Arggghh my eyes! aka I'm so going to burn in hell for this post.....

Cosplay ("costume play") ===> interactions of "cosplay" behaviour form a subculture centered on dresing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, video games, and les commonly, fantasy movies, Jpop/JRock, Visual Kei , fantasy music stories (e.g. stories by the band Sound Horizon), novels and anything in the real world being unique and dramatic (or their more anthropomorphic form). ~ paraphrased from Wikipedia

Cosplays, like Hollywood movies, can turn out pretty well or pretty AWFUL. This typically happens when one attempts crossdressing. I suppose women dressed as men aren't as offensive (unless they bare their chests). When men dress as women, however.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...........I apologize if you're extremely grossed out by this but it goes to prove that some men should just stay being men. Know what I mean? The first two isn't that bad since they're covered up. A Sailormoon with a moustache cracks me up. The last image, however, is the infamous 'FayeMan,' who has no qualms showing off his hairy belly, buttcheeks and front...eh bulge (*censored*).

Ewwwwwww...........

************************JAPAN MISSION TRIP************************

Assuming no one was scared off by the images above, I shall continue to share how the rest of the mission trip went. This post will focus on the university students, namely those from Waseda and Rikkyo University. We had different approaches for both sites.

~Waseda University~

The local bus has a very cute animal mascot wearing the graduate gown painted on it.

The approach here was getting to know students at Waseda through English conversational sessions during lunch. It is over here that I met Chuuya-san, one of our team's regular contacts.

I think we all had a good time conversing with each other. =)

Look, I'm not a fan of stereotyping but I do believe in 'tendencies.' In manga, it's common for characters from the West of Japan (Osaka is popularly coined) to display friendly and expressive personalities. Chuuya-san reflected his background alright. Very easy-going, chatty and warm, I enjoyed my conversations with him. He exchanged his mugshot with one of our gals without hesitation. We were the most amused when we drilled him about the main differences he observed between Osaka and Tokyo: The schoolgirl skirts are shorter in Tokyo. LOL

I must add that this 'tendency' was also observed among my Japanese colleagues. When I visited Tokyo for a business trip, I could easily tell whether a colleague is from the West or not based on their mannerism. Seriously. They're the ones who talk slightly louder, tell jokes & stories and happily engage in any type of conversation.

Nakatsu (HanaKimi) played by Jiro in the Taiwanese live-action drama version is the perfect character used to stereotype folks from Osaka. (Imagesource = Honestly can't remember...^^;;;)

I like them. I want to visit Osaka.

Moving on, I also chatted with Takayuki-san. He was more quiet than the others but we connected through music. He was pleasantly surprised that I am an avid listener of Porno Graffitti, Asian Kungfu Generation and L'Arc-en-Ciel. On the flipside, he listened to Oasis and eh....was it Meatloaf? XD

I didn't talk to Haruna-san and Wakaki-san as much although the latter used to live in the UK for some time. We all joke about him being one of Raion-sama's long lost brother.

It's the hair, brotha'.

As a whole, the university setting is similar to what I would have read about in the manga. I could just imagine myself as a new university student: Just moved to a new location, no longer wearing a school uniform and being filled with many aspirations.


~Rikkyo University~


The approach here was street evangelism. That's right. Evangelism. *gasp* It's the 'E' word. Do you really mean that we're supposed to walk up to these students, strike up a conversation and casually invite them to our Singapore night? You make it sound so simple?!!!

Entrance to Rikkyo: Nice greenery and buildings - it has that 'Harvard' feel. XD

Actually, it was pretty simple. We had a survey form, which we used to ask students what they thought about their culture and whether they were interested in learning about other cultures (namely ours hahaha).

