auyongtc’s blog

since I last posted… have been caught up with work and settling down my life here in Tokyo, Japan. Everyone’s so busy, life’s so fast-paced here. Gets kinda lonely, and depressing, not forgetting stressful too…

During this time, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and thinking… and I’ve decided…

I’ve decided to convert my religion…

(more…)

Ugh…. the new season is starting soon. And I’ve decided that it will be stupid to watch F1 on Fuji TV free-to-air terrestrial tv.

Why? Coz it’s delayed telecast (live only if I subscribe to satellite TV here) for about 2-3 hours at least, and the commentary’s in Japanese (I miss the chums at the ITV-F1 crew).

So could anyone here stream me live F1 telecast? Please please please please please?

just arrived yesterday, now I’m in Hamilton, a small city just over an hour from Auckland. Gonna be here for some training, and then meet up with Marcus Leong.

Definitely nice to get away from the cold Tokyo weather to some nice warm sun here.

Photos to come later (haven’t had chance to snap any yet)

Before I begin my story, sorry for the lack of updates… been busy here.

On the entrance of my apartment, there’s a door that requires tenants to turn a key to get it opened. This is to prevent unwanted visitors coming up to harass the tenants. So there’s a main entrance (unlocked) and then a security door. Beside the door are the mailboxes for the apartment units. Bear in mind this brief doorway is without any heating, but there’s a sofa inside after the security door (for guests to wait for the tenants to come down or something, but still no heating).

Anyway, last Saturday, I went out downtown Tokyo just for a walk around a bit. When I got out of my house just shy of 12pm, I saw a lady (around mid-30s kua) standing there in the cold. I walked out and noticed her - saw her once before sometime ago, I walked out, and she quickly walked in - that time I thought she forgot her keys or she’s a guest or something. So that was fine. This time she wasn’t going in (she could’ve just walked in and sit at the sofa), and I got a bit concerned about her being out in the cold, without any gloves.

About 6 hours later, I got home, to find her still standing at the doorway. I asked her in whatever Japanese I know, “daijobu desu ka?” (are you okay?) - she just replied “hai” (yes) - and she moved aside and let me get thru the door. That’s it - she’s been there ever since (or I suppose so) I left that morning.

tsewei thinks I saw a ghost - but I’m not concerned about that - ghost in broad daylight? Nevermind that - even if she’s one, she’s not harming me, except perhaps making me feel all guilty of not asking her more in detail if she had eaten, or if she wanted hot coffee, which I can gladly treat her at the 7-11 next door, or even buy her a pair of gloves.

I still dunno what to make of this. If I see her again, definitely I’d ask more - but I dunno how I can go about doing that with my Japanese speaking ability of a 3 year old.

Come to think of it now, why didn’t she wait at 7-11 next door? There’s always someone there reading thru the magazines on the rack for free (there’s no indian guy here shooing you off for free reading)

I’m stumped…

Got in to the office early today, so I’ll share to you about my new neighbours. I stay in a mansion. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not what you think. Small apartments are called mansions here. So I live in a kuci-meow sized litterbox of an apartment.

There’s 6 floors in total,　and I think around 10-12 units per floor. Thus far, I’ve seen 27 young ladies in and out of the mansion wearing miniskirts. Of the 27, I would rate 21 as hot. I think I’m in heaven, not Tokyo.

Well, okay, I lied. Until this morning, I’ve never seen anyone else in this mansion, not at the lobby, not at the lift, not even at the corridors. There are tons of bicycles (and a couple of scooters) in the vicinity though, but no human. I think this place is haunted, or that they’re all hermits (does that mean I’ll turn into one someday?!! *gasp!*). My colleague said that it is normal, even after staying in his place for 2 years, he claimed to have only seen 2-3 neighbours at his block throughout his time there. Gosh!

But this morning I saw a guy waiting for the lift on the same floor as me. That’s somewhat reassuring that this place is not deserted. But I’m still keeping my eyes peeled for young female neighbours in miniskirts!

