Rizza Camus Caminero ...

sleepless nights are over .... NOT

2007-06-29T16:24:00.000+09:00

hisashiburi desu ne. :)

it's been a long time since i last posted. i've been so busy. right now, i'm just waiting for one sensei to contact me so that i can get his signature for my thesis. today is the deadline, but when Nga and i went to his office around 1pm, he wasn't there. until now, we haven't heard from him yet. so we don't know what to do.

anyway, the draft of my thesis is already finished. i have to review it once again. and prepare for next friday's final presentation. the reviewers will also give their comments on friday and possibly more comments after that. we need to revise again our thesis to include their comments. it will still be a lot of work... so my sleepless night are not yet over, i'm afraid. but it's getting there... just a few more weeks...

papa's 65th birthday

2007-04-17T09:32:00.000+09:00

my father celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday, april 16 2007. my dear sister, aiza, requested me to post his pictures here in my blog. i missed the yummy lechon they prepared last night. aiza said that papa insisted that he's still 64, and complained why the candles are for 65. whenever someone asks him how old he is, he always answer 64. i guess he already stopped counting last year, huh.

i called papa yesterday, around lunchtime to greet him. but actually, i also wanted to check if he received my gift. i ordered from filgifts.com an SM card, pre-loaded with 2k. it's kind of a gift certificate, but it's also re-loadable. i couldn't give him flowers, so i tried to search for other things to give. i wanted to give some kind of cake or pastries, but they need about 2weeks of lead-time. so, i ended up giving the gc. anyway, he didn't thank me right away, so i thought maybe it didn't arrive yet. then, he suddenly said he received an lbc package around 8am. i asked where it is from, he said from me. haha he said he didn't open it yet because he was very busy. i told him to open it and he did right then and said thanks (although he still wasn't sure how he can use it. haha). i called again last time, and talked to my mother, too. when i called, they were waiting for papa to show up, already hungry.

i wish my father lots of blessings. may he still have a long life ahead of him. may he be more relaxed and happy.

i've always admired my father. he's the 2nd of 7 children, and the eldest son. he's always supported my grandparents. i forgot at what age, he went with my grandfather's step-brother, selling pillows & blankets. they reached cebu, he studied there. but, for some reasons, he didn't finish his mechanical engineering (sakto ba?) course [sayop daw. it's civil engineering]. he met my mother there, got married in 1972, relocated to cagayan de oro(cdo), and raised the 3 of us there. my father opened a sari-sari store in cdo. it was our only means of living. the earnings weren't great. the store started small. but, through my father's hard work, we were able to go to an exclusive girls' school (now co-ed) in elementary & high school. in college, we went to the best university in the city. and, our only source of income was the sari-sari store. so, i am so grateful to my father for bringing us up the way he did.

again, all the best to papa. belated happy birthday, and thanks for everything.

here are some pictures...

a new post

2007-04-16T09:52:00.000+09:00

yeah.yeah.i've never posted an entry for more than a week now. i've been busy. and, i didn't have the time to write anything. i'm still busy, but i'm still confused on what i should start doing first. so, i decided to just write here.

i have more hanami pictures and will post them later.

last apr7, jay & i went to abiko with lloyd, lily, and doc. we watched lloyd's softball game, and cheered for their team. we saw the test engineers there, and cheered for them, too. in the end, lloyd's team won. after the game, we went to shinjuku to meet emman and grace. we finally met roland. grace wanted to go to odaiba (she hasn't been there yet), but lloyd and jay were tired and wanted to go to nanay's. the night before, nanay said she wanted to spend saturday night at jay's apartment. so, lily called nanay with lloyd as director, "nay...nisugot na sila jay ug ryze.....(long pause, nalipay si nanay).... nga sa inyo mi moadto"..or something like that. nanay can't do anything. when she said they have to go to church early the next morning, we replied that we would take the last train home. and, we would just buy dinner on the way. so, we ate kfc at their house, played mahjong, and karaoke. :D

on easter sunday, jay & i went to church in yotsuya, had lunch in yoshinoya with grace & met julius c there. then, we went to aki to buy some stuff. we then went to sendagi to get jay's remaining things. we went to ookurayama eki to meet lloyd & get our purefoods tj hotdogs. then, went home.

i left for nagaoka on monday. i met Nga at ueno eki. at nagaoka eki, i went home directly, while Nga still did some shopping at ito yokado's 100yen shop. emman texted that he will arrive around 6pm. so, i still had at least 1hour to prepare. i went home to clean my room and cook rice. i planned to go to mae's apartment to have dinner there, but since their rice cooker is small, i decided to cook rice and bring there. i didn't have time to cook anything else, since the meat was frozen. so, then i went to eki and was just in time to meet emman as he exited the ticket gate. we went home first so that emman could deposit his bag at my place. we took the rice and walked to mae's apartment. on the way, we stopped by febri's. we ate dinner at mae's and talked a lot. we walked back home past 10pm.

on tuesday, emman & i went to my university. we agreed to eat lunch at the cafeteria. i left emman at the international exchange room so that he can check email and blog. i had to go to the lab to do something, and mae had a class. we met him again around 12nn and went to the cafeteria to eat. he spent the afternoon in niigata.

on wednesday, i left for school without him. he planned to arrive around 12nn and we'll have lunch together (i cooked sinigang) with mae. after lunch, he left for sendai. he hasn't blogged about it, but he said he almost didn't make it to the bus stop in time. he had to run and need to arrange some of his stuff when he got off the bus.

on wednesday afternoon, we have a scheduled zemi, but we spent it rearranging our lab. i transferred to the other side, where i can always see sensei, when he's here. someone commented that we are brave (me, nga, zaidi) for staying here, where sensei is also staying. because normally, students would'nt want to stay where the sensei can always see them.

last saturday, i still went to jusco, walking, even though the wind was very strong. mae came by bike to the apartment around lunchtime (had to borrow money from her since i forgot to withdraw). we left together, separated near 7-11. i then walked to daiso and jusco. i bought 2 puzzles and 1 frame. while waiting for the bus, i had a difficulty holding the frame because the wind was blowing it very hard. i started on the puzzle in the evening, while watching avatar. i continued on sunday, still watching avatar. i finished avatar around dinnertime. so, i concentrated on the puzzle. i was about to stop, when i realized that only a few pieces were left. so, i decided to finish it, and i did by 130am.

my first "illuminating" mickey puzzle

the puzzle i just finished last weekend

my next puzzle

now, i'm back here in the school. i'm going to do what i should do.

oh, before i forget, jay bought a pink dslite for me last saturday. yippee! he'll have to use it first, since i'm far away here.

sakura....sakura....

2007-04-03T14:13:00.000+09:00

i wanted to write the lyrics of the song, sakura, but then i realized that all i know are those two words from the song!

last saturday, i went to tokyo for the hanami. lloyd told me to get a map so that i will know how to go to their location. i tried, but i got lost. when i finally found them, jay & joeyphus arrived only less than 5 minutes later. i was supposed to arrive at least 15 minutes earlier than them. i really don't have any sense of direction, even with a map.

that day, there were so many people at shinjuku gyoen. but, it's big, there's plenty of space for everyone. when i arrived around 3pm, many people were going home already, but still many others were just going in. we took pictures, and since they close at 430pm, we left around that time. then, we went to have coffee somewhere, went to bic camera (bought dong's digicam), had dinner at ootoya, and lastly went to yodobashi camera (bought jay's ps3 & addie's psp).

on sunday, jay & i went to their ward office to have his address changed. when we went to the station (the bus stop is there), we noticed that they have some sakura festival. we took pictures there, but didn't eat their bbq. instead, we ate at kfc. then, we went to the ward office, then back to the station to go to kawasaki eki. the mass started at 130pm, we were about 10mins late. there were so many people. and since it was palm sunday, the mass took longer than usual. i had to endure standing (was using boots) for about 1.5hours. after church, we went to eat crepe, went to yodobashi camera (jay bought some cable for his ps3), then met lloyd, lily, doc tess at jiyugaoka to borrow lloyd's keyboard (they were on their way to hear mass at roppongi). since my feet hurt so much, jay had to prepare dinner (longganisa & itlog maalat), while i watched wedding bells.

i came back to nagaoka yesterday. now, i'm in the university. this morning, i listened to a presentation by a turkish professor about turkey & its languages. now i'm going to go back to reading some previous works that are somehow related to my thesis topic.

here are some pictures... will add more later.

rest days

2007-03-30T22:28:00.000+09:00

i'm glad for weekends. i can rest. whether it's spent in tokyo (mahjong, wii, overnyt) or here at home just watching movies or even doing nothing, i still consider it rest days. on these days, i try not to think about school. although i'm supposed to think about my research since weeks ago, i still haven't spent any weekend doing that. i hope to change that next month, though. i really do need to spend even my weekends for my research.

i'm going to tokyo again tomorrow. the bisdakgaijins will have a hanami party tomorrow at shinjuku park. they planned to be there at 11am, but i'll just see them there at 2pm since my train leaves at 827am.

i'm just relaxing right now, chatting with a friend, blogging, spamming. i've been so busy last night preparing my presentation, i wasn't able to cook for my lunch and dinner today. so, i just bought bento for lunch, and had sardines for dinner. now, i'm going to start preparing my bag for tomorrow.

bisdakgaijins, see u tomorrow. :D

おめでとうございます,和田-さん

2007-03-26T20:05:00.000+09:00

by phone mail:

my email (3/26 17:16):
congratulations!
おめでとうございます。

-ライザ-

reply (3/26 17:32):
ありがとう！Ryzeには本当にお世話になった！ライザのおかげで卒業できたし！ジェイにもよろしく！

sardines or pork & beans for dinner?

2007-03-26T19:55:00.000+09:00

i chose pork & beans over chili sardines. though i think sardines is better than pork & beans. but i'm not in the mood for eating spicy food right now, especially since the rice left is not that much. and i also want to eat itlog na maalat. i think it wouldn't go well with sardines. :lol

i think royal tru-orange would be a good beverage.

itadakimasu!

welcome, spring

2007-03-26T11:08:00.000+09:00

i feel like it's spring already. with only a little snow here, it seems spring has already arrived. at this time last year, the snow was just starting to melt.

i haven't turned on my heater since friday evening. i washed my towels yesterday, after lunch. so, this morning, i towel-dried myself with a still-wet towel.

there was a little drizzle when i came to school today. i left my umbrella at mae's apartment, when i went there last night. the forecast for this afternoon is sunny. i do hope it will be.

today is the graduation ceremony of the B4 and M2 students of gidai. 6 M2 students and 3 B4 students will graduate from our lab. congrats to them!

earthquake

2007-03-25T13:48:00.000+09:00

japan experiences several earthquakes every year. this morning, an earthquake woke me up around 945am. i wasn't fully-awake when the quake continued for several seconds. after it stopped, i looked at the tv, waiting for the news about the earthquake. they usually show some bulletin regarding safety measured. thank goodness, there's no need to worry for our area. i don't know the magnitude of the quake that hit nagaoka, since the news is focused on ishikawa-ken. the magnitude there was 7.1! it was about the same magnitude as the earthquake that happened in nagaoka on oct 2004 (glad i wasn't here yet) that damaged a lot of houses. i keep on reassuring myself that a big quake won't happen in the nagaoka soon because it had a big one in 2004. on the news, about 130pm, 1 person had died and 90 people have been injured.

panic time!