Everyone walked into the campus and prayed before moving out in teams. My team was CyclistD and JL. Our first encounter was an Indonesian woman. Wow, that blows my mind. Honestly, I never expected that. She's pretty amazing; she easily switched from Indonesian --> English --> Japanese as smoothly as Danone's Cream Yogurt. Very friendly, she was happy to meet fellow Christians in this new location she's just moved to. =D

Next, we dropped by two young men who didn't seem too comfortable speaking English so that brought JL to the Japanese-speaking test. Personally, I think she did great as we managed to converse with these guys for roughly 15 minutes. Both of them are studying law and are first year students. While we struggled with them in Japanese, they didn't seem uncomfortable with our presence and cheerfully sat through the translations. XD;;; Ahahaha....this is when I wish I knew more Japanese. *mallets self*

This was us, the team sitting down at the campus site but just imagine Rikkyo students doing the same all over the place too.

Finally, we found time for one young lady, Chisato-san. If I'm not mistaken, she's studying International Business and she displayed interest in other cultures. In our conversation, she went in-depth on a Fair Trade Law Agreement (Oro!!! I'm totally ignorant of this type of stuff) and she was completely happy with her culture (in our survey, we asked what she liked or didn't like about the Japan culture). I wished we could have chatted more but she had to rush off to her next class.

What I remember the most from this visit is this strong feeling I had upon entering the university scene. Class had just ended and huge waves of students spilled out unto the campus. I had this overflowing feeling in my heart - There are so many students to share about the word of Christ! What would happen if they knew? How would they react?

I didn't take a good shot of the huge wave of students but this was outside the gate.

This place also reminded me of my university years. I used to be in an international student Christian fellowship where graduate students from all over the world got together and fellowship. I remember that experience to this day - that beautiful feeling of sharing the same faith despite differing backgrounds and birth heritages.

I now know that I definitely feel more comfortable in university settings. Students and university staff are there to learn - hungry for knowledge and open to new ideas. I personally love using university grounds to exchange knowledge and experiences because I remember how university changed me dramatically. JL commented that our team had very positive responses and that we should be thankful. That's interesting - how are the negative responses like?

OK, strictly speaking, there wasn't anything evangelistic. I mean, none of us jumped right ahead into sharing about Christ and God's Plan for Salvation. It's all about relationships, which I will explain a little bit more in future posts.

Anyway, after these university visits, I told Kathy (the American missionary) that I've at least, confirmed one thing: The target group I have a passion for sharing the Good News with are the older youths and young adults.

Next: More student encounters .....dun dun dun

It's holy matrimony, not happy matrimony....

When I attended/sneaked in for one of my pastor's marriage at church today, there were two key messages ringing in my ears as I left.

1) It's more important to love, than to be right.

2) Sacrificial love is not just about giving, it's about laying down your rights.

I'll leave the interpretation part to everyone's private rumination (i.e. What's wrong with being right? And, are you asking me to give up my basic rights?) but it strangely makes me feel a little more optimistic about marriage. I mean, it dashes the whole romantic/fantasy notion that marriage is all about being happy. It's not - it's about being holy.

But before anyone starts challenging that point of view (i.e. You crazy Christians are such killjoys! Can you stop trying to make life miserable? Do you mean to say that we can't even be happy in marriages?!), there's another statement that follows - It's in becoming holy that leads to true joy.

How interesting - very few ppl on this planet associate holy with happy. Food for thought.

Anyway, congratulations to both couples, ZY & LY and Pastor S&A! May your marriages be greatly blessed and be a beautiful testimony to the world that love does still exist in this broken world! Stay strong, fall deeper in love with each other and be an inspiration to others to lead victorious lives!

Thanks for inviting me to the ROM! I was happy to join the parents' table too. LOL


Thanks for allowing me to sneak in! LOL

*****************JAPAN MISSION TRIP*******************

~ House Church~

I suppose it's called a house church because of its size and the general setup. There are no drums, no stage, no pew, no huge cross at the background, no fancy setup with ushers.....The attendees are a small group of believers who gather together to worship, study His Word and fellowship with one another.

This greatly reminded me of my City of Blessing days - those days where we (students) got together every week with dreams to build a church. To make the story short, we tried hard, never got anywhere and eventually dissolved.

