (but actually same girl just different hairstyle) hehehehehehehehehe

Thank you Watanabe Hair Salon and Chie!

PS: if you want to go there, please make an appointment so that you can have an enjoyable time chatting with your hair dresser. :)

Tsukiji Party

2010-11-24T17:08:00.011+11:00

On the Wednesday of 勤労感謝の日(Labor Thanksgiving Day) which is the 23rd of November, I went out with my Church friends to Tsukiji. Since it is a public holiday, we decided to go to Sushizanmai!
(LEFT): In front of me: Stella --> her friend, Scan, Mac.
(Right): Me, Victor, Aji, Franky.

Sushizanmai is A Sushi-chained-restaurant, and pretty well-known here in Tokyo. They have 3 restaurants in Tsukiji and I went to the Honten (the mother resto).
They open 24/7, HALLELUJAH to SUSHI and SUSHIZANMAI. LOLLLLLL

I succeeded in persuading the 3 people on my table to eat ABURITORO, SHAKO and AKAGAI.
hahahahahahhahahahahhahahaha

How to get to Tsukiji:
-By Hibiya Sen (subway): Get off at H10 (Tsukiji Station/ Tsukiji Eki), take Exit 1 and walk pass Hongan-Ji (the European Temple looking building) and cross the Big Intersection.
(U only need to walk straight no right or left turns/crossings) and you will directly see the big placard SUSHIZANMAI.

- By Oedo Sen (subway): Get off at TsukijiShijo Station and follow directions. l

Since it is located in the outer market of Tsukiji Fish Market, you can also look around after eating your meal with a tummy full of fish hehehehe

I feel so happy that they took me out.
I felt so entertained and feel so burden-free! They all missed me so much since most of them haven't seen me for 3 weeks!!
And especially it is MAGURO(tuna)-EATING-TIME. LOL

I thought it will be an -all Indonesian lunch gathering but instead, my friend brought her Japanese friend who is her classmate!

I ended up paying 2400 Yen per person and we had 4 people.
Me, Stella, Asuza and Victor. hahahaha

I think Vic always has this "I am ready" pose everytime I try to take picture LOL. What an awesome poser :P

I think the picture below is hilarious!!!
You know that if you take the Oedo Sen (Subway), their exit @ the RYOGOKU Station will present you with this FREE Sumo booth to take pics with your friends!

Just like what I DID! hahahahahaha
We are all kinda fit to be sumo wrestlers hahahaha
They all wanted to come into my house but I think Oakhouse will break loose, trying to with held our weight. LOL

They wanted me to go with them to Asakusa to sing @ Karaoke and just walk about along the Sumida-river, but I didn't go. I studied instead.

It was refreshing after many things happened.
I know things will never go back the way it used to be.....................
But hey, regret always comes last.

Just focus on the future you know. LOL
Love
XOXO
SASA

Korean BBQ In Oakhouse Ryogoku!

2010-11-23T04:27:00.008+11:00

On Saturday the 20th, we had a KOREAN BBQ Party!!!!

Damn Awesome! The master chef, Choi-san (Left) from Korea is so nice he bought all these awesome awesome Korean meat, and made 2 types of soup for us here the residents of Oakhouse Ryogoku!

We had all the salad lined up, the soy-paste, the yummiest slices of grilled beef, the super mouth-salivating soup and rice, it was just never ending party!

I told him that we should have this once per month but he said that the next time we have one it will be me (Indonesian food).
Geeze, making traditional food is NEVER easy.
Oh, before we started I made a starter it was Fried Chicken Mayonnaise. Everyone LOVED IT.
Here is the picture! (above!).
LOL
Then, I received a cocoa-coated chocolate cake from Fugu-chan, he brought it to me in the morning. He said that he bought it on the lobby of the fanciest hotel in Ryogoku. LOL
It costs him a lot he said. LOL
The Master Chef is the one on the far right and thanks Fugu chan for taking the pic. LOL
Too bad, Kan-chan came late and Nii-chan did not come at all or maybe because I was gone already to bed... LOL
I wonder why I am not a strong drinker.
There are more pictures that depict the awesomeness but my iphone camera does not fit every single thing so this will do!!!
AGAIN, this is superb divine food that might envy your eyes, your tongue, your hands and your TUMMY.

I loveeeeeeeeeeeee FOOD! LOL
SO... happy reading !!!

XOXO
Sasa

KanChan's Birthday!

2010-11-12T00:59:00.013+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAN-CHAN

So today's my housemate's birthday! We celebrated her 23rd in a really marine-life-look alike restaurant! The entire atmosphere is comfortable enough and the lights are dimmed to create the under the sea effect!

This is inside the room and behind it is an aquarium.

We had nomihoudai which is "all you can drink" + food enough for 5 persons.

For 2 hours we paid 3500 Yen and really loved it!

We all had fun taking turns to ask Kan-chan a question about herself!
And, it was great finding out more info from her.LOL

This restaurant is located in Yurakuchou, so basically you have to ride the train on Yamanote-Line.

The address, hmm... I will give you the details if you post me a message requesting for the details.

I am not really fond of dark rooms but I think it is quite romantic just to eat casually on a Friday night.

On the right here is Yaya, Me and Choi-san (from Korea).

With 3500 yen with your friends surrounding you, I don't think anyone will sulk on their birthday!

You made wishes, move on, and suddenly you're one year older.

Life passes you in a blink of an eye.
But life would be a waste without having fun and enjoying what life has to offer you.

TONIKAKU!!
This is Yurakuchou at night, Yurakuchou is in Tokyo! Just after Tokyo Station and next to Ginza!!!
Really pretty huh?!!!!!!

hahaha

And lastly, A picture of me, wearing make-up.
Foundation liquid: Shu Uemura Liquid Foundation Architect
Powder: Revlon
Eyes: all Maquillage Bright Contrast Eyes
Lips: Revlon

Have Fun Reading people!

XOXO
Sasa

Piling Up Days

2010-11-05T16:02:00.005+11:00

Haha, I am reminiscing my days in Chiba Dormitory! This pic was taken on the day of Thanksgiving I believe, urgh, I forgot!
I miss everyone in Chiba University.

