Randy, the restless one.

The English dictionary explains the meaning of "randy" as "boisterous" or "full of sexual lust".

I have always denied that the unfortunate meaning of the word that is my name, have got anything to do with my true nature. I'm sure that parents didn't intend me to be that way either. Which right minded, normal parents would want their kid to be like that?!!
Oh wait, my parents aren't exactly "normal"...
Nonetheless, those who know me, knows that despite the fact that I speak a lot of dirt, I don't soil myself.

But…

Seeing how restless I can be when idle...I may very well be "boisterous". The dict speaks the truth after all...what a dic*.

After my senior destroyed one particular piece, my work was substantially delayed. Long hours to go with nothing to do...where to put all my "energy" to? You all know how randy I can get at times, right? My restlessness always gets the better of me...I need to be doing something at all times.

Well...a delay's a delay. Can't be helped, can't be fixed.

So, I've taken it upon myself to embark on one of my original project.

I've made a few researches on the topic that I was to do. While my internship program dictates that I should recommend which material to use, comparing it using one arbitrary augmentation, I instead research on the augmenting process itself. Now I'm currently reading up on it and drafting a report(written in Japanese...oh gawd translation can be such a pain in the ass!!). Will submit it to my superior and see how he deals with it. So far responses are good...

There you go, always make yourself useful and do beyond what you're told. Appreciation comes along that line.

So, am I proud of myself? Am I happy with what I am capable of?

Nah...I'm not proud, I'm just bored.

And gawd damn the Americans, using inches instead of metric unit...
Can't they agree with the world for once? Use what everyone else is using!! Makes life easier. Even with English they have to do changes to it...coloUr damn it, not color.
And what the hell is with that pound per square inch?? Now I have to convert both pound AND inch...

Sorry, I'm just bored. Do you know of the proverb "An idle mind is the Devil's Playground"? Well, even the devil is starting to feel bored from playing in the same place...

Sigh...word is that my real work will begin next week.

Will stay bored and churning up ridiculous blogs til' then.

The coffee dependent.

Days like these goes on forever...time slows to a crawl when I have nothing to do at work.
I am the traffic wreck and time is slowing down to look at me.

Time flies? Yeah, I'd prefer it walking away from me rather than flying around my head.

It's funny how you will always manage to feel sleepy at places where you not suppose to fall asleep...meetings, classes...for my case, at work. Times like these makes me wish that time machine exists...not to speed up time, but to go back in time to thank that brown person from Ethiopia who invented a drink of the same colour as him. Also, thank god for including caffeine in that drink.

Much wonder can come from a small cup of coffee.

I don't know why I can be this bored when just yesterday I had to stay an extra hour just to finish my day's assignment. Either I'm too efficient(doing too much in a short amount of time, thus having nothing to do later) or I'm just bad in balancing work.

Or maybe they are afraid that I might break another machine if I'm active...

Either case, I badly need a forecast just to let me know how much coffee I'll need to stay awake for that day...

Something like,
Forecast of the day: Cloudy with 75% chance of boredom. Put down the umbrella and grab 2 cans of coffee.

This, my friends, would be of much better help than reading lame, repeating horoscopes. I don't need to know if the love of my life is showing up today...my workplace is full of men anyway, so tell me if I'll have work and stay happy, or will I be bored sitting on my ass all day.

Sigh...actually, I did have a report to write yesterday that I planned to do today knowing that I had nothing else scheduled. But, just before I left, my chief, who had 1 hour left before finishing(he came an hour later than me to work) called me up to discuss plans for some future assignment. We talked, and he asked me to draft up a summary. I said "Ok, will get it for you first thing in the morning". He grunted an "OK" to me.

This morning, I arrived at work to find that report already done!!

Shit!! What the hell? Why did he do my work for me?!!!
Wait, oh right...he had one hour left yesterday. He was bored too.
Damn, he took away my work. Now, I'm bored earlier than I thought I would be.

Sigh...

Scary isn't it? Economy depression can really make people rushing for work to do.

Now, let me take a sip of coffee before I fall asleep and wake up with a keyboard on my face.

Tale of the destroyer

Remember the 1984 film "Conan the Destroyer"?



The one where he goes around destroying big things and human lives? Well, I'm more or less the same...although with significantly less muscle fibers, non-Austrian accent, and destroying smaller things minus the human lives.

To date, everything I've touched (aided by my senior) will go under...you name it I’ve destroyed it.

Band saw machine: used wrong speed setting

Automated polishing/buffing machine: used wrong buff

Water-cooling cutter: Filter got jammed with residues, resulting in water overflowing from the bottom, which in turn results in that machine being put through overhaul...

Micro Vickers indenter: Supporting rod got dislocated, inaccurate indentations

Deep drawing machine: Speed dial got jammed temporarily, and on a different occasion, the punch was operated too fast and it hit the upper dais, deforming both the punch and the dais. Repair cost 130000yen.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that each of those cases was "my fault". And the term "destroy" was a little bit exaggerated…the term "temporarily disabling" might sound better.

Well, when each of those "calamities" happened, I'm told that it wasn't really my fault and that I just had rotten luck of it breaking down with me at helm. BUT, they go on saying that they have never seen it break down in their many years of working with that particular machine...then finishing their sentence by once again saying "It is not your fault".

Gawd damn Japanese ambiguity...

Well, I'm not saying that it's my fault(If I've learned, but forgotten or just plain careless, then only it's my fault). But can't they just say what they really want to say? What the hell do they mean by bad luck? All engineers know luck have no effect on machines!!
Machines are dumb assembled parts, they only do as they are told and break down only when some machine part's lifetime is up, or by the misuse of its handler.

Bad luck my ass...

But, at least they have the guts to tell me what was it that caused that particular mishap and "How I can prevent it in the future".

So anyway, life goes on at TOPY...

And as far as the learning process goes, I've still got a few more machines to destroy...

PS:
While typing this, keyboard suddenly loses function, not responding to anything. Had to unplug and re-plug the cable...thank god it worked. Would have been soooo awkward for me to ask for a new keyboard.

And I guess it is also worth mentioning the one thing I didn't touch that broke down.
The automatic sliding door at my hostel....it stopped being automatic 3 days after I moved in.

Maybe I do have bad luck after all...

Toyohashi Festival..

ええじゃないか！！！

Means "Whatever goes!!".

While most festival all around have themes that hints at Global warming, world peace, perseverance, humanity....all kinds of make-you-feel-good bullshit imaginable...finally, a theme that makes sense, "Whatever"

Haha...whatever dude! I'm having fun!!