As I sat through the 'service,' I wondered to myself if we (CoB, I mean) missed the whole point of church-building. I will firmly say this - I'm not impressed by numbers and I'm totally against the foolish mindset that success is measured by the size of your congregration. I know how it feels like to serve in church and to never have true fellowship with your fellow servants at all.

Trust me, it's a very sad and disappointing feeling. Very little joy there.

Who cares how big the group is - if the hearts are truly hungry for His Word, His Love and His Mercy, God will be there and that's all that matters.

Who cares how humble your musical equipment or worship location is, Baby Jesus was born in a smelly old manger. Think about it.

So, having sat through two worship services at Amuzing Grace (I'm a bit amused by the name. Pun intended. I just couldn't resist. XD), I thought to myself that this is something I can do. Been there, done that - I feel comfortable in this setting. I pray that anyone who is not comfortable in "humble" settings will discover the true joy of worshiping anywhere, anyhow...

On a more positive note, do recall that God's ppl in Acts started off in house churches and grew from there. I have nothing against big buildings, music bands on stages, gigantic crosses/stained glasses at the background - just don't forget the true meaning of church.

~ Old Folks Home Visit~

The first trip I made with the Japan Mission team is to an old folks' home. Since I haven't been around long enough to participate in the skit, I hopefully made myself useful by being the unofficial video camera person and photographer.

My main regret in this session was the language barrier. I mean, you can't expect the older folks to know any English. Never mind the language barrier, there was also a cultural and generational barrier. All I could do was smile, listen politely (nodding my head) and help around in the background.

I suppose I could have felt disappointed with myself but I understood that the old folks had tears in their eyes when we left. Did that mean we made some connection even if we couldn't talk to them? Were they lonely? Did we remind them of their own children/grandchildren? Were they sad to see young ppl leave? I can only wonder.

Personally, I wished I could have had more interaction with them. There were so many barriers and yet, when we look at each other, we're essentially the same: Human beings with dreams, emotions and souls. I resolve to continue studying Japanese.

Next: University Students...dun dun dun

Finally....

Itachi's dead. The moment we all have been waiting for - Sasuke successfully 'kills' his own brother.

*crickets chirp*

OK, Sasuke's new eyes: Cool or hilarious? I'm ok with the nuclear fission thing as long as he kicks butt with it.

*crickets chirp*

I'm a little irked that he decided to join Akatsuki but did he really have to wear their attire as well? Come on, Sasuke. You're an independent!!! You're not supposed to follow behind your brother's shadow.

*crickets getting a bit tad tired of chirping*

Ok, ok! I'll stop procrastinating and get working on blogging about my Japan trip! XD

On the Way to Japan

- At Hong Kong, I was partially confused making the connection flight- meaning I did get a bit lost but not enough for me to miss the plane. :P

- They also checked my pencil box. I'm not sure why. Maybe ppl get stabbed with pencils more often there.

- At Narita, there was this huge group of Australian youths who seemed geared for some sports event. They were all wearing bright red jerseys. What surprised me (and annoyed me) was how everyone cut the line. It's one thing to have 1 or 2 individuals cut the line. It's another when you have 10-15 ppl stepping in front of your queue. (0__0);;; I shall withhold any further thoughts about this.


~ Highlight of that day ~

My luggage was delayed for pickup. I was the lucky one out of two to have my luggage placed on another plane that would fly in about 20 minutes later. I had to wait for another 40 minutes to get my luggage. I was rather nervous since the last Skyliner train leaves at 10.02 p.m. Guess what time I received my luggage?

9.55 p.m.

So, yours truly tore down the path towards the train platform. I jumped onto the only train available at the platform, which left at 9.59 p.m. I was a little surprised - the train left earlier than the stated time. I was too tired and didn't think further until I noticed the following:

1) This train is stopping at every stop. Skyliner is supposed to bypass most stops.
2) This train is moving quite slowly for a bullet train.
3) This train doesn't look like a bullet train.
4) Wait a minute, isn't that train that shot pass right in front of my eyes on another train track a split second ago.....the Skyliner train?

I took the wrong train. What a twit.