Anyway, the end of the week is already here and I am sure we are all tired.
Unlike in Australia, Japan is a country where people constantly work 24/7, NOT literally 24/7 but maybe 16/7. hahaha

Most companies still require their employees to come in during the weekends but I believe it is unhealthy.
Around yesterday, I was standing near the exit door beside a really SLEEPY MAN.

I mean, he was sleeping - standing and I can guarantee you if the train door kept closed, I am sure he would've fallen to the ground and just snored away. lol

If I have a company, I would give appropriate treatments to my subordinates, making sure they work in their most optimum conditions.
LACK of SLEEP = Moody, Stressful, Lacking Team Effort, Introvert and trigger many health issues.

Apart from that, I should watch my own health!!!

I have announcements to make!
(YEAY TO HAPPINESS)

1. I am going to start my GYM Regime again! YEAY!! And I will be making video blog about my weight loss once per week on Youtube.

2. I just applied for work permission today in the school for shuushoku seikatsu! (Finding employment!). I have gunned myself with certificates from 2 prestigious universities (University of Sydney and Chiba University), better try than do nothing right?

3. Going to do Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken N2 this upcoming December!

More exciting stuff is this weekend! I am going to watch a Theatrical play （演劇）called Monro.
On Saturday at 5 pm in Shinjuku with Mr.Fugu!
I am looking forward to that!!

Apart from that, Tokyo is getting really cold, it was 11 Degrees Celcius and people have been wearing scarves and long jackets.

Oh yes, Japanese women wear a lot of boots but the other day I saw a short program on how Wearing Boots for too long leads to Swollen feet because boot soles are flat and the space for the calves is inadequate for the calves to move.

Especially if you sit and work in the Office for 5 hours with occasional walks to the toilets, your ankles can swell up to 2-3 cm in addition to your normal ankle measurements.

So how do you solve this?
According to the program, you have to massage your feet, ankles, and to make circles with your ankles and it will return to its original state.

WOW! I don't have boots, I guess I will never have this problem. LOL
Japanese women' shoes size is much too small for me. Only 22.5-24.5 cm. And I usually go for 25.5 to 26 cm!
(I know I am just putting random pics) LOL

This is why I have to go to International brands like H&M, Zara etc.

But, I was lurking around in 0101 Department Store in Kinshichou the other day and I saw a boutique for larger feet!
Maybe I should try going there.

Anyways, since the past 3 days have been really nice!! I am going to do my 2nd round of laundry and plan my study for my upcoming Exam.

Yeah, I succumbed to my friend's request to do the exam on Monday.
So plenty of time for me to study!

YEAH!!

Love y'all God bless

XOXO
Sasa

Halloween Day

2010-11-02T21:05:00.008+11:00

After almost 3.5 weeks not seeing Mr.Fugu cos he was on a business trip to Mie, we finally met up!

Yes yes, alot of arguing but also a lot of memories that need to be cherished were made!

I can assure you that! (FROM THE ARGUMENTS we had).

Me and Fugu are total complete Definite Opposites in E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

But hey, that what makes life interesting isn't it.

If not, it will be boring. :D

Neways, he came 2 days before Halloween and it is so thoughtful of him to celebrate Halloween by buying me cute candles.

And not only that, he bought me a Studying Charm from the famous Ise Shrine which is located in Mie-ken Prefecture to dedicate Japan's Goddess called Amaterasu.

And he also bought me jelly Halloween stickers and stick them all over in my room. I KINDA feel my room is a bit spooky now hahahahaha

But anyways, I love them, even though I was kind of wishing more.

He did not even give me a specific present for my graduation. LOL

Nevertheless, I should be grateful enough.

More updates from me later on. Just hold on

XOXO

Sasa

Graduation Day in Hong Kong

2010-10-29T15:07:00.006+11:00

Dear fellow readers,

I have finally graduated after grueling years in the University of Sydney as one of the Bachelor of Arts students from 2006-2010. Sounds long?

Because I saved up credits to apply for the Chiba University 2009-2010.

I missed out on the 8th of October 2010 graduation and instead went to the one in Hong Kong, JW Marriott Hotel on the 26th at 7 pm.

Check out my photo:

I will make this world a better place.

With my intelligence and God's blessing, I hope I can be of use to the world and to the people around me and make my parents proud.

Thank you for viewing my blog.

And Long live USYD and Japanese Studies and IR/HRM

XOXO

Sasa

Ps: I have fever for 2 days now. T_T

My dinner for tonight!!

2010-10-21T21:06:00.005+11:00

My version of : LAWSON'S UDON NOODLE SOUP

LOL...

I bought the udon, the udon sauce, the seaweed, the eggs everything from the 100 Yen shop

Don't you just love 100 yen shop in Japan? LOL

Well how to make?

1. Boil one packet of udon.

2. Pour the Udon sauce (it comes in a bottle and says Udon Tsuyu).

(It depends on your liking, if you like it salty, pour more, if not then less is better. So it is always BETTER to pour less first and later on building it up little by little).

3. Crack the egg and just put it in along with the udon and boil together.

4. When the udon is soft and the egg is done (1/2 cooked or hard boiled), pour them into your bowl.

Additional:
-Add seaweed!! (I used dried seaweed but with hot water they go back to their original state).

-Add chili oil.

-Add more chili Powder

(I AM A CHILI /SPICY CHICK). :p

So there YOU GO.

EASY dinner/lunch for a chilly night in Japan.

September Love

2010-09-28T17:28:00.008+10:00

Long time no Post.

Many things happened!!!

What are they?

1. I failed my final exam but I re-did it last Monday and passed it. Now I am in ADVANCED JAPANESE CLASS and oh my God they're hard.

2. I went back to Sydney for 2 weeks SO ....it's like BINGE-EATING non stop..lol and as a result.....*see point #3*

3. I gained another 4 kilos.

4. My graduation will be held in Hong Kong with no friends except my family.

5. I found the love of my life... :D

This is him.

I have a lot of things to do for the future so, a good plan should be written and be done.

Oh btw, I just made a poem it's in indonesian and called "Rindu".