So many people lined up along the street....does this represents how popular this festival is??
Well, no it doesn't. This picture only shows how late I was to the festival. Spent the night before at Jeremy's place playing some cartoon-ish online game...
Woke up late the next day....nuts....

Even though I only managed to attend this festival for 2 hours, I had tremendous fun.



Even though I arrived late, I was instantly absorbed into the festival mood. Everyone jumping up and about, dancing crazily in pink.

Such energy!!



And they somehow managed to get a black midget to join them!
That little dude is not a kid, this group represents a local bar, and we all know that bars don't allow kids so....that must be a midget.
Woo Hoo!! Just saw the first midget in my life!!



And further up ahead is a bevy of beauties in red. Dancing to some barbie song or something like that..

Ay ee ay ee ay
I'm your little butterfly
Green, black, and blue
Make the colors in the sky

Yeah...that song. That annoying song from the 90s...but they had ladies in red dancing to that tune, in a cute way if I might add. Suddenly I was able to tolerate that song.


These guys seem to enjoy the song though.
See that some of them are just letting their cameras hang from the neck and not taking any photos?
Well, their memory card ran out.

And, as if to emphasize the generation gap, a bunch of old farts parading at the back..



This group of old farts was promoting road safety. Seeing how the group is consists of old people only, they are trying to tell us young people "Wanna live til' old age like me? Drive safe".

Oh my gawd...what a boring bunch!! Can't they do this some other time? or can't they pick another spot other than behind the ladies in red? Who's gonna drive safe when there's beautiful women right in front?!!

Moving on....

The next group I came upon was some dancing school group.


The kids were....I suspect they suffer Attention Deficit Disorder.


"I said...DANCE LIKE ME!!!"


Come on now, do the OOMPHAH!!!

Following behind was a brightly colored group of...oh, I don't know. Lost interest in knowing which group is which.




After this group, there was some kind of big gap before being followed by the next group...



See how organized Japanese are during festivals??
Love it when I see how people respect each other and try not to break the rules...
Not even to take a picture such as this.
Ehem...I broke the rule just so that I could show you how diligent every Japanese are at not breaking rules. Just wished I also had the chance to show you a picture of a group security personnel swarming in on me.



Next was a group dedicated to their local treat "おでん". It's umm...a Japanese version of Yong Tau Fu.


Oi!!..Do your dance properly, don't need to feel so happy of me taking your picture...


Ever wondered what Japanese worship in Japan? There you go...
A fish stick. Never has any deity or holy figures of great religions being heralded like this. God and friends up in heaven must be so jealous of this fish stick.


Two girls leading a team on...


This dude is just angry it's not raining on the day he remembered to bring an umbrella..


A member from KISS ??


They will grow up to fill in the red dresses some day.


The saddest looking piece of konyaku ever...


I saw him reach for that Pikachu mask!!!
Nah, just kidding, he took the green ranger mask..
It's a wonder that this kind of masks hasn't gone outdated...


A classic Japanese must haves at any festival...rescue the goldfish game.
You are provided a scoop which is made of paper...it tears if you try to scoop too fast, but if you don't, you'll never get to rescue any of them ugly, big eyed monsters...
And kids LOVE them...
But I wonder why they call it "rescue the goldfish"....
Ever seen goldfishes in the hands of a 3 year old? They live a better life in that tank, dying of old age instead of in the hands of a curious 3 year old. Nothing in this world...not even the devil can be as evil minded as a 3 year old kid with a goldfish when there's no cartoon on TV.


This stall allows you one cup of fries...
Haha, reminds me of my adolescents days...used to do this all the time.
Good job fat boy....


Yet another common sight to see at any festival...
While we fry our bananas, Japanese decorate them in sweets...covered in colourful rice chocolates. Japanese somehow claimed this to their own food culture. Well, yeah...who else in the world would decorate bananas like this?!! Even the hungriest monkey would stay away.


I think westerners with long black hair is hot....


But Asians with blond hair is not...

Anyway, look at them 2 punks....at any other times, all they do is loiter around with cigarette in hand, making noise and are of nuisance to everyone else. And yet, it is these good for nothing punks who manage most of the festival!! They set up the stalls, sells food, AND they tidy up after...

Amazing...completely different from punks in Malaysia who just loiter and spit on the ground, who vandalize things, who robs...
Here, punks like these two are just for the looks, minus the attitude.

Anyway, although the festival was a "Whatever" festival, they still stayed on plan and ended accordingly. The last group to parade was...


A bunch of party killers here to clear the streets...

Yet another Japanese quality, streets was reopened to traffic in exactly 30 minutes!!

Been here for 5 years, but this sense of punctuality and effectiveness always manage to impress me.

An intern's life so far...

I'm entering the 3rd week since I started my internship here in TOPY Toyohashi.

I am allocated into the R&D department, placed under a guy named Kakami, whom I will describe as a 18 year old looking, 29 year old man. But let's talk more about him later. Also in the team is a Chinese Chinese called "Cho" and a fellow Malaysian Chinese named "Tan".

Now that I'm into R&D, you must be thinking I'm designing or developing something right?

Well, not exactly...

During my 3 weeks here, I've learned that what matters most to a manufacturing company is cost of material. It doesn't matter whether other materials are superior in terms of hardness or yield strength, being superior doesn’t always means it’s good(In my case, superior means hard but low yield point). Instead, inferior, cheaper things bring good news. In a society full of stingy bastards where people are always going for cheaper things, it makes sense not to sell them your best item, just your cheaper ones(Ask Microsoft, they know best about not selling you good, reliable software).

And this is where I fit in.

In my 5 months internship here, I will have to perform various observations, and fatigue tests on different types of steel, and make comparison of them so that I can recommend the best one for mass production.
In these 3 weeks, I have identified which among them are best for use, but I was bluntly told, "Really? Wow, good work. Nicely done. But we are thinking of using this instead. We know it sucks, but it's cheap. Now, try to think of a way to make it better."

So, I've come to understand that when it comes to steel manufacturing, R&D here means Research cheaper material and Develop a way to make them better. And amazingly, there are many cheap, simple tricks in order to get them to perform better. Well, at least we are making effort in making it better...
I know, it sounds a lot like a big middle finger to people who discovers new, superior materials. This time, it will be MY middle finger...haha, take that you arrogant inventors!!

Ok, I've jumped ahead too much in my story telling...

What I really do here is, I've studied a lot on the various works involved, like punch process, and types of test I will need to perform on them. Also on my schedule was learning to use all kinds of machines; band saw machine, refine cutter, polishing machine, that damn microscope...etc.

And the one tutoring me is Kakami.

