Welcome Party!!!

Last Wednesday, a welcome party was held in honor of my presence in Japan.
Hahahaha.. Ok Ok, that's stretching it too much...
Several new members have joined Maintenance Teams 1 and 2...
As such, a joint celebration was organized!
The initial date was actually somewhere in mid May. But due to the influenza outbreak, the party was postponed for nearly a month.
Anyways, pictures!!!


That's Mr Fujita, the Equipment Maintenance Team 2 leader passing out the beers.
And the person with the happiest smile on earth is Mr Kojima, one of my colleagues.








Mr Nitta, emceeing the function. To begin the party, a toast was made.
Oh ya, it's customary for everyone to start with beer first.








The first dish was raw fish sashimi and raw chicken sasami.
Tried both and they taste..... unique.... enough said...
This one tastes like siu mai back home.








Tempura!!!
The green powder is a mixture of grounded green tea leaves and salt.
Complements the tempura well!








This is Mr Yamamoto. One of the new members of Equipment Maintenance Team 2.
He can speak pretty good Mandarin and English!







Mr Yamajou, a new addition to Equipment Maintenance Team 1.
Can you believe he's 31???
I look older than him... (T_T)
Oh ya, he's still single. Interested candidates can contact me for further info.





Mr Imai from Equipment Maintenance Team 1.
He's 26 this year!!!
I look like an uncle next to him...
How on earth do they preserve their youth ah???






With Mr Ueno, a new member of Team 1.











From left, Mr Hisadome, Mr Kojima and Mr Oh Omouu of Team 2.
Apparently that's how my name is pronounced in Japanese. Hahahahahaha...








The lovely Miss Tanimoto!
The Himawari-sama of Team 1.










Mr Shukutani, one of the leng chais of Team 1.










Mr Murata, 25 this year, with skin as more tanned than mine.










Me, Mr Fujita and Mr Hamada (my supervisor).
Hamada-san is similiar to me in a sense that we don't look our age.
He's only 26...
But all of the members in Teams 1 & 2 have always regarded him as 38...





Mr Haruna, young at heart.











Mr Ida, the kingfisher. Went fishing with him last weekend.
A blog post for another day.









Mr Sakashita, he was the supervisor the previous USM intern in Mitsubishi.
His wife is half American, half Japanese.
Some guys have all the luck...








Mr Nitta and Mr Onishi.
Mr Onishi is the most cheerful guy that I've ever known!
His laughter is guaranteed to brighten anyone's day!







Mr Akaba, the leader of Team 2.
A very accomplished tennis player!










Mr Sasaki, who always complimented me for speaking Japanese.
Thanks for the encouragement Sasaki-san!









Mr Yoshioka who knows Sannomiya like the back of his hand.
Brought me to a magician's bar 2 weeks ago!







A lot more pictures of the night which I have yet to post. Maybe next time!
Sorry for the constant goofy smile that I always sport.
Many have complained before that I'm advertising for some toothpaste or something... Hahahahaha...
And if you notice carefully, the colour of my face grows redder with each subsequent photo taken.
Had 10 glasses of beer with 2 cocktails that night!

A Working Day in Japan

I've arrived in Kobe city two weeks ago!
And don't worry about my health.
Still doing well and the influenza strain is slowly receding.
Here's a daily schedule of what I do on working days.


Leave room at around 6.50am

















Lock the room door using the electronic lock.
Very cool mechanism!!!
We should install this in Malaysian University hostels...





Walk out the corridor...











Use the elevator even though I live only on the second floor.
Don't judge me!
Hahahahahaha..









Walking through the hostel lobby...










.

.. into the cafeteria!











The counter to get our food.
Notice the tray?
It's the featured dish on display.








On the right, rice cooker.
In the middle, soup heater.
Unlimited refill.
Muahahahahahahaha.




And we pay for the meal using our meal card.








Breakfast!
Japanese usually have a light breakfast with simple dishes.








Stepping out of the hostel...












My hostel branded one ok?
Don't play play!











Beginning my journey to the train station.












Rays of hope...











Oh ya...
My hostel's located on top of a hill.









Which makes walking a breeze...













Met Totoro-san on the way down.
















And walking...














Nearly there...















Just a little bit more...















Finally!
The East Gate of Tarumi Station















Taking my place in line at platform 2.















As can be seen, most of the Japanese are wearing masks.
But I do wonder if these masks are actually effective in such crowded places.













And to Hyogo we go!














Next up, Wadamisaki line.










Moving with the crowd...













Alighting at Wadamisaki...










My ID Card.
The number reminds me of a place in Nibong Tebal...