Here it is

Rindu padamu

Bagai teriris ujung pisau

Perih meresap

Ke dalam pembuluh darah

Rindu yang panjang

Seakan memalu hati

Meleleh rasa hati jiwa

Menggapai mencoba mencari

Rindu-ku

Begitu pilu

Sampai air mata

Dan kata hanya terbata

Because fugu-chyan (yes I gave him that nickname) always goes awaaaaaaaaaaaay on Shucchou (business trips) to here, there, everywhere.... I always miss him greatly.

That is when things go bad, my mind just starts eating my heart.

LOL

But I want to think positively from now on.

Apart from that, I am looking forward to my graduation in Hong Kong on the 26th of October WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEHE

okay,

see you all..

XOXO

Sasa

Doubt

2010-09-09T21:12:00.003+10:00

I wish life is sweet like this oinari-san, when you bite it all that is squeezed out is the sweetness from the sweet egg layer. Yummo....

I am currently right now in the position of doubting.

Doubt. Who likes being in doubt?

Who likes that word anyway?

You are uncertain about the future.

Uncertain about what will happen to you.

In your head is just non-stop worries.

I wish I can stop these evil thoughts, they are swirling and tingling and eating my brains out.

I think I should start thinking more positively.

Even if I failed my grammar test.

Even if I don't know how serious that guy is with me.

I will just surrender things in God's hands and still walk moving on!

Help me God.

Help me...

XOXO

Sasa

Funny Thing :p

2010-08-21T10:41:00.002+10:00

Sorry for the really late blog, I obviously have been MIA for a long-long time.

I just had my mid-semester exam in my school and I can tell you that I did not do too bad but it was not too good either.

Anyways, I went to Karaoke 3 days ago and I just noticed a sign board on the wall and got to take a picture of it.

THIS IS THE REASON WHY I COULD NOT FIND THE RECEPTION DESK!!!!!!!!!!!

O.. Japan..

XD XD

Love,

Sasa

Missing Skateboarding in Japan

2010-07-30T20:22:00.004+10:00

I don't know why but I am ONCE AGAIN excited jumping on the skateboard.

Unfortunately, I do not have any skateboards on me even though I planned to buy one ever since I moved to Japan last year.

I have spotted skateboard shops around Harajuku, but I prefer riding on free skateboards.

Would not anyone agree with me? LOL

By the way, it is very rare to see a girl skater in Japan nonetheless the guys' skaters.

They are just hidden or maybe riding somewhere in an indoor skate buildings.

I've seen more of them around ever since I moved to Tokyo though and I am so happy if I spot one either in Yoyogi park or just watching some Youtube girls skateboarding. hehe

Anyone up for a skateboarding companion? lol

Cheers

Sasa

XOXO

26th July 2010: EEL DAY

2010-07-28T00:19:00.005+10:00

Every year we have a day called the "EEL DAY" or "UNAGI DAY".

Everyone eats eel on this day but seriously, I did not eat any unagi!

When my friend told me there is a Unagi Day I could not believe him until I see the sign with my own 2 eyes.

It turns out he is right!

I was amused but at the same time wonder whether Japanese might have any other days that celebrate food, maybe Natto Day? hauhauhauhuahahahaahhaah (eeuw- sorry I just dislike the smell not the taste).

Thanks for reading.

SOrry for the late update.

Cheers,

Sasa

XOXO

Week 10: The After Exam

2010-06-11T17:48:00.006+10:00

HAH!!!!!!!!

Finally, the heaviest stress-load from my brain is GONE!!!!!

Not entirely but ALMOST!

Well, let's not talk about exam because my head is like scrambled eggs and I don't want it to go even mushier.

After I went back from school, I met my ex-housemate who is crashing in our house tonight and glad to have him back! He bought Marimo youkan from Hokkaido and it is SO-SWEET!

Because I was STURRRRVIIINGGG (read: starving), I went to Uzuki, the Ramen-shop behind my house where I often talk with the ten-ins there!

Funny thing is I called the waiter as Ten-Chou which means (Shop Owner) when in fact the shop owner is this old guy who is working in the kitchen. LOL

I was so embarassed.

The Ten-in who he proclaimed himself as "Nii-san", asked me Qs and as he shot all those bullet questions.. AND... I played along. LOL

He said "So you can speak and read English, Japanese and Chinese?"

I said.."no not chinese, but Indonesian."

And he said "wow, Indoneshia-go mo, atama ga ii yo ne"

Which means "wow.. Indonesian language too, you're clever arent you"

WHICH I HAVE TO DENY, that is just the way it is in Japan.

DENY ALL PRAISES!!!!!!! U HEAR ME? :D

So anyways, I got to know the ten-chou (yes, the real one) and his crew (all guys).

For the first time I also got the stamp card, I never knew there is a stamp card and it's good cause I go to Uzuki once per month or twice per month depending on my mood.

Neway, I really love Ryougoku even though it is a very quiet area, unlike Kinshicho or Akihabara...

People are friendly and feels like family.

I also applied to become a free-lance blogger in Oakhouse, sent them e-mail and introduced myself to them but I have not had any reply yet!

May Jesus Christ my Father, my groom, my All- works His ways in my life.

All I can do right now is just make efforts, I can only lay my faith and hope in Him.

And may whatever plans He has in me be completed.

Okay, I think I need to get ready for the Persekutuan Doa tonight in NakaMeguro.

WOOHOO... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday and Happy Thanks God It's Friday!

XOXO

Sasa

Week 10: Hell Week

2010-06-10T15:42:00.003+10:00

Well.. well.. what can I say, week 10!!

A lot of things happened last week but I have no time for a long story so just to make it short, I am going to conclude that I am in the middle of my exam week.

It only goes for 3 days, today tomorrow and next Monday.

I thought today is reading a composition and then read it aloud in front of the teacher, but in fact it's a READING TEST as in.. read a composition, how stupid can I be?? MUAHAHA

Seriously, morning classes cause me brain dead.

Anyway, I used up the whole 50 minutes that the teacher gave us to fully answer all the questions AND.. to be honest, I am not confident at all.

But you know what, life must go on and currently I am going to study for my next exam which is tomorrow mostly on vocabs, grammar and Kanji.

The 1st hour consists of the choukai (listening).

Oh God, I suck @ this. LOL

Please pray for me. hehehehe

XOXO

Sasa

Week 9: End. OMG...

2010-06-04T23:38:00.003+10:00

I love this pic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Me and my church friends went to this KBox near Suidobashi Eki)

Firstly, I would like to express my apologies for not updating!