2007-03-23T17:45:00.000+09:00

it's now time to panic. but i still haven't started to. i hope i can start soon. 'coz i only have 2 months left to do what i have to do.

since last night, i've got stomachache. i don't know whether it's because of the 2 cups of ice cream i had, or because i didn't have a proper lunch. whatever it is, it doesn't matter. i feel a little better now.

our deadline is on may 24. i have to make a presentation for next friday. i still have no idea what i should put there. i hope i can start working on it tomorrow. yeah, it's a saturday. but i hope to do something tomorrow. i don't want to go sightseeing anymore. not for the next 2months. ugh!!!

anyway, gotta write here that jay transferred to miyazakidai from sendagi last saturday. i helped him pack his things. we slept at lloyd's place that night since we already sent the futon. on sunday, we went back to sendagi to continue cleaning and getting some other things. there are still some things left there, which we had planned to get on wednesday, but didn't.

on tuesday, i went to lily's place to have lunch. doc tess was there. after lunch, the 3 of us went to sakuragicho, just to show it to doc and have her picture taken there. we had cold stone ice cream (i got the mud pie mojo) for snacks. we were joined later by jay on our dinner at wendy's.

on wednesday, jay's company was supposed to have a hanami near asakusa eki. but, the sakura didn't bloom yet. so we just ate lunch at a restaurant, and took the boat trip to hinode pier and back. i forgot it was grace's birthday, until she called me. after the "hanami", jay and i looked for joel's requested book, then went to grace's. we then ate at denny's (thanks, grace). jay & i prepared some macaroni salad for the hanami, but only got to eat a few (at the boat), so we gave some to grace.

i came back here yesterday. on the train to nagaoka, i talked with a japanese lady from yokohama. she told me to visit kamakura, a nice place where there are temples. i'll visit someday. i didn't get her name, but it was a nice conversation.

gotta go home in a few minutes. i'm hungry.

new apartment

2007-03-19T08:22:00.000+09:00

jay has transferred to his new apartment. well, actually, it's more like a new room in a new apartment. from sendagi, he's transferred to miyazakidai. for travel time before, it only takes him about 25 minutes by train, now it takes him about 51 minutes. today will be his first day at the office, coming from the new apartment. so, he had to wake up early this morning, an hour earlier than his usual time.

i arrived here last friday. the trip was really uneventful. Nga and i just talked. when she got tired, she slept while i read a book. i met jay at akihabara and tried to look for a vb6 book for joel a. but, couldn't find it yet. dinner was at kfc in nishinippori. i was walking a little slower than normal 'coz i wore my highheeled-boots.

saturday was spent packing jay's stuff. i easily got tired, so had to rest for a bit. by 4pm, he tried to look for movers. he called but found out that their weekend's full. the transfer has to be a weekday. since jay has work, it has to be in the evening, at 8pm. it was almost 5pm when jay finalized the transfer process. he decided to just use sagawa takkyubin, so that it will arrive the following day. with about an hour left, we hurriedly tried to finish packing what needs to be sent. when the guy from sagawa arrived, he told us to hurry so that it will reach the cut-off for sunday morning. so, we hurriedly filled-out the forms. it cost us about 15k for 8 boxes and bags. i think he overpriced it, but it was to late when we noticed. since we already sent the futon, jay decided to sleep at lloyd's. so, we went there, i cooked pancit canton and tj hotdogs, and we played bomberman land.

on sunday, lloyd cooked breakfast. we left together, but separated at mitsuzawa kamichou eki. jay & i are bound for azamino. lloyd & lily are going to yokohama and then to narita to meet doc tess. from azamino we transferred to den-en-toshi line to miyazakidai. after leaving our things and opening the boxes which were delivered about 30 minutes before we arrived, we went to sendagi to clean and get our remaining things. but before leaving for sendagi, we had dinner at kfc near miyazakidai eki. the travel to sendagi took about an hour. the, we finished in sendagi past 6pm already. so, we ate dinner at matsuya then came here to miyazakidai. we haven't arranged our clothes and other stuff yet. i'll be doing that this morning. we still have 1 big bag and 3 paper bags left in sendagi. we'll get them on wednesday. last night, we went to 99shop which is just about 5minutes from here. beside the shop is a grocery store, and mo's burger. this seems like a very nice location. the apartment is also nice. i hope our next apartment will be as nice as this one, and as convenient.

ok. so, i guess it's finally time to clean!

tokyo peeps, see u soon...

2007-03-16T11:41:00.000+09:00

i've stopped counting how many times i've been to tokyo. i'm going back there again today. maybe Nga and I will take the 420 train from nagaoka eki. or maybe an earlier one. we're not sure yet.

jay will be transferring to another apartment this weekend. i'm going to help him clean his room in his old apartment, and prepare his things for transfer. i still have some of my stuff there. it's not fair to let him do it alone.

i had initially planned to go there on the 20th (or 21st - vernal equinox holiday) and wait for emman who will arrive on the 24th. but he changed his plan to march 31. and jay's latest transfer date is march 21. so, i've just decided to go back there this weekend and come back here on the 22nd and concentrate (i've said this for the nth time!) on my research starting on the last week of march. the last week of march is a school holiday. but, for research students, we don't normally follow that one. i checked my old mails last year, trying to see if i came here during the school holidays. and to my surprise, i did come here. maybe i wasn't aware it was a school holiday, but most importantly, it was during that time that the deadline for the final poster submission.

anyway, as with all my previous tokyo trips, i'm looking forward to this one. although i will be travelling for about 6 hours, for the price of 1,600 yen, i won't have regrets.

today is skirt day

2007-03-15T11:16:00.000+09:00

Nga and I decided to wear skirts today, so that we can wear our newly-bought boots. although the skirts we have are not brand-new, they still look and feel good. i just washed the 2 skirts and 1 pants i bought from 2nd street yesterday. i didn't plan on buying anything, but the skirts were really good. so i ended up buying those things. imagine, the 3 items i bought only cost me 280yen.

before we went to 2nd street, we visited febri. makino-san picked up mae at her apartment, then came to gidai to pick me up and also nga. we went to join mutsumikai (support group for foreign students, meeting every wednesday) for a few minutes to drink tea and eat some food. i wasn't able to talk that much because i had to entertain a phone call from the filipino store in tokyo. i ordered some food and drinks. so, after a few minutes of talking with some people at mutsumikai, makino-san said we have to go. so, we left for the hospital. near the hospital, there's a new mall that will open on the first of april. it's quite big, and febri said there will be a starbucks shop there. anyway, we went inside the hospital, bought some flowers and visited febri on the 5th floor. the room can hold 4 patients. there was one other patient in the room. we had to talk softly so as not to disturb the other patient. febri's baby is so cute. her lips looks the same as febri's husband. febri said her baby's eyes are not as round as hers. we somehow think she's more japanese-looking than indonesian-looking.

so, after the visit to febri, we went to 2nd street, which is just nearby. makino-san dropped us off there. he bought something before he left to meet his daughter. i think Nga bought 6 items, and Mae bought 3 for herself and 3 for danna. from 2nd street, we walked to jusco. i bought a mini-rose flower at the flowershop, and conditioner at the supermarket section. we then went to the shoes section, and tried on the boots. they were so cheap! the price tag showed 1000yen. but with a half-price tag below it. nga had to clarify if it means 500yen for each pair of boots. she liked two boots, and if it's only 500yen each, she's planning to buy both. and, it's only 500yen! so, we really bought the boots, and decided to wear it with a skirt today. and so, here we are, looking like japanese girls with our fashion. i will never get used to wearing skirt or boots. but it's fun to try to be fashionable sometimes, even if the fashion doesn't really suit me.

yokatta... :D

2007-03-13T18:59:00.001+09:00

that was the first word i sent to febri, nga, and mae just a few minutes ago when i heard febri's good news. she delivered her baby girl this afternoon. congratulations, febri & bondry. :D

febri's expected delivery date was march 5. the baby wasn't ready to come out yet. they were told by the doctor to wait one more week. so, they went last monday. the doctor then told them that they have to induce her on wednesday, tomorrow. i sent her a message this evening, asking her if she's okay. she replied that she already gave birth this afternoon. it was good news. i heard induced delivery is more painful. thank goodness she didn't have to experience it. we'll be visiting her on thursday, since she's still weak right now having lost a lot of blood. we're very excited to see them. i'm sure their new baby girl will be as cute as their eldest daughter, caca. :)

still snowing???

2007-03-13T11:45:00.000+09:00

i left nagaoka last wednesday. it was snowing at that time. but since i'll be going to tokyo, i didn't want to bring an umbrella or use snow shoes. so, when i went to the bus stop in hurry, my coat was covered in snow. because of the snow, the cars moved in a very slow pace. at the station, i bought the seishun 18kippu for just 8k yen (originally sold at 11,500) because it's the 20th anniversary of the privatization of JR. i left nagaoka at 1032am and arrived in ueno at 355pm. 18kippu can be used 5times on the local JR trains. it wasn't such a bad travel, even if it took me 5.5hrs. on the way to minakami, the snow was heavy, i couldn't take good pictures. in ueno, i bought 2 books, the other side of me by sidney sheldon & the new book by mary higgins-clark. i then went to the filipino store in kannai and bought banana (saba), itlog maalat, purefoods tj hotdogs. i then met jay at hamamatsucho eki and ate dinner at a chinese restaurant. in contrast to nagaoka, tokyo was very sunny.

on thursday, i just went out to buy rice and some meat. i didn't go anywhere else. on friday, i also stayed at home. on saturday, jay didn't have any class and janz was in abiko (can't meet him), we just decided to stay at home. in the evening, we went outside for dinner. we wanted to walk all the way to tokyo dome, but it was just too far and we were already hungry. so we ate at jonathan's. i think it was about 2 or 3 blocks away from tokyo dome. but, it's a 35-minute walk from jay's apartment.

on sunday, we went to church at the saint ignatius church near yotsuya eki. we thought the mass would start at 11am. we arrived at 1125am and the japanese mas just ended. apparently, the english mas is at 12nn. we met janz, aris, ken, and lito there. we went to akihabara together. we ate at yoshinoya. with the exception of lito, we looked for some stuff in akihabara (it's the last weekend of aris & janz). then, we walked to ueno to see some sakura. it wasn't in full-bloom yet. most of the trees don't have flowers yet. we had niku-man (siopao) for snacks. for dinner, we ate at ichiran. after that, they went back home to abiko while jay & i looked for a coat for me.

yesterday, i went back to nagaoka by local train. i took the 1025am train to takasaki from ueno. i met Nga at the train to minakami. there were so many passengers. we arrived in nagaoka around 349pm, 5minutes later than scheduled. we went to ito yokado to buy some groceries then went home. there was a little snow. my coat wasn't completely covered in snow, but i had to wear my bonnet and gloves because it was very cold.

right now, the sun' shining. it didn't snow this morning. although today's forecast shows snow, i hope it's wrong.

tulips...

2007-03-06T11:47:00.000+09:00

bought for myself last saturday, with jay. i've always wanted to buy flowers, but couldn't get the chance. everytime i go to the supermarket, i always forget. last week, i bought some yellow roses. i already paid for my groceries and was about to go out when i glanced at the flower section. i was supposed to buy flowers. the same thing happened last saturday. we were about to go out when i glanced at the flowers and remembered i was supposed to buy some. i bought tulips (na-inspire ko sa post ni nene about tulips). i wonder if these flowers will last for 5days without a change of water...

too many posts...

