finally...

this is not my new year's resolution, but i really need to note down my japan trip last year... before my next trip planned for april this year.

so here's my rambling thoughts.

our trip was well planned - by my friends, miss i. thanks to her that i didn't have to worry about my day-time activities as we have a very detailed programme ready, printed out! she also got a guidebook for this trip which she carried with in her backpack everyday. it was no easy job. you should know how thick the book was...it was literally like carrying half kilo of sand...

thanks to the weather, my memories of all the places that we went to were all picture-perfect. clear blue sky and long white clouds. apart from the heat, it was all great.

so the trip started in kyoto, where enjoyed authentic japanese food, kyoto style. especially the very famous locally grown veges. the ones you see at nishiki market are perfect examples but minus all the preparation work. japanese people are so serious about presentations. everything looks so perfect and artistic.

all the basic points are skipped here, you can find gazillions of books/articles written about the wonderful old capital of japan. let's not bore you with repetitive information.

before our nara trip, there was a stopover in fushimi inari and took an unusual route where nobody did. it was such an amazing walk. tiring, yes. but you got to see the residents in the local mountains. the old little shops, the lazy black cats lying on the floor under the sun. the polite postman passing by on a bike, the beautiful wild flowers in between tombstones. it was well worth the effort and energy even though we got so exhausted.

since then, we started taking "unusual routes" to avoid big crowds of tourists.

when we arrived in nara by train with big suitcases, it still didn't get much cooler, didn't feel one bit like we were in autumn already. the weather was so fine that i could just lie on the bench to get roasted for the rest of the day. we hopped on our rented bikes and began our adventure. riding bikes was all new experience again. the last time that i rode bikes was in paris with my friend along shadowed avenues by the musee rodin in chilly autumn 2 years ago.

the uphill ride wasn't easy but we were running on a tight schedule as we just left kyoto and would be leaving for wakayama the same night, we didn't have too much time planned for nara. all we wanted was to see the deer and feed them senbai. kasuga taisha was tucked away in a very quiet area, although still popular among tourists, it attracted much fewer foreigners. as we were being super impressed and having fun taking pictures of a gigantic tree, there was an old man talking to us. 

i didn't speak a word of japanese, so my friend had to listen hard. he was just casually sitting by one of the shrine/temple like building, leaning against the wall. just an ordinary looking old guy. nothing special at all. he blahed away while snapped a twig in half and passed us the twigs. "smell it, try", he was telling us. woah, the aroma of the broken twig smelled nothing like what i imagined a piece of wood would smell like. i don't have the words for it but it was like sandal wood or agar wood. we asked what this twig was, he pointed to the big gigantic tree of which we were taking pictures! wow! that's amazing. we really wanted to know what this fragrant piece of wood is, but could not understand such specific jargon. well, this is where my phrasebook kick in useful! i quickly found the page asking people to write things down, he then wrote a kanji that we understood. 楠. argh~ we all smiled and nodded along, followed by more botanic questions from my friend...

he then led us to the back of the shrine, moved aside the dangling vines and leaves, showed us something that's really cool. stone lanterns made of marbles! we were told that these were only original marble stone lanterns made in the old times left in japan. all these good marble ones were taken away to tokyo by the rich and famous. these were the only old and originals left, now hidden behind big tall trees. nobody would ever see them if it wasn't because of the guy. this was such a wonderful story from him and we even got to know what the gigantic tree was! yes, i asked if we could take the twigs home with us. and now it's  safely tucked away, hidden among my books.

this was the first couple of cute stories happened in nara. oh, did i forget mentioning my map got eaten by a deer? i was trying so hard to take it back, but was so scared of the aggressive animal. and in the end, a laughing foreigner took a picture of me, trying to pull a half-eaten map out of a deer's chewing mouth. 

NOT a pretty picture. NO.

- part 1 ends - 

now reading

新井一二三

a picture is worth a thousand words

and i have a few here.

hiring newbies

it all came too quick that my brain is still behind my actual daily schedule.

we are not exactly understaffed but we do need to hire some newbies to do all the basic work.

we posted a few ads, loads of CV came in.

all of them are born after 1990 for sure - yes, they have officially entered the labour market, making a new mark in the market and reminding us the cruel fact and necessity of being a responsible adult, every friggin day.

lots of them had overseas education, lots of them are from prestigious universities with "glamourous" specialisations. 

another cruel fact: degree inflation.

anyways, i selected, among the pile, 3 to have an interview.

wow, these people are so much more mature than i was at their age.

one of them is a student union leader, has rich experience in organising different events across different colleges etc. she just blahed away, talked non-stop. you can tell that she's been to all sorts of different interviews and is quite skilled.