It's been a tough 2-3 weeks I think since the last blog.

I am just always literally tired and I think I know the cause!

It's that I've been spending too much time outside my school time and in addition to that, I need to wake up early every morning!

Poor time management to be exact.

I don't want to waste my time and since next week is my final exam week (Thursday, Friday and the Monday after), I need to organise myself and slap my cheeks hard if I stray away from my priorities.

All I need to do right now is make a study plan for L.1- L.8 and NAIL THAT DAMN TEST and apply everything in my daily life so that I can improve my Japanese! :D

ISSHOKENMEI BENKYOU SHIMASHOU!

Week 7: 忙しい週だっ！Busy　Week

2010-05-20T19:46:00.009+10:00

Wow, it's already Week 7!!!

I missed out on Week 6, urgh, I feel Japan is draining me out!!!

You know, time flies when you enjoy your life OR when you are just being lazy. LOL

But to be honest, I enjoy my life.

Every day I go to my Nihongo Gakkou and study my brains out, intense course to be honest but nevertheless I enjoy studying kanji, grammar and I am so thankful to my Father in heaven who always supports me and also my family!

The picture above, is.. DURIANS! OMG, who does not love durians?

On the 15th of May 2010, I went to the Thailand Festival 2010 in Yoyogi Kouen (Yogogi Park) with my 3 friends, 2 of whom I met on the day.

Here is us: Me, Lian, Thai guy i dont know his name sorry haha and Maria.

I ate heaps of food OMG, the food there is total slurpies, yummies, you'll KO yourself from food ecstasy just like I did. LOL

We also took some photos like this one "freakin hilarious"
I'm the one in the middle!!! hehehehe
WHO HAS THE BIGGEST SEXIEST HANDS THAN ME, BABY. hehehehehehe

Well, I was like so ecstatic from eating durians, even the smell flew me to heavens above! It just tastes so good, and I paid 500 yen for 2 pieces... kechi da!!! LOL they should give me 3 for 500 yen!!! argh.. rip off!

And I ate Tom Yum, seriously, I have never tasted TOm Yum this good in my life!
PS: Tom Yum is like Thai soup, really spicy and sour, usually there's mushroom and prawns (i chose prawns) and I shared it with my friend.

Check out the pic:

Both of us really loveeee spicy food, we even added more chili. hahahahahahaha
Crazy Indonesians. :P

Then, I took a pic in front of Tuk Tuk... awesome tuktuk, what is it called in Indonesian?
Bajaj or Bemo? I have no idea!
We don't have it in Australia! :D
Cute TUK-TUK!!

OMG, I so love multicultural countries..... hehehe

So that is all that happened last week!!!

Everytime I update my blog I am always one week behind hahaha I should have just posted this as Week 6 even though I am writing it in Week 7.

What are my plans this week (remainder of this week):

Make glitter balls for a friend's wedding.
Email USYD
Finish all my Japanese Homework
Be a really good salesman @ the Indonesian Bazaar in Takadanobaba no Megumi Grace Chapel.

I get the feeling I'll be really tired. Hahaha but I know God will give me strength.

Okay, God bless you all
XOXO
Sasa

Week 5: 3-4 May 2010 Church Youth Camp (Last Week)

2010-05-12T21:07:00.007+10:00

Please forgive me for the really late update on my blog here!! I just finished my part-test today in my Language school and it really caused me huge headache.

This time, I dedicate my blog for what occurred last week!

On the 3rd-4th of May 2010, my church the Gereja Interdominisili Injili Indonesia Tokyo went to Atami Himenosawa Shizen no Ie for church camp.

This is my first time participating in a camp in Japan, I've been to several youth camps in Sydney, of course, I've lived there half of my life. :D

We went to the site by bus, and I picked the smaller one because it is quieter so I can sleep.
People who know me well definitely agree that I need sleep.
I was the registration committee and practically handled everything on my own, lack of sleep, and continuous calls and taking care of the registrations, it is such a treacherous work!

If it wasn't for God's help I think I would have fallen sick and unable to get up everyday till camp day.
For example:
Some people called me like at 1 am in the morning, some called me like 4-5 times per day, some called me at 7 am in the morning because they have work at 8 am so there's no other time to contact me and yea, not everyone has facebook.
The continuous, never-ending updating and, in addition to that I also took care of the payment for 90+ participants all by myself (some people helped but mostly me... ) *phew*

I am not complaining, but I would just like to share my experience.
However, I am so glad I was given the responsibility and to be honest, I like taking responsibilities.
You know more about yourself and how to handle situations and know which people you can rely on.

On top of that, I was chosen as one of the 2 singers with my friend Uno. She helped me a lot, so thank you Uno :D

Below is the picture of me and my friends in the bus. Heheheheee
Yea, I got punched on the face .. me just like rough rough LOL

Above is me and Uno and our Worship Leader, Maknyus (not real name) for our second session (2nd day).

And this is everyone in the youth camp 2010.
I am so glad that everything went well, the camp site is beautiful too. It overlooks a mountain, hill, steep slopes, it feels as if we really take things for granted you know, and by going to the camp, you feel that you are refreshed and just have to be grateful for everything that you have experienced and have in this life.

I am definitely changed during this camp, I renewed my commitment to God and since then stick through it till today (and it's almost 1.5 weeks, YEEHAA).

Talking about temptations? It is EVERYWHERE.
BUT, you have to have self-control, self-disciplined and motivation to want to change!

You can not and EVER let your old self return!!
I never regret one single thing that happened, many hurtful stuff and depression, but you know what, I have God and a great positive family!!!
Everyone is just so POSITIVE and I love it!!!!

PS: actually during the camp, I was a bit sick, my left ear went deaf because I had a blocked nose on my left nostril, thanks God everything went well. PRAISE THE LORD always.

So, I leave this one last picture for you all to enjoy. hehehehe
BREATHTAKING.

Week 3: The Mid-Week

2010-04-21T22:09:00.007+10:00

Fugu is so cute!

What is a fugu?

