ホテル ムーンビーチ

Warning: This entry might induce intense jealousy; read it at your own risk:p

So after the 2 hours ferry back to Naha, we went to pick up our rental car and then drove for more than a hour to our 5 stars hotel: Hotel Moon Beach.

Hotel's lobby bathing in the morning rays:

Hotel Moon Beach's private beach, which is so coincidentally named 'Moon Beach':

Our deluxe room, which was in a complete state of shambles:

View from our balcony:

Pretty cool hotel. We stayed there for 3 days 2 nights after coming back from Zamamijima. The hotel has almost everything, and I particularly enjoyed the 大浴場(public bath). Sleek and modern, the public bath provides you with everything, including Shiseido skin conditioner and hair tonic. Picture's not available as no camera is allowed in the public bath.

And on one of the nights, we met up with all the APU exchange students who were also holidaying in Okinawa.

Introducing the Canadian gang:

And the erm, Australian, Norwegian, American and Canadian gang: And a group picture of everyone:

And we had dinner at this pretty cool Italian restuarant. And Ben ordered this squid's ink pasta, which he totally detested it. The taste wasn't too bad, just that your tongue will remain inky black for a couple of hours:

And afterwhich we went to this club in Naha city. Girls seeking shelter from the torrential rain, while the guys tried to locate the club:

There were no one in the club except for us, and the drinks tasted horrible. Imagine gulping down Amowari that tasted so foul that it sent shivers down your spine, and then dancing in a dance-room so sparsely occupied that you felt as if you have entered Zouk at 9pm.

Definitely the worst clubbing experience I have ever had. Ugh.

今気に散ってしょうがない。復習を中途半端にしたい：（

It's 2.40am in Japan time. I am still in the process of studying for my japanese test tomorrow. Not even halfway done. And it is always during this time that I feel like blogging and doing unnecessary things.

For example, taking photos of myself:

Btw, these pictures were taken when i was studying for my finals before my Okinawa trip.

Sighz...　時々、特にストレスの時に、僕は自己陶酔でばかばかしいことをしがちやな。これはやっぱり不正常じゃないか。

勉強！勉強！

帰国の日を恐れてしょうがない！

時々僕の知らなかった恐怖は心の深遠なところから浮く。その時に僕は驚いたけれども、自分の気持ちをもっと理解してもらった。

例えば、昨夜僕は夢の一つをした。その夢の中に、僕はシンガポールに戻ったと言うことを見た。その瞬間に、僕の恐怖が言葉で表現できないほど強かった。「日本で交換プログラムもう終わった？したいことがたくさんまだしなかった。帰国に行きたくない！」

僕は友人と家族を懐かしまないと言うことじゃないですけど、ＡＰＵの生活が本当に大好きだ。ここでは、自分の生かす方は自分に選んだ。さらに、自由とか、金銭の使い方とか、全部自分に決めた。この生活は、初めて体験して失いたくない！

でも、現実はいつも酷薄な。帰国の日まで、ただ七週間のみだ。そろそろ、ストレスばかりなＳＭＵにもどらなちゃん。本当に仕様がない！

そういうわけで、いまできることはただ時間を最大限生かすな。日本語をちゃんと勉強して、週末の間にハウステンボスをはじめ九州の各観光地をぜひ行ってみるよ！後悔を持ってなくて帰国する気持ちが欲しい！

座間味島！めんそれ！

座間味島！めんそれ！(Zamamijima! Mensore!) This means welcome to Zamami Islands in the Okinawa Ben. On the 3rd morning of our Okinawa trip, we left the ever bustling and energetic Naha city for the free and idle island of Zamami. In the morning, the sky was dark and looming, and we were hesistating if we should make the trip down to the far-flung island. But I am glad that at the end of the day, we took the leap of faith and remained unyielding on our original plan.

On our two hours ferry to the island, the shadowed clouds, with lady Luck smiling upon us, started to drain away, and gave way to a halcyon sky of azure blue.

