irreversible

some different lights to enjoy this year
besides seeing the same old fake snow at tanglin mall lol

not that there is snow this year in japan though :(

but i have my first winter coat to tide me through~

roppongi and ebisu illumination

this one is at ikebukuro though

this looks like something from a fairytale book

the chandelier looks like it’s going up in flames lol

dont ask me why santa is green and made from lego :P

breathtaking…

on the way home i spied this

im not sure as to whether they meant to write “rapid” in the first place…

finally!
finally ive got deadlines off my ass and time for updates
YES it’s the winter holidays~~

today japan celebrates their Emperor’s birthday
so it’s a public holiday!

and the palace grounds are opened only twice annually
today and the day after New Year’s Day
so yes, ive just returned from the grand oh grand palace

as expected
the vicinity around the palace had a different atmosphere from the busy and bustling city
peace and calm
greenery and nature everywhere
the entire place was like this huge bonsai

there were so many police i think they dispatched the whole of the police force in tokyo
we had to have our bags and bodies checked
and were handed a flag of japan each

there were indeed many people
but 90% were senior citizens and the rest were foreigners
i would say that the younger generation in japan dont really care about their country’s politics

the main building of the imperial palace

the imperial family came out to wave
and the emperor said a few words like
thanks for coming on my birthday
stay healthy and may it be a good year for you etc

i wanted to see the little little prince hisahito
i saw him on the news and he’s so very very cuute when he smiles but obviously they wouldnt bring him out yeah

this is the surrounding landscape outside the palace
which doesnt look like japan at all
i would like to think that i had gone to europe…

this is the best photo ive taken so far lol
i love the reflection so much~
now this is what pretty as a picture really means

PS.

among the crowds i spotted a baby bear!!
lolol cuuuuuuuuute :):):)

ive been meaning to say this for a long time
but it keeps getting put off my mind

well actually because someone said it to me again yesterday
i finally remember now lol

japanese have a very amusing perception of singaporeans
they believe that we eat merlion chocolate and merlion mango pudding all the time.

when i first heard that
i nearly split my sides
because i always thought that those were just gimmicks to cheat tourists

i dont know about you
but i definitely have not eaten any before…

merlion choc is sold in duty free shops mostly yea
and i have indeed seen merlion mango pudding sold in the supermarket below lido
ok that i know at least…

on a side note
another thing you should look out for in japan
every signboard with a panda on it is bound to be a chinese restaurant.
next time i will remember to take photos

i have nothing but CREAM in my insides now~

today i went with d to namja town!!

namja town is in sunshine city, ikebukuro
and it’s like this theme park with food museums and rides

cream + custard + strawberry + choc crepe
actually it tastes normal…
harajuku crepes are still unbeatable

yogurt rare cheesecake!
been craving for cheesecake since forever
but this is really too small!!

strawberry shortcake
omg it’s so perfectly beautiful

this is called 雪の結晶
directly translated “crystallisation of snow”
it’s made specially for the xmas season~
the BEST thing i ever tasted in my life.

we could not resist going to the icecream museum lol
because the flavours available there are AMUSING

let me list down the most interesting ones i saw
納豆　fermented beans
わさび　wasabi
しょう油　soy sauce
海水　seawater
カニ　crab
タコ　octopus
ジャガイモ　potato
サボテン！　cactus?!
インドカレー　indian curry
みそラメン　miso ramen
さくら　sakura
ひまわり　　sunflower
ラベンダ　lavender
and etc

the one on the left is kinako – thats the brown sauce thing on dango

i chose TULIP ice lol
the taste… is difficult to explain…
tastes like flowers yes…

aaa i think i weigh more than 60kg already…

even though this might be normal scenery to some
this is the first time im seeing this

autumn in waseda~

it’s so beautiful
almost like the trees are on flames
and if you stand underneath them
you feel like you are under a spotlight lol

i cant wait for winter to come now!

ive developed either a fear or a hate for morning trains in tokyo
i cant really tell the difference

today was a really scary experience
so, as usual i had to fight to squeeze into the train in the morning
and i was wearing a scarf for warmth
and it sorta got untangled
and one end was trapped between two men

but i didnt know that while i was alighting

and guess what?
yes i was nearly strangled to death

so while people were pushing to get in
i had to walk backwards to unravel the scarf around my neck
while trying to pull the other end out
it was a mere blessing from God that i didnt fall into the platform hole

waseda sai was a BLAST!!

i went with yl on the first day
and we were in time to watch the opening ceremony
which was reaaally exciting
as a japanese would say “it gets your tension HIGH UP〜〜!!”

after we had a countdown to the official opening
lol what happened next was like a …demonstration?!
most of the clubs participating just gathered together
shouting and cheering and singing
holding up boards to alert people to their performances/stalls
and they just paraded around the entire campus

and of course there was the band!!

and lots of other performances
most of which i watched were music related though
all kinds of music… soul, funk, rock, cuban, brazilian, jamaican?!
i want to learn to play the bass guitaaaar~

and japanese traditional dances

lolol

and this is kendo, not a dance lol

the second day i went with sj
and she tried chocobanana lol
for some reason i cannot comprehend
japanese LOVE chocolate and banana together

and then we spent the entire afternoon trying on kimonos!
my first time wearing tabi socks
and so i found out it’s actually clip-on!
so that they fit on really snugly lol

and we stayed all the way till the ending ceremony
where there was another cooool parade
this time around the entire waseda neighourhood!
with cheerleaders and half naked men dancing again
and the student representative who made it all a success gave a speech
and everyone was shouting and cheering to him
because it was his last year in waseda
and i think he was really fighting tears…

wow i had a great weekend i must say
and you can go here to check out more photos yea