Fugu (河豚, 鰒, フグ^?) is the Japanese word for pufferfish and is also a Japanese dish prepared from the meat of pufferfish (normally species of genus Takifugu,Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides) or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon. Because fugu is lethally poisonous if prepared incorrectly, fugu has become one of the most celebrated and notorious dishes in Japanese cuisine. (Wikipedia).

hahahaha

Sorry, that is so random.

Mid-week is pretty much moody, stressful and so un-focussed.

I had my sho-tesuto today and I did not read through the composition so I forgot a few Kanji. ARGH!!!

But it's OK. I will do better next time! I need to give myself a break.

Anyway, I posted a song by Human Nature and this instantly reminds me of how much I used to love Human Nature.

Maybe it is the only Australian pop band that I like. My sis used to like Silverchair, it's more of a rocker type thing. LOL

I remember the most melancholic but one of my favourites has to be Don't Say Goodbye, HANDS DOWN!

It is very mellow, melancholic, depressing song ever, but these days where Lady GAGA, Kesha reign the pop charts and oldies are forgotten, this may be a reminder and an irony why do artists never make this kind of songs anymore.

But, one of the better ones (and not so depressing) is Last to Know.

Oh well, just enjoy the MV and the song. Attached is the lyrics.

"Last to Know"

Where does love go
When you're not in love?
How does it feel when nobody wants it?
Tell me, does it float around
Like a little lost cloud
When a heart is not it's home?
What does love do
When it's not being used?
Feeling like it just don't belong
Tell me, is it laying awake in
the middle of the night
Just thinking 'bout what went wrong?
'Cause when I look in your eyes
It's just not there
When I hunger for affection
The cupboard is bear
I don't know why I heep holding on
When love's got the message
and it's already gone

Why am I always the last to know?
Tell me why is it always me alone
Still dancing when the party's over
Why am I always the last to see
Just a fool who believes you're
still in love with me
Even love can see it's over
I'm always the last to know

[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/4GT ]
What do I do
'Till I'm back on my feet
Do I hang around and try to pretend
That I'm really over you
And it won't take long
'Till love says it's my turn again

'Cause when I look in your eyes
It's just not there
When I hunger for affection
The cupdoard is bear
I don't know why I keep holding on
When love's got the message
and it's already gone

Why am I always the last to know?
Tell me why is it always me alone
Still dancing when the party's over
Why am I always the last to see
Just a fool who believes you're
still in love with me
Even love can see it's over
I'm always the last to know

The next time I fall
I'll be taking my time
To find out if her heart is mine

Why am I always the last to know?
Tell me why is it always me alone
Still dancing when the party's over
Why am I always the last to see
Just a fool who believes you're
still in love with me
Even love can see it's over
I'm always the last to know

Cheers,

XOXO,

Sasa

Week 3: The Game

2010-04-20T01:04:00.005+10:00

Life's been pretty good lately, seriously.

I feel God has answered one of my prayers in life, at least for now :)

Even though there are many mishaps such as being ID-checked by Japanese policemen TWICE!! (at least that's how I think of it hahaha)

Killer teacher in school!!

Also, having a fugu attack and causing numbness.

I, with all my heart, am willing to accept humbly. I will not complain, brood, or curse myself or God.

OF course, He is the one who creates me.

I have to accept myself and same goes for everyone out there who doubts themselves.

You have to be strong!!!

You are not alone!!!

You know..............

I will slowly smile again.

I will slowly laugh again.

I will slowly regain my confidence.

I will improve and perpetuate the things that need to be carried on.

I will too, someday, love again.

Because God is love... in Him, I have hope and faith.

I believe like a little child, that everything happens for the best, in His time not ours.

So in the meanwhile,, embrace life and no regrets.

Week 2: Shopping LOL

2010-04-17T00:54:00.010+10:00

Hello everyone!!
The above picture is me in an H&M dress.
Shoes that I wore: Vanity Beauty.
Belt: Bought in 1010.

I don't usually dress up in this kind of attire, it is due to the fact that I was performing an acapella with my friends in Church for the Easter Celebration on the 4th of April.
This is our group:

One guy is absolutely hilarious. He literally needs to tune up his voice with his I-phone E.V.E.R.Y. SINGLE T.I.M.E hahahahaha
One time we had a rehearsal and his mom came to visit him to Japan along with the rest of his family and she said "My son can sing?". Really, if my mom were to doubt me, I'd be crushed. hahaha

The above picture... me and my friend were cosplaying in a friend's birthday party on the 9th of April. (I know I know I am catching up on my life here in BLOGGER!! BEAR WITH ME).

I was originally going to be a police officer with thick red lips and sexy handcuffs.. UNFORTUNATELY, Daiso (like 100 yen shop) in Inage (the place where I used to live- that is where the Chiba International Dormitory is located) doesn't have the police uniform so I have to resort to the fake WIG.

When I came in people were like 'OMG, MELLISSA, YOU ARE MORTICIA FROM ADAM'S FAMILY" and I'm like "That's not WHO I HAVE IN MIND. I'm just supposed to be oldddd". hahaha watever...

Okay, so I did so many shopping this week I can't believe myself. I have to blame SHIBUYA!!!
I bought all this in the Shibuya 109!!!! I love that malls.

As you all know, you can get to Shibuya with JR Yamanote Line (the loop train- you can just ride on it and it circles forever to all the major train stations in Tokyo such as Harajuku, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Nippori etc etc etc)

To get to Shibuya 109, you have to use the Hachiko Exit where you will see the Dog statue, famous because it waits for his (never returned) master for 11 years till it died. :D Sad story but it's supposed to be a punch for us humans who are not that faithful to our loved ones :P

Okay, these are the things that I bought:

SHOPPING PART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Cute Bow hair tie and cute bow hair clip.
2. A black bag.
I know it looks ugly that's why I bought... (next picture)

3. Long, black, jewelled belt with 2 hooks on each ends.
so that the end product will look like this:

Well, it's not that bad I think. Previously, I found a really cute, pretty, girlish bag, big enough to carry to school, church but it does not have a sling which I prefer and it's got a really deep scratch on it.

I said to the Tenin (shop keeper) that I am willing to wait for 2-3 weeks if they can order it for me. But then they said they will not order anymore and it's the last one in the whole shop. (I know all the business tricks and stuff... but I guess this time they were honest.)