Arrived in Tokyo on Sunday. Got the basic life support system setup in my place now. LOL. Internet access still not yet ready

However, everything else is okay, applied for my Alien card today, and got my bank account - Shinsei Bank is really gaijin-friendly!
Have loads to write and pictures to post, but since I don’t have the convenience of Internet access at home, it’s gonna be sometime till I can get that done. Until then, stay tuned…

BTW, I still cannot understand why girls here still could & would wear mini-skirts despite the near-freezing weather out there. Well, my eyes aren’t complaining, just curious as to why… I guess it’s one of those “Only in Japan” thingy… erm dear, what’s with the frying pan?

Yeap, just managed to find out, finalizing the deal hopefully by next week…

It’s super small, only 16 square metres. Sigh, it’s so small, it’s almost like moving from my current bedroom into a similar-sized bedroom, except that this will include my attached bathroom (with bathtub), kitchenette with 1 electric stove and sink. A small walk-in closet and designated space for a washing machine is included in the built-up space as well… Sigh…

Oh well, consolation is that it’s damn near office (I still haven’t work that as to whether it’s actually a pro or con), it’s got a (small, yeah, following the “small” concept of accomodation in Japan) balcony and best of all - it’s got FTTH broadband Internet. At speed up to 100 Mbps (best effort lah.. but that’ll do), it’s a steal at just 2,980 yen per month!

Oh yeah, the apartment will cost me 64,000 yen per month - for such price, I can rent a big double-storey house here probably fully-furnished!

Let’s hope I get this unit and have it ready to move in when I get there on January 8th

Just wanted to update you guys, I’ll be moving to Tokyo, Japan supposedly early January 2006. Just got my Certificate of Eligibility (COE) today, and will be applying for my work visa on Monday.

As such, my current mobile number shall be terminated just before my move. Best form of contact from then onwards would be via e-mail. Update you guys soon..

I’m back!

It was a tiring 2 weeks trip to North America. But it was well worth the trip. Anyway, I will be posting up the photos soon, in my spanking new gallery that I’m still working on it. Gonna be doing something radical on the gallery front - stay tuned for that!

Yeah, paul, I know, it’ll be radical if it finally made it to an end product, I know

I just made a nice postcard-like wallpaper from the photo I took in San Francisco, CA. Let me know if you want it

Hey peeps…

I’m now in Eatontown, New Jersey. Flew in on Monday night and it was a nightmare! Blardy hell, I had a connecting flight from Chicago’s O’Hare airport to Newark airport and my checked-in luggage got stuck at Chicago because of TSA (Transportation Security Administration) holding it up for closer inspection - wtf?!

I had my fair share of TSA (Tourette Syndrome Association) speak especially when my entire luggage was only filled with articles of clothing - the only thing metal inside the luggage was my belt buckle! Grrr! But nevertheless, it got in around 9 hours later, at 7am local time when I woke up to go to office. Realized that a plastic corner broke and the combination lock no longer works - *insert more TSA speak here*

Eatontown, NJ - quite a nice place - a suburb really. The weather’s nice, heck, any weather anywhere better than of Malaysia’s is nice. Had my first ever Philly Steak for lunch.. yummy..

I stopped by the mall last evening in order to get a padlock for my luggage case. Packed some dinner to go, and I went to call for a cab. While waiting for a cab, a chinese man of around 40 years old walked towards me. He was also waiting for a cab, and we got to talking - got to know that he’s Steven and he’s from Malaysia, Shah Alam specifically! What are the odds of meeting a fellow Malaysian in such a small suburb in the United States?! That was a pleasant surprise - we got to chat a lil bit about cars and all while waiting for the cab. We shared a cab since his destination was just a bit past the Red Roof Inn that I was staying in at Tinton Falls.

Alright - that’s all for now, tomorrow I’m headed for Ottawa, Canada for the weekend. I’ll blog again later…