And, in all my lessons, we've managed to cause problems to all of them, except the microscope...he hadn’t manage to misguide me into breaking the lenses yet. I can go on and on describing the various "misguidance" but let's just settle for the fact that he tends to forget "certain step". The worst resulted in a machine being sent for overhaul just because he forgotten a "certain step" of checking the filter...

This dude...Kakami tends to speak with that teenager attitude, with no command in his voice when speaking to me.

Ehem, here's a fact you never knew about Randy...

I'm constantly looking for people to look up to...someone I can respect. But if I meet anyone who fails to establish control over me, no matter how old they are, I tend to "take charge". It's a bad habit of mine...but I can't help it, certain events in my life have sculpted me this way. Before you judge me further, I do try to make an effort of suppressing my dark side...

So, this Kakami fellow... you very well know which category he falls in.

Anyway, I'm busy most of the time, always having something to do...be it studies or preparation of test materials. But there are times when I'm suddenly free...like when the machines are hogged up. Times like that…well, guess when I wrote this post?

Sigh...the worst thing in life is having nothing to do.

A new intern arrives at TOPY...

My first day of internship...I have to confess here that I didn't start off good.

On my bus ride there, I fell asleep and missed 2 stops. Had to pay extra fare and I had to walk around trying to look for the right place...and did I mention it was also raining? Let me tell you, getting lost in industrial area was no fun...factories are far apart from each other and I had no way of telling which way to turn at any junction. Thank god I went early....and thank the pretty lady at the station who gave me a map.

After reaching the company, despite missing the stop and getting lost, I realized I still was half an hour early. In Japan, where punctuality is religion, arriving too early is a no no...it means you don't respect their timetable.

AND I forgot to bring along my pen and my stamp...do you know how awkward it is when they push a piece of paper to you, expecting you to start writing when all you have is a pencil? Damn...that was more uncomfortable than the time I forgot my wallet at the supermarket.

But that guy who greeted me was a nice guy so, no trouble there. I was then introduced to the boss, my section leader, and head of safety. Then, I was fit into a yellow hard hat and a black hard boots, and things kicked off with a tour of the facility and a spectrum of rules to follow.

Remember the phrase "Rules are meant to be broken" ??

Well, no they are not.They are meant to keep you from harm's way...keep you safe.

So do your best to obey them like pathetic slaves.

It used to be "Quality First" but now it's "Safety First". Apparently, they realized that an injured fellow worker and an interrupted machine costs a lot of money, and also that lawyers these days are more cunning, so your safety(their money) concerns them.

Having said that, you would have guessed it, most of it involves rules when walking around or handling machine. They have a manual on every piece of machine in that factory. Yeah, that means they also have a guidebook hanging from a vacuum cleaner, so in case you hurt yourself while sucking dust, it's your fault for not reading that damn guidebook first.



Like most factories in Japan, they adopt a system called "指差し呼称", which means point and speak. For example, when you step into a factory, you have to point while saying;

Point to the right "右よし" - migi yoshi(right ok)-

Point to the left "左よし" - hidari yoshi(left ok) -

Point above "頭上よし" - zujou yoshi(above head ok) -

Point to the ground "足元よし" - ashimoto yoshi(ground ok) -

FYI, Japan Railways adopts the same system. You'll always see a station master gesture along the train before blowing the whistle. Amazingly, no mistakes by station masters was ever recorded, proving that this troublesome gestures actually works to reduce accidents.

When switching on a machine,
"スイッチオンよし" - suichi on yoshi(ok to push START button) -

When switching off a machine,
"スイッチオフよし" - suichi off yoshi (ok to push STOP button)-

And, the interesting thing, my manager's name is Yoshii.

Yoshi to everything!!

But seriously, safety is the highest of importance in my workplace. We haven't had ANY serious accidents since 1980. The last accident recorded was some dude who caught a splinter in his thumb from a wooden chopstick...apparently, he was an operator for a production line and he couldn't push the buttons.

The company lost 2 days of productivity.

A City called Toyohashi…

And so I arrived at the city of Toyohashi one day before I had to report in.

This is the first time I set foot in Toyohashi... And oh boy...so many Brazilians around!!

Brown skin amongst small eyes…

But of course, it’s not just their brown skin that sets them apart. It’s the way they dress, the way the walk…the way the look around. Like, I saw this one family walking by…father was dressed like punks do, mother was dressed in a bright pink tube top and denim short pants, and along was a little girl. Mother was enjoying her stroll and father was eyeballing everyone who looks at them. If that lady dressed like that, of course everyone will look!! Why the eyeball?? Why not put a coat around her or something!! Please don’t mistake me for a conservative, I’m all for bright pink tube top but…there are better places for her to dress like that, not at the train station!!

Anyway, the reason why there are so many Brazilians here is because, about a century ago, Japanese saw a very intriguing posters posted all over...


Says "Come on! Let's go to South America!!"

For every participant, they will be given a hoe and two tiny dolls along with a miniature flag. Now, we all know how much Japanese like small dolls...so, hundreds of thousands of people signed up and emigrated to Brazil. And they liked it there!! While Japanese women are all covered up in kimono....well, we can all assume emigrants there visited a popular beach.
Japanese Brazilians started to spring up everywhere...so, Brazilian government and Japanese government drew up some kind of deal that provided them with Japanese citizenship. After some time, these JB decided they wanted to "make use of" their citizenship. Thus the number of Brazilians here...but only god knows why they chose Toyohashi and not any other city.

And the high school girls here are…very different compared to where I came from. Let’s put it this way, I have never seen so many upskirts in a single day before. I mean, they don’t even make any effort to conceal their undies!!! They wear this ridiculously short skirts, then sit on the ground with their knees raised….sort of reminds you of the “Welcome” sign hung outside shops isn’t it? Call me a pervert all you want, but, if I didn’t look at them legs and nylon (some are silk), all my guy friends and my girlfriend will have something to worry about...my gal pals would probably start asking me for chocolate muffins recipe.

At least I was decent enough not to take pictures of them just so I can upload them here…

Okay, enough of me being a salivating wolf...


They have trams here!! A cute one too...
I thought trams only exist in Hiroshima and Hokkaido.


They had a band going on right in front of the train station.

And I started thinking that Nagaoka is way more “kampung” than Toyohashi.

Anyway, I met Jeremy, Kelly, Chin Wooi and Siew Ling later that evening. My god it’s good to see Siew Ling again!! It’s been like…5 years since I last saw her. Haven’t seen her for so long that I almost instinctively offer a handshake and say “hello, nice to meet you”. She still looks pretty much the same though…prettier than I remembered, but still the same I knew her to be. Good to see you, girl..