the second girl came in the interview wearing a fluffy bright yellow sweater with bright-coloured leggings and matching neon coloured nails. she has a fringe that would possibly prevent her from seeing things.

she wants to have an intership with us because she feels bored filing legal documents and facing the walls of her cubic everyday.

yes, those two are the nos.

the yes one i decided to hire, is from a university with good reputation (yes, am shallow). although her major is chinese as a foreign language (is there such a thing? anyway, just like ESOL, but chinese), she wants to be in the marketing team. hmmm.

she's got good interview skills and is very polite, she was the only one who stood up to greet me when i entered the office for the interview. and stood up as well after we finished the interview when i was leaving the office.

not exactly pretty, no flowery words, not too talkative. is obviously bright enough to get herself on an exchange programme overseas and survived.

she started this week and i have my fingers crossed that she won't quit half way through. that's another story how my friend's sister, a gen-Yer, quit her job upon the 3rd month into it...

the labour market is not looking good, but our new comers are not as active either. they've had an easy life and been sheltered all through their life. why bother getting a job? their parents are so going to cover their living costs...

i dunno, maybe i am slowly turning into a responsible adult who picks on everything and everybody? 

sans titre

it would totally be too ambitious if i was to start over again reporting my Kansai trip.

i can't commit.

anyways, i will remember to write down cute little stories happened all along the trip.

maybe even share tips - like i have any to begin with. (rolling eyes)

well, for a start, it was a birthday present to myself.

i agreed with my friend almost 10 years ago that we'd travel together to Paris to celebrate our birthday this year.

turned out, we didn't go for various reasons.

but we did, start planning from Amsterdam and then around South France.

she even got guidebooks etc from Taiwan.

but we ended up heading north east to Japan.

spent a 2-week break in the mountains which reminded us so much of good old days back in sheepland.

here is a deer-shaped omikuji from kasuga taisha in Nara.

PIC of the day

had so much fun @ nishiki mkt, but didn't let my deep down housewife side get the better of me, unlike my friend, she's so gonna carry those rice all the way back to HK. ~ yeah

it's not about what you know but who you know.

sipping coffee and flicking through paper, something came to attention.

first here. then here, here & here.

what?! even here!!!

well, i thought it's a well-understood story that all high-level management posts are filled by such people. although i didn't expect that they were way ahead of my "understanding of the world in general" - they were already reaching out to hk offices, so long ago, too.

just another example of my finance professor's famous quote "the only way to get rich is to be rich to begin with." well i guess if you have a great dad/mum also helps enormously in this instance.

quoting TNYer, "there is a difference between 'knowing' something exists and seeing it laid out in the black and white of court files."

simple and naive me.

there are certain things you can't claim their non-existence just because you can't see them. e.g. wifi. 

quote of the day

yep.

sans titre

i've only realised that i haven't properly written anything about miss z's wedding. doh!

partially because i was so tied up with other random shit in life that i didn't bother making time recording this important moment of her life. (just joking.)

another part is that i still haven't adjusted to the fact that she's turned to a new page of life.

it was an elegant and exquisite wedding, minus the weather.

but lucky enough when she walked out of the car to get to the venue, it all stopped.

she walked down the aisle looking stunning in her champagne/ivory wedding gown being super careful (it was raining and the pebbled footpath isn't something on which hight heels are safe to walk), i was so happy for her.

when she took the vow, articulating each word, tears rolled down my cheeks. that moment, i felt like an old lady relative of hers who saw her growing up. and being so happy seeing her little cousin getting married.

i was honoured to be asked to deliver a speech, which, you would think was done ages ago and had had a couple of revisions already beforehand.

but truth to be told, i only did a 2nd revision night before.

i was having memory flashbacks all night, remembering the good old days of us skipping classes to go to all sorts of random places and the not-so-glamourous days of us being stressed and miserably unemployed - i will probably never forget about that horrible winter - all the rain and bad weather.

although i remember a lot of tears from her, and when we hugged, other than happy tears, i was crying on the inside, "gawd, why is this girl so skinny while i am so fat and still dig in every friggin meal."

till this minute, i am still waiting for the pictures taken by the very professional photographer on the day.

i promise to share with you some wonderful pictures when i actually get to see them.

the wedding took place at a vineyard and the environment was superb, english country club style.

big big heart.

i wish you a lifetime of happiness, z.

xxx

goodbye my friend

thanks for all the great time.

a dieu.

temporary tattoo, 2.

yup. being late again.

temporary tattoo

ditto.

get it from here.

i luuuuuv the watch tattoo, so random.

congrats mate!

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