Crossing the street...
Only a few more minutes to my office...












One of the gates for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Need to scan ID card only can go in.









The building that I'm working in.
My office is located on the 10th floor.
But no more pictures from here onwards...
Company trade secrets have to be protected...

Kaiten Sushi!

Went for Kaiten Sushi (revolving sushi) on our second day in Nagaoka.

Genki Sushi!











Me with Dr Teoh!
The building behind us is a karaoke center.
The word karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese.
Price is about the same in Malaysia.
500 yen for 3 hours.






Let the feast begin!!!
MUAHAHAHAHAHA











Posing comes first!
I look thin in this picture










The detachable touch screen menu!
Coolest ordering method that I've seen by far!
And when your order is approaching, a signal goes off to alert you of the impending dish.





Half raw squid and tuna sushi.
The squid tasted a little weird...










Godzilla devouring Tokyo Tower!











Had a little sake in the room.
This one costed only 89 yen!
Quite wild and leaves a sweet & sour aftertaste.








Pork onigiri!
Very very nice flavour!

Japan Day 2

Had a nice sleep the day before as the weather was just perfect!
A little bit dry though...

Woke up to this:

Sandwich and onigiri bought the day before in 7 Eleven.
Green tea was provided by the guest house at no charge at all.








Went to the shokudo (canteen in Japanese) to have our lunch.
Very very systematic with a great variety of food.








Can see Hairol and Kee Hong in the picture?
They have FLAT SCREEN TVs in the CANTEEN!!!!
Not ONE but TWO!!!!
Top that, USM.






Had the chicken with sauce lunch set.
Surprisingly, the food tastes good even though it's only canteen food, a total contradiction to what I'm accustomed to... Hahahahahahaha...







Left the shokudo to see this.
An assembly of taiko (Japanese drums)










The performance was very very enjoyable as it is flawless!
Such performances or road shows are often carried out by various clubs and societies for promotion purposes especially during the beginning of a new semester.






Among the many intersections of the University.
In my opinion, I felt that the placement of the trees are much more strategic as they actually do serve a purpose such as providing shade and also for scenic purposes.
Much better compared to the ladang kelapa sawit that I see 9 months a year.



A better view of my room's backyard.











The Japanese are so advanced that even their toilets are fitted with electronic gadgets!
What you see here are the controls to wash different "areas" of the body after different "transactions".






The "throne".
The best part about this has to be its heating capability.
The seat turns warm the instant a person sits on it.
Am seriously thinking of having one installed at home...










The bathroom.
First, clean yourself from head to toe.















Then into the bathtub you go!
While in the bathtub, you DO NOT scrub yourself at all.
Just soak only as it is shared with others.
Words alone cannot describe the hotness of the water.
I was even amazed that I somehow managed to get into it!
But after soaking in it for 10 minutes, I have never felt more relaxed...
Not in a mental perspective of course, but from the physical perspective.
The whole body felt warm and the muscles relaxed.....
A can of beer after the soak was just awesome!!!

Touchdown!

Pictures from the first day in Japan!

To much of our surprise, we were placed in the University's Guest House!
I've anticipated that we'll be living in some student's quarters or something like that.
And the best part is that we've been given Japanese styled rooms!



Just reached only...
Notice the covers for the bed?
Has a total of 3 layers of futon!
Initially thought it was a bit too much.
But when I slipped myself into it...
Total bliss!
Very very nice and cosy.









The room comes with a fridge as well!
It's that white coloured box behind me if you're wondering.














The room comes with a HUGE flat screen TV!!!
The brown coloured thingy is the air-con/heater.
They even provided a safe too!






Opened the back door to see this small stream just outside.
Nice view!








First night dinner!
Was brought to this place called Saizeriya by Dr Teoh.
Oh ya, Dr Teoh is an associate lecturer here in Nagaoka University of Technology.
She's from Parit Buntar!






Saizeriya is an Italian restaurant which is about a 5 minutes drive from the university.
Had the tomato soup.
Not bad actually.
Has little pieces of macaroni inside.







Came here as it has a more relaxed environment for chatting.
Apparently in Japan, most customers in a restaurant will leave the restaurant the moment they finish their food.
Considered as a culture here.










Ordered the cheesy chicken for the main course.
Quite nice actually!
But the portion.....

Thanks a lot Dr Teoh for belanja-ing us that night!











Among the many joys of life!
Asahi's Off beer.
Liquor is relatively cheap here in Japan and is readily available in convenience stores like 7 Eleven with a reasonable amount of variety.
This one was quite good!
Less bitter compared to the beers I'm accustomed to.
Gotta love its size though!