Well, had a wonderful dinner…had to bore myself listening to them talk the “Toyohashi Talk”…but a nice evening nonetheless…

Jeremy was kind enough to offer me his room floor for the night. The next day, I get ready to start my first day in TOPY!!!

TOPY : A new beginning

As part of my Uni's unique program, current undergrads who plans to pursue masters in engineering in the same institution can undergo a 5 month long industrial training. Somewhat like a long-term internship. And, as far as I know, no other institution in Japan offers the same thing to undergrads. Yes, they also have internship programs but they last only about 2 months at most.

As for me, 5 months internship sounds swell...I mean, I'm bound to learn something useful right? And that’s why I chose to enroll into Nagaoka University of Technology. 80+ students joined this program and were sent to various places in Japan and also overseas, including Malaysia, Thailand, German, Spain, Mexico and many others.

And I chose TOPY Industries...


what? Never heard of it?

Don't worry, neither have I!!

Why I chose this? Well, part of the reason is that it is situated in Aichi Prefecture, the farthest one away from my Uni.

But that's not the factor which made me choose it. You see...in Japanese, it is written as 「トピー工業」, pronounced as "toh-pee-kou-gyou". When I first saw this I mistakenly read it as "toh-pee-ei-gyou". In Japanese katakana, "ei" is written as 「エ」, similar to Japanese kanji, "kou" written as 「工」.

So, during background check (Yes, as reckless as I am in making decision, I still always do a background check!!), try as I might, I couldn’t find out anything regarding 「トピーエ　業」. After many minutes of futile effort by me and my Japanese friend, it finally dawned upon us that it is ｢トピー　工業｣.

One click and tada...there you go, full corporate details. Some 2000 employees working for this misunderstood company.

Those who know me well, will know that this is reason enough to make me want to do my internship here. I go with the flow of events, never any planned ones. Any other companies are boring anyway. Yes, there are other big fishes like Toyota, Honda, Hitachi, Mitsubishi...but that doesn't mean you can get good experience, but only a name to show off to your friends to.

And besides, I spoke to a senior who went there last year, said he learned a lot. So, yeah...good choice for my part (no matter how ridiculous the reason was: reading the name wrongly).

So, yeah...here I am in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture...here to do my internship for the next 5 months...

here to corrupt them if they don't corrupt me first!!

Japan movie titles are hilarious!!

It has been a LONG time since I could sit down and write stuff. I was so busy with so much things...well, busy until I lose sleep every night but, writers would know what I mean. When you have many things to attend to, you just can't sit down and compose proper sentences.

Anyway, I just completed my biggest task yesterday...YEAH BABY!!!!

ehem...excuse me.

Now, on to today's topic...

Dudes and chics, I have been living in Japan for a long time. And there are many, MANY things here that you can always count on to put a smile on your face...

One of them is Japan movie titles...they are freaking hilarious!
So now you know why overseas movies take so long to show in Japan...they have to think of a funny title first!!

First off, let's start with the lame ones....


Disney's UP...
While UP sounds intriguing, Japan made it "Old man Carl's Flying House".
Well, it may be true. But to literally name it like that...lame...



The Proposal became..."You will be my groom".
Well, not exactly 'groom' but 'a guy who move in with his in-laws'....
Still....cheesy isn't it?

Now, as for my favourite title of the year,

My Sister's Keeper....
They renamed it "You Inside Me"...

Maybe it's just me but, sounds an awful lot like a sex movie don't it??

31st August...Merdeka for Japan's Opposing Party.

The news is in...LDP lost the election..



LDP, Liberal Democratic Party...Japan's largest and longest ruling party. This party have ruled over Japan for 54 years. But after a series of failed Prime Ministers, the people of Japan realized that the country needs a change, and thus voted for the opposing party, the DPJ, Democratic party of Japan.

As of yesterday, the election concluded with 60% votes in favour of the opposing DPJ.

Yesterday....dated 31st August...The day that commemorate the 52nd Anniversary of the independence of Malaysia.

Japan, a country that is most conservative when it comes to lifestyle, decided to side with the opposing party. No one knows how well the opposing party can rule Japan, everyone was well aware that this may even steer Japan into a worse state, threatening their already comfortable life. But, the people realize that they cannot stay contented forever. They realize that anyone who sits on the throne for too long will lose its potency as a ruler.

The people of Japan made a very brave decision.....they decided to progress.

Even the United States of America saw its first Black President. A country which was so well known with their racial issues. They saw that progress goes beyond race and colour.

And that yesterday was Merdeka Day, I can't help but think...what about Malaysia??

Isn't it time for a change?
Times have changed. Things needs to be changed.
And looking at the numerous demonstration which ended shamefully each time, I'd say that many Malaysians feels that we need a change. Looks to me that Malaysians think that they are ready for that new change.

I mean, come on...

Look at the recent news about Black Eyed Peas concert which is banned for the Muslims.

And all this is because the organizer is Guiness.

I can understand that liquor is not allowed for the Muslims because they sometimes cause us to lose our mind and do stupid things. But to ban a music concert is an entirely different thing! What? Just because some Malay dude attend the concert, he's going to lose faith and starts to get friendly with Guiness?

They sing "BOOM BOOM BOOM"...not "DRINK DRINK DRINK"...

Do the government think people's faith in religion is that weak?!!
Not taking a sip of water from morning until evening for a month is way harder than not drinking liquor right?

Sigh...almost everyone I know in Japan is asking me, why is Malaysia doing this?

They can understand why Muslims needs to restrict from pork and liquor...
They can understand why Muslim women needs to cover their head...
They can understand why Muslims need to fast for a month...
They can EVEN understand why Japanese dress up crazily to do cosplay...

But they cannot...thought hard and tried hard...but they cannot understand why Malaysia needs to ban a mucic concert....

I bet that news of BEP being banned got as much attention when Malaysia revealed the Petronas Twin Towers..

If this is Malaysia's idea of bringing the nation to the world's spotlight, GOOD JOB!! You've done the same as Dr. Mahathir did without spending billions of ringgit.

The devil I call Hospital...

My dad is experiencing waves of discomfort and pain....but good times too(thank god for that).

During one of his good times, he related to me his experience from when he first collapsed until the moment he got admitted. Like me, he is a person who believe "Anything and everything is worth laughing at"...so I got quite a good time laughing while listening to his "experience". But I was concious of the seriousness of the situation punctuated between laughters...

