Japan Day 3 part 1 - Otaru Canal

05-May, approximately 0900 - Having a morning breakfast at MacDonald give us a first hand experience of the high cost of living in Japan. For 440yen, you will have a Sausage Mcmuffin set meal, which translate to SGD$6.77, which is 35.7% more expensive than Singapore! Holiday-ing in Japan is sure going to be expensive....After breakfast, we set off for Otaru utilising our Japan Rail Pass (unlimited rides on train).

Arrival at Otaru Station after an hour plus of train journey.

Spotted some fish drawings of a children competition while walking down the main street of Otaru.

A preserved railway section that is obsolete after a railway re-direction in 1985

Train drawings on the bench next to the obsolete train station.

The old Hokkaido bank building made of stone that is preserved until today.

After walking for about 30 mins, we finally arrived at the famous Otaru Canal! Nice scenery!

Bank view of the old warehouses that are preserved.

Happened to spot a sea gull that is not afraid of human and will pose for us to take photos! This sea gull sure reminds me of the days back in Cedar Point!

Finally, we stop for lunch at a old wooden warehouse building. I guess it's ramen time!

Japan Day 2 - Expedition Sakura

04-May, approximately 0830 - The sun sure rises early in Sapporo. By 4.30am (local time), the sun is already up in the sky burning bright. Luckily, or should I say not so lucky, the sky is overcast with constant drizzling. One of our purpose to go Sapporo at this time of the year is to catch its last sakura bloom before it disappear in a week time. Overcast sky makes it a good day to go sakura viewing, but seeing nice flowers in the rain sure doesn't sounds good. Breakfast at the start of the day usually should be something light, but I opt to go for some heavy curry rice! Ossh!

After breakfast, its a journey to the Maruyama Koen for some sakura viewing!

And nice flowers that I found in the park, though the drizzle sure makes taking pictures a challenging task.

Sakura in full bloom!

Some of the stalls which looks like Singapore style pasar malam are open for the day and we decided to try some of their local food. Well, let me just say that I don't really know how to appreciate their sauce. Eating it plain might be a better choice to enjoy the food in my opinion. =p

After spending the morning at the Maruyama Park, up next is to take their subway to Odori park to catch their Sapporo TV Tower, which is one of the iconic structure in Sapporo.

And in the midst, we spotted one local feeding pigeons straight from his hands. Wow! According to guide books, one of the must try in Hokkaido is their ice-cream as apparently, the milk they use to make the ice-cream is unique to the area. As there is an ice-cream shop underneath the clock tower, we gave their ice-cream a try and I must say the taste is rather good and flavourful. The milk in the ice-cream seems richer to me.

Having done with the TV tower, we proceed to visit the Nijo fish market which is located some blocks down the road. The unique part of this market is that it has retain the old Japanese style building structure in the past and presently, this place is used by the locals to buy their grocery.

Feeling hungry from all the walking, we stopped by a Sushi stall in the market to have a light meal. The main ingredients of the sushi are nice, but I find that the rice is a bit too loose. It breaks apart when I tried to dap it in the light soya sauce. Hmm.

And we end the day with a big bowl of ramen in a shopping complex near the Sapporo train station. The ramen is simply oishi!

Japan Day 1

03-May, 0600 - Upon touching down at Haneda Airport, we immediately proceed on our next leg of journey - taking trains from the airport to Sapporo in Hokkaido. The reason why we are doing this is to save money as a one way ticket to Sapporo will cost us about $600 during the golden week but the trains (if we managed to reserved the seats) will cost us only around $450. Looking back now, we did not anticipate that our plans totally backfired on us (read on to find out why).

The trains (even the local subway) standards in Japan! Cushion seats with thick sponge for the passengers! When will our dear SMRT and SBS adopt this?? Hmmm

A bad part that I find about the stations in Japan - too many stairs, which is not very friendly to tourists pulling big and heavy luggage who are in a rush to catch trains.

Ahh, the Japan Rail Pass, which is a must if you are planning on travelling long journey by trains for a period of time. A 7 day pass for international tourist cost around 28,300 yen.

The Golden Week in Japan. where the north travel to the south and the south travel to the north. Transportation, whether by land or air will be in total chaos, as can be seen from the picture above. This is the crowd at Shinagawa at 8am, and the bullet train we are taking is delayed by 45 mins.

In the end, we did not managed to reserved a single seat for our journey to Sapporo, so we have to make do with the little space by the door, a grilling 12 hour journey with 3 train transfers.

Our first transfer station, Shin-Aomori, stopping by to have a quick lunch. A unique setup for the small eateries in Japan is the vending machine which customers can order their food. Once you paid for the food, you will be issued with a ticket, which you pass to the counter and wait for your number to be called. Once you have finished eating, you have to return the tray back to their collection station.

The engineering wonder of Japan - Digging a train tunnel 100m below the sea floor.