I was so very CROSS with myself throughout the whole trip from Narita to Nippori because I paid twice as much and yet, took a longer time to reach my destination.

The team greeted me at the Tokorozawa train station. It was welcoming to see their familiar faces. =) After seeing them, all my frustrations melt away. It's Ok, I've reached my destination.

Image Sources: onemanga.com

Before leaving for Japan.....


...quite a few interesting things/events happened the week before.

1) Monday June 16th - KTV session with the teacher 'gang' at Woodlands PartyWorld.

Since most of the songs were in Chinese, I brought pinyin lyrics along. I felt a bit embarrassed and self-conscious about it. Not only that, I couldn't sing well! LOL I did more fumbling than singing. But ah well, I just hope everyone had a good time. On a more serious note, I really appreciate the kindness and grace in this friendly environment. Maybe these teachers are used to poor performers LOL! Anyway, this motivates me to improve and work harder on learning the language. It's really been hard for me to forgive the contempt I received from some unkind Chinese language speakers. See? I just had to say that, didn't I? It's so hard to forget....

2) Wednesday June 18th - Hamsters almost killed each other.

About 15 minutes before I left for work that morning, I heard my hamsters squeal in an unusual way. Ok, they've been squeaking a lot for the last 2 days but I have to admit that I ignored it, thinking they'll get over it. I guess they didn't.

I realized that one was biting another really hard; thus the squeals of pain. My first instinct was to poke them with a wooden chopstick, yelling "Hey, STOP THAT!" But, the attacker meant serious business and wasn't going to let go. My heart dropped and I quickly rushed off to the kitchen to grab a cup of water.

*SPLASH*

Guess the shock of cold water was enough to separate both of them. The injured one ran to the house and hid there. I was pretty horrified at her condition: Bloody all over the head. I immediately move her to the empty travelling cage that belongs to my landlady's daughter. I tore up a lot of tissue paper and gave her some food and water. I, then, rushed off to work.

What was retarded was the fact that I had an important meeting at 9 a.m. If I didn't, I would have gone to work late. It was a pretty miserable meeting - I didn't feel like paying attention and wondered how my poor injured hamster is doing. Maybe she's bleeding to death? (0__0)

After the meeting, I did some online searches on medicating my little one and ran out from office to Causeway Point, with hopes that Mary was still alive. I bought Betadine iodine and a pair of little scissors. At home, my little one was still moving but blood had dried up on her head. She looked like a complete mess. D= I wore gloves, diluted the iodine solution and started dabbing her wounds. I also clipped off some fur.

A few days forward, what really bothered me was her left eye. It had turned white, her eye kept watering and she couldn't close her eye shut. My heart sank. What should I do? Bring her to the vet? But I was leaving for Japan that very morning. I prayed about it and decided to leave it to the hands of fate. May God take care of my little Mary. I left her to my landlady's daughter to give her food and water, with hopes she'll get better during my absence.

I worried for Mary throughout the trip but there was nothing I could do. Post-Japan trip, I now happily report that she's doing much better now. Her eye has gone back to black and she can shut it close now (swelling has gone down). Her fur is growing back. She seems happy, running around as if nothing had happened, except for a new cage. =) Thank God.

I'm also thankful that my hamsters fought when I was AROUND. Can you imagine what would have happened if I wasn't?! One would have probably killed the other. I might have come home to a dead body and bloody mess.

FREAKY. Praise God that didn't happen.

iii) Friday, June 20th - Tina's birthday at St James

It was a good event although most ppl couldn't make it. I met her friend Vera at Vivocity and we ate at this Kuching Restaurant. Yummy! Also, I gave Tina a nice necklace.

My only regret is that I was VERY tired that night. You see, one day before I go on leave, I suddenly have so much to do! Don't you just hate that?! All these last minute assignments....

It's hard to see but there were jazz musicians there! I like the trumpet player and the male singer the most. The former reminds me of Chris Botti and the latter, Jamie Cullum.

Wah so red. But this place was really comfortable and relaxing. Trust me - you need to see other sleazier clubs to appreciate how nice this one is.

