When We Hit Japan

When i was working just now, i happened to be on msn... decided to chat with some peeps and ended up chatting with an old lab friend from second semester. Darren's his name by the way... And i found out that he actually got Ford Motors Japan for his Industrial Attachment! At that point i was turning greener than the Incredible Hulk (heck... i think i was greener than the grass on the other side). He was telling me about the apartments that they were allocated with and what not and how the group of NTU students cycled to work in their business gear... And i was thinking to myself... That could have been me... Could have... I was really really hopeful to get the opportunity to rub shoulders with people from my dad's homeland. I even went as far as thinking of what clothes to wear just to impress those japanese fashionistas on the street... I think i would have made Gwen Stefani and her posse of Harajuku Girls proud... Hahahaha... And i thought to myself again just now... where did it go wrong? What was the selection criteria for Ford Motors Japan? Were my grades not good enough? But i studied Japanese Level 1 and got an A for it dammit! Or maybe i didnt sell myself well enough in the resume. It didnt help that later in the day, Jozzy(colleague at Goodrich) told me that her friend too got Ford Motors Japan. To make matters worse, she showed me her friend's blog and lo-and-behold... Pictures of those attachment students smiling away with bustling Hiroshima as its backdrop. It was a real shove in the face(there was a point where it was a shove up my nose kinda feeling). All i could do was just to stare at the screen blankly and thought again of how it would/could have been. I told Ding about this afterwards. She had a totally different outlook towards this and told me that God has other plans for me and that it wasn't my time yet to be at the Land Of The Rising Sun. It has always been a dream to live in Japan... Well i'll keep on dreaming then... just like that song by the Mamas & the Papas... California Dreamin... only thing i'm dreaming about Japan... Ding always make the most sense out of situations like these... As always, she's pratical (as opposed to my dreamy nature)... Talking about Japan, Ding and I had the most awesome trip to Japan during June 2006!!!


This pic was taken at Beppu Eki. I love Ding's get-up. As you can seem there are many train tracks and platforms at the train station... A distinct contrast from Singapore's dual track and single platform. Its possible to get lost on the platforms coz every sign available was in Japanese. Another distinct contrast was that many train companies were in operation as opposed to Singapore's one and only SMRT.













I call this pic "Everything Zen". This pic was taken at Embak Lita's place. Very therepeutic indeed...

















This pic was taken by Ding. This was the point where i was going on a picture taking frenzy... Embak Lita had the coolest house... It used to be an old school Japanese Inn/Hotel... with communal baths and what not... And what used to be that Inn is now her house.









A setting fit for a queen or in a more Japanese context... Empress. Hehe...
















Who's the most kawaii-est of them all? *hint... 2nd from the left*














Back alleys of Oita...


















Pachinko anyone??


















Those Japanese dudes banging on those drums were chanting, "Wee Orrr Weee Orr Heeeyy Orrrgghhh!!! Waaahhh Yooohhhh!!" (I am not making this up). Very thoughtful of them to organise a cultural show upon my arrival... Hehehe. How hospitable can these Japanese get?!!








Why looking so glum dear? Love the get-up yet again!

















Ding and I together with our favourite little Japanese girl... Sarah Hayako. She's Embak Lita's daughter by the way. Breathtaking scenery don't you think?















And there you have it... Beppu/Oita trip 2006. I have tons of pictures but i singled out these few coz i felt these pictures had a story to tell. Anyway, if i have the time, i'll put up scenery pics as well. Nite then... Back to Goodrich tomorrow.