On the deck of our ferry:

Zamamijima! Mensore!

Zamamijima is part of the the Kerama Retto, which consists of six inhabited and some twenty uninhabited islands located about 30 km west of the Okinawa main island. Undisturbed and sparsely inhabited, this island is like an undiscovered gem, waiting for unknowing explorers like us to chance upon it.

Summer House Yuyu.

This was the minshuku we stayed over on the Zamamijima. Very nice and cosy place. And did you notice the Nemo and other sculptures behind us? All of them were handmade by the owner. Impressing!

By the advice of the Oyasan, we headed down to this beach, which is reportedly the best snorkelling spot of the island.

Did you see those brownish discolorations in the midst of the turquoise blue water? Those are coral reefs, rich and undestroyed. I have been scuba-diving for quite a while, but never have I seen something so amazing. The coral reefs are less than a metre from the shoreline, intact and animated in the southern warm ocean water. Most of the other diving sites that I have went to are either partially or totally destroyed by inconsiderate novice divers or irresponisble fishing. This is really the paradize for all lovers of the sea.

Fishes, of rainbow colours and various sizes, unabashed of our existence, swam temerariously near us. And when we littered our unfinished Cheezos as we dived into the waters, school of fishes circled and enveloped us, much like the scene when the birds spiralled around the singing Snow White in Shrek 3.

Just as I was mesmerized by this magical moment, I heard a wailing scream behind my back. Apparently, a sea snake of bright yellow stripes was also equally interested in our Cheezos, and was swimming menacingly close to Jenelle. Jenelle, in her desperate attempt to distract the serpent, threw the can of Cheezos into the deeper waters of the open sea while she swam frantically to the shore. Fortunately, nothing untowards happened to us and the sea snake swiftly disappeared after its brief appeareance. Nonetheless, this incident became one of our laughing stocks for the next couple of days.

Hot girls in Bikini:

There were actually other hot pics (think FHM, haha) of the girls on the beach, but they were ruthlessly censored by the 3 iron ladies.

After the exciting and life-threatening dive, we visited several observatories on the islands. The sceneries from the observatories were equally stunning as the marine life from our earlier dive. We drank in views of treacherous cliffs and mysteriously shaped islands, all of which painstakingly crafted by Mother Nature.

After visiting the observatories, we went to the one and only restaurant in Zamamijima (remember? It’s only a small island) Decent food and reasonable price. Osusume!

On the second morning, we went for a scuba dive trip. This was my second dive in Okinawa. Unlike my previous experienced dive, this was a full dive. The instructors didn’t really ask for my diving license (I left my license in Singapore).

And after the dive, I felt so blessed. So blessed to be able to go on an exchange programme to Japan, so blessed to be able to come to Okinawa, and so blessed to be given a chance to dive in the Japan Sea. It has always been my dream to dive in other foreign seas outside of Malaysia and Thailand. Though it was a little pricey compared to my dive trips in SE Asia, the sense of overwhelming achievement and the unique experience of witnessing marine life of foreign seas certainly made my every cent count.

After the dive, we took the afternoon ferry back to Naha. There we would move into our 5 stars Moon Beach Hotel, and there we would begin our mad spending spree! Wait for my next installment of my Okinawa trip:)

沖縄の最初の日：那覇市

先週のクォーター休みに沖縄で旅行した。本当に美しいところことだ！沖縄ほどいいところがないということを感じしているな。

僕は期末試験がなかったから、MichelleとWeiliなど先に、RosannaとJustinと京子と長途バスを乗って福岡空港に出発した。それから、国内線のANA飛行機で沖縄に行った。

福岡空港：

最初の日は那覇市で過ごした。那覇市は沖縄で一番大きい市けれども、ただショピングばかりな。そういうわけで、僕は皆と違うプランを持っていて、ショピングしなくて、ダイビングをするつもりだった。