The place at St James was really nice! I love the jazz music atmosphere (they played Jamie Cullum songs) and I liked the chocolate milk liquor they made, whatever it's called (Double Yum!). Being there was relaxing and my only wish was that I would not have to leave the next day for Japan. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to leave for Japan but it would have been nice to relax there.

We left by 10 p.m. vowing to return with more time in hand and more ppl (these Pathmakers must be prodded harder next time). But it does seem that if I were to check out the clubbing scene, I'll have to do it by myself or with another group of friends.

Back home, I went back to my office work: Powerpoint presentations and emails. That night, I barely slept at all. Maybe 2 hours? Yah, I was very tired upon leaving for Japan.

There you have it....that was one week before Japan.

Next: Reaching Japan.....dun dun dun

There is a time to blog....

Before I get to Japan, I forgot a few things worth mentioning. Things have been crazy since the month of May and this is why:

i) Trip to Netherlands
I visited the European region for the first time in my life! I made some conclusions after 5 days of being in this country.

- Life is more slow-paced in a good way. Everyone works but no one is frantic like most folks in Asia.
- The countryside is not a bad place to live in. Personally, I enjoyed the tranquility. Cycling around the countryside was also fun and I got very excited seeing random horses, cattle and sheep around. I kid you not. Oh and beer is nice there too.
- Working in a global team is cool and my global colleagues from France, USA and Mexico are really awesome. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with them and the chance to meet them in person.

Apparently, this is a modern windmill. Looks like a jet propeller to me (0_0)

Woohoo, check out Death on the streets!

I thought the architecture of these buildings in Amsterdam were beautiful. Looks rather majestic to me.

I have many more photos from my colleagues, which I just need to pick up but keep forgetting! Gah, I'll do it tomorrow and place the extras on Facebook.

ii) My koko's wedding
Goodness, that's unpardonable! All I wanna say I'm super happy for my koko and my sister-in-law. Love you guys! *hugs and shakes fist "I'm so gonna beat your a$$ in mahjoooooonggg* *gets whipped in the end by the Ichigo phenomena* XDDD

My brother inspired me to patiently wait for the one God intended. Seriously.

My sister-in-law inspired me to be a beautiful glowing bride. I want to be a wonderful wife and partner to my future husband. Seriously.


CONGRATULATIONS! (seems belated but it's Ok, I was there to celebrate)


iii) Church retreat

Oh man, I haven't been in Port Dickson for the longest time. What was significant about this trip was that I shared the Good News for the first time! It sounds silly but I'm really cowardly when I comes to talking about my faith. I don't know why - maybe I'm used to facing such tough skeptics, I sometimes don't even bother. But apparently, there are ppl out there who want to get to know the Christian faith and are open to such sharings. I'm thankful and believe this paves the way to many more opportunities. =)

Part of the English Corner group, including Pastor. I'm really glad that I join this ministry, getting to know these nice students from China =)

Most of the church members enthusiastically did these late night feasts on satay, durian and teh tarik. That's really terrible for one's health but hey, I'm joining in the fun!

I think the English Corner kids enjoyed the durian too. LOL


This post is getting a little too long.....

The Return from Japan....

...sucked. Yes yes, I know I should be blogging about the Japan Mission trip from the beginning, not the end. Additionally, I'm *gasp* double-posting.

But, there's something special about today. It's not just the fact that LY has become a Mrs. Cheong. I'm also on leave from work right in the middle of heavy deadlines, which I've already missed.

If there's one thing that this trip has taught me (you decide if it's good or bad), it's that there are some things that are not worth the stress, including work.

Getting back to the trip home, it was bad for mainly two realities that dawned upon me in the journey.

Reality #1: I'm sick
I had a painful sore throat, fever and a headache by the time we got onto the bus for Narita airport. Now, when I'm sick, what I typically do is to remain silent as I tend to become easily irritable over the smallest thing. I felt bad for the Japan team as I could tell that they were uncomfortable with the silent me. I wasn't mad at them or anyone else. I was just plain unhappy with my illness and there was nothing in this world that was going to make me feel any better. All I had to do was just to tough it out. I tried my best to be patient and to keep to myself.

