Back in chilly Sydney

Stayed up til 4am watching Wimbledon yesterday. I missed watching tennis.

I’ve also missed my good old electric blanket. Don’t know how I managed to survive 4 winters (3 in Japan and one in Beijing) without it. I suppose I had my kotatsu to keep me warm in my apartment in Tak, and the indoor heating in BJ. But I’d forgotten how cold it can get in Sydney. The wind is howling outside, I’m freezing my arse off inside the house, and it’s still early winter. The timber flooring and glass windows all around are not very winter friendly. I’m literally hugging the heater cos that’s how close I have to get to feel the heat. Though the gloomy skies aren’t doing much for my mood, I’m glad that we’re finally getting some rain. Plenty of rain. I’ve been told that it was raining cats and dogs during my 2 weeks overseas.

I enjoyed the warm weather during my 2 weeks in Japan, and I must say we were pretty lucky, with only a few wet afternoons. Still, I caught a horrid cold on Day 3 and my nose just kept running til the day we left. What bad timing! I get sick on an average of what, once a year?

Anyway, despite my sore red nose, fatigue, and headaches, we still managed to stick to our jam-packed itinerary and had a good time. Highlights of the trip include driving around in Hokkaido, seeing the "rolling hills" of pink moss flowers at Takinoue Park, and Asahiyama Zoo. I loved the little waddling penguins, and the adorable polar bears. I just wanted to jump in and snuggle up to one of those big cuddly creatures. I bought a cute little soft polar bear toy to compensate, which now keeps me company at night.^^

Visiting Tsumago brought back memories of the time I went there with the NCU international students tour 4 years ago. I would’ve liked to do the 2.5 hour hike from Magome to Tsumago though. Ah well, maybe next time. If only I hadn’t been so careless and left my camera on the bus. Lucky I realised early and lucky the people there were so helpful. Lucky also that the bus only went back and forth between the station and Magome. So anyway, the kind ojiisans hurriedly contacted the depot who contacted the bus driver while I anxiously awaited the bus’ return. I wasn’t as upset as I would’ve been had I not changed the full SD card with an empty one. But still, I would’ve had no camera for the remainder of the trip. After an hour, the bus returned and the bus driver handed me my camera. All was good. (^^) Except that somehow, one of my SD cards got corrupted, and I lost a couple of days worth of photos. Oh well. I’m glad I got my camera back. Click here for photos.

While in Tokyo, I visited the company's office and spoke to my Tokyo counterparts for close to 2 hours. A few of them spoke good English which was a relief. One had worked in the Frenchs Forest (NSW, Australia) office for a couple of months. It was kinda weird having them tell me about their issues and concerns when I haven’t even started working yet, and know little about the business procedures. Oh well, it was nice to actually meet the people that I will be liaising with over the phone and by email.

During the trip, I also had a great time catching up with a few friends. I wonder when I’ll be able to see them next…I miss them already. As well as those I didn’t get to meet. Come visit, ok? And I'm looking forward to your return Down Under, Vk!^^

Well, I’d better go get ready...going to play badminton with AD. Hopefully it’ll be better than our squash session yesterday, eh! Sorry I was so out of it. (^^;)

Yippee...! I got a job

...with a global software giant as a Sales Operations Coordinator for the Asia, Pacific and Japan regions. In a nutshell, I will be assisting with the implementation of a new system in the company's offices throughout the Asia-Pacific as well as assisting the VP of the APJ Channel Sales department. Sounds like a challenge, but I'm all up for it.^^

I was really excited about getting this position and so was Dad, especially since it's in his line of work. And then when I told my sister, she called me a nerd. She probably said it jokingly but I haven't been called names since primary school and it hurt. Oh well, as the saying goes, forgive and forget, right?

Anyway, now I can enjoy my 2 week trip to Japan without feeling guilty for using up a big chunk of my savings. My aunt and I were planning to go in July to see the flower fields of Hokkaido, but we were able to get our hands on cheap air tickets (practically buy 1 get one free) for June, so we decided to go in June instead. The day after tomorrow, to be precise.

We will spend 2 days in Osaka before flying up to Hokkaido and spending about 5 days there. We're going to hire a car for 3 days and drive out to the Biei/Furano area. After that, we'll use our 7-day JR pass to make our way back down to Osaka, stopping by Matsushima, Nikko, Tokyo, Nagoya, Takayama, and maybe Kanazawa.

As we'll be moving around quite a lot, I've decided to pack extra light. At the moment I've got 12 days worth of clothing and toiletries packed into one cabin-size suitcase and a carry-on bag, and I still have space to bring back souvenirs.^^ If I end up doing lots of shopping (which is very likely since my aunt is a bit of a shopaholic), I'll just get one of those lightweight muji travel bags. I've always wanted to get one anyway.

I probably won't have time to update while I'm in Japan, but I'll be sure to upload my photos when I get back. Ciao!

How to take out a cork from inside a glass bottle

(Courtesy of youtube)
This is so cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqJJpTU60I

Squash

I tried my hand at squash with 2 other beginners yesterday. None of us even knew the rules, but it's not hard to guess the basics with the bright red lines and ball markings on the walls. It was so much fun! And a really good workout.^^

However, we then went and pigged out on gourmet pizza at a nearby pizzeria. I'm thinking the exercise was good for my appetite...I had 5 slices of pizza and almost half the bowl of salad. It was pretty good pizza though. Sorry, no pictures...but here's a photo of the sushi rolls I made for my brother's after-concert party.^^