ゲストハウスの大家さんの勧めで、アメリカ浜辺にあるダイビング店を探して行った。

アメリカ浜辺：

僕と真由とアダムとダイビングの指導者たち：

あのどころで体験ダイビングをやった。体験ダイビングはいい経験けれども、今回想していると、本当のダイビングをやったら、もっといい経験をもらうのにかもしれない。そういうことにもかかわらず、僕は本当に愉快な一日と思うよ！

もう遅いから、今日はここまでだ。今度は座間味島についてのことが詳しく書いてあげるよ！その時まで、期待して待っているよ！

Japanese Tea Ceremony and John's Bday

Just a quick recap of the past week before I set off for Okinawa tomorrow. Last week was the midterms/finals/final project/final report week. Though it was supposed to be the most stressful and intensive week in APU, I somehow found time to cook dinner, chat with friends and went down the mountain to do some shopping. Haha, this either means that I am damn smart or I didn't really study. And the answer obviously is the latter (Okie, I did study a little).

I would like to blog a little on the Japanese tea ceremony, which is definitely the best class in the whole of APU. The student office actually opens a Japanese tea ceremony class especially for the exchange students, and regular APU students could not attend that particular class. So when all the exchange students come together, all hell breaks loose. Every class we made silly jokes, commented on the Okashi of the week and giggled about the stupid mistakes each of us made. It was really enjoyable. So I am really sad that such a fabulous class has come to an end for us. Here are some of the pictures we took during our final (where we were required to perform the whole tea ceremony):

The guests and the hosts bowing to each other at the end of the ceremony:

Students caught studying while in the class:

And finally, a group class photo:

Last tuesday was also John's 23 bday. And we went down to Sports Bar to celebrate his bday. And it was like 25 dollars for each person and we could drink all the way from 9pm to 1am. Freeflow of beer, wine, cocktails and others! Fabulous!

John's the bday boy:

The Sports Bar:

From left to right (clockwise): Me, Kyoko and Arienne:

Rebecca and I:

Haha, drank a little too much that night, and suffered a little hangover the following day. Oh, and on the following day, I had my final for Political Science. Seriously, going clubbing and drinking during the exam week is definitely a big No-no in SMU. Over there, even if you are willing to go clubbing, no one would accompany you (including me of course! I'm one of the chaoest Smuggers). But over here in Japan, everything is possible (esp with the exchange students). Okie, that's all from me. Going to shower now and tmr I gotta wake up at 7pm to catch the bus to Fukuoka airport!

Desmond and Ashely in Beppu!

Ohisashiburi! Sorry for not updating for a long time. I am preparing for my finals for Political Science and Japanese Tea Ceremony, and midterm for my Advanced Japanese. Moreover, I have two final reports to be handed in by next Friday before I fly off to Okinawa! Damn Jialat now. But it is time like this that I feel like blogging instead of doing constructive stuffs like studying or clearing my reports. Sighz.

Anyway, I am dedicating this blog entry to my dearest friends: Desmond and Ashley.

I have known Desmond in RJC, and since then, we have been the 'best of best' (To bean and beer, this is not a grammar mistake or anything: Japanese like to use this term a lot, not my english lousy okay) friends. We used to be in this circle of friends called the Purple Family, and we did all the stupid things like purple family dance and other things. I was the Purple Bodyguard and Des was the purple third sister. And then we have Joan as the Purple Big Sister, Jen Vern the Purple Second Sister, Marina the Purple Cousin and Lip Yoong the unwilling Purple Hamster. I know these sound real gay, but this was all so cool and fun when we were in our JC days. Now, I miss the sexy SO6C:(

Anyway, after JC, Des, I and other SO6C pple went on our graduation trip to South Korea. It was really fun then! And after army, Des and I went on an community service project to Cambodia. And it was there when Des met Ash.

I still clearly remembered when Des first met Ash at the NUSS hall, he was telling me how gorgeous Ash was. And throughout the whole Cambodia trip, he was sneakily trying to create a good impression on Ash. Very very sneaky.