2007-03-01T11:59:00.000+09:00

i had so many posts for the month of february. i don't know why. maybe it's a sign that i'm bored. but, i'm not supposed to be bored. i'm supposed to be doing something. but, hey. my february was very eventful. i had lots of fun. and, i wanted to write them down.

i regret not writing about my past experiences. my 2006 was my most memorable year, having gone to Paris and Edinburgh. it was also last year that jay got a job, first a part-time here and now a full-time there (in tokyo). that's why i wanted to try as much as possible to write as much as i can this year.

there are still things i forgot to write. i want to write it here now.

last january, i ordered for roses to be delivered on valentine's day. on feb13, my family and jay's family received their roses. they were very happy for such a thoughtful gesture from us. on feb14, friendships and addie received theirs. addie said he felt gay receiving flowers. the flowers for the friendships were addressed to dong. dong was surprised to receive the flowers. he couldn't find any dedication, which got him confused. he thought maybe it was a mistake. i pitied him so i just told him who the flowers are for. it's for everyone of the friendships. anyway, i think i made them happy. the flowers were nice. i strongly recommend you to order roses from islandrose. they have nice roses and the price is not so high compared to other online stores. check out their website: http://www.islandrose.net. i have been a member since august of last year and have bought several flowers from them already.

on feb14, in our lab, i gave chocolates that i made the night before. i just put the liquid chocolate mix on the microwave. the poured them on some aluminum molds and decorated them with some kind of candy toppings. the result wasn't so bad. at least i was able to give chocolates on vday, a tradition here in japan. here, the ladies give the guys chocolates on vday, feb14. the men give the ladies chocolates on white day, march14.

i suddenly remembered the chocolates because today i received chocolates a omiyage from chew-san who came from france. this year, he attended the same event i attended last year.

oooopppps... i had so much fun writing that i forgot it's time for lunch already. gotta go!

american idol

2007-02-28T22:12:00.000+09:00

the AI fever has started a few weeks back. they are now on their 14 episode. my friend, emman, seems to be obsessed with the show. she wrote in her blog about her dreaming of AI. i haven't dreamt of the show. so that means i'm not that obsessed with it.

it sure is fun to watch. :) i hope the contestants that i like would make it to the top 12.

on another topic, someone revived the eros forum. that was a great idea. now, i can spam whenever i want to. i can be updated with the other erosians, most of us have already moved on, evident on the top page:"resignation is only the beginning...".

goodbye, ja.. see u again soon!

2007-02-25T22:00:00.000+09:00

saturday. we had breafast first before we took a bath and left. i left my bags in lloyd's apartment and came back for it later. jay and i then went to kamioooka to look for apartments there. lily and lloyd went somewhere. jay had a class that day. so, i planned to go to shinkawasaki w/ lloyd and lily later.

at kamioooka, we went to this place near the station where we saw some posts about apartments for rent. the kind lady there suggested a place. it was only 11mins walk, a 2DK bedroom, one room is tatami, the other is western. the cost is 67k. plus a maintenance fee of 1k. we said it's a bit over our budget, and she said the maintenance fee can be waived. then later she said the rent can be lowered to 63k. good news, indeed. we went to another real-estate agency a little further but the ones the lady found were a bit expensive, and when she inquired, they are not too keen on having foreigners. she suggested we check-out the other real-estate guys. we tried to look for them, but we only took some brochures 'coz we were already hungry. we ate at lotteria, then went to yodobashi to print some photos (they are for future greeting cards). we had a difficult time looking for the machine that can print 4 pictures in 1page. luckily, we found it. jay was already late for his class. we took the keikyu line train. i got off at yokohama, jay continued to shinagawa. luckily, when i arrived at the bus stop, the bus was still there and there was still a line. this time, the ride took only 15minutes.

at lloyd's apartment, lloyd still wanted to take a nap but lily ann was already preparing the things they will bring and she had to consult lloyd about it. i wanted to go to shinkawasaki already, so i insisted that lloyd should take a nap in shinkawasaki instead. i also contacted henrison, asking if they are on their way and if they can find their way to jaja's apartment. they decided to wait for us at the station. at yokohama, i still looked for a psp pouch. so, henrison and ken were already waiting at shinkawasaki eki when we arrived. we walked to leopalace 21 joy and on the way, ken added a few names to the resigned engineers list we already have for last week. in rj's room, we played naruto. lily ann sent a message that we should go and buy the chicken before jaja arrives.

here's the secret...surprise... jaja's farewell party was supposed to be a kkb dinner somewhere. i suggested shinkawasaki denny's since nanay suggested we throw a surprise party for jaja. early last week, i asked jaja if her farewell party pushed through last weekend. she said she was busy, so there was no party. i asked if she still has plans. she's thinking, but only kkb since she can't cook anymore 'coz her things need to be shipped on sunday, feb25. kkb since she can't afford to spend a lot by treating others to dinner outside. it would cost too much. but it's sad if there would be no farewell party. since nanay wanted to have a surprise party, i thought of a good plan. i suggested the kkb dinner at shinkawasaki's denny's. i told jaja we should meet at their apartment at 630pm and hopefully start dinner at 7pm. i contacted all invited guests (including jaja, 12 ppl: tatay, nanay, lily, lloyd, jay, ryze, grace, joel, rj, henrison, ken) and told them about the plan. they were enthusiastic (i guess) and agreed to cooperate.

so... lily ann, lloyd and i walked to kfc. on the way, we passed by summit, a grocery store. since nanay and tatay will be arriving late (they got stuck in traffic somewhere), we don't have any chopsticks, paper plates & cups. so, lloyd volunteered to buy these things as well as the apple pie (mcdo). lily and i proceeded to go to kfc. we ordered 18 red hot chicken, and 4 original chicken, and 1 coleslaw (i took each person's order). they would be ready in about 25minutes, so they gave us complimentary drinks while we wait. i wanted to order the thigh part but the girl said it would be difficult to have 18 chicken of only 1 part. so, i just said it's ok, as long as there would be no wings. while waiting, jaja already contacted us because it was almost 7pm. i apologized, saying we hope to be there in 15minutes. lloyd followed us to kfc, but he took a long time to arrive. he was also asked to wait for a few minutes before the apple pie (10pcs) could be ready. he also bought some drinks. so finally, our order arrived and we walked back to the apartment.

in rj's room, we prepared the table. when everything was set, i went upstairs to call joel and tell him to go to rj's room. i told him to hurry since i will go to jaja's room and tell her to go down right away. i thought jaja & i could go down right away. but, i was so wrong. since we were supposed to be going to denny's, jaja had to put on her jacket, put on some lipgloss/lipstick, comb her hair, etc... so, it took us longer than i expected. so, we went to rj's room and jaja was really surprised to see the food on the table. (btw, rj and grace cooked the rice) she really didn't expect it. she really thought we were going out. so, we ate the delicious kfc chicken, with mc apple pie for dessert.

nanay and tatay arrived a little later. they brought pizza. we were all surprised with the pizza. thanks, nanay and tatay. since dinner, we just talked and talked. since we were all complete, i said that lily has an announcement. lily didn't say anything at first. then someone guessed it correctly. yes, lily's pregnant! she's 7 weeks pregnant. i'm so happy for them. the expected delivery date is oct13 (wada-san's bday). congrats lily and lloyd.

so, that night, after dinner, some played wii. the others played mahjong. jaja went back to her room to continue packing. lily and i passed around the message board for jaja. it was a hello kitty board, with kitty's face in the front center. we put our pictures. that's what lily and i did in their apartment yesterday. it wasn't really that great (we're not artistic), but it was ok. we covered the kitty in the center with the pictures. we wrote our messages at the back. when everybody has written, i went upstairs again to call jaja. she was supposed to bring some drinks to rj's room, but she forgot. so, i asked her to help me bring the drinks and junk food. it was actually another surprise. :D we told her it was the last surpise we can give her.

we continued playing mahjong and wii. i don't remember what time, but nanay and tatay had to go home. they didn't want to bother jaja, but i called her and she wanted to say goodbye to tatay and nanay, so she rushed downstairs. she then made her farewell speech. she thanked everyone. it was quite long, actually. hehehe just look at the video. :) after nanay and tatay left, the rest continued playing. i felt light-headed around 4am, or was it earlier? so, i slept on the sofa. when they finished playing, i woke up and went to grace's room. lily and lloyd were already there since lily had to sleep early, and lloyd had nothing to do (so, he fell asleep in rj's sofa, then just decided to just sleep comfortably w/ lily). we slept until 1030am.

grace bought rice and eggs, and we cooked lunch (sausage, luncheon meat, eggs, sardines). since the rice usually takes a long time to cook, i prepared some crab and corn soup, just to satisfy a little our hunger. while grace and i cooked, lily, lloyd, and jay played wii. when everything was finally ready, i called jaja. the nippon express guy just left and she felt so lonely with an empty room. so, when she opened her door, she was crying. i told her we better go down and have lunch, maybe we can cheer her up. we also called rj after we almost finished our lunch. after lunch, we played mahjong. after 2 rounds, we felt sleepy, so we took a nap for about an hour. i think only lloyd was awake, playing wii. when we woke up, it was 530pm, i think. we then took a bath and left. the four of us decided to take the bus to kawasaki and have dinner there. we wanted to eat at pepper lunch, but the place was so small, we ended up in wako (tonkatsu, lloyd's favorite). after dinner, we went our separate ways.

it was a very busy weekend. well, not doing anything outside, but inside 2 rooms. it was so much fun, really. i would really miss jaja. we spent many nights in her room. we talked about so many things, especially her lovelife. i would surely miss her here. i hope she would come back to visit us sometime. even without jaja, i will still visit their apartment. grace, rj, and joel are still there. it would be different without jaja. but it won't be any less fun.

thanks ja for everything. i hope you will have more blessings in your life, as you go back in cebu. it will be another world for you, very different from your world for a year. just be strong. whenever you need to talk, we're just an email away. take care, ja. :)

good news!

2007-02-23T23:30:00.000+09:00

heard a great news from lily ann today. details later.

we made something today. cut2x and paste2x. details also later.

lily ann & i just talked since i arrived around 1pm. let me describe my route to yokohama. i took the chiyoda line to omotesando. then, transferred to ginza line for shibuya, just 1 station away. in shibuya, i must transfer to the tokyu toyoko line for yokohama. this route is cheaper than taking the JR from nishinippori (chiyoda) or from tokyo (marunouchi, otemachi). when i entered the tickets gates, i saw 4 platforms. there was a board showing the train schedule. but, i don't remember the destination of the train i'm supposed to take. i saw many people on platform 4. i decided to follow them, since i saw on the sign that it will pass yokohama. i was glad to be able to sit down 'coz my bag was heavy and i still had another paper bag. then, i turned around and saw there's another train on platform 3, the same destination as the train i'm on. then i realized i'm riding the local train, meaning, many stops. the train on platform 3 is a limited express train, meaning few stops. i was debating whether i should transfer or not. but, someone was standing a near the space in front of me. so, i decided to just stay put. at naka-meguro, i realized the express would pass there. but, i didn't get up. at jiyuugaoka, the express train also arrived a minute after we did. but, i realized too late that it's there. i was afraid that if i stand up, i will not make it in time and it would be so embarassing. so, i stayed put again, staring at the express train leave us. at kikuna, i listened to the announcement and decided to transfer to the incoming express train (this was the 2nd express train). the next stop is yokohama, so i guess i was ahead of the local train maybe only for about 3 or 5 minutes.

in yokohama, i waited for the bus for a looooong time. the line got very long. lucky for me i was still able to sit down. it was around lunchtime and raining, so maybe that's why the ride took about 25minutes. the last stop was kandaiji-iriguchi so i just walked to lily's apartment.

so... we did some cutting and pasting... and a lot of talking. we also cooked the banana (saba). we cooked only 4, thinking it was enough for us. but we were still hungry so we cooked the remaining bananas. then lily cooked sinigang for dinner. we played PS3, the marvel game. jay arrived first, then lloyd. we had dinner and then played wii. jay recently bought a new game for the wii, naruto. we also played bomberman. but, i'm already tired. so, i'm not going to stay up so late...

i'm back...in tokyo.... again....

2007-02-23T01:00:00.000+09:00

i'm back again in tokyo. i arrived around 930pm in ikebukuro. jay told me to go to ueno because he was meeting his coordinator(?) there, talking about something. when i was almost in ueno, he called to ask me where i was 'coz he's finished and can go home already. duh! i told him we'll just meet on the platform in ueno and ride back together. so, there... we went home and i just bought some pasta from 7-11.

tomorrow i'm going to lily ann's apartment. we're going to do some secret thing. hahaha then, jay will go there directly from work. we'll sleep there tomorrow night. on saturday, we will go to shinkawasaki for jaja's farewell party at Denny's near their apartment. so, that will be another overnight stay, probably in grace's room. whew! it would be a very busy weekend, for sure.

btw, today is frank's birthday. :) happy birthday, kulot.

the top 12 girls performed tonight. they were great! stephanie, sabrina, jordin, melinda, lakisha. very powerful vocals!

happy birthday, mae!

