Birthday presents!

I had a really great time yesterday!
This has to be the most memorable birthday I've ever had cause I don't usually celebrate my birthday in the past and I don't really have this many people to celebrate it with!

Thanks to every single person who contributed to making this day special!


Here are the presents I received:

A monkey plush toy with stretchable arms from Marie
(The reason why she got me this is because we have this joke about her clapping her hands like a chimpanzee whenever she laughs at a joke :P)

A "Kago Jen" strap from Trisha
(This is so cool... I love this so much :D)

A kewpie cellphone strap from Toshio
(I'm still thinking of whether or not to attach this to my phone cause it's kinda big :P
Okay... I'll just do it)

Got a deck of karuta cards from Zhao
(As he said, if it's from him, it's gotta be educational :P)

Got a box of eraseable color pens and a notebook from Donican
(She said she got me a notebook because she and Tienchi doodled on my old notebook :P)

A pair of earrings from Tomomi
(I only have one ear pierced so I'm now thinking of having my other ear pierced for this :))

A pink heart-shaped throw pillow from Tienchi
(very Tienchi, eh?)

Two boxes of Kraft Mac n Cheese from Shinobu
(Kind of a long story but the short version is that Shinobu was addicted to this stuff during his stay in Canada)


Thanks a lot for the presents!

Thanks also for the birthday messages:
Robert and Grace, Mama, Dada, Jay, Atsi Christine, Jeric, Florian, Candice, Denmark, Faiz, Souzen, Mike, Hiroki, and Sayaka :)

Takoyaki, Mario Bros., and Yakiniku

The other day we went to Marie's (again) for takoyaki

It's evident that we're amateurs :P

Here's Marie's mom to the rescue

That day's dessert was banana cake

...and pumpkin flan

Yum! as usual...

After lunch sweets

Some after lunch piano

Some after lunch Mario Bros.

Went to Aeon after and had coffee at Starbucks

I had Java Chip Frappuccino as usual

After Aeon, we went to a yakiniku place for dinner

Yet another full day of fun :)

Hahaha

We were at the local mall, Amu Plaza, the other day and saw an interesting sight...

...three guys nodding off by the escalator! LOL

presumably waiting for their respective girlfriends to get done with their shopping? :P

January highlights: January 29 - Faiz packing and departure from Kagoshima

Faiz's four-month stay in Kagoshima came to an end on January 29.
Time really flies. It made me realize that the six to seven months I have left could also go by in a blink of an eye.

Although I spent a lot of time with Faiz during his stay, it wasn't nearly enough.
Although this may sound like a cliche, I can still remember the time when we first me him as if it were yesterday.

Parting sure sucks.
Still, I'm glad to have known you, Faiz.
Thanks for the memories and the changes you brought about in me.
I think I've said this before, but I believe that every single person we meet in life help shape the person we become.
So thanks for your contribution :)

The night before departure day, I went to Faiz's place to give him some photos and helped 'supervise' his packing cuz he was clueless as to how to proceed at one point (see photo above for visual support)

It took him almost all night to sort out the small items here and there

He almost forgot to throw away the trash he has been 'keeping' for so long in his freezer
The kimchi expired on September 23, 2008. Right, Faiz? :P

His luggage weighed over 45 kilograms in the end, if I remember correctly

The room was now back to its original state - clean and bare

Lots of people came to see him off: (from right)
Zhao, me, Tienchi, Shinobu, and Emi
Mr. Imamura drove Faiz to the airport as part of his duties

Hiroki made it at the very last minute

Parting words between comrades

Bye Faiz!

Hiroki and Zhao couldn't come with to the airport cuz they had classes.

Volume 4 of the Canada Project in Kyushu Colloquium is out!

The volume includes proceedings from the November 8 event, as well as articles related to Canada.

Of course I wouldn't talk about this if I don't have an article in it, hehe.
Both me and Faiz published articles in this volume.

Click on this link to download the pdf version.
In case you're looking for something long to read :)

January highlights: January 28 - dinner at Joyfull

On the eve of Faiz's departure from Kagoshima, a few of us gathered together for a simple lunch at (guess where) Joyfull, this time at Chuo station (like it makes a difference, lol)

Zhao was exceptionally quiet that night...

Faiz is in one of his playful moods :)

Hiroki arrived a few minutes earlier than the appointed time that night
...and this is worth mentioning because he is almost always fashionably late :)

Trisha had to go home early that night because she had to study for an important exam the next day

Tienchi and Shinobu

Erina and Emi came just as we finished our dinner

It was a relatively quiet gathering compared to what we had previously. Nevertheless, we had a nice time, short as it was. :)

Again with the "print club" photo stickers

Went to take purikura (プリクラ, "print club") photo stickers again today

There were four of us this time:

me
Tienchi
Trisha
Hiroya

Sorry about the first few stickers
Couldn't get them to rotate to the right position...

January highlights: January 28 - lunch at Marie's

We've been going to Marie's house quite often these days and getting fed. I've thought of bringing doughnuts or whatever but just remembering that Marie's mom can make anything would make me think twice.

Anybody have any ideas on what I should bring next time we get invited to their place?

This time Marie's mom made us pizza!

Here's Marie setting the table

They have two dining rooms, one western and one Japanese style

Marie puts in hours of piano practice everyday :)

The salad was really good
Even Tienchi, who shies away from salads, had seconds

Marie's mom made us two flavors of pizza...

I'm not very good at description, but eating all these goodies always reminds me of how lucky Marie is :D

That day's dessert was banana cake

...and milk tea mousse!
Loved it so much :D

Marie's mom is a genius
and I have an insatiable sweet tooth :)

I'm not a big tea drinker, but I love the tea Marie's mom gives us

Here's Trisha clicking away
...as always :P

Marie entertaining us with some music :)

Found this funny looking Winnie the Pooh under the piano :P

Thanks again to Marie and Marie's mom welcoming us to your home!