He first noticed that he got a splitting headache, dizziness and nauseous one Thursday night. Realizing that this isn't normal, he got an ambulance to carry him to the hospital where they did a scan at Mahkota Medical and found a blood clot in his brains. My dad happens to also have an artificial valve and is undergoing warfarin medication. So, his condition is more or less a heart + neuro thing....and not forgetting that he is 68 years of age.

Mahkota Medical, Pantai and Putra refused to admit my dad in because he was "too risky". Damn hospitals....that's why we come to you...We have problems we can't handle!!! But I guess reputation is more important than saving people's lifes...god damn monsters.

So, under the recommendation of a trusted heart doctor, my dad was sent to Prince Court Medical Center...the only hospital willing to take my dad in. This hospital is situated in KL...while the ambulance is on the highway, they refused to turn on the siren as the driver said, "in Melaka it's ok...but in KL, only vehicle carrying a VIP is allowed siren". He was suffering and the damn driver refused to drive with sirens turned on...took him 3 fucking hours to get to KL. And what more, when my dad asked for a blanket, "Encik, kalau mau selimut, ada....tapi kena bayar 50 ringgit...". That damn wanker...

After reaching Prince Court, that damn driver refused to let my dad off!!! "Encik, kena bayar dulu!!". And my dad had a brain hemorrage that time...how the hell is he supposed to answer or pay the man?!! Either he's got shit for brains or that he worked as a taxi driver before.

So, now my dad's in Prince Court...bloody expensive as hell. Was asked for deposit of RM10000 before they agreed to do anything...lucky for my dad he had a friend who helped.

Damn hospitals....is money everything for them?? Don't people's lives mater anymore?? What happened to that Hippocratic oath?!! Damn hypocrites.....

Sigh...I am angry and disappointed at the system but, after reading recent headlines about how old folks are being abandoned at hospitals, guess I can't put all the blame on hospitals, can I? But then again...my dad did not deserve the treatment he got from hospitals in Melaka.

What a damn shame...

Sigh...but at least my dad is in good hands right now. Had to pay hella lot though..

If only you can see how beautifully decorated this hospital is, you won't believe that it's a hospital! With valet parking, lavishly decorated lobby, coffee bean in refreshment areas, toilet almost as big as my room in Japan....and the food...omg the food...prepared by Italian chef, they are one of the best I've tasted.

You see, my dad is not in a hospital, but instead a 5 star hotel with doctors...

Dudes and chics...if any of you are going to work in hospital management, doctors too, never forget that a human's life is more precious than all the money in the world.

Practice medicine, not do business...

Life made beautiful by Danger

It was one fine Thursday night when I got a phone call from home...

Mom was crying on the other end...

"Randy, your dad is in the ambulance now heading to KL. He is bleeding in the head.."

Imagine the shock I had....it's not everyday you get a phone call telling you that your father had a brain hemorrhage. Listened to my mother's almost incomprehensible(due to crying) explanation of the situation....then I had to end put the phone down and allow a few moments to pass before finally registering the fact in my head.

I knew at once that I had to go back....yeah, who wouldn't, right? My brother had work and couldn't just leave so that leaves my mother alone. And my mother isn't exactly a calm lady when it comes to situation such as this. I had to go back for both my parents sake...

I wanted to go back that very weekend itself, but I'm tied by responsibilities in University. You see, I had to hand in a report and give a presentation as finals in a course I was taking. Fail that and I had to repeat the year. And then there was paperwork involving my furthering studies.
This was also the time where everyone start doing their research vigorously as we had to hand in our work at the end of September, but luckily I was consistent until now and already had enough material. And also lucky that my lecturer allowed me ample time in Malaysia.

Anyway, after the phone call I got, I weighted my options and opted for a Wednesday flight the following week.

A friend of mine was kind enough to offer his frequent flier points to get tickets for me to go back. Although his was United Airlines and it only had direct to Singapore, he was a much appreciated help. And since I'm reaching Singapore midnight and had to spend the night there, a friend studying there was kind enough to offer me his place to spend the night.

Things like this makes you remember these people forever...

Day comes and I find myself strapped in my seat, staring at the "put your seat belt on before take off" light above me. Flight captain announced that we had good weather and was expecting a quick arrival....GOOD...
Then, I realized that I had been staring at the "seat belt light" for an awful long time and was wondering what went wrong. And then it came...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are experiencing some mechanical problem. The ground crew is inspecting it and the flight will be delayed for an hour"

Of all timings, now? When I'm anxious to go back? But I thought that one hour delay couldn't hurt...what can be worse?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to announce that this flight will be canceled. Another flight will be arranged tomorrow at noon"

Great...now I will miss my connecting flight from Singapore to KL. And considering the fact that my dad wanted to see me badly, this will be a big blow to his already depressed and negative mental state. BUT, I suppose that this is much better than having an airplane crash...

Reached Singapore and had to fork out 80 SGD to get the earliest flight out...
Once again, customs officers staring at my passport, walking down the long walkway to my gate, strap myself into the seat...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, there will be a short delay...."

Oh, come on!! Again?!! A lot of things had caused some sort of delay and struggle, not just the cancelled flight but other unmentioned things as well...

Sigh...can't help but be reminded by what my dad said all the time, "When you are in a rush, all the traffic lights will be red"

This time, no cancellation following the delay so...it's all good for me. Reached KL a little after midnight. Was picked up by an uncle of mine. I wanted to go directly to the hospital but my uncle was very very tired and I had to stay very very patient and keep from pestering him to take me to the hospital.

Finally got to see my dad the next day...arriving 2 days later than expected, I could see that the anxiety had taken a toll on my dad.
Got the gist from the doctor saying that my dad had had bleeding inside the skull due to his drug side effect(he's taking some kind of medicine to regulate his blood density to his pacemaker). The bleeding had formed a clot and they are keeping him under observation and will only decide what to do after a week.
Anyway, although everybody's been telling me that this isn't that serious a condition, my dad's been sick for decades and this present scare had affected his mental state a lot...and me arriving 2 days late? Well, let's just say that he suffered quite a bit in that 2 days...

When he finally got to see me, he cheered up immediately and things got a lot better from then on. He started eating again(haven't been eating properly), started moving about(had been bed ridden all the time)....although he still suffers head pains(means no peaceful sleep), things had suddenly gotten much more bearable and he is able to sleep through the night....

He told me a lot of things that he had not before...well, things that I'm not too comfortable sharing here, but important things concerning his past life that I had not known. Told me how much he appreciated the family more than ever before...

This sort of danger had put a new found appreciation of life within both my dad and me...

Truly, there are no appreciation without threat...

Things look okay at the moment, and I hope that with my love and support, things will be okay all the way...

The uncomfortable thought...

I don't know about you but, for me, time slows down during summer...