2007-02-21T23:45:00.000+09:00

today is mae's birthday. i wanted to give her a cake. but, no budget. bus still, i wanted to give her something. so, i thought i should look for a mini-cake in a convenience store. unfortunately, no mini-cake at save-on, the nearest convenience store to the place where i bought my bus tickets to tokyo. speaking of the bus ticket first, i bought a round-trip ticket. i didn't reserve ahead of time because the schedule i chose was not really full. so, i just went there and told the lady i would go to ikebukuro from nagaoka kita on 2/22 5pm and back on 2/26 1pm. as i was putting my wallet and tickets in my backpack, she suddenly asked me where i'm from. i told her from the philippines. she asked if our language is really english. i told her filipino and english. english is taught since grade 1, or even kindergarten. she said it's taught in japan but is not practiced (well... i think that's what she was saying, nihongo kasi!). anyway, after i bid her thanks and farewell, i went to Save-on and ended up buying some choco roll. then hurriedly walked back, hoping i could still catch the 1021am bus. i walked fast, so there was still time to buy some bread, so i bought one for me and one for mae. i was still early for the bus, and luckily bondry (febri's hubby) passed me by. so, it was a free ride for me. :D thanks. earlier that day, mae went to gidai also in bondry's car with febri. turned out febri just took some forms from the school that she must submit to the rotary club (regarding her scholarship and leave from school due to pregnancy). and, bondry took her back home and helped some friends with something.

today is also wawang's first day at his part-time job. i hope it went well.

anyway, happy birthday, mae. hope u will have more birthdays to come... more blessings... :D

b4 i forget... today was the performance of the top12 boys. based on tonight's performance, i liked blake, chris richardson, and jared. :D

tokamachi snow festival

2007-02-19T13:26:00.000+09:00

last saturday, we went to tokamachi. they had their 58th snow festival. we rode the 1006am bus from kibougaoka. some myanmar students were on the same bus. mae and her family also rode the same bus to nagaoka eki. at the eki, we all agreed to meet at bus stop #1 at 11am. we will ride another bus bound for tokamachi. we still had at least 30minutes of free time, so jay and i just bought crepe and some drinks. the ride took about an hour and 30minutes. we stopped at honcho 6-chome. we would meet a volunteer at cross 10 building. since it wasn't 1pm (meeting time) yet, she told us to checkout what's inside the building and go out again at 1pm. we went inside, they were selling some sake, food, native things, etc. we went to the other side and bought squid to eat. at 1pm, we went outside and the old lady just gave some of us a map to her house (others would be staying at her house for the evening), tickets to the carnival show, and something to keep us warm. it was a very cold day. she gave instructions on how to go to the carnival. then she waved at us and wished us well. we (jay, mae, wawang) were surprised because we thought she would guide us. apparently, she was just there the give us the instructions and we had to see the place by ourselves.

so, we walked a few blocks and arrived at the road to the carnival. lain (myanmar) explained that that was the way to the carnival. and we can also go to the community hiroba to play. he doesn't know what we can do there, but said the old lady said to go there and play. they decided to checkout the carnival first. we followed them. there were ice sculptures along the way. they were nicely done. at the top (place of the carnival), we took some pictures. a group of dancers were practicing for the show in the evening. it was very cold, and some of them had no shirt on! the show would start at 6pm. we have tickets to the show, but we must be there by 530pm. we wondered where the other sculptures are. then, jay understood that they are distributed in the city. so, we have to go back to the main road and go the the marked places on the map. so, we tried to find as many sculptures as we can. since it was very cold, we decided not to watch the show, and go home early. we took the 544pm bus to nagaoka eki. though we didn't get to see all the ice sculptures, it was still a nice trip for us.

we arrived around 710pm at nagaoka eki. the next bus that will pass by kibougaoka is at 835pm. jay and i wanted to eat outside. so we tried to look for a bus that will at least pass-by jusco. there's a 730pm bus that will pass jusco mae. so, we decided to take that. now, for mae, their nearest bus stop is nishi-chuu iriguchi. i tried to look for an earlier bus that they could take. good thing i found an 8pm bus that will pass by their place. the bus stop name is the same but the actual location is not. so, i explained it to mae first, so that they won't get lost.

so... off we went our separate ways. we stopped at jusco. then walked to hard-off and looked at their stuff. then walked a little further to m's dining. soup bar and drink bar for 500yen. in total, for the two of us, we spent 3k yen and we were very full. then we walked to book doom. jay was looking for gamecube memory. we bought there. then, we walked home. at home, we just watched some tvseries and slept around 12mn. i thought jay would still play mario party, but he said he slept at the same time i did. but the next day, he woke up late.

we didn't go anywhere on sunday. we just stayed at home. we ate brunch and dinner at home. jay cooked adobo for brunch. i cooked pinakbet for dinner. mae and wawang fetched us at 630pm. jay's bus is at 7pm. wawang took us to nagaoka kita bus stop and we waited for jay to ride the bus. we then went home. thanks for the ride, mae and wawang.

now, it's back to being lonely once again. i'm going to try to concentrate here. but it seems my rtr mode is on today.

updated:
here are some pictures....

laboratory trip in Oginoshima Inn, Takayanagi Town

2007-02-15T13:29:00.000+09:00

we just arrived this morning, about 11am, from our laboratory trip in takayanagi town, kashiwazaki shi. it was a very nice experience.

yesterday, we left gidai at around 230pm. it was almost an hour's ride to ogonoshima inn. i rode in ashu-sensei's car with nandasara-san (both sri lankan), and pann & zin (myanmar). in mikami-sensei's car were suzuki-sensei, nakahira-sensei, and adachi-san. in iwafuchi-san's car were chisuga-san, wada-san, and kitade-san. kodama-sensei went there by himself, because he was still a beginner in driver. he was called a "baby driver". at the inn, we left our belongings, had ocha, decided that the men would stay in the first house and the women in the second house, left again for the onsen, which was 10minutes away. it was zin's first time. pann also haven't tried onsen before. when she entered the room with us girls, she was surprised that the people there were not wearing anything! she said she will not take a bath. she just waited outside. her religion is islam, and i think it's not allowed for other people to see their body.

it wasn't my first time to strip in front of someone i know. the first time was in nov1999, during my first trip to japan, a business trip in the tamagawa plant. i stayed in a girls dormitory, where the only bathroom is the common one. you have to take off all your clothes when you enter, put your clothes in a basket, and walk naked to the shower room. after showering, you could go into the hot bath. during that business trip, i was introduced to this japanese girl who's a friend of an officemate. my officemate told me to look for the girl and introduce myself because she stays in the same dorm with me. one time, i saw her in the changing area. she talked to me, said hello and a few things. i was shocked that time. usually, when i go there, i don't talk to anybody. apparently, if you know someone, it's normal that you talk to them while change. she just finished taking a bath and was changing, while i just arrived there. that really was a first for me. anyway, i never tried the ofuro. i just showered (the shower room has 3 cubicles, but no door in each. if you face the faucet, anybody who gets inside the room can see ur back), even bringing my towel inside so that when i go out, it's wrapped around me.

now, back to last night's onsen. the four of us (adachi-san, nakahira-sensei, kitade-san) showered then went in the bath. we talked just for a while. then we decided to go out, to their outdoor bath. it was so nice. it was so cool at that time, the water was hotter, though. then, adachi-san went back inside first. after a while, nakahira-sensei and kitade-sen followed. i stayed the for a while, then went out and followed them inside. we still took a bath , but adachi-san went out first. the 3 of us followed after a few minutes. i noticed they did not shower anymore. i still took a shower (just to wash off the onsen water), but without soap anymore. then i went out to the changing room, i felt dizzy. still, i tried to change, but had to stop 'coz i really felt dizzy. they kept on asking, "rizza-san, daijoubu desu ka.", and i replied "daijoubu desu.". so, i slowly changed, but still felt dizzy. they suggested i sit down near the sink with mirror. so, i did. i also drank some water, i thought maybe i was dehydrated. so, i had to continue changing while sitting, and combed my hair, too. i was feeling a little better, but i had to walk real slow. at the lobby, the guys were already there. they just finished eating ice cream. i couldn't bring myself to buy soft cream, so i just bought aquarius from the vending machine. from there, we went back to the inn. at the car, i felt so dizzy, so i just sat quietly, sometimes putting my head on my knees. the roads had many twists and turns. so, at that time, it wasn't a good ride for me. when we arrived at the inn, i immediately went inside our house. i went to the toilet and vomited in the sink. pann maybe noticed that i wasn't feeling well so she helped me. after that, i felt a bit fine. maybe dinner would make me feel better. i don't know what made me dizzy. it's possible that i was hungry, because during lunch, i ate only a little. it's also possible that i was in the water for a long time (longer than my normal time). i don't know for sure. but during dinner, i felt better.

we gathered at the first house for dinner, which consisted of lots of food. all were vegetables, except for one fish dish. all were very delicious, i suppose. but there were others that i felt were delicious but just too bitter. we talked while eating and drinking. i only had coke at first because i wasn't feeling well. kodama-sensei opened some other drinks like sake, umeshu, wine, etc. i didn't drink the sake and umeshu and the other sake. later, i drank the wine from honey (very sweet), fruit wine (like punch), and a little beer. there was a time when the talk was about girlfriend, like wada-san's, iwafushi-san's, chisuga-san's. i was curious about kodama-sensei's lovelife, so i asked adachi-san. she said he's not married but she thinks he has a girlfriend. she told me to ask him myself, but i'm embarassed. adachi-san loudly told kodama-sensei that i have a question, and she asked in my behalf. kodama-sensei said that his gf is teaching nihongo in china. they met in tokyo university of foreign studies. so, that solves the mystery of kodama-sensei's lovelife.

later, sensei talked about some professor's words that has very nice impact or meaning. then he asked us to draw the university emblem. all students had to draw. i have seen the emblem, but i don't know how to draw, and i can't remember what's in the emblem. so, i just drew something, just for the sake of submitting one. sensei laughed at my drawing, because it looks like the emblem of keio university. haha he graduated there, so he knows. a little later, all of us were asked to say something a book we read or a movie we saw. then later, we sang songs from the songbook mikami-sensei and adachi-san brought. they were japanese songs, old songs, i guess. i found a nihongo song translated from a filipino song, "magtanim ay di biro". i sang a bit of the filipino song. zin & pann sang a myanmar song. the others sang songs, too. but not everyone sang. we finished at about 12mn or 1230am. we then went outside to go to our house. pann took a shower first and slept. i slept a little while later, listening to my iPod music.

breakfast was at 8am. pann & i woke up around 730am. i immediately went to the bathroom to take a bath. i never feel comfortable leaving a house without taking a bath. after dressing, we went to the first house for breakfast. we talked a little, but ate a lot. mikami-sensei left around 9am, since he has a meeting at 11am. nakahira-sensei and suzuki-sensei went with him. we left around 945am, after taking some pictures.

i took pictures of last night's dinner and this morning's breakfast. i also took pictures of the scenery outside. it snowed this morning. so, the view was very nice. we also wrote in the notebook (like a guestbook) of the inn. we found the messages of the previous visitors. mikami-sensei and other foreigners first visited that place 2 years ago, around this time. but at that time, the snow was very heavy, the pile of snow was very high. we wrote our own messages, with me writing in bisaya. it was difficult to write because it seems so formal. i don't know how to write in formal bisaya. i just know daily-converstaion bisaya. we also left a shikishi with our shorter messages. i wrote, "Daghang salamat. Maraming salamat po.". they put it on the wall of the first house. on march 4, sensei and other delegates of the Oshin summit will be going there again.

it was a really nice experience. even though i vomited just before dinner, it was still a worth-while experience. i hope i can still join some trips like this in the future. (ashu-sensei suggested having a laboratory trip every quarter. he also wants to go to okonoshima inn once a month, for lunch)

now, it's back to my research. i'll concentrate on my research for the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow. saturday will be another trip, to tokamachi, for the snow festival. whew! so busy from last saturday until this sunday. but, this is my last winter in nagaoka, so i would like to visit as many places as i possible can.

