Besides keeping dementia at bay (and tai-tais occupied), we found out that mahjong can also impart us valuable life lessons!
This is what we gleaned from a session of late-night mahjong.
Life lesson #1: Change is the only constant.
Life lesson #2: Always be flexible and adapt to the situation.
Life lesson #3: Being patient will pay off... eventually.
Life lesson #4: Always be optimistic.
Life lesson #5: Be persistent enough. (I know this kind of contradicts #2 but oh well.)
Now during interviews, you can tell your prospective bosses what you do for leisure... and how these important life skills that you learned will help you in your job (and life in general)! HAHAHA. :D
Culinary adventures 2 weeks ago with Angie and Gillian:
I saved this apple pie recipe from a very long-ago issue of The Sunday Times coz it seemed pretty easy to make.
First look out of the oven
Unfortunately we couldn't flip it nicely and it crumbled :(
But patcher Gillian managed to patch it up LOL! Looks pretty presentable isn't it?
The cross section of our apple pie - it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing apple pie around but it is sure YUMMY!
We also made pizza - our pizza with lots and lots of toppings
And lots of cheese!!!
The apple pie was really good and not too sweet! The smell of cooked apples, cinnamon and lemon rind was heavenly. The base was extra nice with crushed almond nuts. I think this deserves a re-bake. :)
I saved this apple pie recipe from a very long-ago issue of The Sunday Times coz it seemed pretty easy to make.
First look out of the oven
Unfortunately we couldn't flip it nicely and it crumbled :(
But patcher Gillian managed to patch it up LOL! Looks pretty presentable isn't it?
The cross section of our apple pie - it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing apple pie around but it is sure YUMMY!
We also made pizza - our pizza with lots and lots of toppings
And lots of cheese!!!
The apple pie was really good and not too sweet! The smell of cooked apples, cinnamon and lemon rind was heavenly. The base was extra nice with crushed almond nuts. I think this deserves a re-bake. :)
Now it's Super Junior's Sorry Sorry that has crept into local trailers!
I noticed more and more Kpop songs are being used as background music for trailers!
Woohoo! Is Kpop slowly infiltrating into the masses?
If Kpop becomes mainstream here, all the better! Then maybe entertainment companies will at least consider bringing in more Kpop acts!
Whoever's cutting trailers for Ch 8 must be a Kpop fan!
This is my last long weekend before I face a drought of... 2 weeks. :(
As usual, plans aplenty, but we shall see how many of them I actually get down to accomplishing...
I noticed more and more Kpop songs are being used as background music for trailers!
Woohoo! Is Kpop slowly infiltrating into the masses?
If Kpop becomes mainstream here, all the better! Then maybe entertainment companies will at least consider bringing in more Kpop acts!
Whoever's cutting trailers for Ch 8 must be a Kpop fan!
This is my last long weekend before I face a drought of... 2 weeks. :(
As usual, plans aplenty, but we shall see how many of them I actually get down to accomplishing...
I'm having so many problems uploading photos, whether it is to Facebook or Blogger. Super peeved with my internet connection. Or is it a browser problem?
This took me like 10 million years to upload! GRRRR.
Japan!
Day 3
Tokyo DisneySea
We chose to go to DisneySea instead of Disneyland, as this is the one and only DisneySea in the world. Let the photos do the talking.
We went on a Monday and we didn't expect a crowd, there were so many people! Look at the parking lot full of cars!
It's the Spring Festival at Disneysea! (despite it being June when we visited)
The welcome show
The faces of Disney - Mickey & Minnie
The most exciting ride in the whole theme park - the Tower of Terror. This is a free-fall ride which is not that scary, it just felt like a very fast lift.
Stupid Goofy, we chased him all around like rabid fangirls and he refused to look our way and have a picture with us!
We managed to ambush Donald though :)
Look how orderly and trusting the Japanese are! Neatly parked prams.
Vintage looking car... by then we're all super tired.
We rested our legs, had dinner, caught the finale show "BraviSEAmo!" which had lots of fire, water and fireworks, and headed back to our hostel...
Caught in the rain! So we improvised with plastic bags. Hahaha.
Since this was our last night in the hostel, we had to try on the yukatas that the hostel provided...
Put 4 girls in yukatas, crammed into a small room, and goofiness ensues!
We had a lot of fun taking these pictures! :)
These are the more sane pictures that will not destroy my image much. Heh heh.
