Revolving stars

Signed up for Italki's Feb 2018 language challenge despite knowing the Feb is probably one of the busiest month this year! (but I should be able to spare 12 hours for the online classes, I think :P) This challenge is to take 12 hours' worth of Italki's classes (3 times a week for 4 weeks) and I have been keeping up so far. It is easier to slot in 1/2 hr or 1 hr in my busy schedule than to travel to town to take a 3hr class every week. Or maybe it's just that I'm lazy. I have been brushing up on my language skills quite a fair bit on my own too! Resources that I have been using: Japanese: Nihongonomori youtube channel:  JLPT N1、N2　音の言葉、、動きの言葉 Korean: Listening to Hwayugi  (I watched the episodes on netflix on my way to work though) I hope these will be enough to last the week :D,

I have been using Italki since the start of the year; new year resolution :P and it seems to be working quite well for me. Till date, I have started on 2 packages and the teachers are pretty good. I think it pays to look through the reviews and get somebody that you think you would be comfortable with. The only drawback is that the skype connection is sometimes bad and eats into the lesson time, but it's a technical issue that can't be easily solved. But so far I have no complaints. So, my resolution for this year for language learning is: 1) to sustain the korean lessons for 1/2 hr each week 2) to sustain the japanese lessons for 1hr each week Hopefully by the end of the year, I would be able to pass my N1 (I totally know that I have been dragging this since forever!) and TOPIK 2. I am so contemplating if I should take up the Russian classes too, since it is not as expensive as taking it in Singapore, but I shall KIV till I have more spare time. Time is a luxury...

bad news - I was informed by KLC (SKIS) that there are not enough students for a class they will be refunding me my fees. Because of this, I have to search for alternatives and with my hectic schedule, there are really not too many options. While surfing the net trying to look for a suitable class, I chanced upon italki that seems to have pretty good reviews. The gist of this platform is that it is a marketplace that links foreign language teachers and learners up and payment is through the website's platform. To round up the pros and cons, now that I have used it: Pros - Pay per lesson (which is good for people with irregular schedule) - different types of teachers (you can choose a teacher that you have chemistry with and they have trial lessons!) - cheap! My lessons are about SGD13 per hour, which is cheaper than normal tuition fees for common subjects in Singapore - 1 on 1 tuition which means that I can focus on the areas that I am weak at instead of being bored at ...

*Warning - Those below 18 years old should not be reading/watching this* Also, those who are adverse to adult content should skip this post too. I thought that this video was quite interesting. It's quite an introduction to gay sex huh. But I thought it was quite scripted. It seems more like trying to get more viewership and rating than an actual session of gay sex being done. 

We travelled to Okukinu, Nikko for the Kaniyu Onsen trip. It was a gruelling day where we had to wait up early in the morning to catch the 6.20am? train to Nikko. Truth to be told, everyone of us were very amazed by the cold, and the braveness of young girls who bare their legs in winter. Cold~~ Girls with mini-skirts. Zai~ As we got there very early, we went to the shrines in Nikko before heading back to shimoimaichi station to wait for the bus pickup to the onsen. We spent the whole morning visiting the temples (Toshogu Shrine, Futarasan Shrine, Rinnoji Temple, Shinkyo Bridge) and having a super quick lunch before rushing off for our train. That was very scary... The 2 and 1/2 hr van/bus journey was peaceful and awesome. We were the only foreigners in the van, and since the Japanese couldn't speak English, I had to translate roughly for the rest. It was the first time seeing snow, and as the van moves higher and higher up the mountain, I could see the snow falling ...

1)       The Great Wall of China This is one place where I bet most of the people have been to. The tour agencies especially love to bring the tourists there, and the PRCs can then rip the tourists. I was lucky enough to have Yuxi’s uncle drive us to this ulu part of the Great Wall of China , and you can read the rest of it here if you are interested. 2)       Houryuji I was quite surprised to see that it is listed as one of the UNESCO sites. I wasn’t too awed by this place, besides the fact that the deers keep asking for more senbei from me. 3)       Mount Wu Tai After watching all the weird Chinese Kungfu dramas, I was quite happy to go to Mount Wu Tai. It is a Buddhist place where many devotees go to pray. I uh.. didn’t pray much except when we are doing the turns around the mountain in the car. The taxi driver could have won the F1 race if he had competed. Vegetarian food there is in abun...

After for shopping for our wedding rings at Chinatown, PL brought me to eat Sapporo Ramen Miharu at Robertson Quay *beams* It's situated near M Hotel and Gallery Hotel. PL managed to park at Gallery Hotel and the staff there kindly guided us to the restaurant. The restaurant is quite a small one, and according to PL, the waiting time for the restaurant is super long during weekday lunch. Apparently he went there with his colleague for lunch there before. So, I asked him how was the food like, and he said there it was salty, but he can't remember what he ate. So, to be safe, I ordered their special blended miso ramen. Paiseh, it's a bowl of half eaten ramen. I was too hungry and forgot to take it before eating. The seaweed (which I had already eaten) tasted damn good.  The soup base was rich and oily, as expected, but it was not very salty! I think it is just nice for me, but I couldn't finish the entire bowl as the portion was too big. The noodles are v...

Went with Val to eat Kiseki Restaurant Buffet after recommendations by Jingyi and Alvin. I was just mentioning about my cravings for sashimi when we suddenly switched our dinner plans to Kiseki. Booked a reservation through the phone. I was quite surprised that there was still space since it is a Saturday night, and it seems like people have been giving it good reviews. The place was BIG. I didn't expect it be so big, and Val was joking that we can eat more since we can move about to digest our food. The first thing that we aimed for was sashimi since I have been craving for it quite a while. I think I didn't get to eat enough in Malaysia. LOL. The sashimi spread was quite alright - above average for a buffet at $41.45 with other Japanese dishes. I think the salmon was nicely cut, not too thin nor too thick, just that it doesn't have the freshness taste that I was accustomed to when I ate sashimi in Japan, but I don't think I should compare. I am not a big fan of ...