--
updated with some pictures...

our dinner

the house had 2 floors

the house

breakfast

with kitade-san and pann-san

the view

thanks, makino-san...

2007-02-12T23:15:00.000+09:00

really, thanks to makino-san for showing us around nagaoka today. i'm sorry i didn't inform you earlier about our plans. i hope i didn't do much damage to your schedule today.

when i opened the door to check the weather, i didn't expect to see snow. but, it was snowing. it was a great view. we took pictures outside, before we left to meet makino-san at 10am. the four of us (jay, lloyd, lily ann) walked to mae's apartment, passing by 7-11. it was already 10am, so makino-san and mae just went to 7-11 to meet us. lily ann, lloyd, and jay rode in makino-san's car, while i stayed with mae and wawang. we followed makino-san's car. he wanted to show his house. so, we went there first. his wife was there and served us coffee and biscuits. after talking a little, we left to go to echigo hillside park. there, the view was very nice. we went inside, took pictures. in their culture room, there were some people making some slippers, hats, jackets, made of dried rice stalks (what do you call them??). from there, we went to the historical museum. the regular exhibit costs 400yen. to also look at the special exhibit, just add 200yen. makino-san suggested we see both exhibits. it was already 1230pm.

we were near the special exhibit. so, we looked at them first. it took us almost an hour there. we were thinking of eating lunch, but we didn't have enough time. so we went down to the regular exhibit instead. it was very nice. they had life-like figures, depicting the life of the people a long time ago, in the jomon period. it was great! we would have loved to further examine everything, but we didn't have enough time. we had to rush through the exhibits and had to hurry back to the apartment to get lloyd and lily ann's things.

makino-san was kind enough to bring them to the bus stop (nagaoka kita). mae and wawang also followed, so that they will know how to go there. after bring them to the bus stop, we went back. makino-san dropped jay and i at kappa sushi, while mae and wawang went home directly, since dana looked tired already. jay and i walked home after eating at kappa sushi. jay left at 545pm, by taxi. his bus is at 605 pm. i'm back to being lonely once again.

i sent a text message to lily ann around 730pm, asking if they arrived already. that's the time they're about to arrive at ikebukuro. but, her reply was that they just left the 2nd service area, and they're 2hrs delayed because of the traffic. another bad news was that they were not able to buy any food because there were so many people. they only had bread for lunch (the one they bought at 7-11, supposedly for breakfast). jay also said they just left the 2nd service area around 930pm. he just sent a text message now (1105pm) they they just exited nerima. under normal traffic, it takes less than an hour to reach ikebukuro. i hope they don't encounter much traffic from now. so that jay can still arrive in time to ride the yamanote train to nippori or nishinippori.

it's really lonely, with me alone here in my room, when just last night, we were so noisy here. i'll just have to look forward to the next time jay and i will see each other. it will be this friday, around 1230am. we will be going to the tokamachi festival on the 17th. i'm also looking forward to our laboratory trip in kashiwazaki on wednesday. it's a fun-filled weekend, but it's time to think again about my research tomorrow. my room's a little messy right now, but i still don't like to tidy up. maybe next week.

thanks to makino-san once again for his help today. thanks to lily ann and lloyd for coming here. it was so much fun. thanks to mae, wawang, and dana for last night's dinner, and for today. it was so much fun. i'm looking forward to another fun-filled weekend next week.

--
updated with pictures...

with makino-san, trying out the handicraft

at the museum, life-like woman cooking

at the museum, house covered in snow

yehey! yuki matsuri @ minami uonuma shi

2007-02-11T23:30:00.000+09:00

we slept around 1am this morning. it's really fun to be playing Nintendo wii.

today, we decided to go to minami uonuma shi, to see their snow festival. i checked nagaoka weather forecast for today. in nagaoka shi, there is no snow. i checked ojiya, tokamachi, and minami uonuma. the forecast is snow the whole day. so, we decided to go to the festival. all we know from the pamphlet i took from echigo yuzawa eki yesterday was that we should go to muikamachi eki. there is a bus from there that goes to the festival site. so, we had to catch again the 1032am train. lloyd didn't want to get ready in a hurry, so he asked if there is still another bus schedule we can take. since we didn't need to buy train tickets (remember, we have a 2-day pass), it was ok to take the 1006am bus to eki. so, we did just that. when we went out, it was snowing! lily ann was happy because it was her first time to see snow.

at muikamachi eki, we looked again for the information office to ask for directions to the festival site. we also asked where we can find an outdoor onsen in the area. the staff were very helpful. lily ann and i took some free mini-cards.

we waited for the bus to take us to the festival site. there, saw some people dancing on a stage. we were hungry then, so we tried to look for food. there were many food stalls and other stalls selling some stuff. jay and i ate pork steak, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba. further on, we saw several snow domes. when we arrived in that area, we saw some stalls with foreigners. the first one was kyrgystan. the next one had a philippine flag! they were students from kokusai daigaku, selling banana cue, chippy, royal, and some other filipino foods. the next one had posters of malaysia and thailand. the filipinos had a tv, where they played the music vide, "byahe tayo". we took pictures of each other. to those filipinos, thanks for the karaoke invitation, but we're sorry we couldn't join 'coz we had dinner plans already. further on were the snow domes. others served as shops, others contained display items. next was the area for sliding. i don't know how to describe it, but the slide was made of snow. i'll just post pictures somewhere. it was fun looking at the children sliding, and having fun. that was the last of the attraction there. we went back, snowing, and facing the wind. it was like a snowstorm. we took shelter in one of their waiting tent, to look at the map with the onsen marked. i bought first a choco banana, then we went on our way. on the way, we asked someone for directions, just to be sure. we went back past the snow domes, crossed a bridge (the festival was near a river) and went to the onsen place. it was actually a hotel, but we can take a bath in their onsen even if we wouldn't stay overnight. lily ann and i also decided to try their onsen. it was hot inside, of course. but it was better than the hot bath we tried in nikko. they have several bath. there was one outside. and several others inside. we tried only 3 (i think there were 3 more). i liked the outdoor one. we bathed there twice. after bathing, i checked the train schedule while jay and lloyd asked for directions to muikamachi eki. we either had to take the 442pm bus or the 530pm. it was almost 420pm. the receptionists said that it would take about 20minutes to walk to the station. we can take the bus we took to the festival site, but if we hoped to catch the 442pm bus, it's better to walk. so, we walked, taking pictures on the way. we had to rush when it was about 435pm, afraid that we won't make it in time. we did, still had time to take a few pictures at the station.

when we arrived at nagaoka eki, we took the 6pm bus that passes chousei bashi. jay suggested we get off at chousei bashi west end bus stop, and walk near the river to mae's apartment. it was very cold, but we walked for about 10 or 15 minutes. when we arrived at mae's apartment, we immediately had dinner. it was very delicious. we ate beef and ramen (pancit-style). we talked a lot. it was so much fun. we ate a lot, too. after dinner and talking, i invited mae and wawang to go to my apartment to check out jay's nintendo wii. since we won't fit in the car, jay and i decided to just walk home. it was cold, but just a few minutes walk.

at home, we played wii. we let mae and wawang try it out, too. dana was very noisy in their apartment. but in my apartment, she was very behaved. it's because my room is small. she has no place to run, unlike in their apartment, they have 2 bedrooms. anyway, we all had fun playing wii games. they just left a few minutes ago. dana's eyes were already watery, although they said that it's usually like that, but she actually sleeps late.

i almost forgot..i called makino-san after dinner and asked him to bring us to echigo hillside park tomorrow. we want to see what's there. he agreed and said he will just go directly to mae's apartment at 10am. so, our plan for tomorrow is echigo hillside park and whatever we can do before 3pm. lloyd and lily ann will go back to tokyo at 305pm. now, i'm sleepy. but jay and lloyd are still playing. i think i'll sleep earlier than them. but, i will still play for a few minutes before sleeping... today was very fun. i'm glad it snowed and agreed to go to the snow festival. next week, jay and i will be going to another snow festival. i just hope the snow will not be as strong as it was earlier today.

ski..ski..ski...

2007-02-10T23:15:00.000+09:00

jay, lily ann, and lloyd arrived around 430 this morning. they took the 11:35pm bus from ikebukuro last night. when they arrived, we still talked, so we were able to sleep at 5am, saying we had to wake up by 7am. my cellphone's alarm is set for 7am, 730am, 8am, 815am, 830am. but, just like any other day, i woke up at 8am (it had to be before 830am if i need to throw the garbage). after taking a bath and getting ready, i checked the train schedule for echigo yuzawa. our plan for the day was to ski somewhere there. we haven't chosen any ski area yet. we will just go and inquire there. anyway, the train schedule is 1032am. the next is around 1230pm. and since we would still be buying the train ticket, we had to go to the station as early as possible. we must ride the 934am bus. we had to rush to the bus stop. fortunately, we arrived before the bus.

at the station, we discovered that they have a 2-day pass that you can use for regular trains from somewhere near echigo yuzawa until niigata. it costs only 2,500 yen. when we checked the fare from nagaoka to echigo yuzawa, one way costs 1,280yen. so, we decided to buy the echigo 2-day pass. we then planned to fully utilize it by going somewhere by train tomorrow. travel time to echigo yuzawa is around 1hr and 20minutes.

at echigo yuzawa, we went to their information office to ask for recommended ski areas. lloyd and jay talked to the lady, and asked for directions. lily ann and i bought a pin. we went to the bus stop to wait for the 1240pm bus that will go to iwappara skijou. the bus fare cost 300 yen. there, we went to find a restaurant 'coz we were already very hungry. i ate karaage, lily ann ate gyuudon, lloyd ate katsu, jay ate some kind of pork dish. after eating, we went downstairs to rent ski equipment. that building was also a hotel/inn. we asked first if they have available rooms. they didn't. so, we proceeded to the rental shope. lloyd and jay rented ski equipment and wear. since lily ann and i will not ski, we just rented the ski wear, so that we can play outside.

it was raining that day. we went to buy lift tickets for jay and lloyd. 1day pass costs 4,500yen. lil ann and i just bought the pass to the kids playground, which cost 500yen. we made a snowman. lily ann has the pictures. after making the snowman, we went to the side near the skiers, looking for jay and lloyd. but, we couldn't see them. (we later found out that they were just going on the lift at that time and were waving at us). so, we left the ski grounds and went inside to rest, because it was raining very hard. although our body didn't get wet because we were wearing ski attires, our heads were unprotected. after resting for a while, we went out again and tried to look for our partners once again. we found them and waited for them to ski down (it was very cold!) so that we can take pictures. it was very cold, so we decided to go back inside again. jay took the camera so that they can take pictures at the top. lily ann and i returned the rented wear and waited for them at the waiting room, talking. they finished before 6pm, changed, returned the things they rented, and tried to catch the 6pm bus to the station.

at the station, we found out that the next trains leave at around 645pm, and 830pm. the guys decided to try out the onsen in one of the shops at the station. we ladies just window-shopped at the station and waited for our partners to finish taking a bath. after they finished, we ate some food we just bought at the station. they have some food stalls, selling crab soup, siopao, bbq, oden, ramen, and others. lloyd didn't like their food so he went outside to buy spag from 7-11. we then took the train and arrived in nagaoka eki around 10pm. no more bus that passes by kibougaoka. so, we took the bus that passes by nishi-nagaoka annaijou(?), and walked about 15minutes to my apartment. on the train on our way home, we were thinking of dropping by mae's apartment, just to talk. but, we changed our plans because it was raining.

now, we're at home. we will not sleep yet. we'll still play tennis on jay's wii. i don't know what time we'll sleep, but it surely won't be anytime soon.

updated with pictures:

the making of the snowman

can you see lloyd & jay?

pa-cute lloyd

pa-cute jay

their view from the top

echigo-yuzawa

what am i doing?