Day 4
Tsukiji Fish Market - Roppongi Hills - Ginza
We had another eventful morning on Day 4. Our plan was to go to Tsukiji Fish Market for a hearty sashimi breakfast, but we did not expect the peak hour crowd on the trains! Now I have a newfound understand of the phrase - packed like sardines. When the crowd started to stuff themselves into the carriage, I was pressed against the door and couldn't move at all! Just when I thought I've reached the limit of having strangers intrude into my personal space, I could feel a new wave of the FORCE coming in! The woman who was standing in front of me had her body pressed against my whole body, I couldn't even turn my head! LOL this was another once in a lifetime experience.
Tsukijishijo station
Tsukiji fish market! The hustle and bustle had already died down when we got there at about 8 or 9am. To witness the bidding and auctioning process of fresh fish, you have to be there at like 5am. Our main purpose was just to eat, so no loss there. :D
Decided to have our breakfast at Sushi Dai. The queue seems short but they only have a seating capacity of maybe 11 or 12! So we ended up queuing for 1 hour. :x
But we were served by a very cute and friendly chef who can speak in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean!
Our super expensive breakfast that cost 3900 yen each! That's about SGD$59. OMG, that's the most expensive breakfast that I've ever had, but it was really worthwhile! The set consisted of 11 types of sushi (I forgot to take a picture of the Unagi :() + tamago and we added another scallop sushi... there was otoro (fatty tuna belly), maguro (normal tuna), sea urchin, mackerel, baby shrimp, unagi... can't remember what else.
All of us giving the thumbs up for a hearty breakfast!
Still thinking about sushi while on our way to Roppongi!
Roppongi Hills, a very chillout, laid back district. We had fun posing strange poses in front of the colourful LV store and along the street, and sipping a cuppa while watching the world go by! Ahhh.. that's life.
With the Tokyo Tower in the distance
Spotted a Singapore Restaurant in the middle of Roppongi Hills!
Next up, the famous shopping district - Ginza! We only visited 2 department stores - Mitsukoshi and Matsuya
Colourful umbrella display in the department store
Colourful macarons!
Haha ammunition for my aching feet!
Back at the hostel, doing research for Kyoto while we still had some time to spare
We got lost while searching for the correct spot to board our overnight bus to Kyoto even though we recce-ed the place beforehand! Worse still, it was raining!
We finally found the correct place, but we were drenched and felt very 狼狈.
Goodnight world, see you in Kyoto!
This took me like 10 million years to upload! GRRRR.
Japan!
Day 3
Tokyo DisneySea
We chose to go to DisneySea instead of Disneyland, as this is the one and only DisneySea in the world. Let the photos do the talking.
We went on a Monday and we didn't expect a crowd, there were so many people! Look at the parking lot full of cars!
It's the Spring Festival at Disneysea! (despite it being June when we visited)
The welcome show
The faces of Disney - Mickey & Minnie
The most exciting ride in the whole theme park - the Tower of Terror. This is a free-fall ride which is not that scary, it just felt like a very fast lift.
Stupid Goofy, we chased him all around like rabid fangirls and he refused to look our way and have a picture with us!
We managed to ambush Donald though :)
Look how orderly and trusting the Japanese are! Neatly parked prams.
Vintage looking car... by then we're all super tired.
We rested our legs, had dinner, caught the finale show "BraviSEAmo!" which had lots of fire, water and fireworks, and headed back to our hostel...
Caught in the rain! So we improvised with plastic bags. Hahaha.
Since this was our last night in the hostel, we had to try on the yukatas that the hostel provided...
Put 4 girls in yukatas, crammed into a small room, and goofiness ensues!
We had a lot of fun taking these pictures! :)
These are the more sane pictures that will not destroy my image much. Heh heh.
Day 4
Tsukiji Fish Market - Roppongi Hills - Ginza
We had another eventful morning on Day 4. Our plan was to go to Tsukiji Fish Market for a hearty sashimi breakfast, but we did not expect the peak hour crowd on the trains! Now I have a newfound understand of the phrase - packed like sardines. When the crowd started to stuff themselves into the carriage, I was pressed against the door and couldn't move at all! Just when I thought I've reached the limit of having strangers intrude into my personal space, I could feel a new wave of the FORCE coming in! The woman who was standing in front of me had her body pressed against my whole body, I couldn't even turn my head! LOL this was another once in a lifetime experience.