As the heat and humidity fills the air, everything goes by in slow motion. As if time expands with rising temperatures....

And it is during this time of the year when I lose all my mood to do anything at all,
Time of the year when lecturer starts to get serious with my work...
Time when a mundane lifestyle stick to you like sweat, where days of the week don't make sense anymore..
Especially now when my friends who were doing medic just graduated...requiring me to call them doctor when I'm still in the process of pursuing my degree...
It is time like this when I start thinking up nonsense....

"What if I had known that it would turn out like this, would I still apply for Japan?"

If I had the superhuman ability of being able to the future, and I knew that it would turn out like this, taking 7 long years just to get a degree...would I still apply for Japan??

Although I do have a lot of fun in Japan, and I met a lot of interesting people and I do gained a lot of experience...but....honestly, I don't think I can give a 100% yes to that question.

I mean, 7 years IS a long time if it's just to get a degree....and as much as anyone would say about my fluency on Japanese, that still doesn't cut it as English is still the mainstream language of global communication.

So, what have I been doing all these years?? I mean, I don't feel particularly "extra smart" for being able to study in Japan....in fact, I actually think that I could have performed better elsewhere...

So,

"What if I had known that it would turn out like this, would I still apply for Japan?"

I somehow recalled my conversation with my friend, Kenny's father. He advised me against going to Japan as it takes too long to get a mere degree. I can always take up Japanese lessons and I can always go to Japan for holidays. It was quite a career-prioritized advise and it didn't feel all that appealing to my immature mind at that time...

Same thing goes with my trusted teacher/adviser/mentor in highschool...

And with a lot of other adults...

I was thinking "No way I'm letting this go!! I want to see the famed mini skirts of Japan"

But now, I'm seriously thinking "What if....."

It used to be said that Japan is more technologically advance and that we should learn from them....and that's why Dr. Mahathir started the "Look East Policy".

But what I learned is that, in order for Malaysia to be technological advance, all we have to do is lessen the number of "coffee breaks"!!! Malaysians here fair quite well academically...and why not since our brains are of the same size! It is the attitude, the mentality, and the dedication that sets us so far apart.

But as you all know, Malaysians can be quite dangerous, aggresive and unrelenting when it comes to cutting down teh tarik breaks....

YES! The existence of teh tarik and karipap is keeping us back in the technology world!

So, even I manage to absorb the essence of Japanese greatness, and I don't deny that being in Japan changed me in some way....how am I to change the infamously stubborn Malaysians?

What, then, is my value??

What, then, is the purpose of me being here in Japan?

What.....if I had known that it would turn out like this......

would I still apply for Japan?

Fireflies and Zazen : Japanese Meditation

Last Saturday was a day of peace and magical beauty.

Saturday was especially a nice day since I had quite a lousy week before...broke my glasses during a more aggressive than expected game of basketball, needing to spend a lot of money on getting new glasses, faced a roadblock in my research, punctured my bicycle tire causing me to miss an important class....like I said, not a great week.

With irritant factor raging through my reins, I badly needed some peace to cool down. So, I joined an event called zazen, which is Japanese style religious meditation.



We left the main road and the loud engines behind, and entered an old city with little traffic if none. We reached an old temple(not a shrine) which was smaller than I expected. But a nice and tranquil place as there was no crowd....plenty of greens around too.

We then were introduced to the head monk who taught us the basics of meditation..

Zazen stands for : za which means seat and zen...well, you all know what zen is. This seated meditation is actually a copy of Indian cross-legged meditation...but Japanese got a cooler name for it. The only difference is that you get a good whack with a stick in the back if you start to slouch or fall asleep..

After 5 minutes struggling to get my feet on my lap, we meditated for about 30 minutes....what surprised me was that it felt more like 5 minutes of silence rather than a torturing 30 minutes of cramped legs!!



Along with me was a bunch of Chinese guys, Koreans and a Spaniard called Pol. Pol didn't want to join this event at first as it sounded boring...well, when did meditation ever sounded fun, right? But I managed to convince him saying
"Religious meditation sure sounds boring...BUT we'll never know how boring it really is!! If you go back to Spain, and your friends asked you 'Hey Pol, do you know about that boring shit called zazen?' You can never answer them if you don't join this crap....and besides, we can laugh about it on the way back!!"

And he joined!!! Haha...it's good to have someone agreeing with my nonsense once in a while...but I gotta say I had a great time at the temple in the end.



Anyway, after the temple was a trip to see fireflies....have you guys ever seen fireflies? I know, you can see them at Kuala Selangor...but I've never seen them before in my 24 years of life.

From the temple, we walked about 20 minutes to a firefly reserve. We went into the forest in the evening, then out on a clearing devoid of artificial lighting...and as it got dark, one by one the fireflies started lighting up...and within minutes swarms of them started lighting on and off in unison. Almost....ghostly....

How can I ever live for 24 years and never experience something so hauntingly beautiful??!! Just like magical little tree fairies they float among trees, flirting with each other, and with our eyes....

Unfortunately, their beauty can't be captured on camera...well, either that or the camera I'm using isn't good enough. I guess this scene will be a special one to be remembered...beauty known only to me.

This one Saturday shall forever be remembered...

And the Ambassador arrives....

Yesterday was the day we hold a farewell event for Mr. Ambassador. It was attended by Mr. Ambs, his wife, son and daughter, staff from the Embassy, representative of MSAJ(Malaysian Students Association) and KUJ(Kelab UMNO Jepun) and bunch of students from Nagaoka University and Nagaoka College. The event was a formal event and was held in a hall with everyone wearing a blazer, cushion office chairs(not the one you're sitting on, the better quality ones), air conditioning and a big ass screen on the front wall.

I'm not...I'm never a big fan of formal events. This doesn't mean that I did not dress properly or anything along that line...just saying that there's no fun for me listening to prepared speeches. But I was desperately hoping to be entertain by something....and I was not disappointed!

Attendees(students) entered the hall as soon as the hall opened. I was hoping to meet up with the President of MSAJ, Lee Boon Hon before entering the hall, so me and Calvin hung out outside waiting for him. But he never came, so we went inside.

And that's when I got my first laugh...

All the students gathered at the back....leaving a lonely front and middle area empty. Then, a man from the embassy ordered them to fill the front seats. Hahaha...what are they? Small children afraid of the principal??