2007-02-09T14:35:00.000+09:00

nothing. nothing at all. that's why i'm bloggin right now. i'm supposed to be modifying this program, 'coz its output is different from what i expected. but, i still don't feel like doing anything. for about 2.5hrs, i've been just reading the news. now, i'll probably read the blogs of friends.

it's friday. i'm excited for the weekend. it's a 3-day weekend. lily ann and lloyd will come here with jay tonight. they will leave ikebukuro around 1135pm and will arrive here around 4am. tomorrow, we're going to echigo yuzawa or urasa to ski. well.... lloyd and jay will ski. i still don't know what lily ann and i will do.

last night, i looked at the nagaoka newsletter for list of events here in our area. i found 2 for this weekend. tomorrow, there will be some kind of hanabi at koshiji. tomorrow, in some other place (i forgot the name, just about an hour by bus), there will some candle-lighting and also fireworks. and on sunday, some kind of race will happen. i think it's an eating contest. hahaha (早食いレース)

on monday, someone will take a look at my ref. it won't cool. good thing it's winter. no need for ice. it's just that i can't buy many meat at one time.

it's time to take a break. gotta think of ways to get a little money for this weekend. i only have 5k yen in my wallet right now.

..... happy birthday to me .....

2006-11-08T12:07:00.000+09:00

it's the month where i get a year older.

by oct 26 (izza's birthday), i am reminded by my own birthday which is exactly a week later. i have mixed feelings about my birthday. i don't want to get older. but since it's a good day to just celebrate, i'm also looking forward to it, especially if i can spend it with my friends and loved ones. and that's what i did this year, a far cry from my lonely birthday last year. although i spent the day alone in jay's apartment, running some programs, i was able to enjoy dinner with some friends. it was a sudden decision to treat some friends to dinner. we waited for more than an hour to be seated, since the restaurant we chose was a bit crowded (the following day, nov3 is a holiday) and there's no available table that could accommodate 8 people. but, it was fun. we talked and laughed a lot. thanks jay, russel, jaja, rj, lily ann, and lloyd. we went home late, and we still had to pack for our trip to Nikko early the next morning. more about that trip on a separate post.

before i left for tokyo on Nov. 1, i gave some chips (chippy, cheez curls, mr chips) and mango juice to all my labmates and lab professors. on Nov 2, Adachi-san called me to say that they're thankful and that she left a present for me in my desk. yesterday, when i came to the laboratory, i saw her present. they were cute. thanks! thanks also to Febri who gave me a snoopy mug and to Nga for the mini-journal. Febri and Nga are my two close friends in the university. i posted pictures of their gifts to me on my birthday last year. thanks to lily and lloyd also for the set of snoopy socks. and thanks to jay for the jewerly box. thanks to all the people who remembered me on my special day.

a stupid day... (or a stupid me?)

2006-07-24T19:34:00.000+09:00

today is what i call a really stupid day. haha!
on mondays, i take the 8:16am bus, since I have a 1st period class (8:50am), Written Presentation. today's our last class, so I had to attend it. anyway, i went to the laboratory to switch on my computer and eat a little biscuit. prior to opening or lab door, i first put water in my mug. i had to open the door with my id, and since i was holding a mug on one hand, i couldn't put back my id in my wallet. so, upon reaching my desk, i put down the id on the table, taking note that i should not forget to put it in my wallet. i switched on the pc, logged in, and noticed the plants need to be watered. i went out to get water. when i'm out of the lab for only a short time, i don't close the door. i dunno what happened, but it closed (maybe i didn't open it wide enough or whatever). then, i realized i didn't have my id with me! i tried to call a classmate, but he wouldn't answer. so, i just went to class, hoping i can borrow some id. but the only foreigner there at that time said he did not bring his wallet. then sensei asked me about my summer vacation, so i didn't have time to go back to the lab anymore.

at about 130pm, febri asked her vietnamese labmate to teach us how to do our assignment for machine learning, due on wednesday. it's supposed to be simple, coz we were just given a week to do it, while for our previous assignments, we had to do it in 2 weeks. anyway, we couldn't understand the lesson this time, when it's supposed to be so simple. and, it was so simple. after it was explained to us, i felt so stupid for not understanding it before. tsk. tsk.

now, the other stupid thing was done by febri. she was in a hurry to shutdown her pc coz she was hungry and wanted to go to the toilet and then after, eat some bread before going home. i met her at the first floor toilet. after a few seconds, she said she's stupid. she left her assignment on her desk in the 4th floor. since she still has to eat, i offered to get her assignment for her. not wanting to be too obvious, i left my umbrella with her and put my bag on the 4th floor lobby. after getting her papers, i immediately went down. when i gave her her things, she asked me where my bag is. bwahahahaha! look, who's stupid now?

waaaaah!!!

2006-07-14T11:14:00.000+09:00

i've got a terrible headache. it seems like someone's always hitting my head! so painful! i want to sleep! but i can't. i'm here in the university and i still have so many things to do. i haven't started with the 20-page report which is due next thursday. i already read so many articles and i still haven't started writing. well, i already have an idea on what to write, and i've made an outline already. but i still haven't started 'coz i don't know how to. anyway, i'll just rest for a bit and continue on it later.

okay...to ease my mind from the pain, i'd better think of happy thoughts. hmmmmm what could i possibly talk about here...?

oh, yeah... first, i'd like to greet my kumareng donna for her XXth birthday yesterday. i prepared a postcard for her last friday. i even bought the stamp last monday. but until now, it's still with me! hahaha! i guess i'll have to give it to her personally when she comes here. she said she'll be coming to japan on monday, and will be here for about 2 months. so, we'll still have a chance to see each other, i'm sure. she promised to bring me pancit canton. hahaha! thanks, mare!

another person is coming soon... :) can i already say who? well, maybe later. i just want to keep the suspense for those who don't know the news yet. anyway, i'm excited. we'll be in the same department. i'm hoping she'll also be in my laboratory. my professor interviewed her, that's why i'm a bit optimistic that she'll be in my lab. and, maybe she can stay in my apartment, too! well, that is, while her family won't be here yet. (that's your clue: a she with a family!) so that means, i have to clean my apartment soon. but, i'm really excited. :D i'm excited for her to start her studies here... and i can't wait to introduce her to my friends here.

well...that's it for now... i think i'll shift my attention to other things aside from the report. maybe try a little hibernate study and practice. :)

so lazy....

2006-07-08T11:50:00.000+09:00

i can't help it. i'm really lazy. i was in tokyo last week. and there, i planned to study, write blog, and make testimonial for my little sis (made testi already, but it somehow didn't get to her). but, i never got to do those things. i just stayed at jay's apartment, watching movies and other tv series... doing occasional laundry and preparing ingredients for dinner. that's all. just being lazy. right now, i wanted to clean my room, but still i'm lazy. and i still have this 20-page report i need to finish by next week. ugh! well.... i'll have no excuse in august. my room should somehow resemble the way it looked before i moved it. not empty, but clean.

right now, i have to eat lunch while watching some feel-good movie. and then later, i have to continue reading about the japanese employment system. so, for those who are waiting for updates on my life, you'll be disappointed coz i really don't have any time for that right now.

yatta!!!!

2006-06-19T13:17:00.000+09:00

whew! now, i can relax for my written presentation class. i already submitted and did my final presentation this morning. it wasn't a good presentation. professor coulson and professor takahashi had many comments regarding the content of my presentation. but, i didn't feel bad at all. they were useful comments and i'm very thankful to them. for the remaining meetings for this class, i can just relax and enjoy listening to other people's presentations. maybe it would be even fine for me to take the 846am bus. hahaha! i also submitted my conference report. i just wrote what i did during the conference. now, i will just have to continue with the preparation for sensei's africa trip. and also i need to prepare a presentation for our zemi this friday. i'm still at not sure what i will be presenting.... but at least, i have one less class to worry about.

btw, i watched japan's game last night against croatia. very disappointing!!! waaaah!!! 0-0.. imagine! and kawaguchi was even given a yellow card. grrrr!!! well... there's nothing much to expect from their next game... it'll be against brazil... i'd still watch the game (i dunno the schedule yet!) just so i can see my new idols... kawaguchi and nakata. hahahaha!

report + report + .... +report = REPORTS

2006-06-18T15:22:00.000+09:00

it's almost the end of the term... so many reports to make... whew!
i just finished 1 report. actually, it's just an easy report. coz it's about the conference i attended. i don't know why i didn't make it before. i kept on postponing it until the last minute. so, i just finished it. my accomplishment for the day. now, the tough part is the ppt presentation for my Written Presentation class. i hope it will be easy, since i'll be presentating about my poster. but, i don't know... it doesn't look easy right now. gotta make a head start on it. i only have about 6 hours to make it... (world cup starts at 10pm, japan vs croatia). :D

oishii!!!

2006-06-16T20:06:00.000+09:00

i had a great lunch and dinner today. febri was so kind to give me some food! and, i still have some left for lunch tomorrow. and, they were delicious, too. why did she do that? actually, yesterday, i was very hungry, even if it was still 11AM. So, I asked her and Nga to eat lunch early. Nga had a late breakfast, so she just accompanied me and Febri. I could not finish my lunch! The tonkatsu I had didn't seem so appetizing. I had to go buy bread. I don't have meat anymore at home, and I can't buy groceries yet 'coz I don't have money, and was planning to wait until weekend. So, in the evening, she told me she will prepare food for me. I only have to bring rice. So, that's just what I did. She prepared 2 kinds of food, beef and chicken. yummmy! :D i'm really thankful to have her for a friend. Luckily, I received a refund for my visa fee and for the charge in changing my return flight in Edinburgh. So, I now have money to buy groceries. :D Really, thanks, Febri. Hontou ni oishikatta desu. :)

ohayou!

2006-06-15T08:48:00.000+09:00

that's the first thing i send to jay in the morning. that is, if i don't receive any cmail from him yet, just like today. my class starts at 8.50am... that's about 8 minutes away. we haven't had any class for this subject in a month because mc gown-sensei went to australia. what have i done with my final paper for this subject? well..... just reading a few things. i hope she doesn't ask any progress report. coz i don't know what to say! but i guess i can do it. i think i still have a month to prepare a 20-page paper. hahaha!

well.... 6 minutes more... so, i better go!

things to do...

2006-06-14T10:24:00.000+09:00

while listening to the nihongo explanation of my professor in machine learning class yesterday, i was also writing at the back of a receipt about the things i have to do. don't get me wrong. the class was interesting. but i could not understand japanese. so, i just look at the handout, with english translation. then, i try to listen to sensei, as he explains. coz sometimes, for illustrations, he explains them by pointing to some of the figures. but for some slides, there's only text and there's no use in listening to them coz the translation's also written. anyway, here's what i listed, with some comments i added just for this blog:

- check ATM (last week, my money there was only 5k-yen. i'm supposed to receive the refund for my conference registration expenses soon. i also wanted to check how much was automatically deducted for some of my payables. and, also to know if i can still buy groceries this weekend or not)

- pack PET bottles (my PET bottles are still in 1 or 2 plastic bags, with their labels and caps. i should segregate them and prepare them for disposal. here in nagaoka, there is garbage segregation. biodegradable and non-biodegradable are separated, as well as plastic bottles and cans.)

- read about hibernate (did this yesterday, after my classes. it's for the laboratory project, the language identification module.)

- read about tomcat, check contents of tomcat/shared (also did this yesterday. i have to prepare a simple installation and i forgot how to use tomcat already! stupid me!)