Tsukijishijo station
Tsukiji fish market! The hustle and bustle had already died down when we got there at about 8 or 9am. To witness the bidding and auctioning process of fresh fish, you have to be there at like 5am. Our main purpose was just to eat, so no loss there. :D
Decided to have our breakfast at Sushi Dai. The queue seems short but they only have a seating capacity of maybe 11 or 12! So we ended up queuing for 1 hour. :x
But we were served by a very cute and friendly chef who can speak in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean!
Our super expensive breakfast that cost 3900 yen each! That's about SGD$59. OMG, that's the most expensive breakfast that I've ever had, but it was really worthwhile! The set consisted of 11 types of sushi (I forgot to take a picture of the Unagi :() + tamago and we added another scallop sushi... there was otoro (fatty tuna belly), maguro (normal tuna), sea urchin, mackerel, baby shrimp, unagi... can't remember what else.
All of us giving the thumbs up for a hearty breakfast!
Still thinking about sushi while on our way to Roppongi!
Roppongi Hills, a very chillout, laid back district. We had fun posing strange poses in front of the colourful LV store and along the street, and sipping a cuppa while watching the world go by! Ahhh.. that's life.
With the Tokyo Tower in the distance
Spotted a Singapore Restaurant in the middle of Roppongi Hills!
Next up, the famous shopping district - Ginza! We only visited 2 department stores - Mitsukoshi and Matsuya
Colourful umbrella display in the department store
Colourful macarons!
Haha ammunition for my aching feet!
Back at the hostel, doing research for Kyoto while we still had some time to spare
We got lost while searching for the correct spot to board our overnight bus to Kyoto even though we recce-ed the place beforehand! Worse still, it was raining!
We finally found the correct place, but we were drenched and felt very 狼狈.
Goodnight world, see you in Kyoto!
Super short work week for me this week! ♥
I have a lot of plans over this long weekend. Most of which involves lots of eyeball action. But anyhoo. TGIF!
I should get started on my job search too!
Hmm last night I managed to find a $600+ flight to Seoul on zuji.com but when I searched today, it was gone!!
Is my computer messed up or is blogger messed up?? The formating is ALL WRONG.
I have a lot of plans over this long weekend. Most of which involves lots of eyeball action. But anyhoo. TGIF!
I should get started on my job search too!
Hmm last night I managed to find a $600+ flight to Seoul on zuji.com but when I searched today, it was gone!!
Is my computer messed up or is blogger messed up?? The formating is ALL WRONG.
Punggol is actually a pretty nice estate to live in, only if it wasn't so bloody far from everywhere else.
It hasn't been that spoilt by civilization yet, so there are still lots of wide open spaces and un-ruined areas of greenery. It has a quiet rustic charm! Tucked away in a little corner of the island, unspoilt by the noise of vehicles roaring by, only families enjoying a leisurely stroll in the quiet neighbourhood. Such a serene and peaceful place. :) I always enjoy having the wind blow in my hair when I jog by the large field.
Today I spotted an unusually large number of people flying kites in a few of the large fields dotting Punggol. Here we have the wind, the wide, vast expanse, unhindered by trees, and I've never flown a kite here! Maybe I should go run around and fly a kite one day.
There was also an unusually large number of people wearing red too. I always feel very touched when I hear "Home". I also finally heard this year's National Day song in its entirety and I don't think it's as bad as people say. Happy National Day to all!
It hasn't been that spoilt by civilization yet, so there are still lots of wide open spaces and un-ruined areas of greenery. It has a quiet rustic charm! Tucked away in a little corner of the island, unspoilt by the noise of vehicles roaring by, only families enjoying a leisurely stroll in the quiet neighbourhood. Such a serene and peaceful place. :) I always enjoy having the wind blow in my hair when I jog by the large field.
Today I spotted an unusually large number of people flying kites in a few of the large fields dotting Punggol. Here we have the wind, the wide, vast expanse, unhindered by trees, and I've never flown a kite here! Maybe I should go run around and fly a kite one day.
There was also an unusually large number of people wearing red too. I always feel very touched when I hear "Home". I also finally heard this year's National Day song in its entirety and I don't think it's as bad as people say. Happy National Day to all!
Wah, Song Hye Gyo and Hyun Bin are dating! Really 男的俊, 女的俏... quite a good match!