And during the Cambodia trip, I got to know Ash pretty well. Well, you got to be careful when Ash was around. She is really acidic and mean(that's why I used to call her the Witch wheile we were in Cambodia); I always shiver when I recall the tormenting 21 days in Camobodia when I was forced to see her everyday.

Sighz, those were the good old days when we spent our time laughing and giggling away. I really really miss those happy days.

Okay, back to the main story plot: Des and Ash in Beppu!!!

Des would be in Tokyo for a month to study Japanese, and before that, he and Ash are doing a little trip around Japan. And they are so nice that they travelled all the way down from Tokyo to Beppu to pay me a visit. Tokyo to Beppu is like from Orchard Road to Pasir Ris, and given that the land size of Japan is so much bigger than that of Singapore, the Shinkansen ride took them around 6-8 hours to get here. It's really not easy for them, as Beppu is just a small town with ONLY ONE shopping centre. It really isn't the kind of place a tourist would visit if they come to Japan. So they have been really really nice to make the trip down! Arigatou yo!

And on the first day that they arrived, we checked into the Beppu Youth Hostel, and then we went down to the 地獄温泉 (which means Hell ponds in English). There are 8 地獄温泉, but given the time constraints, we only managed to visit the 血の池温泉 and 竜巻温泉。

血の池温泉(also known as the blood pond) is famous because the onsen water is red in colour, just like that of the blood. (From left to right: Me, Kai and David)

On the other hand, 竜巻温泉is this underground water which would spurt out every 30 to 40 minutes. Pretty cool.A photo of all of us in the 竜巻温泉:

And after the 地獄温泉, we went to try out the mud onsen in Kannawa. The mud onsen is really quite a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The setting was like the old Meiji Era, when the onsen area is partially surrounded by wooden fence and stuff. It was so natural that u can actually feel the grass, mud, sands and rocks as u waddle your way into the mud onsen. Furthermore, it's a mixed bath, and both girls and guys go into the same mud onsen. For the girls, they have this special entrance, so that they can actually undress and waddle and hide in the mud water before coming out to the common area. But for the guys, there isn't any such special entrance, so we actually gotta walk out to the common area in the full glory of our naked bodies. It was really quite a cultural shock for me. Really, mud onsen, one time is enough. I wouldn't want to go for a second time.

After the mud bath, we went back to my school APU and there Des and Ash met my Singaporean and Canadian friends. We had a cooking party, and that was like the best cooking party I've ever had in APU. There were so much good food, that it was like a buffet dinner at a 5 star hotel. Really thank you to my dear Singaporean and Canadian friends for cooking up such a feast. And later, we had a small drinking party at my room. Thanks to Kai, who brought his XO Henessy, we mixed it with the Hynoptiq and we got Incredible Hulk! Haha, a pretty cool drink. Pic of us getting a little high:(clockwise from the most left) David, Shima, Toto (yah, the toilet bowl brand), Kai, me and Kane.

On the second day, we went to try the sand bath at the Takegawara, which is one of the oldest onsens in Beppu. This was a really unique experience. My whole body was buried in the sand, with only my head sticking out. It was really comfortable and unlike the mud onsen, I would love to go back for the second time. In the evening, Des and Ash treated me to a sumptious dinner at the Ryokan that they were staying in. It was like a repeat of what I had with Weili, Kane and Mic in Toba. But I think the variety is lesser over here in Beppu, but the plate of the crabs and the prawns more than made up for it: Itadakimasu:And after the dinner at the Ryokan, we went down to another onsen: Hyoutan Land. This is a really good onsen, as they have a wide variety of onsens for the visiters. We tried the Rock bath, the foot bath, the waterfall bath, the suana and the best of all is the outdoor bath. The experience was sooooo good that I felt as if I was filming another episode of Japan Hour. Wonderful!

So that was the itinerary for Des and Ash's short stay in Beppu. 3 different kinds of onsen in less than 48 hours. Our skins were like glowing in the dark after the third one. Really shiok! Right now, Des and Ash are in Tokyo.

Have fun over there! I will see you again in August!

P.S. Study study study!