Finally, we arrived in Sapporo around 7pm.

Our hotel, which is decorated to have an antique feel.

Even the lift is from the ancient era.

Hotel Monterey Sapporo, the hotel we stayed for 3 days, which is about 15mins walk from the Sapporo train station.

The night view of the streets in Sapporo, which unfortunately was drizzling for the next 2 days. Our shoes are totally wet from the rain.

A Journey into the Unknown

02-May, 2130 - The date is set, the tickets are booked, a journey self planned, self executed into the unknown unfamiliar world of Japan. Good bye Singapore, while I take a deserved break.

SH 5203 - Emergency Planning

The module that I love and hate. Love it because it is an open book exam, so all information that I need is in the lecture notes. Hate it because of the taxing assignments that come with the module. Imagine doing up a 6000 words essay with complete APA reference in a matter of 2 weeks? Horrendous, I will never go through the experience again. The paper today was pretty much ok. I am able to finish all questions within the time limit. So I guess minimum I should be able to obtain a B.

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Expectation: B (Actual: A-)

The Delicacy

Synopsis: Nathalie has the perfect life; she is young, beautiful and has the perfect marriage. Until one day her husband dies in an accident, which brings her world crashing down. For the next few years, she focuses on work, leaving her emotions on the sidelines. But in a surprise twist of fate, Nathalie kisses a most unlikely man, which turns out to be her co-worker, Markus, without even understanding why. This odd couple then embarks upon their own emotional journey; a journey that raises all kinds of questions and hostility at work. Can we really choose how we rediscover our taste for life? [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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Unpredictable, unfocused and totally random. Half the time, I do not even know what the movie is showing about. I guess this movie is best for its small moment of actions, and it take user a look into workplace harassment in France. The couple combination for this movie is interesting though, as quoted from "The Boston Globe": " the audience is meant to initially recoil from the match - how dare the filmmakers pair the Tinkerbelle of French cinema with this Yeti?"

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Rate: 5.5/10

SH 5102 - Occupational Ergonomics

The final paper is utterly disappointing. Not in the sense that the paper is too hard, but contrary, the paper is easy to the point that it is a waste of time to study for it, much less spending time to do up the formula sheet. Nevertheless, the content of the module itself is useful, providing you knowledge and tools to work with ergonomic issues in the workplace. I don't expect much from this course, think minimally, my efforts should warrant at least a B.

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Expectation: B (Actual: B-)

Battleship

Synopsis: Based on a similarly named game, "Battleship" brings together an ensemble cast stationed in the Hawaiian Islands as an international naval fleet at Pearl Harbour. One day, all of a sudden, aliens are seen arriving, and little is known about them except that they are called "The Regents" and their mission is to build a power source in the ocean on planet Earth. However, "The Regents" have got it coming, for the navy fleet is there and they are determined not to let these invaders from outer space wreck havoc and destruction on their world. "Battleship" is also purported to show both sides of the story, from the aliens' perspective, as well as the humans' so the audience will know exactly where the opponent's ships are.
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An interesting way to make a movie out of a boring and non-interesting game "battleship". The CGI and the battle actions are great, centering around 3 ships trapped in the alien force field without any outside help. Other than that, the whole movie seems far-fetched. It is weird though that 2 alien ships that are more technological superior than humans can lose in a 2 on 1 battle, and the alien mother ship can lose to a 50 year old human ancient battleship? Well, on the love story part, it is seemingly interesting that a stranger can get his girl by breaking into a shop, get Tesla shot at by the police, just for a chicken burrito that the girl wants to eat? Well, if you are all for the action type of movie, you can give this one a shot.
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Rate: 6/10

The Vow

Synopsis: Based on a book of the same title, a car accident puts Paige (Rachel McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with a severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) works to win her heart all over again in this heart-warming tale of love and second chances. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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What a touching story. Forgetting all that you have loved, and the one who remembers...are the one that truly suffers. From going back to being a stranger, to work to win her heart all over again, through all obstacles...and heart pain. Truly touching as the movie bring the audiences through the whole process. A highly recommended movie to watch for all couples. Treasure the ones you love.

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Rate: 8/10

Overnight Cycling

The seat is a killer. Hurting buttocks after 15 minutes into the journey. *mds* and I prevailed and competed the 70km feat from

Woodlands Waterfront

down to Marina Barrage

Went east to Upper Serrangoon and Tampines before ending the journey at East Coast Park to catch the sunrise. =) Happy! Now, back to sleep...