Maybe I should go and start watching Worlds Within...
The Internet is so bloody slow at night! I'm wasting all this time waiting and waiting and staring at a blank screen waiting for words to appear that I feel like smashing the router to bits.
Maybe I should go and start watching Worlds Within...
The Internet is so bloody slow at night! I'm wasting all this time waiting and waiting and staring at a blank screen waiting for words to appear that I feel like smashing the router to bits.
Japan!
Day 2
Hakone
Day 2 was the day we took a day trip out of Tokyo to Hakone (箱根). The main attraction there (for us at least), was the onsen, or hotsprings! And also the possibility of seeing Mt. Fuji!
But first, we had to take a train from Shinjuku in Tokyo to Odawara. On that drama-filled morning, we barely caught our train, since we found ourselves at the wrong ticket gantry 5 mins before the train was scheduled to depart! After exchanging some frantic gestures with an equally confused Japanese station master, we sprinted through the busy Shinkuju station and hopped aboard with barely minutes to spare!
I think one of our fondest memories of this Japan trip would be how we chased after all sorts of transport... the train, the planes, the ferry, etc.
This was to be our whole route in Hakone... I found it in Wikitravel hahaha. We certainly took many different forms of transportation that day!
Some moments en route to Owakudani... including looking hot and bothered after clocking an impressive sprint and posing with the train that we almost missed
And here we are at Owakudani, also known as The Great Boiling Valley (LOL I didn't know that till I checked Wikipedia). It's really misty (and cold) as you can see.
And as usual, we can't go to a new place without jumping around first!
LOL our poses are kinda similar
Still at Owakudani and a giant ice cream cone
Owakudani's famous for their black eggs, or kurotamago, which is a special longevity egg!
The world most famous egg! Or so the sign proudly proclaims. Eating one of these eggs boiled in sulphurous water will supposedly add 7 years to your life!
Haha so cute, the black egg and the Hello Kitty! :D Can't seem to escape from the mouthless cat even in the mountains LOL
And here's Hello Kitty disguised as a black egg
Well we tried the egg (a packet of 5 costs 500 yen) and aside from the black egg shell, everything else is like a normal hard boiled egg. LOL. But whatever, my life has been prolonged by 7 years! HAHA.
My lunch of ramen... oh gosh another hard boiled egg again. Cholesterol levels going up up up!
On the pirate ship on Lake Ashi! Didn't get to see Mt. Fuji at all, it was so misty. :(
But we had fun posing like Top Models *cough* on the pirate ship! (ANTM fans will know that the girls had a photo shoot on a pirate ship in Cycle 11, that was how we were inspired. LOL.)
Following that was our date with the onsen! Our research told us that Yunessun had outdoor sake, coffee, green tea and red wine baths so we were quite interested to check them out. But I think the baths were very diluted and probably smelt like what they should because of bath salts or something. Like the coffee bath was brown and smelt of coffee, the green tea bath was just green, the red wine bath looked something like Ribena and the sake bath could pass itself has a normal hot water bath.
We could wear swimsuits in the outdoor section, but not when it came to the indoor onsen "Mori No Yu". For that, we had to enter the onsen in our birthday suits! LOL it was really a literally "liberating" experience for me. Hahaha. Took a while to get used to walking around wearing nothing but everywhere I looked, it was just naked women. So, yah. I wouldn't call it a once in a lifetime experience because I'm quite sure I will do it again! Hahahaha.
Small towels were provided which we could bring into the baths, but for the body-conscious, it's just big enough to block the essential areas. And before entering the baths, we had to scrub ourselves clean while sitting on little washstools. And we were not supposed to wash ourselves after soaking in the onsen so as to not wash the nutrients away. This made us feel rather hot and flushed after the experience.
(No pictures, naturally. Heh heh.)
After our relaxing and shiok soak in the onsen.. posing with the mascots! Sponges!
I think we all had a good sleep on the back to Tokyo after our visit to the onsen!
And then dinner at Shinjuku... we went back to the little alley with the 330 yen soba and had yakitori and some sort of stew with pig innards or something.
Sapporo beer to wash down all the food
Yakitori
I don't think the food was that fantastic but it'll do for our hungry stomachs!