ALso, this being an event attended by Malaysians, punctuality is always the main big issue to frown upon (or to laugh at, your choice...but I tend to frown). But what the hell, I'm bored and I need some twisted entertainment...
You see, we had to sing the national anthem and 2 other patriotic song....I predicted that some will be late and they will walk in just when we're halfway through the national anthem. Well, no one came in during 'Negaraku', but quite walked in during the other 2 patriotic songs. As walking during such songs would be rude, they started gathering near the door!! Was quite obvious that uncomfortable awkwardness surrounds them...haha

But luckily, no one walked in after Mr. Ambs started his speech. But un-luckily, someone was stupid enough to bring her infant to the hall. What kind of dumb ass brings her baby to a formal speech?!! I know...I know, I may have gone too far by calling that woman dumb but then again...common sense-lah Makcik... At one point of Mr. Ambs' speech, all of his "comma" and "full stop" was punctuated by that baby's gurgle...

"It is great that we can have stability in a country with many races like Malay 'Eeahh' Chinese 'Eeahh' and Indian 'Eeahh' "

Hahahaha...

Baby continued to speak baby language for a full 5 minutes before everyone's stare made that Makcik uncomfortable and leaves the hall....finally.

Overall, the speech was pretty much very boring....speech contained stuff that every government official would say. The same shit like unity, peace and stability in a multiracial region...except Perak maybe. Although, there's one thing he said that really impressed me. Something about mastering languages...

"Kita dijangka....we are expected to deal with foreigners so....kita mesti belajarlah bahasa..."

Wait a minute, is he trying to tell us to master languages so that we can speak different languages in one sentence?? Well, OKAY... I was having trouble speaking a full sentence in bahasa anyway, but as a master of languages I can always mix in a few languages...hehe..

20 boring minutes later, the MC announced that this is the end of speech and that next is lunch....

Here again, I was hoping to see if anyone was brave enough to stand up and exit the hall before Mr. Ambs himself....

God bless Malaysia. We are a country full of brave souls....

I turned back and saw a few stood up as if it was normal, took a step forward but stopped when they saw a few still seated, signalling them to wait for Mr. Ambs to exit first. Awkwardness once again shrouded the hall.....hahahahahaha.

After that, lunch was pretty much incident free.

Oh, I have to say, lunch was de-li-cious!!
We had nasi minyak, ayam masak merah, daging kurma, and an assortment of kuih.

After lunch was photo session. We decided to take pictures outside, where it's nice, bright and windy. And that's where Mr. Ambs daughter of about 16 years old caught Boon hon's and my attention(Calvin noticed much earlier)...


Mr. Ambs daughter is the one on far left...

You see, a harmless innocent breeze blew by....and suddenly long, slender, beautiful bronze legs was revealed! Apparently, Mr. Ambs daughter came wearing a Baju Kurung, one with a slit that can even compete with a china dress!! With a slit that goes all the way up to the thighs....PLUS the wind blowing, it is very difficult to blame us guys for noticing. After all, she didn't put the slit there hoping that guys not notice when the wind blows, right??


*WARNING* : added exaggeration detected in photo.
I don't have a picture showing the slit, but it was something like this....how can a normal, functioning guy not turn his head and gander??!!!!!

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but, I thought there was the thing about aurat and stuff??
Naughty naughty...

ANYWAY, the event was a success and we didn't encounter any big hiccups. Mr. Ambs was very satisfied with this event as he got to deliver his compulsory but boring speech, and he got to mingle among students during lunch.

Goodbye Mr. Ambs...thanks for everything during your time in Japan.

All the best in Malaysia...


PS: Picture of China Girl was taken from http://www.reallycuteasians.com/

Gotong Royong : The Malaysian spirit

Good old Mr. Ambassador, TYT Dato Mohd. Radzi. This is his last week in Japan. He has served for....okay, I don't know how long has he served but I do know he is going back to Malaysia this Saturday. Sorry Mr. Ambs...

A farewell event was planned for him on yesterday, in conjunction with Agong's birthday,
here in my University in Nagaoka. About 150 people are expected to attend this event so, as for the preparation, we(us Nagaoka Students committee) organized a gotong royong.

I was put under nasi minyak department. Gosh...I have never cooked 25 kilos of rice before in my life!! Originally a 10 member strong group, only 4 turned up...but what the hell, we managed anyway. By the time I got back home, it was almost 1 a.m and I was dead tired.
But somehow, strangely, I felt a sense of accomplishment!
I felt happy for being able to lighten someone else's load.
I felt belonged as I connected with others...
My spirit felt SO alive!!

So, this is what you call a gotong royong. While i used to participate back when I was a kid, I have somehow forgotten about the joy of gotong royong as I grew older...as I grew more materialistic...and as I grew more selfish. Somehow, at one point I started asking for reward, refusing to help, and only doing things that involves recognition.

Having spoken that, I gotta admit that I wasn't at all helpful last year...

I participated in the Japanese drum group and I devoted myself entirely for practice. I was constantly using "drum practice" as an excuse to not help in any cook outs.

While it is important to pursue materialism, we must never forget that it is always the connection with people that keeps us going...

keeps our spirit strong....

Connecting dots...

Every hurdle you face in life represents a dot.
They make no sense why you need to
suffer and struggle and sweat...but,
years from now, as you connect the dots,
you'll realize that each dot has a meaning
and they form a beautiful and elegant line...
You cannot connect the dots by looking forward,
you can only do them looking backwards.
So, do your very best and endure, as you will
Surely come to appreciate your effort some day.


You must realize that this is my first, weak attempt at poetry. I have a long way to go before I can write words that 'sing'...

Anyway, this poem is about connecting dots. I heard the general idea from a presenter in Nagaoka, who in turn has heard from Steve Jobs. Now, this have got to be the most meaningful and practical thing I've ever heard in my 20 years of literacy life.

Listening to this reminds me of my high school days where I asked my maths teacher, "Why do all this? What's the point?". She gave me a very lame and nerd-ish reply "To score an A in SPM". I don't mean to be rude to teachers, but what a dumb answer that was....

However, I finally discovered the true purpose of learning mathematics. It's not until 8 years later when it finally made sense as why I need to flirt with numbers....

To build. To design. To create.

Now that I'm in charge of designing a method to reduce a particular set of data, I realize that I need all my knowledge in mathematics, physics and material science knowledge in order to come up with a method that can yield an accurate result.

Ehem...what I'm trying to say here, is that, had I not work hard 8 years ago, I wouldn't be able to do what I do now. This is the same as things we suffer by everyday. They are difficult and we are often tempted to give in to procrastination and neglect....but difficult and trying as they may be, it will no doubt be one of the important dots in our life.

So, all the best to all of us, and may we all smile when we look back on our line of dots...

What it takes to live together...

One of the most famous phrase written in the bible is "Love thy neighbour".