- finish conference report (i should submit this soon. but, i've never finished it yet)

- make written presentation ppt (our final paper for written presentation is the powerpoint handout. and, it must be presented in class, but the evaluation would be basically about the handout or the slides. hamed volunteered for next week, and somebody else. then professor coulson, knowing i just attended a conference asked if i didn't have any presentation there. i told him it was only a poster. then he asked how i made the poster... it was in ppt, right? i said, yes. and, ok, i'll present next week. actually, he asked if i'm really confident to present next week. stupid me, i said yes. i realized later that i still have many things to do for mikami-sensei's Africa trip in 10 days. well, i better hurry...)

- make TOC of post-war japanese employment system for mc gown-sensei class (we had no class for a month, coz sensei went back to australia. but we're supposed to start on our final paper for the class. but, i haven't started yet. so, i have to at least try to prepare something, even some rough outline)

- make outline paper of Africa [graph of outlinks] (i need to prepare some things for Africa trip, like the Africa survey report. i need to just select the interesting countries and plot the graph.

- find outland sandal (wearing it today! it's very warm already. feels nice to wear sandals. but the weather forecast for the next 3 days is rain. :()

- check bus for 6/24 - 7/2 (i'm planning to go to tokyo during this time)

- check weather in tokyo for 6/24 - 7/2 (of course, i have to be prepared if i go there)

- re-print ML chapter 9, from page 16 (i just found out that time that my printout lacks one slide, maybe inserted by sensei this week, but i printed last week)

- update blog (hahaha! i'm doing it. :p)

that's it. my list of things to do.

oh..and here's what i plan to do today, aside from the things i listed above...

- read kodama-sensei's manual on installation of LIM on windows

- read again sample build.xml in tomcat documentation

- update build.xml to include creation of war file and deployment

- make installation procedure for database and web module

:D :D :D good luck to me!

night person

2006-06-12T01:37:00.000+09:00

i stayed inside my apartment this weekend. saturday was spent cleaning my room and the toilet and bath. of course, my weekend won't be complete without watching some movie or some tv show. this weekend, i also logged in to my friendster account, added new friends, sent messages to friends, and just browsed my friends' updates. today, sunday, however, i felt suddenly depressed and bored. i wanted to feel some fresh air. so, sent a mesage to febri, asking is caca's already all right and if she needs anything from me. since she did not reply, i went to narus (narusu) to buy groceries. i've been eating processed food and eggs since friday. haha no wonder i was bored. i biked and lost my way to and from the supermarket. well, just missed some turns, so it took me longer to reach my destination. but it was good. at least i got to exercise for a bit. when i arrived, febri's message window in ym is already blinking. she's planning to buy groceries! i already changed my clothes, but i put them on again since i wanted to go with them. we went to nanjamura, a 100-yen shop, where i bought some kitchen stuff. we went to harashin, where i bought again some groceries. i almost forgot to buy some toilet paper. it would've been such a waste to use my facial tissue, had i run out of toilet papers (which would be soon!). good thing i remembered before we left. then, they wanted to eat outside. :D and, it was free! it was febri's treat for getting her scholarship and for... hmmm.. i can't remember the other reason. hahaha anyway, the food was delicious. we ate at banyan, an indian restaurant. it was a bit spicy, but it was delicious! actually, it was my 2nd time to eat those type of food, but at a different location, since they moved since last december. funny, their new location is just in front of narus. so somehow, i went back to narus. :) thanks, febri, bondy, and caca. i had a nice evening. thanks for the free food! (really, i only have about 600 yen in my wallet!)

now, why am i still awake? i'm still writing this blog! yeah, right.funny. yeah, right. actually, i played some yahoo games with jay after arriving home. i really wanted to do my homework, but i still felt lazy. i already have my references opened in my browser, but didn't want to read them just yet. so, had a conference with jay and mommy, while i played some yahoo games with jay. i knew i had to make my homework. so, i finally found the determination to stop playing. i started with my freedom of expression report, since it's only 1 page. in the middle of doing it, janos went online! i had some things to discuss with him regarding LIM. we discussed some things and he really did provide some tips on how i should proceed. it was enough for now. even when i wasn't finished talking to janos, zaw2x called. it was 1230 already! we got disconnected twice, maybe due some signal problems. so, i tried my best to sign-in to ym (got disconnected and couldn't signin). and we discussed about the machine learning assignment. we couldn't agree on the answer, but i think i gave him something to think about. hehehe so, we'll discuss it tomorrow. i already said goodnight to him, actually. told him i'd sleep by 2am. coz i need to wake up early so that i won't be too sleepy in our first period class tomorrow and so that i won't be late. but i just had to write this blog! ooops. almost 2am! gotta finish this now....

anyway, lastly, my conference report is not yet finished. i'll definitely continue it tomorrow. that is, after i transfer my machine learning assignment in electronic format so that i can print it. i don't have good handwriting. so, i can't draw the tree by hand, unlike what zaw2x said he would do. anyway, i did finish my talk with janos. i did finish my freedom of expression homework. so, i've accomplished much tonight. really. i don't know why i work better at night, when i'm at home. :D

ok.. really time to say goodnight! goodnight! goodnight! write here again another time... :)

before i forget... at about 145am, febri sent my an instant message. hahaha i was surprised. never thought she was still awake. anyway, just told her about zaw2x... zaw2x can't disturb her. coz she's invisible. :p

really. this is goodnight! until the next post! babush!

blah...blah...blah...

2006-06-09T19:01:00.000+09:00

i woke up late today, simply because i slept late last night and i don't have any class in the morning. i have a zemi in the afternoon, so i had to go to the university. my day was fine. i've finally listed the things i need to do for next week. i also got some inputs from kodama-san on how to go about my research. my computer in the lab is faster than my laptop at home. i can do so many things there. the only limitation is the OS, it's japanese. i can't understand my messenger. but that's not so much of a problem, though. i get easily get hungry. so, i had to go home before 7pm. and today, it's raining with strong wind. too troublesome to walk. so, i asked hamed if he can bring me to my apartment. luckily, he's not busy and was willing to do just that. now, i'm at home, hungrily eating noodles. why not rice? i don't have meat anymore. i still have some instant microwaveable food, but it's the same one i had for lunch. i don't like living alone because the food that i buy is good for 2 meals. isn't it boring? that's why for a change, i'll just eat noodles. and, maybe some donuts i bought at baiten this afternoon. if i'm still hungry later, that's the time i'll eat rice and instant chicken.

i want to go to tokyo to visit jay. it's nicer in tokyo. i have so many NSP friends there. i don't need to speak english there. hahaha but, i still have some homeworks and reports to do. maybe 2 weeks from now, i can go there.

it's difficult being in a foreign country with foreign friends. we communicate in english. sometimes i run out of words. i sometimes can't think of the right word or phrase or sentence to say. there are filipinos here. i visited leah last night and talked excitedly about her pregnancy. but she's tagalog. so, i speak to her in tagalog and also sometimes can't find the right words to say. and it's difficult sometimes to express in tagalog. i talk slower in tagalog and english, compared to when i'm talking in cebuano. that's why i like talking to nazarene. we can talk easily talk about many things coz we have no difficulty in expressing ourselves.

so, why write in english in my blog? writing and speaking is different. when you talk, you have to have the words right then and there. when writing, you can still pause and try to figure out the right word to write. you can even re-read what you wrote and modify them. so, why write in english? since my closest friend here is indonesian and she likes to write blogs, she would appreciate it very much if i write in english. and besides, all of my friends can understand my english. yes, it's great to be a filipino! we can understand english. :D

a post from my email

2006-06-08T12:00:00.000+09:00

now, i don't have to login to my blogspot account just to be able to create a post. i can do it using email. but, i can't use my yahoo account, coz yahoo also sends the yahoo signature. i'm doing it using my mailer in the university. i wonder if it's ok to use gmail... maybe i'll try later tonight. it's almost lunchtime, and i haven't studied anything this morning. no accomplishment whatsover (oh, i forgot about the blog!).

nsp ppl are now busy with the merit rating. it's a great feeling... not to participate in it anymore. it just gives me the headache. and a worse headache when the actual upgrade/promotion papers are given out. i wish all the supervisors and superiors the best of luck. i hope you'll have better results this year.

i'm back!

2006-06-08T10:37:00.000+09:00

my last post was during my birthday. so much has happened since then. but, i don't have time to write. i'll try to write over the weekend. or maybe next weekend. or the weekend after. :lol i don't know when i'll be able to tell what has happened to me these past few months. but, i'll try.

i've been here in japan for 9 months now... and these are what happened to me, what i've done, blah...blah...blah.... so far.

- met new friends from different countries and from the philippines, too.
- learned to throw my own garbage (at, segregated pa!).
- made jay come here (he arrived mid-november).
- finally went to tokyo disneyland with lily ann, lloyd, and jay.
- visited odaiba, tokyo dome, tokyo tower (didn't go up, though)
- experienced my first snow.
- spent christmas in yokohama, with dindin and nanay. went there by car with my tutor, shota wada, just for the christmas weekend.
- spent new year in nagaoka, visiting niigata in the after of dec31 with febri's family and watching a 10-min fireworks display in nagaoka at the stroke of midnight.
- submitted all my reports and passed all my subjects for my first semester. i didn't get A for all subjects, but i'm already satisfied with my grade.
- got used to riding the bus from nagaoka to tokyo and vice-versa.
- went to Paris in feb20-25, 2006 to attend UNESCO's celebration of the Internation Mother Language Day and some meeting. visited eiffel tower (just looked at the tower from the ground), louvre museum (not allowed to take photos of the mona lisa) and bought mona lisa bookmarks. hehe
- submitted my paper (for poster session) for the WWW 2006 conference. the paper was accepted.
- started with the new semester (april to july). i have 4 subjects, 1 subject requires us to submit a report usually once a week.
- lived separately with jay since he has a job in tokyo.
- missed my sister, Rheggie's wedding. saw the pictures. both my sisters were beautiful. my parents, too!
- rode the shinkansen by myself for the first time.
- went to Edinburgh, Scotland for the WWW2006 conference and presented a poster. i attended some workshops, tutorials, refereed papers during our 1-week stay there. found out lots of interesting stuff.

now, i'm back again to being alone in nagaoka. but, i'm not really complaining. coz i'm really very busy with homeworks given by professors, my research, and some things i need to do for the laboratory project.

so... till next post! i'll really try to update my blog as often as possible. :D

Happy birthday to me... :D

2005-11-02T19:40:00.000+09:00

This is my status in Yahoo Messenger (YM) since around a few minutes past 12mn, Japan time. I was concentrating so much in solving a problem, that I did not notice the time. Jay greeted me, and so I changed my YM status. I also changed my avatar! Just trying to be in a birthday mood.

So.... thank you to those who greeted me today. Whether you remembered my birthday only because of my status in yahoo or not, it doesn't matter. You made me happy with your greetings. Thanks to all of you.

I had a nice surprise from two of friends in school. When I arrived this morning, I had a card from Nga, placed in my desk in the laboratory. A few minutes later, Febri came to give me something. Super duper thanks! :D

I had to present in our zemi this afternoon. My presentation took a long time because to explain it takes some time. And, I think I really did not do a good job in explaining. I admit that there's still much to learn. But it was a good venue to get the opinion of others regarding the topic I presented. So, I was busy during the day and it was only after the zemi that I realized that I really would be spending my birthday dinner alone (tocino dinner! haha). But that was just a few moments of loneliness, because the thought of seeing Jay soon always brings a smile to my face. :)

Happy Birthday sis!

2005-11-01T23:30:00.000+09:00

Today, All Saints' Day, my younger sister is celebrating her birthday. So, today, we're both 27 years old. :D This is the 2nd time I wasn't with her on her birthday (The first time was last year, when I celebrated it in Cebu). But she knows that I'm always here for her, wishing her the best in everything.