I mean, I really love that bag, love at first sight. But it's not worth it you know, the condition of the bag and the price that I have to pay, I want it to be perfect and flawless and no dent, stain or scratch..... hehehe I know I'm fussy.

AND SO..............................................................................

If you can accessorise to make things look better for a cheaper price, why NOT!!
Don't settle JUST FOR PRICE you know. :D :D

MIX N MATCH.

Okay, so that's it in Shibuya.

Next, is shopping for Make Up....

Story: When I was in my Japanese class, the aunties ... haha.. not aunties but the 2 married women in my class were having conversations about cosmetics.

As a major fan of moisturiser, I have to join in their conversation and make contributions!! haha Sharing is a part of a girl's life you know... yea.. gossiping too (psst.. guys do it too!! haha)

Anyway, I heard some stuff about DHC and also Dr. Ce La Bo (? hahahaha i was thinking of placebo and placenta, whatever, it doesn't make sense... my brain that is.)

So, after providing them about my own experience of moisturiser which I bought, I found my way to Kinshichou (a station after Ryougoku) which is a major hub town centre, not as big as Akihabara or Chiba or Tokyo or SHibuya etc... but it is pretty nice to see all the major department stores there (they even have starbucks yeayyy)...

I set out to this Mall next to the train station called Livin.
On the 6th floor, they have the 100 Yen shop, despite what they advertised not everything is 100 yen (i know..BS), BUT THEY HAve cosmetic brands there like Maybelline, Revlon all the department store brands even canmake.. etc and.. yea.. you guessed it... they have DHC!!!!!!!!!!

So here are the things that I bought:

Left: DHC powder in Healthy
Middle: Maybelline Volume Express Hypercurl (Easy Wash in Black).
I tried this mascara last night when I was just dead bored and not wanting to do any HWK.
Because I have straight, not-thick Asian freakin eyelashes, I need to curl my lashes first with my curler (therefore, the Mascara is helpless even though it says it will curl eyelashes after you apply it).

After using the curler, I applied one layer, it dries up so quickly, and when I apply the 2nd layer I feel that it's so sleek, soft but as I said it dries quickly it tends to clump a bit. But I am quite happy. It doesn't feel heavy at all!

The reason why I did not buy the Waterproof one is because my eyelashes fall off easily. (I heard great reviews about the waterproof one).
And I hate rubbing off my eyes for waterproof make-up even though they hold your lashes/make-up well especially if you sweat or you have an oily skin.

The tube is rather large and short, very chubby if you may say so.
But with the pretty chromatic pink circle that wraps the upper top of the tube's mouth it's really girly and feminine.
The brush is really thick and not suitable for my short eyelashes near the corner of my eyes.

I also have read from one blog that she gets clumps and needs to brush it out.
But I think it is because (AGAIN!) it dries quickly.

Well, in the end this is my 1st mascara ever since Anna Sui Mascara that I used to own in Sydney. I love Anna Sui mascaras because they smell nice like rose. Not like those chemical smells that leave you feeling dizzy.

Okay, I think I will give this Mascara about 7 (because I have short eyelashes, it dries too fast, the brush is too thick).
Lovin it because it's a pretty design, it does not weigh your lashes down, soft and silky and does hold your lashes AND, easy to remove. heheheeeeeee (just the way I want).

Right: Kose - Moisture Mild
I like this moisturiser because for one and only sole reason, NOT OILY and feels like a moisturiser without feeling too watery.
One word: GREAT.
Now all I need is eye cream I am AGING.. FAST and I am not even 24 yet. LOL

This is DHC scrub: apricot and black sesame seeds grinded to its finest textures.

I tried this product and it does not leave my skin dry, chapped or peeled off. I really recommend people using this after you wash your face using your regular face wash.

Only use this 1-2x/week.
I just get the impression if you use scrub too much, your face will produce more oil.

I mean, scrub is there to SCRUB off dead skin cells.
One more important information, if you have severe pimples I do not really recommend using scrub. It may irritate your pimples more and cause them to flare.

I also bought this one in Shibuya. I bought this product because it says that it's for hair (d'uh, obviously) heuheuhe.

And it says "silk pro-design". Anything with silk and hair, I WANT. lolllll
WHY?
Because I am always attracted to things with those words in it.

The 1st time I tried it, I squeezed too much out of the tube and just slathered them to my hair and yea... too much of anything is never good.

But hey, with the right amount, actually it left my hair straight and not frizzy. Especially at the ends.
It does not have any smell to it.
I would prefer if it has, but I usually spray my perfume to my hair anyway.

So enough about shopping!!

This week there is nothing much that's been going on in school. Except for the grueling homeworks, the all spontaneous answering and creating grammar sentences on the spot!

What I like about the Naganuma School is that we have this Laboratory where we need to practice our intonations.

It is so funny speaking to the computer and listen to the recorded voice and repeating and analysing the mistakes.
In this way, you will improve your intonations.

Western people tend to use power/strengths/stresses in their speech. Chinese people have a hard time saying the du (tzu), everything with ten-ten.
But Japanese people tend to use the high and lows in their voice to distinguish the particles, endings etc.
I myself have big problems with combining "n" and 'ya/yo/ye" so if I need to say the word "Honya (book store)" I will say it like "Hon nya". hahahaha

Apart from that, from every Friday, I will attend the Naganuma circle where it is about Japanese and International cultures.

They say that we will take turns and teach the class something from our cultures.
Since I have 2 cultures embedded in me, I just need to choose either Indonesian or Australian. hahahahahahhaha

I feel grateful to be born in Indonesia and lived there for 11 years and grew up in Sydney for the next 11 years and I don't know where else will I stay. LOL

So, that is all the update I have for Week 2!!! hehe Looking forward to Week 3.

Week 1: New School

2010-04-05T19:53:00.008+10:00

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　写真の場所：　　奈良　(Nara）

It's been a while since I update anything in here. For the last 2 years, blogger's been my pillow for everything that I've experienced.

Ever since I joined Taekwondo in USYD, the Arts classes in USYD, my uni life, my love life, now I have to set them in discreet.
Can't blab them all in detail, ritteeeee?

UPDATEsssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. I have finished my exchange in Chiba University. YEAY!!!
2. I have moved to a new area called Ryogoku （両国）leaving all my beloved friends back there in 田舎　hahahaha.
3. I am going to a new school in Shibuya　（渋谷）, been said that it's a really strict Japanese language school from all the reviews and that's what makes it best. LOL *I'm the Queen of Lateness, this school will damage my reputation* LOL
4. I received an approval from a lecturer back in USYD for a change of subject. Now all I need is just to send all the documentations and ship them to University of Sydney. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for the credit transfer processes! It'll be problematic if things do not go well, massive headache!!　よかった！！

By the way, I really miss my bicycle. I left it in Chiba University dormitory（千葉大学寮） and have not picked it up at all. I'm scared it'll go rusty.
I want the home service post to deliver the bike to Ryougoku （両国）so I can travel around, cruising, slightly looking right and left who knows there are some cute guys around hehehe *smirk*

Well, I hope my bike is doing alrite there... I will pick u up someday baby. LOL

So anyway, what happened today?As usual, MANIN DENSHA!! （満員電車）(jam packed train) especially when I transferred（乗り換え） in Yoyogi　（代々木駅） on the Yamanote Line　（山手線） to Shibuya　（渋谷駅）. It's more horrendous!!

Honestly, I think SOMEBODY FARTED!!! *grosssssssssssss*（大おなら！！！）
i FEEL so sorry for my lungs. They have to work extra hard to filter out the toxic gas.
Seriously, next time, I'll just eat red beans, cabbage and eggs the night before.. HAH!! See if you can beat that you anonymous farter. LOL

It was a rainy day and really annoying...60% precipitation, gosh, Japan is really wicked when it comes to weather. Most of the time it's accurate. And today is one of those days.
It's just rain non-stop!!!　（一日中、雨が降ってっ！）
Sometimes I wish Australia can have this much rainfall because we need water so much.
Skip the weather topic! Then, I went straight to the school, registered and still unable to pick up my passport today.
I also did a placement test and they gave me the Basic 2 Elementary level and like 3 interviews in total to determine which class I belong to.

Finally... the result is.... i am in C1.
BAHAHAHAHA which means Chuukyuu 1 (Intermediate 1・中級1).
In this school Intermediate only has 2 levels. The higher one is called Intermediate 2 (C2) and the lower one is Intermediate 1 (C1).

Then, another interview（面接）!!!(ENDLESS, OMG)
But this time, I am quite lucky. The lady did not properly interview me, instead she was fascinated with this gorgeous boy（スペイン人） beside me LOL
I am used to this kind of treatment already, yeah... in Japan, I feel people judge you MORE based on your skin and face.

Using Indonesian here: boleh dibilang mereka memuja yang namanya orang bule.
But yeah, thank you （ありがとう）for judging me based on my appearance. Thank you for not conversing with me. Well, the guy has more experience anyway and his life story is very interesting unlike mine, DULL. hahahahha

Tomorrow, I have to arrive in school at least 20-30 mins early than usual to find out about the classes whereabouts.
That just means waking up at 6:00 AM.

I can't laze around and pull an allniter anymore, ey? Sucks. But at least my sleeping pattern will be back to normal and I really want to live a new, orderly life, better than before.

Most importantly, forget the bad memories I had in the past 6 months.
Surely I will always remember the good ones.

I am looking forward to a brand new day tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you God, my saviour Jesus Christ for giving me a chance to stay in Japan for another year.
I can't thank You enough.　（主様、ありがとう）

Cheers
XOXO
Sasa／ササ

My 4th last week in Chiba University

2010-01-21T12:19:00.007+11:00

Above is the group picture of the Architectural Design class field trip. I forgot where to.. OMG. hahahaha

Anyway, this is my 4th last week in Chiba University.

I am very sad when I think of spending my last few weeks here, the place where I fell in and out of love with people, the friendships I've made with countless numbers of people whom I treasure, the people I've found annoying to the bone but still grew some love for them in friendship and even the very open-minded Sensei who loves listening to my screwed-up Japanese for 2 hours every week and share a lot of love, family, career stories.

I truly met amazing people.

But the journey has yet to end.

I learn a lot and arriving in Japan with knowing little vocabularies and no Japanese friends (yeah, blame my gym regime for taking over most of my time hahaha i love gym too much in Sydney :P), I surely made it alright not due to my own strength but because of prayers FROM family and friends who put their tremendous faith in God that is by relying on God.

Counting down the days surely not making anything any easier, the more I know the day I am leaving, the bigger the cut I can sense in my heart.

I don't want to part from them, yes, the same feeling when I left Sydney.

I had to leave my beloved friends, the goodbyes, the hugs that maybe now I can claim back when I return hehehehehehe :P

Why DO I SOUND SO READY? ARE YOU REALLY LEAVING?

Well... I do have plans, but, I do not dare to write it here.

I may as well shame myself like I did in Popoki (this amazing small food shop near our uni where I talked too much).

No matter where God places me, I will be happy to go along because He is the one who placed me first in Japan, this country full of breath-taking sightseeing spots and nonetheless, the ridiculously tongue tingling foods. Yummm... im hungry now LOL

I have left out this blog almost throughout my exchange. But, I know I will write lots of things here since I've been nurturing it for the last 2 years.

Okay, I want to eat in Gajalu today. LOL hahahahahahahaha

Sumo wrestling competition tomorrow, no, not me... but the National Competition. hehehe

See you.

Love ya Papa J.

cheers from Mellon.

Japan: Counting down to my departure

2009-09-19T12:59:00.002+10:00

Yummy!!!! Look at that pic!!!! Ramen Ramen Ramen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay enough of the food pic.

There is only 3 days to my departure to Japan.
I am going to depart from Sydney on Wednesday by SQ (yeap, A380 mumbo jumbo jet here I COME!)
Then transit in Singapore, continuing flight to Japan-Narita Airport (with another A380).

What makes me happy is that I will be watching movies non-stop for 15 hours. HA HA HA
I can catch up all those movies that I have missed in my entire life!

Seriously, movie tickets in Sydney cost $14.00.
I remember when I was a kid, it only cost around $5.00 lol

I haven't packed my luggage yet, haven't taken my photos for future documents, OMG, I am so not ready!!!!!

I will keep you all updated.