Knowing that, you can say that only god knows how hard is it to love your neighbour....which means that its pretty damn hard.

We all have our fair share of living with ugly neighbours. While many of us have been a bit shy in talking about it, Borat more or less sums it up :

Borat : Do Jesus like me?
Church Pastor : Absolutely, Jesus loves you
Borat : Do Jesus like my sons?
Church Pastor : Jesus loves your sons
Borat : Do Jesus love my retard brother Bilo?
Church Pastor : Jesus loves your brother Bilo
Borat : Do Jesus love my neighbour Nushuktan Tulyiagby?
Church Pastor : Yes, Jesus loves everyone.
Borat : Nobody like my neighbour, Nushuktan Tulyiagby...

All these time watching movies and dramas, I've never quite understood why couples find it so difficult to decide whether or not to live with each other...just like that scene in Yes Man, where Jim Carrey hesitated when he was asked if he wants to live with that girl.

Before furthering my studies to Uni, when I was speaking to one of my seniors about Uni life, he said that it was very, very difficult to live with other people. Quarrels and disagreement happen on daily basis, and that I had better think very carefully if I want to share apartment with someone else. Said that I was going to live with a friend of mine, and I'm sure that things will turn out ok....but he instead said,
"He may be your good friend, but even that, you'll start to quarrel after a few months. Yeah he's still your good friend, but it will not be easy living with him".

Early last year, I was blessed with the opportunity of living with an old friend of mine. I lived across him back in our UTM days where we studied Japanese before going to Japan, and he looks bearable to live with. And so, March last year, I moved in with him...

Things was okay in the beginning. Garbage and dishes are taken care of, kitchen is cleaned on weekly basis, we cycled to school together...

One year have passed.....

This morning, we headed out to school at the same time....something that have not happen for about 10 months. I was thinking, "Wow, it's been a really long time since we cycle to school together!!". BUT....

as I turned to lock the door, I saw he was already on his bicycle!!

By the time I got both my feet on the pedals, he was already far ahead. Now, that is pretty darn strange considering that we share an apartment.

Wow....how did we end up like this...

This have got me thinking, it's not easy living with another person...and I suddenly had new found respect for my mother as she had to live with me AND my brother for 17 years...

It's amazing that my mother have not gone "completely insane". I use the term "completely insane" because.....well, those who have met my mother will know that my mother isn't exactly "normal".

Sigh...guess I'll just have to be patient for another 3 months. After that, I'm moving out....

This time, I think I'll live alone....

Wild Plants Tempura at Osugi Park...

Yet another trip organized for foreign students here...
Hah...it's so nice being a foreigner here in Japan.

Anyway, this time, it's a trip to a farm, planting sweet potatoes, then it's a hike up a hill to have sansai (wild plants) tempura for lunch.

The schedule for the day was this:

1. Gather and depart by bus to some place
   
2. Reach a small farm, help turn the soil, fertilize it and plant sweet potato shoots
3. Hike for about 30 minutes up a hill
   
4. Have Tempura for lunch at Osugi Park
   

Okay, seeing this kind of schedule, what would you choose to wear?

Shorts? A jacket that you won't mind soiling? A comfortable pair of sneakers for hiking?

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!!!


You should wear a beautiful sari, put on make up, wear cute sandals and paint your little toes!!!
Hahahahah....

You can always count on Indian people to dress up like this to no matter where. They love their clothes very very much...such show of patriotism!

Ever seen a woman in sari and cute sandals planting sweet potatoes?
I have!

Hahaha.....

Okay, now on to the main story.

I originally forgotten about this trip...then a girl contacted me the night before, asking me if I could take her place instead as she had some other stuff to do. Just like Jim Carrey in Yes Man, I said "Yes."
I mean, why not? I have eaten sansai tempura only once before and I enjoyed it a lot.

So, gathering was early in the morning. It was then when I got my first haha in the morning. Me and Farhan saw the lady in the sari and we thought that she was there probably just to wave goodbye to her friends.
Then we saw her get on the bus....needless to say, we instantly hahaha-ed at her.

I don't mean to be rude towards Indians here, but damn....a sari to a farm? I can forgive an eyeliner...but a sari? AND one of them was late....haih.

Anyway, reached the farm not long after that and was at once put into labor...









Honestly, I was expecting a good laugh watching Sari pouring stinking fertilizer on the soil. But I was disappointed to find that she's the designated camera person.

Anyway, we did stuff you see in the photos above. We were invited to come back here again to harvest and consume those sweet potatoes we planted. But too bad, by that time, I would be away doing industrial training.

There were about 20 people working on that small piece of land, so work ended as soon as it started.

Next was the 30 minute long walk up the hill to the park for lunch...










The walk was scenic and very refreshing. Seriously, can't remember the last time I took in so much green into my eyes.

Just in case you're wondering, they gave us the option of riding the bus there as we had old folks amongst ourselves. So, folks with white hair, sagging skin, and sari rode the bus there.





Waiting for us on the table was various kinds of wild plants ready to be drowned in flour and oil.

On the way there, I told Farhan's lab mates; Toyoshima, Oshio and Sakurai, that I had eaten these before, and while I remember the taste, I can't remember their names....so we ended up calling them "Randy no.1", "Randy no.2", "Randy no.3", "Randy no.4".
During lunch, they found out that, while Randy had a unique taste, Randy is sometimes hairy and bitter...but they all liked Randy anyway. Haha...

Oh, I have to mention here that the lady(polka dot top) who joined us at the table was one of the organizers. She is very very Japanese ladylike. And by that I mean the way she was seated with her legs neatly folded beneath her, the way she addresses everyone, the way she carefully dips the wild plants into the flour and then the oil, the way she politely asks if there's anything that we like, the way she partly covers her mouth when she talks....like I said, very very Japanese.
She even went as far as frying only the things that she recognizes, like pumpkin, asparagus and bamboo sprout....Japanese is always cautious of things they don't recognize.

Takes a challenger like Randy to deep fry things like Randy no.1, Randy no. 2, ......don't remember doing anything I already know when it was my turn at the fire. Haha...

Anyway, lunch was great. I even manage to get my hands on some sake. Always nice getting to eat these kinds of things once in a while...a rare break from the usual chicken and fish.

The day ended with the organizers waving hands at foreign students.

The Japanese ladylike bowed...



PS: What I meant by Indians was India's Indians....not Malaysian Indians. Forgive me very much but I have heard a lot of funny stories from my brother who is working for MAS. He hates flights to India, but always comes back with the funnies stories ever on their antics.
Oh, I later found out that they weren't from India after all. They are from Bangladesh. I should have studied Geography more seriously in Form 3.