Reality #2 No one is going to pick me up from the airport
As the others talked excitedly about going back to Singapore, even squealing at 5 minutes to touchdown, I realized that I'm the only one who's going to go home alone. At the airport, I saw everyone's friends and family members. I shook hands, said Hi and waved goodbye. I made my way to Bus 858 and took a seat. I told myself that it'll be fine - I'm used to being alone anyway. How is this any different from my life in the U.S.?

I shot some SMSs to three church friends (mostly Pathmakers)....only these 3 simply because I knew that they would definitely reply to my SMS. That night, the miserable and lonely me needed some responses even if it was a simple "I'll pray for your sickness." All responses were prompt and cordial (aww, I wanna hug these ppl). I bade goodnight to them with a slight mention of "sorrows at office the next day."

When an SMS came back to me "Don't be too stressed out ya? Take things step by step. Work will always be there. God is our ultimate boss," I cried a bit in the bus. Somewhere on this planet, someone knew and cared.

In the end of the day, it's no one's fault, really. I mean, I didn't exactly inform others of what I'm doing. I didn't really tell my parents that I'm leaving for Japan. I didn't tell any church friends that I'm coming back on the 30th. Deep inside, an inner voice said that no one would care enough to come anyway. Before leaving for Japan, I tried to arrange for a meetup for a church friend's birthday. No one from church came, which surprised me and disappointed the other. I couldn't help concluding that there's no point telling anyone 'coz no one is going to come anyway.

Few days later, I've bounced back into my usual self. I'm fine now. In retrospect, I still wonder if I could have done things better. Am I really Ok, being so independent and doing things on a solo basis? Am I really OK, protecting myself emotionally by expecting so little from ppl around me to avoid disappointment?

I'll think about this but I promise you that the next post will definitely be about the happier and more insightful moments of the mission trip. Promise!

Paddings are usually for safety...

Y'know, I should be posting about my Japan Mission trip but I have to get this one out of my system.

Last 2 weeks, I was shopping for my dear LY's ROM event on the July 3rd (wuhey, it's today! Congratulations, babe!). You see, I have this nice tube dress and I obviously need a strapless bra.

I walked into Metro and went to the lingerie section. It's natural to feel around the bras to get an idea of what would be comfortable.

I was shocked at how THICK some of the paddings were! Holy moly, I swear some of them are more than an 1 inch thick! Folks, it's like wearing friggin' two sponges on your chest around. To make things worse, most of the bras had paddings that were that thick.

Pushup bra or not, I suddenly feel a lot better about myself - the flat chested gal who doesn't like the fact that all her body fat is congregating at her thighs/butt and not her chest. I have no idea how it feels like to have a cleavage.

Not only that, I'm starting to suspect that many gals out who boast cleavages, are much "smaller" than one would perceived. "*gasp* So you're really just an A or B cup, you cheat!" LOL

My next immediate reaction was to feel a bit sorry for guys. It just seems deceiving. But I suppose, we could say the same about makeup. "Hey boys, check out what I've got. Marry me and you'll realize all my little dirty secrets to making myself more beautiful than I really am." If I were a guy, I would make sure I know whom I'm marrying so that I won't wake up on my honeymoon morning, turn around to my partner in bed and get a fright - "Holy crap, who are you!??"

Don't get me wrong. I'm ok with some enhancements but let's not take it too far, shall we? Do we really need boob jobs, Botox and plastic surgery? Do I really need to wear so much makeup that no one can recognize me anymore (ok, I make exceptions for theatrical acts or cosplaying)? I was ticked off when someone said he didn't mind me getting a boob job. Maybe no harm was intended but guys, how would you feel if wife/gf said that she wouldn't mind you getting a penis-enhancement job?

But anyway, to summarize my trip, I did manage to find a nice bra that wasn't ridiculously padded and yet comfortable. My tube dress held up well during LY's ROM. =D Three cheers for us A & B cup ladies!