I had class today. And I was very busy with preparations for my presentation in tomorrow's zemi (japanese shortcut for seminar). I had to ask some friends to help me solve some computational problems. So, I really forgot to call home. :( I'll just make it up tomorrow. And, by the way, until now, we still were not able to solve the problem...

i miss...

2005-10-29T17:00:00.000+09:00

My friends. There's no work next week for NSP. So today, there are in Cabilao Island, Bohol. It's a good diving place, but I'm not sure if all them them are going diving, or just snorkeling and swimming. Our group really love to go on outings to these types of places. Even though I don't know how to swim, I have fun in these outings. That's what I really miss right now... being with them, and having fun.

A few minutes ago, I heard something outside. Somebody was putting something in my mailbox. It's a card from Jay! I was so touched. I was supposed to receive it on my birthday. :) It was early. Nevertheless, I was very touched with the card and with what he wrote. I kept on asking him to send me some card ever since he went back. I guess he was just waiting for the best time to send one. When I went back to get something in the kitchen, I noticed that there's still something in the mailbox. It's another card! It's from the Friendships! I'm so touched... thanks to all of you who took the time to write me some note. I feel a bit sad that I can't celebrate it with those people close to me. But you'll definitely remember me on that day, right? Thanks for the card. Reading it today made me feel as if I'm also there with you in Cabilao.... Hope you're having fun there right now. :)

happy! happy!

2005-10-26T22:00:00.000+09:00

Even at 5PM, I was so hungry already. And, Nga and I had planned to take the 6.15PM bus. And I made plans with Febri to go to Uniqlo to buy some shirt (long-sleeves) because I only have a few and I might not have one to wear tomorrow. When I arrived home, I immediately checked the mailbox. This is what I always do, even if I'm not expecting any mail. There was one mail (postcard) there, from the post office. They tried to deliver something at 455PM. From my experience before, I have to write there the date and time I wish the mail to be delivered again, and put it in the post. I looked at the sender of the mail they tried to deliver and compared it with the receipt the Immigration Office gave me. It seems to be the same. So I immediately turned on my computer and sent message to Jay that it might be the Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Then Febri called to say that she'll pick me up. When she arrived, I showed her the postcard, and she said we could drop by the post office before we go to Uniqlo. Since I was so hungry, I had to bring some biscuits to eat on the way. In the post office, I got the mail, and it was indeed the COE! I was very happy! :D I told Jay the good news. :D Finally! He will be able to apply for a Dependent Visa and come here. I won't be lonely anymore. So, from there, we went to Uniqlo and I was able to buy 4 long-sleeved shirts. They were not so expensive and I found some items on sale. So, thanks again to Febri and Bondry. I owe them so much already. :) And, before I forget, I'd like to mention here their lovely daughter, Caca. We may not talk much (she speaks Japanese) but I think she's already comfortable around me. :) So, even if I was able to eat dinner just a few minutes ago, it was ok because I was very happy with what happened tonight. :D

not a good night...

2005-10-24T23:30:00.000+09:00

I went home with Nga today, because her boyfriend is in Chiba for a week. We took the 6.15 bus from Gidai. In my hurry, I forgot my keitai. I only realized it when I arrived in my apartment. I looked for it in my bag, and then I realized I must have left in the toilet. Waaah! I'm quite confident that I would find it the following morning, but my concern is that it might fall. An alarm was set for 7AM and 730AM, and it might fall if it will vibrate. I sent instant message to Febri, who in turn contacted Liska who was still in her laboratory. So, I'm very thankful to Febri and Liska. Thank you!

I thought that was all. Apparrently, I was to be shocked a little while later. I experienced an earthquake! It was my first time to really feel the earthquake since I came here. I was sitting down, watching Vietnam Rose in my laptop, when I felt it. I got scared. I just remembered that yesterday was the anniversary of the big earthquake last year in this city. I didn't know what to do. I listened to what my neighbors would do, but there was no activity outside. I surfed the internet. I turned on the TV and found it has a 3.4 magnitude. I sent messages to my friends in Tokyo. And they laughed at me because it was just a very small one, normally it is 5. I sent message to my husband, Jay, and he immediately went online. I needed someone to talk to that night. I really should not be shocked when it comes to earthquakes here in Japan, because it's common. But this time, when I felt it, I was alone. That's why I'm really hoping Jay will be here soon so that I won't be afraid during these times.....

Belated happy birthday, Aiza!

2005-10-22T20:30:00.000+09:00

It's almost been 2 weeks since my last post. When I started this blog, I said to myself I'd write here everyday if I have internet at home. But, I can't. I'm too busy doing other things. I guessI just have to write here when I feel like it, or when I'm too bored, even if I have no idea what I should write about.

I'd like to express my gratitude (so formal?) to those who have posted their comments here. And speaking of that, I suddenly remembered my cute little sister! Sorry, aiza... for not remembering to mention your name, until now. Belated Happy Birthday to you! Aiza (realname: Rhea) just turned 21 last October 7. When I called home that day, she said they did not have any celebration since she and her classmates were so busy doing their project. It was decided that they will celebrate the week after. And, I heard there were lots of people who attended the party. My sister's pretty popular, huh? (mana sa ate?) Anyway, I do wish her happiness. She may get so sentimental at times (just read her blogs!!!) and be so irritating (she always asks me questionos at the wrong time!) ... but she's always someone I can depend on when I go home. I do hope she will pass all her remaining subjects and graduate this schoolyear. I may not be able to attend her graduation, but I'll definitely be cheering her on from out here.

Sang, I'll post your pictures here some other time. :) Hi also to Papa, Mama, and Lick-Lick.

My Apartment

2005-10-11T21:15:00.000+09:00

I live at １０２号室　アルカサール　すみれ　希望が丘　２－丁目　４－１４　長岡市　新潟県　Japan　940-2124. How's that? Actually, I don't know how to write Kanji, so I will just post the address in romaji so that you can send me some snail mail when you have the time. #102 Arukasa-ru Sumire, Kibougaoka 2-choume 4-14, Nagaoka Shi, Niigata Ken, Japan 940-2124. The Katakana of my apartment name is supposed to be in English, but I can't figure it out. If you know, please do tell me.

These are pictures of my apartment, which I took yesterday. I haven't had the energy to clean it well.
<<<----- This is the view from my door. To the right is the washing machine we bought at a 2nd-hand shop. It cost us only 6,000 yen. The stove and the refrigerator were already there. The plastic bag on the left side contains empty bottles. I haven't had time to throw them yet. Trash here has to be segregated and thrown at their scheduled disposal dates and at designated areas. The door leads to the main room. Toilet and bath is on the left.
----->>>
This is what you see when you open the door from the kitchen. The aircon is also another appliance that came with the apartment. Below it is what I used as blanket/comforter/bed sheet. The sofa bed was also bought at the same store as the washing machine, and at the same price. Can you see the curtain rod? We bought it at a nearby store (25-minute walk). I still had some clothes hanging there.

<<<----- This table was also bought at the 2nd-hand shop for 1,500 yen. The laptop was bought in Akihabara (it's 2nd-hand also) when we went there one weekend. It's not obvious in the picture, but what's on the plate is my food for dinner, pork adobo. The TV set was given to me by Febri (she got it from her Indonesian friend who went home already). I don't have any other table, so my things are just on the floor.
----->>>
This is proof of how cluttered my room is. My clothes and some other stuff are in the cabinet. On top of the cabinet is a space where one can sleep, but I use it to put some of my toiletries and other things. When I clean the clutter on the floor, it usually goes on the loft. Haven't tried sleeping there for fear I might fall. On the stairs are my laundry. Don't have a laundry bag. But today, I put my laundry in a plastic bag and placed the bag inside the cabinet.

So, that's it. you've seen what's inside my apartment. I still have to take the picture from outside. To my friends, please do send me a letter, so that I won't feel so lonely here. :D

Yehey! Internet @ Home!!!

2005-10-11T20:00:00.000+09:00

Finally... I have internet at home! I feel so happy. I can now send email anytime of the day. I had to miss a class today because of this. I thought the modem would arrive early in the afternoon. But, it did not. If I tried to ride the next bus, I would be an hour late in class. So I just decided to skip class and start setting up my connection. It went perfectly well, even if the instructions are in Japanese (I just had to keep on clicking the buttons as indicated in the manual). The difficult part is installing the wireless LAN pack. I could not make it work! I decided to give up and ask my friends in my laboratory about it. I started putting back the manuals and other papers (so many of them!) back in the box, when I came across a paper I haven't read yet. Good thing, because it was all I needed to make it work. So now, I'm wire-free.

Anyway, I still have some things to do ... So I will just end this entry by saying thanks to all those who have kept me company for the past few days, be it in person or through email. Special mention to Donna, who has managed to extend her spamming hobby to my blog. :D

My first days in Nagaoka...

2005-10-07T07:45:00.000+09:00

I have been here in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan for about 5 weeks now. I came here to get a Masters degree in Nagaoka University of Technology. I am thankful to the university, AOTS, and Monbusho for this opportunity.

My husband and I arrived last September 1 (Thursday), in Narita, Tokyo at about 130pm. We already reserved a hotel in Nagaoka, so we just sent two luggages to the hotel for a fee of about 3,400 yen. At the airport, we bought train tickets for Nagaoka. It cost us about 22,000 yen. We took the Narita Express to Tokyo (about 1 hour) then the Shinkansen to Nagaoka (almost 2 hours). We just bought some food at Tokyo station and ate them on the way to Nagaoka. We finally arrived at the hotel around 6pm. It was only a short distance from the station. We rested for a while, and went out at 8pm to have some dinner. It was surprisingly quiet at that time outside. Not many people were on the streets. That's when I realized that what some people said about Nagaoka was true. It really is a quiet place. We walked around, trying to find some restaurant, but we ended up buying some food from a convenience store and went back to the hotel. It's a good thing that the hotel has a computer with internet access, so were able to communicate with our friends that night.

The following day, we had to go to the university at 2pm. The first thing we did was eat breakfast at their restaurant, then went around the place near the station. We went back to the hotel to wait for our luggage. Then looked for the Internation Affairs Center and asked for directions on how to go to the university. We found out that the bus goes to the university only twice every hour. Worried that we won't make it in time, we just bought lunch and rode the bus for about 30 minutes. We met with Joel in Gidai (shortcut for gijutsu daigaku or university of technology) and hurriedly ate lunch at the Internation Students Exchange Room. After that, we met with the staff of the International Student Affairs Division for some paperworks and payments. Joel helped us in choosing my apartment. I met my adviser, Pavol Zavarsky, in the flesh for the first time (I already met him during the video-conference interview in January). I was also introduced to my tutor, Wada Shota, who accompanied us to file for the Alien Registration Card and insurance card. He was very kind to accompany us to buy some type of bedding and pillow. We left it in my apartment and he called the light and electric company for activation. We went back to the university and he showed us our laboratory (we have the same lab). We then agreed to meet the following Monday to apply for bank account. We rode the bus with Joel (last trip: 740pm) who got off near a drugstore, while we got off on the last stop, Nagaoka Station. We decided to go to the apartment that night. So after eating at McDonalds (on the other side of the station), we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the apartment (about 1600 yen). My husband and I slept slept there that night with only the pillow and bedding.

The first two days were very stressful for me since I am new to this place. I only speak basic Japanese. I cannot read Kanji. And, I think I was still trying to get used to the idea that I will be on my own from then on. Now, I'm not fully used to living here (maybe I never will be), but I have made some improvements. I have made some foreign friends (Nga-Vietnamese, Febri-Indonesian, ZawZaw-Myanmar and others) and Filipino friends (Joel - 2nd year masters course in electrical engineering, Leah - Joel's pretty wife, Nazi - research in electrical enginnering, Wella & Leonard - Nazi's lovely wife and son) here. I am really thankful to them for all the things they've helped me with.

Alone in Nagaoka

2005-09-16T14:04:00.000+09:00

;(