In the meantime: I am having farewell every single day of my life, it is IN.SANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 8: Beginning

2009-09-07T20:35:00.008+10:00

(This pic here of a woman! This is what I think of a woman: nice bust, nice skin, and not afraid to show it off- as long as she doesn't sell her body!)

Oh my Gosh, it's been 3 weeks of non-blogging.

Obviously, I was stressing out, freaking out, chasing out my academic adviser to approve my credit points (such a waste of energy coz I ended up not submitting the credit points) haha

So, I'm just going to update you on my life. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.

On my student exchange to Japan:

-After gruelling, intense brain-quenchers of over worrying and stressing out (which caused my hair loss) , I have finally received the certificate!!! This small tiny 1 mm thick not even 1 mm.. probably 0.5 mm paper made me an insomniac in just a few weeks. DAMN. But I received it and REJOICED!! HALELUJAH JESUS. :P

2. On my preparation to Japan

-Currently, just exchanging the currencies from AUD$ to YEN, but damn, Yen is stronger, at one point it was 73 yen.

SUX but today it is better 78 Yen. LOL So, we exchanged it straightaway. It used to be like 94 yen for 1 AUD dollar... so if we exchanged 1000 dollars AUD, we could've gotten 94 000 yen. But now.. oh well.. just make do with it. hehe

Then I also got a new notebook, thanks Mom LOL It's not that light, 2.7 kg, 3 cellS battery oh sucks. But, I prefer my eyes not to go blind thank you! It's Sony Vaio NW15 yeahh.. got a free upgrade to 4gb RAM and a free bag.

3. On farewells

-I only had one farewell up to this moment from my TAFE, we ate in Wagaya. har - har -har

I said in the class that 'we are going to Wagaya' cos the group that I am in known as the Baka-Gumi (a.k.a. Stupid Group), have not been to Wagaya Restaurant before.

Then they said 'Oh, I have not been there, I've always wanted to go there but we have to book'.

And I calmly said 'Not to worry, I have booked the restaurant'. And they are all ecstatic!

Little did they know that I have many restaurant numbers in my handphone from top-notch to down little resto har-har-har. LOL

Address: 1/78 Harbour St Haymarket NSW 2000

Booking via SMS: +61 416 200 223 / Booking via phone: + 61 (2) 9212 6068.

4. On Animania Festival 2009- Sydney 5th September 2009

So on the 5th of September, I went to an Anime annual event.

I met my childhood idol (Sailormoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (pic above)

I went there with my friend whom I won't be mentioning his name. (pic above) lol But I will only upload his pics. LOL

Oh I wore that Cat headband thing, it cost like $25.00 but compare to others without ribbons and stuff, it kinda worth it. Still.. expensive.

Me and him were supporting our friend who participates in this festival every year!

(pic above) She's so talented, she did all the sewing, designing all by herself!! She's gorgeous too! As in, pretty cute HO HO HO

We queued for 1 hour on a sunny day, no shade NOTHING!! BOOOORINGGGG....... LOL

Inside, it was not as big as I thought since I thought the queue was long, surely this place is like.. heaps cool.

Well, it was COOL, but I wished for more vendors. I bought 3 badges for the price of $5.00, cute! I got one that has 'OTAKU BABE' on it. hahaha And I pinned it on my bag. LOL

There were sections divided in the area such as Karaoke, Main Stage, Video Games, Stalls, Games etc.

But one that caught my eye in particular is the Karaoke room. I thought I was bad enough, BUT apparently, there are many people out there who are far worse than me. LOL

I said to my friend 'When I want entertainment, I come here'. hahaha and we just laughed it off.

You know, not to be mean, but, it is there for ENTERTAINMENT.

I am sure they had fun too laughing as well cos they did laugh at themselves hahahaha.

The entry ticket price is $35.00 I mean it's ridiculous, I mean for that price at least we should get a free bottle of water. Y'know or like free coupon for an exchange of one tiny keyring of Animania 2009. SO STINGY!

But anyway, I had fun !

Even though I didn't get to stay at the very end cos I had to chase up my teacher and return his skateboard!!!!

So, enough about what happened during the weekend and I apologize for all the late entries, I don't even know who is reading my blog.

It's not that interesting I think hahahaha but Who cares. hahaha

MeLLoNiSeR

Christmas and its Miracles

Separation?

Meeaooww

Update!

Sudden Emotions

Nissin Commercial Video

Sydney's Japanese Festival

so...

日差し。。。（ひざし）

Hillsong - Love You So Much

Oooo la la

Random thought #2 refugees

The new Japanese Cabinet

MIA..... OOPS!

Japanese Sandals: 下駄

Random thought #1

Fattening up week!

赤ちゃん!!!

Eye-Makeup Failure Terminologies LOL

After 1 week?

きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ ! (KYARI PAMYU PAMYU)

Projects!!!

2011 Hairstyle!!

The Quiet Days

６月へよこそうっ！Part 2

Still......

６月へよこそうっ！Part 1

ANIMAL CRUELTY???

Internet!!!

My 1st item

Scared...

1 week ahead

Running Away Temporarily away from Japan- Nuclear (acid rain)

Escaping the Earthquake Tremor in Tokyo

Sigma Beauty Brushes

A Little Present !!

Video Song!!!

New Week

Day 3:Thursday

Day 1.

Love

why?

Ueno Ueno Ueno...ScHoOoOoOOoOOLLL.

25th Dec: Christmas Dinner, Church and 3 Mos of Us

Shu Uemura 2010 Christmas Collection

24th Birthday in JAPAN!!

New HairStyle!!!!!

Tsukiji Party

Korean BBQ In Oakhouse Ryogoku!

KanChan's Birthday!

Piling Up Days

Halloween Day

Graduation Day in Hong Kong

My dinner for tonight!!

September Love

Doubt

Funny Thing :p

Missing Skateboarding in Japan

26th July 2010: EEL DAY

Week 10: The After Exam

Week 10: Hell Week

Week 9: End. OMG...

Week 7: 忙しい週だっ！Busy Week

Week 5: 3-4 May 2010 Church Youth Camp (Last Week)

Week 3: The Mid-Week

Week 3: The Game

Week 2: Shopping LOL

Week 1: New School

My 4th last week in Chiba University

Japan: Counting down to my departure

Week 8: Beginning

Week 7: 忙しい週だっ！Busy　Week