Scarlet Heart

The powerful cast in the drama just make the show more interesting and addictive. 四爷，八爷，九爷，十爷，十三爷，十四爷本可以和睦共处，可惜生在帝王之家， 为了争夺皇位，成王败寇，很多时候只有无限的无奈。

四爷的冷漠与热情。
八爷的重情重义。
九爷的狠毒。
十爷的草包与风趣。
十三爷的肝胆相照。
十四爷的兄弟情谊，让人看了真是泥足深陷于剧情之中。。。。

Immortals

Synopsis: Aeons after the Gods won their struggle against the Titans, a new evil emerges. Power-crazy King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) declares war against humanity. Amassing a bloodthirsty army of soldiers disfigured by his own hand, Hyperion scorches Greece in search of the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares. He who possesses this bow can unleash the Titans, who have been imprisoned deep within the walls of Mount Tartaros and hungers for revenge. In the king's hands, the bow would rain destruction upon mankind and annihilate the Gods but ancient law says the Gods cannot intervene in man's conflict. They remain powerless to stop Hyperion until a peasant named Theseus (Henry Cavill) emerges. Chosen by Zeus, Theseus must save his people from Hyperion and his hordes. Rallying a band of fellow outsiders - including visionary priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and cunning slave Stavros (Stephen Dorff) - he will not stand to watch his homeland fall to ruin. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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Boring plot, boring actions, boring graphics. Everything about this movie just seem so uninteresting. The costume design of the Gods seem wrong, the matrix style fighting scenes seems boring. Character development is non-existence. All in all, this movie is a utter failure.

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Rate: 4/10

Real Steel

Synopsis: "Real Steel" stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up former fighter who lost his chance at a boxing title when robots took control over the ring. Now, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is nothing but a small-time organiser. Charlie makes just enough cash patching together robots from scrap metal, to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he then reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo), to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes of the ruthless, no-holds-barred arena are elevated, both Charlie and Max go against all odds as they get one last shot at a comeback and redemption. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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A heart warming movie developed around Charlie and his son Max with robot fighting as the backdrop. The director took efforts to develop the characters Charlie and Max to the fullest. With the power cast selected, the story, feeling and emotions don on the audiences are just exceptional. It was great watching the dad and son trying to understand each other after separation for such a long time, with great friction between them in the process. I particularly like the final ending scene where Charlie took control of his robot to shadow his boxing style. A great movie to watch.

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Rate: 7/10

Starry Starry Night

Synopsis: 12-year-old Mei (Jia Xu) grew up with her grandparents in the mountains, but now lives with her parents in the city. Her parents constantly fight and she is constantly being ignored at home. Mei withdraws into her own world and imagination. One day Mei meets transfer student Lee. Mei takes a liking to Lee who seems as withdrawn to the world as Mei. After Mei saves Lee from bullies, they started become close friends. As Mei home life worsens and her parents announce their divorce, Mei turns to Lee and plans their escape together. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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An emotional film as you watch the teenager juggle with the cruelty of life. The acting skills of the teenage actress in the movie is considered mature for her age. The movie in itself does not hold much of a plot. If the scriptwriter is able to incorporate more character development in this movie, the show can be much better.

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Rate: 5.5/10

Japan Work Trip (120312-150312)

On a EHS Audit trip to Japan (Tokyo). On the surface, it seems like a holiday trip, but I did not expect I have to work till 12am in the night! Weather at this time of the year was cold. Temperature around 3-8 degree Celsius. It is all right if there are no wind blowing, but once it gets windy, no amount of warm clothing helps. Living expenses in Tokyo is considered high (to me). A simple meal will cost you around 1000 yen in a restaurant. Cheapest you can get for a satisfactory meal will set you back by around 800 yen. Their transport system is also an eye opener. Firstly, they are simply complicated. Imagine 20+ platforms in a station alone! Secondly, it is the cost of the public train as you can see below.

Narita Express (4 stations stop, 1 hour ride) cost you.... 3110 yen, a whooping SGD$50!

Shinagawa Train Station

Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa

Japanese Garden at night

Imagine what I found near my hotel! Haha

The Wedding Diary

Synopsis: "The Wedding Diary" follows Daniel (Aniu), an engineer from a humble Malaysian Hokkien family, and Tina (Elanne Kwong) a beauty from a wealthy Singaporean Cantonese family who decides to get hitched. What ensues is then a hilarious set of problems involving both their families and the countless arising differences between the Singaporean, Malaysian, and also Hokkien and Cantonese cultures. [Source: Yahoo! Singapore Movies]

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A hilarious movie that reflects the typical wedding culture in Singapore. Locals will probably be in tune with most part of the movie. A wedding, in theory, should be the business of 2 individuals, but practically, this is usually not the case. Though this movie is of low budget, but surprisingly, it has quite a rich plot and emotional most of the time. A recommended local film to catch for the weekend.

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Rate: 7/10

26 Feb 2012

Foundations set and ready for the lego-ing to start. Even on a Sunday, construction site workers are busy working away. Let's hope the delivery date will be cut short further... =)

Happy Valentine 2012

Nice Atmosphere

Nice Company

Happy Valentine *mds*

=)