The focus of this picture is the tiny red dot on my pinky.
Look at it carefully and you'll see that it's a puncture wound.
However, this is not an ordinary wound.
Since young, there's this "ability" of my body to build up static charge especially when the air is dry.
Earlier in Tokyo, the wind was blowing constantly, which I believe may have converted me into a walking Tesla tower.
Upon contact with the metal parts of the Shinkansen chair, I literally saw sparks fly off my finger!!!
And the end result is illustrated in the picture above...

Flying The Malaysian Way

As what every Malaysian should do, I have proudly supported our country's airline service.
I bought the ticket online and it costs RM2151.00 (to and fro) during the MAS Promotion Fair. A great deal if compared to the original price of RM3300.00
Went to KLIA at around 9.30pm.
Upon checking in, lepak for a while before heading towards Gate G10 for my flight.


First things first, the complimentary News Straits Times and a cup of plain water with coffee for the take off.









Then came supper, a tuna sandwich along with a cheese filled bun.
Surprisingly good!
The cheese was very very fragrant!
Just the way I like it.
Had two servings of this.
Muahahahahahahahahaha...





Listening to Taylor Swift's Fearless album while reading the papers.
The in-flight entertainment system is very up to date.
The options of watching various movies and TV series are also available.






Had quite a restless night as it isn't that conducive of an environment to sleep in.
Was woken up by the flight attendants at around 5.45am for our breakfast.
Greeted by the morning rays of Japan!







Reminds me of the Mr Bean episode...
Forgot to take picture of the breakfast though...
Had salmon with omlette for the main course.
Served with pastries, orange juice and fruit.












After arriving in Narita airport.
Went on to the Narita Express to head towards Tokyo station.









A swift change of clothes to look more presentable when we arrive at the University later.
Fit right in with the Japanese as most of them are dressed this way too.












First hot Japanese chick spotted at the Shinkansen station!!!
The temperature was quite low and yet she was able to withstand it with only a miniskirt!!!
Such devotion to looking pretty.











Double-deckered Shinkansen!

















Met this Obaa-san on the Shinkansen.
Very very cheerful and started talking a lot to us when she found out that we were foreigners.
Really put my Japanese language command to test.
Surprisingly, I was the translator for Kee Hong, Yann Ni and Hairol who couldn't understand what she was talking about.
A very nice and kind auntie!


Checked in into the University's guest house.
More updates on it later!

I`m in Japan!

To all my friends and family in Malaysia, I`ve safely reached Japan.

Internet access is rather inconvenient due to the one computer one IP policy.

As such, I will be updating my status through my blog.

This is the Tokyo train station.
The place where we got on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to head to our next destination, Nagaoka.
We got to Tokyo using the Narita Express, a train service at the Narita Airport.









This is Yann Ni, the only girl among the 4 of us who will be doing our internship in Japan.
She`s posted to Fuji Denki.
Sadly, we missed the sakura blooming by just a few days.
All that`s left are just green leaves rather than the white petals.







Kaiten Sushi!!!
The name of the restaurant?
Genki Sushi! I guess most Malaysians will be familiar with this name.
But then again, same name, different place, different quality!
The sushi here is very fresh and the seawood used to roll the sushi in is very crispy!
Unlike the soggy ones back in Malaysia...





From left: Jeff, Yee, Hairol, Saw
Four Malaysians too kiasu to resist the urge to camwhore. Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Standard plates are charged 105 yen (inclusive of 5% tax) which is actually very cheap to the Japanese!
100 yen to them is equilavent to RM1 to us.
Most of the sushi available comes with raw meat especially seafood.
See the black monitor there?
It`s actually a detachable touch screen for customers to place orders.





Tulip Festival!!!
It`s the season for tulips to blossom!
We went to Echigo Park, the biggest park in Nagaoka for some hanashimasu-ing (flower watching or something like that)









Vibrant colours!!!



























Caught red handed checking out Japanese babes.
Muahahahahahaha...
Hairol sempat ber-posing lagi siot...











A crimson sea of tulips.













Professional camwhorers...
And yes, I was gorging myself silly on an ice cream...
What better way to enjoy the cool weather than to be cold internally and externally?









A portion of the park.
The small little white dots are actually people.
So I guess you could imagine the density of the people there and also the massivity of the park.










Beauty and the beasts.
The picture was actually taken on a slope, hence the tilted trees...











The Japanese LOVES to picnic as good weather is very hard to come by.












Don have all of my pictures with me right now.
Will upload more later.
Til then, rock on!!!