Veggies

These pictures were taken a few days ago. We were walking down our road and this elderly man called us over. He then started chatting with us (he said he went to war (I forgot which) and had to walk from Malaysia to Singapore), after which he gave us a bunch of veggies, which he planted himself. The veggies tastes slightly spicy. Anyone know what they are?

Random Shots of the University Campus

The third shot shows a glimpse of the library

University Laptop

We can borrow university laptops for two weeks at a time. These laptops are super light and kinda mini. It's great for when I want to go online without having to go the library or the computer laboratory.

So, now I'm gonna reconstruct my schedule and stay until 5pm every day at the Student Hall for some studying and catching up. :D

Clouds

I find myself watching the clouds a lot these days. I don't quite recall doing so in Taiwan. Is it just me or are the clouds here extra fluffy?

Crepes!

This place looks messy and their presentation doesn't look all that good, but their crepes are actually very tasty and filling! They're not very expensive, too (for Japan); they cost around JPY250. Had my Japanese friend not pointed this place out, I would've continued walking by it like I've always had several times before.

I'm planning to become a regular at this place :D

Angry Boots

The designer of these boots must really hate the world

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (the Philippine delegation)

The Youth Arts Festival was all about children and teens from different parts of the world performing on the same stage, so imagine my surprise when I met the Philippine delegation and saw a strikingly beautiful woman introducing herself to me. The Philippine delegation is in fact made up of the top three winning candidates of Miss Davao (from southern Philippines). It worked out really well, though, because I didn't have to feel like a babysitter, and I only had to take care of three people instead of a bunch.

General Saigo's Pet Dog

This statue of General Saigo's (I'm not really sure what he's known for) pet dog is interesting for the fact that it's not always there. They only bring it out on weekends and holidays, and they have people who are on shifts to make sure that it doesn't get stolen (I think).

By the way, that's General Saigo's statue at the back.

Kyuudo (Japanese archery)

I went to take a look at the action at the Kyuudo (Japanese archery) club today. I briefly mentioned that I'm interested in taking part in Kyuudo because it's very Japanese. Two very friendly Japanese students took me out to the dojo to take a look.

It's really very traditional. I'm thinking of joining next semester. :D

(I was gonna upload a video, but it exceeded the maximum file size of 100MB... @@...)

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (Air Guitar)

Everyone knows that the Japanese go through a lot of pressure. I guess that's why they're really going crazy with this air guitar thing. The guy in the white shirt works at city hall. :D

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (Finale)

For the finale, the local high school choir hummed Sukiyaki for nearly an hour, through the closing ceremony and as they choir spread out the exit and saw the guests out. It really was a lot of fun!

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (Singapore)

The members of the Woodlands Primary School (WPS) Choir from Singapore are really cute! And they sing awfully well, too!

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (Hong Kong)

This is my first encounter with handbells! They're very nice to listen to, although after twenty minutes, I was ready to take a nap. :D

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival (main event)

This is the main event of the festival. The entire festival was beautifully done and everything proceeded flawlessly and on time. It was quite an experience.

In addition to the international delegates, there were also a few performances made by the local students, including a choir and a school band. The producer of the soundtrack to the historical drama, Atsuhime (the one wearing short suit pants in the picture), also gave a performance.

3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival

This is the main reason I haven't been blogging these days. I took part in the 3rd Kagoshima Asian Youth Arts Festival as a volunteer interpreter for the Philippine delegates partly to practice my Japanese, and partly to get to know Kagoshima better. The event was both exciting and exhausting.

These pictures were taken during preparation (BTW, the second to the last picture was that of the Mayor, Mr. Mori, he's a swell guy, very friendly and peppy). There were delegates from six countries, namely Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Funny thing was, all but the Philippine delegates were in their teens. The Philippine team consisted of three women, all of which came at the top of the Miss Davao beauty pageant.

The rehearsal went really smoothly, and right on the dot, too. The Japanese sure are very particular with time.

First trip to an Izakaya (Japanese tavern)

We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner today, thanks to Dr.Haji Kutluk Kadeeri (the one holding the flags). He came to IUK today to present his research on Mahmud al-Kashgari. It was my first time to go to an Izakaya. We had sashimi, hot pot, fried finger food, onigiri, and drinks (all-you-can-drink for 1500 yen). The food was really good and the Orange Cassis I had was pretty good, too.

I also got to meet other big shot professors today: Professor Nishihara from the Economics department, and Professor Masuda from the Intercultural Studies department (same as me).