And so that concludes Day 2 in Japan! :)
Day 2
Hakone
Day 2 was the day we took a day trip out of Tokyo to Hakone (箱根). The main attraction there (for us at least), was the onsen, or hotsprings! And also the possibility of seeing Mt. Fuji!
But first, we had to take a train from Shinjuku in Tokyo to Odawara. On that drama-filled morning, we barely caught our train, since we found ourselves at the wrong ticket gantry 5 mins before the train was scheduled to depart! After exchanging some frantic gestures with an equally confused Japanese station master, we sprinted through the busy Shinkuju station and hopped aboard with barely minutes to spare!
I think one of our fondest memories of this Japan trip would be how we chased after all sorts of transport... the train, the planes, the ferry, etc.
This was to be our whole route in Hakone... I found it in Wikitravel hahaha. We certainly took many different forms of transportation that day!
- The scenic Hakone-Tozan Line mountain railway from Odawara to Gora via Hakone-Yumoto
- The Hakone-Tozan Cablecar up the mountainside from Gora to Sounzan
- The Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan down to Togendai on Lake Ashinoko via the boiling sulphur pits of Owakudani
- The Hakone Sightseeing Ships, decked out like Disneyland versions of pirate ships, sailing across the lake from Togendai to Moto-Hakone and Hakone-machi
- And then here we took a bus to Hakone Kowakien Yunessun, which is a complex with both outdoor baths and an indoor onsen!
- Lastly, the Odakyu Bus back to the train station
Some moments en route to Owakudani... including looking hot and bothered after clocking an impressive sprint and posing with the train that we almost missed
And here we are at Owakudani, also known as The Great Boiling Valley (LOL I didn't know that till I checked Wikipedia). It's really misty (and cold) as you can see.
And as usual, we can't go to a new place without jumping around first!
LOL our poses are kinda similar
Still at Owakudani and a giant ice cream cone
Owakudani's famous for their black eggs, or kurotamago, which is a special longevity egg!
The world most famous egg! Or so the sign proudly proclaims. Eating one of these eggs boiled in sulphurous water will supposedly add 7 years to your life!
Haha so cute, the black egg and the Hello Kitty! :D Can't seem to escape from the mouthless cat even in the mountains LOL
And here's Hello Kitty disguised as a black egg
Well we tried the egg (a packet of 5 costs 500 yen) and aside from the black egg shell, everything else is like a normal hard boiled egg. LOL. But whatever, my life has been prolonged by 7 years! HAHA.
My lunch of ramen... oh gosh another hard boiled egg again. Cholesterol levels going up up up!
On the pirate ship on Lake Ashi! Didn't get to see Mt. Fuji at all, it was so misty. :(
But we had fun posing like Top Models *cough* on the pirate ship! (ANTM fans will know that the girls had a photo shoot on a pirate ship in Cycle 11, that was how we were inspired. LOL.)
Following that was our date with the onsen! Our research told us that Yunessun had outdoor sake, coffee, green tea and red wine baths so we were quite interested to check them out. But I think the baths were very diluted and probably smelt like what they should because of bath salts or something. Like the coffee bath was brown and smelt of coffee, the green tea bath was just green, the red wine bath looked something like Ribena and the sake bath could pass itself has a normal hot water bath.
We could wear swimsuits in the outdoor section, but not when it came to the indoor onsen "Mori No Yu". For that, we had to enter the onsen in our birthday suits! LOL it was really a literally "liberating" experience for me. Hahaha. Took a while to get used to walking around wearing nothing but everywhere I looked, it was just naked women. So, yah. I wouldn't call it a once in a lifetime experience because I'm quite sure I will do it again! Hahahaha.
Small towels were provided which we could bring into the baths, but for the body-conscious, it's just big enough to block the essential areas. And before entering the baths, we had to scrub ourselves clean while sitting on little washstools. And we were not supposed to wash ourselves after soaking in the onsen so as to not wash the nutrients away. This made us feel rather hot and flushed after the experience.
(No pictures, naturally. Heh heh.)
After our relaxing and shiok soak in the onsen.. posing with the mascots! Sponges!
I think we all had a good sleep on the back to Tokyo after our visit to the onsen!
And then dinner at Shinjuku... we went back to the little alley with the 330 yen soba and had yakitori and some sort of stew with pig innards or something.
Sapporo beer to wash down all the food
Yakitori
I don't think the food was that fantastic but it'll do for our hungry stomachs!
And so that concludes Day 2 in Japan! :)
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